What is national distress?
When we are invaded.
When nature disaster strike; something huge like the Asian Tsunami.
When food crisis strike; not just temporarily shortage of sugar or cooking oil… but when people started to feel the hunger because of food shortage.
When hyperinflation… not when people are chatting in Starbucks on how expensive our fuel is, but when people can’t even afford a cup of coffee in mamak stall.
When people are started losing jobs and couldn’t find new jobs. When unemployment is largely due to lack of jobs and not because of the poor qualities (and some laziness) of our young graduates.
When the police and armed forces are becoming thugs. This is the one hanging on borderline… but set aside a few political cases, the police are still doing their job to fight crimes. Remember this, some of them are risking their lives to protect ours.
When democracy is irrelevant. Don’t tell me that our democracy is dead… we are given the rights to vote, and despite not being perfectly fair, we do have the power to determine which parties and people we want to form our government.
If Malaysia is in distress, what should we call other countries like Philippines or India? For name sake I don’t even think the likes of Philippines and India are in distress yet, let alone Malaysia?
Some Malaysians are just too pampered these days… distress? WTF.
Seems like tomorrow’s fuel-hike demo is going ahead in Kelana Jaya; hope that there won’t be any violent crash during the rally, and I hope that the protestors are fighting on the right cause and not for political reasons.
There is no point protesting against the petrol hike… the fuel subsidy was wrong and should have been gone long ago. It there is anything to complain about… it’s about corruption, poor public transportation and the government failure in improving our living standard for the past decade.
Inflation is something inevitable; what really strike Malaysians these days is the failure to improve our earning-capability since the 1997 economic crisis. With exceptions of a few professions, the salary and income levels of most jobs are not on par with inflation rate for the past decade… some sectors are actually falling behind the pre-1997 era.
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What Pak Lah has promised for the Sabahans on May 31… [Details]
1. Federal Development Department scrapped and replaced by Sabah State Development Office, with its operations placed directly under the state government’s supervision.
2. Formation of a cabinet committee on illegal immigrants to be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to discuss and solve the perennial illegal immigrants’ problem in the state.
3. RM1 billion allocation from the prime minister’s special allocation to be distributed according to development requirements in Sabah.
The media is reporting that Sabahans are getting lots of benefits, but it’s not really the case. Set aside the extra RM1bil allocation, the first two actions are not something of a bonus, it’s something that should be done years ago.
If the BN government didn’t lose their 2/3 majority in March, these issues might be overlooked once again after the election. Still, it’s better late than never.
However, don’t take their promise for granted yet. One of the biggest issues with our BN government is on implementations… they do come out with decent ideas and policies occasionally, but often failed to meet the objectives due to poor executions.
Promising is one thing… delivering the promises is another story.
Thousands of protestors turned out on Sunday rally organized by Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf); and as expected… the police took stern action against to disperse the crowd, leading to further chaos. Hundreds arrested, injuries reported from polices and the organizers.
What has Hindraf achieved in the end?
Don’t get me wrong. As mentioned at my previous post… although I am not a public demo fan, I don’t feel that I have the right to deny others the freedom of expression. However, I am really confused on what Hindraf is fighting for.
In general view… Hindraf has planned the gathering to submit their petition to Queen Elizabeth II seeking support for the Indian community in a US$4 trillion class action suit against the British government for bringing Indians as labourers to the then Malaya and thereafter exploiting them.
The suit is a joke; the Hindraf organizers should know that. Initially I gave them beneficial of doubts thinking that they are using the suit to gain wide attention to the social problem instead of taking the monetary claim seriously… I hope I was right.
I have doubts on what Hindraf is trying to achieve with the protest though. After taking all the effort to bring people to the streets to endure the tear gas and water cannon… Hindraf failed to make a constructive point of what they are fighting for.
Ya, I know… fighting for equal rights for Indian minorities. However, what exactly do Hindraf want? They have to make their demand clear and precise.
More Indian schools?
More public servicing jobs for Indians?
Minimum wage for blue collars?
Stop demolition of Hindu temples?
Permits for Hindu temples?
Samy Vellu to step down from leadership?
So, what is Hindraf actually fighting for? Precisely?
Update Nov 29 - Hindraf’s memorandom to UK Prime Minister
Prime Minister and UMNO president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi opened the UMNO General Assembly on Wednesday (Nov 7) at the Putra World Trade Centre. The following is the full text of his opening address [TheStar]…
STRENGTHENING CONFIDENCE – VENTURING INTO A NEW ERA
Alhamdulillah, with God’s will, we are convene for the 58th UMNO General Assembly.
2. Our assembly this year takes place in the glow of the 50th Merdeka celebrations. This is also our first assembly for the next 50 years. Beginning the first national elections, UMNO, as part of the Alliance and subsequently Barisan Nasional, has formed the national government based on the principle of power sharing. It also spearheaded the drive towards independence.
3. The Malayan Government, considered to be lacking in experience, faced myriad challenges. Twelve years after independence, the nation was riven by racial riots that threatened its survival. Thanks to mutual understanding and a strong spirit of cooperation, we overcame this test. That dark time in our history became a valuable lesson that taught us the need to strengthen our unity.
4. In the aftermath of this tragedy, the Government introduced three major measures. First, the Rukun Negara was introduced as a national ideology to ensure national unity and safeguard the integrity of the nation. Second, the New Economic Policy was designed to develop our economy based on fair and equitable growth. Finally, the Barisan Nasional was introduced as an effective and inclusive political vehicle. The implementation of these three measures has brought success, guaranteed our survival and brought us the prosperity that we enjoy to this day.
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I have mentioned a few times that I am supportive of the NEP’s ideology, but not the implementation. Quite often we see that a few Malays are reaping the rewards while most of the others that really need NEP are neglected.
An article from AFP that shares similar point of view…
Nearly four decades of controversial positive-discrimination policies were supposed to lift Muslim Malays like fisherman Maskan Mohamad out of poverty.
But despite the programme, which has alienated the nation’s ethnic Chinese and Indian citizens, Maskan’s family have empty bellies and little hope as they struggle to survive on a handful of dollars a day.
“All I know is how to fish. My family are all fisherman and even my children are fishermen because we cannot hope for anything more,” says the 62-year-old, who earns about 400 ringgit a month (119 dollars).
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DAP today unveiled its shadow budget dubbed the “Malaysian First” budget. The shadow budget, released two days ahead of the tabling of the official budget 2008, among others, promised a ‘fair wage’ policy and ‘Malaysia bonus’ for the low-income group.
The 52-page budget was presented by party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and his economic advisor Tony Pua at the Parliament building. Several DAP MPs, including Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang, were also present. [Malaysiakini]
You can read some of the excerpts via Wengsan or download the full report here (download link no longer available).