Malaysian Erection of A New Nation

SCENE IN A KL LRT - MULTIRACIAL PASSENGERS - PHOTO CREDIT : OXYMANUS

A similar case of so called racial discontentment was reported 1 day later after the Malaysian election results were announced through the foreign news wires. They mentioned about the inequality and discrimination in jobs, education, as well as freedom of speech, not to mention racial abuse and impartiality. Obviously and sadly Malaysians themselves are feeding the foreign journalists with such facts and information and now they they say that it isn't so.
Phew !!! Never knew Malaysia is a damn good country to live in. I bet we all sleep on a bed of nails everynight here in Malaysia yet unscathed of any prickling injury when we wake up in the morning.

National Service Ala Malaysia

I have just heard some news report over TV3 a little while ago about a new regulation which the authorities are going to implement regarding new recruits for the Program Khidmat Negara or National Service in English. To me the whole thing is a wrongly perceptive idea, so much so that even till today, problems after problems persists and exists and continues to do so much to the chagrin of the those people who are involved in it or even introduced it.
According to my information, the Malaysian National Service is a kind of program to provide youths with an opportunity to settle in for a few months to learn about national integration along with adding some sporting activities during the day and of course this comes with provision of meals and uniforms to top it off.
What they ( the authorities ) did not see or do was to find out the right ways and means to implement such a program to make it very successful and worthwhile in achieving the true objectives of such a progamme.

Before, such things came to lift off, i have heard about business people rushing to get involved in the business of becoming a supplier to such projects /programmes that cater to the needs of this huge business project, (see how certain people look at this opportunity to enrich their business venture and to monopolise them for their vested interests) since national service training camps exists in most parts of the states in the country. Everyone was so cooped up with how much money they would make and none the least ever thought about what good does it do in terms of what the National Service program is all about. Business thoughts come first in everybody's mind who has links with the so called government or government bodies to be able to grab whatever perks that could be salvage for being a "supplier and provider" for such services although many prefer to deny it . Imagine its profitability due to its longterm compulsory programme which is very much a national undertaking.

Coming back to my related comment about the TV3 news report, it was mentioned that the government is seriously looking at the health checks requirements need to be imposed on the recruits who are conscripted into the programme. I really look at it as a big joke of the people who themselves implemented the whole programme from the very beginning.
Malaysians are good copycats on things they thought they would be proud off to tell other people that they can do whatever they want with their Malaysia Boleh campaign or motto.
In the first place, Malaysia's National Service programme is very very much unlike the other programes of the other countries e.g. Singapore ( the nearest neighbour ) , Taiwan, Israel, Turkey, Russia and Cyprus. It is an altogether a locally made programme that has many loose planning from even from the start and until today.

Of course, the initial stages of implementation had a lot of teething problems. Parents were not happy about it, the potential recruits were far from enthusiastic or proud or even dare to participate in such a programme. There was none of the strong foundation of course to be learned or to expect. Abstention for registration was rampant but it was not even taken seriously. It was a matter of an announcement but without much of an enforcement on the part of the authorities. ( Enforcement in Malaysia if stressed openly, leaves too much to be desired. )
As i read the newspapers too, i have seen all kinds of amusing stories about how the national service programmes are being run and managed. In a plural society like Malaysia, anything or everything that is carried out that involves the public are governed by the sensitivities of its people which not only concern racial issues but also its political element that divides much of its population.

If the authorities failed in its mission in doing what it should be doing, they should only be blamed for such mistakes as National Service is not a summer camp vacation of sorts.

There are many aspects being argued about how the management of national services be carried out. Some complained about the racial breakdown of the facilitators / trainers involved while others complained about the food menus that recruits received, infrastructure facilities etc etc.
All these matters should have been avoided if proper surveys / planning are being done by the authorities. At the same time, there are always things which are not adequate or suitable or just plain acceptable for one particular race. Many Malaysians must think of a one Malaysian mentality and identity but sad to say after so many years of independence, Malysians like to talk things "racist".

About the realisation of the health condition of recruits, it is the duty of the authorities to spend some money on the health screening of all candidates. The Malaysian student population is a far more intergrated and prolific segment of the country. There are drug users, bullies, truant players, plenty of under aged smokers, promiscuous youths etc.etc As much as this is true, many people think that it was the problems of the individuals themselves or due to lack of parental upbringing or the school disciplinary system. If the foundations of such matters are lacking at the school level, the problems would be more difficult to tolerate at the next level of admission, ie national service.
Hence health problems resurface. If the school through the education system had impose health checks through annual compulsory routines as part of its curriculum, many health risks problems could be detected or prevented. One example of such exercise will be a simple urine test which could actually determine many things. Therefore when the authorities allowed students to be drafted into national service, it was also the duty of their department to supervise and provide the necessary health checks. It is definitely wrong to just rely on the statements and declarations made by the recruits themselves.
As one big loophole and total disregard for such an important component of its implementation at entry level, the authorities definitely have to be blamed for such infringement. When fatalities exists ( and it will continue to do so) the authorities will always be blamed as a black sheep for its causes. What is the use of making statements defending and making lame excuses about such occurrences of fatalities if the authorities could not even lay out a simple indemnity agreement about national service. Anywhere in this world, the state of fatalities are common in national service activities. The proponents of such a programme must and should have studied the legal matters and procedures more seriously rather than showcased it as a retreat or holiday programme for drop-outs or troubled youths. The inculcation of an extended school like- system must be taught but that again it could not be guaranteed that such a programme will be achieved. At the end of the day, a strong school system at grass roots level will only determine whether a youth will be successful or not. They say the youths of today are the leaders of tomorrow but with so many uncountable bad youths around the country , it is going to be definitely unsafe and a far cry of making the country a healthy place to live in too.

JOB VACANCY IN SINGAPORE

Where Are the Potential Prime Ministers?

Posted by admin on April 17, 2008

Written by Dr Wong Wee Nam
16 April 2008

The Malaysian General Elections has just ended and Abdullah Badawi has continued as the Prime Minister. But he is now having problems keeping the job. This is because there are many who want to take over. Even Anwar Ibrahim, who is not even an elected Member of Parliament, is eyeing the job. Just as there are many who had vied for the posts of Menteri Besar in the State governments, there is no lack of candidates for the post of the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

In the United Kingdom, when a schoolboy visits 10 Downing Street, he invariably likes to pose in front of the official residence of the Prime Minister of Great Britain for a picture. In other words, it is a schoolboy’s dream to become the Prime Minister of Britain. It is not that the job of the Prime Minister in Great Britain pays very well. It does not.

Compare to footballers like Christiano Ronaldo or David Beckham, the Prime Minister’s job is a lowly-paid one. Even by Singapore’s standards, it is an extremely lowly-paid job. The pay is only a fraction of the salary of a similar position in Singapore.

Yet Great Britain, like Malaysia, does not lack candidates for the position of Prime Minister. In fact, there is even no lack of candidates for the position of a shadow Prime Minister on the opposition bench.

No country in the world has difficulty finding people willing to become Prime Minister or running for Presidency. No country except Singapore, that is. The Straits Times of 2nd April 2008 reads : “PM still looking for his successor”.

Uniquely Singapore

We must be in a very unique situation in the world. With a job that is the highest paid in the world, it is a wonder we are still looking for a successor. This must be the only country in the world where people are very reluctant to be office-holders. Something must be very, very wrong – either with the country or with the quality of our people.

Has our gene pool become so depleted that we do not now have capable people to run the country? This cannot be so. Every year there are hundreds of students who graduate from our colleges with straight A’s and S-papers. Competition for scholarships and places in the universities is very keen. In world competitions, our students still come up top in Mathematics and Science. Our students regularly win the Angus Ross Prize for Literature and the Jessup Cup for mooting. So the quality of our gene pool is still very good.

The Failed Graduate Mother’s Scheme

The problem of a depleted good gene pool was raised a long time ago. Herbert Spencer and Francis Galton, the two famous social Darwinists, had told the world that having more intelligent people and less stupid people around would benefit society tremendously Many years ago, to enrich the gene pool and solve this problem of talent shortage, we tried to encourage the better-educated and our graduate mothers with a lot of incentives to reproduce more. Naturally the policy did not work because our womenfolk are not farm animals which will breed just because the farmer decides it should be done.

Even if our graduate mothers had consented to breed, the policy would still have failed to achieve its objective. Any breeder of racehorses, cows and pigs for speed, milk and bacon respectively will tell you that the success rate is very low even though there is only one attribute to aim for. What more then with human beings where there are more attributes to consider? The problem with breeding human beings is we would not know what attribute to aim for. A leader is not just someone who can produce good results in examinations. He must have the right temperament, the ability to communicate, creative thinking, compassion, courage and be decisive and possess a certain charisma to lead. Can these be bred?

True, a few of our students had broken scholarship bonds and some who went overseas to study have decided not to return. Still, this should not affect the number of people who are qualified to fill the post of the Prime Minister or any other ministerial post. After all, in Singapore, a person usually holds office for about fifteen years and this means you only need to find one replacement every fifteen or twenty years.

Reason for the Problem

So what is the problem? Why is it so difficult to find someone to become a Prime Minister in Singapore? It is not because Singapore is not ripe for revolution or that our people are so well-taken care off that we like to leave governing to others that we are faced with this problem. If revolution and economic dissatisfaction are the reasons for people wanting to become Prime Minister, then all the well-to-do stable democracies in the world would have difficulty looking for leaders.

The reason for the problem is in our culture. In Singapore nobody is taught from young to covet the job. The political climate here does not allow anyone to covet the job. Politics is not a profession that parents encourage their children to pursue. Therefore, a child in school will write about his or her ambition to become a doctor, lawyer, accountant, an engineer, an artist, a teacher or a writer but none will write about becoming a Prime Minister.

Furthermore, over the years, the general public has been primed to believe that a Prime Minister will only come through the PAP selection process. This is why Singapore will not be able to produce someone like Barack Obama, a first-term Senator trying to be leader of the world’s biggest democracy and the richest country in the world, vying for a job that would pay him only a fraction of what he could earn as a lawyer.

Without political contention, it is not surprising that Singaporeans have become so apathetic that even the PAP itself has difficulty finding good people.

If we want to have good flowers, then we need to allow many types of flowers to bloom and many nurseries to grow them. If we only inbreed a few species of flowers in one nursery and nip the rest in the bud, then the choice will be limited. Even if we add in a lot of fertilizers, the quality will still suffer from inbreeding and chemical poisoning.

Not only plants suffer from a lot of fertilizers. Psychologists have shown through experiments that even rats don’t work as hard when given too much rewards. Those given too much food lose their motivation to run on the treadmill than those who are rewarded with small increments. Similarly with human beings, psychologists have also found that people with intrinsic motivation perform better than those who are driven by extrinsic motivation to do the job.

It can therefore be concluded that with the exorbitant salaries paid to our office-holders, we will one day be bound to attract mainly extrinsically- motivated people to public office. When that time comes, it would indeed be a sad day for Singapore. A politician who is not intrinsically-motivated will serve himself first and cannot provide the servant leadership to serve the people. When that day comes, it would be even more difficult to find a really good person to fill the post of Prime Minister. A politician led by reward to work cannot be better than one motivated by altruism to serve.

Posted under Current Affairs, Dr Wong Wee Nam, Political Discussions

Comments (20)

Internet Freedom In Singapore

May
07

Ministry for Information, Communication & the Arts reply to bloggers’ Proposals for Internet freedom in Singapore

Posted by admin on May 7, 2008

The Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts has responded to the bloggers’ paper entitled “Proposals for Internet freedom in Singapore”. (The full text of the proposal can be read here.)

The e-mail reply from the Ministry is addressed to Alex Au, and is reproduced as follows (my own comments to the reply can be found after the letter):

Dear Mr Au

My Minister would like to thank you and your blogger friends for the effort in putting up the proposals for Internet deregulation which you had emailed to him on 20 April 2008.

MICA is well aware of the fact that Internet and new media technology have evolved by leaps and bounds since we introduced our light-touch approach in 1996. Back then, MICA had recognised the potential growth and impact of the Internet, and the tremendous opportunities and benefits that it will bring to all of us. We were also wary of its negative aspects. Hence, our response to the Internet was to take a balanced light-touch approach. Our intent with this light-touch approach was to foster the growth of the Internet and to enable us to exploit its vast potential while safeguarding our society from its undesirable aspects. That 79% of our households subscribe to broadband and many Singaporeans especially the younger citizens own a blog or participate in some form of new media clearly show that the light-touch approach had not been without merit.

To keep up with the fast-evolving new media landscape, we have been reviewing our light-touch approach and are considering how we could take a lighter touch approach. We have appointed the Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society (AIMS) in April last year to study the new media and how best to refine our regulatory framework.

We will consider the views expressed in your proposal and other feedback in our review.

Yours sincerely

K.BHAVANI (Ms)
Press Secretary
to the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts

Noisy Lunch

AMPANG PARK SHOPPING CENTRE - KL'S PIONEER SHOPPING MALL
Photo Credit : Oxymanus

Today , i had lunch at the perennial favourite spot, Ampang Park. After visiting my client there, i headed straight to the Halal Chinese joint called Cozy House.In modern KL, finding a good restaurant that is halal, clean , convenient,service oriented as well as fitting the pocket budget is so relatively important; thus when one has landed / found the ideal place to feast, the same people keep coming back for more and more but usually for the same food that is. The place was packed with the lunch hour crowd as usual with its predominantly Malay clientele ( because Halal mah )
As i ordered my all time personal favorite i.e. Cantonese Fried Kway Teow i gaze around and let my ears crane for the loud impolite chatterboxes that pervaded the room as though wanting to detect the sources. Surprisingly, it was that table in front of me . Oh my God, that woman was talking at the top of her voice relating to her office colleagues about an incident she had just encountered. She was yakking so loudly that she was unaware some people in the outlet had unwantonly heed to her crap of the day rather helplessly.
And i was one of those reluctant eavesdroppers for i could not deviate my ears from her dissonance at a nearby distance. Her local slang was really unbearable and i could imagine that she was the heroine of the day while proclaiming her victories on the other human manipulation she was relating about.
It was definitely a dessert of the day to relish on having finished their main meals prior to that.
I could not help shaking my head in silence how lunch guests like me could tolerate such a bizzare story teller at a matinee crowd. i guess its the same stark sounds you hear when the patrons are office workers.

By the way the word kway teow has many spelling variations as far as the restaurants and eateries are concerned. I have seen Kuih Tiaw ( Malay stalls) Koi Tiau, Kway Tiau. Sometimes i felt funny while slurping my noodle as how it is called. Like kena tiaw like that.

Driving Thru the Interstate Borders

Funny though it may seem but i actually traversed Negri Sembilan and Pahang and back to Kuala Lumpur yesterday in search of my relative's house. No i did not manage to locate their abode and i ended returning home achieving nothing. It was a futile drive but somehow i recalled passing through that Karak Highway when i visited Kuala Lipis a few years ago, Oh how i dreaded driving this stretch of road . As usual you do get to experience the occasional rude drivers and fast vehicles that comes along with their own individual die hard habits that makes a bad hair day
out for you. The weather was really hot and stuffy that makes driving so lethargic as the contouring effects of the landscape affects you. My head was thumping with a strong headache as i move along the ups and downs of the twirling route.

Sad Day

In simple language, sad means something deplorable or pitiful. But i guess today means even more than sad. In the passage of times, we live among the living and and history presided over all things that develops and grows until death do us part. Cynical as it may seems but life is surely inseperable from death. My aunt passed away yesterday night. In all my plucked -up courage and bleak enthusiasm i decided to drive to the deceased home, somewhere in Pahang. It was a few stops along the way for a fast food breakfast, fuel topping, toilet easing, and some phone calling for route guidance from my relatives. The journey ex KL was kind of pleasant and unperturbed. It was so many long years that i have not drove inland in the states of Malaysia on my own and especially those places which were not pretty much my regional territory in other words, areas near my hometown.
The route up Kuala Pilah, after i exited from Senawang was quite a fresh ride. The upscale task of ascending the physical terrain towards the Negri Sembilan royal town was somewhat met with awe and surprises especially the green scenery and beautiful landscapes. It was nice and breathtaking except that traffic was controlled and vehicles riding bumper to bumper all the way stretching from the start until the end. There were all kinds of movers, from sawmill trucks to containers, trailers, ambulance, petrol tankers, liquid movers and of course the ubiquitous protons and other makes.
The road seems infinite; nevertheless uncrowded until i reached Batu Kikir. The name sounds alien to me alright but i was determined to find my way to reach my ultimate destination which is Bukit Mendi, a FELDA settlement which my cousin has made their permanent abode and where my late aunt has called home to her last days. I have not seen her for a very very long time indeed.
We only met during Hari Raya, where chances are if she was well, she would be brought home to her matriarch house to receive close relatives and exchange visits and well wishes. To recount the old days when i was much younger and she was in a fitter maternal days, she was considered a very strict aunt in many ways. Much feared for her strong religious background and strict family rules of tradition and customs , i fondly recalled staying in her house during my primary school long vacation in August or December in the sixties. Being alone by myself means having to live the daily schedule very much on my own. The days were too different from my hustle and bustle city life that i took to sacrifice . Although not much of my own choice to leave my family and home, the first few days were very much anticipated until the days dragged. I spent much of my time wandering and playing on my own. Though i could not see my aunt as often as i want, i behaved very well indeed in the absence of my parents or other siblings. I would run off with the chickens, built small wooden huts as though i would live there and even experience to play "masak masak" imaginatively although i knew i was doing it all on my own. I realised that being alone was much of a pre youth occupation of my life. It was there all the time and i learn from its independence of childhood with not much of a guidance altogether. Was i sent off to be away from my family or was it really a vacation that matters. I realised now that being away sometimes can be quite antagonising or miserable ? which is only felt at night . The nights spent at Mak Hilir's house was a little scary when darkness fell. There were no electricity like back home. There was no TV too. TV was not really an issue until much later in my bigger ages. There were many people who will congregate at her home to learn the Koran and reading its holy scriptures aloud. That teacher was my cousin. She was such a demure lady that later when i returned to stay at Mak Hilir's house, in the later years, her absence was much felt , i would say strongly. She would be my close sister who will feed me and chat with me and looked after me when i am holidaying at Mak Hilir'house.
She of course was Mak Hilir's eldest daughter and she was married off to another nearby relative, thus answering my doubts about her disappearance in the later part of the years.
Such was the scene that vividly plays in my mind at that time. It was play and an indulgence of recreation most of the time. I thought i was a well behaved boy and also a good student that i needed no supervision whatsoever in doing my own things and i enjoyed myself quite deservingly for that. Hooray, no adult folks to mind my business so to speak. Nowadays i would asked my nephews and nieces about how they should perform in school and that they must study hard to be successful. It was a different ball game altogether in terms of coaching and family upbringing. Even parents nowadays are worried about how successful they will see their children through the rest of their lives due to the constant revolving environmental issues of the times.

I recalled one day when my eldest cousin, who is also deceased, came home one evening after he has returned from his job being a Jungle Police for a short break. That evening i saw my aunt crying about him. It was something i could not comprehend but very vaguely i thought it was about him leaving home again or maybe about marriage or girlfriend or something like that. I was too young to understand but the maternal tears that flowed from Mak Hilir's eyes proved to me it was like a mother's love for his son. It was such an emotional state of affair. I just sat there innocently and watched blankly on two people that means a lot to each other. I was slightly affected by the sensitivities around me that particular evening but that again i chose to see and forget but then again now i remember.
I love playing in the rain and it was a thunderous occasion. ( due to the loud thunders prevailing when it rains) The rain must have felled in December then, with its inundating sequences of the place surrounding me. I hid myself so that no one can stop me from enjoying my private shower. I would sit on the wet ground with slicks of mud all over my body but on second thoughts i wonder if i had actually ran around in my birthday suit???? !!!. No wonder kids loves a rainy shower session.
That i could not remember much however but i knew i had a terrific time in a fleeting moment of escapade.