Job done, finally!

I had meant to write this appreciation note about two weeks back but the coronavirus situation in the country simply overwhelmed everything else. Now that everyone is forced to stay in since the 18th of this month, I thought it an appropriate time to say that on 5 Mar 2020, I noticed a group of four men - workers employed by the contracted third-party company, no doubt, since they were not wearing the orange MBSP t-shirts - sweeping Lorong Jernih 4 and clearing the drains of clogged dirt and leaves, especially at a time when the tacoma trees were in full bloom.

So, thank you to the Province Wellesley City Council (Majlis Bandaraya Seberang Perai) for getting this job done....finally! And thank you too to the City Councillor, Michael Tan, for initiating this clean-up after listening to my complaint. But I do hope the contracted company will come back regularly to fulfil their end of the contract without me, or the other residents here, having to complain about them again.

Unsatisfactory service

What with both the City Councils on the island and mainland wanting to raise their assessment rates in the near foreseeable future, my fellow residents of Lorong Jernih 4 and I had attended a session to meet with an MBSP Councillor in December to voice our objections to the proposed rate increase. I had been pretty vocal and insisted that the rates should come down instead of going up since the contractors had not been keeping their side of the bargain to clean our road.

The Councillor explained that there were two groups of workers: one wearing MBSP polo T-shirts meaning they were staff of the city council while the other would wear different coloured T-shirts to indicate they were contracted. I told him that these were not MBSP staff that I could see in my neighbourhood regularly. Why were the real MBSP staff not serving us? Why use contractors who were not doing their jobs properly?

Almost apologetically, the Councillor said he was only collecting information on the objections to the proposed rate increase and anyway, the term of the MBSP Councillors was already coming to an end and new Councillors would be appointed by the Penang government in January 2020.

So imagine my satisfaction when I found out that this Councillor had been reappointed for another term. Good, I can now follow up with him on this sweeping matter. Not mincing my words, I sent him a message through Whatsapp and I really hope something good will come out from it (although my gut feeling is that nothing good will happen.)

Thieves amongst the civil servants

One of my old friends took a flight out from Penang to Kuala Lumpur this afternoon, enroute to England with his family. I know him very, very well; having known him since our primary schooldays at the Westlands Primary School. My friend is very frank and outspoken, and never once would I ever doubt his words. Today, while passing through the Immigration checkpoint (but I believe it is the Customs that are manning the scanners at the airport, isn't it?) at the Penang International Airport in Bayan Lepas, he encountered a very unpleasant experience. Here is his story to his old school mates:

It beggars belief! I was about to lose my Tumi case (nice), skilfully snatched away by immigration officers at Penang Airport’s departure.

I had accidentally stored a power bank in my checked-in luggage. After being in departure, I was asked to go back to check-in and retrieve it. And on my way back, I let the Tumi bag go through the Immigration scanner. I was held back (to delay) by another officer, who ordered me back twice, again through the scanner.

When I got back to retrieve my other stuff, i.e. my belt, passport case, phone etc, I couldn’t find the Tumi bag!

The officers all looked blank - ahead of me was a European man who was putting his belt back. He looked at the female officer who was watching the screen, pointed openly to her that she was the one who took the Tumi bag. She gestured negative, but he continued, persisted in fact, and said that another officer from the adjacent aisle then came over to her and took the bag away. All quite fast.

I then looked over and spoke loudly: "Who took my Tumi!"

Then another officer at the other aisle lifted the bag up in the air and gave to me.

I then thanked the European who winked at me, his back facing them. He said he saw it all. It was very slick, he whispered and walked off. I stood there and stared at all of them.

Isabelle, my daughter them pulled me away to catch our flight to KL. Hey, it just happened, I would have preferred dinner with you guys! Really, thieves amongst Civil servants! Be careful indeed.

Yes, be very careful indeed! Thieves amongst the civil servants. Who would have thought?

Brexit explained

As the United Kingdom stands on the brink of remaining or leaving the European Union, I am reminded of this excerpt from the Yes Minister television series of long ago. Season One, I believe it was, when this exchange took place:

Sir Humphrey: "Minister, Britain has had the same foreign policy objective for at least the last 500 years: to create a disunited Europe. In that cause we have fought with the Dutch against the Spanish, with the Germans against the French, with the French and Italians against the Germans, and with the French against the Germans and Italians. Divide and rule, you see. Why should we change now when it's worked so well?"

Jim Hacker: "That's all ancient history, surely."

Sir Humphrey: "Yes, and current policy. We had to break the whole thing [the EEC] up, so we had to get inside. We tried to break it up from the outside, but that wouldn't work. Now that we're inside we can make a complete pig's breakfast of the whole thing: set the Germans against the French, the French against the Italians, the Italians against the Dutch. The Foreign Office is terribly pleased, it's just like old times."

Bullock cart express, part 2

In June 2013, I had written something about the bullock cart express. Yes, that's right, I'm was referring to the Malaysian postal services. Nothing has changed in the intervening two years. We still get the same bullock cart treatment from the same service provider, namely, Pos Malaysia.

Only this time, my experience is with posting out a letter to Singapore, not receiving one. Here is what happened.

When I returned from Singapore earlier this month, I had to send back to my old school pal there something that belonged to him. So I went to the post office in Bukit Mertajam on the morning of 12th May with my letter. The lady at the counter issued me with the stamp and even gummed an airmail sticker to the envelope without me asking for it. Destination: Singapore. By airmail. How slow could it take to arrive at its destination?

I just found out. My pal in Singapore received my letter yesterday. That's the 22nd of May. Eleven whole days for a letter to travel from Bukit Mertajam to Singapore by airmail. Wow, talk about efficiency from the Malaysian postal service!

Just to place matters in its proper perspective, let me add that the letter was dropped into the post box inside the Bukit Mertajam post office before noon on 12th May -- that's well before their daily cut-off time of 1p.m. -- and the letter bore a Butterworth post mark dated 14th May. Imagine, it already took the postal services TWO DAYS for the letter to travel from Bukit Mertajam to Butterworth. I guess the poor postman must have walked the 11 kilometers from one post office to the other.

And then there are the remaining nine days for the letter to move from the Butterworth post office to my friend. Who is at fault: Singapore Post or Pos Malaysia? How long does Singapore Post take to deliver mail within their borders? And how long does it take Pos Malaysia to ensure that an airmailed letter would travel from Penang to Singapore?

Eleven whole days for delivery. Excuse me, there are scores of flights everyday between Malaysia and Singapore. Did my letter actually travel by air from Penang to Kuala Lumpur and from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore? Or did it travel by air directly from Penang to Singapore? Or, did the postal services simply ignore their own airmail sticker and send my letter over surface mail, meaning, overland? I dread to think that if it had taken so long for an airmail delivery, how much longer it would take if their counter staff had not affixed that sticker on the envelope.

Do Singapore Post and Pos Malaysia have a KPI for their delivery processes? Definitely, I am owed an explanation. There are just too many occurrences of inefficiencies in the delivery system.

Chilaka! Typical low-life in today's Malaysian society

No one disputes the fact that the mamaks also have a right to use the Speaker's Corner at the Esplanade in Penang for their anti-anti-sedition act speeches. But when such attempts at their so-called "intelligent" public exchanges of opinion descend into chaos and threats of bodily harm against people who do not agree with them, then such acts must be condemned as defiant hooliganism.

It doesn't take any right-thinking Malaysian to conclude that in the first place, the mamak hooligans weren't interested in a civil exchange of opinion. Indeed, their recent actions at the Esplanade can only be explained as carried out at the behest of their dumbo masters. As usual, their boorish attitude and threats can be put done as a reflection of their poor upbringing.

But more disturbing is the fact that the Police allowed such disruptive acts to continue by just looking on instead of doing something concrete to protect the people. If such cowardice acts are allowed to continue, I have concerns that the country risks sliding into a fascism, if it has not already happened.

One step forward, two steps backwards

This is the quality of the English language as practiced by the Malaysian society today. In my opinion, the English language here has gone to the dogs, no thanks to the education policy perpetuated by the federal government.

"Is so regret that one of our customer house was burnt. While the time we pay the visit. We found there are a lot of multi socket and extention cord were using. It really a very dangerous action. Anytime overload will caused fire. If you or your family & friends is do in this way. Please share this to them and ask them stop to do that. You can PM us your detail. We will arrange and do a free on site inspection for you, to ensure you are live safety.

**Base on first come first serve. Every week we only serve 20 customers. Temporary only for Penang island customer only. Please share this to them and ask them stop to do that."

Herd mentality, herd instinct

I have been reading today that there are scores of Malay Malaysians protesting - sometimes violently and threateningly - outside McDonald's outlets in several parts of the country, the reason being McDonald's alleged funding support for the Jewish state of Israel.

Darn, are they so shallow until they have no mind of their own? Don't they understand that all these boycotts and protests will never change anything in the world? Business will continue to go on for McDonald's. The only people that will be hurt are the staff in these local fast food outlets: these innocent people who have nothing to do with the Jews or non-Jews but only seeking a decent and respectable living for themselves.

If these protesters are so diligent in boycotting McDonald's or some other businesses, here's a level-headed perspective from one of my cousins, Amy, which they should very well heed:

LET'S BOYCOTT!

Let's all boycott everything US. Why only McDonald's or Starbucks... 

• Let's boycott all Hollywood movies - go watch only our local movies (go watch Mamak Cupcake)
• Let's boycott Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Google, Skype, etc... all these are also US products, right? They too might be supporting indirectly, right?
• Let's boycott all mobiles, computers and tablets from the US.
• Let's boycott all franchised outlets from the US. Stop eating US brands.

So now that we are boycotting all US products (just to be safe), let's close down all your Facebook, Twitter, email accounts, etc.

Wanna boycott? Let's boycott properly and not just on a few only because we suspect they have links to Israel. Remember, you are not allowed to sentence anyone until you can really prove them guilty! Go and get all the financials and do your research before you sentence any organisation as guilty.

By the way, those people who work in Starbucks, McD are just earning their honest wages. They are not guilty; so stop harassing them. If you think what they are doing is wrong, then go employ all these people. Else, you are guilty of breaking their rice bowls. 

If you cannot do all that, then please stop all this nonsense.....

Well said, Amy!

High hypocrisy!

All those holier-than-thou politicians who have expressed outrage over a few people traipsing in the buff on some secluded beaches in Telok Bahang, Penang are nothing but self-styled morality police and sex-crazed pricks trying to take the moral high ground.

Surely, there are more important issues endangering the moral fibres of our country that must be addressed, are there not? 

Primarily among them are the hypocrisy of those in high places. Then there is corruption and inequality. And not least, the ever presence of racism which doesn't seem to be snuffed out by the authorities but instead, is being quietly fanned and encouraged to fester.

Feeling helpless: that numbing effect

I had a rather disturbed sleep last night and I woke up this morning feeling glum and mighty sad. I've never felt so sad over something about Malaysia before, not even when Malaysia Airlines MH370 disappeared in March this year. Now, almost five months later, another tragedy has befallen the country and Malaysia Airlines.

I read about MH017 before midnight, my eye having been caught on a breaking story on one of the webpages I was visiting. The story was about an airplane crash involving Malaysia Airlines. What, I thought with disbelieve, not another disaster involving our national airlines?

But true enough, the breaking news became a developing news story throughout the night. I was too tired to read the news from the Internet and retired to bed soon afterwards. I awoke at half past two and had a listless sleep after that.

This morning, the first thing I did was to check the news and yes, it was confirmed that MH017 had crashed in eastern Ukraine with no survivors from among the 298 passengers and crew.

The general mood here in Malaysia was one of devastation. Even before the authorities could get to the bottom of MH370, here comes another one. An aeroplane shot down from the sky by a surface-to-air missile. Why did it have to happen?

Okay, so we know that MH017 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, and it was flying over Ukraine which is practically in the midst of a civil war with the Russian-backed separatists battling the Ukrainian armed forces.

By right, common sense would have told the airlines to avoid flying across conflict zones, regardless of whether the International Civil Aviation Organisation said it was safe or not.

I've been reading this morning that the corridor through Ukrainian airspace is the shortest distance from Europe to South-east Asia. For a financially distressed airline like Malaysia Airlines, it makes financial sense to use this route if there are savings to the fuel consumption. Many other airlines also fly along this corridor but they have now all stopped after the MH017 crash.

The fact remains that it is not worth taking this risk through Ukraine or any other conflict zones for that matter. Business organisations should not be taking such risks especially when lives are concerned. Here, the blame will surely lie squarely with Malaysia Airlines for not evaluating the risk factor properly when deciding that their aeroplanes can fly across and above conflict zones. And now, Malaysia Airlines are paying dearly for their ineptitude.

With this second international incident involving a Malaysian asset within five months, is it any wonder then that we Malaysians are feeling so numb and devastated today?

Gaji buta, of course!

Ah, but this is Malaysia, not Norway, not Ireland, not anywhere else in this world. This is Malaysia where all free-loading government employees believe it is their birth right to enjoy their jobs and perks with little responsibility. It's called "gaji buta".

Read it here.

Singing the RTD blues

Every time that I need to renew my road tax at either the Road Transport Department or the Post Office, I am filled with a sense of trepidation. Both their computer systems are connected, see, so that it is possible to renew the road tax and driving licence at the Post Office without having to step into the Road Transport Department.

But always, I dread having to deal with either of them. Always, these questions run through my mind. Will the RTD's computer be up and running? Will the RTD's computer be slow? Will the Post Office's system be on-line to the RTD network? I've experienced RTD's downtime or slowtime on so many times before that every time my road tax renewals loom, I often say that I've to make time the whole day long just to get them done.

But don't get me wrong; I don't have so many vehicles that it becomes a regular chore for me. No, I just need to do it five times a year (out of 365 days in a year) but it is bad enough. One car under my name, another car under my wife's name, an old car registered in my son's name, my daughter's car which she uses in Kuala Lumpur and of course, we still have an old motorcycle.

Luckily, my trip to the Post Office at Chai Leng Park on mainland Penang went smoothly enough this morning and I was able to catch two birds with one stone. The RTD's computer was running fine and I was able to renew the road tax for both my daughter's car and the motorcycle.

I remember that in November last year, the RTD computer system was running slow and it was impossible for me to renew a road tax at the Post Office. "You'd better go directly to RTD and hope that their system is available," the Post Office staff told me.

And so I went there. And the hall was filled with people. There were more than a hundred numbers ahead of me in the queuing system. At the counters, the RTD staff had displayed a sign telling people that their system was down. What to do but to sit down and wait, and hope for the best? But after about an hour of waiting and the queue numbers not moving, I had decided to go home.

I went back to RTD again after a few days and still saw a large crowd in the hall. But at least, their system was up, and intermittently down. And it was exasperatingly slow when up. Again, I sat down for a long wait. Eventually, my turn arrived and I crossed my fingers hoping that their system would not die while processing my road tax renewal.

It didn't. I managed to get my renewal done. And their computer system went down again.

Now you see why I was so relieved that I could walk in and out of the Post Office within 20 minutes this morning? I've the whole day before me now, thank god for that....

Again, fire them, don't hire them

It wasn't the first time that I had made a complaint to the Province Wellesley Municipal Council (MPSP) about the uncleared drains along the road where I'm staying and I very much doubt whether it will be the last time either.

In the not-so-distant past - actually, 22 days ago - I noticed a worker from MPSP, a REAL worker under the direct employment of MPSP, had come round to Lorong Jernih 4 in Bukit Mertajam to remove dried leaves clogging the drains that ran along the front of our houses. The MPSP had responded to my complaints through the #betterpenang application on my iPad. The worker said that he was just a back-up since the MPSP contracted company was not doing anything.

Three weeks passed. I saw the dry leaves building up in the drains again. Still water. Perfect condition for mosquitoes to breed. Dengue fever all around us, remember? Where were the MPSP contractors? Weren't they supposed to have been contracted to sweep the roads and clear the drains of rubbish? Where were they when you wanted them?

Then two days ago on 26 Feb 2014 as I was driving through, I saw these two fellas removing rubbish from a drain along Tingkat Muhibbah 7. Now, Tingkat Muhibbah 7 was just round the corner from Lorong Jernih 4. I was heartened. The contracted workers were here. They'd clear all the drains of rubbish, especially the dried leaves.

But I should have known better. When I came back a few hours later, a glance at the drain showed me that they had not come round to my road at all. I must also add that this was NOT the first time that these contracted workers have given us a miss. In fact, it made me think whether this was done on purpose since nobody was reporting on them and none of the residents, in their opinion, probably cared. But I do care. I pay my council assessment every year and I expect that whoever is supposed to do this job will do his job properly.

So yesterday, I sent another complaint to MPSP through the #betterpenang app, attaching a picture of the drain in front of my house.

This morning past nine o'clock, I heard some slight noises along the road. Two MPSP workers, not workers from the MPSP contracted company, were busily clearing the rubbish from the drains. Oh, they told me, they were here because the contract workers have not been doing their job. Same old, same old. Same old story. I could have said: told you so.

So what is the MPSP going to do in the long term? Have their own staff go round the mainland to clear up on a job which has not been done well or at all by the company that was contracted to do it in the first place? Wouldn't that be self-defeating?

If I were the MPSP president, I would have oiled the big wheels of action already. Heads must roll and I wish to repeat my assertion that the contracted company must be fired from this job. If a small task like this is beyond the company's control, they do not deserve to be on the MPSP's payroll any longer.

Fire them, don't hire them

For quite some time now, I've had the #BetterPenang app installed on my iPad2. This is an application that's also available to Android users, and what it does is that it opens an avenue to make complaints, suggestions and ideas to both the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) and the Province Wellesley Municipal Council (MPSP). The app was developed by volunteers but has the support from both the local councils.

Until about eight, nine or 10 days ago, I've never used it to lodge any complaint with the local councils. That changed about a week before the Chinese New Year holidays when I noticed that the drain along my road was chockful of brown leaves and there was even empty drink cans that had been discarded by irresponsible visitors to the neighbourhood.

When a week passed by without any sign of anyone coming to clear the drain, my wife asked me to make a complaint to the MPSP. And that was how I decided to give the #BetterPenang app a second look.

My complaint was posted to #BetterPenang right after the Chinese New Year but several days passed without any action taken. Thereupon, I made a second complaint as a follow-up to the first one.

I was wondering as to the effectiveness of this app when on the seventh of February, I noticed two workers from MPSP walking along the length of the road and digging into the drain. So now I know that the local councils actually do respond to the feedback through this app.

But I was curious. Why did the council respond so late to my complaint and indeed, after only two complaints were made? I went up to one of them to ask, but of course, after thanking him first. "Thanks a lot, bro, for clearing the rubbish from the drain. How often do you all do this kind of thing?" An innocent but loaded question.

"Actually," he said, "this isn't my job at all. I'm here as a back-up only. Somebody had complained and because the contractor had not responded, my boss at the MPSP asked us to look into it as quickly as possible."

Which again begged another question: if this job has indeed been sub-contracted out to a contractor and he is not doing his job, what is the MPSP doing about it? It is not only a matter of clearing the drains which I know, definitely, have not been cleared for a very long time but also a matter of sweeping the road where I stay on a regular basis. I know for sure that I hardly ever notice any sweeper along Lorong Jernih 4. A once-a-week sweep of the roads is not enough. Should be done daily, not weekly. And the MPSP should demand that their contracted workers all do their jobs properly. If not, sack them, terminate the contract, whatever. Give this job to some other companies that are hungrier.

New airport? Bad idea!

I'm totally appalled. I could not believe my eyes reading the news items in online news portals like The Malay Mail Online and The Malaysian Insider where the Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng, had formally written in to the Acting Minister of Transport, Hishammuddin Hussein, asking him to approve the construction of a second runway at the Penang International Airport in Bayan Lepas or alternatively, build a new airport for the state.

I can fully understand the need to build a second runway if land permits it - and from what I have learnt from Guan Eng's assertions, there is land for it - because the growth from Penang's tourism industry will outgrow the full capacity of the present airport.

But to build a new airport? Huh? Better be careful there. The last time that the issue of a second airport was raised, that wily old fox, Mahathir Mohamad, had wanted to build one in Sungai Petani. It was only due to the timely(?) providence that the Asian financial crisis hit Malaysia in 1997 that Mahathir's airport plan was scuppered. If not, all of Penang's airport tourist traffic would have been diverted to Kedah by now. Where then would that leave Penang?

And with Guan Eng suddenly asking for a new airport, this is just like providing the ammunition to the Barisan Nasional regime in Putrajaya and Alor Star from reviving this project again. No doubt, a calculated risk but positively not a good idea coming from the man who is supposed to lead Penang to greater heights. He shouldn't be opening his mouth like that without consulting his people, who should know better than to advise him in this fashion.

Inconvenient truth: the beleaguered poor needs help

While driving to dinner last night with my wife, she was relating to me a story about the old guard at her office. Their daytime guard is contracted from independent security firms. I don't know which security firm her office uses but I do know that there are several around. Some are big ones and some are pretty small but presumably, their hiring policies should be more or less the same.

The story she wanted to tell me was that she discovered that the guard had gone to see a doctor recently and the doctor had diagnosed that he was weak and suffering from malnutrition. This came as a complete shock to me. I knew the guard was poor but to learn that he was malnourished, well, that puts his poverty into a different perspective.

How could he be malnourished, I inquired. Apparently, according to my wife, the doctor told her that he had been subsisting only on instant noodles. Not maggi mee, but the even cheaper ones. And he had been eating only noodles for a very long time. You see, there was not enough money in his household to buy anything else.

This is the unfortunate plight of many poor in this country. If you can read my blog, that means that you already have the means, you have the money, you are wealthy enough to pay for your Internet usage either directly or indirectly.

However, the poor guard does not care much for the Internet; he is more worried about where his next meal will come from. And the problem is compounded because in his line of work, he is paid only for each day he works. If he is sick and cannot work, he is not paid for that day. There is little or no healthcare provision from his employer, the security company. He cannot take any leave because his wages will be deducted for those off days too. He needs to work long hours and he needs to work on Saturdays and Sundays because this is all survival money to him and his family.

So knowing all this, do you have a tinge of compassion in your body? Would you want to do something to help this person's dignity? Giving him money will not help solve his problem but my wife suggested that a regular contribution of small nutritional food rations will go a long way to help people such as him. I think too, the Penang government should look into their programme to eradicate poverty and see whether this old guard - and others like him - qualifies for their monthly assistance.

Contrast

Just a few days ago, I was so filled with a warm glow after experiencing how the service centre of one political party was going out of their way to make amends with me over a goof-up which saw the application for my aunt's death benefits go missing before it was even submitted to the Land Office for processing. It is the correct thing to do that when things go wrong, acknowledge the mistakes and then act of them fast. This political party sure knows how to appease the people.

And what a vast contrast my experience provides to this story that I picked up from Malaysiakini just a few days ago. Date stamped 6 October 2013, Nigel Aw told an embarrassing tale of a group of disabled people.

When people do not perform the job they are expected to do, they are a disgrace to their employer. In this case, the Director of the Kulim Welfare Department is a disgrace to the government. Imagine, hiding in her room and refusing to even meet a disabled man after he had crawled up the stairs. Can you blame the general public if they say the civil service is rotten to the core?

According to the writer: "A disabled man resorted to crawling up a flight of stairs in a bid to submit a memorandum to the Kulim Welfare Department (JKM) after its director snubbed his association.

"When contacted, Padang Serai MP N Surendran said some 50 members from the Persatuan OKU Setia Daerah Kulim had protested outside JKM to voice their grouses about welfare benefits about 3pm today.

"However, he said Kulim JKM director Rohana Yusof refused to receive the memorandum and instead chose to remain at the department's office on the first floor of the municipal council building complex.

"After waiting for over an hour under the hot sun, Surendran said one of the association's committee members, 53-year-old Gnana Pragasan, who cannot walk, decided to personally go up to the first floor and hand the memorandum to Rohana. "With the memorandum in his mouth, he used his hands to climb all the way up and banged the door until the director finally came out to receive the memorandum," he said.

"Surendran said the incident today illustrated the welfare department's insensitivity towards the disabled and elderly in the country. "It is a sucker punch for the disabled community, it is a national shame... the (Woman, Family and Community Development) minister must answer," he said.

"Surendran said among the grouses in the memorandum was the fact that the Kulim JKM office was on the first floor where disabled people found it difficult to access. They were also upset that JKM officers have refused conduct site visits to disabled people who cannot personally visit the department's office for assessment, while others were unhappy that they were not receiving their welfare allowance. Also present at the scene were Lunas state assemblyperson Azman Nasrudin and PKR legal bureau chief Latheefa Koya."
 

Nobody bothered, of course!

Still carrying on from my post yesterday, I had unearthed a little obscure news report in The Straits Times of 25 Nov 1960. I'm sure many of our politicians would feign ignorance by claiming to be too young (or not even born) to be aware of this news item but there you have it: as long as 53 years ago, educationalists were already warning us against lowering our educational standards. Today, the insidious federal government politicians have been exposed for their own self-serving mediocrity.

Feeling annoyed over education in Malaysia

I am feeling very annoyed and indignant today because there is this stupid kosong kepala of a federal government minister who said that those Malaysians who have no confidence in the country’s education system as outlined in the National Education Blueprint can send their children to study abroad. This, coming from Idris Jusoh who is the Education Minister II.

Does this mean that if we do not have the means to send our children overseas, we have to put up with your silly blueprint? No, we still have got to see that we can get the best possible solution in our own country. In this very own country. And if this means making proposals to improve the blueprint contrary to the recommendations, it has to be done.

So please, lah, don't talk about taking our children overseas. Be prepared to listen and improve. Sell your idea to us parents. Convince us that the blueprint is the right direction. Your antagonistic attitude is totally not helpful at all. Instead of engaging concerned parents and educationalists, the federal government wants to ram their new proposal down everyone's throat without dissent.

On another similar matter, I was alarmed to read a long post on facebook by Dr Ramasamy who is the Chief Minister II in the Penang state government. He was ranting and commenting on the slide in the global rankings of our Malaysian public universities, but he really had hit the nail on the head. His comments were quite informative, factual and well-argued. All these truths are, however, being ignored by the powers-that-be in the federal government and as we know, they live in their own misguided utopia.

"Are we surprised that the Malaysian public universities further declined in the global rankings of universities. Out of the 800 universities ranked by World University Rankings 2013/2014, the top 10 included universities from UK and USA. Malaysia was nowhere within the top 100 universities. University Malaya fell from 156 place in 2012 to 167, UKM 261 to 269, USM from 326 to 355, UTM went up from 358 to 355, UPM from 360 to 411 to 420, IIUM from 401-450 to 501-550 and UITM from 601 to 701. So how do you explain the dismal performance of our leading public universities. First, our universities basically serve as government departments catering for the employment of Malays. Qualified non-Malays are not taken as both lecturers and employees. Public universities in line with the racist policies of UMNO are meant as a Malay preserve. Second, research and development, quality teaching and critical exposure remains at the symbolic level. Dissent and critical thinking are not tolerated in public universities especially those ideas that directly challenge the entrenched powers. Third, UMNO is basically the guardian "angel" of public universities. Positions like deans, vice-chancellors, deputy vice-chancellors and others are meant for UMNO members or those who toe the line of UMNO. Fourth, very few qualified non-Malays are recruited as lecturers and promotions are few and far between. Fourth, promotions to associate professors and professors are not based on academic ability and quality publications, but rather how political networks are established and maintained. Fifth, given the lack of academic leadership, there is little or no competition amongst students to excel in academic studies. Sixth, publications by lecturers and professors are not of international standard. Quantity is more important than quality. I can go on stating more reasons as to why the Malaysian universities are on the decline and why without a greater political transformation, it would be impossible to rectify the system."

Thank you for voting Barisan Nasional

The people of Malaysia are now paying the price for the wanton spendings of a reckless federal government. Not just of this Najib regime alone, but also that of the Mahathir and the Badawi regimes. Your support of their corruption and blatant lies has now come back to haunt everybody!