I dedicate this blog to updating Malaysians on the latest crisis + news that are affecting our country. I will also at times share my personal political and economic views. My opinions are subject to debate should any readers feel that my opinions are invalid.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Stop 114A!!!
It is an amendment to Malaysia’s Evidence Act 1950 which enables law enforcement officials to hold you accountable for publishing seditious, defamatory, or libelous content online, as long as the allegedly defamatory content is traced back to your username, electronic device, and/or WiFi network. Section 114A presumes you are guilty of publishing illicit content on the Internet unless you can prove otherwise. In short, you are considered guilty until proven innocent.
Scenario:
For more info on what is it, how you can stop it, what we can do about it, please visit the official Facebook page or visit their blog for more info.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
A Malaysian, in the Olympics
Perhaps the most important thing that everyone failed to see about the Olympics, is that it has unconsciously brought the nation together as one. This is the time of a racial tension, a tough racial divide amongst us all. Yet one man, stood tall and against all odds fought to the very last second and close to the very final point, has successfully united our nation and promote the name Malaysia for the world to know.
Compared to the leaders of today who tried their very best to put us together as one, this man, shouldered the burden of our nation and united us all in supporting for 1 cause. A Gold for Malaysia. A Gold for Malaysians.
Even though he has failed to get a gold for us all, when he played out there valiantly, he was a Malaysian. When he took a point from his opponent's hand and continued trying for 80 long minutes despite his recent recovery, he was still a Malaysian. And although he lost, he lost, also as a Malaysian.
It is for this very reason, we are and will forever be very proud of him, to carry our flag across the globe, to show the world that a small country just above a little well known island, can fight head to head, toe to toe with the powerful mammoth up north, with pride and honour.
My hats off to Datuk Lee Chong Wei, not for winning a Silver in the Olympics, but for making everyone of us proud, as and to be a Malaysian.
The man who truly won is the man who went against all odds for a country that was never noticed until now.
~ Rin
Thank you, Datuk Lee Chong Wei
Friday, July 27, 2012
The Forgotten Land
~ Mother Teresa
But what about my friend Apai? And my friend Raden? Entulu? Masahor? Gapur? Moggie?
Who are they?
Where are they from?
Have you heard of their names before?
Were they ever in your school books?
Are they foreigners?
Lets go to Johor! We can have some Otak-otak in Muar. Oh oh!!! Mee Bandung too!!! Maybe some Nasi Briyani Gam from Batu Pahat as well.
~ Herman Melville
~ Eugene Victor Debs
~ Jean-Jacques Rousseau
~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Why I am I who I am today, and why I support Bersih.
I was once a Malaysian that held 0% interest in politics and love for the country. I had the belief that as long as I can stand on my own two feet and excel academically, I will be able to succeed anywhere in the world. I never had much love for the country much as I felt the country did not have much love for me. I studied in Australia for my 3 year degree where I had planned to migrate, live there, and die there. Having met people from various backgrounds and nationalities made me felt highly embarrassed to be a Malaysian. Every time a foreigner asked me about my country, I often came up as highly critical.
This all changed after having a chat with an Indonesian girl who overheard my criticism about my country. She was 17+ back then. Yet, she was able to change my life and views completely. I remember she told me that this is the country that I grew up in. No matter how bad it has treated you, this will always be your home. Irreplaceable memories grew from it. Unforgettable friends were made there. Our families live there. Our teachers, neighbours, and everyone else that we love, are still there. Yes, Australia is a better country to live in. A higher income, an easier lifestyle, and a more promising career. But will you be satisfied? Will you be content, living in a foreign land with no roots?
Though 3 years younger than me, she was able to think more maturely. I felt highly ashamed after that, realizing how cowardly I was, I began to ponder upon my actions. For many nights before closing my eyes to sleep, I began to think about my past, my memories and my friends. Yes, those were sweet memories. I remember the tough times that I had went through, the silly things that I did, the sad or even my painful moments.
Looking back, these are the experiences that I can share with my friends, make a laugh about it, and felt great to have live through life in this way. This is the fun-painful times that I too wish my future children will be able to live in. To have a life that I once had, to have a place that they too can term it their one true home, and when they reach my age, talk about it with their friends, and too, smile at it.
My plan was to always run away from this problem. Never once have I thought of facing it.
However, the advice I was given by the girl also made me realize how fortunate I was to have an education, more so one from a prestigious university. It made me realize that if I can stay abroad, who is going to take care of those that I love that are still stuck in the country? Not all my friends and relatives are fortunate as me. Some failed to even enter college because they were just not gifted academically. Who is going to take care of them, if not people like me? More importantly, who is going to take care of my parents while I am gone?
All these thoughts changed me completely. I soon realised that there were many Malaysians, working hard to pave the way towards a true democracy by standing up to the current government. This provided a shed of light to what was what once seemed to be completely dark cave in my world. The unravelling of Bersih 2.0 was this light for me. It made me understand how much home meant. When we sang the national anthem at Federation Square in Melbourne as one people and one voice, I could truly appreciate its meaning, for the first time as a Malaysian.
I would like to end this by sharing a quote from a friend which has touched my heart. “Why is it human nature to remember their bitter memories better than their happy ones? Because it is also human nature that we continue to never stop searching for our happy ones. Would you like to join me and search for a happy future together?”
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Public Transport comparison between PJ + KL with Melbourne.
We all know about the importance of public transport. For one, it takes us into the busiest place in the shortest period of time (yes, I am talking about Kuala Lumpur), provided that it has its own personal road/rail/tunnel etc. It is also cost saving at the individual level (excluding car pooling for some cases) and most important of all, environmental friendly. Now would not this be a better Malaysia, if people were to use public transport more often?
My transport experience in Melbourne
I just recently got back from my three years of study in Melbourne, and I do not own a car there because it was not necessary to own one. In Malaysia however, a car can be categorised under essential goods. We relied too heavily on our personal vehicles to get to work, university, travel and/or even going out to the market which is a five to ten minutes walk away from home!
Unlike my three year stay in Melbourne, I can do all these through public transport alone with hardly any worries of ever being late! Public transport in Melbourne, I dare say, has fulfilled all my general transporting requirements from grocery shopping to work, university and even out for a holiday!
Unlike Australia, most of my Malaysian friends who recently entered college or just started working have already gotten a car on their own or from their parents. Their reason, “it’s hard to get around in KL without a car”. After getting a car, fresh graduates will then complain about having to commit 25% of their monthly income to petrol and car installments and parking spaces everyday while those in Melbourne only complain about trains being three to five minutes late.
Actually, these complaints are the least of their worries. Having no choice but to take roughly an hour to reach home because of the traffic on a journey that is usually 10 minutes or less is another pain in the butt. We are already forced to spend lesser time with our families by working on occasional weekends. Yet, we still have to waste our lives on the road. A simple Subang or Petalling Jaya resident working in KL wastes about 80 minutes (40 minutes for one way) a day for 5 days a week. That is equivalent to a loss of about 6 hours a week! Imagine if Malaysia relies heavily on public transport (such as Melbourne), I dare say that I can reach home in half the time than my current situation.
The difference between Melbourne train system, Metro and KL’s train system.
Metro, Melbourne’s lifeline train company is more efficient than our average KTM, Monorail, LRT etc all combined. Actually, it cannot be compared to the Malaysian train system at all! The difference between these two is one, efficiency, two, price relative to purchasing power and the ticket’s traveling frequency and three, the train’s capacity. I will leave out the first as it is obvious and need not be explained further.
Price Relative to Purchasing Power and the Ticket’s Travelling Frequency
I pay about $10 (RM32) per day for UNLIMITED transport usage. In Malaysia, if I were to take the LRT and the monorail, I will be paying about RM8 for just 2 ways. I have not included the bus fare home or other fares should my boss suddenly ask me to go meet up a client.
Train Size/Capacity
For trains that only operate very close to or within Kuala Lumpur, the frequency is fairly often, which is a good thing. But the amount of passengers it can carry at one time is VERY VERY small. In Melbourne, their city heart-line, Metro, operate their trains at the size of KTM trains (with many more fleets of trains, unlike KTM of course). Metro transports passengers from as far as Cranbourne to Melbourne CBD in one hour. That is as far as Kuala Lumpur to Seremban. Furthermore, the train frequency during busy hours can range from 5 to 10 minutes or even lesser!
What causes this difference? Why are people not driving to the city?
1. Expensive Parking Fees. Why not utilize the efficient public transport instead?
How did the Melbourne government made their people take the public transport instead of driving their own car? For starters, parking in Melbourne is ridiculously expensive. A typical parking lot in Melbourne CBD can cost up to $3 (RM10) to $10 (RM32) per hour! Even though cars are more affordable there, this move have successfully changed the mindset of Melbournians because having to pay (for example) $30 (RM96) a day, five days a week is psychologically more painful (and more expensive in the long run) than paying $6000 (RM19,200) for the car.
2. Efficiency
Probably the most important reason for this difference would be the accessibility of public transport in Australia. This will be surprising for Malaysians because we have not experience the life of efficient public transport and hence may find it hard to believe. In Melbourne, public transport is highly accessible. When I say highly, I mean HIGHLY. Those living close to the CBD area can hop onto the tram anytime (and pretty much anywhere too). Trams have their somewhat private road where cars cannot simply just enter; giving easier access for trams to move and reach their destination on time.
3. Fuel Prices and Environmental Reasons
Fuel is also another determining factor. Malaysian fuel is highly subsidised, unlike Australia. Furthermore, the average Australian is much “greener” than the average Malaysian and hence, chooses to walk or rely on public transport instead of private ones.
The Effect caused by this difference
Those that have never been overseas will fail to see this. Kuala Lumpur is very dense when compared to Melbourne. As mentioned earlier, Metro can ferry passengers during busy hours at the FULL CAPACITY of KTM trains in every 5 to 10 minutes or less. What this creates is people living further away but can still come to the heart of the city on time without having the need to wake up before dawn just to catch the early train or risk lining up for a later train during peak hours.
Furthermore, there are plenty of condos in PJ and KL. Assume a large plot of land having the capacity to fit 40 average houses, with each house owning two cars per family (80 cars for 40 families). Instead of building 40 houses, condos with the capacity to fit 240 families plus two parking lots per condo were built. This averages out to roughly about 480 cars but let’s be conservative and assume 400 cars instead. Now, use this logic/formula for the amount of condos, apartments and flats in Kuala Lumpur, and tell me, HOW ON EARTH are we suppose to cope for the future as more and more condos are being built EVERYDAY?
One more thing to note, there are not that many condos in Melbourne compared to KL and PJ. It is mostly houses. The same for Seoul, Korea and many other developed nations with the exception of a few places such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan.
Imagine the possibility of having people from Seremban coming to KL for work everyday. Would that not allow the majority of KL and Petaling Jaya people to move further outskirt where houses are cheaper but yet, convenient? Their transport to KL will also take about the same time as in their current situation even though they are living closer to the heart of the city
Currently, people in Melbourne are willing to live even further than Cranbourne (the equivalent distance of Seremban to KL) because property prices are increasing every year. Similarly, if KL follows this system, people, too will start to move further and further away. When the population density of a place increases, development will happen even without the forceful development intervention like Putrajaya because Putrajaya is just in between Seremban and KL.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Unity
Ever since Mr. Najib took office on 3rd April 2009, the word unity is still another empty word printed on slogans without much effort in actually putting this word into serious action. Lets look at the latest and hottest slogan promoted by our dear PM Najib himself, 1Malaysia.
The 1Malaysia slogan is now everywhere from Kedai Rakyat 1 Malaysia (KR1M), 1 Malaysia clinics, 1Malaysia pillars, banners, posters etc. I am not trying to blast down the idea as I think this message has successfully reached everyone from the urban cities to rural areas. However, I personally feel that these are just all talk and show but no action as I see many people talking about it, but doing nothing about it. Furthermore, this 1Malaysia slogan is contradictory in so many ways to the extent that instead of promoting unity amongst Malaysians, it is possible that it is doing the exact opposite.
Why is it contradictory? To start off, different race interpret the meaning differently. Dr. Mahathir mentioned in his blog (http://chedet.cc/blog/?p=468) that
“The Malays generally interpret 1 Malaysia to mean real adoption of the national language as the home language by every citizen as happens in other multiracial countries. They also expect the abolition of Chinese and Tamil schools and ensuring the private sector has a fair participation of Malays and other Bumiputeras.”
According to the constitution, the rights of the Chinese and Indians to continue studying in their vernacular schools are protected. So maybe there is a problem with the demands of the Malays.
Similarly for the non-Malays, they interpret 1Malaysia as having abolish the rights of Bumiputeras and a fair and equal treatment towards all Malaysians according to article 8 of the constitution which talks about equality. This is also a problem because the largest proportion of Malaysians which are Malays disagrees with this. They have been brainwashed to think that this is their land and no one else but them have the “legitimate” rights towards Malaysia.
Without a proper outline on what is 1Malaysia, it will just be another empty slogan, at best, no matter how effective the government advertises it. On a more negative scale, it may even create complications and arguments on what is truly 1Malaysia.
Let me give you another example on how contradictory and unhealthy this 1Malaysia slogan can be. In two different speeches given by Mr. Najib and Mr. Muhyiddin, when Mr. Najib tried his best to promote the 1Malaysia slogan, his deputy goes around and tarnishes the slogan by shouting “I am Malay first, Malaysian second”. Even within the party grounds itself we can already see this stark contradiction made by two of the most powerful man in Malaysia. How can Mr. Najib expect Malaysians to understand his slogan if his deputy is confused himself? Or maybe it was Mr. Najib himself that was confused? On a side note, this internal conflict in UMNO was taken advantaged of by PR where Lim Guan Eng checkmated UMNO and BN when he said “I am Malaysian first, and Malaysian last”.
Although our nation is only 54 years old, but our unity has not improved at all. After half a century, I still see Chinese hanging out only with the Chinese, the Malays with the Malays, and Indians with the Indians (in majority by the way). Even when I celebrated Hari Raya in Melbourne, the Chinese and the Indians hardly mixed with the Malays. Neither groups wanted to take the first step in blending in.
Similarly in Malaysia, how often do you get to see this mixture of different races? Hardly any Indians celebrate Chinese New Year; hardly any Malays celebrate Thaipusam (heck, some do not even know the meaning of Thaipusam); hardly any Chinese are able to differentiate the meaning between Hari Raya Puasa/Aidilfitri and Hari Raya Haji! How can we expect unity if such wonderful cultures are not even shared?
To make matters worse, even some conservative Malays are demanding for Muslims to not celebrate Christmas simply because it is an annual celebration to commemorate the birth of Christ. What is wrong with Muslims celebrating Christmas? Do they not know that Nabi Isa, who is also Jesus Christ, is also a well known prophet in the Quran?
Michelle Yeoh once said in an advertisement about a decade ago, “This is Malaysia, truly Asia”. I personally envision and believe that Malaysia, that has three major races, can one day blend together peacefully to create the truly Asian flavour. Lots more work must be done than just the current 1Malaysia slogans. We need more actions from our government. We need to see that the government can be united first, if they ever wish for a united Malaysia. Until our leaders themselves can be effective in showing us some unity, all these hope will just be another dream waiting to be realized.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Why BN must go
Having govern Malaysia for over 54 years, and despite the fact that we could have been better off if the country were to be governed fairly (no corruption and appreciation of talents for example), most Malaysians have managed to overcome the poverty barrier and have a good education as well. However, it is also these very same people that have overcome such barriers that understand how much Malaysia is unappreciative of their talents. Hence, they leave the country which ultimately leads us to a significant brain drain (BD) issue.
How significant is this issue? Let me show you what our fourth Prime Minister has to say.
‘Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad demanded that other countries pay Malaysia for having seduced them to stay, "since, by right, the graduates' training and knowledge should be called intellectual property."’
http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2308&Itemid=400
There must be a reason for Dr. Mahathir to say this, and I am sure every Malaysian knows why. This is living proof on how much talents we have and how unappreciative Malaysia is of its children. Developed countries wanting Malaysian’s intellectual property must mean that we are something – a raw diamond if you wish – and how quick it could have been for us to be a developed nation, if only they stayed and work here instead!
We Malaysians could have stood higher than most developed countries in the world through so many ifs. If there were no race quota; if there were no discrimination; if our party leaders were better examples; if there was a transparent government system and many more. It may sound impossible because no one can turn back time and amend the mistakes of the past. However, if we were to compare to other countries that were on equal or lower footing (eg, Korea) than Malaysia 54 years ago, and compare their policy with ours, we can see that if all these ifs happened, our lives could have been very different from today.
Singapore has achieved its developed status in less than 50 years mainly through their human capital whereas Malaysia has arrived to where it is today driven mainly (majority) by it’s natural resources. If we were to apply both human capital and capital goods into the economy, a simplistic calculation would be that we would have arrived to where we are today in half the time! This means more of our parents would have the privilege to study overseas and receive greater exposure. And who knows, University Malaya may have also maintained its unique standard in the world as one of the best universities around, triggering students globally to want to come to Malaysia instead, much like how many Malaysians today are flying to Australia for example.
As for Korea, here is what Tony Pua has to say.
‘we are failing to achieve our income potential and it cited the damning but instructive example of South Korea where “four decades ago South Korea was markedly poorer than Malaysia, South Korea’s per capita income is now three times higher than Malaysia’s.”’
http://tonypua.blogspot.com/2011/05/equal-opportunity-commission-to-reverse.html
Why is this happening? Go figure, it’s not hard.
Despite all our tragic fate, we did still somehow arrive at the point where the rakyat have begun to think and be aware of what is happening; triggering the Bersih movement not just locally, but also internationally to further spread the awareness. Most of us have somehow managed to understand today that we can no longer live peacefully through tolerance in this unfair country. Tolerance simply means hatred/dislike adding on to patience. If our patience were to die off one day, only hatred/dislike remains and we cannot have a peaceful country based on this. What we need is acceptance. We need to really live on the 1Malaysia concept where, as quoted by Lim Guan Eng, “I am Malaysian first, AND Malaysian last” and not like, as quoted by our deputy prime minister, Tan Sri Muhyddin, “I am Malay first, Malaysian second”.
Malaysians have finally emerge out of the thick hard coconut shell to realize that there is a time ticking bomb of hatred that is going to explode if nothing is done to prevent it. As such, there is a great number of Malaysians today fighting this unfair and tough battle to protect the peace in the country. For this to happen, we need and must have integration within our society. We need cooperation through acceptance of one another to enter the second half of the century of Malaysia. Lastly, we need fair treatment so that our human capital can grow because there’s only a finite amount of natural resources on earth whilst our ideas are infinite.
What we can see from Barisan National, is that although they claim to be cooperating with each other, there is no apparent integration and so, their supporters will only support their race parties. They will continue to tolerate other race parties for as long as the word BN remains official in the papers. Imagine one day if either one of the three parties, say MIC for example, were to leave BN. Will the MIC supporters continue to support MCA and UMNO? My answer is to a large extent, no. The racial party system subconsciously creates a tolerating environment than an accepting one which is not healthy for our future.
Of course, if it’s not for BN, then it must be for PR. However, I want to point out that PR itself is not perfect and should change as well. PR which consists of DAP, PKR and PAS allows different races to enter (PAS allows Muslims only, so technically a Chinese Muslim can join if they want to). This supports the need for social integration which the society desperately requires. Unfortunately, this is still not enough because PAS still segregates people through their religion while DAP is still highly viewed as a communist and Chinese party. If we truly want change, our party leaders must strongly battle the tough journey ahead and push for a truly integrated party where anyone can join.
Although Malaysia may have been “used” to the system of ruling through racial parties, there is no harm in adapting and changing for a better system. This is because those that evolve faster can adapt more rapidly to changing conditions and compete more successfully in harsher environments. As such, BN as lead by Najib today must go down because their mindset are still stuck in the mid 20th century mindset which is obviously not suitable for the Malaysia we all want for the 21st century.