Malaysia: Wish List 2010

"What do Malaysians want next year?" The Deputy News Editor of THE STAR, B.K. Sidhu reflects. Read her piece here.

"NEXT Friday, we herald in a new decade, which is the second decade of the 21st century.

Time Magazine described the first as “The Decade from Hell” mainly for those living in the United States as they had to deal with 9-11, Hurricane Katrina, anthrax letter scares, snipers on the loose, and the many Wall Street scandals.

The near collapse of the global financial markets left many in desperation and numerous businesses busted.

Will things get better in the next decade?

I do not have a crystal ball but experts believe we have yet to see the last of the financial meltdown amidst a tepid and fragile global recovery.

That aside, the spotlight is on Malaysia again as 2009 nears its close.

We have come under intense global scrutiny for the two jet-fighter engines, missing from a military base where security is supposed to be tight. To some people, this is a clear case of worsening corruption in the country.

We as a nation seem to have lost our way in the spurts of development over the years and those interviewed for the purpose of this column seemed to think that we have to go back to basics.

We need to undo some of the things before they get worse as we need to keep Malaysia safe and economically vibrant for the next generation.

Topping the list of things that need to be addressed urgently in 2010 are crime and corruption but equally important are other issues that affect the rakyat. Here is what they have to say:

1. Crime-busting: Malaysians need to feel safe in their homes and on the streets. Nip the menace of snatch thieves, burglaries and kidnapping in the bud.

Get the backyards cleaned up before going after the engine thieves or those involved in immoral activities. Safety is king for the rakyat.

2. Corruption: Malaysia now ranks 56th out of 180 countries in the world for the worst-corrupted nations, according to Transparency International. The engine fiasco may set us back by a few notches.

To stand tall again, the journey has to be mean and thorough, just get going to fight corruption.

3. Education: Human capital development starts from the foundation years and not when a child is in Form 4, 5 or university. Political will is needed to reform the education system, and get it right once and for all.

4. Green Malaysia: It is a nice thought but can we start by separating the garbage on a daily basis before doing bigger things?

5. GST: The Government needs to articulate better on policies regarding the goods and services tax (GST) or else there will be more debates than dialogues.

With GST and real property gains tax, taxes on goods and services should come down and personal income tax reduced. If Singapore’s income tax is at 20%, we should bring ours down to the same level.

Reducing taxes will put more money in the wallets of the rakyat and the people will then have a choice to either spend or save. Both ways will work well for the Government as there will be increased domestic consumption or savings.

6. Healthcare: The cost of healthcare is spiralling. While it is good to push for medical tourism, the Gini coefficient (as a measure of inequality of income or wealth) is widening.

That means healthcare and education may not be attainable to the ordinary wage earner in the foreseeable future, given our spiralling living costs.

Serious dialogues are necessary and perhaps a safety medical net is needed to make healthcare more affordable.

7. Childcare: We aspire to be a high-growth, high-income country and that means we cannot continue to have cheap labour. Parents need to work and they need to have someone to care for their children and the wages paid to do this are often low.

We need to devise a system whereby day-care centres for children can sprout and businesses chip in to fund the centres. In that way, the parents can work near the centres and, with businesses helping to fund the centres, the burden will not be so much on the Government.

The care givers should be certified professionals and, if done properly, this can create a new sub-sector in the services sector.

8. Too young to retire at 55 or even 58: Make it mandatory for people, both in the civil service and private sector, to retire at 60. Retiring people at 55 when they can still contribute is a sheer waste of talent. Re-look this policy and make a speedy decision.

To undo something will take time but, if no effort is made at all, things will only get worse."

But then, don't they sound almost like making new year resolutions on the individual level which oftentimes fail? To do all these is one lofty task. The powers to be seems powerless even to clean the backyard of their political parties, much less than to go after crimes,shoddy workmanship for civil work collapse and the multifaceted corruption that has mutated here in the country. Also much need to be done towards rebuilding the image of such institutions as the police,the MACC and the judiciary.

Back-pedaling on policy measures should also stop in 2009. Think before you act. The sad imbroglio involving the reversal of Science and Maths to be taught once more in Bahasa Malaysia, the controversial 10 to 12 subjects for the SPM, RPGT, 15 Years old mandatory check by PUSPAKOM and the silly credit card tax are making toes laugh!

Malaysia: We Aren't Bigots, Are We?

"A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN ORDINARY MALAYSIAN" encapsulates the spirit of friendship in days of old before politicians 'screwed' it all up. During the days of the first premier, solutions to community problems between the races were easily settled over a durian party or a curry puff and teh tarik;these days it is not that easily done.

This nostalgic piece was written by Mariam Mokhtar on December 14. It was featured in the Malaysian Insider,an online newspaper on 26 December 2009. It makes interesting reading.

I append it whole-sale.

"I wake up and retrieve the newspaper lodged in the letter-box. My “[K....g] paper” has delivered it faithfully, come rain or shine.

I go to the kitchen and make breakfast. Into the toaster goes the bread sent to my home, the previous afternoon, by my “[K....g] roti”. It has been made by the local bakers, the FBI — Federal Bakery Ipoh — owned by an [Indian Muslim convert].

But if I am out for breakfast, it is usually a roti canai at my local Indian’s. Followed by a char koi tiau snack from “auntie”, a Chinese lady.

Halfway through the morning, the sound of a horn alerts me that Ah Fatt,our “grocer on wheels”, has arrived. He brings me fresh vegetables, fish and the usual dried condiments.

Once a month, our local “[K....g] botol” comes round to collect our empty bottles. Our “Cina paper” too comes to collect the old newspapers.

My neighbour comes round with some pisang [banana] grown in her garden. She is Indian, married to a Chinese policeman. I am grateful for his tips on how to keep my house secure. When my ubi kayu harvest is plentiful, I’d go round and return her kind gesture.

I have a gardener. His name is Velu. From the name, you can guess he is Indian. He is much adored by my children. If my son is not in his room, I know where to find him — under the mango tree, in the garden, sharing chapatti, dhall and “tapau” teh tarik with Velu. I told my son off for demolishing Velu’s packed breakfast, but Velu was happy to share his meal. Both were sporting toothless grins — Velu has no teeth and can’t afford dentures. My toddler has just lost his two front teeth.I’ve no idea what they chat and laugh about. Sometimes not a lot of gardening gets done. But who cares? At least they're happy. When Velu died, my son was distraught. He had been with our family for decades and refused to be pensioned off.

My general practitioner for the usual coughs and colds is Chinese. All women have a gynaecologist — mine is Indian. And my dentistis Chinese. These people provided services to my parents in the past, and I simply carried on with them. No complaints. Good service. Reasonable fee.

I did go to a Malay doctor once, but he was more interested in “tackling” my younger sister. I dismissed his lack of professionalism as testosterone driven. He was still a bachelor then.

And on the second visit, years later, he was fishing for information about other members of my family. One personal question might be excusable. But twice is too much of a coincidence. I never did return to him. In my eyes, his professional conduct was compromised by these intrusions. I know I shouldn’t be generalizing, but this was my personal experience.

When I had to be admitted to hospital, the surgeon who operated on me was Indian. The nurses were either Chinese or Indian.

I once had to use the services of a lawyer — an Indian.

The person who supplies me with stationery is a Chinese woman married to an Indian man. She once supplied my father’s business with his office stationery needs.

When I once had a leaky water tank, the plumber who successfully mended it was an Indian. He now takes care of all the house’s plumbing repairs. He was my parents’ plumber too.

When my house needed new electrical wiring, the electrician was a Chinese person. When I needed outside electrical work to be done, the electrician was Indian. Both had provided long-term services to the family.

Before Raya, I would go to my Chinese tailor to make my baju kurung. My hair is cut by a Chinese woman. As before, these people once supplied my mother, all her tailoring and hair-grooming requirements. My father’s barber is an Indian.

Again, before Raya, my mother’s Chinese friends at work would send tins of “love letters”, kueh kapit, for us to enjoy and serve at our open house. And early on Raya day itself, several plates of pie tee would arrive and my father’s Indian colleagues would send a big pot of chicken curry and putu mayam. The dining table groans with our rendang and the contributions from our friends, of all races and religions.

For several decades, until my parents were too old and infirm to receive guests, we would have an open house that was a riot of people sporting various national costumes. A real melting point — a true reflection of Malaysia.

These people once provided my grandparents and my parents essential services. Either that, or they were colleagues at work, or friends from their younger days. They, who have grown old alongside my grandparents and parents.

And now, people are telling me that these non-Malays whom I have grown up with and who have remained friends, through thick and thin, are second-class citizens? That they do not deserve to be Malaysians? That they are far inferior to me?

So am I to believe that should my neighbour’s husband, a Chinese, make the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, that his life is not as valuable as a Malay police-man’s?

"Who are these self-serving, self-righteous bigots kidding?"

Anyone would like to do a Masters in Sociology on how to improve upon ethnic relations in Malaysia? That should also make interesting reading.

Malaysia: On a Hope and a Prayer

It was an uneventful year at the Malaysia bourse. Those who got into the market in April made their cash pile and exited. That money must have gone into buying houses, renovation or bringing the family abroad for a holiday.

The other die-hards stayed on, averaged down on dips and continue to see losses. So who do the authoirites blame? Yes, on the lack of foreign interest and continuous selling out by foreign investors.

So on the wing of a prayer, the fund managers and 'futurologists' of the stock market i.e. the investment banks are expecting foreign interests to return and to go after key blue-chip government-linked companies and blue-chips with regional aspirations

FOREIGN interests are expected to return to Malaysia's equity market next year due to the announcement of the country's revitalisation and further liberalisation measures.

OSK Research, in its Investment Strategy for 2010, said foreign interests are expected to go for key blue-chip government-linked companies (GLCs) and blue-chips with regional aspirations.

It said the level of foreign shareholding in the broader Malaysian market and in blue-chips has fallen from the high in early 2007.

"It is only in a few select companies such as CIMB, that we see foreign ownership rose somewhat in the second half of 2009," it said.

OSK said blue-chip GLCs that had seen a lot of foreign selling previously such as CIMB, Axiata and Tenaga Nasional, would actually be among the key beneficiaries when these foreign interests return to Malaysia in a big way.

"Blue chips with regional aspirations like Genting and Hong Leong will also attract foreign interests," it said.

OSK said its three-pronged investment strategy for next year includes buying shares in firms which are likely to benefit from growing ties between Malaysia and China, the world's new growth engine.

Another is buying laggard blue-chips, including GLCs that would benefit from an increasingly performance-based culture, it said.

"Companies with regional growth endeavours will be a bonus," it said.

Let us see whether there is any foreign action when the new morn dawns in 2010 which is just mere days away.