Remember I once asked,
Who Can Lead Us?I didn't exactly expect a response, but
Rox has offered herself up as a living sacrifice. Well, sort of. :)
It's a hoot! You absolutely HAVE to read it!! Now!
Rox's offering should rightly take responsibility for evoking consternation and some very startled expressions in my office. I do derive a significant amount of amusement from the stuff I read online.
But rarely do I bury my nose and mouth in the palms of my hands, to unsuccessfully muffle the snorts of laughter that did escape eventually.
She has a way with words, Rox does. But more importantly, she also has some very salient points, 3 of which I highlight below.
1. The New Economic PolicyThe NEP is just so taboo, that no one really wants to address it. Especially the politicians (with the notable exception of Lim Guan Eng) because at this point, saying anything could lose you some precious votes.
But you know what's wrong with us non-Malays? We tend to curl up in a corner and lick our wounds because we think the nation is doing us such an injustice by perpetuating the implementation of the NEP.
To an extent, it does border on unfairness. But it's nothing compared to what it's doing to the Malays. How it's crippling those it claims to "help" and ensuring that they are eternally buried under their mountain of insecurity.
Guess which despot owns this.
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By the way, it's official - I have bad taste. Both Rox and
GobloKing, among others, think that
this mansion is garishly furnished. But I sure love the pool.
Rox has a penchant for documenting stories of people who live in strange places, bless her heart. The stories about these Malays, I believe, were highlighted by the mainstream media to validate and justify the implementation of the NEP.
But I think they serve as a solid reminder of why the NEP is such a failure. Compare the splendour of the mansion, with the
abandoned toilet and the
chicken coop.
Same country, different world. Product of the NEP.
2. CorruptionPeople I have spoken to in person always disagree with me, but I believe law-enforcement officers must be given better wages and working conditions so that "they won't be tempted by pittance/duit kopi".
It's not so much about the money as it is about instilling pride and integrity in carrying out their duties.
Honestly, it's very distressing to see that the police and militarymen have no more zest for what they do, which happens to be a very important role in our society. They have exchanged their noble calling for the errands of a running dog,
that's what they've done.
They have been bribed into doing the bidding of the evil despots in our country. That desperately begs for change.
As for the despots themselves:
Any minister/administrator found guilty of making lucrative deals with foreign operatives at the expense of the rakyat, and civil servants of accepting bribes in any form or amount, will be tarred, feathered and hanged by their schwanz/kitzler to fry under the sun in front of Parliament from midday to sundown.
Good to know she doesn't practise gender discrimination. Equality for all, baby.
3. EducationThis is so relevant, in the face of
sub-standard institutions of higher learning.
Forget about UiTM. Our children are being educated in schools, where they are taught not to question authority. Or ask why something is done without being told, "It's tradition."
We have the memorise-and-regurgitate rote system that does not enhance creativity or inspire critical thinking. Simply put, we don't think.
The Indians follow the rote system as well. But if you worked in Cyberjaya, you would know that international servers and computer systems for MNCs are manned not by Malaysians but by expatriate Indian systems and software engineers.
Where did we go wrong?
We obviously haven't moved along with world trends when it comes to education. But Rox does a fine job of hashing it out; anything else I say would be redundant.
I feel sorry for all those top students in my class who graduated only to find, that the working world is the complete opposite of life in school.
And I'm sorry for those bored students who never bothered to put in any effort because the education system frankly undermined their intelligence.
I was lucky. I had maths and physics, the only two subjects I shone at, apart from English.
Oh, and I had
Candide. :)
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