Not So Good News …

This is actually old news.

“The Malaysian economy seems to be caught in a middle-income trap - unable to remain competitive as a high-volume, low-cost producer, yet unable to move up the value chain and achieve rapid growth by breaking into fast growing markets for knowledge and innovation-based products and services,” the World Bank said recently.

MEF executive director Haji Shamsuddin Bardan says that Malaysia is currently a net exporter of talent with outflows exceeding inflows. According to him, Malaysia has only about 38,000 expatriates as compared with seventy to eighty thousand in the 1990s. Whereas some 785,000 Malaysians are working abroad, two out of three of which are professionals. “Our ability to attract expatriates is quite challenged,” he said.

Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak wants to make Malaysia a better place to live and work in, to bring back its citizens who are residing overseas and also attract global talent to the country. “We will create more opportunities, more excitement and more buzz in Malaysia to attract the Malaysian diaspora and expatriates to the country,” said Najib.

There must be a reason why people prefer to work elsewhere and not in Malaysia. There must also be a reason why parents prefer their children to be educated in local private schools and in overseas tertiary institutions.

How do we make this country a better place to live and work in? There are so many things that we can do, I don’t know where to start.

Maybe we can start with public amenities, basic infrastructure, living conditions.

Our public transport system sucks. I can say that because I was until recently a user of public transport. It sucks because there is limited connectivity, limited service, limited frequency and frequent interruptions.

The condition of the public roads is far from satisfactory unless you happen to live in the choice neighbourhoods of Damansara Heights or Taman Tun Dr Ismail. The road around KLCC, which is supposed to be the prime-est area of the city, is in terrible condition.

What about the education system? A hot and dusty classroom packed with 45 seven year olds is not exactly the most conducive learning environment. Add a tired, overworked and underpaid teacher into the equation and we’ll get an academic calamity waiting to happen. Inconsistent education policy does not help either. It is fine to have changes, but only if it is for the better.

Piped water is sometimes brown in colour.

The local political scene needs to include elements of maturity, responsibility and accountability. We cannot afford to have racist politicians like Ibrahim Ali who is constantly inciting racial tension. Or rude politicians like Bung Mokhtar with his derogatory statements. We cannot allow our police force to be seen as lackeys of the ruling party. We must have an anti corruption agency (commission) which is truly independent and professional.

In this age of free information (and rumour) flow, we must have responsible and truthful media channels. The days of print and electronic media being the propaganda machinery for the ruling party is over. If news providers want to biased, I would prefer them to state it outright so people will know which side they are on. Don’t pretend to be balanced when it is so obvious that the reporting is skewed towards only one side.

Government policies are quite biased. Quota system, preferential treatment for certain groups is a big disincentive to remain in this country.

The Malaysian judiciary is constantly under attack.

We have a problem with corruption, whether it’s real or perceived or made up, I dare not comment.

Cars are so expensive. Cars are cheaper in almost every other country in the world. I love cars. I cannot afford good nice cars in Malaysia.

When the reasons are right, Malaysians will stay in Malaysia. Even foreigners (other than unskilled Indonesian, Vietnamese, and Nepalese etc.) might want to call Malaysia home.

Sports Loyalty

I have come to the conclusion that sports fans and sportsmen have different definitions of loyalty. I mean it is without doubt success breeds loyalty but the problem with success is that can only be one winner. But not being champions doesn’t make the runners up and those below bad. Unless of course if you’re in last place. I’m talking specifically about the English premier League, and the predicament faced by my team, the red half of Merseyside.

It is becoming more apparent now that Liverpool is a two, maybe three man team. Without Torres and Gerrard and possibly Reina, the team is deemed doomed. Every team has their own talisman, key player and Liverpool is no different. Arsenal had Viera and now Fabregas. Man United had Keane, Ronaldo, Schmeichel and now Rooney, Ferdinand. But the difference between Liverpool and them is that their teams had more depth. Other than those three and perhaps Mascherano, Kuyt and Johnson, LFC do not have any other players who could carry the team. To effective survive in the EPL and Cup competitions; a team needs at least 16 players who can play in the first 11. From the looks of it, LFC has only 8-9 who can play in the first 11, the rest are effectively back-up players.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, loyalty amongst most supporters is difficult to shake. This is evident from the fact that teams like Leeds United, Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday are still able to attract large crowds despite playing in the lower divisions. Supporters, once affiliated, are willing to risk all for their teams. The incidence of supporters deserting their teams, I’m guessing, is probably low.

On the other hand, players do not seem to have the same sense of loyalty. No doubt, everyone wants to play in a winning team but making threats like ‘I’ll ask for a transfer if the team doesn’t make it to the champion’s league’ or a get out clause if the team gets relegated is an obvious sign of disloyalty.

Let’s take Michael Owen for example. When he left for the Barnabeu, he must have thought that it increased his chances of winning the Champion’s league. The very next season, Liverpool was crowned champions of Europe. He came back and played occasionally at Newcastle but (I’m guessing) if he had stayed on Merseyside, he could have helped Liverpool become champions of England for the 19th time, seeing how impressive they were last season. His skills and goals could have helped especially in the absence of Torres.

Good players like Gerrard should display some form of loyalty to the club that nurtured him and to the supporters who have backed him for so long. Instead of deserting the team if it is not strong enough to challenge for honours, he should say “I’ll stay and make sure the team wins honours”.

That’s loyalty.

Treading on Dangerous Waters

What a way to welcome the New Year. 4 churches in the Klang Valley were attacked in the last 24 hours. In most likelihood it was the work of (a very small group of ill-informed) dissatisfied Muslims, angry about the court ruling on the usage of the word ‘Allah’.

I’ll get to the issue of the word later but for now I want to express my disappointment over the uncalled, unjustified and stupid attacks.

How can anyone, in their right frame of mind, show disrespect towards a place of worship. Why is the anger over the court ruling directed towards the church? If these people are really upset over the ruling, (I’m not advocating such actions, it’s just an example) go and torch the courthouse! Scratch the judge’s car. Throw faeces into the judge’s car/house porch, after all he was the one who made the judgement.

A place of worship is sacred and thus deserves utmost respect. Never ever deface and desecrate a place of worship. There is no justification for such act of stupidity. Retaliation brings no benefit. Insensitive acts such as that will only serve to create and escalate racial and religious tension. In a multi-racial-religious cannot afford such a situation.

If things get worse, everyone loses.