If he was asking the editorial to bump up the font to size 14, then please do enlarge mine to double of that. In case you are in the dark of who I’m pointing this out to; please refer to ‘Get the Big Picture?’ of Starmag, Sunday 22nd June 2008.
Upon reading the whole article again and yet again (just to ensure that I’m not passing the wrong judgment or merely making a fool out of myself by criticizing a good man), I realised that I can only agree on one statement which the logical Dzof Azmi wrote. That is – We are inherently selfish. True to his statement, all human is.
Then again, we should open our flawed human eyes (myopic or not) big enough to see that THE fuel hike and rise in consumers’ price index IS THE HUMONGOUS picture. Seriously, I wish to politely request all critiques (consciously stated or not) to have a reality check on what IS the big picture and not just take any random photo from the album. That simply would not be fair.
The rakyat voices out their dissatisfactions because Malaysia IS deemed a democratic country and the people do have the rights to express their views publicly, or not? as long as it is not based on pure hearsay and projects baseless accusations. And just why can’t they? The price of regular petrol is now at a whooping RM2.704/litre!
Malaysia is not a country inhibited by fools; as such her people will speak their mind when they feel it is called for. Perhaps, one may ask, who decides on what issues to debate on and when would it be appropriate to do so – rest assured, the answer lies within us, rakyat Malaysia.
Anyway, let us not digress further because words could cause the censure of the whole comment. Let us get on track and focus on the issue which I have decided to take some time off from my ever compounding work schedule (which is on the up-trend due to the spiraling prices of commodities and my ever stagnating pay).
I am totally outraged.
No doubt the country, through past leaderships, has done a superb job with fuel subsidies (which is highly doubtful reporting, as during the layout of our national budget a.k.a Belanjawan Negara for so many a years, I have never once heard of the subsidy for petroleum) and no one is complaining, really. Therefore, no one would actually grumble IF they are told as to what good the hard-earned tax-payer’s monies are being used for. Good use would be termed as projek-projek which benefits the rakyat and Malaysia as a whole.
With the above statement in mind, one have to ask, how many a times have we seen abandoned projects? How many a times have we witnessed the rise of ever new monumental structures boasting state-of-the-art facilities being used to its fullest capacity when all we need is an ordinary office block? How many a times have we attempted to claim World-breaking-Records with the most extreme of jumps over the North Pole; or the tallest flag pole; or the first in the region to have sent a man into outer space, of which the intended purpose I am still unclear (no written reports were published based on his so-called experiments); or even the biggest dam (Empangan Bakun) in the region, which to my knowledge has suffered multiple abandonment and revivals? Is it really necessary to place ourselves right smack in the eyes of the world communities when we could have just used a portion of the funds to maintain and expand our LRT and public transportation systems; suburban developments; or agricultural research and developments; etc.?
Just how many a times?
There we go again, the lot who gripes the most are the middle income earners. Hmm…the last I checked, our government reported that rakyats whom are under the poverty line are now less than 4% of the population (2007 statistics). Unless I am being deceived, the majority of Malaysians are therefore middle income earners, right? As such, is it not a norm that the grievances of the majority tend to be underlined? I stand corrected.
Just how can a country progress when the majority of her people are gripped by the feelings of uncertainty? The present, with the rise of daily consumables due to shortages in supply, is in itself a struggle and as the people are still in the midst of making adjustments to their daily lifestyles, here come another major slam. The rakyat may not be anywhere near starvation but we are definitely no better off. If indeed the people of the country have to be on the brink of poverty before they are eligible to be opined, then we shall all resign en-masse in order for our voices to be heard.
The country is being affected as a whole – of course, thank you Dzof Azmi for putting that into perspective – that is why her people are getting loud. Prices of commodities, though on an upward trend, have never seen such tremendous increase in such a short amount of time. It has escalated so fast and so hard which is why the majority of the people are finding it increasingly difficult to play catch-up. We are not whining because we have less disposable income now, it is mainly due to the fact that necessities (food, household items, petrol) of life have become something which we have we would all term as luxuries.
On a final note, bar making any further deceptive comparisons with our neighbouring state (read: Singapore) which is not naturally bestowed with the gifts of nature in abundance as we are, but still stand out among the rest of the developed nations of the world, Malaysians are indeed in for a gloomy future.
Concerned
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2 c a r r o t s:
Hmm... yah. I don't disagree that irresponsible/inefficient public expenditure is bad (worse so when there are elements of corruption within it), but those are problems that have and will be around, rising cost of living notwithstanding.
It's just that when the rakyat have their bread and circuses and cheap oil, nobody really says too much about it. Rather, they say a lot, and they shout a bit, but in the end there is the shrug of shoulders and we turn back to the mundane details of our comfortable lives.
The point I was trying to make is this: It is easy to be apathetic about flaws in society when we can float above them. Now we are feeling the pinch from other sources, we shout a little bit more. But those that live beneath us have always been suffering - where were our voices of outrage then? When we begin to sink, we splash and struggle for the surface, but do we think of helping others to safety?
Incidentally, the definition of 'poverty line' in Malaysia is something like RM500 per month for a family. I have no idea how a family earning even double that can cope.
"All human are inherently selfish..-Machiavelli" (My apologies for not being able to come up with something more original/of my own).
Well, to begin with..I firmly belief it is a ‘Utopian’ view to make mention of humankind's nobility to help/assist in the everyday aspects of another fellow human being. Now, before you pass judgement and lynch me with your ( all readers) penned thoughts, allow me to briefly dissect my comments above.
It is not with blunt aplomb that I am saying humankind is TOTALLY self-centred. Bear in mind that I am merely generalising the idea on the survival of the fittest in our lifetime. I do agree that certain individuals (and there are indeed not many) are truly remarkable in their selfless acts (to name but a few would be the late ( Mother Theresa; the lone man a.k.a. ‘the unknown Rebel’, whom stood in defiance of the mighty People’s Liberation Army tanks in Tiananmen Square back in 1989). However, in general terms, besides helping/assisting the people whom we have grown to know of/relate to habitually, we are not really that forthcoming when it comes to helping strangers. Even if we do render assistance to the best of our abilities from time to time, we are content to tell ourselves “Hey...I have done some good today. God is not going to punish me if I don’t help someone again within the next couple of days/months/years is he?” (GO ahead, ask yourselves, are you really that ( helpful? )
Enough said about us being selfish, I belief you get the message. If you still don’t, here it is...STOP whining about the poor and think about your own well-being for a poor (read – you!) would only require further assistance from another party rather than being able to provide assistance. Furthermore, if you are indeed as magnanimous as you deemed yourself to be (by telling us to keep our mouths shut and let the poor speak-up), why don’t you start by telling the gomen to reduce prices of commodities for the poor instead of wasting your energy and effort in telling us what not to do! If your mission is ultimately to talk your way into pleading the gomen for Fuel Price reduction, then we will be more than happy to have you aboard. However, I strongly believe that with mere talk and written words would not make any of them budge. (Sometimes, I find it hard to believe that the 26 million odd of us are so obliging to our dear administration that we are so afraid to even lift our fingers to them after the numerous fiascos and joy-rides they have taken us for.)
Last but never the least, Mr.Dzof, I thank you for the effervescent kindness you have shown in your efforts to assist the poor, or not. Please by all means, wait for them to speak-up before voicing your opinions but do not be surprised when you will soon find out that we would all end up below the poverty level if we pay heed to our dear gomen’s control any further.
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