Travel buddy - Malaysia

[alwonder02]

Hi there,

I am a 34 year old male, looking for travel buddies who are into nature, and who are planning to travel around East Coast/West Coast of Malaysia for 2 weeks starting first week of May. Anyone interested, just drop me a note at [email protected].

Wishing everyone a nice long weekend holiday!

Regards,
Al

[Guest]

Hi Al,

I'm interested and looking for a travel buddy too. But not sure wether I'm writing late. If you are interested in travelling some other time, I am keen.

Cheers
Eddie

[horror country]

I am now 31 years old and draw a comfortable monthly salary of US$22000 in a foreign land. I miss my family, my friends, my home, my Malaysian hawker food and the life in Malaysia.

But of late, my idealistic vision of my country has really come crashing down, faster and harder than ever before.

I read about Umno Youth attacking the so-called meritocracy system for university admission because there are less than 60 percent of bumi students in law and pharmacy, whilst conveniently keeping silent about the fact that 90 percent of overseas scholarship recipients are bumis and that bumis form the vast majority in courses like medicine, engineering and accountancy.

I read about the higher education minister vowing that non-bumiputera Malaysians will never ever step foot into UiTM.

I read about Umno Youth accusing Chinese schools of being detrimental to racial integration, while demanding that Mara Junior Science Colleges and other residential schools be kept only for bumis.

I read that at our local universities, not a single vice-chancellor or deputy vice-chancellor is non-bumi. I read that in the government, not a single secretary-general of any ministry is a non-bumi.

I read about the poor having to pay full price for a house whilst millionaires demand their 10 percent bumi discount when buying RM2 million bungalows in a gated community.

As I read all this, I tremble with fear.

I can deal with the lack press freedom, the ISA, our inefficient and bureaucratic civil service, the lack of democracy, our awful manners and even a little corruption. But I cannot deal with racism in my homeland.

I pray that our leaders have the foresight and humanity to see that the present experiment will not work and cannot continue. I pray that they will have the strength to make our country a home for all Malaysians and that they will have mercy for the poor, including the non-malays.

I pray for true racial harmony and acceptance in Malaysia. Is there a future for me, for my children and for their children? I am truly frightened.

[malaysia is no future]

For years, the braver and more vocal among us have been calling for transparency and accountability. And for years, our government has been evading its responsibility in telling Malaysians the truth about the economy, EPF investments gone badly, scholarship repayment defaulters, our unhealthy air quality etc.

Then, suddenly, surprise of surprises, right in the middle of the Approved Permits (Aps) controversy, our prime minister turns around and orders that the identity of AP holders be made public by the ministry of trade and industry.

And so the hopeful among us jubilate. At last! Finally! Pak Lah will now justify the faith we have placed in him and turn this corruption-ridden country around!

Until Dr Mahathir mentioned it, I thought APs were solely for protecting Proton. Now that it is clarified that APs serves only to benefit bumis, then it would not matter who gets it, and how many each recipient gets.

In fact, the minister for international trade and industry would never be right if she is allowed to decide who the recipients should be. The list of AP recipients shows that fewer than 1000 bumis out of 14 million benefited directly from the APs allocation.

Are these 14 million happy that 1000 of them have become richer, and consequently have helped to improve the economic standing of bumis, particularly in contributing towards the yet unfulfilled 30 percent share in limited companies in the country?

The revelation of the AP list merely confirms what Dr Mahathir had said all along that too many APs had been given to only a few individuals. But what is most shocking is Rafidah defending the policy of giving out so many APs to so few bumis.

No one can deny that APs are a licence to print money because the permits are marketable and easily converted to cash. The open APs are especially in demand and can easily fetch up to RM50000 per permit.

But the fact of the matter is that when you have APs, the foreign principal companies come looking for you and not vice versa.

You don't even have to lift a finger because the foreign principals know that if you can import cars at a cost of RM11000 excluding excise and custom duties, it is a virtual certainty that their imported cars will sell like hot cakes.

With the franchise APs, you don't even have to have any expertise in the automotive industry to make a handsome profit. All you have to do is add a margin that is not below the price of Proton cars price and presto! You are printing 40k to 50k for each AP.

What is most sickening is Rafidah's statement that it is a workable scheme which she will continue to practice. Surely a scheme that only enrich a few already rich bumis cannot be deemed to be equitable. If such a scheme is allowed to continue, the NEP will certainly not be able to be achieved in a 100 years.

The wealth will remain in the hands of a few wealthy malays while the rural heartland will continue to remain impoverished. The government should abolish this skewed method of wealth distribution and devise a more equitable system that will ensure the poor rural malays will benefit from the NEP policy.

The AP scheme is certainly not a suitable vehicle for wealth distribution. The billions of dollars that would have been collected from the excise and custom duties should rightly go to the country's coffers. From the revenue collected, a scheme that is more equitable in wealth distribution should be implemented so that the bumis 30 percent equity in the economic pie can be attained.

Rafidah is more interested in tracing how the APs were distributed and evaded questions like why only a selected few were given thousands of APs; to what extent were these APs abused and how has the issuance of APs jeopardised the development of our local auto industry.

But the prime minister refused to take her bait and avoided the issue in his winding-up speech. Even the ex-prime minister Dr Mahathir accusation that certain foreign-made cars were being imported at below cost was not explained.

It isn't easy for any individual or company to secure the sole rights to import cars from principal companies overseas, unless this individual or company has the strong backing of the minister or the government.

But for the last two decades, the fact that only these 'sacred cow' companies and individuals got the exclusive rights to APs must have insulted the delegates intelligence. Indirectly, Rafidah is telling us that unless you are not one of these 'scared cows', don't ever dream of any APs.

Finally, Rafidah had the guts to say: 'In this AP business, I've been wronged too much.' She has not been wronged, she is wrong. She has always run away from the truth.

True, it was downright depressing when there was no transparency and corruption scandals were just hushed up or swept under the carpet, but now we have sunk to a record low.

Our government has first placated us with their willingness to be transparent, and then turned around to kick us in the teeth by telling us the situation will not change!

We have entered a new era - corruption without shame. Amazing, isn't it? But then, Malaysia boleh.

[asiandivergal]

Just two points I would like to comment on: there is corruption everywhere - it doesnt matter where you go. Even in our bright, cheery lands of Singapore there is corruption at every level - from teeny weeny scale to large scale - from the bottom to the very top scion - a lot of it has been covered up or worked over giving it legal legitimacy. Not all the NKF cases will be exposed to public. Corruption among the Chinese in Malaysia is even worse - they are more imaginative and cleverer - and they seldom get caught with their pants down, unlike the Malays. The modern day Malays have picked up a lot of skills from the Chinese, including corruption, greed and capitalism.

As for racism, while I emphathise with you on some of the rulings (let's not talk about the more extreme ones in places like Kelantan - that is a minority view not shared by majority Malays) - you have to understand the other point of view. Why do Malays and Chinese have this barrier between them? Lack of understanding, communication, and love. We stayed on an island with a whole community of Malays - we were the only 2 chinese - but never experienced any racism from them - instead we were warmly welcomed into their community and became a part of them because we genuinely wanted to share our knowledge with them, and at the same time learn from them (their knowledge on the medicinal plants and nature is unparalleled). Initially some of them were wary and suspicious of us - but that faded over time.

On the contrary, we personally witnessed the Chinese outside this community being rude to our Malay friends and taking advantage of them. Jeez. And most of the Chinese we came across were more interested in "how to make as much money as possible" from any forms of partnership with the Malays. Use and discard. Forget about preserving the local community and environment (hah!! what a joke!!) - have you witnessed how Redang is being raped and milked for all its natural beauty - and it's all controlled by a whole community of Chinese businesses or Royalty. Go figure it out.

The whole issue here is not about racism - it's about power and politics - just like anywhere else in the world.

If you can try to sympathise with the other party's point of view, you will gain a deeper understanding of the whole situation, and not just see things from a myopic point of view. Forgive the unjust in this world, share your love, and make the world a better place to live in. Unfortunately the world is getting angrier and crazier, with everyone seeing things only from their point of view, and insisting on enforcing their beliefs on others with different values.

[sundaymorningstaple]

asiandivergal,

please ignore the two trolls who are constantly dissing Malaysia. They have been posting the same two messages for several months on every thread that even hints of Malaysia. Frankly speaking, one of them has a real problem if he makes 22K USD a month and is still spouting all the venom and drivel. If he had really loved his country and has that much savvy, he should have tried staying in malaysia and attempted to change the system, instead of running away and yelling from afar. He's kind of like a certain "Chee" here in Singapore who only yells when outside of the country. Let it go...most of us don't even bother to read such drivel.

sms

[asiandivergal]

Hi SMS,

Yah, thanks for the tip... I rarely visit the forums here, so got kinda fired up when i read the inflammatory tone...and it's not even my country i'm speaking up in defense for

But yah, I see they have been trolling everywhere, i think it's kinda sad to see such energy wasted when it can be put to better use anyway i doubt anyone whos making 22K USD a month can spare the time to breathe, let alone spend time sprouting fine words of "literature" and "philosophy" here

[run away to singapore]

Read it all. In Mahathir's Malaysia, over 40% of the population lives under Constitutionally mandated and perpetual state sanctioned racism. It is verging on illegality to even bring up the subject - even in parliament.

Non-bumis live under widespread and considerable electoral, economic, educational and even religious restrictions and also have to live with the risk of racially motivated stirring from malay politicians who could put one nation to shame. And don't ask about illegal aliens, they're safely locked up in detention centres.

Unsurprisingly, some malay pollies have played upon resultant fears of racial tensions and the difficulties non-bumis face in creating their own political voice to shore up a captive vote in the ethnic electorate.

Starting up a company or even purchasing land and property is harder and more expensive for non-bumis. The only way to alleviate their permanent designation as a second-class citizen is to convert to Islam and thus enjoy partial legal acceptance as a bumis.

From the above, it is clear that the question of the constitutionality of the quota system as it has been practised since 1971 especially in totally bumi institutions has never been tested.

We know what the original intentions of the malay special privileges provision in the Merdeka Constitution were, but to maintain that it is a carte blanche for all manner of discrimination based on the bumi/non-bumi divide is certainly straining credibility.

Now that the commanding heights of the Malaysian economy have fallen into the hands of Malay capitalists 48 years after independence, is it wrong to appeal for a new consensus based on social sector and need instead of race?

This Malaysia, a land where racism is used to justify racism, is Mahathir's creation and if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black, then I need a new palette.

Perhaps you may have heard of the axiom making its rounds among the Malaysian bloggers:

"If it is a malay issue, it is a national issue. If it is an Indian issue, it is not an issue. If it is a Chinese issue, it is a racial issue."

That is the problem with Malaysia. The Chinese and Indians are made to feel as if Malaysia is for the malays, and not for the citizens of Malaysia. Even the textbooks are often written as if addressing the malays instead of Malaysians, with references to Islam and other malay cultural aspects.

Just look at Singapore. In spite of their being a multiracial society completely lacking in national resources, they are now a developed country. Why?

Because the people there are united. There is no presumption that the average citizen is a Chinese or any serious programme giving a particular race special rights.

The presumption that greed, dishonesty, and betrayal are innate qualities of a Chinese is simply as abhorrent as the presumption by some Chinese that malays smell bad, are lazy, and are extremely religious to the point of martyrdom. Such stereotyping accomplishes nothing.

If Chinese kids won't die for Malaysia, we should not jump to the conclusion that Chinese cannot be trusted. Instead, we should consider it equally among other possibilities, such as the government's policies creating a feeling of unfair treatment despite the premise that we are all equal as citizens of Malaysia.

I called my newfound friend earlier who works in Singapore. Somehow, the conversation ended up on Malaysians holding top positions in Singapore.

Well, I have a good friend who is currently working with a top notch investment company in Singapore. When my new friend found out, immediately said, "No wonder that Pak Lah person was mentioning about the brain drain in Malaysia!"

Well, I know a lot of doctors and scientists are working overseas. A number of my school alumni are actually working overseas and not in Malaysia. Some are doing well in Boston, London, to name a few. It's even funnier to hear stories of some of my school alumni to accidentally meet each other when they are overseas. Yes, my school is guilty for contributing to the brain drain……….

Closer to home, I wonder if Pak Lah knows about our own Malaysian companies that are also contributing to the brain drain. No name mentioned, but I know of one company, due to the change in business process has forced a number of the disgruntled staff to leave the company.

The worse thing, these staff left and joined the competitors that are not Malaysian owned. And even worse, some staff actually decided to leave Malaysia and work at greener pastures.

They could have stayed in Malaysia, but no company in Malaysia could afford to pay the expected salary due to the staff being former scholars and studied overseas during the economic crisis.

Sad really. Now wonder why Pak Lah has an uphill task.

Clearly, there has always been movement of highly skilled people in and out of a country. If there is brain drain from a particular country, it can scarcely develop. On the other hand, if it can keep its talents and successfully attract its skilled citizens to return as well as foreign talents to come, it will prosper.