Back to basics: quality of life (UPDATED with Chinese translation)
Malaysia cannot depend on just one source of income — Petronas. But then even Malaysians (Chinese in particular, but Indians and Malays as well) are moving their money to other countries (and not all is ‘dirty’ money but are legitimate investments). Some are even coming to the UK and billions are being invested here (some of them are my personal friends). How long can this go on before something breaks?
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
TV show host attacked and robbed by armed gang
A TV cooking show host was attacked and robbed by a group of men armed with sticks outside a condominium near Tropicana here.
Lim Wei Tiong, 27, who works with Astro, was attacked when he was about to visit a friend at a condominium along Jalan Tropicana Utama on Monday night.
He and a friend had gone separately to a mutual friend’s place at about 11pm when the incident occurred.
“It all happened so fast. One minute I had parked my car and got out, the next minute I was surrounded by a group of motorcyclists armed with sticks,” he said at the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) yesterday.
Lim said the men hit him on the head and grabbed his bag containing his wallet and handphone.
“I fell to the ground but they just continued hitting me,” he said, adding that his friend who witnessed the incident was too scared to come to his aid.
Lim said the next thing he remembered was being in an ambulance. He suffered a broken arm and lacerations to the head.
“Luckily, the robbers didn’t take my car keys,” he said.
Last October, an Astro Awani newscaster was attacked and robbed when she was being driven home by her husband.
As they got out of the car, three men on motorcycles approached them, one armed with a grass cutter.
A brief scuffle ensued when one of the robbers opened the front passenger door, but they snatched her bag and fled.
The husband gave chase for about 4km before ramming into the suspects’ motorcycle near the Maluri Complex. Two of the suspects were caught while one managed to escape.
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Since the results of the 5th May 2013 general election was announced about five weeks ago there has been a lot of brouhaha as to whether the election was free and fair (or fraudulent), who should be the Prime Minister (and whether Najib Tun Razak is about to be ousted), whether racism in Malaysia is currently as bad or worse than it was in 1969 (the result of many irresponsible statements being indiscriminately and blatantly issued), whether the Malays are now disunited and split (compared to the Chinese, 97% of them who voted en bloc), and so on.
I suppose there is enough chatter in the media so I really do not need to add to the noise, already deafening as it is. So today I want to talk about what every man and his dog is not talking about. And that subject is very basic, about quality of life.
Now, I am not saying that the other subjects are not important. What I am saying is so many people are already talking about those subjects so I would like to talk about what no one appears to be concerned about: the quality of life in Malaysia.
Elections are about choosing a government. Hence elections are part of democracy or about choosing a democratically elected government. But choosing a government is not the whole of democracy. Choosing a government is one of the aspects of democracy. That is what the shouters and screamers appear to miss.
Choosing a government is not the end game. Choosing a government is not the final destination. It is merely the beginning of a journey. Once we have chosen the government, then this government must work towards and guarantee us quality of life.
Malaysia appears to have serious security problems, both external and internal. Recently Malaysia got a new IGP and DIGP and today we got a new army chief. Are we going to see new brooms sweeping clean or is it going to be same old same old?
Malaysia is no longer a safe place. Hence while Malaysians demonstrate on the streets and protest the 5th May 2013 general election and file election petitions in court, is anyone addressing the security issue? Will our family now be safer on the streets and in our homes or is crime going to get worse? The reports we are receiving is that Malaysia is getting to be a dangerous place to live.
Then we are arguing about vernacular schools and mother-tongue education and racial quotas in institutions of higher learning. It is all about race. But are we also arguing about the quality of Malaysia’s education? Are we mainly churning out quantity but sacrificing quality? Is Malaysia a degree mill that merely focuses on numbers? Can Malaysia’s graduates (in particular the Malay graduates) compete internationally?
The focus appears to be regarding race, quotas and numbers but not in the quality of the product.
Then we come to my favourite subject, health. And at my age that is finally what is of concern to me personally. Why do we have so many qualified doctors serving outside Malaysia (in particular non-Malay Malaysians but many Malays as well)? Some of the doctors I spoke to expressed a desire to return to Malaysia even though they are currently paid four or five times what they could earn back in Malaysia.
The problem for these people, though, in particular the non-Malays, is that they have no career prospects back in Malaysia because of the colour of their skin. Less capable and less qualified Malays are promoted above the heads of the non-Malays. Hence we have a serious brain drain in the medical profession and because of that our healthcare system has to suffer.
Security, education, health — just three of the so many crucial issues. But we do not appear to be concerned about these matters. We appear more concerned about why Pakatan Rakyat, which garnered 51% of the popular votes, is not the government although Malaysia practices the first-past-the-post Westminster system of Parliament. Even if Najib concedes defeat and makes way for Anwar Ibrahim to take over as Prime Minister will all these issues be automatically resolved?
Was not Anwar Ibrahim once the Education Minister and Chua Jui Meng once the Health Minister? If they could not improve the situation when they once had the chance to do something about it what assurance do we have that they can do it now? And have they told us in great detail how they are going to do it if they do come into power? It appears like they are as clueless now as they were when they were in charge of those Ministries.
I was once a central committee member of the Malay Chamber of Commerce and, invariably, interacted with the various Ministries such as Trade and Finance. I ‘served’ through quite a number of Ministers and was fortunate enough to have sat in many meetings with the government to attempt to resolve many issues.
Of course, I was a businessman then and had dealings with companies and businessmen from all over the world. And I must say that this opened my eyes to many things and allowed me to understand what makes these people tick.
Malaysia was initially a favourites destination for foreign investors. And the reason for this, first of all, was because Malaysia had cheap labour compared to, say, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, etc.
Eventually, Malaysia no longer could provide cheap labour and we received instructions from the Trade Minister to no longer promote Malaysia as having cheap labour (because we were no longer cheap) but instead to promote Malaysia as having skilled labour. And that was why the government gave a lot of incentives and provided a lot of funds for training (so that our cheap labour could be converted to skilled labour).
The other attraction was that Malaysians spoke good English whereas most of our ASEAN neighbours did not. This made it easier for the foreigners to communicate with us.
The third factor was that Malaysia was more stable politically compared to our ASEAN neighbours and Malaysia was a safer place than the other countries.
Finally, for the Japanese in particular, is that Malaysia had plenty of golf courses and a ‘vibrant’ nightlife.
All these gave Malaysia an advantage over Singapore (expensive), Thailand (English no good), Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines (politically unstable), and so on.
Today, Malaysia is way at the bottom of the list of favourites with Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines above us. Maybe Burma will soon be above Malaysia as well — which will really be adding insult to injury.
Malaysia cannot depend on just one source of income — Petronas. But then even Malaysians (Chinese in particular, but Indians and Malays as well) are moving their money to other countries (and not all is ‘dirty’ money but are legitimate investments). Some are even coming to the UK and billions are being invested here (some of them are my personal friends). How long can this go on before something breaks?
Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said that Malaysia is a country with first-world infrastructure but third-world mentality. Soon Malaysia is going to be a country with third-world infrastructure and third-world mentality. Some European ‘powers’, the UK included, are already moving in that direction. Do you think a puny nation like Malaysia can be spared that same fate?
Malaysia already does not have quality of life in spite of our ‘booming’ economy. What do you think the quality of life is going to be like once Malaysia becomes like Greece? And why do you think people like me prefer to set up a kopitiam in the North-West of England rather than in the North-West of Malaysia (apart from the fact that I live in Manchester)?
So you people can continue to scream about GE13 and Blackout 505 and whatnot. I am not saying you should not do that. But while you do that I am going to scream about quality of life plus security, education, healthcare and Malaysia’s competitiveness as a foreign investor destination, which neither Najib nor Anwar are talking about.
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回到最基本：生活素质
马来西亚不能单靠国油这个经济来源。但现在的情况是很多马来西亚人（特别是华人，当然马来人和印度人也有）都把他们的钱（不全都是黑钱，有些是很正当地赚来的）转往国外。他们有些人还带了上亿元来到英国投资（当中有些人是我的朋友）。请问这种情况能够持续多久？
电视节目主持人被持械抢匪攻击和打劫
一名电视节目主持人在Tropicana附近的一所公寓被一帮手持木棍的抢匪攻击和打劫
（下文省略）
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自从5月5大选结果出炉以后坊间就不断地传出质疑声：大选是否公正无舞弊，谁应该成为首相（还有纳吉是否会被拉下马），现今马来西亚的种族歧视是否比起在1969年变得更严重，马来人现在到底是团结的还是分散的（比起97%的华人们都一致投给反对党）等等。
我想知些课题都被媒体渲染得‘全民皆吵’了，我在此不必再往此处增添杂音。所以我今天要讲的是一个所有人和他们的看门狗都没有触及的简单课题，那就是生活素质。
当然我不是讲说其他课题都是不重要的。我的意思是，既然其他人都有在关注其他课题了，那我应该踏出步来讨论他们都没有关注的课题：在马来西亚生活的生活素质。
选举的目的是让我们选出个政府来，它只是民主的一部分而以。所以说选政府并不是民主的全部，它也只是民主的一部分而以。这就使那些噪音制造者所看不清的。
选了政府并不代表我们已经到达目的地了，相反地，这只是民主路程的开头而以。一旦我们选出了一个政府，这个政府就有必要不停地工作来给有我们一个有素质的生活。
马来西亚面临着很多治安问题，不管是国内的还是国际上的。马来西亚最近换了个新的总警长和副总警长，而今天我们也迎来了个新的军队将领。我们会看到的是新扫把来把环境给打扫干净好事其实这只是新瓶装旧酒呢？
马来西亚不再是个安全的地方了。所以当所有人都忙着上街示威和向法庭提出上诉时，有没有人停下来看看我们的治安课题呢？现在我们街上和家里的治安是变好还是变坏了？我们所得到的报告都一致指出马来西亚已变得越来越危险了。
我们争吵的是个源流的母语学校和大学的种族固打制，但有没有人来关心我们的教育素质？我们是否正在以数目来取代素质？马来西亚是否只是一个关注数目的文凭制造地？马来西亚的大学生（特别是马来裔的）能否在国际社会的舞台上与他人竞争呢？
我们的焦点似乎只是在种族，固打与数目上，而不是在素质上。
然后我们还有一个我最注重的课题（这和我的年龄有很大的牵连），那就是医疗。为何我们有很多合格的医生在国外工作呢（特别是非马来人，当然也有很多马来医生）？我和一些医生交谈过，其实他们都很愿意回国服务的，即使他们现在赚的钱是马来西亚医生薪水的4，5倍。
他们的问题是，特别是非马来医生，当他们回马服务后他们会因他们的肤色而在事业上碰到阻滞；那些比较没有资格的马来医生往往会被提拔成为他们的上司。所以这导致了我们的医疗界里出现了严重的人才外流和这对我们的医疗系统已造成了很大的伤害。
治安，教育，医疗，这只是一堆课题的当中三个而以，但我们好像都不大关心它们。我们关心的是为何民联以51%的选票在马来西亚的西敏寺席位选举制里当不了政府。就当纳吉认输而把首相一职献给安华好了，请问这些课题是否就能自动地被解决掉了呢？
安华和蔡锐明不曾经当过教育部长和卫生部长吗？如果当年他们掌权时没有能力去改善这些问题，那请问现在我们有些什么保障来说明他们上位以后就会呢？还有，他们有没有详细地告诉过我们他们上位后要怎样应付这些课题呢？他们现在看起来和当年他们掌权时一样的毫无头绪。
我曾经是马来商会的中央执委，因而我有很多机会和各个部长开会，如贸易部长等。我曾为多任部长‘服务’过，也很有幸的能和他们坐在一起解决不同的问题。
当然，我当时是个商人且和多国不同的公司有生意来往。我的这些经验都令我大开眼界和令我了解这些人到底要的是什么。
马来西亚一开始是国外投资者的最爱。这背后的第一个原因是因为马来西亚的人工相比起日本，台湾，韩国等来得便宜。
后来，马来西亚不再提供低价廉工，而我们也接到贸易部的指令要我们别再以‘廉价’来促销马来西亚。我们必须要把马来西亚的新卖点，那就是技术人力，促销给外国投资者。这就是为什么政府给出了各种不同的津贴与基金来训练国内的员工们（以便我们的廉价人力能够被转换成技术人力）。
我们的另一个卖点就是我们国民的英语会话能力（相比起其他东南亚邻国）。这令那些投资者能更有效和更简单地和我们沟通。
我们的第三个卖点就是我们稳定的政治格局（相比起其他东南亚邻国），马来西亚当时是个很安全的国家。
最后，马来西亚拥有很多的高尔夫球场和蓬勃的夜生活（这对日本人来讲特别重要）。
马来西亚当时靠这几点把邻国如新加坡（高价人工），泰国（英语程度低），柬埔寨，越南，印尼，菲律宾（政治动态）等给比下去了。
今天，马来西亚不再是投资者的最爱了，他们已更偏爱新加坡，泰国，柬埔寨，越南，印尼，菲律宾。或许在将来的不久缅甸也会后来居上，倒时真的是伤口上撒盐了。
马来西亚不能单靠国油这个经济来源。但现在的情况是很多马来西亚人（特别是华人，当然马来人和印度人也有）都把他们的钱（不全都是黑钱，有些是很正当地赚来的）转往国外。他们有些人还带了上亿元来到英国投资（当中有些人是我的朋友）。请问这种情况能够持续多久？
前首相阿都拉曾经说过马来西亚拥有第一流的设备，第三流的思想。很快的马来西亚就会迈向第三流的设备，第三流的思想了。有些欧洲‘大国’，如英国，已经朝这个方向前进了，你想马来西亚这个弹丸小国能逃离这个命运吗？
在经济‘蓬勃’的情况下，马来西亚也未能拥有一个高素质的生活。你想当马来西亚变成另一个希腊是我们的生活会变得怎样？还有你猜想为何我要把咖啡店开在英国西北部开而不是在大马西北部（除了我现在住在曼彻斯特以外）？
你们可以继续的为第13届大选和505的停电大喊大叫，我并没有讲你们不可以那么做。但当你们这么做时，我会为大马的生活素质，治安，教育，医疗，外来投资等大喊大叫；在这些课题上，纳吉和安华都是只字不提的。
