My country is quite a nice to place to live in. We don't have major natural disasters unlike our neighbours Indonesia and Myanmar. That is unless if you count the sudden heavy downpour as major disaster lah. And traffic jams are not considered natural disasters. But still, our traffic jams are pretty bearable compared to the ones in Jakarta, where the cars hardly move and people are practically selling stuff from car to car.
Our climate is also still quite bearable, except for the days when it feels like I'm a turkey being cooked in an oven (*put me in a freezer pls!*) or when it pours every single day (*should I invest in a boat?*). So, yeah, Malaysia is quite nice country to live in.
Unlike Singapore, we have plenty of land and plenty of natural resources - timber, oil, plantation, etc. We are a self-sustaining country, and that's something we all should be grateful for. We plant our own rice, generate our own electricity, we don't need to buy water from other countries and so many more. So when you look at things that way, we should be better off than our Singaporean friends. Keyword here is "should be".
But has anyone wondered why we aren't as advanced or more economically steady like our neighbour? I don't know about you guys, but when I look at the Singaporeans, I envy them. I envy their paychecks, I envy the fact that western musicians prefer to have their concerts there and not in Malaysia, and I envy how efficient and well-maintained their transport system is.
So what went wrong with us? Do we need to adapt their kiasu-ness in order to make our country richer? And I think that the every-man-for-himself attitude that is adopted by so many here is clearly not working in making Malaysia a better country. Also, I'm pretty sure that we've got more than a handful of geniuses who can help steer our country into the right direction.
You know what I think? I think we need to get our priorities right. I believe that instead of building some multi-million ringgit sports centre overseas (which will only benefit a handful of people), we should use the money for something that will benefit the majority of our people - how about hiring more cops to curb the rise in crime? Or more technologically advanced equipments that can help us catch the crooks? Or opening up more schools and hiring more teachers in rural areas?
Or is our education system at fault for us not being able to have more world-class benefits and at the same time have world-class paychecks?
I was at Ikea the other day with Crazy Mofo. Yes, some of us may have the luxury to spend money eating there but you know what saddens me most? The lack of manners our people have is quite astonishing actually. This one particular guy, he was just unbelievable. He not only cut the queue, but threw his "Free Coffee/Tea" voucher at the cashier and proceeded straight towards the coffee machine. Threw. Not hand over. He threw.
Unluckily enough for that guy, it was our turn at the cashier. So Crazy Mofo gave him a piece of what was on everybody's mind, and shouted,"Hey asshole, want to dine at places like Ikea, but even baboons have better manners than you." Crazy Mofo then proceeds to take the voucher from the cashier, looks at it and sort of like as if he's talking to everybody there,"Oh no wonder he's such a prick. He can't even afford a cup of coffee here."
Unfortunately, I see quite a lot of ill-mannered people at places like Ikea. But like most Malaysians, I lack the vocal "bravery" of Crazy Mofo. Like most of us, I'd just shake my head and utter some f words to myself.
Most of us lack courtesy and manners. Admit it, how many of you actually say thank you to the waiter who served you food? How many of you actually apologize to the person you accidentally bumped into? How many of you actually hold the door open for women or the elderly?
Sorry, I think I've sidetracked from my point of this post. I tend to follow my trend of thought which can go in all sorts of directions sometimes.
Oh what the heck do I know about what's good for the people and how to run this country? I'm not a politician nor do I ever plan to be. I don't know nuts about playing the chess game of politics, I don't know what inflation is, I can't even lie to save myself and I certainly will be losing sleep if I took someone else's money to make myself richer (which would explain why I'm not driving a CLK or some fancy sports car right now).
I'm sure some of you will be pissed at me for writing about our country in quite a negative manner, but it's just a thought I have in my current frustrated state of mind.
Our climate is also still quite bearable, except for the days when it feels like I'm a turkey being cooked in an oven (*put me in a freezer pls!*) or when it pours every single day (*should I invest in a boat?*). So, yeah, Malaysia is quite nice country to live in.
Unlike Singapore, we have plenty of land and plenty of natural resources - timber, oil, plantation, etc. We are a self-sustaining country, and that's something we all should be grateful for. We plant our own rice, generate our own electricity, we don't need to buy water from other countries and so many more. So when you look at things that way, we should be better off than our Singaporean friends. Keyword here is "should be".
But has anyone wondered why we aren't as advanced or more economically steady like our neighbour? I don't know about you guys, but when I look at the Singaporeans, I envy them. I envy their paychecks, I envy the fact that western musicians prefer to have their concerts there and not in Malaysia, and I envy how efficient and well-maintained their transport system is.
So what went wrong with us? Do we need to adapt their kiasu-ness in order to make our country richer? And I think that the every-man-for-himself attitude that is adopted by so many here is clearly not working in making Malaysia a better country. Also, I'm pretty sure that we've got more than a handful of geniuses who can help steer our country into the right direction.
You know what I think? I think we need to get our priorities right. I believe that instead of building some multi-million ringgit sports centre overseas (which will only benefit a handful of people), we should use the money for something that will benefit the majority of our people - how about hiring more cops to curb the rise in crime? Or more technologically advanced equipments that can help us catch the crooks? Or opening up more schools and hiring more teachers in rural areas?
Or is our education system at fault for us not being able to have more world-class benefits and at the same time have world-class paychecks?
I was at Ikea the other day with Crazy Mofo. Yes, some of us may have the luxury to spend money eating there but you know what saddens me most? The lack of manners our people have is quite astonishing actually. This one particular guy, he was just unbelievable. He not only cut the queue, but threw his "Free Coffee/Tea" voucher at the cashier and proceeded straight towards the coffee machine. Threw. Not hand over. He threw.
Unluckily enough for that guy, it was our turn at the cashier. So Crazy Mofo gave him a piece of what was on everybody's mind, and shouted,"Hey asshole, want to dine at places like Ikea, but even baboons have better manners than you." Crazy Mofo then proceeds to take the voucher from the cashier, looks at it and sort of like as if he's talking to everybody there,"Oh no wonder he's such a prick. He can't even afford a cup of coffee here."
Unfortunately, I see quite a lot of ill-mannered people at places like Ikea. But like most Malaysians, I lack the vocal "bravery" of Crazy Mofo. Like most of us, I'd just shake my head and utter some f words to myself.
Most of us lack courtesy and manners. Admit it, how many of you actually say thank you to the waiter who served you food? How many of you actually apologize to the person you accidentally bumped into? How many of you actually hold the door open for women or the elderly?
Sorry, I think I've sidetracked from my point of this post. I tend to follow my trend of thought which can go in all sorts of directions sometimes.
Oh what the heck do I know about what's good for the people and how to run this country? I'm not a politician nor do I ever plan to be. I don't know nuts about playing the chess game of politics, I don't know what inflation is, I can't even lie to save myself and I certainly will be losing sleep if I took someone else's money to make myself richer (which would explain why I'm not driving a CLK or some fancy sports car right now).
I'm sure some of you will be pissed at me for writing about our country in quite a negative manner, but it's just a thought I have in my current frustrated state of mind.
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8 Your say:
I have to agree with everything you just said. This country is just in a state of shambles at the moment and the only way, in my humble opinion, for us to try and save this nation is to have some sensible people in power and not the current clowns.
And yes, a lot of us lack manners in this country.
It's become a common thing in here... Q-jump, rudeness lack of manners etc. I maybe bad.. but I ain't jump-Q when buying something... I love to say thank you to the food seller. At least give em' a smile.
In current situation, I feel that I'd become poorer... how to change a lifestyle when the salary received is not enough to give me a comfort "lifestyle" ? even a "healthy food" still cost you lot's of money because of inflation.
Malaysia is a "self-produce" country.. we don't need to import lot's of thing in here.. like you say; we grew the paddy, has a petroleum, we also got bijih timah, pearl, timber, farming, rubber, barnyards etc.
We also needs to cut off certain export goodies...
p/s: The police and armies salary is damn low... not many youngsters interested to "serve" the country.. and they probably less metabolism (many policeman buncit.. kan..kan?? how to catch crook?)...
even people still whining about PLKN ;p
you have very good points here, darling.
-about the base salary- this has been debated for ages! it is not that we as Malaysians are not clever enough or deserving enough of world class salaries- it's just that the system currently at work do not support it. Something about taxes and such. *incidentally me and a few friends were doing the comparison between the salary in Oz and Msia but we decided we needed an economist to really explain things to us as to why it's that way.
-on manners- sad but true. I think we should start being more polite with people ourselves and eventually everyone would catch the bug (we are polite ppl yes, but just a mental note for future references).
-and there's nothing wrong with voicing one's opinion in the hope that it will help make things better. even if one is not an aspiring politician/wakil rakyat whatever.
:)
all true. here's another thought. why is our tax calculation is always wrong? by the end of the year last year, they refunded some of my taxed money and then when i declared my income in april on-line, in the HASIL office, it was stated that they still need to refund some more. i recieved a letter yesterday saying that they're postponing the refunding b'cos they need to do some more calculation. some more calculations? but it didn't take them months to tax me some rm400+ for last month alone. it makes me wonder about the truth in this tax calculation. it's frustrating to know that some f***ed up politician is steering a big chunk of these hard earned tax money into their pockets in the name of development for the people.
stay here or go abroad...
can ah, i get PR somewhere else work my ass off then go back to malaysia to die..
"darah tumpah negara ku okay" :D
Nick Phillips:
Yeah, good luck in finding sensible ppl in this country!
Aziya:
Yeap, that's exactly what i've been saying.
Lyana:
I just wish that there was something more i could do instead of voicing opinions. I feel like the opposition & the government - constantly bickering at each other and yet come up with no solution for the probs.
Anonymous:
Hmm... i've never been in your situation b4 so i won't know how to help you out here... perhaps you keep "harassing" them for refund? Other friends who've been caught in similar situations said the exact same thing n they just kept asking for their refund til they got it.
Budleee:
I wouldn't mind migrating! Who knows? Perhaps that's exactly what i'll do ;)
I agree..Well, some people are rude.. but some also nice....
But to think about it, how we expect the people to become nice when looks like the government never care about the people..
40% oil price hike?
Well, there should be many angry people around us now....
Whoa. Macho. Suddenly I am way interested in sexy Crazy Mofo. Good for him!
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