56th Merdeka

Merdeka,Merdeka,Merdeka

Today West Malaysians celebrate their 56th.Merdeka with a sense of fear of uncertainties of what is going to happen to their future and that of their children. A day that used be one of great joy and patriotism when we were young as become one that is marred by the many unpleasant incidents that occur every day. Reflecting on what is going on today in our country it is sad that we are not progressing as we should as envisaged by our fore-fathers.

The pressing problems we face today as citizens in our beloved country are:

1.Racial polarisation. After 56 years of Independence Malaysians are still very much divided along ethnic and religious lines. In fact we are worse off than when we started. So much hatred for others is being sowed in the hearts and minds of the people, worse so at a very tender age in primary schools when children should be innocently mingling around freely without thinking of the color of their skin or the faith they profess.

2. Rampant corruption. Today corruption has become an accepted practice. It has gone into mega scales and leaders who are to be examples have become involved in siphoning billions into their pockets. The rich are getting richer and poor getting poorer.

3.Escalating crime rate. The crime rate in the country has reached unacceptable levels where the people are now living in fear for their safety and that of their loved ones..The police seem unable to control crime and provide adequate security for the citizens. Thugs and criminals are taking control with the police is incapable or refusing to do anything drastic to stop them. A state of lawlessness appear to be imminent which sends shivers among the people

4. Deteriorating standards in all fields - Education,health,financial management and almost every field to look into, the quality and standards are nose-diving to worrisome levels.The frightening thing is that the government is least perturbed by these deteriorating standards and adverse international assessments. The government of the day appears to be incapable of proper management of its resources and responsibilities to the people.The nation seems to have lost its direction as it is on auto-cruise with no strong and decisive leadership.

5. Severe brain drain. The best brains in the are leaving the country due to unfair policies resulting in the country going backwards rather than forwards.

6.Blatant and gross abuse of power where ordinary man on the street cannot get justice with the public services, police and judiciary which are highly politicized and subdued by those in power. Ordinary citizens have become fearful of cooperating with the law enforcement agencies as the whistle-blowers get punished more often than the law breakers. Law abiding right thinking citizens are punished but criminals w3ho abuse the law go scot-free

There is an urgent need for change in the country which the people at large were prevented from doing so at the last 13GE.We cannot go on like this for long. Change must come and the sooner the better but the people are not sure how to bring about it. The people are unhappy, frustrated helpless and do not know what to do. More and more people are beginning to believe that only divine intervention can save the country from ruin and destruction.

On this 56th Merdeka let us all unite for once, regardless of the faith we profess and the God we worship, to pray for our country that goodwill, logic and reason will prevail. Let us pray that the good will triumph over evil for the well-being, peace and progress of all citizens regardless of race or creed.

 God bless Malaysia

Happy Merdeka

Indian youth and crime

Concerted and genuine efforts by government needed

The following is a true story of an Indian family that was once such a closely knit one, the parents were such good people who brought their two sons with a lot of love and care. Life for them was very happy until the eldest son was about 15 years old when he started befriending some naughty boys in school who had connections with certain working youths.

Soon he started to lose interests in his studies and his performance in school deteriorated and he became more unruly and stared rebelling against his parents. His relationship with the outside youths became stronger and he started missing school. He failed his SPM and after that was offered a job by the friends who were later found to be involved with certain criminal gangs. Slowly he then became fully incorporated into the gang and that gave his parents terrible agony and nightmares.

Unable to control their son, the parents became depressed and isolated themselves from friends and relatives. In a matter of just a few years a happy and united family was shattered and disintegrated into a chaotic and miserable one by one member going astray.

This is a sad story of one such family. There are many such families in our midst and it is a pity that many Indian families are in such predicament, disintegrated and plagued with extreme distress and agony as their sons on whom they placed their future turns to be a hardcore criminal who could be killed anytime.

The recent controversial killing of 5 alleged members of an underground gang by the police in Penang may be a success for the police in their fight the escalating crime in the country. While there is controversy on the way they were shot but nevertheless 5 young men lost their lives at the peak of their lives as they were all in their twenties. Grieved parents have lost their sons and siblings their bothers.

The elaborate funeral processions that followed for the dead “warriors” came as a shock to all who witnessed them. It is frightening to know that there are so many Indian youth in their early twenties who came out in support of their “heroes” who were shot dead by the police.

The latest statistics reveal that about 70% of the gangsters are Indians although Indians form just 8% of the population. This is indeed alarming and more scary with reports of these gangs are going around to schools to recruit more Indians youths into their fraternity.

This fatal shooting should not be treated as an isolated incident involving hardcore criminals as they were all Indians and the Indian community is now facing the major problem of extremely high crime rate and I fear that unless it is addressed urgently as it may affect the safety of the people at large.

The underlying cause why Indian youths are turning to criminal activities must be seriously looked into. It did not come up overnight but over 5 decades. At a glance it appears to be due to their poverty resulting from years of neglect by the political system in the country. Failures in school, lack of higher education and job opportunities together with wrong attitude and priorities in life and the failure of the Indians community to grasp the hardcore realities in the country.

The government should not brush off these problems as just an Indian one but should tackle it as a national one that threatens the security of the people as a whole. Better educational and job opportunities must be provided for the Indian youths. For those who do not do well in schools, special vocation training should be provided by the government as that would stop the youths from falling into the hands of criminal gangs.

Killing hardcore criminals is just a short term measure to reduce crime but the long term measure is to stop our young men and women from falling prey to criminal gangs. This can only be achieved by proper education, training and providing job opportunities for all especially the neglected and poor Indian Malaysians.

It is time for the government and all parties concerned, especially those involved in Indian affairs to sit down seriously to study the genuine plight of Malaysian Indians. Denying something is seriously wrong is not going to solve the problem but must acknowledge their existence and act to overcome them.

Young Indian youths are increasing being attracted to criminal gangs due to unavailable opportunities for education and jobs especially in the public sector. The government should take the lead to employ more Indians youths in the civil service, police and armed forces where their talents and contributions should be rewarded appropriately like their fellow Malay counterparts.

Hari Raya Greetings

Hari Raya Greetings

Wishing all Muslims friends and relatives a Selamat Hari Raya.
May this Raya bring all Malaysians closer together in peace and harmony with the sharing not just of food and drinks but GOODWILL

All that is needed from us:
  A little more love,concern and sacrifice on our part for those of a different race & creed,

and
A little more courage to reject those to incite racial hate,

  To 

realise our dreams and hopes for a truly united Malaysia.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri