Turning Away
My parents are in their seventies. Three days ago, they sent a cheque to the family of the man who committed suicide. Like most Singaporeans, they were shocked and saddened by his death, the circumstances of his death. Their only reflex action was to send a cheque as a form of condolence. To make things right, to right a wrong. Something was wrong, something troubled them. And they could only right this wrong by this small token action. As a fellow human or fellow citizen, this was the only thing they could do.
From Kitana, she mentions an excerpt of the media coverage which riled her. A particular phrase from the MP of the GRC where the deceased was a constituent. "Family stopped asking for help". Embedded in this five words is a culture, an attitude, a leaning, towards social welfare which is utterly wrong. Utterly wrong. In many ways, this entry re-states Kitana's highly eloquent entry. So bear with me. It is an issue that needs stating. Needs framing. Before we are inundated by media articles explaining how this case is an aberration. That the social safety nets in Singapore are secure. And we are told of numerous successful case studies.
In Singapore, where competition and meritocracy are held as paragons of our economic success, poverty is treated with extreme delicacy. We are schooled against social welfare. We are told there are no free lunches. We are told to be the best that we can be. We are told to aim for excellence. We breed a form of self-determination which is the survival of the fittest. Exclusive self determination. We are told to win. Win. Win. No room for losers. No room for the downtrodden. Values which are revealed in rant by a JC student. Values which are the subject of abhorrece in the David Marshall interview. In such a system, the dominant perception on social welfare is that once controls on financial aid for the needy are lifted, there will be a floodgate of social demise associated with European countries which practice social welfarism. Images of uneployed and destitute youths lining up with hand-outs flash across the collective Singapore psyche. A mass of leeches. Waiting to suck our coffers dry. Leeches, an anathema in singapore. Set apart. Exiled. Accursed. Denounced.
This trepidation in dealing with social welfare, this aversion and distaste even for the term "social welfare" permeates across the entire structural construction of Singapore's social safety nets. The entire process to receiving financial aid reeks of this aversion against social welfare. The fundamental disposition to disbursement of financial aid is one of extreme prudence. It is a process that is littered with innuendoes and stigma. It is a process designed almost to discourage people from seeking financial aid. This is done to sieve out those "undeserving" of financial aid. To prevent abuse. To prevent images of people lining up for hand-outs. To prevent people from surviving comfortably in umeployment. So it is a deterring structure. Not caring. And while it succeeds in turning people away, at the same time, it can over-succeed. There could be those who simply stop asking for help. Because help is given like this. Like a fucking crime. While we disburse magical Progress Packages like Santa Claus. Images of people lining ATM machines, lining outside CPF building for hand-outs. Happy hand-outs. This is fine. This is an easy process. Money gets sent to your account, quick and efficient.
"Family stopped asking for help" -- these five words magically absolve the politicians, those who act as the custodians of social welfare, from blame. Once someone stops asking for help, the problem has disappeared. Its no longer the State's business. The logical flow of the statement is this : "They stopped asking for help ... so how can we help them? ... they should have asked for help, there are so many schemes to help the needy."
This is wrong. This is wrong logic. This is wrong.
There is a distance between those who act as custodians of all these financial schemes for the needy and those who really need these schemes. It is a distance that is vast. It is a distance that is guarded with a ferocity which is uncalled for. It is a distance justified by the official attitude towards social welfare in Singapore.
It is a distance which the needy must bridge. Again and again. Thats why some stop asking for help. Thats why they borrow money.
Thats why they fucking kill themselves.
This must change. And Kitana is right. An MP and his grassroots machinery should have the resources available to find these people who slipped through the safety nets. To activate this machinery requires a re-understanding of social welfare and stop this turning away.
Quote of the Day --
On the turning away
From the pale and downtrodden
And the words they say
Which we won't understand
Dont accept that what's happening
Is just a case of others suffering
Or youll find that youre joining in
The turning away
Its a sin that somehow
Light is changing to shadow
And casting its shroud
Over all we have known
Unaware how the ranks have grown
Driven on by a heart of stone
We could find that we're all alone
In the dream of the proud -- Pink Floyd, On the Turning Away
From Kitana, she mentions an excerpt of the media coverage which riled her. A particular phrase from the MP of the GRC where the deceased was a constituent. "Family stopped asking for help". Embedded in this five words is a culture, an attitude, a leaning, towards social welfare which is utterly wrong. Utterly wrong. In many ways, this entry re-states Kitana's highly eloquent entry. So bear with me. It is an issue that needs stating. Needs framing. Before we are inundated by media articles explaining how this case is an aberration. That the social safety nets in Singapore are secure. And we are told of numerous successful case studies.
In Singapore, where competition and meritocracy are held as paragons of our economic success, poverty is treated with extreme delicacy. We are schooled against social welfare. We are told there are no free lunches. We are told to be the best that we can be. We are told to aim for excellence. We breed a form of self-determination which is the survival of the fittest. Exclusive self determination. We are told to win. Win. Win. No room for losers. No room for the downtrodden. Values which are revealed in rant by a JC student. Values which are the subject of abhorrece in the David Marshall interview. In such a system, the dominant perception on social welfare is that once controls on financial aid for the needy are lifted, there will be a floodgate of social demise associated with European countries which practice social welfarism. Images of uneployed and destitute youths lining up with hand-outs flash across the collective Singapore psyche. A mass of leeches. Waiting to suck our coffers dry. Leeches, an anathema in singapore. Set apart. Exiled. Accursed. Denounced.
This trepidation in dealing with social welfare, this aversion and distaste even for the term "social welfare" permeates across the entire structural construction of Singapore's social safety nets. The entire process to receiving financial aid reeks of this aversion against social welfare. The fundamental disposition to disbursement of financial aid is one of extreme prudence. It is a process that is littered with innuendoes and stigma. It is a process designed almost to discourage people from seeking financial aid. This is done to sieve out those "undeserving" of financial aid. To prevent abuse. To prevent images of people lining up for hand-outs. To prevent people from surviving comfortably in umeployment. So it is a deterring structure. Not caring. And while it succeeds in turning people away, at the same time, it can over-succeed. There could be those who simply stop asking for help. Because help is given like this. Like a fucking crime. While we disburse magical Progress Packages like Santa Claus. Images of people lining ATM machines, lining outside CPF building for hand-outs. Happy hand-outs. This is fine. This is an easy process. Money gets sent to your account, quick and efficient.
"Family stopped asking for help" -- these five words magically absolve the politicians, those who act as the custodians of social welfare, from blame. Once someone stops asking for help, the problem has disappeared. Its no longer the State's business. The logical flow of the statement is this : "They stopped asking for help ... so how can we help them? ... they should have asked for help, there are so many schemes to help the needy."
This is wrong. This is wrong logic. This is wrong.
There is a distance between those who act as custodians of all these financial schemes for the needy and those who really need these schemes. It is a distance that is vast. It is a distance that is guarded with a ferocity which is uncalled for. It is a distance justified by the official attitude towards social welfare in Singapore.
It is a distance which the needy must bridge. Again and again. Thats why some stop asking for help. Thats why they borrow money.
Thats why they fucking kill themselves.
This must change. And Kitana is right. An MP and his grassroots machinery should have the resources available to find these people who slipped through the safety nets. To activate this machinery requires a re-understanding of social welfare and stop this turning away.
Quote of the Day --
On the turning away
From the pale and downtrodden
And the words they say
Which we won't understand
Dont accept that what's happening
Is just a case of others suffering
Or youll find that youre joining in
The turning away
Its a sin that somehow
Light is changing to shadow
And casting its shroud
Over all we have known
Unaware how the ranks have grown
Driven on by a heart of stone
We could find that we're all alone
In the dream of the proud -- Pink Floyd, On the Turning Away
posted by xenoboysg at 3:40 AM
40 Comments:
My friend did a simple analysis based on some materials he have to cover in a compliance test in Australia, here's the post:
The ASIC compliance material has a section on social security in Australia. This is offered via the Department of Human Services – Centrelink. For simplicity sake, I will not include things like forex difference and their housing payment of $300 per month in this case study. Since the late Mr Tan was unemployed, the only income is from his wife which is $500 a month.
Applying Centrelink's benefits on Mr Tan's situation means that his family would be entitled to about $1,500 a month in allowance. To qualify for the full $1,500 the family will need to pass Asset and Income tests.
The Asset test has a range of $229,000 to $576,000 (partnered). The $1,500 allowance is reduced by $6 per month for every $1,000 above the $229,000 threshold. If the family asset exceeds $576,000 then they are ineligible for the allowance. Fair enough.
The Income test has a range of $248 to $2,905 per month (partnered). Monthly income between $248 and $1,000 will reduce the monthly allowance by 50% for every dollar. Monthly income between $1,001 and $2,905 will reduce the monthly allowance by 60% for every dollar.
Let's assume the family asset (assume main asset is their HDB flat) is worth $230,000. This is $1,000 above the $229,000 mark under the Asset test which reduces the monthly allowance by $6. The family monthly income is $500. This is $252 ($500 - $248 = $252) above the $248 mark which reduces the monthly allowance by $126 ($252 x 50% = $126). The total reduction in allowance is therefore $132.
The family is entitled to receive $1,368 ($1,500 - $132 = $1,368) in monthly allowance from the government. This will bring the family income to $1,868 per month.
The link is here: http://vesance.com/2006/10/15/work-in-progress.aspx
thanks to U..and people like Kitana and a few other bloggers...
Singaporeans now have the chance to see the real situation and many other situations existing in spore and I hope they learn from all these views expressed, as they never had this chance B4...brainwashed by the 140th...all these years...THANK U..
this just reinforces the view that the people in power have become so rich that they are not able to understand the plight of those earning peanut salaries (that is, peanuts to them)!
reading about the tan family saddens me.
is this the singapore society that we sang every national day that we are proud of?
it is time for the government to re-examine the basis of the ministers' salaries. unless these ministers can find a job earning this much in a non-government linked company, it is time to re-evaluate... while most of us are spending our lives paying off hdb loans, the ministers can purchase at least 4 units of hdb flat with their 1 year's renumeration...
also time to look into the lack of minimum wage...
personally, i just feel that the tan family could have been in a better shape....
Yes, those five words make me sick. If a person is dying on the street and is not asking for help, a bystander are standing there and will not help because the dying person stops asking for help. The only reason for the bystander not helping is that he/she is BLIND and DEAF.
But they are not blind or deaf, or else they cannot pick up the tea cups on the table.
So, please stop asking me for help in getting you up there...
Playing up Social Assistance is *the* gordian knot for detention with trial. I dont mean to scare anyone, but THAT has precendence.
Think 'Marxist Conspiracy 1987'. My take on that episode is that it exposed the underbelly of the current political / grassroots structure to social discontent.
I guess the Government's worry is the championing of an 'underclass' of society to get political power or cut down the Government's stature to size.
I find similarities in the Catholic Church's harping on the exploitation of foreign maids in 1987, and the groundswell of sympathy for laid-off citizens who commit suicide in 2006.
The FT vs Citizen's debate, foreign news of Temasek's multi-Billion-dollar losses (again!)and Dancing-MPs fiasco could not have come at a worse time.
My mind pictures the p65 MP's dancing to the beat of the train's fateful journey.
The State's spin-doctors are already going into overdrive to discredit / lessen the implied hardship of the Tan family. Mr Tan is going to be seen as a washout in life.
Mr Tan is not going to be a martyr, or an excuse for a Francis Seow / JBJ / Tang Liang Ho to capitalise on his death to gain political stature.
Like LKY said "Let's nip it in the bud". And so it shall be done.
In our constant rant against the mainstream media, please step back and realise that it is the same media that brought attention to this tragedy which started the outpouring of aid from fellow kind Singaporeans.
XB:
Consider sending a re-edited version of this entry to ST? The central argument of this piece - that S'poreans' mentality & perception of social welfare has created a vicious cycle that led to this tragedy - should have a hearing in the mainstream media.
How many other tragedies and vicious cycles are we creating in this constant quest for development and progress?
Dear Xenoboy
So succinct in expressing the sorrow that is uniquely Singaporean that in the midst of relative plenty our system makes desperate Singaporeans chose to off themselves.
Is it ludicrous that Temasek can lose S$850m in bad investments overseas with nary a consequence on the management that made such a decision while we as a society under the current regime, cannot aid our fellow Singaporean for a few hundreds of dollars a month?
I remember the song Mr. Roboto by Styx (http://www.styxworld.com/listingsEntry.asp?ID=137090&PT=Kilroy+was+Here)
"The problem's plain to see: too much technology
Machines to save our lives. Machines dehumanize."
Singapore Inc has become that machine that kills a part of us even as it feeds us.
Lunatic_Fringe
It is very easy for the Govt machinery to say that the family did not asked for help and deflect all blame and accusations.
Instead, one should ask why didn't this family, and probably many more suffering families out there, asked for help? How can the State offer assistance to these famailies proactively.
Despite the many so-called assistance schemes available in theory, this incident showed up the weakness in our social safety net to help the less fortunate in our society in reality. In fact, I see it as an utter failure.
Had the govt adopted a more holistic and integrated approach, there is a better chance that proactive assistance can be offered to these families.
Let's look at this case. They have arrears in conservancy charges, utilities bills, schools fees. According to the report in the TNP on Oct 23, the family has a debt amounting to $39K. If there is a coordinating body, there is ample evidence that the family living in a 3-room flat is having financial difficulties and that the State can take a proactive approach to help them. But no, the individual agencies just focus on how they could recover the debts.
If the govt is serious about the many so-called assistance schemes, then please put in place an infrastructure that can identify and provide the assistance needed proactively.
I think other governments in other nations that have a reasonable salary are able to relate better to the people. When you're being paid hundreds of thousands a month, you have to try VERY HARD to IMAGINE what life in the ground and at the lower-end is like.
Despite being condemned by Singapore's politicians - it looks welfarism is a good way to breed wealth for a country. Just look at the statistics :
http://www.aneki.com/richest.html
Richest Countries in the World
Rank Country GDP - per capita
1 Luxembourg $ 55,100
2 Norway $ 37,800
3 United States $ 37,800
4 San Marino $ 34,600
5 Switzerland $ 32,700
6 Denmark $ 31,100
7 Iceland $ 30,900
8 Austria $ 30,000
9 Canada $ 29,800
10 Ireland $ 29,600
11 Belgium $ 29,100
12 Australia $ 29,000
13 Netherlands $ 28,600
14 Japan $ 28,200
15 United Kingdom $ 27,700
16 France $ 27,600
17 Germany $ 27,600
18 Finland $ 27,400
19 Monaco $ 27,000
20 Sweden $ 26,800
Singapore is not in the top 20 list
I read the comments from the Wee family today. It really was Derek wee's fault. He should have kept quiet. Sigh.
Firstly, I would like to express by sympathy for Mr Tan and other unfortunate Singaporean who have been marginalised. As a society, Singapore can only be more caring but unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world.
I support help in kind - a basic accomodation block, a hamper set of daily necessities handed over to ensure that no one is starved.
I live in UK and when locals socialist groups will still complain that it is inhuman to pay brits such as low level of benefits. OK - the question here is why, simply being borned in the right country (i.e. Singapore or UK), entitled these people to help, while others, simply because they were borned in Africa (who are certainly much more well deserved than Singaporean or Brits) to receive help, should not be helped first.
Ideally, we would like to help them all, but the reality is that it is not affordable. Can anyone justify why being a Singaporean would entitle one to help, but if you live next door in Indonesia, than you don't ? Or if you are a Zimbabwean who managed to escape and seek asylum in UK then you are entitled to help, else you don't.
As for Australian style means-tested help, you have another problem. You know where these money come from? From the superrich? You wish - those who have their asset stashed away in tax heaven never really have to pay much. So, it is the middle class family who have to pay up. The family who may have to forgo time to spend with their kids etc in other to meet ends meets who have to pay up. If Singapore go socialist, you can bet those millionaires will disappear, and those who are at the verge of bening margianlise (maybe those with $1500 or so income per month) who will suffer the greatest blow.
As for the per capital list - the data is flawed. Luxembourge has many tax exemptions to businesses to make it more or less a tax heaven within europe. Further, European countries can afford this because zillions of wealth were transferred there during the 18th and 19th century.
Further, A conservative government has came into power in Sweden recently and Sweden relative wealth has been falling in the ranking (I think it was 4th or so in the 1950 and now about 20).
[http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=sweden+socialist+gdp+ranking]
Then Norway has plenty of oil and gas in the sea, as far as I know, Singapore has none. US Social Security and Mediacare just about to bankrupt the country. So, the choice for welfare is the choice to let current generation to live well regardless whether they contribue but for the next generation to suffer.
A better solution to Singapore is anti discrimination laws - anti discrimination against age, disabilities etc that prevent people from getting jobs and stritcker rules to ensure singapore comes first in the job market.
Finally, yes, the government do have to face these issues rather than trying to protect their faces.
Anyone wants to read about poverty in UK, a welfare state, see here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/6064688.stm
Hi all =)
"those who have their asset stashed away in tax heaven never really have to pay much. So, it is the middle class family who have to pay up."
Just to add to the above comment to clear things up.
The Australian Crime Commission (ACC) and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) do take tax evasion seriously.
http://www.crimecommission.gov.au/html/pg_media_joint.html
http://www.austrac.gov.au/publications/annualreports/200203/html/performance_reporting/chapter5.htm
Another area that is often misrepresented is ATO's rates are "high". The actual tax rates are seldom discussed in local media and more importantly, the after-tax purchasing power of the average Australian taxpayer is not mentioned as well. After-tax purchasing power is what counts really.
We also need to take a close look at the policies implemented by the Department of Human Services. It is a never ending cycle of plugging loopholes to prevent abuse and making sure that those in need are really taken care of. Legislations are thousands of pages so it is hard to capture everything in a single article.
It is understandable that Singapore media has a tendency to selectively report facts and news on Australia.
"those who have their asset stashed away in tax heaven never really have to pay much. So, it is the middle class family who have to pay up."
And the elites in Singapore are not doing the same thing? I see.
The govt will spend millions to ensure the old and poor has a PC and info highway, but will not spend a cent to publicly declare that they will give progress package to the old and poor. No changes will occur when the Lee familee are there watching over our reserves. You can't touch this. Wanna change? Wait!
http://www.insanepoly.com//temp/wsm.jpg
"Retrenchment is good for singapore. If there is no retrenchments, then I worry." - SM Goh
"I don't think that there should be a cap on the number of directorship that a person can hold." - PAP MP John Chen who holds 8 directorships.
"It's not for the money because some of the companies pay me as little as $10,000 a year." - PAP MP Wang Kai Yuen who holds 11 directorships.
"If you want to dance on a bar top, some of us will fall off the bar Top. Some people will die as a result of liberalising bar top dancing... a young girl with a short skirt dancing on it may attract some insults from some other men, the boyfriend will start fighting and some people will die." - Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports
"I would want to form an alternative policies group in Parliament, comprising 20 PAP MPs. These 20 PAP MPs will be free to vote in accordance with what they think of a particular policy. In other words, the whip for them will be lifted. This is not playing politics, this is something which I think is worthwhile doing." - SM Goh
"If you sing Jailhouse Rock with your electric guitar when others are playing Beethoven, you are out of order. The whip must be used on you." - SM Goh again, on a dramatic u-turn, rethink or backtrack, whatever you call it.
"Save on one hairdo and use the money for breast screening." - another gem from Lim Hng Kiang
"We started off with (the name) and after looking at everything, the name that really tugged at the heartstrings was in front of us. The name itself is not new, but what has been used informally so far has endeared itself to all parties." - Mah Bow Tan on the $400,000 exercise to rename Marina Bay as Marina Bay.
"Having enjoyed football as a national sport for decades, we in Singapore have set ourselves the target of reaching the final rounds of World Cup in 2010." - Ho Peng Kee
"Only 5% are unemployed. We still have 95% who are employed." - Yeo Cheow Tong
"Singaporean workers have become more expensive than those in the USA and Australia." - Tony Tan
"People support CPF cuts because there are no protest outside parliament." - PM Lee
"No, it was not a U-turn, and neither was it a reversal of government policy. But you can call it a rethink." - Yeo Cheow Tong
"...I regret making the decision because, in the end, the baby continued to be in intensive care, and KKH now runs up a total bill of more than $300,000..." - Lim Hng Kiang, regretting the decision to save a baby's life because KKH ran up a $300,000 bill
"Army will intervene in freak elections" - Lee Kuan Yew, 15 Sep 2006
Poll: Middle class voters abandoning GOP
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap
/20061027/ap_on_el_ge/
election_ap_poll_3
Sunday October 29, 11:46 AM
Minimum wage rise is reasonable:
Andrews Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews has defended last week's increase in the minimum wage as fair and reasonable in the prosperous economy. ... "We are in a prosperous economy at the present time ... as I go around the country, wherever I go, business owners and proprietors say to me we simply can't find the number of people we need to do jobs." ...
http://au.news.yahoo.com//061026/2/112ah.html
Chen Jiahao vs. Wee Shu Min
---------------------------
One Country, 2 Systems
A society in which the elite thinks that discipline applied only to others and not themselves soon finds that even the most efficient monitoring system would break down as the people in charge of enforcing discipline lose confidence about whether they can apply the same rules to everyone, and then learn to twist the rules to gain benefit for themselves. In other words, failure of elite members to apply self-discipline soon corrupts the whole society.
http://singabloodypore.blogspot.com
Lee Kuan Yew did not apologize for what he had said earlier because he believed what he said to the foreign delegates is nothing but only the truth. He went further to say that Singapore never protested over the racist remarks made by the idiot Umno leaders.
Lee, you are a great gentleman unlike the BN idiots.
That letter and the annex sum up the difference in calibre of the politicians in Malaysia as compared to that of Singapore. One in Singapore who is truly a statesman and all the rest in Malaysia are complete idiots. Just wonder why they get elected every election.
The letter from Lee is a further slap in the face for Badawi. Essentially, Lee stood up for what he said and what he said is the truth. Lee only apologizes for causing Badawi discomfort for telling the truth.
How could Singapore be accused a racist while it is not a secret that the government of Malaysia is a practitioner of racism! It is sure hypocrisy in its highest order. Shame on you, Malaysia Bodoh.
Lee did the right thing to release his letter to the media, so that his side of story won't be twisted by those Umno-controlled medias. He actually said he was "sorry" for causing discomfort, but short of an apology.
This whole episode showed how stupid Badawi is. By write a letter, give Lee more avenues to talk and print his letter for all the world to see. For a former foreign minister, Badawi your international diplomacy skill is so pathetic. A true hallmark of a half past six prime minister!
I used to follow the "Today In Parliament" program over the Singapore TV network. The high level of professionalism and intellect in all the ministers are apparent in their line of questioning and quality of their answers.
I have never seen any unbecoming or rude behaviour, including the opposition. It seems like in the Malaysia parliament, it is more like a zoo. It is not even worth it to televise the proceedings as the BN ministers set a very bad example for the public.
They come unprepared, the quality of discussions is mediocre, they are disrespectful, and worse of all "cakap tak serupa bikin".
To all BN ministers, swallow your pride and learn from the opposition members or even the parliamentarians in Singapore how to conduct yourselves. You have been elected by the people to represent them with dignity, and to deliver results for the country betterment. So, wake up as the next election might not be so lucky for you!
It is such a pity for this Malaysia country. I don't know why politicians have to extend their hands to influence the acceptance/appeal of university admission. That means if you find the right politicians, you will have a better chance of getting accepted.
I strongly believed that politicians should let the education ministry do its own job. The politicians should go ahead to set the criteria in accepting students so that there will be no more complaints.
How can improvements be made if the main ideas were to imitate without substance and to deceive with pride, prejudice and without merits!
We go through the same cycle every year. Ours is the only country in the world where taxes paid by the minorities are used almost exclusively to financially support the majority.
It is shameful and criminal. Undeserving people are given priority over more deserving ones. Even people under communist governments are treated better.
How long are we going to tolerate this situation? Until there is nothing left in the kitty? It is so despairing and we cannot even see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel yet. I cry for our country.
The whole system is rotten. Just plain rotten to the core. Always in need of repairs. That is about it. Don't make the university admission exercise an annual tombola.
An engineering graduate of UTM recently went for a job interview in Singapore. He was told that the company does not recognize Malaysia degrees but would accept his degree as an equivalent to a diploma!
Are our children fighting to get worthless local degrees? We have problems in all levels of government, in all ministries and universities, because malays decide on the interests of non-malays. Surely there is a tendency to lean towards its own kind.
When non-malay interests are decided by malays, they tend to be antagonistic towards us. Let us look at the whole system which is the cause of this discrimination. Helping some students get scholarships does not make any difference to improve anything.
I don't think the government care about brain drain. They are comfortable and happy with cheap and uneducated illegal/legal immigrants to work in construction, factory and plantation, jobs locals do not want to do.
Even in toilet cleaning, we Malaysia lose out to others, let alone higher education. In order to upgrade the cleaners in the service industry, the Singapore government invited the top cleaning professionals from the Japan Toilet Cleaning Institute to coach the 50 Singapore cleaners how to clean toilets.
These professionals used advanced cleaning gadgets, techniques to demonstrate how to clean toilets and keep them clean. The Japanese people are very particular about the cleanliness of their public toilets. A Japanese toilet cleaner gets four times the pay of their Singapore counterparts.
Let us calling a spade a spade, and not fooling ourselves by a 'Semuanya ok' attitude. Just have a look at most of our Malaysia ministers behaviors in our parliament, and you know that they could not equate to the toilets cleaners in terms of the ability in their own field as in Singapore.
Malaysia has the misfortune of being ruled by Muslims, hence their intolerant attitude to you non-malays.
It was the Chinese and Indian minorities that have begun to lift Malaysia out of third world poverty, and those malay bastards should be grateful to them for this but like I said before, that is too much to ask from a Muslim.
Malaysia is a xenophobic country - the bitter truth is that malays are afraid of competition from other races - they are indeed lazy and want everything for free.
If Malaysia is to divide into two countries with malays taking the east and the west to the Chinese and the Indians - watch the malays starting to migrate to the west illegally for a better future.
It is no wonder Singapore is a country which is 50 years ahead of Malaysia. Malays are fool racists indeed.
The writer reader should know that most of non-malay community realised what the government have done to them is unforgiven.
If we still depending on government we won't be in top positions in overseas, for example (76% in NASA is Indians), two-thirds of the community of practicing doctors in Singapore is Malaysian Chinese.
We (non-malay community) have been proven our intelligence around the world but not in Malaysia. So what we have do just emigrate or use Malaysia as an investment base.
Actually we (non-malays) should know that government will never change their policies unless there is a protest, here we don't do that……….That is the problem - anything the government says we just simply raise the Barisan flag.
It will be good idea if we emigrate, like one say in English, 'Where is a will, there is a way.'
But always remember the 'will' for non-malays is not in Malaysia.
To tell you the truth those BN blokes brains are filled with mud! They cannot see the similarity between Khairy statement and Lee Kuan Yew statement. Both bear the same meaning. Only change the name of country and race.
Khairy said: Singapore marginalised the malays.
Lee Kuan Yew said: Malaysia marginalised the Chinese.
Pak Lah, do you need an English specialist to explain to you the differences!
I must congratulate Lee Kuan Yew who really shows our half past six government that the Chinese are marginalised here. And at the same time to tell Pak Lah that it is time to teach your son-in-law how to behave.
This is not something new. They are God and they are also the devil. They can do all they want. I don't care about their stupid speeches, blames or comments game. The only thing I care about is how they are driving this country down the drain.
BN is a virus. They come and consume the land's riches, integrity and morale. When all is gone, they spread to other areas to sustain their destructive ways. BN is a disease country cancer.
DAP is the cure. And to use this cure, we must vote them into parliament.
Please tell Pak Lah to restrain his dog Khairy. He is barking and pissing everyone off. Maybe Khairy is doing this on purpose to bring down Pak Lah and then grab the post for his own.
Our leaders are all hypocrites. It is alright for them to criticise USA, Singapore, Thailand and any country they want to. But when other country criticise us they want apology. The government is really half past six and they should all resign.
Umno is trying very hard to portray a confident and strong party. But deep inside, they are very insecure. This could be seen in the unusual behavior and conduct of their members.
Hello Malaysians! I am a Malaysian Indian whom been in UK for quite some time now. And until now some of my good friends are malays.
As a country, Malaysia is a beautiful one compare to lots of other countries. But there is something I want the malays to hear and consider, racism exist everywhere and I agree. But how can a government run its country depending on race, that is not fair.
For one minute if you guys think out of the box, how can even education be divided according to different races where there is some as Mara University only for malays. Don't you think education is something everybody deserves without racism in it?
In UK I am not even a PR here but I been treated so equal in terms if I am going to buy a house or to apply for a university. Can you believe it that I got a funding to do my PhD from a UK body, they are that fair.
I know few Mara medical students here in UK who got full funding from Malaysia but they are not bonded with Malaysia at all! I just want you guys to think is it fair that our fathers tax money (non-malays and malays) goes to waste!
Racism exists in UK, where you can see some citizens giving odd comments and all but that is all! That comment will not affect me at all! The thing that will affect me is, I getting a good result without being able to continue my studies.
My living lifestyle is so good in here and I am so happy, that does mean I don't like living in Malaysia but please think, I will never be treated the same, my kids have to go through the same thing.
I will continue to work in UK until I get a PR and really earn some good money, then one day I will return to Malaysia to retire, and with money, the government can't touch you! In fact you can just live your live as if Malaysia government does not exist at all.
I just think that no country should be governed according to religion and race, the country will never come up. As we all can see, MAS airlines with no competition in Malaysia went bankrupt! Can you believe that!
Someone said Chinese invaded Singapore, well lucky they did, and that is why everybody in the world now knows Singapore and not Malaysia which is much much older and bigger.
Just spoke to a friend of mine, and she told me that a close friend of her studying in Singapore, just visited Malaysia over the weekend. And so, I asked her what did her friend tell her about Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur to be specific……….and you know what, the first word is - dirty.
True enough, I think many Malaysians still have poor mentality in terms of keeping the public area clean, and not to litter. Yup Malaysia is so dirty, as said by our prime minister, we have 1st class facilities but 3rd class mentalities.
I went to Australia and it is so clean, and the citizens really abide the rules like wearing the seatbelts while driving etc. We Malaysians always have problems on obeying the rules.
The Australian Chinese will be great asset in the next 10-20 years. Because Australia is eyeing the China share of investment. The influence of China economy policy will definitely reach Australia.
So it would be good for Australian Chinese to study Mandarin as well. English is much easily to master than Mandarin. Dual languages for young Australian Chinese will be beneficial for them as they can provide a link between the rich China and Australian expertise.
Good luck to all fellow Australian Chinese.
I am thinking of doing a post grad degree just for the sake of running away from this Malaysia country.
Australia or Hong Kong or Shanghai mainly because of their culture and weather similarities. I hate everything about Malaysia - the people, the politics and especially the weather.
And if you think you want to play a role in "solving the many problems of Malaysia" - good for you, because it certainly not going to be my business.
I know people say: If you don't like Malaysia, get out of the country! Yes, I am doing just that. Cheers to our politicians!
Most of my family on my mother side resides in Malaysia and I have been there many times. I think that many of these facts are true, but from what I see when I am in Malaysia is that, most the Malaysia economy is dependant on the Chinese population.
I have no empirical data on this but my observation is that the Chinese population is harder working and more entrepreneurial on average than the malay population.
I resided in Malaysia and yes - most of the comments posted, if not all are true. We even call it here as the "crutch" - the government use to help the malays walk.
The government has the intention of dominating profitable businesses in this country. They even use the taxpayers money to save ailing malay government-linked companies, e.g. MAS (the national airline) with losses of over RM1 billion.
I guess much of this has something to do with the fact that most malays are jealous of the business acumen of Malaysian Chinese businessmen. It is our taxpayers money, for goodness sake!
Scholarships in local universities for deserving non-malays, especially the Malaysian Chinese people are always denied whereas the number of malay students (regardless of socio-economic status) with average results being sent overseas in thousands for expensive tertiary education, is increasing year by year. Meritocracy is definitely not practised by the government here.
On the outside the Malaysia society is in racial harmony. But deep down there is discontent amongst the Chinese and Indian community in Malaysia toward the government pro-malay policies.
It is just that we can't do anything because we are the suppressed minority as malays make up 60% of the total population whereas other races only constitute about 40%.
The malays are generally (not all of them) full of pride of their own race to an extreme and are emotional people.
I reckon bloodshed would happen if we were to openly and publicly oppose the ruling government. It has happened in Malaysia in the 1960s, where many Chinese in Malaysia have fought against the malays and died in the process for equal rights and treatment.
Maybe it will happen again in the future, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of history repeating itself.
Other than that, our representatives in the parliament are nothing but a bunch of bustards, that are placing more importance in debating aloud about making bow ties compulsory in the parliament and making countless other stupid comments, instead of discussing important issues like how to increase productivity and such.
Could any of you readers out there tell me what the very country is this? I just don't understand why we are paying these people through our taxpayers money. It is obvious that they are not doing their job.
It is just that the minorities here in Malaysia have to work harder than the malays to earn a decent living due to denied opportunities and unequal treatment. I am pretty sure liberal countries would help the minority but it is the other way round in Malaysia.
I am a Malaysian, I was born and brought up here, I have many a sweet memory in Malaysia, but due to all these factors, I just can't bring myself to shout out "Malaysia, I love you!"
I have nothing against my malay friends. They were lucky to be born into Malaysia. It is the government that is the root of all problems. It is dumbfuck pathetic. Let the truth be open to the world.
So I hope that the Malaysia government will learn from the history lessons - had to learn the hard way and - treasure their economically very active minorities and try to keep them in the country.
By the way, I am not Chinese. My grandmother is Chinese but my grandfather is from a mixed European-Indian background and my father is white. I am not putting the races against each other, I am just stating my honest observation from my numerous visits to Malaysia.
Malays are a diverse group of Austronesian peoples inhabiting the malay archipelago and malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia.
The original Austronesians from southern China crossed the strait of Taiwan and settled modern day Taiwan around 8000 - 4000 BCE.
These first settlers landed in northern Luzon in the Philippines. Over the next thousand years up until 1500 BCE, their descendants started to spread south to the rest of the Philippine islands, Celebes, northern Borneo, Moluccas, and Java.
The settlers in Moluccas sailed eastward and began to spread to the islands of Melanesia and Micronesia between 1200 BCE and 500 BCE respectively. Those that spread westward reached Sumatra, the malay Peninsula and southern Vietnam by 500 BCE.
According to the Encyclopedia of Malaysia, the Negritos, who number approximately 2000, are regarded as the earliest inhabitants of the malay Peninsula.
They are of Australo-Melanesian affinity and probably descend from the people of Hoabinhian cultural period, with many of their burials found dating back 10000 years ago.
They speak Austroasiatic languages, as do their Senoi agriculturalist neighbours. The Senoi and Proto-malay arrived much later probably during the Neolithic period.
Don't be like that, the stupid Mahathir! Just look after your own shit! You are in a deep pool of dinosaur shit!
Singapore has all the reasons to be proud, beat your stupid ass a million times over in every area of governance of a country:
- Good government, close to 100% corruption free
- Education systems
- Economic progress (shit, compare Malaysia foreign reserves to Singapore, shame)
- City planning and cleanliness
- Transport systems
- SIA (while MAS had to sell shares to your crony and then relegated from buying back - hanky panky!)
- Racial harmony
- Housing development
- Health care systems
- etc……….
Long list to blur your old blurry eyes! You have got 22 years, not only did you not manage the country well, you messed it up.
Just compare the education backgrounds of the two country's cabinet members, and listen to the ministers of both parliaments speak. Even kids can tell you we have a zoo in Malaysia parliament with bunch of stupid monkeys.
Singapore has all the reasons to be proud of. But they don't necessary taunt your thin skin emotional violent loose canon big mouth freaks.
You know from top to bottom, you have shamed your entire race to the max. The world is no longer isolated - it is borderless, news travels faster than the sound of your stinky fart.
And the whole world gets to see the stupidity and idiocy that so define you and the self-proclaimed sons-of-the-night-soil.
Due to the education policies, most young and intelligent Malaysians have either cross over to Singapore and other countries to further their studies.
In fact a great number of them have been earmarked by the Singapore government before their finals to take up PR status and attractive jobs offered. Some of these Malaysians are actually in Singapore parliament to help the nation to progress.
Actually the fact that smart Malaysians who capable are going to other countries be it Singapore or Australia can be a good thing for the country or for Malaysian Chinese in particular.
Why?
In the age of globalisation, it is important to have roots and contacts around. These bondages among relatives and friends among all Chinese spread around the world can benefit trade in future. It is a form of bridge to better future. Companies headed by Malaysians can in future help each other.
We can never know what the future in Malaysia will be like given the circumstances. So in a way it is a good thing. It is like the old days when Chinese traded among each other in this region.
So stage one export our experts around the world - next connect each other. That is good. One day maybe someone will initiate an association of overseas Chinese Malaysians eh?
Malaysians are not genetically inferior to Singaporeans - we are the same kind of people except for the proportion of various ethnic groups. The reason why many intelligent Malaysians went overseas is due to a government bent on dividing us along religious and ethnic lines.
For too long Malaysians of all ethnic groups have been bamboozled by scoundrels who'd used divisive slogans to enrich their own pockets and the pockets of their relatives and cronies. Malaysians must unite and give the opposition a chance to do better.
Malaysians have been moving to Singapore for many years now and that has been their long term strategy since they allowed tens of thousands of Malaysians to study there.
Peasants paying these jokers more than $100,000 a month to spew crap like this? seriously!?!
--------------------------------
“Retrenchment is good for singapore. If there is no retrenchments, then I worry.” - SM Goh
“I don’t think that there should be a cap on the number of directorship that a person can hold.” - PAP MP John Chen who holds 8 directorships.
“It’s not for the money because some of the companies pay me as little as $10,000 a year.” - PAP MP Wang Kai Yuen who holds 11 directorships.
“If you want to dance on a bar top, some of us will fall off the bar Top. Some people will die as a result of liberalising bar top dancing… a young girl with a short skirt dancing on it may attract some insults from some other men, the boyfriend will start fighting and some people will die.” - Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports
“I would want to form an alternative policies group in Parliament, comprising 20 PAP MPs. These 20 PAP MPs will be free to vote in accordance with what they think of a particular policy. In other words, the whip for them will be lifted. This is not playing politics, this is something which I think is worthwhile doing.” - SM Goh
“If you sing Jailhouse Rock with your electric guitar when others are playing Beethoven, you are out of order. The whip must be used on you.” - SM Goh again, on a dramatic u-turn, rethink or backtrack, whatever you call it.
“Save on one hairdo and use the money for breast screening.” - another gem from Lim Hng Kiang
“We started off with (the name) and after looking at everything, the name that really tugged at the heartstrings was in front of us. The name itself is not new, but what has been used informally so far has endeared itself to all parties.” - Mah Bow Tan on the $400,000 exercise to rename Marina Bay as Marina Bay.
“Having enjoyed football as a national sport for decades, we in Singapore have set ourselves the target of reaching the final rounds of World Cup in 2010.” - Ho Peng Kee
“Only 5% are unemployed. We still have 95% who are employed.” - Yeo Cheow Tong
“Singaporean workers have become more expensive than those in the USA and Australia.” - Tony Tan
“People support CPF cuts because there are no protest outside parliament.” - PM Lee
“No, it was not a U-turn, and neither was it a reversal of government policy. But you can call it a rethink.” - Yeo Cheow Tong
“…I regret making the decision because, in the end, the baby continued to be in intensive care, and KKH now runs up a total bill of more than $300,000…” - Lim Hng Kiang, regretting the decision to save a baby’s life because KKH ran up a $300,000 bill
“Without the elected president and if there is a freak result, within two or three years, the army would have to come in and stop it.” - MM Lee Kuan Yew
“Please do not assume that you can change governments. Young people don’t understand this” - Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, post-2006 General Elections
History repeats itself. The PAP started out as a saviour for this country - as a means to an end. Sadly, like all leaders in the history of human civilisation, they inevitably become corrupted by the very power that had enabled them to do good. In the end the leaders see themselves as the end itself.
History will repeat itself when they inevitably will go into decline - undone by the very toxin that the corrupting process produces.
The mighty Roman Empire and many others before and after it went that way, do you think the dictators of this little red dot can buck the trend?
I am sad only because, the ordinary Singaporeans will suffer because of it.
Joshua Says:
October 20th, 2006 at 2:17 pm
I am living and working in Australia for a few years now. To me, the line between a Singaporean and an Australian has blurred. Perhaps, it is because I stop questioning or justifying myself.
My existence, whereever I am, is more important.
Perhaps it is due to the freedom of an Australian to live anywhere in the world they like and still consider themselves Aussies. I can still “return” to Singapore to visit family, etc.
I have a choice here, Australia recognise dual-citisenship and it benefits Australia to recognise the age of human and skills mobility.
I think the idea of “leaving one country” is in a way, quite Singaporean, because of the narrow focus drawn by the politicans for their agenda.
Perhaps, I am living in a lucky country, where one do not measure life with material well-being. Many Singaporeans settled in Australia, then left Australia again, disappointed by what they see. Some of these people find themselves in a quandary, because having seen Australia intimately, the Singapore they imagine is no longer the one they left behind.
Utimately, a Singaporean who chose to “leave” Singapore should have a few tips to help achieve his or her dream.
1. If you hate or dislike Singapore and as result, leave Singapore, you will not like your new adopted country. Leave Singapore happily. Say bye-bye to the suckers who run the country like a profit-maximising corporation.
2. Look beyond the surface. The grass if not always greener on the other side. Have a realistic expectation of the country you are settling and recognise the points that will help you to thrive. Australia is beautiful because it is imperfect and human-oriented. We have our share of problems, but that is part of life.
At the end of the day, the best words you will ever hear is when your kids (after visiting Singapore) came around and say “Thanks for bringing us to Australia”
Why I Would Like to Leave, by Kitana
Before I went to Canada for a year, I had to go for a medical check-up. During that check-up, the doctor told me that I would love Canada. And he had said that most of the people he knew that went to Canada, either never came back; or when they did, they’d returned to Canada shortly after. Few ever stayed in Singapore.
At the time, I wondered why. I don’t anymore.
The government asks us why we leave. They calls us quitters and deserters, for leaving our country, our homeland, for some other place that we perceive to be greener pastures. Why leave Singapore, where we rank tops for good governance (save for voice and accountability, where we scored a low of 38.2% this year), where we are so clean and safe and secure, and where we are so efficient?
The fact of the matter is, that there are people who will give up all of the above, for more freedom.
I was happy in Canada. Sure, it was expensive, and taxes were a killer. With a 14% combination of GST and PST on all consumer items, and income taxes hitting a high of 40%; it was definitely difficult to make ends meet for someone who did not work there. And of course, on days where the buses went on strike, I’d be stuck in campus and not be able to go to town. Also, we did have a bit of a furor when Parliament was dissolved late last year, only to have the Conservatives voted in after 13 years under the Liberals. Oh and before I forget, yes it was definitely more inefficient. Expect to wait when you queue up to pay for something; the cashier will inevitably engage everyone before you as to how their day was (and their kids, and their parents, and what they think of the weather; etc). Expect to wait for the buses because the bus driver might have stopped somewhere to grab a cup of Starbucks while doing his rounds (yes, with passengers in the bus). Oh, and how can I forget the drug problem: you can get drugs anywhere off the street if you know where to look; marijuana is about as commonplace as cigarettes and alcohol.
But for all the possible gripes that I might have about that place, the benefits far outweighed all the detriments (if you even saw them as that) combined. Firstly, we were really free. I’m not just talking about freedom with regard to political freedom to vote, to protest, to strike, to demonstrate, or to have a point of view; but also real freedom of the mind and the body. You can think differently, dress differently, live differently. Society is inclusive.
The city that I lived in had a whole mix of races and nationalities. I’ve met everyone from locals to the Koreans, Japs and Chinese, Iranians, Iraqis, Philippinos, Latin Americans, French, Africans, Indians etc etc etc. It’s as much a cultural mix, if not more so, than Singapore. And the best part is: everyone more or less gets along. There is no need for the implementation of “Racial Harmony Day” or racial quotas for HDB flats. Everyone just does – because prejudice just does not exist there.
And it wasn’t just about race and religion; you could be a conservative or a liberal, be it cerebral or waist-down. It didn’t matter. Such criteria was just not a measure of your worth. You could be thin or fat. It didn’t matter too. People weren’t as image-conscious. You could walk down the streets dressed in goth punk outfits with multiple piercings in your face and people would still talk to you normally, and not avoid you. And in Village area, men held hands with men; they kissed on buses, and no one even batted an eye lid.
In Singapore, can you comprehend this inclusiveness? The majority of Singaporeans are notably close-minded and inflexible. Even if a straight couple were to kiss on the bus, there would be chitters regarding the offensiveness of public displays of affection. When the gay community wishes to throw a party, they get turned down because the overly-conservative majority decides that this is a justification for the prevention of AIDS. Singapore is one of the few countries, if not the only, where drug trafficking attracts a mandatory death penalty, such that the courts do not even have the discretion to pardon the poor 18 year old Nigerian who became a drug mule without him realizing the folly of his error.
If you decide to stage a demonstration, you require a permit that will always be turned down on the vague notions of security; if you support a party other than the one in power, you risk getting asked for your particulars and photographed. If you hold a view other than the one in the local papers (which is so effectively-controlled, all for the sake of “the national interest”), you are forced to keep that view to yourself. If you attempt to post that view up on a platform, such as a blog, you might be sent a warning letter especially with a threat of defamation. If you decide to print out that view and distribute it on a phamplet, you may get investigated under s 151 of the Penal Code. Oh, and you can’t do podcasts with political content, unless you are the party in power.
In Singapore, besides the overwhelming humidity, there is a notorious lack of personal space. There are too many people in Singapore. It’s so difficult to find a place which isn’t swarming with people. The roads are full of cars, the buses are packed to full capacity at various times of the day; Raffles Place strikes me as a factory churning out goods as people chope seats with tissue packets on busy lunch hours. And everyone is always in a rush. There is always this inane need to do something, be somewhere, get caught up in this inexplicable rat race, and just work and work and work until you succeed… and then realize that you don’t even know what the fuck ‘success’ really means.
The stress is crazy; the pressure unfightable. It starts from the time we enter primary school; the education system does prepare us for the real world in that sense – we get exposed to pressure cooker type stress and a level of competition that makes having a life outside of academia almost impossible, unlike in other countries whose universities also produce Nobel laureates. Our parents push us, our schools push us; society pushes us… And our goal is this:
Money. Money and the economy.
In Singapore, this is the definition of the good life. Some people may subscribe to religion as what defines a good life, particularly in reaction to the imposition of money as the new god; but for the most part, Singaporeans are a consumeristic and materialistic lot. So many girlfriends see the Mango and Zara sales as the defining point of their lives; or believe that sipping lychee martinis at Zouk Wine Bar is the epitome of class. Everyone wants to get more money, buy more items, be more powerful; be it career success or material possession, this is all that most Singaporeans dream of and spend their entire lives clamouring towards.
And this works great for Singapore, because all of Singapore’s objectives are geared towards only 1 thing and one thing alone: money. Or in the case of this country, the economy. Everything we do, we do it for the sake of our economy. We have no minimum wage; we have no protection against the ills that globalization necessarily brings us. We have no protection for the rising income equality (all we have is an article in the newspapers telling us to disbelieve the Gini-coefficient), we have no solutions for our elderly except to either dump them in Johor or Batam, or to encourage our young to bring more babies into this pressure cooker life.
Someone told me that this was not a bad thing. Because we have different races and religions, the economy is the one thing that can unite us. I told him that he was a mere subject of years of successful indoctrination. He talked like just another average Singaporean.
“Money unites us.”
In a country where I would like to live, it is not money, but dreams that unite. Dreams that transcend the material; dreams of ideals of maybe caring for a family; caring for the environment within which we live; dreams of bettering oneself, or dreams or learning for the sake of learning; dreams to be whatever I want to be; that unite people.
In Singapore, it is difficult to dream. Difficult to dream of anything beyond the material. I don’t wish for a future where I am stuck in my dead end job wondering what the fuck I want in my life. I don’t want a future where I die to myself, murder my idealism and my dreams of being different, simply because ‘different’ is a bad word in Singapore.
And because Singapore is not a place where such dreams flourish, Singapore is just not a place where I envision myself realizing these dreams.
What's happening here in this post? How come the last 17 or so comments are arguing/commenting over Singapore/Malaysia, which is not even the gist of this post? Geez, you people, read the post carefully before making your unrelated comments to what xenoboy is writing about.
Xenoboy, has your blog somehow been hijacked?
“Dr Chong Weng Chiew (Tanjong Pagar GRC) warned against encouraging a crutch mentality.
He said: ‘We shouldn’t be waving a red flag for this, telling everyone that there’s this help available. It’s quite a process to go through to get the vouchers. A person with dignity won’t do it unless he’s in genuine trouble.’”
i saw this paragraph above in kitana's blog post. does it mean that a family with financial difficulties/in genuine trouble has no diginty and they should be treated as such with no diginity?
sheesh.
anon8:08 PM: I agreed. It troubles me greatly when I read what this mp said. They all have hearts of stones. It does not matter how a person get to be down on his luck whether its through his choices/decisions/medical or external factors such as govt. policies, economy, etc. the last person we expect to kick us in the balls when we are down is our own govt. Such cowardice to kick a person down on his luck. Like what everybody said repeatedly, what's the point of paying them million dollar salary when they can't even solve problems that they are supposed to solve.
List of racial discriminations in Malaysia, practiced by government as well as government agencies. This list is an open secret. Best verified by government itself because it got the statistics.
This list is not in the order of importance, that means the first one on the list is not the most important and the last one on the list does not mean least important.
This list is a common knowledge to a lot of Malaysians, especially those non-malays (Chinese, Ibans, Kadazans, Orang Asli, Tamils, etc) who were being racially discriminated.
Figures in this list are estimates only and please take it as a guide only. Government of Malaysia has the most correct figures. Is government of Malaysia too ashamed to publish their racist acts by publishing racial statistics?
This list cover a period of about 49 years since independence (1957).
List of racial discriminations (Malaysia):
(1) Out of all the 5 major banks, only one bank is multi-racial, the rest are controlled by malays
(2) 99% of Petronas directors are malays
(3) 3% of Petronas employees are Chinese
(4) 99% of 2000 Petronas gasoline stations are owned by malays
(5) 100% all contractors working under Petronas projects must be bumis status
(6) 0% of non-malay staffs is legally required in malay companies. But there must be 30% malay staffs in Chinese companies
(7) 5% of all new intake for government army, nurses, polices, is non-malays
(8) 2% is the present Chinese staff in Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), drop from 40% in 1960
(9) 2% is the percentage of non-malay government servants in Putrajaya. But malays make up 98%
(10) 7% is the percentage of Chinese government servants in the whole government (in 2004), drop from 30% in 1960
(11) 95% of government contracts are given to malays
(12) 100% all business licensees are controlled by malay government e.g. Approved permits, Taxi permits, etc
(13) 80% of the Chinese rice millers in Kedah had to be sold to malay controlled Bernas in 1980s. Otherwise, life is make difficult for Chinese rice millers
(14) 100 big companies set up, owned and managed by Chinese Malaysians were taken over by government, and later managed by malays since 1970s e.g. MISC, UMBC, UTC, etc
(15) At least 10 Chinese owned bus companies (throughout Malaysia, throughout 40 years) had to be sold to MARA or other malay transport companies due to rejection by malay authority to Chinese application for bus routes and rejection for their application for new buses
(16) 2 Chinese taxi drivers were barred from driving in Johor Larkin bus station. There are about 30 taxi drivers and 3 are Chinese in October 2004. Spoiling taxi club properties was the reason given
(17) 0 non-malays are allowed to get shop lots in the new Muar bus station (November 2004)
(18) 8000 billion ringgit is the total amount the government channeled to malay pockets through ASB, ASN, MARA, privatisation of government agencies, Tabung Haji etc, through NEP over 34 years period
(19) 48 Chinese primary schools closed down since 1968 - 2000
(20) 144 Indian primary schools closed down since 1968 - 2000
(21) 2637 malay primary schools built since 1968 - 2000
(22) 2.5% is government budget for Chinese primary schools. Indian schools got only 1%, malay schools got 96.5%
(23) While a Chinese parent with RM1000 salary (monthly) cannot get school-text-book-loan, a malay parent with RM2000 salary is eligible
(24) 10 all public universities vice chancellors are malays
(25) 5% - the government universities lecturers of non-malay origins had been reduced from about 70% in 1965 to only 5% in 2004
(26) Only 5% is given to non-malays for government scholarships over 40 years
(27) 0 Chinese or Indians were sent to Japan and Korea under "Look East Policy"
(28) 128 STPM Chinese top students could not get into the course that they aspired e.g. Medicine (in 2004)
(29) 10% place for non-bumi students for MARA science schools beginning from year 2003, but only 7% are filled. Before that it was 100% malays
(30) 50 cases whereby Chinese and Indian Malaysians, are beaten up in the National Service program in 2003
(31) 25% is Malaysian Chinese population in 2004, drop from 45% in 1957
(32) 7% is the present Malaysian Indians population (2004), a drop from 12% in 1957
(33) 2 million Chinese Malaysians had emigrated to overseas since 40 years ago
(34) 0.5 million Indian Malaysians had emigrated to overseas
(35) 3 million Indonesians had migrated into Malaysia and became Malaysian citizens with bumis status
(36) 600000 are the Chinese and Indian Malaysians with red IC and were rejected repeatedly when applying for citizenship for 40 years. Perhaps 60% of them had already passed away due to old age. This shows racism of how easily Indonesians got their citizenships compare with the Chinese and Indians
(37) 5% - 15% discount for a malay to buy a house, regardless whether the malay is poor or rich
(38) 2% is what Chinese new villages get compare with 98% of what malay villages got for rural development budget
(39) 50 road names (at least) had been changed from Chinese names to other names
(40) 1 Dewan Gan Boon Leong (in Malacca) was altered to other name (e.g. Dewan Serbaguna or sort) when it was being officially used for a few days. Government try to shun Chinese names. This racism happened in around year 2000 or sort
(41) 0 churches/temples were built for each housing estate. But every housing estate got at least one mosque/surau built
(42) 3000 mosques/surau were built in all housing estates throughout Malaysia since 1970. No churches, no temples are required to be built in housing estates
(43) 1 Catholic church in Shah Alam took 20 years to apply to be constructed. But told by malay authority that it must look like a factory and not look like a church. Still not yet approved in 2004
(44) 1 publishing of Bible in Iban language banned (in 2002)
(45) 0 of the government TV stations (RTM1, RTM2, TV3) are directors of non-malay origins
(46) 30 government produced TV dramas and films always showed that the bad guys had Chinese face, and the good guys had malay face. You can check it out since 1970s. Recent years, this tendency becomes less
(47) 10 times, at least, malays (especially Umno) had threatened to massacre the Chinese Malaysians using May 13 since 1969
(48) 20 constituencies won by DAP would not get funds from the government to develop. Or these Chinese majority constituencies would be the last to be developed
(49) 100 constituencies (parliaments and states) had been racistly re-delineated so Chinese voters were diluted that Chinese candidates, particularly DAP candidates lost in election since 1970s
(50) Only 3 out of 12 human rights items are ratified by Malaysia government since 1960
(51) 0 - elimination of all forms of racial discrimination (UN Human Rights) is not ratified by Malaysia government since 1960s
(52) 20 reported cases whereby malay ambulance attendances treated Chinese patients inhumanely, and malay government hospital staffs purposely delay attending to Chinese patients in 2003. Unreported cases may be 200
(53) 50 cases each year whereby Chinese, especially Chinese youths being beaten up by malay youths in public places. We may check at police reports provided the police took the report, otherwise there will be no record
(54) 20 cases every year whereby Chinese drivers who accidentally knocked down malays were seriously assaulted or killed by malays
(55) 12% is what ASB/ASN got per annum while banks fixed deposit is only about 3.5% per annum
There are hundreds more racial discriminations in Malaysia to add to this list of "colossal" racism. It is hope that the victims of racism will write in to expose racism.
Malaysia government should publish statistics showing how much malays had benefited from the "special rights" of malays and at the same time tell the statistics of how much other minority races are being discriminated.
Hence, the responsibility lies in the Malaysia government itself to publish unadulterated statistics of racial discrimination.
If the Malaysia government hides the statistics above, then there must be some evil doings, immoral doings, shameful doings and sinful doings, like the Nazi, going on onto the non-malays of Malaysia.
Civilized nation, unlike evil Nazi, must publish statistics to show its treatment on its minority races. This is what Malaysia must publish……….
We are asking for the publication of the statistics showing how "implementation of special rights of malays" had inflicted colossal racial discrimination onto non-malays.
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