Nades: Missing the bigger picture

Excerpt:

'The prime minister's 11 measures to slash public service expenditure which was announced last week have hardly raised expectations of the people who anticipate some form of action to the spiralling cost of living. A reduction in entertainment allowance; allowances for toll and the freeze in renovation of government offices are just tiny drops in a mighty ocean.

Datuk Paul Low, the minister in the Prime Minister's Department and long-time advocate of good governance would agree that the bigger challenges in keeping down prices and plugging the leaks would be to have a good system in the areas of procurement and disposal of assets and more importantly, doing away with extravagance which bring no benefit to the people.

A cursory glance of the auditor-general's numerous reports tell the startling truth – the government procurement structure is non-existent with everyone setting his or her own rules and regulations with scant regard for procedures. The result is that the government has been paying and is continuing to pay exorbitant prices (running into millions) for goods and services.'

'How many contractors have "absconded" with government money is a closely-guarded secret which no one wants to disclose. Could anyone put a figure on the amount that has gone down the drain? Has anyone gone after the miscreants with a view to recovering what rightfully belongs to the government?'
'At least seven huge parcels of land belonging to the federal government in the Klang Valley (with development value running into billions) have changed hands without the public knowing anything about the transactions.

Did the government get the right price? How were the "recipients" chosen? Does he or she have the resources to pay for the land or was it a gift to some crony, repaying a political favour? In the absence of an open system, it gives Joe Public no other choice but to believe that backhanders were given and more importantly, taken.'

More:
http://www.thesundaily.my/node/236577
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KTM Station Batu Gajah remains a necessary inconvenience

Today is the 4th anniversary of my petition to have another scheduled stop at the old station which is on the main road, convenient to most people in town, which is what a railway station rightly should be.

What used to be within walking distance to some residents, traders and their customers, was taken away when a new railway station was built a few years ago, to a new location next to the Railway Complex which is 2 km away from the main road. Instead of serving the needs of the travelling public, the planners preferred that of the KTM workshop workers and railway college students.

Just imagine the few years wasted when the station was completed but not ready for use and then the few years when it was in use, supposedly to serve a new township which failed to materialise because the developers waited for house buyers before building shops in what seems to be a 'chicken and egg' situation.

As a compromise, KTM could have offered a scheduled stop (nobody is so silly as to ask for relocation of the new station) at the old station, for those who wish to get off there. It would waste only a few minutes and I am sure the local residents and other travellers to Batu Gajah would be grateful. To be fair, why not try it for a period to see if there are people wishing to stop at the old station rather than the new? Adequate publicity and announcement must be given when trying this out.
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What could piss off Malaysians

“Malaysia, yes! So you’re from Kuala Lampa?”

Lampa is the Hokkien word for balls, and no, our capital city Kuala Lumpur is not a confluence of testicles. It’s pronounced “loom-por,” and it’s the Malay word for mud, referring to the city’s original location at the junction of the Sungai Gombak and Sungai Klang rivers.

I let out a snigger every single time I hear a non-Malay speaker proclaim Kuala Lampa (!) with such gusto and smugness at finally being able to show off their “capital cities of the world” knowledge. Yes, Kuala Loompor is our capital city, but that’s not where I’m from, thanks.

“If you’re from Malaysia…you must be Malay, right?”

Nope, I’m from Malaysia so I’m Malaysian. Malay is a race. And Malaysians are made up of other races, too, like Chinese, Indians, Ibans, Kadazans, Eurasians — ethnically distinct, but all Malaysians nonetheless.

We’re still trying to overcome racial segregation after 56 years of independence, so try not to add insult to injury by not bothering to understand the difference between race and nationality.

More:
http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/how-to-piss-off-a-malaysian/

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Foreign wives in Malaysia still face the same problems as before?

My ex-classmate since Std 1, migrated to Australia mainly because his Thai wife had to renew her social visa yearly and she had no right to work in Malaysia. That was more than 20 years ago. He gave up his Malaysian citizenship reluctantly as he likes Malaysia and misses his Malaysian friends and foods.

Since Australia introduced GST in 2000, the fees of his accountancy practice had increased sufficiently to enable him to visit Malaysia and Thailand at least once a year. By the way, he commented that we never hear of practising accountants complaining about the introduction of GST in Malaysia, simply because they are rubbing their hands in glee, in anticipation of the expected windfall in increased business. Based on his Australian experience, he told me to watch out for small companies having to wind up their businesses for failing to account for their tax collected, to the government.

Neal K's article, 'Why I had to leave Malaysia' in Free Malaysia Today, revealed for a fact, that the foreign wives situation remains the same, unless they are from certain favoured countries...

Excerpt:

"Raven, in his 40’s now, came to England to study while in his 20’s, met a beautiful French lady and eventually married her in 1997. Thankfully, his wife Phillipa liked Malaysia and was agreeable to settling down in her husband’s birthplace. As the first born son with filial obligations Raven couldn’t be happier and he quickly got a lecturing job in KL.

Six years and two children later Phillipa was still with her social visa, which meant annual renewal and no right to work to support her husband. Besides being a trained accountant she was also a qualified French teacher…both skills she was eager to use but vehemently being denied by her host country.

As for her PR application, which she was eligible for after five years, the response was always the same…‘there’s a long wait…. more than 20,000 people waiting, this could take 20 years’."

"...And then the most frustrating thing is when you see obviously Indonesian looking people excitedly showing off their new ICs! Ask them how long they’ve been in the country and they tell you 'a year and a half!'

There was of course the ‘friendlier’ means of getting things done but the young couple could not afford ‘that way’, and neither would their conscience allow for it.

So Raven and Phillipa chose conscience over corruption and decided to give the system more time. After putting up with it unsuccessfully for another two years, the panic button began to flash as the children were ready for formal education."

More:
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2013/10/11/why-i-had-to-leave-malaysia/

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Some lasting impressions from 2013

Adrian Tsen, Chairman of then Trinity Bhd (now known as Talam Transform Bhd; originally Talam Bhd), giving a lecture on debt settlements to attention-seeking MCA critics (before GE13), and Pakatan Selangor did even better than GE12...

An obviously 'Can't wait till you get home' wife's moment...

A failed Taliban suicide bomber was arrested. While a full body search was made by police they revealed the bomber was wearing a protective metal shield around his genital area. Asked for its purpose, his response was that he wanted to keep his penis safe after blowing himself up, so as not to have any sexual problems when he meets 72 virgins in paradise. Could this be true, or made up?

Man Successfully Sues Wife Over Ugly Children and Judge Orders Wife to Pay $120,000

“I married my wife out of love, but as soon as we had our first daughter, we began having marital issues,” he told the Irish Times. “Our daughter was incredibly ugly, to the point where it horrified me.”

Initially Jian accused his wife of infidelity, because he knew he could never be the father of an unattractive child. However, DNA tests proved that the child was indeed his. Feng’s wife then came clean and admitted she had about $100,000 worth of cosmetic surgery done in South Korea before they met.

Feng sued his wife on grounds of false pretenses, for not telling him the truth about the plastic surgery, and duping him into believing that she was beautiful. A judge agreed with Feng’s argument and ordered his wife to fork over $120,000.

Last, but not least, our immature minister of Tourism...

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