Many good things have been said about our beloved country. Ever since its independence 49 years ago , we have seen the country progresses and prospers by leaps and bounds.From a backward country during the colonial age to the progressive nation we take pride in today , oodles of tears , blood , and sweat are shed by our forefathers and leaders to bring our country to achieve such great heights.
But no matter how sweet and nice we can describe our country ,we can't possible deny the fact that certain issues still pertain in the society. Some flaws , some blemishes. It is not that we want to let the cat out of the bag or clean our dirty linen in the public, but i seriously thing that to sweep everything under the carpet won't do any good either. A fact is always a fact.
Our leaders' vision to gear the nation to reach the developed country status is undoubtedly a noble and far-sighted idea. But it is well too idealistic to the extent of faking an imaginary utopian state. Does coining the term "developed nation" means simply having all the grandeur of KLCC , KL Tower , Putrajaya administrative city and Cyberjaya? State-of-the-art architecture and modern facilities are most certainly a prerequisite of becoming a developed country , but they do not constitute much of the overall status. Human resource and human development remain the top and utmost priority.
But sadly to say , our country has failed in this part.The education system and government policy has not only caused brain drain but also brain lost. People are losing faith in the ever changing policy whenever there is a switch of power. From English medium to BM medium then back to English again , the introduction of more and more pointless subjects(EST , pendidikan sivik) to burden the students , the ridiculous marking scheme for pendidikan moral,the spoon feeding way that hamper students creativity , have caused many of the students to suffer. Their futures are teetering precariously on the verge of falling backward. And the double standard of admittance to public university based on Matriculation and STPM. I do not see any of these to be beneficial to the students and the future generations.Every minister is trying to make an impact of his or her existence by introducing new program , new scheme , new policy , but whatever is , most of it can be seen as the proverbial "hangat-hangat tahi ayam". How have the program Sekolah Bestari , Sekolah Wawasan , Sekolah Harapan gone so far? What results have we seen out of it?
Going back to the issue of physical development. One question - do we really need it? Or is it just a landmark , a tool to satiate the leader's thirst for the so called development?The KLIA airport alone cost us 9 billion ringgit. And Putrajaya is built on an estimated cost of 22 billion , with the Prime Minister Office Residence and Office alone costing about 5 billion. KLCC still has half of its office lot vacant after so many years.Necessity or merely luxury? Shouldn't the money be channeled to eradicate hardcore proverty among the people , improve education level of the people and provide more public amenities of the people?
And when it comes to helping the people , the rich continues to get more help , while those living in abject poverty remain denied access of any help. The rich becomes richer and the poor becomes poorer. Corruption , cryonism and nepotism are wide spread. Government projects are given out without transparent tender. ACA remains a toothless tiger catching only small fish occasionally while letting the big fish at large. How long has the Perwaja Steel scandal remained unsolved?How many times have we escaped from traffic summons by paying "duit kopi"?Transparency is still not the cup of tea for many people.
But no matter how sweet and nice we can describe our country ,we can't possible deny the fact that certain issues still pertain in the society. Some flaws , some blemishes. It is not that we want to let the cat out of the bag or clean our dirty linen in the public, but i seriously thing that to sweep everything under the carpet won't do any good either. A fact is always a fact.
Our leaders' vision to gear the nation to reach the developed country status is undoubtedly a noble and far-sighted idea. But it is well too idealistic to the extent of faking an imaginary utopian state. Does coining the term "developed nation" means simply having all the grandeur of KLCC , KL Tower , Putrajaya administrative city and Cyberjaya? State-of-the-art architecture and modern facilities are most certainly a prerequisite of becoming a developed country , but they do not constitute much of the overall status. Human resource and human development remain the top and utmost priority.
But sadly to say , our country has failed in this part.The education system and government policy has not only caused brain drain but also brain lost. People are losing faith in the ever changing policy whenever there is a switch of power. From English medium to BM medium then back to English again , the introduction of more and more pointless subjects(EST , pendidikan sivik) to burden the students , the ridiculous marking scheme for pendidikan moral,the spoon feeding way that hamper students creativity , have caused many of the students to suffer. Their futures are teetering precariously on the verge of falling backward. And the double standard of admittance to public university based on Matriculation and STPM. I do not see any of these to be beneficial to the students and the future generations.Every minister is trying to make an impact of his or her existence by introducing new program , new scheme , new policy , but whatever is , most of it can be seen as the proverbial "hangat-hangat tahi ayam". How have the program Sekolah Bestari , Sekolah Wawasan , Sekolah Harapan gone so far? What results have we seen out of it?
Going back to the issue of physical development. One question - do we really need it? Or is it just a landmark , a tool to satiate the leader's thirst for the so called development?The KLIA airport alone cost us 9 billion ringgit. And Putrajaya is built on an estimated cost of 22 billion , with the Prime Minister Office Residence and Office alone costing about 5 billion. KLCC still has half of its office lot vacant after so many years.Necessity or merely luxury? Shouldn't the money be channeled to eradicate hardcore proverty among the people , improve education level of the people and provide more public amenities of the people?
And when it comes to helping the people , the rich continues to get more help , while those living in abject poverty remain denied access of any help. The rich becomes richer and the poor becomes poorer. Corruption , cryonism and nepotism are wide spread. Government projects are given out without transparent tender. ACA remains a toothless tiger catching only small fish occasionally while letting the big fish at large. How long has the Perwaja Steel scandal remained unsolved?How many times have we escaped from traffic summons by paying "duit kopi"?Transparency is still not the cup of tea for many people.
Say us united , paint us unity yet deep inside us we know "Unity" is just a word portrayed for the outsiders to see. Racial polarisation is still unevitable everywhere. Despite efforts to breakdown barriers of all these racial segregation , it is not hard to see that people of the same race will eventually cluster together. And many thanks to leader like Umno Deputy Youth Chief Khairy Jamaluddin for his fiery speech recently , such remarks will certainly add more salt to the wound.
And freedom of speech? No way. With just ISA lingering around , it is better to keep your mouth shut than risk being detained. Press freedom is equally curtailed. Dissemination of news is widely controlled. The people have been tamed to become docile sheep that accept whatever the newspaper write. No true scenario is painted.
All in all , we can say that we have developed physically as compared to the yesteryears , but mental developmentwise , we remain very much like our forefathers. Just like what the leaders always say , "First class facilty , third class mentality". This will remain true until next miracle happen.
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