Reality vs Imagination

Reality leaves a lot to the imagination  ~ John Lennon

“I personally think Malaysians are underpaid. Generally if you look at the professional services — lawyers, doctors, engineers — they are not getting the salaries that are commensurate with the skills that they have… “We want Malaysia to be more competitive, not on the basis of low wages, but to be innovative and productive. This applies to young professionals who work long hours but are not getting a fair deal,” Najib said.- M’sia current PM Najib Razak (full article read here)

I didn’t imagine that I would post a quote from a singer but then again – this is John Lennon that we are talking about (a legend of his own right). But then he hit the nail right on here.. Reality leaves a lot to the imagination. 

Like how our current PM states that the reality that skilled people are underpaid,  I agree but then I am guessing that he must have been imagining that these skilled people he is referring to are really actually (ok.. bad english grammar here..but i really dun care) PRODUCTIVE & INNOVATIVE.  You see, the problem is not that these  supposed ‘professionals’ are not without skills (cause they have these certificates *from unheard of colleges or universities*) , it is more like these ‘skills’ are not applicable or not being applied at work. The companies have got to spend additional money to get another expat or experienced folks to ‘supervised’ their work  – which could explain why companies CAN’T AFFORD to pay these unproductive, in-innovative & ‘skilled’ individuals higher pay.

Also.. really speaking from experience, a supposed diploma level qualified admin assistant is now working like a SPM level school leaver of 10 years ago. One need to hire TWO of these diploma level qualified admin assistants to do a REAL qualified one. 

And here we are – stating the reality but really leaving a lot to our imagination for ONE real Qualified admin assistant so that we could FINALLY  “commensurate with the skills that they have” (as quoted by our imaginative PM).

bite-size musings #7

“Lukewarm acceptance is more bewildering than outright rejection.” Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Oh.. we are well aware that we are not widely accepted (although our expertise, drive, biz wit, money are heartily accepted) which brings me to ponder this.. what will happen if all the ‘pendatangs’ just leave at one go (of course with the $$, expertise, knowledge etc), will Perkasa finally be able to shut up & do SOMETHING of use for their people?

the fallacy of ‘high income’ thoughts by the ‘bolehs’

It is a constant disappointment reading the news from the boleh-land leader. Constant harping of we need to do ‘this’ & ‘that’ to increase supposed jobs for the people.  Don’t they see that we have many ..many foreign workers? There are enough jobs, just that the ‘boleh’ land citizens are just too ‘high income’ minded to want to do these jobs.

Here’s the fallacy of these constant ‘vision’ of high income dream. High income is not generated by the mere ‘we dream a dream of high income’ or ‘we increase the civil servants pay’ or ‘we build more buildings’ or ‘we get more foreign investment’.

High income can only be achieve by either 1) huge increase of our currency (so we become much richer without much effort, which of course means that they need to be like sudden 3 folds of demand of the country’s currency)  or 2) the human themselves show some improvement or work efficiently in this current fast pace world.

Now – of course the 1st solution is kind of impossible for a country who is always running at deficit thus the best bet is the 2nd one. Yet, the new hires that are getting hired – they are all performing at substandard level. Work that could have been done by a single person cannot be done. Companies need to hire 2 person for1 person job. If 1 job needs to be perform by 2 headcount – will the company be willing to give ‘higher’ salary to either of them? The answer is pretty obvious isn’t it?

So here we are – hearing dreams without specific calls for what ACTIONS need to be done. How will these supposed future working generation think? They seems to think that ‘higher’ salary is their right. What happens to good ole hard work or work smart or sense of responsibility before asking for more?

Yes- these ‘boleh’s need to start harping that  – yes, we ‘boleh’ work hard; yes we ‘boleh’ stand with our employers’ during the hard times; yes, we ‘boleh’ think of ways to contribute to the economy vs asking for more perks or special rights from the government & we ‘boleh’ compete with the non-bumis.

 

learn to plant trees

It is funny how a country with so much land, trees & low density of population (over total land not just town) actually have to learn how to plant trees from a country with no natural resources, limited land space & high density population! (read here).

Its not rocket science when it comes to planting trees or plants. It needs consistent care & time by the human beings.

My Gawd, our govt despite paying ‘higher’ salary to get supposed better civil servants are still producing such mediocre solutions for their problems..just go learn how to plant trees.

AI YO!

i love my country but …

“I love my country but my country did not love me” (words from a Greek-US economics grad- taxi driver on his beloved country)..  and I can’t help & wonder if I would say this same thing one day 12 years from now.

Why are we using the Greece as a comparison to M’sia ? Well.. the 2 countries are so similar in many ways ! Read article here

And so our PM is having a hard time trying to convert the his party – afterall – he is a politician first then a Prime Minister. He can’t change what he is. Just like I am a chinese first & a M’sian second. I mean – i can’t hide the fact that I am  yellow skin but I sure can hide the fact that I am a M’sian if i choose to.

The country is facing too many issues to be resolved. From a corrupted government to lowly skilled middle income population – and I do empathize with the PM… seems like every key pillars of a good country is built on is on fire.. which one do you save first?  Maybe the PM should do a root cause analysis or fish bone or why-why.

The govt is trying to remove subsidies (to reduce national debt) but the people aren’t ready. They aren’t ready isn’t because they are spendthrift or they just want to suck the government dry. They aren’t ready is because of their meager income! So the government tries to start this campaign on increasing the income of the people but here’s the thing… the businesses that employs the people just couldn’t do it cause these people are doing half a person’s job at 100% of the pay. The businesses are already running at low productivity rate & paying extra – to increase the pay would effectively mean the businesses have to run at a loss.

So what I would LOVE my beloved country to do ?  Restructure the education system! I am not even asking to remove the quota system. Keep it all you want! Just revamp the ‘passing’ mark. Yes you can get into the University but you need to WORK hard to pass.  Do your assignments or fail. Pass your exam (the passing mark should be 50%) to get your degree or diploma.  Get their skills right. Instill that only through effort & hard work you reap rewards .. not by the color of your skin.

Only through skilled workers can businesses grow & businesses are willing to pay more for skilled workers.

So there.. I love my country but does my country love me?

just give lah

The opposition is wasting so much time on politicking about Umno, BN or Perkasa. Ok..so they want Malay rights, Malay NEP, Malay quotas , Malay this & that.. – go ahead & give la.  Don’t they know the principle of ‘GIVE & YOU SHALL RECEIVE’ ?

Look at these examples..

1) Bumis gets 30% cheaper from non-subsidized housings  vs the non-Bumis.. but hey.. the Bumis salaries are 50-70% lower than the non-Bumis.. So the non-Bumis are still net off better!

2) Bumis gets higher percentage to get into local Universities vs. non Bumis. This resulted the non-Bumis having to work extra hard to get into overseas Uni or getting overseas scholarship to get higher education. It forces the non-Bumis to venture out to the world & not to mention that it created smarter & understanding that merits are the actual world’s standard (not just M’sia standards)  among the non-Bumis.  That’s reaping the rewards of what you sow!

3) Bumis gets special APs, projects etc etc so that they get easy & fast money. But as the saying goes – easy come, easy go. Cos the money is too easy .. they didn’t know how to keep it well & grow it . Now.. the non-Bumis knows that is HARD to get money in M’sia.. so they learn to keep it, learn to earn it & learn to grow it further.  That will fully explain why the no incentives, benefits non-Bumis seems to be always richer that then Bumis isn’t it?

> So.. let’s just GIVE la. They want quota , give them the quota.  Non-bumis don’t need them. The ”help” will only handicapped the young non-bumis.  When you have nothing to begin with – you have so much to gain. Let the Bumis go on with their lives feeling that they are handicapped & always lose to the Chinese. Hey.. the Chinese have already won half the battle with the Bumi’s feeling they have lost isn’t it ?

So what’s the big deal.. give it to them. Concentrate on your constituency.  Develop your area. Make your state as a state where EVERYONE envies.  Ignore the time wasting speeches / talks by the stupid. I mean – when the frog croak – do one bother to listen? Let’s not listen or react to this Katak (fm the bawah tempurung).

does it matter?

I must commend Hafidz on this well written piece. Not just on it being well written but being open about being human first & not whatever race first.  I also must commend on Mr. Lim KS for his patriotism.

Still… I do not get why is there a need for us to question anyone at all if they are M’sian or Malay or Chinese or Iban first? Its like asking me if I am my mother’s daughter or my father’s daughter first ? Think about it.. one is where you were being ‘born’ by  (like race in this case) and the other is whom you take your surname from (like M’sia is where i am born AT) .  So can I say that I am my mother’s child first then my father’s second? Well.. we can’t!

I mean I must support Mr Lim for his ‘way’ to try to champion for the non-malays rights but is this the way? Questioning the BN leaders he is whatever first is really just a show & tell that the BN leaders are ‘racist’? So.. what? I really do not care who is racist or not.  Vs go about questioning people’s race ‘preference’ , why don’t we go about questioning the policies that can be action on? So the DPM is a Malay first.. .. ah… then SO?

Let’s just get to the crux of the matter. The policies are unfair. Let’s get it corrected. Full stop.  Policies should be based on the equal chances, merits & above all justice.  That’s all it has to be.  There are over 100+ of BN MPs.. so we are going to question them on who they think they are?

err.. I don’t think so.

well said! PERC

PERC rated M’sia’s situation has been increasingly unstable.. And I must say.. it is true. And I found what was being said about M’sia being dominated by the minority ‘elites’ to be very true yet no local newspapers EVER write about this.  Excerpt as below..

“However, he (Razak) is wrong in saying that Malaysia is being defined by the way the majority of the population are coming together. It is being defined by the ability of a minority to dominate the political agenda, shaping policy and compromising the reputation of key institutions in ways that hurt Malaysia’s reputation as a stable, attractive place for foreign investors.”

The report also said that while Islamic activists which are “threatening Malaysia’s secular credentials” are getting the widest coverage, it was the Umno elites, described as “a fringe group of insiders who have been able to profit disproportionately from the policies of the ruling coalition” that deserved the most attention.

I think the statement of foreign companies & investors are remaining cautious until M’sia got their house in order is such an understatement.  Even LOCAL companies are not just cautious but also waiting to get their money OUT of the country.. would a foreigner bring money in ?

why m’sians not ready to give up subsidy?

I don’t know why the minister wants to make comments that are of no consequence or help to the people by saying that “M’sians are generally not ready to give up subsidy” .. Hello?!  Of course la.. not just M’sians,  you really will have the same response in any country if they are enjoying fuel subsidies now(considering if the country is a net exporter of fuel at that!)

Why are we not ‘ready’ to give up subsidy? Yes.. right.. we are not ready… because

We want to hear how the government can do FIRST to save RM50 billion a year on their OWN governing expenses vs TAKING away the subsidy for the people. Also – why are we not hearing what the government gonna do with that RM50billion saving? Reduce income taxes? Or Rm50billion to be reinvested into public transport? Less tax on imported fuel efficient cars? What ?? please tell us before you go saying ‘ M’sians are not ready not unless you are ready with what you are GOING to do.

Why don’t you guys try saving RM50billion by

1. Cutting down on your ‘commission’
2. Awarding projects that actually cost what it actually is & not like 1000times more expensive (eg.:RM12K for PC)
3. Cutting down civil servants (they really got not much to do)
4. Reduce politicking & more governing

The people will only be ready to help the government ‘save’ Rm50billion when the government first stop taking from the people. We are not even asking you to GIVE us anything – we are asking you to TAKE LESS from the people.

I don’t see any top official first try to do some savings on their own initiative from their governance & here they are saying “M’sians are NOT ready to give up subsidy”.. Hell Ya ! Who will if the M’sians knows that the supposed RM50billion ‘saved’ will probably just go to another BN crony to lined their pockets even more while the average citizens pay.

my twenty-oh-nine & also a hero !

In January, I wonder if leaders are actually leaders. Then in February, I seem to be full of hate in the place I am in. Luckily, found lots to thankful for in March but was still hoping for an Asimov’s robot. in April. Was very afraid to get suck into the ‘tak tau’ syndrome in May followed by a month in June on news of ironic maid employers. July was all about searching to do the right thing then August was too full of rituals that does not seem to agree.  In month of September, found a minister of M’sia that was made a joke of & carefully documented in the Wikipedia. Saw a glimmer of hope amid the young but ends with wondering if some knows what excellent actually mean in October. November finds my aunt asking a very simple question & yet very profound. December totally rock & brought me to question what I want to do if nothing could fail.

And to cap it all :-  the unsung heroes (ie. yours truly & the rest of the M’sians that voted in Mar’08)  being hailed as one of the ‘Heroes of the Decade : Malaysian voters‘ – a very small & simple action that made quite a difference.  Ain’t that something… one of the ‘heroes’ of the decade.