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The spectre of crime in the daily lives of Malaysians

Letters

(This email is reproduced completely unedited, in its pristine atrocious English for two reasons: firstly, it seems to have become the standard Malaysian English; secondly, the subject of the spectre of endemic crime which haunts the daily lives of Malaysians refuses to be buried by the distraction of the atrocious English used, for the writer is able to communicate his genuine cry from his heart and to strike resonance among the Malaysian public.

(Both issues must be addressed: how to improve the command of English language among Malaysians, but even more important, how to start reducing crime to make Malaysia safe again for its citizens, tourists and investors. – Kit)

Greetings to all Member of Parliament,

I write this mail to you all for a reason of snatch thieves in KL has been rising more and more in front of my eyes. Here’s a few incident:

1. I was having my lunch at KL near Tune Hotel. After having my lunch, I was carrying my notebook on my hand and a motorcycle pass through me coming from behind attempt to steal my notebook, but they failed. Then they run away with their motorcycle as fast as they can to another road.

2. I was working on a roadshow at Taman Melawati around CIMB Bank area. My colleagues was walking around promoting something, and heard a voice of shout from a Malay lady and when my colleague saw her, her bag was already with the thief.

3. The incidents where pregnant lady was snatch and she lost her life. Continue reading “The spectre of crime in the daily lives of Malaysians”

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PSD scholarships – MCA has again failed to give justice

Letters
by Tan Hao Chong

I am a 2008 SPM student ranked top 7th in a premier school at Johor Bahru (S.M.K. Sultan Ismail) .I scored 11A1 and 1A2 in Chinese in SPM. I applied for JPA and was rejected after appeal. I was not even offered for local institutions. I am active in co-curricular activities and I believe I have done well in my interview.

The rejects had brought many sleepless nights for me and my parents. What is most sad is that students of poorer results were randomly selected in an attempt to confuse the public. My mum took the matter to the Sin Chew Press and Nanyang Press. Thanks to the papers the matter was brought to the attention of many.

I am writing to you as going to Mr. Lim is our only and last hope for justice now. Continue reading “PSD scholarships – MCA has again failed to give justice”

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Dengue – shouldn’t Health DG be sacked?

Letters
by ABJ

Here we go again. DG Merican laments yet again that the source of Malaysia’s entire healthcare problems lie with private clinics and hospitals as reported by Annie Freeda Cruez, the New Straits Times’ healthcare correspondent “extraordinaire”.

Incredible as it may seem, DG Merican with all the healthcare resources of the Malaysian government at his beck and call, has chosen to blame, yet again, private clinics and hospitals as the main cause for the rising death toll of dengue in Malaysia. Why are we not surprised? What next? Blame the H1N1 on airlines or the virus itself?

Merican appears to have forgotten, that the government’s own understaffed, overcrowded health and rural clinics conveniently close their doors at 4.30pm on the dot driving the hapless population to private clinics, if there is still one that has not closed, in that locality. Continue reading “Dengue – shouldn’t Health DG be sacked?”

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The simple things that we ask…

Letters
by Malaysian student overseas

Regarding:Koh Chon Weng case recently.

I sincerely think that this should not even happen. I felt really shocked after finding out the news from malaysia-today.net . Not just me alone who felt this, but my other friends as well. Even friends from other countries. We are also shocked why they’re not much news covered on this topic by local media.

As a student studying abroad, we choose to leave the country for higher education because

1. The certification here is more recognized.

2. We can obtain a Permanent Residents here once we finish our study. WHY?? because we don’t believe that younger generation like us will be able to live in Malaysia in future. A country where we were born. This is somehow sad. Continue reading “The simple things that we ask…”

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Home Ministry bans T shirts

FROM KUALA LUMPUR

On 2nd June 2009, the Publications & Quranic Texts Division of the Home Ministry raided my T-shirt stall in Central Market for the 3rd time and seized 83 shirts they claim are “obscene and contain Communist elements”. You can see the images they confiscated by following this link…

That the Ministry is clamping down on items they allege glorify (Chinese) Communism at the very moment our beloved leader is grinning for photocalls with the flatcaps in Beijing is flash-bulb irony so blinding it requires uncommon talent to miss it. The Ministry, of course, missed it by a mile.

Not many people know this but lightweight, low level officers of the Publications & Quranic Texts Division are entrusted with absolute power to make on-the-spot judgments about what is obscene, subversive, subliminally seditious, distasteful, inartistic, drug drenched, Communist, radical, Swedish. Er, ok, maybe not Swedish, Continue reading “Home Ministry bans T shirts”

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Why JJ not suitable to be the Malaysian voice in Washington

Letters
by Patriot

Re your blog entitled “Malaysian Ambassador to US – why Ghazzali and JJ on the short-list?”, some additional information that may be handy:

JJ was sent to DC by the Prime Minister to join Anifah during the visit. This is tantamount to Anifah being shadowed by a trusted crony.

However, Anifah did NOT include JJ among those attending the meeting with Hilary Clinton – this suggests that Anifah did not wish to be overshadowed.
While Anifah’s attack on Anwar at the Press Conference was puzzling, it is likely that he was egged on by JJ.

JJ ‘s actions are consistent with his previous track record and lends support to the view that JJ’s primary task as Ambassador in Washington will be to smear Anwar in Washington as the show trial moves forward. Continue reading “Why JJ not suitable to be the Malaysian voice in Washington”

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The unfair PSD scholarship awards

Letters
by Lye Hoke Tan

The unfair PSD scholarship awards issue, it happens all the times. I graduated from Chung Ling High School in Penang at 2004. Before 2004, I didn’t notice much about this problem, I just heard it from my high school teachers complaint it to us, I didn’t know it was so serious until it happened to my friends around.

Well, I can see this happens every year. Every year, to the same victims (Chinese Top Students), at the same time(after SPM results released), the same thing happen continuously in our country. Every year, I see the problems occur non-stop, it seems like unsolved cases even though those ministers, parties promised it could be solved. I have lost my confidence over their creditability, how can you give scholarship to someone, who his/her result is poorer than the others, just because of the skin colour.

Is PSD blind? They failed to see As every where every year, PSD prefer B and C? Maybe, as our government always has funny and “incredible” systems to rule this country. The funniest thing is, they DARE to repeat this “carelessness” every year, non stop. The media reported the same issue every year, what a shame!

The same thing happened during 2004, I have a friend, she got 13A1, she was also one of the top student had lunch with our ex-PM, Pak Lah, but the point is she failed to get JPA. When she told us she failed to get it, we got shocked. If top student like her by having 13A1 failed to get JPA, then we wonder how are we going to get it? Maybe we have to blame for our parents aren’t Datuk & Datin.

The next day, she went to the press, same stories like what it happens today. So, the next few days, she got the JPA. This is how our PSD works, OMG! Continue reading “The unfair PSD scholarship awards”

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Rise of Parang Culture and fall of Rule of Law

Letters
by Bong AP

I am appalled and disgusted to witness and read the dailies of such happenings every day and the problems seem to be endless.

In spite of so much that have been written, highlighted and discussed its’ always remained forgotten.The country and cities’ public safety have declined to a very low level where lawlessness prevails to an extent where hardcore criminals can have a free hand to commit vicious crime freely anywhere .

This has come to a boiling point where the general public perceptions are criminals rule by Night and the government Rule partially by Day. Very soon we will end up like Somalia where anarchy prevails and there is no day and night creating warlords all over the country.

The public are being tyrannized by such deteriorating situations in their daily life. Even simple folks are affected like small time traders, news vendors, hawkers and delivery boys are being robbed.

We will soon become a Nation of rot and decay if nothing is being done to arrest this complacency and inaction. Continue reading “Rise of Parang Culture and fall of Rule of Law”

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Rampant crime in Taman Bunga Raya, Taman Desa Setapak & around the Wangsa Maju LRT station

Letters
by Undergraduate of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

I am a Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman student at the Kuala Lumpur campus in Setapak. I am writing this email to you to highlight to you on the rampant acts of crime happening in areas highly populated by students such as Taman Bunga Raya, which is located beside the Tunku Abdul Rahman College campus and the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman campus.

On Friday, 17 April 2009, 2 of my coursemates (1 male & 1 female) became victims of snatched theft and assault. Both of them were on their way to buy their breakfast at Taman Bunga Raya when four men on two motorcycles tried to rob the female student of her handphone but failed.

However, the robbers returned and attacked the female student with a parang. She sufferred injuries on her head, shoulder and finger. Luckily, there was a Good Samaritan that help to admit her at the Tawakal Hospital in Jalan Pahang. She required some 20 stitches as a result of her injuries.

Meanwhile, the robbers successfully snatched the handphone and wallet of the male student. Continue reading “Rampant crime in Taman Bunga Raya, Taman Desa Setapak & around the Wangsa Maju LRT station”

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BAD Telekom service in LAHAD DATU, SABAH

Letters

(Barisan Nasional Sabah leaders are the biggest winners in the Najib Cabinet. But the people of Sabah do not share in this largesse, as seen by the following letter from Lahad Datu. Where is the Najib slogan of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now”?

I’m Pang, currently running my own business. my phone number is 089-883033, register under publix pharmacy. My phone line has been dead for the past one week and no action has been taken.

when i go telekom and complain to the manager, SAHABUDIN, he told me to call 100 to complain, my phone no tone how to dial up? He ask me to go telekom and call 100. Come on, we are doing business, every second count, my fax all cannot go out, my customer can’t even reach me. When i call this number, is normal, just that no tone from this side, phone no ring at all.

When i tell this SAHABUDIN, no tone cannot call all the problems. He just told me, ‘I tak tau’, as a manager how can you tell me ‘ I tak tau’, you as a manager must solve the problems. Every month i did pay my bill, my biz need the phone. I’m wonder what telekom is doing, the only landline provider also can do such lousy job. Continue reading “BAD Telekom service in LAHAD DATU, SABAH”

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Big Napoleons in MOH

Letters
by mnoria

Big Napoleons in MOH acting like mafia warlords to sabotage the Health Ministry’s official announcements

I hope the Malaysian public have not forgotten the plight of House Officers or young trainee doctors:
1. Forced to work non-stop 36 hours, on-call duty for 24 hours and need to continue with another 12-hour regular, routine duties.

2. Extension of the period of their houseman-ship into two-years from the previous one year only.

The voices of grouses and protests died down totally after:
1. Health Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai announced that trainee doctors would now get a day off after carrying out their 24-hour on-call duty.

2. Health Ministry director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican announced an automatic promotion to grade UD44 upon completion of their two-year houseman-ship.

Please refer to the following two news reports from the Star newspapers for the details: Continue reading “Big Napoleons in MOH”

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Why as a doctor I want this government to go away

Letters
by CSK

I am a local graduate and have been in practice for 31 years. I am basically a physician by training and received my qualifications from the Royal Colleges in 1985. I see mainly kidney ailments and their predisposing illnesses which usually are high blood pressure, diabetes and heart ailments.

I was in government service for twenty years and the remainder now in private practice. I run a clinic in Penang and have visitation rights to private hospitals.

When I was in government service, yes, there was much bureaucracy. But nothing of the sort we see today. There was a greater deal of camaraderie. And although there were differences with private hospitals or clinics, generally everyone learned to work together.

When I first opened my clinic, it was fairly a straightforward affair. Apart from my APC (Annual Practicing Certificate), it was just ensuring the clinic was adequately equipped to treat the type of patients which I knew I would be treating, and making certain I had the type of medication I wanted to prescribe to my patients generally.

My first brush with the law, if you can call it that, came when a group of government medical assistants and health inspectors walked into my clinic without notice and brusquely gave me a warning regarding a new rule regarding toxic waste and how we should dispose them in yellow containers recommended by the ministry. I complied.

About two years later, there were problems regarding my X-ray machine, when third parties who appeared not so knowledgeable but apparently approved by the Ministry of Health, started walking in and out of my clinic for purposes of calibration and licence renewals. I could not quite understand why the supplier or manufacturer himself was not allowed to service or calibrate these machines. The cost ran into thousands of ringgit which I had to pay.

To add insult to injury, I was forced to attend Continuing Medical Education (CME) programs run by what looked like staff who didn’t know much about the programs they were conducting despite myself having a qualified radiographer to do the X-Rays. The cost of the CME programs again had to be borne by me.

And then came the PHFSA (Private Health Care, Facilities and Services Act). No one understood the need for this Act. Continue reading “Why as a doctor I want this government to go away”

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Horror flight on board MH161

by Radhika Iyer-O’Sullivan
Jan 20, 09 3:55pm
Malaysiakini

I am a Malaysian currently residing and working in Dubai. On Dec 25, 2008, I flew with Malaysian Airlines flight MH161 to Kuala Lumpur to visit my parents. I was in seat 36H (an aisle seat) and the seat next to me, 36K (window seat) was vacant. The flight stopped over at Karachi for an hour.

In Karachi, more passengers boarded the plane. One male passenger boarded, showed his boarding pass to a stewardess and she pointed to seat beside me (36K). The man looked at me and said, ‘She’s a Hindu, I cannot sit beside her.’ The stewardess responded, ‘So what? What’s wrong with Hindu?’ The man then began to yell and shout that he would not sit next to a Hindu.

The crew insisted that he had to because there were no other seats available because the plane was full. Then this passenger sat down but began to verbally abuse my faith and the crew members. I sat in my seat but was physically cringing away from him. The flight supervisor was summoned and until then the man was still seated next to me. Imagine my shock, horror and fear in being next to a hostile, abusive person.

One steward did stand next to me but did not offer any help and I did not feel safe or reassured. I reached out and told that steward that I did not feel safe anymore. I said this to him softly in English and he told me to sit and wait. He then walked off and a female crew member took his place. All this time I was under the impression that this hostile passenger beside me was a Pakistani.

I then told the stewardess in Malay that this man should not be seated beside me after what he had said about me. There were other Malaysian passengers sitting in the same area and all of them heard me. She smiled and merely nodded. Continue reading “Horror flight on board MH161”

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Whither National Air Transport Policy ?

Letters
by J Chan

The storm that is generated by the government’s decision to give the go-ahead to the Sime Darby-AirAsia consortium to build a brand new airport at Labu continues to blow unabated.

On the one side is a government GLC, Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) which is being accused by AirAsia of not being able to meet AirAsia’s needs of no-frills service, and yet attempting to charge AirAsia “exorbitant” landside charges.

On the other side is MAHB which, through its website, defends its record of meeting clients’ expectations, and asserting that airport charges are being set by the Government, not by the airport operator.

What the public is inclined to accept is that the present LCCT is in a shambles, and is probably on a par with some domestic Indian airports.

MAHB defends this, as they have spent RM 170 million to build a new extension, which is now partially opened, and they say that the upgraded LCCT should be able to cater for up to 10 million passengers per year until 2013. After that, MAHB says that they have plans to build another terminal that is contiguous with the KLIA main terminal, and that this terminal could be ready by 2013.

AirAsia says that this is baloney, for MAHB have never really delivered commitments on time (they point to the current state of affairs at LCCT as an example) and that any delays would negatively impact AirAsia’s business model. Continue reading “Whither National Air Transport Policy ?”

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Why as a Chinese I will always vote PAS

Letters
by Jonathan Tan

It has now been 51 years since independence, and although it was predominantly a Malay Archipelago, immigrants who had to work the land during the British colonial era; by default became citizens after Malaya attained independence in 1957.

Much was promised. Equal rights to jobs, educational and business opportunities. But all this came to naught in 1969 when Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia’ founding father, was unceremoniously sent into early retirement and hawks like Razak and Harun took over and used Malay special rights as their vehicle to build a corrupted society that saw the division between the have and have nots widen.

The process took a turn for the worse during the Mahathir era when he hand picked cronies to award contracts and kept privatized entities such as the Governments’ GLC’s in the government’s stables, obviating the very reason to privatize these entities.

Till this day, these organizations show neither discernible accountability nor transparency. The country bleeds like a wounded kancil. Continue reading “Why as a Chinese I will always vote PAS”

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The new budget air terminal at Labu

Letters
by J.C.

I read with apprehension at the recent announcements by Sime Darby Berhad and Air Asia with respect to their receiving government approval to build a new low-cost terminal at Labu, Negeri Sembilan. The announcements coincided with a statement by Malaysia Airports Berhad (MAHB) that it is ready to construct a new low-cost terminal to replace the existing LCCT at KLIA. The statements, and the subsequent comments by Air Asia spokespersons, gave the impressions that a new low-cost terminal is urgently needed, that MAHB has not been responsive to the needs of Air Asia, that Air Asia could easily save 15 pct of operating costs by moving to the new terminal at Labu and that not a single sen of public money will be utilised.

The following questions need to be answered by the government:

1. Was the approval given to the Sime Darby-Air Asia consortium based on the construction of a totally new airport, complete with runway(s) ? No one has indicated that there will be new runways, but it would be ridiculous to assume that planes could land on the existing KLIA runways and taxi the 7 km to the new Labu terminal. Sime announced that the new terminal would take up approximately 3000 acres of land, and surely a terminal without runways would not require such a sizeable landmass. If there are going to be runways, who would be paying for the Air Traffic Control (ATC) facilities ? Who would be charging passengers for airport taxes ?

2. Was any cost-benefit comparison made with respect to the construction of a new terminal at KLIA as opposed to a new terminal (or should we say airport) at Labu ?

3. When the government agreed with the sponsors of the new Labu airport that the entire project would be privately funded, did it take into consideration issues like the KTM Komuter link from Labu to KL Sentral ? KTM would be expected to build the link, and this is government money. We all know that rail links are only viable with subsidy from the public sector. Look at ERL. After 10 years of operations, their debt is still guaranteed by the government of Malaysia, and they are still being subsidised annually through a minimum ridership clause in their concession agreement. Would the roads leading to Labu be privately funded or would they have to be built by the Works Ministry ? Continue reading “The new budget air terminal at Labu”

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No IJN privatization – apply IJN success to government hospital heart centres

Letters
by Balwant Singh

I read with great interest regarding plans to privatize the National Heart Institute announced recently. As a former heart patient, who had surgery performed in Penang Hospital Heart Centre, another government facility offering cardiac services, I would like to clarify a few points regarding this issue.

Firstly , the main reason IJN has been successful is the fact that it has managed to attract and keep a group of dedicated cardiologists and surgeons, who continued to develop the service and subsequently contribute to the success story it actually is today.

This is possible because IJN has managed to escape the long bureaucratic arms and clutches of the civil service which more often becomes a hindrance and certainly a push factor for doctors leaving for the more lucrative private sector.

By being a semi private entity, decisions for advancement of services, introduction of new treatment etc, training and even better remunerations for staff are more readily made, unlike the usual delays and difficulties encountered within the Ministry of Health framework.

Secondly , it has to be pointed out that services in IJN for civil servants and their families are borne by the government. Therefore, IJN is actually not providing any free healthcare, but instead charges the government normal market rates for decent cardiac care. Continue reading “No IJN privatization – apply IJN success to government hospital heart centres”

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Why some Government Officers become corrupt

Letters
by R. Ganesh

I was utterly shocked when I read today’s NST dated 2008/12/27, article entitled “ACA officers feel ‘demoralised’ over new salary scale”. In the article, it was stated that Grade 29 officers would be offered a basic salary of RM1,482.85 and RM3,246.48 when they reached the top of the scale. “The maximum year between the basic salary and top of the scale is 22 years while the yearly increase is only RM80.17.”

Police officers in the same grade receive a basic salary of RM1,423.50 with a maximum of RM3,282.77. However, the maximum number of years getting to the top is only 18 years with a yearly increment of RM103.29, the article said.

My question here is this, how do you expect an individual in power to refrain from being corrupted when he merely earns RM1500? Nowadays, one can barely survive with RM1500 if one has 3 or 4 mouths to feed at home. Continue reading “Why some Government Officers become corrupt”

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Complaint against Teluk Dalam Resort

Letters
by Eddie Paul C

(The following is a letter of complaint against Teluk Dalam Resort sent to the management by a Singaporean of his unhappy experiences but who has not received any reply after three weeks.)

Subject: RE: TELUK DALAM RESORT
Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2008 08:44:06 +0000

We had the opportumity to stay at your resort from 17-20 Nov 2008. We had booked our stay via telephone from Singapore for the Cempaka Bungalow through your staff Ms Fadzilla who did a good job to convince me to give a try to stay at your resort. We normally would stay at the Pangkor Island Beach Resort. Sadly to say that our stay at your resort was a horrible experience. We regretted very badly but it was an experience anyway.

Please let me enlighten you with our bad experiences during our stay as follow:

1. At the Check-In reception on our arrival on 17 Nov we were advised to take an additional bed at RM40.00 per night. We consented to it. Continue reading “Complaint against Teluk Dalam Resort”

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Gibberish English

YB Lim

This is found on the pages of our National Registration Dept website. Sigh, what a sad state of affairs, when such atrocious English is held up for display, for practically the whole world to see…..

And we are proud of sending a “space man” above???? A by-product of all the years that UMNO and BN has been in charge of our Education System. Now, it’s not just us M’sians who know that the quality of our local grads is hopeless, but this is being paraded for the whole world to see.

Don’t UMNO/BN have any shame? Hope you will raise this issue up at the righ forum.
Regards
Shanker

_______________

(Note, this page have since been amended by NRD)
http://www.jpn.gov.my/BI/4_5_kadpengenalan.php

1. I’m 17 year old, when should I change my identity card replacement?
A person whose had got first-time identity card namely during old 12 year, are required change again his identity card when have reached the age 18 year. If this change made within life time 18 – 25 year, no any penalty imposed.

2. I already 25 year old and still not have my own identity card. What shoul I do?
To them not yet own identity card although already aged more 16 year are advised to come to any nearby NRD to apply identity card past record. Applicant and promoter must showed up together to be interviewed, bringing with together following documents:-
Applicant Born Certificate / AnakAngkat’s Certificate / W’s Form Or
Applicant Enter Permit / Confirmation Form National Standard(if concerning)
Promoter Identity Card
Continue reading “Gibberish English”