Politicians squabble as country goes down the drain

Politicians squabble as country goes down the drain
Dr Mana | May 23, 08 4:27pm
When the country is facing economic slow down, our politicians are troubling
themselves arguing with each other. Are they leading or ruining the country with
all their continuous antics in condemning each other ? the government as well as
the opposition MPs?

The reality faced by the rakyat now is over their basic needs in life. Prices of
almost all essential goods are up and they keep on increasing. Even the price of
rice - the staple food for all Malaysians ? has gone up substantially despite
the claim by the government that it has not. Price of non-essential goods, too,
has precipitously increased incurring more expenses on consumers. The government
claims an inflation rate of less than two percent for the first quarter of this
year. The people out there experience otherwise. If the price of a bag of rice
that cost RM20 has increased to RM30, this cannot be a less than two percent
increase. To the poor layman, this is inflation.

The buying power of the ringgit is gradually diminishing. An increase in salary
for wage earners is not the solution as it will only aggravate inflation, as the
non-wage earners will suffer more. As it is, the poor are now suffering more to
make ends meet. Poverty is still a major problem in the country. Poverty is also
very visible in many states such as Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu and Perlis. With
the present political and economic situation, seemingly, the poverty rate will
increase and this is going to bring more misery to the people. Even our
agricultural sector is nowhere compared to Thailand in terms of productivity.

Government research and development funds are not prudently utilised to bring in
more tangible innovations to the agricultural and technology sectors. Year in
and year out we see no credible scientific papers and discoveries from among our
?intellectuals? that can bring about to new discoveries and innovations. Less
than three percent of our research and developments funds is spent on
agriculture. In reality, 95 percent of the money spent on research and
development in the country has brought nothing tangible and beneficial to the
country?s economy. It is only money unwisely spent without any viable returns ?
a mere academic exercise and the siphoning of people?s money to waste. It is the
squandering of taxpayers? hard-earned money in the name of research and
development.

The employment rate now is at its lowest ? with less than two percent in the
private sector for the first quarter of this year and even this mostly only
involve odd jobs with salaries of less than RM600. Many businesses have closed
down and workers retrenched. The number of students entering university
increased by about 10 percent last year while the number of unemployed graduates
has increased beyond this figure. Over 100,000 graduates are now not gainfully
employed. Our education system has not lived up to its expectation. It?s only
rhetoric - a waste of money on superficial window dressing at our educational
institutions that we can be proud of. In essence, there is no real substance in
the graduates we churn out and there is little quality in those teachers and
lecturers who teach them.

Universities go for unnecessary paper documentation ? spending tons of money on
them ? but less emphasis is given on the actual quality of students they
produce, the teaching qualities and the research prowess on economically viable
projects that can benefit the nation. The penchant to go for superficial claims,
such as obtaining certifications for paper documentation and report, has done a
lot more damage to our educational institutions. A lot of money is wasted on
this process, which otherwise could be utilised for the improvement of quality
and feasible vocational education for the masses.

The crime rate is fast escalating. A big number of people are desperate and many
disgruntled and the less-educated among the populace are now involved in crimes.
White-collar crimes are also escalating out of greed for wealth and power.
Despite the political rhetoric and increase in the number of police personnel,
the crime rate in the country has not decreased but has been amplified by over
100 percent since 2006. People are robbed, killed and raped almost daily ?
invoking fear among all Malaysians. There is now little peace in towns as well
as in most housing areas. People are living in fear visualising that that the
worst can happen to them and their family members. Economic prosperity gained by
the fortunate populace has not trickled down to the many deprived people in
society and thus the increase in crime rate.

In relation to crime, the number of drug addicts has also increased. There are
over one million drug addicts in the country and to add salt to injury there are
over two million illegals plying our streets. This has substantially drained our
economy and public facilities. Nothing substantive and effective has been done
to overcome these problems. Instead of overseeing and presiding over real
public-interest issues, our courts would sooner see more cases which are spiced
with political overtones than real criminal cases that are seen by the people to
doom the country. Justifiably, this is going to be a waste of taxpayers? money.

The gap between the poor and the rich is widening. With the present unhinged
scenario, the country would soon face more problems in terms of crime,
unemployment and slow economic growth. Can we rely on the present team of
politicians with their never-ending vengeance and hatred for each other ? just
for being in different fronts and camps - to bring about a much needed change to
the country?s economy to make the 26 million Malaysians happy?

We are beginning to doubt that as it seems that some of our politicians have not
matured enough after 50 years of independence.



http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/83333


cksf
aka running dog chow-kow-sick-fûçkk(cksf)
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