22.7.06

Bukan Kupinta (part II)

Entri ini adalah sambungan dari entri bertajuk Bukan Kupinta bertarikh 10 Mac 2006

Masa: Imbasan waktu 1986
Watak: Ayah, emak, aku, kawan aku, pakcik aku, jiran aku
Set penggambaran: Kawasan rumah setinggan yang pernah diduduki

Seperti biasa dan hari-hari biasa. Sesi pagi aku ke sekolah kebangsaan atau disebut SEKOLAH SEKULAR manakala sesi petang aku punya tanggungjawab ke sekolah agama. Ini sistem di Johor masa itu. Jika sekolah sekular pagi, kau kena sekolah agama sebelah petang. Begitu juga sebaliknya jika kau sekolah sekular petang, sekolah agama kau pada pagi. Dua sekolah ini letak sebelah menyebelah saja. Berjiran. Selalunya kalau aku malas nak balik rumah, aku terus lepak kat surau sekolah agama. Tiba masa baru aku masuk ke kelas. Sebaliknya, kalau aku rajin. Aku pulang terlebih dahulu ke rumah. Sempat juga jamah masakan ibu di rumah. Kemudian, barulah aku ke kelas sekolah agama. Begitulah setipa hari tugas dan tanggungjawab aku sebagai pelajar. Pelajar contohlah katakan. Kau ambil bakul dan kau masuk sendiri.

Ketika dan waktu ini aku berada di Darjah Enam Sekolah Kebangsaan. Ooops, sekolah sekular dan Darjah Enam juga sekolah agama. Waktu itu, aku dapat keistimewaan untuk melompat dari Darjah Dua terus ke Darjah Empat. Aku lompat setahun. Asyik dapat nombor satu je dalam kelas setiap penggal. Aku diberi keistimewaan itu. Beyond my expectation. Maklumlah. Takde siapa boleh potong aku dalam kelas. Takde pencabar terdapat. Jadi, aku rangkul juara menunggu setaip tahun. Uhuks.

Dalam Darjah Enam tu aku aktif dalam sukan hoki yang baru diperkenalkan di sekolah. Itu pun setelah kemasukan cikgu baru ke sekolah kami. Namanya Abdul Rahman. Kami panggil dia cikgu Rahman. Dia salah seorang jurulatih MSSM Hoki. Jadi, aku terpanggil untuk itu. Teruja. Nak juga wakil sekolah. Minggu depan dan hari-hari berikutnya bermulalah pemilihan dan sesi latihan insentif jika dipilih. Jika tidak, kau duduk diam-diam.

Nak dijadikan cerita, oleh sebab aku terpilih dalam sesi pemilihan tu. Aku kena menjalani sesi latihan seminggu tiga kali pada waktu petang. Sebab, dua bulan lagi game dah nak mula bagi sekolah-sekolah rendah untuk Zon Johor Bahru. Waktu petang terpaksa dikorbankan untuk sesi latihan. Maka, aku terpaksa ponteng sekolah agama pada masa itu di waktu petang. Cikgu ada juga bagi surat alasan menjalani latihan hoki di sekolah tapi Guru Besar sekolah agama tak bagi. Guru Besar tu misai tebal. Mukanya nampak garang tapi suaranya halus macam siri Doraemon. Tak boleh nak elak. Aku kena ponteng.

Hasrat aku untuk menjalani latihan pada waktu petang tak mendapat persetujuan dari ayah. Katanya, kau tak payah nak bersukan. Sekolah agama tu untuk pendidikan kau sampai tua. Ilmu agama. Sukan tu kat dunia aja. Patah terus hujah aku. Mak cuma diam dan patuh pada kata ayah. Maklumlah kalau Mak melawan sekalipun Mak yang akan dipatahkan nanti. Kekadang aku sedih memikirkan sikap ayah. Bukan aku nak mengajar ayah. Bukan aku tak hormat pada ayah sendiri. Tapi ayah kena hormat minat anaknya. Bukan pula bermakna apa semua kemahuan anaknya dipenuhi. Bukan. Ikut kesesuaian. Ikut keadaan. Kenapa anak orang lain boleh. Aku tak boleh? Banyak persoalan yang berserabut masih tiada jawapan dari ayah. Agaknya ayah begitu berpegang pada ajaran sebagaimana bapanya dulu merangkap Datuk aku mengajar dia. Wawasan akhirat. Pendidikan agama kena cukup. Kalau nak diharap pendidikan agama di sekolah kebangsaan tak cukup. Rapuh dan ampuh silabusnya. Banyak yang lopong.

Tapi, ayah kena faham bukan anaknya tak mahu langsung ke sekolah agama, Cuma anaknya mahu mewakili dan mengharumkan nama sekolah. Itu saja. Mahu juga diri ini aktif dan cergas dalam bersukan. Diri ini rasa boleh melakukannya. Bukankah kita kena seimbang dan sederhana dalam semua segi. Dunia kita kejar, akhirat pun kita kejar. Aku cuma cakap dalam hati aja. Bercakap untuk diri aku. Nanti dikata pula aku mahu mengajar ayah sendiri yang lebih arif dalam soal ini. Lain pula jadinya nanti. Kau derhaka pada ayah sendiri. Bahaya.

Akhirnya, aku kena akur cakap ayah. Tapi dalam aku akur kadang-kadang aku curi waktu untuk tidak hadir ke sekolah agama di sebelah petang. Menghadiri sesi latihan hoki. Latihan intensif. Bawa baju spare. Keluar rumah legkap berpakai baju melayu putih teluk belanga dan bersamping hitam berkancing susasa. Pergi bersama rakan. Memang selalu pergi saing. Jalan kaki. Sampai sekolah tukar pakaian sukan pergi latihan. Waktu balik tukar semula pakaian sekolah agama. Aku bukan jahat. Cuma nakal ketika itu. Agaknya, itu dah kehendak aku ketika itu. Tak suka dipaksa-paksa. Lebih rela ikut minat dan kemahuan sendiri.

Tapi... Hah. Bila sampai bab tapi ni dah tibalah lah ni kemuncaknya. Hari itu sesi latihan dipercepatkan pula waktunya dari hari biasa. Hari tu pula ayah ada pulang awal. Separuh hari katanya Kala itu ayah cuma pekerja kontrak pembinaan. Buruh kasar la tu. Tiada kerja sangat di tapak. Dia pulang awal. Kebetulan aku baru keluar beberapa langkah dari rumah. Berpakaian sukan lengkap dengan stick hoki di tangan. Terserempak dengan ayah menaiki motornya. Pulang tengahari dari tempat kerjanya. Mula ayah pandang. Aku buat tak nampak. Buat tak tahu. Kemudian, ayah pulang. Ya, dia pulang dan datang semula mengekori aku membawa parang. Aku ulangi, bawa parang. Aku cuak. Aku panik. Ayah bawa parang nak mengejar aku. Tak semena-mena aku lari. Lari bagai diperhambat orang mengamuk di tengah kampung. Tanpa banyak bicara. Aku campak stick hoki di tangan. Aku lari.

Biar betul. Ayah kejar aku keliling kampung. Semua orang perhati. Jiran. Ayam itik bertempiaran lari. Semua orang bingung. Apa betul ke tidak orang ni. Si bapa perhambat si anak. Sambil perhambat ayah menjerit dan melaungkan, kau jangan cuba-cuba nak ponteng sekolah. Lebih baik kau pergi sekolah agama. Nak jadi apa kau ni hah. Kuat juga ayah berlari. Kejar aku. Walau dah berusia, dia pantas. Aku apa lagi. Dalam panik juga masa tu. Manalah tahu. Buatnya dia tebas kepala aku tak ke parah. Tak pasal-pasal masuk di dada akhbar.

Dalam larian kami kejar-mengejar tadi, pakcik aku ternampak. Tercengang dia seketika. Masa tu dia sedang duduk di wakaf depan rumahnya sambil menghisap rokok Gudang Garam. Aku lari sebab apa. Sebab ayah dah kejar dengan parang. Gila kau kalau tak lari. Kalau lari berganti tak apalah. Boleh dia pas parang tu kat aku untuk disambut. Tercabar jugak pecutan larian aku. Keluar keringat jantan. Menempah maut namanya. Lagi satu memang dia beriya-iya benar nak kejar aku. Aku larilah. Penghujung larian aku di rumah. Tak dapat tidak, aku masuk dalam rumah. Tak boleh nak buat apa. Mahu menyelamatkan Mak ketika itu juga tercengang dan bingung. Apa dah jadi sebenarnya.

Tanpa banyak bicara ayah terus merapati aku. Tapi dia sudah meletakkan parangnya yang dibawa bersama tadi. Masa lari tadi. Tanpa mukadimah. Ayah terus menarik T-Shirt yang aku pakai. Ya, ayah tarik dengan genggaman yang kuat. Aku dah mula rasakan sesuatu. Auranya. Tidak. Ayah. Ampunkan aku ayah. Diri ini tak akan buat lagi. Tanpa fikir panjang ayah terus membuka tali pinggang yang dipakainya. Dilibas sekuat hatinya berulang kali. Libasan di belakang. Tak cukup itu. Ayah mungkin dah geram agaknya. Ikutkan sangat hati mudanya. Sudah dirasuk syaitan barangkali. Siapa tahu. Ayah menjerut. Ayah menjerut leher aku. Aku tak sempat menjerit. Tak boleh nak lawan kuderat ayah yang kuat. Ibarat macam kena tali gantung. Inilah balasan yang aku terima kalau tak mahu dengar cakap ayah.

Faham-faham sajalah perangai ayah. Habis semuanya dibelasahnya kalau ada siapa yang cuba menghalang. Jadi, mak sedih hanya mampu menitiskan air mata. Anaknya diperlakukan bukan untuk mengajar. Untuk membunuh namanya. Kalau dah sampai jerut leher tak jejak ke lantai sejengkal. Itu nak bunuh anak, bukan nak ajar anak. Aku hanya menjerit meminta pertolongan dan menitiskan airmata. Dapat bayangkan. Lepas satu, satu dikerjakan ayah. Tak cukup itu lagi, diheretnya aku ke bilik air belakang. Ada kolah di situ. Taklah berapa dalam. Aku meraung meminta pertolongan tapi siapa yang boleh membantu. Mak hanya boleh berkata sudahlah tu paknya. Sudahlah tu. Aku direndam dan diselam turun-naik kelemasan. Hampir nyawa-nyawa ikan. Dapat kau bayangkan. Apalah sangat dosa besar aku. Cuma tak hadir ke sekolah agama terus di belasah sebegitu rupa. Bukan untuk apa. Untuk sumbang bakti pada sekolah. Untuk mengharumkan nama sekolah.

Mujur. Mujur pakcik aku datang ketika itu menyelamatkan keadaan. Dia menjadi penyelamat situasi ketika aku terkapai-kapai kelemasan di kolah yang kandungan airnya lebih dari dua kolah. Kau nak ajar budak ke nak bunuh budak. Sudahlah tu. Terus direntap dan ditarik ayah aku ke belakang. Lalu menarik aku keluar dari kolah yang sudah keruh airnya. Aku selamat. Mencangkung di tepi kolah merintih bersendirian. Mengenang nasib yang dibelasah ayah sendiri. Bukan ayah tiri. Teresak-esak di kala itu. Basah kuyup aku dibuatnya. Sejuk menggigil. Kedinginan. Tapi, hati ini masih tercalar kepanasan dan bahang. Tak boleh hilang dari ingatan.

Mak hulur tuala aku ambil. Mengelap badan yang perlu. Salin pakaian yang baru. Aku tahu ayah ada maksud tertentu. Ada tujuan tertentu mengajar aku begitu. Bukan aku mahu cerita keburukan aku dan ayahku di sana dan di situ. Tapi ini, bisa dijadikan pengukur untuk orang sekarang dan orang dulu-dulu. Itulah ayahku. Mengajar anaknya yang satu dan keras kepala macam batu. Mak periksa leher aku. Merah. Ada garis bekas jerutan kain pelekat tadi. Belikat aku bergaris-garis merah calar dihiris tali pinggang ayah. Ada juga bengkak sedikit terkena kepala tali pinggang itu. Mujur tiada yang patah. Aku sedih. Aku pilu. Aku sayu. Ayah, aku pasti akan buktikan sesuatu untukmu. Ya, aku akan buktikan padamu.

Bersambung....

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am glad, I got my residency in other country, I am showing off, yes, I am happy, I don't have to face those silly Malaysia politicians drama again.

Wish you people, for those talented one and the rich one, just pack up and go to other countries, they don't appreciate us, we won't stay!

As they say, we not happy, we can pack up. So I listen to them - since we Malaysians have to listen to the government "all the time", or some people will treat us, May 13 will be happen again.

I am a good Malaysian Chinese, I listened to my teacher in school, I studied hard, I didn't manage to get into local university, maybe it is too packed with their people and leave me no seat.

I paid my tax when I worked for a year full time after I graduated from my college diploma set, I paid my tax for them to build for the 10 thousand ringgit a street light in Cyberjaya.

I never voice out in the public that I was treated unequally, because they might jail me and left a big black mark on my police report. And what the "finance" promised me from an award I received 2 years ago - still heard nothing from them, even I contact them, they said who are you? Chinese name, they don't care anymore since then.

So I am a good Malaysian, a non-malay Malaysian, I obeyed all Malaysia rules, and I decided to leave the country. I mean, what is the point staying in the country you don't like?

Am I still love my country Malaysia? Ho yes I still, a bit since some of my family members are still there if not I won't be here anymore……….well maybe after another 20 years, after those "certain type" of malays already opened their mind, maybe I will return - return to buy a piece of land for my graveyard.

Anonymous said...

When we live by the power of the sword, we die by the power of the sword. We started as a nation build on principles and rule of law, and under Mahathir moved to one of a modern sultanate.

It is not just about weak leadership but about weak system. Mahathir way of doing things without sound principle has permeated all the way down to the very grass-root of civil service, corporations and enforcement officers.

The new thinking promoted by Mahathir implied that when your were not rich, you were a failure. Efforts at materialism and wealth justify the means at its attainment. Thus, power at the discretion of the police personnel was convenient means for enriching themselves.

It is known to everybody, including the policemen in the name of NEP, some malays were rewarded far more than their efforts entailed. Through cronyism, malays are made millionaires, company directors, Bankers, AP kings, etc. Some of these wealthy personalities might even be less endowed than the police personnel.

The fact that under the practice that the jobs in government service were not for the most suitable persons, rather than for the persons of the most suitable race, the incumbents took it upon themselves that it was a privilege of birth that landed them the jobs, and that privilege should be utilised to the utmost for personal gains.

Simply visit any local councils, land office, forest department, custom department, the same thing is repeated. How much you want to pay me, if not you will not get any service. It is no longer under the counter any more. They are demanding it as if they have earned it.

I have to deal with all these departments and it is becoming sickening. There is no longer any more honest civil servant, they are all out to make a quick buck. After all, our leaders are just as corrupt so there is no longer any fear because everyone is doing it.

No businessman wants to pay these corrupt civil servants but if you don't pay, no action will be taken on your application. So reluctantly you have to pay.

If all government personnel have internalised the thought that they are employed to their positions to perform specific tasks, and they performed the tasks to the best of the ability, then the institutional setup in the country should be able to ensure to a large extent, peace and security for its populations, for example in Singapore, Hong Kong or Australia.

There are certainly isolated cases of crimes, but they are exceptions.

When we have a weak leadership, the whole country becomes weak and corrupt. There is no longer the fear factor. Every government servant becomes bold to the extent they are bold enough to demand bribes.

If what opposition proposed comes true, Malaysia will instantly have no more ministers nor parliamentary secretaries nor police. All of them will either be in the death row or in the prison for life.

The cabinet will cease to be. What is more - the next echelon of political leaders in the BN will also be in the similar predicament i.e. in death row or imprisoned for life.

Poor prime minister will have nobody to work for him if he himself is not with his cabinet colleagues. This is not possible, you say? Remember Bolehland always Boleh.

Anonymous said...

It is no wonder that there is a crisis in our higher education. It is time the government has an outside independent, maybe even foreign party make an assessment.

If you don't know how bad the problem is, there is no way you can fix it. I think the problem is very very severe. I think the problem is so bad that the government find it politically sensitive to reveal it, which is why the independent report want to see, is being made an official secret.

Seriously we may actually be lucky to have only 60000 unemployed graduates. In the real meritocracy world, we could be looking at hundreds of thousands.

Having said that, the Malaysia dilemma does not only stem from the fallacy of NEP but also, it seems, the apparent blissful ignorance that we have incorporated into our working culture.

We have to admit that in Malaysia we have bad corporate culture. As such places like university do work without any solid consultation and model. We remain 'deaf' to many issues. This leaks into our daily life as well.

Just look at the banks, the police force, the schools. It is safe to say that nobody really cares about their work in the way they should. It is apparent that people take up jobs and not careers. There is no pride whatsoever in doing anything.

Bad corporate culture! One word: Ignorance.

This simply, is a direct reflection and symptomatic of the fact that Malaysians lives are, from all angles, in danger.

Power abuse, potentially high inflationary pressures blowouts, poor international relations, personal safety and national security, low educational standards, institutionalised corruption, government-linked companies scandals, financial bailouts, being overrun by uncontrolled illegal immigrants………..and so-on-and-so-forth.

This administration, unfortunately inherited a very, very sick country. Even terminally ill, receiving palliative care.

End game?

The moral decay is beyond the point of no return! Judgment: Malaysia is relegating to become a fourth world country. Vision 2020 has derailed!

God is very fair. Other countries have natural disasters, we have our ruin ministers.

When are we going to wake up? China, Thailand and even Vietnam are galloping ahead and we will end up eating dust that they kick up. Well, at least we may still be better than Ghana at this day.

Look out Ghana or Nigeria! Bolehland is hotly pursuing your title of most corrupt nation. Hooray! Malaysia Boleh!

I felt sorry for the people of Bolehland.

This is the result of gross lack of planning. Projects are approved on the run for various reasons. It is already costly to build. But it will be more costly, at least 3 times more, to repair and fix. This is a wastage of taxpayers money.

No one could be held responsible and accountable. I suppose no one cares for the ordinary people as long as there is money to be made.

If this happen in some of the under developing countries in Africa, one could understand. But to Malaysia……….something is seriously wrong - we have plenty of qualified and experienced people to ensure things are done reasonably well.

I call for a formulation of a 21st century New Economic Policy when the NEP runs out of term based exclusively on socio-economic grounds favouring the poor and disabled belonging to any group of Malaysians.

As a good leader and a decent human being, one got to do what is right and fair with morality and dignity. If not, the future generations to come will live and suffer with great shame of the actions and behaviours of their leaders.

It is high time to unite all Malaysians for a good cause. Enough is enough!

Did I always say this Pak Lah is a hopeless fellow? Since he came to power, Malaysians have been suffering and suffering and suffering.

Incomes have gone down and expenses have spiraled up. The parliament, the judiciary and Anti-Corruption Agency have become his dolls to play and the government has become more corrupted.

Many years ago, an enterprising group of businessmen went to see Mahathir about implementing an area pricing policy to discourage single-occupant vehicles from going into the city during peak hours. Mahathir told them that he couldn't do it without improving public transport first. Of course Mahathir was more concerned about the impact such a system would do to the sales of Proton cars.

The net result? Nothing was done to improve public transport.

Government force people buy local car by making foreign cars look so expensive……….and also encourage people to buy car to support the dying industries. While at the other hand, ask people to spend wisely, save more fuel, or else our nation will become net importer of petroleum in year 2010……….so contradict.

What we are witnessing now is the legend of Robin Hood in Bolehland - robbing the poor to bail out the rich.

When will the breed of politicians be born, conscientious and honest, and made every effort for businessmen to invest not only to earn a reasonable return, but to achieve good things in life for the people?

No matter how you try to answer those questions above, the end conclusion is that this government is hiding something else from the people that will be injurious to their future if it is not tackled head on now.

Sigh……….the timing was really wrong on this one……….really pissed off when Pak Lah said the money was going to be used to better public transportation, which just didn't make sense, especially when he stated that it was 'apparently lacking'.

A 4 billion ringgits save on the subsidy will only be wasted on public transportation. This is because the people have lost faith in the effectiveness of public transportation in this country.

Why? Simple, lazy ass bus drivers, lazy ass commuter controllers, who never keep to schedules, then blame everything on 'technical difficulty'.

If a commuter engineer can stand around the station doing nothing about it, that isn't a technical difficulty, that is a mental one.

Plus, since these public transportation companies never make a profit, they simply feed of the government, and never giving better service.

Put the 4 billion ringgits back in the subsidy, get the money from somewhere else! I know, take back all those ever-growing benefits to government workers, and use that for public transport.

All these years, the Umno administration has created can-do myths, carved bleeding shortcuts, ignored the plain language of uncompetitive realities, muzzled the media from exposing the facts and spawned cronyism.

Now everyone pays the price.

So my colleague here goes to work by taking a bicycle, bus, train. Seem this would be our future. Owning a car would be a thing of a past in Vision 2020.

Better still, close down all the highway and use bullock cart, then we will assure our oil reserve will be there for the next thousand years.

Under this administration we are going backward and backward……….what a pity!

If it was in Thailand, Philippine or Indonesia, there could have been a military coup. Unfortunately, these security forces like the police have become impotent.

Only peoples power can set things right. Throw the BN government out. Otherwise, the future of our children will be condemned.

Anonymous said...

There are a lot of sensitive issues that are 'forbidden' to be discussed with reasons being racism, national security or anything you call it. But not being able to discuss them openly doesn't mean they do not exist and I do hope to enlighten everyone.

I am not pointing fingers but this is what is happening.

Speaking from the perspective of being a Chinese, we had to study so hard with parents working twice as hard. It is either straight As or you'll end up in a local university much later doing a course that you don't really like.

I achieved straight As in my SPM. I applied for local universities with my results and when I got the reply, I was granted a course totally different from the one that I've applied for. Computer science (applied for by me) and agricultural science (the one given to me) - two very different things.

Yet, I have malay friends who got only Bs and Cs getting into medicine, engineering and everything they applied for. So many of my peers who are fantastic students with fantastic results and great brains ended up going to colleges through scholarships by other governments like Singapore.

When other governments can appreciate our talents, why are we treated like second-rated citizens in our own country?

Perhaps some of you reading this will say, well, the Chinese can afford it because they are rich generally and the government is only doing a fair thing in supporting the malays. Well, think again. I am not from a wealthy family, a lot of us are not too. When our government forsakes us, we had to work extra hard to pick ourselves up. So don't tell me that this is fair.

Affirmative action should be done based on social economic status, not race. How can you justify that the rich malays could get a 7% discount on semi-detached house, while a poor Indian factory worker has to pay full amount for his cheap apartment?

Our country is so far behind developed countries and only our pride denies us from accepting this fact. Examples? We don't even dare to compete on even ground with our automobile industry. Everyone knows the fact that if not for the taxes that the government imposes on imported cars, Proton will almost certainly be a huge flop.

We are 'forced' to buy Proton. Telekom is a monopoly and we are light years in terms of Internet connections. There are countless of examples.

Now, when we grow up, we ought to contribute to our country. But what makes the government think that they deserve our services?

My parents had to work extra hard and use up all their savings to pay for my education abroad as we didn't have a choice. Now, I've graduated and am working in the UK.

During my last visit back to Malaysia, I remembered a lady was asking me if I would come back to Malaysia and serve the country. I honestly said to her, 'Why should I?'

The country and the government rejected me and treated me as a second-class citizen and now I should serve the country? That must be a joke.

Even though I am not a British citizen but I feel so much at home here. I have been treated equally, I am entitled to health care and have the support of the locals.

No one talks about things like this. Forget the press, they are government tools. This is racism of the modern days. I lived through it as a child of Malaysia. Sad but true.

Anonymous said...

Well said, we wish you well and kindly dismiss those who question your motive or patriotism. These are the bigots whose 'hidden agenda' and myopic vision that is keeping this wonderful bountiful country for progressing.

If you are emigrating for your kids education, you have made a right decision. Remember your kids will be influenced by the good and bad values overseas.

The ideal age for emigration is 16 years old or less. That is why your kids will make it in their careers and settle down successfully overseas.

Well done. Welcome to western culture where there are:

1. Equal opportunity regardless or race or religion
2. Environmental Awareness
3. Government subsidised healthcare
4. Government subsidised tertiary education as well as primary and secondary schools
5. Higher quality living
6. Protection of the labour market via enforced minimum wage across all industry sectors
7. Social welfare standards
8. Unconditional democracy

In the globalization era, we are truly citizens of the world and it is no shame to relocate to 'greener pastures' should you have the ability and the means. Why stay in a place where there are blatant abuses, discrimination and limited prospect for those unconnected!

Feudalistic rules are maintained to fleece the masses, where the titled and corrupted are the 'untouchables' but honest and hardworking citizens must bear the full brunt of the law (and taxed to the hilt).

'There is more than enough to feed the world but not enough to feed the greedy.'

If you compute the cost of sending 2 children to an oversea university (probably RM200k to RM500k), it is more cost effective to emigrate even if it paying a bit more tax or giving up a cushion job to enter into the uncharted waters.

If you made it here with an ever-moving goal post; I don't think it will be hard for you to find your niche in a level playing field.

Farewell but do keep us in your prayers.

Anonymous said...

All these issues that have plagued our Malaysia institutions of higher learning are purely a result of political interference and nothing else.

Look at universities around the region or even private institutions in the country where both students and staff are very focused on the sharing and learning process. Interaction comes naturally both inside and outside campus not only amongst students but staff as well.

As I posted, it would be interesting if the government can pick just one university in the country, staff it with the best professors and lecturers in the region and accept students who are not only academically excellent but good in other areas like sports, leadership skills, creativeness, etc. And strictly no political interferences and appointments.

I have no doubt that in no time such a university will make a name for the country. The question is - would the government have such foresight and courage to initiate such a project? I don't think so.

No surprise we have a stupid ass as a minister of higher education. Read what Dr Mahathir has to say about Syed Hamid: "I have picked a foreign minister who does not know how to read letters". We have another donkey as foreign minister! No wonder our cabinet is like a zoo!

Hahaha so in other words, it is Mahathir's fault, he admitted it he is the one who picked useless ministers, bravo Mahathir for slapping your own face.

What is so surprising that the minister of higher education didn't know what he was saying? That is the quality of our ministers. Our ministers can talk rubbish, yet the citizens will lick it all up!

All our ministers only know one thing. To suck the nation dry through various dubious projects and follow the winds and carry the balls.

Monkeys see monkeys do……….

This bunch of crooks last time need Mahathir to listen, read and write for them. Now without Mahathir master of all tongkat, they have no one to rely. Upfront Pak Lah already told them to listen, read and write by themselves, if not he will punish them.

This ethnic relations course is nothing more than crap. How can it be meaningful and credible when you have race-based parties like Umno, MIC and MCA operating in our midst.

This is similar to the National Service programme. So now all the youths are required to attend NS for the sake of national harmony. After the NS, all will return to their race-based pigeonholes waiting to exploit by race-based political parties.

And with that goes our RM500 million investment in the project. Dismantle these parties and maybe, maybe we will still have hope yet of a truly united nation without the hang-ups of race and religion.

In the 1950s and 1960s, I would say we were more integrated. The 1970s, we were just accepting one another and now the 1990s and 2000s, we are tolerating one another. We are digressing not progressing!

Using a metaphor, this nation is like a hose or water pipe. No matter how hard they try to plug the leak in terms of damage control, another one will appear and this will keep on happening until the whole pipe is plastered with band-aids. Why don't we change the whole damn pipe and be done with.

The BN ministers (all of them in fact) are just jack-of-all-trades but masters of none. That sums it all up huh.

They are (one) masters in financial controllers for individual wealth. They never fail in accumulating personal wealth in past few decades.

Anonymous said...

Actually, the average number of Malaysians who get into Harvard for undergrad studies per year is 1.

It is quite easy to increase the number of Malaysians entering Harvard - ask one of our brilliant ministers to wield his keris in front of Harvard, demanding at least 100 students to be accepted into Harvard each year……….

Just my 2 cents……….Hahaha……….let us hope for a better education in Malaysia.

Well, there was professor KS Jomo who attended Harvard for his MBA (prior to that he was at Yale). He came back to teach but look what happened to him……….

We hope for less intervention from government in tertiary education, less oppression on Chinese schools in Malaysia……….[Hisham: "Nah, dream on!"]

Was joking actually on the keris wielding thingy……….these people can't even take up an assistant post if they are not in the government……….ok, I know I am exaggerating……….

Ancient Chinese wisdom says that officials have two mouths. This is still true today.

It always surprise me that by the behaviour of Malaysia politicians. It irks even more that people think that the link is between the behaviour of our politicians and our children.

The problem begins first and foremost with policy. At the gist of it is the un-meritocracy and politicisation of the educational system.

The effect of politicisation is unchecked because we do not have free speech in this country. At the core of issues are the hegemonic policies of the Umno.

The problem is that it is very hard to do and takes a lot of effort, which our small-minded leaders are not up to the challenge.

Political leaders are keep falling into vain traps to believe that they can change of students and young minds with their policies and power.

Fine during undergraduate years, it is rather obvious that there is little racial integration within the university. Why? Because the students know certain races have certain advantages on the others. Yet most of them do not voice out, lest they will be 'blacklisted'.

Freedom is suppressed to the fullest extent.

The truth is that history has suggest that it is a vain attempt that only bring adverse result - in the long run the best way to educate and ensure good values in our children is to expose them to issues and debate them openly when it comes up.

Education systems are so different. Who is to judge what is worthy and what is not worthy? So, think smart, unless you have a deep pocket to support your education overseas.

To change all these, we need to change the current environment and government policies. Can we? Otherwise, we will continue to talk till the cow comes home.

Anonymous said...

If you malays can't even achieve total prosperity after 50 years of special tongkat given by the government, then do not be jealous or even envious of other races achievements. Think about it.

In order to make Malaysia strong, malays have to change their mindset and not depending on the government too much. I think it is time for you to "stand" and try to earn things you have got, not being feed by the government.

You can't run this country alone. You are not the only one that is doing sacrifices.

Everyone here does, so stop getting yourself a bigger slice of the cake while trying to take away ours, when your cake is being given by the government but we earn it with our own blood and sweat.

What do you mean that what will happen to malays if Malaysia fallen into Chinese hands? Did Singapore ever kill the malays? Did they forbid them to take their mother tongue?

It is just that the malays have to fight for their own and they eventually did fought their way out and earned their slice of the economy cake, without significant help of the government in Singapore. They still earn similar income to other races.

Maybe Singapore is nothing. But then how do you exactly explain that a small island that was ejected by Malaysia, no resources, they got nothing……….not even they have enough water, but yet their currency is higher than Malaysia? Can somebody tell me why?

Maybe it is because Americans helped them? But it is because of their fairness and transparency, not to mention a highly efficient government. This is something that we can't deny. Malaysians have to learn their mistakes and try to correct their "government help" or "tidak apa" mindset.

And Malaysian malays still fall behind Chinese even with the help of the government. Why? Please do not blame for nothing.

Anonymous said...

Only in Malaysia can an 'honourable' member of parliament admit that he was the person who had the audacity to ask the customs department to 'close an eye' in not seizing a consignment of logs imported by his company and still walk away proudly as if nothing he did was wrong.

With all the accusations hurled against him, this minister does not seem to regret his actions. He admitted he has an interest in the consignment and even had the cheek to say 'What is wrong with that?'

I am really disappointed that no action (so far) has been taken against this 'honourable' man. He has brought shame upon himself as an elected representative of the people, to parliament and to the party he represents.

An opposition member was suspended for six months without pay for a minor indiscretion, and here we have a minister from the ruling coalition who has openly admitted his wrongdoing and no punishment is meted out. What an irony!

No wonder there are others who simply do not abide by the law if they can help it because we already have people in high places who think what they have been doing all this while has been right anyway.

That is Malaysia Boleh for you.

Now we all know why these ministers are reluctant to allow live telecasts of parliament debates, for we will then see them in all their disgrace.

For the minister to blatantly say 'So what?' and all that, I think we now understand why the Malaysian government and its policies are going down the drain. If the BN can only offer the electorate ministers of these character and nature, we, the citizens should and must start worrying.

They do not represent the people interest, they represent their own interest. And our ministers have the audacity to ask the overseas professionals to be patriotic! What do these ministers expect?

The latest episode has revealed how powerless the Malaysia parliament is. The parliament like many other government institutions, has its fangs removed over the last 22 years.

In the words of former Umno supreme, Dr Mahathir, parliament is a mere rubberstamp and he made sure it was just that. When push comes to shove, we now know that BN ministers will vote for the interest of their party first and not the people who voted them in.

What is the point of Malaysians voting for a BN minister when he is bound to vote along party lines? In fact, this goes to show that it does not take much to be a BN minister. Just do as you are told and leave your principles and conscience at home.

What is more disappointing is Pak Lah's response to the whole Shahrir episode. I think the government should wrap up its National Integrity Plan and bury it.

If Pak Lah and his people are all good people with good intentions, and we should all do whatever the government says and toe the line prescribed by this 'man of courage and good intentions, interested in the greater good of the majority and trying to balance many conflicting demands cutting across all lines', then surely the most intelligent thing to do is to dissolve parliament.

What do we need parliamentary democracy for?

I would also like to take issue with his assessment that the PM is a man of courage. In the first place, if the PM is a man of courage, he has yet to demonstrate any signs remotely indicative of courage.

What Pak Lah has shown us so far is not only indecisiveness but a lack of commitment to combat corruption. Pak Lah has successfully deceived Malaysians by promising to clean up corruption.

However, after getting such a huge mandate from the Malaysian voters, he has failed to live up to his promise. This PM is going to go down in history as nothing more than a great pretender.

Anonymous said...

You do the right thing and I think you will never regret.

The trouble with the management of this country is that they always do not know what they want. It has been put in a kind of a trial and error method of management for so long with the one man said something and the rest just echoed.

We can't afford to dilly daddy the whole game, as the precious time for our kids development is limited.

I faced the same dilemma fifteen years ago when the confusion attained to its peak. The Bahasa Melayu was greatly emphasized in all subjects (I have no grudge with national language), 3M (which I still don't know what it is), and the cruel system of quota, practically telling that your kids stood very slim chance to enter university if you were not born as a malay.

Faced with the situation, I had no choice but to throw away my high fly corporate job and emigrated with my family of three kids to Australia.

Eleven years later, when my children were fully qualified as professionals of whom one is a medical doctor, our Malaysia clever leader started to say that "Actually English is very important, and let us start with English again from primary one for science and mathematics subjects next year."

With the fall of another politician, the Baku of Bahasa also disappeared. I do not know where 3M is nowadays!

I consider myself very lucky that I could jump out from this black box in time. Today, with God blessing and the dynamism of Australia's economy, three of my children and their partners are doing exceedingly well.

With the present situation of unemployable graduates in the country, I think my children are very lucky that they do not waste their precious time. But to be fair to the current Malaysia PM, there seems to have a slight improvement now and we hope there is a light in the end of the tunnel.

What said about the meritocracy and transparency in education and employment in Australia is very true. My children face a fair competition, and have equal opportunity to compete in university places and employments.

Son, a medical doctor faced no competition as demand exceeded supply. Daughter, a medical staff faced twelve competitors and she won and got the job, and the last, son, a master degree holder in economics and finance faced 150 competitors and he won and got the job.

All jobs interviews are conducted in a transparent manner and those who fail have a chance to appeal to a tribunal, if they find there is a suspicion of nepotism or other back door entry.

Don't worry too much about the words like 'patriotism' and 'traitor'. They are the words used by the politicians with a different agenda.

I worked honestly for the corporate and paid high income tax (at top few percent of the country average), and they practically told you right in the face that your children could not get into the university no matter how hard you tried.

What choice do you have? Go somewhere you and your kids have a fair chance!

At the end of the day, one fine day you heard the minister got caught in the Australian Airport carrying undeclared millions in bags of which the purpose was to scour for properties in Australia, minister son's multimillion mansion in Canada was put up for sale after the intrusion of thieves, etc. Do you think they are really patriotic?

If we really feel better that we must serve, we might as well consider ourselves as global citizens. There are so many charity/volunteers organizations, borderless doctors in Australia that one can join, for example go and help the tsunami victims.

(Two million ringgit are good enough in smaller cities but might be a bit difficult in big city like Sydney. On the whole, one million for the purchase of my own house and one million for my working capital, and it is an added advantage that I have a skill as a engineer.)

With money and skill, Australia welcomes you as the country is in great shortage of skilled manpower with the present robust economy.

Best luck to you all!

Anonymous said...

She got 9As and chose to study in Sunway College. Look what our Malaysia public universities are attracting a bunch of monkeys making troubles. Hard to imagine our public universities becoming world-class rather going down the drain.

For every good student out there, there would be ten others who have been:

- denied places in local universities;
- denied places of their choice of course;
- denied scholarships of their applications;

But the greatest grievance, insult and sin done onto them as equal citizens of this land is that they are forced to leave their homeland in order to further their ambitions.

Let me tell you that every year, there are thousands and thousands of Malaysians taking STPM (the most difficult exam in Malaysia) after finishing their SPM. These students, if they spend as much effort in London School of Economics from University of London, they all would have easily score distinction in every subject they are taking!

It is unfortunate, but there exists a whole new generation of Malaysians making waves overseas who care nothing for the idea of making their homeland proud because their homeland has done very little to acknowledge or nurture their talents.

True rewards only come to those who earn them, and you value most, that which you have worked hardest to achieve.

Going about in life with the desire to "make our country proud" is irrelevant. Someone said that patriotism is but a tool used by the ruler to control the masses. We should no longer look at the world with the lens of a country anymore.

We seem to take credit that someone who is not even a citizen anymore nor a Malaysian anymore achieves something great simply because he/she was born in Malaysia?

As for racial lines, as long as our national leadership maintains that dividing line lopsided deals and opportunities that differentiates between races instead of poverty and wealth, says who belongs to what race and what religion and unequal treatment, these lines will continue to pop up at every opportunity.

She should have stayed back in UK and worked there! Monkeys here won't recognize her talent.