Borneo Blu

My heart was in my mouth, a little prayer was said for a safe journey.When he finally docked and emerged with a smile,most people just like me felt relieved.

Compared to the others, our first Malaysian astronaut Sheik Muzaphar looks very happy to be in space. He keeps saying he wants to stay longer . Now, the time has come for him to come back, we wish him a safe trip home so that he can share with us his experience up there.

With the interest in science generated, hopefully, Malaysians will be more rational and scientific in their approach and not to be too dependent on mumbo -jumbo and what have you.

I know this is not the end of our space programme, I am sure more astronauts will be sent up there, maybe, our young people should start dreaming of being the first Malaysian on Mars.

Back on earth, what I find intriguing is the debate with our Indonesian neighbours as who actually owns the popular folksong “Rasa Sayang”.The slinging match started when Malaysian tourist officials use the song as part of our tourist promotion on TV.

The Indonesians say it’s theirs, we concur and it’s ours as well, after all we share the same ancestry. Many Malaysians have their roots in what’s now Indonesia, so it’s not only natural to share similar language but also to share many things like satay, batik, soto, kebaya and folksongs.

Who owns what can’t be determined strictly as people moved from one island to another.Those days they had no sense of international boundaries, and there were no immigration outposts either, and even now,some ethnic groups straddle both sides of the border. We even share the Sebatik island off Tawau together and this big island called Borneo.

The trouble, I think, is with the Indonesian media . They have suddenly discovered their new found freedom, so in the name of freedom, they write what they want. I suspect there is even an element of jealousy amongst the elites in Jakarta.

Why not?They are bigger and richer than us, yet the country that should be the leading light in the region finds it hard to accept the fact that their people have to come here to earn a decent living. We are also the first to help every time natural disasters hit them. So, when some of our officers go overboard in discharging their duties, especially when dealing with their citizens, they get very sensitive.

What to us is normal, after all, our officials are only doing their job, to Jakarta elites , it’s like rubbing salt into the wounds. A double whammy for them. Some people are saying only the Javanese elites in Jakarta are offended by all the incidents as they show them in bad light for not running the country well, the other Indonesians like the Bugis, Acheh,the Kalimantan and the Sumatran peoples are not so taken up with Jakarta’s emotional outburst as they closely identify with Malaysia and its achievements.

Some Indonesians in Malaysia do give their countrymen a bad name for breaking the laws of the country too often. On the other hand, our officers should be more tactful and they must also learn to respect the human rights of other people , because, too many of them tend to be too pompous and over-bearing. Power must be tempered with civility.

Say what you want, as far as people-to-people relations are concerned, we are still singing the “Rasa Sayang” together.

If you watch TV or read the newspapers, what you get is nothing but news that really get you upset most of the time. Bad news sell big time, good news are nothing but a big yawn. Funny how the world operates. You do feel like switching off sometimes.

If you are a music lover, how do you feel now that Beyonce decided not to proceed with her concert in Kuala Lumpur? Of course, there are many spins to this, from tight scheduling to other reasons. Basically if you ask me, she does not want her art to be compromised by all the funny rulings about dressing and all that.

If I were her, I wouldn’t come either, you accept my art in its complete package or you can forget about me helping your visit Malaysia Year.

Malaysians are well informed enough to know that you only need to turn on MTV or surf the internet to see sexier things than Beyonce’s exposed tanned skin or beautiful figure! So what’s the big deal about the dress rulings for visiting Western female singers? It’s not like they are dying to come here. Beggars should never be choosers.

It’s bad manners to force people from other cultures to comply with our way of doing things. What is happening to our own upbringing? Please don’t do unto others what we don’t wish to be done to ourselves.

I wish some of our people would get their moral compass more focussed, with corruption, drug abuse, HIV carriers, and others, there are more things more important in this country than somebody’s flesh or the way they dance on stage.

Now, what must be the biggest upset for me is definitely the way the Burmese junta handled their own people.They even butchered their own unarmed Buddhist monks for leading peaceful demonstrations. How cruel can you get?

It’s very hard to digest their ruthlessness and their desire to stop democracy from being established in the country.The fact they look so entrenched and the people there are suffering enough to make any human being despair.

If it helps the Burmese people’s cause, just expel the country from ASEAN. All this buddy- buddy talk of non-interference in member’s country is a waste of time. Put our foot down and teach the rogue member a lesson, kick them all the way to hell.

It is also sad to note that influential Asian countries like China and India can close one eye on the Burmese people’s sufferings. I don’t expect much from China but from the biggest democracy in the world, I expect some principled leadership . Maybe, I expect too much.

Then, in this world , there is no such thing as free lunch.

For Beyonce’s fans, cry your heart out.

And, as for the Burmese people though life is nothing but suffering as taught by Lord Buddha, however, I believe there is light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe, Nirvana is just across the road!

Can we switch off from this world, when we are very much a part of the total sum?

My good friend,Bobby, brought it to my attention,and I tend to agree with him.

I am talking about the general myth that we Malaysians are a friendly and polite people. Are we? On the surface, yes, we seem to be polite and even friendly. Looks can be deceiving. If you say we are almost as polite as the Japanese, that must be the joke of the century!

Some of us are badly brought up.

I was in the cinema the other night, there was this young girl who thought it was part of her ticket price to give a running commentary on what was going on the screen to her friend at the end of the hand phone! I am sure you have met the types. Very irritating, with no consideration whatsoever for other people.

Now, this hand phone business can be a real pain. Notice how some boarding passengers on the plane find it necessary to talk on their hand phone even when they are about to sit. If told by the cabin crew to switch it off, do they welcome the gentle reminder with a friendly gesture?Their body language tells you everything you need to know.

When was the last time a front counter staff in the private sector said “Have a good day” to you? They don’t even bother to say “Thank You”, even after you have given them some business. As for smiles, they are too expensive to go around!

Does a government department ever answer the phone on the third ring? I personally dread the idea of going to a government department. Not only the front counter staff can be indifferent, but, they don’t often give you the correct information which means running around the department looking for someone to help you. Nobody seems to know anything, unless, you happen to know somebody personally.

Is this is not rude, I don’t know what is?

I go to a suburban post office every now and then, this counter staff who used to serve me for almost two years there never smiled, not even once . No common courtesy at all, not even to a regular customer!Thank God, he is no longer there, the current staff is a lot friendlier.

I don’t even want to talk about driving habits.

Some of you who travel often will know the level of service provided in countries like Australia, Japan or even Singapore; helping customers is part of their working culture. Not only the staff there are courteous, but, they bend backwards to be helpful .They do leave a good impression on you.

Is it difficult to be friendly and greet customers with a smile?

I think when you have an education system that stresses on the academic side alone and not much on the soft skills, the whole country can even forget its own beautiful, traditional values!

What a shame!

Yesterday,16 the September, was the 44th anniversary of the formation of our country when Malaya, Sarawak, Sabah, and Singapore got together to form Malaysia.

Compared to the 31st August celebrations, Malaysia Day is rather muted. In Sabah, the date is the official birthday of the State Governor. This year because the date falls in the month of Ramadan, official celebrations have now been postponed to next month.

It does make sense that we as a nation should focus on one date, but, we must also acknowledge the date when the nation was officially born. We can’t pretend like it never happened.

Those who tend to get upset over this are the older generation who lived through the events which led to the formation of Malaysia. They still remember Sukarno’s ‘Konfrontasi ‘and the Manila claim over Sabah.The intentions of these two countries were obvious. And, they argue, if more emphasis is given on the early hardships, maybe, the younger generation will become more appreciative of the country as citizens.

Manila’s refusal to drop the Sabah claim up to now, and the recent Jakarta’s attempt to include Sipadan as part of its territories can be construed as reminders of these unfulfilled ambitions.Though we are married to someone else, true love knows no bounds!

As for the younger generation, do they care?

Before the new country came into being, there were those who were in favour of it and those who did not like the idea. At the end of the day because of the then communist threat and the geo-political realities , the idea of Malaysia was too big to be ignored and everybody came around to accept it as the only way out if Sabah were ever to be independent and her security assured.

On balance,we have made a tremendous progress, physical developments have been rapid, many who came back after a 44 year absence could hardly recognise the place.

However, on the flip side of the coin , our political development has not been so orderly, and the political leadership has been rather poor.

Generally speaking, some of the leaders have not paid back the voters who have placed their trust in them. While urban areas are said to have progressed, the rural areas have not been so fortunate.

Many native Sabahans have not benefited their fair share of the cake. Owing to poor infrastructure, access to some remote areas is next to impossible, many isolated communities do not have schools, health centres, electricity or clean water.

This is despite the representational system that is practised in the country. Elected representatives do not take pride in teaching the villagers how to fish, as their own priorities seem to only secure votes during elections. As a result, these communities have become too dependent on hand-outs and are not self reliant.

Despite the diversity and the complexity of our state, if we have contributed anything useful to the nation, it is our approach in handling our exemplary race relations, which seems to be so elusive to the other half of the country.

Then, we can’t ever be too complacent, we have a long way to go before we sleep.

Happy Malaysia Day!

The recent announcement by the government of the three pronged strategy to transform our higher education into world class must be commended.

Some of the key strategies include apex university-where only the best academic staff and students will be admitted, autonomy-public universities to be self governing in funding and research and development and audit panel will be introduced, where standard of all universities to be assessed by independent committee comprising of only experts.

The revamping of our education system is long overdue.There have been talks of our schooling system is to be less exam oriented, our children who go through the system will be more all rounded in terms of their self development.

I think it is a good idea to spell this out clearly to the public, so that when we talk about our education system, we, as the stakeholders, understand the direction it is taking.

As it stands, I really don’t know what new things are being introduced to make our children more competitive on the world stage. Everything to me is still being done on a piece-meal basis.The whole thing is still hazy, what is clear is that our politicians simply love to experiment with the education of our children.

It’s fine to experiment if it works to our advantage,what we have seen is the deterioration of the standard instead, which makes us less competitive in the world market.

If the authorities cannot decide what to call our national language, whether it is Bahasa Melayu or Bahasa Malaysia, what hope do we have in seeing our children getting good education in their own country? The people in charge don’t know whether they are coming or going!

Our students should be schooled to face the issues and challenges facing the 21st century head on, and they should also be trained to take advantage of future scenarios.

Education should be about producing individuals with good values like integrity and trust besides the necessary knowledge and skills. In the words of Raja Muda Perak, Raja Nazrin, we should not be producing “robots” .

I would think a better way to prepare the nation is to focus more on the pre-tertiary level education, when you build a house, you want to make sure your foundations are solid first, then everything will fall in place.

With quality students being produced at the primary and secondary schools, the apex universities will never be short of world class students later.

For a start, why don’t we go back to teaching in English?

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Without a common culture,we have come a long a way. Many had written us off, but, we are still up and about. We are a nation that is still in the making, there are still many shortcomings that need to be worked on.

Watching the just concluded Merdeka celebrations beamed live from Kuala Lumpur , my impression was that it wasn’t an all-embracing Malaysian affair, it looked very much like an UMNO show to me.

To be honest, I half expected it, after all Sabah came on board only six years later, the focus was more on Malaya Merdeka celebrations . Do I get the feeling that the caste system of the mind is alive and well in this country?

I saw this article in the Sunday Star written by Dzof Azmi on how Malaysia is now known the world over. He considers himself as a citizen of the world and proud to be Malaysian.

Let me quote him , “One thing I have seen over the years in reaction to Malaysia change from “Whazzat?” to”Ah..Twin Towers”. I remember as a young teenager having to explain to my friends in school where Malaysia was.”You know Singapore? It’s that really tiny bit at the tip of Malaysia.No..the southern tip”.

He was young then, now, he’s fully grown, you’d think he’d improved on his history and geography! For God’s sake,Malaysia came into being on 16 th September 1963, the new country now consists of the two Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak together with Malaya, after Singapore was booted out.Remember?

Need I say more?

Many people are cheesed off with this display of historical ignorance to put it mildly, but, it’s repeated over and over again.I think we need to be more precise when we talk about our own country’s history and geography so that we don’t send conflicting signals to the outside world.

As I thought this was a mindset problem prevalent in one part of the country, the Sabah Archives Director, Datu Tigabelas Datu Zainal Abidin,according to a news report has decided not to display the general broadmindedness and tolerance generally associated with Sabahans either.

When asked why the archives focused on the contributions of Tun Mustapha alone in the upcoming exhibition, and excluded the enormous contributions made by other Sabah leaders like Tun Fuad Stephens. Datu Tigabelas was quoted as saying because Fuad was half white!

Fuad had European ancestry, so what? To exclude him on that basis and to sideline the contributions he had made to Sabah is like saying Malaysia came into being in 1957.I don’t think we should be in the business of distorting historical facts.

There is the tendency to play God especially by those who have power in this country,we need to be more open and inclusive,after all, the country belongs to all of us. We are all Malaysians, aren’t we?Or, could it be that some people think they are more Malaysian than others?

Merdeka!

I have been taking her for granted. When I decided to look around, I realised the city has changed somewhat.There are more people and more buildings.There are more things to do.

It deserves to be called a city. But,many friends in the property market do scratch their heads at the number of the shopping complexes coming up. Can the spaces be filled up with retailers, they wonder? There are some who think that we are overbuilding.

Do we have that many people with high disposable incomes?Or, are they being snapped up by the same people over and over again?

Whatever, the case maybe, Kota Kinabalu has grown up, at least in the city centre.Every available space is being developed. The city has an air of modernity about it.Then, a friend said he noticed that there are too many eating places around!

The city is well situated too, it has the islands nearby, and the mountains a bit further up. You take your pick if you have some time to kill.

It is not overcrowded,in fact, it’s a pleasant city, furthermore, it’s generally friendly minus the callousness of a big city living.

Some foreigners I talked to liked the unhurried pace, the high cultural tolerance displayed by the people, and some might even consider coming back to stay under” Malaysia My Second Home Programme.”

Well and good.

What I think is missing is that city planners need to make the city a lot more noisier with music, and other cultural activities as part and parcel of our city living.

Designate certain spots for buskers, clowns and other street performers, and get the management of some of the complexes to organise concerts or to provide live music on a more regular basis.

The recent well attended Jazz Festival at Jesselton Point tells us that city folks do appreciate good music. Introduce as many musical genres as possible. I know it costs money, I am sure with planning, it is not impossible.

I understand the old Hone Place Padang in Tanjung Aru is being turned into a park, I hope a stage can also be built by the contractor so that the people can enjoy public concerts there.

A city needs plenty of soul to make it a place worth living and for outsiders to want to stay put.

As 31st August approaches, there are many disconcerting happenings in the country that make you sit up and take notice.

Let’s recap some of the recent headlines from our newspapers.

The Bukit Gantang Bus Crash Tragedy which claimed 20 lives and injured nine throws up more questions than answers.The bus driver had two warrants of arrest against him and 13 outstanding summonses.Yet,he was still driving buses.The bus had 19 summonses on it , it was still ferrying passengers.

Here at home, the State Forestry Director said that the logs seized by the Anti Corruption Agency (ACA) found on 20 logging trucks in Keningau last week were legally felled from licensed logging areas.

The ACA insisted that during their operations the 5,000 logs seized were believed untaxed, and the 22 logging trucks seized did not have valid documents. Also, the trucks were found to be transporting above the permitted weight.

Another baffling story is about the Johore Crime King at the centre of allegations against the Inspector General of the Police (IGP); the Secret Society,Vice and Gaming Division of Bukit
Aman and the ACA cleared him; but, the Commercial Crimes Division banished him to Jeli, Kelantan under the Restricted Residence Act. And, the ACA wants to know why?

Recently, there have been many alleged cases of police shoddy investigations of criminal cases resulting in the acquittal of the alleged killers. Can the police alone to be blamed? Many in the legal fraternity hold the view that the A-G’s Chambers must also take the blame, for the decision to prosecute lies with them depending on the strength of evidence.

Why are things so gloomy?You would think after all these years the government agencies would have sorted things out among themselves.

The former IGP, Hanif Omar, writing in his Sunday column in the Star under the heading “The Fence That Eats The Rice”, sums it well when he writes that the police force and the ACA-two crucial institutions leading the fight against malpractises and corruption.Yet they are sadly disappointing in their inability to even clean up their own backyards.

“I briefed the Royal Commission that police corruption was so extensive that a very senior ACA officer had confided in me and another top retired police officer that 40% of the senior officers could be arrested without further investigations-strictly on the basis of their lifestyles.One state police chief had a net worth of RM 18 millions”, he writes.

What’s really happening?

To the Malaysian public this “fence that eats the rice” syndrome is very worrying to say the least.If we cannot trust people entrusted to look after our well being and security,who do we turn to?

What’s very apparent with all these examples is the lack of enforcement, indifference, ignorance and inefficiency of the parties responsible. The uncaring attitude and “what’s in there for me” mentality tend to dominate. We may have the best laws and the best policies in the world, if they are not enforced in a fair and just manner, or without fear or favour, we only have ourselves to blame.

Politicians must be serious in guiding this country on the right path for the sake of our future generations. This is the only country, we all call home. Talk is cheap, just walk the talk.

Get everybody to be committed to the cause of a fantastic Malaysia!

I rest my case.

In any self improvement seminar, affirmations such as- if it’s to be , it’s up to me,heaven helps those who help themselves are usually bandied about. We are told with enough self belief, these affirmations will help us to be successful.

The problem is we forget them as soon as we leave the seminar room. If only we would put into practise half of what we have learned, the chances of us being successful would be greater.

I was happy that the participants at the recent inaugural Sabah non-Malay Natives
Economic Congress were thrilled by the promises made by the Finance Minister 11, Nor Mohamad Yakcop.

There was a loud applause when he announced that there would an immediate grant of RM500,000 from his ministry to the Kadazandusun Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) to assist in its training programme to members and entrepreneurs from the community.

I could not help thinking, though.

Compare this with the news item about the two Dutch women who raised about RM 174,000 through their own initiative to help the conservation efforts being done at the Sandakan Sepilok Urang Utan Rehabilition Centre, we are poles apart in thinking and attitude. They are basically givers, while we are more than happy to be takers.

People say in life, the satisfaction is in giving and not in taking.

Ask any successful people they will tell you that you get luckier if you work harder. While some of us do work hard, there is still this prevailing culture of waiting for goodies to be given out by Santa Claus. Otherwise, nothing appears to move.

We have been spoiled rotten.

Some of us also take the view that by being highly educated , we are automatically capable of being successful in business. It helps, but, life is not as simple as that.

Robert Kiyosaki’s in his best seller” Rich Dad, Poor Dad”, postulates that while academic credentials are useful, but, the ability to apply whatever knowledge to generate wealth is more important.

Even though his real father has a Phd, he has to rely on his monthly salary to survive. To him, this is his poor dad. His other dad is not so highly qualified academically , but he knows how to generate wealth . No prize for guessing who is his real hero!

The world does not reward with what you know,but, with what you do.

We can see for ourselves how some semi-literate Chinese succeed in business with little or no help from the government initially. They prove themselves first, once, they are established in their field, they only get bigger with government help.

They hardly squander the opportunities given to them. Look at the Genting Group, YTL Corp,Ting Pek Khing and many others.

The operative word here is self help, and the passion to want to be successful whatever it takes.

Virgin super boss, Richard Branson who was in Kuala Lumpur recently is a dyslexic. I remember reading somewhere that he is not so familiar with accounting terms, yet, he is a great success because he is passionate about turning ideas into money.And, he knows how to market his products as his name is a brand unto itself.

While the Bumiputras are the rightful owners of the country, because of our political arrogance, government dependence , we are still crawling after all these years.

I don’t think the Chinese are supermen in business, it’s their survival instinct, their passion for money- making, as well as their do- or- die attitude that make them successful.

Maybe, it’s their Taoist philosophy that says be like water, somehow it will find its own level if one keeps on pushing.

So, hard work, perseverance and the right attitude can’t be divorced from success.

Sure, it’s good to know people and to net work, especially to rub shoulders with those with clout, this is business reality. But, I think we must tell ourselves, at the end of the day we can only rely on our own hard work and determination if we want to go far.

Get the help, but, move on your own after that. Don’t keep asking for more. If your are good and have proven yourself to be reliable, the government will automatically look for you.

If I were to draw up a programme for the business wannabes, I would focus among others, on basic accounting and marketing, by understanding free market forces, the big, wide world becomes your market. Handouts will be a thing of the past, hopefully.

We must also ask ourselves, are willing to work as hard as the Mamak restaurant people? 24/7?

If the answer is yes, then, we deserve to live happily ever after. Otherwise, we just have to wait for Santa Claus to come this way again next year.

A little news item caught my attention recently.

China with more than a billion people are now sharing just 100 surnames.Chinese law states children are allowed to take the surname from either their mother or father.

This lack of variety means 93 million people share the name Wang, 92 million Lis and 88million Zhangs , Chen, Zhou and Lin have 20 million members each.

Under a new draft regulation released by the Ministry of Public Security, parents will be able to combine their surnames for their children, a move that could open up 1.28 million possibilities.

For example, a father named Zhou and mother named Zhu could choose to call their child either Zhou, Zhu, Zhouzhu or Zhuzhou.

Members from the ethnic minority groups are encouraged to use traditional surnames. Many have adopted those of the Hans,which harms their cultural heritage.

In Korea, where more than half the people are either Kim, Lee, Park or Choi, and where two thirds of the population share 10 surnames, having a rare surname such as Bing and Who can be very inconvenient at the least and downright hassle when no one believes that is your real name.

The Koreans pay a lot of attention to surnames, marriage between Kim and Kim is prohibited unless they can prove they are from different branches of Kims.

With the exception of the Chinese and the Eurasians, generally speaking, other Malaysians namely the Bumiputras and the Indians do not have surnames. Over time family history or ancestral heritage because of the mixing of genes can disappear into the black hole of no return.

In this country anyone with a Muslim name is a Malay. Are these names Muslim or Arabic? Christian Arabs also use such names as Fuad, Bashir, Samir, Amin and even Osama! .

Bumiputras need to question themselves, and it’s the same with the Filipinos who use Spanish names, who they really are.

It appears that we have been trapped in this bird cage to the point we can’t be true to our own ethnic identity, and we need external help to define who we are.

Names should reflect our identity. Shakespeare’s Juliet asked what’s in a name? To me it’s everything in the context of who you are and your cultural heritage.

Kamal Mustapha of Turkey created surnames for the Turks, he is known as Kamal Attaturk (The Father of the Turks).The Congolese now Zaire have adopted surnames for easier identification and national pride. The Arabs too have surnames like Al-Sabah,Albar and so on.

In this part of the world, it is easier to identify Javanese sounding names. Can we identify, for example, a Malay Malaysian from his name if we read the newspapers? While we are in the country, we can make the assumption, then, some non-Malay Muslims too have similar names. There is little to show in terms of the person’s cultural or racial identity.

The beauty of having surnames is that it records a historical continuity and a bond with the bigger world. A Malaysian Ong can relate to other Ongs even if they are of different nationalities. There is a mental hook up or even a spiritual one because of common surnames.

If we don’t have surnames, and say we live in a different country, can we tell who our own relatives are in our country of origin especially if you haven’t seen them for years, and your parents have passed on to tell you who is who? We can even fall in love and marry our own blood relatives which is not on, genetically speaking.

How do the Bataks of Sumatra bond even though they are Christian and Muslim among them? It’s their clan names or their marga names like Nasution, Lubis, Sihaan, Siregar ,Tobeng etc besides language that gel them. By looking at their clan names,they know who they are, and there is a sense of belonging and brotherhood immediately.

For the Malaysian Bumiputras to have a sense of true identity,clan names should be drawn up by members of the family,thus,guaranteeing ethnic identity in perpetuity.

The current Bumiputra practice of having names like Joe Thomas or Ali Amir can be very misleading, by having a surname, or a clan name in addition to these personal names common identification and ethnic bond can be further established.

The Malaysian Bumiputra ethnic identity needs a new work over to ensure that it lives for another thousand years!