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www. nutgraph.com
The One & Only Problem In MalaysiaBy Syed Akbar Ali
(an email forwarded to me by a friend, too precious not to share and so accurate, I want to cry
in shame!)
Here is another story. A friend who comments often on this Blog, went to the Registrar of Societies
(ROS) to register a new persatuan. They asked him to fill all the forms, chop & sign everything,
attach photocopies of IC, etc. Then he was told to drop off the application into a hole set up at the
counter at the ROS. There was no acknowledged received etc. When he asked for an
acknowledgement, the dont disturb me guy working at the counter said, this is the new system, no
need for acknowledgement, we will send you a letter. You can go now.
So he went back and waited, for two months. Nothing
happened. So he went back and asked them what
happened. The same dont disturb me guy
said they had no record of receiving
any such application. So my friend flew
into a tantrum and started yelling. So
they said, please fill up another set of
borang, do the photocopies again
and give it to us and we promise to get it
done in two weeks. My friend yelled again,you mean you must first lose my application, I
must wait two months, then I come and beg and now
you will process my application in two weeks?
So this is what is happening over the counter at our Government
departments. How do you fix this? Why not just follow how they do this in Finland, Iceland, North
Korea, Singapore or maybe even in Ali Rustams Melaka? Apa susah sangat? If lets say in Melaka
or Singapore they can get this done in 48 hours, why not we just follow them? Apa susah sangat?
Or maybe someone can tell the wife of the Prime Minister? So that she may tell her husband.
I heard that is a quicker method of getting things done
nowadays.
We will become worse than Zimbabwe in double quick time if we do not speed up the Government
delivery system. And where is Pemandu & Pemudah? (do you realize that pemandu & pemudah
rhymes with hisap candu & hisap dadah?)
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Here is another story. My son and his college friends went to
Pulau Ketam to take pictures and make some sketches of the
place. They took the last commuter train back from the Klang
Commuter station. It was the last train but the ticket counter
was closed. So everyone (about 30 people) lined up at theticket vending machine, which accepts coins. So everyone
began running around looking for coins. Then they found out
the machine was rosak it would spit out all the coins. There
were two uniformed KTM guys lepak-ing at the turnstiles. So
naturally everyone went to the two guys and asked for help.
The guys just said, kena beratur, cuba mesin sekali lagi.
This went on for sometime (the train had not arrived either).
Finally the boys called up another friend who picked them up
by car. The fate of the remaining 30 passengers is not known. How did they get home that night. Did
they just board the train without tickets? What system is this? Where are Pemandu and Pemudah?
(it still rhymes with hisap candu & hisap dadah)
These things happen in our country everyday. I can safely say that this is the general state of the
type of counter service at Government departments in our country. The exception being the
Passport counter at the Immigration Department and some Government hospitals which provide
excellent service. Biar saya ucapkan tahniah dan ribuan terima kasih. But minus these exceptions,
overall it is not good. What are we doing to improve this situation? Shall we hire more con-sultans?
Pemandu, Pemudah?
The same thing happens in the private sector. My other son and his friends went for lunch at a steak
restaurant in Kuantan. They asked for black pepper. The girl looked puzzled, smiled and
disappeared. After a while she came back with a newspaper. She thought they wanted the paper.
So they explained again saya nak lada hitam. Again she disappeared for some time. A while later
she came back with a small bowl of cut cili padi in black kicap.
The boys then started using hand gestures to explain the salt and pepper shaker. Finally the girl
understood and reached behind a counter and got the pepper shaker. I have been to that same
restaurant and the Bangla boys who also work there are exactly on the dot when taking orders and
when you ask them for anything.
Here is another example. I once walked into a hardware shop to buy some kayu panjang to string
up some plants in our garden. I picked up about half a dozen pieces of the kayu which was quite
long and would not fit into my Ford 4WD. So I asked them to cut the kayu panjang. There was a
young boy there (possibly an SPM holder) and I told him adik tolong potong bagi dua, sama
panjang. He had a Black & Decker power saw, a measuring tape, pencil, ruler everything (it was a
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hardware shop lah). I left him to cut the wood into two pieces and went to get nails etc. When I came
back about ten minutes later he had cut the wood pieces into two, but all of unequal lengths. No two
pieces were of the same length, some were as much as six inches off. When I asked him, he said he
did cut the wood sama panjang !
Folks here is another example. I go for walks sometimes at the Lake Gardens. Since I dont wear awatch, often I ask someone for the time. I have noticed that when I ask the time from people who are
wearing watches with hands (non digital) they often have problem telling the time quickly. Too many
times I have heard them say jam saya rosak. They just cant tell the time fast enough. They cannot
do the multiplication fast enough to say it is 6:35pm or 6:47pm. Only those wearing digital watches
tell the time quickly. If you dont believe me, try this experiment yourself. I am not kidding.
Here is another example. The air conditioning guys came to fix an air conditioner. They had to fix an
exit pipe for the water to drip. They fixed the exit pipe sloping upward (instead of downward). Of
course water cannot run uphill. My wife spotted the mistake and had to tell them to reposition the exit
pipe so that the water could drain off. This took extra time and work (and money). You can lose your
business if you make mistakes like that. But the boss is my friend so I keep going back to them,
against my wifes advice.
Once we renovated the bathroom. The contractor I called took about two months to complete the
job. The kitchen area near the bathroom was a mess for two months. My wife was at her wits end.
The guy I hired kept disappearing to his kampong. Although I paid him cash advances he did not pay
his workers and he also did not buy the materials from the hardware shop (cement, bricks etc). I
ended up supplying lunch for the workers so that at least they could work.
When we want to make renovations in our shop, I call my Chinese contractor. He charges top dollar
but the work gets done and it is good. And he works overnite (until 4 am in the morning) because we
have to open the shop for business by 10 am.
An elderly friend sent his old car to the workshop for some repair. The car did not come back for
three months. The mechanic had to balik kampong, jatuh sakit, cuti and all kinds of excuses. If you
take the car to the Chinaman mechanic, he will tell you almost exactly what time he will get it done,
then he will call you and say Boss, kereta sudah siap. Saya tutup pukul tujuh malam. Tolong mari
ambil kereta.
Both are equally competent in their technical skills. What makes the difference? The difference is in
the the attitude. Why is the attitude so different? Is it because of the culture? Is it because of the
religion? Has anyone done an objective study? We really have to think this through carefully.
Because herein lies the real problem and hence the real solution for this country.
This is the general level of competence of our people everywhere. But please be aware, not all kids
are like this. Budak Cina berumur 18 tahun pun berbeza sekali. Jadi apa bezanya? Ataupun kenapa
depa beza sangat? Why dont we really seriously study and make comparisons and make a real
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attempt at finding out what produces these racial stereotypes? Anyone who says there is no such
thing as racial stereotyping is a dunggu. If you think otherwise dont bother sending your comments
here. Buang masa saja.
Most of the people I am talking about above here are school leavers, meaning SPM holders. But
among them there are also STPM and Diploma holders. And also increasingly degree holders. Andlets be frank, these are mostly Malay kids ok. Budak-budak kita. Please dont take these examples
lightly. What I am describing here are actually poverty manufacturing issues. This is how poverty is
manufactured. This is how we become poor. When the general level of competence of our
population at large is just so incompetent, we become poor. And we remain poor.
The vast majority of our future generation are SPM holders. Many are also PMR holders. But let us
not get too excited with our SPM holders ok. One man
who has been marking the SPM exam papers says that
the passing marks for SPM Matematik can be as low as
15 marks !!!! This is really shocking. 15 markah saja
boleh lulus Matematik SPM !
Can our YBs raise this matter when the Parliament Session
starts in October. Ask the Minister of Education to give
exact details about the minimum passing marks for all
SPM subjects. Also ask what are the minimum marks for our
SPM students to get an A? Lets be transparent. No hiding
information. I think the situation is very, very bad.
How else do you think the kids can score 17As, 15As or
12As? When I did the MCE (Malaysian Certificate of
Education) in 1977, we were told that an A1 was 90 marks
and above. A2 was 80 to 90 marks. Out of eight subjects I
got 5As in Physics, Mathematics, two English subjects and Geography. Although I have not studied
Geography any further until today I can recall what I learnt in Form 5 Geography. But nowadays the
kids can get 17As in a jiffy because they only need 15 marks to pass Mathematics.
Folks, who are we trying to fool? Ourselves? What for? Dan yang ramai sekali terlibat kesan
negative markah rendah ini penuntut Melayu. Why? Because they are the majority lah. 65% - 70%
of our population is Malay. In some Government schools, 98% - 100% of students are Malay. These
are demographic realities. You cannot run away from facts.
I dont think I am too far off if I say that this is the general level of competence of our people. This is
2010. 50 years ago, there may not have been steak joints or DIY hardware shops in the country. But
the world is just so super duper changing all the time. If we cannot keep up, we will become poor. I
have blogged about Universal Studios in Singapore. They employ so few people for such a large
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outfit. Most of the kids there are school leavers too O Level holders from Singapore or SPM
holders from Johore. Yet they run the place, they can answer almost any question pertaining to their
job and more. In Korea, the young people manning their shops, hotels, counters etc are not only well
informed but they jump out to serve you. That is why their country is getting wealthier and wealthier.
And talking about our university graduates, only about 2% - 4% of our population is educated abovehigh school (degree and diploma holders). This includes all races. Kalau tolak non Malays, Melayu
degree holders lagi sikit. This drop in the ocean is the average for most countries, including the US.
In Sweden (not only one of the highest per capita income countries in the world but also a country
where crime is low, corruption is less, where neighbours are decent and people are more human)
they have achieved 30% of population with tertiary education. We must aspire for the same too. But
it must be a quality university education.
Our university graduates often cannot even write a sentence properly in any language. And please
forget about their English skills. If the Government and the
GLCs dont hire them, many bumiputra graduates will not
have a job at all. They are unemployable. The same is
not true of our non bumiputra graduates. Non bumiputras
graduating from UKM or UM can straight away get jobs
even overseas in Hong Kong, Australia, UK, New
Zealand, Singapore and elsewhere. They read the same
text books, are taught by the same lecturers and even eat
the same campus food. What makes the difference?
Yesterday I heard something else. The IT department of
one GLC does not hire bumiputra graduates for some IT
jobs. The graduates think they are too clever and they
refuse to read or be trained for new skills like learning Java. So the GLC hires bumiputra SPM
leavers who are more willing to be trained on Java. And they serve the GLC sufficiently well for its
Java language programming purposes.
To digress, it makes no difference whether it is UMNO, PAS, BN or Pakatan that rules the nation.
That is oversimplifying the matter. Do you think that if PAS becomes the Government tomorrow, my
air cond guy will stop making mistakes in fixing the drip pipe? Or the Malay renovation contractor will
work until 5 am to finish my shop renovation? Or that the young kid in that hardware shop will do a
better job of potong bagi dua, sama panjang? That is not going to happen anytime soon folks.
Please wake up. Please grow up too. The problems are a bit more deep rooted than that. All the
problems that we are facing can be summarized into just a few words : the Malays must compete.
Meaning the Malays cannot yet compete in sufficient quantity.
Folks, who are we trying to fool?
Ourselves? What for? Dan yang
ramai sekali terlibat kesan
negative markah rendah ini
penuntut Melayu. Why? Because
they are the majority lah. 65% -
70% of our population is Malay. In
some Government schools, 98% -
100% of students are Malay.
These are demographic realities.
You cannot run away from facts
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Then someone should make a survey of the number of Malay
versus non Malay university graduates who berhenti kerja
from their first job. I knew too many friends who would quit
their jobs at the drop of a hat. I recall one bank pleading with
its new bumiputra recruits, please work for us for at least fiveyears, and get your feet really wet before you want to move
on to another job. The five graduates in that group all left
within just one year.
Even Dr Mahathir complained that he spent tons of money to train a Malay bakery chef to run
his bread business (The Loaf). The guy quit too. This is an attitude problem. This problem has
to be solved. It does not require a billion Ringgit of modal, crony contracts, monopoly projects, APs
or monopoly licenses. Its just an attitude problem.