Is it time to change your government?

As promised in my last article, let’s objectively look at what constitutes good governance of a country and then evaluate our previous (now the caretaker) government performance in terms of these characteristics.

There is an extremely important pre-requisite to having a good government before any of the following characteristics can even be considered. There must be a true separation of powers where the government, judiciary and legislation are independent and free from interference. Without this true separation of powers, good governance is but a dream.

The foremost important characteristic of good governance is involvement and participation of the people in the country. This is done ideally through direct election of people representatives (as in many democratic countries) or less ideally through appointment of people who represent some ethnic or social-political groups (as in some countries that still practise monarchy system). The bottom line is, everyone is given equal right to participate in the government or represented by people they choose. As such, a fair and clean election system is essential.

Rule of law is the second most important feature of good governance. It is imperative to have fair and just laws that are enforced impartially on everyone, including those who walk the corridor of power.

The third most important quality in good governance is to promote, observe and implement equity in all government policies. This feature ensures everyone in the country is treated equally and free from any form of discriminations due to difference in skin colour, age, gender, religion, sexual orientation and political affiliation.

Next, we have the C.A.T, competency, accountability and transparency in governance. A competent government is effective in carrying out its duties as well as efficient in managing the available resources of the country. A good government will have systems in place to make sure members of the government are accountable to the people in the country while performing their duties. Information on government processes, utilisation of country resource, policies and laws etc must be freely available and accessible to anyone in the country who wants to know. This is called transparency of governance.

For example, an independent evaluation system is required to monitor the measurable performance of various operational branches of the government. The evaluation results must be made available and accessible to the people of the country.

Last but not least, a good government has positive visions and long term objectives in the development of the country.

In a nut shell, a good government has positive visions, and supports active participations of the people, implements rule of law and practises equity in its policies. It is competent, accountable and transparent in its operations.

Now, how many of the above qualities does our Malaysian government have? Is calling for a change of government justified in this coming 13^th general election?

    1.    Participation. We have a democratic system to elect the government. However, fair and clean election being an essential part to ensure equal right of participation is missing from the equation. So, I would say they failed this test.

     2.    Rule of law. We have a legal framework that is based on the common law. However, with the domination of the government over the judiciary, impartial application of rule of law is hardly seen in the country when it involved the powers that be. So, they failed this test.

     3.   Equity. With so many discriminatory and preferential policies such as the NEP, quota system etc, Malaysians are constantly being discriminated by their race, gender, religion and probably the choice of their pet. It’s definitely a fail.

    4.    C.A.T. When jet engines were smuggled out from a military based and sold in South America; when government departments procured everything at severely inflated prices; when armed militants entered the country and occupied a village but strangely nobody was accountable for it; when the MRT project costing billions of ringgit was awarded to a company without any track records, without an open tender process; what C.A.T are you talking about. Hence, it is another resounding failure.

     5.     Vision. You actually mean vision and long term development objectives? Hahaha. Please don’t make me laugh. From vision 2020, Islam Hadhari to 1Malaysia, our national vision changed whenever we have a new prime minister. We didn’t even have a national day slogan in 2012. They failed badly on this one as well.

The previous (now the caretaker) government of Malaysia has failed in all the tests that characterise good governance. Is changing government justified? You make your own judgement, my dear Malaysians.

Is the Malaysian society a successful one?

      In the midst of election faze when every man, woman and their pets are talking about politics and who they ought to vote, let’s take a step back and evaluate the current state of our society. In order to do this, we have to look at some essential characteristics of a society for it to be called a successful, developed and civilised one.

The top three most important requirements of a successful society are:

     1.       Safety. There must be means to safeguard personal safety of everyone. Nobody should live in fear of being hurt physically or being robbed of their belongings.

     2.   Shelter. Everyone should have at least a basic form of shelter for them to rest and keep their personal possessions. Shelters ought to be affordable to the average persons. For the unfortunate group of people, such as the less-abled folks, old and sick folks, orphans, mentally challenged etc, basic shelter should be provided in the forms of nursing homes or centres.

     3.  Food, clean water and clothes. Access to food, clean water and clothes is essential in any successful society. Again, the unfortunate group of people must not be deprived of these basic needs.

The other essential requirements are a good government, social justice, freedom, education and health care.

The role of a government is to administrate and manage the various operations of a society, with the aim of bringing benefits to the people in the society. These operations include security forces, education system, financial system etc. Since good governance is pivotal in the provision of the other essential requirements, it will be evaluated in more details in another article.

Social justice in itself is a big topic. It basically means everyone deserves equal economic, political and social rights and opportunities, regardless of his or her race, gender, age, sexual orientation, political affiliation and religious belief.

The freedom of everyone in the society must be guaranteed and at the same time check and balance must exists to safe guard it from being abused to violate others in the society. Freedom generally encompasses freedoms in: speech, movement, belief, sexual orientation, religion and political affiliation.

Equal right and access to basic education for everyone is essential in a successful society. At the same time, it must be affordable to the average people and provided to those who can’t afford it.

As in education, everyone in a successful society should have equal access to a health care system the society is afford to provide.

Now, let’s look at how we, the Malaysian society, fare in terms of these essential characteristics of a successful society.

      1.       Safety. In the face of climbing crime rate, I would say we don’t pass this test.

    2.       Shelter. Although squatters are abound in the fringes of the big cities, and the sorry state of many shelters in the rural areas, I would still say we pass this test but with a very low margin. Ballooning property price may have made a few people very wealthy, but the general public suffers greatly from it.

      3.       Food, clean water and clothes. I would say we pass this test with improvements required.Thousands in some remote areas are still deprived of clean, treated water.

     4.       Good governance. I would say we failed quite badly in this test. Details will be discussed in another article.

     5.       Social justice. We failed at this as well. So many fellow Malaysians are being discriminated due to their race, gender, sexual orientation, religion and political affiliation.

     6.       Freedom. Do I need to say more on this? With so many laws to curb, illegalise and prosecute freedom of Malaysians to express, to demonstrate, to profess religious belief etc, we again fail badly in this test.

     7.       Education. If we don’t consider the quality of our education system and the products from it, I would say we are pretty good in providing affordable and accessible basic education to the people.

     8.       Health care. In my personal opinion, we have a good public health care system that is affordable and accessible to most of the people in Malaysia. More costly private health care services in the form of medical centres are also available to those who afford to pay more for speedier and customised services. However, my personal experience is the wait queue at some of the popular medical centres is the same, if not longer, than public hospital. More importantly, the qualities of professional medical services (i.e. specialist advice, consultation etc) are no better than what is provided by the doctors in public hospitals. I guess, time is money for the specialists in private practice. If you don’t agree to major, costly treatments or operations, spending more time on you is equivalent to spending less time on those genuine, paying big bucks patients.

 I have summarised our report card in the following table. I have to admit this article is written within a short time and they represent my personal, subjective opinions on the subjects discussed. Ideally sufficient research has to be done to back up the claims, which I didn’t. Hence, make your own judgements.

	Requirement	Result
1	Safety	Failed.
2	Shelter	Just passed.
3	Food, clean water and clothes	Passed.
4	Good government	Failed badly.
5	Social justice	Failed.
6	Freedom	Failed badly.
7	Education	Passed.
8	Health care	Passed.

Dear Diary

Dear diary,

Time flies. I sent Meimei back to her college this afternoon. Very soon, she would be finishing her course and be a real adult. It seems like just yesterday when she was still in her blue school uniform.

Before she left, she said “Mom, enjoy your date with Mr Shinny.” What a naughty girl! That nick name stuck with Shannon when the first time she saw him in his neat outfit and his well polished shoes. I guess Shannon has always dressed up neatly wherever he goes. Or rather he goes to places which require him to dress up. We had never gone to a mamak, come to think about it.

I’ve got to do something to that cactus. I haven’t watered it for a long time now. It is not dead yet but it’s not growing too. Maybe Meimei was right, if it’s not growing for past 6 years, it will not grow at all. Maybe I will just give it a few more months.

I will pick up Lydia from airport tomorrow and have a long coffee chat with her. She must have lots of interesting stories to share after 3 weeks trekking in the Himalayas.

Shannon has asked me to join him for dinner at Tsukishima tomorrow. That’s very sweet of him to remember I like the okonomiyaki served in that nice and friendly restaurant. It will be good date. He is a sweet and fun guy.

Our new neighbour moved in and I waved and smile at them. They looked like nice people.

17 Oct 18, Saturday. Sunny.

Dear diary,

Came back early from dinner. The food didn’t taste as good as last time. Shannon told me he got promoted to Product Marketing Director, or is it Regional Sales Manager? I wasn’t paying attention.

The lighting was a bit dim and the waitress looked unhappy. Maybe she has problems at home?

Shannon said he is going to Spain (or is it Italy or Belgium?) for 2 weeks on business and asked if I want to come along. I said I will check my work schedule first.

Drove past old town and many of the shops are still there, including the McD and the old kopitiam. Wonder if the old man still sells his super tasty nasi lemak. Haven’t been there for so long, probably 6 years since the last visit.

Lydia came back in one piece and good spirit, except for a sprained ankle. She showed me many beautiful pictures of the snow capped mountains and crystal clear streams in the Himalayas. They are just splendid.

She bumped into him at a local hospital where she was being treated for her ankle. She said he had a broken arm, caused by a fallen cross beam from the construction site of a mini hydro generator at a remote village in the south east region. She said he dressed like a labourer, looked tired and bit haggard, probable due to long distance he had to travel to get to the hospital.

I gave the cactus a good shower and cleared the weeds that were growing around it.

18 Oct 18 - Sunday. Gloomy.

Dear Diary,

Another normal, tiring day at work.

I came home and found a small piece had broken off from the cactus. It must have been the pigeons.

If cactus is a man, he must be a very strong person both physically and mentally, to be able to withstand all these harsh assaults from the surrounding.

I stopped at the old kopitiam for breakfast. The old man had retired since 3 years ago and now his son has taken over the nasi lemak stall. The taste is not the same anymore. The sambal was too sweet and the onion tasted raw. Even the ikan bilis didn’t taste the same.

Our usual table under the fan has been replaced by a new IKEA plastic table. Things are never the same anymore. I guess, they never stay permanent. “Nothing is permanent”, he liked to say.

Had a missed call from Shannon. Will return his call tomorrow from office.

19 Oct 18 - Monday. Rainy.

Dear Diary,

A very busy day at the office. The regional big boss is due to visit and every department is preparing power point for the big meeting.

I skipped lunch and stayed in the office. It was too hectic to go out during lunch hour.

I checked on the internet during lunch break and found that the political unrest is escalating in Nepal now. The Maoist separatists are mounting attacks on the government in the remote regions.  I wonder how safe it is now in Nepal.

Shannon called and asked my decision on the Europe trip. I said I can’t go because I can’t take leave then. He sounded disappointed but still asked me to go dinner on Saturday. I said I will call him again.

I have asked Lydia out for coffee and girls talk tomorrow night. We have lots to catch up.

Nothing has changed with the cactus. It still stands there as it always does. Maybe it is in hibernation or in deep meditation.

20 Oct 18 – Tuesday. Cloudy.

Dear Diary,

Meimei came back for the weekend. I made her favourite pumpkin soup and we had great quality time together. She has grown so much and is now a mature adult. At the same time, it also means I m getting older. Sigh.

She asked me how’s going with Mr. Shinny and why didn’t I go to Europe with him. It seems she is encouraging me to have another go at relationship. Thanks girl.

There had been a few attacks on government’s infrastructure in Nepal last few days. The news says some foreign volunteer workers were injured in the attacks. Some NGO are pulling out and repatriating their volunteer staff. Hope all is well with him.

Shannon is flying to London tomorrow night. We had a quick meet up for lunch today at the Ship. The nachos and wings were pretty good. For some reasons, I suddenly longed for a plate of nasi lemak with hot sambal and a cup of black Hainan kopi.

I watered the cactus and put a netting around it to keep away the pigeons.

24 Oct 18 – Saturday. Sunny

Dear Diary,

We went shopping and Meimei bought a bag full of cosmetic and accessories. I frowned and she said she got it from me. We laughed. My younger days of shopping frenzies came back to me. On dear.

I took her to the old kopitiam and to my surprise the old guy came to the stall today. I had a chat with him and asked him about his best-in-town sambal. He laughed and said that will be passed down to his son. I tried the nasi lemak and indeed it tasted much better than the other day.

There is another pleasant surprise. A tiny green limb grows on the cactus. It is finally out of hibernation and coming back to life.

He sent me an email and said he will be back in country to treat his arm. The situation is not safe for them to stay in Nepal and he needs a long rest. Do I want to see him again after all these years? I don’t know.

25 Oct 18 – Sunday. Sunny

Dear Diary,

I went to the Merci-corp web site to check on their activities in Nepal and saw him in one of the pictures. They were building some sort of power system. He was in faded jeans and had a dark green scarf around his neck. He still has it after so many years.

The young man has learnt well from his father. His nasi lemak is almost as good as his dad’s. There’s something good in life, at least.

Meimei will be going to Singapore for a seminar organised by the college. It must be fun to do all these when you are young. Good luck, girl.

The cactus is turning from brown to greenish now. It is really growing now. Everything deserves a 2^nd chance, I guess. When time comes, the right thing will happen.

29 Oct 18 – Thursday. Sunny

Atypical love story

Seldom write love story because I don't believe in fairy tales and happily ever after. This one had been in my head for a while and its definately ain't Mills and Boon. 

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Sam tried to stay close behind Ming muscular body, finding their ways through the usual Friday crowd inside the Jam Club. Ming was a fitness instructor and knew many friends who worked as bouncers at the clubs downtown. Sam felt safer to have him. 

Ming stopped and pointed his finger. Across the crowded dance floor, Melody and her friends clustered around the couch in a dimly lighted corner. She was seen sitting on the floor with her head resting on the seat, eyes closed and didn’t bother how revealing was her low cut dress in that posture. A group of young men were passing drinks and cigarette among them. 

“That’s her. What do you want to do?” Ming asked.

Without answering, Sam charged across the dance floor towards the group. Ming let out a sigh and followed. This was not the first time he had to accompany his good friend to locate Melody in one of these clubs. She obviously had big drinking and drug abuse problems.

Sam grabbed Melody’s arm and said, “Melody, you come with me and go home now.”

Melody didn’t bother to move her feeble body, apparently too stoned to bother with what and who was around her.

The men closed in on Sam.

“Who the fuck are you? Buzz off. We found her first.”

They let up when Ming and his bouncer friend stepped in. Ming lifted Melody onto her feet and dragged her out from the club. She was swearing, yelling and kicking all the way. He had gotten used to the drama.

One time, he had to engage in a fist fight to get Melody away from a drunken fellow who thought he got lucky to find a lone stoned young girl in a bar.

Back at Sam’s place, the drama continued with all the puking, swearing and verbal abuses.

“Leave me alone. I do what I like. Don’t you dare to tell me what’s right what’s normal. The whole fucking world is BITCH! Nothing is normal”

“Just calm down, dear. Go to sleep and everything will be ok tomorrow.” Sam was in the usual soft and gentle mood.

After a while, Melody was too drained by the alcohol and drugs and just dropped on her bed and drifted off. The drama was over.

“I know I had said it many times. Ming. Thanks and very sorry to drag you into this again”. Sam said to Ming but didn’t have the courage to look at him. 

“Its ok. We have come a long way, you and me. But what are you going to do with her? this can’t go on forever, you know. She has huge problem and you can’t help her.”

“I know. I just can’t leave her. I just can’t. She is the only one I have.” Sam was staring at the floor.

“Sam. She is not for you. She doesn’t deserve you.”

Sam didn’t answer. After a deafening silence, in slow and deliberate voice, Ming said to his close friend, “I know its hard to change. But she is ruining your life. Have you considered, maybe, just leave and stay away for a short while? You know, to let things settle down and give yourself some space and time to think.”

With teary eyes, Sam looked up and said, “I know you want me to be happy and have a more normal life. You are always my best friend. I will really think about what you said. Its late and you have to work tomorrow.”

“OK. You take care, Sam.”

In the darkness, Sam curled up in the couch in a foetal posture. The splendid night sky of KL outside the apartment window was a big contrast.

“We had many good and happy times together. What went wrong?”

“Mother. I wish so much I could listen to you to get married and live a simple life. I am sorry to disappoint you. She is not as bad as others see her as.”

“Oh, mother, how I wish I could still talk to you and hug you. How I wish I was at your side before you left.”

Sam got up and turned on the radio and took out a photo album from a drawer. She looked at the photos of her and her mother, and broke down in tears.

Beyonce’s melodious voice was on the radio.

“If I were a boy, even just for a day …”

Prayer

This is pretty coarse and unrefined. didn't want to publish it at first. but then, what the hell.

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Its June and the summer afternoon in Lhasa was bright and sunny. Thousands of tourists were crowding the already crowded old city area around the famous Monastery Jokhang. The gilt roof of the magnificent temple glittered under the clear blue sky. Hundreds of small stalls lined the Barkhor bazaar bustling with commercial activities. Local and foreign tourists looking for a bargain and souvenir hawkers wanting a sale created a buzzing but comforting background noise. The old city of Lhasa was very much alive after witnessing so many bloodsheds in the last 50 years.

Lobsang was oblivious to both the crowd and the noise. He held his palms together and repeated the mantra of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva 3 times. Then, he kneeled down and performed a full stretch bow on the ground.  Slowly, he raised, counted a bead on his ring of praying beads, took 2 small steps forward and repeated the same ritual again. He had vowed to continue performing his prayer until he had looped around the old city, which would take days. With every bow, he felt his mind was being cleansed bit by bit, which was manifested in a very calm and peaceful feeling amid the noisy, hot and crowded background. His strong vow kept him going although his body was screaming for a break. “Focus on the mind and observe the pains.” He remembered what his teacher had taught him.

Jane Xia was in her new VW sedan, frowning at the crawling traffic. The AC of the car was at full blast and the cool air brushed through her dyed blonde hair. She looked out of the window behind her pair of Gucci sunglasses and cringed at the sight of those local Tibetan performing their slow prayers.

She just wished to go back to her cosy office and get on the internet to chat with her boyfriend in UK. Lured by the better pay offered to her, she had taken up the vacant manager post in Lhasa from a big traditional medicine supplier. Her shop in Lhasa specialised in supplying Cordyceps or commonly known as “caterpillar fungus”, a very dear traditional herb only found in the Tibetan plateau. She would source and purchase them from the Tibetan peasants at the remote highlands and resell them to the smaller shops in Lhasa and other cities in China. The profit margin could be as high as a few thousands percent.

From her car, she cringed at the sight of Lobsang in his ragged and soiled blue clothes.

“What a broken place. If not for our liberation, these people are still slaves serving their landlords. “

When she was on the computer and chatting with her boyfriend afterwards, she wrote “our leaders were right to say religion is the opium of society. These uneducated people still worship their expelled Dalai Lama and don’t know how to utilise their time to develop their economy. What a broken place!”

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In a small café in Barkhor Bazaar, Giana and her friend Paulo were enjoying their ice coffees. They had had some tiring days visiting the monasteries.

“I think there is a reason why a country is undeveloped. Look at them, indulged in so many useless rituals. I m sure they don’t know what they are doing besides following what had been told to them without understanding.”

Giana pointed to the few Tibetans performing the full stretch prayer not far from the café.

“A religion without substance and love.” Giana added.

“Do you remember the thousands of scripture we saw in the monasteries, but without one single book to tell them which one is the real truth?”

Paulo nodded while sipping his ice coffee.

Giana continued, “Worst of all, they still worship human idol, their Dalai Lama.”

“These people are probably doing their prayers because they have a lot of guilt inside them. They’re probably hoping the ritual will cleanse their karma.” Paulo broke his silence. A medical doctor from Portugal, he was trained to be observant and analytical.

“And” he said while pointing to a bowing old man in ragged blue clothes, “if he keeps doing this, very soon he will hurt his knee and elbow joints. So badly that he may not be able even to walk. Under this hot sun and strong UV, I don’t know how long they can hold.” Paulo shook his head empathically.

“Well, that’s not our problem if they want to be ignorant and refuse salvation.” Said Giana.

“I am so tired of all these nonsense about reincarnated monks. They’d obviously chosen those who they wanted to choose to become the high monks. The normal people don’t involve. It’s a plot to control the people.”

“I will leave in 2 days and fly directly from Beijing to Rome. I m so excited because I may have to chance to see the Pope in real person”

“Yeah. It is good to see the holy Papal.” Paulo said.

Lobsang carried on with his prayer although it’s late at night and the streets in the old city were almost empty except for a few fellow prayers. His mind was as clear as the cloudless summer night sky. He was hungry, thirsty and tired but they seemed remotely distant from him. He smiled and continued his prayer of Avalokitesvara Mantra.

Thousands of miles away in Beijing, the capital city of PRC, thousands of local tourists were at the famous Tian-an-men square. Across the road, overlooking the square was a huge colour portrait of the late Chairman Mao.

A teacher was explaining the history of the square to her group of young students.

“That’s our great leader Chairman Mao. All of you bow and pay your respect” she pointed to the portrait and told her students.

Thousands of miles away in Vatican City, centre of Rome, thousands of believers of the faith gathered around Saint Peter’s square. They were waiting patiently and orderly for the Pope to appear from his study. Usually the pope would appear, wave and to be applauded by the waiting crowd.