Expectedly Unexpected

As we approach Merdeka, I’m not exactly sure whether to be happy or sad about it. After 52 years of independence,  Malaysia has reached a new low in almost every aspect of life I can think of. Politics, crime, environmental pollution, economy, protests, etc.

I remember reading earlier this year, Kuala Lumpur is ranked the 4th most dangerous city to be in the WORLD! Not in South East Asia, not in Asia, IN THE WORLD! Looking at the other cities in the list, it’s unbelievable that KL is 4th in the list.

National crime rate increased 15% in 2006, and has been increasing ever since. 97% of the population feel unsafe while only 1% feel safe to be living in this country.

KL is also ranked the 3rd most environmentally polluted city in the world, after Bangalore and Chandigarh in India. The “haze season” seemed to be worsening every year and respiratory illnesses is increases year after year.

Recent protests (which shall not be named here) caused racial tensions and tipping the country into another May 13. Political parties’ internal and external conflicts ripple throughout the country, with everyone pointing fingers at everyone else except themselves. No one ever admits that they are wrong and move on. Instead, blame others and it goes in a circle. Again and again.

Worst is the economy. Being a fresh graduate, I feel the tight grip of the recession rippling through the country’s economy. Even Singapore is now out of the recession, but where are we? Still stuck in a recession even after several financial boosts from the government.

Just read the papers today, in order to achieve developed nation status by 2020, out economy needs to grow by 8% every year or else, Vision 2020 will all be for nothing but a national gimmick. An embarrassment to the country and a laughing stock for everyone else.

Independence Day is in 2 days. Wonder if I should be happy or sad? Who will bridge this gap?

Personally, if our Prime Minister wants to change the New Economic Policy (NEP), I wouldn’t mind if its still there just that the government should change the policy to cater to the poor and needy instead of covering all Malays. Obviously the rich Malays don’t need any discounts for housing and preferential treatment to enter universities as they can send thier kids overseas for a much better education. They already have all the money, why do they still need more discounts on housing while the poor Malays still can’t even afford to buy a small low cost house?

The NEP should only apply to the group of Malays that earn below a certain amount. This will assure that no one can abuse the NEP for their own benefit (if the rumours are true) and everyone will be happy. The rich ones don’t need it as I’m sure their paychecks is proof that they have arrived at the corridors of success. The Chinese and Indians agreed to give the Malays privileges in order to get our citizenship 50 years ago, hence, as a Malaysian Chinese I should honour that agreement although it fundamentally goes against several human rights laws.

If the government implemented these changes mentioned above, Malaysia would be a better place and everyone will be happy.

OMG! I so want a Palm Pre. But yet, I want almost everything out there… Gadget addict. I read too much about it. Perhaps if I cut down on my reading, I’ll be less materialistic about these kinda stuff. Maybe? Maybe not…

Oh well, back to the Palm Pre! Palm Pre! A beauty on its own. Probably as good as Apple’s iPhone. So far, reviews of the phone has all been extremely enthusiastically positive.

Just look how beautiful it is on its own. Curved edges, full QWERTY keyboard slide out and large crisp 3.1″ touch screen. *droooooools*

Email, IM, GPS, 3MP camera, accelerometer, 8GB memory, Bluetooth, 3.5mm headphone jack (yay!) and last but not least, a charging dock called the Touchstone that doesn’t need any physical wires to the phone!

Wireless power has arrived! Hopefully, this will just be the start of Witricity and not the end of this marvellously wonderful and convenient technology.

The Pre’s UI is smooth, sleek and pretty too.Much like the iPhone’s minimalist and elegance. A little too lazy to find some pictures of the UI but I’m sure I’ve described the phone enough to get you finding out more about the Pre.

Well, to sum it up, iW00t! *drooools even more*

Today is the day America becomes a cool country again.

Obama FTW!

People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.

V – V for Vendeta

Woo! Malaysia is No. 1 on Time Magazine Online!

Erm… I meant No. 1 in the list of coutntries that voiced their opinion regarding the new president-elect, Barack Obama.

You’d expect our Prime Minister to be the first to have a say on this but it seems otherwise…

What seemed audacious and improbable before is now a reality. In Obama’s victory are sown the seeds of great expectations that a truly new chapter will be written in the history of the world.

Muslim nations will have cause to celebrate this triumph; it offers prospects for genuine dialogue and engagement and should witness the politics of diplomacy supplant the politics of war and the theology of terror. Other nations traditionally at loggerheads with America may find reason to reciprocate to a more balanced approach.

—By Anwar Ibrahim
Former Deputy Prime Minister

Source

Oh well, if America can elect a black president into the Oval Office, I think we Malaysians can do better. Can we?

Ex-Law Minister – Datuk Zaid Ibrahim says that he has failed. In actual fact, he has succeeded to be THE ONLY person in the National Front government that something isn’t quite right and things are getting fishy.

Sometimes politicians both ruling and opposition should just stop whatever they’re doing and focus on the people. The people elect them to office to get something back in their lives and not to see politicians throwing vocal bombs at each other and playing around accusing each other of dishonest conduct. While, we, the people are suffering everyday due to rising costs and inflation.

Datuk Zaid Ibrahim is probably the most eligible candidate to be Prime Minister. Any takers? XD

I don’t believe the newspapers anymore. What they’re reporting are just ridiculous. One day is this another day it’s that. Totally absurd!

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Update: Recently the papers’ reports are getting over the top. A reporter was held under ISA for allegedly reporting a story that might cause racial unrest in the country and was later released 20 hours later and the reason our dear Home Minister used was that the ISA was used for her arrest was to “protect” her and to bring her to safety. What happened to protective police custody? Isn’t that better than throwing someone in jail to protect their safety?!

OMG! How more absurd can our Home Minister get? First he said the police is the one that decides when to use the ISA but everyone knows where the ISA orders come from. And now he’s saying that the ISA is used to protect someone? The ISA is used to arrest people that are deemed a threat to national security not to protect someone’s safety! Totally rubbish! I’ve never anything so contradicting in my entire life!