There are many Chinese voters, swayed by anti-establishment sentiments towards Barisan Nasional, who have been easily convinced that the Islamist party is perfectly acceptable and that hudud laws would not encroach into the lifestyle of non-Muslims.

So they take a light, if not cynical, response towards the call by the Chinese-based component parties in the Barisan and have dismissed the red flag raised by the MCA and Gerakan as no more than a scare tactic.

Last week’s report that a female Chinese hairstylist has been fined regularly by the Kota Baru Municipal Council for cutting the hair of male Chinese customers has revealed how the PAS agenda is affecting non-Muslims.

Salon operators have learnt the hard way that gender segregation regulations in the PAS-controlled state apply to non-Muslims as well. The KB municipal council by-laws forbid women from cutting men’s hair and vice-versa regardless of their religion.

E-Life Hair Salon manager Ong Lee Ting said she has been paying fines of between RM200 and RM350, adding that she was warned the licence for the salon would be revoked because of the many summonses issued to the operator.

While many of us may be used to the way the PAS state government has been running Kelantan with its strict religious regulations, including gender segregation at concerts and supermarket check-outs, some might not be aware that the party’s leaders in other states have been doing something similar.

In Bangi, Selangor, the PAS state assemblyman Dr Shafie Abu Bakar has stood firm against any proposal to set up a cinema in his constituency. A Chinese businessman reportedly tried to set up a cinema in Bangi but the PAS politician was the biggest stumbling block.

When the issue was reported in February, Dr Shafie questioned the need for a cinema in his constituency when one could watch movies on television and the Internet.

He claimed that his constituency was 97% Muslims who preferred to attend religious and educational classes.

In July, PAS in Kuala Selangor insisted on putting up notices in a cinema forbidding unmarried couples from sitting together. State PAS Commissioner Dr Rani Osman said the directive was made by the licensing department of the Kuala Selangor district council.

The state deputy commissioner Khalid Samad, who is purportedly a liberal, was reported as saying that the cinema was frequented by families and they had complained of couples making out there.

He also reportedly described it as a poor man’s nightclub!

In Kota Baru, the PAS state government at one time reportedly insisted that the lights in cinemas must be switched on during the movie to prevent patrons from conducting immoral activities.

In 1995, when PAS came to power in Terengganu, the first thing the state’s then Mentri Besar Hadi Awang did was to demolish the replica of a turtle at a roundabout in Kuala Terengganu, saying it was akin to idol worshipping. This is the same man who has indicated his interest to be Prime Minister of Malaysia.

But we must accept the fact that PAS politicians have always been very clear on what they want to achieve if they are in power. They have consistently and clearly made it known that implementation of hudud laws are on top of their agenda.

It is only the apologists outside PAS that have tried to reassure their non-Muslim supporters that this would not happen or that hudud laws, even if implemented, would not affect non-Muslims. Try telling that to a non-Muslim rape victim if the perpetrators are Muslims.

We should be on guard against politicians who try to pass themselves off as theologians, regardless of their religion. Those who challenged the authority of such politician­theologians have found themselves being reminded that dissent means challenging God’s laws.

They are also put down by such figures who dismiss their critics as unqualified and incapable of carrying out a debate because the challengers are not religiously qualified. Suddenly, religion has become the monopoly of these political-religious characters.

Malaysia is veering towards a dangerous situation where there are many non-Muslim voters who are prepared to vote in orthodox PAS leaders. They don’t realise that they would be turning the clock back with their political adventurism.

It could be a hair-raising experience!

With newer and smarter phones in the market, there are no other compelling reasons why I should hold on to the BB. It cannot download The Star’s e-paper, a digital replica of our print edition, and does not have the wide range of applications that help to make life on the move complete.

So, I am now in the midst of migrating entirely to my Samsung Galaxy Note. If the BB breaks down, it will not be repaired. It will just become a memory of the past, like my earlier Nokia mobile phones. We just have to move on.

Those of us who are older will remember the cassettes and cartridges that delivered music to us once upon a time.

Now, even the CD’s days may be numbered as it not only has to compete with smaller devices with higher storage capacity, but also WiFi processes that stream music direct to us.

I am also using a Samsung tablet and an iPad, but I must say that the Samsung Tablet 2 has better features and its slim size fits nicely inside my sling bag. I love my two Samsung devices, really, and it looks like Samsung is emerging as the big winner.

If there’s a lesson to be learnt here, it is about innovation. While Samsung comes out with a few different improved models each year, we used to have to wait for someone, dressed in his iconic black turtleneck and jeans, to unveil an Apple product once a year.

Phone users keep wanting new gadgets with better applications. They don’t have the patience to wait a year for a new iPhone.

Both Apple and Samsung are embroiled in legal battles over copyright infringement but seriously, look at the new iPad, which has shrunk in size. It is reminding many of us that Apple seems to be copying the Samsung tablet!

The Samsung-Apple case came up during my chat with Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at the Chawan coffee shop in Bangsar on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister, who is using both the Apple and Samsung products, told our group that innovation has to be a part of the Malaysian vocabulary.

“We need to be focused, precise and innovative. The Germans, for example, are known for their precision, which makes them very good with machines. I can’t tolerate lebih kurang, that’s not good for Malaysia. It shouldn’t be in our vocabulary,” the PM said.

We, in turn, told the PM that Malaysia’s tolerance for mediocrity is well known and we seem prepared to settle for second best. With our “boleh terima lah” forgiving nature, we are definitely not helping Malaysians to excel.

But we have to keep changing and improving.

Apple, the world’s most valuable company in terms of market capitalisation, has reportedly slid 20% in its share value in less than two months. Its stock now is reportedly below the US$705.05 all-time high it hit the day before the iPhone5 was unveiled on Sept 21. It’s certainly far away from the US$1,000 valuation that some insane analysts had predicted.

It’s just over a year since Apple’s co-founder Steve Jobs passed away and his successor Tim Cook has found Samsung breathing down his neck.

Apple’s share of the tablet market has declined, reportedly falling from almost two-thirds to just above half between the second and third quarters. In fact, the media reported that Apple missed its last financial targets because of slow iPad sales.

The world is now crazy over anything and everything Korean and the sight of Psy trotting around the globe is likely to help Samsung products.

But China-made Huawei is also selling high-quality, cheap devices that’s giving Apple a fight in the Asian markets.

And what about the newspaper industry, where print is said to be on the decline? While many media companies whine and complain without doing anything significant, The Star stepped up to the challenge and introduced its e-paper in July.

In just four months, it gained close to 50,000 subscribers, which is an incredible figure and bucks the trend. Even the circulation of The Star’s print version has gone up, surpassing the 300,000 a day figure. Putting the newspaper on mobile devices like the Samsung or iPhone has certainly been innovative.

The point is that just like any business, innovation is the key factor for any entrepreneur to improve its products, boost sales and increase revenue.

Whining is the easiest part, and that seems to have become our national pastime when it comes to trying to make things better. But coming up with ideas and workable solutions and being able to execute them is the harder part.

If we are to stay competitive, innovation should not only be our buzz word, it should also be our way of life.

Last Saturday, the Oriental Hearts and Mind Study Institute (OHMSI) conducted a talk on “Islamic State: Which Version? Whose Responsibility?” with the keynote address by Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa, director of the Islamic Renaissance Front. The forum was held at a church in Subang.

But the person who captured the headlines was PKR deputy president Nurul Izzah Anwar who was one of the moderators. In response to a question from the floor, she found herself caught in a controversy over whether Malays have a right to choose their religion.

She was speaking to a largely urban non-Malay audience and, as seen in a video recording of the event that has now gone viral, she was greeted with loud applause.

The feisty politician has since denied making any statement suggesting that there should be no compulsion on Malays to be Muslims.

But she earned a royal rebuke from the Sultan of Selangor and she has quickly blamed Utusan Malaysia for allegedly distorting and twisting her reply to a member of the audience.

To make things more complicated, the person who posed the question to Nurul Izzah has now expressed her disappointment over the latter’s about turn on the issue.

Lawyer Siti Zabedah Kasim was quoted as saying by news portal Free Malaysia Today that “I believe Nurul Izzah was just trying to impress the people. She didn’t think of the consequences.”

For many non-Muslims, especially those living in urban areas, the issue was probably dismissed as a non-starter and seen as another political move to discredit Nurul Izzah.

But for conservative Muslims in the rural areas, it would be unthinkable and unacceptable.

Luckily for Nurul Izzah, the language used at the forum was English and the video that’s currently going around does not have Bahasa Malaysia subtitles, thus making the damage less severe – for now.

But for Nurul Izzah to deny it vehemently now would suggest that she has woken up to the grave political consequences of what she has done. If there was no impact, she would have just shrugged it off. She now wants to get out of this tricky spot.

The easy part is to blame Utusan Malaysia, which is well known for its nationalist slant, but the pro-Pakatan Rakyat news portal Malaysiakini also carried the same story using the same angle on Nov 3.

Nurul Izzah has also put PAS in a corner. On Friday, PAS spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat said that if Nurul Izzah had indeed made her controversial statement on religious freedom, “then something is not right” while PAS president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang wanted to hear from her.

Their only purported concerns, or a way out, seem to be that they have doubts over the accuracy of reporting by the media.

DAP strongman Ngeh Koo Ham tweeted last week in support of Nurul Izzah, quoting Article 11 of the Federal Constitution which states that every person has the right to profess and to practise his or her religion. But Ngeh, a lawyer, did not say it has to be read with other applicable laws.

There are laws restricting the propagation of other religions to Muslims. Article 160 of the Federal Constitution, for example, is clear that all ethnic Malays are Muslims. A Malay is defined as someone who professes to be a Muslim, habitually speaks the Malay language and adheres to Malay customs.

The fact remains that the majority of Malays want this to remain as law and as practice and convention.

Nurul Izzah’s slip has been seized on by Umno because the fight in the polls is essentially over the majority Malay votes, especially in the rural constituencies which are heavily in favour of the ruling party. Of the 222 parliamentary seats, only about 45 are Chinese-majority in urban areas and there is not a single seat with an Indian majority.

Nurul Izzah’s case will also have a deep impact in PAS where the divide between those regarded as sympathetic to Anwar and the more orthodox ulamas is concerned. Former deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa, for example, is solidly in the Islamist party despite his overtures to Umno. He has regularly spoken up against the DAP, a PAS ally, but remains untouched because he is said to be protected by the anti-Anwar forces in the party.

The church in Subang has found itself in the spotlight for hosting the forum. Recently, another church which hosted a forum on the elections found its speakers and the media squabbling over the accuracy of some negative remarks made on Pakatan Rakyat.

There’s a lesson here – keep religion out of politics. But as long as there are politicians masquerading as theologians of their respective faiths, no one will take this advice kindly.

It is more likely that they will use their booty to buy drugs or pay off loan sharks for their escalating gambling debts. There is obviously a correlation between gambling and crime.

Nobody commits crime for entertainment or to make a point. That may happen in the movies but the reality is that most criminals do it to enrich themselves or simply to pay off debts.

Malaysians rank as some of the biggest gamblers in the world. In 2008, it was reported that authorities made 2,156 arrests and seized more than RM15mil in gambling assets. It was estimated then that illegal gambling raked in an astounding RM3.2bil in profits. One can only imagine what the figures would be today.

The New Straits Times reported that during the 2008 general election, gambling syndicates pocketed more than RM500mil from bets placed on the candidates. And Malaysians are not just interested in our own elections. They bet up to RM500mil on the last US presidential election which Barack Obama won. For good measure, the 2008 Olympics generated even more, with the figure reported at RM1bil.

The newspaper derived the figures from their own sources but no one should be surprised. It is now almost the end of 2012 and Obama is seeking re-election this week. We can imagine the kind of money that would be placed to bet on the outcome again. And come the Malaysian general election, you can be sure that the bets will also flow.

The Malay Mail reported that in 2010, police seized RM11.9mil in cash from illegal gambling syndicates when they conducted 270 operations during the 2010 World Cup.

The question is, if gambling is a highly regulated business, why is there so much underground gambling going on? What’s worse is it’s blatantly visible.

Something isn’t quite right, obviously. The underground gambling business has thrived simply because the operators know the authorities would never allow for more legitimate outlets, be they outlets or clubs. The Genting Casino is likely to be the first and last casino ever to be sanctioned in Malaysia.

The result is that illegal gambling dens, whether in the form of cyber cafes or online casinos, have mushroomed. In times of economic slowdown, gambling outlets actually perform better because desperate customers are driven to gamble for a supposedly quick fix to their financial problems.

Last week, The Star reported that illegal e-casinos, where computer gaming programmes and live games broadcast from the Philippines are used, continued to multiply in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur despite constant exposé by the media.

Even the few that had been raided and supposedly closed down had re-opened, according to my colleague who went undercover to investigate these places.

Starprobe revisited those illegal e-casinos which the team exposed in a report on Aug 2 last year and found that nothing has changed – they were still operating.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission should start its own probe and not wait for a formal report. Checks around Selangor and Kuala Lumpur have revealed that there are easily more than 2,000 outlets operating and some districts reportedly have more than 500. That does not include the thousands of massage parlours which the local authorities in Selangor seem to be doing nothing about.

Again, something does not seem to tally here. These outlets are known to the public and yet the police and council authorities appear to be turning a blind eye to them. Can we be faulted if we suspect there are rogue and corrupt elements here?

While the politicians are fearful of allowing regulated gaming because it would be religiously and politically wrong, illegal gambling seems to be flourishing. The consequences are a massive loss in revenue from unpaid taxes, and criminal elements are allowed to work alongside corrupt officials to benefit from such underground operations.

So, while legitimate gaming is controlled and tightly regulated, we see more of these illegal operations flourishing.

Are we seeing more crimes being committed these days because of such gambling activities?

Well, many non-governmental organisation activists, including the Malaysian Crime Prevention Federation vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye and MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong, share the suspicion.

There is just too much gambling going on now, legitimate or otherwise, and if we feel insecure after plenty of stories of being victims to crime, Malaysians must continue to speak up and demand answers for things that are not right.

Don’t gamble our safety away.

Talk of a famous fish head curry restaurant being robbed has sparked off a chain reaction with many eateries now taking a more cautious approach.

For good measure, there are enough video clips, recorded from CCTVs and posted on YouTube, to show the number of 24-hour mamak shops that have been hit by parang-wielding robbers.

In many parts of Petaling Jaya, many hair salons have long adopted the same security measures to prevent criminals from entering their premises.

Yes, we have come to that level of insecurity in our daily life. I am not sure whether our leaders are aware of the extent of the fears among our people. They need to listen hard to the ground and not just rely on crime statistics. There is no need to be defensive about how reliable the statistics are or whether perception has got the better of us.

For a start, they should listen to their own staff or even their relatives who do not go about their daily lives in the same security-enhanced environment as them. Ordinary workers who go shopping for daily provisions or withdraw money from the ATM have become more conscious of their personal safety.

Our leaders should stop worrying about bad news and its messengers, in this case the media, and instead work on making our homes safe again.

As a newspaper editor, I have found crime to be the biggest topic of conversation at any dinner function. People want the press to report crime, not downplay such incidents merely to make the leaders look good.

What the police and media would regard as minor crimes, such as snatch thefts, burglaries and home robberies, are in fact the biggest worries for the people.

Due to space constraint, the media tend to highlight the more serious crimes, or cases where important personalities are involved. As a result, there is a strong perception that we have forgotten or, worse, covered up the petty crime cases affecting ordinary people. That seems to be the sentiment in postings on Facebook, unfortunately.

The people are fed up of the daily political one-upmanship and mudslinging. If only these politicians could spend as much time focusing on the real issues of the day – crime, cost of living and transportation.

It is commendable that the Prime Minister has placed fighting crime as one of his main areas of transformation. As Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said, all the economic changes would be meaningless if people do not feel safe.

Fighting crime is one of the national key result areas (NKRA) and the Home Ministry has just announced the second wave of the strategy, where the “feel safe” factor would be propped up and more resources would be given to the police.

Recently, the police installed 19,000 CCTV cameras in southern Johor under its PDRM SafeCam programme. It’s a good start but the police must be aware that this is only a drop in the ocean. Millions of CCTV cameras should be put up in major cities such as Kuala Lumpur.

In an interview with The Star last week, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein Onn was asked whether the spate of violent crimes recently was the result of the abolition of preventive laws.

His reply was that since the abolition of the Internal Security Act and Emergency Ordinance in September last year, 1,476 detainees have been released. Additionally, 1,119 persons under the restricted residence order have been allowed to return to their respective home states.

This may be good news to human rights activists but ordinary Malaysians are wondering if these former detainees could be responsible for the spate of violent crimes.

The perception now, based on anecdotal evidence, is that most crimes are committed by locals rather than foreigners.

It is good to hear Hishammuddin acknowledging that the ministry recognised the possibility of these ex-detainees returning to their life of crime. Proactive measures have been put in place by the relevant agencies, including monitoring this group of ex-detainees.

Likewise, while there are calls to abolish the death penalty with many questioning the effectiveness of such punishment, there are also many who are wary of the government taking away what they consider to be another preventive measure.

The government, many of us hope, will not be too quick to remove these layers of deterrents merely to accommodate the demands of human rights activists. Reforms are good but not at the expense of the wider interest of the community.

The police deserve our total support in terms of human resources, equipment and financial backing to ensure they do their jobs effectively. But the reality is that the police cannot fight hardened criminals with kid gloves. Whose side are we on anyway?

I like to think of myself as liberal, open-minded and pretty cool, but I still draw the line at the last one. Maybe I grew up in an age when we kept diaries, which were meant to be private and secret, unlike the present generation who prefer to share their moments, even the most intimate ones, online and to count how many likes they receive from their postings.

Maybe it’s because I am 51 years old and have only one child, a daughter. Most probably, someone like this notorious blogger Alvin Tan would have to face the wrath of an angry father, and one can only imagine how serious the consequences might be. As one father has already commented, castration would certainly be one of the options.

But we are dealing with a different generation. For many urban Chinese couples, living together before marriage no longer creates emotional storms among parents as it did in the past. Even the word “cohabitation” no longer seems to be used.

There’s resentment and silent disapproval, to some degree, but no one is likely to find themselves banned from the family home.

I have attended wedding banquets where the guests cheered and congratulated couples when they announced that the wives were already pregnant. I am sure that for those in their 50s now, their parents would have walked off if the same good news was shared at their wedding banquet.

But this is the Facebook generation.

I met up with the sex blog couple, Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee, last week to hear them out.

They have had their share of both condemnation and support. There seems to be some kind of generational divide in the reaction to their exploits. While those of my generation are still trying to make sense of the issue, a large section of the younger ones, those who use social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, seem unperturbed and are wondering about the fuss over the couple. They also point out that Tan and Lee were not forcing their lifestyle on others.

Morality seems to be the last thing on their minds. Their stand is that those who called for the two to be punished are hypocrites.

Those who were angry with the media for providing space to Tan and Lee are in the same category, as they would probably have read every line of every article about the duo.

In fact, a check on The Star Online showed that news items on the couple continued to be the best-read stories. And on Google search, their names popped out immediately.

Tan seems to be your average boy next door. He is polite, plays the piano really well (his repertoire includes classical numbers) and is a gymnast. His body is well-toned with a six-pack to show off, as those who have seen his pictures on the Net would know.

He speaks impeccable English and talks in measured tones, very controlled and yet very open. He would put many of our politicians to shame when it comes to fielding questions from the media, really.

He is after all a graduate from the prestigious Raffles Institution in Singapore, an Asean scholar, and is reading law at the National University of Singapore. He is obviously a very smart guy. I try to think that the smartest and cleverest ones have a certain streak of eccentricity in them.

After talking to Tan, I still don’t know what makes him tick. He is clever but why would he do a stupid thing such as posting such videos on the Net? In the overall scheme of things, he has gone from a hero to zero.

In Lee’s case, she is outspoken, positive and obviously unconventional. She speaks her mind but this local graduate lacks fluency in English. She is not very coherent and occasionally gets her pronunciation wrong. She seems to reinforce our perception that our local graduates are no longer good in English.

They do not seem to really care what the future has in store for them. They are happy to live for the moment and enjoy their notoriety – or fame, in their own words.

Publicity, whether good or bad, is something they obviously enjoy. Their egos have been further boosted by young journalists who asked to pose with them for pictures in newsrooms in Malaysia and Singapore. These reporters can upload the photos on their Facebook immediately to show off their catch of the day.

As I finished lunch with them, a reporter from the Singapore-based Channel News Asia ambushed us for a short interview and photos. Tan and Lee seemed delighted by the attention.

Welcome to the Facebook generation – where the question of saving face, giving face and having face does not really matter any more. It’s a race for more Likes!

Chinese mitten crabs, or hairy crabs, are known for the unusual furry growth on their pincers and legs but they are most sought-after for their cream-flavoured roe.

Around this time, between autumn and winter (from September until December), these crabs make their appearance in Suzhou’s Lake Tai and Lake Yangcheng.

The small-sized crabs from these locations near Shanghai are “branded” with the name of the Chinese financial city. A comparison would be the ikan patin from Temerloh, Pahang and the durians from Balik Pulau, Penang.

For foodies in Malaysia, this is the time when they take out their wallets and gout pills to fight for these crabs at Chinese restaurants around the world.

But a report in Shanghai’s Oriental Morning Post has made me sit up. I know of all those fake items in street stalls in Beijing but now crabs from other lakes have been passed off as genuine Yangcheng crabs – defined as those raised in the lake for at least six months. Now, that’s really crap!

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) also reported that “most of the crustaceans sold as Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs on the mainland are actually grown in other waters.

“Some are known as ‘bathing crabs’ because they spend a short time – several hours to a couple of weeks – before being passed off as the genuine article.”

Malaysians are paying between RM100 and RM300 for a single crab and unless you are an expert, which this writer isn’t, many would not realise they have been conned. It’s like some wine buyers who think the more pricey their bottles, the better the wine.

A quick research found that reports of fake hairy crabs are nothing new. There have been reports of crackdowns by the Chinese crab industry and the authorities who obviously cannot be too pleased about such matters.

One may think that this is quite a silly thing to worry about but this is really a huge industry, running into millions of ringgit, and involves brands and reputation. Intellectual property, as the lawyers would say.

The Chinese, who have been known to be experts at copying mechanical and electrical items, are now suddenly facing the same problem. Their branded hairy crabs, running up to over 100,000 tonnes each year, are being copied!

Farmers from Yangcheng Lake are reminding consumers that their crabs are fresher than the impostors, without the need to add condiments when eating them.

But there are also health issues here. The SCMP reported that “while the genuine article is celebrated for its golden carapace, pure white belly shell and glistening roe, fakes are now being treated with ‘crab washing powder’ to make their bellies turn white.”

Now that’s pretty frightening especially after what we have read about the excessive use of recycled cooking oil and other horrible chemicals in Chinese-made food products.

There have been suggestions that the real Yangcheng crabs should be tagged with a plastic ring attached to one of its claws bearing a unique 12-digit code but it has been reported that the campaign has been proven to be useless. That’s not a surprise.

That’s a lesson that Malaysian durian exporters must remember. Most durian buyers in Chinatown are able to tell the difference between Malaysian and Thai durians.

Those from Hong Kong who joined organised durian tours can even rattle off the various durian names but these are the passionate ones who demand the best.

Brands and marketing techniques are important tools. That includes durians and well, crabs, too. Probably we also have to differentiate between genuine and fake politicians who all claim to fight for our interests.

From refusing to go to certain destinations or use the meter to taking circuitous routes to get from one point to another, these are horror stories of taxi drivers shared by many regular commuters.

Admittedly, there are good and decent cabbies doing their work honestly but, unfortunately, there are many others who take every opportunity to rip off their passengers. And when their targets are tourists, you can be sure that their notoriety will gain worldwide attention.

Which is why, in a recent ranking of the worst taxi drivers worldwide by LondonCabs.co.uk, the cabbies of Kuala Lumpur made it right at the top of the list.

Often, taxi drivers are the first to meet up with tourists, but some have badly tarnished the tourism image of Malaysia because of their attitude and cheating ways. One only has to surf the many travel websites to have an idea of what foreigners who have visited KL think of them.

Last week, an official from a taxi drivers’ association called the news desk of this newspaper to voice his unhappiness over how the issue of the free Go-KL bus service in the Bukit Bintang area has been reported.

My colleague who took the call politely told the official that he should perhaps try getting a ride on a taxi himself and see if he can find anyone who is prepared to use the meter for travel within the busiest part of Kuala Lumpur.

To prove our point, the news desk decided to ask our reporter, Natalie Heng, who is of English-Malaysian Chinese parentage, to pose as a tourist from London.

Heng speaks and writes Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and English but is also able to speak like a BBC newscaster if she wants to.

She was asked to try out the taxis around Bukit Bintang – where hundreds of taxi drivers staged a protest last week, bringing the city to a standstill for hours, over the free Go-KL City Bus service.

When Heng came back from the assignment, she had nothing positive to report as she related her experience to us. She was practically a victim of “daylight robbery” as almost all the drivers believed she was a foreigner with her Caucasian look and British accent.

In the Go-KL protest, some 200 cabbies gathered outside the Fahrenheit shopping complex during the evening rush hour. They parked their vehicles right in the middle of the road as they staged their noisy protest. They told reporters that their livelihood was being affected because the Go-KL bus service passed through the most popular destinations. They also complained about alleged harassment by the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD).

However, they did not say or, rather, acknowledge that the authority was finally enforcing the rules on those who break them as a matter of course. Certainly, they were surprised that in the court of public opinion, they had no supporters whatsoever.

Badge of dishonour

The KL taxi drivers may even want to dispute their ranking as the worst taxi drivers in the world, but those of us who travel far and wide know that this is a badge of dishonour which they must discard for their own good, and also for the good of our country’s image.

Visitors to our country, when they share their experiences, are generally pleased with our good food, nice people, and the fact that most Malaysians can speak English. They may complain now and again about how dirty KL has become, the uneven kerbs around Bukit Bintang, dirty eateries around Jalan Alor, and not enough policemen on the beat. But they always have lots to say about our horrible taxi drivers.

There are free bus serv­ices available in the city circuits of Manchester, Auckland, Melbourne and Sydney, for example. These services are used by city folk, which helps to reduce their financial burden, and also by tourists.

In the case of the Go-KL buses, all the 15 vehicles are disabled-friendly, WiFi-enabled, and are equipped with security cameras to ensure the safety of passengers. They also have GPS on board and enforcement officers often travel incognito with the passengers.

That’s not all. The bus service is also reportedly eco-friendly as, according to a report, a sapling will be planted for every cumulative 1,000km travelled to offset the estimated carbon emission of 0.11 metric tonnes. Thinking ahead, the worn-out tyres will be used to create artificial reefs to help restore damaged coral reefs.

Our KL taxi drivers simply have to accept the reality that competition is good. They also need to get their act together if they want to continue sharing the tourism pie. They will have passengers if they are honest and act as friendly ambassadors of the country.

Those of us who travel overseas always appreciate the fact that taxi drivers are practically like tourist guides. Our taxi drivers prefer to talk about politics, regular passengers tell me.

Our KL taxi drivers can learn from their Japanese counterparts. Although fares in Japan are reputed to be the most expensive in the world, taxi drivers there are well-groomed right down to their gloved hands, and they do not accept tips. They issue receipts without being asked, and even if communication problems arise, a passenger will never feel that he could have been ripped off.

The Prime Minister deserves our applause for pushing ahead with the inner city free bus shuttle service and also the hefty discount on KTM commuter rides for the distressed middle-class, senior citizens and students.

The taxi drivers must not see such measures as taking away their livelihood but as a challenge of the changing times.

Let’s not be cowed by the possibility of these disgruntled taxi drivers getting opportunistic politicians to take up their cause because of the impending general election.

Let them whine as much as they want: Go-KL deserves our support. The silent majority must speak up for what is good for them.

But this is a group that is not easy to please. If they have their way, they would want to have personal taxes reduced. I would want to pay less to the taxman too, but it is also about time that we wake up to the reality of having the consumption-based goods and services taxes (GST) implemented.

It may not be politically savvy to introduce the GST prior to the general election but the fact is the current tax base is simply too narrow. Just over a million people are now paying personal income tax in a country of over 27 million people.

Through the GST, the tax net would be wider and those who spend on more pricey items would just have to pay for them. An ordinary wage-earner buying economy rice or roti canai won’t have to pay GST, for sure.

But if you buy a Louis Vuitton bag in KL, then it’s only right that you pay a hefty GST bill, and help the government raise its tax revenue. If we want to encourage tourism, we just have to follow what other countries are doing – limiting GST only to our citizens. Tourists, even if they are rich sheikhs, can apply for tax refunds at the airport.

That’s how GST works, but there is a general election ahead. The government does not want to be in a defensive mode, where it has to explain how GST works.

We are always looking to pay less while we expect the government to spend more to boost the economy, or even give away monetary goodies to spur spending.

When the government spends, it has to look for money. Currency speculator George Soros is surely not a good option.

Reducing by one percentage point for those with chargeable income between RM2,500 and RM50,000, as proposed in the Budget, plus the other tax reliefs, also mean that only 1.7 million people will now pay taxes compared with the workforce of 12 million.

Beyond the statistics, it is clear that the government is well aware that the middle income group has found itself in a sandwich position. They are the ones who feel the rising cost of living the most, and any effort to reduce their tax burden should be lauded.

It is this group that the Budget wants to target. The rich can take care of themselves and the poor has been taken care of.

The higher income group would still benefit, in some way, as regardless of how much one earns, the existing tax relief for their children’s education has been increased to RM6,000 from RM4,000 per child.

But it is the financially distressed wage earners, especially those in the lower earning bracket, who are doing their best to stretch the ringgit. After paying for their home rentals, car or motorbike loans and food expenses, there is nothing left, really. Saving itself is difficult, let alone finding the downpayment for the first home.

The affordable houses scheme would be essential to allow this group of urbanites to believe that they can own houses. The government must make it work.

Another measure that is targeted at this group is the 50% discount on KTM fares for Malaysians earning RM3,000 and below monthly. I would have preferred the government to just provide a blanket free KTM ride during peak hours in the mornings and evenings.

I am curious to see how KTM plans to carry out the registration of commuters who qualify and give them the special discount cards. If it is not effectively carried out, due to practical logistic issues, this scheme is definitely open to abuse. So the government might as well just provide free rides.

The whining upper middle class won’t be joining the queues at the crowded KTM stations, that’s for sure. It will still be the same KTM passengers who want to cut down on their financial expenses because they live in the outer city zones or even in Negri Sembilan but travel daily to Kuala Lumpur to work or to study.

The 70 new 1Malaysia Clinics will surely be welcomed as they would be a great help to the urban poor. Furthermore, 350 clinics would be upgraded and an additional 150 dialysis machines will be made available in government haemodialysis centres nationwide. All measures to improve healthcare facilities for the masses are surely welcomed.

But there is one area where the whining from the Malaysian middle class is legitimate – the crime problem.

We have repealed laws such as the Emer­gency Ordinance because the intelligentsia in urban areas demanded it. But the reality is that many of the Simpang Renggam graduates are now on the streets and the police cannot find these crooks because their hands are tied.

Budget 2013 has allocated for 496 CCTV cameras to be installed in 25 local authorities nationwide to prevent street crime in urban areas. This is like a drop in the ocean and surely insufficient.

We should have thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of these cameras put up, as in London, to keep an eye on potential criminals.

As I write this, I have just been informed that my colleague had his new car hijacked by two men while he was on his way home with his wife and son in Subang Jaya. Incidents like this point to the necessity of having more of our policemen out on patrol.

The proposal to increase the number of police personnel for patrolling and combating crime is in the right direction. The police also have to review how police reports are made so that a person making a simple report about a car accident, or a lost handbag, does not have to compete with people making reports for serious offences. We need to put our policemen on the streets, not behind desks.

Let us consider making Rela, the civil service group, and volunteer policemen take over simple tasks like crowd and traffic control. The Budget has proposed an additional 10,000 officers for the Police Volunteer Reserve force. This is not something new but it will definitely reduce the unnecessary burden on the police.

The Prime Minister certainly has a tough act ahead. He has to make the contents appealing to the voters and at the same time take into account the measures that are needed to promote growth and revenue.

The reality is that dark clouds have set over Europe and the United States, and Malaysia depends on its exports to these countries. Malaysia’s growth of about 5% a year has been tremendous, given the global financial challenges, but testy waters are ahead.

Najib cannot promise too much lest the country goes bankrupt. But there is a general election looming and any practical Prime Minister must be aware that his political party needs to get re-elected.

It does not look like the elections will be in November and the fresh speculation is that it will be after the Chinese New Year celebrations, with March now regarded as a possibi­lity.

The opposition has already made promises of every kind and would probably throw in heaven as well, if it is able. That is the kind of stakes political parties have to compete for to win the hearts of the electorate. Emotions have always prevailed over minds in most democracies.

But the urban middle class is a huge segment that the PM must address in his Budget. The rural heartland, especially the Felda settlers, which forms the core of Umno support is perceived to have their interests taken care of already.

In every Budget, the common complaints are that the middle class feel that they have not gained much. Many are salaried workers who pay income tax but feel desperately short-changed.

Regarded as the “sandwich group”, many of these wage earners suffer from financial distress, having to cope with the rising cost of living.

Unlike the lower echelon, they do not qualify for low-cost housing. Also, given their income and lifestyle, they would not want to stay in low-cost flats. But affordable housing is beyond their reach, especially in urban centres. For many, the down payment is a burden in itself.

It will be this sector that the Prime Minister must address by building affordable homes – not low-cost homes but affordable homes.

The prices must be reasonable with flexible conditions to allow newly married couples and even bachelors to own these homes.

The models can range from studio apartments to three-room units, like those Singapore’s Housing Development Board has successfully implemented.

Seriously, we do not have to look further because the fact is that our neighbour down south has done a good job as far as providing affordable housing is concerned.

The Government has announced its First Home Programme (PR1MA) to cater to this middle-income group but to make the locations attractive, the federal government needs to identify its land assets in the Klang Valley, and in other states as well.

There is little point in building such affordable houses in locations far away from the city. If prime land owned by the Government are taken over by private developers, the prices of these units would be at premium and beyond the reach of many.

For many urbanites, their concerns are jobs, the cost of living, homes and safety. If these priorities are addressed, the Barisan government would have no difficulty securing their votes.

People do not want our leaders to waste time issuing guidelines on how to identify gays, or the daily dosage of nonsensical political mudslinging over the media. Over dinner tables, the conversations are about pricey food and homes, and crime on the streets.

While we grapple over the prices of our cars and the need to sustain Proton, a quick fix by the PM would be to fast-track the use of public transportation and the KTM commuter trains, which are widely used by the financially-distressed urbanites.

The PM should seriously waive the fees for public buses and KTM trains for certain zones during peak hours in the morning and evening.

School children and elders could be issued free season cards, which would greatly reduce the financial burden of urban households.

Crime is a top concern. The Government can show us its report cards with statistics that crime has gone down, but the perception is otherwise. People must feel safe. There is little point telling us we are safe when we do not feel so.

Extra allocations to the police forces have been a yearly ritual in the Budget but Malaysians want to see more policemen on the beat in crime-prone areas and tourist spots.

Community police or police volunteers, as in the United Kingdom, can be formed to take care of crowd control and paperwork at the police stations while the professional policemen tackle crime.

The civil volunteer corps, or Rela, should also be deployed in bigger numbers in neighbourhoods and the city to complement the work of the police.