Author Archives: wcw

Waste of time


Don’t lose the plot: Singapore-born stand-up comedian Jocelyn Chia has certainly offended most Malaysians with her off-colour remarks, but we may be going too far by asking Interpol to locate her whereabouts. — The Star

IT’S one thing to be critical of Singapore-born stand-up comedian Jocelyn Chia, but it’s another when Malaysia puts itself in a position of losing the plot and becoming a real joke now. Why would we want to get the Interpol involved?

She has certainly offended most Malaysians with her off-colour remarks, but surely we have gone too far by asking Interpol to locate her whereabouts. And even if they did find her, what can we really do?

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said the application to obtain Chia’s identity and her present location will be made as soon as possible to enable investigations to start.

Recently, he told reporters that the case is being investigated under Section 504/505 (c) of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act.

Section 504 of the Penal Code addresses intentional insult to provoke a breach of peace, which is punishable under Section 505 and carries a maximum jail sentence of two years, a fine, or both.

Honestly, it’s not hard for the police to produce a profile of Chia with her personal details.She is said to have performed in local stand-up comedy premises previously and since she has entered Malaysia before, the Immigration department would have her details at a click.

The easiest response by Malaysia is to simply ban her from entering the country to share her “humour”.

If she has nothing good to say about our country and remains unrepentant about her choice of words, then there’s no reason to welcome her here, whether for work or vacation.

Our police would also be able to look up her social media postings for more clues, even if she has taken many of them down. We have sufficient digital forensics experts in the police force to do the job easily.But beyond that, surely the United States can’t be keen to have Chia extradited to Malaysia if we choose to file an application. The idea itself sounds ridiculous.

I hope our Foreign Ministry won’t entertain such requests, even if the police recommend it.

We will end up being the butt of jokes if we do that, although the police have not confirmed taking action.

Having her investigated is protocol because reports have been filed against her, it seems.

Chia, who was unheard of in Malaysia until recently, drew controversy on social media recently for her disparaging cracks about Malaysia in a stand-up comedy skit on The Comedy Cellar, a US-based show that was aired on the Internet recently.

Her remarks about the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 that disappeared on March 8, 2014, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, created a storm with Singapore apologising for her jokes – even though she’s now an American citizen.

Chia’s performance has been condemned by Malaysian comedians as well as Singaporean artistes, who also said sorry to Malaysians.

In an Instagram recording, Singaporean comedian Kumar told Chia, “If you’re watching this, I really think you (should) seek help, because you really got issues.”

Kumar added how Singaporeans often visit Malaysia for leisure and work, and in his caption, likened both countries to being “brothers and sisters” and that “animosity created is not good for us.”

He’s dead on the money. There are bigger fish to fry for the police, instead of focusing their resources and attention on Chia, who’s hardly a top-notch criminal.

It’s better for Wisma Putra and the police to work on extraditing Jho Low to Malaysia for stealing billions of ringgit from us.

We truly need Interpol’s help for this, as well as handling delicate negotiations with the Chinese government if he’s indeed hiding in Macau, Shanghai or Beijing, as claimed, to get him home to face his charges.

That’s what Malaysians want. Why would we want to have anything to do with Chia?

Time to nurse that sick obsession

OUR Malaysian nurses are overworked, underpaid and underappreciated, but all PAS MP Wan Razali Wan Nor cares about is their attire, which he claims is too tight and not syariah-compliant.

That is the problem with PAS leaders and their deep-rooted obsession with dressing.

In the past, they berated our airline crew’s uniforms, which they claimed were too provocative.

But this is probably the first time that the nurse’s uniform has become a point of contention with the party. Never mind that our nurses no longer wear skirts but only slacks. That is still not enough for the Kuantan lawmaker.

Most of our nurses already wear headscarves and all are certainly modestly dressed. They don’t need PAS to lecture them on donning the burqa like they do in Afghanistan.

Wan Razali should also do his homework. There is an unprecedented shortage of nurses in Malaysia.

There are already calls from the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) to liberalise the nursing labour market and bring in foreign nurses amid the shortage in both public and private hospitals.

The reality is that other countries within the region are offering better packages to Malaysian nurses to work in their countries, and the brain drain will affect our healthcare, said APHM president Dr Kuljit Singh.

It is said that when Malaysian nurses sign up to work in the Middle East, their employers welcome them by making sure they are picked up at the airport with chauffeur-driven limousines.

There have been news reports that Johor is facing a severe shortage of nurses, estimated at between 15,000 and 18,000, following an exodus to Singapore.

Last year, Johor health and unity committee chairman Ling Tian Soon was quoted as saying that he knew of a friend whose salary as a nurse in Singapore was equal to that of a specialist doctor in Malaysia due to the currency exchange rate.

According to Homage Malaysia, fresh graduate nurses in Malaysia are paid RM1,500 a month while in Singapore, the average pay is about S$2,500 (RM8,500) a month. In Dubai, new nurses can earn 5,000 dirham a month (around RM6,800).

It said nurses often need to work two eight-hour shifts in a day (which translates to 16 hours). This means they are stretched thin, putting a toll on their mental and physical health.

It also means that these nurses would end up with little chance to upskill or pursue further education due to a lack of time and energy.

According to Segi College, citing data from the Health Ministry, Malaysia had 113,787 registered nurses in a country of over 32 million people in 2021.

This means that the nurse-to-population ratio is 1:454, which falls short of the 1:300 ratio recommended by the World Health Organisation.

Indeed, Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa has said that steps have been taken to remedy the situation, including expediting the appointment of doctors and nurses.

But we need more than just politically-correct promises from our leaders.

As pointed out by Homage Malaysia country manager PC Gan in a write-up last year, “Nurses are not just administration staff or clerks, but highly trained medical professionals, often the first responder and the last barrier between life and death.”

She said that Homage, which operates in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Japan, has observed differences in the way nurses are treated.

“It is with regret that Malaysia is one of the worst offenders in the ill treatment of and discrimination against nurses,” she claimed.

And certainly, PAS MP Wan Razali needs to accord a high regard and appreciation for the work of these health workers.

Many of them risked their lives, as frontliners, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Wan Razali seems to have forgotten their contributions as all he could notice, in his warped mind, was that their uniforms are apparently too tight.

This is the same MP who had to retract his claim that a women’s rally in Kuala Lumpur in March was an “LGBT march”, which he could not prove when demanded to do so by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul.

Wan Razali’s incoherent outbursts in Parliament are sickening. He needs to be nursed back to health.

Tapped out


Environmental threat: Struggling to source revenue for the state, Kedah has recklessly turned to logging, resulting in massive deforestation. — Filephoto/The Star

IT would’ve been natural to expect Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor to kick off his campaign by convincing his voters with reasons for his re-election.

That would include listing achievements as well as those pending.

He’s there as the state’s head of government to improve Kedah’s economic performance and the livelihood of the people, many of whom are caught below the poverty line.

Kedah has one of the lowest average incomes and highest incidences of poverty. Likewise Kelantan, which continually struggles to measure up to the economic success and resilience of other states.

So it’s baffling to hear Sanusi dwelling on the purported ownership of Penang by Kedah, driven by half-baked historic arguments with little basis.

It reeks of a red herring, a distraction from the real problems. It may be good rhetoric at the party’s rallies but in the end, everything boils down to data and statistics.

Just look at Kedah’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) performance in 2021, where the state recorded only 3.2% in revenue.

In comparison, other states in the peninsula have soared with impressive figures. Penang achieved the highest GDP performance at 6.8%, followed by Selangor (5%), Terengganu (3.6%), and Perak (3.5%).

Struggling to source revenue for the state, Kedah has recklessly turned to logging, resulting in massive deforestation, which has threatened the Ulu Muda rainforests. According to the report revealing this, satellite data also indicates forest loss has been accelerating since 2022.

The 1,600sq km Ulu Muda rainforest is one of the last ranges of continuous tracts of forest in the peninsula, which provides a vital habitat for countless species as well as water for millions of people in the northern states.

The report divulged that “between 2002 and 2021, the greater Ulu Muda landscape lost 82.8sq km of forest,” saying the satellite data was collected by the University of Maryland and visualised on Global Forest Watch.

The staggering deforestation has led to serious flooding and clean water supply issues.

The worst flood was in 2022, when three people died and more than 3,000 were displaced when sludge, debris and flood waters buried several villages in Baling, one of the poorest districts in Malaysia.

Like Kelantan, which has failed to provide basic clean water supply for decades, Kedah is starting to face the same issue, except that the economic consequences are greater since Langkawi is a vital tourist spot while Kulim is home to Malaysia’s first fully integrated high-technology industrial park, covering 208ha.

Kulim is the beneficiary of Penang’s industrial expansion, as it’s just 46km away from the island state.

Kedah needs a long-term strategy to resolve its critical water problems, which includes the construction of a new water treatment plant.

When there are frequent massive floods and water supply cuts, politicians like Sanusi are to blame because they failed to do their jobs.

That’s the harsh reality of their irresponsible actions. Don’t blame God for these and certainly, don’t point the finger at non-Muslims. Who’s been running these two states, especially Kelantan, for 33 years? Surely not non-Muslims.

Visitors to Kelantan would know that PAS has failed to supply basic treated water from the pipes, and Kota Baru is poorly managed, too.

Against the backdrop of Kedah’s massive economic issues, the last thing it needs are harebrained projects like the expensive racing circuit resort project planned for Langkawi.

The project, Open Road International Circuit (ORIC) and Integrated Resorts, will be developed by state-owned company Permodalan Kedah Bhd (PKB) and Open Road Asia Sdn Bhd.

But the train has yet to leave the station, and that’s just as well.

It’s also good that the proposed RM7bil Kulim international airport championed by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, has been scrapped because it seemed counter-productive.

The quickest way to travel to the Penang International Airport from Kulim takes only about 40 minutes.

That RM7bil could be put to better use to improve the road and transport facilities between Kulim and Penang, instead of building an airport in Kulim. In fact, the upgrade would have cost a fraction of that gargantuan sum.

Then there’s this big announcement of building the RM40bil Widad Langkasuka mixed-used development in Langkawi, purportedly to be a tourist destination “built on the paradigm of the Malay vernacular architecture,” revealed news reports.

Taken straight from press releases with big words, these news reports intimate “it will establish a smart city using sustainable technology that preserves the island’s geographical nature.”

I bet reporters who filed their stories didn’t even know what they wrote, which the MB said was part of the state’s development plan for 2023. Well, we’re already mid-way through 2023 and there hasn’t been a peep since. Again, it’s good, although it was reported that the earthwork package was targeted to be completed by Aug 3, 2023.

Then, there was also the media-rocking announcement by Sanusi for rare earth element (REE) mining activities in Kedah. Once, an overly excited Sanusi told the media that it would earn Kedah RM43tril, which was later corrected to RM62bil.

Until now, no environmental impact assessment (EIA) report has been submitted to the Department of Environment (DoE).

Kedahans can’t continue to live on pipe dreams when their taps are running dry.

Kedah is a poor state like Kelantan, with PAS politicians continuing to use religion and race to keep themselves in power.

In both states, the non-Muslims are almost insignificant, and with its Malay-majority areas, it’s a given that PAS will retain its stranglehold on these states in the coming state elections.

In GE15, Perikatan Nasional swept all but one parliamentary seat in Kedah and even performed well in areas with tiny non-Malay presence, including Alor Setar, Kulim Bandar Baharu and Padang Serai.

So why does the government, state or federal, continue to keep these flops in power despite their comprehensive failure in supporting us?

Fair game without crossing the line

NOT many Singaporeans are going to admit it, but I have personally experienced many cases where Malaysia has been talked down to because our neighbours feel they are better off.

Indeed, they are way ahead of us. As much as we hate admitting it, we are the losers.

That’s a fact. We can see the massive differences the minute we cross over to the island republic from Johor Baru.

Their infrastructure is world-class, their leaders have impressive credentials, and corruption is arguably non-existent.

And as long as the Singapore dollar continues to be three times more valuable than our ringgit, they have reason to thumb their noses at us. They have earned the right to brag.

But let’s be frank. Many Singaporeans carry a chip on their shoulders and actually think they are superior.

Let me share a story. I am currently on a tour of a few European countries organised by Trafalgar Tours. They are reliable and I am always among guests who are usually over the age of 60. Peers, I guess.

They tend to be from English-speaking countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.

Most of the time, the Asians are from Malaysia and Singapore. Occasionally, there are Indians too.

But it’s the Malaysians and Singaporeans who are often happy to be in each other’s company since, after all, both nations have so much in common.

We were in one country once, remember?

Negaraku existed long before Majulah Singapura. While both nations adopted the Malay language as their official language, Malaysians can actually speak Malay while many Singaporeans are unable to do so.

Travelling together, we laugh at ourselves when we confess that we were actually carrying chilli sauce and cup noodles.

But the little rivalry, cynicism and disdain eventually crop up, most of the time in an innocently natural way, without even my newfound Singaporean friends realising it.

This trip, a very sweet aunty asked me if it was really true that the SMART tunnel in Kuala Lumpur was a stormwater bypass tunnel and able to alleviate traffic jams.

“The taxi driver who took me to KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) told me it can stop floods and divert traffic jams. I didn’t believe it, of course, how can Malaysia be so ‘kheng’ (awesome in Cantonese) one?”

I had to disappoint her and tell her that it was true.

Next, she asked why the Malaysian government was “so stupid” as to build KLIA so far from the city, “unlike Singapore, where the airport is really in the city and so convenient.”

I had to remind her that it’s because Singapore is just a tiny city. Sure, it’s a country, but it’s really a city and so, anywhere you build an airport or facility, it will be in the city.

But having said that, who can we blame when our KLIA has lagged so far behind the award-winning Changi Airport?

Our aerotrains at the 25-year-old KLIA, which ferry people between the main terminal and the satellite building, have broken down completely, which is surely a national disgrace.

Luggage takes ages to arrive at the carousel in comparison with busier airports, including even Heathrow Airport in London.

Any seasoned traveller can give a longer list of better airports.

KLIA, which opened in 1998, was ranked among the top 10 airports in the world on four occasions – in 2001, 2010, 2011 and 2012 – but has since seen a steady decline in rankings.

It was down to the 44th spot in 2018. In the latest World Airport Survey, it was at No. 67.

The airport is under the jurisdiction of Malaysia Airport Holdings Bhd and not Malaysia Airlines, as many travellers assume.

If it was in the private sector, heads would roll, but a government-linked corporation works differently, with a high level of tolerance for incompetency.

And still on airports and planes, this Singaporean aunty has never flown on Firefly, the Malaysian airline that operates out of Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (better known as Subang Airport).

According to her – and my relatives in Singapore – they just don’t feel safe flying on turboprop-powered planes.

I can never comprehend why propellers frighten so many Singaporeans. At least those I have encountered.

Every time I take a taxi on arrival in Changi – Firefly now flies to Seletar – the taxi drivers would confess they have never heard of Firefly.

And then, like a recorder, they would start telling me how sorry they are that I am from Malaysia.

But over the past two years, I have noticed a phenomenal change.

These self-appointed political analysts now train their guns on Singapore instead of Malaysia as they whine about the high-cost of living, increasing utility bills, their toilet-sized flats and how grandfathers must still work until they drop dead when they should be enjoying their golden years.

They curse their government leaders and PhD-holder ministers who are cut off from the realities of the working class.

This does not surprise me as my journalist friends in Singapore tell me that their ministers do not take phone calls or even text messages, unlike politicians in Malaysia.

So, I tell these grumbling cabbies that I feel sorry for them.

Their million-dollar flat would easily get them a three-storey house in Malaysia and two cars, at the least.

If they have a lot of time to kill, like many Malaysians, they can just go on social media and scold their ministers.

But nothing will happen to us in Malaysia for running down our politicians unlike Singapore.

So no need to be “kiasi” (afraid to die or to be afraid in Hokkien) of “jeng hoo” (government in Hokkien).

Well, it’s good to be hard-working and competitive in Singapore, but I am enjoying my much laid-back lifestyle in Malaysia. What a beautiful place.

Sure, Malaysians of various races may complain about each other behind their backs, but we are decent enough to never to cross the line.

We hold the peace.

And for sure, we won’t be offensive like stand-up comedian Jocelyn Chia, who sings her praises about Singapore and tells off Malaysians, but has disposed of her Singapore passport for the United States.

Any worthy comedian can tell you that it’s fine to take a dig at any nationality or ethnic group.

Even our Malaysians poke fun at Singaporeans, but most of these jokes are never offensive.

Chia has now become famous for being a bad comedian. She is supposed to make us laugh and not make us angry.

Of course, we can laugh at ourselves – we are not that immature.

I am sorry, Jocelyn, but you would never make it in Malaysia, or in Singapore and Batam, unlike Singaporeans Gurmit Singh aka Phua Chu Kang or Michelle Chong aka Ah Lian.

Besides, you can never compete with our politicians.

We have too many of these jesters in Parliament who drive us hysterical daily.

And I am sorry that you had to pack up and leave Singapore, presumably because you cannot change your government.

Over here, we have had three prime ministers in five years.

And there is even another round of elections, albeit at the state level state, after about seven months ago when we last voted.

Err, Jocelyn, I am just trying to be funny, in case you didn’t get it.

Rinse and repeat

IT’S tragic that many Malaysians are forced to be concerned about the political narrative being consumed by race and religion in the years to come as our demograpic landscape changes.

The spiel to defend the Malay race and religion because they’re purportedly under threat, is simply preposterous.

There are 77 Muslim, 16 non-Muslim bumiputra, 43 Chinese and 15 Indian MPs supporting the Pakatan Harapan government.

In Parliament, out of the 222 MPs, 131 are Malays and 24 are Muslim bumiputra MPs.

From the 1.7 million working in the civil service, almost 90% are Malays and bumiputra. The same ethnic make-up can be said of the army and police forces.

Then, there are the King, respective Sultans and Tuan Yang di-Pertua, who are all Malays.

Only the Penang Chief Minister is Chinese, while the rest are all Malays.

How on earth is Malay power under siege and requires protecting?

Unfortunately, this tale is already past the brewing stage. Ahead of the state elections in July, we will see our politicians trying to outdo one another.

The state assemblies of Selangor, Kedah, Terengganu, Negri Sembilan, Penang and Kelantan will surely be dissolved simultaneously within the third week of June.

In Selangor’s case, the state assembly automatically ends on June 25, so that means a few days before that, royal consent will be needed to dissolve the state assembly, probably by June 19.

Penang’s state assembly ends in August, but the state government has decided to dissolve around the same time as the rest, too.

All these six states are now predominantly Malay in make-up. Even in Penang, the Malay population is currently nearly on par with that of the Chinese.

According to 2022 figures, the state’s population comprises 42.57% Chinese, 41.40% Malays, 9.92% Indians and 6.12% constituting other races.

The reality is that the Chinese and Indian populations have irreversibly plunged.

As of July 2022, 69.9% of the Malaysian population was classified as bumiputra, 22.8% Chinese and 6.6% Indian.

Figures in 2021 indicated that the bumiputra share of the population in Sabah was 84.15% while in Sarawak, 75.9%. The bumiputra category includes the Orang Asli in the peninsula and indigenous people of Sarawak.

Perikatan Nasional comprises Bersatu, a Malay-based party, PAS, which has advocated for Malaysia to be an Islamic state, and multiracial Gerakan, seen as a token presence.

Bersatu, despite its Malay rights platform, however, has not spooked non-Muslims, unlike PAS, because many Bersatu leaders are from Umno and PKR, meaning it has more public engagement with non-Muslims.

Pakatan, which leads the unity government with Barisan Nasional and other Sabah and Sarawak parties, can’t afford to compete with Perikatan on religion, especially with PAS.

Yes, many sections of Malays, including grassroots Umno members, are uncomfortable with DAP. That is a reality, and it will take time for Umno members and supporters to get used to this relationship.

After all, it was only five months ago, during the general election, that Umno leaders hammered PKR, DAP and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Who’s to blame if Umno leaders now sound hypocritical?

But it will be disastrous if the Prime Minister tries to trump PAS on religious issues, and neither should Pakatan try to match or outdo Bersatu or Umno in aggressively defending Malay rights.

Instead, find common ground with the Unity Government delivering on the economic front by bringing tangible investments and introducing sound policies.

What Pakatan can do is help the true Malay entrepreneurs, contractors and traders in business awards, and not political businessmen.

The ringgit’s value isn’t going to go up if our Malay politicians only care about race and religion.

Why would foreign investors want to pump money into Malaysia if we keep grabbing international headlines for all the wrong reasons?

Confiscating Swatch watches which supposedly feature the term LGBT is surely an over-reaction. These timepieces aren’t going to trigger a mass buy. Have we come down to this level?

And after these confiscations, do we expect PAS voters to actually give their votes to Pakatan despite its attempts to tread the moral high ground?

Instead, all it has done is angered progressive Malays in urban areas, especially in Lembah Pantai, and traditional non-Muslim voters.

Worse still, the PM issued a non-committal remark on the raids to justify the action, while Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail seemed to have taken a long time to clarify the controversy, which gave the impression that he wasn’t updated on the raids, rightly or wrongly.

How these watches can cause public disorder is baffling and adding insult to injury, Malaysia is reportedly the only country that had ordered the confiscation of these “risque” watches!

At the same time, the government has confirmed that it aims to table the contentious amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 – also known by its Bahasa Malaysia initials RUU 355.

Previously, PAS had attempted to table the Bill seeking harsher punishments for Syariah offences, raising the Syariah Courts’ maximum sentencing limit to 30 years’ jail, RM100,000 fine and 100 strokes of the cane.

Sketchy, best describes the details of the unity government’s version of the RUU 355 and the difference from that proposed by Marang MP Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang. The timeline for when RUU 355 will be tabled is equally vague.

But the announcement by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Senator Datuk Dr Mohd Naím Mokhtar – a respected former judge – at this juncture, seems to give the impression the government wants to reaffirm its stand on Islam.

We need leaders who promote compassion and acceptance, not those fanning the flames of controversy and even threatening Malaysians of other races.

I think logical Malaysians, regardless of their faith, would not accept such a narrow political direction for this country.

Non-Muslims don’t deserve to be eyed with suspicion after more than six decades of independence. Please don’t use us as whipping boys in the quest for political power.

While politicians know the game better, let’s not run away from the bigger reality and responsibility that a strong nation is also run on strong economic and business foundations.

Malaysia needs to convince the world that it’s a progressive and moderate country.

Straight from the heart

Charity is about providing sincerely and without bias.

MALAYSIAN tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan is one of the country’s most generous philanthropists. He receives requests for financial assistance from organisations and individuals daily and a panel helps him vet these pleas.

Their task is to ensure that these applications are genuine and well-deserving. One thing that struck Tan was that the committee repeatedly recommended Tzu Chi, the Buddhist charity group.

The businessman then decided to find out more about Tzu Chi himself and it eventually included a meeting with the founder, Master Cheng Yen, a Buddhist nun.

That was eight years ago, and it has become a turning point for Tan. He has always been a practicing Buddhist, but he consequently decided to commit himself to becoming a vegetarian and an active Tzu Chi follower.

While many are aware of Tan’s philanthropic work, not many know that he has visited the homes of refugees in KL and even helped at a home for the disabled in Kuala Kubu Baru, sans fanfare, with other Tzu Chi followers.

It has also stunned Tan that Cheng Yen, who is now 86, runs a global organisation without having stepped out of her Taiwan base.

Today, Tzu Chi is an international humanitarian organisation that aspires to relieve the suffering of the needy with its presence in 63 countries and regions including the United States, Australia, Asean and various nations in Europe and even Africa.

This year, the organisation marked its 57th anniversary while Tzu Chi Malaysia will celebrate its (30th) year milestone in August.

But each year, on the second Sunday of May, Wesak Day, Mother’s Day and Tzu Chi Day are celebrated simultaneously.

Unlike other Buddhist groups, which focus more on spiritual concerns, Tzu Chi is known for its community service and outreach programmes including medical, educational and disaster relief for even non-Buddhists.

In fact, in Malaysia, a large part of its help is extended to non-Chinese as well as non-Malaysians, including refugees and stateless people.

In Indonesia, the Tzu Chi arm has even contributed generously to Islamic schools while in South America, the beneficiaries included Catholic organisations.

“Tzu Chi has helped to clean up mosque compounds in flood hit areas in Kelantan and has provided help for Muslims, and churches, too,” shared Tan.

During the floods at Taman Sri Muda, Selangor, on Dec 20, 2021, Tzu Chi deployed 3,000 volunteers each day for relief work daily until early 2022.

As of 2022, Tzu Chi Malaysia has about 1.23 donors, 20,000 volunteers and 8,000 commissioners.

Commissioners are those who have served Tzu Chi for at least two years in various responsibilities, attended training and have pledged to dedicate themselves to carrying out Tzu Chi missions with the right belief and mindfulness.

Archbishop Julian Leow Beng Kim, for example, linked up with Tzu Chi Foundation of Malaysia to deliver beds and trolleys for the Sungai Buloh Hospital at the height of the Covid-19 outbreak in 2021.

In fact, he showed up for the celebration of Tzu Chi Day last week. A section of the Tzu Chi Foundation building in Kepong, KL is adorned with pictures of leaders of other faiths with Tzu Chi representatives including the Pope.

The images also depict the work it has done in various parts of the world.

Tzu Chi Malaysia has certainly become a familiar name to many Malaysians for its consistent hard work.

It was brought to Malaysia by a Taiwanese, Ye Ci Jing, in (1988), when she was posted by her company to work in Penang. That’s when she took the opportunity to promote Tzu Chi to the local community.

At around the same time, Taiwanese couple David Liu and Echo Chien came to Melaka to set up a factory. They learned of Tzu Chi and began to promote its mission in Malaysia.

While personalities like Vincent Tan, Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh and Tan Sri Lim Wee Chai have elevated Tzu Chi Malaysia’s profile, the success of this organisation belongs to thousands of ordinary men and women who have quietly dedicated themselves to serving Malaysians, regardless of their faith and race.

As is Tzu Chi’s practice, the givers take a bow when they assist someone because they regard it as a privilege to serve.

Serving isn’t just about donations but involves hitting the dirt, literally, such as relief work in disaster areas and even bathing and cleaning up the disabled.

The lesson here is simple – our faith is irrelevant because, ultimately, it’ s about what we do during our time on Earth.

Have we done enough to help our fellow human beings, or do we just want to earn plaudits for purportedly being pious?

Sporting value


Umar Osman, the 400m gold medallist, is just 20 years old and it was his first SEA Games. — FAIHAN GHANI/The Star

TRUTH be told, we’ve never taken the Youth and Sports Ministry seriously and neither have we provided comprehensive training and care for our sports persons. And yet, we expect miracles from them.

The most junior Member of Parliament is slotted for the ministry post, and it’s viewed as an insignificant position.

Even the Deputy Education or Deputy Finance Minister role seems to be more prestigious than a full Youth and Sports Minister.

So, it comes as no surprise that the Youth and Sports Ministry gets less than an RM1bil budget, which is among the lowest. The National Unity Ministry is probably in that category, too.

Of this amount, only RM394mil was allocated for sports, unfortunately.

It’s like saying national unity isn’t important or, while sports galvanises the nation, which politicians fail to, this is still the best budget that can be offered.

How many of our 33 million people are youth aged 18-40 and surely this large youth population also matters to the ministry.

Rubbing salt into the wound, Malaysia has changed the Youth and Sports Minister much faster than we dispose of our prime ministers.

In recent years, ex-Umno MP Khairy Jamaluddin held the post for 61 months, a tad over five years.

His successor didn’t fare so well. Syed Saddiq, the MP for Muar and Muda president, managed 20 months while Reezal Merican, the former MP for Kepala Batas, kept his job for 18 months.

Former Tambun MP and Bersatu deputy president Ahmad Faizal Azumu, popularly known as Peja, served for only 16 months.

As Malaysians would know by now, every successive minister wants to leave their mark by introducing some new programmes, and it’s always the ministry officials who are left to implement new set-ups, targets and KPIs. Imagine the disruption at the ministry for the last decades.

Current Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh, who is just five months into the job, blamed political instability for Malaysia’s poor performance at the recent South-East Asian (SEA) games.

She got hammered for her excuse. She could have phrased it better, but she isn’t entirely off the mark because she is right.

The entire ecosystem is rotting. Ask any sportswriter in the media, and they’ll be able to share what has gone wrong with sports in this country. A cup of coffee won’t be enough to hear the whole story.

It will include tales of underfunded sports associations needing politicians to provide patronage and money, among other things. Unfortunately, these lawmakers hang on to their posts like the associations belong to them and their bootlickers.

Then, there are the talented young ones, for example, who start their training at the badminton academy at 5am every morning, then head back to class like any schoolkid, and after years of training, aren’t even given the opportunity to compete overseas.

With no exposure and the chance to play competitively, it can sometimes mean being sent home with nothing to show.

Yeoh seems to have taken a gamble by letting new talents compete at the SEA Games.

We finished poorly in the gold count, but let’s hope in the long run, this strategy works. It’s uncertain how this plan will fare, and ultimately, we’ll just have another new Sports Minister who will enjoy the fruits of someone else’s labour.

In the Malaysian contingent, 63% of the athletes – or 427 of the 674-strong team – were below 23 years old. Out of these 427 Under-23 athletes, 222 won 18 gold, 21 silver and 66 bronze medals.

Around 62% of the team, or 423 athletes, made their debut at the Games, with 211 having podium finishes and contributing 12 gold, 20 silver and 46 bronze medals.

Sometimes, many of us miss the ray of hope in the sea of criticism. Umar Osman, the 400m gold medallist, is just 20 years old and it was his first SEA Games, while platform diving gold winner Lee Yiat Qing is merely 15 years old.

Windsurfer Muhammad Hafizin Mansor is 17 years old and got his first SEA Games gold medal at his first Games. Ng Jing Xuen, 15, won her first gold in golf.

As a die-hard Arsenal fan, I can accept the team finishing behind Manchester City with the latter’s more experienced and well-drilled players.

In contrast, Arsenal has the highest number of young players and, with lower wages, no less.

They can’t be expected to be English Premier League and Champions League winners overnight. It takes a while to put a title-challenging team together.

The experiences and lessons learned this year and the purchase of new experienced players will be necessary for the 2023/2024 season.

Arsenal and many neutral fans are disappointed that the Gunners slipped and drew in three games at the tail end of the season, which was costly to their title ambitions. However, no one gave Arsenal a ghost of a chance when the season started.

Now, that comes to the same point. If Malaysia wants to win, we must spend. Unfortunately, our country has no money for that.

According to reports, the Singapore government allocated S$464.49mil (RM1.6bil) for its sports programme while Thailand provided 800 million baht (RM106mil) for sports in 2023. Indonesia contributed Rp1.57 trillion (RM481.1mil) for its Sports and Youth Ministry in 2021.

Now, let’s be realistic, too. Malaysians love football, whether it’s the local or foreign leagues, but we’ll never make it big. Our physique is not built for top tier football.

We can win regionally, but the fact that we must keep reminiscing about our past glories and still talk of Mokhtar Dahari, Santokh Singh and Soh Chin Aun, heroes of the 1970s and 1980s, goes to show we haven’t produced any real football legends since.

It’s better for us to invest our limited resources in sports we can excel at, like badminton, squash, bowling, shooting, golf, table tennis, cycling and sailing.

All is fair in love and war. Surely we need more naturalised citizens to help us win. Look at Singapore, and even Cambodia.

And we need to pay for talents. Malaysian badminton coaches are helping the Japanese and South Koreans, earning between RM50,000 and RM100,000 a month.

This is how modern sports works. From paying top dollar for the best trainers and psychologists to giving our team mental strength and even having nutritionists prepare the right food for our athletes, we need proper financial support and resources.

We can’t put together a team in two months or less, to train and then send them off to the Sea Games.

The New Straits Times reported “as expected, it was a one-sided affair from the first whistle” where Malaysia lost 3-0 to Vietnam in the AFF Cup late last year.

Let’s be realistic – if Malaysia expects to excel, that will encompass proper training, planning and finances.

Train kept a rollin’


Human capital is a crucial resource for the growth and development of any country, and Malaysia is no exception.

IT’S fair to say that many Malaysians don’t take training seriously, even if the bill has already been footed.

The levy paid by employers continues to be under-utilised and the Human Resources Development Corp (HRD Corp) has had to hound employers to use the money for training.

Millions of ringgit from the levy are being left idle by companies from the mandatory deductions.

In 2022, HRD Corp collected about RM1.81bil and disbursed around RM758.4mil, leaving a levy balance of RM1.05bil from the 81,706 employers. In 2023, it has projected to collect RM2.2bil and disburse RM1.7bil.

In desperation, HRD Corp has decided that levies left unutilised after two years will be forfeited.

Many bosses are reluctant to allow their staff to attend upskilling courses for fear that their operations and productivity will be affected.

They expect courses to end within a day, if possible, and if it’s a five-day training session, employees are left to face grumpy looks from their superiors.

Staff, on the other hand, sometimes think training is a drag, displaying indifference.

Some senior level workers, especially in managerial ranks, think they know everything or fear their inadequacies exposed if they’re in a physical class with their colleagues.

An out-of-base team building outing seems to be the only way to sign up workers, but if the sessions aren’t properly organised or structured, they will end up being a trip remembered for silly games, with little impact for self-improvement.

Everyone needs training. Learning is a life-long journey. Only an ignorant and egotistical person will insist there’s no need to pick up new skills.

For companies, it’s about future-proofing their organisation and for workers, it’s about re-tooling and upgrading themselves to increase their value.

Human capital is a crucial resource for the growth and development of any country, and Malaysia is no exception.

Today, Malaysia enjoys a literacy rate of 96.1% and ranks 25th out of 141 countries globally in terms of human capital development, becoming the second highest ranked South-East Asian country in the survey, just behind Singapore.

But that’s not enough. The Government, via the HRD Corp, is correct to set a target of inculcating the spirit of lifelong learning in all Malaysians, fostering a conducive and collaborative environment for training and development among talents and industry players.

And strengthening the upskilling, reskilling and multiskilling ecosystem for trainers and trainees is a further step forward.

To kick off these initiatives, the week-long National Training Week (NTW) 2023 will be officiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today.

It will encompass a week of nationwide training events and activities that bring together organisations and individuals from various backgrounds and industries and provide them with training and development opportunities.

Training programmes will be organised all over Malaysia and offered to all Malaysians on the house.

NTW will be championed by the Human Resources Ministry and HRD Corp. It will feature other government ministries and agencies, industry players, industry associations, individuals, academia, training providers and more.

The target is 125,000 trainees nationwide from May 22-28, involving 5,000 trainers, training providers and collaborators.

There will be 5,000 courses across hundreds of skill areas with a targeted 500,000 training hours.

It’s unprecedented as these courses are worth RM250mil in training value, but it will all be free this week.

Nearly 18,000 courses are offered online and offline as displayed on the NTW website, with over 50,000 participants from children, teenagers to senior citizens.

There are eight regional launches happening across Malaysia, including in Johor, Sarawak, Negri Sembilan, Sabah, Pahang, Penang and Melaka, followed by the finale event in Putrajaya today.

Kudos to the Human Resources Ministry and HRD for having this week-long programme, which brings students, higher learning institutions and industry players together to upgrade the skills and knowledge of our workforce, to enable them to meet industry demands and expectations.

As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

What’s next after rainbow watches – Paddle Pop?

AN incident a couple of days ago escaped the attention of the national media, but Sabah’s Daily Express reported it with an appropriate headline – “Comedian has the last laugh on PAS.”

Popular Singapore stand-up comedian Kumar performed to a capacity crowd at the Financial Park Convention Hall in Labuan.

But it almost didn’t take off. The Labuan Corporation licensing committee was reportedly under pressure to have the show cancelled, purportedly on grounds of morality.

The allegations were that the comedian was a transgender, and the claims had gone around for five days before the concert.

The Daily Express reported that the protests came from PAS.

Here’s the sad part. As a compromise, the show proceeded on the condition that it was strictly for non-Muslim adults.

The newspaper reported that the organiser was compelled to announce refunds for Muslims who had bought the tickets earlier, including those from Brunei.

Kumar, whose real name is Kumaran Chinnadurai, had performed to a full house in Kota Kinabalu before heading to Labuan.

This is probably the first time in Malaysia’s history where Muslims were banned from attending a comic show involving a purported transgender, and the first time that a government authority succumbed to pressure from PAS, an opposition party.

Since when does the Labuan Corporation, a local authority under the Federal Territories Ministry, which now comes under the Prime Minister himself, take orders from PAS, or any other religious body?

Was it an arbitrary decision by a Labuan Corporation official? Are we heading towards a situation where each time PAS calls for a cancellation, it must be obeyed?

The same applies to the action by the Home Ministry to raid 11 Swatch watch outlets in shopping malls across the country on May 13 and 14.

Strangely, five malls in Alor Setar, Kuala Terengganu, and Kota Baru – all PAS controlled states – were reportedly let off with warnings. In Johor Baru and Kuching, they were just as lucky but not those in Kuala Lumpur and Sabah.

Enforcement officers reportedly seized the brand’s “Pride Collection” featuring watches with rainbow colours after social media users linked the collection to British band Coldplay’s support for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.

The raid on these watch outlets was a first too. It is unprecedented and puts us on a slippery slope to extremism. If news reports are to be believed, the authorities were acting on the comments on social media.

Many leaders like Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Australian PM Anthony Albanese, Finland PM Antti Rinne and London Mayor Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, have all openly endorsed and taken part in PRIDE parades. Should we then ban these leaders from coming to KL, going by this warped logic.

The list includes the PMs of Luxemburg, Xavier Bettel and Serbia, Ana Brnabic. Then there is Pete Buttigieg, the US Secretary of Transportation, and Germany’s former health minister Jens Spahn.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, the Sabah-born politician, is openly gay. So, what are we going to do about that? Maybe she can never visit Labuan from now on?

This also comes in the wake of a comment by PAS MP for Pasir Salak, Jamaluddin Yahya, who called for LGBT community to be classified as mental health patients.

Malaysia was never a society that openly embraces LGBT practices. There won’t be any PRIDE parades and gatherings. There won’t be same sex marriages. Malaysia is still a conservative country, and this includes non-Muslims.

But most of us are not going to persecute anyone who chooses to live differently in private, including going to the extremes of declaring these people as having mental disorders.

Really, it is the MP who needs mental help. The raids on Swatch outlets is a classic case of over-reacting.

Will we soon have stand-up comics and singers, whose gender identities are questioned, being limited only to non-Muslim audiences?

That will be a sad day for my many good Muslim friends who operate and perform at stand-up comic outlets.

It happened last week, for the first time, because the Labuan Corporation was too timid to tell off those who applied pressure.

Something is terribly wrong when we prefer to worry about rainbow-coloured watches and a comedian when politicians ignore more important concerns like how to boost the economy, the cost of living and education standards.

I may have to rush out and but the rainbow-themed Paddle Pop ice cream before some officials decide to issue an order to stop the sales of such gelato. They may think it represents the LGBT, too.

Well, somewhere over the rainbow…

Clean up act


Free advice: His Majesty Sultan Johor said he was prepared to provide the federal government with “the best but cheapest” alternative. — Screencapture via Facebook/Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar

IT may seem like a negligible issue unworthy of the intervention of His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar.

But those who know the Johor Ruler can vouch that nothing escapes his attention, especially when a company pockets RM180mil to clean the state, and yet fails miserably.

Tuanku didn’t keep his cards close to his chest but revealed his fury to Malaysians through a video that has gone viral.

He expressed his annoyance at the pathetic level of upkeep of the state’s low-cost flats.

“Even the animals in the zoo are better off than (those in) these flats. It looks like the people are living in chicken pens (coops?),” he said.

The video captured His Majesty’s anger, where he conveyed his unhappiness with his officials, just before granting an audience to Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming.

Tuanku is known for being blunt and he didn’t mince his words. He complained about there being more than 200 Members of Parliament but there were millions of rakyat living in low-cost flats and he’s adamant that these premises deserve to be better maintained.

Many of the flats are dilapidated and littered with rubbish. He added that “some of these places have also become breeding grounds for pests and insects.”

The affected areas include the flats in Stulang Laut, Skudai, Larkin, Tampoi, Kempas, Taman Johor and Taman Perling.

At his meeting with Nga, he told the minister that he understood there were allocations for Johor but reminded him Johoreans were taxpayers, too.

“Remember something, we are taxpayers here. We are paying RM180mil to SWM, but their cleaning and garbage collection services are not satisfactory,” Tuanku intimated.

SWM Environment Sdn Bhd is a Kuala Lumpur-based concession which handles integrated solid waste management and public cleaning in Johor, Melaka and Negeri Sembilan.

The organisation is owned by Taliworks Corporation Bhd, a public utilities company involved in water treatment, waste management, highway concession and construction.

The Sultan is upset that the agreement with SWM is so “watertight that you can only complain but it cannot be dismissed.

“There is no exit clause to say that you can dismiss SWM. Here, we have a responsibility to the rakyat,” he said.

He said most Johoreans are unaware that SWM is responsible for the clean-up services and blamed the local councils and the state government for the poor maintenance.

His Majesty said he was prepared to advise Nga “for free” and provide the government with “the best but cheapest” alternative.

He said he had gone on the ground to check for himself the poor services rendered and showed the photographs as proof to Nga.

His Majesty said whether he was in Malaysia or travelling abroad, he is always kept abreast of the situation in the state “as I have my eyes and ears everywhere.”

“But I will also check after the reports are made. But if my rakyat is staying in a kandang ayam, I can’t accept it.

“Now you are a minister in the Unity Government, but what they did before was no good,” he told Nga, who promised to study and “call them to take action.”

Tuanku issued another statement following the video release warning that no one should politicise his remarks on the deplorable state of maintenance at the flats.

“This is not something new. Previous governments knew about the terrible condition of the flats but did nothing,” he said.

Recently, His Majesty had complained about the pot-hole riddled highway in the state, revealing his car rims were dented because of it.

He had once quipped that “even a blind man sitting in car would know when he reaches Johor.”

But it isn’t merely Johor that suffers these maintenance issues. I guess many of our leaders including MPs and State Assemblymen have not travelled enough in their constituencies in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.

It’s common to see rubbish strewn along the streets in Petaling Jaya, especially in SS2, and the back lanes are certainly a source of embarrassment.

But of course, community living requires cooperation and a sense of responsibility among the residents.

It’s not entirely the duty of the local government, but we also expect the local authorities to buck up because most of us have stayed in these areas long enough to see the declining standards of maintenance.

Whether it’s in Bandar Klang, Selayang, Kepong, Puchong or in PJ, many parts of the Klang Valley are in a pathetic state.

It’s not clear if the contractors are doing a bad job or if the respective councils lack sufficient funds, but the bottom line is it’s unacceptable to ratepayers.

Media organisations are receiving pictures depicting heaps of uncollected rubbish and potholes more frequently than ever.

Do any of our officials and elected representatives dare say otherwise and claim they have done a great job?

Frustrating is an understatement.