HOW CAN I NOT BE CYNICAL?

Barry Wain in his book, “The Malaysian Malverick” (page 85) wrote a flattering piece: “Dr. Mahathir wasted no time in transforming Malaysia in line with his vision of a modern, industrialised nation, setting the goal of becoming fully developed by 2020. Once dominant primary commodities, already receding, gave way to the production of manufactured goods and the embrance fo a high-tech future. With the economy expanding at an annual average rate of 6.1 per cent for the 22 years he was prime minister, Malaysia was one of the developing world’s most successful countries.”

This is what this old man has done:

• Privatised solid waste management. Yet, our living condition has not improved, has it? The enforcement by council staff is still found wanting. Why is it that Singapore is able to keep the country clean, when Malaysia is still lagging behind? I don't know. I don't have the answer. You have to ask that old man who for 22 years did nothing to improve the living conditions of the people, but continued to spend public money on mega projects into the billions. He is such a broken old man now (because he cannot have his crooked bridge) that he cannot remember a single thing; so now, you have to ask Najib, the present Prime Minister. He may think that I am being mischievous for showing pictures that are less than flattering. The point is: I raised a complaint all the way to his office (najib@pmo.gov.my) and till now, despite sending emails to complain for the past two or three weeks, no action has been done.

• That old mamak also privatised construction of toll highways, supposedly to lessen the Government's burden. I see some benefits for that, except that I have to dig deeper into my pocket every time I travel, but my question is, with less burden now to manage, are we seeing improvement to the condition of the road constructed by the Government? I highlighted an issue to the Federal Government, which was poorly managed by the local council enforcement staff, and one of them pointed fingers at the inefficiency of the present Selangor State Government, but hey, who cares! It all boils down to the inefficiency of some civil servants at large, whether at the state or federal level. Look at this highway (MRR2 near Batu Caves). Did you hit your tyre right into it? Well, what is our Jasa Kepada Rakyat (JKR) doing? Do they even carry out frequent audits on their highways? Where is the maintenance culture? They can fix this pothole, after the complaint is raised, but why can't they fix it before it kill a motorcyclist?
• Now, we are told that the Government has increased the number of policemen. Well, that's good, but are we hearing more stories of snatch thefts these days via emails since the mainstream media is not publicising the stories that much? Are we having more security guards in our housing estates that now, to move from one housing to another, you have to show your IC more than once.
• With more policemen on the payroll, why are more Ah Longs and Pimps putting up their advertisements all over the place -- on public and private buildings as well? I find it hard to understand why the police cannot set traps for these people? You know what I mean? Friends, you see 1 Stop Massage, 2 Stop Massage and even Volcano Massage on walls all over the city of Kuala Lumpur. Cheap form of advertisement for such a lucrative business.

I don't need to say or give more examples. Just the other day, I read a signboard which said, "Satu lagi projek oleh Barisan Nasional" (One more development project by Barisan Nasional). I looked at my foot and said, "What about those potholes? Streetlights? Uncollected rubbish?" Ah, that must be the work of Pakatan!