Malaysiakini :: Letters
Malaysiakini :: Letters |
| Nazri's remarks raise doubts in PSD, ETP, NEM... Posted: 14 Jun 2011 02:16 AM PDT The announcement by the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Aziz, that it is government policy not to publish the list of Public Service Department scholarships, is most unfair and unreasonable! I hope it is the minister's own personal decision and not that of the government, as it directly contradicts and negates all government's policies and the Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's frequent pronouncements, to promote more integrity, transparency and accountability in the whole government. The suspicious secrecy surrounding the PSD scholarships will undermine the public confidence that was being rebuilt recently to ensure a more fair and equitable allocation of PSD scholarships. These awards that are stated to be based on academic achievement (20%), racial composition (60%), bumiputera in Sabah and Sarawak (10%) and the socially disadvantaged (10%), will now be widely questioned, as to how reasonable these ratios are and how honestly they have been followed. The governments`s credibility will now be unnecessarily and increasingly questioned not only in this vital area of the fair award of PSD Scholarships. All other issues relating to the implementation of the government`s Economic Transformation Programme and the New Economic Model will raise doubts. Even today's announcement of the nine new Project Initiatives that are expected to generate RM2.77 billion in investment and 36,595 jobs will also be regarded as doubtful! Such are the problems of poor public perception and the need to be more transparent to win public support for government policies. The public will also be peeved by the minister's claim that there is still "a lack of public understanding despite efforts to educate the people through the media". What the public cannot understand is the blatant lack of transparency that is worsened by the minister's attempt to justify the secrecy and his indifference to accountability and to integrity. Hence, I am sure that the public would greatly appreciate the open and honest publication of the whole list of PSD scholars. We appeal to the government to fulfill the public's expectations for the government to practise the high standards of integrity that it promotes, by revealing the 'PSD secrets' urgently. The writer is chairperson of the Center of Public Policy Studies Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Indian community's future is in shelving differences Posted: 13 Jun 2011 04:46 AM PDT We are an ethnic minority with an immigrant background and today we are enthusiastically accepted as an integral part of the local culture and society. We have successfully gone through a process of internalisation. Today we discover that we have deep rooted historical relationships with the land and have played a bigger role in the evolution of our national culture. But there exist glaring divisions and differences within the community. We are continuing to seriously ignore and neglect some of the underlying causes and challenges confronting Indians in Malaysia. For example:
Moreover no one can derive any wholesome benefit from the perpetuation of ethnic policies and social realities and we must carefully analyse and understand them in the correct perspective. We must engineer ways to integrate the community in a more meaningful manner with the rest of society and to reverse the present situation there must be a heightening of communal consciousness. P Thiagarajan, advisor for the non-political movement Malaysian Indian Voice said on Nov 27, 2010 that "while sorrow, happiness, pain suffering and joy are in separable in the journey of ones life we must not ignore and/or forget the greater struggle of the community. "The many needs of the community must be properly shaped and implemented. Such ideas shaped for the betterment of the community must be free from political influence and pressure. It must be shaped and implemented in the best interest of the community so as to ensure they are not neglected or kept in the dark". Thiagarajan is of the view that "there is a future for the community in this country. In the pursuit of the future we must come together collectively permanently shelving our differences". On the other hand V Ganabatirau, advisor for Malaysian Indian Voice on the same day said "…that the promotion and protection of the Malaysian Indian rights will result in integration that should create one common place for the minorities and majority with relations between them based on cultural , religion, linguistic and ethnic pluralism". He further reiterated that "minorities should not be discriminated within society, victimised by weak political participation and lack of equal access to economics, social and cultural rights". However, it is very true to say that many Indians remain blind and oblivious to many truths. V Raidu says "the question of equality and fairness continue to remain a highly debatable issue. Why? He emphasised that the only way to defend and safe guard the community is through the formulation/ formation of a new economic policy which will uplift and upgrade the communities socio economic". While these words of encouragements and criticisms (if any) against the community as a whole is necessary, it must never be forgotten that the success of any community must necessarily be through sacrifice, contributions and through collective effort. It must acquire knowledge and skills to move forward and must gain the competitive edge. The community must dispel and desist the feeling of discontentment and they must completely detach from the deplorable syndrome of dependency. They must never shy away from the feelings of inefficiency, weakness, disappointment and there is a need to constantly explore ways and means to improve their shortcomings and the community must take drastic and decisive action and the youths in particular must be more vigilant. Finally, in order to raise the community's political consciousness no one Indian should stand above the other, and instead should immerse himself among them and such engagement will advance the community in the right direction and may enhance the sense of belonging which is currently eroding steadily. Unless we undertake immediate pro-active steps and measures, formulate cohesive and coherent plans I am sure we will soon disintegrate into losing our identity and belonging in this country. The writer is an ex ISA detainee. |
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