Downsouth : Not all things beautiful...

1. I have said it before and will repeat it here. I don't like to be drawn in other sountry's biz but once in a while, we need to look abroad to see that Malaysia is not that bad, afterall.
2. Browsing through the letter section of Malaysiakini, I chanced upon 2 letters written by Vijay Kumar and Rachel Loo and in their own way expressed their experience living south of the border. In part, they observed :-
   • 80 % of the population stay in HDB's (housing development board) low cost flat;
   • High medical expenses;
   • Car ownership is a priviledge;
   • Authoritarian management;
   • No grievances procedures;
   • Stressful youths;
   • "face" conscious;

3. From their observations, it is clear to them that no all that sparkles is gold. High medical expenses differentiate the healthy from the less unfortunate. Those with more than 1 terminal disease is left to fend on their own without the state's welfare.
   
4. Cars registration plates come in many forms, and not all cars can be on the road at all times.
5. That's what I gather from the 2 letters. It may be an exasgeration. Only those in the country can confirm or deny. Even that also if they can voiced out their opinions.
6. As I see it, if the citizens in the south could not enjoy their chewing gums, how can they dictate how they want to spend their lives or their savings? See how "free" they act when they pass through the CIQ and enter Johore? How they "transformed" into speed merchants and ape their northern neighbours in "landscaping" the highways with letters? If we take that as the norm, then maybe what the letters say is true.
7. Some say that our southern neighbour is "face" conscious, or it might be reflection of their society's demands. Live in a highly demand society and that's a price you have to pay.
8. A man's meat is another man's poison. Some may say that we are ready to face the challenges. Why? Because they think that they are well equipped with the right qualifications. But are we? What about the rest of us? Those rural folks, are they ready? Or will they be devoured by the beast of modernisation?
   
9. You have your say as I have mine. No matter what you think, I will always feel at home in this land we call Malaysia...for those who choose to venture out and seek greener pastures down south, may you have the best and may you thrive hard to be the best there and some in Batam too :)
   

Till then...G'nite M'sia...wherever u are...