The Story of Stuff

Something which all of us should be concerned about. Do take about 20 mins to watch this clip.

The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard

Thursday, October 04, 2007

HARDTALK with our Foreign Minister







Looks like our problems are no longer just limited to our own Nation. HARDTALK interviews our Foreign Minister Dato Seri Syed Hamid Albar on all the sensitive topics.

I have to say I am disagreeing with a lot of what he is saying.

"The important thing is that Malaysians feel they are Malaysians. We recognize our diversity is a source of our strength. There is no need for us to change the rules or law."

"We are able to exercise unity."

"But if you look in reality, what is happening is that the economic growth of the non-Malays is faster after the National Economic Policy than before..blahblah...even the Indians have a better household income than the Malays."

The following has to be one of the most contradictory statements I've ever heard:
"So I think that if you take it out of the ethnic dimension then you will see that it is the function of any government to help the less fortunate to make sure the divide that is based on ethnic division can be overcome."

How does that 'take out the ethnic dimension'? If you remove ethnicity from that point of view, the main reason why there would be 'fortunates' and 'less fortunates' is because some people were more hardworking and opportunistic than others. Or they really just got lucky. Besides, that doesn't explain the fact that the poor get poorer and the rich get richer does it?

I was keeping track of all the things he said up till a point when I just gave up because it seemed that his train of thought was just along one line - a one track mind, if you will. I can understand that he doesn't want to bring the country's reputation down but I feel that a lot of what he said was from behind whatever law it is that is protecting their interests. Honestly, you can say whatever you want but I'm sure a lot of people will be disagreeing with you and I don't think we're safe from another May 13 incident if this carries on.

Check out the lame-ass reason he gave for why there have been no other ethnicities in the top cabinet positions since 1973.

Sigh. Another attempt to sweep things under the carpet and have a knee-jerk reaction when something happens? He says it isn't but I guess we'll find out the hard way.
Someone posted some good comments about the video on Youtube saying how hard it is to run a government and that they're trying to improve things. Well said, whoever you are and I applaud you. However it is painfully obvious that whatever it is they are doing, it certainly isn't working. Instead of improving things are getting worse and if that isn't a sign, I don't know what is.

Sigh.

3 comments:

Steve said...

I heard that all private companies have to have 40% malay engineers. And the latest on is that the public sector will only accept grads with stpm or matriculation. Looks like its more advantages for them again...

lupdup said...

"I was keeping track of all the things he said up till a point when I just gave up because it seemed that his train of thought was just along one line - a one track mind, if you will."

Interestingly, you can stand from their point of view and argue the same thing, that non-malays have a one track mind: "Scrap away the bumiputera rights!"

I have been involved with this argument for the longest time, but I am now resigned to this fact: both sides are unwilling to compromise in anyway, and both are unwilling to firmly challenge the other, and therefore everything persists in a bickering status quo for decades.

The only way this can be resolved, in my opinion, is through a VIOLENT revolution. To build a new nation from the ashes of the old. But is freedom and equality worth the instability of a conflict? That is what the people has to decide.

(Note: In case the ISA wanna arrest me or something, take note that I have no interest to perform terrorist acts or incite ethnic violence, I'm merely discussing about a hypothetical resolution.)

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