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IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR ALL
The articles are captured from the original writer, MsMarina (with her permission). SambalBelacan is just compiling articles to make easier to find. Any comments received will remain un-respond because it's not mine.Reach her at her very own blog at http://rantingsbymm.blogspot.com/ Please.
==================================
IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR ALL
The articles are captured from the original writer, MsMarina (with her permission). SambalBelacan is just compiling articles to make easier to find. Any comments received will remain un-respond because it's not mine.Reach her at her very own blog at http://rantingsbymm.blogspot.com/ Please.
==================================
Wednesday January 5, 2011
Resolutions for one and all
MUSINGS By MARINA MAHATHIR
newsdesk@thestar.com.my
Malaysians from the famous to the not so famous and the man in the street ought to resolve this year to making the country be a better place for all. Here are some suggestions.
IT’S the New Year and, as with convention, we should really make resolutions, even though the chances of keeping them are slim.
I get more half-hearted about making them each year although my list nowadays tends to be short and realistic, with a 50% chance of being kept.
I do however like to indulge in making lists for other people.
For my children, I wish they would resolve to work harder at school and be tidier. For my colleagues and friends, I wish that they (and I) could brush aside small problems and concentrate on the big ones.
Needless to say, I can’t help but wish for resolutions from our various public figures, particularly those in government. Here’s a list, in no particular order.
I wish that our Government would resolve to:
1. Slap down rather than merely slapping the wrists of those public figures and politicians who misbehave. Just say “that’s nonsense and we won’t stand for it!” rather than the wishy-washy “we must investigate” reaction. Or worse still, complete silence.
2. Stop twisting words in order to spin what’s wrong into what’s right.
3. Stop using simpering journalists to interview politicians because they do a great job of convincing the public that both they and their interviewees are nothing but idiots.
4. Stop demonising people who are critical and calling them traitors when they probably love their country more than most.
5. Stop being afraid of those who think that getting ahead means getting handouts for everything in the belief that this will let them stand tall.
6. Do the right thing even when it may make them unpopular for a while. Ban plastic bags. Push for safer sex. Outlaw child marriages.
7. Remind some people that they are paid by taxpayers to do their job and that does not entitle them to act as if they are God’s representatives on earth.
8. In fact, I truly wish we could just forget about having to use taxpayers’ money to pay anyone who is likely to believe they are God’s representatives on earth.
9. Allow more consultation with people on the ground who know what communities need for their own development. Maybe have a policy that ensures that absolutely nobody is marginalised for any reason.
10. Overhaul the entire education system to make it more open, democratic, and at par with the best in the world. And completely eradicate politics from it.
11. Make sports and the arts as important as economic development because we need to have a country with soul.
12. Ban the habit of giving titles to sports, arts and entertainment figures until they’re at least 50 or have had significant achievements in their field for a number of years. Roger Federer has been No 1 in the tennis world for a record-breaking 237 weeks and the Swiss government still hasn’t made him a Datuk.
I wish politicians would resolve to:
1. Stop politicking and concede that sometimes the other side can be right.
2. Work together more on issues that affect everyone. Australia’s successful HIV programme worked well because from the very beginning, the government and opposition decided it was a bipartisan issue.
3. Be more self-reflective. And breathe before they say anything.
4. Get rid of sexism everywhere it is found, especially in political parties, in Parliament and State Assemblies and in general commentary.
5. Come out and unequivocally condemn violence against women, no ifs, no buts.
6. Publicly shake the hand of an HIV-positive adult.
I wish the police would resolve to:
1. Ticket every single person who double and triple park on Fridays and not excuse them just because they are apparently communing with God. Or, watching football.
2. Stop finding parangs in the cars of every single person who accuses them of wrongdoing.
3. Stop shrugging their shoulders every time someone complains of their bags being snatched, laptops stolen etc. Police reports aren’t just for claiming insurance or getting new ICs done.
I wish Malaysians in general would:
1. Use their car signal lights for a change
2. Queue
3. Park in the right places, dead straight and not encroach onto empty spots.
4. Not double and triple park in front of mosques on Fridays and think that God is OK with it.
5. Stop waiting for someone else to do something
6. Stop putting down people who do something
7. Stop reading so much gossip and trash. It really doesn’t reflect well on us.
8. Stop believing everything they read. Just because it’s on the Internet really doesn’t make it truer.
9. Register to vote if they haven’t yet.
10. Remember that their votes are valuable and should not be given away on empty promises.
Happy 2011, folks!
Resolutions for one and all
MUSINGS By MARINA MAHATHIR
newsdesk@thestar.com.my
Malaysians from the famous to the not so famous and the man in the street ought to resolve this year to making the country be a better place for all. Here are some suggestions.
IT’S the New Year and, as with convention, we should really make resolutions, even though the chances of keeping them are slim.
I get more half-hearted about making them each year although my list nowadays tends to be short and realistic, with a 50% chance of being kept.
I do however like to indulge in making lists for other people.
For my children, I wish they would resolve to work harder at school and be tidier. For my colleagues and friends, I wish that they (and I) could brush aside small problems and concentrate on the big ones.
Needless to say, I can’t help but wish for resolutions from our various public figures, particularly those in government. Here’s a list, in no particular order.
I wish that our Government would resolve to:
1. Slap down rather than merely slapping the wrists of those public figures and politicians who misbehave. Just say “that’s nonsense and we won’t stand for it!” rather than the wishy-washy “we must investigate” reaction. Or worse still, complete silence.
2. Stop twisting words in order to spin what’s wrong into what’s right.
3. Stop using simpering journalists to interview politicians because they do a great job of convincing the public that both they and their interviewees are nothing but idiots.
4. Stop demonising people who are critical and calling them traitors when they probably love their country more than most.
5. Stop being afraid of those who think that getting ahead means getting handouts for everything in the belief that this will let them stand tall.
6. Do the right thing even when it may make them unpopular for a while. Ban plastic bags. Push for safer sex. Outlaw child marriages.
7. Remind some people that they are paid by taxpayers to do their job and that does not entitle them to act as if they are God’s representatives on earth.
8. In fact, I truly wish we could just forget about having to use taxpayers’ money to pay anyone who is likely to believe they are God’s representatives on earth.
9. Allow more consultation with people on the ground who know what communities need for their own development. Maybe have a policy that ensures that absolutely nobody is marginalised for any reason.
10. Overhaul the entire education system to make it more open, democratic, and at par with the best in the world. And completely eradicate politics from it.
11. Make sports and the arts as important as economic development because we need to have a country with soul.
12. Ban the habit of giving titles to sports, arts and entertainment figures until they’re at least 50 or have had significant achievements in their field for a number of years. Roger Federer has been No 1 in the tennis world for a record-breaking 237 weeks and the Swiss government still hasn’t made him a Datuk.
I wish politicians would resolve to:
1. Stop politicking and concede that sometimes the other side can be right.
2. Work together more on issues that affect everyone. Australia’s successful HIV programme worked well because from the very beginning, the government and opposition decided it was a bipartisan issue.
3. Be more self-reflective. And breathe before they say anything.
4. Get rid of sexism everywhere it is found, especially in political parties, in Parliament and State Assemblies and in general commentary.
5. Come out and unequivocally condemn violence against women, no ifs, no buts.
6. Publicly shake the hand of an HIV-positive adult.
I wish the police would resolve to:
1. Ticket every single person who double and triple park on Fridays and not excuse them just because they are apparently communing with God. Or, watching football.
2. Stop finding parangs in the cars of every single person who accuses them of wrongdoing.
3. Stop shrugging their shoulders every time someone complains of their bags being snatched, laptops stolen etc. Police reports aren’t just for claiming insurance or getting new ICs done.
I wish Malaysians in general would:
1. Use their car signal lights for a change
2. Queue
3. Park in the right places, dead straight and not encroach onto empty spots.
4. Not double and triple park in front of mosques on Fridays and think that God is OK with it.
5. Stop waiting for someone else to do something
6. Stop putting down people who do something
7. Stop reading so much gossip and trash. It really doesn’t reflect well on us.
8. Stop believing everything they read. Just because it’s on the Internet really doesn’t make it truer.
9. Register to vote if they haven’t yet.
10. Remember that their votes are valuable and should not be given away on empty promises.
Happy 2011, folks!
