Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Have our parents generation caused the rift between races in Malaysia?
- That Effing Show 54: How to spot a racist?
- BN Federal Government paid 73% higher than the market value of Syabas bonds to bail out its ...
| Have our parents generation caused the rift between races in Malaysia? Posted: 26 May 2011 09:37 PM PDT I remember as a child being told by my parents that I am not to forget my heritage, my culture, where my ancestors are from. I was sent to classes to learn my native language and to learn classical singing. All this was expected of me, to ensure I did not forget my roots. By Nitya Kamalanathan
I am currently a PhD student in the United Kingdom, my first time in England. When people ask me about Malaysia, I beam, telling them how wonderful our country is and our food! Oh that is my favourite topic of discussion. We come from a country bursting with flavour, warmth, culture and diversity all of which have been the building blocks of the country. The three representing races of Malaysia each have rich traditions and cultures, which have blended together to produce a Malaysian culture of which I am proud to say I am a part. I remember as a kid celebrating the lantern festival with my neighbours, buying little lanterns and watching them float away into the darkness of the night; I remember in school making ketupats during Hari Raya and hanging them around school and I remember for Deepavali having little girls dance bharata natyam in school, and sharing murukku and mixing with my friends. As I grew older, I felt the rift between the respective groups. What caused this? I remember as a child being told by my parents that I am not to forget my heritage, my culture, where my ancestors are from. I was sent to classes to learn my native language and to learn classical singing. All this was While having a little chat with my friends over here in my research area, one particular friend (a foreigner who lived in Malaysia for several years) mentioned how evident it was that the races are struggling to preserve their own individual identity. This triggered a recollection of memories and encounters in the past which too made me wonder if being caught up in preserving one's unique culture and traditions, people have drifted from embracing the uniqueness of Malaysia and the rich diversity in cultures, traditions and ancestry. I understand the pressing dilemma of culture dilution, and the striving to maintain each group's uniqueness and identity. However does mingling with others dilute mine? I have grown up with exposure to people of all walks of life and yet I enjoyed listening to my grandparents stories of their childhood and how things were then. I also enjoyed learning to sing classical songs and learnt to read and write my mother tongue, but that never caused me to want to surround myself only with people of 'my own kind'. Personally, I have valued the time spent with my friends learning about their culture, traditions and experiencing the difference. Recently a string of my best friends got married; one was a fairytale Christian wedding, one was a dazzling Malay Nikah ceremony and the other a bright and colourful Indian wedding. Each of them was beautiful and special in their own way and wearing different outfits according to the different ceremonies was exciting. We are so gifted to have the opportunity in Malaysia to experience such a variety of traditions that bring two people together. Embracing the diversity of the cultures, tradition and food has always been a delight to me. Everyone has some good and some not so good to offer. At the end of the day we are all human and we all have some good and some not so good to offer. Mingling with others and participating in their traditions has never threatened my own identity, as at the end of the day I am aware of who I am and who I want to be. Once, I was also told by someone I look up to, that a culture can best be defined in relation to other cultures. It is the differences in cultures that make each culture perceptibly different, and therefore unique and individual. So, experiencing the differences between your own and other cultures leads you to recognise the good and bad points of your own. This shouldn't, of course, mean that you are liable to reject or neglect your own cultural traditions. Globalisation has made us all 'citizens of the world', for better or worse. This gives us all more opportunities to see other cultures, to compare them with our own and to share in their traditions. At the same time we can appreciate our own culture and traditions more realistically, without having to abandon them. So to all Malaysians like me, I say let's celebrate the gift of diversity presented to us. |
| That Effing Show 54: How to spot a racist? Posted: 26 May 2011 09:35 PM PDT Dear fellow Malay-sians, Whether it's UMNO or PAS. Whether it's MCA or DAP. Whether it's some teacher in a rural school telling the Chinese to go back to China. But how do we distinguish between the real racists from those folk who are just having a laugh; from all those folk who have just been misinterpreted and misunderstood? How do we tell them apart? But do not fret. Have no fear. You've come to the right place. Because we've done all the work for you. We tell you just how to spot a racist. We are not racist, PopTeeVee latest projek: 1955 Baling Talks at 2011 Singapore Arts Festival |
| BN Federal Government paid 73% higher than the market value of Syabas bonds to bail out its ... Posted: 26 May 2011 04:44 PM PDT Media Statement by Tony Pua, DAP National Publicity Secretary and Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya Utara On Wednesday 25 May, The Edge Financial Daily reported that Syarikat Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd (PAAB) will acquire the bonds issued by the Selangor state water concessionaires through its-wholly owned subsidiary Acqua SPV Bhd for the amount of RM6.5 billion. The paper further quoted a market source that "in terms of price, the buying back is at 94.49 against mark to market value of only 54.54 at the end of last month". It is bad enough that the Federal Government has decided to bail out the Selangor water concessionaires, but for it to pay a whopping 73.2% higher than the market vallue of these bonds borders on being outrageous and an abuse of taxpayers' monies. This rescue deal for the private concessionaires is reminiscent of the Malaysian Airlines System (MAS) bailout when the Federal Government paid RM8.00 per share, or 121% higher than the market price of RM3.62 per share to Naluri Bhd, owned by Tan Sri Tajuddin Ramli in December 2000. In fact, the Government has yet to see any returns on its "investment" for the stock price has slumped to RM1.59 (as at yesterday) or a 80.1% decline for its investment after 10 years. MAS continues to be troubled as it made RM242.3 million in losses for its first quarter this year in its financial results released this week with no end in sight to its problems. It is inexplicable that the Government has decided to settle the outstanding bonds of these privatised water companies when it should be the shareholders of these companies themselves who should be responsible for their own debt. In fact, when these companies were profitable, they have declared handsome dividends for their shareholders. Among the concessionaires, Syarikat Pengeluaran Air Sungai Selangor Holdings (SPLASH), whose parent company is Gamuda Bhd, declared dividends of RM578.6 million in 2007 while Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd had declared dividends amounting to RM214 million between 2006 and 2010. The above certainly makes true the dictum of the BN Government privatising profits and socialising losses by taking over the debt burden of these companies. The debt bailout is worsened by the fact that the Government has not been transparent with the whole exercise when the Minister of Energy, Water and Green Technology, Datuk Peter Chin announced that there has been no cabinet decision on the matter earlier this week. To date, we still do not know how the Federal government plans to restructure the water industry in Selangor based on the Water Services Industry Act 2006 after taking over these debts and whether these private concessionaires would be required to repay the Government for the bailout, despite the denial of a "bailout" by the Minister. The Minister must no longer pretend to be clueless about the entire exercise and disclose the full terms of the bailout exercise as this affects the basic right to water of all residents in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya as well as billions of ringgit of tax-payer's monies. Unless of course, he is completely powerless in his own Ministry, with key decisions made without his knowledge, in which case, he should then just resign honourably to protect his personal reputation and integrity.
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan