Finally a long overdue post, well not that long, it's less than 3 weeks... since i'm sitting in my hometown with nothing to do (spurred also by a letter my friend wrote to Malaysia kini on a little bit of what i wanted to say..well it's related...--> here )... so i thought, now is the best time to write about this...

well, what do i wish to talk about.. nothing else but nationalism...

looking up nationalism in the dictionary, i got three meanings...

1. patriotic feelings, principles, or efforts
2. an extreme form of this, especially: marked by the feeling of superiority over other countries
3. advocacy of political independence for a particular country e.g Palestinian Nationality
   

Malaysia's nationalism... should be interpreted as the first meaning. where our citizens possess patriotic feelings, principles and efforts...

The most nationalistic people, seem to be in BN, in a specific party which i shall not name.. since the government refuses to do away with the sedition act, nor the ISA.. my hands are tied...

in the name of nationalism, what has happened? roads were renamed from English names (the British communal rule times) to Malay names...

i wonder why... it wasn't necessary.. keeping the English names, is just a part of our history.. with the world going through globalisation, and with the internet rampant, trying to hide history is pointless. whether it was good or bad, it was the past, and it makes up the country.. so why change it? i find that there's nothing wrong with it.. but it's all in the name of nationalism...

imagine it would be nice to explain to some tourists, or foreign friends, why was this certain road called Jalan Raffles (something i made up over Stamford Raffles, who if i recall correctly was in the British India Trading Company and took over Penang in 1886..)

it was all in the name of nationalism.. that they changed the name to Malay.. this may not be significant, and it may be my own personal opinion, but it seems to be telling us, that English isn't important, our history isn't important... forget it all...

secondly, the education system... 20 years ago,(from our parents' time) from using English as a medium of teaching.. due to the word, nationalism all syllables were changed to Malay... one wonders what is the purpose of this... the English medium of teaching has worked so well for the country.. just look at it.. the people from our parent's time.. i really admire them, they are of a total different standard to us, who were forced to learn everything in Malay..

i'm not saying that it is a bad thing to study in Malay.. but subjects such as Science and Maths, should at least be learnt in English... something i realized when i entered College, and started my studies in English...

during your time in high school,we all feel that it's nothing wrong, because we are used to it, but once we enter private institutions we realize the benefits of studying in English... especially when we are "somewhat" fluent in the language..

not many of us are fluent when you think about it.. my English teacher's English, was way, way worse than i.. imagine that as i copied the exercises off the board, i was correcting the mistakes... what level of English do we expect our students to have when our own teachers standard of English is so horrid? but i digress for the time being..

now, the government has realized their mistake, after maybe 2 generations, and about 5 years ago, they started to teach science and maths in English in stages... the joke comes in now... where the government wants to change it all back to Malay.... because some students are having a hard time coping...

it will need at least another generation or 2 to see results rather than 5 years.... it really makes you think what on earth is the government thinking.. no wonder the 6 states (it's 5... but by default, it should be 6!) voted them out...

the government doesn't know what to do that is right, they only think bout garnering the votes to stay in power.. to do things, which they do best.. which again i shall not say.... due to some certain acts....

the fickle-mindedness of the government... all due to the word nationalism... they can't decide what is best.. they are short sighted, as has been evident with all the reports i read in the newspaper...

because of nationalism.. they take out certain subjects which they think aren't important to us to study... leaving us a situation where we are neither here nor there... their nationalism is fallacious... it is mistaken.. they think that they are doing good, by being nationalistic, when in actual fact they are paving the way for our doom..

just look at it.. due to the medium of teaching being in Malay... and even to enter into the local public universities, a credit in Malay is needed... where has the standard got us to?

our education system mind you isn't the best.. studies have shown that you can tell whether a child is smart or other wise at the age of about 5.. but all this brightness goes down the drain.. due to non other than the education system.. where we are forced to merely memorize things in the books, and regurgitate... there is no space for independent thinking nor creativity..

this results in mere zombies, who enter universities to continue the process of being spoon fed... an acquaintance of my parents, a lecturer for the engineering facility in a public university once said.. if you teach the class how to built a 3 storey building, and later ask them to built a 6 storey building... they haven't a clue how.. this is the standard of our public universities..

a friend of mine, in a public university, once told me.. the number of people that drop out... because they couldn't keep up, was huge.. what with the quota system.. people that don't deserve to be in the universities, are there, and those who deserve it, can't get in... just read the papers... a straight 11A student couldn't get a scholarship whereas her/his friend who is a Malay with only 7As could get one.. it's discrimination.. after at least 3 generations, non-Malays are still being treated like we aren't Malaysians...

some even entered the public universities with only 3As.. and we wonder why are the standards of our universities dropping so badly....

it's no mystery... where we can afford it, we would rather go to private universities, and ultimately overseas... and not bother to return.. causing a brain drain to the country... who would like to return to a country that treats you as a second class citizen? where ever we non Malays go in this world, we are still second class citizens. if that is so, who wouldn't want to go to a country that gives its second class citizens equal opportunity? (some of us are still here, because we don't have a choice.. others have their own various reasons...)

the government was yet again short-sighted. even their own MPs are graduates from overseas.. long gone were the days when you could proudly shout out.. "I GRADUATED FROM UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA" nope, those days are long gone..

heck, with the government giving scholarships to send students overseas, don't you think they are admitting it themselves that our universities quality is low? in other countries, only those who couldn't make it to the public universities are forced to spend more money and study overseas, what BN is doing is the total opposite!! no wonder the country is suffering...

with the quotas.. aren't they saying that their own people the Malays are useless? and need to be protected? how long can you keep protecting them? if you keep protecting them, then they will remain forever useless... i personally don't think they are useless... they can do what everyone can, they just need to be more hard working, and stop waiting for BN to spoon feed them...

BN, by protecting the Malays like this.. they will never be independent.. it breeds racism and discontent.. it stalls progress.. and loads of other things... but i guess that is BN's main goal, so that they can keep on garnering votes from the Malay community to stay in power, as they made the Malays believe that without UMNO, they are defenceless little babies.. (which they aren't by the way, you just need to wean them off the baby bottle, and let them stand on their two feet... heck, some have already taken the initiative to wean their selves...)

The government didn't think.. that with their nationalism, with their stupid quotas.. that they were practically bringing the country in to a slow kill... or maybe they did realise... but were too selfish... either way it was a short sighted move... sadly now we are reaping what was sowed of these bad seeds..

these bad seeds has caused our education system, to be of low quality, the Ringgit to depreciate, as a lot of our Ringgit flows out of the country to pay for quality education unavailable in our own country...

we are suffering from a brain drain....as more youths refuse to return to the country.... it promotes racism, resulting in the country being unable to move forward.. our economy is suffering a backlash (NEP)... it opens up the path for cronyism, nepotism and corruption... etc. etc. the list is endless...

it's hopeless.... nationalism is good... but the way it was used was totally wrong.... it's bringing the country down, with short sighted Member of Parliaments(MP), who selfishly think only of their own well being..

nationalism shouldn't be instilled only in the Malays, but in all Malaysians, regardless of race... that's the biggest mistake that BN made this past 50 years, and have no idea to remedy,(what with their race based politics) as they run around like headless chickens, still trying to figure out what happened in the March 8 elections...

***

on another note.. as i read the newspapers everyday.. i can't stop myself from thinking.. no wonder this country is going to the dogs...

why do i say that? read the papers yourself..

They are blaming PKR for the pig farming in Selangor.. Who approved the project? BN did...
Giving PKR a rude acronym in parliament.. you are left wondering.. did the Rembau MP really graduate from Oxford..
the ex Chief Minister (CM) for Selangor.. Khir Toyo (was his name?) is another brainless git... the new CM of Selangor, announced that the majority of the projects approved by the previous government is to the detriment to the state... guess what the ex CM said?
if you don't like it cancel them all...

in case some of you don't find anything wrong with that let me explain a little.
All those projects are acquired by way of contracts, you can't just cancel a contract when and as you please, you face a threat of law suit to do that.. your will have to around a long way, to remedy all this nonsense that BN caused...

there were plenty of other instances.. but the ones mentioned above are the most recent ones..

i'm really left wondering... do the BN MPs have any brains?? even if you want to boycott PKR.. do it properly.. it's a game of stealth you now... i played the Singapore version of Bridge, a card game... in this game, unlike the usual game of bridge, partners are not predetermined, but are randomly partnered, by a sign, usually a certain card. you may play the whole game without knowing who your partner is... it's a game of stealth and strategy...

some people don't get the game, the moment they realise that this certain person is their partner, they immediately go all out to aid that person, making it obvious that he/she is the other person's partner... that's the wrong way to go around... you should keep your identity to yourself while secretly helping your partner.. that is the gist of the game.. and well.. i think BN is just digging their own graves, with their brainless tactics of boycott..

among the few things that i will mention.. i will try to mention the most prominent ones..

1. their usual tactics is to withdraw federal funds...
--> stupid move.. why? everyone pays taxes.. this makes the people more angry.. the money is ours, what right do they have to withhold the people's money? also, the states which they are not providing funds, are the jewels of Malaysia, states which can survive, with prudent administration without federal aid...

2. saying that the new government hasn't done a thing..
--> hello? they have to pick up BN's shit.. with all the missing documents as well, of course it's harder to administrate... they need time to collect information, because BN stole them all when they lost the election (sue me for saying that..but i'm right! it is theft! the offices were left empty, and the documents presumably destroyed).. besides Parliament only commenced not long ago.. and you know.. within weeks of being in power, they have done a few things...

3. blaming PKR for meaningless projects i.e the Pig Farming project being the most prominent one in the news now..
--> PKR just came into power after March 8.. it's only 2 months since then.. do you think they had the time to go around making contracts, when they have to scavenge for shredded documents? those contracts were made by BN for their own cronies.. imagine, in the recent case of the developers getting 70% profits.. most of them have no experience at all.. and there was no open tender.. it's obviously the case of cronysim, nepotism, and corruption...

4. blaming online media, especially bloggers, for the turn of events
--> it's their fault they lost the elections, yet they are still in denial. they still remain arrogant and egoistical, that it isn't their fault they lost, and they keep pushing the blame here and there, much to the chagrin of the people. most ironic? blame the bloggers, and they started blogging themselves...

5. trying to invoke scare tactics, that another May 13 will occur.. arresting people for publishing "seditious" articles and comments..
--> May 13 doesn't work on the younger generation.. putting 1+1 we know it equals 2.. there's been a lot of speculation and analysis that it was done by They-who-must-not-be-named for their own benefits... arresting Raja Petra?? no matter how i look at the article.. if Raja Petra really was in the wrong... shouldn't he be sued for defamation? an abuse of government power, to arrest him.. again.. the people get angrier at BN

there's plenty more, but i think these are the most prominent ones for the time being...

even with this few, "attempts" at boycotting PKR.... BN is digging their own grave... as the days go by.. the people's patience, especially urban folks, educated people, with the means to enter the gateway of the world... we grow impatient, frustrated and angrier at BN... come next election.. i wonder if they will retain their majority in Parliament?

i for one, remain sceptical...

-Oracl3-