Is Malaysia the dirtiest nation in SE Asia??

Reading this bit of news, 11 police trainees treated for flu like illness really made us wonder if Malaysia is not the dirtiest country in the region. At first it would seem like only all the Police and Army training centres are dirty, as according the Minister of Health, the adenovirus and the H1N1 viruses are everywhere and he has emphasised that only clean and well ventilated premises will help check the spread of this scourge. The frequency of trainees getting dangerously ill at these training centres make us wonder if those responsible for the maintenance of the training centres know anything about cleanliness and the prevention of disease.

However, when such negligence is viewed against the larger picture of our dirty eateries, the incidence of leptospirosis in rubbish laden camping sites, and the frequent complaints by local and foreign tourists of our faeces filled toilets, these 'facts' give justification to our notoriety.

It is difficult for academics and cultural analysts to explain why Malaysians have such dirty habits. Could it be that all of us, at one time or another come from another country, and except for the Orang Asli, cannot feel sufficient "ownership" to the land we now call Home, or as one of my learned friends has postulated , it's because of our dependency on foreign workers that we have 'inherited' a mentality that is uncaring and indifferent. For example, what sort of future generations that will inherit Malaysia, when in their formative years, they are looked after by maids who have not even seen a flush toilet, or who think that monsoon drains and the floor are places you can throw your garbage in?

Retirement Homes?

I read this letter from Lily Fu, Plan for your Golden years..... and agree with her that in the current "Age of the Rat Race", leaving your aged parents in Good nursing homes is not a sign of decreasing filial piety but borne of out dire necessity. However, she rightly emphasized on "Good" nursing homes, as from experience, almost all of the homes currently in operations in the country are usually places where you would not even wish upon your enemies! I do visit homes on a fairly regular basis, and from what I have observed even in the "best" of them, we really would be heartless thinking that such places are really those abodes that we want to leave our cherished parents and relatives to see out their remaining part of their lives in some form of dignity. Most of these homes are guilty of one or more of the following:

• Caregivers are usually underpaid and UNTRAINED foreign workers, some of them even working illegally.
  
• Almost half of them hold down two jobs, to make ends meet, and as such their performance suffers, I have seen one foreign 'cook' who doubled up as a night shift caregiver, and sleeps most of the time, leaving the inmates unattended
• To prevent the demented, or the depressive residents from making nuisances of themselves, they are tied up most of the time, to the beds, except during "feeding" time
• To manage time, as the homes are always undermanned, caregivers normally bathe the residents very early, and sometimes even bathe them in groups, with cold water
• Dinner is usually given between 5 to 6 pm, and the residents are packed off to bed immediately after that, leaving the caregivers free to rest, or to take on the second job.
• There is no interaction between the caregivers and the residents, most of whom are left in front of TV sets, or tied up in bed, in between meals.
  
• Even the elderly who are mobile, but need assistance or a walking frame, soon become disabled and wheelchair ridden, once they move to the nursing homes, as they will be forced to wear diapers, and not allowed to 'move on their own'. Caregivers don't have the time or the patience to look after the stronger ones individually
  
• Exercise equipment and walkways are just for show, as without assistance most of the residents soon become too weak to use them on their own
• The food given to the residents in most of these homes are pitiful and tasteless. I know of a 'classy' home that offers a blind resident, fried meehoon the whole day
• Most of the homes are also converted from old residential houses, and are not purpose built to care for the elderly. I have seen homes where the elderly and the sick are just left lying in lobbies of such homes, just next to a reception counter.
  

Some children will use such homes to "abandon" their parents, other will use hospitals.

Unless there is a conscious effort to 'humanise' geriatric nursing care in the country, by giving generous tax incentives/holidays for the setting up of proper nursing homes, and by initiating proper training for professional caregivers on a large scale, to me, sending your parents to the care of a nursing home in Malaysia at the present moment, can be a very traumatic experience for either party, and one which you will not want to wish upon yourself when the time arrives..

Good nursing homes only with incentives!

Don't shift the blame to Alam Flora

I refer to your report, Alam Flora told to axe errant contractors, and while I feel that some Alam Flora contractors have been indifferent in their jobs, the 'couldn't care less' and totally selfish attitudes of most residents need to be addressed. How would you expect the Alam Flora contractors to do a proper job, when they are already undermanned and under equipped, and on top of that the residents and businessmen do not cooperate to make rubbish collection a more methodical chore. Examples of the selfish attitudes are:

• Residents NOT using proper dustbins, and just scatter their rubbish in loosely tied plastic bags all over the place, especially at corners of quiet areas
• Residents NOT doing their bit to separate their waste into recyclable, non-recyclable and food waste
• residents who deliberately throw their Rubbish next to the bins allocated for the purpose, and not inside the bins themselves,
• Residents who don't take out the rubbish according to designated collection days,
• Residents, businessmen, foreign workers, and students who use drains and roadways as rubbish dumps for their empty plastic bags, Styrofoam containers, cigarette boxes, etc
• people who throw rubbish out of moving vehicles
• Hawkers who use backlanes to wash and throw away food waste, attracting rats and cockroaches
• people who leave old mattresses, side tables, broken chairs, fans, etc., along the roadside, expecting Alam Flora to pick them up,
• and many other ugly habits

We need also ways to inculcate caring attitudes into our residents, people who appreciate others who do the 'dirty' work for them, and not treat the whole country side like a landfill

Residents should cooperate in getting rid of rubbish

war on illegal loggers

While we laud the Minister's statement in the report ,Govt going all out to chop down illegal loggers, that the Government has declared war on illegal loggers who are saboteurs of the country’s environmental conservation efforts, I feel that it will still be an uphill task for the Ministry to undertake.

Besides stamping out the activities of illegal loggers through the implementation of stricter laws, effective surveillance and principled monitoring by the Ministry's officials are extremely necessary for the laws to do their part.

The Ministry should also strictly monitor the LEGAL loggers, who though they have approved licenses to log in certain areas, will encroach covertly into the protected areas on the pretext of legal logging. Such moves are admittedly difficult to detect, and it is only through honest surveillance that the Government can limit the damage to our reserves and the environment.

Lastly, the Government should study in depth the proposals put up by those legal loggers on sustainable forest development, and also ask ourselves this question. Can we ever replace a pristine 100 year old tree with a new sapling, and on the future of our forests, will there be a time when the Government calls for a moratorium on logging of Virgin forests, and limit logging to areas that have been 'reforested'. The present policy of State Governments giving away new forest land for logging will see the death of our forests,...

Think about it

keep a sharp lookout for illegal logging

Open-minded Indonesians..religious tolerance

When we talk about Indonesia from the religion point of view, we know that it is the largest Muslim nation in the world, and in recent times events of religious intolerance and extremism, like the burning of churches and violent protests have filled us with a negative view of the people there. My trip to Jogjakarta in April 2009 however has only given me memories of a friendly people of myriad religious beliefs co-existing side by side.

On arrival at the hotel, I did my usual check on things that are available in the room, and I was quite pleasantly surprised that in a drawer, laying side by side is a copy of the Bible AND the Quran, a very thoughtful gesture by the management for those who are in need of of the Book for solace. Switching on the TV, I had my second surprise. Not only were there hundreds of channels made available to the hotel guests, I even found a few channels broadcasting talks on Buddhism, and being Buddhists, my wife and I were touched.

The next day, we were met by our tour guide, a nice looking man called Josh Liem. I learned in the course of his stay with us that he is a Christian, but married to a Muslim, and his parents are practising Buddhists. He seemed so comfortable talking about it, and there seems genuinely no rancour and hostility among those in the family. He even took us to meet his father who was one of the members of a Buddhist temple in Jogja, who told us that during the religious festivities, Muslims take part in the celebrations and are also involved in its activities like the Lion Dance, etc.

The final surprise was when we were at the Borobudur Site, a famous Buddhist site dating from the 8th century. Special guides were provided for us at the site, and the person who took us around was a pretty lady, modestly clad in full Muslim attire with a tudung. She was very friendly and very knowledgeable about Buddhism. In fact, her knowledge of Buddhism, as we walked though the ruins of the temple and the hundreds of Buddha statues, put all of us in the group to shame! She told us that in spite of herself being a Muslim, she has no qualms studying up on Buddhism and other religions, as the knowledge can only make her a better person! What a breath of fresh air.

To me, these experiences have been certainly refreshing, and it shows that Indonesians, like all people by and large, are a very tolerant lot, and see nothing in people of different religions living side by side, accepting each other sincerely.

Open-minded Indonesians

When I read the news that the latest downpour creates havoc in Jalan Chan Sow Lin KL and how a motorist just managed to escape from his sinking car, I was reminded of the many times the authorities have praised how effective the SMART tunnel was, in alleviating the serious flood situation in KL. I am not sure the owner of the submerged car would think the same. I am actually surprised at the lack of an early warning system that would have saved the owner of the submerged car from a very scary and expensive experience.

So much for the KRAs and the KPIs of the Works Ministry. We sorely need a SMARTer system for flood prevention in KL, and soon. The authorities should also take into account the impending underground portion of the MRT and make sure it will not be also submerged during heavy downpours!

Sore need for smarter system

Sepang F1 circuit: Time to make it attractive

Reading the news that the Sepang F1 circuit is losing its competitiveness and attraction as a World class venue, SIC chief: Malaysia’s F1 event losing its lustre it unfortunately illustrates in a nutshell, all the problems our nation seems to be facing for the last 3 decades or so. The issues raised by the SIC Chief, Razlan Razali and Bernie Ecclestone appear to be a microcosm of the "Malaysian Malaise" Allow me to paraphrase them:

• "The circuit was built in a record time but unfortunately there were shortcuts and poor maintenance; the soaring roof needs to be replaced as the grandstand canopy has exceeded its lifespan and cannot cope with Malaysia’s tropical downpours." .. Cutting corners seem to be the way our contractors do things, either to make a fast buck, or they just lack the know-how and experience to build a reliable structure able to withstand the rigours of time
  
• Bernie Ecclestone said "Sepang is like “an old house that needs a bit of redecorating.” It’s starting to get a little shabby and looks a bit tired. There is rubbish all over the place and it’s not really a good sign for Malaysia
  
• Razlan also said... : The Malaysian event has also been outshone by neighbouring Singapore, which offers not just adrenaline-packed night racing on a street circuit, but teams it with live entertainment by big-name performers like Beyonce

It was sad to read what has been said, and to realise that we have acutally had a headstart against our neighbours, who do not even have land to build a circuit, but is now being referred to as the "jewel in the F1 crown"

Though the Sepang circuit is making losses, the economic impact of a successful and attractive F1 is undeniable; so why are we now falling so far behind? Indeed, the circuit is a 'tired looking venue' in need of rejuvenation.

We should do something about this, but sadly instead, we seem to be embroiled in a 'family' dispute, having two Malaysian parties trying to represent Lotus. Why have two "Malaysian" F1 cars, when we can only have a 'third world' stadium?

Sepang F1 circuit: Time to make it attractive