TwoSen

I HAVE heard countless sighs from both parents and primary students on the Bahasa Melayu syllabus for primary school and have often wondered why such syllabus was introduced in the first place.

My children go to a SJK (C) school. Some of their Bahasa Melayu lessons include terms and vocabulary that are beyond their comprehension, which is ridiculously unnecessary.

For example in Year 2, students are taught pening-pening lalat and ular kena palu.

How many adults even know the meaning of these terms?

These are just two examples. There are many words and terms that are so difficult for them that it’s killing their interest in the national language.

I believe that in making learning a fun experience, students should be taught lessons that are compatible to their level of understanding.

Some of their syllabus may be more suited for secondary school. Let’s hope the relevant authority simplify the subject.

If they are not aware of the difficulties pupils face, let’s invite them to attend classes and sit for the exams.

Let’s see if they know the simpulan bahasa, peribahasa and other related matter that children are struggling with.

MICHELLE ONG,

Subang Jaya.

Source: The Star – March 4, 2008

I want to call on the EPF to allow contributors to withdraw their yearly interest. Currently, only contributors above 55 years old can do so.

I strongly urge EPF to consider such a move especially for those unemployed or retrenched.

It is tough for people who have lost their source income to survive and if this was approved, they could at least depend on the yearly interest to live on till the situation improves.

Under the practice, contributors who have reached the age of 55 are allowed to withdraw the yearly interest while retaining the principal amount.

These contributors are treating EPF like another financial institution and they benefit from the yearly interest of 5.8%, which is much higher than the interest of 3.7% from banks.

CONSIDERATE,

Petaling Jaya.

Source: The Star – March 4, 2008

I refer to S.M. Mohamed Idris’ comment on “Beware of banks’ easy loans” (The Star, Feb 29).

While I agree with him that banks should act responsibly before giving out personal loans to consumers, it is ultimately the consumers themselves who must made a decision whether to borrow money.

I firmly believed that banks have followed the guidelines set and enforced by Bank Negara.

Rather than blaming banks, what is more important is that consumers must understand

how the consumer loan market works and exercise prudent financial management.

People must educate themselves by reading or seeking advice from credit and debt management agencies such as the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency or enquiring directly with bank officers how such loans work.

They must also ask themselves whether they really need the

loan. Regardless of the interest charged – which must be approved by Bank Negara first – consumers must do their homework.

Many a time, they do not compare rates between banks.

To jump to conclusion that banks are causing people to fall into debt is inaccurate as consumers must be responsible for their own actions.

Education is the key factor. Malaysian needs to cultivate the habit of learning how to use credit facilities properly and responsibly.

When such awareness is there, consumers will then make an informed and intelligent decision, one that is not driven merely by emotion.

CHRIS WONG LOKE SUAN,

National Youth Association of Malaysia (Persatuan Pemuda Negara Malaysia), Kuala Lumpur.

Source: The Star – March 4, 2008

I REFER to KAREN’S letter, “What an utter disgrace!” (The Star, March 3).

I have endured the same experience when I was posted to Saudi Arabia in 2006 and last year.

I was at the receiving end.

I was most of the time mistaken for a Filipino, who represents a significant portion of the foreign workers in the Saudi labour market. Filipinos are ill-treated in the country despite the world-class talents they offer in the service industry.

Current estimate of Malaysians in Jeddah where I am based is around 800, mostly women who work as nurses.

This makes a male Malaysian an unfamiliar face among the huge foreign worker population.

I was always treated in a degrading manner wherever I went, especially to places where Saudis frequented.

They looked at me like I was a third-class citizen, just like how we Malaysians sometimes treat our foreign workers be they Bangladeshis, Pakistanis or Indonesians.

I always treat foreign workers in Malaysia with respect, considering the sacrifices they have to make in leaving their families and country to earn a meagre income here.

But in Saudi Arabia, I experienced the bitter taste of discrimination. There I had the bad experience of being ignored and being treated very badly by bank officers even though my company had a pile of fixed deposits with their banks and I was the finance manager.

I had been chased out of shops selling female clothes since they said I was driving their Saudi customers away, frowned upon when entering shops selling designer labels, and even ignored by perfume salesmen who sprayed sample perfume to every customer but turned away when I approached them.

MOHD FAUDZI,

Petaling Jaya.

Source: The Star – March 4, 2008

I AM writing in to express my opinion on the conditions imposed on bankrupts by the authorities.

I understand the reason for having a bankrupt’s international passports withheld besides having him blacklisted by all financial institutions, making it impossible for him to secure a loan for any purpose.

However, I feel that the authorities concerned must also look into these measures on a case by case basis.

After a period of 10 years, the international passport of a bankrupt who has abided by the conditions imposed on him should be returned to him to enable him to travel with his family when necessary while the bankrupt should remain blacklisted until he or she settle the loan.

I feel this is not asking too much as even criminals are at times pardoned after a few years for good behaviour.

So why are bankrupts punished so severely?

I once again call on the authorities to treat bankruptcy cases on a case by case basis. Please help us regain some respect by being fair in handling genuine cases.

VOTER,

Selangor.

Source: The Star – March 4, 2008

It has been four years or so since the Education Minister announced that Mandarin classes would be offered at national primary schools, starting from those in the Federal Territory.

I was delighted when I read about it in the newspapers as I could send my children to the national school near my home and they could learn Mandarin without having to travel a longer distance to attend a Chinese primary school.

Four years on, I am not only disappointed but disillusioned as there is no such class in sight.

Instead, Bahasa Arab has been introduced at the school since 2005. Bahasa Arab does not belong to any race in Malaysia. How it can be given prominence over Mandarin and Tamil baffles us all.

Bahasa Arab is taught for an hour (two half-hour periods) each week. While the Bahasa Arab lessons are going on, students who are not compelled to do this subject often waste time doing nothing of importance or given a useless dose of classroom Physical Education.

I once found my child drawing pictures of PE apparatus while his counterparts are learning Bahasa Arab. Is this fair?

I have brought this up at Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) meetings but, sad to say, nothing constructive has come about. The reason given for an absence of Mandarin class was that the Education Ministry did not provide the school with a Chinese language teacher and that it was difficult to source for one.

It was suggested that I look for a teacher myself to start the Mandarin class in school. Whose responsibility is it to procure and fund teachers to teach in schools – the ministry, the school, the PTA or the parents?

The PTA organises many projects to improve the lot of the students. They should be commended for their efforts but I wish more emphasis is given to fulfil the students’ academic needs than on performing arts.

Excellent academic achievement surely is the core purpose of attending school while the other disciplines are also important, albeit secondary.

Meanwhile, while those students are learning an extra language in the comfort of school, we have to put up with the inconvenience and extra expense by sending our children to private Mandarin classes.

I wonder how many parents are aware of this situation or do they simply not care enough to find out what is happening in school?

I have also noticed that this year, the number of PJK (physical education) periods have been reduced from three to two.

Has the third PJK period been given up to accommodate the extra period for Bahasa Arab, which was only taught one period a week in previous years?

How much physical activity can be had in 30 minutes per week? To make matters worse, these classes often do not take place.

Making national schools the school of choice for all races? A long way to go indeed.

JEANNIE GOH,

Kuala Lumpur.

Source: The Star – March 4, 2008

I TOOK my daughter one afternoon to the National Registration Department to apply for her first MyKad. After filling in the forms, Iwas issued a number at 2.35pm. There were eight other applicants before me.

As I waited patiently for my turn, I noticed that the queue was not moving even after 45 minutes as therewere just two counters open. Attempts to contact the supervisor on duty was met with the typical public sector response: “Dia pergi meeting. ” Although eight counters were available, only two were manned. In an important department in a state capital, I find this hard to stomach. Only after I had kicked up a fuss did a supervisor appear and more counters were opened. When it got to my turn, I had to bear another public sector “sickness”: “System tak berfungsi.” When I was finally issued a receipt, it was 4.02pm. It had taken one-and-a-half hours to serve a queue of eight applicants. How can the chief secretary to the government’s assurance of a faster delivery system be fulfilled when certain officials have such bad work attitudes?

J.A. MONTEIRO, Ipoh

Source: NST – March 4, 2008

W.S. ADIBAH’S experience when her car broke down on the North-South Expressway and consequently being cheated by a man she perceived to be “kind and helpful” but who turned out to be a runner for a workshop is a common, unfortunate fact on our roads.

These runners or tow-truck touts make a living from commissions paid by workshops. They work in groups patrolling highways and roads, communicating incidents of vehicle breakdowns and accidents via radio, which is why they are always at the scene faster than the highway patrol vehicles.

In her letter (”Preying on those in trouble” — NST, Feb 28), Adibah mentioned that because she had her baby daughter with her at the time of the incident, her vulnerability influenced her decisions and she accepted help from the first person who approached her.

The runners and tow-truck touts are aware of this and capitalise on such moments to dupe unlucky road users into accepting help.

In cases of road accidents where the occupants are injured, they offer to take the injured to a hospital immediately. Anyone in such a situation would accept help without knowing what they were really getting into.

Injured victims would be moved and rushed to a hospital without any first aid or critical medical care being rendered beforehand.

This is done in a hurry as they fear losing the deal to a competitor from a different workshop. They do not even wait for the ambulance.

While it’s difficult to differentiate between a genuine offer of help from someone and those who make it their job to manipulate the unfortunate, road users should be aware of the existence of such people and the consequences of accepting their help.

Authorities and organisations like the Automobile Association of Malaysia and the Road Safety Department should look into this matter as many road users have fallen victim to the touts.

A solution needs to be formulated to guarantee that when a road user is faced with difficulty, help arrives from the right place at the right time.

Highway operators should increase the number of response vehicles on patrol and emergency services should ensure that help arrives promptly to take control of the situation.

NOEL SILAS SAVARIMUTHU, Klang

Source: NST – March 4, 2008

THE Consumers Association of Penang refers to “Focus on defects in canteens” (NST, Feb 25) by N.D. Nayagam of the Malaysian Association of Environmental Health.

The writer highlighted the weaknesses in some of the schools that he visited in Banting as part of an inspection team. He noted broken drains, poor drainage, poor and insufficient washing facilities, improper storage of raw food and fly infestation. These are serious violations of basic sanitation requirements.

He also noted that Health Department officers inspected these canteens only once last year and had failed to give a detailed report pointing out the defects and implications on pupils’ health or recommend how to overcome these defects.

There have been too many reports of food poisoning cases in schools over the past few months. If what the writer has described is a common scenario in more than a few canteens, and if the Health Department authorities are really taking school checks so lightly, then it would seem that we can only expect more cases of food poisoning in schools.

S.M. MOHAMED IDRIS for Consumers Association of Penang

Source: NST – March 4, 2008

WILL the Malays/Bumiputeras be happy if DAP wins more votes? The answer is no. Will the Chinese and other non-Muslims be happy if Pas wins more votes? The answer is also no.

Both DAP and PKR together with Pas claim to be associates in an alternative alliance when in fact they are silent rivals. So if DAP, PKR or Pas wins, it will not really make the other “associates” happy.

But a win by BN would make all moderate Malaysians, Malays/Bumiputeras, Chinese and Indians happy.

Unlike most countries, Malaysia has a population pattern with diverse cultures, religions and languages. There has to be a government represented by these diverse cultures, that harmonises these cultural differences.

The seed for this integrated sort of government was planted by Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Tan Cheng Lock and Tun Sambanthan many years ago.

In the absence of cultural assimilation which is still a far-off dream, we have to work on the basis of mere integration.

So as long as the existing population pattern persists, any other form of government will not work.

We Malaysians can only survive if BN, which is an intergrated form of government, survives.

In order for it to survive, Malaysians must be moderate politically. Moderation means that reasonable policies associated with peace and harmony should override political idealism. To be moderate is to be rational. We know how to translate moderation and rationality into voting actions.

Another side of Samy Vellu

I HAVE been following with great interest the verbal attacks on MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy VelIu. I feel compelled to share with readers the experience of my first meeting with him.

I came to know that he meets the public on Tuesdays at the MIC head office in Jalan Ipoh. I reached there at 7am and found out that the first group had gone in to see him at 6am. So I waited with the rest. Around 8.30am we went into the hall.

I was surprised to see the setting of the hall. Chairs were arranged in rows. I thought that he would be seated at one end and we would have to stand in queue to meet him.

On the contrary, we were asked to sit and the minister, who had started his session at 6am walked from one person to another to inquire what the grievances were.

He took the time to listen, advise and take note of everyone’s problem.

I watched him with awe. A true public servant he is. I don’t know whether all those present there then got what they went there for but I did. Thanks to him I am now pursuing my postgraduate studies.

By G.F.J., Kuala Lumpur

How to winIndian votes

DESPITE the sentiments shown by certain Indian groups in the country and promises by the authorities, I suggest three ways of making sure Indian votes stay with the Barisan Nasional.

Firstly, provide more business licences and protection to petty Indian traders, for example, those who trade in the night markets.

Avoid peremptory confiscation of business assets by town councils when these traders flout the laws a little to make a decent living.

Secondly, when there is a need to demolish Hindu temples, do so in a friendly and diplomatic manner and ensure a win-win situation for all parties concerned.

Thirdly, provide more comprehensive training for drop-out youths from estates to acquire productive skills so as to enable them to find proper jobs or set up business. This will also help reduce the crime rate in the country.

By ASHOK KUMAR, Petaling Jaya

SHAARI ISA, Kuala Lumpur

Source: NST – March 4, 2008