TwoSen

NO school, I suppose, is pushing poor parents to pay the additional charges imposed but parents who can afford to pay should not complain and take advantage of this situation. Neither should the issue be politicised.

Parents in general should realise that fees incurred by schools are for the benefit of the students, provided the money collected is being effectively used and accounted for.

A school should not, for instance, collect money for computer classes and offer no computer classes to students. In this case, the money collected should be returned to parents.

It is absurd to perceive “free education” as meaning that parents do not have to pay a single sen to send their children to school. Additional charges in school, undoubtedly, are necessary for schools to have programmes such as sports and other social activities.

Undeniably, the government has done quite a lot to make education inexpensive for parents, compared with many other countries in this region.

Books are given free to students irrespective of parents’ income, all public examination fees abolished and school fees also done away with. The poor are also given free food and milk and tuition vouchers.

The only mistake the government has done, I suppose, is to give too many things free to the people. As a result, some are taking things for granted.

Is paying RM10 a month (the average RM120 parents have to pay for additional charges a year) for a child’s education too much for an average Malaysian?

Education is relatively cheap in this country but the real problem is our mindset. When things are doled out freely, we tend to appreciate it less. This perhaps is human nature. Even the rich manipulate to get things free from the government.

The system works better when services provided by the government to the public are not made free. When people have to pay a nominal sum to use public toilets, the money collected can be used to clean up these toilets.

When you need to slot in a coin to use a trolley at a supermarket, you will find that the trolley will be returned to its proper place after use.

When people are made to pay for electricity and water, the switches and taps will only be turned on when necessary.

When patients are made to pay for medicine dispensed by government hospitals, we would not see these costly drugs simply thrown away.

Unfortunately, it is the easy attitude we have over things that makes some of us complain over trivial issues such as the additional charges imposed by schools.

More than 90 per cent of Malaysians live above the poverty line and we see many still crowd shopping centres to spend freely and eat at posh restaurants.

So, the best business practice for schools would still be to not to give out things for free. The genuinely poor children, of course, need to be helped and there are many other ways to help them.

DR M.A. NAIR, Bandar Muadzam Shah

Source: NST – January 15, 2008

WWF-MALAYSIA applauds Universiti Sains Malaysia’s decision to prohibit styrofoam and other polystyrene material in favour of biodegradable food containers at its Penang campus.

In terms of both ecology and economy, the decision initiated by vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dzulkifli Abdul Razak is in the right direction.

Styrofoam and other synthetic material do not decompose easily and they can remain in landfills for more than 1,000 years.

During that time, these waste are bound to release harmful substances, including carcinogenic compounds, into urban areas and the environment.

Since these materials are man-made compounds, animals do not have a natural faculty to sense the obvious dangers.

Animals are known to choke on or get poisoned whenever curiosity gets the better of them. Plant roots also soak up toxins from these synthetics and pass them into the human food chain.

Burning up this material will not solve the issue either, as incineration releases noxious fumes and particulates which settle on water, plant life, and the human skin and causes air pollution.

We need eco-friendly alternatives, which make sound economic sense as well. USM’s initiative shows the way.

Eco-friendly biodegradable containers made of oil palm waste provide a timely solution.

These are among the many that can be used as substitutes in our plastic world.

They are manufactured from recycled material and will make it unnecessary to siphon additional resources from the environment.

Though these biodegradable containers have yet to reach economies of scale compared to its more polluting counterparts, it is Worldwide Fund for Nature-Malaysia’s contention that the crux of pricing depends on greater environmental consciousness and practice among members of the public.

Economies of scale are only achieved through greater adoption and utilisation. Numbers do count sometimes.

It is time for our corporate leaders to take the cue from the initiative of our students.

We hope Universiti Sains Malaysia will introduce the same eco-friendly concept at its Kubang Kerian and Nibong Tebal campuses.

DIONYSIUS S.K. SHARMA, WWF-Malaysia, Petaling Jaya

Source: NST – January 14, 2008

MALAYSIA Airlines seems to be making great strides in its business turnaround plan - achieving a record profit of RM610 million during the January-September period last year. However, despite the soaring profits, MAS still faces turbulent times ahead.

Instead of gaining more passengers, MAS is losing its market share. AirAsia is now dominating the domestic market and, I am sure, the regional market as well. Instead of increasing flights to profitable destinations, MAS is reducing services.

MAS used to be a second-placed foreign airline behind Singapore Airlines in terms of flights to Australia or New Zealand and market share. Emirates has now overtaken it and soon, Thai Airways will leapfrog MAS.

Destinations like Zurich, Manchester, Frankfurt, London and Auckland are supposedly not making any profits for MAS.

Airlines are scrambling to get valuable “slots” to operate from London’s Heathrow Airport but MAS is claiming that it is unprofitable. SIA, Cathay Pacific and Emirates operate multiple flights daily to London.

The same goes for Frankfurt where there are nine flights a week from Kuala Lumpur (combination of MAS and Lufthansa), whereas Changi sees 21 flights a week.

In fact, MAS is stopping flights to Zurich, a major financial centre in Europe. It has operated three flights a week since the start of the route 19 years ago. They cannot claim they tried to make the route work.

Since MAS announced that its Zurich flights are to be stopped, SIA has increased flights to 10 times weekly to fill the void.

Another example is Dubai where MAS flies seven times weekly, either via Karachi or as a stopover to Istanbul and Beirut. Emirates now plans to fly to Kuala Lumpur nine times weekly without the onward connections to Singapore or Jakarta. They seem to make it work.

The way to make money is by increasing the number of business passengers. To do this, you need to serve a destination at least with seven flights a week to offer them increased flexibility in travel arrangements to suit their needs.

MAS’ idea of serving destinations with three or four weekly services will only make it attractive to package or leisure passengers.

MAS will probably say that they cannot increase flights as they do not have enough aircraft. Why?

Their other strategy of making profits by selling assets (which include aircraft - four Boeing 747 aircraft so far) will not work in the long term when they have nothing more to sell.

I also think their idea of five-star service at low cost is alienating its loyal passengers, including myself. The quality of their in-flight meals leaves a lot to be desired.

They cite high oil prices as the reason for increasing fares but there is only so much we can put up with.

Their “year of growth” for this year has been marked by some dubious decisions. They plan to fly to Yogyakarta and Lahore.

Despite all this, I wish them success in their turnaround plan.

I hope that they will open their eyes and ears to see what other airlines are doing and more importantly, listen to their own loyal passengers.

DR MUHAMMAD IZANEE MOHAMED MYDIN, Kingston-upon-Hull, Britain

Source: NST – January 14, 2008

I RECENTLY returned to Ayer Tawar after nine years of studies abroad.

Among the old haunts that I revisited was the public library in Sitiawan. I was dismayed to find it in an advanced state of disrepair.

During my schooldays, I frequently took the Green Transport bus from Ayer Tawar to the Sitiawan public library.

My classmates and I spent a lot of our time there. We would even bring library books to school to discuss and exchange ideas.

The library was an important and invaluable resource for the Manjung schoolchildren of my generation.

Without it, we might not be where we are today and we are truly grateful to the state government.

I was disappointed to find that not only were half of my “old friends” gone and the rest in various stages of disintegration, but that no new books seem to have been added to the library in the past nine years though it had been renovated several times.

While passing through Kuala Lumpur, I noticed that just about any book one could desire was available at bookshops, but at an exorbitant price, higher than those charged in developed countries.

Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, the district of Manjung has been targeted for development.

I urge the state government to think about development not only in terms of new buildings and highways, but also to ensure that everyone in the state has access to means of educating and bettering themselves.

In particular, I hope in the coming months to see an improvement in the state of the public library in Sitiawan and perhaps even new libraries in the rural areas of Manjung, where there is no reliable public transport service.

Finally, I believe that efforts on the part of the government will be appreciated, supported and even reciprocated by the public.

In this particular instance, I changed my mind about donating books to the library after seeing the way they are used and cared for there.

DR CHARIS QUAY HUEI LI, Ayer Tawar, Perak

Source: NST – January 14, 2008

I WISH to respond to Kashfi Sharifuddin’s letter concerning strays and local authorities (”Please end cruel immediate kill plan” - NST, Jan 11).

Controlling the population of stray dogs and cats should be everyone’s responsibility.

Malaysians should be taught that to own a dog, cat or any animal, is a serious responsibility and not something to be taken lightly.

The owner is responsible for looking after the welfare of the animals he keeps.

The animals should be properly fed, housed and given care all the time, not just when they are useful to them.

The problem with many pet owners is that they do not know what their responsibilities are.

This often leads to, among others, uncontrolled breeding, an increased number of unwanted puppies and kittens, and also an increased number of unwanted and abandoned animals.

Steps should be taken to put a stop to these acts.

It should be made mandatory for new and prospective pet owners to attend pet-management courses.

There should be a law for the mandatory neutering of pets to control the number of pets owned by a family.

This could be carried out through fiscal incentives to private veterinarians or by the government subsidising the cost of neutering.

Non-governmental organisations and corporate bodies should be encouraged, through tax incentives, to build and manage more animal shelters in each district.

These shelters, if properly managed, will reduce the number of strays and do away with the necessity of destroying them.

It is time we Malaysians did our part to overcome the problem of strays.

It should never have been the sole responsibility of the Department of Veterinary Services or local authorities to control strays.

Clarification

IN the letter “Please end cruel immediate kill plan” by Kashfi Sharifuddin of Ampang, Selangor (NST, Jan 11), the local authority mentioned should have been the Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya (MPAJ), and not the Majlis Perbandaran Shah Alam.

AZAHAR IDRIS, Kuantan

Source: NST – January 14, 2008

GOODBYE, Lucky and Flo, the two Labrador Retrievers that were a big help to the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry in sniffing out pirated discs during raids conducted by the ministry.

And hello, Paddy and Manny, the two new Labrador Retrievers whose owner hopes will be just as good, if not better, than their predecessors in putting the pirates out of business for good (”Paddy and Manny have large paw prints to follow” - NST, Jan 9).

Paddy and Manny will arrive here on Feb 19 and will be attached to the ministry’s K-9 unit permanently, unlike their predecessors.

Since they will be the ministry’s asset, how about giving them Malaysian names?

The ministry could organise a contest to ask the public or its own staff to come out with suitable Malaysian names for the two canines.

MOHD FAIZAL ABDULLAH, Kuala Lumpur

Source: NST – January 14, 2008

ON Jan 5 at 3pm, four out of the six ticket machines at the Kuala Lumpur City Centre RapidKL station were out of order. There were long lines at the two working machines and the ticket counter. What puzzles me is why RapidKL allows this to happen every weekend without fail.

Even on weekdays, the ticket machines are down. Why wait until four machines are down before calling the technician?

When it is crowded, one machine down is bad enough, let alone four. This is an unacceptable situation.

I understand that the trouble starts when the machines are full. It is therefore even more important for station employees to monitor the machines regularly to ensure that the machines are cleared quickly. All ticket machines need to be in proper working condition at all times.

I have called RapidKL’s customer service centre to suggest that they station technicians at the KLCC, KL Sentral and other busy stations permanently to clear the machines, especially during weekends, but obviously this is not happening.

This is the only way to ensure that the machines are cleared quickly, instead of waiting for technicians to arrive.

It is not fair to make passengers stand in long lines every week, either because the employees have not been monitoring the machines or they are waiting for the technicians.

The ticket machines are not user-friendly at all. Even when working, they reject either notes or coins.

It is common to see the notes not accepted message on the machines. Then when we use coins, the machines reject them.

One has to move to another machine and queue again to buy a ticket. I have seen confused locals and tourists struggling to use the machines because it only accepts one note.

RapidKL is taking too long to upgrade the ticket machines to accept multiple notes and issue multiple tickets. RapidKL should make the KLCC station a priority during the upgrade.

KLCC is frequented by local and foreign tourists. When machines break down and they have to wait in long lines, it gives a bad impression especially during Visit Malaysia Year.

I urge the RapidKL management to visit the KLCC and KL Sentral stations during weekends to see and fully understand the challenges that we face every week.

The problems have gone on for way too long.

We the passengers deserve better. No more apologies, excuses, promises and no point in asking passengers to give suggestions and file reports if nothing is done.

A.K., Petaling Jaya

Source: NST – January 14, 2008

THE commentary by K.P. Waran raises a valid point on the name of Batang Berjuntai (”What was wrong with my hometown’s old name? - NST, Jan 7).

If we keep on changing place names according to our whims and fancies, we will, in fact, soon be eliminating the bits and pieces of history attached to these places, towns, etc.

After a generation or two, this history will be wiped out from the community’s memory.

The names of places such as Batang Berjuntai are not names plucked out of the air.

There is always a history, folklore or myth behind them.

For instance, the name Muar came about as this town is situated at the estuary of Muar River, which is ‘muara’ in Malay.

Although the town was originally known as Bandar Maharani, the name “Muar” became accepted as time passed.

I remember there was a town called Binatang in Sarawak, but now it has been renamed Bintangor. We have lost whatever history there was behind the naming of the town as “Binatang”.

Similarly, there is a history behind the names of towns such as Anak Bukit, Parit Jawa, Ramuan Cina Besar, Tanjung Kling, Sungai Lembing, Pokok Sena, Tanjung Karang and the like.

I wonder if someone could initiate or write a book on the names of places in Malaysia.

This will be an excellent way to preserve the history of the names of places in our country.

DR S. NATHESAN, Muar

Source: NST – January 14, 2008

I READ with concern your report on how boys and girls are being placed in separate classes at SMK Seremban Jaya (”School’s segregation policy criticised - NST, Jan 10).

I am glad Negri Sembilan education director Abdullah Mohammad has directed the school to stop its gender segregation policy with immediate effect.

But what will happen to those who were directly involved in formulating such a policy? I am sure they will be let off the hook with a warning.

This is another reminder that there are many “little Napoleans” in schools who formulate their own rules and make national schools look like religious schools.

They daringly carry out their personal agenda despite knowing well that what they are doing is against the national education policy. No disciplinary measures have been taken against these culprits.

The most they get is a warning and that doesn’t affect their chances of getting their next promotion.

It is time the Education Ministry identified these “little Napoleans” and came down hard on them. A monthly bulletin carrying news of those found guilty should be produced to send a strong message that school heads cannot defy policies set by the ministry.

ANTHONY JOSEPH, Kluang

Source: NST – January 14, 2008

I AGREE with P. Pakiras of Johor Baru (”It’s only proper to use listed terms” - NST, Jan 9) that Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, the national language institute established in the 1950s, be the sole authority which should determine the correct use of terminologies in Bahasa Malaysia in the country.

Otherwise, the existence of the DBP would seem meaningless. It is proper, therefore, that ministries and government departments continue to seek advice from DBP before introducing new words or terminologies in Bahasa Ma-laysia in their respective agencies.

In this respect, two days ago I was in a pharmacy and felt a bit uneasy over the use of the term “dispensan” on the sign to mean dispense or “give out” medicine at the counter.

I wonder why the pharmacy chose to adopt the word “dispensan“, by adding “an” to the English word, when a simple Malay word such as “memberi ubat” or “mengambil ubat” (take your medicine here) would have been more appropriate and easily understood by patients waiting for their medicine.

S. RAGUNATHAN, Petaling Jaya

Source: NST – January 14, 2008