TwoSen

DATUK Seri S. Samy Vellu’s success story of Indians (”Numbers tell success story of Indians” — NST, Dec 10) in Malaysia came as a surprise to most of us, particularly the figures he quoted.

It looks too good to be true.

He pointed out that the average monthly household income of Indian families was now RM3,456 compared with the national average of RM3,022.

I wonder where he came up with such generous figures.

He claimed that in the country’s history, 60 per cent of Indians lived and worked in the estates but now the figure is reversed to 80 per cent concentrated in urban areas.

A recent visit to Penang has convinced me that there are still a good number of Indians poor and homeless in George Town.

Come sunset, they suddenly appear from nowhere and take on the role of jaga kereta (touts) to earn extra income. Fearing that my car might be scratched, I was forced to part with a ringgit.

At night, you can see the homeless sleeping along the five-foot path in front of shophouses which have been closed for the night.

Now the question is whether Samy Vellu can include these poor souls who have to eke a living in this manner with just the roof of the shophouse over their heads as being Indians who are nowadays concentrated in urban centres?

Let us not pretend that life is easy for them. With few skills and a high rate of unemployment (after being dislodged from life in the rubber estates), being urbanised can be quite meaningless for them.

Sad to say the majority of Indians are among the poorest in the country with, of course, a few exceptions where a small fraction comes from the wealthy group.

TUNKU YUSUF JEWA, Kota Baru

Source: NST – December 19, 2007

WELL done, Jaclyn Victor. You did Malaysia proud at the Asian Idol in Jakarta on Sunday night.

Your opening act for the competition was amazing and your showmanship was superb.

I believe it really got the audience moving and all fired up for a fantastic show.

You made full use of the stage and really rocked the house. Even your dressing and style was very good. In fact, it reminded me of Janet Jackson.

However, I was not comfortable with the judge from Malaysia, Paul Moss.

I think his remarks, not just for Jaclyn but for the other competitors as well, may have ruined Malaysia’s chances of winning. His blunt remarks and untactful comments were just inappropriate.

In competitions like this, one must be diplomatic and always be positive in the use of words.

It’s hard to compare when the singers are from different countries, singing in their own languages and having their own cultures. They are all unique and are the best in their own countries.

It is wise to highlight their strengths and be encouraging, instead of nit-picking. Everybody knows that it is a popularity contest and, therefore, it really depends on who can draw the most SMS votes.

Well, Paul, if it was your intention to ruffle some feathers just to spice up the show, then it really didn’t work. Your remarks merely put Malaysia in a bad light.

Once again, Syabas, Jaclyn. Keep up the good work.

WONG THIAM MING, Klang

Source: NST – December 19, 2007

IT was a long-awaited directive by the Education Ministry and Public Service Department (PSD) to finally “reward” teachers who had upgraded themselves from the certificate/diploma schemes after graduating with a degree.

The PSD has decided to give a one-off increment (a year’s raise, which is less than RM100) to teachers who graduated from 1997 onwards.

While I applaud the gesture of the government in recognising the sacrifices of these teachers, I fail to understand why diploma or certificate holders who graduated before 1997 have been left out.

We, who graduated earlier, also went through the same experience. I got my degree in 1994 but was told that I am already eligible for scale DG44 and so I cannot be considered for the proposed incentive.

This is ridiculous. Those who graduated before 1997 should be given equal rights.

We went through the same process, whereby we had to sacrifice a lot of time, money and precious time with family. Some went through severe hardship and had to turn to moonlighting.

I believe these teachers deserve better treatment. We are not demanding for something out of the ordinary. Even a year’s salary adjustment is considered peanuts when compared with the sacrifices and dedication put in by these teachers.

I know friends from my batch who have gone on to do their master’s and doctorates but are still drawing the same pay like mine. Where is the recognition?

These teachers who have the teaching profession at heart (if not they would not bother to upgrade themselves) need better treatment.

One of the setbacks we had to face was that our seniority in service was lost because our years of service as non-graduates do not count. We are all well above 45 and some have even retired, but youngsters with even less than 10 years as a graduate teacher surpass us when it comes to promotions.

A quick look at secondary schools will show that it is teachers from our category who are mostly involved in the school activities, be it curriculum or co-curriculum. We are considered veterans but we get nothing for our work.

I hope the government and PSD give due consideration to the plight of these teachers. Please do not forget those who graduated earlier. We, too, went through the mill.

JAYARAJ K.G.S, Sitiawan

Source: NST – December 19, 2007

I WRITE in response to “Numbers tell success story of Indians?” (NST, Dec 10) and “No truth Indians are the poorest in the country?” (NST, Dec 12).

When studies are presented to the public, they must stand up to scrutiny.

I am not a politician, a mathematician or even a statistician. Maybe other Malaysians are more enlightened and I may be wrong, but to me the figures quoted do not tally as the statistical methodology seems to be flawed.

The slant of a study can be used to justify any claim. As a simple example, I can say that one out of 10 Malaysians are killed by an elephant.

All I have to do is to find that one unfortunate Malaysian and I have justified my claim.

The population of Malaysia is about 28 million. We are comparing three populations with a vast difference in numbers — Bumiputera 64 per cent (17,920,000), Chinese 24 per cent (6,720,000), and Indians eight per cent (2,240,000).

By convention, all Malays are Bumiputeras but not all Bumiputeras are Malays.

In the Malaysian context, the term Bumiputera embraces ethnic Malays plus other indigenous ethnic groups such as the Orang Asli and tribal people in Sabah and Sarawak.

We all know that the indigenous groups have the lowest income and highest rate of unemployment, and this naturally skews the mean household income to the negative.

To make the mean household income of the three main races more relevant, then, the Malays should not be lumped together with the indigenous groups.

Furthermore, the larger the population and with varying reproductive rates, the more the number of unemployable people — children, students and housewives.

Naturally then, on paper, wealth distributed among 17 million will be less than wealth divided among two million.

As far as income and population is concerned, should we be using the mean or median values?

The mean is calculated by adding together all the studied values and then divided by the number of values. The data is of value only if it is symmetrically distributed but it can be thrown out by a few extreme values.

Ananda Krishnan of Maxis is the third wealthiest man in Southeast Asia with a fortune estimated to be worth RM30 billion and other Indian multi-millionaires do not represent the majority of the Indian population.

If they are part of the data, then the study is already skewed.

The median is the middle value — 50 per cent of values is above it and 50 per cent below it. So in an unsymmetrical data, as above, this form of average gives a better idea of any general tendency.

Different races also have a tendency to gravitate towards different professions which pay different incomes.

If we want to continue using a mean household income as the yardstick of prosperity for the three main races, then we must compare the total income accrued in the selected professions divided by the same number of households.

At the end of the day, we are distracted by superficialities. Poverty is no respecter of race, religion or locality (i.e. urban or rural) and all those suffering need the government’s help.

F.S. MALHI, Ipoh

Source: NST – December 19, 2007

I READ the story about 5-year-old T. Logassree lifting 14.7kg in weights after a five-kilometre run.

As the goal of weightlifting is to be able to lift heavier and heavier weights, there is potential for injury if training is not conducted properly.

One has to also consider the effects of the potential strain on the joints and connective tissues of a young child.

Young children should be exposed to a variety of sports and activities so they can develop co-ordination, agility, balance, strength and fitness, rather than spending a lot of time on a single activity or sport.

B.L., Petaling Jaya

Source: NST – December 19, 2007

THE introduction of a parole system (”2,000 prisoners eligible for parole initially” — NST, Dec 18) is a good move by the government to reduce overcrowding in prisons.

Prison warders have their hands full managing prisoners and this parole system will ease their burden once implemented next year.

Those who have served time will have already paid their debts to society.

Those who were convicted by the court for minor crime should be eligible for parole after they have served a certain period behind bars.

By having certain conditions attached, those convicts under parole will have to be on their best behaviour.

Any breach of the conditions might cause them to be sent back to prison.

Society as a whole would not have to worry as people who are convicted for major crimes, such as murder, rape and violent robbery, would not be eligible for parole and would have to serve their full sentence before being released.

HAMDAN IBRAHIM, Kuala Lumpur

Source: NST – December 19, 2007

FIRSTLY, allow me to congratulate Malaysia Airlines on its success financially as well as its expansion. As a Malaysian, I share in the glory and I am proud MAS’ fortunes are beginning to look up.

As the business improves, the attention MAS pays its customers must not decline.

Personally, I do not mind mealboxes being served instead of hot meals.

But I feel customer service standards have dropped.

For instance, an elderly aunt of mine was travelling on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Sandakan on Nov 16 on flight MH2708.

The lead stewardess was most unfriendly and unhelpful towards the passengers and even her subordinates. A leader is there to set an example, especially in taking care of elderly passengers.

If you want to win the passengers’ hearts, and keep them coming back, one thing that you must maintain is consistent and good customer service. You can cut costs, change your serving styles, etc. But don’t ever sulk and turn away from your passengers.

T.L.L., Batu Caves, Selangor

Source: NST – December 19, 2007

NATURAL Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid intends to set up a council to study environmental issues.

It is timely that all ministers, menteris besar and chief ministers will be on the council to sit together and talk about such issues.

The Federation of Ma-laysian Consumers Association believes that this will be a great achievement in the field of environment.

However, we urge the minister to ensure the council sets up committees to represent stakeholders like government agencies with environment-related responsibilities, consumer groups, industrial groups and non-governmental organisations dealing with environmental issues.

This will make for a good feedback mechanism from these stakeholders.

Eventually, this feedback can be studied at the national level and even be included in national action plans.

This council, with its stakeholder committees, should be ambitious and work out a 20-year action plan, with a review every five years.

This will allow Malaysia to set better targets in improving our environmental status to contribute to the global fight against environmental degradation.

We should also bear in mind that a lot of developing nations look to Malaysia as an example. We should set a good benchmark for them to follow.

We would like to suggest that the minister make public the decisions of the council and its committees’ deliberations.

We need all Malaysians to play a part in preserving the environment. The future is in our hands.

PIARAPAKARAN SUBRAMANIAN, Environment Desk Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations

Source: NST – December 19, 2007

I REFER to the article by columnist Paddy Bowie, “Sime Darby, the high-yielding tropical vine” (New Sunday Times, Dec 16).

I wish to state the facts which led to the Malaysianisation of Sime Darby Plc in the mid-1970s shortly after the advent of the New Economic Policy of 1971.

The late Tun Abdul Razak, the “Father of Development”, and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah had the vision and courage to invest in a colonial agency house like Sime Darby through Pernas Securities.

Pernas was the first Bumiputra investment arm set up for a specific purpose. Through the foresight of the two leaders, Malaysia had a superb corporate group to kick-start the New Economic Policy and, subsequently, it became the flagship company of Permodalan Nasional Berhad.

In October 1974, Tan Sri Taib Andak, the chairman of Malayan Banking Berhad, and I were appointed to the board as non-executive directors.

By November 1976, Pernas Securities and its allies were the largest shareholders in the company. Hence, the so-called “board battle” was aborted and a compromise reached to accommodate incumbent interests and new shareholders.

In 1977, Sime welcomed Tun Tan Siew Sin to the chairmanship of the board with the support of Tun Hussein Onn.

Through his leadership, Tan and his team repatriated the company home.

DR CHAN CHIN CHEUNG, Kuala Lumpur

Source: NST – December 19, 2007

IN the 2008 Budget, senior citizens who did not have permanent jobs were promised that they could subscribe to a RM2 billion bond to be issued by Bank Negara at five per cent interest rate for three years.

That was in early September. Retirees and senior citizens hope Bank Negara will make an announcement on this matter soon.

P.S., Kuala Lumpur

Source: NST – December 19, 2007