In Malaysia we have the crony group. The 'in' group, the folks who make and bend the country's rules at their whim and fancy. They continuously recommend new rules and regulations to be implemented and legalised by their frontliners, a.k.a. the government, to squeeze the normal folk of their pennies.

Surprised? I'm not. The Public Services Department and their scholarship awarding criteria is a yearly event. It's an annual drama during which the non-bumiputera students protest after which the government will intervene and award them PSD scholarships.

Why couldn't these deserving students been given scholarships in the first place? That's a question never answered. The drama will be played out again next year. Same play, different players.

And imagine the horror when it was revealed that of the 12,000 Approved Permits (APs) that were awarded in 2003, one single deserving human being in our beloved country was given 6,000 .

He must be an immensely blessed human being to be granted such a privilege. But hey, the government is not answerable to you, or to anyone. Our Barisan Nasional government is not concerned enough to come out and explain why such a privilege was granted to this one person in Malaysia. Never has, never needed to.

And why do we now need to pay extra for a hologram label on our medicine? Who gets to make the contract to supply the hologram? Why do we keep paying a higher toll for the use of our highways? Where does all the money go?

Why was the Penang Outer Ring Road project given to a company without a background in constructing highways? Along with the privilege to develop prime locations on Penang island?

Why do we have to work harder for a smaller share of the pie? Why are the privileged ones getting away with criminal acts? Why are the ministers' children attending international schools instead of national schools?

Why? Because we live in Malaysia, and in Malaysia, 'mereka boleh'.