TK Chua

Three pieces of news attract my attention this morning.

Many said we should rightly be the keepers of our own economic and financial well-being. Even the allegedly profligate government has advised us the same thing - to be prudent, be careful with our money, and spend only within our means.

There are many conflicts today, simply because we forget that religions, languages, and even cultures, are 'living creatures' with utilities, functions and rightful roles to play.

We finally have an official report which said MH17 was brought down by a BUK missile fired from pro-Russian held territory in Ukraine.

Dear deputy prime minister (DPM), please allow me to join the torrent of comments on your recent speech at the United Nations General Assembly. This is not to belittle or ridicule you but to boost your image as well as Malaysia’s.

As I watched the spat between Minister Nazri Aziz and some MCA leaders, I feel that it was really much ado about nothing.

National unity is a much-tossed-about subject nowadays. We use every occasion and opportunity to emphasise the importance of different communities staying together, urging them to practise ‘give and take’ and be moderate and reasonable in their demands. Yet incendiary remarks and extreme demands have never been more prevalent than in recent years. In fact, they are getting bolder by the day.

I know not why I am indulging in futile musing;
Asking what if 1MDB did not come a knocking;
Asking what if its ramifications are so not engulfing;
Wonder what our nation will be debating and doing.

If I say the cabinet meeting, chaired by the PM (or in his absence, by the DPM), is held every week, many would probably think I am raising a no-brainer issue. But it is not. In Malaysia we do have an elaborate system of government. Sometimes, I think we have lost track of our system. Even cabinet ministers are in dire need of a reminder.

It is that time of the year where ideas and proposals are sought from the public for input into the annual national budget.

Typical of many third countries, we like to build monuments, do eyesore landscaping and putting up banners, colourful lights and buntings all over the country when our most basic infrastructure and amenities are in dire straits.

Himpunan Merah and Gerakan Merah are welcome to demonstrate, to champion their causes and to pressure the government to meet their demands. They are welcome to organise as a simple race-based organisation or on a multiracial platform. It is their right.

I remember when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Pak Lah), our fifth PM, first took office, he, too, had begun with a bang. A cabinet minister, a high-profile businessman, a federal officer, a state officer and a local authority officer were almost simultaneously arrested and charged with corruption. His ‘work with him and not for him’ slogan gained traction and he won 90 percent of the seats in 2004 general election.

I think we can all agree that loving for our nation is different from loving the ruling establishment of the day. Otherwise citizenship and changing the government of the day have no basis to co-exist.

Increasingly I am hearing that this country is likely to be under the clutches of foreign powers again. Some even postulated that the country is now like Iraq years back, likely to be attacked by US invasion forces.

We can learn a lot from US presidential campaign rhetoric.

I believe Vey Mingg is a young adult and I appreciate her views on life. But then, how we live our life, to me, is always in context.

I refer to the proposal to teach interfaith studies in schools. Many have hailed the proposal as the right move. But before long, some have already expressed their concerns - on syllabi, the teaching methodology and the emphasis to focus on.