The Kuala Lumpur mayor says that he wants the city to be world class, and the deputy prime minister says it is time that the country has a slogan.

One can easily run up a number close to 50 without blinking an eyelid as to why KL is not a world-class city.

In the current climate, where government expenditure is being tightened, with waste and wanton expenses a major concern for the policymakers, one cannot help but feel disappointed and disgusted at the number of vehicles that seem apparently unused by Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur.

If one passes the main offices of DBKL at Jalan Raja Laut, Jalan Sultan Ismail and the enforcement directorate at Jalan Pekeliling, one cannot but notice the amount of vans and trucks stationed there, rather than being on rounds or engaged in productive work.

No matter what time it is, may it be early morning, mid-afternoon or evening, the appearance of an oversupply of these vehicles makes one worry how the logistical planning is carried out by DBKL.

I urge the DBKL to review their 'rolling stocks' and dispose of the surplus or donate it to other departments or charitable causes. Waste not, want not. The money saved this way can be used to repair road conditions elsewhere.

The call to make KL world class coincides with the call to come up with a slogan for Malaysia. Malaysia is a nation of paradoxes and contradictions. Our slogan should be 'We are driven by slogans'

This country honoured a so-called 'unaided' around the world sailor who had the whole armed forces on standby to drop everything for his 'solo' mission, but did not move a muscle for another chap who swam across the English Channel without much fanfare.

This is a nation that is planning to send someone to space on a 'leased' flight but have not worked out how to build manholes on the same level as the road. We build skyscrapers but are unable to build simple school computer labs that will stay up long enough to be opened, let alone be used.

'Who you know' matters more than 'what you know'. This is a nation that hounds foreign workers who come and toil at manual labour, which locals would not even blink an eyelid at. Meanwhile, it continues to pay expatriates 10 times more then locals for jobs they would be willing and capable of doing.

This is a nation that talks about unity but tries its level best to segregate basic education and opportunities, so that young ones not embracing corruption grow up with sadness and dissatisfaction.

This is a country that is always launching new things, while old ones are just discarded, as exemplified by the millions spent on National Service when one could have just tweaked the Rakan Muda programme.