Posts Tagged ‘Statistics’

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Klang Valley has more taxis than New York, London, Sydney, HK, Jakarta???

June 22nd, 2011
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


This is another success story for us! we have more taxis than some of the biggest  or famous cities in the world.

For reader’s info – Population of the cities (year): New York (19.5 mil, 2009) , London (7.75 mil, 2009), Sydney (4.57 mil, 2010), Hong Kong (7 mil, 2009), Jakarta (9.58 mil, 2010) against Klang Valley (7.65 mil)?

Within one year, we have 10,000 extra taxis.

And I wonder, how many of the taxi drivers are Malaysians.

Of course, some will say a taxi permit doesn’t translate into a taxi or that some taxis are for designated areas (KLIA for example).

Taxi permits are business tools as well as political tools?

 

 

Are there too many taxis in the Klang Valley? Pose this question to any public transport-user who has experienced spending hours attempting to flag down a cab on a rainy Sunday night, and there’s a good chance you’ll be met with a disbelieving look.

Yet, the figures don’t lie. The Klang Valley has more taxis on its streets than even one of the world’s busiest capitals, New York City.

As of March, the Klang Valley is currently home to 37,000 budget as well as executive taxis. This puts New York City’s 13,237 world-famous yellow cabs well in the shade.

Figures compiled by the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD), the independent regulator for public transport, reveal that the Klang Valley’s taxi-to-passenger ratio also tops that of other bustling capital cities such as London, Sydney, Hong Kong and even Jakarta.

However the commission tasked with overseeing the country’s public transport demands, faces a monumental challenge on its hands, not just due to logistics problems but that of greed.

Since assuming the reins this year, SPAD has had to fend off numerous approaches for even more taxi permits.

The requests, said SPAD chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar, come from all quarters, including politicians.

He described the situation as nothing short of a “dilemma”.

“Despite the already high numbers, we are still receiving requests to approve new taxi permits from various groups.

“These include associations, retirees and even politicians,” he told The Malay Mail.

Industry analysts have been quick to point out that the massive number of taxis in the Klang Valley has been a major contributor towards the deterioration of taxi services.

They noted that the burgeoning number of cabs have added to unhealthy practices such as complacency and lack of commitment among taxi companies to provide better service.

Syed Hamid, meanwhile, said the commission was aware of the grouses and problems.

“We are aware of the public outcry with the current taxi service in the Klang Valley. The commission wants to make it a win-win situation for the public as well as taxi operators. We want to uphold professionalism within the industry via the National Public Transport Policy Framework and the Greater Kuala Lumpur – Klang Valley Public Transport Masterplan that will be unveiled in September.”

Syed Hamid said improving taxi service should be based on the laws of supply and demand.

“We hope to address the issue of oversupply of permits gradually in the coming years through the PTMP. The master plan includes training for taxi drivers and ensuring a high level of service efficiency, as part of the terms and conditions.

“We expect the taxi operators to fully operate with us on these matters.”

When asked if the commission would reduce the number of taxis in the Klang Valley, he said: “What had been given, we cannot withdraw. But this does not mean we won’t come down hard on indisciplined and problematic taxi drivers. We won’t hesitate to revoke their permits and licences.”

Big number but poor service

AN industry analyst, who wished to remain anonymous, pointed out that based on research, the high number of taxis in Klang Valley have contributed greatly to the deterioration of service, increased level of unhealthy practice which includes the complacency and level of commitment to run a taxi service.

“By looking at the taxis outnumbering those in other cities which include New York and Hong Kong, we wonder why our taxi service is not even close to the standard of the New York City icon – the yellow cabs,” he said.

“Over there, it is easy to hail a cab as they always move around the city and rarely stay put in one place.”

However, he said, the impression of taxi service in Kuala Lumpur was a different story altogether.

Commonplace among the grouses are difficulty in getting taxis in the city, hailing them by the roadside, the deplorable service quality and cabbies’ refusal to serve certain areas including central KL as well as refusing to use the meter by imposing flat rates.

“It is difficult to board or even hail a taxi during peak hours and we also often hear complaints of taxis overcharging and snubbing passengers.

“There’s no denying the fact that oversupply of taxis has led to the attitude problem of haggling and the existence of touts in public transport terminals, shopping malls and other public places,” said the analyst, who is all too familiar with the taxi industry after being in it for the last 25 years.

‘Stop issuing permits’

TAXI associations are pleading with the government to stop giving out new taxi permits in view of the high number of taxis on Klang Valley roads.

Malaysian Taxi, Limousine and Hired Car Drivers and Operators Association (Petekma) president Yusof Lahir, hoped the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) would be firm in addressing the issue of taxi permits oversupply.

“I urged SPAD to please stop giving out new permits if we want to reach the level of taxi service in New York, Hong Kong or Singapore. We are already facing an outpour of taxis on the road lately.

“This problem is also contributing to the lackadaisical attitude among the taxi drivers which includes refusing to serve certain routes,” he said.

Yusof said the teething problem of the oversupply of permits stemmed from the system of awarding permits over the years from the previous governing bodies.

“It was an open secret that previous authorities served the socio-economic objectives which were apparently abused by influential politicians which led to the present state of affairs of so many ‘unnecessary’ permits. I had voiced this previously to various ministers. Now we can see the effect of so many taxis around,” he said.

On taxi touts in public transport terminals and at KL International Airport, Yusof said the high number of taxis and lax enforcement contributed to the matter.

“The government should look into enforcement very seriously. I won’t deny the fact that attitude problems by some drivers have smeared the industry, but enforcement should keep this in check.”

Koperasi Pengangkutan Putrajaya dan Cyberjaya Berhad secretary Mohd Salleh Mat Zain, said he was surprised to learn the number of taxis have increased dramatically since last year.

“In 2010, the number of taxis stood at 27,000 and it was tough for us to ‘cari makan’. Today, there are 10,000 more so you can imagine the competition. The over surge of taxis has also contributed to the forming of cliques where some of them have monopolised some suburban areas,” he said.

He also concurred with the call for the government to regulate the industry and take stringent measures to raise the level of professionalism among the taxi drivers.

“The taxi industry is staring at a bubble with torrent of taxi permits over the years.

“We have seen how taxi drivers refuse to use meters, haggling passengers and prefer to ply specific routes instead of going out to seek customers in the city.”

source: http://mmail.com.my/content/75761-we-beat-new-york

 

Comments Off on Klang Valley has more taxis than New York, London, Sydney, HK, Jakarta??? »

Posted in BornInMalaysia

Tags:

Malaysia ranks high in peacefulness and safety

June 20th, 2011
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


Two, yes TWO, good news recently that puts us high on the positive side.

First, we are among the top countries in the Global Peace Index, number 19th to be exact. Let’s see what our DG of National Unity and Integration Department says:

Malaysia leads Asean countries and ranks second in Asia, after Japan, in the list of countries which succeed in maintaining unity among their people.

National Unity and Integration Department director-general Azman Azmin Hassan said that based on the list issued by the Global Peace Index, Malaysia was at 19th position among the countries in the world.

“The country’s success in fostering unity has attracted the world to learn how Malaysia does it.

“This is due to the capability of the country’s leaders in maintaining unity among the people of various races, resulting in Malaysia being invited by the United Nations to table a working paper on unity in New York next month.”

He told this to reporters after the opening of the state-level Unity Week 2011 celebration at the Air Tawar Beach Resort in Besut today by State Health, Unity and Consumer Affairs Committee chairman Dr A Rahman Mokhtar.

Azman said that with such a recognition given to Malaysia, there was no doubt about the peaceful situation in the country.

Hence, he advised the people to maintain racial harmony in the country and to cooperate with the government to avoid any incident that could jeopardise the harmonious situation.

source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/167333

Readers should then head to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Peace_Index to read about this index.

The GPI’s website is at http://www.visionofhumanity.org/gpi-data/#/2011/conf/ and Malaysia’s details is at http://www.visionofhumanity.org/gpi-data/#/2011/scor/MY/detail as below:


PEACE INDICATORS SCORE
Number of external and internal conflicts fought 1
Estimated number of deaths from organised conflict (external) 1
Number of deaths from organised conflict (internal) 1
Level of organized conflict (internal) 1
Relations with neighbouring countries 1
Level of perceived criminality in society 2
Number of displaced people as a percentage of the population 1
Political instability 1.5
Level of disrespect for human rights 2
Potential for terriorist acts 2
Number of homicides per 100,000 people 2
Level of violent crime 2
Likelihood of violent demonstrations 3
Number of jailed population per 100,000 people 1.5
Number of internal security officers and police 100,000 people 2
Military expenditure as a percentage of GDP 1.5
Number of armed services personnel per 100,000 people 1
Exports of major conventional weapons per 100,000 people 1
Imports of major conventional weapons per 100,000 people 1.5
Funding for UN peacekeeping missions 1
Aggregate weighted number of heavy weapons per 100,000 people 1
Ease of access to small arms and light weapons 1
Military capability/sophistication 3

 

Malaysia has been improving steadily over the years. This due to mainly our non-involvement in wars (external or internal) for the citizens, lower values for defence/military related indicators (except military capability).

As mentioned in the article above, we are number 2 (just behind Japan) in Asia and 19th in the world.

Next good news, The World Justice Project’s Rule of Law index says :

The World Justice Project’s (WJP) Rule of Law Index 2011 report revealed that Malaysia was ranked first among 19 upper-middle income countries for safety, putting the country on par with other nations such as France and Belgium.

Malaysia attained 12th position, one position ahead of United States which ranked 13th and Britain ranked 14th in country’s safety.

WJP Rule of Law Index director Juan Botero said the index measures implementation and enforcement of laws in practice and their effects on people’s lives.

The report showed that Malaysia scored 1 for effectively limited civil conflicts and 0.5 for the absence of crime and people not resorting to violence.

The Index score range is between 0 being the lowest and 1 being the highest.

WJP executive director Hongxia Liu said that acquiring the rule of law was an ongoing challenge and a continuous work in progress in all countries.

Liu added the Index is not designed to shame or blame but to provide helpful benchmarks for other countries in the same regions that had similar legal cultures and income levels.

source: http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/6/20/nation/8925273&sec=nation

You can read the report of this index at http://worldjusticeproject.org/sites/default/files/wjproli2011_0.pdf (Malaysia’s statistics is on page 78).

 

Yes, we are 1st among the 19 countries with similar income, but overall we are somewhere in the middle.

??

Oh, you may want to read page 29 of the report as well:

As with many other countries in the region, Malaysia  presents a contrasting view. Compared with other upper-middle income countries, Malaysia’s government is relatively accountable, although corruption, political interference, and impunity still exist. The efficiency and transparency of government agencies can still improve, and efforts should also be made in the area of access to justice (ranking 44th globally, and 14th in the upper-middle income group). The country is safe, ranking 1stamong 19 income peers and on a par with countries such as France and Belgium. However, abuses by the police still occur. Of particular concern is the situation posed by violations of fundamental rights, where Malaysia ranks 59th out of 66 countries.

So we are doing not bad, but why Jobstreet survey says nearly 80% of the interviewees (700 of them) would work abroad if got the chance:

An online recruitment company said results from a survey on local jobseekers confirm that money, career growth and children’s education are the main factors behind the country’s brain drain.

JobStreet.com today released the results of their survey of 700 over respondents – over 80 percent of whom are in middle to senior positions – on their interests in working abroad, and the reasons behind it.

The survey revealed just under a third (33 percent) of the respondents are already actively seeking overseas employment while 30 percent are passively looking. Another 30 percent are still weighing the pros and cons of working abroad.

42 percent cited better income as the key reason for their choice, while 24 percent cited career advancement, and 13 percent were thinking of their children’s education. 

Unfortunately for the government and the Talent Corp, only 2.4 of the respondents said they were staying in the country to “contribute to national interest”.

Over half said they were not working abroad mainly because of their families.

Top in destinations for job seeking was Australia (24 percent) followed by Singapore (16 percent), followed by UK (15 percent), US (10 percent), Far East (8 percent) and New Zealand (7 percent).

The survey, conducted in May, comprised 40 percent senior executives, 29 percent managers and 16 percent senior managers, with junior executives making up the rest. 

Jobstreet said 60 percent were male and 40 percent female, while ethnic breakdown was not cited.

source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/167446

I guess the indices may not translate into a good environment in terms of wealth accumulation or career opportunities for those interviewed.

PS: I guess it will be similar next year.

 

Comments Off on Malaysia ranks high in peacefulness and safety »

Posted in BornInMalaysia

Tags:

72 percent of Malaysians optimistic about job prospects

May 26th, 2011
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


Wow! We rank fourth in the world in terms of job prospects. Not sure if Malaysians thinking about jobs in the country or overseas. Probably a mix of both.

But then, the Wellness report says 83% of Malaysians consider themselves as suffering or struggling! Hmm…

Probably we are optimistic about getting jobs, but still worried about economy, cost of living, politics, health, environment, education, crime rates, and so on.

Malaysians are among the most upbeat in the world in terms of their employment outlook and ranked as the fourth most optimistic in the world over their job prospects in a Nielsen survey released today.

Malaysia surged to the fourth place globally in the first quarter of this year from sixth in the fourth quarter of 2010 in terms of consumer optimism about their job prospects.

Seventy-two per cent of online respondents in the survey described their job prospects as excellent or good over the next 12 months, compared to 70 per cent in the previous quarter. Across the Asia Pacific region, the average was 66 per cent.

Malaysia came in ahead of Switzerland in fifth place but behind top ranked India as well as Singapore and Saudi Arabia which were second and third most optimistic respectively.

“The positive response mirrored the good news on Malaysian exports which hit a record of RM64.1billion in March 2011, driven by the growth of shipments of goods including electrical and electronics as well as commodities — refined petroleum products and palm oil,” said Nielsen in a media release.

Malaysians fared less well, however, in terms of optimism over the economic outlook, coming in ninth and also expressed concern over their personal finances.

More than half — 55 per cent of online consumers surveyed — felt that the nation is not in an economic recession, compared to 49 per cent a quarter ago. About a third, or 27 per cent, of respondents believed the country is still in recession and anticipated that the recession would last for another 12 months.

“Malaysian consumers seemed concerned that inflationary pressures, rising food and fuel prices and potential interest rate hikes would reduce their disposable incomes,” said Nielsen.

The Nielsen survey also showed that Malaysia ranked second (41 per cent of online consumers) and sixth (33 per cent) globally when it comes to paying off debts/credit cards/loans and investing in shares/mutual funds respectively.

The survey was conducted by global information and measurement company Nielsen and was conducted between March 23 and April 12, 2011 and polled more than 28,000 consumers in 51 countries throughout Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and North America.

 

source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/malaysians-4th-most-optimistic-globally-over-job-prospects/

 

Comments Off on 72 percent of Malaysians optimistic about job prospects »

Posted in BornInMalaysia

Tags:

DAP wants to work with MIC to save Tamil schools?

May 20th, 2011
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


Already critical stage, now only want to work on blueprint? Crazy people. First of all, I wonder if MIC themselves have any blueprint or not. Want to relocate even one school take years, and need some minister intervention. We are talking about relocating dozens of school here.  You think easy ahh? Who want to give land? Who want to give money to build new building? Who want allow convert to fully-aided status?

First, try run a campaign to say all DAP Tamil (or even other Indians) members should send kids to Tamil schools. I don’t remember MIC running any such campaign, so MIC should start one too. I wonder if these guys can survive such a campaign or not.

MIC will tell the usual stuff: its complicated, they are working with the relevant people, will take time, got some quarters not cooperating. Which is true. Its complicated because you need land. Who want to give precious land to 4th class citizens’ education? Housing developer?  If manage to get land, it will be in some corner, next to sewerage pond, highway, cemetery or some faraway place.  Then, the cost of building the school. Government says limited fund. So, need to get sponsor from businessmen and public. Will take time.  Finally, if meet all the requirements (not easy because got many departments who need to give approval), have to apply for fully-aided status. In the middle of all this, will have different groups – parents, PIBG, HM and teachers, NGOs, politicians, and school board,  who may try to interfere and oppose relocation, for various reasons.

BTW, I hope no one goes to town misleading the community saying new school has been built. So far, number of schools is still 523. So where’s the new school? Please be clear if its a relocation, or replacing some school which has closed down already, or just new building.

 

THE DAP is willing to put its political differences with the MIC aside to work on a blueprint to ensure Tamil schools don’t close down, Malaysia Nanban reported.

There are 523 schools nationwide but there is a possibility that many may have to close down, DAP vice-chairman M. Kulasegaran said.

He said many Tamil schools closed down because of poor enrolment and no new ones were opened to replace them in semi-rural and urban areas.

Many estate Tamil schools have low enrolment as these estates have been fragmented or sold off, forcing the workers to migrate to urban areas.

The Ipoh Barat MP said that 70% of the 134 Tamil schools in the state were located in former estates, including about 80 with an enrolment of fewer than 100 pupils.

source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/20/nation/8718356&sec=nation

 

UPDATE: some stats and news from FMT on the same topic:

Tamil schools that were closed because of poor enrolment are not being substituted with new ones in semi-rural and urban areas to cater to the Indian community, the DAP claimed.

Party national vice-chief M Kulasegaran said that nearly 60% of Indian parents preferred to send their children to Tamil schools rather than national schools.

He also said that in Perak, there are over 17,000 pupils studying in Tamil schools – 9,000 in national schools and over 1,500 in Chinese schools.

“Over 70% of the 134 Tamil schools in the state are located in former estates and about 80 of them have an enrolment of fewer than 100 pupils,” said Kulasegaran, who is also Ipoh Barat MP.

“When the estates were fragmented or sold off , the Indians migrated to urban areas and there weren’t enough Tamil schools to cater for their children’s education.

“Clearly there is an anomaly. We urge the authorities to have a new mindset on the Tamil school problem and address them in a holistic manner,” added Kulasegaran.

He accused the MIC of not doing nothing for the past 54 years to address the declining number of Tamil schools, which has now reduced to 523 and is decreasing even further.

DAP is willing to put its political differences with MIC aside to work on a blueprint to ensure the status quo of Tamil schools in the country is maintained.

“We’re willing to have a candid talk with MIC to ensure a win-win situation for our community,” said Kulasegaran.

“Tamil schools with fewer than 100 pupils that have been closed must be replaced with new ones in urban areas.”

The DAP is concerned that without such a blueprint, the Barisan Nasional (BN) government may systematically closed these schools.

Election gimmick

Kulasegaran said that the vernacular system may suffer a slow death as more estates are fragmented resulting in the closure of Tamil schools.

His concern is that when schools with poor enrolment are closed, the government will not replace them with new ones in urban areas with an Indian population .

He said that the federal and state governments were implementing policies on an ad hoc basis.

“For example, Perak MIC chairman S Veerasingam has announced that Tamil schools (with low enrolment) will be relocated to four areas in Jelapang in Ipoh, Langkap near Teluk Intan, Taman Kaya in Taiping and Tun Sambanthan in Sungai Siput ,” Kulasegaran said.

“However, our investigation revealed that the areas are not feasible as they do not meet the education ministry’s guidelines for building new schools, which require at least five acres of land.

“We are concerned that this announcement could just be an election gimmick and for mere publicity to hoodwink the Indian community,” Kulasegaran said.

He alleged that on several occasions, MIC leaders had made empty promises of building new schools to replace the ones in the rural areas, which were shut down.

He claimed that the MIC had taken voters for a ride and had failed to safeguard the interests of Tamil schools in the country. He gave several instances:

  • for the past 20 years, at every election, the MIC pledged to relocate the Tamil school in Merlimau, Malacca;
  • there are Tamil schools that have been squatting in shophouses at Lukut since 2003 and nothing had been done to relocate them;
  • one Tamil school is located in a cinema in Ladang Brausnton, Jeram, Kuala Selangor; and
  • in Kajang there is only one Tamil school with about 1,800 pupils on a half-acre plot of land, whereas in Bandar Mahkota, Cheras, there are three parcels of vacant land measuring about five acres belonging to the education ministry.

“ Why can’t this vacant land be allocated for the construction of a Tamil school?” Kulasegaran asked.

“Though the nation has achieved independence for so many decades, many Tamil schools still don’t have electricity and water supply,” he said.

source: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/05/18/tamil-school-problem-still-being-ignored/

 

Comments Off on DAP wants to work with MIC to save Tamil schools? »

Posted in Indian, Tamil-Schools

Tags:

Wellness Survey shows 83 percent of Malaysians are struggling or suffering

May 10th, 2011
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


The Gallup Wellness Survey report is at:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/147167/High-Wellbeing-Eludes-Masses-Countries-Worldwide.aspx

Below is the result of the 124 countries.

And this is an interesting opinion based on the survey above:

The Gallup survey of 124 countries sought to categorise people into three groups — those who were thriving, struggling or suffering.

The survey found that majorities in only 19 out of 124 countries considered themselves thriving. Unsurprisingly, more people in the developed world felt that they were doing well compared to those from the developing world.

Income levels are, of course, a key determinant of wellness. Countries with higher per capita incomes invariably tend to have better healthcare, social safety nets and opportunities for advancement.

As well, developed countries tend to have a better overall environment for the pursuit of wellness. An independent judiciary, a responsible police force, less corruption, and equitable laws that level the playing field for all citizens facilitate wellness.

In short, political systems that are accountable to their citizenry and responsive to their needs generally provide for a better quality of life, and that is the key.

Denmark, Sweden, Canada, Australia and Finland were among the top five countries in the world where the majority of people felt good about their lives. In Denmark, 72% considered themselves as thriving.

And what of Malaysia? The survey revealed that Malaysians are an unhappy lot. Seventy-nine per cent of the population considered themselves to be struggling.

To put this in a wider context, Malay­sia fared worse than Lebanon or Russia but did better than Mon­golia, Uganda and Mali, if that is any con­solation.

In high-income Sin­ga­pore, 61% considered themselves as struggling, suggesting that the quality of life there is not as great as its leaders think it is. Perhaps the restrictive political environment in the island republic might have something to do with it.

The world wellness survey tends to correspond with the data contained in the World Bank’s Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011 (MRF2011) which came out in February. It must come as no surprise that people who are struggling or suffering usually vote with their feet and flee for greener pastures.

Torrents of people from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America are moving, legally or illegally, to the developed world. Third World nationalists, dictators and mullahs might inveigh against the West but many of their own people are risking life and limb to head West. Those that can’t make it to their preferred Western destinations end up in the relatively more prosperous developing countries like Malaysia.

Thousands of people from all over Asia and Africa now live in Malaysia, legally or otherwise. In fact, according to the MRF2011, Malaysia has become one of the top destinations for Asian migrants who already account for 8.4% of our population. The remittances from these migrants amounted to more than US$ 6.8bil (RM 20.3bil) in 2009.

And while poor unskilled migrants flood into Malaysia, skilled Malaysians are leaving in greater and greater numbers.

The MRF2011 data indicates that more than 1.4 million Malaysians, or 5.3% of our population, have already left. Included in this figure are 1,727 locally trained physicians.

The US, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Singapore were the main destinations.

The continuing outflow of skilled Malaysians, coupled with the rising inflow of unskilled migrants, cannot be good news for the long-term future of our nation.

Cheap labour might boost our industries in the short-term but will do nothing to help us in the critical areas of innovation, research and entrepreneurship that is vital for our future prosperity.

The other thing about unhappy people is that they tend to send their money abroad because they lack confidence in the future of their own countries.

Here again, Malaysia is one of the chart toppers with more than US$ 8bil (RM 23.8bil) going abroad last year. How long can we continue to bleed this way?

What all these say is that Malaysians are not happy with the way things are going and with the overall quality of life they now experience. It suggests, as well, that they have no confidence that things are going to improve anytime soon. It also means that our present efforts to persuade talented and skilled Malaysians to return home are unlikely to be successful.

Offering tax incentives and better remuneration alone are not going to cut it with people whose priority is a better quality of life for themselves and their families.

The message that the Gallup Wellness Survey sends to many Third World governments, including our own, is that they need to do a better job in improving the quality of life of their citizens.

For us, that means seriously tackling the growing racial and religious divide, significantly improving our education system, providing equal opportunities for all Malaysians to prosper, and being attentive to the plea for better governance.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak appears to be acutely aware of the challenges that Malaysia faces. Let us hope that the government’s plans to improve the wellness of all Malaysians bear fruit.

In the meantime, we will continue to hear that sucking sound of men and money moving abroad much to our detriment.

* Datuk Dennis Ignatius is a 36-year veteran of the Malaysian foreign service. He has served in London, Beijing and Washington and was ambassador to Chile and Argentina. He was twice Undersecretary for American Affairs. He retired as High Commissioner to Canada in July 2008.

 

Comments Off on Wellness Survey shows 83 percent of Malaysians are struggling or suffering »

Posted in BornInMalaysia

Tags: