Have been away for about 19months, and though I go back to Malaysia almost every quarter, I have seen things to be slightly different and also hear a lot of news about the safety and security of the township nearby our place.
1) I took a bus from KL to BM, and because of the accident right after Jelapang toll, the bus driver chose the trunk road, and hence we drive to Kuala Kangsar, passing by Chemor. When I was in sales about 14 years ago, I remember I used to drive there, in Jelapang Industrial Estate and also passing by Chemor, the place was quiet, but I feel safe and it was clean too. This time around, I saw a lot of rubbish alongside the main road. And of course we have a lot of foreign labourers there, but this is not the main issue. The point is that after so many years, we have not managed to move away from labour intensive to a more well defined, semi hightech or high value added, like what South Korea and Taiwan are doing.
Talking about Korea, I was asked by my Korean colleague. He said, in the 90s, M'sia is on par with Korea in terms of GDP, etc etc, but now, it seems, it is like 10 years behind them, and he asked me why. I can't answer him.
2) I was driving in Butterworth and also in KL too later, and during these few years, I found that the younger generation especially, are running out of patience when they are on the road. There is no more manners shown, and they do not let others on the right to go into the lane first, or I should say courtesy is very lacking. And even when I was already moving into the main road, the car behind me is still trying to overtake me. Can't imagine this.
But one good thing about the highway at Jelapang area, I think it has improved a lot, and instead of the need to pay at Simpang Pulai toll, we can drive all the way to KL. That is a positive thing to note, though I am not sure if there is any increase in the toll charges, cause I did not check it out.
3) Security and Safety Issue-I met my friend, Jenna in KL and she informed me not to put my bag in the car, on the co-driver seat or any seats at all. One should not even carry any bag when driving. She has her friend's car window broken becuase of that. My Insurance agent in Butterworth, who is driving a BMW , also had the same bad expereince, but lucky as she is driving a BMW, the glass was glazed I think, hence it only has a little crack, but did not break totally. Hence, her belongings are safe for now. And guess what, she has now change to a small little bad, handcarry, like those for cheque books. And she only put non-important thing inside. She said, in case she is robbed, nothing important is inside. And she has reared two fierce and big dogs in front of her house compound.
And my cousin, when I met him too, he told me not to show anything valuable inside the car, otherwise, the window would be broken next.
And today, I read the news in Zorro's blogsite on a letter sent to Marina Mahathir.
Read here : http://zorro-zorro-unmasked.blogspot.com/2009/10/people-first-performance-nowwhat-bull.html
And this makes me very worried about the safety of family members back in my home country.
Here in Beijing, I told my two friends from Malaysia, even if you walk at the middle of the nite, in any dark alley, or road, or anywhere, in Beijing city area, you are safe. A local friend asked me about Kuala Lumpur, and he said, will you go out at nite, walking alone in some streets in Kuala Lumpur? Guess what the answer is or was?
4) Economy/GDP
I am also worried, where there was one posting, I think in Niamah's blogsite.
http://niamah.blogspot.com/2009/10/oh-oh.html that our GDP is below that of Botswana's. How could this happen? But I agree though I was not aware Botswana has caught up so fast, or is it that we move backwards?
But I can agree to a certain point on this. In the early 90s, when I first started my job, my basic pay was RM 1500. And guess what, now in 2009, the salary for a fresh graduate is also around 1800-2000 on average. Some in Penang is still getting this salary level. And my niece with a Diploma in events mgt is only getting 1000/month. If you deduct everything, it only comes to 850 plus. And she now has to pay a big portion for her car monthly instalment, and I cannot imagine if she has to rent a room. Where will she sleep and what will she eat then?
In S'pore, starting pay has gone up to S'pore dollar 3000 on average. The same goes for Australia, more than AUD 3500. Things are more expensive yes, but dollar to dollar, it is still good for them. By the way, what is cheap in Malaysia nowadays? Everything is expensive too.
I think we should move to higher end value chain market, in order to improve the salary level of our people.
Even now in Beijing, new recruits are getting RMB 3000 and above on average basis (about RM 1600).
The comments are just from my personal reading and observation and I really hope that something good will happen to Malaysia and my fellow Malaysians. I do not want to see us falling behind.
Oh yes, our compliance officer presented a slide on transparency international rating on global basis. one colleague, although she did not know where S'pore is, but she managed to ask or highlight S'pore as very transparent (in the world map, S'pore was to small to be seen).
Imagine that..............
Nuite!
Choong, Beijing
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