Trick or Treat

Its a few days after Halloween, when a fair number of people got into the spirit - pun intended - of things in Malaysia by dressing up as ghouls, ghosts and god-knows-what and carrying lit-up plastic jack o'lanterns in place of the real pumpkin.

Apart from that, trick or treats in Malaysia are taking on a whole new character.

Last night, at the DAP Petaling Jaya fund-raising dinner in Kota Damansara, several speakers took to the floor and told those present what they already know, that Malaysia is a sorry excuse of a state under the Barisan Nasional government and things can only get worse but possibly in a decade, the opposition can form a viable government.

That, in a nut-shell and a paragraph, is what it was about. Of course, there were some slides with facts and figures used with liberal licence, some Latin and Modern dancing and singer Alfred Ho to round up the evening of food and fund-raising.

Treat? DAP MP Fong Po Kuan underscoring the point that one does not feel safer in Malaysia what with the rapes and robberies despite the government promising to put in another RM6 billion to the police force.

Trick? DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng saying up to RM20 billion should be spent to beef up the force with personnel and equipment with an additional 100,000 to patrol the streets. Err, do we have the beginnings of a police state with a copper in every corner?

While we applaud Lim Guan Eng for his solution to the crime situation, we think he and his party should also put their collective minds to offering solutions to the myriad problems and not tell us what we already know.

What we don't know is what you will do once you get to power. And maybe you could also tell us if you are serious about Penang and provide the line-up contesting seats there.

Also north of country, the good people in Bangsa Malaysia are having a dinner for 200 people this Saturday November 3, 2007 for the sake of unity.

Treat? Dinner at RM10 and a chance for food and fraternity with some awesome speakers in Penang.

Trick? They need your identity card numbers and a bit of biography apart from the red note of RM10 before the invitation card is sent to you.

We wonder why. Is there no trust anymore even as we talk about unity? Isn't it time we take steps to unite people instead of asking them for identity cards and such. Where does it stop? Will there be racial quotas so that it actually looks like a Bangsa Malaysia dinner party?

Going on the theme of unity and adding on the layer of education, Bank Negara and players in the local financial industry are getting together to train those who are getting into banking, insurance, financial planning etc.

All fine with us. Good to have well-trained personnel and those who will move up according to meritocracy, all things being equal (a favourite economist phrase to say they don't actually know what will happen!)

Treat? The company - with a stash of funds from Bank Negara and the financial industry - has received applications from hundreds if not thousands of people who want to be trained for a future in the industry.

Trick? After setting high standards of acceptance, the company with prodding from a relative of a Cabinet Minister, is adjusting the minimum standard of acceptance to get more Bumiputeras into the training scheme.

Hey, what gives? What price meritocracy? It is this kind of thinking that keeps the Bumiputera on crutches and a subject derision and revulsion among Malaysians. They don't need the leg-up as those who have made it will always carry the stigma that they are there due to the ethnicity.

It is time that we stop bright sparks like these - from the government, opposition parties and well-meaning if possibly misguided people - from spewing ideas without thinking for Malaysia.