BANGSA MALAYSIA TEAM

BANGSA MALAYSIA
The Bangsa Malaysia Organizing Team should make their own terminologies to develop Bangsa Malaysia in a way more in tuned with the aspirations of All Malaysians. This means that the traditional classification and ‘labeling’ based on Ethnicity and language should be discarded and more emphasis on the struggles and evolution of Malaysians based on common challenges should be the language to be encouraged. Taking the universal values inherent among the Founding Fathers as our starting point can help give direction to the process of identifying and documenting the evolution of Bangsa Malaysia.
We should be looking at the various stages of our struggles against external and internal challenges. Issues like fight against poverty and raising the economic well being of All Malaysians. The character dimension of all who contributed should be emphasized and not the ethnicity. Bangsa Malaysia is not a programme to create hegemony of any one race, one culture or beliefs. It should be about the characteristics of leaders and ordinary citizens being bridge-builders through the various joint-efforts in facing all the challenges since pre- and post-Merdeka.
Keeping in mind the varied orientations that Malaysians undergo, the different focus by different citizens should provide rich and diverse characteristics of a Nation still under-construction, with the common goal of creating Loving, Caring & Productive Malaysians from all sectors of life. There are numerous examples to choose from. When we put aside our political and ideological agendas, we will be able to see and experience the Unity in Diversity along with all the richness that’s inherent in most Malaysians. Singling out examples with identification by ethnicity should be totally discarded. Focus on what have/are/and will build a United, Just, Democratic and Progressive Nation capable of meeting the Challenges of Globalization, is enough? Too much time has been given to non-essential augmentative issues. We need to re-direct our energies for positive actions on Nation Building and not just highlighting the shortcomings of others.

MALAYSIAN AGENDA FOR CIVIL SOCIETY

CREATING PEACE & HARMONY THROUGH POVERTY ERADICATION

(For the Political Parties, The Pakatan Coalition, The Rakyat, The Nation)

RATIONALE

I + M + $ = SUCCESS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INSPITE OF LACK FOR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SUPPORT (I=Ideas, M=Manpower, $=Funds)

The Selangor Pakatan Government stands at a difficult cross-road at this moment in time. Having governed for nearly 10 months, it has some major decisions to make so as not to loose the trust of the Rakyat. The BN/UMNO will self destruct only if the Pakatan Government has really shown its ability to overcome the many challenges faced. The rakyat will not accept our failure to govern with excuses (reasons to the PR) like the unfair terms set by the Ruling Federal Government, facts though they are, such as:

1. Unfair non-allocation for PR MPs.

• The allocations should be equally distributed to ALL MPs as it is not BN funds but the rakyat’s funds. WAKIL rakyat from ALL parties must be given equal allocations to serve the rakyat.
• Re-directing funds away fro PR State Government previously provided to BN State Govts in Selangor, Perak, Kedah and Penang.

• The Ministry of Tourism was the first to create its own state structures to deprive the PR State Tourism Agency of their rightful funds to promote tourism in the respective PR States. Other ministries have done likewise.

3.

The Civil Servants are not cooperating and even sabotaging the efforts of the Selangor State Exco, the PBTs Councillors and Pakatan MPs in the daily operations.

For no. 1, winning the Federal Government automatically takes care of the problem. However, with creative working relationships with The Selangor State Government Structures MPs may have better access to funds and be more effective, provided this is done properly.

For no. 3, I believe it’s up to the political will of the respective Pakatan Rakyat Exco, ADUNs, PBTs Councillors and MPs. I know for a fact that the MBPJ Councillors will come down hard of the civil servants in the Majlis from now on.

For no. 2, winning the Federal Government is the only answer.

For no. 3, support your local Councillors by being pro-active when called to attend hearings on issues in your locality. Getting sufficient facts on issues affecting your neighbourhood is a good starting point. Keeping your ADUN and MP informed is good protocol. Your Wakil Rakyat cannot claim to be ignorant of your issues nor blame other for non-action. MPs should be organising monthly meetings with ADUNs, Councillors and/or with their staff to maximise synergy and reduce duplication. For a more detailed information and training on collaborative-networking within your DUN and Parliamentary Constituency please emaile enquires to afpresources@gmail.com

For no. 1, understanding existing structures and current modus operandi will help MPs who are deprived of Federal Allocations. For more information on how to access State and CSR funds contact afpresources@gmail.com

OSA & FOI

Do they even understand what ‘change lifestyle’ means?

Ong BK | Jun 12, 08 4:15pm

It is a cliche for government leaders who decide to hike fuel prices to ask the rakyat to ‘change lifestyles’ – a term borrowed from environmentalists have called for it in view of dwindling world resources and threatening global warming. Are they the same thing? If they are not, the bluff must be exposed. If we look into the call for ‘changing lifestyles’ by ‘greenies’, what is meant includes reducing energy consumption, de-carbonising the cities, abstaining from consumption which drives our ecosystems and species into extinctions, reducing waste etc. What do the politicians want people to do in terms of `changing lifestyles’? To adjust to the increasing fuel prices, are they asking people to cook less, travel less, eat less, socialise less, in short, tighten your belts and live your life less so the corporate leaders and politicians will upscale their lifestyles? There are evidently big gaps between what `changing lifestyles’ meant originally and what these politicians mean. Actually the gaps are big enough for the politicians to hide a few elephants. In order to support the national car’s sales, the politicians are under-developing public transport. They cannot find the millions to buy or subsidise the buses to improve bus frequencies yet they can find the billions to build non-efficient highways and bridges which accommodate more traffic on the roads. So do they really mean it when they say they want to improve public transport? What message is given by the politicians when they do this? They want you the citizens and consumers to buy more cars so they can build more highways and bridges for you to drive on. Then they hike the toll rates, hike the fuel prices etc to trap you. Now when the price hikes are driving the citizens up the wall, they invoke the magic words: ‘Change your lifestyles’! What they say seems not to match the real message of their policies and actions. Then let’s look into what the government does about energy saving. Tenaga Nasional is privatised so it can shamelessly go all out to maximise its profits which must entail promoting its energy sales. So how can energy-saving be achieved when the monopoly energy-provider actually wants to promote energy consumption – or even wastage on a national scale? Why doesn’t the government allow more companies to generate their own local energy needs eg through solar power, mini-hydros, tidal energies etc? It should be a surprise to citizens that they are prohibited by law to generate their own electricity if the national grid reaches their area. Why leave the lucrative power-generation market to Tenaga and a few privileged IPP (independent power producers)? Next, let’s look at global warming which derives significantly from the releasing of carbon and other greenhouse gases from society. Power generation and traffic accounts for most of the emission of these gases. We had already seen how the government’s policies have not helped. Now let’s look at it from another angle – what if you want to move away from high-energy consumption at your home and office – does the government help you to really change your lifestyle? The common design of the high-rises in this country under the national uniform buildings by-laws does not require builders to pay attention towards maximising natural lighting and ventilation thus making all buildings in this country heat traps and stuffy concrete boxes. High- energy solutions are thus made mandatory – the use of air-conditioners. It is as though the law- makers are salespersons for air-conditioner and energy companies! The indoors are kept cool but the world outside is kept warm, warm enough to melt our polar ice caps. Maybe you want to change your lifestyles to save the endangered species and the threatened rainforests and mangrove swamps? Look at how much uncontrolled logging and conversion to oil palm plantations is going on in this country. The cooking oil we consume daily is really `cheap’ – only that many rainforest species and parts of the ecosystem have been `fried’ every day in your frying pans. Is there any effort to map out our rainforests to maintain our precious ecosystems and bio-diversities? It seems that where you can get profits, there are no environmental considerations that can stop them. It seems that this is part of the lifestyle of corporate and political leaders – to chop down a forest whenever they see one. The biggest joke must be reserved for the recycling campaigns. They are so well-advertised – enough to deceive the many `media consumers’. Yet our waste recycling rate cannot compare with those of other cities – including those of similar economic standing. Our dumping grounds are crowding out our cities and other living spaces. Yet the aim is to give the solid waste management of a whole country to a crony company – no matter if they can manage it or not. The profit for these cronies overrides everything else. The politicians might be wealthy but they lack the `wealth’ of ideas to reduce, reuse and recycle waste in this country. They pay for fancy PR campaigns and ads as substitutes for real effort at cutting back the garbage mountains which are built by 1kg/person/day by all citizens. If we look at what changes of lifestyles we really need to survive the destructive and wasteful lifestyles we live everyday, we are very short of what is demanded of us by Earth. And a big stumbling block for people to change their lifestyles seriously is the contradicting government policies which are inhibiting and discouraging. Yet they dare to call upon the citizenry to `change life style’ – which to them is to simply to tighten our belts – while the corporate and political `leaders’ upscale their lifestyles. They should not get away with such blatant lies especially in the wake of World Environment Day which was on June 5.

MALAYSIAN AGENDA FOR CIVIL SOCIETY

bangsa malaysiabangsa malaysiaCalling ALL NGOs/CSOs, if you are looking for a way out of the persistent competent manpower issues in your organisation, you can invite me to make a presentation on the MALAYSIAN AGENDA FOR CIVIL SOCIETY. Until NGOs/CSOs (civil society organisations) get their act together most of the issues to address poverty and the needs of the needy and marginalised will remain pipedreams. After more than 23 years of hard R & D and many mini-pilots with various organisations, my team of professional with a big heart are ready to launch our very specialised services for qualified NGOs/CSOs.

Watch Out for more details…very soon.

Aloysius – Author of MALAYSIAN AGENDA FOR CIVIL SOCIETY

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AFP’s THOUGHTS ON MACS