Building a Brighter Future for All Malaysians

Bahasa Melayu satukan 30 etnik di Sarawak.
2009 October 6
by MAB
Bahasa Melayu satukan 30 etnik di Sarawak
Oleh Misih Taib
Pemilihan Bumi Kenyalang tuan rumah BBK 2009 tepati manifestasi gagasan 1Malaysia
PEMILIHAN Sarawak sebagai tuan rumah pelancaran Bulan Bahasa Kebangsaan (BBK) 2009 yang berlangsung di Stadium Perpaduan, Petra Jaya di Kuching hari ini amat bermakna kerana inilah kali pertama Bumi Kenyalang dipilih diberi penghormatan itu.
BBK 2009 yang membawa mesej ‘Bahasa Jiwa Bangsa’ sebelum ini dikenali sebagai Bulan Bahasa dan Sastera Negara (BBSN), diadakan pihak kerajaan bagi mencapai hasrat yang digariskan dalam Pelan Induk Pembangunan Pendidikan (PIPP) iaitu membina negara bangsa, satu pendekatan ke arah memperkukuh perpaduan, membina identiti nasional dan semangat kebangsaan.
Ketua Pengarah Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP), Datuk Termuzi Abdul Aziz, menyifatkan pemilihan Sarawak sebagai tuan rumah pelancaran BBK 2009 sebagai amat kena pada tempatnya dan menepati gagasan 1Malaysia.
Sarawak menurut beliau, amat berbeza dengan negeri lain terutama di Semenanjung dengan jumlah suku etniknya paling ramai, tetapi semua kaum memilih bahasa Melayu sebagai bahasa perhubungan antara mereka.
Sejak dulu lagi bahasa Melayu sememangnya menjadi bahasa ‘penyatuan’ bagi lebih 30 suku kaum di Sarawak, dengan ia dijadikan bahasa komunikasi termasuk di antara orang Melayu dengan orang Cina, Iban, Bidayuh, Orang Ulu, Melanau dan pelbagai suku etnik lain.
Malah perkahwinan campur begitu banyak berlaku di Sarawak, sehingga dalam satu-satu keluarga ada yang terdiri daripada lima kaum, dengan kebanyakannya memilih bahasa Melayu sebagai bahasa perhubungan antara mereka.
Penulis sendiri mempunyai rakan yang dalam keluarganya ada keturunan Iban, Orang Ulu, Cina, Melayu dan Bidayuh, dengan setiap perayaan membabitkan kaum berkenaan diraikan oleh keluarga terbabit atas semangat 1Malaysia.
“Kahwin campur adalah contoh paling baik bagi konsep 1Malaysia di Sarawak, ada Bidayuh yang kahwin Iban, Iban kahwin Orang Ulu, Melayu kahwin Iban, Cina kahwin Bidayuh dan pelbagai lagi, dengan lingua franca mereka adalah bahasa Melayu,” kata Termuzi kepada Berita Harian.
Lebih bermakna pelancaran BBK 2009 hari ini disempurnakan oleh pemimpin nombor dua negara, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, yang pertama kali menjejakkan kaki ke Bumi Kenyalang.
Kira-kira 5,000 orang dijangka menghadiri majlis pelancaran itu akan mendengar amanat Muhyiddin, selain Ketua Menteri Sarawak, Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud dan Termuzi, seterusnya disusuli pelbagai acara bercorak kebahasaan dan kesusasteraan.
Kehadiran 30 suku etnik untuk membaca ikrar bahasa pada majlis itu diketuai anggota Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) pastinya mencipta kelainan kerana jumlah kaum yang begitu ramai untuk melafazkan ikrar pada majlis pelancaran BBK.
Pendekatan Kerajaan Negeri Sarawak dalam memartabatkan bahasa Melayu sebagai bahasa kebangsaan juga amat menarik untuk diperkatakan, sehingga Termuzi sendiri menyifatkan DBP tiada masalah dari segi pengembangan bahasa kebanggaan di Bumi Kenyalang, dan ia wajar dicontohi.
“Di Sarawak bahasa Melayu sejak dulu lagi diterima oleh semua kaum dengan baik dan dijadikan bahasa perhubungan,” katanya.
Seperti ditegaskan Menteri Perumahan Sarawak, Datuk Amar Abang Johari Openg, tiada paksaan dan unsur emosi digunakan oleh kerajaan negeri Sarawak dalam mengembangkan penggunaan bahasa Melayu, sebaliknya pendekatan berhemah menjadi pilihan, dan pada akhirnya kerajaan negeri yakin semua peringkat akan dapat menerima penggunaan bahasa itu dalam segala urusan secara berperingkat.
Malah katanya, pendekatan sama digunakan untuk persidangan Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Sarawak, yang menyaksikan wakil rakyat yang juga terdiri daripada pelbagai suku etnik, tidak dipaksa menggunakan Bahasa Melayu.
“Dalam persidangan DUN pun kita bersikap fleksibel. Saya sendiri menggunakan Bahasa Melayu, tetapi kadang-kadang turut menyelitkan bahasa Inggeris ketika mahu memberi penjelasan. Kita mesti bersikap fleksibel. Kita tidak mahu mempolitikkan isu bahasa, apa lagi kita mempunyai terlalu banyak suku etnik. Malah kita sudah menggunakan istilah etnik dalam bahasa kebangsaan, misalnya ‘merarau’ yang diambil dari suku Iban,” katanya sambil menambah semua pihak tidak boleh bersikap emosi dalam mengembangkan bahasa supaya ia dapat diterima dengan baik.
Bagi Setiausaha Jawatankuasa Penganjur BBK 2009 yang juga Pengarah DBP cawangan Sarawak, Jiso Rutan, pemilihan Sarawak sebagai tuan rumah pelancaran adalah satu penghormatan, kerana acara berkenaan sangat penting bagi seluruh rakyat Malaysia dalam memperjuangkan bahasa kebangsaan.
Lebih bermakna katanya, rakyat pelbagai kaum di Sarawak adalah manifestasi konsep 1Malaysia dan bahasa kebangsaan adalah satu wahana dan satu medan yang boleh dijadikan alat untuk mencapai penyatuan lebih jitu.
“Keadaan di Sarawak amat berbeza kerana kita ada pelbagai suku kaum, tetapi dengan semangat 1Malaysia yang ada pada masyarakat Sarawak, saya yakin peluang untuk memartabatkan bahasa kebangsaan sebagai bahasa besar di Sarawak sangat cerah,” katanya.
Penganjuran bulan bahasa yang menggembleng tenaga seluruh anggota masyarakat pada semua peringkat ini diadakan untuk mengukuhkan jati diri dan memperteguhkan perpaduan bangsa melalui bahasa dan sastera.
Pelbagai acara diadakan di setiap negeri dengan di Sarawak ia dimulakan dengan pelancaran Ekspo Bulan Bahasa Kebangsaan 2009 di Kompleks Pelancongan di Kuching pada Sabtu lalu oleh Abang Johari dan ekspo berkenaan berlangsung selama empat hari.
Persembahan bermukun, kuiz BBK 2009, kuiz sumpit maklumat, pertandingan Juh Ngeja, program penerbitan ilmiah, pertandingan mewarna, majalah dalam kelas, kuiz minda QAF dan persembahan nyanyian lagu rakyat adalah antara pengisian ekspo berkenaan.
Pameran yang diadakan sempena ekspo itu pula memfokus kepada hasil penerbitan DBP sepanjang lebih setengah abad berjuang memartabatkan bahasa Melayu sebagai bahasa ulung. Ini merangkumi kamus, istilah, ensiklopedia, karya-karya yang memenangi hadiah, karya agung, karya bahasa dan sastera serta hasil penerbitan menerusi projek Dana Penggerak Industri Buku, selain buletin, majalah dan penerbitan dalam bentuk multimedia.
Sejak sekian lama bahasa Melayu sebagai bahasa kebangsaan dapat memenuhi fungsinya dengan baik sebagai bahasa perpaduan, dalam memupuk dan meningkatkan kesefahaman serta menyuburkan rasa kebersamaan serta membina ikatan kukuh dalam anggota masyarakat tanpa mengira bangsa, agama, suku kaum, dan budaya.
Penulis ialah Ketua Biro Berita Harian, Sarawak

Sarawak dan Sabah contoh terbaik.
2009 September 17
by MAB
NASIONAL
Keharmonian inspirasi 1Malaysia
Oleh Syuhada Choo Abdullahchoo@bharian.com.my
Semangat perpaduan kukuh di Sabah dan Sarawak contoh terbaik: Najib
KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak berkata, semangat perpaduan yang kukuh serta keharmonian di Sabah dan Sarawak adalah bukti perbezaan dalam kalangan rakyat berjaya menyatukan negara ini, sekali gus menjadi inspirasi kepada komitmennya terhadap 1Malaysia.
Sambil menyifatkan kisah Sabah dan Sarawak sebagai ‘kisah 1Malaysia’, Perdana Menteri berkata, kekuatan sebenar Malaysia terserlah apabila rakyat daripada semua bangsa, agama dan keturunan saling hidup dalam keadaan harmoni.
“Sabah dan Sarawak adalah dua negeri terbesar kita, yang terpisah oleh lautan, namun amat penting kepada impian semua rakyat Malaysia bagi sebuah negara yang bersatu dan harmoni.
“Ada banyak contoh yang bersemangat dan bertenaga untuk menunjukkan bagaimana rakyat Malaysia berbilang bangsa, agama dan etnik boleh menerima banyak perkara yang menyatukan kita, bukannya membiarkan beberapa perkara kecil memecahbelahkan kita,” katanya dalam kenyataan peribadi sempena Hari Malaysia, semalam.
Perdana Menteri yang berkongsi wawasannya bagi membina masa depan lebih cemerlang untuk semua rakyat Malaysia, turut mengimbas bagaimana penyatuan Sabah dan Sarawak dengan Semenanjung pada 1963 melahirkan Malaysia moden.
Najib berkata, ketika menyaksikan perayaan Gawai Dayak di rumah panjang di Sarawak, baru-baru ini, beliau menyedari penduduk negeri itu sudah pun menerima pakai nilai 1Malaysia, lama sebelumnya.
“Contoh ini merangsang komitmen saya. Kita hanya perlu melihat Sabah dan Sarawak untuk memahami perpaduan dan keharmonian boleh dicapai jika kita menerima dan menghormati kelainan rakyat kita,” katanya.
Perdana Menteri berkata, Sabah mengalami pertumbuhan pesat dalam keseluruhan sektor ekonominya dan beliau amat tertarik kepada semangat keusahawanan serta membawa pembaharuan pada rakyat negeri itu.
Bagaimanapun, katanya, kemajuan ekonomi di kedua-dua negeri itu tersekat oleh masalah rangkaian pengangkutan dan perkhidmatan. selain persekolahan akibat kekurangan dana.
“Sehubungan itu, saya memperluaskan bantuan kewangan kepada pihak berkuasa tempatan (PBT) di Sabah dan Sarawak untuk projek prasarana penting, bekalan perkhidmatan dan penambahbaikan peluang pendidikan, terutama di kawasan luar bandar.
“Untuk membina sebuah negara Malaysia yang bersatu padu dan harmoni dengan masa depan yang cemerlang, kita mesti membangunkan negara kita sebagai 1Malaysia. Pelaburan yang diperbaharui dan diperluas bagi masa hadapan Sabah dan Sarawak yang sudah saya cadangkan (sebelum ini) adalah langkah ke arah itu.
“Pada akhirnya nanti, sama ada kita tinggal di rumah panjang di pedalaman atau di bangunan tinggi di Kuala Lumpur, kita semua adalah rakyat Malaysia dan sebahagian daripada 1Malaysia yang kita cintai,” katanya.

TPM kedua wajar Sabah, Sarawak sepertiga Malaysia: Dr Jeffry.
2009 September 26
by MAB
TPM kedua wajar Sabah, Sarawak sepertiga Malaysia: Dr Jeffry
SHAH ALAM – Sabah dan Sarawak wajar memiliki Timbalan Perdana Menteri (TPM) kedua kerana kedua-dua negeri itu adalah satu pertiga dari Malaysia.
Naib Presiden Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Datuk Dr Jeffry Kitingan berkata, jawatan itu perlu diwujudkan memandangkan Sabah dan Sarawak bersama-sama membentuk Persekutuan Malaysia.
Menurutnya, ramai masyarakat keliru dengan fakta sejarah kedua-dua negeri itu. Ada mengandaikan Sabah dan Sarawak menyertai Malaya untuk membentuk Malaysia tetapi fakta sebenarnya Sabah, Sarawak dan Singapura bersama-sama membentuk Malaysia.
“Dalam situasi mewujudkan TPM kedua, kita sangat menyokong kerana Sabah, Sarawak dan Singapura adalah rakan kongsi menubuhkan Malaysia.
“Ini bermakna, jawatan itu perlu ada sebab kita berkongsi dalam penubuhan Malaysia.
“Selama 45 tahun pembentukan Malaysia, jawatan Perdana Menteri datang dari Semenanjung, untuk itu saya melihat sekurang-kurangnya jawatan TPM kali ini diberikan kepada majoriti masyarakat yang tinggal di Sabah dan Sarawak,” katanya.
Beliau berkata demikian ketika mengulas kenyataan Guan Eng mencadangkan diwujudkan jawatan TPM kedua khusus untuk pemimpin Sabah dan Sarawak.
Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang itu memberi alasan, saiz kedua-dua negeri tersebut yang jauh lebih besar berbanding Semenanjung mewajarkan pembahagian yang lebih besar untuk pemimpin dan rakyat dua negeri berkenaan dalam pembahagian kuasa di peringkat Pusat.
Mengulas kedudukan TPM, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin sekiranya jawatan TPM kedua diterima, Jeffry berkata, kedudukan Muhyiddin tidak tergugat.
“Masing-masing ada tugas dan tanggungjawab yang perlu diselesaikan. Misalnya, Muhyiddin memfokuskan tugas hanya pada Semenanjung sahaja manakala TPM kedua memberi tumpuan pada Sabah dan Sarawak,” katanya yang menggesa jawatan TPM kedua itu diwujudkan segera untuk penggal akan datang.
Sementara itu, Naib Presiden PKR Mustaffa Kamil Ayup berkata, cadangan yang dikemukakan itu adalah kesinambungan cadangan yang pernah diketengahkan lima tahun yang lalu oleh PKR.
“Saya kira wajar TPM kedua diwujudkan dan dipertimbangkan segera sebab keadaan pembangunan dan pembelaan serta elemen-elemen lain ke atas rakyat Sabah dan Sarawak dilihat terkebelakang berbanding negeri lain,” katanya.
Beliau berkata, Sabah dan Sarawak seolah-olah diabaikan Kerajaan Pusat dalam segenap perkara.
“Kita dapat merasakan, mereka tidak akan menerima cadangan yang dikemukakan itu dengan pelbagai alasan yang diberikan.
“Namun, jika PR berjaya ambil alih Kerajaan Persekutuan kelak, kita akan mempertimbangkan idea itu dengan cukup serius kerana PR amat menitikberatkan kepentingan rakyat,” katanya.

Building a Brighter Future for All Malaysians.
2009 September 17
by MAB
PM’s personal statement on Malaysia Day
Building a Brighter Future for All Malaysians
Forty-six years ago today, Sabah and Sarawak united with peninsular Malaysia to complete what we now know as modern Malaysia. As we celebrate this anniversary, it is an important time to reflect upon our shared past, including the indispensible contributions that Sabah and Sarawak continue to make to the development of our nation. Minding these lessons, we must also concentrate our efforts on building a better future. On this Malaysia day, I would like to share my reflections on the contributions of Sabah and Sarawak, as well as my vision to build a better future for all Malaysians.
Sabah and Sarawak, our two largest states, separated by an ocean, are integral to the dream held by all Malaysians of a united and harmonious nation. They are vibrant examples of how Malaysians of different racial, religious and ethnic roots can come together around the many things that unite us, instead of allowing the few things that divide us to drive us apart. The story of Sabah and
Sarawak is the story of 1Malaysia, and has informed and inspired my commitment to this concept. They are a testament to the fact that our differences unite this country, and that the true power of Malaysia is revealed when Malaysians of all races, religions and ethnicities live in harmony with one another.
When I see the longhouse celebrations of Gawai Dayak in Sarawak, and feel the strong sense of solidarity among all of the people of Sarawak as I did during a recent two day visit, I cannot help but think that we are moving closer every day to the unity of 1Malaysia that I have committed to pursuing. In fact, I have concluded that the people of Sarawak had already adopted the values of 1Malaysia long before I explained its various elements. This example has driven my commitment, and, I believe, has had an important and lasting impact on Malaysia’s development. Malaysians of any race or creed need simply look to Sabah and Sarawak to gain an understanding of the incredibly strong and harmonious unity that can be found in accepting and respecting the diversity of our nation.
While we, as Malaysians, have learned a great deal from our easternmost states about achieving our dream of a united and harmonious nation, this is not the full story. We must also thank these states for what they have taught us about working towards a brighter future. Since they joined peninsular Malaysia in 1963, Sabah and Sarawak have played a vital role in the development of Malaysia’s economy, and that role continues to evolve. Although both states face challenging economic situations, they also demonstrate great promise in terms of their potential contribution to achieving a self-sufficient, stable and economically vibrant Malaysia by the year 2020, as outlined in Vision 2020.
During a recent visit to Sabah, I saw a vision of the bright future of Sabah and Sarawak. Though Sabah has experienced strong growth across many economic sectors, after many years of underdevelopment, what impressed me the most was the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit I saw in the Sabah people in their development of a thriving ecotourism industry. This spirit, which I believe is shared by all Malaysians, has driven tremendous growth in ecotourism and is turning Sabah into a significant contributor to the nation’s economy. In basic terms, Sabah has taken steps to shift away from an economy that was largely reliant on non-renewable resource based exports, towards one based on a sustainable service sector. The most important impact of this shift is the effect it will have on the people of Sabah, who will benefit from sustainable long-term employment options that will not disappear when resources run dry, not to mention the positive impact on the environment and preservation of natural habitats.
As I have outlined in my reflections, these states have had a lasting and significant impact on the development of Malaysia and we have all learned from their example. It is true that Sabah and Sarawak have experienced impressive growth, but they need the government’s help to reach their true potential. Currently, economic progress in these states is being hampered by inadequate transportation networks, underfunded schools and insufficient provision of services. That is why I have extended federal government grants to local authorities in Sabah and Sarawak. These funds, and future investment, will be directly applied where they are needed the most — they will be used for important infrastructure projects, the provision of services by local authorities and for improving educational opportunities, particularly in rural areas, all of which will provide both immediate and lasting benefits.
The Bakun National Hydroelectric Project in Sarawak is one example. The World’s second tallest concrete faced rockfill dam with a surface area roughly the size of Singapore, this amazing project will generate 2,400 megawatts of clean energy in a sustainable manner, making it the largest power project in Southeast Asia. The developers will work with the local community to provide areas for exhibiting local handicrafts and has plans for creating nature walks and eco parks in the surrounding area to further the needs of the local community. To build towards a unified and harmonious Malaysia with a bright future, we must develop our nation as 1Malaysia. The renewed and expanded investment in the future of Sabah and Sarawak that I have proposed is a step in this direction.
Doing so will ensure that we are providing the same opportunities to all and improving the lives of all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or the corner of Malaysia that they choose to call home. In the end, whether we live in a remote longhouse or a high-rise in Kuala Lumpur, we are all Malaysians and we are all part of the 1Malaysia that we love.

FOUR decades of bilingual education have been shaken up by its architect Lee Kuan Yew, who now says it was a mistake from the beginning

Saturday December 19, 2009
Anguish over bilingualism
INSIGHT DOWN SOUTHBy SEAH CHIANG NEE

There’s renewed debate over the decades-old language grind after surprising remarks by the architect of the republic’s bilingual education policy.
FOUR decades of bilingual education have been shaken up by its architect Lee Kuan Yew, who now says it was a mistake from the beginning.
In a rare self-criticism, the 86-year-old Minister Mentor blamed it on his own ignorance in thinking that people could easily master two languages.
It showed a side of him that Singaporeans rarely get to see or hear – expressing contrition in such harsh tones about himself for something he did four decades ago.
Over state TV, he said recently that he was “wrong” to have insisted on the bilingual policy, which was launched in 1966.
“At first I thought, you can master two languages. Maybe different intelligence, you master it at different levels,” he said, but after 40 years of learning it, he was convinced otherwise.
“We started the wrong way,” said Lee. “We insisted on ting xie (listening), mo xie (dictation) – madness!
“Nobody can master two languages at the same level. If (you think) you can, you’re deceiving yourself.”
As a result, Lee added: “Successive generations of students paid a heavy price, because of my ignorance, by my insistence on bilingualism.”
It was as close to a public apology as Singaporeans are likely to get.
Most observers saw it as his retraction of a major strategy that he introduced for his multiracial people. The republic’s bilingual system is watched with interest by many multiracial countries in Asia.
Under the system, aimed at bonding races and cultures, English is taught to all — but ethnic Chinese, Malay and Indian students need a mandatory pass in their own mother tongue.
The rationale is simple and logical. Singaporeans can communicate with each other, and the outside world, in English, as well as use it to earn a living. At home, however, they are encouraged to speak their mother tongue.
For the Malays and Indians, learning Bahasa Melayu and Tamil has not been too difficult, but among Chinese who hail from English-speaking homes, passing – let alone mastering – Chinese, a totally dissimilar language, is very tough.
Lee’s remarks were immediately taken by many Singaporeans as an indication that the government plans to do away with the policy.
This is unlikely to happen, particularly with the emerging economic power of China and Singapore wanting to serve as a bridge between Beijing and the West.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong quickly put paid to that speculation, saying: “To put it very simply, we are affirming our bilingualism policy. We have never wavered in this fundamental...”
However, PM Lee said, “We are in a dynamic situation because the position is changing, and we have been updating our policies progressively.” Lee Senior put the future this way: “It doesn’t matter what level (of Chinese) they reach, they will like the language, it is fun, and later on in life they’ll use it.”
The study of Chinese has undergone changes since 2004 that make the process less torturous for English-speaking Chinese.
The aim is for the average Chinese here to continue to be bilingual in English and Chinese, but without forcing him to master Chinese as well as English.
Those with higher abilities to do so could choose a fast and higher Chinese language track. Some have been sent to top universities in China.
The change of mind may have come too late for the hundreds of thousands who have gone through the language grind in the past four decades.
Many of them had adopted the attitude of just doing enough to pass exams, realising they wouldn’t need to use it for much of their working lives.
One out of four people surveyed said they considered it unnecessary to learn Chinese in this global world, where even the Chinese themselves are flocking to learn English.
A former Singapore scholar recently blogged: “I am a typical byproduct of Singapore: a Chinese who can speak Mandarin, passed Mandarin classes but can still barely read and write the language well enough to be considered proficient.
“Technically I am illiterate,” he declared. “And, while that may not speak for all of us, there are sufficient numbers to justify the label ‘typical’”. The worst cases are the talented children who fared so miserably in Mandarin that they had to continue their studies abroad.
An early casualty of Singapore’s bilingualism was the Golden Girl of swimming, Junie Sng, who won 10 gold medals in the 1983 SEA Games, compared to nine four years earlier.
Her English-speaking parents migrated to Australia, where she now resides. The Chinese language dilemma has contributed to Singapore’s brain drain.
Every year, about 1,000 bright students join the immigration outflow, including a fair number who want to escape the exam requirements.
In 1989, a Singaporean mother, Pauline Tan, wrote a passionate letter to The Straits Times criticising the way Chinese was being taught.
She said her Primary 3 son was having suicidal thoughts because he hated having to study Chinese every day. “He was constantly ridiculed and scolded by his Chinese teacher. He felt ashamed and shunned his classmates.
“He found Chinese boring. It is spelling, dictation, writing, tests and more spelling, dictation, writing and tests,” she said. Finally she and her husband migrated to Australia “to spare our kid further misery with Chinese.”
Today, her son – aged 29 – is an IT specialist, while his younger brother is doing his doctorate in mathematics at Oxford University.
It is partly such losses that have forced Singapore to import talent from abroad – and probably explains Lee’s feeling of anguish.

SABAH AND SARAWAK TO BE RELOCATED

SABAH AND SARAWAK TO BE RELOCATED
December 14, 2009...3:43 pm
Sabah & Sarawak to be relocated
KUALA LUMPUR — In an effort to strengthen national unity and in line with the 1Malaysia concept, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak announced today that the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak would be moved to the peninsula.

BEFORE: Sabah and Sarawak in their current location
Speaking at a Press conference after a Cabinet meeting, Najib said that the relocation was necessary to ensure that the nation’s different peoples would not have any more physical boundaries to mix around.
“We’ve had the vast South China Sea separating the two Malaysias for the longest time now,” said the Prime Minister excitedly. “It’s time to close the gap, and allow our different races, tribes and cultures to naturally immerse with one another.”
The relocation plan is scheduled to start next year, with reclamation works commencing in May.

AFTER: The new, unified '1Malaysia' Malaysia
“It’s a big project, costing well over RM850 trillion,” said Najib. “The project would take 10 years to complete, since we’d need to move all the soil, water sources, flora, fauna, man-made structures and of course, the people. But it’ll be worth it, since we’ll truly be 1Malaysia.”
The two huge states, spanning nearly 200,000 square kilometres, are now part of the greater Borneo island together with Brunei Darussalam and the part of Indonesia called Kalimantan, but would be joined with the eastern side of Peninsular Malaysia.
“The states would be reconstructed almost exactly identical to how they are now,” said Najib. “This would ensure that the natives would not feel ‘out of place’ when they move back to their relocated homes.
“Of course, we might ‘improve’ some things when we rebuild the states. We’re thinking, maybe Mount Kinabalu could be higher than Everest. I mean, why not? It’s not every day that you get to change what nature has given us.
“And if we take the soil from inside Gua Niah and use it to add on Mount Kinabalu’s height, we’d get both a bigger cave and taller mountain, effectively rewriting two Guinness World Records. Now that’s what I call value for money!”
Asked what the neighbouring Brunei and Indonesia had to say about the move, Najib said that he had discussed the issues with the leaders of both nations.
“His Majesty the Sultan of Brunei did ask me why we were taking Sabah and Sarawak away, leaving his kingdom just a group of tiny islands in the middle of the South China Sea. The Indonesian president also voiced his concern,” said the PM.
“However, I told them that we all need to ‘hijrah’ to better ourselves, and that neighbours move away all the time. And I also reassured them that although we may be physically further after this, we would always be close in our hearts. They were very understanding.
“Besides, after this, there’d be no more issue of illegal smuggling across the borders and such.”
On protests by the Kelantan state government, citing the ‘loss of a coastline’ and ‘off-shore petroleum’, Najib said that this is of national interest, and the opposition-held state administration should not be so selfish.
“These people simply refuse to understand the importance of 1Malaysia. They keep on looking a the small things like the death of their fishing industry or the loss of billions of ringgit of income.
“Serves the Kelantanese people right for voting in such small-minded leaders.”

The Employability Crisis is a Global Crisis

The Employability Crisis is a Global Crisis
1:05 PM Wednesday June 24, 2009
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High quality talent needs to be available across the globe. Unfortunately, this is not currently the case. While there are good examples of some countries putting emphasis on changing their education systems to be more business-ready (or what I call "increasing employability") in most parts of the world, education and employability are not in step with each other, resulting in individual companies having to pick up the slack with significant investments in training.
From my point of view as a CEO in the IT industry, there are three trends that will drive talent demand in the future — and should hence be driving talent development in the present:
1. The global IT industry has been a big employer of young talent across the globe because of the increasing influence of IT in business transformation. The global meltdown is being seen as an opportunity to transform by many CEOs across the world and they are looking at IT to lead this transformation.
2. IT has become "glocal" — it has to transcend geographic and demographic barriers to deliver this transformation.
3. Technology innovation is driving IT complexity and strict compliance norms & concerns of business continuity is driving a need for repeatable processes and assured performance.
When we look at talent hiring, development and deployment on a global scale, we cannot afford to create artificial boundaries that global commerce does not support. At the same time, we cannot make the mistake of assuming that talent from a handful of countries can meet the new demands being made on Global IT; being local is a critical factor that will drive our ability to truly partner with our customers where they are.
These employability challenges are universal. This includes countries like India and China where there isn't a dearth of education institutions, but "employability" issues persist. And it includes the US, where President Obama has argued that expanding access to higher education is essential for America to recover its superpower status.
The four parties who need to play a role in addressing this critical challenge are the Government, education institutions, industry, and the students themselves, who need to better understand the changing role of technology and innovation in driving transformation. None of the four can make this work in isolation — it will take a well-coordinated approach.Thus the real debate is not about who is smarter or how can we create trade barriers to protect jobs — the real debate is about how we invest in every country and ensure we create rich, employable talent that is globally available that will drive efficiency and innovation in our businesses.
We have a large pool of talented and educated youth. It is our responsibility to invest in them — intelligently
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June 25, 2009 at 12:27 PM
I observe that one of the issues is that the decision makers (governments) horizon and the impact of education don't match in both the time and the geographic dimension:- governments face elections every 4 or 5 years and even if they don't, they need to show short term results to justify their existence (so it's not just governments - its the society), but investment in education takes far longer to show returns. Particularly as in many countries (i.g. Germany) pre-school and primary school are worst in terms of underfunding.- governments are concerned with their own country. If its cheaper to off-shore education and get good people in from abroad, they are tempted to do this (though there are other forces pushing against this trend)
Also, in many countries, particularly in Europe, the teaching profession looks down on content and skills that are primarily taught so that students can earn their living later on. Being too close to "business and big money" is frowned upon. They want to save the world from the corrupting influence of companies and managers by focussing on pure science and high culture. I've seen small-town high school headmasters in Germany rejecting the offer of alumni in S&P500 top management positions to come in and talk about the business world and explain the career opportunities for graduates - with a fast track for talented students from this school.
I also found teachers shying away from anything too close to the real world, because they've never been their in their school-UNI-school (or school-UNI-UNI) CV. With real world topics they can be challenge by students. Even modern languages are taught as they were 30 years ago and any student recently on an exchange program can challenge teachers. My personal theory is that this nurtures a love of teachers for Latin and old Greek as they don't change any more and is the reason why these two languages are taught far more often in some European countries than, say, Mandarin or Arabic.
So, at the end of the day, it is the whole culture of each country that stands in the way of better education leading to better employability. There are very basic values need to change to - put education higher up on the agenda and- make education more relevant to achieve better employability (while I'm not saying every hour taught needs to aim at professional skills. There are certainly many topics about our history and culture that are valuable. It's just that in Europe at least the balance is a bit on the wrong side.
— Sven Ringling
June 29, 2009 at 7:35 AM
Dear Mr Nayar,
I generally agree with your view of the changing economy. What raises my doubts is the question of expanding access to higher education you mentioned in this post.
We have been doing that in Poland for some time now and recently more and more people in Poland tend to argue that we have chosen the wrong path. They say it is quality, not quantity that should matter. Yet we put the largest emphasis on the latter.
I agree, that expanding access to higher education is an opportunity to those talents that otherwise would never be discovered. Yet on the other hand, it is pure biology, that the more students there are, the more of them are of average or under-average intelligence, commitment and learning abilities. What happens as a natural consequence, is lowering the level of education. Graduates are not anymore EDUCATED, they are barely SPECIALIZED.
Poland is a country of traditionally high educational standards. A university graduate has always been expected to have more than basic basic general knowledge plus extensive knowledge in their area of specialization. Now I observe biotechnology students, who cannot calculate fractions and journalism students, who cannot spell correctly and do not know in which century the Watergate scandal took place. And this is not the worst thing - the worst thing is that they think it is perfectly all right. They do not have to know fractions, because their computers will calculate them. They do not have to know how to spell in their own language, because they will have proofreaders. And Watergate - it happened so many years ago, that why would they care?
My own university teachers had wonderful, interesting personalities. They taught their students something not only about - let's say - the history of the US, but also about life and values in life. If the current tendency does not change, in a couple of years we are not going to have real teachers anymore - only specialists in narrow disciplines. And that does not lead to making the society more enlightened and broadminded, but quite the opposite.
I am an academic teacher myself. In my career I have had some brilliant students and some wonderfully ambitious and involved groups. Yet year after year there are fewer of them. More and more people lose any interest in the world beyond the narrow disciplines they choose to study. But is that really the right way to go? To change all educational institutions into vocational schools? Is it not depriving the societies of something more worthy than pure specialization?
I will be glad to get to know your opinion on this matter.
Kind regards.
— Patricia
July 1, 2009 at 3:10 AM
Dear Patricia,
I am not fully with you about the pure biological background of lower intelligence of younger genrations of students, not only in Poland. Have made similar observations in the past in Germany and nowadays also here in Switzerland.First some facts about my personal background:Rosen up in East-Germany prior the Fall of the Wall (that happened when I was 16) I was lucky to receive a pretty generic education including secondary school level opening the opportunity to graduate with an degree in civil engineering finally.
What I am experiencing since 1989 there is a downturn of social culture all over Europe leading to less interest within the society to be well and up-to-date educated.
If one considers i.e. Germany -until the late 80s of the last century one of the worlds most recognized country of science and research- there is an obvious meltdown of social funding not only within the education system but also in funding the average society! Therefore I'd like to state kind of a theory:As long as employers do not realize their responsibilities for proper payment of their unskilled employees so that those are able to live not in poverty and the state does not support that with the needed strength there will not be chance to improve a society's level of average education at all.Same applies to the people being unable to work (due to illness etc.) or being unable to find work to be properly paid for!
So I see not only the biology as a reason rather than also the society's mindset to the development of it's own future!
Kind regards from Berne, Mario
— Mario
July 17, 2009 at 8:04 AM
Some thoughts on employability:
a. As an industry, I would like to believe that IT services companies have done very little to improve education standards or ensure 'employable' resources. Even if there has been any initiatives - from what we hear in India - it has been undertaken with a short-term objective of creating job-ready IT services candidates. In an ideal situation, we would have witnessed 'simultaneous improvement of complementary goods.' In this case, as IT services industry progressed, there should have been an increase in 'employable' resources. The lack of 'employable' resources is a very clear indication that the industry didn't take substantial steps in building an ecosystem that would ensure 'continuity' (sustained growth).
b. The lack of 'employable' resources will in all likelihood cause a 'reverse salient' in India's competitive advantage in IT services. The concept of “reverse salient,” is borrowed from military jargon, where it refers to a section of an advancing force that falls behind the front and hence slows the progress of the attack. All developments evolve in a similar fashion with advancement hampered by reverse salient that occurs in the developmental process, some components of it or in the larger ecosystem.
— Rahul Anand
July 31, 2009 at 9:20 AM
I believe that the notion of so-called talent has to be tested. I mean to say one has a certain skill or competency is always context dependent - there needs to be additional courses in practical/social skills as well - The notion of an IT talent is too restrictive to be deemed good - sure they have skills for IT tasks - but they need more flexibility and extra skills to be really good
— Stephen Pain
September 2, 2009 at 5:14 PM
Dear Mr. Nayar,
I disagree.....
I have posted couple of comments against your blog in your www.hcltech.com website. Kindly check if you have time. Hope so it would be interesting.
Let's hit the topic...
Point No: 1 - You have mentioned about global meltdown and IT industry's chances of taking advantage over it. Agreed, but should that be a necessary rule that the organisation's own employees have to work for 18 hours continuously? or work for more than 68 hours a week? I don't think they are compensated for that. How good are the expectations when there is no benefits in a business culture?Should I take this chance to inform that particular organisation's own policy for employees - "EMPLOYEES FIRST"?
Point No: 3 - Technology innovations are considering strict compliance & norms.... Strict compliance also includes the number of working hours as per Ministry of labour's recent law, where India is the key player of ratification. Should employees work beyond health & safety standards? compromising on their personal life?
You have mentioned President Obama's argument about education. His country has another advantage - "SOCIAL SECURITY". If employability has an uncertain turn, employees are not affected deeply, as they have SSN's (Social Security Number), where the government funds their expenses. Can any Indian National working in India dream about it? The government is not ready to offer any sort of compensation, yet we see Lay-offs as a key tool for revenue generation. Profitability should not be the key motto of any organisation. Country like Germany would invest more time on Research and Development. This way it encourages even the least successful candidates to take up challenges, though money wont. henceforth resulting in efficient work delivery.
Regards, Sujay
— Sujay
September 11, 2009 at 10:05 AM
Technologists have created such a wonder such as "Open System Interconnect" (OSI). The uniqueness of OSI is that it transcends time, space, situation and status barriers making the system reach out "any one, any where, any how". This demonstrates, the universal connectivity reducing the universe into one global village. The systems are able to achieve this without losing their own identity. Today, IT (attaining Knowledge and Sharing Knowledge) is possible because of this spirit. If one has got this right, they will not blame the Technology or IT.
The problem lies in the "Leaders and decision makers" who are using this technology and living in the age of OSI. It is unfortunate that these leaders and decision makers who are still stuck with color, caste, creed, culture, and country continue to operate in the disconnected mode with a narrow mind and closed spirit. The "Intelligent Leaders' with their Ignorance and Insecurity" attach too much importance to status and power. They start talking global but remain ‘glocal’!
This ignorance and insecurity is the “real terrorist”. This terrorists is haunting mankind leaving him disturbed within and continuously disturbs and suspects the world outside. Without ones knowledge, one is running from pillar to post. The search for the terrorist outside is on to root it out. Human being is wasting considerable amount of time, money and his energy over these matters to eliminate the terrorist outside; by attaining the super power status one thinks one has solved the problem..
Arise and wake up leaders! innocent individuals, systems, organizations, society and countries are suffering because of this deadly terrorist.It is not enough if one appreciates Mahatma Gandhi. If one can understand and imbibe the spirit behind the Mahatma one can enjoy and live by the "true universal spirit". He enjoyed freedom fearlessly without fighting. He maintained harmony and peace within and outside and lived by the spirit of universal brotherhood. This was possible because he set aside the differences of color, caste, creed, country and never gave importance to status and power. It is due to this spirit of his, Mahatma Gandhi continues to live.
Earlier the leaders shed their wrong attitudes and worked in true spirit following either the spirit of technology or the spirit of the Mahatma. The present crisis of global -education, employability, business and trade will naturally get resolved if it is approached in this spirit. Without this transformation, any solution is only temporary and the crisis will continue to haunt mankind differently in different spheres.
Mutual sharing of resources is the way to grow in this global village. Respecting and giving every one their dues is the way one will not get into and put any one in crisis. Harmony, growth and peace shall naturally prevail if one follows this. There is abundance in nature, one need not fear. There is enough in this world for everyone’s need but not enough for their greed as Gandhi so succinctly put it.
— Prabhakar Ananthaswamy
October 20, 2009 at 5:22 AM
Employablity????Come on Vineeth.. You guys know the reality. There was a system where quality education was in place and quite a lot of biz was made on it (glocally). But as of now I feel its more concentrated on quantity than quality. Why did we went for quantity? coz scarcity for quality ITians when we had the IT boom. Now that scarcity has been thrown out of the window we now have situation where bargaining power of employers is higher. But day after tomorrow (as you guys see) the bulk of junk is going to be thrown out again. Probably at that time whoever is left will be going after quality again. That’s what I can see. May be my short sight has to be partly blamed but one fact is that each of these scenarios did drive some business and there was hell lot of profit reaped.
Point I found was who ever went for quantity has few of their visions blurred atleast in HR side. I always felt that things like “employerability” ( say good company to work for) is going to gain more ground soon.
Again may be due to short sight I haven’t seen HCL anyway near (even in Indian market) on “employerability!!”
— Jim John

Life Long Learning – The Quest For Knowledge, Or the Stimulation of Growth?

Life Long Learning – The Quest For Knowledge, Or the Stimulation of Growth?
December 11th, 2009 by Admin
“Why are we here?”
“To discuss education.”
“Who wants to talk about that? Everything has already been said.”
“Very little has happened.”
“So why are you here?”
“To discuss the waste of children’s lives. Every child grows up in school. He spends 10 to 20 years in that environment. He is there when he is most open to new experience and least burdened by the practical responsibilities of existence. And the results are very meager. Something is wrong with the whole operation.”
“That’s easy enough to say. What would you change?”
“I would emphasis education for growth rather than for knowledge.” (Mann 1972).
From the moment we come into this world and take our first breath, learning is instinctive. As we grow, the world around us unfolds and new experiences ranging from intrigue and excitement, disappointment and fear, wet our appetites and feed our desire for more learning. As we grow older, life delivers a remarkable variety of complications and challenges and places us in environments over which we have little or no control. It is partly the way in which we fail; cope; conquer; or progress and learn that shapes our development. The society in which we live and the support we have available through our network of parental; family; peers; teachers; and mentors also facilitates our growth. Life long learning in a learning society is an aspiration which, as we will see later, is sadly not available to all, but those who grasp it, regardless of the constraints in which they live, win the opportunity to reach their full potential.
“Does some reader say, why should you touch this incident? And I answer, I have a library now of about three thousand volumes…; but in that first purchase lay the spark of a fire which has not yet gone down to the white ashes, the passion which grew with my growth, to read all the books in the early years I could lay my hands on, and in this wise prepare me in some fashion for the work I must do in the ministry…. I see myself in the far away time and cottage reading, as I may truly say in my case, for dear life. (Robert Collyer b.1823)
Rose (2001) is seeking to demonstrate that the power of reading at such an early age sustained Robert Collyer through his childhood, into his working years as a minister and the hunger remained in retirement. The catalyst? Simply the moment when, as a child labourer in a linen factory, he chose to pick up his first book, ‘The History of Whittington and his Cat’. This would suggest a strong argument to place the responsibility for lifelong learning in the hands of the individual, regardless of their circumstances. However, an opposite view is eloquently put by Paulo Freire, a Brazilian educator and political philosopher, who was born into poverty.
“I didn’t understand anything because of my hunger. I wasn’t dumb. It wasn’t lack of interest. My social condition didn’t allow me to have an education. Experience showed me once again the relationship between social class and knowledge.”
The twentieth Century has heard many debates calling for education to be freely accessible to all citizens as an integral lifelong process. (Yeaxlee, 1920, 25). As we will discuss later, however, the issue of class status can have a significant impact on the individual’s opportunity to reach their full potential.
Field (2000), identifies that the debates concerning lifelong learning took on a global perspective when educational representatives of the inter governmental bodies of the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) commissioned Edgar Faure, the former French Prime Minister to produce a report entitled ‘Learning to be’ in 1972. This was the start of transformational reform in education in many European countries. The report highlighted that education should be structured in such a way that it is made easily available for all individuals, for their whole life and that this would mean addressing social concerns of health, culture, environmental considerations and inclusion.
At the beginning of this essay, two educational issues were contrasted. The quest for knowledge, or the stimulation of growth? However, over the last thirty years a third element has crept in and clouded the direction and conclusions that our first two speakers may have followed. The impact of competition. The OECD began to influence a view that education should be tailored in terms of human capital, linking the need for governments to invest in life long education with the output being the creation of a workforce, sufficiently skilled to deliver economic prosperity. If the economy prospers, so will the individual.
The European Commissions white paper on education in 1994, highlighted the threats and opportunities of globalization, rapid and unprecedented development in information technology and science and the increasing role of Japan, U.S.A. and China in the world economy.
“Preparation for life in tomorrow’s world cannot be satisfied by once-and-for-all acquisition of knowledge and know-how….. All measures must therefore necessarily be based on the concept of developing, generalizing and systematizing lifelong learning and continuing training” (CEC 1994, p16, 136)
Another white paper produced by the Commission of The European Communities identifies that internationalization of trade and information technology will have major consequences for the skills needed in the global economy. The future and competitiveness of individual countries and indeed, collectives such as Europe, will become increasingly uncertain if they are unable to upskill the population.
“Europe is faced with a situation in which its success in terms of economic growth is not matched by an equal capacity to create jobs” (EC 1996 p5).
Lifelong learning is seen as the answer to the problem. Programmes such as Leonardo da Vinci, Socrates and Erasmus are designed to deliver inclusive educational policies and create opportunities for all areas of society to embark on the learning journey.
The UK Government white paper on Further Education, published in March 2006, accepted the main recommendation from the Foster report ‘to help gain the skills and qualifications for employability’. It also stated, however, that ‘this strong focus on economic impact does not come at the expense of social inclusion and equality of opportunity – the two reinforce one another’.
Coffield (2007) holds the view that Further Education in the UK has been driven to deliver only the former, to the cost of the latter. In his article ‘Are we on the right Road?’, Coffield highlights the positive improvements to education under the labour government, but then goes on to challenge the short-termism of their policies and the precarious journey the UK is currently taking which, without a change of culture, has only a slim chance of success.
Certainly the current UK government has done more than any other in terms of placing education higher in the agenda, by virtually doubling funding to the Learning Skills Council from £5.5 Billion in 2001-02 to £11.4 Billion 2007-08. This has engendered a diverse and flexible education system, responsive to educational needs and demands, allowing local innovation and second chances for the disaffected, with significant provision in FE from level 1 to 3. There are a number of excellent partnership programmes with employers and a network of Sector Skills Councils which meet the majority of employers’ current and future needs. There are reported high levels of satisfaction amongst student faculties and there is good career mobility. There is also a marked improvement in the provision and use of adult and community education, helping to increase social cohesion. Fundamentally there is a wealth of knowledge, enthusiasm, passion and desire in the teaching profession which has delivered all of the above.
On the downside, however, there are real concerns being voiced from many quarters that the UK educational policies are underwritten by one sole overriding objective that, in order to maintain our competitiveness and prosperity in the world economy, the population must be ‘given the skills and qualifications for employability’. The UK is performing badly in compulsory education, ranking 24th out of 28 OECD Countries, with a participation of 76% of 17 year olds and 23,000 children leaving school in 2006 without a single GCSE. With the emphasis on the need for employable qualifications and schools being league tabled to deliver, systems of testing knowledge and performance goals, rather than learning growth in schools, are leading to lower levels of self esteem and reducing levels of effort by the less successful students (Black et al 2002). At present 56% of 16 year olds are leaving school with 5 good GCSE’s. That means that 44% are leaving falling short of the recognised benchmark that has been established to reach the minimum standard necessary for employability, or indeed further hierarchal learning in Higher Education. However, a good plumber does not have to know algebra or the works of Shakespeare, so one could argue that the percentage leaving with 5 good GCSE’s has little relevance to the standards of employability except for those entering white collar employment. We don’t need all our dustmen to have 5 GCSE’s. If they did, perhaps they would be doing something else. Education only fails when an individual is cleaning a toilet, who has the capacity to be a rocket scientist. Coffield reports that:
“Educational policy continues to be based on three underlying and damaging assumptions: first, that ‘our future depends on our skills (Foster); second, that in all matters concerning vocational education and the skills strategy it is appropriate ‘to put employers in the driving seat’; and third, that market competition is essential to make providers efficient and responsive. All three of these assumptions have been roundly criticised for almost 30 years, but they continue to appear”
Looking at these three issues in turn, in 2005, Tony Blair claimed ‘A Country such as Britain in the 21st Century will succeed or fail by how it develops its human capital’. But this rather short sighted, one dimensional, liberalist view is driving education more down the road of exclusion, rather than inclusion, because it has the effect of measuring the validity and success of education only by its results. The increasing emphasis on delivery is causing pressures that are having a detrimental effect on the overall education system, which is evidenced by our standing in the OECD community. Even where the output is good, graduates in recent years have faced increasing competition from well educated and professionally trained graduates from countries such as China, India and as recent as Poland and are falling short of the standards they have attained. Coffield is scathing in his assessment of the treatment of teachers and the teaching profession, but perhaps the change of view from Tony Blair ‘We will ensure that the workforce can implement what they are asked to do’, to the view expressed by Gordon Brown, ‘To build trust, we must also listen more, hear more and learn more’, will result in more engagement of the teaching profession and more teacher and student led improvements in UK education over the coming months.
On the second issue of workplace learning and the role of employers, The Times Educational Supplement recently reported that ‘Employers have failed to back the Governments drive for a better skilled workforce’. Employers have demonstrated that they do not want the responsibility by failing, in the main, to train their workers. Perhaps this is because there is a greater demand at present for unskilled labour and employers in the UK now have the luxury of the overseas graduate market to pick and choose the best candidates. Furthermore, a survey of adult education participation produced in May 2007 by Niace, the national organisation for adult learning, reports:
“With 500,000 fewer adults in study now, compared with a year ago, the survey suggests the Train to Gain scheme, which compensates employers for money spent improving the basic skills of the workforce, is missing the mark.”
Looking at one of the UK’s largest business operations, The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, there is no overall corporate strategy to support the Governments initiatives, whether they fall under the guise of Train to Gain, Skills for Life or the 14-19 agenda. There is no work taking place at present to look at supporting the Business and Finance Diplomas due to be launched in 2008. Internally, training is left to local managers who are responsible for improving the performance of their staff, developing their skills and preparing individuals for future roles and responsibilities. With a lack of central co-ordination, this unfortunately results in huge differentiation in the quality of ‘local’ training and no synergy within the company. Hence it would be difficult to see how this organisation, which consists of approximately 30 different companies worldwide, (some of whom have Investors in People status and others who do not) could become engaged with Government sponsorship without a more centralised, co-ordinated approach. To its credit, the Bank does offer employees a vast range of training support schemes, both internally and in support of external qualifications such as MBA’s and degrees, but this is on the premise that individuals take responsibility for their own development and apply for the schemes that are available. The mantra ‘if it’s to be it’s up to me’ applies to the upskilling of the workforce in this organisation.
Large companies like the Royal Bank of Scotland have no real incentive to further the education of their employees; by paying well they will always get the best candidates available in the market place and the competition for progress within the company will ensure that the individual takes responsibility for their own development.
More is certainly asked of us now than ever before, with targets to achieve, efficiency measures, tight deadlines, high reported levels of stress, longer working hours and understaffing. As employers relentlessly seek to outperform their competitors and drive short term results, they appear to have put aside the investment in training and placed the onus on the individual to develop themselves in their own time. I would argue that this complacency has filtered through to large numbers of employees, who have not sought to develop themselves, often using the excuse of not having sufficient time to do so. Could the distractions of multi-media, internet, game consol’s and addictive, repetitive, non-educational television be to blame? Has the welfare state encouraged people not to strive for an education as they know that they will be looked after even if unemployable?
“If there is learning, there is also non-learning. People often fail to learn, or actively resist learning…. Consider the smokers… If there is education, there is also mis-education.” (Foley, 2004).
To gain more buy in from UK employers and employees, perhaps the Government should reconsider leaving the question of lifelong learning and training in the workplace to the sole discretion and complacency of employers. In this respect, they could take a leaf out of the book of the French government, who operate two tax exemption schemes; the apprenticeship tax (0.5% of payroll) for initial training and the training tax (1.5% of payroll among enterprises having ten or more employees, 0.15% among those having less), used primarily to finance lifelong learning of enterprise staff. The focus has shifted from general education and cultural development of staff towards continuous education and training for employment. All companies benefit in proportion to the number of employees they have. The scheme has led to increased training expenditures that surpass the total amount of taxes paid by enterprises.
The third point regarding the need for competition to make providers efficient and responsive, by it’s own inference, directs educational establishments towards being seen as successful educational providers. This perception can easily be manipulated by selecting only those candidates with the potential and motivation to succeed. Thus we have a legacy of schools expelling poor performing students to avoid an adverse effect on their league table results and Grammar schools and Universities operating strict selection criteria that ‘guarantees’ their success, often leaving Further Education to pick up the pieces. All the time league tables measure knowledge attainment rather than learning growth, this element of elitism in education is creating the legacy of widening the gap between the learning have’s and the learning have not’s,
The point is argued more strongly by Paulo Friere whose Pedagogy of the Oppressed is currently one of the most quoted educational texts (especially in Latin America, Africa and Asia).
Submerged in reality, the oppressed cannot perceive clearly the order which serves the interest of the oppressors whose image they have internalized. Chafing under the restrictions of this order, they often manifest a type of horizontal violence, striking out at their comrades for the pettiest of reasons; the oppressed feel an irresistible attraction toward the oppressor and his way of life. Sharing this way of life becomes an overpowering aspiration. In their alienation, the oppressed want at any cost to resemble the oppressor, to imitate him, to follow him. This phenomena is especially prevalent in the middle class oppressed, who yearn to be equal to the eminent men of the upper class. Self-depreciation is another characteristic of the oppressed, which derives from their internalization of the opinion the oppressors hold of them. So often they hear that they are good for nothing, know nothing and are incapable of learning anything that they are sick, lazy and unproductive, that in the end they become convinced of their own unfitness.”
This opens the question as to whether the class societies in which we live have been founded as a form of eco-system, whereby those at the top of the food chain, ie the upper class and some elements of the middle classes, can only exist comfortably as long as there are lower classes to serve their needs. Someone needs to be there to collect the rubbish and deliver the harvest. Disney eloquently demonstrated this type of society in the film ‘Bugs Life’. Williamson (1998) quotes Salman Rushdie in this respect:
“Those who do not have the power of the story that dominates their lives – power to retell it, rethink it, deconstruct it, joke about it, and change it as times change – truly are powerless because they cannot think new thoughts”
Freire puts it in his own omniscient style:
“There is another fundamental dimension on the theory of oppressive action, which is as old as oppression itself. As the oppressor minority subordinates and dominates the majority, it must also divide it and keep it divided in order to remain in power. The minority cannot permit itself the luxury of tolerating the unification of the people, which would undoubtedly signify a serious threat to their own hegemony. Accordingly the oppressors halt any method (including violence) any action, which in even incipient fashion could awaken the oppressed to the need for unity. Concepts such as unity, organisation, and struggle are immediately labelled as dangerous to the oppressors for their realisation is necessary to actions of liberation.”
Today this is a global issue and surprisingly little has changed in peoples attitudes since the 18th Century which saw many examples of the unease felt by the educational middle classes, who according to Rose (2001) ‘found something profoundly menacing in the efforts of working people to educate themselves and write for themselves’. How true this remains in many countries in the world today and indeed, one could argue, in the very fabric of our current state education system. Do we really cater for all and do all we can to widen participation and include the lower classes? Class culture is still a feature in British society as well as on a world-wide scale, creating inequality, eroding self confidence, holding people back and depressing the further development of society.
Returning to Friere, however, he identifies that within each person lies an instinctive hunger and desire to better themselves and it is this overriding factor that links the issue of lifelong learning back to every learner and keeps the debate alive. To those that overcome all the obstacles, the world can become their oyster. Employment can certainly be one motivating factor to get people to make the most of educational opportunities, particularly those who are open to exploring future prospects and gaining new skills and qualifications that will enhance their lifestyle, self worth and identity. Coare and Thompson (1996) have collated a series of diaries from learners which explain that:
“a tentative first try at adult education has awakened a hunger for learning which may be fired by the thrill of mental and physical stimulation and new skills, or by the companionship and pleasure of learning as a group.”
Lifelong learning, however, is not just limited to the world of schools, colleges, universities and the workplace. It goes much deeper and broader into the fabric of society.
“One of the strongest themes to emerge from the diaries is that lifelong learning requires a deep routed learning culture – embedded in institutions and workplaces, in homes and communities and in our hearts and minds – which will support people to overcome the obstacles preventing access to, or participation in, adult education.”
Coare and Thompson include the story of Sue Townsend, who encapsulates my generation when she paints a picture of a 15 year old who couldn’t wait to leave school and become a sophisticated adult with huge dreams of living a comfortable, fulfilling life. Then hitting the ground of reality with the legacy of no qualifications; a resultant low paid job; an attempt to make up for lost time with night school; abandoned when falling in love and later in life feeling the pull of further/higher education:
“I sometimes think that learning is wasted on the young. They are contained in these places called schools at exactly the wrong time. Their bodies and minds are too fidgety to concentrate on things like demography of Bolivia. It’s adults who benefit most from education…. We actually enjoy the learning. We are motivated. I know many people whose lives have been completely changed since they became an adult learner. From those who have learnt basic literacy skills, to others who have taken degree courses. Its an extremely harsh world out there. Jobs are going, more computers are coming. But the people who are studying Cantonese at night school are, I would say, in with a chance.”
The issue of lifelong learning dominates discussion and debate concerning the foundation and direction of continuous education from the cradle to the grave. What’s needed is a solid partnership between citizens, teachers, employers and government bodies, nationally and globally for all parties to be fully engaged in and take ownership of educational opportunities that further the development of growth first, knowledge second, put aside the obstacles of class and harness the benefits of competition.
The challenge facing education today is arguably not too dis-similar to the challenges faced by the UK National health service – the more investment, effort and advance that is made, the quicker the speed of intellectualisation, development, global demand and human need. Thus the dichotomy in the question – is the learning gap closing or widening? Williamson (1998) quotes Richard Hoggart who noted that we now live in a society:
“whose members are insufficiently educated for its complexities, educated only to the level at which they may be exploited”
However, the demand and desire of humanity for humanisation and the thirst for knowledge and growth, keeps the educational debate alive and it is through this debate that people develop new views and learn more about themselves in the world. The more we know, the more we realise we don’t know and the greater our desire to grow. So much can be done to stimulate and widen peoples desire to learn and grow and break down the barriers that exclude people from learning. However, as Williamson (1998) puts it, closing the gap between the learning rich and the learning poor will need to:
“Lead to fundamental changes in the organisation of society itself and its structures of inequality and power. New opportunities for learning presuppose a new kind of society to sustain them and the political will to open them up. The challenge for political leaders is to have the courage to work for these ends, knowing beforehand that they cannot predetermine what use people will make of their new found knowledge and ideas.”
This represents an exciting thought for those who may feel stifled and “oppressed”, ie. all of us ants, but perhaps too scary a journey for the grasshoppers in power to take. What is very exciting about lifelong learning, however, is that somewhere in the world right now, a youngster is about to pick up their first book and young minded 85 year old is about to log on to a PC for the first time in their life.

The mismatch between our industry’s needs and the output from the local universities has resulted in Malaysia having the highest unemployment rate of

The mismatch between our industry’s needs and the output from the local universities has resulted in Malaysia having the highest unemployment rate of graduates
Published: Saturday December 12, 2009 MYT 9:46:00 PM
On the Beat by Wong Chun Wai

Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah is not known for making fiery speeches but he recently attracted attention with his honest views on pushing Malaysia’s competitiveness.
IT isn’t often that we read something refreshing from our politicians. Their statements are often predictable and unexciting. If they are in the government, they are talking down to us, lecturing us or are being plain defensive.
Those in the Opposition are not exemplary either.
Many still act and talk as if they are in the Opposition when they are already the government in some states.
It was thus refreshing to read a bold and honest speech by Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah last week, reproduced below.
The mild-mannered Perak politician is not known for making fiery speeches and he hardly makes headlines.
The function that he attended on Dec 8, the National Award For Management Accounting, understandably did not attract newsmen and many did give it a pass.
But what struck his listeners was his openness and his admission about the need to use the country’s plural society to push Malaysia’s competitiveness. It is a rarity these days as many politicians prefer to make “safe speeches”.
At a time when some politicians attempt to play the racial card, believing it to be still the best way to shore up voter support, Ahmad Husni has taken a different route.
“It is about time we fully exploit the potential synergy that is fully inherent in the diversity of our talent pool. When I visit the financial capitals of the world, London, Hong Kong and New York, I am struck by the diversity of the racial mix in their workforce.”
Indeed, what has put these capitals way ahead of Kuala Lumpur is that they have always emphasised meritocracy. You are either good or no good - nobody cares about the colour of your skin.
The fact is that the Malaysian domestic market is just too tiny and every businessman looking at the global market needs a good force of employees from diverse backgrounds and talents.
It would be plain stupid, even if he’s a self-professed nationalist, if he cannot see beyond the shores of Malaysia, or his village.
We will continue to lose our best talents to Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and even Jakarta if we refuse to discard our old hang-ups.
“I see highly talented young people working together, respecting each other’s intellectual capabilities and, to an extremely large extent, measured by only that benchmark.
“They were the Caucasians, the Chinese, Indians, Koreans, African Americans and even a few Malays, all taking pride in the quality of their output and confident of their place in the organisation,” Ahmad Husni said.
As he correctly pointed out, we have the single best comparative advantage – our multi-racial make-up – but we have not used it, preferring instead to dwell on trivial emotional issues that serve little purpose.
“If we are to unleash this cultural synergy, this economic opportunity to all participants, we have to break down the invisible barriers that prevent us from truly accepting the beauty of each other’s culture and capabilities.”
There can be no compromise over the issues of transparency if we want to pull ourselves ahead again. We are on self-denial mode if we think all the above is not important.
Ahmad Husni has good reasons to wake us up. We seem to be trapped in endless and even mindless political polemics and conflicts. The world isn’t going to wait for us.
A week earlier, speaking at the National Economic Outlook Conference 2010-2011, he had used simple but honest language to describe the current state of the Malaysian economy.
“Malaysia is trapped in a low value added, low wage and low productivity structure. While Singapore and Korea’s nominal per capita GDP grew within the last three decades by nine and 12 times respectively, ours is only by a factor of four.”
I am glad that Ahmad Husni has the courage to pull the blinkers away. Malaysia is losing its place on the radar screen of investors. It doesn’t help that investors have the perception that it is costly to do business in Malaysia because of inflated cost as a result of corruption.
We can argue until the cow comes home that we are clean and transparent, but are we really so clean?
There is an urgent need to restore confidence, credibility and governance. We don’t need to send experts on study trips to realise the urgency to rebuild our institutions.
Ahmad Husni further said: “Amongst our peers, China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand, our real GDP growth in the last three years was the second lowest at 5.5%.
“Our manufacturing sector is not investing up the value chain while our services sector remains low in growth and is under-developed.”
We are obviously in danger of lagging behind in the region. One way to fend off these challenges would be to address the competitive pressure and to move away from traditional markets that could be already overcrowded.
Private investment has declined. Ahmad Husni revealed that “for the period 2000-2007, our investment per value added in percentage nominal terms in manufacturing dropped from 30.6% to 21.7% while (for) the services sector, the decline is from 26.8% to 22.1%.”
But what truly struck me was Ahmad Husni’s frankness. In his words, “a simple analysis of our capital account will show that there has been a continuous outflow of capital from our shores.”
That’s not all. The fact is that some of best brains are either staying overseas or, worse, migrating.
But we must not give up. As Ahmad Husni declared: “We have to rebuild an environment that gives confidence to the private sectors.”
It is heartening to hear the government talking about restoring confidence in leadership and governance, market driven resource mobility, strong and effective institutions and a knowledge and innovation society.
It is time for Malaysian politicians to use the right sound bite. The news now tend to be littered with inconsequential comments that make good political reading but name-calling and racist reactions, unfortunately, are not going to help check our declining competitiveness.
The two speeches by Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah referred to by Wong Chun Wai in On the Beat are below.
Minister of Finance II Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah’s speech at the “National Economic Outlook Conference 2010-2011”, Dec 1, 2009, at Hilton Kuala Lumpur.
Ladies and Gentlemen 1. The Government intends to revise its estimate for next year’s GDP growth from 3.0% upwards. We have identified several sources of growth and we will enhance our capacity through domestic demand. We are also looking to strengthen the private sector’s contribution to the GDP through the Government-linked companies. We have identified several projects in the pipeline and we will bring them forward for implementation in the first quarter of next year. We are reasonably confident that a target of 5.0% is achievable.
2. Next year we will unveil the Tenth Malaysian Plan. We will focus on initiatives to revitalise private initiative as the primary engine of growth. In this respect, we will improve the dynamics of competition in the domestic marketplace, focus on technology and innovation in niche areas including green and bio technologies. We will develop these niches on existing comparative advantages and provide soft & hard infrastructure for the knowledge economy.
3. With all these, we will create new catalysts of growth, boost demand for knowledge workers and skilled labour, raise private and social returns to education and skills upgrading, and a more balanced internal economic structure with a bigger role for domestic demand. Externally, we will also continue to further promote closer economic, trade and financial linkages within the region.
4. For the longer term, our Prime Minister has tasked the New Economic Advisory Council (NEAC) to develop a new economic model to transform the country into a high income economy. This journey will be an exciting as it would represent the single biggest transformative process since the introduction of the New Economic Policy in 1970.
5. There will be many changes. Quoting the Prime Minister, business is not as usual. Fundamental and structural economic reforms are critical if our economy is to be transformed successfully. Malaysia is trapped in a low-value-added, low wage and low productivity structure. While Singapore and Korea’s nominal per capita GDP grew within the last three decades by 9 and 12 times, respectively, ours only by a factor of 4.
6. Amongst our peers, China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand, our real GDP growth in the last three years was the second lowest at 5.5%. Our manufacturing sector is not investing up the value chain while our services sector remains low in growth and under-developed.
7. The transformation is particularly urgent when we take the external environment into account. The global environment is changing. We can no longer rely on our traditional trading partners and we need to address the competitive pressure from other emerging markets on our existing exports.
8. Our economy has been stagnating in the last decade. We have lost our competitive edge to remain as the leader of the pack in many sectors of the economy. Our private investment has been steadily in decline. Our private investment is now half of what it was since the Asian crisis while both manufacturing and service sectors have become less capital intensive. For the period 2000 to 2007, our investment per value-added in percentage nominal terms in manufacturing dropped from 30.6% to 21.7% while the services sector, the decline is from 26.8% to 22.1%.
9. We need to restore the private sector’s role in the economy, serving as the primary engine of growth. How do we re-catalyse the private sector? In this regard, I wish to take this opportunity to articulate the concept of 1Malaysia in economic terms. There are some quarters, the cynics and the pessimists, whom view the 1Malaysia concept as another slogan gimmick. I assure you, it is not. We know that the bumiputras do not hold the bulk of Malaysia’s wealth. A simple analysis of our capital account will show that there has been a continuous outflow of capital from our shores. In this mobile world, capital will always flow to jurisdictions that are perceived to be more secure, not necessarily the ones that give a higher return.
10. Therefore, we have to rebuild an environment that gives confidence to the private investors. The critical pillars for us to restore confidence are leadership and governance, macroeconomic stability, market driven resource mobility, strong and effective institutions and a knowledge and innovation society. Allow me to articulate these five pillars, one by one. First: Leadership and Governance.
11. Political stability is a necessary component of leadership, especially so in a government that is based on a coalition of component parties. If there is to be continuity in a leadership structure that has the track record of a successful economy manager, Malaysians have to embrace acceptance of our differences and diversities which have been the base of our coalition. We also recognise that all Malaysians must be given equal opportunity to participate in the economy. Performance must be the primary rod of measurement. In this regard, we have announced that there will no longer direct negotiations for any public projects unless it is for the procurement that is related to national defence and security matters. There have been concerns that the Government is abandoning the bumiputras. This will not happen. The responsibility to develop and improve the economic standing of the bumiputras is the bedrock of this Administration’s mandate.
12. Nevertheless, we have to do it differently. There may have been a number of bumiputras who are awarded contracts whom are not genuine entrepreneurs. Yes, we encourage collaboration, of course. Consortiums and strategic alliances are a good thing but there must be a demonstrable element of genuine collaboration. For years the Government has denounced this “Ali Baba’ syndrome. It’s about time we get tough on it. Meritocracy must prevail. This is necessary for the long term economic survival of the bumiputras, of ourselves.
13. If we are to ensure there is fairness in the marketplace, there must also be a corresponding strengthening of our public institutions. Transparency and adherence to the highest standards of governance is something that we must strive towards. In this regard, we wish to see greater participation from all races in the public institutions, where performance is the key measurement. The introduction of NKRAs and KPIs is the first step in that direction.
Second: Macroeconomic Stability 14. Moving forward, we have to ensure that our fiscal position is restored to a more sustainable level. While the broad objective of increasing private investment in the economy will be continuously pursued, from the Treasury’s point of view, we also need to ensure that we receive optimal return from our hard-earned tax revenue. There have been too many leakages in the past and less than productive spending.
15. I do not for one minute underestimate the difficulty of achieving this. One of the most difficult things that anyone in management can tell you is “cultural change”. How can anyone change a cultural mindset that has been ingrained for so many years? But I have faith. Malaysians had developed all these centuries a strong survival gene. When push comes to shove, we change. The key is – there must be someone or something to do the shoving. The world is changing and that’s the biggest shove that I can think of.
Third: Market-driven Resource Mobility 16. The Government spends RM8,000.00 per capita annually in numerous subsidies. Not only this places a huge weight on our operating expenditure but it also create distortions in our marketplace. We need to realign this. We will re-calibrate the distribution of the subsidies. We want to ensure there is greater precision in its application. Nonetheless, we also want to ensure that there will be no erosion in the standards of living for the underprivileged and the poor, regardless of race or ethnicity.
17. We must also consider the gradual dismantling of our open-ended protection of specific sectors and industries which have introduced a climate of complacency and artificial levels of supply. The long term success of the nation’s economy must take precedence over the short term interests of a few protected groups.
Fourth: Strong and Effective Institutions 18. Entrepreneurs need to know that the public institutions are transparent and are run by the highest standards of governance. Entrepreneurs need to know that they do not compete in a market whereby their competitors seemed to possess institutional advantage. We need to see better competition policies and better regulatory environment which can allow market forces to operate in an orderly manner.
Fifth: Knowledge and Innovation-Driven Society 19. One of the biggest challenges that we face is the development of an innovative knowledge-driven society. Fortunately, we have a substantial middle class whom understands the value of knowledge. Unfortunately, our institutions of higher education have proven to be a disappointment. The mismatch between our industry’s needs and the output from the local universities has resulted in Malaysia having the highest unemployment rate of graduates, at close to 4.0%, compared to, for example, Ireland, Korea and Singapore. We have to consider introducing greater competition in our halls of higher learning. We have to introduce greater diversity in the range of capabilities in the members of the academia. If there is a lack of self-induced factors in our in our undergraduates and academics to strive for greater performance, maybe we should introduce external factors to drive excellence.
20. If there is one operative word that runs through consistently in all the points that I have just put across to you just now, the word would be competition. 1Malaysia equals inclusivity and by being inclusive, we introduce competition. We have to increase the level of competition in all the relevant sectors of our economy. To those that compete and win, there will be a set of rewards in terms of higher wages and awards. A performance-based culture does not accept mediocrity. We want to see a steady decline in those that suffer from the “dependency syndrome”.
21. Countries that have made successful transition into a high-income economy such Japan, Korea and Singapore have a single commonality – their workforce has strong work ethics, a disciplined mind and the hunger to succeed.
22. Historically, Malaysia never subscribed to any dogmatic approach to any particular ideology or economic school of thought. We are pragmatic people. Malaysia is a unique country that has its own particular set of dynamics. However, in a globalised world where economic and financial integration is inevitable, there will be a greater level of equalisation in our market economy with other participating economies. We cannot participate in half way measures although in our own pragmatic way, we will participate in ways and means that are prudent and cautious so as not to disrupt the existing equilibrium too much. A measured approach is called for but the end-destination is clear.
23. The journey ahead is certainly exciting but also daunting. The next decade will prove to be a period of unprecedented change in this Nation’s economic history since the last thirty years. Indeed, we are embarking on this adventure in a period where the external environment is also going through a level of transformation that is unparalleled since the conclusion of World War II. The challenges are great but if we persevere, God willing, we shall succeed.
SPEECH AT THE NATIONAL AWARD FOR MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING (NAFMA) 2009, DEC 8, 2009 AT ONE WORLD HOTEL, PETALING JAYA.
1. I most pleased and honoured to be here this evening to present the National Awards for Management Accounting (NAfMA) 2009. It is a momentous occasion not for just those whom are present here tonight, but also for the management accounting industry as a whole. The recognition given to the deserving recipients tonight is create greater awareness in the importance of management accountancy in regards to risk management and corporate governance practices in Malaysia.
Ladies and Gentlemen: 2. Management accounting is one of the key pillars of corporate governance and corporate governance is a cornerstone of efficient markets. It requires corporate and business entities, as well as public sector organizations, to benchmark themselves against the best in their respective sectors. These benchmarks must indeed be global and universally accepted. The most prudent and comprehensive criteria must be applied, the highest standards adopted.
3. The Malaysian corporate sector is very important to the Government. We are most unhappy that the private sector’s share in its contribution to our Nation’s GDP has steadily declined since the Asian Financial Crisis. We are also alarmed by the decline in the private sector’s level of investment, both in the manufacturing and services industries. We wish to reverse these trends.
4. In the Government’s efforts to institute the necessary changes in the economy to re-galvalnise private investment, we seek to increase the confidence of investors in this country. Malaysia is facing the threat of being “squeezed” from all sides. On our right is India, India, on our left, China, behind us, Vietnam, and in front of us, Indonesia. We have to build up our comparative advantages quickly and strongly.
5. Over the next few years we hope that Malaysia’s comparative advantages will be emphasized and the factors that contributed to the decline of confidence lessen in their importance. One of our most important and obvious comparative advantage is the diversity of our ethnic make-up. It is striking that seventy percent of the Malaysian population is under 25, and I cannot think of anything more exciting to have such a mix in any economy – young and diverse pool of talents to propel the future growth of this beloved country.
6. In this respect, we have to acknowledge that we, all Malaysians, have not fully taken advantage of harnessing the synergy that can come from our racial mix. We have witnessed in a few other countries how ethnicity, tribal divisions and religion can lead a country to a state of strife and failure, one of the most obvious evidence being Northern Ireland, Fiji and the various African states. I do not ever believe that there is even a remote possibility that we will ever be inclined in such a direction.
7. Nevertheless, ladies and gentlemen, it is about time we fully exploit the potential synergy that is inherent in the diversity of our talent pool. When I visit the financial capitals of the world, London, Hong Kong and New York, I am struck by the diversity of the racial mix in their workforce.
8. I see highly talented young people working together, respecting each other’s intellectual capabilities, and, to an extremely large extent, measured by only that benchmark. There were the Caucasians, the Chinese, Indians, Koreans African Americans and even a few Malays, all taking pride in the quality of their output and confident of their place in the organization.
9. The United States have gone through, and still have yet to fully resolve its racial issues. But what they have done successfully is to fully realize the economic synergy that can be obtained by combining the talents of the American African and the whites. This is most evident in the music, film and sports industries, which I am sure you are very well aware, are worth in the tens of billions of US Dollars. 10. As we are surrounded by the four afore-said economies, we should look around us and identify how best we can penetrate these economies. The solution is staring right front of our noses, our single biggest comparative advantage is our racially diverse population.
11. In a creative economy, the export of cultural products and services can gain much importance, the most notable example being the American sale of its popular culture abroad. In this regard, I do not see any impediments that cannot be overcome for us to export films, music and multimedia content. The racial diversity that is ours can produce the most fascinating cultural products that can truly amaze the world.
12. We have been living in our respective parallel universes for far too long. By and large, the Malays going to see Malay movies, living in Malay areas and pretty much living in a Malay world. So, have the Chinese and the Indians. If we are to unleash this cultural synergy, this economic opportunity, which is mutually beneficial to all participants, we have to breakdown the invisible barriers that prevent us from truly accepting the beauty of each other’s culture and capabilities.
13. I have been brought up to believe that God has given each of us something to offer to the world, that everyone has a gift that someone else can appreciate, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. If each one of us has the sincere desire to seek, to discover this gift, this world of ours will be a much better and prosperous place.
14. You may be wondering why I am talking about racial diversity at a management accounting award ceremony. Racial diversity is all around us, everyday, all the time. It is an applicable issue as long as the audience is Malaysian. Wherever we are, whenever, it is a valid theme. At the workplace, at home, at play, it is a valid issue. We cannot go on living with our heads buried in the sand, living in separate universes.
15. I have no doubt that there will be arguments and disagreements between us. To say otherwise would be unrealistic but does that not happen in any family? Blood is thicker than water. In this context, our history, the sacrifices and the rewards that we have shared together, the good and bad times together, in these so many years, are as good as blood can get. 16. The Prime Minister has inspired us with the 1Malaysia campaign. I hear now, what next? What is the Government going to do next? 1Malaysia is not the Government’s campaign. Take ownership, it is OUR campaign. The Government can only inspire but it us Malaysians that need to put life into it and make it happen.
17. In this regards, I am very proud to be here tonight. Earlier in this speech, I greeted Tuan Haji Rosli, Mr Chandran and Mr Yeo tonight. This is an excellent example of 1Malaysia at its best. Congratulations.