SINGING THE COMMUTER BLUES

I gave up driving in 1998. Since then I've been relying pretty much on public transport to get me from point A to point B. Folks who do not drive will not understand the challenges a commuter faces every time he steps out of the house to go somewhere.

THE SCHOOL WHERE EVIL REIGNED

Remember those stories we used to hear about how ghosts would walk the corridors of our schools late at night? Those stories probably had their origin in the Japanese Occupation from 1941-1945 when many schools were converted into detention and torture centres.

Reading Martin Spice's article "Unholy Halls" in yesterday's Star brought flashbacks of my visit to Tuol Svay Prey High School in Phnom Penh last March. Now known as the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, the building houses grim reminders of a time when the most vile and barbaric acts of torture were inflicted on the populace, especially the educated middle class.

There was no escape from these chambers of death. Barbed wires prevented any attempt at suicide by leaping from the upper floors.

From 1975-79, under Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime of terror, an estimated two million Cambodians died or went missing. Of this number, at least 17,000 passed through Tuol Sleng. Only seven survived to tell their tales of horror, one of them doing so through his paintings.

Walking along the corridors, one can almost hear the screams of men, women and children. The air is heavy with the smell of death. The photos below depict the horror that took place within the walls and behind the barbed wires of Tuol Sleng.

Our tour guide lost several family members at Tuol Sleng. His voice still chokes with emotion as he repeats the stories to visitors.

This picture of a woman with her baby taken minutes before her death haunted me for days. There were tears in her eyes when the picture was taken.

One wonders what kind of madness would drive a man to devise tortures like those above to get a fellow human being to talk? Unfortunately, evil like this still lurks in the world today.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." 

~ Edmund Burke ~

THE DVD THAT THE AUTHORITIES CONFISCATED

Selepas Tsunami (After the Tsunami) from Pusat KOMAS on Vimeo.

Apparently this is one video documentary that the government is hoping not many Malaysians will get to see. View it and find out the reason why. Be informed about the real goings-on behind the media headlines.

For a bigger screen view, click on the link "Selepas Tsunami (After the Tsunami) below the video.

Please contact Pusat KOMAS +603-7968 5415 to purchase the DVDs which are also available in Mandarin, Tamil and Iban. Email: info@komas.org. 

ARE YOU SMARTER THAN THE AVERAGE AMERICAN?

If you think the average Malaysian youth knows little and cares little about what's happening in the world around him, wait till you view this video clip. The answers given are so dumb, you won't know whether to laugh or cry. Are these folks from another planet or another era?

Oh well, enjoy it as comic relief for the weekend.

KEEP A WATCHFUL EYE ON EPF'S INVESTMENTS

More and more countries are coming out in the open about pension fund shortfalls, France being the latest. Back home, what's the prognosis on our retirement funds? Has the EPF been prudently growing our money, or has it been squandering it on foolish investments?

The current spate of news reports on GLCs (government-linked companies) losing hundreds of millions of taxpayers' money is enough to send shivers down my spine - Perwaja (RM10b), PKFZ (RM12.5b), Pos Malaysia (RM546m), Sime Darby (RM964m). These are the cases that have been exposed in the media. There are likely many more that will surface in the coming weeks. Our dirt-diggers have been working overtime.

EPF has been receiving a fair bit of news coverage of late, mostly statements to keep the public informed of changes in policies and updates on its investment portfolio. I append below EPF's top 30 equity investments as published in The Star recently. Notice No 23 is Sime Darby. For more on EPF’s total asset allocation as at 31 March 2010, click here.

According to EPF CEO Tan Sri Azlan Zainol, the aim of publishing the list of investments was to enhance EPF's transparency. However, in the same breath, he says, "not everything regarding EPF's investments could be revealed".

Is this his personal definition of 'transparency'? So much for keeping us informed. All the more reason we should keep a watchful eye on what the EPF is doing with our money. We don't want to wake up one fine day to discover all our retirement savings have been wiped out by incompetent fund managers. That would hasten us to our grave faster than we can say "CELAKA!"

ADULT CHILDREN WHO ACT LIKE IRRESPONSIBLE KIDS

Yet another case of adult children abandoning their elderly parents has been reported. The MCA is proposing that these irresponsible adult children be named and shamed publicly. How effective would this be, I wonder.

There are probably hundreds of such cases that go unreported. Most abused parents would rather suffer in silence than go public about their ungrateful children. After all, who would want to lose face by dragging their family name through the mud?

Elder abuse is not all about inflicting physical pain and injury on defenseless old people. It can be financial and emotional as well. All of us personally know or have heard of cases where parents have made the mistake of prematurely signing over the title deed of the family home to the adult children, and subsequently find themselves booted out of the home because of lack of space or because the adult children have sold the property without informing them.

The Chinese have a saying that translates as "When the children are big, it is their world". How true, especially when it involves money and property. When elderly parents have to depend on their adult children for a roof over their head or food on the table, they lose all say in matters of importance.

It may sound rather selfish, but retirees must protect their retirement funds and their retirement home. Keep working if you are physically able to do so to be financially independent for as long as possible. There are just too many horror stories of abandoned or abused elderly parents.

The advice to young parents - teach your little children universal values, including filial piety and responsibility. Be good role models yourself. Do not give them a chance to turn around one day and say, "But mom and dad, you never really took care of us when we were young, so don't expect us to take care of you in your old age." And start building your nest egg to avoid having to rely solely on your adult children for future sustenance.

On this cautionary note, Seniorsaloud would like to wish all deserving fathers

Related articles:

Would you sue your children for parental neglect?

When children abuse their parents...

Keep that roof over your head at all cost

STUDY LOAN DEFAULTERS, SHAME ON YOU!

The Malaysian government’s decision to eventually scrap the 1,500 Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships has drawn much flak from all quarters. This move will deprive academically gifted students, particularly those from low income families, of an opportunity to further their education and contribute to the future development of the country.

 

Minister in the PM’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, who is in charge of the scholarships has asked the public to accept the reality of the situation. He explained that the government does not have the funds to finance the studies of a growing pool of bright students seeking financial aid to pursue their studies in foreign universities.

Personally, I find his reasons unacceptable. It’s all about priorities. No money for scholarships, but funds available for a new RM800m Parliament building, and a new RM811m Istana Negara?

Aside from full scholarships, PSD also gives out study loans. To date, PSD has been unable to collect from 11,253 loan defaulters. This is a conservative estimate and includes 866 civil servants who owe about RM135.8m. As for the total amount owing, who knows. The money for the study loans comes from a revolving fund of taxpayers’ money. Those who have taken loans but have not repaid them are depleting this fund. No wonder there isn’t enough money now to help needy and deserving students.

MARA (Majlis Amanah Rakyat) offers scholarships and study loans to Malay and bumiputra students. It regularly publishes a list of loan defaulters in the major newspapers in the hope of shaming them into repaying the loans. MARA has also threatened to blacklist them, take legal action against them, declare them bankrupt and confiscate their passports should they attempt to leave the country. But despite these measures, MARA has had limited success in recovering loan arrears amounting to a whopping RM500m!

As a last resort, the PSD is in talks with Bank Negara to join the Central Credit Reference Information System (CCRIS). Financial institutions use the system to check the credit worthiness of loan applicants before approving their loan applications for housing, car, business, credit card and so on.

Only time will tell if this latest move will scare these recalcitrant borrowers into repaying their study loan.

I for one won’t be holding my breath.