What is your comment about the 5 million foreign workers in Malaysia whereas, 100,000 Malaysians in Singapore?
Who gains more?
The Star Online > Nation
Saturday June 24, 2006
Smoother entry for 100,000
By NELSON BENJAMIN and MEERA VIJAYAN
SINGAPORE: Malaysia and Singapore have resolved the long-standing problem over the use of passports by the 100,000 Malaysians who commute daily to the republic for work and other purposes.
Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad said the Singaporean authorities had agreed to the following:
MALAYSIAN workers only need to show their international passport with their work permit or green card issued by Singapore when passing through the immigration checkpoint.
PASSPORTS will not be stamped by either Malaysian or Singaporean Immigration authorities.
SINGAPORE will continue to accept Malaysian restricted passports until Oct 31.
Mohd Radzi said the agreement was reached after his meeting with his Singaporean counterpart Wong Kan Seng here yesterday.
“With this ruling, the fear of passports running out of space is no longer there,” he told a press conference after the meeting.
As a result, the issue of Singapore recognising the MyKad as a travel document will no longer arise.
Mohd Radzi said the decision would also lighten the work of Johor Immigration Department officers because the number of passport applications would drop.
He said the officers had been processing an average of 1,200 applications daily when the capacity was only 750 per day.
“Many of the officers in Johor had been working late into the night to cope with the huge number of applications,” he said.
Asked about the status of Malaysians who commute to Singapore but do not hold work permits, like taxi drivers and students, Radzi said they could apply for a frequent traveller card issued by the republic.
“Their Immigration Automated Clearance System (IACS) card is a smart card which contains the holder’s fingerprint data,” he said, adding that students and taxi drivers could easily enter Singapore by placing their thumbs on the biometric reader.
On the restricted passports, Mohd Radzi thanked the Singapore Government for agreeing to the extension.
“I want to remind Malaysians who are still holding the restricted passport not to wait till the last minute to apply for an international passport,” he said.
The Immigration Department stopped issuing restricted passports from Jan 1 last year.
The response from a random selection of Malaysians to the move to extend the deadline for restricted passports was mixed.
While agreeing that it was helpful to the holders, many said they still expected crowds at the department as Malaysians would wait for the last minute to apply for passports.
“The mindset will not change. There will be a huge rush in about four months' time,” said R. Shaktivel, 39, who works as a senior project manager in Singapore.
Johor Baru-Singapore MBJB Taxi Owners and Drivers Association president Muhamad Najib @ Nagaji Abdul Rahman welcomed the announcement, saying that it was for the best.
Some 200 taxis ply the Causeway daily.
© 1995-2005 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)
Who gains more?
The Star Online > Nation
Saturday June 24, 2006
Smoother entry for 100,000
By NELSON BENJAMIN and MEERA VIJAYAN
SINGAPORE: Malaysia and Singapore have resolved the long-standing problem over the use of passports by the 100,000 Malaysians who commute daily to the republic for work and other purposes.
Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad said the Singaporean authorities had agreed to the following:
MALAYSIAN workers only need to show their international passport with their work permit or green card issued by Singapore when passing through the immigration checkpoint.
PASSPORTS will not be stamped by either Malaysian or Singaporean Immigration authorities.
SINGAPORE will continue to accept Malaysian restricted passports until Oct 31.
Mohd Radzi said the agreement was reached after his meeting with his Singaporean counterpart Wong Kan Seng here yesterday.
“With this ruling, the fear of passports running out of space is no longer there,” he told a press conference after the meeting.
As a result, the issue of Singapore recognising the MyKad as a travel document will no longer arise.
Mohd Radzi said the decision would also lighten the work of Johor Immigration Department officers because the number of passport applications would drop.
He said the officers had been processing an average of 1,200 applications daily when the capacity was only 750 per day.
“Many of the officers in Johor had been working late into the night to cope with the huge number of applications,” he said.
Asked about the status of Malaysians who commute to Singapore but do not hold work permits, like taxi drivers and students, Radzi said they could apply for a frequent traveller card issued by the republic.
“Their Immigration Automated Clearance System (IACS) card is a smart card which contains the holder’s fingerprint data,” he said, adding that students and taxi drivers could easily enter Singapore by placing their thumbs on the biometric reader.
On the restricted passports, Mohd Radzi thanked the Singapore Government for agreeing to the extension.
“I want to remind Malaysians who are still holding the restricted passport not to wait till the last minute to apply for an international passport,” he said.
The Immigration Department stopped issuing restricted passports from Jan 1 last year.
The response from a random selection of Malaysians to the move to extend the deadline for restricted passports was mixed.
While agreeing that it was helpful to the holders, many said they still expected crowds at the department as Malaysians would wait for the last minute to apply for passports.
“The mindset will not change. There will be a huge rush in about four months' time,” said R. Shaktivel, 39, who works as a senior project manager in Singapore.
Johor Baru-Singapore MBJB Taxi Owners and Drivers Association president Muhamad Najib @ Nagaji Abdul Rahman welcomed the announcement, saying that it was for the best.
Some 200 taxis ply the Causeway daily.
© 1995-2005 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)
Comments
Then maybe we have to send our people to work there as maids or in the Indonesia plantation. It seems the role will be reverse and those working in Indonesia may have to remit money for our folks in Malaysia.
Thus, the country will lose out in the entire field in 10 or 20 years time. Then we have only African countries to compare. Even the African countries will overtake us and we are left alone with all the white elephant buildings. Be proud of the form and structure only.
The mistakes of BN policies were that, they did not invest in people. In order to compete, investing in people is the most important competitive advantage a nation could have. When talking about investing in people, it tends to focus to one race only due to the affirmative policy. The outcome from this race is not favourable also.
When we ask monkeys to lead our country. Look at the number of failed projects. If you examine the management system carefully, they are usually led by people who do not have the expertise in the said fields.
Take education for example. It is Umno who decides the policy. The saddest part is those involved are not academicians. They themselves are under achiever academically. Similarly the other fields are managed by blokes.
It won't stop there if the government still want to protect malays interest only. Policy such as NEP will only bring us trouble. Instead of moving forward, the government choose to stop just to wait for one race.
Abolish the stupid NEP. They are not producing malay elites, contrary they are enriching a few idiots and depriving a whole lot of malays.
Even if these malays can get entry into University Malaya, so what? The quality of education is so bad, public and private sector shun them. Their professional degrees are useless as the global market doesn't even recognize Malaysia medical and engineering degrees.
Look at Singapore, they have malays too, but do they suffer? Not only they did not suffer but they able to stand on their own and compete against other races. Sadly, it won't happen in Malaysia.
We had a lot of capable brains but it is the government who do not hang on to them. Programs to bring back the professionals abroad won't succeed because they do not look at the money offered but fairness, opportunities and the government policies is what they concern the most.
The above are actually a sampling of the negative perceptions the business community have of this country. One need not be a futurologist to see this "downfall" coming.
Our government does not value brains. It looks at the skin. Look at the cabinet, civil service, GLCs, police, universities, and everywhere. It is race that determines who hold what position. Coupled with our corruption, emasculation of the judiciary, Islamization policies, and suppressing of press freedom - our future is indeed bleak!
Those who want to see this, continue to support the Gerakan, MCA, Umno and the BN.
Malaysia prides itself as a melting pot of cultures. Hypocrisy is always raising its ugly head along with its twin brothers, greed and hatred, and all the problems they bring with them.
Personally, I believe that if our government or national bodies in power persist to discriminate and exploit groups and individuals of citizens, whether implicitly or openly in favour of the majority, then the time will come when they must answer for their actions.
The citizens of Malaysia are not stupid. Regardless of our cultural backgrounds and hometowns, race and religion, more and more, each of us is capable of discerning friends from enemies, right from wrong, and unity from covert attempts to disintegrate our society.
I was born and bred in this country. I am as much a Malaysian as the next person and we must learn to stop falling into the traps of racism set by those in power.
I have friends whom I care about who happen to be Chinese. And Indians and Malays, and Americans and Australians and French. So many labels, so little loves.
Racism is a crime any where in the world, but that is not why we are upset. We are upset for have fallen into the same old webs of lies, the same old traps, and the same old manipulative tricks in the bag.
The difference is, now more of us have come to be aware of the lies and traps and tricks.
What I mean is the free human capital as in those brainy students who failed to gain entry into Malaysian universities. We in Singapore welcome all these students to study here, as long as they are good. We will provide scholarship, or some soft loan which they only pay after they have graduated.
This is really good business! We always go all out to attract these students. Why not? Let me tell you the mathematic. See, the stupid Malaysia government spent so much of money every year on their education.
I tell you, every year public spending on education tops the Malaysian fiscal budget. After 12 years of primary and secondary education, they rejected those good students but admitted some mediocre ones into their public universities.
Why? Don't ask me. I also cannot understand. Apparently some kind of social contract signed 40-50 years ago. Malaysia government is like this, always half cooked one. Everything they do will stop or being cancelled half way through. Look at the Johor bridge!
They are good in primary and secondary schools, in fact their standards are almost Singapore standards. But when it comes to tertiary education, they are trashed. No way near us Singapore. Half cooked, about hen!
We in Singapore government only give some scholarships and sometime subsidize some loan interest to attract those intelligent students. These students will study here, do research here, and later graduate and work here as well. We only want those top knowledge workers. Human resources are all we have. Where Singapore got oil like Malaysian!
We really hope the stupid Malaysia will forever keep the current policy of supplying us everything we need, free. It is lucky to have a half cooked neighbour like Malaysia.
Don't tell them this, let them keep the not-so-good ones, and we get all the good ones. If they know how to calculate this mathematic, then we Singapore will be in trouble in future. Ok?
Non-malays now work twice as hard in all fields and succeed. If you notice, even more non-malays are doing well in the public examinations.
More non-malays are now venturing into new fields and succeeding in new lands. You read about successful scientists, engineers, doctors, businessmen who have left their homeland forever.
When an athlete is handicapped and yet can attain victory over his opponents, that athlete can succeed anywhere in the world. That athlete should thank his homeland for making him what he is.
Malaysia is a breeding ground for people who fight against great odds and survive. These people are the global people of tomorrow.
The chance of us succeeding given our handicaps was never good and will never be good. It begins with poor politics, then poor government, then poor education, and then poor business environment (e.g. small market).
What is remarkable to me is that some people have managed to make good money and build companies despite our problems - Mobif, Jobstreet, Green Packet, etc. These people proof that the government is more in the way for developing the industry than helping it.
In fact, the government would do better to get out of the way rather actually have any sort of grand plan like MSC. The real only way the government can help is by having open competitive bidding in government procurement of IT and putting competent people in charge of that.
Nothing else they do would really mean anything much. I would argue all the spending on grand projects, computer labs, computer courses etc, amount to basically waste.
There is no hope of the MSC really succeeding, but we can still benefit from better IT and that perhaps is, would be better because at least it means less waste.
The truth is there - it is no real strategy. MSC was never a great idea - it was an opportunity for government spending more than anything else and as Bill Gates told us very politely, it would not work because of that.
A couple of years ago, there was this idea of attracting Malaysians overseas to come back to run Malaysia GLCs. Among my extensive overseas network of business and personal associates abroad, they discussed it and unanimously shot down the idea.
The reason? Quote: "Smart people can't stand inconsistencies in fact they rely on it. Malaysia politics make things too inconsistent to do the kind of work they do."
You want to know why they will never attract the best in public service? At one time, we all agreed what the future of Malaysia was and will always be - secular, rule of law, multi-racial, meritocracy. Today, even among those in power, there is no agreement on these basic things.
Why would the best people subject themselves to these inconsistencies? Maybe naivety but how long will that last and how many?
For every one brain that comes in, fifty brains will leave the country. With the affirmative policies in place, do not talk about attracting the brain. For decades, Malaysia was losing its best people to developed countries and taking rejects from developing countries.
Please forget about bring back those lost brains, while we can keep those bright students now and love them and care for them!
First, the country and government has to figure out what it want to be first before it can really retain the best, otherwise we are merely exploiting those who do not have better choices elsewhere.
I still remember of my junior wanted to serve in our Malaysia air force and he was able to design some fighters, but instead he was not retained, he headed south Singapore and he was happily married down there, has a happy family and no way back!
People with the best brains inadvertently mean they know how to think. Therefore they are wise enough not to choose Malaysia as their destination, as it could spell disaster to their reputation as we work differently. Singapore will still be the ideal landing point of such calibre people.
Malaysia will forever be suffering from a massive "brain drain" so long as the Umno-led government keeps in place the malay agenda. To forego the agenda is too costly sacrifice which the Umno-malays cannot make. A clear symptom of an inferiority complex.
There is nothing wrong with those who choose to stay overseas. As highlighted in my view, even my best mate and the best man for my wedding has sown roots in Singapore - I definitely don't "begrudge" him for that.
To me, do not begrudge them who are justly reaping the fruit of their hard labour and paying back a debt to the hand which fed them. It is very difficult to continue to love your motherland which does not love you in return.
There is nothing wrong with having different philosophies in life and taking the route that best fit those philosophies.
And what facilities (hardware and software) do we have to offer? Besides, what financial package could local varsities offer? Last but not least, the factor of critical mass. Can some one find the like-minded colleague to pursue what he is researching right now?
I have heard those "Malaysia Truly Asia" commercials on CNN over and over. I always felt the slogan was rather fishy. But you have supplied important details about matters that I only had a vague awareness of.
Why don't you do something to challenge the slogan? After all, Malaysia is discriminating against people of the two main nations in Asia, China and India. How dare the Malaysia government claim to represent the true Asia?
There is a theory say that Malaysia may suffer in 50 years time because all the best brains will leave the country once and for all because of the affirmative policies. Brain drain still takes place even today and tomorrow, and forever as long as the government protect particular race and particular industry.
If the theory is correct (time will tell), then the so-called world class universities will stay as dream forever. To be world class, there should be 100% open policy with fair play field.
To sum up the things, the affirmative policies should go. However it won't take place very soon or even be forever.
Bolehland is still in denial syndrome.
This identity crisis is a result of the failure of the BN government, which has ruled Malaysia since independence in 1957, later as the expanded Barisan Nasional.
The truth is that the malays of this country partly owe their independence to the non-malays. The reason was that the British refused to give independence without an agreement from the non-malays.
Another argument put forth by the pro-malay special rights group is that, they made a compromise by giving the non-malays their citizenship and in exchange the malays must be given their special privileges.
This argument is the most ridiculous I have heard thus far but in their ignorance some Malaysians still think that citizenship is for a certain race to give. This logic would mean that the minorities will always be seen as foreigners who will never be equal to the malay bumis.
'The Chinese and Indians must accept they are immigrants and they were given citizenships in 1957 on the agreement that the malays are given special rights and privileges.'
Stretching your logic a bit further, are you also suggesting that in America, the Negroes continue to be slaves to the whites otherwise they give up US citizenship and go back to Africa?
This is stupid idiotic logic. Even if the so-called contract was valid, it was so only in the 50s and 60s.
We are nearly 50 years after independence and all Chinese and Indians have begun citizens. They are no more bound by the so-called social contract which enslaved their ancestors.
Umno is afraid to give up Ketuanan Melayu because it is bankrupt of ideas in competing with others in this 21st century democracy.
Umno's warped logic is that it is better for country to be backward so long as malays benefit than for country to prosper, where malays are marginalized.
This warped logic is in fact the beginning of the end of the malays who will never progress and compete with others on level playing field and equal footing, so long as they subscribe to Ketuanan Melayu and have crutch mentality in forever relying on special privileges.
Malays will crumble from internal weaknesses and disappear in era of globalization……….no need for others to colonize them as Mahathir had constantly raised this bogey.
There can never be equal footing - not even among people of the same race.
It saddens me to see the country I was born in and raised stagnating in so many ways - ideologically, sociologically and technologically.
My dad is a racist; so is my mom. Similarly racists are my brother, sister and relatives. All the Malaysian friends I now have are, and those I had were or at the least had been, racists too. Well, perhaps thanks to all these people, I have become - and remain - a racist as well.
You see, we are the members of a much larger community: Malaysia - the racist nation!
The term community is somewhat misleading. We are not united as such as a nation should be. We are only united by the fact that all of us - at one time or other - had been are or will become, racists……….
All of us formally became racists in the year of 1971, when racism was institutionalised in Malaysia. Not that racism didn't exist before: it did; it lurked underneath, which - as everyone knows - erupted as the May 13 ethnic riots. Hence came the New Economic Policy, set up to divert the winds off the sails of racism. Ballasting the boat, and listing it in favour of the economically disadvantaged malay-Malaysians may lead to Malaysians seeing each other as equals, it was thought.
Then came the 80s, which also gave Dr Mahathir.
Still, racism remained somewhat otherworldly to me. All of us practiced racism, on the streets, in shops, in schools and in the house, but racism was never blatant - at least in my life. That changed as the 80s came to a close.
............
Please tell me, can anyone even imagine a multi-cultural Malaysia nation - where no one discriminates the other on the basis of race, where everyone treats the other as a brother or sister - being run by the same racist parties that exist now? Is such a future even conceptually possible?
It is time for me to descend to earth and crawl back into my racist carapace, and be a realist again. And heap praises on our nation and on the ideals that are so central to its psyche: long live, racism! Long live, racist Malaysia - the model racist nation!
It is no wonder our civil participation is as backward as it is.
Do you have any idea why Singapore is almost the first world country or 20 years better than Malaysia?
One could argue every country has its own policies and laws that place prejudice on certain parties - yes, that is true, but none so shamefully as those who (Malaysia) not only boast about it, take the credit for the successes of these people whom they slam their discriminatory abuses on, and have no intention to change it (and that said with a smug look on the face).
Bangsa Malaysia? Bah, humbug!
Malaysia is a neighbour whether we like it or not. Singapore cannot "migrate" to another region.
We have to live with them. And we need them more than they need us.
They provide us with cheaper and harder-working labours. They are a sizeable market for our goods. It is easier and cheaper to sell something to Malaysia than to China, for example. We also invest in them. Heck, we need to invest somewhere.
We go there for holidays and cheap golf. We have relatives there. We contribute to their economy. Whatever smart people they don't want, we take. There is a place for everyone in the food chain.
Things only get nasty when Malaysia refuse to accept the situation and tries to eat our lunch. Then they think up all sorts of irrational competition to spite us, and create a lose-lose situation. This kind of one-up-man ship damages both sides.
We need their leaders to be rational and go for win-win arrangements with us. If Malaysia is "Boleh" and becomes rich, it is good for Singapore.
Problem is they should not try to "kill" us in the process. Like trying to sabotage our port, airport etc, with ridiculous under-cutting measures. They willingly lose money in the process and we lose business.
That is stupid and self-destructive.
I have relatives and friends who now live in the United States, UK, New Zealand, Holland, Canada, and Australia - and call these places home.
If I were in your position, with all the racial discrimination back home in terms of places in the country tertiary education institutions, scholarships etc, I would be happy to pack up my bags and leave like some have done - like I and others like me, have done although for different reasons.
Life is more than just having a good job - and is not to be measured in terms of dollars and cents alone. I am not prepared to live a lie and say that I am happy when I am not.
We are among the fortunate in that we are able to exercise our freedom of choice. Others do not know what they are missing.
Freedom of speech is very important and should be upheld by every single individual be it in Malaysia or abroad. The Malaysia public has not reached the stage of speaking out their views and minds at the moment, but we have to make drastic changes for the benefit of all regardless of race and religion.
I am left speechless that now after 48 years of independence, Malaysians are still talking about the Malays, Indians and Chinese race and calling each other names, and telling each other to leave Malaysia if they don't like it.
No matter what topic writes, the posting still leads back to us versus them, Malays versus Indians or Chinese, or vice versa. Please realise that not all malays share the views expressed and not all Indians or Chinese share the same views.
Maybe some have been disappointed or rejected are using this board to vent their anger and in doing so fan the fire or racial hatred. I really object when posters say the Malays, the Indians, the Chinese, etc. This is brushing the whole race with the same slur just because of the acts of a few.
I believe that the better 'educated' people are, the lesser bigot they are. Trust the professional malays (the ones who read widely). The ones you meet or hear about are perhaps 'trained' to be professionals and not 'educated' - they perhaps have not even touched a book from the day that they graduated.
So, perhaps you should not include them in the same category as what we have here at this forum. See, let us encourage them, the others, to get exposed to the 'elements' in the real global society and then perhaps they would turn around to create a better nation for Malaysians.
I believe the first thing that should be changed is the ridiculous race column in our forms. The day we stop filling up the form as Malay, Indian, or Chinese and etc……….we will be truly Malaysians.
Now you know the reason I left Malaysia. Every race has a place in Malaysia. No Malaysian should feel he/she is a second class citizen. Just because the NEP provide privileges to the malays does not make the malays first class citizens. Remember this is just a privilege, not a right.
The right is to vote, own land, make money, live a peaceful life, do business and buy properties. Nobody can take that away from the citizens.
When you talk about emigration, there is more to it than just economics - and affirmative action policies.
It is our choice - and we are happy for it.
We still have roots back in Malaysia. We are thankful that as a result of their discriminatory policies, we are leading happy and fruitful lives in countries like the United States - where we are free, and I mean free.
Human resources, the most important and invaluable asset a country would like to have, and yet our government does not seem to give a damn because of the racial prejudice and narrow mindedness.
Each year millions of ringgit are spent by private overseas students who are deprived of opportunities in their own land and upon graduation the host countries could just easily absorb them and forever we are the losers, and our government is impotent to do anything about it. Even the government scholarship holders in terms of many hundreds also refuse to come back.
Today, we can't afford to hire back our good people, instead they are happily employed by our competitors, the host countries and they give their best years to whoever could afford to employ them.
You do not have the good people; as a result, you don't have the top grade of management system, top grade of quality, top grade of R&D and the top grade of products. Certainly you lose out in the global competitiveness in all fields. The 60 thousands unemployable graduates are of the inferior quality otherwise, they could have crossed the blue ocean to seek greener pastures.
This is a vicious cycle, we can't attract good people to our side in the first place because our salary scheme is no longer attractive and our ringgit is weak. And our good people because of attractive pay outside tend to go over the other side.
The top grade people go out and the second grade people stay behind. In the long run, we are getting weaker and weaker, and our competitors are getting better and better. You pay what you get as the saying goes, "If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys."
Without good qualified people, how are you going to compete? What we could attract now are only those low-grade Indonesian labours.
It looks like we are following the footsteps of Indonesia and getting closer as years go by, after all one said: "Since we come from the same race and the same blood flows in our veins, it is imperative for us to find common ground to resolve all our differences."
Look at Indonesia's policy for the 1960s against its own ethnic Chinese populace. Typically abang-adik with Indonesia, Malaysia already has a model to follow.
It is time we separate administration and politics. The mentality, that we fought and won elections, so we must enjoy the spoils, must go.
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