new generation voters

In a democracy, voting is a common keyword. This is whereby politicians are voted into office by the general population to become leaders of the country. This process has not changed since the beginning. However, the voters are evolving in terms of perception and mindset as the decades and centuries begin to pile in. There have been many definition of a generation ranging from X to Y. As a result of this, the landscape of a democracy has changed radically.

During the early times, the general population is basically more respectful to their leaders to the point of worshipping them as divine beings without any questions asked. The leaders are generally able to control the masses by enforcing laws and regulations whereby will be followed by the people without many questions asked. Leaders are in a better position in terms of subjugation to a certain extent by controlling the information available to the public and limiting knowledge transfer.

In the new century, this is not applicable anymore. Information is being shared via information corridors with exceptional speed and the barrier for freedom of knowledge has crumbled dramatically. Suddenly the comfort level of the old-school leaders vanishes in the blink of an eye. From used to be worshipped to being berated and ridiculed in public certainly takes a toll on those leaders. Leaders are castigating the younger generation of being immature and lacking common decency and respect to the elders. What truly happens here? Has the younger generation turn into hooligans?

Let’s do a simple analysis on the difference between the voters today compared to yesteryears. The new generation of voters today have unlimited information on the happenings surrounding them. A politician with some wrongdoings exposed is immediately made known to them via the online media. Whereas during the olden days, this information would not have travelled that fast and might even be filtered by the ruling government to protect the politician. If you know that this particular person have been stealing from you, will you still embrace him with open arms and kisses? Generally speaking, no matter from what generation you’re from, you will definitely whack the person sky high. This is common human behavior. Therefore, if a person or a leader commits any wrongdoings, he should reflect on himself rather than castigating the people for berating him.

A group of new generation voters has emerged and the leaders should just accept the inevitable and make the best of it. One should understand that respect is given and never taken. God bless our country.

greatness of a nation

A nation’s greatness is measured by the intellect-level of its people. How true is this statement one may ask? One of the greatest countries of this century in terms of economic and technological prowess would have to be the United States of America. To reach this pinnacle, much of the effort is attributed to its leaders and the people. How did it all begin?

America gained its independence from the British Empire in the year 1776. At that point of time, peace is not readily available within the country. Sporadic battles between the colonial army and the British army rages on. After achieving total independence from the British Empire, the civil war between the north and south came about. With all these obstacles, it still managed to crawl out from the depths of uncertainties and become the sole superpower of the world as seen today.

Is America so much different compared to our beloved country Malaysia? For one, both countries declared independence from the British Empire. After independence, Malaysia did encounter upheavals within the country as well, from the communist insurgencies to racial riots. Both countries are made up of immigrants and natives. So why does Malaysia seem to be moving backwards year after year in terms of competitiveness in the global market?

The major headache has to be our education system. In a survey done recently, our younger generation does not have what it takes to compete intellectually with the outside world. Knowledge is not only power in the current era, but also a necessity for survival. Only with knowledge and the proper skillsets, nation building can progress substantially. Only with knowledge and proper skillsets, the world will recognize Malaysians as an intellectual workforce to be reckon with and sort after. And only with knowledge and proper skillsets, the quality of life of an average Malaysian can improve substantially.

People may argue that knowledge and proper skillsets can be bought in the form of immigrants, as can be seen practiced by our southern neighbour. But as our neighbour is bringing in skilled immigrants, including Malaysians mind you, our country is attracting the opposites. Not to belittle the contributions of the immigrants, but for a country to achieve a higher growth per capita, the population should be moving towards an industrialized-type skillsets.

It is therefore imperative that education and immigration policies should not be wielded as a political tool for the benefit of the nation. Unless there is a sinister agenda whereby the standard of education is purposely lowered to subjugate the population by the western-educated ruling class, the government of the day should ensure all Malaysians are provided with the necessary knowledge and proper skillsets to compete in the global market. God bless our great nation.

the little man

One fine day two men were walking down the street. One was a powerful politician and the other was a normal working class family man. Suddenly God appeared in front of them and said,” Due to overpopulation on earth, I will have to take one of you away. However, I will give both of you a chance to make your case on why you should stay.”

Both men trembled and the powerful politician said in a distinguished tone,” I’m a very important person in this world and I have the obligation to serve millions of my fellow countrymen.” God nodded. The family man said,” Please God, please don’t take me away for I have a wife and two children to take care of.” God nodded as well.

“I have made up my mind,” said God. In a thundering fire, the powerful politician found himself drifting into nothingness. Confused the politician asked God,” Why have you chosen me? I’m a leader of mankind and my value is much higher compared to the family man.” God answered,” That’s true. But they can always elect another leader to take your place. However, if I choose the family man, his wife and children will suffer and have no one else to look after them.”

Therefore do not belittle the little man. You will never know when your fate lies in his hands. God bless Malaysia.