We say white coffee, you say latte by Hariati Azizan - The STAR

Juggling finances: Many young people argue that they are not living beyond their means although bankruptcy cases among those below the age of 25 are increasing.

Fingers are again pointing at youths’ lifestyle for their high rate of debt and bankruptcy. But young people are saying it is a generation gap.

“WHEN I was young, I had to walk to school.”

How many times did our ­parents grate us with tales of their old “hard times” and how lucky we were to have buses and cars?

Well, guess what? We might just be turning into our parents, singing a similar tune:

“When I was young, I had to take the bus and didn’t have a car until I was married.” Or “Last time, when I wanted to chat with my friend, I had to use the public phone.”

And of course, everyone’s favourite now: “Last time, when I wanted coffee, I tapaufrom home in a Tupperware,” or “I paid only 90sen at the kopitiam.”

But before you panic and rush out for that Botox jab, check out the news. Statistics show that perhaps you are not being old, you are just being right.

As reported recently, bankruptcy among youths below the age of 25 is increasing at an alarming rate.

From 2007 until June this year, a total of 1,940 youths under 25 years old had been declared bankrupt, about one-third (579) of whom became bankrupt in the first half of this year.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri, who oversees the Department of Insolvency (MDI), believes many others are on the brink of bankruptcy for “spending more than they earn” and drowning in debt.

Echoing her comments, many “experts” raised the same old arguments – our young cannot differentiate a “necessity” from “luxury”, confusing their “needs” with their “wants”.

Many young people, however, argue that they are not living beyond their means.

Johan*, 25, points to the econo­my as the reason why many young people are accumulating debt.

“Our pay is peanuts, not enough for us to have a comfortable life, especially with the unexpected price hikes. How can we pay our bills like we planned when things keep going up?

“It’s like one morning you wake up and something new is now more expensive. We can only survive if every day we eat Maggi,” Johan, who has been working in sales for a year, complains.

Others say that times have changed and they need to spend a lot to stay ahead of the game.

“I need a car to get to work on time and my smartphone is essential for me to stay connected and relevant.

“And these days, if you don’t look or act the part, you won’t become successful, so sometimes you have to meet clients and friends at that cool coffee shop,” Malek, a 24-year-old entrepreneur, shares.

Is this then yet another case of the older generation simply not getting the Generation Y-ers?

Age-old dispute

Malaysian Employers Federation executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan thinks the young could live within their means if they wanted to.

“I am perplexed by the attitude and behaviour of some young workers – the current pay for fresh graduates in Malaysia is enough for them to live on.”

On whether our pay is keeping up with inflation, he says we have to understand the situation in the country.

“Sure, there are some increases in the cost of living but we need to look at our purchasing power parity – a global study said that the value of our wages is close to three times higher than the money we get. This means, if we take home RM1,000, we can buy close to RM3,000 worth of goods and services.”

A majority of fresh graduates, he says, start working life on the wrong footing.

“They perhaps indulge themselves on things not considered necessity sometimes even before they start work.

“If graduates start on the wrong footing and develop the wrong financial habits, they will find it difficult to make ends meet on any pay they get.”

Whether a young person spends more than they earn depends on their lifestyle, says Shamsuddin.

“I’m from a generation that thinks paying RM13 for a cup of coffee is murder. To me it is a luxury, not a necessity, and I can argue for days on end about this.

“Whether your salary is enough or not to survive on is relative. It depends on what kind of lifestyle you want to adopt. If you buy a coffee that costs you RM13 every day, it will burn many holes in your pocket.”

New graduates need to assess themselves and see what situation they want to be in, he advises.

“They have to realise that as someone entering the workforce, if they indulge themselves, they will get into a situation where they will not be able to pay their credit card debt or loans that they take.

“While a handphone or smartphone is a necessity now, you don’t have to spend RM2,000 or more to get a high-end model or the latest model. But many prefer branded gadgets and keeping up with the latest trends and models. I think that is why at the end of the day, they feel that whatever they are getting cannot support their lifestyle.”

Shamsuddin insists that being thrifty is not an “outdated” or “unfair” value.

“If the young think it’s unfair, they need to remember that many of them have not included their parents in their budget. In my day, we always put aside a portion of our income for our parents.Now it’s the other way round. Today, parents end up supporting their adult children, paying for their housing, food and helping them.”

Timeless value

What is so wrong about the old values? asks Nor Akmar Yaakub, head of the Financial Education Department at the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK).

“Living within your means is a timeless value and relevant for every generation.”

Conceding that things like gourmet coffee, a smartphone and a car are becoming part of life for most young persons, she says one has to prioritise and be a smart consumer.

“We are not saying that you should completely deprive yourself. You need to look at your budget. If you have to meet your friends at that hip coffee place or go clubbing, try to control the times you do that a month.

“And we understand now that people think they cannot survive without a car because of the not-so-accessible public transport and due to safety issues.

“But you need to choose one within your budget. Don’t buy a high-end make if you cannot afford it,” she notes.

Putting aside money for a rainy day is more important than ever, stresses Nor Akmar, advising the young to save and let their money grow when they first start work, instead of spending all their money to establish their working status and lifestyle.

“Don’t rely on your credit card to cover the extra expenses. Delay your gratification until you can afford not only the item, but also its hidden costs,” she says, highlighting the extra costs of owning a car often overlooked by the young, such as insurance, maintenance and even fuel.

Contrary to common belief, MDI data shows that defaulting on student loan and credit card debt are not the main causes of bankruptcy among the young. Instead, it is defaulting on their car loans.

According to the National Consumer Complaints Centre (NCCC) legal and dispute resolution manager Santhosh Kannan, Fomca also came to that conclusion in its recent study on the spending pattern of the younger generation.

“Our survey indicated that car loans were the biggest root cause for bankruptcy among Malaysians below the age of 40, trumping credit card debt, the second biggest cause by a big margin.”

The main issue was that loans were sanctioned without a proper check-and-balance mechanism.

“Many were approved for individuals with weak purchasing power for cars that will require them to fork out huge monthly instalments.

“As time passed by, they would undertake extra financial responsibilities like purchasing a property or having a family and this leads to huge debts or even (them being) declared as bankrupts,” he alleges.

Santhosh urges the banks to take into account the borrowers’ financial capacity and capability when approving loans. As for credit card debt, he says data shows that many borrowers go bankrupt without them even knowing.

“For example, one individual cancels his or her credit card and does not get a release letter from the bank stating he or she no longer owes anything. This may lead to the individual still owing the banks some money.

“As time passes by, all sorts of charges, late payment interest, etc, would be imposed, causing the amount owed to skyrocket to an amount exceeding the bankruptcy limit and causing them to be with a notice.”

He says banks and financial institutions need to inform their clients on the proper procedure of cancelling a credit card.

“A mere call to the banks or cutting your credit card would not suffice. A cancellation is where you have settled all owing to the bank, in writing and when you have obtained a release letter officially stating that you do not owe the bank from a specific credit facility that was provided to you,” he advises.

He, however, thinks the claim by the older generation that cars and phones are a luxury today is outdated.

“We need to address the real issue of the younger generation going into debt and even bankruptcy, which is financial knowledge.”

He believes that if it’s a question of generation gap, one should look into “wants” and “needs”.

“During our parents’ time, their aim was to build and sustain, to have basic needs such as food, shelter and school met, and later, job for continuity. Facilities like credit cards, car loans or insurance never existed.”

Today, things are different, Santhosh notes. A car and a smartphone are the implied social standard set. These are no longer seen as “wants” but more as “needs”.

“Given the deplorable state of public transportation, a car is needed to get to work. If one is required to travel extensively, then a car is seen as an asset and investment,” he says.

A smartphone is not purely entertainment-based, it is used to receive e-mails when out of the office.

Santhosh feels it is not practical for the older generation to impose on the younger ones their values to determine needs and wants.

“It is more important that the older ­generation try to understand the younger generation’s wants and needs and share with them their experience in handling their finances or help them understand better financial management,” he says.

source taken from The STAR

Thursdaywithzubedy - Start The Change With MAD Through P3!

START THE CHANGE WITH

My MAD Experience

From A Newbie’s Perspective

By: Aleza Nadia Othman

When I was asked to observe the Making A Difference (MAD) training program, I was very curious and excited.

Even as an observer, the program made me realize so much about myself and one of them was that I was too complacent. Previously, working as a journalist for three and a half years, I was in my comfort zone; the thought of changing a new job frightened me tremendously even though deep in my heart, I know I was unhappy. Because of that fear, I started to come up with silly excuses like, “I don’t think I’ll be able to change jobs because I would have to pay for parking and toll.” Till one day, I mustered up my strength and made the first step. Next came the obligatory process of sending out resumes and having to go through interview sessions. It wasn’t easy, but I succeeded and now I’m all charged for new challenges.

Adapting to a whole different work culture after being so used to the old one definitely takes time. I need to remove all Artificial Boundaries, push myself, stay the course and be P3. I have to be honest, it is very hard. Just this weekend, I caught myself blaming other drivers after failing to find a parking spot in the mall when I should be taking responsibility for leaving the house late!

I am still learning every day, and with time, God willing, I will be able to unleash my real potential and be P3 in all aspects of life.

MAD Through P3

How The Course Changes My Perspective About Almost Everything

By: Wan Nurul Jannah binti Md Isa

Before MAD, I was too comfortable in my bubble, I never felt the drive to even start dreaming. That’s probably because I do not like changes. I love living in the past, which is why I have a hard time planning for the future. I thought it would not make a difference if I were to plan since nothing is fixed. Because of that mindset, I took my own sweet time doing things and ended up not finishing anything. When things did not go my way, I blame others. For example, I blame my marriage for my lack of focus at work. I thought it’s because of the extra hats I’m wearing that cause me to be disorganized. I also blame my working hours for my decreasing reading time. In short, though I knew there’s something wrong about me, I never bother to change simply because I was too comfortable in my bubble.

After MAD, I start questioning my bubble. What if there’s something better outside my bubble and I’d been missing out on all the better things all this while because I was too afraid to take the first step? It’s really not just about work. It’s a lot more about how I handle my life and the people around me. I also learned that nobody is going to help me build my dream if I do not have the desire myself in the first place. What I have is enough to bring myself to another level. I have to start. Then everything will come in place. Instead of whining and waiting for help, I have to help myself. I need to be more positive about my future. Good luck, bad luck – who knows? I realize that I just need to try and I must try now!

In a nutshell, in term of personal development, I am now aware that I must stop blaming others for my own shortcomings. In term of professional development, I must now learn to compartmentalize and sort out my time management. I also need to be more opportunistic about my own strengths and mend my weaknesses at the same time. I find that if my personal life is managed well, my professional life will become less stressful.

MAD Through P3 had definitely inspired me to take the crucial first step to a better life.

*** MAD Through P3 is a change management program provided by zubedy (m) sdn bhd. For more information about the program or any other programs, you may click the link: http://zubedy.com/product.php

Understanding Liberalism And Religious Pluralism by Dr. Chandra Muzaffar - Sisters in Islam

The fatwa issued by the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (MAIS) and gazetted on 31 July 2014 declaring any person or group “professing liberalism or religious pluralism” as “deviants” raises some troubling questions. The

group, Sisters in Islam, was specifically named in the fatwa. 

Of course, a fatwa in Islamic jurisprudence is only an opinion and does not command mandatory force but when it is employed to castigate an individual or organization as “deviant” it assumes a different connotation. The reckless use of the term “deviant” has created deep schisms and feuds and even caused bloodshed and violence in Muslim history. It is only if a religious authority can provide incontrovertible proof that a person (or group) has veered from the fundamental teachings of Islam should one resort to such a description. 

To establish that one has become a deviant through alleged adherence to “liberalism” or “religious pluralism” the authority concerned has to show convincingly how these two ideas contravene the essence of Islam. To start with, MAIS must be aware that the term “liberal” appears in the fourth goal of the Rukunegara, our National Charter. It says that the goal is to ensure “a liberal approach to her (Malaysia’s) rich and diverse cultural traditions.” In its description of this goal, the Rukunegara speaks of a society that is “free to choose religion, custom and culture of their own in line with the interests of national unity.” 

It is obvious from the Rukunegara that it regards “freedom” and the “right to choose” as essential to a liberal approach. Freedom and the right to choose as values are in line with Islam as long as their exercise does not contravene the essence of faith. Indeed, the Rukunegara as a whole, both its goals and its principles --- as pointed out by the late Islamic scholar, Ustaz Abu Bakar Hamzah --- reflects the spirit of Islam. 

There are other values associated with “liberalism” such as freedom of expression, free and fair elections and the right to private property which are also integral to Islam. True, extreme individualism and the untrammeled accumulation of wealth which are also sometimes defended in the name of liberalism has no place in Islamic Thought. If these aspects of liberalism are the reasons for MAIS’s unhappiness with certain groups and individuals it should say so and provide evidence to show that they have been propagating such ideas. MAIS should enter into a dialogue with them and convince such advocates of liberalism that their views create more harm than good to society. That is the solution, not branding them as “deviants” and banning their writings and activities.

Turning to religious pluralism, the concept has different meanings. Many Islamic scholars equate religious pluralism with religious diversity. For them the harmonious co-existence of the followers of different religions within a specific setting would be an example of religious pluralism at work. They also recognize that while conceptions of the Transcendent or God differ from religion to religion and there are unique and distinctive practices associated with the various faith communities, there are also certain values and principles that they share in common. Living in harmony with nature and the environment, protecting the integrity of the family as the basic unit of society, respecting one’s elders, ensuring that leadership is virtuous and adhering to moral precepts in economic activities, would be some of the values and principles that are embodied in all religious philosophies. Accepting similarities at one level while acknowledging differences in other spheres is what defines religious pluralism. 

These notions of religious pluralism are more than compatible with Islamic teachings. That there are different religions and moral codes is a reality that the Quran accepts (109:6). Knowing one another in the midst of this diversity is also a Quranic principle (49:13). Indeed, Allah had deliberately created such a diverse human family to see how we would treat one another which the Quran regards as a test of our spirituality. (5: 48).

Why then is MAIS uneasy about religious pluralism? Perhaps MAIS does not view religious pluralism through the same lens as many of us. From past pronouncements, MAIS, like a number of other Islamic groups and individuals in Malaysia, tends to highlight a particular interpretation of religious pluralism that regards mutually exclusive ultimate truth claims in different religions as equally valid. Of course, for the overwhelming majority of Muslims this is not acceptable. Tawhid (The Oneness of God) in Islam and the Trinity in Christianity cannot both be “equally valid”. Likewise, reward and punishment on the Day of Judgment in Christianity and Karma in Hinduism cannot both be equally valid. If religious pluralism means accepting the exclusive truth claim contained in each and every religion as valid, most people would reject religious pluralism. There is no reason why MAIS should equate religious pluralism with an interpretation that has so little support among religious adherents of whatever hue. MAIS should not use this minority interpretation of religious pluralism to label any group or individual as “deviant.” 

It is not just MAIS. Some of the highest office –holders in Malaysia have also been equating religious pluralism with this interpretation, forgetting that there are other more popularly accepted interpretations of religious pluralism compatible with Islam and all other religions. By rejecting religious pluralism because of this interpretation, they have unwittingly given the impression to people everywhere that Malaysia does not accept religious diversity. This has tarnished our image and sullied our reputation as a nation when in reality Malaysia celebrates religious diversity as few other nations do. This is why it is imperative that religious authorities and political personalities cease to interpret religious pluralism as the acceptance of the truth claim in every religion and instead view it as the acknowledgement of religious diversity ---which is what Malaysia is all about. 

article taken from Sisters in Islam website

Should We Ban Foreign Cooks in Penang?

Ever since PR-DAP  took over the Penang state government, they have introduced some interesting and needed policies. However, the banning of foreign cooks is not one of them. This policy is short-sighted, irrational and borders being elitists.

Does the ban on foreign cooks include non-Penangites Malaysians like someone from Kedah, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak too? Or is it confined to foreign workers like our Bangladeshi brothers and sisters, Pakistanis, Indonesians, Myanmarese, Nepalese, etc?  If it is only the latter, where is the logic? What makes them think the foreigners are poorer learners? Any empirical proof? Any scientific marketing research and taste test been done?

What if the foreigners are more hardworking and passionate towards their work simply because they value the job far more than a local, having travelled thousands of kilometres to find a living to feed and care for their family back home?

If the cook is the main deciding factor why Penang food is better, then why are there so many Penang hawkers who came to Kuala Lumpur or elsewhere to set their businesses fail to duplicate the ‘Penang’ taste?

I suggest that we be more sensitive, more thorough, more humane and more empathetic in our decision that affects the lives of many. Such a policy is not only foolish but can have an impact taking away a job from a foreigner who will provide the livelihood of not only themselves, but to their family – sometimes three or four families back in their home country. We cannot be hasty in these areas if we value human rights, being caring and being competent.

As a Penangite, I have my favourite hawker stalls. One of my regular Penang Asam Laksa stall owner tried his luck in Kuala Lumpur but gave up and now, is back in Penang. He lamented that even after bringing all the ingredients from Penang, he still failed to get the Penang taste he wanted and was very frustrated. He blames on the quality of the water in Kuala Lumpur. He stressed that the water in Penang is key to get the Penang taste.

Another friend of mine is the owner of one of the most successful Mamak Nasi Kandar business in Malaysia. When I complained to him that he has not duplicated the Penang taste as it should be, he said,  “ Brother, I can bring everything from Penang, chefs and all of the ingredients but to carry the Penang water, the one that makes the real difference, is impractical and too expensive.”

Are both of them right? Is it the water from Penang that makes a difference? If they are, here is my humble suggestion.

Stop the foolish idea of banning foreign cook and be smart. Start selling Penang water to food and beverage businesses outside Penang.

Anas Zubedy

Penangite, living in Kuala Lumpur

Singapore Retirees Share Their Biggest Retirement Regrets - The Independent Singapore

BUSINESS

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Most Singaporeans wearily envision their lives as a never ending period of working, working, working from the cradle to the grave. Yippee. But people often lose sight of the fact that there are actually people in our midst who have retired and lived to tell the tale.

However, not all the retirees in Singapore are living off generous nest eggs and spending their days having high tea or playing mahjong with fellow retirees. In fact, quite the opposite.

We quizzed some retirees on their biggest retirement regrets in hopes that we might learn from them when reaching for that seemingly unattainable goal of retirement before death in Singapore.

1. Not saving and investing in their twenties

Amongst retirees not just in Singapore but all over the world, there seems to be a general consensus that their twenties offered the greatest chances to save and invest, and many regret not having realised it until it was too late.

Most people overlook the fact that saving $10,000 in your twenties goes a much longer way than saving $10,000 twenty or thirty years later. Because of the power of compounding interest, the longer your keep money invested, the more you’ll get out of it.

In addition, when you grow up, life has a habit of catching up with you. While in your twenties your most pressing financial obligations might be “entertainment”, things change if/when you start a family, purchase property or start to get health problems. Saving money gets a lot harder.

Mr Yeo, 62, who has been retired for almost 5 years and partially financed his retirement by selling his landed property and moving his family into a 4 room HDB flat, recalls his twenties, which were spent at actual discos (not clubs, discos!), consulting fortune tellers and playing mahjong.

2. Making lousy investments

Back in the day, obtaining finance-related information was a lot harder. Without the Internet, people relied on books, newspapers and word of mouth. And of the three, word of mouth has proven to be one of the most dangerous places to get your investment information.

Dr Tan, 65, started dabbling in the stock market in his 30s, and lost a significant amount of money because he didn’t fully understand how to choose and handle stocks. These days, he still invests in stocks but takes a risk-averse approach, holding blue chip stocks long-term.

Mrs Loh, a 60-year-old semi-retired accountant, used her son’s education fund to experiment with stock investing and ended up losing it all. “I came clean and told my son that I had lost all his education money. Fortunately, my husband and I were able to make it up in other areas like real estate.”

While lots of older Singaporeans cite the stock market as one of the key culprits of big losses, some retirees I know have sunk their savings in even more bizarre “investment schemes”, like buying a plot of land in the middle of the Indonesian jungle or contributing to dodgy religious organisations (true stories).

3. Spending too much on the kids

Many parents these days swear by the credo of sparing no expense when it comes to their kids. That’s why you see kids going to preschools that charge more than local universities do.

But surprise, surprise—many old folks cite spending too much on their kids as one of their more stinging regrets.

Mdm Ang, who is in her sixties and has two daughters and a son aged 32, 29 and 26 respectively, is often heard complaining about her children and wishes she hadn’t “spent so much on their university education”.

“I didn’t want them to have to take loans to pay for their education, so my husband and I paid for them out of our own pockets. Now they are working, but they waste so much money. My younger daughter pays $150 every month for a gym even though I always tell her the one near my place only costs a few dollars. They have taken everything for granted. I should have used the money for my own retirement. My children don’t even appreciate the sacrifices we made for them,” she laments.

This is a sentiment Mrs Tan, 60, shares. She and her husband went a little overboard and spent a lot of money on their daughter, now 23, when she was a child, sending her to all types of classes, from ballet to abacus to piano. Today, the family doesn’t even have a piano anymore, and their daughter’s ballet training is a distant memory.

“She was my first daughter, and at the time I just wanted the best for her. We used to spend almost $1,000 every month on various types of lessons for her,” says Mrs Tan. “But on hindsight there was no need to have spent so much. We might have gotten a bit carried away. If we had invested the money instead, we would be able to give her more financial support today.”

Article taken from The Independent Singapore

Watch These 2 Blind Sisters See For The First Time EVER.

Sonia and Anita, two sisters living in India, have been blind since birth, but a simple eye operation makes it possible for them to see their mom for the first time. The nonprofit organization 20/20/20 provides free operations to these sisters–as well as thousands of other people in developing countries. These procedures empower people in impoverished communities to create better futures. In this short film, Blue Chalk Media shares the sisters’ poignant story and captures their initial experiences after the bandages come off. What a gift this is for these 2 girls, and their family!

video taken from /www.thisblewmymind.com/

Silly antics, serious backlash by Wong Chun Wai - The STAR

Many businesses are suffering even as the ordinary people grapple with daily bread-and-butter issues in a weak market. But incredibly, all these concerns do not seem to bother the hate mongers who are hell-bent on sowing disunity.

IT’S incredible how some Malaysians can dedicate so much of their energy on issues, or more precisely non-issues, that really bring no benefit to the country.

This country has already got enough religious and racial bigots, whether they are politicians, retired politicians, half-baked politicians or ordinary Malaysians.

These are the characters who have no ability to make any meaningful changes to Malaysia except to generate some news in the portals.

I really feel pity for this pathetic lot. A few of them have excelled in their work, despite their somewhat limited academic qualifications, and should be remembered for their contributions to society. Instead, in this new phase of their life, they re-emerge sordidly as racists.

One personality who tried to pass himself off as an academic amazingly wondered why he has not been accorded any respect by moderate Malaysians. Well, maybe the real reason is he has been creating headlines for his outrageous remarks instead of his research work.

But the man at the centre of the storm now for making silly remarks is Gerakan’s Johor delegate Tan Lai Soon, who implied that Indians, Chinese and Malays are “pendatang” or immigrants.

At the party’s 43rd National Delegates Conference on Sunday, Tan chastised Umno members for calling Chinese and Indians “pendatang” and said that Malays were no different as they too were “pendatang” who came from Indonesia.

Tan said only the orang asli and natives in Sabah and Sarawak could be considered the original inhabitants of the land.

What’s wrong with this guy? By using the “pendatang” label in this manner, he is no different from those who call the Chinese and Indians as such.

And, seriously, what’s the point of making that remark and what can he get out of it except to generate more hostility and, worse, give the bigots more grounds to up the ante with their hate rhetoric?

The Gerakan central working committee, after an emergency meeting on Monday that was called in response to complaints by 14 of its party members, has rightly decided that Tan would be suspended. He has been issued a show cause letter.

Gerakan deputy president Datuk Dr Cheah Soon Hai reportedly told reporters on Monday that the party condemned the remarks made by Tan.

“It is not the party’s stand, we are all Malaysians and no Malaysian is a ‘pendatang’ or an immigrant.

“All Malaysians who are born here are Malaysians. I think that if a Malay called a Chinese ‘pendatang’ it will hurt and vice versa,” Cheah said, adding that “we have taken note that Tan has retracted his remarks and apologised for it”.

I am sure the Gerakan delegates do not want members from other parties to bring up such an offensive remark at their AGMs.

Such an amateur anthropological claim has no benefit and does not serve the interests of the nation. It is precisely this trend of unrestrained statements coming from all sorts of people, including at forums that we least expect, that is worrisome.

Likewise, there is no reason why the vernacular schools, which have been in existence for over six decades, should continue to be an issue.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has already given his assurance that these schools remain protected under the Federal Constitution, and in the 2015 Budget, RM50mil has been allocated for Chinese schools.

The controversy, in the words of Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, has been “canned” and certainly there is no need for anyone to reopen the issue, especially senior ranking ones.

With two months left of the year 2014, we can say that it has been a horrible year for Malaysia.

To borrow the Latin phrase made famous by Queen Elizabeth II in her 1992 speech, it is befitting to describe 2014 as “annus horribilis” for Malaysians.

The slew of issues and non-issues continue to grab the headlines in a year when we have suffered terribly from two air crashes involving our Malaysia Airlines.

The market is still weak, judging from the quarterly results announced by many public-listed companies. In short, many businesses are suffering even as the ordinary people grapple with daily bread-and-butter issues. And the outlook for 2015 does not look too good either.

Businesses now in the midst of making their budgets for next year are taking a hard look at how they can perform better next year.

Most are predicting a tough year ahead with cuts on their operating expenses, which would have a painful impact for many, especially the wage earners, with the inflationary rate expected to go up.

But incredibly, all these concerns do not seem to bother the hate mongers. How can we blame them, as they are idiots after all, with little intellect to grasp the economic issues ahead?

We can, and we should, come together to face the challenges ahead in an unpredictable year.

How can we convince investors, in the wake of competition from our neighbours, to put their money in Malaysia if they keep hearing about the silly antics of these self-appointed heroes of their race and religion?

We should not waste our time on these political wannabes and minnows whose only talent is to create disunity among us.

This article were taken from The STAR