I got a call from my closest cousin, Fawaz who's studying medicine in the UK. He calls me quite frequently since he said that it's really cheap to call from there, apparently it only cost 1 pence (about 6 cents) per minute. The call took about 40 minutes, so it costs about RM2.40. Remarkable isn't it? I pay more than that for a one minute call on on my handphone.
Anyway, we got talking on various things, basically keeping up with stuffs and on mutual friends. We got around to talking about politics and what the new PM, Pak Lah as we commonly call him is doing. I believe so far he's been saying the right things such as wanting to make the civil service more efficient and cleaning out corruption from government. I have to say that it's a humongous task but if he can do it, then I'll be rooting for him all the way. I've always believed in those things, my opinions on Malaysia is more in sync with what people in the opposition parties have been harping. I don't totally agree with what they fight for but I've always had an idealistic view on what Malaysia should be like. Must be all those 'reformasi' events in 1998/99 and a historical afternoon this one September in 1998.
The one thing that stuck in my mind was when we were talking about corruption and I was saying Pak Lah should go after the big fish who's accepting or giving bribes. My cousin said, why should we care about corruption, it's everywhere, even in the UK and US. So, why the need to do much about it? I don't agree at all with him. To me corruption is the root of the bad things in the society. Corruption caused for the police force to be ineffective when they don't dare to go after the so-called big shots in society. It also resulted in government being inefficient when those civil servants will only do things after receiving money or kickbacks. It also caused for projects to be quoted at a higher price when in fact it could be done at a lower price if the correct bidding/tendering procedures are in place and enforced. Fawaz said, all these do not affect us personally but I believe we will only get to taste the bitterness after a few years. When investors stopped pouring money in Malaysia because we're not very good at solving crime or because judges are not held in high regard or because we are just too damn inefficient.
I hope Pak Lah will put words into actions, for the sake of Malaysia and for myself and future generations.