Sunday 4 October 2009

Maybe reality could be or should be

“Ringgggggggg”, the alarm signalled the start of a brand new day.

After a good stretch, you head towards the bathroom. It’s a big bathroom, with hotel-like big mirrors and above average quality fixture. After washing-up, you made your way to a walk-in wardrobe to select your outfit for the day. Yes, a big bathroom and a walk-in wardrobe, you can afford one.

You then made your way downstairs for a good breakfast, prepared by your housekeeper. Sipping the last drop of coffee, you made your way to your car.

Car selection was a dilemma. Besides the BMW 3-series that you have, the brand new Proton Mega was delivered last Saturday. Mega is the 2.8 litre engine luxury model under Proton which won the Asian Car-Of-The-Year award, beating the likes of Honda and Toyota. You bought it for RM48,888. You decided to try your new toy today.

The roads were relatively clear, as usual. On the way, you saw the latest model of high-speed train being put to service. If not because you wanted to try out your new car, you might have taken the train too. After all, the local train system is now one of the best in South East Asia.

There were also no motorbikes on the road. Almost all Malaysians can afford a car now. Riding bikes is now a weekend activity. Mat-rempit is a thing of the past.

Coming out of the highway, you drove past the barrier-less e-tag lane. Toll charges were automatically deducted from your e-tag, which you placed near the windscreen. You don’t have to worry about e-tag theft. In fact, it has been months since the last crime was reported.

As you got into your office, you checked your latest payslip as you just got promoted to the role of manager. RM33,000… that’s accurate, your latest salary. That’s a fair increase from your previous role as a senior executive of RM25,000.

Oh yes, ever since the massive clean-up in national governance, liberalisation of the economy and accountable spending of national expenditure, there have been a massive inflow of foreign direct investments and economic development. Malaysia is now ahead of Hong Kong and Singapore in terms of professional and financial services. This led to a huge boost to income-per-capita of all Malaysians. Hence, an executive earning RM25,000 a month is a norm.

As a reward to yourself for this hard earned promotion, you planned to go for a holiday. You paused to ponder which of your friends overseas could accommodate you. Unfortunately, you couldn’t think of anyone. Ever since the economic revelation, all of your friends have returned from abroad.

And so you started to check out some of the hotels’ rate. You have not been to Hawaii and so, you checked out this resort in that wonderful beach paradise. It cost USD200 a night, which translated to be about RM280 a night. With proper utilisation of resource, better governance and improvement to practically everything, the exchange rate is now RM1.40 to 1 USD. Ohh… it was also RM0.77 to 1 SGD. How about that!

Having finalised your accommodation, you went on to book your flight. The price in the website showed RM3,500 and that was what you have to pay. Airport tax is no longer relevant because the govt has exempted all Malaysians from paying airport tax.

After all the logistics were settled… you then commenced your day at work with a big smile, looking forward to your wonderful holiday…








Sounds like a fairytale, isn’t it?

The Malaysian Mirror made reference to the Global Corruption Report which states that
Malaysia bribe money amounts to USD40b a year. That’s USD40,000,000,000 or RM140,000,000,000 a year!

Assuming corruption started 15 years ago (which is an understatement), simple mathematics without taking into consideration time value of money means RM2.1 trillion, or more specifically RM2,100,000,000,000 was wasted as corruption money.

Imagine that amount of money together with wastages from things like PKFZ or teh-tarik-space-tourist or whatever not being put to good use. Imagine that. Oh, ya’ know what? You don’t have to imagine much. Because the fairytale story above is exactly what will happen if all those money have been put to good use.


1 year ago…
And you think they have no life

2 years go…. Metamorphosis of slavesAn erotic lunch and a traumatic locker experience

31 comments:

TG said...

Corruption is a cancer for every economy. You can't ever extinct it, but you can cure it, make it not be the norm, but rather the exception.

Walk in wardrobe designs said...

Love you website and your wardrobe outfits

ZACL said...

The e-tag sounds interesting, is that a fairy tale too?

Yesterday's corruption is today's politics. Today's politics have nowhere to go. If this was an economic degree course assignment, I would say "Discuss".

Hilman Nordin said...

waahh~ I really want to live in a Malaysia like that. A Proton that beats Honda and Toyota? Cool~

eiling lim said...

As I was reading through, I know it was a dream... all a dream! Reality is so cruel la and you've just spoilt my day! Lol...

economist said...

that would be what i call QUALITY OF LIFE!.........anyways on the flip side i had great msian food last nite......

Huei said...

no la..where got fairy tale? it's the true tale of those who used up RM2,100,000,000,000 la! =P shit i cant even count the number of zeros in that..wtf!

Shaun said...

2.1 Trillion is norminal numbers, it would be bigger if you inflate them. lets say by 5%?

hmmmm... that is how much oil business is worth to the country.

pinknpurplelizard said...

Other countries do the dirty bribing thing as well but they also do deliver the goods and promises to betterment. Im sure there is no country in the world where bribes are not rampant, its just that they spend a lot of time and effort covering it up. Something that looks 'clean' on the surface may have rots inside. Bleh... :P

j_yenn said...

Regarding Huei's comment, she's right. There ARE people who live like that in Malaysia. You didn't just come up with a fairytale.

Zuraida said...

its sounds like a dream...obviously it will never happen.

sigh.

Shaun said...

Wake up, sit on the golden heated toilet bowl while surfing malaysian today with my computer.

Automatic flush once the 1st order of business is finished.

hmmm... what else??? Wife number 1 with breakfast, wife number 2 with briefcase, wife no 3 with towel ....

kat said...

Gate-less toll happening in dxb. Sometimes we dun even know whether the toll has been deducted from the small e-tag sticker stuck on the windscreen.

Salary.. also about there lah. Motorbikes.. got some lah. For deliverymen. Bribery? Some msian tried to bribe the driving licensing officer with (equivalent) Rm1000. He was promptly arrested.

Still.. we have great nasi lemak, right? No wait, I just made some the other day and it taste pretty darn fine to me. So what else does msia have to offer??

Kenny Mah said...

Oh dear. This is the first time I ever found a fantasy to be depressing. But you know what it is also? (The last bit, I mean.)

It's also the harsh truth staring us in the face that most of us rather not face...

jun said...

this is a dream that won't come true...

missironic said...

Awww... truly a very nice fairytale to dream of! Yeah, if only those money were put to good use.. Unfortunately...

24yomummy said...

**pauline yap was here**

jam said...

It can be my nice dream tonight!

zewt said...

MKL - i dont care if there is corruption, as long as the rest of us still get a good life.

walk in wardrobe - wah, so out!

ZACL - hahaha... not an assignment though.

Mohamad Hilman bin Nordin - dont we all, but are we prepared to work towards it?

eiling lim - we can make it a reality...

economist - quality of a proper country!

Huei - it should be shared!

zewt said...

Shaun - only 5%? and... you have good imagination too :P

pinknpurplelizard - yup... like i said i dont care if this country is corrupt, so long as everyone gets quality life.

j_yenn - nah... not the exchange rate part.

Zuraida - it's up to us :)

kat - space tourist?

life for beginners - and we can only continue to dream...

zewt said...

jun - perhaps...

missironic - we still have a choice to make.

Pauline Yap - i see it... i see it...

jam - make it real! :P

Petite Lass said...

Ah,quality life! =p

neno said...

i like the walk-in wardrobe part..lol..

KGC said...

For a moment, I was grining ear to ear. For a moment, I thought it was real. And that moment ends with the big C. Sad huh?

Faisal Admar said...

haha yep sounds exactly like a fairytale :)

i was hoping that the car selection is more luxury :P

Faisal Admar said...

police still hold the best record for bribe right? :)

zewt said...

Petite Lass - ... that we should have.

neno - and not the salary???? aiyooooo....

KGC - that's what we are paying for nice nasi lemak and char kuey teow.

Faisal Admar - best record hahaha... what a way to put it. hey, you are their salary payment dept... work on it :P

Purple~MushRooM said...

Very good dreamy story...

MikeM said...

tis is so true zewt, while those who walks on the corridor of power enjoy, we suffered. sometimes it makes me think whether we are doomed to be born here and listening to some joker MPs comparing Malaysia to country like Vietnam, Philippines & Cambodia made me even more upset... crap!

neno said...

lol..i prefer not working..but still able to afford tat walk-in wardrobe..

zewt said...

Purple Mushroom - reality should be... should be...

MikeM - soon, we will be compared to the likes of african nations, no disrespect to them...

neno - hhahaha... now, that is really a dream.