AWARD ALL BRAVE PUBLIC SERVANTS

AWARD ALL BRAVE PUBLIC SERVANTS

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I refer to your report," Award for soldier who braved pain for duty", (nst. l9th January)
In my letter to this column, "Praise for an injured soldier's devotion to duty ,(nst 20th August). I suggested that he be commended and promoted for his exemplary conduct and devotion to duty.Kudos to Corporal Mohd Zamri Md Soot, who was awarded the Darjah Keberanian Kedah by His Royal Highness, The Sultan of Kedah on his 81st Birthday. I presume that he had also been promoted to Corporal soon after the incident.
In spite of this ,he is still a modest soldier, who did not want to disappoint his comrades , or ruin his battalion's reputation. Despite his injury he did not flinch and remained on parade right up to the end. Now that he is a moral booster and a role model to his battalion, he should at least be a Sargent .
I would also like to suggest that the fireman who risked his life to save a suicide bid woman , be commended and promoted for his brave deed . C Kesaven didnt hesitate and rushed forward to break the woman's fall. She landed in his arms and escaped death. (nst 16 th January)."Woman falls into fireman's arms.
I am sure critics would say that all these acts of bravery are in line of their duties as uniformed personnel,, but would anyone be brave enough to wait for a 60 kilogram object falls into his arms from a hight of a three story building?. Well done C.Kesaven ,you risked your life in line of duty.


NOR SHAHID MOHD NOR
PETALING JAYA

NATIONAL SCHOOLS PRODUCED TOP STUDENTS

I refer to the letter by Dr. S.Nathesan, "Make them attractive to all races;"(nst 5 January). I beg to defer from the writer's comment that the feeling of togetherness does not exist in National schools.
It is regrettable that not only the National school system , but also the National schools have been receiving a lot of bashing lately for baseless reasons.. I wonder weather the writer is aware that not only Malay but also Chinese and Indian students from these schools came out top in the 2008 PMR examination, and thousands with straight As, as compared to students from the vernacular schools. Past students of these schools are today ,captains of Industries,top corporate figures,top government servants, and professionals in various fields.These goes to prove that there is nothing seriously wrong about these schools.
The truth of the fact is that some Chinese and Indian parents do not want to send their children to National schools not because of the unattractiveness of these schools, but because they are greatly influenced by their elders, educationists,NGOs,and politicians. They give the perception that the National schools, are Malay or religious schools,just because most of the students and teachers are Malays, who speak Bahasa Melayu,and the medium of instructions are in Bahasa Melauyu and English. So they shy away from sending their children to these schools for fear of loosing out on their own language culture, and above all their religion.
This fear is clearly stated by a member of a Chinese NGO a couple of weeks ago, who said that third generation Chinese immigrants American no longer know their own mother tongue and have lost out on their culture and tridition. They are no longer Chinese, but American and speak only English, a language that all Americans must know how to speak read and write before they could become the citizens of the United States.
That was the main reason why some Chinese educationists were against the suggestion put forward by Dato Mukriz Tun Mahathir to have only one school system, that is the National schools with Bahasa Melayu and English as the medium of instructions, and pupils-own-language classes, for Chinese and Indian students.
When I was in an English school in Seremban back in the fifties , 95% of the teachers were Indian and
Chinese.There was only one Malay form teacher.The Headmaster, the English and science teachers were British. There were only about 20% of Malays in the school of about 600 students, and although we were outnumbered by Chinese and Indian students and teachersa we always had the feeling of togetherness and until today I still have many close Chinese and Indians friends who were once my classmates.
Why this fear of sending your children to the Nationals schools? Many Malay women, including my wife, her sisters and my sisters and my daughters were all educated in convent schools. They can even say the Christian prayers , but none of them became Christian or became Chinese and Indians. I believe that for as long as we want to be Chinese ,Indians and Malays the concept of Malaysian Malaysia will remain a political dream.


NOR SHAHID MOHD NOR
PETALING JAYA

DRUG ADDICTS A RE JUST NOT CATTLE OR SHEEP

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I refer to the letter by Abdul Razak Abu Samah ," Cast away drug addicts on a rehabilitation island,
(nst 8 December).
I have my reservation about the writer's suggestion,unless a thorough feasible study has been made. This is to ensure the safety of not only the drug addicts but also the staff and their families. I think it is unwise for anyone to believe that hard core drug addicts could be successfully rehabilitated by putting them away forever on remote islands ,These are sick and desperate human beings. They would even kill their own mother to get money to support their habit. They are not just cattle or sheep, that could be left to fend for themselves on remote islands.Most of them are walking skeletons with HIV or AIDS, and dying a slow death. Besides it is against Human Rights to cast them away from their families, relatives and friends.
How many people today still remember,when in the early fifties the British Government in Singapore thought it was wise to rehabilitate hard core criminals,and triad society gangsters on an island called Pulau Senang. It was a success story for a couple of years,until a riot broke outand the prisoners not only massacred the British Superintendent of Prison, his officers and warders, but also burnt the whole facility to the ground..
Pulau Senang was history and the United Nations later advised countries not to establish penal islands unless maximum security is guaranteed.
Think of the funds needed to build the facility on a remote island. There is also the matter of logistics, staffing,and management. Is it worth it?. There are now more than 200,000 registered addicts with many more not accounted for. Going by the trend, the population of hard core addicts will increase from year to year. Do we have enough islands to cast all of them there?.
The easy availability of dadah on our streets is a plus factor for the rise in dadah abuse. This contributes to the rise in not only petty but also serious crimes,
Although large amount of various drugs,have been found by the authorities in recent years ,very few big time pushers and smugglers have been arrested. The authorities seem to be arresting more dadah addicts, and unless aconcerted effort is made by all enforcement agencies, the war on dadah which the Government declared three decades ago will not be won.
We must fight the war against dadah, just like the United States,is fighting the war on terrorism.The pushers and smugglers must be hunted and tracked down. Offer attractive rewards to those who give information leading to their arrests.

HAVE SOME RESPECT FOR THE DEAD

Some senior citizens would probably remember that during the emergency from 1948-l960, many communist terrorists were shot dead by our security forces and their dead bodies were placed at the back of police land rovers, to be taken to the police station, where they would be photographed and fingerprinted for record purposes. They were later placed at the back of the land rovers and taken to the hospital for burial .
I used to see pairs and sometimes more than one pair of feet protruding out of the back of the land rover. There were no body bags then and the bullet riddled bodies covered with blood could be seen by the public as they passed through the villages and towns.
Today 50 years after the end of the emergency, I am sad to say that, we still see the same scenario , when dead bodies of murdered and accident victims were placed at the back of uncovered police land rovers to be taken to the hospital mortuary for a post - mortem .Criminals shot dead by the police are also carried in the same vehicles. Only this time they are all put in body bags.
. . What I am implying here is that, shouldn't the police be more courteous by separating murdered and accident victims from dead criminals. Murdered and accident victims are not criminals and as such they should be afforded a decent transportation like a covered vans, hearse, or coroner's ambulance, like in the United States and United Kingdom.
I hope the police , in their re branding exercise consider buying such vehicles for use at least inthe towns and cities. Lets have some respect for the dead


NOR SHAHID MOHD NOR
PETALING JAYA

INTRODUCE TOURISTS TAXIS

INTRODUCE TOURISTS TAXIS

Tourists often wrote to this column , complaining not only of the deplorable taxi service , but also the rude,arrogant,and intimidating drivers, who refuse to use their meters, and charging exorbitant fares for shot distances .

These were among the many grouses we often hear from Malaysian and tourists. It is regrettable that the government has not been able to solve the problem plaguing the taxi services , since the days of the late Tun Sardon Zubir the then Minister of Transport.It has been a pain in the neck every time I read of the same old complaints . The law enforcement agencies must be forever acting without fear or favor against these errant taxi drivers, who sometimes refuse to take in passengers or refuse to go to the place where the passenger wants to go.They are running a taxi service and they have no right to refuse. Taxis should be more consumer friendly so as not to tarnish the country's image.
I suggest that the authorities introduce tourists taxis in all our cities These taxis should have a uniform colour ,with a 12 inch black and white chequered pattern opainted around the four doors of the taxi for easy recognition by the tourists. A large logo with the words TAKSI PELANCONG and TOURISTS TAXI painted on both the front doors. These metered taxis should be authorised to charge RM 10.00 on entry and thereafter RM 2.00 per kilometer . This works out to about RM 35.00 to RM 40.00, from KLCC to Petaling Jaya or Subang Jaya which I think is reasonable for a tourist to pay. instead of being cheated with a fare of Rm 100.00 to RM 150.00 for the same destination without using the meter.

I leave it to the authorities to plan as to whom the tourist taxi permit be given and the terms and conditions to be observed by the qualified drivers. I am sure if it is plan properly the tourists taxi will be a success and complaints from tourists will be a thing of the past.



NOR SHAHID MOHD NOR
PETALING JAYA

MISUSE OF SEX WRECK SPIRITUAL IDEALS

I refer to the letter by Mariam Mokhtar," Don't drive them underground ",(nst 31 December)

I am not writing to disagree or agree with the writer's opinion, that the religious department edict is a blatant abuse of human rights of the individual, as I believe that everyone has the human rights to form his or her own opinion
What I failed to understand is that, on the one hand, the writer concluded that the best weapon is education and information, and on the other, the ABC approach which is widely used worldwide for preventing HIV infection according to her is infallible .I think if the approach is properly, and efficiently managed or organized is in itself educational and informative.
In the first place the religious department's edict is only for Muslim couples intending to get married. It is I presume a three prong approach to deter Muslims from engaging in free sex with different partners before marriage , second to prevent newborns from contacting the disease , and third to educate and remind Muslims of their religious obligations,
All Muslims should understand that the environmental and social influence which most frequently wreck our spiritual ideals have to do with SEX and especially with its MISUSE . Thus all Muslims from a very young age must abide by the extortion of the Holy Koran, which forbids Muslims from engaging in free sex before one is legally married
I do not wish to delve further on the subject as it is clearly stated in Surah Al Nur in thye Holy Koran for all Muslims to read and abide.



NOR SHAHID MOHD NOR
Petaling Jaya.