A Fox And A Tiger

Spiritual Story by Unknown

One day a tiger was hunting around in a forest. An unlucky fox was met and caught by the tiger. For the fox, the inescapable destination was very clear — death. Despite the danger, the fox thought hard to find a way out.

Promptly, the fox declared to the tiger, “How dare you kill me!”

On hearing the words the tiger was surprised and asked for the reason” The fox raised his voice a bit higher and declared arrogantly: “To tell you the truth, it’s I who was accredited by God to the forest as the king of all the animals! If you kill me, that will be against the God’s will, you know?”

Seeing that the tiger became suspicions, the fox added: “Let’s have a test. Let’s go through the forest. Follow me and you will see HOW THE ANIMALS ARE FRIGHTENED OF ME.” The tiger agreed.

So the fox walked ahead of the tiger proudly through the forest. As you can imagine, the animals, seeing the tiger behind, were all terribly frightened and ran away. Then the fox said proudly: “There is no doubt that what I said is true, isn’t it?”

The tiger had nothing to say but to acknowledge the result. So the tiger nodded and said:

“You are right. You are the king.”

Source: http://www.spiritual-short-stories.com/spiritual-short-story-382-A+Fox+and+a+Tiger.html

Photo credit: Highcastle photography’s photostream on FLICKR

Source: Strange but true – actual facts that you really won’t believe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4lH93L3Iu0&NR=1

The Clear And Present Danger

If the Doomsday prediction never comes true, New Zealand will remain as picturesque after a hundred years, with cows and goats roaming all over the country sparesely populated by humans.

Source: 100% Pure New Zealand

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sEZ-wdFegU&feature=related

A hundred years later, Singapore ’s foundation will remain rock solid. The tiny city-state will continue to lure new immigrants, and many new-generation Singaporeans will see their lineages traced back to those of migrants.

Source: Singapore – A Modern Metropolitan City http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzimK4cJ0Wo&feature=related

How about Malaysia a hundred years from now?

Source: Malaysia Welcome The World http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0FYeSU6stU&feature=fvw

Lee Kuan Yew did not seem to see things that far. He only set his sight 20 years later.

He said all constituencies in Malaysia would be dominated by the Malays in 20 years’ time, and the leadership in this country would value the Chinese population less and less.

The Chinese population would continue to slide, he added, not because of the pathetically low fertility rates among the Chinese in this country, but because those who could afford would have sent their children overseas, who would decide not to come back.

“And those migrating to Malaysia will be from Islamic states, making the country’s Islamisation inclination more and more pronounced.”

Statistics don’t lie, and the current political and social ecosystems are not here without a reason.

MM Lee’s predictions are by no means novel. But his well-thought remarks have touched the hearts of many a Malaysian.

If this is what the country should look like 20 years from now, we can imagine Chinese Malaysians to be like apes in a forest sanctuary a hundred years down the road, where we need to sharpen our eyesight to carefully scan through the entire swathe of forest before we can catch a glimpse of one or two of them.

That comparison is, most certainly, exaggerated, but I really hope we will not be reduced to a rare species by then.

The ratio of Chinese population in this country has been on steady decline over the decades; so has their political status here. Very soon, they will be completely engulfed by the powerful waves of aggressive Islamisation.

This is the pessimistic side of the outlook of their destiny.

But Chinese Malaysians cannot afford to go on this way, and wait helplessly for such a destiny to befall them.

They have to take the initiative to accentuate their own strengths and be in firm control of their own fates before they can divert such a predestination.

The next ten years will be key to the future destiny of Chinese Malaysians. If the country’s policies get more and more ethnically-oriented and religiously inclined, the future of Chinese community is well within our imagination, and Chinese Malaysians will exit the country in droves.

On the other hand, if community-centric ideologies get diluted, conflicts between mainstream and minority races get thinned down, the common Malaysian identity gets consolidated, and the spirit of secularity stays very much relevant, then Chinese Malaysians will have a much more promising future here.

So will Malaysia .

Whatever happens to this country or our society, the most important element for new-generation Chinese to secure a place in this land, will be their very own competitiveness.

In this age of globalisation, when national boundaries are increasingly obscured, people will find a greener pasture beyond our shores if our internal conditions remain this bleak.

We cannot afford to talk about what will happen to us a hundred years from now. We need to buck up and fight for our near-term opportunities.

Meaningless and unnecessary squabbles, like the one currently taking place within MCA, will only serve to bog down the pace of the Chinese community further, blurring their vision of the clear and present danger.

What the Chinese community urgently needs right now is high-calibre and farsighted leadership, not one engrossed with endless infighting.

(By TAY TIAN YAN / Translated by DOMINIC LOH / Sin Chew Daily)

MySinchew 2009.10.21

Posted by Din Merican–November 17, 2009

Malaysia: The Feud

How Mahathir and Anwar became embroiled in a clash that threatens to send Malaysia into upheaval

by Sheri Prasso and Mark Clifford in Kuala Lumpur, with Joyce Barnathan in Hong Kong.

To Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who has a passion for flying and sailing, Malaysia’s annual air and boat show on the island of Langkawi was an event he hated to miss–even as his nation stumbled through an economic crisis. So Mahathir decided to hold the December 3, 1997, meeting of the Malaysian Cabinet on the island, instead of in the capital of Kuala Lumpur.

But by the time he arrived at the elegant Gunung Raya hilltop retreat, Mahathir was in for a jolt. His next-in-command–Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim–had virtually concluded business without him, according to sources knowledgeable about the meeting. In what amounted to an economic coup, the cabinet had decided to adopt an austerity plan similar to those imposed on neighboring Thailand and Indonesia by the International Monetary Fund. The plan would slash public spending and halt infrastructure projects championed by Mahathir.

The new policy was a stunning rebuke to Mahathir. Since the onset of the Asian crisis five months earlier, he had been railing against a perceived Western conspiracy and insisting Malaysia could maintain its breakneck growth. Mahathir’s reaction: He humbly agreed to go along with his Cabinet’s decision–but on the very next day undermined it by announcing Malaysia would proceed with a controversial $2.7 billion rail and pipeline project. Alarmed investors immediately sent the ringgit to a new low.

Those intrigue-filled days in December were a prelude to what has become Malaysia’s worst political crisis in nearly three decades. Although Mahathir and Anwar had long had differences over economic stewardship and management of political spoils, that rift widened as Asia’s financial crisis wore on and the two leaders worked increasingly at cross purposes. Ultimately, the dispute led Mahathir to clamp controls on the currency and jail his deputy, casting himself as an international rogue.

Today, the clash threatens to send Malaysia into upheaval. Anwar, a central player in the old patronage system, has now emerged as a hero of the swelling reformasi movement, which advocates a more open society and economy. He goes on trial November 2 on 10 charges of sodomy and corruption. A conviction could turn the protests into an ugly confrontation.

How did the two men end up so militantly opposed to each other? Over the past month, BUSINESS WEEK interviewed dozens of Malaysians from both camps, including Anwar prior to his arrest, prominent pro-Mahathir businessmen, informed academics, and Anwar associates. Together, they draw portraits of the one-time allies and their battle to control the future of Malaysia Inc., an economic model that uses patronage to speed economic development.

HEIR APPARENT. It is a tragic spectacle. Just a few years ago, Mahathir was poised to retire from politics as the prickly but nonetheless brilliant and erudite architect of a model developing nation. And Anwar, the anointed successor, would smoothly take the helm of the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) and lead a modern, politically stable 21st-century economy. Former Islamic radical Anwar, 51, was the more Western-friendly of the two, often quoting Shakespeare and hobnobbing with the moguls of international finance. Mahathir, 72, has long taken a confrontational stance toward the West. But like Anwar, he viewed foreign investment as key to Malaysia’s economy and advocated freer trade within Asia.

Both also were savvy politicians who steered choice deals to their allies in the business community. Just last year, foreign investors criticized the government’s handling of insider deals by Malaysian Resources Corp., a media and infrastructure company controlled by Anwar allies.

Still, Anwar had a reform agenda. In recent years, he increasingly advocated the rule of law and more transparency. But until the crisis erupted, he was willing to bide his time until it was his turn to run the country. ”He was that close to power,” says Anwar’s wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, holding her thumb and forefinger close together. ”He was tolerating a lot.”

Perhaps the key difference between the two leaders was their outlook on the world. Anwar quickly realized that the meltdowns of Thailand and Indonesia were caused by excessive borrowing, overbuilding, and big trade imbalances–and that Malaysia’s situation was similar. Malaysia didn’t yet need an IMF bailout, but he feared its economy would implode without swift action. While this surely would hurt his business allies, Anwar was willing to have Malaysia absorb economic pain first and rebuild for the future.

Mahathir looked at it differently. Unlike the ascendant Anwar, he was in the twilight of his career–and feared for his legacy. While Anwar hinted he wanted to end patronage, Mahathir genuinely thought the system he proudly calls ”Malaysia Incorporated” was a legitimate model for developing nations. A handful of wealthy businessmen are singled out for privileges and given the role of creating jobs, implementing big projects, and keeping the economy and the ruling party humming. Then wealth trickles down from Mahathir’s chosen few to the many.

”We view Malaysia as a corporation, and the shareholders in the government are companies,’’says Mustapha Mohamed, the new No.2 at the Finance Ministry. ”To the extent you help the bigger guys, the smaller guys benefit.” When Western agencies attacked his system as institutionalized corruption, Mahathir ”was quite angry,” says Francis Yeoh, managing director of YTL Corp. and a longtime Mahathir ally. ”He found it incredibly ! ! hypocritical and unfair.” Mahathir declined to be interviewed.

When Malaysia was growing 8% to 10% annually, the uneasy alliance worked. But the crisis in Malaysia’s financial markets provoked a fury in Mahathir toward the outside world. The feud broke out two days after Mahathir returned from a two-month globe-trotting sabbatical in July, 1997, just as the crisis hit. He began blasting foreigners–and he kept it up for months. He blamed ”international manipulators” such as financier George Soros and Jewish traders for trying to undo the success of the Muslim Malaysians.

Malaysian officials grew weary of the Mahathir effect on the currency and stock markets. The central bank, Bank Negara tracked the plunges in the ringgit every time Mahathir lashed out, and officials showed him the data. If Mahathir would tone it down, they suggested, the ringgit might stabilize. For a while, he complied.

Meanwhile, Anwar tightened up on money and began urging Mahathir to suspend big infrastructure projects. When Mahathir agreed on September 5 to postpone the $5.3 billion Bakun Dam, a new airport, and plans to build the world’s longest building, the market enjoyed the largest one-day surge in over three years. But it fizzled as the crisis deepened.

Mahathir’s patience ran out. On November 21, he set up the National Economic Action Council to devise remedies. It included Mahathir, Anwar, economic adviser Daim Zainuddin, and prominent economists and business leaders. Council members quickly squared off over the best cure for the crisis: the IMF’s austerity medicine or the easy money and massive government spending Mahathir preferred. ”We argued back and forth, back and forth,” recalls Zainal Aznam Yusof, deputy director of the Institute for Strategic & International Studies, a government think tank. But as the months wore on, ”we became convinced that you cannot go on with tightening monetary policy. You might push the economy over the edge.”

Then came a move that rocked market confidence and drove a deeper wedge between Anwar and Mahathir: the bailout of big infrastructure developer Renong. Headed by longtime Mahathir associate Halim Saad, it was precisely the sort of company Mahathir was determined to save. Renong had built some of Malaysia’s biggest projects but was choking under a pile of debt. In a complex transaction that left minority shareholders in the cold, Renong subsidiary United Engineers Malaysia (UEM) paid a stiff premium to buy out the parent company. Analysts suspected that Mahathir allies benefited, a charge Renong denied.

Anwar, miffed at the way the bailout was handled, ordered regulators to investigate. UEM was found to have broken disclosure rules, but the punishment was light. ”Within two weeks of the Renong-UEM deal being announced, it was all over” for Malaysia’s stock market, says a local securities trader.

Five days after the Renong bailout came the meeting on Langkawi. Anwar, having just met with IMF Managing Director Michel Camdessus and acting on the advice of his central bank governor, Ahmad Don, had concluded that the IMF formula of tight monetary policy and government austerity was right. The Cabinet agreed. When Mahathir arrived, the virtual IMF program was a fait accompli.

”MORAL OBJECTION.” But local business leaders were growing unhappy with the effects of Anwar’s policies. So was Mahathir. ”The intensity of business collapses and bank collapses was like tenpins falling every day,” says YTL’s Yeoh. ”He couldn’t stand it.” Adds another prominent businessman: ”He doesn’t believe in bankruptcies.He has a moral objection to them.”

The attempts to get around Anwar’s IMF-style budget grew. According to Anwar associates, Daim called the CEO of Bank Bumiputra, Abdul Aziz Othman, and asked him to lend $20 million to a company in trouble. After checking with Anwar, these sources say, Aziz told Daim no. Tensions between Daim and Anwar rose. Daim declines to comment on the allegation or other matters related to Anwar. Bank Bumi did not respond to requests for comment.

By February, Mahathir was pushing for more bailouts. Anwar aides contend that the Prime Minister had broached the idea of using Petroliam Nasional (PETRONAS) to bail out his son Mirzan Mahathir’s shipping company, Konsortium Perkapalan (KP), which had trouble servicing its $490 million debt. Both Mirzan and PETRONAS deny the Prime Minister had anything to do with the $220 million purchase of KP’s assets by a PETRONAS unit. ‘

‘I didn’t ask him to intervene. I just told him that any businessman faced with this situation will have to sell and pay down the debt,” says Mirzan, who holds a Wharton MBA.’We believe we are a viable company.”But the deal reminded many Malaysians of Indonesia’s Suharto, who fell partly because of his family’s greed. In 1994, opposition politicians criticized the stakes Mahathir’s sons had in over 200 companies. Now, those concerns were resurfacing. Comparisons with Suharto ”must have upset Dr. Mahathir, even though there are important differences between the two,” says University of Malaya economist Professor K.S. Jomo.

In April, the Anwar-Mahathir rift grew wider. Speaking in New York at the elite Council on Foreign Relations, Anwar lauded the virtues of ”creative destruction.” Mahathir would deride that term time and again in speeches months later. Anwar later told Mahathir he was trying to push Malaysia’s agenda by calling for reform of the international monetary system. But he did not mince his words in New York about what was going on back home. ”What are meant to be mere crutches often become permanent appendages, spawning a dependency mentality and rendering the public purse a rich feeding ground for all kinds of parasites,” he said to applause.

Yet while he was away, Anwar got wind of another attempted bailout, this time for Daim pal Tajudin Ramli at Malaysia Airlines. ”The moment my back is turned, they push through this nonsense,” he told his aides. ”How am I supposed to explain this over here?” Mahathir denied he was involved. Anwar suggested the Finance Ministry would veto the deal, and it was never done.

Shortly after Anwar returned home, Suharto fell. Mahathir had met with the aging strongman in Cairo on May 14 at the G-15 summit. Mahathir left the meeting speaking of ”foreign parties trying to unseat us both.” The new Indonesian President, B.J. Habibie, was a friend of Anwar.

ESPIONAGE CHARGES. So was Indonesian newspaper editor Nasir Tamara, who caused a flap on June 2 when he addressed Malaysian scholars, businessmen, and social activists assembled by Anwar’s think tank. While he didn’t mention Malaysia, Nasir spoke of cronyism and explained how the reformasi movement toppled Suharto. An Anwar aide says Mahathir questioned his deputy about the speech.

By the time the UMNO General Assembly meeting began on June 20, Mahathir had decided to get rid of Anwar–and the open battle began. Information packets given to the 1,900 conference attendees all contained a book alleging homosexual and heterosexual affairs by Anwar. The book, Fifty Reasons Why Anwar Cannot Be Prime Minister, also charged him with spying for a foreign power. Diplomats and other sources say the book could not have been distributed without Mahathir’s knowledge.

Anwar’s camp returned fire. The leader of the UMNO Youth league, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, criticized the government for ”corruption, collusion, and nepotism.” Mahathir blasted back the next day, saying that everyone, including Anwar and his allies, had benefited from the state’s largesse. Days later, Mahathir announced that Daim would take over management of the economy. Anwar’s role was sharply curtailed. At a mention of Daim during an interview with BUSINESS WEEK on June 30, Anwar crossed his arms and visibly stiffened.

By the end of August, Malaysian stocks were down 80% from the previous year. On September 1, Mahathir shocked the world by imposing currency controls. He told Anwar to resign by 5:30 p.m. the following day ”or I’ll humiliate you tomorrow,” according to former Anwar aides. He refused. ”I told him, ‘If you resign it’s like an admission of guilt,”’ Anwar’s wife Wan Azizah recalls saying the next day over a lunch where the food went uneaten. Anwar then went to his Finance Ministry office. At 5:30, the power went off at his official residence. At 7, Anwar received a letter from Mahathir saying he had been dismissed.

”I tried to work within the system,” Anwar told BUSINESS WEEK three days after his ouster. But now, Anwar acted like the outsider. He organized the biggest protest in Malaysia’s history on September 20, attended by up to 50,000 people, to call for reform. That day, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II was in town for the Commonwealth Games. Mahathir ordered Anwar’s arrest that night. A week later, Anwar appeared in court, bruised from what he said was a police beating.

Whatever the verdict in Anwar’s trial, it is unlikely to end the momentum for reform kindled by his ouster. Clearly Malaysia’s reform movement has legs, although no one wants a repeat of the violence that devastated Indonesia during Suharto’s fall. It looks like the transition won’t be easy. Mahathir seems intent on staying in power to safeguard the economic structure he spent 17 years building. But even if Anwar vanishes from power, the questions he posed in this turbulent year will haunt his stern mentor for years to come.

Published November 6, 1998

http://www.c2o.org/malaysia/democracy/articles/981106_feud.htm

This article is too important not to be read by more people. It is written by Koon Yew Yin. Who???

Well, if you like Mudajaya, IJM or Gamuda, Mr. Koon was one of the founders for all three companies.

We certainly do not need more contractors – we must ensure that our resources are put into creating value to industry and economy, not creating layers after layers of profits being hived off.

The article was taken from Center For Policy Initiatives:

Article by Mr. Koon can be linked to:

http://english.cpiasia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1783:bumiputera-contractors-a-wasteful-national-mission-to-date-&catid=211:koon-yew-yin&Itemid=156

 Note on the Author

I am a 76-year-old chartered civil engineer and one of the founders of the three larger construction companies listed in Bursa Malaysia. These are Gamuda Bhd, Mudajaya Group Bhd, and IJM Corporation Bhd.

I was a member of the Board of Engineers, Malaysia for three terms. I was also on the Sirim Board responsible in writing the Malaysian standard specifications for cement and concrete. In addition, I was the Secretary General of Master Builders Association, Malaysia for nine years.

These days, I am completely retired. My intention in writing this article is honourable. Many people may not like reading what I have written and the truth may be difficult to accept. Nevertheless, this is my considered analysis for the benefit of my country, the Bumiputera contractors and the construction industry.

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Written by Koon Yew Yin

Wednesday, 18 November 2009

It is an indictment of our system that IJM is able to compete internationally for contracts but yet is required to work as a sub-contractor to Bumiputera companies on the North-South Highway in Malaysia.

On Oct 25, 2009 our Second Finance Minister Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah said that government has vowed to cut down on wasteful spending to lower its budget deficit and all major public projects must go through the open tender system.

Earlier, the Auditor-General’s report for 2008 revealed continuing financial management weaknesses at every level of the government. Delays in project completion seem to be a perennial problem and the lack of oversight by various ministries and departments in the procurement of goods and services continue to cost the government hundreds of millions of ringgit.

These statements indicate perhaps that our Prime Minister Najib Razak may want to reverse his announcement on January 9 in Kuala Teregganu that the government would always look after Class F contractors. (Non- Bumiputeras cannot register as a Class F contractor).

The government had in fact already set aside RM900 million, which was RM300 million more than last year, for works to be undertaken by Class F contractors this year.

Producing competitive Bumiputera contractors

As reported on May 1, 2005, Malaysia had one contractor for every 614 persons. Most likely there are more contractors by now. This ratio is again likely to be amongst the highest in the world and is obviously costing the public a significant amount of money besides affecting our overall economic performance.

I would like to pose a few questions which may appear unkind or insensitive but nonetheless need to be asked.

Out of hundreds of high-rise buildings in Kuala Lumpur does anyone know of any Bumiputera contractor who has won any of the building contracts through an open competitive tender process? Out of hundreds of kilometers of highway in Malaysia, can any Bumiputera contractor who won any part of the highway contracts through open tender be identified?

The answer to the above questions unfortunately is in the negative. The evidence is that all the government’s well-intentioned efforts in trying to produce competitive Bumiputera contractors since 1957 have failed.

Why this has happened needs to be openly discussed rather than swept under the carpet. In this note, I share my experiences as a contractor and my knowledge of why Bumiputera contractors have failed in the past and what needs to be done by the government to correct this unhealthy situation.

Facts of life in the contracting business

Contracting is a very difficult business yet it is so easy to register as a contractor.

To register as a Class F contractor one has only to show that he has RM5,000. He does not even require a pass in Lower Certificate of Education (LCE). But it will take at least 10 years to learn how to overcome all the inherent difficulties and become competitive and efficient. Continuously giving out lucrative and over-priced contracts without open tenders will only make the recipients less competitive.

Secondly, studies have shown that there are more failures and bankruptcies in contracting than in any other business, and also almost all construction projects are NOT completed within the original scheduled time.

The delay will cost the contractor more and that is why you can often see uncompleted buildings and abandoned projects which have been undertaken by inefficient contractors. There are many reasons for this peculiar phenomenon.

1. Open tender system

Although this system is the best way to ensure completion of any project/contract at the lowest price, it is the most difficult obstacle any contractor has to face in the real competitive world. He must know his business very well and be efficient to face the open competition all the time. Like a good athlete, he has to keep fit and constantly be aware of the market conditions and his competitors.

There is a classic saying, ‘a cheap thing is not good and a good thing is not cheap’. But contractors always have to produce good work at the cheapest price.

In order to submit the cheapest tender, the contractor must be very optimistic in all his assumptions to get the cheapest rates. He must assume that he will not encounter any cash flow difficulties and that he will always get his progress payments on time to pay his creditors.

He must also assume that he will not encounter any difficulty in getting all the required materials on time to avoid any delay and also that there are ample workers for him to pick and choose from.

Furthermore, he must also assume that the heavens will be kind to him and he will not meet any inclement weather during construction. Invariably, many of these assumptions are proven wrong and thus completion delayed, and the infrastructure will cost more to complete than provided for in the contract.

2. The importance of teamwork

Teamwork is important in all business endeavours. It is more so in the contracting business. Every contractor must realise that his success is not going to be determined by his own knowledge, talent or abilities. It is going to be determined by his ability to develop a great team. Those who are closest to him will help determine the level of his success.

Every efficient contractor must have a reliable team comprising managers, sub-contractors, material suppliers, foremen and skilled workers. All the team players must cooperate with one another, bearing in mind that the main contractor’s survival depends on their contribution. Their main goal must be saving cost. If they cannot complete the contract within the tender price, all of them will also be affected.

3. Construction material pricing

There was no material price escalation clause in the conditions of contract before I became the Secretary General of the Master Builders Association. During the unprecedented oil crisis, building material prices shot through the roof. As a result, many contractors could not complete their contracts for schools and other projects. After several appeals the Public Works Department (PWD), now known as Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR), eventually allowed only cement and steel for price variation reimbursement.

This was only a partial solution as hundreds of other items were excluded.

Without a protective price fluctuation clause for the other items, contractors are exposed to risk. At the same time, knowing that they have to undercut their competitors during the tender process, contractors would normally under-price to achieve the lowest tender. Invariably, most materials would increase in price due to inflation and other reasons. Contractors require many years of experience to be able to anticipate such price changes and to make adequate provisions for them whilst at the same time not overpricing their tenders and losing the bid.

4. No contract is exactly the same

No two high-rise buildings in KL are the same.

Construction of a building, a bridge or a stadium is always akin to making a prototype. The process is much more difficult than manufacturing any product where there is repetition. For example in making cars, the first prototype and the initial few cars may be more difficult to make but once everyone gets used to the routine, the manufacturing process will normally proceed smoothly.

However, in the construction of buildings or any civil engineering works, there is very little repetitive work. Every construction site is different and most of the people involved have never worked together before.

On top of this, there may also be inexperienced supervisory staff that can create a lot of difficulties for the contractors. Invariably, by the time all parties get used to the routine, the scheduled time is over.

5. Financing

Most contractors do not have sufficient capital to finance their undertakings.

Contractors generally do not have fixed assets like most manufacturers. They usually do not have land and buildings but, instead, they have construction equipment. Unfortunately, banks do not accept these moving assets as collateral for a loan. Without bank financing, contractors will obviously find it more difficult to undertake their business.

Beginning at the bottom: The key to success

I have provided some insight into why contracting is not a business that is as easy or profitable as it is commonly perceived to be.

There are other factors explaining why or how some of the most successful tycoons associated with the building or construction industry have managed to get where they are.

Firstly, it should be noted that the majority of listed companies were started by Chinese merchants most of whom incidentally did not have tertiary education. For example, Lim Goh Tong of Genting began his working career as a scrap iron dealer and a contractor; and Yeoh Tiong Lay of YTL Corp. started off as a small contractor.

Generally, Bumiputeras are not interested in working long hours in managing small businesses earning marginal profit. Because of the NEP, many have hopes of securing permits or concessions for big deals so that they can become instant millionaires. There are relatively few Bumiputeras involved in small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs).

More Bumiputeras should follow the humble footsteps of the Chinese to become traders and merchants for building materials and similar goods. The business skill they can learn from these humble beginnings will carry them a long way. I am very sure some of them will eventually become good contractors and successful businessmen if they learn the trade at the bottom and not try to parachute into the contracting business.

The importance of skilled workers

Although there are already many Bumiputera engineers unable to find employment, most of the universities are still producing more and more engineers every year. But without a sufficiently skilled workforce, all the engineers in the world would not be able to complete a single project.

There are so few Bumiputera construction foremen, carpenters and other skilled workers. If you were to go into any building construction site, you would see the truth of what I am saying. How many Malay carpenters have you seen in KL?

Without skilled Bumiputera workers, it would be more difficult for Bumiputera contractors to succeed. In fact, most of the Chinese contractors started as apprentices and rose from the bottom to become successful contractors. More Bumiputeras should be encouraged to work as apprentices in construction sites. This is a necessary good practice to produce really good Bumiputera contractors.

The role of trade schools

There should be more trade schools and more Bumiputeras should be encouraged to learn construction skills like carpentry, welding, plumbing, bricklaying, etc. Very soon, skilled tradesmen will be able to earn more than degree holders as is the case in Australia or England.

The government should build more trade schools and not hesitate to offer scholarships to Bumiputeras to be trained in these trade schools. Presently, the construction industry is not short of engineers but it is very short of skilled workers and supervisors. If more Bumiputeras are properly trained in various crafts and blue collar skills, some of them will go on to become good contractors.

Time and more time

They say Rome was not built in a day. It is easier to produce engineers, doctors and other professionals than to produce efficient and competitive contractors who do not need government financial aid. Just giving out lucrative contracts to Bumiputeras is not the answer; in fact it is counter-productive as it simply makes them more inefficient and less competitive.

IJM Corporation Bhd has taken more than 40 years to attain a competitive level of competence. The record shows that IJM has secured on competitive tenders five toll road concessions in India. Three are currently in operation and two are under construction. The total length of the roads exceeds 1,000 kilometres, longer than our North-South Highway.

In addition, IJM completed a toll bridge in Kolkata and sold its interest for RM65 million profit after a short period of three years. IJM is also a very reputable LRT builder, having to date completed 15km of the elevated sections of the New Delhi Metro and it was recently awarded another 8km.

Based on open competitive tender, IJM won the contract to build the tallest building, a prominent future landmark for the Delhi Municipality, in New Delhi.

It is an indictment of our system that IJM is able to compete internationally for contracts but yet is required to work as a sub-contractor to Bumiputera companies on the North-South Highway in our own country.

Conclusion: Half-baked contractors are not in our national interest

Contracting is one of the most, if not the most, difficult business and it takes a very long time to produce competent contractors.

It is very dangerous to quickly produce half-baked ones as they will soon find themselves in financial difficulties and require bailouts. The bankruptcy record shows that a large number of debtors are Bumiputera contractors with many of them unable to pay back the loans given by government-controlled financial institutions.

The government must change its methods and policies which have proven unworkable. There is no urgency in producing more Bumiputera contractors as many of the key industries e.g. the banks, plantations, motor vehicles, taxis, rice etc are already under the control of Bumiputeras.

Our government must not be narrowly communalistic and should make use of all the groups, irrespective of race, that are more efficient in the contracting business.

Giving out contracts without a full tender process is akin to corruption. I urge the government to stop this corrupt practice and to utilize the savings from these enormous sums to implement the options suggested above.

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The Great Malaysian Brain Drain

JULY 11 – There is a boy I know who scored 10 A1s. His mother is a primary school teacher and Andrew has two younger brothers. His father, a civil servant, had already passed on by the time the son sat SPM in 2006.

Armed with his excellent result, Andrew applied for a scholarship to study mechanical engineering. The government rejected his application. Petronas rejected his application too. Can you imagine how disappointed and frustrated he was?

As soon as I learned of Andrew’s difficulty, I offered him financial assistance to do accountancy in Utar. He has been scoring top marks in every exam to earn a scholarship from the university. Although Andrew is now exempted from paying fees, I still bank him RM400 a month to cover cost of living.

I have given assistance and allowances to more than 40 poor students to study in Utar in Kampar, Perak. Andrew is typical of their calibre; he prefers to get what is his due on merit, and his university has seen fit to waive his fees.

On my part, I expect nothing from those that I’ve supported except for them in future to help young people in similar circumstances, and to hope that they will all stay back in Malaysia so that they can lend their talents to building up our nation.

There are others with deeper pockets who have extended a helping hand to our youngsters. One of them offers the cost of school and exam fees, hostel accommodation, RM5,800 a year for expenses, RM1,200 settling-in allowance, and transport/air ticket. Furthermore, the recipient is not bonded. In other words, the giver asks for nothing back.

I’m talking about the pre-university Asean scholarship extended to Malaysians by ‘the little red dot’ Singapore.

Of course, Singapore is not doing it for purely altruistic reasons. The country is giving these much coveted Asean scholarships to build up her national bank of talent.

Some Malaysians accuse them of ‘poaching’ the creme de la creme of our youngsters. I don’t look at it as poaching. Their far-sighted government is doing it in their national interest.

And why not? Singapore can afford it. It has three times our GDP per capita. On another comparative note, the GDP per capita of Taiwan and South Korea are 2.5 times and double ours respectively. Before the NEP’s introduction in 1970, the four countries were at parity.

The big question is why are we surrendering our assets which Malaysian parents have nurtured but the state neglected?

Tens of thousands of young Malaysians have left our shores on the Asean scholarship. I am not sure if Singapore is willing to give out the figure.

But I am pretty sure the Malaysian authorities do not give two hoots about this, whatever number they may have arrived at. If they do, there seems to be no policy change to stem the outflow.

Malaysia is optimistically indifferent to the continuous brain drain, little caring that it is detrimental to our aspiration of becoming a developed country (I hate to say this) like Singapore.

Behaving like a failed state

Consider this startling statistic: There are more Sierra Leonean doctors working in hospitals in the city of Chicago than in their own homeland. More Malawian nurses in Manchester than in Malawi. Africa’s most significant export to Europe and the United States is trained professionals, not petroleum, gold and diamond.

The educated African migration is definitely retarding the progress of every country in Africa. Today, one in three African university graduates, and 50,000 doctoral holders now live and work outside Africa. Sixty-four per cent of Nigerians in the USA has one or more university degrees.

If we carry out a study, we are likely to find a very large number of non-Malay graduates emigrating to Singapore, Australia and other countries that is proportionately similar to the African exodus.

However the compulsion is different, seeing as how some African countries are war-torn and famished, which is certainly not the case with Malaysia.

The push factors for our own brain drain lie in NEP policy and this needs to be addressed with urgency.

State Ideology: Be grateful you’re Malaysian

Try putting yourself in the shoes of an 18-year-old. This young Malaysian born in 1991 is told that Umno was very generous in granting citizenship to his non-Malay forefathers in 1957. Thus as a descendant of an immigrant community – one should be forever grateful and respect the “social contract”.

Gratitude is demanded by the state while little is reciprocated. Under the NEP – and some say this policy represents the de facto social contract – every single Vice Chancellor of every single Malaysian public university is Malay.

Promotion prospects for non-Malay lecturers to full professorship or head of department are very dim, hence we have the dichotomy of non-Malays predominant in private colleges while correspondingly, the academic staff of public institutions proliferate with Malays.

The civil service is staffed predominantly by Malays, too, and overwhelmingly in the top echelons. The government-linked corporations have been turned into a single race monopoly.

Hence is it any surprise that almost all the scholarships offered by government and GLCs seem to be reserved for Malays?

Youngsters from the minority communities see that Malays are the chosen ones regardless of their scholastic achievement and financial position. Some are offered to do a Master although they did not even apply (but the quota is there to be filled, so these disinterested Malays are approached).

Our lesson today is …

How the government apparatus conducts itself and the consequences of its policy implementation will upset an individual’s innate sense of justice.

The government pays about RM1.8 billion in annual salaries to teachers. A child is taught moral studies in class but he learns in life that adults condone and conspire to immorality by perpetuating the unfairness and injustice which impacts on Malaysia’s young.

On the other hand, the favoured group is given more than their just desserts without either merit or need. When one is bred to think that privilege is only his rightful entitlement, we would not expect this young person to pay back to society in return.

Our Malaysian education system has been flip-flopped, pushed and pulled this way and that until standards dropped to alarming levels. The passing mark for subjects in public exams have fallen notoriously low while the increasing number of distinctions have risen fatuously high with SPM students notching 14As, 17As and 21As.

With top scorers aplenty, there will not be enough scholarships to go around now that the Education Ministry has decided to put a cap on the SPM, limiting takers to 10 subjects.

The human factor

It’s unrealistic that the education system can be effectively overhauled. Even tweaking one aspect of it, such as the language switch for Math and English, created havoc.

It’s not that our educational framework is so bad as, after all, a lot of study and planning did go into it.

It’s only when the politicians dictate from on high and overrule the better judgment of the educationists – Dr Mahathir Mohamad being case in point – that we slide deeper into the doldrums.

The politicisation of education and the hijacking of the country’s educational agenda has clearly cost us heavily in terms of policy flip-flops and plummeting standards, and the loss of a good part of our young and talented human resources.

Matters become worse when Little Napoleons too take it upon themselves to interfere with teachers. For instance, the serial number assigned candidates when they sit public exams. Why is a student’s race encoded in the number? What does his ethnicity have to do with his answer script?

There is further suspicion that the stacks of SPM papers are not distributed to examiners entirely at random (meaning ideally examiners should be blind to which exam centres the scripts they’re marking have originated from).

A longstanding complaint from lecturers is that they are pressured to pass undergrads who are not up to the mark, and having to put up with mediocre ones who believe they are ‘A’ material after being spoilt in mono-racial schools.

Letting teachers do their job properly and allowing them to grade their students honestly would arrest the steep erosion of standards.

And, unless we are willing to be honest brokers in seeking a compromise and adjustment, the renewed demonising of vernacular schools is merely mischievous.

Either accept their existence or integrate the various types of schools.

But are UiTM and its many branch campuses throughout the length and breadth of the country, Mara Junior Science Colleges and the residential schools willing to open their doors to all on the basis of meritocracy if Chinese, Tamil, and not forgetting religious schools, were abolished? Not open to a token few non-Bumiputera but genuinely open up and with the admission numbers posted in a transparent manner.

Finally, there are teachers genuinely passionate about their profession. There are promising teachers fresh out of training college who are creative and capable of inspiring their students. It’s not only Form 5 students who have been demoralised. Teachers are human capital that we seem to have overlooked in the present controversy.

Conclusion: Ensuring fairness for the future well-being of our young

A segment of Johoreans cross the Causeway daily to attend school in Singapore. Many continue their tertiary education in Singapore which has among the top universities in the world. Eventually, they work in Singapore and benefit Singapore.

Ask around among your friends and see who hasn’t got a child or a sibling who is now living abroad as a permanent resident. I can’t really blame them for packing up and packing it in, can you?

It’s simply critical at this juncture that we don’t let our kids lose hope and throw in the towel.

The system might be slow to reform but mindsets at least can be changed easier.

It starts with the teachers, the educationists and the people running the education departments and implementing the policies.

Please help Malaysian youngsters realise their full potential. Just try a little fairness first. – cpiasia.net

Source: Karen Roth’s  Food For Thought – Cucumber

Website: www.nutritionalchoice.net

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUmdqeUtPzg

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The Amazing Cucumber

This information was in The New York Times several weeks ago as part of their “Spotlight on the Home” series that highlighted creative and fanciful ways to solve common problems.

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber.

Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower?

Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds?

Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool?

Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache?

Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge?

Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explores for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don’t have enough time to polish your shoes?

Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge?

Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don’t have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa?

Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber with react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don’t have gum or mints?

Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a ‘green’ way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel?

Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but it won’t leave streaks and won’t harm you fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake?

Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!

Pass this along to everybody you know who is looking for better and safer ways to solve life’s everyday problems..

1) BRAIN TUMOR:

Doctor: I regret to tell you that you have a brain tumor.

Mr. Bean: Yesss!!! (jumps in joy)

Doctor: Did you understand what I just told you?

Mr. Bean: Yes of course, do you think I’m dumb?

Doctor: Then why are you so happy?

Mr. Bean: Because that proves that I have a brain!

2) MR. BEAN WHILE IN GRADE SCHOOL:

Teacher: What is 5 plus 4?

Mr. Bean: 9

Teacher: What is 4 plus 5?

Mr. Bean: Are you trying to fool me, you’ve just twisted the figure, the answer is 6!!

3) WHILE IN A DRUG STORE:

Mr. Bean: I’d like some vitamins for my grandson.

Clerk: Sir, vitamin A, B or C?

Mr. Bean: Any will do, my grandson doesn’t know the alphabet yet!!

4) AT AN ATM MACHINE:

Friend: What are you looking at?

Mr. Bean: I know your PIN no., hee, hee.

Friend: Alright, what is my PIN no. if you saw it?

Mr. Bean: four asterisks (****)!

5) MARRIAGE:

Friend: How many women do you believe must a man marry?

Mr. Bean: 16

Friend: Why?

Mr. Bean: Because the priest says 4 richer, 4 poorer, 4 better and 4 worse.

6) CHATTING WITH HIS FRIEND:

Friend: How was the tape you borrowed from me, is it Ok?

Mr. Bean: What do you mean ok, I thought it’s a horror film. I didn’t see any picture.

Friend: What tape did you took anyway?

Mr. Bean: Head Cleaner.

7) DEATH OF HIS MOTHER:

Mr. Bean: (crying) the doctor called, Mom’s dead.

Friend: condolence, my friend.

(After 2 minutes) Mr. Bean cries even louder

Friend: what now?

Mr. Bean: my sister just called, her mom died too!

MR. BEAN ATTENDING A MEETING:

Colleague: Sorry I’m late. I got stuck in an elevator for 4 hrs because of a power failure.

Mr. Bean: That’s alright, me too…I got stuck on the escalator for 3 hrs.

9) SPELLING LESSON:

Mr. Bean’s Son: Dad, what is the spelling of successful… ..is it one c or two c?

Mr. Bean: Make it three c to be sure!

I suppose everyone of you must have boarded a plane before. Ever encounter any proud and arrogant joker like some sort of “Datuk” or “Tan Sri” shouting at the top of his voice at the check-in counter? Read this one. Very interesting……..especially the last bit ……

THIS SHOULD APPLY TO EVERY AIRLINE DESK ANYWHERE IN MALAYSIA – WHERE EVERYONE HAS SEEN THE “DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM” ASSHOLEs everywhere: airports, restaurants, traffic lights……

An award should go to the Virgin Airlines desk attendant in Sydney some months ago for being smart and funny, while making her point, when confronted with a passenger who probably deserved to fly as cargo.

A crowded Virgin flight was cancelled after Virgin’s 767s had been withdrawn from service. A single attendant was rebooking a long line of inconvenienced travellers.

Suddenly an angry passenger pushed his way to the desk. He slapped his ticket down on the counter and said, ‘I HAVE to be on this flight and it HAS to be FIRST CLASS’. The attendant replied, ‘I’m sorry, sir. I’ll be happy to try to help you, but I’ve got to help these people first, and I’m sure we’ll be able to work something out.’

The passenger was unimpressed. He asked loudly, so that the passengers behind him could hear, ‘DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I AM?’ Without hesitating, the attendant smiled and grabbed her public address microphone: ‘May I have your attention please, may I have your attention please,’ she began – her voice heard clearly throughout the terminal.

‘We have a passenger here at Desk 14 WHO DOES NOT KNOW WHO HE IS. If anyone can help him find his identity, please come to Desk 14.’With the folks behind him in line laughing hysterically, the man glared at the Virgin attendant, gritted his teeth and said, ‘F.. You!’ Without flinching, she smiled and said, (I love this bit) ‘I’m sorry, sir, but you’ll have to get in line for that too .

Source: journeymanpictures

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e4ez8budzQ

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*BEING A WOMAN HAS HELPED ME SURVIVE MY JOB*

 BANGKOK – AFTER examining more than 10,000 corpses in her 30-year career, Thailand’s leading forensics expert Porntip Rojanasunan says she believes the spirits of the dead have become her guardian angels.

‘Spirits of the dead keep protecting me,’ says Ms Porntip, known in Thailand as Doctor Death.

With crimson lipstick and multi-coloured spiked hair, Porntip has stood up to police bullying and death threats as she pursues goals she says the spirits have set up for her.

‘They want me to do two things. First, they want me to improve forensic science in Thailand. Second, they want me to establish an institute for missing persons in Thailand,’ says the 52-year-old pathologist.

In addition to examining thousands of bodies, Porntip led massive forensic operations after the 2004 tsunami tragedy and pioneered the introduction of DNA testing as a criminal investigative tool in the kingdom.

A cancer survivor, she has fought death one-on-one, and has battled the country’s male-dominated criminal justice establishment – which has been quick to belittle one of the most powerful women in the profession.

The outspoken doctor frequently appears in the media to challenge autopsy findings by police, who control all aspects of criminal investigation in Thailand.

*TARGET FOR HARRASSMENT*

As a result, she has become a prime target for harassment, bullying and lawsuits.

‘Police,’ Ms Porntip sighs. ‘They don’t like me. They say bad things about me – like, I’m not a good doctor, or I steal money. Because they see me as a threat undermining their power.’

A devout Buddhist, Ms Porntip never drinks nor smokes. But that does not mean she is dull.

‘I love dancing and fashion,’ says Ms Porntip, who defies the conventional image of big-haired, middle-aged Thai women by dressing up like a punk rocker with tight black jeans and platform shoes.

As a child she wanted to be an interior designer, but Ms Porntip believes she has found a calling in dealing with the dead, and says her biggest frustration is working with police.

‘Thai police still tend to rely on witness accounts rather than scientific evidence, and almost all senior police officers continue to ignore me,’ says Ms Porntip, the acting director of the Central Institute of Forensic Medicine of Thailand.

As an example of police reluctant to make use of science in their investigations, she tells the story of a man who three years ago was suspected of killing his wife, who had been found dead in his house with five bullet wounds on his body.

Police said the man shot himself, but Ms Porntip disputed their finding.

‘What I found was not compatible with suicide. Blood patterns and a position of his gun indicated he was murdered,’ she says in an interview at her office.

*SCORN*

Ms Porntip went on television to knock down the police account, and very quickly drew scorn and ridicule from them, with a senior police officer accusing her of just wanting to become a celebrity.

‘I only want justice, and I only want the public to pay attention to our criminal justice system,’ Ms Porntip says.

A court eventually ruled the death was indeed murder, but that didn’t stop the Thai police from suing Ms Porntip for defamation. A judge tossed out the suit.

She says her toughest case so far was the death of Mr Hangthong Thammawattana, a rich and famous lawmaker in Bangkok who at age 50 was found dead with a gun in his right hand in his younger brother’s bedroom in 1999.

Police said Mr Hangthong committed suicide, but Ms Porntip’s autopsy report found he had not only been shot but might also have been hit across the head with a hard object.

‘The position of his body, blood patterns and the position of his gun all pointed out that this man was killed. He did not commit suicide,’ she says.

While working on the Hangthong case, Ms Porntip received anonymous calls from a man warning that she should quit the case or would be dead by ‘tomorrow morning’.

But Ms Porntip, who has survived two gruelling battles with thyroid and colon cancer, refused to give in.

*FATHER TAUGHT ME TO BE STRONG*

‘My father taught me to be strong,’ she says. Both her parents were scientists.

Mr Hangthong’s younger brother, Mr Noppadol Thammawattana, was eventually charged with the murder, but a criminal court in September this year acquitted him in a verdict that was splashed across front pages of Thai papers.

Even at the pinnacle of her career, Ms Porntip says she still experiences ridicule and harassment at work as one of the few female professionals in Thailand’s male-dominated criminal justice system.

But she insists being a woman has helped her survive, saying a man in her position would have been killed long ago.

‘If I were a man, I would be dead by now. I would be shot dead by someone. Maybe by angry police. I am still alive only because I am a woman,’ Ms Porntip says with a smile.

Since graduating from the medical school at Bangkok’s Mahidol University in the 1970s, she has raised public awareness of forensic science in Thailand, writing several books on the subject for general readers.

Her first book titled ‘Investigation of Corpses’ sold more than 100,000 copies, and her popularity rose as she solved a series of high-profile cases including the murder of one of her medical students in 1998.

The student was killed in a love triangle feud by her boyfriend, who then chopped her body into 168 pieces and flushed them down the toilet. Her severed head was found on a riverbank.

‘She was a very good student,’ Ms Porntip says.

The doctor has single-handedly urged the government to take forensic science more seriously, and helped create the forensic institute under the justice ministry in 2002.

*ROYAL RECOGNITION*

In 2003, the Thai king recognised her public works, including many years of teaching at Ramathibodi Hospital of Mahidol University, with the title Khunying, equivalent to the British Dame.

But Ms Porntip says nothing prepared her for the unprecedented forensic operations in the wake of the tsunami disaster in December 2004.

About 5,400 people – half of them foreign holidaymakers – were killed in Thailand alone after the Indian Ocean tsunami hit the kingdom’s southern resort island of Phuket and other provinces along the Andaman coast.

Ms Porntip rushed to the site and took charge of identifying the dead, which became one of the world’s largest-ever forensics jobs.

‘I just wanted to help. But it was very difficult because there was no coordination,’ she says.

‘The most important lesson I learned from the tsunami is that we need a special organisation that can coordinate with various government agencies during times of large-scale natural disasters,’ says Ms Porntip.

She has now set her sights on an insurgency in Thailand’s Muslim-majority south where thousands of people have been killed in almost daily shootings, bombings and ambushes since January 2004.

Mainly Buddhist Thailand annexed the troubled region bordering Malaysia a century ago and separatist violence has flared periodically since.

*PROBLEMS IN THE SOUTH*

‘I recognise problems in the south. The situation there is like a war, and I really want to help my country,’ Ms Porntip says.

She has helped set up a DNA database for local authorities in the south to identify suspects and victims. She says her forensic team mostly works with the military due to the violence, adding that police rarely cooperate with them.

‘Senior police officers ordered low-ranking officers not to talk to me. But they cannot stop me from working,’ the doctor says.

Ms Porntip says she has reopened cases that were long closed by local police following strong requests from bereaved families.

The doctor has also collected DNA samples from teachers and students at Islamic schools to try to exonerate people who feel they have been wrongly accused by authorities.

‘My daughter does not want me to work in the south. She is worried about my safety,’ she says, referring to 15-year-old Yarawee, her only child with banker husband Mr Vichai, 55.

But Ms Porntip says she cannot slow down until she succeeds in setting up a national institute for missing persons.

‘Creating such an institute is my next goal.’ ‘Also this is the second wish of my spirits of the dead,’ she says.

Each year hundreds of unidentified bodies are found in Thailand, especially in the violence-torn south and northern provinces bordering Myanmar, the doctor says.

‘In five to 10 years, all of these unidentified remains will be cremated with no investigation, and I want to stop that,’ she says.

Having met more corpses than mortals in her life, Ms Porntip says she has learned a lot from the dead.

‘We cannot control our lives, and I try to be happy all the time,’ she says, admitting she prefers working with the dead to the living.’

‘My ‘patients’ cannot talk to me. They cannot complain about me or my hairstyle,’ laughs the doctor.

She calls human flesh ‘cooked meat’ and says dead bodies still fascinate her.

‘When I look at a dead body, I feel happy and get excited. I love doing an autopsy,’ Ms Porntip says.

‘Besides,’ she smiles, ‘working with people always creates problems and conflicts. Working with the dead is easy.

Source: Malaysia Comedy Court  

Website:  http://www.comedycourt.com.my/index_00.html

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EjB0w5mAxA&feature=related