Star : Other News & Views 20030128

Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 09:12:33 +0800
Newsgroups: soc.culture.malaysia,jaring.general
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From The Star, Malaysia
28 January 2003
Other News & Views
Bureau reveals bad traits of civil servants
LAZINESS is one of the habits of civil servants that is said to affect
the quality and image of the civil service, Berita Harian reported
yesterday.
According to a survey and investigation based on complaints from the
public by the Public Complaints Bureau in the Prime Minister’s
Department, the major problem among civil servants is behaviour such
as being untrustworthy and lazy.
The daily quoted the bureau’s director-general Datuk Wan Abdul Wahab
Abdullah as saying that this behaviour had led civil servants to
commit mistakes and treat the trust given to them lightly.
He also said that such actions could impede the government’s efforts
to increase the standard in administration.
Berita Harian said that according to the bureau’s report, there were
2,769 complaints against the civil service in 2001. Of these, 1,744
were against Federal Government agencies while the rest were grouses
against state agencies.
Almost 50% of the complaints were for being late in handling daily
affairs and official tasks. Other complaints included unfair action,
failure of enforcement, dissatisfactory service, lack of facilities,
misconduct, abuse of power, failure to follow procedures, non-feasible
policies and weaknesses in the law.
Wan Abdul Wahab said the majority of complaints warranted
investigation as it involved the interest of the public and also the
government’s reputation.
Utusan Malaysia reported that police discovered that a trailer,
involved in a fatal accident at the 4th kilometre of Jalan
Mantin-Seremban on Saturday night had 28 outstanding traffic
summonses.
Policeman L/Kpl Mohd Salleh Othman, his wife Norliza Abdul Rahman and
daughter Nabillah were killed in the accident while their son Mohd
Azhar is in critical condition at the Seremban Hospital’s intensive
care unit, reported the daily.
According to Negri Sembilan Public Order and Traffic chief Supt Najib
Mohamad, police records also showed that the trailer company’s workers
had 17 warrants of arrest for various offences.
Utusan Malaysia also carried a letter to the editor, where a reader
claimed that the hit song The Ketchup Song contained lyrics whichh
reflected ‘devil worship.’
The reader claimed that certain words like Diego was the codename for
Satan in South America and Spain.
She also claimed that ‘party on Friday’ in the song referred to a
special night for praise and rejoicing by devil worshippers.
The reader also wrote that the word brujeria, when searched on the
Internet, led to a website www.brujeria.com , which contained the
Anti-Christ symbol – a goat’s head and other sadistic images.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Vernacular schools help to project a united society
VERNACULAR schools have proven to be an effective and integral part of
the national education system for multi-racial Malaysians and their
continuous presence will not lead to polarisation, said Dong Jiao
Zhong chairman Quek Suan Hiang.
In an interview with Nanyang Siang Pau, the Chinese educationist
movement spokesman was quoted as saying that basic elements
contributing to a united nation were not confined to conducting daily
activities within the same compound.
He said unity was built on values like equality, justice, co-operation
and tolerance among the various communities.
“The formula of having three streams of primary schools (comprising
Tamil, Chinese and national schools) has delivered and enabled
Malaysia to project an image of a harmonious multi-racial society with
a high tolerance level to the outside world,” he said.
The Chinese daily also quoted Gerakan vice-president Dr S.
Vijayaratnam as saying that a possible reason for the reluctance of
some non-bumiputra parents to send their children to national schools
was the leaning towards Muslim practices.
“Asking students to wear Malay dressing on Friday or requiring all
students to wear long track pants for sports activities will not help
to boost parents’ confidence in national schools,” he said.
The China Press and Sin Chew Daily reported a case of communication
breakdown due to a language barrier that led to a two-hour standoff
between the police and a group of Vietnamese workers.
The incident took place at a plastic manufacturing factory in Sungei
Buloh when a group of disgruntled workers approached the management to
air their dissatisfactions concerning over-time payment.
The police were called in when the management felt threatened.
+++++++++++++++++++
Celebration promotes love of Tamil
THAMILAR THIRUNAL or Tamil Day is a celebration to promote love for
the mother tongue of the community in Malaysia.
The event, launched by MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu at the
National Union of Plantation Workers Hall in Petaling Jaya on Sunday,
was widely reported on by Malaysia Nanban and Tamil Nesan, which
observed that the day united the Tamil-speaking community who were at
times divided by different religions and views.
During the late 60s and 70s, Tamils were ashamed to speak in their
mother tongue as they thought it might affect their status and
dignity.
They realised their mistake when community leader Ko Sarangabany
introduced the Thamilar Thirunal celebrations throughout the country,
the dailies quoted Samy Vellu as saying.
Sunday's event was celebrated with music and cultural dances by
nursery pupils, a martial arts performance and the recital of the
Thirukkural by three-year-old S. Arikaran.
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