Can we get a refund?

Consumers will now be able to demand refunds �if they are not satisfied with services rendered, or the quality of the product supplied�, Consumer Affairs Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced last month. He elaborated: �If one has signed up for slimming, driving or computer courses, or tuition classes, and wish to withdraw because of unsatisfactory service, the consumer will be entitled to a refund for the remaining period�. Section 17 of the Consumers Protection Act 1999, apparently, covers all businesses, including foreign companies operating here, which offer contract services for a specific period. Way to go, Muhyiddin.

But what about those services offered by Tenaga, Telekom, the postal service and water authorities, private hospitals and colleges, not to mention IWK ? These services have cost more since they were privatized. But the quality of the services rendered has often deteriorated. Horror stories abound. Ask Michael Chong of the MCA Complaints Bureau.

When one begins to add up the various services and projects that have been privatized over the past decades, an interesting question emerges. No, it�s not just how much richer we would all be if we could get refunded for the poor delivery of those services. One wonders what the government does anymore?

A famous theorist of globalisation has remarked that most governments that have privatized and deregulated their economies, nowadays, simply collect taxes, regulate the privatized services and maintain law and order.

But look at the situation in Malaysia. It�s anything but law and order ! There�s the KMM threatening violence. There are pedlars hawking pornographic and pirated VCDs and DVDs resulting in heinous rape cases involving the very young to the very old; schoolchildren involved in black metal activities; members of the opposition parties threatening to import arms and what-have-you belatedly arrested under the ISA; recalcitrant Malaysians publishing without permits; a so-called Human Rights Commission trying to please its foreign masters rather than serve the interest of Malaysians; misbehaving university students and teachers; and even members of the MCA creating pandemonium.

It all adds up to a government not maintaining law and order very well. Can we have a refund of the taxes we have paid?

Wisdom is Wisdom

Wisdom is wisdom. And we should be prepared to acknowledge that even when it comes from the most unlikely of sources. So kudos to Datuk Seri Samy for his insight on the MCA Youth pandemonium: �Throwing chairs is not the solution�.

Whence such wisdom? No doubt he has gained much inspiration from Dr M whom he has always acknowledged as his beloved leader. But here�s another clue from The Star 14 Feb 2001: �Samy Vellu said that he had been in politics for 42 years and knew what a person was going to say even before he opened his mouth�!

Indeed, although he often talks funny, and looks funnier even when Zenga-suited and Armani-tied, one always suspected that there was much grey matter hidden beneath that beautiful crop of black hair -- no hair-brained ... er, I mean hare-brained ideas ... from our hero. After all how could he have otherwise lasted for so long as MIC leader?

But some others differ. If he�s so all-knowing, how come he failed to foresee that the BN/MIC would lose the Lunas by-election last November? Instead, he even promised that he would pack up his bags and move permanently to Lunas �to serve the people� if his party lost. Not so smart-lah.

Moreover, look at his arithmetic. He could not add 1+1+1 and referred to the bridge-cum-tunnel project connecting Bagan Jermal to Bagan Ajam as the second instead of the third link between Penang island and the mainland. For Penangites, the first link has always been the ferry service. Besides his costing of the bridge-cum-tunnel project amounted only to RM2.3 billion, a ridiculously low estimate considering that the second link (the Penang Bridge) had already cost more than RM800 million when completed some 20 years ago. Did he miss some hidden costs? Come, come, nobody is saying that he is a mathematical whiz as well. But it must be admitted that this bridge-cum-tunnel third link with a Titanic resort stop on one of the reclaimed islands is quite hair ... oops, sorry, hare-brained.

One-Dimensional Dialogue

Umno secretary general Khalil Yaakob recently revealed that a series of meetings would be held between government leaders and university students to educate them on government policies and actions. He insisted that it�s crucial for students to have some knowledge of what�s going on at the governmental level. The students aren�t so wise, apparently.

So far so good. Yes, students ought to expose themselves to current affairs and social issues and, as far as possible, be involved in them especially if they don�t want to be seen as an exclusive group of aloof people.

This is all the more required of the students who come from educational institutions that often pride themselves as centres of academic excellence or, as one of them claims, �competing at the international level�.

But to attain all this, students would also have to listen to other groups in society. Ask Samy, for goodness sake. For instance, they may need to have educational dialogues with opposition parties to assess the latter�s positions on certain crucial issues, and also their party policies and programmes. After all, these opposition parties, like the BN, are legal entities and it shouldn�t be considered �sinful� or unlawful if they conduct these dialogues with students. Worse still, a talk by an opposition leader with students shouldn�t be labelled as subversive, and seen as something that would make students fail academically.

Besides, having these �other� dialogues would ultimately force these political organizations to clean up their act when it comes to presenting their case to the students. In other words, political parties, especially those from the ruling coalition, cannot or shouldn�t simply bulldoze their way through campus. At the very least, such keen competition would make these political parties better appreciate the concept of meritocracy.

But if such dialogues continue to remain one-dimensional, both the students and the government would be forever cock-eyed.

Fly Me to the Moon

On Friday, 17 August 2001, both The Sun and The Star carried a Bernama report. The Bernama story was based on a �commentary� written by one Amy Ridenour. Amy�s �commentary� was published in The Washington Times (Washington what? Note, Times not Post). Brave Amy sounded a warning to Americans against Islamic fundamentalists.

What me worry, old hat from Mad Magazine, isn�t it? Still, if you strip off Amy�s dross, whaddya get? Virtually an American surat layang saying that America The Beautiful, after being fooled by Khomeini and then the Taliban, is in danger of being �fooled a third time� - by Anwar Ibrahim, Prince of Islamic Fundamentalists.

OK, now, Amy who? Amy�s story had a blurb on her as the �president of The National Centre for Public Policy Research, a non-partisan Capitol Hill think tank�. Don�t believe it? She is. See the NCPPR website, (http://www.nationalcenter.org). It tells you a few things that The Washington Times, Bernama, The Sun and The Star didn�t say.

1. Amy�s partner, David, is vice-president of The Centre. So, is the Centre one of those �my-partner-and-me� setups so beloved of Capitol Hill, where everyone�s cosy with everyone else but no one knows who can type? Who cares?

2. Amy & David�s Centre is not �non-partisan�. It was established in 1982 to support the Reagan/Bush campaign. It promotes fundamentalism - the �free market/conservative American way of life� dogma, it�s called.

There�s a No. 3 but save the best for last.

The whole world and Amy know of Mahathir�s epic fights against Captain America, Captain Soros and Captain Gore. Amy & David must know there are people who accuse Anwar of being an agent of the world�s largest Temple of the Free Market, the IMF. So, why does a Devotee of Market-ism from the Land of the Free not fight Mahathir? Why does Amy, Princess Warrior from the Home of the Brave, pursue Anwar instead?

OK, here�s No. 3, and isn�t this delicious?

Who owns The Washington Times? The Moonies. And this is not a joke. Now, why didn�t Bernama, The Sun and The Star tell us about Amy�s ties with The Moonies via the Washington Times? No wonder Lim Kit Siang, wise to crap as ever, asked if anyone here paid Amy to tell on Anwar. Only Loonies would do that, wouldn�t they?

No comments Needed

Just in case you missed this item earlier in the year�. According to a Bernama report, a total of 50,113 people have received awards from Malaysia�s kings between 1958 and 2000. This is an average of three Malaysians a day over the last 42 years. The parliamentary secretary in the PM�s department, Khamsiyah Yeop (now that�s a neat name deserving an award in itself) revealed that 41% were civil servants and 29% police or military personnel. Politicians also figured prominently.