Hi friends,
I am writing to you in the Dewan Rakyat at 10.38pm now. Today is the last day for back benchers to deliver our speech on motion of thanks to the King.
I am still waiting for a chance to deliver my speech. Together with me are our fellow bloggers: Jeff Ooi and Tony Pua. Both of them look so tired and pitiful cos they have waited patiently for more than a week to deliver their maiden speech, but their names were not called till now, and the Speaker has given us 10 minutes to speak only. We are forced to shorten and shorten our speeches.
I have been going in and out of Parliament in the past few days, as I have to handle both matters in the Selangor state government and the Parliament.
Today, Po Kuan moved an emergency motion on the death in National Service camp in Dewan Rakyat. The motion was rejected by speaker as expected.
I believe she must have received a lot of complaints from public on another death in National Service camp. I received a few of them. I hereby display the concerns of people who emailed to me on my blog for your perusal.
I quite like the topic of the editorial of NST on 12th May 2008: One Death Too Many. Lets start with this piece ……….
NST Online » Columns
2008/05/12
EDITORIAL: One death too many
IT appears that there have been 16 deaths since National Service began more than four years ago. This may be statistically acceptable for a programme which handles batches of some 37,000 trainees for the three-month stints. But try telling that to the families of those who have died, or to the parents who are worried sick when their children are selected for NS. To them, one death is one too many, let alone 16. This is not an acceptable toll.
For this reason, the death of a National Service trainee eight hours after complaining of an upset stomach should serve as a wake-up call. It is yet another reminder of how vulnerable the trainees can be. If there’s a situation where detailed information on the cause of death should be made widely available to the public, this is it.
The National Service Training Council owes the families of the deceased the best possible explanation of why death occurred and a comprehensive account of the steps taken to provide care and treatment. The public at large also has a direct and tangible interest in such information because of the national character of the programme and the fact that it could happen to anyone.
As it is, more often than not, the families of the dead trainees have not been satisfied with the official explanations and the medical treatment. One filed a negligence suit last year, and it looks like there will be another one soon.
But this is an issue that goes beyond the legal and the medical. It is a matter of concern for us all because it negatively affects confidence in the delivery of the NS programme, which, by all accounts, has been a laudable way of inspiring love for the country and developing character. As it is, it is regrettable that the causes of death have often been provided without a thorough examination, including a post-mortem.
And even when investigations have been conducted, the information has not been made widely available to the public. This is why there should not only be full investigations into the deaths of NS trainees, but also to make the results of the findings public.This is not a question of apportioning blame but of using the results of the investigations to inform health policies and improve prevention strategies in the National Service camps. The goal should be to yield insights into how deaths can be prevented in the future and to learn lessons to provide better standards of health care.
**********************************************************************************************NS DEATH AND APPORTION OF BLAME
I am not jumping into the bandwagon calling for heads to roll or scrapping the NS programme, in the midst of the latest sudden death case. Having gone through military training myself, and later commissioned as an officer into the Royal Ranger Corp, and now practicing naturopathic medicine, I would like to contribute this discourse, heart to heart especially to parents, without medical jargons. Hopefully we are all enlightened and wiser.
There was this case around 8 years ago, a ten year old girl from Tg Sepat, died after being stung by a bee. I used to tell my audience then, that there will come a time when a child can die from being bitten by 20 mosquitoes. My thoughts went back to those primary school days, when my friends and I in our numerous outings to catch fighting fish and spiders in the rubber plantations in Klang, getting stung by several bees and bites of countless mosquitoes were common. Weekends and holidays, we had to shoulder trunks of rubber trees and chop them for firewood. Our homes were made of planks and often we stepped on rusty nails. We used to challenge each other to see who could climb fastest to the top of coconut trees.
Other than occasional fevers, or sprains and bones dislocations resulting from tree falls, we never complain of having to walk a few miles to school with our equally heavy bags. None of us were wearing spectacles. Headache was a strange word. None of my friends or schoolmates had ecezema. I cannot recall anyone having asthma. I have never heard of my elder sisters complaining of menstrual pain. My mother menopause at 60.
Celebrating birthdays was just eating two hard boiled eggs. No such things as all the pomps and funfares with adults handling out sweets, chocolates, and ice creams, and cutting cakes made from bleached flour to maximize absorption of sugar, colours and flavours. ‘Junk-food’ was a never heard word. Our occasional treat was stopping by a stall on the way home from school, to drink chendol prepared in coconut milk and brown sugar. My parents cooked our food with coconut oil. No such thing as synthetic hydrogenated oil (trans fatty acids). I had only two vaccine shots – small pox and BCG.
Some years ago it was often reported that Thai construction workers would die of sudden death. Lately we heard of professional footballers in Europe collapsed and died of heart attack. In my travels to Brunei, Singapore and Philippines I often hear from colleagues that young sportsmen and soldiers in their prime die of heart attack during vigourous physical training.
Recently a patient told me that her son who had just graduated from a Canadian university, had severe depression and had suicidal thoughts. He is now slowly recovering back home. His friend and college mate was less fortunate, committed suicide in Canada, without finishing his course. My own son, who is now 23, came back after his two years studies in USA, with scoliosis. He too was depressed. His former course mate developed neurological problem at his right arm and had to undergo corrective surgery. What are the common denominators of these teenagers and students? Junk food, carbonated drinks, diet sodas with aspartame, quick noodles, refined and high sugared food.
A doctor friend of mine in Johor, whom I highly respect, lost a son in a sudden death case. His son, also a doctor, was in his housemanship. He was playing badminton one evening. Beside feeling a bit of discomfort, nothing was abnormal. That night he just died. Autopsy report only produced more questions than answers. The father was so distraught. He gave up practicing for one year.
Four years ago my daughter was studying in Alberta, Canada. An A-grade, disciplined, strong spirited student, she took maximum subjects in one semester. With only about 3 to 4 hours sleep a day, 18 hours study, cold winter of minus 30 celsius, she was highly stressed and depressed. One cold winter evening there was a fire drill, and in her haste rushed out without her winter clothes. She was chilled and the days after her eyesight became blurred. Then bleeding occurred at the retina of her left eye. Scarred tissue formed at the retina. My daughter was blind. The opthalmologist’ s prognosis in Alberta was not good and that she would be blind for the rest of her life. Upon returning home, the doctors in Tun Hussein Onn Eye Hospital concurred, and also said the high probability of the right eye would also bleed and both eyes blinded.
As a father I was traumatized. I frantically searched in medical texts for answers to my daughter’s eye condition, but to no avail. My peers in India could not help. We phoned to eye hospitals in USA and was prepared to sell my house for money to be used for her eye surgery if necessary. We were told not to go and nothing could be done to restore my daughter’s eyesight. Every night before sleep I would cry and pray, “God, please help me, please give me the knowledge, please let my daughter see. If you have to take an eyesight, take mine instead, as I am already 50. My daughter is only 18”. Since no doctors could treat my daughter effectively, I had to treat her myself. I told her to stop taking all junk food, absolutely no sugar, and be very strict on her diet. Put her on mega doses of nutrients, especially vitamin C and lysine, along with vitamin A, E, B-complex, folic acid, proline and other amino acids, zinc, selenium, copper, manganese, lutein, lycopene, and plenty of fresh fruits and raw vegetables. There was no improvement with each successive month and the doses of nutrients would be increased. By the 8th month, the amount of vitamin C was up to 20,000 mg per day in divided doses. Our prayer was answered at the end of 8th month. The dark central patch at my daughter’s left eye started to reduce in size. Sustained mega doses of nutrients for another two and half years finally saw a near total cure.
So, it is now case number 16 for the National service programme. Who is to be blamed? The fact in this case is that the girl was having constipation for three days and had stomachache on the day of training at the shooting range. She was given medications, possibly paracetamol or other pain killers. We can safely assume that she was close to having sunstroke, dehydration, lack of sleep, physical and emotional stress, and possibly on cardonated and sugared drinks. Compound even a portion of these factors, the very weak ones will succumb. Even regular soldiers do collapse on parade square, when faced with those factors.
Our society should now accept the fact that generations today are more weaklings compared to the past. The authorities should not just parrot the old tune of eating a balanced diet with some helpings of fruits and vegetables to maintain health. In fact, even the healthiest of today’s diet will not be sufficient to maintain health in today’s environment, modern diet and food culture. We truly need supplementations.
Those in the NS Commission should re-look into the programme proper. Emphasis should be more on muhibah, team spirit, social integration. Certainly not turning them into robots and fighting machines. These NS trainees are softees and at a tender age of 18 are not ready to withstand harsh physical, mental and emotional stress. Parents should provide the healthiest of diet possible to their children. Supplementations to our modern diet is a must. The junk food culture must stop.
Finally, it is the duty of all human beings to know – homo sapiens, since the last ice age about 4 to 5 thousand years ago, were concentrating around the tropical region. Having had sufficient fruits and vegetables, the liver that once produced the enzyme, gulanolactone oxidase, to convert blood sugar to vitamin C, slowly became redundant. Mutations from generations to generations later shut down the production of this enzyme totally. Today, among the other species of animals like primates, guinea pigs, fruit-eating bats, we are faced with this genetic flaw. Hence for survival, we should consume food that are rich in vitamin C.
However, in the modern diet which is so loaded with sugar, and coupled with high physical and emotional stress, the body’s pool of vitamin C quickly gets depleted. Acute symptoms of constipation, headache, bodyache, itchiness, and even infection appear.
Alas! A life is loss. She could today be happily enrolled in her sixth form, if only she was given 3,000 mg of vitamin C a day, in divided doses.
Dr Wong Ang Peng
References :
- Irwin Stone. “Homo Sapiens Ascorbicus, a biological corrected robust human mutant. Medical Hypotheses”. 1979 Jun; 5(6): 711-21.
- Matthias Rath and Linus Pauline. “Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences”. 1990 Aug; 87(16): 6204-7; 1990 Dec; 87 (23): 9388-90.
- www.dr-rath- foundation. org
- www.health-naturall y.org
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Dear Teresa,
Would appreciate if you could act on this issue. My only daughter is taking her SPM this year and might be listed to attend NS. I am worried for her.
Too many cases had happened and the authority is adamant in continuing with the program. I cannot understand why girls are enlisted. Could it be because Malaysia want to show the world that we started some thing none others had done so.
Po Kuan recent comment is relevant. Why not make the attendance of NS be voluntary, especially for girls and single child family.
Your kind attention will be appreciated.
—
Alex Choong
********************************************************************************************
9:48pm Apr 12th
Hi Teresa,
Firstly, I’m not sure of the formalities because I’ve never cared for them, but if it’s important, tell me – this is meant to be a formal issue. I’m just using this channel at the moment because I’d like your views as a friend before chasing this up.
Last Thursday, after a meeting with fellow constituents of PJ Selatan (we’re forming a Citizen Reps Watch committee), at the Nasi Kandar place next to HSBC State, I was filling in a latecomer on what we talked about in our meeting earlier when a young boy, who seemed barely 12 or 13, came up to us and asked us to buy some cheap gadgets.
To me, this is wrong. Until March 8th, I was more than happy to get out of this country for the sake of our future. Post March 8, it is people like you and Guan Eng that give us hope that we, Malaysians, will be able to have a true home to live in without worrying that our rights to living are being destroyed.
So in the same way that I began working with people on initiatives to ensure Pakatan Rakyat’s successful continued performance in the next 4 years so that Malaysia can truly become a Malaysia for Malaysians, I decided to be kaypochee and ask him his story even though my Tamil is quite poor.
Possibly because of the shock (maybe no one ever asked him before) or maybe it’s a script he’s learnt, the boy tells me his name is Damodharan, that he lives in Kinrara behind Bintang (No. 8, Block A, 1st Floor, Puchong Kinrara flats), studies in the secondary school nearby (Taman Mewar school), is 15 years old (he doesn’t look more than 13, like I said earlier), that he, his 2 younger brothers and younger sister go out every night to different locations in the Klang Valley by taxi (dropped by his uncle who then picks them up from the different locations) to sell the toys and gadgets to give money to their mother. He claims that he goes to school, but can’t even tell us the name of his teacher. When asked for his IC to see if he’s telling the truth, he doesn’t have it, because the mother keeps it at home. This in itself provides many other dangers in a Malaysia which abuses its’ foreigners. Without his IC, he could easily be detained and disappear into the system.
On the one hand, I don’t want to break up genuine families with hardships like these that need the income from their kids because the parents can’t work due to illness, etc., or cause problems for orphans, who because they want to stick together learn to support themselves, etc., but when it comes to single parents and family members who knowingly abuse their children as cheap labour, something needs to be done. I know there’s nothing wrong with the boy’s mum and uncle because the boy told me so – he in fact laughed off their handicaps, if any – says mom does nothing, isn’t ill, nothing wrong whatsoever, uncle has a decent living with the taxi, no bill worries for them. So why?
Your advice, and what can the State do.
Shan
Something needs to be done.
My opinion is children or young adults nowadays are nutured in greenhouse, they are very fragile cannot withstand any challange in the real world.
Also this Dr Wong Ang Peng, his article is a bit fishy. Seems like a saleperson for the vitamin C or health supplement product. Is he the one who appeared in 8TV few years ago who claimed that he can cure any cancer (in fact any disease under the sun) just by vitamin C alone? I suspect he is not a tru doctor / MD. His name is not in the Malaysian Medical Council Registry.
This very idea of NS training camps was first mooted by non other than our DPM. Among other positives, it was suppose to instil discipline and more so the need for closer inter-racial cooperation and unity into those young minds. Noble objectives,most of us would agree but laughable too I would say.Laudable objectives-wise,laughable because our national leaders,from the very top to the very bottom,have always been doing otherwise.
Having said that,the hasty implementation of this programme was a concern then but,for mysterious reasons,all caution was thrown to the wind, so to speak.
News of trainees falling very sick,in the course of thier training, followed. Then a trainee was reportedly taken out of her camp and raped by her instructor! Lo and behold, the one that takes the cake and to the horror of parents was, trainees started dying!! Our DPM has been keeping mum so far or is that ‘elegant silence’? So much for a beautiful term coined because of some sleepy heads.
Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye,the chairman of this scheme,lamented that he has no executive power to effect any meaningful changes.If that is so why hold on to the puppet post? Is he doing this with a big fat salary or it’s on a pro bono basis? There is every reason to quit if the latter is true,he is not doing anybody any favour he himself included.On the other hand,if he receives a salary,would he want to take the money filled with parents tears and trainees blood? Maybe he should,at least,read Dr Wong Ang Peng’s article in malaysiakini or direct his pea-brained officers to do so.
I am a parent of three with a daughter growing to her teens.I certainly do not want her to go through this hellish experience(read NS training programme). I support scrapping the whole silly thing.Period.
I like this statement “Our society should now accept the fact that generations today are more weaklings compared to the past.”
I’m 40 this year, and I remember my youth filled with exciting outdoor activities. There was a sense of teamship, and race was never an obstacle. I still remember when I was 16 yrs old, and 17 of us (all schoolmates) went camping at the base of the waterfall at Cameron Highlands. That night, our base camp got flooded, and almost all our possessions were swept away into the dense jungle. We managed to salvage some of our stuff, and we all did get home safe. It was certainly an adventure, filled with fun, drama, and excitement. Our 3 day camping stint lasted only 2 days, but it was a 2 days event all of us remembered fondly to this day.
Today, everything revolves around the net. Looking at my young cousins today, I noticed an alarming trend of children keeping to themselves, most hooked to computer games at the expense of their studies, etc. I wonder sometimes how they will cope when they go out into the real world. What they read and do on the net is very surreal to what’s out there, and I fear they may not be well prepared to face real life challenges at all.
On what ground the speaker rejected the motion? if the death of the participant is known to him would he reacted differently?
This rejection only shows how worthy of him as a Wakil Rakyat. Life and death of our children is not an issue to him. Until the reason for rejection is known, I can only have the impression that the rule for the speaker is as long as motion is raised by the opposition, reject it, even if Mister Lim is trying to tell him his chair is on fire!
I mentioned before. LOG the number of opposition motions the speaker approva and reject and judge how fair the speakers are.
For me, NS is a waste of resources. Spend the money on education and health care. National unity is not built on 3 months of haphazrd confinement. It is to be built via PROPER education, fair policies and upright implementation, responsible media and politicians.
Dear YB Teresa,
It this SUPPOSE to be a NS Camp…..or slowly becoming a CONCENTRATION CAMP !!??
I seriously think that most parents would be extremely extremely worried in sending their kids to NS Camps !
I cant imagine if I have to send mine to the NS camps?
A QUESTION TO ASK IN PARLIAMENT : How would they ensure that Malaysian Parents’s worries can be assured with the recent happenings and the reputation of the incidents in NS camps? Can we make it a Voluntary instead of Compulsory?
Please let Malaysian Parents have a choice of sending their children to these Concentration Camps !?
DEAR YB TERESA
I always make postings here more to interact with other readers but this time, I sincerely hope you hear my points on this NS matter.
The letter by a so called Doctor Wong Aaah puk about our childrens being weaklings may be true, but that does not justify spending our hard earned taxes just to get the weaklings KILLED. The weaklings should instead be toughen, but not by sudden placing them under boot camps cos they are not meant to be soldiers….
I too have a story to tell this bloody Doctor wong aahfuk…
I am one of the weaklings too, always sick in the family, always being bullied. so what do I do? go and enrol in a Karate class and get a few bones broken?
No lah, I use my brains, I dont need any NAJIBs to harden me. On my own free will and free time and money, I spent about RM5 at that time per entry to an old friends gym. Everyone laughed at me, skinny, and looking at all the dumbells at the gym looks like the smallest one would break all my bones.
But my old friend, former Sabah Bodybuilder name Justin said to me, just start slowly, count to ten and enough, continue next time.
And I started lifting weights, how? Well, i started lifting the iron bars only without any weights at both ends, up and down ten times and rest. Weakling indeed, all the rest laughed. But they laughed without sneer, becos they knew, they probably started almost the same.
At the end of the first week, I started putting my first 5 kg weights on both ends of the bar. Everyone clapped. I thing all of you understand the point I am making.
Of course I always go home with painful muscles but hey, after 2 months I went home to my kampung and help my mum carry a big sackful of padi with eased.
Now the second part of my comments is this.
Have anyone ever did a benefit cost analysis of NS?
Well I will do it for you.
BENEFIT.
1. National and racial integration.
(Teresa, there is a cheap way of doing this. Come over to Sabah and learn. You chinese in Peninsula will pop your eyes when you see a chinese shop selling both Halal food one one separate counter, and another with pork in another counter. Operated by different races but in the same shop. And I can order both at the same time. Even our Minister Masidi Manjun says so in todays news)
Now tell me, in the NS camp, does the trainees of different race sits together or is there a tendency for them to group themselves according to race? Like to see this.
Also what food are they given? Only Halal food? Nasi Lemak and Nasi Ayam, the food that Miss Too Hui Min ate before she died??
2. National Defence?
Can these youths defend the country by merely firing a few bullets from an M16, go flying foxes across rivers, climb a few ropes, crawled under barb wires, run across semi jungle, don uniforms and sing negara ku?
3. Dicipline.
Just how many spoilt brats have ever been improved with full praise from their parents?
Amd why until todate, Najibs children and grandchildren never have been reported to have enrolled or they sent them overseas to study to avoid the call-up?
4. SURVIVAL SIANG AND SURVIVAL MALAM.
So far have they learnt to survive the jungles snake bites, mosquito bites, dengue, malaria, flu virus..etc.?
HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN the survival malam course offered by and oversexed HP6 trainer? and Now they want to include Sex education at NS?
How? perhaps they can always pair a moslem and a non-moslem trainee to have sex? wooow, that would be nice, and on graduation, all of them will go home as moslems… ha ha ha ha
TERESA…..here are the cost…
1. Contract: design, construct and maintain camps
2. Contract: supply uniforms, shoes, flags etc
3. Contract: supply cheap food at double market price namely nasi lemak, kari kari with kayu manis, air sirap
4. Contract: supply bullets for M16.
5. Contract: Transport to n fro the stupid camps
6. Contract: for HP6 trainers and medical assistants
7. Contract: for non-physical lectures..
sex education free from Jarjis and Dr Chua
8. Contract: Medical Check…But minister says, no money
9. Time = 3 months… I say a waste, rather have my kid go look for part time job, joint boy scouts or girl guides or red cross, or plain lepak at mall.
10. SIXTEEN LIVES TO DATE, MOSTLY GIRLS…
THESE ARE THE COST OF NS TO DATE…
FINANCIAL COST.. ABOUT RM500 MILLION TO DATE.
SOURCE OF FUND…. 4 months per year of my salary for Income taxes.;
FROM THE ABOVE…all you YBs can then work out the Benefit cost ratio…..
One more question for you Teresa…
How many contractors who are chinese or indians are awarded contracts in this NS thing? Or are they strictly for Najibs people?
THIS SHOULD BE ONE OF YOUR PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS…
cheers
I HAVE ANOTHER SUGGESTIONS TO ALL PARENTS ESPECIALLY THE CHINESE PARENTS…
JUST BOYCOT the fkkkkg stupid Najib National service.
First you must start a campaign, even by SMS
then if 50 families in peninsula, 50 in sabah, and 50 in sarawak boycott, what is najib gonna do?
arrest all and sent you to sungai buloh? wont be enough places there. just dont pay the court fines, say all money spent on food and high cost rice.
If they wanna arrest your kid to force them to the camp, tell them to go boy scout camping instead or go for picnic with a fishing rod. Let the cops locate them in the country near the river or something. They wont have enought police car to do that.
But must be done on the day they supposed to depart to those stupid camps..
and while they are doing that, take a one page adverts in all papers asking the Najib ministry to make public the names of all contractors awarded projects in this NS bullshit thingy..
On a positive note with regards to this NS thing. One of my sons was a ‘computer selected’ trainee send to the camp somewhere in Sepang three years ago. Me and my wife visited him every fortnight. He was the type who would be very opposing character before he went but surprisingly he has changed since then. Wonder was it because of the training given there or not!!! When we were there during our visits I would always try to catch up with the warden in charge of his barrack to get fit-back on my son and was glad that comments given were positive eg. helpful, caring, always have the team in mind and always volunteering when needed. He was also one of the few chosen ones to attend the national day celebration parade representing the NS trainees nationally.
A brief scenario of the sightings observed from the day of sending off to the graduation day:-
Boarding of the NS buses was at the Kajang bus terminal early in the morning. Mingled among the parents and trainees and was shocked to notice that they come from all over the country!!! Some lucky ones have the parents accompanying them all the way while most who came from afar were all alone. Imagine what goes on in their heart and mind seeing the local ones being send off with their parents. Red eyes could be seen everywhere around from parents to trainees when departure was called.
During fortnightly visits, yes, one of the readers above mentioned about the clustering of the same ‘race’ among themselves, it’s true on the grand scale ,with a handful of muhibbah clusters scattered about.
On graduation day, the first day red eyes were all gone, replaced by smiles and laughter. Those red eyes quickly came back when the trainees were saying their last goodbyes to each other.
What amased me was that only three months before,they hardly know each other but three months later they were hugging and crying in each others shoulders with the muhibbah spirit all over.
Personal analysis of the NS programmme, personal positive enhancement of each trainee is possible depending on the individuals. Togetherness as Malaysians irrespective of race and color can be cultivated here. Love and respect for the elders and country can also be achieved. ( This is also from my trueself speaking from experience for I was also an Outbounder OBS way back in 1979. The first couple of days was cursing and swearing for having to sing the national anthem at 6am but all that change quite quickly and was replace with tears and love. That is why with the recent GE and with PR in five states, the real wish is for we Malaysians to be able to live in this beautiful country by first ridding the corrupt and useless BN government and their cronies.)
Pointers to further improve the NS programme:- allow the participants to bring along basic off the shelf medication eg. po chai pills – for stomach ache, mosquito repellent gels, paracetamol – panadol, minyak angin, plasters – handyplast. Am sure these are also in the first aid kits at the camps. Why barr these when the participants check -in?
Allow within states participation, instead of all over the country. Imagine those poor souls of 18 all alone in a different state not knowing anybody around and seeing the locals being send off by their parents!!! Then again in the fortnightly visits no one is able to come visit them. What is the logic of having this method of participation, can the implementer please explain and by the way, the ‘computer selected’ candidates, how come it is so ironical that no VVIP’s children are selected and if there is who, when and where did their children attend???
The last thing would like to voice out is – before the last GE, not enough voice in parliament to ask – who are the contractors awarded the whole chain of supplies from A to Z for the NS programme!!! Imagine todate approximately RM 500 million for four years, that’s approx. RM 10 million a month and then 10%, someone’s got a lot of answering to do!!!
All in all, as a selected MP by the rakyat do what is best for us Malaysians to be able to live harmoniously together irrespective of race, color or religion, without fear or favour!!! The former government cannot do it so let the PR do it for us all.
Dear YB Teresa,
Please call for a vote in the parliament so the Concentration Camp will become Voluntary instead of Compulsory!!!!
We have the right to protect our kids safety and as such we have the same right NOT TO expose our kids to these kind of risk !!!
VOTE !! VOTE !! VOTE !!
Get lawyers in the Human Rights groups to study about the possibility of suing the government and Najib specifically, for the loss of our children’s lives. They like to threaten – take those who refuse to report to MS to court, etc., etc.
Parents put their children under their care and see what happen – rape, fighting, sickness (unattended to), children die, ……
Shouldn’t they be held responsible?
So many problems have occurred and lives are lost. The minimum Najib can do is to tell us that the government will conduct a study or evaluation of some sort then decide on the fate of NS, instead of announcing the NS will go on under whatever circumstances. Where is his responsibility? Where is accountability? He takes lives of our children simply too lightly!
If NS is so good, let us see children of some ministers, including Najib’s, enrolled in it!
phillip leee
Agree with u on some of the benefits..
BUT i would agree with U more if
Najibs all the children of UMNO leaders participate in the NS..
Wont that multiply the integration by a thousandfold?
and what more, these politicallly born children might start making themselves popular with the other trainees so they all can be like future Kharies and future SIL..
so why are the UMNOputras themselves boycotting the NS, if not selected they can always apply to join in??
and surely Lee lam thy will gladdly find a slot for them??
otherwise its all pure fukkkkg hipocrisy
dear theresa,
sorry looks like u hv a dynamite to handle what with 16 deaths n ” do i hear of xxx rapes ” as well ? Aiyah , that’s bad very bad. Scars from rape – can you as parent take it ? Can your daughter take it ? If they respond with suicide , do we not sue the NS program with holy vengeance to right this wrong ?
If they cannot run this program with “zero defect” assurance , then it is not tenable. Please ask them , these bigwigs to enrol all( not just one) children in the program without biased vip treatment as if leadership by example – a real national service.
Otherwise if they cannot walk this talk , stop the program n channel the money into other more mesra kind of activities.
Mesra types where all our children can interact with each other multi ethnic children – the earlier , the better – like early childhood formative years when they can rub shoulders, share a meal, sing along, chitchat physically like fellow abang adik – that’s the truth, nothing but de truth.
God help them , god help us,
May malaysia have the courage to stop an ineffective program albeit aimed at nation buiding because there are always better ways minus the deaths and the rapes. Agape.
I think we should all take a deep breath and relax for a while. In all honesty, the Objectives of the NS is noble and something that is worth while considering.
However, as in all things politically connected in Malaysia, it is the implementation.
The contractors of NS, how contracts are awarded etc, including even the appointment of trainers and selection of trainees have all been abused! They are all politically biased rather than based on actual and real abilities or random selection in the case of trainees.
Therefore the real issue here is not cancelling NS but rather questioning the administration and implementation.
Thank you.
PETLUC..
Sorry, I disagree completely…. As long as it comes from UMNO, there is no such thing as a noble cause…
I ask you to consider just ONE thing
If they want to interact our children with all races, inculcate understanding, respect of other cultures, how are you going to achieve that when even the food, the most important tool of unity, is only of one type, that is Malay Islamic food?
If sincere or practical this NS thing then have all types of food at the camp…
chinese food, indian food , kdm food, malay food, western food, etc..
why only halal food, if not for previleged purposes for some contractors only?
I know cos one of my friend tried to register with PKK to supply food.
She was told, “sorri Puan, ini PKK kod untuk orang islam saja..”
Kamu tak boleh supply makan jika tidak halal, walaupun daging babi tidak termasuk dalam menu”
ha ha ha haha
kudos to the idea of supposed shirkers compensating with community service.
Even though it may have noble aims yet a badly managed program is morally wrong to be enforced on all and sundry. The saying ” the road to hell is often paved with good intentions ” surely reminds.
However it still begets the question as to why should girls be enlisted ??
They are not strong enuf to defend against any abuses done to them in the dark of night or even broad daylight so why put htem at risk – this fairer sex?
As it is the whole program is not voluntary for those whose names were selected only makes it morally wrong for such a victim (girl ) if a tragedy ever befalls the unlucky one.
So, one good step of community service alternative instead of fines and imprisonment must be reviewed further. First things first, get those innocent girls off the jungle program. Bring them together for projects/workshops ala multi ethnic , multi religious, multi cultural regularly – it can be more than 3 months. And start them young when they naturally love each other without bias n let the parents have access to these programs. Muhibbah.
I have this feeling that whatever programmes lauched by the BN government, like sending fresh school-leavers to NS camps, encouraging more non-Malays to join the civil service, police and armed fores, is doomed to failures simply because the government always do things according to the point of views of Malays only. YB, you must find an opportunity during the coming parliamentary sessions to point out to the government that it is impossible to really unite the multi-racial population in the midst of Islamisation of the country. Your question to Parliament is: Adakah Kerajaan BN yang diketuai UMNO sedar atau tidak mahu bersetuju dengan hakikat bahawa kesemua rancangan kerajaan BN untuk menyatupadu rakyat berbilang kaum dan agama ini tetap gagal kerana dilahsanakn dlm keadaan Keislaman seluruh negara?
indeed we heave a sigh of relief that the government shares with me somewhat alike that the ns program must have zero deaths mentality. Thank you .A step in the right direction……
But alas the very next one or two days we have the case of those bad food poisoning experienced by a repeat offender campsite – wherever that was.Think abt it.
Now however it is really up to the people themselves to feel and guage whether they still are comfortable with a forced program which is nobly conceptualised to mesh and merge our multi nationalities youth together in a cooking pot.
Is it that effective- a 3 month program , let’s seroiusly evaluate .Think abt it.
But the attendant danger of mixing some spoilt , dubious, criminal like recalcitrant ( hence potentially violent abusive youths ) with the otherwise docile more decent youths.think about it.
We people in the light should always be on guard against those with shady characters lest our moments of lapsed concentration and relaxed guardedness will enable us to be seized by unwelcome violence.
Or … perhaps , let’s have other youth togetherness building avenues n programs , think abt it.
CORRECTION
I would like to correct the impropriate words I used in my opinion expressed on 23/5/2008. The text of my opinion should be as follows.
“I have this feeling that whatever programmes launched by the BN government, like sending fresh school-leavers to NS camps, encouraging more non-Malays to join the civil service, police and armed fores, have not been that successful simply because the government failed to consider the point of views of all the races. YB, you must find an opportunity during the coming parliamentary sessions to point out to the government that it is impossible to really unite the multi-racial population in the midst of Islamisation of the country. Your question to Parliament is: Adakah Kerajaan BN yang diketuai UMNO sedar atau tidak mahu bersetuju dengan hakikat bahawa kesemua rancangan kerajaan BN untuk menyatupadu rakyat berbilang kaum dan agama ini tetap gagal kerana dilaksanakan dlm keadaan Keislaman seluruh negara?”