Charles Dickens, in his novel on the French Revolution, The Tale of Two Cities, asks if removing one thousand aristocrats would be a calamity to the nation. The revolutionaries clearly thought not, as it indeed it proved. Are one thousand aristocrats more valuable to a nation than one thousand chambermaids? Or one thousand school teachers? Or one thousand newspaper boys? This extends the age-old conundrum on whether society exists to benefit the community or a section of the community.
Can a thousand Amin Shahs ever be worth a thousand Indonesian maids? Can a thousand Vincent Tans and Ting Pek Khiings equal one thousand Lin Yutangs? Can a thousand Samy Vellus ever equal one, yes, one, Rabindranath Tagore?
Is the Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the Bakun No-Dam and Putra Jaya worth more than a regular unrestricted supply of clean water or clear traffic or a good health service?
The government thinks so; with national symbols infinitely more important than basic necessities. Our agricultural policy is so devalued that we now import 40 per cent of our rice than the ten per cent 40 years ago, emphasising our commitment to progress by converting large tracts of agricultural lands into airports, shopping malls, golf courses, industrial and housing estates. But misplacing priorities could redound on us all.
Especially when this is carried out in stealth, without explanations or propriety. Turning a government elected by the people in whose name it governs into a mendacious cabal of cronies, coterie, hangers on is not, cannot be, for the general benefit of society. Having the cheapest centre for cardiac surgery in Southeast Asia can never replace an efficient rural and general health service. Or a international medical school or doubtful provenance obviate the need for better equipped primary schools?
When you move into a house, what is the most important utility that must first be ready? The present government thinks it should either be the living room, to entertain visitors, or the kitchen, to cook the food that is the envy of the neighbourhood, or the bedroom to relax in after a day's tomfoolery. I would opt for the smallest room in the house. One can entertain, eat or sleep anywhere, but can one do without the toilet? The government believes it can, so we now queue for water and keep the smallest room smelly.
The government runs into trouble for its misguided policy of insisting that an industrialised future in our world view could be ensured by running down essential services. The United States, industrialised as she is, is also the world's largest exporter of agriculture products. Australia relies on her industrialised present but it is her agriculture products that brings home her bacon, as does Argentina. Cuba withstood three-and-a-half decades of US-imposed isolation because her people had enough food to eat. India did not become a power to watch until her food surpluses strengthened her world view. With no change evident, it is perhaps time to hold our breaths as we descend into the realms of the nether world of the lower rungs of The Third World. But 1,000 Daim Zainuddins then cannot equal one Indonesian maid, let alone a thousand of her.
-M.G.G. Pillai (freelance reporter)
pillai@mgg.pc.my
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