Trust Deficit and Communication Fiasco

Externally, Malaysia is said to suffer from trust deficit among investors.Internally, people just don't know who or what to believe anymore since contradictory information cover almost every aspect of life.Foreign countries appear to believe that Malaysia is one of the most corrupted countries in the world.Billions of dollars are alleged to have been hived away from the public coffer through government related companies and hundreds of millions paid as commission(kickback) for issuing public contracts.

Foreign governments such as the the US are trying hard to recover lost assets through its DoJ while Singapore's Court has fined many banks for handling illegal transfers of "stolen' money.But no "kleptocracy" or misuse of public money has been found in Malaysia by the AG's office although the courts and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commsission had uncovered hundreds of millions of dirty money passing hands.

The mainstream media i.e. the Pres the radic and TV, release information that is quickly countered or refuted by opposition parties and the informal social media. Or the other way around. Ministers often come up with statements that are ludicrously untrue ---such as the GST will bring down the prices of consumer goods and the price of various consumer items are under control, while the public is grimacing at the increase on the price of almost all consumer items.

There are too many items to mention here but some ludicrous price increases include tinned food such as milk, sardines, and various other imported stuff, fish, beef and chicken. Sliced pineapple curry (pajeri) which used to be 50 sen a slice went up to RM2 a slice at the "pasar Ramadhan", and nothing can be bought anymore for less than RM5 except some junk food. The famous "Rojak"(mixed vegetable food) used to cost about RM3 and now it's RM4.50. Some increases are just unreasonable. Complain about it and the famous answer given by a Minister is. "if it's too expensive don't buy." A Minister responding to the complain about the skyrocketing price of houses said, " It's better to rent than to buy a house." On the increase in toll charges, a Minister said, "then don't use the highway and take the old roads."

Official statistics show that the rate of crime has gone down in the country. But every other day there's some repost on crime including sexual harassment and rape (plus murder) even in the toilet of gas station, the breaking of ATM machines, while snatch thieves and house breakers continue to thrive.

Most disheartening now of course is the the number of corruption cases being uncovered by the MACC. They involve officials and politicians who are holding key posts in the government, including officers in the Police Departmet. When political leaders continue to accuse each other of making false statements, confusing the public, and making allegations against each other with evidence to prove that the accused party is lying, we really don't know who to believe anymore.The communication fiasco seems to be as bad as the trust deficit now weakening the nation.

The Root of Evil ….

Politics and Religion seem to be the root cause of evil in the world today. People are fighting and killing each other in many countries to gain or maintain political power. Countries gang up to oppose or suppress other countries for the same reason. Religion and religious faith on the other hand spread hatred, enmity and prejudice by its followers against those holding other religious belief, since early times…
many international discussions over the matter
Most of the bitter enmities and ruthless killings among people today can be traced down to differences in political ideologies,convictions and interest or religious extremism. Or so it appears as evidenced by the actions of some ruthless political leaders and religious fanatics. The so-called Muslim Terrorists are the most famous villains of most heinous murders and killings in the world today, giving the MUslims all over the world a scandalous reputation.

So it seems that politics and religion are the root of all evils. But the First Epistle to Timothy in the New Testament (1 Timothy 6:10 KJV) says" For the love of money is the root of all evil." Radix malorum est cupidas is Latin for "Greed is the root of all evil". For the Muslims, love of the material world is the root of all evil, and a really good Muslim is one who works is if he's going to live forever and pray to Allah as if he's going to die tomorrow. The most religious Muslims, however, such as the Sufis and the Ulamahs, have divested themselves of all worldy interest and focused their existence entirely to doing obeisance to Allah. One wonders if the suicide bombers have also divested themselves of all worldly interest and are only too eager to sacrifice themselves to do what they belief is the best service to their religion and Allah.

No one, I believe, will agree that politics is entirely bad and the source of evil, less so that religion is the cause of muderous crimes and killings in the world. Only the fanatics in both aspects of life would kill other human beings to promote or uphold their belief and conviction on both counts. Fanatics are of course not normal, unlike most people in the world.
If politics and religion are not the root of all evil while the love and greed for money and wealth is only natural for the normal human beings, what then is the real root of all evil leading to the inhuman killings and massacres of human lives?
the killing goes on
I would venture to suggest that what the root of all evil leading men to kill each other today, is the lost of respect for human life itself. Men have forgotten that life is a precious gift of God that no human can create although they can procreate - two entirely different phenomena which are subject to confusion among many people. A baby cannot be conceived or given birth to, if the Cretor does not allow it to happen. and doctors cannot create life. But men created weapons that can kill with the pull of a trigger or the push of a button from a safe distance, produce heartless warriors that can pull the trigger or push the button without any compunction, and authorise generals who can give the order to do so….
they just boy orders
It seems pointless now for political and religious leaders to ask their followers to be rational, level-headed, non-exremist, considerate, fair etc etc. People have lost respect for human life and killing with a gun or a bomb is just like swatting a fly. People all over the world must relearn to respect and honour life. Only then will the senseless killings and murders in the world will stop or at lesst be confined to the action of the insane.

Politics and religion are not the root cause of evil but the product of human evil creating the machines and instruments of death. And fanatical leaders in politic and religion use the machine for their selfish interest. Don't they realise that there will be a Day of Judgment and that their evil deed will have to be paid for without any power on earth or in the next life (if they believe that it exists) to help them?