After 1968

August II was my father's birthday.He would have been 87 years old. He died in 1968 at the age of 50. He didnt see his children got married,and his 30 grandchildren. A lot of things happened in Malaysia since 1968. The Penang Bridge was built . The country's administration was moved from KL to a new town called Putrajaya. The International Airport was moved from Subang to Sepang. We have two national car makers,Proton and Perodua. Our currency is called RM (Ringgit) not Malaysian Dollar. In 1968 our population was 10 million,now its 24 million people. Many foreign workers have been working here. There are no English medium schools,all schools use Bahasa Malaysia as a medium. English has only recently been introduced in Science and Maths subject. The school teachers and government servants speak rotten English. Even the universities use BM in their courses,our graduates dare not go overseas because of their inferior command of English. The children of rich Malays and ministers go overseas for their education. There is no integration among the races ,every race eyes the other with suspicion. Even the Malays cannot get along with their own race,because the government leaders only help themselves,their family and cronies. The simple kampong folk is still as poor as he was back in 1968. There are many roads and highways and so many vehicles speeding . Road deaths and accidents occur almost every day. Its not safe to walk on the streets,there are snatch thieves,rapists. Nobody is safe from these brutes. The police do not patrol the streets,they just drive round in their patrol cars and block small cars and motor cyclists and threaten these poor people for bribes. They woudnt dare haul up those driving expensive Mercs,BMWs ,it culd be some big shot's son or wife.Because of these kind of cops road bullies get away. The air we are breathing today is not so fresh.All the nice shady trees and hills are being cut to make more houses,more roads. When those trees are burnt we get haze. Although we have made impressive progress throuh the years after Merdeka,we still have to change our attitudes. Like our PM said we have first class infrastructure but third class menatlity.