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Tuesday 9 December 2008

History Repeats Itself

Sad times in Malaysia, with the deaths due to landslide in Bukit Antarabangsa. That area has be so prone to landslides. I truly feel sorry and sad for the victims. I admire the rescue workings, working in a dangerous situation - mind you, they are hardly paid enough to just work, let alone in a disaster zone.

And the blame game continues. Who exactly is responsible. In my opinion, it is all about demand and supply. Without blaming the victims, Malaysians as a whole, has to be smarter consumers. We must wake up. If there is no demand, there will be no supply. Take for example prostitution. It's the world's oldest profession. As long as there is demand, there is a supply. Simple.

So, for all those buying houses - don't bother to buy houses in forest reserves or hillside. We have to be smart. We cannot leave it to a bunch of engineers with conflict of interest to say a place is safe. We can no longer leave it to the government.

Some residents want to sue the government. That's OK with me, but at the end of the day, that's really shooting ourselves in the foot. Why? The government will just use taxpayers' money to compensate the victims. Individually, nothing ever happens. Instead, I would suggest (or perhaps in addition) to bring back local council elections. Yup - kick the bunch of rascals out when they screw up.

Also - it is time to blacklist the owners of the developers. Don't bother to blacklist a bunch of private limited company with peanuts as paid up capital. That won't work. Instead, blacklist the individuals. Publish names. Publish their other business, and yes - boycott them. Hit it where it matters, and that's the wallet. Sure, it can be below the belt, but hey, life isn't fair and for once, it isn't fair in their advantage.

Really, it is time Malaysians take care of themselves. We cannot rely on politicians or acts of God to save us. We have to be smart. We savvy. Like cars, we just have to learn to buy better cars, instead of just "Wow - nice colour. Sexy design too". In short, time to look for some brains instead of just beauty.

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