Dam(n) the water ration!

Why is it that after 56 years of Independence we are still suffering Third World problems?

COMMENT

At first this columnist thought that those who were undergoing the water ration for the whole of March would be given a breather from April 1 to April 3 as the next stage would only start on April 4 (according to the announcement given in the newspapers) but lo and behold, there were dry taps in Bandar Menjalara on April 1.

Most of this columnist’s neighbours were caught unaware as they had the same line of reasoning but luckily this columnist who is familiar with the government’s promises was sufficiently prepared.

The coffeeshops in the neighbouring residential area of Taman Sri Bintang were also caught out with all the coffeeshop proprietors ended up cursing the government.

“This is just too much. How come we are suffering this nonsense after 56 years of Independence? What is this country coming to?” is the same line of complaint coming from the coffeeshop proprietors interviewed by this columnist.

Indeed this is true. Why is it that after 56 years of Independence we are still suffering Third World problems?

We have the world’s tallest skyscrapers, largest shopping malls and longest bridges and such like but when it comes to the basic commodity as water, we fall short.

Those who manage our water resources deserve to get a scolding. What have they been doing all this while?

“Has the dam sprung a leak?” asked a mechanic who works in an auto-repair shop in Taman Sri Bintang.

A local English daily dated April 1, 2014 had reported that there may even be a Water Emergency declared in the near future if the water level in the dams remain low. This is illogical because it has been raining regularly since Thursday, March 27 and the rain was heavy too.

Even the F1 race in Sepang was a wet race.

In March, water rationing was acceptable (although it could have been done on an alternate day basis) as it was hot and dry from February till mid-March. But water rationing in April is simply madness.

Bad management

The government should come up with some very good answers on this water ration issue. As it is, foreign investors and tourists will surely avoid coming to Malaysia with such a situation going on.

Who wants to set up a factory here when water ration is a way of life?

Therefore it is unsurprising that this columnist’s expatriate businessman uncle mentioned that investors are now looking towards Vietnam.

Moreover, the explanation given for the water ration belies logic as the government is saying that the rain does not fall into the catchment areas. Then we must be very unlucky to have built the dams in the wrong areas.

This water problem is certainly due to bad management as are the problems pertaining to the return of tuberculosis, the haze and the rise in dengue cases.

A local English newspaper last month reported that the dengue cases from Jan 1 to March 29 this year numbered 24,917 cases with 58 deaths compared to 6,100 cases and 14 deaths for the same period last year. If we keep this up, the number of deaths could well exceed 200.

As for tuberculosis, a local English paper dated April 1, 2014 reported that there were 24,071 cases and 1,597 deaths last year compared to 22,710 cases two years ago.

The nation seems to be on a downward spiral. A plane is lost, water is scarce, disease and pestilence is troubling the population – is this what we deserve after 56 years of Independence?

Besides the above woes afflicting the rakyat, there are still some racist ministers in the government administration. One of them even had the gall recently to propose that voting and Parliament representation be race-based. If this is not going backward, what is? That a government minister can come up with such a proposal shows that we are in Stone Age.

And the latest woe to befall the nation is the news that a Chinese tourist and a Philippine worker have been kidnapped in Semporna Island in Sabah. (Last year a Taiwanese tourist was kidnapped and her husband shot dead in Pom Pom Island, also off the coast of Sabah.) What is happening to the nation?

Prior to 1957, we had told the British that we are able to govern and therefore we should be given Independence, so let us prove it to them. Do not forget that we had to depend on a British satellite to give us the last location of MH370. What happened to our very own satellite, RazakSat-1?

Many people had thought that things would get better after GE13 but now it is obvious that things are only getting worse. And that is not taking into account the ongoing price hikes.

Clearly, only the stupid will say that things are getting better. It is definitely not and we will continue to regress if we are adamant in staying in a state of denial. Only when we acknowledge our shortcomings, we can then take steps to improve. If we still want to be ostrich-like, then we will surely be doomed very soon.

Selena Tay is a FMT columnist.