If Malaysia does not stop all the dirty practices that have been allowed to propagate since the late 1980s, we will become a Third World country by 2020.
The "helium" balloons which exploded at last Saturday's Putrajaya aerobics session and injured 16 people sums up the true state of the nation.
First: there is an almost total disregard for health and safety, or rules and regulations.
Second: there is an inability, or unwillingness, to learn from past mistakes.
Third: money is more important than anything else.
As we now know, the helium balloons were actually filled with hydrogen.
This incident occurred in Putrajaya, as did a car that ploughed into spectators and injured 17 people during a drag race in the "Million Youths Rally" in 2012.
Putrajaya is the seat of government, where one would imagine that attention to detail is important.
The helium balloon metaphor describes the Malaysia of today. We think we live in a moderate Muslim country, but underneath the thin veneer of tolerance, the rakyat treads on egg-shells, because extremism and racism have gripped the nation.
Anyone who did science in school will know that helium is a noble gas and is inert, meaning it is chemically unreactive and will not burn. A helium balloon will simply "pop" when a match is held to it, but a hydrogen balloon will go "boom".
Hydrogen is cheaper than helium. A reputable balloon company would not have used hydrogen. Someone wanted to save money and ignored health and safety considerations. Perhaps the person who was in charge will claim that he was not aware that hydrogen is extremely flammable.
If this event had been held indoors, the consequences could have been disastrous. The explosion could have caused the ceiling to catch fire, or caused a stampede, which would hurt children and the elderly.
What will become of the police investigations? A light rap on the knuckles, as is the norm?
What lessons did we learn from a similar balloon explosion incident, three years ago in Batu Buruk, Terengganu? Thirty people were injured, three of them critically, with at least one woman suffering 60 percent burns on her body when 150 hydrogen-filled balloons exploded.
Did the government ban the use of hydrogen in balloons? Or did the politicians enjoy photo opportunities in the hospital, and then forgot the incident?
In the late 1980s, the then prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, allegedly took away the independence of many of our institutions and encouraged others to buy the patronage of politicians.
If the cabinet had not closed one eye to the wrongdoings of individual politicians and their cronies, successive prime ministers, like the disgraced Najib Abdul Razak, would not have been able to bypass fiscal regulations to defraud the nation of money.
The example set by our leaders also encouraged bankers and financial institutions to ignore the strict rules that should have protected the public purse.
Latheefa Koya and her team at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) are kept very busy. This shows how much the nation has slipped.
If Datuks are a measure of good, solid and trustworthy people, why are several Datuks involved in corruption? Perhaps, potential recipients of Datukships should be carefully vetted.
If standard operating procedures for police detention had been observed, there would not be so many deaths in police custody.
If the police had been more alert, and heeded the warnings of their British counterparts, paedophile Richard Huckle (above) would not have been able to abuse several hundred Malaysian children. Huckle knew that underprivileged children do not matter in our highly materialistic society.
If procedures had been observed, the supervisor of the air traffic controllers, would not have been asleep on the night MH370 disappeared. So what punishment was meted out?
If rules were observed and strictly enforced, the Road Transport Department (RTD) would punish the owners and drivers of errant bus and lorry companies. Instead, we regularly read about deaths caused by overloaded and un-roadworthy vehicles, or sleep-deprived drivers who take drugs to stay awake. How many other government departments, besides the RTD, are corrupt?
If the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had done its job during Najib's tenure, our personal details wouldn't have been sold by a crony company.
If ego and stupidity did not get in the way of some army generals, the latest incident in which live rounds are used in a public display of the army's expertise in hostage rescue, would not have caused the death of a soldier. Why is the Minister of Defence, Mat Sabu, unable to act?
If religion was not allowed to be abused, Indira Gandhi's husband would be locked-up and she would be reunited with her daughter. Pastor Raymond Koh (above, left), Joshua Hilmy and his wife, Ruth, and Amri Che Mat (above, right) would not have been forcibly abducted. There is no political will to investigate these cases.
Organisers of government-sponsored events, including politicians, civil servants and those in charge of public institutions, have become immune to the rakyat's needs, so they cannot understand why observers like me find so many of them to be reckless and tiresome bores.
In their eyes, they know best, and anyone who disagrees is wrong.
Despite every assurance that has been given, few believe that something like this balloon incident will not happen again.
Likewise, Pakatan Harapan leaders know what needs to be done, but all are thinking of their jobs, and refuse to act.
It is safer to do nothing and be considered an idiot than to act and risk losing an election.
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