FIGURES..numBers

Well much has been laid out in the papers these two weeks..Figures..numbers..figures....from the road fatalities figures (for OPS SIKAP) right up to figures for the Malaysian trade last year (mind you RM1 trillion!) and the FDI figures for 2006.

Well im not going to comment much bout the death figures cos its a Malaysian tradition (to some) to drive to die. I just dont get whats wrong with them driving at speeds >150 km/h just to arrive from A to B.Well its up to them on how they want to tackle the roads.

Ah, yes. the other figures excites me even more. well congrats to the gov. for achieving the RM1 trillion for 2006 but to a layman it might not be that significant. heck if you convert it in US$ its only around US$290 billion and try comparing that with other nations. well try dissecting (imports + exports) those figures even further and there's nothin to be proud of that much.

About the FDI figures, well try dissecting and summarizing what those figures consists of. you cant just digest those figures and assume everything is ok.

Dont get me wrong, im not anti-government or anything. Its just that i think there are many other figures that the government needs to reveal.....poverty for instance..yes i agree it aint easy to eradicate but why are we still witnessing those who lack the basic needs (water, place to live,etc. @ even a basic primary education) on TV??? I burst into laughter upon reading an article by this Malaysian who claims to be an Oxford grad writing about Malaysia is still cheap to live in as compared to other international nations.

Quoting him:

And although we are all bitching about rising prices, we should take note that on a global basis, we are still cheap. UBS issued a report recently ranking Kuala Lumpur as the cheapest city to live in out of 71 major international cities, based on the cost of 122 goods and services.

Yes, fuel prices have gone up (or the subsidy has gone down, whichever), toll rates are also up (blame the civil servants who negotiated badly, remember?), utility charges are up, airfares have gone north, but we are still a cheap country to live in. That tells you one thing: that we have been subsidised from cradle to grave and we don’t even think about it.

We have taken it for granted and the moment a government comes along to correct some of these distortions, which cannot possibly last forever, we complain.

Ha? your comparing Malaysia with other nations who have a higher standard of living. obviously its cheaper in Malaysia..Why dont you try comparing & solving the hardship of life that many face in Malaysia rather than blabberring on comparing Malaysia with other nations....Just look at the makciks and pakciks in Johor (from the recent floods), do you reckon they would agree with this statement?how bout the after effects of the el nino to the agri sector which would affect the farmers who are already living on a thin line.. im not undermining this person but you should go to the Kampung's, the fishing villages and assist them rather than helping them when its about time for these villager's to exercise their democaratic rights (a.k.a election)..

better still, why dont u you go and do a survey in KL. you reckon they are living cheaply?? its ok if you're some hot shot with telephone "cables" and have greener pastures than others but please dont neglect those categorised as below the poverty line.

p/s: the theory that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer may apply to a certain degree..figures will remain figures.

Again, im merapuing.FULL STOP.