What do Subang Airport, Air Asia and Economy Rice have in common? The answer is that it has become synonymous to the average Malaysian’s life these days.
Someone said to me the other day “I keep my standards low. I don’t expect more than Subang Airport because expecting KLIA ends up in disappointment”. With KLIA voted one of the worst airports in Asia, apparently, we don’t deserve better. So say no more – let’s not have better expectations.
The same goes for Air Asia, our budget carrier. The airlines most Malaysians are forced to travel for cheap tickets which we don’t get refunded for because our national carrier cannot do better. After decades of management, remanagement, mismangement and transformation management, we are still no closer to having an airline that can be great. Let’s be mediocre. So say no more – lets not have better expectations.
With the cost of living skyrocketing and the prices of everything shooting up, one can barely afford economy rice. Yet employer groups fight to ensure that the average Malaysian is properly scarping the bottom of the barrel to get ahead. Yes we have millions of foreign workers shipped in to keep wages low. A proper conspiracy if our politicians didn’t have a hand in it too. Let’s keep our workers cheap while countries around us not only excel but poach our talents. So say no more – let’s not have better expectations.
Our talent flight is increasing exponentially as our young are leaving to greener pastures elsewhere. And green they are with opportunities economically and financially because as a country at this day and age, we cannot seem to get past racial and religious patronages. We bleed talents. So say no more – let’s not have better expectations.
The Malaysian Ringgit is heading towards the gutter while Malaysians lament the high cost of living. Our politicians talk about strong fundamentals that only seem to exist in alternate reality. A country as big as Malaysia cannot compete with Singapore, a country the size of Klang Valley. Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and all our neighbours are moving forward while we are told can but we don’t. Especially when our best and brightest are there and not in our soil. We bleed opportunities. So say no more – let’s not have better expectations.
Even in our politics, we are expected not to have expectations. We are constantly told how amazing it was to topple the formidable Barisan Nasional. Only to have politicians who, pretty much do the same and fiddle while the country burns. People were promised so much but delivered nearly nothing. So say no more – let’s not have better expectations.
We are not even good enough to attract Taylor Swift because anytime there is a concert in Malaysia, it becomes a national shit show of religious supremacy. Never mind that people travel from far and wide to see acts in neighbouring countries. The inflow of tourists coming to see the shows would contribute to local businesses as Singapore not only brought in Taylor but negotiated that she would ONLY do shows in Singapore. We DEFINITELY should not have better expectations.
In short, we Malaysians are told every day to our faces that we need to coast in mediocrity and not have expectations. We are told we are better. For some reason. But we always seem to fall short. Our politicians can’t seem to comprehend what to do because they too are mediocre.
The saving grace is our young are not staying put. They pack up and leave and excel elsewhere. At the very least we can claim they are from Malaysia. Or wonder why they left in the first place!
Azizi Khan lives in Melbourne, Australia building a world class digital bank. A banking and finance specialist he has spend more than two decades in Australia.
With a background in regulatory reporting, AML/KYC and financial technology, Azizi regularly provide consulting services to financial institutions and government agencies.
With a keen interest in digital technologies, startups and digital media, Azizi founded New Malaysia Herald in Melbourne Australia to provide a new all encompassing global Malaysian news.
Azizi is a Senior Member of Financial Services Institute of Australia (FINSIA).
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