Malaysian Culture: A Unique Unity

A mosaic of cultures, Malaysian heritage reflects a color full blend of amalgamated ethnicity which has been sown in the pages of history since times immemorial. Being a part of this intriguing culture has not only imbibed the versatility of cultural differences into me but it has taught me much in life. There are a number of indigenous ethnic cultural groups in Malaysia that includes Malays, Chinese and Indians and Malays being the largest in number. There are places like Sarawak and Sabah wherein one can find myriads of ethnic groups which has till date preserved their unique heritage and cultures.

The cultural diversity that exists in Malaysia today is a blend of different ethnic groups that follow their own customs and traditions and live in harmony amongst themselves. The largest ethnic group in Malaysia is the Malay which makes up for more than 50% of the population of the nation. This ancestral group from Malaysia follow the Malay traditions, practise Islam religion and speak Malay language. The heritage of this ethnic group is very rich and colossal. The second largest ethnic groups are the Chinese which compose 25% of the Malaysian population. With their diligence and business skills, the Chinese in Malaysia have been residing here by immigrating since the 19th century. All the three sub-groups of the Chinese language, namely the Hokkien, Cantonese and the Mandarin speaking group have set up their residential bases in this multi-cultural nation and living peacefully and harmoniously. 10% of the population is finally occupied by the Indians who follow the Hindu religion primarily and are descendants of Tamil speaking south Indians.

The multi cultural aspects in Malaysia are vivid not only through their ethnic groups but also the food, the attires and the different architectural set ups around the country. Kuala Lumpur is one place in Malaysia where one can satiate the taste buds by tasting the cuisines of all the different cultures of the nation with one dish being so much different than the other. With a unique cultural essence, the Malaysians, are very respectful towards each other’s customs and beliefs and it is indeed spectacular to watch the people here mingle and mix together accepting the rich cultural heritage of one another. With commendable etiquettes the Malaysians, welcome people of other nations with open arms and are one of the humblest hosts one can ever find and they expect the same decency in return. Like every other nation, Malaysia is also one that is bonded by its rich cultural and ethnic ancestry and heritage and the people here intend to preserve the same for years to come. The unique unity that strengthens the nation is definitely an aspect Malaysia will continue to savor.

Youth Leadership: A Malaysian Vision

The youth are the future of a country and moulding them into beings that a country really needs is a tough job to do. The destruction or the construction of a country is highly affected by the youth that resides there. The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Razak  has rightly quoted that the prime duty of all Malaysians should be to foster unity amongst the people which must be practised by every person with the aspiration to achieve the status of a developed nation by the year 2020. The Vision 2020 which has been considered as the ultimate objective of Malaysia refers to youth leadership as a prime element for this transformation. Like the youth in every other country, youth can be the strength only if they endeavour to make the society a healthier and better place to live in, protecting the country not only from the external threats but also the internal ones. Dedication is virtue that works wonders when a revolution is necessary for the betterment.

The youth can play potent roles in the uplifting of a nation only when they are involved in the process of the discussion and formation of policies that affects the youth. Inexperience leads to ignorance thus it is only through proper involvement of the youth in the constitutional provisions and government policies that they will learn about them and imbibe those to be implemented in its true manner when need be.

Since its independence in 1957, Malaysia has come a long way surviving the British colonization and the Japanese invasion during the World War II, and through it all today it stands as an independent federation, still growing after 58 years. And this growth is intended to become fast paced and get the world recognition that the people here have always craved for, considering the struggles and turmoil of the forefathers. It is a dream everyone has dreamt of and who are the actual candidates who can make this dream come true and get Malaysia a place on the world map? It is definitely not the current leaders, but it is the youth, for they are the generation that needs to set the goals and thrive to make the change, be the change.

The role of the current leaders is to show the right way to the upcoming youth and without negligence of their own duties must secure the bases of the foundation on which the youth may build up the pillars. As per an old Malay proverb that goes like, “Together, people can conquer all peaks and traverse all valleys”, the youth needs to move in unison avoiding any conflicts and maintain the integrity and prosperity of the nation. Youth leadership is a highly advocated activity in Malaysia in order to inculcate the civic responsibilities and community activities into the mindsets of the young and teach the essence of team work and team building skills. To have youths take over a nation, grooming them is the best way to cultivate and ready them.

Sri Sanjeevan is the Chairman of Malaysian Crime Watch Task Force (MyWatch) & An Entrepreneur . He is the person who Fights for Injustice Everywhere & Survived a bullet that penetrated both lungs & 35days coma. Follow on Social Media Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SriSanjeevan/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/SanjeevanSS Stumbleupon: http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/SanjeevanSS Tumblr at: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sanjeevanss

Changes in the economy of Malaysia

With one of the highest standards of living in South-East Asia, Malaysia has a growing economy owing to its rapidly expanding industrial sector. This expansion led to an 8%-9% annual growth rate during the time period of 1997-1998. In recent years, the economic status of the country has developed massively leading to certain amount of resentment amongst the other South Asians who do not have access to opportunities as much as the Malays.

As per the index of 2015, Malaysia is the 31st country with freest economy and an economic freedom score of 70.8. Ranking 8th amongst 42 countries in Asia Pacific region in terms of business and trade freedom, it is one of those few countries that has been rapidly stomping towards development. Considered a vital part of the East Asian manufacturing network, Malaysia has a relatively open economy. As compared to the global averages, the trade and financial freedom of the country has very good score. Like the economy of every country, the economy of Malaysia also has its share of cons along with pros. And the prime matter of problem is the corruption that exists within the realms of the political and economical boundaries. Steps however, have been taken by the government in order to tackle the issue and administer the country in a more effective manner.

Agriculture sector plays a vital role in the economy of Malaysia. Malaysia produces tin, rubber, electronics, timber, textile, crude petroleum and other petroleum products and palm oil in gargantuan quantities. Contributing to around 8% of the GDP, agriculture continues to remain the basis of livelihood for about 13% of the population. The major trading partners of Malaysia are China, Japan, Singapore and the United States of America. It exports in mammoth quantities textiles, petroleum, rubber, natural, wood products, amongst others.

During 1997-1998, there was a major crisis that the country had to face known as the Asian Financial Crisis but the country still continued to have a solid growth rate of average 5.5% every year from 2000-2008. Yet again in 2009, with another Global Financial Crisis hitting the nation, it recovered with 5.7% growth rates since the year 2010. Simultaneously along with increased growth rate, the nation’s poverty percentage also decreased by a huge amount since 1970 to 2015.

The country’s economic status has been considered by the government that had diversified from commodities which led the government to introduce the Goods and Services tax in 2015 that is a major step to broaden the revenue base. In order to sustain its position amongst the high-income economies, it is important for Malaysia to implement certain reforms to increase the human capital quality and give a tough competition to its counterparts. Steps and guideline have been adopted in order to combat these challenges and the launch of New Economic Model (NEM) is one of the initial steps in order to reach a commendable economic status by the year 2020. With many reforms included in NEM, it primarily focuses on private sector driven economic growth that would help the Malaysian economy to move to a higher value added activities in both the sectors of industry and services.

Sri Sanjeevan is the Chairman of Malaysian Crime Watch Task Force(MyWatch) & An Entrepreneur . He is the person who Fights for Injustice Everywhere & Survived a bullet that penetrated both lungs & 35days coma. Follow on Social Media

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Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Sri-Sanjeevan

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NAP4 : Agricultural Reformation in Malaysia

One of the most important sectors of Malaysia, agriculture is the backbone of the economy of Malaysia providing the necessities to above 1 million people. The primary source of employment majorly in the rural areas of Malaysia, agriculture has been contributing to 23% of Malaysia’s total export earnings and approximately 7% of Malaysia’s GDP. However, facts reveal that with every passing year, the share of the agricultural sector in Malaysia’s economy has been reducing whereas its contribution has been increasing. In 2014, the share of agriculture was 7% and contribution RM58 billion whereas 4 years prior to that it was 7.58% and contribution RM 51.3 billion.

As has been witnessed, what I feel is that these challenges have been faced by the Malaysian economy due to three primary reasons. The first reason is that there is a dearth of labour which resulted in agriculture land remaining idle; therefore foreign labours had to be hired for the purpose of farming way back in the year 2012. Secondly, as per the National Agricultural policies, the agriculture sector needs transformations programs for its sustenance and survival. And lastly, the increase in the production cost has contributed drastically to the decrease in agriculture sector share.

The challenges faced by this sector require new strategies so as to nullify the declining graph. External factors such as world population, lifestyle changes, trade liberalization amongst others are also equally responsible for the affect on the production of food commodity. In order to make this sector more dynamic and modern, a new policy was formed in 2011 which is the National Agro-Food Policy (NAP4). This policy is intended to be the solution the problems in agro-food industry and bring reformation to the issue. As per the policy, agriculture has been recorded as a national key result area in Malaysia and it targets to increase the Gross National Income to RM 49 billion and job opportunities to 109,000 by 2020.

Adopting strategies within the realms of government policies considering the infrastructure, labour, human capital and safety of the food, the NAP4 is indeed a major step in the Malaysian history of agriculture. With the implementation of the newly formed strategies, the agro-food commodities of Malaysia would no more be in deficit, thus improving the economy of the country in a major manner.

Sri Sanjeevan is the Chairman of Malaysian Crime Watch Task Force(MyWatch) & An Entrepreneur . He is the person who Fights for Injustice Everywhere & Survived a bullet that penetrated both lungs & 35days coma. Follow on Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SriSanjeevan/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/SanjeevanSS Stumbleupon: http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/SanjeevanSS Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sanjeevanss  

Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Sri-Sanjeevan

It’s not ‘time’ but ‘watches’ that matter to the politicians

To find that the post has gained close to 13,000 likes and more than 25,000 shares on Facebook. The pictures show senior officials and politicians wearing different luxurious watches on different occasions. Among them, six are from BN and three from the opposition. The officials are Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, and Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin. The prime minister's wife Rosmah Mansor and outspoken former premier Dr Being surprised by this typical behavior of the politicians of wearing high-end watches,I have recently published a series of photographs online highlighting the expensive watches worn by politicians. I feel immensely surprised Mahathir Mohamad are also featured.

Sri Sanjeevan is the Chairman of Malaysian Crime Watch Task Force(MyWatch) & An Entrepreneur . He is the person who Fights for Injustice Everywhere & Survived a bullet that penetrated both lungs & 35days coma. Follow on Social Media 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SriSanjeevan/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/SanjeevanSS Stumbleupon: http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/SanjeevanSS Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sanjeevanss  

Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Sri-Sanjeevan

EXISTENCE OF ILLEGAL GAMBLING IN THE VILLAGE STORE WOOD IN ARA  Alarming

Illegal betting shops in Kampung Kayu Ara, Petaling Jaya Utara Malaysia  is now increasing considerably as there is no monitoring  on the same by the authorities. Some are under the guise of internet cafes, family entertainment centers and there are also illegal betting shops that do not display signs but still visited  by their regular customers.

Many reports have been made to the police and local authorities by local residents but in vain. New shops have also opened for gambling and the same are operating without any check . All reports and complaints of communities are not treated seriously or acted upon by the government.

The local residents have expressed their dissatisfaction with the authorities’ and the government’s role. This has grown to be a serious social problem, particularly amongst the young community. This gambling practice is wasting their money and leading them on an unethical path. Gamblers who lose on bets often  are vulnerable to criminal activities such as theft, burglary , selling drugs, etc.to recover the money lost on bets.

Sri Sanjeevan is the Chairman of Malaysian Crime Watch Task Force (MyWatch) & An Entrepreneur . He is the person who Fights for Injustice Everywhere & Survived a bullet that penetrated both lungs & 35days coma. Follow on Social Media Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SriSanjeevan/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/SanjeevanSS Stumbleupon: http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/SanjeevanSS Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sanjeevanss