SUBANG JAYA: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has assured the people that he is listening with his “big ears” to all complaints and grievances.

The Prime Minister said he was aware of complaints about “what is happening to our economy, ... to this, and that.”

“I listen. The Prime Minister has big ears.

“At times pedih lah telinga ini – macam macam dengar (it is painful to these ears - hearing all sorts of things),” he said at the official opening of SJK © Ladang Harcroft in Puchong yesterday.

Abdullah stressed that he was not merely listening, adding that it was his duty to deal with problems and work on remedies.

“We are not keeping quiet. If we do not attend to problems, grouses, feelings of uneasiness, uncertainty and even anger, then one day we will suffer, everybody will suffer,” he said.

“If you are getting impatient, then I’m even more impatient,” he added.

Abdullah said while some matters could be resolved quickly, others took time and some issues needed even more deliberation.

He said the country had gained tremendous ground in eradicating poverty, cutting it down from 50% in 1971 to 5.7% at present.

“This is not something to be scoffed at. We Malaysians have every reason to be proud of the achievement,” he said, adding that the Government would continue to help the people regardless of race.

The Prime Minister acknowledged that eradicating poverty would not be an easy task.

“It’s not something that can be achieved in a short number of years. But we will persevere,” he said, citing education as an important tool in helping people break free from the scourge of poverty.

In a multi-racial and multi-religious country like Malaysia, mutual respect and understanding among the races was essential, he pointed out.

He revealed the workings of his Cabinet, saying that ministers like Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting, who is the MCA president, MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, Gerakan advisor Datuk Seri Lim Keng Yaik and Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein often “ganged up” on some issues.

“There is no feeling of difficulty, embarrassment or fear to speak up in the Cabinet on education, religion, culture or economy.

“We are not suspicious of one another. We are friends so we can be sincere and open with one another. That is the truth,” he said, adding that the Cabinet was comfortable with this kind of relationship, which was based on understanding and mutual respect.

“If there is no mutual respect, the Government can never survive in this kind of environment,” he said.

Abdullah reiterated that Malaysia’s strongest asset was its unity, strength and value in diversity.

“This will make Malaysia a truly great nation in the future,” he said.

In HONG KONG, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the Government was committed to addressing the “legitimate concerns” of any community in Malaysia.

The Deputy Prime Minister, who was speaking at a press conference during his roadshow to promote Malaysia to fund managers, said the rally by the Hindu Rights Action Front was due to exploitation by opposition parties anticipating the general election.

He described the New Economic Policy as an affirmative action policy that benefited all communities.

“Otherwise, this Government would not have been returned to power in each general election,” he said.

He knows nothing besides sleeping. Whatever he does or says is scripted by his "konco-konco". He is a puppet to these "koncos"

To me, Malaysia is run by institutionalised bullies, corrupters, gangsters, goons, infidels, liars, monkeys, scumbags, thieves and all that are mentioned in the Book of Hell!

Lee Kuan Yew said recently the relationship between Malaysia and Singapore has not always been smooth sailing, and so investing in the Iskandar Development Region (IDR) may not always be smooth sailing for Singaporean companies.

This is simply a statement of fact that nevertheless appears to have gotten local Umno leaders into a tizzy.

Every local Umno politician hopes to be in a position to be approving investment flows into the country because to stand as gatekeeper is a very lucrative position, and when public squabbles erupt between Umno politicians about who is the better "protector of malay privileges and rights", it usually means someone just wants a bigger cut of the investment action for himself.

Go figure that one.

Of course, the relationship between Malaysia and Singapore is special because of the race relations issue.

Singapore has been the favourite whipping boy of the Umno-controlled malay vernacular press for the last 50 years, and if anything are seen as even bigger devils than the local Chinese and Indian citizens of Malaysia in the eyes of Malaysia's malay Muslims.

The fact is Singapore's development model has meant that Singapore's malays are far better educated, far better equipped, far better paid, far more self-confident, and self-reliant to deal with globalisation than malay Muslims in Malaysia.

This makes Ketuanan Melayu, the malay Agenda, and the NEP look like failed racist apartheid policies that have impoverished everyone except Umno cronies. Of course, Umno must demonise Singapore to maintain the illusion that Umno politicians are nationalists and not parasites, and more so if Singapore happens to be better educated, meritocratic, richer, and safer than Malaysia.

Malay Muslims in Malaysia have been brainwashed by Umno for the last 50 years into thinking that the Chinese and Indians both Malaysians and Singaporeans have gotten rich at their expense, and this perception probably won't change anytime soon because Umno does not have another elections winning formula if it dumps the present demonisation formulas.

Every time Singapore's first world achievements are compared with the sluggish competitiveness, economic, educational, professional, scientific, technological, and social standard in apartheid Malaysia, there is the predictable keris waving, baying for blood, and frothing at the mouth in every Umno up and down the country in Malaysia.

Although Chinese and Indian Malaysians have simply accepted the gross racial discrimination in business, education, and job as a fact of life in Malaysia, the non-apartheid non-NEP meritocratic Singaporean mindset may not have the stomach for this particular type of nonsense in the IDR.

I think Lee Kuan Yew is way too smart to think the demonisation process of the Chinese and Indians in the Umno-controlled malay vernacular press is going to stop anytime soon. How else is Umno going to win elections except by continuing to perpetrate the lie that the orang asing minorities in Malaysia are a threat to the malays?

Nevertheless Lee Kuan Yew may be hoping Chinese and Indian Singaporean investors will not be discriminated against in the IDR in comparison with investors from countries like China, Europe, India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and United States.

In the meantime, I am sure it will simply be business as usual for the rest of us in racial and religious apartheid Malaysia.

this is basically a propaganda speech, if the government is listening to these complaints, we won't have a sudden surge of uprisings and strikes across the country...

Looking at the price psf of the land in Nusajaya and in Singapore (RM16 psf; RM1xx psf), one would have think that logically, Singaporeans would come and invest in the IDR (considering the distance between them). What a garbage the IDR has become now.