Saturday, July 09, 2011

Volume 3 Issue 27: Two-Cent Economics

The Malaysian Resignation?

I only recently came across this blogger, who has some pretty interesting posts in general.

However, this most recent one caught my eye. He wrote about the 3 degrees of mediocrity and his examples were pretty entertaining. Here is part of his conversation with a cab driver in Malaysia:

“Negara kita ada angkasawan!  Negara lain mana ada.  Indonesia ada? Singapura ada? Thailand ada? Ini bermakna Malaysia lagi hebat dari negara lain!”

[Our country had an astronaut.  Other countries don’t.  Does Indonesia have one? Does Singapore have? Does Thailand have?  It means Malaysia is better than other countries!]
But what I want to put across is the fact that when I read it, I actually chuckled, and was entertained. But two seconds later, I did a double-take and realized that the only reason I was entertained was because the examples were true.

What is so wrong about that? It just shows how long the rot has been going on in Malaysia. It has gone on for so long that many of us have accepted the problem, and we even think of it as a joke. The normal reaction would probably have been outrage, or at the least, disgust.

Now, I am just outraged that I didn't feel that way the first time. What has become of us?