Heart of gold: Bohari, who plies his trade at Eastmoore Commercial Centre, is always ready to lend a helping hand to those in need. — ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE/The Star
Aw: He didn’t hesitate to help us even though we were strangers
KUCHING: Seven years ago, cobbler Bohari Ariffin lent a helping hand to Aw Joo Lee and her wheelchair-bound mother even though they were strangers to him.
Last month, Bohari and Aw reconnected in a touching encounter that subsequently brought well-deserved attention to the cobbler’s kindness.
That day in 2017, Bohari was mending shoes at his usual spot at the five-foot way of Eastmoore Commercial Centre here when he saw Aw with her mother, who was an amputee.
“They wanted to go up the stairs, but her mother was unable to do so. I felt sorry for them, so I approached them and helped to carry her mother up the stairs.
“I did not think of anything, I just carried her up and then carried her back down again, that was all,” Bohari told The Star when met at Eastmoore.
What motivated Bohari to help Aw and her mother was his spirit of humanity.
“Our humanity causes us to sympathise with others. We are all fellow human beings.
“Whatever religion or race we may be, we can help others because it’s for the good of everyone. I didn’t expect anything in return, I just sincerely wanted to help them,” he said.
For Aw, Bohari’s kindness was particularly meaningful as it came at a difficult time for her family.
“At that time, I was there with my mum and my father, who were both in their 80s. I was the only able-bodied person bringing my parents to meet somebody urgently.
“When we got to the building, I was very frustrated because there was a steep flight of stairs and no lift,” she recalled.
“Suddenly this man came up to me. He didn’t say much, but I understood immediately that he was going to help.
“My mum had only one leg, she wasn’t a small woman and she was quite heavy. But Bohari just lifted her and took her up the stairs while I carried the wheelchair.
“When we came down, I said thank you, but we were all pretty distracted by our family issues and left quickly.”
Aw, who is from Kuching but has been living in Singapore for many years, never forgot Bohari and would think about him every time she came back to visit relatives.
On her last trip here at the end of March, he was still on her mind and a friend encouraged her to try looking for him.
“When someone, especially a stranger, helps you at a difficult time in your life, you can never forget.
“It really leaves an indelible mark in your heart.
“Even though I had said thank you, I wanted to know more about that kind stranger and thank him properly,” Aw said.
So she went to Eastmoore and was very happy to find Bohari still there. And Bohari also remembered helping her mother.
“I was really emotional when I saw him again and tears sprang to my eyes.
“When I asked why he had helped us, he said ‘Kita orang sama manusia’ (We are all fellow humans).
“Bohari is really the hero we all need in our lives,” Aw said.
She subsequently wrote about Bohari’s kindness on the Sarawak Public Feedback Facebook page and encouraged people to seek his services.
“I wanted to help him in his business as well, so that’s why I decided to write a simple post about him.
“Being a cobbler is not an easy job, yet for such a humble profession he has a big heart.
“I hope that after this he will be blessed in many other ways and have more supporters,” she said.
Bohari was also moved by his recent meeting with Aw and the Facebook post she wrote.
“When she came to meet me, I shed a few tears myself. She remembered my small good deed, but I would like to thank her too because she thought about it even though it happened so long ago, and she was willing to look for me,” he said.
With the Facebook post, Bohari hoped that Malaysians would become more aware about helping others.
“I hope everyone will show sympathy to others in need. Don’t think that you are better than other people but help where you can,” he said, adding that he had also helped other people who came his way.
“It doesn’t matter who they are. I may not have much, but I will help anyone in need even if they don’t ask.”
Heartwarming tales such as this are promoted and encouraged by the “Maaf Zahir Batin Hari Hari” campaign (#MZB365), which was launched on April 6. The campaign stands strong with support from major media organisations and civil society organisations (CSOs).
It takes a village: The generous act of Ladang Bikam villagers, who recently helped some Hari Raya revellers to beat the balik kampung jam with a shortcut through the plantation (below), touched the hearts of social media users. — Sinar Harian
FEW stories warm the heart quite like our plural society coming together for the greater good.
Usually, these acts of kindness go unnoticed and unreported because they’re expected. But truth be told, we know this is a commodity.
And as with true generosity, these good folks don’t do it for publicity.
It was a week ago when the media reported on a group of Chinese villagers answering the call of travellers using back roads to avoid the nationwide snarl following the end of the Hari Raya holidays.
Commuter Zairul Annuar Zain, relying on Google Maps, thought his smartphone would solve his problem by getting off the highway while heading south. Unfortunately, he found himself on an isolated path in Ladang Bikam, Perak, instead.
Several cars explored the same off-the-beaten-track route, but the journey soon became bumpier because of the bad, hilly road conditions.
Enter a group of 15 Chinese men who approached the stranded vehicles and told the passengers to wait while they set to work.
Armed with a backhoe to excavate and level the road, they managed to ensure the path was flat enough for the vehicles to pass through within 15 minutes.
— Video Screengrab from Zairul Annuar’s FB
“They could have chosen to sleep. Instead, they were willing to take the trouble to help us continue our journey there that night,” said Zairul, who recorded a video of the helpful villagers.
We’re indebted to Zairul for sharing the incident – which went viral – on his Facebook. It’s perfect timing because the nation desperately needs an endearing story, and in the month of Syawal with the nation still celebrating Hari Raya, no less.
Then, there was another wonderful video of a young Chinese man embracing his adopted Malay mother on Hari Raya.
Despite looking very different from the rest of the brood, and knowing he was adopted, the emotional man expressed his gratitude to his mum for raising him and treating him like she did his siblings.
In the last month, Malaysia has been gripped by disconcerting reports, a situation exacerbated by agitating and provoking politicians and netizens. Their insensitive comments on social media have certainly broken our hearts.
That said, there are many unsung heroes in Malaysia, too. These are the people who dedicate their lives to helping their countrymen without deliberating one’s skin colour or religion, and they ask for nothing in return.
Star Media Group and Gamuda Bhd have worked together for nearly 10 years to recognise and reward the kindness with the Star Golden Hearts Award. Our task gets harder with greater competition and nominees becoming more impressive every year. The nominations are submitted to the judges and as chief judge, Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, says Malaysia is never short of unsung heroes.
Like when insurance agent Abdul Muhsi Ramlan saw teenager Teh Rui Yuan lying motionless next to his motorbike after an accident and instinctively stopped to help.
He acted fast and asked onlookers to help him load the 17-year-old boy into his car before rushing to the hospital. There, he admitted the boy and even extended himself by trying to get in touch with the teenager’s parents through social media.
Teh eventually recovered and visited Abdul Muhsi with his family after that year’s Hari Raya with a hamper in hand, not only to register their gratitude but mark the festive occasion as well.
“When I saw his face, I just wanted to save him,” said Abdul Muhsi when recalling the accident, revealing that they are still in touch to this day.
Of course, there’s also the heart melting story of one of 2016’s Star Golden Hearts Award winner Mohd Yusuf Rohani caring for diabetic friend R. Doraisamy for four decades.
They are neither related nor from the same cultural background, but none of that matters to them.
The pair met in Ladang Selabak, Perak, when Mohd Yusuf was a Standard Three student and Doraisamy a 28-year-old odd job worker with failing eyesight. Although 19 years separate them, a friendship was forged in which Mohd Yusuf has dedicated himself to helping his friend after learning of his health issues.
Over the years, Doraisamy not only lost his sight, but the lower half of both limbs, too, due to his illness.
“It may be difficult, but I don’t see it as a burden at all because he can’t see, and he has no legs. Who would take care of him if I’m not around to do it?” argues Mohd Yusuf.
His care of Doraisamy runs the gamut of financial aid to cleaning the older friend after his bathroom runs. They may both struggle to make ends meet, but hardship has fused them together for life. From his primary school days through to his marriage and birth of six daughters, Mohd Yusuf has remained resolute in helping his friend, who lives with his younger sister and her husband.
Friendships like these may seem strange, but compassion and kindness cut across all boundaries. After all, it’s the giving that makes us what we are.
Having been involved in the selection process for Golden Hearts before, I can vouch that most Malaysians are compassionate.
From a Chinese-speaking Malay fireman who used his linguistic skills to coax a woman from jumping off her flat, to nurses, doctors and helpers who risked their lives to care for Malaysians during the Covid-19 pandemic, there are many such stories.
There are also groups of youngsters who sacrifice their Saturday nights to distribute food to the homeless in Kuala Lumpur. No one is ignored and no questions are asked either.
As Lee said, the fact that they have been nominated by so many Malaysians vividly attests to the recognition of their good work.
Then, there are caregivers who voluntarily work to help the elderly and disabled, too.
These are tedious jobs which require immeasurable patience and dedication, and again, these volunteers have never asked for coverage to bask in social media glory.
Some are mere individuals while others belong to non-governmental organisations with greater manpower, but the bottom line is, they’ve positively impacted all of us in Malaysia through their commitment.
Let’s be honest, many of us have grown tired and weary, and even given up on our country, going as far as to encourage overseas based friends and family to remain there for a brighter future.
However, the stories above serve to remind us that Malaysia is truly unified, barring egotistical and selfish politicians whose vocabulary barely extends beyond the word boycott.
In truth, it’s us who should turn away from them. Although race and religion routinely take the rap, the world is ultimately divided into good and bad people.
The “Maaf Zahir Batin Hari Hari” campaign (#MZB365), launched on April 6, is also promoting heartwarming tales of unity in Malaysia. The campaign stands strong with support from major media corporations and civil society organisations. Check out the stories on TheStar.com.my.
Chinese New Year wishes: Many South Korean nationalists contend that the peninsula resembles a tiger; hence this Year of the Tiger, it should exude the same strength and ferocity.
ACCORDING to the Chinese zodiac, the year 2022 is the Year of the Tiger. Although the younger generation in Korea is perhaps no longer interested in the zodiac, it still counts for the older generation. The zodiac says that those who are born in the Year of the Tiger are bold, courageous, and confident. At the same time, however, they tend to be impetuous, overindulgent, and unpredictable.
The shape of the Korean Peninsula has invited some interesting debates. Some people argue that the shape of the Peninsula resembles a rabbit. Others maintain that it looks like a shrimp. Yet there are also those who contend that the Peninsula resembles a tiger. `
The rabbit is the image of a weak, docile, and peace-loving animal, and the shrimp may have the connotation of being a victim in the midst of a fight between whales. On the contrary, the tiger is the image of strength and ferocity. `
Those who lived through Korea’s turbulent history over the last several decades support the rabbit or shrimp theory, whereas nationalists prefer the tiger image. `
Lee O Young, South Korea’s former Culture Minister, presents an interesting theory. He contends that the Korean Peninsula resembles a trophy that strong nations want to possess. Since competitors constantly arise to challenge each other to win the trophy, Korea has always been vulnerable to the rise of a new power in the international community. `
In the Year of the Tiger, South Korea should be “bold, courageous and confident,” when dealing with neighbouring countries when and `
if they act like bullies or are hostile and threatening. At the same time, Korea should not be “impetuous, overindulgent or unpredictable,” in her relationship with friendly nations. `
If we stand up to bullying nations, they would not dare to offend us anymore. When we are consistent and predictable to friendly nations, they will remain our faithful allies. If we act otherwise, we will be hopelessly bullied by hostile countries and lose respect and trust from friendly nations. `
Some time ago, a group of Korean political science professors gathered at a roundtable meeting to discuss the future of Korea in the ever-intensifying conflicts between China and the United States. They unanimously insisted that South Korea should not choose one of the two. Disappointingly, however, they did not come up with any specific tactic of managing this dilemma. `
Perhaps, not choosing a side is what “politics” is all about. Nevertheless, we expected some concrete guidelines from them in dealing with the compelling issues that will directly affect the future of Korea. `
In the Year of the Tiger, the final hours for Korea to choose between the two options will come. We can no longer defer our decision and continue an opportunistic posture between the two. This Tiger year, we sincerely hope that our politicians choose wisely, so our country will continue to prosper and thrive. If our representatives make a wrong decision by any chance, our country would suffer the consequences and the future of our country would be grim. Besides, South Korea would lose respect in the international community. That would be equally fatal for the future of Korea. `
The problem is that it is extremely difficult to find a solution to the dilemma we are now facing. Perhaps one way to get out of the quagmire is that we build a nation that is strong and has precious things the two conflicting countries urgently and desperately need. `
Among others, semiconductors and electric batteries come to mind. Then, the two rival countries would treat us with greater respect. Currently, Samsung and Taiwan’s TSMC manufacture 70% of semiconductors of the world. Since Samsung’s main strength lies in semiconductor memory, which occupies a relatively small portion of the market, it should expand its manufacturing capacity to other semiconductors. `
In the Year of the Tiger, the Korean people will have to make another choice. In March’s presidential election, Koreans will choose the person who will run the country for the next five years. It will be a choice not only between conservatism and progressivism, but also between capitalism and socialism, or liberal democracy and a people’s democracy. Our choice on that fateful Election Day will decide the destiny of Korea. `
Indeed, Korea will be at the crossroads in the Year of the Tiger. If we choose the wrong road, we will be lost and doomed. If we choose the right road, however, our future will be bright and prosperous. Therefore, it is imperative for us to choose the right leader who can steer our country in the right direction in a perfect storm. `
In the Year of the Tiger, we wish South Korea to become the tiger that poet William Blake described in his celebrated poem, “The Tyger.” It begins with, “Tyger Tyger, burning bright,/ In the forests of the night;/ What immortal hand or eye,/ Could frame thy fearful symmetry?” `
We hope South Korea will emerge as a healthy, strong tiger roaring loudly and proudly on the peak of a mountain, not as a wounded, depressed tiger hiding in the jungle. – The Korea Herald/Asia News Network
By KIM SEONG-KON Kim Seong-kon is a professor emeritus of English at Seoul National University and a visiting scholar at Dartmouth College. `
The former flight attendant used a tourist visa to enter the country and work illegally in a steel factory, where she met with the accident. Sally (not … “I received treatment, monthly expenditure and some compensation, but only after I got help from a Malaysian activist who fights for the rights of workers like us.
British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth Photo:VCG
I watched the new James Bond movie last night. It is well made. But the more I watched, the more it looked like comedy. In one scene when they are about to destroy a chemical manufacturing facility located on a disputed island between Russia and Japan, the MI6 official asks whether there are any Royal Navy warships nearby. It turns out there are, and then the missile is launched. Are the British sleepwalking? The Royal Navy is now relying heavily on the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier, which has been leaking frequently, to scrape a battle group up. Yet HMS Queen Elizabeth did come to show in the Asia Pacific region recently. But if it is exploited as the basis for the story, it would be too embarrassing.
The UK is a declining empire. The novel coronavirus epidemic has gravely devastated the country, killing hundreds of thousands of people. Many residents of other countries are afraid of taking the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine produced by the UK. In the Taiwan island alone, hundreds of people died after receiving the vaccine. Ironically, this James Bond movie is about preventing biological weapons.
The British are really good at this. Although the country is in decline, it is still high-spirited. In the newly filmed 007 movie, the empire seems to be in full swing. But I believe that the Western blockbusters in which characters attempt to save the human race will gradually become ridiculous over time, as these blockbusters will lose the public’s psychological foundation due to the relative decline in strengths of Western countries and the continuous disintegration of self-confidence.
In the movie, the disputed islands between Russia and Japan, which should be controlled by Russia, were bombed. If the UK dared to do this in reality, Russia wouldn’t waste a minute to respond with hardline measures. A few months ago after Moscow said a patrol ship fired warning shots against British vessels, London declined that any warning shot had been fired.
But I have to praise James Bond movies. They never mess with China. Instead, they are friendly to China. Even when the ties between China and Britain is getting worse, some villains in the movie still “speak Russian.” This is because the Chinese film market is huge. In a commercial promoting the James Bond movie, Daniel Craig said “Thank you” in Chinese, showing his appreciation. Chinese consumption power is the strength.
As China gears up to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on July 1, one of the greatest achievements of the CPC to be highlighted is what has been widely described as an economic miracle. From a backward agrarian economy in the early days of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to an economic and technological powerhouse today, China’s economic success story under the CPC’s leadership has arguably become the global story of the century and the envy of the world.
The secret codes behind such miraculous achievements have also become a hotly debated topic around the world. This article will decode those codes.
Born into a poor rural family with per capita disposal income of less than 50 yuan ($7.80), the PRC, now in its 70s, has seen the income reading top 32,000 yuan as of 2020. Behind the 640-plus fold surge is the country’s rapid ascent to a global behemoth in almost every aspect in an unparalleled timeframe and path.
What are the CPC’s secret codes to economic success?
To answer that, the Global Times conducted an extensive examination of the CPC’s economic policymaking at several critical junctions and interviewed domestic and foreign experts. Four key themes stand out.
World main countries 2021 Q1 GDP Growth Infographic: Wu Tiantong/GT
Bold planning, effective execution
“The five-year planning is the major driving factor that boosted the Chinese economy to the No. 2 in the world. This system is effective and reliable in focusing on and predicting how the economy performs and which necessary adjustments are required to finetune it along the way,” David Monyae, director of the Centre for Africa-China Studies at the University of Johannesburg, told the Global Times.
Since its beginning in the 1950s, there have been 14 five-year plans (FYP) – each marks a significant shift in China’s economic policies and advances in social and economic development.
The first FYP, which started in 1953, envisioned the industrialization of China, starting the 60-plus year journey of creating an economic constellation that’s being renovated every five years.
“China has led a different path than the West’s laissez-faire capitalism or its so-called marketization. China maintains more compelling institutional prowess than the West,” said Cong Yi, dean of School of Marxism under Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, citing the Party’s strong ability to make strategic development plans that integrate short-term plans into medium and long-term ones.
After initially drawing on the Soviet Union’s five-year planning experience, the CPC soon realized the limitations of the Soviet model and some of its shortcomings and mistakes, and then decided to independently explore a socialist construction road suited to China’s national conditions, which, coupled with laser focus and effective execution, led to one milestone after another.
The 13th CPC National Congress in 1987 made a proposition of a three-step development strategy that envisaged doubling the gross national product (GNP) between 1981 and 1990, doubling its GNP again by the end of the 20th century and per capita GNP reaching moderately developed country levels by the middle of this century.
Buoyed by unprecedented reformist drives since the country’s grand reform and opening-up in 1978, the second-step target was hit at the conclusion of the Eighth FYP (1991-95), five years ahead of schedule.
In yet another milestone, the Third Plenary Session of the 14th CPC Central Committee in November 1993 passed the decision on certain issues in establishing a socialist market economic system. With the guidance of the Ninth FYP (1996-2000), the country made good the transition from a planned economy to a socialist market economy in 2000, a prelude to its accession to the WTO in December 2001.
In the latest proof of the effectiveness of the FYP, just as planned, the alternation of the 13th FYP ended 2020 and the newest FYP starting this year is on course to deliver a victory for its first centenary goal of building a moderately well-off society on the CPC’s 100th anniversary.
“The main feature of the five-year plans is the top-level design, which is holistic, macroscopic, forward looking, anticipatory and binding,” Zhao Xuejun, director of the Modern Economic History of China Research Center under Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Institute of Economics, told the Global Times.
Today, China’s FYPs have become a closely watched policy document around the world as it provides a valuable window into China’s economic policies and development goals.
This year, global attention was focused on the 14th FYP ending 2025, which is set to pave the way for the second centenary goal to be attained – building a modern socialist power by 2049 when the PRC turns 100.
File photo:VCG
Seeking truth from facts
However, even as China’s economy advanced in an overall steady pace as planned, there were no shortages of difficulties and mistakes over the past several decades – from some early decisions and policies that were against market rules to the “decade of the catastrophe,” to the blind pursuit of extensive and high-speed growth over a certain period of time.
In overcoming those challenges and mistakes, the CPC showed its ability to “seek truth from facts” – a phrase that epitomizes the Party’s flexibility and ability to objectively pinpoint the problems, experts said.
That ability was highlighted in the Party’s response to crises during the Great Leap Forward era, which coincided with the Three Years of Natural Disasters (1959-61) and the breakdown of Sino-Soviet Union relations.
During the period, exaggeration about production prevailed across China, being called “launching satellites,” and from wheat, rice and steel, places and reports started to boast of false high productions. The economic and social campaign that aimed for a rapid industrialization to steer the-then poor economy into a modern communist society appeared to have wrong-footed the economy.
Instead of turning a blind eye to the truth, the CPC Central Committee urged maximum efforts to correct all deviations in an urgent instruction letter in November 1960 and a Party plenum in January 1961 decided on the implementation of an economic adjustment.
As the economy ran its course of adjustment at the end of 1965 and began its third FYP, the Cultural Revolution began, putting the country in “10 years of catastrophe” until 1976.
Then came another turn – the 11th National Congress of the CPC in August 1977 declared the end of the Cultural Revolution and reiterated that the Party’s fundamental task was to build the country into a socialist modern power.
“The CPC has a strong mechanism of self-correction; internally it came from the democratic system of the Party, and essentially it is built on the Party’s tenet of seeking interest for the people and re-juvenation for the nation,” Zhao told the Global Times.
The perseverance with seeking truth comes across as building the economy’s resilience that has dissolved various challenges and crises, such as the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, the 2008 global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, into hiccups which only result in increased economic sophistication, observers noted.
In response to the crises, the CPC was able to seek truth from facts and be flexible, as well as to be free from prejudice and ideological bias, encouraging local exploration and innovation, Zhao said.
In another striking and more recent example, the Party has managed to bid farewell to an unhealthy obsession with GDP growth that regards GDP statistics as the core or even the only indicator for assessing government performance, which stoked concerns over high GDP numbers at the expense of the environment and economic imbalance.
For instance, in August 2014, East China’s Fujian Province cancelled the GDP assessment in 34 counties and cities, and implemented the evaluation method of giving priority to agriculture and ecological protection.
Aerial
photo taken on Sept. 17, 2020 shows the Houhai area in Nanshan District of Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong Province. Photo:xinhua
Reform and opening-up
Just as the CPC is very swift in correcting mistakes, it is also profoundly persistent and steadfast in carrying out scientific policies – another pillar of the CPC’s economic success.
The milestone Third Plenum of the 11th CPC Central Committee in December 1978 has been widely known as a starting point for the economy’s 40-plus years of reform and opening-up, ushering in a transition from a class struggle-themed Party platform to a focus on economic building.
The main resistance force came from people’s fear of capitalism, thinking that opening to the outside world would alchemize New China. With keen observation on the world’s development in economy and science and technology, Deng Xiaoping launched the opening-up policy, pushing aside all hesitance and skepticism.
In early 1982, the Shekou industrial zone in Shenzhen was criticized by some for planning to hire a foreign business manager. When Deng learned this, he immediately applauded the decision, saying that it’s OK to hire foreigners as managers and it is no traitorous behavior.
The reform of the country’s state-owned enterprises (SOE) is an evocative story of the country’s undaunted approach to boosting its economy.
By 1987, 80 percent of the country’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) adopted various forms of the contracted managerial responsibility system. Some enterprises even began to undertake shareholding system reforms.
Graphic:GT
In the first quarter of 1996, the country’s 68,800 SOEs, as a whole, recorded their first net loss since the founding of the PRC.
After the pain comes the result. From 1989 to 2001, though the number of SOEs dropped to 46,800 from 102,300, their total industrial added value increased to 1.47 trillion yuan from 389.5 billion yuan, surging 11.67 percent annually.
Despite tremendous success over the past several decades, difficulties and hurdles never ceased to test China’s commitment to the reform and opening-up policies today.
The thorn-covered yet high-yielding road to reform and opening-up, as such, was being paved as efforts to liberate thoughts and the bold push for innovation trickled in. With an endeavor to sustain liberation on multiple fronts for there to be even deeper reforms, China finally pushed through.
In 2020, China overtook the US to become the world’s top destination for new foreign direct in-vestment. In the first five months of 2021 alone, China attracted 18,497 new foreign-funded firms and 481 billion yuan in foreign capital.
Graphic:GT
Self-sufficiency, innovation-driven
However, increasingly opening up to the outside world does not mean China will not mitigate seri-ous risks for its national and economic security. Since the earlier days of the CPC’s leadership, self-sufficiency in many core sectors such as food and technology was a major focus, which has also become a key code to the CPC’s success.
In an early sign of a self-reliant approach to development, by 1964, the self-sufficiency rate of China’s main machinery and equipment had reached over 90 percent. With construction of the Daqing oilfield completed and Shengli and Dagang oilfields under development, China achieved total self-sufficiency in oil by 1965.
Since then, that quest for self-sufficiency in many areas, including technological innovation, has never stopped and has helped lift China to a world-leading global technological power in many areas – from 5G to high-speed rails, and from new-energy vehicles to space exploration technologies.
Just last week, China pulled off the country’s first-ever automated fast rendezvous and docking of a manned spacecraft with China’s orbiting space station core cabin, after the Shenzhou-12 manned spacecraft was successfully launched on the Long March-2F Y12 carrier rocket.
China’s considerable technological prowess has already unnerved the US, which has been a domi-nant player for decades.
The CPC’s focus on self-sufficiency and innovation-driven strategy was particularly notable in the country’s efforts to mitigate an increasingly hostile external environment marked by a relentless attempt by the US to contain China’s rise.
Even before the US’ crackdown campaign, the focus on self-dependence and technological innova-tion was highlighted as the CPC convened its 19th National Congress in October 2017, where a new era of China’s socialism was declared. The Party’s 18th National Congress also introduced an innovation-driven development strategy.
Since then, in a series of meetings and top policy documents, the CPC has constantly stepped up efforts to pursue efficiency in a wide range of areas, from semiconductors to crop seeds.
“Against the backdrop of an intensifying China-US rivalry, China may face rising risks of high-tech blocks, supply chain obstruction, or further trade disputes. What China needs to do is focus on its own business and concentrate on overcoming the difficulties in key technologies, equipment, raw materials and design software that are being held back by Western countries, and coordinate devel-opment and security,” said Zhao.
As these new challenges emerge, while China is no longer the backward, war-torn country it was 7 decades ago, challenges and risks, both domestic and foreign, remain. With the CPC’s firm leader-ship and its proven successful economic policymaking, China is better positioned than ever to reach its bold development goal of becoming a modern socialist power in the coming decades, analysts said.
THESE are difficult times and thus, stress levels are on the rise
If you’re suffering from tension, headaches, feelings of depression and other effects of too much strain, think about how you can help yourself.
Firstly, everyone is different so the things that you find stressful may not be stressful to others. For example, approaching strangers and asking them to sign up for something may be a horror for you, but it gets a natural salesperson smiling with anticipation.
Bottom line: stress is intensely personal. Figure out what factors hit you hardest. Now you know where to start.
Secondly, stress is something imposed on you that you just have to accept.
A lot of the time, you can anticipate and plan to manage the events that make you uptight.
For example, if you know that Tuesdays are stressful because it’s the day when you have a one-on-one with a tough client, make sure that you schedule something afterwards that will help you blow off steam – like a run or a coffee with a cherished friend.
Thirdly, just like stress is highly individual, so are methods for managing it.
Classic methods include physical exercise, breathing, meditation and eating properly.
However, if you’re doing these and they are not working for you, explore ways that work for you. Maybe you distress from painting, cooking or composting haiku.
If you need ideas, just think back to the last time you were feeling serene.
Finally, it’s not a sign of strength to ignore stress.
Studies show that long-term stress will affect your health and can lead to problems such as insomnia, upset stomachs, rashes and high blood pressure.
So don’t ignore those little niggles. Instead listen to your body and take early action.
THE process of dying and the death of loved ones create a profound and lasting impact on their families and wider communities.
As a society, we are not exposed enough to be fully equipped to support end-of-life journeys.
We need to be able to normalise the process of death and have the courage to advocate for a holistic care plan not by just buying insurance policies but also by showing love, empathy and compassion. This is known as palliative care, which may begin at the start of life-threatening illnesses to end-of-life journeys.
Dame Cicely Saunders, founder of the modern hospice, described palliative care in its most holistic sense: “You matter because you are you, and you matter to the end of your life. We will do all we can not only to help you die peacefully, but also to live until you die.”
Palliative care regards dying as a normal process in the journey of life, integrating psychological and spiritual dimensions into patient care. A holistic approach care plan enables patients and families to better cope with the course of the illness and provides a support network for bereavement care.
The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of palliative care in all healthcare systems. The need for relief from severe suffering, the difficult decision-making and complicated grief brought on by the pandemic are exactly the types of problems that palliative care was designed to help address.
My father, who is a consultant haematologist, treats cancer patients, among other life-threatening blood disorders, and fully supports palliative care causes. I, as a tech start-up builder, believe that blockchain, AI and other automation technologies will drive the future of society. Despite our different calling in life, I also join my father in fully supporting palliative care as essential care for vulnerable members of our community.
We both fully recognise that palliative care does not start and stop with doctors and nurses alone. The success of effective and affordable palliative care lies in the hands of an informed society.
Hospices in Malaysia and Singapore are typically independent non-profit entities run by community members on charitable donations and volunteerism.
Ultimately, palliative care is a community-driven initiative. All of us have a part to play as family caregivers, pastoral caretakers, therapists, healthcare professionals and more.
Through a journey I’ve undertaken as a volunteer carer in a hospice, I have developed a genuine understanding of the principles of palliative care in practice. Hospice environments provide a powerful example of how we as a community can show love, empathy and compassion when facing fear and loss of loved ones.
What matters to patients who are actively dying include relief from pain, maintaining one’s dignity, not dying alone, and having a comforting hand to touch during their end-of-life journey.
Community volunteers can support palliative care nurses and doctors by assisting with non-clinical pain management, such as cleaning and feeding of patients, providing wheelchair assistance, and spending time with patients. These acts of love for others are what truly makes us human.
Through volunteering in a hospice, I was able to face the mirror of death and fully embrace my humanity by showing love, empathy and compassion for the suffering of others – something that technology or AI machines can never truly replicate.
Let’s all do our part today to build a palliative care-aware society, whether it is through advocacy, community volunteerism or giving.
KATHERINE NG LI PEI Co-founder of Ministry for Good, a non-profit start-up to scale technology for good
Ministry For Good is a non-profit business consultancy and ideas incubation platform founded to improve the lives of people through effective use of spatial technology.
Dr Goh Pei Hwa from Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Science
HOW many times have we all, at some point in our lives, misinterpreted signs?
Movies like He’s Just Not That into You, which is based on Greg Behrendt’s and Liz Tuccillo’s 2004 self-help book of the same name, tells people that if a man in whom you are interested in is not making an effort to pursue you, he is “just not that into you.”
Research has long indicated that it is mostly men, who tend to misperceive friendliness as sexual interest. They overestimate the sexual interest of potential mates. Even when two people have clearly defined their relationship as platonic, more often, it is the men, who are attracted to their opposite-sex friends.
According to Dr Goh Pei Hwa from the Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, this is not always the case.
While the majority of existing findings show the abovementioned pattern of men overperceiving sexual interest, relationship researchers have demonstrated that among heterosexual couples in committed relationships, men were more likely to underperceive sexual interest from their partners.
Men from certain cultures were also less likely to overperceive sexual interest than others.
In other words, the “male over perception bias” appears to be less universal than previously assumed.
In her recent work, Dr Goh revisited the question of gender differences in sexual perception accuracy using a face-to-face, laboratory-based interaction paradigm on a sample of university students in Malaysia.
Participants consisted of 62 previously unacquainted heterosexual dyads aged 20 years on average. Each participant was randomly paired with another participant of the other sex, and each dyad engaged in a semi-structured conversation task for five minutes.
After the interaction task, participants completed measures capturing their degree of sexual interest in their interaction partner and an estimation of their partner’s sexual interest in them.
Results revealed that people’s perception of their partner’s sexual interest did not match their partner’s actual sexual interest. This indicates that people generally lacked accuracy in their perception of sexual interest.
In fact, people’s perception of sexual interest was highly in line with their own sexual interest in their interaction partner.
More importantly, no gender differences were found. This means that both men and women were equally inaccurate and equally likely to project their own sexual interest onto their estimations of their partner’s sexual interest.
“In essence, people are bad at interpreting sexual interest from strangers. Based on the research, Malaysian men do not overperceive sexual interest as past studies have suggested. Women, on the other hand, tend to underperceive sexual interest, supporting past studies,” says Goh.
The current study advances our understanding that people are generally underperceiving sexual interest in initial interactions, regardless of gender.
That is, people are either not communicating their sexual interest effectively or missing all the sexual interest cues being expressed by someone else.
Here, it translates into a lot of potentially missed opportunities. This is highly applicable to first meetings between potential partners, which begs the question: does technology further impede our ability to gauge the sexual interest of others accurately?
With dating apps, we typically already know that we are chatting with someone who finds us attractive or appealing to a certain extent.
Thus, there is no need to try to decipher whether or not someone is into us based on the interaction.
Goh concludes: “If you like someone or have some interest in a person, express it more overtly. This will invite the other person to respond according to his or her own interest in you.
“Let the other person decide if he or she is interested, not you and your potentially (or most likely) wrong perceptions”.
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The feedback received was consistent. People told me that they worry about the situation, some even wrote in to share their concern.
A reader by the name of Yap wrote me an email about his observation after reading my article.
“I always doubt how a family with a median household income can survive in KL. Based on my calculation, there is no way a family with two children can survive in KL with RM6,275 without accumulating bad debt or spending 4.5 hours to travel on the road. Housing is one of the factors, but not the only one,” he wrote in his email.
Belanjawanku, an expenditure guide launched by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) in early March states that a married couple with two children spend about RM6,620 per month on food, transport, housing, childcare, utilities, healthcare, etc.
However, the median household income for Malaysians in 2016 was RM5,228. While the median income of M40 group (Middle 40%) was RM6,275, which means five out of 10 households in this category received RM6,275 per month or less. This is far below the RM6,620 required for a family with two children to stay in the Klang Valley.
Another alarming fact is… Belanjawanku compiles only core living expenses without including long-term financial planning tools such as education funds or investments. The actual budget constraint can be more severe if we take them into account.
The living cost in major cities is inevitably higher than in small towns or suburb areas.
As such, when we discuss housing affordability in the cities such as Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley, we shouldn’t impose the same benchmark of RM300,000 as everything else is more expensive in the city. Affordable housing should benchmark against the cost of living of the area.
Based on the research for Belanjawanku, even if housing was provided for free, a household of four would still need RM5,750 to sustain their lifestyle.
The transportation cost alone is RM1,040 for a family, higher than the RM870 allocated for housing.
Therefore, if a family is looking to lower their cost of living, moving to suburb areas would allow them to have a more affordable budget.
According to a news report which quoted information from brickz.my, the housing prices in KL are five times higher than in Seremban, with median housing price of RM1mil (RM940 psf) in the KL city centre, versus RM200,000 (RM210 psf) in Seremban.
Suburbs which are nearer to KL such as Klang and Shah Alam also offer attractive housing prices with a median price of RM340,000.
For families who stay in the city centre and plan to reduce their cost of living, they can consider moving to suburbs to enjoy a better quality of life, and leverage on the improved public transportation which offer hassle-free travelling from suburbs to city centre.
Although high living cost is a concern for many Malaysians, KL is ironically found to be the cheapest city to live out of the 11 major cities in Asia, according to the 2018 Wealth Report Asia.
We are “cheaper” or ranked lower than our neighbouring cities, including Bangkok, Manila and Jakarta. KL, Manila, and Jakarta are also the most price competitive cities when it comes to the residential properties segment.
Why are we still facing the challenge of high living costs despite being the “cheapest” city in the region? The underlying factor is because of the low household income earned by most Malaysians, as the previous government failed to transit us to a higher income nation.
In his email, Yap mentioned that “I always imagine what Malaysia can be if there were no leakages. Hundreds of billions could be spent to stimulate various industries. Our GDP per capita could be close to if not similar to Singapore’s”.
That is the vision and sentiment shared by a majority of Malaysians. With the new government that promises to be more transparent and efficient, we hope that one day, we can afford to live comfortably in any city we wish to, with a higher household income.
Datuk Alan Tong has over 50 years of experience in property development. He was the World President of FIABCI International for 2005/2006 and awarded the Property Man of the Year 2010 at FIABCI Malaysia Property Award. He is also the group chairman of Bukit Kiara Properties. For feedback, please email bkp@bukitkiara.com
DO you know how much you need to sustain your lifestyle every month? Are you living within your budget or stretching to make ends meet?
We can now gain insights with the unveiling of Belanjawanku, an Expenditure Guide for Malaysian Individuals and Families, launched by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) in early March.
The guide offers an idea of the living costs for respective household categories. It encompasses the expenditure on basic needs and involvement in society for a reasonable standard of living in the Klang Valley.
According to Belanjawanku, a married couple with two children spend about RM6,620 per month on food, transport, housing, childcare, utilities, healthcare, personal care, annual expenses, savings, social participation and discretionary expenses.
When I read this guide together with the income statistics published by the Statistics Department, it reveals that a vast majority of Malaysians can’t afford to live in the Klang Valley.
Based on the statistics, the median household income for Malaysian households in 2016 is RM5,228, far below the RM6,620 required for a family with two children to stay in the Klang Valley.
If we take a closer look, the median income of M40 group (Middle 40%) is RM6,275, which means five out of 10 households in this category received RM6,275 per month or less. This indicates that over 60% (40% from B40 households and half of the M40 households) of Malaysian households (if they have two children) can’t afford to stay in the Klang Valley.
What went wrong in the process? Why are many households having challenges to meet the required budget?
According to Belanjawanku, a married couple with two children spent the majority of their income on food (RM1,550), followed by childcare (RM1,150) and transport (RM1,040), then only on housing (RM870) and other items.
Based on the research, even if housing was provided for free, a household of four would still need RM5,750 to sustain their lifestyle. Therefore, the common perception that only housing is expensive is not right. It is not that housing is expensive, but that everything is expensive because of inflation over the years! The value of our currency has fallen due to global money printing measures over the past decade.
Belanjawanku compiles only core living expenses without luxury items or excessive spending. It also doesn’t include long-term financial planning tools such as funds for education or investments. If the majority of Malaysian households have challenges in meeting the existing expenses listed in the guide, it poses a serious concern on their future financial prospects.
The underlying factor of this challenge is the low household income earned by Malaysians. The previous government failed to move us to a high income nation as they had promised, and more families are stretching to make ends meet now. It may lead to serious financial problems in the future.
If median household incomes don’t increase, the B40 (Bottom 40%) and half of the M40 will always struggle even if housing is free, assuming that they aspire to have two children and to live in the Klang Valley.
According to Transparency International Malaysia, corruption had cost our country about 4% of its gross domestic product (GDP) value each year since 2013. Added together, this amounts to a high figure of some RM212.3bil since 2013. For 2017 alone, that figure was a whopping RM46.9bil!
Imagine what we can do with these monies if there was no leakage in the system? The previous government should have channeled the money to stimulate economic growth and increase the income of the rakyat.
Going forward, I am optimistic that the new government, with its promise of a clean and transparent government, can finally fix the leakage and focus on generating a higher income level for all Malaysian households.
Financial independence is a key factor in the overall well being of the rakyat. We need to increase household incomes to a level where families can meet their basic needs and embark on long-term financial planning, to elevate their quality of life.
Then, and only then, will housing and other living expenses finally become affordable.
By
Food for thought By Alan Tong
Datuk Alan Tong has over 50 years of experience in property development. He is the group chairman of Bukit Kiara Properties. For feedback, email bkp@bukitkiara.com
Unfazed, this mass comm graduate overcame all kinds of challenges to make it in business.
SAMANTHA Mah did well on her first business venture but suffered a loss on her second. However, failure did not deter her and her two partners from moving on. They gave it another go until they could see the fruits of their labour.
Mah worked as a company administrator and voice talent for radio commercials before she decided to venture into business.— aNis aBdullah/The star
Mah’s first business received an investment of RM10,000 from her sister, Natasha, 37. She and two investor-partners started an online boutique targeted at young women. After one-and-a-half years, business picked up and was quite good.
Mah, 30, is the youngest in her family. She has two elder sisters and a brother.
Mah, Natasha and a friend Jason Leong, 31, started their trading company on March 8, 2011. Just four months later, it incurred a big loss, prompting them to change the products they were selling – from peanuts and sesame seeds to edible organic products.
A mass communication graduate from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) in Selangor, Mah had worked part-time as a company administrator and voice talent for radio commercials before she venturing into business. She is now the marketing manager/managing director of her company.
After starting Wide Tropism Trading, she passed her online boutique business to a friend.
One of the biggest challenges for Mah, at the beginning, was that neither she nor her partners had a corporate background.
“We handled matters based on our experiences. Sometimes we had to ask friends for advice.
“In the first few years, there were lots of arguments,” she said.
Mah is glad that her relationship with Natasha survived those trying times.
As part of the company’s costcutting measures, each of them had to take on more responsibilities in various departments.
“There were too many things on my plate – human resource, accounts, design and marketing – and I was suffocating. But we did not have enough (finances) to hire staff,” said Mah.
After two months, she “exploded” and cried during a meeting.
“I could not take the pressure and workload anymore,” she said.
Eventually, they could afford to hire new staff.
“Only then did things start to fall into place,” she said.
Cheated by a supplier
Initially, they were importing foods such as peanuts and sesame seeds, and distributing them to local suppliers. Unfortunately, they suffered a huge loss in the first year itself due to unscrupulous parties.
Due to limited cash flow, they could only import one container of stock at a time. Each time, they flew over to the exporting country, India, to check on the quality of the stock and witness the peanuts being loaded into the containers. The first two shipments went through successfully.
However, the third shipment, supposedly of Grade A peanuts, was discovered to contain Grade C stock instead, when it arrived.
She said: “No one in the market would accept the stock. We sought help from the local distributor to sell off the peanuts at a lower price but even then, no one wanted them. After trying for two months, we had to sell off the peanuts to a peanut butter factory at below cost. As a result, we ran into losses amounting to RM40,000.”
The supplier denied it was his fault and instead blamed others. They then contacted the High Commission of India, in Kuala Lumpur, for help but to no avail.
“We wondered how we were going to continue business. My father advised us to pick ourselves up, learn from it, and be more careful. Everyone was very supportive and encouraged us to continue. They believed we could do better,” she said.
Mah then sought help from her uncle, an experienced fruit trader and grocer. He advised her to run a business that’s less risky, such as repackaging and distributing organic products.
She and her business partners promptly took his advice.
In July 2011, her company had its first customer, a newly opened supermarket in Petaling Jaya. In two months, Mah’s team had designed the logo and sourced for products and packaging. And so, their label Love Earth was born.
Overcoming obstacles
Every day, Mah and her partners packed their products until midnight, and delivered them, working on weekends to selfpromote their products as well.
Said Mah: “Each time a new supermarket called, we’d celeto brate!”
Gradually, it was time start their expansion plan but they were hampered by limited cash flow.
They knew they had to spend more to create brand awareness. That’s when they started their online webstore.
“None of us had any knowledge about marketing. So I attended marketing and e-commerce talks to learn and see what we could do,” she said.
Mah recalled: “The first three years of business were really tough. My salary was only RM1,000 monthly (to cut costs).”
But their efforts paid off. After five years of sheer hard work, they could buy two units of four-storey shophouses.
The company started with 50 products and now has 180.
Currently, it is distributing these products to over 500 outlets throughout Malaysia.
New priorities
Mah, who got married two years ago, plans to expand her family this year. Her husband, C.V. Loh, 32, distributes bio-degradable plates, lunch boxes and bowls as well as health supplements.
She said: “I hope to have financial freedom, and more time for my family. If possible, I would like to be a part-time businesswoman and full-time housewife one day.”
She plans to raise her children herself and not send them to a nanny. She also hopes to travel more in the future. Presently, she travels at least thrice a year. Seeing other countries and cultures opens up one’s mind, she said.
Although she is a career woman, Mah believes in putting family first.
“Women play a role in bringing up the family. If a child is not well taught, he might be a nuisance to society in the future. But if he has a good upbringing, he can be the sun that shines and brings benefits to all. Also, a woman is the pillar that upholds the family,” she said.
Mah explained that even though she studied mass communication and broadcasting, it was during her internship that she realised that she wanted to go on a different career path than she had originally planned.
After her graduation, she thought of going into volunteer work. But her uncle advised against it. He told her to be successful so that she could help herself and others in future.
Rightways 