The Never-Ending Cry

The whole country is gearing up for the coming 50th Merdeka (Independence) celebrations this week, Friday 31st August, to be exact. Over the past month or so, full-colored banners or buntings were hung around the capital depicting the various achievements, news media coverage and prime-time advertisements on the national airwaves rolled throughout the day, flags of all sizes were flown from tops of buildings and skyscrapers, car bonnets were not even spared, some were totally re-sprayed from their original paint! - talk about patriotism, huh? For the first-timers to this country, a large majority of them are extremely intrigued, others see it as a sign of a growing and nurturing society, and there is another group who do not really give two hoots about the yearly rituals. Well, how can they be blamed?
I was browsing through today's Star paper and happen to spot an article by a tourist who, although enjoyed his family holiday here, was totally disgusted by the already infamous Malaysian touts and callous cab-drivers. Not only are these taxi drivers over-charging and extorting from foreigners, our own Malaysian public are also at their mercy. Okay, I'll not make this into a forum about our public service systems and such, lest I attract government scrutiny or blacklisting from some security sources! My point here is this, however developed a nation is, if the service levels and attitude of the peoples (especially those involved in the service industry), cannot portray the characteristic of a civilised and disciplined culture, then all the hoo-haa about positive strides in the economy, coming out into the era of globalisation, trendy outlook for the coming years are just plain hot air and immaterial to people like the above tourist. Just this one matter alone, about the public transport service here, can be so off-putting that this particularly tourist mentioned that Malaysia will not be one of the recommended places to visit! Yes, you might say, it's just one ang-moh kui (red-haired ghost), but what you might not realize is the impact of this one article upon those contemplating on visiting Malaysia in the coming years. So, there goes the tax-payers ringgits in promoting Visit Malaysia Year! Kudos to those who have excelled and performed their due diligence in their duties, and thanks but no thanks to the many who have failed the spirit of Malaysia and its colorful people.
Why is this article in a personal development site? Well, why not? There's a lesson to be learnt here ( just in case you didn't notice). Whatever we do in business, our everyday duties at home, in school, in the office etc, we need to have a very clear conscience, as well as maintaining a respectable attitude in our work. It's a matter of doing the right thing vs. doing things right. Simple to say and definitely not easy to achieve, unless one develops the right mindset doubled with consistent daily rigorous training, nothing here is impossible.