After three years of broken promises and unfulfilled dreams, things are finally looking up for Nor Hedayah Morad, who was born without legs, had to quit school early this year as she was dependent on classmates to move around. The NST which broke the story yesterday, reported that Nor Hedayah, 14, had received various pledges of help three years ago when her plight was highlighted by the media, but most of the promises did not materialise.
I had posted about the 15-minute media fame that motivated many so-called do-gooders' going public with generous offers of assistance when writing about the Force of Nature Concert for Tsunami Aid at the Bukit Jalil stadium on March 18 night (Malaysia, charity begins at home", March 19, 2005). Many international aid agencies have similarly reported that a high percentage of pledges of help for such disaster victims remained just that -- promises, made to be broken.
The irony of Nor Hedayah's case is that for the past four months, she had to say farewell of achieving her ambition of becoming a teacher as she had to stay home to help her father, Morad Dohaman, 58, and her mother, Hasnah Baharum, 50, with household chores, her sad routine only brightened up by occasional calls by her schoolmates in Form 2. The irony is that
is that Hedayah was registered with the state (Kedah) Welfare Department since she was one, according to her mother, but the family never received any assistance.
Today's NST report brought some cheer -- Hedayah can look forward to resuming schooling soon, thanks to Modenas pledge to gift her father a scooter to ferry her about.
And an appropriate word from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, quoted by the NST, that those who make pledges to help the less fortunate should do so.
"Do not disappoint them. If you are unable to do so, you must apologise," he said in Kuala Lumpur after launching Telekom Malaysia's new brand identity yesterday. (All emphases are desiderata's).
Deja vu?
Another young Malaysian's plight was spied from the NST Letters column (April 15, 2005) headed: ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE 11 A1s not enough for scholarship?
The writer JIN KHANG, Seremban, asked from the start: "It is the same every year, isn't it? And this year it is my sister's turn to try her luck in getting a scholarship..."
Jin Khang went on to lament that even with 11A1s in the recent SPM examinations, her sister failed to make it to the interview rounds for Bank Negara, Petronas scholarships, and anxiously awaiting an answer to her application for the Public Service Department scholarships. The candidate was a head prefect who was also active in extra co-curricular activites. I believe she was among the outstanding student performers who were recently hosted to a dinner by Pak Lah at Putrajaya where Education Minister Datuk Hishamuddin Hussein was also present.
So desiderata's question is this: are our Government, and national corporations like Petronas, fulfilling their promises to the talented young Malaysians in assisting them in their ideal age to excel?
Hey, oil is a national resource, and Petronas is merely overseeing this resource on the rakyat's behalf; so how about demonstrating more corporate citizenship consciousness with distribution of the wealth generated from the rich oil and gas reserves of Malaysia in helping groom young Malaysians? And also our beloved PM is trying to promote the mission of growing "Towering Malaysians".
I pray there won't be repeat soon of another 120-130 young Malaysian top performers at STPM failing to pursue medical studies because they can't get a place in the publci universities, and also can't afford the bank loans amounting to RM500,000 to finance a medical course at a local private university. (It happened at around this time last year, remember? Where are you, MCA and UMNO politicians?) As a tax-payer, I feel letdown and a sense of outrage when my country fails the young ones. Idealism is so easily washed out by an uncaring and unfeeling leadership, whether government or corporate. I hope race and religion do not factor in such sad
Indeed, It is the same every year, isn't it?
2 comments:
yes, it's a pity really when you see all these bright, talented young people, striving so hard and yet getting a handful of dust! and not even gold dust! wonder why we have so many fantastic Malaysians abroad (as featured by The Star on a weekly basis?) Because they DON'T see a future for themselves in Malaysia. Sure it is homeland but can they survive here? Maybe it's time we asked: why are there so many Malaysians abroad who don't want to come home? ~Maya~ www.MayaKirana.com
Maya - hi, welcome,
I endorse again your observation and concern. Indeed, many young Malaysains who study overseas hesitate to return -- cos' they become wiser with age, growing up!Reality dictates you serve ("work"?) where the opps are more and brighter.
Now it's a borderless world, and sometimes the adage ONLY THE FITTEST SURVIVE holds true when the marketplace gest more crowded, and the talent pool gets wider.
Let's hope we have leaders with real VISION 2020; always eternal springs the hopes in Malaysian hearts for our Homeland, a Lucky Country waiing to be mined. (the word "mined", unfortinately, holds 2 potentially opposite meanings...)
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