Congratulations Dr Mahathir This Is Your Wawasan 2020

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Yesterday after the MCO was lifted these pictures started to go viral. It shows people lining up outside pawn shops around the country to pawn their valuables for cash money. The first picture is a pawn shop at Jalan Munsyi Abdullah in Melaka (you can see the signboard at the bottom left).


Here is another pajak gadai :



And here is another viral video of a long queue outside a pajak gadai in Jalan CM Yusuf in Ipoh yesterday 4th May, 2020 :


This is really very sad. I got a bit floored when I saw this. So many Malaysians, and you can see many Malays as well, have little or no cash to tide over an emergency situation. They have to queue up to pawn whatever valuables they can spare. What about those who do not even have valuables to be pawned? Where do they go? 
Yes its true all over the world the people are suffering, especially the poor. But not in all countries and not to the same degree. I don't think they had as many queues outside pawnshops in Singapore. 
They are having major issues in India and other poor countries. We seem to belong in the poor Third World country category. 
But what happened to all those billions that Dr Mahathir spent on the Dasar Ekonomi Baru? The billions spent on making instant millionaires and billionaires? Where did all those billions of spending go? 
What happened to our education system? Education has received the highest Budget allocations since Merdeka, 63 years ago.  What happened to all that money that has been spent on education? 
In Indonesia and India some parts of their countries do not even have schools.  Or people must pay a lot of money for schools.  Those are poor countries. 
But we are not India or Indonesia. This is Malaysia lah.We are not a poor country. Or we are not supposed to be one.  
I hope Dr Mahathir reads this. These pictures and the video tells you exactly what you have done. You have squandered hundreds of billions of Ringgit and this is the net result of all your handiwork, over the past decades. Long lines of poor people hit badly by an unforeseen, unexpected crisis.
It is during crisis like this, the Corona Virus infections, the low oil prices, that we can see how poorly things have been managed in this country. 
The list of arguable points is endless but  clearly you have impoverished the people by forcing them to pay astronomical prices for almost everything that they consume. 
Our rice is more expensive than in Singapore. Because of a crony monopoly. 
Our electricity rates are high. Again because of a GLC monopoly. 
Our car prices are among the highest in the world - again because of crony APs, that really inane national car project, excessive protection for the national car projects etc.  
Malaysians have been impoverished because we have been paying way, way above world market prices for simple needs and necessities.  Pay more and more, get less and less.
No one is asking for the cheapest electricity, the cheapest tank of cooking gas, the cheapest cars, the cheapest face masks, the cheapest rice etc. I repeat : No one is asking for the cheapest electricity, the cheapest tank of cooking gas, the cheapest cars, the cheapest face masks, the cheapest rice etc. 
Can we just pay what the next human being in the world may pay for these same products and services - in a free market?
In this country there is always some monopoly, some crony holding the reigns, some AP, some silly tax and import levy and the unending corruption - all adding up make the Malaysian consumer suffer higher prices for inferior goods and services.
And then we get this (from today's news) :
"MACC investigating RM30 million contract related to Covid-19 testing
THE Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is investigating a company over its RM30 million contract to supply mass testing laboratory systems to a ministry, said sources.  While the sources refused to divulge the ministry involved, The Malaysian Insight understands it was the Health Ministry, and that the system was to be used for testing Covid-19 infections.  “I can’t reveal the ministry but we will be calling in some witnesses soon,” he told The Malaysian Insight, adding that an MACC team had visited the ministry on April 30.
The never ending corruption. What does corruption mean? Pay more and more get less and less.
Our sekolah kebangsaan education system manufactures morons. After 63 years the kampong people remain more ignorant and they are still poor. Even the towns people are poor - as you can see in the pictures and the video.  
So this has been your life achievement. As you can see this is Wawasan 2020. It is here.Congratulations. 
And here is a peek into the future - it is going to get worse, especially for the Malay folks.  It is going to get much worse.Posted by Syed Akbar Ali 

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