+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | _______ | I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, | | ,--'.:::::.`-._ | indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered! | | /..:::::::::::..\ | | | /..:::::::::_;::::| | | | || `---'----' _|:::| | | | || `;:::| | | | |' ==== ==== |-::| | | | |-( @ )-( @ )--|O):| | | | | ` | ` |/::' | | | . v |:/ jeremy@ | | | | ___, || malcolm | | | \ -- _/| .id.au | | | \_____.-'__/-.__ | | | _| _/|::.\.::-._ | | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | [ ] news [ ] about [ ] writing [*] journal [ ] images [ ] guests | | +--- latest | | |->> archive | | `--- search | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "Development" :: [2010-02-09 04:38PM] | | mood: Argumentative | | music: Jason Derülo | | | | The Malaysian government is on mission to wrest the country out of the | | middle income trap in which it finds itself, and turn it into a fully | | developed nation by 2020. | | | | My question is, why? Is the middle really so bad? Malaysia still has a | | relaxed lifestyle, a low cost of living, high life expectancy, abundant | | greenery, and relatively few "hardcore poor" (about 44,000 households by | | the government's numbers). | | | | But as the country races towards 2020 it is unclear how long its quality | | of life will be maintained; already, there seems no end to the | | construction of new fly-overs, high rise condominiums and high density | | housing estates, resulting in increased noise, congestion and pollution. | | We live some distance from the city centre, but anything that we leave out | | on our veranda is very soon covered in a layer of black soot. | | | | Whilst I'm not an environmentalist, it is documented that forest clearing | | in urban areas has raised average temperatures, and in rural areas where | | palm oil plantations are replacing natural jungle, biodiversity is being | | reduced. | | | | Neither am I anti-development (in fact my former university chums would | | choke at that suggestion), but the race to join the developed West is also | | reducing Malaysia's historical and cultural richness. Minorities are being | | displaced and languages lost. Even the favoured Malays are not immune, with | | the Prime Minister's announcement that the last traditional Malay kampung | | (village) in the city will be razed for the construction of skyscrapers, | | condominiums, shopping malls and housing. | | | | As I tweeted last year, I think there's a lot to be said for the idea of | | peace, happiness and wellbeing based progress criteria, rather than a | | fixation on growth based economic development. Gautama Buddha had something | | going when he recommended a middle path between extremes... and I think | | Malaysia would do well to follow his advice. | | | | reply (1 comments) | | << Back | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Links: portal / wedding / calendar / honours / phd / iq / igfwatch / random | | page generated in 0.088 seconds sadlittlewebjournal 2.9.3 | | content (c) its respective creator(s) web administration | | valid html 4.01 transitional foaf / rss feed | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+