Digest on Malaysian News

Ding lambasts youths for being ungrateful

By Anthony Aga

SARIKEI: The Sarikei member of parliament Ding Kuong Hiing expressed his dismay over the ingratitude and lack of appreciation to the government among the young generation.

This was clearly shown by their attitude towards the government when instead of being thankful to the government who had accorded them the best of treatment, they supported the opposition in the elections, he said.

“This should not happen to our youngsters, because the government had considered them as the most valuable assets and accorded them the best treatment.”

They were given the opportunity and incentives to acquire the highest education possible to change their life for the better so that they could contribute towards nation-building, he stressed.

The youth seemed to be ungrateful to people, including their own parents, who gave them good things. More often than not they were more receptive to bad influence and preferred bad company.

If that was the case, he felt there was a need for teachers to correct the attitude among the students, he said when he officiated at the divisional Education Department Excellent Awards presentation ceremony at the civic centre here yesterday afternoon.

“Teachers ought to instill in their students the sense of appreciation towards those who give them opportunities and guidance towards a bright future.”

To ensure our youth enjoyed the best opportunities in education, the government had allocated 45 per cent of the nation’s annual expenditure for education, he said, adding, that the budget included provision of free text books, free school fees, free examination fees and many other forms of assistance for the low-income group.

No many governments offered this kind of treatment to the youth, he said, citing the case of China where children had to pay huge amount of fees to enroll into schools.

Apart from education, the government had Publish Postalso allocated funds to ease the hardship of the people in general. That included cheap medical services at government hospital and subsidies on essential goods. It might be difficult to instill this value in the youth overnight, but he believed a systematic way of inculcating the value would gradually click in their mind.

Source: http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=33068 (Mar 25, 2008)


MD Says:

If Ding Kuong Hiing is referring to the younger generation of Sarikei have no appreciation of the government, then he should think twice before giving the comment. Maybe he should think trice.

The reason why the younger generation of Sarikei, in particular, are not appreciating the government is because of the lack of job opportunity. I am doubtful if Ding is residing full time in Sarikei because Sarikei is almost a dead town. A town void of job opportunities. It is the government fault of not planning the future of Sarikei and provide the necessary uplifting for the residents there.

Most young generation of Sarikei after completing their studies are migrating to Kuching or West Malaysia to look for jobs. The only people left at Sarikei are the old folks and school going kids. Those youths that stayed back at Sarikei probably does not have the right qualification for jobs outside Sarikei or maybe they are committed to accompany their parents at home.

Locals originating from Sarikei loves their town and district but have to venture elsewhere to earn their living. Government did provide education but not the opportunity to work and stay in Sarikei.

Lastly, Ding mentioned the cheap medical services at government hospital. All I can say is that the medical services of government run hospital is cheap but hopeless and slow with instances of reported negligent. What Ding should mentioned is that the government hospital is efficient. But that's is only a wish.