Rich Malaysia, Poor Malaysians: Essays on Energy, Economy and Education

Malaysia is blessed with abundant natural resources, petroleum being the most precious. With income per capita of about US$9,970 and Petronas continuously providing an onerously generous 40 per cent to government revenues, Malaysia has all the essential ingredients to flourish.

It remains a mystery as to why and how this small country of 30 million people managed to shockingly assume the unsolicited title of the region’s most unequal nation.

Have we the common people, appreciated how much wealth Malaysia has?

Do we have a clear picture as to how such wealth was spent?

In these essays, the author attempts to uncover how our oil and gas resources were developed and whether they have been exploited for or, rather, at the expense of the general public. The oil royalty dynamics are also explained step-by-step to provide a context to the on-going saga.

How does the exploitation of this fast-depleting resource play a pivotal role in the multiple socio-economic realities we face, ranging from household debt to income inequality, stagnant wages and poor educational standards in international rankings?

Is our national education a failure? Should we teach Philosophy in universities?

What are the myths of the rich and poor? How can education alleviate the poor? Encounter failures inherent in the education system and discover the spirit of education volunteerism as possible ways out. This forms the raison d’etre for Teach for The Needs (TFTN) – to promote education equality among underprivileged children.

Such a riposte to the current malaise in education begs the question, is school a betrayal to education itself? Is the time ripe to replace our current national philosophy of education with love and free education?

The author’s search for enlightening answers to some of these hard pressing questions gave birth to this book where a mixture of ideas, ideals and critical proposals coalesce into one. Deliberations in this book are hardly the author’s alone – it is humbly shared in the hopes that they can be expounded further through the public domain. To that end – requiro!