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Wednesday 30 October 2013

Is Malaysia Really Lacking in Integrity?

     
Last night, I worked late again and slept at 1.00 a.m but at 6.15 a.m. this morning, I was awakened once again by yarl restaurant’s loud and deafening kitchen hood noise. I tried to cover my ears with two pillows as usual but I just couldn't sleep because the kitchen hood noise is just too much to bear. It is unusually loud this morning. Even after pressing two pillows hard on my ears, the kitchen hood noise could still be heard loudly, clearly, and deafeningly. I have no choice but to get up and turn on the music and here I am, writing out this article. Although I am feeling a bit dizzy now due to serious lack of sleep,  I want to write my heart out to share my desperate plight with the world as it is the only thing which I can do at this moment. As I have written in an earlier article, I have no rights - not even the right to sleep. I am a voiceless person who cannot even afford to protect my most basic human rights. And today, I am going to discuss what is meant by Malaysian integrity because I really don't see any especially given the situation that I am in now. What is even worse is that it seems that the Malaysian government is encouraging this lack of integrity through Yarl restaurant's selfish and irresponsible way of doing business. Why is it so? Despite repeated complaints to DBKL (Kuala Lumpur City Council) and the Department of Environment, nothing has been done at all to put a stop to this kind of nuisance in the neighbourhood. When Fong Kui Lun's (MP for this area)secretary went to see Yarl restaurant's boss to persuade him not to produce so much noise to disturb the neighbourhood, his suggestion was completely ignored by Yarl restaurant's boss. When he went to see the City Council officers, they told him they couldn't do anything about it. Well ,this is what we call Malaysian integrity.

But why did the Malaysian government set up the Institiut Integriti Malaysia and makes so much fuss about integrity sending all the civil servants to attend the integrity course? What is the purpose of making such a fuss about integrity knowing that it is inapplicable in the Malaysian society? Why am I saying that integrity is irrelevant here in Malaysia? Well, let us see what the institute says about integrity and whether the things that it says are effective in the Malaysian society.
According to a pamphlet distributed by Institiut Integriti Malaysia:
Kita membesar dalam integrity apabila persekitaran kita mengandungi nilai-nilai baik dan mulia.
It means that we will grow up in integrity if our surrounding environment is made up of good values. But what if our environment is dominated by bad values and the government is not doing anything to eliminate them? Yarl restaurant is certainly not a good role model for the children in this neighbourhood because it is indirectly teaching the children that they can do what they like at the expense of others. And the children are certainly not 'growing up in integrity' when their home is plagued by noise all the time to the extent that they can't even do their revision at home. What would happen to children who cannot study at home and cannot stay at home because the home environment simply does not encourage them to do so? There is only answer - to hang around with delinquent peers. Why delinquent peers? Decent children always have a house which they can call home. Only problematical children  would choose to be away from their house as much as possible due to many negative reasons. 

Again according to this pamphlet:

Integriti hilang apabila pembekal perkhidmatan dan perniagaan tidak menitikberatkan kesejahteraan para pengguna sebaliknya bekerja untuk keuntungan sendiri.

This means that there is no integrity if the business owners do not bother about the well-being of others but only think of themselves. This is a precise description of Yarl restaurant's boss who is sacrificing the health and well-being of the entire neighbourhood merely for the sake of his business. As long as he can make a profit, he couldn't be bothered what is happening to others.

Let us look at another piece of advice from Institiut Integriti Malaysia:

Integriti hilang apabila warganegara tidak mengambil berat akan orang lain. Kegagalan seperti ini berlaku apabila peraturan tidak dipatuhi dan budi bicara dicampak begitu sahaja. Sikap pentingkan diri sendiri mengurangkan sensitiviti kita terhadap orang lain.

It means that our integrity disappears when we disregard the well-being of others. This happens when we ignore the rules of behaviours and throws away our conscience. Our selfishness hence reduces our sensitivity towards others. Again, this is a precise definition for Yarl restaurant's boss. There is gross disregard for the well-being of others when he turns on the kitchen hood at maximum capacity early in the morning to wake up the entire neighbourhood. There is also a gross disregard for others who have to bear the loud and deafening kitchen hood noise for 18 hours a day. As I am editing this article, the time is already 11.25 p.m. but Yarl restaurant's kitchen hood is still making noise at its maximum capacity. The restaurant started operation at 6.15 a.m. this morning and at 11.25 p.m, the loud and deafening noise has been continuing for more than 17 hours!

At 8.07 a.m. this morning, the kitchen hood was turned off suddenly. A little while later, the noise was reduced to an acceptable level. But at 9.57 a.m., Yarl restaurant suddenly turned on the kitchen hood to its maximum capacity again. I surmise that the DBKL officers did check on them this morning but once the DBKL officers went off, Yarl restaurant would turn on its kitchen hood to its maximum capacity again. My neighbours had lodged many complaints and I realize that each time after anyone complains, the kitchen hood noise is reduced and the kitchen door is closed so that the curry particles couldn't come out but this is only for a little while (not more than one day) and soon the kitchen hood would go back to its maximum capacity in sound production and the kitchen door is opened again emitting curry particles that not only pollute the air but the bedrooms and the staircase which is inside the building as well. Thus one can see that the kitchen hood's noise can be reduced but it's just that Yarl restaurant's boss intentionally turns it on to the maximum level. Similarly, the kitchen door can be closed so that the clothes that we put out in the balcony to dry would not soak with curry but it's just that the door is intentionally left open. Each time after someone complains, Yarl restaurant would start operating at 7.00 a.m. and close at 10 p.m. but after a few days it would revert back to its old self once more i.e. opening earlier and earlier each day (as early as 5.20 a.m.) and closing later and later until 12 midnight. If no one complains, I wouldn't be surprised if it opens round-the-clock! This clearly depicts how sly, cunning, and selfish Yarl restaurant's boss is. Sad to say, he is also a liar. He lied to Fong Kui Lun's secretary on the 17 September 2013 that he would make changes to the kitchen to reduce the noise and curry particles in the air when in actual fact he had no intention to do anything at all. It is indeed a shameful thing that he thinks only of the profit that he could make in his business and would go to the extent of sacrificing everyone for his business. As such there is no difference between him and the snatch thieves who cause death or physical injury to their victims. This is because Yarl restaurant's boss and the snatch thieves have one thing in common i.e disregarding the well-being of others for their own profits!

Here, I would like to share an excerpt taken from the pamphlet distributed by Institiut Integriti Malaysia:

Kita menjaga kesihatan apabila kita memastikan diri kita sihat secara fizikal, mental, dan emosi. Kesihatan fizikal kita membantu kita menjadi lebih ceria, riang, dan peka.

This means that we have to ensure that we are healthy physically, mentally and emotionally. Good physical health makes us a better and happier person. The question is: How to be healthy physically, mentally, and emotionally when we are being plagued by loud, continuing, and deafening noise all the time to the extent that we can't even have enough sleep and are suffering from migraine due to Yarl restaurant's loud and deafening kitchen hood noise?

But why can't the Kuala Lumpur City Council or the Department of Environment do anything about this when Yarl restaurant's boss is showing an obvious disregard to human life? Why is the Malaysian government emphasizing on integrity when it is actually promoting the opposite of it through the behavior of Yarl restaurant's boss by inaction? The message that Yarl restaurant is propagating to our fellow Malaysians is very obvious i.e. go all the way out to make a profit for yourselves even to the extent of sacrificing everyone in the process of it and ignore the law (Environmental Noise Limits and Control) as well as the rules of human behavior as nothing can be done to stop you. Actions speaks louder than words. By turning on the kitchen hood to its maximum noise production level, Yarl restaurant's boss is impliedly giving us the message that he is in control and he can do whatever he wants and no one can stop him. Why waste money setting up the Institiut Integriti Malaysia when nothing can be done to instill integrity amongst Malaysians? For the show room? What is the purpose of preaching good virtues whilst at the same time encouraging the triumph of evil?

You can find part one of this article @ http://zorro2013questforjustice.blogspot.com/2013/10/human-rights-in-malaysia.html
 

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