OCT 3 — Egyptians are a very proud people. And why shouldn’t they be? They have an almost bottomless pit of historical, religious and cultural heritage to pluck from, plus some of the most amazing travel destinations to offer — from sprawling white deserts to the breathtaking Red Sea to lure tourists from all over the world. All through the centuries tourists have flocked to Egypt to experience her splendour, and they will most likely continue to do so until the end of days. After all, archaeologists are still discovering new temples and tombs which must be showcased to the world.
It doesn’t matter that this romantic notion of Egypt is in direct contrast to what modern-day Egypt actually is — a country with over 80 million citizens, with Cairo alone bursting at its seams with around 18 million. A substantial number live below the poverty line, unemployment is high and the country is being developed lopsidedly. The Egyptian government often focuses so much on attracting foreign tourists and in luring foreign investment that the welfare of Egyptians in general are neglected.
But still, this doesn’t prevent the street beggar, the old lady selling vegetables on the street corner, or the young unemployed men smoking their fruit-scented shisha pipes in the ahwaa (local cafe) from gushing with pride if you were to ask what Egypt meant to them.
In their limited English, or better yet if you could understand Arabic, they would rattle off about how Egypt was the most magnificent country in the world and extol all the virtues and wonders Egypt had to offer.
Bring the conversation into the realm of Egyptian politics and the ruling government however, and the expression on the face of our proud Egyptian turns from delight to dour, as if rudely awoken from a glorious dream. Because that’s when reality sets in.
Suddenly, all the praises sang about Egypt barely a few minutes ago are replaced with an endless torrent of how the government is autocratic and oppressive, how officials are beyond corrupt and how no one looks after the poor except in token measures.
The foreigner, too, gets caught in the crossfire. “The government doesn’t care how we live because they are only interested in attracting you — the foreigner — to Egypt so that you will spend all your money here and make ‘them’ rich”, the young men grumble, swirls of shisha smoke snaking out of their lips as they speak. “We don’t get anything.”
The neighborhood I lived in, Maadi, is mainly inhabited by foreigners or affluent Egyptians. There is always some ongoing construction somewhere in the neighbourhood. Old buildings are torn down to make way for spanking new structures and renovations are hurriedly carried out on existing buildings to help them keep pace with the new modern buildings. Countless swanky restaurants, al fresco cafes and expensive international franchises line the Maadi streets in a bid to lure the foreigner to spend whatever money they have on them, down to their last Egyptian piastre (sen).
But a mere half hour’s drive away in Giza, near the Great Pyramids, the buildings resemble nothing more than badly damaged concrete shelters. A small irrigation canal parallel to the main road is stagnant with black water — a bloated dead horse and overflowing rubbish bags floated just metre away from a boy who was waist-deep in the water himself, scrubbing his horses “clean”.
It is these contrasting images which stir the anger of the ordinary Egyptian towards the government. “They are spending our hard-earned Egyptian money in all the wrong places”, a shopowner lamented.
“We get billions from America, but they spend almost all of it on the military and weapons. Are we still at war with Israel? Sure, we need to protect the Sinai border, but who protects the rest of us? I’m a shopowner, and sometimes I can’t even afford to buy meat to feed my family.”
These complaints and situations may seem far removed from Malaysia, but the reality isn’t so. Our scenarios and grouses may be different, but the arguments are the same.
I shake my head in despair whenever a particular local TV programme airs each week, calling for public donations to ease the financial burdens of those members of Malaysian society who struggle to survive on a single paltry income (if at all) whilst raising half a dozen children and living in cowsheds or dilapidated wooden shacks with no water nor electricity.
Then there is the rising level of crime and the increasing brazenness with which they are being committed, indicating that not enough is being done to combat this rising menace. Just look at snatch thefts now. These have evolved from being plain “snatch-and-run” to “smash car window, inflict hurt with parang/helmet, snatch, then run” crimes. Why are the authorities not fighting back as aggressively as they should be? Lack of funds and hence, lack of opportunity to engage more personnel?
Public facilities like government hospitals and schools can also do with much better facilities and upgrading. I find it an embarrassing double standard to have glitzy shopping malls, towering skyscrapers and an F1 racetrack, but at the same time, a visit to Hospital Kuala Lumpur, a hospital for the masses, transports me back to the 1970s.
Something is wrong with this picture.
All these scenarios indicate a government’s misplaced sense of priorities, when it would rather dip its fingers into the nation’s coffers in order to finance the participation of a 1 Malaysia F1 Team (IMF1T) in the next F1 season — the most expensive sport in the world — rather than to focus on improving the quality of life of Malaysians as a whole. What about those rural children who still have to make that difficult journey to school in a sampan because there is no accessible road from their kampung to the nearest school?
A former PM even came out in support of the IMF1T to say, among other things, that F1 is an important instrument to promote Malaysia to the world.
I honestly think that Malaysia has enough “presence” already on the world map. When I was in Egypt, the Malaysian Tourism Board’s “Malaysia — Truly Asia” commercial must have aired on television at least twice a day. Most people now know, or have heard of Malaysia in one way or another. The Petronas Twin Towers is as well-known and as uniquely recognisable as the Empire State Building, and anyone with even a mild interest in sports knows that we have an F1 racetrack. That often-bandied story about Malaysians being questioned if we live on trees has become a thing of the past.
We certainly have enough mega-structures in the country to last at least a few more generations, so is it really necessary to now add to that list, a phenomenally expensive, high-risk F1 team which will guzzle no less than RM150 million each year on operations alone? All in the name of national unity and, as our Sports Minister put it, as a “source of pride and joy” for Malaysians.
Are we Malaysians so insignificant in our own identities and heritage that we need to have an F1 car to make us feel proud?
It will be a good long-term investment, they said. Last I looked, the eradication of poverty, culling crime, bettering the living conditions of citizens and upgrading public facilities and amenities are all good long-term investments too.
It makes me wonder if our government is hoping, or working towards ensuring that Malaysians have that same instinctive “pride mindset” as the Egyptians. Keep coming up with grand, lofty ideas which shout out to the world that “Malaysia Boleh!” and Malaysians will be happy.
But at least with Egypt, that pride mindset makes perfect sense because it is premised on what is at the core, Egyptian — their own heritage.
Here we are being asked to throw our support behind a racing car and team which are untested, and let’s be realistic — doubtful of even getting into the championship points (let alone the podium) in order to be competitive. All at a cost which may not be substantial for F1 in general, but astronomical for our developing nation.
If all the cogs in the Malaysian wheel are already running smoothly and nothing is left wanting in our social, economic and developmental infrastructures, then fine. F1 is a very fast-paced, technologically superior and exciting sport and there is nothing wrong in wanting to participate in the pinnacle of all grand prix races, but it is certainly inappropriate when Malaysia can still put that money to better use elsewhere in the country.
I don’t think that the family living in the cowshed nor the sampan-commute schoolchildren will really care that Malaysia has its own F1 team — except maybe once they know how much of the rakyat’s money is being sucked into it, as then they will surely bemoan as to why the government couldn’t have spared some of that to make their lives a little better.
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Sazlin Daud, you have my greatest respect to put into perspective what we Malaysians are suffering from. A false PRIDE created by Mahathir in his BOLEHLAND when all the money spent and yet to be spent can uplift the poor and depraved in our beloved country i.e. Malays in east-coast eking out a living farming and fishing,Orang asli still in need of help in uplifting their living conditions,Indians Malaysians living in squalor conditions,poor Chinese,yes poor Chinese they do exist fighting for a better living for their families.
Over in East Malaysia the Penens exploited,sakais,dyaks and do I need to say more.Why spent the Billions if not hundreds of millions for a false pride to satisfy the EGO of a few.