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The lies people tell
“There are three types of lies -- lies,
damn lies, and statistics.”
Benjamin Disraeli
THE London-based Independent
newspaper has compiled the list
of the world’s most notorious liars
and among those who get into this
honourable list are two former US
presidents. Bill Clinton’s immortal
words were: “I’m going to say this
again. I did not have sexual relations
with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.
I never told anybody to lie, not a
single time. Never.” Six months
later Clinton refuted his denial in a
grand jury testimony where he said
he had had “an improper physical
relationship” with Lewinsky.
Richard Nixon was heard for-
mulating a plan to block scrutiny
into Watergate by getting the CIA
to mislead the FBI and say that na-
tional security was involved. Having
claimed to have had no knowledge
or involvement in the scandal before
the emergence of such damning
evidence, Nixon was left red faced.
“I said things that were not true. I
brought myself down. I gave them a
sword and they stuck it in,” he said
letters
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Mothers play crucial role
IT was the norm for a long time that
the husband ventures out to earn
the income for the family. Of the
income earned, the bulk of it was
spent on food, shelter and clothing.
The wife was given the honour
and trust to take charge of the
home, cooking and children. One
should acknowledge that these
are not easy tasks unless the wife
is reasonably educated, dedicated,
disciplined, and most importantly
fulfils her responsibilities with love.
It is really not an over-statement to
call her the “queen of the house”.
What is happening today is pav-
ing the way for the destruction of
the family institution. The moral
values and the discipline among
CitizenNades
by R. Nadeswaran
during an interview with British
journalist David Frost in 1977.
Well-known author and British
MP Jeffrey Archer claimed he had
an alibi when he brought action
against the Daily Star after it alleged
that he had had sex with a prostitute.
The case was found in Archer’s fa-
vour and he was awarded £500,000
(RM2.7 million) damages. Years
later, his friend Ted Francis and his
former personal assistant Angela
Peppiatt claimed he had made up
an alibi. Peppiatt had kept a diary of
Archer’s movements from around
the time and which contradicted
children has dipped tremendously.
The food (lunch) for the family is
prepared in haste and often not as
nutritious as it should be.
Now, in more than 75% of
families both husband and wife are
wage earners. This means the chil-
dren are under the care of a maid
(most of whom don’t speak Eng-
lish), nanny (who are reasonably
educated) or with acquaintances.
Often, the amount earned by
one of the wife is not significantly
higher that than that paid for all the
household chores.
The working parents are rest-
less and not at peace away from
home. Many call home frequently
to check on their children and their
TELLING IT AS IT IS
Managing Editor: Chong Cheng Hai
Consultant Editor: Zainon Ahmad
Executive Editor: Lee Boon Siew
Deputy Editor: Patrick Choo (Production),
Editor: R. Nadeswaran (Special Reporting and Investiga-
tions)
evidence he had given under oath.
In a subsequent court case Archer
was found guilty of perjury and
sentenced to four years jail.
Jonathan Aitken, a former jour-
nalist and Tory MP sued The Guard-
ian newspaper which claimed
he had dodgy dealings with high
profile Saudis. “If it falls to me to
start a fight to cut out the cancer of
bent and twisted journalism in our
country with the simple sword of
truth and the trusty shield of British
fair play, so be it. I am ready for the
fight. The fight against falsehood
and those who peddle it,” he said.
His attempt to sue The Guardian for
libel was unsuccessful and he was
found guilty of perjury over false
claims that his wife had paid for a
disputed hotel stay in Paris.
On the home front, if such a
list is drawn up, it will be difficult
to short-list the rich, famous and
titled to just ten. How many times
have we heard that famous line: “I
did not say that”, despite enough
people hearing such utterances or
having been captured on tape say-
ing that? How many times did one
former minister challenge theSun
maids. Some parents even instal
CCTVs in their homes to have a
first-hand look at what is going
on in their house.
Previously, the children spent
less time with their fathers and
it was treated as normal. How-
ever, today the time children
spend with their mothers has
been reduced too. As a result,
the younger children are more
attached to the maid, nanny or
others in the house as compared
to the mother.
Some children fall sick when
the maid or nanny takes leave.
Some mothers are envious or
jealous of this scenario. Even
if the maid or the nanny seems
very caring, there is an element
of doubt in the sincerity as there
is no blood relationship between
the child and the nanny.
Working couples claim that it
is a necessity for both to work as
the salary they get is low.
Why do wives shun being
queen of the house, and opt to
work? Many of them are now
highly educated and it is seen as
a waste of resources if they stay at
home. The husbands too are to be
blamed for not valuing, honouring
and respecting the contributions of
housewives.
There are a lot of mothers who
are in dilemma between choosing
their family’s wellbeing and having
a successful career. In the end they
end up choosing one lackadaisi-
cally. I am sure if many half-day
positions (four hours a day) are
created, many such mothers would
gladly accept such positions as
it would give them more time to
spend with their family. Some can
work in the morning shift and the
others in the evening.
I hope the Human Resource
Ministry will allow half-day work
for mothers.
My conclusion is that, the par-
ents should assess whether there
is a need for both of them to work.
Serious consideration should be
given to non-monetary aspects.
P. Sritharan
Klang
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and decreed: “The land does not
belong to me. It belongs to the
party.” After sending a demand
letter from his lawyers and when
presented with the documents, he
retreated and claimed “there had
been a mistake.”
When you build a palace on land
meant for low-cost housing and
then declare that the owner had
done nothing wrong and then say
that a compound fine of RM22,000
is what the law allows, it would be
a lie too. When you take a helicop-
ter ride with the prime minister to
view the greenery that has been
shaved off the hill slopes, and then
When you accept a handsome
bonus very well knowing you
don’t deserve it, can it be justified by
saying: The company made profits and so fast is by helicopter?
I as the chairman am entitled to it?”
declare: Semuanya OK! what would
that amount to – a damned lie or
statistical one?
When you take your wife on
state-paid holiday and then declare
that there is nothing wrong with it,
would it tantamount to a statement
of fact? When you accept a hand-
some bonus very well knowing you
don’t deserve it, can it be justified by
saying: The company made profits
and I as the chairman am entitled
to it?”
When statistics and data from
Time to invest more
in public transport
IN the past five years that I have been
analysing public transport issues in
Malaysia, the phrase “penny wise and
pound foolish” keeps coming to mind.
This phrase refers to the idea that
someone can be so focused on small
amounts of money that he does not pay
attention to the larger amount that is
lost.
The government never wanted to
take up the cost of investing in and
operating a public transport system. For
that reason, the bus industry was largely
privatised. This system operated well for
many years, until the government made
two crucial decisions that hurt public
transport. First, the government invested
in private cars, and second, as part of an
effort to increase “competition” and cut
costs, the government allowed too many
companies to enter the public transport
markets.
The result of the government’s “penny
wise” decision to not invest or operate
public bus transport led to massive con-
gestion in cities that has cost the local
and national economy billions of ringgit
every year in terms of lost productivity,
wasted time and air pollution.
Instead of spending a little money
and increasing regulation and enforce-
ment, the government made the “pound
foolish” decision of taking over bus firms
to create Intrakota which it then merged
with CityLiner to become RapidKL. And
congestion has only got worse.
When it was recognised that there
was a need for a higher level of public
transport in the form of a rail network,
the government allowed KTMB to
introduce the KTM Komuter service. In
the 1990s the government and KTMB
made “penny-wise” decisions by using
existing tracks, building simple stations
with small roofs and stairs but no lifts,
and buying a small fleet of 60 Electric
Multiple Unit trains.
The result of the “penny-wise” deci-
sion to build the KTM Komuter service at
the most basic level has led to massive
congestion on the Komuter service as
demand has increased by 200% while
the number of trains has decreased by
65%. KTM Komuter is carrying three
times the number of passengers with
half the trains required. And yet, the
government still shows no interest in
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unauthenticated surveys proclaim
this or the other, would it be a
damned lie or a statistical one?
If more Singaporeans cross the
causeway and choose to do their
shopping in Johor Baru because it
is cheaper does it mean that tourist
arrivals are on the rise?
Almost daily, gems come out
from the mouths of some people
who say it with a straight face and
could only be described as unbe-
lievable. However, as long as there
are gullible followers and cronies
who continue to propagate the lies,
there isn’t much that can be done.
How many times have we come
across advertisements
from developers which
state “only 15 minutes
from the city centre”?
The only way to get there
A lie or a damned lie?
Supermarkets claim that
“we are the cheapest in town” but
has it been tested?
So, the claim-making goes on
unabated. The lies are seldom chal-
lenged. The perpetrators get away
with them. Unless we have the
money and resources to call their
bluff, they’ll continue being part of
our lives for a long, long time.
R. Nadeswaran is editor (special and
investigative reporting) at theSun.
He can be reached at: citizen-nades@
thesundaily.com
investing in new Komuter carriages that
are desperately needed.
When it was recognised that there
was a need for mass-transit in the cities,
the government allowed private com-
panies to take charge of the planning,
financing and operations of the LRT and
monorail systems. Back then the govern-
ment was not ready to take on the mas-
sive costs of investment in “light” rapid
transit, so allowing private companies
to take charge reduced the amount of
money the government would have to
spend. The result of the government’s
“penny wise” decision to let private
companies take charge is that the
Klang Valley has three separate public
transport lines that are poorly integrated
and use different technologies. And all
three companies were unable to meet
their projected revenues, which required
costly government takeovers.
Today, Prasarana has taken over the
operations of STAR, Putra, CityLiner and
Intrakota and replaced them with the
RapidKL public transport service and de-
mand for public transport has declined
to 16% in Malaysia and less than 20%
in the Klang Valley – and the economic
losses have continued to mount.
Unfortunately, we have not learned
our lesson and continue to apply the
same “penny-wise, pound-foolish” ap-
proach. The KRA Urban Transport Panel
knows that solutions have been clearly
identified but they are still asking the
operators for feedback – continuing
the “penny-wise” approach. The public
blames KTMB for inefficiency and sug-
gest that they should be “penny wise”
and cut costs but they forget that the
problems are caused by the lack of
investment – which is only going to cost
more in the future.
Other people are expressing a
“penny-wise” concern that Prasarana
has moved to a new office, but they are
not concerned about the RM15 billion
cost of the proposed LRT lines.
The only way we are going to see
real improvement in public transport is
when we start investing money in public
transport to build a system that is well-
planned, efficient and effective.
Moaz Yusuf Ahmad
Petaling Jaya