Wednesday 10 December 2008

Greed

I wonder which comes first, riches or power? Those already with money would eventually use money to seek power while those blinded with ambitions for power would first have to get down and dirty to get money with which to buy power.

Then again there are those with money but could not get the power they wanted simply because they seek shade under the wrong tree. What ever it is, the main ingredient here is GREED.

It is actually greed that got this country in the kind of mess it is in now. It is greed that is the main cause for the ground shift that caused the fatal landslide that perished  a few and disrupted the lives of so many recently.

Yes, they all tried so very hard to blame sudden movements in the ground for the killer slide without wanting to say why the ground moved.

The ground does not actually have a mind of its own. It did not suddenly, out of boredom, decide to do a few push ups. If left alone to its device, the ground would, like yours truly, prefer to just laze around doing nothing and as Hazlit implied in his essay, 'On Doing Nothing', if you just sit down doing nothing then nothing will happen.

I heard on tv how in just 2 days after the disaster the authorities could come out with a quick explanation on what caused the landslide. I had also waited and waited for them to say why the ground had moved but it was not forthcoming.

A certain Mr. Tempe, the previous CEO of the land where the slide happened chose to point out on some imaginary incompetency by the present government of the state in handling the situation. I wonder how he must have been ruing the missed opportunity of making shit turn to gold.

I mean if he were still CEO, he would somehow find the opportunity to make this disaster turn into a money spinner for him. Who cares, those who have died, have died, so let it be but those who are alive should find ways to profit from this like how to make millions in giving emergency supplies and millions more by providing services they got free from the army and other institutions.

Of course he did not touch on why the ground moved. What made the ground situation there so volatile that with some rain, it loosens up terribly and just gives way.

I was thinking to myself what the reaction would have been if this were to happen in Kelantan, a land ruled by the opposition for so long. They would have pounced on the opportunity to blame the government's handling of development. They would spare no time in accusing that greed and corruption were the main cause.

Since this happened just a few months after the opposition wrested control of the land they couldn't possibly blame it so they did the next best thing, blame their handling of the situation.

Then they will pay some idiotic machais to shout and scream blaming the PR government and the tvs and papers would make a circus out of this and the real important matter of what contributed to the ground movement would be lost in chaos.

These once very powerful warlords, whose greed knows no bounds, are the ones to blame. Their insensitivity to what would happen when hillslopes are abused; their relentless quests to make money to remain in power and their continous abuse of authority without the slightest regard for lives, is the main cause. Don't blame nature and don't blame God.

Yes, it is now the blame game and blame we must for if we don't then no one will learn anything from this sad episode.

Let not the lesson that we could learn from this be lost in the ensuing mudslinging. Lets get the culprits, high up warlords or low down machais, and give them what they deserved.

We would have thought that the lost of lives in the Highland Towers tragedy would be a lesson to avoid anymore Highland Towers buy sadly, no amount of tragedies could get in the way of greed, money and power.

16 comments:

Asil said...

Cikgu,

Ada pembeli, ada penjual.

Diorang tak kisah pun, tak ingat pun, mangsa2 banjir di bawah, disebabkan penarahan bukit, ekologi takungan hujan yg bercelaru - menyebabkan penduduk di tanah rendah menanggung banjir kilat dan air mcm teh ais. Lama2 Sungai Kelang tu boleh melintas pakai jalan kaki je.

Kalau tak beli tempat2 risiko mcm tu, takkan ada org nak jual. Kalau dah beli, yang duduk tinggi kenalah ingat yang di bawah.

Ini adalah peringatan Allah buat kita semua. Tapi benda ni dah ada sejak 80an lagi dah, hairan juga...

...thrill kot.

Unknown said...

Asil,
Memang betul, ada pembeli akan ada penjual. kalau ada dadah adalah penagihnya. kalau kita lesapkankan dadah takada orang nak menagih. Kalau pelan tak diluluskan dan bangunan tak dapat didirikan maka kalau ada sejuta pembeli pun urusniaga itu tak dapat dijalankan.

cakapaje said...

Salam Cikgu,

What Asil mentioned about this thing going on since the 1980's is quite true. In fact, many of the house owners there find difficulty in selling their houses. At the same time, there were buyers for other projects along the very same hill. Sad. Its like giving candy to children - the more you give them, the more they want. In the end, they grow up with missing teeth.

As I mentioned in my entry, it seem the British had already prohibited hillside development in Ampang way back before Merdeka. But once the Sarkas are in charge, they care for hoots on the seismology test conducted then. Perhaps, citing the results as untrue as the technology was old. Now, its proven who really is outdated here. Curses on Be End and all their people, namely the Sarkas.

Unknown said...

Shah,
Yes, Asil is very true and your thingy on seismology test too is true. To them its like this: You are required to take a seismology test just for the files thats all. The damn thing would be approved anyway.

As for the rich, I just stop short of writing about the royal treatment they are getting. Chefs from hotels preparing food for them. Would this have happened if it were to be in Kg. Kerinchi?

No, I have nothing against rich people but rich people asked for it when they build houses on steep slopes approved by richer and more powerful people.

cakapaje said...

Cikgu,

I share your sentiments about the privilege treatment there, I honestly do.

Anyway, I'm re-commenting as I forgot to comment about you mentioning on Kelantan. In fact, the stupid federal govt did try to come hard on Kelantan on the Lojing issue. Then they had to stop as it hits them back right on the nose - the issue they brought up was Federal Land in Kelantan, and not State Land! Damn stupid Be End!

Unknown said...

Shah,
To expect intelligence from a bunch of circus monkeys is to expect George Bush to to kiss Obama's arse.

Anonymous said...

Blame God and they won't know why kena strike by lightning!
Some people blame it on the greed of some rich.. to show off by living on the hillside and having a nice scenery. I think if in the first place, the authority did not approve for development in these dangerous areas and even if they did approve, had ensured proper safety measures, such tragic disaster would not have happened. I would say power (of the authority) and greed (of the authority and the developers and the buyers).

Unknown said...

peng, Exactly my sentiment. If the authority had cared for human safety and had not approved these ridiculous projects then there won't be a disaster in the first place. Asil had pointed out, prior to this the poor living downhill had to suffer because of constant floodings caused by this.

Asil said...

Cikgu, this thing could possibly happen:

The same people who are living there are probably the same people who are the authorities, who approved the project...

What goes around, comes around...

But, it's the mass effect that hits out at the innocent people...sad

Tuhan turunkan bala bukan kat sorang, dua...

Unknown said...

Asil,
yes, I never thought of that and its a pity its always the poor who suffers the most. As for the rich, in times like this, they got hotel chefs to prepare food for them.

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

whats so amazing is since its a bit difficult to point fingers at the new gment, el Tempe conveniently blamed those in power 15 years ago. either here or there la for him, as long dia tak kena. i mean come on, dont blame him, toyo's as clean as a whistle.

Unknown said...

Kerp,
What Toyo? Naaa! He's as close you get to a wali.

Pak Idrus said...

It all about greed/the corrupt and of course having one party to be the government for more then two terms is not healthy for a democracy. We all have to change that and made all the elected official as our representatives not the other way around where the became the boss and forgot about us who put them in power in the first place.

I was expecting some bright ideas from Tempe eating folks but sorry to say they they seem to eat the wrong kind of Tempe.

Have a nice day.

kopitelp16 said...

We live in a funny country. It seems that God is always used to justify anything that happens. If the earth moved and destroy lives and property like the recent tragedy, it's always 'Act of God'. If that's the case, God must be pretty pissed off when our Politicians like to abuse his Almighty name. Raping mother nature to make millions and then shifting the blame to God is all too convenient. Create some saucy story and swear by His name that whatever bullshit you're telling are true. That is abusing God!
Anyway, I really salute Khir Toyol for having the balls to blame the current State Guv for this tragedy.

Unknown said...

Pak Idrus,
Welcome to my humble blog. I agree, no more than 2 terms otherwise they make it as their father's property.

Unknown said...

Kopitelp,
Yes, blame it on god. Anyway their ways are so ungodly so why should they bother? I wonder if they do believe in god.

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