I caught a show called “Sejuta Impian” over TV3 last Sunday evening. From what I gathered in that short half an hour, the show's aimed at financially supporting young people with great aspirations to achieve greater things for Malaysia. The fund was held in trust by 1MDB and it seems that there's a lot of money to be disbursed to deserving people who genuinely want to make a difference in this world. Now, I understand the concept but I don’t quite understand the rational on granting some funds by the panel jury. And, I couldn’t believe how atrocious some requests were.
For example, there was one request which I wasn’t able to fathom the rational for a grant. A youngster came forth to present his case. He believes that he deserves financial assistance to be trained internationally for – of all things– skate boarding!! His dream is to then return to Msia and build a skate boarding “school” to "teach" Msians how to skateboard. The juries deliberated and finally at the end of the show, they’ve concluded that RM10k (sponsored by TV3) will be given to the youngster to learn skateboarding internationally and another RM10k will be given out of the fund from "Sejuta Impian" when he is back from his training. This second RM10k is to assist him in setting up a place, purchase of equipment etc to realize his dream. Now, who has heard of sending someone to be professionally trained in skateboarding? Isn’t it just a hobby that one can hone one’s skills simply by more practice? What can skate boarding contribute to Malaysia’s society and economy? Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against skateboarding. Skate boarding as a hobby – hell, yes. But, skate boarding as an investment – don’t think so! It didn’t seem to have any solid return of investment.
Ok, so once funds are disbursed, how are we to measure the return of the investment, then? Will 1MDB pick the people they sponsor randomly and check on them? What measures do they have in place to ensure the investments do not go in waste? How will they measure the success of every dreams and aspirations "Sejuta Impian" has funded? How will 1MDB hold all who have received the financial assistance accountable?
Again some questions were swirling in my head as I watched the show. Wouldn’t this fund be more useful for other needy purposes? There are equally, if not, more important and pressing matters which can benefit from additional funds. How about improving the education system? Or improving the public transport services? Or even ensuring quality food for children in schools to curb obesity? Or providing free English lessons to all so we could all improve our command of English?
I am sure the noble intention here is to help young aspiring Msians to achieve their dreams, but I guess for an ordinary Msian citizen like me, who’s hard pressed with the rising cost of living and limited income, the fund should be used for other more important matters which will lessen our burden and bring us immediate and tangible results.
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