What are we doing?

I was doing some research on poverty erradication in Sabah and Sarawak when I came across an article by Dr Hams which haunted me for days. He was giving a personal account of the poverty in Kota Marudu in Sabah and his opinion. I take the privilage of reproducing part of his article.

"...it appears that our system, be it health, education or transportation, tend to target and benefit the people who already have access to modern facilities. Why can't we develop the society as a whole? What are we doing for the people of Kota Marudu who do not live in the town and other people of this country who live in remote areas?

We have 16-year-old school drop-outs who are mothers of two and pregnant with their third child. We have a real problem of illiteracy in Kota Marudu. Do you blame these people for being ignorant of their rights as citizens of this country when they don't even have access to education?

Knowledge is power, and I believe the people of Malaysia have begun to realise this. Are we, those who are more fortunate and educated, going to remain ignorant about the existence of these people?

It has been 45 years since the formation of Malaysia and the fundamental rights of the citizens have not been addressed properly. It is embarrassing and a failure of this country to have these conditions exist.

We should stop trying to break records by baking the biggest curry puff and whatnot. We should stop people from constructing the national flag from dried chillies and sago and then complain about food shortage.

We should stop sending people on travels to infinity and beyond when the people of Kota Marudu, the people here on earth are dying of tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases. We talk about wireless Internet service, but, there are far more important issues to deal with. Our first world facilities do not compensate for the suffering of the people."