Let's Usher In the Year of Ox

The year of Rat can be said as a year which has a good start but has not a very wonderful ending. When the yaer of Rat has just begun, everyone is having the hope for a better future in the year. It turns out to be that way in almost the first half of it but the Rat seems to be unable to continue to sustain good luck for so many people. the second half of the year seems to be a disaster for many people. Problems after problems, crisis after crisis, everything just seems to go wrong. Anyway, that was what for the yaer of Rat, since it is now the time for us to usher in the year of Ox, we should look in front and just hope that things will be able to start turning well in the coming year.

In two months time, Our fifth prime minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will step down. His position as the head of the government will be taken over by the current deputy prime minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. At the same time, he will be taking over the country's ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional. By the time, we will see whether he will be able to bring BN into a better tomorrow or he will become the last one to head BN before it becomes an opposition coalition. We as the rakyat will definitely hope that it will be able to change. The reforms under the masterplan of Pak Lah if not just being carried out but also being improved, BN will definitely be able to return to the right track. It has now gone far far away from its initial track which has its main purpose is to serve the rakyat. Corruption, power abuse, inequality and many more has destroyed the good image of the coalition set by its founder. Najib will have a lot to do to restore the image of the coalition in the heart of the rakyat who will bear the responsibility to judge his performance by choosing whether to vote for BN or not in the next general election. To make things worse for him, the global economy recession taking place now will means that he will not just need to carry out reforms but also to make sure that the country's economy will continue to grow.


Talking about the economy, the recession started last year is expected to continue this year. With the economy of many countries has already undergone recession, we as Malaysian can never be trusting anyone who says that our economy will continue to grow and the recession initiated from US will not have a great effect on us. In fact, there are already some forecast tabled by economists which predict that we will be undergoing recession in the first quarter of the year. We just hope that it will not be true. However, it is something which may become the reality. Thus, we will need to get ourselves prepared. Unemployment rate is expected to rocket after the Chinese New Year with many Malaysians who are working in Singaporean been sent back. The government must be really ready for the worst. The 7 billion economy stimulus package will not be enough to sustain the country's economy. Thus the government has to do their job and think of ways to ensure that the rakyat will not suffer. Maybe this will be a golden oppurtunity for the government to restructure the country's economy which has now become more and more unattractive not just towards investors but also those that are local. Changes should be made in order to ensure that the Malaysian market shines in the global arena. Besides that, the return of many professionals from neoghbouring countries due to unemployment should also be seen as a chance for the governmnet to bring them back to serve the country. These professionals are actually assets for the country and the government should do something to make them feel happy serving Malaysia. Moreover, the global stock market which has tumbled in the year of Rat is also hoped to have a cahnce to rebound this year. Many are hoping that the bull which will push the market to head north to return in the yaer of Ox(bull). Will things really happens this way? Will the share investors be happy when the yaer of Ox comes to an end? All thes will be things which will be interesting for us to observe when this year concludes.

Everytime when there is a new beginning, many people will start hoping for things that are better than what they are having now. It is good that we hope for a better tomorrow as this is one of the ways to keep us moving forward and constantly improving ourselves. However, in the same time, we should not forget what we are having now. There are a lot of things which we have taken for granted. We should start thinking back how those things are so important but yet how we have ignore the presence of them. Let us cherish those things that we have. Happy Chinese New Year!