Malaysians should be more optimistic
I am an Indian expatriate living in Malaysia for many years.
Recently, after the prime minister announced Malaysia’s proposed venture into Formula One racing, many Malaysians expressed their fears about going into motor racing and asked if the money should not be spent instead on projects that would benefit more ordinary Malaysians.
I am writing this letter exactly one day after the 15th consecutive successful launch of Indian’s PSLV rocket ( Polar satellite Launch vehicle), which sent seven satellites ( one Indian and six foreign satellites) into lower earth orbit. This achievement and success was not achieved by India overnight : The very first launch of the PSLV rocket in September 1993 was 1 failure, but since then, Indian has learnt from its mistakes and all subsequent launches have been successful.
When India ventured into high tech areas such as apace exploration and nuclear weapons, many countries and many Indians also criticised the country for doing so, again arguing the money could be better apent elsewhere. Now , of course, everybody is praising Indian for its initiative.
Malaysian is certainly not a poverty-stricken country, it can afford to spend money on high tech and high tech-based ventures. I appeal to Malaysians to look at the F1 venture with optimism and with pride.
S.J.B. Jawahar
Pasir Gudang
New Straits Times
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