Good Morning

Sunday, 10 Aug 2008. It's 8:17 in the morning. I am at Taman Bidara some 25 km north of Kuala Lumpur.

The sky over it is overcast, which isn't news unless one is planning on a picnic somewhere in the open. Everything about this nation is so equally cloudy.

The nation is celebrating its 51st Independence Day this 31 Aug 2008. This is no good; 2008 is only 12 years away from 2020. That definitive year, the nation will proudly join the ranks of developed nations.

By then, this nation must have shared three most definitive traits of developed nations: the per capita income of its citizens must have reached USD40k; the national economy must have been diversified; and the physical environment must have been free of abuses.

As of now, depending on who does the report, the per capita income has not reached USD6k; the economy is still commodity-dependent and characterised by a limited number of industries. The physical environment? It's still prone to gross abuses.

Of course, there are a lot more traits one wants to have. To name but a few: security of its citizens; their educational level; and their wellness index. And one wants felloow citizens who are both righteous and effective as leaders.

Yeah, could this nation achieve all that in less than twelve years?

Cheerio. 9.10 A.M.