The Undeserving Deserves More

I look in amazement at all the students who were given the 1Malaysia Netbooks, presumably chosen based on their family income.  I was made to understand that the total income of a particular family should not be more than RM3000 to entitle them to be considered for the netbooks.  Again, the governments criteria for choosing really deserving students looks very plausible and worthy students will definitely benefit from the government's generosity.

However, I was shocked to say the least when I was recently told by a colleague that the criteria set by the government for awarding the Netbooks has not been adhered to by those who have been given the responsibility to distribute them.  Three specific cases still haunt me to this very day even though the incident actually happened in the middle of last year.  I really wanted to write about it then, but I decided to let things cool down a little bit.

I was told that, in spite of the RM3000 per household income, one netbook was awarded to a student whose parents were (and still are) working generating a total income of more than RM7000; more than twice the amount stipulated by the government, with one of the parent teaching in the same school the student is studying.  Another case also involved a pair of husband and wife, together generating an income of more than RM7000; both teaching in the same school where the netbooks were being distributed.  The ridiculous thing was both of them received a netbook for their son who was not even studying in that school!  And the last case, and possibly the funniest, was where a teacher, unmarried and no children, earning more than RM4000, received a netbook for his nephew!

These three undeserving recipients of netbooks who have taken advantage of the generosity that the government extends to the rakyat, have undoubtedly denied three deserving school children who come from households with low incomes, the right to this gift!  Sad but true.