theSun | WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 18 2009 15

speak up!

thesun says

Time for all good men to help

IT IS indeed appropriate and
most opportune for our rep-
resentatives in the national
legislature to declare that
they would concentrate on
the state of the economy
in their speeches whether
during debates on the royal
address on Monday and dur-
ing debates on bills tabled for
discussion in this first meet-
ing of the second session of
the 12th Parliament. As the
King had rallied the nation to
“minimise the effects of the
global economic slowdown”
in his address, the MPs know
that they would be accused
of being unbothered, uncar-
ing and ignoring the reality
around them, if they don’t.
The world is deeper into
recession now and many
countries nearer home are
already experiencing nega-
tive growth or are forecasting
negative growth soon. At
home thousands have lost
their jobs especially those
in the manufacturing sector
after demand for our exports
had dropped significantly. The
government is doing all it can
to cope with the situation
and on the heels of the RM7
billion Economic Stimulus
Package presented last year
to stimulate the economy
and to avert negative growth
another one would be an-
nounced next month. The
package is expected to be
much bigger and is likely
to be in the form of a mini-
budget. The government has
been getting all kinds of input
from experts to guide it in
formulating programmes and
strategies for the benefit of
everyone in the country and
is ever willing to accept input
from the people.
We are in for a long haul
and let it not be said that
our MPs contributed nothing
beside the usual platitudes,
meaningless posturings and
statements of unsubstanti-
ated assumptions. The rakyat,
who expect to be sheltered
from the worst that could
happen, thus want those
they have elected to speak
for them, to rise to the occa-
sion and to contribute all they
can whether in terms of new
ideas or new approaches
or even in just vetting the
approaches and strategies
of the government. The gov-
ernment backbenchers must
speak up after having gained
much more independence
following the last general
election. Those in the opposi-
tion would, of course, speak
up. But they must speak up,
not because as opposition
members they have to give
contrary views and opinions,
but because they are con-
vinced that their views and
opinions could help guide
the government formulate its
strategies and programmes
and to take a second look at
the programmes and strate-
gies it has in place.
Our country is going
through rough economic
waters and more turbulence
is expected ahead. Thus, to
paraphrase a famous line, it
is now time for all good men
to come to the aid of the
country.

letters
letters@thesundaily.com

Protect individual’s right to privacy

PRIVACY is a basic human
right. The home is the bastion
of one’s privacy. An invasion
of your home is a serious
violation of your privacy.
An invasion of privacy is an
abuse of human rights.
Your home is the place
where the most intimate
human activities take place.
Marital, domestic and family
interactions; bodily and toilet
functions; and activities car-
ried out for the maintenance
of health and well being.
Your home is where you
feel most “at home” and
relaxed, away from public
scrutiny and even friendly
gaze. It is where you can be
as open and as natural as
you want – without inviting
examination or judgment by
people other than your clos-
est family members.
In the sanctity of your
home you have the right to
slink around in your favour-
ite item of clothing, be it the
tattered St Michael’s T-shirt
of your adolescence or the
outrageously gaudy house-
coat bought in Bali. At home
you are forgiven for not dis-
playing the highest standards
of social etiquette or the most
outstanding dress sense. You
can even slurp your soup
and get away with it.
On a hot sultry day you
can sleep in the raw if you
choose to. On a freezing Ma-
laysian night, you can wear
the Russian silver fox and
mink coat if you so desire.
In the privacy of your room
you can do all these things
and more…without being
labelled a pervert or a social
misfit.
You can stay as long as
you like in the bathroom or
on the toilet seat and
assume whatever position
you fancy… as long as you
are not intruding into the
time and space of your fellow
occupants.
The thought that there is
a CCTV or bug strategically
placed to record your most
private bodily functions is
reprehensible. The possibil-
ity that your most private
images will be circulated for
all to see is unacceptable.
The idea that a sleazy
former husband/ boyfriend/
partner or an unscrupulous
political opponent can use it
to slander or blackmail you
is abominable.
An individual’s right to
privacy in his or her home
must be protected at all cost
by both the individual and
society.
Halimah Mohd Said
Kuala Lumpur

Our unsung heroine

ALIA SABUR, who visited Malaysia re-
cently, did the unthinkable by breaking a
nearly 300-year-old record when she was
appointed professor of nanotechnology in
the United States at the age of 19.
However, Robiah Ibrahim, a Malaysian,
broke a 200-year-old scientific record a
few years ago. The name may not be fa-
miliar to Malaysians but she is well-known
in the West for her ground-breaking
research in the field of lightning protec-
tion. One only has to enter “Robiah” and
“lightning protection” in Google to learn
the global impact of her research in this
important field.
The scientific world first learnt about
Robiah when she published her break-
through research on building lightning
protection in Kuala Lumpur in 1995 to-
gether with her partner. While her work
was hailed as a major breakthrough in
the West, it was largely ignored by local
academics, engineers and scientists.
She was even barred from taking part
in the Sirim lightning protection work-
ing group convened a few years later
to revise Malaysian lightning protection
standards.
Robiah’s discovery enabled the light-
ning strike location on a building to be
predetermined with such a high level of
accuracy that several foreign academics
began to quote her work in their scientific
papers. Since the lightning strike location
could now be predicted, engineers could
design an effective lightning protection
system by placing lightning rods at the
predicted locations.
Her discovery was first mentioned
in the Australia lightning protection
standard in 2003. This was followed
later by the International Electrotechni-
cal Commission (IEC) standard in 2006.
When Sirim endorsed the IEC standard as
the new Malaysian lightning protection
standard (MS-IEC62305) in 2007, little did
they realise that it contained Robiah’s
discovery which they had rejected a
decade earlier.
Zahar
Kuala Lumpur