Lately in our media there has been much about our Malaysian police force. They have definitely done it again ... the blunders! But this is not the main topic of my discussion. This is just one of the several issues we need to tackle.

First of all, let me say we are far from becoming an 'advanced Third World nation', let alone a developed one. We do not have the fundamentals sorted out yet.

A few tall buildings, 'photocopied' cars, LRT, malls, tolled expressways, satellite TV and mobile phones do not qualify us as a developed nation. A developed nation must have freedom of speech, freedom of the media, and be able to decide who they should elect to represent them.

Basic amenities, such as phone services - we should by now be able to have unlimited local service for a flat fee and charged only for the inter- or intra-state calls. The parks in residential areas should be free for public use and not have to be booked for the purpose of local municipalities to make money. Proper maintenance of our drainage system - remember the recent floods in our nations capital.

Government agencies should work for the rakyat (people) and not have the rakyat deal with arrogant and impolite staff. I have never seen a supervising officer in a government office who comes out of their cushy rooms to assure the rakyat when things are busy or assist in organising things.

Our politics is very much like kindergarten kids arguing with each other about whose father is stronger. This does not happen in a developed nation. They are always trying to improve themselves and the system in order to improve the quality of life. That's what this is all about.

We, on the contrary, are more concerned about who is holding hands in the park. Come on folks, wake up! We have more serious issues in our midst; our children, education, air and water quality, environment, our whimsical government policies and the list goes on.

We need to grow up and look at maintaining and improving the quality of life not just for our generation, but for generations to come. If we kill our future now we need not bother much about fighting for unity or trying to uphold our hypocritical trust in God.

I am not saying that there aren't problems like those in developed countries - just that they strive to correct them. Our approach has always been extemporary. We have politicians who make a statement just for the sake of making one, without realising what a stir it can cause or even before adequate research is done on that topic.

What we need is to stop, look and improve our nation, even if it means tackling one issue at a time, until we get to a level where we can manage things without having to pay the price of looking like fools in the eyes of the world.

And never compare ourselves with less fortunate nations. We're just fooling ourselves.