ONE MALAYSIA Justice for ALL Malaysians

2010-11-29T08:43:00.001+08:00

MPSP councillors 'misleading' on telco towers

Are they ignorant ? misinformed ? or simply couldn't be bothered , ada kang tau

Susan Loone
Malaysiakini.com
Nov 27, 10
12:28pm

The Penang Electromagnetic Fields Radiation Protection Alliance has condemned claims by two Seberang Perai municipal councillors that broadband internet connection devices do not emit radiation that is hazardous to health.

According to the Alliance's spokesperson Dr Thor Teong Ghee (right), the recent statement by the councillors – Soon Lip Chee and Oon Neow Aun - were “totally misleading and ignorant” about radio frequency radiation.

Thor, a medical doctor, said the devices for wireless telecommunications and internet connection on telco towers are known as basic transceiver stations, that emit radio frequency radiation, a well-known health hazard.

“We want both councillors to tell us from where or from whom they are told that broadband internet connection will not bring negative health effects to public but only radiation from telco towers will?” asked Thor, in a press conference in Penang.

“We want further clarification from both the councillors and perhaps an apology for their public statement which is misleading,” added Thor, who is state Gerakan publicity, information and communication chief.

Thor was referring to an incident on Nov 23 where two of the Alliance's representatives - David Chua and Sum Yoo Keong - attended a protest by residents in Permatang Tengah, Seberang Perai Utara over the construction of several telco structures within the vicinity of a residential area.

The next day, councillors Soon and Oon condemned the Alliance duo for creating public panic among the residents.

The councillors had justified the structures saying they were for broadband internet connection and that only structures on telco towers emit radiation, while the devices that are meant for broadband do not.

Raising public awareness

Meanwhile, Thor also announced that the group is organising a conference in Penang on Friday Dec 3 entitled “Electromagnetic fields and the public: EMF standards and estimation of risk”.

At the event at SJK (C) Shang Wu from 7.30pm to 9.30pm, German bio-resonance technology expert Dr Dietmar Heimes will speak on 'The influences and side effects of EMF radiation to human body'.

Thor himself will give an introduction to the electromagnetic field radiation in relation to human health.

The group has been actively campaigning to raise awareness on the health hazards of radiation since the state's plan to erect hundreds of telco towers on the island and mainland by year's end.

At the height of the controversy early this year, Jelutong (DAP) parliamentarian Jeff Ooi Chuan Aik had steadfastly defended the “approved” safety limits despite the Alliance's constant criticism.

Ooi, who is also PDC Telecommunication Services Sdn Bhd chairperson, had in turn attacked his critics by questioning their credentials and accused them of trying undermine the state's efforts to promote the wireless project, to the point of waving the Sedition Act against them.

http://pgtelcotowers.blogspot.com/

2010-11-15T10:08:00.001+08:00

Raja Petra on PKR's Chances in GE13

2010-11-15T10:05:00.000+08:00

Zaid ex-candidate for PKR No. 2 post says he's had enough

By SIRA HABIBU
sira@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has decided to quit PKR, saying he has had enough of recent turn of events in the party.

"I knew my days in the party were numbered because the leaders were relentlessly making personal attacks against me.

"I am quitting because I want to dissociate myself from liars and cheats. I do not want to be part of a group that propagates lies and does not have any qualms about cheating for as long as the end justifies the means,'' he told The Star.

Zaid, who joined the party in June 2009 after a fallout with Umno, said he would take a short break to "get away from all the attention".

"I am not sick of the party, I am sick of the sick leaders in the party,'' he said.

The former Cabinet member pulled out of the race for the PKR deputy presidency last week, citing the leadership's failure to address allegations of manipulation and fraud in the party election system.

He dropped a bombshell when he asked party adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to quit, saying PKR would not be able to implement its reform agenda as long as Anwar and his "preferred" deputy presidency candidate Azmin Ali remained in power.

Zaid said he had been attacked for merely asking for a clean, free and fair party election.

He said that right from the start of polling when he was leading the pack in the race for the No. 2 post, he had been calling on party leaders to seriously look into irregularities in the balloting process.

"How can they blatantly lie that I only made noise after my opponent (Azmin) took the lead on the third day of polling?" he asked.

"They call me a troublemaker, that I am a Trojan horse out to destroy the party. They also accused me of being an Umno agent trying to destroy the party from within.

"I cannot accept all these lies.

"They (PKR leaders) do not take well to criticism. They ‘shoot' the messenger of truth, rather than address the complaints," he added.

According to political observers, Zaid is likely to go on and form his own party.

2010-11-15T10:03:00.001+08:00

Ex-member: In truth, PKR does not have 400,000 members

PETALING JAYA: A former PKR leader has accused the party of inflating membership figures to demand "political equity" in Pakatan Rakyat.

Former Selangor PKR secretary Mohd Nazmi Rosli said that having a large pool of members was vital in the seat negotiation process with its allies, the DAP and PAS.

"If PKR's membership is lower than that of those parties, it cannot demand for many seats," he said, alleging that tell-tales signs emerging from the poor voter turnout during the divisional polls showed that the party does not have the 400,000 members that it claims to have.

For example, he said, the Sungai Petani PKR division had boasted 3,222 members but only 202 participated in the polls.

"Likewise, the voter turnout in many of the divisions was barely 5% of the number of members the divisions claim to have," said Mohd Nazmi, adding that the size of the membership was vital in the negotiations for seats.

He also claimed that PKR depended on the PAS machinery in the general and by- elections.

"This is also another sign that PKR does not really have the numbers,'' he said, adding that the party would find it difficult to win seats without the help of PAS.

Despite that, he said, PKR still acted like it was the "boss" in Pakatan.

In the 12th general election, PKR won 31 parliamentary seats, followed by DAP (28) and PAS (23).

PKR won 42 state seats, in contrast with the 83 won by PAS and 71 by the DAP.

Barisan Nasional won 140 out of the 222 parliamentary seats and 307 out of the 505 state seats contested.

2010-11-15T10:01:00.001+08:00

'Stop cheating': PKR protesters want polls halted

By G Vinod

PETALING JAYA: About 80 people turned up at the PKR headquarters here today in a bid to pressure the party leadership to halt the ongoing party election allegedly marred by irregularities.

The crowd arrived at about 10.30am, led by former PKR deputy presidential aspirant P Jenapala and former Kota Raja division chief, KS Kotappan. They demanded that the controversial party polls be halted and restarted from the division level itself.

“We want the central election committee (CEC) to stop the party polls. If it continues, it will mean that the party is cheating the public,” said Kotappan.

Kotappan claimed there were discrepancies in the last electoral list, which proved the existence of phantom voters.

“The same phantom voters will be voting again for the central leadership election,” he said.

He added that it was unfair that the party was still going through with the polls as the CEC has suspended the results from several divisions.

“There may be others who are interested to run for central leadership positions. How are they going to nominate their candidates now?”he asked.

When asked whether he agreed with supreme council member Zaid Ibrahim's recent outbursts on party de facto leader, Anwar Ibrahim, and another deputy presidential hopeful, Azmin Ali, Kotappan said there might be some truth in it.

“Zaid is a smart man. I am sure there is truth in his claims,” he said.

On Nov 8, Zaid pulled out from the deputy presidential race in protest against the alleged electoral irregularities. He blamed Anwar and Azmin for the electoral melee and urged them to step down.

'No such position'

Kotappan's sentiments were echoed by Jenapala, who said Anwar had no right to interfere in the election process.

“There is no such position called a de facto leader in the party and he should not get involved in party affairs,” said Jenapala.

He also urged party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail to step forward to end the electoral fiasco.

“However, if she wants to remain behind her husband's (Anwar) shadows, then she is not fit as well (to lead),” said Jenapala.

On Zaid's recent outbursts, he said he cannot blame the former law minister as he was also aware of the alleged manipulation in the party polls.

“So far, 162 complaints had been filed but none of them had been investigated,” claimed Jenapala.

Meanwhile, a group of youths claiming to be PKR members, said they did not know why they were brought to the party headquarters.

“All I know was that someone called Anand asked me to tag along with the crowd,” claimed R Logan, 19, who was joined by his friend, S Yuganathan 19.

Kamisah Ripin, 75, also said she has no idea what the protest was all about, and that she came just to show “support”.

“They told me to come show 'support'. So I came along,” said Kamisah.

When queried on the matter, Jenapala said while there might be some people “planted” in the crowd, almost everyone knew why they participated in the protest.

“Maybe they were not briefed earlier but they are all PKR members,” claimed Jenapala.

The crowd dispersed peacefully at about 12 noon.

2010-11-15T09:58:00.000+08:00

Tombstone protest: PKR Wanita leaders threaten to quit

Sun, 14 Nove 2010 21:53

By Rahmah Ghazali

KUALA LUMPUR: PKR was thrown into more turmoil when some Wanita leaders prostested and threatened to quit the party after they claimed they were barred from voting during the Lembah Pantai party polls today.

And they are willing to cross over and join former contender in the deputy presidential race Zaid Ibrahim should he decide to form a new party.

The protest also took a bizarre turn when the protesters carried a tombstone to symbolise the demise of the party if the problems are not solved soon.

PKR is already reeling from allegations of discrepancies and fraud in the conduct of the nationwide polls for the number two slot, and the latest episode is not helping the party regain credibility among its members.

Pantai Murni Wanita branch chief Fauziah Manap, who led the protest during the Lembah Pantai elections, claimed that they were not allowed to vote as disciplinary action has been taken against them for speaking to the press.

Angry and frustrated, she said she and some 200 members from the branch were willing to follow Zaid should he decide to set up a breakaway party.

“My name was first listed as a voter during the previous branch election, but today my name is no longer there. It says I have been suspended. If a new party is formed by Zaid, God willing, I will join ,” she told reporters.

Zaid recently announced his withdrawal from the deputy presidential contest, citing irregularities and discrepancies in the ongoing party polls. He has also resigned from all PKR posts.

He claimed that his rival and frontrunner Azmin Ali and de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim had contributed to the electoral mess and demanded their resignation.

He also said he might form a new party if he was sacked.

Nurul Izzah under fire

The protesters added some drama when they carried the tombstone as a symbolic warning to the top leaders that the party would be buried if they fail to solve the crisis.

“This is a warning to Lembah Pantai PKR. If the matter is not resolved and if change fails to take place, we will bury the party with this tombstone,” said a member.

They also took a swipe at Nurul Izzah Anwar, the Lembah Pantai division chief and a contender for a vice-president's post.

Pantai Murni branch chief, Mohd Hassan Mohd Tahor, said Nurul has failed to meet the disgruntled members to untangle the knotty issue.

“She has not come to meet us. We are treated like enemies. Is it wrong for her to come and greet us? We work hard for her. We don’t want her money. We just want to be respected, that is all,” he said.

Meanwhile, efforts to contact Nurul have been futile.

A total of 41 divisions have gone to the polls today, where all eyes are focused on on several “hot” divisions in the Federal Territories and Selangor.

2010-11-15T09:56:00.001+08:00

Suu Kyi's release welcomed cautiously

YANGON - World leaders are welcoming Myanmar's release of democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi (ahng sahn soo chee) but are also calling it a reminder that the country's military government still has a long way to go in restoring human rights.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised Suu Kyi for her "dignity and courage in the face of injustice." Calling her a hero, President Barack Obama said Suu Kyi represents a political opposition that "has been systematically silenced, incarcerated, and deprived of any opportunity to engage in political processes."

Amnesty International estimates that more than 2,200 political prisoners remain jailed by the military junta.

British Prime Minister David Cameron calls Nobel Peace Prize laureate an inspiration for all "who believe in freedom of speech, democracy and human rights."

One exiled dissident says Suu Kyi's release could prove pivotal in revitalizing and reorganizing Myanmar's opposition.

Her international counsel is sounding a note of caution. He points out that she's been released three times before and nothing fundamentally changed in the country. - AP

Related Stories:

2010-11-15T09:52:00.000+08:00

The rise of China and the downfall of Malaysia

Sam Chee Kong

LETTER Now I know why all the Malaysian talents are no returning home to work. Even with the government’s Talent Corp, with the objective to reach out to those talents it will be a failure if there is no meritocracy in government decision making process. Forget about getting them home, you are just buying the person but not their heart and you cant keep them foe long… Learn your lesson from NBIS China and Stem Cell Research Singapore !!!

China is an inventing nation. China is the nation that invented printing,fork, drum, silk, gunpowder, paper,umbrellas ,rice cultivation, wheels and a whole lot of other things. China’s history is littered with war and famine, so you can expect the Chinese to be tough and been there and done that sort of thing. After thousands of years under the rule of dynasties and finally Communist China, chaos upon chaos and finally under Chairman Mao, China began its nation building.

Nation building is also refers to constructing the national identity using the power of the state. It involves the unification of its people so that the state is politically stable and sustainable in the future for development. China addresses this problem very well and it has built a patriotic , hard working and educated workforce. The key to developing a nation’s wealth is developing your human resources and at the same time educate them and built up your middle class while at the same time developing your science and technology base. So it is not surprising to see China takes the lead in this century. Whereas in Bolehland we are still searching for our very own identity through the launching of the 1Malaysia concept which nobody understands. On one side the government is promoting 1Malaysia and on the other side it reassures the Malays that its right will be preserved no matter what. China is also a living prove of what can be achieved when a Communist nation embraces capitalism. As a nation they have syncronised the chaos into a force to be reckoned with. Even the West has accepted the fact that the Chinese are smarter, more hardworking, obliging and its immense pride to collectively build a nation. Unlike our politicians who have lied and lied about our country with all the manipulated data and facts, instead of informing us about all these seismic changes around the world.

A few years ago there was a survey done by The Economist concerning car ownership in China, India, France and USA. As predicted USA has more than 1000 cars, France 762, China 11 and India 7 for every 1000 people. Just only last year China has became the biggest car market in the world!! According to China Daily in the first 10 months car sales were up 34% from last year…. BMW has already fulfilled its target of 112,000 cars for this year in September, Mercedes sold over 101,000 units and Rolls Royce sold more of its cars in China than the US and last month Jaguar/Landrover has just open a new dealership in China. Today’s Communist China isn’t the same as 1980s Communist Russia where you will have trouble getting your hands on a fur coat ! The demand for luxury goods in China is growing at an exponential pace. Luxury items makers such as LV, Prada, Gucci, Coach and etc reported more than 100% annual growth for the past few years. It has come to the point where Western products has to customize to suit the Chinese needs and taste like longer leg rooms at the back seat for Rolls Royce coz most of them are chaufered driven so the bosses need extra leg room !! Ha ha!

Another thing to be noted is the amount of research articles published by Chinese scientist. It is reported that China has jumped to number 2 – up from 14th in 1995, in the number of articles publish in the science and technology journals worldwide such as IEEE, Nanotech, Applied Physics and etc. It is an open secret that the majority of the PHD students in the hard sciences enrolled in elite US universities (Ivy League) are Chinese. It is these PHD graduates that will do most of the research. It should be noted that a lot of the Microsoft patents came from its Beijing Labs. By far China’s most successful research institution is the National Institute for Biological Sciences or NBIS which is responsible for half of China’s Scientific publication.. The Institute’s 23 main investigators, director and deputy director are all RETURNEES from the United States. Quote one of its principal investigators : “ If I stayed in America the chances of making a discovery is slimmer, here people take risk, they give you money and you can essentially do whatever you want ” For your information you can check on China’s worldwide patent application fillings on www.economywatch,com . Patents are actually a measure of technological prowness and innovation. Nations that file the largest number of patens are the home to innovatve corporations and Nobel Prize winners. It wont be long you will see Chinese Nobel prize winners. No wonder there are so many first coming out of China nowadays. The fastest Supercompter title belongs to the Chinese (Tianhe-1A) running at the speed of 2.5 petaflops which is equivalent to power of 175,000 high end laptops. The fastest bullet train belongs to the Chinese (CRH360) with a top speed of 262 miles leaving the japs and germans far behind. And these are indigenious technologies locally grown. What happen to our car industry? With all the money throwing into the national car industry after 20 over years we ended up being a ‘BETTER CAR ASSEMBLER’ than our neighbours. It is a case of throwing ‘GOOD MONEY AFTER BAD MONEY’. And with all our governments ridiculous project or so call wealth showing projects like building sky scrapers, NORTH-SOUTH-EAST-WEST corridors ended up in no DOORs how to improve? How can we catch up with others? I just came back from Vietnam last month and let me tell you guys the amount of FDI going into the country is incredible. These are not ‘hot money’ but real economy kind of investment – build factories, infrastructure and things that can create jobs.

The amount of development that is going on there is mind boggling. In HCMC there are no less than 30 high rise cranes working on new buildings and will have its 68 floor bitexco tower opened this month. And Hanoi is building a 104 storey tower reputed to be the second tallest after Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

Another thing is that China hold the whole world at ransom in July this year by banning all its Rare Earth Materials. Rare earth materials are a collection of 17 minerals found at the bottom of the periodic table. China controls 95% of the world supply. These rare earth includes cerium, scandium, yttrium, lanthanum and etc are used in our daily lives such as handphones, laptops,camera lenses, flat screen tv, x-ray machines , guided missiles systems, oil refineries and etc. By banning the exports of these materials China indirectly impede the growth and development of many things. Fortunately there are 2 other companies in the world that will have the capability to produce some to offset the Chinese ban. One is the Lynas Corp from Western Australia which have a mine in KUANTAN MALAYSIA and it will start production by end of next year, while the other is Molycorp from California. How their combine output added up to around 40-50,000 tons which is still way below the global demand of 250,000 tons. Unsurprisingly the shares of both of these companies jump multiple folds since the July ban. Lynas was trading at somewhere 38cents in July and the high of the year was $1.69 (ASX) and shares of Molycorp are more than double now.

It is also a wrong misconception that China’s success is due to its Cheap Labour, yes that was probably 15 years ago. However the next megatrend will be the growth of the Chinese Research & Development. The Chinese will be able to apply the same cost advantage in its manufacturing towards Research & Development in no time. If you notice currently the global telecoms equipment sector is now dominated by 2 chinese companies (about 65% of new installations) notably Huawei . Western countries are buying these Chinese equipment not because its cheap but also it is good !! In a recent electric car trade show in Shenzhen there is this Chinese R&D company that reinvented the battery. Their battery last twice longer, much more power , half the existing battery weight and 100% recycleable. This is going to change the face of the global automobile market. With its low cost R&D, product development and manufacturing, which country can match China? It will continue to dominate the world for decades to come !!! In the End it is the Communist China that won the battle of capitalism.!!

So when will China overtake US as the number one economy in the world? As predicted China will overtake Uncle Sam ‘s economy in two years in terms of PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) It wont be long as China’s opponent is embrace with an insolvent banking system, high unemployment rate , homeless population, high foreclosure rate and with 40 million people on food stamps and its Federal Reserve printing money out of thin air. Over here in China, its economy is growing at a 10% pace annually. Haha !!

And if you think its easy for you to access the Chinese Market. If your company owns certain patents they will demand access to it and furthermore train their people on how to use your technology so that they can reverse engineer it the moment you open shop. Just ask car manufacturer Peugeot on the difficulty and pain in working with the Chinese.

China is also quietly building up its military and I believe it is currently making use of the financial crisis to extend its geopolitical and economic sphere of influence in Asia and beyond.. China is already refurbishing an ex Russian aircraft carrier (Varyag) due to completed in 2012 and building 2 other 50,000 to 60,000 ton carriers due to complete in 2015. When completed China will have what they called a ‘BLUE WATER NAVY’ . This means Chinese navy are capable of operating across deep waters of the oceans and also able to launch a nuclear attack from anywhere in the world. Moreover recent developments in the Chinese missiles technology caught most western powers off guard. For example a few years back China conducted a successful anti satellite missile test. It use a modified DF-21 (Dong Feng) ballistic missile mounted with the kinetic kill vehicle to intercept the satellite.

Another recent development is the Chinese ASBM or anti ship ballistic missile the DF-21A which is designed to launch from land and can penetrate the most advance defence from any MOVING aircraft carriers. The carrier battle group used to be the ‘untouchables’ will no longer hold and it will make the US aircraft carrier battle fleets a sitting duck. When these multiple warhead ballistic missiles homing into these battle groups, there is nothing they can do to stop it. Even if it explode in mid air, imagine a nuclear warhead explode in the vicinity of the fleet, it will just vaporized the entire fleet.

So in the end what can we learn from China? Nation building and how can we harness the power of the people as one so that we can build a solid and sustainable economic development. So how to start nation building when our country’s political and its social is in a mess and biased? It will take many years before we can even talk about sustainable development without first implement a much fairer and equitable racial policies. Who wants to work full-heartedly when you know that the govt policies are biased to a certain group in terms of promotions and opportunities. We have to get our act together and implement meritocracy policies in all govt policies be it education, public procurement, jobs and etc. As for a better education system look no further than New Zealand. Their system is based on meritocracy and survival of the fittest.. Over there schools survived mostly on govt grants. How much grants the school gets depends on its academic performance. The better the school the higher the enrolment and hence more grants. No bloody Maoris, Aborigine, White only kind of bullshit as practice over here. If you are no good then enroll in a not so Ivy League school that require lower application points. The schools that are not doing too well had to manage with what they get from the grants and if enrolment keep droping then they have to lay off teachers. This is what I called ‘survival of the fittest’ as the NZ govt put it clearly that they will not bail out schools that are not performing and they will have to sort out their own mess !!! In Malaysia everybody seems to be spoon fed.. As for myself I have difficulty getting locals to work. Reasons are too long hours, too little money, too boring lah, not my type of work and etc.. With this type of attitude how can we progress? Don’t bloody talk to me about implementing minimum wages with this type of efficiency ..

I am amused at those politicians chanting bullish things about how well their economy is doing and stuff like that. They know nuts about what’s going on in the world economy. I believe now we are in the eye of a mega storm waiting to explode. If you are a student of economics you should heard about the Kondratieff 60 years cycle. It was invented by the Russian economist named Nikolai Kondratieff. It track the long waves of the boom and bust cycle of the world economy. By its calculation we are now already at the truning point of the bust cycle starting from 2008. A normal cycle can last up to 12 years so we still have another 10 years to endure before we see the better of things returning. The crisis we are facing now make the crisis of 2008 like a walk in the park. Bernanke thinks that he can get away by pump priming the economy with more money printing out of thin air through QE2. He belongs to the Keynesian school of economics whereby they believe in expansionary monetary policies to spend your way out of a recession. Bull Shit ! He ain’t going to solve any problems with QE2. QE2 will cause inflation, hot money and currency wars among nations. What is needed is more of a contractionary monetary policy whereby it need to spend less and save more to pay its awful $13 trillion debts. Instead he should pursue the more conservative policies from the Austrian School of Economics. Does this sounds familiar with what our government is doing right now? You cannot put out a fire by pouring more fuel into it !! FULL STOP !! You guys having seen anything yet until the crisis unleash its anger. What I am doing now is getting myself as low a gearing as possible, pay off as much debts as possible…

Now I know why all the Malaysian talents are no returning home to work. Even with the government’s Talent Corp, with the objective to reach out to those talents it will be a failure if there is no meritocracy in government decision making process. Forget about getting them home, you are just buying the person but not their heart and you can't keep them foe long… Learn your lesson from NBIS China and Stem Cell Research Singapore !!!

2010-11-10T10:40:00.002+08:00

'Dictator' Chua – a general without soldiers

By FMT Staff

BATU PAHAT: Serious trouble is brewing down south with allegations of gangsterism and incompetency against PKR state chairman Chua Jui Meng.

In open defiance, 18 division leaders met with reporters here and spewed their angst over Chua's “dictatorial” and “destructive” rule.

"He is a dictator and has destroyed Johor PKR and Pakatan Rakyat," said Saiman Marjuki, spokesman for the group.

Brandishing banners bearing words chastising Chua's leadership style and judgment, the group, which represented 18 of the 26 divisions in the state, said they were fed up with the former health minister's arrogance and arbitrary selection of candidates for state posts.

Saiman said that two weeks ago Chua held a state PKR meeting and announced appointments to state posts without first discussing it with the divisional leaders.

“Those who know Chua got posts even without the divisional leaders meeting to discuss the appointments.

"He thinks he is right but in fact he is a general without soldiers," said Saiman, adding that gangsterism was also now rearing its ugly head in the party .

"I myself have received two threatening SMSes asking me to leave the party. For my own safety, I have reported these SMSes to the police," added Saiman.

'MCA mentality'

On the presidential polls, Saiman said Chua had further shown his “MCA mentality” when he asked the members to vote for Azmin Ali (for the deputy presidency).

“During the PKR elections, Chua called for a meeting and asked us to support Azmin. This is not right.

"As chairman he should not be taking sides in this tussle," said Saiman who also took offence to Chua's recent statement in the media equating PKR politics to that of MCA and BN.

"Recently, Chua issued a statement saying that the situation in PKR was the same as in MCA and Umno.

"He should not have said it. He should not have touched on MCA because it only shows that he has himself brought into PKR, the MCA and BN culture as if we don't have our own leadership styles," said Saiman, who is PKR Sembrong divisional chief.

Johor is the Barisan Nasional fortress that the Pakatan Rakyat coalition is aiming to bring down in the 13th general election.

In wrong company , heellooo Datuk , time for you to either call it a day or follow Zaid's footsteps .PKR is NOT the party for you , they are the same as DAP, ruled by the Father and Son . Even Karpal as Chairman has limited voice . Everything is dictated by Party Advicers .

Big Big Mistake you have made . I am aware that you know who is posting this message .

2010-11-10T10:34:00.002+08:00

Self immolation of Puchong hindu devotee’s root cause is PKR, DAP and PAS denying state land to all hindu temples, cemeteries, Tamil schools and Indian villages.

No.6, Jalan Abdullah, Off Jalan Bangsar, 59000 Kuala Lumpur. Tel : 03-2282 5241

Fax : 03-2282 5241 Fax: 03-2282 5245

Website: www.humanrightspartymalaysia.com E-Mail: info@humanrightspartymalaysia.com

Date : 9/11/2010

YB. Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim,

Paramount Leader PKR,

Parti Keadilan Rakyat Fax No: 03 7885 0531

No. 11, Jalan Bukit Segambut Dalam

Kuala Lumpur

YAB Lim Guan Eng

Chief Minister of Penang

Secretary General DAP,

c/o Pejabat Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang, Fax No: 04- 2613003

Tingkat 28, KOMTAR 10503, Puala Pinang.

Dato Seri Hadi Awang

President PAS Fax: 03-26938399

318A, Jalan Raja Laut,

50350 Kuala Lumpur

Dear Sirs,

Re : Self immolation of Puchong hindu devotee’s root cause is PKR, DAP and PAS denying state land to all hindu temples, cemeteries, Tamil schools and Indian villages.

We refer to the above matter and our numerous letters to your goodselves on the aforesaid matter including our public protest outside the PKR Headquarters in Tropicana on 7/3/10 but regretfully to no avail.

Section 76 of the National Land Code in effect empowers (100%) especially the PKR, DAP and PAS State governments of Selangor, Penang and Kedah to alienate state land for public purposes.

The B.N government in the previous 50 years has refused to grant state land to the poor Malaysian Indian hindu temples, cemeteries, tamil schools and Indian villages (but deemed squatters) as they had granted to all the Masjids, suraus, muslim cemeteries and Malay schools.

Hindraf gave the political directions and with 90% of the Indians voting for the Opposition, PKR, DAP and PAS became the ruling state governments in Selangor, Penang and Kedah on the promise of Change. But change has not been forthcoming despite PKR, DAP and PAS ruling Selangor, Penang and Kedah for over 2 ½ years now.

To add insult to injury, the UMNO/BN’s Indian mandore syatem of “kosong” and nothing in black and white land here and land there for hindu temples, cemeteries, tamil schools and Indian villages is continuing under the PKR, DAP and PAS said rule.

The UMNO/BN Selangor State government demolished the ancient Kg Karupaiah Padang Jawa hindu temple one week before Deepavali in 2007 and within months lost power in Selangor. But even the now PKR led Selangor state government has not granted a suitable land to rebuild this hindu temple. As usual it is the aforesaid usual ‘kosong’ promise of a land and that too under a hazardous Telecoms Tower mere Tamil newspaper announcement by the Selangor Indian Exco mandore and even than it is not in black and white.

There is a government reserve land next to this Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple. (see The Starmetro 9/11/10 at page M4). But as usual only a temporary piecemeal solution to temporarily relocate part of the temple to the state government reserve land next to this temple has been suggested by that too a mere PKR Councillor mandore despatched to the scene by the Menteri Besar of Selangor.

Why didn’t the PKR led Selangor State government relocate part of this hindu temple to this reserve land and grant land title thereto in the first place, for which there would have been no need nor necessity for this demolishment and self immolation in the first place.

Why these a la UMNO/B.N “temporary” and piecemeal solutions through the their Indian Exco and Councillor mandores. Why not a genuine and permanent land titles and gazetting the same accordingly solution.

On 15th September 2009. (Malaysiakinitoday) a Kampong Buah Pala Villager Madam R. Indirani had similarly attempted to self immolate herself by dousing herself with kerosene when the Penang DAP state government were demolishing Kg. Buah Pala the last traditional Indian village in Penang.

Yesterday’s self immolation by Chakra Guna (52) is only the tip of the iceberg of the Indian poor’s pain suffering and heartache in being denied permanent land for all their Hindu temples cemeteries, Tamil schools and Indian villages (deemed squatters) by especially the PKR, DAP and PAS state governments of Selangor, Penang and Kedah. Why go far? Even this SJK (T) Castlefield and this Srinivasa Perumal temple in issue here has been denied state government land to start off with.

Fear of losing malay muslim votes by granting the Indian poor land cannot possibly be a part of the change PKR, DAP and PAS had promised in the 8th March general elections. So where is the change?

Kindly therefore grant and alienate state land to all existing hindu temples, hindu cemeteries, tamil schools and Indian villages (deemed squatters) in the states of Selangor, Penang and Kedah for there to be a domino effect in the B.N ruled states.

To this effect we urgently seek an appointment with your goodselves to amicably resolve this long outstanding state government land problem to all the poor Malaysian Indians.

Thank you,

Yours faithfully,

………………..

P. Uthayakumar

Secretary General (pro tem)

2010-11-10T10:31:00.001+08:00

Outside parties, sore losers, third force and two-party system

Many say that Malaysia is not ready for a third force and that we first need to see the emergence of a two-party system. Now, before we debate this point we need to clarify certain matters and see whether we are on the same wavelength as far as the meaning of these things are concerned.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Anwar: No reason to entertain "outside parties" and "sore losers": said Malaysia Chronicle. You can read the news item here (http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/2010/11/anwar-no-reason-to-entertain-outside.html)

There is much talk lately about third force and two-party system. Now we have outside parties and sore losers as well.

I don’t know whether we are on the same wavelength as to what these words and phrases mean. So that we can engage in an intelligent discussion on the matter, I think we must first clear up whether we are of the same mind as to the meaning of all these things.

For example, when you say someone is a fundamentalist, you may actually mean that he or she is an extremist -- whereas to the person in question a fundamentalist is someone who follows the true and fundamental teachings of the religion. Therefore, to the first person, a fundamentalist is a negative thing (something not quite right with that person’s brain) whereas to the second it is positive (they are a purist).

Again, when you say someone is a liberal, to one person it is positive (this person is reasonable and modern thinking) whereas to another person it would be considered as deviant beliefs (not following the teachings too strictly and straying from the correct path).

A non-Muslim would look at a Muslim who drinks wine as good (this means the person is a liberal Muslim) whereas a fellow Muslim would not share that view -- it would be considered bad. So liberal can be both good and bad depending on where you stand.

So, now that we understand how words and phases can be perceived differently by different people, let us get back to the issue.

What would you consider as outside parties? Would Malaysians who voted for a certain political party in the last general election and who would like to see that particular party succeed be considered as outside parties?

What would you consider as sore losers? Would people who are not contesting the party election but would like to see a well-run election because this is the first one-man-one-vote party election in Malaysian history be considered as sore losers?

Okay, the next two issues are feedback I have received. Many say that Malaysia is not ready for a third force and that we first need to see the emergence of a two-party system. Now, before we debate this point we need to clarify certain matters and see whether we are on the same wavelength as far as the meaning of these things are concerned.

What is a third force?

What is a two-party system?

Does Malaysia have a two-party system or two coalitions of 17 parties?

Would a two-coalition system qualify as a two-party system?

Would a third force work opposed to a two-party system?

If so, in what way does a third force work opposed to a two-party system?

Would a third force complement a two-party system?

If so, in what way does a third force complement a two-party system?

Can a two-party system be easier achieved without the presence of a third force?

If so, how can a two-party system be easier achieved without the presence of a third force?

How would the third force hinder the emergence of a two-party system?

How do we achieve a two-party system? How would we do it and what is the formula?

2010-11-09T11:38:00.003+08:00

A Punjabi lawyer working in UK wrote to his wife in India...

Dear Sunita Darling,

I can't send you my salary this month because the global market crisis has affected my Company's performance, so I am sending 100 kisses. You are my sweetheart, please adjust.

Your loving husband, Tiuna Singh

His wife replied...

TINKU KE PAPPA ,

Thanks for the 100 kisses. Below is the list of expenses I paid with the Kisses...:

1. The Milk man Kepala Pu Singh agreed on 2 kisses for one month's milk.

2. The electricity man, Gobind Singh, agreed not to disconnect only after 7 kisses.

3. Your landlord Kapal Singh comes every day to take 2 or 3 kisses instead of the monthly rent.

4. Supermarket owner Jagdeep Singh did not accept kisses only, so I gave him other items, I hope you understand..

5. Miscellaneous expenses 40 kisses.

Please don't worry about me, I still have a balance of 35 kisses and I hope I can survive the month using this balance...

Shall I plan the same for the next month?

Your Sweet Heart,
Kuchi Kuchi

2010-11-08T15:38:00.007+08:00

Reasons why BN won Galas

BY TERENCE FERNANDEZ
AND MARIA J. DASS
newsdesk@thesundaily.com

BY noon, the drove of PAS supporters going into the polling centres in Kampung Baru and
Sg Terah seemed a bad omen for the Barisan Nasional supporters.

“At the moment, it doesn’t look very good,” said an Umno supporter outside SJKC Kampung Baru, his forecast compounded by a Special Branch officer who said BN was still in
for a slim win. However, by the time the orang asli votes were counted, it was evident BN had recaptured Galas. PAS only retained its Sg Terah stronghold by a reduced majority of 266.
PAS’s Dr Zulkefli Mohamed had, in fact, entered the premises of Dewan Sivik but made a U-turn
when told it was not going to be PAS’s night.
Even Kelantan Umno liaison chief Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed was surprised by BN’s 1,190 vote majority compared with the 646-majority the late Chek Hashim Sulaima gained for PAS in the last general election. So, what turned the tide for BN? Capitalising on the Ladang Rakyat issue and the loss of ancestral land played a huge part in garnering the orang asli votes.

Zulkefli was wiped out in all the six orang asli polling centres, obtaining just 321 votes to Ab Aziz
Yusoff’s 1,322. Of course, allegations already hurled were that the votes were not counted at the polling centres but flown to Dewan Sivik, where “anything could have happened up there”. But, then, how does one explain the 8% swing in Malay support from PAS to BN, the 60% Chinese support and 90% Indian backing?

One should not use the cliché “the people know only the BN can bring development”. It all has
to do with personality. Ab Aziz, 49, a local boy and much fitter than the 44-year-old Zulkefli, worked his charm from dawn till dusk. Zulkefli’s reserved style did not go down well with the voters. “I don’t like it if I cannot read a person,” said one voter, comparing Ab Aziz’s firm
handshake to Zulkefli’s lembik (weak) one.
The voters took to the personal touch of Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, whose name alone used to be enough to win elections. Mustapa accompanied him and, together, they were the “silent killers”.
Loud and aggressive styles of campaigning, once the hallmark of Umno, was replaced by
the gentle one-on-one style of Ku Li and Tok Pa. Umno leaders deemed “aggressive” were persona non grata in Gua Musang. But the irony was that the PAS and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders were resorting to personal attacks and namecalling.

Tags like calon jahat (villain) or bodoh (stupid), kurang pendidikan (uneducated) were freely used in the ceramah – but they were responded with nervous laughter and even jeers from the
largely Malay audience, who did not take kindly to the mengumpat (gossip) culture of speaking ill of your neighbour.

While the BN banked on local issues close to constituents’ hearts, like housing and land grants, PAS only had stale national issues to play on. “What has Teoh Beng Hock got to do with Galas?” asked one Malay voter. One Chinese shopkeeper voted for BN, saying she was put off by the aggressive style of campaigners representing Teoh. There were a total of 2,317 Chinese voters.

Only the DAP would resort to the constant harping of the Teoh Beng Hock issue as a political issue . The case is pending at the coroners inquest and what is the purpose of bringing it to Galas ? Has the DAP run out of ideas how to fight the BN ? or have they run out of issues ? Is TBH really that big to bring down a govt ? when it concerns the MACC or is it a case of suicide ?

Why didn't the PAS people bring the Aminulrasyid case to Galas ? and demand justice for him since he was shot dead by the police ? another govt agency ? Why is it that this was not done ? The answer lies simply in not throwing mud at an imaginary target and not to politicise it . In this case they are smart not to throw mud at one's own race but not the TBH supporters who have been USED by the morons within the DAP .

Creating disturbances during the MCA ceramah is liken to gate crashing as the issue is whether he committed suicide or was he intentionally or accidentally pushed ? And that is for the coroner to decide whether the MACC has a hand in it . But what has it got to do with the MCA ? It goes to show that the DAP has no substance let alone govern the country , perhaps they are good and experts at creating disturbances , mischief , slander , spins issues to their advantage and to blacken the govt .

Even 165 of the 185 Indian votes had returned to the BN. The tarring of a road to Sri Subramanyaswamy Alayam here three days before polling day and a string of Deepavali functions could have swung the Indian votes in favour of BN.
There were no such gesture from PAS, other than banners wishing “Happy Deepavali”.

There was none in Penang by DAP. No Open House !.While the DAP claims to represent the Indians , there was no Deepavali open house hosted by Lim Guan Eng or the DAP or for that matter the State Government .

Many say the ghosts of 2008 have been exorcised for BN. But will Galas end up like Ijok, where there was a different outcome in the general election? The political manoeuverings in the
background made it an intriguing by election. What kind of strategy was the
BN employing by approving the 5 sen hike in fuel two days before polling day? Is there truth to talk that a loss for the BN is a necessary evil to rid of Ku Li once and for all?

On the 5 Sen hike in fuel prices it was never an issue , since it only affected Ron 97 which was mainly for the high end cars ie luxury cars and high performance cars and for foreign registered cars .

That PAS was facing a BN onslaught by its on-again-off- again ally may have factored in the silence of any attack against Ku Li. After all, if it wants to remain strong in Kelantan and realise the dream of capturing Putrajaya, PAS cannot alienate Ku Li completely. Hence, for PAS, it was a case of the proverbial telan mati ayah, ludah mati ibu
and gravely altered their style of campaign, with nary a mention on oil royalty , something that both PAS and Ku Li agree on. As for Ku Li, if Galas had proven anything, it is that he has to roll up his sleeves to earn votes. He was not this visible even during his own campaign but the message that he sends his own partyis that he is still a force to reckon with.

My comment highlighted .

2010-11-08T15:30:00.001+08:00

Zaid Quits Race For PKR No 2, All Party Posts

Monday, 08 November 2010 11:40

Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has quit the PKR deputy presidential race saying the party "leadership actively condone malpractices and electoral fraud to achieve its designed objectives."

"I wish to announce my withdrawal as a candidate from the contest of deputy president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat and my resignation from all posts held in the party," said Zaid in a statement Monday.

Zaid also resigned as the party's political bureau member, Federal Territory chief and Wangsa Maju chief.

He said he decided to pull out of the No 2 due to blatant vote manipulation.

He said "there is no attempt on the part of the party leadership to address the various issues of manipulation and unfair electoral practices, although these issues were raised repeatedly.

"It is of utmost disappointment that I am unable to continue in this flawed election process," he said.

Earlier, PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail had denied claims of vote manipulation despite numerous complaints of irregularities during divisions as well as central party polls.

Below is the full text of Zaid's statement.

" I wish to announce my withdrawal as a candidate from the contest of Deputy President of Parti Keadilan Rakyat and my resignation from all posts held in the party.

"I was offered to join this party under the belief that I could promote enlightened and progressive politics; nurture and develop principled political values and culture that I consider indispensable to the development of democracy and good governance in this country. I was mistaken.

"Over the course of the party elections, events have shown that the leadership actively condones malpractices and electoral fraud to achieve its designed objectives.

"I am certain that any political party with such hypocritical and false values will not be able to offer meaningful reforms to the people of this country.

"I have made this decision because there is no attempt on the part of the party leadership to address the various issues of manipulation and unfair electoral practices, although these issues were raised repeatedly.

"I wish to thank all the members who have supported me and placed their faith in the cause of reform.

"It is of utmost disappointment that I am unable to continue in this flawed election process.

"I remain committed to the Opposition’s cause and will continue to speak about the issues of the common people.

"Together, we will continue our unabated struggle towards a better government for the people.

"Finally, I hope those adoring fans of Anwar Ibrahim will no longer regard me as a “spoiler” standing in the way of their march to Putrajaya. I wish them well."

2010-11-08T15:28:00.000+08:00

Indeed, Who Is Lying?

Monday, 08 November 2010 01:33

At 6.34pm today, to the ‘PKR Secretariat responds’ post, Potblack sent in the following comment :

“Bro Haris, Please be responsible in your reporting. Either the Sec.Gen or your informer is telling a lie.So can you tell us honestly whether there is any possibilty that your informer is using you to destroy the creditbility of the PKR elections?”

Potblack, I’m going to try and answer you.

Before I address the Sec-Gen’s statement today, let me just draw your attention to and comment on a statement that appeared in The Malaysian Insider yesterday.

“PKR has denied prominent social activist Haris Ibrahim’s claims that ballot papers for the on-going party election is available outside the polls for cheating by Azmin Ali’s camp, saying those in the lawyer’s possession are from the previous weekend’s voting…

“The problem is, that is the old ballot. This week’s ballot is a different colour,” a senior PKR official told The Malaysian Insider on condition of anonymity.

It is understood that party secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution will issue a statement on the matter as soon as possible. He is also due to announce this weekend’s results on Monday” – Malaysian Insider.

The ballot papers that I disclosed in my post yesterday ‘is the old ballot’, according to a senior PKR official.

The question of how I and the informant came to be in possession of this ‘old ballot’ has not been addressed.

This is an important question that has gone unanswered.

The very fact of my possession of the same contradicts the very first statement quoted.

At 2pm today, I met and had coffee with Dr Molly Cheah, the chairperson of the PKR central election committee, the body tasked with the duty of ensuring that the ongoing PKR elections is indeed free and fair.

I met her to hand over the copies of the ballot papers received from the informant, the serial numbers duly removed.

Interestingly, this was the first she was actually seeing the ballot papers.

It is for her now to verify, if she cares to, if these were indeed from the batch of ballot papers printed by HQ for use in weekend No.1 of the party elections, from 29th October to 31st October..

And if so, how then did I, who have no role to play in this electoral process, and the informant who had in his possession at least 100 of the same and claimed to have access to more than 1,000, come to be in possession of these if the central election committee have the ballot papers intended for use in all 4 weekend elections secured under lock and key?

Or, as appears to be the case, is the safekeeping of these ballot papers now entrusted to staff at the Secretariat who were intended to assist the central election committee on administrative matters, and no more?

If so, what other duties and functions of the central election committee have been assumed or, worse, seized, by these Secretariat staff?

Who is overseeing the elections, in truth?

If it is not the central election committee, then who?

The Secretariat staff again?

Free and fair elections overseen by Secretariat staff, then, and not Molly Cheah and her committee, anymore?

How convenient!

Potblack, in my post yesterday, I wrote that the informant explained that the central election committee returning officer could manipulate the list of members attending at the ongoing elections, where voter turnout is low, adjust it upwards and stuff additional ballot papers into the ballot box.

Saifuddin, in his press statement speaks of 5 security features : serial numbers, stamp of the Election Officer, different colour paper used for each week’s ballot papers, presence of candidates counting agents, and a tallying sheet.

Who is lying, you ask, Potblack?

“Zaid’s political secretary Rashid Azad Khan said the polls should be called off in view of allegations of irregularities and claims of phantom voters.

“For example, our polling agent reported that the voter turnout in Kubang Pasu was only 84.

“But the initial vote tally showed that Azmin clinched 80 votes while Zaid garnered 76 votes.

“Where did the additional 72 votes come from? Could they be phantom voters?’’ he asked.

Rashid also said the agents had reported that there was a 30-minute blackout immediately after balloting ended at 4pm Friday.

“Candidates’ agents were not allowed in, and the ballot boxes were not sealed at the time,’’ he claimed, adding one of the election officer was caught on camera wearing Azmin’s campaign badge raising questions over their impartiality.

Rashid claimed that following complaints, the election monitor decided that the Kubang Pasu result should be a tie of 81-81.

“I am appalled. How can the results simply be amended?’’ he asked” - The Star

Now, before I am accused of selectively believing the mainstream media, I have checked this story with Zaid’s political secretary, Rashid Azad Khan, who confirms the same.

Rashid also confirms that the Zaid team have evidence in hand of the fraud in Kubang Pasu and had communicated this to Saifuddin.

Rashid says that Saifuddin promised to see them but has reneged on the promise to this day.

PKR Deputy President Ballot Paper

This is the ballot paper that would have been used in the Kubang Pasu election on 29th October.

Potblack, Saifuddin will hold his usual press conference tomorrow at 11.30am at PKR HQ.

Ask him about Kubang Pasu.

Ask him who is lying.

You ask, Potblack, whether the informant is using me to destroy the credibility of PKR?

Really, Potblack, with all that we’ve seen over the last few months, has not PKR been doing an excellent job on its own in demolishing its own credibility?

At 7.35pm tonight, Sampalee sent in the following comment to the same ‘PKR Secretariat responds’ post :

“Dear Haris,To hide their nonsense,they will cast doubts on you to distract.Do not waste time with pr and get on with the third force.When the third force is up and running,we can then co-operate as peers”.

Bro Sampalee, I lost any hope that BN would reform after the 308 tsunami some time back.

Yes, BN will not reform until they are whipped at the 13th GE.

Today, I have lost all hope that PKR would heed the reprimands of the very persons they had previously counted as their friends, and reform.

Yes, I will not waste anymore time with PKR.

We have a nation to take back. - harismibrahim.wordpress.com

2010-11-08T15:20:00.001+08:00

Broke and broken – should P Ramlee have come back?

The Ampas Man

EDITOR'S PICK On the day he died, there was no rice in his house. And Saloma had no money for his funeral. The man and legend, P. Ramlee paid a very heavy price returning to Malaysia. The country just did not have the infrastructure, manpower and expertise to accommodate his enormous talent. He would have been better off in Singapore even with the unions there. He would not have gone broke in the club and wedding scene there and perhaps Singapore TV could have given him a break as compared to our own RTM. All the belated accolades and titles were a waste of time as far as the man himself was concerned. He died hopelessly broke and broken.

Question: Di Mana Kan Ku Cari Ganti?

Answer: Not in Malaysia

Those who watched the heart-wrenching P. Ramlee documentary on the History Channel on 31st October 2010 must have gone to bed with a heavy heart. It transpires that Malaysia’s one and only film icon had died penniless and shunned by the public including his own colleagues. And the way it was done appears to have uncanny resemblances to what’s happening today in Malaysia, almost 45 years after Ramlee returned to Malaysia.

The documentary, narrated by British actor, Timothy Watson and 12 years in-the-making included precious interviews by some of his friends, actors and actresses who had passed on. The underlying tone was one of profound melancholy.

Ramlee, born out of poverty along Caunter Hall Road at an Achenese community in Penang , had to endure a brutal Japanese occupation whose schools incidentally inculcated a certain discipline in him. In his formative years then, this discipline proved crucial as a founding platform for his eventual brilliance, creativity and innovation in film and music.

He subsequently gained phenomenal success at Shaw Brother’s Jalan Ampas studios in Singapore. His success at Jalan Ampas was the apparent result of the studio’s incredible milieu of experienced film crew, choreographers and directors which the Shaw Brothers had assembled from India, Hong Kong and Indonesia. With the load of management and finance off his shoulders, Ramlee was able to thrive and focus on his talent of creating music, acting and eventually direction, screenplay and editing.

The Shaw Brothers invested and created such a conducive environment at Ampas that Singapore became the mecca for the Malay film industry for an entire genre of actors and actresses from the whole of the Malay Archipelago from Pontianak, Penang to Medan. Apart from Ramlee, Ampas provided careers for other actors and actresses like Nordin Ahmad, S. Kadarisman, Ahmad Daud, Normadiah, Saloma and Saadiah.

But this talent could not have been developed without the expertise of directors such as B.S.Rajan, L. Krishnan and Phani Majumdar. Directors such as Majumdar already had something like 15 years’ experience in directing films in various languages in Calcutta and Bombay before they came to Singapore. It was on this wealth of experience that the Malay film industry flourished.

Majumdar directed Ramlee in “Anakku Sazali” which won Ramlee Best Actor in 1956. And when Majumdar returned to India, he discovered another great Indian actor, Feroz Khan and directed Khan in his first big hit “Oonche Log” in 1965. Yes it was happy times then at No.8 Jalan Ampas and Boon Kheng Road. But it had to end. Or so it seems.

Things appear to have taken a turn for the worse during the confusion of the Malaysia-Singapore separation in 1963 when Lee Kuan Yew had trouble reining a tight leash on trade unions involving Lim Chin Siong, and his own PAP leaders led by Che’Awang and Devan Nair. Ramlee appears to have been an inadvertent victim of the unions’ unreasonable demands leading Shaw Brothers to call it a day at Jalan Ampas when they couldn’t keep up with union demands for higher pay.

Other views suggest that Ramlee was poached and enticed to return to Malaysia which he did in 1964. Wrong step it seems. All promises “back home in Malaysia” were not kept by his new masters. Sounds very very familiar here. Merdeka studios was poorly equipped and its rookie staffing meant the legend had to multitask which ended up eventually in him churning out shoddy movies. All 18 movies he directed in Malaysia flopped. Sounds like the same stories we hear from some of our Malaysians “trying” to return home from overseas.

Ramlee lost his glitter, his money and apparently also his fame. His partner and colleague, H.M. Shah, tried to form a company called PERFIMA to enable Ramlee to relaunch his career and produce his dream of colour films. But PERFIMA apparently ended up in the hands of inexperienced and connected cronies leaving the talented Ramlee then, as in now, even as a Malay, blatantly unrecognized, ignored and out in the cold.

The documentary brutally exposes how Ramlee tried in vain to set up P. Ramlee Productions, but was again shut out by this country’s media and entertainment industry including RTM. He had to sit in the canteen at Ankasapuri while Saloma had her own show in RTM! He could not secure any government aid, grants or “Private Financial Initiatives” despite his passion for Malay music and culture.

He tried to reinvent himself and sought a bank loan – but was rejected! With his wealth of experience and in his early 40s then, he should have easily qualified. Poor Ramlee didn’t know that in Malaysia it is the “know who” that counts than the “know how”. If he had known George Tan from the Carrian Group then, Ramlee may have received a few millions from BMF without even having to pay back. Or he should have “nurtured” some connections like how Daim, Halim Saad, Tajuddin Ramli, Syed Mokhtar and Amin Shah did.

Ramlee by now, tragically stressed out, overweight, dishevelled, completely down and out with passion and spirit broken, had to now do almost any job he could including running mahjong tables and singing at weddings and other functions to put food on the table for his family. He had to live on rice and eggs. It was truly Air Mata di Kuala Lumpur for Ramlee. A court summons a day prior to his death for being a guarantor finally tipped the balance and done him in when he suffered a massive heart attack and he died on 29th May 1973 at the age of 44 years.

On the day he died, there was no rice in his house. And Saloma had no money for his funeral. The man and legend, P. Ramlee paid a very heavy price returning to Malaysia. The country just did not have the infrastructure, manpower and expertise to accommodate his enormous talent. He would have been better off in Singapore even with the unions there. He would not have gone broke in the club and wedding scene there and perhaps Singapore TV could have given him a break as compared to our own RTM. All the belated accolades and titles were a waste of time as far as the man himself was concerned. He died hopelessly broke and broken.

The documentary is not only an eye opener but a very good case study for anyone contemplating returning home to Malaysia. Whether you are a scientist, engineer, accountant, doctor, etc beware of the conditions enticing you to return. If your kid is an aerospace engineer, a naval architect or a transplant surgeon, it’s a no brainer that he /she should not return at all unless you are absolutely sure the country has the infrastructure and skilled manpower to support these fields. Don’t believe in these stories that you should come home to “help” and “develop” your areas of expertise. That’s not going to happen. That sort of thing will only go to the chaps who have the connections. Assess any offer carefully and do not trust anyone including this government. Make certain all agreements are enforceable in Singapore and the UK .

In retrospect P. Ramlee, with no formal education but was able to compose more than 360 songs and 66 movies, probably returned to a society that was not developed nor had the brain power and skills to match up to his vision. In short he was just surrounded with a whole lot of officials and journalists with serious hang-ups who were not interested in the industry itself. There was no driving force like another Shaw Brothers.

And the prevailing attitude at that time and probably even now was and still is a third class mentality. In an environment such as this, no one with creativity, innovation, skills and brains can ever hope to survive let alone thrive. Its better they stay back where they can develop and nurture their talent. If a star as bright as Ramlee could be extinguished with such impunity, the rest are nothing. Ramlee and his entire family had been wiped out financially despite his immense talent. But he remains still tall this day, the Malay Archipelago ’s cinematic legend. With apologies..

Hancur badan dikandung tanah
Budi baik dikenang juga
Biar alam hancur dan musnah
Jasa mu tetap dikenang juga

2010-11-07T11:26:00.001+08:00

What happened to the Chinese votes?

Sat, 06 Nove 2010 06:00

By Syed Jaymal Zahiid

ANALYSIS GUA MUSANG: Many observers and analysts shared a common sentiment that the Chinese votes in the country were securely in the bag of the opposition. In the case of Galas, they were wrong. It was the Chinese votes that gave the constituency away to the Barisan Nasional (BN).

A quick reading of the polling data of the Galas by-election, the 12th since the 2008 general election, showed a startling and perhaps worrying trend for the opposition.

The data revealed that all the predominantly Chinese enclaves in Galas backed BN. The most damning data came from Kampung Baru Gua Musang polling streams.

In the 2008 general election, the Islamist party won Galas by a majority of only 646 votes. The turnout then was slightly lower than Thursday's by-election, which saw 81% of the constituents in Galas cast their ballots.

BN's Abdul Aziz Yusoff defeated PAS' Dr Zulkefli Mohamed with a majority of 1,190 votes.

Chinese support for PAS in the 2008 polls was at 55%. PAS did not do well in three Chinese enclaves but dominated all four polling streams in Kampung Baru.

But on Thursday, the voters of Kampung Baru Gua Musang turned their backs on PAS.

PAS was betting on a slight swing in Chinese votes of at least 3% to its side. This would have helped it counter the anticipated decrease in Orang Asli votes from its original 35%.

The Islamist party was also hoping to bag the young Malay voters, who formed a sizeable chunk in the Galas electorate. This did not happen. To make it worst, PAS had nothing to fall back on now that their Chinese votebank had been robbed.

1Malaysia magic won the Chinese?

What happened? MCA deputy president Liow Tiong Lai would like to believe that the Chinese voters are warming up to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's 1Malaysia concept. But not Chua Soi Lek !

"They are responding to his 1Malaysia call and they believe that the prime minister wholeheartedly means it. This means we can strengthen unity as we have worked hard to achieve it," he told FMT when reacting to the news of the BN victory.

Liow gave a standard reply. He has every right to believe in it. But the fact of the matter is, the shift in Chinese feelings against PAS, particularly in Kampung Baru Gua Musang, is something new and hard to explain.

The campaigning methods of the MCA were not exactly brilliant. They were even recycled. Was this responsible in the decline of Chinese support for PAS? Hardly so.

And did PAS do anything different from before? Not really. Issues like land which have been close to the hearts of the Chinese settlers here have been more or less resolved. Their way of life has not been threatened by the brand of Islam espoused by a party its rivals love to portray as "Taliban-like".

Ku Li may have played a role

Some analysts say it could be due to the personality of the BN Galas election director Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, the British-educated gentleman statesman. He, and not Umno, is hugely popular in Galas. This could have swayed the Chinese voters to abandon PAS.

But until the specific polling data is revealed, there can be no real answer. Nevertheless, the defeat in Galas has got the opposition in jitters over possible shift of loyalty among the Chinese voters.

The opposition camp knows that if this trend is replicated at the national level, Pakatan Rakyat, which has so far rode on an anti-establishment wave among the Chinese voters, may find it difficult to defend seats should snap polls be called.

And Najib may be convinced that the day of reckoning has come. Snap polls is now likely. And if it happens in this inauspicious climate, we may see the Chinese mandate given to the opposition expire.

It all may have started from a sleepy nobody-knows-Chinese town of Kampung Baru Gua Musang.

2010-11-07T09:40:00.003+08:00

Kota Damansara, Selangor’s new Sin City

With massage parlours galore, pubs and bars mushrooming all over the place, broken roads and 'dead' traffic lights, and restaurants taking over the parking lots so that cars need to park illegally and obstruct traffic, it makes one wonder how much these unelected Pakatan Rakyat local councilors are earning a month in ‘under-the-table’ money.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Today, Tunku Abdul Aziz wrote an article called ‘MPPJ enforcement officers cry foul’. This is what he said:

Local council enforcement officers in Petaling Jaya have told me that they are often stopped dead in their tracks in the course of carrying out their work by Pakatan Rakyat politicians. These loud-mouthed, arrogant and bullying lawmakers, or more correctly, lawbreakers, with their own personal political agenda give direct operational orders to enforcement officers who are answerable, in any case, to their career local government officers.

Enforcing municipal or city council laws in these circumstances takes on a bizarre tug of war aspect when politicians, often from the same party, descend on the scene issuing diametrically opposed instructions. Interfering to the extent of ordering enforcement officers to leave unlicensed food traders well alone for fear of losing their votes is considered, in their circle, as politically savvy and chic. No doubt all part of their ticket to Putrajaya.

The fact that this is blatant abuse of power, or not to put too fine a point on it, corruption, seems to escape them completely as they set about, single-mindedly, to develop popular ground support, for future parliamentary elections. They studiously look away from breaches of the rules and regulations of their own making, committed by MCA supporters who might, just might, change their political allegiance if they were allowed to continue to trade illegally. Why not help them to become “legit”? In this way MPPJ will earn some revenue.

(Read more here: http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/guest-columnists/35781-mppj-enforcement-officers-cry-foul)

AND SEE THE PICTURES HERE

Posted by barred at 11/07/2010 06:21:00 AM

2010-11-07T09:37:00.002+08:00

Trams could complement no-car zone

By Anil Netto,

0diggsdig

Tram engineer Ric Francis has responded to a newspaper report about a proposal for a no-car zone in George Town.

Inner city George Town tram route proposed by Ric Francis

I read with interest your article on Heritage Area car free, I have pushed this subject with Government Officials included with my Tramway in Heritage Area, I know things take time to happen in Penang, but this idea would work with my suggestion on a Tramway
Ric Francis
Tramway Engineer
Vice-President
Perth Electric Tramway
Perth, Western Australia

Trams in Berlin - Image credit: berlinculture.co.uk

Meanwhile, one political economist has said there is no reason why trams cannot be eventually extended all over Penang. He noted that trams are used extensively and effectively over long stretches in cities such as Amsterdam and Berlin.

Where to find the money for this? Well, if we can afford submarines and fighter planes, then surely we can afford an improved public transport system.

: Madrid: Image by ITDP-Europe via Flickr

It is about time Malaysians are weaned off their car dependency – a move which would greatly relieve our cities of their stressful congestion.

2010-11-04T18:18:00.000+08:00

More Lies from Opposition MPs

Friday, 22 October 2010 10:34

Proposed Menara Warisan is one of the many projects that will transform the Kuala Lumpur Skyline

Anwar Ibrahim was reported to have recently commented again on Prime Minister Najib's budget, but this time he chose to highlight his personal feelings on the much talked about Teik Jho Low, and his purported links to 1 Malaysia Development Berhad.

Anwar was reported to have said in MalaysiaKini that there was doubts to 1MDB and the strong links between 1MDB and Jho Low, as well as his personal feelings that he 'was not jealous' of Jho Low for his links with Paris Hilton.

Clearly, Anwar Ibrahim has chosen again to hog the limelight with baseless allegations yet again. Jho Low in a 'tell all' interview with The S tar had clearly stated that he had nothing to do with 1MDB.

However, this time around the opposition MPs the likes of Tony Pua, Lim Guan Eng, and Anwar had erred big time by repeating lies in order to scuttle, yet again, Prime Minister Najib Razak's roadmap to transform Malaysia.

The most often heard lie, was the much repeated KLIFD and Mubadala agreement. Tian Chua, Batu MP, had made a statement to MalaysiaKini (which was not corrected) that Mubadala had inked an agreement to develop the Sungai Besi airbase, when clearly the agreement was done with regards to the Kuala Lumpur International Financial District, an area covering 35 acres in the fringe of Jalan Imbi, whereas Tian Chua had mentioned the 460 acre airbase instead.

Not only has these irresponsible MPs been stoking the issue with lies, they have also repeatedly misled the rakyat to believe that Jho Low was a big part of the plans, when clearly he wasn't.

To cover these lies, other opposition MP's weighed in on the matter, with Tony Pua misleading the rakyat to believe that the financial reports of 1MDB had included the Sungai Besi land as part of its profits, choosing to ignore the fact that 1MDB's books had closed on 31st March 2010, whereas the land transfer was announced in May 2010.

These are just the few of the much repeated lies that has been churned out by irresponsible opposition MPs in their quest to oust PM Najib from office, and by spreading lies about the larger effort to transform Malaysia, they hope to hoodwink the rakyat to support them to Putrajaya.

The most recent to emerge recently apart from these misleading allegations is the Menara Warisan, which has been proposed by PNB. This time around, they are alleging that Menara Warisan is a government funded project, choosing to ignore the fact that PNB itself is a corporatised body with Amanah Saham holders as the rightful owners.

What next? Jho Low again emerging as the key proponent in PNB? - PJ Moorthy, Malaysia Instinct

2010-11-04T09:29:00.005+08:00

DAP’s New Slogan - PIG, No More CAT

Lim Guan Eng , the two legged PIG !

Wednesday, 20 October 2010 16:24

By Terrence Fernandez

DAP used to boast of their slogan, Competency, Accountability and Transparency (CAT) because they believe that the rakyat see Barisan Nasional as the opposite.

After getting the mandate to rule Penang directly, and Selangor, indirectly, what the rakyat see is that the CAT slogan doesn’t even come close to define DAP. A ‘cat’ is a cute, cuddly little faithful companion and there’s just nothing cute, cuddly or faithful about DAP.

You can’t be friends with DAP, even after you have cuddled them in your arms like what Hadi Awang did.

Unless you are a Chinese, you can’t be a friend to DAP, you can only be their employee, their worker, their slave or their dog. If you chose to co-operate with DAP, you must first understand that by co-operating with them means you have to obey them.

If you chose to work with them you must expect to be back-stabbed, conned, discriminated or abused by them.

DAP will only give you a better position in the collaboration if you are deemed fit to be their puppet or if they perceive you as a natural traitor to your own race.

Like I said, there is nothing cute or cuddly or faithful about DAP, in fact, they are absolutely the opposite. Everything about DAP spells racist, chauvinist, selfish and egoist.

Because of these traits, DAP is incapable of tolerance, respect, compassion and sincerity. These then lead them to being incompetence, unaccountable and biased leaders.

Penang has the ‘opportunity’ to see the true colours of DAP first hand.

Barely 2 years after their taking over Penang, DAP didn’t think twice to demolish Kg. Buah Pala, Kg. Jalan Pokok Asam and Malay hawkers sites. DAP strategically destroys everything that spells non-Chinese in Penang and force them to move out from the island.

This is done by building high-cost housing or commercial property projects on the newly demolished sites to ensure that the low-middle income non-Chinese could never afford to own them.

Most recently, member of Penang City Council (MPPP) was reported to have used the service of a prostitute during the council’s official visit to Singapore. Another two officers were said to have spent time in night-clubs there. DAP couldn’t bare the shame and decided to do what they do best: use force to shut up the newspaper that reported the incident despite their ‘transparency’ slogan and their ‘fight’ for press freedom. The newspaper was forced to apologize and withdrew the article almost immediately.

DAP is also very synonym to gangsterism, especially in Selangor whereby an Exco member is said to have linked to underground mobs and own several night-clubs and ‘spas’. This resulted in the rise of immoral activities and crime in the state.

The problems of corruption then automatically become more severe as these mobsters and gangsters’ activities got entangled with the political game in the state.

Should DAP ruled the country, we can be sure that we would see more crime, oppression and no freedom of speech except for the Chinese, perhaps.

Malaysia wouldn’t be a prosperous, harmonious country anymore. Leadership like DAP would only fill the country with anger, dissatisfaction, sadness, fear and hatred. Even the Chinese wouldn’t be able to live their luxurious lives peacefully under DAP’s ruling.

Since DAP has gone way out of their own slogan, CAT, we would like to suggest the party to change its slogan to fit their true colours.

DAP’s new slogan should be PIG (Prejudice, Incompetence and Gangsterism).

PIG would be a more suitable slogan to fit their character. Pig as an animal despised. It’s dirty, stinky and caused a lot of diseases.

Even a pork-eater would refer their most hated person as a ‘pig’ just to discredit and insult the person. This confirms that a pig is the lowest animal on the planet. Funny that even a racist Chinese would call a Malay pig, just to show his hatred towards the Malay, despite his love towards pork. Sounds like a ‘love-hate’ situation eh? Irony, isn’t it?

2010-11-03T17:49:00.001+08:00

Who Authorized
The Assassination
Of John Lennon?

by Mark R. Elsis, Lovearth.net, December 8, 2002

"Laurel and Hardy, that's John and Yoko.
And we stand a better chance under that guise…
Because all the serious people like
Martin Luther King and Kennedy and Gandhi got shot."
John Lennon

Monday, December 8th, 1980 was the warmest December 8th in the history of New York City. The temperature reached a balmy record of 64 degrees Fahrenheit that fateful day. At around 5 p.m., John and Yoko left their apartments in the historic Dakota on Central Park West and 72nd Street. They were to go to the Record Plant recording studio to supervise the transfer of some of the "Double Fantasy" album numbers to singles.

As they were leaving the Dakota to enter their limousine, they were approached by several people who were seeking autographs. Among them was a man who would be later identified as the assassin. John was asked by the assassin, to sign his copy of the album Double Fantasy, John did. There is a famous photograph of John signing Double Fantasy for the assassin.

At least three witnesses, Jose Perdomo, the outside doorman for the Dakota, an elevator operator and a cab driver who had just dropped off a passenger, saw the assassin standing in the shadows, just inside the archway of the Dakota. You can add my name, Mark Elsis, to this list also. I saw the assassin lurking in the darkness while I was driving my taxi in Manhattan that evening.

I was traveling without passengers, going north on Central Park West and made a slow left turn on to 72nd Street. As soon I made the left turn, I sensed something was wrong. I quickly slowed down to a crawl in front of the Dakota. I looked right at this guy lurking in the darkness, and I felt he was bad energy. I very nearly stopped. It was almost 10:00. I'm so sorry, forgive me John. I should have stopped. I knew there was something terribly wrong with this guy, the assassin. I was ever so close to stopping, I went back and forth, should I stop or not a couple times in the few seconds in front of the Dakota.

John and Yoko left the Record Plant at 10:40. They were on their way back home from their recording / mixing session for Yoko's song Walking On Thin Ice. At 10:49 their limousine pulled up in front of their apartments at the Dakota, they were home. It stopped at the curb. It was an absolutely beautiful evening in Manhattan, so there was no need to be driven into the courtyard, to be let off next to the safety of the lobby entrance.

Jose Perdomo, the front doorman, leaves his post to open the limousine door for John and Yoko. Yoko Ono stepped out of the limousine first and John Lennon who is carrying a tape recorder and some cassettes followed a few steps behind. As Yoko passes him the assassin, says "Hello". Just as John passes him, the man steps from the sidewalk and from his pocket he takes out a 5 shot .38 revolver armed with hollow tip bullets. He drops into a combat stance, knees flexed, with one arm supporting the other at the wrist. He says, Mr. Lennon?

Just as John turns, about 15 feet through the large arch with iron gates of the Dakota, the assassin fires two shots into the left side of his back. There's a crash of shattering glass as the bullets that pass through John's body smash into the Dakota's glass frontage. These two shots spin him around. He is now facing his assassin.

Blood is already pouring out from the first two bullets and the four wounds, as the assassin takes aim at John again. He fires three more shots. Two of the bullets smash into John's left shoulder. The other goes astray. The greatest singer songwriter and the most influential political artist of our time staggers up six steps to the room at the end of the entrance used by the concierge, said, "I'm shot," then fell down.

I'm shot he moans lying on the floor. John's been shot, screams Yoko. Jay Hastings the security man reaches under his desk and presses the alarm button, notifying the police from the nearby 20th Precinct. He then rushes to John's side and removes his blood stained glasses. Then he takes off his uniform jacket to cover him. He wants to use his tie as a tourniquet, but can't decide where to apply it. John is dying, blood pours from his chest and mouth, his eyes are open but unfocused, and he is gurgling and vomiting blood.

The first policemen at the scene were Officers Steve Spire and Peter Cullen, who were in their patrol car at 72nd Street and Broadway when they heard a report of shots fired at the Dakota. The officers found the assassin standing "very calmly" where he had been. The police said the assassin had dropped the revolver after firing it, and said he had a paperback book, J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye."

The second police team at the Dakota, Officers Bill Gamble and James Moran, realizing John Lennon was critically injured, didn't wait for an ambulance, and took John Lennon to Roosevelt Hospital in their patrol car. Officer Moran said they stretched Lennon out on the back seat and that the singer was "moaning." Officer Moran asks, "Are you John Lennon?" and that Lennon had moaned, "Yeah." The patrol car makes a left through the red light on to Columbus Avenue and speeds down the 13 blocks to 59th Street, where it swings into the entrance of Roosevelt Hospital.

Roosevelt hospital's emergency trauma team has already been alerted. John is brought into the emergency room with virtually no pulse. The two bullets that hit him on the left side of the back had both pierced a lung and passed through his chest. A third bullet had shattered his left shoulder bone, and a fourth had hit the same shoulder and ricocheted inside his chest, where it severed his aorta and windpipe.

After an unsuccessful attempt at cardiac massage, a medical team of seven people led by Dr. Stephen Lyman labored to save John using every device and technique available. Nothing work. John Lennon the greatest singer songwriter and the most influential political artist of our time was pronounced dead at 11:15 p.m. on December 8, 1980. The official cause of death is shock produced by massive hemorrhaging. Dr. Elliott M. Gross, the Chief Medical Examiner, said after the autopsy that Lennon had died of shock and loss of blood and that no one could have lived more than a few minutes with such injuries.

Yoko Ono, crying "Tell me it's not true," was taken to Roosevelt Hospital and led away in shock after she learned her husband was dead. David Geffen later issued a statement in her behalf: "John loved and prayed for the human race. Please do the same for him."

Within minutes of the first broadcasts of the news of the shooting, people began to gather in front of the Dakota, reciting prayers, singing Lennon's songs and burning candles. I first got to the Dakota at 11:45. I was there longer than anyone on Earth that evening - 9 hours, from 11:45 p.m. till 8:45 a.m. the next morning. (Read John Lennon Day Petition)

On December 14, all around the world, people paused to stand alone or come together in silence, heeding a plea from Yoko Ono that they take 10 minutes to remember John.

CIA -- FBI -- Deranged Lone Nut Fan -- Manchurian MKULTRA Candidate

The assassin was a brainwashed hit man carrying out someone else's contract, writes Bresler, "he is in many ways as much the victim of those who wanted to kill John Lennon, as Lennon himself."

The Manchurian MKULTRA candidate assassin dropped the gun and proceeded to take out a copy of J. D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, and calmly started reading. The Dakota doorman, Jose Perdomo, shouted at the assassin, "Do you know what you've done?" "I just shot John Lennon," he replied, accurately enough.

"He walked past me and then I heard in my head, 'Do it, do it, do it,' over and over again, saying 'Do it, do it, do it,' like that," recalled in a BBC documentary several years after going to prison. "I don't remember aiming. I must have done, but I don't remember drawing a bead or whatever you call it. And I just pulled the trigger steady five times." The assassin described his feeling at the time of the shooting as "no emotion, no anger dead silence in the brain."

His unnatural tone sounded all-too-familiar for British lawyer and journalist Fenton Bresler, who wrote the book, Who Killed John Lennon? The assassin was a brainwashed hit man carrying out someone else's contract, writes Bresler, "he is in many ways as much the victim of those who wanted to kill John Lennon, as Lennon himself."

Prosecutors were at a loss for motive, so they opted for the cliché, the assassin did it for the attention. The troublesome American preoccupation with grabbing that elusive fifteen minutes propels many a daily-newspaper-journalist-cum-pop-sociologist into raptures of sanctimony. But Arthur O'Connor, the Detective who spent more time with the assassin immediately following the murder than anyone else, saw it another way.

"It is definitely illogical to say that [the assassin] committed the murder to make himself famous. He did not want to talk to the press from the very start. It's possible somebody could have used him. I saw him the night of the murder. I studied him intensely. He looked as if he could have been programmed."

Detective O'Connor was speaking to Bresler, and publicly for the first time. Bresler's book, Who Killed John Lennon? -- Offers the most cogent argument that the assassination of John Lennon was not the work of yet another "lone nut."

At nearly three hundred pages, John Lennon's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) file reveals that he was under "constant surveillance." His apartment was watched, he was followed, and his phone was tapped. The FBI did not keep a particularly low profile around the ex-Beatle, apparently attempting to harass him into silence or at least drive him nuts, similar to the tactic they had used on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., just a few short, but eventful years earlier.

In late 1972, when the "surveillance" was at its peak, John Lennon told humorist Paul Krassner, "Listen, if anything happens to Yoko and me, it was not an accident."

The FBI and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) tracked John at from at least his "Free John Sinclair" concert in 1969 until 1976, even though by then John had won his immigration battle and dropped out of not only political activism but public life altogether. This turned out to be a five-year period of seclusion to raise his newly born son, Sean. Sean Lennon was born on October 9, 1975, his dad's 35th birthday.

Placing a person under "constant surveillance" and ordering that person executed are admittedly two very different things. Nevertheless, Bresler's point is that the government did not consider John Lennon a harmless rock 'n' roller. John's political publicity stunts such as in his and Yoko's Montreal "Bed-In" and "War Is Over" were always capable of seizing the spotlight and speaking directly to tens of millions of young people who venerated him. With unfettered access to the world's media, his power truly was immense. Because of this, in some circles he was correctly viewed as the most dangerous radical who needed to be stopped. John Lennon was the most dangerous person in the world, to those whose interest is a world under corporate military rule.

John Lennon was assassinated only four years after the intense FBI and CIA surveillance ceased. In those intermittent years, James Earl Carter was President, a Democrat who kept the two agencies more or less in check. Matter of fact, about 1000 CIA was let go under James Earl Carter's Presidency.

But on November 4, 1980, when John Lennon's first album (Double Fantasy) in half a decade was climbing high on the charts, James Earl Carter became a lame duck President. I discovered a very interesting fact about the last three major assassinations in the United States. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Francis Kennedy and John Winston Lennon were all executed during the time of a lame duck Presidency.

President Lyndon Baines Johnson became a lame duck on March 31, 1968 when he said to a national television audience; he would not run for reelection even if the Democrats wanted him to. Four days later Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Sixty-three days later, Senator Robert Francis Kennedy was assassinated after winning the California Democratic primary (RFK would have been the Democratic Presidential candidate against the Republican Presidential candidate Richard Milhouse Nixon, and RFK would have won the Presidency). On November 4, 1980 President James Earl Carter lost the Presidential election to Ronald Wilson Reagan, thus becoming a lame duck President. Thirty-four days later, the heartbeat of music for his generation, John Winston Lennon was assassinated.

In every single major assassination these black-op conspirator killers have actually had the balls to blame it on some poor deranged lone gunman. They have had a patsy or a mind controlled Manchurian candidate fall guy for the last four assassinations. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Senator Robert Francis Kennedy, and the founder and leader of the most influential musical group The Beatles, the person who was his generations and about to be another generations leader for peace and love, John Winston Lennon.

Reagan's campaign was managed by career secret agent William Casey, who under President Reagan became the CIA's most freewheeling chief since Allen Dulles (who JFK fired). The new far-right administration would reassemble the intelligence services and grant them a cheerful carte blanche. Something quite interesting about William Casey, who just happening to die very quickly from a supposed brain tumor on May 6, 1987. He died without ever testifying in the scandal, which most certainly originated with him, the Iran Contra Affair.

The forces that tried desperately to neutralize John Lennon for at least seven years lost power in November of 1976. The Lennon's government dossier ends in that year. In 1980, as those forces were preparing to retake control of the government, "the most dangerous extremist" John Lennon emerged from retirement with the best selling album, Double Fantasy, and was promptly assassinated.

The paper trail that helps support this is the airline ticket found in the assassin's hotel room, a Hawaii to New York connection departing December 5, 1980. But the assassin had actually purchased a Hawaii to Chicago ticket to depart December 2, 1980 with no connecting flight. The ticket found after his arrest had apparently been altered. None of his friends knew that he traveled on to New York. They thought he went to Chicago for a three-day stay. Where was the assassin from December 2 through 5, 1980?

Bresler concludes that the Lennon assassination, which, as the assassin himself noted in a rare interview, "ended an era," bears similarities to another assassination that took place twelve years earlier: the murder of Robert Francis Kennedy.

Robert Francis Kennedy's apparent lone assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, and John Lennon's assassin just happened to have shared the same defense psychiatrist. But while Dr. Bernard Diamond couldn't skirt the obvious fact that Sirhan was under hypnosis (Diamond wrote it off as self-hypnosis), he labeled John Lennon's assassin a "paranoid schizophrenic."

The court disagreed. The assassin, even now, has never had more than routine psychiatric care since entering his guilty plea. He was not sent to a mental hospital, but to Attica State Prison. He was judged legally "rational."

Bresler clears up a few widely disseminated misconceptions about John Lennon's assassin. While any mention of his name is now accompanied by the phrase "deranged fan," John's assassin was anything but. He was no more or less an ardent Beatles / Lennon fan than anyone of his generation. His real rock hero was Todd Rundgren, a cynical studio craftsman who could not be further from Lennon in artistic sensibility. Notwithstanding his announcement months after the murder that he "killed Lennon to gain prominence to promote the reading of The Catcher in the Rye," he never exhibited strong feelings about the novel until shortly before the shooting. Catcher, Bresler muses, may have been used as a device to trigger the assassin's programming."

After the murder, major media ran bizarre stories of the assassin's supposed growing identification with John Lennon - at one point he even "re-baptized" himself as Lennon, according to Newsweek. These stories were all quite fascinating, but there was no evidence to back any of them up. What is true is that when the assassin quit his last job he signed out as "John Lennon," then crossed the name out.

The assassin of John Lennon was not a "loner." He was for most of his life a normally social individual and a camp counselor who had a special rapport with kids. Bresler also notes that when the assassin signed up for a YMCA overseas program, he selected an odd destination: Beirut - a perfect place, says Bresler, for the assassin, a once gentle soul, to be "blooded," that is, desensitized to violence.

A final note to the mystery of the assassin: As he was ready to go to trial and his diligent public defender was winding up six months spent assembling his defense, the accused killer suddenly decided to change his plea to guilty. His lawyer was perplexed and more than a little perturbed. But the assassin was determined. He said he was acting on instructions from a "small male voice" that spoke to him in his cell.

Bresler interviewed Arthur O'Connor, the lieutenant who was commanding officer of the 20th Precinct of the New York Police that dealt with John Lennon's murder. He quotes O'Connor as saying, "As far as you are trying to build up some kind of conspiracy, I would support you in that line. Like I said originally over the phone, if the [assassin] wanted to get away with it, he could have got away with it. There was the subway right on the corner and no one around to stop him." Instead, once the assassin had accomplished his task, he calmly sat reading Catcher In The Rye and waited for the police to come.

"Why one method rather than the other, the amateur as against the professional? Because that way you avoid any awkward questions, and everyone seems to fall for it anyway. If a professional killer had gunned down John Lennon, the whole world would have known. Such swift expert assassinations carry their own individual hallmark. It would have been obvious what had happened, and with Lennon's history of War Is Over, peace and love political activity, there would have been [an in-depth investigation]." "But if you program an amateur to do the job, a so-called 'nut', very few questions are asked."

Hinckley, Bush, Reagan Assassination, World Vision And The Assassin

Ronald Wilson Reagan was sworn into the Presidency on January 20, 1981. On his sixty-ninth day in office, March 30, 1981, Reagan was nearly killed by an assassin. The person named as the assassin was John Hinkley. His family ties were to oil. Through that oil connection, Neil Bush - Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush's son, who worked in oil [later to steal hundreds of millions through Silverdo in the Saving and Loan crisis] -- knew Scott Hinkley, (brother of John) who also worked in oil.

"Scott Hinckley, the brother of John Hinckley Jr., who is charged with shooting President Reagan and three others, was to have been a dinner guest Tuesday night [March 31, 1981] at the home of Neil Bush, son of Vice President George Bush, The Houston Post has learned."

The two families lived close to each other. They knew each other socially and financially. When the Hinkley oil company started to fail in the sixties, Bush's Zapata Oil financially bailed out Hinkley's company. It went from being Vanderbilt Oil to Vanderbilt Energy or Vanderbilt Resources in the 60s after Bush intervened. The Hinkley's had been running an operation with six dead wells but then they were making several million dollars a year after the Bush bailout. Was this some sort of a money-pass front where they were laundering money through on this phony oil operation but actually operating some type of an intelligence pay-off?

The father in that family, John W. Hinkley Sr., was also the president of the board for World Vision. World Vision is a far-right evangelical missionary operation that does missionary and "good work" operations in countries where there is a political purpose for it to be there. From its inception, it was rabidly anti-Communist and it focused on refugee populations of people running from countries that had been taken over by Communism. This was from the fifties on.

World Vision had a hand in the movement of the Cubans into the United States and other refugees of revolutionary regimes. When you're a refugee you're cut loose, basically, and pretty much fair game to be manipulated by whoever is willing to give you a hand because you don't have a home or any place to stay and somebody has got to accept you.

World Vision was able to recruit out of these mercenary populations, people who could be politically turned to their intelligence purposes. World Vision served as a penetration force -- not as visible as the military actually going in or the CIA going in - but going in as missionaries and working among the people.

This link between missionary and intelligence for capitalistic infiltration operations goes way back. It was part of the internationalism with the Rockefellers. It's talked about in the book, Thy Will Be Done, about Rockefeller, Venezuela, and Latin American Oil, the Summer Linguistic Institute, World Vision and others. But they operated in this way for a long time.

They were paid by the CIA for a long time during the Vietnam War and went into South East Asia -- Cambodia and Laos. Throughout Vietnam they were given U.S. military equipment to use. They still maintain a budget under USAID, (Agency for International Development), which was just a pass-over in order to give the CIA more cover. They ran operations through USAID. The current cover replacing that is the NED (National Endowment for Democracy), which is supposed to be how we're exporting democracy around the world.

But of course, we're exporting exactly the kind of corrupt democracy we have here, which is rigged and manipulated elections and press manipulation in order to keep in power or put in power the people that we want to be in those countries for the purpose of having our investments protected and milking what we can out of the resources and the labor available in any of those countries.

World Vision was part of that scheme and they did some nasty things. They ran the refugee camp in Sabra-Shatilla where the fascist Phalange was allowed in to kill the Palestinians. They ran the Cuban and Thai refugee camps in the United States. The assassin -- who eventually shot John Lennon -- worked at the Thai refugee camps out in Arkansas that World Vision operated there. They ran these camps brutally, forcing people into political education against Castro, refusing to feed people, beating people -- by many reports -- and bringing in Alpha 66 and Omega 7 people (the worst of the killing teams -- or murder squads -- of the anti-Castro Cubans in the United States) to run the camps in Florida, Fort Chafey in Arkansas and other places where the Cuban exiles were. These people came in and there were eventually riots in the Cuban refugee camps against their treatment there. And the eventual assassin of John Lennon just happened to work there.

Who Authorized The Assassination Of John Lennon?

It took me almost 22 years to figure out who most likely authorized the assassination of John Lennon, the greatest singer songwriter and the most influential political artist of our time. I believe it could have been the CIA that manipulated the assassin of John Winston Lennon, but more likely, I believe a new army of old school CIA, which was let go under President Carter, manipulated the assassin. I believe the assassin was a mind-control experiment, like all their old tricks of MKULTRA, only much more sophisticated. I believe their old boss authorized it. The person the CIA building in Washington D.C. is named after. I believe he was the same person who tried to assassinate President Ronald Wilson Reagan on his sixty-ninth day in office -- March 30, 1981. He is the person with the most to gain from both of these assassinations. So, who authorized the assassination of John Lennon? I believe it was the 41st President of the United States, George Herbert Walker Bush.

2010-11-03T17:43:00.001+08:00

China was bullied ??!!
A Poem by D L Lin

When we were the Sick Man of Asia ,
We were called The Yellow Peril.

When we are billed to be the next Superpower,
we are called The Threat.

When we closed our doors,
you smuggled opium to open markets.

When we embrace Free Trade,
You blame us for taking away your jobs.

When we were falling apart,
You marched in your troops and wanted your fair share.

When we tried to put the broken pieces back together again,
Free Tibet you screamed, It Was an Invasion!

When we tried Communism,
you hated us for being Communist.

When we embrace Capitalism,
you hate us for being Capitalist.

When we have a billion people,
you said we were destroying the planet.

When we tried limiting our numbers,
you said we abused human rights.

When we were poor,
you thought we were dogs.

When we loan you cash,
you blame us for your national debts.

When we build our industries,
you call us Polluters.

When we sell you goods,
you blame us for global warming.

When we buy oil,
you call it exploitation and genocide.

But when you go to war for oil,
you call it liberation.

When we were lost in chaos and rampage,
you demanded rules of law.

When we uphold law and order against violence,
you call it violating human rights.

When we were silent,
you said you wanted us to have free speech.

When we are silent no more,
you say we are brainwashed- xenophobics.

Why do you hate us so much, we asked.
No, you answered, we don't hate you.

We don't hate you either,
But, do you understand us?

Of course we do, you said,
We have AFP, CNN and BBC's...

What do you really want from us?
Think hard first, then answer...
Because you only get so many chances.

Enough is Enough,
Enough Hypocrisy for This One World.

We want One World, One Dream, and Peace on Earth.
This Big Blue Earth is Big Enough for all of Us.

2010-11-02T13:00:00.001+08:00

Chinese Votes Are The PAS Goal

Monday, 01 November 2010 16:15

Yam Seng ! to you PAS ! Like one ! we have a dozen here !

By Joceline Tan

The PAS campaign centre in Kampung Baru, the biggest Chinese village in Galas, is not hard to miss.

It was festooned with PAS flags and posters of Kelantan Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who is a popular figure among the Chinese.

The sweet and lilting vocals of Teresa Teng crooning her most famous song The Moon Reflects My Heart could be heard from within.

A pink Chinese lantern with the words huan yin, or welcome, was hanging at the front.

Those less than familiar with the changes in PAS would probably experience some form of culture shock over the party’s campaign style in the Galas by-election.

Inside, several Chinese men wearing PAS campaign buttons were seated around a table piled with campaign material that included a glossy pull-out on the proclamation of Sultan Muhammad V and which had lots of photographs illustrating the close ties PAS leaders have with the new Sultan.

PAS is pulling out all the stops to woo the Chinese vote.

The party’s campaign material has overwhelmed that of the Barisan Nasional, be it the ubiquitous plastic buntings or huge colourful banners of their candidate Dr Zulkefli Mohamed and other party bigwigs.

It is, after all, the incumbent and the party in power for no less than 20 years.

In contrast, posters of the Barisan Nasional candidate, Abdul Aziz Yusoff, started appearing only yesterday.

Yet, amid these outward displays of might and confidence, it is the Malay vote, which makes up a little over 60% of the electorate, that the party is most worried about at this point in time.

Its ceramah, even those featuring its president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang, have sometimes drawn average-sized crowds.

DAP leaders have also lamented the small crowds but in the case of the local Chinese, it is because many of them are farmers who rise at 3am to tap their rubber trees, tend their vegetables farms in the morning, rest in the afternoons, eat dinner at 6pm and turn in at 8pm.

The Malay vote in Galas has been rather too quiet for comfort.

But the talk of the media fraternity was the PAS candidate’s lightning trip to Kuala Lumpur to meet voters working in the Klang Valley.

He left on Saturday night with party election director Datuk Halim Abdul Rahman and returned the next day.

It was the first time any candidate was known to campaign as far as Kuala Lumpur and it was odd to say the least.

“They need all the votes they can get,” said restaurateur Juhaidi Yean Abdullah, who is from Kelantan.

PAS’ offer of a RM250 subsidy to those who return to vote has also been quite controversial.

At a PAS press conference yesterday, a Suhakam official asked PAS election adviser Datuk Wan Rahim Wan Abdullah if the offer was tantamount to an election bribe.

Wan Rahim’s defence was that this was practiced by all political parties.

Everything is sensitive in a by-election and when the taps ran dry on Saturday, it became a campaign issue.

Water cuts are quite common in Gua Musang and Barisan politicians have made the most of it.

Another election issue was Kelantan’s victory in the prestigious Malaysia Cup final, with people asking which side stands to gain from it.

Wan Rahim, an avowed kaki bola, insisted that, “when it comes to football, we are all the same.”

But as everyone knows, the man behind the Kelantan football team is none other than Umno politician Tan Sri Annuar Musa.

Since he took charge of the Kelantan Football Association, the team has made it twice to the Malaysia Cup final before finally emerging as champions last Saturday.

Kelantanese take their football seriously and Annuar is walking tall.

Today, he is scheduled to take a victory drive through Galas town with Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

Several days earlier, Tengku Razaleigh had compared the by-election to a friendly football game.

While the Malaysia Cup has gone to Kelantan, few are keen to predict who will win in the “Galas friendly”. - The Star

2010-11-02T12:41:00.001+08:00

Chua Jui Meng Acting Like A Dictator'

Friday, 29 October 2010 11:21

Parti Keadilan Rakyat members in Johor are dissatisfied with the move by their head Datuk Chua Jui Meng in appointing members to the state leadership council without any discussions.

PKR Seri Gading head Mohd Bakri Said said that Chua claimed he had consulted the other party members but this was not true.

"As the state chief, Chua should be honest and transparent. He does not need to lie to those present at the meeting.

"What is even more strange is that when the announcement of the changes was made, the secretary who was appointed were not present and the minutes of the meeting was not taken.

"For us, that was not a formal meeting but just a get-together which was not conducted professionally."

Chua was said to have reshuffled several positions in the council, including that of his deputy chief, two vice chiefs, secretary and treasurer, without any discussions or approvals from representatives of the branches as well as those already appointed to the posts.

Bakri, who has been the Seri Gading PKR head since 1999, said he joined PKR because he thought it could bring about changes but instead, the opposite happened.

He said all the previous meetings and decisions were done correctly and the views of the branch heads were taken into account, and the individuals to be appointed are consulted to see if they are willing to shoulder the responsibility.

"Chua's attitude is like a dictator and it does not reflect the party's struggles.

"When we disagreed with the decision, we sent a representative to discuss the matter but he was adamant and said that the appointments were his prerogative."

Besides the appointments, Bakri said Chua's speech at the meeting also touched on matters that were racially sensitive.

He said following the speech, a fracas almost erupted if not for the intervention of security guards, who were hired for the first time in such a meeting.

Bakri demanded that Chua explain his actions, failing which, he would disband the Seri Gading PKR branch.

He had also lodged a police report on the matter and hope that it would get the attention of the central PKR leadership.

2010-11-02T12:38:00.001+08:00

Conspiracy To Implicate PM, Wife In Anwar Sodomy Case – Choo Keong

Monday, 01 November 2010 23:01

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Wangsa Maju, Wee Choo Keong, claims there is a conspiracy to implicate Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, in the sodomy case of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

He said this was clearly proven when the contents of the first statutory declaration (SD) signed by Anwar’s former private secretary, Muhamad Rahimi Osman on June 29, 2008, did not implicate anyone at all (Najib or Rosmah) in the police report made by Anwar’s aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, regarding the sodomy case.

However, he said the second SD signed by Muhamad Rahimi had amended the contents of the first SD and tried to link Najib and Rosmah to the case.

“I had been asked to become the Commissioner for Oaths in Muhamad Rahimi’s first SD, and I can say that 100 per cent of what had been said by a certain party had disappeared, the contents did not accuse anyone at all (Najib or Rosmah) of being involved in Saiful’s police report,” he said at a media conference at the Parliament lobby, here today.

When asked on the second SD, Wee denied that it was signed on the same day as the first SD, but several days later in his absence.

Wee, who is also a lawyer, emphasised that he had nothing to do whatsoever with Muhamad Rahimi’s second SD as claimed by the party’s information chief, Latheefa Koya and Kedah PKR Youth head, Saiful Izham Ramli.

2010-11-02T11:52:00.001+08:00

‘Bleak future’ for Malaysia without Chinese support says Najib

By Lee Wei Lian

November 02, 2010

Najib Razak

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak reached out to the Chinese Malaysian community today, conceding that the developed nation by 2020 goal might fail without its support.

This comes as the prime minister recently launched the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) to ensure Malaysia achieves a high income developed nation status in 10 years.

“Malaysia would not be what it is today without the industry, expertise and dedication of the Malaysian Chinese community,” said Najib in a speech delivered by his deputy Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin at the 2nd World Chinese Economic Forum here today.

“Likewise, there will be a bleak future for Malaysia without the Chinese community’s support. We would clearly fall short of reaching the goals to become a developed nation by 2020.”

He added that the community formed the backbone of the Malaysian economy through its small and medium enterprises.

The prime minister also reached out to businesses in China and encouraged them invest in the country.

“Both Malaysia and China are embarking on economic transformations,” he said. “It is in this area that I believe we will find synergies between our two countries.”

Najib also invited Chinese to consider making Malaysia their second home noting that the country is looking to attract the best talent from around the world as the Talent Corporation to be established next year is putting in place the “welcoming regulatory environment to help that happen”.

The prime minister’s remarks also come after observers and analysts noted that political resistance from conservative Malays have delayed reforms needed to restructure the nation into a high income economy.

At his party’s recent general assembly however, Najib made an attempt to dampen racial rhetoric by saying that there should be an end to racial debate.

2010-11-02T09:29:00.002+08:00

Why Onn Jaafar really left Umno to form the IMP (part 10 of the series on the Social Contract)

On 21st December 1951, around four years before the Constitutional Conference of January-February 1956, the British government came out with a report on the racial situation in Malaya. The Malay-Chinese population ratio then was 50:50 but because many Chinese were not allowed citizenship this ratio eventually tipped in favour of the Malays. Page four of this report reveals that Umno aimed to embark on a ‘Malaya for the Malays’ policy and that was why Dato Onn Jaafar broke away from Umno to form his Independence of Malaya Party (IMP).

NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin

2010-11-02T09:24:00.001+08:00

In Parliament, Putrajaya to name errant officials

UPDATED @ 07:07:15 AM 02-11-2010

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal

November 01, 2010

Nazri argued that “little napoleon” was simply a general description. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1 — The Najib administration will provide Parliament with a comprehensive list of civil servants who have broken disciplinary regulations and “lack initiative” Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said today.

The minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said that the government had compiled a list of civil servants who had flouted the Public Officers (Conduct and Discipline) Regulations 1993, and this included those who were behaving like “little napoleons.”

“The government has taken action against all officers who have broken the rules. Bagan (MP Lim Guan Eng) claimed that there were officials behaving like little napoleons. We will take preventive and punitive action if we find that officials to be portraying the actions of little napoleons,” said Nazri during his Budget winding-up speech in Parliament.

The matter was first brought up by DAP advisor and Ipoh Timur MP Lim Kit Siang, who had asked for the government to provide figures for the action taken against “little napoleons” in the civil service.

In response, Nazri said he could only provide details on officials who were either underperforming or broke the rules.

The minister said that he would compile the data first from the Public Services Department (PSD) before presenting it in Parliament.

“‘Little napoleon’ is just a term for officers who make things difficult in the delivery system. But I will be giving a list of officers who have flouted the rules and regulations of the civil service,” said Nazri.

Lim appeared unsatisfied with Nazri’s answer, claiming that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself had acknowledged the presence of “little napoleons” within the civil service.

“The PM has said that there exists a problem of little napoleons in the civil service. Can you give a figure the actions taken on the little napoleons?” the DAP advisor asked Nazri.

Lim added the government’s “unresponsiveness” in answering questions properly in Parliament had also contributed to the poor public perception of the country’s civil service.

When the minister refused to address the DAP man’s demands, as well as questions from other Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers, Lim stormed out of Parliament in a huff.

Minutes after leaving the House, the Ipoh Timur MP posted a message on popular micro-blogging site Twitter saying: “Walked out of Dewan in protest when Nazri ends after two hour answer without answering corruption issues like (the) worst TI (Transparency International) CPI (corruption perception index) or Najib’s Umno speech.”

When met by reporters later, Nazri said that matters which had not been addressed in the initial stages of the parliamentary debate on Budget 2011 could still be brought up at the committee stage.

“I will answer everything,” said Nazri.

PR states such as Penang, which is under the administration of Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, have claimed in previous months that civil servants were “uncooperative” and did not respect the ruling state government.

In a highly-publicised spat between Lim and Penang State Development Officer (SDO) Nik Ali Mat Yunus then, the chief minister claimed that Nik Ali had been obstinate with regards to an illegal sand excavation investigation.

The accusation then escalated into a verbal war between Nik Ali and Lim, with the federal officer retaliating by calling Lim an “insolent, uncivilised and a coward” during an Umno function.

Other leaders including Kit Siang and Chief Secretary Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan also waded into the fray, turning the spat into a open confrontation between the civil service and DAP.

Sidek also accused Guan Eng of being “excessive” in his remarks and has given his assurance that Nik Ali would not be reprimanded for criticising a chief minister.

2010-11-01T18:02:00.002+08:00

Yen Yen's yen for collecting air-miles

Mariam Mokhtar
Friday, 29 October 2010 15:00

COMMENT Rather than swanning around the world collecting air miles and souvenirs, the Minister for tourism, Ng Yen-Yen, should be cleaning up tourism within the country. Tourism, just like charity, should begin at home.

Malaysia is neither short of attractions, both natural and man-made, nor does it lack the infrastructure. When it comes to promoting tourism in Malaysia, does the minister need to traverse the length and breadth of the continents, visiting 26 countries and 61 cities, to spend a staggering RM3.25 million?

Ng should capitalise on Malaysia’s greatest asset - the people. It is people who make things happen. A major tourist attraction is nothing if the service is poor.

If people in the supporting industries lack basic hygiene and cleanliness, potential customers are put off. If the people promoting these sites are poor at communication, business is slow.

Ng may not have spent the eye-watering amounts of Khir Toyo, who took his family, their maid and his inner circle on a jolly to Disneyland for ‘work experience’, but she is close.

If she does not want to be ridiculed, then she should have exercised extreme prudence with the public purse.

Recently, her ministry embarked on the “1Malaysia Green, 1Malaysia Clean” campaign to promote a clean environment.

She said, “We want to develop a culture in which all Malaysians help to keep Malaysia clean and green. That should be their responsibilities.”

The operative words here are “green” and “responsibilities”.

Ng has been irresponsible in sending out mixed messages and irresponsible in making excessive trips. Being ‘green’ cannot be achieved with millions of air-miles (hers and her entourage). She has not reduced her carbon foot-print – decidedly not ‘green’.

Air-travel should be kept to a minimum and our respective High Commission staff empowered to promote tourism.

Or is there a hint of truth in the rumour that ministers tend to arrange trips to coincide with the start of the academic years (for their offspring to attend overseas schools) or the sales/promotion season (for world famous department stores like Tiffany’s or Harrods) or major sporting events (like Wimbledon or the Melbourne Cup)?

More importantly, Ng forgets that the bulk of Malaysia’s tourism is dependent on local tourists.

When the rate of exchange is not attractive or if the ash cloud from Gunung Merapi rises to dangerous levels that air-travel may be halted (like in Europe earlier this year), our tourism industry would cease, but for Malaysians patronising these attractions, and spending money at home instead of going abroad.

We have been through several disappointing Ministers for Tourism. Many dwelled on big expensive projects or appointed obscure foreigners known to only 3% of the population.

Why do they keep omitting the most important basics like cleanliness, customer service, courtesy and commitment to safety?

In the 80s, an international program was initiated to improve the hygiene and cleanliness of countries in South-East Asia. A few years later, countries like Thailand made huge progress.

To this day, Malaysians do not know nor care about things they consider trivia, such as cleanliness of public toilets. If Thailand can do it, why can’t we?

Similarly, with the sex trade, the Thais promoted the use of condoms and greatly reduced infection rates of HIV/AIDs and STDs. At that time, our various ministries refused to acknowledge that Muslims had extramarital sex and so the ‘condom’ message was not highlighted. The ensuing result was that scores of people were infected.

If Yen-Yen is really geared up for improving tourism, she needs to clean up ‘at home’ first.

She must be aware of our poor safety record. She should implement and make enforcement critical, to improve safety.

Has she been to our little islands and seen how life jackets are rarely used? Or that children use life-jackets meant for adults? Or boats are over-filled?

Has she been on a long-distance coach ride and seen the things that Malaysians and tourists who use these services have to put up with?

Has she visited sites around the country which start off brilliantly, like the Snake Sanctuary in Langkawi, but which is now in a terrible state, with cracks in the glass cages or rubbish strewn everywhere?

Should something go wrong and a police report made, Yen-Yen is ignorant of the difficulties faced by tourists who find it impossible to communicate with police personnel with a poor command of English.

Or, as has happened, policemen who abuse Chinese/Japanese/Korean nationals - these East Asians are wrongly assumed to be Malaysian Chinese and expected to speak Bahasa Malaysia when making the police report.

If Yen-Yen has taken a disabled person out in Malaysia, she will appreciate the difficulties they face. Many of our visitor attractions have no disabled facilities or wheelchair access.

If Malaysia wants to be progressive, it must make ‘holidaying’ an experience to be shared by the disabled, too.

Has the minister ever been to any of the Tourist Information Centres in the major towns/cities? They are staffed by people who are friendly but who are let down by a system that is inefficient.

Some places do not have enough leaflets even though, they tell me, they have ordered from the Ministry in Kuala Lumpur. Leaflets lack up-to-date information or have typo errors. Many centres look dull with exhibits gathering dust or are in Malay only.

Some staff do not know what facilities are available in the various attractions and don’t know when certain festivals occur.

Shouldn’t the ministry make it a point of sending front-line staff (and not their bosses who sit cocooned in air-conditioned comfort) to these attractions so that they have plenty to promote from personal experience?

Yen-Yen must remember that not all tourists are Paris Hilton types who live by night and sleep by day and who spend money on Krug and caviar only.

Families who vacation here are concerned about cost-effectiveness, cleanliness and safety considerations. Backpackers may want ‘cheap and cheerful’ but safety and cleanliness are also paramount.

Education and awareness at all levels of society are crucial. Malaysia needs a tourism minister who has vision and the ability to lead a dedicated team.

We have had enough of civil servants on study tours or information gathering overseas trips, at taxpayer’s expense.

* The views expressed herein are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysian Mirror and/or its associates.

2010-11-01T17:20:00.000+08:00

Federation of Malaya Independence Act 1957 (part 9 of the series on the Social Contract)

NO HOLDS BARRED

Monday, 01 November 2010

After the Constitutional Conference that was held in London from 18th January to 6th February 1956, attended by representatives of the Malay Rulers as well as the newly elected Alliance government of Malaya, a Federation of Malaya Independence Act was passed by the British Parliament in 1957 to spell out the terms of Malaya’s independence. Again, no mention of any special rights and privileges.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Federation of Malaya Independence Act 1957

1957 CHAPTER 60

An Act to make provision for and in connection with the establishment of the Federation of Malaya as an independent sovereign country within the Commonwealth.

Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

1. Provision for establishment of the Federation as an independent sovereign country.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the approval of Parliament is hereby given to the conclusion between Her Majesty and the Rulers of the Malay States of such agreement as appears to Her Majesty to be expedient for the establishment of the Federation of Malaya as an independent sovereign country within the Commonwealth.

(2) Any such agreement as aforesaid may make provision—

(a) for the formation of the Malay States and of the Settlements of Penang and Malacca into a new independent Federation of States under a Federal Constitution specified in the agreement, and for the application to those Settlements, as States of the new Federation, of State Constitutions so specified;

(b) for the termination of Her Majesty's sovereignty and jurisdiction in respect of the said Settlements, and of all other Her power and jurisdiction in and in respect of the Malay States or the Federation as a whole, and the revocation or modification of all or any of the provisions of the Federation of Malaya Agreement, 1948, and of any other agreements in force between Her Majesty and the Rulers of the Malay States.

(3) Any such agreement shall be conditional upon the approval of the new Federal Constitution by enactments of the existing Federal Legislature and of each of the Malay States; and upon such approval being given Her Majesty by Order in Council may direct that the said Federal and State Constitutions shall have the force of law within the said Settlements, and, so far as She has jurisdiction in that behalf, elsewhere within the Federation, and may make such other provision as appears to Her to be necessary for giving effect to the agreement.

(4) Any Order in Council under this section shall be laid before Parliament after being made.

(5) In this Act "the appointed day" means such day as may be specified by Order in Council under this section as the day from which the said Federal Constitution has the force of law as aforesaid.

2. Operation of existing laws.

(1) On and after the appointed day, all existing law to which this section applies shall, until otherwise provided by the authority having power to amend or repeal that law, continue to apply in relation to the Federation or any part thereof, and to persons and things in any way belonging thereto or connected therewith, in all respects as if no such agreement as is referred to in subsection (1) of section one of this Act had been concluded:

Provided that—

(a) the enactments referred to in the First Schedule to this Act shall have effect as from the appointed day subject to the amendments made by that Schedule (being amendments for applying in relation to the Federation certain statutory provisions applicable to Commonwealth countries having fully responsible status within Her Majesty's dominions);

(b) Her Majesty may by Order in Council make such further adaptations in any Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed before the appointed day, or in any instrument having effect under any such Act, as appear to Her necessary or expedient in consequence of the agreement referred to in subsection (1) of section one of this Act;

(c) in relation to the Colonial Development and Welfare Acts, 1940 to 1955, this subsection shall have effect only so far as may be necessary for the making of payments on or after the appointed day in pursuance of schemes in force immediately before that day and in respect of periods falling before that day;

(d) nothing in this section shall be construed as continuing in force any enactment or rule of law limiting or restricting the legislative powers of the Federation or any part thereof.

(2) An Order in Council made under this section shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

(3) An Order in Council made under this section may be varied or revoked by a subsequent Order in Council so made and may, though made after the appointed day, be made so as to have effect from that day.

(4) In this section "existing law" means any Act of Parliament or other enactment or instrument whatsoever, and any rule of law, which is in force on the appointed day or, having been passed or made before the appointed day, comes into force after that day; and the existing law to which this section applies is law which operates as law of, or of any part of, the United Kingdom, Southern Rhodesia, or any colony, protectorate or United Kingdom trust territory except that this section—

(a) does not apply to any law passed by the Federal Legislature of Rhodesia and Nyasaland;

(b) applies to other law of, or of any part of, Southern Rhodesia so far only as concerns law which can be amended neither by a law passed by the Legislature thereof nor by a law passed by the said Federal Legislature; and

(c) applies to other law of, or of any part of, Northern Rhodesia or Nyasaland so far only as concerns law which cannot be amended by a law passed by the said Federal Legislature.

(5) References in subsection (4) of this section to a colony, a protectorate and a United Kingdom trust territory shall be construed as if they were references contained in the British Nationality Act, 1948.

3. Appeals from Supreme Court of Federation.

(1) Her Majesty may by Order in Council confer on the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council such jurisdiction in respect of appeals from the Supreme Court of the Federation as appears to Her to be appropriate for giving effect to any arrangements made after the appointed day between Her Majesty and the Head of the Federation for the reference of such appeals to that Committee.

(2) An Order in Council under this section may determine the classes of cases in which, and the conditions as to leave and otherwise subject to which, any such appeal may be entertained by the said Committee, and the practice and procedure to be followed on any such appeal, and may in particular make such provision with respect to the form of the report or recommendation to be made by the Committee in respect of any such appeal, and the transmission to the Head of the Federation of such reports or recommendations, as appears to Her Majesty to be appropriate having regard to the said arrangements.

(3) Except so far as otherwise provided by Order in Council under this section, and subject to such modifications as may be so provided, the Judicial Committee Act, 1833, shall apply in relation to appeals under this section as it applies in relation to appeals to Her Majesty in Council.

(4) Arrangements made in pursuance of this section may apply to any appeal to Her Majesty in Council, or any application for leave to bring such an appeal, which is pending on the appointed day; but except as aforesaid nothing in this Act shall be construed as continuing in force any right of appeal to Her Majesty in Council from any court in the Federation.

(5) An Order in Council made under this section may be varied or revoked by a subsequent Order in Council so made.

4. Interpretation, repeal and short title.

(1) References in this Act to any other enactment are references thereto as amended or extended by any subsequent enactment.

(2) The enactments described in the Second Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed, as from the appointed day, to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule.

(3) This Act may be cited as the Federation of Malaya Independence Act, 1957.

FIRST SCHEDULE

Consequential Amendments of Enactments

Nationality and Citizenship

1. Subsection (3) of section one of the British Nationality Act, 1948 (which specifies the Commonwealth countries whose citizens are British subjects or Commonwealth citizens) shall have effect as if for the words "and Ghana" there were substituted the words

“Ghana and the Federation of Malaya”; and the British Protectorates, Protected States and Protected Persons Order in Council, 1949, made in pursuance of sections thirty and thirty-two of that Act, shall have effect as if the references to the Malay States in section eight of that Order and in the Second Schedule thereto were omitted.

Armed forces

2. (1) References in the Army Act, 1955, the Air Force Act, 1955, and the Naval Discipline Act, 1957, to a colony or to territory under Her Majesty's protection shall not include any part of the Federation, and section two hundred and eighteen of the Army Act, 1955, section two hundred and sixteen of the Air Force Act, 1955, and subsection (3) of section one hundred and twenty-seven of the Naval Discipline Act, 1957, shall cease to have effect.

(2) In the definitions of "Commonwealth force" in subsection (1) of section two hundred and twenty-five of the Army Act, 1955, and in subsection (1) of section two hundred and twenty-three of the Air Force Act, 1955, and in the definition of "Commonwealth country" in subsection (1) of section one hundred and thirty-five of the Naval Discipline Act, 1957, for the words "or Ghana" there shall be substituted the words

“Ghana or the Federation of Malaya”.

(3) Until the coming into force of the Naval Discipline Act, 1957, sub-paragraph (2) of this paragraph shall have effect as if for the reference to the definition of "Commonwealth country" in subsection (1) of section one hundred and thirty-five of that Act there were substituted a reference to the definition of

“Commonwealth force” in section eighty-six of the Naval Discipline Act, as amended by the Revision of the Army and Air Force Acts (Transitional Provisions) Act, 1955.

3. Section four of the Visiting Forces (British Commonwealth) Act, 1933 (which deals with attachment and mutual powers of command), and the definition of "visiting force" for the purposes of that Act which is contained in section eight of that Act, shall apply in relation to forces raised in the Federation as they apply in relation to forces raised in Dominions within the meaning of the Statute of Westminster, 1931.

4. (1) In subsection (1) of section one of the Visiting Forces Act, 1952 (which specifies the countries to which that Act applies), for the words "or Ghana" there shall be substituted the words

“Ghana or the Federation of Malaya”; and in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section ten of that Act the expression "colony" shall not include any part of the Federation.

(2) Until express provision with respect to the Federation is made by Order in Council under section eight of the said Act of 1952 (which relates to the application to visiting forces of law relating to home forces), any such Order for the time being in force shall be deemed to apply to visiting forces of the Federation.

Diplomatic immunities

5. In section four hundred and sixty-one of the Income Tax Act, 1952 (which relates to exemption from income tax in the case of certain Commonwealth representatives and their staffs) for the words "or Ghana", in both places where those words occur, there shall be substituted the words

“Ghana or the Federation of Malaya”.

6. In subsection (6) of section one of the Diplomatic Immunities (Commonwealth Countries and Republic of Ireland) Act, 1952, after the word "Ghana" there shall be inserted the words

“the Federation of Malaya”.

Financial

7. As respects goods imported after such date as Her Majesty may by Order in Council appoint, section four of the Import Duties Act, 1932, and section two of the Isle of Man (Customs) Act, 1932 (which relate to imperial preference other than colonial preference) shall apply to the Federation.

8. (1) The Colonial Stock Acts, 1877 to 1948, shall apply in relation to stock of the Federation as they apply in relation to stock of a Dominion within the meaning of the Colonial Stock Act, 1934, but as if in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section one of the said Act of 1934 for any reference to Her Majesty's Government in the Dominion, to the Parliament of the Dominion or to the Royal Assent, there were substituted a reference to the Government or the Legislature of the Federation or to the Assent of the Head of the Federation.

(2) During any period on and after the appointed day during which there is in force as part of the law of the Federation any instrument passed or made before that day which makes provision corresponding to the undertaking required by the said paragraph (a), paragraphs (a) and (b) of the said subsection (1) shall be deemed to have been complied with in the case of the Federation.

Ships and aircraft

9. The Merchant Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1954, shall apply in relation to the Federation as they apply in relation to the Commonwealth countries mentioned in subsection (3) of section one of the British Nationality Act, 1948.

10. Without prejudice to the generality of the last foregoing paragraph—

(a) in subsection (2) of section four hundred and twenty-seven of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, as substituted by section two of the Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act, 1949, for the words

“or Ghana”

there shall be substituted the words

“Ghana or the Federation of Malaya”; and

(b) in the proviso to subsection (2) of section six of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1948, for the words "or Ghana" there shall be substituted the words

“Ghana or the Federation of Malaya”.

11. In the definitions of "Dominion ship or aircraft" contained in subsection (2) of section three of the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act, 1939, and in Regulation one hundred of the Defence (General) Regulations, 1939, the expression " a Dominion " shall include the Federation.

12. The Ships and Aircraft (Transfer Restriction) Act, 1939, shall not apply to any ship by reason only of its being registered in, or licensed under the law of the Federation; and the penal provisions of that Act shall not apply to persons in the Federation (but without prejudice to the operation with respect to any ship to which that Act does apply of the provisions thereof relating to the forfeiture of ships).

13. In the Whaling Industry (Regulation) Act, 1934, the expression "British ship to which this Act applies" shall not include a British ship registered in the Federation.

Copyright

14. The references in section thirty-one of the Copyright Act, 1956, to a colony or to a country outside Her Majesty's dominions in which Her Majesty has jurisdiction shall not include any part of the Federation.

15. If the Copyright Act, 1911, so far as in force in the law of any part of the Federation, is repealed or amended by that law at a time when sub-paragraph (2) or paragraph 39 of the Seventh Schedule to the Copyright Act, 1956 (which applies certain provisions of that Act in relation to countries to which the said Act of 1911 extended) is in force in relation to that part of the Federation, the said sub-paragraph (2) shall thereupon cease to have effect in relation thereto.

[31st July 1957] Status: This is the original version (as it was originally enacted).

2010-11-01T13:23:00.004+08:00

Let's Boycott this Ididot's companies

Titiwangsa Umno division chief Johari Abdul Ghani's speech that Umno did not need Indian or Chinese votes.

Johari Abdul Ghani , head of UMNO Titiwangsa is the shareholder of Pemanis that produce PEPSI , MIRINDA, TWISTER and DEW .Let's boycott theses drinks .

Lets show him what the Chinese can do !

2010-10-29T14:51:00.003+08:00

MCA boss: Dimwits in Umno should retire

Those politicians who are tainted , racists should also retire !

Meanwhile heard there's a certain rumour going round in MCA circles that a certain Minister has been sending sms to a certain lady requesting for a f*** . Whether this rumour is true or not , I hope that Minister will come out to * cleanse * himself and to dispel the rumours .

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 18:40

KUALA LUMPUR: MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek has one piece of advice for Umno leaders who are not the brightest of bulbs – retire.

The Barisan Nasional leader made the stinging remark when asked to comment on Titiwangsa Umno division chief Johari Abdul Ghani's speech that Umno did not need Indian or Chinese votes.

A video of the speech had appeared on YouTube, but Chua told reporters in Gua Musang that it was unlikely to have an impact on Chinese voters come the Nov 4 Galas by-election.

The MCA president also stressed that such views did not reflect the Umno leadership's stand as illustrated by its president, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's 1Malaysia concept.

“The prime minister promotes policies for every ethnic group,” he said, adding that MCA would propose to Umno not to field members with such chauvinistic views as election candidates.

“This (video clip) tells us that there are some Umno grassroots leaders who are not politically savvy. They are not very smart.

“They should not come out (in public). We will pursue this. They should not represent BN and should retire and go home,” he said.

Dangers of Islamic state in Mandarin

In his speech, Johari had said that Umno could retain the Titiwangsa parliamentary seat if it could rope in 70% of Malay votes in the consituency.

If this is achieved, he added, there was no need for Chinese or Indian votes.

“If we want to win in Titiwangsa, we want Malays (to vote for us). Don't bow down to the Chinese and Indians just because we want to win,” he said.

In another development, Chua said MCA was distributing a Mandarin translation of PAS' constitution in Galas to educate Chinese voters on the perils of an Islamic state.

He said the PAS constitution did not respect Malaysia as a racially and religiously diverse nation.

“I don't think the Chinese are aware of this. They think an Islamic state means they cannot eat this or that. They are simplifying things,” he added.

Watch video of Johari's speech here:

2010-10-29T14:01:00.001+08:00

Concluding the series on the Constitutional Conference which was the foundation of the ‘Social Contract’ (part 8 of the series on the Social Contract)

NO HOLDS BARRED

Friday, 29 October 2010

The Constitutional Conference of January-February 1956 agreed that a Constitutional Commission would be set to address many issues, one being to "safeguard the position and prestige of the Rulers" plus to "safeguard the special position of the Malays and the legitimate interests of the other (non-Malay) communities". There is no agreement on the Malays being accorded special rights and privileges and it was agreed that the new Federal Constitution of Malaya would be based on what the Constitutional Conference decides.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

2010-10-29T13:59:00.001+08:00

A reply to Tun Mahathir's atrocious blog post

Dr M - self-admitted racist

Valerie Mohan

I really don't understand how someone as intelligent as you can come up with statements that are so blatantly ignorant. I'm 25 years old, my grandparents came from Kerala and I only speak English and Malay. I've never been to India, don't speak the language and all I can say is tanah tumpahnya darahku.

How dare you talk about fair distribution when you and your cronies have amassed vast fortunes at the expense of others? I don't see you going out among the less fortunate Malays and equitably distributing your wealth! If I follow from what you wrote you didn't deserve a place at medical school which means you took the place of someone who better deserved it. Which is what is happening all over this country in every arena.

Its not racial issues that the people are most concerned about its a lack of competency that is perpetuated because of racial policies.

Malaysians would not care if the vast majority of the government were Malay if they were able to discharge their duties competently. If there were 10 doctors and only one was Malay I would go to him if he was best at his job. But we have idiots running this country (the government, the police, the MACC, the judiciary) to the ground and they happen to be a Malay majority so of course people are pissed.

Do you think Malaysians would be angry if the country was well run and everyone's rights were upheld just because it was run by a Malay majority. Take a serious look at the majority of politicians and the rest of the people running the country (non malays included) - they are morons! The government is in shambles, the police are seen as the enemy and the judiciary is a joke - you really think intelligent Malaysians are angry at the Malays in general?

We are angry at those in power because we cannot trust you to do what's in Malaysia's best interest, we don't feel safe in our own country, we have no freedom of expression because you need to keep us quiet in order to stay in power and we don't believe that when there is a crime commited you are actually to get to the bottom of it unless it serves your own interests.

This racially charged hate mongering has to stop, it's stupid and unnecessary.

The real issue is our country is badly run and yet the government insists on discriminitory policies that seems to ensure its continuity. Did you ever stop to think that the person who's place you took in medical school could have been the one to lead Malaysia the way it deserves? Maybe that merits discussion?

(Valerie Mohan was responding Mahathir posting entitled HUMAN DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR, MELBOURNE. Click here to read Dr M's controversial posting in full Dr M tells Malays: To be given handicaps is to ensure fairness)

Lets buy him a pair of clutches since he wants handicap ! Shameless Mamak !

2010-10-28T14:59:00.001+08:00

The Constitutional Conference also addressed amendments to the Federation Agreement (part 7 of the series on the Social Contract)

NO HOLDS BARRED

Thursday, 28 October 2010

The Federation of Malaya Agreement was signed on 21st January 1948 and came into force on 1st February of that same year. A form of common citizenship was created for all who acknowledged Malaya as their permanent home and the object of their undivided loyalty. Within this framework the settlements of Penang and Malacca remained British territory while Singapore became a separate colony under its own Governor.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

2010-10-28T14:57:00.001+08:00

When you don’t trust your own people

NO HOLDS BARRED

Wednesday, 27 October 2010

In other words, Pakatan Rakyat does not trust their own party members and they also don’t trust their own candidates. So they have to keep the names of the candidates a secret until the eve or the morning of Nomination Day.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

There are two areas of concern that the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) would like to thrash out with the three Pakatan Rakyat political parties contesting the elections.

One is the problem of which party gets to contest which seat.

Second is the eleventh hour decision in naming the candidates resulting in candidates ‘parachuting’ into the constituency and most times the voters do not know them from Adam.

222 parliament seats and 505 state seats were contested in the last general election. If we include the 71 state seats in Sarawak then the total number of seats would come to 798.

In the previous general election, the opposition won 82 parliament seats (so they lost in 140 parliamentary constituencies) and 196 state seats (so they lost in 309 state constituencies). This, of course, does not include the 71 Sarawak state seats because Sarawak did not hold the state elections at the same time as the last general election.

This means, in the last general election, the opposition won 37% of the parliament seats and 39% of the state seats (Sarawak not included), roughly one-third of all the seats contested. In other words, the opposition lost almost two-thirds of the seats.

That is not so bad, really, because, first of all, there are only three parties in the opposition versus 14 in Barisan Nasional. Secondly, even then the opposition managed to garner almost 50% of the popular votes. Unfortunately, though, because of the gerrymandering and the ‘first past the post’ system, it is seats and not votes that determines the winner.

And this is exactly the grouse of the LibDem party of the UK and which has also been my grouse since way back in 1999 when I wrote that the opposition would need to garner 60% of the votes to win 51% of the seats (if you analyse the 12 general elections since 1959, in particular the 1969 general election) -- which is almost impossible for the opposition to achieve.

Okay, we are talking about almost 800 seats in all (if we include Sarawak) and the opposition, at best, appears to be able to win less than one-third these seats. So how does the opposition decide which party should contest which seat?

Now, I can understand PKR, DAP and PAS being very protective of the 82 parliament seats and the 196 state seats that they won in 2008 (total 278 seats). These are seats that they ‘own’, since they already won them. But what about the remaining 520 parliament and state seats (Sarawak included) which they lost? Who owns those 520 seats, which the opposition lost and Barisan Nasional won?

And herein lies the problem. PKR, DAP and PAS will not quarrel over the 278 seats. After all, those seats are seats that they already won so they 'belong' to the respective parties that won them. No one would dispute that the winner gets to keep those seats, especially if the party that ‘owns’ the seats had won it the last three, four of five general elections in a row. It is the balance 520 seats that they lost and which Barisan Nasional won that is the problem.

PKR, DAP and PAS considers those seats that they lost as also ‘belonging’ to each respective party based on who contested those seats in the last general election (or last few general elections). The fact that they lost those seats (sometimes many general elections in a row) is not important. It is who contested those seats, even though they lost those seats, which will be the criteria to decide who ‘owns’ those seats.

For example, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (Ku Li) has never lost his Gua Musang parliamentary seat. And PAS has always contested that seat against Ku Li and has lost every time. So who from the opposition ‘owns’ Gua Musang?

Why, PAS, of course. PAS 'owns' the Gua Musang parliamentary seat because it has always contested that seat and lost each time.

Okay, what if PKR or DAP has a good candidate to face Ku Li in Gua Musang and probably could even win? No way! Gua Musang 'belongs' to PAS so only PAS can contest that seat even if they do not have a good candidate who can give Ku Li a run for his money.

Now, Gua Musang is just an example, although it may not be the best example, to help you understand the issue about ‘seat ownership’.

What if there is another candidate who is not a member of PAS but a PKR/DAP member who is actually the best candidate for Gua Musang? Well, tough luck. Gua Musang 'belongs' to PAS and if this candidate is really very good then he or she can always contest that seat but will have to do so under the banner of PAS. There would be no way that PAS would ‘surrender’ Gua Musang to PKR/DAP even if there is a better chance that the opposition can win that seat if PKR/DAP contests it instead.

The opposition does not work on ‘winability’ (actually that word does not exist). It works on ‘traditionally’. Traditionally, which was the party that contested that seat in the last election (and lost)? That party would then ‘own’ that seat. Winability is not the issue.

The opposition has to discard the ‘Barisan Nasional formula’ of deciding which of their 14 parties contests which seat. That is Barisan Nasional’s formula. That is old politics (politik lama). We should look at politik baru (new politics). And it should be ‘winability’ and not ‘traditionally’ that we use to decide on which party contests which seat.

Another thing to note is: since there are three parties in the opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat -- PKR, DAP and PAS -- then the seats are divided three ways (one-third to each party). So we use this ‘equal share’ calculation and then fight over which seats are yours and which are mine.

So, PKR, DAP and PAS each get roughly 74 parliament seats and 168 state seats (Sarawak excluded) to contest. Where these seats are is a second issue, which will be resolved after a great battle (and sometimes when they can’t be resolved there will be three- or four-corner fights like how history has proven).

But do PKR, DAP and PAS have enough candidates for all those seats they now ‘own’?

Apparently not! And that is why many have to contest two seats (both parliament and state as well) -- plus PKR, DAP and PAS are forced to pick lesser quality candidates of low capability, no integrity, and zero honesty.

PKR, DAP and PAS are greedy. They just focus on numbers (quantity). Quality is of no concern. The MCLM wants to engage Pakatan Rakyat and talk about quality candidates. Don’t just play the numbers game. Take only as many seats as you have candidates. And if you are short of candidates then hand the seat to one of the other parties, or let MCLM assist you in filling these seats with civil society candidates.

This has been done before since 1999, although not on a grand scale. Of course, in 1999 none of the civil society candidates won mainly because the time was too early and Malaysians were not ready for change yet. But the fact that the civil society candidates did not win in 1999 or 2004 is not because of the lack of quality of the candidates.

No, PKR, DAP or PAS need not ‘surrender’ or give up their seats. They can keep the seat. The civil society candidate will contest under the respective banner of the party that ‘owns’ that seat, like what happened in Johor where PAS fielded an Indian-Hindu woman lawyer (note: professional). And if PAS can accept not only a woman candidate, but also an Indian-Hindu on top of that, this means that PAS is not adverse to the idea of fielding non-party professionals as its candidate.

The final issue is about the eleventh hour decision on naming candidates, sometimes the morning of Nomination Day itself. This needs to change.

Let’s say the civil society movement wants to contest the Bentong seat. We will then have to work the ground early, maybe a few years before the election. But if suddenly on the morning of Nomination Day we are told that that seat will be given to us, we shall have to scramble to look for a candidate (if we can find one). And then that candidate will have to rush down to Bentong to file his or her nomination papers.

However, most likely not many voters in Bentong will know who this candidate is. And he or she has just a week to ten days to meet the voters and become known. How can seven or ten days be enough time?

Now, the reason given as to why the party does not want to announce too early their candidates is because, firstly, they want to avoid internal sabotage by their own party members, and, secondly, they want to make sure that Barisan Nasional will not buy over their candidate.

What does this say about the opposition? This would mean the opposition is no different from Barisan Nasional who holds back announcing the names of their candidates for exactly the same reason.

If your members are committed to the cause there should be no issue of internal sabotage. And if your candidates are people of integrity, you should not be worried about them being bought over by the other side. It appears, however, that this is not so.

This is even more the reason why the opposition should revamp its criteria of how candidates are chosen (and also how seats are decided). Months back the MCLM (which was then still only in the pipeline) already started identifying suitable candidates and started talking to them. Many, of course, said they want to wait and see first as to whether the idea is acceptable to the opposition. The last thing on their minds is to enter the fray in three-corner fights with Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat.

We are not worried about announcing their names too early. After all, if Barisan Nasional wants to ‘steal’ them then better they do it now and not after they win the election (not that I think they can be bought).

And -- as has been proven over the last two years -- even if you announce the names of your candidates late this does not mean they will not be bought, like what happened to about ten or so Pakatan Rakyat candidates who have since jumped to the other side.

The voters need to know whom they are going to be voting for. It is okay if the candidate is a high-profile figure like Karpal Singh, Lim Kit Siang, Anwar Ibrahim, Nurul Izzah, Hadi Awang, Mat Sabu, Hannah Yeoh, etc. But what if it is someone you have never heard of before? Don’t you want to know whether he or she is suited for the job of wakil rakyat?

And that is why the prospective candidate needs to work the ground early, move around the constituency, meet the voters, talk to them, discuss issues, answer questions, do some community work (even though he or she is not the local wakil rakyat), and much more.

And this can only be done if, today, we know who will be contesting that constituency in the next general election, whenever that may be.

2010-10-28T14:52:00.000+08:00

Minister Tourist Yen Yen asked why: When even beautiful can become 'beautuful'

KUALA LUMPUR — Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen spent RM3.25 million on overseas trips since she was appointed tourism minister in 2009, according to the ministry’s reply to a question in Parliament made available today.

In a written reply to Pandan MP Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat on October 26, the Tourism Ministry said Ng spent RM1.67 million on official overseas trips in 2009, and RM1.58 million between January and October this year.

“The tourism minister has made 16 visits overseas since being appointed. These visits include 26 countries, and 61 cities up to October 2010,” said the written reply.

The reply added that the ministry’s efforts overseas had earned Malaysia a ninth out of tenth placing in the “most popularly visited countries” in 2009.

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers have accused Ng of excessive spending overseas as minister, and have dubbed her as being more of a “tourist” than “minister”.

Ng has however brushed off the accusations, insisting that the ministry’s promotional activities abroad were instrumental in helping to expand the country’s tourism industry.

Last week, the Tourism Ministry released figures that showed its travel expenses ballooning by 40 per cent since 2008 while its promotion budget shrank by nearly 70 per cent in the same period.

At a press conference today, DAP MP Anthony Loke continued PR’s attacks on Ng’s ministry by pointing out grammatical errors in the brochures for the Malaysian pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.

“The purpose of the expo is to showcase what the country can contribute to the world’s economy. Sadly there is nothing in the Malaysian pavilion that shows such a thing,” Loke said.

He pointed out the various spelling errors in the Malaysia pavilion brochure, where the word “development” is spelled as “decelopment” and “visitors” was wrongly spelled as “visitious”.

“Look at this sentence — To know more about Malaysia, we ‘incite’ you to step into the Malaysia Pavilion. What kind of standard is this?”

“Don’t tell me that no single Tourism Ministry official proof read this before printing the brochures? This is highly embarrassing, to say the least.

“Beautiful is even spelled as ‘beautuful’. A shame, really,” added the Rasah MP.

2010-10-28T14:50:00.000+08:00

Racial inequality and the secret of Chinese 'success'

Helen Ang

Prime Minister Najib Razak on Oct 21 at the Umno general assembly told his party delegates "... kewarganegaraan Malaysia pada dasarnya bukan lagi bersifat sama rata". This country does not have equal citizenship.

Despite 1Malaysia (or Malaysian First), this is the core implication of Article 153, the 'special position' of the Malay.

NEP is the realpolitik of a race-based system to distribute resources. There has been no negotiation on its implementation: Umno dictates, MCA complies although it gets around the discriminatory policy by 'settling' (read: 'gao dim' or greasing the palm).

The so-called 'social contract' carries a rider; MCA navigates the lopsided terms and conditions using money as the medium. Well-connected wheelers and dealers have obtained a satisfactory outcome for themselves via the Ali Baba arrangement.

Hence the claim by Liew Kee Sin, a Tan Sri and a tycoon, that Chinese had thrived under NEP. But only for a small handful of Chinese. Liew, the SP Setia president-cum-CEO, raised hackles with his statement at the Chinese Economic Congress organized by MCA on Aug 14. His talk was titled 'Malay and Chinese collaboration to achieve NEM'.

Incidentally, Najib delivered the keynote address at the event that included two Tan Sris and five Datuks among its speakers, and three Tan Sris and four Datuks as moderators and discussants.

Giving an example of how Chinese have fared well under NEP, Liew disclosed that SME owners can afford his company's expensive bungalows, exclaiming "One Chinaman want to build a bungalow of RM40 million!"

Theory on the middle tier

The more Chinese are discriminated against in Malaysia, the better the community performs. This is a theory explored by two dons from Yale University and the University of British Columbia. The 30-page paper by Fang Han-ming and Peter Norman titled 'Government-mandated discriminatory policies : Theory and evidence' postulates that the NEP could actually have been the reason for, rather than an obstacle to, the Chinese's economic success.

Their research was published in the International Economic Review, Vol.47, No.2, May 2006, and in also our CPI archives.

They wrote: "Some minorities, notably overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia and Jews in Europe, have performed economically better than the native majorities, despite being subject to government-mandated discriminatory policies."

Nonetheless, Fang and Norman placed a caveat: the extent of the discriminatory policies is crucial. The discriminatory exclusion can only be beneficial if the government-controlled sector is small enough. Aside from the public sector, the other parts of the economy that the government can legislate are in the industries where the authorities have direct ownership or control through professional licensing.

Occurring some years after the publication of the above study, the Low Siew Moi (left) episode inserts a more timely perspective. Loh, a long-time civil servant, failed to be confirmed as PKNS general manager by Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim due to the glass ceiling occasioned by her ethnicity. That Ketuanan Melayu objected vehemently to her appointment was a clear display of the minorities' limited access to public sector jobs and positions.

Although Malaysia is in a denial mode, foreigners like Fang and Norman nonetheless make the comparison with apartheid.

They noted: "As far as we understand, the policies facing Blacks [in South Africa previously] were significantly broader measures than those implemented in Southeast Asia. Moreover, it is necessary that some sector where investments in skills are important is left open for the discriminated group. Again, this seems like a more plausible assumption when considering overseas Chinese."

Their theory posits that exclusion from opportunities provided by the state created better incentives for Chinese to make a costly investment in skills. These skills are assets invaluable and crucial for private sector jobs.

On the flip side, giving a group (read: Malay) preferential access to high-paying public sector jobs may dampen the incentives for skill investment so crucial in the private sector.

Consequences of apartheid

Fang and Norman also tackled the vexing question of why the Malay majority would have implemented a policy that ultimately hurt itself. They believe the "natural answer is that the negative indirect effect of preferential policies in favour of the Malays was quite subtle and difficult to forecast; whereas the direct beneficial effects were obvious."

The direct benefits are that the public sector offers secure employment and generous perks. Government administration jobs ranked among the top five of 100 occupation categories, only slightly lower than architects and engineers. [S. Anand, 'Inequality and Poverty in Malaysia: Measurement and Decomposition' [Oxford University Press,1983].

From the recent budget announced for next year, taxpayers can get a clear idea of the staggering percentage of our national expenditure that goes towards paying the civil service.

Despite the minorities hardly benefitting from state largesse, Najib in his Umno speech on Thursday again made them the bogeyman. He attributed success to "creativity, innovation and the willingness of the individual to work hard and take risks".

Having said that, he added, "For example, the non-bumiputeras, after 39 years of affirmative policies being implemented, are still the race who own the largest share of wealth".

The Chinese indeed possess an unerring ability to cope with the hostile NEP environment. Yet paradoxically, this coping mechanism is a poisoned chalice with the effect of 'damned if you do, damned if you don't'. The insecure, fearful Malay views the trait of competitiveness as being 'ultra kiasu', innovative as 'underhanded'; resilient as 'cold and heartless'.

Essentially what the two Yale and University of Chicago professors have said -- if I may rephrase the idea as social Darwinism -- is that the Chinese survive when they are the fittest. But here, the fitter the Chinese are, the more the Malays feel intimidated.

The Mahathir era was a juggling act and to his credit, the maverick managed to keep all the balls in the air. Tensions aside, the good ship Malaysia Inc. stayed afloat. The Chinese were able to 'cari makan' but soon after Mahathir relaxed his iron grip and the unwritten 'social contract' began unravelling, the vessel started sinking.

A good illustration, even today, of the Mahathir-Machiavellian method is the planned development of Kampung Baru, a Malay reservation where the residents want to retain this prime real estate 100% in bumiputera hands. It was Mahathir who urged that Chinese investment be allowed for the reason of "we want to use the non-Malays as bait to lure more visitors".

Mahathir's callous remark is a backhanded compliment on Chinese capital and business acumen, but galling.

While the Fang and Norman theory may be applicable to its time (the 1980s), and to certain segments of Chinese, it doesn't cover all bases. The working class and wage-earners -- and their children -- have been shut out and victimised by NEP.

Another important factor to be borne in mind is the time frame of the Fang and Norman study. It was premised on population data up till 1988 where Chinese formed 32%. However, Chinese had since declined to 24% of the population in 2007, and further fast decreasing. It is expected that Chinese will only be around 18.6% in another 25 years or likely even lower.

Readjusting the variables to the current Chinese population ratio (and the much, much smaller slice projected in future) will be adversely affect the Fang-Norman theoretical framework. Their theory is that the NEP discriminatory exclusion is an obstacle that can be surmounted if the government-controlled sector does not encroach too much into private enterprise.

However, in the last decade we've seen how the government has grown very big and its finger in every pie. In short, the Fang-Norman model that Chinese are inveterate high performers who run harder and jump higher needs a revisit under prevailing circumstances. - CPI

- http://english.cpiasia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2051:social-contract-and-the-secret-of-chinese-success-&catid=198:helen-ang&Itemid=156

2010-10-27T15:34:00.001+08:00

Pakatan gets riled up over DAP 'harbi' banner

Unidentified quarters have managed to rile up PAS and DAP in Galas, Kelantan, by questioning again their cooperation despite the differences of ideology between the two partners.

A banner was this morning found hanging in the Gua Musang town area with clearly printed words which screamed: “Why is PAS still supporting DAP (harbi)?”

'Harbi' refers to non-Muslims at war with Muslims.

It also described DAP national chairperson Karpal Singh as one who 'hina perjuangan Islam' (has insulted the Islamic struggle).

The banner quoted Karpal as having said: 'Mau wujudkan negara Islam langkah mayat kami dulu' ("You want to set up an Islamic state, you have to step over our dead bodies first").

The banner was taken down by PAS and DAP workers soon after wind of it had reached their parties operations centre in Gua Musang.

Speaking at a press conference held afterwards, PAS' Galas by-election machinery advisor Wan Abdul Rahim Wan Abdullah and DAP's national publicity secretary Tony Pua condemned the “racist” and “undemocratic” message put up by the parties' detractors.

Rahim said the banner was also against Islamic teachings.

“It is racist when we call someone 'harbi', as 'harbi' signifies open war with Muslims,” the Kota Baru MP said. He described the banner as an attempt to provoke Muslims.

"As the advisor to the PAS (election) machinery, I would like to make it clear here: it is PAS versus Umno. It is not DAP that is contesting in Galas.

"If you want to issue a challenge, please challenge PAS. Say it out loud - what kind of challenge do you want to issue?" said Abdul Rahim.

When asked, Rahim - known as Cikgu Rahim among the local - said he had no idea who was behind the banner, but urged the police to take action.

Pua (left) said although DAP had always been labelled as "anti-Islam" by “irresponsible” parties, the Penang goverment that it leads has put in place policies that belie such accusations.

Islamist party PAS has in the past been criticised for cooperating with DAP given the latter's opposition to the Islamic state - the rallying cry and cornerstone of PAS' ideology.

2010-10-27T11:56:00.002+08:00

The Constitutional Conference was attended by the Alliance government and not Umno (part 6 of the series on the Social Contract)

NO HOLDS BARRED

Wednesday, 27 October 2010

Appendix A of the report on the Constitutional Conference held in London from January-February 1956 shows that it was attended by the Alliance government of Malaya and not Umno. Also in attendance were representatives of the British government and the Malay Rulers of Malaya.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

2010-10-27T11:51:00.002+08:00

Fair & Square, My Thoughts Over RPK's MCLM

People are starting to question the capabilities of PR to govern should they be given the mandate to take over Putrajaya. What happened with PR the past 2 years indicated two very distinct weak points. Credible candidates and the arrogant 'we know best' attitude, just like umno.

By Richard Loh

This posting is to share my thoughts over Raja Petra Kamarudin's (RPK) Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement(MCLM) and not a challenge to take on RPK nor having any other ulterior motive. Who am I, an unknown little person to take on RPK, whom, up till now has strong support from the public, especially those who are up in arms against umno/bn.

Raja Petra Kamarudin wrote about the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement(MCLM)

This Saturday, 30th October 2010, I am going to legalise the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM). And so that I do not create any confusion or be accused of ‘hijacking’ the MCLS, I am going to call it ‘Movement’ instead of ‘Society’.

Thus the launching of the MCLM this Saturday to take over from the MCLS that was shot down even as it was still taxiing on the runaway and before it could take off.
You can read the full posting here.

There are confusion among his readers regarding his posting on the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement(MCLM) especially when they saw Tun Mahathir and Umno's big shot, Tan Sri Sanusi Junid, names were mentioned.

Let me begin by describing how, for the first time and hopefully not the last, I met and shook hands with this great man, Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK).

It was at the biggest bersih rally in 2007, I happened to walk right pass him among the 50k or so crowd. He was with his wife (we met a few more times later when RPK was detained under the ISA) and I think his son was there as well. I recognised him and paused for a while, thinking of whether to approach him or not.

We were already near the front gate of the Istana and cannot move forward anymore, just standing on the muddy ground, soiled by an earlier heavy down pour.

After looking around for a few minutes I decided to walk up to him and introduced myself. "Hi, you are RPK", no response and his wife quickly answered "yes" and she signaled to him of my presence. I said, "Richard Loh from Penang" and we shook hands, his wife gave a surprised look and asked, "you came down all the way from Penang?" RPK excused himself saying that he was trying to call someone. I had a short conversation with his wife before moving away to meet up with Haris Ibrahim.

A few days later, at home on my computer, I visited MT to read the news about the big rally. There were many photos and I was surprised to see a photograph, a closed up picture of me in full. I think it should still be in the archives.

My one sentence description of RPK. A quiet man who talks with his brain rather than his mouth.

Many of us are amateurs when talking about politics. We are clueless or incompetent when comes to talk or argue about our country's politics. We just follow the tides and sentiments depending on which side of the political divide we are aligned to.

A few may have graduated to be political analysts but many, including myself, are still hanging here and there, once a while trying to be smart, writing or commenting on political issues, after the 308 tsunami.

What we can observed is that a majority of MT followers are pro-opposition, not for the love of it, but the hatred of the ruling government. Each time when RPK whacked umno/bn, everyone would add more fire onto the already hot issue in their comments just to make one feels better.

So, what is wrong or right about RPK's article on the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement(MCLM). I assume many like me had not heard about this Malaysian Civil Liberties thingy until we read RPK's article about it. He may had written about it many years ago, but, not many had much interest about politics at that point of time.

All these years, RPK had wanted change of a new Federal Government and works with PR to help in whatever way he can to see that it takes place. The 12th GE came close but not close enough to see the change except the consolation of winning 5 States. Everyone seems to be happy with the results and the forming of PR was officially sealed.

The next step is for PR to wrest Putrajaya in the 13th GE. Everything looks fine during the first year after 308 but things started to go wrong after Perak was given back to umno/bn on the platter with the help of 3 jumping frogs. Many frogs started to jump following the fall of Perak and internal bickering within each party in PR started to show the weaknesses of PR.

One party within the PR coalition is showing its true color reminiscing that of umno. The craze for position, infighting and throwing out all the gabbages of the party openly to the media. The other two parties also have their internal problems but not that glaring.

People are starting to question the capabilities of PR to govern should they be given the mandate to take over Putrajaya. What happened with PR the past 2 years indicated two very distinct weak points. Credible candidates and the arrogant 'we know best' attitude, just like umno.

Not only you and I are frustrated but I guess RPK is very furious as well. He had highlighted many disastrous events about to happen in PR by writing in MT or maybe even had spoken to the leaders but no actions were taken to prevent it from happening and sadly enough it did happened.

2010-10-26T12:12:00.001+08:00

The ‘Social Contract’ is signed and sealed on 8th February 1956 (part 5 of the series on the Social Contract)

NO HOLDS BARRED

Tuesday, 26 October 2010

The Constitutional Conference agreed that Merdeka be given to Malaya in August 1957 subject to certain constitutional changes, as can be read below. To achieve this and to meet the tight deadline of August 1957, a Constitutional Commission would be set up. And this was the Reid Commission, which came out with the Articles to be included in the new Federal Constitution of Malaya. The signatories to this ‘Social Contract’ of 8th February 1956 were the representative of the Alliance government of Malaya, the representatives of the Malay Rulers, and the representatives of the British government

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

2010-10-25T21:57:00.002+08:00

Fix biased version of History first, MCA tells Education Ministry

By Debra Chong

October 25, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 — The MCA today urged the Education Ministry to review and mend what it called an “imbalanced” account of the nation’s history in existing textbooks favouring one race and religious civilisation before making the subject a “must pass” in school from 2013.

“MCA has received feedback (or complaints) from parents that the History textbook syllabus tends to predominantly favour a particular race and religious civilisation, while using derogatory terms of ‘pendatang asing’ [foreign immigrants] on other races,” the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition’s Chinese partner highlighted in a media statement today.

MCA deputy publicity chief Loh Seng Kok also noted that newspapers had reported the subject would soon be taught from the primary level onwards — at present it is a core subject only in secondary schools — and would incorporate Article 153 of the Federal Constitution, which touches on the “special position” of the Bumiputeras.

“There are also anxieties of the possibility of misinterpretation where ‘special position’ i.e. a ‘privilege’ maybe taken to read as an ‘automatic right’,” Loh said.

He stressed that the history taught in schools must be objective, rational and impartial to reflect the contributions of the different races and religious groups in the making of multicultural Malaysia.

Loh noted the a five-year review of the school syllabi was scheduled to take place soon and advised the set-up of a multicultural panel to fix the lopsided accounts of the past.

The MCA man said the new syllabi created should be free from influence of any one political group and urged History authors not to “introduce new terms which hint of racial supremacy or inaccurately suggest that vernacular schools impede national unity”.

Loh said such prejudice could be seen in the latest History paper in the PMR, the national assessment examination for Form Three students.

“Any personal conviction held by the authors which can lead to racial resentment and uneasiness must be completely disallowed.

“The Ministry of Education must review and rectify any shortcoming in order to prevent ethnic disharmony in our nation,” Loh stressed, joining a growing chorus criticising the Najib administration’s latest move on education.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also in charge of Education, had recently announced that History would be a “must-pass” subject in the SPM, the national secondary school leaving examination, in addition to Bahasa Malaysia.

The opposition DAP had also demanded Muhyiddin form an independent advisory board to “overhaul” the subject crucial to nation-building efforts.

The national Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) had earlier today slammed the education minister for caving in to pressure from delegates at the Umno annual assembly over the weekend.

“[PAGE] is of the view that this is yet another politically-motivated decision to appease and please Umno delegates at its general assembly, without any thought given to recent policy decisions that have been made by him on education thus far,” the lobby group’s chief, Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim, said in a media statement.

2010-10-25T10:51:00.003+08:00

The agreement on the Malayan Civil Service (part 4 of the series on the Social Contract)

NO HOLDS BARRED

Monday, 25 October 2010

The Constitutional Conference of 1956 between the British government and the Alliance government of Malaya agreed that a Public Service Commission will be set up and that it will be an independent statutory body, free from political interference, as the essential foundation of good government. Five pages of what was agreed is in this report and it does not mention anywhere about racial quotas in the civil service other than they must be ‘suitably qualified’ for the job.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

2010-10-25T10:28:00.001+08:00

MCA is actually right

Let’s hope I don’t get to say ‘I told you so’ after the Galas and Batu Sapi by-elections. Let’s hope the opposition, for once, gets to prove me wrong. I would love to be proven wrong and having to eat my words once the by-election results are in.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

MCA's Wee says Chinese in Galas "actually don't like" Pakatan

(Bernama) - MCA Youth chief Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong is convinced that voters in the Galas state constituency, particularly the Chinese community, are not easily influenced by the tactics employed by the opposition.

Dr Wee, who is also the Deputy Education Minister, said the Chinese voters were now more mature in choosing leaders in their constituency.

"The Chinese community has made a clear stand that they actually don't like the opposition (PAS) because the party had never been concerned before and had never visited them to give any assistance.”

"The situation is so different with the Barisan Nasional (BN) and MCA leaders showing interest on their living condition and giving immediate aid if necessary," he told reporters after visiting Chinese homes in Kampung Baru, here Saturday.

As such, Dr Wee said the MCA machinery would continue to monitor the tactics of the opposition who tried to incite the Chinese voters to the extent of affecting racial harmony.

The by-election for the Galas state constituency seat is being held on Nov 4 following the death of the incumbent (PAS) assemblyman Chek Hashim Sulaima who died on Sept 27.

*********************************************

What the MCA Youth chief said is actually quite true. And when the government leaders say something that is true we should admit so and not disagree with them just because they stand on the opposite side of the political fence. The Chinese from the three villages in the Galas constituency are very angry with the state government. And this anger has been there for some years now.

The state normally appoints the ketua kampung or village heads as well as the local councillors -- as there are no local council elections as what we from the civil society movements would like to see. Most times these village or council heads would be cronies of those in power. That is sort of how politicians reward their supporters -- by giving them positions in the local councils and villages.

But these Chinese heads of the villages have been behaving like Little Napoleons or warlords (taiko in Chinese). And they have been bullying the Chinese villagers.

For example, in one incident, the Chinese villagers had applied for a piece of land to build their temple. However, since that land is a very nice piece of land the Chinese village head hijacked it for his holiday resort. This has of course angered the Chinese villagers.

Complaints have been made to the state, in particular to Husam Musa, but no action was taken and these gangster village heads continue to terrorise the Chinese villagers. So now it is payback time. The villagers are going to teach the state a lesson by voting for Umno -- whereas it was the Chinese votes that gave that Galas seat to the opposition in the last election.

Then we have the significant number of Orang Asli voters who are very angry that the local council demolished their church and still refuses to allow them to rebuild it even though the court has ruled in favour of the church. No doubt it was the local council that did this and not the state government. However, since the local councillors are selected by the state and not voted into office, the Orang Asli blame the state government.

And this matter is still unresolved. So the Orang Asli may want to teach PAS a lesson by voting for Umno.

Can PAS win the Galas by-election? With Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, the taiko of Gua Musang, leading the charge (which means the Malay votes are in jeopardy) and with the Orang Asli and Chinese both angry with the state, it will be an uphill battle for PAS. And maybe it is good they lose this by-election or else they will not listen when we tell them of the problems on the ground. They will go on thinking that they need not listen to us since they and not us are the politicians (so they know better).

Of course, it is not too late to salvage things but PAS will need to bend over backwards if they want to win back the support of the Orang Asli and Chinese. And, considering that the Malay votes are in jeopardy, it is either they win back the support of the Orang Asli and Chinese or else they will lose the by-election.

The Batu Sapi by-election in Sabah is not any better for the opposition. With a one-to-one contest it is already difficult to beat PBS, especially when the widow of the late candidate is contesting the seat. But in a three-corner fight it will be plain sailing for PBS/Barisan Nasional.

The situation is so hopeless that there are some in DAP who are saying they had better not waste their time by going to Sabah. BN is going to win anyway. Yong Teck Lee of SAPP is going to grab the Chinese votes while Ansari Abdullah of PKR is going to grab the Malay votes. But with the Chinese and Malay votes split, all PBS needs is 40% of the votes to win. And it is not that difficult to win at least 40% of the votes.

The logic of both SAPP and PKR contesting that by-election in a three-corner fight is to see who wins second place. In an election, winning second place means losing because only number one counts. So what is the novelty of winning second place when second place is a loser just like third place?

This is so that they can decide who contests that seat in the coming general election. If SAPP wins more votes than PKR then SAPP will contest that seat in the next election -- and vice versa.

Okay, that may solve Batu Sapi (and I say ‘may’). But what about the 84 other seats in Sabah? There are 25 parliament and 60 state seats in Sabah. They can arrive at a formula for Batu Sapi but what formula are they going to use for the other 84 seats?

Are they also going to contest in three-corner fights in the coming general election for these other 84 seats and then decide, based on who wins number two spot, who should contest that seat come two general elections from now?

What if it is a four-corner or five-corner contest two general elections from now? SAPP and PKR can agree on the formula and shake hands on the matter (and it is only a handshake, mind you, not a sealed contract) but what is there to stop another party other than SAPP or PKR from joining the contest and, again, turning it into a three-corner fight?

This ‘gentleman’s agreement’ thing does not make sense. You can come to an agreement but you can’t control what others do. Someone can always resign from their party and contest the election as an ‘independent candidate’ like what happened back in 2004. So we shall still see a three- or four-corner fight.

The trouble is the politicians always think they know better what they are doing than those of us who ‘comment only’. But then, those of us who 'comment only' always get to say ‘I told you so’ later.

Let’s hope I don’t get to say ‘I told you so’ after the Galas and Batu Sapi by-elections. Let’s hope the opposition, for once, gets to prove me wrong. I would love to be proven wrong and having to eat my words once the by-election results are in.

2010-10-25T10:20:00.003+08:00

The many roots of Malays leave delegates in stitches

(The Star) - LIGHT exchanges over the origins of Malay and whether Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, who is of Turkish descent, could be regarded as Malay, had the delegates in stitches yesterday.

Fellow vice-president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal had the floor in stitches earlier when he said that party president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak didn’t include the Turks when defining the Malays in the country during his presidential address.

Hishammuddin said that even Shafie, whom he called “the pirate of Semporna”, had eloquently presented his speech in Malay, complete with poetry. Shafie is of Bajau descent.

Hishammuddin took the joke further by labeling Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as Jawa Bagan Datuk, Malacca chief minister Datuk Seri Ali Rustam as Bengali Malay, Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Dr Zambri Abdul Kadir as mamak Malay, Datuk Seri Musa Aman as Malay-Pakistan-Dusun. To this, a delegate retorted he is a three-in-one Malay.

Putra Umno chief Datuk Azeez Abd Rahim was not left out.

“I have checked (with the National Registration Department) and the JPN director-general told me that Azeez’s (ethnic) status is unknown,” Hishammuddin said.

Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin also touched on a person’s roots.

“People ask me what am I. My late father was a Bugis and my late mother was a Javanese. I am a Malay,” he said.

Najib, in his winding-up speech, declared that the man of Turkish descent and the guy with “unknown status” are also Malays.

“We are all Malays. We must be united,” he said to loud applause from the floor.

On Thursday, Najib had given a long list of creeds and ethnic groups ranging from Bajau to Pakistanis, Arabs and Indian Muslims who were regarded as part of the Malay root.

Mahathir ? well everyone knows his father is from Kerala , India so he is a one hundred percent Mamak . Pak Lah is half Chinese . His first wife Endon is three quarters Japanese and his present wife is Eurasian . Anwar's wife is of Chinese descent from Singapore .

The list goes on and on not forgeting Mamak Ahmad Ismail .

2010-10-24T20:16:00.006+08:00

‘Ketuanan Melayu’ was not part of the Merdeka deal (part 3 of the series on the Social Contract)

The Constitutional Conference, which was held in London from 18th January to 6th February 1956, was attended by representatives of the Malay Rulers as well as the newly-elected government of Malaya that won 51 of the 52 seats in the elections six months before that. And this government was the Alliance government of Umno, MCA and MIC. This, therefore, demolishes the argument that Umno negotiated Merdeka. It was actually negotiated by a coalition of Umno, MCA and MIC. And this Conference was the basis of Malaya’s new Federal Constitution -- the handiwork of the Chinese and Indians as well.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

There is now an urgent need for people on both, indeed all, sides of this question – and all Malaysians generally – to understand what exactly those agreements now designated as “the social contract” in fact were.

Malaysians need to reach a historically well-founded consensus concerning “the social contract”, what its terms were at the nation’s formative moment and in its founding experience, and what it means today and for the future. The coherence, strength and political sustainability of the nation require no less.

‘Ketuanan Melayu’ not part of the deal

It needs to be widely understood that, whatever they provided and mandated, “Ketuanan Melayu” was not part of what those agreements enshrined. Any suggestion that Malay political domination in perpetuity, continuing Malay “ethnocratic” ascendancy over other Malayans (and now Malaysians), was any part of those foundational agreements now designated as “the social contract” is simply wrong.

Those who argue to the contrary that Ketuanan Melayu is a constitutionally guaranteed “foundational” component of Malaysia’s national sovereignty and international public identity are disingenuous, mischievous, or simply ill-informed.

The attempt to “read back” subsequent notions of Ketuanan Melayu into ideas of “the social contract” and in that way to embed them within newly fashioned but quite dubious views of the constitution is simply an exercise in anachronistic revisionism. It is the duty of serious historians and legal scholars to say so. -- by CLIVE S. KESSLER, Malaysiakini

2010-10-23T14:34:00.002+08:00

Today's Malaysian-Chinese are not "Pendatang"

It's depressing to see that the Prime Minister himself had to provide this re-assurance h e r e about the status of the Malaysian-Chinese.

Sure, a few non-Chinese from Ahmad Ismail to Anwar Ibrahim have called the Malaysian-Chinese "pendatangs" but most of them are politicians, and why do the Chinese who are Malaysians bother to give them so much credit?

The fact is, if you were born in Malaysia and you have never revoked your citizenship, then you are Malaysian. You may think you are Malay first or Malay second but if you are Malaysian then you are Malaysian. You may have been born in Singapore, Indonesia or the US but have opted to become a Malaysian citizen, you are Malaysian.

The same goes if you were born in Malaysia but you decide to hold a Green Card. For all intent and purpose, you are still Malaysian not matter how many people question your loyalty. There's talk that a very prominent politician who spends so much time abroad is a Green Card holder of the United States of America but until he revokes his Malaysian citizenship, he's still Malaysian.

2010-10-23T14:21:00.002+08:00

Report of the Federation of Malaya (part 2 of the series on the Social Contract)

A Constitutional Conference was held in London from 18th January to 6th February 1956 attended by a delegation from the Federation of Malaya, consisting of four representatives of the Malay Rulers, four representatives of the Alliance Party (the Chief Minister of the Federation, Tunku Abdul Rahman, and three Federation Ministers), and also by the British High Commissioner in Malaya and his advisers. This is a report of that conference.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

2010-10-23T14:11:00.002+08:00

You want to know about the Social Contract? Okay, let’s study history

Today, I am going to publish the first two pages of the 33-page document, which is the so-called Social Contract that everyone is talking about. This series of articles shall continue over the next few days until all 33 pages are published.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Teach the young to appreciate history, says Puteri Umno

(Bernama) -- Puteri Umno has called on party leaders as well as Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders to undertake the responsibility to educate the younger generation about the country's history so that they understand their role in the country.

Puteri Umno's human resources bureau chief Fahariyah Md Nordin said appreciation of history was important at a time when certain sections of the younger generation had been voicing out that they had nothing to do with the decisions made by the previous generations.

"The question is, don't they realise that by denying history, they are denying the very history of their existence?" she said when debating the policy speech of the Umno president at the 2010 Umno General Assembly today.

She also called for a better way of promoting history among students such as by utilising tools like the Internet.

History should also be made a compulsory-to-pass subject in school to drive home the point on the importance of learning the country's history, she said.

Fahariyah added that it would be dangerous for the younger generation to be influenced by those who are bent on rejecting the provisions in the Federal Constitution, especially those concerning the rights of the Malays and Bumiputera.

****************************************

A few months ago, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that the Social Contract does exist. However, it is not a written Contract. It is a verbal Contract, said Dr Mahathir.

Do you know what lawyers have to say about verbal contracts? A verbal contract is not worth the paper it is written on.

The ongoing Umno General Assembly appears to be about warning the non-Malays as well as the ‘traitor’ Malays to not question the Social Contract, unless they want to see a ‘May 13 Version 2’. Even the Umno running dog, MCA President Chua Soi Lek, has been told to shut up.

Puteri Umno wants the young to be taught ‘the correct version of history’. Well, you know me. I just can't resist being that teacher to educate the young on the correct version of history.

No, I shall not deny history, as what Puteri Umno said. I shall also not distort history, as many Malays accuse me of doing (40% truth and 60% lies, as some would say). Instead, I am going to publish SECRET documents of ‘Her Britannic Majesty’s Government’ -- which have since been declassified and are available from The National Archives in London (so I am not violating Britain’s Official Secrets Act).

Today, I am going to publish the first two pages of the 33-page document, which is the so-called Social Contract that everyone is talking about. This series of articles shall continue over the next few days until all 33 pages are published.

(Many Malaysians are not capable of reading more than four pages of any document or article so I need to give it to them in small doses if I want them to read everything).

After you have read the entire 33-page document you can then decide whether the Social Contract does or does not exist (and whether it is written or verbal). You will also be able to understand what was agreed in that Social Contract that the Malays, Chinese and Indians entered into in 1956, just before Malaya became independent on 31st August 1957.

Remember, this is not what I say. This is what was agreed and reported back in 1956. And this was the basis of the Reid Commission’s report and recommendations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reid_Commission), which eventually saw the birth of a new nation called the Federation of Malaya together with its new written constitution called the Federal Constitution of Malaya.

Oh, and by the way, I am not looking for a PhD, like our good Minister Rais Yatim who earned his PhD for writing a thesis that opposed the Internal Security Act and then ‘changed his mode’ after he got back into the government and was appointed a Minister.

2010-10-23T13:45:00.002+08:00

Ibrahim Ali out of ICU, can speak again but told to hold his horses

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

News that Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali was out of danger and could already speak following a two-hour bypass surgery earlier this week was welcomed by his fellow lawmakers, although they also took pains to remind him to control himself and avoid any booming rhetoric until he was stronger.

“Congratulations to Ibrahim and his family. It is good news and we are sure that he must be raring to get going again especially with the Umno annual assembly ongoing and such a hotbed for Malay issues this year,” PKR vice president Dr Lee Boon Chye told Malaysia Chronicle.

The short but tubby 57-year old MP for Pasir Mas has been one of the most vocal personalities this year. Since founding ultra-Malay rights group Perkasa in January, he has stubbed a finger in almost every national issue that has cropped up.

But each time, he left a trail of unhappiness in his wake because of his extreme and often racist remarks that have angered and alienated the non-Malay groups in the country.

“I am a jaguh kampung (village champion) who is brave like a bull. Anything that crosses my path, I will fight it to the end,” Malaysian Insider reported Ibrahim as saying in a June article.

The original jaguh kampung and the closet racists

Of late, his chase for the limelight and flamboyance has threatened his health, prompting him to publicly complain of an array of ill-health including diabetes, numbness and even flatulence. Doctors eventually found three blocked arteries in his heart and promptly scheduled him for surgery.

One of the most popular spoofs

But the damage has been done. Ibrahim's constant poking into issues all-and-sundry including the status of the Kelantan royal family feud led to the Palace revoking his datuk-title earlier this month. And while, the pugnacious Ibrahim put on a brave face, it is clear the royal reprimand coming from his own home-state was a serious blow and embarrassment.

His surgery will be good for him in that it cleans up his arterial system and provides him with a stronger grip on life. The enforced slowdown will also be good for the nation.

Love him or hate him, Ibrahim’s constant series of demonstrations including a high-profile protest to the U.S. embassy has seriously dented Malaysia's image as a moderate nation, adding to the uncertainty that clouds its economic and political future.

“The brief respite is welcome to all. But I’m sure it won’t last for long. Whether Ibrahim retires or not, Malaysian politics will always be color-based so long as Umno-BN rules. If it is not him, they will find someone else. Racism and racial politics weren’t invented by Ibrahim Ali although he has made himself synonymous with these qualities,” Batu MP Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

"The original jaguh kampong actually came from Umno and in the current Umno assembly, Prime Minister Najib Razak has already exposed himself to be one of the biggest closet racists ever.”

Time enough for politics

Tian was referring to Najib’s controversial speech to party delegates on Thursday that shocked the nation. Najib had vowed to defend his party’s five-decade stranglehold on the federal government even if it necessitated ‘crushed bodies’ and ‘lost lives’.

Already jabbing into the air as he speaks to visitor Khairy

Umno watchers have accused the underperforming Najib of posturing before his party mates in a bid to deflect attention from his lack of political and economic achievements since taking power nearly two years ago.

He looks set to lose further ground in the next general election that is widely expected to be called in the first half of next year.

Even if Najib manages to cling on, chances are high that the simple majority his predecessor Abdullah Badawi managed to snatch from Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim will be further chopped down – paving the way for greater turmoil within Umno.

Already, it is clear Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin plans to challenge him for the Umno presidency next year. Chances are Ibrahim Ali and Perkasa will throw their support behind him rather than Najib.

Although Ibrahim and his group have been accused of being clowns - albeit dangerous ones - they can pack enough power to sway an internal Umno decision. Without Ibrahim Ali though, Perkasa is likely to fade and became another non-performing NGO despite its connections.

“Ibrahim is an independent MP but to deny that he is connected to Umno is a bit unbelievable,” PAS leader Dr Hatta Ramli told Malaysia Chronicle.

“He is aligned to Mahathir and Muhyiddin so for sure he will be in the thick of action. But before he jumps in, we say to him - have a good recovery first and remember - avoid overeating, smoking or cigarette smoke!”

2010-10-23T13:35:00.002+08:00

Why delay the Penang Port Commission chairman’s extension

Tan Cheng Liang - victim of political power play?

KUALA LUMPUR - Pandan MP Dato’ Seri Ong Tee Keat wants to know why Transport Minister Datuk Kong Cho Ha has delayed the extension of Tan Cheng Liang’s appointment as Penang Port Commission (PPC) chairman.

Ong, a former transport minister, wants Kong to state whether he was trying to replace Tan as PPC chairman although her extension had been approved by the Prime Minister and endorsed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

“If it is true that Kong is trying to drop Tan as chairman, we want to know why? If it is not true, why has she not been given the one-year extension appointment letter,” Ong asked.

2010-10-22T10:10:00.002+08:00

The (confused) way forward

Umno does not know what it is getting itself into. It had better tone down that race riot rhetoric lest it backfires on them. If they think the Indians and Chinese are going to react like they did in 1999 -- they reluctantly voted for Barisan Nasional out of fear -- then Umno is going to be in for a surprise.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

(The Star) - Feisty Sabah delegate Hamidah Mumamad Jafar called for support for bold moves to curb cases of baby-dumping, such as setting up a school for pregnant mothers and providing more baby hatches.

The Putatan Puteri Umno division chief said the Government should fully support innovative approaches as the growing number of baby-dumping cases was alarming.

“Setting the school and the baby-hatch provided a lifeline for pregnant unwed mothers and their babies.”

“Sex education in schools is also a must to prevent young girls from being involved in premarital sex,” she said, to the applause of the more than 700 delegates.

Johor Baru Puteri Umno chief Azura Mohd Afandi wants the Information Ministry to curb television shows and commercials that could lead people astray from the right religious paths.

“Horror films and commercials deemed too sexy for young viewers might lead to deviant teachings.”

“For example, commercials on sanitary pads are openly shown on TV and this could influence the young to get involved in social ills,” said Azura, urging the ministry to increase shows that teach good values and religious practices.

Kedah delegate Azifah Abdul Rahman supports the continued use of the Internal Security Act against those who threaten the country’s security.

She said: “The Act is needed, especially as there are those who dare question the Malay rights.”

***********************************

Kedah delegate Azifah Abdul Rahman wants the government to retain the Internal Security Act. This is so that those who threaten the country’s security, especially those who dare question the Malay rights, can be detained without trial.

Questioning Malay rights is considered a threat to national security. So those who question it need to be detained without trial, reckons this delegate to the Umno general assembly. Gila betul ini delegate ! Half past six punya quality ! UMNO having delegates like this , sure kaput !

This is the simple way that the Umno delegates look at things. But then don’t simple-minded people always look at things from this simple perspective? If they open their mouths; detain them without trial. This will stop people from talking and questioning.

Johor Baru Puteri Umno chief Azura Mohd Afandi considers horror films as the main cause of deviant teachings. How a horror movie can lead to deviant teachings was not explained. Nevertheless, the fact that Malays believe in black magic, witch doctors, ghosts, ghouls, zombies, walking dead, vampires, and whatnot, probably lends weight to this argument.

What was also not explained is the fact that Malays believe in black magic, ghosts and whatnot since way back, long before the invention of television. Was it television that ‘poisoned’ the minds of the Malays and caused them to believe in rubbish and that led them to deviant teachings? If so how come they were already ‘led astray’ and believed in ‘deviant teachings’ long before there was even such a thing as television?

This delegate also wants the government to ban advertisements on sanitary pads, which leads to social ills. If Malaysians were to see advertisements of sanitary pads on television they would turn into immoral people.

Sabah delegate Hamidah Mumamad Jafar wants schools for pregnant mothers and more baby hatches to be set up. This will help reduce the cases of baby dumping, argues this delegate. How that would work was never explained. They dump babies to hide the fact that they were pregnant. Would they want to go to a school for pregnant girls/women where they would ‘advertise’ the fact that they are pregnant?

Introducing sex education into schools is also a must to prevent young girls from indulging in premarital sex, argued this same delegate. So, if girls and boys get to learn about sex, they would certainly not indulge in premarital sex, is how this logic is presented.

How does that sound logical? If you learn about it in school then you will not do it? Does this make sense to you?

Actually, if you really want to prevent premarital sex then the proper way would be to introduce chastity belts. All unmarried girls from the age of 10 should be forced to wear chastity belts and on the day they get married their husband is given a key to unlock the belt.

Of course, those who marry at the age of 40 would need to wear the belt for 30 years before they can see it removed. And those who never get married would need to wear the belt until the day they die.

Another way would be to ban girls from the age of 10 from leaving their house unless escorted by a male member of the family. Girls and women must also be banned from driving and their face should be totally concealed so that no boys or men can get to see their faces. This is the practice in some other Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia also bans entertainment films on TV. (At one time they banned television totally). You only get to see the news and religious programmes. This would prevent, as Azura Mohd Afandi said, people from straying from the right religious paths. Go and live in Saudi Arabia ! Nincompoop !

And of course, the internet is the main source of ‘deviant teachings’ that lead people astray from the right religious paths. In fact, the internet is worse than television. So, to protect people and prevent them from becoming immoral, the internet must certainly be banned.

If this still does not work and if unmarried girls/women still get pregnant, then Malaysia can introduce the law of stoning to death, like how some countries practice. You get pregnant and you die (even if your are raped, like how some countries decree). And you die at the hands of hundreds of people who will throw stones at you until you no longer breathe.

Premarital sex is evil. Getting pregnant before you are married is evil. So Malaysia has to find ways in preventing all this from happening, how drastic the measures may seem. The future of Malaysia rests on ensuring that no one goes around bonking and gets pregnant before they are married.

Okay, maybe abuse of power, wastage of public funds, corruption, extrajudicial killings, manipulation of the legal system, violating the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, election fraud, institutionalised discrimination, and many more are also evil. But those are not crucial and need not be discussed at the Umno general assembly. We must focus. And the focus is on how to reduce or eliminate ‘illegal sex’.

Warnings are also being issued by the top Umno leadership that blood will flow on the streets if Umno were to get kicked out of office. Malaysians are being told to be wary of May 13 Version 2, that may happen if Umno does not retain power. This is no more 1969 ! lah This is 2010 ! Tomorrow you also don't know whether you are alive or dead !

They did the same thing in 1999. The Prime Minister then, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, went live on television to warn Malaysians that if Barisan Nasional were to lose its two-thirds majority in Parliament then chaos will rein.

A Barisan Nasional without a two-thirds majority in Parliament will be a weak Barisan Nasional, said the Prime Minister. And a weak Barisan Nasional will not be able to guarantee the safety and security of its people. In 1969, the ruling party lost its two-thirds majority in Parliament, the Prime Minister reminded us. And what happened after that? There was rioting on the streets and many people died.

So, don’t let 1999 be a repeat of 1969, warned the Prime Minister.

And it worked. Many people, in particular the non-Malays, did not vote for the opposition. They sheepishly admitted that they support the opposition but voted for Barisan Nasional because they were scared of the race riot that the Prime Minister promised would happen.

But that was back in 1999. In 1999 the people were scared. But in 2008 many voted for the opposition and no race riot happened. This was because 50% of the Malays also voted for the opposition, as Umno admitted. And the anti-Umno Malays far outnumber the Umno Malays.

Umno could not even get 100 Malays onto the streets of Kampong Baru in the aftermath of the 2008 general election. But the opposition can get 50,000 Malays onto the streets any time. So, if the handful of Umno Malays want to start trouble, they will have to face tens of thousands of other Malays.

No, if riots do start it will not be a la 1969. The next riot, if it happens, will be Malays facing Malays. The Indians and Chinese need not participate in this May 13 Version 2. They can just stay at home or go to Singapore or Thailand for a short holiday. Let the Malays handle this matter.

The Indians and Chinese need not fear anything. Dr Hatta Ramli has already issued a challenge. PAS will form a human shield. The Malays from PAS will emerge in great numbers to face those Umno Malays who want Indian and Chinese blood. As Dr Hatta said, “Over our dead bodies.” The Umno Malays would first have to slaughter all the PAS Malays before they can reach the Indians and Chinese.

And let me assure you: many other Malays not from PAS are also issuing this warning. The Indians and Chinese are our brothers and sisters. And if the Umno Malays want to harm them then they will have to first deal with the non-Umno Malays.

And this is because the non-Umno Malays are Muslims first and Malays second. This is what Islam demands of Muslims -- to be Muslims first and last while racism is haram or forbidden.

And in Islam justice must prevail and the non-Muslims must be protected even to the extent that Muslims go to war with Muslims to protect the life of the non-Muslims. This is Islamic justice. And in Islamic justice no one must be persecuted or discriminated against because of his or her race.

So, is it not good that PAS is an Islamic party? Notwithstanding the fact that there are some in PAS who aspire to see Malaysia transformed into an Islamic State (which can never happen unless PAS wins more than two-thirds of the seats in Parliament), an Islamic party like PAS is good for the non-Muslims because this party upholds Islam, which means the non-Muslims receive protection against persecution and discrimination.

Umno does not know what it is getting itself into. It had better tone down that race riot rhetoric lest it backfires on them. If they think the Indians and Chinese are going to react like they did in 1999 -- they reluctantly voted for Barisan Nasional out of fear -- then Umno is going to be in for a surprise.

Today, the Indians and Chinese have faith in their Malay brothers and sisters. They know that May 13 Version 2 being bandied about by Umno is not going to be a Malay versus non-Malay incident like back in 1969. May 13 Version 2 is going to be a Malay-versus-Malay affair with the non-Malays standing on the sidelines as mere spectators.

And if you think this is not so then go ask the non-Umno Malays in Pakatan Rakyat. Hear it from their own mouths. And they will tell you exactly what I have just said.

2010-10-22T10:07:00.000+08:00

Kit Siang suffers vertigo attack

Next time it will be more severe , the way you keep talking cock and talking nonsense .

By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani

October 21, 2010

Lim Kit Siang

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — Lim Kit Siang suffered a vertigo attack this morning that caused the DAP veteran lawmaker to experience a “severe attack of dizziness, vomiting and hearing loss.”

Earlier Lim wrote via the Twitter micro-blogging service that he will miss a Pakatan Rakyat (PR) function tonight.

“Suffered severe attack of dizziness vomitting hearing loss Medically advised 2rest Will miss PR leaders' function 4Galas by-election 2nite,” he twitted.

The party’s chief-of-staff Foo Yueh Chuan told The Malaysian Insider that DAP veteran lawmaker went for a medical check-up at Assunta Hospital in Petaling Jaya at noon.

“He went through his normal routine of having breakfast and when we reached the office, he felt dizzy and began to vomit. We then decided to bring him to Assunta where he had a medical check for half an hour,” she told The Malaysian Insider.

Foo added that the doctor has asked Lim to rest for the day but he will be back in action tomorrow.

“He has been under stress lately and what is important now is that he is well,” she said.

Vertigo is described as a spinning sensation and may be accompanied by other symptoms, including nausea and vomiting.

2010-10-21T11:28:00.000+08:00

If anyone created Singapore, it was Tunku and not Lee Kuan Yew

Lee and Tunku - a short-lived celebration

Ng Kok Lim

Singapore wasn’t created by MM Lee in 1965. It was founded in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles. Singapore joined Malaysia in 1963 and was booted out in 1965. If there was anyone who created the state of Singapore, it was Malaysia’s prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman since he was the one who booted Singapore out and thereby ‘created’ the state of Singapore.

Dear Ukraine Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

I refer to the 24 Sept 2010 Straits Times report of the statements made by Mr Alexander Gorin during the visit of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew to Ukraine.

Mr Gorin reportedly said that MM Lee is a thinker, philosopher and practitioner who created a state and guided it from Third World to First. There are many misconceptions in his statement that needs clarification. Mr Gorin needs to understand that:

1. Singapore wasn’t created by MM Lee in 1965. It was founded in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles. It was Raffles who saw the potential of our strategic maritime location. Raffles proved to be correct and Singapore quickly became an important international port of call which led to a thriving entrepot trade.

2. Singapore has been thriving for nearly 150 years before MM Lee took over in 1959. Even at independence in 1965, our per capita GDP was already the fourth highest in Asia behind Japan, Hong Kong and Brunei.

3. Singapore joined Malaysia in 1963 and was booted out in 1965. If there was anyone who created the state of Singapore, it was Malaysia’s prime minister Tungku Abdul Rahman since he was the one who booted Singapore out and thereby ‘created’ the state of Singapore.

4. The supposed Singapore success formula of foreign investment led export industrialisation wasn’t the brainchild of MM Lee. It was the brainchild of Dr Albert Winsemius, a Dutch economist sent by the United Nations to Singapore in 1960 to help Singapore industrialise. Singapore went from Third World to First following Dr Winsemius’ plan rather than MM Lee’s.

5. Between 1961 and 1965, Singapore did not pursue export industrialisation but pursued import substitution instead. Only with our separation from Malaysia in 1965 which rendered import substitution untenable did Singapore finally embark on Dr Winsemius’ formula. Thus, MM Lee didn’t act on Dr Winsemius’ recommendations immediately and only adopted it when faced with no other choice. It seems therefore that our split from Malaysia in 1965 was the key factor that led Singapore to adopt export industrialisation rather than some conscious decision by MM Lee.

6. Singapore is not the only success story but is just one of four East Asian economic miracles alongside Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea. You will not find a similar statesman extraordinaire responsible for the other three economic miracles. This shows that you don’t need a statesman extraordinaire for a country to succeed. If we were to ask ourselves what is so special about these four economies, there is only one obvious answer, they are all East Asian societies. Not only that, China too has been rising rapidly over the last twenty years. The Singapore success is very much an East Asian success rather than the success of any one man. - Temasek Review

2010-10-21T10:03:00.000+08:00

Now the DPM is talking sense

Remember, many leaders of today were once active ‘politicians’ and even student leaders back in the days when students were not barred from politics. What type of leaders do you think the students of today are going to become when it is time for them to take over in future?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Yesterday, the Deputy Prime Minister said that quality education is not just about money. It is about the development of the mind, personality and enhancement of each individual's potential for the development of a learning society that recognises cultural diversity, democracy, human rights, moral values, equity of access to knowledge and life-long learning.

This is probably the most sensible thing he has said thus far. The problem is:

(1) does he mean what he says?

(2) he also said many silly things alongside this such as Umno’s struggle is not about racism. If one does not call Umno’s policy racism then what do you call it?

I have said this before and I shall say it again: a good or quality education policy is one where you teach the young how to think, question, debate, analyse and whatnot. If you stifle the minds of the young then do not expect them to excel.

Let me take one example. When I was in school back in the 1960s we read Indian history and one of my favourite subject matters was The Indian Mutiny of 1857. This is also known as India's First War of Independence, the Great Rebellion, the Indian Rebellion, the Revolt of 1857, the Uprising of 1857, the Sepoy Rebellion or the Sepoy Mutiny.

Of course, whether it is called a mutiny, a rebellion, or a war of independence, would all depend on who is writing that particular history book. The British writers would certainly use mutiny or rebellion, which are negative words, while the Indian or Asian writers would call it a war of independence, something more positive.

Nevertheless, because Malaysia in the 1960s had an English education system, and since the history books were written by Englishmen or Malaysians such as Joginder Singh Jessy (who were recipients of an English education), it was always referred to as The Indian Mutiny. And that was how we knew it throughout our school days -- The Indian Mutiny.

Today, I do not know whether Malaysian students still read Indian history. Nevertheless, the history lesson today has been reduced to simple questions like: what was the date of The Indian Mutiny? And you are given three answers to tick against, only one being the right answer.

In our days it was very different. You were not asked to choose the right answer from three. You had to write essays with a minimum of a certain number of words. And the question was not about what date The Indian Mutiny occurred but what your opinion or thoughts about it are.

You would probably have to write a long analysis to a question such as: what caused or triggered The Indian Mutiny of 1857, what was its impact on the Indian independence movement that came later, and how has it shaped Indian society today?

Now, to answer that question you need to be a thinker. And to be able to be a thinker you first must need to be taught how to think. But does Malaysia’s current education system allow the students to think? How do you analyse and rationalise and think critically when your mind has been stifled and you have never been allowed to think?

The government is afraid of people who think. So the government would rather Malaysians become mental slaves. And the affect is worse for Malays because, being Muslims, Malays have been educated from very young not to question too much lest your akidah (faith) gets eroded. Thinking too much and questioning is the work of the devil, the Muslims are told. So better you just accept what you have been taught and not question whether there is any truth in it.

Malays also always talk about the zaman gemilang Islam (the glory days of Islam). This was the age of invention and innovation where the Middle Eastern region surpassed the West in science and technology. This is of course a fallacy. The glory days of the Middle East was not because of Islam per se. It was because the Middle East opened itself to learning from the other more developed societies of that time such as India and China.

Yes, the Middle Eastern region did invent many things and they were leading in many areas. But they picked up technology from the non-Muslims and improved upon it. It was like Japan, Korea and Taiwan soon after the Second World War. These countries never invented anything, at least in the beginning. They just did ‘reverse engineering’ and improved upon what the West had already invented.

So the same happened in the Middle Eastern region that flourished around a century after Prophet Muhammad. Many of the inventors, mathematicians, astronomers, physicians, architects, engineers, chemists, etc., were actually non-Muslims. But the Muslims allowed invention and innovation and that was why the region moved far ahead during the time when the West still thought that brain tumours were the result of the devil entering the brain -- while the Muslims were already performing brain surgery to remove the tumour.

In fact, the Western thinkers went to the Middle East to learn and they translated many of the Arabic books into Western languages. And that is why many Western ‘scientific’ words are Arabic in origin. Even alcohol is an Arabic word. But when the Middle East closed its doors and shunned ‘imported technology’, it began to revert to the dark ages and the West surged ahead and left the Muslims far behind. The same thing happened to China as well when it embarked upon a closed-door policy.

If we want to learn from history and talk about the glory days of the Islamic Empire that is well and fine with me. But we also have to analyse what made them great and what eventually caused them to go into decline. Of course, corruption, abuse of power, injustice, etc., were also factors for this decline. But the greatest factor of all was when the rulers (government) no longer allowed its people to think and declared that innovation is bidaah or heresy.

This is the only way forward. Even the West managed to move forward only when its people fought against mental slavery and demanded they be allowed to think. Is Malaysia prepared to do this in the interest of, as the Deputy Prime Minister says, quality education?

I remember back in the 1960s, when I was in school, we had mock parliament and mock United Nations debates. The entire school would turn out to watch ‘Members of Parliament’ and the ‘delegates’ to the ‘United Nations’ debating issues. There were no sacred cows. Nothing was sensitive. Where do you think people like Anwar Ibrahim acquired his oratory skills if not in school where debates, ceramahs, and whatnot were not only allowed but also encouraged and organised?

Is the government prepared to abolish the law that forbids students from getting involved in politics? Even the Umno Youth leader, Khairy Jamaluddin, thinks that this law should be abolished. Give the students a free hand. Let them decide for themselves what they want to do. Let them think and ponder about which direction they wish to go even if that direction is opposed to ours.

Remember, many leaders of today were once active ‘politicians’ and even student leaders back in the days when students were not barred from politics. What type of leaders do you think the students of today are going to become when it is time for them to take over in future?

As what the deputy Prime Minister said, quality education is not about money. Yes, I agree. Quality education is about developing the mind. And the mind can never be developed if you subject the people to mental slavery. This is the first thing that needs to be removed, the shackles of the mind that the government imposes on its people.

**************************************

DPM: Quality education not just matter of budget allocations

(Bernama) - The enculturation of quality in the education system is not just a matter of increasing budget allocations, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said on Tuesday, Oct 19.

He said quality education, in fact, was about the development of the mind, personality and enhancement of each individual's potential for the development of a learning society that recognised cultural diversity, democracy, human rights, moral values, equity of access to knowledge and life-long learning.

"It is about how we collectively through concerted action enhance the image of Islam as a religion of peace, enhance the perception of Muslims as people of integrity, improve the perception towards the role of our wives and daughters in nation building and human capital development, and how we can improve the engagement of our youths in social and economic development.”

"Through these, we can improve the quality of life for all and make the world a safer place for everyone," he said in his opening address at the Fifth Islamic Conference of Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research, here, on Tuesday.

"As policy makers, we are accountable to the public that our policies have current relevance, are effective in addressing socio-economic issues and that we are efficient at delivering the products.”

"However, we need to be aware that this perception of the role of education as the driver of socio-economic development could undermine some of the basic values of education and reduce the role of providers of education to that of factories.”

"Let us remember as providers of education, especially at the higher levels, that there are certainly broader contributions that education makes to the wider society such as social cohesion, better health, character moulding, and the development of critical and creative faculties essential for the building of learning societies so needed in a complex, fast changing world.”

"The development of character along with knowledge and competencies must be part and parcel of an extended definition of quality education which is also consistent with the Islamic concept of a holistic education."

According to Muhyiddin, education without emphasis on character formation has practically no value in Islam.

"The Islamic concept of harmony in education includes the formation of a certain type of character rooted in humility towards Allah, lover towards fellow human beings, perseverance in times of affliction, honesty, decency, uprightness, courage to say the truth, a balanced attitude towards issues that involve human emotions and so on."

He said with the glorious past behind, Muslim leaders must consciously motivate the people to regain the glory of Islam and encourage research and promote innovation as part of the culture of their institutions of higher education.

At the same time, he said, they must ensure that their educationists, researchers, scientists and innovators were guided by ethics.

Muhyiddin also mentioned that Malaysia had taken several innovative strategies to become a high-income nation by 2020 that would not only provide material prosperity but also a sense of purpose and belonging for its multiracial citizens.

"We have identified the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure and improve our efficiency and quality in six major policy areas.”

"Besides this, we are mindful that the quality of education must start from a solid foundation. Policies have been put in place to streamline the curriculum for all preschool centres, including private centres, to ensure quality pre-school education," he said.

The conference is aimed at providing an opportunity for Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO) member states and relevant organisations to discuss various important issues pertaining to higher education and scientific research in the Islamic world.

It is also to evaluate and follow up on the implementation of the Strategy for the Promotion of Science, Technology and Innovation in Islamic Countries.

2010-10-21T09:58:00.001+08:00

'Guan Eng is king of liars'

Liars ? more like King of Bullshitters !

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 18:05

By G Vinod

KUALA LUMPUR: A Penang Umno delegate criticised Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for discriminating against Malays in the state, calling him “king of liars”.

Debating on Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin's speech at the party's annual general assembly, Aziaan Ariffin, who is Balik Pulau Umno Youth chief, said this was proven when Lim acquired a 270-acre land in Balik Pulau for development purposes.

“He said it was to build educational institutions. My question is, why take land from Balik Pulau which is the last bastion of the Penang Malays in the island?” asked Aziaan.

On Oct 16, Lim came under fire from Penang Umno Youth when the state government started acquiring the plots at Balik Pulau for two universities.

Aziaan also claimed that the state was acquiring the plots in Pondok Upeh and Kampung Genting for RM8 per square feet when the market price was RM18 psf.

However, Lim dismissed the allegation, saying the rate was in accordance with the amount proposed by the National Valuation Department, a federal government agency.

Lim also claimed the land acquisition was carried out by the federal government itself, and not the state, in 2009 under Section 8 of the Land Acquisition Act 1960.

Aziaan said that Lim also demolished stalls belonging to Malays, while leaving untouched those owned by non-Bumiputeras.

“The Penang Malays are suffering under his rule,” claimed Aziaan, who alleged that Lim was unfit to rule as he is a chauvinist.

He urged the federal government to work with Penang Umno to find ways of winning back the state in the next general election.

“We need to plan for the next general election in order to wrest Penang back from the opposition. To quote an English proverb,'If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail',” he said.

2010-10-20T09:48:00.002+08:00

Mahathir's dilemma

Damian Denis

Let me first say that many people your age would be seeking to quiet down and enjoy the remaining balance of your life with their love ones. But somehow I find this a complete surprise as this is not the case with you.

Even at this age you are able to shake the government to its core. Look at Pak Lah and now Najib and his 1Malaysia program.

And I guess you are doing this coz something is bothering you. We know what is it but it would be great if we could hear it from the horses’ mouth as you claim you are “past self-interest” and all.

Anyhow, back to your latest venom on “the country we all love.”

Dr. M, you said that we Malaysians don’t understand 1 Malaysia. Do you really think that we are such dumb fools not able to comprehend this slogan? For your info, it simply means Unity. In our context it’s Unity in Diversity!

That’s it. Now the next question is do we need 1Malaysia? Of course we do. It’s precisely because of people like you and those in the primitive group Perkasa whom you are the spiritual advisor to.

Dr. M, we need 1Malaysia to work for our children’s future. But somehow you and Perkasa think otherwise. You and your proxy Muhyiddin think it will not work. You and some bigoted and racist civil servants feel that 1Malaysia should fail.

Why? Are you afraid of loosing something? Seriously, tell us what is it.

Then you claim that the Malays have a different understanding of 1Malaysia than the rest of the non-Malays.

You claim that the Malays wants us to adopt BM as our national language. Who hasn’t? Even the East Malaysians with a variety of their indigenous languages has done that. In addition, you want the non-Malays to give up their mother tongue and more importantly their education system as well.

In your own words the Chinese civilization system has been around for four thousand years and this has made them more resilient and knowledgeable. And now you want to destroy a part of that very fundamental institution (education) which has sustained the Chinese over the centuries? What are you up to?

Well, it is not the non-Malays who don’t want to learn BM. It is you who disallowed the use of BM in schools as far as teaching of Maths and Science was concerned.

It just doesn’t make sense what you are saying now and did the last time you were a PM of “the country we all love.”

Well, we Malaysians know very well that you are a flip-flop men too. On one hand you could be preaching about Bangsa Malaysia but on the other you could be talking about Malay supremacy with ease! And that hasn’t stop since your Malay Dilemma days.

Dr. M, your blog says that the non-Malays interprete 1Malaysia as amending the constitution. Give us a break! It was you who have amended the constitution many times without fail when you were in power all those 22 years. Did the opposition ever tried to amend their state constitution that they were controlling? Not at all! Did they ever said they were going to? NO!!!

It was you who amended the powers of the rulers not once but twice. And now you are talking about the Malays loosing power.

I believe no non-Malays wants to amend Article 153 in our constitution. I think it’s there to fulfill a purpose and ensure that economically we Malaysians will have a fair share of the economic pie and stand on our feet. Did you do that when you were in power for 22 years as a dictator? Obviously you didn’t do enough so that you could harp on this issue over and over again.

And instead you fed and fattened your cronies like the cows of Bashan! And the poor who really needed the 30% help did not get to see it. What happen to the RM54 billion bumi share which at present is left with RM2 billion only? Surely, you would know something about this. Why the silence, Dr. M?

In addition, most of our national coffers fall victim to your cronies’ uncontrolled hunger for greed i.e. EPF, Socso etc. Under your premiership corruption and money politics become the order of the day. As you went to create UMNO Baru, you also created a new political culture which was based on greed and patronage. And this system of governance (read:Mahathirism) is still in play today especially thru one of your boys Najib.

Please do not hide behind the façade of Malay unity to protect your self interest or the interest of your cronies. And I think you need to grow up and behave as an elderly politician. Look at Tunku and learn from our Bapa Kemerdekaan.

Stop the nonsense and allow us to forge our way ahead for the “the country we all love.”

We could use less people like you to become Bangsa Malaysia. If only you could let us be!

- www.realitybytesdmd.blogspot.com

If you are still unaware what this Mamak is up to , let me tell you what I think is the 'dilemma'
He wants his son to be made Deputy Prime Minister by helping the Moody guy becomes Prime Minister . Simple , get it ! He wants to follow Razak by having Najib and Lee Kuan Yew having Hsien Loong .

2010-10-19T21:59:00.002+08:00

Investigation Papers on Soi Lek's sex video to be sent to AG

KUALA LUMPUR - The investigation papers on the distribution of the sex video involving MCA President Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek will be submitted to the Attorney-General's Chambers soon.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said Dr Chua lodged a police report after being informed by a colleague on the distribution of envelopes containing two DVDs in several areas in Batu Pahat, Johor, which was intended to smear his image.

Following the report, police conducted an investigation and the investigation papers submitted to the Attorney-General's Chambers, before the Attorney-General ordered for further investigation, he said in a written reply to a question by Hee Loy Sian (PKR-Petaling Jaya Selatan) in Parliament Tuesday.

Hee wanted to know the rationale Dr Chua was not charged in court.

Hishammuddin said the case was investigated under Section 292/509 of the Penal Code.

In January 2008, Dr Chua resigned from his cabinet post and as MCA vice-president after admitting that the man in the sex video was him.

ONE MALAYSIA Justice for ALL Malaysians

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By SIRA HABIBU
sira@thestar.com.my