Make the time, if you can, to watch the Parliamentary debate on the 2009 Budget. Rosyam123 has a great archive going.
Watch for yourself and then decide who ought to be running this country. For me, it's a no-brainer... if you'd rather ponteng, you're basically saying: "I don't care about the the rakyat."
And to that i say: "Get lost."
Last night at Padang Timur, a motion was proposed to the collective subconscious:
"Those in favour of abolition of the ISA wave aye....."
The results:
Reports the Star:
Speaking to reporters Sunday before attending a Hari Raya gathering with Umno Youth members here, Mukhriz claimed that Zaid’s efforts to make the judicial appointments system more transparent and to allow the Bar Council to be involved in the appointment of judges would not play much of a role in the nation’s progress.
He asserted the reform issues raised by the former minister, if not implemented, would not cause the nation to crumble, adding that Malaysians had lived all this while without them.
“Zaid claimed he wanted to reform the system and to save Umno but I don’t see how all the issues he mentioned will benefit the Malays or Umno,” added Muhkriz who is vying for the Umno Youth presidency.
There was this saying about the likeness of father and son...
Let's start with an easy question.
Do you think they can break him?
(Pic was taken at about 1.50pm, when the court broke for lunch. They had to move RPK into the temporary holding cell.)
Do you think they can break her?
This morning, a bunch who'd typically hate Mondays decided to move their butts in a show of love to the editor of M-Today. While Raja Petra was inside, a hundred No-to-ISA people milled outside uncertain if it would be a full session or another adjournment. A full-day session, so it turned out.
Good news, perhaps. In a couple of days, who knows, perhaps we'll get to the part where RPK dishes out the evidence on the Altantuya story. If i were Rosmah - and if there was any shred of truth in the RPK story - i'd be having stones in my kidneys.
And here's one man who's been tirelessly rallying Bangsa Malaysia to wake up, this time taking shots of people all over: the Indefatiguable Haris! Just what ginseng does he grow in his kebun?
Within that little fenced compound of the Sessions Court, the crowd filled its asphalt surface and went about talking, sharing, reassuring - creating the very stuff every chemist dreams about. Bonds.
The PJ Sessions court may be a shabby little enclave of justice, but it has its gems if one cares to see. And as the minutes tick into hours, one begins to discover pretty pockets unexpectedly tucked in corners of the building. Lessons no less. Happy accidents, for they were obviously unplanned. They speak of Freedom and how - with that space to thrive - even the coldest concrete structure gets a soul.
We must create that space, that condition. For tomorrow's sakes, it is now.
They were charged up to RM500 to get over to the other side of the straits. This Raya, it seemed the draw of home was worth it. And cruel brokers - stoked by money and greed - decided cold cash meant much more than these lives. Sumatran lives.
They were squeezed into an 80-person-capacity wooden boat - 140 of them - pushed to the rim, and barely 15 minutes out into the benign waters, they learned that 80 means 80 and never the double of it. Twelve bodies have been found. Crew from larger boats nearby pulled 113 to safety.
In the news reports, there was no mention of the hands behind this cruel deal. No names mentioned. No mention of what efforts the police are taking to track down the sick businessmen. Will it just blow away?
Twelve Sumatrans died on the eve of Raya, the rest lost their livelihood. And though it may be a time for forgiveness, i am not quite in the mood for that. This case has to be fully investigated. The culprits' names must be revealed. Bring down the full weight of the law on them that the ones guilty will forever remember their evil deed.
If i had my way, i'd take them out to sea. A one-way trip. On a paper boat.
He was 36 years young when he died. Born of a black mum and a white dad, Bob Marley was wise beyond his years. His songs are clear evidence. His unpretentious interviews equally so.
"I don't have prejudice against meself. My father was a white and my mother was black. Them call me half-caste or whatever. Me don't dip on nobody's side. Me don't dip on the black man's side nor the white man's side. Me dip on God's side, the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white."At another time, he once said (and so appropriate for the likes of Syed Hamid):
"Who are you to judge the life I live?
I know i'm not perfect and I don't live to be, but before you start pointing fingers...
make sure your hands are clean."
The problem with essentialising is that you end up with large gaping holes in your thesis. It's a convenient trick in mass comm. It's also lazy. Yet all too often, op-ed writers tend to make broad assumptions like they know the world from the comfort of their leather seats. Even sadder, they expect the reader to soak it all up uncritically.
Karim Raslan, in his column in the Straits Times (Singapore), wrote:
Still, there’s no doubt that Najib is one of Malaysia’s smartest politicians. He is well-read and has a rigorous mind. His unflappable disposition is well suited to the demands of governance. He presides over meetings effortlessly, can summarise discussions succinctly and understands the importance of prioritising issues. In technocratic terms, he far surpasses both Prime Minister Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and even Anwar, whose flamboyant style is less suited to the tedium of Cabinet life.
“We (Umno) are dominant and we have responsibilities to other races. The other races look up to Umno.”
Patti Smith, poet, sister and Godmother of Punk, released the song People have the Power back in 1988. i had just started working and - along with many other great works of art - it sent me into a wonderful tailspin of questions and more questions about the state of things.
Twenty years later, in this fluid period in our history, this song haunts yet again. In many ways it's laser-sharp message is directed straight at us.
Watch it. Believe in it.
We have the power.
With every passing hour - days are too long in this aspect - the Pakatan's claim of taking over the government becomes more suspect.
It's not that the Rakyat are impatient with the wait. We can wait; so long as it's in a bed of solid substance. Rather, it's the lack of hard evidence that the task has been achieved which make us suspect. With every passing hour - without concrete gestures towards reaching that goal - more and more people will begin to doubt. The Rakyat's belief will ebb. And exponentially too.
So far, we've been served with two press conferences - one on Sept 16 itself, the other this afternoon at 2pm. The content hasn't changed. On Sept 16, a strong stand was made alongside a vague road map. They asked for a meeting with AAB, then asked that we wait for his response. We can deal with that; we can keep the faith, so long as we see clear progress.
Progress? Hardly. Today's was a rehash: Again asking an audience with the Prime Minister. This time to call an emergency session of Parliament.
Now, why would the Prime Minister want to do that, Anwar? A similar gesture had been delivered to Abdullah via your troupe on Sept 15. He scoffed and called you a "nuisance". In street language, he told you to F-off. Yesterday he dangled the possibility of ISA on you. In the spirit of sopan, you're already done the right thing, and yet you repeat the storyline again two days later.
Progress? i don't think so. Especially when in the press conference, someone asked what if Abdullah turned you down again? Your reply: The PR leaders will meet to discuss the next course of action. (.....duh?)
i mean, hasn't this been factored by your team of strategists? Haven't the various scenarios been rehearsed? Are you SERIOUSLY putting that much premium on Abdullah calling for an emergency House session?
It is signs like these which make me ponder about how real Anwar's claims are today. Much as i'd want to see that happen, i find doubts bubbling within me.
If Pakatan has it, Pakatan must act. Lose the Rakyat's faith and you lose everything.
i'm going out to get me a honkin' big Malaysian flag. When the announcement is finally made it'll be flying outside my house.
Nope it won't be Sept 16. But it shall be soon. i know it, feel it. Anyone who was there tonight at the Kelana Jaya Stadium felt it.
It's the trembling of Merdeka in our bones. We are a nation again.
i'm surprised they still haven't figured this out.
Every right action the BN has failed to take only unifies us. And for every cruel blow, we emerge stronger. The Bangsa Malaysia project has been accelerated, in large part thanks to them.
Back in March '08, when Anwar first mooted the plan to get 30 MPs to defect, i wasn't hot about the idea. It wasn't right. i was sure the Abdullah govt would wake up and make deep changes to remain relevant. More than logical, it was common sense. The recent GE was a severe spanking by the people after all. Let's wait for the next GE to decide who rules, i thought. Most people i know felt that way. Even the Pakatan partners seemed ambivalent.
But the new Cabinet was announced and i shook my head in apprehension. And, true enough, the trials began.
Instead of making reforms, they defamed Penang's LGE over the NEP, and tried to stir the racial pot. Didn't work. Abdullah himself - without any prior checks - slammed Guan Eng and was embarrassed as a result. To 'atone' for it, he pulled the plugged on Penang's key projects.
Instead of getting to work, they tried to portray Nizar as a DAP stooge in Perak. But it brought those folks closer. Today, try slipping a blade in any Perak crackline if you can.
Then came the Toyo confessions, and the relevation of AAB himself about how they went a-courting PAS. They blitzed the Malay agenda. We were tested. And we became even more Malaysian.
Instead of working to wake economy, they threw in some vintage TNT - codenamed Saiful - and dangled the Islam carrot. But Muslims know, Islam is Faith; and Faith is never a carrot.
And the air of Permatang Pauh was made foul as they burned the flesh of Malaysia, even as they are legitimately responsible for safeguarding this estate. But even as we are charred and scarred, our spirit grows. The phoenix is rising.
The Pakatan Rakyat persistently continues to moot the plan for a change in govt.
i am all for it. All my friends are for it. Eagerly.
We shall not wait four years for a team that hasn't shown ANY interest in a better Malaysia. We shall not allow a team that seems hell-bent on breaking this nation.
Sept 16, 2008? With open arms.
The pattern is clear.... you know it, i know it. We shall grind through it. We must. This ISA round will be the last.
And when this regime is ousted, we shall remember.
Go ahead, Ahmad Ismail, blame your brothers and sisters.
Go on. Divide us up - via your clumsy lo-res lens - into Malays, squinty-eyed, yellow-skinned Chinese, Indians, Kadazandusuns, Dayaks, Melanaus and all the various colours of the People's rainbow. Drag that chengal curtain across the medan masyarakat.******Remember! The patience of Malays and Muslims has its limits. Do not push us to the wall, where we will be forced to reject the Chinese for the sake of our survival.
******
******
Let us not let it go to waste as the flames of anger among Malays and Muslims has reached new heights. Let us take embrace this anger and come together as Malays and Muslims throughout the land so that we can turn the voices of the Malays into one that will unite all Malays and Muslims into one single movement.
******
The Prime Minister remains in denial.
At Kepala Batas, he was reported thus by Bernama:
Abdullah was referring to the alleged racist statement made by Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail at a ceramah (talk) during the recent Permatang Pauh by-election.
He said Ahmad had explained that he had made a statement based on historical facts and that it was not a racist statement as reported by a local newspaper.
"He (Ahmad) regrets that it has come to this and is upset that what he had said were historical facts, but were misinterpreted by the particular newspaper while the other newspapers did not do so."
It's old news, but this much needs to be mentioned. Wan Azizah rocks.
She may have resigned from her position as MP for Permatang Pauh, yet she cannot possibly relinquish what is duly her biggest contribution to national politics - Class.
Yeah, class. In a hall that's been regularly transformed into a menagerie of late, Wan Azizah is the epitome of a human being. What a babe.
Here's to her continued peace and joy.
Isn't Khir Toyo's admission seditious? Isn't it very very dangerous to allow such mindsets to propagate without official censure?
From The Edge:On the contrary, Khir, this is Malaysia maturing. Take your feudal games and go play in a cave.
In a posting on his blog dated July 20, Mohd Khir had said that Anwar had established PR based on the principle of equality, giving Islam the same status as other religions in the country and treating Malays and non-Malays as one because the former deputy premier “did not want the Malays to be united”.
“That’s why Anwar has attracted huge support from Chinese extremists in DAP and Indian extremists in Hindraf,” he said in the posting.
In the telephone interview, Mohd Khir said that Umno and PAS have no differences in principle as “we share the same principle of the struggle for Islam, Malays and the country”.
“When we have a strong Malay political culture, then we will have a stable government and this will bring prosperity to the country,” he said.
Rejecting the suggestion that his blogpost is racist, Mohd Khir said Malays are the majority race in this country and that “they have not asked for more than what they need”.
“When Malay politics is weak, (see) what is happening to the country now?” he asked.
Criminal defamation: What the f*** kind of charge is this?
Defamation means defamation lah. You take the case to civil courts and slug it out. Get your millions if you succeed, and silence the person defaming you.
Instead this chickenshit Najib hides behind obtuse charges in the Penal Code to launch one on Raja Petra, thus making it seem like he's so clean and untainted. Frankly, it's not the police's job to protect anybody's reputation.
i mean, i can't remember Singapore's police force charging anyone for "Criminal Defamation" in all their 'police state' days.
Trust the Institutions to do their jobs, advise the leaders of the country. In the wake of Anwar's balaclava-led arrest and RPK's charges, that's all they can say. Trust them.
Why should i?
These toadstools have not done anything to instill confidence. Not until the IPCMC is established and running, the Judicial Appointment Commission launched, the ACA given full independence can these leaders step forward to give such advice.
Otherwise they're worth squat.
JOINT PRESS STATEMENT BY CONCERNED MALAYSIANS ON 22 JANUARY 2008:
Say No to the Spectre of May 13
Chew Mei Fun MP must retract her fear-mongering statement and apologize
We, the undersigned civil society groups and concerned citizens of diverse ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds, stress that all Malaysians have the right to choose their representatives and the government in a free, fair and clean election. No individual politician or political party should resort to threats or intimidation to influence the voter’s decision.
We lament that Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun, MCA MP for Petaling Jaya Utara, as reported in the China Press on January 21 (Monday), has conveyed this fear-mongering message to the public: “If there is insufficient Chinese representation in the Barisan Nasional, it is not a good thing, the Chinese community cannot afford another May 13 incident.”
The May 13 ethnic riot in 1969 was a dark chapter in Malaysia’s political history where political violence and manipulation overshadowed the democratic process as well as the voice of the people. Invoking the bitter memories of this tragic incident for political gain is a huge insult to those who died, the surviving victims and their families. This veiled threat to voters not to support the opposition parties is shameless and unbecoming of a responsible political leader.
If Chew is aware of certain quarters planning to use violence in response to a certain electoral outcome, she who has been speaking tirelessly on public safety should lodge a police report immediately and assist in the police investigation.
If she is merely speculating, we are truly disappointed that she has stooped so low in fishing for support. Politicians should not behave like gangsters. They should not use the threat of violence to solicit vote, as gangsters do to extort money.
By making this statement, Chew has in fact violated Section 9 (1) of the Election Offences Act 1954:
Undue influence
9. (1) Every person who, before, during or after an election, directly or indirectly, by himself or by any other person on his behalf, makes use of or threatens to make use of any force, violence, or restraint, or inflicts or threatens to inflict, by himself or by any other person, any temporal or spiritual injury, damage, harm, or loss upon or against any person in order to induce or compel such person to vote or refrain from voting, or on account of such person having voted or refrained from voting, at any election, or who by abduction, duress, or any fraudulent device or contrivance impedes or prevents the free exercise of the franchise of any elector or voter, or thereby compels, induces, or prevails upon any elector or voter either to give or refrain from giving his vote at any election, or who directly or indirectly interferes or attempts to interfere with the free exercise by any person of any electoral right shall be guilty of the offence of undue influence.
So Mahathir testified to the Royal Commission that he only got to know VK Lingam 'recently'. Recent in this case is when he appointed Lingam to handle the Anwar Ibrahim legal suit. And only after that did the doctor invite Lingam over to the house. Before that, the only knowledge the M man had of His Correctness is via the papers. So he says lah.
Snigger.
Ganesh Sahathevan, who runs the blog Malaysia's Judiciary, has a scoop for you. He pulls up press clippings as far back as 1999 which report that the two M sons - Mirzan and Mokhzani - have both employed VK Lingam in different capacities and cases.
Of course, just because both the sons knew the Man who Looks like Himself, and Sounds Like Himself doesn't mean daddy actually knew him, yes?
But you never know. The little Jwo Burnes of this country are slowly crawling out of the woodwork, intentionally or not. You'll never know what's coming up next.
So said Mahathir at the VK Lingam Tape Royal Commission of Inquiry when asked about reasons for certain decisions that he made. Malaysiakini reports it here.
That one statement captures the attitude of not only the past, but existing leaders of this country. It is a very dangerous arrogance. Simply put, our nation has eroded to a point where leaders see no more need for check-and-balance. They hold carte blanche on all things - and i really mean all - without any public scrutiny.
Federal money, law enforcement agencies, EPF, state development and even your damn longkang - they make the decisions, you hedge your bets that it benefits you somewhat. If you haven't been kissing some YB's ass, that's just too bad. Three separate arms of government? Yeah, maybe back in '57.
We allowed this, you know.
We allowed this in the unfolding of decades past, where piece by piece - because of the overwhelming support BN gets at each general election - our pillars were dismantled to vest more power on men such as Mahathir.
But it ain't just DrM. It's about power and who gets to wield it. i'm willing to bet Anwar would've been the same had he been in prime position; i'll bet Lim Kit Siang would've been the same had it been DAP that was in overwhelming power. Ditto Nik Aziz. Really, nothing personal but the simple truth is that Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.
We must now disallow it. We, the citizens, have to take away the powers vested onto these slugs and ensure the pillars are reerected with titanium resolve.
This blogs fully endorses The People's Parliament, a citizen movement initiated by Haris Ibrahim calling on all folks to step up and take back the country. Already a number of citizen groups have been initiated - PJ Selatan, PJ Utara, Segambut, Serdang, Selayang, Subang among them. i have stepped forward. Won't you?
Let's together make them realise that they are first and foremost servants; that they do have to explain. And no, Mahathir, it is not your prerogative. Not on matters such as this. And certainly not when you are serving 24 million Malaysians.
And tell that to your dumb successor too. Second thoughts, never mind. We'll tell him this coming GE. We, the citizens.
The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas or Indian Diaspora Day just concluded its meeting in New Delhi. Samy Vellu led a 70-person team there and spent considerable effort 'correcting' the issues of marginalisation of Indian Malaysians here.
It seemed he oversold. Malaysiakini reports that fellow participants who were there in their own capacity claimed Samy made light of the issues raised by Hindraf here, which had culminated in a 30,000 show of defiance on Nov25.
Whatever. Did you really expect anything honest from SV, who's the proxy tongue of the BN govt?
i thought the media missed asking one key question:
Where was P. Waytha Moorthy?
