You said it, Permatang Pauh!

Loud and clear.

Bring on the Merdeka countdown.

i heart Kak Wan

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.

An idiot called Khir Toyo

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:
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.

On the contrary, Khir, this is Malaysia maturing. Take your feudal games and go play in a cave.

Criminal defamation

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?

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.

Mei-13 Fun

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.

While waiting for the Election Commission to investigate and lodge a police report, we call upon Chew to do the honorable thing. She should retract her statement and apologize unreservedly for her fear-mongering act. She must condemn unreservedly the use of political violence in Malaysia.

Voters must be assured of their right to vote for any candidate or party of their choice in an environment that is free from fear and intimidation.

We also call upon the Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Abdullah Badawi to disassociate his administration and party from Chew’s fear-mongering statement and condemn unreservedly the use of threats and intimidation on voters.

We must not let Malaysia become a failed state where political violence political violence by state and non-state actors rule. We must not allow any party to ‘play with fire’. We categorically reject anyone who uses the spectre of May 13 as a bogeyman to threaten Malaysians.

All civil society organisations in support of democracy may endorse this statement by displaying a copy of this statement on their premises, vehicles or the front page of their blogs or websites, until Chew retract the statement and apologizes.

1. Group of Concerned Citizens (GCC)
2. SOS Penang
3. Writers Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI)
4. Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas (JERIT)
5. Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM)
6. Malaysia Youth and Students Democratic Movement (DEMA)
7. Labour Resource Centre
8. Pusat Komunikasi Masyarakat (KOMAS)
9. Civil Rights Committee, KL-Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (CRC-SCAH)
10. Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ)
11. Unit Pemikiran Politik, Institut Kajian Dasar (UPP-IKD)
12. Malaysian Voters Union (MALVU)
13. Research for Social Advancement (REFSA)
14. Citizen Think Tank
15. Artisproactiv(APA)
16. Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM)
17. Youth For Change (Y4C)

Well, well, lookie here...

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.

'It is my prerogative. I don't have to explain why'

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.

Where was P. Waytha Moorthy?

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?

The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas would've been the perfect platform to disemminate information and garner support. There were people of Indian Origin from just about every nook and corner in the world and from all sectors from politics to welfare. The Hindraf leader-in-exile could have done so much for the group's cause.

Plus what better way to knock down Samy Vellu's posturings than by attending his plenary session live in person?

But just where was P. Waytha Moorthy? Surely he must've known, must realised the value of attending the conference. Yet he was missing. And our media never even questioned; not even Malaysiakini.

Why?

This year...

...i am taking back my country.

Hype hype hooray

This from The Star:

PUTRAJAYA: Foreign tourist arrivals in Malaysia has surpassed the target of 20.1 million while earning the country RM45.7bil in receipts this year, said Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.

And again:

Now the Government has set new targets – 21 million by next week and 21.5 million by Aug 31 next year as the VMY campaign has been extended to that date in conjunction with Malaysia’s 50th Merdeka.

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said the country also earned RM45.7bil in foreign exchange.

Sigh, such fantastic numbers to make us happy. But oh really? As to be expected, missing details in the report don't lend much credence to the boast. And as to be expected, if you want the truth, you just have to dig further.

On the day before the media bugles blared our achievement, the Bangkok Post carried an article in the travel section. It provided a snapshot of Thailand's tourism numbers:

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is on course to attain its target of 14.8 million foreign tourists this year who are expected to generate 547.5 billion baht.

According to its Governor Phornsiri Manoharn, 10.4 million tourists visited the country in the first nine months this year which was up 3.2 percent over the same period of last year.

The biggest group of the international travelers were Japanese (one million), followed by South Koreans (760,000) and Chinese (705,000), while the number of visitors from Australia and India gradually increased.

Surprisingly, it also carries more details on Malaysia's numbers. And that's where it gets interesting:

Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board is confident it can achieve its target of 20 million visitors and 408 billion baht (US$12 billion) in tourism revenue by the end of this year.

At the half-way mark this year, the country had welcomed around 12.4 million international travelers, an increase of 23.9% compared to the same period of last year. The biggest groups of visitors were from Arab countries (around 300,000) such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Hmmm.... hmmm.......

Let's see:
By year end, 14.8 million foreign tourists would have visited Thailand, generating 547.5 billion baht (or RM 60.2 billion). That's 6,200,000 visitors fewer than Malaysia's purported figure. Fewer yes, but it will draw in RM14.5 billion more.

Breaking it down further to bite-sized numbers: Each tourist to Thailand on the average would have spent RM4,067.56. With Malaysia, it's almost half the value, or RM2,176.19. And to think we in Malaysia thumb our noses on budget traveler strategies, believing there's no money there.

Need proof? What's most curious is the report reveals that Malaysia claims the highest number of travelers entering the country in the first six months were the Arabs - 300,000 of them out of 12.4 million, or a mere 2.5 per cent. Imagine that. The 12.1 million remaining tourists must have been so thinly spread from different nationalities. Either that or more plausibly, they're ashamed to even admit that most tourists are short-trip visitors from the region (think Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand). Why malu? Why butter facts?

Here's a lesson on facing facts from our neighbour down south. It's all there in Wikipedia:
In 2006, 9.7 million international visitors entered Singapore, generating S$12.3 billion or RM28.5 billion. On a per visitor basis, that works out to an average of RM2,938.14.

Indonesians were the largest group of visitors followed by China. Altogether 996,000 Malaysians visited the island (and probably spent scant :), hence bringing the overall average down.) All that seems to jive with Thailand's figures.

As for ours, i really really don't know when the dongeng stories will end. Whether tourism or angkasawan, will we ever learn to quit the hype? We ought to, you know; we ought to in a hurry because there's is a lot of truth to the old saying: Masturbation makes us blind.

Assalamualaikum

i might like to greet you that way come the new year.

Can i still, do you think? And what would Johari Baharom say? Would it be construed as "confusing" some of my fellow citizens?


Background:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/21/asia/AS-REL-Malaysia-Catholic-God.php
http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=952&Itemid=31

Twisted history of Omar Hashim

Who is this jerk?

This man gives a frighteningly myopic account of how Indian Malaysians came to be citizens of this country. Omar categorises the entire group as 'convict labourers' invited to work in the estates and build the earliest infrastructure. (Part 2 is here.)

Omar Hashim, executive committee chairman of the Malaysian History Association, does not mention anything about the backbone of the civil service whose structure was modeled from British India. Who do you think trained our people, got us into the groove of running a public sector?

He does not mention the courts and the entire support network required to run it; the court clerks, lawyers, registrars.

He does not mention hospitals from early doctors to those who manned the emergency and ambulatory service.

He does not mention the first teachers, who helped implement an education system modeled on that of British India.

He does not mention the first organised army regiment, the sepoys in Penang; he does not even acknowledge the brave Indian soldiers who died standing their ground resisting the wave of Japanese forces on their way down south. These men were massacred fighting for the freedom of a land of which they held no citizenship.

And who do you think were the brave second-liners who marshaled the early police force?

Omar Hashim is not a historian. He is a political weed hoping to gain some prominence in spreading lies on behalf of the Umno agenda. And like countless other weedstock, he uses the racial line:

"The Malays have been left behind in the quest for the economic cake of the country. The situation can be described like this: For every Ringgit each of the Malays obtained for their household income, the Chinese gets two Ringgit while it is one and a quarter Ringgit for the Indians.

In 2004 the household income according to race showed that the Chinese earns RM4,426 per month, the Malays RM2,711 whilst the Indians RM3,456. The data proved that the New Economic Policy, which has been vehemently opposed by certain non-Malay parties, in actual fact had benefited the Chinese and the Indians."

History requires a wider lens than race, something the executive chairman of some hack history association seems to be besotted with. Then again, can you expect anything more from fungus? They shun from light.


p.s. i googled and yahooed to find out more about the Malaysian History Association, and this Omar guy. There's nothing. Like i said - fungus. (There is mention of the Malaysian Historical Society, which is well-known among people in the discipline)

p.p.s.: (1.03am) ahhh... found something on Omar Hashim. At least an Omar Hashim that's somewhat consistent with the credentials stated in the Bernama report. Very, very enlightening. See here. It's a transcript of an interview (Nov 30, 1999) conducted by Australia Broadcasting Corporation after the 1999 Malaysian General Elections. Omar was 'chairman of the Election Commission'. Notice how the interview ends.

Make no mistake, he's accountable

A group of Indian Malaysian leaders and academicians have been invited to meet Abdullah Ahmad Badawi tomorrow at his Putrajaya office. However, Malaysiakini quotes an unnamed observer as saying that the whole exercise is merely a PR gig orchestrated by the 'Fourth Floor' boys to soothe things over.

"The PM is being misled by those who organised the meeting by leaving out the majority of the Indian representation."

We've read this over and over by observers and experts, haven't we?

"The PM has been kept in the dark." "Survey results were skewed to make the PM feel he's well-liked." "Letters and memos addressed to the PM never reach him." "The IGP is hiding facts from him."

Guys, this is bullshit.

No man is that dumb. Or can afford to be. Ignorance is a very cheap reason coming from the highest govt official in the country; especially if it's about feedback and comments on the very administration he runs. If a person surrounds himself only with sycophants who fight to carry his balls, then that's because he CHOSE to be in denial. If he'd wanted the truth, he could've clicked on any one of the hundreds of blogs and electronic newspapers on the internet to get a good idea. It's that easy and i am sure he's done it; i'm sure he knows.

If Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had wanted to do something worthy of his position, for the genuine betterment of Malaysia, he could have done it. That's what the Seat is for.

Instead, he signed the approval for ISA detention of five Hindraf leaders today, further digging into the scab of our fracturing society. Mr Clean and Mr Nice is anything but.

Meanwhile his deputies and lieutenants continue to have free reign barking up seditious lines, even blatantly unconstitutional ones. i'll say this much: Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has single-handedly put this country into a fog of uncertainty that nobody can even foretell what would happen over the next few days. Between light and darkness, he chose the fouler end.

Stop making excuses for Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

He is the Prime Minister of Malaysia. He is accountable for every snot action and policy that's shredding this country apart. And, sleeping or not, he WILL be made accountable yet.

The amendment was unanimously passed at 4.50pm.

That's the ominous final line in Malaysiakini's report on the constitutional amendment bill to extend the retirement age of Election Commission members to 66 years.

Unanimous.

That came after all opposition MPs staged a walkout in protest of the arrests that took place in Parliament grounds today. That also tells you every single BN MP - MCA, Gerakan, MIC, PPP, SUPP etc - is in support of that amendment which speedily and conveniently skews the scales even more to suit the incumbent govt.

It also tells you this: It's that easy to muck around the Constitution if you give them such overwhelming power.

Just what have we done?

For that idiot Ali Rustam...

The Malaysian Constitution
Article 9, Clause 1

No citizen shall be banished or excluded from the Federation.

Ali asked for the use of the ISA on the eight citizens unjustly arrested at the human rights march in KL on Sunday. Either that or strip them of their citizenship.

There they go again spewing reckless pronouncements. For a high-ranking politician and a state Menteri Besar, he sure knows jack-shit about what really guides this country. The fact that the PM has consistently allowed ppl like him to get away with such hogwash, reflects the equally dim capacity of His Hollowness.

Guilty as charged

Given the govt's recent penchant for arrests and dubious charges, let's make life a whole lot easier.

Friends, shall we surrender ourselves at the police stations?

i'm dead serious. Surrender by the tens - maybe hundreds - of thousands; and insist on being charged, to be detained and be brought before a magistrate. Every single one of us who took the trouble to participate in the Walk for Justice, the Bersih Rally, the Hindraf Rally, we did 'wrong' and let's offer ourselves for indictment. If anyone of our comrades are sentenced, let us ask for a similar sentence. By the tens of thousands.

Let's set a date, fix a time and surrender at the Balai. Let us bombard the stations and ask to be locked up; fill the jails if we must.

After all, with so many thousands who allegedly did wrong, something must surely be right.

New industries to meet national demands

Ain't it phenomenal how Scomi soared this past four years? It's practically a national Midas.

It's wrapped up manufacturing buses for RapidKL and RapidPenang, clinched the Kelana Jaya LRT expansion job, and doing lots of drilling and all that oil and gas stuff. Not bad at all for a young turk.

Then yesterday, we were treated with this:


Hebat. Our very own monorail right out of Rawang.

Scomi's definitely got a nose for money. Question is, what's their next niche?

Judging from recent events and the frequency they're happening (not to mention the on-coming toll hikes, petrol hikes etc) here's my best bet:








Yeah, the way FRUs were shooting these puppies on Sunday at the Hindraf rally, they'll be needing supertanker-loads for the coming year. Repackage it with some TLC and sell it for a couple of hundred ringgit a pop, man, they'll be minting money.

Not to mention doing their bit for peace and national security. Who needs the ISA.


pic credit:
Topmost - The Star
Above - http://www.big-ordnance.com/

How to dig a grave

Restraint.

The police showed restraint at the Hindraf rally yesterday. So said everybody with half a position in the govt, including Minister of Frequent Travels Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Strange word to bandy around, especially led by a Parliament which has shown anything but ( read bocor, terowong, close-one-eye, mau lawan?)

Here's restraint, Malaysian-style.

Restraint is showing up at 2am (or 4am) at Batu Caves, corralling citizens as sheep behind the temple gates, and then jet-spraying the shit out of everyone there with chemical-laced water, and for desserts, tear gas.

If that's restraint, what is otherwise? Hanging 'em by the balls?

Restraint is setting up roadblocks (four lanes into one) three days before the event to sic out Malaysian Indians who might be coming to town with 'wrongful' ideas. How stupid is that?

The supporters threw rocks and bricks, so it was reported. It was the way it was reported - the impression that everyone there came with a bagful of fist-sized rocks. If such missiles were that prevalent, the mainstream media and bloggers would have shown pics of people in the act.

Every picture editor in the MSM would've used this picture big (like colossally big) to carry their accusatory tone of 'Defiance'. And yet... none. Fuckall.

And when things get hot on the PR side, here's what losers do. They lie. IGP Musa Hassan's getting very comfortable with it. He said:
(NST) "A Molotov cocktail was thrown into a bus which was razed but at no time did we use any force, including water cannon or tear gas, in and around the temple vicinity."

(NST) "There was no body contact from my men."

(The Star) Musa said no tear gas or water cannons were used at the demonstrators during the incident (at Batu Caves).

And Jeff Ooi has this in response.

This govt has lost every last morsel of legitimacy it once had. Its counsel is irrelevant. It is past due.

The happy bond between Beruk and Bersih

During the Umno General Assembly, the Son-in-Law described would-be participants of the Bersih Rally as "beruk". Monkeys prowling the streets, he hollered. Not so long ago, that same honorific was used on socio-political bloggers in this land, too.

Ma-aaan, truth be told, Khairy J is spot on. The man's exhortations has scientific basis.

Read here for the scoop. And more importantly why. Monkeys, bloggers, rallyists.... we're a team! And what a team.