Obey!

Eyes downwards, fellas. Fu Ah Kiow, the Malaysian Deputy Internal Security Minister, wants you to know that freedom is nothing but blind, uncritical obedience of the masses. Ah Kiow wants you to know that standards for good morals can only be interpreted by members of the Barisan high-office.

See, Ah Kiow is pissed with 'irresponsible' Malaysians on the internet.

Hence swollen with piss and looking for a target to scalp, Ah Kiow now plans to prosecute those who have uploaded clips of Mat Rempits doing 'dangerous' stunts on YouTube and other websites. He terms this as inciting unrest and taunting the police.

Reports Malaysiakini (subscription req): "Action will be taken against these people ... We have to stop this now as others could post more harmful materials which could threaten security and racial harmony," the New Straits Times quoted Fu as saying.

Stretch it, Fu, stretch it.

Mat Rempits on YouTube can rile up the police, imagine that! Are they still on formula milk? Surely there's a lot more to be riled up in real-life episodes as it is.

Rather here it comes, people: A sure sign the govt will be taking a heightened hardline stance on local content over the internet. My gut feel is that they'd like to see a cyberscape cleaned out like the hills in Nusajaya before the announcement of the oncoming G-Elections. Then bombard us with feel-good stories and fresh repaved roads.... yep, it's all coming soon.

So sock it to them. By all means, eyeball them and make 'em blink. Unless of course you can handle the idea of reading lame bakkutteh reviews forevermore.

Rock on, Tony Pua

A model citizen-blogger lays down his cards.

Tony Pua, who runs two blogs (Education in Malaysia and Philosophy Politics Economics), has decided to do more for the country. The man, a proper Oxford jantan, has joined the opposition party DAP, reports Malaysiakini (subscribe lah, sayang).

"... there was a time I had given serious thought about joining maybe a think-tank of the government because I saw hope in the reform pledges that (Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) made so I thought there would be hope for Malaysians," he told Malaysiakini.

"But that quickly fizzled out and that made my decision to join DAP an easy choice."

Adoi, gomen... sakit.

Tony will be economic adviser to secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and executive editor of the Rocket; might we expect a richer, potent brew to counter the limpid socio-economic efforts under Sleepy Hollow?

Moreso, will we witness again a surge of highly-dedicated people entering the political arena under the flags of the opposition parties? People of fibre and constitution, of all colour and creed, who have decided that enough is enough, and that although the road is long and treacherous, choose that path exactly because it allows them to say a hearty goodnight to their sons and daughters knowing that they've put in a day's good fight for a better tomorrow.

It would be very, very nice, wouldn't it?

So good on you, Tony. And good on you, DAP. May you help realise the true soul of Malaysia.

Cheap excuse

It's true, as Abdullah observed, this country may be short of thinkers. At least in the right places.

The country's boss lamented on Thursday how 85 per cent of projects meant for Bumiputera contractors ended up in non-Bumis' plate. What a waste, he moaned. So here comes along a smartass, one Sufri Mohd Zin executive chairman of TRC Synergy Bhd to provide answers.

Reports Bernama:
A construction industry player said today the issue of Bumiputera contractors "losing" their contracts to non-Bumiputeras can only be overcome when the Bumiputeras control the vital elements that support the industry.

... The Bumiputera contractors have no alternative but to buy the raw materials and hire the construction equipment from non-Bumiputeras, hence the leakage of the business potential of the government-awarded contracts.
(bold face mine)


Seems like acuity isn't exactly a Malaysian trait.

Sufri, you sound like a typical embittered Umno bigot. Handing off your allocated contract to another party in exchange for a fat tip is wa-aaaay different than keeping your contract and working with sweat dripping from the brows even if it so happens that suppliers of vital goods are of a different kind.

See, if you aren't aware, you're in charge; you're supposed to control the destiny of the project, you can control the efficiency, the scheduling, the material flow, and ultimately the quality of the work you do. Each time and every time.

Riches? They follow naturally if you do good, smart, honest work. Do you?

And as for leakages... leakages is when the many authorities' technical officers ask for bribes, when project managers ask for bribes, when consultants ask for bribes, when clerk-of-works ask for bribes, when politicians ask for bribes... and so are factored into the ballooning contract sum. You know why govt projects often meet with high cost overruns yet those in the private sector prove to be more prudent? Surely you know, but you cannot know - they've been OSAed.

Hence, leakage is not the same as selling off your contract, Sufri. And leakage is certainly not because you're forced to buy critical building materials from a Chinaman.

So what's there to moan, buddy? To ask for govt intervention in the vital elements aspect of the industry is to add another tear in the social fabric which already has more holes than fabric and goes to prove that you're nothing but a crybaby.

TRC Synergy is big enough; go start your own concrete batching plant, initiate your own steel bars import arm, go into fabricating windows and doors. Diversify. Compete. Whatever gives you a hard-on, but leave the govt out of this.

****

A call such as this exposes the expired nature of the Bumi/non-Bumi formula, albeit a very successful political decoy for decades. If anything it allows "connected" parties - both Bumis and non-Bumis - to profit madly while the millions of commoners - both Bumis and non-Bumis - bear the burden. It's neo-feudalism.

Wealth is locked up there in the nethers of cronysphere, fat as nimbus clouds, except it doesn't quite rain down. That is the strata we must break. Look, i'm chink-yellow, but there's no way in hell i'm in approval of the chinks who Ali-Baba their way to their 15th Mercedes. Rather put me shoulder-to-shoulder anyday with Dr Hatta Ramli of PAS, who walks away from the easier life in defiance of unfair toll hikes, who risks freedom with arrest after arrest over human rights issues.

The Bumi/non-Bumi narrative belongs on a shelf of latterday 20th century Malaysia. It's done its part, water under the bridge - reorganized the nation's skills, labour and consequently wealth. But like all strong medication, it comes with side effects and the most serious of these are racial polarisation and lack of competitiveness in the regional and global arena. And a spreading cancer - cronyism - which feeds under the folds of racial fragmentation.

Yes, there is much that needs to be done. But it has to be executed via a different lens. Not a cheap effort called the National Integrity Plan, not a silly slogan "work with me, not for me". But a lens which shows no mercy over "special privileges" of connected fatcats who have been so far protected by obtuse rules such as the OSA, ISA, and a flaccid ACA/Police force, all of which incidentally are under the ministership of Abdullah.

So quit moaning, Sufri. It's not about your race or mine, and which is greedy and which is lazy, and who should dominate what, which is a whole load of crap. That's for the history books. It's about being proud with what we do and how well we do it. It's about sharing for a better good and helping a less fortunate strata of Malaysians find their way forward.

It's about coaxing those fat nimbus clouds to break into warm, nourishing rain. For you, me, and all brethren who toil honestly and passionately on this land.

Who's happy?

Tonight’s Bernama reports AAB as referring to a study that showed Malaysians are comfortable and happy – 8.2 points out of a possible 10 konon. This comes hot on the heels of the "we're so happening" news streak we've been inundated lately.

Abdullah must’ve milked the jugs dry over this cos, judging from the Bernama story, it seemed like a long-drawn speech. A lot of shiok sendiri. From the story, everything’s coming up roses. Even in the courtesy sector, we scored a 7.2. (Remember KL was voted 3rd rudest city by a Reader's Digest survey?)

We're so in love. And happy. Happy, happy, happy.

Except for one basic flaw – there was no mention of who conducted the study. No source cited. Just that the Dollah guy said it. Very gospel, baby. Blogs may be more guilty of such things : ) but could you expect the Prime Minister? Never for such an office, surely. That's how loose mouth we've allowed our leaders to become.

If there was a methodology used, I'd like to read more cos there has to be some serious issues. See, I’m not happy. And it so happens, the people I meet and know aren't happy. Almost all of them. I doubt only my path is so cursed it's filled with grumbling old nags from bus-drivers, builders and contractors, noodle store owners, car mechanics, lawyers and engineers. It's true I don't know of any crony. Those can't help but be happy. I know only the common person, the rakyat-types, the ones who drive a Kancil or Proton, who shop at Giant or the wet market, who eat at mamaks and kopitiams, who have to tighten their belts because of unfair toll hikes sanctioned by the govt. Were they excluded in the study, commoners all?

What about you; met any happy people? You know, those whose happiness and comfort would score an 8.2 upon 10 because of the fine deeds of this Dollah govt?

I'd like to meet them; have a chat, learn to see anew, breathe in the beauty. Cos if that's indeed the vast majority, I need serious therapy.

Protests: Our Eye on Malaysia

This boy, no more than four years old, had a vantage view from his father’s shoulders at the Balai Polis Puchong. He was looking at the ebullient crowd that had gathered awaiting the release of the 15 toll protestors yesterday. I remember his big, beautiful eyes that seemed to drink in the scene. He has many years left in him. Will he grow to see a fairer Malaysia after this generation passes on?

This little girl – six years old maybe? – was happy to play model when I asked her. She gamely posed this demure look. She had oversized white gloves on. Was her dad a cop? Years later, when she's a demure woman, will she recollect this evening? Will she remember this period as a transition in the country, that even as the Eye on Malaysia spins lazily over at Tasek Titiwangsa, many more citizens’ eyes are being trained onto the misdeeds of the existing govt. And the eyes are now matched with a growing voicebox.

The toll protests continue. As do the arrests. Higher-ups requested for it. How high up? High as the chopper that circled inquisitively over this peaceful assembly, one suspects.

Where on earth the organizers get their strength, I wonder but I am thankful. I am thankful that fists and cuffs amidst a sea of red armour cannot snap the sinew of those who demand fairplay. I am thankful for the many who stand because they are sick and tired of a baron-style Cabinet hiding behind every crony deal, vesting more and more power onto itself, and being the padang’s bully.

I am thankful that more and more are asking for their end of the deal... of a pathetic leader's Promise yet unkept.


ps more posts here, here and here

Police clamp down Cheras toll protest

Yup, those a**holes did it this time.

Less than five minutes after the toll protest started, the police swooped in and arrested members of the organising coalition including Dr Hatta Ramli from PAS, KeAdilan's Tian Chua and DAP's Ronnie Liu. No smiles, no bargaining, no shit. Just a lot of grabbing and shoving. In fact, Tian Chua had only just come out from his car.

Bullying has become a national sport. It's not just over bloggers you know.

The pattern was clear from the week before at Gombak; the police were more aggro at each subsequent event. This time the folks weren't going to be allowed to say their piece. Happy, Abdullah? Think you solved the problem?

The gathering took place at a stone's throw from the Batu 11 toll at Cheras-Kajang Highway, the third in a series so far. At the point when the arrests were made, fewer than 100 protestors had assembled. Nobody came armed. But there were more than 100 policemen and FRUs with their vans, buses, command post and patrol cars. Most bore arms.

Like the spirit of toll contracts themselves, it was typical overkill to stick one up on the Malaysian rakyat. Oh, but we've been in a state of emergency since 1964, I forget.

Malaysiakini's report mentions that its photographer's camera has been confiscated pending a decision by Kajang's police chief. Yet I also saw an NTV7 crew shooting away. There were many other mainstream media types moving around. I don't think they had any problems with cameras being confiscated.

Bullies may have their time and their glory. But ultimately, bullies fall. History proves that.

Happy, Abdullah? Think you REALLY solved the problem?

RM20 mil present

The spirit of giving continues.

AAB announced that High School Bukit Mertajam will get a RM20 million development fund. The money will see the school will get a new hostel, teachers’ quarters, a sports pavilion and a laboratory. This amount will come from the 9th Malaysia Plan – meaning it’s rakyat money and not a personal donation. There’s more; another RM3.5 mil will be given for repairs.

But why High School Bukit Mertajam? Cos the man studied there, judging from The Star’s report. Plus it’s 80 years old; you may say it’s a heritage thing.

But RM20 million? Come on, now.

Could the Cabinet really have approved this? Assuming it’s lethargic reporting from the Star, what then might be the full compelling reasons? Of the dozens of heritage-quality schools throughout the country, why does HSBM get the bonus? Are there similar plans afoot for the other deserving schools? What’s the criteria for such awards? Surely not because the man studied there...

But I forget – it’s all under OSA.

Investing in education is great, and I’m all for heritage, but there is such a thing as sensible allocation. In other words, proportionate fit. The allocation ought to fall within a fair spectrum.

And what’s the bottom end of this spectrum? If you recall: Thirty-four Tamil medium schools throughout the country get to share RM489,000. That’s an average of RM14,832 per school.

RM20-frigging-million for one school while so many others survive on pittance smacks of favouritism, which already happens to be a prime issue with AAB’s image. This sure ain't helping it.

Proportion, Abdullah, proportion.

From my own experience, with RM20 million, one gets to develop an 8-acre plot of land with 70 middle-income grade houses complete with roads, sewage and stormwater systems, substation, common facilities, and general landscaping. The price tag includes all fees paid to the various consultants and authority bodies; also the premium for land conversion from agriculture to residential. That’s how it goes in the competitive and open market. But for govt-sponsored schemes, few will ever get to know.

All I know is this – given the dearth of information and reasons – RM20 million for additions to one choice school is outright absurd.

Adulthood

This week has so far been like many other past weeks - even and measured - except for a coming-of-age event that happened at a nearby post-office. No hoohas, no circumcision ceremony, no lion dance, no kompangs nor tablas. Just a pleasant filing of papers with a pleasant postal staff.

People, I registered.

I am now a voter.

Peaceful assembly - the Executive definition

Barely 15 minutes after protestors gather – KeAdilan’s Tian Chua has just finished his opening speech – a senior police officer announces from a patrol car’s loudpeaker that this is an unlawful assembly. He tells the crowd to disperse. It's a much smaller crowd. But his final sentences are drowned by the heightened chantings of “Hidup, hidup”.

It’s clear – the police aren’t giving much leeway this time around. Somebody higher up isn’t pleased with the softer approach at Sunway Pyramid the previous week. Who gave the orders?


The Constitution of Malaysia spells out nine fundamental liberties. (Part II: Articles 5 to 13) These are guarantees to all Malaysians.

Article 10 Clause 1(b) states: All citizens have the right to assemble peaceably and without arms.

But as with with freedom of speech and expression (Clause 1b), the quality of this value has been constantly remodeled since the beginning of independence. It is important to know/remember how we got here. Indelibly, what was once used to safeguard against communist threats and explosive communalism is now part of the machinery for the Executive branch of govt to safeguard itself. Tommy Thomas provides his hallmark paper here.

It begins with Malaya being born in a State of Emergency. When the Merdeka Constitution was enshrined in 1957 - we were then under commmunist threat - Article 149 empowered parliament to pass laws which counter subversion. These laws were to automatically lapse one year after operation. Article 150 provided extraordinary powers to the executive when a state of emergency is declared. These powers were to lapse two months after proclamation unless their continuity is extended by Parliament.

The Constitution Amendment Act (1960) removed these expiry periods and made them indefinite. (It is interesting to note that the State of Emergency in Malaya was lifted the very same year.) In any case, the floodgates had been opened.

On Sept 3, 1964, a State of Emergency was declared over Konfrontasi with Indonesia. This has not been revoked till today even though we now have a sibling relationship with Indonesia. On May 15, 1969 a State of Emergency was declared after the May 13 riots. The National Operations Council took over the reigns; Parliament and the Constitution was suspended till 1971 when the two were finally restored. But the State of Emergency has not been revoked.

We are technically living in a State of Emergency, in fact two states of emergencies, even though this is peace time. (Sarawak and Kelantan exist under three states of emergencies). In the soon-to-be 50 years of our existence, there have been only four years when the country was free from emergency (Aug 15, 1960-Sept 2, 1964). Befuddling.

People are huddling closer rather than thinning. It was earlier a loose agglomeration spread across the broad tarmac. The line of FRU personnel maintains its “at ease” stance. No threatening banging of shields. As at Sunway, the organisers announce early that this is a peaceful protest; national security is nowhere being threatened.

30 minutes: The same senior police officer walks up to the organizers just as PAS leader Idris Ahmad takes the mic – “Hidup Rakyat” again the chants grow – and tells them to cut it. There seems to be some bargaining. A yellow Ford 4WD becomes a makeshift stage for the speakers.


Being in a perpetual state of emergency is convenient for the govt in power. It gives the Executive virtually sweeping powers by liberal interpretation of terms such as “national security”. It keeps the judiciary - guardians of the law - away.

First off, there’s the tandem Fear Factors: the Internal Security Act and the Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance. If you’re deemed a pest, you can be detained without trial and the courts can't help you much. Much has been written about these laws. F'instance here.

But just what is meant by national security? I don't know. Is it simply Barisan compliance? How is it that seditious statements made by members of the ruling party go uncondemned yet a dark cloud hangs over the average joes who protest toll hikes?


40 minutes: Something distracts. Over at the tarmac near Projet, two armoured vehicles move into place. Not that there guns pointed at the crowd, but it’s curious all the same why they’re being deployed. The armoured vehicles stick around for less than five minutes and drive off. MC Badrul Hisham makes fun of the war-time effect. The senior police officer doesn’t think it’s funny and marches over with his finger wagging. However, FRUs remain “at ease”.


We’re at peace-time. We have the fundamental right to assemble peacably and without arms. But inspired by emergency powers, this right has in practice been restricted by subsequent legislation, including the Police Act and the Penal Code.

The Police Act(58) defines an "unlawful assembly" as when any assembly, meeting or procession takes place in a public place without a police permit, or when three or more persons taking part in the assembly neglect or ignore police orders.

From Amnesty International: Under the Act, police may refuse a permit if they believe it to be prejudicial to national security or to threaten a disturbance of public peace. (59) Police are empowered to stop any unlicensed meeting as an “unlawful assembly”, to arrest participants without a warrant, and to use force “as is reasonably necessary for overcoming resistance” if participants ignore orders to disperse.

The discretionary powers given to police officers in issuing and cancelling permits have led to repeated allegations of selective application of the law, political bias and an absence of justifiable grounds for refusing permits for both indoor and outdoor meetings.


45 minutes: Traffic police block the entire thoroughfare heading towards east Kuantan. A huge jam builds up. Photogs rush to the middle of the road snapping wildly. The Red Tide appears; FRU reinforcements arrive in two troop carriers, the mobile command post, and the water canons. The women unit march out and take their positions.

The chants get louder. It’s getting serious; the organisers see it too. The last speaker, MTUC President Syed Shahir rushes through his speech, finishing in barely a minute. A police officer strides over to Ford Ranger and tells them the show’s definitely over. A small explosion goes off at the passenger’s side of the 4WD, startling the group nearby. Was it a large cracker? I doubt it’s from members of the public. The speakers dismount. Tension eases.


This past Sunday’s protest will go on record as being peaceful. But the undercurrent was vastly different from that at the Sunway Pyramid. It was by sheer tolerance from the police in attendance and diehard protestors that it actually lasted about an hour.

I sense the higher-ups won’t be too pleased. 15 minutes stretching to an hour. There're more peaceful protests being planned in the near future. How many minutes this time before force is used? Clearly, the police have been ordered to be more incisive in dispersing the crowd. Clearly, it isn’t something they themselves relish – you see it in their faces, stoic as they might portray themselves.

This is simply the face of the Executive. The executive which has over the years heaped such dizzying powers onto its own slate; the Executive that eroded our fundamental rights.

The Executive that needs to be reformed.

Prime concerns

What’s that you have on, Abdullah? Is that sheep’s clothing?

In your 2004 GE manifesto, you said you offered heart. Everyone today remembers how you declared: “Work with me. Not for me.”

Yet during the great Johor floods, you weren’t around; not to mention working. Wasn’t serious enough, I guess. We now know you were vacationing in Perth. Nice summer there, Abdullah?

I suppose you had promises to keep. But despite the Promise to the People, you preferred to honour the other – you officiated the opening of a nasi kandar store there. We now know it is partly owned by your brother, Ibrahim. (See Malaysiakini; subscription required)

It isn’t so much whether your deputy or your charges could handle the job. Really it isn’t. Like in a hospital’s ER; if a friend has trouble with his heart, you’re there because you care. You’re not the one who’s cutting him up or poking in those drips. Experts take care of that.

It’s an instinct we call moral support, Abdullah. Most people have it. It’s simply a matter of whether you cared enough to postpone your precious break in a time of disaster in the country where you are its chief executive.

You didn’t care.

***

What’s that in your mouth, Abdullah? Is that a forked tongue?

In your 2004 GE manifesto, you said you offered transparency and openness. A new light. Gemilang.

Yet you're checking if KeAdilan had violated the Official Secrets Act when it released information on Litrak's toll contract. You said action might be taken. Never mind if it's not about national security, the OSA covers just about every govt process from road-sweepers pay to charted flights you take to vacation places such as Perth. In fact, it's easier to ask what's not secret?

Openness is a willingness to reveal, Abdullah. Enlightened societies believe it is through openness and subsequent dialogue that real progress is made.

On the toll increase, you said: “They proved to the Government that toll rates needed to be increased.” No offence, but just because you're saying it doesn't mean it's the truth. After all, the OSA is practically a licence to lie.

And most of all, Abdullah, that isn't the point. The point is whether it is fair. We know now (thanks to KeAdilan) the contract is skewed. The govt goofed then. Fine print tak baca. Do you choose to remain in denial and do nothing, Abdullah? Are there no options? No dialogue? You could begin by releasing all information on toll contracts; especially those tolls which are due to be hiked next year. Just so there may be intelligent resolutions to these issues.

But instead, all you did was make was the dumbest of all responses: "If you want to use such facilities, you pay for them."

Abdullah, that's not the frigging point.

***

The problem with bleakness is that it has no border. Sometimes I sit back and wonder: In what shape is the mind of a leader who could come up with a call to have 5,000-10,000 thinkers in a country where there is already way more than the aspired number.

Does he even know us?


Photo credit: Marilyn Chin, Asia Times (via Malaysiakini)

*Sniff*

Brown-noses never fail to smell an opportunity.

In June 2002, when Muhammad Muhammad Taib was still an Umno vice-pres and Mahathir had just announced his pension plans, the No-Unnerstan-English one crooned this classic accolade:

“Even in 100 years, or even 1,000 years, it would be difficult to find another like him.”

In other words, Mat Taib declared Mahathir was one in a bizillion lives.

But as we discover often enough, when it comes to Umno, the magnitude of millions, billions surely bizillions is one that is easily accommodated. They tend to disappear into thin air.

And so a thousand years is capitulated in less than five, when Mat Taib declares we have a knight. Our satria came early. And he has “succeeded in bringing a new climate... much openness and transparency to his administration, while on the international stage he had established greater rapport with world leaders”, the Star reports Mat Taib as saying.

In a seminar curiously angled towards balls-carrying - Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s Three Years in Putrajaya: Trailblazing a Brighter Future for Malaysia - the country’s newest senator made sure his hands had the largest and warmest mitts.

“I notice Abdullah is very firm in determining the direction of the country. If some people say he has lost direction, I disagree. Abdullah is very clear in where he wants to go,” said Mat Taib.

Many would know that Mat Taib, an Umno shining star back in the 90s, got singed and fell from grace as Selangor MB in 1997. And many would also know how he was dramatically appointed a senator in the Dewan Rakyat right after the recent Umno General Assembly. The man’s back and he’s grateful.

But gratefulness is really quite different from shamelessness, is it not?

Tusk, tsk, tsk... Malaysia

Oh God.

Just who is the Ideas person behind Visit Malaysia Year 2007?


Reports Bernama:
Five Elephants To Draw Crowds At KL Tower
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 3 (Bernama) -- Tourists to the Kuala Lumpur Tower will be treated to a thrilling experience -- riding an elephant which will be placed there for them.

Five elephants will be waiting to carry the tourists to make their visit more memorable.

Speaking to reporters after attending a sacrificial function in conjunction with the Aidiladha, organised by the KL Tower here, Wednesday, its Chief Executive, Datuk Zulkifli Mohamad said, the elephant riding would be a new experience for most of the visitors.

The KL Tower, 421 metres high, is the world's fourth tallest communication tower.

He said, tourists could also see some of the oldest floral species in the world in the Bukit Nanas recreational forest.

The KL Tower management expected 1.5 million tourists to visit it this year compared to almost one million last year.

The management is also expecting the ninth million tourist in February or March this year. The visitor will receive a mystery gift which awaits him or her.

The Tower would also host the "World Federation of Great Towers" conference for the first time in September during which plans would be discussed to make the 26 great towers more attractive to tourists, he said.


I just don't know what to say. I really don't. Does the SPCA?

Five candles for fifty years

It’s been four years since I got back. Four years of sensing, tasting, digesting what is home.

Home – birth-home – will mark 50 years of being independent this year, a reason to be proud no doubt. For asam laksa and for Titiwangsa, for pellet rainstorms and for the Kinabatangan.

But home is also the cathedral of candles you carry inside of you from the places you’ve lived and the lives you’ve met; the cultures you’ve endeared to, and ideas which enchant.

I lived in Eugene, Oregon for eight years. It is a college town nestled between the Cascade Mountains and the Pacific. It was my last stop before coming back. I had a good time there. It taught me many many things and the most precious was the beginnings of sight, of which I’m still painfully learning. It lit candles in me.

I’m sharing five with birth-home, one for every decade of this nation’s independence. In many ways, it is more a wishlist, an inspiration point, a prayer perhaps. But not a copylist; it is imperative we find our bearings with our own compass, get spooked by own shadows and shine our own light.

Candle of the Marrow
In my last year in Eugene, I lived with Peter and Lisa. Peter was my classmate in school; sparing with words he is a true gentle giant. The two met while both were working in Japan – he a builder, and she a teacher. They are white. They have three kids. Hannah, who will turn nine this year, is Caucasian-Filipino; Mason, seven, is African-American, Roscoe, five, is also African-American.

They are not seen as odd. The family networks with a bunch of others in their age-group who are similarly colour-quilted, and like a quilt beside a roaring fireplace there is much warmth and laughter.

Gary was the boss in the studio I used to work; he was like an uncle. He and his wife Iris – they are white – have three kids. Will is their biological son. Jenny is African-American. Dan was originally from Vietnam (he was one of those orphans evacuated during the fall of Saigon during the Vietnam War; captured for posterity in Life magazine).

When it comes to love, be it friend, neighbour or family, it is the marrow that really matters. Not the skin. Never the skin.

Only then can we wear what's Truly Asia.

Candle of Synapses and Sinew
By the third ring, the customer service officer answered. Pleasantries were exchanged. I’d like to open a telephone account, I told her. I gave her my address, she verified that there was a ready line, and then this: “If you could be there between 11am and 1pm tomorrow, we’ll have a technician by to set it up for you.” At the appointed time, a human being showed up, opened the switchbox and my phone line came alive. Painless.

The story is the same with about every dept in the civil service be it utilities, public transport, the police, the postal service. Work got done with minimal hassle and disruption on both parties. You didn’t fill up forms in triplicates. If there was going to be any disruption – water, power cuts etc – advance notice would be given in the mail.

They needn’t slog it it out. Civil servants put in their 9-to-5. They then go home to their families, friends and lovers. They have a life; they tend their gardens, work on their home remodel, fix their cars, read, watch a movie. They do not need a maid.

But behind every beer they chug down during pizza hours, is that quantum 9-to-5 where work gets done. Within that quantum 9-to-5 is a living, breathing system that is constantly learning, constantly improving itself. A lot of planning went into it.

This is the hallmark of societal intelligence – the ability to organize energy in the smartest possible way for mutual benefit. Logistics is the soul of an organism.

Really, you needn’t be a rocket scientist to coordinate buses on National Service pickup day. You need a system that’s built around heart. You need to be responsible, that’s all.

Candle of the Senses
Steve C is a mechanic. He doesn’t have a shop; rather he drives over and services your car by the roadside or in the garage. Thanks to him, my 82 Corona lived longer than it was supposed to. Steve is also a writer and singer-songwriter. He does open-mike sessions at the local microbrewery. He has also published his own book of poems.

Ed is a builder. He graduated from college with a degree in philosophy. “Somewhere between the unsettling greys of Derrida and Confucius, I hit a nail on the head,” he joked. Greg teaches grade school during the school year, but in the summer vacation, he joins a carpentry crew and builds houses.

There is such a thing as a lateral life.

It is amazing to see the line of cars heading towards 1-Utama on any given evening, and mind-numbing to hear conversations revolving mainly around food, sales, property or Man U. Whether one chooses pottery, gardening, weaving, book clubs, or an NGO, hobbies add that extra dimension to seeing and living. To discuss something in-depth, to peel away at superficial layers, why hell, to talk shop – that is something a society can never have enough.

That said, it is something I dearly need to imbibe more myself.

Candle of Grace
In my first days in town, fresh-face and blur, I had boarded the bus to explore the various neighborhoods. I had a seat near the exit. At a nondescript stop in the suburbs, the bus pulled over, and the hiss of hydraulics escaped. A gangplank lowered over the sidewalk and a wheelchair-bound resident got on board. Nice.

I later realised the back of buses had also been fitted with bicycle racks for those who plan on continuing their journey on two wheels in any neighbourhood. Real nice!

Positive values, the cinammon of grace, do not cost an arm and a leg. It is a matter of whether such values reside in the belly of city councillors in the first place. That is where it all begins.

The larger city size is no excuse for more difficult governance. It is in budget management. In Portland, Oregon’s largest city, all public transport rides – buses or transit – within the downtown core is free. Howzat, RapidKL?

Candle of Memory
The year I started working, I moved into a house at the East Skinner’s Butte historic district. It was one of the oldest structures in the city, built circa 1850 out of wood framing with lap siding. The simple Greek Revivial essay was built by a reverend and was initially used as a school, although it was merely 1,500 sf. Although the winters were miserably cold and drafty – there was no insulation in the walls – it was a wonderful house to live in. It creaked, squeaked and wheezed at curious places. Beside the front door is a bronze plaque signifying that the house was on the National Historic Register.

Come spring every year, there would be a weekend-long open house for the whole district. We’d have to open our doors to visitors who’d wander around from house to house peering into the rooms. The landlord, proud of their historic property, would place posters and info boards all over the living room and would proceed to narrate the story to anyone who’d care to listen.

The neighbourhood was a joy to be in with the stately Willamette River flowing by, the train station behind and downtown being five minutes walk away. In other words, the city remembers.

You can certainly tell I’m still pissed with the demolition of the Bok House, and the lack of faith and creativity, but I’ll hold my breath for now.

Five candles my dearest Malaysia, my birth-home. Five candles for this new year, for the fifty years. That more light, not darkness, shall come fill our shores. That we too may learn to see anew.

Vision 2020 achieved

This is getting ridiculous.

Happened to read this on Elizabeth Wong's blogsite and it just made me snap.

“Santa must have had trouble getting to this part of the world, since it was only today he came a-calling at Sapura with a surveillance contract worth RM 1 billion.

Bernama’s Tengku Noor Shamsiah Tengku Abdullah reported late this afternoon on the likelihood of Sapura securing a Federal government contract to supply 3,000 cameras in major cities in the Peninsular, in anticipation of Visit Malaysia Year 2007, as well as for ‘security’.”

Work that out: You have a RM1 billion contract for 3,000 cameras. That's RM333,333 per camera installed. Sure, you need command posts and monitors etc to run the equipment, but c'mon guys, that's a freakin' semi-d for a camera. And is there a toll concessionaire-type contract after the fact to maintain it over the years?

Elizabeth also reveals in that same post that Sapura had earlier won a RM500 million contract to supply 3,000 field radios to the armed forces. That's RM166,666 per radio set.

We have 23 self-cleaning toilets installed throughout KL for a contract of RM9.2 million. That's RM400,000 a toilet.

Outrageous. Vision 2020 has been achieved 14 years early.

We must be a rich country, among the most developed in the world, to acquire these fancy machines at such prices. Correction...among the delusional in the world. This country has yet to reach its more basic targets - boats during floods, grade A infrastructure, 0% poverty, 100% literacy, the best universities and libaries, a well-paid and well-oiled civil service, a transportation system that works, a caring society - before it thinks fancy-shmancy.

Instead money being spent by this govt to acquire hi-tech products and services which are over-specified is reaching epic proportions.

It appears as pithy news for a day – 5 paragraphs max? – and the whole thing blows quietly away. No facts and figures breakdown, no tender, no dialogue, no explanations. Perhaps a titanium handshake to signify a bloated contract between devils.

In a culture bleeding with the liberal use of the Official Secrets Act, these conniving bastards have virtually a blank check to fatten their wallets. It is a closed loop; you and I are irrelevant in the scheme of things. You and I can gripe, but they’ll plain ignore. You and I are mere subordinates... peasant-folk in a feudal system cloaked as a democracy.

AAB may have crooned the sweetest promises of accountability and transparency in the 2004 elections, but he has failed miserably. If anything, as Prime Minister – a very powerful but increasingly-despised position – Sleepy Hollow is at the very least guilty of abetting this crippling culture.

What does one do with rot? Answer: You remove it.

Thank you, Singapore

How pitiful can the media get?

Bernama, The Star, and NST went to town in their coverage of the floods in the south. Good mileage was given to the various aid coming in from the govt, private sector and NGOs. The top two leaders were photographed carrying babies in different parts of the affected areas. The operations room in Pan Pacific Hotel, JB has a royalty manning the hotlines.

Cool.

What's not cool is this:
Two teams from jiran Singapore are now in Malaysia doing their bit in providing aid. The six-member Singapore Red Cross brought in S$10,000 worth of food and relief items, while a convoy of volunteers from Mercy Relief towed over hygiene kits and water filter equipment worth S$34,000 to Mercy Malaysia's relief centre in Muar.

These volunteers will skip Christmas with their island friends and families for one of sweat and hardship among strangers who will surely be warm friends. They will be in Malaysia for about a week.

Said a Singapore Red Cross spokesman Lim Thean Poh: "This is the time to demonstrate our friendship. What happens thereafter depends on whether they still need our assistance. If so, we will do whatever we can within the resources we've got here. But I am sure this is not the first and last of everything. In fact, it is a long journey in our bilateral relationship with the Malaysian Red Crescent Johor Baru branch."


Not a single mention was reported in the Malaysian press about this - the nation's voice.


Are we that stuck-up that we can't even voice a grateful thank you?

Tsk, tsk, tsk... Masa banjir pun nak main politik. Kena jaga muka kot. Begitu penting ke?

Acting before God Acts

It hurts to see the devastation of the floods in the southern peninsular. The rain, when too much of a beautiful thing, has a price. It was, no doubt, an Act of God for the most part.

For the most part.

Still, hard questions need to be asked and reference points sought to understand the nature - or nurture - of this aqueous beast. The hardest question is perhaps "Did we ask for it?"

In our country, heavy rains fell in Johor, Melaka, Pahang and Negeri Sembilan. Of the 31 monitoring stations in Johor, the highest was recorded in Johor Baru, which recorded 289mm of rainfall in a 24-hour period on Tuesday (Dec19).


JB sits sister-adjacent to Singapore, divided by the Tebrau Straits. Because of its geographic proximity, it's certain the rains fell hard there too. Very hard actually. It recorded the third highest rainfall in 75 years - being pummelled by 366mm of rain in the same 24-hour period. That's 3 inches more than JB's recording.

There were massive traffice jams, a landslide and fallen trees. There was chest-high flooding at a lower-level strip of nurseries at Thompson Rd nearby MacRitichie Reservoir.

At the end of the day, the hard fact is this - civilian casualties: Zero. Not a single person was evacuated even though Singapore has its share of landed property, subterranean MRT lines, and basement carparks. The drains channeled the water out safely. Electricity supply continued uninterupted, ditto water supply. Car owners moaned about repair bills, nursery owners were hit by lost business, but all in, it was a very uncomfortable, very wet few days. And that was that.

On our side of the Causeway, the number of displaced inhabitants has now passed 80,000 individuals. Seven lives have been lost; seven lives too many.

True, it was an Act of God. But some things cause pause for ponder. When two scenarios are examined side by side given similar conditions, lessons bubble to the surface.


Consider this: Segamat is an inland town, about 50km from the Straits of Melaka, and averages about 60 feet above sea level. The Sungai Segamat runs through the town on its meandering way to Muar. It runs down an incline. There isn't a reservoir upstream which could have overflowed. And yet, it was the worst-hit town. What really caused the floods? A beaver dam?

Even more curious: What magic spell protected the more exposed and water-ringed Singapore from being wreaked by the very same rains? Was it fengshui? Vashtu sastra? A Temasik bomoh?

Or was it just plain foresight, planning and implementation? That every tax-payer's dollar spent, be it drainage, transportation lines or schools must count and be put to optimum effect? In short, integrity counts. And having the right people doing the right job.

Singapore knew God would act and worked at it.

Did we?


Photo credits:
JB flood: NST
Singapore flood: Channel News Asia
Segamat satelite image: Google Earth

Inspiring quotes to end the year

"As information minister, I am part of history - I have seen it and understood it - thus I cannot have made a mistake or misunderstood history."

"As for me, only those who feel they are communists would be offended by what I had said."

- Zam
on insisting that a communist monument had been erected in Nilai Memorial Park and in Sarawak. Negeri Sembilan MB Mohamad Hasan has joined in the call. He's asking the privately-owned cemetery to demolish the monument. It is a monument commemorating those who fought against the Japanese invasion during WW II.

How does being "information minister" fuse with "part of history"?

How do you teach idiots logic?



My favourite yet for this week:


"I was in Turkey but did not see the boat."

- Sleepy Hollow,
on insisting that Turkish newspaper, Hurriyet, had printed lies about his stopover there with one Ananda Krishnan. PM AAB was enroute to Venezuela. Apparently they went fishing at Gokova, where AAB gushed about the beauty of the Aegean Sea. But the report's highlight was that Sleepy Hollow came by to see his boat which he ordered four months ago. It had a reported price tag of US$8 mil.

He's a forgiving man though. Despite his name and high office smeared back home because of this report, he's asking for only a correction to be carried.

There's still 10 days to the end of the year. Shall we get to hear more motivational lines?

Samy's heart of gold

Busy, purpose-driven week for Samy Vellu. In a life set by the throbbing beat of the tabla, he showed he fights for you and me, and just as much, the Indian community.

Just barely a day before he announced the Great Benevolent Toll Hikes, Samy was in the estates of Jasin announcing a plan to ensure Tamil schools were not neglected.

Who knows, months earlier, he must have strapped his bronze breastplate and made his case to the Cabinet. Ever the fighter, perhaps he thumped hard on the table, perhaps he eyeballed a kerised Hishamuddin and never blinked, perhaps he made them shudder simply with cold, hard facts about the plight of his people.

In any case, he won. MIC's Arjuna won. As he won for us a kind and soft toll increase. ("The cheapest toll in the world is in Malaysia.")

And so for Indian Malaysians there is cause for celebration; 34 vessels of knowledge located in seven states will be awarded a total of RM489,000 – for which to get “a new building or have existing structures repaired”.

The Star reports:

The schools involved are one in Selangor which received RM10,000, six in Johor (RM55,000), two in Penang (RM50,000), 11 in Pahang (RM95,000), four in Negri Sembilan (RM85,000), one in Malacca (RM10,000) and nine in Kedah (RM184,000).

Look closer now.

That's RM489 thousand. In a time when just about every government project/initiative mentioned carries the million – if not billion – ringgit tag, here we have paltry thousands. And to be shared among 34 schools. Heart of gold.

Just a sampling: The KL ferriswheel is going to cost RM30 mil. That crazy Melaka tower RM21 mil. The Tanjong Tokong development is slated to cost RM750 mil and give-me-time PM AAB is suddenly anxious and wants it fast-tracked. Mr Sleepy-Hollow also gave away ringgit hampers to the tune of RM600 mil to Umno constituencies.

As for the Tamil schools, do the math. That's an average of RM14,832 per school. Those 11 Tamil-medium schools in Pahang will share RM95,000, or about RM8,636 for each school. The man who claims to have tamed the toll concessionaires now gives the same love to his people. Not.

Samy-ji, you can't even do a paint job with that kind of money. You can't quite fix the drains or the sewer lines. You sure as hell can't fix respect.

See, Tamil-medium schools are mostly located in the plantations where under the banners of Golden Hope, Sime Darby and Guthrie, Indian estate settlements have existed virtually unchanged for decades. Their dwellings may be seasoned and charming, but in the nights their monsoon dreams are washed in paraquat.

Perhaps it is these families who earn RM400 a month, whose womenfolk are tasked to spray hazardous pesticides with only a soiled hanky over their mouth deserve only this much?

And how much is much? To look at it from another perspective: RM489,000 amounts to 305,625 cars (excludes lorries, buses, cabs) passing through the LDP under the new tax plan. With four different toll plazas in its 40km stretch, that's 76,406 cars per plaza. Let's dare venture – that's perhaps two days' takings tops?

Heart of gold, Samy. And they say, a Barisan Nasional alliance ensures all races are represented. They say it is through this integration is achieved.

I say it cleaves.

Quote No. 2

Hey ugly, your Ma and your Pa are frigging full-moon howling lunatics. They are beasts, they oughta be whipped and locked up.

And guess what, you boys don't get true love. Just you watch. Leroy gets all the breaks, Jim-boy here gets hand-me-downs on his knees.

And guess what, your good-fer-nuthin folks now wanna set their values on us, too. Those crazies wanna see us dumped.

Those lines might get you pissed, wouldn't it? Especially if it wasn't true. But hang on – which line would get you most mad? The stinging ones about Ma and Pa? Or of you and Leroy.

For me, that's easy: the former, of course. Nobody talks trash about my folks... I will get mad. Leroy and I are small matter in this scenario.

Now the tricky part. What if – just what if – there was truth to the remarks? How would you react? How would Ma and Pa? How would Leroy?

*****

In many ways, the same approach can be made with Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's comments at a recent IMF-World Bank forum at the sidelines. The senior statesman's remarks created a storm in the region.

But stemming from what? Because he dissed Malaysia or because we're reacting to an exposed raw nerve?

The issue revolves around three published quotes by LKY:

Quote No. 1: “We need a government that will have the gumption and skill to say 'no' to our neighbours in a very quiet and polite way that doesn't provoke them into doing something silly.”

Quote No. 2: "Our neighbours both have problems with their Chinese. They are successful. They are hard-working and therefore they are systemically marginalised, even in education.”

Quote No. 3: “And they want Singapore, to put it simply, to be like their Chinese – compliant.”

Depending on the degree of factuality, each was critical of the governments of Malaysia and Indonesia.

It is interesting to note which aspect struck the rawest nerve. As in action, reaction also speaks louder than words.

I find it curious Quote No.1 didn't even cause an eyelid to bat among our leaders. If I were boss of this country, and doing my damnest to do the right thing, I'd be regally pissed. If anything, it was downright condescending. It betrayed LKY's personal impression that Singapore's neighbours – us – are an edgy people prone to doing “something silly”. That we need to be treated with kids gloves. That's an insult to my proud nation. But hey, it went clean by.

Quote No. 3 claims that Malaysia and Indonesia would much prefer that the lion be taken from the Lion City. That's a strong accusation, if you ask me. It infers that we harbour ill motives against Singapore and want to see it subjugated and in servitude of us. If that too was trash talk, I'd haul in the high commissioner immediately for an explanation. But no, that too didn't raise a ripple.

Quote No. 2, if it was inaccurate, would have dealt the least harm. If a Bangsa Malaysia truly existed, it'd have been laughed off categorically. LKY would have been pitied for being a senile old man.

On the contrary, all the king's horses and all the king's men, from AAB and Najib to former boss Mahathir, were riled by Quote No.2 – that because the Chinese are hardworking and successful, “they are systemically marginalised, even in education.”

With the amount of spin, rebuttals, and commentaries flying about lately, you'd think we were on trial. Perhaps we are.

How else to explain -

• that when even the nation is described as EQ-challenged, tipped to doing “something silly”;

• that when even the nation's relationship with its neighbour is deemed ill-tended, a slap in the face of goodwill;
  

we choose instead to go sensationally beserk in debunking a supposed mundane domestic myth.

How else to explain?

Unless of course this - that Quote No. 2 has some truth in it.

100-gigab Ram

Court of Appeal Judge Gopal Sri Ram made a timely remark Wednesday:

"Oversensitivity to criticism will lead to intellectual ignorance or, even worse, intellectual arrogance."

He was sitting in an appeal against contempt. Along with Sri Ram were Judges Suriyadi Halim Omar and Abdul Hamid Embong; their decision was unanimous. The case in particular may be uneventful, but not the judge's remarks.

NST reports: ....adding that such (contempt) proceedings were a powerful weapon in the judicial armoury. As such, he (Sri Ram) said, only in the rarest of occasions should contempt action be taken as judges were not beyond criticism.

*****

On the very same day, the Cabinet closed the book on the controversial sacking of the three Supreme Court judges in 1988.

This despite expelled Lord President Salleh Abbas revealing five new facts about the episode a day earlier. Not teeny-weeny facts, but sup tulang-rich facts. Broth facts.

But hell, it wasn't good enough, according to de facto Law Minister Nazri Aziz. Good enough is only when at least one of the judges in the tribunal was to come forward and say he was instructed to find Salleh Abbas guilty. The Bar Council finds such logic puzzling, and its arguments are carried in TheSun.

Me, I'm drawn to a tinier subset of the whole thing; a little ghetto haiku revealing the inner workings of our higher-ups.

Singapore's ST reports: Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Aziz told The Straits Times that the episode would not be reopened.

"It was discussed in passing in Cabinet, and they agreed with me," he said.

In passing... just that, and who knows, perhaps a yawn.

I pick my nose in passing. I ask how the folks are doing in passing. In passing, I might pick up a pack of menglembu groundnuts at the gas station.

But I cannot - never, ever - discuss an alleged judicial crisis with fellow members of the highest law-making body in the country in passing.

Intellectual ignorance or intellectual arrogance?

Even in its emasculated state, the conscience of the Malaysian judiciary is way ahead of its executive brethren.

One would be forgiven for having the impression that perhaps the Cabinet is actually trying very hard, but only to live up to its vernacular meaning - i.e. a receptacle for empty vessels.