Johor Property Bill raises bipartisan concerns

Though the proposed Johor State Property Law is only a state bill, it seems to have in general drawn BN and Pakatan (including the federal sides) together in a bipartisan concern over a new law which may unwittingly drag HRH into government administration by conferring him with executive powers when HRH like other HRH and the Agong is only a constitutional monarch.

Yes, the common grounds seem to be worries about the State Sultan's role in the bill which will shatter the construct of a constitutional monarch, and worse, raises questions on his associated responsibilities, as it's an administrative (legal too?) concept that executive powers carry commensurate responsibilities and thus public accountability.

In a worst case scenario where HRH may be called to account for the Housing & Real Property Boards' actions, the demand for accountability may possibly destroy the hitherto immunity of HRH, which of course no one wants.

Just to obtain a picture of how HRH may be liable, TMI informs us the proposed law has '... provisions that allow the state ruler to appoint members and determine its budget, raising fears that the constitutional state monarch could have a hand in the state's administrative affairs'.

If HRH does end up having a hand in the state's admin affairs, then he becomes a typical public servant who may be criticized, complained against and be subjected to various other consequences unbefitting those for a royal person.

Let's not forget in Malaysia the monarchy at both state and federal level is of the constitutional variety, and would not have the executive powers that the Johor state bill will endow on HRH.

The remaining absolute monarchs in the world are the rulers of some Gulf states, Saudi Arabia and in the local region, the Sultan of Brunei.

Who is pushing such a novel but constitutionally questionable law?

Well, he's none other than Johor MB Mohamed Khalid Nordin!

Despite mounting concerns by constitutional law experts and politicians on both sides of politics including PM Najib who warns Johor to ensure the proposed law follows the Federal Constitution, meaning and asserting (in polite Malay-speak) that HRH is only a constitutional monarch, the Johor MB seems hell-bent on airing the bill in the state DUN on Monday.

MB Mohamed Khalid Nordin brushed off those bipartisan concerns and claimed that he will still be the one exercising executive powers and bearing responsibilities, and not HRH, but hardly anyone believes him.

Why? Because the proposed law has '... provisions that allow the state ruler to appoint members and determine its budget ...'.

Isn't that executive powers? What then about executive responsibilities?

Najib must have been pissed off to have said, seemingly a la Pontius Pilate: "The menteri besar explained that the bill was consistent with the provisions of the Federal Constitution. He will also be fully responsible in managing the board."

Even our Grand Olde Man, Dr Mahathir, wasn't impressed by Mohamed Khalid Nordin's proposed bill, reminding everyone that our monarchy is constitutional, presumably just to make a point rather than inform us.

In Malaysiakini's Dr Mahathir issues a veiled royal caution, his piss-off-ness (wakakaka) was reported as follows:

The former premier also warned that any drastic changes could exacerbate the people's ill-feelings towards the royals.

"There is already a feeling of disrespect for the royals. This may lead to other forms of disrespect," he said in his blog.

"Although by and large the Malays are for the institution of the monarch, when their ability to defend is eroded, they might forego their adat (custom)."

I don't see those statements as veiled caution against royalty other than Johor wasn't directly mentioned, wakakaka.

Rather, I see him warning, yes, warning the royals not to usurp the (executive) rights of the people's representatives and thus the rakyat, which if unheeded may lead to worsening 'disrespect' for them.

I read worsening as implying there exists already disrespect - see his statement again: "There is already a feeling of disrespect for the royals. This may lead to other forms of disrespect." 

Incidentally, Dr Mahathir was the PM who extracted the fangs of a particular royal some years ago, perhaps indicating his 'Dr' title extends as well to dental care, wakakaka.

He even alluded to the possibility of foreign influence in the Johor state bill, suggesting that outside forces are making use of royalty for their own interests.

He said: "Of late there has been a tendency to ignore the constitution and to effectively change it by other means. Nobody can change it on his own. States cannot change it nor can rulers without the approval of the federal parliament and the federal government."

"The constitution is the basic law of the country. When a precedent is established, it will become a base for other changes."

"These people must stop especially when they are foreigners."

That evoked speculations about possible strong influence from our near south in the Johor MB being strangely adamant on airing a bill which even UMNO's mouthpiece Utusan has taken 'valuable' time off, wakakaka, from its usual bashing of nons in order to indicate UMNO's unhappiness with the proposed new law, which would give HRH executive powers over the proposed Johor Housing and Real Property Board.

I sense that Dr Mahathir must have been 'briefed' kau kau about the Johor strange and constitutionally bizarre bill.

As mentioned earlier and reiterated here as a refresher, under the new law HRH will gain executive powers including the right to appoint board members, determine their allowances, scrutinise the board's accounts as well as being empowered to dissolve the board.

One has to ask: Why, Why, Why is MB Mohamed Khalid Nordin insisting on introducing a new law which both sides of politics in probably the first demo of bipartisanship have frowned upon?

What is his motive?

I doubt it is to test grounds on bipartisanship, wakakaka, but jokes aside he is playing a dangerous game. Hope he is not another who believes as a 'Royal MB' he can do what he likes.

Racism in advertising

Leng chai is mighty pissed off. In Malaysiakini's KJ sees red over 'non-bumi' job ad, a firm was reported to have advertised its preference for a non-bumi to assume a post of production engineer in Tikam Batu, Kedah.

Though leng chai was initially provided with a doctored version of the advertisement a la char koay teow with plenty of chillies, the original version was ascertained as "Preferably non-bumiputera encourage (sic) to apply."

Leng chai has been absolutely correct in saying "Well, the actual ad isn't much better."

Kaytee believes it's terrible to marginalize qualified and capable candidates from applying on the basis of race, gender, religion (beliefs) or political affiliation. It's racist and discriminatory.

However, I expect some of my readers to say words to the effect that what's good for the goose should be good for the gander.

Okay, looking from their lenses, let's take an extreme example: Would the Malaysian army advertise for and accept all Malaysian races as soldiers in the Royal Malay Regiment? For example, military regiments in Britain such as the Scots Guards and Irish Fusiliers today aren't from only those named ethnic groups.

Would UiTM and the various other universities advertise for and accept for their respective Vice Chancellor positions Malaysians without ethnic considerations?

Anyway, I suspect or speculate whoever made that terrible advertisement for a non-bumi to be its production engineer might be thinking: WTF, "they" are doing it anyway!

But kaytee believes that's not correct to 'follow' the other side if the other side has been doing it wrong. As my mum used to shout at me (after gifting me with a couple of tight slaps, wakakaka) whenever I argued that my cousin did it first (something naughty of course, wakakaka): "He ate shit, so you want to eat shit too?"

Ouch and ouch again, good olde mum. Wakakaka.

There's no denying there's enormous discriminations going on in Malaysia especially in jobs, university places, etc. I needn't delve too deeply into this as most of you probably know the current situation better than me, wakakaka.

Even if the job of, say, that production engineer involves the processing, packing and cold storing of pork for export or sale locally, the advertisement must not rule out bumiputeras from applying as some bumiputeras (Sarawak/Sabah natives and our Peninsula Thais, now classed as bumi too) are Christians or devotees of non-Islamic religions like Buddhism or Hinduism.

And WTF, if a qualified Muslim wants to apply, that's entirely up to him or her. I remember my vet in Kedah who attended to the health of my dog for years was a Malay. In fact most of the staff in the veterinary department were (are?) Malays. 

Maybe the ad can at best state, as an informative courtesy, that 'the job will involve the processing, packing and cold storing of pork for export' etc. Then it's up to those qualified and interested to apply or not to apply.

However, I disagree with what was also reported in the same article by one complainant grumbling to leng chai about "Banyak je iklan 'mandarin speaking’ is an advantage" (There are many job advertisements where it is stated that speaking Mandarin is an advantage).

Some jobs do require language skills. Besides,  I know there are many Malays who are fluent not only in Mandarin but also Cantonese and Penang Hokkien - they put me to shame lah. For example, Najib's son is known to be fluent in Mandarin. Malu ai lah!

So the complaint that job advertisements requiring fluency in Mandarin, let alone those just saying 'speaking Mandarin is an advantage' (advantage only, not mandatory) is not a valid point.

And if challenged, the onus should be on the advertiser to show that fluency in Mandarin is indeed a requirement (or an advantage) for the advertised position - eg. journalist or editor of a Mandarin language newspaper, tour guide for Chinese tourists, manager based in Shanghai, or beh-koh-eoh salesperson, wakakaka).

koh-eoh (pain relieving patch)

Chinese writing warns against sticking on sensitive hairy areas of body?
 wakakaka

This reminds me of Uncle's friend in New Zealand who related the following story to him:

A Kiwi sweetie went to South Korea as an English teacher. While there she was shocked by some local (Korean) job advertisements for English language teachers which blatantly said that non-Caucasians need NOT apply, wakakaka.

Such racist ads would NOT have been allowed in New Zealand or Australia, au contraire the authorities would be going after the person advertising such racist discriminatory job descriptions.

A wee digression - Those Koreans dungus weren't aware that some Asians speak better English than many Caucasians (Poles, Serbians, Ukrainians, Italians, Hungarians etc are Caucasians too - and not all Europeans speak good English as compared to some Indians, Pakistanis, Malaysians, Sings, Hong Kongers, etc).

The joke was, Unc's friend said, that Kiwi sweetie possesses such a terrible Kiwi accent that even the English or Americans would have great difficulty understanding her speech, let alone those Koreans - a case of the ignorant learning from a poor example of an English teacher, wakakaka. I wonder how she managed to last for almost two years there.

David Killick, a Kiwi freelance journalist wrote in a post on his website the following example of the Kiwi twang:

Gidday. Air gun?
(Good day. How are you going?)

The New Zild axsint: Uzza toe kay? Or uzza chuss duffrunt?”
(The New Zealand accent. Is it OK? Or is it just different?)

Then Killick narrated what I thought of that Kiwi sweetie in South Korea, as follows:

New Zealand actor Andie Spargo does character voices. He can switch seamlessly from English Upper Class twit to Scottish loon, to mad German scientist.

Spargo recalls when Lorraine Downes became Miss Universe in 1983.

“Here she was, this gorgeous woman on the international stage, and she was asked what she would like to do, and she said something like, ‘I’d like to go to Efrica? To hilp the chuwdren learn to speak Unglush?’

I thought, ‘You’d better not!’”

Wakakaka, ands that should have been applied too to the Kiwi sweetie in Korea.

But leng chai should know and accept that in Malaysia the discrimination game has been played horribly on both sides (by both Malays and non-Malays). Sadly in some cases, they were deliberate tit for tat or what's good for the goose should be good for the gander.

Now by contrast, take the example of an Australian advertisement in Hobart a couple of years ago that went like this: "Store requires no indians or asians please. Must speak english (sic)".

The first protests or attacks against the ad was from the community (most of whom are European Australians) - that's the hallmark of an advanced civilised society. News.com.au reported:

The advert, on the Gumtree website, generated outrage on social media sites, with calls for people to boycott the store and lodge complaints.

"Which supermarket is this so I can boycott them?" one Facebook user said.

"What planet are they on?", asked another.

The job ad was later removed from the site.

A Coles spokesman yesterday admitted the advert had been posted by a contract company responsible for cleaning its Rosny store.

"The ad was placed without Coles' knowledge and we were extremely concerned to learn of the ad and its contents," spokesman Jim Cooper said.

Not only was the contract company in deep shit but the website owner was as well. ABC news reported:

Tasmania's Anti-Discrimination Commissioner, Robin Banks, has launched an investigation into the advertisement.

"It's clearly racially discriminatory and in a very important area of life for many people - the opportunity to work," she said.

Ms Banks said she was surprised when she read the ad, but that she knows racism happens.

"It's why we need to be alert to speak out about it when we see it quite so overtly," she said.

"The risk is that this is a very overt indication of somebody intending to discriminate, but I guess it's possible also that there are people who apply the same filter but don't advertise that they're going to do that."

Ms Banks says anyone who feels discriminated against by the ad could lodge a complaint and potentially fight for an apology and damages from both the advertiser themselves, and the publisher of the ad, Gumtree.

"Under anti-discrimination law in Tasmania it's unlawful to advertise or publish or to display or cause or permit an ad to be published," she said.

"So in this case Gumtree may have some liability."

A quick search of the Gumtree website reveals this is not the only advertisement that seems to discriminate.

Discrimination is apparent in more job ads, as well as ads for share housing.

Gumtree declined our request for an interview.

Taking about ads for share housing I am reminded of a movie called 'Single White Female', starring delicious Bridget Fonda.

I have been told by friends who lived in Fiji for years that such blatantly racist advertisements were fairly common, particularly by Indians there. Apparently some Indian landlords didn't want to rent out rooms or houses to the Fijian bumis.

Torika Watters would no doubt be an exception to
the no bumi' marginalisation above, wakakaka

at 16 she won Miss World Fiji title
 but was stripped of that title because organizaers said she was underaged

Torika said prior to contest organizers said her age was okay
but after she won, coincidentally locals complained she did not look Fijian enough (would that be considered racist?)

she's now 18!

But it's not always white bias as we can see from a Daily Mail report about an ad in 2010 which stated: 'Minimum six years of experience in IT . . . The person should be a UK citizen with security clearance from the UK Government. Preferably of Indian origin.'

Needless to say, the UK authorities went after the advertiser.

Well, WTF can we say except to jaga our own standards of not falling into a racial rut. Thus I support leng chai's (Khairy Jamaluddin's) condemnation of such racist advertising but at the same time I call upon him to lift our Malaysian game above blatant racism, especially from the BN-led government.

The government must provide the example as per the 1982 slogan of Dr Mahathir, 'Leadership through example'.

from Portal Pendidikan Utusan

Rape sometimes is okay lah!

Read my new post at my other blog titled Rape can sometimes be right, said Indian Minister.

This is the bloke, Babulal Gaur:

Babulal Gaur

home minister of central Madhya Pradesh state

who is responsible for law and order

Strongman required in Malaysia?

Some times we wish we have a strong person in charge of Malaysia's. Najib is already notorious for his, or perception of his softness/weakness. Anwar Ibrahim is no better, well-known for his manmanlai tap dancing.

The two persons I deem as strongmen in this narrow sense have unfortunately retired. They are Dr Mahathir and Pak Haji Nik Aziz. On the outer, unfortunately, would be Zaid Ibrahim and Haris Ibrahim. I won't include RPK as he has indicated he won't be returning to Malaysia. 

In early days I have been told the really strongmen were our 1st PM, Tunku, his successor Razak and Razak's deputy Dr Ismail.

My Uncle told me that years ago, before there was such a thing as Internet, a Star reporter (Indian) who was responsible for the entertainment page unwittingly insulted Islam through a slip of his writing.

Poor bastard was shivering in his pants when the Muslims went berserk over his sentence that “There isn't anything on TV tonight other than the boring Quran reading competition”.

He was saved by Tunku (then retired from politics and living in Penang, and fortuitously for our Aneh, also The Star Chairperson), who told the raving mob to shut the fxxk* up as the young reporter had already apologized. Matter was immediately closed in a most kowtim-ish manner, such was the wibawa of Tunku.

* of course Tunku didn't use the f* word - it's just kaytee improvising wakakaka

Imagine how Tunku would have dealt with the current Cadbury nonsense which now see Jakim officials stating they are willing to munch Cadbury chocs to prove there's no porcine DNA, wakakaka. If you can't, then recall this: when asked by a (presumably western) reporter from the by-now defunct Far Eastern Economic Review (once the most daring weekly current affairs magazine in Asia) about a proposal for implementing the Islamic penalty of stoning adulterers to death, he replied that: ‘I fear that there would not be enough stones left to construct our roads’, wakakaka, though of course he pissed PAS and its supporters off.

Another one about this great man: He was a man who loved his drink, and never hid the fact. After he was forced into retirement, he was selected personally by the Saudi King (Good Lord, the King of Islam Holy Land?) to be the first secretary-general of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC).

Humbly he refused, explaining honestly to the king that he was not a good Muslim as he loved his drink – no one can ever accuse Tunku of being a hypocrite, that’s for sure.

The King replied rather interestingly that he didn't want Tunku to be the Mufti of Mecca but only as the secretary-general of the OIC, indicating Tunku's drinking didn't faze him at all.

Hmmm, I wonder if it was the King of Saudi Arabia who had said: “I fear that there would not be enough stones left to construct our roads if we stone every adulterer to death”, would PAS have received it differently? Wakakaka.

But in the final analysis, Tunku was spot on, indeed right down to a T, in that there would not be enough stones left to construct our roads if we stone every Malaysian adulterer or for any act of incest, rape (especially statutory rapes) or other forms of sexual acts, wakakaka.

Unc told me in his days many young Malays hated Tunku for betraying them, specifically for being too friendly to the Chinese - he had additionally adopted CT's wee daughter after her parents were killed. Some even accused him of corruption because of his closed association with the Chinese.

Now, I'm sure you all have hear from RPK that when Tunku went on the pre-election campaign trail for Perikatan (BN's predecessor), he refused to be paid his PM's wages on principle as he deemed that he wasn't doing work for the rakyat as a PM.

Also, in our nearly 60+ years of independence, it would not be incorrect to argue that Tunku stood out in a unique way as the only Prime Minister of Malaysia who left office virtually destitute (pokkai atau almost miskin). Corrupt?

In fact after he was ousted by his successor, Razak had to quickly pass a bill in Parliament to endow him with a pension appropriate to a retired PM, including a house in Penang - who knows whether out of compassion, guilt or perhaps just to avoid Tunku's destitution from embarrassing Malaysia.

Though a PM, Tunku was known to buy goat meat in Kedah when he visited Alor Setar occasionally because he said that meat was cheaper there than in KL - hmmm, would that be indicative of a fiscally naughty PM?

When he was stripped of his powers and packed off into retirement, he continued to be surrounded by his friends of all races, but particularly Chinese. Those were the days of that silly old concept called loyalty, even when a man was no longer in power to be of any use to anyone.

Compare that loyalty to a 1998 ingrate, no, make that two, wakakaka, or Dr Mahathir's experiences when he was 'embargoed' wakakaka by the AAB mob - see Et Tu Baharom and The UMNO interdiction of Dr Mahathir, wakakaka.

But Tunku was a strongman who was very much loved, though as the Chinese saying has it: that a god (or prophet or leader) is not loved in his own province. Tunku was sadly not loved generally by his own 'province', the Malays. I wonder whether that sad perception still prevails among today's Malays?

As for Hussein Onn, he was kind of half way in between Tunku and Razak, but a good man as a PM for all Malaysians though many today questioned his choice of UMNO's deputy president when he selected Dr Mahathir over Ku Li, wakakaka. Now, I wonder whether Ku Li would have become a strongman as well?

Here's an Uncle story about Hussein Onn. Once Hussein Onn was informed by a minister that a housing estate developer was complaining of humongous loss because the mandatory 30% housing reserved for bumiputera had not been taken up. Hussein instructed that non-Malays in the armed forces be allowed to buy those houses as he considered non-Malay military uniformed* personnel as bumiputera. My Unc was a beneficiary of Hussein Onn's policy decision.

* 'uniformed' means civilians working for the Armed Forces, blokes like RTA wakakaka, would not qualify, wakakaka.

I wonder whether another PM after him would have made the same assessment/decision, that non-Malay servicemen should be considered bumiputeras?

Then of course came along, wakakaka, Dr Mahathir. He was the last of Malaysia's strongmen, up to now that is, wakakaka. Also see my post Mahathir: Unforgettable & Unforgiveable, wakakaka.

After that we have (in stark contrast to the first four PMs) wishy washy AAB and Najib. If Anwar had become PM wakakaka I doubt he would have been any better than Najib, with perhaps only one exception, his most manmanlai silver-tongued skills, wakakaka.

I believe their perceived wishy-washiness or manmanlai evasiveness are too much influenced by their prioritized desire to protect their own 'constituency' (not just electoral one but their intra party support). Obviously, their own political interests have overruled their political commitments and service to the general public a la the Kajang Betrayal, wakakaka.

Well, today Dr Mahathir rebukes Jais (TMI report) for its arrogant intrusion into a Hindu wedding in Selangor, while 'Royal MB' Khalid Ibrahim has been keeping his 'Royal MB' mouth shut tight, as he usually does whenever stuff in the state gets a bit sensitive. He's another manmanlai, wakakaka.

Since I wrote the aforegoing sentence, Khalid Ibrahim has finally emerged to describe the Jais 'action' (he avoided the word 'raid' and called it) an 'embarrassment for us' (where 'us' presumably means Pakatan). I have thus amended my remarks appropriately.

However TMI reported: The Malaysia Hindu Sangam (MHS) has told Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim not to pay “lip service” in the issue of a factory worker whose wedding last Sunday was disrupted by officials from the Selangor Islamic Department (Jais).

Wakakaka, they should forgive him for being a 'wee' (wakakaka) slow to admonish his state's Jais.

Dr Mahathir had also earlier defended Kassim Ahmad against allegations of heresy, and spoke out against PAS' recent push to implement hudud, though it has to be said he was partly responsible for opening the Pandora Box in his tactic to outmanoeuvre PAS by proclaiming Malaysia is already an Islamic country.

His tactical gain has developed now into a strategic problem for his successors, more so for Najib rather than AAB who has better Islamic credentials to talk down PAS, wakakaka.

Of course this is only looking at leadership qualities from a very narrow perspective, concerning PAS and the non-PAS mullahs pushing for a full Islamic Malaysia, because Dr Mahathir had not quite acquitted himself as a PM well in other areas.

If he is 'forgetful' wakakaka, please remember he is 88 years old this year, which incidentally, in accordance with Chinese fengshui pun, wakakaka, endows him with an auspicious double-8. Gong Xi Gong Xi (Congrats), wakakaka.

Additionally, I have it on strong authority that his family genes favour longevity so it's likely we'll continue to have him for maybe another ten years ;-)

But alas, it had been that chip on his shoulder which let him down, where he allowed himself to be ultra tolerant of his proteges' incompetence and/or naughtiness.

For example, light years ago wakakaka, our late Bhai accused someone of being naughty in his private affairs, allegedly of a dimension that would have made Lot blush (you know Lot, the one whose wife turned into a pillar of salt, wakakaka). But Dr Mahathir brushed that allegation aside, refusing to consider that as a real possibility. Dr Mahathir was well-known for his tolerance for and perhaps over-trust of his men.

Ironically, years later it had to take a challenge from someone, wakakaka, before he reconsidered Bhai's complaint, of course by that time with additional intra party input (by different UMNO factions'), wakakaka.

In UMNO, unless you're a bloody strongman. you shouldn't be too selfishly inconsiderate to the needs of the other factions (mesti kongsi one, wakakaka) as you would be sabo kau kau by those other factions to ensure you do not become too powerful, wakakaka.

Talking about the chip on Dr Mahathir's shoulder, feel free to read an earlier post of mine The Vision of Dr Mahathir in which I paraphrased the Jule Styne-Sammy Cahn's 1954 Academy Award winning composition for him, wakakaka, as follows:

Three chips on my shoulders
Each one seeking happiness
Grown by my hopeful wishes
Which one will the NEP bless?

But wouldn't it be nice to have very strong leadership in Malaysia at this period in time. Mind, the yin would also warn us too much yang leads to authoritarian and/or dictatorial rule.

The trick is in balancing strongman characteristics with liberal democracy, yes, virtually oxymoronic in this wish, and also a task made much difficult by today's various forms of extremism (or interests, wakakaka). But we can only wish!

Three coins in the fountain,
Each one seeking happiness.
Thrown by three hopeful races,
Which one will the fountain bless?

Wakakaka, but all and more will the fountain bless, I hope.

Did Jakim really botch up on the Cadbury porcine DNA saga?

Ridhuan Tee, our nation's foremost Malay (constitutionally, that is), was reported by the Malay Mail Online as calling for the Shutdown [of] Cadbury factory as lesson to the ‘ultra kiasu’ because of Jakim's finding that there were porcine DNA in Cadbury's chocolate almond bars.

I wonder whether I could impose on Jakim to also test another batch of 'DNA', wakakaka.

With squared jaw and steely eyes, the Pahlawan Melayu stated courageously: “I have always said, do not trust the ultra kiasu, I refer to those who oppose Islam and always want to win."

I wonder who's the ultra kiasu he's referring to. Wait, there's only one ultra kiasu he refers to regularly, so please consider my question as rhetorical (where I know the answer oledy, wakakaka).

But wait again! Maybe my guess of the ultra kiasu might be wrong. For a person who's not confident of his claimed 'belongings', whose subconscious keeps telling him that his 'DNA' is not what the Constitution says otherwise, surely he has to be the ultimate ultra kiasu.

By the by, in earlier days he and Miss Muffet were mutually antagonistic to each other, with him describing Miss Muffet as ultra kiasu. I wonder whether they have made up (kissy kissy, cium, cium) since they are now on the same side of the longkang? wakakaka.

Kiasu-speak: “We have to be firm, no more compromise. No need to burn down the factory as some extremists proposed. Revoke the licence. Close down the chocolate factory. This is a particularly important lesson to other companies.”

Did he say 'as some extremists proposed .....'? wakakaka.

Continuing: “I worry that in the future we would be consuming pork even though not in the form of a real pig. My reminders to Muslims; First, do not get too excited about the food produced by the ultra kiasu."

“I am puzzled as to why Muslims get so enthused as to go to ultra kiasu shops although they don’t have halal certification from Jakim, yong tau foo shops, coffee shops, bakeries with alcohol in their products and more."

I must ask Dr Mahathir whether his bakery The Loaf might fall under Ridhuan Tee's consideration? wakakaka.

By the way, should I remind Ridhuan Tee about Empat Ekor shops, someone going on an all expense paid Haj (not his own money, wakakaka), gang rape, statutory rapes, casino patrons and the recent sinister sleazy and sickening politicized pariah-ish Pinoy-ization of Dyana Sofya, and the corruption and the abuses by various government authorities that he someone misses all through these years.

He said (I believe rather pompously):“No one is rejecting peace and unity, but those who have ill-intentions, must be taught a lesson.”

'No one is rejecting peace and unity'? wakakaka.

'Ill-intentions'? Don't tell me Cadbury, a world class producer/manufacturer would resort to such sinister designs.

Cadbury's 2011 advertisement (left side only)

But Naomi Campbell (right side) was so pissed off at 
what she saw as a racist allusion to her dark skin.

even though the ad did not mention her name in full, 
the mention of diva' appeared to associate the 'Naomi' with her.

Cadbury pulled out the ad after she indicated she would sue

Dearie me oh dear!

But wait, Jakim has now gostarn (belakang pusing)!

The Malay Mail Online reported in Now, Jakim says Cadbury chocolates never contained pig DNA:

Dr Jamil Khir Baharom, the minister in charge of Islamic religious affairs, said 11 samples of the confectionary giant’s Cadbury Dairy Milk Hazelnut and the Cadbury Dairy Milk Roast Almond were sent straight from the factory to a special accredited laboratory for testing.

“Pig DNA was not found in the samples,” he told reporters here.

Cadbury’s Malaysian outfit had scrambled to recall two batches of chocolate products found tainted with porcine DNA by the Health Ministry last Saturday.

But Jamil Khir said today that the tests conducted by the Health Ministry could have been flawed as the samples were not brought in directly from Cadbury’s factory.

There was a possibility that the previous sample testing could have been “contaminated”, resulting in porcine DNA being detected, he added.

I have to admit I thought what a bloody coincidence that the moment the Teluk Intan by-election result was known, there's a second piece of good news for the government who must have been worried about pious Malays considering even blood transfusion.

Mind you, blood transfusion might possibly have excited someone, wakakaka.

Any chance of Cadbury suing Jakim?

Cadbury's ad - right side only

left side: Naomi Campbell seated on a chocolate Playboy bunny, 
taken by David LaChapelle for the December 1999 Playboy

F88K, there I was, minding my own business

Teluk Intan - a bridge too far for Dyana Sofya

First thing first - congratulations to Mah Siew Keong for his victory and his eventual ministership.

Secondly, I had hopes for using the immortal words of Neil Armstrong to eulogize the expected but unrealized by-election victory by sweetie Dyana, paraphrased as "That's one small step for Dyana and Teluk Intan, one giant leap for Malaysia", but alas it was not to be.

It's a slim victory for Mah with a majority of 238 votes but nonetheless a victory, for winning by one vote is still a sweet victory.

There's no point blaming the Chinese, Malay or Indians or the DAP's outstation supporters who didn't make it back to TI to vote, or even the EC for holding the by-election polls on a Saturday instead of a Sunday. Nor is there any need to analyze the DAP internal dissent over Dyana as a parachuted candidate for the by-election. All these are part and parcel of politics.

Neither is there any value in criticizing or cursing the dirty campaigning by UMNO, where every millimetre of Dyana's private and public life was dug up for dirt (which would be turned into BN campaign gold), though I may just mention some bizarre ones for my own blog record, wakakaka.

Not since Helen of Sparta was abducted or seduced (depending on your leanings, wakakaka) which triggered the angry united Hellenic kingdoms in antiquity into launching a thousand ships to get her back, have Malaysians seen a mightily worried and furious UMNO launched a thousand kitchen sinks at sweetie Dyana Sofya to destroy her personal credibility, reputation and social standing.

Dyana as a young Malay woman breaking away from her expected allegiance to UMNO was a far too dangerous leak in the Heartland dam, one which may lead to a breakaway flood of Malay youths (their allegiance) in the Heartland to the DAP, a party which UMNO wants the Malays to consider and to continue to consider as a demonic Chinese political party.

Then there was a BN person who said it's only natural that Chinese in TI should vote for a Chinese candidate, wakakaka, but now, I don't want anyone to blame Ridhuan Tee, wakakaka.

Of course we have our Ahmad Maslan for comic relief as he continued to f**k up kau kau as in the comical episode of the so-called 150 DAP defectors. It turned out they were present for hampers and other gifts (any Janome sewing machines?), wakakaka, and were forced to wear BN T-shirts.

The comedy ended up with MIC getting riled at being blamed and who then whistle-blew at the remarkable Ahmad Maslan as being the joker responsible for the BN debacle.

Muhyiddin Yassin even exploited the demise and mourning period of Allahyarham HRH Sultan Azlan Shah to attack DAP with a fabricated accusation, one in which DAP responded to by publicly calling Muhyiddin a 'liar', which thus far he hadn't responded to.

But the harm would have already been done to DAP in the Heartland's view of the political party as being disrespectful to Allahyarham HRH. To twist the fabrication knife deeper in the DAP's side, Rayer (wakakaka) was also falsely accused of insulting Allahyarham HRH.

But appalling as such surat-layang-ish campaigning might be by western standards, it has been and will continue to be the typical, and thus to be expected, Malaysian style of political campaigning, either in public or intra party election campaigning.

Years ago while working in a public organization I learnt after an unscrupulous Chinese co-worker sabotaged me in order to be promoted ahead of yours truly, by fabricating vile racist actions on my part, that there could be no defence even against such fabricated accusations.

It's in our national character to believe all the worst in someone accused, and even when those fabrications were proven to be false/fabricated, the listeners (not the fabricators) would bizarrely take up the defence and justifications of the fabrications (perhaps to rationalize they were right in the first place to believe in the lies).

How to defend against such lies? What I did was to ignore them (the lies, liar and those who believed in those lies) and moved on, though of course I was mortally wounded career-wise.

But regardless, I urge the DAP not to falter in their Malay-nization strategy, where in earlier post
The necessary Malay-nization of DAP I had penned:

But what I really fear about the smear campaign against sweetie Dyana is that the DAP may chicken out of putting her as the much touted DAP candidate for the TI by-election, and backtrack into sh*t-scared safety by nominating a Chinese or Indian.

By such a play-safe action, that of a DAP retreating into its self-restricting non-Malay-ness, UMNO would be handed both a moral and a strategic victory as it wants DAP to be and thus to remain a Chinese party.

Thus, notwithstanding the undeniable threat of such a sleaze campaign (we Malaysians love sleaze even if fabricated), the DAP must bite the bullet and nominate sweetie Dyana for the TI by-election, and it must continue doing so with more Malays as its future election candidates for future state and federal parliaments.

DAP to its credit and political courage, and indeed strategic wisdom did not 'chicken' out as evident in its selection of Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud to contest the TI by-election despite some unhappiness within its Perak membership and in the wake of PAS hudud controversy which would have alienated many Chinese in TI. And Dyana did reasonably well despite many odds against her. The result was down to the wire, a mere 238 votes. She can improve on her performance

I like to appeal to the DAP leadership by reiterating that despite this by-election setback, it must continue to maintain its strategy of putting up Malay candidates like sweetie Dyana Sofya as its future election candidates. Memeganglah teguh tujuan parti ini!

News media have describe the TI by-election as probably the toughest election fought between BN (essentially UMNO) and Pakatan. But I see it as a watershed in so many aspects: firstly, DAP put up a Malay candidate while UMNO (let's not mince words that it wasn't UMNO) put up one of those evil Chinese, wakakaka; secondly, to win the Malay candidate had depended on Chinese support while the Chinese candidate on Malay and Indian support, wakakaka.

How more Malaysian could that have been, though in a bizarre politically acrimonious way. 

But in truth, the Heartland is still fairly impenetrable, not just to DAP but also, as had been known, to PAS (local TI branch very unhappy) and PKR. However, it's gratifying to read that there was a slight swing of Malay voters to Dyana, though the Chinese and Indians swung by 10% each to Mah.

The DAP must continue chipping away at the great walls of the Heartland fortress, which UMNO had feared Dyana would do the reverse of the (story of the) little Dutch boy who plugged his teeny weeny finder in the dyke to prevent a flood.

Finally, I wonder whether the Cadbury porcine DNA had anything to do with the TI by-election. Have you heard of subliminal advertising (or propaganda) which is illegal in western countries.

The Dictionary defines the word 'subliminal' as an adjective describing 'a stimulus or mental process below the threshold of sensation or consciousness, or perceived by or affecting someone's mind without their being aware of it.'

Say, I sell fizzy cold drink 'X' and want to influence people to buy it. I get an advertizing company to insert a short video strip of scenes showing how marvellously refreshing it is to drink 'X' in among the tapes of a movie or TV show. The inserted strip of tape extolling the refreshing nature of 'X' would be appropriately short so that its effect is subliminal, or that while the audience won't consciously see it, it will subliminally affects or influence the audience's mind without their being aware of it.

Now, the Cadbury brouhaha wasn't exactly a classical subliminal happening, but I could see it as being a variant of subliminal propaganda, that was, to invoke revulsion and anger among the pious Muslims and to hopefully channel their abhorrence against all things porcine, including the consumers of pigs (specially the already perceived 'Chinese' DAP). 

Far-fetched? No more than Dr Mahathir's postulation that MH370 was remotely commandeered, controlled and flown to a mysterious Lost City of Atlantis in the southern Indian Ocean.

After all, didn't they day 'all is fair in love and war', and politics in Malaysia is war!