What lies behind City Hall's brutalities?

I hope not to raise your blood pressure too much, but I realize that may well be difficult as I relate the typical arrogant, atrocious, and (non) accountable Malaysian City Hall brutalities visited upon some residents in Kampung Rimba Jaya in Padang Jawa, near Shah Alam.

Malaysiakini reported that the Menteri Besar was alleged to have directed storm troopers in their steel jackboots, backed by the usual licence-to-bash FRU, perpetrate a demolition rampage, smashing houses, a surau and a 100-year old Hindu temple.

In the fracas, residents were badly injured, arrested and had their homes smashed to smithereens. Two of them, a 50-year old woman and a 16-year old boy suffered very serious injuries. Their clothes were soaked with their own blood.

Four lawyers who attempted to assist the people at the police station lodge reports against the state government and relevant authorities were themselves physically abused by the police and then held in custody together with the detained residents. One of them was pushed to the ground, stepped on a policeman who pointed a submachine gun at him.

Works Minister and MIC President Samy Vellu was present but was completely ignored by the authorities. He urged (obviously in vain) all state and local governments to stop the demolition of Hindu temples as this was disrespectful towards the religion. He also complained to his Uncle AAB.

Malaysiakini said that this appears to be the first time Samy Vellu had spoken out strongly on the issue which has been dogging the Hindu community for the past few years, particularly in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. Well, maybe he smelled the general election being very near.

You think the above was bad? Wait ... now what I don’t understand have been the following:

(1) The MPSA enforcement officers were reported to be beating people with batons. An eye-witness saw an enforcement officer pulled out a knife, waving it around threateningly.

Hey, what’s the actual role of the City Hall’s enforcement officers? Does it include the authority to beat people up with batons? This criminal action has been the norm for Malaysian City Hall enforcement officers, who somehow see themselves as local Rajas, little Napoleans, clones of medieval Sultans who could bash anyone they like, just because they wear some form of uniform.

It’s not unique to the MPSA. It’s a frightening phenomenon that extends to RELA officers as well. Sometime ago, we had such a Ministry’s enforcement officer attempting to shoot a peddler of pirate DVDs but instead end up shooting an innocent bloke who was dining nearby.

For crying out loud, using a gun on a seller of pirated DVDs?

Then we had the infamous Zuok club raid where so-called religious officers bared their fangs of authority to humiliate, sexually harass and ogle at Muslim women caught in that raid.

There was also another religious officer who forced a Muslim woman, who went to appeal to him about a compromising situation she was caught in by same religious officer, to give him a complimentary blow-job while the woman’s unsuspecting boyfriend waited outside the office.

And of course we had the elderly American couple in Langkawi who were harassed so threateningly by religious officers in the wee hours of the morning that the frightened elderly lady flew back to America the following day.

Yes, it seems there’s a frightening mentality among our uniformed civil staff that we need to watch out for, which has been why we need to monitor veryt carefully the attempted glorifying and sanctifying of the Mat Rempit.

(2) Police were reported to have fired several shots at a lorry, puncturing at least one tyre. Nanyang Siang Pau reported that five shots were fired, when several residents had tried to escape the police in the lorry. They were later arrested.

Now, this is serious. In a City Hall demolition exercise, the Police (as law officers) would protect and enable the MPSA enforcement officers to perform their duties, usually that of removing unauthorized constructions or even items that blocked a thoroughfare etc. The MPSA aren’t policemen and certainly couldn't conduct criminal assault, or any abusive or retaliatory actions against protestors, which has been why the police were there to escort/protect them.

If residents who had been responsible for the illegal constructions run away, that would minimize the usual confrontation between protestors and authority. So why did the police open fire at them, even if it had been to stop them ‘escaping’? What ‘escaping’?

In fact the police should be glad that the residents had run away during a demolition exercise, clearing the coast for those City Hall enforcement officers.

But it seems as if the police were hell bent on nabbing the residents to hold them in custody, maybe to prove a point, or to show their power?

(3) Meanwhile human rights activist S Kumaravel, who is also Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas (Jerit) exco member said: "The police told us that the order was from the Menteri Besar (Mohd Khir Toyo). There was no court order to demolish the surau or the temple."

No court order, and religious buildings, one of which was a 100-year old temple, were demolished, illegally?

Malaysiakini also reported that Suhakam has condemned the manner employed by the authorities to demolish a Hindu temple in Shah Alam yesterday.

Suhakam commissioner Dr Denison Jayasooria said the incident showed that the authorities did not have respect for religious and cultural sensitivities.

“The authorities may have state or legal right to carry out the demolition, but the manner in which it was conducted requires far greater consideration,” he told a press conference at the Suhakam headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

“Suhakam has been repeating this so many times. But the authorities seem to be deaf. They cannot display simple human decency in responding to a crisis.

“Why make it a crisis when it can be settled amicably?” he said, adding that the demolition was untimely since the Hindu festival of Deepavali was only a week away.

I wonder what is it that had compelled or motivated the Menteri Besar to go hell bent for broke in this unmitigated abuse of human rights conducted by his 'storm troopers'? What would be behind it all?

GANG WAR? - but within Police Force

Bloody frightening news by Malaysiakini.

A gang war exists. My only (atheist’s) prayer is that no innocent bystander gets hurt – no, we sure as hell don’t want those Yankee-style nonsensical excuse of ‘collateral damage’.

In an article title Commercial crime chief: I’m RM27 mil man, Malaysiakini tells us Ramli Yusuff, the director of the Police Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) has been the police officer investigated for amassing RM27 million in undeclared assets.

And Ramli Yusuff himself admitted it.

But the tale he provided reveals that the central figure of a very dodgy gang war has been an alleged underworld kingpin named Goh Cheng Poh @ Tengku.

No, the gang war is not between groups of civilian samsengs. It’s between factions in the Police Force.

According to Ramli, he was ordered to declare his assets after Johari Baharum, the Deputy Internal Security Minister, ordered him to arrest and detain Goh.

Ramli said the ACA and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) - a separate section in the police force - subsequently investigated and cleared Goh. According to Ramli, their investigation “... certainly did not include the subject matter of CCID’s investigations into Goh’s affairs as directed by the deputy internal security minister.”

So, having been cleared by the CID, Tengku Goh or Goh Tengku applied to the High Court to set aside Johari’s banishment order to send him to Budu-land.

Ramli described as an “unprecedented stance” - in other words, he was shocked, gobsmacked, stunned etc – when the Internal Security Ministry’s (note, not Deputy Internal Security Ministry’s) legal advisor - who is an officer of our world’s famous Attorney-General’s Chambers - declined to help the CCID to fight the case.

Malaysiakini continued the story as:

Instead, the legal advisor had ordered Ramli and his officers to prepare by themselves affidavits of the events surrounding their preparation of investigative papers on Goh.

“I was under advice at the time that the AG was under a duty to advise and assist us in the preparation of the said affidavits under Article 145 of the Federal Constitution and the Government Proceedings Act, 1956," he said.

Instead, Ramli said he had to seek legal advice from a private law firm to draft the affidavits.

A case of the Police Force or AG’s office abandoning a police officer on a matter related to police duty. A case of the Police tables being turned on the CCID. Who has been the innocent or the guilty?

Maybe the IGP and AG Abdul Gani Patail can tell us more?

According to Ramli , the ACA then got nasty. It started to investigate his department’s officers for allegedly abusing their powers. Ramli also revealed that the ACA arrested Rosli Dahlan, the lawyer who had helped the CCID to prepare its affidavits. Rosli was subsequently charged in court for failure to declare his assets after he was ordered to do so by ACA.

Ramli lamented “Within the week, several officers of the CCID were arrested and charged in court for allegedly falsifying evidence concerning the banishment of Goh.”

Then the crunch came – Ramli revealed the most frightening aspect of the sordid internal war within the Interrnal Security Ministry/Police Force.

He said the identities of police informants were obtained in a manner that ignored arrangements to protect those informers. The method used deliberately ignored or circumvent the Inspector General's Standing Orders. He said this blatant disregard of security measures to protect the ID of informers has brought about a clear and present danger to the intelligence gathering ability of the police force and its ability to protect its informants.

Kaytee can only concludes that Ramli has revealed all this in a press conference to go on the offensive against the other ‘gang’ - who knows, perhaps under instruction from his 'boss'.

Now in August I posted What's AAB up to, extending Musa Hassan's service?

I then wrote:

Since Musa Hassan assumed the position of IGP, the crime rate hasn’t improved. In fact it has become worse. On performance alone, I wonder why the PM/Internal Security Minister has seen fit to extend Musa’s service?

Secondly, it’s known that he can’t get along with Johari Baharum, the Deputy Minister of Internal Security, an unworkable situation in Internal Security, where Malaysiakini has reported the Royal Malaysian Police (RMP) is now divided, with loyalties of police officers spilt between Johari Baharum and Musa Hassan.

Surely that’s not an acceptable working situation. PM AAB must get rid of one of them to ensure there is unity of command in the RMP. And the PM must also explain why he has not foreseen this impossibly monumental problem.

We cannot afford this gang war within the Internal Security Ministry-Police Force, no, not at a time when the crime rate has soared to a historical high and the security situation is considered to be disgracefully in the pits.

But the man responsible for allowing this to continue is the Minister of Internal Security, none other than the PM, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.


Related:
(1) We're a 'clean' nation
(2) Corruption allegations - AG more like Defence Attorney?

Lingam tape - de facto kamsia, de jure kow tim

I wasn’t surprised, no, not the least bit, when Malaysiakini reported that the ACA has dismissed the explosive Lingam videotape as being of dodgy authenticity.

In fact I had expected it as I blogged in Lingam tape - Anwar Ibrahim & the missing 6-minutes!

… vintage Anwar - a man too clever by half, where he has now through his 'cleverness' allowed the Head of the ACA to seize the initiative by stating the Lingam videotape is inadmissible evidence because the footage had been edited. The ACA boss questioned the veracity of the video clip, which is the only evidence in the case.

And if we keep an open mind, it would be damn difficult to fault the Head of the ACA on this ..... though of course we could still argue till the cows come home

Though I have a low opinion of the general judiciary (with some exceptions), and I personally lean towards the allegations of dodginess, I am quite curious about those missing 6 minutes of the Lingam videotape.

There is no doubt the government has been a hopping, a skipping and a jumping, and rather clumsily and heavy-handedly, which is why I am personally inclined to believe in the authenticity of the tape …..

Then, in a subsequent posting De facto defeat I explained to visitor kittykat46 why I wasn’t at all impressed by Anwar’s handling of the tape:

Look at Anwar’s handling of this videotape – a tape that could have ripped powerfully into the rotting judiciary if it was handled with clinical and non-grandstanding care, as Lim Kit Siang would have done.

Instead he wanted to grandstand and exploit the shocking revelation for his (Anwar’s own) interest.

What Anwar had done that annoyed me - and I better declare my stand for newcomers to my blog, that I haven’t been impressed by Anwar Ibrahim for a long time - had been his usual teasing tantalizing titillating promises, which in this case has been harmful to the tape’s “authenticity”, in that it has given the ACA an opening to question its fidelity.

Look at what Anwar had been stating ever since we came to know of the explosive Lingam tape and its potential to expose the rottenness in the judiciary:

(1) He has more to show (in remaining portion of tape) that would further implicate the CJ.

As I commented, if that portion could implicate the CJ why not show it all? Why tease the audience, already captured, captivated and craving for the coup de grâce?

(2) He also said that revealing all would imperil the whistleblowers.

But if so, why boast of the remaining tape which would ‘further implicate the CJ’? Why not keep quiet about a remaining 6 minutes, and instead just surrender the 8-minute portion to the ACA in the first place, BUT with a copy released to the media (or to be more precise, Malaysiakini).

One of my uncles, who discussed with me the current Lingam videotape made shambolic by the ‘man man’ nonsense, told me of a situation many many years ago involving the late Tan Sri Dr Tan Chee Khoon who was known as Mr Opposition.

A disgruntled RMN anon sent a parcel of secret documents involving the alleged dodgy purchase of naval vessels to him. What did Tan Chee Khoon do?

Did he grandstand or ‘man man’-rize the opportunity?

No, Tan didn’t even read the documents the very moment he saw the ‘Secret’ classification on them. He immediately dispatched them to the authority (in those days the bureaucracy was still highly regarded) with a covering note that the military procurement documents were sent to him by some unknown person.

Now of course, today, one questions the allegiance of the Police and the ACA, which was why I suggested that after sending the Lingam tape to the ACA or Police, a copy could have been released to Malaysiakini or the international media (no 'Secret' classifiaction, so it's OK to do so) to prevent the tape’s burial in the secret archives of the government.

But no, there had to be the political grandstanding, which in the end, after much bravado about protecting the whistleblowers and thus not surrendering the remaining tape to the police, and marshalling the usual mob for support, the whole affair fizzled out to a tame surrender which wasn’t even accorded the dignity of an ACA acceptance.

The core issue of Anwar Ibrahim’s original defiance to protect the ID of the whistleblowers, abandoned in his eventual preparedness* to surrender the tape, was conveniently swept aside by spinmeisters who now blamed the ACA for not turning up. The argument has been cleverly shifted across from the so-called sanctity of protecting whistleblowers to who (Anwar or ACA) should have call upon whom - sheeesh! No, I am not prepared to grant him that deft tip-toeing through the tulips away from his assertion to protect the whistleblowers.

* From Malaysiakini article, the following on Anwar Ibrahim:

Asked to explain if “giving them what they want” meant that the ACA would receive the 14-minute version, he replied: “Yes, that is between me and them because to me, this thumb drive is only meant for them.”

Waving the thumb drive which was strapped tightly around his right wrist, he then said: “I want to see their reaction before I release it to the public.”

“We don’t want to give an impression that we are not giving co-operation (to the authorities),” he said.

Malaysiakini reported:

The report goes on to say that PKR officials have been “stonewalling ACA officers” ever since a report was lodged with the agency on the clip.

According to the paper, the ACA had already taken statements from “everyone related to the case” including those from a “senior judge”, who is likely to be Ahmad Fairuz.

As such, the report adds that the ACA is expected to hand over its findings to its prosecution unit soon for further action.

The source also revealed that the ACA would be briefing a government established three-member panel, which is also probing the video clip’s authenticity, on its findings on Monday.

Do you imagine for one instant the government cares two hoots about how you and I (already lost votes to them) would see the ACA’s dismissal of the authenticity of the Lingam videotape?

Go on, rave and rant, it already has the necessary ‘goods’, provided by the ACA, to show to the 'heartland’about the ‘lack of fidelity’ of tampered evidence and an uncooperative Opposition person.

The painful truth of the unnecessary grandstanding but shambolic handling of the tape which has allowed the fish to slip through the net may be unpalatable to the faithful and sympathizers, but in the end it's a story that has to be remembered as one concluding with:

Kamsia, kamsia! Semua kow tim! Semua beres!

Policemen killed - PM AAB did an 'unpardonable'

"You cannot solve a problem by condemning it" -Wayne Dwyer

"The dead cannot cry out for justice; it is a duty of the living to do so for them" - Lois McMaster Bujold


Malaysiakini has reported very sad news. Two policemen were killed when they attempted to raid a syabu (illicit drug) processing laboratory.

Kaytee offers deepest condolences to the families of Lance Corporal K Jayabalan and Lance Corporal M Alagesan.












I hope the government and police will look after their families.

Two other policemen, Chief Inspectors Helmi Zakaria and R Rajkumaran were also shot but are now in stable conditions in the hospital.

A massive manhunt is on, as would and should be in the case of the most dangerous of all crimes, the gunning down of law officers.

While mistakes had undoubtedly been made, and lessons should be learnt, and even heads to roll, let me provide a piece of advice to PM AAB, who lambasted the police in saying:

“The approach (used by the police officers) in this case was inappropriate. It (the killings) could have been avoided if it was carried out properly, with help from different police squads, probably with the use of loud hailers as well.”

“To have a proper strategy, the superiors should be notified before any raid is carried out. It is vital to have a well coordinated plan before embarking on raids against suspects.”

Just motherhood statements (sounds good to say but too late to implement, and bloody useless for those two victims), no doubt taken from advice provided by his police advisor. The Star Online reported the IGP as also saying:

Musa also ordered thorough investigations into what actually happened, including finding out if the officers and men involved in the operation were part of a task force.

He also wants answers as to how the operation was carried out and who the task force commander was.

“When we form a task force, officers and personnel from various departments will be roped in to assist in the investigations and operations.

All well and good, IGP, but let’s leave the blame game aside for a while and concentrate on hunting those killers down first.

Therefore my advice, my dear PM, is that you don’t, nay, you NEVER start pointing fingers in the immediate aftermath of such a tragedy. It’s inappropriate, untimely and hurtful to the bereaving families, and it demoralises the entire police force.

There is a time and place for such criticism, but never immediately after such a tragedy.

Right now, in such a state of depression, anger and no doubt regrets in the police force, you should be not only fortifying but actually raising the morale of the policemen.

Unfortunately, you have not been trained as an officer of His Majesty's Armed Service and therefore lack that understanding of how to lead men and raise their morale, so I am aware you wouldn't have a clue. You are just a politician!

So, you have either received poor advice or took it onto yourself to translate the information provided by your police advisor into a public statement of admonishment.

Datuk, your uncalled for admonishment has been an unmitigated and terrible astonishment!

By now, I hope that you would have realised you have been compromised by the Police blame game, where the senior police officers right from the IGP downwards who have command responsibility for the deaths of those two policemen have been busy pointing fingers all around, and the best bodies to point fingers at have always been dead ones, because they can’t answer back.

Finger pointing ‘downwards’ has always and will always be slimy managerial politics of incompetents, who aren’t capable of effective operational recovery.

By contrast (based purely on Malaysiakini report) look at what CID chief Christopher Wan Soo Kee has to say:

The deaths of our men will not deter us from hunting them down to every corner of the country. Policemen are sad with this senseless killings of their colleagues but they will soldier on to maintain peace and security for all citizens.

Police investigation will involve the entire Bukit Aman police force, Selangor police and Kuala Lumpur police.

The morale must be maintained by letting the policemen know that no criminal kills one of them and gets away. No stone will be left unturned. Those killers must be caught and brought to justice. It’s actually not a brilliant kaytee’s idea but a universal attitude of policemen all around the world, and a right one for a lawful society which will not tolerate disrespect to society's appointed law officers.

I hope, my dear PM, you have learnt something from your terrible faux pas.

Who benefits from 'freer skies'?

Malaysiakini reported in S'pore 'committed' to freer skies with M'sia that the Transport Ministry proclaimed:

“Singapore is fully committed to liberalising air services between our two countries as soon as possible."

"This includes not only the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route, but also between Singapore and additional cities in Malaysia."

The Ministry also added that freer skies would bring the neighbours ‘one step closer’ to Asean's goal of lifting all restrictions on passenger flights between the bloc's capital cities by December 2008.

May I assume logically that Malaysiakini has been referring to the “Singapore” Transport Ministry?

The (?) Transport ministry made the comments after AirAsia won a long battle to fly the lucrative Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route, breaking a 35-year stranglehold by national carriers Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines. The Ministry also said that Singapore and Malaysian officials will meet soon to discuss the expansion of their air services agreement.

If you look at the traditional exchange of entry points, or routes between points – like KL – Singapore – KL (or if you are on the other side, Singapore – KL – Singapore), and of course Singapore – Penang –Singapore - it's always one for an equal one.

But in the final analysis, Singapore has only one landing point to offer, even if it opens up all major airports on the Island. But in Malaysia, there’s KL, Penang, Kuching, KK, Sandakan, etc. Likewise with other ASEAN nations (except Brunei).

The only advantage for Malaysia in the ‘freer skies’ that a teeny weeny nation like Singapore naturally favours, would be that other (foreign) airlines would bring in tourists. As Malaysia is currently hell-bent on growing its tourist industry, we have to accept and rely on foreign airlines like the giant SIA to do the job (of bringing in tourists) for us.

If our MAS was as strong (through superior management and superior vision), we would have better bargaining powers and be less dependent on airlines of other nations to bring tourists into Malaysia. But in relying on them, we derpive our own airlines of their rightful market share.

But what I dread is that Malaysia may even surrender cabotage rights away to the airlines of Singapore.

Wiki has this to say about ‘cabotage’:

Cabotage is the transport of goods or passengers between two points in the same country. Originally starting with shipping, cabotage now also covers aviation, railways and road transport.

Cabotage is "trade or navigation in coastal waters, or, the exclusive right of a country to operate the air traffic within its territory."

Cabotage is commonly used as part of the term "cabotage rights," the right of a company from one country to trade in another country. In aviation terms, it is the right to operate within the domestic borders of another country. Most countries do not permit cabotage by foreign companies ...

In other words, this means the restriction to foreign airlines of the right to fly between Malaysian airports, or domestic routes, like Penang to KK, or Kuching to KL, or KL to KK, etc.

As Wiki poined out, most nations don’t or very rarely surrender cabotage. Look at what Singapore can offer in return? Changi to Paya Lebar? Tengah to Sembawang?

It's no wonder Singapore promotes the need for 'free skies'. It has everything to gain and nothing to lose.

But I fear with a powerful, sophisticated and very effective Singapore keiretsu-ish aviation juggernaut bargaining, and certain personalities in our current regime in pally buddy relationship, Malaysia may just sell the family aviation jewels away.

De facto defeat

The ACA achieved its aim – of showing Anwar Ibrahim would surrender the entire 14-minute Lingam videotape when push comes to shove (when the chips are down).

That has been the objective all along!

Malaysiakini reported (my comments follow each paragraph):

Had the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) turned up at PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim’s office this morning, they would have walked away with a copy of the 14-minute full video clip dubbed the ‘Lingam tape’.

Yawnnnnnnnn – of course, did anyone imagine for one instant that Anwar Ibrahim would be of the same calibre as Steven Gan, Premesh Chandran or Lim Guan Eng?

Anwar had insisted all along - confirmed by his aide as recently as yesterday - that all the officers would get from him was the eight-minute version, in order to protect the identity of the two unnamed sources who recorded the footage in 2002.

And the about-turn? But then, wasn’t this the bloke who said “I would have been removed earlier had I objected earlier” when asked why he didn’t stop the rampant corruption while he was DPM?

ACA officers, who were scheduled to have met Anwar at 11am, called off their plan at the last minute “until further notice”.

Lapur Datuk, objectif tercapai, masalah selesai, morale musuh koyah liao lah.

Today was also the deadline set by the ACA for Anwar to hand in the original version of the 14-minute clip, failing which he could have been prosecuted under the ACA Act. This carries a maximum two-year jail term, fine up to RM10,000, or both, on conviction.

So ...

Malaysiakini tells us that:

Asked to explain if “giving them what they want” meant that the ACA would receive the 14-minute version, he replied: “Yes, that is between me and them because to me, this thumb drive is only meant for them.”

;-)

Waving the thumb drive which was strapped tightly around his right wrist, he then said: “I want to see their reaction before I release it to the public.”

“I want to see their reaction before I release it to the public” - hahahahaha – he isn’t known as the Renaissance Man for nothing!

Anwar sidestepped questions as to whether his intention to hand in the full clip could now be interpreted as giving in to pressure.

;-) Tap dancing ...

“We don’t want to give an impression that we are not giving co-operation (to the authorities),” he said.

No, of course not. But you know somethin' - if it was Tian Chua, it would have been a different story. One is dedicated, one is de facto-defeated - you decide who is which ;-)

Badruddin Amiruldin insulted God!

Badruddin Amiruldin!

What do you do with a so-called member of Parliament (BN-Jerai) who behaved in the most despicable and loathsome manner, that ordinary people wouldn’t, couldn’t imagine a representative of the people’s could sink down to? Well, they better re-think because he did so.

When Karpal Singh said many MPs are not well behaved in Parliament (tell us something new) he warned that the so-called august House of Parliament would have a problem if they are not penalized for their unruly behaviour.

There has to be ‘cause’ and ‘effect’ – in the case of unparlimentary language ('cause'), the 'effect' must be expulsion from sitting for a period.

Malaysiakini said that Karpal recalled the examples of Bocor-ite Bung Mokhtar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) who uttered the disgusting word bocor to Fong insinuating she was suffering from her monthly ‘period’, and Badruddin Amiruldin (BN-Jerai), who used a foul word in a sitting not so long ago.

Believe it or not, on an issue relating to unparlimentary behaviour and language the UMNO tebuan keeper jumped up to shout at Karpal:

"I used the foul word because I was defending my race and country. You were attacking my race and that's why God has taught you a good lesson by putting you in a wheelchair."

Bangsa, Negara dan Agama – the teflon-ised UMNO formula that permits hoodlums like Badruddin Amiruddin to say anything and get away with unbelievable cruel words against a chair-bound Karpal.

“...God has taught you a good lesson by putting you in a wheelchair ...”!

So Badruddin claimed his God put people in a wheelchair because his race was attacked! He has effectively blamed God for his own disgusting uncivilised behaviour by averring that the compassionate Almighty punished his enemies for him.

Well, well, well, PM AAB, was that an example of your Islam Hadhari?

That happened on Monday, but today when Karpal asked Deputy Speaker Yusof Yacob: "Badruddin should withdraw his statement about me. Can you (Tuan yang dipertua) make him withdraw his statement?”

The useless Deputy Speaker said that it would be irrelevant to raise an issue that had passed. I am not sure whether to laugh or cry or spit at him.

Badruddin insulted Karpal, he insulted parliament, he insulted all disabled people, he insulted the people of Malaysia, he insulted common decency, but most of all he insulted God!

But PM AAB has been worse, he insulted himself and his Islam Hadhari by condoning his foul mouthed garbage in Parliament.

Lim Kit Siang pissing in the wind?

Once upon a time (yes, kaytee’s telling fairy tales again) there lives a sweetie who unexpectedly criticized me for being “shockingly rude about AB Sulaiman”!

“... shockingly rude ...”?

“… AB Sulaiman …”?

Where, when, why, how, … but of course I couldn’t add ‘who’ to the list to make up Rudyard Kipling’s recommended five questions … because she did refer to AB Sulaiman.

I trawled my own blog to see where kaytee had been naughty, and came up with AB Sulaiman Pissing into the Wind?

Aha!

Actually I wasn’t rude to AB Sulaiman, who, as I had posted:

... wrote a very interesting article titled A suggestion to the Chief Secretary in Malaysiakini, an independent Malaysian news online (subscription required). His article is sure to arouse the wrath in Malay and government quarters, for though it’s an advice or appeal to the Malaysian Civil Service chief to be what good civil servants ought to be in a Westminster democracy like Malaysia, it covers very comprehensively the racist, corrupt and shambolic state of the government.

In his article he reminded everyone of what Malaysia had been before the May 13 racial riots of 1969. The government was run on a system of check and balance as inherited from the British. The level of corruption was minimal and manageable unlike today.

I then concluded with:

Sulaiman also viewed with alarm Prime Minister Ahmad Abdullah Badawi’s backtrack on his earlier exhortations for the Malays to stop depending on government spoon feeding and be self made personalities (Towering Malays). He saw this in the prime minister’s attempt at rationalizing the continuation of the NEP or National Economic Policy, basically a very aggressive affirmative action for Malays, when Badawi argued that for every one ringgit the Malay earns, the non-Malay earns 80% more.

It's a timely wake-up call against a corrupt and racist system that has eroded the foundations of good public governance in a democracy. However, while I admire Sulaiman's brave, excellent and spot-on article, his call will be against extremely powerful vested interests. It'll be like pissing into the wind.

Hmmm, hardly rude ;-), au contraire.

I suppose I could have said, "it’ll be like casting pearls …" or "banging his head against an immovable wall."

… which leads me to another similar case, where Opposition Leader Lim KS of the DAP wrote an open letter published in Malaysiakini to Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz to:

... act in the national interest and to restore public confidence in the judiciary by withdrawing your application for six-month extension on your due retirement at the end of the month and to give full support for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Tape.

Such an action on your part will avert a new constitutional crisis over your controversial application for a six-month extension as well as a new crisis of confidence in the judiciary.

… yadda yadda yadda

I think Lim KS had been just like AB Sulaiman, pissing in the wind, in appealing to the nobler instincts of CJ Fairuz, a man purportedly (allegedly) the ‘other party’ in a dodgy telephone conversation captured on the infamous Lingam videotape.

This one is for a special sweetie ;-)

Lingam tape - Anwar Ibrahim & the missing 6-minutes!

You know, it’s that old story about a woman who’s a “bit pregnant” ;-)

The ladies would then come out roaring that the phrase “a bit pregnant” is typical male ignorance, because the subject is either pregnant or not pregnant.

Well, the posting I have in mind is almost like that, though not quite as serious as ‘pregnancy’.

It’s that Lingam videotape – it’s either a videotape capturing evidence of tampering of judicial appointments or a videotape that doesn't or haven't captured any evidence - In other words it can't be "a bit pregnant".

Thus, by logical extension, if it’s 14 minutes, then it can’t be 8 minutes.

… which has been why I have been wondering about Anwar Ibrahim’s assertion one month ago that the videotape allegedly compromising Chief Justice Fairuz was a 14-minute clip of which he was releasing only 8 minutes of it as its first part - implying there's a second part coming.

In fact, I will show in a short while, based on a Malaysiakini report, that Anwar Ibrahim did make such a promise, that he would show the second part of the videotape.

But now, his coyness with that second part has led to the ACA threatening him with arrest if he doesn't hand it over to them.

Why hasn't he in the first place just say, hey, here’s a damning 8-minute videotape of one of the Chief Justice's dodgy buddies in a compromising telephone conversation – full stop!

Indeed a filmed videotape could be of any length, like 8, 14, 21, etc minutes. Who would be any wiser that there was another 6 minutes on the Lingam tape?

So why had Anwar Ibrahim made that elaborate description of the release being an 8-minute of a 14-minute tape?

OK, here's the reason. As I recall it, on 01 October 2007 Malaysiakini reported Anwar Ibrahim as saying:

On Sept 19, Anwar revealed an eight-minute video clip purportedly made in 2002. It recorded a phone conversation by senior lawyer VK Lingam, who made reference to brokering judicial appointments.

Anwar had initially said that portions of the 14-minute tape had been removed to protect the identity of the person who recorded it.

On Saturday, however, he claimed to be waiting for the “right time” to reveal the remaining footage, which he said would further implicate current Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim as the other party on the telephone line.

Saturday in above last paragraph would be 29 September 2007. So, if Anwar has been “waiting for the ‘right time' to reveal the remaining footage, which he said would further implicate current Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim as the other party on the telephone line", why is there now his reluctance or coyness in releasing the remaining tape?

C'mon, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, let’s see the rest of tape, so as "to further implicate" the alleged tainted Chief Justice Fairuz.

So, if you did plan to release the second (6-minutes) portion of the tape, as you announced (as reported by Malaysiakini), "to further implicate the Chief Justice", why are you showing reluctance now?

Surely it can't be the identity of the whistleblowers that you're concerned about, because your plan, announced at the end of September, had been to reveal the remaining footage to further implicate the Chief Justice! Now's hardly the time to claim that excuse.

But alas, instead he now argues that the remaining portion of the clip could not be revealed to protect the identity of the two whistleblowers, which leads me to ask again (perhaps ad nausem, but regrettably an inconsistency that demands asking): Why the hell did he promise to reveal it - to further implicate ..... yadda yadda yadda ...?

Looks like it's another of Anwar Ibrahim's 'man man'* promises.

* Chinese for 'slowly slowly' or also in certain context, 'soon, soon', implying a promise that would shortly be fulfilled - which, I regret to announce, of the many Anwar Ibrahim's 'man man' promises, we haven't yet realised one

He then claimed that the original copy was still with the two whistleblowers. As reported by Malaysiakini, he said:

“(The release of the remaining clip) is subject to the whistleblowers. They want to be protected, (and) I can’t protect their personal security.”

hahahahaha - vintage Anwar - a man too clever by half, where he has now through his 'cleverness' allowed the Head of the ACA to seize the initiative by stating the Lingam videotape is inadmissible evidence because the footage had been edited. The ACA boss questioned the veracity of the video clip, which is the only evidence in the case.

And if we keep an open mind, it would be damn difficult to fault the Head of the ACA on this .... though of course we could still argue till the cows come home ;-)

Though I have a low opinion of the general judiciary (with some exceptions), and I personally lean towards the allegations of dodginess, I am quite curious about those missing 6 minutes of the Lingam videotape.

Could it be, as I had scoffed earlier, one of Anwar Ibrahim's 'man man' promise, something to tease, tantalise and titillate you but without having any substance at all, like his 'man man' but uncompleted story of Najib's role in the Altantuyaa Sharibuu tragedy?

As I had blogged in Ijok - the final countdown: He first thrilled the Chinese crowd with a sexy ‘who’s dunnit’ - the Altantuyaa Shariibuu murder and its alleged association with Najib, cleverly sprinkled with Cantonese (or Mandarin) words such as a teasing man man (which context may be loosely translated as ‘slowly, be patient, wait a while for the more juicy bits’) to avoid telling the gossipy tale to its completion. Truly the hallmark of a good story teller, or a salesman.

Also see my post The Anwar style of campaigning.

In other words, maybe there isn't any extra 6 minutes of missing tape! And surely it would be a bloody dumb pair of whistleblowers who hadn't removed that portion which identifies them before passing the tape over to Anwar Ibrahim.

Or, could it be that the missing 6 minutes showed something inconvenient, that is, yes, there was the alleged Lingam-ish fixing of judicial appointments but there was also far more than what Anwar had presented?

Unfortunately with Anwar Ibrahim, you can’t tell which is what, or what is which?

There is no doubt the government has been a hopping, a skipping and a jumping, and rather clumsily and heavy-handedly, which is why I am personally inclined to believe in the authenticity of the tape, but you may bet one thing, the alleged (now I have to use the word 'alleged' here) yet-to-be-shown 6-minute videotape must be something far more interesting than just the identities of the whistleblowers.

Yes, what is Anwar Ibrahim holding back?

End of Malaysia's Space Odyssey?

Malaysiakini is my favourite news source though I must say that at times I have been a bit cheesed off with it.

One of its annoying idiosyncrasies has been the constant use of the word ‘helm’, as in ‘he helms the department’.

Malaysiakini's persistent employment of this word has been driving me up the wall. Why not use instead ‘head’, ‘lead’, ‘direct’, ‘manage’, ‘overseer’, ‘control’, etc?

Or, is there someone in Malaysiakini with a nautical bent? OK then, by all means, do use ‘skipper’, ‘captain’, ‘command’, ‘steer’, ‘pilot’ etc.

But for heaven’s sake, please give ‘helm’ a bloody rest.

Similarly, I am getting a bit irritated by Malaysiakini’s repetitive reference to Sheik Muszaphar’s profession as 'doctor and part time model'. For example, in its news today M'sians walking tall after space odyssey it reported that “Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, a 35-year-old doctor and part-time model, returned to Earth on Sunday at 1043 GMT after 11 days in space.”

Exactly one week ago, I had blogged in The betrayal of Sheik Muszaphar Shukor! the following (extract):

Sheik Muszaphar Shukor – Angkasawan Malaysian yang Pertama, cosmonaut, astronaut, hero, lang chai, pride of Malaysia and Malays – but also referred to scornfully as space participant, first class space passenger, US30 million dollar man, RM100 million Bolehnaut, astronothing, cosmonaught, anak kepada seorang Datuk (memang dipilih lah), and various nasty terms and derogatory descriptions, which you may find at Malaysia-Today blog.

I am not sure whether Malaysiakini has been sniping at him too, because whenever it published a news item (except for the most recent one about AAB’s disappointment) it would describe Sheik Muszaphar as “a doctor and part-time model”

Why has it necessary to do that – why not just a doctor, considering that the ‘part time modeling’ has been what it is, just a ‘part time’ activity? Once is OK, but when it’s reported with a high degree of regularity, kaytee begins to wonder whether there has been an unseen sneer accompanying that unusually long and totally unnecessary description of Muszaphar’s job?

He's safely back, and I congratulate him for his adventure. Anyway, I see some moderation creeping into our national state of space euphoria – by the way, one pilot told me that 'hypoxia' (lack of oxygen, as experienced in the higher altitudes) leads to a state of ‘euphoria’, which the dictionary kindly informs us is “a feeling of happiness, confidence, or well-being sometimes exaggerated in pathological states as mania.” Ahem!

Anyway, back to that glimpse of ‘some moderation creeping in our national space euphoria’ that I mentioned. Malaysiakini reported:

Malaysian leaders see the space flight as a milestone for the country which is marking a half-century of independence from British colonial rule, and are mulling sending another citizen into space.

Najib said the government has until the end of 2009 to decide if it wants to accept an offer from the Russian Space Agency for another Malaysian to journey to the International Space Station (ISS) in late 2010 or early 2011.

Muszaphar's trip was part of a billion-dollar purchase of 18 Sukhoi 30-MKM fighter jets from Russia but Najib said a second space mission will involve direct financing.

"Since the next expedition would involve public funds, the government would have to convince the public of the need of the mission," Najib said.

I think it’s the end of the road for the standby cosmonaut, Faiz Rasheed. Najib has virtually killed off the continuation of the program, well ..... at least until the government feels safe to do so again, or indeed there is a genuine need for a Malaysian space program.

A space program should only exist to serve national interest. The USA and the Soviet Union had space programs during the 1960’s as part of their Cold War jostling. Today the Yanks do it because they want to exploit space for military use, to gain a dominating combat medium. Many advanced nations know that they have to do so, if they want a piece of real estate up there (Moon, asteroids, Mars, etc), just like the real estate in Antarctica - in those immortal spine-chilling words of Star Trek: "Space - these are the final frontiers for ... fossil fuel."

I don’t think showing off our teh tarik, roti canai or our Malaysian cultural activity of 'open house' in zero gravity would be sufficient justification for investing hundreds of millions of ringgit.

I am pleased that good olde gravity has brought back into play some earthly commonsense, that is, if I had read Najib’s comments correctly.

PPP a Disgrace - Denied Datukship, Denied Dignity

A thousand Phew for Kayveas because, according to Malaysiakini, Mr Slow Motion has finally come out (after an agonising long and humiliating week for Kayveas and the PPP), no, not to rebuke Ali Rustam for his gross discourtesy as the guest of honour at the PPP Malacca annual assembly (how can, UMNO is never wrong), but to say a wee sweet words at the PPP KL party assembly.

AAB stated: "People don't like to see brothers quarrelling among themselves. They would say the family is not stable. We must always be reasonable and that should be our prime effort. People who fight and oppose us want to see us split.”

My dear PM, the bloke who wanted to see the BN split, by rudely shouting at the PPP to get the hell out of the BN, and mind you, at the PPP Malacca party assembly where he was 'guest of honour', had been none other than the No 1 UMNO man there, Ali Rustam. Ali Rustam's conduct had been against the hallowed institution of Malay traditional charm and courtesy.

Did I say ‘hallowed institution of renown Malay traditional charm and courtesy’?

Yes, I did, which brings to mind a Malay saying “Biar mati anak, jangan mati adat” (Better your children should die than your traditions), indicating uncompromising Malay pride in their traditions, where courtesy has been the hallmark of Malay culture – well, of most Malays because there has been one who had recently displayed his uncouth behaviour, and in that process, disgraced his ethnic culture.

Mind you, instead of rebuking Ali Rustam, AAB instead chided Kayveas for stating (earlier) what has been and still is the truth, that the BN should not descend into a government "of the few, by the few, for the few". Very few people ever agree with Kayveas but in that statement of his, most would unhesitatingly.

Another Kayveas faux pas in the eyes of AAB was his (Kayveas) assertion that the BN was formed after the Perikatan (Alliance, the original coalition of UMNO, MCA and MIC) had failed. That's another Kayveas' truth which would now be given a quiet burial, at least within the BN.

But AAB restored some face to Kayveas when he said: "He (Kayveas) said he has sent the request for more seats to the central committee. I say, since he has sent the request, then we would consider it."

The PPP assembly, in funeral and semi-seppuku mood since Monday after the Ali Rustam unmitigated humiliating insult, grasped at this straw and went so ballistic with their cheering that even Sheik Muszaphar Shukor could hear the cries of sheer delight relief in space.

Of course those PPP people conveniently ignored the fact that AAB merely stated that he would ‘consider’ the request, meaning buggerall in real terms, but when one is drowning, a straw is like Bifröst, the Rainbow Bridge to Asgard.

Now I had often blogged on why Kayveas need to watch who he has been riling - well, virtually everyone in the BN, but most of all Humpty Dumpty and Lim Keng Yaik of Gerakan, the latter because of the stoush over the Taiping parliamentary seat.

Dei Aneh, African saying, ‘don’t rile Mother Crocodile when you haven’t crossed the river yet’ ;-)

Now it seems that Kayveas had riled Ali Rustam before. According to sweetie Joceline Tan of Star Online, in July this year Kayveas attacked Ali Rustam ‘for not appreciating the PPP’s role’ and then, get this, ‘slammed the state government for not giving the state PPP chairman a Datukship.’

Didn’t I just advise Kayveas of the African saying, ‘don’t rile Mother Crocodile when you haven’t crossed the river yet’ ;-)

In a way, Kayveas asked for it, and in another, he was stupid enough to ask Ali Rustam to be the PPP’s guest of honour after teasing the ‘Mother Crocodile’ ;-)

As for the Malacca Datukship, which every Tan, Daud and Jeannie have been receiving, it must be frustratingly galling for the PPP and Kayveas to see its Malacca chairman remaining an ordinary Encik, being deliberately snubbed by Ali Rustam.

Look, in the recent Malacca orgy of Datukship-fest (leaving big timers like Najib & ministerial company aside), the minor politicians who received Datukship (Darjah Mulia Seri Melaka), were blokes like MIC information chief M. Saravanan, Pegoh MCA’s Mong Kwang Liang, Lembah Pantai MCA’s Dr Lim Chee Shin, Bukit Katil MCA division treasurer Ong Teng Chai and Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party advisory bureau chairman Wong Ching Weoh.

Yes, even a Sarawak party’s advisory bureau chairman received one that the PPP has been craving for its Malacca Chairman, and still can go on craving.

Hasn’t the PPP’s omission from the easiest to obtain Datukship in Malaysia been a dire warning of worse to come – and indeed it came with Ali Rustam's rude, crude and brutal FO to the PPP.

Monkey business afoot

Typical Malaysian monkey business!

Malaysiakini has an article titled Conspiracy to export monkeys for profit: NGO where Malaysian Animal Rights and Welfare Society (Roar – ooooo, I love the ‘sound’ of its acronym) wants the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) to look into alleged dodgy business dealings involving a minister and a former director-general in the export of wild monkeys. Apparently the allegation costs each exported monkey at RM250 per pop, which means the business isn't exactly peanuts.

But don't worry about the bananas. Did you read of those alleged to be involved in the monkey business?

The personalities that Roar reported to the ACA as ‘naughty’ people are the Malaysian Environment Minister Azmi Khalid and former Department of Wildlife and National Parks DG Musa Nordin.

The Environment Minister and the (former) Director-General of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks?

Staggering, isn’t it – one would expect any of these two to be among the first, if not the first, to protect wildlife, yet we have a wildlife conservation group reporting these two to the ACA for questionable exports of wildlife, but hey, read my previous post Mizaru, Kikazaru, Iwazaru where I quoted Dean Johns, one of the top columnists at Malaysiakini, on his article of Malaysian monkey business.

The absurd incongruity of protectors being seen in the role of alleged violators might explain why Roar pro-tem chairperson N Surendran, showing frustration and deep anger at a press conference, roared: “We are angry that the animals are being exploited by the very ministry tasked to protect them.”

Surendran referred to a news article published by the Star on Sept 11, where Musa Nordin, the former DG of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, admitted he was “indirectly involved” in the monkey trade.

Surendran said: “We have information that the decision to export the monkey [was] when Musa Nordin was still the DG. We have information that there is connection with the company. He has close contacts with the Department of Wildlife. Clearly there was some hanky panky going on there with elements of corruption.”

'... the decision to export the monkey [was] when Musa Nordin was still the DG'!

But then this is Malaysia, isn’t it, where in recent time, we even have had worse alleged cases of dodginess, those of the Deputy Minister of Internal Security and the Inspector-General of Police, the two top notch law enforcers, being involved with top notch criminals. Mind you, those allegations have been dismissed - thank god, now we all can sleep in peace.

Oh, did I omit mention of the (former) Head of the Anti-Corruption Agency who was accused of alleged crimes of corruption and sexual abuses? But no worries, he was also cleared of any wrong doing – it’s eight bells and all’s swell, praise be to the Lord, the Lord is One!

Yes, there was the Attorney-General who exceeded his authority in ordering the ACA (not under his administrative control) in his enthusiasm to close off the ACA’s investigation in the above allegations of corruption and criminality. Elegant silence - O how sweet is this silence!

Mind you, we currently have pending accusations against the Head of the Malaysian Bench still unanswered.

... and probably will remain unanswered as we are informed by Malaysiakini that the Head of the ACA has just stated that the Lingam videotape is compromised (diganggu) because its footage had been edited, and that unless the whistleblower(s) come out of hiding, the tape is not considered kosher and won't be admissible evidence.

My Lord, the Defence rests, now you may rest too!

OK, I won’t go into any further details about the idiocy of the Science Minister planning for the next Malaysian cosmonaut to perform space walks and … get this moronic suggestion … repair a spacecraft - hmmm, maybe on Star Trek’s USS Enterprise or if we want to be more Boleh, a Klingon Raptor battlecruiser.

Yes, let's go where no one has gone before!

Ah, remember the World’s most courageous pig-killer? No no, not Meleager - he's Greek - or Asterix who's a Gaul!

However, in this monkey business I see half a glass full rather than half a glass empty, because the lifting of the ban on export of wildlife may permit us to export some unwanted baboons and gorilla-like apes from that big Monkey House, yes that one which had leaked, both from its ceiling and from the filthy mouths of some of its residents.

Forget about the RM250 per monkey, let’s export these Monkey House simians (but not those noble creatures in the wild) for free! I'll chip in more than a couple of ringgit just to be able to see them get out of our country

But alas, reality kicks in and let’s brace ourselves to expect (but not accept) more of AAB’s unbelievable condoning of his cohort's ‘close-one-eye’ shame.

Related:
(1) Cyclops in Monkey House
(2) Monkey Business in Big Monkey House
(3) MP's menstruation mesmerised motherless monkeys

The total humiliation of PPP - a lesson for BN parties

One year ago I posted PPP - end of the road? I then wrote:

“… Kayveas had offended many BN leaders when he called for the 9 BN leaders including Ong Ka Ting, Lim Keng Yaik and Samy Vellu to be sacked from the cabinet after they withdrew their memo to the PM on a religious issue.”

“In my posting King Sabo I did warn (Kayveas) that “he’s a bit unwise asking for them to be sacked because his Taiping seat is very much dependent on Gerakan’s goodwill and support."

“Additionally I see the PPP not adding any value to the BN, with Kayveas unwanted on both sides of the political fence. So I suppose AAB no longer has much use for him or the PPP. I wouldn’t be surprised if AAB cuts him loose or ignores him in the next pre-selection and WTF can the PPP do? The once-powerful PPP is not even a pale shadow of its old self; nowadays it’s just a sore pimple on the BN’s backside.”

Alas, for Kayveas and most of all for his PPP members, it was hardly surprising that they were resoundingly, abjectly and severely humiliated to no ends at their Malacca annual general assembly on Monday by an UMNO vice president.

Malaysiakini reported that their guest of honour, yes, the PPP’s guest of honour, Ali Rustam, the Malacca Chief Minister who was invited to officially open the assembly, sneeringly told the PPP to get out of Barisan Nasional now if the party wishes.

He spat out while gesturing at the PPP totally gobsmacked delegates: “PPP can leave BN. All of you can leave. Either today or tomorrow. Why wait until the general election? What’s there to wait for?”

Needless to say, Ali Rustam’s ‘shock & awe’ sneaky attack on a BN component party has left Kayveas and his members totally humiliated (I need to say this word 'humiliated' again), enraged and probably in tears – in tears because as I had blogged last year, Ali Rustam had said what kaytee had predicted, though to be frank, I didn’t expect such a cruel publicly executed UMNO low kick to a helpless PPP’s groin.

I don’t intend to go into every minor detail that Malaysiakini has lovingly reported ;-) but I want to ask a question: That was on Monday; today’s Saturday, AAB in elegant silence since then means that he had condoned, supported or even gave the greenlight for Ali Rustam to be the hatchet man to chase an overstaying unwanted PPP out of the BN.

Raja Petra of Malaysia-Today blog, who knows more about the internal manoeuvrings and whatnot of UMNO, even has Ali Rustam making snide rude remarks at AAB during that 50-megaton nuclear opening speech, such as “if the Prime Minister gives PPP a seat then he has no balls (pengecut). Tak boleh ikut cara dia …“

I am sorry to say that while I love to read Raja’s articles, I am wary of his conspiracy theory, which would usually have Najib Tun Razak at his centre. We so happen to know that Najib has been a long de facto target, so when it's the same again with Raja's recent article where he (Raja) has Ali Rustam teaming up as a possible No 2 to Najib, I tend to laugh it away as "C'mon lah, Peter, not again!"

Raja blogged that “… Was it that he [Ali Rustam] was delivering Najib’s message or that Najib has endorsed what he is saying? Or is it to demonstrate that he is Najib’s number two?”

“There is much speculation on who will be Najib’s Deputy when he takes over as Prime Minister. This question has been satisfactorily answered on 15 October 2007. Ali Rustam made it clear that he and not the Prime Minister makes the decisions. As far as Ali Rustam is concerned the Prime Minister pengecut, ….. Yes, that leaves only him remaining as the most suitable candidate to become the next Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia.”

I personally don’t believe that Ali Rustam has the nerve to buck AAB (and why should he?) because he had recently been brown-nosing the PM by organising a Malacca award for Jeanne Abdullah just on the 30 June this year – I blogged on that in Elegant Smile - Elegant Title - Elegant Hopes?

I have nothing against Jeanne but I have to ask what has she done to achieve a Datukship ahead of many others?

OK, Najib has been similarly honoured recently – see Malacca - truly Hang Tuah-ish Boleh!

I suspect Ali Rustam is doing nothing more than to position himself for a stronger position in UMNO. It may well be that he senses he’s about to be ousted in party politics to a lower rung than the VP he currently holds, which may also explain why he attacked his Perak and Pahang counterparts.

As I had blogged in Elegant Smile - Elegant Title - Elegant Hopes? “... Jeanne was awarded the title in a ceremony at Seri Negeri yesterday. There were more than 500 (presumably adoring oo-ing and ah-ing) dignitaries, including CM Mohd Ali Rustam and his wife Asmah Abdul Rahman at the ceremony. Hmmm, someone still (elegantly) hopes to be the come-back kid ... eh?"

‘… the come-back kid …’? Yes, Ali Rustam has been in UMNO sh*t house for a while, which I reckon has been why he had launched crusades after crusades against the hated pigs of Malacca, to show him off as a heroic pig-killing paragon, then a Hang Bodek with the two top UMNO leaders, and now the Saladin of UMNO who has single-handedly humiliated PPP for having the damn nerve to merajuk (sulk) threateningly against UMNO. He wants to show he’s a Hang Tuah in the eyes of UMNO conservatives - and most of UMNO members are conservatives.

So I am strongly inclined to discount Raja Petra's conspiracy theory, and instead, put more store in an anxious Ali Rustam who's damn worried about his position in UMNO.

But I must ask again, since Ali Rustam's disgraceful discourteous disrespectful behavior as a guest of honour, a conduct so unbecoming and totally out of character with the old world courtesy of a Malay guest, why has AAB and Najib not say a single word of mollification to PPP (yes, let alone rebuked Ali Rustam!)?

To paraphrase Winston Churchill’s immortal quote of gratitude to the Royal Air Force after the Battle of Britain: “Never in the field of coalition politics has so much humiliation been dealt to so many by so few”, the 'few' being one wannabe 'comeback kid'.

Well, Kayveas? Well, PPP members, are you people prepared to sit quietly and eat Malacca sh*t?

But let this be a lesson too to the MCA, Gerakan and MIC!

Islam in Malaysian institutions - Examples of compassion or compulsion

It seems that Sekolah Menengah Dato Sedia Raja, a secondary school in Rembau, Negeri Sembilan, has directed all non-Muslim Form Five students in the school to wear traditional Malay costume for an award ceremony next month.

Malaysiakini tells us that the school’s given reason, the usual one in such compelled dressing, has been about uniformity.

If we recall, the police under the former IGP, Mohd Bakri Omar, who was then currying favour with UMNO MPs to oppose the PM’s promised IPCMC, also provided the same reason when he forced non Muslim policewomen to wear a tudung (headgear for female Muslims) when on parade.

See my previous posts Policewomen forced to wear tudungs on parade!

Then the DAP MPs went berserk, blasting the former IGP’s explanation of ‘uniformity’ as an unacceptable excuse because it went against the principle of freedom of religion.

I then commented on an irrefutable historical fact that gave lie to the former IGP explanation insofar as 'uniformity' on formal parades was concerned. I stated that “for decades, yes decades, in the Royal Malaysian Police or any branch of the Armed Forces, the Sikh members of these two Services have worn turbans without other members required to wear the same turban to show ‘uniformity’ on formal parades. The only requirement has been for the turbans to be in the colour of their respective regiments or Services.”

“When Sikh personnel in their magnificent turbans were/are on parade with their non-Sikh colleagues in the Armed Forces or Police there was no discernable lack of uniformity but instead a fantastic Malaysian picture of smartness and unique characteristic which we have been and still are all proud of.”

I added that DAP MP Fong was absolutely spot on in accusing the former IGP of jumping on the Islamic bandwagon which had been, I reckoned in his case, to score brownie points for himself and the organisation he headed, and nothing to do with Islam. Then of course, being kaytee, I challenged that former IGP to tell his male police officers to all wear turbans in the next Police formal parade which involved a Sikh member, purely for 'uniformity' of course.

As to be expected of a disgraceful and utterly repugnant police officer like him who deliberately politicized the police force, he couldn’t come up with coherent explanations. And I wonder about the absurdity of AAB’s eulogy for this useless policeman when he retired - well, at least thank goodness for small mercy he retired.

In this country, there are two types of people who champion Islamic practice or apparel – one is the true believer whom you may disagree with but at least know they are (religiously) sincere, while the other are those who unscrupulously exploit a great religion to score political points or curry favour, usually for their own interests. Obviously that former IGP was one of the latter when he called for non Muslim policewomen to wear the tudung against the historical fact of Malayan/Malaysian police uniforms.

Once there was an Australian model who became the world’s most pious Muslim, OVERNIGHT – from her modelling of scanty virtually-no-dress, after she was arrested in Bali for possession of ecstasy pills (long jail sentence probable) she took the Islamic equivalent of the ‘Road to Damascus’ and wore the burqa to hide all parts of her body, almost compelling the Australian Navy, out of compassion, to donate a periscope to enable her to walk around without bumping into objects.

After she was released from a short 3-month prison term (stories of humongous bribing led to the 3 Indon judges trialling her being hauled up before an inquiry) she abandoned her burqa like a kera discarding belacan and reverted to tight tank-top and hips hugging jeans, which led all naval male personnel to ‘up periscope’.

For more, see my previous posts:

(1) No Hijab but lovely Body Paint
(2) Magic Transformation of a Balinese Goddess
(3) Michelle Leslie - to Islam & back
(4) Leslie - from Tschaikosky to Doh-Ray-Mee
(5) Leslie - Enough Rope!

Back to Sekolah Menengah Dato Sedia Raja - One of the students’ irate parent stated that this was only the tip of the school’s proselytizing iceberg. He stated:

"Last year, non-Muslim Red Crescent Society members were told to wear tudung for the school's sports day march. And I was told by the students that this is an ongoing practice in the school."

He further added that he was called for a meeting by the school principal Azimah Alis yesterday, which was attended by state education director and school parent-teacher association (PIBG) chairperson.

The parent said: "The principal washed her hands off the issue. She claimed she has no idea of what was happening. They also wanted me to call the press, to withdraw my statement."

If it was not the principal, then who was it who issued that insensitive directive.

Malaysiakini also reported that the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) has submitted a letter to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi protesting the school's directive yesterday.

The letter read: "In March last year, we issued a statement strongly condemning your directive to non-Muslim female personnel in the police force to adhere to then IGP compelling them to wear headscarfs at official functions."

"We then voiced our fear that your irresponsible directive would be followed by other government departments to impose Islamic values on non-Muslims and it has now turned out that SMK Dato Sedia Raja has taken the bold and arrogant lead to compel non-Muslim students to wear Malay costumes in the name of uniformity."

Hey, maybe this is part of Islam Hadhari?

But the question I need to ask, has the school’s proselytizing directive been a true Islamic drive or a cynical attempt to derive political brownie points, either at a personal level or national level?

I conclude this post by apologising to Allah swt for the gross and blatant misuse of his name in the name of Malaysian politics and the ambitious career aspirations of Malaysian senior public servants.

Related: Magic of the 100th name of God

Tioman ferry disaster - Ministerial criminal negligence

This letter by Alicia Au titled A Tioman disaster waiting to happen was written to Malaysiakini in June last year. Read and weep, but better still, curse the authorities responsible, especially the Ministers responsible.

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On Saturday June 3, we boarded a ferry service at Mersing for the trip to Tioman island for our holiday.

Once the boat is fully packed; yes, you did read correctly, it is packed not loaded; because as always with Bluewater (the ferry operator), the boats are grossly overloaded, in this instance with 10 persons, including one baby in arms, standing in the aisle or precariously in the rear deck well of this small boat where they are at liberty to breath in the aromatic scent of engine exhaust fumes.

Off we go, finally leaving the jetty at around 7.10am, down the river we go to come to a grinding halt on the sandbank. After an hour, a smaller boat came along side and 75 percent of the passengers were asked to cross deck to the smaller boat, which then takes us clear of the sand bar, out to the open sea.

One point to note concerning cross-decking, according to Mersing Maritime police, is that whenever the ferry operators need to cross deck passengers, they are required to inform the police in advance, and a maritime police vessel must be in attendance. No sight of such here, or as you will see, on the next occasion.

The boats finally arrive in Tioman where for the next day or so, the fruits of the island are enjoyed by all, wonderful diving opportunities, very good food and accommodation, until finally it is time to depart on the 3pm boat to Mersing, once again with Bluewater services.

To start with, we arrive at the jetty in good time, generally for a 3pm boat, and with this particular operator, the boats are always a good 30 to 45 minutes late in arriving, however as always, we are on the jetty in good time, 15 minutes before the scheduled 3pm arrival.

At 5pm, there is no sign of the boat and after calls to Mersing and the Bluewater office, we are finally told that the delays and missing boat are because the Maritime police are stopping the Bluewater boats as they depart Mersing and issuing summons for being overloaded, having defective equipment, etc.

Finally at 6.15pm, a large Bluewater ferry, numbered 9, arrives and collects us from the jetty. We were accompanied by another Bluewater ferry, numbered 8. On ferry 9 there is a wide cross section of people, ranging from very young children, through to parents and elderly grandparents, and including one gentleman in a wheelchair. As we sit gazing out at the sunset, at around 7.10pm, ferry 9 suddenly slows down and pulls alongside ferry 8.

In this fading light, the doors are opened and without any warning, or even a polite request, the crew demands that passengers from ferry 9 cross deck to ferry 8.

Now consider this when the boats are in mid-water, at dusk with land was out of sight. The crew forced people across from one boat to another, despite protests being made that this was dangerous, illegal, and downright stupid. Women, children, the elderly and the wheelchair passenger were all forced across the widely moving gap between the two boats.

Protests to the captain of ferry 9 fell upon deaf ears. It was quite obvious, from the nature of this action, that this dangerous transfer at sea was premeditated for at any time during the early parts of the voyage, this transfer could have been effected in total safety whilst the boats were located at the same jetty.

Ferry 8 was by now grossly overcrowded, the forward emergency exit was blocked by the passenger in the wheelchair, the port and starboard exits were blocked by mountains of baggage and by people crammed into the small available space. People were standing in the rear deck well, sitting on the stairway to the upper deck, with even people squatting in the toilet because the boat was so overloaded, blocked the aft exit.

As the boat approaches Mersing, it again stops and it is the same old story - we are asked to cross deck into smaller boats for the journey to Mersing jetty. Again women, children, the elderly are forced to jump down from a high ferry to a much lower-lying speed boat, the jump was some four feet. No assistance from crew members as they are to busy holding onto the ropes. So everyone was forced to look after themselves in making this leap, literally into the dark.

We hear a mumble from a crew person that this is necessary because the tide is too low for the ferry. However, 15 minutes after disembarking at the jetty, the large ferry comes up river and also moors.

When making a police report, we were advised that Bluewater had been receiving a large number of summonses during the day mainly for this practice of overloading and we were further advised that cross-decking of passengers is only allowed under the direct supervision of the maritime authorities. This operator shows a blatant disregard for passenger safety, their arrogance and the high-handed manner they deal with their clients has to be experienced to be believed.

At the very least, the captains of Bluewater ferries 8 and 9 should have their certification revoked, their comments and attitudes show them to be quite unfit to hold a position of any responsibility. One can only surmise, as on this occasion they were lucky. Should an accident have occurred, they would no doubt be running for cover and pointing the finger of blame everywhere except at the people it should be pointed at, themselves.

Issuing summonses against the operator is a joke. Any paltry fine likely as the outcome of this weekend’s shenanigans will be far outweighed by the collections from fare-paying clients they regard as so much cattle. Again at the very least, this company’s licence to operate should be revoked with immediate effect, and thus send a message to all ferry services that such downright dangerous practice and poor service attitudes will no longer be tolerated.

The real losers here are the Tourism Board of Malaysia, and the resorts and diving operators on Tioman, whose hard work has been wasted. We as a group will not return to this location, you can be certain that word-of-mouth from such a large group of people will dissuade even larger numbers of people to change their vacation locations to elsewhere.

How long can such poor service be tolerated? Or are the authorities simply waiting to react to a large-scale disaster involving one of these cowboy operators before wringing their hands and saying they were not aware of the situation?

Related:
Maritime tradition fell overboard from Tioman ferry

The betrayal of Sheik Muszaphar Shukor!

A normally silent-in-elegance AAB exclaimed his disappointment at his failure to chitchat with cosmonaut Sheik Muszaphar Shukor at the ISS.

Malaysiakini reported that due to bad weather at Moscow the transmission link between the Mission Control Centre there and the ISS could not be established during a 10-minute window when the ISS passed over Russia, and thus prevented audio and visual signals from being transmitted directly to Malaysia and re-routed to Seri Perdana.

But AAB said he will do it tomorrow. Apart from wishing the cosmonaut Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, the PM also intends to ask Muszaphar about his feelings and health besides the progress of the assignment he had been tasked with.

He said: "He is not there for a holiday to view the earth from up there. He has certain tasks to perform while in the ISS."

Sheik Muszaphar Shukor – Angkasawan Malaysian yang Pertama, cosmonaut, astronaut, hero, lang chai, pride of Malaysia and Malays – but also referred to scornfully as space participant, first class space passenger, US30 million dollar man, RM100 million Bolehnaut, astronothing, cosmonaught, anak kepada seorang Datuk (memang dipilih lah), and various nasty terms and derogatory descriptions, which you may find at Malaysia-Today blog.

I am not sure whether Malaysiakini has been sniping at him too, because whenever it published a news item (except for the most recent one about AAB’s disappointment) it would describe Sheik Muszaphar as “a doctor and part-time model” ;-)

Why has it necessary to do that – why not just a doctor, considering that the ‘part time modelling’ has been what it is, just a ‘part time’ activity? Once is OK, but when it’s reported with a high degree of regularity, kaytee begins to wonder whether there has been an unseen sneer accompanying that unusually long and totally unnecessary description of Muszaphar’s job?

That many have been angry at the unnecessary RM100 million ticket, especially when ministers have been preaching about belt tightening, cannot be denied, that an equal many have been against the trip for the sake of being against anything of UMNO’s conception is also true, that some have been pissed off because it’s always a Malay selected for such glory trips and who would be subsequently and disproportionately be honoured or rewarded is real, and that some have been plain jealous is undeniable.

For example, kaytee has been green with envy because I won’t be able to transmit “Baikonour Kontrol, kaytee has a message Русские мати, улучшают фиксируют вверх ваших дочей когда я возвращаю”.

Rough translation = Russian mothers, better lock up your daughters when I return ;-)

But poor Sheik Muszaphar Shukor!

Khianat, betrayed! Yes, Muszaphar has been badly betrayed!

And who has been his betrayer or betrayers?

The ministers and their top officials!

The trip, yes admittedly RM100 million, has already been paid for, so what the hell can we do except to make the best of it. Someone has to be selected and if it’s lang chai Sheik Muszaphar, so be it.

But trust those ministers and officials to trivialize, de-dignify and belittle the entire expedition.

What did they do? They idiotically seized the occasion to talk about teh tarik and roti canai in space and some kampong game!

Look, I love teh tarik and roti canai myself but would such an occasion, to send the first Malaysian into space, deserve such shallow experiments? Has that been the best Malaysia could offer after investing RM100 million?

The PM (whether Dr Mahathir or AAB) has been badly served by those morons, who have been completely out of their depths. They had since 2003 to plan some decent space experiments, perhaps with a couple of things we have been really good at, like palm oil and rubber, to see what effect zero gravity may have on … yadda yadda yadda ... and what did we get ... teh tarik and roti canai!

Well, that’s the punishment for the PM for having incompetents put in positions beyond their intellectual capacity.

Sheik Muszaphar has been betrayed by those intellectual imbeciles who have hijacked the agenda for their own interests. The subsequent introduction of some cancer cell experiment was such an obvious after-thought that it was too late to repair the serious PR damage.

Khianat, betrayed!

So, have those ministers and officials learned?

Apparently not, because Malaysiakini tells us that Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Jamaluddin Jarjis (the bloke who had problems with an Indian Malaysian because apparently, to him, she was of a lower caste as she has dark skin) said from Moscow that our next cosmonaut, Faiz Khaleed, will be doing more challenging tasks on his flight.

And what will those ‘more challenging’ task be, pray may I ask?

According to the New Straits Times, Jamaluddin said: "This could involve him doing a space walk or conducting repairs to the spacecraft."

‘... space walk or conducting repairs to the spacecraft ...’?

How the hell does this unbelievable bloke get to be Minister of Science, Innovation & Technology? Even if the Yanks-Russians allowed, WTF good will that do for us? Why are we indulging in those silly stupid gimmickries?

My uncle – yes, I have many uncles ;-) – told me a real story of his times when a Malaysian team participated in a macho 4WD safari type race (sponsored by a cigarette company) where participants had to bridge rivers and ravines in deep jungle and overcome swamps and various natural obstacles blah blah blah. When one of the Malaysians was interviewed about the race, the best he could offer was, and apparently he crowed about it, the Malaysian team introduced ‘pot luck’, yes, kongsi makan at the end of each day, as if that was a brilliant innovation in a hunky macho type competition.

Back to the Science (or should it be Innovation?) Minister - Then he added: "I hope to submit a proposal to Nasa (the US space administration) by this year that in addition to his training with the Russian Space Agency, Dr Faiz will also be able to undergo training with them.”

Would this be to prevent the Yanks from labelling poor Faiz as a ‘space participant’ and instead upgrade him to ‘payload specialist’? Maybe another US$10 million for this?

If those clowns have absolutely no clue of what to do, at least shut up!

So, the moronic bull has started, leading also to the betrayal and eventual humiliation of Faiz Khaleed.