Questions on Selangor exco

It is not the beauty of a building you should look at; its the construction of the foundation that will stand the test of time.

- David Allan Coe

True political coalition in Malaysia very seldom survive, especially when the component or member parties have disparate political ideologies and aims like theocratic PAS and socialist-democratic DAP in Pakatan Rakyat (PR), while its 3rd and weakest member, PKR, is a typically sly camouflaged in-between, brazenly claiming on occasions it is multiracial but generally behaving like a ketuanan party when it suits its interests (see Selangor saga shows PKR's ketuanan mentality?).

But then, PKR has been a splinter group of ketuanan UMNO, and as they say, the buah bangsat ... ooops I mean ... langsat doesn't fall far from the langsat tree.

Thus there could not have been any substantial foundation for PR or PH to ensure its cooperative health, working amity and political longevity.

And please don't point to Barisan Nasional (BN) as a true political coalition because its numero uno UMNO is the real and only party within while the rest have been mere sub-branches of UMNO, wakakaka.

BN exists since 1973 but only because UMNO has been riding roughshod over the other so-called coalition members like MCA, MIC, Gerakan, etc. The latter exist as only yes-men (or yes-women), though from time to time UMNO allows each of them to cock-a-doodle-do for political survival.

Currently we see PAS and PKR behaving like wanton sluts, saying this and then saying that. Even PAS spiritual leader Hashim Jasin has not been above this, saying:

“If DAP, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) or any party for that matter is prepared to adhere to our condition, there is no reason for us to refuse (to collaborate). We can give our cooperation, we are still open to it."

“The condition is that we must follow Islam, what Allah wants us to do (as caliphs)."

Caliphs? So PAS is emulating Mahathir in claiming (once again) Malaysia is an Islamic State. Read Lim Kit Siang's 929 & 617 Declarations in which Mahathir declared Malaysia as a fundamentalist Islamic State.

PAS' erstwhile dream of securing 60 plus federal seats, which it had haboured in the earlier halcyon days of PR, was contingent on the 30 to 35% Chinese support in each of those constituency but which it can now kiss goodbye. But it seems Pak Hashim Jasin still want to give that dream one last jolly good try. Who knows, Lim Kit Siang may bite, wakakaka.

All the above brings us to why PAS and PKR are now wanking each other's ding-a-ling, wakakaka.

PAS Youth and its corp of ulama want a clean separation from PKR but the older and more politically astute leadership know there's still something to be gained politically in a dodgy alliance with the kaki-buka-kang-kang party, apart from imbibing from the luscious gravy trough.

And indeed vice versa, which has been why PKR VP Shaharuddin Badaruddin, by attending the PAS muktamar recently, pulled the rug rudely from under Saifuddin Nasution's feet after the party sec-gen had demanded PAS ADUNs leave the exco in Selangor for PAS publicly announcing its intention to separate from PKR.

PAS bullshits it won't leave the exco because it must fulfil the rakyat's mandate in continuing to serve them, but hasn't PAS already betrayed the people's mandate for PAS to serve together with DAP and PKR? Hasn't its hubristic separation with DAP precisely a  non-fulfilment of and a betrayal of its 2013 election manifesto?

Hadn't your non support of Wan Azizah as MB to replace Khalid Ibrahim been exactly that too, when you refused to act cooperatively with the rest of PR?

So puhleeeze lah, PAS, don't talk cock with your double standard bullshit 'people's mandate'.

Mind, Saifuddin Nasution had preempted HRH Selangor's royal prerogative to sack exco members in calling for PAS exco members to f**k off, though traditionally the constitutional monarch would and should merely dhoby-mark the ruling government's political intention/policies.

As we learn: The role of the heads of state are largely ceremonial other than the power to appoint the chief minister or menteri besar (according to the state constitution) and to withhold consent to dissolve the state legislature. The heads of state are required by convention to give their approval or assent to every legislation passed by the state legislature.

But as RPK said, in Malaysia the Malay monarchs, because aware of their exalted sacred cow status among Malays, now have minds of their own and in recent years asserted themselves as an unheard-of unprecedented 4th branch of the government in each state, in addition to traditional 3 branches of the executive, legislative and judiciary.

under Mahathir 

To reiterate, there is no such thing as a 4th branch of a democratic government but in Malaysia there uniquely is, maybe not de jure but certainly de facto.

HRH Selangor's rejection of Wan Azizah as the PR anointed MB has been an example of his break with parliamentary convention.

I suspect this recent royal claw-back-to-power was under the leadership of a royal who sadly passed away not too long ago, and was probably a long-awaited fightback to the dictates of the erstwhile royal dentist (wakakaka) in de-fang-ing them. Only at times like this, we remember Mahathir's amazing bulldozing ways, wakakaka, in which he emulated the actions of Indira Gandhi in emasculating the maharajahs in India.

Anyway, let's get into the (halal) meat of it, where we have in the Selangor DUN the following composition of ADUNs from biggest to smallest number of ADUNs:

DAP - 15
PKR - 13
PAS - 13 (down from 15, wakakaka)
UMNO - 12
Amanah - 2
Independent - 1

Leaving out DAP's Hannah Yeoh as House Speaker, we then have 14 DAP, 13 PKR and 2 Amanah, giving us 29 ADUNs in the Assembly, a simple majority to form government.

PAS 13 plus UMNO 12 equals 25. which is still short of the 29 to form the Selangor government even if independent Khalid Ibrahim joins in. 

If Azmin Ali advises HRH to remove PAS from the exco, and assuming HRH okays that, PH can still rule. So why is Azmin still dragging his feet?

Is he worried HRH may ignore constitutional convention and say no?

Is he worried DAP may seize his MB position? Surely he is stupid to imagine so when we know that no Chinese or Indian can be MB of a Malay sultanate state.

There was a time when I had wet dreams that either or both HRH Selangor and Perak, being both educated modern rulers, would come in from the left field and  declare that all Selangoreans or Perakians are equal citizens of their respective states and therefore the State Constitution(s) would be amended to allow non-Malays to be MB.

And as Prof Bari once said, there is no necessity for the MB to be a Muslim to advise HRH on Islamic issues as HRH himself is the head of Islam in his own state where he already has a MAIS-type organization to advise him on such matters. Aiyah, alasan alasan saje!

Maybe kaytee has build a bridge too far for current times. But I believe that one day in the near future, it will probably be the state of Johor which will be the first in Peninsula Malaysia to have a non-Malay MB.

Then why is Azmin Ali hesitating in what would and should be a logical step to break cleanly with PAS?

Is it his strategic considerations? Perhaps Azmin believes PKR has more to gain in the long term from sleeping with PAS, but alas, he can only hope PAS will be as sluttish as he is.

If HRH calls for a new election, the biggest winner will be (wakakaka) MCA, Gerakan and perhaps even MIC, as they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Oh, let's not forget Pribumi, wakakaka.

But who will be the biggest loser in a new election in Selangor - DAP? PKR? PAS? UMNO?

12-year old schoolgirl “seductive” and “a temptation"? For which sort of men?

And now a word from my Penang matey Anas Zubedy via The Star Online:

Taking to Twitter, moderation advocate Anas Zubedy urged the Government to do a check on the officer who found the girl’s outfit revealing and “see if he is fit to be around children”.

“It’s a serious situation when adults think of sex when the child is only 12 and wearing a non-revealing outfit,” Anas said.

He said the debate should not be about whether the girl’s outfit was revealing but whether such men should be allowed to be around children.

Anas has struck right at the core with first class priority, namely, whether such men, who think of sex when the child is only 12 and wearing a non-revealing outfit, should be allowed to be around children.

will she be safe in Malaysia? 

As I wrote yesterday in my post Dress code for 12-year old schoolgirl at Malaysian Chess Tournament:

We want answers, not just an apology, as well as his disbarment from any activity involving lil' girls no matter at what angle far, far away he may view them as he had considered a 12-year old schoolgirl in a normal dress as “seductive” and “a temptation".

Dress code for 12-year old schoolgirl at Malaysian Chess Tournament

OUT - above dress worn by a 12-year old schoolgirl

the unnamed chess tournament directer deemed above dress of 12-year-old schoolgirl as “seductive” and “a temptation from a certain angle far, far away”

by the by, is there a shrink somewhere?

IN? perhaps to be proposed by tournament director?

See also:

(a) Star Online - Chess girl ‘checkmated’ for her dress

(b) Malay Mail Online - Chess girl withdrew due to anxiety over peeping, mum says (after she came to know the chess tournament director assessed her dress as “seductive” and “a temptation from a certain angle far, far away”)

We mustn't allow this tournament director to get away with his questionable mentality - it's dangerous to society.

We want answers, not just an apology, as well as his disbarment from any activity involving lil' girls no matter at what angle far, far away he may view them as he had considered a 12-year old schoolgirl in a normal dress as “seductive” and “a temptation"

Why Mahathir hates AAB

Continuing my leisurely perusal of Rehman Rashid's Peninsula: A story of Malaysia, I came to its page 20 of its 2nd edition (2016), and read the following (reproduced in parts here):

Mahathir cast about for someone to succeed him, settling as though by default on Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Although ..... I have little doubt that the main factor in Mahathir's decision was Pak Lah's antipathy for Anwar ..... If nothing else, Mahathir felt reasonably sure Abdullah would not, in some fit of reconciliatory euphoria, offer Anwar amnesty from the charges levelled against him.

Prior to all the above, AAB had confided to friends that Anwar was not brought up or had grown within UMNO and was merely bud-grafted into the party.

Of course we know that Mahathir was the man who had had Anwar parachuted into UMNO where 'twas said he feared Anwar becoming PAS president (as was envisaged and planned for by the late PAS president Fadzil Noor) and becoming a real threat to UMNO.

Who knows, Hadi Awang was probably pissed off with Fadzil selecting Anwar as his political heir (as president of PAS), wakakaka, hence Hadi Awang's silent animosity towards Anwar even up to today.

Did AAB mean that Anwar being bud-grafted into UMNO would lack the UMNO values including inclusiveness in sharing spoils a la kongsi bersama2? Wakakaka.

At that time when Anwar was on a meteoric rise, it was rumoured his faction in UMNO was feral, ferocious and f**king-grab-it-all in their attitude towards the UMNO's gravy train. Thus his faction upset and was feared by other UMNO factions, leading them to sharpen their knives and further poison their santau (wakakaka) for Mr Manmanlai.

AAB was chosen not so much because Mahathir felt he could easily manipulate the former civil servant (but there was that too) but more because he had believed AAB would not free his bete noire Anwar.

If that was Mahathir's principal consideration in selecting AAB, then the old man must have hated Anwar with a deep deep deep vengeance to rival the Marina Trench. Yes, let's not forget that Anwar was the man who had the effrontery to stage a coup d'etat against his mentor in 1998, wakakaka.

But guess what?

In 2004, just a year into AAB's term, the court overturned the sodomy charges against Anwar on technicalities and freed him on 02 September that year.

That must have driven Mahathir round the bend.

Obviously the old man must have had a whiff of what was going to happen well ahead because he was already undermining AAB even as his first (wakakaka) successor stepped into office, saying AAB had betrayed their 'gentlemen's agreement' in which the successor (the first one of Mahathir's preposterously claimed two successors, wakakaka) would not alter courses Mahathir had set.

How brazenly preposterous to assert his (Mahathir's) policies would remain set in concrete even with a new PM. But then he was used to having his dictatorial ways for 22 years and which must have led him to believe he was the Imperial Emperor of Malaysia.

But was one of their agreements NOT to ever free Anwar until he finished his imprisonment?

In the end, because Mahathir ferociously campaigned against and thus undermined Pak Lah, much to Pakatan's delight, UMNO lost 5 states and its 2/3 federal parliamentary majority in 2008.

Yet UMNO was silly enough to subsequently (after AAB's regsination) accept such a person back into the party like a conquering hero while delegating the real compassionate and just hero AAB to the backwaters.

But Pak Lah did not stop there. Post 2008 GE Pak Lah reshuffled his cabinet to include Zaid Ibrahim as de facto Law Minister. Zaid then called for the government to apologise to former Lord president Salleh Abas who was sacked by the Agong on advice of Mahathir.

Guess how Mahathir must have been jumping up and down in rage in his home, wakakaka.

Wikipedia informs us about Mahathir's draconian treatment of an up-righteous judge, one of Malaysia's finest:

In 1988, Tun Salleh Abas was brought before a tribunal convened by the then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohammad on the grounds of misconduct. The tribunal was chaired by Tun Hamid Omar.

In response to the tribunal, Tun Salleh Abas filed a suit in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur to challenge the constitutionality of the tribunal. While proceeding with the suit, Tun Salleh Abas applied for an interim stay against the tribunal until 4 July 1988. The request was denied.

Later however, five judges of the Supreme Court convened and granted Tun Salleh Abas an interlocutory order against the tribunal. Upon receiving the order, Tun Salleh Abas' solicitors proceed to the Parliament to present the chairman of the tribunal the interlocutory order. The gate leading to the Parliament however was locked* and Tun Salleh Abas' representative had to call in the police to be guaranteed a passage into the Parliament. Eventually, the order was presented to the tribunal chairman.

* wakakaka, a known Malaysian tactic which was demonstrated in Sabah in 1994. Anwar was then BN director of elections in that state

Soon after, the five judges were suspended. The judges were Tan Sri Azmi Kamaruddin, Tan Sri Eusoffe Abdoolcader, Tan Sri Wan Hamzah Mohamed Salleh, Tan Sri Wan Suleiman Pawanteh and Datuk George Seah.

This effectively suspended the Supreme Court. With the Supreme Court suspended, the challenge toward the legality of the tribunal could not be heard. The tribunal later removed Tun Salleh Abas from his office. Tan Sri Wan Sulaiman and Datuk George Seah were also removed from office. The other three judges were later reinstated.

The irregular dismissal of Tun Salleh Abas led the Bar Council of Malaysia refusing to recognise the new Lord President. Around the same time, the Federal Constitution was amended to divest the courts of the "judicial power of the Federation", granting them instead such judicial powers as Parliament might grant them.

Legacy

A major critic to Mahathir's actions include Malaysia's first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman. In a New York Times article, he was said to be "disgusted" at the actions. His views however were criticised by the then Education Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, who claimed that the Tunku was ″a grand old man who has done his bit.″

Mahathir's supporters insisted that it had liberated the Malaysian judiciary from a colonial mindset.

The sacking of several justices was justified by claims that these judges had been abusing public funds for their personal expenses — such as the purchase of luxury furniture from Italy. It was also claimed that the sackings had eliminated deadwood and improved efficiency in the courts, as evinced by a reduction in their backlog.

But there was no forgiveness for Mahathir despite de facto Law Minister Zaid Ibrahim calling for the government to apologise to former Lord president Salleh Abas. Wikipedia reports:

Zaid's proposal was criticised by former Bar president Param Cumaraswamy, who insisted that Mahathir's administration, not Abdullah's, should assume responsibility:

"Those who perpetrated the transgressions are still alive and they must be called to account for their conduct and seek forgiveness from the six valiant judges, their families and Malaysians generally for the sacrilege committed to the temple of independent justice."

kaytee's comments: Fat hopes Param when he won't even apologise to Anwar recently.

He also proposed that the government compensate the three sacked judges since "reinstatement of the three dismissed is no longer possible."

Karpal Singh, lawyer and opposition member of Parliament, agreed: "Calling for the present administration to apologise is not a step in (the) right direction. It is not the present administration that convened those tribunals." 

Instead, Karpal suggested that a Royal Commission be set up. A few days later, The Malaysian Insider, a news website, reported that the Cabinet was critical of the proposal, citing the potential for legal liability if the government admitted wrongdoing. Zaid said that the proposal was still being considered, and that "we have to wait."

In April 2008, at a dinner with 600 members of the Bar and leaders from the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition, Abdullah acknowledged the impact of the crisis:

To a large extent, the events of 1988 have fueled much of the disagreement on how to move on. ... I can say with a clear conscience that I abided and will continue to abide by the principle of separation of powers, leaving the matter of justice to the judiciary. And yet the legacy of 1988 haunts us until today. ... For many, the events of 1988 were an upheaval of the nation's judicial system. Rightly or wrongly, many disputed both the legality and morality of the related proceedings. For me, personally, I feel it was a time of crisis from which the nation never fully recovered.

He then announced that the government would make ex gratia goodwill payments to the sacked and suspended judges: 

"I do not presume to equate your contribution, pain and loss with mere currency but I hope you could accept this as a heartfelt and sincere gesture to mend what had been."

However, he refused to explicitly apologise for the events of 1988 or otherwise review them, saying it would "prolong the sense of crisis". 

Abdullah also announced his intention to set up a judicial appointments commission as part of his plans to reform the judicial system. Two of the six judges involved in the 1988 crisis — Tun Salleh Abas and Azmi Kamaruddin — and the families of the other four were present.

Zaid welcomed Abdullah's announcement in spite of the lack of a formal apology, saying: "(One) can say sorry in other ways." 

George Seah's son told the press that although all his father wanted was an apology, the family would not reject any goodwill payments. Tan Sri Wan Suleiman Pawanteh's wife said: "Although I thank the prime minister, I feel less than satisfied at his decision (not to make a straightforward apology). This is not the end of the story for me. (Without an apology) I don't know, people don't know, that my husband was not guilty. I want my husband's name to be cleared. I feel my husband was innocent. He was an honest judge...Even so, I am thankful that our prime minister cares about us enough (to do this much)."

Tan Sri Eusoffe Abdoolcader's granddaughter regretted that acknowledgement had been so late in coming: "I wish he was here. He's the main person affected by all this. It's a different case from the others (Salleh and Wan Suleiman) because he was reinstated. It's been 12 years. It should have been solved earlier."

Tun Salleh Abas however welcomed Abdullah's statement, saying: "I feel great. It was something I didn't expect. I suffered so much humiliation ... so much so I ran away from the public and took solace in being a farmer.

Mahathir had caused so much trouble to so many people. To paraphrase Winston Churchill's famous 'to the few' eulogy, may I say:

Never in the field of Malaysian politics have so much suffering being rendered to so many by just one person.

And you want to vote for him?

But his hatred for Anwar was what made him choose AAB, and the latter freeing Anwar in 2004 was what turned him so ferociously against his (first, wakakaka) successor, and not so much because of the crooked bridge.

AAB made Mahathir hate him more when Pak Lah made the just gesture of reconciliation with the judges Mahathir hated.

Yet now he has the brazen thick skin to shake hands with Anwar.

Choice

Three years ago I posted Village memories 2 - fussy orders in my other blog Kongsamkok. Then I had written about chee cheong fun as follows (selected extracts):

Recently I was told this story by a sweetie who came back from Penang.

nostalgic scene of Penang trishaws, then king of the roads

She was at a chee cheong fun stall when she heard what she believed was the most fussy order she had ever come across. [...]

When serving, the chee cheong fun or rice noodle roll is usually unfurled (unrolled) before the hawker cuts the rice noodles into bite-able length ...

hawker unfurling the chee cheong fun prior to cutting it
photo 'borrowed' from Foodie galore, thanks to blogger Yi Lyn

... and then lavishes the pasta with sauce which in the Penang version must include hare-koe (prawn paste - nope, not belacan, though some hawkers include grilled and grounded belacan as part of the sauce but which doesn't substitute for and thus won't exclude the vital hare-koe).

my personal choice of prawn paste (hare-koe)
is Keat Hoe's 'shrimp & boy' brand

Sometimes some hawkers don't unfurled or unrolled the rice noodle rolls and would just chop up the rolls as they are.

I personally like the rolls unfurled because the sauce (the X-factor in the dish being hare-koe) would cover the rice noodles more evenly, giving a better and more consistent taste. But then, some argued the rice pasta left in their original rolled form provide better textured (springy or chewy) bite.

Penang chee cheong fun
served with noodle rolls as is (not unrolled) 

As I was told by an unbelieving sweetie - unbelieving at the extraordinary fussiness of the order she witnessed at a morning market food court wakakaka - a woman gave the hawker unique specifications on her 3 takeaway orders of chee cheong fun, as follows:

• one serve of noodle roll unrolled (the standard style)
• one serve of noodle roll as is (not unrolled), and get this last one
• one serve of noodle roll half unrolled and half as is, wakakaka.

served with noodle rolls unrolled (or unfurled)

How I wish I was there, wakakaka, just to interview or just chit-chat with the Penang Sally (as portrayed so cutely by Meg Ryan in 'When Harry met Sally') wakakaka so as to know the members of her family for whom those three serves were intended. My curiosity most certainly centres on who would have been the recipient of her last order, wakakaka.

Well I may just add on something I have just found out about chee cheong fun, wakakaka.

I was recently in Penang which naturally saw me re-sample many of its hawker food delights such as laksa (Penang original, not the KL bullsh*t), pasembur, char koay teow, bun cheang koay, rojak (original Penang version, not the mainland bullsh*t version which is essentially pasembur by another name), prawn mee (Penangites refer to as Hokkien mee which in KL is entirely different, being fried rather than the Penang soupy version), satay and nasi 7 benua, wakakaka, etc.

nasi 7 benua at Koo Boo Kafé 

its ayam kunyit goreng was not as good as kaytee's version, wakakaka,but its kari sotong was excellent 

halal Koo Boo Kafé in south Penang

run by Malay sweeties and patronised by all Malaysians 

Naturally my re-sampling covered chee cheong fun as well.

I was a wee surprised by its mixture of sauce, which was a combination of hare-koe, chillie, tnee chneow (somewhat like hoisin sauce) etc, but which was placed by the side of the plate containing the chee cheong fun, as in following photo:

sauce by side of chee cheong fun 

and not as it used to be in my time in Penang when the hawker poured the sauce all over the rice noodles, as follows:

sauce all over chee cheong fun 

When I questioned my host, sweetie told me it's about giving the customers a degree of 'choice', allowing them to apply as much or as little of said sauce on their chee cheong fun.

Hah, so 'choice' has finally visited even the consumption of chee cheong fun, wakakaka.

Well, you'll have 'choice' again in your voting soon. Remember voting your preferred candidate is a legal secret, and anyone who forces you to reveal your 'choice' is liable to criminal proceedings.

Good luck and may you make a good 'choice'.

Wakakaka.

a non-political version of this post will appear in my other blog Kongsamkok under the title 'Choice comes to Chee Cheong Fun', wakakaka