Mozambique Warning on Lions

I love this one - subtle and utterly wicked!


In case you can't read the poster above, here's a reproduction of its text:

Province of Imhambane
Ministry of Fish and Wildlife
MOZAMBIQUE
WARNING

Due to the rising frequency of human-lion encounters, the Ministry of Fish and Wildlife, Imhambane, Mozambique is advising hikers, hunters, fishermen and any motorcyclists that use the out-of-doors in a recreational or work-related function to take extra precautions while in the bush.

We advise outdoorsmen to wear noisy bells on clothing so as to give advanced warning to lions that may be closed by so you don’t take them by surprise.

We also advise anyone using the out-of-doors to carry “Pepper Spray” with him or her in case of an encounter with a lion.

Outdoorsmen should also be on the watch for fresh lion activity, and be able to tell the difference between lion cub shit and big lion shit. Lion cub shit is smaller and contains lots of berries and dassie fur. Big lion shit has bells in it, and smells like pepper.

Enjoy your stay in

MOZAMBIQUE

MCA Youth: "Not yet kow-tim"

Ling Hee Leong - son of former MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik - clarified that Khairy Jamaluddin had no intention of hurting the feelings of the Chinese Malaysian community, and that the two of them had agreed to ‘look forward to the greater interest of the nation’.

But the official voice from MCA Youth said: “Hang on a bloody ding dong minute!”

MCA Youth secretary-general Dr Wee Ka Siong stated in no uncertain terms that as far as the Youth organisation is concerned, Ling Junior was acting on his own, and did not speak for MCA Youth. Whatever ‘consensus’ was reached between Khairy and Ling Hee Leong at a meeting yesterday did not represent MCA Youth’s stand.

Looks like MCA Youth wasn’t about to accept some cosy arrangements between those two youngsters.

Wee cleverly added: “It was a private meeting between them as friends. The matter should be sorted out through the proper channel, which is Barisan Nasional Youth”, which 'coincidentally' has been precisely what PM AAB had advised.

Wee didn’t mince his words. He said bluntly that the MCA Youth did not accept Khairy’s explanation.

He added: “Our chief Liow Tiong Lai has denied that MCA Youth agrees with the MIC Youth stand, which was to fully accept Khairy’s explanation that his statement had been misinterpreted by the media and BN leaders.”

Wee explained why MCA Youth thinks Khairy's excuse of being ‘misinterpreted’ had been nothing more than a crock of shit.

He stated: “There was no inconsistency in newspaper reports about what Khairy said and they (media) can’t be fabricating the stories together. The media should reveal tape recordings of what Khairy said.”

Asked what MCA Youth wants from Khairy, Wee said: “We want Khairy to understand that he must be responsible for his remarks, which are untrue.”

When I was a kid, my dad would give me a tight slap when he reckoned I was fibbing, even though most times I wasn’t – I just have that damn face that makes people distrust me ;-). Oh, I have wandered off, as usual. Sorry.

Wee said (using KTemoc’s words) Khairy’s ‘untrue’ remarks had right royally pissed off MCA Youth. He expects heated debate on the issue at the wing’s annual general meeting this coming Friday.

KTemoc recommends that MIC Youth sends observers.

Hishamuddin Off-loading Khairy Jamaluddin

Malaysiakini reported the following news (only relevant extract), but note my underlining:

Umno Youth head Hishammuddin Tun Hussein today said it was up to his deputy Khairy Jamaluddin to convince Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders that he did not intend to offend them.

Commenting on Khairy’s defence that his controversial remarks at a recent Umno meet had been misinterpreted, Hishammuddin said: “If he said he has been misunderstood, then I believe he has been misunderstood.”

As to whether he would instruct his deputy to apologise, he said: “I don’t instruct anybody to do anything especially when it involves his personal views.”

“It’s for him (Khairy) to satisfy our friends in the component parties that what was reported is not what it seems. There are people who have looked at it from a racial point, we have to convince them [...] It’s a learning process for Khairy,” he said at a joint press conference of BN Youth wings at the Parliament lobby.

[…]

“I don’t think it’s an issue, I think it’s something that can be resolved [...] the main thing is to satisfy those who have been offended,” he said, adding that he has yet to read Khairy remarks.

The Umno Youth chief, however, added that he will not stop anyone from raising the issue during the next BN Youth meeting.

At the press conference, Liow and Mah praised Hishammuddin for his immediate reaction to the controversy.

Met by reporters later, Liow declined to comment on whether MCA Youth accepted Khairy’s explanation but said Khairy had communicated with him “on the instruction of Hishammuddin”.

In an unrelated development, Hishammuddin said the call to rotate the Penang chief minister post was no longer an issue as he has instructed the youth wings in the state to forward their views to chief minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon.

Looks like even UMNO Youth Chief, Hishamuddin Tun Hussein, must be so embarrassed by the racist slant of Khairy’s remarks about the Chinese community exploiting UMNO’s ‘weakness’ that he has distanced himself from the ‘whiter than white’ Prince Consort.

The MCA has also added another turn of the screw for Khairy by ‘praising’ Hishamuddin for ‘instructing’ Khairy to ‘communicate’ with MCA Youth, and refusing to comment on whether the MCA Youth had accepted Khairy’s explanation.

The fact is that Khairy had exceeded the bounds of political propriety by instigating racist sentiments of fear against a group of Malaysians, represented by another member of the BN. He had already deeply embarrassed his father-in-law, who was compelled to have a special TV interview to refute what most Malaysians had been talking about for years, and now Khairy continued to add on to AAB's burden, by embarrassing his party.

More Zen about Half-Past-Six University

Malaysiakini reader Peter Ooi commented on the Half-Past-Six University (UPM) refusing to take disciplinary action against the 11 students who manhandled and intimidated another group of students:

Words cannot describe my anger upon reading that no action would be taken against those ‘mobsters’. The reasons given by the vice-chancellor for doing so are flimsy and silly.

Firstly, he said that he preferred to educate them rather than punishing them. My God! At their age, these mobsters are still not taught that intimidation or threats are strictly offensive. Mr Vice Chancellor, go ask any uneducated hawkers on the street, whether those actions are permissible or not. Their answers would probably make your so-called 'highly educated undergraduates' look like uncivilised and 'kurang ajar' morons.

On top of that, your statement that the incident was ‘localised’ made you look just as stupid as those ‘mobsters’. Mr VC, are you going to wait for a full-blown racial conflict before actions are taken? This shows that you are not suitable for your VC post. The saying 'nip the problem in the bud' must be very foreign to you.

When asked whether the students are still holding their posts, again your stupidity shows glaringly. Your answer was that their term of office is coming to an end and thus implying that no actions need to be taken. So by simple extension, if a bank manager is caught misappropriating fund and about to retire, then no action is to be taken too because his term as manager is coming to an end.

I really cannot believe such a stupid statement could come from a man of your standing, Mr VC.

Then another reader Voiceout Voicein wrote:

A professor who has eyes but cannot see, and who has ears but cannot hear. Let’s pray that the students take cue from their surroundings and stop listening to people without eyes and ears. It will do them some good to look at themselves in the mirror and view the video about their action. It’s difficult to blame them 100 percent as they are still young and if the authority simply whitewash the whole episode; what is to be expected from these boys?

'... who has eyes but cannot see, and who has ears but cannot hear ...'?

Oy, those words sound familiar lah. Didn't I write in Zen & the Half-Past-Six University the following phrases?

'... a vice-chancellor professor who could see but not see?' and '... a vice-chancellor professor who could not hear but hear.'

Fu Shan (Fu Mountain) seems to be getting crowded of late ;-)

Eat your heart out, Jeff Ooi!

UPDATE Morning 22 Aug 2006:

MENJ informed me that he had NOT made any statements with regard to the issue of Malik Imtiaz [deleted, see my remarks in comments]. He has published a news article denouncing such attempts http://www.bukanliberal.org/articles/360/ MENJ claimed the purported link to his blog is non-existent and false, though myAsylum (see below) had captured the screenshots as follows:

"A website that aims to educate the Muslim public on the implications of a case by an apostate (thank you to menj fan for informing me about it).

I've always had a hardline stance against apostates from Islam and I will never compromise on the issue of apostacy. I have written a book about it, too. Which reminds me, I should have podcasted on apostacy but have yet to do so. I will record the podcast soon, inshaallah.

BUNUH ORANG MURTAD"

myAsylum has also captured the PPS screenshot showing Critical Thoughts' posting of Membela Islam pinged on PPS at 1312 hrs on July 17, 2006 with above statements:

Well, mates, I am glad that MENJ has written in to clarify the scary issue. Let's all avoid the word "KILL" anybody.

P/S to all who wrote me on issue, thanks for your emails and comments.

***********************************************************
Remember the Shooting Saga at Jeff Ooi’s Screenshots, which prompted Edge group executive editor P Gunasegaram to report Jeff to the Communications and Multimedia Content Forum (CMCF) agency over a Screenshots’ visitor’s inappropriate comments about ‘shooting’ him (Gunasegaram).

Then, in my posting Big Brother warns Jeff Ooi & bloggers, Communications Minister Dr Lim Keng Yaik warned that the police would be monitoring bloggers who post seditious, malicious and defamatory articles on the Internet.

Also, deputy Internal Security Minister Fu Ah Kiow said some bloggers should be more sensitive of the items they post on websites. And he pinpointed Jeff Ooi as one of those bloggers who was … er … 'not-sensitive-enough'. The deputy minister also mentioned Malaysiakini as a culprit. In fact police are currently ‘investigating’ Malaysiakini for a news item that the newspaper had already withdrawn with full acknowledgement of error.

Then I posted Death threats against apostasy lawyer, about a human rights lawyer Malik Imtiaz being threatened with death by Muslim extremists, because Malik was actively involved in both the Article 11 Coalition forums and the Lina Joy apostasy court case.

Yesterday my blogger mate walski69 informed me of his posting Mutant Mullah: UltraMENJ steps over the line of decent behavior where he lamented that local blogger MENJ has gone too far by posting on his (MENJ) blogsite the message BUNUH ORANG MURTAD (KILL THE APOSTATE). [sentence deleted after due consideration - see my remarks under 'comments']. Additionally, MENJ has also posted a group photo of the lady and the defense council, to enable their identification.

Now, I know MENJ too, but I must confess his incitement to kill someone whom he didn’t agree with on religious matters is definitely beyond the boundaries of acceptable social behaviour, apart from such an incitement being criminal in intent.

Luckily for MENJ I note a complete lack, in fact a total absence of news reports among the mainstream media on his criminal incitement, unlike the disproportionate hullaballoo that surrounded Jeff's relatively mild issue. He’s lucky he’s not Jeff Ooi who is marked closely by some people in power. If I were MENJ, I would do the wise thing and remove a.s.a.p his unacceptable incitement to BUNUH ORANG MURTAD (KILL THE APOSTATE).

MCA's "WTF?" to Khairy Jamaluddin

The country’s most famous son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin, warned UMNO members that if UMNO were weak, the Chinese community would exploit that weakness to make demands on the Government.

Khairy then brought up 2 examples, firstly the Suqiu issue and secondly, the memorandum to the PM signed by nine ministers, including the MCA. The memorandum called for a review of laws affecting the rights of non-Muslims, but was subsequently withdrawn on the advice of the PM.

Incidentally the memo was submitted at a time when UMNO was still not beset by its current internal strife, so even if not withdrawn, Khairy would still be recklessly shooting off his mouth about an event unrelated to a 'weak' or divided UMNO.

But he has been scrapping the bottom of an empty barrell in his attempt to demonise the Chinese community. The Chinese Malaysians collectively has represented a convenient punching bag for a few ambitious UMNO members.

Once again, the MCA was right royally pissed off. Its vice-president Dr Chua Soi Lek said that there was no need for anyone to exhume an issue (the withdrawn memorandum) when it had been retracted on the advice of PM AAB.

Chua stated: “So I do not understand why this issue, which is regarded as resolved, has been resurrected months later. For us, it is no longer an issue because the memorandum is now in the hands of the Prime Minister and Government.”

In non-diplomatic and more earthly language, Chua would have said to young Khairy: “What the f**k?”

But Khairy has been attempting to develop his popularity amongst UMNO Youth members, and he must have been really desperate to exploit the non-issue that had been buried long ago. He has not been very popular among UMNO members for his parachuting exploits, and then the Mahathir Book of Revelations had left him reeling and worse off.

In the aftermath of the M-factor’s ‘shock & awe’ strikes, young Khairy was forced to off-load his Libra-ECM shares, but still haven’t explained how he could handle the loss he claimed to have made as a ‘sacrifice’ to Malays.

Our ‘whiter than white’ Prince Consort has been playing to the UMNO Youth gallery ever since then – sacrificing his 'loss' in shares for Malays, telling the Penang CM to set targets for Malay participation in terms of real estate and property ownership, employment and business, and now stirring fears of Chinese encroachment on UMNO's preserves by using a long dead non-issue.

Matters sexual and that damn stork!

Mazlin Mohamad Mokhtar of Universiti Teknologi Mara conducted a study on sexual and reproductive health, knowledge, attitude and behaviour among students in two private colleges and two public universities

She found that one in two young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 are having sex. But more horrifying she discovered that 80% of them do not use contraceptives.

She said: "You would expect this kind of feedback from the general population. Certainly not among university and college students who are supposed to be better educated."

Maybe she wasn’t of half-past-six universities where students may well be not that 'better educated' as she had expected?

Mind you, there's a report somewhere that I've read, which said that circumcision could reduce the probability of HIV infection by as much as 43% - BUT, and a big BUT, it's not 100% and therefore, even a circumcised bloke could still get it.

These are some of Mazlin's findings:

(1) 34 % thought condoms cannot help prevent the spread of HIV.

No, they probably thought they could get HIV from peeping, playing with their weenies, or seating on someone’s toilet seat. Once I had a girlfriend who warned me not to sit immediately on the toilet seat after her because I might ‘catch’ her piles. Well, what can I say except that at least she cared (note the past tense - sob sob!) for me.

(2) 25% said a person could be infected with HIV through a bite from a mosquito, flea or bed bug.

Or playing with his weenie - See (1) above.

(3) 60% thought that a man would be able to tell when a woman has STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease).

I once saw a Chinese movie which showed a woman (prostitute) with STD having hugh suppurating boils on her face - very gruesome stuff.

Apart from movies, Chinese operas tend towards the overtly expressive, with emotions such as anger, fear, disgust, love, etc, or characters such as evil stepmothers, busybody neighbours, lascivious landlords, heroic scholars and mischievous but romantic aunties graphically and dramatically presented, with unmistakable poutings, grimaces, sneers, leers, and sexy winks, just in case the idiotic audience misses the message, nuances, or play-character (hero, villain or mere 'foot soldiers').

So I suppose physical symptoms of STD would be equally presented prominently as unmistakably horrible features. No, Chinese audience don’t appreciate the silent Clint Eastwood type. Most certainly for them, women with STD should preferably have red neon signs flashing an arrow at their private you-know-what. Maybe Malaysians are like those Chinese too.

(4) 53% said a person with STD would show symptoms.

Refer to the suggestion of neon signs above.

To add on woefully to our undergraduates’ lack of 'essential' knowledge a specialist in charge of the genito-urinary medicine clinic at the Institute of Respiratory Medicine, Dr Akbal Kaur, said she had seen patients as young as 14 suffering from STD as a result of unprotected sex.

"Gonorrhoea seems to be the commonest among young adults. One of the reasons is because they have multiple partners."

I must say I am confused by the last part of her statement. I am no doctor but my knowledge is enough to say that all one needs to have gnorrhoea is just one, not multiple, sex partner already suffering from that VD.

Never mind, but more worrying, Dr Akbal sees about 20 patients a day, where 50% are young adults, most of whom had never heard of genital warts, syphilis, gonorrhoea or chlamydia — all different types of STD.

Shamefully I must confess I too haven’t heard of the last one, chlamydia, so I check the dictionary which said:

(a) Any of various gram-negative, coccoid microorganisms of the genus Chlamydia, especially C. psittaci and C. trachomatis, that are pathogenic to humans and other animals, causing conjunctivitis in cattle and sheep and trachoma, urethritis, and proctitis in humans.

Thanks, but please ask Dr Louis Pasteur to ring me up this evening for a personal briefing.

(2) Any of several common, often asymptomatic, sexually transmitted diseases caused by the microorganism Chlamydia trachomatis.

Hmmm, so the microorganism Chlamydia trachomatis is the naughty culprit, but if you are still clueless, hey, just wear a Durex ‘sarong’, OK?

Now, the next one is amazing. The doctor said some youngsters did not know that sex led to having babies. She explained: "I once asked a young patient: ‘You know you are menstruating right?’

The young patient nodded. Then Dr asked her: "Do you know that because you are menstruating every month, when you have sex, you can get pregnant? She gave me a blank look."

Hey, don’t be too harsh with her. I know of many who had thought the stork brought us the babies. No chimney and they should be saved.

The good doctor revealed that those she had treated for STD, still returned with the same or a different problem because after the first experience, only a small number had been convinced to use contraceptives.

It’s quite terrifying to learn that in Malaysia, everyday, 19 people are diagnosed as HIV-positive.

Dr Akbal said if present trends of sexual behaviour continue, there would be a spike in the number of reported HIV cases. Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman, of the Malaysian AIDS Council, said: "These are shocking but not altogether surprising findings. I am sure it is not what everyone would like to believe but unfortunately that is the reality of life today."

Rimbunan Hijau?

Malaysiakini reported about Malaysian owned logging giant in Papua New Guinea, Rimbunan Hijau.

The battle between Rimbunan Hijau and Greenpeace in Papua New Guinea (PNG) rages on with the Malaysian logging giant accusing the international environmental group for singling the company out for criticism.

In a report entitled ‘Whatever it takes - Greenpeace's anti-forestry campaign in Papua New Guinea’, Sarawak-based Rimbunan argued that Greenpeace has no interest in developing sustainable commercial forestry or improving the economic welfare of the people of PNG.

“Greenpeace is not interested in economic growth in PNG, or what it means to the people of PNG."

"Greenpeace evidently considers that cessation of commercial logging in PNG is worth any cost, including damage to efforts to raise living standards, increase life expectancy, and improve child literacy in Papua New Guinea,” it stated.

“It has only two interests in PNG: first, to see it used as a model for its own view of how the world should look; and second, to secure a tactical victory to support its global campaign to stop commercial forestry,” it reported.

[…]

I don’t know much about the case, but I have heard nasty things about the logging company, though I also do know how militant Greenpeace sometimes can be.

My only comment is how in the world did a logging company have a name or were permitted a name of Rimbunan Hijau? ;-)

Did Khairy Jamaluddin bad-mouth Chinese community?

Bernama reported Chinese newspapers published that Khairy Jamaluddin, the PM’s son-in-law and UMNO Youth No 2, had said the Chinese community would capitalise on UMNO's weaknesses. Apparently Khairy did so in Kedah last Friday.

The MCA is pissed off with the young politician who’s obviously trying to make a name for himself within his own Youth group, especially after his controversial on-off ownership of millions of Libra-ECM shares. MCA leaders worry that young Khairy has resorted to an UMNO Youth time-tested method of demonising the Chinese for political gains.

Now, Khairy claimed he had received a request for a meeting with MCA Vice Chief Ling Hee Leong to clarify his speech. Khairy averred that the MCA leaders had misconstrued the message in his speech. He insisted the matter was not a new issue.

He claimed the speech was meant to bolster UMNO and not to tear the fabric of goodwill upheld by the BN component parties. Khairy said he stressed on the spirit of consensus in BN, but with UMNO as the backbone of BN, the Malay party had to be strong for the well-being of the coalition.

He said: "What I said was that we must progress together, we need a strong UMNO. We must accept that the strength of BN lies with UMNO and UMNO has to be strong for the good of BN. If UMNO is not strong, some quarters might take advantage and affect the goodwill in BN, not the other kind of advantage. This was my message."

His answer provides diddly squat assurance to the MCA’s concerns. Khairy is tap dancing around the straightforward query – Did he or did he not say that the Chinese community would capitalise on UMNO’s weakness?

Unfortunately, UMNO, especially its Youth section, has this usual habit of diverting their internal problems through Chinese-bashing. The recent harassment of Penang Chief Minister was part and parcel of UMNO’s part/temporary treatment of its internal strife.

The truth is more nearer to the probability that UMNO Youth would capitalise on the Chinese community’s availability as a convenient punching bag, rather than the other way around.

Related:
(1) Penang CM's post - bleating lamb and strutting roosters
(2) Penang UMNO Youth Defies PM on CM's post
(3) Bkt Mertajam's UMNO: "Koh must share powers with UMNO!"
(4) What has Penang Govt given Non-Malays?

Israel predictably violated ceasefire

Not surprisingly, the party to first violate the UN sanctioned ceasefire in Lebanon has been maverick Israel, who claimed it did so in 'self defence', a 'self defence' that took its air raid and commando penetration deep into Lebanon territory.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan condemned the Israeli violations but there's buggerall he can do. Israel has no intention of honouring any UM Resolution and will employ that bullsh*t 'defence' excuse to continue to kill and destroy at will.
The Israeli deceit is not unlike the USA's approach after the latter has murdered local civilians, then labelling those victims as 'terrorist suspects'.

Those are the reality of power where the powerful don't answer to anyone, or when they choose to, they can say anything (principally for domestic consumption) which they don't give a damn whether the world believes them or not.

Death threats against apostasy lawyer

Early this year, in the wake of the R Moorthy saga, I blogged on SUHAKAM Chairman: "Civil Court Judges Lack Balls", when Abu Talib Othman, chairman of SUHAKAM and former Attorney-General, and ironically the man who drafted Article 121(1)(A), castigated (or if you like castrated) some judges of the Civil Courts.

I also blogged an accompanying piece titled Article 121(1)(A) - What terrified the Civil Courts!.

In the former posting I mentioned that human rights lawyer Malik Imtiaz told Abu Talib about judges who admitted to being Muslims first rather than judges. Abu Talib went into righteous spiral and advised Malik to report the matter, and if there was evidence, those judges should be removed.

Abu Talb said of such judges: “They are unfit to be judges, then. Judges should remember their constitutional oath to protect and uphold the Federal Constitution as the supreme law of the land.”

But Imtiaz said that the Moorthy’s case was not unique as such cases have become almost a daily occurrence but which the media had not reported. Imtiaz said what Abu Talib himself said, that judges of civil courts are currently avoiding or rejecting cases whenever there is anything vaguely Islamic in those cases.

Since then Malik has not endeared himself with the more intolerant element within the Malaysian Muslim community. He bore the brunt of many Muslim groups for his involvement in the Article 11 coalition which holds public forums on freedom of religion.

Some Muslims reckoned the Article 11 Coalition is an insidious movement attempting to undermine the Islamic faith among Muslims, so Malik was looked upon as a traitor to Islam.

Malik also added on to those Muslims’ annoyance when he held watching brief on behalf of the Bar Council in the Lina Joy’s appeal against the decision by the National Registration Department (NRD).

Joy, who was a Muslim, has converted to Christianity 16 years ago but the NRD has refused to remove her former religious denomination from her identity card.

Now, there is a leaflet circulating around calling for the death of Malik Imtiaz over his involvement in the Lina Joy apostasy case.

ABIM, the Muslim Youth Movement, has denounced the threat in the leaflet as violating both Islamic and federal laws, and said it does not condone the use of violence against anyone even if it disagrees with Malik’s opinions.

Its president Yusri Mohamad said: “We want the authorities to launch an immediate investigation to identify the parties responsible for the leaflet.”

“This is based on the principle that differing views on Islam must be resolved through Islamic morals and ethics and not by force. The use of force, mockery, rude words and death threats has no place in a civilised society.”

OK, I want to hear some words from PAS, UMNO and PKR.

Universities - How our Mighty has fallen!

Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang reminded us that in the 1950’s and 60’s, Malaya/Malaysia’s best HSC students opted for Universiti Malaya (UM) rather than universities in Australia. Then, only the University of Sydney and University of Melbourne were considered to be on par with UM.

Oh UM, how thou, once amongst the mighty, has fallen!

Lim said the standards and quality of Malaysian universities continue to decline while 16 lower division universities in Australia have achieved international acclaim by getting listed in the Shanghai Jiao Tong 500 World Universities Ranking 2006 for the fourth year running.

The Institute of Higher Education of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, which conducts the annual survey, ranks universities by several indicators, including alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals, highly cited researchers, nature and science articles published, articles indexed in major citation indices and the per capita academic performance of the institution.

Harvard and Cambridge take the top two spot this year.

The 92 universities from the Asia-Pacific region included in the list are from Japan (32 universities), Australia (16), China (9), South Korea (9), Israel (7)*, New Zealand (5), Taiwan (5), Hong Kong (5), India (2) and Singapore (2).

* I wonder how Israel is grouped under the Asia-Pacific region?

The top 10 universities from Asia-Pacific which made it to the list are Tokyo University (No: 19), Kyoto University (22), Australian National University (54), Hebrew University Jerusalem (60), Osaka University (61), Tohoku University (76), University Melbourne (78), Tokyo Institute of Technology (89), Nagoya University (98) and Hokkaido University (102).

500 universities ranked, but not one from Malaysia!

Lim warned that as long as meritocracy and academic excellence are not restored to the ‘highest pedestal in Malaysian academia’, local universities will never be able to compete with the best in the world.

If I were to make a listing called the KTemoc 500 World Half-Past-Six Universities Ranking 2006, I bet we would be placed at least in the top three.

Related:
Zen & the Half-Past-Six University

Police disallow Anwar Ibrahim's Public Gathering

The PKR wants to hold a massive gathering today at Pantai Dalam where Anwar Ibrahim would be present. Apparently Anwar will present his views on the current Mahathir versus AAB stoush.

Police nix-ed it on the basis that the owner of the property on which the event is to be held, an open parking lot of an apartment block, hasn’t given permission.

PKR organiser Mohd Zaman Md Tasi admitted that the owner of the apartment block, NPE Property Development had told the organisers in separate letter that it would not allow PKR to use the car park of Perumahan Pantai Permai in Kampung Kerinchi for the gathering.

The reason was that the gathering would deprive residents of their parking space and cause crowd-related problems.

The Brickfields district police chief ACP Mohd Dzuraidi Ibrahim said that the application for a permit has been rejected as the organisers had failed to obtain permission from the private owner to use the venue.

But Mohd Zaman said this wasn’t the first time venue owners had come under political pressure to stop such opposition events. He is insistent that the function would go on despite the lack of a police permit as the designated venue was an open space and that more than 200 volunteers would be at hand to ensure security and smooth traffic flow.

Kickoff time is 9:00 pm. I wonder whether the FRU will be there?

Personally I don’t hold much credence for Anwar Ibrahim’s views or statements, but I believe it’s wrong to deny him, a Malaysian citizen, the right to speak out on political issues relevant to Malaysians.

He should be allowed to have his gathering without any police intervention.

Monkeys or Donkeys

Malaysiakini reader HL Too wrote a Zen-like letter titled Do donkeys eat bananas? which read:

With reference to the letter by KMK entitled Pak Lah, Dr M and Ali Baba’s caves, I cannot entirely agree with his statement that ‘your vote counts’.

I don't know about KMK, but I don't think my vote counts.

The idea that in a democracy the electorate gets to choose their government is not always true. At least, not when you're asked to choose between monkeys and donkeys.

All these years, we have elected monkeys to look after the banana plantation.

They not only ate all the bananas they wanted but even assumed that we, the electorate, had given them the mandate to do so.

Come the next election, I'll try voting for the donkeys. The question is: do donkeys eat bananas?

Profound, utterly profound!

Zen & the Half-Past-Six University

Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) was the so-called centre of higher learning which gave us The Half-Past-Six Book, where the the content of the book was so racist that even an UMNO Minister, Mohd Nazri, currently acting Law Minister, condemned it as seditious and a piece of rubbish that should be withdrawn.

Indeed PM AAB had the half-past-six book withdrawn, although he provided his usual ‘elegant’ words to euphemise the reason.

Malaysiakini reader Vijay wrote in to to say that withdrawing the textbook was not good enough, because the root cause has not yet been dealt with. He wants action taken against those racists who compiled the offensive text. KTemoc commented that I wasn’t going to hold my breath waiting for that, certainly not until half-past-six. ;-)

That's the infamous UPM. Now, in another incident at this same so-called centre of higher learning, where young blokes sent there to take up tertiary education took up thuggery education instead, the university was forced into setting up a committee to investigate reported acts of what had been thuggish intimidation of a group of victims - 'forced into' to avoid bringing in the police. The thuggery was apparently abetted by one university security guard.

After several weeks of investigation, UPM’s vice-chancellor Prof Dr Nik Mustapha R Abdullah told a press conference that the investigating committee - surprise surprise, surprise - would not take disciplinary action against the 11 students who manhandled and intimidated another group of students.

Nik Mustapha said that the committee found that the victims were equally responsible for the fracas. He said the incident was ‘localised’ involving only a certain group of students and was not sparked by racial issues.

Whether the incident was 'localised' at the university or that it happened due to non-racial issues, was not the point. The vice-chancellor, or the investigating committee should be answering to these: Were there acts of thuggery and aggressive intimidation? Did a univeristy security guard participate?

When asked whether the UPM student representative council leader Abdul Manaf Ariffin - who was involved in the scuffle - would be allowed to continue in his position, Nik Mustapha said: “His term is finishing”. We take it that the vice-chancellor oblique answer meant 'yes', and that Abdul Manaf would be allowed to continue.

By then, one obtained that the press conference by the vice-chancellor would end up in a predictable outcome, and one could not be faulted for concluding the findings of the university investigation had been Hutton-ised.

Nik Mustapha's most outrageous denial was that of the evidence from a direct video recording of the incident – maybe that's because it wasn't a half-past-six video recording?

Asked to explain portion of the video recording which showed pro-campus authority students shouting and heckling another group of students, Nik Mustapha said they ‘were merely singing and cheering, and not shouting’. A victim said the video recording clearly showed otherwise: “If that is not shouting, then what is?”

Maybe the victim-student does not have the higher-educated 'vision' of a vice-chancellor professor who could see but not see?

To another question about a press photographer whose camera was damaged while recording the scuffle, the vice-chancellor claimed the reporter (also a student) from the Chinese vernacular news website Merdeka Review, had confessed that the damage occurred due to her own carelessness.

The press photographer rejected the vice-chancellor claims. UPM student and Merdeka Review trainee reporter, Chew Siew Foong flatly denied she had told UPM authorities that it was her own carelessness which caused her camera to be damaged during the scuffle.

Maybe the student-press photographer does not have the higher-educated 'hearing' of a vice-chancellor professor who could not hear but hear.

'... could see but not see ... could not hear but hear ...'? Hey, this is getting rather Zen like. Maybe the vice-chancellor was from Fu Mountain?

The victims of the thuggish manhandling said the vice-chancellor was whitewashing the appalling incident which frighteningly displayed thuggish culture, a black culture that, mind you, has good application in a certain body.

... white-washing ... black culture ... white & black ... yang & yin ... Zen ...? Hmmm, certainly Fu Mountain.

Nik Mustapha said the committee’s investigations were conducted in ‘a transparent and fair manner’ and he trusted the integrity of the investigation body. But he refused to reveal the contents of the report.

The victims disagreed with UPM’s version of the incident and its claim that there were no injuries involved. They said if indeed the committee’s investigation was truly carried out in a 'fair and transparent manner', then the university authorities should be willing the reveal the contents of their report.

Maybe the vice-chancellor or the university has a different definition of 'transparent & fair manner'? But don’t wait until half-past-six for the university to release the unedited findings of the committee.

Here’s a university whose academicians can write a racist book for ethnic relations class, termed as seditious by the Law Minister. Can we then expect the university to maintain a non-racist environment for its students? Or, to impartially investigate a thuggish manhandling incident where even one university security guard joined in? Where the vice-chancellor could ignore a direct video recording of the incident, reckon jeering was cheering, and aggressive intimidatory shoutings were mere singing, and claim a trainee press photographer had admitted to a fault she hadn't?

But the Zen response would be 'don't answer for they're answered'. To conclude, here's a Zen story (no, not from Fu Mountain) for you:

One day, Jizo received one of Hofuku's disciples and asked him, "How does your teacher instruct you?"

The disciple replied,"My teacher instructs me to shut my eyes and see no evil thing; to cover my ears and hear no evil sound; to stop my mind-activities and form no wrong ideas."

Jizo said, "I do not ask you to shut your eyes but you do not see a thing. I do not ask you to cover your ears, but you do not hear a sound. I do not ask you to cease your mind-activities, but you do not form any idea at all."

Malaysians Split over Palestine & Lebanon

The Palestinian and recently the Lebanese issues have seen Malaysians divided into several groups, each with different views.

genocide of Palestinians at Sabra-Shatila refugee camps

Group A - Firstly, there are those without any view or awareness of any regional or international affairs, let alone the Palestinian or Lebanese problems. They could be apolitical, apathetic, too engrossed with their own worries and misfortunate, or just don't know. I believe my Mum and aunties are among them. Maybe we should instead call them Group Huh?

Group B - Then there are those who support Palestinians and a Palestine. This group may be divided into two sub-groups.

Group B(i) - The first subgroup comprises those who are staunchly Muslim and would automatically support other Muslim groups. They see the Palestinian issue as a Muslim issue (even though some Palestinians or Arabs are Christians), therefore it has to be, must be a worthwhile cause to support, as well as to damn those who give grievance to their Muslim brothers and sisters.

Group B(i)(a) - A few of this Group would even support people like Osama bin Laden, Noordin Top, and the late Dr Azahari– well, because these 3 personalities so happen to be Muslims (one of rather late disposition). The few of this sub-group are totally devoted to any Islamic brand, regardless of the cause. So long as it’s, or seen to be, an Islamic group, they will support it, even making up excuses for the excesses of terrorists (mind you, not freedom fighters).

Noordin Top

Hishamuddin Hisham wished he had been able to 'rehabilitate' him

Group B(ii) – these would be the ‘lefties’, ‘wets’, ‘liberals’, ‘do-gooders’, ‘bleeding hearts’ or whatever derogatory labels the conservative Right would hang on them. The members of this group are all, by some strange coincidence, very handsome ;-) and if female, strikingly beautiful, wakakaka. They support Palestinians for an independent Palestine because it’s the right, just and moral thing to do. They don’t care two hoots whether the Palestinians are Muslims, Christians or Watusi’s. They support the Palestinians because they care.

Today they commiserate with Palestinians, some 700,000 of whom were driven out by war or expelled from their land by Jews after the creation of Israel in 1948 and the ensuing Arab-Israeli war. An additional 200,000 Palestinians suffered the same exodus during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

All in all, around 1,000,000 (or even more) dispossessed Palestinians have been driven from their own land by a combination of Zionist money, programs & efforts and the consequences of Western guilt in the Holocaust plus religious (Zionist) belief of (initially) British and (subsequently) American Christians in the return of Jews to the so-called Promised Land, so as to prepare for the Second Coming of Christ.

The late Rachel Corrie was one of this group. And so am I, KTemoc, not that I dare place myself on the same heroic level as the lady. Her tragic murder or accidental killing by an Israeli bulldozer driver did indicate how much hold the Jewish State has over the American Christian Right group, because not one Bush Administration official uttered one single protest or condemnation against the Israeli military.

Before her death, she told reporters about her experience in Palestine: "I feel like I'm witnessing the systematic destruction of a people's ability to survive ... Sometimes I sit down to dinner with people and I realize there is a massive military machine surrounding us, trying to kill the people I'm having dinner with."
Following her death, there were accusations of murder against the Israelis but countered by claims of recklessness of Western protestors by Israeli military. Joshua Hammer, Newsweek bureau chief in Jerusalem wrote:

"Whatever the truth, the Israeli army showed no remorse for its action that afternoon. Days after Corrie's death, Arafat's Fatah Party sponsored a memorial service for her in Rafah, attended by representatives of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades as well as ordinary Palestinians."

"Midway through the service, an Israeli tank pulled up beside the mourners and sprayed them with tear gas. Peace activists chased the tank and tossed flowers at it, and in return, the Israeli soldiers inside threatened to run them down. After 15 minutes of cat and mouse, Israeli bulldozers and APCs* rolled in, firing guns and releasing percussion bombs and putting a quick end to the memorial."

* armoured personnel carrier

Nice ar$e-h*les, these so-called Children of the Holocaust. Haven’t they overdrawn on the 'guilt' bank account of their unfortunate Holocaust predecessors?

When Rachel Corrie lamented the "... systematic destruction of a people's ability to survive ...", she was more right than she realized. The late Golda Meir, former PM of Israel, even went to the unscrupulous extent of denying the existence of a displaced ethnic group, the Palestinians, displaced by the intrusion of an aggressive race.

She told the British Sunday Times (published on 15 June 1969): "There is no such thing as a Palestinian people ... It is not as if we came and threw them out and took their country. They didn't exist."

Two months later on 29 August, a young pixie-face Palestinian girl by the name of Leila Khaled made the world acknowledged the existence and grievances of the Palestinians.


Years later, when asked whether she's a terrorist, she replied: "Whenever I hear this word I ask another question: Who planted terrorism in our area? Some came and took our land, forced us to leave, forced us to live in camps. I think this is terrorism. Using means to resist this terrorism and stop its effects - this is called struggle."

And kaytee says Amin to that.

Group C – these consist of anti-Palestinians and pro-Israelis. In some cases those 2 political proclivities can be mutually compatible, but in some not so. They can be divided into 3 sub-groups.

Group C(i) – the members are the vanguard of Group C, the wannabe Israelis, or Christian Zionists, who unfortunately don’t realise that they themselves are actually considered by some Jews as, at best goyims (infidels) or, at worst kushims (niggers). Sorry, can’t help them.

Group C(ii) – these are the guys who support Israeli right to live in their own state. They aren't anti-Palestinians nor pro Israelis per se. I am not going to comment on these people as they are reasonably sincere in their views.

I too have a toe in this group, provided the Israelis withdraw to the 1967 borders in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 242 instead of brazenly demanding Lebanon implement UN Security Council Resolution 1559. Israel has to be described as an international maverick (pariah) for defying some 80 UNSC Resolutions.

Group C(iii) – now, I am worried about this group. They are the exact opposite of Group B(i) and consist mainly of non-Malays. They work on the approach of ‘the enemies of my enemies ...’. Their worldview would be as follows:

(1) they feel discriminated by the intrinsically racist Malaysian New Economic Policy,
(2) thus they don’t like Malays (skipping one node of condemnation by jumping from UMNO straight to the general Malays),
(3) Malays being Muslims, thus they don’t like Muslims.

From that three (or 4) steps of grievance, they invariably dislike Arabs, whom they believe to be all Muslims. That’s why in an earlier posting Malaysian Troops for Lebanon? Some Views! I drew attention to one Major (Rtd) Swami who wrote in to Malaysiakini stating:

“Throughout my military career, I have noticed that most Malay officers tend to side with the Arabs and most non-Malay officers tend to sympathise with the Israelis.”

And I commented that I do agree with him on this. This posting presents my views as to the why's and wherefore's, rather than his simplified but staunch Christian (Zionist?) anti-communist pro-Israel arguments.

Now, why am I worried about this group? That's because their worldviews leading them to be anti-Palestinians or pro-Israel are just as misplaced as those Muslims who blindly support terrorist groups like al Qaeda or Jemaah Islamiyah. Both are unthinking idiots, full of parichial hatred!

Which group do you belong to? And don't tell me Group A because then you wouldn't be reading this posting ;-).

Reciprocation with blog links

With great daring for a hopeless HTML-er like me ;-) I've finally ventured to tamper with my blog's template and linked up with 2 bloggers in reciprocation of their links to KTemoc Konsiders.

P Goh's 'Focus on Malaysia & the World' and my mate Howsy's 'Sensintrovert' are now just away at a click of the wee tikus (mouse) on the right column.

While I'm still on a rush of adrenalin, please let ole KT know of those of you who have linked to my site but haven't received reciprocation. I may take a few days to work up another burst of courage but I'll do the right thing. Just leave your URL here.

Malaysian Troops for Lebanon? Some Views!

DPM Najib insisted that Malaysia will send a peacekeeping force to Southern Lebanon under the United Nations' (UN) auspices despite opposition from Israel. He averred that Lebanon welcomed the presence of Malaysian peacekeepers. Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar also said it was the UN and not Israel that had the final say in selecting the peacekeepers to monitor the situation in Lebanon.

Najib said he could not understand why the presence of Malaysian peacekeepers was being objected to merely for the technical reason that Malaysia has no diplomatic relations with Israel.

When reminded that Malaysia's pro-Palestinian and pro-Muslim stand could affect the impartiality of the Malaysian peacekeepers in Lebanon, he repudiated that view, saying Malaysia’s peacekeeping force had always served in a professional manner.

However, he mentioned that the UN hasn’t yet informed Malaysia when it could send its peacekeeping force to Lebanon.

KTemoc's view is that Foreign Minister Syed Hamid has expressed a technical view on the UN peace keeping force without taking into consideration the reality Israel as an affected party (additionally backed by the USA) would have a big say in the composition of the UN force. Israel has already expressed its preference for European Union troops.

I am also very cynical about the Malaysian government's over-eagerness to send our troops there. I am examining its intention vis-a-vis domestic politics.

Last month, Major (Rtd) Swami wrote in to Malaysiakini giving his views why Malaysia should not send troops to Lebanon. I gather from his letter he is a former member of the Malaysian Rangers. He said:

Your report M'sia mulls sending ME peacekeepers refers. I hope it is just plain mulling. First of all, Malaysia does not have any diplomatic ties with Israel, Most of the time, Jews and Israel are demonised in Malaysia. Just a reminder, so as to enforce my argument, someone once said ‘Jews rule the world by proxy'. Even the current PM's son-in-law has led demos against Israel.

Malaysia has had experience peacekeeping in various parts of the World, the most challenging being in the Congo and Somalia. The rest of the missions were a stroll in the park. Peacekeeping is a different ball game all together when it involves Israel.

The current United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) comprising China, France, Ghana, India, Ireland, Italy, Poland and Ukraine and the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation (Unsto) comprising Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and the US are toothless and expensive. Note the commonality, no Muslim countries. What many seem to forget are the lads mentioned above are the ‘UN presence’ that everyone is clamouring for.

This is what would likely happen if troops from Muslim countries were deployed. An incident like the case of Jordanian peacekeepers firing at American soldiers after a dispute over Iraq whilst on a peace keeping mission in Kosovo. This is bad for the peacekeepers’ morale and anyone who is in a mood for a debate.

So far so good – Major Swami (assuming that's his real name) seemed to know what he’s talking about, up to this stage. He even referred to a disgraceful incident involving the Royal Malay Regiment in Bosnia, where two soldiers purportedly burned a Christian cross. I can’t comment on this as I am not aware of the incident.

Unfortunately he spoiled his excellent assessement of the viability of sending Malaysian soldiers to Lebanon by revealing his pro-Israel attitude further down in his letter. He said:

Throughout my military career, I have noticed that most Malay officers tend to side with the Arabs and most non-Malay officers tend to sympathise with the Israelis.

I do agree with him on this, though I have my views as to why. I’ll be blogging on this soon.

Many an argument broke out with the Malay officers saying ‘Why on earth do we support Israel?’. In my case, my argument is always that Israel has never hurt Malaysia. Why on earth would I want to support the Arabs as all the major wars fought by the Arabs against Israel were supported by then Communist Russia.

We were fighting the communists, so it is natural to root for Israel. Further, the wars fought by the Jewish state were against the Arab nations that did not want it to exist. Geographically too, why bother? They’re too far away

Unfortunately Major Swami’s views in the last two paragraphs are typically those of conservative Christians like Dr Sarah Verghis who wrote a pro-Israeli letter to Malaysiakini titled Absurd to say Israel illegal.

Notice the same good Christian anti-Communist cum pro-Israel (and thus anti-Arab) stand?

Israeli failure may prompt USA to strike Iran soon

Paul Rogers, a professor of peace studies at Bradford University, northern England commented on the recent Israeli military performance in Lebanon and its impact on US strategic thinking in Washington.

He said that US neo-conservatives and other pro-Israeli groups in Washington are deeply concerned that Israel failed to use the political and military support offered by the United States (delaying an internationally proposed ceasefire; arms, munition, aviation fuel, etc) to decisively defeat Hezbollah.

Political-military observers knows that the Bush regime had actually pre-planned the campaign with Israel, and encouraged and abetted the vicious Israeli strikes on Lebanon - with the planning done even prior to the capture of the two Israeli soldiers. The capture provided the convenient excuse for invading Lebanon.

Professor Rogers believed that the Israeli action against Hezbollah was not far short of a joint operation, meaning the US military had been involved all the way, though not necessarily in physical presence.

He said that the US air force (USAF), in particular, has been deeply interested in how the Israeli air force handled the issue of targeting the numerous Hezbollah bunkers, some of them buried forty metres or more underground. He reckoned that Hezbollah used Iranian and even North Korean technology and experience in constructing these facilities. The USAF wanted useful information that it could use in planning operations against Iran.

But the Israeli lack of success has now backfired on those in Washington, people like Vice President Dick Cheney and defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld who advocated strikes against Iran. If Israel had succeeded in its aerial ‘shock and awe’ campaign against Hezbollah, an air doctrine shared by Rumsfeld, that would have threatened Iranian leaders more convincingly.

Professor Rogers said:

[…] … instead, the opposite has happened and Israel's failure to disarm Hezbollah is in consequence also a failure of United States policy towards Iran. If the Israeli military, with all its air power, modern equipment and weaponry and direct experience of warfare cannot defeat a guerrilla force of a few thousand in a small country, what is the chance of an Israeli or American attack on Iran avoiding an Iranian-inspired response that makes the continued US occupation of Iraq unsustainable?

The implication is that US or Israeli action against Iran's nuclear facilities becomes much more problematic at precisely the time when Iran's standing in the region has been much improved by the war in Lebanon. Yet Iran still remains the real enemy for the Bush administration, with the need to confront Tehran's nuclear ambitions being as strong as ever.

As a result of the Lebanon war, the recently increased insecurity in Iraq, and the continuing troubles in Afghanistan, there will be those in Washington who will urge immediate action against Iran. From such a perspective, the Israeli failure in Lebanon will result in a steady increase in Iranian influence across the region and a likely acceleration in its nuclear programme.

Any such development remains utterly unacceptable to the Bush administration as well as Israel, so it may be better to contemplate military action against those nuclear facilities now rather than later. Moreover, such action would be a powerful diversion in the run-up to the mid-term elections to Congress in November 2006. The guns of August might yet become the bombs of October.

Sugar story continues

End of June I posted 'Sweet' wisdom, 'Sweet' actions, 'Sweet' bullsh*t, where I called for the government to recognise that they have been interfering with the price of sugar and distorting the market, at the expense of the sugar industry who had been forced to bear the loss.

If I had used the F-word rather liberally, it reflected my anger at two ministers who were insultingly bullsh*tting us as if we didn’t know what was happening, or perhaps they had the IQ of minus 2.

Today Malaysiakini reported that the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) called upon the government to increase the retail price of sugar by as much as 30 sen per kilogram to RM 1.70.

I cannot understand why a country like Malaysia needs to control the retail price of sugar, other than for cynical political gains at expense of the merchants. Sure, the cost for the item will go up to its correct price, but Thais and Indons are already experiencing that, and they aren’t any more affluent than us – in fact, au contraire.

If there are sufficient goods in the country the prices will eventually stabilise at their true cost. Forcing sugar price to remain low at an economically unacceptable level, and thus forcing producers to sell at artificially low price, without a decent profit, has been the real reason for sugar smuggling leading to the current shortage.

With such artificially low prices, smuggling our sugar across borders to sell to our neighbours becomes inevitable. The prices there motivate risk taking for very healthy profits.

According to reports, the retail price of sugar in Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand are RM2.40, RM2.05 and RM1.90 per kilogramme respectively.