While I normally don’t hold much store for the words of monarchs, I find Raja Nazrin’s message at the Perak Maulidur Rasul celebration very relevant, timely and inspiring.
Malaysiakini reported Raja Nazrin advising Malaysians to Learn from history.
HRH said that history demonstrated that while many people were given the opportunity to become leaders, only a few succeeded to be real leaders who charted history and built civilisations.
He stated: "This happened because many of those given the opportunity to lead allowed the joy and passion of having power to lead them astray.”
"Some among them became complacent, some went astray, some were ill-advised, some adopted wrong decisions and some made miscalculations.”
"Such are the historical accounts available on leaders and leadership which the ummah (people) of today should use as the basis of reference so as not to repeat the mistakes."
"The act of leading is a responsibility that should be fulfilled with trust," and that’s because a leader was responsible for setting the direction for his followers and was accountable to those under his leadership.
Responsibility, trustworthiness, setting an example, accountability and the dangers of euphoric arrogance (drunk with power).
Words of wisdom indeed.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
PAS's unease as Anwar Ibrahim looks for 30 crossover MPs?
Malaysiakini reported that Anwar (is) moving toward forming new gov't
How will he do that, with only 82 seats in a Parliament of 222 representatives?
On Sunday I posted RM 90 million leap to a dream ... feast?, a sorry tale of frog hunting over in Sabah and Sarawak.
The story I heard was that MPs there could be ‘bought over’ for RM3 mil per.
As the PKR-led coalition has 82 seats all it needs is another 30, to give it a simple majority. More practically 32 would be desirable, with one to be the (supposedly) neutral speaker and one spare in case someone croaks (excuse the froggie pun).
Well, none other than de facto opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim himself announced to the foreign press today he was moving towards forming a new government with the help of defectors from the ruling coalition. Of course according to him, it’s those Sabah/Sarawak MPs who had contacted him to discuss switching sides. ;-)
'Defectors?' I call them frogs but if you like to be more derisive, toads with warts and all.
He announced: "I don't know how soon we can form the new government but we are moving in that direction."
When I raised this possibility in RM 90 million leap to a dream ... feast?, some readers expressed their disapproval stating the essense of the PKR-DAP-PAS alliance was about being 'adil' or fair. They didn't want lompat-ish slimy frogs greedy for thirty pieces of silver.
Reader Gan, a known devotee of the new alliance, said the end doesn't justify the means and he (or she?) doesn't want to start the new Malaysia tainted with easily bought slime bags.
Well, I wonder whether Anwar Ibrahim shares his ardent supporters' sense of high morality? ;-)
This is what blogger kickdefella (supposedly a PAS bloke) has to say about Anwar’s backdoor stab at the PM’s post:
"Sources from BN and PKR are now agreeable that the loose coalition of the opposition front already have 30 MPs ready to join them. While BN [has] already identified those 30 MPs ..... sources from PKR ... remain silent ..."
"The majority of the people have chosen not to give a 2/3 majority to BN anymore. Nevertheless, they are not ready to give the government to the opposition just yet. Anwar Ibrahim however is not willing to wait for another four to five years."
"He is ready to use all the back doors to turn the table and to form the next government. Anwar’s supporters are understandably delighted with this prospect. However, those who have given their protest votes to the opposition are beginning to worry."
"Those who voted the opposition out of protest against BN believed that it is better for the opposition to use this term to try to neutralise these protest votes and turn them into votes of support in PRU13."
"They felt very much betrayed to know that Anwar is trying to legitimise their protest votes as [a] sign of acceptance for Anwar to be the next PM in these next couple of months."
"While Anwar’s supporters believed that Anwar deserved to be the next PM, because of all the hard work and misery he had to go through, this alone is not a ... democratic way of giving the Premiership to Anwar."
"The majority has chose[n] to retain BN in power with lesser control in the parliament, period."
Exactly what the readers to my blog had felt too.
OK, assuming Anwar goes ahead and gets his 32 kataks, will the PKR-DAP-PAS alliance still hold?
What will Nik Aziz think of Anwar’s shortcut to power? What will Lim Snr and Jnr feel about a PM Anwar Ibrahim who really didn’t win the people’s mandate to form government? More importantly, what will PAS and DAP do? Will they pull the rug out from under Anwar’s feet.
Remember, DAP and PAS together hold 51 seats. These are two parties, supposedly diametrically opposite to each other in ideology, who yet share similar values of integrity and decency.
Will they be prepared to condone the perversion of true democratic principles, process and values by accepting into their fold, unconscionable people’s representatives who would be willing to betray their voters for an alleged 30 pieces of silver?
Kickdefella also wondered about Anwar’s contrasting treatment of AAB-KJ versus Najib – light on his attack against the former while full bore against the latter. Something that's not new, and certainly noticed by many bloggers.
… which makes me wonder whether there is a deal somewhere, considering in recent days AAB looks strangely relaxed while Najib seemed subdued (and also was missing when AAB announced his cabinet lineup).
Kickdefella proposed the following:
"But, if Anwar still prefers to use the backdoor to snatch the government from the choice of the majority, than, BN will have to defend it by revealing everything they have about Anwar."
"Yes, we heard a lot about Anwar but we [have] yet to see the [proof]. At this critical moment in the history of Malaysia, the majority need to know everything if actually there is anything at all."
Well ……..
If kickdefella is a PAS bloke with very close connection to Husam Musa, does his post, actually more like a kaytee-ish anti AI rant ;-), signal PAS unease with Anwar Ibrahim’s wheeling and dealing with Gurun-ish denizens?
How will he do that, with only 82 seats in a Parliament of 222 representatives?
On Sunday I posted RM 90 million leap to a dream ... feast?, a sorry tale of frog hunting over in Sabah and Sarawak.
The story I heard was that MPs there could be ‘bought over’ for RM3 mil per.
As the PKR-led coalition has 82 seats all it needs is another 30, to give it a simple majority. More practically 32 would be desirable, with one to be the (supposedly) neutral speaker and one spare in case someone croaks (excuse the froggie pun).
Well, none other than de facto opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim himself announced to the foreign press today he was moving towards forming a new government with the help of defectors from the ruling coalition. Of course according to him, it’s those Sabah/Sarawak MPs who had contacted him to discuss switching sides. ;-)
'Defectors?' I call them frogs but if you like to be more derisive, toads with warts and all.
He announced: "I don't know how soon we can form the new government but we are moving in that direction."
When I raised this possibility in RM 90 million leap to a dream ... feast?, some readers expressed their disapproval stating the essense of the PKR-DAP-PAS alliance was about being 'adil' or fair. They didn't want lompat-ish slimy frogs greedy for thirty pieces of silver.
Reader Gan, a known devotee of the new alliance, said the end doesn't justify the means and he (or she?) doesn't want to start the new Malaysia tainted with easily bought slime bags.
Well, I wonder whether Anwar Ibrahim shares his ardent supporters' sense of high morality? ;-)
This is what blogger kickdefella (supposedly a PAS bloke) has to say about Anwar’s backdoor stab at the PM’s post:
"Sources from BN and PKR are now agreeable that the loose coalition of the opposition front already have 30 MPs ready to join them. While BN [has] already identified those 30 MPs ..... sources from PKR ... remain silent ..."
"The majority of the people have chosen not to give a 2/3 majority to BN anymore. Nevertheless, they are not ready to give the government to the opposition just yet. Anwar Ibrahim however is not willing to wait for another four to five years."
"He is ready to use all the back doors to turn the table and to form the next government. Anwar’s supporters are understandably delighted with this prospect. However, those who have given their protest votes to the opposition are beginning to worry."
"Those who voted the opposition out of protest against BN believed that it is better for the opposition to use this term to try to neutralise these protest votes and turn them into votes of support in PRU13."
"They felt very much betrayed to know that Anwar is trying to legitimise their protest votes as [a] sign of acceptance for Anwar to be the next PM in these next couple of months."
"While Anwar’s supporters believed that Anwar deserved to be the next PM, because of all the hard work and misery he had to go through, this alone is not a ... democratic way of giving the Premiership to Anwar."
"The majority has chose[n] to retain BN in power with lesser control in the parliament, period."
Exactly what the readers to my blog had felt too.
OK, assuming Anwar goes ahead and gets his 32 kataks, will the PKR-DAP-PAS alliance still hold?
What will Nik Aziz think of Anwar’s shortcut to power? What will Lim Snr and Jnr feel about a PM Anwar Ibrahim who really didn’t win the people’s mandate to form government? More importantly, what will PAS and DAP do? Will they pull the rug out from under Anwar’s feet.
Remember, DAP and PAS together hold 51 seats. These are two parties, supposedly diametrically opposite to each other in ideology, who yet share similar values of integrity and decency.
Will they be prepared to condone the perversion of true democratic principles, process and values by accepting into their fold, unconscionable people’s representatives who would be willing to betray their voters for an alleged 30 pieces of silver?
Kickdefella also wondered about Anwar’s contrasting treatment of AAB-KJ versus Najib – light on his attack against the former while full bore against the latter. Something that's not new, and certainly noticed by many bloggers.
… which makes me wonder whether there is a deal somewhere, considering in recent days AAB looks strangely relaxed while Najib seemed subdued (and also was missing when AAB announced his cabinet lineup).
Kickdefella proposed the following:
"But, if Anwar still prefers to use the backdoor to snatch the government from the choice of the majority, than, BN will have to defend it by revealing everything they have about Anwar."
"Yes, we heard a lot about Anwar but we [have] yet to see the [proof]. At this critical moment in the history of Malaysia, the majority need to know everything if actually there is anything at all."
Well ……..
If kickdefella is a PAS bloke with very close connection to Husam Musa, does his post, actually more like a kaytee-ish anti AI rant ;-), signal PAS unease with Anwar Ibrahim’s wheeling and dealing with Gurun-ish denizens?
Where will Anwar Ibrahim stand for Parliament?
From Malaysiakini Wan Azizah to be opposition leader for now.
The last two words of that headline, ‘for now’, sure tell us a lot – that the informal coalition of PKR-DAP-PAS has indicated it is waiting for Anwar Ibrahim to enter Parliament to assume the Opposition leadership. His wife is merely a caretaker leader.
Currently he is barred from standing for elective office because of a civil disenfranchisement due to a corruption conviction.
But on 15 April 2008 he becomes eligible.
I mentioned in Khalid Ibrahim to give way to Anwar in Bandar Tun Razak? of the likely possibility of Khalid Ibrahim vacating his Bandar Tun Razak parliamentary seat for Anwar to contest in an by-election. Khalid has plenty on his hands as MB of Selangor.
The voters in Bandar Tun Razak comprise 52% Malays, 39% Chinese and 8% Indians, a nice rounded multiethnic makeup.
With the coalition of PKR-DAP-PAS currently enjoying immense popularity in FT and Selangor, Anwar Ibrahim will in all probability ride on that goodwill to victory if he stands there. It’s called the ‘halo’ effect – the ‘feel good’ euphoria about the new political alliance that will rub on to his by-election advantage despite any non-Malay suspicions, if any, of him.
On the other hand, he may be too precious an asset to the loose coalition to chance the voters in Bandar Tun Razak, because we may be sure the BN will be pouring every resource and propaganda gimmick into the by-election. What if the BN succeeds? It will be a mortal demoralising blow to the PKR-DAP-PAS bloc, something they may not wish to incur, and hence not tempt the possibility by standing him there.
Well, there is always Permatang Pauh, where Dr Wan Azizah roamed home with a staggering 13,000+ majority (as compared to her slim 2004 500+ majority). The ethnic composition is a comforting 67.6% Malay, 26.3% Chinese and about 6% Indians.
However, Ong Kian Ming, a political science doctoral candidate, wrote last year that as PKR has been contesting the middle ground with mixed ethnic populated constituencies, maybe Anwar Ibrahim should show his credentials, credibility and confidence as the leader of the new multiethnic political (federal) Opposition by going for such a mixed seat, which would be one with a typical composition of 58% Malay, 31% Chinese and 11% Indian voters, the sort of seat that Bandar Tun Razak precisely is.
Mind you, Ong wrote this recommendation almost one year ago when he was looking at a 'future' election that has already come with delightful results. Ong was then discussing the need for Anwar to demonstrate his ability to pick up support from such a mixed constituency, to prove he has the support from all communities.
As I said, the situation has now changed somewhat where the value of Anwar Ibrahim is unlikely to be gambled, not when the Opposition has 82 seats to hold the BN to account in federal Parliament.
But what about the Balik Pulau seat in Penang Island, Anwar’s home State? The victorious PKR candidate there is Mohd Yusmadi Bin Mohd Yusoff, who had in a pre election campaign mentioned he was willing to surrender the seat to Anwar Ibrahim. I recall Anwar, who was then with him in the campaigning, didn’t reject that offer.
Balik Pulau also fits Ong’s recommendation of a typical ethnic mixed seat that would be ideal for Anwar to showcase his acceptability to every community, since it has 59% Malay, 36% Chinese and 5% Indian.
Perhaps Anwar Ibrahim may feel more at home in Balik Pulau too. Apart from being his home State, he’ll be strongly supported by the DAP-led State government there.
The last two words of that headline, ‘for now’, sure tell us a lot – that the informal coalition of PKR-DAP-PAS has indicated it is waiting for Anwar Ibrahim to enter Parliament to assume the Opposition leadership. His wife is merely a caretaker leader.
Currently he is barred from standing for elective office because of a civil disenfranchisement due to a corruption conviction.
But on 15 April 2008 he becomes eligible.
I mentioned in Khalid Ibrahim to give way to Anwar in Bandar Tun Razak? of the likely possibility of Khalid Ibrahim vacating his Bandar Tun Razak parliamentary seat for Anwar to contest in an by-election. Khalid has plenty on his hands as MB of Selangor.
The voters in Bandar Tun Razak comprise 52% Malays, 39% Chinese and 8% Indians, a nice rounded multiethnic makeup.
With the coalition of PKR-DAP-PAS currently enjoying immense popularity in FT and Selangor, Anwar Ibrahim will in all probability ride on that goodwill to victory if he stands there. It’s called the ‘halo’ effect – the ‘feel good’ euphoria about the new political alliance that will rub on to his by-election advantage despite any non-Malay suspicions, if any, of him.
On the other hand, he may be too precious an asset to the loose coalition to chance the voters in Bandar Tun Razak, because we may be sure the BN will be pouring every resource and propaganda gimmick into the by-election. What if the BN succeeds? It will be a mortal demoralising blow to the PKR-DAP-PAS bloc, something they may not wish to incur, and hence not tempt the possibility by standing him there.
Well, there is always Permatang Pauh, where Dr Wan Azizah roamed home with a staggering 13,000+ majority (as compared to her slim 2004 500+ majority). The ethnic composition is a comforting 67.6% Malay, 26.3% Chinese and about 6% Indians.
However, Ong Kian Ming, a political science doctoral candidate, wrote last year that as PKR has been contesting the middle ground with mixed ethnic populated constituencies, maybe Anwar Ibrahim should show his credentials, credibility and confidence as the leader of the new multiethnic political (federal) Opposition by going for such a mixed seat, which would be one with a typical composition of 58% Malay, 31% Chinese and 11% Indian voters, the sort of seat that Bandar Tun Razak precisely is.
Mind you, Ong wrote this recommendation almost one year ago when he was looking at a 'future' election that has already come with delightful results. Ong was then discussing the need for Anwar to demonstrate his ability to pick up support from such a mixed constituency, to prove he has the support from all communities.
As I said, the situation has now changed somewhat where the value of Anwar Ibrahim is unlikely to be gambled, not when the Opposition has 82 seats to hold the BN to account in federal Parliament.
But what about the Balik Pulau seat in Penang Island, Anwar’s home State? The victorious PKR candidate there is Mohd Yusmadi Bin Mohd Yusoff, who had in a pre election campaign mentioned he was willing to surrender the seat to Anwar Ibrahim. I recall Anwar, who was then with him in the campaigning, didn’t reject that offer.
Balik Pulau also fits Ong’s recommendation of a typical ethnic mixed seat that would be ideal for Anwar to showcase his acceptability to every community, since it has 59% Malay, 36% Chinese and 5% Indian.
Perhaps Anwar Ibrahim may feel more at home in Balik Pulau too. Apart from being his home State, he’ll be strongly supported by the DAP-led State government there.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Khalid Ibrahim to give way to Anwar in Bandar Tun Razak?
From Malaysiakini:
Anwar Ibrahim revealed that Khalid Ibrahim, the new Selangor MB, has requested a lightening of party load to focus on his State duties.
He told Malaysiakini that Khalid also indicated that he may give up his secretary-general’s post in PKR.
Anwar said: “Khalid (right) has requested to be allowed to focus on Selangor. I have discussed this with party president (Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail) and (deputy) Dr Syed Husin Ali and we have to consider his choice, so we will come to a decision very soon.”
This is clear indication that Khalid Ibrahim is about to vacate his parliamentary seat of Bandar Tun Razak for Anwar Ibrahim to contest. Expect this at end of April 2008 when Anwar will by then have completed his period of legal embargo on participating in elections!
The by-election should be a sight to witness. Don't expect UMNO to sit quietly while Anwar attempts to waltz into parliament.
Anwar Ibrahim revealed that Khalid Ibrahim, the new Selangor MB, has requested a lightening of party load to focus on his State duties.
He told Malaysiakini that Khalid also indicated that he may give up his secretary-general’s post in PKR.
Anwar said: “Khalid (right) has requested to be allowed to focus on Selangor. I have discussed this with party president (Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail) and (deputy) Dr Syed Husin Ali and we have to consider his choice, so we will come to a decision very soon.”
This is clear indication that Khalid Ibrahim is about to vacate his parliamentary seat of Bandar Tun Razak for Anwar Ibrahim to contest. Expect this at end of April 2008 when Anwar will by then have completed his period of legal embargo on participating in elections!
The by-election should be a sight to witness. Don't expect UMNO to sit quietly while Anwar attempts to waltz into parliament.
The Naked Emperor
Dr Bakri Musa once said of AAB that “What we have in Abdullah is not a chief executive but a pseudo sultan, and not a very regal one at that. Malaysia already has nine sultans; it does not need a tenth.”
The unfortunate observation of AAB is that he enjoys being pampered to like a big chieftain if not a Sultan, willingly accepting sycophantic gestures such as State awards for his new wife – see my BolehTalk posts Elegant Smile - Elegant Title - Elegant Hopes? and Turquoise baju kurung again?
If he had any sense of proportion he would have flicked off their meaningless gesture to award his new wife with high honours as repulsive bodek actions but alas he didn't, and thus the Bodek-ites quickly learnt what would please him, so they laid it thick and fact.
Very soon he surrounded himself with sycophants, court jesters and confidential counsellors who keep telling the Emperor he wore the finest clothes when His 10th Royal Highness was utterly naked.
Mind you, ‘twas not naked as in bare-all accountability, but naked as in bare of ability.
I suspect AAB wasn’t even aware of the reality that his administration had been despised for its feral arrogance, shameless bigotry, incompetent professionalism and brutal suppression of legitimate voices.
Shielded by a coterie of court courtiers who were determined to control the information flow to him (for their own interests) he could have been led to believe in his own but expired popularity of his 2004 election landslide win. Thus he continued to reign in haughty imperial mode oblivious to the democratic forces tearing down his gates.
Who had idiotically advised AAB to come down like a ton of bricks on Hindraf? Thanks to that, AAB overreacted to what could have been a peaceful rally like Bersih (almost was), to his eventual disaster. His heavy handedness naturally evoked an equally out of proportion reaction from crucial voting segments that had hitherto supported the BN faithfully, but which since then had brought his once invincible UMNO crashing down.
Even his opponents including Anwar Ibrahim were caught by surprise by the election outcome. Among the opposition, hope in the election was one thing, the expectation was modest but reality on that fateful Saturday night of 08 March 2008 was a delightful early Christmas present.
That night, suddenly the people’s voice came out loud and clear: “The Emperor has no clothes on!”
Too late now.
Stunned by such an unmitigated loss, even of his cawat, thus allowing Anwar Ibrahim to come within striking distance, the balance of power has shifted significantly with the same earth shaking force that the globe had experienced on a Boxing Day some years ago which brought the most frightening tsunami to the littoral States of the Indian Ocean. AAB suffered the same magnitude of tsunamic force.
He has finally woken up, totally naked as he had been for quite a while.
He now attempts to do what he ought to have done in 2004. Malaysiakini tells us he has coopted very competent Zaid Ibrahim via a Senate appointment into his government. Shahrir Samad, another capable UMNO man has also been recruited.
But either habits die hard or internal UMNO politics, now more important than ever for an enervated UMNO President, has disappointingly enabled Muhammad Muhd Taib to join the ministerial line-up. But we should at least be grateful Mike Tyson has not been given Wismaputra – what would the Australians have said!
Bloggers should be glad to see both Zam and Tengku "80% of bloggers are unemployed female liars” are out!!! Likewise with the bloke who believed darker skins reflect the owners' inferior caste or status.
But no other indication of AAB’s terribly weakened and vulnerable position as UMNO president has been more lucid than the total absence of his Tengku Mahkota from the new cabinet.
Now, what do we do with the brigade of Mat Cemerlangs?
The unfortunate observation of AAB is that he enjoys being pampered to like a big chieftain if not a Sultan, willingly accepting sycophantic gestures such as State awards for his new wife – see my BolehTalk posts Elegant Smile - Elegant Title - Elegant Hopes? and Turquoise baju kurung again?
If he had any sense of proportion he would have flicked off their meaningless gesture to award his new wife with high honours as repulsive bodek actions but alas he didn't, and thus the Bodek-ites quickly learnt what would please him, so they laid it thick and fact.
Very soon he surrounded himself with sycophants, court jesters and confidential counsellors who keep telling the Emperor he wore the finest clothes when His 10th Royal Highness was utterly naked.
Mind you, ‘twas not naked as in bare-all accountability, but naked as in bare of ability.
I suspect AAB wasn’t even aware of the reality that his administration had been despised for its feral arrogance, shameless bigotry, incompetent professionalism and brutal suppression of legitimate voices.
Shielded by a coterie of court courtiers who were determined to control the information flow to him (for their own interests) he could have been led to believe in his own but expired popularity of his 2004 election landslide win. Thus he continued to reign in haughty imperial mode oblivious to the democratic forces tearing down his gates.
Who had idiotically advised AAB to come down like a ton of bricks on Hindraf? Thanks to that, AAB overreacted to what could have been a peaceful rally like Bersih (almost was), to his eventual disaster. His heavy handedness naturally evoked an equally out of proportion reaction from crucial voting segments that had hitherto supported the BN faithfully, but which since then had brought his once invincible UMNO crashing down.
Even his opponents including Anwar Ibrahim were caught by surprise by the election outcome. Among the opposition, hope in the election was one thing, the expectation was modest but reality on that fateful Saturday night of 08 March 2008 was a delightful early Christmas present.
That night, suddenly the people’s voice came out loud and clear: “The Emperor has no clothes on!”
Too late now.
Stunned by such an unmitigated loss, even of his cawat, thus allowing Anwar Ibrahim to come within striking distance, the balance of power has shifted significantly with the same earth shaking force that the globe had experienced on a Boxing Day some years ago which brought the most frightening tsunami to the littoral States of the Indian Ocean. AAB suffered the same magnitude of tsunamic force.
He has finally woken up, totally naked as he had been for quite a while.
He now attempts to do what he ought to have done in 2004. Malaysiakini tells us he has coopted very competent Zaid Ibrahim via a Senate appointment into his government. Shahrir Samad, another capable UMNO man has also been recruited.
But either habits die hard or internal UMNO politics, now more important than ever for an enervated UMNO President, has disappointingly enabled Muhammad Muhd Taib to join the ministerial line-up. But we should at least be grateful Mike Tyson has not been given Wismaputra – what would the Australians have said!
Bloggers should be glad to see both Zam and Tengku "80% of bloggers are unemployed female liars” are out!!! Likewise with the bloke who believed darker skins reflect the owners' inferior caste or status.
But no other indication of AAB’s terribly weakened and vulnerable position as UMNO president has been more lucid than the total absence of his Tengku Mahkota from the new cabinet.
Now, what do we do with the brigade of Mat Cemerlangs?
Palestinian & Israeli children human sacrifices for the Rapture
Here's an artile by Robert Weitzel about a nutcase preacher which may also explain why George Bush and many Americans support Israel.
Weitzel is a contributing editor to Media With a Conscience. His essays regularly appear in The Capital Times in Madison, WI. For comments or information, Robert Weitzel can be contacted at robertweitzel@mac.com
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Weitzel is a contributing editor to Media With a Conscience. His essays regularly appear in The Capital Times in Madison, WI. For comments or information, Robert Weitzel can be contacted at robertweitzel@mac.com
********
Safa Abu Saif, a 12-year-old Palestinian girl, was visiting a friend’s apartment when the bullet fired from an Israeli rifle slammed into her chest, punching a gaping exit wound in her back. No ambulance could reach her because of the fighting. Safa died in her father’s arms three hours after being shot.
Danielle Shafi, a 5-year-old Israeli girl, was killed by the bullet fired from a Palestinian rifle as her mother combed her hair in the child’s upstairs bedroom. Drenched in the blood of her wound, Danielle slowly stopped breathing and died in her mother’s arms minutes after being shot.
According to a United Nation’s report, 971 Palestinian and Israeli children were killed between September 2000 - the beginning of the second intifada - and July 2007. Of those destroyed children, 854 were Palestinian. The intifada and the dying continue.
Safa and Danielle are two of the children whose lives the evangelical political action committee, Christians United for Israel, are willing to sacrifice on the alter of their fundamentalist eschatology in the hope of bringing about Armageddon and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Pastor John Hagee, televangelist to 99 million viewers and pastor of the 18,000-member Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, established the CUFI in 2005 following the publication of his book, “The Jerusalem Countdown: A Warning to the World.”
Danielle Shafi, a 5-year-old Israeli girl, was killed by the bullet fired from a Palestinian rifle as her mother combed her hair in the child’s upstairs bedroom. Drenched in the blood of her wound, Danielle slowly stopped breathing and died in her mother’s arms minutes after being shot.
According to a United Nation’s report, 971 Palestinian and Israeli children were killed between September 2000 - the beginning of the second intifada - and July 2007. Of those destroyed children, 854 were Palestinian. The intifada and the dying continue.
Safa and Danielle are two of the children whose lives the evangelical political action committee, Christians United for Israel, are willing to sacrifice on the alter of their fundamentalist eschatology in the hope of bringing about Armageddon and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Pastor John Hagee, televangelist to 99 million viewers and pastor of the 18,000-member Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, established the CUFI in 2005 following the publication of his book, “The Jerusalem Countdown: A Warning to the World.”
Hagee envisions CUFI as the Christian version of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the powerful pro-Israel lobby whose political clout has a significant influence on US foreign policy in the Middle East.
The late Molly Ivins, a Texas political commentator and author, described Hagee as a “pre-millennial dispensationalist, whose theology focuses on selected apocalyptic passages of the Book of Revelation.” In 1998, Hagee teamed up with Christian filmmakers to produce “Vanished in the Twinkling of an Eye,” a docudrama about the tribulations following the Rapture.
Despite Pastor Hagee’s obvious interest in eschatology, he insists that CUFI’s support for Israel has nothing to do with end time prophecy. But in an unguarded moment in the intimate confines of his 50,000 sq. ft. multimedia chapel, Hagee set the truth free, “The judgment of the nations is going to happen as soon as Christ returns to earth. As soon as he sets up his throne on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, he’s going to rule the world with a rod of iron. That means he’s going to make the ACLU do what he wants them to . . . We will live by the law of god, and no other law.”
The problem with Hagee’s version of the truth is the fact that the Temple Mount is Islam’s third most sacred site, upon which sits the al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, the oldest extant Islamic structure in the world.
According to Judaism, the Mount is where the final Third Temple will be rebuilt before the coming of the Jewish Messiah. Unfortunately for CUFI, the Second Coming of Jesus is on hold until the temple’s completion, and that cannot happen until Islam is destroyed - Hagee’s holy grail.
Predictably then, the good pastor opposes any peace plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, supports Israel’s persecution and “imprisonment” of 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and advocates pre-emptive nuclear strikes against Iran. John Hagee lives, and CUFI exists, to light the fires of the Apocalypse using Israel as the match.
To get a candid look at CUFI and its members, journalist Max Blumenthal took his cameras to the CUFI’s Washington-Israel Summit held last July in the nation’s capital.
His video “Rapture Ready: The Unauthorized Christians United for Israel Tour” opens with Blumenthal cornering disgraced former Republican House Majority Leader Tom Delay and asking him how important the Second Coming is in his support of Israel. The “Hammer” replied, “Obviously, it is what I live for. Really, I hope it comes tomorrow. Obviously, we need to be connected to Israel to enjoy the Second Coming of Christ.”
Blumenthal mingled with the 4,500 CUFI rank and file attending the Summit and asked their opinion on Armageddon and the identity of the Antichrist:
Q. “Are you looking forward to Armageddon?”
A. “I’m looking forward to Armageddon and the cleansing of the earth.”
Q. “Who is the Antichrist?”
A. “He will be a man of peace. So he will be one who has promoted peace for many years. The one who forces Israel into a peace treaty with the Arabs is the Beast.”
A. “Another reason that we support Israel is that we have a common enemy, the Muslims. We are fighting what is behind the Muslim people, which is Satan. Satan is actually the one who is trying to destroy the human race.”
After asking Pastor Hagee the “wrong” question during a Summit news conference, Blumenthal and his crew were escorted out of the building by off-duty police officers.
John Hagee is not without fawning friends in Washington. Presidential hopeful John McCain made a campaign stop at the Summit and admitted to the audience that “It's very hard trying to do the Lord’s work in the city of Satan . . .”
The late Molly Ivins, a Texas political commentator and author, described Hagee as a “pre-millennial dispensationalist, whose theology focuses on selected apocalyptic passages of the Book of Revelation.” In 1998, Hagee teamed up with Christian filmmakers to produce “Vanished in the Twinkling of an Eye,” a docudrama about the tribulations following the Rapture.
Despite Pastor Hagee’s obvious interest in eschatology, he insists that CUFI’s support for Israel has nothing to do with end time prophecy. But in an unguarded moment in the intimate confines of his 50,000 sq. ft. multimedia chapel, Hagee set the truth free, “The judgment of the nations is going to happen as soon as Christ returns to earth. As soon as he sets up his throne on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, he’s going to rule the world with a rod of iron. That means he’s going to make the ACLU do what he wants them to . . . We will live by the law of god, and no other law.”
The problem with Hagee’s version of the truth is the fact that the Temple Mount is Islam’s third most sacred site, upon which sits the al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, the oldest extant Islamic structure in the world.
According to Judaism, the Mount is where the final Third Temple will be rebuilt before the coming of the Jewish Messiah. Unfortunately for CUFI, the Second Coming of Jesus is on hold until the temple’s completion, and that cannot happen until Islam is destroyed - Hagee’s holy grail.
Predictably then, the good pastor opposes any peace plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, supports Israel’s persecution and “imprisonment” of 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and advocates pre-emptive nuclear strikes against Iran. John Hagee lives, and CUFI exists, to light the fires of the Apocalypse using Israel as the match.
To get a candid look at CUFI and its members, journalist Max Blumenthal took his cameras to the CUFI’s Washington-Israel Summit held last July in the nation’s capital.
His video “Rapture Ready: The Unauthorized Christians United for Israel Tour” opens with Blumenthal cornering disgraced former Republican House Majority Leader Tom Delay and asking him how important the Second Coming is in his support of Israel. The “Hammer” replied, “Obviously, it is what I live for. Really, I hope it comes tomorrow. Obviously, we need to be connected to Israel to enjoy the Second Coming of Christ.”
Blumenthal mingled with the 4,500 CUFI rank and file attending the Summit and asked their opinion on Armageddon and the identity of the Antichrist:
Q. “Are you looking forward to Armageddon?”
A. “I’m looking forward to Armageddon and the cleansing of the earth.”
Q. “Who is the Antichrist?”
A. “He will be a man of peace. So he will be one who has promoted peace for many years. The one who forces Israel into a peace treaty with the Arabs is the Beast.”
A. “Another reason that we support Israel is that we have a common enemy, the Muslims. We are fighting what is behind the Muslim people, which is Satan. Satan is actually the one who is trying to destroy the human race.”
After asking Pastor Hagee the “wrong” question during a Summit news conference, Blumenthal and his crew were escorted out of the building by off-duty police officers.
John Hagee is not without fawning friends in Washington. Presidential hopeful John McCain made a campaign stop at the Summit and admitted to the audience that “It's very hard trying to do the Lord’s work in the city of Satan . . .”
House Minority Whip Roy Blunt followed McCain to the podium and assured the faithful that “This is a mission, this is a vision that I believe is a vision for God's time.”
Senator Joe Lieberman was there and described Pastor Hagee as an "Ish Elokim," a man of God.
Never one to be left out of a well-attended Christian Right convocation, President Bush sent his best wishes, "I appreciate CUFI members . . . for your passion and dedication to enhancing the relationship between the United States and Israel. Your efforts set a shining example for others . . .”
Cultivating his friendship with the man who believes the US will be in Iraq for the next one hundred years, Pastor Hagee endorsed - and hugged - John McCain for president at a news conference held at the Cornerstone Church. Senator McCain graciously accepted, saying, “I'm very honored by Pastor John Hagee's endorsement today.”
Never one to be left out of a well-attended Christian Right convocation, President Bush sent his best wishes, "I appreciate CUFI members . . . for your passion and dedication to enhancing the relationship between the United States and Israel. Your efforts set a shining example for others . . .”
Cultivating his friendship with the man who believes the US will be in Iraq for the next one hundred years, Pastor Hagee endorsed - and hugged - John McCain for president at a news conference held at the Cornerstone Church. Senator McCain graciously accepted, saying, “I'm very honored by Pastor John Hagee's endorsement today.”
When asked about Hagee’s extensive writings on Armageddon, McCain responded that “all I can tell you is that I am very proud to have Pastor John Hagee’s support.'’
Considering the above, the following should not need to be said. Pastor Hagee’s right-wing Jewish allies will do well to consider that after Islam is destroyed and the Temple rebuilt and Jesus comes and raptures all “true believers,” all non-believers - including Jews - will be hunted down and converted or destroyed . . . that is, those few who survived the nuclear holocaust that was prayed for and schemed for by the “Ish Elokim” and the CUFI.
In the meanwhile, Palestinian and Israeli children will continue to die singularly or in small groups by the bullets and the bombs and the fire send their way on the wings of CUFI’s prayerful machinations.
Considering the above, the following should not need to be said. Pastor Hagee’s right-wing Jewish allies will do well to consider that after Islam is destroyed and the Temple rebuilt and Jesus comes and raptures all “true believers,” all non-believers - including Jews - will be hunted down and converted or destroyed . . . that is, those few who survived the nuclear holocaust that was prayed for and schemed for by the “Ish Elokim” and the CUFI.
In the meanwhile, Palestinian and Israeli children will continue to die singularly or in small groups by the bullets and the bombs and the fire send their way on the wings of CUFI’s prayerful machinations.
Monday, March 17, 2008
PAS & DAP kiss and make up?
Everything is possible when Heaven wills it!
- Chinese saying … as believed by kaytee (if not true, it’s still damn good)
Based on news report from Malaysiakini & Star Online
Looks like there’s increasing encouraging signs of rapprochement between the two extreme positions in Malaysian political ideologies, namely DAP's and PAS'. The Chinese have always believe that the circle is the perfect as well as dominant structure, so if you back away from each other enough, you are sure to … oops … bump your bum into the other bloke's eventually.
Firstly, we read of Triple joy for Perak as birthday boy Nizar assumes post in the Star Online where suave sweet-mouth smoothie, State DAP chief Ngeh Koo Ham said the ceremony to swear in Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin as Perak 10th Menteri Besar at the royal town of Kuala Kangsar marked a historic occasion of triple happiness for the state.
“We are celebrating the birth of a prince, the birth of a new state government and the birthday of a new Mentri Besar.”
Wah ;-) for a prudish DAP member, Ngeh does have a few sweet words.
He even ratcheted up the parliamentary process by proposing the creation of a post for Opposition leader – though I am not too sure whether that’s also a subtle twist of the knife in the BN’s side – ha ha ha!
Yes, Malaysiakini tells us that PAS' Nizar (has been) sworn in as Perak MB. Obviously the earlier brouhaha has been consigned to the bin as mere teething problem inclusive of a bit of sandiwara from someone I have already mentioned.
With Ngeh’s new diplomacy, I hope the happy occasion augurs well for both PAS and DAP.
However, Ngeh missed another opportunity to lay it on thick and add on to the goodwill. He should have told Nizar that as the 10th MB of the State, he will be “ong” (lucky and prosperous) as the number “10” means “muah” or complete/perfect.
Even the Chinese newspaper Sin Chew daily has lavished praises on Nizar who unexpectedly turned up at a forum in Ipoh yesterday and drew applause from the mostly 3,000-strong Chinese crowd. Nizar then stunned the crowd by speaking in Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, Tamil, English and Malay at Sin Chew's 'What's Next' political forum.
Aiyah, I am jealous of his linguistic versatility lah. But Nizar has certainly won over the erstwhile-suspicious Perak Chinese.
Meanwhile, in Penang, PAS has come out in defence of Lim Guan Eng’s rather abrupt announcement to discard the NEP without qualifying exactly what he had meant by that. See what I mean by those humourless prudish monk-like DAP people who talk straighter than a ruler – as I once said, you can use Lim GE to calibrate a ruler ;-) but I hope he will learn a few sweet words like Ngeh.
Despite Lim GE’s faux pas, he seemed to have earned the goodwill of not only PAS but Malay welfare group Teras. Its president Azmi Abdul Hamid said the civil society groups were happy with their meeting with Lim.
He stated: "We are glad to have received a reassurance that the interests of the Malays in Penang will not be neglected. The Malays in Penang have been overlooked for far too long, including during the previous state government, and we hope all this will change."
Does its significance strike you? Azmi was virtually saying that under the BN, the Malays in Penang were overlooked. Hmmm, maybe not the UMNO State leaders. Now the ordinary Malays will find the new government is likely to be more fair.
Then the Penang Bumiputra Petty Traders Association virtually told the State UMNO leaders to shut up and stop being asses, and not to politicise the state government’s intention to practice an open tender policy for contracts and projects.
Its chairman Alif Abdul Mutalib Kader added significance to what had happened under the BN when he averred said such a policy would benefit all races, including the Malays.
He said: “Through an open tender policy, we believe there will be equal benefits for all businessmen to have a share in the state’s economic pie. The state Umno leaders should think twice before demonstrating in the streets. They should give the new state government a chance to be transparent and fair in its administration.”
I hope spoiler UMNO will grow up and stop being spoilt brats. Their gravy train has been derailed.
Star Online also reported that Dr Farish Noor, a PAS member and also senior fellow of NTU Singapore's Rajaratnam School of International Studies said in Fear not if NEP is dismantled, Malays told: “There was no suggestion to do away with a welfare system that help Malays in need but a safety net mechanism that will help and protect all Malaysians who are poor on the basis of merit in the DAP's manifesto."
“I think the Opposition managed to win the support of the Malaysian public as a whole including the Malays because it was inclusive and took into account all sections of the society.”
Aiyah, Dr Farish, not ‘Opposition’ liao, but Penang State government lah.
He continued: “It simply promises a fair chance to everyone because many Malaysians, including the Malays, have not been given an equal chance. I am prepared to give them a chance. I want to see the emergence of non-racial politics in Malaysia.”
Another ‘wah’ from kaytee – please read this article from Harakah titled Guan Eng enggan keluar RM100 ribu where Haji Mohamad Sabu, VP of PAS, lavished praises on Lim Guan Eng – told you Lim is not only a straightforward prude but honest as a brand new clean white sheet.
Mohd Sabu said: "Saya rasa sangat terharu mempunyai kawan seperti itu." (I’m moved to have a mate like … Lim).
;-) I hope PAS and DAP don't overdo the mutual admiration society bit ha ha ha! But it's indeed moving to see two 'prudish' strait-laced parties coming to realise they share the values of decency, justice, and integrity.
Oh, PAS is PAS, and DAP is DAP, and wunderbar, the twain did meet - with apologies to Rudyard Kipling ;-)
- Chinese saying … as believed by kaytee (if not true, it’s still damn good)
Based on news report from Malaysiakini & Star Online
Looks like there’s increasing encouraging signs of rapprochement between the two extreme positions in Malaysian political ideologies, namely DAP's and PAS'. The Chinese have always believe that the circle is the perfect as well as dominant structure, so if you back away from each other enough, you are sure to … oops … bump your bum into the other bloke's eventually.
Firstly, we read of Triple joy for Perak as birthday boy Nizar assumes post in the Star Online where suave sweet-mouth smoothie, State DAP chief Ngeh Koo Ham said the ceremony to swear in Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin as Perak 10th Menteri Besar at the royal town of Kuala Kangsar marked a historic occasion of triple happiness for the state.
“We are celebrating the birth of a prince, the birth of a new state government and the birthday of a new Mentri Besar.”
Wah ;-) for a prudish DAP member, Ngeh does have a few sweet words.
He even ratcheted up the parliamentary process by proposing the creation of a post for Opposition leader – though I am not too sure whether that’s also a subtle twist of the knife in the BN’s side – ha ha ha!
Yes, Malaysiakini tells us that PAS' Nizar (has been) sworn in as Perak MB. Obviously the earlier brouhaha has been consigned to the bin as mere teething problem inclusive of a bit of sandiwara from someone I have already mentioned.
With Ngeh’s new diplomacy, I hope the happy occasion augurs well for both PAS and DAP.
However, Ngeh missed another opportunity to lay it on thick and add on to the goodwill. He should have told Nizar that as the 10th MB of the State, he will be “ong” (lucky and prosperous) as the number “10” means “muah” or complete/perfect.
Even the Chinese newspaper Sin Chew daily has lavished praises on Nizar who unexpectedly turned up at a forum in Ipoh yesterday and drew applause from the mostly 3,000-strong Chinese crowd. Nizar then stunned the crowd by speaking in Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, Tamil, English and Malay at Sin Chew's 'What's Next' political forum.
Aiyah, I am jealous of his linguistic versatility lah. But Nizar has certainly won over the erstwhile-suspicious Perak Chinese.
Meanwhile, in Penang, PAS has come out in defence of Lim Guan Eng’s rather abrupt announcement to discard the NEP without qualifying exactly what he had meant by that. See what I mean by those humourless prudish monk-like DAP people who talk straighter than a ruler – as I once said, you can use Lim GE to calibrate a ruler ;-) but I hope he will learn a few sweet words like Ngeh.
Despite Lim GE’s faux pas, he seemed to have earned the goodwill of not only PAS but Malay welfare group Teras. Its president Azmi Abdul Hamid said the civil society groups were happy with their meeting with Lim.
He stated: "We are glad to have received a reassurance that the interests of the Malays in Penang will not be neglected. The Malays in Penang have been overlooked for far too long, including during the previous state government, and we hope all this will change."
Does its significance strike you? Azmi was virtually saying that under the BN, the Malays in Penang were overlooked. Hmmm, maybe not the UMNO State leaders. Now the ordinary Malays will find the new government is likely to be more fair.
Then the Penang Bumiputra Petty Traders Association virtually told the State UMNO leaders to shut up and stop being asses, and not to politicise the state government’s intention to practice an open tender policy for contracts and projects.
Its chairman Alif Abdul Mutalib Kader added significance to what had happened under the BN when he averred said such a policy would benefit all races, including the Malays.
He said: “Through an open tender policy, we believe there will be equal benefits for all businessmen to have a share in the state’s economic pie. The state Umno leaders should think twice before demonstrating in the streets. They should give the new state government a chance to be transparent and fair in its administration.”
I hope spoiler UMNO will grow up and stop being spoilt brats. Their gravy train has been derailed.
Star Online also reported that Dr Farish Noor, a PAS member and also senior fellow of NTU Singapore's Rajaratnam School of International Studies said in Fear not if NEP is dismantled, Malays told: “There was no suggestion to do away with a welfare system that help Malays in need but a safety net mechanism that will help and protect all Malaysians who are poor on the basis of merit in the DAP's manifesto."
“I think the Opposition managed to win the support of the Malaysian public as a whole including the Malays because it was inclusive and took into account all sections of the society.”
Aiyah, Dr Farish, not ‘Opposition’ liao, but Penang State government lah.
He continued: “It simply promises a fair chance to everyone because many Malaysians, including the Malays, have not been given an equal chance. I am prepared to give them a chance. I want to see the emergence of non-racial politics in Malaysia.”
Another ‘wah’ from kaytee – please read this article from Harakah titled Guan Eng enggan keluar RM100 ribu where Haji Mohamad Sabu, VP of PAS, lavished praises on Lim Guan Eng – told you Lim is not only a straightforward prude but honest as a brand new clean white sheet.
Mohd Sabu said: "Saya rasa sangat terharu mempunyai kawan seperti itu." (I’m moved to have a mate like … Lim).
;-) I hope PAS and DAP don't overdo the mutual admiration society bit ha ha ha! But it's indeed moving to see two 'prudish' strait-laced parties coming to realise they share the values of decency, justice, and integrity.
Oh, PAS is PAS, and DAP is DAP, and wunderbar, the twain did meet - with apologies to Rudyard Kipling ;-)
Tengku Razaleigh signals his claim for UMNO No 1
… he adopted a controversial but old winner by publicly voicing strong criticism of the government in permitting non-Malay language educational institutions such as the Chinese-owned Tengku Abdul Rahman University to exist, a move that would prove undoubtedly a sure favourite with UMNO hardcore ‘warriors’. Sure enough the Malay NGOs supported him. Then, he bemoaned regrets that the government hasn’t helped the Malays solve their problems despite its power and authority to do so.
Apart from his ethnic-provoking but totally incredulous 'government not helping Malays', in August 07 he was at it again, which I blogged in Ku Li warned of May 13 again, extract as follows:
Ku Li said at a forum on Merdeka held in Kuala Lumpur by the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry and National Writers Association (Gapena) that Malaysia will descend into chaos if the social contract agreed upon 50 years ago was unravelled.
Nice f* touch, Tengku, to invoke the May 13 threat at the 50th Merdeka forum!
He urged the government to manage the increasing communal polarization wisely, such as anyone questioning aspects of that social contract - eg. position of Islam, special privileges for Malays …..
He declared: “If it (social contract) is to be revamped, I predict the nation will descend into chaos. If the guarantees laid out in it cannot be protected, a situation worse than May 13, 1969 (racial riots) may arise.”
His efforts to reclaim his once admired and envied position at the top of UMNO' echelon were in vain. The established UMNO chiefs have no more space for him as it was getting a wee crowded at Eagle's Lair, and noveau party climbers ignored him for the party nobody he has sadly become. Besides, UMNO already has its full complement of keris wavers.
Only old timers with a recollection of UMNO's hey days and familiarity with Ku Li's admirable credentials reflected on what could have been for this once charming cosmopolitan well educated prince (I suspect well-known socio-political writer Dr Bakri Musa is one of his admirers).
So, have we heard the last of him? Unfortunately no, because ….....
Recently Zaid Ibrahim in an interview with Malaysiakini as published in Zaid: Umno needs reformasi said:
“No, I don't think that Pak Lah should resign now. He suffered a setback but he is still the leader of the party which commands the majority in Parliament. Technically he can stay and you can't fault him for that either.”
“The more important question is "Should Pak Lah continue to lead Umno?" That I think should be decided by the party. I would like to see the best person lead the party of course.”
“People like to complain about Pak Lah but then who do we want to succeed him? There is Najib (Abdul Razak). But is he the best person to lead the party? Or would it be Tengku Razaleigh (Hamzah)? It could be anybody.”
Just my personal reading but I analyse in Zaid’s broad but meaningful statement his preference for fellow Kelantanese Ku Li to make a comeback to lead UMNO.
Perhaps Ku Li, like some of his fellow royalties, sensing a politically injured AAB, has quickly embarked on his comeback campaign. In Malaysiakini Ku Li wants Umno to call EGM, he wrote a letter to all 193 Umno division leaders urging them to call an extraordinary general meeting on May 11, which incidentally is the anniversary of UMNO's formation and no doubt carries special significance.
Ku Li tossed in a few sentimental reminders of UMNO’s earlier glory by reminding everyone of UMNO’s span of political control then:
"In the first general election in 1955, Umno controlled two-thirds of the seats in Parliament. Today, we are a minority voice in Parliament. At the federal level, Umno is no longer a strong political power. I nearly shed tears thinking about this scenario.”
My dear Ku Li, let's put things in perspective. Isn't an UMNO man still the PM, with the BN continuing as the ruling party?
Then, 1955 is 1955, but now it is 2008, where UMNO has many splinter groups!
Isn't the de facto Opposition leader an UMNO man (once No 2 like you, but ejected from the party in 1998)? Also, his (UMNO-nurtured) man controls Selangor.
PAS, also born of UMNO, controls Kelantan and Kedah while a PAS MB will head the Perak government. In short the UMNO brand (some rebranded like Lexus from Toyota) is all over, except for Penang which was lost to the opposition in 1969.
Had your Semangat 46 been successful, it would have been a variant model of UMNO as well. Given the dominance of the UMNO brand inclusive of its political offsprings, please rest assure the Malays won't ever be politically or economically marginalised, that is, if that has been your concern. So, what is there to cry about other than what could have been for you personally?
Then sadly, he brought out his old hobby horse, which I mentioned in two previous posts:
"Worse still, at the 12th general election, BN lost four states - Penang, the home state of our own party president (which has fallen into the hands of Chinese-based DAP), Kedah (which has fallen to PAS), Perak (which has fallen to DAP despite that the mentri besar is from PAS), and Selangor (which will be dominated by non-Malay DAP and non-Malays from PKR despite that the mentri besar is a Malay."
‘… hands of the Chinese-based DAP …’!!!
What about Karpal Singh, National Chairperson of the DAP, Dr Ramasamy, Deputy CM of Penang, Kulasegaran, MP from Ipoh Barata, Charles Santiago, MP for Klang and a host of Indian ADUNs?
Ha, my dear Tengku, maybe in that statement of yours, lies one of UMNO's problematic and sadly, concretized, attitude - seeing and yet not seeing Indian Malaysians.
Have you heard of Makkal Sakti, and the cause of the seismic shock that brought about the political tsunami?
‘…Selangor … dominated by non-Malay DAP and non-Malays from PKR despite that the mentri besar … (being) … a Malay …’!!!
Sadly and disappointingly, he’s continuing his ethnocentric fear campaign, an UMNO’s modus operandi, no doubt to get to the top of UMNO.
He wrote in his letter: "We must find out why Chinese and Indian voters rejected MCA and MIC candidates. Why were incumbent Umno candidates defeated by PKR and PAS candidates? Otherwise at the next election, if we don't change our policies, culture and morale in BN and Umno - and change radically - BN and Umno will not rule again."
"PKR-DAP-PAS will form the federal government, the PM may be from PKR and the DPM may be from the DAP. And should BN still remain intact, it would become an opposition party which is weak and disunited. Umno will not be able to represent the voice of Malays again."
Frightening stuff isn’t it, something sure to rally all wannabe Hang Tuahs, the very unpleasant thought of a 'non Malay' DAP Chinese person as DPM? An unacceptable case of Melayu hilang meruah (Malays losing face)!
Ku Li, I deplore your ethnocentric campaigning. We don’t want that sort of Malaysia anymore, which has been why your subordinates MCA, MIC and (and someone you didn't mentioned) Gerakan lost.
I would have respected you if you had raised the real issues of corruption, cronyism, and crimes. Instead you are no different from AAB, in self denial of what had been wrong with an UMNO-led government. So do us a favour and retire gracefully.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
RM90 million leap to a dream ... feast?
I learnt in school that frogs are members of the zoological class called Amphibia. They are cold-blooded or poikilothermic vertebrate animals. In Bahasa … er … (is it now Malaysia or Melayu?), frogs are called katak. Our southern neighbours refer to the creatures as kodok.
Hokkien Penangites called these creatures … er ... well, this is where I get confused over possible terminological pedantry.
For Penangites, the local convention is that a toad is usually referred to as 'katak-puroo' (derived no doubt from Bahasa … er …?), ...
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reminds me of someone in Kelantan, wakakaka |
... while a frog would be distinguished by the term ‘chooi-kay’ or water fowl, indicating the frogs taste like chicken - yummy, my memory brings forth scenes from Gurun, Kedah.
The Hokkien word for chook, ‘kay’, is also a Chinese colloquialism for ‘prostitute’ ...
… which takes us to some frog facts a friend has recently revealed to me.
Very quickly now - the biggest type of frog is the Goliath frog (Conraua goliath) from Cameroon, West Africa where its body can reach the size of 30 cm long and weigh about 3 and one-half kilos, like a huge housecat! Thus its legs are also around 30 cm long - eat your hearts froggie legs out, Gurun ;-)
Forget about the smallest frog because there are two still battling for that title, with one discovered only in recent times, thus not even having a (common) name other than a scientific one in Latin.
But what thrilled me was the discovery that the most expensive katak or 'chooi KAY' in the world costs RM3 mil each. And these lompat-ish slimy amphibians are found in East Malaysia. Amazing!
So RM90 mil will get you 30, and that’s considered cheap in every sense of the word – ‘cheap’ as of shoddy value or very low class, that is! Wakakaka.
So if you want a …. er … wait, what does one call a group of katak or frogs?
Well, I knew that a group of lions is called a ‘pride’ but that’s not a word I thought would be used here in this particular post, when we have been more familiar with, say, a 'nest' of vipers.
Hmmm, I didn’t realise we have a ‘cackle’ of hyenas ..... perhaps because they cackle rather than laugh?
Hyenas! Aisehman, what sort of mental associations those cackling beasts evoke in us? Craven coward scavengers, sneaky treacherous predators, etc?
Then .... hey, when I read about a ‘streak’ of tigers, I thought I might have a handle on how these group descriptors were originally arrived at Indeed, who else is streaky but Sang Belang!
Perhaps ‘leap’ then for frogs?
But no, I was informed that we couldn't have a ‘leap’ of frogs but a ‘leap’ of leopards – you know, those critters which don’t/can’t change their spots. Like their cousins, the Tok Belang’s, they’re carnivorous, dangerously sneaky and unlikely to be vegetarians herbivorous.
But anyway, I eventually arrived at the sought-after answers - a group of toads is a ‘knot’ while a group of frogs is an ‘army’!
Yes, RM90 mil for an army of 30 East Malaysian kataks or chooi KAY’s.
Now, I'm afraid one of my kampung (village) uncles is not very literate but quite naughtily humorous, so I fear he is likely to translate an army of 30 chooi KAY’s into an army of 'water prostitutes' or less literally and more correctly, 30 'prostitutes from across the sea'. Naughty Unc ;-)
'K lah, 'nuff of kataks, my friend and I then invariably moved on to the elections where we continued our post mortem ;-) of erstwhile MCA and Gerakan lawmakers.
It suddenly dawned on us how close the DAP-PKR-PAS group was to winning a simple majority, to form government ... gasp!
Oh BTW, what does one call a group of parliamentarians?
If one group descriptor for cats, yes, the smaller cousin of the leopards, is a 'parliament' (with wild cats, it's appropriately a 'destruction'), then perhaps we may get a ... hmmm ... er ... 'treachery' of parliamentarians?
Ridiculous? Not so, when we have a 'murder' of crows, a 'shrewdness' of apes, a 'stubbornness' of rhinos, an 'obstinacy' of buffaloes, an 'unkindness' of ravens (I wonder how this one came about), and I even found another besides 'streak' for Pak Belang, an 'ambush'!
OK, back to politics - There are 222 seats in federal parliament. Therefore a simple majority is 112.
DAP-PKR-PAS combined won 82, just a few ... gasp again ... seats short of 112.
PKR is of course the leader of the pack* with 31 federal seats, whilst DAP follows a close second with 28, and PAS wraps up the 82 with its 23.
* another group descriptor
By the by, how many of those 31 PKR federal seats are really held by PKR members?
Yes, how many had to contest under the PKR banner because their political parties haven’t been (weren't allowed to be) registered or who has no party to speak of prior to the election. A typical example of the second group would be former DAP member Wee.
The highest profile MP contesting under the PKR banner who isn't a PKR member is of course Dr Jeyakumar of PSM who toppled Humpty Dumpty in the latter’s once-impenetrable fortress of Sungai Siput.
I have read a Malaysiakini interview with Dr Jeya who clarified his unique position as a PSM candidate contesting under a PKR banner but I couldn’t find that article again. Damn!
Anyway ... maybe my next trip will be to Gurun for a plate of frog legs stir-fried in garlic, ginger and spring onions, all down with an aw kau (Guinness stout) - those poor kataks won't be leaping anywhere for sure.
Bipartisanship
1969 wasn't successful because 'someone' decided that the 'stakes' were too high to leave to mere democracy. Something happened to delay what most people wanted, as expressed in the polls.
40 years later, in 2008, the yearning for democracy and the associated transparency, accountability, equality & justice couldn't be contained any longer. In this great expression of (most of) the PEOPLE's VOICE, we need to acknowledge the super-humongous contribution and scarifice of Hindraf, who amongst the activitist organizations had been the most effective.
Thank you Hindraf, you are without peers.
March 13 didn't happen - a demonstration of the maturity of Malaysians, other than that of some die-hard ketuanan fossils, poor losers who don't (and probably have never) understand what democracy is about, and who had the unmitigated shame to call for a scorched earth policy for Penang, as if the nation is theirs to vent their merajuk petulance on, without any regard to even their own Penang supporters.
Former CM of Penang, Koh Tsu Koon, has made amends for his 'previous R.B. life' by conducting himself in the finest tradition of Westminster styled parliamentary democracy, even though he's in reality an Opposition in limbo.
Koh has been exemplarily courteous to the man who replaced him as Penang's CM, and has correctly rejected the sorry case of the Penang UMNO's disgraceful call to PM AAB to abandon mega projects planned for Penang. A tale of two (mental capa)cities - posh and pariah.
PM AAB shares Koh's attitude, very much to the relief of Lim GE - for more read Malaysiakini Guan Eng lauds PM's pledge on mega-projects.
The Star Online reported Koh chiding UMNO Youth for resorting to their nasty modus operandi of taking to the streets to bully people who don’t agree with them.
Read Koh: Street demos not proper way to convey views where Koh tapped UMNO Youth on their heads by saying “We have to be consistent. However, as often pointed out by Barisan’s top leaders, such acts may heighten tension and even lead to conflicts if they get out of hand” in an obvious reminder of the BN’s condemnation of the Hindraf rally.
Thank you Ah Koon, for teaching those punks not to conduct themselves with hypocritical double standards.
The election is over. Let us practise and uphold the finest traditions of parliamentary democracy. Let us take our new sense of political maturity one step further and consider the factor of bipartisanship on matters vital to our nation's continuing democracy.
Malaysiakini has informed us of recent incidents when democratic principles for post election process have been 'bypassed' or 'modified' by some royalties. We are a constitutional democracy. We must not accept that, and I call on ALL to back the cabinet and the PM in a spirit of bipartisanship to uphold constitutional process, lest we return to the bad old days of 15th Century Sultan Mansur Shah where Hang Tuah's life and loyalty were treated with shameful disregard at the callous wimp of a monarch with absolute powers.
40 years later, in 2008, the yearning for democracy and the associated transparency, accountability, equality & justice couldn't be contained any longer. In this great expression of (most of) the PEOPLE's VOICE, we need to acknowledge the super-humongous contribution and scarifice of Hindraf, who amongst the activitist organizations had been the most effective.
Thank you Hindraf, you are without peers.
March 13 didn't happen - a demonstration of the maturity of Malaysians, other than that of some die-hard ketuanan fossils, poor losers who don't (and probably have never) understand what democracy is about, and who had the unmitigated shame to call for a scorched earth policy for Penang, as if the nation is theirs to vent their merajuk petulance on, without any regard to even their own Penang supporters.
Former CM of Penang, Koh Tsu Koon, has made amends for his 'previous R.B. life' by conducting himself in the finest tradition of Westminster styled parliamentary democracy, even though he's in reality an Opposition in limbo.
Koh has been exemplarily courteous to the man who replaced him as Penang's CM, and has correctly rejected the sorry case of the Penang UMNO's disgraceful call to PM AAB to abandon mega projects planned for Penang. A tale of two (mental capa)cities - posh and pariah.
PM AAB shares Koh's attitude, very much to the relief of Lim GE - for more read Malaysiakini Guan Eng lauds PM's pledge on mega-projects.
The Star Online reported Koh chiding UMNO Youth for resorting to their nasty modus operandi of taking to the streets to bully people who don’t agree with them.
Read Koh: Street demos not proper way to convey views where Koh tapped UMNO Youth on their heads by saying “We have to be consistent. However, as often pointed out by Barisan’s top leaders, such acts may heighten tension and even lead to conflicts if they get out of hand” in an obvious reminder of the BN’s condemnation of the Hindraf rally.
Thank you Ah Koon, for teaching those punks not to conduct themselves with hypocritical double standards.
The election is over. Let us practise and uphold the finest traditions of parliamentary democracy. Let us take our new sense of political maturity one step further and consider the factor of bipartisanship on matters vital to our nation's continuing democracy.
Malaysiakini has informed us of recent incidents when democratic principles for post election process have been 'bypassed' or 'modified' by some royalties. We are a constitutional democracy. We must not accept that, and I call on ALL to back the cabinet and the PM in a spirit of bipartisanship to uphold constitutional process, lest we return to the bad old days of 15th Century Sultan Mansur Shah where Hang Tuah's life and loyalty were treated with shameful disregard at the callous wimp of a monarch with absolute powers.
Don't you worry about Sam
Thanks PM, but Sam doesn't need a senator's appointment. He has a new job that helps him bring home the bac.. ... er ... sorry, I mean ... roti canai. Cheers.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Royalty threatens constitutional crisis?
As I mentioned in this morning post Lim Kit Siang opened Royal Pandora Box? a State ruler cannot reject the candidate forwarded by the party with the winning majority (by itself or in a formal or informal coalition) for his approval, save where there is perceivable concerns the candidate has a dodgy record or perhaps is infirmed, or the coalition isn’t politically stable, which may affect the proposed candidate’s ability to head the State government.
Professor Shad Faruqi, a constitutional law expert, pointed out clearly while the rulers have the constitutional rights to approve the appointment of MBs, they should NOT be involved in politics and do NOT have absolute discretion in making their choices, and ought not to allow personal feelings to colour their judgments.
Yes, those rulers should accept the political parties’ choices, save in the most obvious case of a candidate who's mentally, physically or legally unfit to head the administration, or where the coalition he/she heads isn’t stable enough to endure the term until the next state election.
But frighteningly, from a constitutional point, Malaysiakini has reported that the Sultan of Terengganu may well be going too far, based on the yardstick that Prof Shad has advised.
HRH hasn’t been impressed with the former MB, Idris Jusoh and has indicated through his state's Regency Advisory Council (his son is only 11 years old) that he wants a different person. His unhappiness with Idris Jusoh has been about the heavy-handed police action leading to the Batu Buruk riot on Sept 8 last year. HRH believed such a domestic brouhaha could have been managed without the use of live bullets.
Then HRH is also unhappy with the police teargas-ing PAS supporters on polling day in Rusila. The palace reckons Idris Jusoh’s administration had influenced the police to act in such drastic fashion.
Of course there is the additional issue of Idris Jusoh behaving with ‘apparent cockiness’, acting as though he was the sultan, making decisions unilaterally without consulting the royal household.
Well … of course, given the Sultan concerns, HRH has the right to inform the winning political party, BN-UMNO, or even the PM of his dissatisfaction with Idris Jusoh as the State’s MB.
But what concerns me as a citizen of this nation, which is a constitutional monarchy with a Westminster parliamentary system, has been the Malaysiakini report that the palace (meaning the Sultan) has summoned the state representatives to consider the palace’s preferred candidate, and to seek their support for the Sultan’s man, believed to be Ahmad Said, the Kemaman Umno division chief.
I hope those UMNO jokers know their constitutional law and would politely decline HRH suggestion. It may well be that with Idris Jusoh as a non-starter, the Sultan’s man may eventually be selected to be the next MB, but that is not the point.
The point is what Prof Shad has advised: While a State ruler has the constitutional right to approve the appointment of the MB, he should NOT be involved in politics and do NOT have absolute discretion in making his choice (in other words, he cannot demand that his preferred candidate be the MB). HRH should also not allow personal feelings to colour his judgments.
Most important of all, he should consult the PM as well. I reckon some royalties might have sensed a weak PM in his current political setback and are clawing back some of their lost pre-Merdeka prerogatives.
Through 'divide and conquer'?
I consider the Sultan's assertive action, in selecting his own preferred candidate for the MB's post, is constitutionally dangerous for Malaysian citizens, regardless of our ethnicity, religion or political affiliations; we can't afford to allow royalty to interfere directly with such political preserves; it's like usurping the people's democratic rights.
I like to see some bipartisan response especially from both PAS' Nik Aziz and Anwar Ibrahim, but alas, with a de facto PKR leader in an (childish by Western standards) acrimonious relationship with the BN, in particular UMNO, selfish partisanship may rule the day. Lim Kit Siang as a non Malay should preferably stay clear of this very sensitive issue, lest it worsens in the current critical period.
But it's likely that, apart from PAS and PKR partisan stand, greed among some of the State's UMNO MPs ('divide & conquer') compounded by the traditional Malay blind obedience a la Hang Tuah to HRH, may see the constitutionally undesired come about. It'll then be a humongous loss to Malaysian democracy.
Professor Shad Faruqi, a constitutional law expert, pointed out clearly while the rulers have the constitutional rights to approve the appointment of MBs, they should NOT be involved in politics and do NOT have absolute discretion in making their choices, and ought not to allow personal feelings to colour their judgments.
Yes, those rulers should accept the political parties’ choices, save in the most obvious case of a candidate who's mentally, physically or legally unfit to head the administration, or where the coalition he/she heads isn’t stable enough to endure the term until the next state election.
But frighteningly, from a constitutional point, Malaysiakini has reported that the Sultan of Terengganu may well be going too far, based on the yardstick that Prof Shad has advised.
HRH hasn’t been impressed with the former MB, Idris Jusoh and has indicated through his state's Regency Advisory Council (his son is only 11 years old) that he wants a different person. His unhappiness with Idris Jusoh has been about the heavy-handed police action leading to the Batu Buruk riot on Sept 8 last year. HRH believed such a domestic brouhaha could have been managed without the use of live bullets.
Then HRH is also unhappy with the police teargas-ing PAS supporters on polling day in Rusila. The palace reckons Idris Jusoh’s administration had influenced the police to act in such drastic fashion.
Of course there is the additional issue of Idris Jusoh behaving with ‘apparent cockiness’, acting as though he was the sultan, making decisions unilaterally without consulting the royal household.
Well … of course, given the Sultan concerns, HRH has the right to inform the winning political party, BN-UMNO, or even the PM of his dissatisfaction with Idris Jusoh as the State’s MB.
But what concerns me as a citizen of this nation, which is a constitutional monarchy with a Westminster parliamentary system, has been the Malaysiakini report that the palace (meaning the Sultan) has summoned the state representatives to consider the palace’s preferred candidate, and to seek their support for the Sultan’s man, believed to be Ahmad Said, the Kemaman Umno division chief.
I hope those UMNO jokers know their constitutional law and would politely decline HRH suggestion. It may well be that with Idris Jusoh as a non-starter, the Sultan’s man may eventually be selected to be the next MB, but that is not the point.
The point is what Prof Shad has advised: While a State ruler has the constitutional right to approve the appointment of the MB, he should NOT be involved in politics and do NOT have absolute discretion in making his choice (in other words, he cannot demand that his preferred candidate be the MB). HRH should also not allow personal feelings to colour his judgments.
Most important of all, he should consult the PM as well. I reckon some royalties might have sensed a weak PM in his current political setback and are clawing back some of their lost pre-Merdeka prerogatives.
Through 'divide and conquer'?
I consider the Sultan's assertive action, in selecting his own preferred candidate for the MB's post, is constitutionally dangerous for Malaysian citizens, regardless of our ethnicity, religion or political affiliations; we can't afford to allow royalty to interfere directly with such political preserves; it's like usurping the people's democratic rights.
I like to see some bipartisan response especially from both PAS' Nik Aziz and Anwar Ibrahim, but alas, with a de facto PKR leader in an (childish by Western standards) acrimonious relationship with the BN, in particular UMNO, selfish partisanship may rule the day. Lim Kit Siang as a non Malay should preferably stay clear of this very sensitive issue, lest it worsens in the current critical period.
But it's likely that, apart from PAS and PKR partisan stand, greed among some of the State's UMNO MPs ('divide & conquer') compounded by the traditional Malay blind obedience a la Hang Tuah to HRH, may see the constitutionally undesired come about. It'll then be a humongous loss to Malaysian democracy.
Lim Kit Siang opened Royal Pandora Box?
So Malaysiakini tells us that the political Deal’s stitched, & it’s all systems go for Perak.
Alas, the parties have finally acquiesced to royal demands, with many of them forgetting that in a political democracy it's the political party which commands the majority in the State Assembly (outright or through a coalition, formal or otherwise) who picks the CM or MB, or at the federal level, the PM, to be approved by the constitutional ruler, only as a formal procedural step.
I had posted this reminder of the people's right and power two days ago in Perak Papadum Ping Pong Primadonnas, where I stated:
… kaytee believes the coalition has done something quite stupid. In submitting 3 names to the Sultan to choose it has unwittingly involved royalty in State politics in an unprecedented way. It’s not for the Sultan to choose from a list of three.
Alas, the parties have finally acquiesced to royal demands, with many of them forgetting that in a political democracy it's the political party which commands the majority in the State Assembly (outright or through a coalition, formal or otherwise) who picks the CM or MB, or at the federal level, the PM, to be approved by the constitutional ruler, only as a formal procedural step.
I had posted this reminder of the people's right and power two days ago in Perak Papadum Ping Pong Primadonnas, where I stated:
… kaytee believes the coalition has done something quite stupid. In submitting 3 names to the Sultan to choose it has unwittingly involved royalty in State politics in an unprecedented way. It’s not for the Sultan to choose from a list of three.
Certainly the Sultan can disagree with a name but he should only be given one name (at a time). For example, the Sultan could say no to DAP's Ngeh and say, gimme another name! But it’s not for HRH to be given 3 names and decide on one he prefers. The choice of an MB is a political one and to be left to the political parties as elected by the rakyat.
A rejection of a proposed candidate is still a royal prerogative of HRH only if the candidate was found to be, say, a bankrupt, a potential bankrupt or even a previous bankrupt, associated with notorious social scandal (a suspected rapist but ...), believed to be of unstable temperament or have suffered mental breakdowns or depression, etc, but HRH cannot and should not be making a political decision by choosing one name from a list of three.
Yes, the ruler cannot reject the candidate forwarded for his approval, save where, as mentioned above, there is perceivable concerns the candidate has a dodgy record or perhaps is infirmed, etc* which may affect the proposed candidate’s ability to head the State government.
* an example of ‘etc’ being the case of the new Selangor State government where the ruler wanted to confirm the new MB has the support of a loose (informal or not registered) coalition –see my post Post election snippets (1). I had stated: "The Sultan wants to ensure that the coalition can be a stable one. Obviously he doesn't want his State to be run like Italy, where shaky minority governments are changed faster than underwear."
Now, the Star Online has indicated two worrying cases where the State rulers of Perlis and Terengganu have taken it into their hands (or heads) to appoint their choices against that proposed by the winning political party.
In the case of Perlis, the situation has been compounded by PM AAB stating (stupidly, on paper) who should be the MB, and just leaving it to the State BN party to forward that name to HRH for royal consent, when in fact he doesn't have the constitutional authority to appoint MBs.
Professor Shad Faruqi, a constitutional law expert, said that under Article 39(2) of the Perlis Constitution, the Raja of Perlis has the prerogative to ascertain who commands the confidence of the majority and thus should be made MB after the elections; he added that it was unconstitutional for the PM to determine who would be MB.
Of course while Prof Shad Faruji has pointed out a legal fact, the reality is Shahidan Kassim is officially the state BN’s candidate and shouldn't be viewed as the PM's selection, a political choice which HRH should accept. The PM putting his signature on the selection of Shahidan is out of (legal) step and muddies the legal water.
But with a very much (party) weakened PM, compounded by a State UMNO already in strife way before the election precisely because of the candidature of Shahidan, some leaders in the State UMNO have conducted an administrative coup d'état by naughtily whispering in the ruler’s ears.
Prof Shad has been diplomatic in also stating that he was sure the PM’s legal faux pas has not been intended to usurp the powers of the Raja of Perlis, and that the ruler as well did not have absolute discretion in making his choice.
But he pointed out, in obvious mitigation of the unprecedented action of a constitutional monarchy: “The palace should not be involved in politics. The Raja of Perlis should be above politics and not allow personal feelings to colour his judgment,” but that it was only proper for the ruler to pick someone who was the acknowledged political leader and had the confidence of the majority.
However, he didn’t reveal how the ruler has determined who were the ‘majority’ who had confidence in and acknowledged Md Isa Sabu as the leader to be appointed as the MB.
All the Prof said was the palace was approached by people not wanting a particular candidate to lead their state. Well, obviously the ruler must have believed their whisperings because Md Isa Sabu has been appointed the MB.
‘…the palace was approached by people not wanting a particular candidate …’!
Has that been enough? Unbelieveable? Well, you better believe it because in the halus kabus world of Malay palace intrigues, beat-around-the-bush diplomacy and oblique directives, that’s all we public are going to get.
But this is terrible for democracy, and as if it was not bad enough especially after the Perak imbroglio, it seems on the East Coast, the Terengganu palace, yes royalty again, has come up with the names of two BN assemblymen to take over from Idris Jusoh. Hey, who’s the political party that won the State election? The Palace?
While Prof Shad is obviously correct about the rulers having that constitutional right to approve MBs, he also pointed out rather clearly the rulers should NOT be involved in politics and do NOT have absolute discretion in making their choices, and ought not to allow personal feelings to colour their judgments.
Yes, those rulers should accept the political parties’ choices, save in the most obvious case of a candidate who's mentally, physically or legally unfit to head the administration.
In the rulers' increasing (and unjustified) discretion in such appointments the Sultans must have found comfort from the support (direct or otherwise) of the stupid political parties undermining each other.
The rulers had been living in tolerated disgrace following the castration of a notorious royal brother by Dr Mahathir (rightfully so and an action fully supported by most Malaysians), but since then they have (under a certain erudite leader) slowly but steadily been clawing their way back to prominence and regained respect and adulation from their subjects.
In fact they have already reclaimed lost grounds if we recall how many anti-BN people, desperate for a political messiah, have even considered Raja Nazrin as a potential saviour in Malaysian politics, without even realizing what adverse consequences to democracy they have been promoting.
I suspect the rulers’ unprecedented actions are also collectively a strike back at federal intrusion into and dominance of State affairs and powers over the years, since arch-monarchist Tunku Abdul Rahman left office under a political ‘Et Tu Brutus’ cloud.
Much as I respect, admire and have supported Lim Kit Siang, I believe he has been the one who opened the royal Pandora box when he abdicated the political rights of the DAP-PKR-PAS in deciding who should be the MB for Perak to the Sultan of Perak (as represented by his son the Regent).
Uncle Lim was of course attempting to minimise adverse DAP grassroot reactions to his party agreeing to a PAS MB when the DAP has the most number of seats in the coalition. So, he staged a public sandiwara (theatrics) of being against a PAS man becoming the MB of a State while pushing the decision making to the ruler.
He must have thought it would be brilliant tactics to abdicate the (publicly) difficult decision of accepting a PAS man as MB of Perak to the Perak royalty, but he didn't realize it would be bad strategy to surrender political rights to a constitutional monarchy, who through such small gains will shift gradually from a constitutional status to an increasing absolute authority.
The sadder irony of it all, and the most gross injustice to Uncle Lim, is he has been portrayed as a racist by some anti-DAP bloggers (and I am not talking about the BN) as well as some Malaysiakini journalists and columnists, even though the issue has never been about race but rather, the PAS avowed political intention to make Malaysia into an Islamic State governed by Islamic syariah laws.
But as for most things in Malaysia, why let facts stand in the way of a good emotional (and sinisterly contrived) bashing of the DAP, specifically at the very figure of Lim Kit Siang!
Friday, March 14, 2008
Go apologize to Susan Loone!
Susan Loone.
Some bloggers just love to sink their claws into her ;-).
First there was the Allblogs affair last year, when a supposedly apolitical blogger association, set up to help bloggers, visited Malaysia’s most controversial opposition personality on its first semi-official foray.
Why?
Indeed, if the new association known as Allblogs (Alliance of Bloggers) had to visit a politician for the benefit of Malaysia’s growing bloggers community, surely it should have been the Min of Comm or Min of Info, regardless of the character of the persons behind those ministerial posts.
So … why Anwar Ibrahim? How could he have benefitted the blogging community?
Till today we have no answer to that inexplicable politically inclined visit.
Some bloggers who had supported two prominent bloggers, leaders of Allblogs, in their hours of besieged needs, were disappointed in what they saw as a ‘betrayal’ of what Allblogs had been set up for. In other words, why turned Allblogs into what was then seen as a political organization, visiting an opposition leader, one who was (still is), as mentioned, the most controversial political personality in Malaysia?
Those of us who saw through the incongruity, inexplicability and inexcusability of that visit decided not to be part of that organisation (which had actually grown from a blogger movement supporting the two besieged prominent bloggers).
Susan Loone was one of those who rejected Allblogs. I was one of the other, and there were others. Susan and I then decided to form an alternative, PABS (I’ll come to this in a while).
Mein Gott, as the Germans would exclaim, the moment we announced PABS, Susan was attacked by the usual suspects for daring to not conform!
Read also:
(1) Embracing bloggers - Disgracing bloggers
(2) Quo Vadis All-Blogs?
Some bloggers just love to sink their claws into her ;-).
First there was the Allblogs affair last year, when a supposedly apolitical blogger association, set up to help bloggers, visited Malaysia’s most controversial opposition personality on its first semi-official foray.
Why?
Indeed, if the new association known as Allblogs (Alliance of Bloggers) had to visit a politician for the benefit of Malaysia’s growing bloggers community, surely it should have been the Min of Comm or Min of Info, regardless of the character of the persons behind those ministerial posts.
So … why Anwar Ibrahim? How could he have benefitted the blogging community?
Till today we have no answer to that inexplicable politically inclined visit.
Some bloggers who had supported two prominent bloggers, leaders of Allblogs, in their hours of besieged needs, were disappointed in what they saw as a ‘betrayal’ of what Allblogs had been set up for. In other words, why turned Allblogs into what was then seen as a political organization, visiting an opposition leader, one who was (still is), as mentioned, the most controversial political personality in Malaysia?
Those of us who saw through the incongruity, inexplicability and inexcusability of that visit decided not to be part of that organisation (which had actually grown from a blogger movement supporting the two besieged prominent bloggers).
Susan Loone was one of those who rejected Allblogs. I was one of the other, and there were others. Susan and I then decided to form an alternative, PABS (I’ll come to this in a while).
Mein Gott, as the Germans would exclaim, the moment we announced PABS, Susan was attacked by the usual suspects for daring to not conform!
Read also:
(1) Embracing bloggers - Disgracing bloggers
(2) Quo Vadis All-Blogs?
Then when she blogged on one of her passions, Shariibuu Altantuyaa, I was informed by not one but several blogger friends that Susan was ‘paid by someone’ to blog on that topic. Eventually I managed to trace the source of that uninformed bad-mouthing to a prominent blogger.
It was a disgraceful lie about Susan.
What is it about her that set the sharks of the Malaysian blogosphere circling around in anticipation of ripping into her? Why are they so scared, so envious of her?
Now, her blog on the EC stats regarding Mukhriz Mahathir’s win in Jerlun (also published in Malaysiakini) has evolved into an imbroglio because … of eager waiting sharks who didn’t & couldn’t be bothered to read carefully, but instead accused her of badmouthing Mukhriz, and then demanding that she apologised.
Apologize for not doing anything wrong?
The sad outcome of this unscrupulous attempt to embroil her with the Mahathir family, especially with Susan's friend and sister-in-arms Marina, has been the unnecessary hurt to Marina and Mukhriz’s family.
I bet those wonders were not doing it for the honour of Mukhriz Mahathir but rather for their own misguided sense of self-delusional honour or even delight.
One has even accused her of:
(a) dramatising the Altantunya case with all sorts of wild unsubstantiated accusation but ceasing when court proceeding began. The accusation went on to allude that she couldn't do her spin when fact were presented.
Hmmm, ever heard of sub judice? And please read my post Shariibuu-Altantuyaa, Susan Loone, Scumbags, Sisyphus and Sex.
(b) wanting to stand as a Parti Keadilan Nasional candidate but was not put forward.
Please see Seruan Keadilan Online - Wednesday, March 24, 2004 where she was nominated by the party as the candidate for the parliamentary seat of Sri Delima.
She didn’t stand for it because there were problems over the seat with DAP, when she was then asked to transfer to Bayan Baru. She rejected that on principle and opted out – not hard up lah! I would encourage the blogger to check with Dr Syed Husin rather than some lowly member on the veracity of what I have just stated.
(c) pushing her political agenda on Allblog. Hahahahaha I have just written above as to who was the one actually pushing the political agenda, much to Susan’s (and our) disgust. Now, I ask again, why would Allblogs visit Anwar Ibrahim if it was supposed to be apolitical?
And what about PABS? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah – go ask my bro Zainol of mahaguru58 – he’ll tell you, ke ke ke! Susan, Zainol, a few others and I were tickled pink at the consternation out there when Susan and I started PABS - aiyoh lah, those jokers masturbating themselves in self-abusive delight through their attacking a la lemak of Susan, and to a lesser extent, myself! What a bunch of hopeless under-confident bloggers, so scared of competition!
Now, those who have demanded of Susan an unnecessary apology should be men enough (note plural!) to offer their apologies to her for their wrongful accusations, and to Marina Mahathir for causing her unnecessary hurt.
Er … no need to apologize to me ler. I am quite forgiving ;-).
Oh, BTW, one joker ;-) left a note in my post The enemy within for Mukhriz Mahathir, saying:
“I think you are in love with susan loone but she spurned you. I checked the internet and it seems you are the only one who cares to write so much about susan loone. trying to get her attention izzit? try a different approach lah. definitely, you can't attract her with your stupidity.”
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha – is that best you can do?
I suppose there is no point in explaining to you such issues as objectivity, facts through careful reading, an open mind, friendship, and loyalty, because you would degenerate this entire spectrum of qualities into baser motives ;-)
Now, run along and apologize to Susan Loone and Marina Mahathir, two great sweeties who have my respect and friendship.
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