Balderdash, Biadap-ish & Boleh-Malaysia

TMI - I want both Guan Eng and Najib to resign, says Dr M

Ah Gor, aren't you scared of being seen to be too pally-buddy with a Chinaman?

aiyah, f**k him lah

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said that he would ask both Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to resign if he had the opportunity to write letters to both of them.

He said this when asked by DAP's Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim during the question and answer session at the launch of a new book featuring letters Dr Mahathir penned to other world leaders during his tenure as PM.

"Simple, I would ask them both to resign," he said to the laughter of hundreds of attendees.

When Sim asked him to elaborate, Dr Mahathir said that having a different state government and federal government "does no good to the country".

"For over 60 years, we had peace and stability. When you have a different state government from the federal government, it leads to antagonism. It is not doing the country any good," he said.

Quote having a different state government and federal government "does no good to the country" unquote.

I have never heard such balderdash before, one promoting a national wall-to-wall carpeting of (no-doubt) Barisan Nasional state governments which would must be dominated by UMNO!

Wait, on 2nd thoughts, maybe there is some truth in his statement quote it leads to antagonism unquote because if we recall, from RPK's MAHATHIR LAID THE FOUNDATION FOR 1MDB we're reminded of the principal 'antagonist' in 1999 towards a PAS government in Terengganu, as follows:

On 29th November 1999, the opposition Barisan Alternatif took over the state of Terengganu and the next day it formed the new state government with Tok Guru Abdul Hadi Awang of PAS as the new Menteri Besar to replace Wan Mokhtar Ahmad of Umno. [...]

The exciting part about Terengganu, which had only eight Parliament seats (and therefore did not really contribute much in helping the opposition march into Putrajaya), is that it had RM1 billion a year in oil royalty. And this RM1 billion was going to help finance Barisan Alternatif to win some of the other states in the next general election in 2004.

With RM1 billion a year or RM5 billion over five years, it was more or less assured that Barisan Nasional and Umno were going to be history in 2004.

But Dr Mahathir was smarter than that. He knew what RM5 billion in the hands of the opposition could do. So he stopped the RM1 billion a year payment to the state.

The state screamed that in 1976 Petronas had signed an Agreement with Terengganu, and based on this 1976 Agreement and the Petroleum Development Act 1974, Petronas had a legal obligation to pay Terengganu the 5% royalty, which came to RM1 billion a year.

But you know Dr Mahathir. Agreements, Contracts and Acts of Parliament are not going to be allowed to stand in the way of what he wants to do. Terengganu took the case to court but Dr Mahathir knew he would be long dead and gone before anything happens.

Dr Mahathir then appointed Idris Jusoh as the sort of ‘shadow’ Menteri Besar of Terengganu but based in the Prime Minister’s Department in Putrajaya. And Idris Jusoh was to handle the oil royalty that had been renamed ‘Wang Ehsan’ and which would be controlled by the Prime Minister’s Department.

The RM1 billion a year was not going to be given to the PAS-led Terengganu state government. Instead, a parallel government would be set up which will bypass the official and legally elected Terengganu state government and this ‘shadow’ or parallel government would manage the money.

Guess who was the 'antagonist'?

Then in June 2010, Malaysiakini’s Guan Eng wants SDO to explain arches fiasco reported Lim questioned the erection of two controversial arches on the way to the Penang Botanical Garden by the federal government.

The Penang state development officer (SDO), was Nik Ali Mat Yunos, a federal civil servant in charge of the project. Lim was so incensed by the arrogant non-accountability of the SDO that he remarked Nik Ali was "openly and blatantly" sabotaging the state government.

Lim stated: "He is like a little Napoleon in the civil service who gets high pay and does nothing for the people, but instead causes losses to them."

MKINI reported: Lim wants Nik Ali to come clean about the RM150,000 plus losses over the planned demolition of the two twin arches recently built for an expansion project under the Tourism Ministry. […]

Lim has taken offence with Nik Ali for refusing to explain who - which department, state or federal government - was responsible for the staggering losses.

"If he is willing to tell us that, we will not pursue the matter. Every sen counts, because it is a question of public trust," Lim added.

Lim has also seen red over a letter sent by the SDO's office dated Oct 13, 2009 to the Drainage and Irrigation Department, giving a "RM5 million ultimatum" to the state.

The letter states that the state would have to settle "pending issues" on the Botanic Gardens' facade and pavilion development, failing which, federal funding of RM5 million for the project would be withdrawn.

"This is an example of how the SDO's office is trying to rush development projects through without due consultation and feedback," said Lim.

Can you f* beat that, a civil servant refusing to account to the CM of a Malaysian State? What hope then do we earthly mortals have in terns of accountability from a Malaysian civil servant?
But wait, there's even MORE, and WORSE!

As if that was not bad enough, the SDO responded by calling the Chief Minister 'biadap' - yes, believe it or not, a f* public servant abusing a people's fully elected representative with the gross insult of 'biadap'.

Who was the one being 'biadap'? What happened to old world Malay courtesy, civility, adat of being halus and bersopan-santun?

Maybe he thought he was the great great great (ditto etc) grandson of Sultan Mansur Shah of Malacca with the powers to f* off Hang Lim GE?

Would Nik Ali Mt Yunos dare to be biadap towards an UMNO MB like Khir
even if Khir were to present him with a broom for piss-poor performance?

But how did that come about?

Only one answer for his unusual un-Malay biadap-ish rudeness: The UMNO-led federal government must have sanctioned, directly, indirectly or even unwittingly, the SDO's biadap behaviour towards the Chief Minister of a Malaysian State.

Thus, in a very sad and disappointing partisan way Dr M has been right in that there would be 'antagonism', in our example, by civil servants towards a non-BN state government but only because that biadap-ish 'antagonism' had been tolerated, even promoted, fostered and/or sanctioned by the UMNO-led government.

The next question should be: Would that be the right behaviour for a so-called impartial officer from a public institution like the Malaysian Civil Service, Police and other government agencies, whose primary and principal duty should be to the public, and not to the UMNO-led government.

But wait, there were far more worse things! Against the very heart of civil service policy, he made his attack against a people’s representative at a gathering organized by UMNO, a political party.

I suppose a biadap, arrogant and politically biased person like him does not understand protocol, civil service etiquette, basic courtesy and the apolitical nature of the Malaysian Civil Service (MCS).

Maybe this bloke has been exactly whom former PM AAB had in mind when he termed some public servants as ‘Little Napoleons’.

Technically he should be chastised if not sacked in ignominy for violating the Civil Service code of conduct (many times over) by the Chief Secretary but as it’s obvious he’s allied to UMNO, it was hardly surprising that Mohd Sidek, the Chief Secretary, defended him instead.

See Malaysiakini's No action against Penang SDO, says chief sec and we can summarise that:

Nik Ali Mat Yunus, the SDO based in Penang has DISCREDITED himself as a public servant for daring to (1) hold a press conference at an UMNO gathering to attack Penang CM Lim Guan Eng, and (2) insubordinately mouthing uncouthly words to describe Lim.

What a lamentable specimen of a so-called public servant!

Mohd Sidek Hassan, Chief Secretary to the government, has also DISCREDITED himself by condemning Lim GE as being ‘excessive’ instead of reprimanding Nik Ali’s violation of the civil service code of conduct in (1) attending a political gathering as an active participant and (2) for behaving in the worst biadap manner in his brazen use of rude words to publicly attack a people’s representative and a state Chief Minister at that.

What a shameful specimen of a so-called public servant!

Najib Tun Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia, has DISCREDITED himself by remaining silent in what is Malaysia’s worst case of civil service insubordination to an elected people’s representative.

What a shameful specimen of a Prime Minister!

Given that this is Malaysia, it was not totally unexpected, but nonetheless the brazen disregard by Mohd Sidek of Nik Ali’s breach of the civil service code of conduct and sheer bad manners in his most unprofessional politically partisan behaviour was still flabbergastingly breathtaking.

Was that what Dr M had in mind? If it was, then he ought to know that such behaviour by the public service does not exist in 1st World Commonwealth countries like UK, Australia and New Zealand because it would not have been tolerated.

Then why did it happen in Malaysia? Why has it ben tolerated in Malaysia?

Answer: UMNO!

Should she have done it?

Siti Hasmah prays Najib won't harm Islam

Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali, the wife of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, said she used her time in Mecca to pray for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

With sadness in her voice, Siti Hasmah said she also prayed for the people while performing the umrah.

"I thought my husband and I would not make it (to Mecca), but alhamdulillah, God gave us time, longevity, health, and we made it.

"I prayed in front of the Kaabah for everyone's safety. As a mother, I also prayed for Najib, so that he doesn't do something that is not good for our religion, Islam," she said at a Mother's Day celebration in Kuala Lumpur today.

Siti Hasmah, however, did not elaborate further.

Focus on her saying she prayed for Najib so that he (Najib) dosn't do anything that's not good for Islam!

Does that mean that she's expecting Najib might possibly do something that's not good for Islam, and hence her prayers for him?

I wonder whether that could be considered as a subtle indirect criticism of Najib?

Wah, 1st time politicking for Toh Puan Siti Hasmah, and from her recounting, in Mecca too!

Our Education "Leaders"

Malaysiakini - Our education system rotten to the core

even Vietnam ranking at OECD average was better than Malaysia

Pemerhati: Around 1957, Malaya’s school education standards were comparable, if not better than Singapore’s as many Malayans with a grade 3 certificate, who could not get jobs as teachers in Malaya, became teachers in Singapore.

A CNN programme revealed that a comparative study of the various education systems showed that Finnish students produced very good results in various subjects when compared to students in United States and other countries.

This was attributed mainly to the fact that in Finland, the very best graduates were recruited to become teachers. Unfortunately in Malaysia, that is not the case.

After May 13, 1969 and especially after Dr Mahathir Mohamad became PM, the standards plunged because the main criteria for selection of teachers and other public servants were race and religion.

Now the whole system is rotten to the core and a lot of money is wasted on half-past-six teachers who are not only incompetent but also do very little work.

you have been a great Education Minister Datuk
I hope to emulate you

I'm sure you will, my dear boy

The above two had been Malaysia's most prominent Education Ministers.

Wikipedia informs us, firstly of Ops Lalang in 1987 when Anwar Ibrahim was Education Minister: The immediate cause, however, was the government appointment of teachers to Chinese schools.

Concerns were raised by the Opposition over the Ministry of Education's decision to appoint some 100 senior assistants and supervisors to vernacular Chinese schools (Chinese-medium primary schools that belong to the local Chinese communities) for which the government provides funding and personnel and sets the school curriculum. 

It was learnt that those appointed were Chinese who were not Chinese-educated, implying that students and parents might be forced to use English or Malay to communicate with the school personnel. 

Chinese educationalist groups contended that the move would limit the usage of Chinese in the schools.

Secondly: During his tenure as Education Minister, Anwar introduced numerous pro-Malay policies in the national school curriculum. 

One of his major changes was to rename the national language from Bahasa Malaysia to Bahasa Melayu. 

Non-Malays criticised this move as it would cause the younger generation to be detached from the national language, since they would attribute it to being something that belongs to the Malays and not to Malaysians.

hehehe, I'm now the Education Minister,
which means I can emulate you

hehehe oso, hehehe again, it's gonna be fun

Malaysians who care for Rohingya

Some Malaysians (not bloody politicians) have decided to take humanitarian actions into their own hands on the plight of the Rohingya.

One of them is 22-year old law student Tan Zhong Yan who, the Malay Mail online reported,started his petition on Change.org on Thursday after reading news that Malaysia and Indonesia were turning boatful of refugees away.

Tan has been the good bloke who was so pissed with the authorities' and opposition's inaction that he was moved to write the article entitled “Refugees are human beings!“, also published by the Malay Mail Online.

Tan lamented to the Malay Mail Online yesterday: “But I felt that is not enough. I should do more. That’s how I started the online petition yesterday (Thursday) hoping to raise awareness and put some pressure on the governments and Asean, if that is going to work.

“I really don’t know if it will work and change anything but at least by doing that I can tell myself that I have tried my best.”

Tan’s petition is addressed to Putrajaya, Asean secretary-general Le Luong Minh and all Asean member states.

Another 2 conscionable and humanitarian Malaysians are Debbie YM Loh and Philip Teh who posted another petition on thepetitionsite.com.

Malay Mail Online reported that their petition entitled “Rescue the Rohingyans” lists four key demands, including a call on the administration to provide the migrants with “shelter, adequate medical care, clothing, food and water”.

Debbie Loh and Philip Teh said in the petition: “We implore the Malaysian government to declare its commitment to the rescue and care of future refugees and vulnerable migrants who will enter Malaysia’s maritime borders by reforming local laws and strengthening foreign diplomacy for their sakes.”

Good on you, mateys. You've admirably shown that some Malaysians do care.

Malaysia's ONLY decent humanitarian politician?

The Malay Mail Online - Malaysia must act to save Rohingya refugees, former foreign minister says

KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 — As Malaysia continues to shun thousands of refugees stranded at sea, a former foreign minister has urged today for swift action from Putrajaya to save them from imminent death.

According to Kota Tinggi MP Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar, silence is no longer an option and Putrajaya must respond to calls from the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UNSG) and the international community to step in and aid the refugees.

“Act now to save d Rohingya boat people fm drowning. Malaysian leaders pls respnd to d call of UNSG n intl comnty. Silence is nt an optn,” Syed Hamid tweeted today on his account @syedhamidalbar.

Two days ago, Syed Hamid had pleaded with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to let the Rohingyans land.

“Mohon @NajibRazak @HishammuddinH2O @Zahid_Hamidi utk benarkn 350 pax + 80 chldrn boat to land, avoid drowning. I call in d name of humanity,” Syed Hamid tweeted, tagging the accounts of Najib, Hishammuddin and Zahid.

I have never liked Botak, but strangely, he is today the only decent humanitarian politician in Malaysia in calling on Malaysian authorities to help the Rohingya hanging on perilously in dodgy boats around our western seas. Maybe his previous cabinet position as foreign minister might have shaped his attitude into one with a global humane view.

I appreciate it'll be a near insurmountable challenge for Malaysia ALONE to provide relief to the boat people. For a start we don't even know what sort of "refugees" they are, from oppression or from personal economic deprivation.

The latter would be those jumping the immigration (not refugee) queue.

Australia has been a bit tired of such opportunistic "economic" refugees who, just an example of Tamil Sri Lankans, choose to sail 3,600 miles (5,800 km) across perilous ocean and seas in leaky boats to reach their intended destination, Australia, claiming they were fleeing from Sri Lanka government oppression when their own ancestral homeland Tamilnadu lies a mere 33 miles (50 km) across the Palk Straits, and which would undeniably have provided better security sanctuary for them amidst their own kinfolks with familiar language and culture.

But leaving aside the issue of the bona fides of the so-called refugees, other than Botak, which politician from UMNO, PAS, PKR, DAP, MCA, MIC or Gerakan has called on the government to help the Rohingya boat people?

You must excuse those hardworking politicians as they are far more interested in polemical political, economic and financial issues. The federal opposition is currently behaving like hunting jackals snapping at Najib's heels while the BN pollies are more concerned about their allegiances in the Najib vs Mahathir civil war, thus tap dancing this and that way, wakakaka. Sorry lah, no time for the Rohingya.

By the by, I wonder if any of you remember another earlier wave of boat people to Malaysia in the mid 70's to 80's. Wikipedia informs us that "Deputy Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad announced in June 1979 that legislation would be enacted to empower the police and navy to shoot Vietnamese refugees attempting to land on Malaysia, although Mahathir's superior, Prime Minister Hussein Onn quickly recanted Mahathir's shooting threat."

Wakakaka, assuredly he's the yang to Syed Hamid's yin.

Romanticisation of scoundrels

FMT - Man sentenced to 199 years in prison for child pornography

MEXICO CITY: An American who took pornographic photos of a girl with her mother’s consent, was sentenced to 199 years in prison, authorities in Mexico said Wednesday.

The man had been arrested in Manzanillo, in the western state of Colima for “taking images of a minor girl which he then sent to other countries on the Internet,” the prosecutor’s office said. It did not name the man, or provide the girl’s age.

In addition to his prison term, he was fined the equivalent of $96,000.

The mother was convicted as well for allowing the images to be taken of a minor since the girl was under the age of 18.

Mexico’s special prosecutor’s office for crimes against women and people trafficking, in the past five years has documented more than 4,000 pages of made-in-Mexico child pornography.

Malaysia doesn't have such a law to punish child pornography, so the police tells us.

Not only that, statutory rapes in some 'bright future' cases aren't statutory rapes but consensual sex. Read Malaysiakini's Unicef disturbed by Sibu child rape acquittal and my post 2nd chance as "boys will be boys".

In very-boleh Malaysia lil' 13-year old girls must have been considered so mature and intelligent that they could be relied upon to make very mature and considered decisions to have sex with an adult.

And perhaps that's the precise reason why a Year One lil' girl, admittedly not yet 13 year old (but why quibble over such triviality when it's obvious it's her bloody fault, ain't it), was treated like a common thief by her amazing teacher, just because she allegedly took her classmate eraser.

See The Star Online's Year One girl treated like a common thief which reported:

Does she deserve it?: The girl showing her bruised wrists (also closeup) after a teacher allegedly tied up her hands over a small matter at school.

GEORGE TOWN: A Year One pupil has claimed a teacher tied up her hands for allegedly taking an eraser belonging to a classmate at a school in Sungai Nibong here.

Furious at seeing the reddish marks on the girl’s wrists, her mother, known only as Chan, decided to lodge a police report over the matter.

Chan, 25, said her daughter was not even allowed to untie herself when she wanted to go to the toilet at the primary school.

“I noticed the injury when I went to pick her up at 6.40pm on Monday. She managed to free herself before school ended.

“Is the offence so serious that my daughter had to be tied up? Most children are mischievous but that does not mean they had to be punished in such a way,” she said when met outside the school yesterday.

Well, the lil' sweetie sure as hell didn't enjoy a 2nd chance unlike (statutory) rapist Noor Afizal Azizan or, if the public had not protested against the outrageous suggestion by one MARA councillor, convicted child pornography collector Nur Fitri Azmeer Nordin.

For more of these two sleazy slimy slugs, see my post 2nd chance as "boys will be boys".

As for the so-called f* maths wonder, read Malaysiakini's article by Rom Naim titled Genius Boy Scholar? Rom scoffed at the nonsense of this so-called genius when he wrote:

Among the unfortunate aspects of media coverage of the convicted felon, Nur Fitri Azmeer Nordin, have been the careless, even erroneous, descriptions of this child pornographer and possible paedophile.

The word ‘scholar’ in most discussions would invariably denote someone wise, an intellectual, an academic, a sage even.

Certainly, it would connote someone respectable and deserving of our respect.

How Nur Fitri Azmeer Nordin could be described as a ‘scholar’ - as he continues to be described in a number of news reports - beggars belief.

He was a third year university undergraduate when he was arrested, for heaven’s sake, so let’s please not elevate his status.

He has also been described as a ‘genius’, which, again, when you look at his actual achievements, is quite far off the mark.

Apparently he is quite good in maths and took part in this international math competition, but ended up very low down the table, with quite non-genius scores.

That’s about it. Nothing remarkable, nothing indicating a genius.

Then there’s yet another annoying description of this man that is way off the mark and seems to imply that he was just being naughty by making, downloading, and possibly distributing all that child porn.

And that is that he is a ‘boy’. A boy? He’s a 23 year-old man, for crying out loud. He’s eligible to vote, he could have a driving licence.

Indeed, he could legally go into any cinema in England and watch an X-rated movie. Which he probably did more than once.

The romanticisation of this person must stop. He’s a felon, convicted for the heinous acts of making, collecting and, I’m sure, distributing child pornography.

And, thus far, there have been no reports of him indicating his remorse for what he has done. Neither has there been any sign of regret - either from him or his sponsors.

Indeed, as if to illustrate their ignorance of what his crime really is, members of the institution/organisation sponsoring him, Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara), almost immediately came to his defence.

One - now infamous - Mara council member likened Nur Fitri to “a kid who played truant.”

“Played truant”? “A kid’’? This sounds exactly like the pathetic, idiotic whining of someone who evidently had not done his research.

He's f* lucky the Brits gave him only 5 years for his shameful crime when he deserves the 199 years that Mexican authorities gave to his fellow sleaze.

The term 'romanticisation of scoundrels' should also apply to the outrageous pronouncement of attributing a 'bright future' to (statutory) rapist Noor Afizal Azizan to ameliorate his very serious criminal act.

Prisoners' right to vote in elections

TMI - Bersih welcomes Anwar’s test case against EC, says prisoners have right to vote

Malaysians serving time in jail, who are registered voters, must be given the right to exercise their vote in an election, said the head of electoral reform group Bersih 2.0, following a test case filed by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

He is suing the Election Commission (EC) for denying him this right in the recent Permatang Pauh by-election.

Bersih chairman Maria Chin Abdullah said countries such as Nepal and Afghanistan allowed prisoners to cast their ballots.

Has Bersih raised this issue, that of prisoners to be allowed to vote, only because of Anwar Ibrahim? We need to remind ourselves that prior to Anwar's imprisonment for Sodomy II, neither Bersih nor PKR even mentioned anything about prisoners votng.

While it's known I am not exactly an admirer of Anwar Ibrahim, au contraire, wakakaka, I am not questioning Bersih and PKR promoting his right to vote BUT more about them being remiss (prior to the imprisonment of Anwar) about prisoners' general right to vote in elections.

Okay, I can understand PKR's current motivation to campaign for Anwar to be able to vote but I wonder about Bersih raising this only now.

Is Bersih an organization to promote only Anwar's right? I don't believe that Bersih has such a narrow single-issue mission like PKR. Let's review what Bersih has been and is about.

Bersih seeks to reform the current Malaysian electoral system to ensure free, clean and fair elections, thus it should be working for all and not just one person's right.

If it had raised prisoners' right to vote prior to Anwar becoming a prisoner, it would have far greater credibility as a independent non-politically aligned NGO.

And for god's sake, why use Afghanistan and Nepal as examples? Is Bersih so desperate that it grabs at the first example it could think of, even a dysfunctioning one?

Look, Malaysia with all its EC-warts and all, is still a far far more democratic country than dysfunctional Afghanistan with its stable of warlords, a typical feature in most client states of the US like Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and in much earlier times, Taiwan, South Korea, Philippines, South Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, etc. Thank goodness most of those client states in Asia today have evolved away from being US client states to become shining examples of democracy.

But Afghanistan? Alamak and bloody fuyoh, I still can't get over Bersih's lamentable choice of a pathetic example.

Hey, why not refer to Canada, a by far more shining example of Westminster parliamentary democracy than Nepal or dysfunctional Afghanistan?

In fact,  Canada allows its prisoners to vote, assuming all other eligibilities like age, registration to be on electoral roll, etc, are fulfilled.

Having mentioned Canada let's examine other equally good examples of Westminster parliamentary democracies like the UK, New Zealand, Australia and India. Again, in each case, let us assume all other eligibilities like age, registration to be on electoral roll, etc, are fulfilled.

UK, the birthplace of Westminster parliamentary democracy, does NOT permit its prisoners to vote.

New Zealand like the UK does NOT permit prisoners to vote.

What about Australia then?

It depends on the prisoner's term of sentence. If the sentence is less than 3 years, the prisoner will be allowed to vote, but if the sentence is 3 years or more, then he/she will NOT be allowed. And to remind ourselves, Anwar has received a sentence of 5 years.

Coming to India, a Commonwealth country which our judiciary used to refer to its high court rulings as stare decisis, its Electoral Commission of India has declared that prisoners are NOT allowed to vote.

Okay then, let's move outside the Commonwealth system and look at the USA. The complexity associated with the example of the USA is that each of its 50 states has its own set of rules. But despite that, we can accurately say 48 out of 50 states do NOT permit their prisoners to vote, with Maine and Vermont being the exceptions.

Voting becomes a privilege rather than a right for US prisoners in most states, ranging from the harshest (complete denial of voting rights even after having served the terms of their sentences) to somewhere in between very harsh denial of voting rights to the rights enjoyed by prisoners in Maine and Vermont.

For example, in states like Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada, Tennessee, Virginia and Wyoming, prisoners even after having served their sentences may be denied voting rights depending on the crime committed, time elapsed since completion of sentence, and other variables.

So, re-looking at the more familiar electoral systems of the above mentioned Commonwealth countries, other than Canada, Anwar Ibrahim with his 5 years sentence would NOT have been allowed to vote in the UK, New Zealand, Australia (ta'bolih lah with 5 years imprisonment) and India, if he was resident or citizen there.

Isn't that food for thought? And doesn't it show that Malaysia is not uniquely harsh with its prisoners including the great Anwar Ibrahim on voting rights?

I respect, appreciate and admire the sterling work of Bersih especially when Ambiga Sreenevasan was in charge but of late I'm having some qualms and indeed some second thoughts on the direction of its public statements and actions, not unlike my recent qualms and second thoughts about some personalities in DAP.

I admit I wasn't at all impressed with Maria Chin Abdullah's publicly voiced support for Major Zaidi as if the former air force officer was a hero when in fact and by law he had violated Armed Forces Council Instructions by making unauthorized statements to the press.

While Bersih's aim is to make elections a free, clean and fair process, it must not unwittingly condone violations of the law including military rules, regulations and instructions, which collectively is an intrinsic part of Malaysian Law.

Indeed, for more on this, Maria Chin Abdullah should go ask Yingluck Shinawatra.

I became PM by a landslide in a democratic election

I am no longer a PM by a landslide caused by a military decision

Why Dr M dislikes Najib?

You know, I may be a DAP supporter (though this is not set in concrete, wakakaka) but I still, used to anyway, admire Dr M for his achievements and bold leadership among the 3rd World.

aisehman, tengok lah, ni 1MDB

aisehman, tengok lah, ni Perwaja, Bank Bumi, MAS, Konsortium Perkapalan Berhad and Forex, etc

But alas, of late I'm getting a bit fed up with his destructive diatribes, many times against the Chinese Malaysians, and now against his own party No 1 leaders, both AAB and Ah Jib Gor.

He has several notches on his political handgun, in the downfall of at least 2 PM (and UMNO Presidents) in Tunku and AAB, and the marginalization of two 3 potentials, to wit, Ku Li, Musa Hitam and Manmanlai though the last brought it upon himself with his failed plan to expedite Dr M's departure.

Will Najib be his 3rd PM (and UMNO President) to fall?

tunku, aab
&
musa, ku li, ghafar baba, manmanlai

ah jib gor? wakakaka

I fail to see anything altruistic in his current actions, ranging from incessantly condemning 1MDB (it'd be good if he gives us just facts for us to decide) to at-times wanting to talk to a convicted killer now hiding in Australia.

It's very hard to pin down why he is mad at Ah Jib Gor, if we remember he was the very one who "sponsored" or "anointed" the son of Razak to replace his previous archfoe and also "anointed" AAB (as he had once "anointed" Mr Manmanlai, wakakaka).

Perhaps being "anointed" by him is like being handed the poison chalice, wakakaka. In the olden days of China and Korea, once the Emperor (King) wanted a disliked royal or noble to "go", he'd be handed a cup of nice aromatic "flavoured" wine - yamseng, my Lord and goodbye.

Errr ... your Majesty, I'm from Malaysia and we don't take alcohol

I respectfully decline

wakakaka

I know the reason for his hatred for and enmity towards AAB (it's a two-letter word, wakakaka) but I can't say the same with regards to his animosity and hostility towards the current PM.

I suppose we could speculate the following, whether it has been Ah Jib Gor's:

• lack of support for Mukhriz to get an UMNO party VP position, which has now made it difficult for the young laddie to climb to the very top of the UMNO leadership echelon and subsequently PM of Malaysia?
• lack of 'playing hardball' with Singapore, in his refusal to carry on the crooked bridge project and allowing Sing to develop the KTM land?
  
  Actually it was AAB who wisely abandoned the crooked project but Najib refuses to re-commence the expensive construction. 
  
  One of his mouthpieces revealed Dr M's 'chip on his shoulder' when criticizing Ah Jib Gor for the abandonment of the bridge project when he (the mouthpiece) stated that the PM had surrendered national "dignity" to Sing. Dr M himself said "We should not kowtow to Singapore".
  
  Really, can Malaysians afford Dr M's very expensive idea of asserting national "dignity" by shafting the crooked bridge down the Sing's behind?
• friendliness towards the Chinese? TMI reported Dr M blasting Ah Jib Gor as follows:
  
  Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s "1Malaysia" slogan is just a duplicate of the opposition’s "Malaysian Malaysia" catchphrase, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today, in his latest attack against the embattled prime minister.
  
  He said Najib had emulated the opposition in his attempts to woo the Chinese and Indians during his first few years in office by dialling back on pro-Bumiputera policies.
  
  “He reduced places for Bumis in the government universities even though in the numerous private universities and twinned colleges, Bumis make up less than 10%,” Dr Mahathir wrote in his latest blog post. Bumiputera contractors and small businesses no longer had government favour. Most had to stop their businesses."“Without saying so in so many words, he had adopted the Malaysian Malaysia slogan of the opposition, only calling it One Malaysia instead.”
  
  Is it true?
  
  Well, Wikipedia stated that prior to May 13, Mahathir had predicted the outbreak of racial hostility. Now, outside parliament, he openly criticised the government, sending a letter to Abdul Rahman in which the prime minister was criticised for failing to uphold Malay interests.
  
  If so, then Ah Jib Gor is like Tunku Abdul Rahman who was similarly accused by Dr M of being too friendly to the Chinese and for failing to look after Malay 'interests'.
  
  RPK wrote: In an interview with K Das, the Tunku said, why did they have to start a race riot just to get rid of him? If they wanted him to go all they needed to do was to tell him so and he would have gladly resigned.
  
  With tears streaming down his face he said why did Allah curse him by allowing him to live to see Malayans killing Malayans during May 13. He would rather have died than live to see the tragedy of May 13. Choking with emotion the Tunku told K Das that he could not continue with the interview.
  
  The Tunku died in 1990 at the age of 87 without rejoining Umno, which he said was not the original Umno but Dr Mahathir’s Umno. How ironical that the Father of Independence died outside Umno and in bitter opposition to the party that he no longer regarded as legitimate.
  
  The Tunku died broke having spent all his wealth on the party. He was so broke that he could not even pay the income tax that he owed. His critics say that he gambled all his money away. Even if that is really the reason why, he had so many Chinese friends and even made Chinese like Lim Goh Tong into billionaires. So they could have easily given the Tunku millions if he needed the money.
  
  But that was not what people like the Tunku are made of. And while he was ousted because he was too friendly with the Chinese and gave the Chinese too much face and was not Malay enough, the Tunku was one Prime Minister who was ‘the happy Prime Minister’ and who wanted to also see all Malaysians happy as well and who cried every time he talked about May 13.
  
  I have never known any other Umno man cry over the tragedy of May 13 other than warn the Chinese that if they talk too much then expect May 13 Version 2.
  
  Where have the Malays like the Tunku disappeared to? Sigh…
  
  Also, K. Siladass who joined the DAP after coming across from the Labour Party wrote the following in 2013 (extracts): 
  
  Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, former prime minister had indeed accused Malaysia’s first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman of having done something not permitted by law by granting citizenship to one million foreign immigrants.
  
  Historians of repute will be quick to confirm how inhuman, unsound, flippant and exasperating is Mahathir’s allegation.
  
  The granting of citizenship to “foreign immigrants” was not the work of one man – Tunku alone. Besides, it is wicked of Mahathir to claim that one million or so residents in Malaya were purely immigrants ignoring the fact that they had lived in this country for generations; and had been an integral part in the resistance against the Japanese occupation and in the fight against communism. Those one million or so “foreign immigrants” as Mahathir arrogantly and wickedly describes are the ones who saw the economic progress of this country from the time the East India Company arrived here, under constant perilous conditions.
• 
  It is indeed shocking that Mahathir had not acquainted himself of the negotiations among the Alliance Partners consisting of UMNO-MCA-MIC, the predecessor of Barisan Nasional (BN) which played a prominent role in achieving Merdeka. Aside this, it is also shocking that a man of Mahathir’s stature would descend to cheap politics in hurling condemnation against the late Tunku, who was indeed instrumental in ensuring that the radicals from all sides did not scuttle the movement towards Merdeka by their emotional actions.
  
  These historical facts are there for the world to see; that the partners in Alliance were concerned as to the type of policy that had to be adopted and implemented after Merdeka in relation to education, citizenship and Malay special privileges. These were classified as sensitive issues and it is fair to infer that there must have been a lot of debate over them.
  
  

I would put the genesis of Dr M's general indisposition towards the Chinese (he of course has his exceptions to this) in his earlier days, with some saying during his university days in Sing, which then saw him arrogantly saying he didn't need Chinese voters to support him in the 1969 general election, in which he lost his seat to PAS' Yusof Rawa in the federal constituency of Kota Setar Selatan. 

It was said he has never forgiven the Chinese for making him lose his seat, even though he was the one who said he didn't need their votes, wakakaka, though he seems to have forgotten they saved his 6 o'clock in 1999. Memang Melayu mudah lupa.

Anyway, Zainal Abidin wrote The Man in the Ivory Tower in Malaysia-Today that extracts): 

TDM’s remark that “Malays only voted for BN because they feared Anwar would appoint Kit Siang as DPM” is an affront to the intelligence and thinking skills of Malays. By saying that, TDM is acknowledging his failure to change the mindset and education system of the nation when he was the PM. If TDM believes his policies are gold-plated ones, surely he would concede that Malays in this country have matured in their analytical abilities and moral standing. [...]

With due respect, TDM must see that in this entire planet, he is the one and only political leader who has consistently blasted his successor and his successor’s successor – both of whom he handpicked. No other political leader has sunk to such a low.

Apart from being a naysayer, TDM has also turned soothsayer foretelling the loss of BN in GE14 should Najib still leads BN. Controversies and the process of election are two different matters. TDM, for all the years of political experience he has amassed, must realize the performance of a political party in any election depends on many factors. His statement is a clear indication that he wants Najib out at all costs and will sing any tune to any band as long as the lyrics of the song wax lyrical about his never-ending refrain of ousting Najib.

I recommend you read Zainal Abidin's The Man in the Ivory Tower in full.

So this is the man Siti Nurhaliza loves and respects.