On Israel intending to annex Palestine

The genius of the UN's resolution on Israeli settlements

by Bob Carr


In 1967 Israel won control of the West Bank as a result of its success in the Six Day War. Its then prime minister Levi Eshkol​ wanted to consolidate control by planting settlements on the occupied territory. He asked Theodor Meron​, his chief legal adviser, whether this would be legal.

how Israel expands since 1948, with the support of US military aid & intelligence & funding 

No, said Meron. The Geneva Convention says no nation may settle its own population on land it wins in war.


Meron is alive today, an eminent international jurist. He says he was right then and is right now.


All those settlements, all illegal.


I recall a conversation about 12 years ago with an Australian business leader, just back from Israel. He held out some hope for a negotiated peace.


"But what about the settlements?" I asked. At the time I was premier and patron of Labor Friends of Israel.


Next time I looked settlement population numbers had soared another 150,000, something which left me with the distinct impression of having been conned – no, having been lied to – by the Israel lobby. Sure we subscribe to a two-state solution, they insist, but while you're looking the other way we're spreading settlements as fast as possible to render it impossible."Bob, don't worry. If the Israeli people get a peace deal they will withdraw the settlements."


Both Labor and Likud governments have funded settlers, many religious extremists, and gifted them the best land.


Meanwhile, Palestinians are denied building approval for homes, even a chicken coop. If in Area C they throw up a granny flat it's promptly demolished by army bulldozers.

Israel and its Nazi-inspired lebensraum 

Nazi lebensraum

neo Nazi lebensraum 

If Israel is really open to giving the land back in a peace deal why allow settlements in the first place? That's the question, if I'd been sharper, I would have put to my interlocutor. And settlements not just along the border. Thirty-five per cent are now being approved deep in the territory everyone sees as an ultimate Palestinian state.


This is the essence of the boiling US frustration that resulted in America refusing to veto Friday's Security Council resolution.


John Kerry told the Senate Foreign Relations committee that within days of a peace deal in 2014 along came an announcement of 700 new settlement units. "Poof!" he said, the deal got blown sky high. Barack Obama's envoy and former US ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk​, confirms settlements destroyed the deal. Obama has said the same. Hence this parting gift by the outgoing President to a headstrong Israel.


Historically the aged and corrupt Palestinian leadership has to bear some responsibility. They've let their people down.


But right now the Palestinians are offering a demilitarised state – a Palestine without an army – and Western peacekeepers within their borders. It is hard to imagine more explicit security guarantees.


Sixty per cent of the Netanyahu cabinet – the most chauvinist in the nation's history – are on record opposing a two-state solution. In other words, they want an indefinite occupation. Settlements are vital to their design – backed by demolitions and land confiscation, nothing less than a creeping annexation.


That means a majority Arab population – 83 per cent of the West Bank – being ruled by a racial and religious minority of 17 per cent.

includes stupid Christians who are heretics like Jesus 

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz referred this year to "the evil winds of racism and nationalism sweeping Israel". General Yair Golan​, Israel's No.2 soldier, said the tone of the nation reminds him of Europe between the wars, and he was talking at a Holocaust commemoration.


Two former prime ministers, Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert,​ have warned their country risks getting saddled with apartheid, proving again that searching argument and criticism are among Israel's most resilient features.


But often nations under stress end up adopting the policies their enemies would most want. In this spirit Benjamin Netanyahu is sleepwalking to a nasty denouement: a Greater Israel, with an Arab population living under different laws, above all, with no right to vote. Israeli Labor policies are not a jot different.


The Security Council resolution demands that the world now treat settlements differently from the rest of Israel.


Europe was already mandating identification of products from settlement industries, giving consumers in Ireland or France the opportunity to decide whether they want to support illegal activities when they chose a product on a supermarket shelf.


The resolution has undermined the nationalist strategy that says Israel can lose Europe but enjoy new partnerships in Asia and Africa and with Vladimir Putin. In the end not only France and Britain but Russia and China voted to brand settlements flagrantly illegal. Netanyahu is left vowing retaliation against plucky little New Zealand and Senegal.


Donald Trump can tweet and bluster. But the resolution stands as international law, to be taken seriously by cabinets and bind the International Criminal Court. After years of provocation by Israeli hawks that's the genius of what Obama and Kerry have pulled off.

If Israel responds with more settlements, or annexes slabs of the West Bank, then UN agencies and member states have to decide how to react.


Leave that "how" to another day.


In the meantime consider the following motion, an elegantly simple one: "Given that Israel continues to defy the 2016 resolution of the Security Council and spreads settlements so that a Palestinian state is no longer possible we move that every resident of Greater Israel be afforded equal rights. This includes the right to vote in national elections."


How would you vote on that motion – in a parish council or church synod? At a union or party conference? A council meeting? On a campus?


And what happens next?

Be an honourable team player

My letter to Malaysiakini (see below) following advice by visitor 'French Connection' has been published today. It is an improved version of my recent post Team players who don't play:

********

My topic today pertains to the recent tiffs between the Penang state government and Dr Lim Mah Hui and Roger Teoh respectively. It is about team, teamwork and team leader.

I employ ‘team’ in a very general sense, without any qualification on its size or level. In a team, whether military or civilian, every member with his or her own speciality or specialisation and strength (experience, track record, ideas, etc) works together under the guidance, motivation and drive of the team leader to achieve an agreed or assigned objective.

Yes, every assigned team has a leader who not only has been given the authority to direct, instruct and control the team but also to account for the responsibility for the completion of the task whether successfully or unsuccessfully implemented.

Invariably, in any team there will be differences in opinions, ideas, proposals, etc, but having taken everyone’s input into consideration, the team leader and him/her alone, makes the final decision.

Now, this is the important part which some people who don’t understand his or her position in the team, basically someone who is not a good team member or team player, always fail to observe.

When the tam leader makes a decision, EVERYONE in the team is required to support it even though the final decision may be quite the opposite to what he or she as a team member has in mind or had proposed earlier.

Some of those who aren’t team players will at best sulk, grumble, complain or as our bahasa would put it, merajuk or in some cases, worse, sabotage the implementation of the decision or badmouth the team leader to outsiders.

I suspect such people are so conceited as to take umbrage that their recommendations were not taken on board, or so arrogant that their recommendations MUST be accepted whatever the circumstances may be, or are just childish, immature and behaving like spoilt brats or worse, traitors to their respective team and assignments.

Remember an ex-air force bloke who refused to adhere to Armed Forces Council Instructions (AFCI) even though it is the duty of every personnel in the Malaysian military to do so?

And who or what, by the way, is the Armed Forces Council?

We are informed by Wikipedia that:

The Malaysian Armed Forces Council is a Malaysian military body established under Article 137 of the constitution of Malaysia and is the constitutional body responsible (under the general authority of the Agong as supreme commander) for the command, discipline and administration of Malaysia’s armed forces.

It is composed of the following members;

• The defence minister.

• One member appointed by the Conference of Rulers.

• The chief of the Armed Forces Staff, who is appointed by the Agong of Malaysia.

• The secretary-general of Defence.

• Two senior staff officers of the federation armed forces, appointed by the Agong.

• A senior officer of the federation navy, appointed by the Agong.

• A senior officer of the federation air force, appointed by the Agong.

• Up to two other members, appointed by the Agong.

Should you be surprised when someone who bucked against the instruction virtually issued by the Supreme Commander of the Malaysian Armed Forces, basically His Majesty the Agong, would be asked to leave the air force if he couldn’t be a team player?

Tough job

The team leader always has a tough job because in the final outcome he or she bears the responsibility of any failure.

In a military team or group such as a platoon or up to a division or even an army group of umpteen divisions as we heard existed in World War II, the leader must take responsibility for any failures.

People like Erwin Rommel, Vo Nguyen Giap, George Patton, William Westmoreland, Peng Dehuai (Chinese Commander in Korean War), Georgy Zhukov (Russian commander against German forces invading Russia), and Heinz Guderian, had either benefitted from their successes or paid for losses under their command.

We have read of Rommel suffering the ultimate loss.

And in a political team at the highest level, the cabinet members are the team members while the PM is the team leader. After consulting the ministers in the cabinet, the PM makes the final decision and either prospers or falls by those decisions.

On a slightly lower level (at the state), the team members would be exco members while the chief minister (CM) or in a sultanate state, the menteri besar (MB) is the team leader.

Thus in Selangor as an example, MB Azmin Ali makes the decisions and the state exco members are required by etiquette to support his decisions, or at best resign if they cannot agree with the MB’s decision, and except in corruption cases with evidence, preferably like gentlemen (or ladies) without badmouthing the MB’s decisions which they might have disagreed with.

In a loose sense it can said that voters appoint the MB and CM as respective team leaders of their states, and naturally if they don’t perform satisfactorily because of incorrect decisions and policies, they would have to answer for those wrong decisions by at least the next election as had happened to, for example, Wong Pow Nee (Penang 1969), Koh Tsu Koon (Penang 2008), Tajol Rosli Ghazali (Perak 2008), Khir Toyo (Selangor 2008) and Harris Salleh (Sabah 1986).

I come finally to my point, that of Dr Lim Mah Hui and Roger Teoh. Both were in a sense advisers to the Penang government, with the latter being formerly a member of the DAP.

Alas, both could not accept that on state matters, the CM and his exco, being voted by Penangites to be the state’s CEO and executive team, have to answer to the voters and thus have the commensurate authority to make decisions.

Now, those state decisions, whether on the state heritage matters or Transport Master Plan, might not be to Dr Lim and Roger’s liking, or that each felt the CM and his exco members had not taken on board their inputs, but they should understand the CM and team have the commensurate authority to make decisions because in the final accounting, it will be the CM and team (and not Dr Lim or Teoh) who have to bear the responsibilities and which may see them being voted out in the next election.

Pressing and practical considerations

The CM and team might also have other pressing and practical considerations to factor into their decisions which Dr Lim and Roger Teoh, both being not voted into the executive team, need not have to answer for nor account to Penangites.

Are Dr Lim and Roger Teoh team players?

Should they then respectively write to Unesco and local media when the state team via the CM made decisions which did not accept their inputs or take on board their pet recommendations?

While it may be human, indeed quite natural to feel somewhat slighted or hurt when our pet proposals have not been used, should we then retaliate by complaining to the outside world?

There is a management saying that ‘With authority comes responsibility’ and thus ‘With responsibility comes authority’.

Were Dr Lim and Roger Teoh voted in by Penang voters, so much so they want to realise their recommendations one way or another, or alternatively, effectively raze (or politically damage) the state government through revelation of their side of the story?

Forgive me if I say that at times it can be quite annoying that some want ‘authority’ but not the accompanying ‘responsibility’ or even not realising there’s an accountable ‘responsibility’ with that ‘authority’.

Before I conclude, perhaps a word from Michael J Marx, author of ‘Ethics & Risk Management for Christian Coaches’, may be appropriate. He said:

“Decision-making and problem-solving are not the same. To solve a problem, one needs to find a solution. To make a decision, one needs to make a choice.”

That could explain the difference between Dr Lim Mah Hui and Roger Teoh versus the Penang state exco.

But whichever, it will be the team leader who makes the final decisions and team members (at every level) are honour-bound to support that decisions, and be gentlemen enough to respect those decisions without pulling the rug from beneath.

And there is no more authoritative team leader than the person voted in by Penangites.

Team players who don't play

Currently in the federal opposition, a very loose pact between Pribumi (an ultra Malay* political party) and Pakatan Harapan (though no one knows whether PKR is coming or going, but I put my bet on PKR under Azmin Ali 'going' to Pribumi), there exists a very trying issue, that of their PM-designate.

* with leaders like Mahathir who dislikes Chinese, 'I am Malay first' Moody, and pro-Malay ex-EC chief Abdul Rashid (also an ultra Melayu Perkasa VP), Penang Perkasa chief Marzuki Yahya, and former Selangor Perkasa chief Abu Bakar Yahya etc, Pribumi lives up to its name (which signifies its ketuanan Melayu credentials)

When left in the Kingdom of the Blind, DAP has stuck to Wan Azizah as its nominated PM-interim but with Anwar Ibrahim as its real choice (note: Azmin keeping silent on this as he has his OWN interest and ambition to be PM).

But Pribumi in the person of Mahathir doesn't want the loose pact to reveal who will be its PM-designate (because his real choice may probably put either the DAP or the voters off, wakakaka) until it's too late for DAP to say, 'Hey wait a dong dong second, we can't accept that as it'll be merely changing the label on a bottle of rotten rancid raki', wakakaka.

If a pact cannot dare to reveal its PM-designate, it means the pact has something, maybe sinister, to HIDE or even mucho disagreement among itself, so it's unlikely such a pact will last long, but probably long enough for the bloke who says 'surprise!' to marshal 112 frogs under his banner, and then to f**ks with the stupid DAP.

You wanna vote for such a pact?

Anyway, my topic in this post is not so much about the bullshit Mr volte-face untrustworthy Maddy, who thinks Malaysians (bukan Melayu) mudah lupa, is selling.

Much as I personally dislike Anwar I prefer to stick to him as PM-designate (with his wife as interim PM) than to be surprised by Maddy. I bet the choice by the latter will be horrible, Based on more than 2 decades of rotten experience.

My topic today is about team, teamwork and team leader. I employ 'team' in a very general sense, without qualification of its size or level.

In a team, whether military or civilian, every member with his or her own speciality or specialization and strength (experience, track record, ideas, etc) works together under the guidance and motivated drive of the team leader to achieve an agreed or assigned objective.

Invariably there will be differences in opinions, ideas, proposed policies in any team, but having taken everyone's input into consideration, the team leader and him/her alone, makes the final decision.

Now, this is the important part which some people who doesn't understand his or her position in the team, basically someone who is not a good team member or team player, always fail to observe.

When the decision has been made, EVERYONE in the team MUST support it even though the final decision may be quite the opposite to what he or she as a team member has in mind or had proposed earlier.

Some of those who aren't team player will at best merajuk or worse, SABOTAGE the decision.

I suspect such people are so conceited as to take umbrage their recommendations were not taken on board, or so arrogant that their recommendations MUST be accepted, or just childish, immature and behaving like spoilt brats or worse, traitors to their respective teams and their assignments.

Remember an ex air force bloke who refused to adhere to Armed Forces Council Instructions (AFCI)?

And who or what, by the way, is the Armed Forces Council?

We are informed by Wikipedia that:

The Malaysian Armed Forces Council is a Malaysian military body established under Article 137 of the Constitution of Malaysia and is the constitutional body responsible (under the general authority of the King as Supreme Commander) for the command, discipline and administration of Malaysia's armed forces.

It is composed of the following members;

• The Minister of Defence.
• One member appointed by the Conference of Rulers.
• The Chief of the Armed Forces Staff, who is appointed by the King of Malaysia.
• The Secretary General of Defence.
• Two senior staff officers of the federation armed forces, appointed by the King.
• A senior officer of the federation navy, appointed by the King.
• A senior officer of the federation air force, appointed by the King.
• Up to two other members, appointed by the King.

Should you be surprised when someone who bucked against the Supreme Commander of the Malaysian Armed Forces, basically His Majesty the Agong, would be asked to leave the air force if he couldn't be a team player?

The team leader always has a tough job because in the final outcome he or she bears the responsibility of any failure.

In a military team or group such as a platoon up to a division or even (as per WWII size) army group of umpteen divisions, the leader must take responsibility for any failures.

People like Edwin Rommel, Vo Nguyen Giap, George Patton, William Westmoreland, Peng Dehuai (Chinese Commander in Korean War), Georgy Zhukov (Russian Commander against German forces invading Russia), Heinz Guderian, had either benefitted from their successes or paid for losses under their command. Rommel suffered the ultimate loss.

In a political team at the highest level, the cabinet members are the team members while the PM is the team leader. The PM thus makes the final decision and either prospers or falls by those decisions.

On a slightly lower level (at the state), the team members would be exco members while the CM or MB is the team leader. Thus in Selangor, MB Azmin makes the decisions and exco members are required by etiquette to support him, or at best resign but (except in corruption cases with evidence) preferably like gentlemen (or ladies) without badmouthing Azmin's decisions.

In a loose sense it can said that voters appoint them as team leaders, and if they don't perform, off with their heads by the next election as had happened to, for example, Wong Pow Nee (Penang 1969), Koh Tsu Koon (Penang 2008), Tajol Rosli Ghazali (Perak 2008), Khir Toyo (Selangor 2008) and Harris Salleh (Sabah 1986).

I come finally to my point, that of Dr Lim Mah Hui and Roger Teoh. Both were in a sense advisors to the Penang government, with the latter even a member of the DAP.

Both could not accept that the CM, being voted by Penangites as the state's CEO, has to answer to the voters and thus has to make decisions which might not be to Dr Lim and Roger's liking, but which took in other pressing considerations which Dr Lim and Roger have the luxury of not having to respond to.

Are Dr Lim and Roger Teoh team players?

Should they then write to UNESCO and local media respectively when decisions had been made which did not accept their inputs? Were they voted in by Penang voters?

There is a saying that 'With authority comes responsibility'. 

It's annoying some want 'authority' but not the accompanying 'responsibility' or even not realizing there's an accountable 'responsibility' with that 'authority'.

Malaysia where higher is lower, and vice versa

MM Online - Non-Malays more accepting of child rape, says deputy home minister:

KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 — Non-Malays are likely to be more accepting of statutory rape, Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar told Parliament today, in reply to a question on the low incidence of reported cases of sexual violations among Malaysia’s minorities.

The deputy home minister appeared to suggest that the lower level of tolerance among the country’s largest community for sexual predators who prey on minors is a contributing factor to the high number of cases involving Malays.

“This doesn't mean the cases mostly involve Malays. Because Malays are culturally more sensitive about its youth so there are more police reports about it.

“Non-Malays are maybe more accepting about it so the margin (is lower),” Wan Junaidi said in reply to Setiu Barisan Nasional MP Che Mohamad Zulkifly Jusoh during Question Time.

The Santubong MP said that in 2012, there were 1,550 reported incidents of statutory rape, with Malays taking the top spot at 48 per cent, followed by the Chinese at 5 per cent and Indians at 3 per cent.

BADROL Zamanuddin (R) sentenced to 16 years jail and six strokes of rotan while Zainal Zamanuddin (L) sentenced to 40 years jail are escorted by the police at the Sessions Court, Kampar, Feb 19. - Utusanpix.

From Utusan: A 53-year-old auxiliary constable was jailed for 40 years by the Sessions Court here Thursday on three counts of incest involving two of his daughters while his 39-year-old brother, a security guard, was jailed for 16 years and ordered to be given six strokes of the rotan for incest involving another daughter.The auxiliary constable pleaded guilty to two charges of incest involving his 21-year-old daughter and another charge of incest involving his 12-year-old daughter while his brother, a bachelor, pleaded guilty to incest involving his niece when she was 12 and again when she was 13.

On the basis of his bizarre conclusion, non-Malays are more likely to be accepting of incest, because the Malays have been the ones having several reported cases of incest.

Additionally, non-Malays are more likely to suffer from mass hysteria because the Malays have been the ones having reported several such cases.

Non-Malays are more pious too because Malays are reported as pious, according to the bizarre logic of Wan Junaidi, who somehow has become deputy Home Minister when he is the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment.

Has he been demoted into Home Affairs? With his bizarre logic, one shouldn't be surprised.

But worst of all, and we know of it, non-Malays sometimes escaped charges of statutory rapes because they married their underage victims.

Etc etc etc.

extracts from the book:

Here is one of those weird Malaysia facts or weird things in Malaysia which many Malaysians still couldn’t comprehend. Do you know that the outbreak of mass hysteria or epidermic hysteria only or rather mostly happens to perempuan Melayu (Malay girls) in Malaysia?

Although this freaky phenomena has happened to other people in other parts of the world, but here in Malaysia, it affects predominately the female Malay community; among Malay lower secondary school girls in schools or those staying in hostels and also Malay factory girls.

Talking about mass or epidermic hysteria in Malaysian secondary schools, my sister who once witnessed this weird and unexplainable occurrence when she was studying in Sekolah Menengah Sri Muar, back in the early 80s.She told me it only affected the Malay girls, and not a single Chinese or Indian school girl. What happened was, all of a sudden, for no obvious reason, one girl started crying hysterically and then staggered and went down on the ground.

That's because non-Malays don't report when they suffer from mass hysteria as they are likely to be more accepting of it.

Don't believe me, ask Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone.

But every year I post John Lennon's 'Happy Christmas (war is over)', a non denominational song for everyone especially Muslims.

Listen to it to understand Lennon's humanity.

Obama's tail sting for Neo Nazis

Star Online - UN SC denounces Israeli settlements in resolution forwarded by Malaysia:

UNITED NATIONS: The United States on Friday allowed the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlements, defying pressure from President-elect Donald Trump, Israel and some U.S. lawmakers who urged Washington to wield its veto.

The resolution, put forward by Malaysia, New Zealand, Venezuela and Senegal a day after Egypt withdrew it under pressure from Israel and Trump, was the first adopted by the council on Israel and the Palestinians in nearly eight years.

An abstention by the United States paved the way for the 15-member international body to approve the resolution, with 14 votes in favour, prompting applause in the council chamber.

"Israel rejects this shameful anti-Israel resolution at the U.N. and will not abide by its terms," the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has encouraged the expansion of Jewish settlements in land captured by Israel in a 1967 war with its Arab neighbours, said in a statement.

The Obama administration's action broke with the long-standing American approach of shielding Israel, Washington's long-time ally that receives more than $3 billion in annual U.S. military aid, from such action. The United States, along with Russia, France, Britain and China, has veto power on the council.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the resolution and Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin called on Israel to "respect international law."

Though nothing will change on the ground where Israeli settlers will continue to rob Palestinian land and build Israeli settlements on those land, it's a symbolic indication that (other than Trump's USA, effective late January 2017) the world is pissed off with Israeli being blatant land robbers.

Indeed, with NZ, Malaysia, Venezuela and Senegal proposing the resolution, it shows the resolution came from 4 continents.

And Netanyahu has the brazen arrogance to call the UNSC resolution against Israeli land stealing as shameful and anti-Israel.

How can a resolution against stealing Palestinian land be shameful? Rather than being anti Israel the UNSC has been pro justice.

But with Trump as President of the USA, Israel will continue to persecute the Palestinians until none of the latter live there as freemen unless they serve as servants to the Israeli overlords.

How can the rest of the world stop Israeli aggression and robbing of Palestinian land a la the Nazi Lebensraum?

I am not advocating the elimination of Israel, neo Nazi as it is, but for it to abide by UNSC Resolution 242, to withdraw to the 1967 borders, with some practical readjustment made by the UNSC for its security, and also for Israel to relinquish Jerusalem to the UN to administer because of that location's difficult-to-solve politics and its international religious significance.

But with pussy-grabbing Trump supporting Israel, we have to wait until another Obama comes along. In the meanwhile we must continue BDS (boycott, divest and sanction Israel).

Jakim and chocolates

MM Online on warning on chocs by JAKIM:

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 23 ― The Islamic Development Department (Jakim) cautioned Muslims today against consuming the Toblerone and Daim chocolates as the two brands were not certified to be halal.

In a posting on its Facebook page this afternoon, the federal Islamic authority’s halal hub division said both the Swiss and Swedish chocolates have not received halal certification from Jakim or other international certified bodies.

“Therefore, be a smart consumer by purchasing products that have the Malaysian halal logo or foreign halal logo that is approved by Jakim,” the posting read.

It is unclear if both brands of chocolates had applied for halal certification previously and had failed or otherwise as Jakim did not explain the reason for this sudden announcement.

Now that we have sorted out the hot-'sausages' affair, JAKIM has anther halal warning for Muslims. They must watch out for Toblerone and Daim.

No, Daim has nothing to do with Maddy's billionaire sidekick. Both brands mentioned by JAKIM are chocolates, respectively from Switzerland and Sweden.

As we know, chocs are ways those Westerners might/may slip into the product the most haram ingredient such as porcine bits and piece, as was once suspected of Cadbury.

Thank goodness for JAKIM.

However, if Toblerone and Daim seek market in Malaysia for their products (and we Malaysians love choc) I would advise those companies to cough up the halal certification fees to JAKIM, obtain the necessary certification, and all will be kow-tim.

Remembering NH Chan

Datuk Chan Nyarn Hoi 

Datuk Chan Nyarn Hoi (better known as NH Chan), a retired Court of Appeal judge, passed away peacefully in Ipoh at the age of 81.

Deepest condolences to his family. A good man has left us for a far better place.

Requiescat in pace, NH Chan.

Remembering C Kayamboo

Deepest condolences to the family of Mejar C. Kayamboo RMAF.

Requiescat in pace

Because I have loved life, I shall have no sorrow to die.

I have sent up my gladness on wings, to be lost in the blue of the sky.

I have run and leaped with the rain, I have taken the wind to my breast.

My cheeks like a drowsy child to the face of the earth I have pressed.

Because I have loved life, I shall have no sorrow to die.


I have kissed young love on the lips, I have heard his song to the end,

I have struck my hand like a seal in the loyal hand of a friend.

I have known the peace of heaven, the comfort of work done well.

I have longed for death in the darkness and risen alive out of hell.

Because I have loved life, I shall have no sorrow to die.


I gave a share of my soul to the world, when and where my course is run.

I know that another shall finish the task I surely must leave undone.

I know that no flower, nor flint was in vain on the path I trod.

As one looks on a face through a window, through life I have looked on God,

Because I have loved life, I shall have no sorrow to die.

Amelia Burr
1878-1968

Expect unexpected surprises in Pribumi's choice of PM

Mahathir admits that his Pribumi's loose alliance with Pakatan will suffer from quarrels if the alliance names a PM now.

But that is also akin to admitting he may spring a surprise on everyone in Pakatan on his choice of PM (who BTW must report to him on any new cabinet policies for approval), and it's not as if he is the leader of Pakatan.

DAP has been upfront that it wants Anwar Ibrahim as PM, and for Wan Azizah to serve as interim PM.

Mahathir is effectively admitting that the DAP choice of Anwar might not be satisfactory to his Pribumi group. Hardly surprising when you realize how much he detests Anwar and Kit Siang.

Does Pribumi, full of unexpected surprises especially on who will be its PM, deserve to be elected?

I won't be voting for Pribumi, that's for sure.

Hadi Awang's lack of self confidence?

MM Online on Pak Haji Hadi Awang going to Shia-Land, Iran, the hotbed and centre of Shia Islam, a branch of Islam forbidden by Sunni Malaysia (extracts):

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 — PAS insisted yesterday that its president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang visited Iran to attend an annual congress on behalf of the Islamist party, following a rebuke from the International Union of Muslim Scholars itself.

Datuk Dr Khairuddin Aman Razali, who had escorted Hadi to a similar trip last year, said the latter had spoken on how Syria became a victim of a proxy war among foreign powers.

“PAS stressed that what happened in Syria is a consequence of a proxy war that wish to tear apart the unity of the community, and the influence of foreign powers in a conflict zone,” the PAS Ulama wing information chief said in a statement.

Had it been some other Malaysian Muslim (who by decree has to be a Sunni), attending an Iranian organized congress or get-together in Teheran or anywhere else in Iran, he would have got it in the arse and then some.

The 14-century old enmity between Sunni and Shia Muslims are far far far worse than the division between Catholic and Protestant Christians.

Wikipedia tells us the origin of the Islamic schism was in 632 CE, when a dispute over succession to Muhammad as a caliph of the Islamic community spread across various parts of the world, which led to the Battle of Siffin.

The dispute intensified greatly after the Battle of Karbala, in which Hussein ibn Ali and his household were killed by the ruling Umayyad Caliph Yazid I, and the outcry for revenge divided the early Islamic community.

Thus the mutual hatred has spread down over the centuries into today's Syrian War waged between the ruling (Shia) Alawites and Sunni Muslims.

Alawites or Alawis is a syncretised Shia religion, where its name Alawis means 'followers of Ali', referring to Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of Prophet Mohamad (pbuh). Ali was the only person born in the sacred sanctuary of the Kaaba and apparently was the first young male who accepted the religion of Islam, and was the successor to Prophet Mohamad (phub).

To the Shias, he was the First Caliph after the Prophet (pbuh) but not so to the Sunnis who considered him as the 4th Caliph.

There in this unsettled succession to the last Prophet (pbuh) and the vile genocidal murder by Sunnis of his son and son's family lies the origin of the Sunni-Shia bitter and irreconcilable hatred.

On Alawis, Wikipedia says: At the core of Alawite belief is a divine triad, comprising three aspects of the one God. These aspects or emanations appear cyclically in human form throughout history. The last emanations of the divine triad, according to Alawite belief, were as Ali, Muhammad and Salman the Persian. Alawites were historically persecuted for these beliefs by the Sunni Muslim rulers of the area.

But such is the bitter rivalry between Sunnis and Shias that Sunni Saudi Arabia hates Shias even more than Israel or Israelis and has been known to collaborate with Israelis (Mossad) against Shias (Iran, Iraq and Southern Lebanon) or those close to Shias or republican Arabs (Palestinians).

So when news reports of Pak Haji dropping into Tehran to attend an Iran and thus Shia organized conference, the International Union of Muslim Scholars voiced its shock and outrage at the insensitivity of Pak Haji, more so, they said, at a time when they claimed the Muslim world (presumably the Sunni fraction) has been grief-stricken and angered by Assad’s regime (which is Shia, thus supported by Iran).

To top the f**kup, Pak Haji is the deputy president of the body.

I wonder whether it would be akin to the Holy Father (Pope) organizing charity drives for His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, wakakaka.

At that time, Pak Haji claimed his participation in the Tehran conference was on the invitation of Dr Abdurrahman Bayraan, an Iranian representative of the Union, whom Pak Haji's secretary said hadd been appointed by Yusuf himself.

However, to Pak Haji's immense embarrassment, the Union and Yusuf vehemently denied that the visit was sanctioned by it.

So now Pak Haji has shamelessly 'go-starn' (belakang pusing) to say his visit to Iran was for his party PAS.

Aren't the Chief Mufti of Terengganu or of Malaysia or Mr SMS Kay-poh-chnee of Perak going to say something? Wakakaka. And what about RTA? wakakaka again.

So why has Pak Haji put himself in such a religious embarrassment-predicament?

I think I may guess at the answer, wakakaka.

Pak Haji is a man who suffers from under confidence, so because of his psychological drawback, he seeks attention and 'recognition', and he seems to do this by controversial actions.

I wonder whether his deepset lack of confidence could have stemmed from the time of PAS President Fadzil Noor in 1990, when Fadzil went on a recruitment drive of younger Muslim professionals to diversify the Party's appeal, which might have pissed off conservative clerics like Pak Haji.

Furthermore, Fadzil Noor wanted Anwar Ibrahim as his successor in PAS but as we know, Mahathir head-hunted Anwar with a better offer. That might have also upset Pak Haji who no doubt looked at Anwar with resentment and jealousy. But can you picture Anwar as an ustaz?

Anyway, I believe that might have been the start of Pak Haji's under confidence, where he saw his party president placed more value on a non-ulama Young Turk who merely majored in Malay Studies. It must have been a total letdown for an ulama like Pak Haji, a bitter pill to swallow to be beaten in the aspiration to be party president of an Islamic Party by a non-ulama.

That resentment and jealousy didn't do much for him when another Pak Haji Nik Aziz took PAS into Pakatan where again Anwar was nominated as the putative leader. How jealous and more under confident Pak Haji must have been then.

'Twas hardly a surprise when after the demise of Pak Haji Nik Aziz, he began to indicate in more than one way his support of Anwar as Pakatan's anointed PM was less than enthusiastic. That culminated in his support of Azmin in the Selangor MB saga.

As mentioned, he seems to want to be different by his controversial actions, as if to assert his authority to shore up his own confidence, such as:

• Threatening another May 13 if DAP were to re-introduce local council elections

• Raising the ante with his UUC355

• Breaking up Pakatan Rakyat

• Slutting with UMNO, and now

• Meeting with Shia leaders.

• etc

Maybe we should blame his lack of self confidence on Anwar Ibrahim, wakakaka.