Our Father, who ought to be in Ijok
Hello to thy Name
Thy vote is welcome ...
Omi-Tofu, Jesus loves you, Om Mani Padme Hum, Aum, Shalom and As-salaamu Alaikum to all!
Tomorrow is The Day in Ijok, and malaysiakini reported that there has been a noticeable surge in religious fervour in that constituency lately.
While the government has been pouring in resources to patch up, renovate, enhance the mosques and their surroundings in Ijok, Anwar Ibrahim took the opportunity during his campaigning to perform Friday prayers at a local mosque. Meanwhile, BN candidate Parthiban prayed as well at a Chinese temple in Ijok.
I wonder if those pollies had included a wish or an appeal in their respective prayers to the Almighty? Hmmm, let me speculate, and I won’t restrict myself to just the political parties. In fact, I'll start with bloggers.
Bloggers
There has been a clarion call (or prayer?) by Susan Loone for all bloggers to rush down to Ijok. She had suggested to The Alliance of Bloggers that all-Blogs must go to Ijok and present a petition to the two candidates, Parthiban and Khalid.
She wants the candidates to support the bloggers' right to freedom of expression, and to respect their blogging. And, for her, the candidate who supports the petition should receive the bloggers’ support. Many bloggers agreed to her call.
If this is taken up, it'll effectively rope in The Alliance of Bloggers as a political lobby rather than a federation with the sole issue of protecting bloggers' right to free speech on the Web.
However, Jun-E of June x 2 has disagreed. He (or she) has been alarmed by the comments on Loone’s blog, which had strayed from Loone’s point on free speech to attacking people with political affiliations different to the commentators'.
June-E reckoned we bloggers ought to be neutral (and seen to be so). Our balanced and fair (most times anyway) comments would more effectively bring about the desired change in the authority's attitude towards bloggers and their right to free speech on the Web.
He (or she) advised that “strategically speaking, it is suicide, for All-Blogs to campaign, during the clash of the titans. To be there, to be waving the (not yet existent) flag of All-Blogs, will just increase the government’s apparent paranoia towards bloggers”.
BN
The various BN component parties would probably pray for victory to crush, nay, stamp out convincingly Anwar Ibrahim’s PKR. The consecutive victories of the by-elections in Pengakalan Pasir, Batu Talam and Machap must be maintained to confer a beneficial Halo Effect on the BN in the coming general election.
Hmmm, just speculating (OK?) that maybe, just maybe, there could be one possible exception – perhaps the MCA could see some value in PKR winning, mind you, by just a very slim razor-sharp margin, for its Chinese section to struggle along in terminal illness, but nevertheless posing problems for the DAP when those two opposition parties squabble for seats in the coming general election to avoid a 3-corner fight, and then subsequently sabotaging each other, if not splitting the non-Malay votes where there is disagreement over the seat.
Well, they did say, politics make strange bedfellows. Mind you, I was just conspiratorially theorising. Richard Ben Cramer, an American Jew who authored 'How Israel Lost', a book which criticises Israel losing its morality and soul through its unmitigated brutalities towards the Palestinians, remarked that in the Arab world, conspiracy theory is even more popular than Islam. Well, I suppose he hasn't been to Malaysia yet.
PKR
The general PKR members would of course be praying for a win and a good one too, to gain a vital lifeline for continuing meaningful life as a political party. A loss would be crippling for its morale and raise questions not only about its own viability and status as a political party, but its idol's credentials to lead them into the political Canaan. An unambigious clear-cut resounding victory in Ijok is important especially after its abysmal showing in Sarawak and for its relevance in the coming general election.
Did I say ‘the general PKR members’? Yes, because I believe there is an inner circle which may have a slightly different agenda. Oh, of course a win in Ijok would undoubtedly be good for Anwar’s standing but the witch hunt against Najib Razak, as witnessed by the numerous PKR or pro-PKR bloggers posting virtually non-stop allegations of Najib’s involvement in the Mongolian murder, has alerted some that there could well be another objective sub rosa.
Anwar Ibrahim continues to and in fact has increased his attacks on Najib. He even threw in a couple of Cantonese words to add on to his demonstration of cosmopolitanism.
Is Najib then the weakest link in the BN setup? KTemoc doesn't thinks so, nor is the weakest BN link being attacked. If I were hired as a consultant, I would advise 'wooing' the weakest link. Maybe targeting Najib is part of that wooing?
Oh, on witch hunts, just a quick digression for a KTemoc idiosyncrasy. Christians know the story of John the Baptist and how he was beheaded by King Herod, because his wife Herodias hated John for condemning her incestous marriage (she was married to, and divorced Herod's brother). She wanted the Baptizer very dead.
But Herod was reluctant to touch John, a holy man, so Herodias used her own daughter (by a previous marriage), Salome, to seduce (woo) Herod through her dancing (of the infamous, but probably most enjoyable, sexy and sinuous dance of the seven veils). The reward for performing the dance was that she could ask for anything that she wanted. Since we are on the subject of praying, a quick reference to the Bible (Mark 6: 24 – 25) tell us what happened after she dropped off the last of the seven veils:
And she went out, and said to her mother, "What shall I ask?" And she said, "The head of John the baptizer." And she came in immediately with haste to the king, and asked, saying, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter."
Hmmm, such a sexy titillating story. It could be a movie winner (which I am thinking of writing the script for), but I want to jazz it up a bit more so I wonder whether we could well have a more lusty version.
OK, say Herodias was chucked out of the palace. She wanted in again. So she got her daughter, Salome, to woo Herod to re-admit her (Herodias); afterall Herodias was a Hasmodean princess with all the pedigree. I'll script the play so that Salome, willingly and unsolicited, danced up to Herod with John’s head on a silver platter. There would be an expected quid pro quo, namely the re-admittance of Herodias to the palace, to resume her place as No 2.
I may throw in a few Malaysian cultural words, just as part of my contribution to Malaysian celluloid culture. Yes, when I write of a Salome wriggling her way unsolicited into a subtle sweetheart strategy, by offering the head of … er … John the Baptist, I'll term that as a kind of bunga emas.
Oops, excuse my wee digression, I have a naughty habit of wandering off – now back to the present and Ijok and politics.
DAP
There is no doubt that Lim & son are working and praying very hard for Khalid to win. Lim senior has this obsession of denying the BN its 2/3 majority, hopefully before he leaves politics for good. It is his remaining dream after over 40 years of politics. He had long since come to his senses and abandoned the impossible idea of becoming Malaysia's PM. He knows the DAP can’t achieve that 2/3-denial-of-majority by itself so he hopes an alliance with a winning PKR may one day allow him to realise his sole political wish. But regardless, as usual, the DAP leadership overcompensates in any alliance.
But some of its members have been less than impressed with the PKR. They reckoned the PKR hasn’t been fair dinkum in the latter's contribution in Machap, with Anwar making a campaign visit only on the eve of the election and PKR troops less than enthusiastic on the ground. They asked: what’s the use of a campaign visit that late, as Malaysians know that the majority of voters would have made up their mind long before polling day, and just take in last minute campaigning as entertainment.
PAS
PAS will be praying very hard for PKR to win because it sees its hope being installed as the government of an Islamic Malaysia dependent on PKR winning seats to complement its own, and thus to support its Islamic aspiration.
I read in a blog by a PAS member just a day ago, who lamented on the cold reality of Ijok having, in his words, only 50-ish percent Malay/Muslims. If that composition was typical of the general composition of voters in Malaysia, that would make it rather difficult for PAS to achieve its aim of an Islamic Malaysia.
After posing that rhetorical question, he answered it by suggesting that PAS' strategy for gaining power would be to use PKR as a sort of ‘branch’ (my word, not his) for securing the non-Muslim votes. In other words, PAS intends to use PKR as a non-Islamic proxy to gain power, in the way the USA has been using Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other small Gulf nations to control the Middle-East oil.
It’s not easy being the Almighty when the prayers could contain so many different wishes and hopes to grant and support.
Well, KTemoc prays for a nice sunny day tomorrow with a cooling breeze, though bearing in mind it’s April, the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone would be just transiting northwards through Malaysia, and thus some thundery showers may be possible in the late afternoon – see what I mean, the Almighty sure doesn't have an easy job.
But get your votes in early on Saturday if you want to avoid being wet, though this time, not by the US$40 per bottle Bling H2O.
STOP PRESS: No sooner than the Bling H20 was mentioned, when Jeff Ooi of Screenshots was reported in malaysiakini as saying PKR acting Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar had been hit in the face (specs broken) by a flying bottle of water in an incident allegedly involving some blokes in the uniform of BN Pemuda. Apparently those blokes had tried to prevent Khalid Ibrahim's car from leaving a function.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Friday, April 20, 2007
Ijok - what's behind witch hunting of najib?
And she went out, and said to her mother, "What shall I ask?" And she said, "The head of John the baptizer." And she came in immediately with haste to the king, and asked, saying, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter." [Mark 6:24-25]
In the PKR’s campaign for the Ijok by-election there seems to be a concerted effort to attack the target - no, not Partiban, the BN candidate but – Najib Razak.
The issue of murdered Altantunya Shariibuu has been raised continuously, nay, relentlessly in attacks a la witch hunt against the DPM.
As one disgusted blogger, Aput of Vox, put it, personal insults are uncalled for in elections.
He wrote:
As much as I love our Alternative Front, bringing up personal issues from the opponent's leaders which have no connection whatsoever in the administration of the country, or even the district, is uncalled for.
In this case, the PKR's insistence of bringing up the case of bringing up the case of Altantuya Sharibuu.
[…]
There were so many other issues to bring up:
Aput gave several examples of more relevant issues like (1) the calculation of the Bumiputera equity percentage, (2) the amount of money going into the compensation of the companies involved in the Customs complex in Johor, (3) health, education, social ills in Ijok, toll concessionaire agreements, (4) oil and diesel prices, (5) improvement of public transportation. Has Ijok seen such improvements? (6) education and welfare - has Ijok been given it's fair share of such?
He continued: There are a million and one issues to be brought up. I can see no reason why PKR went on a witch hunt to go and attack our DPM. It's ridiculous.
I suspect also the voters in Ijok couldn’t care two stuff, and the Altantuya issue won’t influence their voting. So why has PKR hounded Najib, and in such coordinated effort that one wonders what is their motive?
In my posting Primary Target – Najib Razak! one month ago, I referred to Raja Petra Kamarudin’s posting about Najib's days being almost over.
In my posting I questioned RPK’s suggestion that there could be a SIL’s conjured conspiracy to get rid of Najib, by covert threat or overt criminal prosecution. I brought out a number of issues that demolished RPK’s theory [please read Primary Target – Najib Razak! for more]
As I had said/posted, all the anti-Najib noises thus far have come mainly from Anwar Ibrahim [and the PKR people], and speculations about sticky problems for Najib are posted on Malaysia-Today.
This was what I suspected:
Recently I have blogged on lots of Trojan Horses but there are other equine activities too – like horse trading. I could argue that I have detected signs of ‘overtures’ to AAB and SIL, but whether those attempted equine bartering ‘gestures’ have been perceived as ‘overtures’ … well … I can’t answer because I don’t have the connections that former insiders seem to have in abundance.
But this I can tell – that with election date just around the corner, someone’s getting frantic … for remember what I’ve said, it’s no bloody fun being in the Opposition, unless you’re Lim Kit Siang & Co.
Is the PKR campaigning more than about winning Ijok? Why has the witch hunt for Najib (and not other ministers or even AAB himself) been so relentless?.
In the PKR’s campaign for the Ijok by-election there seems to be a concerted effort to attack the target - no, not Partiban, the BN candidate but – Najib Razak.
The issue of murdered Altantunya Shariibuu has been raised continuously, nay, relentlessly in attacks a la witch hunt against the DPM.
As one disgusted blogger, Aput of Vox, put it, personal insults are uncalled for in elections.
He wrote:
As much as I love our Alternative Front, bringing up personal issues from the opponent's leaders which have no connection whatsoever in the administration of the country, or even the district, is uncalled for.
In this case, the PKR's insistence of bringing up the case of bringing up the case of Altantuya Sharibuu.
[…]
There were so many other issues to bring up:
Aput gave several examples of more relevant issues like (1) the calculation of the Bumiputera equity percentage, (2) the amount of money going into the compensation of the companies involved in the Customs complex in Johor, (3) health, education, social ills in Ijok, toll concessionaire agreements, (4) oil and diesel prices, (5) improvement of public transportation. Has Ijok seen such improvements? (6) education and welfare - has Ijok been given it's fair share of such?
He continued: There are a million and one issues to be brought up. I can see no reason why PKR went on a witch hunt to go and attack our DPM. It's ridiculous.
I suspect also the voters in Ijok couldn’t care two stuff, and the Altantuya issue won’t influence their voting. So why has PKR hounded Najib, and in such coordinated effort that one wonders what is their motive?
In my posting Primary Target – Najib Razak! one month ago, I referred to Raja Petra Kamarudin’s posting about Najib's days being almost over.
In my posting I questioned RPK’s suggestion that there could be a SIL’s conjured conspiracy to get rid of Najib, by covert threat or overt criminal prosecution. I brought out a number of issues that demolished RPK’s theory [please read Primary Target – Najib Razak! for more]
As I had said/posted, all the anti-Najib noises thus far have come mainly from Anwar Ibrahim [and the PKR people], and speculations about sticky problems for Najib are posted on Malaysia-Today.
This was what I suspected:
Recently I have blogged on lots of Trojan Horses but there are other equine activities too – like horse trading. I could argue that I have detected signs of ‘overtures’ to AAB and SIL, but whether those attempted equine bartering ‘gestures’ have been perceived as ‘overtures’ … well … I can’t answer because I don’t have the connections that former insiders seem to have in abundance.
But this I can tell – that with election date just around the corner, someone’s getting frantic … for remember what I’ve said, it’s no bloody fun being in the Opposition, unless you’re Lim Kit Siang & Co.
Is the PKR campaigning more than about winning Ijok? Why has the witch hunt for Najib (and not other ministers or even AAB himself) been so relentless?.
Ijok - glimpses of Vision 2020
Dr Mahathir must be proud that his Vision 2020, of Malaysia attaining 1st World status by the year 2020, was very much in evident during the nomination process for the Ijok by-election in Selangor, outside the Dewan Orang Ramai Batang Berjuntai, near Ijok.
After the nomination period ended at 10 am, supporters of BN’s K Parthiban and PKR’s Khalid Ibrahim decided to flaunt their V-2020 credentials by ‘exchanging’ bottled water, a traditional though modernised Malaysian custom.
In the old days, any handy loose chairs would do as piloting aspirants air-tested the furniture’s aerodynamic properties. But today, that’s really déclassé.
1st World affluence demands that only bottled water would do, and bearing in mind science’s advice that 1 litre of water weighs 1 hefty kilogram, flying missiles of 375 ml or even 750 ml unopened bottles could have devastating effect.
A supporter of one of the candidates was heard to have said “Take my Evian, you …. (censored) …”
The response was shockingly provocative: “Cheapskate – here’s my Glacia Nova … nah nah nah!”
Mount Franklins, Abbey Well, AQA, Adonis Heilwasser and our local Alpine were among many brands shown off and exchanged by wannabe test-pilots from both BN and PKR.
I heard those el-cheapo DAP blokes and lassies who were there stuck to JKR-juice in imitation Tupperware and refused to release the containers for launching, whilst PAS also refused to let go of their Al Ghadir (imported from Saudi Arabia). It would have been most disrespectful to fling away stuff imported from the Saudi nation.
The top find from the post-exchange debris was a Bling H2O (at US$40 for 750 ml, the most expensive bottled water in the world) but no one wanted to confess to ownership. A few Chap Tiga Kepala were also discovered, evidence to Najib Tun Razak’s glocalisation, but again, like the other end of the range Bling H2O, there were embarrassed reluctance to admit to their ownership.
Some shouts of “Korrupt” and “So-domee” were also offered but I was advised those were brands yet to be on the market. Again I was informed the third called “Al-Tan-toonya" (sounds like it’s from a joint Arab-Chinese company) wasn’t an East Asian or Middle-Eastern brand - yet anyway.
After the nomination period ended at 10 am, supporters of BN’s K Parthiban and PKR’s Khalid Ibrahim decided to flaunt their V-2020 credentials by ‘exchanging’ bottled water, a traditional though modernised Malaysian custom.
In the old days, any handy loose chairs would do as piloting aspirants air-tested the furniture’s aerodynamic properties. But today, that’s really déclassé.
1st World affluence demands that only bottled water would do, and bearing in mind science’s advice that 1 litre of water weighs 1 hefty kilogram, flying missiles of 375 ml or even 750 ml unopened bottles could have devastating effect.
A supporter of one of the candidates was heard to have said “Take my Evian, you …. (censored) …”
The response was shockingly provocative: “Cheapskate – here’s my Glacia Nova … nah nah nah!”
Mount Franklins, Abbey Well, AQA, Adonis Heilwasser and our local Alpine were among many brands shown off and exchanged by wannabe test-pilots from both BN and PKR.
I heard those el-cheapo DAP blokes and lassies who were there stuck to JKR-juice in imitation Tupperware and refused to release the containers for launching, whilst PAS also refused to let go of their Al Ghadir (imported from Saudi Arabia). It would have been most disrespectful to fling away stuff imported from the Saudi nation.
The top find from the post-exchange debris was a Bling H2O (at US$40 for 750 ml, the most expensive bottled water in the world) but no one wanted to confess to ownership. A few Chap Tiga Kepala were also discovered, evidence to Najib Tun Razak’s glocalisation, but again, like the other end of the range Bling H2O, there were embarrassed reluctance to admit to their ownership.
Some shouts of “Korrupt” and “So-domee” were also offered but I was advised those were brands yet to be on the market. Again I was informed the third called “Al-Tan-toonya" (sounds like it’s from a joint Arab-Chinese company) wasn’t an East Asian or Middle-Eastern brand - yet anyway.
Hmmm, some blokes had the bloody nerve to cash in on the nomination day with early advertising for their wares.
Congratulations on your vision, Doctor, we certainly are 1st World Boleh even in our fracas.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
The Race in Ijok
Everyone’s talking about the race!
Are you referring to the race in Ijok?
Yes, the whole cursed subject has
been nothing than about the race.
But why wouldn’t it, as you have
just said, that the race is on in Ijok.
Yes, but why raise race in a race,
when it shouldn’t be about race?
Kawan, you’ve gotten me confused
about the race in Ijok, that shouldn’t
be raised, as if it’s not a race at all;
if not, then what’s the race, pray tell.
My point is not to raise the race
in a race when we aren’t about race,
more so when we are beyond race.
We must erase any mention of race.
Besides, race shouldn’t be ‘pivotal’
as had been touted before in Johor.
Johor? So Machap was ‘pivotal’?
No, not Machap – that’s all over.
A bloke in Johor claimed his race
must be ‘pivotal’, no compromise!
OK, so is the race in Ijok ‘pivotal’?
Didn’t you say it’s a must-win race?
Yes, winning Ijok will be ‘pivotal’
for us, our future, but as for race,
no way, no - no race should ever be
‘pivotal’ – blast, now I’m confused too.
Er, OK then, race you to the kopitiam?
Are you referring to the race in Ijok?
Yes, the whole cursed subject has
been nothing than about the race.
But why wouldn’t it, as you have
just said, that the race is on in Ijok.
Yes, but why raise race in a race,
when it shouldn’t be about race?
Kawan, you’ve gotten me confused
about the race in Ijok, that shouldn’t
be raised, as if it’s not a race at all;
if not, then what’s the race, pray tell.
My point is not to raise the race
in a race when we aren’t about race,
more so when we are beyond race.
We must erase any mention of race.
Besides, race shouldn’t be ‘pivotal’
as had been touted before in Johor.
Johor? So Machap was ‘pivotal’?
No, not Machap – that’s all over.
A bloke in Johor claimed his race
must be ‘pivotal’, no compromise!
OK, so is the race in Ijok ‘pivotal’?
Didn’t you say it’s a must-win race?
Yes, winning Ijok will be ‘pivotal’
for us, our future, but as for race,
no way, no - no race should ever be
‘pivotal’ – blast, now I’m confused too.
Er, OK then, race you to the kopitiam?
Ijok - candidates' plus & minuses
Some visitors (presumably PKR people or supporters) are angry with me for posting stuff like PKR - 'losing before winning', or 'winning before losing'?, though they were quite happy (or at least in silent consent or tolerance) when I whacked the BN people.
Mind you, they are not as virulently vitriolic as some at malaysiakini who have been tearing into me since I wrote a letter to rebut one part of Manjit Bhatia's article in malaysiakini which had lambasted the Chinese and Indians for not having the guts to be more visibly or even physically ‘committed’ to opposition politics.
I welcome those opposing opinions (in one case, a diatribe). I responded to their mauling of me (uhhh, Maidin, a little to the left please … uhhh, that’s it) in my follow-up letter to the online news portal.
Strangely enough (or should it be), it’s all about our favourite topic, ‘race’ and racial issues, with some people who have been concerned about and exploited the race factor claiming they’re above it. For example, there have been letters and comments criticising Indians members of PKR (or political observers) for turning the PKR candidate for the Ijok by-election into an issue of race.
Mind you, I was not spared as well though I am just an ikan bilis (small fry) of no significance in the general scheme of things.
OK, let's leave the issue of ‘race’ out of a constituency that’s split roughly 50:30:20 - see, just arithmetical ratio and no mention of the ‘R’ word ;-)
On the BN side, the plus and minuses:
Plus (+)
- candidate is local boy made good
- humble beginnings (rubber tapper parents), blooming like a Chinese lotus by raising itself out of the muddy waters of his early years
- still politically untainted
- hugh BN resources behind him (money, government apparatus, media - yes, dodgy stuff but cold reality)
- big guns with cohorts in relentless campaigning, with (shameless) pork barrelling (of public money) to sweeten and motivate the voters
- some parts of electorate can’t tell difference between ruling party and government
Minuses (-)
- inexperienced, perhaps too young in some's eyes
- BN not popular in some sectors
- predecessor’s lacklustre performance (big problem here - the late bloke had his 4000 winning majority slashed to only one grand in last election)
- internal component party’s strife (sabotage?)
- unknown impact of Subramaniam and Thirumoorthy factors
On the PKR side, the plus and minuses:
(generally we can take the minuses of BN as plus here, and vice versa)
Plus (+)
. high profile bloke
- PAS and DAP supporting, so cornering a wide range of political proclivity
- BN unpopular in some sectors
- Anwar Ibrahim factor
Minuses (-)
- Guthrie background raised by PSM (could be huge minus in eyes of some rubber tappers)
- internal party strife (see, no race mentioned)
- Anwar Ibrahim factor (yes, he’s both a plus and minus)
So, there you have the benefit of my amateurish appreciation of the situation. I feel that the ‘50’ could be split evenly in best case scenario for PKR; the ‘30’ would by logic go to the BN, but there are unhappiness in the BN just as there are in PKR – so perhaps 20-ish to BN with ‘10’ to PKR.
Now we come to those bloody uncommitted inscrutable factor, the ‘20’. I don’t know because I can’t read them. But Manjit Bhatia and his brigade would undoubtedly know, surely! ;-)
Mind you, they are not as virulently vitriolic as some at malaysiakini who have been tearing into me since I wrote a letter to rebut one part of Manjit Bhatia's article in malaysiakini which had lambasted the Chinese and Indians for not having the guts to be more visibly or even physically ‘committed’ to opposition politics.
I welcome those opposing opinions (in one case, a diatribe). I responded to their mauling of me (uhhh, Maidin, a little to the left please … uhhh, that’s it) in my follow-up letter to the online news portal.
Strangely enough (or should it be), it’s all about our favourite topic, ‘race’ and racial issues, with some people who have been concerned about and exploited the race factor claiming they’re above it. For example, there have been letters and comments criticising Indians members of PKR (or political observers) for turning the PKR candidate for the Ijok by-election into an issue of race.
Mind you, I was not spared as well though I am just an ikan bilis (small fry) of no significance in the general scheme of things.
OK, let's leave the issue of ‘race’ out of a constituency that’s split roughly 50:30:20 - see, just arithmetical ratio and no mention of the ‘R’ word ;-)
On the BN side, the plus and minuses:
Plus (+)
- candidate is local boy made good
- humble beginnings (rubber tapper parents), blooming like a Chinese lotus by raising itself out of the muddy waters of his early years
- still politically untainted
- hugh BN resources behind him (money, government apparatus, media - yes, dodgy stuff but cold reality)
- big guns with cohorts in relentless campaigning, with (shameless) pork barrelling (of public money) to sweeten and motivate the voters
- some parts of electorate can’t tell difference between ruling party and government
Minuses (-)
- inexperienced, perhaps too young in some's eyes
- BN not popular in some sectors
- predecessor’s lacklustre performance (big problem here - the late bloke had his 4000 winning majority slashed to only one grand in last election)
- internal component party’s strife (sabotage?)
- unknown impact of Subramaniam and Thirumoorthy factors
On the PKR side, the plus and minuses:
(generally we can take the minuses of BN as plus here, and vice versa)
Plus (+)
. high profile bloke
- PAS and DAP supporting, so cornering a wide range of political proclivity
- BN unpopular in some sectors
- Anwar Ibrahim factor
Minuses (-)
- Guthrie background raised by PSM (could be huge minus in eyes of some rubber tappers)
- internal party strife (see, no race mentioned)
- Anwar Ibrahim factor (yes, he’s both a plus and minus)
So, there you have the benefit of my amateurish appreciation of the situation. I feel that the ‘50’ could be split evenly in best case scenario for PKR; the ‘30’ would by logic go to the BN, but there are unhappiness in the BN just as there are in PKR – so perhaps 20-ish to BN with ‘10’ to PKR.
Now we come to those bloody uncommitted inscrutable factor, the ‘20’. I don’t know because I can’t read them. But Manjit Bhatia and his brigade would undoubtedly know, surely! ;-)
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Where I like to travel to ...
My good blogging peng yew, Lucia Lai of Mental Jog, has tagged me to write about a place I would love to visit.
I have to admit I struggled a bit before I arrived at my final choice – too many wonderful places to go to, like Machu Picchu (for its mysterious temple), Egypt (for the pyramids and the temples and a cruise on the Nile during a full moon night), Turkey (for the ruins of Ilium or Troy), Nepal for a trek, etc.
Anyway, I finally decided I like to go to Mongolia first, to ride a powerful bike with a good mate across its virtually featureless flat steppes. We would start off in the East and cut across the world’s 2nd largest landlocked country, until we reach its highest mountain at its western border. Nayramadlin Orgil is 4374 metre high.
First thing first, we would have to pack our bikes with the basic necessities, like several cases of beer, half a dozen bottles of whiskeys (Cragganmore, hopefully), plus many bars of choc-ies (Cadbury of course) and a few kilos of wasabi-ed macadamia nuts.
Two-thirds of the year, Mongolia enjoys or suffers from cloudless skies.
Perhaps after a week or so into our ride, we too, like the roaring of our bikes (the loads much lighter by now as some fluid in the bottles had ‘evaporated’ over the days), merge seamlessly into the deep silence of the seemingly endless steppes. We must be at ONE with the universe, the yang and the yin in perfect harmony and becoming the TAO.
Then, in this metaphysical state, it may well be that a slight shimmering occurs, giving me a mild but brief sensation of prickliness as if I have been affected by some kind of electronic flux – and without realising it, I appear to have passed through some form of invisible gate into a new dimension - a gate not unlike Stargate but related to time rather than space.
Suddenly I sense someone beside me, and glancing to my left I see him, a warrior on his horse galloping just beside my bike. He carries a bow slung across his back, while a sword nestles by his side. But a few seconds later, there are two of them, the second rider a smaller figure.
I stare rudely at them, but focussing on the second rider as I become more and more aware of the lovely curves beneath, and despite, the thick sheep skin clothing. Immediately KTemoc slows down, allowing Ray to shoot ahead oblivious to my new companions from a different time. Soon I bring the bike to a halt and the man rides up to me and leaps down from his steed.
He starts talking to me in Khalkha Mongolian. Strangely I can understand him. He says: “Welcome to Mongolia, stranger on strange noisy steed.”
Being shy (as well as dumb) I remain silent with my mouth wide agape like a landed fish in a landlocked country.
Then, she too walks up to me and smiles: “I am Sarantsatsral.”
“Sarantsatsral?” I coo like a lovesick yak! “What does it mean?”
Musically she responds “Moonbeam”
photos (except for Moonbeam) from someone who emailed them around to show off his or her Mongolian holidays - boy, was I envious ... grrr
You must register for MyBloglog so we can blogwalk … (I must still get Lucia to explain this bit to me)
Quantity : FIVE PEOPLE.
Tag Mode : Chain Link. 15 of them.You leave 15 people and their DEEP LINK of their Blog Name and TAGGED POST and hit out for five more. So it will look like:
Lucia Lai likes to go to Perth
adam likes to go to mecca
Doris for the Carribean Islands
Azrin going Down Under
MaRLinda in Disneyland Paris
Athira Baby and her Balamory Antics
Msau to Japan
*Add in the blog you get the tags from and tagged post*
================
I will tag - no obligations, as Lucia said ... but of course if you do take it up, thanks - if you don't, I may have to send Lucia to kill you ;-) or I'll sob ...
I pick for this writing exercise - am leaving this blank until they respond
I have to admit I struggled a bit before I arrived at my final choice – too many wonderful places to go to, like Machu Picchu (for its mysterious temple), Egypt (for the pyramids and the temples and a cruise on the Nile during a full moon night), Turkey (for the ruins of Ilium or Troy), Nepal for a trek, etc.
Anyway, I finally decided I like to go to Mongolia first, to ride a powerful bike with a good mate across its virtually featureless flat steppes. We would start off in the East and cut across the world’s 2nd largest landlocked country, until we reach its highest mountain at its western border. Nayramadlin Orgil is 4374 metre high.
Mongolian steppes at sunset
First thing first, we would have to pack our bikes with the basic necessities, like several cases of beer, half a dozen bottles of whiskeys (Cragganmore, hopefully), plus many bars of choc-ies (Cadbury of course) and a few kilos of wasabi-ed macadamia nuts.
here kitty kitty ... er ... I mean ... here dolly dolly (our dinner on the steppes)
Then we zoom off. To many, riding across the steppes may be boringly monotonous but we are a pair of whiskey/beer swilling ascetics, relishing the wide quiet immense open space with no concerned girlfriends to caution our imbibing - hah, no sound except the roars of our bikes which soon merge into the greater silence.
Here and there we see horses. They look wryly at us, but only momentarily, as we are just two noisy asses. Apparently, Mongolia has the most number of horses per head of population in the world. Then there are the typical animals of the desert/steppe people – sheep, Bactrian camels (two humps), yaks (I wonder how they taste?), the occasional eagle or hawk floating in the blue all-too-bright sky, assessing us as potential carcasses (marinated with alcohol and cocoa beans).
Two-thirds of the year, Mongolia enjoys or suffers from cloudless skies.
Perhaps after a week or so into our ride, we too, like the roaring of our bikes (the loads much lighter by now as some fluid in the bottles had ‘evaporated’ over the days), merge seamlessly into the deep silence of the seemingly endless steppes. We must be at ONE with the universe, the yang and the yin in perfect harmony and becoming the TAO.
Then, in this metaphysical state, it may well be that a slight shimmering occurs, giving me a mild but brief sensation of prickliness as if I have been affected by some kind of electronic flux – and without realising it, I appear to have passed through some form of invisible gate into a new dimension - a gate not unlike Stargate but related to time rather than space.
Suddenly I sense someone beside me, and glancing to my left I see him, a warrior on his horse galloping just beside my bike. He carries a bow slung across his back, while a sword nestles by his side. But a few seconds later, there are two of them, the second rider a smaller figure.
I stare rudely at them, but focussing on the second rider as I become more and more aware of the lovely curves beneath, and despite, the thick sheep skin clothing. Immediately KTemoc slows down, allowing Ray to shoot ahead oblivious to my new companions from a different time. Soon I bring the bike to a halt and the man rides up to me and leaps down from his steed.
He starts talking to me in Khalkha Mongolian. Strangely I can understand him. He says: “Welcome to Mongolia, stranger on strange noisy steed.”
Being shy (as well as dumb) I remain silent with my mouth wide agape like a landed fish in a landlocked country.
Then, she too walks up to me and smiles: “I am Sarantsatsral.”
“Sarantsatsral?” I coo like a lovesick yak! “What does it mean?”
Musically she responds “Moonbeam”
Oh, her smile lights up even the already bright Mongolian day.
“This is my uncle, Temujin. Some call him Chinggis.”
Gulp! Genghis Khan! Good grief, this man murders, loots and plunders all the way to the Rhine in Europe. And I am making eyes at his niece!
Chinngis glares at me and says “KTemoc, stop bloody dreaming and let’s move on or we won’t make the village before nightfall.”
I snap my head around and there’s Ray impatiently revving his steed … er … I mean bike.
I whip my head back but they are no longer there.
“Hey Ray, the steppe’s immense silence and vast emptiness are getting to me. I thought for a while I went back into time, you know, sort of like what-his-name, that Michael Fox character …?”
Ray smiles and says “Those moonbeams from last night getting into your head, mate? You need some fluid? Yeah, get yourself rehydrated”, and he roars off.
Moonbeam … hmmm … Sarantsatsral …!
Yes, Mongolia sounds just perfect for my next holiday.
***photos (except for Moonbeam) from someone who emailed them around to show off his or her Mongolian holidays - boy, was I envious ... grrr
***
Proposition : Where do you want to go Next, OUTSIDE OF YOUR COUNTRY, for tourism, work, study, whatever.
You must register for MyBloglog so we can blogwalk … (I must still get Lucia to explain this bit to me)
Quantity : FIVE PEOPLE.
Tag Mode : Chain Link. 15 of them.You leave 15 people and their DEEP LINK of their Blog Name and TAGGED POST and hit out for five more. So it will look like:
Lucia Lai likes to go to Perth
adam likes to go to mecca
Doris for the Carribean Islands
Azrin going Down Under
MaRLinda in Disneyland Paris
Athira Baby and her Balamory Antics
Msau to Japan
*Add in the blog you get the tags from and tagged post*
================
I will tag - no obligations, as Lucia said ... but of course if you do take it up, thanks - if you don't, I may have to send Lucia to kill you ;-) or I'll sob ...
I pick for this writing exercise - am leaving this blank until they respond
PKR - 'losing before winning', or 'winning before losing'?
PKR’s selection of Khalid Ibrahim as its candidate for Ijok has been expected. That has been also been the subject of recent analyses and warnings by some political observers. The situation for PKR has been aggravated by the Barisan Nasional picking an MIC (Indian) nominee as its candidate for Ijok.
But as I mentioned, PKR is now striving for survival, credibility and renewed morale, the last of which is at an all time low, after its pinup boy had failed to make any impact in three elections, namely the by-election in Pengkalan Pasir while campaigning for PAS, the Sarawak state elections and recently the by-election in Machap in his campaign for the DAP.
Therefore it has abandoned its claimed ideology and principles for expediency in selecting a high profile Malay to capitalise on the Malay majority in Ijok.
Most visitors to my posting Ijok Indians racially marginalised by PKR? seemed to agree with my assessment that the principal aim, the urgent priority of survival, for PKR is to win, and if fielding a candidate at the expense of putting its multiethnic credentials into question, and offending its Indian supporters, so be it – that seems to be the higher policy.
But PKR is now in serious damage control. Its president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail unfortunately made it worse by saying that “race was not a factor in the decision to field party treasurer Khalid Ibrahim”.
Of course it has been!
I would have omitted that and just focused on her second explanation, which was “Khalid was chosen based on eligibility and the party believes that he is the best person to represent the people in this constituency.”
PKR bigwig and a personal buddy of Anwar Ibrahim, Nallakarupan had also been touted as a possible PKR candidate. He put on a brave face to hide his personal disappointment and did the honourable thing by supporting Khalid’s candidacy and pledged to campaign for him.
Meanwhile, PAS deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa, who was also present at the ceremony of naming the PKR candidate, endorsed Khalid’s candidacy and promised his party president Abdul Hadi Awang and spiritual leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat will come to the ground to campaign.
But Dr Chandra Bose accused the PKR of giving in to PAS in selecting a Malay candidate because he alleged that PAS had warned it would only support PKR if the latter fields a Malay.
Bose asked:
Why is the party not keen on fielding an Indian candidate? Is it because the party cannot locate a capable Indian leader or is it because it does not want to disappoint PAS? Apparently, PAS has made it known to PKR that it would only support a Malay candidate and not a non-Malay one. This kind of attitude on the part of PAS clearly reveals the hypocrisy and contradictions of PAS, a supposedly universal champion of Islam.
If PKR prioritises winning in Ijok by placing a Malay candidate, then there is no strong evidence to indicate that a Malay candidate fielded would be able to win. Furthermore, there is no evidence to indicate that an Indian candidate would lose the election. Given this, it appears that PKR and some of its leaders have succumbed to the cheap thrill of racism at the expense of its multi-racial slogan. The possible decision to deny an Indian candidate seems to represent the continuing practice of PKR to deny Indians an opportunity in the party to contest in elections.
That feeling of ‘marginalisation’ that I alluded to in my previous posting!
[…] blah blah blah so on so forth
He ended by stating: Ijok will be another tragic event for the party if it does not address the problem of Indian participation and contest.
PKR must now win or lose more than just Ijok. Maybe it already has!
But as I mentioned, PKR is now striving for survival, credibility and renewed morale, the last of which is at an all time low, after its pinup boy had failed to make any impact in three elections, namely the by-election in Pengkalan Pasir while campaigning for PAS, the Sarawak state elections and recently the by-election in Machap in his campaign for the DAP.
Therefore it has abandoned its claimed ideology and principles for expediency in selecting a high profile Malay to capitalise on the Malay majority in Ijok.
Most visitors to my posting Ijok Indians racially marginalised by PKR? seemed to agree with my assessment that the principal aim, the urgent priority of survival, for PKR is to win, and if fielding a candidate at the expense of putting its multiethnic credentials into question, and offending its Indian supporters, so be it – that seems to be the higher policy.
But PKR is now in serious damage control. Its president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail unfortunately made it worse by saying that “race was not a factor in the decision to field party treasurer Khalid Ibrahim”.
Of course it has been!
I would have omitted that and just focused on her second explanation, which was “Khalid was chosen based on eligibility and the party believes that he is the best person to represent the people in this constituency.”
PKR bigwig and a personal buddy of Anwar Ibrahim, Nallakarupan had also been touted as a possible PKR candidate. He put on a brave face to hide his personal disappointment and did the honourable thing by supporting Khalid’s candidacy and pledged to campaign for him.
Meanwhile, PAS deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa, who was also present at the ceremony of naming the PKR candidate, endorsed Khalid’s candidacy and promised his party president Abdul Hadi Awang and spiritual leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat will come to the ground to campaign.
But Dr Chandra Bose accused the PKR of giving in to PAS in selecting a Malay candidate because he alleged that PAS had warned it would only support PKR if the latter fields a Malay.
Bose asked:
Why is the party not keen on fielding an Indian candidate? Is it because the party cannot locate a capable Indian leader or is it because it does not want to disappoint PAS? Apparently, PAS has made it known to PKR that it would only support a Malay candidate and not a non-Malay one. This kind of attitude on the part of PAS clearly reveals the hypocrisy and contradictions of PAS, a supposedly universal champion of Islam.
If PKR prioritises winning in Ijok by placing a Malay candidate, then there is no strong evidence to indicate that a Malay candidate fielded would be able to win. Furthermore, there is no evidence to indicate that an Indian candidate would lose the election. Given this, it appears that PKR and some of its leaders have succumbed to the cheap thrill of racism at the expense of its multi-racial slogan. The possible decision to deny an Indian candidate seems to represent the continuing practice of PKR to deny Indians an opportunity in the party to contest in elections.
That feeling of ‘marginalisation’ that I alluded to in my previous posting!
[…] blah blah blah so on so forth
He ended by stating: Ijok will be another tragic event for the party if it does not address the problem of Indian participation and contest.
PKR must now win or lose more than just Ijok. Maybe it already has!
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Sabah - a tale of two Chief Ministers
Just posted Sabah saga - more than just Goddess of Mercy over at BolehTalk – a tale of contrasting chief ministerial performances.
Paul Wolfowitz's sweetheart deal for his sweetheart
Anwar Ibrahim’s good American buddy, Paul Wolfowitz is in deep trouble with the World Bank, an organisation of which he is president, only because the post is always filled by a USA appointee. But because of the same White House shameless bulldozing support, he may yet escape falling on his own sword of anti-corruption, though he would be severely tainted by his demonstration of shameless double standards.
Paul Wolfowitz has been the man (or one of them) who insisted on invading and occupying Iraq, even long before President Bush (junior) entered the White House. He has been a principal member of an American rightwing think-tank, Project for the New American Century, which had advocated the full exploitation of America’s sole superpower status (after the former USSR collapsed) to dominate and control various things, including the world’s reserves of oil.
The US Senate Committee on Intelligence found that when 9/11 occurred, Wolfowitz called for the attack and invasion of Iraq. 9/11 must have been the excuse he had been looking for to convince a new and fairly clueless president to launch Gulf War II, but this time all the way to Baghdad to occupy it.
It did take a little while for his wish to happen but there we have it today, the present chaos of Iraq. Political analysts said when the Iraqi occupation went sour, he was quietly promoted out of the Bush Administration into the powerful position of World Bank president. Cronyism doesn’t exist only in Malaysia Boleh.
By tradition and reality of who’s providing the most cash for the World Bank, the appointment of the organisation’s president is always an American nominee of the US government. But his appointment encountered many opponents in the bank, including American bank officials, because of his role as the major proponent for the war in Iraq. They feared that Wolfowitz would implement the Bush Administration's policies on aid, rather than represent the views of the World Bank's members.
His performance thus far has been under severe crticism because he was more hellbent on countering corruption related to World Bank loans than to facilitate loans for needy nations.
But Mr Anti-Corruption had no hesitation in ordering a very hefty but dodgy sweetheart pay rise and promotion for his own sweetheart partner, Shaha Riza, a senior World Bank employee. The promotion and pay rise were not approved by the relevant Bank committee. ‘Twas a case of what Malaysians would term ‘cakap ta’serupa bikin’ or not walking his own anti-corruption talk.
The Bank’s top officials want him to show some decency and resign but he has refused, knowing President Bush would continue to support him.
He was asked whether he could still effectively force the bank's big borrowers to tackle corruption as a pre-condition for them receiving funds. But instead of answering that, Wolfowitz insisted he would not resign.
The bank's development committee issued a statement, which said it was crucial for the member nations of the bank to "ensure that it can effectively carry out its mandate and maintain its credibility and reputation as well as the motivation of its staff"
What many of the bank's finance ministers' are saying is that Wolfowitz should resign or be sacked.
It's like saying (very much in vain) that Bush and his cohorts, or Ehud Olmert and Ariel Sharon, should be tried for war crimes in the same way as they had tried Saddam Hussein or Slobodan Milošević.
Power sucks and absolute power sucks absolutely.
Paul Wolfowitz has been the man (or one of them) who insisted on invading and occupying Iraq, even long before President Bush (junior) entered the White House. He has been a principal member of an American rightwing think-tank, Project for the New American Century, which had advocated the full exploitation of America’s sole superpower status (after the former USSR collapsed) to dominate and control various things, including the world’s reserves of oil.
The US Senate Committee on Intelligence found that when 9/11 occurred, Wolfowitz called for the attack and invasion of Iraq. 9/11 must have been the excuse he had been looking for to convince a new and fairly clueless president to launch Gulf War II, but this time all the way to Baghdad to occupy it.
It did take a little while for his wish to happen but there we have it today, the present chaos of Iraq. Political analysts said when the Iraqi occupation went sour, he was quietly promoted out of the Bush Administration into the powerful position of World Bank president. Cronyism doesn’t exist only in Malaysia Boleh.
By tradition and reality of who’s providing the most cash for the World Bank, the appointment of the organisation’s president is always an American nominee of the US government. But his appointment encountered many opponents in the bank, including American bank officials, because of his role as the major proponent for the war in Iraq. They feared that Wolfowitz would implement the Bush Administration's policies on aid, rather than represent the views of the World Bank's members.
His performance thus far has been under severe crticism because he was more hellbent on countering corruption related to World Bank loans than to facilitate loans for needy nations.
But Mr Anti-Corruption had no hesitation in ordering a very hefty but dodgy sweetheart pay rise and promotion for his own sweetheart partner, Shaha Riza, a senior World Bank employee. The promotion and pay rise were not approved by the relevant Bank committee. ‘Twas a case of what Malaysians would term ‘cakap ta’serupa bikin’ or not walking his own anti-corruption talk.
The Bank’s top officials want him to show some decency and resign but he has refused, knowing President Bush would continue to support him.
He was asked whether he could still effectively force the bank's big borrowers to tackle corruption as a pre-condition for them receiving funds. But instead of answering that, Wolfowitz insisted he would not resign.
The bank's development committee issued a statement, which said it was crucial for the member nations of the bank to "ensure that it can effectively carry out its mandate and maintain its credibility and reputation as well as the motivation of its staff"
What many of the bank's finance ministers' are saying is that Wolfowitz should resign or be sacked.
It's like saying (very much in vain) that Bush and his cohorts, or Ehud Olmert and Ariel Sharon, should be tried for war crimes in the same way as they had tried Saddam Hussein or Slobodan Milošević.
Power sucks and absolute power sucks absolutely.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Ijok Indians racially marginalised by PKR?
Well, it seems Premesh Chandrean’s advice to the PKR, published in malaysiakini, has not been taken up – I blogged a wee bit on that in Machap - Mana magic Anwar? - Ijok? - macam mana Anwar?
PKR is likely to nominate a Malay candidate, Khalid Ibrahim, for the Ijok by-election. The PKR Youth vice-chief S Manikavasagam has expressed his unhappiness, pointing out a couple of things to the PKR top echelon, namely (1) notwithstanding that Ijok is a constituency with 50% Malay voters, the Barisan Nasional (BN) is fielding an Indian candidate, so why not PKR? and (2) Khalid Ibrahim is a political ‘parachutist’, having just joined the party less than a year ago while there are capable PKR Indian members who have been in PKR for years and could well be the nominated candidate for the by-election.
So, is PKR nothing more than a clone of the BN playing ethnic politics, or perhaps even worse because the BN will be putting up an MIC nominee?
On the surface I would say yes, and even point out that the PKR is afterall a splinter disgruntled branch of UMNO.
However, while there’s no doubt the PKR leaders are relying on Khalid Ibrahim’s ethnicity to win over the majority of Ijok’s voters, there may be more reasons, in fact with the urgency of a ‘survival’ matter.
(1) PKR has fared bloody badly in both the last general election and last year in the Sarawak state elections, by comparison to its now-convenient ally, the DAP.
(2) Its Wonder Boy hasn’t achieved anything notable in three campaigns, namely Pengkalan Pasir for PAS, Sarawak for itself and recently Machap for the DAP. Anwar Ibrahim’s political attractiveness is now in serious question.
(3) To shore up its supporters' morale and to gain some leverage for seats bargaining with the DAP soon, it must win the Ijok seat or it will see its terminal illness becoming final.
(4) It has decided that the same formula used in the 2000 Lunas by-election, that is, putting a Malay candidate against an MIC candidate in a Malay majority seat, would be the best and perhaps only option.
But perhaps it may be worthwhile reminding ourselves of what Premesh had written about the Lunas by-election:
Some suggest that the key factor for PKR’s win then was the fielding of a Malay candidate against MIC’s S Anthonysamy which brought a crucial swing of Malay votes.
However, as the then deputy president of PKR, Chandra Muzzafar wrote, it was no single factor but several that came together to produce such as dramatic swing.
These included strong dissatisfaction among the Chinese as they watched BN backtracking on 1999 election promises and anger against then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad among the Malays.
However, the victory did have its price, especially among Indian voters. As Chandra noted, "… in wake of the squabble over the Lunas seat, a serious mis-perception has developed about PKR's commitment to the interests and aspirations of the Indian minority. As a multiethnic, multireligious party devoted to justice and dignity for each and every community, PKR will have to address this issue".
Well, will the Chinese in Ijok play ball? Let’s see what Tian Chua and the DAP (which has offered to help campaign) can do? But I don’t suppose Dr Mahathir will oblige by making 'noise' prior to the Ijok day of election.
But already, dark thoughts are looming in the Indian section of the PKR. Those poor Indians feel marginalised not only by the government and the Gerakan, but now in PKR also.
The only silver lining for PKR is that over in the MIC, the pre-nomination squabble has also begun.
PKR is likely to nominate a Malay candidate, Khalid Ibrahim, for the Ijok by-election. The PKR Youth vice-chief S Manikavasagam has expressed his unhappiness, pointing out a couple of things to the PKR top echelon, namely (1) notwithstanding that Ijok is a constituency with 50% Malay voters, the Barisan Nasional (BN) is fielding an Indian candidate, so why not PKR? and (2) Khalid Ibrahim is a political ‘parachutist’, having just joined the party less than a year ago while there are capable PKR Indian members who have been in PKR for years and could well be the nominated candidate for the by-election.
So, is PKR nothing more than a clone of the BN playing ethnic politics, or perhaps even worse because the BN will be putting up an MIC nominee?
On the surface I would say yes, and even point out that the PKR is afterall a splinter disgruntled branch of UMNO.
However, while there’s no doubt the PKR leaders are relying on Khalid Ibrahim’s ethnicity to win over the majority of Ijok’s voters, there may be more reasons, in fact with the urgency of a ‘survival’ matter.
(1) PKR has fared bloody badly in both the last general election and last year in the Sarawak state elections, by comparison to its now-convenient ally, the DAP.
(2) Its Wonder Boy hasn’t achieved anything notable in three campaigns, namely Pengkalan Pasir for PAS, Sarawak for itself and recently Machap for the DAP. Anwar Ibrahim’s political attractiveness is now in serious question.
(3) To shore up its supporters' morale and to gain some leverage for seats bargaining with the DAP soon, it must win the Ijok seat or it will see its terminal illness becoming final.
(4) It has decided that the same formula used in the 2000 Lunas by-election, that is, putting a Malay candidate against an MIC candidate in a Malay majority seat, would be the best and perhaps only option.
But perhaps it may be worthwhile reminding ourselves of what Premesh had written about the Lunas by-election:
Some suggest that the key factor for PKR’s win then was the fielding of a Malay candidate against MIC’s S Anthonysamy which brought a crucial swing of Malay votes.
However, as the then deputy president of PKR, Chandra Muzzafar wrote, it was no single factor but several that came together to produce such as dramatic swing.
These included strong dissatisfaction among the Chinese as they watched BN backtracking on 1999 election promises and anger against then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad among the Malays.
However, the victory did have its price, especially among Indian voters. As Chandra noted, "… in wake of the squabble over the Lunas seat, a serious mis-perception has developed about PKR's commitment to the interests and aspirations of the Indian minority. As a multiethnic, multireligious party devoted to justice and dignity for each and every community, PKR will have to address this issue".
Well, will the Chinese in Ijok play ball? Let’s see what Tian Chua and the DAP (which has offered to help campaign) can do? But I don’t suppose Dr Mahathir will oblige by making 'noise' prior to the Ijok day of election.
But already, dark thoughts are looming in the Indian section of the PKR. Those poor Indians feel marginalised not only by the government and the Gerakan, but now in PKR also.
The only silver lining for PKR is that over in the MIC, the pre-nomination squabble has also begun.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Sabah UMNO's no to statue of Kuan Yin
I’ve posted Sabah's blessing in disguise by Kuan Yin? over at BolehTalk.
It’s a political tale of a Chinese minister in Sabah who wanted to build a statue of the Goddess of Mercy as a tourist attraction, presumably for visitors from the Far East (China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea, where the Goddess Kuan Yin or Kannon is immensely popular), but whose proposal was predictably turned down by an UMNO CM.
It’s a political tale of a Chinese minister in Sabah who wanted to build a statue of the Goddess of Mercy as a tourist attraction, presumably for visitors from the Far East (China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea, where the Goddess Kuan Yin or Kannon is immensely popular), but whose proposal was predictably turned down by an UMNO CM.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Machap - Mana magic Anwar? - Ijok? - macam mana Anwar?
Early this morning, before I had to stagger off to work, I posted Machap - now & tomorrow, basically a lamentation of not so much the failure of the DAP to pull off a surprise victory (no one expected that) but its failure to even make some headway in eroding the support of the people of Machap for the BN, and a wee discussion of whether a PKR candidate (Tian Chua was proposed) could have been a better candidate to stand against the MCA candidate.
Some sympathetic writers at malaysiakini made much ado about the MCA candidate’s reduced winning majority compared with the previous election – they used the term ‘significant’ to describe it.
Some sympathetic writers at malaysiakini made much ado about the MCA candidate’s reduced winning majority compared with the previous election – they used the term ‘significant’ to describe it.
malaysiakini table
For crying out loud, the reduction of the winning majority (still pretty hefty) was not even 500 votes, and the DAP candidate, in comparison to what he obtained in 2004, had gained just an additional 170 votes. Big deal!
Yes, the BN brought its considerable machine to bear on that constituency, and threw (public) millions every which way in the most shameful pork barrelling – there was no doubt that election rules had been compromised but tell me, would the Election Commissioner take any action or even probe that?
That’s the way the BN works and no one’s going to be able to stop its pork barrelling or the alleged dirty tricks campaign. That’s a norm to be expected, except that in a general election, its resources may be stretched a wee more thinly, but so will the opposition’s.
While it was encouraging to see Anwar Ibrahim campaigning for the DAP, and indeed a big crowd was noticed at his rally, the results indicated the same outcome as for Pengkalan Pasir.
In the Kelantan by-election, there was a 10,000 strong crowd at his rally which lent the false impression that he would galvanise the majority of the voters behind PAS. In the end, PAS lost by 134 votes.
I wrote in a previous posting that it seemed the 10,000 crowd at his rally in Pengkalan Pasir had just congregated to hear him more out of curiosity rather than political conviction.
The reality is Anwar has become a mere novelty with just entertainment value for the locals. Some BN personalities even suggested that the crowd was ‘brought’ to Machap by Anwar, what with the unusually extra number of cars and other vehicles seen at the rally.
OK, let's leave Machap as the next scene for a by-election is at Ijok.
There is a feeling that the PKR may field a Malay candidate as the locals are made up of at least 50% Malays while the Indians numbered only around 28%.
However Premesh Chandran, one of the TaiKohs at malaysiakini, opined that the PKR would be better off with an Indian candidate despite the Malay majority. Premesh provided an in-depth analysis that drew upon an earlier Chandra Muzzafar’s analysis for the 2000 Lunas by-election where PKR’s candidate Saifuddin Nasution won with a terrific voters swing against the BN.
Premesh added that an Anwar-led campaign for a PKR Indian candidate, supported by Chinese social and educationist movements, would provide the extra hare-koh (petis udang - zing) in the opposition rojak (spicy salad) for winning over the Malays and the other ethnic voters for a PKR victory.
But consider the lack of change in the voting pattern for Machap despite Anwar Ibrahim campaigning big there. So I wonder how Premesh could suppose there would be any significant swing to the opposition in Ijok even if Anwar were to work his so-called 'magic'.
And don’t forget, apart from the disappointing results for the Anwar 'magic' in Pengkalan Pasir, his campaigning was a disaster in Sarawak in May last year.
Then PKR deputy Youth chief, Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin had boasted: “Di mana-mana Anwar pergi, ribuan rakyat menghadiri program beliau, baik di kawasan bandar atau luar bandar termasuk di kubu kuat BN.”
PKR won only 1 out of 25 seats it stood in, a poor success rate of 4%, while by comparison, the DAP was victorious in 50% of the seats it campaigned for.
The following are extracts of what I had posted in Sarawak Election - Anwar Ibrahim Factor.
I personally believe that Anwar Ibrahim as the fiery magnetic reformasi (reformation) pole, that the Malaysian public had massed around some 7 years ago, has passed it’s use-by date
When he was expelled from UMNO, most anti-Mahathir people flocked around him. He mistook that as a measure of his personal popularity when it was more of a case of anti-Mahathirism. When Mahathir subsequently left the scene, Anwar lost his lustre as the focal point of the anti-Mahathirism movement. In fact, his UMNO background began to re-emerge. But he and his close followers failed to wake up to that.
One of his worst mistakes after he was released from prison was his attempt to whitewash and teflon-ise himself, by blaming everything on Mahathir. Many of his (new, not former UMNO hardcore) supporters would have respected him more if he had admitted to his errors and UMNO-ed contamination, instead of trying to deny the undeniable.
He insulted our intelligence by his pretence that he had been lily-white all along. No one had expected him to be, and he would have been forgiven for his UMNO odour if he had said “Yes, I was inside UMNO thus I failed to see things then as I see them now. My expulsion (from UMNO) has been a blessing in disguise. I now have a second chance to do things right for all Malaysians.”
Another mistake, and the one that bugs many of his erstwhile supporters most, has been his coyness about rejoining UMNO. Yes, he said he won’t, but there’s always a ‘qualification’ in his statement when he said that, which leads people to believe that Anwar still would rejoin UMNO, if that ‘qualification’ is changed or fulfilled (depending on how he had said it). Why can’t he make a declaration without any such ‘qualification’.
And recently he even offered his 'vast experience' to the government to sort out the scenic bridge fiasco with Singapore - what could we have read in that?
The general public no longer believe in him. As an example, his pontification on increased oil royalty for Sarawak came across as hypocritical and opportunistic. I am sorry to say this, but the PKR, while not exactly finished, is in a serious state of terminal illness.
It’s time PKR re-think its strategy as its so-called prize attraction is no longer the potent weapon they had been banking on to lead them to the political land of milk and honey. Yes, there will always be a core element in PKR who is completely devoted to him. But the others including Dr Syed Husin must now think of how they can contribute more meaningfully, either in PAS, DAP, or PSM.
I still hold to my reading of PKR even though Premesh Chandran (whom I respectfully bow to for his superior political knowledge and erudite analysis) described an Anwar-led PKR as in ‘resurgent’ mode.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Anwar Ibrahim sings Canto-pop songs?
malaysiakini’s columnist Manjit Bhatia, an academician resident in Australia and well-known for his invincible dislike of Dr Mahathir, wrote an article lambasting the Malaysian non-Malays for paying only lip service to their support for the opposition.
As an example of their apathetic political commitment, he singled out the general lack of non-Malay participation in the Anwar Ibrahim inspired street protest, the so-called reformasi revolution, that was launched after the former DPM was sacked from UMNO.
Among many others, I decided to write in to rebut his criticism. But unlike others I didn’t bother to explain what other forms of ‘commitments’ or strategy of support for the opposition the non-Malays may have. I merely told him why, in general, non-Malays didn’t support Anwar in those reformasi demonstrations.
My letter to malaysiakini as follows:
I refer to Manjit Bhatia's article Rock the boat? Not Malaysians, no sir....
Bhatia believes that when it comes to real, open commitment to politics or for the opposition political parties they claim to support, Chinese and Indian Malaysians are all talk but no action. He reckons the extent of their political commitment (to the opposition) has been limited to only 'kedai kopi' discussions or as the Penangites would call it, 'kong sam kok'.
'Sam kok' refers to the Three Kingdoms of the Eastern Han period (220 – 280 CE) with its Machiavellian politics, intrigues and politico-military strategies. The local term implies wannabe strategists indulging in cheap idle talk at the coffee shops, notionally solving all the world's problems but with no intention of committing themselves to any action.
As an example of the Chinese and Indian preference for 'kong sam kok', Bhatia reminds us of their lack of participation in the reformasi street demonstrations against the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim and his subsequent arrest in 1989.
I suppose one can't blame Bhatia for his outrage at the refusal of the majority of non-Malays to join in passionately in that rare occasion of public political protest. After all, Bhatia admitted he isn't a Malaysian, so how could he understand why the non-Malays, particularly the Chinese, wouldn't want to take sides in what was basically a tussle between two Umno factions - Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s and Anwar Ibrahim's?
That one side lost was inevitable and certainly not the concern of either the Chinese or Indians. That the loser suffered all the subsequent nastiness is regrettable but hardly made that bloke a political reformist. Yes, Bhatia may not even be aware that Chinese Malaysians looked upon, and still do, Anwar Ibrahim and his so-called reformasi with cynicism, distrust and indeed disdain.
Anwar Ibrahim was, to put it euphemistically, not very nice to the non-Malays when he was in power. Chinese and Indian parents still bitterly remember his Education Ministry's draconian policy to make non-Muslim students perform prayers in Muslim fashion. I also recall Saifulbahri Kamaruddin, a former Malaysian journalist writing in to malaysiakini on the hypocrisy of Anwar Ibrahim.
Unlike Bhatia, most non-Malays didn't view the so-called reformasi street protests as a clarion call for Malaysians to join in to protest against a repressive state. They didn't associate their own repression with Anwar falling on his Umno keris.
To them, Anwar was not the solution but rather part of the problem. Anwar had played for high stakes in a game that determined his personal ascendancy to the top of Umno, and which didn't include non-Malay Malaysians. So when he faltered in his ambitious endeavour, don't blame the non-Malays for not buying his spin that it was about political reforms. That's about as plausible as the Bush administration's fabrication on the Saddam Hussein-Osama Laden link.
Normally, I love to read Manjit Bhatia's articles, but in this outburst of his, I believe he has been blinded by his immense dislike of Mahathir into believing 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'. But we, who have felt the sting of Anwar's official hands, weren't and aren't so enamoured by his claim for ‘reformasi’.
Anwar Ibrahim is a man who sang the Islamic tune when he was in Abim, the nationalist chant when in Umno, Paul Anka's songs when he's talking to the Western press and now lots of Canto-pop.
As an example of their apathetic political commitment, he singled out the general lack of non-Malay participation in the Anwar Ibrahim inspired street protest, the so-called reformasi revolution, that was launched after the former DPM was sacked from UMNO.
Among many others, I decided to write in to rebut his criticism. But unlike others I didn’t bother to explain what other forms of ‘commitments’ or strategy of support for the opposition the non-Malays may have. I merely told him why, in general, non-Malays didn’t support Anwar in those reformasi demonstrations.
My letter to malaysiakini as follows:
********
I refer to Manjit Bhatia's article Rock the boat? Not Malaysians, no sir....
Bhatia believes that when it comes to real, open commitment to politics or for the opposition political parties they claim to support, Chinese and Indian Malaysians are all talk but no action. He reckons the extent of their political commitment (to the opposition) has been limited to only 'kedai kopi' discussions or as the Penangites would call it, 'kong sam kok'.
'Sam kok' refers to the Three Kingdoms of the Eastern Han period (220 – 280 CE) with its Machiavellian politics, intrigues and politico-military strategies. The local term implies wannabe strategists indulging in cheap idle talk at the coffee shops, notionally solving all the world's problems but with no intention of committing themselves to any action.
As an example of the Chinese and Indian preference for 'kong sam kok', Bhatia reminds us of their lack of participation in the reformasi street demonstrations against the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim and his subsequent arrest in 1989.
I suppose one can't blame Bhatia for his outrage at the refusal of the majority of non-Malays to join in passionately in that rare occasion of public political protest. After all, Bhatia admitted he isn't a Malaysian, so how could he understand why the non-Malays, particularly the Chinese, wouldn't want to take sides in what was basically a tussle between two Umno factions - Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s and Anwar Ibrahim's?
That one side lost was inevitable and certainly not the concern of either the Chinese or Indians. That the loser suffered all the subsequent nastiness is regrettable but hardly made that bloke a political reformist. Yes, Bhatia may not even be aware that Chinese Malaysians looked upon, and still do, Anwar Ibrahim and his so-called reformasi with cynicism, distrust and indeed disdain.
Anwar Ibrahim was, to put it euphemistically, not very nice to the non-Malays when he was in power. Chinese and Indian parents still bitterly remember his Education Ministry's draconian policy to make non-Muslim students perform prayers in Muslim fashion. I also recall Saifulbahri Kamaruddin, a former Malaysian journalist writing in to malaysiakini on the hypocrisy of Anwar Ibrahim.
Unlike Bhatia, most non-Malays didn't view the so-called reformasi street protests as a clarion call for Malaysians to join in to protest against a repressive state. They didn't associate their own repression with Anwar falling on his Umno keris.
To them, Anwar was not the solution but rather part of the problem. Anwar had played for high stakes in a game that determined his personal ascendancy to the top of Umno, and which didn't include non-Malay Malaysians. So when he faltered in his ambitious endeavour, don't blame the non-Malays for not buying his spin that it was about political reforms. That's about as plausible as the Bush administration's fabrication on the Saddam Hussein-Osama Laden link.
Normally, I love to read Manjit Bhatia's articles, but in this outburst of his, I believe he has been blinded by his immense dislike of Mahathir into believing 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'. But we, who have felt the sting of Anwar's official hands, weren't and aren't so enamoured by his claim for ‘reformasi’.
Anwar Ibrahim is a man who sang the Islamic tune when he was in Abim, the nationalist chant when in Umno, Paul Anka's songs when he's talking to the Western press and now lots of Canto-pop.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Chief Martyr Minister Tian Chua?
Now, please tell me what you think of this:
Apparently a group of KL-based independent consultants conducted a survey and found that Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), yes the reformasi party, has an outside chance to form the government in Penang and Sabah.
Bugger the qualification of ‘outside chance’ – a chance is still a chance.
And who are these consultants or the organisation they represent?
No one except PKR information chief, Tian Chua, knows them. Tian Chua revealed to us that those independent consultants have been keeping track of the public’s mood for the past four years.
Wondrously, Tian Chua proclaimed: "The mood in Penang and Sabah is fertile for change.”
"The urban mood for change is very good as witnessed in the previous state election but for the rural areas, the consultants do not have the means to objectively identify voters’ mood."
Great news but it would be nice if Tian Chua would let us know who those consultants are.
Well, even assuming the Gerakan Party and MCA in Penang will lose each and every one of their allocated seats [allocated by the UMNO TaiKoh], does that automatically mean PKR will pick up all of them to form a new government?
It certainly can if Gerakan and MCA lose all while it wins those BN seats. And don't worry about UMNO because the combined Gerakan and MCA seats are more than UMNO's.
It's sort of a reverse variation of the UMNO strategy to control Gerakan and the MCA. UMNO doesn't worry about Gerakan or MCA being too difficult to TaiKoh's dictates after nicely splitting the seats between those two Chinese dominated parties who can't get along with each other.
Ajaran tuan orang putih - divide and conquer! This way, Penang UMNO would be and has been ensured of always having the upper hand by virtue of being the BN component party with the largest number of seats.
So one could say, in terms of physics, is that the PKR's dream is fusion (of Gerakan & MCA's seats) while that of UMNO has been fission (splitting the Chinese dominated seats between twotigers little pussy cats).
But there is one inconvenient factor to Tian Chua's dream - that damn DAP! Yes, has Tian Chua forgotten about that democratic socialist (or is it socialist democratic?) party called the DAP?
Meanwhile PKR advisor Anwar Ibrahim was a bit more circumspect. He merely stated that the opposition party will make an impact in Penang and Sabah.
Note that he mentioned ‘opposition party’ and not PKR.
He advised PKR - he being the party’s advisor - to strive hard to convince the people that the party is serious about reform, and not just depend on the Gerakan and MCA to lose (I am talking about Penang only, being not very up to date with the Sabah political scene, sorry).
Now, get a load of what Anwar said to PKR:
"There is no point in bragging, talking about this and that, when we have barely 65 members at the divisional level.”
“If you cannot lead, give way for others to become number one and number two. If that is not enough, be an advisor like me."
What does he mean? Who was he referring to? Does that mean Chief Martyr Tian Chua won't become Chief Minister of Penang?
Apparently a group of KL-based independent consultants conducted a survey and found that Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), yes the reformasi party, has an outside chance to form the government in Penang and Sabah.
Bugger the qualification of ‘outside chance’ – a chance is still a chance.
And who are these consultants or the organisation they represent?
No one except PKR information chief, Tian Chua, knows them. Tian Chua revealed to us that those independent consultants have been keeping track of the public’s mood for the past four years.
Wondrously, Tian Chua proclaimed: "The mood in Penang and Sabah is fertile for change.”
"The urban mood for change is very good as witnessed in the previous state election but for the rural areas, the consultants do not have the means to objectively identify voters’ mood."
Great news but it would be nice if Tian Chua would let us know who those consultants are.
Well, even assuming the Gerakan Party and MCA in Penang will lose each and every one of their allocated seats [allocated by the UMNO TaiKoh], does that automatically mean PKR will pick up all of them to form a new government?
It certainly can if Gerakan and MCA lose all while it wins those BN seats. And don't worry about UMNO because the combined Gerakan and MCA seats are more than UMNO's.
It's sort of a reverse variation of the UMNO strategy to control Gerakan and the MCA. UMNO doesn't worry about Gerakan or MCA being too difficult to TaiKoh's dictates after nicely splitting the seats between those two Chinese dominated parties who can't get along with each other.
Ajaran tuan orang putih - divide and conquer! This way, Penang UMNO would be and has been ensured of always having the upper hand by virtue of being the BN component party with the largest number of seats.
So one could say, in terms of physics, is that the PKR's dream is fusion (of Gerakan & MCA's seats) while that of UMNO has been fission (splitting the Chinese dominated seats between two
But there is one inconvenient factor to Tian Chua's dream - that damn DAP! Yes, has Tian Chua forgotten about that democratic socialist (or is it socialist democratic?) party called the DAP?
Meanwhile PKR advisor Anwar Ibrahim was a bit more circumspect. He merely stated that the opposition party will make an impact in Penang and Sabah.
Note that he mentioned ‘opposition party’ and not PKR.
He advised PKR - he being the party’s advisor - to strive hard to convince the people that the party is serious about reform, and not just depend on the Gerakan and MCA to lose (I am talking about Penang only, being not very up to date with the Sabah political scene, sorry).
Now, get a load of what Anwar said to PKR:
"There is no point in bragging, talking about this and that, when we have barely 65 members at the divisional level.”
“If you cannot lead, give way for others to become number one and number two. If that is not enough, be an advisor like me."
What does he mean? Who was he referring to? Does that mean Chief Martyr Tian Chua won't become Chief Minister of Penang?
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Beneath the buah cherry tree (7)
The typical idyllic scene in an older part of Suburbia – a kedai kopi (coffee shop or in reality, just a stall) beneath a Malaysian ‘buah cherry’ tree. The customers sit al fresco enjoying their coffee or tea, some nasi lemak, roti canai or kueh, and their favourite hobby, casual conversation.
Ahmad: Dei, good news lah! Thank goodness the former ACA Director-General Zulkipli Mat Noor has been cleared of corruption allegations in an investigation last year by the ACA.
Muthu (gasp): Ahmad, good news? You serious ah?
Ahmad and Leong (quaffing his kopi-oh) smiled at each other …
Leong: Seorang very slow this morning lah! Hehehe …
Muthu (suddenly realising Ahmad had been dripping with sarcasm – in desperate damage control): Karn Neen nar lah. How the hell do you expect me to make kopi-oh and teh susu for you and at the same discern the bloody vinegar you’re pouring into my kettle?
Leong: Aiyah, lau peng yu, you’re really slow this morning. Even your teh tarik is not at its max length lah. Sarcasm aside, you failed to catch the important point that Ahmad mentioned!
Leong pronounced ‘mentioned’ as ‘mentioonnn’ with the ‘… tioonnn’ dragged out and falling as the Chinese 4th tone
Muthu (exasperated): Dei, what lah? Tell, tell, don’t main main saja.
Leong: The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz who’s also acting Law Minister, told parliament that the former ACA Boss was cleared of corruption by his own department.
Muthu (gasp): The Head of the ACA investigated and cleared by the ACA?
Ahmad: And that's from the mouth of our dear minister Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz right in parliament.
… revealing his punchline as well as finishing off his teh susu with a loud slurping sound
He continued: Excuse my slurping but that’s what I would like to do with the blood of those bloody blood suckers. And you know what else?
Muthu & Leong (in unison): What else?
Ahmad: That menteri contradicted himself continuously in parliament under the inquisitorial questioning of Mr Opposition. You know Lim Kit Siang ... once he has a government minister by his balls, he squeezed them hard and doesn't let go.
That Yang Berhormat got himself tied up in such a knot that would challenge even the lateral thinking of the Great Iskandar. We aren’t Malaysia Boleh for nothing.
It was inevitable that with his self contradictions, he had Lim shouting that the ACA clearing its own boss was an unmitigated disgrace! Lim went ballistic as he asked pointedly why the PM ministry said that investigation has been completed, when the IGP said otherwise?
Lim even accused Nazri of misleading parliament ... now many Malaysians may not even realise the seriousness of such a criticism directed pointedly at a minister.
Leong: Adoi ... that's nothing less than a resignation issue. Nazri should be required, by parliamentary standards, in fact by his own PM, to resign his ministerial position for misleading parliament ... but what’s the bloody point ... those BN people have no shame.
Look, one MP from Melaka dared to admit in parliament that he attempted to persuade Custom to close one eye to his illegal importation of prohibited sawn timber, yet the PM has allowed him to shame parliament by his continuing presence in the House.
He’s still sucking up the salary and perks as a Yang Berhormat. And to add insult to injury he had even tried to sabo the Custom officer who told him off. As if that wasn't enough shame for him, he even hurled tasteless sexist jokes at lady MPs, all these in parliament. No wonder people are calling the once-august institution a monkey house!
The three friends went silent after the brief conversation, stunned by the shameless arrogance of the BN minister and the government, and wondered how a great nation like Tengku’s Malaysia had decayed into the unbelievable corrupt and totally unaccountable state it is today.
The Bush Cherry Dialogues:
(1) Beneath the buah cherry tree
(2) Beneath the buah cherry tree (2)
(3) Beneath the buah cherry tree (3)
(4) Beneath the buah cherry tree (4)
(5) Beneath the buah cherry tree (5)
(6) Beneath the buah cherry tree (6)
Ahmad: Dei, good news lah! Thank goodness the former ACA Director-General Zulkipli Mat Noor has been cleared of corruption allegations in an investigation last year by the ACA.
Muthu (gasp): Ahmad, good news? You serious ah?
Ahmad and Leong (quaffing his kopi-oh) smiled at each other …
Leong: Seorang very slow this morning lah! Hehehe …
Muthu (suddenly realising Ahmad had been dripping with sarcasm – in desperate damage control): Karn Neen nar lah. How the hell do you expect me to make kopi-oh and teh susu for you and at the same discern the bloody vinegar you’re pouring into my kettle?
Leong: Aiyah, lau peng yu, you’re really slow this morning. Even your teh tarik is not at its max length lah. Sarcasm aside, you failed to catch the important point that Ahmad mentioned!
Leong pronounced ‘mentioned’ as ‘mentioonnn’ with the ‘… tioonnn’ dragged out and falling as the Chinese 4th tone
Muthu (exasperated): Dei, what lah? Tell, tell, don’t main main saja.
Leong: The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz who’s also acting Law Minister, told parliament that the former ACA Boss was cleared of corruption by his own department.
Muthu (gasp): The Head of the ACA investigated and cleared by the ACA?
Ahmad: And that's from the mouth of our dear minister Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz right in parliament.
… revealing his punchline as well as finishing off his teh susu with a loud slurping sound
He continued: Excuse my slurping but that’s what I would like to do with the blood of those bloody blood suckers. And you know what else?
Muthu & Leong (in unison): What else?
Ahmad: That menteri contradicted himself continuously in parliament under the inquisitorial questioning of Mr Opposition. You know Lim Kit Siang ... once he has a government minister by his balls, he squeezed them hard and doesn't let go.
That Yang Berhormat got himself tied up in such a knot that would challenge even the lateral thinking of the Great Iskandar. We aren’t Malaysia Boleh for nothing.
It was inevitable that with his self contradictions, he had Lim shouting that the ACA clearing its own boss was an unmitigated disgrace! Lim went ballistic as he asked pointedly why the PM ministry said that investigation has been completed, when the IGP said otherwise?
Lim even accused Nazri of misleading parliament ... now many Malaysians may not even realise the seriousness of such a criticism directed pointedly at a minister.
Leong: Adoi ... that's nothing less than a resignation issue. Nazri should be required, by parliamentary standards, in fact by his own PM, to resign his ministerial position for misleading parliament ... but what’s the bloody point ... those BN people have no shame.
Look, one MP from Melaka dared to admit in parliament that he attempted to persuade Custom to close one eye to his illegal importation of prohibited sawn timber, yet the PM has allowed him to shame parliament by his continuing presence in the House.
He’s still sucking up the salary and perks as a Yang Berhormat. And to add insult to injury he had even tried to sabo the Custom officer who told him off. As if that wasn't enough shame for him, he even hurled tasteless sexist jokes at lady MPs, all these in parliament. No wonder people are calling the once-august institution a monkey house!
The three friends went silent after the brief conversation, stunned by the shameless arrogance of the BN minister and the government, and wondered how a great nation like Tengku’s Malaysia had decayed into the unbelievable corrupt and totally unaccountable state it is today.
The Bush Cherry Dialogues:
(1) Beneath the buah cherry tree
(2) Beneath the buah cherry tree (2)
(3) Beneath the buah cherry tree (3)
(4) Beneath the buah cherry tree (4)
(5) Beneath the buah cherry tree (5)
(6) Beneath the buah cherry tree (6)
Monday, April 09, 2007
Crime rate & chicken poo police
Hangat hangat tahi ayam is a Malay saying which translate into ‘as hot as chicken poo’ meaning the initial show of enthusiasm would diminish as fast as chook poo cools, which would be very rapid.
Remember those senior police officer who personally took to the streets in a show of force to combat crime?
Five months ago the police boldly promised a crime rate of zero which was pretty brave but stupid. But even allowing for that exaggeration, how would the police today explain the crime rate shooting upwards instead to an all time high of 40%.
Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang said: “Malaysians can still remember reading news reports in November last year of the police boasting ‘there are virtually no more cases of snatch theft and wayside robbery in several crime-prone areas in the city, including the golden triangle.’”
Then the police then had attributed this to the presence of senior cops in patrolling the streets.
Just last week the PM called for an all out war against crime along the lines of the authority’s fight during the Emergency. Then, the war against the CT could be attributed to the amazing professionalism and competency of the Special Branch. But today, a new generation of police officers are now in place, apart from the Special Branch concentrating its attention, not on crime, but against opposition parties and … yes, bloggers.
Lim Kit Siang asked why the new police strategy to reduce crimes was not only so short-lived, but worst still, counter-productive.
He quipped: “Have the senior police officers been pulled out of patrolling the streets, which had been given so much publicity as the new strategy to increase police presence to fight crime?”
That so-called strategy, of senior officer patrolling the streets instead of planning and managing the fight against crime, has been one of the worst publicity stunt ever. No one really believes it to be anything but sheer nonsense.
Does anyone expect generals to fight like an infantry trooper, with a rifle in the trench? It would be a stupid army that does that, and we had a moronic and bankrupt-of-idea police force which went for cheap gimmickry, in an attempt to pull the wool over the PM’s eyes.
The senior police management deserve to be described as tahi ayam (chicken poo).
Remember those senior police officer who personally took to the streets in a show of force to combat crime?
Five months ago the police boldly promised a crime rate of zero which was pretty brave but stupid. But even allowing for that exaggeration, how would the police today explain the crime rate shooting upwards instead to an all time high of 40%.
Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang said: “Malaysians can still remember reading news reports in November last year of the police boasting ‘there are virtually no more cases of snatch theft and wayside robbery in several crime-prone areas in the city, including the golden triangle.’”
Then the police then had attributed this to the presence of senior cops in patrolling the streets.
Just last week the PM called for an all out war against crime along the lines of the authority’s fight during the Emergency. Then, the war against the CT could be attributed to the amazing professionalism and competency of the Special Branch. But today, a new generation of police officers are now in place, apart from the Special Branch concentrating its attention, not on crime, but against opposition parties and … yes, bloggers.
Lim Kit Siang asked why the new police strategy to reduce crimes was not only so short-lived, but worst still, counter-productive.
He quipped: “Have the senior police officers been pulled out of patrolling the streets, which had been given so much publicity as the new strategy to increase police presence to fight crime?”
That so-called strategy, of senior officer patrolling the streets instead of planning and managing the fight against crime, has been one of the worst publicity stunt ever. No one really believes it to be anything but sheer nonsense.
Does anyone expect generals to fight like an infantry trooper, with a rifle in the trench? It would be a stupid army that does that, and we had a moronic and bankrupt-of-idea police force which went for cheap gimmickry, in an attempt to pull the wool over the PM’s eyes.
The senior police management deserve to be described as tahi ayam (chicken poo).
Lies & power behind US invasion of Iraq
Before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the CIA and even the Pentagon intelligence stated that the Iraqi government had no working contact with al-Qaeda.
That was of course ignored by the Bush Administration, who after realising that the WMD lie was not adequate enough as a plausible casus belli to attack, invade, and occupy Iraq, concocted up a Saddam Hussein’s link with al Qaeda.
The Bush Administration exploited American fear and hatred of al Qaeda, after that terrorist organisation made a series of attacks on US Embassies in Africa, a suicide attack on the USS Cole in Aden, and the mother of them all, the 9/11 Twin Tower attack.
Yessirree, throw in the al Qaeda name and you get Americans and America in topsy-turvy turmoil of both hated and deep fear – a sure winner for whatever Bush Administration fabrication and nonsense it chose to peddle.
Now, the Pentagon has declassified the whole 120-page document of its interrogations of Saddam Hussein and other seized documents which confirmed that there was no such link between the former Iraqi regime and al-Qaeda. In fact, in February it had already issued a two-page resumé of the report.
This late confirmation nonetheless destroyed the second nonsense of the three Bush Administration’s arguments for the war. Hans Blix of the UN Weapons Inspectorate had dismissed the first, that of WMD and Tony B-liar’s fabrication of a 45 minutes flight from Saddam’s launch pad to London.
The third nonsense? Of course that of ‘regime change’, which in all appropriateness should have been directed against an oppressive brutal Nazi-like Likud-Kadima Israeli government. But alas, the world wasn’t meant to be fair, not with a moronic US President who has been led by the nose all the way into the Iraqi quagmire.
Talking about Israel, guess who was the bloke who provided this fabrication of the Saddam-Osama nexus?
None other than Douglas Feith.
The Pentagon report stated that the office of then-undersecretary of defence Douglas Feith, one of the foremost advocates for invading Iraq after the 2001 attacks, had deliberately ignored the CIA's position.
Feith, like Paul Wolfowitz, another strong advocate for invading Iraq (and Anwar Ibrahim’s good buddy), is an American Jew with relatives in Israel.
Feith’s office claimed that Baghdad had a working relationship with al-Qaeda. In a briefing to the chief of staff of Vice President Dick Cheney in September 2002, Feith falsely presented the al Qaeda-Iraq relationship as ‘mature’ and ‘symbiotic’. He alleged that the two cooperated in 10 areas, including training, financing and logistics.
The Bush Administration picked up Feith’s briefing as a casus belli for war against Iraq, despite the US intelligence community stating at the time there were ‘no conclusive sign’ of any links between Iraq and al-Qaeda, and that ‘direct cooperation ... has not been established’ between the two.
Now, here’s a bit of background about the sort of person Douglas Feith has been. His father Dalck was a member of the Betar, a Revisionist Zionist youth organization in Poland. The Jewist terrorist group, Irgun of which former Israeli PMs Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir were members, sprung from the Betar. Irgun subsequently became Likud (the party of both Benjamin Netanyahu, and Ariel Sharon), which splintered off into Kadima, the current party ruling Israel in coalition with Labour.
In its early days, Zionist revisionism advocated the creation of a Jewish state on both sides of the Jordan River, that is, a state which would include the present-day West Bank and all or part of the modern state of Jordan.
Menachem Begin was such a terrorist and Zionist-religious fanatic that during his visit to New York City sometime in December, 1948, two dozen prominent Jews including Albert Einstein, Hannah Arendt, and Sidney Hook wrote a letter to the New York Times condemning Begin and his party.
They compared Revisionist Zionism (like Menachem Begin’s terrorist group Irgun) to Nazi and fascist parties’, which as KTemoc has often averred, still exist in Israel with all its Gestapo and SS brutal atrocities against Palestinians.
The Einstein group declared that it would be inconceivable for those who opposed fascism throughout the world to support the movement Begin represented. Begin's Irgun participated in the massacre of 260 Palestnians at Deir Yassin, an Israeli version of My Lai.
Well, the USA took no notice of those prominent American Jews, and today, Begin’s equally fascist heirs are continuing to enjoy American patronage and protection for their war crimes against the Palestinian and Lebanese people.
Douglas Feith, a scion of a Betar member, has been a brilliant scholar who graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1975. While at Harvard, Feith’s mentor was Professor Richard Pipes, the head of Harvard's Russian Research Center and the father of Daniel Pipes, also an American Jew reputed to be virulently anti-Arab.
Jolly ‘good’ company and that sort of upbringing.
But the irony for the USA is this man showed such dedicated loyalty to Israel that you wonder whether he's an American citizen. According to The Nelson Report, a Washington newsletter, when Feith was standing in for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at a 2003 interagency 'Principals' Meeting' debating the Middle East, after he ended his remarks on behalf of the Pentagon, Condoleezza Rice said to him:
"Thanks Doug, but when we want the Israeli position we'll invite the ambassador."
It goes to show.
In 1997, he even published a lengthy article ‘A Strategy for Israel’. Two years later, Feith was one of those who signed an open letter to President Bill Clinton calling for the US to get rid of Saddam Hussein, who was a thorn in Israel’s side.
Feith also served on the board of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), a think tank that claims to promote military and strategic alliance between the US and Israel, but has a more important objective, that of educating American leaders on what it [JINSA] views as the vital strategic relationship between the United States and Israel, in other words, Israeli interests.
The Nation, the oldest continuously published weekly political magazine in the US, described JINSA’s program as:
"The bulk of JINSA's modest annual budget is spent on taking a bevy of retired US generals and admirals to Israel, where JINSA facilitates meetings between Israeli officials and the still-influential US flag officers, who, upon their return to the States, happily write op-eds and sign letters and advertisements championing the Likudnik line."
Inother words, JINSA promotes the ideology and policies of the Likud Party of Israel to the US military.
The Nation also alleged that JINSA are underwritten by far-right American Zionists who believed strongly that 'regime change by any means necessary in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian Authority is an urgent imperative. Anyone who dissents -- be it Colin Powell's State Department, the CIA or career military officers -- is committing heresy against articles of faith that effectively hold there is no difference between US and Israeli national security interests, and that the only way to assure continued safety and prosperity for both countries is through hegemony in the Middle East -- a hegemony achieved with the traditional cold war recipe of feints, force, clientism and covert action.’
According to Karen DeYoung's 2006 biography of Colin Powell, Powell stated that 'JINSA had influenced Vice President Richard Cheney and others in the Bush administration to rid Israel of Palestine's supporters and protect Israel's security by neutralizing Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Libya by invading and changing those regimes to democracies.'
‘… regimes to democracies …’ means regimes subservient or friendly to Israel, like Jordan and Egypt.
But it explains why the US had insisted on the folly of invading Iraq against the advice of its intelligence community, the State Department (then under Colin Powell) and its European allies (except for sycophant Tony B-Liar) and frequently threatens Iran. It's a decision of Israel, by Israel and for Israel - hallelujah!
Feith also cofounded the organization ‘One Jerusalem’ to oppose the Oslo peace agreement. Its purpose is ‘saving a united Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel.’
Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski, who was a Desk Officer in Feith's Policy organization, spoke of Feith as a very arrogant person. She said of the way Feith worked: "He doesn't utilize a wide variety of inputs. He seeks information that confirms what he already thinks. And he may go to jail for leaking classified information to The Weekly Standard."
Kwiatkowski believed that an article that appeared in the right wing The Weekly Standard included a classified memo written by Feith alleging ties between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda.
Two other neo conservative American Jews, William Kristol and Robert Kagan are top people in the The Weekly Standard and also founding members of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), a neo conservative think-tank with strong ties to the American Heritage Foundation, and which had advocated the invasion and occupation of Iraq as early back as Bill Clinton’s presidency. Clinton ignored their Iraqi proposal.
Other notable members of PNAC have been Elliott Abrams (of the ilk of Douglas Feith, perhaps even more so), Aaron Friedberg, and Paul Wolfowitz.
And who has benefitted most from the US invasion of Iraq?
No prize if you say Israel.
Now, if this sounds like a conspiracy theory of Israeli domination of the world (or at least of an aimless USA under a moron), well, let's say it's just a coincidence.
Iran, another thorn in Israel's side and a more frightening one than Saddam's Iraq, would have been next for US attack, invasion and occupation if the US isn't currently stuck in the blood bath that is Iraq. But with Bush still in the chair, the bets of Iran being attacked from the air isn't completely off yet.
That was of course ignored by the Bush Administration, who after realising that the WMD lie was not adequate enough as a plausible casus belli to attack, invade, and occupy Iraq, concocted up a Saddam Hussein’s link with al Qaeda.
The Bush Administration exploited American fear and hatred of al Qaeda, after that terrorist organisation made a series of attacks on US Embassies in Africa, a suicide attack on the USS Cole in Aden, and the mother of them all, the 9/11 Twin Tower attack.
Yessirree, throw in the al Qaeda name and you get Americans and America in topsy-turvy turmoil of both hated and deep fear – a sure winner for whatever Bush Administration fabrication and nonsense it chose to peddle.
Now, the Pentagon has declassified the whole 120-page document of its interrogations of Saddam Hussein and other seized documents which confirmed that there was no such link between the former Iraqi regime and al-Qaeda. In fact, in February it had already issued a two-page resumé of the report.
This late confirmation nonetheless destroyed the second nonsense of the three Bush Administration’s arguments for the war. Hans Blix of the UN Weapons Inspectorate had dismissed the first, that of WMD and Tony B-liar’s fabrication of a 45 minutes flight from Saddam’s launch pad to London.
The third nonsense? Of course that of ‘regime change’, which in all appropriateness should have been directed against an oppressive brutal Nazi-like Likud-Kadima Israeli government. But alas, the world wasn’t meant to be fair, not with a moronic US President who has been led by the nose all the way into the Iraqi quagmire.
Talking about Israel, guess who was the bloke who provided this fabrication of the Saddam-Osama nexus?
None other than Douglas Feith.
The Pentagon report stated that the office of then-undersecretary of defence Douglas Feith, one of the foremost advocates for invading Iraq after the 2001 attacks, had deliberately ignored the CIA's position.
Feith, like Paul Wolfowitz, another strong advocate for invading Iraq (and Anwar Ibrahim’s good buddy), is an American Jew with relatives in Israel.
Feith’s office claimed that Baghdad had a working relationship with al-Qaeda. In a briefing to the chief of staff of Vice President Dick Cheney in September 2002, Feith falsely presented the al Qaeda-Iraq relationship as ‘mature’ and ‘symbiotic’. He alleged that the two cooperated in 10 areas, including training, financing and logistics.
The Bush Administration picked up Feith’s briefing as a casus belli for war against Iraq, despite the US intelligence community stating at the time there were ‘no conclusive sign’ of any links between Iraq and al-Qaeda, and that ‘direct cooperation ... has not been established’ between the two.
Now, here’s a bit of background about the sort of person Douglas Feith has been. His father Dalck was a member of the Betar, a Revisionist Zionist youth organization in Poland. The Jewist terrorist group, Irgun of which former Israeli PMs Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir were members, sprung from the Betar. Irgun subsequently became Likud (the party of both Benjamin Netanyahu, and Ariel Sharon), which splintered off into Kadima, the current party ruling Israel in coalition with Labour.
In its early days, Zionist revisionism advocated the creation of a Jewish state on both sides of the Jordan River, that is, a state which would include the present-day West Bank and all or part of the modern state of Jordan.
Menachem Begin was such a terrorist and Zionist-religious fanatic that during his visit to New York City sometime in December, 1948, two dozen prominent Jews including Albert Einstein, Hannah Arendt, and Sidney Hook wrote a letter to the New York Times condemning Begin and his party.
They compared Revisionist Zionism (like Menachem Begin’s terrorist group Irgun) to Nazi and fascist parties’, which as KTemoc has often averred, still exist in Israel with all its Gestapo and SS brutal atrocities against Palestinians.
The Einstein group declared that it would be inconceivable for those who opposed fascism throughout the world to support the movement Begin represented. Begin's Irgun participated in the massacre of 260 Palestnians at Deir Yassin, an Israeli version of My Lai.
Well, the USA took no notice of those prominent American Jews, and today, Begin’s equally fascist heirs are continuing to enjoy American patronage and protection for their war crimes against the Palestinian and Lebanese people.
Douglas Feith, a scion of a Betar member, has been a brilliant scholar who graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1975. While at Harvard, Feith’s mentor was Professor Richard Pipes, the head of Harvard's Russian Research Center and the father of Daniel Pipes, also an American Jew reputed to be virulently anti-Arab.
Jolly ‘good’ company and that sort of upbringing.
But the irony for the USA is this man showed such dedicated loyalty to Israel that you wonder whether he's an American citizen. According to The Nelson Report, a Washington newsletter, when Feith was standing in for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld at a 2003 interagency 'Principals' Meeting' debating the Middle East, after he ended his remarks on behalf of the Pentagon, Condoleezza Rice said to him:
"Thanks Doug, but when we want the Israeli position we'll invite the ambassador."
It goes to show.
In 1997, he even published a lengthy article ‘A Strategy for Israel’. Two years later, Feith was one of those who signed an open letter to President Bill Clinton calling for the US to get rid of Saddam Hussein, who was a thorn in Israel’s side.
Feith also served on the board of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), a think tank that claims to promote military and strategic alliance between the US and Israel, but has a more important objective, that of educating American leaders on what it [JINSA] views as the vital strategic relationship between the United States and Israel, in other words, Israeli interests.
The Nation, the oldest continuously published weekly political magazine in the US, described JINSA’s program as:
"The bulk of JINSA's modest annual budget is spent on taking a bevy of retired US generals and admirals to Israel, where JINSA facilitates meetings between Israeli officials and the still-influential US flag officers, who, upon their return to the States, happily write op-eds and sign letters and advertisements championing the Likudnik line."
Inother words, JINSA promotes the ideology and policies of the Likud Party of Israel to the US military.
The Nation also alleged that JINSA are underwritten by far-right American Zionists who believed strongly that 'regime change by any means necessary in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian Authority is an urgent imperative. Anyone who dissents -- be it Colin Powell's State Department, the CIA or career military officers -- is committing heresy against articles of faith that effectively hold there is no difference between US and Israeli national security interests, and that the only way to assure continued safety and prosperity for both countries is through hegemony in the Middle East -- a hegemony achieved with the traditional cold war recipe of feints, force, clientism and covert action.’
According to Karen DeYoung's 2006 biography of Colin Powell, Powell stated that 'JINSA had influenced Vice President Richard Cheney and others in the Bush administration to rid Israel of Palestine's supporters and protect Israel's security by neutralizing Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Libya by invading and changing those regimes to democracies.'
‘… regimes to democracies …’ means regimes subservient or friendly to Israel, like Jordan and Egypt.
But it explains why the US had insisted on the folly of invading Iraq against the advice of its intelligence community, the State Department (then under Colin Powell) and its European allies (except for sycophant Tony B-Liar) and frequently threatens Iran. It's a decision of Israel, by Israel and for Israel - hallelujah!
Feith also cofounded the organization ‘One Jerusalem’ to oppose the Oslo peace agreement. Its purpose is ‘saving a united Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel.’
Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski, who was a Desk Officer in Feith's Policy organization, spoke of Feith as a very arrogant person. She said of the way Feith worked: "He doesn't utilize a wide variety of inputs. He seeks information that confirms what he already thinks. And he may go to jail for leaking classified information to The Weekly Standard."
Kwiatkowski believed that an article that appeared in the right wing The Weekly Standard included a classified memo written by Feith alleging ties between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda.
Two other neo conservative American Jews, William Kristol and Robert Kagan are top people in the The Weekly Standard and also founding members of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), a neo conservative think-tank with strong ties to the American Heritage Foundation, and which had advocated the invasion and occupation of Iraq as early back as Bill Clinton’s presidency. Clinton ignored their Iraqi proposal.
Other notable members of PNAC have been Elliott Abrams (of the ilk of Douglas Feith, perhaps even more so), Aaron Friedberg, and Paul Wolfowitz.
And who has benefitted most from the US invasion of Iraq?
No prize if you say Israel.
Now, if this sounds like a conspiracy theory of Israeli domination of the world (or at least of an aimless USA under a moron), well, let's say it's just a coincidence.
Iran, another thorn in Israel's side and a more frightening one than Saddam's Iraq, would have been next for US attack, invasion and occupation if the US isn't currently stuck in the blood bath that is Iraq. But with Bush still in the chair, the bets of Iran being attacked from the air isn't completely off yet.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Jangan peduli rimba lah!
I have blogged on PAS not seeing wood for the trees? over at BolehTalk.
The title of that posting is the kinder conclusion of PAS’s motive in the case of FT Gerakan calling for the sacking of the Perak Mufti. The nastier one would be PAS exploiting a religious issue for its own political benefit.
The title of that posting is the kinder conclusion of PAS’s motive in the case of FT Gerakan calling for the sacking of the Perak Mufti. The nastier one would be PAS exploiting a religious issue for its own political benefit.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
The King is dead. Long live the Princess?
Look, I am sure Nurul Izzah Anwar is a wonderful and sweet lady. I admire her teenage campaign to free her papa. And which child would want to see daddy in prison?
But I believe things have gone a wee too far when some members of the press (not the mainstream ones of course) start to title her as Puteri Reformasi or Princess of (political) Reforms.
It’s not her fault of course but what has she done in terms of political reforms to earn that title?
I question this cult development of her personality.
Has it been to shore up the faltering momentum of PKR, as Anwar Ibrahim hasn’t make much headway with his own campaign to resurrect his political fortune.
Or are we following the dynastic inclination of politics in the southern continent, like Pakistan, India, Bangla Desh and Sri Lanka, where daughters stepped conveniently into the shoes of famous daddies?
But I believe things have gone a wee too far when some members of the press (not the mainstream ones of course) start to title her as Puteri Reformasi or Princess of (political) Reforms.
It’s not her fault of course but what has she done in terms of political reforms to earn that title?
I question this cult development of her personality.
Has it been to shore up the faltering momentum of PKR, as Anwar Ibrahim hasn’t make much headway with his own campaign to resurrect his political fortune.
Or are we following the dynastic inclination of politics in the southern continent, like Pakistan, India, Bangla Desh and Sri Lanka, where daughters stepped conveniently into the shoes of famous daddies?
Friday, April 06, 2007
A quiet Good Friday posting
Peace on Earth on this very special day for our Christian friends.
Some of my old postings for Good Friday & Easter:
(1) Judas Iscariot - Betrayer or Scapegoat? posted on 28 March 2005
(2) Rehabilitation - Judas Iscariot? posted on 14 April 2006
(3) Christianity Spread Because Circumcision Not Required! posted 27 March 2005
Some of my old postings for Good Friday & Easter:
(1) Judas Iscariot - Betrayer or Scapegoat? posted on 28 March 2005
(2) Rehabilitation - Judas Iscariot? posted on 14 April 2006
(3) Christianity Spread Because Circumcision Not Required! posted 27 March 2005
Thursday, April 05, 2007
about the Mufti with supersonic mouth
I posted PAS: Gerakan biadap over at BolehTalk, a tale of the Mufti of Perak and his rumour mongering.
Get those damn lying bloggers
Looks like the government is running scared of bloggers. Its claim has been that bloggers have been posting lies about the wonderful AAB government.
It’s bloggers’ “lies” like corruption, mismanagement, cronyism, non accountability, non transparency, unexplainable disproportionate lifestyle that far exceeds incomes of government ministers and officials, that have confused the rakyat and therefore to be curbed.
The government wants to register bloggers so that it knows where to make a midnight knock to put some sense into those maverick bloggers who have the damn nerve to expose (with 'lies' of course) the elected and appointed Tuankus.
Pots of rice, luxurious mansion in Perth, sleek super-streamline yacht, executive jet, commissions from submarine purchase, close one eye to illegally imported timber, thousands of APs given out, PORR and 2nd bridge link non-tendered awards, RM9.2 million loan without collateral, ACA chief's alleged corruption and alleged sexual assault of a woman, official discrimination against Malaysian pan-Asian faces, institutionalised racism and thuggism in universities, police misconduct, price hikes in sugar, fuel, tolls etc hould never have been mentioned nor discussed as these would only ‘confused’ the rakyat.
Those damn bloody lying bloggers must be identified, indexed and incarcerated.
Well, the government is not unreasonable – at least take these anti-bloggers measures until the general election is over. Then there would be another 5 years of undisturbed whatever.
Besides, 80% of those damn lying bloggers are unemployed women. Women shoudl be put in their places. Leaving those women unemployed allow them too much free time to indulge in idle evil ways like gossiping, which basically is what blogging is about anyway.
Put chastity belts over their mouth, eyes, and little typing fingers. That should teach those lying bloggers. Hidup Malaysia.
It’s bloggers’ “lies” like corruption, mismanagement, cronyism, non accountability, non transparency, unexplainable disproportionate lifestyle that far exceeds incomes of government ministers and officials, that have confused the rakyat and therefore to be curbed.
The government wants to register bloggers so that it knows where to make a midnight knock to put some sense into those maverick bloggers who have the damn nerve to expose (with 'lies' of course) the elected and appointed Tuankus.
Pots of rice, luxurious mansion in Perth, sleek super-streamline yacht, executive jet, commissions from submarine purchase, close one eye to illegally imported timber, thousands of APs given out, PORR and 2nd bridge link non-tendered awards, RM9.2 million loan without collateral, ACA chief's alleged corruption and alleged sexual assault of a woman, official discrimination against Malaysian pan-Asian faces, institutionalised racism and thuggism in universities, police misconduct, price hikes in sugar, fuel, tolls etc hould never have been mentioned nor discussed as these would only ‘confused’ the rakyat.
Those damn bloody lying bloggers must be identified, indexed and incarcerated.
Well, the government is not unreasonable – at least take these anti-bloggers measures until the general election is over. Then there would be another 5 years of undisturbed whatever.
Besides, 80% of those damn lying bloggers are unemployed women. Women shoudl be put in their places. Leaving those women unemployed allow them too much free time to indulge in idle evil ways like gossiping, which basically is what blogging is about anyway.
Put chastity belts over their mouth, eyes, and little typing fingers. That should teach those lying bloggers. Hidup Malaysia.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
nice mansion in Perth
posted at BolehTalk - Elegant Mansion in Oz where the world's most southern nasi kandar stall is.
Corruption investigation - elegant circular route to nowhere
Remember Cyclops in Monkey House?
Yes, that untouchable bloke in the so-called Parliament who admitted openly that he asked the Malacca Customs and Excise Department to ‘close one eye’ to his consignment of seized illegal sawn timber, and release it.
What happened to the parliamentary inquiry, in which so-called process saw JB MP Shahrir Samad lose his position as chairman of the back benchers club?
It’s the typical AAB government’s elegant non-action, with the tactic of remaining silent until people forget about it – after all, aren’t we Malaysian notorious about our mudah lupa attitude?
Same story or tactic applies to the current AAAB government’s cover up of the corruption allegations against former Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) director-general Zulkipli Mat Noor.
Movement for Democracy and Anti-Corruption (Gerak) chairperson Ezam Mohd Nor accused the government of deliberately letting the case ‘fade away’. Even the lapse of Zulkipli's contract, by not extending it after it expired on a few days ago, has been part of that tactic.
Ezam asked: “We have enough reasons to question the sincerity and seriousness of the government in this issue. Firstly, why does it take so long to investigate? We are concerned that the authorities are trying to buy time and let the issue fade away.”
He claimed that this has not been the first time the government has covered up corruption allegations, citing the allegation against former Pahang Menteri Besar Khalil Yaacob in the awarding of timber concessions.
In 2001, former Beserah state assemblyperson Fauzi Abdul Rahman had lodged a police report over this. UMNO launched an internal inquiry (ha ha ha – ‘internal’ inquiry) into Khalil, who was then party secretary-general and information minister. Khalil has since been pushed upstairs to become governor of Malacca.
Ezam said: “There was a police report against Khalil, but no investigation, Khalil was just released from his government post as minister. Nothing more than that. We are afraid the same thing might happen (with Zulkipli’s case).”
Ezam also referred to another corruption scandal involving Deputy Internal Security Minister Mohd Johari Bahrum who was alleged to have accepted RM5.5 million in bribes to free certain criminal suspects held under the Emergency Ordinance.
Guess who’s investigating the case?
Yes, the ACA, whose head is being investigated by the police, whose misdemeanours would of course (theoretically) be investigated by the ACA whose misdemeanours would be investigated by …….. you get the idea of the elegant circular route to nowhere?
Yes, that untouchable bloke in the so-called Parliament who admitted openly that he asked the Malacca Customs and Excise Department to ‘close one eye’ to his consignment of seized illegal sawn timber, and release it.
What happened to the parliamentary inquiry, in which so-called process saw JB MP Shahrir Samad lose his position as chairman of the back benchers club?
It’s the typical AAB government’s elegant non-action, with the tactic of remaining silent until people forget about it – after all, aren’t we Malaysian notorious about our mudah lupa attitude?
Same story or tactic applies to the current AAAB government’s cover up of the corruption allegations against former Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) director-general Zulkipli Mat Noor.
Movement for Democracy and Anti-Corruption (Gerak) chairperson Ezam Mohd Nor accused the government of deliberately letting the case ‘fade away’. Even the lapse of Zulkipli's contract, by not extending it after it expired on a few days ago, has been part of that tactic.
Ezam asked: “We have enough reasons to question the sincerity and seriousness of the government in this issue. Firstly, why does it take so long to investigate? We are concerned that the authorities are trying to buy time and let the issue fade away.”
He claimed that this has not been the first time the government has covered up corruption allegations, citing the allegation against former Pahang Menteri Besar Khalil Yaacob in the awarding of timber concessions.
In 2001, former Beserah state assemblyperson Fauzi Abdul Rahman had lodged a police report over this. UMNO launched an internal inquiry (ha ha ha – ‘internal’ inquiry) into Khalil, who was then party secretary-general and information minister. Khalil has since been pushed upstairs to become governor of Malacca.
Ezam said: “There was a police report against Khalil, but no investigation, Khalil was just released from his government post as minister. Nothing more than that. We are afraid the same thing might happen (with Zulkipli’s case).”
Ezam also referred to another corruption scandal involving Deputy Internal Security Minister Mohd Johari Bahrum who was alleged to have accepted RM5.5 million in bribes to free certain criminal suspects held under the Emergency Ordinance.
Guess who’s investigating the case?
Yes, the ACA, whose head is being investigated by the police, whose misdemeanours would of course (theoretically) be investigated by the ACA whose misdemeanours would be investigated by …….. you get the idea of the elegant circular route to nowhere?
Monday, April 02, 2007
Water - gift of God, grief of man
There are three things that mankind can’t do without – air, sun and water, which may explain why the ancients worshipped the three in various forms.
In fact, the world’s first monotheism was worship of the Sun as the one and only God. Pharaoh Akhenaten* of the Middle Kingdom dynasty may be said to be the first person to start monotheistic worship, that of the Aten, represented by a sun disk.
* remember this name – I’ve a few things to say about him in future postings
Leaving aside the Sun, which we can do bugger about, as it will burn itself and eventually expand to make Earth uninhabitable in around 4 to 5 billion years time, and the air which we persist in polluting, as well as through deforestation, etc, reduce Earth’s ability to cleanse it, there leaves the only one item within our immediate and practical control – water.
It has been said that the day is soon arriving when water will be worth more than oil or even gold in weight.
We are getting more drinkers (increased population, agriculture and industry, apart from selling our natural heritage to a nearby country) and more pollution but less available drinkable water – or more correctly, less of the traditional sources of drinkable water – and not collecting and storing water when it’s in its bountiful availability.
There is now a growing awareness and fear in many countries that we have left it a wee too late, but nonetheless a vital issue to work on immediately before the water scarcity gets worse.
So what do we do in recent times?
We privatise out water resources (of course apart from pawning some of it off to Singapore while in public we make much ado about getting an equal return from the skinflints down south – bloody hypocrites, aren’t we?)
It seems that Hermen Shastri, general secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia’s (CCM) has now urged church leaders to object to the privatisation of water at the expense of the people.
OK, that’s not so bad, and I would support it as well.
Shastri and the other panelists who spoke on the perspective of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism as well as Orang Asli spiritual beliefs in relation to water, were unanimous in objecting to restricting access to water, especially to the poor, based merely on profit considerations.
Again I have no problems with this, and again I support it.
Then he also called for religious leaders in the country to apply the teachings of their respective scriptures on water and declare their opposition to the ‘profit-isation’ of the natural resource.
He sermonised: “Water was created by God as a gift for all people.”
Hey, but so was land.
Now, I don’t feel comfortable about invoking the Holy Scriptures to score a political point. If we resort to the Holy Books so as to quote from them to impress upon our incompetent political managers not to privatise water, we would become what we criticise PAS or the American Christian Right for.
Lobbying or putting thr pressure on the government to stop the privatisation of water is a political process and done through the ballot box or protestations. Let's keep religion out of politics.
In fact, the world’s first monotheism was worship of the Sun as the one and only God. Pharaoh Akhenaten* of the Middle Kingdom dynasty may be said to be the first person to start monotheistic worship, that of the Aten, represented by a sun disk.
* remember this name – I’ve a few things to say about him in future postings
Leaving aside the Sun, which we can do bugger about, as it will burn itself and eventually expand to make Earth uninhabitable in around 4 to 5 billion years time, and the air which we persist in polluting, as well as through deforestation, etc, reduce Earth’s ability to cleanse it, there leaves the only one item within our immediate and practical control – water.
It has been said that the day is soon arriving when water will be worth more than oil or even gold in weight.
We are getting more drinkers (increased population, agriculture and industry, apart from selling our natural heritage to a nearby country) and more pollution but less available drinkable water – or more correctly, less of the traditional sources of drinkable water – and not collecting and storing water when it’s in its bountiful availability.
There is now a growing awareness and fear in many countries that we have left it a wee too late, but nonetheless a vital issue to work on immediately before the water scarcity gets worse.
So what do we do in recent times?
We privatise out water resources (of course apart from pawning some of it off to Singapore while in public we make much ado about getting an equal return from the skinflints down south – bloody hypocrites, aren’t we?)
It seems that Hermen Shastri, general secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia’s (CCM) has now urged church leaders to object to the privatisation of water at the expense of the people.
OK, that’s not so bad, and I would support it as well.
Shastri and the other panelists who spoke on the perspective of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism as well as Orang Asli spiritual beliefs in relation to water, were unanimous in objecting to restricting access to water, especially to the poor, based merely on profit considerations.
Again I have no problems with this, and again I support it.
Then he also called for religious leaders in the country to apply the teachings of their respective scriptures on water and declare their opposition to the ‘profit-isation’ of the natural resource.
He sermonised: “Water was created by God as a gift for all people.”
Hey, but so was land.
Now, I don’t feel comfortable about invoking the Holy Scriptures to score a political point. If we resort to the Holy Books so as to quote from them to impress upon our incompetent political managers not to privatise water, we would become what we criticise PAS or the American Christian Right for.
Lobbying or putting thr pressure on the government to stop the privatisation of water is a political process and done through the ballot box or protestations. Let's keep religion out of politics.
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