The missing public trust

Trust!

Does anyone (other than UMNO and cronies) trust the police, that they would come out with objective findings in their multi-team investigations into accusations of police brutalities against Bersih participants on 09 July 2011?

Trust!

Does anyone (other than ... wakakaka) trust the Home Affairs Minister and police in their accusation that PSM President Dr Jeyakumar and colleagues are communists?

Trust!

Does anyone (other than the usual suspects) trust the AG to expedite the court hearing of the PSM President and 5 others being communist, when it suits UMNO to incarcerate them until the 13th GE to frighten the Heartland about a revived communist presence?

Trust!

Does anyone (.... wakakaka) trust our Judiciary to be fair in hearing the police case against Dr Jeyakumar?

Trust!

Does anyone (... kekeke) trust Utusan’s assertion that the Israelis/Jews have penetrated and subverted Bersih?

5 questions on trust in our public institutions for you to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

I will answer only the last one with a qualified ‘yes’.

I believe Utusan’s allegation that the Israelis/Jews have penetrated and subverted Malaysian institutions, yes I do wakakaka, though the Malaysian institution is not Bersih, but rather the PM’s department and possibly the PDRM, respectively in the form of APCO and, if true, a much talked-about e-contract.

Malaysian dinosaurs

Dinosaur.

That’s what Star group editor Wong Chun Wai called Ibrahim Ali in his latest column article titled Talk less, listen harder, where he wrote (as advice to BN leaders out of touch with their constituencies):

“We are not interested in 100-storey buildings, stupid political quarrels, whether wives should be obedient to their husbands in bed or racist tirades from political dinosaurs like Ibrahim Ali of Perkasa.”

Though Wong referred specifically to Ibrahim Ali as the dinosaur, he was actually including most BN leaders ... mind you, not that he would make that accusation/advice too obvious.

This is particular true for MCA and Gerakan leaders who had the brazen cheek to taunt PAS and DAP for the recent Kedah ban on entertainment outlets during Ramadan, when in fact they have been the very ones who in 1997 supported UMNO in passing that piece of legislation restricting jollying during the holy month - see The Malaysian Insider's PAS: MCA, Gerakan approved nightspot ban in 1997.

In today's information-rich world, political hypocrites and liars like some MCA and Gerakan leaders are so dinosaur-ish, and thus deserving of their eventual extinction.

Kedah Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak is another one. Though the brouhaha he unnecessarily caused has now been resolved, thanks to PAS national leadership, he is known for his outdated approach which would be better placed in the fringe areas of the remote regions of the Pakistani northwest.

Another PAS dinosaur is Dr Hasan in Selangor. He remains potentially a dangerous loose cannon.

Wannabe-Melayu Dr Ridhuan Tee should also be confined to Jurassic Park.

Bersih 2.0 brought fruition to Najib's 1Malaysia

My most dearest BELOVED yang amat berhormat DATUK PM,

No no no, I am not Liow Tiong Lai, wakakaka. So sorry to disappoint you lah.

I write in to thank you for your vision of 1Malaysia and your amazing ability to realize it, though you did so (the latter) unwittingly. As we 1Malaysians would describe, your actions, and not forgetting your non-actions as well, ‘kena cannon balik’ (ricochet back at you).

By violating your personal promise to Bersih for them to use Stadium Merdeka to express their appeals for a free and fair election, at the eleventh hour, ...

by demonising the organizers of Bersih especially your ad hominem attacks against its chair person Ambiga Sreenevasan, ...

by having your police persecute the peaceful marchers (all Malaysians) with not only tear gas and chemically-laced water jets but with kicks, slaps, walloping and baton strikes, and the most gut wrenching desecration of all, ... assaulting Tung Shin hospital*, ...

you have (unwittingly) brought about the true meaning of 1Malaysia. Syabas.

* oh, may I just put in a kind word for your hamba Liow Tiong Lai - he denied there was any police tear-gassing or water attack on the hospital which showed he’ll be what UMNO wants, a well-behaved candidate for the presidency of MCA (assuming the party will still exist after the 13th GE)

I shed tears of joy when I read the personal accounts of various Bersih 2.0 participants in Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider, people like my mateys Lucia Lai and Marina Mahathir, ex servicemen like Lt Col (retired) Aw Yeang, Stephen Foong, Kristina Sze, Kashini Krishnamurty and various other peaceful and very courageous Malaysians.

I shed tears of joy because they recounted their sense of ‘belonging’ amongst other Malaysian participants, where they saw each other as Malaysians, smiling, acknowledging and accepting each other as on a common goal for the better future of Malaysia. 'Twas a very moving insight - utterly priceless. Thank you so much.

Lt Col Aw Yeang’s recall was particularly poignant when he related how during the ‘run, hide and seek’ phases of the rally, young Malay men inquired caringly about him; their “Uncle okay?” gave me goose bumps. And once again, it’s all thanks to you, my dearest BELOVED PM (reminding you of course I’m not Liow Tiong Lai wakakaka).

Their considerate sharing of salt, water, toothpaste with those less experienced with the peccadilloes of our world-renowned FRU have been touching, all very 1Malaysians.

My dearest BELOVED PM (now jangan lupa okay? I’m not Liow Tiong Lai wakakaka), isn’t it wonderful that your actions against and non-actions for Bersih have brought about that once-believed-to-be elusive semangat bangsa Malaysia? Well, the so-called ‘patriots’ in your 1st, 2nd and 3rd line of defence may disagree but we have to start somewhere, don’t we? Besides, I believe those 'patriots' wakakaka are now in the minority.

My dearest BELOVED PM (ingat, ai bukan your hamba Liow Tiong Lai lah wakakaka), you should give yourself a pat on the back for achieving something no previous Malaysian PM (not even Tunku) could achieve – in persecuting Bersih 2.0, you brought Malaysians together as they never have been.

We’ll never forget your remarkable (though unintended) deed. It deserves an entire page in the Boleh Book of Remarkable Malaysian Records.

And not only have you fused Malaysians together on Saturday, you have done what Marina Mahathir succinctly analysed:

“And when they started arresting people wearing yellow T-shirts and put (Sungai Siput MP) Dr (D) Jeyakumar in jail - he is such a good person and has done a lot of good service - people got more angry. It is not fair to accuse him of being a communist.”

“I think a lot of ordinary people decided that this is it. This is it and this is not fair, and we are going to out there and participate in the Bersih 2.0 rally.”

“There are so many accounts of the aunty types who would not ever do anything or something radical in their life or never march, and these people decided to go, even those from outside Kuala Lumpur.”

Yes, thank you also for giving us our aunty types, in particular our icon, Auntie Annie Ooi or Auntie Bersih, the Lady of Malaysian Liberty.

To conclude my letter of thanks to you, may I paraphrase Winston Churchill that:

Never in the field of Malaysian solidarity was so much owed by so many Malaysians to so few (specifically you, your unmentionable cousin, Perkasa).

I am, sir,
Your obedient servant (but not hamba Liow Tiong Lai wakakaka)

kaytee

King Canute Soi Lek & the tides of Tung Shin Hospital

Some people are great communicators, like Bill Clinton; some are giant bullsh*tters, like ... wakakaka; but some are utterly hopeless, like Chua Soi Lek and Liow Tiong Lai.

Alamak, both from the last group belong to the same political party. Would that (party) be a common denominator of those utterly hopeless communicators? I hope my matey Ti Lian Ker and former MCA president Ong Tee Keat will provide some illumination on this.

Both Liow (who considers Najib as his ‘beloved PM’) and CSL have come out badly in the Tung Shin Hospital affair.

During the Saturday Bersih event, observers reported Police firing tear gas grenades and directing their chemical-laced water cannons into the grounds of Tung Shin Hospital, raising huge outrage at the desecration of a universally recognized sanctity from violence.

When Israeli gunships attacked Lebanese ambulances in Southern Lebanon, Malaysians including UMNO apparatchiks were correctly outraged; when Israeli jets and artillery attacked Gaza hospitals we fumed and correctly demanded those Israelis be tried for war crimes.

When the PDRM ‘attacked’ Tung Shin, ‘twas not only UMNO but MCA which denied such an occurrence had taken place, in total contradiction to what the Bar Council observers and hospital staff reported.

While it’s expected of Raja Bodek II (Liow Tiong Lai) to sycophantically defend the Police (and thus his overlord, UMNO), Chua Soi Lek should have known better.

Couldn’t CSL have said one of the following?

• Let’s wait for an objective report before I comment, (or)
• I need to check with the hospital authorities before I comment, (or)
• If the feedback has been true, then it’s not appropriate for the Police to get carried away to the extent of ........, (or)
• If it has been true, I am disturbed by such an occurrence, (etc etc)

But CSL just couldn’t help himself in rushing to defend the Police.

Of course in reality he doesn’t give a fig about the police, but he worries about UMNO's feelings because Taikoh sees the police as an extension of its range of political tools.

Of course he doesn’t give a fig about UMNO but alas, UMNO is essential to the survival of MCA, himself and his son.

Without UMNO, what good is MCA?

Who would support MCA today? Certainly not the Malays or Indians! And most certainly not the majority of Chinese.

Most frighteningly, the police desecration of Tung Shin has the humongous potential to turn the stomach of most Chinese, even those in Johor still supporting MCA ... but only because CSL and his MCA choose to be identified alongside UMNO with the police.

Yes, his mistake has been in assuming the police is part of the MCA’s range of political tools when it is only that of UMNO. CSL should have treated the police like the civil service it is supposed to be, and not assume emotional protection for it.

He should have said: If the tear gassing and water jetting of Tung Shin by the police have been true, then I am deeply disturbed by such occurrences, but let’s wait for an objective report before I comment any further.

But he didn’t, in fact failed miserably to seize that golden option. Instead he stupidly tried to kill off the veracity of the report - he might as well be King Canute.

And it’s now too f* late, CSL! You have effectively kill off MCA for good.

The politics of Bersih

Politics, political, politicking, politicised, politically hijacked!

Was Bersih 2.0 any of these?

Bersih is a coalition of NGOs and political parties concerned with the poor pathetic performance of our amazing Bolehland Wonder, the Election Commission and its ‘conduct’ of both federal and state elections.

Thus Bersih’s aim is of course political, though being political doesn’t mean it is promoting the agenda of a particular political party or political group.

Unlike another political NGO, Perkasa, Bersih is not promoting the maintenance of special economic privileges on the basis of race, nor is it demanding the dissolution of what Perkasa demands to be continued.

Bersih’s goal is free and fair elections in Malaysia.

Bersih’s recent rally, commonly known as Bersih 2.0, has the following eight demands:

1. Clean the electoral roll
2. Reform postal ballot voting
3. Use of indelible ink
4. A minimum campaign period of 21 days
5. Free and fair access to media mainstream media
6. Strengthen public institutions
7. Stop corruption
8. Stop dirty politics

... though it may be reduced to only 3 essential, namely:

1. use of indelible ink to ensure that voters may only vote once
2. clean out the electoral rolls to remove entries that are no longer valid such as those of deceased people
3. abolition or at least reforms of postal votes to prevent their abuse

While Bersih also demanded that all candidates and political parties have equal access to print and broadcast media, I personally doubt the EC can do much even if it wants to, given that the BN controls most if not all of the mainstream media.

Thus Bersih's campaign has been only about the issue of '1 vote for 1 person'. On this, I would have thought there should have been one more demand, that boundaries of electoral constituencies be redrawn to support this universal adult suffrage.

As an example, take the blatantly gerrymandered case of Putrajaya constituency (approximately 6600 registered voters) versus that of Kapar constituency (112, 200 registered voters) where 1 vote in the former is worth about 17 in the latter. Obviously some Malaysian citizens are more equal than others.

While of course everyone recognises it's not possible to have absolutely equal number of votes for every constituency, the EC should have ensured that every constituency be as near equal as possible, say, around 50,000 voters per.

Putrajaya with its list of voters less than even that of a typical state assembly seat definitely does not deserve to be a federal constituency on its own. Its creation as a federal constituency on its own is typical of the EC and the reason for its loss of credibility.

Gerrymandering is not new when one looks at sardine-packed constituencies like Kapar, Bukit Bintang, and various other urban districts. But the Putrajaya federal constituency certainly takes the cake, cream and corruption home.

That the BN and its associates like Perkasa have objected to the call for free and fair elections seems to signal that the fears of Bersih has been justified, namely, elections are not as free and fair as it should be. I’m of course merely saying something every Malaysian (even those in BN) already knows, that so-called public institutions like EC, Civil Service, Police, MACC, etc aren’t (politically neutral) public services as such but UMNO institutions, though Utusan Malaysia called them ‘Malay’ institutions.

Has Bersih been politicised?

Yes, because the dictionary tells us ‘politicise’ means ‘to engage in or talk about politics’. In Malaysia, one cannot talk about EC, Civil Service, Police, MACC, and other so-called public institutes without mentioning politics, specifically the political involvement or direction of UMNO in their conduct against the opposition. Another classic example of an organization serving UMNO is the equally amazing Bolehland Wonder, the PDRM.

Was Bersih politically hijacked?

There were attempts but unsuccessful ones. Recall how Anwar Ibrahim attempted to act as if he was the leader of Bersih, declaring that he would call off Bersih 2.0 if the EC ... yadda yadda ... when he didn’t even have that authority. But then, that's Anwar. He was correctly, curtly and coldly dismissed by Ambiga Sreenevasan, the real top honcho of Bersih 2.0.

During the rally on Saturday my matey OKM confirmed there were sporadic shouts of reformasi, a call, wakakaka, associated with PKR, but these were too few to change the character of Bersih 2.0 as a rally for free and fair elections (directed at the EC), into one for Anwar Ibrahim as he must have dreamed of, wakakaka again.

Would stirring cries of Allahu Akbar imply PAS’ attempts to hijack Bersih? Though normally identified with PAS, the Islamic praise of Allah swt is not exclusively PAS and has been used by UMNO as well. I reckon it's hard to accuse PAS of any hijacking of Bersih on the basis of religious calls of inspiration.

What about the other side? We know that Perkasa, Utusan and UMNO (clumsy clowns like Hishamuddin) have collectively attempted to politicise Bersih in the worst light, with even the police involved in conducting its 'usual investigation', this time into the financial sponsors of Bersih.

And I wonder what Khairy Jamaluddin, an Oxford educated man, would have been thinking when UMNO Youth selected the slogan of 'Patriot' on its red T-shirt?

Surely he would have heard of Samuel Johnson’s famous pronouncement "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel" when he attacked John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute and his supporters for the false use of the word ‘patriotism’. Imagine KJ as the new Earl of Bute wakakaka.

But alas, that Hang Tuah-ish word may find resonance with the Heartland who wouldn't know or give a fig about Samuel Johnson, which no doubt KJ would have already taken into account.

Yes, scoundrels throughout the world love that word as it accords (so they believed) them protection, and respectability and credibility in the eyes of some (or even many). Some even brazenly and shamelessly draped themselves (and their bigoted nastiness) with the national flag.

But in the Bersih 2.0 rally, three non-party sweeties stood out for praises of their amazing courage, dignity and examples – Ambiga Sreenesavan for her leadership and cool courage, Marina Mahathir for, firstly, her courage and sense of fairness in defending Ambiga against the scurrilous ad hominem attacks by the rightwing Bolehland Wonders, and secondly, especially given the particular circumstance of her personal connections, for her walk in Bersih 2.0, and finally but not least, Aunty Bersih, the Lady of Liberty.

I salute you sweeties - you're the real patriots.

Lessons of history unheeded

I wrote the following 2 years ago, on 01 August 2009 in a post titled Anti-ISA protests magnified by FRU suppressions. The protest was not by Bersih on fair elections but about another issue, the ISA.

*****************************************************

Very stressful, hasn't it been in today's march against the ISA? Stressful for both the government and the protestors.

However, the organizers of the protest have assessed today's anti-ISA staged rallies as a success, and they are right. They have successfully captured the nation's and international attention that the Malaysian people are against the government's misuse of the ISA.

And the ar$eluck for the governmet is that this would be the general impression even if only 25% of the people supported the anti-ISA movement.

Worse, the attempted police suppression of the protesors has only martyr-ised each and every one of the participants ... exactly the outcome the Pakatan leaders would have wanted.

The government might have wished the protest rallies hadn't ocurred but alas, it did. In my opinion, the ministers (PM, Home and Information) handled the protests abysmally.

Visualize an alternative scenario - what if the government had allowed the peaceful protest to proceed unimpeded?

Yes, there would still be a protest march and ..... [consider an absence of the FRU with all its attention grabbing characteristics like chemical spraying machines, tear gas and praetorian guards and their baton charges] ..... then what???

The political effect would be very much, indeed significantly, reduced.

So why has the government chosen the option that could only aggravate and magnify the public dramas and political consequences of the anti-ISA rallies, unwittingly lending the Pakatan-led protestors far greater attention than would have been the case if there was no police/FRU interference.

Sometimes I wonder how stupid the relevant ministers had been to adopt such a counter-productive (for them) tactic - but more often that that, I wonder whether the Police had sinisterly, sinuously and successfully sold those dumbos the hardline approach ... obviously to enhance their own (police) importance and to suck the (so-called) political masters (or more likely, pundee morons) into total dependence on the men in blue.

And of course the IGP gets another highly undeserved extension to his contract.


*****************************************************

Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it - George Santayana

Bersih - its casualties

This is no laughing matter; kaytee isn’t going to wakakaka in this post, ‘coz someone died, or could be said to have been killed in the Bersih rally yesterday.

Baharuddin Ahmad was a fatal casualty of the police attack on the peaceful rally.

Many others were more fortunate, suffering at most injuries unlike poor Baharuddin.

And PM Najib has been a casualty too, where his credibility, prestige and reputation have now been mortally wounded.

Hishamuddin and his police have been notorious casualties as well - they may not even know it but they're now the most hated people in Malaysia, for their evil brutalities.

What if?

That eternal question, what if?

What if Najib’s offer of a stadium for Bersih to protest, in his very words, “from morning till night” had not been right royally sabo by his cousin and certain ‘forces’ within UMNO; what if Najib had not been presented with only bad choices, rotten fait accompli to make him backpedalled every step on his so-called 1Malaysia, and his promise of accommodation to Bersih, in the use of Stadium Merdeka for the protest against a badly tainted and seriously damaged EC?

What if Hishamuddin had shown a modicum of respect for HM the Agong, acknowledging HM’s meeting with Bersih as indicative of the legitimacy of the NGO instead of disrespectfully and defiantly insisting that the organization headed by a courageous woman whom the King saw fit to grant an audience is illegal?

But alas, Hishamuddin demonstrated that UMNO continues to be the principal and only body in Malaysia in its blatant serial commission of lèse-majesté, lying and betraying the Malays, while in the same breath hypocritically shouting Raja, agama dan bangsa.

The ‘what if’s’ do not absolve Najib from the responsibility of the horrendous outcome where the so-called guardians of the law, the Royal Malaysian police attacked Malaysian citizens, in some case, with brutal glee and vicious delight, where the internationally centuries-old sanctity of a hospital was not even immune to its atrocities - who has heard of police firing tear gas and jets of chemical-laced water into a building housing the sick. Najib was, has been and still is the PM, and the buck stops with him

One man is now dead.

And it didn’t require an outrageously Zahidi-politicized military who was made to threaten Malaysians just prior to the Bersih rally that they would shoot to kill, Perkasa (with Ibrahim Ali meekly/cowardly AWOL) or the legion of silat pseudo-warriors to take 'emotional' action – no 1st line of Najib’s defence, no 2nd line, no 3rd line was required to kill; only the inhumanity of a callous police force to deliberately leave Baharuddin Ahmad, who was seriously affected by the tear gas, unattended by proper medical people to resuscitate his breathing problems.

Malaysia as a nation has been a casualty too.

But the biggest casualty, as in any war, and war it had been, has been Truth, ...

... the Truth of a dysfunctional UMNO where its leader was not consistently in charge, upstaged every which way by intra-centrifugal forces; the Truth of a pagar-makan-padi police force, and the Truth of a cheating corrupt non-accountable entity whose crimes were disguised and camouflaged by deliberate distracting diversionary ethocentric threats, false alarms and blatant lies issued daily by the very people who blasphemously claim to be defenders of their agama.

And it infuriates me that in the IGP heading the list of honours in the YDP Negeri of Penang’s birthday awards, the respectability of the YDP Negeri has become another casualty.

Bersih's message has already spread beyond stadium

So they did throw in the kitchen sink after all, a very heavy yellow-coloured one, wakakaka.

OK, Bersih will now be held in a stadium but really does it matter, because its point (not just message but its brave stand, its courageous preparedness to stand resolutely against the evil force of a dark storm) has already been made, kau kau if I may add.

I’ve always lamented the stupidity of the police (or more correctly, its boss Hishamuddin) for resorting to use of the sledgehammer to crack mere groundnuts. For example, review past police heavy handed dispersal of candlelight vigils by a few sweeties. What if the police had left those sweeties alone? Would that have made the headlines or a few lines on page 6?

Likewise with Bersih, if the police (and Hisham) had ignored the rally, ask yourself how much impact could it have made, compared to the situation now?

Indeed, the stupidity of Hisham and his police are just unbelievable. By harassing, persecuting and threatening the organizers and supporters of Bersih, a rally as yet to take place, those goons have provided the rally and its organizers with far more credentials, credibility and credit than they could have obtained without the enhancing bullying, internationally too.

But bullies being bullies (like America and Israel), they only know one method, brute force, threats and persecution. They didn't hesitate to use UMNO Youth and scums like Perkasa, silat masters who violated the very ethics of their noble art in threatening Bersih, police, whatnot, to intimidate and harass Bersih. No brain, but the damage to PM Najib is incalculable. Najib should blame his dear cousin.

Yup, Najib, UMNO, the police and alas, Anwar are in the doldrums, shattered by the wake of the storm surrounding Bersih.

Anwar Ibrahim? Why, you may ask?

Poor bloke tried to hijack the Bersih movement (as he did in Bersih I, arriving at the final minute for a grand presidential entrance, though spoilt by the traffic jam which required him to ride pillion on a motorcycle wakakaka), but was abruptly slapped down by Ambiga Sreenevasan.

“Hands off buster” she implied in her cool dismissal of Anwar when he had the brazen cheek to suggest he could call the rally if .... yadda yadda .... Since then, I am glad he hasn’t re-attempted to muddy the Bersih water, but alamak, what loss of face for the world's greatest Reformer.

Ambiga Ambiga, she’s the person of the moment.


Her reputation has been further enhanced by a moronic threat to strip her of her citizenship, and by those goons in blue who are now investigating her bank accounts for possible financial contributions from .... whom? ... perhaps North Korea, Myanmar, Libya, PRC, Peru’s Shining Light, al Qaeda? .... wait, I’ve the perfect contributor ... The Tamil Tigers of course wakakaka.

Don’t be surprised if there should soon arise allegations of her ‘lesbianism’, ‘allegiance’ with Singapore or India, stories of her ‘sordid affairs’, etc.

But f* those goons and their foot soldiers! Question I want to ask is, will MCLM consider her candidature?

I’ll vote for the hot babe anytime.

Waiting for the kitchen sink

Really, what is there to write about the current state of affairs in Malaysia?

We all know where we're actually at, where Malaysia has openly reached the total completion of being a policed state.

I'm just waiting for UMNO to throw in the anti-Bersih kitchen sink as well, that is, if they haven't already!

PM Najib is a coward, staying quietly out of sight in the midst of this tinder dry powder keg called Malaysia as his heavy handed clumsy-mouth low-brow cousin does his hatchet job with his henchmen, where even the sanctity of Parliament was violated and thus raped by the so-called guardians of the law. Even cartoons and T-shirts represent frightening spectres to the UMNO goons. Boo, watch out for that shadow.

Ironically, Najib had a good start as a new PM, in fact succeeding somewhat in gradually turning the BN boat around with his inclusive actions and sweet talk (but those are political allowances so why begrudge him that), but alas, he was never allowed by his own party power brokers to accomplish his aim of restoring the rakyat's faith in the leadership of the BN.

Betrayed, sabotaged and derailed by power-hungry factions in his own party, padan muka, Mr Zig Zag deserves his current predicament of being in the unusual position of a recently appointed PM but one that is a lame duck. No one in his party gives two figs about his grand strategy, with vested interests constantly manouevring and manipulating racial-religious sensitivities to stampede his economic thrust towards old corrupt goals.

That we see evil in such figures as known rapists (at least two) playing main roles on the political stage reflects on our dark times. How low have these evil forces descended to, when they saw fit to coopt or shelter rapists?

Resurrection of Communism, by UMNO?

UMNO’s clarion call used to be ‘agama, bangsa dan Negara’. It has used this to arouse patriotic rallying to its banner.

Then at some stage, it decided to add ‘raja’ and kicked ‘Negara’ out.

‘Raja’ to Malays is a far more emotional word than ‘Negara’, inspiring fealty and readiness to defend their liege lord a la Hang Tuah against the Hang Jebats, which today are mainly party members of PAS, and their Chinese-Indian allies in DAP.

It’s also easier to accuse the nons, especially Chinese, of being biadap to the rulers.

Never mind that on 10 December 1992, Dr Affifuddin Omar, an UMNO man from Padang Terap, no doubt given the imprimatur by his party leaders, asked in Parliament:

"How can we continue to uphold rulers who are known to be robbers, adulterers, drunkards and kaki pukul (thugs)?" [...]

"They (the rulers) must be made to realize that they do not own this country. They are not Superman but placed on their thrones by the people. "The real power did not lie with them, but with us - the representatives of the people."

Which ‘non’ could have said that and got away? None! Only UMNO and UMNO alone could have gotten away with its abuse of the raja whom they claim to defend today.

Francis Bacon once said: “The zeal which begins with hypocrisy must conclude in treachery; at first it deceives, at last it betrays”, but obviously Boleh-UMNO has innovatively done it the other way around.

For more, see my post UMNO abusing raja, agama dan bangsa

Likewise with ‘agama dan bangsa’ against the nons, but [sigh] blast PAS, if only those anti-Malay-unity people [bloody Jebats] weren’t around to ruin the stirring ring of ‘agama, bangsa dan Negara raja’ [f* Negara anyway]

But, in spite of spoilsports PAS, the clarion call has been updated to ‘agama, bangsa dan raja’.

Agama – bloody DAP and their agenda to install a Christian PM and make Malaysia a Christian nation. Islam is under threat from those DAP crusaders.

Bangsa – bloody greedy arrogant Chinese who will take over the country.

Raja – bloody DAP, so biadap to the Agong in having elections of mosque committee members without getting HM’s permission

But but but … all above three are not true; besides, the DAP is not even involved in the last.

Doesn’t matter and we (UMNO, Utusan etc) don't give a fig – it’s the perception of the Heartland that matters, and we UMNO intends to colour this perception kau kau.

But what about the UMNO denigration of the rulers in calling them robbers, adulterers, drunkards and kaki pukul (thugs)? Ta apa lah, besides Melayu muda lupa.

What! You ask: How can they lie when they’re sprouting ‘agama’ at the same time?

Aiyoh, lying is just one of the lesser crimes they have committed, which has been why kaytee believes almost every leader in UMNO is virtually an atheist wakakaka.

But the clarion is still considered not good enough.

So what now?

From The Malaysian Insider - Bersih supporters nabbed for waging war against King, we get this news:

The police said today they are probing an alleged attempt by some Bersih activists to revive communism and are investigating 30 Parti Sosialis Malaysia PSM members including Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael Jayakumar for ‘waging war against the Yang DiPertuan Agong’.

Deputy Penang police chief Datuk Abdul Rahim Jaafar was quoted by Astro Awani as saying today that remand orders would be applied for to detain the 30 activists under Section 122 of the Penal Code. The law was used to prosecute militant terrorist group Al Ma’unah who were involved in an audacious arms heist at an army camp in 2000 and a tense stand-off in the jungles of Perak in 2000.

Under Section 122 of the Penal Code ‘Whoever collects or attempts to collect men arms or ammunition or otherwise prepares to wage war with the intention of either waging or being prepared to wage war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or any of the Rulers or the Yang di-Pertua Negeri or abets the waging or the preparation of such war shall be punished with imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term not exceeding twenty years and shall also be liable to fine’.

It is understood that the 30 activists were detained at the Sungai Dua toll plaza near Kepala Batas in Penang while on their way to attend a gathering in support of the Bersih rally planned for July 9.

Abdul Rahim said in Penang today that it was believed that the group was also trying to revive the communist ideology.

So they (not PSM but UMNO and its tool, the Police) have revived the old communist bogeyman.

Preposterous? Of course. Look, you, I, UMNO, Hisham, the Police, all know that it’s sheer utter bullsh*t.

But it’s for the consumption of the Heartland, not yours. A threat of communist revival will enhance the clarion call of ‘agama, bangsa dan raja’, to rally the Heartland to support UMNO.

[From UMNO to Heartland: Oh, by the way, can you all make that into a vote please, just leave the actual fighting to us; each of your vote for UMNO will be like a bullet for our army].

Truth about Bersih

Do you know why the UMNO-led government (meaning UMNO itself) is sh*t scared of 'Bersih', so much so even the (supposedly neutral) Head of the EC had his butt kicked by towkay to do his bit to persuade the organizers from abandoning the rally march?

Do you know why Perkasa has been let loose from its leash to threaten the non-Malays from participating, in tones and contents that, in any other country with an ISA and anti-sedition laws, would have seen the proponent of those racist threats jailed for a lengthy time?

Do you know why both Perkasa and UMNO Youth were galvanised into organizing counter rallies against Bersih?

No, it's not Anwar Ibrahim - he's damaged goods, especially in a country obsessed by sex, and which hypocritically and unrealistically* expect its leaders to be the Mufti of Mecca!

* earlier typo where the prefix 'un' was unfortunately omitted, making the meaning exactly opposite to what I wanted to say wakakaka

Actually it’s just a 6-letter word!

Bersih!

And one with an e-tanda.

If the organizers has used the word ’reformasi’ wakakaka, the UMNO-led government wouldn’t have care two figs.

Why is ‘Bersih’ so unacceptable?

... well, it’s because the meaning of ‘Bersih’ means that whatever it opposes is ‘Kotor’.

Hence UMNO is just sh*t scared that the Heartland will catch the implied meaning of what the protest is all about, a kotor UMNO-government and that won’t do, can’t be permitted ...

.... which is why they (UMNO) are prepared to launch another May 13 or preferably (not to disturb FDI etc ) an Ops Lalang II.

Lalang déjà vu?

Déjà vu!

In 1987 the nation was facing rising political tension with racial issues embedded. The situation was tinder dry with clowns pouring paraffin onto piles of kindle.

The issue?

Protests against the government’s decision to send non-Mandarin qualified principals to Chinese vernacular schools.

Guess who was the (UMNO) Education Minister? Wakakaka!

There was bipartisan political support against the Education Ministry’s decision, but alas, this was where the racial element supposedly crept in - the bipartisan stand against the Education Ministry were from the Chinese-based party MCA and mainly Chinese-based Gerakan, both part of the ruling party BN, and the opposition DAP, a party demon-ized for years by UMNO and thus perceived as a Chinese party by Malays.

Gathering at a KL Chinese temple together with Dong Jiao Zong (Chinese educationists & parents association) they vociferously voiced their anger and disagreement with what they saw as the Education Minister’s ulterior motive to weaken the leadership and administration of the Chinese vernacular schools. They threatened to boycott the vernacular schools for 3 days, though this specific threat was subsequently withdrawn.

However, the choice of a Chinese temple as a venue for the protesting parties was most unfortunate because it provided justification for then-PM Dr Mahathir’s to conduct pre-emptive arrests. He subsequently alluded to the Chinese gathering at Thian Hou Temple in KL as a Shaolin-type rebellion against the central (Qing) government.

While he didn’t mention the word ‘Shaolin’ wakakaka, every Chinese Malaysian understood what he meant when he said (as I was told), words to the effect, the history of Chinese groups gathering at a Chinese temple to protest against the government, has shown this to be dangerous for the authority.

How did Dr Mahathir know about the history of Shaolin? Maybe he was informed by his Chinese (or SB Chinese specialist) advisors, or maybe he was a closeted Chinese kungfu movie fan wakakaka.

In typical Malaysian political jaguh (heroic) fashion, an intrinsic characteristic of our ethnocentric political culture, UMNO Youth responded with a planned mass counter-rally. Someone declared he wanted his keris to be dripping with Chinese blood.

The rest is history, which saw Ops Lalang launched.

Now, what did I say at the very beginning of this post?

Déjà vu!

Yup, the political situation today is not unlike that in September 1987, with the tinder dry escalating political tension, racism at its worst, a protest (Bersih) is planned, a counter protest by a favoured party (Good Lord, it’s the same one though with a devolved name), the keris is implied by someone telling the Chinese to stock up with emergency food, etc etc. Three names involved in 1987 are still with us today, namely Najib, Anwar and Dr Mahathir.

Ops Lalang II?

If that comes about, make a guess who’ll be eating nasi kamunting, some perhaps for a second time under a new Lalang sweep?

Malaysians pay more than Sings do for imported rice

Two weeks ago I posted Cronyism, where I asked:

What is cronyism? […]

In the Malaysian case, cronyism is more about commercial awards with outrageous terms, usually at the expense of the rakyat […]

… for example, such as the disgraceful extent of the government’s refusal to make public the contractual terms the government had signed with the IPP, and outrageously declaring the contracts as classified.

What is the BN government hiding?*

* er ... just a rhetorical question, meaning we know the answer to it, wakakaka

Ask yourself whether today’s The Malaysian Insider’s Ku Li: Putrajaya should rethink economic policies as income gap widens suggests another act of cronyism?

In TMI news article, Tengku Razaleigh ... criticised Malaysia for being the only rice producing country that has privatised rice production and given it to politically-linked Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary’s company Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas) a monopoly over the market.

He said: The reality today is Thailand and Indonesia are self sufficient in rice and we are 30 per cent dependent on imported rice. But because it is a monopoly, imported rice is cheaper in Singapore than Malaysia. Privatisation for the benefit of private individuals to profit from such an essential commodity is a clear abuse of power.

If only non-Malay Malaysians eat rice, I can at least understand (if not disagree with) a BN favoured individual being allowed to monopolize the provision of rice, an essential commodity.

But don’t Malays eat rice too? So, via this rice monopoly, hasn’t someone f* the Malays up kau kau, forcing them to buy rice at prices far more expensive than what a Singaporean, a citizen of a non-rice producing nation, needs to pay for imported rice?

I hope those über Ketuanan Melayu types like Ibrahim Ali and his Perkasa, Pembela, Utusan Malaysia and Awang Selamat, Big Dog, etc would say something about this.

Thus, may I just reiterate, that in the Malaysian case, cronyism is more about commercial awards with outrageous terms, usually at the expense of the rakyat …

… and the rakyat of this country, our nation, naturally includes the Malays.

Carthaginian DAP must be destroyed

Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam
(Furthermore I think Carthage must be destroyed)

- Cato

Malaysiakini’s Umno 'welcomed' to sue Penang on mosque polls reported that:

Penang state executive councillor for religious affairs Abdul Malik Abul Kassim has challenged groups protesting the elections to mosque committees in the state to sue the government ...

… because he knew the elections (outside of interference by political parties) (a) would be completely in accordance with Islamic belief and practice and (b) does not interfere with the Agong’s prerogative as the Islamic Head of Penang State because all the nominees will have to be endorsed (approved) by His Majesty.

Knowing UMNO and its sinister tactics, I wasn’t surprised to read sweetie Susan Loone's article in Malaysiakini that the Agong has ordered the Penang mosque panel polls to be put off.

No doubt HM must have felt uneasy enough to have a discussion with Penang’s Head of State Abdul Rahman Abbas and MAIPP head Ellias Zakaria (by the way, are the latter two UMNO nominated/appointed?).

According to Bernama HM wants the MAIPP to “set up an independent committee to find new procedures in appointing mosque committee members.”

I thought that was precisely what the MAIPP was supposed to do, but 'nuff said. Other than voicing my complete bemusement at the Agong's statement (as reported by Bernama), I’m going to keep my mouth shut and my further opinions to myself on HM's statement.

Needless to say, MKINI readers have a somewhat different attitude to me, where comments have been free flowing, unbridled, unrestrained and in a few cases, perhaps even uncouth.

Rather than them just commenting on alleged unwelcomed royal intrusion into politics, one should look at the bigger picture of what UMNO is striving to achieve politically, particularly in Penang State.

Even though HM's wish for MAIPP to “set up an independent committee to find new procedures in appointing mosque committee members” has been precisely what MAIPP had set out to do (indeed for the first time in Penang State), UMNO wants the Malay and Muslim communities to see the Agong’s royal command to put a halt to the election, as indicative of the political scenario it badly wants painted ...

... that the DAP government is un-Islamic, anti-Muslim, anti-Melayu, evil, sinister, seditious, rapacious and most important of all, wakakaka, not to be voted for in the next election.

You have to understand that UMNO is not doing it for MCA, MIC or wakakaka Gerakan.

Like Rome is of Carthage, UMNO is currently sh*t-scared of DAP.

Another one for Kongsamkok

I have just posted another strange tale over at KTemoc Kongsamkok, my other blog, titled Monkey.

Mat Sabu - a new Lee Lam Thye?

“I did not join PAS because of its Islamic platform or because I was anti-Umno. It was for want of a better democracy and it is a struggle which my colleagues and I continue until now.”

“Marx said that religion is the opium for the people … (In the past) priests supported cruel tsars, wages were neglected, Christian leaders supported oppressive monarchs, so if they wanted to bring social change (at the time), they have to reject religion."

“Religion is like opium too in Malaysia and in the Arab nations. This view is highly controversial … but I see religion being misused.”

- Mat Sabu in an interview with Malaysiakini

One of my fave Malaysiakini columnists, Sim Kwang Yang (a former DAP MP from Sarawak), wrote an interesting piece in response to Mat Sabu’s tongue-in-cheek suggestion that he would like to stand in the Chinese-majority constituency of Bukit Bintang (BB) – see MKINI Mat Sabu in BB – a mission not impossible?

Electorally, BB is virtually a Chinese fortress, where once Lee Lam Thye (DAP) reigned supreme. Lee L.T was so loved by the BB people that no one, not even Lim Kit Siang, would have dared to challenge him, let alone the silly MCA people. They including Lim KS would have been mercilessly massacred.

Those MCA candidates nominated by their party to stand against him were either unpopular with or unimportant to their party wakakaka. For a MCA bloke to be 'offered' as a sacrificial goat candidate to stand in BB against the invincible Lee L.T was like being handed the poison chalice. They became dispensable cannon fodder.

I believe only once had MCA taken the seat, and then, long after Lee L.T. had retired and only with the 'help' of a court decision a la (at that time, still futuristic) the malodorous Perakian manure.

Sim posed several interesting questions on the election prospects of Mat Sabu in BB. However, I take exception to one of Sim’s statement which unwittingly smacks of UMNO-ism. Sim wrote:

It is a sad reality in Malaysia that in popular politic, voters will support only a candidate from the same race and not from other races.

While Sim and others may find some truth in that, I beg to differ by providing the following evidence:

... that there are numerous non-Chinese DAP MPs such as (in Penang) Karpal Singh, Professor Rama, (in Perak) Kula, Manogaran, (in Selangor) Charles Santiago, Gobind Deo, (in NS) John Fernandez, ...

... and non-Chinese DAP ADUNs (not including a Perak frog), like (in Penang) Professor Rama, Jagdeep Singh, Tanasekharan, R Sanisvara Rayer, (in Perak) A Sivaesan, V Sivakumar. A Sivasubramaniam, (in Selangor) M Manoharan, and (in NS) S Veerapan, K Arumugum, P Gunasekaren ...

... who are in the majority representatives of Chinese-majority constituencies and thus voted into office by them.

Then there was my post about the late D.R. Seenivasagam, better known in his days as the ‘King of Ipoh’, a Chinese-majority city – see Obituary for PPP. Most of his and his brother's supporters were Chinese - just compare or rather contrast the popular standing of the Seenivasagan brothers with that of the politically-pariah status of Kayveas and his current PPP Indian leaders wakakaka.

The above examples offer incontrovertible truth as to why I find exception to Sim's statement that [Chinese] voters will support only a [Chinese] candidate ... and not from other races. The evidence shows otherwise, that they have supported and continue to support political leaders (of any ethnicity including those from UMNO and PAS) who would be fair to their genuine concerns.

OK, now let’s move to my favourite federal constituency of Bukit Bendera in the 2004 general election. Like BB (Bukit Bintang), Bukit Bendera (coincidentally also BB) is a Chinese-majority federal constituency, currently represented by DAP’s Liew Chin Tong.

But the DAP candidate in Bukit Bendera in 2004 was Zulkifli Mohd Noor.

B. Bendera then had the following breakdown of registered voters: 13.82% Malays, 73.97% Chinese and 11.07% Indians, with 1.14% others (presumably Eurasians and Thais?).

Zul won nearly 18000 of the 47000 votes, just a mere 5500 short of becoming the first* DAP Malay MP. Regardless of his loss, his achievement was no mean feat if we look at the above ethnic breakdown.

* correction to my error about DAP's 1st Malay MP - Ahmad Nor was the first DAP MP, He won the federal constituency of Bayan Baru in Penang in the 1990 general election.

Apparently, since 1969, 6 DAP Malay politicians won in elections – of course there was Ahmad Nor in the federal constituency of Bayan Baru, and 5 ADUNs (i) Ibrahim Singgeh; (ii) Haji Hassan bin Haji Ahmad; (iii) Daing Ibrahim Othman; (iv) Mohd Salleh Nakhoda Itam & (v) Fadzlan Yahya.

Even if all 14% Malays in that constituency had turned up to cast their ballots for Zulkifli (which was as likely as war criminal George Bush or Tony Blair winning the Nobel Peace Prize), he wouldn’t get more than 5000 votes. So make a guess as to where the other 13,000 plus votes came from?

Kaytee suspects one of the two reasons why Zulkifli didn’t roam all the way home was that he was a johnny-come-lately in the constituency (rather than a non Chinese). The DAP had failed to prepare him for or introduce him to the voters well ahead.

But despite being parachuted into B. Bendera at the eleventh hour, Zul did remarkably well. It's a pity and to kaytee's immense regrets that he didn't stand again in the same constituency in 2008.

The second reason was that his Gerakan opponent was the once-formidable wakakaka Chia Kwang Chye. The Gerakan was the party favoured by Penang hawkers and small business, and B. Bendera was home to many of them.

Today the DAP brand has high probability of winnability (regardless of the ethnicity of its candidates) because voters have confidence that candidates from the DAP party will look after their interests [as once Gerakan had until it sold its 'soul' to UMNO].

This factor is what wins voters' support, as it once did for D.R Seenivasagam and Lee Lam Thye. And that’s the precise reason a non-Chinese like Karpal Singh has become an iconic institution in Gelugor, not unlike D.R Seenivasagam, the late 'King of Ipoh', and the once equally invincible Lee Lam Thye was in B.B.

Ironically, it was the voters’ perception in 1999 that the DAP had sold out to PAS and its frightening Islamic hudud laws that saw Karpal and Lim Kit Siang losing.

But if the Pakatan Rakyat wishes to venture on a no-ethnicity campaign such as standing Mat Sabu in BB, it has to prepare the voters for it, as should have been the case in Bukit Bendera in 2004.

On his part, Mat Sabu as the new exciting PAS personality, beside the incomparable Nizar Jamaluddin, must strike a balance between PAS' Islamic values and its multi-ethnic multi-cultural credentials.

I suggest that PAS marries the two into an Islamic anti-corruption, pro-justice and pro-welfare policy for all under the current Malaysian civil legislative arrangements, rather than become obsessed with implementing hudud laws per se.

There's no evidence whatsoever that hudud will reduce, let alone eliminate corruption and oppression - for proof, just look at the terrible state of affairs in hudud-governed Pakistan (which even condones 'revenge-rapes'), Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Iran and a host of other Islamic nations. Where then is the empirical evidence that hudud is the 'silver bullet' to rid Malaysia of corruption, oppression and injustice?

By contrast, examine and admire the non or minimal corruptibility of the secular governance practised by Scandinavian countries, New Zealand, Australia and our neighbour, Singapore.

Tell me, between having hudud in the midst of continuing injustice, corruption & oppression or a secular governance (but under genuine/sincere Islamic leadership) that doesn't tolerate corruption nor oppression and ensure justice for all, which will meaningfully glorify Allah swt?

Scholarships

The Malaysian Insider reported that DAP insists on overseas scholarships for all SPM aces so as to prevent loss of talent to overseas countries, like for example, predatory Singapore.

This argument is of course different from the case of the amazing Olivia Lum, the now-famous Kampar-born Hyflux chief who won the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Award for 2011. She beat 48 international finalists to emerge as the top entrepreneur.

Lum wasn’t a brilliant SPM achiever. In fact, as TMI reported, she was adopted at birth and never knew her parents, ... brought up in an illegally constructed tin shack with no utilities in Kampar Perak where floods were common and food scarce ... she moved to Singapore at the age of 15 and supported her schooling through tutoring and sales jobs eventually graduating with an Honours degree in chemistry from the National University of Singapore NUS in 1986. The rest is history, bringing her to her current brilliant achievement and praiseworthy status.

Truly, in Chinese eyes, a blooming lotus.

Oh? Why ‘lotus’?

As I wrote in a 2005 post The Lotus Will Not Bloom For One Man:

One of the cental pillars of Chinese culture has always been ‘education’. Every Chinese, especially those from the disadvantaged social strata, aspires for his or her children to make it good via an education, to become a mandarin, to ‘rise above the muddy waters and bloom like a lotus’. That’s why many Chinese named their daughters ‘Lotus’.

Chinese folklore has many glorious tales of a poor peasant's son becoming the Emperor’s mandarin, through the young man’s arduous and brilliant studies. Those historical tales have inspired Chinese society to educate their children well.

In Malaya, legends abound of prominent surgeons, engineers and other notables of society who were children of poor hawkers or coolies, so poor that they had to study by the street lamps or flickering candles during their school days. Those young lads, hardly in their teens, were also required to work for the family’s survival that it was a wonder how they managed to combine their studies with their apprenticeships as hawkers and labourers. Some even walked umpteen miles to reach school. But they eventually attained their exalted positions.
Obviously Olivia Lum has joined these exalted ranks. Bravo Olivia!

I also wrote: That is why education is a very sensitive issue with Chinese Malaysians. That has been why the Chinese in Malaysia have virtually abandoned the national education system which they consider to have dodgy standards.

Chinese parents there have been known to mortgage their houses and worldly possessions to send their children abroad for tertiary education in Australia, New Zealand, UK, Canada, USA, China, India etc. Many have left very comfortable positions and lives to migrate abroad for such educational reasons.

The reasons for seeking university education abroad even though the financial cost threatens their economic position are three-fold – the dodgy standards of local universities, difficulties of getting a scholarship (the subject of this post), but most significant of all, the very slim chance of even securing a place in a university study of their preference because the government’s affirmative action have marginalized many Chinese and Indians.
But back to the SPM people. Lim Guan Eng asserted that “... all SPM top scorers should get overseas Public Service Department PSD scholarships instead of 1Malaysia Development Bhd 1MDB grants if Malaysia wants to retain the country’s talent.”
I have some difficulty with Lim’s argument for “all”.

Firstly, we need to answer one question, why should the scholarship be for an overseas (presumably) university education when the achievement is only at SPM? Shouldn’t it be STPM (HSC)?

Obviously I won’t ask the question of 'why overseas’ per se, unlike my question above, because I’ve already written on it in the above extract of my 2005 post, namely, no one respects the dodgy standards of local universities. Thus I fully understand why Malaysians like Lim GE prefers an overseas university education for these young achievers rather than one locally.

So, perhaps the Education Minister, instead of making populist driven and divisive 'I'm a Malay first, then only a Malaysian' bull, should focus on rejuvenating the once respected status of our universities. Recruit a few international and national experts, where I deem internationally renowned Dr Wang Gungwu to be one of the latter. We certainly don’t need those 'half-past six' type, perhaps already worsened by BTN indoctrination bull and described by the US diplomats as ‘inept’.

Malaysian Dr Wang Gungwu

academically renown internationally 

Maybe when we have improved the standards of our local universities, people won’t be so obsessive with rushing overseas to study there.

Now back to 'scholarships', to my thinking, it should be awarded based on two principal factors, namely ‘need’ basis and ‘merits’.

The latter is straightforward, where students who obtain straight A’s meet the criterion.

But ‘needs’ basis is about the student’s financial ability to afford further education, whether this be at the tertiary level or a trade skill.

Consider Khairy (wakakaka), Mohandas and Kuok, who all are children of very rich or certainly comfortably-well-to-do families. Each has scored all A1’s in their SPM or STPM. Their scholarly achievements would be very praiseworthy but should they be awarded scholarships to the denial of three poor student less brilliant than them, when it’s obvious the cost of their tertiary education anywhere in the world would be sap-sap suoi (peanuts) to their respective parents?

Of course this is different from and does not do away with prestigious scholarships, where the award is more about recognition of amazing scholarly achievements rather than to finally assist the beneficiary of the award. But these are the rare prestigious awards, like, for example, the Rhodes scholarships.

Rhodes Scholar - late Bob Hawke, former PM Australia 

Rhodes Scholar - guess who? wakakaka 

Rhodes Scholar - Zhang Chunying

journalist, LGBT activist and lawyer
 

But as I mentioned, I have some difficulty with Lim’s call for ALL top scorers to be so awarded. Scholarships at this level are not the prestigious types so I want to see the ‘needs’ basis considered. I’m not happy to see public money spent on funding a rich man’s son or daughter education (plus living and other expenses) overseas at a foreign university.

Only, and only when the high achievers who are needy have been awarded scholarships, may we then consider those not so needy for awards of such government scholarships.

Inept, Insidious & Incurable

I must be feeling a bit energetic as this is my fourth post for today wakakaka.

Reading Malaysiakini’s Penang CPO to politicians: Don't divide the people which was penned by my matey, sweetie Susan Loone, I find it outrageous that Penang police chief Ayub Yaakob saw fit to comment on how politicians should treat their constituencies.

Bloke said pollies “must stop dividing the people in the delivery of community policing services, which should be open to all regardless of political affiliation.”

He also said “certain quarters were trying to undermine community policing by preventing members of political parties, other than their own, from joining the teams.”

While he was circumspect about the identity of the political party or politician, some readers have accused the Police of only daring to say so in a Pakatan governed state, while remaining diam when BN was in charge.

Now, as far as kaytee is concerned, it doesn't matter who or which political party the CPO is referring to, but he is f* way out of line, because as a police officer (essentially a civil servant), he has no right to make a political statement, which is exactly what it has been.

It is not within his police terms of reference to lecture politicians on how to represent their constituencies.

This is the problem of Malaysian civil servants today, who lack the propriety not to intrude into areas out of bounds for civil servants.

Recall that Penang SDO officer who attacked Lim GE at an UMNO forum, committing a double sin of a public servant criticising a people's representative and speaking (partisan politics) at a forum meant for members of a political party. He was unmitigatingly biadap.

Yet the Chief Secretary, instead of reprimanding the erring biadap bloke, himself behaved abysmally by defending the disgraceful SDO.

But then, as Wikileaks revealed, US diplomats had reported to the US State Department that the Malaysian Civil Service is inept and pro UMNO.

Inept! What an insulting word, and the MCS deserves every bit of it.

The Malaysian Insider reported that “According to the cable, former Economic Planning Unit EPU deputy director general Datuk K Govindan said the civil service has a 'narrow worldview' and believed that affirmative action reforms will erode the Malay community’s interests.”

Poor Tan Sri Ghazali Shafie, a giant in worldviews, yet his successors are impossibly inept.

“Govindan sees Malaysia’s huge and largely ethnic Malay civil service completely loyal to Umno but increasingly incompetent as PM Najib’s largest obstacle.”

“He commented that the civil service has a very narrow worldview and will oppose even refuse to implement reforms perceived as damaging ethnic Malay interests even if convinced of the long-run gains for Malaysia”.

But one hand doesn’t make a clap, because the ruling politicians have been equally responsible for the MCS ineptness, biadap-ness and insidious nature.

Recall the former IGP, the one before the last one. He was so mutinous that he threatened AAB’s (UMNO) government of withdrawing police support of BN during the elections if AAB went ahead with the IPCMC, and even provided a special briefing for PAS to reinforce his threat to UMNO.

Was this man sacked immediately?

No, AAB gave way on the IPCMC, and the pits, to make it worse, even honoured the mutinous bastard when he left.

So how will a civil servant ever respect a f* UMNO PM/politician who surrendered his prime ministerial authority to the threats of a uniformed thug, and then honoured the @r$eh*le.

Pakatan must not avoid the unavoidable

In my post If Pakatan wins 2013 to rule, who'll be PM? I wasn’t surprised to see/read comments lambasting Zaid Ibrahim.

Zaid committed 3 sins in the eyes of PKR anwaristas:

(1) He didn’t show reverence for Anwar Ibrahim, calling a spade a spade. Anwar has attained such a cult status that to criticize him is not unlike committing blasphemy. There’s no reasoning with his devotees as they are no longer logical or rational, and cannot see anything wrong with him, whether it’s Anwar’s anti-reformasi shame of 916 or the greater humiliating shame of chasing potential tadpoles all the way to Taiwan.

That same fanatical blind adoration would place only his family members, Dr Wan Azizah or Nurul Izzah, as acceptable substitutes to the Greatest Man on Earth since Moses, who would deliver them out of the BN-created wilderness, regardless of whether Dr Wan or Nurul, sweet as mother and daughter are, are really qualified. Isn't this BN-type nepotism?

(2) He dared to challenge Anwar's Anointed One, first by attempting to get Nurul, then Khalid Ibrahim to stand against AI’s blue-eyed boy, and finally putting himself on the firing line, only to be frustrated in like fashion as was Chegubard, Jenapala, Gobala, etc, which in turn raised outrage voices of people like Haris Ibrahim and Jonson Chong (but alas, to a deaf Dr Wan Azizah and an equally deaf what’s-the-name-of that-deer-caught-in-a car-headlights?).

(3) He dared to leave the Greatest Party in the World, and then to strip layer by layer of mythological camouflage off the Greatest Man on Earth since Moses, and worse, in a mature, logical and evidential manner.

But far more worrying or sad than the above has been comments like "PR should win the election first before deciding who should head its new government".

This is nonsense, and an evasion of responsible commitment. PR has to, must decide who’s to be leader should Anwar Ibrahim not be available. This is basic contingency planning, to prevent chaos in a worst case scenario. A political orgnaization without contingency leadership planning does not deserve to be elected.

Whether the PR leader is to be Pak Haji Hadi Awang, Mat Sabu, Karpal Singh, Lim Snr/Jnr, Azmin Ali wakakaka, sweetie Nurul, Dr Rama, or even (okay, bizarre as it may be) Ku Li of UMNO, the commitment/decision has to be made NOW!

Waiting for the election to be won before nominating a PR leader is just like avoiding the difficult but necessary establishment of the shadow cabinet, which will only foster the subsequent and inevitable disintegration of PR (when the election has been won and the appointments have to be made).

Worse, it's not only a gross evasion of responsible commitment but smacks of some having an ulterior agenda up his/her/their sleeves!

Related: Free Malaysia Today - Zaid wants to take the spin out of politics by Mariam Mokhtar

Cronyism

My late mum had a lot of cronies, with whom she saw teochew operas, played mahjung or chee-key, and p'ah-kok (kongsamkok).

‘Crony’ means a close friend, chum, buddy, pal, and wakakaka, matey.

But alas, from ‘crony’ comes the more nefarious term ‘cronyism’.

What is cronyism?

According to the dictionary, it’s the practice of appointing friends to high-level posts regardless of their suitability.

In the Malaysian case, cronyism is more about commercial awards with outrageous terms, usually at the expense of the rakyat.

Look at legal gambling organizations, highway tolls, construction, software, arms, etc contracts in Malaysia.

The latest accusation of ‘cronyism’ has the rakyat railing and ranting against the increase in electricity tariffs and the inexplicable and unmitigated government’s protection of the IPP, even to the extent of hiding the contractual terms declaring these are classified.

Malaysiakini reported in Subsidy scandal: 'EPU blunders, rakyat suffers' that:

Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Peter Chin said the government has no power to make the power purchase agreements public as these are contracts signed with private entities.

As well-known UMNO blogger Sakmongkol AK47 said (words to effect), if there is anyone who can declassify secrets, it’s the government.

Indeed so, let alone a mere commercial contract.

Needless to say, the rakyat wants to know who are these ruling party’s cronies, and in the case of the IPP, what is the gvernment attempting to hide?

But I think the first question, who are these ruling party’s cronies, may be the wrong question to ask. While it’s interesting to know who they are (and quite frankly, we already know many of them), the far more important questions to ask should be:

How did they become ‘cronies’, or what’s the quid pro quo to become a crony?

PKR's second stab in East Malaysia

The Malaysian Insider’s news headline PKR eyes Pakatan-SAPP alliance in Sabah carries the news that:

... Sabah Pakatan Rakyat PR is actively moving towards forging a formal alliance with local opposition party SAPP hoping to break Barisan Nasional’s BN stranglehold over the east Malaysian state.

This statement is slightly misleading because it’s not Pakatan (the coalition) which is now seeking to negotiate with SAPP but actually a PKR team led by Dr Wan Azizah. Every member of the team is from PKR.

Other than the above incorrect attribution, the question that has to be asked is, can PKR be trusted to negotiate a pact after its abysmal bull-in-a-china-shop failure with SNAP?

I think not, given the propensity of PKR’s federal leaders to want to control, dominate, manipulate and speak down to their people not only in East Malaysia but also in the Peninsula.

Worse, when I recall PKR making all sorts of noise because DAP had recently made a solo overture to SNAP after PKR had bombed the Sarawak negotiations, it now has the selfish double-standard gall to attempt to negotiate with SAPP without consulting DAP or PAS. Typical anwarista-ish cakap ta’serupa bikin.

But we know PKR has an unbridled obsession to dominate Pakatan, hence has now quickly attempted to stake an early claim in Sabah after its miserable failure in Sarawak.

The recent Sarawak election result has filled it with overwhelming dread as it realizes that, other than Anwar Ibrahim as an individual, it's hope-for but incorrect expectation of being the primus inter pares in Pakatan is slipping even farther away wakakaka.

If Pakatan wins 2013 to rule, who'll be PM?

Picture this 2013 (could be earlier) scenario:

Anwar Ibrahim is in jail after being found guilty of sodomy in 2011. Due to his conviction he lost his MP status and wasn’t allowed to stand again in Permatang Pauh in the 2013 general election. Following Anwar’s grief, Azmin Ali rose to be the President of PKR.

MCLM’s offer of 30 candidates were rejected by PKR but accepted by KITA – two on MCLM’s list were Haris Ibrahim and RPK wakakaka (kaytee's choice).

Kayveas applied to join DAP 3 months before the general election but was informed politely that due to pre-election preparation, his application could only be assessed after the election wakakaka.

Pakatan wins the general election with a clear majority.

Its 120 MPs are from PAS (35), DAP-SNAP (35), PKR (25), KITA (25).

All leaders and leading personalities from the three Pakatan component parties retain their seats, with new comers like Zaid, Haris and RPK winning new ones.

To name a few luminaries, there are the two Pak Hajis, Mat Sabu and Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin etc from PAS, Karpal Singh, Tunku Aziz, Khir, Lim Snr and Jnr, etc from DAP, Azmin Ali, Nurul Izzah, Khalid Ibrahim etc from PKR, and Zaid Ibrahim, Haris Ibrahim and RPK, etc from KITA.

Who should be PM?

If Anwar was around, he would be a natural candidate of compromise, but alas he isn’t even a MP. Yes, there will be steps to review the judicial process that led to his imprisonment or even a royal pardon, but royal pardons will require the recommendation of a PM, so we are back to Square One, namely, who shall be PM (to make that recommendation)?

Anyway, all above regarding Anwar requires time – Pakatan has to nominate a PM pronto, so …who?

PAS
Pak Haji Hadi Awang? He loves to be PM, I bet … but I doubt he will be accepted by DAP, PKR or KITA.

Mat Sabu? Maybe, with about, say, 25 to 35% probability* of acceptance.

* all probability ratings in this post are abitrarily made by kaytee

Nizar? High probability of about 70% acceptance, but may not even be offered by PAS itself. Besides, PKR will no doubt object strenuously.

DAP-SNAP
Karpal, Lim Jnr, Lim Snr? Sorry, all no can do lah. Malaysia is not ready yet for a non-Malay PM, for the following reasons:

(a) more than 60% of the population are Malays, with many already poisoned by UMNO-Perkasa-Pembela Triad. It’s unlikely they’ll accept a non as a PM, full stop!

(b) the new Pakatan government cannot afford the disruption to running the nation that is likely to be caused by the Triad sabotage bullshit a la Christian PM, Christian nation, Christian conversion – the black sabo propaganda will be inevitable if Pakatan appoints a non as the PM, even assuming for a minute that PAS could be persuaded to accept it.

(c) the Agong and the Rulers' Council may not feel comfy with a non-Muslim PM, and may delay giving his royal consent to the appointment

Tunku Aziz (moved from being senator to standing successfully as a federal candidate) may be a faint possibility but at an odds of 20% acceptance by others. Khir? Too young.

Any good candidate from SNAP?

PKR
Azmin Ali? Puhleeeze lah – if I so much as smell this, Pakatan can forget my vote wakakaka. Besides, he hardly has the persona, knowledge and maturity to be PM. I can bet that both the DAP and PAS won’t accept him as a PM candidate – maybe he needs to first say sorry to SNAP and KITA wakakaka.

Nurul Izzah? C’mon, she’s sweet but in 2013? Like Khir she’s too bloody young. Sorry, being the daughter of Anwar is not an automatic free pass.

Dr Wan Azizah? She won’t be eligible to stand in 2013, and even if the election laws are changed by the new Pakatan government, it still requires time, something the new ruling party cannot afford to wait to appoint a PM.

What about the senatorial backdoor? Sorry, no can do, as in a Westminster democracy, the PM appointment requires a fully elected MP, not an unelected senator.

Khalid Ibrahim? Not bad, and with a likely odds of 60%. He'll PKR's best candidate - Azmin eat your heart out, wakakaka.

KITA
;-) That leaves us with Zaid Ibrahim, Haris Ibrahim and RPK.

I let you work it out whether one of these three, and which one, has prime ministerial bearings, know-how, skills and acceptability to the other Pakatan component parties.

I know who my choice is ;-)

Another one at KT Kongsamkok

Posted Memory Lane, Penang (1) at my other blog KTemoc Kongsamkok wakakaka!