Private announcement for public (2)

FMT - Police to monitor school to prevent racist fights (extracts):

GEORGE TOWN: A secondary school in Simpang Ampat, near Nibong Tebal, will be monitored by the police following racial issues that cropped up at the school that made headlines recently.

Deputy Education Minister P. Kamalanathan said a request was made to the police by his ministry to keep racially-charged gang fights in the school from happening again. [...]
[Penang] Deputy Chief Minister P. Ramasamy, also DAP assemblyman for Perai had demanded that the racially-charged fights be investigated immediately.

He had said the school’s principal and her senior assistant were purported to have stoked racial tension with remarks during the school assembly after the fights took place.

He said they had been alleged to have said there was “no place for Indians in this school” and that Indian pupils were told not to pick fights with pupils of other races.

Ramasamy also called on authorities to reinstate two students who were wrongfully expelled over the fight.

He claimed the victims were suspended from school while the assailants got away scot-free.

To this, Kamalanathan said the expelled students could appeal to have them reinstated.

On Ramasamy’s call to have the headmistress and her senior deputy to be let go, Kamalanathan said it was not possible.

He said the two were found to have done nothing wrong.

“Who is Ramasamy to call the shots?We cannot punish people if there is no wrongdoing."

“We have already transferred them. Now, we have to find solutions and not to be dictated by someone else,” he said.

Dei YB, if they have done no wrong, why transfer them?

Would it be because there is an issue of national sovereignty? Wakakaka.

Return of Ezam Mohd Nor to PKR?

M2D - ANWAR TERPENJARA KERANA DOSA EZAM – CHEGUBARD (extracts):

Chegubard turut mengakui walaupun Presiden PKR, Datin Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail memerlukan ‘panglima perang’ untuk menghakis kekuatan politik Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, namun gerakan untuk membawa Ezam kembali ke dalam PKR adalah satu tindakan yang tidak kena.

“Saya tidak nafikan secara keseluruhan wujudnya permasalahan di dalam PKR antara kem Wan Azizah dan Azmin namun pada saya ia merupakan masalah dalaman parti.

“Ia juga tidak boleh dijadikan sebagai alasan untuk menerima Ezam begitu sahaja kerana pada saya apa yang penting dia perlu terangkan terlebih dahulu mengenai tindakan dan kerosakkan yang pernah dilakukan dahulu,” ujarnya lagi.

Terdahulu sumber SuaraTV mendedahkan, Ezam dijangka akan kembali menyertai PKR dalam masa terdekat bagi membantu mengukuhkan politik Wan Azizah sebagai presiden parti.

Malah sumber itu turut menjelaskan Wan Azizah telah mengadakan perjumpaan dan beberapa perbincangan dengan Ezam berhubung perkara itu.

Ezam was once Anwar's right hand man while Azmin was the one on his left. But Ezam left in acrimony and returned to their Mothership* where he was made a senator.

* that of Anwar & Azmin as well - I won't be surprised when, not if, Azmin returns to UMNO

It was said Ezam left PKR with a huff and a puff because Anwar's left hand man, Azmin, manipulated De Facto Boss into a tiff with him, which then saw Ezam exiting PKR, wakakaka.

But it's quite amazing that now Wan Azizah has allegedly turned to Ezam to rescue her faction from Azmin.

If above is true and Wan Azizah succeeds in recruiting Ezam back into PKR, I wonder how Pakatan can cope with Ezam, a bloke who had made very serious anti DAP statements before.

In late 2011, the blog Malaysians must know the truth posted this (extracts only follow):

This Ezam Mohd Nor is spewing loads of rubbish again, and of all people, to students of the UIAM.

In the first instant, how on hell was he, a politician at that, be permitted to address students and to speak about politics and claiming that there are Malay traitors in our midst working in cohort with the DAP “bent on destroying the multi-racial foundation of Malaysia so it can turn the country into another Singapore”.

He claimed that we had “lost an island (I suppose referring to Singapore)” because of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew and “the same fate awaited the rest of the country if they (I suppose referring to Malaysian) stood idly by”.

Here, I would just like to ask – who are the Malay traitors that Ezam is referring to? Was he referring to any particular personality in the opposition? And why wouldn’t he name that person out loud and clear? Are you too afraid Ezam?

The word traitor is a damning word to use upon someone, and if I were to call Ezam a traitor for having jumped the UMNO boat onto the PKR boat, and soon after back into UMNO’s boat, would Ezam like it?

And you know, I am still waiting for the many boxes that reportedly hold the many mysteries of UMNO’s corrupt practices that Ezam had promised to expose when he was in PKR. Till this day, the boxes are nowhere to be seen, and would you still believe in Ezam?

Mind you, even if Ezam is back in PKR, the anti DAP camp in that party is already brimming full, as we have seen in Nathaniel Tan's recent shameful bullshit against Lim GE in Malaysiakini [though Nat Tan is currently at odds with some (Anwar) in PKR, he's still at heart very much a PKR disciple].

To review the Ezam character, let's read what Malaysiakini's Ahmad Kadir wrote of Ezam in 2009 (extracts only), and most uncomplimentary if I may say:

Ezam Mohd Noor was the most juvenile and vulgar element of PKR during thereformasi years. He called Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad unprintable names. All is captured in video and writing. Why was Ezam behaving like this? The reason is because he didn't have higher ideals.

He was literally worshiping Anwar Ibrahim. He was a young man who was angry that he was ejected out of power. Of course, he didn't have power but walking on the red carpets laid down for Anwar was too tantalising.

Ezam paid the price for his Anwar worship and went to jail. [...]

Ahmad Kadir then continued with how Anwar discarded Ezam when he was released from prison by AAB:

He [Anwar Ibrahim] started rebuilding a tattered party, building alliances, bridging gaps and formulating policies. It was here that Anwar was forced to choose his soldiers wisely.

Having learnt from his 1998 episode, he became stealthy and very cautious. Though accommodative to all, he trusted few. Despite going to jail for his worship, Ezam was not part of the trusted lieutenants in the new era despite being one in the past. Though I'm not a PKR member, I generally support PAS and PKR and have many good friends in both parties.

A highly placed PKR man told me: ‘Anwar opted for cautious people like him and it was here that Azmin Ali carried the day.’

Ezam quit PKR. As we remember, he said Anwar was ‘a dictator’ and Azmin Ali a chief manipulator (in that he manipulated Anwar into becoming his right hand man - a job Ezam wanted).

During the Permatang Pauh by-election, Ezam reveals his inherent jealousy and said: ‘I have not been accommodated in PKR as I wanted which I suffered for.’ No need to explain this.

Has Wan Azizah's alleged approaches to Ezam been approved by Anwar?

Interesting times, again and yet again? Wakakaka.

But PKR is showing its true colours as ever, an unchanging taxi sapu right to its very end.

Recalcitrant no more

I wanted to laugh but instead tears fell in my heart
Then I wanted to cry yet couldn't help but ponder
Of sweet irony in an once arrogant pride torn apart
We can only view his humiliation with pitiful wonder

Once he walked in the corridors of unbridled power
And subjugated even the most highborn to his will
T'was said that many before him were seen to cower
Then when he passed by, even more stood very still

Seen as one who's never wrong in all his decisions
His stately words were considered as precious gold
Countless were ooh’s & aah’s wrapping his visions
But they're all gone now, as the new 'truths' unfold

O How the mighty has fallen, his weapons perished
In his distressed call of help to one so hated before
How he allows his own maruah* to be so diminished
With a sad silent cry that he’s recalcitrant no more

* self-respect, dignity

Private announcement for public (1)

For those who have missed their booked flights, Raja Bomoh has a flying carpet for sale - last reported cost was RM999. Please allow for inflation and the ringgit dropping since the last report on the carpet.

Chartered flights may be checked directly with Raja-ni Air.

Regretfully I am not in an authoritative position to say whether the flying carpet and in-flight service are 100% kosher? Please check with the appropriate federal religious department.

Refreshments on board looks likely to be fresh coconut juice.

Nathaniel Tan’s cherry-picking and missing the elephant in the room

My dear old matey Nathaniel Tan, once a fervent devotee of Anwar Ibrahim, wrote this Malaysiakini article Will Guan Eng be Dear Leader for life?

I assess his article as very very naughty and typical of those in PKR or like Nat, a former but still committed-at-heart PKR-ista.

I replied in a letter to Malaysiakini as follows:

********

I want to say I am glad to read Nathaniel Tan’s article in Malaysiakini titled ‘Will Guan Eng be Dear Leader for life?’ but alas I am unable to.

Being old mateys on the blogging circuit (when we used to spar for and against Anwar Ibrahim, with me of course being against - loud laughter) I call him Nat. Now, in case you have missed Nat’s wry sarcasm against Lim Guan Eng, the ‘Dear Leader’ implies that Lim Guan Eng is becoming another Kim Jong-il, the former and late president of North Korea.

Just a wee trivia, Kim Jong-il was titled ‘Dear Leader’ to distinguish him from his father Kim Il-sung the Great Leader. I wonder whether Nat will be tempted to refer to Lim Kit Siang as ‘Great Leader’? [grin]

In our ‘old’ sparring days Nat had this rather charming cute way of disarming me by asking why I hated Anwar Ibrahim so much.

Well, I didn’t hate Anwar (still don't) but I did not like his Umno past, his PKR politics and politicking (still don't), but in March 2010 I frightened myself and astounded a number of my friends when in a letter to Malaysiakini I defended the PKR ‘de facto’ leader from Khairy Jamaluddin’s jeering of him for dancing with the daughter of Lim Goh Tong.

Needless to say, it was an embarrassing blemish to an otherwise perfect record of being anti-Anwar. But it did underline my personal values in defending anyone, even Anwar Ibrahim, from unfair criticism, and in the same token, criticising local demi-gods for their wayward conduct.

And while digressing and reminiscing about our old times (Nat’s and mine), I have to say Nat like most PKR people has a prejudice against the DAP, and in this letter I want to express some of my concerns for Nat’s biased letter questioning Lim Guan Eng’s tenure as chief minister (CM) of Penang and the issue of setting a term (not time) limit, brought up recently by a DAP assemblyperson, Teh Yee Cheu.

Nat’s thrust is that long tenure in high office lends substance to the old political adage that power corrupts, especially long term power.

But sadly because I have come to expect better from Nat, I lament his examples of long serving world leaders were naughtily only those from draconian dictatorships and fascist states, people like Kim Il-sung, Muammar Gaddafi, Francisco Franco, Robert Mugabe, Mao Zedong, Hun Sen, and Josef Stalin.

Has Nat been implying that Penang is such a political state? Of course his labeling of Lim Guan Eng as a ‘Dear Leader’ has made it clear what he thinks of the CM if not the state.

Though he has recently stopped being an acolytus serving at the PKR altar to their demi-god, I urge him to reflect on his erstwhile term as one and to compare the state of the DAP to his old party PKR where the latter even condoned an undemocratically elected leader with the shameless label of ‘de facto’, which many would be forgiven is they mistake that word to mean ‘defect to’.

Then there was that over-burnt and overdone Kajang Satay which was to bring Pakatan a few steps nearer to Putrajaya and also to stop Mahathirism from overwhelming Pakatan-ruled Selangor.

And since Nat brought up the name of Mao Zedong, I have to ask what Great Leap Forward (supposedly towards Putrajaya) has been achieved by PKR’s Kajang Manoeuvre? As for Mahathirism overwhelming Pakatan’s Selangor it must already have when we see Azmin Ali and Uncle Mahathir Mohamad side by side in recent forums. Yes, Lim Kit Siang has been alongside as well, much to my immense embarrassment.

Anyway, when Nat asked us what countries impose time limits, he mentioned ‘France, Germany, the UK and the US’ as countries that do. In that (I suspect deliberately) vague sentence I have to say this again, Nat has been very naughty to the extent of misleading us. And I’ll explain how and why.

At this point we must distinguish prime ministers (and chief ministers) from the republican head of states or presidents. By the by, France has both.

No set term limit

Since we have been talking about the term limit of the chief minister of Penang (or for that matter, the prime minister of Malaysia), we should note, and I want Nat to now pay close attention, there is no set term limit for the prime minister of Britain or his counterpart in France, contrary to what he has informed us.

To save Nat the effort of further arguments I’ll say this first: we could of course be disingenuous and argue that the five-year parliamentary term of an elected National Assembly of France and the Parliament of Britain is a limited period. But wait a ding dong minute, while it is indeed a limited period it is one of ‘time’ rather than ‘term’. Just a reminder, we have been talking about limiting the CM of Penang to X number of terms, not time.

Even then, we could argue that each parliamentary period of the Penang state assembly is limited to a maximum of five years, and the CM of Penang is thus automatically ‘time’ limited to a five-year administration. Political parties have to return to the people for election. If Lim Guan Eng’s party is re-elected into majority rule, and the party or coalition decides on Lim Guan Eng as its CM again, then he starts anew for another time-limited period of five years.

Of course that’s not what Nat wants, as the unspoken aim, it would seem, is to remove Lim Guan Eng as CM after this, his second term. He and Teh Yee Cheu wants a ‘term’ limitation.

Now, back again to Nat’s examples of some countries that set time or term limits for their elected leaders. Yes, the USA and France have presidential systems which limit their respective elected ‘head of state’ (not prime ministers) to two terms. As for our own head of state, HM the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is also elected by his peers to serve one term.

The same scenario applies for Germany, where its constitutional president, who unlike the US or French equivalent has no political powers, serves a maximum of two five-year terms, but its chancellor, the equivalent of our prime minister, is not limited to any set number of terms provided he or she is re-elected with his/her party or coalition being in power.

Thus, fond as I may be of Nat [smile] he really invites me to escalate my criticism of him when he provides us with such incorrect or vague information on ‘France, Germany, the UK and the US’ as countries that limit periods for their elected leaders but without clarifying what leaders he had in mind that would be seen as equivalent to the chief minister-ship of Penang. Secondly, the relevant topic is about the ‘term’ limit, not ‘time’ limit, of the chief minister-ship.

Either Nat has been ignorant of the correct information to provide or he has been mischievously obscure.

Also, when he states “Lim has also been CM longer than all except three of Italy’s prime ministers, in reverse order: scandal ridden Silvio Berlusconi, Giovanni Giolitti who served as PM for five non-consecutive terms between 1892 and 1921, and Benito Mussolini', I would say he has been mischievous in his unpleasant examples.

Indeed I can see where he wants to take us, along a path which paints Lim Guan Eng as a fascist dictator like Mussolini or a scandal-ridden Silvio Berlusconi. Aren’t there better and fairer examples of long serving prime ministers around the world?

Swept into office by 2008 tsunami

First, let us take a second look at Lim GE’s terms as CM of Penang. He was swept into office by the 2008 political tsunami and has retained his seat since, making his tenure in two consecutive parliamentary terms as approximately nine years up to this point in time.

Angela Merkel has served as chancellor (prime minister) of democratic Germany since 2005 and is into her third term. Why hasn’t Nat bring her up as an example instead of unpleasant people such as Kim Il-sung, Muammar Gaddafi, Francisco Franco, Robert Mugabe, Mao Zedong, Hun Sen, and Josef Stalin. Doesn’t this lend support to our suspicion of Nat’s intention?

Then in Australia we have Robert Menzies serving as its PM for 18 years 160 days and our well-known ‘deputy sheriff of Asia’, John Howard for 11 years 267 days. Again I must question Nat’s omission of them as surely, Australia is one of the most democratic nations in the world and a lot nearer to us than North Korea, Libya, Spain, Russia, etc. It is also a Commonwealth nation like Malaysia with similar parliamentary systems both at federal and state levels.

Just across the Tasman Sea, another Commonwealth nation, New Zealand, has three PMs serving more than 10 years (Richard Seddon, William Massey, Keith Holyoake) and one almost that period (Peter Fraser).

Britain has nine PMs serving over 10 years, with two examples in the last century being Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair.

Nat made a swift passing reference to Lee Kuan Yew but hasn’t he as a Malaysian deliberately avoided mention of that currently-roaring bull elephant in the room, Mahathir Mohamad, who was our prime minister for more than two decades. Or is Mahathir now to be revered as our new ‘De Facto Leader’ (as well as Dear and Great) and one whose name must not be mentioned in criticisms of long-serving political leaders?

I believe in the end Nat has been very very naughty in his bias towards Lim Guan Eng, which is understandable as it lies perhaps in his PKR DNA. Thus I won’t go into each and every single part of his article to tear him apart. I just don’t want to embarrass him for his selective picking of some rotten cherries to cast sinister light on Guan Eng’s administrative tenure. Nat is capable of being better than that.

Finally, Nat asked us: “... in whose company do we want to be? North Korea, Libya and Zimbabwe? Or France, Germany, the UK and the US?”

I believe I have given him enough information for him to answer his silly mischievous question himself.

Will Guan Eng be Dear Leader for life?

Have Malaysian Islamic officers been Islamic?

Do you remember who Siti Kasim is?

Well, in case you don't and in order to recall who she is, let's go back to early November 2012 and review the dastardly awkward situation of Princess Reformasi (the 'so-called', wakakaka) when she was under siege for allegedly expressing her support for freedom of religion for all Malaysians, including Malays, in a forum titled “Islamic state? Which vision? Whose responsibility”?

Sweetie was then reported by FMT as Nurul Izzah backs religious freedom for all in which she had said:

Freedom of religion should be applied equally to everyone in the country including the Malays and that there should be no compulsion in any religion including Islam.

How can anyone say (freedom of religion) only apply to the non-Muslim, it has to be applied equally.

In Quran, there is no specific term to the Malay as how it should be done.

Needless to say, UMNO had then jumped eagerly on her alleged heretical statement, with another sweetie, deputy minister Mashitah Ibrahim out to get her in some legal way, while Dr Mahathir also criticized her for her alleged un-Islamic statement.

A few days later, Tian Chua's Malaysian Chronicle had then came out with an article titled Nurul is an Angel in our midst. Mashitah Ibrahim, you are a spinning pathological liar wakakaka.

I wonder whether the Malaysian Chronicle had upgraded or downgraded Nurul from Princess Reformasi to Angel, wakakaka.

But poor sweetie Nurul was so stressed by the UMNO mob against her that she scurried off to seek help from Dr Asri, while PAS' Dzulkefly Ahmad, then still an MP, was reported by the Malaysian Chronicle (wakakaka) for criticizing sweetie Mashitah Ibrahim as being ‘diabolical’ in attacking sweetie Nurul.

I have to admit Mashitah was/is 'diabolically' good looking, wakakaka.

Now, the person who asked Nurul to clarify the latter's flamboyant statement which led to the alleged controversy was none other than sweetie Siti Kasim, a member of the Bar Council human rights committee and Orang Asli rights advocate.

Subsequently, in the midst of the UMNO-generated brouhaha over Nurul's alleged statement and belakang pusing, Siti said she was disappointed with Nurul for backing away from her statement that freedom of religion was a right for all including the Malay-Muslims. She lamented that Nurul has failed to stand firm on her remark.

Siti Kasim said: “I believe Nurul was just trying to impress the people. She didn't think of the consequences. There’s nothing wrong about it [freedom of religion], she is saying the truth. I expected a hoo-ha after that. But as a politician, you just need to stick to the truth."

"In the following days she ‘retracted’ her remark, and said she did not support apostasy. But indirectly when you say you support freedom of religion, and if Malay wants to get out from Islam, that’s apostasy.”

I had then written: Hmmm, maybe Nurul indeed wanted to impress her audience but alamak, Siti, cut her some slack lah as Nurul is still young and really, a babe in the political woods. Besides, to a Muslim, apostasy is an extremely serious issue, where the punishment could well be death (though of course the authorities won't go to that extent in Malaysia).

Two years later, in March 2014, we heard once again from sweetie Siti. In Malaysiakini's Angry crowd tries to barge into court, a report on the court hearing on the never-ending dispute between the Catholic Church and the Home Ministry, Siti was reported as being present outside the court together with various other mobs, wakakaka, but wearing a striking black T-shirt that bore the words, "Almighty Allah, Allah - Lord of the whole world", and holding a bouquet of chrysanthemums.

Malaysiakini reported: Siti explained that her presence in court along with four others was to show the alternative views of other Malays, those who do not support the use of the word "Allah" as exclusive to Muslims in Malaysia.

Now, while I've been one of the very few (only one?) non-Muslim who refused to support the Church's insistence on using the Allah-word, I saluted Siti for her courage, resolute and personal integrity in holding on to her values, principles and amazing inclusiveness.

I had then stated she has been the real Princess Reformasi.

Sorry Nurul, wakakaka. And sorry too, Mashitah, both of you don't qualify by a zillion kilometres, wakakaka.

Just four days ago, 03 April 2016, JAWI officers raided a dinner party, accusing the organizers for holding a fatwa-prohibited beauty contest.

Said fatwa was apparently gazetted in 1996 prohibiting Muslim women from joining beauty pageants. The fatwa came to light in 2013 when four Muslim contestants were dropped from the Miss Malaysia World 2013 beauty pageant and investigated for breaching the National Fatwa Council’s edict.

My Uncle had a good laugh on reading this as he recalled the days when Harun Idris was MB of Selangor and the organizer of a Miss Universe Malaysia contest in KL. There was a hue and cry about the contestants wearing bikinis so clever Harun had them wearing a sheer transparent nightgown over their bikini-ed bodies which hid nothing and in fact made them look even more alluring, wakakaka. 

Just my usual wee digression at this stage - Today Mariam Mokhtar wrote in FMT's Those who think they hold keys to paradise the following:

Some religious officials make bad preachers. They try to force others to do things against their will and threaten and belittle them.

Sadly, some Muslims would not seek knowledge to verify facts because it is far easier to be told what to do.

A recent article written by Perak Deputy Mufti Zamri Hashim and published in Berita Harian has got a lot of people bristling. Essentially, he said men who “lose control” of their wives and daughters – like allowing them to go out of the house exposing their aurat – are “dayus,” which can be translated as “cuckolds.”

An Islamic scholar who read the article dismissed it as “rubbish, a pack of lies.”

One Muslim woman said Zamri was being irresponsible, encouraging men to use force on the women in their lives. “This is a blanket order for men to control their wives and daughters,” she said.

Another woman said, “It’s clear whom his message is for. He is scolding Malay women for taking part in beauty contests. And he’s telling them off for doing male dominated jobs. He’s scared to tell the women, so he does it in a roundabout way and targets husbands and fathers.

“Zamri tells the man that if he does not control his wife or daughter, then he is weak and unmanly, but worse still, he will be excluded from paradise.

“The sad thing is that some people who do not know their religion well enough will believe him. This is wrong. It is deceiving. It is not Islamic.”

And Mariam posed this interesting question: What would be Zamri’s response to the girl who disobeys her father and fights him off when he tries to take sexual advantage of her? Who is the sinner here? Will she be excluded from heaven?

Well, back to our sweetie Siti - she condemned those JAWI officers for raiding a closed door dinner party at a hotel without legal warrant and without the mandatory police presence and for illegally detaining the event’s transgender organiser.

Siti told the Malay Mail Online : “The [JAWI] officer told me that it’s against the law to have a beauty contest — it’s ‘haram’ in Malaysia, based on a fatwa.”

But she stated: “It’s not a real beauty pageant, it’s a show.”

According to the Malay Mail, 10 JAWI officers, together with the media, came to the hotel at about 10 pm yesterday and prevented people from leaving the dinner that had about 200 transgender guests.

According to the lawyer [Siti], the religious authorities did not have a warrant and were unaccompanied by the police.

Siti said she called the police and that after they came, the guests were allowed to leave. However, JAWI officers took her and the event organiser to the Dang Wangi police station.

According to Siti, JAWI officers later denied at the police station that she was under arrest, but accused the event organiser of organising a beauty contest that was against the 1996 religious edict, which has been gazetted as law, prohibiting Muslim women from joining beauty pageants.

But Siti reported rather succinctly: “If they say these people are not women, then why are they coming in?” wakakaka.

She also said she was considering suing JAWI for wrongful arrest after the religious officers took her to the police station in their van.

Our nation's salaried religious officers are becoming far too arrogant, raiding private functions without legal warrant nor the mandatory police presence they were supposed to have.

And the sad thing today is we read in the Malay Mail Online of a ustaz who threw a chair against a young girl (Form 1) and fractured the bones of her hand

MM Online reported:

BALING, April 7 — A Form One girl from a school here claims she fractured her right hand while trying to defend herself when a teacher repeatedly hit her with a chair last Monday.

Farah Izzati Mohd Rohaizad, 13, said in the 8.30pm incident, she and her friends, Siti Farhana Mohd Ayub, 13, and Irdina Safiyya Amran, 13, were called by an ustaz to the dining hall to recite the Quran.

She said as she was taking a chair nearby, the ustaz suddenly threw a plastic chair hitting her at her waist.

“Later when the ustaz found there was no Quran in front of me, he hit me twice on the head with a chair but I raised my hand to fend off the blows which left two bones on the back of my right palm to be fractured,” she told a press conference here yesterday, adding she sought treatment at the Baling Hospital.

Meanwhile, Farah Izzati’s father Mohd Rohaizad Abdullah, 36, said he was saddened by the incident, adding that he had lodged a police report yesterday.

Baling district police chief, Supt Shariffudin Yusof confirmed receiving a report on the incident and that the case was being investigated.

Alhamdulillah, I'm glad I'm not a Muslim to suffer the unjust bullying iniquities of these so-called men of the cloth.

Danger of involving royalty in politics

Extracts from the Star Online:

... Mahathir Mohamad's call for Malaysians to sign the Citizens Declaration in order to urge the royalty to pressure Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to step down.

But Pak Haji Hadi Awang said:

There was no necessity to involve the royalty in forcing the Prime Minister to resign as there are democratic ways of achieving it, said PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang (pic).

He said there are "others in power" who were better suited to make the decision.

"We don't want to include others who do not need to be included in any kind of change.

"We have political parties and NGOs and others in power and the decision is up to them,"

Though not one to normally agree with Pak Haji, wakakaka, this time I have to say he's absolutely right, for two reasons:

(1) Just as we want to keep our military in their constitutional barracks (do you hear this Maria, so next time don't terlampau pandai in applauding serving military officers when they make political statements, whether against or for the government?) we also want to keep our royalty's in their constitutional palaces.

Also see my letter to Malaysiakini titled Hang on a ding-dong minute, my dear Gen Blimp.

If we introduce a stupid precedent where/when royalty can 'pressure' the people's elected representatives into stepping down, then that's the end of the people's democracy.

(2) Really, Mahathir should be the LAST person to talk about appealing to the royals to pressure any politician into stepping down, considering during his time he was the very PM who emasculated the royals. And it has to be said what he did then was correct, probably his one sole act of redemption. 

And now he's so desperate he wants us to help him do the exact opposite. And guess for whom?

Doesn't that just make him a double hypocrite, and a very desperate and dangerous one too.

The danger is some may think it's a jolly good idea.

Orang Tionghua disalahkan lagi

FMT - Low Chinese turnout at rally affects T-shirt business

'Ni Cinakui selalu kena disalahkanlah, wakakaka.

Misalnya, back in 1969, someone lost his election in the constituency of Kota Setar Selatan and blamed the Chinese.

In fact that someone, wakakaka, had prior to the election said arrogantly he didn't need the Chinese votes. So okaylah, the Chinese 'tremblingly obeyed' (wakakaka) and did what he wanted, that was, doing the unthinkable for Chinese at that time, voted instead for the PAS candidate Yusof Rawa.

And the bizarre thing is that someone was pissed off with the Chinese in Kota Setar Selatan constituency for 'tremblingly obeying' him, wakakaka.

And he never forgave them and probably still hasn't, wakakaka.

Indeed, six years later in 1975 when he was Education Minister, he summoned the Chinese education leaders (MICSS or Malaysian Independent Chinese Secondary Schools) to his office in Parliament and threatened them against holding the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC).

For more, please see my post yesterday titled Government's anti UEC policy began with Mahathir.

According to Dr Kua Kia Soong, Mahathir told them in no uncertain terms to cancel the examination “or else …!”

Wah, so fierce lah.

yisheng ni hao ma?

wakakaka 

Then in 2008 and 2013 when they voted for the Anwar Ibrahim-led Pakatan they were once again blamed, with post-thunderstorm mushrooming of strident abuses such as 'Apa lagi Cina mahu', 'the Chinese are ungrateful', 'the Chinese as kingmakers want to rule the country', etc.

23% Chinese in Malaysia as kingmakers against 65% bumiputeras? And if they have been or still are, guess who is at fault? How did the EC turn around 60-ish federal constituencies into holding voter racial makeup of approximately 63:35 Malay:Chinese ratio? Wakakaka.

But alamak, as they had 'tremblingly obeyed' his call in 1969 not to vote for him in Kota Setar Selatan, they were merely heeding his call in 2008 not to vote for AAB - the outcome of the election in 2013 being merely momentum from his anti AAB campaign in 2008. Wakakaka. 

Aiyoyo, memang seorang Melayu mudah lupa lah!

By the by, kenapa masa sekarang pada umumnya, orang Cina di Malaysia di panggil orang Tionghua (and bukan orang Cina lagi)? Akibat pengaruh Indonesia atau Negera Cina? Wakakaka.

Walaupun demikian, pangilan 'orang Tionghua' sebenarnya lebih tepat olih kerana 'Chinese Malaysian' bukan orang Cina (yang bererti bangsa Negara Cina) tetapi bangsa Malaysia dari suku (ethnicity) kaum orang Tionghua.

Anyway, before I give you heart attacks with my dodgy Bahasa, wakakaka, let's return to our FMT headlines, wakakaka.

As usual there are enterprising businessmen who make business hay while the protest sun is shining, so we are told by FMT that T-shirt sellers and drink vendors thronged the area outside Dataran Merdeka today along with the thousands of protesters ........ Many were selling T-shirts emblazoned with “Mansuh GST” (Abolish GST) and other slogans.

While at least one bloke made RM2000, FMT stated other sellers complained that the surprisingly low turnout of Chinese protesters at the rally affected sales.

“Usually it’s the Chinese who buy our vuvuzelas,” another seller ... said.

Vuvuzelas? Amboi, 'ni orang Tionghua pandai buat bising saje, wakakaka, atau kemungkinan mereka hanya pemuja Nelson Mandela, wakakaka.

But WTF, why didn't those orang Tionghua turn up, at least to buy the T-shirts and vuvuzelas if not to protest, wakakaka.

The T-shirt seller continued: “Business is really slow today. Maybe because they’re observing Cheng Beng,” he said, referring to the Chinese occasion in which families visit the graves of their deceased relatives.

Wah, this bloke is a good businessman because he sure knows the likely habits and cultural-religious movements of his customers, in the same as Indian mee rebus, pasembur, roti canai and nasi kandar shops all automatically close shop on Chinese New Year's eves - hmmm, I wonder whether those mamaks blame the orang Tionghua also, wakakaka.

Government's anti UEC policy began with Mahathir

Sarawak CM Adenan Satem has recently said Sarawak recognizes the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) and called upon Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) to accept the UEC.

The UEC is for passing a standardised test for Chinese independent high school students organised by the UCSCAM (United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia) since 1975. Wikipedia informs us that the UEC is available in three levels: Junior Middle (UEC-JML), Vocational (UEC-V), and Senior Middle (UEC-SML).

This Malaysian Chinese educational Certificate is accepted by overseas countries such as the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, NZ, etc on top of Chinese speaking nations like China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

It seems that the only country not accepting the UEC is Malaysia, thus it hasn't been at all surprising that we just heard Putrajaya has jerked the rug off from beneath Adenan's feet.

Unimas vice-chancellor Mohammad Kadim Suadi informs us:

“Unimas, being a public university under the jurisdiction of the Higher Education Ministry, is obliged to follow directives from the ministry regarding the national education policy towards UEC and also the current admission requirements to public universities set by the ministry" ...

... which essentially means no entry to UEC holders.

And why has the Malaysian government been so against the UEC?

According to deputy education minister P Kamalanathan, he of the kissy-hand-some bloke, wakakaka, the government’s refusal to recognise the UEC was due to issues of 'national sovereignty'.

where's my uncle?
I kissed his hand but now he has disappeared when I need him most 

'National sovereignty', wow, and that's even when our country now have so many international schools using English (or other foreign languages) as its medium of instruction and foreign-run universities, colleges and schools.

But MCA president Liow Tiong Lai told off Kissy-Hand-some Kamala, saying the issue of 'national sovereignty' was not even mentioned in the cabinet so how could a deputy minister announced that in parliament as if it was a government's policy stand when a full minister hasn't heard of it?

The Sabah Minister Sabah minister in charge of special tasks, Teo Chee Kang (Liberal Democratic Party). Teo said:

“I wonder whether he [Kissy-Hand-some, wakakaka] knew what he was talking about. While it is acceptable that for now, the government does not recognise UEC because it does not fall squarely within the national curriculum and education policy, I cannot understand how is it related to national sovereignty."

“It was said that the government’s stand was based on a cabinet decision on November 6, 2015" ...

... but as we know, Liow Tiong Lai has said there wasn't such a cabinet discussion.

It seems the Malay-dominated government is determined, whatever, however, as ever*, to not recognize a Unified Chinese educational certificate which has already been recognize by 400 foreign tertiary educational institutions throughout the world, including universities in France, Germany and Russia, let alone the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, NZ and Chinese speaking nations like China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

* Yes, as ever, because it all started back in 1975 with Mahathir, when he was Education Minister, He threatened the Chinese educationists about issuing the UEC.

Dr Kua Kia Soong enlightened us on the UEC via the FMT:

The litany of reasons given by the government for not recognising the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) through the years gets more and more bizarre.

They used to say that the UEC’s curriculum was not up to mark. The latest reason is the answer given by Deputy Education Minister P Kamalanathan in the Dewan Rakyat that the Cabinet, in a meeting on Nov 6 last year, had decided not to recognise the certificate.Dr Kua quoted Kissy-Hand-some Kamala saying:

“For now, the government can’t recognise UEC as it is not based on the national curriculum and education philosophy. This is a reality that needs to be accepted as it’s related to the nation’s interests and sovereignty.”

Dr Kua also went back into history to inform us that Mahathir was the man who first threatened the Chinese schools on the UEC and warned them not start this private line of educational accreditation.

Dr Kia said via FMT:

At independence in 1957, there were 86 Chinese secondary schools in Malaya.

It was only after the 1961 Education Act that many of these schools were forced to become English-medium (yes, not Malay-medium) at the time. Only 14 Chinese secondary schools remained as “independent” schools.

It was after the “Independent Schools’ Revival Movement” in the 1970s that the number of MICSS climbed to 60 schools.

In 1975, when the MICSS decided to hold its first Unified Examination, the Chinese education leaders were summoned to Parliament by then Education Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and were told in no uncertain terms to cancel the examination “or else…!”

The Chinese education leaders carried on regardless of the consequences and the UEC has been held every year since. To date, there has never been a leak in any UEC examinations and the curriculum and marking of exam scripts are carried out every year with professional precision.

Finally, Dr Kua gave a flying kick into the face of our so-called Education Ministry by telling us:

Malaysians should also know that there are hundreds of non-Chinese students in the MICSS and more than 80,000 non-Chinese students in Chinese-medium primary schools of Malaysia.

This is in sharp contrast to Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) that does not admit ANY “non-Bumiputeras” into this public institution even though “non-Bumiputera” taxpayers have also paid for this institution.

Does UiTM violate national sovereignty? This Bumiputeras-only policy definitely violates the International Convention for the Eradication of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).

Strangely thus far, the DAP has been unusually quiet on Putrajaya's rejection of Adenan's recognition of the UEC, though just last month Lim Guan Eng has urged Adenan to hire Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) holders for the state civil service. We'll have to see how sincere Adenan is.

But to recapitulate, it started with Mahathir's very very strong and fierce opposition against the UEC, and which now is still perpetuated by his 'UMNO-descendants', with Kissy-Hand-some Kamala being the front spokesman for the government's anti-UEC stand.

Maybe UMNO is just jealous of the performance, standing and credibility of the UEC.