Sleeping with the enemy

A week ago I posted Political WTF 1 - Musa Hassan in which I raised some questions:

Is it be likely that Musa Hassan will re-occupy his old job as IGP PDRM if Anwar Ibrahim becomes PM?

I ask only because the ex IGP, one of the most despised and most accused person, has lately been rubbing pally-buddy shoulders with PKR-affiliated NGOs, and making virtually anti-Government statements and accusations, some of which, laughingly, had been attributed to his term as IGP.

Has there been a done deal between Musa Hassan and PKR?

Or, is the ex IGP just another Dr M, wanting to rewrite his place and performance in Malaysian history?

Then I followed that up with Political WTF 2 - Musa Hassan on 30 November after reading Free Malaysia Today's news article No plans yet to bring Musa Hasan into PKR.

I had opined that statement by PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution, plus the absence of any clear-cut repudiation by him that PKR is and will not be accepting/approving any membership application by Musa Hassan regardless of the former IGP rubbing shoulders with PKR-affiliated NGOs at their forums, has been the BIGGEST hint yet that PKR will likely be admitting Musa Hassan into the party as a member.

Saifuddin tap-danced around a yes or no confirmation by saying meaningless stuff like “Approval of applications is done on a monthly basis. When we have distinguished names of ‘big people’, of course we take note of it.”

Well, were you any clearer?

Then, when he was pressed by the media on whether Anwar Ibrahim would object to his past tormentor joining PKR, Saifuddin did the hula hula dance, stating that “When there are applications made by big names, the decision to approve them is made by the party leadership” and not by any individual (meaning Anwar Ibrahim).

I take that as Saifuddin virtually admitting Musa Hassan will become a member of PKR, and that when it happens, shouldn't be attributed to an individual known by his title of The Great Man, wakakaka.

Okay, really it's none of non-PKR people's business but it sure as hell bring into focus the saying 'Politics makes strange bedfellows', which incidentally was adapted from Anwar Ibrahim's fave author, Bill Shakespeare (but of course, second to his top fave, al Quran).

Shakespeare wrote in the Tempest, Act II, Scene II, of Trinculo saying:

Alas, the storm is come again! My best way is to creep under his gaberdine; there is no other shelter hereabout. Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows. I will here shroud till the dregs of the storm be past.

Trinculo was philosophizing that in order to avoid a storm, he ended up sharing his sleeping area with Caliban, a dark native of an island but seen as grotesque and savage, and described by the other characters in Shakespeare's play as a monster.

We learn that Caliban was treacherous, switching his allegiance from one side to another without any scruples.

Caliban in The Tempest

And it was Robert Phang, former panel member of the MACC advisory panel, who voiced his belief that Musa Hassan's statement against Hishamuddin etc had been 'backed by PKR'.

Phang accused Anwar Ibrahim's party of (allegedly) sleeping with their former enemy.

Phang must have been shocked to see Musa Hassan flanked by PKR national policy and strategy bureau secretary S Gobikrishnan and Negeri Sembilan PKR youth exco member Sri Sanjeevan, when he (Musa) alleged that Hishammuddin had interfered with the police force under his IGP days.

Phang said: “If Musa is backed by PKR, then I must express my utmost disappointment that PKR appears to be a desperate party."

" ... going into bed with this cunning man and supporting his cause will mean that the leadership of PKR has no principles. I say to PKR - dissociate yourself from this wolf in sheep’s skin."

“Ask why is he now attacking the government as evil, whereas he once was its key perpetrator. If PKR keeps supporting this evil man, then PKR will lose the support of the public for stooping so low just to undermine the BN government.”

It sure as hell didn't help when Saifuddin Nasution tap-danced around the question of Musa Hassan's possible membership in PKR, as discussed above.

Saifuddin

Now, we have Musa Hassan virtually suffering from political verbal diarrhoea everyday, when today he gave us the benefit of his policing wisdom in Malaysiakini's Musa: Rival parties' ceramah should not be side by side.

Malaysiakini reported that in an interview with Musa Hassan: ... earlier this year, Musa had reportedly told his younger brother Fuad Hassan off, to not interfere in police investigations when his brother asked him to help Anwar, as he warned that could be constituted as disrupting the investigations.

And RPK informed us that Anwar Ibrahim has a new Chinese backer, a sort of 'sugar-daddy', so to speak, wakakaka.

However, I am keeping clear of the alleged links between Anwar and Deepak Jaikisian because that allegation came from an UMNO blogger called papagomo who together with UMNO Gelugor’s Division Chairperson, Dr Novandri Hasan Basri, fabricated the irresponsible shameful lies about Lim Guan Eng’s son. Surely not a reliable source.

But really, what's the 'sweet' story on the public resurrection of Musa Hassan, complete with his political volte-faced orientation, right on the eve of GE-13?

Who killed Altantuyaa Shaariibuu?

Because I dare not claim I know who murdered Altantuyaa Shaariibuu, I have a number of questions to ask.

Have you heard of the saying: One can't squeeze blood out of a stone?

In Malaysia it seems, one can squeeze political gains out of a dead woman, and the squeezing will continue because GE-13 is just around the corner.

Thus the soul of poor Altantuyaa Sharriibuu won't be able to rest for a while yet.

Even Ataya Tngri rolled his ancient eyes upwards
While Emegelji Eji cackled with caustic laughter
The ancient pair could see abacus shaped hearts
Clicking furiously and shaming Casio calculators

By sheer speed of their computation of advantage
What to extract, exploit, extricate from my name
Squeezing the very last speck of desiccated blood
From my hyper cold shattered fragments of bones

Eager hands raided the ossuary for me to be laid
As stepping stones for the progress of a demigod
On Ardha-Matanga, 4 tasks & seven white trunks
Saluting Brahma, walking to Amarawati by a lake 


(extracts from my poem Murdering Altantuyaa Shaariibuu Again)

Altantuyaa Shaariibuu

To some people, even though two policemen, Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar, have been convicted by the courts for her slaying and given the ultimate sentence, death, they (those some people) are convinced without any shadow of doubt that the case of the murdered Mongolian model remains unsolved, and justice for her as yet to be meted!

Where or what would be those policemen's motive, they asked?

Yes, a very relevant question.

By the way, what was the motive of the murderer who killed Canny Ong? Can't remember her? Why is Altantuyaa better remembered than Canny Ong?

Anyway, motive-wise (or allegedly lack of), would Canny Ong's murderer be considered as in the same boat as the two condemned policemen.

Indeed, famous crime author, P.D. James, who served for thirty years in various departments of the British Civil Service, including the Police and Criminal Law Department of Great Britain's Home Office, as well as being a magistrate stated that “All the motives for murder are covered by four Ls: Love, Lust, Lucre and Loathing.”

Now, those who have been following the Altantuyaa case learned from the court case and media reports that Altantuyaa was blackmailing her ex lover Razak Baginda with such aggression that he became terrified enough to ask for special protection, ... from the world’s most famous private investigator, wakakaka.

So most would say there was initially love and lust in their relationship, and then when the passion and ardour turned cool and relationship soured, the blackmailing for money (lucre) kicked in, with the final outcome of loathing, probably of a mutual nature.

Thus, it was an astonishing pronouncement by his Lordship that notwithstanding Razak Baginda possessing all the likely motives (which of course don't necessarily translate into criminal action), those motives couldn't be the basis to suspect him. Huh?

Thus, it’s hardly surprising that most Malaysians would cast their eyes on siapa godfather nya? Of course his close friendship with Najib, compounded by the alleged corrupt armed purchases, have deepened the suspicions that there have been kow-tim-ness (boleh-ness).

These suspicions are all natural, logical and thus unavoidable, and coupled with the (lack of) reputation of our judiciary, has led to accusations that our Malaysian Don Corleone had intervened. I'd go along with such suspicions.

Be that as it may, while it’s one thing to suspect Najib helping his buddy, it’s quite another to accuse Najib of being the killer or the man who gave the order to pull the trigger.

... which makes me wonder, had His Lordship called Razak Baginda to give his defence, and subsequently (just hypothetically speaking) was found guilty, would that have closed the murder case? Would that have satisfied those braying for justice?

Making a daring speculation (not unlike betting on 4-Ekor, wakakaka) I dare say NO. And that's because the sentiment currently prevailing among some people is for Najib to be implicated kau kau, not just as an accessory to the crime but specifically as the prime suspect, the man who ordered the murder of Altantuyaa Shariibuu.

Get Najib, and if that can’t be done, get Rosmah Mansor for her alleged crime of being the Demolition Woman, which will bring down Najib (thus the same as Get Najib).

That would have been the dream outcome for Najib’s nemesis, a dream already born when Najib was still DPM. And had that dream been fulfilled, Najib would have to vacate his DPM and UMNO deputy president slot!

I wonder who would have filled it?

So? Whatever, is Najib guilty of the murder of Altantuyaa Shaariibuu?

Alas, if only the late Altantuyaa had played her part correctly to help concretize the dream into reality. If only she had chosen the correct target to harass, namely, Najib Razak instead of Razak Baginda.

But the loudest noises are they calling for ‘justice’
Though, I smile cynically, ‘twas not meant for me
Their shrill proclamations & belated outrage (sigh)
Startled even great Gujir Tngri and the 77 siqar


Grandstanding acrobatics, their excuse to dispense
With all norms, purportedly all for me (wry smile)
I must confess I view with scepticism and distaste
As I would professional chest-pounding mourners

Gnashing Colgate mint-flavoured peroxide-d teeth
Wretchedly wringing manicured Ulan oiled hands
Shedding date-expired plastic bags of lo-salt tears
Proclaiming to be 11th hour paragons of ‘justice’

Then, 

... in stepped Balasubramaniam. Incidentally, if Bala were to die tomorrow, whether by assassination or ‘accident’ or even sickness, who will be the principal suspect?

... in stepped Deepak Jaikisian. Incidentally, if Deepak were to die tomorrow, whether by assassination or ‘accident’ or sickness, who will be the principal suspect?

If Bala submitted a statutory declaration damning a person, and then, within 24 hours withdrew the accusations via a 2^nd SD, purported out of fear though he prepared the original SD for 2 months with resolution and courage, who will be the principal suspect?

Would the twin packed SD's be known as the 'deadly double whammy'?

More importantly, will both Bala and Deepak then be safe?

Hmmm, perhaps from the principal suspect, but not necessarily from others who want the principal suspect to emerge as the principal suspect, wakakaka!

As I journey through the darkness of cold oblivion
Borne on the back of Shava to meet his master
Assigned to Samsara by cruel nefarious forces
Which ended my karmic forces violently, abruptly

In my odyssey, wandering by the woeful Acheron
Was there a time when I had felt soothing voices
To comfort me amidst my lonely pains and fears
Yes I do, only from the One who is fragrant Pure

Poor Altantuyaa Shaariibuu.

Will 'neutrality' of Mr 'Neutral' be neutralised?

Mr Americk Singh Sidhu (hope I have his name in proper order - if not, my apologies) is a lawyer who came to our notice, or at least to mine in July 2008, as the man who advised/helped the world's most famous private investigator (PI), our very own Balasubramaniam Perumal (Bala), prepare and announce to the whole wide world Malaysia's most famous or if you wish, most notorious statutory declaration (SD).

(L) Americk Singh Sidhu, (R) Sivarasa Rasiah, PKR MP

The highlight of the press conference, where Bala revealed the sensationalizing content of his SD, was not the SD itself but rather, the chairing of the event by none other than, wakakaka, Anwar Ibrahim.

Aiyah, perhaps it was just a coincidental confluence of personalities on a coincidentally shared interest, eh?

Bala informed us through a most scandalous sordid salacious revelation that he was informed by Razak Baginda who in turn was informed by Najib Razak who in turn was informed by Altantuyaa Shariibuu who in turn confessed she liked ‘getting it’ in her behind, etc etc etc.

Razak Baginda

Mr Americk Singh Sidhu also informed us that his role as Bala's lawyer in the case of the 1st SD - by now we all know there would be a 2nd SD, one which would even be more damning for Najib - started when he, Bala, ASP Suresh, Puravalen (a lawyer) were having a few drinks at 'The Backyard' pub in Sri Hartamas and discussing the Altantuyaa case.

Balasubramaniam Perumal

Then, surprise surprise, they were joined by none other than Sivarasa Rasiah who coincidentally was/is a PKR MP.

Aiyah, lots of coincidences lah, wakakaka.

Apparently after hearing what Bala had to offer regarding what he was informed by Razak Baginda who in turn was informed by Najib Razak who in turn was informed by Altantuyaa Shariibuu who in turn confessed she liked ‘getting it’ in her behind*, Sivarasa (remember, he's the PKR MP) 'suggested' that Bala get ‘someone’ to record everything down. What a wonderful suggestion!

* I have more than sympathised with the late Mongolian lady, for the reason that though she's gone from us, has not been allowed to rest in peace; hence I've posted in my other blog, my disgust and anger at her exploiters in a poem titled Murdering Altantuyaa Shaariibuu Again 

Altantuyaa Shaariibuu

PKR members mourning at Altantuyaa's mock grave
very touching but will they do same for a murdered Malaysian?

Americk Sidhu was then 'nominated' to help Bala write an SD on Razak Baginda's alleged gossip about Najib and the Mongolian model. And according to Americk Sidhu, these recordings “… occurred about two or three times over a period of about two months and lasted a few hours each time.”

Over a period of 2 months? Lots of thoughts would have been poured into the SD.

Mr Americk Singh Sidhu had then assured us that he was nominated because he was the one lawyer who did not have an agenda in this matter (presumably the Altantuuyaa case).

Americk Singh Sidhu

In a Malaysiakini news article on 25 Nov 2009, Mr Americk Singh Sidhu again asserted his political neutrality and his original unfamiliarity/non-interest in the Altantuyaa case, which in fact became the reason* for being nominated, presumably by the group at 'The Backyard' pub, to record Bala’s revelation.

* He informed us: "Somehow I was chosen to do this as everyone felt I was the one lawyer who did not have an agenda in this matter as I was someone neutral."

I had posted on this before, but nonetheless I reproduce here those questions I had asked of Mr Americk Singh Sidhu in an earlier post, as follows:

(1) Why was Anwar Ibrahim spearheading the press conference which exposed Balasubramaniam’s original (1st) SD?

(2) Why didn't he (Americk) accompany Bala to the police station when Bala was summoned to one of Malaysia’s most dangerous places after the press conference on the first SD, especially more so when the SD was so damning against the then-DPM?

If I recall reading in Malaysiakini, he (Mr Americk Singh Sidhu) had advised Bala to be a good lad or good citizen and to report to the police station* as required ... and all by himself unescorted by a lawyer.

In fact Bro Haris Ibrahim wrote a caustic post on this 'negligence', that of allowing Bala to report to a police station 'unescorted'.

* of course now, with subsequent revelations by Bala, we've ‘learnt’he went instead to Rawang with ASP Suresh to ‘burn some copper wires’ and to meet Deepak.

Rawang town

(3) Wasn’t he (Americk) aware of the danger to Bala reporting to the police unescorted by a lawyer, especially after Bala had made such a damning SD against the then-DPM?

(4) Was ASP Suresh part of the group at ‘The Backyard’ pub who encouraged Bala to record all he heard from Razak Baginda and to reveal all in a SD?

(5) Wasn’t he (Americk) aware that the involvement (persuasion) of PKR MP Sivarasa in Bala’s SD (and the high profile chairing of the press conference by Anwar Ibrahim to reveal Bala's 1st SD) would by default be a political involvement, removing any claims of ‘neutrality’ in such an affair?

Sigh, it's such a confusing affair.

Then on 26 Nov 2009, we read Malaysiakini's PI's lawyer: 'Anwar not behind Bala tapes' which I commented on that same day in my post Bala's SD - Americk Sidhu clears Anwar Ibrahim from involvement how Mr 'Neutral' asserted that:

“… Anwar had nothing to do with the release of the first SD except to deliver a speech prior to the press conference at the PKR headquarters last July. I have had no communication with Anwar at all, and neither has he or any PKR member tried to contact me.”

* above underlining is mine

I had then posted that though I was greatly comforted by Mr Americk Singh Sidhu’s assertion, I was somewhat puzzled, just a tad though, that despite having no communication with Anwar or any PKR member whatsoever (except of course for an encounter with Sivarasa Rasiah at ‘The Backyard’ pub and Anwar Ibrahim at the press conference) Mr Americk Singh Sidhu was able to further assert that:

“… Many people think Anwar Ibrahim is behind all this. That is absolutely untrue. Anwar has no idea about this whole episode except what he may have read in the blogs and on Malaysiakini.”

Sivarasa Rasiah, PKR MP

I commented that I was in a somewhat similar position as Americk, sharing with him a status where I too “…have had no communication with Anwar at all, and neither has he or any PKR member tried to contact me”, indeed wakakaka.

Thus I too would definitely not accuse Anwar Ibrahim of being behind Balasubramaniam’s 1st SD ... Absolutely NOT!

But precisely for that very reason, that I was and am (wakakaka) not in communication with Anwar, I wouldn't be able to claim whether Anwar was involved or not involved.

In other words, I was and am not able nor entitle to speak on behalf of Anwar Ibrahim on this issue. Thus I would not be able to assert Anwar did or did not do this or that.

But strangely but most wonderfully, Mr Americk Singh Sidhu was able to, proving he must be a better man than most, especially me, dungu kaytee.

Now, I don't want to hear anything from any of you that his absolving Anwar from being the instigator or promoter of Bala's 1st SD, sounded like a case of the paraphrased Shakespearean "Methinks thou doth protest too much" - Hamlet, Act III, scene II - coincidentally again, an Anwar Ibrahim self-admitted favourite book, of course next only to al Quran.

Anyway, I had then stated (indirectly to Mr Americk Singh Sidhu) we shouldn't  worry about Anwar Ibrahim as he could/can look after himself.

Besides, Mr Americk Singh Sidhu had stated "... Anwar has no idea about this whole episode [the SD] except what he may have read in the blogs and on Malaysiakini” though, coincidentally of course, our Mr Manmanlai had presented himself at the press conference to give a speech!

Wakakaka, coincidences, coincidences!

Another thing which puzzled me then, had been Americk’s statement that “…Let me assure you, no one is paying Bala to recant in his second SD.”

I thought it was a bloke by the name of Deepak?

Ooops … sorry, I didn’t read the Malaysiakini interviewer’s question, which was “Are you representing any party? Is that party paying Bala to recant?”

OK, in this context Americk’s assurance that “… no one is paying Bala to recant in his second SD” wasn't referring to Deepak but a political party.

And which party was that - UMNO or PKR? - you, my dear readers have to decide, though of course which party it was (or wasn't) had nothing to do with Mr Americk Singh Sidhu.

UMNO

PKR

But yet in Malaysiakini’s report Lawyer: Najib 'linked' to Bala's disappearance Americk said:

"I received a call from a member of the press at about 9.30 am on July 4, 2008 asking me why my client, Bala, had called a press conference for 11 am that morning at the Prince hotel."

"I was a little surprised as I had no idea what this was about so I proceeded to call Bala, who did not answer his phone. I then proceeded to make further enquiries only to find out that Bala had purportedly been represented by another lawyer, one Arunampalam who had spoken to the press at that press conference on behalf of Bala and had said that Bala was retracting the contents of his first SD as he had been forced to sign it under duress."

"When I came to know of this press conference and what transpired thereat, I was absolutely flabbergasted. Bala and I had spent two months and many hours over the first SD to ensure it was absolutely correct and for him to deny the contents in the space of 24 hours did seem incredible to me."

Indeed it must have been a terribly confusing and no doubt bizarre shock for Mr Americk Singh Sidhu that Bala had recanted on his allegation against Najib.

But suppose for one instant ... what if Bala didn’t tell him the whole story, only engaging him for the 1st SD?

Given this possibility, it was hardly surprising that Mr Americk Singh Sidhu "... was absolutely flabbergasted" by the 2nd SD.

But then, if he didn't know Bala was going to make a 2nd SD, how could he (Mr Americk Singh Sidhu) then know, let alone assure us that “… no one is paying Bala to recant in his 2nd SD”?

… in exactly the same way as he had assured us Anwar had nothing to do with the release of the first SD despite him (Mr Americk Singh Sidhu) having no communication whatsoever with our Great Leader or any PKR bloke (other than PKR MP Sivarasa Rasiah in 'The Backyard' pub), yet somehow knowing the non-involvement of Anwar.

By then I was totally confused.

The Backyard Pub

Then, as reported, Mr Americk Singh Sidhu stated “… Bala had anticipated that he would be arrested by the police after releasing the first statutory declaration and he told me so. This is why he had handed over his mobile phone to me for safe keeping before he left my office the evening before as he did not want the police to download information from it.”

“We were therefore preparing for his arrest and then to go to the police station he was being held at to represent him.”

But in the following day’s Malaysiakini news Mr Americk Singh Sidhu stated “…Remember Bala left my office at 4.45 pm on July 3 with ASP Suresh. They were supposed to go and see inspector Tonny Luggan at a restaurant near the Brickfields police station after he got off work at 6.30 pm.”

“That was the arrangement made when Bala was in my office. I encouraged Bala to go and meet Tonny informally as I felt it would have been to Bala's benefit. And besides, he was with ASP Suresh, a police officer, who gave the impression he was looking after Bala's interests.”

Needless to say, that was very puzzling, because despite anticipating Bala's arrest after the (1st) SD (which was why he safe-kept Bala’s phone, as he informed us), he still didn't accompany Bala to see Inspector Tonny Luggan?

But f*, what the hell do I know about such things - afterall I'm not a lawyer. I’m sure Mr Americk Singh Sidhu knew what he was doing and saying.

Since then, we know that Mr Americk Singh Sidhu has been playing quite a significant role in arranging for Bala to be interviewed by the MACC. Wonderful civic-conscious Mr 'Neutral'.

But this post is not about Bala or Naib or Anwar, but about Mr Americk Singh Sidhu and kaytee's speculation (I love harmless speculating), namely, will Mr Americk Singh Sidhu be nominated by PKR as a candidate for GE-13?

And why not as he has shown by his amazing, almost prescient, knowledge that he will undoubtedly be a marvellous PKR candidate and hopefully, MP.

Though I have to say, I'm worried that will neutralize his 'neutrality' wakakaka.

p/s This will be followed by my kaytee-ish wild speculations about the issues surrounding the Altantuyaa murder.

Related:

(1) Americk Singh is pissed off with Zahrain Hashim
(2) Balasubramaniam's lawyer linked Najib to Bala's disappearance
(3) Lawyer: Najib 'linked' to Bala's disappearance

Background reading:
(1) Balasubramaniam story - brave broadcast or Ben-Hur-ish bullsh*t
(2) The Paradox of Balasubramanian Perumal

Bypassing bank loans thro' lateral thinking

Time for another of kaytee's uncle-story, wakakaka.

And the inspiration or if you like, catalyst for this story is information provided by RPK in his Malaysia-Today's article titled The journey in life is never a straight line (PART 6) which tells us (just the extract relevant to my uncle-story):

Actually, I blame the banks for all this. Back in the 1980s, around ten years after starting my business, bank managers were coming to see me to invite me to lunch. They would practically beg me to ‘give them some business’. Over lunch they would confirm RM2 million or RM3 million without even asking me what I would do with the money.

You see, branch managers had a quota to fill and they were trying to use me to fill their quota. So they would offer me facilities in the millions even though I did not need the money and would not have known what to do with it anyway.

Once I was even invited for lunch in the executive suite of HSBC in Kuala Lumpur. The Kwailo then asked whether his bank ‘could be off assistance’ to me. He then offered me RM3 million and instructed his Chinese officer to follow up on this ‘application’.

The Chinese officer followed me back to my office and sat down with me to work out the details. But we had one problem. We could not justify the facilities. In other words, we could not show that I needed the money. After cracking our heads for an hour, I told the officer to just forget it. Actually I don’t need the money.

The info that struck me as possibly 'connected' to my Uncle-story, or giving Unc's tale some plausibility, are:

"... You see, branch managers had a quota to fill and they were trying to use me to fill their quota ..." and

"... then asked whether his bank ‘could be off assistance’ to me. He then offered me RM3 million and instructed his Chinese officer to follow up on this ‘application’ ...".

I'll come back to them later. But just a wee tng k'ooi (ch'ong hei or digressive meandering) before I commence my Uncle-story.

RPK's title to his interesting series on his life's journey, it being 'never a straight line', appeals to my Chinese sense, because the Chinese concept or perception of things is similarly so, that they are 'circular' rather than linear in nature, thus indirectly consigning linear projections to the alien Western perception/concepts that they are.

Incidentally, the concept of 'circularity' of the Universe, or Nature and its course is most probably Taoist in its origin, or alternatively, that Laozi, the founder of Taoism, discovered the circular nature of Universe and articulated that 'truth' as Taoism - admittedly a kaytee's very simplified explanation, wakakaka.

Take for example the Universe. Our galaxy, more commonly known as The Milky Way (or in Indonesian, Bimasakti) is a group of some 200 to 400 billion stars or suns, like our very own Sol, circulating around in a spiral formation at approximately 600 km per second. It takes our own Sun around 200 million years to make one round in the circular disk shaped galaxy.

Milky Way

Our planet in turn completes an orbit of the Sun once every year, while rotating on its own axis (24 hours long in each rotation), and PAS' dear Selene travels around Earth in a month (27.3 days).

Then, navigators have discovered that the shortest distance between two points on our Earth is along a Great Circle, which lies along the diameter of a plane passing though the centre point of our global sphere, such as the Equator or a longitude. However, a latitude (with the exception of the Equator) is not a Great Circle.

A good wushu (or Chinese martial art) punch travels along a circular path though it may seem like a linear strike. The strike is actually along a corkscrew (thus circular) path. Baquazhang, a highly effective (and probably most mysterious) fighting form of the 'internal school' of Chinese martial arts, one closely associated with Taoism, has very circular movements, where its adherents train in 'walking the circle'.

baquazhang (pakua)

Not surprising, the symbol of Taoism is the Taijitu, embracing the yang and yin elements in harmonious balance in a perfect circle - I'll explain this some other day, but suffice to say the Chinese realizes since ancient days the circular nature of all things in this Universe.

taijitu

Hmmm, maybe besides gunpowder, paper and the use of the lodestone (compass) the Chinese also invented 'political spinning', wakakaka, but okay, kau liao lah (enough) of Chinese concept of all effective movements being circular - let's get on to my unc-story.

Apparently around that time that RPK mentioned, there was some kind of rule that a bank could issue a loan to a Chinese (or Indian) but ONLY if there had been one issued to a Malay. The problem for the Chinese was that very few Malays (except for The Chosen Ones) wanted a bank loan.

Why? Maybe the Malays (those who didn't want the bank loans), unlike Chinese, in general owned land, and were happy with their farming and even gentry lifestyle? Maybe their cultural-religious upbringing didn't encourage a materialistic pursuit of life that Chinese were more familiar with?

But the consequence of their lukewarm requirement for bank loans were screwing up those Chinese hungry for bank loans, where more than a few Chinese real estate developers had very huge appetites.

Now, Edward de Bono might have been described as the man who introduced the concept of lateral thinking but in truth, since time memorial mankind (or if you like, humankind) had already practised lateral thinking.

For example, in very simplified explanation, King Henry VIII of England was facing excommunication by the Pope for his act of divorcing Catherine of Aragon (lots of European power politics here where Catherine's nephew was both King of Spain and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and had the Pope on a leash). Being excommunicated by the Pope meant going to hell.

But good olde Henry exercised a bit of lateral thinking and probably thought "That monk can't excommunicate me if I am not Catholic, wakakaka", and so he gave two fingers to the Pope by enacting the Act of Supremacy in 1534 which severed the Church of England from Rome's control and made Henry the head of the all things in England including the Church and its bishops.

King Henry VIII

Anyway, some Chinese businessmen decided that if the bank couldn't provide them with loans because of the quota not being met due to very few Malays applying for them, they decided to form their own source for financial 'loans'.


So the story went that a huge supermarket came up in Penang which sold stuff at dirt cheap price, almost at cost price.

What happened was that the bloke running the scheme a la lateral-thinking obtained goods from wholesalers with a 6 months credit line, meaning he obtained those goods without the need to pay for them for half a year. He them sold those goods off at virtually cost price plus a small overhead-recovery fee.

Needless to say, the consumers went wild and the supermarket sales soared into outer space.

Now, just how the f* was he going to make a decent profit for himself? What kind of stupid business was that, not making any profit?

Well, he wasn't interested in making profits at all from the supermarket sales per se, but rather in the cash flow the sales were providing him to finance his real estate development, the real cash cow. And he had a 6 month credit line (with no interest required, unlike bank loans) which would be satisfactorily met when keen house buyers paid him the deposits and the usual incremental payments as the estates were developed and houses constructed.

It was a win-win-win situation for the supermarket customers, wholesalers and himself, wakakaka, and f* the bank loans.

Now, the tale went that subsequently the authorities attempted to close down the supermarket on some city council by-laws, but the supermarket management ignored the order and went on merrily trading.

The authorities threatened the manager with imprisonment if he defied the court order. He ignored that as well (not sure whether he said "come and get me, nah nah nah") and of course went defiantly to jail. I'm sure there was a BIG ang pow somewhere.

Certainly financial lateral thinking at its best, and (if true) banking loan rule at its worst!