Something Different

Top 10 Reasons to Oppose the Peaceful Assembly Act

2011-12-11T03:22:00.033+08:00

Recently BN (real hypocrites) legislated a new bill in parliament called the Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011 (don't let the name fool you) in the most hastily way possible. What can I say about this bill ? Well it's STUPID, UNDEMOCRATIC, REPRESSIVE, & most importantly...UNCONSTITUTIONAL !

What kind of government ceates a law which goes against the Federal Constitution by restricting the rights of the people (their Constitutional right need I remind you) to public demonstration & banning street protests ? It's as good as telling the people to shut up.

How is it allowed ?!...I'll tell you, only with a power-crazy & desperate party like BN can nonsense like this go down.

Even with so much negative criticism of this bill from the Bar Council, the public, foreign press and even the United Nations, BN still chose to turn a deaf ear & ran with it. Shameless bastards. Once again, people first ?

Below are 10 solid reasons to oppose this bullshit.

1. The right for people to assemble is the right to freedom of speech and expression. If you limit and restrict that right, then you are denying democracy.

2. Myanmar just passed a law to allow public protests. I repeat — Myanmar just passed a law to allow public protests.

3. Prime Minister Najib Razak says this new law will be “revolutionary.” Sure ! It’s as revolutionary as Iran’s Revolutionary Guards !

4. MITI Deputy Minister Mukhriz Mahathir says that street protests portray the country as having bad governance. Great ! Bar the protests instead of addressing the bad governance !

5. Aside from the rules that are obviously stated in the Act, everything else falls under the “discretion” of the police or the home minister. How conveniently ambiguous.

6. The peaceful assembly law is unconstitutional since protests are a form of expression.

7. The Act disallows anyone under 21 years of age from participating in assemblies. I didn’t know young people had less human rights.

8. The Peaceful Assembly Act is actually even more restrictive than the current law, which goes against what was promised by the prime minister in September during his Malaysia Day speech.

9. One of the reasons of protests and demonstrations is to create disruption (but peaceful disruption because BN is selectively deaf) in order to bring attention to issues. Disallowing this disruption goes against the principle of protests and demonstrations.

10. As a member of the Malaysian rakyat, I was not asked my opinion about the Bill. Were you ?

Source: Lim Kit Siang

Rural Folks Disadvantaged to Be Taught in English...Really ?

2011-11-14T17:45:00.013+08:00

Once again the usual flip-flop of polices by BN continues, particularly in the Malaysian Education Ministry this time on the language medium to be used in teaching Maths & Science in primary & secondary schools. English…then BM…change to English…now back to BM !

Now I’m not going to emphasise on the importance of teaching those subjects in English or how stupidly these decisions are made. Been there, done that. You may view that here & here if you like. What I want to do is hantam (whack) the great excuse given by the Education Ministry on why the change to BM again.

One of the great reasons given which seems to be highlighted a lot is that teaching maths & science in English is apparently a big disadvantage to rural folks….Really ?...Explain this then.

Tun Mahathir was born into a poor family in a small village. His parents could barely speak English. Look at him today, so well-spoken & well-read, fluent in English, & graduated from Singapore to become a doctor. How in the hell was he disadvantaged ? Hard work & perseverance is what it was. Plus the education mess today didn’t exist then.

Heck I’ll give you a personal example, my parents and grandparents. My father was born & raised in a village. His parents could pretty much speak only Punjabi. So where did my father learn English ? In school of course when we were following the British Education System & English was the main medium of teaching those days. Plus he read a lot as a child.

Similiarly, my mother’s parents spoke mainly Tamil alone at home. Her father however was much better with English. Either way, it’s the same thing. She picked up English in school as well and also from reading. The same story more or less goes for many elders.

Moreover have you seen or heard of any rural group of people protesting or marching against the use of English for teaching Maths & Science ?...No right. It’s always the damn politicians and their affiliations bitching about it ! Aren’t the voices of so many parents and students demanding the teachings to be in English loud enough ? People first, my foot. So obvious it’s another political ploy out of many to win the hearts of certain people for the upcoming General Elections at the cost of risking our nation’s future.

Besides all that, where do most of the children of our fantastic BN politicians study ? In private schools & institutions overseas, all in English ! Bloody hypocrites. Do they dare come out & declare all this ? Of course not.

So to Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, to state that having Maths & Science being taught in English is a disadvantage for rural folks, I say BULLSHIT. You should know better. Why put students & teachers through this nonsense with your silly, incompetent, & hypocritical decisions ? I feel you’re just playing another dirty game & are denying rural folks an opportunity to better themselves & actually have an advantage.

Do You Need a Social Media Detox ?

2011-08-07T20:04:00.026+08:00

I've always wanted to write an article about this matter for a long time (the social media phenomenon on our generation), but a feeling in me of some people may not like it at all & just giving me flak which I don't want or need has made me think twice quite a few times.

So instead of an article (for now perhaps), I've decided to touch this topic gently by posting these interesting pictures that I came across with recently which I'm sure will get some minds jogging. I'll let them do the talking. After all, pictures are worth a thousand words right ?........Enjoy.

Note: The point is NOT of being anti-Facebook/Twitter or saying it's all bad. NO, don't get it twisted. The point IS about its way of usage & apparent effects on society with ACTUAL socialising.

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

Image 5

Image 6

Due to Blogspot limitations, the images opened may be too small for viewing. Below are the URL's of each image for a larger viewing.

Image 1:

http://digitalactivist.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/do_you_need_a_social_media_detox.jpg

Image 2:

http://images.onlineschools.org.s3.amazonaws.com/obsessed-with-facebook.jpg

Image 3:

http://ripetungi.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/twitter-users1.png

Image 4:

http://live-your-love.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/twitter-addict-infographic.jpg

Image 5:

http://yepyep.gibbs12.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/internet_addiction_05a.jpg ,

Image 6:

http://nerdcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Is-Social-Media-Ruining-Students-Infographics.jpg

Stupid Whore

2011-06-05T21:31:00.013+08:00

‘Which whore?’, that’s your first question I bet. I’m referring to the stupid whores who said these. Mainly Obedient Wives Club international vice-president Dr. Rohaya Mohamad.

"You must satisfy your husband. A good wife should be a whore in bed," said 46-year-old Dr. Rohaya Mohamad .

"If the wife is obedient, then the husband feels good and is entertained and this builds a closer relationship and greater love and no one strays," said groom Mohamad Shurahbil Amran, 23.

“If you look at the world today, women are already being treated as sex objects... in magazines, on TV... so why can’t they be sex objects to their husbands? It is legal and permitted by God”.

“A good wife is a good sex worker to her husband. What is wrong with being a whore in bed to your husband?” she asked.

“The family institution is protected and we can curb social ills like prostitution, domestic violence, human trafficking and abandoned babies. Now, this obedience is lacking and it is causing many marriages to breakdown. Men are having girlfriends and mistresses, they are going to prostitutes... I believe the problem starts at home where his sexual needs are unfulfilled," she said.

____________________________________________________________________

An x-ray of their heads would show that they have no brains whatsoever. She’s insulting herself, women, and men.

Who the hell says a good wife must be a whore in bed ? A whore ?! Clearly she has no deeper opinion of what a wife should be. How about a wife being someone who loves you, cares for you, understands you, and always by your side no matter good or bad times ? Personally, I don’t want a whore for a wife. A whore to me can be a whore to another!

A wife who’s nothing but a sex toy to her husband is no way a guarantee that a couple doesn’t go astray. Doesn’t common sense tell you that ? This isn’t the ice age or middle ages for her to imply that men grab their women by their head to go in a cave & fuck their brains out.

Next she says women are already being treated like sex objects. I wouldn’t say she’s completely wrong but nor is she completely right. Sure prostitution happens worldwide & so on, but it shouldn’t be forgotten that some women themselves portray themselves as sex symbols (Has she heard of Britney,Rihanna, etc ?). It’s their own choice to do so & up to ourselves on how to perceive such things. Best part, she says it’s permitted by God. Did she have a revelation whereby God came down & told her so ?

I think how a husband & wife have fun in the bedroom is totally personal & shouldn’t be simply concluded as the wives acting like whores. Sure if they want to, go ahead. They’re husband & wife. A marriage isn’t just about sex. It takes two to tango. How kinky a couple intends to play their indoor games is their business. I disagree with the reason she gives for wives to act like whores for their husbands. I find her mentality totally primitive & plain stupid.

Prostitution, domestic violence, human trafficking, abandoned babies, men having mistresses, these things don’t just happen just because wives didn’t play their role as whores good enough. They happen for a shitload of reasons such as money, personal problems, lack of education, misguidance, or for even not having strong/good moral principles within yourself.

To say that such problems start because of men not having good sex from their wives who weren’t porn star-ish enough is totally unsubstantiated & demeaning to all men & women. It doesn’t take a husband or a wife to see all this, just common sense. All the above is just my opinion. You may have another view, feel free to share if you wish. I'm open to all schools of thought.

Original article: here & here.

The Dumbest Secret

2010-10-11T16:50:00.034+08:00

Allow me to share with you Malaysia’s most top secret secretive secret of all time. It’s the secret of how Malaysia can catapult itself back to the times of economic glory it had during the 80’s & 90’s.Very much unlike today’s mediocre & frankly...slipping performance.

Lately we’ve seen PM Najib drowning us in acronyms such as GTP, NEM, ETP, NKRA, KPI, NKEA, etc. He has talked of forming a Talent Corporation to woo back Malaysians residing overseas to return home & serve their nation. Those are his big plans (big talk) to resuscitate Malaysia. My thoughts, those plans failed the second they were mentioned. When I say fail, I mean in a sense that they’re acts for a short-term attainment which is Vision 2020, not long-term for a vision beyond that. None of them tackle the real root causes of the hole we’re in now.

Let’s quickly view the current situation. Racist things are often said & done now (need examples ?), yet the culprits are usually let off scott-free or just get a slap on the wrist. In 2009, foreign investments dropped by 81%. Hundreds of thousands of talented & well-skilled Malaysians have migrated over the years for greener pastures. I don’t blame them. No equal opportunity, low salaries, unappreciated, being sidelined just because of race, stupid politicking, etc. What’s their incentive when their skills are more appreciated overseas & they’re paid better for it ?

Billions of Ringgit has gone down the drain due to corruption. Our universities, competitiveness, & corruption index on global rankings have dropped. Hardly any nation finds us economically sexy enough anymore to invest here. Even Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, & Vietnam are economically sexier than us now!!

Now for the secret (sshhh)..........how can Malaysia shine again ??

Simple (not with BN)....take action & get rid of these things....NEP, Malay “special privileges”, Ketuanan ideology, make the judiciary independent, give freedom to the media. THAT’S IT.....& I guarantee you the rest will fall into place. All that primitive crap doesn’t fly anywhere anymore in today’s globalised & highly competitive world.

Our corruption ranking...CPI = Corruption Perception Index

Competitiveness going down down down down down.....dowwnnnn..dowwnnn

For decades, all those mentioned above have repelled foreign investors & fellow Malaysians to look overseas. It has made Malaysia incapable of competing with other nations to survive. Such policies have only benefited the rich & well-connected. Race is irrelevant. Give everyone an equal right & platform to compete on. Selection should be based on merit, your talents, skills, & qualifications. Only then we’ll get the best brains to do the best work. For those who aren’t good enough, they just have to work harder & improve themselves. That’s a society that can flourish & lead to serious economic growth.

Take the recent advice of these three people. Sir Richard Branson recently said that Malaysia should liberalise & open up the economy to woo foreign investors by breaking up & privatising large Government-linked Companies (GLC). Wikipedia co-founder, Jimmy Wales has said that Malaysia should stop censoring the press. People should have an open flow of information to make their own fair opinions & make good decisions. Tony Fernandes has said in his exact words, “the government should get out of business, that will make us all happier”. This allows the private sector to grow & expand without government interference.

We’ve had lots of good advice from many great leaders worldwide. Sadly BN’s skull is too stubborn & they’re too corrupted. It’s a sacrifice they can’t make because it will only make them lose power & a whole lot of them ending up in jail. All those acronyms look fantastic on paper...but how are they going to be executed exactly ? Who’s in charge ? Where’s the money coming from & where is it going ?

To put this situation in a crude analogy (excuse me), Malaysia is like a pretty woman from the Middle Ages....wearing a chastity belt....which is a barrier. If this chastity belt is removed, Malaysia can expect to be humped by foreign investments beyond its wildest dreams.

In conclusion, that’s the only way I see that can get this country of high potential back on its feet & running again. Sadly all I’ve said is common sense. It’s just the present government that’s incapable. Any hawker food seller or taxi driver can tell you this..................& that makes it the dumbest secret.

Najib's 1st Year as PM: My Review

2010-04-06T22:27:00.036+08:00

It’s already a year since Datuk Najib has become PM as of April 3rd 2009. Let’s recap what rubbish has been happening in the nation since he took over.

Sodomy 2.
Stepping on cow head by alleged UMNO members (justice unseen).
Death of Teoh Beng Hock at MACC (justice unseen).
Kugan’s death in police custody (justice unseen).
Missing jet engines (justice unseen).
The poor handling of the Allah issue.
Arson of churches (justice unseen).
Perak power grab (Major injustice).
Women suddenly being caned under the radar.
Formation of extremist group PERKASA which seem able to say whatever they want without any consequences whatsoever.

To be fair to Najib, I don't deny so far he has tried to introduce some sort of reforms. However, with his highly tainted image & countless scandals over his head, I doubt he will ever be able to do them properly. Dirty politics won't allow it. If he tries to do some good, for sure he'll be threatened by those who dislike his moves & Najib risks his dirty secrets being leaked into public thus sending him to jail.

What is the poor PM to do ? He's just stuck.

Najib’s grade = FAIL

What Sodomy ?

2010-02-17T19:01:00.024+08:00

Let’s take a look at Malaysia’s sequel of the biggest bullsh*t case in court…..Sodomy 2.

Director: Our PM, Datuk Najib.

Cast: Opposition leader Datuk Anwar Ibrahim & Saifool Bukhari.

Background of the stars:

Najib:

- Too long, summary here.

Saiful Bukhari:

- 23 years old at time of production.

- Tall & fit.

- University dropout.

Anwar Ibrahim:

- 61 years old at time of production of Sodomy 2.

- Long history of back problems, had a spine operation too.

- Jailed for 6 years for previous movie, Sodomy 1.

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

Regardless of how terrible, unethical, & unprofessional this case is being carried out, what case does Saiful have now when the court has been given three (3 !!) medical reports which conclude that there was no penetration at all ?

So the question now stands stronger as it has stood since the beginning, what sodomy ??

No penetration = no sodomy = no case = case closed !

Is the judge a doctor as well ? Why have doctors do the examination when they’re not going to take his word anyway ?? The judge can inspect Saiful’s a** himself but he’ll conclusively only find sh*t.

To make matters even more unfair, the court is refusing Anwar’s defense team to get evidence being kept by Saiful’s team. The evidence being held includes cctv footage, medical examination notes & chemist notes.

Also, how does a nobody like Saiful get to meet the Prime Minister face to face just like that after claiming to be sodomised ?? Is Najib his father for Saiful to just come running along to him ?

Plus I think Saiful is gay because I don’t know what kind of straight guy would be willing to get involved in all this sodomy crap.

The continuation of the case by Saiful’s team & the court just shows clear disregarding of evidence & how “clean” the judiciary is. It can’t be any more obvious that it’s all just dirty politics to wipe out Anwar once & for all.

The only thing I feel has been penetrated is Saiful’s bank account with millions of Ringgit.

Head down to Petaling Street, Bukit Bintang, & Chow Kit. I’m sure you’ll find some sodomy activities going on there, but you don’t see any of those harmless happy people being arrested do you ?

For more info, you may see this & this.

Our Messy Education System

2009-12-01T20:01:00.014+08:00

The Malaysian education system is just messy in some areas and needs some cleaning A.S.A.P. Areas that need rectifying are the method of teaching, method of assessment, syllabus & the teachers themselves. Let’s analyse these areas step by step.

I’ll start with the subjects first. For instance, Pendidikan Moral (Moral Studies), a subject that should be taught but is taught in a very stupid manner. Why the hell should students memorise the long bombastic definitions of 36 moral values & be forced to regurgitate them word by word in the exams or risk losing marks if the definition is not exactly the same as what’s given in the text book even if the meaning is the same ?! Memorising those definitions is not going to play a role in a student’s moral developments whatsoever. What about the assignment…students taking pictures of themselves doing “moralistic” duties ?!........Bullsh*t!!

Next is Sejarah (History). From the subject Kajian Tempatan in Standard 4 to Form 5, we learn the same stuff over and over about Hang Tuah, Malacca, Parameswara, Penang, etc. Plus we only seem to learn about what happened within South East Asia. Barely anything is covered beyond this region. Why aren’t we learning world history ? As for History in Form 4, why do half the chapters cover topics related to Islam so extensively ? That should be covered more under Islamic studies & briefly under Sejarah as there are many other things to learn than that. Now don’t even think of twisting this into a religious issue. It’s an education issue. As for Form 5 Sejarah, the entire text book is practically bitching about Malaysian politics!! Is that all to history ?

The same thing goes for Geography. The syllabus mostly covers South East Asia only. From Kajian Tempatan to secondary school, the same banjaran Titiwangsa (Titiwangsa mountain range) & hutan khatulistiwa (equatorial rainforests) is seen for years (not really, but I hope you get my point). Is anything mentioned about the other parts of the world such as the rest of Asia, Africa, America, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, etc.. ? We barely (more like do not at all actually) scratch the surface of these places. Are we frogs under a coconut shell ?

As for the teachers, many of them suck nowadays, especially the younger ones. They lack teaching skills & dedication especially. Many are absent for days because the government sends them for kursus (courses) sometimes, but they come back the same!! Moreover, several teachers are also absent for months in a single year because they are busy getting pregnant. As crude as that sounds, I feel a teacher’s love/personal life should not conflict with their careers, especially in the teaching industry.

As for the method of assessment, too much is focused on exams & grades. Students are just obsessed with getting A’s. A’s aren’t everything & don’t conclude your intelligence. Some students cry as if it’s the end of the world when they get a B. I remember a newspaper report a few years ago when a student committed suicide just because a few A’s weren’t achieved. That’s just ridiculous. I wouldn’t kill myself even if I failed all my subjects!! I’d still work my way to reach whatever form of achievement or goal. If you fail anything, pick yourself up, learn from mistakes, & try again. Failing is not the end.

Every year we see more students scoring straight A’s….but are those A’s of quality or quantity ? Then we have the whole scholarship problem which I’ve written here. Every year we hear stories of how the passing mark is lowered to churn out more straight A students. Doesn’t this beat the purpose of having exams in the first place ? Do these A’s really reflect your intelligence ?...Of course not. I was an average student in school. Yet I’m doing much better in my university than I did at school. Why ? Maybe because of better teachers, my interest is there for the subjects & there’s no hanky panky in the marking system. The benchmark is high and fixed. Plus the assessments are not fully exam-oriented. They have class tests, assignments (group & individual), & presentations (group & individual) as well. All these together can reflect a student’s true potential.

The funny thing is, the government (BN) themselves have said many times for years that our education system is too exam-oriented. Students just memorise & vomit back what they memorised on paper. They say they’ll change the assessment methods to produce better quality students. Yet after many years of talk, the assessment methods are still the same!!

So those are a gist of the issues that need rectifying. There are a few other matters that need changes as well, but I rather not mention them as even education is politicized. These little changes can make a big difference for the better. Anyway, if these adjustments are done, I’m sure we can produce students of better quality with a broader mind which can propel Malaysia to greater heights as I believe a nation’s greatest asset are its people.

Chaka the Fool

2009-09-18T00:13:00.004+08:00

This is a short story told to me by my father many years ago. Anyway, let the story telling begin.

There was a man named Chaka who lived in a village. Chaka was a very religious person. One day, a heavy thunder storm hit the village. The winds were very strong & it was very cold. Within an hour, the village was flooded. People were running to higher ground. Almost everybody in the village got to safety except Chaka.

Chaka was hanging on to a tree branch of a tall tree. Then an old man on a raft came along. He offered Chaka a lift to higher ground. Chaka declined his offer & told the man that God would save him. So the old man went away.

Half an hour later, a rescue boat arrived & offered Chaka assistance. Once again Chaka refused their help & said that God would save him. So the rescue boat moved along.

Within an hour, Chaka died.

Now in heaven, Chaka had a conversation with God.

Chaka to God: Oh God, I’ve been such a good person & never did any wrong. Why didn’t you save me ??

God to Chaka: I tried, but you refused.

Chaka to God: No you didn’t, now I’m dead!!

God to Chaka: You fool, I sent the old man & the rescue boat to you!!

Choosing a Career & its Reasons

2009-09-05T21:51:00.011+08:00

For about 2 years or so, ever since I finished my tertiary education until today, I’ve had conversations with various people about what careers we’ve chosen to do. Sometimes I ask or get told on the reason the person has chosen that career. I can honestly say that about 90% of the time, the reason is $$$ & respect…nothing more.

In my opinion, I feel those reasons are just not right. Everybody dreams of being rich as soon as possible of course. I do too. However, wealth & respect do not come overnight. They have to be earned. How you earn them is a different story.

I feel that whatever career you choose, you should have at least some interest in it. The chances of you being successful in something you enjoy doing is higher than you doing something you’re not interested in. Besides that, it’s also better to make sure you can get a job & be able to progress in that career.

As for the $$$ part, I don’t think it’s relevant anymore to say that only certain careers can make you rich. In the age of globalization & competition, there are many ways to earn/increase wealth. Some people don’t even depend on a single paycheck..or a paycheck at all.

Just because you have a degree that is perceived to get you big $$$ doesn’t mean you’ll get big $$$. A degree is just a piece of paper & a ticket to an interview. Even some degrees nowadays are classified by class such as 1^st class honours, 2^nd class upper & lower honours, 3^rd class honours, & an ordinary degree. This is to ensure the quality of graduates to employers.

Now even if you’re a good graduate in a career you perceive to gain you big bucks, but can’t express yourself or can’t show how good you are to employers, most likely you won’t get the job. Worse, if you’re not good at the work itself, don’t expect to get the job at all.

There are many people out there with fancy degrees but know nothing. Some even buy their degrees! See how much competition there is in the world today ?

However, if you’re good in whatever field you do, & can prove it, your chances of getting a job is higher. You’ll be in demand in the job market by employers. Plus if you can market yourself well, the offers & $$$ will come to you. Of course you’ll have to upgrade your skills to make sure you remain valuable in the job market.

Now earning $$$ doesn’t have to come from a single paycheck or single source. There are many other ways to generate income. The most common way is to buy real estate & rent it out, or you can start up your own business. The sky is the limit. It all depends on how you play your cards.

Another thing is, you don’t need to have plenty of cash or a fancy car to qualify as a rich person. Some people are filthy rich just by the assets they have. Assets are things that a person owns. Assets can be converted to cash. So the next time you see a person driving a cheap car, don’t assume the person is poor. That person may be lacking in cash but could be loaded with assets.

…& don’t think a person with an expensive car is rich too. The person may be struggling to pay the bank loan!!

If everyone chose profession X only thinking it’ll guarantee them big bucks, then X will face unemployment due to too many of X in the market. That would bring up serious competition where only the best of the best will survive.

Before you jump in a pool, learn to swim first….& if you’re good, you’ll be recognized. If not, you need to get yourself recognized. How you do it is your matter.

The bottom line is, your job & wealth doesn’t necessarily have to reflect your degree/career. In today’s world, there are many ways to earn $$$ & earning $$$ depends a lot on how good you are & how you market yourself. It also depends on how you are able to create more sources of income. Choosing a career by just thinking you’ll get rich by doing it is not for sure at all. All this is just my opinion.

Mungkin Hal Kecil, Tapi Saya Tak Kisah

2009-08-17T20:20:00.006+08:00

Gambar di atas telah ditangkap daripada laman web Kementerian Dalam Negeri(Home Ministry) Malaysia. Gambar tersebut merupakan keputusan undian laman web tentang pendapat rakyat terhadap ISA. Saya tidak ingin membincangkan tentang keputusan undian tersebut.

Apa yang telah menarik perhatian saya ialah campuran Bahasa Malaysia dan Bahasa Inggeris dalam soalan dan jawapan yang disediakan dalam undian tersebut.

Soalannya telah ditanyakan dalam Bahasa Malaysia. Walaubagaimanapun, sebahagian daripada jawapannya diberi dalam Bahasa Inggeris. Mengapa begitu ?

Jika anda lihat soalan pertama, antara jawapan-jawapan yang disediakan ialah Preventive Law dan Draconian Law. Berdasarkan pengetahuan saya, perkataan-perkataan tersebut boleh diterjemahkan kepada Bahasa Malaysia. Di bawah adalah perkataan-perkataan yang sepatutnya digunakan.

Preventive Law = Undang Pencegahan
Draconian Law = Undang Kejam
Total Responses = Jumlah Balasan

Tidakkah Menteri Dalam Negeri tahu perkataan-perkataan tersebut ? Patutlah kerajaan sungguh keliru untuk membuat keputusan tentang bahasa yang harus digunakan untuk mengajar mata pelajaran Sains dan Matematik. Padahal kerajaan pula yang cakap tentang isu memartabatkan Bahasa Malaysia. Sedih lah saya tengok kerajaan tidak mengikut kata-katanya sendiri.

Reasons to Abolish/Amend the ISA

2009-08-11T22:52:00.013+08:00

I'm not fully against the ISA (Internal Security Act) nor am I fully supportive of it. I support preventive laws, but I’m against draconian laws. As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure.The problem is BN has severely abused the ISA as a tool for political persecution & also unnecessary use. Below are reasons why I say the ISA should be abolished/amended.

1. It’s a draconian law.

2. It’s un-Islamic according to PAS…& when it comes to Islamic matters, I trust PAS way more than UMNO.

3. It’s detention without trial. Every detainee deserves a fair trial.

4. The act gives too much power to one person, the Home Minister. Power should be divided between people to prevent stupid incidents.

5. The Home Minister can decide for anyone to be arrested without any charge or trial.

6. Detainees are tortured & treated very badly. This is against simple & basic human rights.

7. It’s used against political opponents from the Opposition such as Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh, Teresa Kok & Raja Petra Kamaruddin (RPK).

8. Its original intention to fight the communist insurgency is now irrelevant.

9. RPK was detained under the ISA for exposing Najib’s dirty little secrets. So is he a national threat or a threat to Najib ?

10. HINDRAF tried to voice out the problems of the Indian community which were failed to be addressed by MIC or BN. Their rally was clearly peaceful. How were they a threat to national security ?

11. Teresa Kok was under the ISA because of allegations of telling a mosque not to use loudspeakers while making the azan or Islamic calls to prayer. These allegations were proven false. Still, how is this a national threat ?

12. An activist was under the ISA for reporting the police of abuse of power in a controversial eviction of a squatter colony. How are efforts to help a squatter colony or reporting the police a national threat ? Can’t she just be sued for defamation ?

In conclusion, I feel that preventive laws are needed, but they should be used accordingly & not abused by the government. What I suggest is either the government does some serious reforms to the ISA, or totally replace it with something like an Anti-Terrorism Act. In fact, an Anti-Terrorism law was drafted in 2003. Yet it wasn't tabled in Parliament. Perhaps now is a good time for that.

M.A.C.C. is C.R.A.P.

2009-07-23T00:49:00.004+08:00

With the Teoh Beng Hock case, now I’m really pissed off with the Malaysian “Anti-Corruption” Commision (MACC).

I’ll dive right in to show you how the only difference between the MACC & the ACA (Anti-Corruption Agency) is just a change of name.

Lingam tape case – big inquiry, no action, no arrests.

Altantuya case - not thorough, two dudes still not executed, main culprits (They who must not be named…..Najib & Rosmah) escape.

Kugan case – bloody slow case seems to have faded out, no arrests.

Khir Toyo’s mansion – inquiry formed, bloody slow as usual.

PKFZ scandal – inquiry formed, bloody slow as usual, no arrests.

Teoh Beng Hock – inquiry formed, bloody slow as usual, no arrests.

UMNO’s countless reported cases of corruption – what has been done so far ? Have Mahathir, Badawi, Najib, Khairy Jamaluddin, Samy Vellu, Ong Tee Keat, Ling Liong Sik..etc...ever been investigated seriously ?

Even the son of MACC chairman, who’s a pilot, was found guilty in Australia for bringing child porn into the country!!

Anything else I’m missing ? Plenty I’m sure, but I bet I’ve made my point.

Typical of MACC to be lightning quick with arrests when it investigates the Opposition….but bloody slow when it comes to investigations on BN politicians. So much for transparency, accountability, bla la bla.

Reverting Maths & Science to BM Makes No Sense

2009-07-11T23:19:00.007+08:00

Finally the government has made up their minds. After 6 years, they’ve decided to revert the teachings of Maths & Science subjects to BM. I find the decision to be stupid & senseless.

Firstly, I remember the reasons they changed it to English in the first place 6 years ago was because of the lack of proficiency in the English language among students, globalization, & many graduates were unemployed due to reasons among which graduates were poor in English.

So has the proficiency of English among students improved ? Have we become more competitive ? Are our graduates now more employable ? The scrapping of the policy doesn’t mean that these questions result in a no. To me all these questions are unanswered & no way can you get these answers in 6 years. It takes a full education cycle (kindergarten > primary & secondary school > graduate) to know these facts. That takes about 20 years to get the answers.

How has this policy failed exactly ? Since 2003, every single year it is announced that the number of straight A’s students have increased drastically. Every year the government brags about how students have improved in this & that. So how has the policy failed ? What statistics have the government shown to prove that the policy is a failure ? Show me please. Basically our education system is in a mess. I’ll talk about this in another post.

Then they talk of increasing English lesson hours in schools, bringing back retired teachers, hiring some foreign teachers & so on. Haven’t they announced all this before ? Haven’t they already spent tons of money on training teachers ? While I was in school, half the time some of my teachers were away on training. Yet, they came back the same!

Then they talk of upholding the Malay language. Malay is our national language. Case closed. You want to uphold it, do so during Malay classes or other ways. Don’t jeopardize the education & future of our nation when you know the importance of English. In tertiary levels of education, most things if not everything, is taught in English. Even the reference books are mostly in English.

Besides, almost all scientific & technological terms in Malay, are derived from English! Oksigen, kalsium, karbon dioksida, ekonomi, krisis..etc. Need more examples ? Face the facts that scientific & mathematical knowledge are better conveyed in English than BM. It’s the language of science & technology worldwide.

Plus, it’s clear that the majority prefers the policy of maths & science being taught in English. So why can’t we be democratic about it ? At the same time, the government must be smart on how to implement the policy as effectively as possible.

I feel that this matter is more complex than it seems. Many people have different views & perspectives on going about this issue. Even if the majority (including me) supports the teachings of these subjects in English, there are many things for the government to look into & work out. With our messy education system & politics, solving this to effectively implement the policy is easier said than done.

Honestly, I won’t be surprised if they change their decision again. BN is a flip-flop government & I have proof. Moreover, desperate BN + active Tun Mahathir + pissed majority of people + Opposition = troubled BN. The full reversion would also only take place in 2012. In that time, many things can happen & change…& I’ll just see how things go for now.

In conclusion, if you have a problem, fix it until it’s fixed. Don’t kick the problem out & go back to square one. Don’t quit half way & ignore the problem. All the statements mentioned above are simply my rough opinion.

Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

2009-07-09T00:39:00.012+08:00

On June 25^th 2009, the world heard a tragic & shocking news. Michael Jackson (MJ) had passed away. Even I was flabbergasted when I heard it. I didn’t even believe it at first. I thought it was just another one of those dumb rumors about him. Everybody was talking about him & even radio stations were playing only his songs. I went to the nearest computer & checked the news. Sadly, it wasn’t a rumor.

Anyway, MJ is without a doubt one of the biggest artists of the century. He’s a legend & a global phenomenon in his own right. He ranks among the greats such as Elvis Presley and The Beatles, & he’s definitely the world’s greatest entertainer.

While MJ was alive, he began singing with his brothers at the tender age of 5. Years later his dad discovered that MJ was the talented one & literally pushed him to stardom. Therefore, MJ never had a childhood. He spent his whole life performing. His entire life was publicized by the media. Come to think of it, he’s probably also the world’s biggest workaholic.

MJ was also full of controversies. His changing appearance, occasionally weird acts & outfits in public, the child molestation case to which he was acquitted, his lavish spending, also made him famous in the public eye. Yet, I doubt many would think or remember him for all that. Most people will definitely remember MJ as the man who entertained & touched the hearts of millions with his mesmerizing music, amazing dance, & great showmanship.

Now not having a proper childhood, working his entire life, going through scandalous child molestation trials just to make money out of him, surely must have brought MJ mentally, physically, & financially down. He was suppose to make his big return just under 3 weeks before his death…& now he’s gone.

In another perspective, his death can also be seen as a blessing in disguise for him. To be 50 years old, over worked, to do 50 strenuous concert shows, to be in huge financial debt & nearly bankrupt, to live up to all the hype & expectations, the pressure, it must be better to just die.

Since his death, the Internet slowed down, Google slowed so much & thought they were under attack, Twitter crashed, downloads for his songs & purchases of his albums skyrocketed, & the media worldwide is covering his story heavily. Suddenly, the global financial crisis, Iran’s political crisis, global warming, the war in Iraq, North Korea’s nuclear threat to the USA,…none of it seems as important anymore. That alone is enough to show how gigantic MJ is. Who else can get as much media coverage as him ?

In conclusion, MJ united many with his music, he broke down barriers for many especially for the black community, he shattered & created world records, & he danced like nobody else. Elvis, The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Aaaliyah, James Brown, & now MJ who must be moonwalking on the clouds. Heaven must be having one hell of a party.

1 Malaysia - Good Slogan, Poor Implementation

2009-07-04T19:39:00.008+08:00

When Datuk Najib became PM in April, he introduced his concept of 1 Malaysia: People First, Performance Now. To me, this is just political rhetoric. Just like when Tun Mahathir became PM, he came in with the slogan Bersih, Cekap, dan Amanah. Similarly, when Tun Badawi became PM, he introduced the slogan Cemerlang, Gemilang dan Terbilang.

Ironically, as lovely as Tun M’s slogan was, & as much contribution & development he brought to Malaysia, Tun M is also the root cause of corruption within UMNO & BN. As for Badawi’s slogan, under him, BN suffered its biggest loss ever in our history of general elections. As much as Badawi tried, he’s definitely the most underperforming PM yet.

Now how about 1 Malaysia ?

Najib’s 1 Malaysia talks of 8 values. They are:

Loyalty

Humility

Meritocracy

Integrity

Acceptance

Education

Perseverance

Culture of excellence

Loyalty is good, but it must not be blind loyalty. We should be loyal to those who are loyal to voters, trustworthy & not corrupt.

Humility is related to respecting one another. This requires understanding between the multiracial communities of Malaysia. To understand one another, we need to learn to listen & have more open dialogues.

Meritocracy will only be achieved once racial quotas are removed completely in every sector. Race is not a criterion for merit. Only then we will have the best of the best. For those who are not up to standard, they’ll have no choice but to improve themselves & be better.

Integrity is something that can’t be reached if there’s still so much of corruption. Fix corruption & then only talk of integrity.

If we intend to achieve acceptance, first there must be understanding and awareness. People should be willing to talk & be allowed to talk to attain this. At the same time, the government should be able to accept the wishes of its people.

Education can be given to people, but the educator should be of quality & the contents of the subject should be proper. Education itself should not be politicised so much as it is now.

Perseverance can be gained only if you’re willing to compete to be the best. If you’re given special treatment along the way, don’t ever expect to be able to compete or perform well or accomplish genuine success in any way.

To achieve a culture of excellence, we must adhere to the 7 values above first. Only then a culture of excellence will fall into place.

I personally feel that BN is silly to even talk about 1 Malaysia. BN is not even one. BN = UMNO, UMNO = BN. MCA, MIC, PPP, GERAKAN & the other component parties clearly have hardly any say in any matter. They’re just slaves & puppets of UMNO. Najib himself is full of mega controversies & that makes him highly untrustworthy.

Where is 1 Malaysia if BN keeps talking about Malay unity ? Why is MCA, MIC, PPP, & the other components so quiet about this matter ?....Puppets!! The only reason they’re talking of Malay unity is because they’re losing Malay support to the Opposition. Malay unity is good, but Malaysian unity is better. There should be Malaysian talks instead of Malay talks.

Besides, why talk of 1 Malaysia when BN doesn’t even have 1 Perak ?! Najib & BN do not respect the right of the Perak people to elect a government of their choice. Doesn’t his 1 Malaysia sound like a sham now ?

Where’s 1 Malaysia when there are discriminative policies in areas like education (scholarships, entry quotas), bank loans, NEP, AP, contract distributions, etc..? 1 Malaysia will only show if equal rights are practiced & not the illusion called “special” rights. The excuse of hypocritical BN that non-Malays are threatening the “special” rights of Malays is rubbish. What’s the basis ? The only threat is globalisation. Nothing else.

Where is 1 Malaysia when you have a newspaper like Utusan Malaysia ? A newspaper that is so racist, so pro-UMNO, & consistently publishes articles to incite racial hatred among Malaysians. It’s newspapers like Utusan that is a hindrance to unity.

Where is 1 Malaysia if Najib says that DAP’s Malaysian Malaysia (created many years before) concept is different from Najib’s concept ? What’s the difference ?! One concept is from BN, the other from the Opposition. That’s the only difference I see. Even the excuse given by Najib on its difference is so lame that I’m not going to waste my energy typing it.

In conclusion, I believe 1 Malaysia always existed. I don’t see Malaysians fighting with each other on the streets, but I’ve seen Malaysians protesting over BN and their policies. It’s only BN that is confusing us with their divide and conquer methods of governance. So to solve this, I’m sure you know what should be removed and how.

I’m Sick of BN Talking About Unity

2009-06-15T01:13:00.017+08:00

How many times have we heard BN talking about unity ? The latest is Datuk Shafie Apdal asking Malays to unite under BN.Our PM, Datuk Najib has been preaching about unity (1 Malaysia) for over two months now….BUT...he repeatedly reminds us that the “special rights” of the Malays shall not be compromised. There goes your 1 Malaysia. I shall talk about this 1 Malaysia concept in more detail in my next post.

I’m sick of them telling the Malays that the non-Malays are threatening the Malays & on the other side they’re telling the non-Malays that they are all cared for by BN. This is pure hypocrisy. In Malay, this is called batu api (causing fights between parties).

Malays, non-Malays, Muslims, non-Muslims, Bumiputera, non-Bumiputera, who cares !! How does it matter ?! Who created all this ? We are all Malaysians. If these labels are continued to be highlighted on us, we will never prosper & progress. At least, the rate of progression will be much slower than it can actually be.

We have UMNO telling the Malays to unite. We have MCA & GERAKAN asking the Chinese to unite. We also have the great Datuk Samy Vellu of MIC asking Indians to unite….BUT, I’ll tell you what we don’t have. We don’t have UMNO, MCA, & MIC telling all Malaysians to unite...do we ?

Ask yourself, does UMNO have non-Malay members ? Does MCA have non-Chinese members ? Does MIC have non-Indian members ? Even if the answer is yes (which I doubt), it is certainly not the way it is portrayed. Can non-Malays join UMNO ? Can Malays join MCA & MIC ? Can Chinese join MIC & Indians join MCA ? I'm sure it's possible, but what's the point if these three parties are so hard up on only helping their own races & not Malaysians as a whole ??

Now let’s look at PKR, DAP, & PAS. Have you ever heard them telling Malays, Chinese & Indians to unite ? Well, I haven’t. I’ve only heard them telling Malaysians to unite. At least that’s the way it’s portrayed & that's the way it should be.

As for their members, they’re not highly concentrated with a single race like BN & its component parties. PKR has Datuk Anwar Ibrahim, Dr. Lee Boon Chye, & Mr. Sivarasa to name a few. DAP has Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh, & Tunku Abdul Aziz to name a few. PAS has non-Malay members too which was potrayed in the media during the General Elections last year. My point is, race-based politics is less concentrated in the Opposition than in BN…& don’t bother denying it because you can never have a perfect ratio of the three main races in any party when the ratio is not even balanced in the Malaysian population.

Now as for BN talking about unity, is just silly to me. How is this possible when certain discriminative policies are still being practiced ? It’s these policies that cause racial tension & even bring down our economy badly, especially in the midst of this global economic crisis. I’m not going to name any of the discriminative policies because if you’ve read up to here, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.

By the way, besides politicians, who says Malaysians are not united ? Do you see a Malays vs. Chinese vs. Indians battle on the streets ?? Are we physically fighting against each other on roads ?? I don't think so.

When politicians say Malaysians aren't united, I think they mean we're not united under their own particular party. Which is true in BN's case. Looking at candlelight vigils, gatherings, & demonstrations against issues like ISA & the Perak fiasco, Malaysians seem pretty united to me.

The bottom line is, I’m sick & tired of hearing BN talking about unity when they don’t even practice what they preach. My advice, just try to cultivate the spirit of unity within yourself.

Will Police Arrest One for Wearing Black & Drinking Kopi O ?

2009-06-09T19:40:00.023+08:00

This Thursday, netizens, mostly activists & non-activists have organised a kopi O (black coffee) drinking session at various Old Town White Coffee outlets. Anybody & everybody are invited & are most welcome to join in with them.

All you have to do is wear black & drink kopi O :) This is basically a simple & harmless (& amusing) protest to the unstable democracy of Malaysia.

Regardless of how funny all this is, I can't wait to see what action the police will take.

Do you need a permit to wear black & drink kopi O in groups at Old Town White Coffee outlets ?

Can you be arrested for wearing black & drinking kopi O ?? ..... LOL.

If the police do arrest anybody, they will look like fools & further ruin the reputation of Najib's administration. The best they can & should do is just monitor people wearing black & drinking black coffee :)

Damn, I can't wait to find out what happens :D

Susan Boyle – Lost the Show, but Won Our Hearts

2009-06-04T20:40:00.010+08:00

A few weeks ago, Susan Boyle became a worldwide sensation when she made her debut at the British Got Talent (BGT) show audition. At first sight, we all looked down upon her (I did too). She was old, grey-haired, fat, & wasn’t much of a sight to see….but the moment she opened her mouth to sing, we realized that there is more to her than meets the eye.

Susan Boyle

Her voice was downright angelic. She proved to stereotypes & a world obsessed with looks, that talent comes in all shapes & sizes. After that, many of us thought that here victory on BGT was only a matter of time.

However, a few days ago, many worldwide were shocked to see that she lost to a dancing troupe of 11 dancers !! These 11 dancers, ranging from 12-25 years old, go by the name of Diversity…& yes, they dance bloody well….but their talent is bloody common !! Susan’s talent is going extinct !!

Simon loves Susan :D

With a group of 11 members, I’m sure it will be a case like Nsync, Spice Girls, Westlife, S Club 7, & Destiny’s Child, where the famous/talented one stands out & outshines the other members. The other members will look & feel useless, & the group will eventually break up or die off. Besides, how long can their bodies dance like that ? Singing is an act that can stand the test of time way longer than dancing.

Susan’s loss is sad for me. Based on what I’ve been reading here & there, there are two main reasons for her lost. Firstly, many thought her victory was guaranteed & did not vote thinking that others would vote. Secondly, some say that the voters were bored with the euphoria over Susan & felt like they were being told who to vote for. So they voted for the other finalist. Similar to American Idol 2009, where many thought that famous Adam would win, but the other guy won.

Anyway, I feel that Susan’s career would shine way brighter than Diversity. She can make an album, sing at concerts or theater’s, & make her millions. As for Diversity, I don’t know how well dancing pays nor how long they will stick together.

Britian's Got Talent....of all sorts.

Another issue I see is the show itself. BGT is a show without a properly set objective. Yes I know their looking for the best talent, but it seems like their looking for the more popular talent than the best talent…still it’s not fair. If you’re looking for the best talent, the talent searched for should be the same. As to how American Idol looks for the best singer, what is BGT searching for ?

For example, you’ve got the best singer Susan Boyle, & the best dancing group, Diversity. Now who’s the better talent ? That question is silly because both are good at different things. It’s like comparing Celine Dion with Will Smith, one sings while the other acts. How do you compare them ? So Susan could have won a singing contest like American Idol & Diversity could have won a dancing contest like MTV’s Wade Robson Project (remember that show ?).

In conclusion, always take the initiative to vote as your vote can make the difference ;) …& compare things of equal functions..like Sony Cyber-shot vs. Canon Powershot, not Canon Powershot vs. Sony Walkman....but most importantly, don't judge a book by its cover.

Police - Out of Control, Controlled, or Neutral ?

2009-05-31T22:37:00.027+08:00

For quite some time now, especially after the General Elections (GE) last year, the reputation of our police force has turned ugly. Many of their actions lately have not gone down well with the public. So the question is, are the police out of control, controlled (by who ?) or are they still neutral as they should be ?

Below is a list I’ve made on why the reputation of the police has dropped.

1. Police have disrupted countless of ceramah’s made by politicians from the opposition….but almost none by BN.

2. Police disrupting countless of harmless & peaceful candlelight vigils by the public. What happened to Article 10 of the Federal Constitution which guarantees Malaysians the freedom of assembly ? Is it still freedom if a permit is needed ?

3. Countless of harmless & peaceful people who participated in many candlelight vigils have been arrested.

4. Countless detainees died under police custody. The late Kugan is a recent & controversial case. The case was classified as murder. However, nobody has been punished so far.

5. Police seized forensic examples of the late Kugan from the office of a pathologist. Are they trying to cover up something ?

6. 1,535 deaths in police custody between 2003-2007.

7. Police arrested mother & 6-year-old daughter with 10 others when they attempted to submit a letter at the PM Department's office in Putrajaya, appealing for ISA detainees to be freed.

8. Police gave Chang Jiun Haur (below) an a**-whopping a.k.a excessive force, in May 2008. The policemen who did it are still not known & neither has any action been taken so far.

9. Police seized a video camera from a MalaysiaKini journalist during a candlelight vigil in November 2008. There were recordings of the acts of the police attempting to disperse the crowd. The tape was finally returned….edited.

10. Police scalded hot water on a man in December 2008.

11. Police arrested opposition politician, Ronnie Liu, while he was going to a state cabinet meeting in November 2008…Have any BN politician ever been arrested ?

12. Police banned opposition politicians from any mention of the murdered Altantuya during the Bukit Gantang by-election campaign. PKR’s Badrul Hisham Shaharin is being investigated for this “offence”. Have the police forgotten that Article 10 of the Federal Constitution guarantees Malaysians the freedom of speech & expression ?

13. Police banned opposition politicians from any mention of linking Najib with the Perak political crisis. Lim Kit Siang is being investigated for this “offence”. Strangely, the police report was made by the police themselves & not any member of the public. Since when have the police been responsible to protect the reputation of BN ??

14. Police arrested 21 people in Ipoh for participating in a peaceful hunger strike in protest against the unethical, undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak.

15. Police told public not to wear black at the Perak state assembly in May 2009.

16. Police break up peaceful protestors while they’re singing the national anthem, Negaraku, at a candlelight vigil held in November 2008. Despite video evidence, Selangor police chief Khalid Abu Bakar denied this.

17. Police allowed a mob to use a public address system to threaten the organizers & participants of a controversial forum held in August 2008. Doesn’t this show that the police supported the mob ? What kind of crowd control or law enforcement was that ? Where were the water cannons & FRU ?

18. Police raid DAP headquarters in May 2009 without a search warrant, first time in DAP’s 43-year history & never allowed to be done by the first five PM’s of the country.

19. Police fired tear gas to the public outside the Palace & into the compound of Masjid Ubudiyyah who were protesting over the Perak crisis.

20. Police sprayed chemical-laced water at about 300 supporters of detained Hindraf leader, P. Uthayakumar.They were accompanying nine people, who intended to lodge police reports alleging that Uthayakumar was denied proper medical attention for his ailment.

21. Police fired tear gas & used water cannons containing chemical-laced water, on a large & peaceful crowd consisting of elderly people who wanted to submit a memorandum to the British embassy in KL.

22. Police fired tear gas & water cannons at demonstrators at Batu Caves Temple in November 2007.

The list above is quite short. It can be made to be longer…but 22 points is enough right. After all that, police brutality, biasness, foul play & what not must be stopped. The police are supposed to be a neutral party without any involvement in the dirty game of politics.

Instead of intimidating people, being busy with by-elections, the Perak crisis, & tackling opposition politicians,…the police should focus more on fighting crime & making the public feel safe to walk on the streets again. That is their primary duty, to serve & protect the country. I hope they make improvements soon.

30% Bumi Equity Gone!!...Hello Open Tender System!!

2009-05-16T01:37:00.025+08:00

On April 22nd 2009, our PM, Datuk Najib made a bombshell announcement. He scrapped the 30% Bumiputera quota on equity ownership in 27 sub-sectors with immediate effect. These sub-sectors are health & social services, tourism services, transport, business, the computer industry and other related services. He also announced an open tender system for government contracts.

I was shocked when I read the news at first. Yet, as I thought about it further, it made good sense. Najib is an intelligent man. With all the huge controversies & scandals about him, he knows he won't be PM for too long. So I guess with this announcement, he hopes to finally really help the Malays whom are slowly swaying away from UMNO...& also try to win back the votes of the non-Malays. If all this works in his favour, he might be able to stay in power a bit longer.

Anyway, some might be wondering,...what is this 30% Bumiputera equity ?

It's part of the Malaysian "New" Economic Policy (NEP) which was launched in 1971 by Najib's father who was an ex-PM himself. It's a controversial policy with the intention to increase the status of Malays socioeconomically in a controversial manner.

The 30% equity is compulsory for public listed companies to have a minimum of 30% of their shares owned by Malays, a.k.a Bumiputera's. Or if a foreigner intends to set up a business here, the foreigner must have a Malay partner...at least 30%. If not, the foreigner can't set up the business at all.

...........................................................................................................................................................................

Now to be honest, I see more cons than pros in the NEP & 30% Bumi equity. Mainly because it greatly restricts the amount of foreign investment in the country. Why should a foreigner be forced to have a Malay partner anyway ? They might as well invest their money elsewhere.

Moreover, it only hinders the progress & competitiveness of Malays. Simply because they hardly have to work for getting that equity or partnership. It's automatically given to them regardless of their qualifications. Even for foreigners, it's highly likely for them to only get sleeping partners.

With this quota, everything becomes limited. The amount invested, the profit made, the progress & competitiveness of a company,...are all limited. Without such a quota, a company & its people can go on to achieve much more as there is nothing holding it back anymore. In a globalised world, a policy aimed for protection will only do more damage than good in the long run as business is now carried out globally & not just locally anymore.

The NEP is also known to only help the rich Malays get richer & the poor Malays remain poor. This is due to some Malays having political links & connections. So these lucky ones get all the government contracts & make big $$$. There wasn't even an open tender system for government contracts before...until now. This will help a lot to reduce corruption.

Even though changes are going slow, but they are big. It will help to increase competitiveness, attract more foreign investment, & stimulate the economic growth & financial sector of Malaysia. The Malays will now be able to compete among one another to progress & bring out the best in society. Quality of products & services will increase & the cost will decrease due to competition.

Najib also mentioned that the economy will be liberalised on an on-going basis. Which means that other discriminative policies in other sectors will slowly be removed in the near future. I personally am highly convinced that this is one thing that Najib will really do. He is a controversial man, but intelligent as well.

Najib knows that the Malays will not be able to survive in future if this protection mentality & policies continue any longer. Lastly, I'd like to mention a saying. Fish for your son, & he is full for the day. Teach your son to fish, & he is full forever.

Muhyiddin's Silly Statement

2009-05-11T20:45:00.017+08:00

Tan Sri Muhyiddin

Our new Deputy PM, Tan Sri Muhyiddin, gave this statement on 5.5.2009. This was when the Kota Alam Shah state assemblyman, M. Manoharan, was still under ISA. Manoharan was released from ISA detention on the 8th of May 2009...just a day after the chaos & barbaric behaviour displayed by BN in the Perak state assembly. Was Manoharan's release an eyewash from BN ? Hmm...100% YES!! Many are now aware with the countless "coincidences" played by BN.

This statement was made because Manoharan was considering to step down from his seat.

Anyway, while Manoharan was under ISA, Muhyiddin said...

'After winning an election, it's time for him to get to work. He should be responsible enough and not step down unnecessarily as is being done by those from some political parties.The exceptions are when he is declared a bankrupt, convicted or dies'.

Firstly, let me remind you that Manoharan won his seat in the General Election 2008 while he was under ISA. That itself is a great feat & shows that many people are fed up with BN.

As for the statement, how is Manoharan suppose to get to work while under ISA detention ? He's not allowed to leave the detention centre. Every habeas corpus application filed by him to the court to be released was rejected.

Documents nor reports were being sent to him at the detention centre to be reviewed or studied whatsoever. He wasn't being sent to Parliament in the morning & returned to detention to continue his sentence. Neither was he allowed to meet his constituents as he can't leave the detention centre.

So how did Muhyiddin expect him to carry out his duties ??

Now that Manoharan has been released, looking very frail, I hope he gets back into shape & helps his constituents...which I'm sure he will.

British English vs. Malaysian English

2009-05-06T00:20:00.009+08:00

This is a humourous post I saw online...Enjoy ;)

WHEN GIVING A CUSTOMER BAD NEWS

Britons: I'm sorry, Sir, but we don't seem to have the sweater you want in your size, but if you give me a moment, I can call the other outlets for you.

Malaysians: No Stock.

RETURNING A CALL

Britons: Hello, this is John Smith. Did anyone page for me a few moments ago?

Malaysians: Hello, who page?

ASKING SOMEONE TO MAKE WAY

Britons: Excuse me, I'd like to get by. Would you please make way?

Malaysians: S-kew me

WHEN SOMEONE OFFERS TO PAY

Britons: Hey, put your wallet away, this drink is on me.

Malaysians:No-need, lah.

WHEN ASKING FOR PERMISSION

Britons: Excuse me, but do you think it would be possible for me to enter through this door?

Malaysians: (pointing the door) can ar?

WHEN ENTERTAINING

Britons: Please make yourself right at home.

Malaysians: Don't be shy, lah!

WHEN DOUBTING SOMEONE

Britons: I don't recall you giving me the money.

Malaysians: Where got?

WHEN DECLINING AN OFFER

Britons: I'd prefer not to do that, if you don't mind.

Malaysians: Don't want la...

IN DISAGREEING ON A TOPIC OF DISCUSSION

Britons: Err. Tom, I have to stop you there. I understand where you're coming from, but I really have to disagree with what you said about the issue.

Malaysians: You mad, ah?

WHEN ASKING SOMEONE TO LOWER THEIR VOICE

Britons: Excuse me, but could you please ! lower your voice, I'm trying to concentrate over here. Malaysians: Shut up lah!

WHEN ASKING SOMEONE IF HE/SHE KNOWS YOU

Britons: Excuse me, but I noticed you staring at me for some time.. Do I know you?

Malaysians: See what, see what?

WHEN ASSESSING A TIGHT SITUATION

Britons: We seem to be in a bit of a predicament at the moment.

Malaysians: Die-lah!!

WHEN TRYING TO FIND OUT WHAT HAD HAPPENED

Britons: Will someone tell me what has just happened?

Malaysians: Wat happen? ... Why like that?

WHEN SOMEONE DID SOMETHING WRONG

Britons: This isn't the way to do it. Here, let me show you.

Malaysians: like that also don't know how to do!!!!

WHEN ONE IS ANGRY

Britons: Would you mind not disturbing me.

Malaysians:Celaka u.

Religion + Politics = Havoc

2009-05-01T01:57:00.010+08:00

Religion and politics can’t mix. It’s a bad combination, a recipe for disaster. Why you may ask ? Well, all this is purely just my opinion. So if you disagree, just ignore me.

When I say religion, I mean all religions...Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Sikhism, Judaism, Jainism, Confucianism, Bahai, & all the other religions.

When I say politics, I don’t mean only Malaysian politics, I mean politics of all countries worldwide.

Firstly, I say religion is personal, politics is not. Your faith & beliefs is a matter that lies solely between you and God…nobody else. Politics is everybody’s business in one way or the other.

Religions preach of what’s right & wrong, whereas some politicians don’t practice what they preach at all.

Religions can create extremists & fanatics. Politics can too. However, both have different purposes & ideologies. Put two & two together,.…boom!!

All/some religions have a holy book. The teachings of a religion & Holy Scriptures are stored in them. Whereas some politicians have violated the law book & even dare to talk about religion.

Each or some religions have its own perception of the truth…& truth is subject to interpretation. Some politicians don’t seem to care about the truth & even twist the truth to their own liking. Therefore, resulting in different interpretations which can differ & possibly lead to big fights.

People can argue non-stop over religion. Politicians can use this to incite racial hatred among the people just to stay in power.

Religions range from hundreds to thousands of years old. Politicians can’t run a country in the 21st century based on beliefs/practices/ideologies that are thousands of years old.

Religions basically tell you this is this & that is that. Some politicians tell you this is that & that is this.

Religions are complex, each with its own practices & principles. Earth has roughly 6 billion people. There are at least 10 religions, each having millions of followers. With nearly 200 countries in the world with their own political situation, & if religion is mixed in, isn’t an argument inevitable ?

Religions have places of worship where people go to pray & seek solace. Some politicians can destroy these places of worship & cause a big fight among people.

So that's basically my point. Religion & politics can't mix. You may have noticed that I haven't provided any examples for any of my points. This is because I don't want to. I won't give you the chance to think I'm racist or favouring a particular religion. So if you want examples or more justification, kindly think for yourself or look it up.

New Stupid Scholarship Policy

2009-04-18T02:16:00.010+08:00

On April 7th 2009, the Federal Government announced a new scholarship policy which I find stupid. This policy applies to government scholarships of course. The policy is supposedly to ensure fair distribution of 2000 scholarships, said Minister in the PM’s Department Tan Sri Bernard Dompok.

He said the best of the best, irrespective of race, would compete for the first 20% or 400 scholarships.

"Under the second category, 35% (60% of the total 2000 scholarships) will be reserved for Chinese & Indians while the remaining 65% is for Bumiputeras," he said.

"Then, we have the next 10% reserved for Bumiputeras from Sabah and Sarawak.

"If they cannot get these, all is not lost as each state will be allocated 5% each," he said.

Now here’s my view.

Personally, I don’t care even if they give all 2000 scholarships to Chinese & Indian students. I would still find the new policy stupid. All I feel is that a child’s education & future shouldn’t be deprived by race, religion, gender, or any other factor.

Bumi or non-Bumi, Muslim or non-Muslim, Malay, Chinese, or Indian,..who cares ?? What’s with all the divisions ? The best brains among Malaysian citizens deserve the scholarships.

I’m not even asking for more scholarships to be given to non-Malays. I’m just saying that scholarships should be given based on merits & intelligence only. That’s the best for our nation. How would a student feel if another student of lower grades got a scholarship just because of his race & the government’s need to fulfill a silly quota ? Doesn’t it sound ridiculous ?

By giving out scholarships based on racial quotas, we’re only losing the best brains to foreign nations through private & foreign scholarships. Other nations don’t care of what race or religion you are. They just want your intelligence to develop their nation, and they pay you well for it. This is the brain-drain problem. The governement should work hard to keep the best brains here.

Until the day we all realize this, we will always be a step behind our competitors. We need to learn how to compete with the rest of the world & catch up.

My deeper & more detailed opinion regarding this entire scholarship issue can be seen here.

BN’s Dirty By-election Tricks

2009-04-13T02:35:00.023+08:00

The pamphlets Datuk Ng Yen Yen

Ever since the general election in March 2008, we’ve had quite a number of by-elections. So far, by-elections were held in Permatang Pauh (Penang), Kuala Terengganu (Terengganu), Bukit Gantang (Perak), Bukit Selambau (Kedah), & Batang Ai (Sarawak)…& the score is 4 for PR, & 1 for BN.BN only won Batang Ai (that too with serious cheating allegations).

Throughout these by-elections, many dirty tricks & cheap shots have been given out to PR. Here’s a list of them, followed by details.

1. Character assassination

2. Vote rigging

3. Lavish gifts

4. Bribes

5. Help from Election Commission

6. Police tolerating BN, but not PR.

Character assassination

One recent example of this was when Tun Mahathir gave a speech in Bukit Gantang while he was campaigning for BN. He told people there not to be duped by Anwar. Well, anyone can also say, don’t be duped by Mahathir. Tun M’s hypocritical speech can be seen here.

Typical of BN for giving speeches that ridicule & insult their opponents. Have PR dudes done that ? Well, I don’t see PR speeches highlighted negatively in the media. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

Vote rigging

Vote rigging has been reported to have happened in all the by-elections. This includes phantom voters, vote buying, and many citizens suddenly finding themselves not eligible to vote.

Lavish gifts

Noticed how whenever a by-election is coming, BN does a lot of nice things for the people. For example, ex-PM Datuk Badawi slashed petrol prices just days before the Permatang Pauh by-election.

During the Permatang Pauh by-elections, Datuk Najib said that he would approve scrap metal collector's licence for the Indians. Can you believe the audacity of this man ? Najib also announced financial aid for three Tamil schools and six Chinese schools.

During the Kuala Terengganu (KT) by-elections, Najib gave goodies to the Chinese community such as:

(1) RM3.3 million for construction of a new community hall.

(2) RM2.8 million for furbishing a completed hall in a Chinese school.

(3) RM3 million for 10 Chinese schools.

(4) RM2.7 million cash distribution to 9,000 Chinese for the coming Chinese New year (this annual payment was brought forward)

(5) Miscellaneous payments to temples, guilds and other community bodies.

Najib also gave out 583 government contracts in a “lucky draw” to all Class F contractors present at the Wisma Darul Iman in KT days before the election. These contracts (valued between RM30,000 to RM200,000 each), were claimed to be for infrastructure works in the local township, were distributed randomly by having the contractors come on stage to click on a computer.

When a button was pressed, a contract would be awarded to the contractor, details like nature of works and contract price would appear in a big screen in the hall. Thus the contractor would walk home with his/her “prize” (a contract with a pre-determined price), with no questions asked on his/her track record or suitability for the works assigned.

Now firstly, contracts for infrastructure works are usually awarded gradually over a period of time, as and when the needs for such works arise, as determined and initiated by the engineers and the local authorities.

These contracts are never awarded by the hundreds in a single day anywhere on Earth. There is no justification to cram such a large number of projects at once, especially when they are confined to a small town like KT. Massive wastages and redundancies will be the inevitable consequences. It’s an irresponsible act of public squandering.

Then, what about the track records and skill compatibility of the contractors with respect to the projects at hand? Without proper interview & inspection of the awardees, how can the government be certain that the projects are awarded to the right contractors?

Next, there is the question of price. Without tenders or negotiation, how can the government ensure fair pricing ?

Heck, just a day before the Batang Ai by-elections, 32 people there received their citizenship from ex-home minister Datuk Syed Hamid Albar. This was beautifully published in the NST. Isn’t it ironic to hand out 32 citizenships at a certain place just before its by-election ? Why couldn’t he give it earlier ?

They’ll promise you heaven & earth when a by-election is close, but how many of those promises are kept, I bet most aren’t.

Bribes, a.k.a “financial aid” in BN terms

This has been happening for ages. One example is Datuk Ng Yen Yen of the MCA who was reported giving out RM 200 to each senior citizen voter during the Permatang Pauh by-elections.

Best part is, they call it “financial aid”. Hello, that’s a bribe ! Why give bribes when you’re already promising heaven & earth anyway ?

Help from Election Commission (EC)

The EC seems to be quite helpful to BN. For example, the EC’s electoral boundaries have been drawn and redrawn over the past five decades to favour BN. Moreover, all by-elections, except Kuala Terengganu were held on a week day, and they all fell on a Tuesday. No justification was given either. This helps BN by reducing voter turnout and increases their chances of winning.

Police tolerating BN, but not PR

PR was ordered by the police to not talk about Altantuya or the Perak Sultan’s decision while campaigning, but BN can talk whatever they want. Where’s the democracy ?

BN can distribute pamphlets in Bukit Gantang regarding Elizabeth Wong’s nude pictures scandal, but the police didn’t take any action on them. I bet if PR talked about Chua Soi Lek’s sex tape scandal, the police would be very efficient.

Police set a permit with one of the conditions saying all political ceramah’s must end at 11pm. A ceramah at Bukit Gantang by BN ended at 11.50pm, long after the deadline, but no police action was taken.

It’s also common news that many ceramah’s made by PR are disrupted by the police. Have the police ever disrupted any BN ceramah ?

Sickening Racist Statements

2009-04-06T18:54:00.015+08:00

Let me say this again. I respect Tun Mahathir from his positive side. At the same time, Tun M is a very controversial man. He’s done a lot of good, & also a lot of bad. This comment he made, is in the bad list. As for Datuk Ibrahim Ali, I don’t know him well, that’s why I’ve put his picture. Tun M doesn’t need an introduction.

As a reminder, I have nothing against any race. Insulting races on a blog is not my thing either & no race will ever be insulted by me in this blog. I believe it only does more harm than good. It’s these kinds of comments made by some politicians that cause a hindrance in the unity of Malaysians & piss me off.

These comments were made at a rally organized by Malay right-wing group Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa on March 22 2009. Ibrahim Ali is the president of the group and also a MP for Pasir Mas. Anyway, here are the comments made by them.

Tun M’s comments:

"Malaysians have forgotten about the nation's history and have abused the kindness of the Malay people".

"Malays are even called immigrants in their own country. Other immigrants cannot be called immigrants. If anybody were to call them immigrants then they must apologize but no apologies are needed if they call Malays immigrants". Dr Mahathir instead accused the Chinese educationist group Dong Jiao Zong (DJZ) as racists who practiced apartheid. "That is apartheid, not us. We proposed that everyone study together in one school then only can you have bangsa Malaysia”.

"But they did not want this. They did not want to mix with the other races especially the Malays. They did not want their children to mix with Malays and that is apartheid, not us”.

"I would like to say a little bit about the Malay people in Malaysia even though I might be accused of being racist. If the Malay people are not allowed to speak about their problems then they might become a race that does not have any rights in their own country”.

"These dangers are true because we can already see the pressure and insults against our people when they are made as minorities in their own community".

"Even though the Malays were divided by different political parties, there were able to unite and retain power. Malays were respected and feared but now they no longer control the country's power”.

"Nowadays people no longer respect us. Whatever is asked by others, even if they are winners or losers and even if they are right or wrong, we have to entertain them. We must respect others, even a little mistake we must apologize on behalf of the Malay race”.

Datuk Ibrahim Ali’s comments:

"If they are polite, we will be polite. But if they are not, neither will we. If they are kurang ajar (ill-mannered), we too can be kurang ajar”.
"The truth is that justice has not yet come to Bumiputeras who have spent centuries being oppressed by colonial masters" .
"We will not tolerate Bumiputeras losing face or our honour. Especially Malays and Islam, do not ever try to play around with these".

Now, why did they have to make statements like these ?

Here’s my view of Tun M’s statement:

The only reason I see for his statement was to give political mileage to his son, Mukhriz who was contesting in the UMNO polls. Tun M said that just about a week before the UMNO polls…yet his son still lost. May I know what specific abused kindness was Tun M referring to ? Who have called the Malays immigrants ? When you refer to a person whose parents & grandparents were born here as immigrants, don’t you think you should be noble enough to apologize ? Are you blind to not see your mistake ?

I find it hypocritical of Tun M to say this. Has he forgotten that his father was an Indian born in Kerala, India ? In another point of view, several of us have ancestors who came here from another country. However, they were the first generation. After that, all of us earned our citizenship legally and rightfully. Please don’t forget that part of our nation’s history.

Secondly, why is Tun M suddenly bringing up the matter of DJZ & the school system ? What big apartheid is Tun M talking about ? I personally don’t consider this apartheid at all. To see actual apartheid, just read up on apartheid issues that use to occur in South Africa for nearly 50 years. As for the schools, Tun M is probably referring to the vision schools issue. The reason why vision schools failed was because it restricted the use of the respective mother tongue of the races in schools. Anyway, racial integration in schools is an entirely different story by itself.

Who says kids of different races aren’t in the same school ? Open your eyes & see all the national schools around you starting with the names Sekolah Kebangsaan & so on. Besides, any child of any race is not deprived from entering a vernacular school...so how can you say this race doesn’t want to mix with that race ? It’s just a different approach of education. To have bangsa Malaysia, putting everyone in one school is not the only way nor is it an ultimate solution. There are a lot of other matters to attend to when it comes to that.

Thirdly, what is the justification to say that Malays or any race for the matter can’t voice out their problems ? Look at all the political parties & politicians around. Aren’t they listening to the people’s problems ? It’s just a matter of how the problems are attended to in the end. Another thing,…anybody can hear, but not everyone can listen.

Fourthly, who is stupid enough to make the Malays seem like minorities in Malaysia ? Haven’t they seen the statistics of the racial population here ? As for insults against the Malay people, I disagree. I see insults against certain Malay politicians & parties, not the people in general. Even if it’s true to a wide extent (which I disagree as I only see it happening among politicians in Parliament), it works in all ways...Malays, Chinese, and Indians insult each other!! It’s not a one-way road.

Fifthly, as for Malays being respected and feared but now no longer control the country's power…Respect is not a right. Respect is not given, it’s earned…& I don’t think anybody respects a person whom they fear. Do you respect a person whom you fear ? Please correct me if I’m wrong. I disagree that the Malays are not respected, I feel that it’s certain politicians who have given the Malay race a bad name that are not respected.

As for Malays not controlling the country’s power…who’s our PM, who’s our DPM ? Who’s our AG ? How many non-Malays are there in parliament ? Who’s your school headmaster/headmistress ? Please don’t think of this as if I’m stirring up racial sentiments. I’m just trying to prove how Tun M’s statement is incorrect.

Finally for Tun M, he says that Malays must respect others, even a little mistake they must apologize on behalf of the Malay race. What nonsense ! Is he saying that Malays shouldn’t respect the other races ? Is he saying that Malays or any other race on Earth for the matter shouldn’t apologize for their wrongdoings ? It also depends on how severe the mistake is. One great example is Ahmad Ismail who insulted the Chinese community last year by calling them squatters & pendatang. Wasn’t he wrong ? Was it ethical ? Does he have any morals ? He’s not even noble enough to apologize !

Now my short view of Ibrahim Ali’s statement:

His whole short statement is just plain rude. Kurang ajar himself actually. He sounds more like a batu api to me. Are the Malays the only race on Earth who were oppressed by colonial masters ? I don’t think the Malays are losing their honour. It’s politicians who make statements like these that lose their own honour…& who’s playing around with Malays & Islam ? What’s the big threat ? What’s all the hullaballoo about ?

Finally I shall just quote the sayings of Muaz Omar & Sheridan Mahavera. Muaz Omar said, “To the politicians or these so-called heroes, the Malays, just like any other race in this world, are human beings and are not commodities that can be sold or traded with throat roaring shouts to defend their honour when these leaders themselves are the ones reaping all the benefits, leaving crumbs for the rest.”

Sheridan Mahavera said, ” The public has heard UMNO presidents talk about how the party must represent all Malaysians, and cringed the very next day as other party seniors tell critical non-Malays to shut up”.

In conclusion, I find that the multiracial people of Malaysia are living in harmony. It’s only some politicians who are stirring up racial sentiments to gain or retain power.

Rustam Barred..Khairy Warned..Toyo Clean ?!

2009-03-31T18:12:00.021+08:00

Just about a week before the UMNO party elections, the UMNO Disclipinary Committee released some surprising decisions. Datuk Ali Rustam was barred from contesting for the UMNO deputy president post due to three of his aides who were found guilty of vote-buying.

Okay, that's fine by me. However, the shocking parts were that Datuk Khairy Jamaluddin was given a "stern" warning letter & Datuk Khir Toyo was cleared of any wrongdoings !! Can you believe it ? Khir Toyo was declared innocent !! Do I even need to list down the allegations & controversies surrounding Khairy, & especially Khir Toyo ?

This looks like selective persecution to me because the decisions are a bit fishy. Here's a small analysis.

1. Rustam had a high chance of winning before he was banned.

2. Rustam is known to be a Badawi loyalist, not Najib's.

3. If Rustam is out, it will pave the way for Muhyiddin(Najib's loyalist) to win...and he did win.

4. The warning to Khairy shows that 'somebody' wants him to leave just like Badawi.

5. Khairy was declared "clean" to allow him to contest and prevent Mukhriz (Tun Mahathir's son) from winning...& Khiary did win. Najib & Tun M don't seem to be on good terms lately.

Doesn't all this seem to benefit Najib a lot ?

Another weird thing is that Rustam was just barred from contesting the deputy president post even though he was found guilty of corruption. Is that enough ? He's still fit to be Melaka's chief minister but not deputy president of UMNO ? Even his party membership wasn't suspended.

How come Khairy was just warned ? The reason given was because the committee could not find a link between Khairy and his so-called agent. I don't buy it. I believe he's either guilty or innocent. What's the point of a warning ? Will it stop him from practicing corruption ?

Why wasn't a report made to the MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commision) ? If Rustam is guilty, he should be reported to the MACC and charged in court. How come no UMNO member or anybody else file a report ? What's the use of being barred if you're not charged in court for your crime ? Now that the UMNO polls are over, Rustam can continue practicing corruption.

At the end of the day, the decision of the committee makes no difference. It shows that UMNO is still not serious on curbing rampant "money politics" a.k.a corruption in its party.

Just How Bad is the Global Economic Crisis ?

2009-03-26T02:16:00.005+08:00

Let’s forget about Malaysia’s ping pong politics for now & take a look at how severe the global economic crisis is.

Many economists say it’s the worst worldwide economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

According to Forbes list of the world’s richest people 2009, Bill Gates lost USD 18 billion, but reclaimed the no. 1 spot.

On the same list, Warren Buffet was no.2 but lost USD 25 billion due to a huge drop of his shares.

Anil Ambani was hit the hardest as he lost 76% of his net worth. Anil lost USD 32 billion also due to a heavy fall on his shares (Forbes World’s Richest People 2009).

USA jobless rate hits 8.1% in February 2009. 1 987,000 jobs lost from December 2008-February 2009. Currently 12.5 million people are unemployed in the USA.

UK unemployment rate at 6.3% as of February 2009…1.97 million jobless.

Singapore expects unemployment rate to rise to 4.2% in January 2009. So far, 34,000 have lost their jobs.

Malaysian Human Resources Ministry expects 100,000 to be jobless by the end of 2009.

20 million migrant workers in China jobless as of February 2009.

India’s economic growth is decelerating.

Japan’s economy shrank by 3.2% in Q4 2008.

Australia’s unemployment rate hits 5.2% (expected to increase), full-time jobs down 53,800 & part-time jobs up 55,600.

South Korea’s economy shrank by 3.4% in Q4 2008 .

U.S. economy shrank by 6.2% in Q4 2008.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Ukraine was on the verge of bankruptcy (March 2009).

Saudi Arabia’s economy is in recession after seven years of rapid growth (March 2009).

Even Dubai, a filthy rich city of the United Arab Emirates, is now facing the biggest economic downturn in the country's history (March 2009).

Iceland’s government collapses over protests by its people regarding the economic crisis.

International Labor Organization, a United Nations agency, predicts job losses worldwide could hit 50 million by the end of 2009.

Pioneer cuts 10,000 jobs worldwide.

Siemens cuts 16,750 jobs worldwide.

BMW cuts 8100 jobs worldwide.

Volvo cuts 4000 jobs worldwide.

Nissan cuts 20,000 jobs worldwide.

Panasonic cuts 15,000 jobs.

Samsung cuts 1600 jobs.

Nokia cuts 2300 jobs worldwide.

Almost all banks worldwide are cutting thousands of jobs.

Sony Ericsson cuts 2000 jobs worldwide from its 11,900 workforce.

Sony cuts 4% of its global workforce, 8000 jobs.

All these job cuts are just what many companies have cut so far. It is highly expected for more to be cut in the near future.

The list can go another mile long, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. Worst of all, many economists say this is just the beginning and things will only get worse in the 2nd quarter of 2009.

All nations are trying to create new jobs for their people, but it’s difficult when 100 people lose jobs for every 10 new jobs a nation creates. It’s not an actual figure, but that’s the idea. Governments are finding it difficult to cope with soaring unemployment rates.

With people losing jobs, it’s getting harder for many to pay their bills, support their family, and put food on the table. Many are even losing their homes. Suicide rates are rising everywhere due to many unable to handle the effects of the crisis. Crime rates are also shooting up because it’s only natural for more people to resort to crime to survive after losing their jobs.

These are just a few effects of the global economic crisis which started from a recession, and now probably heading for a depression. To get an idea of what is a recession, you may see my earlier post here.

typical maLAysian conversation ;)

2009-02-08T15:00:00.009+08:00

Shafiq : Eh Yin Shen, I damn bored la. Wan ah after school we go lepak at Times Square ?

Yin Shen : Hmm...good idea la. Maybe we can see movie. What you say Kumar ?

Rajesh : Ya ya...superb idea wei. I want to see the new movie, Bedtime Stories. Adam Sandler damn funny la.

Yin Shen : Kk. Ok with you ah Shafiq ?

Shafiq : No problem. Now just wait la for school finish.

After school...

Yin Shen : Fuiyoh, damn boring la class just now. The teacher talking I sleeping oli at the back.

Rajesh : Ya la...nevermind, toture over ridy. Now can go see movie..hehe.

Shafiq : Have lunch first la..I damn hungry la.

Rajesh : Kk...you wan Ramly Burger, go McD or what ?

Yin Shen : Eh come la we go McD. Long time ridy never go.

Shafiq : Kk...come la lets go.

After lunch at McD...

After movie...

Shafiq : Fuiyoh..damn nice la the movie.

Yin Shen : Hmm, ok la I guess. Nothing great la. I expected Adam Sandler to be funnier. I like his hamsap style of jokes la. This movie he like so good oli.

Rajesh : Of course la..Disney movie maa..rated U sumore. Sure if got nice part aso confirm they cut and censor one. See the title aso, Bedtime Stories...Not You Don't Mess with Zohan la.

Yin Shen : Hehe..good point.

Shafiq : Aiyo Yin Shen, always thinking bout that oli. Wat la you...mother never teach ah ?

Yin Shen : Eh, biasa la.

Rajesh : K la...better go home now. Got so much homework today. Tomorrow must pass up sumore. I chow first la.

Shafiq : Ok la...I aso chow then.

Yin Shen : Ya...ok...bye guys..See you tommorow.

Rajesh: Bye Shafiq, bye Yin Shen.

Shafiq : Bye Kumar...bye Yin Shen.

You don't call this corruption ?

2009-02-04T18:40:00.025+08:00

Corruption reports lodged against UMNO has brought the MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) to carry out investigations on the matter. Then a group of UMNO members protested against the MACC for carrying out their investigations on UMNO.

If they were innocent, why would they be protesting? If they’re innocent, the MACC wouldn’t find anything & they shouldn’t have anthing to fear. What happened to berani kerana benar, takut kerana salah ?

Now a politician from the opposition has made a statutory declaration stating that our future PM, Datuk Najib has offered RM 50 million for defections from the opposition. It is also alleged that Datuk Najib has offered opposition politicians who are being investigated by the MACC that all corruption charges against them will be dropped if they join BN.

The Bota Assemblyman, after 10 days in PKR, he goes back to BN…& earlier today he was reported missing. He was found at Najib’s press conference & denied that he was abducted. Ya right, I’m sure he was threatened & got millions to join BN again.

Even Kedah’s Bukit Selambau assemblyman V. Arumugam had lodged a police report that threats had been made on his life and that of his family if he did not leave PKR and join BN. He even said RM 4 million was offered to him to join BN.

So much of vote-buying, bribes, offers and threats have been going on for so long in BN & UMNO seems to be most famous for it. Call it money politics or corruption, they’re both the same & the Malaysian public is well aware of it.

Aren’t they ashamed for taking over a state by bribery and threats and not by the votes of the people ?

Shows how desperate BN is that they're willing to even accept two PKR assemblymen who have been charged with corruption.

The extent of how true or false these allegations are, I have no say. However, to those who oppose all this, I ask, don’t you call this corruption ?

Najib's Collection of Scandals

2009-02-01T03:56:00.007+08:00

For quite sometime I've wanted to post something regarding the scandals that are circling around Datuk Najib. However, recently I found a picture here that summarises the issue. So I decided to post the picture instead of writing a long essay that requires a lot of time to be spent on research before writing. I might as well use that time to study for my test that is coming soon.

Here's the picture.

Haiz..it really saddens me to know that our upcoming PM has so many scandals & controversies behind him. At least Datuk Badawi had a 'Mr. Clean' image when he became PM. Anyway, for our nation's sake, I hope that justice will prevail & that Datuk Najib would try to clear his name on these scandals...& convince the nation that he deserves to be our PM.

Just Because He's Black

2009-01-21T02:05:00.007+08:00

Just because he’s black, he has received over 500 death threats.

Just because he’s black, his entire family & he must be protected by the Secret Service.

Just because he’s black, his wife & young children are in grave danger.

Just because he’s black, his children may lose their father.

Just because he’s black, his wife may become a widow.

Just because he’s black, he might not get a chance to live the full experience of fatherhood.

Just because he’s black, some whites are going nuts.

Just because he’s black, he’s got to always watch his back.

Just because he’s black, doesn’t mean he’s on crack.

Just because he’s black, he might not live long enough to possibly be the best President of the U.S.A.

After all this…I only have one question.

George W. Bush is probably the most hated president of the U.S.A & he has brought the country to a financial mess & recession…..yet he wasn’t assassinated nor did he receive the number of death threats as close to Obama.

So why wasn’t Bush assassinated ? ....Was it because he wasn’t black ?

Obama is a very intelligent man. He is a man of great vision & could possibly turn U.S.A & the world around. So, just give him a chance & stop being so obsessed with his skin colour.

I wish Mr. /President Barack Obama all the best of luck.

Tun M says quit your job ?!

2009-01-10T00:41:00.011+08:00

Yesterday, Tun Mahathir said Malaysians "will not die if they do not use the US goods. I hope Starbucks and McDonald's employees will stop working there”. He told this to a crowd holding a protest against US for supporting Israel in fighting Palestine. He also said “they will become a bankrupt country and will not be able to produce weapons for Israel”.

I’m not going to discuss the USA-Palestine-Israel issue. However, although I have much respect for Tun Mahathir, I disagree with his statement. C’mon la Tun, telling people to quit their jobs ?…in times of a global economic crisis ?? That’s not practical la Tun.

People should be lucky to have jobs now. Besides, it’s already estimated that the economic crisis is only going to get worse & Malaysia will really feel the pinch this year. On December 22 2008, the government announced that 30,000 people had already lost their jobs…& Tun is still asking them to quit ??

In times of an economic crisis, people need whatever job they have to support themselves & their family. I doubt anybody is going to quit their job in these times just because of a cruel battle going on thousands of miles away. Our well-being comes first. Besides Tun, just because they quit their jobs, USA will definitely not turn bankrupt.

C’mon la Tun, you should know better. Their filthy rich!! . From September 11 2001 to December 2007, USA had spent USD 1 trillion on the war on terror (bad spending, I know)…and now Obama is planning a USD 850 billion stimulus package plan. That’s a lot of money. A small country like Malaysia boycotting USA will hardly even pinch them.

Imagine if USA boycott us....we're dead !!

Don't "Proton-ize" Local Movies

2009-01-06T21:08:00.006+08:00

Recently, the Malaysian Film Producers Association (MFPA) gave a proposition…one that I find to be very stupid. They suggested that the ticket prices at cinemas to watch Hollywood films be raised to RM20 & local films maintain the current price which is at RM9-RM12 (current ticket prices for all movies).

This was suggested because local films don’t get many viewers in cinemas. Hence, they don’t make much money at all…unlike Hollywood movies. So their hoping this “genius” idea of theirs will encourage more people to watch local movies.

This is like increasing the government tax of McDonalds…hence increasing their food prices, to increase the number of people to buy Ramly Burger. Or a better example, increasing & adding silly taxes on foreign cars to make them more expensive, hence giving consumers no choice but to buy Proton !!

When are these guys going to learn…if you want to increase the sales of your product, increase the quality…not wipe out your competitors !! Besides, don’t they know how common it is nowadays for people to download movies from the internet or people buying pirated films ??

Here are reasons why local films will probably never do as well here as Hollywood films :-

1. The budget of local films is way lower than Hollywood films.

2. Hollywood actors & actresses are known worldwide. How many people haven’t heard of Will Smith or Angelina Jolie ? How many foreigners have heard of Saiful Apek ?

3. Malaysians don’t live under a rock. We’re all familiar with the Western culture.

4. English is the world’s most common language.

5. Special effects of Hollywood films beat the crap out of local films.

6. Storylines of Hollywood films are way better…and here we have Cicak Man (not that bad a movie) who is similar to Spiderman…where is the originality ?

7. Hollywood films are shot in many locations worldwide…unlike local films. I can see more places of the world watching Quantum of Solace than Cicak Man…or any other local film for the matter.

8. Local films & actors/actresses just don’t have the storyline, quality, acting skills, substance & effects like Hollywood films & actors/actresses.

9. Local film makers can’t afford to advertise & market their films like Hollywood films. It’s always a foreign film on a local billboard.

10. Cinemas make way more money from screening Hollywood films than local films.

11. Malaysia is diversified with different cultures & languages….& 99% of local films are Malay films. Hence, a smaller market…& not many Malays themselves watch local films.

To improve the local film industry, I suggest :-

1. Local film producers must drastically improve their storylines & special effects.

2. Local film makers should get a bigger budget from whomever.

3. Make more local Chinese & Indian movies…increase the target audience.

In conclusion, the MFPA should improve their films instead of wiping out their competitors. Don’t “Proton-ise” the local film industry too. Even if the prices are increased, it makes no difference as many folks can just download the movie or just buy the pirated DVD for RM 8-RM10…that’s cheaper than going to the theater.

Nobody Moves Like Michael Jackson

2008-12-26T01:27:00.006+08:00

EPF Not Government's Candy Jar

2008-12-19T15:03:00.014+08:00

On October 21 2008, Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the government will borrow RM 5 billion from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to fund government investment agency Valuecap Sdn Bhd to buy undervalued stocks in the local share market.

Firstly,

What is EPF ?

Basically, it’s a government organization that handles a compulsory savings scheme for legally employed Malaysian workers in the private sector. Under the EPF, employers put in a certain percentage of their employees monthly salary into the EPF fund as savings for their retirement.

As a retirement plan, an employee’s EPF savings can only be withdrawn when he/she reaches 50 years old, during which, with a good reason, they may withdraw only 30% of their EPF savings. Members who are 55 years old or older may withdraw all of their EPF savings.

Who is Valuecap ?

Valuecap is a company established by the Ministry of Finance in 2003 to invest in undervalued stocks in the local share market.

Now let’s get down to the issue.

This whole idea by the government is bad mainly for two reasons.

1. Their stealing our retirement savings.

2. Valuecap is in debt of RM 5.1 billion…..do you trust them with RM 5 billion of the people’s money now ?

This is how the situation is in a different concept. It’s like me giving you RM 1 to buy me nasi lemak…but at the same time you owe your other friend RM 1. So what guarantee do I have that you will buy my nasi lemak instead of paying your friend and settling your debt with my money ?

How dare they gamble our savings like this when there’s a global economic crisis going on !!

How can they take our savings for retirement ? Badawi, Najib & our 2nd finance minister Tan Sri Mohamed Yakcop have always said that our bank reserves are very strong, liquidity is ample & high…bla la bla. If so, why rob our savings ? Bloody thieves !!

Why borrow from EPF in the first place ? Why not borrow from CIMB, SOSCO or our filthy rich Petronas ? Why our savings !! This only creates suspicion that the government is only going to bailout Valuecap from its huge debt.

On top of that, they’re giving employees the option to reduce their monthly EPF contribution from 11% to 8% for two years thinking that it will put more money in our pockets & help spur the economy. What they forgot is that will drastically reduce our savings in the long-run !!

Besides, what’s the point of cutting our EPF rate and giving us more cash when the money is going to go back to the government through the greater amount of income tax that we’ll have to pay ?! The worst part is, employees have to fill in a form to confirm if they want to take the option or not. If they don’t fill in the form by a certain date, their contribution is automatically reduced to 8%...WTF ?!

Why give RM 5 billion of our savings to Valuecap when they know that Valuecap has a debt of RM 5.1 billion which is due on February 2009 ? What guarantee is there that Valuecap won’t use the money to settle their debt ?

Why give it to EPF when they can directly inject the money into the real economy ?...like what they’re doing with the RM 7 billion stimulus package plan..That money is going directly into the economy.

How are they sure that the RM5 billion will be utilised in a transparent manner and not be used to bail out government-linked or crony companies ?

How did Valuecap get into a debt of RM 5.1 billion in the first place ?

Who in Valuecap will invest in what with our EPF money ? Where’s the transparency ?

What if the recession & global economic crisis gets worst ?

What guarantee is there that this plan will work ?

If it fails, will the government pay back the RM 5 billion to EPF ?

Instead of this EPF-Valucap plan, why not do other things to boost the economy such as…

1. Reduce the income tax rate.

2. Cut down the expenditure from Budget 2009 (RM 207 billion!!...highest budget so far…cut a bit la). Save money damn it.

3. Revise the NAP (National Automotive Policy) to be more competitive…stop protecting Proton!!

4. Reduce red tape & give more inducements for foreign investors.

Small things like this & more can improve the economy a lot…why steal from our piggy bank ?

This whole thing is big SCAM & a ROBBERY as far as I’m concerned.

Petrol Price Reductions Make No Sense !!

2008-12-08T00:08:00.026+08:00

Does this chart look right ?.... Hell no.... you just need sundry shop mathematics to see what's wrong.

USD/barrel 120 = RM 2.70

USD/barrel 63 = RM 1.92

USD/BARREL 55 = RM 2.00

USD/barrel 48 = RM 1.90

From USD 120 to USD 48...we go from RM 2.70 to RM 1.90 ? A drop of USD 72 only gives us a drop of RM0.70 ? The ratio's are way off man ! The price reductions make no sense !

On November 18th 2008, our Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister, Datuk Shahrir Samad announced that the government had stopped subsidising petrol from November 1st.

Why was this matter announced more than 2 weeks after the government had stopped subsidising petrol and not immediately when they stopped ??

This means that between that duration of time, & even until now, we are paying petrol tax !!

It means that we are subsidising the government !!

In fact, economists say that the petrol price here should be around RM 1.50 ... 40 sens cheaper !

The excuse given by the government for the higher price is because other costs such as refinery and processing is taken into consideration. Ya right.

They also say that even Singapore, UK & Australia are selling petrol above market price. Hello friend, what about all the other countries that are selling petrol at the rightful market price ?

Besides, unlike Malaysia, Singapore, UK & Australia are not oil producing nations !!

Next they say that the extra money earned from the government from this crappy fuel price mechanism will be used to "improve public transportation & the economy". Ya right, my foot la !!

Another excuse for the higher price is to reduce the number of vehicles on the road and cultivate the people to use public transport. Well, .... we would use public transport if it was really good ! Besides, sales of vehicles here have dropped tremendously. Which dude will buy a car in the middle of a global economic crisis ??

Past few years, every budget announced will have billions allocated for public transportation. Yet public transportation services have not changed much & still sucks.

As for improving the economy, I don't buy that excuse. Don't forget, the government has announced a RM 7 billion stimulus package for the improvement of the economy. This RM 7 billion is money saved from the reductions of the fuel subsidy.

Their also robbing RM 5 billion form the EPF (Employees Provident Fund) to give to some company called ValueCap to invest wisely in the stock market and improve the economy. However, at the same time, ValueCap has a debt of RM 5.1 billion. Doesn't it sound fishy & ironic ? I'll talk about this in the next post.

So when their having a stimulus package and stealing money from the EPF to improve public transportation and improving the economy, why the need for petrol prices that are higher than the market price ?

Aren't they forgetting that we're already burdened with higher toll rates, water & electricity tariffs.... Have they forgotten that Malaysians pay all sorts of other ridiculous taxes ? Not to mention rising food prices ? (I don't give a damn if roti canai & teh tarik falls by 10 sens)

Star newspaper even reported two days ago that the government makes RM16 million a day from this pricing. How can they be so unethical & make profit from the people like this ?

I would really like to know on what basis is petrol prices determined here ?

Who is the genius with the brilliant brains formulating the budget ?

In conclusion, petrol prices should be way cheaper here and the fuel price mechanism should be based according to the market price. Well, as they say, BN = Barang Naik.

BTW, please don't misunderstand me by saying that I support petrol being subsidised. I don't. Petrol here shouldn't be subsidised anymore. The money saved can be used for better things... but... it's not right for the government to be making profit from the people like this by selling petrol higher than the global market price.

100 Reasons Why BN Lost the People's Votes...Final Part.

2008-11-30T23:21:00.006+08:00

91. MCA quiet as a mouse.

92. MIC quiet as a mouse.

93. MCA & MCA seemed to be the ‘yes-man’ to UMNO…everything also agree.

94. Rumours of BN wanting to build nuclear power stations when the Bakun Dam wasn’t even completed.

95. PM is too nice for his own good.

96. The missing Nurin & Sharlinie case couldn’t be solved by the police.

97. Leaks in Parliament House.

98. Leaks in the Jalan Duta courts.

99. Badawi opens a nasi kandar shop in Perth,Australia…and bought a luxury yacht in Turkey…with the people’s money.

100. Maika Holdings which robbed the Indians by millions of ringgit.

Finally,...I'm done with this long saga. However, in the not too distant future (I hope), I have planned to post X reasons why BN may lose the people's votes badly again in the next General Elections ;)

With the end of this saga, I can finally work on other posts that I've been wanting to for so long.

100 Reasons Why BN Lost the People's Votes...Part 9

2008-11-30T23:14:00.004+08:00

81. DAP’s consistent aim for a truly democratic nation

82. BN’s race-based politics

83. BN’s “quota” mentality

84. Unfair distribution of scholarships

85. Foreign investors were slowly showing signs of leaving

86. Police brutality from BERSIH and HINDRAF rally

87. Najib’s involvement in Altantuya’s murder

88. Port Klang Free Zone Scandal

89. Rafidah Aziz implicated in dishing out Approved Permits for importing vehicles to family members

90. Racist Ketuanan Melayu policy by UMNO

100 Reasons Why BN Lost the People's Votes...Part 8

2008-11-28T18:25:00.003+08:00

71. Government almost tried to demolish Merdeka Stadium.

72. Tried to build the unnecessary sports complex in London.

73. Tunku Aziz, Karpal Singh, Lim Kit Siang etc.. are way more patriotic.

74. Too many illegal immigrants…especially Indonesians.

75. Illegal Indonesian immigrants get citizenship in 3 days whereas Malaysians born year 60 years ago don’t get citizenship even until they die.

76. Lousy education system.

77. Leaders sending their children overseas even for primary/secondary schooling, in spite of the “world class” education system that is said to exist here.

78. ISA was not used against those waving the keris.

79. They didn’t listen to the people.

80. BN’s arrogance by saying they didn’t need the votes of Chinese & Indians.

What's Albar trying to say ??

2008-11-22T10:52:00.024+08:00

Once again, I'd like to express my views on a recent statement made by our Home Minister, Dato Syed Hamid Albar. This time, Albar was referring to a speech made about three weeks ago by Zaid Ibrahim (prominent Malaysian lawyer) who criticised the concept of Ketuanan Melayu (Malay Supremacy).

I am not going to comment on Zaid's speech as I have no intention on questioning Ketuanan Melayu. What I will point out is Albar's questionable reply statement about the speech.

This is what Albar said... ' If you say the concept of Malay supremacy has failed, then Zaid will not be what he is today. He is fortunate he was born a Malay ' .

Hmm...although the statement is short and direct, I find it questionable as it seems to have a few other indirect meanings behind it such as :-

Is he indirectly saying that Chinese people are unfortunate to be born as Chinese ?

Are Indian people unfortunate to be born as Indians ?

Are the Kadazan people unfortunate to be born as Kadazans ?

Are the Iban people unfortunate to be born as Ibans ?

Are the Bajau people unfortunate to be born as Bajaus ?

Are all Malays born lucky ?

If Zaid was born of another race, does that mean he would have been unsuccessful and unfortunate ?

Is Zaid successful only because of Ketuanan Melayu ?

Does Zaid's own hard work, effort & intelligence have no role play in his success ?

Are some Malays only successful because of Ketuanan Melayu & nothing else ?

Hmm...so many questions and indirect meanings from such a short statement.

Quote found in NST of November 4 2008, page 4.

100 Reasons Why BN Lost the People's Votes...Part 7

2008-11-06T00:12:00.006+08:00

61. Anwar’s issue was never really fully settled before the election

62. Cars too expensive due to the government protecting Proton

63. Indians find that getting jobs in the civil service is tough

64. Doctors paid peanuts in the government sector

65. The brain-drain problem

66. Public transport still SUCKS after so much money allocated for so many years

67. Traffic jams in KL still unresolved

68. Still no true equitable system for entry into local universities

69. Bad implementation of National Service

70. Numerous and mysterious deaths of National Service trainees

100 Reasons Why BN Lost the People's Votes...Part 6

2008-11-02T00:21:00.007+08:00

51. Too many grand projects. NCER, ECER, SCORE, IDR…. How can the government fund so many things at once ?..and will investors flock to all these projects ?

52. Flip-flopping the dissolution of the Parliament dates

53. Flip-flop decisions by BN

54. Toll prices keep increasing

55. No reduction in personal income tax

56. Unequal opportunities

57. Giving in to too many of Singapore’s demands

58. Building roofs collapsing & leaking everywhere

59. Flour price increased > roti canai increased –> people cannot get their roti canai

60. People can't understand the concept of how a petroleum producing country can't subsidise heavily the petrol usage of its citizens

Blogging Jokes ;)

2008-10-27T01:46:00.006+08:00

100 Reasons Why BN Lost the People's Votes...Part 5

2008-10-23T23:28:00.011+08:00

41. Opposition succeeded in addressing the concerns of the people regarding oil prices , tolls , and crime

42. Badawi called for an early election (early or not , he was doomed either way)

43. Perceived lack of truth from mainstream media (media controlled by government)

44. Khairy’s ascending powers to corporate companies (ECM Libra) and Football Association of Malaysia (FAM)

45. Proton problems and governments non-stop intervention. It’s disgraceful to foreign investors to talk with Proton only to tell them, not interested later on

46. Raja Petra Kamaruddin…revealed many skeletons in BN’s closet

47. People’s lack of acceptance of NEP as only the rich get richer, the poor remains the same

48. Samy Vellu’s failure to provide lternative solutions to the Indian community. Tried to hoodwink the community into believing he is still the solution

49. BN’S political campaign was too well financially executed. People didn’t like expensive ads in newspapers

50. They concentrated too much on Kelantan & lost five states

HINDRAF Banned..Problem Solved ?

2008-10-18T14:54:00.014+08:00

Our Home Minister, Dato Syed Hamid Albar just banned HINDRAF & declared it illegal. This is a joke. How do you ban & declare an organisation that has not been registered and officially doesn’t exist, illegal ?!

How come the HINDRAF 5 were put under ISA 11 months ago...& only now they "ban" HINDRAF ? I just don't see the sense in it. Can anyone enlighten me please ?

What big crime have they done ?...Have they killed anyone ? Have they blown up anything with explosives ? Have they insulted the other races of Malaysia ?...Clearly, the answer is no, no & NO.

I don't think that HINDRAF was formed to be a 'legal organisation'...I feel it was formed to wake Malaysia up & also get worldwide attention that Malaysia has political problems...which they have succeeded with flying colours.

If it wasn't for HINDRAF, the political scenario in Malaysia would be totally different. They were the trigger & catalyst to the results of the General Elections 2008.

HINDRAF just tried to show the government that the Indians were marginalised & they were not getting enough help. Simple basic human rights man...Has the government responded to their pleas in any way ? What has the government achieved by banning HINDRAF ?

Why has it become so hard to achive harmony & unity in Malaysia ? Is it because of HINDRAF ? ... I don't think so.

So what if HINDRAF is banned ? What difference does it make ? As the saying goes, you can imprison a man, but not his ideas.

100 Reasons Why BN Lost the People's Votes...Part 4

2008-10-15T20:03:00.006+08:00

31. Misuse of ISA by BN

32. Money spent on keeping MNC (Multinational Corporation) in Penang

33. Long & desperate attempt of campaigning by BN

34. The issues of phantom & deceased voters

35. NEP has scared off potential investors and voters

36. BN in general has been perceived to have lost touch with the general public

37. PAS has a good public perception of zero tolerance for corruption

38. Economic growth was never felt by the people as prices of almost everything was still increasing

39. The Anwar factor

40. Khir Toyo handing a BROOM to heads of government departments

100 Reasons Why BN Lost the People's Votes...Part 3

2008-10-12T16:46:00.003+08:00

21. Mainstream media’s self-imposed censorship of bringing news that only matters to BN

22. “Rumours” of money politics

23. Election Commision’s proposal of using indelible ink for the elections

24. Public’s perception of corruption is still there

25. Chinese not believing in MCA anymore

26. Indians not believing in MIC anymore

27. Malays not believing in UMNO anymore

28. Malays, Chinese, & Indians not believing in BN anymore

29. Tun Mahathir’s continuous attack on Badawi

30. Khairy Jamaluddin’s involvement in ECM-Libra

Funny Ads

2008-10-11T13:33:00.006+08:00

100 Reasons Why BN Lost the People's Votes...Part 2

2008-10-09T19:55:00.005+08:00

11. Inflation rate increasing

12. Crime rate increasing

13. Broken promises of Datuk Badawi

14. Young educated voters had nothing to lose

15. Information Minister’s (Datuk Shabery) negative comments on bloggers

16. Unhappy with treatment against demonstrators

17. Lack of funding for Chinese schools

18. Lack of funding for Tamil schools

19. The unnecessary & costly project of sending a Malaysian to space

20. The link of the murdered Mongolian woman with our Deputy Prime Minister

100 Reasons Why BN Lost The People's Votes...Part 1

2008-10-06T21:21:00.007+08:00

1. Samy Vellu

2. The Indian issues

3. Demolition of Hindu Temples

4. Khairy Jamaluddin

5. The illegal construction of the late Datuk Zakaria’s mansion

6. The insensitive waving of the keris and comments by Datuk Hishamuddin in parliament

7. The waving of the keris by Datuk Najib in 1987 at Kampung Baru with extremely anti-Chinese sentiments

8. The comments of Datuk Badaruddin Amiruddin who said that Malaysia is an Islamic state although the Constitution says otherwise. He further said that if you don’t like it , you can leave the country

9. Lingam tape…a video that showed how corrupted our judiciary system is

10. HINDRAF

Pictures Taken with the Sony Ericsson C905 !!

2008-09-30T00:59:00.045+08:00

Camera details :

- Sony’s Exmor camera module (CMOS) !!

- Focal length = 5.91mm

- Aperture = 1 :2.8

- Maximum resolution = 8.1 megapixels

- 16x digital zoom

- Autofocus with all the other standard Cyber-shot features...with geo-tagging & face detection & smile detection :) !!

- Xenon & LED flash

-Smart Contrast

- Best Pic (automatically snaps 7 pictures, ... choose the one's you like !!)

- Red-eye reduction

- Image & Video Stabiliser

- Records videos at QVGA at 30fps

Below are sample shots taken with the SE C905 at its full glory of 8.1 megapixels...to see the real beauty, I strongly recommend you see the full-size image, save it and view it with Windows Photo Gallery...try zooming in and see how every tiny detail is captured magnificently.

I have to say, for a mobile phone, picture quality is bloody good

For a detailed review of the phone or the phone's camera, you may see this & this respectively.

Flip-Flop BN

2008-09-29T18:45:00.038+08:00

1. Flip : Badawi says he'll not marry again.

Flop : Badawi remarries before the 1st year anniversary of his wife's death.

2. Flip : In 2007, Badawi called for more interfaith dialogues.

Flop : In 2008, after the protested Bar Council Forum on Islam, Badawi says 'avoid open discussions' .

3. Flip : Badawi says he'll reduce petrol price on September 1st.

Flop : Badawi reduces petrol price in August before the Permatang Pauh by-elections.

4. Flip : Badawi says he'll build a bridge from Johor to Singapore.

Flop : Badawi says Johor doesn't want the bridge.

5. Flip : Before elections Samy Vellu says what HINDRAF did was wrong as they should have gone through the "proper channels".

Flop : After losing elections, Samy now fights for the release of HINDRAF.

6. Flip : Badawi , "We will implement the Independent Police Complaint & Monitoring Commission (IPCMC) within 12 months."

Flop : Badawi, "Need to study first." (Still not implemented 5 years later !)

7. Flip : Badawi, "We did not buy a VIP jetplane."

Flop : The government just LEASED it from Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad."(which is 100% owned by MOF under Badawi !)

8. Flip : Badawi says he'll remain as PM until the middle of 2010.

Flop : Badawi changes his mind & says he'll resign in March 2009.

9. Flip : Home Ministry will not appeal courts' decision of freeing RPK from ISA.

Flop : The next day, Home Ministry decides to appeal !!

10. Flip : 26 February 2009, toll hike for 5 highways approved.

Flop : 27 February 2009, toll hike for 5 highways postponed. Ironically BN denied that the reason for postponing was because three by-elections were coming up.

11. Flip : February 26 2009, government allows Christian publications to use the word Allah.

Flop : February 28 2009, government makes U-turn on that decision.

12. Flip: BN starts policy of teaching maths & science subjects in schools in English in 2003.

Flop: BN scraps the policy in 2009.

The Concert-Banning Issue

2008-09-28T00:58:00.034+08:00

Avril is too sexy, she's indecent and inappropriate,she can bring down your morality, negative influence on youths, girls will turn into "free whores"...at least that's what PAS Youth said when they tried to ban the concerts of Avril Lavigne, Mariah Carey, Pussycat Dolls and Gwen Stefani.

Another reason given to ban Avril's concert was because it was held two days before our Independence Day...so what ?..how does her concert disrupt our Independence Day celebrations ?

Will you lose all your morality by attending concerts ?...Are concerts the only thing that can negatively influence you ?...Will girls turn into sluts overnight after attending a concert ?...I don't think so.

Why ban Avril ?

1) She doesn't sing Anti-Islamic songs

2) She doesn't strip down to her undies like Britney or Paris Hilton

3) Her songs are decent and do not call for sex

4) She does not dance "sexily"

PAS want acts that are able to promote moral values...what act would that be ?...Barney and Spongebob SquarePants concert live in Malaysia ??

We aren't living in the dark ages. Concerts are not the only factor that can "degrade" our morality. Walk along the streets of KL & you're bound to see women dressed sexily. If PAS wants to "protect" us, might as well they ban our local singers, Astro, radio, TV, MTV, theathers, magazines, newspapers, and the internet.

Since when did PAS become our moral guardians anyway ?..Isn't that mainly the duty of our parents?..The government should stop giving in to the whims of minority groups. The reasons they give to ban the concerts also make us the laughing stock of the world.

Even Beyonce cancelled her concert here last year due to PAS protests and held a concert in Indonesia!!...How can the world's most populous Muslim nation accept Beyonce but Malaysia can't ??...Just doesn't make sense to me.

The Pussycat Dolls was also protested against by PAS but their concert was eventually allowed...so why aren't they allowing Avril who is definitely more decent than the Pussycat Dolls ?...Why not give the performers a chance to abide by our rules & regulations ?

PAS shouldn't stop others from having a good time or seeing their favourite singers live which could be a once in a lifetime oppurtunity. Below are the rules & regulations for concerts in Malaysia set by the Ministry of Unity, Culture, Arts & Heritage...

Code of Ethics for Performers in KL :

> No jumping, screaming and throwing items to audiences or vice versa

> No dance moves or using words that have sexual connotations, including kissing audiences or any similar act

> Don't act or say things that are meant to single out any community or religion, which may affect the political stand and stability of the country

> Don't perform without clothes or remove clothes, be it shirts or pants

> Female performers have to cover up from the chest to below the knees. Male artistes have to cover up from chest to knees. They have to look neat and clean throughout the performance

> Performance has to be clean and should not have vulgar, dirty or crude stories, lyrics and any language against Malaysian values, law and the Rukun Negara

> Every show or performance has to adhere to the date and place, as stated in the licence

> Promoters and licence holders have to give priority to the safety of its audience and general surroundings, at all times

Do's & Don'ts for Foreign Artists :

> Don't display improper and indecent behaviour

> Don't perform in an obscene manner

> Don't do or say things that may touch on religious, racial and cultural sensitivities of the communities in Malaysia

> Dress appropriately according to the type of performance and congruent with Malaysian culture

> Don't join the audiences at any time; performances confined to the stage of the premise

> Performances that involve the promotion of tobacco products and alcoholic beverages, either directly or indirectly, are not allowed

I find some of these rules and regulations to be acceptable...yet some rules just makes a concert sound so dead and zombie-ish...but PAS takes it too far..

Let we Malaysians make our own decisions to attend concerts or not regardless of race, religion or gender !! PAS should stop imposing their beliefs on us...and if they want to ban concerts, give non-bullshit reasons.

Check out this video of foreign media making fun of us about this concert-banning issue.

Report Lodged for Insulting Egg ?!

2008-09-25T19:12:00.007+08:00

How much dumber can things get...Anwar "sodomised" Saiful...the journalist was held under ISA for her own "safety"...and now, the Seputeh UMNO Youth division lodged a police report against Teresa Kok for insulting an egg...(I'm not bullshitting).

The accusers claim that she insulted the Royal Malaysian Police and the egg, which is an essential food of the underprivileged. They want action to be taken against Teresa for her remark on the food which she had described as almost like dog food. The remark was an "insult" to the police and low-income earners.

Firstly, she was arrested under ISA and released after a week due to a allegation by Dato Khir Toyo that has been proven false. When she is released, they lodge a police report for this?!...I can't believe how far they are willing to go to find faults with Teresa.

Teresa said that the food served to her under ISA detention was LIKE dog food...not WAS dog food...it's an idiomatic expression!! It's just an idiomatic way of saying that the food was lousy. It's a figure of speech which shouldn't be taken literally.

When will the higher authorities start focusing on the real important issues instead of silly police reports like this...start paying more attention to issues like rising crime rates, inflation, slowing economy, rising cost of living and others. I think it's an insult to make such reports to the police. Just chuck that report away la...I'm sure the police have more important stuff to deal with.

Cute :)

2008-09-20T15:45:00.009+08:00

=) :)

" ISA Is For Your Safety " ?!

2008-09-13T19:58:00.018+08:00

The journalist , Ms. Tan who was arrested yesterday under ISA was released today . She was arrested for reporting on Ahmad Ismail's racist remarks . The interesting part is the statement given by Dato Syed Hamid Albar(pictured) on the reason she was released .

He said that 'Tan was detained under Section 73(1) of the Act in order "to ensure her safety" as police intelligence indicated that there were threats to her life after she reported on Bukit Bendera division Umno chairman Datuk Ahmad Ismail’s allegedly racist remarks' .

Wtf?!...Are we idiots ?!...Who would fall for this bullshit?!...If she was given death threats , why didn't they go after the person who gave the threats in the first place ?...Why arrest under ISA ?...Why didn't they just give her police protection ?

Well in my opinion , I feel that the Agong silently stepped into this matter and told the government to stop it as they have gone too far . Only the Agong can reverse government decisions if the government themselves refuse to do so .

Or else why would they simply release her ?...I doubt public noise would have stopped them as they knew it would happen...or else they wouldn't have done it in the first place...hmm...just my opinion and me exercising my oppressed freedom of speech and expression .

Don't Fall Into Their Trap

2008-09-12T21:28:00.013+08:00

RPK , Teresa Kok & a Sin Chew journalist were put under ISA in one day , Ahmad Ismail calls the Chinese "pendatang" , "immigrants" & "squatters" , Khir Toyo accuses Teresa Kok for telling the Kota Damansara mosque to stop the azan prayers , Anwar's sodomy trial , the BN MP's trip to Taiwan ,...do you see what I see ?

September 16 is coming . It's BN's final resolution to save their precious power by instigating all the races in Malaysia . Their last option now is to stir racial riots...to remake a May 13 1969...During the May 13th incident , when the Chinese made racial riots , the Agong back then declared emergency rule and dissolved parliament .

Then the National Operations Council (NOC) was formed by the Agong . The NOC became the supreme decision-makers of Malaysia for almost 2 years . Gradually , BN was reborn to rule Malaysia again...and now their at risk of losing all that power & money .

Thus it is extremely crucial that the public do not riot , protest or take anything to the streets . Don't fall into their trap . Don't give them an excuse to put more people under ISA or declare an emergency rule .

Malaysian Politics...Everything's a Coincidence ?

2008-09-06T00:45:00.013+08:00

1. Saiful swears on Quran that Anwar sodomised him one day before nomination day in Permatang Pauh by-elections .

2. Perak State exco members were detained by ACA during the Permatang Pauh by-election period .

3. Permatang Pauh voting day fixed on a Tuesday...a weekday right after the school holidays .

4. BN Back Benches Club go for a "lawatan sambil belajar" from September 7-19...trying to avoid BN MP's from crossing over to PKR on September 16 .

5. Saiful reports that Anwar "sodomised" him just when Anwar was giving too much trouble to BN .

6. Some Chinese schools in Permatang Pauh happened to get RM 1.2 million from BN a few days before voting day at Permatang Pauh by-elections .

7. Datuk Lingam's holiday with Tun Eusoff Chin in the same place (New Zealand) coincidental...even when they had the same travel agent .

8. Badawi drops fuel prices before Permatang Pauh by-elections...few days earlier he said he would drop it on September 1st .

9. Badawi uses the KTM & LRT a few days before Permatang Pauh by-elections...why didn't he use the trains before after 5 years of being PM ?

10. Controversial DNA Bill proposed a few days before Permatang Pauh by-elections .

11. BN creates chaos in Perak state assembly on March 7 2009. Next day, BN releases remaining HINDRAF leaders from ISA !!

All just a coincidence ?..Well...fool me once , shame on you , fool me twice , shame on me .

Warning of Global Warming

2008-09-01T19:53:00.012+08:00

This matter should be taken seriously . If nothing is done , we will really suffer the consequences in the future . This site explains quite a lot about global warming . It's worth checking out .