Perak Darul Kartun

If we could only laugh out loud, even if it is just at ourselves, for a while, I believe this world would be a better place.

For that reason I suggest you go out and buy any copies of this satire comic by Zunar.

I have not laughed this way for a long while. True, many of the stuff contained within were unabashedly partisan. Perhaps that is why they got raided by the friendly folks from the Home Ministry. But it is funny. Funny in ways words alone cannot convey. Reminds me of the Gila Gila magazine in  the 80s, before they got politically correct.

Beneath the laughter though, lies the sobering realisation of just how much is wrong with this country. Check inside. Among the guests include Farish Noor and A.Samad Said.

Way to go Zunar!

Glad to know some people’s sense of humour is still intact.

Hik Hik Hik!

What’s so funny about peace, love and understanding?

There is a school of thought in Malaysia that says you must avoid certain topics, subjects etc…because it may be sensitive to other people.  If we did talk about such things, then it is feared that there would be a racial riot, civil unrest, bloodbath a la May 13, 1969 and all.  This thought has been enforced by the authorities in Malaysia to an extent that our parents were conditioned to keep shtum.

But we also became increasingly polarised, with efforts at cultural integration rarely going beyond lip service. Where do we retreat to? The familiar community fold. Familiar, but fraught with suspicion of the outsider, the “other”. All because we didn’t know each other. Tak kenal, maka tak cinta kan?

There is a lot of things wrong with being insular. It usually gives birth to fundamentalists and rednecks, not to mention incestuous hillbillies.

So things became ugly once upon a time. Before my time. But I hear this was because of politicians, some chest thumping and inflamed insecurity.

41 years have passed after that episode and you would think that we Malaysians of different races and faith would know each other better by now, to sit down and have a rational discussion about issue of mutual importance, without fear of some guy getting his machete out.

Yes we can do that, never mind what your political party hack tells you. To begin this process of forging greater cohesion between the different communities living in Malaysia, we have to know what’s right, and true. Not history as written in our textbooks. That, we know now, is full of holes.

This was what I came back with, from the Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia roadshow at the KL Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall last weekend. It was good to hear lawyer Jahabardeen Yunoos speak against discrimination, quoting verses from the Quran to strengthen his argument. What was even heartening to hear was his call to celebrate the diffferences, rather than use it to separate us from each other.

It was wonderful to have filmmaker Fahmi Reza take us back to the years before Merdeka when multi-organisational cooperation existed despite differences in class, race, religion and ideology. When the goal is a common one, we could come together as a unit, it seems.

Then lawyer and popular blogger Art Harun spoke about the intentions of our founding fathers. It was rather thought provoking how he took us back to the Reid Commission report and illustrated how “special position of the Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak” has become over the years the “Malay rights”. Insidious indeed. Remember what I said about repeating lies often enuff so that it becomes gospel? Well there it was. Visit his site for a footage of his talk.

Lawyer and SABM Haris Ibrahim asked if this nation is in distress. I didn’t think we even needed to see the slide presentation to know that it is indeed. He drew attention to the distressing 1805 deaths in custody since 2003. This country needs some check and balance and the fact that most of the institutions that traditionally served that purpose has been compromised

SABM’s Jayanath Appadurai brought the audience back to kinder times when people did not look at each other through the myopic eyes of race and cultural divide. He probably yearns for it, as I yearn for my growing up years in my kampung.

The SABM roadshow will continue at another venue on February 6. Yes, Ipoh, here we come! For more info, check out the SABM page.

See you there!

What’s a little arson between friends…

So some misguided ultras made a half-hearted measure of setting some churches and convent on fire in Peninsular Malaysia for an issue that perhaps was more relevant to the Christians in Sabah and Sarawak. But no, Muslims feel strongly about this too.

But why set things on fire in the first place? Scare the Court of Appeal into reversing the High Court decision? Mob rule? So when you have the slightest court ruling that goes against your what you stand for, you burn places of worship?

Malaysia is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious country. Our differences should be celebrated as the diversity that brings colour to our nation. If there is (and there is bound to be) differences, why can’t we sit and discuss them as rational people?

The inter-faith dialogue has been proposed for a while now, but attempts at actually holding one has met with sticks, stones and mob ugliness, with the police seen as siding with the mob rather than the attacked.

And now, the government itself is mulling an inter-faith dialogue. Somewhat after the fact isn’t it? Now, can it be seen by all the parties involved as a sincere effort at finding common ground? Now, after acts of arson has been committed?

I’m perhaps not as articulate as those thinkers and academics who study this thing, but I’ve no doubt I speak for thousands,  if not millions of Malaysians, who are appalled by such a blatant show of disregard for rules and fairplay. A judge’s decision is vilified because she is not a Muslim. Never mind if she said there is nothing in the Constitution that prevents the use of the word “Allah” by the Catholic Herald in its Malay language section.

The Malaysian Constitution has been raped and mutilated so many times, it probably is a bare shadow of its old self, but somehow this particular one escaped. So what is left now? Move to amend the Constitution if the botched molotov cocktail blitz and the intimidation doesn’t work?

I wonder how long  I, who is born on this land,  will continue to be treated like second class citizens in a country we love, just because I profess a different faith, lack a “bin/binti” in my name, or have a skin darker than you.

We pay the same taxes, don’t we? When we compete at international events, we compete as Malaysians don’t we? When some Malaysian makes it big, or “mengharumkan nama negara” in some distant lands, they don’t ask him/her if she is Malaysian Chinese, or Malaysian Indian, or Melayu or Dayak, or Murut, do they?

Who do I blame for this failure in nation building? Politicians. Quite specifically, those who thrive on fear mongering, because in that fear exist their votebank. How selfish is that?

This government has been, since March 8, reduced to doing a lot of things that are seen as magnanimous, and even friendly, to the people. Things that draw attention because during most of the Mahathir and Abdullah Badawi Administration, they were highly chauvinistic and wouldn’t have been caught dead humbling themselves.

But Malaysians were not born yesterday. I’m sure many of you readers can read between the lines and know the difference between a contrite government seeking to do its job properly for once, and one who’s reduced to it by political necessity. Yes, I’m cynical. Me and a few million others.

I will not fault PM Najib for this latest fiasco but then Najib fronts UMNO as well and that could be his undoing even if he wants to do the right thing.

Here’s another potential disaster. The Home Minister. Yesterday he said on TV that he is comforted that the attacks seem uncoordinated. Sure, dude. We can rest easy cos this acts are carried out by amateurs. Phew! What a relief.

Hishamuddin also seemed more worried about what the international community will think of these church attacks,  and the Tourism Minister said these attacks could affect tourism.

Wow! Everybody matters more than your own citizens, who work, live and strive for this country.

I feel so bloody cheap.

The only nice thing to happen during this sordid affair, is the effort by the 6 Muslim NGOs who volunteered to set up teams to protect churches. As usual it seems to be the work of the people. Here’s an excerpt from The Star…

Volunteers would work alongside Rela and be on the look out for suspicious characters wherever they went and will alert the authorities if they see something amiss.

“What is important that these people know that they are watched. This has got to stop,” PPIM executive secretary Datuk Nadzim Johan told reporters Sunday in a conference.

“We don’t want our Christian brothers to be in danger. This is an offer of peace and goodwill,” he added.

Nadzim said there were currently 60 volunteers from various Muslim NGOs including Perkasa, Pewaris and the Muslim Consumers Association Malaysia (PPIM).

Nadzim also said talks with non-Muslim NGOs had been initiated and he also welcomed non-Muslims who wished to help them. Read the rest here

It is good to know that there still exist good human beings out there who will set out to protect their “brothers”. That’s the operative word here, BROTHERS. Brothers under the same sun, on the same earth.

Some of my friends would be cynical even about this beautiful gesture, but I’d like to still hold on to my faith in the inherent goodness of man prevailing over the bad.

Come on baby light my fire..

All the violence done in the name of religion……throughout the centuries, makes me wonder if this whole religion business, isn’t a bit dodgy .  Who was that dude who said religion is the opium of the people? Marx wasn’t it? But then again I wonder, if religion is an opium, then its effect must be soporific.

But the firebombing of three churches in Malaysia sounds like  some people are on acid, going around setting fire to other people’s places of worship.

So Karl Marx was wrong. Religion is no opium. But he could be forgiven. He probably didn’t know of acid or meth or any of the modern day poison people use to screw up their brain.

In Malaysia according to some people’s understanding, Allah is a word that is meant for use by Malay Muslims only, and in relation to Islam only. The Catholic Herald challenged this. The High Court last week agreed with them.

But no, this decision ain’t final. It would be appealed. And I’m waiting to see if there is a courageous judge(s) on the Court of Appeal who would uphold the High Court decision.

However, in this country, if a certain group of people don’t like a court verdict or a policy decision, they are free to go and have a public protest. Some of them might bring a cow head, others might shout incendiary slogans. Yet others might throw an incendiary device at some buildings.

Other people can’t have even a candlelight vigil without having the might of the FRU men with HK MP5 bearing down on them menacingly, not to mention water canons and tear gas.

Have you seen how long it took the Najib administration to condemn the attacks?

Why is it that we can’t be allowed as citizens of this country, to have a discourse inter-religious disagreements after 52 years of independence?

Welcome to Malaysia. Not much has changed in 2010. I fear that not much will.

Harapkan pagar, pagar curi enjin…

In some countries, the military has been seen as the neutralising force in a war between two political factions. In this country, the military has been often seen as being loyal to the king (you read between the lines, ok).

The armed forces are our defense, our guardians, me defending our borders from threats and keeping order even within.

So when I read of the two fighter jet engines going missing, possibly sold to some unscrupulous parties, it is like a gut punch that sent me reeling. What’s even more absurd is the news of some of our generals being involved in this farce.

That there is very little honour left in this country’s governance is not a moot point anymore. Every other day we hear of a new can of worms, from both sides of the political divide.

The way the government of the day runs the country (or doesn’t) is all there to see. There is very little accountability in governance.

Sure, our police force has been reduced to being the trigger-happy bunch and the enforcing arm of the government’s political will, is apparent.

The lawyers are mostly treated like dogs for standing up for justice. The judiciary has to a large extent been either bought or emasculated. The lone wolves still standing their ground have been or will be transferred.

The  AG’s chambers? Oh, they lost us a piece of rocky outcrop called sovereignty, remember? The royals? I’m not even going there. The parliamentarians? Largely absent, or at best, at each other’s throat.

But even with all this, the theft of the engines is a low blow. Rock bottom. Subterranean. The pits. Can’t they see that what they saw as a small time skim cepat kaya, is going to compromise our country.

But that is not as bad as the cover up job now under progress. First,  Zahid Hamidi said some high ranking armed forces dudes were responsible and they have been sacked. Then Mindef denied that the sacked generals were related to this case.

Today we saw a lowly sergeant and a company director being charged. Come on. Is that all? The RMAF today in the eyes of any Malaysian with a modicum of intelligence, is the Royal Malaysian Air Farce.

Surely we deserve better than this? Surely there is a more creative explanation than the one currently being played for us?

Galadriel Returns

Sorry folks. Just realised it has been more than two months since my last post. What with increasing work, work, and more work, and a personal tragedy that left me quite blank for a while.

Still, I am back. Hope you enjoyed your Xmas holidays. Look forward to the next post. My fingers are itching again.

All the Forensics in the World…

…cannot make the court do the right thing in a country where political will dictates, well, everything.

SHAH ALAM: Renowned Thai forensic patho­logist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand told the inquest into the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock that it was an 80% probability his death was a homicide.

(Dr Pornthip had been provided postmortem reports prepared by Dr Khairul Aznam Ibrahim from the Klang Tengku Rahimah Ampuan and Universiti Malaya Medical Centre’s Dr Prashant Samberkar as well as pictures of Teoh’s injuries.)

Referring to an anal tear Teoh suffered as a “penetrative injury”, Dr Pornthip said she had never seen this type of injury in cases of a fall.If the injury had indeed been caused by a bone protrusion, she said it would have come from the inside of Teoh’s anus. She said the abrasions on Teoh’s right upper thigh looked like he had been beaten with a piece of wood.

She added that there was a need to cut open the skin to check for internal bleeding to determine whether Teoh had been tortured.(Both the pathologists who had conducted the postmortem on Teoh had not done so.)

Dr Pornthip also said Teoh’s skull fracture was not typical of a transferred injury due to a fall but was more compatible with a blunt force being directly inflicted to the head.

She said the transferred injury to the skull due to the impact of the fall would typically cause a ring fracture at the base of the skull around the spinal column and not a cervical spine fracture as suffered by Teoh.

Dr Porn­thip said Teoh, 30, was probably alive when he hit the ground but might have been unconscious before the fall. She said this was because there was no reaction wounds on his ankles and wrists to show he had instinctively tried to stop himself from hitting the ground.

She said it was possible he was unconscious from manual strangulation or pain from the anal region. She estimated his time of death to have occurred between 6am and 8am on July 16. -The Star Read the rest here.

Now the zeal will be to dispute the credentials and evidence of Dr Porntip Rojanasunand. Not that they can find holes in the credentials of this famed Dr Death. Here’s an interesting chronicle of her exploits in the face of adversity.

Dr Rafick in his blog posed some interesting questions post-Porntip pronounciations. Read it here. Now let’s remember firstly why this inquest took place.

In my opinion, there are way too many questions waiting to be answered that the Najib administration will have no choice but to give up the culprits. Some folks gotta pay for what happened to Teoh Beng Hock. Or it will become another ghostly millstone a la Altantuya Shariibuu and another custodial death superstar A.Kugan, around Najib’s neck.

People would probably close one eye to corruption, especially when it is so endemic in our civil service, corporations and politics, saying same bullshit, different day.

But this suspicious death is very close to looking like torture and subsequent murder. This shocks even the most jaded of us. Not that the government is new to the practice of murdering its own citizens. I mean I’m sure Musa Hitam could regale us with some tales on that score.

MACC is already a suspect organisation. This could be the best excuse to purge it off its borderline criminal elements, but then it has been a useful tool of governmental persecution, hasn’t it? But it has become too good at its job eh?

So yeah, I hope Mr 1Malaysia will also see some sense in 1Justice and 1Justice seen to be done.

My inner self sniggers at my naive hope, but hey, let’s keep the pressure on. I don’t care if Teoh wasn’t an angel. He doesn’t deserve to be murdered.

Keeping Paranoia Politics Alive…

…is among others, Utusan Malaysia’s Firdaus Abdullah.

The issue at contention here is the government’s decision to do away with the “race” column in some government issued forms way back in August. The Star was a bit more cautious with with the story, going on to get it from the DPM’s mouth.

Here’s Muhyiddin’s rationale.

“There is a need for us to look at Malaysians not from the perspective of race,” he said.- The Star.

Of course there are exceptions to this policy. The race thingie will continue to be a category in cases where the special bumiputera privileges are concerned. This too was categorically stated in the Malaysian Insider report.

The public reaction, as far I as I could see, ranged from “Yay! At Last” to “Ye ke ni?” to “cannot be lah. Too good to be true.” I for one was pleasantly surprised to see a policy that might start to address the communal divide in this country.

Maybe it is too early in the day for cynical old me to buy into this 1Malaysia baloney. So far what I’ve seen are just phoney regurgitations. Maybe the PM has some desire to do the right thing, who knows.

It is rare for the government to come up with a policy that will have such wide positive repercussions, that we sit up and take notice. Lots of people have been for this move, including Mukhriz Mahathir.

Then comes Mr Firdaus Abdullah with this article. Here are the first three paragraphs.

Wajarkah ruang pengenalan “kaum” dalam borang-borang dan dokumen rasmi kerajaan digugurkan? Apakah implikasinya kepada bangsa Melayu?

Bagaimanakah hendak memantau perubahan nasib (kemajuan?) orang Melayu dengan ketiadaan pengenalan kaum itu?

Bagaimanakah langkah-langkah affirmative hendak dirancang dan dilaksanakan untuk membantu orang Melayu yang serba-serbi masih ketinggalan itu jika tidak ada data yang lengkap?

My answer: There is already exception made to forms dealing with these bumiputra privileges. Firdaus either didn’t read that part when researching for his opinion, or he chose to ignore it. Hard data can still be compiled by statisticians even without a clearly stated “Melayu” in those forms.

Adakah pengguguran yang dicadangkan itu benar-benar boleh menyumbang terhadap matlamat gagasan Satu Malaysia? Atau adakah itu, tanpa disedari, hanya akan “mencairkan” jati diri Melayu untuk menjadi lebih “Malaysian” sementara jati diri pihak-pihak lain semakin kental dan menebal dengan sikap perkaumannya yang semakin eksklusif?

Now this is very naughty. I suggest Firdaus goes and reads the 8 values of 1 Malaysia. Those aims are noble, at least on paper. For Firdaus to infer that for my Malay friends will lose their esssential Malay-ness if they were to see themselves as Malaysians, is such a pathetic assertion it ain’t funny.

Now the next part about “pihak pihak lain” will strengthen their racial integrity with greater consequent racist and exclusive behaviour, is a malicious generalisation. Furthermore it won’t be true. Not in this day and age.

Everyone’s culture will get diluted somewhat, especially in a melting pot. What you will get in return, is assimilation of some ways and customs. It is only natural when people of different cultures live together. Now wouldn’t it be a beautiful thing to embrace our diversity? How else do you explain the many pretty Chinese girls I saw at an event last Sunday, looking demure and sweet in their baju kebaya, or the halal Pau stall that’s doing thriving business here. Neither party were coerced to adapt, I’m sure.

“Bagi data yang beribu dan berjuta banyaknya, bagaimanakah ia hendak diproses untuk mengetahui profil atau taburan mengikut kaum dan agama? Tanpa maklumat seperti ini, bagaimanakah hendak menggubal dasar dan program yang berbentuk affirmative action seperti membasmi kemiskinan dan membetulkan ketidakseimbangan ekonomi mengikut kaum, selaras dengan konsep 1Malaysia?

The above quotes Senator Akbar Ali. I think he knows better that where bumiputera equity in the economic pie is concerned, other policies are already in place that clearly states the race status of relevant groups or individuals. As regards poverty eradication, isn’t poverty an issue that transcends race and religion?

Affirmative action was meant to correct an imbalance in distribution of wealth and progress among the various communities. There are a lot of people who are still below poverty line, some living in painfully squalid conditions. They are not just Malays, but also Indians, Chinese, Dayaks, Penans, Ibans, Temuans…in short, Malaysians.

I Malaysia should be about restoring dignity to all Malaysians, and ensuring they get their basic rights as citizens. Properly implemented, it will not compromise Malay rights or bumiputera privileges. As it happens, greed and insecurity has a lot to do with the inequality we see today.

Firdaus chose to look at the negative implications of this very simple proposal, taking his cue from Senator Akbar Ali. But Akbar as a member of the Upper House surely could have had access to the relevant information regarding the abolition of race in government forms. That he chose to raise questions first, points towards the kindling of a pressure group, to pre-empt what he calls “ura ura” but has already come out of the DPM’s own mouth.

Of course, fresh in the wake of the triumphant win in Bagan Pinang, Umno folks can afford to be just a little more cocky in their strut, but then, tomorrow some other dude might die and another by-election might be coming. Utusan’s relentless fear-mongering might just trigger a blacklash then.

It may be a smart thing to think together as Malaysians, to ensure our future survival as a nation in a changing world order. But what can I say, if the opinion shapers choose to peddle fear and stop the citizenry from thinking beyond the “Aku Melayu” premise. What happened to Najib’s “Glokal” Malaysians?

Tu lah, korang ni, dah lah mudah lupa, cepat pulak melatah.

Oi! Don’t Screw With My Country

Us Malaysians are generally a generous lot. Especially when it comes to helping those affected by disaster, war or any other hardship. From individuals to corporates to the government, we do not stint in aid, especially to neighbours.

From Darfur, to Kosovo, to China to Aceh to Sri Lanka, Palestine and God knows where else, we have stepped up to help.

Even at the height of the Indon-media-whipped resentment against Malaysia in the past few months, Malaysian students helped out with relief efforts during the West Jawa quake (early September).

This time around it is Sumatra that is hit, and it is only decent to help one another in the times of humanitarian crisis. That is what Malaysia is doing, in droves.

So why throw stones at us, people of Padang? Isn’t that energy better spent helping the thousands of people who are still trapped beneath the rubble? Why do you bite the very hand that’s coming to help you when your own govt can’t cope with relief efforts?

Our own official response to the stone-throwing has been rather mild, if you read into what the DPM says here. In the meantime, we have the Mercy folks there,with Air Asia flying them in. The Armed Forces medicos are there too.

Here’s what the PM said. Three types of assistance. Hear that?  Search and rescue, medical and humanitarian aid.

In times of critical emergencies like these, you drop whatever hostilities you may have with each other and just help, beacuse there are people’s lives at stake. I think it is big of us to ignore the hostile reaction of a small group of Padang denizens. I think it should not stop us from helping the thousands displaced and victimised by the earthquake.

But do not insult us. We can be patient only for so long.

Opaque Maneuvers at TI M’sia?

Ah! The seat got too hot for Paul Low, President of Transparency International Malaysia. Some rumblings were expected over at this body, especially judging by yesterday’s New Sunday Times report that implied the EGM today would expect outbursts from many of the exco members.

Six of TI Malaysia’s excos threatened to resign apparently. However, today’s shocker is that it was Paul Low himself who had to leave. Read it here.

Quite cryptic, don’t you think? In the absence of some substantive details, I’ll speculate a little.

Paul Low was Ramon Navaratnam’s rather nondescript successor who came from the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers. His term at TI Malaysia was to all intents and purposes to remain a quiet one. I mean who can outtalk little old Ramon Navaratnam, right?

But Low’s troubles began when he was  named chairman of the Port Klang Authority (PKA) ad hoc corporate governance committee that was to investigate the taxpayers’ disaster that was PKFZ.

Mr Opposition, Lim Kit Siang questioned his credibility and rightly so. PKFZ was a scandal that had too many political hidden hands in it, and some of them came from MCA. Paul Low himself is a life member of MCA and that makes even his holding of TI presidency an iffy one.

His troubles only grew worse with the  Malaysian chapter of the Global Corruption Report 2009 that he unveiled last week. The document is available for download here. Paul Low also gave an interview on the matter to The Star.

Not to mention the ferocity with which Bintulu Tiong responded to Low’s statement that in a gist, said PKFZ has Umno politicians’ dirty fingers in it. Guilty people are usually jumpy, but why is Tiong jumping when Low pointed his finger at Umno? Tiong must be an Umno member then…heheh.

This resignation looks like a coup has taken place at TI Malaysia and this dude has been driven out by an irate exco who took exception to the interpretations of the GCR in the case of Malaysia.

Mr Low is discovering that being at the helm of such an organisation as Transparency International requires more than patronage and an old boys’ club connection. It requires serious scrotal gumption and a background that stands the harsh glare of public and media scrutiny.