You are currently browsing the monthly archive for April 2009.
Today, people, is Earth Day. Take a moment to think what we can do to protect our only home
Happy Earth Day to you
Happy Earth Day to you
Happy Earth Day to Mother Earth
happy long life to you!
I’m a Malaysian blogger and with a headline the above, my Malaysian readers need not be rocket scientists to know what I’m talking about.
When Elizabeth Wong first resigned and went to ground, I had an inkling that the prospect of more dirt of this sort coming out is why she gave up in the first place.
That notion is unfortunately, true today. The Hilmi guy who was supposed to be “helping” police investigations is still missing.
Now the woman is being violated another time, with another criminal act that is very obviously politically motivated. Hey, I’m not the only one saying it.
Why are we standing by and watching this kinda crap happen again and again?
Latuk Loctor Rais Yatim, can your ministry help trace who was it who’s been circulating these pictures? I think it’s a better use of time than to intimidate bloggers, don’t you think?
To those who think Elizabeth Wong is morally unfit to govern because she has a lover, I think you should look at your backyard first, you know.
No no…I’m not one of those who thinks the Earth will cease to exist in 2012 as predicted by the Mayan Prophecy, that’s bringing to life all manner of doomsayers these days, including my colleague.
Rather, I think the General Elections 08 which has changed the political landscape of Malaysia, will finally be recognised in the years to come for what it is, the death knell for the coalition known as Barisan Nasional.
Why? Because it is the natural thing to happen. Robert Hooke, the 17th century English brainiac, introduced us to the thought that once the a solid being is stretched beyond its proportional limit, it will not return toits previous state.
Now think of that being as the Malaysian people’s patience, and the stretching action as the excesses committed by the government at helm. You get it? Good.
I think this truth is dawning in a big way, because it is leading to the “affected” parties behaving rather predictably.
I mean, when the doctor tells you that you are suffering from end stage cancer or something and you have X weeks or months left, what would be your reaction? You go through what Elizabeth Kubler-Ross defined as the 5 stages of dying.
DENIAL, ANGER, BARGAINING, DEPRESSION and finally ACCEPTANCE.
Methinks that since last year, the BN politicians have experienced the different stages. Some of course still have not moved beyond denial. Look at Samy Vellu, for instance.
Others are reacting with the predictable emotion of anger. Retribution, plans to quell what they can’t see as inevitable, is underfoot.
Remember the newly annointed Defence Minister Zahid Hamidi’s 300 Plan? Yeah, this is King Leonidas who wants to have 300 Spartans (read: Askar Wataniah or Territorial Army) in every parliamentary constituency.
Is there any one of you out there who heard the news who wasn’t disturbed by it? Hey, I’m all for the state of readiness thingie, you know. Simply cos, compared to the Thais and the Singaporeans, our RAMD fellas doesn’t have much work to do, it seems.
Oh, sorry Major D and Jedi. Not my intention to offend the boys in green. You guys are free to correct me and give expert opinion. I’ll humbly stand corrected.
It is just my fear that the reserve army planned by Zahid would be used against the very people it was meant to protect. I’m not exactly ignorant about coup d’etat. They happen all the time.
Insecurity could bring about bloody reactions from the threatened, I’m sure we all know.
As it is, I can’t pass a single cop these days without thinking he might be a Kugan killer. I think of the female cops as girlfriends of UTK killing robots. No solace at all.
So, despite these promises of One Malaysia (whatever that means), People First and all those crap slogans, I do not feel assured.
I’m not a Pakatan-head. To be honest, I don’t even trust Anwar Ibrahim. The Fairus episode in Penang is another example that shows PKR up as the weak link in the Pakatan Rakyat chain.
But between Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional, I’d take PR anytime. Cos there is no sign of change from BN at all.
And I think the thinkers in BN know that too. The part about election fatigue and the bitching about too many by-elections happening these days is just because BN knows it will lose anyway, so it is throwing money down the drain for them.
Plus, their electioneering song about “you vote me, I bring development to you and your area” and stuff sounds like Billy Ray Cyrus playing that infernal tune Achy Breaky Heart over and over again. So bad it could make you keel over, puking.
At least, in UMNO, it is far more direct. “You vote me, I’ll pay you.” It brings results. Just ask any division leader. But that is also their downfall you see.
In this communications age, nothing is secret or sacred. Anyone remotely Internet savvy fancies himself/or herself a political pundit (including yours truly), and he has a lot to say about the state of things in his country.
He hates what’s going on, he states it baldly and he tells his friends about it, to boot.
You can call that empowerment, thank you.
So I guess we are moving inexorably towards 2012/13, where we could see the end of the BN era as we know. The Dacing might morph, hell, it must in order to survive, and make a comeback.
But for now, it’s terminal.
Way back 15 years ago, I turned up on the courts beat, as a frightened rookie scribe. Just my luck, I thought, that my first day on the beat and I get to follow my senior into the intimidating Court of Appeal.
The proceedings seemed so hushed that my racing heartbeat seemed louder than the judges’ words. There were three robed blokes up there.
My senior told me who they were. Mahadev Shankar, Gopal Sri Ram and N.H Chan. The names stayed with me over the years.
Today N.H Chan’s name came up again in a brave stand that reminded me of the heydays, of the guy dubbed Lion of Law, Justice Eusoffe Abdoolcader (tragically deceased).
Retired Justice N.H Chan could have shut up and spent his retirement in peace. But such are the ways of the men of conscience. Men who still thought the law should be about upholding justice.
Today, this learned judge stood up to expose, yet again another evidence of the prostitution of the Malaysian judiciary.
The hallowed halls of the judiciary were stained 20 years ago, with the intervention of the executive, but that doesn’t make it any easier for me to read of this mockery. Read it. Here’s a guy who is firing his salvos with such bullets as established legal precedents. LOCAL legal precedents, mind you.
I can’t resist stealing some juicy paragraphs from the link above. This is calling a spade a spade, a rotten judge, well…A ROTTEN JUDGE!
I don’t have to tell you how to judge the judge. You must know by now how to do it if you have read my articles in the Internet. You will know he is a bad judge if he behaves unfairly to one side as against the other. It is your perception as a member of the public that matters and not what the judge thinks of himself.
A judge who does not appear to be fair is useless to the judicial process. As such he is a bad judge and is therefore unfit to sit on the bench. The other essential qualification of a judge is to administer justice according to law. That said, we can now judge this judge.
Article 72, Clause (1) of the Federal Constitution clearly states:
72. (1) The validity of any proceedings in the Legislative Assembly of any State shall not be questioned in any court.
Yet Mr Justice Balia Yusuf Wahi, who knew that the Speaker’s order which was made in the Legislative Assembly was a proceeding in the Legislative Assembly, dismissed the Speaker’s application to strike out the summons of the three turncoat assemblymen who were asking the court to question the validity of what the Speaker had done in the Assembly.
As you know what the Speaker did in the Assembly, rightly or wrongly, is not to be questioned in any court. Isn’t what the judge had done by dismissing the Speaker’s application to strike out the turncoats’ summons, not administering justice according to law? The judge had gone against the Constitution of Malaysia which is the supreme law of the land. What do you call a judge who has defied the law of the land? A renegade judge? – The Malaysian Insider
So, what Justice N.H Chan is saying essentially is that Justice Balia Yusuf Wahi has gone against the Malaysian Constitution.
According to our laws essentially, the Perak Speaker’s decision in Assembly is not something that can be challenged by any court. Justice Balia Wahi effectively ruled he can.
Bad judgement. Bad judge. Dangerous precedent. Taking the Malaysia Boleh spirit to murky depths don’t you think?
I’m no legal scholar. I’m an interested layman. What this tells me is that if an elected representative of the people, that too a Legislative Assembly Speaker (and himself a lawyer), can’t depend on the judiciary to uphold the letter of law, and justice, WHAT HOPE DOES AN ORDINARY MALAYSIAN HAVE?
Cry, Malaysia! This is the depths our so-called guardians of peace, freedom and democracy have reduced to. Right-minded individuals, pillars of society, people who stand up to question the wrongs committed, are sued, intimidated or bribed into silence.
And those who still won’t keep quiet, will have their compromising pictures circulated or be victim of sting operations. Hey, we have demonstrated that Malaysians are way up there with the world’s best when it comes to political skullduggery.
I don’t want this shameful state of affairs to continue. Neither do millions of Malaysians who voted the other way last year.
We have no other recourse but to seek change through the ballot box. 82 seats in Parliament has resulted in many cans of worms being opened. There are more, much much more.
All these wrongs have to be righted. They can only be righted if you choose to participate as citizens. Go and register as voters. And vote for change.
This country deserves much better.
Yes. Bukit Lanjan Assemblywoman Elizabeth Wong is not resigning or giving up her seat.
That means no by-election for Bukit Lanjan.
Now, I wish they would get that guy who circulated the pictures.
And woman, get back to work already!
Faux pas after faux pas after faux pas.
It is with much cynical sniggers that I have seen the masks come off the ruling BN folks since March 8 last year. No more finesse, no more diplomatic tone. Bye-bye to gentlemanly euphemisms.
Which is a good thing, because the Malaysian public get to see what Umno and Barisan Nasional that has been ruling Malaysia for the last 5 decades, is really like.
They have been and still is, a barrel of rotten apples. I can’t speculate about the future but if what our newly appointed Deputy Prime Minister said in Mingguan Malaysia over the weekend is any indication, UMNO and REFORM is a mutually exclusice concept.
Muhyiddin was baffled that the Chinese folks of B.Selambau and B.Gantang didn’t vote BN despite BN pouring money to the Chinese schools. He indicated that he felt cheated by the lack of support. He called them ungrateful.
The fact that he’s talking like this shows just how clueless our DPM is about sentiments. How people are fed up with the corruption in this country. How the same recipe of danging carrots does not work anymore.
Muhyiddin and the rest of Umno and BN must realise something. YOU DON’T PROMISE DEVELOPMENT AS A CARROT. THAT IS OUR MONEY. DUIT RAKYAT!! YOU DELIVER DEVELOPMENT BECAUSE IT IS OWED TO THE PUBLIC.
The Chinese being the driving force of economic activity in Malaysia, seem to tell certain simpletons that the Chinese are all about the money and could be bought with money or promises of money.
And to their chagrin, they find that it is wrong. Muhyiddin’s statement may have been intended for the heartland Malays, but let’s not forget that millions of us are BM-literate too, and our grasp of the nuances of the languagecould be excellent.
Now the new DPM faces the wrath of the Chinese leaders, from DAP (which is expected) as well as MCA and Gerakan.
It is one thing for you Tan Sri, to tell Samy Vellu to shut up. That guy was being unreasonable in asking for Minister’s post and he deserves to have the door slammed in his face repeatedly.
But to rebuke the Chinese electorate is quite a risky thing especially at a time when you know that they have lost faith.
Who’s to blame for that if not the excesses of Umno itself. Before you start labeling them ungrateful, ask yourself what have you done for the electorate.
It is no longer about “Hey, if I give RMXX Million for Chinese schools, they’ll vote me. If I give XX number of university seats to the non-bumi high achievers, they’ll vote me.”
Not when the public is witnessing police brutality, stifling of dissent, gagging of the media, corruption and abuse of power on a regular basis.
People are not stupid. It’s a mistake to assume that we are.
For Muhyiddin to make this stupid mistake says a lot about him, and the bubble that the Umno elites have been living in.
Hello. Clean up your house first. Remember, the voters were not in love with PKR, PAS or DAP. They just hated BN more.
The two Bukit election results was just the sledgehammer blow that serves to reinforce the message.
Be prepared to do your part then.
I have an idea. As usual, this idea came about during a teh tarik session with friends.
I was thinking, why, politics in Malaysia is equal to your bathtub after one month of leaving it unclean. Full of scum.
Politics everywhere in the world is like that. But here in Malaysia, it has become a culture that it tolerated. That’s what’s irking me.
I’m an average Malaysian. All I want from my government is fair policies, good governance and a collective desire to make this country one in which every citizen enjoys a reasonable, safe living conditions.
Is this too much to ask? No, it isn’t.
If our leaders these days are such losers, we have only ourselves to blame. We dismiss Malaysian politicians as corrupt scumbags and we revile them, and we wash our hands of it all in the process. Some of us are in our 30s and 40s and still haven’t voted once!
Shame on you!
If you want something done well, do your freaking part.
Here’s the problem, as Muaz Omar wrote in The Malaysian Insider last week. Pakatan Rakyat has a dearth of talent. Actually, there are tons of people who have the capability to become leaders of tomorrow. It is the sorry state of politics here that is keeping them away.
Now, why don’t you, dear reader, start looking for possible candidates to be groomed as future leaders.
Here’s a rudimentary criteria. The candidate for public office must be:
1) Financially solvent
2) Doesn’t have a criminal background, even by association.
3) Has some education, street smarts and intelligence.
4) Must show desire to serve. Doesn’t mind getting hands dirty to do work for the people.
5) Has qualities of honesty, integrity..you know, that sort of stuff.
6) An effective communicator.
7) One who has respect for the diversity of cultures and religions in Malaysia, even if he or she is an atheist.
I’m sure you have some names among you who fit the criteria. Maybe you can talk them into it.
Now why am I being so kay poh about something like this? Because I care about the future of this country. Because I am sick of being cheated by leaders in whom we put our trust to govern. Because I’m sick of this country being run by robbers, morons and scumbags.
Now why am I counting myself out? Because I don’t meet all the criteria listed above.
But who knows, you might.
Calling DAP, PAS and PKR leaders! Aren’t you interested in having candidates like these to represent your parties?
Now let’s work together and find these paragons. An honest politician need not be an oxymoron!
..is almost complete.
Look at this picture. (borrowed without permission from The Star)
The High Court today sentenced the two Special Ops cops from Unit Tindakan Khas (UTK) to hang for the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shariibuu,The Star reports.
Does it surprise you? No? Same here. But this is a case that has shaken the nation. Even as the two cops are sentenced, there are many burning questions that remain unanswered.
Firstly, motive.
Azilah who started his testimony on Jan 15 stated that he had no motive to kill or destroy the woman and instead he only met Altantuya to advise her politely not to harass Abdul Razak or create a ruckus outside the latter’s home.
Azilah also told the court that he was ordered by a superior, DSP Musa Safri to help Abdul Razak and thus he would not have done something stupid like killing and what more when he was a policeman.
While defending himself Sirul Azhar broke down a few times and related to the court that he has been made the ’sacrificial lamb’ in the murder. – The Star.
So, the prosecution used both the guys testimony to tie a noose long enough to hang them both. But what was the motive? This is not serial killing.
Certainly not a crime of passion. Because Altantuya’s entry records and the two cops’ travel records would help to preclude that they even knew the victim. Entry records erased, you say? Oops…but that’s another story.
I reiterate, why is the most obvious question not answered? Motive?
You can narrow it down to two things.
1) Following a direct order from a superior.
2) Money.
Where is the money? I’ve said this again and again. These two convicted killers probably was approached for a reason, and the reason was not their typing skills, that’s for sure.
The chain that’s supposed to link Azilah/Sirul to Altantuya has another link. Without this link, the whole case is questionable. Yet, in Malaysia it happens. Kudos to Bolehland.
What about the private investigator Bala who made two Satutory Declarations that contradicted each other, and then disappeared? The judge didn’t think there was anything here?
Another thing, you guys think these two cops are really gonna hang for their crimes? I’m skeptical.Why?
1) In Malaysia we don’t have public hangings, so we can’t witness it happen.
2) Does anyone know how these fellas looked like? Since they were arrested until today, they have turned up with their faces covered.
How’s this story. They are properly sentenced and all today. They await the hangman. Justice is seen to be done. Then months down the line, they are spirited from the prison, given new IDs and packed to some foreign soil, with some money for their trouble.
Come hanging day, they will just announce that so and so were hanged for their crime. They bodies buried in such and such place. Whose bodies? Your guess is as good as mine.
Too much spy novels, you say. You forget that art imitates life actually.
After all, a Mongolian national being shot twice by cops and then blown up with C4, a military grade explosive does sound like a something straight out of a spy thriller, don’t you think?
So, pardon my 10 cent-conspiracy-theory. That’s what most cynical, jaded, lie-weary Malaysians are thinking these days.
And why not? This is a country where the custodians of law, public order, governance, justice and freedom can be summed up as “Harapkan Pagar, Pagar Makan Padi”.
Our cops are bent, trigger happy murderers.
Our prosecutors are mostly evil puppets of the Attorney General, who in turn has been shown to be both inept and a puppet himself.
Our judges have mostly been castrated or they too are bent. The few who are principled, their days are numbered under One Malaysia, believe me.
Our media has been gagged too long that, their collective balls shrank and that fine thing called investigative reporting has died.
Our laws are meant to suppress the people.
And our only hope is through the ballot.
If we don’t change this, you and I have a good chance of becoming another Altantuya, Kugan, or the Kulim six.
PS. DSP Musa Safri….You can sleep easy tonight. And Razak Baginda, good luck at Oxford.
I salute the folks of Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau.
Special mention goes to the Chinese voters of Bukit Gantang who backed Nizar Jamalludin all the way. And also the folks of Bukit Selambau who chose a nobody Indian candidate from PKR who initially was rejected by even Hindraf, over BN’s heavyweight.
Barisan retained Batang Ai, a rural seat where the Ibans believed in them. There were rumours of rigging but what can we say without proof.
The better news is that the two Bukit wins demonstrated that people of Malaysia can vote outside their comfort zone.
The people can send a message, and they did the only way they could, through the ballot box.
I mean, what other means is there to effect change in this country.
The dominant party in the ruling coalition could do it. But the last Umno general assembly demonstrated infighting, rampant graft and vote buying as well as loud dismissal of the prosecution against the perpetrators. Umno delegates wanted their sinecure, corrupt though it was.
So what’s left but to look elsewhere?
The component parties in BN are emasculated by Umno and all but wiped out in the last GE08.
BN still plays the same lagu of dangling carrots, playing lip service to unity, and divisive communal campaigning.
But the mood is such on the ground that even if they didn’t, they will still be rejected.
Fifty years of collective bile from a mostly disgusted Malaysians is pouring forth. Too bad for whoever’s on the receiving end.
Samy Vellu, get the hell out of politics, while you still can. Come on man, what a hide you must have to persist in this manner, when it is obvious that nobody likes you.
Dr M, superstar or not, remember that your era is over. The people might give respect to your age, and elder statesman status but your rhetoric does not resonate with the majority.
Umno has had too many excesses to reverse the jaundiced public opinion on it. And still tak sedar diri. All the talk of reform has obviously not resonated with the crowd.
Consequently, they behaved predictably.
It sounds choreographed and all. But still, the guys released from Internal Security Act detention and their families will doubtless be relieved.
These are the guys.
Hindraf leaders V. Ganabatirau and R. Kengadharan;
Darul Islam group members Binsali Omar, A. Artas A. Burhanudin, Idris Lanama, Francis Indanan, Mohd Nazri Dolah, Pakana Selama and Mohd Arasad Patangari;
V. Sundaraj (of India), San Khaing (Myanmar) and Amir Hussain (Myanmar)
Now, Mr New Prime Minister, what about the rest?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful PR for you if you were to release those remaining prison and charge them in open court for whatever crime they have committed?
It would show that at least for now, you are your own man. That you mean to be judged by your actions. By any standard, detention without trial is a gross violation of human rights.
This is something that Malaysian Prime Ministers before you have not bothered with.
Yeah yeah, I realised that when Dr M first assumed Prime Ministership way back in 1981, he released some prisoners too.
But none of the top executives so far have bothered to examine and revoke the draconian laws of this country.
Scrapping these “detention without trial” laws will put the burden of arresting, investigating a case on the shoulders of the police and the prosecutors.
Preventive detention should not be a fall back for lousy police work and shoddy prosecution. Clean up the police force and the prosecution. Everything else will follow.
You can make a difference here, Najib. But sadly, I don’t think you will.
