Cakap Cakap....The choices we make in life....

I brush aside what choices in life that I dislike. But to be able to do this effectively I need to open my mind completely and free it off my ego. So that the choice I make are good ones – not tempered by the needs to feed my ego. But I not know where these choices will lead me. Where it will end - but I am sure that the journey will be interesting. There was no constrains no limitations in making these choice. I am guided only by what I believe is the right thing to do.

But in Malaysia now there really are only two choices in front of me. Do I accept the situation that is now in place or do I accept the responsibility of helping to change it? It is too easy for me at 63 to sink into a comfortable abyss in life and care not for anything but my well-being and that of my Family. But I want to take the path less trodden and live a life that challenges me to the extreme. And so too I think, should you.

The choice is simple. Every day you are reminded of the deeds of a government that arrogantly interpret and applies the rules of the land in its interest and its needs – not that of its people. Every day you are confronted with the reality of a life where your worth is measured to a large extent by your racial ethnicity and by who you know – which in reality makes your own self worth to be a zero – zilch. Naught!

The Malays are much reluctant to express their true feelings not because they cannot make up their minds but because they would rather hold these thoughts within themselves. I hold no such reluctance. In these last few weeks I have been told that I seem to be incline towards being an Anwar Loyalist. A supporter of Pakatan Rakyat. That I am anti UMNO. My writings are bias. And worse I seem to forget or chose to ignore that within Pakatan Rakyat there are many internal problems that they cannot overcome or resolve. That their assemblymen were leaving Pakatan Rakyat by the droves. Anwar made a mess in trying to ‘guide’ Sabah to a conclusion of his own choosing.

I know all this. I read what is happening around me. I read what Kit Siang writes. I listen to what Tok Guru has to say and read Harakah and Siasah. What I do not know I ask. I too sometimes wonder why, despite having an honest upright Menteri Besar in Selangor, there is still much unhappiness in PKR Selangor.

But in spite of all this to me the choice is simple enough. If you ask me to chose between Anwar and Najib, between a guy who has spent time under ISA and a guy who gave RM500 million of public money to his buddy for “services rendered”, between an Anwar that has served as Minister of Finance and Najib whose baptism of fire consisted of him being a Menteri Besar at a very young age and spending copious amount of ‘downtime’ in Singapore sowing his wild oats and still had time ‘buying’ somebody’s wife to make her his own, between someone with enough belief in himself to start Keadilan and ten years later become Leader of the Opposition and having over 50% of the population voting for him and a Najib whose only claim to the Prime Ministership is Tun Razak – I think the choice is simple enough. Anwar! Anwar & Anwar!

And Anwar comes with Tok Guru and Lim Kit Siang. The same Kit Siang who was sentenced to 18 months under ISA right in the first year that he was elected as a Member of  Parliament for Kota Melaka in 1969  and then again in 1987 for another 17 months. Over forty years in Malaysian Politics and he is still relevant to our cause. Tok Guru is in a class by himself. He speaks five languages – English, Arabic, Tamil, Urdu and Bahasa. He had a son put away for five years again under ISA. And his integrity and commitment against UMNO cannot be questioned. Whom amongst UMNO can you pick to stand on par with these two? Not one…not even one! Huh!

So for me the choice is simple enough. I understand the problems Pakatan Rakyat now faces. I understand that in the last election PKR had to take the good with the bad in its fight against UMNO – nobody wanted to be with PKR then. Now they have to clean up the bad.

While UMNO buys their silence PKR tries to rehabilitate them – and if they do not want to be rehabilitated – then they are shown the back door where UMNO awaits. I understand that in the reality of the street politics that Anwar finds himself in now he will have to make adjustments and take as good as he gives to ensure PKR’s viability – not only politically but also financially. He is not alien to these needs. He simply has to make sure that he does not go back to the excesses expected of him during his UMNO days. There are many now who will remind him of what is now expected of him – if in case he forgets. I am one!

I do not need to go into MACC, PKFZ, Malaysia F1 Team, Teoh Beng Hock, Kugan, Isa, Amin Shah, Razak Baginda, Petronas Money being used to rescue the Prime Ministers son’s shipping company, Perwaja, Tun Salleh Abbas, Ops Lallang, That raba raba Ambassador  ……Mahathir, Lingam, Altantuya…etc etc I said I need not go there. So I will not.

If you are true to yourself then sit down and do your sums. Stack all the good on one side and the bad on the other…you can even put the maybes on the bad side.....and if you are true to yourself you know that the good will still be stacked on Pakatan Rakyats side. On Anwar, Kit Siang and Tok Guru side.. …and that will be the side I am already on.  I do not expect perfection from PR but I do expect  them to get rid of assemblyman that are not serving their constituencies. They have doing so with that Port Klang guy. I expect them to resolve their differences and not sweep them under the carpets or use money to keep their people happy and quite. They have done so. They still have some way to go but I know that they have just been together a few years –UMNO over fifty. So I will give PR more time to get its act together and if they will allow me to do my part in this fight against UMNO – I will. 

       

There are still question whether Pakatan Rakyat leaders will exercise their power with integrity and are they really up to the challenges of ethical leadership. Will they lose their moral compass? We know what UMNO has done! Why not give Pakatan Rakyat the opportunity to not abuse the trust we place in them?

[steadyaku47] New comment on Getting away with MURDER !.

31 October 2009 1:51:41 AM

From:

"Anonymous" <noreply-comment@blogger.com>

To:

"" <husseinhamid@y7mail.com>

steadyaku47 comment: This guy went to a lot of work  to get all these "facts" about me. I am an equal opportunity sort of a guy - so I am posting his rant about me on the front pages for everybody to read.I don't know who he or she is but let him have his say.  No comments from me...read and enjoy! 

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Getting away with MURDER !":

u guys are a bunch of shitheads, the way u all are ranting and buggering the lampposts and insulting the Malays and the Monarchy. Pak HH, I see that your responders are the same 4 or 5 people in almost all your postings. U write quite a bit, rambling about your connections in MCKK and your Lipis days. And u also reprint a bunch of items from other peoples’ blogs. I asked some friends from MCKK and they said that you was a non-entity arsehole while u were there. They used to call you “Baching”, cause you pee in your pants always. Some claimed that you were one of Anwar’s jambu. Probably that’s why you were pissing after he left da bomb in you. Is that true? You were just a wheeler dealer who did not make good while you were in KL. So now u are squatting in Adelaide and making a nuisance of yourself. I asked Megat about u and he just laughed. Are u looking for justice?? Justice because you missed the boat??

cakap cakap......Kleptocracy

---

comment from steadyaku47: another one from one of our friends that makes for interesting reading - but I am not to sure if he/she is pulling our legs or whether this is really true blue (australian for genuine)...can anybody confirm please?

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "cakap cakap...from Leithaisor.":


Kleptocracy, alternatively cleptocracy or kleptarchy, from Greek klepto (theft) and kratos (rule), is a term applied to a government that extends the personal wealth and political power of government officials and the ruling class (collectively, kleptocrats), via the embezzlement of state funds at the expense of the wider population, sometimes without even the pretense of honest service. Political corruption is closely tied to the internal workings of a Kleptocracy.


Characteristics


Kleptocracies are often dictatorships or some other form of autocratic and nepotist government, or lapsed democracies that have transformed into oligarchies.[citation needed] A kleptocratic ruler typically treats his country's treasury as though it were his own personal bank account.


Effects


The effects of a kleptocratic regime or government on a nation are typically adverse in regards to the faring of the state's economy, political affairs and civil rights. Kleptocracy in government often vitiates prospects of foreign investment and drastically weakens the domestic market and cross-border trade. As the kleptocracy normally embezzles money from its citizens by misusing funds derived from tax payments, or money laundering schemes, a kleptocratically structured political system tends to degrade nearly everyone's quality of life.


In addition, the money that kleptocrats steal is often taken from funds that were earmarked for public amenities, such as the building of hospitals, schools, roads, parks and the like - which has further adverse effects on the quality of life of the citizens living under a kleptocracy.[1] The quasi-oligarchy that results from a kleptocratic elite also subverts democracy (or any other political format the state is ostensibly under).[2]


Examples


Historical


According to one source, an old case of a kleptocratic governed state was Kievan Rus' where the alliance between Varangians and Slavic élites set up this type of government which resisted all attacks until 1240 when the Tatars conquered Kiev.[3]


Modern


Transparency International ranking


In early 2004, the anti-corruption Germany-based NGO Transparency International released a list of what it believes to be the ten most self-enriching leaders in recent years.[4]


In order of amount allegedly stolen (in USD), they are:


Former Indonesian President Suharto ($15 billion – $35 billion)
Former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos ($5 billion – $10 billion)
Former Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko ($5 billion)
Former Nigerian President Sani Abacha ($2 billion – $5 billion)
Current Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni ( $1 billion - $1.7 Billion )
Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Miloševic ($1 billion)
Former Haitian President Jean-Claude Duvalier ($300 million – $800 million)
Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori ($600 million)
Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko ($114 million – $200 million)
Former Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Alemán ($100 million)
Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada ($78 million – $80 million) 

cakap cakap...from Leithaisor.

Leithaisor has left a new comment on your post "cakap cakap ....donplaypuks":

An inspirational Mahatma Gandhi quote, which was of great comport to many in his time I am sure, and also offered hope to those at the forefront of the Hindraf movement:

When I despair, I remember that all through history
the ways of truth and love have always won. There
have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they
can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall.
Think of it--always.

Source:
http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/33237.html

And when I despair, when I wonder just how much more UMNO/BN can seemingly get away with, I remind myself - "ALWAYS!"

cakap cakap ....donplaypuks

donplaypuks® has left a new comment on your post "Getting away with MURDER !":

Patience and perseverence are the keys to victory over UMNO/BN.

I don't buy all these 'hook or by crook, the army will take over' crap.

As long as we stick to the law, democracy and ahimsa(non-violence)

we will get there.

No evil regime can withstand the onslaught and might of honest citizens!!

Getting away with MURDER !

steadyaku47 comment: This was forwarded to me just a few minutes ago - share it with you my friends!

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009

Asia Sentinel getting away with murder of Malaysia

THIS ARTICLE BY ASIA SENTINEL IS PROBABLY THE MOST DARING PIECE EVER PUBLISHED BY ANY "INDEPENDENT" NEWS PORTAL IN THE WORLD ALLEGING THE MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT OF, AMONG OTHER THINGS, MURDERS, CONSPIRACY TO COVER MURDERS COMMITTED BY MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNMENT, AND OTHER CORRUPT PRACTICES INCLUDING STATE-SPONSORED SODOMY. WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, THE MALAYSIA TODAY, OUR OWN "INDEPENDENT" NEWS PORTAL, DOES NOT COME ANYWHERE NEAR. EVEN HINDRAF'S MEMORANDUM TO PRIME MINISTER GORDON DID NOT ACCUSE INDIVIDUALS WITHIN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ALLEGED "ETHNIC CLEANSING" AGAINST HINDU TAMILS IN MALAYSIA.

I came across the article at DSAI's blog, here. I'm sure I know the bloke who founded Asia Sentinel once upon a time and if it's the same person then I must say he has come a long, long way. And if I'm not wrong Jed Yoong was its Malaysian correspondent. I'm not sure if she still writes for the Sentinel.

GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER IN MALAYSIA

From Asia Sentinal (sic)

By Our Correspondent Monday, 26 October 2009

It’s best to be connected to the ruling national coalition

On July 16, according to the testimony of a Thai pathologist, Teoh Beng Hock, a 29-year-old aide to an opposition politician, was probably beaten during a marathon questioning session, sodomized, strangled unconscious, dragged to a window of the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission in Kuala Lumpur and thrown to his death.

The country’s law enforcement establishment maintains that Teoh committed suicide by leaping from the MACC building after the inquiry was concluded into irregularities in his boss’s accounts. But it is far from the first “suicide” in custody and what happened to Teoh happens all too frequently when the luckless collide with the powerful in Malaysia. His real killers are unlikely ever to be identified. As many as 350 people have died in custody since 1990. The privileged are rarely brought to trial.

The most infamous recent case before Teoh’s is that of Altantuya Shaariibuu, a 28 year-old Mongolian translator who was murdered in 2006 by two bodyguards of then-Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. Altantuya had been jilted by Najib’s best friend, Abdul Razak Baginda, and was demanding money from him.

Although numerous witnesses and evidence connected Najib to the affair, he was never questioned or put on the witness stand, nor was his chief of staff, Musa Safri, who Baginda said in a cautioned statement he approached about getting Altantuya from ceasing her harrassment. His two bodyguards were convicted of the murder although one, in his confession, said the two men were to be paid RM100,000 to kill her. The court never asked who would pay the money. The confession wasn’t allowed in court. Baginda was acquitted without having to put on a defense and promptly left the country and Najib was eventually named Prime Minister.

Such questionable cases go back to at least the early 1980s when Sultan Mahmud Iskandar of Johor was dubbed the “killer king” by the British tabloids after he shot a trespasser to death on his property. He also reportedly assaulted and killed a golf caddy who was said to have laughed when the sultan missed a golf stroke and he maimed the caddy’s brother. He later was alleged to have assaulted and injured a hockey coach, kicking off a constitutional crisis that led to former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s removal of legal immunity from prosecution for all of Malaysia’s nine sultans, although Iskandar was never either arrested or jailed.

There are plenty more. In 1988 an attractive young woman named Mustakizah Jaafar, who owned a video rental business in Malacca, was found hacked to death by unknown assailants. Mustakizah reportedly was pregnant at the time of her death. She was believed to be having an affair with Megat Junid Megat Ayob, the onetime UMNO deputy home affairs minister, who died in January 2008 of cancer.

No one was ever charged with Mutakizah’s murder. The widespread gossip about Megat Junid’s connection with Mustakizah didn’t do his political career any harm. He was ultimately named Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister in 1997 although he lost his parliamentary seat two years later and retired from politics.

In 2002 the decomposed body of Haslezah Ishak, the attractive young second wife of Raja Jaafar Raja Muda Musa, second in line to the throne of Perak, whom he had met in a karaoke lounge, was found under a bridge, clad in a bra and jeans. Four men, including a palace aide, a bomoh or witch doctor, a fisherman and a carpenter were arrested and jailed for the murder. No one was ever arrested or questioned for hiring them to kill her although suspicion fell on the prince’s wife, Rajah Mahani, who had been publicly consulting witch doctors over her suspicion that Haslezah had put a spell on her husband.

In 2003, another attractive young woman, Norita Shamsudin, was found murdered in an apartment in a Kuala Lumpur suburb. A night club guest relations officer, Norita had been rumored to be having an affair with Shahidan Kassim, then chief minister of the state of Perlis. Although another individual was arrested and charged with the murder, he was later declared not guilty and no one else was ever charged. According to local news reports, the inspector general of police, Mohd Bakri Omar, classified the case under Malaysia’s Official Secrets Act and no details were ever released.

Earlier this year, authorities finally completed an inquest into the 2007 death of beautiful ethnic Indian actress Sujatha Krishnan, who also worked part-time as a secretary to S.Vell Paari, chief executive officer of Maika Holdings and the son of S. Samy Vellu, the head of the Malaysian Indian Congress, a component of the ruling national coalition. Sujatha died in a hospital in a Kuala Lumpur suburb of Klang three days after she had been rushed in for treatment. Her body was cremated almost immediately after her death. The coroner ruled she had died after poisoning herself by drinking poison. The family vainly requested an investigation into her death.

For those at the bottom end of Malaysia’s power spectrum, life can be considerably tougher if suspicion falls on them. According to the reform organization Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (MADPET), a distressing number of suspects have died in custody. “Relying merely on data provided by the government, it has been disclosed that there have been 150 deaths from 1990 until 2004 (10.7 per year), 108 deaths between 2000 and 2006 (18 per year), and, 85 deaths between 2003 and 2007 (21.25 per year),” the organization said.

According to a 2003 report by the Asian Human Rights Commission – the same year Norita was killed ? statistics released in Malaysia’s parliament in October of that year by the Home Ministry, showed 23 people died in police custody between 2002 and July 2003. Of those, 16 died in 2002 although according to the report, other figures indicated that 18 had died in custody in the first nine months of 2002 alone. Parliament was told in October 2002 that a total of 34 persons had died in police custody since 2000 ? six in 2000, 10 in 2001 and 18 from January to September 2002.

According to the report, then-Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heung denied that methods of torture used to obtain information from suspects led to their deaths. He claimed that the majority of deaths were the result of attempts to escape from police custody. Typical seemed to be the case of Hasrizal Hamzah, who had been detained on suspicion of murder in October of 2003. According to a senior assistant police commissioner, Harizal confessed to the murder and then, as he was being moved to a new location, supposedly shoved the accompanying policeman aside despite being handcuffed, and leapt over a balcony to his death.

Earlier this year, the Indian community was enraged by the death of a 22-year-old named Kugan Ananthan who was detained on Jan. 15 on suspicion of stealing luxury cars. He reportedly collapsed during questioning and died on Jan. 20 from “acute pulmonary edema,” or fluid in the lungs. However, after his body was released to his family, an autopsy found that he had suffered from internal bleeding in his heart, left lung, spleen, kidneys and scalp area. The soles of his feet had been beaten and the back of his neck and spine area were bleeding. His back was covered with contusions, beating marks and bruises. He had sustained more than 10 serious burn marks, probably as the result of being burned by a heated v-shaped iron bar. He had also been starved during the entire time he was being tortured, allegedly by as many as seven police officers, his family charged.

“There is a clear lack of supervision, medical care and concern for the general well-being and rights of suspects while under police remand,” the Human Rights Commission said in its 2003 report. It does not appear that anything has changed. The odds are that the cases involving both Kugan and Teoh will end up the same way scores of others have.

Mr Integrity: Tan Sri Khalid

The day that I heard that TS Khalid was to be the Menteri Besar of Selangor was the day when I felt my spirits lifted – my belief that good will prevail over evil was reinforced and that once again we have hope in our country – or at least in the state of Selangor! And that we can dare to dream that a government, even if it was of a state, will have the people’s interest as its priority! I was happy too……happy to be able to share with TS Khalid his vindication as a winner after what UMNO did at Ijok to embarrass him. God is great and in the end it was UMNO that was embarrassed...and I punched the air with my fist for joy!

 And now things have changed? I am told that Khalid does not look after Keadilan’s people – his party’s faithful? That he was the reason why the PKR Port Klang assemblyman resigned to become an independent supporting BN. Is this is the same assemblyman who failed to re-open his service centre for his constituency? The same assemblyman that Khalid would not tolerate because he was incompetent and irresponsible? For once in Selangor’s history we have an MB that puts the interest of the people before the interest of his own Party –and the federal government media trumpets that another PKR assemblyman has come over into Barisan? As TS Khalid said they are welcome to him. I will even give him taxi money to take him to PWTC…GIVE not loan!

And these same people who cannot shake TS Khalid from his resolve that the interest of the people and good governance will be the pillar of his government in Selangor now tells us that Anwar will not act decisively against Khalid for his perceived failure in supporting party stalwarts! I do not consider that ass of an assemblyman who resigned from PKR to be an independent in support of BN as being a Party stalwarts. And if anybody expects TS Khalid to look after PKR’s faithfuls by dishing out contracts and projects – they must be living in cuckoo land. TS Khalid will not do it. So the issue of Anwar pulling TS Khalid into line does not exists. Mr Integrity is doing good in Selangor.     

Badrul Hisham Abdullah.

Invariably in these kind of situation three usual suspects are involved. Sex, Money and lust for Power……notice that I make that subtle use of the word ‘lust’ for power rather then sex! If you want to be difficult and ask me what about greed and deceit…well let me continue first and then we will see where we can slot in the last two – greed and deceit!

What is the done deal here? This man has resigned as PKR assemblyman for Port Kelang. He will now be an independent ‘friendly to BN’. This was done with a bit of ‘encouragement’ from TS Khalid so that this sorry excuse for an assemblyman can jump into the welcoming clutches of the TEMPE man of the RM23million Istana fame! 

And “Now that Badrul Hisham had expressed his support towards the BN, he could apply for allocation from the federal government to implement development projects in the Port Klang area” said Noh, who is Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister. Ok that took care of the Money part – what about the other two – sex and power?

With money he can buy sex – but he should be a bit more careful about where he buys it from. It would not do UMNO any good if he were caught AGAIN for khalwat at ‘that’ local hotel! Do it in KL – at least those storm troopers ala khalwat will not disturb you in the 5 star establishments – and even if they do there will give you ample time to flee. After all what courtesy they extend to the elites of UMNO and some Sultans, they should also extend to you because you are now one of them!

Now the power part is a bit dicey. This guy is assemblyman for Port Klang. Port Klang is in Selangor. Selangor is under Pakatan Rakyat and his old boss TS Khalid is the Menteri Besar – so how to give him power? I would respectfully suggest to UMNO that in lieu of power maybe some extra money might persuade him to not pursue his lust for ‘power’ too enthusiastically. After all he cannot even show his face in his constituency after a number of skirmishes with them – like not turning up for functions that his office organized, not handing over prizes promised to participants in a meet that his office organized –and making the welcoming kompang group waiting to welcome him look like fools because he did not turn up at the functions …those kind of things that the local people will not forget or allow HIM to forget!  And where else would an assemblyman want to show his power if not in his own constituency! Unless UMNO is thinking of giving him a Federal Post – but that Isa guy from NS9 will say “Over my dead body!”

And so he comes into the fold of UMNO. What does he do now? He gets to meet Najib! Hooray! He gets paraded around a bit – go to some functions where he is the guests of honour…maybe an interview on RTM 1 or TV3…and if they can fit him in – be part of a delegation to some faraway place  - then by next month he has his money stack away and all is good. He did ask for a Datoship…but that is on the KIV list for the time being. By next year they will put it on the NFA list.

As for greed and deceit…did any of you see where it could have been slotted in? I think somewhere between para two and three! Between UMNO welcoming him with open arms and him having to face his constituents again – if he has the guts for it 

The Malays to remain stupid? A government Policy?

This was forwarded to me - a good read by Syed Bakar Ali.

A well written article by an intellectual Malay

An Education policy designed to ensure the Malays remain stupid so they can be controlled and manipulated by the Malay elite - The feudal lords - Umnoputras. 

But what is really sad is that the Malays themselves believe in this, hence there is no way this will ever change.  You can take a donkey to the water, but you can't force it to drink unles it wants to, Right?, Real sad!

_____________________________________________________

THE FIRST BUNGLE OF THE 1ST 100 DAYS IN OFFICE!

By Syed Akbar Ali

In one of my Four Wheel Drive trips into the jungle some years ago, we stopped at a place called Cheneh inTerengganu. I remember a makcik at a roadside stall made some nice ayam goreng. 

My good friend Juhaidi was with me and also my two boys.Cheneh was (and maybe still is) a typical rural backwater.  The folks did not seem to know if they were coming or that there was Astro but I think the favorite show was 'Tom Tom Bak'. But I did recall saying aloud that someday I hope that the folks in Cheneh would watch CNN, BBC and CBS and that we could just drive up and ask the makcik in Cheneh 'Whats on CNN today?' But I think that's not going to happen at all. Tuan Tuan dan Puan Puan, our Prime Minister Dato Najib has made his first bungle - and within the first 100 days too. No Sirs, it is a major bungle. You have bungled big time.

Lets manage this "crisis in the making" now. First of all please stop from saying anything more about the switch from English to Malay. The more things you say, the more "face saving" devices you will need for you to swallow your pride before you can undo this mistake. But this mistake must be undone.

I just happened to be with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad yesterday Thursday July 9th 09 slightly after noon when the news came in that the Cabinet had decided to flip flop over the language issue.

Firstly Tun Dr Mahathir raised a simple but valid point. The main reason quoted by Tan Sri Muhyuddin to favor the switch to Malay was that the rural Malay kids were doing poorly in Maths and Science (which are taught in English) compared to the urban kids. But what about exam scores for the rural kids in all other subjects which are taught in the Malay language? Dr Mahathir said no one showed him the statistics for that. Why?

If you say that English is the reason why the rural kids are doing so poorly in Maths and Science, then by your logic the rural kids should be scoring the same as or better than the urban kids in other subjects that are taught in Malay? By your logic rural kids should be doing better than the urban kids in Sejarah, Geografi, Kemahiran Hidup, Bahasa Malaysia and other Malay language subjects.

But we know that rural kids generally score lower than urban kids in most subjects (except maybe Agama). And language has got nothing to do with it. Rural kids are usually found in lower income households, their parents are usually less educated, they have less achievement goals and so forth. That is why you call them 'children from rural areas'. They are poor people and they are underachievers.

So this comparison with rural kids and urban kids is not fully accurate (Tun Dr Mahathir used another word which I need not repeat here).

Let me give you some street feedback. At least one Internet based employment agency has instructions from its clients to completely ignore any job applicants who are graduates from UTM (University ITM). As we know UITM graduates are all Malays. They say the quality of the graduates is low and their English is bad.. They are unemployable. This is what I heard.

Another preference by another employer - a Multi Nationa > Corporation - in the job market is to take in job applicants who are graduates of IPTA (private universities) who have done twinning programs. This means their English is good and they are more marketable. Again this means Malays with poor English skills are not preferred. Bottom of the line.

And here is some news from Cyberjaya. We opened up Cyberjaya and gave foreign investors much benefits and incentives to open business there. Among the foreign investments in Cyberjaya are 'Call Centers'. Well some 'Call Centers' in Cyberjaya take in Indians as a first choice for employment. They feel that generally Indians speak better English. Second choice are Chinese. Finally they will look at Malays as the last choice but rarely. Even with the emphasis on English the past six years, the Malays cannot speak enough English to get a job nswering telephones in Call Centers in Cyberjaya. THIS IS PATHETIC !

We cannot shut them down or arrest them under the ISA for practising such discrimination. They come here for business. We must provide them the tools necessary to run their businesses well. We are not doing the job.

To Dato Najib and Tan Sri Muhyuddin Yassin, why are you doing this? Who agrees with you? Who are you afraid of? Takkan UMNO Johor is so powerful to frighten Muhyuddin?

Last nite I met a Deputy Minister and a well known "ultra Malay" ex-newspaper editor. The Deputy Minister said it was a bad decision to switch back to Malay. The 'ultra Malay' ex-editor was visibly upset and said "I have no comments. I don't want to say anything." I think he did not agree with the switch at all.

Another well known "ultra-ultra" Malay defender of all things Malay (if I just mention his job you will know who he is) said the switch to Malay was 'satu langkah ke belakang'.

A Tan Sri from Kelantan said in English "this is a giant leap backward for the Malays"...

In the present world, the English language is a 'life giving' language. The amount of new knowledge and new information that comes out in the English language is astounding. No one can translate all the new knowledge and information that comes out in English EACH and EVERY DAY.

It is impossible.. We have to master this language. There is no other way.

Then we have the 'tidak masuk akal' ideas. Tan Sri Muhyuddin says after the switch back to Malay, he still wants to upgrade the teaching of English in the rural schools. He wants to employ about 1000 native English speakers to teach English in rural schools. By native speaker I do not know if he is referring to Mrs Naidu from Brickfields or if he wants to employ real Mat Sallehs from outside the country.

Mrs Naidu the retired English teacher will gladly teach English to our children for RM3000 per month. But we will have to pay the Mat Sallehs RM15,000 a month or more before they will come to work here. But if that is a good idea then why not employ 1000 Sallehs at RM15000 a month to teach Maths and Science in English in the rural schools?

Because according to Tan Sri Muhyuddin, it is not the school children in the rural schools who are to be faulted. The real culprits are the teachers. Muhyuddin let the cat out of the bag. Here is what Muhyuddin said (from th Press):

"It was based on empirical studies and other specialist reviews," he said. Based on studies conducted in 2008, he said, the ministry found that only a small percentage of teachers fully used English to teach the two subjects. "On average, the percentage of those using English during Mathematics and Science periods was around 53% to 58%," he said, adding that only a small number of teachers were proficient. Muhyiddin said studies carried out by local universities found that students' mastery level of English during the entire policy was around 3% while the level among rural students was low."

So don't push the blame on the rural students lah , Syewel !

It is the teachers who were malas to teach in English.

And there are other reasons why some Malay teachers do not use English. Among them are religious reasons because some people believe that speaking English may lead to you 'jadi kristian'. Fulawei, ada bodoh macam ini pun dalamkalangan guru kita kah?

Even in the towns (including Kuala Lumpur ) it is also considered "showing off" if Malay people speak English. So there are other quite illogical reasons why Malay teachers are shy to speak and teach in English. Did he just blame it (and quite wrongly too) on the rural school children. That is not correct.

And even if what Tan Sri Muhyuddin is saying is indeed true, why burden the urban kids and dim their chances at a better future just because the rural kids are having problems with English?

Urban kids are usually the children of parents who are more educated, who work in offices, run businesses and generally earn a higher income and enjoy a better standard of living. The rural folks are usually much poorer than the urban folks.

That is why we have to make sure that the rural folks get the same or better opportunities to get out of the poverty cycle and move up in life so that they too can enjoy a standard of living like the urban people.. A good education and the ability to converse in English is definitely one way up.

But what this policy reversal has done is to lower the entire national average.. Instead of moving the rural people up the ladder, we are now moving moving the urban folks down to the level of the rural people. We are lowering the averages. Hang tak payah jadi pandai macam aku, biar aku jadi bodoh macam hang !

We are nailing the Malays inside the language cocoon. We are also creating a "non English understanding rural poor" versus an "English speaking urban elite" divide. The Malays who cannot speak English will be left further and further behind.  BUT YOU THINK UMNO CARES FOR YOU ????

The English speaking urban folks (Malays, Chinese and Indians) will move light years ahead of the non English speaking folks. There will most definitely be an English speaking elite in the country. Then we have also allowed International Schools in the country to be opened to all Malaysians. We also have foreign universities like Nottingham and Monash. We are basically denying many Malays from qualifying to enter these universities and international schools. They can go to UITM and become more 'cocoon infested' and unemployable.

But very, very few kids make it to university or college in the first place. Only 2% to 3% of the population goes to university anyway. The large bulk of our young kids will become school leavers (SPM or PMR) with no employable skills, no knowledge of "life giving" English. Their future is doomed.

Akhir sekali saya nampak peluang hidup bagi budak Melayu dari kampong menjadi lagi tipis. Siapa yang ada tanah getah, mungkin akan kerja potong getah saja di kampong.

  Kalau tak ada tanah getah, depa akan berhijrah ke Bandar dan pekan untuk mencari kerja sebagai office boy, messenger dan peon. TERIMA KASIH AJELAH KEPADA GOMEN NAJIS !

** They may even think that office boy, messenger and peon are three different careers.

It was the best of times it was the worst of times.....

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way." Charles Dickens.

Those lines are an apt description of the situation Pakatan Rakyat finds itself in today! Pakatan Rakyat is the Government in waiting and yet will it govern?

The people had the wisdom to chose Pakatan Rakyat in the last GE and yet would they be foolish enough now to hand it back to UMNO; Pakatan Rakyat leaders had belief that the people within their midst were committed to the ideals and aspirations of the Rakyat and Party and yet incredibly there are those within Pakatan Rakyat that would put self before the party – even before the Rakyat; We the Rakyat can see the light at the end of the tunnel and yet the season of darkness under UMNO is still upon us; This is the Spring of hope that we have all waited for to rid ourselves of the tyranny of UMNO and yet we still live in the winter of despair because we continue to suffer the injustices and the arrogance inflicted upon us by the Judiciary, The Police and our own government; We have everything before us with the coming of the General Election and yet all might come to nought if we are not focused and committed to our cause ; If we are victorious in what we do we will have the heaven we have hoped for…. if not another 50 years of hell under UMNO.

So where do we go now? In all honesty I do not see how Najib could even start to govern. It would seem that even the heavens are against him. Two days ago three schoolgirls died because of human errors that could and should have been avoidable. Just as we were coming to terms with this terrible tragedy the Father of one of these girls’ dies – of a broken heart I guess. Najib must think that even the heavens are conspiring against him. Maybe they are…maybe they are!

Najib is reduced to taking whatever mileage he can out of the perceived misfortunes of the opposition! Like the tow trucks that will only make their money when there is an accident or if your car breaks down…. like the Funeral Houses that needs a corpse before it can make its money……Najib makes merry out of the perceived misfortune of the opposition. But while he thinks he is dancing on top of the graves of his opponents – his opponent is really cleaning house. Ridding itself of unwanted baggage and blood sucking parasites. And Najib welcomes these unwanted baggage and blood sucking parasites with open arms! What would UMNO do with these filth once the euphoria of them jumping into UMNO/Barisan is done with? The toddy shop loves a drunkard – but not for his son-in-law. What would UMNO do with these people? What would UMNO do?

What of the Opposition? What of Pakatan Rakyat? Yes it would seem that it is the winter of their discontent and yet their courage in ridding themselves of their unwanted baggage will serve them well in the long run. Not in the short term but in the long term – after all the GE is still a few years away. Enough time for those unwanted baggage who have joined UMNO to become a burden and an embarrassment to UMNO while PR will have time to ensure that new blood have been given their ‘baptism of fire’ and are ready for the coming GE.

This is what we see being played out in front of our eyes today. I can only say this for now: "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, not even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense." So says Buddha. We will have to use much of our common sense and our sensibilities to discern the right and the wrong, the good and the bad and ultimately Pakatan Rakyat or UMNO. For me that decision has been made many years back when the politics of patronage, cronyism, deceit, greed and arrogance defined UMNO for what it is. A Party that uses its own race to further the financial interest of its own members! We can do without them!

Cakap Cakap...Brickfields Police Station.

Can anybody confirm or deny that the following did or did not take place:

A few hundred Indian thugs in Brickfields tried to attack the Police Station on Deepavali Eve after six of them were arrested for a public order case?

Cakap cakap...suspension bridge collapse.

Another death resulting from the tragedy of the suspension bridge! The Father of one of the dead girl died…of a broken heart I suspect! And we all know that nothing will be done to go and get those responsible and put them behind bars while waiting trial. 

For the ISA detainees the Police will come in the dead of night, early morning – anytime just as long as they get their clutches on these people – but for the crime of being responsible for the death of three school girls and the Father of one of them…six months, one year…two years …never??? No we will probably never see them go to trial  - not in our life time…maybe never. 

This is the lot of the poor…these poor Indian Families will probably see some compensation come their way quite soon…possibly Sharizat will come over to hand them the cheques…or if Najib feels like a good photo opportunity bring them over to Putrajaya for a media circus event…I am sick to my stomach at the injustice of it all! God why do you test our patience with these so call leaders that we now have? Why?......three schoolchildren dead for what? A 1Malaysia Motivation Camp?  

How sad....another death resulting from the suspension bridge tragedy!

Kematian berganda untuk mangsa kem 1 Malaysia

Harakahdaily  Thu | Oct 29, 09 | 5:38:22 pm MYT

KAMPAR, 29 Okt: Sedih akibat kematian anaknya, N Dina Deve yang mati akibat jambatan runtuh dalam promram 1 Malaysia, bapa kanak-kanak malang itu, T Nathan, 45 meninggal dunia pagi tadi. Iklan         Akibat kematian anaknya, Nathan yang terlalu sedih tidak lalu makan atau minum sehingga terpaksa menerima kemasukan air melalui drip dilengannya. Pagi tadi, Nathan meninggal di rumahnya di Mambang Diawan, dekat sini selepas beberapa hari menanggung kesedihan. N Dina Deve mati apabila jatuh ke dalam sungai selepas jambatan gantung yang dinaikinya runtuh ke dalam sungai Kampar dekat dengan Kuala Dipang. Turut jatuh adalah 22 kanak-kanak lain yang menyertai kem 1 Malaysia itu. Mayat Deve ditemui malam kejadian itu juga kira-kira 3 km dari tempat kejadian itu. Seorang lagi mayat mangsa ditemui malam tadi, M Davadharshin, 11 tahun. Mayat mangsa ketiga, V Diryasree Vasudevan, 12 dari SJK Tamil Gopeng ditemui 10.45 pagi tadi dekat lombong di Tronoh Mine, kira-kira 25 km dari tempat kejadian. Menurut keluarga Dina Deve, selepas mendengar kematian anaknya, Nathan tidak boleh makan atau minum. Dia terpaksa menerima kemasukan air melalui drip dan terpaksa berehat sepenuhnya di rumahnya. Dengan kematian kedua-dua mereka dalam keluarga ini, ibu Dina Deve, S Mogana juga terlalu tertekan. Beliau tidak mahu bertemu dengan wartawan bagi menceritakan kesah keluarganya yang malang itu. Selain, Dina Deve, keluarga ini mempunyai dua anak lelaki iaitu berumur sembilan dan 17 tahun. Bagi mereka, semua yang berlaku kerana jambatan yang dibina itu tidak dibuat dengan sempurna. Jambatan gantung itu baru sahaja dibina kira-kira seminggu sebelum program yang menghimpunkan 300 kanak-kanak itu. Menurut laporan, ia disumbangkan secara 'percuma' oleh satu syarikat. Baru-baru ini, Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Tan Sri Muhyidin berkata, kem bina semangat semacam ini akan diteruskan. Dalam perkembangan berkaitan, Pesuruhjaya PAS Perak, Ustaz Abu Bakar Hussain menggesa kerajaan menyiasat segera pihak yang bertanggungjawab membina jambatan berkenaan di luar pengetahuan Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR). Selain itu, beliau mahu pihak yang bertanggungjawab mengumumkan kos sebenar pembinaan jambatan yang baru dua minggu dibina itu. "Saya menggesa agar pihak kerajaan mengenalpasti pihak bertanggungjawab menjalankan projek membina jambatan gantung ini," katanya ketika ditemui sewaktu melawat keluarga salah seorang mangsa lemas. "Siapakah kontraktor projek ini, mengapa projek ini dijalankan tanpa pengetahuan JKR, dan berapa anggaran sebenar jumlah wang yang dihabiskan untuk membina jambatan ini?," soalnya. Menteri Pelajaran Malaysia, Tan Sri Muhiyiddin Yassin juga harus bertanggungjawab penuh terhadap tragedi malang ini. Ini kerana Pengarah JKR Perak Datuk Dr.Safry Kamal Ahmad mengesahkan bahawa jambatan tersebut tidak mendapat kelulusan dari pihak JKR. Menurutnya juga segala persoalan itu perlu dijawab segera kerana rakyat mahukan penjelasan yang sebenar. Ianya juga penting sebagai tauladan kepada semua pihak dan bagi mengelak kejadian seperti itu terus berulang. Beliau menggesa demikian sewaktu melawat keluarga magsa kejadian itu kelmarin. _