SOCRATES... Keep this in mind the next time you are about to repeat a rumour or spread gossip.

with thanks to KB:

Subject: Socrates..

In ancient Greece (469 - 399 BC), Socrates was widely lauded for his wisdom.   One day an acquaintance ran up to him excitedly and said, "Socrates, do you know what I just heard about Diogenes?"   "Wait a moment," Socrates replied, "Before you tell me I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test."   'Triple filter?" asked the acquaintance.   "That's right!" Socrates continued, "Before you talk to me about Diogenes let's take a moment to filter what you're going to say. The first filter is 'Truth'. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"   "No!" the man said, "Actually I just heard about it."   "All right," said Socrates, "so you don't really know if it's true or not. Now let's try the second filter, the filter of 'Goodness'. Is what you are about to tell me about Diogenes something good?"   "No, on the contrary..."   "So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something about Diogenes that may be bad, even though you're not certain it's true?"   The man shrugged, a little embarrassed. Socrates continued, "You may still pass the test though, because there is a third filter, the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about Diogenes going to be useful to me?"   "No, not really."   "Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither 'True' nor 'Good' nor even 'Useful', why tell it to me or anyone at all?"     The man was bewildered and ashamed. This is an example of why Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem.    It also explains why Socrates never found out that Diogenes was shagging his wife.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

This is why the people of Palestine are fighting impossible odds because they know if they lie down and surrender there will be nothing left for their future…for their children.

Early this morning I had time to reflect on the latest episode of the Israel Gaza conflict - the targeted killing of Hamas military commander Ahmad al-Jabari leader by a precise death-from –above air strike by Israel.

Gaza is a 360 sq km of a torturous strip of land with a population of 1.7 million of which 1.1 million are refugees. It has borne the brunt of a mindless cycle of strikes and counterstrikes between the militant Hamas and the Israelis for God knows what end game. The people of Gaza have endured Indiscriminate out and indiscriminate in strikes resulting from air, sea and land operations by both sides that have resulted in lives lost of children, the aged, civilian casualties on both divide and of course Israelis and Hamas combatants.       

No one can argue that the Israeli have the capacity to level Gaza to ground zero if it chooses to do so…and at times it would seems that they would do so.

In this latest episode that started with the killing of Ahmad al-Jabari two days ago – by today, Friday morning, three Israeli and nineteen Palestinian - six of them children–have been killed! Israel has already hit 250 targets in Gaza and 270 rockets from Hamas have struck Israel.

Saturation level missile strikes against Gaza, the possibility of ground assaults and the promised “any escalation from Hamas will exact a price that they will have to pay” are not just bluster from the Israeli. They have a habit of doing what they say they will do!

Hamas can only beseech “We call upon our brothers in Egypt to take the measures that will deter this enemy” hoping that Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt will be their protectors. Calls for a “Day of Rage” against Israelis are already reverberating in Arab capitals.

Again the Middle East is in turmoil and the possibility of all out war between the Israel and the Palestinians inches ever so closely to being a reality. 

Sometimes I ask myself why the Palestinians continue their struggle against the Israeli? A fight they cannot win because they are not only fighting the Israeli but also the United States of America! Why do these Palestinians fight against impossible odds?

I guess for the same reason why our people fight against this BN regime. For the same reason the people are in the Bersih rallies to demand for free, fair and open elections even as they know there really is nothing much they can do to make it happen before this 13^th general election.

For the same reason we will go against impossible odds if those who are put in danger are our own people, our own loved ones, our own families.

The same reason why 911 happened.

For those who are oppressed by forces larger and more powerful than them, for those who face overwhelming odds against impossible opponents…………for all these oppressed people, even to inflict a pin prick against their enemies is better than doing nothing! Even if, by doing so, it may result in their death!

This is why I believe that no matter what BN will throw at us, no matter how much money is on offer, no matter what the odds……there will still be enough of our people who will stand firm against BN. They will stand firm and take what ever punishment is meted out to them by this BN government because they believe that if they do not stand against this BN regime, their future and the future of those that they care for will be threatened if not destroyed by the reckless ways of irresponsible UMNO politicians.

Of these people that are prepared to do this we know a few. DSAI, LKS, LGE, Karpal Singh, Tok Guru, Hadi, Nurul, …….…and frighten as I am to stand next to them on the front line of this fight against UMNO I know that the time for me to do so nears.

So what do I do? How do I overcome my fear of physical hurt and intimidation by BN and their forces of intimidation –the Police, Rela and every government agencies and apparatus under their executive control?

In truth there really is no way we can avoid these fears. All that we can do is to see DSAI, LKS, LGE, Karpal, Tok Guru, Hadi and Nurrul and the others do what they do and try to understand why these people are prepared to do this for us! We must try to understand what they are doing for us and try to follow their lead. Let us pray that there will be enough amongst our ranks to do this…if there are not than we will lose…no ifs or no buts…we will lose.

Online media, twitter, facebook, the net, the blogs…we must use all this to our advantage to galvanize our people to move with us. We need the social media to move our cause. Go on line yourself and do this. Go on line and tell those that will listen that this is also their cause, their fight, their future…and we need their help, their support and their commitment to ensure we change our future for the better.

This is why the people of Palestine are fighting impossible odds because they know if they lie down and surrender there will be nothing left for their future…for their children. That is why the Palestinian will take sixteen Palestinian dead against three Israeli dead as a victory of sorts. They willingly face the probability of being pounded to ground zero by the military might of Israel if by doing so there have a chance of getting the world and their Arab brothers to understand their plight and hopefully come to their aid.

In the 12^th general election the opposition took five states from Barisan Nasional and deny, for the very first time, Barisan Nasional’s two-third majority in Parliament. To us that is not a victory! To us that is annihilation of an arrogant domineering political entity. To us it was giving them ample warning of what is to come in the next general election!

My friends the next general election will soon be upon us! What are we to do next to this Barisan Nasional pretender of a Federal Government?   

What is to come in this 13^th general election? Vote them out of office of course! Is there anything else we can do?

Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) president transferred 24 hours amid row over Batu Caves condo...

with thanks to: 
tumpang sekole...?

Nasi kandaq kedai mamak, Anak mami juai pesemboq, Lepaih baca jangan dok syiok, Kalu-kalu SB jengok kot dapoq...

14 November 2012

Pasai kondo Batu Caves, YDP Majlis Perbandaran Selayang diarah bertukar 24 jam...

Exco kanan kerajaan Selangor Ronnie Liu hari ini berkata, beliau mendapat maklumat bahawa Yang Dipertua Majlis Perbandaran Selayang (MPS) Datuk Zainal Abidin A'ala telahpun diarahkan bertukar.
Liu percaya arahan pertukaran itu dibuat ekoran kenyataan Zainal pada 30 Oktober lalu yang menafikan dakwaan BN bahawa projek kondominium Dolomite Park Avenue itu diluluskan semasa pentadbiran Pakatan Rakyat. 
"Saya rasa sedih kerana kita akan kehilangan seorang YDP yang rajin dan telah membuktikan beliau boleh tangani isu-isu penting.
"Tapi sekarang tiba-tiba dia dapat arahan ditukarkan ke tempat lain. Jadi jangan salahkan saya kalau saya rasa ini merupakan satu tindakan yang luar biasa.

"Saya rasa tidak puas hati (dengan pertukaran) selaku ketua kepada kerjaan tempatan di negeri Selangor," katanya yang mendakwa mendapat tahu mengenai perkara itu pada Jumaat lalu.
Semakan Malaysiakini dengan pejabat MPS petang ini mendapati, arahan bertukar itu berkuatkuasa esok dan hari ini merupakan hari terakhir Zainal berkhidmat di MPS. 
Seorang pegawai di bahagian hal ehwal korporat itu, yang memperkenalkan diri dengan nama Mohd Zin berkata, arahan pertukaran tersebut hanya diketahui pagi ini.
"Ini perkara biasa di kalangan pegawai PTD (pegawai tadbir dan diplomatik)," katanya ketika dihubungi.
Pegawai berkenaan juga berkata, Zainal Abidin akan ditukarkan ke ibu pejabat Institut Tadbiran Awam Negara- malaysiakini 
YDP MPS terima notis pindah 24 jam, dipercayai berkait projek kondo Batu Caves

Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) president transferred 24 hours amid row over Batu Caves condo...

Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) president Datuk Zainal Abidin Aala was today given a surprise 24-hour transfer notice to the Institute of Public Administration (INTAN), in a move that is believed to be connected with a controversial 29-storey condomininum project at Batu Caves approved in 2007.
The transfer notice, which was issued by the Deputy Director of the Public Service Department (PSD) and received by MPS via email early this morning, did not state in detail Zainal Abidin’s new position, but only ordered him to report to INTAN immediately.
Lee Khai Loon, an MPS Councillor confirmed the matter when contacted by The Malaysian Insider, but he also said he has not received the full details of the sudden transfer.
“I myself just received this news... its details, I have not received.
“(But) already confirmed Datuk YDP (Zainal Abidin) (picture) will be moved to INTAN starting from tomorrow based on a notice today issued by the JPA deputy director through email,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
Lee also expressed surprise at the move, as there remains many unresolved matters including the budget preparation and discussion over the 29-storey condominium at the Batu Caves area.
“We (council members) are suprised... there’s no transition period for YDP (Zainal Abidin) at all. We are also not sure what is the reason he was moved.
“Many matters are still unresolved... the budget preparations for the 29-storey condominium at Batu Caves is also under discussion, but now suddenly, he was moved.

Too cooperative with Pakatan?
The condominium project was approved in 2007 by MPS when BN ruled Selangor. Recently, MIC has protested against the project due to its proximity with the temple complex. 
Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has since ordered for construction works to cease pending a review while Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has promised to scrap the project should BN take Selangor during the next general election.
  
When contacted, MPS councillor Lee Khai Loon believed that Zainail Abidin's sudden departure after serving just over a year, was purely political. 
"The YDP has been tasked with investigating how the project was approved in the first place. He is also the person who signed the stop work order.  
"He was professional and cooperative with the state government. So it looks like his transfer was due to political considerations," said Lee. 
Unlike council members, the appointment of local government heads is under the purview of the civil service department in Putrajaya and not the state. 
Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak promised to cancel the controversial luxury condominium being built near Batu Caves that was approved by a Barisan Nasional (BN) administration in 2007, if the BN coalition wins back Selangor from Pakatan Rakyat (PR), stepping up the game in the battle for votes ahead of the coming general elections.
“Maybe it is connected to the matter,” Lee said today, without dismissing the possibility of a link between the sudden transfer and the condominium project in the Batu Caves area.
Najib also said the BN government would apply to make Batu Caves a UNESCO World Heritage site after Malaysia’s term as a member of the World Heritage Commission ends in 2015.
The 29-storey Dolomite Park Avenue condominium project has turned into a political crisis as Batu Caves is the religious focal point of Hindu Indians, who form the majority of the 1.7 million Indians and are a key voting group in many urban seats in Selangor.
About 300 Hindu and non-governmental activists joined a “Save Batu Caves” rally in the Batu Caves temple complex to protest against the condominium construction on October 26, saying it was an environmental risk that would jeopardise the temple grounds but did not furnish proof to substantiate their allegations. 
The project was given the nod by state authorities in 2007, but MIC and Barisan Nasional (BN) have in recent weeks pressured the current Pakatan Rakyat (PR) administration into calling a halt to the project amid a battle for Indian votes.-malaysian insider

Batu Caves condo: 'Guilty parties will face justice'...

The prime minister's rousing pledge to stop the 29-storey condominium project planned next to Batu Caves has only strengthened the Selangor government’s resolve to “undo the previous BN government's negligence”. 
In a statement today, Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said the Pakatan Rakyat-led state government will only correct BN's mistakes, it will also bring those responsible for “negligence and abuse” to justice.

“The people of Selangor must weigh the PM's ‘promise’ carefully, considering that it was the BN-led Selangor government which approved the project,” he said.
“We put the people's interests first and will not hesitate to take any party to justice, if any form of negligence or abuse is found.” 
Khalid also said it was “unprofessional” of premier and BN head Najib Abdul Razak (right) to vow to cancel the project if the BN wrests power from Pakatan in Selangor in the upcoming general election.

He said this clearly shows that Najib is merely seeking popularity and has no interest in solving the problem.

“His statement ... has a negative impact on good governance and integrity ... as the cancellation of any (approved) project must follow procedures,” noted Khalid.

“Najib's behaviour has motivated the Selangor government to administer (the state) in a more professional, transparent and responsible manner compared to the inconsistent BN.”
Head of review panel appointed
Khalid announced that the state government will appoint former Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) director N Sadasivan to chair a committee that will review the condominium project.
Sadasivan was chosen as he is experienced in matters of management, and has held directorships in prominent organisations like Bank Negara Malaysia, Danaharta Nasional Bhd and Petronas.
“He will be assisted by several committee members, to be announced at a later time, consisting of professionals and independent parties who will assist the government in handling this issue,” he said.

Selangor town and country planning department deputy director Norasiah Bee will act as the committee secretary, while the department will provide any assistance required.

“I will meet with Sadasivan and the other committee members this week to inform of them of this decision,” Khalid said.

Among others, he said, the committee will review all development projects that have been completed and planned in the Batu Caves area, taking into consideration community well being, Hindu interests, environment and prevailing regulations.

“The state feels that this committee will be able to add value to the effort to have the Batu Caves listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site,” he added.-malaysiakini

I am no longer the Malay who belives that “Hidup dikandung adat dan mati dikandung budi” – that life should be filled with customs and death should be filled with gratefulness. I am all this because the times we live in has made me so.

I am a Malay no more? Words like compromise, respect,  tolerance, forgiveness, modesty and patience are today alien to me as I whack and hantam Malay politicial leaders left and right.  I am tolerant no more of their doings to our people, our country and our future. Budi adat and traditions be damm! I am no longer that Malay who is sensitive and gentle in nature! I will not bow when walking past Mahathir – my elder by a good many years! 

the malay bride

I do not articulate my distaste for the doings of UMNO graciously. I directly verbalize my contempt and disgust in the manner they have governed our country even as I acknowledge the rudeness of my confrontational approach and understand how unbecoming it is for a Malay to do so.

I no longer care that they may think me not noble or cultured, lacking in good manners and inconsiderate of their discomfort at my tirade against them.

I am no longer the Malay who belives that “Hidup dikandung adat dan mati dikandung budi” – that life should be filled with customs and death should be filled with gratefulness. I am all this because the times we live in has made me so.

How do you expect me to be quiet when I am constantly confronted by the excesses of UMNO politicians, their families, their cronies and sahabats whose sense of entitlement to that which does not belong to them overshadows all sense of decency and the rights and wrongs that I have been taught in my childhood, in my growing up and in what I have seen till this ripe old age of sixty five that I am today? 

The Malay and Islam idea that the State duty is to uphold justice and fairness has been breached much too many times by UMNO for my liking. By so doing UMNO has absolved itself from having a peaceful society that would be complaint to their government of our nation. And when UMNO distance itself from this duty of justice and care of its own people then what the Malays says ‘biar mati anak jangan mati adat… no longer holds true….. is it not the custom or adat of our leaders to take care of us?

And by not continuing with this ‘adat’ of now only taking care of itself, UMNO is also now breaching the sanctity of Islam amongst the Malay.  The link between Islam and Malay culture is the very crux of the Malay being. Even the colonial rulers and Christian missionaries did not interfere in Islamic affairs and Malay customs and traditions. UMNO dares to do this and UMNO today no longer respects the Malay budi and adat and uses Islam for their political gain!

That is why I believe that the Malays cannot sit down quietly any more and allow their budi, their adat and Islam to be ridiculed and degraded by the desperateness of UMNO to hang on to political power.  

What of the Sultans and their place in all this?

Perish the thought that the Sultans are concern about or can do anything about the well-being of their ‘subjects’! And perish the thought that his subjects will pledge loyalty to the Sultan because the Sultan is just to his subjects! The political power of the Sultan has gradually waned as many of his ‘subjects’ manage to surpass the wealth of the Sultan. Today too many UMNO Malays have accumulated wealth that the Sultans could only dream of. The rise of the ‘political rich’ who are also politically powerful has totally eclipsed any meaningful function that these Sultans could now hope to undertake. So what of the Sultan? I am afraid without the ability to do anything about the well-being of his subject there is no quid pro quo between the Sultan and his subjects to justify the Sultan’s existence.

For now UMNO claims to have that quid pro quo with the Malays..but I think not! While the Malays in the millions are still without the benefit of this quid pro quo from UMNO why are there many amongst UMNO leaders whose wealth far exceed the bounds of decency? UMNO takes too much from the Malays for itself.

To UMNO  I say this:

Thy ambition,


Thou scarlet sin,

robb'd this bewailing land.


Henry VIII 3.2.306-7, Surrey

So I may no longer be a Malay in the manner I write my thoughts but I am so because those whom I once look upon to be our leaders are no longer Malays themselves in the manner they conduct their affairs.

The Malays were tolerant of other ethnic communities. UMNO is not!

Adat, budi and Islam are the traditional and social values upon which the Malay communities are based upon. UMNO does not subscribed to these values as evident in the arrogant manner they conduct themselves in politics and in the decadent lifestyle of their leader from whom other UMNO members would drawn upon as an example of their own lifestyle.

The Malays emphasize moderation in their life as Islam does. UMNO is a litany of abuses of executive power, corrupt practices and a total disregard of anyone else interest but their own in all things Malaysians. They profess to be adherents of the tenets of Islam but celebrate their ruling supremacy in ways that Islam and the Malays frown upon and regard with contempt and disgust.

The Malays respect humbleness in any wise and intellectual person. UMNO is arrogance personified!

Why, you may ask, would I want to follow UMNO into the abyss and be what they are: arrogant, deceitful and morally corrupt? I do so because with UMNO if you turn the other cheek they will not turn theirs. It is time we stand firm and tell UMNO they can no longer have their way with us. The time is now. And those that will stand in their way are you and me! ABU!   

MARINA MAHATHIR; It is not easy being a daughter of a strongman, especially one who has nearly destroyed all the public institutions in the country in the name of race, religion, nationalism and development.

steadyaku47 comment: Josh Hong puts into words what many of us only think about!

Daughter of a strongman

Josh Hong 5:55PM Nov 9, 2012

Park Geun-hye at first thought running for president would be a cakewalk for her. Should her dreams come true, she would become the first female head of state in the modern history of the Korean Peninsula.
South Korea’s opposition parties were not able to present a challenger of high calibre, while the economic boom over the last few years under President Lee Myung-bak – who comes from the same ruling party as Park’s – appeared to create a feel-good factor that refused to go away.

Her presidential aspiration was also accoladed by her being the daughter of Park Chung-hee, the military strongman who oversaw the most spectacular transformation of an economic backwater into an industrial powerhouse in the 1960s through the 1970s.

Not until a series of corruption allegations against her close aides emerged, which triggered a massive internal strife as is so often the case in South Korean politics. Adding to the disarray in Park’s political campaign is the talk of two other candidates joining forces to ensure the liberal camp would prevail.

Park has since been running neck-and-neck against her rivals in opinion polls. Forced into a corner, she had no option but to publicly apologise for all the wrongdoings committed by the state during her father’s economically miraculous but politically oppressive rule.

For many older South Koreans who lived through the White Terror between 1961 and 1979, Chung-hee was a ruthless leader who tolerated no dissent and showed no qualms in flexing his own iron fist if necessary.
Among his most prominent targets of assassination was Kim Dae-jung, who was to become the first democratically elected president from the opposition camp in 1997.

Controversially, Chung-hee (right) is also widely credited with paving a firm foundation for South Korea’s future ascension as a developed nation. When one buys a Samsung, Hyundai or LG product today, one ought to know it was Chung-hee who was instrumental in making these domestic business entities global giants of the 21st century.

His legacy as such was so sorely missed that Time magazine named him among the top ten Asians of the Century in 1999.

Taking the moral high ground

By and large, the jury is still out on Chung-hee’s nearly two decades of iron rule, but his human rights violations have finally caught up with his daughter, who is now compelled to make a clean break with her father’s past, something truly extraordinary in a deeply filial and Confucian society.

Up until then, she had remained silent on the issue but has done so to make up for her lack of democratic credentials. In other words, her apology is meant to regain the moral high ground over her opponents.

While not quite our answer to Park, at least not in terms of electoral politics, there is no dispute that Marina Mahathir is one of the outstanding public figures Malaysians have seen. Her steadfast fight against stigmatisation of HIV victims is well acknowledged, and she does not mince her words whenever the political scene becomes ugly and idiotic, her solidarity with Bersih co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan when the latter came under the contemptuous attack from Perkasa and other Umno members, for instance.
My highly - and many would say self-indulgently – critical view of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad (left) is well known. Still, I would never question the fact that Mahathir loves his own children dearly, and that his wife Siti Hasmah has been a model prime minister’s wife and is also an elegant Malay lady who always knows her place and never oversteps her boundaries, unlike you know who.

But that is in the private sphere of family life. Publicly however, Mahathir remains the man who has shaped Malaysia beyond recognition over his 22-year rein, and the negative impact of his policies only started to surface after he stepped down.

Down, but not out. Mahathir is so fearful of even a minuscule reversion of his policies that he has been making one irresponsible, divisive and many a time racist statement after another, seeking to tear the country apart with a vengeance and appearing to be the one pulling the strings behind Umno’s thick veil of complexities.

Mahathir at the heart of Malaysian malaise

In her recent interview in Singapore, Marina Mahathir talked candidly about what she considers has gone wrong in Malaysia: the education system, censorship, money politics and the resort to sex in the political scene.

I am certain her views as such echo Malaysian public sentiments, but in choosing to downplay her father’s influence in her position today, I cannot help regretting that she is still not facing up to the realities.

Extensive scholarly research has confirmed it was Mahathir’s long and authoritarian rule that bred cronyism, 

corruption, the suffocation of dissent and the malfunctioning of the judicial and political institutions.From Khoo Boo Teik’s 'The Paradoxes of Mahathirism', Jomo Kwame Sundaram’s and Terence Gomez’s 'Malaysia’s Political Economy: Politics, Patronage and Profits', Diana K Mauzy’s and RS Milne’s 'Malaysian Politics Under Mahathir', Ahmad Mustapa Hassan’s 'The Unmaking of Malaysia' and, Barry Wain’s 'The Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times', it has been proven time and again that Mahathir is at the very heart of the Malaysian malaise today.

Among them, Wain (above, left in picture) has written perhaps by far the most important book on Mahathir and claimed also that the strongman had wasted or burned up to RM100 billion on grandiose projects, corruption and currency speculations, an allegation that Mahathir himself fails conspicuously to refute.

Hence, how can Marina Mahathir simply dismiss her father’s political impact on the nation by saying “often people made me feel I had to be responsible for everything he did”, and “sometimes I became the surrogate for criticism”?

Of course she should not be held responsible for Mahathir’s reign of terror, but she must also remember she is who she is today largely due to her father’s powerful presence in the country.
Put differently: why were Perkasa and Umno ultra quick to pick on the Bersih committee members and other opposition leaders but were timid to go against her? Would her fate have been vastly different if her father was not Mahathir Mohamad but Muthu, Ah Beng, Ali or David?

Or one may also ask if her siblings Mukhriz (left), Mokhzani and Mirzan would have been super rich if they did not carry the name Mahathir.

Who, as education minister, effectively killed off an initially vibrant campus and student politics? 

Who saw it convenient to play up the nationalistic card and latter lamented (and continues to 

lament) the appalling standard of English among Malaysians?

How many leaders in the world have ever demonstrated a rare show of audacity by sacking three Supreme Court judges and suspending five others in one go?

And, most crucially, who set off the biggest political crisis in Malaysia by mercilessly persecuting Anwar Ibrahim by way of unfounded sex scandals, creating a climate of fear on the part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities and turning the country into an international laughing stock?

‘Hope she habours no political ambitions’

I am not here to judge Marina Mahathir personally, for I do support many of the good causes that she champions and appreciate her timely support for Bersih and other just-minded social movements.
My opinion is simply that she cannot go on criticizing all that has gone awry under both Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (left, in photo) and Najib Abdul Razak (right in photo), without also taking a deep look at what preceded them.

Knowing that she will keep quiet, I can only hope that she harbours no political ambitions, or her father’s long and dark shadow might haunt her as is the case of Park in South Korea.

After all, it is not easy being a daughter of a strongman, especially one who has nearly destroyed all the public institutions in the country in the name of race, religion, nationalism and development.

---

JOSH HONG studied politics at London Metropolitan University and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. A keen watcher of domestic and international politics, he longs for a day when Malaysians will learn and master the art of self-mockery, and enjoy life to the full in spite of politicians.