Saturday, July 22, 2006

PAS is showing its True colour

Finally, Pas is beginning to show its true
colour by protesting at the Article 11 Public Forum in
Johore Baru.Despite its efforts to win the hearts and
minds of the non-malays, its deeds have proven that
once in power they will not suffer any public
discourse or debate where human rights are concerned.
Earlier in Penang they suceeded in disrupting the
forum held there.The police not wanting an incident
adviced the organisers to prematurely end their
forum.But many agreed it was a wrong decision as the
forum was a legitimate platform for a public debate on
an issue which has far reaching implication for its
citizens.And quite rightly they deserved to be heard.
This time in Johore Baru the protest did not
derail the organisers the legitimate right to hold
the forum.But the protest held at the instigation and
behest of PAS has clearly shown that they are
intolerant of any views and debate express by the
non-malays.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Religion is the problem Facing Mixed union.

I would like to refer to sonny Mak's
article,'Nothing wrong with mixed union.'
Mak seem to miss the point why most chinese
parents object to mixed marriages with the malay
race.The objection does not stem from racial reason
but because of religious reasons.There are alot of
mixed marriages between chinese and
indians,eurasians,mat sallehs,kadazans etc and most
parents have no problem with that.But the moment when
a chinese man or a woman enters a relationship with a
malay man or a woman all hell break loose.This is
especially so when the relationship becomes serious
and marriage is on the card.Relatives from all sides
will make a beeline to the affected party and try to
convince him/her the pitfalls of such a union.If
everything fails the threat of disowning the son or
daughter usually do the trick and the relationship is
immediately put to an end.
Chinese parents dont mind their children marrying
any race as long as religion does not come into the
equation.They dont want their children to convert just
for the sake of marrying someone.The idea of changing
one's faith in order to get married is repulsive and
totally devoid of logic.Chinese marrying Indians do
not face this problem since religious beliefs are not
so rigid among the Indians and there are alot of
common grounds especially if they are Hindus and
Buddhists.
So Mak is wrong to presume that parental
objection is without any valid reason.The force
conversion of religion is the main reason why chinese
parents will not give their blessing for a
chinese-malay union.

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Certification of Houses should be left to the professionals.

Much has been written about the decision by the
Works minister S Samy Vellu that architects and
Engineers will soon be responsible for the issuance of
certificate of Fitness (C.F).I take particular umbrage
at the comments of S.M Mohamad Idris of the
consumers'Association of Penang regarding his
objection to the proposal of allowing architects and
Engineers to issue the C.F.
Mohamad Idris would be well advised to confine
his comments to matters that he is familiar with and
not to adopt arm chair critic of matters that he has
very little knowledge of.
Since the beginning of our housing industry the
issuance of the C.F have been with the authority of
the local councils after having obtain approvals from
about a dozen govt bodies.Most if not all of the local
councils are manned by ordinary civil servants whose
knowledge and expertise in the building industry is
virtually nil.Despite this lack of expertise the law
till now demands that we obtain certification from
these authorities whose speed of approvals depends on
the quantum of money changing hands.With the need to
obtain approvals from a dozen of these govt bodies
imagine the bureacratic delay that a developer has to
endure.This result in an inordinate delay in the
issuance of the C.F sometimes stretching over a period
of years if no money change hands.
With the introduction of responsibilty of issuance
of C.F to architects and Engineers there is every
reason to believe that due care and diligence would be
exercise on compliance with specifications and
workmanship.It is very unlikely that these
professionals would risk their rice bowl by
compromising on quality and shoddy workmanship.At the
end of the day the responsibilty of issuing C.F comes
with an attached responsibilty of being liable to any
litigation that may arise as a result of their
certification.
From the inception of the Housing Act, we have
relied on the local authorities to issue the
certificate of Fitness.This has resulted in
bureacratic delay, corruption and abandonment of
housing project.The time has come for us to move
forward and experiment with a new method of
certification.It would be a great disservice to the
housing industry if critics like Mohamad Idris put a
nail to the coffin of this new proposal even before it
is implemented.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Beat The Best in South-East Asia First.

The Youth and Sports Ministry's proposal to
build a sports complex in London is so hilarious if
not for the fact that it has been seriously planned to
be implemented soon.How minister Datuk Azalina Othman
could support and initiate such a preposterous idea
speaks volume of the type and calibre of our inept
minister.
What rational reasons are there for our country
to transport our future sportsmen to a faraway place
half a globe away in order to grasp the fundamentals
of competing with the world's best?Frankly I cannot
find even one good reason to support such a
ridiculous idea.
The Minister would be well advised to follow the
old adage of not trying to walk even before learning
how to crawl.What is the logic of sending our
sportsmen to a cold, foreign place to learn how to
compete with the very best when we cant even compete
with mediocre sportsmen in South-East Asia which share
a common familiar climate?Shouldn't our sportsmen
compete and excel first in South-East Asia then in
Asia before taking the best in the world? Our
Minister's faith in our sportsmen is certainly
misplaced if she think we can compete with the world's
best before even been able to excel among south-east
Asia and Asia's best.If we cannot beat mediocre
opponents in familiar and similar climate then what
are the chances of us excelling in a cold foreign
unfamiliar land?
To spend $490 million in one of the most
expensive place in the world without any certainty of
success is one of the most irresponsible act of our
leaders.I strongly urge those responsible for making
this decision to seriously revoke this preposterous
proposal.

Monday, July 03, 2006

We are a Nation Of Barbarians.

A great man once said that a civilise nation is
judge by the way a nation treat its animal.If that is
the yardstick used to gauge the civility of our
country then the only conclusion I can make is that we
are a nation of barbarians.
I wish to refer to your article 'owner of 25 dogs
tries to save pets from deaths'.The people involved in
the carnage to kill those dogs are first and foremost
barbarians of the highest pedigree.In their resolve to
kill those dogs there was not the slightest hint of
compassion to at least capture the animals alive and
put them with the RSPCA so that they could be
adopted.Why should these dogs be killed when they have
not bitten anyone?The only complaint if there was any
was because of the stench and the numbers of dogs
staying in the premise.If that was their only offence
was killing a justified act?
Once again and too often we see enforcement
officials entrusted with their jobs have deemed it
neccessary to use more brutal force than what is
required of them.

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Custom Dept should not Fool the public.

Custom Prevention division Head,Adnan ariffin talk
about greater transparency by forming a committee to
surpervise the auction.But the question is why is the
sale confined to civil servants and top govt officials
only?.All confiscated vehicles belong to the govt and
therefore indirectly belongs to the taxpayer.Then why
should the auction be only offered to these elite govt
officials?In order to have more transparency, why cant
the auction be opened to all malaysians and given to
the highest bidder.To say that there is a reserve
price and then selectively give it to a low bidder is
not something we could call transparent.In fact such a
practice could result in abuse and corruption.
Afterall what is stopping the committee from
conspiring to give the auction to his friends at a
negotiated low reserve price.Adnan should not try to
fool the taxpayer by saying this system of auction is
transparent when it is fraught with abuse and
corruption.