Penangites Must vote opposition to Deny 2/3 majority

Penang voters must discard their emotionalbaggage when they vote on 8th March.Emotional tieswith illustrous candidates like Koh Tsu Koon,Teng HockNan, and Chia kwang Chye must be totally discarded.If at all, Penang voters should not give any votes to these three Gerakan members.To show their dissatisfaction we should even let them lose their deposit.
Penang voters must by now be aware that any vote for Gerakan or MCA is a vote for UMNO and a vote forUMNO is to invite a continuity of the scandals of corruption that has plagued our nation.
Penang voters must discard the mentality that we need Gerakan and MCA wakil rakyats to represent our chinese interest in state legislature and Parliament.For the umpteenth years that Gerakan andMCA have represented us have they articulated our rights and grievances?The answer is an emphatic 'No'.
We dont need wakil rakyats to look after our drains and roads anymore. What we are more concern is the erosion of our rights under the constitution.The right to vernacular education and the right to build more of such schools if the need arises.The right to freedom of religion and worship and to ensure that we are not force to seek justice in a Syariah courts when as non-muslims our recourse is to the civil courts.
We hold dear these sacred fundamental rights as guaranteed under the constitution and we want our elected representatives to articulate and protect these rights.We no longer feel confident that Gerakan and MCA can perform that role as long as they are in the B.N.
Therefore Penangites should no longer have any reservations about voting in opposition to protect our rights.We have given Gerakan and MCA many years and many terms in Penang and they have been a dismal failure.If they had done their duty faithfully, we would not have faced this unprecedented erosion of ourrights.
On 8th march,Penangites should forget their past ties with Gerakan and MCA.I think it was an MCA President that says when a fish is rotten we have to cut off the head first.On election day voters should ensure that we vote out, Koh Tsu Koon, Teng Hock Nan and Chia Kwang Chye.Dont let your emotional ties cloud your judgement.No battles was ever won without any sacrifice and now is the time we have to plead withPenangites to make that supreme sacrifice.

Ballot Box the way to break Nepotism.

I refer to the Malaysiakini report The rising sons, daughter and son-in-law.
When an elected representative who no longer commands the respect of the electorate insists on staying on, the only recourse is to show him the way out is through the ballot box. Many of our current politicians view their elected position as a sure ticket to make easy money.
They lack the passion and idealism of serving the country and its people. Instead they are guided by the greed and power their elected positions will bring to them and their families. Many of them unashamedly go to the extent of even promoting their children or close relatives to take over their place as if it is their birthright to occupy that position forever.
This is especially true in the BN component parties of Umno MCA and Gerakan. In Umno we have examples of Najib Razak, taking over his father's place and now the prime minister’s son-in-law Khairy Jamalludin is waiting in the wings of Umno Youth. Don’t forget Hishammuddin Hussein Onn.
In MCA, we have Ling Liong Sik's son who incidently became a millionaire by the age of 27. Then there is the current MCA president Ong Ka Ting whose brother Ka Chuan is waiting to contest again despite losing twice in the previous elections. In Gerakan we have the son of the party advisor Lim Keng Yaik who will be contesting in the coming election.
It would seem perfectly alright if the children and relatives of these politicians are capable and secure their position based on merit even though in most cases it would be a leg-up for them if their father was or is in a position of power and influence.
However if their position is merely through the auspices of their father's influence, perhaps then, voters will have to exercise their discretion to vote them out.
In the same vein, even a prime minister who has lost a lot of his influence may not want to retire voluntary. Sadly, the truth is that ordinary human beings, when suddenly given extraordinary powers, are the last person on earth who will willingly relinquish their positions on their own accord.
Since it will be an exercise in futility to persuade such people to retire gracefully, the only recourse is to vote them out in the coming election. Once we strip the aura of glamour and power which we ordained upon them, they once again become become mere mortals like every one of us.
And like the proverbial cowboy it will be an opportune moment for them to ride into the sunset of their fading careers.

Hisham's failure:vernacular School enrolment Proof.

I refer to the letters Hisham a failure as education minister and National schools turning into Islamic schools.
The first letter is a statement of fact. Not only was he a poor exemplary role model as the head of the Education Ministry but he was also an abject failure in his position as a minister. Brandishing the keris to politicise his cause in full view of his audience cannot be construed as a refined leader with exemplary qualities. At best he can be labelled as a rebel with a dubious political agenda.
Statistics don’t usually tell a lie. Some 95% of Chinese and Indian students are enrolled in vernacular schools. The stark reality is that a miniscule 5% of the non-Malays are in the government’s sekolah kebangsaan. Of course, this trend did not happen overnight. But when Hisham took over the Education Ministry, the trend was already patently evident.
Yet during his term, what did he do to address this lop-sided enrolment of non-Malays in vernacular schools? The Education Minister should be aware of the repercussions of having a racially polarised education system which in the long term, would have serious ramifications for nation-building.
In the 1960s, when I attended a national school, it was the school of choice for Chinese, Malays and Indians. Vernacular schools had such poor enrolment that many of them had to close on their own volition.
But then the national school I attended then was different from the ones today. In every national schools then there was a good mixture of Chinese, Indian and Malay teachers. Besides the few Mat Salleh headmasters, there was also a good spread of Chinese, Indian and Malay headmasters too.
There was a total absence of religious rituals. No such thing as doa selamat or whatever prayers during school hours. We left religion at home.
The sad part is that Hisham does not know the reason for the decline in the enrolment of non- Malays in the national schools today. Instead, he tried to introduce mother-tongue language in the national schools thinking this was what the non-Malays wanted.
However, that is not addressing the real problem. Yes, the real problem refers to the second letter’s topic, ‘National schools turning into Islamic schools’.If the Education Minister had kept his eyes opened wide, he would have read numerous complaints of parents expressing their concern and anger at the slow Islamisation creeping within the corridors of the national schools.
Somehow, national schools have been infiltrated by religious zealots out to preach Islam and many do not hesitate to impose their religious rituals on non-Malays. Some schools even go overboard in prescribing the mode of school uniforms to be worn including the tudung.
All the above, probably escapes the attention of the minister or alternatively he may have condoned
the various religious impositions. The proof is already there for him to see. Vernacular schools are full to the brim and what is perhaps even astonishing is that there are about 60,000 Malay students scrambling for places in the Chinese vernacular schools.
That in itself is an indictment of his abject failure as an Education Minister.

Just Vote Opposition to deny B.N 2/3 Majority

I would like to refer to the Malaysiakini article ‘Finally a chance to wrest Penang.’
In this article, Ronald Quay seems to contradict himself.His caption seems to suggest there is a good chance of the opposition wresting Penang from B.N and yet in the same breathe predicted that’B.N will still win the General Elections ,hands down’What is perhaps galling is his statement that’the Barisan national is still the best party to govern Malaysia today’.
If Ronald is so confident that his theory of opposition contesting the State seats as oppose to contesting the parliamentary seat is workable then there should not be any reason for B.N winning ‘hands down’.
What the people of Penang should do is not try to play God. Trying to be smart by voting B.N for state seats while voting for opposition in Parliament may not always turn up as planned.
For the country as a whole B.N will end up with a massive majority in parliament and in the other state seats.This is by virtue of the strong rural support which have traditionally supported UMNO irrespective of rain or shine.
Therefore it should be the goal of every urban voter to vote for opposition in order to counter the strong rural vote for B.N.Only with this strategy of voting can there be a possibilty of denying B.N a 2/3 majority in state and Federal seats.
I certainly dont agree with the writer’s statement that’the Barisan National is still the best party to govern Malaysia.’On what basis is he making the statement.?I can only conclude that he is not aware of what transpired during Mahathir’s 22 yearstenure and what happened during the current P.M’s 4 years of administration.
Every aspect of B.N’s last 26 years tenure has been nothing short of failure.Corruption is rife, the Police dept is in shamble, the Judiciary is tainted, the civil service is a disgrace,foreign investors are avoiding us like a plague.If not for our oil and thegood export price of oil palm we would have followed ZimBahwee’s path to economic destruction.
Even in matters of race and religion the govt has not handled it with care and sensitivity.This has resulted in further alienating the various races which if not properly addressed would have dire consequences in the future.So please do tell me what is the record of B.N’s governance that has so impressed the writer that made him conclude that’ B.N is the best party to govern Malaysia.’?
We inherited a good system of governance from the British during the colonial era and most of these institutions were already in place after Merdeka. So there is no reason why another party albeit an opposition party cannot continue to govern without any difficulty.With better accountabilty and transparency maybe the new party would do a better job.So please dont listen to the B.N leaders saying that the opposition has no experience in governing the country.We will never know if we dont give them a chance. Do we?

B.N flouting Election offences Act with Impunity

The Election Commission cannot be perceived to be neutral if it continues to ignore the infringements of the BN government. On the first occasion, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak implied that the government had to restrain the Kampong Baru Malays from coming out to demonstrate in response to the Hindraf demonstration.
His subtle hint was that such a response would have caused another May 13 incident. On the second occasion, during a meeting with MIC division chairpersons, Najib threatened the Indians not to vote against the government. Both occasions were tantamount to exerting undue influence on the electorate and is in contravention of Election Offences Act 1954, Part 3 Section 9(1).
In addition to the above two offences, a third offence was committed at the launch of the state-level
Chinese New Year open house in Kota Bharu when Najib presented RM1.3 million as a ‘special donation’ to 17 Chinese schools. It was reported that the amount was a ‘special BN allocation for Chinese schools’.
Meanwhile, in Ipoh, a fourth offence was committed by the prime minister when ne announced that ‘farmers located at New Villages in Jeram, Kuala Bikam, Kanthan in Chemor, Malim Nawar in Kampar and Kampong Coldstream will be allowed to lease some 2,850ha for 30 years at an annual rental of RM200 for every 0.4ha’.
The third and fourth offences are in contravention of Section 10 of Election Offences Act 1954 which relates to bribery. All the above offences committed were published in the mainstream media and are in direct violation of the act .The public prosecutor should not hesitate to initiate action.
The Election Commission cannot profess its impartiality if it cannot act without fear or
favour. Its role as a neutral referee in the conduct of an election can only be credible if it can prosecute those who have breached the Election Offence Act of 1954 irrespective of their status.
If it cannot carry out its duty as prescribed under the act, then it becomes apparent why NGOs such as Bersih have been calling for electoral reforms.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR OF THE RAT

WISHING ALL MY FRIENDS A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS CHINESE NEW YEAR.

Malaysians should expect a change for the better.

Malaysians should not accept what the govt say in the media as gospel truth.Of late we hear DPM Najib say that the opposition is not capable of administering the country.This is not only misleading but a blatant lie.
The present govt have shown that it is not capable of properly governing this nation.The last 22 years of Mahathir’s tenure and 4 years of Pak Lah’s administration have seen the country degenerating towards a failed state.
The litany of failures in the various govt department is shocking.The Police Dept is in dire straits with crime surging to unprecedented heights. The Judiciary is not only tainted with dubious appointments but it has practically lost theconfidence of the people.
Religious conflict arising from conversion of non-muslims and the practice of ‘body snatching’ of muslim converts have stretched racial tolerance to breaking point.
In addition the govt has wantonly wasted public funds in compensation for the crooked bridge and the Broga incinerator project. The PKFTZ cost the govt a few billion of tax payers money which was siphoned off by UMNO cronies.
The Defence Ministry headed by our DPM, Najib saw fit to purchase inferior quality Sukhoi air planes from Russia and Scorpene Submarines from France. All these dubious purchases were done through the front companies of his close friend Razak Baginda who is now charged with the Mongolian model’s murder.
Are the above catalogue of failures what Najib would call a success of the B.N govt?
Surely an opposition govt given the same opportunity could not have fared worse than this.
A regime change can only offer a refreshing start to a new era of governance which can only be better. It has the benefit of learning from B.N’s mistake and this hindsight experience should enable the opposition to make a better alternative government for the people.

Election Chairman should Retire.

The present constitution provides specifically for the Election chairman to retire at the age of 65.Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman has reached the age of retirement on 31st december,2007.Therefore in accordance with the constitution the EC chairperson should just retire gracefully and let some one else replace him.
What defies logic is for the govt to pursue a most unusual course of action to amend the constitution to extend the retirement age to 66 thus allowing the EC chairperson to extend his tenure for another year
\ The constitution is a sacred document which should not be frivously altered or amended merely for the express purpose of extending the tenure of the election Chairman.The constitution of a country is a living document that should not be manipulated to suit the whims and fancy of the incumbent govt in power.
To amend the constituition in order to retain the EC chairperson for the express purpose of presiding over the impending election conceal a sinster motive of the govt which cannot be construed as honourable.
Why is the govt so adamant in wanting to extend the tenure of Abdul Rashid so that he could preside over the impending election?Even if the reason for the govt to retain him is perfectly legitimate the very act of amending the constitution to extend his tenure would undoubtedly cast aspersion on the impartiality of his role in the election.
His public statement that " no other regime is capable of running the country " is further evidence that his impartiality is questionable.
The disappearance of 140 ballot boxes in the Ijok election should be of some concern and consequence, but the election chairperson dismissed it as inconsequential.How could it be?If each ballot box were to contain a mere 500 electoral votes, the total 140 ballot boxes would have a massive 7000 votes.A figure that could easily sway and swing the result in favour of the opposition party.
Examples of such irregularity has prompted the
birth of Bersih to seek electoral reforms that will eventually ensure a free and fair election.
Many of the outstanding issues such as postal votes, dead people appearing in the electoral rolls,gerrymandering,equal access to media for campaigning and a host of other electoral issues have not been addressed by the current EC chairperson.How could there be free and fair elections when all these electoral reforms have not been implemented to the satisfaction of all parties?
Since Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman has not carried out reforms in these controversial issues and the govt has not displayed any urgency in pressing for changes in those areas, perhaps it would be timely that a new independent person be appointed to the post of the EC chairperson.
For that to happen Abdul Abdul Rahman should gracefully exit and opt for retirement rather than seek an extension of his tenure.

Najib, You are wrong.

Yes the tide is turning in Kelantan but certainly not in favour of BN but for PAS. As a kelantanese I can safely tell Najib the true current political situation in Kelantan. How could Zubaidah Abu Bakar speculate in the 6th Jan.2008 NST that “there are many in Kelantan who want to see a change of government”?
This is farthest from the truth. The Malay psyche in Kelantan is vastly different from the psyche of Malays from the other states. The Malays in Kelantan are astute when it comes to politics. That explains why it is the only Malay state where the opposition party other than UMNO has ruled for a substantial period since Merdeka.
During BN’s tenure, pork sellers in the Chinese market were harrassed daily. They were confined to a small inconspicous space where pork could be sold hidden from public view. There was conditional and restricted time when pork could be sold. When PAS took over the government in 1990, they improved the Chinese market and pork was sold without any restrictions. In short they were not harrassed.
Again, during BN’s tenure, Chinese could not buy houses built on Malay reservation land. Since most of the land come under the purview of Malay reservation, most Kelantanese Chinese could not own a home. But all these changed when PAS came to power.
Under the able DUN of Kota Bharu, Dato Annuar Tan, 30% of houses built on Malay reservation land were allocated for sale to the Kelantan Chinese.
Any doubts where the Chinese loyalty lies can easily be dispelled by visiting the Chinese enclave in Jalan Kebun Sultan. Ask any Chinese business community there and they will brazenly tell you that they will vote for PAS. Yes the Chinese votes in Kelantan are solidly behind PAS.
It is also a fact that the Chinese miniority’s vote in Kelantan are insignificant and confined to only few seats where their votes are crucial for victory or loss. But in a state where a lot of seats are won and lost by a handful of votes this becomes immensely important where in the final analysis the fate of the government could merely depend on the margin of one or two seats.
The Malays in Kelantan were generous in giving Pak Lah a resounding victory in 2004. But this was partly due to PAS over-zealous Islamic reforms which persuaded the Malays to vote for Pak Lah’s Islam Hadhari. Further they were captivated by Pak Lah’s assurance of tackling corruption which was beginning to be rampant in all branches of the government. But alas, Pak Lah was a disappointment. Instead he took it as an opportunity for his relatives and family to plunder the nation’s wealth by giving contracts to his son and son-in law.
There is a saying among the Malays in Kelantan that UMNO can fool the Malays in the other states with their rhetoric of ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ but they cannot fool the Malays in Kelantan. They are aware that BN has introduced many programmes and development projects.
According to Datuk Annuar Musa “RM2 billion worth of projects are flowing into the state”. But the local malays will ask you who are the beneficiaries of these projects? Yes, its the UMNO cronies and the UMNO connected politicians who will secure all the major contracts.
Of late, the sprinkling of Indians are also behind PAS not due to Hindraf’s effort but because of the awareness that it was under PAS rule that a prominent land in Jalan Hamzah was approved for the Hindus to build a temple when the same approval was rejected by BN four times before.
Because of centuries of close proximity of Kelantan to Thailand and the close rapport between the Chinese and the Kelantanese Malays, the local Malays are not only intelligent and well-versed in commerce but they are very conversant with local and federal politics. This perhaps explain why UMNO with their brand of politics can never fool the Kelantan Malays.
In the coming general election BN will not only lose in Kelantan it will lose as badly as in 1990. This is not only a fact, it is a promise.

EPF needs to explain why it discontinued the $1.4 Billion claim against its six former executives.

EPF has an obligation to explain to its contributors why it has discontinued the suit filed in 2005 against Rashid Hussain and five former top executives.
A writ of summons to the value of RM1.4 billion was filed against the six by RHB Capital, RHB Securities Sdn Bhd and RHB Equities Sdn Bhd at the Kuala Lumpur High Court sometime in 2005.
The six former top executives were sued” for breach of fiduciary duties, breach of trust,breach ofcontracts of employment/or negligence in relation to certain margin financial facilities granted by RHB Equities during their tenure as Directors and/or Officers of RHB capital, RHB Securities and RHB Equities.”
The suit was filed by major shareholder Utama Banking Group in 2005 and during the course of the trial evidence adduced seems to indicate a clear breach of fiduciary duties. Dubious huge loans for margin financing was given without any collateral and proper approval.
Surely such obvious dereliction of duty should eventually bring to book those responsible for the loan fiasco.The loan claimed in the suit was not a paltry sum but for a mind boggling sum of RM1.4 billion.
Despite public opposition to the pension funds acquisition of the RHB group, and despite Rashid Hussain’s total debts of RM3.5 billion ringgit which included a bond repayment of RM265 million due in June 2007, EPF proceeded to acquire the entire parent firm for RM3.9 billion ringgit including warrants and convertible loan notes. At the same time the fund also made an offer of RM8.75 billion ringgit bid for RHB Capital at RM4.80 per share.
What perhaps remain a mystery was why EPF did not accept Kuwait Finance offer of RM2.19 ringgit (compared to EPF offer of RM1.80) for each Rashid Hussain share and RM7.35 (compared to RM4.80 offered by EPF) for each RHB Capital share? Why was it so adamant in acquiring a loss and heavily indebted entity when a better offer was on the table?
What EPF needs to explain to the EPF contributors is why after having acquired control ofthe RHB group it has decided to discontinue the much publicised RM$1.4 billion claim.
The fundamental question remains as to why was EPF so generous in foregoing what seems like a legitimate claim of RM1.4 billion claim against the six former top executives of RHB? Was there any covert attempt to conceal the main purpose of EPF’s acquisition of the RHB group? Was EPF used as a vehicle to acquire the equity of the RHB group with the intention of discontuing the civil suit against the six defendants?
All these perplexing questions need to be answered so that confidence can be restored to the pension fund.

Who are the Opportunists?

The Council of Former People’s Representative (Mubarak) President Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang described the Hindraf leaders as “opportunists and traitors to their race and country.” He further added that these people were extremists and that they should rightly be detained under the ISA.
Referring to his assertion, I would like the former Mubarak to carefully reflect on past history and see who are the opportunists.
After May 1969, with the introduction of the NEP, the Malay bumiputras were the sole beneficiary of govt policies. However somewhere along the course of implementation the NEP was hijacked by the UMNO elite Malays who only seek to enrich themselves and their cronies.
Based on such factual events how could the former Mubarak President condemned the Hindraf supporters as opportunists?Rightly the real opportunists were the UMNO elite Malays.
As regards his statement that they were extremists, can the former Mubarak president defined the term ‘extremists’ in order to justify his claim. Does his definition include people who participated in a peaceful assembly to articulate their grievances construed as extremists?
Yes, he could refer to the unfortunate terminology ‘ethnic cleansing’ used in the memorandum submitted to the Queen as extremist. But hello, what about UMNO unshealthing their keris and threatening the Chinese? What about the former Chief Minister Rahim Thamy chik’s utterance that the Malays would take out their parangs if the non-Malays challenge Malay supremacy?
Are they no more seditious and extremist?
It is really pathetic that people like Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang who had enjoyed the fruits of NEP should now find it plausible to hurl untruthful accusations that it was the Hindraf supporters who were opportunists when in actual fact he and the UMNO elites were the opportunists.
How could Abu Zahar equate articulating one’s cause as being traitor to race and country? By his implication, the Hindraf supporters should just remain silent and accept their discrimination and marginalisation so that they will not be traitor to their race and country.
With such perverted logic so prevalent amongst the UMNO top echelon it is no wonder how a peaceful assembly of disdvantaged people could be construed as terrorists.

Police should also be charged with attempted murder.

Malaysians in general and Indians in particular must be appalled at how the Attorney-General could charge 31 Hindraf protestors for the dubious crime of attempted murder.
Surely the charge can only be valid if the perpetrator of the crime can be identified. There is no justification to detain the 31 members if the crime was committed by a single individual. The prosecutor cannot expect the court to believe that the 31 perpetrators were responsible for throwing an object which specifically caused injury to the police officers.
How could the prosecutors cast a net so wide and hope per chance that it may catch the culprit from amongst the 31 protestors? Obviously not all of the 31 protestors were responsible for the single injury caused to the officer. Therefore will justice be served if the law punish the 31 Hindraf members just because one of them caused injury to the officer?
Can our justice be so vicious that 31 individual should pay the price for a crime committed by one individual? That in essence is what the Attorney-general is doing and in doing so he has made a mockery of our judicial system.
But in reality what was the crime committed by the 31 protestors?
By the same token, there were several protestors who suffered head injuries when the police fired tear gas canisters laterally at the crowd. Video clips taken on that day confirmed that quite a number of the protestors suffered injuries as a result. By the same logic the police officers who fired the tear gas canisters can also be charged with attempted murder.
Further the clips also showed that in retaliation some of the protestors flung the canisters back at the police thus perhaps causing the injury to the police officers.
If such a scenario did occur, how could any one be charged with attempted murder? The act of throwing back the canisters in retaliation was merely a natural response to the action of the police in the first place. Is it acceptable for the police to fire indiscriminately at the crowd with the possibilty of causing injury to them whilst it is against the law for the victims to retaliate in a similar fashion?
What is perhaps even more shocking is the refusal of the judge to grant bail to the 31 protestors.This literally means that the 31 Hindraf members whose guilt has not even being established will now have to start serving time before the actual trial commence. Anyone familiar with our legal system will tell you that it will be light years before they will see justice in the court.
The act of charging the 31 protestors by the Attorney-General, Gani Patail is not only a travesty of justice but serves to confirm the lingering suspicions that the Attorney-General’s chambers and the judiciary are beholden to the executive.

Review N.E.P before its too Late.

This govt would be foolish to ignore the pleas of the silent miniority. Any ill-conceived policies that benefit only one segment of the population cannot prevail over a length of time.
First and foremost the govt must realise that every right-minded Malaysians would still want the NEP to continue but not in its present form.
The NEP must adhere to its stated goals of eradicating poverty irrespective of race. It must be need-based and not race-based.There are still many pockets of poverty that exist across every racial divide.
I have seen poor Malays, poor Indians, poor Chinese families living only on two scanty meals a day. I have also seen poor Indian children, poor Chinese children and poor Malay children struggling to have money to attend school. This only serves to reinforce the perception that poverty does not respect race orcreed. It is a common thread among many of our fellow Malaysians irrespective of race who sadly still live on this poverty line.
Yes, these are the classes of people who deserve to enjoy the fruits of NEP and not the well-heeled, rich Malays who are least deserving.
How can the govt despite numerous protest from the housing fraternity justify a policy of giving discount to rich Bumis to buy high-end houses at a discount when a more appropriate policy would be to extend a housing discount for all races for housescosting $100,000 and below?
To continue with such a racist, discriminatory policy would in effect means that the non-Malays would have to subsidies the rich Malays for every purchase they made. Such a policy defies logic and is an abuse of the NEP.It was never intended for the NEP to help the rich Malays getting richer. If the govt cannot even see the fallacy of such a policy then we can only conclude that it has simply lost its moral right to govern.
The non Malays have never, ever objected to the govt building mosques for their Muslim subjects. We accept that Islam is the official religion of our country but in return we only ask for a little space for non-Muslims to practise their faiths.
For every 10 mosques that you build give the Hindus one shrine , the Christians one church and the Buddhists one temple. Is that not a reasonable request? If you give space for these faiths to worship then there would not be any need to have illegal places of worship.
If our leaders are true Muslims they will never allow their religion to suppress the followers of other religions. Islam has always allowed other religions to exist and flourish. History is resplendent with many examples and modern Turkey is a living proof that Islam, Christainity and Judaism can exist side by side without any antagonism.
This govt must review and reflect on their discriminatory polices which have marginalised a large section of their miniority population. It is still not too late for them to realise that not only are there poor Malays but also by the same token there are poor Indians and poor Chinese who also need help.
Let us not forget they are also Malaysians. A govt that ignores this realty is doing so at their own peril. The signs are already there. Dont let it reach a point of no redemption.

Let Us Vote this Chief minister out.

Even before the words of P.M that Hindraf allegations were nothing but' blatant lies' had died down,Melaka Chief minister,Ali Rustam was busy demolishing yet another Hindu temple.
According to Ronnie Liu's blog,'The Sri Penyachi Amman temple in Tambak Paya village,Melaka was demolished this morning(4thDec.) by an enforcement team from the Malacca city council which disregarded a'stay order' signed by two state top officials.'
Any Chief Minister with a little bit of common sense would not have fuel an already volatile situation bearing in mind the events of the past week.But this stupid Chief Minister( who was once aTNB meter reader )of Melaka deem it fit to provoke and cast aside the credibilty of P.M's statement that the memorandum of Hindraf was nothing but lies.
If anything, this stupendous action by theMalacca Chief Minister serves to reinforce Hindraf's claim that this govt is indeed perpetuating some form of cleansing , ethnic or religious.Otherwise how do you explain the close proximity of another temple demolition coming so close after the recent controversial demolition of the Kampong Rimba Jaya temple.?
This is the same mindless Chief Minister who uttered the words that those who took part in the Hindraf rally should have their citizenship revoke.To this simpleton Chief Minister I would like to tell him that citizenship is a birth right and not a privelege.To say that a person's citizenship should be revoked merely because he participated in a rally which the govt refused to issue a permit reflects the idiotic character of this man.
There is no doubt in my mind that Malacca's non malays will vote with a vengeance this coming general election.The chinese have not forgotten his rough shod tactics of wanting to rid Malacca of pigs by setting a ridiculous time frame of culling 100,000 pigs in two weeks.
Perhaps it would be a fitting finale if we could send this meter reader to his old job at TNB during the next general election.

Free and peaceful demonstration is provided for in the constituition

Why should the govt stifle dissent by refusing to give permits for its citizens to demonstrate? It does not matter whether the govt thinks that the issue is not justifiable or for some imaginary reason it is a threat to national security. Whether their grievances are legitimate or not is something the public will have to judge. The govt’s role is merely to ensure that the demonstration is held peacefully and without any violence.
When people take to the street to demonstrate it is always for a cause. History has shown us repeatedly that when the voice of the people is continually and contemptously ignored the only recourse is to show their displeasure by demonstrating. After all this liberty to demonstrate peacefully is provided in our constituition and it is the inalienable right of every citizen to exercise this right.
I disagree with some view that because the rally was specifically for a certain community the demonstration should not proceed. This view is in direct contradiction with the basic principle that the right to peaceful assembly is enshrined in the constitution and if the aggrieved party is of the view that their grievances have not been addressed than they should have every right to demonstrate. It does not matter whether their grievances merely highlight a particular community interest as long as they perceive there is a need to publicise and convey their message.
It is totally irrational to say that the demonstration is acceptable only if it also espouses the grievances of the other community.What if the other community is not interested in joining the cause? Does that means then they cannot proceed with their own cause?
Free and peaceful demonstration is one of the cornerstones of a democracy and the govt cannot repeatedly come out with preposterous excuses that it causes inconvenience and an imaginary threat of racial disturbance.
By denying people the right to demonstrate the govt is implying that it has indeed something to hide and that the issue which caused the demonstration is indeed a legitimate one.

The Last Monsoon Cup.

When 28th November comes, the 3rd Monsoon Cup will once again begin in the east coast state of Trengganu. The Heritage Bay Club Marina and Resort in Pulau Duyong, Trengganu will once again become the focus of international attention as it will be hosting the final of the 10 International Legs.
Once again the people of this state will be treated to an extravaganza costing about $250-$300 million. The foreign sailing fraternity will be feted and pampered by the Monsoon Cup organisers namely Patrick Lim and Khairy, the son-in-law of the P.M.
Luxurious bungalows costing few millions await to shower the foreign sailing dignitaries with comfort and luxury that only locals could only dream of.
For the next few days, the organisers will spare no effort to regale and entertain the mostly foreign participants. Sumptious food and drinks will be served while the local populace can only watch in awe as they bear witness how their oil money previously ear-marked as ‘wang Ehsan’ was to be spent.
The rally at Batu Burok was just the awakening of the people’s consciousness as to what is happening in their state.The PM and his son-in-law with the connivance of the local UMNOPUTRAS and cronies are in town to rip off the people of Trengganu with the annual grand Monsoon Cup.
The incident at Batu Burok was an expression of that anger and if that current state of disenchantment continues BN will suffer an ignominous defeat in the coming general election.
Sadly, history always seems to portray its past in a contradictory manner.It was in Trengganu that Pak Lah sealed a massive victory which saw him capture the state from the opposition PAS. Now it will be in Trengganu that Pak Lah will also face his Waterloo. It will predictably be in Trengganu that this Islam Hadhari leader will face his most ignominous defeat and return the state to the opposition PAS.
For Pak Lah and his gang of cohorts,it will be the last Monsoon Cup.

MCA Senator objects to Bersih Rally Because of money

I refer to the report in the mainstream media that MCA senator Lee Chong Meng called on Bersih, the coalition for clean and fair elections, to keep their agitation indoors.

This senator represents the face of the race-based political party who is supposed to look after the interests of the Chinese community. Instead of joining the clarion call for reforms in the electoral process, he has deemed it fit to support the government’s suppression of free and fair elections.


His selfish and ill-conceived reason that the demonstration on Nov 10 have caused losses in the 'millions' clearly shows that the MCA and their underlings have no principles to uphold and that their main motivation for objecting to the rally was because of money.

By now, the Chinese community should be conscious of MCA's role in the BN government. The MCA politicians are in the BN for money, position and power. Fifty years of this unholy alliance in the BN have proven that MCA is incapable of looking after the interests of the Chinese community. If they had done their work faithfully and unselfishly, the Chinese would not have been marginalised in education, civil service, government contracts, university places and a slew of other racist policies.

The coming election will determine the future of the Chinese community. If we continue to give MCA the same support we have been giving them for the last 50 years then you can expect the same practice and habits to continue. MCA politicians will continue to receive the crumbs offered by their Umno counterparts and in return they will give their undivided support to
plunder the nation's coffers.

We as Malaysians must not allow this to happen. We do not have the luxury of time to change our destiny. We must do it now before it is too late. We must all unite and ensure that these unscrupulous politicians from MCA are voted out of office and sent to political oblivion.

One Rule for BN and another for the rest.

The government is practising double standards in the issuance of permits to hold demonstrations. As long as the demonstration is not directed by or involving opposition to government policies, permits will be granted.
Better still, if the demonstration is to support government policies or to resonate the government's stand on certain foreign policies, then permits will readily be granted.
For example, last year a permit was granted to the Umno Youth to stage a demonstration in conjunction with the visit of the United States secretary of state held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. As recent as last week, permit was granted to Maybank employees in protest of bonuses not being paid to them.
The rationale is that as long as the ire of the protest is not directed at them, they will issue the permit. Why should the government be wary of Bersih's rally if it was for the stated purpose of wanting to create a level-playing field for all in the coming elections.
Surely, this is a legitimate complaint the government should have no problem addressing if it is transparent. Its opposition to this rally only serves to reinforce public perception that the government has its own agenda to preserve the status quo in the electoral process.
In previous elections, there have been numerous complaints regarding the presence of phantom voters, of death voters voting, of fictitious postal voters, of changing electoral boundaries in favour of the ruling party and the glaring imbalance of numbers in the electorates of government areas as opposed to opposition areas.
The comment by the Asia director of New York-based organisation Human Rights Watch, Brad Adams is most appropriate and summarised the government’s position. When it comes to holding onto power, the ruling party makes one set of rules for themselves and another for everyone else.

Ecm-Libra/Avenue Merger and approval of Air Asia Singapore route

I wish to refer to the Malaysiakini article ‘Air Asia: Its like going to the Moon.’
Yes, Tony Fernandez and Air Asia has every right to be in a jubilant mood after having obtained the rights to fly the Kuala lumpur to Singapore route. After all its a gold mine route previously the monopoly of our MAS airline.
But why the sudden change of mind to give this lucrative route to Air Asia when the logical decision would be to allow the status quo to remain and let MAS reap the profits while it is on its path to recovery?
The answer can be found by referring to the ECM-Libra and the Avenue merger. Prior to the merger, Kallimullah and Khairy Jamalluddin (son-in Law of P.M) bought a block of shares in ECM-Libra and lo and behold one month later ECM-LIibra sealed the deal with the cash-rich Avenue merger. Of course someone at the Ministry of Finance had to approve the deal and guesswho?
If we were to recall a few months earlier, Kallimullah bought a stake in Air Asia. I am not sure whether Khairy has a stake in this deal but the deal is certainly very suspicious if not a bitfishy because one month later, a smiling Tony Fernadez was gushing with pride and annoucing to the world that the Singapore route was like Air Asia going to the moon. And why not? It was like manna from heaven.
CEO of MAS, Idris Jala could not conceal his disappointment and who could blame him? It was alucrative and profitable route which MAS had prevously had sole monopoly and now it was to be shared with Air Asia.
Perhaps it would be appropriate to ask the P.M why the interest of the country’s own airline was sacrificed and why a public owned airline was given a share of the lucrative route?
The ECM-Libra and the Air Asia episodes seem to reveal a very ingeniuos and systematic way of plundering our nation’s wealth by our leaders.
Well done P.M. I didnt know you could do so well while sleeping on your job. Perhaps I was wrong.

Key Politicians Appear Immune to ACA

I refer to Malaysiakini report, PAC: Arrest decision-makers too.
Lately, the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) has been busy prosecuting civil servants mentioned in the recent auditor-general's report for corruption.
It becomes glaringly obvious that ACA has no hesitation when it comes to arresting and prosecuting civil servants but are reluctant to haul in politicians who are similarly tainted with corruption.
Prosecution and punishment appears to be swift and efficient for civil servants and the police force but when it comes to politicians like Zakaria Deros from Port Klang and Mohd Said Yusof, the ‘close one eye' Jasin MP from Malacca, the wheels of justice seemingly grinds to a halt.
In our country, it appears some people are more equal than others in the eyes of the law. And politicians here are a special breed of men who seems to have immunity from any prosecution despite their public commission of a felony.
Those people entrusted with the duty to enforce and prosecute the perpetrators have a latent fear of politicians who perhaps have the clout to punish any ACA officers foolish enough to try and bring them to book.
With the revelation of the controversial Lingam tape, we now witness corruption within the corridors of the judiciary. Appointments and promotion are designed for those who toe the line and are compliant to their political masters.
Judicial decisions affecting the interest of the government and its cronies are not won or lost on the merits of facts and law but on the basis of a prearranged slotting of a friendly judge who would ensure a favourable judicial decision on the understanding that they would be rewarded with a promotion at a later date.
If ordinary citizens can no longer seek justice and equity from our judiciary, where else can we turn to?
Our country's structure and system comprising the executive, the legislature and the judiciary appears to be crumbling. The once lauded Westminister system inherited from the British is now a pale shadow of its former glory. In its place, the present government has now perpetuated a system which is rotten to its core. Only a matter of time before it will finally bring our country to an ignominious end.

Chief Justice should be serving six months sentence.

Malaysians must be wondering in amazement that the P.M. is even considering and pondering over the decision to extend the tenure of Chief Justice, AhmadFairuz.
Despite his 'elegant silence in his role in theLingam Tape,Ahmad Fairuz should be serving a six month sentence behind bars instead of being rewarded with a six months extension of his tenure.
Ahmad Fairuz will go down in history as the ChiefJustice that brought the Judiciary to the depths ofdisrepute and infamy and to honour him with anextension of his tenure is to make a mockery of ourJudiciary system.
To redeem some measure of pride and preserve thegood name of our judiciary,a tribunal should be formed to investigate his unsavoury role in the Lingam saga.
Anything short of this would cast serious aspersion on our Judiciary and besmirch the good name of those innocent judges who unfortunately are lumped togather with the bad apples.

No, Not another space tourist at our expense.

I refer to the Malaysiakini report, Second citizen into space in 2 years.
Many Malaysians would have thought that sending one flight space participant is already an extravagant pastime but now we are being told by Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology Jamaluddin Jarjis that 'Muszaphar's back-up candidate, Faiz Khaleed, would become Malaysia's next astronaut or angkawasan.'
Are our leaders so egoistic that after spending a wasteful astronomical sum without achieving anything we are now about to consider sending another 'angkawasan' who is nothing but a space tourist?
Despite, Nasa’s official classification that Muszaphar is a space flight participant, our leaders continue to insist that he is an astronaut. Perhaps before jumping to their conclusion I should remind them that prior to this there were two other flight participants who paid US$20 million for the privilege of being a paid space tourist.
They were an elderly American billionaire and a wealthy middle-age woman of Iranian American descent. As with Muszaphar, they underwent a year of fitness training programme prior to a similar journey to space. So what exactly is the difference in training that distinguish Muszaphar's classification as an astronaut whereas the other two were merely space flight participants?
As for the misleading publicity that he would be conducting some experiments. Perhaps they should be forewarned that space tourist are not allowed to conduct or perform any experiments on board lest the wrong experiment may jeopardise the space odyssey.
Further, also be forewarned that space tourists are also not allowed to simply press any buttons or panels lest the wrong button may send them on a reverse trajectory back to earth. This would be an utter embarrassment for a Malaysian space tourist to be responsible for cutting a journey of 15 days to just three days.
Just as Rome was not built in a day, a cosmonaut or an astronaut was not trained in one year. That essentially explain why after training for one year, Muszaphar is not a cosmonaut but a mere space tourist.
For that reason alone, it would save our government a lot of money and embarrassment if we just forget the idea of sending another space tourist at the expense of the taxpayers money.

Dont fight for race but fight for a cause.

I wish to refer to Dato Lee Hwa Beng's letter (BN's tradition of quotas protect non-Malays) and Fahri Azzat’s reply, An apologist for racial politics.
Like Fahri, I feel insulted that Dato Lee should justify the present race-based BN concept as a means of preserving the few insignificant nominations for councillors and candidates for state and Parliament position for his non-Malay party (meaning MCA). His astonishing view that the Malays would vote en bloc on racial preference is an insult directed specifically at the Malay intelligentsia.
The present generation of educated, middle-class Malays are no longer as compliant as Dato Lee would like to think. The Malays of today are astute and more confident than their predecessors and if circumstances force them to, I am sure they will vote intelligently focusing on qualities of good governance, accountability and integrity.
In discharging their obligation, I am confident that they will not vote along racial lines but on the calibre of the candidate. I can only hope the Chinese and Indians can be just as astute.
As an insignificant participant in the ‘Walk for Justice’ with the lawyers, I saw Muslim Malay women and men, despite the fasting month of Ramadan, braving the inclement weather, and finally waiting in the drenching rain waiting for the Bar Council president to appear from the PM's office after presenting the memoranda for a royal commission.
Dato Lee should have been there because what I saw were brave men and women fighting not for their race and religion but they were there fighting for a cause.

Believe Me, Lingam Tape is Genuine

What is the rationale for Najib Razak to appoint a three-man panel to authenticate the Lingam tape? The credentials of those appointed are more suited to adjudicate a court case with the exception of social activist, Lee Lam Thye. What we perhaps need are people with technical expertise to determine the authenticity of the tape using forensic and other specialised methods.
However, even a layman with no expertise whatsoever can easily vouch from the tone of voice and the mannerism of the speaker that it was a genuine tape.
Even the topic that revolves around the appointment and rejection of judges bear a stark semblance of reality. Lingam would have to be an expert soothsayer to predict the outcome of the appointment and promotion of the judges and chief judge that was elevated subsequently.
The most convincing piece of evidence was the video picture of Lingam gesturing with his hands as he talked. The words and sentences that flowed from his mouth did not appear to be dubbed or there would have been a mistiming of his gestures and his words.
If ordinary mortals like me can surmise the accuracy of the tape, I wonder what the technical experts can do if given the opportunity to authenticate the tape.

No Sane P.M would do away race-based Politics.

To ask Barisan Nasional to surrender their race-based politics and to work towards a non-race based parties would be akin to asking them to surrender their extravagant and luxurious lifestyle of the rich and famous.
For the last 50 years, they have been so accustomed to easy plundering of the nation's coffers that it is unlikely they are going to give up without a fight.
Every ministry without exception, from the high-tech Defence Ministry to the lowly mundane Sports and Culture Ministry have been the target of politicians and civil servants who deemed it fit to inflate contract price of goods bought so that they can rip off the ministry's coffers.
Therefore, what incentive would there be for them to abandon the race-based party politics that have served them so well in exchange for a non-race-based politics that would subject them to meritocracy and a level-playing field.
No wonder when the proposal was put forth at the Gerakan Assembly, it was quickly shot down by the PM because no sane PM would want to miss the opportunity to reap the proverbial pot of gold especially when it is their turn.
As for the ordinary rakyat, our only hope is that the majority of the voting people will awaken from their 50 years slumber and banish this nightmare from our midst.

Sharir-UMNO man to the core.

I refer to Malaysiakini letter, Shahrir has finally crossed the rubicon.
For many terms, the Johor parliamentary constituency was virtually given to Shahrir Samad on a platter. He won on the same seat every time he contested not because he was an Umno member but because for many he was a beacon of hope for the downtrodden and the underdog.
At times he was even prepared to incite the wrath of Umno members who thought he was on the other side of the divide. But throughout his term of service in his constituent, he was always faithful and dependable to his principles. Such was his integrity that he gave up his chairmanship at the Backbenchers Club because he supported an opposition motion which lacked the support from his own party.
However, all his good work came to nought when in one single moment of madness, Shahrir castigated the 2,000 lawyers for participating in the Walk for Justice to present a memorandum for a royal commission to the PM. That act alone should convince his fervent supporters that a leopard never changes its spot.
Shahrir has finally reveal his true identity that he is an Umno man to the core.

Municipals councils getting too much

Lately we saw municipal councils all over the country raising their quit rent and assessment rates some as much as 100 to 200 percent. Now that they are flush with their new found wealth, most of these municipal councils don't seem to know how to spend it.
From Seremban to Kota Baru we see municipal councils tearing down lamp posts and replacing them with those with a 'flowery' design. Why should they suddenly have the urge to replace good working lamp posts with ones costing about RM8,000 each is anybody's guess.
But my guess is simple. Only by replacing these utilities can someone siphon the money from the municipal's kitty.
But after reading the malaysiakini report Howls of protest over 'nab the dog' contest' on the Selayang Municipal Council's stray dog-catching competition, I must say this idea takes the cake as far mindless spending by a municipal council is concerned.
If this is any indication how our municipal councils are going to spend our hard-earned money from the increase in assessment and quit rent rates, then I am going to register my protest by not paying them at all.
For too long our municipal councillors have not been held accountable for their extravagant expenditure and with each passing year they are getting more and more innovative in their wasteful spending.
The presidents and municipal councillors are appointed and not elected and most of them are more acquainted with rural living rather than urban living. When appointed to their posts, they don't seem to know what their duties entail. The only thing that don't requires any expertise is to simply spend on wasteful and unnecessary projects which at the same time also accrue to them some side income.
Other wasteful expenditure (as in Seremban and Kota Baru) is to remove the existing pavement and pathway tiles and replace them with one of a new design. Some of these pavements, however, are located in the most ridiculous places where perhaps the only ones using them would be cows and goats.
As usual we can shout from the top of our roofs but our pleas for some sanity to prevail will most likely fall on deaf ears.

50 years of Independence,33 years of Mismanagement.

On 31st August 2007 we will be celeberating the 50th anniversary of our Independence but this auspicious occassion will also witness 33 years of mismanagement of our country's administration.by the present govt..Why 33 years? Because until 8th April 1974, the Finance Minister was the late Tun Tan Siew Sin and the country's finance was impeccably managed by this illustrous man whose prudence and integrity was legendary..
On one occassion when he was about to take his annual leave TunTan casually asked Tuanku who was looking after his portfolio in his absence. When Tuanku replied that he would look after his porfolio, Tun immediately cancelled his leave. This in essence was the character of the man who was not only prudent with the nation's coffers but spent his tenure zealously guarding it from any wasteful expenditure.
The aftermath of May 13th ,1969 saw the downfall of the Tuanku and the ascension of Razak and the implementation of the NEP policy.The Finance Minister portfolio was given to Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and from thereon beginning with the BMF fiasco the country was beseiged with a litany of poor financial governance which saw the govt bailing out practically every govt linked companies (GLC).
For the last 33 years(from 1974) this govt had to continuosly bail out companies like Bank Bumiputra,Bank Rakyat,Bank Islam, Bank pertanian,MAS,Renong, UEM and the recent PKFZ project which would cost $4.6 billion..
If we were to include the vast array of failed projects which eventually led to further injection of govt funds, the amount would easily bankrupt many a nation.
.The proposed crooked bridge to Singapore, the Rawang double track railway, the North- south Highway, the Matrade building, the prison building in Sarawak and a host of other multi-billion projects would have caused the downfall of any govt.And yet after 50 years of independence and 33 years of mismanagement we are still stuck with the same govt which is bringing us to an ominous future.
Every Malaysian of whatever denomination has a duty to protect and safeguard this country of ours.We owe our allegiance to this country but we do not owe any allegiance to this govt which have failed to perform its duty with care and diligence.
Our nation is at a crossroad and after 50 years we must put aside our differences and assess our progress..If our conscience tells us that this govt has failed us then we must gather what little courage we have and make a change,Our future and our destiny lies in our hands and it is our sovereign duty to initiate the change..

English-Medium:Razak Did it,Period.

I refer to the letter English-medium ‘victory’: Rahman no agent.
I wish to reply to the stubborn refusal of the writer to accept the realty of the decision-making process in our government. Rahman Yaakub as the education minister then had no authority to make such a monumental change in the schools from English-medium to Malay medium without getting instructions from then prime minister Abdul Razak to do so.
A similar analogy can be seen when Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced the change in the medium of instruction from Bahasa Malaysia to English for Science and Maths. It was the PM who decided on the change and certainly not the education minister.
In the present context, can our ‘Kerismuddin’ unilaterally decide on a change from Bahasa Malaysia to English as the medium of instruction in schools? Certainly not. Such a change would obviously have to have the concurrence and direction of the PM perhaps after consultation with the cabinet. This alone would clearly diminish any possibility of Rahman acting unilaterally to change the language policy.
How convenient and presumptuous of the writer to even suggest that Razak and the rest of Umno members were caught by surprise by Rahman's unilateral action. To give credit to Rahman Yaakub for making this momentous change is to suggest that he was the ‘power behind the throne’ and that Razak was a mere puppet doing his bidding. That is a very unlikely possibility.
The writer suggested that Razak was responsible for converting Chinese-medium schools to English-medium and based on that premise I still maintain my stand Razak was responsible for changing the medium of instruction for our schools from English-medium to Malay-medium.

Malay-Medium Decision:Rahman merely Razak's agent.

I refer to the letter How English-medium schools vanished overnight. I am surprised at how naive the author is to assume that then Education Minister Rahman Yaakub by his own accord and volition could arbitrarily 'take a gamble that fateful day in July or August 1969 - and succeed beyond his wildest dreams'.
As narrated by Pin Pan Dan, Dr Mahathir Mohamad's scurrilous letter played a vital role which subsequently led to Tunku Abdul Rahman stepping down. But history also revealed that Razak played no less a role in the removal of Tunku.
To give full credit solely to Rahman for converting all English-medium schools to Malay-medium is both naive and illogical. For such a momentous change of the education policy, surely it would be more feasible to presume that the directive originated from Abdul Razak, the prime minister then.
I find the writer’s statement 'Out of the blue, Rahman announced the conversion ... from Jan 1,1970 ' to be very simplistic and illogical. There is no way Rahman could on his own accord make the change from English-medium to Malay-medium without receiving the orders from Razak. In this regard, Rahman was merely the agent to execute Razak's intention.
By the writer's own admission, Rahman would not have been able to do what he did if Tunku was still the PM. By the same token, it can be said that Rahman could not have done what he did had he not got the concurrence and instructions from Razak. And, of course, Rahman was adequately rewarded when he became the chief minister of Sarawak in 1970.
To conclude for Pin Pan Dan's benefit, when Razak was the education minister in 1950, Tunku was the PM and it was unlikely the former would allow Razak to make any change in the schools’ medium of instruction.
So the next best thing Razak was able to do was to convert Chinese-medium secondary schools to English-medium. This does not in any way negate Razak's role in being instrumental in changing the medium of instruction for schools from English to Malay when he became the PM.

Arrogant of Cabinet not To accept Apology

I refer to the malaysiakini report Cabinet rejects apology from rapper. I cannot believe we have ministers like Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz in the cabinet. Most of the time he doesn't talk sense and on the occasions when he wants to let the world knows he is a minister, he makes a fool of himself.

So what, may I ask, if the cabinet does not want to accept the apology of the rapper? Exactly what is his crime? What he sang in his rap was the truth and nothing but the truth. Nazri threatens to use the Sedition Act just because Wee used the national anthem tune for his rap song. The threat sounds so silly and preposterous if not for the fact that it was uttered by a minister. A national anthem or any other patriotic song is still merely a song. By itself it does not generate any feelings of patriotism or loyalty. It is when people sing it with passion and emotion that it becomes synonymous with patriotism and love for the country. Frankly there is nothing for the rapper to apologise for and if the arrogant cabinet doesn't want to graciously accept his apology then he can just tell them to go fly kites. There is a sad tendency for politicians to become arrogant nowadays. They fail to realise that it was the ordinary folk who gave them the mandate to govern on their behalf and their votes that put them there in the first place. After having being put there, they think they have a divine right to perch on top of the mantle and threaten the citizens. If Nazri is serious about the Sedition Act he should first of all have the guts to haul in Najib Razak and his nephew Hishammuddin Hussein Onn for their seditious threats. Or is Nazri so naive to imply that the rap song is more seditious than someone waving a 'keris' and making seditious threats? When the next election comes it is the duty of every voter to ensure we vote in people of calibre and to discard those who display arrogance and stupidity.

Our Education system is a Big failure.

Make no mistake. Contrary to what our DPM said in NST on 10th August, our country’s education is one big flop. Najib would be deluding Malaysians to say that the education system was a big success and attribute this success to his father.
Tun Razak, the father of Najib was the culprit responsible for the current malaise facing the present education system. As the Education Minister, he abolished the English medium of education and introduced the Bahasa Melayu medium. In one stupendous decision his action caused the loss of one generation of English-speaking students.
Prior to the abolishment of the English medium of education we were the envy of many countries in Asia. Foreign tourists who went to the most remotest part of our country were pleasantly surprised that practically everyone they met could converse in theQueen’s language. That was in the early fifties.
Today, even top government civil servants and the judiciary can hardly string two words of English. Is this how we define success in our education system? If this is Najib’s definition of success then either he is blind to the pathetic state of the education system or he is totally oblivious to what is happening in the country.
On reflection it would be fair to say that the failure of the education system gave a life -line to vernacular schools.
Prior to the change in the medium of education from English to Bahasa Melayu, vernacular schools were closing down for lack of student enrolment. Slowly but surely many of the vernacular schools were decimated.
However to be fair it was not the change in the medium of instruction that caused the popularity of vernacular schools. It was the slow and not subtle degeneration of the National Schools to religious schools that caused the mass exodus of Chinese andIndians to their respective vernacular schools.
Today, remnants of the failure of our education remains like a sore thumb.Teachers and headmasters of one race dominate every school. Not ordinary teachers but staunch religious teachers who never miss an opportunity to extol the virtues of their religion.Every morning and every recess, prayers are recited and non-Muslims students are expected to tolerate such feverish display of religiosity.
Today, our education system churns out 80,000 unemployed graduates. All of them bear living testimony of a failed education system. And yet our DPM has the gall to say that our education system is a big success. Wake up Najib. No matter what yardstick you use, the education system is a big failure.

Missing rm$1.3 billion for the Penang second Bridge.

History has an uncanny way of repeating itself. During Mahathir’s tenure as PM the construction of the North-South Expressway in 1984 was awarded to UEM (owned and controlled by UMNO) on the basis of a design-build-finance and operate concept.
Although the lowest tender bid was $3.2 billion, UEM was awarded the contract. Prior to completion,construction costs escalated to a phenomenal $6 billion. The escalated cost which normally would be borne by the turnkey contractor was underwritten by a govt soft loan.
This effectively meant that a competitive bid for a project which would cost $3.2 billion ended costing $6 billion. Presumably,the toll collection period had to be extended from an initial 15 years to 30 years to accomodate the doubling of the project cost.
The burden for the extra cost was shifted to the road users who now have to content and endure the paying of road toll for an extra 15 years (1988-2018). Later, in exchange for changing the increase in toll rate from every year to every three years, the concession period was further extended for another 12 years(2018-2030).
Had the contract awarded to the lowest bid at $3.2 billion was accepted, the govt would have saved $2.8 billion (or a shorter toll collection peiod of 15 years).
However, with its questionable practice of awarding the contract to a dubious company closely associated wih the ruling UMNO party, the ordinary citizen is bogged down with an additional period of 27 years to pay for the usage of the North-South Expressway.
Come 2007 and the cycle is about to repeat itself again with the award for the construction of the Penang second bridge. There was no tender for the project and it was speculated the bridge would cost RM2.3 billion. However, even before it got started, NST June 24th reported that the bridge would now cost RM3 billion.
On 11th July, the star reported that Malaysia would secure a loan of RM1.7 billion (US$500 million) from China for the construction of the Penang second bridge. This latest revelation demands some explanation.
Is the total loan of RM1.7 billion from the Exim bank of China represent the actual total cost of the second bridge? If it is then why was it touted by the govt that the bridge would cost RM3 billion?
Or like the NSE Expressway, the additional RM1.3 billion would eventually be structured as escalated cost to be indemnified to UEM?
When the RM1.3 billion is added to the actual cost of RM1.7 billion, the total cost of RM3 billion will be factored in as the total construction cost for the Penang second bridge. This RM3 billion will be the benchmark for determining the toll collection period extended to the concessionaire.
It was reported in the media that UEM would soon be signing a joint venture agreement with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) to build the second Penang bridge. For the sake of transparency and accountability it is incumbent upon the the govt to fully disclose the nature and substance of the joint-venture agreement between the two parties so as to ensure that the Malaysian public is fully aware of the total construction cost of the second bridge.
The disclosure of the actual cost is of paramount importance because it will determine the toll collection period that will be extended to the toll concessionaire. An artificial and inflated cost would only mean extending the toll collection period to an unreasonable time frame and consequently will cause additonal financial hardship to users of the second bridge.

If not for people like Rommel,South Africa would still have apartheid.

South Africa would still continue to practise Apartheid if the international community had taken heed of DPM advice that outside parties should “not meddle in the affairs and domestic policies of the country”.Yet it was pressure from the international community which viewed apartheid with such revulsion that it eventually led to the downfall and dismantling of South Africa’s racist policies.
Yet in the same breath it was business as usual for our DPM and the P.M himself to offer unsolicited advice as to how southern Thailand should be governed in order to quell the daily violence. Not only were advice given unsparingly but it was open govt policy to provide sanctuary for Muslim militants who seem to have unhindered access to Malaysian borders.
Our leaders are always in a denial mode whenever there are legitimate criticisms levied at our govt or our policies while at the same time feeling they have a divine right to pinpoint the inadequacies of other less unfortunate countries.
Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein should learn to control his temperament and avoid making foolish statements that foreigners should not interfere in govt business without first knowing its history.
In this globalised, flat world we are living now no country can live in isolation and this borderless world will continue to invite criticisms if policies and governance are not in accordance with norms.
Instead of pretending that the criticisms are without merit, our leaders should focus on examining the virtues and vices of the N.E.P policy in its present form.I f need be, there should be appropriate adjustments and revamp so that the international community will not view it as a discriminatory policy expressly for serving the purpose of only one race.
Dr.Thierry Rommel’s criticism of the N.E.P as head of the European Union delegation represent a unique departure of standard protocol but like the apartheid in South Africa it will not be the last until the vestige of its policy is finally dismantled.

Chua Soi Lek should resign or retract his statement.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek Should resign or retract what he said when he suggested that “Medical graduates who studied overseas may have to sit for a unified medical examination and,whether their university is recognised or not, a pass in the examination would allow them to practise in Malaysia”.
Almost all medical students who opted to obtain their medical degrees overseas are force by circumstances and not by choice.
Dr. Chua should be aware that majority of STPM students who attained excellent grades were deprieved of an opportunity to do medicine at a local university because most of the places were filled by Matriculation students reserved for bumiputras.
The dilemma faced by students who aspire to become doctors were either to do their course in a private medical instituition or venture overseas if they can afford the astronomical costs.
For those who can afford and opted to do their course overseas the news of Dr. Chua’s statement that they have to undergo a medical exam in order to practice in Malaysia must be a body blow.
After spending nearly $800,000 for a medical degree in U.K and having qualified from a medical institution which is far more superior than a local one it really boggles one’s imagination how Dr. Chua could ever come to the conclusion that local medical graduates should be exempted from a medical exam while overseas graduates from a more prestigious instituition should pass another local exam in order to practise here.
Dr. Chua’s suggestion can only be supported if he thinks that the local medical institution like UM and USM are far more superior than overseas instituition like Monash Uni, Melbourne Uni or any ofthe Unis in the U.K? Of course not because UM and USM are not even in the top 100 Unis in the world whereas most of the top foreign medical institutions in Australia and U.K are in the top 100.
Dr. Chua, who is from the MCA should have been the last person to suggest such a measure because almost 80% of the overseas medical students are non-Malays who have been deprived of an opportunity to study at a local medical Uni and to introduce such a measure is to put up more obstacles for the non-Malays.
Dr Chua should acquaint himself with the qualifying Board of Law exams which requires oversea lawyers who did not complete their Bar exam overseas to do the local CLP before they can practise while local lawyers are exempted.
Every year we see Honours Law graduates from overseas who sat for the CLP fail in this exam.The pass rate for the CLP is around 10% to 20% every year and most of the oversea students are non-Malays. Obviously most of the non-Malays could not do their Law course locally and their only route was overseas.
Dr. Chua should consider his suggestion to have a qualifying medical exam carefully.The implementation of this policy would not only destroy the dreams of many a medical student whose parents mortgage practically everything they had to ensure that their children obtain a medical degree to practise but would also cause the financial ruination of al ot of would-be doctors if they fail the local medical exam to practise.

Samy has utterly failed Indian community

I refer to the letter Samy has done a lot for the community.
I am surprised and profoundly appalled that there are intelligent, educated Indians who can come to S Samy Vellu's defence despite his dismal record of service to the Indian community. Jacob George must be utterly blind to the plight of the Indians to lavish extravagant praise on Samy for his 'tireless efforts' in providing 'a hearty breakfast and some transport money'.
Is that what the Indian community expect from their MIC leaders? If that is their expectation, then I am no longer surprised why the Indians are the most marginalised community.
Can Jacob George explain to the Indian community why after 50 years, the Indians cannot even attain a 3% equity in commerce? After more than 20 years at the helm of MIC, Samy has failed to uplift the plight of countless of stateless Indians not to mention the community’s unemployment problem, lack of educational opportunities, lack of government jobs and contracts, demolishment of Hindu temples and the litany of religious persecution which until today remains unresolved.
For their population size, crime by Indians are the highest. But who can blame them if they resort to a life of crime? They have families to care for and mouths to feed and if there is no legitimate way to earn a living, the only recourse is to seek refuge in criminal activities.

A Simple and Dignified wedding celeberation spoilt by the presence of the state Mufti.

Like many Malaysians, I was particularly enthralled when the Raja Muda, Raja Nazrin Shah in a speech some time ago declared that “Malaysians of all races, religions and geographic locations need to believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have a place under the Malaysian sun”.
For such pearls of wisdom to flow from a regal figure is extraordinary especially when we compare to the diversive speech by our erstwhile politicians in a political meeting sometime ago.
However, like many others, I feel disappointed that the simple and dignified wedding celebrations was tainted by the presence of the State Mufti, Datuk Seri Harussani Zakaria who was given a prominent role in conducting the wedding ceremony.
This religious head who is Perak’s State Mufti should have been charged and imprisoned for inciting racial riot at a Catholic church. His malicious intent to cause racial disharmony was deliberate. From his pulpit he announced to his shocked congregation that a mass conversion was about to take place in a Christian church.
His infuriated Muslim congregation marched to the Catholic Church and almost cost a riot. Fortunately, an ulgy incident was averted when it was found that the conversion was for a group of Indian girls.
A few months earlier the same Mufti announced to a shocked Muslim audience that there were 100,000 Muslims apostates. Of course he could not back his assertion with any statistics.
Raja Nazrin Shah’s speech and message to Malaysians would have been an unequivocal inspiration had his father the Sultan dismissed this mufti who have caused so much harm and discord among its various races.
How could the Crown Prince expect his subjects to believe his message when in his regal presence is a man who have sown so much discord?
Malaysians in general truly applaud the Crown Prince for his caring and inspiring message but what good are those messages if words are not matched with deeds?

What else does the Govt want from us?

On the same day when it was reported that two major banks “require law firms to have a minimum of three partners of which one must be Bumiputra with a minimum 50 per cent stake in the firm before they can do any business with the banks” another report in Singapore says “Job ads in the city: No age, race.”
Two different emphasis on policy matters, one from our close neighbour Singapore and one from our own virtually sums up the two different directions we are heading.
After 50 years of being in power our leaders are still promulgating laws and policies which are dividing the nation while in Singapore, the rationale is to eliminate race as a criterion to select candidates for jobs believing in the concept that “multi-racialism is a fundamental principle here”.
How divergent and different each nation’s path has become.One will lead the nation to ultimate destruction whilst the other will grow and prosper.
How can our leaders be so myopic and parochial? Why must it always be the Malays vs Chinese thing? Can’t they adopt a more pragmatic view that the Chinese are not their enemies and that we are all sitting in the same boat. If this boat sinks we sink together.
Our immediate competition will be from our neighbouring countries like Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. Yet this has not been their main focus.
Instead of directing their energy and strength to combat our external foes our leaders are doing their level best to weaken our own citizens.
How can our leaders be so short-sighted as to sacrifice long term gains for short term benefits?
Instead of looking at the bigger cake from outside our shores we are scrambling for the contracting small cake within our country.
With each passing day as citizens of this country, we feel hopeless and helpless as our leaders remain oblivious to the consequencs of their own policy-making decisions.
We can only hope with abated breath that a miracle will prevent the ruination of this country. Otherwise, only divine intervention can rescue us from this path of destruction.

RM534.8 million commission for Scorpene submarines - why Perimekar?

The pathetic explanation given by the Defence Ministry regarding the purchase of the Sukhoi SU30MKM fighter and Scorpene submarines raises more suspicions than answers.
The public is not concerned with the laborious explanation regarding the negotiations carried out by the Defence Ministry neither are they interested in the approval levels and the checks by the technical and price committee.
What the tax paying public is interested is why was the contract awarded to Perimekar to prepare support and coordination services for six years. The contract value was 114.96 mil euros(RM534.8 mil) to be paid in stages according to the level of progress of the project.
What kind of support and coordination services that Perimekar can provide that the Defence Ministry is not capable of providing?
The pertinent question that begs to be answered is why was the contract awarded to Perimekar. In view of the substantial amount involved (RM534.8 mil) was there any open tender for the contract?
Perimekar for all intent and purpose is jointly owned by Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera, Boustead Holdings Bhd and KS Ombak Laut Sdn Bhd.
The ownership of Perimekar reveals one interesting fact. None of them appears to have any expertise in the area of Defence equipment. So how could they provide any support and coordination services to the Defence Ministry?
The revelation of the owner of KS Ombak Laut Sdn Bhd is even more fascinating.A political analyst by profession and a close associate of DPM, Najib, Razak Baginda owns Ombak Laut.
The public deserves an answer why a contract of such proportion (RM534.8 mil) was awarded to a political analyst for a job that could easily be monitored by the Defence Ministry.
The nature of the contract albeit under the guise of support and coordination services is nothing but a concealment of commission paid to parties or party closely associated to the Defence Ministry.

Singapore Malays better off than Chinese in Malaysia.

It is rather ironic that Baki Aminuddin could venture to write in Malayisakini that “S’pore Malays worse off than Chinese here” when in fact the opposite is the truth.
Before I begin to answer his fallacious argument I would like to pose one very simple question to him. If S’pore Malays are really worse off in Singapore why is there no exodus of Malays from S’pore to Malaysia? Instead the opposite is happening where the Chinese are making a beeline to Singapore for work and education?
Baki is naive to deny that LKY’s statement that the BN govt is systemmatically marginalising the Chinese and non-Malays. Before condemning the S’pore govt of marginalising the Malays and their education Baki should support his assertion with facts ratherthan spurious allegations.
There is no official policy to deny the Malays the chance to further their education till tertiary level provided they have the abilty to compete on a level playing field. Can Baki honestly say that the Chinese and non-Malays in Malaysia are given the same opportunity in education? Is it not a fact that Malays are exclusively given places in Mara schools where with their one year matriculation exams they can hop into any of the local universities whereas non-Malays have to undergo the more rigorous two year STPM exam to gain admission?
Baki must be living in a different planet if he does not know that the NEP is a policy marginalising the non-Malays. Can he pin-point any specific policy in S’pore where there is such a policy of blatant discrimination against the Malays?
Baki fails even to understand that S’pore practices meritocracy and if a Malay is capable he can hold any post and this is vindicated by the post of President being held by an Indian.Similarly, the post of foreign minister and finance are also held by Indians.
It is really sad that people like Baki who are so used to the easy life with all the perks they enjoy in Malaysia that they tend to forget that what they abundantly get is at the expense of the non-Malays.
I would strongly urge Baki and those Malays who accept his illusory perception of the S’pore Malays to read a letter written by an illustrous Singaporean Malay, Dr.Syed Alwi, who wrote an article about the “The Malaysian Malay”.
Perhaps it would be appropriate for me to quote some words of wisdom from this great Singaporean Malay,”No one owes Malaysian Malays a living. Let me assure you that should Malaysia fails- the Malaysian Malays will suffer enormously.”

Ijok:PKR malay candidate a smarter Strategy

I refer to the letter Ijok: Can’t an Indian represent Malay rights? I must say that opposition party PKR is right in fielding a Malay candidate at Ijok for the very simple reason that strategy dictates such a choice. To field an Indian against another Indian from the BN would be suicidal.
If you study past records (the recent one being Machap), you will find that when two non-Malays contest against each other, the Malays will inevitably support the BN guy. DAP adopted the wrong strategy in Machap when it selected a Chinese. The DAP candidate obtained about 1,400 votes without a doubt from the Chinese as the Malays are averse to voting for a Chinese DAP member.
Assuming the BN Chinese candidate obtained 50% of the 1,400 Chinese votes, this means that balance of 3,600 votes came from the Malay voters. If DAP had fielded a Malay candidate and split the Malay votes, the result could have been a cliffhanger. The DAP (or PKR) Malay candidate would have obtained 1,800 + 1,400 = 3,200 votes, around the same as the BN candidate.
There is no doubt in my mind that if an Indian candidate from the opposition was nominated to contest in Ijok against an Indian from BN, the latter would win hands down. Now, with a Malay candidate, the opposition votes from the Chinese and Indians - plus a sizeable ‘split votes’ from the Malays - the battle for Ijok is more even.
For the opposition to win any contest against BN, the opposition cannot adopt the same strategy as the latter. BN has no option but to field an Indian candidate because it was a seat allocated to the MIC.
PKR or DAP have the luxury of not abiding by the same agreement that firmly binds the BN. Instead, they can face political reality and field a candidate that provides the best opportunity to win the seat based on the racial profile of a Malay-majority area.
It is a correct decision of PKR to field a Malay candidate. To do otherwise would severely diminish the chances of an opposition victory.

The NEP has been abused to help the rich

How long can the govt continue with its NEP policy? If the govt’s denial that ASLI’s report “of 30% bumiputra equity ownership had already been exceeded ” then it’s incumbent upon the govt to provide a clear official methodology as to how corporate equity is measured.
Earlier, the centre for public studies headed by Dr, Lim Teck Ghee had made a statement that its findings had established bumiputra equity ownership had exceeded 45%. In order to rebutt this findings by ASLI and to deny further credence to the findings that “corporate equity distribution was narrowly based, unrealistic and has resulted in an underestimation of the true volume and value of bumiputra equity”, the govt must reveal the official methodology to measure corporate equity. Based on itscalculation it must provide clear irrevocable proof that bumiputra’s equity has regressed to a lowly 18% in 2006.
At that time when the ASLI’s findings was published many UMNO leaders including the P.M called the report “baseless, inaccurate and irresponsible”. UMNO vice-President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin went even further and called it “rubbish”.
There was a beacon of hope to establish the truth when DPM Najib gave an assurance that the methodology used to calculate the Bumi’s corporate equity would be publicly revealed.That assurance was given almost six months ago and it appears quite likely that the DPM has reneged on his word.
NEP in its present form has been abused and lost its initial noble objectives of helping the poor and the needy instead of the rich of one single race. Instead of affirmative action based on poverty it was exclusively based on a policy of helping just one race irrespective of the wealth of that person.
Hence we have a situation where a rich bumiputra is entitled to purchase a high-end property at a discount. What kind of logic is it? If he can afford to buy a high-end property surely he don’t need a discount.
The NEP must embrace the concept that there are poor Malays Indians, Chinese, Ibans and Kadazans etc. If the NEP is to have any meaning it must help those in need irrespective of their race and not because they belong to a select community.
If there is any defect in ASLI’s report, it is its failure to pinpoint the recipients of the 45% of bumiputra equity.The revelation maybe academic but the truth is maybe only 10% of the bumis benefitted from the 45% corporate equity distributed by virtue of the NEP.
As long as the govt refuse to accept this reality the longer it will be for national reconciliation.The inequitable distribution of wealth can only mean that the poor and the needy will continue to be deprived of govt assistance while the rich will continue to benefit from this skewed affirmative policy.