PAS is showing its True colour

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

Religion is the problem Facing Mixed union.

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

Certification of Houses should be left to the professionals.

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

Beat The Best in South-East Asia First.

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

We are a Nation Of Barbarians.

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

Custom Dept should not Fool the public.

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

Why do dogs attack humans?

I wish to refer to your article dated 28th June
instant with the caption "dog attack was unprovoked.'I
live in a mixed rural neighbourhood comprising of
malays, chinese and siamese in Kelantan.I love dogs
and animals in general but because of my proximity
with my malay neighbours I find it inappropriate to
keep them.However my siamese neighbours did not have
the same reservation and one actually kept a few
mongrel dogs as pets in their compound.Whenever the
young malay neighbourhood's children pass my siamese
neighbour's house they would throw pebbles and stones
at the sleeping dogs.This provacative acts caused the
dogs to bark and sometimes coming out of their
enclosures to chase the malay children.Sad to say this
act of provacation was not only confined to the malay
children but also to the adults malay.
We must not underestimate the intelligence of
dogs.From then on, these dogs will always inevitably
bark and chase malay children passing in front of my
siamese neighbour's house.Not surprisingly, the dogs
did not bark or chase any of the chinese or Siamese
children who had not provoked the dogs.
It is rather sad that muslims especially
children are taught at a young age to detest dogs in
view of their religious taboos.This instinctive
behaviour to attack and provoke dogs whenever they
come in contact is the cause of many attacks on malay
children or for that matter any children who choose to
provoke them unnecessarily.
Perhaps muslim religious ulamas could provide
some education that dogs like all other animals are
also God's creature and like all other animals they
deserve as much to live .

Demolishing Hindu Temples.

The demolishing of Hindu temples in several
states recently caused outrage among the indian
communnity.But looking at it objectively, it was
something long overdue but sadly the manner in which
it was done left alot of disharmony and
discontentment.Part of the blame rest solely with the
indian community for building shrines on an ad hoc
approach.Many not only flouted local regulations in
putting up those shrines but many erected their
shrines on state and private lands without proper
authorisation.
In Negri sembilan, the presence of such
shrines are not only an eye sore but have been
flourishing without proper approvals.These shrines
whether built on state or private land would have to
be eventually demolished.Building of shrines or Hindu
temples cannot be allowed to continue without proper
control and regulation.
However, part of the blame should also be
shouldered by the respective state govt.While mosques
have been allowed to flourish in practically every
nook and corner of townships, the govt. has totally
ignored the allocation of land and funds for other
religion to build their temples, churches and
shrines.It is really very sad that while the govt
allow the practice of other faiths it has not been
fair in its allocation of land for other faiths to
build places of worship.
The govt cannot continue to remain indifferent
especially when religion plays an important role in
every ones life.For Malaysians to live in harmony with
its diverse race and religion the govt cannot simply
ignore the problem of land for other faiths to build
places of worship.To do so would be at their own
peril.

There Are Crooked Judges.

Who says there is allegations without any basis?The C.J must be ignorant about what is happening at his doorstep.I was a victim of a corrupt judge.I made a formal complaint to the then Lord President Tun Dzaiddin and he didnt even reply to my letter.Naturally there was no action and I was just helpless as there was nowhere I could turn too.
My case was a straight forward one.A lorry rammed into my store and caused the building to collapse. I made a police report and proceeded to file a civil suit against the owner of the lorry. Since he was covered under insurance, the latter defended the suit.As a layman I was convinced it was an open shut case as through no fault of mine the lorry carelessly rammed into my building.My lawyer even pointed out to the judge that I could not be blamed for the accident since it was impossible for the building to cause the accident.Therefore it was not even probable that I had contributed in any way to the accident.But that was not the case because I lost the case. I would have left the matter as it was and blame it on my lawyer if not for an incident I witnessed with my own eyes.
On the morning of my case as I made my way to the court's canteen I saw the insurance lawyer chatting and laughing merrily with the judge at the canteen.I was so disgusted at the sight and felt at that moment my case would be prejudiced by the close rapport between the Insurance counsel and the judge.
I immediately wrote a letter to the then Lord President, Tun Dzaiddin and related the whole incident, disclosing my full name and the court involved.I did not even receive a courtesy reply and no action was taken of the matter.I feel so aggrieved at the whole matter but what recourse do I have?
If the judiciary is serious about cases of corruption then it should set up a committee to review such cases like mine and investigate why such straight forward case like mine could end up losing to the insurance company.
Because of this case I have completely lost faith in our judiciary.

What is the big deal selling sand to Singapore?

Frankly, can anyone tell me whats the big deal in
selling sand to Singapore?To me it is purely and
simply a commercial decision.If the price is right and
if we have sand whats wrong in selling sand to
Singapore.? Whats the big deal?Unless some idiot
equate selling sand as selling part of Malaysia.If not
if we have surplus sand why not sell as much sand as
Singapore wants.
Now coming to the use of air space by Singapore. Whats
the big deal here? Is there a compromise in our
sovereignty by allowing them to use our air
space?Rubbish. It is the norm for neighbours to allow
each other to use each other air space for security
and surveillance purpose.After all we are not at war.
So what is really wrong with the gesture of allowing
the use of the air space.Surely Singapore is not going
to ues our air space to subvert our country.
If both of the squabble is over a non issue why
pretend to blame Singapore for asserting its right for
a balance benefit?Afterall why should Singapore come
out with $700 million to build its side of the bridge
if it does not benefit them at all.
The trouble with our leaders is that they have always
treated Singapore as a small brother they think they
can bully.But looking at their economic progress and
their superlative adminisration of their small Island
state, I am begining to wonder who is the big brother
and who is the small brother.

Monday, May 01, 2006 9:28:40 PM

Little Napoleons at Land Office.

I would like to refer to the article
'fourteen years and no strata titles.'As a developer I
sympathise with owners of such building.The
fundamental problem lies not with the developer but
with the respective land office that are responsible
for the issuance of the strata titles.This problem is
endemic in all states and in all building that
requires strata titles to be issued.
It is common knowledge that those who are
responsible to issue strata titles in the land office
are reluctant to do so unless and until they are paid
by the developers.The developers on the other hand
having completed their work and having obtain their
certificate of fitness are reluctant to pay any under
table money to those corrupt land office staff.Hence
we have a stalemate which in many instances can drag
on for twenty years or even more.
The case of the apartments build at Vista
Komanvel is an example.The Commonwealth games
apartment were completed in 1998 and used to house the
atheletes.After the Games the apartment were sold.
Nearly 10 years down the road those unfortunate enough
to buy are left without a strata title.What reason can
the land office have for not issuing starta titles
when the apartments were initially certified fit to
house atheletes and subsequently deemed fit to be sold
to buyers for occupation?
When buyers fail to obtain strata titles the
blame no longer rest with the developer.Their duty and
obligation ends when they obtain the certtificate of
fitness for occupation.In such instances the full
blame rest solely with the land office where the
little Napoleons will not budge unless and until they
are paid under table money.

National Schools Doomed to fail

The govt don't seem to know why non malay
parents dont want to send their children to National
schools.In the 9MP, the govt propose to introduce
mandarin, tamil classes and then went on to suggest
that this will solve the problem of poor enrolment of
non malays in National schools.Sadly this will not be
the case and National schools are doomed to fail.
The issue here is not about language.It has not
always been about language but because of other
issues.During the time of Tuanku Abdul Rahman, when
National schools was conducted in the English medium
droves of chinese and indians together with malays
were enrolled in National schools.Vernacular schools
were slowly forced to close because of lack of
enrolment.During that time there was no mandarin or
tamil taught in those schools and inspite of this it
was the choice of every parents irrespective of race
to send their children to National schools.
Why has the situation changed since then and why
are non malay parents shuning national schools?The
answer lies with the present set up and structure of
national schools.Time and time again this have been
brought to the notice of the relevant authorities but
the problem has never been addressed.
National schools in its present form has been
transformed to semi religious malay
schools.Headmasters and headmistress of these schools
have deemed it fit to impose their islamic standards
on attire, morality and conduct to all and sundry
without regard whether they are muslims or non
muslims.Relgious obligations are performed during
classes in the presence of non muslims who are suppose
to follow the rituals.
There was a time when National schools have a
healthy mix of malays and non malays teachers but now
National schools are predominantly of one race.When
this happen there is no longer any racial and
religious sensitivity.Collectively it was alright to
propagate their religion to all and sundry
irrespective of race.
Unless and until such time when the relevant
authorities come to appreciate the realty of the
situation it is unlikely there will be any significant
response to the govt's effort in promoting enrolment
of non malays in national schools.

When 15 is better than 16

Before attempting to reform the country's
education system, the education ministry should learn
how to define what constitute a top scorer. Such basic
principles in determining a top scorer seems to be an
enigma to our education ministry and reflects poorly
on their ability to perform a simple task properly.
What logic and rationale can they conclude that
a student who takes 15 subjects and obtain 15A1s is
better than a student who takes 16 subjects and obtain
15A1s and 1A2? By any stretch of imagination , common
sense tell us that Chong Huey Ee should be the top
student by virtue of her extra 1A2 nothwithstanding
that it was an A2. The fact that she had already
obtained 15 A1s is already equivalent to the declared
top student of 15A1s but in addition has an extra
A2.If such simple logic is lost at the education
ministry then better not resort to try an reform the
education system.

Reduce Import duty on cars

The response to the price increase of petrol
has not being encouraging.For the first time in its
history of petrol price increase it has to review and
convince the general populace why it is essential to
impose such a drastic hike.The govt's petrol price
increase is justified in view of the increase in the
world's petroleum price but the increase of petrol
price should be followed by a corresponding decrease
in the import duties of car.The govt cannot have both
i.e. increase in petrol price and retention of the
current high import duties on car.
Our import duties on car is already one of
the highest in the world and to increase the price of
petrol without a corresponding decrease in import
duties in car price would be a double whammy for
consumers.
There is no longer any justification for the
govt to continue petrol subsidy.Over a period of time
all petrol and diesel subsidy should be removed.The
daily long queues of foreign cars at petrol station at
Bukit Kayu Hitam, Rantau Panjang and further south at
Johore Bharu should be sufficient reason enough why
subsidy cannot continue.At a subsidy price of 50cts
per liter our nation is losing millions daily to
foreigners who capitalise on the price differential
between the neighbouring country.
Then there are the profiteers, the fishermen in
Kelantan and Kedah who filled their subsidised diesel
and sell them to Thai Trawlers in mid sea.This
practice will continue as long as there are easy money
to be made.
The decision to increase the price of petrol
has been made and the people have to live with it but
the govt can be compassionate by ameliorating the
effect by decreasing the price of import duties on car

Our Judiciary is inconsistent

Dear Editor,
Recently a rapist received a 20 year sentence
and a couple of strokes of rotan for his crime. A few
days later the murderers of Darren Kang pleaded guilty
and were sentence to 5 years each.
Next, eleven KLIA workers were caught stealing from
the baggages of airport passengers and they were fined
each between $1000 and $1500.The money and valuables
they stole amounted to $19500.
Then on march 4th at Shah Alam court, judge Azimah
Omar sentenced a Chinese national to a fine of $10,000
in default 12 months jail for selling VCD.
What message is the judiaciary trying to convey
to criminals? That the sentence for murder is lighter
than rape and that it is alright to steal but a more
serious offence to sell illegal VCD?
Frankly such ridiculous decisions have cast a
doubt on some of the ability of our judges to preside
and past judgement.Its absolutely shocking when you
compare the gravity of the offence that they can be so inconsistent.

AllPetrol and Diesel Subsidy should be removed.

Malaysians should support the govt's decision
to increase petrol and diesel price by 30 cts per
litre.This decision in fact should have been gradually
implemented a long time ago so that by now all vestige
of subsidy should have been removed by now.Any
artificial pricing not supported by economic
principle cannot be sustained over a period of
time.Subsidies tend to manipulate the pricing system
and creates a situation for profiteering and black
marketeering.Such a situation normally will benefit a
section of the population such as fisherman and
certain transportation sectors.
If Thailand and Indonesia can move towards
abolition of subsidy there is no reason why Malaysia
cannot do so.The fundamental principle to adhere is to
let supply and demand determine the market price.Over
time all other prices will be determined by market
forces and will be accordingly priced.
However, the govt should proceed with caution
its intention to divert the subsidy saved to be
chanelled for developement and the transportation
sector.Malaysians will certainly not accept a
situation where the benefits of the majority from the
subsidy be diverted to a few political cronies who
will benefit from the contracts dished out for
political motives.If this was to happen then its like
taking the subsidy of the majority and putting it into
the pockets of the miniority.Hopefully, this will not
happen.

Mistake To Suspend sarawak tribunal

Our cabinet ministers have made the wrong decision in suspending the licence of the Sarawak Tribunal.The cabinet in taking such a drastic step fail to consider the plight of the 300 workers of the paper.If each worker has 3 dependents this means about 900 people will be affected by the decision to suspend the paper.It is liken to using the hammer to kill an ant.The appropriate punishment would be for those responsible to resign and that should have been the end of the matter.To punish the whole group of people for the mistake of probably one person is too extreme.Can the cabinet ministers tell the children of those dependents whose father or mother had to stop work and cannot bring food to the table because of what the govt did?It is a shame really that the real victims are the innocent workers.Frankly , our ministers just dont seem capable of even making a simple decision without making the whole issue into a mountain from a mole hill.

Article 121(1a) Of the Constuition must be amended.

The P.M has degenerated to a pathetic figure, devoid of any direction and authority to bring our nation of diverse culture and religion to a harmonious conclusion.The non-muslims have a right to demand that the Federal constituition protect the religion of the miniority.The current dilemma facing the non muslim is that the present article 121(1a) does not provide sufficient safeguard to ensure that the rights of the non muslims are protected.The civil courts have abdicated their responsibilty to hear cases involving non muslims when islamic religious issues are involved.The civil courts as it is have surrendered their judicial supremacy in direct contravention of the Federal constituition and have accepted the supremacy of the Syariah law.This act alone has left the non muslims position vulnerable and devoid of any protection from the civil courts.Unless article 121(1a) is amended to address this lacuna there will always be another case similar to Moorthy .Can Malaysia afford to have its people facing this uncertainties over and over again without its attendant consequences?

DBKL Action Is Unreasonable

Enough is enough. DBKL must come out with a
clear irrevocable policy of releasing bumiputra houses
for sale to the non-bumis once conditions have been
complied.Developers around the Klang Valley of late
have been mystified by the frequent changes in the
conditions that DBKL have implemented.The previous
condition was that developers have to advertise in the
major newspapers for sale of housing units to
bumiputra at a discount.After a gestation period of 3
months if the units allocated to bumis are not sold
then they are released to the general public.Now they
have changed their conditions and have insisted that
developers have to do road shows at shopping centres
such as at the Mid-Valley to attract bumi buyers.After
having complied with the 2nd condition, DBKL has now
once again insisted that another road show be carried
out to get bumi buyers when it was quite evident from
the previous road show that bumis were simply not
interested in housing estate with a big majority of
non malays.
DBKL doesnt seem to realise that road shows
and advertisement in the news media cost alot of money
and by imposing these unreasonable demands they are
causing indirectly to the abandonment of housing
projects which would otherwise have been completed.
If DBKL is so adamant in helping the bumis to
buy these houses then it should ask its state agency
to buy up all the bumis unit and sell them to bumis at
a later date.That way at least developers are not
burdened with the holding cost when DBKL keep on
introducing unreasonable conditions.
The Housing Ministry is partly to blame for the
current policy of imposing the 30% sale of houses to
bumis.This is an old policy forged in the 80s with the
vested purpose of helping bumis to increase house
ownership.At no time was it the intended purpose of
the policy to help rich bumis to purchase property at
a discount.Now in the Klang Valley house costing
$300,000 and above are given discount.These are houses
that are only affordable to the rich bumis and if they
can afford to buy such high end houses then there is
no rationale for non bumis to subsidise their
purchase.It is high time the Housing Ministry correct
this unfairness and perhaps introduce a more equitable
policy like stipulating that houses costing $100,000
and below should be sold at a discount to bumis.That
way those bumis that are deserving will only benefit
and not the rich bumis.

DBKL is not functioning

The Commonwealth Games is over for almost
10 years now.The apartments that housed the atheletes
were immediately sold after the games and those
unfortunate souls who had the misfortune to purchase
the apartments are now faced with a dilemma.Ten years
down the road the purchasers of those units have still
not received their strata titles despite certificate
of occupation been issued and all purchasers have
moved into their apartments.
The purchasers would like to pose the question
to DBKL.Why are strata titles not been issued after 10
years?The buildings were completed ten years ago and
certificate of fitness was issued for occupation.One
suspect that the developer has not given a bribe to
DBKL officers and that explain the lack of urgency in
issuing the strata titles.DBKL owes the purchasers an
explanation for such an inordinate delay and their
explanation should dispel any doubts over their
motives for not issuing the titles.