When can I say I am proud to be Malaysian?

Last saturday, my mother received the worst possible news at 3pm. Her Korean student who had gone to Kuala Lumpur for a week long English course was found murdered, alongside an Indonesian maid, in a bungalow in Ukay Heights. There were no signs of break in and nothing was stolen. We scratched our heads wondering why anyone would want to kill a shy, timid 17 year old boy and an Indonesian maid in the wee hours of the morning.While CSI on TV might have the tagline that the "dead has spoken" through their high tech gadgetry and DNA profiling, here in Malaysia, we only have "the dead man tells no tales".

Two days prior to the news of the murder, my mother was informed of her students being mugged and robbed of their belongings in KLIA. Yes, the Kuala Lumpur- maybe-one-day-all-airports-will-be-like-this-one-international Airport. I shudder to think that one day all airports will see us travellers being mugged and robbed. Those type of airports, I can really do without.

And just before we heard that story, a friend told me that his house in Wangsa Maju was broken into in broad daylight. They ransacked the house and basically robbed them off everything of value.

Crime is so rampant nowadays, most of us have personally encountered or suffered one ourselves. If you throw a stone you're bound to hit someone who has had her handbag snatched, or have his house broken into.

And so we ask, what the hell is the police doing? And where the hell are they?

Apparently busy holding stupid roadblocks. And dressing up in balaclavas and arresting Anwar Ibrahim. Sending 9000 policemen to hold roadblocks all over the city which they termed "in order to maintain safety" because there was a rumour of a protest in front of the Parliament by Keadilan/PKR members?

While the rest of us are living in perpetual fear of being robbed/maimed/murdered when we walk the streets of Malaysia, the powers to be are busy squabbling over Anwar Ibrahim, merging of UMNO and PAS, Mercedes Benzs and Proton Perdanas, issuing statements asking Condoleeza Rice to mind her own business, disagreeing about Penang being an UNESCO Heritage Site and yelling at each other in Parliament.

Oh, how I wish I could one day say I am proud to be Malaysian and actually mean it.

when all we have become is an indirect consequence

“The talks are a good early step to resolving unity problems among the Malays of different political views.

“If that can lead to unity and stability, I’m sure the Chinese and Indian communities will welcome it because stability will lead to the people being able to improve their lives.”

- Umno supreme council member Datuk Mohd Shafie Apdal.

Huh?

How do talks which are centered around Islam and Malay unity(Malays of different political views)lead to stability which will lead to people being able to improve their lives?

Would it not make more sense for the PM to have talks with all political parties to decide how this political degradation can be resolved? Lim Kim Siang is right to ask "Why Malay unity and not Malaysian unity?"

Why indeed?

Since when did it become the primary focus of the PM to shelf us into Malay and Non-Malay? What happened to the PM for all Malaysians? What really happened during these discussions?

If we sit down and think about it, what IS there to discuss about Islam and political differences? You are either a Muslim or you are not. Is there a demarcation between an UMNO Muslim and a PAS Muslim? It is akin to saying there is a difference between a Christian MCA member and a Christian DAP member. Or a Hindu MIC member and a Hindu Keadilan member. Yes, I know religion has been politicised, but theoretically speaking, both UMNO and PAS are championing Malay rights. So what discussion are we talking about when one says its about unity and stability?

If you ask me this is what I understand from this discussion: Look, we only care about the Malay people and how it is fragmented inside UMNO now and how PAS should be reeled in to join UMNO instead of sticking with PKR so that we can dominate the country and get rid of the irrelevant other Non-Malays (and Anwar Ibrahim who is technically Muslim but you know, is now considered lain-lain with the rest of us Non Malays).

If indeed the PM was truly interested in bringing about unity, he should stop thinking in terms of Malay and Non-Malay. Unity affects us as a WHOLE. It affects us as Malaysians. Not as Malays, Chinese, Indian and so on. It should not be a "if I solved this part of the problem, the indirect outcome is that the rest of you benefit." Since when did us Non Malays get lump together as an indirect outcome or consequence?

This ignorance which is masked behind so called necessity for the country's stability and improvement of lives is so shameful. And what makes it even more shameful is the fact that our PM is not even aware of it. And shame turns into sheer fright when we discover that the PM might just never ever be aware of it.

Threesomes

"We are owned by the government and our financial result has been EXCEPTIONALLY good this year and we DON'T need THAT much to reinvest for the future. So, we are able to increase our dividend for the government." [emphasis my own]

-Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Marican , Petronas President and CEO

Okay, backtrack.

A month (or two) ago, was this not the same man who was whining about rising costs of sourcing for fuel? And that the Government was right in doing what they did?

And didn't the government say they cannot AFFORD to subsidise petrol because its eating into its funds? And that if they continue with the subsidy eventually it will go bankrupt? Or whatever bullshit crap they fed us?

So, what is with this RM62 billion given to the government's coffer?

WTF??

There we were being told it was necessary, that it was inevitable, rising prices of crude oil, it is natural for prices to soar, its a must, DEAL WITH IT.

Then they tell us actually well, Petronas is doing pretty f**king-fantastic? And can afford to give so much because they don't need so much to invest in the future? I may not be the sharpest tool in the shade, but even I can see that something is rotten here.

So the question now is, what is the Government going to spend the RM62 billion on? Obviously is not to upgrade the current public transport system because it is still in the "planning" stage. You know the compulsory three stages of all these so called grand plans.

First: Lay out grand plans in all major newspaper with graphics and illustrations so everyone goes "OOOHHH AHHHHHH" and include big ass launch of grand plan to introduce it to the people.

Second: Delay. Delay. Delay. Delay. Give lack of resources as reason for delay. Delay some more. Pray hard everyone forgets about Grand Plan.

Third: Scrap plan because there is not enough money to execute grand plan. Money found to have been used to pay consultant to set out the illustration and to draw graphics and another consultant to plan the big ass launch in First Stage.

Then it goes back to the starting point where its "the rakyat must understand why we cannot afford to subsidize these things. We do not have enough money which is urgently needed for more important national interests things!"

Repeat stage 1 to 3 again.

So at the end of it all, we have all been taken for a ride.

After all, there are three types of lies, just like the three stages of grand plans.

Lies;
Lies; and
DAMNED LIES.

Admit it. its Rep Ipsa Loquitor!

The state of the country's politics have reached a stomach churning, bitter taste in the mouth, sickening state.

There is the alleged "intimidation" of the ex-DPM, there is the opposition MPs staging a walkout from the Parliament after its motion of no confidence was rejected, then there is the lewd gesture by oh-so-famous Bung Mokhtar, the incessant yelling in the Parliament...and well, the list goes on.

I for one am sick and tired of these mud slinging tactics and constant primary school kids type of bickering. I was of course reminded by my friend J over dinner the other day.

J: See? Opposition voter!See what you have done!
Me: What?
J: See how everything is going to the dogs? The economy is suffering! While I agree that there should be change, we are not ready for it!
Me: What do you mean by we are not ready?
J: The economy is crashing!The whole world is suffering!
Me: So when will we be ready?
J: Not now.

You see the thing about the so called non opposition voters is the fact that they like to BLAME the opposition(and its voters) for everything that goes wrong. The current state of affairs does not come into being unilaterally. The PM did not perform, people get upset and ask for change. The current administration was waist deep in corruption, the people are furious and yearn for change. The DPM allegedly blew some Mongolian up, bloggers get upset and blog about it, and people are informed and they too get upset and demand for justice and the truth. The Government throws everybody they have no concrete evidence to charge in court,into prison under the ISA, people question the validity and demand for change. The Government classify every document which is suspicious under the OSA, people demand for transparency.

Makes sense doesn't it? It is clearly a Rep Ipsa Loquitor situation. "The thing speaks for itself."

As much as BN supporters would LOVE to pin the whole sickening state of politics on the Opposition and its voters alone, the truth is that there was already something rotten in the state of Malaysia and this is something that is inevitable, and maybe just maybe, necessary before we can move forward.

Of course, whether the current situation is the best way to move forward, we have yet to conclude on that. Can the opposition do a better job? Definitely. Can they be more productive instead of just pointing out the problems, but offer no solution? Yes. Can they give us a concrete alternative instead of just words? We truly hope so.

And can the Government eventually accept its mistakes instead of denying they exist? Hopefully. Can the current administration hear the voices of the people and act according to their interests? We can only pray they do.

I do not deny there is a urgent need of improvement on both sides. But until the BN supporters open up their ears and their eyes to the many wrongs of the current administration, they will continue blaming the Opposition for the sad state of affairs. And until the Opposition voters start using their heads and start thinking of great alternative ideas to EFFECT change instead of just ASKING for it, we will just be a bunch of empty, noisy vessels.

I think we should call it a truce. And try to work together. I think that is the only way forward. (All these political bickering are starting to harm animals.Lim Guan Eng's dog is suspected to have been poisoned. Like come on people. No animals should be harmed in the making of this sad political state of affairs.)

Frankly dear, I dont give a damn

FRANKLY,

I do not care about where Bala is. In Asean? Not in Asean? Stashed away by the police? Went into hiding by himself? Who cares?

I do not care whether his first Statutory Declaration is the truth or whether the second one is. He told his nephew the first one was true? He told his popped out of nowhere lawyer the first one was done under duress? Who cares?

I do not care whether the Mongolian was murdered by the DPM or not. Did he introduce her to the political analyst in Paris? Who cares?

I do not care whether the DPM's wife was there to watch the Mongolian being blown to pieces. Why is she not suing for defamation if it is not true? Who cares?

I do not care whether ex-DPM jailed for corruption and sodomy did or did not fabricate his black eye report. Who was there and witnessed it? Who cares?

I do not care whether the above mentioned ex-DPM does or does not want to swear on the Quran or whether the ex-DPM's student leader I-was-sodomised accuser wants to swear on the Quran or challenges the ex-DPM to swear on the Quran. Does the Quran automatically make one speak the truth? Who cares?

I do not care whether the Americans are meddling in our internal affairs or not. What right do they have to say they will not tolerate any political conspiracy against the ex-DPM? Who cares?

I do not care whether the ex-PM held a boot camp for judges when he was still PM. Why did the judge only speak of it now and not then? Who cares?

I do not care whether the MIC dude who left MIC will only rejoin MIC when that man who never leaves the President seat finally leaves. Who cares?

I really do not care.
If the truth(or whatever version of it) is revealed, I do not mind knowing it.
But I do not care about it.
Some of you may, but what is the use of caring?

What I DO care is this:-

How the PM is going to stop the fuel increase to ease the burden on the rakyat?
When is the Parliament going to start being a place where great minds meet and not where fools gather?
When will the rakyat finally see the fruits of BN's labour which actually benefits each and everyone of us?
When will Malaysia cease to be a developing country and be a developed one?

When will what we want actually matter? When will the government listen to us?

What we always have are questions, but what we will never attain are truthful satisfactory answers.

Sodomy is SO yesterday

"If there is more than one way to do a job, and one of those ways will result in disaster, then somebody will do it that way."
- Edward Murphy

Now, this quote came to mind when I read about the sodomy fiasco that is Anwar Ibrahim and Saiful.

Firstly, this whole fiasco is termed a "job" because whispers are heard saying that this is another conspiracy to bring Anwar Ibrahim down. After all, Mr. PM never expected the man he released after winning the 2004 General Election as a means of appeasing pro PKR voters and showing the rest of the citizens that he is a "fair and kind" man, would somehow be his worst feared adversary in 2008. While the PM must be whacking himself on his head saying "STUPID STUPID STUPID!", Anwar is once again made to defend himself and his sexuality.

Now, I for one do NOT care about Anwar's sexuality. Whether he likes it from the front or from behind, does not matter to me because the only direction I want to know about is his direction for the country. Where we are headed and where he thinks we should be heading and how the hell we are going to get there.

I do not care if he has his own guilty pleasures in the confines of his own home (or whatever high class condominium in Damansara Heights) just as I did not and still do not care about Chua Soi Lek's visits to the Johore hotel for his romp in between the sheets.

Many of us lament that this is a lame attempt by the Government and the fact that there are pictures of this Saiful-I-was-sodomised-woe-is-me taking pictures with BN Ministers JUST before he decided to join as a volunteer for PKR, makes us stop in our tracks and for a second think, "Hmmmm....mere coincidence or a well thought and planned conspiracy?"

After all, logically, IF Anwar Ibrahim is gay and he wanted to have sex with another man, why would he choose ANYBODY who works for him? I mean, the gay community in Malaysia is not a minority as many of us think. It is quite substantial and I am SURE many of them would willingly be Anwar's fellow romp mate if he needed one and would definitely not be making police reports against him. In fact they might boast "Do you know WHO I was with yesterday!? ANWAR IBRAHIM!WOOHOO!SCORE!"(okay perhaps less theatrics, but you know what I mean)

So where IS the logic? I for one will think Anwar has more brains and sense than the Government does. I for one think that the man has a little more integrity than a lot of other politicians with their holier than thou attitude and I for one expect these type of conspiracies to die with the old administration.

So the questions remain. Did he or did he not? Is he or is he not?

I can smell the disaster that is coming our way.

Let us hope we are all ready for the consequences.

The wonderful Malay

If you ever had any suspicion that the ex-MB who is now in the Opposition in Selangor is NOT man for all races let me confirm that suspicion for you today.

Q & A with Khir Toyo today in the NST:-

"Q: Why did you enter politics?
A: I wanted to help the Malays.(followed by bla bla bla, irrelevant things)

....

Q: What do you do in your free time?
A: Thinking and reading. I do a lot of thinking to understand what is going to happen to the Malays, and the country and the situation is an uncertainty now. I spend two to three hours a day thinking..."

Now, I for one, am a person who finds it impossible to only spend two to three hours thinking. In fact, every minute of the day, I am thinking. When I say something, I think. Right before I say something, I think. While I am working, obviously, I have to think. So how DOES the ex- MB do it? Only two to three hours in a day that he ACTUALLY THINKS. The rest of it, well, he spends..erm, not thinking. Ahhh.. the high requirements one needs to comply with in order to be a politician. I am envious.

Anyway, moving along. Now, this interview in the NST was a real eye opener. I mean we always had our suspicion that the Ex-MB was never a man for the rakyat. After all there were/are allegations of corruption and mismanagement of funds which saw only a minority of the people profiting.

How can a man who was the Menteri Besar of Selangor, announce to Malaysia that he joined politics to help the Malays and all he thinks about (in the two-three of his thinking hours in a day) is how to help the Malays (and oh yeah, the country comes second to the Malays)? The last I checked, Selangor has other races living in it too. Like oh, I dont know, Chinese, Indians, Sikhs...? Should he not be thinking about the people who live in Selangor regardless of their race? Should it not be "I am thinking of how to help the people in Selangor, or I am thinking about how to improve the situation in Selangor?" Apparently not. Apparently, it is all about the Malays and UMNO.

So what is this man who was once suppose to look out for Selangor people saying? That he truly does not care about non-Malays? That all he cares about from the first day he joined politics (after witnessing how handsome Mahathir was apparently) was all for the Malays?

When asked why BN lost in Selangor, he says" I dont want to blame people but basically the Chinese and Indian voters did not vote for BN"

Gee, we wonder why.