We need help in Malaysia too!

Every year after the SPM or STPM results are out, one lucky lad will be featured in the front page of the papers as the hero who got 30As, or 6As or whatever amount of As that is considered straight As.

Then a few months down the road this same lad will be featured in the papers again under "Woe is me, I have no scholarship". And this lad will more likely than not be a Non- Muslim/Malay. And he will find that his peers with results which are not as spectacular as him would have gone on to further their education in prestigious universities or be offered fantastic scholarships to further their education.(and half the time, you dont even HAVE to return to Malaysia to work if say you are getting married and you want to wait for your spouse to finish HIS/HER education first before you come back, OR you can do a disappearing job and the authorities will not go after the guarantors because "they have moved"- what do you mean we can use the MYKAD to trace them? IMPOSSIBLE!They have vanished!VANISHED!)

I digress.

SO, every year, there will be a big brouhaha about why the government does not give scholarships to those who truly truly deserve it. So many of our talents move down South to Singapore where their intelligence and their talents will be recognised and appreciated. Many of us Malaysian have felt let down by the blatant discrimination shown by the Government when it comes to offering scholarships. Many of us have been looked over just because we were not of a certain race or creed.

You think that things cannot get ANY more unfair, then I read this today:-

BEIJING: Fifty scholarships will be given to Muslim students in China to further their studies in Malaysia.

MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said the Al-Bukhary Foundation would be offering the scholarships annually.

The move was to help the poor students gain an education, he said during a lunch hosted by the China Islamic Association at the Muslim Tulufan Restaurant here yesterday.

Ong is leading a political and trade delegation to Beijing to mark 35 years of China-Malaysia diplomatic relations.

There are 22 million Muslims in China and Islam is one of the five major religions in the country.

“We hope the exchanges will help provide Malaysians an opportunity to know the Chinese Muslims,” Ong said.



Firstly, there are poor students HERE in MALAYSIA you sasquatch!
Secondly, why do Malaysians want to know about the Chinese Muslims? They are from China, they are Muslims! Why dont you just invite them to come over to Malaysia as tourists? I can learn about them when they are here as tourists too. For eg:-

Hello. Are you from China?
Yes.
Great.You Muslim?
Yes.
Cool.Enjoy yourself in Malaysia. There are halal food everywhere.
Thank You.


SEE? Makes perfect sense to me! But giving out money to POOR CHINESE MUSLIMS in CHINA to pursue their education here? Come on.

Yes, I know its given by the Al-Bukhary Foundation and not the Government, but dont you think it will make sense for the government to tell Tan Sri Mokhtar Al- Bukhary to "eh, give to Malaysians la. "

And SO WHAT IF HE ALREADY DOES GIVE TO MALAYSIANS? There are STILL poor ones who did not get it!AND WHAT ABOUT NON MUSLIMS WHO LIVE IN CHINA? THEY ARE POOR TOO!How about Malaysians who want to know about Buddhist Chinese? OR Malaysians who want to know about Christian Chinese? Huh?

*irrational anger*

Anyway, these are the type of things that piss me off. These are the type of things that make me wonder whether these people with all the money and the power actually have brains! Or they were just prompted along to riches and wealth with help from certain quarters.

The true evil is the war, not the countries in it.

HELL YEAH lets boycott Coca Cola!
And Maybelline, and Starbucks and everything that America has a hand in.

This way, America will know that Malaysia CONDEMNS the excessive aggressiveness of Israel in the Gaza strip. So far the death toll has gone up to 500. And in comparison, only 5 (okay maybe now around 10) Israeli's have died. The Horror! Why should there be such violence against the Palestinians when their initial incessant shelling of Israel only caused 5 people to die??! So what they sort of "started" it first? After all, in the words of my friend A "How would YOU like it if someone came into your living room and took posession of it?"

My simple answer? If my family had to die for it, I will gladly give up my living room.

SURE, we CONDEMN the war. The atrocities. The violence. But how many of us have sat down to think, now, why is Israeli retaliating as such? Is it because Hamas have been shelling them every damn day? And the rest of Palestine have plainly refused to recognise Israel? Just as the Palestinians have the right to live, so do the Israelis. Sure, the Israeli's were the unfortunate ones to be plucked out of obscurity and placed right smack in the middle of Islam central hence taking over land belonging to Palestine. How many have thought of how the Israeli's felt? If I were living in Israel I would wish every day that my country will one day LIFT itself and just go somewhere else with no opposition to the creation of that state.

Yes, I may sound biased, but at the end of the day, what I truly feel is that there is NO justification for the war. AND there is NO reason why both sides just cannot see eye to eye. Yes, this is the reality. Israel is there. Unless a big tsunami washes the whole of Israeli away (or my LIFT and go somewhere else theory comes to fruition), it is not going to disappear one day. So, would it not make more sense to just accept the inevitable and then move on from there?

Instead of all these fighting?

And by countries taking SIDES, it just FUELS the war. Malaysia can condemn the WAR, not Israel. Malaysia should condemn the VIOLENCE. NOT Israel. Because why do we support Palestine just because they are an Islamic country? What if it were the other way round? Would we condemn Palestine? Did we do anything to boycott anything Islamic during September 11? Or did many of us secretly thought HAHA, its about time that US feels the wrath of the Muslim world?

I do not agree to the stand that Malaysia has taken. We are supposed to be Non Aligned. And by that it means we DO NOT take sides. And by boycotting America because they are supporting Israel, we are taking sides. Both countries have been aggressors. And they both have to stop. Now its a game of lets see who has more support. And this will never end if we jump into the fray.

CONDEMN THE WAR.

Stop the blame game!

Anyone who lives in Bukit Antarabangsa or has/had any relatives who lived there is going to hate me for saying this. But I just HAVE to.

It is NOT always the local authorities who are SOLELY to be blamed. And it is not also the developers who are to blame. Ever heard of if there is DEMAND, there is SUPPLY?
Let us just say, I as a developer, I have this MEGA project at the hillside. I have luxury condo units and I have big ass swimming pools, and all that jazz. Now all these I made it rich and I have to flaunt my money Malaysians will FLOCK to these developments to buy it. So I make big bucks and I think gee, Malaysians LOVE this whole hillside luxury living concept. I think I ought to go look for another one.

So the Highland Towers taught the developers nothing. Even the buyers learnt nothing. You would think us Malaysians will think, we should BOYCOTT these developments. Let us NOT buy into the whole idea. The developers should stop it. And if we do not buy any units, the whole development will go bust and then eventually they will learn that there is no demand. But NO, Malaysians continue FLOCKING to these developments. Buying and buying and buying. So with demand going up, there ought to be supply right? If I were a developer and a businessman, I see the opportunity, I seize it!

So knee jerk reaction. Let us SUE the developers and the local authorities for allowing these developments. They are to blame. They caused the landslides from bad monitoring. They did not do the irrigation well enough. Now my mother/sister/brother/relative is dead and gone. But what have I done to stop these developments? I bought a unit there because it was BIG and Beautiful. I have money, I want a big house! What have I done to curb the demand? nothing. But why should I blame myself as well?Its easier to point a finger at someone else.

Am I being a mean bitch here? Yes I am. But I just think pushing the blame game has to stop. EVERYONE is to be blamed. It is like saying let us stop polluting the environment. Every damn advocate(or 98% of them) of "cleaner environment" campaign drives a car. Hybrid or not. It still emits pollutants right? Whether at 10% or 80%, it STILL Does.So you are STILL polluting the damn environment. Why dont you cycle everwhere? Why do you have air con units in your home? Why do you have electricity? Why dont you switch to solar power? All these contribute to environmental pollution.

So yes, I am being mean here, but I think I just have to say it.

After all, this is MY blog and I have every damn right to.

You're fired!

Many donkey years ago, I attended a forum in which Datuk Zaid Ibrahim was the main Speaker for the night. I can no longer recall the topic of discussion but two things Zaid ibrahim said made an impression on me that night.

First: My results were bad but just because I was Malay, I got a scholarship.
Second: I am in UMNO because I believe I can make changes from within.

So in recent months, Zaid has stuck to these two things that he said that night. He questioned the "Ketuanan Melayu" and eventhough he quit his post as Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, he remained faithful to UMNO. I mean, how many of us thought to ourselves, Dude, what are you still doing in UMNO? It has turned it back on you!

But now, the heavens are shining on Datuk Zaid. He has been sacked by UMNO. I think it is the best news ever! But before that, let us examine the reason why he has been sacked. Mainly because he has been attending events held by the Opposition. Victory parties, rallies, what not. AND he sat next to the party leaders. (The HORROR!He should have sat at the back, with his face covered) So he got a show cause letter and then finally the PM just said, you're OUT! And no you cannot appeal the decision because it is against the Party Ethics to be SEEN at Opposition events. And UMNO cannot be seen to be practising double standards. We can practise double standards when we act in Government. UMNO members can utter whatever they want in Parliament. But if the Opposition does, we suspend them! UMNO members can build UMNO posts and huts anywhere we want, but if Opposition members try to stop a building from being demolished, we charge them in court! Those type of double standards are NECESSARY in the name of political stability. And well, the fact that you know, since MCA, MIC and Gerakan is stupid enough to stick with us, we are all mighty in terms of numbers.
Take that PAKATAN!

Who cares what he was doing there? Who cares it is actually a good thing for Politicians from different parties to set aside their differences, or even EMBRACE their differences for the sake of political stability? Who cares? UMNO does not. It is all about EGO and SUPREMACY. How can Zaid embarass the party that way? How can be so unethical? This country runs on a few simple basic rules :

UMNO is supreme.

Oh I'm sorry, that is only ONE rule.
And this rule applies across the board. Whether you like it or not.

So I go back to my earlier point about this being the best news I have come across today. Zaid is sacked from UMNO. So now this man, whom I believe has GREAT ETHICS and has a conscience and a functioning brain, will now be free to do the things that he has and had always wanted to. He wanted to make changes from within but all are opposed to change and so if he HAS to make changes from a different party or from a different angle, that is what he has to do. And now, that is what he CAN do without his arms and legs being bound by UMNO's RED TAPE OF ETHICS AND RULES.

I applaud the PM's move.
Datuk Zaid, you make us, okay, I cannot speak for others, but you make ME proud.

OHM...

Damn. Yoga is no longer in.

Apparently all these while those who were practising it were in danger of "deviating from Islam". Because those who were busy contorting their bodies into different positions in fitness centres around the country were in theory, opening themselves up to Hindu religious teaching. It is preposterous to think that they do it specifically for fitness purposes! LIES!

The National Fatwa Council in their IN DEPTH discussions and research have found that yoga can be traced back to India and is taught for purely RELIGIOUS reasons. So saying "OMMMMMMM" is so going to put you on the DV8 From Islam express bus. Definite No, No.

What do you mean we are so insecure about our own religion that we feel a purely exercise thing will cause our Muslims to deviate from Islam? This comes from research! IN DEPTH research AND discussions! What do you mean none of us practise yoga or know what it consist of? We read up on the history of it! What do you mean we have to find out why people are doing yoga? We traced it back to Hinduism! What do you mean we did not ask those who practise yoga? WE decide. SOMEONE died and made US KING. That is all there is to it!
Just as you cannot wish your fellow Hindus Happy Deepavali, you sure as hell cannot practise yoga!

And who cares if there is a recession? Who cares if there are children whose fathers have refused to pay for their maintenance under Syariah? Who cares if there is still poverty? What do you mean Ayah Pin is still on the loose? Those are not important things! That CANNOT cause Muslims to deviate from the teachings of Islam. Yoga is a dangerous imminent threat. We must advise our fellow Muslims that just because you have to sacrfice your livelihood in the name of upholding Islam it is never a bad thing. So you are out of job. So what? You will still go to heaven right?

That is all that matters.

God have mercy.

FOREIGNERS NEED NOT APPLY

The whole country (well almost anyway) applauded when Obama was announced as the next President of the USA. Many hailed his success as a big step for the blacks. Even though he never ran his campaign along racial lines, many saw his victory as one for the black community. All post election talk, interviews and whatnots were drenched with "how has this affected the black community?"

Anyway, I digress. So we all hailed the man who was the underdog BLACK man who was up against the war veteran WHITE man. A victory indeed. In fact the PM goes on to say, as mentioned in my previous entry, that ANYBODY CAN BE PM.

So what is the point of today's ranting? The fact that we can recognise and applaud the racial barrier being broken in a far off country of the USA. But in this country we cannot seem to understand the need for such barrier to be taken down. In fact its not uncommon for many of us to subject others to our racial profiling. I myself am guilty of it. If I were to enter a toilet cubicle which is soaking wet, I would think "sure a Malay used it-la" or if I hear of a woman who makes complains about a school not teaching her child well enough "CHINESE RIGHT?", and you get my drift.

But then even I was not prepared for what met my eyes this morning in the Star paper. "Apartment residents in distress" and why so? Because, get this :-

MOST OF THE UNITES ARE OCCUPIED BY FOREIGNERS

So these residents of a block of apartments in Shah Alam have aired their dissatisfaction with the number of foreigners living in their area. According to them they spoil the lifts, they throw rubbish indiscriminately and they scare the resident's children so much that they have refused to play at the playground near the apartments.

Ok, I live in an apartment which has a miniscule number of foreigners and yet I suffer from scribblings on the lifts, and out of 10 drawings, 9 will be one which involves genitalia and will definitely have obscene words which will start with a F and end with a K. And rubbish is thrown out of the apartment balconies too. Malaysians are just not very civic minded people.We have to admit that. We push to get into LRTs and buses,we talk loudly on the mobile when we are in the cinema and we let our children pee in the sink in the loo.

As for ruining facilities in the apartment, it happens everywhere. It is tough not to walk into an apartment block and not see drawings of genitalia in the lift. And rubbish overflowing from the bins because the resident was just too lazy to walk a few more steps to the rubbish dumping area. Was it the job of a foreigner? Or just us Malaysians? It is a very Malaysian thing to be with the "boh chap" (do not care) attitude. AS long as MY home is clean, who cares about yours? So these problems persist everywhere we go.

However for the residents in Shah Alam to be IN DISTRESS that their apartments are swarmed with foreigners which are making the area of their homes a "concrete slum" is definitely uncalled for. Sure its one thing to assume the increase of say crime in an area is due to the foreigners ( ooops, here I go profiling again- but statistics have proven me right!) but its quite another to assume that the foreigners will ruin the very place that they live in. Especially when us Malaysians are guilty of doing the same things!(Yes we are also guilty of being criminals too..but that is a different story altogether.)

And the other question which begs to be answered is, what do the residents suggest? That all foreigners be shipped into an area which they can then live together in their slum and dirt and spoil whatever facilities there are available there? How about putting up signs ala America in some states in those "dark years" - "NO blacks or animals"?
So there should be a sign outside apartments now "NO BANGLADESHI, NO PAKISTANI, NO INDONESIAN,NO VIETNAMESE, NO BURMESE, NO THAI" "ONLY MALAYSIAN".

Yes, my thoughts are everywhere today, but at the end of the day, I am just annoyed to read this. Annoyed to know that we Malaysians can actually think of ourselves so superior to our neighbours that we have do not want to live with them. Such a shame indeed that we see are quick to judge others, but fail to see our own faults.

THE joke of the year, no CENTURY!

This has to be THE funniest, rib tickling, floor rolling, tears inducing article I have read in YEARS, I tell you, YEARS!

Bernama - Thursday, November 6

Asked whether Malaysia would also see the emergence of a leader regardless of race as had happened in the United States, Abdullah said that could happen anywhere at all.


"It depends on the people. They will determine that. What happened in the United States was not determined by Washington or any group but by the American people themselves by election through the democratic process and an election practice which has existed in the United States for a long time," he said.

-- BERNAMA

"It depends on the people? They will determine that?"

Let us all be truthful here. BN wins, UMNO president becomes PM. After all the leader of the largest party will always be the candidate for PM. And with shoe polishers in the form of MCA and MIC, BN will forever remain "united" and UMNO will forever be "reigning party" in Malaysia. If you look at the recent election, a LOT of us DID NOT want the current PM to be PM. And even people within UMNO asked him to step down. YET, he still remained PM and the next PM may not be our choice either. So who is he kidding when he said it depends on the people? The people denied BN a 2/3 majority. The people do not agree to the current PM. The people ( and a heck load of them) voted against BN.

Let us not get our hopes up when the soon to retire PM says this to garner favour among the "people". He has said quite a load of things ever since he came into power. Such as there shall be no increase of the cost of petrol. Or I am not stepping down anytime soon. And other whatchamacallits. So, take this with a pinch of salt and a whole dose of laughter.

Still, funny stuff this "It depends on the people" statement.

Snoozefest

I have been missing for quite some time now for a number of reasons.

One being that after my aunt's death in August, I have learnt to stop and smell the roses- and if I were to be stung by a bee while I am at it, I should laugh and remind myself that at least I still have my sense of smell.(you know, one of those, you are lucky to be alive things?)

Two- I have been busy.Well not so busy that I do not have time to read the newspapers and detect the absurdity in the political scene, but busy enough not to be able to sit down and articulate my thoughts.

Three- the most important reason of all- it being that the Malaysian politics is such a snooze fest nowadays.

September 16 came and went. Then October 16th also came and whooshed by. Many of us were waiting in anticipation for a change of government (who cares if academicians say that MPs crossing over will not change the Government, we want DRAMA man, DRAMA!)Then now we sit down and twiddle our fingers waiting for Anwar to give us more (false) hope.Maybe its November, wait no, December? How about January?
"It is not about the date, just remember that it will happen..." *yawn*

Shah Rukh Khan got awarded Datuk-ship. Erm, like SO? Datuk Michelle Yeoh's ug, I mean erm..aesthetic challenged boyfriend also got one didnt he?And what did he do? I think he bought a piece of land in Terengganu. Or was it Langkawi? Who cares?

The whole point is that these Datuk-ships mumbo jumbo are a total waste of time. Lee Chong Wei is a Datuk, Nicole David is a Datuk and the next thing you know, the uncle selling chee cheong fun down the roadside shop is also a Datuk. So I dont see the whole brouhaha over it. In all seriousness, if the artistes in Malaysia are offended that they did not get it, then all they have to do is, acquire some talent and actually use it. Not just sit there and produce Cicakman, or Senario, or other crap movies or take part in Akademi Fantasia and hope to be famous for being well, nothing. (For crying out loud, we have MAWI MANIA- how sad is that?)

Karpal Singh got suspended from Parliament for two days because he is all sensitive now that he is in a wheelchair and automatically is part of the disabled communitys' representative for all things right and fair *thumps chest*.

What was the issue? The fact that Nazri said to Wee Choo Keong "If you do not see the reason why the government sponsored the Bar Council's dinner then you must be blind" to which Karpal demanded an apology for making a sensitive remark about the disabled. And Pandikar Amin did not want to make a ruling on it and bla bla bla, Karpal got suspended. I would think that this did not warrant such a strong reaction and now he has to sit out the debate over the Budget 2009 just because he was all sensitive about something which can only be said to be making a mountain out of a molehill. But Karpal insists he is right. You know, sometimes one can be blind (score!) to their irrational outbursts.

So you see, even in my roundup of what I think are some of the more interesting happenings in Malaysia, it is still yawn worthy. So, here is hoping more interesting things crop up.

For now, I think I shall go lie down for a while. All the changes in the road names in Bukit Bintang is giving me a headache.

Logic always ranks second

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity and I am not sure about the former."

-Albert Einstein

One would think that if there is a threat of BN MPs in Sabah doing a crossover and the possiblity of Anwar Ibrahim taking over and becoming the new PM, Badawi would tell his Cabinet that arresting Raja Petra, Theresa Kok and the Sin Chew journalist is probably not such a good idea in terms of gaining popularity among the people.

But Uh-uh, this being Malaysia and it being the Malaysian Government,logic always ranks second to stupidity, so they arrest those people under ISA and detain the journalist for one day "for her own safety" and then leave the other two still in detention in undisclosed locations. (And according to Theresa Kok's father, she is brought from one one place to another with a hood over her head- what is this? the Mafia?)
Now, what are the reasons for Petra being arrested? Well, there is a host of them, which I will not go into but what I do want to evaluate is the arrest of Theresa Kok.

It has been alleged that she had joined in a petition for the Azar calls from the mosque to be reduced as it was thought too loud by the residents in Puchong and Kota Damansara. She had vehemently denied this accusation by ex-MB-I-am-so-bitter Khir Toyo. In fact the Mosque authorities in the two constituencies have denied her involvement and have confirmed that she has never said anything to that effect. But you see, according to the Home Minister Syed Albar, she has been detained under ISA because she has threaten to cause racial tensions by "making comments about the Azar."

Now, I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but if the mosque authorities have confirmed she did not take part in it, and she herself has said she was not part of it, then it would make sense that they should investigate the matter just a tiny wee bit more to determine the authenticity of ex-MB's claim before they chuck her in the police car and whisk her away to obscurity. And if the investigations reveal that ex-MB made up those words, by all means, whisk HIM away under the ISA. (But apparently if you are an UMNO member, you can say what you want. You can wave keris-es and yell for blood, you can call the Chinese immigrants, you can call Indians kelings, you can threaten to hurt others- its okay. Because only those who report your remarks are the ones who get detained under ISA for "false reporting" or those who did not actually SAY those words but were accused wrongfully of doing so who get arrested).

Now technically, if one were to deduce the Ahmad situation and the Chinese "immigrant" remarks, it would make sense to think that if the DPM apologised on behalf of BN and the UMNO suspended him for 3 years, it means that, he actually DID say those words right? Logically speaking. So if indeed he DID utter it, then why is there FALSE REPORTING by Sin Chew? And why was the journalist detained and why is Sin Chew being issued show cause letters? Show cause of what?

But us being logical beings, unlike the Government, we will never understand what the rationale is behind the actions of the Government. So, perhaps we will have to carry these question marks to our graves. Because the Government is not about to start admitting their failures and accepting the logic of others. No-uh, not in this lifetime. Because anything that MAKES sense but is not in line with the Government stand is always a "perversion of the truth".

Politics, how I love it!

Overheard at Barisan Nasional's campaign spot at Permatang Pauh.

"Parti pembangkang menyatakan bahawa isteri kepada DPM kita telah membunuh perempuan Mongolia itu. Manakah lojik? Manakah lojik ISTERI DPM kita, akan masuk ke dalam belukar itu? Orang biasa pun tak akan masuk ke kawasan belukar itu!MANAKAH LOJIK ISTERI DPM akan ke tempat belukar itu untuk melakukan apa yang dikatakan oleh parti pembangkang yang beliau telah buat? TIDAK LOJIK! Oleh itu ianya TIDAK BENAR!"

-some BN(UMNO)politician campaigning for BN candidate

*cue applause*

Now, I am not much of a criminologist but I think, if I intend to kill somebody, or watch somebody's body be blown to tiny little fragments, I would probably, possibly, just maybe, decide to choose a spot that nobody frequents. I mean, that is me-la. Because I am "orang biasa" and not special like DPM's wife. So if you were Rosmah (or whatever her name is) and you decide to kill somebody, it is only logical that you choose a place which a lot of people frequent, say like TTDI, or maybe Taman Tasik Titiwangsa and then while you are (ALLEGEDLY) watching the Mongolian woman being blown to pieces, you can only hope nobody walking nearby can or will 1) hear 2) see or 3) care what is going on in there.
(And it does not matter that being Malaysian, a motorcycle parked at the side of the highway piques everyone's interest enough to cause a massive jam from slowing down just to see what is happening)

I am always, always amazed at the things that come out of the mouths of politicians. They say racists things, they call Indian "kelings" in Parliament, they call Chinese "immigrants" and because they are immigrants it is "impossible for them to be afforded equal rights". And that Malaysia Today's website was not banned, but merely "blocked". But the one that takes the cake are the words that come out of our beloved PM's mouth when asked to comment on racists things said by his fellow party followers. It is always "I am sure he did not mean it that way" and that "we may have misunderstood him".
Oh, then there is the senior politician's "it was reported in the Chinese papers and I do not read Chinese so I do not know whether he actually said what he said." AND if there have been abuse of powers or alleged corruption reported, it is "we will investigate and ask them to explain themselves...but after Raya." [I suppose because the truth will only reveal itself after Raya]

Then there is the thought process that they go through. Such as just because someone swore on the Quran, it automatically means that that person is telling the truth. And that all other people are not to comment on it because you know, "people should not distort the truth".Even though investigations have not completed and the truth is not known yet. But the Government's version of the truth is always the right and logical one. So, if its not in line with the Government version, then its more often that not, NOT the truth but a pack of lies.

Gosh, I love the fact that Anwar Ibrahim won Permatang Pauh. It means that the Government has miraculously found some monies hidden under some persons' bed which can be taken out to subsidise fuel again!First they had enough to reduce petrol price to RM2.55. And now they say maybe after Raya, they may find MORE monies stashed somewhere to further reduce the price!

I love politics!

Sing-a-long

I somehow feel this song by Marilyn Manson reflects Anwar Ibrahim's current situation. It ought to be his theme song.

Everything's been said before
There's nothing left to say anymore
When it's all the same
You can ask for it by name

Babble, Babble, Bitch, Bitch
Rebel, Rebel, Party, Party
Sex, sex, sex, don't forget the violence
Blah, blah, blah
Got your lovey-dovey sad and lonely
Stick your stupid slogan in
Everybody sing along
Babble, Babble, Bitch, Bitch
Rebel, Rebel, Party, Party
Sex, sex, sex, don't forget the violence
Blah, blah, blah
Got your lovey-dovey sad and lonely
Stick your stupid slogan in
Everybody sing along

Are you motherf******s ready for the new shit?
Stand up and admit it, tomorrow's never coming
This is the new shit
Stand up and admit it
Do we need it? NO!
Do we want it? YEAH!
This is the new shit
Stand up and admit it

Now it's you-know-who
I've got the you-know-what
I stick it in the you-know-where
You know why, you don't care

- Marilyn Manson, This is The New Shit
(song has been edited due to constraint of space)

death came a knocking...I was not prepared

Death is inevitable.

But the grief that accompanies it is so overwhelming and unexpected, its frightening.

Today I do not write about the wrongs of the country or the world, the stupidity of politicians and our elected representatives, the impending battle at Permatang Pauh, or the loss of the Olympic Badminton gold.

On Thursday morning, my blackberry died on me. Again. So I whined and I griped about it. And then I received news about my aunt's death and suddenly everything seemed unimportant. Suddenly all my troubles seem miniscule.

Today, I mourn and grieve the loss of a wonderful woman. A mentor, an aunt, and above all a great human being.

Today I am reminded that sometimes, life is much too short to be concentrating on the things that should not affect us, yet we allow them to.

I am reminded that we should choose to be happy. Always.

I am reminded that just by choosing to see the best in everybody, my aunt was such a joy to be around with. She never criticised, she never judged. She accepted and she embraced us as we all are.

Sometimes, it takes a death to remind us of the things in life that cannot be seen but felt. Joy, Love and Sorrow.

All the bridges that you burn...

"Sometimes the best intentions still don't make things right."

- Tracy Chapman, Bridges.

The intention of the Bar Council in holding the forum on "Conversion to Islam: Article 121(1a) of the Federal Constitution: Subashini and Shamala Revisited"?

Possibly to allow the public to share their views on the issue of conversion and the multiple problems they face when one's family is kept in the dark on the conversion and etc etc.

This of course is seen by many as a good move by the Bar to allow the public to express their opinions on the matter and to allow some of them to vent and rave about the possible "injustice" and "unfairness" that ensues from the conversion.

But really, sometimes the best intentions do not make things right.

Sure, the intention to hold a public forum to allow these type of discussions despite the protest by various sector, may be a good one.But does it make things right?

While I myself am surprised at the violent and overwhelmingly strong reaction to the holding of the forum, I can understand why.

Let us put ourselves in the position of a Muslim man or woman, say, we are Christian,how would you like it if people of different races and religion sit in a gallery, raving and ranting about the weakness and drawbacks of being Christian? Or that Jesus is not the Saviour? Or that Catholicism sucks because if one is not baptised, he or she will not have be able to have the funeral mass in the main church but only in the chapel? (I stand corrected but that was how Canny Ong was not allowed into the main church building because she was not baptised). Would you not be pissed? It is MY religion. I sure do not like people talking s*** about it. Especially when they do not know anything about it but are there to merely criticise.

Some of the members of the forum shared their stories on how they converted only to have their spouses abandon them after 10 years and how they are now "stuck" in Islam and cannot convert out of the religion.

Seriously. When you fall in love and marry a Muslim, you have a choice. Convert or not. If you have made the choice to convert, knowing full well the issues of not being able to leave the religion, then you cannot fault the system of being unfair. You choose to love the man and embrace his religion.

Yes, of course the biggest issue here now is why a person cannot leave the religion after they have converted into it.
That is for our representatives to sit and discuss the viability and rationality of the situation. For the Government together with the representatives from different races and religions to sit down and discuss the possibility of amending the law or perhaps amending the steps for conversion and to ensure all are aware of the "consequences" of embracing the religion either through marriage or something else.

Those type of forums, I agree to it.At least something useful will come out of it. But a forum for the public to basically express their dissatisfaction? I think not. After all, why insist on going on with it even though you know so many people oppose it? Does it not incite unnecessary conflict among the races?

After all, all the bridges that you burn now, will one day come back and haunt you.

Somethings are just not worth it.

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.