Jason Point of View

When Females are Just another form of Commodity

2011-10-16T01:44:00.000-07:00

Education has indeed transformed the society. The people at large are much more aware of their rights and needs. The concept of "he knows best" seem to be the thing of the past. With the advancement of technology, sharing of knowledge and transparency has reached a point where no mankind has ever seen. Likewise, females today share opportunities and rights as much as man but to a certain extend, discrimination be it direct or indirect still occurs. The chauvinist mentality and the mentality that only men can only be a leader is no longer relevant and should be greatly emphasized.

Indeed, laws are in place to safeguard the rights of females where discrimination against females is strictly condemned by people at large even if laws are not in place. Despite much has been said and done, I find it regretful that certain sector of the society still consider Females to be a form of commodity focusing only on their physical apprearance and the level of submissiveness of a girl. In this article, I intend to address the repressive rights of females which is still widely available particularly through organized marriage.

As we know, prostitution, in essence involves the practice of trading one's sexuality for money. While this itself is strictly prohibited in certain countries like Malaysia, some countries still permit it. In fact, so great that some of the countries greatest economy are contributed by this form of trade. This itself is a great repression of female rights. Never should a person's physical attractiveness be traded for money.

Equally regretful if not worst, would be the fact that females are today being traded to marry man for various reasons. I condemn such form of trade which is not only repressive in nature of female rights but also to the marriage and family institution. It must be understood that marriage involves the promises of 2 people who vowed to form a family because of mutual understanding and respect. It would be shameful, if either parties are marrying because of money or under any other materialistic reasons.

It would be nothing but another form of prostitution. Worst still, it would be a long term form of prostituion if not lifetime if such nature of activity were to be allowed. I am addressing this issue as I was taken aback with a latest news saying how brutal his foreign wife were and that he could not touch her after spending an amount of money to arrange for his marriage with her. What it seem to me is another form of trade where female are pleasing their man for money or under some form of "golden handcuff" pressure.

Besides condemning the action of man and the society at large for allowing this form of trade to flourish or prosper, females must themselves also understand that this is a derogatory form of action which would bring great consequences to themselves. If one do not understand their partner well enough, a family institution will not work. If persist, misery will occur. In addition, dire consequences would take place if a man is "buying" a wife for the sole purposes of personal sexual satisfaction? What if she is married to an abusive and oppressive husband. Their lifetime will then be spent in misery if not disastrous as it is similar to selling their body or soul to strangers at large.

This form of industry, with respect to any government must be condemned and dealt with seriously. It promotes chauvinism as well as undermining the importance of the marriage institution. Everyone must understand that marriage cannot be traded for citizenship, money or any other form of interest. It's so sacred that it shall not be linked to any form of transaction and it must be formed through mutual respect and understanding. Being poor should never be an excuse for females to repress their own rights and subject themselves to be abused or physically used.

In light of the above, it is therefore imperative that governments and society throughout the world provide ample opportunities for females in legitimate working arena. Sexual harrassment, discrimination and other forms of opportunities repressive policies should be abolished and eliminated completely. Man and woman should stand equally as females are humans as much as we are being male. When one is provided with equal opportunities, one would not have to trade him/herself to survive.

For the foregoing reasons, it is perhaps time that everyone look into this problem as thoroughly as possible. Never should any women be oppressed or coerced to be in a family institution because of trade. It must be love, respect and happiness. The well being of a family, the rights of the women can directly or indirectly influence the "health" of a society. It is therefore pathetic to see how marriage can be manipulated to be another form of prostitution.

The Politics- Malaysian Style

2011-03-25T21:32:00.000-07:00

Condolences to The Late Dato' Seri Augustine Paul's Family

2010-01-02T06:00:00.000-08:00

Condolences to Datuk Augustine Paul (Senior Federal Court Judge) who had passed away on this day 02.01.2010 due to cancer( As being learnt by Malaysiakini.)

May God forgive His Soul for any sins committed(if any) and Place him before the learned ones.

Happy New Year 2010

2010-01-02T05:59:00.001-08:00

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all readers and my fans(hoping for some,at least) a Happy New Year 2010

Tax Payer's Money, Loss, Allegations-Solutions through the RULE OF LAW (Part 2)

2009-12-28T00:45:00.000-08:00

In my previous article, I had mentioned of the need to address all issues in a neutral manner without taking sides, consider all facts and evidence and be confident of the system.However, all these could only take place if we have a proper system to rely on and the very question is, DO WE NEED A CHANGE ON THE SYSTEM?

Without hesitating, I believe most of us would give a big YES to the question. A system where an independent body could be set up to monitor the effectiveness and efficiency of the concept of separation of power and the setting up of an independent body to look after the basic rights of citizens such as freedom of speech, religion and movement. The need to change to cope up with the ever fast moving society as to avoid us from being lacked behind and a need to have a judicial body which could deliver justice and make justice apparent to the people.

Malaysia has always seen the overlapping of powers between the judiciary, legislative and the executive. The ruling party Barisan Nasional is the majority in the parliament and the executive will be formed by party which has the majority in the house of common and that is Barisan Nasional Again and the judiciary which is perceived to be under the domination of Barisan Nasional as by virtue of Article 121 of the Federal Constitution, the Chief Justice of Malaysia shall be appointed by His Majesty Yang di-Pertuan Agong upon being advised by the Prime Minister.Again, another involvement of Barisan Nasional.

With a strong presence in almost all 3 branches, it would be virtually almost impossible for literate citizens to be convinced that neither one of the bodies would perform it's duty without any biasness to the Barisan Nasional Party. Similarly, if Pakatan Rakyat were to rule today, the current the 3 major bodies would consist of mostly if not only Pakatan Rakyat people be it through direct or indirect appointments. The bottom line is, this is no longer separation of power but more to communism or "party autocracy"-ONE PARTY RULES ALL.

In order to understand better as to why an overall system needs to be changed, perhaps a comparison to the unilateral government in China should be made. In China, the people I believe will always be engulfed with uncertainties due to the fact that when only one party is ruling a country, it all boils down to the concept and policy that is in the mind of the leader. In the mid 60's till the mid 70's, cultural revolution hit China under the pretext of restoring socialism and eradicate all forms of capitalism influence in Mainland China. Economic disarray, chaos, people were deprived of basic human rights. That was when Mao Zhedong ruled China. Today, China has some of the better leaders ever since Deng XiaoPing took over the administrative state. China is progressing well thanks to the proper mindset of the leaders. Jiang JeMing, Wen Jia Bao and Hu JinTao are all visionaries which has propelled China to a higher level of development. However, with only one party ruling, What if in the future, an extreme leader rules China, Seems possible for China to revert back to it's oppressive policies.

At the end of the day, it's about how certain the people would be in having their rights and liberty safeguarded. Fusion of branches under the concept of separation of power would be dangerous to the people at large since it would be similar to socialism and communism, check and balance would just be another concept which is impossible to be effectively practiced. Perhaps the practice of democracy used by the United States of America should be emulated as it clearly demonstrate an absolute separation of power.

It is for this, I propose the position of prime minister to be elected by the people and at the same time retain the power of His Majesty that is to appoint people selected by the people and His Majesty should have the power to terminate the position of Prime Minister if his or her performance is not on par with the required standard. His Majesty could then under the advise of prime minister appoint other ministers similar to that of the United States of America or Taiwan. Through this, the prime minister who runs the administration of the executive would then be able if not needed to summit in an independent and quality report without having any overlapping interest with the legislative and judiciary to the leader of the executive that is His Majesty Yang di-Pertuan Agong. This would safeguard people from any lax of quality from the decision made by the executive.

With this, at the end of the day, the status of the term "EXECUTIVE RESPONSIBLE TO THE PARLIAMENT" will elevate to a higher level since it involves true separation of power and IF the same party has been elected to these 2 branches of government, it would then seem that the people is confident of the impartiality standard of the party leaders that is being fair, just and caring when it comes to decision making. If this is the case, the people should not complain of the decision made by them personally.

As for the judiciary, we should take advantage of the fact that we are part of the commonwealth nations which has a total of 54 countries sharing the same type of judiciary system i.e the common law system. The importance of an independent judiciary in any commonwealth countries does not confined within the country itself. The concept of ratio decidendi, orbiter dictum, highly persuasive decisions, precedents, guidelines all would play a role in guiding judges in commonwealth countries in delivering judgement. The damage done by having a corrupted and tainted judiciary in any commonwealth countries would span beyond domestic conflicts. Thus, for all commonwealth countries to have an independent and consist of accountable judges, I propose a setting up of a Commission consisting of at least 3-5 members at one time to elect judges for any commonwealth countries intending to appoint judges.

Every Country would be concerned with the appointment of judges as independent and quality judiciary could safeguard the rights of people.Thus, with this proposal, I believe a fair and quality judges could be placed in all commonwealth countries. For instance, when Singapore is in need of judges, random selection of panels from different countries(such as from Pakistan,Maldives and New Zealand) to be part of the commission to look into the merits of judges of Singapore proposed by the Prime Minister would guarantee the citizen of Singapore of Justice and fairness not only in appointment but in interpreting the law as well. Another example demonstrating the mechanism of my proposal would be that the Malaysia's Prime Minister could look into potential candidate(s) and have it submitted to the panel consisting of panels from different countries and thereafter submit in a report to His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to appoint credible judges which has a high level of credit.

Similarly, when it comes to for instance,appointment of judges for Canada-Panel such as Malaysia, India and Australia could be randomly selected to oversee the merits of the candidates submitted to the panel. It would then seem that no one and no Commonwealth countries would have judges that is tainted or bias since the advice to appoint is made by a non-partisan commission consisting of 3 or more members of the 54 Commonwealth Nations. It's about sharing expertise and should not to be considered even slightly among members of the panel as a symbol of permitting the interference of domestic administration.

The concept of scrutinizing by the panel might not need to be applied to all judges, perhaps it would be sufficient when it comes to the position of Lord President, Chief Justice or equivalent. If the leader of the judiciary is credible and is highly regarded by other Commonwealth Countries, His/Her subordinates will be independent from political influence and of certain quality as with his or her leader as well. Thus, my suggestion is; change the method of appointment of judges at least the position of the Chief Justice or Lord President or equivalent and maintain the method of appointment of other judges( by the President or The King/Queen of a country under the advise of the Chief Justice or Lord President.) As for Syariah Court, a similar pact could be made with countries that have Syariah Legal System such as those from the Middle East, Singapore or even UK(adopted lately) through the method explained earlier. At the end of the day, the main concern will be the independent and quality of judges that is at stake and has nothing to do with different domestic laws each countries have. Thus, the jist of my proposal is to monitor the quality and merits of judges and the panel appointed should not have(irrespective of Common Law or Syariah Law) any power to pressure any amendments or formation or repeal of any laws of any countries.

What I have been proposing all this while is for the strengthening of the rule of law through a more effective separation of power. By way of voting to be in power for either the legislative or/and the executive; policies, law and explanations made by political leaders will be highly regarded as there is an effective system of "check and balance" between the 2 independent and separate branches.An independent judiciary by sharing consultations between Commonwealth countries or Syariah Legal System Countries for Syariah Law(* NO INTERFERENCE OF DOMESTIC LEGAL ADMINISTRATION) will allow public to have faith in the judiciary and any judgement delivered be it political or normal dispute will be considered fair and perceive to be fair by the public since appointment is not through any political leaders from any parties but by anon-partisan party.

While I do admit that no system would be perfect even with this proposal. Nevertheless, what we could do so far is to perfect the imperfections as much as we could and I sincerely hope that this proposal would be kind enough to settle at least most of the problems engulfing our country and other commonwealth countries.

Tax Payer's Money, Loss, Allegations-Solutions through the RULE OF LAW(Part 1)

2009-12-25T23:48:00.000-08:00

Having missed blogging for a couple of months, I notice that the nation is once again engulfed with serious issues affecting it's credibility in the international arena. The issues of vast spending by the government, the lost of 1 and/or 2 RM 50 million each F-5E Tiger Engine, problem of misuse of power by the authorities and the issue of racism in the syllabus of BTN(National Civic Course). The first part of this article shall deal with the issues of lost of F-5E Tiger jet engines and the alleged loss of RM 100 billion during the tenure of Tun Mahathir's time.

Remember the heist of Grik Military camps and resulted in clashes between military personnel and Police force at Sauk village somewhere near 1999. Those were the days where we could see the lax in security of the armed forces resulting in easy access to military camps and weapons were easily smuggled out by some bogus army commanders. Eventually, some of these "terrorist" were arrested and were sentenced either to life imprisonment or hang to death for waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Much had been said then of the need to overhaul the security of military camps as to avoid similar incidents from taking place. Peaceful situations doesn't seem to last more than a decade. Lately, Malaysia is once again rocked by some splendid issue of having lost 2 F-5E reconnaissance jet engines worth approximately RM 50 million each.

It was surprising as unlike rifles which is compact and "car-fitable", jet engine is a huge and large tangible item which can only be carried by at least a truck. How could something as huge as that be able to pass through the security post of the air force base camp and thereafter to Port Klang and to a South American country(possibly Argentina) undetected in 2007? It would seem that it was indeed a well planned act and whatever plan it is the camouflage activity was indeed successful. Only now did they release the fact that they have lost 2 engines after 2 years. CLANDESTINE shipping of engines like this should be in the transcript of the next James Bond movie.

I do laud the proposal by the Attorney-General that a thorough investigation is needed as to uncover those responsible for the selling of the engines as it's part of the RULE OF LAW. Personally, I think the incident could be equated to that of SAUK and these people responsible should be sentenced to death or life imprisonment(as according to the law of Malaysia) as it amounts to treason. RM 100 million belongs to the people. This amounts to betraying the public by siphoning of the money and deprive people of development of what RM 100 million could bring about. Secondly, the act has incapacitated at least to a certain extent(recognizances perhaps) the ability of our Air Force to prepare for any eventualities and thus exposing us to the vulnerability of our country being defenseless. No one should be spared. Peanuts, big fish, "taikor" or even high ranking military personnel and perhaps politicians(IF involved) should be brought to justice if there is/are evidence of acts against the law of the country and JUSTICE in such HIGH PROFILE case should be swift as it has been 2 years since the engines were found to have disappeared and sentences should be melted out in accordance to all the evidence being tendered for conviction and defence.

If RM 100 million seems a lot to most of us,what about RM 100 BILLION reported in the book by Barry Wain. As there seems to be a possible legal dispute on the authenticity of the information, I would refrain myself from making specific allegations which had yet to be determined. RM 100 billion is a huge amount of money which could be used to upgrade University Malaya to be the next National University of Singapore perhaps and better developments in other states in Malaysia. Even PTPTN loans could be waived with that amount. While we understand that prior administration had demonstrated the need to invest and roll for money from money(it's the normal practice in a capitalist society), the question would be how such an amount of money had been spent, was it spent with the rakyat's interest in mine or was it spend with mala fide intention. Perhaps, the better way is by asking a ROYAL COMMISSION to uncover the truth. NEUTRALITY is very much need to answer questions such as where was it spent, why was it spent? how much was spent? If loss, why loss? and neutrality could only come when analyzing evidence by parties which had no self-interest and no favour owed to either Barry Wain or Tun Mahathir.

Thus,justice through neutrality could only come when Tun Mahathir is allowed to tender in evidence to support his innocence and at the same time, Mr Barry Wain ought to release relevant documents pertaining to that allegation in order to support his allegations made and thereafter have the whole scenario interpreted NEUTRALLY. I have always promulgated for "justice through law" concept and not "justice by hearsay". Sole purpose, KEEP RAKYAT informed because this is not anyone's country, not BN's country, not PAKATAN's country but a country for MALAYSIANS and for this we have every right to know what happened to our hard earned money being spent by the then ruling government. Yes, Tun Mahathir has every right to sue for defamation if the information is not true but he should be at no reason not to be responsible if a neutral body could see that the money was used unwisely during his tenure as prime minister.

As usual, I support no one but justice. Justice would only work with evidence and Justice should know no boundaries, no background recognition, no political background influence and most of all swift and efficient when it comes to enforcement, trial and conviction. Non of these, i.e swiftness-evidence-enforcement-trial and enforcement could be separated. Any allegations should be backed up with evidence be it to substantiate or defend the allegations.

INJUSTICE TO RAKYAT IS WHEN RAKYAT IS BEING DEPRAVED OF THE RIGHTS TO ENJOY THE MONEY THEY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE NATION- JUSTICE SHOULD BE DELIVERED BY PENALISING INDIVIDUALS OR ORGANISATION FOR ANY UNWISELY SPENT MONEY,

The Caotic Situation- What went wrong? A new course?

2009-09-22T02:48:00.000-07:00

31st of August like every year came and left . People of the past, especially freedom fighters would see this inaugural day as the day where the people of Malaya is being given the opportunity to rule their own country and decide their own course of destiny. How do we see Malaysia after 52 years of independence? Do we just see it as just another public holiday or do we commemorate the hard earned independence?

Personally, I see it as a day where we celebrate our ability to decide our own destiny without the interference of others. The day, we march and celebrate the victory of our armed forces and politicians in garnering support from the British to grant us independence. The next thing, I thought on this faithful day was, what is the future ahead of us?

It reminded me of a Petronas advertisement in the year 2007. That advertisement which shows a man who was given an engine and basically almost all kinds of assistance by a good samaritan to build a sampan with an engine. However, the ship sunk before the engine was being installed as the quality of wooden planks used was not of sufficient quality and had resulted the ship to sink. It was indeed a bold advertisement by reminding all Malaysians from my perspective that if we Malaysians are not competitive and are ignorant in maintaining a certain quality among ourselfs, independence would be useless.

True enough, Malaysia today has achieved much with the erection of Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Sepang F1 circuit, Petronas Twin Tower in the center of Kuala Lumpur and other modes of infrastructure came by after decades of development. We were once labelled as the Asian Tiger in economy. We manage to make our critics eat their own words by putting our differences aside and maintain a multi-racial the country.

Today, in the year 2009, it's a different story, like in previous articles in my blog, we can no longer deny that after the 2008 general election, Malaysia seems to have swayed from it's actual cause, political stability seems to be in a wobbly condition. I was rather surprised to see the situation that we are in. What caused Malaysia to be in such a sadden situation? Was it because of the system? The extra-ordinary speed of progress that we are in? The mentality of our people or perhaps all of it? We have witness the fight for popularism among politicians through by-elections, it is through this, perhaps, the political stability of our country is at our all time low as compared to our glory days.Lately, another by-elections just took place, supporters of both the ruling government and the opposition are once again involved in a tussle and have resulted the police to step in to maintain order and peace.

The death of Teoh Beng Hock also signifies a lack of quality and transparency among Malaysian law agencies. What would happen to Malaysia if the agencies mandated to safeguard our rights and safety turns out to be the one betraying our lives and rights? Things are not conclusive though since an Inquest is taking place and a Royal Commission of Inquiry is taking place at the moment this issue is bring written, but one thing is for sure, a smear image have been portrayed to the people that the agency is unreliable. If these were to persist, things would look really bad for Malaysia in terms of economy and the rest of the issues.Perhaps the inquest and inquiry should be expedited as to enable the country to have an image reliable agency as that of ICAC and the Hong Kong Police. Otherwise, the good deeds done by these agencies will always be shadowed by the negative persona that the public has towards our law agencies.

The heavily politicized issue of Kampung Buah Pala shows how disunited we Malaysians are in seeing things. Yes, we are entitled to our personal opinions. However, when things go out of hand when it comes to an articulation of opinions, it would be bad not just to the people of a particular constituency or state but also to the country as large as it reflects the effectiveness of our democracy system. The system which is good should be maintain by not just the government but by the people as a whole as well. These individuals should not just be concerned about their own personal agendas, instead taking into consideration of the need of the society as a whole by making reasonable and responsible critics would enable a progressive and a problem solving society.

The maturity of political scene of the Great Britain(similarity in Westminster style of democracy) should perhaps be emulated by all Malaysian politicians. Parliamentarians in United Kingdom irrespective of parties would give credit to proposals which benefits the people and would discredit proposals which to them would do more harm than good. Responsibility and impartiality in the practice of democracy is what transpired the Great Britain to be a fantastic nation. Perhaps we should learn from the people of Great Britain or United States by having a stable and a more mature political scene should be seen. If the people of Malaysia could have an impartial stand when it comes to political view, It would be sure that Malaysia will be a developed nation in no time as only the best policies will be adopted.

It further saddens me when we refer to news of the MCA stuggle between Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek and Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat that the party representing the Chinese Community is in a state of dilemma(interpretation is mine). If the ruling party is having an internal dispute, how could a country be governed properly? Let's face the fact that as a human being, we can't put in a 100% commitment to 2 or more things befalling us at the same time. As a Minister and President of MCA, how could the people benefit when there is an need to split up ample time for ministerial duty and the time for solving party issues properly .The decision of the majority should be respected. Only when leaders and subordinate members respect democracy will democracy work perfectly in a society or a party.

It is easy for us to take things for granted especially since we are living in a bless country where food is easily reachable, ample opportunities to progress and other amenities easily within reach but least we remember that whatever we do, the country should be given priority in whatever we pursue. This sentence is not meant for just politicians but to every Malaysian since only a moderate criticism and an impartial society when it comes to economy, politics and other proposals could our country progress. Never should the country be placed in a situation where people would feel insecure of their rights, prospect because of bad image on the administration of government.

The Malaysian Dilemma

2009-08-29T21:00:00.000-07:00

Malaysia has always been a country full of surprises. Never had our country failed to generate suspense to the international community. Our forefathers fought for independence without thinking much of a country achieving this well. We have a state of the art facilities in the hearts of Kuala Lumpur, well balanced development on other major cities and above all, a united and a peaceful community comprising of multi ethnics and religion.

When, the incident of May 13 happened in 1969, speculations were that Malaysia (or the then Malaya) would just be another failed nation. A nation filled with hatred and unstoppable civil unrest which might last for decades. We proved them wrong.For the past 30-40 years, Malaysia grew stronger and more competent in terms of economy and strength. The country transformed into an industrialized nation and was once labelled as one of the ASIAN TIGERS. We were on par with Hong Kong, Singapore and to a certain extent Japan and South Korea. When we were hit hard by the 1997 Asian financial crisis, we manage to ride through the storm without suffering any serious drawbacks to our economy.

Well, to be honest, those were the prime time of Malaysia. Lately, I believe most Malaysians would be thinking if they have a future here in Malaysia especially, the Non-Malay communities. I have always believed that when it comes to economy, wealth distribution should always be fair and just. Giving chances and opportunities to the poor would be the wise move but distributing it to a particular race on grounds that the majority of that particular race is poor is unacceptable. As a citizen of Malaysia, what we hope for is a place to call home. A place where we can have ample opportunities to explore our talents to the best we could. A place where the intrinsic labellings of 2nd class/3rd class citizens should not exist.

Having been a country of it's own for 52 years, Malaysia should be able to give it's people a sense of security, a sense of belonging and a sense of owning. It is unfortunate to say that at times, most of these do not exist in our state of mind. We keep on wondering, would another untoward racial incident happened? Could we brace through the current economical storm? Would all these politicking affect our day to day life? It seems these are now our day to day question.

First things first, on issues pertaining to race and religion, it is disturbing to notice in the dailies lately that racial integration is again an issue. For instance, marching with a cow's head to protest the construction of a Hindu Temple. Although, everyone has their freedom to voice whatever dissatisfaction one have but such articulation should be done moderately. Everything with regards to religion would be a fragile matter here in Malaysia. These irresponsible act is giving the Hindu believers a sense of unsecured here in Malaysia.

If we were to look into the press lately, the manipulation of religion for the sake of political benefits seems to be so widespread that even canning of Kartika Dewi, the model sentenced to 6 strokes of Syariah Canning. The people of the society should respect the RULE OF LAW where, it was constitutionally enacted that Muslim could be sentenced to whipping if they are found drinking alcohol. Therefore, I don't see the point of people making a fuzz out of this case since the law provides for it. Furthermore, if the society consider this a primitive or a law which violates the human rights of Kartika Dewi and other Mulim women, probably a PROPER channel to voice such discontent would be through the legislatures which at the end of the day could have it voiced or debated in the parliament. Excessive rumours and speculations in the scoiety pertaining to Islamic Law could affect the tranquility of the society as the perception that Malaysia is moving towards a secular country would be hazardous to the people of Malaysia and investors.

On the issue of economy, perhaps this would be Malaysians top concern when it comes to the Malaysian Dilemma. Of Late, the country seem to have lost the momentum in drawing investors in or at least the portrayal of the economy is. With excessive politicking taking place here in Malaysia, it is a very natural thing for Malaysians and foreign investors to think that Malaysia is a political unstable country and with such an image being portrayed, it's just natural that the economy would slump. The was made worst as what had been reported in the dailies lately. CIVIL UNREST in the government camps. It would be hypocrite of politicians to say that it will not to the least affect their duty as a Member of a Parliament and their ministerial duty which governs the security, economy and the "heath" of Malaysia.

The rulling coalition should settle their current state of affairs issue as soon as possible. The issue of Extraordinary General Meeting on the MCA pact, the issue of who should be the President of PPP, the current politics within the MIC pact clearly would affect the performance of the country as ministers are appointed from these parties. How could we as Malaysians expect, a climb in financial position when the elected politicians are not interested in running the country but are more interested in protecting their positions in a political party? Even the opposition should do their part by contributing to the nation in this time of need by resolving issues which was allegedly wrong. For instance, Kampung Buah Pala. Perhaps, there is a basis for people to think there is a wrong in the handling of that piece of land. The Chief Minister instead of just pointing fingers to the previous administration should perhaps have it discussed with the federal government and provide a solution to the residents of Kampung Buah Pala.

With the death of Teo Beng Hock, the government agencies are not subjected to scrutiny on their effectiveness in serving the people. Never should major government agencies be perceived as a tool to any political party or as an agency which oppresses the freedom and rights of witnesses or accused. With reference to Hong Kong SAR, the people of Hong Kong could enjoy substantial amount of stability and tranquility would be because their government servants expecially the ICAC and the HONG KONG POLICE are serving the people to the best they could. Malaysia should imitate the effectiveness of this special administration country by making the MACC a complete independent body, An Independent Commission for Police Complaints to nab the rotten apples within the force and provide Malaysians with a sense of confidence to these 2 important agencies.

Malaysia has gone a long way to achieve what we have today, never should petty issues such as the above affect our way of looking at our country. If we need to move forward, 1 Malaysia concept should be more than just rhetoric and colour of skin should never be an issue.Whether you are a Chinese, an Indian, A Malay, A Kadazan,Dayak and others, you deserve to be labelled as MALAYSIANS and are entitled to the same rights and status. Happy Merdeka Malaysia and May God bless this wonderful nation.

The Truth must be Uncovered.

2009-08-02T22:24:00.000-07:00

The whole country was brought to a state of aghast when the news of the late Teoh Beng Hock was found dead at the MACC office in Selangor. The cause of death was said to be as a result of multiple injuries caused to the deceased due to a fall from the 14th floor. Much has been said about the incident. Be it politic or the way the deceased died.

In response to the much anticipated truth by the public, Our Prime Minister Dato' Seri Najib bin Razak announced the setting up of a Royal Commission and an Inquest to be lead by a Magistrate to determine the interrogation procedure by the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission and the cause of death of the late Teoh Beng Hock. However, some, especially the family of the late deceased insist that the power of the Royal Commission should be expanded to the findings of the cause of death. Would this be the proper solution.

Indeed, I do agree with the point of view given by the Attorney General that there is a provision under the Criminal Procedure Code which says that an inquest could be set up to inquire to the cause of death. Thus, according to the law, everything is in order. A Royal Commission to investigate MACC's Protocol and an inquest as to the death of Teoh Beng Hock but the government as always seems to have left out one thing. The need of the people. THE NEED OF THE PEOPLE THAT HAS BEEN VOICED OUT THROUGH THE CONCEPT OF DEMOCRACY.

There is nothing wrong by expanding the power of the Royal Commission to inquire to the death of the deceased. Indeed, the Royal Commission as always has been famous for it's impartiality and neutral stand when it comes to the finding of truth. The Lingam case seems to have shown it all. The finding that corruption might be present in the judiciary and the recommendation made to the police force and the investigation as to the cause of the collapse of the Penang Ferry Passenger bridge have all shown a tremendous record of investigation by the royal commission. This is the reason why people would like to have the royal commission to be the sole organisation having the power to inquire to the overall situation

The judiciary might have tried it's very best to rebound it's image among the members of the public that they are not to side anyone when it comes to judgement or imposition of justice. However, the wound caused by the 1988 seems to be so deep that the confident of the members of the public towards the judiciary have yet to even reached the minimum line of satisfaction. In this case, although an inquest might come out with a decision on the cause of death that is fair and impartial but yet people might still criticize the decision by saying that the judiciary is a tool for certain political parties or etc.

Therefore, by take the risk of subjecting the judiciary and the MACC from such scandalizing statements when a simple act of calling for an inquest for all issues to be conducted by Royal Commission could solve everything. Yes, it is true that as a layman, we might not understand genuinely the issues engulfing leaders but from the perspective of a layman, this would seem the better way to save the judiciary from further being scandalize.

When the MACC Bill was drafted. If I am not mistaken, the Deputy Director of the world Renowned corruption fighting agency of Hong Kong namely ICAC was said to have complimented the MACC Bill saying that the Commission have more transparency, independence as compared to the ICAC. WIth such remarkable statement being made by a leader of the world's most respected organisation, MACC was suppose to be the best organisation in the heart of the people. However, things seem to have taken a drastic twist with this untoward incident.

In line with this, unlike other incidents where the implementations of the findings of the Royal Commission could be delayed and postponed, MACC can't afford this. If deferment is allowed, not only MACC will suffer, every other governmental organisation including the efficiency of the royal commission will be aaffected as well. The people will not have faith on any governmental organisations to ensure justice prevails. People would no longer believe in the existence of the concept of separation of power in Malaysia and if we as the citizen of Malaysia could not trust our own government, can we expect others to accept Malaysia's organisations. I doubt.

As a conclusion, the people's point of view must always be respected as to us, our aim is simple, we want justice to prevail at all cost. We believe in transparency and we hope for an independent body to investigate every cause of action independently. The 1st move, restore faith of the members of the public on our judiciary, law enforcement units by explaining and convince us on why an inquest was called for to determine the cause of death of Teoh Beng Hock instead of just handing in such power to the Royal Commission. At the end of the day. JUSTICE AND THE TRUTH MUST PREVAIL.

Aftermath:- What must be Done?

2009-06-03T22:50:00.000-07:00

Lately with 2 back to back construction incident in Malaysia, It is imperative that immediate actions are taken as to avoid any further mishaps from happening. A demolition error caused the death of at least 2 Indonesian lives. Although the second incident had zero death toll but it must be remembered that it was mere luck that it did not happen.

The 1st incident involved a demolition work at a Jaya Shopping Centre at Section 14, Petaling Jaya on 28.05.2009. The demolition work was for the purpose of making way for re-development on the 35 years piece of land to provide a more modern and conducive shopping environment to shoppers. A demolition foul-up resulted in a few being trapped and 2 confirmed death. While it was an accident, it must be noted that the chances for force majeure( act of god) to have resulted it to happen is slim and one could draw a conclusion that human error might have taken place.

The 2nd accident was more tragic and surprising in nature. The roof of the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium in Gong Badak , Terengganu used in the previous SUKMA 2008 collapsed and although no lives were claimed, almost every Malaysians would be curious to know what happened to the roof structure that have been erected for only a year and a half by most and people wonder if the rest of the stadiums erected would be safe for usage especially stadiums are already 5-10 years old.

What happened within the structure is not for me to speculate as I am not an expert in civil engineering. Therefore, I would leave it for the experts to determine the cause of the incident. My main concern would be the quality of checks conducted by the Public Works Department and if there are any elements of foul play in between. I must say that when it comes to building structures, error is not an option. Every minor details of a building structure especially buildings which is meant to serve multiple people at one particular time,should be meticulously checked and rechecked to ensure that the building is 100% safe to be occupied.

Whenever such mishaps take place, relevant authorities should move into action as soon as it happens. Departments such as the Public Work Department, The Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission, The Commercial Crime Department of the Malaysia Royal Police Department should work hand in hand to determine the cause of it. For such serious accidents, human error must have occurred during the construction and these human errors be it criminal or error must be treated seriously in the eyes of the law. If the element of corruption exist, these malpractice contractors and immoral civil servants must be booked and if negligence were to be the main cause, the law would still have to play it's role to prevent future recurrence.

As an outsider with regards to this incident, It must be noted that all current existing buildings must be inspected again especially heavily congested buildings and the ones erected hastily as to be used for occasions like the current stadium rushed for SUKMA 2008. This is necessary as to regain the confidence of the people to the safe occupancy of the existing buildings as entering a building is almost a must do activity everyday. People must not live in fear and thus, the question or quetions synonymous to " will I die in this building?" must be removed from the minds of every Malaysians. Whenever we propose a method to regain the trust of the people, it must be conducted swiftly and as reported in the New Straits Times on 04.06.2009 that the Public Works Department was told of the defects a year ago. Probably measures must have taken butif it were to be conducted faster, the RM 292 million dollar stadium's roof might have been spared from collapsing.

With so many possibilities as to what might have taken place, it must be remembered that regaining the trust of the people and the assurance of public buildings must rank equivalent to the much needed investigation to what had happenedas an investigation will inform people what went wrong and bring the relevant parties to justice but a checking on existing buildings would prevent any sacrifice of lives which is priceles in nature.

When the purpose and application of the law is Unclear

2009-06-01T21:32:00.000-07:00

This article would serve as to enlighten viewers that although Malaysia abides by the rule of law concept, there are still rooms which improvements as some parts of the law in particular the Police Act 1967 and the Internal Security Act which has seem some bad impressions being given to them due to the loosely worded sentences and as a result fail to gain the respect of people to the supremacy of these enacted provisions. I would thereafter propose

As a former colony of the Great Britain, we adopted the rule of law concept whereby the law is the supreme framework which governs the day to day administrative of the government and serves as a guidance as to what and what should not be done by an individual as how it is provided under the Federal Constitution. The respect for law means the state and both the people will have to comply with what had been passed by the legislative assembly or the parliament at the national level. However, if any of the law enacted is unclear as to the application or perhaps the presence of an enormous amount of criticism and speculations as to the purpose of the enactment would jeopardise the respect of people towards the law. In Malaysia, it is quite unfortunate that such scenario is indeed taking place.

Much had been said lately on the arrest of the 5 lawyers from the legal aid centre by the Malaysia Royal Police of Brickfields when these people were accused to have violated Section 27 (3) and (4) and (5) of the Police Act 1967 states the following:-

(3) :-"Any police officer may stop any assembly, meeting or procession in respect of which a licence has not been issued or having been issued was subsequently cancelled under subsection"

(4) :- "Any person who disobeys any order given under the provisions of subsection (1) or subsection (3) shall be guilty of an offence.

(5) :- "Any assembly, meeting or procession-

(a) which takes place without a licence issued under subsection (2); or

(b) in which three or more persons taking part neglect or refuse to obey any order given under the provisions of subsection (1) or subsection (3),

shall be deemed to be an unlawful assembly, and all persons attending, found at or taking part in such assembly, meeting or procession and, in the case of an assembly, meeting or procession for which no licence has been issued, all persons taking part or concerned in convening, collecting or directing such assembly, meeting or procession, shall be guilty of an offence."

Although much power is being granted to detain individuals participating in an illegal assembly and certainly it is logical for the police to be granted such a rights since illegal assembly would cause caos and affect the tranquility of the area involved and if not contained through any legislation, the threat would spread to probably a national problem. However, although power ought to be given to be utilised by the relevant authorities during emergencies, loosely worded legal sentences would result in drawbacks to the rights of the people. The word "assembly" or "meeting" in Section 27 is not clearly defined and for this, would a mamak stall gathering by youngsters be labelled as illegal gathering or would lawyers gathering in a court room while waiting for their case to be mentioned be considered as illegal assembly as well.

The usages of law in unspecified scenarios under the Police Act 1967 were demonstrated on May 7th when 5 lawyers waiting to defend their clients after being denied access to their client was detained for allegedly being involved in an illegal assembly. Speaking with a liberal perspective, although the earlier candlelight gathering could be labelled as illegal assembly, the detainment of these 5 lawyers cannot be justified either way be it legal or on moral grounds. What they were doing were merely waiting to be granted access to their client. The question to everyone would be, Is the act of these 5 lawyers wrong?

Power granted must be specific, clear and to the benefits of the people at large. Never should legislative provisions grant too much power to any organisation or person by reason of loosely worded laws. Another instances would be the Internal Security Act or better known as ISA. The purpose of ISA was initially meant to detain any Communist suspects threatening the peace of the then Malaya in the 60's and 70's and Malaysia after the founding of It up until 1989. Today, ISA is still being in force but criticism seems to have come alongside. Although, it's relevancy is still needed needed as demonstated in the detain and arrest of Mas Selamat; the most wanted terrorist suspect in South East Asia, some detainments are speculative and questionable in nature.

The reason would be the unclear definition in the act as to what is the specific meaning of "security" under Section 8 of the Internal Security Act 1960 which says:-

"If the Minister is satisfied that the detention of any person is necessary with a view to preventing him from acting in any manner prejudicial to the security of Malaysia or any part thereof or to the maintenance of essential services therein or to the economic life thereof, he may make an order (hereinafter referred to as a detention order) directing that that person be detained for any period not exceeding two years"

When such uncertainty as to the application of law the people would relate any detainment under ISA to political motives or any other reasons. In this situation, by relating to my previous aricles, it boils down to one thing again, namely . IMAGE!!!!!! and it's about time for all law makers to realise the importance of this. With the speculated needed amentment to the the ISA, the ruling government must acknowledge the fact that there are some wordings of the law which requires scrutinization as to limit the power of the relevant authorities while performing their law according to the provided law. For instance, ISA usages could be or proposed to be limited to only armed or proposed armed attacks towards the nation or the Yang DiPertuan Agong or the illegal coup de'etat on the elected government.

While most of us acknowledge the fact that the law is supreme in a country which abides to the principle of rule of law, people would only respect the law if it is certain and specific which would disabled any speculations, criticism and possible wrongful abuse by the relevant authorities. Let us all Malaysians pray that the legislative framework of Malaysia would work for the better in assisting Malaysians to be guided the correct and a safe path by way of law.

Who Should We As "The People" Place our Trust on?

2009-05-23T22:09:00.000-07:00

After much have been seen lately, especially in Perak State Legislative Assembly and the May 7th 2008 arrest of 5 lawyers while waiting to defend their arrested clients, I pondered and wonder, who could we as commoner place our trust on after much of a disputes between political parties, arrest and the controversial issues of the judiciary.

Looking back to all the incidents that have taken place, have you given this question a thought, have you ever wondered why our nations are slipping down the chart, and have you ever wondered what is there for us after all these black incidents are cleared. With the introduction of 1 MALAYSIA by our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, we were introduced to another 1 BLACK MALAYSIA by the opposition(mainly). Which side should we in? Should I wear black while I am out on the streets? Will I be arrested for walking with 5 of my friends? How am I suppose to survive in this society. I remember listening once from a learned individual that "Democracy might not work for every country". I am really starting to believe that statement as along the way througout this incident,The People of Malaysia have more questions than ever before. Democracy is suppossed to be a method where, people would select the best government to solve problems and not create more problems.

First, the Perak Constitutional incident. We have seen in MalaysiaKini, how Perak State Legislative Assembly speaker(former), V.sivakumar being carried out from the sacred hall, we have seen how police arrested individuals caught drinking and eating at a nearby mamak stall which coincidentally is in the cordoned zone. We have also seen the arrest of various political representatives for allegedly being in the forbidden zone. The decisions on 11th May 2009 again sparked controversials when Datuk Seri Nizar was declared the legitimate Menteri Besar by the High Court of Kuala Lumpur and subsequently 24 hours or less, a stay of order was granted and Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir has once again retained the post. On 22th of May 2009. Court of Appeal allowed the appeal by Datuk Seri Zambry and held that he is the legitimate menteri besar.

I would now like to comment on these incidents. Today, Perak people have the option of either watching the DVDs sold by the oppositions or by the Barisan Members. Both are equally interesting. Opposition's version shows how YB Hew Yit Foong uses a pepper spray on Opposition ADUNS and how the police forcibly removed the speaker from his seat and of course the alleged guns brought into the hall. Barisan Dvds on the other hand shows how ruthless and non-respective manners being potryed by the opposition. Invading BN's territory, Snatching the Assembly's secretaries documents and eating in the assembly hall and of course, not less, the screming and VANDALISM. We elected representatives in hope that we as the people could get solutions via the civilised ways. "Legal and proper arguments" not some funny dramatic series of removing speakers and mic pulling stuns. For this, I would not be asking, which representatives or political parties that you favour the most? My question now would be, Do you still trust our representatives?

The Police have a part to be blamed for all the commotions. I have from time to time emphasis that image is the most important part of every organisation in the world due to the fact that the power of media coverage have never been greater. However, the police force never seemed to have learned from experiences. On the 7th of May 2009, The OCPD of IPD Brickfields arrested individuals suspecting to be involved in an illegal gathering in front of the police station. This is according to Section 27 of the Malaysia Police Act. It is not my position to say if they are innocent or not as the legal system should be the one determining it. What I am more surprise of is the attitude potrayed by the OCPD. Rude and arrogant should be the words. Arresting weaponless and non-serious crime suspects rudely and roughly is not the image the police force should be getting. To make things worst, 5 lawyers together with several others were detained as well all because they were at the scene where they are waiting to see their clients when their initial request were denied.

Today, Jokes about wearing black shirts on the street seems to be the kopitiam headlines as people from all walks of life are so concern that if they were to wear black, they might be arrested as well. Justification:- "you are wearing black". How could anyone in Malaysia decide or advice what Malaysians should and should not wear. Although it's true that this may prevent any wrongful arrest in the event a person is at the wrong place at the wrong time but wouldn't it shows that instead of a free society, we are turning more into a stalinist state. It must be noted that our constitution permits free movement, free expresion of ideas so long as it doesn't affect national security. Honestly speaking, I like black, lawyers and judges as well because they represent the colour of power and professionalism. Should these people be arrested as well? Just to add on a little. Even for the oppositions, funny methods of attracting votes or fame should not be by way of funny ideas like wear yellow for BERSIH, wear BLACK. Instead of wasting time doing all these, please channel strength in fulfilling your promulgated promises to the people. At the end of the day, we need a government that is capable of ruling the country efficiently and not some party which is good in dictating what the people should or should not do or come out with some funny ideas.

With regards to the independence of the judiciary, at times I do agree that the judiciary is a victim as said by YB Lim Kit Siang but just a modification,the judiciary is a victim to disputes between political parties. On the day when the judiciary gave decision in favour of Pakatan Rakyat, nothing was said as to the independence of the judiciary in the case of MBv MB. When the court of appeal decided the other way, there comes the story of Independence of judiciary in dilemma, judiciary is a victim of BN. One honest question to Pakatan and everyone at large, Is it that the judiciary would only be independent only if the decisions are all to the favour of the opposition? Why is the judiciary deciding that fast on behalf of Barisan Nasional. Again, justice served must be shown to the people and not merely served. Speculations and rumours would destroy the reputation of the institution we must have faith on. Personally speaking, the judiciary which I respect the most among the 3 bodies under the separation of power will have to improve on their image and reputation.

By and large, People expect alot nowadays, We are no longer living in exile not knowing what is the best for us, we are exposed to the world. Sitting at home enables us to know what is taking place in the US, UK and probably even hermit kingdom like North Korea. We are expecting a government that will propel us to greater heights and not parties that would come out with funny statements for personal gains or because of dissatisfaction of any issues without taking our interest as rakyat into priority. For Barisan and Pakatan, work for the people and we shall repay you according to the deeds poured into the society. Like an old chinese saying, " whatever seeds you planted, that's the tree you will get".

Perak State Assembly:- A sham, A Mockery, A Disgrace.

2009-05-09T11:29:00.000-07:00

This article is a comment made personally on the latest sitting of the Perak legislative Assembly on the 7th of May 2009 which has resulted in a wide coverage of media throughout the country. With the drama being unfolded at the early morning of 7am, mass arrests, fightings and even accussations among assemblymen could be seen. As a Perakian, I think I have an obligation to voice out my point of view and at the same time propose some ideas as to how these tangled issues could be solved.

As far as the media is concerned and from the words of the politicians, some would say the incident in and outside the Perak Legislative Assembly is a Sham, A mockery of democracy and even coup de'tat. From what I could see could only be linked to one word "DISGRACE". I am not interested to know who is right and who is wrong for from my perspective everyone in that legislative assembly hall is at a wrong. Punchings, kickings, war of words( which are all rubbish arguments), jeering, force removal, property damage, police interference. All clearly shows that the level of maturity of politicians in Malaysia is still low. In a democratic and a civilised nation, solutions should be by way of words and not by force. It was despicable to see those politicians involved in the hall on Thursday to be involved in such disturbing act.

The problems exist because of the failure of every party in the hall to compromise and to move a feet back. Every politicians in the assembly hall were basically in their highest offensive mode preparing to strike back be it by way of words or by fist. For instance, the starting of the assembly, Barisan representatives told to leave by the speaker. No compromise by Barisan representatives. Speaker voted out, Speaker Sivakumar refuses to budge from his seat. War of words turned ugly all these because non agreed to compromise and find a proper solution. The non-compromising attitude as seen in Perak State Legislative assembly could be linked to parliaments in certain countries where the parliament would be a fighting ground if there is a dispute in matters. For instance, Taiwan and South Korea.

Outside the assembly hall was even better, both the opposition members and police officers were jokers of the day. The opposition members were told earlier not to wear black and to be in the 500 metre radius cordoned area. However, these people seem to be so stubborn that they wore black as could be seen by Teratai assemblyman and others and to be in the restricted cordoned area. When warnings have been given, these people should have complied to it for the order was given by the Magistrate of Ipoh and thus it is legally enforceable. On the arrest, I would say it is legal. On the police side, they are to be blame as well at least partly.

I was watching this video in Malaysia Kini where it was surprisingly funny to see groups of police officers moving in for arrest in some war zone area. Mamak stalls were raided and these people who are enjoying their teh tarik were arrested. They might be opposition supporters but these people should be given the rights to enjoy their meal and the simplest question, what if these people were to work nearby and is there for their breakfast before starting their work. Do these innocent people deserve to be sent for lockup? Furthermore, putting up such a show was unnecesary as it seems to be potraying the fact that Ipoh is a chaotic city which is not true. Today, after the incident, they have just made the situation in ipoh worst. People labelled Ipoh the other day as a war zone and a fighting ring among politicians. As a Perakian, it hurts to hear such remarks to be made to my home state.

The best solution with regards to the appointment of speaker would be to appoint a neutral non-bias speaker which is from the rakyat and is capable of doing so. By appointing a speaker which is neither Pakatan nor Barisan supporter, the motions of both Barisan and Pakatan could be decided throughly and in a non-bias mode. Furthermore, motions passed would also be reflected as to have been decided fairly by the rakyat and unlike now, Barisan Speaker is said to be assisting Barisan assemblyman and Pakatan speaker assisting Pakatan assemblyman. Furthermore, all sittings of the assembly should be put on hold until the decision of Federal Court has been released(which is on Monday 11th of May 2009). Once the decision has been made, the legitimate government should amend the constitution of Perak as to rectify the grey areas in the constitution on the issue of dissolution of parliament when there is a shift in majority(for example).

As a whole, it was a completely unacceptable kind of attitude both from the Pakatan and Barisan representatives as these people voted to represent the people turned out to have betrayed the trust of people by making the situation worst. If any such incident were to happen again, how could we place trust on Barisan as the ruling party promising to deliver and Pakatan as an alternative to the rakyat. I really wonder when can the problem in Perak be solved ammicably.

Penanti By-Election.Should There be a Competition?

2009-04-27T00:38:00.000-07:00

After witnessing the selections of representatives by the people in the 2 Bukit's and in Batang Ai recently, Malaysia is about to witness another by-election which will be held on the 31st of May 2009 which was announced by the Chairman of the Election Commission, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Abdul Yusof in the morning of April the 27th 2009. Would this exercise of democracy be an advantage to the nation or would it generate negative consequences to the nation and to the people? In this article, I shall analyse what I could see through this and subsequently have it compiled as to form my finalised opinion.

Not long after the end of the 3 by-elections held simultaneously, Mohd Fairus Khairuddin, the former Deputy Chief Minister 1 of Penang, stuns the nation and his constituencies when he announces his resignation as the Deputy Chief Minister 1 of Penang an on the 8th of April 2009. In 16th April 2009, he officially resigned from his seat as the Penanti State Legislative Assembly representative after being accussed of being involved in a graft scandals involving an illegal quary. On the 22nd of April, 2009, He was acquitted by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC). Mohd Fairus stood by his decision to quit when on the 24th of April 2009, he announced his decision to quit again and finally, a date for the by-election was decided which would be on 31.05.2009.

Through his resignation as the Penanti State Assembly Representative, I could see chaos and a battle of words again among the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat politicians. Dilemmas were further widen among the people when, our newly helmed prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, announces a possible non-contest on the Penanti State which was strongly heeded by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. However, there are some which opined that Barisan should compete for the sake of democracy and at the same time, give Barisan Nasional supporters a chance to vote.How beneficial if this by-election were to be contested by the Barisan Nasional?

Barisan Nasional until today( as to the date of writing) refused to give any comments as to whether they would be participating on grounds of a waste of money and the money could be better spent on the people in line of the current pre-recession preparation. Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the de-factor leader of Pakatan Rakyat said they are more than willing to comply and requested Barisan to give them a walk away.

Datuk Seri Najib has a point when he said the money used for by-election should be better spent on the economy rather than politicking. It's true since 2009 might be a wobbly year for the country as all nations all embracing themselves for the toughest economical challenges of the century. In a report on the 3 by-elections held simultaneously in the month of April 2009, it was said that approximately a few millions was used up. Honestly speaking, these money could be spent wisely on the infrastructure or even in the capitalist market as to strengthen the financial status of every individual by providing troubled people with adequate cash.

However, if a walk away were by the Barisan Nasional were to be done, there will be some that will perceive Barisan Nasional to be making such a decision on grounds of being scared of losing. Barisan Nasional had never won any by-elections except for Batang Ai in Sarawak ever since the lost of the Mac 2008. The refusal to compete in this coming by-election would definitely further deepen the injured scars on the Barisan Nasional. In the Malaysian daily "The Star", a survey was conducted and the results shows a contracdicting statement when Barisan Nasional was told to compete in the coming Penanti DUN seat. Therefore, the million dollar question is, should Barisan Compete?

Statistically speaking, it is definitely not wise to compete for according to the report made in The Star on the 7th of May 2009. It was reported by our Deputy Home Minister that for the cost incurred by police alone in the previous 5 by-elections, was RM 39 Million and the least expenditure was RM 4.6 million which was in Batang Ai. Looking at it, one would wonder if these money is worth spending. With the amount that is huge in nature, approximately thousands of families of from the lower income group could be assisted or probably hundreds of students could be granted scholarships to study abroad or perhaps even upgrade our public universities. Therefore, it would be unwise then to compete.

On experts opinion, one or two professors from Malaysia's prestigious universities were vocal in criticising the plan on having the need to compete in the next by-elections. Even the President of the Chinese Commerce and Trade suggested to politicians to focus more on the economy rather than politicking as it would affect our nations competitiveness in the International community. These statements seem to have been articulated long enough ever since the March 8 2008 general election where backstabbings and war of words have never stopped and of course it would be bad to see another round of chaos aftr so many by-elections.

Now on my point of view, I think it would be better for Barisan Nasional to compete even when mathematically and opinion wise suggest otherwise. I admit that initially upon looking at the amount used in the previous by-elections, I have a different set of opinion. What changed my mine was the report published in the Straits Time on the 7th of May that there are currently 4 confirmed candidates for the Penanti by-election. Thus, at the end of the day, money would still have to be used. In that case, it would be better for Barisan to compete as this would give voters of that constituency another alternative as to who should serve them.

As a conclusion, although I am suggesting that Barisan and Pakatan should face off (again) in the Penanti by-election, this should be the last by-election ever to be seen as it would be costly and a waste of energy if by-elections were to take place again. The country needs to focus on the economy and propel forward and not backward. All the best to Penanti DUN candidates

Style, Tactics and Winning Strategies.

2009-04-14T21:54:00.000-07:00

On the 4th of April 2009, Malaysia witnessed another changed of Prime Minister after the resignation of Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as the 5th Prime Minister and a transfer of Power to Datuk Seri Najib bin Abdul Razak as the nation's 6th Prime Minister. Almost instantly, Datuk Seri Najib bin Abdul Razak promulgated the idea of ONE MALAYSIA with the intention of unifying all Malaysians irrespective of race, religion and backgrounds.

How effective would this idea is still early to tell but it is possible if there is a determination of the ruling government to advance this idea to a higher level. However, in this article I would like to comment on the tactics,style of delivery and strategies used by the Barisan Nasional after the helm of Datuk Seri Najib as the new prime minister of Malaysia which personally would stand in between the correct implementation of this idea of ONE MALAYSIA.

Upon, taking over the position, 13 ISA detainees were released and of course, personally, I see it as a sign of peace accord with the Indian communities. Subsequently, The Prime Minister visited Sin Chew Press, one of the largest Chinese dailies in Malaysia as a sign of support to the Chinese Communities. The elections in Bukit Gantang, Bukit Selambau and Batang Ai sees a tremendous efforts by the Barisan Nasional in wooing non-Malay voters to cross next to their symbol that is the beam. Subsequently, the public relations of the Barisan government when it comes to the media and the comparison of them with the opposition.

The release of ISA detainees and the Sin Chew Press visita re definitely a good move by our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib bin Abdul Razak. What intrigues me the most was an article written in Malaysia Kini which says that Malaysia certainly would not want to see a release of 13 members but sees more arrest under this draconian law in the future. One thing that ought to be credited to the current administration would be the proposal to review our current ISA law as to suit the current progressive society. I have to admit that for certain matters, ISA would still have to be retained as to provide a sense security to this country. For instance, terrorist suspects must be detained almost instantaneously if there is a prima facie evidence for the lives of the community should be preserved. However, these people must be entitled to be brought before the court to have the grey areas settled to see if the evidence is minimally sufficient to detain that person.

It seems that the usual practice of the Barisan government is no longer giving confidence to Malaysians as almost all previous Prime Ministers have used the tactics of releasing ISA detainees upon hanging onto the top executive post. Tun Dr Mahathir, released approximately 20 ISA detainees and Tun Abdullah released Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim(speculatively) and now, Datuk Seri Najib with 13 freed ISA detainees. People are afraid that this is nothing but another gimmick by the government and subsequently having their hands tied and mouth duck tapped again. These repeated tactics is generating fobia among Malaysians as it seems though that the government of Malaysia is famous for this tactics every time there is a change of administrative leader.

Even visiting the Chinese related organisations have been perceived by Malaysians as to be a hypocrite act of the prime minister for the sole purpose of winning the hearts of the Chinese community and their Chinese people are afraid that upon delivering their votes, the Barisan government would ignore them or deprive them of their rights. As a conclusion, it is very obvious that if the Barisan intends to win the hearts of the people, a different tactics would have to be used. Outdated tactics would make people think this is an obsolete party which is not as vocal as that of the opposition.

The opposition is better of in 2008 elections is because they promulgated the concept in the famous phrase that is " the government by the people and for the people" whereas Barisan is still stuck in outdated policies of "government knows what is best for the people" Even Datuk Seri Najib after coming into power acknowledge that the olden days concept can no longer be applied to this modern Malaysian society. For this, I believe, if the ruling country wants Malaysia to progress, the views of all Malaysians must therefore be respected. This is the new approach that must be taken by the coalition party. Only then can we see 2 competitive party which is really appreciating the concept of democracy.

The opposition like I said ought to be credited for their recent edge that they have because they acknowledge that only through liberalism would they obtain the votes of the younger generations. PAS which used to be labelled as an "EXTREME" party was supprisingly victorious when it comes to non-Malay votes which used to fear them alot. Even controversial policies in the state of Kelantan which used to be practiced by the state government seems to have dissapeared or at least lessen down. People are more knowledgeable these day, they want a government that is liberal and that is able to provide them opportunities to explore without any sinister motives at the end of it. The opposition seems to have given a good show in the 3 by-elections which saw an increase in non-Malay votes to the PAS led government in Kedah and PAS candidate Datuk Nizar Jamaluddin in Perak.

After, speaking of tactics used by both the Barisan government and the Opposition, I shall now deal on how politicians from both sides deal with the press. A few days and at the day of before the writing of this article, our newly appointed Deputy prime Minister Datuk Seri Muhyiddin is at the centre of attention because of a comment made on the Chinese voters in the latest by-elections. I have to clarify, I do not have the actual transcript of his comments made that day and as such, i would not make any specific comments on it but the general discussion I would be making would be the style shown to the press and the media from both the Barisan and the Pakatan government. Pakatan government is showing a clean and humble characteristics to the society when statements made are vocal but not too arrogant in nature and thus, people would automatically perceive that these politicians are humble and have a sense of respect to the welfare of the people at large. Barisan politicians on the other hand are vocal when it comes to controversial issues but at the same time retains an arrogant mode of delivery and this in return would results in multiple stories due to the chances of interpreting it negatively.

By and Large, as a conclusion, Like what I have commented in Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat's blog page, Barisan is really bad when it comes to public relation whereas the opposition is really good in promulgating ideas and winning the hearts of the people. The people believe what is promoted in the press will be delivered or executed by the respective party. Barisan is giving a negative perspective and as such people are terrified that the negative ideas might come true unlike the opposition which is giving positive promises which is good in instilling confidence among the people.

Thus, For Barisan, there is still a long way to go in winning the hearts of the people but at the same time, Opposition members must deliver the positive promises to the people as empty promises would be more disasterous than not giving promises. These 2 parties must show to the people that Malaysia can progress in either party and thus, these 2 major parties must be more mature in everything especially when it comes to delivery and implementation of promises.

Sweep, Sweep and Sweep, Doing Enough to make the floor clean?

2009-03-21T21:44:00.000-07:00

This article is in response to the latest findings from the UMNO disciplinary board which is in relation to the money politics investigations among UMNO candidates for this upcoming party election. I have to say, that I was rather surprised by the outcome of the investigation which have shown a breakthrough of the level of transparency and fairness in this country.

The investigation was part of the "cleaniness" programme being conducted by the UMNO disciplinary board to eradicate money politics. After months of speculations, comments and investigations from the disciplinary board. Alas, a verdict has arrived. While some expect a "cover up" by the disciplinary board, the disciplinary board made their critics eat their own words by barring Datuk Seri Wira Ali Rustam from contesting in this coming Party election for there is a strong "network" between him and Money Politic agents. A round of applause to the board for their fairness and transparency practice which is rarely shown in this complicated society be it Malaysia or elsewhere. Cover up has always been portrayed.

Datuk Seri Wira Ali Rustam( Chief Minister of the state of Malacca) was not the only one found liable for money politic scandals, even the son-in-law of our prime minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi( As he is at the time of writing) was let off with a warning and this is because the link between him and those involved are weak and unsubtantial evidence to point his involvement in money politics. Honestly speaking, he could be lucky but believing in the disciplinary board, it seems to be just another grey area that is left unsolved. Several others were investigated for instance Datuk Azalina Othman(Minister of Tourism at the time of writing) and according to the New Straits Times Malaysia on the 21.03.2009, the verdict is due to be out in a couple of days.

Although the latest genre of the political parties in UMNO has changed to be a more aggressive party with a higher level of transparency to win back the heart of the people into believing that the party is still competent to rule the country in a cleanly and efficiently, it is to my opinion that the current action by the party is still not convincing enough to potray better image to voters.

There should never be any doubt that money politic is a mean of corruption which is capable of corrupting the society. Just like cancer cells, corruption is a kind of disease which will infest the entire community if not tackled swiftly and efficiently. Again, taking the cancer disease as an example, even if the cells have been removed but no further observations are being done to uncover the root cause, this hardcore disease would resurface and again be a pest to the society. Corruption would cause the collapse of the legal system, the collapse of a country's economy and the collapse of the morality of a society. In short, a civilised society turned barbaric. With the current discovery in UMNO and UMNO being the main party in the Ruling coalition, the system must be the cleanest and the root cause should be unrooted to solve this problem once and for all. The investigation should not therefore stop at the disciplinary committee stage. Person involved in such malpractice must be brought into booking for their offences against the law.

Under the newly passed legislatice bill; Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009,

Section 2 has this to say.

"The principle objects of this Act are:-

(a) to promote the integrity and accountability of public and private sector administration by constituting an independent and accountable anti-corruption body:..."

It is therfore to my opinion that the discoveries of the disciplinary board should be referred to the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission(MACC) for the purpose of the establishment of the commission is to promote "integrity and accountability" . It would be a futile attempt of our prime minister after much have been done to combat corruption if an investigation is not being conducted by the MACC on this particular matter. I must however stress that I am not of the view whether persons investigated by the disciplinary board is guilty or innocent. What I am stressing would be for the party to be clean, it must "look clean" as well. Image plays an important factor in this 211st century.

It's not just UMNO that should be concern in this matter, the MACC which is of a couple of months old should take this opportunity to convince the people that they can perform their job without fear or favour by investigating the alledged crime as stipulated under Section 47 to request the investigating informations to inquire under this act. and if such an act were to be used, the disciplinary board is legally bound to provide the informations. Such a recommendation from me is not for the purpose of degrading the credibility of the board, but law must always be the law and obliging to it is the responsibility of it's subjects. For sure, such cleansing of names of people involved would be more convincing to the people at large.

Never should the law be selective when it comes to investigation and enforcement. Even a single suspicion as to the possible involvement of crime, relevant enforcement officers should step in to investigate and if they are innocent, they should be cleared by the highest authority and not by others and such measures would save an overall scene at the end of the day. Besides, what is there to be afraid of if one is innocent. Investigation would be better off in clearing a persons reputation. Conclusion, MACC should step in to save the complexity engulfing the party be it guilty or not, the trust towards UMNO could only be done this way.

Civilisation 2:- Language.Bahasa Melayu and English, A Mastery seek, A legacy to preserve.

2009-03-11T00:12:00.000-07:00

This article is a continuation of my article entitled "Civilisation-A Concept!!!! " which was written towards the end of February 2009. In Line with the events that is taking place, I felt necessary as a blogger and a commoner to address the issues that is taking place. Of late, the issue of Perak constitutional crisis seems to have been placed aside and if we were to observe carefully, our country has never been "peaceful" ever since the March 8th, 2008 election. Last week, the teachings of Science and Mathematics in English hit the headlines throughout the country for once again, a "peaceful" gathering happened in the capital of Kuala Lumpur.

Before I voice my opinion as to whether Mathematics and Science should continued to be taught in English, I shall at first address the manner of "language" of addressing their dissatisfaction by the parties involved for the situtation and subsequently the consequences towards the country's political stability and economy. I have to say the situation in Malaysia had a turn for the worst when of late, city riots and chaos seems to have formed part and parcel of Malaysian lifestyle. Perhaps some would say, we are moving towards a new era of democracy and liberalism is finally here whereas some would say that Malaysia is at a junction of destroying itself. This article came after the analysis of the Sijil Pelajaran Rendah results and a video of liberalism being commented by Tun Dr Mahathir in one of the interview sessions with Al-Jazeera somewhere last 1-2 years.

On the 7th of March 2009, a group of 2000, people attempted to submit a memorandum of objection to the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English and claim that Malay Language should be upheld as the medium of teaching as it is the pride of the nation and most importantly the importance of all Malaysians to master the language as to maintain the status as a Malaysian. Such an act is definitely not a proper channel to address the issue as to put it in a very simple manner, "What could a road protest do besides getting arrestted?" Honestly, if one were to object to the implemented teachings of Science and Mathematics in English and Malay, Probably, a better idea would be to submit memorandum ONLY and not having a street protest which would eventually make it looks like some political struggles when this is a mere educational issue. Almost 100 over people were arrested and this I would like to ask, is it worth it and has it changed a thing? Perhaps some would say, We proved you wrong Jason, if Bahasa were to be the medium of teaching again. In this scenario, I would like to ask again, Do you think the change is of utmost benefits to Malaysian? In the next paragraph, the journey of the importance of Bahasa and English would be discussed.

Personally, there is no wrong as to their objection for certainly, under the law, especially the constitution in Article 152, of the Federal Constitution,it which clearly expresses that Bahasa Melayu would be the National Language of Malaysia. Although this is true and as an Individual which upholds the principle laid down in the the Rukun Negara," keluhuran Perlembagaan" I do agree that the National Language should be inculcated to the younger generations as to continue the legacy of our National Language. Even though I am of Chinese descendant, Learning Bahasa Melayu have indeed made me unique compared to other nationalities. A couple of years back, before the commencement of my blog writing interest, I was fascinated to know that our National Language has been pursued by some Chinese people from China in University of Malaya. As such, the language that has been taught to me for the past 12 years of my education is something which enables me to be proud of.

However, It must be noted that English today is still the Lingua Franca of the International Community. Every documents sent abroad be it business/education or any other matters requires it to be in English. Even Japanese people would have to communicate using English Language or at least understand the words articulated in English. One could not expect international communities to understand our language for as a country that is still progressing, it must be understood that we still have a long way to go before being as developed as that of the United States, United Kingdom or Japan. English enables better communications and as such minimizes the language barrier and reduces red tapes in most of the matters.

English, like Bahasa Melayu is a language and as such, it could only be improved if more exposures and communicating opportunities are given to students. One could only improve in their language if one is willing enough to accept the language and speak to others even if it means being corrected by others. Quantity will bring quality. Thus, using English more would mean a higher level of proficiency of English among Malaysians. The implementation of English was re-introduced after almost 2 decades of teaching in Bahasa Melayu for Science and Mathematics due to the receding level of mastery of English among Malaysians. English being used in the English Subject itself will never be sufficient as the number of hours for English simply do not provide adequate hours for students to use English as their medium of conversation .

By putting English in Mathematics and Science, students have more hours to be exposed to English Language and thus, at least the basic of English could be mastered and furthermore if these students were to further their tertiary education overseas, English scientific term should not be a problem to the undergraduates. Bahasa Melayu on the other hand is still being taught in other subjects, Bahasa Melayu aside, subjects such as Sejarah(History), Moral, Perakaunan(Accounting) would definitely generate adequate hours to students to use Bahasa Melayu. In addition, since passing Bahasa Melayu is a requirement for a certificate in S.P.M, students would definitely work extra hard to master the language. As such, I should say, the mastery of Bahasa Melayu should be the least concern among Malaysians whereas I would be bold enough to say, English mastery among Malaysians is at a critical level and immediate actions are needed to solve this issue.

As a former student who was taught in Bahasa Melayu for both Mathematic and Science and having the need to adapt to the new medium of teaching for these crucial subjects, it was tough, indeed, some terms are not the same and those were the years where I was complaining of the change but looking back, it's now very rewarding for at least, some of the English scientific terms are not new to me and reading Medical or Science Journals is now made simple and interesting.

For those who supports the Bahasa Melayu language, it's a good struggle and a good idea but having the need to sacrifice an International Lingua Franca shouldn't be the method for language is not a simple domestic issue, it affects beyond the boundries of Malaysia and thus, should the current method of teaching be changed? It's not me to say but to me personally, Bahasa Melayu should be upheld for it's status as a national language and at the same time English should of good command among Malaysians for it is one of the tool for us to progress further as living in a country which is having an open economy means we are not isolated from the international community.

Civilisation-A concept!!!

2009-02-27T22:01:00.001-08:00

I have always promulgate the idea of civilisation to be practiced in-depthly by politicians to serve as a role model to the people as to enable them to have a more flexible approach to new concepts and new developments. Civilisation, personally speaking have no precise definition although dictionaries in the market seems to have their own set of definition but with all due respect, it is just a mere narrow perspective as to the meaning of Civilisation. In this article, we shall embark on a journey in getting to know more about civilisation and thereafter have it analysed as to see how civilised our politicians are and how successful of them in bridging the concept of civilisation to the people of Malaysia.

Civilisation has a long road of history and previous civilisation which includes Chinese empires, Babylon, Roman Empire and others seems to suggest the progress of human beings from one century to another. Civilisation would therefore suggest the ability of human beings to think and evolve into a better creature by ways of introducing new ideas, exploring the inner curiousity and the need to seek justifications for everything that we do. It would be fair if I were to cite a few examples as to the statement above. The Roman Empire, which is famous for their idea of democracy which is still alive until today shows the greatness of mankind when for the first time, ideas as to how to avoid any misuse of power was introduced and shows a tremendous improvement among humans. Today, this idea of democracy is very much alive whereby the people continue with the idea and for this,most democratic nations are progressing well with it's people enjoying the benefits of it.

The Chinese civilisations which is famous for their invention of papers and fire powders clearly indicates the desire of people to explore their curiosity in solving problems of writing conveniently and to save up the storage space needed especially for the palace official matters. Papers were finally invented and it did it's job in saving up spaces and people until today could write easily without having the need to scratch words on bamboo skins. The Muslim community in the middle east was not exempted from the meaning of civilisation. Some famous muslim scholars made scientic discovery especially on the medicinal part and for this, even some Westerners emulated the idea and fully utilised the discovery uncovered by these civilised Muslim community.

Understanding the need to progress in a peaceful and a protected environment. The Magna Carta Constitution which is closely associated to freedom and the establishment of the fundamental rights of people shows the evolution of people to understand the meaning of tolerance and respect of others. The law subsequently based on this article progressed further as to permit people to voice their opinion to seek better improvement to our way of living as to how peace could be sustained or achieved and at the same time enable people to be part of the government administration.Again another step of evolution portrayed by mankind.

HOWEVER, like the saying of old goes,there will always be rotten apples which would bee dreadful to the society if not tackled efficiently as the desirable effect is contagious in nature. In the second world war, makind sees the ugly side of the desirable effect when the pollution to the meaning of civilisation spans across Europe and Asia where, some " civilisation destroyers" suceeded in brainwashing the people into believing that act of killing or stagnant mentality among them would serve as a mean of loyalty to the nation. From 1935-1945, human suffered the worst kind of civilisation disease where, instead of progressing, the brains gifted from god was fully utilised to generate killing ideas. Concentration camps, The Holocous,Nangking Rape incident and others clearly shows the backward thinking disease suffered by people back then.

Today, the disease seems to have resurfaced. Although not as bad as the one we had in the 40's but if not tackled, I believe the world would definitely be an awful place to live in. As promised, we shall upon looking into the concept of civilisation analyse the application level of politicians be it local or abroad. In today's modern era, most states are preaching the concept of democracy and as such, people's opinion must be respected. However, some politicians in a democracy world would resort to dirty tactics as to find loopholes to better gain themselves either by hopping parties for their own benefits or resort to some dirty tactics which is derogatory in nature for instance, publishing some private pictures of others. In Malaysia, some politicians would promulgate the use of chaos as a method of coercing certain party in complying with them. Act such as threats, harrassment and even "close contact" in parliaments as to vent their anger to members of parliament is a manisfestation that SOME politicians are still not civilised enough to rule the country or to be involved in politics. In addition, practice of corruption by certain politicians could be considered as uncivilised for their failure to look at the welfare of others and the bigger picture. I have to admit that while there are those which deserve to be critisied there are some politicians which are gentleman enough to perform their job civilizely in the government and these group of people deserve to be credited for their effort.

With these practices which do not conform the characteristics of a civilised society, how could the people especially crucial government servants such as Police, Custom and other critical enforecement agencies to have a civilised mentality for these people would definitely emulate from their superior. It must be understood that without a civilised mentality, people would be backdated and focussing too much of uncivilised act would be disasterous to the country's economy as prospective investors cannot have a sense of security in our method of handling issues as well as their personal safety in this country. Furthermore, it must be noted that an uncivilised method employed by some politicians must be understood as an act which is against any teaching of morality of any religion and should therefore be abstained from being performed.

While our government is working hard to improve the country such as the about to be anounced 2nd stimulus budget, there are some rotten apple politicians which is trying to stir up issues as to win the heart of the people and to merely retain or return to his/her glory days without carring much about others. This should not be happening as we as a citizen of Malaysia, like it or not could only progress if we are civilised and in fact our level of civilisation should be higher so as to be tolerant to each other's race which is of different culture, background and religion and refraining such dirty tactics employed by certain irresponsible politicians would elevate our status and dignity and enable us to live up to the should be status as a MALAYSIAN.

RAKYAT BERTAMADUN, RAKYAT BERMARUAH, MALAYSIA SEJAHTERA.

Perak Darul Ridzuan:- Pengajaran konsep "Demokrasi" Yang Bermakna.

2009-02-06T20:25:00.000-08:00

Atas penghormatan kepada Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Sultan Azlan Shah, selaku Ketua Pemerintah yang berdaulat bagi negeri Perak Darul Ridzuan, rencana bagi isu ini akan diterbitkan menggunakan Bahasa Melayu selaras dengan Perkara 152, Perlembagaan Persekutuan dan juga atas kepercayaan terhadap prinsip-prinsip Rukun Negara sebagaimana tercatat dalam baris kedua dan keempat iaitu " Kesetiaan kepada Raja dan Negara" & " Kedaulatan Undang-Undang. Dalam tempoh seminggu yang lepas dari tarikh penulisan rencana ini, negeri Perak Darul Ridzuan telah menyaksikan satu episod politik yang cukup "menarik" sehingga menjana kekeliruan dalam minda rakyat negeri Perak dalam mengenal pasti parti pemerintah yang sebenar. Atas sebab itu, bagi rencana ini, perbincangan mengenai keberkesanan demokrasi dalam negara ini perlu dibangkitkan demi kepentingan rakyat jelata.

Demokrasi bedasarkan kepada pemahaman yang cetek saya merupakan satu amalan kebebasan yang diberikan kepada rakyat dalam melibatkan diri dalam pemerintahan negara bagi memastikan ketulusan kerajaan dan sekali gus memastikan kepentingan dan kebajikan rakyat dipelihara. Melalui amalan demokrasi, adalah jelas bahawa setiap individu adalah berhak untuk menyuarakan pendapat mereka secara bebas tanpa sebarang kekangan ataupun sekatan melalui saluran-saluran yang diberi. Sebagai contoh, rakyat diberi kuasa untuk mengundi pada pilihanraya yang dianjurkan secara serentak ( kecuali negeri Sarawak) setiap 4- 5 tahun bagi menentukan parti politik yang berhak dipilih sebagai kerajaan. di peringkat persekutuan dan negeri. Atas alasan ini, para pejuang negara Malaysia sebelum dan selepas kemerdekaan negara ini telah berkorban sehingga ke titisan terakhir dalam menentang ancaman Komunis dalam mengekalkan sistem memyokong prinsip-prinisp seperti ketulusan. kebebasan dan sebagainya. namun, setelah 50 tahun kemerdekaan, persoalan yang perlu diutarakan iailah, sejauh manakah demokrasi telah befungsi dengan berkesan dan adakah konsep ini telah dicemari oleh mana-mana pihak?

Sebagai analisis kepada arena politik Malaysia yang telah dilaporkan berada di ambang ketidakstabilan ( pohon maaf sekiranya tidak benar), pilihanraya Mac 2008, telah menyaksikan pertembungan sengit antara Barisan Nasional dan Pakatan Rakyat yang mana Pakatan Rakyat telah menghalang 2/3 majoriti Barisan Nasional dalam Dewan Rakyat negara dan kejayaan Pakatan Rakyat dalam mengambil alih pemerintahan di 5 buah negeri di Semenanjung Malaysia. Sesetengah pihak termasuk Perdan Menteri Australia Kevid Rudd menyatakan bahawa sistem demokrasi di Malaysia adalah "hidup" dan berkesan manakala sesentengah pihak mula meragui kestabilan politik di Malaysia selepas Piliharanraya. Rakyat telah memilih Barisan Nasional untuk menerajui tampuk pemerintahan negara dan pemerintahan Perak kepada Pakatan rakyat.

Maka, adalah tidak wajar bagi mana-mana pihak untuk 'melompat" dari satu parti ke parti yang lain biar dari Pakatan Rakyat mahupun Barisan Nasional. Teknik mengumpan dalam politik adalah satu tindakan yang tidak terhormat dan kemenangan yang dikecapi adalah tidak bermakna tanpa sokongan rakyat jelata. Saya perlu menjelaskan bahawa, bagi rencana ini, saya tidak bermaksud untuk mengecam mahupun menyokong mana-mana pihak tetapi lebih kepada penjelasan kepada maksud demokrasi berdasarkan kepada pemahaman saya selaku anak negeri Perak dan Malaysia. Maka dengan itu, adalah tidak wajar bagi mana-mana wakil rakyat untuk melompat dari mana-mana parti kerana dengan izin, merupakan satu penghinaan atas sebab pengkhianatan kepada rakyat yang telah memilih mereka untuk membantu parti mereka dalam mencapai majoriti dalam Dewan Rakyat ataupun Dewan Undangan Negeri.

Selain itu, konsep demokrasi turut mementingkan isu kestabilan politik dan kesejahteraan rakyat yang mana ianya akan memberi keyakinan kepada para pelabur asing dan juga rakyat jelata bahawa negeri atau negara ini adalah berkemampuan untuk menjana kesenangan kepada rakyat. Atas alasan ini, tidak kira apa keputusan sekalipun dalam pilihanraya, pihak yang menang mahupun yang kalah perlu akur kepada keputusan majoriti dan menumpukan perhatian dalam menjalankan tugas mereka sebagai ahli politik. Dengan pengakuran kepada kemenangan ataupun kekalahan, ahli-ahli politik yang matang boleh mengekalkan kestabilan politik dengan tidak terlalu asyik dalam mempolitikkan perkara-perkara yang remeh dan seharusnya menumpukan perhatian kepada tugas rasmi masing-masing. Atas alasan itu, semua pihak di negeri Perak sepatutnya melepaskan segala kepentingan diri dalam pemerintahan negeri dan menjalankan tugas yang telah dimandatkan kepada mereka. Isu kekecohan yang dihadapi Perak sebenarnya boleh dielak sekiranya, semua pihak memberi perhatian yang lebih kepada tugas mereka dan tidak terlalu asyik dengan hal melompat-lompat parti yang telah lebat dibincangkan sejak sebelum 16 September 2008 sehinggalah sekarang.

Demokrasi turut mementingkan penghormatan kepada undang-undang di sesebuah negara. Malaysia sebagai, negara demokrasi yang mempunyai institusi perundangannya sendiri perlu difahami rakyat tatkala pangkat mahupun bangsa bahawa Undang-Undang perlu diberi status nombor satu dalam semua perkara. Insitusi Diraja yang telah diberi kuasa mengikut lunas undang-undang adalah dengan itu perlu dihormati. Maka dengan itu, segala keputusan yang telah dibuat oleh Baginda DYMM Seri Paduka Baginda Sultan Azlan Shah seharusnya dihormati dan apa-apa rayuna yang ingin dibuat terhadap keputusan Baginda perlulah dibuat melalui saluran yang betul tanpa mencetuskan kekecohan di negeri Perak. Adalah, sedih apabila melihat anak negeri Perak terlibat dalam kekecohan di Kuala Kangsar semalam yang jelas menunjukkan penghormatan terhadap undang-undang seperti tidak wujud pada suatu ketika.

Sultan Azlan Shah, selaku Ketua Pemerintah negeri Perak Daruk Ridzuan, semestinya telah memikirkan semua aspek sebelum membuat keputusan untuk tidak membubarkan Dewan Undangan negeri dan melantik Datuk Dr Zamry Abdul Kadir sebagai Menteri Besar Perak Daruk Ridzuan yang baru. Selaku anak kepada Negeri Perak, kita seharusnya akur terhadap keputusan DYMM Seri Paduka Baginda Sultan Azlan Shah dan seperti yang dibincangkan, apa-apa ketidakpuasan seharusnya diselesaikan mengikut lunas undang-undang sebagaimana telah diberi perhatian khusus oleh DYMM Seri Paduka Baginda Sultan Azlan Shah ketika Baginda dalam sistem kehakiman.

Biarlah insiden di Perak dijadikan iktibar bagi semua pihak dalam tidak membangkitkan isu "lompat-melompat" dan sebagai peringkatan bahawa, demokrasi hanya berupaya befungsi dengan berkesan sekiranya semua pihak menghormati maksud tersirat Demokrasi dengan tidak terlalu asyik dengan pempolitikkan yang berupaya memecahbelahkan rakyat sekiranya diamalkan secara tidak betul. Atas limpah kurniaan Tuhan kepada Malaysia dalam menangani segala masalah yang pernah dihadapi negara ini, adalah dengan ini, kami berdoa kepada Tuhan( tidak mengira jenis agama) agar isu perebutan kuasa pemerintahan di Perak dapat diselesaikan secepat mungkin tanpa sebarang kekecohan mahupun kecederaan pada mana-mana pihak.

KLIA LABU - A subjective approach needed!!!

2009-01-28T22:04:00.000-08:00

As we approach the year of OX in 2009, there seems to be no end in discussing the KLIA EAST@LABU mega project. Local dailies in Malaysia and even the Internet are publishing news which either concur or differ with this project. AirAsia, a Malaysian aviation company, claims that this project would be a life or dead for Malaysian aviation industry whereas for some experts, this doesn't seem to be the case as KLIA EAST@LABU is another unnecessary project for the nation. Both sides seems to be capable of forming convincing points as to why the project should or shouldn' continue. The question therefore is, who should we listen to? and if so, why?

Labu is a small township in the state of Negeri Sembilan in Malaysia and is approximately 50 kilometres drive away from Kuala Lumpur city centre. Labu was proposed by AirAsia at the end of 2008 to be a location for another new airport meant to cater their new fleet of approximately 200 aircrafts due to the crowded current Low Cost Terminal. A piece of land which belongs to Sime Darby was negotiated to be used as a site for the new 2800 acres airport. Initially, the piece of land was used for the purpose of agriculture whereby palm oil trees were planted to supply the demand for palm oil. As such, viablity of projects to the economy, the people and the environment was seriously questioned both by the cabinet and the people at large.

For those who opposed the project, one of the reasons would be the fact the with the erection of LCCT, the current KLIA International Airport is already under-utilised, what would happen to LCCT and KLIA if another airport within such a close proximity is being erected? Currently, KLIA is serving only 25 million passengers per year when the number of passengers it is capable of handling is 125 million passengers per year. Therefore, with at least 100 million passengers to be spared and with all due respect, can AirAsia be capable of bringing in such a huge amount of passengers alone? Personally, I doubt it and even if they are capable of doing so, the excuse of the airport not capable of handling their fleet is unacceptable. As being said by Tun Dr Mahathir in his blog, it is impossible for all the fleets of AirAsia to be on the ground of LCCT at the same time. Some would be either on air or in other airports. For this reason itself, perhaps it is unnecessary and it would be extravagant to spend the money for a new airport when the current airport's potential have yet be fully explored.

Another reason which I oppose to the erection of a new airport in Labu is the very fact that more government personnel would have to be stationed in the airport for instance, police officers, Imigration officers and other personel from other departments. The question the, would this mean another big hole to the government's coffer in hiring more personnel even when the currentpublic servant is not performing to their best ability?If this is the case, taxpayer's money would again be at risk of being spent unnecessarily. In this recession period, we should be conserving as much money as we could by fully utilising man power and potential of every personnel be it private or public.

When we speak of public transportation, we are talking about convenience, comfort and efficiency in delivering services to the public. KLIA stands for Kuala Lumpur International Airport and it would be unwise to build a Kuala Lumpur airport in the state of Negeri Sembilan, Psychologically, it would be hard to convince investors that they have an easy access ability to the infrastuctures of the capital of Kuala Lumpur. Secondly, passengers opt to take a low cost carrier to Kuala Lumpur from other major cities before transiting to other cities have no other option but to stick to Malaysia Airline or other expensive airlines or only to AirAsia. As such, not giving passengers free options in travelling can be considered as bad public infrastructure. A hypothetical scenario. Flying from Kuching,Sarawak to Kuala Lumpur via AirAsia(Land in Labu), transit plane via Malaysia Airlines ( Depart in KLIA), the troublesome part would be to travel 7-8 km from Labu to KLIA to catch the plane and risk missing the flight all thanks to the distanced between the 2 major airports even with the proposed train services between the 2 airports. This as a conclusion, is not a practical proposal in search of a better public infrastructures and the money spend should be used perhaps in Penang which is direly in need for a Low Cost Carrier. As being said by Tun Dr Mahathir in reply to one of his readers, 7-8km away for aircrafts would be extremely near and it posed a risk of planes colliding due to the close proximity between 2 airport towers as to which aircraft should be controlled by them. For such a confusion, there might be an occurence of miscommunication between aircrafts and control towers and this is fatal. Thus, the risk on air and fuzz on grounds to be faced by transit passengers cannot be ignored and it shows reasons why this plan opt to be called off.

However, AirAsia has a point which ought to be noted. AirAsia proclaims that with the new airport, they as the sole management and user of the airport would have better authority and discretion in terms of airport tax and with such a discretion, they could always adjust their airport tax or air tickets to provide cheaper air tickets to the public. The reason, the airport contains simple infrastructure which is not luxurious as being provided by KLIA, for instance, no aero bridges and simple architechture designs would save up the cost of erection. Furhermore, the cost of RM 1.6 billion will be fully financed by AirAsia which will not cost the government a single cents. Furthermore, some articles in proclaim that with the existence of competition with Malaysia Airport Holdings Berhad, perhaps the public would benefit as price war for airport tax would be at the lowest by the 2 airport to convince aviation companies in using their respective airport. It would be of our benefit if that is the case. This is obvious as published in THE EDGE, where MAHB claims that at least RM 3.8 billion is needed to construct a new airport but was subsequently reduced by AirAsia to RM 1.6 billion, that is almost RM 1 billion less. Furthermore, the plan which involves KTMB was said to be able to revive KTMB to a profitable platform by enabling it to carry passengers from and to Labu airport. As such, a glance through seems to be a win-win situation for all.

As there are 2 convincing reasons to be presented, perhaps, the government should make a thorough analysis as to the proposal by seeking advice from experts before denying or approving any idea although the project has been suspended at the time of me writing this article. Although I oppose to the plan due to the distance from the city centre and public tax money needed to be forked out indirectly. Furthermore, the bad planning in not giving flyers option( all thanks to the fobia of missing the plane in reaching different transit airports) is another major reason behind my view. However, if there are arguments which could convince me and other majority people which opposes to this idea, I would perhaps change my mind to this project. For the time being, I personally think that a sujective approach is needed before making any final decision by the government.

GONG XI FA CHAI 2009

2009-01-25T22:36:00.000-08:00

In Conjunction with Chinese New Year for the year 2009, I would like to wish all my readers a Happy Chinese New Year, GONG XI FA CHAI and may this year of OX be OX-picious to all readers, Health and wealth be blessed on you and together with Unity in the society domestically and internationally.

A Point of Hopelessness and DISMAY of Malaysia FOOTBALL

2009-01-24T18:50:00.000-08:00

Malaysia and Malaysians both consider Football as the nation's National Sport and as such have always been seeking for improvement by the Ministry of Sports and the Football Association of Malaysia. Both the organisation and the Fans of Malaysian Football are always hoping to see improvements in the standard of play among players in hope that one day, the national team could glorify the nation by lifting some reputable trophies as a sign of victory.However, after years and decades of disappointment, Nothing seem to have improved, instead, we slipped further down the rank under FIFA's calculation and the question ought to be asked by all Malaysians is, Will the disappointment come to an end? and when, if there is?
In the 50's and 60's Malaya( As IT was known as) then, was famous for being one of the giants in the Asian football arena alongside with SOUTH KOREA.Names like Santokh Singh, Soh Chin Aun, and Mokhtar Dahari, instilled fear among their then opponents, the SOLID DEFENCE of both Santokh Singh and Soh Chin Aun makes Malaysia team INVINSIBLE and almost inpenetrable. Malaysia, although did not participate in 1980 Olympic which was held in MOSCOW ( For reason of boycotting the match as a result of the invasion of Afghanistan by the then Soviet Union), clearly shows that the 1950's till the 80's was the glorious moment for Malaysia Football. Today, all this seems to have faded away ever since the Corruption Scandal in Malaysia Football in 1994. Badly hit to the extend of ranking at the bottom of FIFA world ranking table by sitting on the 158th place as of January the 14th 2009 behind Mynmmar( which has been hit by CIVIL UNREST) and Hong Kong ( Population less than our state of Perak). Where are we to go now?
The best came on the 21st of January 2009 when the Malaysian Team lost 5-0 to United Arab Emirates. 5-0 imagine that!!! After so much money and capital dumped onto this " Gems of the nation" and this is what we Malaysians get in return, humiliation and despicable play by the Malaysia team. The match was more like a Secondary school children play where, players are not energitic, doesn't have the passion of winning and in short, the desire to win is no longer in the minds of the players. Then came the statement of truth yet bitter to be swallowed by FAM and other relevant bodies by the national coach B.Sathianathan that the Malaysia League is not an actual football and that quality players cannot be created from the league. Some concur with the opinion of Sathianathan while some prefers to come out with the own perspective. Some coaches and fans actually came out with some crititical analysis of the crisis in Malaysia Football while there are some who prefers to avoid talking about it and instead try to shift the blame to some other people.
With respect, if the game of pointing fingers are to persist in the Malaysia football, Please do not expect any improvements for politics would definitely exist in the organisation and if that happen, How can you expect time to be spent in improving the Malaysia football. The focus now with respect is to cut of red tapes and any useless conferences or meetings which is generating nothing but disapointment to the Malaysian football. Focus, would be on the mentality of players. They are now financially secured but sorry to say, they are not mentally well prepared and at times are too lazy to be bothered about the FIFA ranking. Perhaps emulating players from CHINA and some Middle East country would be good. Send players to Military camps, let the be physically fit but most of all prepare them mentally. Honestly speaking, our players have been pampered too much and for this, we must eliminate their " tidak apa" attitude and replace it with a winning mentality. This, would raise the fighting spirit of the players and only then, can they win the trust and support of Malaysia Football fans. WIN will only come if we have the heart to it.
Another, solution to my opinion is to privatise state football associations as to enable it to progress via commercially, Taking the ideas of European football clubs such as Manchester United, Arsenal, Newcastle United, it might perhaps be a solution. When, an association has been privatise, the owner would definitely wants the standard of football from the association to improve for profits garnered via sponsorship, adverstisement and ticket sellings are all related to the quality of play the team can provide. As such, by hook or by crook, the administrative level of privatised association will find ways to provide quality players. When, I suggested Privatisation, I mean the full commitment of football by a privatised company not some football team from some established companies which is not emphasising much on football. With this, more ideas could come and of course, commecialisation would some how put some preassure on all parties to improve Malaysia football standards.
Words might be easy to be said and for the detriorating results of Malaysia football, some drastic measures have to be taken as to avoid any further embarassment and such improvement should come slowly and consistently as after years of retreat, some picking up of momentum needs to be done. Coaches and relevant staffs should not be terminated it's service if the team could only for the time being bring back bronze medals for the exposure to international football standards, I am sorry to say, starts all over again.

"MAJULAH SUKAN UNTUK NEGARA"

*Pic from GOOGLE.COM

Invasion-One after another: US v Afghanistan, US v Iraq and Now Israel v Palestine. When will all these stop?

2009-01-17T23:15:00.000-08:00

Ever since we stepped into the 21st century, believe it or not, the news of war seems to be available in our dailies almost every day of it. Like it or not, this is the fact which all of us cannot afford to ignore for war erupt because of misunderstanding(s), hatred and even at times because of selfishness of certain organisations by making profits by creating wars.
Before we embark on the solutions, perhaps it would be best if we should walk back time and look at the major wars we have been seen since the start of the 21st century. In 2001, war on Afghanistan erupted on accusation that Osama bin Laden is responsible for the collapse of the New York World Trade and the hijacking of a few American Airlines aircraft to clash onto targetted buildings in the United States. A couple of months since the proclamation of victory by President of the United States George W. Bush, Saddam Hussein was eventually targeted by the United States arnament, this time for possession of Bio-Chemical weapons. Thereafter, we have seen the collapse of the Taliban still without knowing the whereabout of Osama Bin Laden and the death of Saddam Hussein without any tangible proof of the existence of Bio-chemical weapons by means of hanging to death after much of a controversial trial by the coalition forces. Today, after years of "peace", Israel, at the start of the year 2009 attacked the Palestinian territory on grounds of self-defence. Self-Defence from rockets being fired by Hamas fighters to the Israeli territories.
After almost 25 days of attack on the Gaza strip, many children, civilians and buildings have all gone for good. Therefore, my very question to Israeli government would be, would this still be considered as Self-Defence. As my only source of information for this war is my local presses, CNN and BBC, I will never know the exact situation in Palestine, the situation might even be worst than we think it is.LPeople are actually fighting to survive at the time of me typing this article. Never should any country use "Self-Defence" as a pretext in annexing or invading a territory for one's purpose. In this civilised world, one or 2 rockets fired should be settled bilaterally, forces from both countries should sit and negotiate as to combat these rockets shooters who is stirring up hatred among 2 countries. It must be brought to the attention of both Palestinian and Israeli governments that there is this organisation called INTERPOL to help combat international criminals. Therefore, starting a war for some criminal organisation is unacceptable.
The second reason why, I am taking an opposing stand in this war is because the consequences which would be faced by International communities. We are now at or at the brink of economic collapse because of the recession that is about to hit us. With the advance of war and the effect on international oil prices, Everyone will again suffer if the crude oil price increases once again. War is the mother of destruction of everything and the consequences do not just confined to just to ground zero. It must be understood that war can cause chain reactions and pardon me if I am wrong, most countries I believed must have suffered during the last couple of years of war in the middle east. As such, Do we still want war? It's time for you to think about it. War would raise global crude oil prices and subsequently raise the prices of all items. Ponder and think of it.
Now, I have to at first clarify, that on this war between Israel and Palestine, I do not support the act by the Israeli government and neither do I agree with the shooting of Rockets into Israeli territories by Hamas fighters. War should not be present anywhere anytime. Thus, how to solve such a problem. Honestly speaking, from what I could see, non-Muslims are taking this war as a problem of Muslims and they should not be involved into it . To me, such mentality should be eroded and all organisations in hoping to see a stop to this war should promote the opposition on humanitarian grounds. Gather in as many Non-Muslims to oppose by propagating the cruelty of war, the effect and the out cause of the war as the problem affect all individual and not to any particular race, religion or country. With all races and countries solving this solution together, the war would definitely end faster for pressures are being given by EVERYONE and not by certain quarter. The proposal by Tun Dr Mahathir should be heeded as to criminalise all sorts of war. In this case, perhaps both Israel and Palestine governments should be brough before the International Criminal Court and have them trial before judges of DIFFERENT background, religion and race as to determine the right and wrong of either party or perhaps the punishment for the both of them.
It is with this only the world could be a peaceful place to live in. We should always remember the tagline of "make love and not make war" for war benefits no one but suffers everyone. Furthermore, humanitarian issues out of war should never be confined to just a specific group, race or religion believer for it involves everyone and all people should solve this problem shoulder to shoulder and in a very open minded mentality and only through this method would peaceful solutions elevate to a possible level. We share the same earth . Why fight for land when all lands were created by god. Let's end the suffering and hardship in the 1st decade of the 21st century by tolerating each other and seek better peaceful solutions on every problems faced.

Perhaps at this moment of Chaos, this webpage would be useful in combating wars.

http://www.criminalisewar.org/- Submit your petition please.

* Pictures from www.yahoo.com and www.google.com.

Medical Ethics- Of Profits and Public Interest.

2008-12-20T07:46:00.000-08:00

"Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace. Money will come if we seek first the Kingdom of God-the rest will be given"
Author: Mother Teresa

The above statement being made by Mother Teresa should perhaps be pondered by all parties who intends to exploit the Medical Profession or Industry for profits. I was placed in a state of aghast the other day when I read in one of our Malaysian dailies that our 'Institute Jantung Negara"( National Heart Institute) would be privatized and 51% of the Hospital's share would be sold to Sime Darby. I have to admit that I am not in anyway related to the medical field and neither am I an expert in company's merging and selling matters. I am writing this blog as a Commoner, a member of the Public and my point of view as an Undergraduate.
Perhaps, and I do mean maybe, the government does have a reasonable reason in privatizing IJN by selling 51% to Sime Darby. Personally, if I were to look at from the reason behind it. It would probably be for the direct Cash the government will be getting and at the same time, reducing the amount of budget as have always been allocated for IJN. Indeed, economically, it would be sensible to resort to such a move as to prepare ourselves for the big storm awaiting us for the year 2009. Reduction of subsidies would eventually reduce the burden of the government and technically speaking, more people would benefit from the money saved. However, How true of it that we would benefit from the money saved? I shall deal with it
For my question in this paragraph which is " What is the most valuable things in life for you? ", I believe I would get 3 possible answers. The 1st, Health, Money or Your loved ones. For this reason, the government must understand that Health can't be monetary compensated and honestly speaking, I believe money could be generated even more if Health is there. The concept behind such an argument is simple. First. A country to progress well, the productivity level must be high as could be seen in China where Productivity level have increased to a point where no other Asian countries could match it for it has the most amount of manpower. In order to have a high productivity in all fields that Malaysia is involved in, Education and health of every available manpower in Malaysia must be alive and healthy. In short Health enables higher productivity and subsequently increases the level of income for the country.
It must be noted that heart is a complicated organ and any treatment placed onto it must be done cautious by Doctors and drugs prescribed must be user friendly to a patient's heart as a minor drawback could be fatal to a patient. As such, Private medical health centre would usually charge a high amount of money onto these patients for the amount of strength and efforts that has to be placed on a patient. The risk the medical personel and hospital is taking. For this, Some lower income people could not afford such expensive treatment and because of this, are we suppose to leave to die? It would be inhumane and irresponsible of the government to leave these direly wanted help individual to fend for themselves in saving their own lives. The government has been elected to assist It's people to a better live and not to further burden them with liabilities. Have the government not think of this point before proposing to sell 51% of the shares of IJN
While I was writing this article, the plide and the headlines a couple of month ago crossed my mind and I felt that it would be relevant to raise in this article for her heart transplant and live was saved by IJN. Tee Hui Yee, now 15 owes her life to IJN thanks to the relentless effort by the medical personnel in IJN. Miss Tee Hui yee undergone a heart transplant twice as the first transplant was a failure and it was only successful when the second heart seems to be adapting to her body. Imagine the cost it would be for 2 heart transplant to be done in private hospitals. I believe the amount would be unbearable and personally I don't think Miss Tee back then would have the time to wait for the money to be raised. Now, It is glad to hear that She is happily walking and leading a normal life as with many other teenagers. While she is already safe from the "danger zone", least remembered that she would still have to be under medication and regular check-ups and for all these, Can her family( a middle income family) support the cost of it?; and could some other future heart transplant patient bear the cost of it? I believe the answer would be to the negative.
Social responsibility should never be disregarded by our government as they as the government elected by the people has the responsibility to safeguard the interest of the people for the benefits of all. IJN should never be privatised just for the sake of Profits and neither should they clean their hands and leave the responsibility to the private sectors. All and above. Health of Malaysians should be the responsibility of the Government of Malaysia.

BUKIT ANTARABANGSA Land Slide!!!!! What went wrong???

2008-12-06T19:52:00.000-08:00

Before I proceed further to my point of view on this awfully sad issue, Allow me to express my condolences to those victims perished in this unfortunate incident. I am SORRY to hear such a tragic incident to have befallen on the residents of Bukit Antarabangsa.
As time goes by, Population in Kuala Lumpur has seen a dramatic increase due to its development and opportunities which could be offered by this Metropolitan city. The demand for real estate increases as well. More and more apartments and housing estates have been erected due to meet this extreme demand from Kuala Lumpur residents. Unfortunately, houses and condominiums have been erected at some "risky" locations for instances, next to some hilly slopes or on slopes which eventually would place condominium or house purchaser at risk of being burried alive. Today, at around 4 am ( 7/12/2008), another tragic incident happened, landslides occurred in Bukit Antarabangsa just a few days since another landslides hitting a resident living in Ulu Yam, Selangor. The question that is not engulfing our mind would be, how save is our house? Perhaps, after reading my article or the news from the press, one would step out of the house and see if their real estate property is in the safe zone.
No one could be blamed for having such a mentality, house is a haven for all individuals, house is a place where we can seek the warmth of family bond, a house is a place we could feel save and most of all , a place we can find shelter whenever we need. Never should our haven be turned into a " risky zone" not knowing when, a landslide would hit the structure and burying one alive. Today, its unfortunate that some of the residents in some residential areas are feeling it that way( negatively on safety aspect). No matter how we think? Had it never crossed the mind of the relevant authorities that these safety aspects of risky construction would jeopardize the lives of many? Had they not learned anything from the " HIGHLAND TOWER INCIDENT" ? It would be unfair and bias of me just to point the fingers to the authorities. Perhaps the contractors and real estate companies should be equally responsible for what had happened as well. These irresponsible people are risky the lives of many just for the sake of profits. Aren't they aware of the consequences? Where is the sense of respect for law?
As such an incident had taken place? It would be naive for anyone to say that nothing is wrong on the blue print of those construction sites. Risk evaluator must have over sighted the land slide issue. Structures continued to be constructed and as a result caused a weakening of the soils on the slopes. The " best thing" of all would be, how could these projects still be allowed even after all the soil erosions incident and the collapse of Highland Tower still continues without receiving adequate opposition from local authorities? It is indeed saddening to hear such incident to have happened even after so many major land slides incidents and after so many lives had been claimed. Are there any " mischievous" act within the system and as such being exploited illegally by irresponsible parties and being appreciated by some greedy officers. All divisions for such tragic incidents should be mobilised to determined the root of the problem. The Anti Corruption Agency, the Police Force from the Commercial Crime Division, The Local Authorities internal department should all come along to identify the rotten apple(s) within the system to combat such an act of indirect " genocide".

As the saying of old goes,

"Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children"

Ancient Indian Proverb

The Way Forward- How Intellectually developed are you?

2008-11-22T18:40:00.000-08:00

I felt compelled to blog on certain issues found in the dailies lately, Nevertheless, I would like to say that this article which would be published in my blog is not a method of de-recognition of any persons faith, principles and the way people perceive as to the meaning of "development". Development has always been a topic which is of grave concern to all developing nations. While I might not be the best economist( which I am not!!!), perhaps I should leave the specific part of financial development of a country to some economic specialist. The main focus of this article would instead be on Intellectual development on the people in developing countries.
While we are eager enough to pursue physical success and nations are eager to be financially strong in order to be a developed nation, many did not realise including some governments in the world do not realise, that the state of development of a country depends not solely only on the financial status of it nor does it depend solely on the military strength of a nation. All including the intellectual development of the people of a country must be taken into consideration. In discussing the current intellectual development of countries in South East Asia region, it would be best to determine how, countries like Japan, America, Singapore and other developed nations fare in terms of intellectual development and have it compared with developing countries.
United States as the current world leading developed countries shall be the first developed countries which I would like to discuss on. The amount of freedom granted to her people has led to the success of this once scattered nation to be a nation of pride and envy of every countries in this world. The United States, as people say most of the time as the " LAND OF THE FREE" shows how freedom have been granted to the people and yet the most important thing is that the people in the United States are mostly able to use the freedom granted to them in a responsible manner. The level of openness and maturity of the Americans have led its people to select their President according to his capability and not race or religion. For this, I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate Obama for his historical victory. As we could infer from this election, the United States could be called a developed nation, the people itselves must at first be mature enough as it would serve as a catalyst for the rest of the developments. Freedom of press in the US enables the people to decide accordingly to the strengh and weaknesses of the country., freedom enables these people to perform freely without facing any discrimination and at the same time getting a sense of security that they will never be arrested for race and religion issues.
Singapore and Japan as Asias' developed countries realised the need for Intellectual development from its people. Freedom is therefore granted to its people as to enable its people to perform the most and benefit out of it. Singaporean and Japanese are given recognition for the developments of the things they have done to the country and at the same time giving ample and equal opportunities to deserving individuals to contribute to the nations. For this, Singapore and Japan has never faced with shortages of talent as people are giving chances according to their ability and not anything else.
As for religion, it must be noted that moderation would lead people to have a proper guideline as to the path of development. Every proper religion in this world be it Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism and others would want HIS believer to do good deeds and at the same time progress and elevate to a better state of living. Unfortunately, some irresponsible parties have eroded the beauty of these religion by interpreting it according to the way they want it to be. It must be born in mind that, too much restrictions in a religion would hinder the progress of the believer him/herself and it would be disastrous for a country. Futhermore, no one should be compelled to believe in principles or obligations which they themselves do not compel themselves to for it would only lead to more opposition and these would be bad for a country's development.
For grey area issues, nothing is right or wrong. However if things aren't bad enough, people should be given the opportunity to choose between right and wrong themselves as the openess in areas like these would enable a country to discover its strength and weaknesses and if concealling facts or setting up regulations to maintain or prohibit something, it would only do worst for a country as citizens of that country would always be in anut shell not knowing the knowledge possess by others be it religion or organisation wise.

Recession!!! How Vulnerable are we?? Solutions?

2008-10-25T21:33:00.001-07:00

It has almost been a month since I wrote an article in my blog because lately there are no interesting things to debate on as almost all dailies are publishing the same thing; elections of Barisan Nasional component parties. The genre of news will only be different if we browse through the supplementary sections and if we combine the stories up, I guess, the conclusion is that we are currently facing with a dilemma as to how exposed are we to this economic black hole?
With the fall of Wall Streets and Dow Jones to the collapse of Meryl Lynch and the gloomy future of A.I.G, Asia markets seems to be feeling the pinch(a hard one) as well. Back in the local scene, KLCI dropped to it's 4 years low as of 25th of October 2008 to only 859.11 other share markets followed the trend of declining, South Korea dropped by 10.6%, Japan 9.6 %, Hong Kong 8.3%, Singapore 8.33%, Thailand 7 % and Indonesia 6.9 %. All these statistics seems to be leading the asia market to yet another unavoidable recession. Some big corporations which used to provide financial security to investors for instance A.I.G, Meryl Lynch and others seems to have slipped the confidence away from investors and such mentality seems to be contagious as it resulted in investors to doubt the security of their money in bog corporations. I have to say, if such mentality persist, it will do more harm than good to the economy. The reason is simple, every business enterprise, be it, banking, industrial sector or even the smallest sundry shop available within walking distance from your house requires a good cash flow. Cash are an essential tools in ensuring the success of a company and also the survivability of it during hard times. As such, it is clear that, if money are being withdrawn using a large sum, what would happen to this corporation? Declare bankruptcy of course for they simply do not have enough capital to sustain their business.
One of the most common conclusion that could be drawn as to the declining economical market in Asia is that psychologically, it has resulted in investors to withdraw a large sum of money, In this statement i found below from the New Straits Time on 26/10/2008, it clearly reflects what i have just said.

" The daily average trading value for equities was down at RM1.4 billion in the first nine months to September, compared to RM2.5 billion last year, Bursa Malaysia said.."

Clearly, investors are hesitant to make any move to invest by refusing to inject in their cash to invest and if possible, they would like to withdraw some money. Personally, I am not speculating anything but i am commenting based on common sense and the nature of human beings. Even for me, I wouldn't want to risk my hard earn cash money especially during this period of uncertainty. However, Rationally, this is not the best way in the long run. Our Deputy Prime Minister cum Finance Minister and the Cabinet Members have to be credited on their method of dealing with this particular matter. Announcement that all Accounts will be insured up to a sum of RM 60,000 by Perbadanan Insurans Deposit Malaysia (P.I.D.M) provided the people with a sense of security as to their money. Therefore, ensuring bankers to have a good monetary financial status.
However, things seems to be so different in the share markets.Free sale and some
irresponsible brokers speculating the market caused fear among investors and thus, causing in a weak financial status of our market. As such, things should be done as to tackle this method. Psychologically, they must be convinced that their money will grow and will not just fade away. RM 5 Billion to be injected into our share market by our finance minister sounds convincing but not good enough to deal with certain irresponsible brokers. In 1997-1998, the then Prime Minister disallowed the freesale of shares by applying rules and laws to ensure money do not flow out from the market easily. Perhaps, law should again be utilised as to prevent another recession from hitting us again.
We are currently strong, we are currently capable in defending our economy. As such, please ensure, that the current status could be maintained while other countries are being faced with dilemmas of uncertainty in terms of their economy. Brace through the storm by solving the problem by understanding the mentality of the people. Law might be useful in certain areas. Every areas available in the society should at this challenging moments combine hands and prevent this country's economy from being sucked into an economic black hole.

* Sources extracted from New Straits Times of Malaysia, CNN webpage, BBC webpage and Yahoo News
* Pictures from www.google.com

When The Law is No Longer at the Right Side of the Society!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-09-13T22:22:00.000-07:00

Law has a long way of history ever since the medieval days. In this article, I shall discuss on the brief history of law and later part discuss on the current usages of law in the society which resulted in the departure of the original purpose of law. The history of law could always be connected to civilization. From Egyptian law to Code of Hammurabi and to the latest development of law namely both COMMON and CIVIL Law, all has only one purpose. That is to ensure Justice in the society and therefore maintaining order in both international and domestic Community.
Personally, i think the concept of law cannot be separated from the concept of governance, be it democracy, dictatorship, monarchy rule and even COMMUNISM. Law as always will always be a tool for a government ruling a country. A country with good government will always have good law, whereas a cruel and draconian government will never have a law which would safeguard the rights and liberty of its subject. In the past when monarchy system dominates most of the empire that is available back then. Law has never been rigid. IT fluctuates according to the ruler of the country. The very best example, would be the Qing Dynasty in China. During the reign of Emperor Yong Zheng, Qian Long, The Qing people could live in peace and country prosper thanks to the law which has never been misused by these responsible and ethical Emperor.Law has been enacted to curb crime, to curb rising value of taxes. These responsible uses of law enabled the chinese people under HIS MAJESTIES RULE to be able to live in peace and harmony. Things were so different under the leadership of Emperor Qin SHi Huang, the first Emperor of China from the Qin Dynasty, the beginning of the evil side of law revealed itself. SLAVERY LAW for the purpose of His Majesty's dream for inmortality, high amount of tax through the enactment of law by his Majesty to fund his tomb construction is legal in this harshest dynasty in Chinese history. Law permits people to be tortured both physically and economically. People suffer because the law has been misused to satisfy the passion and desire of devils.
That was the monarchy system which has no-consistency for the people in the past. Then came the introduction of Democracy. Uprising seems to be common in almost every region. The legislature, Judiciary and the Executive has been introduced through the vast voyage journey by the west and of course through colonization. English sailors and colonizers especially , brought in English law and indirectly introduced in the concept of Separation of Power to rectify the injustices of Law which most the kingdoms they discovered in the past have no permanent laws which would safeguard the interest of the people. The African Continent and the Asian Continent was accused of having laws which are there to safeguard only the Individual sitting on the thrown. The main purpose of democracy was to enable people to participate in the internal affairs of government and enable these people to determine for themselves what is right and what is wrong and the laws required at that particular time Frame. Until here, most would be asking, so what's wrong with democracy?? why bring it up in this article? Answering this question would require one to compare the rest of my identifiable governance system available in this world before drawing a conclusion as to the weaknesses of the democracy system.
In a military Coup government, the individual that is having the military control is in power to rule the country in all 3 branches of government( Legislative, Judiciary and the Executive). In Myanmar for example. Military rule seems to have misused the concept of law for the purpose of intimidating the people and subsequently preventing human rights to be applied correctly into their society. Candidates of an election who won the seats under the concept of support by the people had been quarantined at home for the sake of holding into power. What about Communism? Initially, the Concept of Communism founded by Karl Marx seems to be the best idea to suit all people in this world. However, the idea of Equality among all people, i have to say, its an uthopian concept which cannot possibly co-exist with greedy attitude we have in mind. Communist nation such as the Soviet Union up till 1992, China as a hardcore Communist Nation until the early 90's, and East Germany have all collapsed due to the harsh penalty invoked by the law which retarded the growth of the nation and have benefited no one except the government officials who fully utilised the law for their own benefit. North Korea as a hardcore Communist nation is seen as a model nation where governance could eventually lead law to be on the wrong side. Law has been used by the leader to curtail the freedom of expression of its people and to coerce them into becoming his subject and slave for him. Laws which violates human rights, have been used for people deem unloyal to him. Detention camps to intimidate its people.
As discussed earlier, in the democracy system, law as a whole will be decided by it's people and for its people. The government will listen and apply in the latest suitable law into the society. For instance, Internal Security Act was invoked to curtail the widespread of Communism ideas in the 60's and 70's in Malaysia and Singapore. The people need it in the past. Therefore, people applauded or never opposed to the idea of having such an act. However, that was in the past. A democracy could see its ugly side if the government is using the excuse of people's mandate in enforcing law which is obviously detrimental to most of the people. Personally, the weakness could be seen as follow. When, a government has been in office for 3 consecutive years, they cannot initiate a law which is detrimental to the country under the pretext that they have the mandate 3 years ago. Democracy stems from the idea that people will be given a chance to voice their opinion and raise their demand not in any written time frame, but at any time of the year. If hiding under then pretext of people's support and subsequently curtail the hidden agenda behing the law, the law itself is already a bad law. Any law that is no longer serving it's purpose of maintaining peace and justice has swayed to the "axis of evil". ISA, again, was a law used to curb terrorism in the past. With the passage of time and decades, a law which serves no purpose and is subject to misuse is definitely a threat to the society as certain irresponsible party( doesn't matter who you are) might improvise it for his own benefit.
This is where, law has become a tool for irresponsible government, people and organisations willing to sacrifice the people by means of law to benefit them and their cronies. This is the scarist part of law when the law turned away from its original course of direction and reverted to protect beneficial parties especially in democracy systems where hiding under the pretext of people's mandate seems to be the most terrifying scenario people would ever want to endure with.

Before we end, let's recall the legal maxims below, to ponder and if possible for certain parties to repent the laws which they have used to benefit themselves but had directly or indirectly caused hardship to others.
Jus est norma recti; et quicquid est contra normam recti est injuria - The law is a rule of right; and whatever is contrary to a rule of right is an injury.( Sources from http://www.inrebus.com )

" Justicia testamento llevar a apoyo , Injusticia testamento llevar a downfall "- Justice will lead to support, injustice will lead to downfall. ( My created and translated maxim and sentence)

MAY GOD BLESS US WITH STRENGTH AND POWER TO OVERCOME ANY INCOMING OBSTACLES BY WAYS OF EVIL LAWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Always fly it the right way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-08-31T21:00:00.000-07:00

Jalur Gemilang has a long track of history. Prior to independence, our forefather acknowledged the fact that in order for Malaya(as it was then called) to be nation of its own, we must at first have a flag of our own. During the mid-50's, our current Malaysia flag was born thanks to the creative thinking of an engineer from th state of JOHORE. In 1957, we could finally hoist our flag proudly as we are no longer a subject of HIS MAJESTY( As it was then). Malaya flag will no longer be hiding under the UNION JACK. In 1997, Jalur Gemilang was announced as to be the official name of our beloved flag.
As could be seen,when our Jalur Gemilang was raised pridely in Stadium Merdeka on 31st August 1957, it signifys our ability to administer our country independently and WE MALAYSIANS will determine our own destiny and fate. It represents the sovereignity of our country, it represents our pride, our future and ourselve as Malaysians. Whenever, we see the Jalur Gemilang, always remember the troubles and challenges our forefathers have to endure before we could have the rights to raise It so easily.
Malaysians, should never buy some gimics of certain irresponsible bloggers who requested people to hoist our Jalur Gemilang upside down. No excuses could be excepted for such an act of treason. If you are not satisfied with the political party in Malaysia, show it during the general election, and if majority of them who opposes to your ideas win, accept defeat for you are not sharing a common goal with these people. Furthermore, no political parties represent Malaysia. They only govern Malaysia if they have the majority in the House of Common. Malaysia, is a separate entity. No one including, Barisan nasional, DAP, PAS, KeADILan, can call themselves to be Malaysia. They are only a government in the state of Malaysia. In the event anything happens to Malaysia, they will have to stand up and defend it. Thus, just because if he or she supports the other political party grands him the right to condenm Malaysia via our flag.
If, you are not satisfied with our way of living, I suggest to these treason act committer to live in war-torn countries or civil unrest countries to experience the sufferings of the people. These pitiful from trouble countries would like to enjoy what we have here in Malaysia, they can't. They wanted to but they can't. Imagine how piti it is. We must therefore appreciate what we have. We could eat to our hearts content while some people in certain part of the world can't. We could walk easily without having need to experience the fear of being shot by military personal of the same nationality. We could write blogs all thanks to the infrastructures we have, while some doesn't even know what a computer is.
Appreciate, the things we have, indeed it's true that critisicm is needed for our country to progress but always do it moderately and responsibily. Never should a critisicm affect the sovereignty of our nation. OUR FLAG OUR PRIDE, it shall never be mortgaged to any foreign power for certain weaknesses in Malaysia. Thailand at the time of writing is having a great civil protest. They are not satisfied with their government and yet we could still see them flying their flag proudly. We have no serious issues here in Malaysia. Therefore, there should be NO excuse to raise our flag upside down as it is clearly affecting our rights as MALAYSIANS. Fly a flag this Merdeka month or at least have a sticker as has been provided by certain corporate bodies. Show your patriotism!!!!! Be proud of our flag.

* Picture from www.flickr.com

We have to improve our way of thinking.

2008-08-09T23:10:00.000-07:00

I ran across some "sensitive articles" in the dailies lately and I felt obliged to pen my opinion in my blog in hope that such a view would improve the "quality" of living in our society. I wouldn't want to touch on anything which would be racially or racially provocative . What I would be discussing here will be the extra sensitive feelings embeded in the hearts and minds of Malaysians. This so call " extra-sensitive" feelings to me would be the cause of Malaysia still being a 3rd world country.
I have to admit, as a minority in Malaysia, i felt marginalised at times. The reason is simple. The Bumiputras' seem to be enjoying most of the privilleges, while we non-bumis will have to somehow bear with it. No doubt, this, provoked quite a number of Non-bumis' to be "anti-government" in the past general elections. Apart from economic issues, religion matters seem to be a dominating coffeeshop talk topic in Malaysia whereby non-Muslims and Muslims are both groups equally challenging each other-silently(consider it fortunate). One could see all these troubles pertaining to religious matter when one refers to the amount of backlog cases filed in Shariah Court with reference to conversion. Therefore, the question would be what would be the best solutions???? Honestly speaking, Non-Muslims kept on arguing that they have the rights and keep on demanding and demanding till at times i have to say, it is absurd to demand that much since we comprises of only 35% of the total population of Malaysia. I would say, demand what is right and stop all the riots, street fights for this will give chances to "devils" to stir our racial issues and subsequently cause troubles in our country.
Muslims must perform their part as well by being secular in their thinking for Malaysia should never be an extremely religion based country for our country needs to progress in terms of every aspect. Muslims in Malaysia, I must admit are pious religion believer and for this, i think they deserve a credit for following the oath of the nation( Kepercayaan Kepada Tuhan). However, one should never be too motivated as to the extend of considering their religion to be more superior than the other. When our forefathers founded this nation, it was on the understanding that every Malaysians would respect every religions in Malaysia.Such, extreme thinking of certain party could be seen lately, when the Bar Council organised a conference pertaining to ISLAM and non-Muslims rights, some muslims actually gathered around the bar council demanding such a conference to be held indoor or to be stopped immediately. One thing which i do not understand would be, why the commottion. I believe never had it crossed the mind of the organisers from the bar council to jeorpardise and degrade ISLAM . Therefore, shouldn't it be time for Muslims to ponder on their way of thoughts as well.
Be it Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazan, Iban, or etc. As long as we possess our MyKad, this is our home and home should be a paradise for home is where we get protections, love, care and warmth and not hatred . Always,ALWAYS!!!!!!! analyze your thinking instead of following blindly to the propaganda of some irresponsible politicians be it Muslims or non-Muslims who is trying to stir in racial and religion matters to win the race. The country is 51 year old. Make this a wonderful place to stay in.HAPPY MERDEKA MALAYSIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! May God(Irrespective of words we call HIM), bless this wonderful nation and HER people.

Malaysia!!!! This is where my beloved country is...

2008-07-10T10:06:00.000-07:00

Malaysia, a soil blessed with multiple minerals and natural resources and its strategic location both economically and disaster free location makes it a bless and a unique country. Not only are we blessed in terms of tangible resources. Intangible resources which would increase the country's economy and Malaysians would be the fact that multiple ethnics live together harmoniously and peacefully shows the glory side of this country. I must admit that for the past few decades, Malaysia has advanced tremendously in terms of development and the people's quality of living. The term blessed as used earlier in this article has a history as to it. The country manage to brace through all major economical crisis without suffering any major setbacks and yet we could still manage our economy independently unlike some countries which had fallen victim to the Neo-colonialism concept.
As the saying of old goes. No matter how perfect a tree is, there will always be some rotten apples. The country for the time being is facing both international and domestic crisis. I can understand the crisis the country will have to endure in terms of international issues since a global matter will have to be resolved amicably by all countries. Domestic issues, to me is something unnecessary as to me some parties are trying to take full advantage of the current global issues in bringing down the government. Channels to spread rumours are getting easier today. Blogs, Forums through the internet are widely exploited to channel these rumours or some uncertain news to the people at large in hope that these people would forget the peace and tranquility we have enjoyed all these while and fight for something which will towards the end benefit them. Riots and chaos are being stirred as to reflect the inability of the government when all these could have been avoided if some parties are considerate enough to stop worsening the entire situation.
Therefore, through this blog, I would like to inform my readers that until the situation in this country has calmed down. I am backing down all my criticisms towards the government and at the same time, as a citizen of Malaysia, a blogger and a man who cares for the country, i sincerely urge all bloggers to follow my footsteps in allowing the government to proceed with whatever they have to do by giving them a peace of mind in the cyber world. Any criticisms should stop which includes slander, rumours, defamation statements should be deleted as soon as possible.

Malaysia- Are we heading the wrong way??????

2008-06-21T10:15:00.000-07:00

Lately, I am being disturbed by the news being published in the dailies as the news are mostly reporting on issues which makes Malaysia looks bad in the eyes of almost everyone. If, the recent hike in fuel prices is not bad enough in making Malaysian suffer, Malaysians are now being fed with confusing stories everyday pertaining to the status of our country. Already, we are facing with inflation crisis thanks to the hike of global fuel prices, we now have to bear the political instability scenario in the country? I find this unacceptable. Fuel prices, has already caused people to changed their lifestyle drastically, From cars, we now resort to alternatives like motorcycles, bicycles, and even walking at times. We suffer, The country is seeing a drastic change. People are getting poorer and poorer thanks to the rising inflation. Rich people turns to be an average income individuals, Average income people to.. well I believe, there is only another way down, that is, POOR. I believe majority of the Malaysians understand the need to hike the price of fuel all thanks to the gimic tactics being done by certain parties in trying to earn more from this hike of global oil prices and because of this the government can no longer support the subsidies of it.
Things are not to say impossible to rectify. Yes, we might not be able to change the price of global fuel. But the least, our entire nation could do is to lure in more investors and subsequently increase the profit of the nations income. When this is possible, the ability to develop the nation will be there. Till this point some will be asking, what is the relevance? We don't see the link. The thing is. From what i know, when we have investors pouring money into our country, the amount of jobs created will follow in as well. This would enable more individuals to have a better mean of surviving by allowing family members to work and subsequently leasen down the burden of household expenses. Another reason why investors should keep coming in is the fact that these investors will pay tax or to a lesser extend some money to the government. When this is being done, the revenue of the government would increase and this fact itself is sufficient enough for the government to spend money for infrastructures which includes education which will not only be a source of attraction for more investors but could also increase the quality of lifestyle of Malaysians which is seriously affected now. So, from this point of view. It is possible.
So what are we suppose to do then? For sure, things do not just settle within a month or two. It takes time. Probably, at least 2-3 years but certain basic criteria for an investors to look at would be, our competitiveness, political stability, security, infrastructure and the most important of all, market. In terms of, competitiveness and infrastructure of the country, I believe, we have a sound foundation to call in investors to settle down in Malaysia and subsequently start their business here. Investors would like to see how stable a country's politic is for if a country does not have stability in its political arena, Government policy will change from time to time and certainly, it is something even local investors would not like to encounter. Let me, put it in example form. If for instance, if a government is stable, and the government promised a 3 years tax exemption. There is a strong likelihood that investors would believe in the promise delivered for there will be unlikely any strong changes in policy because of the stability in the government. This would then indirectly allow the country to see progress in construction sector( most investments requires a building for administration purposes, at least), the banking sector( loans could be made out and subsequently generating the revenue of the local banking sector and could also reduce the non-performing loan rate), the employment sector( will see a decrease in unemployment rate). Overall speaking, the country will progress.
However, i am saddened lately, with the issues befalling our nation as crisis after crisis seems to be endless. First, the increased in oil prices caused several infrastructure projects to be reviewed and this first and foremost, affects the infrastructure criteria in the mindset of foreign investors. My beloved country's dilemma doesn't just stop where it is. There comes the political instability, which for over a decade had never been seen. Our former Sabah Chief Minister, Datuk Yong Teck Lee, the President of one of Barisan Nasional's component parties, made a surprised announcement that he is going to attempt to bring in a motion of " no-confidence" against the Prime Minister. To me personally, political gain should not be done at such a moment when the country needs the relentless effort from all party to regain the country;s composure in global economic terms. This is showing how bad our political scene is in the country now. Nowadays, we keep on talking about global recession. Getting money into the country is getting harder and harder and we as Malaysians especially, government component's party should stick together to brace this obstacles together instead of backstabbing each other. History in 1940's in China should serve us a lesson. When, China was busy fighting internally, outsiders take full advantage of the chaos scenario by eating China's " fortune" piece after piece. We certainly would not like to see this.
When we speak of security, investors look into the efficiency of our criminal and civil justice system. How, independent is our judiciary ( which has been seriously affected and ways are being done to rectify it), the efficiency of our enforcement unit, the corruption rate ( the Anti-Corruption Agency plays a role for sure) . With the sudden announcement of B.P.R in investigating Datuk Yong Teck Lee, I seriously doubt if such a move would be beneficial to the country, It sends out two message. One, B.P.R is a tool for the government in handling obstacles or the inefficiency of B.P.R in tackling corruption which had happened over a decade ago. Either one would jeopardise our effort in promoting Malaysia among investors.
As a Malaysian, I have only one wish which is to see Malaysia together with It's people prosper and move forward in a united and a single voice during this troubling times. Stand united, declare unity and work out a profitable solutions for the people. If we can go through 1997 economic crisis, what is so hard now? MALAYSIA BOLEH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

* Pictures from www.google.com

Royal Commission of Inquiry on Lingam Case.

2008-06-08T20:37:00.000-07:00

Former Malaysia Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had made an allegation on the lobbying of judges in the Malaysian Judiciary and to prove this, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim released a video alleging the direct influence of a few individuals in the appointment of Judges. Subsequently, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim released a video starring V.K.Lingam, a prominent lawyer in Malaysia Legal industry and also Tun Dr Mahathir's civil lawyer for a defamation case initiated by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. That month of the year mark the start of i believe an embarrasing story for the Malaysian Judiciary as a video taken by Loh Gwo Burne( Now a member of Parliament) was released into the public and even youtube has a record of it. However, Malaysia is really a blessed nation as few counter measures to rectify the mistakes and lacuna of the Malaysian Judiciary has been done and this will be discussed in the later part of this article.
I will at first have to express my gratefulness to our nations prime minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for his willingness to initiate the setting up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate the following matters:-
(a) Investigate the tampering appoinment of judges
(b) Authenticity of video clip alleged to be a conversation between V.K.Lingam and Tun Ahmad Fairuz ( Chief Judge of Malaya at that time)
(c) Identify the participants of phone conversation
(d) Truth of the conversation
(e) Any wrongdoings by participants ; and
(f) Reccomend actions if any.
The Royal Commission was set up on November the 17th 2007 and the entire investigation and inquiry pocedure started on the 14th of January 2008 and ended on 11 April 2008. The Royal Commission of Inquiry was led by Former Chief Judge of Malaya Haidar Mohamed Noor and assisted by Steve Shim Lip Kiong ( Former Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak) , Zaitun Zawiyah Puteh ( Former Solicitor-General), Mahadev Shanker ( Retired Court of Appeal Judge) and Khoo Kay Kim ( A historian professor in University of Malaya). Overall speaking, it was a bold move by the government to form such a commission to investigate cases like this which would jeorperdise not only the image of the Prime Minister but also the entire Barisan Nasional party.
After months of interrogation, investigation, and search for evidences, the Royal Commission of Inquiry finally, formed a judgement and the findings of the the Royal Commission has been made public and for that, i believe, we as a Malaysians appreciate what the prime minister had done that is in ensuring transparency in the government administration. The judgement of the Royal Commission, suggested that Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim was the one who is on the phone with V.K.Lingam and as far as the evidence suggest, the video clip is authentic and the conversation of conversation was true in nature. The shocking surpirce and also part of the controversy which will be discussed further is the findings of Former Deputy Minister in Prime Minister's Office Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor & Tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan to have direct influence in appointment and promotion of judges. The Royal Commission also came out with the findings that there is a basis for investigation between Lingam and another Former Chief Justice Tun Mohd Eusoff Chin. As for the recommendations, the 5 panels formed suggested to the AG to conduct investigation onto the related parties namely, TUn Dr Mahathir, Tun Eosoff Chin, Tun Ahmad Fairuz, Tengku Adnan, Tan Sri Vincent Tan, and Datuk V.K. Lingam.
Among the laws proposed to be used were:-
(a) Sedition Act 1948
(b) Prevention of Corruption Act 1961
(c) Legal Profession Act 1976
(d) Official Secrets Act 1972
(e) Penal Code

From the beginning where I discussed moderately on the time frame of incidents and the facts of the Royal Commission till the Judgement delivered seems to suggest that there are certain things which might be needed to be explained by certain individuals as to rectify the flaws and the image of our judiciary. Frankly speaking, the findings of the Royal Commission shed some lights of hope into us as normal civilians as this would enable us to have a clean and reliable judiciary for towards the end of the day, justice must not only be done, but must be seen as well. However, from the date of judgement till today, a few months have passed and slowly bit by bit, the news of the findings of the Commission has been shadowed by other issues. Articles pertaining to this matter is slowly slipping away. I must say that, I am disappointed as not to be able to see any news pertaining to the investigation of the related parties as recommended by the Commission. I am not claiming them to be guilty or innocent. What i am trying to stress out is that the government should at least to the best they could review the relevant informations to the public as to allow us to know that the relevant parties are indeed being investigated. It seems that justice might be in the process of it but we as normal civilians are not seeing anything. So what is the current status of the investigation? Where is the transparency in administrative as preached by the government before and after the election?
Issues like this needs to be clarified as soon as possible as to regain the public's and investor's confidence towards the judiciary. I should say that the faster it has been clarified , the better it will be for everyone. I am hoping that such matters should not be taken lightly as it should stand in par with the rest of the economical issues we have in hand for every aspect of the government will adversely affect the outcome of a nations future and for this, handle things systematically and not hiddenly. Nothing will excite us more than to see the restoration of the image of the Malaysian Judiciary. After all, Malaysia Boleh!!!!!!!!!! spirit must be maintained.
The Quote which i see always and useful to describe my current article," Justice should be served though Heaven Falls" should be remembered and practiced by all folks of life for then our country country will have a blessed future.

Ex-Gratia Payment for judges.

2008-06-06T00:35:00.000-07:00

Today, our judiciary marked another milestone when former Tun Salleh Abbas colleagues are being visited by the Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, our de facto Minister in Law. The visit itself is unimportant as the best part of it would be the documents inside the enveloped which had been delivered to these former judges. My reaction towards this was like a cup of mix coctail. You could taste sweet and bitter at the same time. The happier part which cheers me up would be the fact that the government actually knew what had happened back then in 1988 when our country was in a middle of a judiciary crisis. At least the air is better to breath right now in the judiciary sector and for this commoners like us could at least again see a glow of hope in times of needs. While, some see it as a futile action by the government in compensating this former judges, i see it differently. It's a way to really let the people know that the government has always been there to safeguard the peoples contribution by giving them what they deserve. Another thing, would be to the eyes of the judge. Judges needs to be assured that they will be recognised for their contribution if they are doing the right thing and not only be recognised only because they are good in pleasing certain party. Look deeper and we could see that, such a move would indirectly inject a few doses of moral booster into the hearts of our judges and subsequently see a fairer, cleaner and a more robust changes in the judiciary. The bitter part of such a move would be the fact that these former judges will have to sign certain documents before their Ex-Gratia payments would be paid. I was browsing through the News Straits Times on June the 6th 2008 and i notice a statement which says that the document contains a phrase which says, that the payment does not mean the government is accepting liability for the 1988 incident. I believe this statement could be interpreted 2 ways. One would be the unfairness of the government to other judges for not receiving ex-gratia payment as what had been received by certain selected judges or 2, the cover up attempted by the government in giving out ex-gratia payments. If the government is not accepting liability and as claim, shouldn't such ex-gratia payments be extended to other judges who contributed to the judiciary as well. Why only selected few and those are individuals who was sacked during the 1988 judicial crisis? Doesn't it seem that the government is slapping their own cheek for having 2 contradicting issues at the same time.

THE BURDEN OF RM 2.70 per litre

2008-06-04T09:06:00.000-07:00

I was surprised after the announcement of the news that a new price tag costing RM 2.70 per litre will be imposed from 5th of June onwards. Reason? I have just discussed it yesterday and today, the fuel price rose by a margin of 40%. I am not surprised by such a move since a barrel of fuel as discussed yesterday cost as much as USD 131. The only thing i am surprised is, why is it done at a very last minute like it has used to and the worst is, A misleading facts causing us to believe that fuel prices will only rise in August. Why? Imagine, how negative it is in reflecting the current government administration. I have been blogging all this while to have civil servant salaries to be increased and subsequently increase the purchasing power of the people in hope that such a move will cushion the rise of fuel price or at least reduce the impact of the rise of fuel prices. However, none of these took place. Salary is the same, cost of living rose, inflation rose, everything is much more expensive today but the income of commoners is the same. Why is this happening? Shouldn't the government at least give us ample time to prepare ourself before hiking up the price. Such a move, i think its wrong from the very beginning. Its bad for the governments reputation and i believe the image of Barisan Nasional will further slip in the eyes of the people. Secondly, its bad for the people as the statistic for low income sufferer will increase i believe; drastically. Well, another thing which i would like to address through this channel would be that the promises made by the opposition members. Where are the promises made during the general election? Where are their voices when we need them the most? Why aren't they voicing out our grouses? Throughout this few days, the newspapers which is usually packed with stories of opposition members arguing points against each other is all of sudden quiet. In times of needs, they kept quiet. This I say also reflects how bad the reputation is in my heart and i believe that for those who reads this will definitely agree with me. We elected our representatives in hope that we could live a better lives. Instead, it seems that when we vote for one side, we are being pushed to a valley and force to jump without giving us any time to install our safety devise and when we vote for another, we are being left alone when we are being pushed to the valley. Why is this happening? why aren't there any proposals to safeguard our rights? Give us more time and thats all to me i am asking for of course together with some increase in salary. However, i was glad that when Domestic Trade Minister Shahrir Samad says that people driving cars 2000cc and below will get an amount of RM 625 as a direct subsidies. It is hoped that such a move will be implemented perfectly as our country is definitely in a midst of a crisis and thus we could no longer afford any mistakes.

SUBSIDIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-06-03T08:20:00.000-07:00

Lately, subsidies especially fuel subsidies are really an issue and the government on 2nd of June 2008 are even bold enough to say the fuel prices will have to be increased in order to reduce the amount of subsidies being forked out by the government which is ever increasing year after year. I thus felt that i have an obligation to revoice my opinion on this issue as it is a matter of national crisis affecting my beloved country. Taiwan and India have announced that the fuel prices will no longer be subsidised and will from now onwards be sold according to the global market. Would this be a possible scenario in Malaysia? Although our present government is bold enough to admit that fuel prices will rise since according to statistic as of 21 May 2008, a barrel of fuel cost US dollars 130(USD130) is a burden to the nations coffer, it is very unlikely for fuel subsidies to be scrapped completely. Why? Reminiscing, what had happened in the Malaysian 21st General Election provides me with this logic answer. The Malaysians as a whole is suffering from the effects of rising cost of living as a result of the rising price in fuel. Traders, Wholesalers and many other small and medium enterprises entrepreneurs are blaming the rise in logistic fees. Consumers are now angry and dissatisfied that the privilege they have been enjoying all this while has been sliced and as a result caused a slightly tougher life for them. The opposition took great advantage of the situation and tried to lay the heroism values of their struggle in the minds of the voters. Voters subsequently voted against the government. If the government were to remove fuel subsidies, everything from sweets to chickens to rice, to everything will rise at least 2-3 folds. Unless people are completely ready for such a change, for instance, stricter enforcement to prevent unnecessary hike or a further increase in salary of all citizens be it public or private to go parallel with the rising cost of living, they will go angry. As a result we could see a further advancement of the opposition parties in the Malaysian politics arena and this is what the Coalition Party would not like to see. Thus, is there a win-win situation which we could come out with? To me the best way to settle this issue would be to scrapped subsidies, YES!!! you heard me right, scrapped subsidies and increase the salary of public servants for they form the largest group of voters in Malaysia by using the money supposed to be used for subsidies purposes. As such, civil servants who form i believe almost 45% of the workforce in Malaysia will have a stronger purchasing power and thus indirectly benefiting private sectors as well. It must be born in mind that an increase should only be done to civil servants in several categories only as the money was supposed to be spent on needed individuals. Take an example. It would be good to increase the salary of civil servants from Rm 800-Rm 1200 perhaps as these group of people needs to be cushioned for the rise in fuel price and other items. IT would be unwise to increase the salary of civil servants earning lets say RM 6000 and above. These people would not feel the impact as much as those earning RM 800 per month. Thus, although i proposed an increament in salary, it should be done systematically and only to certain categories of workers earning salaries which will be deeply affected if subsidies were to be scrapped and not those non affected individuals.

* Pictures courtesy of Yahoo.com

Congratulations on China's Victory in the 2008 Thomas Cup

2008-05-25T10:11:00.000-07:00

Splendid!!!!! Congratulations to China for winning the year 2008 Thomas Cup and once again retaining the title of Thomas Cup within 3 countries only namely China, Indonesia and Malaysia. However, i have only one thing to stress out. From the final match which i saw the other day, i notice that Chinese players are not playing up to their normal standard as it should be an easy task against South Korea. Instead, some players like Lin Dan, and Bao Chunlai seems to be struggling to win the match. It should not have been an uphill task. Nevertheless, congratulations for South Korea for winning a runners-up title and at the same time show to the world that South Korea is indeed a new rising power in Badminton. As for China, i am starting to wonder if, they are saving up their strength for Olympic this coming August? Whatever the reason is, Congratulations to both China and South Korea for achieving something out of this match.

* PicturesCourtesy of yahoo.com

Subsidies be Scrapped??

2008-05-25T05:45:00.000-07:00

I noticed this article in New Straits Time on the 18th of May 2008 which has the title which sounded like this ;

"Scrap subsidy system, says think tank chief".

I was shocked and was stunned by such a remark that it scares me for a moment wondering how high my expenses would be and the hike in inflation rate if the first 3 words was to meant implementation. I must say that the comments delivered by Malaysian Institute of Economic Research Executive Director Datuk Dr Mohamed Ariff Abdul Kareem. It is to my opinion that such a move of waiving the subsidies in fuel, gas and other infrastructures will not be implemented in this short period of time, in fact i think it never will. While what has been commented by Datuk Dr Mohamed is true that the current subsidy system is benefiting our neighbouring countries for instance Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia and judging by the number of smuggling cases being committed by neighbouring country residents and even by some of our citizens who takes advantage of the subsidy system by selling it to neighbouring countries shows the logic of the arguments being presented by Datuk Dr Mohamed. This unfortunately, to my personal opinion cannot be a strong reason for a full scrapping of our subsidy system. The people has been relying a lot on subsidy system and as a resultnon of us will be satisfied if increment were to happen to any of the needed supplies for instance fuel as it is perceived to be a burden to the people. Look at the hike in other items for instance food. Traders increase the price of items that they sell because they presume that with the hike of fuel prices, they have to sell things at a higher price as to compensate the reduced profits they would be making. The mindset has been fixed that if subsidies were to be reduced, things will go up and for traders, they think it is right to hike up prices as well. Thus, from a broad wide of perspective, the inflation will rise as everything sellable and not just alone subsidies items will see an increase in price amount. Unless the salary of current middle class employees is reviewed, there is no way, people will agree with this proposal as even in current situation, most middle class individuals can hardly make ends meet with what they have in hand. What more in situation if fuel prices were to shoot up to Rm 2.50 or more per litre? The country will definitely kills its people. On the second point being raised by Datuk Dr Mohamed Ariff on the way to maintain the subsidies since it is needed, it is best if the reason given be read together with the news published on the 6th of April 2008 when the current Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Samad who said that a new fuel subsidies system will be announced to allow fuel subsidies to benefit more for the poor. It is indeed a good news for the entire nation since the gap between the middle class and the rich will not be too significant. Some might be asking, how can our current one standard subsidy system ( Everyone will be helped with the same amount) increase the gap between earning classes. Imagine this. If you earn RM 1000 per month, and you pay lets say RM 200 for your vehicle. You have only RM 800 per month to live with whereas if you earn approximately RM 10,000 per month and even if you spend RM 300 per month on your vehicle. Not much of an impact would be caused. To make matters worst if you are surviving with only Rm 800 per month, the increase of food prices and other miscellaneous expenses is enough to cause you to suffer but if you earn approximately RM 10 k per month, and you have RM 9k + to spend every month after deducting off fuel expences, the impact would not be that great. It must be noted that from the 2nd reason given, we could see that if the subsidies are being removed or if it does not benefit the poor, the impact would be the same, that is, to generate a bigger gap between income classes. Certainly, as an almost developed country, we surely do not want our country to fall deep into inflation crisis as to cause caos and political instability in the country. Subsidies are not there just to win the heart of voters. It must be there to safeguard the publics financial status as to ensure that people could live happily and peacefully in Malaysia.

Finally, A wish come true for Malaysia Bar Council and many more law students.

2008-05-25T03:50:00.000-07:00

After years of struggling, appealling and tons of memorandums summitted to the government, The wish of the Malaysia Bar Council and many other law students from local private institutions and foreign universities has been fulfilled on the 15th of May 2008. Datuk Zaid Ibrahim (Pic) , the De Facto Minister in charge of legal matters announced that in 2 months time, the new examination for intending practitioners to sit for a COMMON BAR EXAMINATION will be implemented thus shutting down the double standard practice which has been adopted since 1984. In other words, the current examination for law students from institutions other than that specified in Legal Profession Act which is the Certificate of Legal Practice ( C.L.P) will be abolished.
Now, perhaps it would be wise for us to figure out why, C.L.P will be abolished and be replaced by the Common Bar Examination. It could be presumed that the government intend to eradicate rumours to say that they are marginalizing other races from practicing law although it might not be the practice by the Qualifying board. It must be noted that the fact that the exemption of C.L.P being given to Public Universities generated quite a widespread of rumours of the Quota system among individuals in the legal industry. Almost majority or 60-75% of law students in public institutions are Malays and therefore making a sense of dissatisfaction among minorities. This Common Bar Examination introduced, was perhaps a governments message to all to say that there was no intention by the government to marginalized the people all this while and to prove it, we are willing to rectify the mistakes done as to have contributed to the current dissatisfaction and misunderstanding among the people. I would say its a wise move taken by the government especially after the surprising result being shown by the 2008 general election which shows that public opinions can no longer be neglected.
From the education perspective, I believe its the best way in improving our current standard of public and private institutions. Why? From the recommendations which could be seen, the Common Bar Examination is said to be a compulsory examination for local and foreign university graduates. This one standard gauge base examination will determine how good are our students compared to foreign universities graduates. Perhaps from the answer scripts submitted or the assessment reports done to both local and foreign university graduates could be compared to identify the weakness(es) among local university graduates and subsequently find ways to improve it.
" Practice" was the keyword being used in most of the Malaysian dailies on the 15th of May 2008. It must be noted that such a move will be a benefit to future practitioners and legal firms hiring lawyers with a C.B.E qualification. In law, the filling procedure, the way arguments are being presented, the way evidences should be submitted, the language used and of course the other stringent procedures that must be adhered shows how much of a journey a lawyer would have to take before mastering the entire Malaysian Legal Procedure. C.B.E provides the opportunities to law students to have basics in procedural matters which the current C.L.P is not doing. C.LP for your information is very examination base and subsequently creating lawyers which has zero or very little hands on experience on the legal procedures. It is hoped that with the introction of C.B.E, lawyers will get a touch of the Malaysia Legal Procedures and subsequently revive the quality of our legal industry.
For every, positive feedbacks, i presumed negative feedbacks will follow in as well. How far and well the system goes, depends very much on the action being done by the government. It must be remembered that C.B.E is another form of examination and surely the people would want a more transparent set of examination. Perhaps the reason for failure should be stated and the comments of examiners should be made available to candidates as to enable them to rectify the mistakes which they have done. Such transparency is needed as speculations on the ability of C.B.E would be generated if the passing rate is low and at the same time no reasons given out. Thus, if the latter scenario takes place, the people would be saying " I dont see the difference between C.B.E and C.L.P".
C.B.E nevertheless should never be an easy platform for law students to practice law. A certain level of standards will have to be set up and thus ensuring only qualified individuals are allowed to practice in Malaysia. Never should there be an intention of the government to allow all individuals to pass for the sake of winning the hearts of the people. Instead, they should think that the only way to win the heart of the people would be to increase the confidence of people towards the Malaysia Judiciary and allow only deserving individuals to present their arguments in the court of law.
Thus, C.B.E should never be a platform for government to win the heart of the people and should be better utilised in rectifying the current situation which is to change the current double standard practised preached by the country, the low level of transparency when it comes to examination failure reasons and the rumours spread as a result of misunderstanding caused. I wish C.B.E all the best in becoming a platform for the improvement of our legal industry.

* Picture of Datuk Zaid Ibrahim ( The Minister in Prime Minister Department of Malaysia as of 25th May 2008) was extracted from Yahoo.com.

Malaysian Prisoners in other countries.

2008-05-05T05:12:00.000-07:00

It is saddening to here that yet another Malaysia today had been arrested in an out of country prison for trafficking drugs. A Malaysian Social worker, suffering from illnesses and believed to have been conned been held in a Peruvian prison. Prior to this, few women had already been detained on an almost similar situation of what had happened to this Malaysian Social Worker ( Punitha K.K. Samy). Looking at the statistic, 119 victims most of them women had fallen victim to scams being put out by these drug syndicates. If this is sad to be heard, more is yet to come. One of our minister actually proposed to have women leaving a country to obtain a letter from her family member as to ensure their safety. Why are we moving backwards instead of moving forward? IS he trying to push the blame to the women by claiming that since you have been given too much freedom, its time to have some of it back? Is this the message that he is trying to pass around? How could a government of a civilized nation like Malaysia resort to methods being used by some off the extremist governments in the world? It must be noted that such " preventive " method if implemented will definitely upset most of the women in Malaysia and i believe in the next general election, Barisan Nasional will even lose more of their seats to the opposition. All hope is not lost though. The MCA complaint Bureau, Datuk Michael Chong and our Prime Minister said a big NO to such a move. Therefore as a proposal, i suggest a revamp in our education moral syllabus. Instead of just teaching our children to help people to carry things, they should include scenarios where at times one will have to be selfish as not to be a good person for kindness at times will lead you nowhere but jeopardy. Education and campaigns will always be the right method and not through restrictions. Even when husband and wife travel along, a husband can still con his wife onto trafficking drugs by placing it into her luggage. Thus, how effective is this method? No way it is effective i should say.

THE FIGHT FOR BLOGS!!!!!!

2008-05-01T21:47:00.000-07:00

I am surprised that the number of blogs among Barisan Nasional members have increased tremendously since the Country's 8th general election. Even our former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir, has formed a blog of his own. It must be born in mind of all Barisan members that its not the number of blogs that matters the most. Its the quality of it. Viewers will be expecting more from politicians. For instance, statistics, numbers, the wording used must reflect the actual scenario and at the same time explain some hollow ground matters. Corruption for instance is a good topic. How did the investigation go? What have the Anti Corruption Agency of Malaysia done? Why was the case dropped from an investigation? All these will have to be explained as People would be wondering what had happened and the nature of a human being is that; something fishy is going on when in the actual situation, it might not be the case. The bottom line is, start blogging, give quality answers, articles and responds. Then i believe, Barisan Members would have utilised their Blogs to the utmost.

A better MCA???????????

2008-05-01T03:03:00.000-07:00

It is definitely undeniable that the Malaysia Chinese Association( MCA) is moving for a change and their fight for Chinese rights are much more obvious than before. Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting (Pic), the president of the MCA, could be seen to have stood firmly on the grounds which in the past, would be controversial to even talk about. Now, with less seats being won, The president of MCA is seeking to annul the current conversion laws and allow non-Muslims to reconvert back if they prefer to. Perhaps, its right way to do since, conversion has been a hotly debated topic during the last term of office of the Barisan government and it was these talks which jeopardises the governments 2/3 mandate.

My hope, such grouses could be accepted and I HOPE MCA all the best in the next coming general election.

* Picture courtesy of Yahoo Image( Linked to www.flickr.com)

Condolence Mesage to the family of Tan Sri M.G. Pandithan( 1940-2008)

2008-05-01T02:56:00.000-07:00

As a Malaysian, it is saddened to hear that another Hero had left us to be with God. As a Malaysian, i am deeply beriefed by the departure of Tan Sri M.G Pandithan who had all this while fought for a better rights among Indians and the Malaysian community. Through this post, I would like to express my condolence to The Late Tan Sri Pandithan's family and May His deeds done in this world be recognized by GOD and place him together with the MIGHTY ONES.

May The Late Tan Sri M.G. Pandithan rest in peace!!!!!!!!

6 Digits in 10 days!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish i could have it.

2008-05-01T02:19:00.000-07:00

I was shocked and was in a state of aghast when i noticed this small column of news in one of Malaysias' dailies. RM 790,000 for jet expenses by the prime minister of Malaysia and His Deputy? and in just 10 days? Where did they fly to? Around the globe in 10 days? Good question by the Opposition members indeed. I hope such a money could be better saved in the future. Please, identify your destination and if it is reachable by car, do so as it would definitely save up alot of our national coffer. RM 790,000 could be spent on many things and to compare it, approximately a building of a school could have been built.
The Bottom line is, Spend wisely, tax payers earn their money in a very hard way and the money contributed to this beloved nation should be utilised for better purposes.

The Legislative-Malaysia Style

2008-05-01T01:56:00.000-07:00

I was browsing through todays' newspapers and i felt pity on behalf of Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia(Picture). His patience and ability to be a mediator among House of Commons' members were being put to the test at the highest level. Imagine, placing yourself in a situation like this. Sitting at the higher stage of the House, surrounded by 140 government representatives and 82 critical thinker and sharp tongues' opposition members. Which side could you take? How neutral can you be? Especially in situation where harsh words like "Bigfoot" and " Big Monkey" are being used against each other. One part of it, we could see the hilarious side of the Malaysia parliament as our representatives are acting in such a way where people couldn't stop but to laugh at the words being used. The other part of it, MY GOODNESS!!!! Are these people elected by us?? It's so embarrassing especially when the entire event is being broadcasted live throughout the nation. Only 3 questions can be asked. How far could we go for both sides to fulfill their promised agendas if MPs keep on teasing each others with words? I wonder, what would our House of Common be for this entire term? Changes are direly needed by the House for the better sake of the people. CHANGE IS WHAT WE WANT TO SEE!!!!!!!!!!

* Picture abstracted from New Straits Time, Malaysia webpage ( http://www.nst.com.my)

How effective is CCTV????

2008-04-12T02:03:00.000-07:00

Security Breach in Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Armed robbery of Rm 3.5 million in KLIA and the "best" of it, CCTVs not switched on. It must be born in mind that hundreds of thousands being spend on this technology is not meant for decorative purposes. How then could people be assured that CCTVs are turned on as it should be to safeguard their safety? It must be remembered that it's purpose is to give people a sense of security and at the same time serve as a deterence to the criminals. Now with such an embarrassing news having leaked out, Logically speaking, would criminals still be deterred from their activity since there is always a chance where the cameras MIGHT not be turned on?

This is definitely a serious issue which should be given a number one priority over all other homeland security issues. Serious attention is needed to ensure that money spent on this technology is worth every single cents and subsequently exploit this gifts as much as possible.

ALL HAIL THE REFORMATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-04-12T01:36:00.000-07:00

The whole week through, we could see a tremendous steps being taken by our prime minister to revive the glory days of the Malaysian Judiciary. Among the very few steps taken:-

(a) Setting Up an Independent Commission to appoint and Promote Judges.
(b) Seperation of Powers between the executive and the judiciary
(c) Vesting the powers with the judicial courts.

With such a move taken, I have two things to admire about our present government. The 1st, would be the government's courage to admit the mistakes they have done over 2 decades ago and the 2nd would be the willingness to rectify it. Honestly they deserve my salutations. Not many would be willing enough to strip their control over another part of the government system. The executive could always maintain their power of appointment of judges indirectly and have the judgements be given to their favour as the judges would definitely sideline more towards the executive who appointed them indirectly.I believe the people is hailing this move not only as a result of the injustice that has been caused as a result of the appointment but also because the people is sick and tired to see the non-existence of a transparent judiciary and the egoness possessed by some judges. WHERE IS THE CHECK AND BALANCE? which is a fundamental to every democratic nation. Today, we are reconstructing the whole of judiciary. Are we capable of reviving it back again? Let us all pray for a better judiciary as JUSTICE MUST PREVAIL EVEN WHEN HEAVEN FALLS.

Firm, fair and Courteous

2008-03-26T07:27:00.000-07:00

With the introduction of a new motto, a new batch with a new message( Integrity is our practise) and a full new set of uniform for the Malaysia Royal Police was a hope by the Inspector-General of PDRM that it will eventually boost the morale of the Malaysia Police force after years of negativity being published by the media. Honestly speaking, its a wise move but more will have to be done to completely restore the faith of the Malaysian public perspective towards the force. One of it would be the internal values of the force. While the appearance of the force has been upgraded, the internal values ofn the force has yet to be seen and felt by the public. More roadshows, TV shows depicting the good prospect a person would have in the force and the ability of the force to solve and successfully prosecute dcriminals should be done more. With more of this being done, the message attached to the publics mentallity would subsequently restore the intregrity of the force. Now with the increment of salary of the Malaysian Police Force, and the better appearance of the force, it is therefore time for the force to look into the public perspective factor to further move the force further by making it a force to be feared and respected the same time. RESTORE THE GOLDEN OLD DAYS!!!!!

POLIS DIRAJA MALAYSIA

TEGAS, ADIL dan BERHEMAH.

* Picture taken from THE STAR ONLINE MALAYSIA.

A real gentleman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-03-26T06:48:00.000-07:00

" THE RESULT OF THE ELECTIONS WAS A STRONG MESSAGE THAT I HAVE NOT MOVED FAST ENOUGH IN PUSHING THROUGH WITH THE REFORMS THAT I HAD PROMNISED TO UNDERTAKE... I THANK THE MALAYSIAN PEOPLKE FOR THIS MESSAGE." [ exceprt of New Straits Times, 26/3/2008). A real gentleman indeed. A statement to concede defeat and at the same time admit his mistakes during his past tenure as prime minister. A pledge to all malaysians indirectly. I guess with our prime minister such a statement , we the MALAYSIANS will benefit faster in the coming years. Good Work Datuk Seri Abdullah!!! It clearly shows how a true gentleman work. Perhaps this might even garner Datuk Seri Abdullah more support for the next general election.

Houston, We Have a a Problem!!!!!!!!

2008-03-13T01:25:00.000-07:00

What a confusion this coalition is making, While issues of the appoinment of Chief Minister( Menteri Besar) in several states have been settled especially those won by Barisan Nasional, Some states are still struggling on who should be given the post. Perak for instance is a fragile state now 3 candidates, each from their own respective party are now fighting for the seat. Initially, Lim Kiat Siang said a statement of "DAP support DAP" ( Sources obtained from a local newspaper). IS the coalition really a Coalition like what Barisan Nasional is???? I Doubt it actually. The 3 initially agreed to have 3 names summitted to the regent and subsequently agreed to support the appointed Menteri Besar irrespective of Party's clearly but the statements articulated by each party senior members sounded very much like a "COLD WAR" within each other. How well can the state be if the coalition government form is not strong. ITs bad not to have the edge in administering a state since they have a different ideology with the Federal rulling party. Now What??? I wonder what would happen in a couple of days more. Lets see!!!!

The " macam-Macam" Politicians

2008-03-12T01:34:00.000-07:00

The Malaysian 2008 election which has just passed saw varieties of characteristics of politicians. Some behave in a very gentleman manner. For instance, Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, The former Chief Minister of the State of Penang who conceded defeat in a very courteous manner. He called the Chief DAP of Penang to inform him of his party's defeat and even welcomed Mr Lim Guan Eng to his Office and shoke hands together. Gentleman!!!! My admiration to him. Some unlike Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon, refused to have his hand shaken by his rival. Seriously, we could see that there are some who possess a wonderful characteristic while some behaves in an unruly manner which could see the re-elapsed of a stone age behaviour. My goodness. To me, Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon, although defeated in the just bygone election deserve a credit as to his personal characteristic. He clearly shows what a leader is. A man who will lead when he is given the confident and leave when his service is no longer needed without any complaint. For the rest of the elected representatives, imitate Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon and serve your people in the best way possible, for it is your people who gave you victory, not your sole individual effort. be courteous and nice to people and you will get the same in return in the next general election.

Malaysia Election 2008

2008-03-11T10:37:00.001-07:00

Time does fly, after a term serving as a Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi finally disolved the parliament on the 12th of February 2008. A month of preparation( Technically) and 2 weeks of Campaigning, finally saw what laymen would deem as a change of win in politics in Malaysia and to some politicians, they call it " A NEW DAWN FOR MALAYSIA ". Irrespective of what they call, it is to me what i call the most exciting Election i have ever seen. First time electing and i get to experience such an excitement. Lucky me!!!! The opposition for the 1st time denied Barisan Nasional a 2/3 majority and manage to wrestle 5 states from the coalition party and some even being a stronghold of Barisan Nasional. Why is this happening??? To me, it's not the incompetency of the Government in delivering that resulted in such a shocking defeat( could be considered). In my point of view, the mindset of Malaysians is getting much more complicated. We are educated and even those uneducated are exposed to variety of medias for them to choose from. From the Radio to the state of the art internet, NOTHING IS SECRETIVE now. The old conventional way of governing which is " I KNOW WHAT IS BEST " is no loger accepted by the people. The people wants to have a say in the way the country is running, they want explanation and not to be a blind man being guided by a stranger. Issues not addressed such as Religion matters, the demolition of Non-Muslim temples and deities and matters of pertaining to land in certain states could be said to have resulted to the low number of seats being won by the Coalition government. Perhaps action was being done to compensate these victims by the government. Again, the people does not want a settlement of silence. They want a government which acts fair and looks fair. The bottom line, the perception given is bad this time. Perception is important for it reflects the credibility of a party or a commission. For instance, the Election Commission of Malaysia has been labelled as a bias Commission all this while. This election although Gave Barisan Nasional a bad result, they should nevertheless still be grateful for it shows that the Party has previously ruled the country without the assistance of the Commission, thus gave the rakyat the confidence in the Commission and Barisan Nasional again. The Bottom line, Strengthen Barisan Nasional by giving the public a better image and as for the Alternative Front. A greater task lies ahead, the public had given you the mandate, appreciate it and administer the states as had been promised earlier.