Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Taib-Linked Group Faces Tasmanian Protests
- Sand monopoly, the cronies are at it again
- Youth Dilemma: Employment & Remuneration
- Dear Santa…
- Buzz your rep on the bus issue
- Race and religion are ‘sensitive’ because Umno feels threatened
- Taking the DNBN Kuburkan BN initiative to the Malay heartlands
- Post GE13 political scenarios-Part 4
- Dap's Extended Honeymoon in Penang
- The Battle for Umno: Infighting at the very top
- Mahathir, Lee Kuan Yew and The Lazy Native
| Taib-Linked Group Faces Tasmanian Protests Posted: 16 Dec 2011 07:39 AM PST Tasmanian Sen. Bob Brown, the leader of Australia's Greens, said that although the governments had signed an agreement earlier this year to protect the forests until an independent verification process was completed, Ta Ann had already begun logging.
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| Sand monopoly, the cronies are at it again Posted: 16 Dec 2011 07:34 AM PST Using the same lame excuse of lax enforcement against "thefts of scrap metal", the political masters have now come up with thefts of sand as the excuse to put all the rights to sand extraction in the hands of Sabah Economic Development Corporation (SEDCO). At the time, the scrap metal business was lucrative. The same excuse about metal thefts and protecting the government's interests was used for monopolising the business. But eventually, the idea was dropped due to the fall in scrap metal prices. The decision on the monopoly had nothing to do with the government's interests. It had all to do with greed and abuse of power. This sand monopoly could hold the construction industry to ransom, impose arbitrary prices and payment terms, including hidden costs. Like the import of vehicles using APs (Approved Permits), quotas could be allocated to sub-cronies to buy and sell sand, thereby driving costs. How can SEDCO enforce against sand thefts? It has zero enforcement personnel and no statutory power to seize machineries, investigate, arrest or prosecute. So, people are entitled to draw their own conclusions. Is it a coincidence that the Chairman of SEDCO, the assemblyman for Membakut, is a family member of the Chief Minister?
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| Youth Dilemma: Employment & Remuneration Posted: 15 Dec 2011 06:00 PM PST The survey found that these graduates typically expect salaries between RM1,800 to RM2,100 (73 percent), but only 54 percent would have their expectations met. Another 35 percent's pay was below RM1,800. The same report mentioned that respondents needed RM700 to make ends meet. These ends must be really short ones! Rental rates in certain areas in Klang Valley have ballooned to almost RM500 per room per month. Coupled with cost of transportation, food and basic amenities such as health care and basic household products, it means that those who are earning less than RM1800 a month do not have anything extra for contingency. It is almost unimaginable how those who are earning less than RM1000 are going to survive in the city. What has gone wrong? There are several reasons:
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| Posted: 15 Dec 2011 10:51 AM PST I know. This letter is a bit late. But I hope it is okay with you. Actually, I had posted a hard copy of this letter in January this year using Pos Laju. Recently however, that letter was returned and marked "return to sender." I called up Pos Laju to find out the reason for this letter being so returned. This was how the conversation went (I hope you don't mind. It's in the original language. I am sure as a saint, you would understand it anyway). Pos Laju girl: Hello, selamat pagi dan salam 1Malaysia Encik. Me: Hi, selamat pagi. PL girl: Eh, erm..Encik Melayu? Me: Ya, saya. PL girl: Assalamualaikum Encik. Boleh saya bantu? Me: Mualaikummusalam. Saya sebenarnya nak tanya ni. Kenapa surat saya yang saya kirim bulan Januari lepas dikembalikan? Alamatnya Santa Claus, TheOnlyOne, North Pole. PL girl: Oh, tunggu jap yer, saya cek. …3 minutes later… PL girl: Terima kasih Encik kerana menunggu. Erm…sebenarnyer Cik, surat Encik tu haram. Me: Haram? Ada surat haram dan halal ke sekarang ni? PL girl: Eh, ada Encik. Semua surat kena cek dulu halal ke haram. Kalau haram, kami takleh hantar Encik. Masuk neraka nanti. Surat kepada Santa Claus tu haram Encik. Sebab Santa Claus tu ialah seorang santo Kristian. Me: Oh, itu kes berat tu Dik. Neraka jahanam ke? PL girl: Ye Bang, eh, Encik. Neraka jahanam. Me: You tau tak, perkataan "jahanam" tu sebenarnyer kan, adalah dari perkataan Yahudi "gehenna" you tau. Itu tempat dier orang bakar anak-anak lelaki dier orang dulu-dulu tau, kat Lembah Hinnom. Perkataan tu pun haram Dik. Yahudi tu! PL girl: Iyer ker? Hamaigod. Me: So, surat haram you all takleh hantar la yer? PL girl: Takleh Bang, eh, Encik. Me: Ada tak surat CIMB ker, Maybank atau RHB ker you all hantar? PL girl: Ada gak. Kenapa? Me: Surat-surat bank yang kenakan bunga atau faedah ni haram you all tau tak? Surat Bank Islam dan Muamalat jer yang you leh hantar. Itu halal. PL girl: Yer ker Encik? Me: Yer lah. PL girl: Habis orang Islam yang makan gaji kat bank-bank tu gaji dierang halal ker haram Encik? Me: Tak tahu ler saya. Kena tanya JAKIM lah. Kita orang biasa mana tahu. Okay, assalamualaikum. PL girl: Wassalam. I hope you wouldn't be upset because you are deemed haram in my country. You are not alone however. Recently, a book on Lee Kuan Yew – yes, that guy who always ask you to turn Singapore into a continent every Christmas – was also deemed haram. Oh, a book on Doraemon had also be deemed haram before. The only wonder I have is why is it that books like Hikayat Hang Tuah, Merong Mahawangsa, Sejarah Melayu and Hikayat Inderaputera or Anggun Cik Tunggal have not been declared haram. As you might know dear Santa, those folklore contain all sorts of stories about magic stones, super human powers, the ability to see the future and sprinkled with Hindu elements. Some of the books are even mandatory reading in our schools. Don't you think they should be declared haram too yah?
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| Buzz your rep on the bus issue Posted: 14 Dec 2011 12:59 PM PST UNLIKE most of my contemporaries who signed up for driving lessons as soon as they turned 17, I was a late bloomer. I did not learn to drive till I was way into my 20s and then I did not actually drive until a few months after getting my licence because the Mini Minor I bought blew her gasket when my mate was driving it from the dealer to my house. So for years, getting to and from work meant taking a bus. From the depths of Keramat, I would take a blue Sri Jaya bus to Chow Kit and from there I would take either a yellow No. 12 minibus or a pink No. 30 minibus (Actually its number 39. The Star made a mistake. Just in case there are any mini bus fanatics reading this!) to get to my final destination (both the Sri Jaya bus and the minibuses are now history of course). The whole trip would normally take me an hour and a half. It was pretty tiring just getting to work. The buses were usually full to the brim. If I was fortunate enough to actually get a seat, inevitably there would either be an old pakcik standing next to me tremulously holding on for dear life or, more commonly, a heavily pregnant woman looking at my seat with undisguised longing, her bulging belly gently bumping my head. Needless to say, I would end up standing for the entire journey hanging on to a metal bar as I perched precariously on the outside step of the bus, my Billy Ray Cyrus mullet blowing in the wind. Once, I got to my final stop in such an exhausted state that I knew I would die if I tried to cross the busy street to my office. Being the wise young man I was, I just curled up on the bus stand bench and slept, lulled by the gentle sounds of the mon-soon drain gurgling and the kapchais spluttering. The reason I am reminded of these adventures during my early days in Kuala Lumpur is the news that some bus companies are actually stopping entire routes because they are losing so much money from them.
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| Race and religion are ‘sensitive’ because Umno feels threatened Posted: 14 Dec 2011 10:09 AM PST From young, Malaysians are taught by the BN government that nature has provided a system where we are separated based on our race and the religion that we profess. And when we take a step forward to discuss and query those from different faiths, lines must be drawn and any time someone crosses this line; we must throw up a hand and tell them to back off. We then surmise that the issue is sensitive and no-one is allowed to discuss it. In Malaysia, it is sensitive when the authorities call it sensitive. And no one else has any say. And because of this propaganda and brain-washing, many everyday Malaysians have some hang-up or other about race and religion. Racial and religious polarization is on the rise thanks to the BN's continuous efforts to keep the Malays separated from the non-Malays. The only saving grace is that violence has not broken out despite provocation and threats by groups linked to Umno such as Perkasa and Pekida. Tools of the politicians Really, it is only those in politics who find religion and race a sensitive issue, since both serve as tools for Prime Minister Najib Razak to gain political mileage and to character-assassinate political rivals. One good example of an Umno stirred-up spat is between JAIS and the Christian community. It has allowed Umno and its supporters to claim that Muslims are being turned away from their faith by Christians groups. The Muslims are always portrayed as innocent lambs led to the slaughter by the evil Christians who would not hesitate to stoop to using money and false assistance in order to lure Muslims away from Islam. Yet, to date, the actual number of Muslims turning away from their faith remains under wraps. We only have the word of feverish politicians to go by, with no real facts and figures to read or research. Christians upset The Christians can also call the matter sensitive since their faith is also being questioned and even subjugated to another. A good Christian is called upon to make disciples of men and thus the higher calling takes precedence over rules and regulations put in place by mere mortals. Existing laws are adequate to address an alleged rise in the proselytisation of Muslims, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Jamil Khir Baharom recently, adding that failure to enforce such laws was what needed redress, not the lack of laws. Jamil, the minister in charge of Islamic affairs, was responding to newspaper reports alleging that attempts to convert Muslims were increasing in the country. And this is the state of affairs in Malaysia. Accusations are hurled by top level government officers. Najib himself has led the charge in insinuating a real threat from the Christians – and this directly after an official visit to the Vatican to create diplomatic ties. It is no wonder that Christian leaders here have felt the need to speak out against the government to the foreign media. At the very least, it is a form of self-defense and a real disgrace to the Umno-led BN government. That citizens in Malaysia feel the need to seek protection of the global community shows the type of 'people' leading the government of the day. Until real numbers are shown, all the feverish claims are hearsay and mere whispers that insult Malaysian Christians and infringe on the basic right of a citizen to practice his or her belief. To draw the Sultan of Selangor into the fray was a sad attempt at hiding the ulterior motives of Umno to wrest back Selangor from Pakatan Rakyat's rule. Umno knows, in a straight fight, it is doomed to lose at the ballot boxes. So it plays up the fears of the Malays by telling them that Islam was being trampled on and that they were losing ground because the Christians were proselytizing Muslims in the country. The use of race, as a tool to scare the electorate into voting BN, will surely be used with full effect in all the Pakatan states. Prime Minister Najib Razak gave a hint of this strategy during the Umno General Assembly, which was subsequently echoed by all branches of the Umno political machinery. Ironically, when real issues that threaten Malay rights present themselves; Umno and Perkasa who both insist they are the champions of the Malays and the Malay Rulers remain silent. Take for example the RM100 million suit filed by a Kelantan prince against the police and effectively against the government. Why has Perkasa or Umno not come forward to defend a royal who is seeking justice via the courts of law? Why has Perkasa not come out to take up the Kelantan prince's cause?
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| Taking the DNBN Kuburkan BN initiative to the Malay heartlands Posted: 14 Dec 2011 09:32 AM PST For some time now, we have realised that even as many of us are able to get at the truth as to what is happening in our country, our brothers and sisters in the Malay heartlands, on a daily basis, are fed doses and doses of lies, fear mongering, divisive reports and hate rhetoric by the main stream media. With a view to countering this, over the last 7 months, a team has worked to put together a video documentary to deliver a message to the kampungs : that if we are to save this nation, UMNO and BN must be removed from Putrajaya nad buried. After much brainstorming, we felt that, if nothing else, it was imperative that the following 3 messages reach the Malays in the kampung. Firstly, and most importantly, that UMNO's sloganeering of 'Ketuanan Melayu' is unIslamic, as Islam does not countenance any notions or race supremacy or discrimination on grounds of race or ethnicity. Secondly, that over the last 30 – 35 years, on the pretext of working to help the impoverished Malays, UMNO has hijacked the New Economic Policy (NEP) to enrich its own leaders and their cronies, leaving some 40% f the population living in poverty today. Finally, that contrary to UMNO's claims, UMNO was not the party that fought for independence from the British and that, to this date, by constantly playing up manufactured race and religion issues, UMNO endeavours to keep the people colonised and enslaved whilst they hijack the national wealth. The DNBN KUBURKAN BN DI PRU13 documentary, which is about an hour and 44 minutes long, is, in its content, most complementary of the ASALKAN BUKAN umno initiative to be lauched later tonight.
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| Post GE13 political scenarios-Part 4 Posted: 14 Dec 2011 09:05 AM PST Where do you place Najib and Muhyidin? This article is founded on a belief that UMNO and BN are out in the GE13. Najib will be the opposition leader and Muhyidin will be there too. So what to talk about Najib and Muhyidin? We are all entitled to our own political beliefs. Some call it potatoes, others call it pertatoes, portartoes etc. There is no present or past tense in politics. There's only relevance. Is Razaleigh relevant? In my mind, given the manic and xenophobic stage of our politics, we urgently need political sanity. How do we achieve that? Through a leadership committed to the rule of law, fair play and inclusiveness, democratic and liberal principles. That leadership I believe can be provided by a person of the stature and standing, experience and man of substance like Tengku Razaleigh. Relevance comes with the commitment to immutable principles- a sense of fair play, rule of law, good governance, and jealous observation to democratic principles. It's funny to see judgmental stand on this- Razaleigh is old, yet Mahathir who is in his 80s is waiting in the wings. Because some people think he is relevant. I am old, but Najib and Muhyidin who are older, aren't classified as old. Hence old, young, or whatever is just management of subjective and very personal numerical perception. It depends on how you want to angle it; hence the managed perception has no universal application. It's subjective. A frequent objection to Tengku Razaleigh has been this concerted effort to link him with the infamous BMF affair. As finance Minister at that point in time, he has no involvement at all with the BMF scandal. BBMB was answerable to the PM's office at the time and the person principally responsible over BBMB affairs was Dr Mahathir. Tengku Razaleigh won many defamation cases against international newspapers which attempted to link him with the BMF affair. Local politics at that time, controlled by Dr Mahathir of course, directed local mainstream newspapers to carry but scant reports about Razaleigh successfully clearing his name from any involvement in the BMF affair.
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| Dap's Extended Honeymoon in Penang Posted: 13 Dec 2011 03:30 PM PST Prior to the 2008 general election, the party was at the forefront in promoting and advocating local council election. What has happened to the pledge? Did the party leadership do anything substantial to prepare the state for local council elections? Leaders who were at the forefront of the campaign such as Sec-Gen Lim Guan Eng, MP Liew Chin Tong and others should help explain why the pledge was not being fulfilled.
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| The Battle for Umno: Infighting at the very top Posted: 13 Dec 2011 08:41 AM PST Muhyiddin's name is now becoming famous in the Malay community. It has cropped up many times as a possible contender for the top post although both his image and Najib's are always presented side by side in the government-controlled media to create the perception that they are on the most friendly terms. But make no mistake, the competition between the two men has always been there. How loyal is the 'most loyal' deputy? In 2008, unfortunately for Muhyiddin, former premier Mahathir Mohamad had decided that Najib should be the one to take over from Badawi as many had predicted he would. Muhyiddin was devastated at having been beaten by Najib at the eleventh hour. But as they say, what to do? Mahathir is still a force in UMNO to be reckoned with and it would be even worse to cross him and his 'geng' or gang of right-wing political thugs. It is also interesting to note that by then Muhyiddin was as powerless as any ordinary UMNO member because he did not have the backing from the grass roots and the other UMNO leaders, not even from his home state of Johore. He was on his own and had to find supporters, if not followers. Muhyiddin was not promoted by Badawi and son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin when Badawi was PM because there was Khairy to be groomed into power. So, it was that Muhyiddin was left on the fringes although not totally in the wilderness. It was then that Muhyiddin learnt how to survive on his own, even though he was never alone. The desire to hold the top post is still burning strong in Muhyiddin and more so now, because of his age and as opportunity knocks. Najib is weak, torn apart by the myriad of problems and dilemmas nagging him 24/7. But how sincere is Muhyiddin when he only said that he is the most loyal deputy? Did he promise not to challenge for the presidency? Will Muhyiddin just lie down and let Najib steamroll over him? Disunity Actually, Muhyiddin has already launched several maneuvers with his advisors and small group of supporters. Despite their huge handicap, we can still feel the impact when he questioned the 1Malaysia concept as soon as Najib announced it. Muhyiddin then showed his confidence when he declared he was Malay first and Malaysian next. Muhyiddin even defied Mahathir when he committed himself to teaching mathematics and science in Bahasa Melayu instead of English, which had been implemented by Mahathir. It is clear Muhyiddin is trying to be his own man and garner more grass root support for his impending revolt against Najib at the eleventh hour. That's right. Say what he will during his 'loyalty' pledge to the UMNO assembly, but Muhyiddin is bound to go neck to neck with Najib for president's seat. Same as Najib would if the shoe was on the other foot. Really, Muhyiddin has got nothing to lose. To win, Muhyiddin does not need to get 100% support from those in UMNO and he knows it. All he needs to do is to harp on the various scenarios that threaten the unity in UMNO, and Najib and his band of sycophants will be forced to heel. The pressure is already massive for Najib to step down if he wants to save UMNO from another split, more so with the next General Election or GE-13 nearing.
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| Mahathir, Lee Kuan Yew and The Lazy Native Posted: 13 Dec 2011 08:38 AM PST One wonders if Mahathir and Lee Kuan Yew share the same philosophy. The Ultra Malay Mahathir and Radical Chinese Lee are almost always at odds with one another. From politics to policies, there seems to be infinite issues for them to brawl over and, even if there are none, they can't seem to help pulling a mickey out of one another. But read between the lines and you will realize that they share the same philosophy – the same reductionist philosophy that subjugated the region into chains of colonization in the past. But before going into the shared philosophy espoused by these leaders, it helps to first understand how a reductionist view on any subject would eventually lead to the perversion of an original idea. An idea or perception of a matter or subject is defined based on the senses and on our analytic thought. That, infused with cultural surroundings and historical impact produces the eventual paradigm in which we live. Now, that's not very hard to follow, is it? However, no matter how accurate one's senses in perceiving a subject, an observer with a reductionist view tries to simplify things by creating faulty arguments and slippery judgments. Thus, when it comes to formulating a policy, a reductionist approach is, at best, dangerous on many levels. Firstly, a reductionist may not solve the problem at hand but instead exacerbate it by not fully understanding the mechanism in the first place. In other words, a reductionist would rush to 'fix' the problem based on first impressions, hence neglecting the intricacies of the initial problem. Secondly, even if the problem is solved, it will leave an aftertaste of resentment as its early mechanism was forcibly changed in order to facilitate its new functions. This "machinery" is forced to function based on the whims of the reductionist, rather than working naturally based on its mechanics. On a third level, a reductionist distorts an original idea by implementing the interpretation of the idea into a form either unfounded or too extreme in the earlier idea. This is because the reductionist digests the original idea only in its cosmetics instead of understanding the whole dynamics and principles of the idea. For example, such a view of sociology gave birth to Communism; a reductionist view of biology gave birth to Nazism, and a reductionist view of Islam gave birth to Islamic terrorism. The same can be said about both Mahathir and Lee Kuan Yew. In his book The Malay Dilemma, Mahathir espoused the view that Malays – particularly the rural ones whom he characterized as less competitive compared to the urban and racially mixed Malays – were somewhat lacking in intelligence as compared to others. By others, I refer to the Chinese, Indians, and Malays of racially mixed background. Therefore, in his assessment an open and competitive market environment would actually cause the Malays to be weaker than permitted by status quo. Mahathir may have written The Malay Dilemma in the early years of his entry into politics, but his view remains unchanged. An example can be his recent comments – especially with regards to Premier Najib Razak's drive to promote meritocracy – as a clear sign that he has yet to ditch his post-colonialist belief in social anthropology (which ascribes to the idea that certain races are born superior than others). Does Mahathir believe pure-blooded Malays to be superior to other races? No. In fact, he believed that pure-blooded Malays are somewhat incompetent when it comes to competition with other races. It was thus written in his book, and reiterated during his post-retirement era where he concluded that meritocracy would benefit only certain races, as compared to affirmative action which, in his opinion, would level the playing field for everyone. In his paradigm, to which I believe and presume many UMNO Old Guards still adhere, affirmative action is a must to ensure all races be able to stand together and fairly reap the nation's economical benefits.
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