Gaza: Is Malaysia's assistance warranted?

I'm going to sound real racist, but unfortunately some people come from a certain race. I sincerely wish we Malaysian can really become as one.

Perdana Foundation by our dearest ex PM Tun Dr Mahathir funded a trip to aid the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip from the cruelties of the Israelis. Apparently we Malaysian people are rich enough to be the main contributors of this foolhardy mission.

What? Foolhardy? Yeah, you heard me right.

In case you, dear reader, haven't known, the Israelis are GOOD when it comes to intercepting outsiders. Only idiots would be dumb enough to actually attempt to breach Israel's military force just so to come around and say "hey, we come in peace and we are providing aid to your enemies!"

Oi, those jokers on Gaza soil are having a war. Outsiders are seen as either allies or threats. It's an "either/or" thing, not an "and/or". Don't come talking about providing humanitarian aid and bullshit. It's WAR. There's nothing humane about WAR. So, stop being so goddamned idealistic, and your immature thoughts about "all Jews should go to hell" and "all Jews are controlling the whole world", because if it was true, we would be screwed by now. If you guys do think and sincerely believe that those statement are the truth
SHUT UP AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. The world has more than it's fair share of nappy-wearing, yellow-belied nincompoops.

Oh, and if Malaysia has that much money to throw around, how come we still have the hardcore poor in Malaysia? And the money could be channeled to the poor fellas (Malays) who after 53 Years of Independence still have the cheek to say the other races are better off than them?

Something in my heart a Really LoNg TIME.

It was just another email by a friend. But the contents got my blood boiling over. It was all because a bloody fellow at Utusan by the name of Zaini Hassan.

To read what he wrote, click here.

The worst part was that Blogger doesn't work at all in China where I was for a couple of weeks for a short academic programme.

OK, Mr Zaini. I'll tell you what MALAYSIANS with brains want. Not just Chinese you bigot.

We want a government that works for us and not a government that doles out goodies when the time for election is here.

We want a government that doesn't segregate the people based on race and religion.

In short, we want a government that is FAIR, and we certainly do not need racist bigots like you to tell us to be grateful.

And FYI, all of us pay taxes. No one should be made to be grateful to the government. It is their bounden duty to help the people of the country. They are violating the peoples trust when they fail to do so.

What you are doing, Mr. Zaini, is inciting unnecessary racial hatred amongst Utusan readers. People like you are the real sampah masyarakat.

P.S.: I don't read Utusan at all because it is a racist paper and I believe most people know who owns the paper. The only reason I'm able to comment on the buggard's piece is because my friend emailed me Mr. Kee's retort to the outrageous piece of bull crap.

If you don't  support racism, stop buying Utusan. It'll continue printing even if every Malaysian stops reading it and make nasi lemak wrapping as it comes straight out of the printing press.

Hulu Selangor Election Results!

BN WON! Why the hell am I not surprised?
Read my last blog on this here.

If there's anything to be happy about....well, Muhyiddin's boast of getting 6000 votes extra never came thru. *woot!*

I'm just hoping now that Najib keeps his promise to that Chinese school cos BN did win. Otherwise he'll just be like Pak Lah. Promise the world, and have nothing to show.
Then again, Najib has been consistent in doing things so far. What he says he can do, he can do.

It's also kinda good that PKR didn't win, cos the buggers are getting a little bit too cocky for my liking. Just because March 8 they manage to knock BN out of 2/3 majority, does not equate to going to rule the country. And whether we like it or not, PKR's chief is still Anwar, the ex-UMNO guy who screwed us up when he was DPM then. I don't care what he says right now, but at the end of the day, you can't wash a leopard's spots.

Having said all that, congratulations to Mr. P. Kamalanathan for winning, and I wish you all the best in running your constituency. God bless you.

Hulu Selangor Election Tomorrow

I'm predicting BN will win. Although I'm hoping like hell that PKR will win, even by simple majority.

Why do I say this?
I just watch the news today and these few things pop up:

1. Najib just promised a school in Hulu Selangor RM 3 million IF BN wins.
2. Heck, even SPR is desperate enough to advertise during Prime Time...
   mind you, it's just a BY-ELECTION.
3. SPR is insinuating "other forces" may sabotage the by-election.
   (Come on, who the hell they're trying to fool?)
4. The media asked the public what is their opinion on the by-election, and the some joker answered how much the gov. did for the people there and how the people should be grateful.
   > I'm really skeptical about this. Simply because Hulu Selangor isn't exactly what we call as "developed". Correct me if I'm wrong with photos please.
5. The whole "mosques are not for political propaganda" whatchamacallit.
   HELLO, did ANY sultan decreed this during the last election? Obviously BN will NOT need the mosque cos it's candidate is an  non-Muslim Indian!

Now why the heck is BN is goddam desperate to get Hulu Selangor?

1. Their ass got whooped sore the last general election. Anymore loses to PKR will be adding vinegar to the wound.
2. Hulu Selangor has always been a BN stronghold, until Palanivel screwed up and for the FIRST TIME in Malaysian HISTORY, Hulu Selangor went to the opposition.
   If they lose again...*SLAP* "In your face, m***********s! "....so yeah.

Tomorrow night, we shall see the results. Prove me wrong, wahai manusia dari Hulu Selangor. Chose the devil you know, or the devil you don't.
Just get the devil who actually works.

Not a time to lose March 8 spirit - Kee Thuan Chye

Reposting this from Facebook!

Blog will only be removed at author's request.

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Not a time to lose March 8 spirit

By Kee Thuan Chye

Mar 8, 10

12:24pm

There was a lot of optimism right after March 8, 2008. There was a sense that things would get better. But has there been much change two years since that day?

Instead of seeing multi-racialism being freely accepted and manifested in government policies, we find ourselves becoming more divided along racial lines. Right after March 8, Umno embarked on its campaign to warn the Malays that they were under threat and to rise up against this.

The government has assumed a schizophrenic personality - the prime minister talks about 1Malaysia while his deputy says things that are completely contradictory. The PM talks about multi-racial unity while his own party campaigns for Malay unity.

Many of us had hoped that, after the elections, both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat would set aside their political differences and get down to the business of working for the national interest, of saving this country.

Instead, they have been doing their darnedest to do the dirty on each other. BN is coming out tops in that effort because it has the media under its control. Both seem to be doing their worst to win the next general election.

We hoped for leaders who would be honest, clean and respectful of us the people, who would not think we were stupid or immature. Quite soon after Najib Abdul Razak took over as prime minister, he told a gathering of senior mainstream media editors: “I have no baggage.”

The editors nearly fell off their chairs. If the No. 1 leader of this country can say something like that, what can we expect of the rest?

No wonder then Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar could say that Sin Chew Daily journalist Tan Hoon Cheng had been detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) “for her own protection”. And current Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein (right) could come out to defend the cow-head protestors and actually say “they felt victimised”.

But the 'best' comment on that incident came from Dr Mohd Khir Toyo: “There was no religious significance in bringing the head. The cow is a stupid creature and (the protestors) wanted to point out that the (Selangor) state government was being stupid.”

How did such a person become menteri besar of Selangor?

Instead of being a formidable force providing a strong opposition in Parliament, Pakatan is now fighting to

salvage its image. The number of elected representatives who have quit PKR is distressing, and Pakatan can't blame the mainstream media for this. Neither can Pakatan blame anyone for its ability to produce 'frogs'.

Anwar Ibrahim promised us defections from BN to Pakatan on Sept 16, 2008, but it never happened. Now it's happening - but the defectors are from Pakatan. In any case, Anwar's attempt to take over the federal government on Sept 16 was misguided and merely exposed his true ambition - to be prime minister, above all else.

We now see infighting among Pakatan's elected representatives. We hear allegations of corruption in their ranks. We realise that many of them are in public service not to serve the public but to serve their own interests. All these negative developments threaten to erode our faith in Pakatan. Can they put their act together? Can they form a viable government?

After March 8, we hoped the government would undo the damage that had been inflicted on our country by the man who screwed up our institutions, created a culture of fear, fostered the negotiated contract, invested our money in white elephants - and still doesn't know when to shut up. The Americans could only make 'Avatar'; he managed to lead a country to the dogs. And yet the government has not dismantled the culture he created in order to restore our faith in the country's institutions.

On the issue of race, Najib's 1Malaysia project is mere window-dressing. It's old wine in a new bottle. And I'm not apologising for the non-halal reference. I leave that sort of apologising to Star.

What 1Malaysia is there when Najib says one thing and his deputy, Muhyiddin Yassin, says the direct opposite? The very day Najib publicly unveiled the 1Malaysia logo, Muhyiddin said Umno would fight to the last drop of blood to protect Malay rights. He has also said the BTN courses are uniting Malaysians in line with the 1Malaysia concept. How? Pray tell.

What 1Malaysia is there when Najib says one thing and his aide Nasir Safar says the Indians came to this country as beggars and the Chinese as prostitutes? And that “We can anytime revoke the citizenship of the Indians in Malaysia”?

Media failures

More insidious is the rise of the right-wing movement that the government has done nothing to discourage.

Only last week, the Home Ministry granted its most prominent group, Perkasa, a permit to publish a fortnightly newspaper. Meanwhile, Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian continue to pour poison into the ears of the Malays by spinning that they are losing their land and privileges.

Surely, Najib could put a stop to such spin since the newspapers are owned by Umno? Why doesn't he? Is it because he encourages media freedom? If so, why do we still have the Printing Presses and Publications Act, which requires media organisations to renew their licences every year at the pleasure of the home minister?

Why is it still there to turn media owners and editors into eunuchs?

Star recently published an article which critiqued the caning of the three Muslim women for illicit sex, and public caning in general. When a few Muslim NGOs complained, the Home Ministry promptly issued the newspaper a show-cause letter. The ministry also insisted on an apology. So the paper dutifully apologised. No doubt all this is meant to intimidate Star so it won't dare to run such articles again.

Should it be frightened? How do we push the parameters if we continue to be frightened? How do we encourage healthy public debate? I personally doubt the ministry would close down Star. The public repercussions would be negative for the government. More importantly, BN would cease to have an important organ for the dissemination of its propaganda. Star reaches out to a wide non-Malay, mainly middle-class readership. BN can't afford not to reach out to these people.

Even after March 8, the mainstream media is failing us. Remember how relatively balanced they were in the months after March 8? Their owners realised that for the sake of public acceptance, they had to temper their pro-government bias and so they opened the window of objectivity by a few degrees. Besides, they had to hedge their bets in case Anwar did manage to take over the government.

But then when Sept 16 didn't happen, there was no need to consider that any more. So the mainstream media stopped being balanced. Months later, Najib took over as PM. He tightened the screws. Thereafter, the mainstream media went back to bashing Pakatan.

Selective change

To be fair to Najib, he has shown that he's serious about economic reform and he's trying to make Malaysia more competitive and to lure foreign investors. He has also come up with the Government's Transformation Programme that identifies six key areas in which the government intends to improve its service to the public.

The effects of all these, however, are not conspicuous yet. He did try to table three laws in Parliament to settle the touchy issue of religious conversion but this was forestalled at the last minute by the Conference of Rulers. But meanwhile, where are the institutional reforms?

When he became PM, he released numerous ISA detainees, among them the Hindraf leaders. But wasn't that done with the next general election in mind - to win back the Indians? What about the more important issue - the ISA itself? What is being done about that? And what about the Universities and University Colleges Act, which denies student participation in not just political activities but also social activities that are not approved by the vice-chancellor?

Recently, the Universiti Malaya Speaker's Corner was reactivated and a deputy minister who was somehow present at the event called it a clear example of the government's open approach. Someone should test what can't be said at that Speaker's Corner.

What about the law enforcement institutions? We have yet to see the setting-up of the IPCMC which could help reduce crime and police corruption, and promote better observance of human rights by the police.

The ACA was reformed to become the MACC to battle corruption more effectively. Look at what it's doing these days - mostly picking on opposition politicians to bring them to shame. Almost every opposition leader worth his salt is being investigated by the MACC. If you are not being investigated, you haven't arrived.

We could also go into the attorney-general's office and ask what has happened to the Lingam case, the PKFZ case, the RMAF case, the Hasbie Safar case, and whether the people who placed wild-boar's heads in the two mosques have been arrested. What do you think we might discover?

So, what good has March 8 brought us after all?

Fundamentally, I think Malaysians are becoming more courageous. More and more are speaking up. Fewer and fewer are kowtowing to the people in high places. We are struggling to shake off the culture of fear - and I think we are succeeding. Look at the turnout at candlelight vigils and protest marches.

At the protests against the ISA detention of Tan Hoon Cheng, Raja Petra Kamarudin and Teresa Kok, people whom you'd never expected to see at such gatherings actually showed up. Three years ago, such people would not have dared come near such activities.

There is a new spirit of defiance now, and we have models of defiance to show us the way - among them Anwar Ibrahim since the reformasi days, Raja Petra, P Uthayakumar, Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin and his Perak band, and Malaysiakini. Instead of giving in to authoritative pressure, they stood tall. And that's how it should be.

Malaysians are no longer so afraid of another May 13. Sure, there is always the possibility of racial riots flaring up but people are generally more sensible now. Besides, no responsible government would want racial riots to erupt and frighten away investors. The recent 'Allah' issue reinforces that. Despite the puny efforts of a few to create an incident by fire-bombing churches, attacking a surau and depositing wild-boar heads in mosques, the opportunity for riots fizzled out.

The political battlefields of Malaysia are no longer so clear-cut and marked by Malays versus non-Malays. From the time of reformasi in the late 1990s, the split within the Malay community has been evident.

In the 1999 general election (GE), it was the non-Malay voters who saved BN from possibly losing its two-thirds majority. Compared to the 1995 GE, Umno's votes in 1999 dropped by 8 percent. Najib nearly got voted out of the Pekan constituency. He scraped through with a majority of only 241 votes.

In fact, as long ago as the mid-70s, it had already been predicted that a time would come when the major political strife would be between the Malays. The failure of the NEP to evenly redistribute wealth among the Malays has accelerated this. A class fight is settling in between the Malays who have not and the Malays who have a lot.

The real issue now is corruption. Many Malays have come to realise that the people who join Umno these days are largely doing so not because they believe in helping their own community but because they want to get rich.

Umno still tries to sell the idea of ketuanan Melayu but to the Malay have-nots, what is the meaning of that ketuanan? Even so, when push comes to shove, anything can happen. Much will depend on how effectively Umno plays the racial game. While it is unwise to look at the Malays as a monolith, it is equally unwise to ignore the tribal instincts of a community. Especially when it's constantly being told that it's under siege.

Looking forward on a more optimistic note, however, we have to acknowledge that March 8 has given us something precious for the next GE, and hopefully for longer into the future - choice. Now we have two coalitions to offer us their idea of a better deal. If we want to retain this duopoly that should work to our benefit, we have to nurture it. It sure beats having a monopoly.

The next GE will be crucial. It will determine whether we'll get more of the same old, same old or whether we will get real change. Whether we will continue to be a nation divided along racial lines or be hopeful of being a truly Malaysian nation. If we are to keep the March 8 spirit alive and make irreversible the trend to take Malaysia out of the dark ages, we have to do our part. Those who have not yet registered as voters should do so as soon as possible.

It's going to be a tough GE. Najib will want to prove himself worthy of being PM by winning it. He hasn't won one yet. He's PM now by default. He's PM because of 2,600 Umno delegates. That's the number that actually decided who would become prime minister. Only 2,600. We have seen in his handling of Perak how ruthless he can be when it comes to such things. So we need to be vigilant.

One of the tactics BN will resort to is gerrymandering. This might explain the recent PKR defections. BN will need a two-thirds majority to push through a Bill in Parliament calling for a redelineation of parliamentary constituencies. If it succeeds, redelineation will be really bad news for Pakatan. The opposition will have to strive even harder to win constituencies re-drawn to favour BN.

As it stands, Sabah and Sarawak seem secure for BN. To ensure that, Najib has been pumping more and more money into those states. In the peninsula, 70 percent of the current parliamentary seats are Malay-majority seats. That's where PAS and PKR have to work really hard to deliver the votes. If they lose the battle for the Malay votes and Sabah and Sarawak remain loyal to BN, not only will Pakatan not make it to Putrajaya; BN might get back its two-thirds majority.

Whatever it is, when the next general election comes around, it might be appropriate to recall the words of Franklin Roosevelt: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

Choice is what we have now. That has been the gift of March 8. We should exercise that choice - for the betterment of our country. And exercise it without fear.

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KEE THUAN CHYE is the man behind the book 'March 8: The Day Malaysia Woke Up', which is also available in Chinese.

Mad Mad Malaysia...

Welcome to Mad Mad Malaysia...

the land where you can get morons to run the country while the smart ones emigrate away.

It's official. The people in who deflect from Pakatan are morons. All because they couldn't get away with their antics of "everything goes my way".

Lim Guan Eng, (CM of Penang State) is doing a good job as far as I'm concerned. If there's any fault, it would have to be with him being too damn efficient. I'm serious. Penang is progressing quite nicely (as compared to the rest) and if there's any problem with "racism", it's would be

1. someone just trying to pick a fight in a majority non-Melayu state.
2. someone who couldn't "glean" projects
3. the "marginalised" ain't using their rights properly.

I think, that the reason why the deflectors deflectwas because they couldn't see themselves progressing further in their political careers, while jumping ship would make it too obvious that they miss the perks while in the BN coalition. Or maybe they were just bought over but not required to join the coalition since their political careers are buried anyway.

FYI, 2 of them were ex-BN members. Wonder why the media doesn't remind us of that fact...

Tee Tee Beng - Nibong Tebal MP, currently independent, ex-Gerakan. His dad was the Founder of Gerakan.

Zahrain Mohamed Hashim - Bayan Baru MP, currently independent, ex-UMNO.

I really have to repost his reason of leaving.

 Lim, the Chief Minister of Penang, responded by stating that the real reason behind Zahrain's unhappiness was because the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) Board had rejected the recommendation by Zahrain to select an RM 2 (USD$0.58) company to manage The Bukit Jambul Golf & Country Resort (BJCC). The contract for the management of the BJCC is said to be worth millions of ringgit. This RM 2 company is reported to be personally linked to Zahrain and was established a mere 2 months before emerging as the sole tender for the project in December 2008. Instead, Lim had called for fresh open tenders and on 9 February 2010, the PDC Board decided to select a company with a good track record and most importantly its paid up capital is not RM 2, but RM 40 million (USD$12 million). Upon his resignation, Zahrain was quoted saying "There must be a balance between the people’s interests and my interests”.

Mohsin Fadzil Samsuri - Bagan Serai MP, currently independent.

reason for leaving: decided to quit the party as he felt betrayed and sabotaged.

As for the sacking of Zulkifli Nordin, kudos to PR for sacking him. We need less religious bigots who can't even respect their own religion. God does not need human advocates. People like Zulkifli Nordin are the one's who create Facebook pages that say "F*** Jesus Christ/ Muhammad" and demean other religions other than their own, and creating these meaningless "crusades/ jihads".

You demean yourself when you demean others.

Review on "From Paris With Love"

Movie reviewed and why I suddenly reviewed a movie *GASP* on this blog.

Why did I watch the movie?

1. Luc Besson : CHECK!
2. Storyline : seems good
3. Action : Since it's Luc Besson, should be good
4. John Travolta : Check
5. Jonathan Rhys Meyers: Check

Yup, I'm a fan of Luc Besson. I was converted after watching "Taken". "Taken" was believable, action was fast but never confusing, characters were believable. It also showed us the darkness of human trafficking, which was the main selling point of the movie and for me to watch it :)

So yeah, "From Paris with Love" was a sensible movie choice for me. Plus, the movie deals with terrorists, guns and betrayal...all in the City of Lights and Lurveee....

The movie has good pace, and great storyline. There's never a dull moment in the movie. And the storyline that links drug-dealing, terrorism and espionage is absolutely believable. There are people will go all out to do what seems right to them, and that just what suicide bombers and counter-terrorist agents do. Exchanging drugs for guns isn't all that new, and to get information about from people who deal in these kinds of things requires both brain and brawn, which i thought was well-illustrated in the movie. Having beautiful women to seduce the intended targets is commonplace (007 always does that), and unfortunately, women are gullible creatures (I'm really jabbing my own foot with this statement).

Character development was also great for me, especially James Reece (played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers). I especially liked this character because you see him go from this really ambitious guy, to "Holy ****, what did I get myself into?", then finally someone who manages to put his emotions aside, get the job done and say "I don't know if I really want this". Character Charlie Wax (played by John Travolta) was also great as  a gun-toting, shoot 'em all to Hell guy, who's just really good at his job, yet sensitive enough to the notice people's pain.

If there's a gripe, I would have to say it was quite similar to "Taken". But even that's a plus point. So my only complaint, it will have to be: Why are the reviews from so-called paid, movie-reviewers so bad? The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was complete waste of time and talent, yet it got fantastic reviews. Ah, whatever.

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To the real reason I'm reviewing:

1. Terrorism is a real thing. And it's not new. We have to be constantly on the ball to notice what's around us.
2. Women: Let us not be gullible.
3. In Islam, screwing around is haram. Having sex with someone as a means to an end is not jihad. It's plain prostitution for a "cause".
4. Suicide bombing does not , and will not solve any problem. The "I'm at peace" and " I'm doing this for a higher cause" crap is, well..., crap. If really that religion is so great, and that God is so absolute, HE definitely does NOT need human help at all. When you do such stuff, you're just making fun of your own religion.
   OH, and suicide bombing doesn't bring much casualties too, I'm afraid. Then again, the world has one less fanatic, no?
5. In the world's eyes, there is absolutely NO ABSOLUTE RELIGION. If there ever was, the world would have only one religion.
   Everyone thinks theirs is the one true religion, be it pantheist, monotheist and whatever religions there is. So, can we just get along with each other and make the world a better place, instead of blowing up something somewhere in the name of XX religion?

Tolerance is key, although acceptance is even better. We post-modernists should be looking forward to better futures, instead of regressing to the jahilliah (ignorant) period of the Dark ages.