Ungracefully senile

After a long spell of silence (shown by the lack of postings in this blog for some time now), Dr Mahathir has once again gone on his Singapore bashing trips again. This time, it is the Malays in Singapore that he has targeted. Paraphrasing him, he said the Malays in Singapore form the minority race and they have to 'kowtow' (i.e. beg, be subservient to, etc.) to the majority race, which is the Chinese. Mahathir could have lived in Singapore for a time. He was trained in Medicine in Singapore many many years ago, but I have lived in Singapore all my not inconsiderable length of life.

I went to school in Singapore all my life, counting Malays among my classmates. I sat beside one in class in Secondary School and was proud to call him a best friend. I have come across many Malays, and indeed people of other races such as the Indians and Eurasians. I even have an Indian colleague, whom I have coffee with, in our 'off hours' at work. Some of them were laid-back and provide a different perspective on life, others were just a competitive as any of the best in school, and indeed at work. I have come across a couple of Malay girls who excel in their studies. And all of them are proud of being whatever race they belong to. I don't know about other Singaporeans, but I am colour-blind when it comes to people of other races. To me, they are just another human being whom you may meet, share common interests and obligations, do better in certain areas but maybe not in others. Some maybe even live in the same neighbourhood. None of them need to kowtow to anyone. That isn't the culture, it isn't something that comes natural to any of us. We are proud about who we are, including those in the minority races. Some Malays do face financial difficulties, but so do many Chinese and Indians. Some may resort to begging, others turn to crime, yet more seek help, which is widely and readily available among their respective communities and beyond. Even some Ang Mohs among us need help from time to time.

So far as my experience goes, this is how it is with all Singaporeans, because I am at heart, very much a heartlander.

The hearts of Singaporeans went out to the some foreign workers who were hacked and injured very seriously in Kallang not too many weeks ago.We are generally a compassionate and helpful lot. Of course there are the genuine rotten apples among us, but which country can claim otherwise?

Iin Singapore, nobody is obliged to kowtow. We are no longer a British colony. We are not a subservient people under colonials. It's been like that for more than 40 years.

So I am mystified who Dr M is referring to. Maybe he has been away from Singapore for too long, and/or he is growing senile, imagining things that are not there. Dr M seem to be lost in history. I wish he would grow old gracefully, but it appears that he cannot help saying that some people are better than others, including himself.

In Singapore we don't kowtow

http://www.straitstimes.com/PrimeNews/Story/STIStory_540300.html

Corrupt to the core

The Malaysians are at it again. Photos of a semi-naked Ms Elizabeth Wong, the Honourable opposition MP from Anwar Ibrahim's PKR party, has been circulated, leading to her resigning her Selangor state Cabinet post and assembly seat. The last time a similar thing happened was when Mr Chua Soi Lek resigned his posts because he was caught on video in a hotel room engaged in activities with a person not his wife.

Since when has the naked form of a person, man or woman, proved incompetence on the part of the person? Don't we ALL have "private parts", which, if you are not aware, play important roles in keeping use alive and propagating the human race? What is there to be ashamed of if these parts are publicly displayed, especially when it is done so without the person's consent? I would like to let Ms Wong know that there is no wrong, no shame and certainly no dishonour in it, except among those who are prudes and among people - enemies - who would want to bring a person down, politically or otherwise.

Unfortunately, in Malaysia, that's how its appears the dominant UMNO wants to play politics. Anwar is already on video accusing the UMNO party of playing dirty politics. And he would be the one who has a certain 'authority' on this because somebody did him in in dirty fashion more than 10 years ago.

If politics is going to be conducted in this fashion in Malaysia from here on in (remember, just a few weeks ago, certain MPs defected to BN in Perak state, leading to a change in government of sorts). It is difficult to imagine that some political force is not behind all of these. And these forces appear to be quite powerful, and rich too, for who would want to defect, or show 'embarassing' photos' if there is not some financial incentives to do so. And who would want to part with their money if that somebody is not enriched by somebody else in some significant way?

Is Malaysia now so corrupt to the core?

Taking the guess out of gas

Did Abdullah Badawi really have no choice but to increase the price of petrol? I think nobody will dispute it, not when India, Taiwan, Vietnam, and a whole host of countries recognise that subsidizing fuel prices is no longer tenable, given the skyrocketing price of this commodity. I suppose the only people who are laughing all the way to the bank are the oil producers and the speculators.

But increasingly the prices by about 41% for petrol and 67% for diesel with less than a week's notice? That's mighty strong medicine and obviously very difficult to swallow. In fact, there were long queues at gasoline stations the night before the price increase kicked in (5 June 2008). Motorists were just acting out of economic self-interest by lapping up that last litre of cheap petrol. I wonder if not more had brought along their jerry-cans to get even more savings.

It hadn't dawned on me that Singaporeans have been living off the largesse of the Malaysians, or their foolishness, these many years. You don't realise it until prices of vegetables, eggs, poultry, and even travel and tours into the Malay Peninsula, in Singapore start to rise. That's the inevitable trend and Singaporeans are bracing for another round of imported inflation. Think about it. For as long as the Malaysian government has been subsidizing the prices of petrol, they have been subsidizing the livelihood, and yes, even the pleasures, of the Singaporeans, both the rich and the poor. So its not just the Singapore motorists who fill up their tanks in Johor that has benefitted only.

So Singaporeans are now understandably very disappointed by the removal of the fuel subsidies. I think they will stand together with ordinary Malaysians in lobbying the M'sian government to reverse the drastic increases of gasoline, notwithstanding its obvious wisdom. But people don't like rude shocks and see their money reduced in value so fast.

This latest policy change will likely cost PM AB his premiership. The knives were already out prior to this latest uproar. It now remains for them to be plunged into the gut for the fatal blow. Will PM AB survived? Who will take over? Can he do a better job? The Malaysians are now not too optimistic about the incumbents. Will the Opposition do any better, or will they turn out to be just as disappointing?

Say what?

Dr Mahathir is again not doing credit to himself and the Islamic world at large. In response to Geert Wilders' Fitna video, Dr M is calling on the entire Muslim world to boycott Dutch products. Can we hear something more original and more effective, please? As a long-serving PM of Malaysia, with geo-political experience, I expect him to have more than a certain level of understanding and knowledge of the world today compared to the common man/woman. Therefore he cannot not be aware of the fact that many people in the Netherlands are Muslims, his brothers and sisters in the faith he professes and claims to be defending in his latest 'call to arms'. His call for the boycott will probably hurt Geert Wilder, but it will also hurt his brothers and sisters in the faith too, many of whom live in the Netherlands today. The world is no longer a monolithic Dutch vs Malays vs Chinese, etc. in any one piece of land. And Dr M labeling every person who is Dutch anti-Islamic just because one of them acts in a certain way is surely immature and unbecoming of a former statesman and PM . I daresay that some 17 year olds can be more mature in thought compared to him. Is he getting senile, I wonder? On the other hand, the Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen has reportedly called on the Islamic world to be level-headed in its response to the film. "Let's keep a cool head and warm relations," Mr Verhagen was quoted as saying in Asharq Al Awsat, which is read in many Arab countries. He has "...distanced his government from the text of the film, which he said made generalisations and was polarising." (Today, 31 Apr 2008 "Dr M calls for Dutch boycott').

Dr. M will do well to keep his own counsel and not shoot off that mouth at every opportunity. It appears that the more he says, the more he chips away at the goodwill and legacy he has built up over so many years among his people and those of the world. Granted not many in the Western world are particularly enamored of this straight-talking man, but continuing to give offence in such as a manner discredits his thinking and makes even his friends cringe.

Bedroom Politics

Malaysia seem to be having a love affair with videography.

I found it odd that Dr Chua Soi Lek had admitted to being the man in the now notorious sex video showing a man and a woman having sex in a hotel. According to some people in his hometown of Batu Pahat who had seen the video (circulated by some unknown persons or parties), they couldn't even make out that the male in that video was Dr Chua! That being the case, the smart thing for Dr Chua to have done was to deny everything. But Dr Chua prefers to be honest, which is not a bad thing, though his romping in bed with a woman not his wife was a case of bad judgment, and doing so in a hotel which had such lax security was a bad choice of location to have his night of pleasure.

It would appear that there is one sure way of causing the downfall of any rival in Malaysian politics, or anywhere else for that matter. If Dr Chua, who by any measure, is a successful man - he is a medical doctor, a No. 2 man in the dominant Chinese political party, the MCA and married with 3 kids - can be brought down so easily by a moment of indiscretion, anybody is fair game. And this has been going on for some time now. The most famous of these is the former Deputy PM, Mr Anwar Ibrahim, who was convicted of sodomy with his driver, although the veracity of the Court's judgment remains suspect to this day. But it doesn't have to be true, making it look convincing is enough to push one off the edge into political oblivion. This is what people mean when they say that politics is a dirty game - for how many otherwise effective leaders have not had their nights in the bedrooms of a woman not their wives? Plenty. John F. Kennedy, Thomas Jefferson, François Mitterrand, Bill Clinton (well, sort of), Napoleon Bonaparte, etc. are some of the more famous ones. All of these, except JFK, completed their terms in office, though.

While the verdict is still out on the performance of Dr Chua as an MCA leader and Health Minister, it is unfortunate that he was honest about it - unfortunate for his political career, but it was probably a good thing for him to be honest about it.

I wonder if there is a budding film industry in the making in Malaysia.

Race Riots Irony

Malaysia and Singapore has lived in irony since 1964. Why so? Because in that year, two race riots occurred in Singapore - one in July and a second in September. Singapore was then a part of Malaysia. While Malaysia's then DPM Tun Abdul Razak blamed Indonesia and the Communists for these disturbances, Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew and some foreign observers blamed Malay supremacist, Syed Jaafar Albar and some elements of the ultra-nationalist faction of UMNO.

History followed up these disturbances with yet another riot, this time in Malaysia, on May 13, 1969. Historians have judged that these 1969 riots were connected to those of 1964, and the reasons for them were similar - conflict between the Chinese and Malay races. Malaysia has sought to solve these problems all these years by implementing its Bumiputra policy - the policy of affirmative action (i.e. positive discrimination) in favour of the majority Malay race. Everything seemed to have been settled, with relative peace for 40 years, until just a few weeks ago, following on demonstrations to protest corruption in government at the highest levels. This time, the minority Indians (mostly Tamils) took to the streets to vent their frustration at the Bumiputra policy which has prevented the race from moving on and up in the Malaysian economy. This is 1964 and 1969 all over again, except it is now an India-Malay conflict.

All of which goes to show that the Bumiputra policy has been an abject and total FAILURE. All these many years, the UMNO and the Malays have been pulling wool over their own eyes and assumed that their Bumiputra policy had been the magic bullet that has brought about peace and harmony. So proud are they of this policy that, 40 years after it was started, they still claim that it has not fulfilled its objectives. The Malays just want their privileges to continue on and on. But who are they kidding? The recent show of anger from its minority Indian race demonstrates that Malaysia is no nearer resolving the problems that first exploded in 1964. That all this while, the Malays and UMNO have just been sitting on a time bomb which they hoped has stopped timing. How wrong they were and how wrong they still are now.

Unless Malaysia addresses the discrimination that is the Bumiputra policy, Malaysia will not move a single steps towards long term peace and harmony. The volcano will erupt again.

Hindraf Rally Reports

Winter of discontent

This year, the 58th UMNO General Assembly meeting was reportedly tame - in comparison to last year's, where the Malay delegates, led by Tun Hishammuddin, wielded the Kris with much bravado. Was this a sign of the times? Malaysia's economy reportedly grew by 6.1% so far this year. Though lower than Singapore's expected 7.9%, it is still an achievement.

Wither the discontent, which exploded into mass demonstrations against the government in the streets of KL? Government sanctioned mass media are not reporting fully on it, so new media has taken over. You want the news about this demonstration? Read online newspapers and blogs. You want to look at pictures or better still, videos? Look at Youtube with the word 'bersih'. Truly the government is losing its battle of the minds. Gagging the official media is no longer effective. Malaysia can't control new media, unless it shuts off access to the internet, as governments in China and Myanmar are fond of doing from time to time.

I am not a political scientist to offer a reasoned analysis on the situation in Malaysia today. But it is clear that the administration of Abdullah Badawi is facing myriad problems. The biggest of these is the still smoking gun of judicial bribery brought to prominence by Anwar Ibrahim. He must really really hate the judiciary because he must have felt it the height of injustice when he was sent to jail for the charge of sodomy (subsequently overturned) and bribery/corruption (which has prevented him so far from seeking a seat in Parliament). Now that the video tape he released about a senior lawyer bribing a top judge has been acknowledged to be genuine, the ball is on Badawi's administration to appoint a royal commission to look further into the allegations. Badawi, it appears, is still dragging his foot on this. What is he worried about, unless the allegations are true? Lawyers subsequently staged a demonstration about the video tape's implications of complicity and injustice at the very citadel of justice. Truly, Malaysia' judiciary is now in tatters. How the mighty have fallen.

The word 'elections' has been on the mouth of many Malaysians for some time now. The elections process has often been viewed as not that clean in Malaysia. Out of nowhere, the people marched in KL under the banner 'bersih' or 'clean' where they demanded for clean elections, which is expected sometime early next year, and clean systems of government. The government's response - water cannons and news blackout.

Meanwhile in the Hague, Malaysia's lawyers are trying their level best to lay claim to a piece of rock in the South China Sea, called Pedra Branca (or Pulau Batus Puteh as the Malaysians prefer to call it). The protogonists? None other than the red dot of a nation far larger in size to Pedra Branca, on its southern tip that Malaysia unceremoniously ejected from its territories 42 years ago - Singapore. From the evidence and arguments presented so far, it appears that Singapore has a stronger case.

This is truly the winter of discontent in Malaysia. Hopefully it does not signal the winter of Badawi's political career. Why do I hope so? Because he has been good to and for Sinagapore.

Sons of the soil

They say it never rains. It pours. Just as Malaysia is embroiled with its own citizens about its very core identity, one of its 'sons' puts up a video on Youtube criticizing Malaysia's discriminatory racial practices all these many years. Known as the New Economic Policy (NEP), it discriminates in favour of its sons of the soil (bumiputra) - the Malays - over against migrant races such as the Chinese and Indians in almost all areas of life - in education, in jobs, in owning and operating a company, in the civil service, and yes, in its religion.

Malaysia was founded as a secular state almost 50 years ago. 50 years is a long time, and I do not blame its PM, DPM and ex-PM's attempt at revising history. People have short memories, and history can be bent and twisted any which way to advance an agenda. Japan often attempts to do this. However, after 50 years, Malaysia's youth have grown up. Having lived under discrimination, many have left because of the discrimination. I know because I have friends who are brilliant academically and successful, career-wise, who are ex-Malaysians. Truly, Singapore's gain is Malaysia's lost.

Therefore, it is not surprising that a new Youtube video lampooning the Malaysian political, business, social and religious culture highlighting the discriminatory practices and its official religion, Islam, has appeared. It appears to have been created by one of its younger sons, one Mingzhi, belonging to the discriminated racial class. The song called "I love my country", is sung and dubbed mostly in Chinese and Malay with a splattering of Hokkien after the Malaysian National Anthem Negara Ku. It is a bold and stark critique of modern Malaysia, if a trifle disrespectful. But it appears to have come from the heart.

The Malaysian government, instead of spending time trying to nail sediton charges on this young man, should reflect, on its 50th year of independence, where it might have strayed from the straight and the narrow, to have aroused such negative feelings among its sons. This is Malaysia's open secret, and it appears that the cover has been blown off it.

Here is the video:

Judge hammered in his Court

PM Abdullah Badawi is correct. There should not be any cover-up regarding the case of the unnatural death of Altantuya Shaariibuu. This case has been widely reported both in national and international press. The alleged murder took place last October (2006) and, after 7 months, the case is before the Malaysia Courts - but...

The prosecution revealed that he has just the day before been assigned the case and pleaded for a month to prepare afresh. Gosh, the Malaysia government legal department must be working in overdrive with so many cases that this reassignment was necessary? It is extremely odd (to say the least) for a government prosecutor to be appointed just the day before after 7 months have passed since the 'crime'. That or, as many are now whispering, there is more than meets the eye. Is something going on in the corridors of power such that the weight is now shifted against the prosecution from succeeding? The prosecution, by the way, is arguing that Encik Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda and his alleged accomplices kidnapped and killed the young AS. We are reminded that these accused have friends in high places in the Government. There is also allegations of a third party involved that is trying to pervert the course of justice, although this party has not been identified.

Surely the Malaysia government is not doing itself a favour and moreover putting itself up to ridicule by its own citizens and the international community just for the sake of the three accused men? Or it there something else going on higher up? Its looks like someone is desparately trying to tilt the scales of justice his way. Can the Malaysia Courts go along merrily with the government on this, so soon after its decision to take away basic civil liberties from its own citizens?


Image Source: http://images.stockxpert.com/

FAM U-Turn

Applause please...for PM Ahmad Abdullah Badawi for doing the right thing. This is Visit Malaysia Year and nobody should dictate to a sovereign nation and its people how, when or who they should invite to the country to celebrate Malaysia's 50th birthday. Certainly not the AFC President, Mr Mohamed bin Hammam, who is now threatening to sue FAM for reneging on its promise not to promote any competing event around the time of the Finals in AFC's Asia Cup event.

Yes, FAM did a u-turn there, but that's in the nature of soccer. Sometimes, some well executed u-turns on the soccer pitch can result in a spectacular goal. The only thing is, you'd want to make sure that goal is not your own, something the FAM almost did. But I must give credit to FAM for its guts in standing up to the imperial AFC, and more to the Malaysia PM for protecting the interests of the country and its own people. Yes, that's right, folks, Malaysia has only one PM, and he does not go by the name of Hammam.

Hammam and WSG, who had hoped to make tonnes of money from the event, will now see the money go to MUFC, because football-fans just acquired a distaste for the AFC and its brand of soccer.

Malaysia boleh!

Image source:http://images.stockxpert.com/

My Football

Mr Mohamed bin Hammam and the FAM are not getting my vote for being insensitive to the wants of football crazy Malaysians, and Singaporeans too. How could one person in the AFC unilaterally decide that thousands of football fans should watch the Asia Cup rather than Manchester United FC? Mr H accuses MU of being colonialist, but he is no better. In fact, except for his bald pate and dark complexion, he looks like Hitler and acts like Hitler too.

Sure, he wants to promote Asia soccer, but not at the expense of the people who enjoy good soccer? Isn't it ironic? He doesn't want MUFC to show up just to cart away tonnes of Asian money, but isn't the AFC after that same pot of gold? You think the AFC is money-blind and totally altruistic in promoting Asian soccer? They have done their sums and they know that whatever they could have pocketed would have to be shared with MUFC if they turned up around the same time. Look, the events aren't playing on the same day, so fans can catch both the AFC event and go crazy over Ronaldo and gang. But no, the AFC want ALL the cash to itself. That explains why Mr H was so un-diplomatic, even rude, with his language. The soccer fraternity, on a global scale, is still a small world. One day, AFC might have to look west for collaboration. Burning bridges such as what Mr H is doing is akin to suicide.

We fans weren't born yesterday. We may be soccer crazy, but we are not blind and stupid. Only, let us spend our hard-earned cash on what we want and not on what Mr H wants. We may decide not to spend any of it, since MUFC is not invited to the party.