Who is your leader?

I have been watching the West Wing. And I am extremely uncomfortable with the fact that our national policies and what is allowed, disallowed, legal, illegal, etc, are decided by a small select group of people. This group of people, who are human just like the rest of us, and are just as liable to make mistakes, are imposing what they deem acceptable or not, based on their own morals.

Their own morals. That’s a bit hard to accept, when flawed humans are dictating to the rest of us what is black and what is white.

We should have our best brightest and smartest running the show, but we end up having the most corrupt doing it.

In our country, the daily soap opera being acted out on the highest political stages are a source for amusement, if it wasn’t so serious and had such deep reaching implications. I am genuinely concerned about this place. However, it IS quite entertaining, if one is to just sit back and let the drama unfold, without worrying too much about the consequences to ourselves. This country is being destroyed.

Anyway, below is an article that just goes to show how stupid we are. We allow someone else to use our facilities, and then we have to beg them to let us use a slice of it, and then, because they wouldn’t allow us to, we are forced to inconvenience our athletes, forcing them to settle for a crap training routine. Well, no surprises if we wouldn’t even make the tiniest literal splash in the pool in Beijing. Whoever drew up such agreements should seriously consider switching careers.

And we want to position ourselves and market ourselves in the world as technically competent people, a genuine partner in the ongoing global storm of outsourcing. Well, no one is going to find us attractive anymore, after this. Aircraft maintained by us are shoddy and are not world class. Are we still going to fly MAS and AirAsia?

Is this yet another case of our Education Ministers sending their kids not to local schools to undertake the education curriculum they designed and endorse, but to international schools, and not to local colleges and universities, but to academic institutions in the UK and US? For the record, our current DPM’s kids both go to the same high school I used to go to, which is an international school practising the IGCSE Cambridge curriculum, and which costs A BOMB. Well, well. Telling.

Political Commentary

For all his and his administration’s mistakes, excesses and various wrongdoings, one thing that history will look kindly on our current Malaysian PM on will be the freedom he initially gave to the press. I say initially because by and by, as his hold on power became increasingly faced with criticism, and his tenure became more shaky, he succumbed to the same mentality adopted by previous insecure leaders of other countries: he clamped down on freedom of information. The press duly became extended PR arms of the ruling coalition, license and permits to speak were not granted to certain charismatic personalities (who would be able to spill beans on the government) and bloggers were taken to task.

This is not to say that they were not successful; instead, the more the government tried to clamp down on normal media as well as the mass media spinning their content, the more the people turned to the alternative media, i.e. cybermedia. (Let it be remembered that I coined the word here first). And the cybermedia is bereft of controls at this point in time in Malaysia, and hence, the momentum gathering against the government was able to gain more momentum.

It is still early days, but the previously opposition coalition must prove that it is a viable government. The next few years will be critical. It is bad luck that the next year is forecasted to be a tight one economically, but if that is the card we have been dealt, then that is what we must contend with. If the coalition can rule the 5 opposition held states well, there is no telling what will happen at the next GE; perhaps the toppling of the BN. In fact, as it is, the BN is close to its death throes. MCA MIC and Gerakan have had their balls cut off. UMNO is facing a strong internal challenge from KuLi and its strongest ever Opposition, helmed by its most viable and threatening leader ever, the former Education/Finance and Deputy PM.

2 things we need to do when we reflect on this election results. One. The groundswell of anti BN movement was made possible by the PM’s more relaxed hold on the press compared to his predecessor. The same sentiments prevailed under Dr M’s time, but without a channel to be expressed through, and with the Net still in its infancy here in Malaysia, Dr M’s iron grip was able to suppress all this. With everything clicking at the same time however, Badawi had not a chance. Second. We must remember that Badawi inherited a government that was rotten and corrupted. But in good times and amidst a rolling economically progressive era, Dr M was able to get away with/suppress all this. Come Badawi’s time, he was not a strong enough PM to repeat what Dr M could do, and could not control his underlings. Given all this, and his inability to clean up what the previous administration gave him a huge mandate for promising to do (i.e. clean up the government he inherited), he was bound to go.

In the future, all eyes will be on the newly won states for the opposition. In Perak, the new MB is holding tremendous goodwill and support from the people, of all races. As his recent forays into speech making has shown, the ability to converse in 3 Chinese dialects, Tamil, English and Malay has won him the hearts of the people. In Penang, the new CM also has the people eating out of his hands. This is a great start and a wonderful new mandate to work with. The only things to watch out for are the bad debts, loans, and legal liabilities inherited from the previous administration. This is in abundance, as the empty offices that they walked into have proven, having had all files and papers shredded away.

In the still government controlled states, the BN is also experiencing a battle on yet another front; the Rulers. Perlis has successfully installed a Ruler’s choice MB over a BN choice. But in Terengganu, where there is much misdoings to cover up, Badawi is still fighting hard to install his puppet Idris. If the Ruler’s man gets the job, it will be tough to cover up all the misdoings that have been going on. So, it remains and exciting time ahead, as new developments continue to unfold.

GE 08 (A new hope for a new beginning)

You honestly wouldn’t expect me to go this long without commenting on the recent 12^th General Elections, 2008, would you?

Last Saturday marked a historic occasion, a milestone, in Malaysian history, from any angle you look at it, not just political. For, and as we all have heard numerous times by now, the fat cats of the ruling coalition, who have way overstayed their position, were summarily and categorically defeated in a very real and significant sense, literally and figuratively. The signals heralded by this defeat can not be understated. Although they still retained their simple majority to hence hold power in Government, they can no longer wantonly make changes in their favor to the Constitution, to the law, and to the Election Commission. So, in summary:

Fact:

The BN lost their 2/3 parliamentary majority.

1. The BN lost 4 more states, to bring to a total of 5 states now run by the opposition.
2. The loose coalition have been now given a real mandate and opportunity to prove to the people that they are a very real and viable alternative government and no longer just effective as watchdogs who protest and oppose.
3. The results show that overall, 51% of the Malaysian voted for the ruling coalition. Of this, the vast majority came from East Malaysia, which statistically reveals to house the most number of Muslim immigrants/immigrants turned Muslims in the last half a decade.

Implications:

The people have spoken. This is more a damning rebuke of the BN government then of a resounding approval for the opposition. Hence the BN should consider this as a warning served that unless dire changes come from within, it will no longer remain relevant and stand the chance of being pushed out of government in the next GE, marking the first time since Independence that Malaysia is not ruled by a national alliance of some sort.

1. The threats, scare tactics and intimidation of racial riots, bloody massacres and drawing Chinese blood have backfired entirely. Malaysians have moved beyond communal politics, and are now ready to vote based on party policies and ideologies. This marks a transcendent moment in Malaysian politics, and marks the hitherto unknown maturity of the Malaysian electorate.
2. Although there were high suspicions of vote rigging, phantom voters, the usual unfair elections accusations, with even the Election Commissions chairman coming out to state that the job of the EC was to keep the ruling coalition in power, the results themselves demonstrate that democracy is truly alive, well and kicking at least in an effective form today. For this is a victory to the Malaysian people, that democracy here exists, albeit in an infantile form. Added to that the highly suspicious last minute removal of the indelible ink fiasco, although one wonders whether the results were fixed and if so, what is the true extent of the defeat, there is reason to hope that the elections process were reasonably fair this time around.
3. When Malays and Indians came together to state that ‘Chinese blood’ would be shed over their dead bodies, and that they would protect their brethren, it showed that race based politics is over in Malaysia. Playing one race off another, a delicate and very volatile act at best, is no longer effective. When DAP is voted for by Malays, and PAS by Chinese, when there is no racial riots or bloodshed and the election process smoothly took place, we can now claim that perhaps racial integration is further along than we previously dared hope for. In our region, how many countries can lay claim to such an outcome in such a major governmental upheaval?
4. For all his flaws and remarkable incompetence, the PM has at least opened up the country to more freedom of information, and loosened the tight reins imposed by his predecessor. This election results would never be so if not for the part played by Youtube, the Internet, blogging, SMSes, etc.
5. The Malays themselves are leaving UMNO in droves. They are fed up with the NEP existing to serve only a few of the privileged. Nationally, people are fed up with the policies and are demanding for a change.

The Future

The country has a palpable air now. There is an anticipation of change, the excitement of the future to look to. There is hope. With the voting in of the new representatives, this is a golden opportunity for the opposition to seize the time to make good on their electoral promises. If they fail, the blow delivered to them will make it highly likely that opposition politics in the country will never again rise to any significant level, and will fall further than ever before. If they prove they can deliver, in the next GE, they will be returned with even more powers than before, a fatal blow to the current coalition. These next 5 years will be closely watched. New representatives, seize your chance! These 5 years with such powers might never be replicated.

1. The remaining members of the major ruling triumvirate need to honestly look into themselves. They might never recover, unless they are willing to admit to past corruption, money politics, excesses, arrogance, ignoring the people, etc, and make bold cuts and changes to correct the situation. The MIC and Gerakan is as good as irrelevant, and the MCA is not much better.
2. Already the opposition is showing signs of dissent and quarrel. How they behave will really seal into the minds of the voters whether this is a viable alternative government, or whether they are replacing a red fox with a brown fox. It is time for the opposition to really walk the talk, put behind them egos and petty squabbles, let bygones be bygones, and work together.
3. Old policies such as the NEP cannot be dismantled overnight. We have to be patient. The ruling party is already bribing non BN parliamentary members with anywhere from RM1m to RM10m per head to defect over, in a bid to regain its 2/3 majority. So far, they are not succeeding. We hope this to remain so.
4. Anwar will most likely regain a PKR parliamentary seat in his next party by election. We shall await and see if he has really transformed into a youthful ultra pro Malay activist and main culprit for the racially segregated education system, into a Western style modern day political crusader.

The future fills me with hope that we can really be on the path to national revitalization. Otherwise, if the newly elected fail, Malaysia will truly be a lost cause. It is indeed an exciting 5 years ahead.

By the way, congrats for reading this far. Didnt think you'd make it.

West Wing

Been watching the ‘West Wing’ TV drama series, about what goes on behind the scenes at the offices where work the men and women behind the US President’s decisions. Basically the running of the government is done by a group of people, and not by the President himself. He is merely the figurehead. This is probably true all over the world and no more than in Malaysia today. At any rate, for the US Presidential Elections, the candidates should just shut up and let their respective teams slug it out in various live debates on TV. After all, if the voters are voting for the entity whom will be making decisions on behalf of them, it only serves to make sense to listen to the support staff, as they are the ones who influence the president.

Furthermore, I find it vaguely disturbing that much of what is subjective are dictated by the subjective whims, mores and various other variables of a small and select bunch of men and women.

Election

Most readers upon seeing this blog title, up til a fortnight ago, would instantly think of the HK triad movie which was a recent hit.

However, this post is not about that.

The upcoming Malaysian general elections will determine our government for the next 4-5 years. We deserve the Govt we get, some say. In the past, usually the Malays voted strongly for the national alliance party, and the other races against. However, in the last election, a significant portion of the Malays voted against the ruling party, but this was offset and more by the other races all jumping on the national alliance's bandwagon, thus giving the ruling party a victory by its biggest ever mandate.

It was a stupid move to make. The ruling party, already entrenched in corruption, incompetence and racism, took this to mean that their previous divide and conquer ways were succeeding wildly, and that their shameful system of modern day apartheid, disguised as 'helping a certain race' (really, what could be more shameful than that? They might as well wear bright coloured underwear on the outside proclaiming that this is an admittance of their failure as a race) is well favored, looked upon and endorsed. With this mandate, they proceeded on a free for all, further depleting the country of its resources.

However although I do not condone it, I can understand why those who voted for the BN did so. Triggered by fears of a racism driven backlash and a new wave of violence, cowarded into believing that their ricebowl was under threat and that only the BN could sustain their way of living, and afraid of an unproven Opposition, they decided to stick to the known evil.

However, in the last 4-5 years, things have gone from bad to worst. Cost of goods and essential items are rising at an accelerated rate, an unsustainable rate, if you look at the income of the majority of the population. [Granted, it is a time of global turmoil, fuelled further by the oil price instability and rise that is sparked and controlled by the shadow puppets and oil and weapons companies' moguls that dictate and pull the strings of the US President]. Race tensions are high, dissatisfaction is rampant, crime is strife and has surpassed despicable proportions, FDI is on the downward trend, foreign companies are pulling out their Msian operations, there is too much red tape to doing business here, confidence from investors is low, neighbours whom we used to be leaps and bounds ahead of are now our benchmarks, SMEs are struggling to survive, businesses are folding, the economy is stagnant, and the fat cats up there are getting fatter and bleeding the country dry, moving their own assets overseas.

This time round, sentiments are changing. The currents are moving and we can feel it. The agents of change are all busy at work. There is increased awareness of the state of the nation. There is a surge of anti govt sentiment from the ground. Many Malays are sick and tired of being used by the government to further keep the NEP around to enrich those in power or with connections, but not for them, the common man on the street, and they don’t get much of the trickle down benefits. Furthermore, to add insult, this implies that they are incapable of standing on their own two feet, and paints a picture of them as useless sods who stand around with outstretched arms awaiting govt handouts. Many Malays are saying enough is enough, lets compete on level ground. Of course, there is still a bunch who are happy to rely on cronies and easy money and have no pride. And these are the ones the govt loves, because as long as they exist, the govt has a reason to keep the NEP around, so it is a case of continuously giving them fish so that they can’t fish so that they can justify the existence of the fish-giving programme. Which is actually state sanctioned apartheid, a heinous and ridiculed act which they keep well disguised from the global view under a variety of names, none of which masks the fact of what they truly are.

At any rate, the govt is getting worried. As the recent Bersih and Hindraf movements have shown, there is a huge anti govt movement, gaining momentum and continuously pulling in more into their ranks. This is giving the govt cause for concern. They are clamping down on all freedom of information, arresting people left and right out of paranoia, and even announced an early election, in order to go to the ballot box before the eligibility of Anwar Ibrahim to contest, such is their insecurity. By right, the election should be held in 2009, but being held in early 2008 shows that the govt knows it cannot hold onto power much longer the way things are rolling, hence it is better to vote earlier while the wool is still covering most people’s eyes.

They are resorting to the same tricks. The newspapers are chock full with articles extolling the current government, and various comments by people on the street praising the government (you will hear nary a peep of any semblance of anti govt sentiment). The govt is handing goodies and freebies out left right and central, and suddenly various Malay federations are being given time and an audience with the powers that be, together with various incentives, in order to get their members on their good side. Previously, an audience with the powers that be comes with a minimum RM100k price tag to the 4th floor boys. The MIC, 2 months prior to the GE, recently held a day in Klang to register all those without valid ICs and birthcerts. In their years in power, they do it 2 months prior. They think we are idiots who can’t see through their blatant transparency.

The above tactics, which would work on the masses, who are basically gullible types who care only about bread and butter issues who accept their lot in life (hence a freebie can easily win them over), unaware that things could be so much better, together with various other means and ways such as phantom voters etc, will ensure that they will still capture a high number of votes. Furthermore, aware that there is a huge number of new-registered voters (who are anti BN, and have finally been pushed to the point of doing something about it), they have been holding back the assigning of these new registrees’ polling stations (perhaps til after the GE) so that they can’t even check where they are supposed to vote under.

At the end of the day, the above tactics will have a significant impact on the results. If you take into account as well that the placement of candidates and eligibility of certain parties’ voting locations and the voting split, you will realize that the breakdown is in such a way that the BN will definitely not lose. It is a guarantee.

The fact that many cowards are afraid to vote for the Opposition and rather remain status quo because ‘at least BN allow me to find food and survive’, and never take into account the others who are made worse off by this apartheid system, will also play a major role. Ultimately, it is the fence sitters, the non voters, and the brave, who we need to win over and deny them that two thirds, so they can no longer steamroll the Opposition and push through unfavourable motions with impunity without regard for the masses. That is all we hope for.

And if we still cant deny them the two thirds this time around, one thing is for sure: we never will. And I for one, do not deserve this government, so it will be off to other pastures I go. However, those who have ever griped about this govt, this is their chance to vote. This time round, either vote for the Opposition, or never voice out your complaints again.

We got what we deserved last time around. Lets not repeat the same mistake.

Upcoming GE

There has been lots of thoughts swirling around my mind recently. Some serious, some personal, some downright puerile (thanks Jo, for reminding me of the existence of this word).

Today, I want to talk about something serious. The upcoming elections.

Lets break it down to the simplest possible dissection. In Malaysia, the reality is that politics is alwiz going to be broken down racially. This is how the cake is going to be cut regardless of how you look at it, how you wish it, so you might as well accept that this is the way the cookie crumbles and hence formulate the best possible action. The culture, fears, stigmas, stereotypes, perceptions, are too deeply ingrained over 50 years.

The Indians will alwiz vote MIC. Why? Seldom will there be an Indian who votes Opposition. They may verbalize that they do, but come time to cast their ballot, its Semivalue all over again. Indians can roughly be broken down into 3 types. The rich (who will always vote MIC because it is due to the cronyism, nepotism and contacts/under table handout system that they got rich), the middle class and the lower classes (who are so poor that any form of handout or monetary gift can buy their votes; they are so poor and live hand to mouth that they are merely concerned with survival, and whoever can assist financially will be their hero; ideals of democracy and due process of law is not within their sphere of concern). Come time for elections, MIC, with generous handouts (to buy votes) given by big brother (UMNO la, who else), will go to Indian dominated areas, usually rural or the most dumpy derelict areas, and pave some roads, offer RM200 cash, etc, some middling sum, and this is usually sufficient to guarantee an MIC vote. The latest tactic is to provide instant ICs and hence legitimacy to the 20,000 Indians currently dispersed around various estates around the country who have no ICs, and in return, get an MIC vote. Yes, this is how Semi Value secures and buys his votes. These 2 demographics are quite securely MIC. Opposition parties without the budgets required to buy the poor voters' votes can thus forget about MIC. This leaves the middle class. Middle class voters are usually apathetic, or fence sitters who rely on themselves (being professionals or SMEs), or more in tune with issues like justice, democracy, transparency, corruption etc.

The Chinese voters can be roughly categorized into 4 kinds as well. Those who are steadfastedly pro MCA/BN due to cronyism/nepotism, those who are cowardly, those who are emotional, and those who are logical/apathetic. The first type is a MCA/BN goner, well in their back pockets, so screw them. The cowardly will choose MCA/BN again because to them, if they make RM10, and they give RM4 as under counter money, and only keep RM6, it is still RM6. That is all they care about, that they still have their RM6, and screw the injustices, corruption, etc because it isn't affecting them, and, they rather keep that RM6 then to vote another party and risk losing that RM6 even though potentially they could make RM8. The emotional will always choose DAP because it is ingrained in them that DAP is pro Chinese and everything else will make their life more miserable. Hence, we need to appeal to those who are logical/apathetic.

The Malay voters are very simple: Apathetic, BN or religious zealots. That about covers it all. Those who are lazy/incompetent/selfish/shameless/greedy will want to retain what is giving them such a wonderful, comfortable, easy life hence BN, those who are religious zealots and will follow whichever party guarantees the way to Islamic heaven (PAS voters, you may stand), and the rest are just apathetic who see no reason to change status quo.

Regardless of what the Opposition does, REGARDLESS, the BN will win again. Regardless. That is a given that goes without saying. Look at Ijok and Machap. The Election Commission (EC) works for the BN, the media is part of BN's well oiled and well financed population controlling (the modern day Big Brother of Orwell's 1984) machinery, there are phantom voters, bought votes, specially designed voting system i.e. split the votes via location and the various opposition parties that can be voted for in different areas etc. We can never win. The Malay population is too large, the Chinese upper class and the Indian upper/lower class will all vote BN.

So why should we bother?

Because ladies and gentlemen, dissent is in the air. Petrol prices are rising, toll prices are rising, our corruption index is rising, our FDI inflows are weak, our FDI outflows are super strong, our currency has devalued dramatically (and shows no signs of being readjusted for fears of affecting our exports which can only compete on price since we have such a bad quality culture), justice transparency and democracy is all but a myth, racial tensions are rising, pollies have their hands in every pot, etc etc the list goes on. Its a joke! This is an insult to our intelligence and dignity, it makes a mockery out of you and me.

People are starting to be aware. Change is imminent. Change is in the air. People are demanding for it. This is our chance to deny them that 2/3 majority in Parliament. And THAT is what we should gun for, a very realistic goal. Don't bother defeating BN. Aim small. First, deny them that 2/3. Every single day, our rights and privileges are being gradually eroded as the Constitution keeps changing and changing not in favor of us. The day Mahathir emasculated the Rulers by removing their powers to affect the Constitution and left us in Parliament's hands, this whole debacle started. The only way to stop this is to deny them that 2/3.

So how do we gain the votes to swing it this way? First of all, we can identify acros the spectrum thatr the only targettable demographic are the middle class Indians and Chinese, and everyone else who is logical, practical and apathetic. How do we make the non voters vote Opposition and the non Opposition voters of the above categories to vote Opposition?

2 pronged approach.

1 - Get the apathetic to vote. Not quite sure how, this one must think some more. But once they decide to vote...who to vote for?

2 - We ALL already know the current party sucks. But we need to have a very viable alternative. The Opposition cannot just attack the current govt and then say hence vote us. The Opposition is very disunited. There are no practical policies offered, no practical solutions to the nation's woes. No tangible economic policy, foreign policy, tax policy etc. Granted, it is hard to get their message across on the Govt's well polished anti Opposition media machinery. But the reason why more people are NOT voting Opposition is because they are not sold that the Opposition reallly can offer something better.

Moving on, either Malaysia is screwed because we really do not have a viable Opposition with good sound policies that can stand on their own merit, or, the Opposition if it does have those policies and is not merely a Govt watchdog, then it should do a better job of articulating and disseminating information regarding these policies. With that in place, more rational and sound minded indivs will vote for them, fence sitters will switch, and the apathetic will have someone worthwhile to vote for.

On a serious note..

Some people might be born lucky. They have never been on the disadvantaged or discriminated against side of life. In this country, born Malay, they have only known the beneficial effects of the affirmative policy. Working in the non-discriminated-against department of my company, they have only known life with a big budget for departmental entertainment and social events, departmental getaways to island resorts, etc. Having never faced any part of life in the disadvantaged sector, they naturally like things the way they are, and want things status quo. To them, it boils down to: this current government and its policies help ME enjoy riches and privileges, so I’ll keep voting for it. The regards of the victims of this government and its so called ‘privileges’ and the largesse the minority are enjoying as a result of the government playing Robin Hood and unfairly taking from the rich and capable to the detriment of the nation are utterly ignored.

Hence they will vote the BN again and its people like that who will ensure this country will never improve and never change. Despite acknowledging that our neighbours are prospering although we have more natural resources and manpower, and thus have a better government than us, they still fail to see that the reason why we are falling behind everyone else is this government and its policies, hence dooming us to a perhaps irreversible sequence of events that will lead inexorably to us reverting back eventually to the Third World country we’ve never really not been.

On another note, I had an interesting conversation over lunch with a fellow Scholar. You know how religion teaches us not to do something ‘bad’ (e.g.: steal) because God’s retribution will be to cast us into hell or something bad like that? Hence children do not misbehave because they FEAR the punishment, although they have no concept of what this punishment, this Hell, Heaven, God is. But children should not be brought up to do the right thing out of fear of the punishment of doing the wrong thing. Children should be brought up to do the right thing because it is the right thing. They should not take what does not belong to them and has not been given to them with permission etc.

Merdeka! Merdeka? Really?

I do not have many recollections of National Day as a little boy. I wish I do. I wasn’t patriotic to any degree, until I went overseas. It was while there that I missed home missed many things Malaysian, and that was when my patriotic consciousness was borne. Coming home, on this celebration of our 50th Year of Independence, I do occasionally feel the desire to fly the flag on my car, in some display of patriotism.

But when I recall the many cases and instances of injustice, unfairness, and how we are made to feel like 2nd class citizens, and blatant corruption, abuse of powers and positions, favouritism, non meritocracy based policies, the urge to fly the flag high and display to the world my patriotism instantly becomes subdued to the point of non existence.

How can we celebrate a nation that encourages the above? Where our purported leaders wave their traditional weapons in the air and bay for Chinese blood? Where we constantly are threatened, live under lies, in perpetual fear of crime, forced to kowtow to alleged masters who created the myth of Tanah Melayu, who unashamedly bestowed the title of orang asli on themselves, who blatantly kick us around while we smile with our beggar hands outstretched, eagerly awaiting and eternally grateful for whatever scraps of leftovers they are kind enough to throw our way instead of feeding to the dogs?

We almost have to be sorry for our existence and be grateful that we are not just swatted away like the latest wave of pestilence.

Like that Chinese boy studying in Taiwan who rapped a satire of us using the National Anthem. I personally found that he had some talent, and creativity. He is merely speaking out about what we all know. Is our government so guilty, so ashamed, and so knowing of the truths of his lyrics, that it needs to moral police us? Is our country so immature and backwards? Malaysians are guilty of believing the shared mirage of “harmony among all races” if we cannot even sing this song. It’s a national lie, the tension always simmering near the surface. We need to skin him alive just to show how wrong he is? Strip him of his citizenship? This whole fiasco smacks to me of a deliberate attempt to divert the public’s attention to something trivial, away from what really matters, such as the recent purchase of Agusta for millions of Euros (we sold it for 1 Euro) and the billion ringgit fuck up that is the Port Klang Free Trade Zone (which we are now trying to blame on a 3rd party).

I still like this country. There are still stirrings of patriotism. But this National Day I am going downtown to Singapore for a quick holiday. And I am not the only one. It really has come to this. On this country’s national day, its citizens are escaping to the country that was kicked out from this country. Left to their own devices a little longer, the fuckpots running this high-potential, resource-rich country will strip it bare, dry, and turn it into yet another has-been.

Bye bye MAS

It is pure stupidity to expect anything other than the same damn results when you keep doing the same damn things.

Perwaja Steel.
Restructuring of local banks
Proton.
MAS.

They are fucking up one thing after another. The great brother to corruption bleeding this country dry is incompetence. Before long, mark my words, MAS will go down Proton's road, and then look for a partner to merge with. And they will again drag it out, and the govt will impose conditions on the partner, which no sane partner will accept, until in the end, we become desperate, and offer all sorts of un heard of perks, just to attract someone, and in the process, completely sell out the organization.

Haven't we heard it all before? Proton, laucnhed to much fanfare. Rose like a rocket. Reports of ineptness. Bad quality, bad service. Blah blah. Cocky. Blow up.

Same thing happening to MAS! Wake up. Can the people see that this govt is running things down the drain? 70% flight delays. Overselling tickets to flights by a more than accepted margin. This is crazy.

Look for Air Asia to enter the picture.

Oh yea I'm racist. Shoot me.

The theory goes:

Rich Chinese businessmen take care of the Chinese.
The Government takes care of the Malays.

And ... so who the fuck takes care of the Indians?

The Government takes care of the Malays. That is half true. Its pretty straightforward. People in govt want to take care of themselves, make hay while the sun shines, while they are in power. So they have to remain in power. By getting voted by the people. Largest electorate = Malays. Hence, give some goodies to the Malays. As a by product of this, the Malays are looked after by the govt.

The rich Chinese businessmen...do NOT take care of the Chinese. True, some of the associations and clans do, but by and large, the scale is so small that it would be inaccurate as a general reflection. Rich Chinese tycoons just want to get richer and they are only concerned with how to get their savings into foreign banks. But by and by, we are well insulated in a sense because among the lower to middle class, there is still a strong sense of community, especially among SMEs, that we should look after our own, because no one else will.

For the Indians, I see a problem. Think about it. The drivers are often Indians. Bus drivers are Indian. Road sweepers. Toilet cleaners. Hospital nurses. Gardeners. The poorest, most downtrodden in society, those left to do the most menial of jobs, one level (in many cases, not even that) above foreign imported cheap labour. When I was a baby, my mother said the Indian nurses would steal my nappies and Pampers.

People occupy themselves with the plight of the poor and downtrodden in other countries, in other continents. But RIGHT IN OUR OWN FUCKING BACKYARD, we have tragedies galore, that are being swept under the carpet. Journey into a plantation, any plantation, and you will see entire communities of Indians, neglected, births of babies unregistered, burial sites of newborns unmarked, faces pockmarked by disease, limbs rendered incapacitated, leprosy, YES leprosy, which is supposedly wiped out, domestic abuse, way below minimum wages, physical violence is alwiz a threat, malnutrition, rape, incest, botched abortions. Where is the MIC? Where is Semi-fucking-value?

I refuse to just sit and talk about things I have no control or no contributory powers to. I rather talk about something I can have an effect on. Have joined an organization that helps to highlight their plight, and in my free time, take part in activities meant to raise funds for these kids, as well as provide them with basic medical/education kits.

Who the hell looks after the Indians?

Why are our most terrible, poverty ravaged communities Indian? Why are our crime infested areas also heavily Indian-populated? Why is Klang turning into a gangster town? Why did Bangsar become an Indian-jockey controlled area? Why did we have to shut down some of my favourite mamak stalls, when all they wanted was to earn a decent and honest living, and now, they have to resort to crime?

True, we are responsible for our actions. We must help ourselves. God helps those who helps themselves.

But how many times have we been discriminate in our selection, based on skin? Is it worst to joke about them but yet do something, or, not to joke, but, to do nothing? When they want a job, they are turned away based on skin color. When they want higher education, they are refused loans and scholarships. Right at the start, with poverty a constant throughout their generations, its already hard to make that breakaway first step.

They need that breakaway first step, that push towards an education, a clean and decent home and lifestyle.

The MIC? Semi value? Lets wake up and see these profiteers for what they really are.

Blithering idiotic countrymen can rot in hell

Bloody idiots!!!

As usual bloody Malaysians again rear their ugly, ignorant, cowardly heads.

THIS is our chance to RIGHT things. But because of ignorance, fear, weak mindset, cowardice...
we again VOTE decisively to fuck things up.

Well, Machap, a v good early indicator of the GE results, has been recaptured by the BN.

Why is it so hard? Gawd...the last GE we gave an overwhelming mandate to the current govt...and where has that gotten us? Increasingly draconian, ridiculous, failure policies, and a PM that is all talk and inspite of his ramblings,
we are doing worse on all the important fronts - corruption, competitiveness, etc. Come on, we used to be ahead
of S. Korea and Taiwan but now we are comparing ourselves to Ghana and Nigeria!?

This is our chance to deny them that two third majority, instill some fear in them, and p'haps less robbing.

Oh well, as long as we have blithering idiots who go 'dont care dont care as long as i got rice to eat right now' as
fellow countrymen, the rest of us are doomed. I refuse to go down because a bunch of nitwits voted away my future. Its time to activate backup plans.

Do you know what will happen with the return of this govt? More n more work will be given to CERTAIN class of 
peoples only, majority from one race. Without due diligence, without proper tendering processes. All based not
on merit but on nepotism and cronyism. You end up having all Malay toll operators, 90% Malay-owned stalls along
all major highways, and the entire Putrajaya, Cyberjaya etc all the contracts, done by Malays who have not yet
proven their competency. So what happens?

Our Immigration dept becomes flooded!!! What a hilarious thing, if only it wasn't so embarassingly shameful.

Well guys. It's clear. I live in a nation of buffoons. Tis a sad sad day indeed for the rest of us people who really do
love the country and hoped it could be saved. Hope was dashed today.

Stand up!!!

Ladies and gentlemen.

We all have heard about it. We have seen it. We can figure it out. We KNOW about it.

What am I referring to?

This Govt's mismanagement of our country and our funds.

We have bitched, and heard others bitch, about it too many times.

All this while, we don't, and can't do much, due to it being non election time, and that our means of changing the govt are restrained.

But.

We live in a democracy. In a democracy, you have a right to vote. This is your one and only chance of fixing what is wrong with our government. This is our one and only means, short of something illegal.

We have bitched about it enough. We have heard others bitch about it. Now, we finally have the opportunity to do something about it. So are we gonna lie down, and forever whine, or at least try to take the initiative to do what we can, regardless of the outcome?

Now, we can do something.

March 30th is the last day we can register as a voter. So, if you can still make it, go to any post office, bring along your MyKad, and register as a voter. The short deadline is yet another tactic to minimize the number of potential voters, because the govt knows that it has done like s#!t, and it will not do well this next coming GE. And thus this tactic will minimize the number of new, potential, savvy, young voters. The registration deadline is not even publicized.

Register! So that when the next General Election rolls around, which shouldnt be too long now, you can vote. We might not be able to kick the ruling party out. But we can

(1) Scare it enough so that it cannot blatantly fuck around with us

(2) Reduce its mandate so that it doesnt have the majority two thirds, so that at least whatever harebrained ideas and schemes it tries to push through, the opposition has veto power. Currently, they have this 2/3 majority, and the opposition is totally powerless to stop their stupid policies. All we are trying to do here is deny them this 2/3. Thats it.

So guys. Instead of sitting around whining, lets do something about it. If you tried to change things, but it didnt work, you still have a right to bitch. At least you tried. But for those who arent even gonna register and vote, please, forever, hold your peace, coz you blew your chance so forever lie still, shut up, and take what is dished out.

Remember. Do not think that "oh we can't win, so I shan't bother to vote". Thats not the mentality. You have a right to vote, so do it. We arent gunning for the win. Just deny them the 2/3. Thats all.

Back up / Exit Plans

I'm sorry. At the risk of writing about something boring again and risk my *HUGE* legions of fans leavin this blog never to come back again, I will talk about politics again today.

There is far too much going on for us to be ignorant about. We might not be able to do much right now, but at least, lets be armed to the teeth with facts, use our developed analytical skills, and make the correct voting decision come election time. I rather at least try to disseminate my dissatisfied feelings here instead of just whining.

- Everyone is laughing at us. Everyone realizes that we are competing on a macro level, nation vs nation, except Malaysia, who is still fighting over who gets how much of the pie. Soon, there will not be a pie left to fight over. The greedy guys at the top will bleed the country dry. People, wake up. Lets be aware of what is happening here, don't just suck in your balls and run under your blanket everyday living your glitzy life until the shit hits the fan and you're taken by surprise. At least know whats going on, live your glitzy life, and make preparations, so when the shit hits the fan, you implement your back up plans, instead of plunging ur head into the sand.

- We have been threatened again. Spoken by our UMNO Youth Chief, Hishamuddin.

Opportunistic leaders who stoke the “fires of disunity” have no place in Barisan Nasional, warned Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.

The Umno Youth chief said Malaysia could not be moulded by the narrow-mindedness, chauvinism and extremism of those who play the racial card in order to emerge as champions of their race.

He also reminded Umno Youth not to engage in the “game of the politics of hate.”

“Race and religious issues are being discussed without considering rationally the impact they will have on race relations in the country.

“What should have been constructive criticism has turned out to be vindictive, a venting of anger and hatred, malice and envy,” he said.

And...

Hishammuddin also warned the component parties in the Barisan Nasional not to fall prey to narrow political thinking and chauvinism.

"We must remember that creating a Malaysian nation will not be possible on narrow thinking and chauvinism. Don’t gamble the future by championing race politics.

I AGREE!!! Well done, you are - but hey... wait a minute...What a hypocrite! Look at this...


The guy in the middle there, yup, thats our hero, waving the keris.


Ooh, look look there he is again! Looking damn handsome and intelligent.

HE and his gang started the whole racial shenanigans thing...his deputy, the First son in law of the country, Mr Khairy. And now, twisting everything around and making US seem like the firestarters. Excellent, excellent. Keep going, we DO need the comic relief (while making our exit preparations of course).

- You guys who have gotten so used to handouts that you will twist statistics and scenarios, start fires, create tensions, spread lies etc just so you can maintain your power...do you know why some people are more successful and some aren't? Why some make it, and some, despite affirmative policies and the like, are doomed to failure? This is the reason. Because you will never be like this, you will never make much of yourself in life, forever reduced to asking for handouts.

- Our infamous Khairy, son in law of our PM. He who runs the show, who controls our PM, who cannot explain how he can afford ECM Libra shares, who uses racism and plays the Malay card shamelessly (oi hello stop tarnishing ur race can? I feel bad for my many capable Malay friends and colleagues, much better than you supposed Oxford grad can ever be). This is a pic of him wearing a sash labelled PM's son in law around his neck, creating a mob scene and wanting to issue a memorandum to Rice, who undoubtedly will go back and tell the US corporate sector that Malaysians love us please invest more there.


So this Khairy dude goes on the news today lambasting Anwar Ibrahim's call to abolish the NEP. Now Anwar's main reason, as he should very well know, having served as Deputy PM once and being very clearly groomed to take over Mahathir, is that "only the cronies and the “Umnoputras” became rich from it". Khairy's reply? “Pandai dia cakap (What cheek he has to speak). He was the greatest Umnoputra of all and a very rich one too”.

Conclusion: Everyone knows that only the cronies and UMNOputras benefit, everyone knows the real purpose of the NEP, and yet, Khairy goes "let’s set a new target. Let’s make it 70% for the Malay equity,” he added." And he dare taint the Malay race by adding that word there, when in fact, the word Malay should be switched to UMNO. By the way, the NEP in itself implies that bumis are somehow incompetent, incapable, and need to cheat. Have some pride - if YOU yourself are like that, do not lump your Malay brethrens into your stupid scheme.

Don't you just love these jokers?

- Our PM. Who when he came on board, promised us 12 pillars, fighting corruption and freedom to express opinons among them. This time I just want to talk about these 2. His son in law dutifully obliges by saying “The actual message is that the Malays are feeling dissatisfied in Penang and they have the right to express their feelings,” he said." when elaborating on why the Malays in Penang are protesting that they are being marginalized. No, nothing is wrong. After all, our PM did say he wants an open environment for discussion. Ok, so dutiful M'sians, when seeing things not right, decided to take up his offer. The response? "LAY off the debate on Malay rights and stop pushing for religious freedom, Umno Youth warned yesterday, signalling the end of its tolerance for the public debate on race and religion."

Ok.

- "'Don't play with, dispute or challenge the position of Malays and Islam in this country,' he said to thunderous applause by the delegates."

- " Several Youth delegates picked up on the theme. Mr Mohd Zan Abu from Johor said that the movement would continue to defend Malay dominance. 'We will not budge an inch to defend our rights, we will defend it to the last drop of our blood,' he said."

- Mr Razali Idris from Terengganu said that if the Malays are provoked, the May 13 sort of racial riots could erupt again.

- 'Do not challenge the Malays - it will ignite our spirit to run amok,' he said.

Great. They can say WHATEVER they want. But WHATEVER we say is tantamount to blasphemy, disturbing race relations, and can risk getting us thrown in jail to muzzle us or getting chopped up. Whoop de damn do you UMNO people, way to go. By the way, again, stop simply bandying the Malay race about can? Since you never really fight for them and improve their lot, only you UMNO people yourselves, at least have the decency to replace everytime you use the word Malay with the word UMNO.

- One brilliant politician's solution for alleviating poverty. Check it out, it reallly makes sense. An example of Malaysian boleh, where brilliant economists have failed.

- Our friend Najib, justifying the NEP by declaring "that the Malay Agenda and NEP will go on forever (no time limit) because “Malays were being oppressed by the Dutch, Portugese and English for more than 400 years”."What a brilllllliant explanation! That perfectly justifies it. Screw statistics mate.

- Our MAT REMPITS. Khairy and his honchos plan to invite at least 50,000 of them to Bukit Jalil for a great carnival. Even the police have washed their hands of the affair. If I stayed in that area, I'd make sure everything valuable in the house including me and the family were out of the country those few days. Geez. These lawless, lawbreaking, inconsiderate, dangerous, road menace, hospital-ward-hogging people are now being roped in to join UMNO. Talk about desperate measures to boost flagging membership and a cheap tactic for votes! And they are being hailed by our Puteri UMNO as future leaders of the country! A national ASSet! Hahaha!

- Taken directly from Malaysia Today.....

."the Deputy Prime Minister announced that the RM600 million will be slotted under the Ninth Malaysia Pan (RMK9) and that the RMK9 will be increased by another RM600 million to cover this amount. That is well and fine. But the RMK9 is government money while the RM600 million is an Umno thing. How can they hijack government money and use it for party purposes? This is downright illegal. And the fact that the money will be managed by Umno and not the government makes it even worse. Abdullah said that the division heads would be the trustees and managers of the RM600 million and anyone who wants a share of the cake will have to ‘panda-pandai bodek Ketua Bahagian’. I can’t believe Abdullah would actually say something like that. Not only is it downright stupid to expose himself in that manner, but it shows that he has absolutely no class. A person with class would be able to put it better.

What happened to the plan to eradicate corruption and money politics? Is not giving RM3 million to each division head and asking the members to lick the balls of their division chiefs for a share of the RM3 million considered corruption and money politics? Sheesh! What is wrong with the Prime Minister? I think he is not playing with a full deck of cards. Have we put the lunatics in charge of the asylum or what?

---

How can you blame people wanting to run away? How will you ever reverse brain drain with this kinda leader? And with brain drain, how do you expect to compete and survive? If I were you, dear reader, I'd definitely make back up plans.

Let me tell you a story

Let me relate a story of what kinda idiotic people we have helping us run this country. My subordinate, Hairol, recently lost his mother. She had diabetes, then 1 day she had fever, fell on the ground at their home in Malacca, knocked her head, and went into seizure. The father, took her to a local clinic, where they had a doctor. This doctor basically said Sorry, I am not trained, I don't know what to do. I only know how to cure fevers colds and flu. You have to take her to a hospital - the only one equipped for this stuff is in KL. He was trained locally, and worst still, could not speak proper English (claims my man Hairol, who, incidentally, comes from a background that can speak decent English).

So the dad drives to KL with the epileptic wife foaming from the back seat. Halfway through, she has a stroke. Now they reach KL and theres a jam. Then they reach GH. The docs operate on her - but its too late. She goes into a coma, and dies 2 weeks later. Hairol is totally devastated and this tragic and preventable incident. I can understand.

And the papers are highlighting the issue of the Malacca MP for Jasin saying close one eye to his flouting the law, clamouring for and sulking because he didn't get his Mercedes as a spoils of Customs confiscations. A right of his denied to him he claims. So while the powers that be are throwing national tantrums over not getting a Mercedes, and accusing each other of trivial things, their constituents are literally foaming at the mouth in epileptic fits.

And in their haste to employ grads, even half past six grads (as a result of skewed policies that allows them to gain entry into our unis, which are themselves half past 6) are churned out to be doctors. And these guys refuse to learn and improve themselves and update themselves - content with being a very basic GP. And a doctor who cannot speak good English!?!! Come on!!

Our leaders go around enriching themselves, semuanya OK, spout some religious stuff once in a while to maintain that religious image (truely religious people have good hearts, carry themselves well, and feel no need to constantly display in excess their absolute subservience to their faith) until election time, bagi sikit duit, and lo and behold, a vote is won.

You know what is the scary part? I cannot see any good, competent, modern, able leader up and down the ranks, who can take us into this new globalized world. All I see are half past 6 leaders such as the racist Khairy (what a global embarassment, to see our Youth Deputy climbing among rioters with a war cry and war attire screaming anti US slogans and burning the US flag in front of the Amercian Embassy while Condoleeza Rice was here. Imagine her assessment of the country to George Bush). There is another keris wielding Hishamuddin. There is the Nazri, with no backbone. And, as with history, the next batch of leaders will hail from the current batch of UPM student leaders. And we all know what happened in UPM.

The bumi equity

OK I gave Exhibit 1 earlier to demonstrate the world class-ness (less) of our govt and leaders. Unfortunately I'm all fired up now, and will proceed to ...

Exhibit #2

- The bumiputra equity. They have fluctuated yet again! Marvellous! Wonderful! OK, lets forget all the shenanigans of the past (not enough space here), and start from the point when Asli produced its report on bumi equity in the economy. First, the government commissioned Asli to research into what amount this equity was. It came up to about 45% (I am going to round up the figures here for easier discussions). The government made a BIG shout against this, and the call came alllll the way from the top when our PM also criticised them for making such a conclusion. Basically, they were not allowed to come to that conclusion. Bottom line. So amidst the mounting pressures and criticism, in a courageous step to stand by his name, the man who headed that team resigned from his post, citing regret for publishing it, but not regretting his final calculation. And they openly published their methodology and workings. And this man is a man held in high esteem by the local and international banking, finance and monetary community, having served/serving in esteemed positions in organizations such as the IMF. So the government says NOPE, Asli is wrong wrong wrong, and WE are right right right. WE have the proper number. How DARE Asli conclude what they concluded?

OK. So then the people asked...

Q: So what IS this proper number?
A: 18.9%.

Really? After FIFTY YEARS of Independence and UMNO control, you mean to say that our bumiputras equity in the economy is STILL MERELY 18.9%, a barely marginal increase over the time when the NEP's creation was first deemed necessary!? [OK, back to this point later.]

So they said 18.9%, and gave all sorts of stupid reasons why it could not be 45%, and why it is 18.9%. For example, they used the companies' shares' par value. Now any decent economist will tell you that to calculate a company's true value, you calculate how much it is worth today. By the way, par value is, in a very basic nutshell, the amount in capital that the company has, to start up. Now, how can you calculate a company's worth using par value? Let me ask you something. If I asked you how much your house is worth, would you quote the current market price, or the original price you bought it for 10 years ago? [Btw, if anyone wants to sell their house to me at their 10-years-ago-originally-bought-for-price, please contact me, I think I have a great deal for you.]

So after they claimed that it is 18.9%, the public heaved a deep sigh and prepared for the expected protracted smoke and mirrors that was to follow, and that sure enough, followed. We demanded to see the methodology. We will not attack the 18.9% number if it can be justified. Just justify it with the methodology. If it is justifiable, then we can accept it. So after some silence and dilly dally, the Govt says OK, we have the formula. If you want to see we will show. Don't make trouble. Don't make so much noise. So we go, yes babe, we want to see. And they go, yeap, we have the figures. If you want to see, we will show. So then we go, YES HELLO FOR THE 5th TIME, WE WANT TO SEE. And they go, yea yea, SHH hush hush don't stir up sensitive topics, we got the figure, if you ask, we can show.

And this little show went on for a few weeks. Finally, silence all around.

More silence.

Perhaps hoping, as usual, it would be swept under the carpet. Semua-nya ok! Mudah lupa!

Then came another round of reminders..EH WE WANT TO SEE...SHOW LA!

Finally! The results came out. 36.64%.

Ah hah!

Then the people go hey wait a minute...you guys said 30 years ago that the original aim of the NEP is to help the bumis to achieve a 30% equity..once that is done, the NEP will be shelved. Now the equity IS more than 30%!

Silence.. then...today.

"Bumi Equity Now at 18.9%".

All I can derive from the excellent screen play above, are the following thoughts:

1) The moment the 45% figure came out, they instantly browbeated its supporters into oblivion, while promoting their 18.9% figure. Meaning they must already have that figure beforehand. Meaning they already must have the formulas and methodology to derive it. So why the hell did they not publish those numbers until so much later? What stopped them? Did they actually have it or not? There is only 2 explanations for this delay. A) They DID NOT have, they just don't like to see the high equity, and thus lambast the Asli conclusion. B) They want to hide something.

2) Why when they did publish it, were the numbers still not the 18.9% they so vehemently pushed for to stomp on the 45% figure? Is our Govt so incompetent, it cannot even calculate an important statistic like that? That statistic is used to determine national policies...so how can they not, at all times, either have that statistic or be able to produce it in triplequick time? Gosh, how incompetent must they be to get this sort of stuff wrong and keep changing it?

3) It took them alllll these weeks to tweak, remove/add components into their formula so they can work backwards and arrive at that 18.9% figure?

Goodness! After 50 years, how come still so low? Only 5 possibilities.

A) The policy's implementation mechanism sucks
B) Something wrong with methodology, true number is higher
C) Bumis are not capable, thus even with 50 years of crutches, still cannot possess high equity
D) The money all went to a select few
C) Some combination of all this.

You know what is interesting? In a UM study years ago, it was discovered we hit 30% in the early 90s.

If you asked ME, humbly, I would say that the answer is A,B and D. I do not believe the Malays are incapable - I have met, and respect, far too many Malays and their achievements to believe C could be possible. No, the policy is geared in such a way that there is no transparency, only cronies benefit, there is no proper fil down mechanism to ensure the masses benefit, that the 18.9% is a fabricated cover up, and the $ is enriching just a few at the top, while the lower classes continue to expand. Just look at how many super rich bumis there are within a few years of them or their cronies coming to the top. It is only 3 years after Badawi's ascension to the throne, yet his son and son in law, Khairy Jamaluddin and Kamaluddin have gone from nobodies to among the richest in Malaysia. Scomi (Kamaluddin's company) has seen its share value rise exponentially. And Badawi keeps saying to every allegation of nepotism "I don't know", and furthermore, to every wrong doing, he directs the purported perpretrator to prepare for him a report. As if the guy would say YEA MATE, I SCREWED UP, I BRIBED SOMEONE WITH A SHOPPING TOUR OF EUROPE AND THATS HOW I GOT MY CONTRACT. PLEASE PUNISH ME. And he tells Mahathir, your sons got bigger contracts then my sons got. Ahhhhhh....

Corrupt dogs and idiots

There is much more to life than sitting comfortably in my room blogging about and focusing on myself and my emotional rants and experiences. Thats a very 'self-focussed' point of view. Today, let me talk about something that is more 'big picture' - the doings of the political elite of this country, and the ramifications for us, the little man on the street.

Instead of sitting idly on my sin-prone hands, today I will use this little space of mine to rant about something more important than....me.

As if we need any more proof, our country is run by a bunch of corrupted idiots and dogs. Let us first start off with some examples. To be VERY fair, I will ONLY use ONE incident printed in today's The Star, and not use past examples, in an attempt to minimize the amount of stupidity I could spout lyrical about:

Exhibit #1

- The operator of the CCTV in the Penang City Hall, instead of focussing on the proceedings, zoomed the camera onto the leg of a female journalist present. And held it there for a good 15 minutes. Now THAT in itself is obviously a gross breach of CCTV usage policy and a violation of her privacy and an outrage of her modesty! The reporter was dressed in a jacket AND the skirt ended below the knee - all of which are in conformance with the dress code. What kinda desperate twisted depraved sick #@$ would do that? And, the operator has not been punished, or even suspended. But wait! Thats not the best part..the best part is that the Penang Island Munincipal Council President Datuk Abu Bakar Hassan has gone on record blaming the woman and her choice of attire for instigating this shameful deed. And he even went on to give the analogy, "if we leave some meat in the open, and the cat eats it, is it the cat's fault or the meat's fault?"

OK since this is my blog, I shall break my promise. Let me (now that I am properly warmed up and getting into the spirit of things) expound on and include a few more examples of idiocy.

So with these inept incompetent jokers running the show, our country is in for a majorly shit time ahead. We have that Penang guy blaming the woman for the CCTV operator perving on her. We have some majorly incompetent, thieving, lying, conniving leaders who deceive the nice gullible rural majority and create racist issues in order to cling onto power where they can further enrich their fat selves. We have that Klang guy who built his illegal mansion, built his illegal satay stall, semuanya OK, no real big deal, nothing torn down. Years ago when we wanted to renovate and extend our kitchen an extra ONE FOOT the councillor basically told us if we did that, they will come in, and not only pull down n demolish that ONE FOOT they will also pull the whole kitchen down. And we have Samy Velu saying in Parliament something along the gist of women are like toilets. When first obtain it, look brand spanking new want to use it. After a while, looks gross n don't want to use, need to get new toilet. We have MR NAJIB waving the keris and clamouring for blood of other races. We have our MCA running dogs who keep quiet while watching their representatives and members being crucified for raising pertinent issues. We have funds denied to Chinese national schools until the rotting and termite eaten floorboards gave way under a teacher and killed him. We have honest Malay Kubang Pasu reps getting beaten up in front of their families and homes and labelled 'pengkhianat' to their race for confessing there was money politics in Mahathir's defeat. We have that good man of ethics, backbencher Shahir or Shahril, forced to resign for daring to speak the truth. We have Rafidah Aziz, in this time of regional competition, telling foreign investors, OI, IF DON'T LIKE OUR RULES, take ur money and BYEBYE. Alamak...die die.

No wonder we are dropping lower n lower in competitiveness, FDIs generated and corruption indexes. Dont you friggin get it? Its no longer about competition between races - it is a regional competition now!!! We as M'sians have to unite and not be fragmented, and compete against Vietnam, Thailand, etc. At a time when everyone is thinking how can the country get a bigger pie, our country is slapping restrictions left and right - must have X number of directors of a certain race, Y % of shareholders of a certain race etc. Don't they get it? It is not about race - it is about competency and capability! Don't look down on that race like that! I personally know A LOT A LOT very very intelligent and capable ones who definitely do not need crutches, can stand up with the best of anyone, and frankly, its an insult to them to imply they need crutches and to taint them with the same brush that automatically makes people think that some of their brethren only succeed coz of aforementioned crutches. Some of these people are extremely capable and intelligent, easily world class. For the first time, Indonesia has overtaken M'sia as a FDI destination. This is very apparent in my line of work, where many of our clients and jobs have gone to Thailand, Vietnam...

Why, since Independence, has the Sing dollar doubled compared to us when they used to be on the same level? How did Taiwan and South Korea, who were behind us, now lead us? Die ... die...

Now, with leaders like these, leading us into the new world with these policies, can you blame me for saying that our country is run by corrupted dogs and idiots?

The NEP

Basically, the NEP, in a nutshell, the crux of it, is that it implies that Bumis are inferior, need cheat crutches in order to compete with other more capable races. How demeaning is that? You would think that the Govt would want to throw it away to reflect it is doing a good job, eliminating the need for it.

Long ago, it was promised that the NEP had a shelf life. That came and went. Again, it was extended in the late nineties. And then the 30% target was given. Each time we meet the condition, it is extended. Is it never going to go away? Why are the UMNOputras so gung ho about defending this and enforcing and upholding this? Why are they sooo bent on perpetuating this, above our many other important issues? Because it is in THEIR interest that this NEP goes on, and they continue to delude the non elite Malays into thinking it is necessary (by instilling fear/jealousy/dislike/ignorance etc towards other races) for their own survival or or else the Cina kui will encroach upon their land and steal their sleeping mat from under them. And they harp on the ketuanan Melayu and how they are the original sons of the soil. So people are fearful and think only UMNO can protect them, and the NEP is great. But seriously? Who does the NEP REALLLLLY benefit? Think about it.

Just study the gap between the haves and have nots between the rich UMNOputras [we shall not include deserving, honest, capable Malay professionals and businessmen] and the rural Malays in the kampongs. They are being deluded, and used, to enrich those at the top. The gap is widening, the top are getting fatter and richer while the poor are being marginalized, regardless of race. How many obscenely filthily UMNOputras do we see, living the high life which they definitely can't live using their drawn salary? How many politicians live in mansions? Look at our AP Kings!

The biggggest victim here is the poor rural Malay himself. He never benefits. I feel sorry for him. Nothing trickles down to him. At each level something goes into that guy's pocket. He doesn't get the govt contracts handed out by the fat cats to their cronies. He doesnt get the hot chick (sorry, this is more relevant to me heh). No sir, the rich ass politican's son will get those hot chicks. You can't blame the girl for choosing the richer guy - its a natural law. This guy has to settle for selling his kuih and layang-layang in Kelantan and perhaps marrying some nasi lemak seller lady's daughter, have a simple ceremony (no Siti Nurhaliza extravaganzas), and live a life of toil and hardship, and due to bad nutrition, probably suffer from diabetes in their old age, while not being able to see their kids as the kids have migrated to the big city to work at menial jobs (ala my factory) while suffering from malnutrition and the like. So the poor gets systematically and institutionally marginalized and disadvantaged, while clinging onto the UMNO perpetuated myth that they could be even WORSE off eithout UMNO. He doesnt SEE, at their expense, the rich corrupted ones sending their kids overseas, living the high life, chasing prostitutes, drugs, driving Porsches and fast cars (crashing it and buying another), drinking, spending a thousand pounds on strip shows in 1 night, owning bungalows, thousand pound shopping sprees...He thinks that his lot is the best that it can be, thanks to UMNO...he cannot see that his life would be much better if the natural laws of economics were left to be, and the free market controlled things. It is not perfect but at least the pie would be distributed slightly more equally - at least, not the current 90% direct into aforementione fatcats' accounts.

The sad thing about the NEP is that it taints the actually talented, capable, intelligent Malays with the brush that implies they got their positions not due to meritocracy. Now, I would be the first to defend these people. If they have shown they are capable, they should stay on, and ignore others' whispers. I believe in meritocracy - capability comes first. There are lots and lots of very successful Malays who have achieved a lot, without the help and crutches of the NEP, relying only on themselves. These have earned my respect. But it sucks that the NEP insinuates that they are somehow unable to compete on their own, that they are an inferior race, and needs unfair cheat advantage to play the game. Because this insinuation is a total fallacy - these are what I label 'Towering Malays', who can stand tall, hold their own, and outperform, anyone else in their respective fields.

But the bad part about the NEP is that it provides for and encourages shoddy shit quality production. Breeds incompetence, laziness, dependence on foreigners, bleeds the country to death, reduces our efficiency, reduces public funds going back into the system to improve our way of life, breeds complacency, and renders the country more ineffective as a whole.

Nobody has studied the NEP's effects on the rest of the population. So many half past 6 grads graduating with a degree in something unmarketable or relating to religion, ending up being unmarketable and unemployed, jacking up the unemployed grads numbers, and forcing the govt to dig deep yet again into its coffers to temporarily come up with a stop gap hare brained resource wasting scheme to engage these 90,000 unemployed grads. So many people from other races, due to the tremendous disadvantages and uphill battles EVERY step of the way, live it tough - the deserving denied a bright future by seeing his scholarship given to a less capable person. And he ends up taking over the family's pork noodle business. It is a grim time for us non bumis indeed. And the cheek, to ask the qualified ppl to come back and serve your country and reverse brain drain- when the country rejected them in the first place by denying them a scholarship, so these people had to apply for (and got) the Asean scholarship and ended up being educated in S'pore. So many Chinese & Indian families being broken, or having social issues.

Now don't get me wrong. I am not against Malays receiving help. All I am saying is, I don't care what race you are in. If you are poor, lets see what we can do to help you. It is no longer about giving it all to just one race. I think we should now divide ourselves into income gap. Those who fall below the poverty line (incidentally, it is mostly Malays. Now where did that money go? Glances at my friend's neighbour's mansion, he who owns Naza) should receive help. Regardless of race. Those who are standing on their own feet. Well done. Regardless of race. A country should be united, for we are only as strong as our weakest link.