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MAHATHIR MUST HAVE SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF EVERYONE

2012-02-14T00:46:00.004+08:00

HAD a problem at first trying to decipher it all because the remarks came from someone of a high standing. It was like "Can I believe this?" or "Did he actually say this?"

It's been three days and since there is no denial or clarification, the news portal must have quoted him and another legal mind correctly.

In a nutshell, to Tun Dzaiddin Abdullah, a former chief justice, almost everything that is wrong with our judiciary is all due to Tun Mahathir Mohamad -- chief tyrant, he the all-intimidating politician, the prime minister who whipped everyone into submission.

In his address at the weekend to honour the birthday of our first PM Tunku Abdul Rahman, amongst other things, Dzaiddin said Mahathir had cowed the judiciary for well over two decades.

He spoke about the amendments in 1988 and 1989 pertaining to judicial review, the amendment to Article 121 of the federal Constitution, which effectively clipped the judiciary's wings.

Thus the courts have become subservient to politicians in the executive arm of the government, said Dzaiddin. A sweeping statement but the portal's report did not say if Dzaiddin had referred to specific cases to back his claim.

Also mentioned by Dzaiddin was the sacking of then Lord President Tun Salleh Abas due "to clashes between the two over the roles of the two arms of the government".

At the same event Bar Council president Lim Chee Wee had his take too on Salleh: "We must never allow a PM to sack judges.....Salleh was sacked because he made a judicial pronouncement unfavourable to the government of the day."

What set me thinking was primarily this: If Dzaiddin was firm in his belief that Mahathir had messed up with the judiciary since 1988/89, why did he stay on as a judge? Can a judge who's cowed be expected to do what is required of him without fear or favour?

I'm reminded of the late lawyer Raja Aziz Addruce who refused to appear in court when Tun Hamid Omar was the LP. It doesn't matter if you agree or disagree with him but at least Raja Aziz kept his principle intact.

In the case of Dzaiddin, not only did he stay on as a judge but also accepted the appointment as CJ in December 2000 and served until his retirement in March 2003. It was an appointment by the Agong but acting on the advice of the PM. Was it not Mahathir who was the PM at that time?

Was the problem with Salleh not a result of him incurring the displeasure of a late Agong? The decision to form the tribunal to hear the case against him was taken only after Salleh had changed his mind about resigning.

I have no doubt that there was no love lost between Mahathir and Salleh but the fact remains that the dispute started when the Agong didn't want Salleh around.

The other fact is that Mahathir left office about 8 1/2 years ago. Still not enough time for the judiciary to get back into shape?

But what if those who led the judiciary after Dzaiddin, and the present too, don't agree with his views? Would not that be an insult, an affront to their dignity and integrity? Still fearful of a Mahathir who left office in late 2003, or any other government politician?

Even if Mahathir was such a man would you, by your own admission, serve under such a person when there were other options available?

Would you, again by your own indirect admission, allow yourself to be put down, to be subdued and to be intimidated by this man, only to speak out years later?

I know I wouldn't. Malu.

LIM, AGE MUST BE CATCHING UP......

2011-09-30T17:56:00.001+08:00

ALL of us can remember most of the things we said, no matter how long ago. Not every word but certainly most of the main thrusts. But not Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Why? Because he says he makes like a few of them everyday. So it's up to you whether you want to believe Lim when he said that he could not remember if he had taken a dig at Johor at a luncheon in Singapore only some weeks ago.

To be absolutely certain Lim wants to get a tape of what transpired at the event but in the meantime he has apologised to the Johor Sultan and his subjects. This Lim did today at a press conference at his office in Penang, adding that he meant no ill intent. That's a cliche, to be sure.

By the way TV3 aired a tape of what it said contained Lim's remarks at the luncheon but for now Lim is disputing this, saying that "suddenly a tape appears....." Don't know if he is suggesting the TV station concocted this but it seemed to imply exactly that.

What you notice about Lim is he doesn't waste anytime in claiming credit and is just as quick in having a go at his foes. The problem is he sometimes claims credit where it is due to others. When it's positive to him you can see the glow on his face, an eagerness that comes out of a bloated ego. An gentlemanly leader leaves it to others to heap praises on him.

In this case, even if Penang has the country's best crime index, all the credit is due to the police -- a federal agency over which Lim has no say and control.

There's also this little issue of the manner the apology was done. Under normal circumstances a person would first ask to be granted an audience, during which the apology is made in person. That's the general understanding of the requirements of Malaysian protocol.

ONE THE CABINET, THE OTHER A LIM

2011-09-29T17:12:00.001+08:00

MOST unusual decision this -- and taken by none other than the Cabinet!

No one should doubt that it's well-intended but how could the government decide on something that involves others not under its jurisdiction? The issue is one of training in safety procedures for journalists on assignment in conflict zones and disaster areas.

One is sure the local press will be more careful in how it prepares its journalists for such assignments after the shooting death of Bernama TV cameramen Noramfaizul Mohd. Nor on September 2 in Mogadishu but compulsory training by the government?

Willing editors should not have too many problems adhering to this if it's about coverage of an ongoing conflict but a disaster is a completely different scenario. It usually strikes without warning, thus giving editors almost no time to make advanced preparations. Often the journalists assigned have only hours to pack their backs and pick up their passports before making their way to the airport. So when do they train?

Question is: Doesn't the government have enough on its plates already?

NOTHING IS PRIVATE THESE DAYS
JUST saw a headline quoting Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng as saying that whatever he uttered at a luncheon in Singapore last week, including some uncomplimentary comments about Johor, was a "private conversation". My foot......

You speak at an event organised by journalists and attended by journalists and you say it's private? Worse still insisting so in this age of the new media, where almost nothing is secret and left to the imagination.

Lim hasn't denied saying all those things which have offended Johoreans and others and now that what he said in that supposedly private environment has gone public, Lim should be man enough to bite the bullet and deal with the consequences. That's what leadership is all about and it's time Lim shows if he has it.

LACKING FINESSE IN PROMOTING PENANG

2011-09-27T18:06:00.000+08:00

GOOD if the crime rate in Penang has gone down but in trying to entice foreigners to flock to your backyard, must you also run down another state?

Apparently that's what Lim Guan Eng did at a foreign correspondents luncheon in Singapore recently, picking up on Johor which is heavily promoting its Iskandar region to foreign investors.

Let's just leave it to the police to confirm if their statistics back up Lim's claim or clear Johor's good name. But regardless of the public safety situation, is it right for any Malaysian to speak ill of his country when overseas and when fronting a mainly foreign audience?

Singaporeans most likely to be kidnapped when in Johor compared to Lim's supposedly very safe Penang? He may have said this in jest but we haven't heard many stories of Singaporeans being grabbed in the streets in Johor, to be released only after a huge ransom is paid.

Promote the state you lead if you must but you don't have to run down your competitor at the same time........

Penang wasn't such a safe place in the late 80s. As a journalist based in the north then, I remember often receiving stories from our guys on the island about one serious crime after the other, so much so that my assistant P. K. Bala, now deceased, kept asking what exactly was wrong with his home state.

"KLpun (Kuala Lumpur) tak teruk macam ni...." (Even KL is not this bad), was his oft-repeated moan.

Not only that, but just a few weeks into our transfers there from KL we saw the kind of flare-ups in and outside the bars of the kind we never saw in KL and other parts of the Klang Valley in 12 or 15 years. We saw those who felt they were unfairly treated calling for reinforcements who came with tools like baseball bats! The gangs had female members too.

But if the crime situation has indeed improved, then all credit must go to the police, an absolute federal agency over which Lim has no control or say whatsoever. So too having more CCTVs to help the police control crime, as boasted by Lim in Singapore, unless these are put up by the state government.

TO CHARGE OR NOT TO CHARGE

2011-09-23T17:45:00.000+08:00

HERE we have it again, the issue of whether a person deemed by the prosecutors to have commited an offence should be charged.

This time the person concerned is Mohamad Sabu, a.k.a. Mat Sabu, the Pas No. 2 who went on an adventure back into history about who's the good guy and who's the crook during the country's troubled times 61 years ago.

For picking out a certain Mat Indera as the hero instead of the 25 cops at the Bukit Kepong police station who were killed in a fire-fight, Mat has been charged with criminal defamation. Wrong call by the prosecutors?

Herein lies the dilemma. Countless reports were lodged with the police against Mat by all kinds of characters and NGOs. So the police had to investigate, right? Having completed this, the police must have concluded that Mat had committed an offence. Off the investigation papers went to the Attorney-General's Chambers, which decided that Mat had in fact done wrong. But this is not the end of the story because eventually it will be for the court to decide, whatever the opinions of the police and the AG.

This is how the system works in this country and a lot of people know this, certainly the legal trained.

But now some are saying that Mat should not be charged, especially since the prime minister had only very recently announced plans for more liberalisation and that after the ISA is repealed and replaced by other laws, no one would be punished solely for having dissenting political views. Correct but the PM was being specific about provisions in the new legislation. Other laws covering other offences will remain. Those questioning the wisdom of charging dear Mat must be able to draw a line somewhere. If they feel that what Mat said didn't deserve a charge, the way to go about it would be to ask that the law on this offence too be amended or repealed.

What everyone against the decision by the AG seems to have ignored is the need for the investigators and prosecutors to be truly independent, going about their work only guided by what the law says and provides for.

Using the political perspective to ask that someone is not charged only translates into interference in the work of the police and the prosecutors. Isn't this what many people don't like to see happen?

SHOW RESULTS & QPR WILL GET COVERAGE

2011-09-19T19:16:00.000+08:00

YA we've seen it, the Malaysia Airlines ad on the QPR jersey. And Air Asia having theirs on the away jersey in an arrangement where the former picks up about 60% of the tab over two seasons, which comes to about RM18 million says one report.

Apart from the deal announced by Khazanah Malaysia last month that gives Air Asia 20% of the national airline which in turns gets a 10% stake in the latter, this decision to advertise with QPR is one that is still being discussed by sports enthusiasts and others alike.

The main talking point is if it's money well spent and secondly, why MAS is paying more than its "partner" when the main publicity thrust on live TV for a newly-promoted team like QPR would be when it's playing away against the big boys in the Premier League.

QPR majority shareholder and Air Asia big boss Tony Fernandes thinks that our Astro should be showing more of QPR here -- and I'm sure he was talking about live coverage -- because he says he has received many messages which indicates a growing interest amongst Malaysians for the club. You don't expect him to say otherwise, would you?

But surely Tony knows that's not how TV coverage works, at least when the key words are commercial interests. In other words, for the TV operator, return on investments. What QPR needs to do before it can hope for more prominent media coverage here or anywhere else for that matter is to first show results. That's the way it goes.

Another point being asked: Tony the QPR controlling shareholder is also a board member of MAS following the deal under Khazanah. Is there not a conflict of interests there somewhere?

EVERYONE SHARES THE CAKE IN MALAYSIA

2011-09-17T13:37:00.005+08:00

THE thing about writing is that you can always manouvre the arguments to suit your preferences or biases.

The foreign press has widely reported on the prime minister's announcement to repeal and amend the country's preventive laws, many positive especially on the Internal Security Act. But there's always the ifs and the buts.

In this case The Economist says Najib Razak can only claim to be a true reformer if he changes the "most profound sources of oppression and grievance in the country". By this the paper means what it calls the "institutionalised ethnic discrimination that privileges the Malays over the other races, mainly Chinese and Indians".

The government has since long ago been explaining to the world the reasons for Malaysia's social engineering programme which, it cannot be argued, favours the Malays and other indigenous groups. But it maintains that in so doing the other races have not been denied opportunities.

Don't have the statistics here but everyone knows that although in the minority, the Chinese especially dominate and hold a majority in many sectors of the economy. Talk trading and they are the ones you have to deal with. Scrutinise the real estate market and who owns most of the upmarket properties, both residential and commercial? Strip the stock exchange company by company and who owns a majority of the shares? Who controls the lorry transport business, the used-car trade, money-lending business, pawn-broking, cafes and restaurants, the bars and karaoke lounges, the flesh trade? Is the list long enough?

Agreed that most of the Chinese and Indians have to look for places in private universities but they too have not been denied the right to set up colleges and universities owned by the race-based political parties. Which other country in the world allows schools to teach mother tongue education? Discrimination in education?

Wall Street Journal also included the sodomy trial f opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim as another blot in Najib's administration, saying that "it continues to cast a pall over Najib's bid to become a reformer". Why should this trial be any different from other trials? Why should any indiscretion by Anwar be treated differently from that by someone else?

We often read the foreign press saying sodomy is an offence in Malaysia even if between consenting adults. What that seeks to imply we cannot be sure but one pertinent point these reports leave out is that sodomy is one of most heinous sins in Islam.

TELL US YOU'RE KIDDING MANO

2011-09-16T18:41:00.004+08:00

NEW ideas can be refreshing, especially if well thought-out and free of any hidden motives. And the fact is we have seen many in recent years, now that people have embraced a new medium, cyberspace.

Malaysians are no exception. Those who thought they could never ever get any writing published are now relishing the opportunity to write and write, with many seemingly unaware that there are also rules and laws to be observed in so doing.

Our politicians, specifically those not aligned with the ruling party, are getting more vocal especially because of the better than expected results in the 2008 general elections. You get the feeling that some, with the realisation that the government has had to take a few steps backwards, are constantly pushing the parameters.

Mohamad @ Mat Sabu's romance with Mat Indera looked like one. For that he has been well and truly lynched verbally.

Now you get the feeling that the Dap's Selangor state assemblyman M. Manoharan is another. If Mat chose to try and rewrite history, his opposition minded colleague may be thinking of something worse.

After all these years -- 54 years to be exact -- Manoharan suddenly thinks there is a lot wrong with our national flag, also referred to as the Jalur Gemilang, and has refused to have anything to do with it even as we celebrate today the 48th anniversary of the formation of Malaysia. So instead of giving due respect to our national flag, Manoharan decided that it was more appropriate for him to honour his party's flag.

And if the opposition Pakatan Rakyat wrests control of Putrajaya in the next polls Manoharan will move to have the Jalur Gemilang replaced because "it looks too much like the American flag". It's not so much that he wants it replaced that sounds so unpatriotic but rather the fact that he chose to ignore it for another on a day when most citizens try to feel patriotic.

Imagine the number of national flags to be replaced if others share his wave length. There's Singapore, Indonesia and Poland; Britain, Australia and New Zealand; France and Italy; and god knows how many more.

And maybe our own KL City Hall and faraway Colombia. Who decided against having the present DBKL flag anyway?

NO, I PRESSURED THE PM

2011-09-16T14:57:00.006+08:00

IT'S time to claim credit. And why not; the announcement by the PM on reforms is big news.

The most attention-grabbing is the decision to repeal the Internal Security Act that allows for detention without trial for an indefinite period, with absolute power vested solely with the Executive through the home affairs minister. Also to be abolished or amended are other preventive laws.

Another that the press fraternity finds refreshing is the proposed amendment to the Printing Presses and Publications Act relating to the annual permit for publications.

The ISA has been with us since 1960 and since then there have been endless calls for it to be at least amended, certainly the clauses that are seen to deny a detainee fundamental rights. While most undeniably have come from those outside the government, a few from within are also known to be not in favour of the more restrictive clauses.

There are those who argue against complimenting PM Najib Razak, saying that this decision was something he should have made earlier. Questions too abound on whether the amendments and new laws on terrorism will translate into a new environment or instead be just as restrictive.

Still some others want details on the new laws and amendments to be made known now. One from this group is PKR vice-president N. Surendran. His take is that the country doesn't need two new laws to replace the ISA because the country is not under threat, from internal or external forces.

Well Surendran, the problem is you and will never know when that threat will happen. Granted that there may never be one but who can tell for sure? It is only to keep their country safe that countries like Britain and the United States too have preventive laws against terrorists and other dangerous elements. This in countries that preach others to be more liberal.

SOME CYNICS & ONE

2011-09-15T23:33:00.004+08:00

THE Internal Security Act is not everyone's cup of tea, that's for certain. Over the years many have been asking for it to be abolished.

Prime Minister Najib Razak tonight announced that it will indeed be abolished, to be replaced by two new laws. In making the historic announcement Najib also assured the country that a similar law will never be used to rope in (delinquent) politicians. A long time in coming indeed -- 43 years after it was introduced and needing our 6th PM to do it.

Understandably there will always be the cynics, some of whom wrote in reaction to a creport by the Free Malaysia Today news portal on the announcement. (The comments have been given a bit of editing for clarity of language.)

Orinico Slim: "Don't be ecstatic and start behaving like idiots to praise the PM for doing what he ought to have done years ago. Latest move to pull wool over people's eyes and insult their intelligence. Look at the two new laws he proposes to safeguard peace and order."

Robin Chew: "Notice that the police have started using the Emergency Ordinance instead of the ISA on PSM (Parti Sosialis Malaysia) 6. Can somebody put on the changes or are we running on the same sport until kingdom come?"

Just Facts: "If want to abolish just do it.. you make two laws to replace one? Looks like Malaysians will be hoodwinked again."

And something a bit different from Aborium: "Foolhardy to make any comments now because we don't know what's in store in the two new laws. Certainly a bold and timely move and stick to what you truly believe in as long as your conscience is clear and importantly it's for the good of all Malaysians. Good intentions have good chances of acceptance and longer survival rate."

POLICE SOPs NEED A REVIEW

2011-09-15T16:39:00.003+08:00

SOME may say the jail term is too short but the fact is Corporal Jenain Subi has been found guilty of a serious offence in a situation that seemingly did not pose a danger to anyone. But his indiscretion caused the death of a youngster and for that Jenain cannot say he has been unduly punished.

Another fact is that the victim, Aminulrasyid Amzah, was only 14 at that time and thus not licensed to drive. For that his family and guardian cannot absolve themselves entirely of any blame.

Beyond this there are issues the police need to look into deeply, especially pertaining to their standard operating procedures and training. Testimony during the trial following Aminulrasyid's shooting in April last year said that each cop in the passenger seat of a patrol car must carry a machine-gun from which Jenain fired 21 shots. Wouldn't the simpler revolver be enough?

What was unbelievable was that each such cop was also to be provided with a 100 rounds of ammunition. That would be enough for him to be engaged in a shootout with a platoon of gangsters!

One aspect of policing that is disturbing is how cops on patrol in a car deal with people who they stop by the roadside. You always see both out of the car, even when dealing with just one person. What if the guy suddenly whips out a gun and fires at both? Shouldn't the SOP require just one cop to leave the car while the other (the driver) remains in his seat on standby?

Is going through a woman's handbag by the roadside part of the SOP? This too is known to happen to foreign women in the touristy parts of Kuala Lumpur.

Or is it part of the SOP for the police raiding a nightspot to take mugshots of the club's bouncers on suspicion of being involved in gang activities when none in fact is known to belong to any gang?

While police statistics told to the public indicate that the crime rate in the last two years has been on the way down, people on the whole say that they still need to do much to regain public confidence. Why not have a more people-friendly policing system?

A beat base or a mini station for each neighbourhood comprising a minimum of a certain number of homes and shops? The cops should walk so that they can interact with residents better. Or if like many Malaysians they are too lazy to walk then patrol on bicycles.

There's a lot the cops can do to improve their own image.

WATCH YOUR WORDS IN A TAXI

2011-09-14T22:43:00.004+08:00

DIDN'T want to believe it at first but there it was, all over the print and electronic media. But you have to feel sorry for these blokes for having such a burden of an expectation placed on their shoulders. They don't have a choice but must feel over the moon that they have been placed so high up on a pedestal.

Taxi-drivers as informers on corruption, that's what it's all about, the announcement coming from Minister in the PM's Department Nazri Aziz.. Thus you too will have no choice but to believe this.

The reasoning is that since these guys are always taking people around, many literally taking their passengers for a ride if you know what I mean, they may hear something we don't about people being greased by other people. Who knows many amongst them may be so affected by this shameful, despicable culture that they may indeed rush to the nearest Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission with some tip-offs. A cabbie who cheats his passengers having the conscience to report on others who make dirty money. What a feeling.....

The best part of the deal is that they are not expected to do it for free either. There's a monetary reward for any information that leads to a conviction. But hold on you cabbie; even if that happens it's not going to be immediate, for a case that goes to court may take years to be ruled on. Don't forget too there will be one or two appeals. There's also the stark reality that many people charged for corruption are let off by the courts due to poor investigation or prosecution. Sorry Mr. Cabbie.

But don't you think our taxi-drivers already have enough on their plates? Many of the taxis they drive are fit for the scrapyard and thus not the most comfortable to be in for 10 or 12 hours a day. There is also the jam on our roads, the long time it takes to refill if they use the LPG and a host of other headaches. Like how much to inflate the fare when conveniently ignoring the meter or if using, which roads to take to make a journey longer than what it should be.

Can't wait to see if anyone else in the government will be talking about this brilliant idea a full year from now.

IT'S ALL ABOUT OUR ONE & ONLY MAT

2011-09-09T11:38:00.005+08:00

WE can never be certain if it's going to be positive for him and his party or instead turn into a backlash they both can ill afford but Mat Sabu remains very much in the news. This, in no small part, a consequence of the ways of the Malaysian press.

Coverage of reactions to the news report on his speech at a ceramah continues until today, and that's a good two weeks since. And it doesn't look like this is about to fizzle out soon, given that Mat Sabu has served a legal notice for Utusan Malaysia to retract its front page report against him. A "special case" says his lawyer Hanipa Maidin. Hence only 24 hours and not the usual 14 days.

No prizes to be offered but you can bet that the daily will not waver from its position.

This war in the press typifies the culture of the local press, in which coverage of something, anything, can go on and on for days on end. This a British father of a friend here found both truly amusing and most unbelievable.

Where he comes from a single event may hog the headlines for a couple of days, on average at the most three, before it's overtaken by other issues. But this is Malaysia man, where the press doesn't appear to lack the stamina and patience to keep coverage on one event or person alive for days, with interviews, backgrounders, opinion pieces and letters.

Mat, you are the man of the moment and deep down must be enjoying every bit of it, negative though it may seem to many.

VVIP PREMIER SUITE FOR MAT SABU?

2011-09-07T14:35:00.006+08:00

IT'S nice being Mat Sabu, a.k.a. Mohamad Sabu, maverick Pas deputy president, but only if you are a director or chairman of a company.

You see, this political firebrand who amuses a lot of people was with thousands at the so-called Bersih rally earlier in July and fell off a motorcycle he was riding pillion on, injuring himself. It was bad enough to land him in hospital a few days later for surgery. And a big name private specialist hospital at that.

It started when he was alleged to have claimed RM8,434.05 for three days of hospitalisation from PBA Holdings Berhad, the parent company of the Penang Water Supply Corporation, a state agency of which Mat is a director. A clarification from the company says that while the total was indeed as stated by his detractors, the bill for three days of hospitalisation was only RM5,060.54 while the rest covered surgery and consultation fees. Not sure if they meant three days and four nights but will give them the benefit of the doubt and agree that it's precisely that.

But having checked the website of the KPJ Selangor Specialist Hospital, where Mat checked into, for room rates it shows that the numbers simply don't add up -- even if you include taxes.

The most expensive one-bed room at this hospital is RM1,200 for a night. That kind of money puts you in the VVIP premier suite. Immediately below that is the VIP super deluxe junior suite which charges RM750. At RM1,200per night for 3 nights will be RM3,600. Add 15% tax if you must and the total is only RM4,140. If the company made a mistake in it's statement and should have added another day, the total would be RM5,520. Either way it's not RM5,060.54.

But no wonder many are hoping for the day when they will be appointed to the board of a company that can be so generous. This case highlights just the medical benefit. Think entertainment, travel, car, driver and everything else.

MOGADISHU WASN'T ABOUT POLITICS

2011-09-06T11:46:00.004+08:00

MANY are wiser after the event, with some suggesting that the recent humanitarian mission to Somalia which ended in tragic circumstances should not have been organised in the first place. Consequently the knives were mainly out for the main man of the Putera 1Malaysia Club, Abdul Azeez Rahim.

There were also those who questioned if the journalists who went with the group had been adequately prepared in terms of security.

First things first. The journalists would have known of the high risks involved. If any of them didn't, he or she should have been a dispatch rider instead. Having known the security situation, it must fall on each of them to also prepare adequately. Surely you don't need Azeez or anyone else to suggest the need to wear bullet-proof vests or helmets.

A conflict zone like Mogadishu has its own pull for journalists. Most see a trip there as an adventure of a lifetime. It is not a place where you can easily reach on your own. Some friends who went there about 8 years ago talked about a fee of either USD30k or 50k to the mercenary pilots who were brave enough to fly them in and out. And there were only a few such characters.

Much as the invite came from the NGO, whether or not anyone should have been assigned to cover the mission was a call only the respective press companies could make.

Come the next opportunity to go an assignment to another unsafe place like Iraq or Pakistan and you can bet many journalists will put their hands up. An all-action assignment is more exciting than covering the press conference, seminar or listening to a VIP rambling on and on with his speech at an event.

In the case of the Mogadishu trip the organisers did get the help of government agencies, especially in terms of ground work. That Bernama TV cameraman Noramfaizul Mohd. Nor lost his live after being shot at was most unfortunate.

Azeez may not be the most popular or likeable politician around but surely he should be complimented for the welfare work he has done thus far. Separate this part about him from his politics and you wouldn't feel so strongly against him.

A DEVELOPED PERLIS? PLSE TELL ME WHAT IT MEANS

2011-09-03T12:51:00.005+08:00

THERE it is, on the wall of the flyover near Arau town, a bold declaration of the intention of Perlis, Malaysia's tiniest state. It simply says "Perlis Maju 2015" (A developed Perlis by 2015).

Heck, they only have four years more!

But honestly, do these people who make up the state's administration know what this translates into and thus, what it requires? I don't think they have a clue.

Perlis is anything between 759 and 821 sq. kms. in size, depending on who your source is. Search online and you'll find more than a few different sizes. Similarly with its population. Expect to see 175,000, 217,000 and 227,000. So your guess is as good as mine.....

Perlis doesn't have an airport; not even a simple landing strip for light aircraft. But that's ok because the drive from Alor Star, where the nearest airport to Perlis is, to Kangar is only about 45 minutes. Perlis also doesn't have a decent mall. Neither does it have a hypermarket. Ok, there is a KFC and a Secret Recipe.

There was talk that a hypermarket one was going to be opened but now the rumour is that this will never happen because some blokes say to open one would only mean killing off all the small kedai runcit (retailers). Same argument in the Klang Valley against the many hypermarkets but the truth is until today the kedai runcit remains very much a part of the landscape simply because the two serve different clienteles.

For a long time Perlis had only one decent hotel, possibly about 2.5 star, but now has another in Kuala Perlis and a Seri Malaysia. At least people now have choices.

The bazaar in Padang Besar remains popular, especially during the festivals like now, but almost all of the goods sold are from Thailand. The must buy items are imitation apparels, especially football jerseys. You name it and they have it. The plus side is these are a 100% reproduction of the originals.

There are now many colleges and training institutions in Perlis but somehow they do not seem to translate into making the state a vibrant place to work and live in. It's more a state for the laidback and people who want to exit the rat race. There's no traffic jam to speak of, except a bit during Hari Raya. The same for parking spaces.

It's so small that on a normal day it should not take anyone more than 45 minutes to drive from the southern border on the coastal road from Alor Star to Padang Besar in the north. And that's driving it slow and easy at about 80 kmh. Total distance about 50 kms.

Flooding has become a major concern since 25 years ago but until now no one seems to know what to do about it. Many projects which remain abandoned and not utilised can be found in many parts of the state -- bus stops when public buses are rarely seen and stalls at kampung locations which some people refer to as sangkar burung (bird's cages). These two by the way are left overs from the times of former mentri besar Shahidan Kassim.

He was a maverick who often was given decent space and time by the media. Loathe him or like him but many in the state reluctantly agree that Shahidan was a Mr. Fix-It if he chose it. Not so his successor Md. Isa Sabu, Ph. D. Can't see a developed Perlis, by 2015 or 2050.

A NEW THEORY PLEASE

2011-08-24T11:45:00.003+08:00

IT make a good read and a good listen but the thing about conspiracies is that most of those who cry foul, meaning those who weep to claim they have been victimised, have never been able to provide enough evidence to force the so-called conspirators to be on the offensive.

But many do get excited with the conspiracy theory because it has all the right ingredients -- intrigue, suspicion and the all-suffering poor sod. Sympathy is usually gained when one points a finger at the usual suspects-- political foes, the men in blue, the judiciary.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has claimed to be the unfortunate victim of conspiracies since he was kicked out of the office of the deputy prime minister by his one-time godfather Mahathir Mohamed in 1998. If you had direct access and influence with the No. 1 all you needed to do was to convince the boss to get rid of the No. 2. The boss doesn't need to work out a conspiratorial plot to get rid of his deputy; he only needs to exercise his prerogative and power of office.

When you are in court facing charges, it also doesn't do much harm to accuse the judge or system of being biased. Found guilty and there'll be some who'll say "He knew it was coming, didn't he?" Where public sympathy is concerned, a win-win situation.

If Anwar is to believed most of the country has nothing much else to do except to think of ways to do him in. It is as if the whole country has something against him, so much so it is a wonder that he remains firmly rooted to the ground on both feet.

MORE ADDED INTO THE ROJAK OF A BAHASA

2011-08-22T11:39:00.004+08:00

WELL and good that so many new words are added to each edition of the Kamus Dewan but what defines a new word?

Just like most other dictionaries the KD has its uses but in there is also where you must expect to find all kinds of surprises, including words you never knew existed or in the case of the English-Malay edition, blank spaces where in fact you should be able to find the meaning to a word or something more, like its origin and usage.

A high-ranking DBP man once said that the agency was not empowered to haul up anyone who got it wrong with his Bahasa Melayu on TV or a billboard. Fine. But are we to allow people to continue mixing it up to the point that Bahasa Melayu is now more a bit of English and becoming more and more Indonesian? Or simply coin up your own word to replace an existing word, get it used by the press and others in the media and you've got a new word? In this case new in the sense that it has rendered one Malay word obsolete.

While it may not have that power to knock an offender on the knuckles, surely DBP can crack its brains a bit and work on a initiative that can get the media back on track because it's the media, especially the press, that makes a complete mess of our language.

What DBP should b doing is to convince the media of what is right or wrong and how they can help "promote the use of the national language...", one of the DBP's main responsibilities as spelt out in the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Act 1959.

One should not object to komputer being a new BM word because there is no other. Or gosip or kokun or kondo. Borrow or adopt if you must (and have no choice) but komuniti, fi, amaun, audiens, trofi, mantan, and most recently parkir?

Or why must an agency like the DBP encourage Malaysians to bastardise the Malay language by including efektif, impak and efisien, for example, in its kamus?

THE OUTDATED, OLD BRITISH WAY

2011-08-19T10:42:00.003+08:00

THE streets of London are back to normal now after a few nights of madness recently but the debate on the whys, whats and hows continues. Some say it was pure criminality, others blame the gangs but that the police appeared a bit soft was something agreed by many. God, I didn't know that they did not even have the power to decide if water cannons should be used!

The cops over there are generally thought to be good officers who know how to do the job. In many ways how they go about doing their job represents what is typically the old British thinking about civility -- good manners, politeness, high regards for rules and regulations, everything prim and proper. "Don't forget to say please and TQ.......". Heard this before? Somehow they think that most of the world is law abiding and brought up to hold the law in high regards.

But the world has changed and so too has British society, especially the younger generation.

Frankly it was tough trying to come to terms with what was seen on TV during the riots, especially when the cops became the hunted and not the hunter. Cops chasing rioters for 50 metres and then giving up when the kids went into the side streets? Or cops retreating when objects were thrown at them? No wonder others outside London were encouraged, causing the rioting to spread to Bristol, Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester.

Would you not be encouraged to loot and run home with flat screen TVs, hand-phones and sports items if the cops who were supposed to try and stop you did nothing? Most people would.

Would you not be encouraged to lose more respect for the cops and openly taunt them if they went backwards instead of forward at you? Many would and many in London did.

What happened then moved prime minister David Cameron to ask for clues from an American cop with a history of bringing down the crime rate in major US cities but understandably the British cops didn't think that was such a flashy idea.

A question was also asked by someone on TV if the British cops thought they were part of a force or a service. He thought it should always be the former. Maybe it should be a combination of both, depending on circumstances and who you are facing on the streets. But retreating from rioting kids even when you are not outnumbered? And they are still wondering how the mayhem could have spread beyond control like a forest fire in California or Australia.

BLUE, YELLOW OR THE TIGER? DID SOMEONE SAY PINK......

2011-08-18T15:54:00.004+08:00

MANY Malaysians are back to where they were a few months ago, and this has everything to do with the overdose of EPL live telecasts on local TV. This too means that less will be said about the Malaysian team.

One of the comments here on resuming writing was from a friend, football journo/blogger Rizal Hashim, written in response to the query on the correct colours for our national team. He insists that the blue shirt is for away games while the home games will see the boys in the yellow/tiger motif. But apparently they keep on using blue even at home because that is coach's K. Rajagobal's lucky colour. Never mind the fact that his luck ran its course in the last game against Singapore, playing with a 43-year-old mat salleh striker who does look his age.

If the choice of colour is indeed based on the coach's personal beliefs this is one strange and most unusual call, for one day we may even see our boys wearing pink or banana green if only to satisfy a coach's superstition or whatever you wish to call it.

The fact of the matter is that our national athletes are supposed to wear yellow with the tiger motif whenever possible because that's the official national sports colour and design as decided by the government. But in truly Malaysia Boleh fashion some athletes have blatantly been ignoring this. You must have seen countless times our squash and badminton teams, amongst others, wearing their own choices. Which makes you wonder why decide to pay people so much to propose designs for our national teams and athletes.

NOT JUST ABOUT RIGHT OR WRONG

2011-08-18T11:13:00.003+08:00

YES it's been a long sabbatical but it was unavoidable. Many things have happened in the last eight months, no doubts there. My take on one recent big local news.

There have been many reactions to the thanks-giving dinner held at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church where 12 Muslims were amongst the guests. Police reports have been lodged, some have been old to keep their mouth shut and Jais has been busy trying to straighten out the 12. But who was right or wrong in relation to the decision by Jais to "gate-crash" the gathering and whetherthe church had gone against the law will only be known later.

If the 12 were truly in dire need of help, especially financially and to have food on the table, where help comes from should not be an issue. In fact whoever extends the helping hand should be commended.

But sometimes it's simply not just about right or wrong, about what's lawful or not. In this country it's also about being sensitive to your surroundings, to your fellow citizens.

If the people with the DUMC were so concerned with the well-being of the 12 and had no ulterior motive, would not hosting the dinner/breaking of fast at a restaurant be a better option? That way you keep religion out and can't be accused of trying to be provocative to other Malaysian Muslims. It surely would not have aroused any suspicion as to what the true motive was.

The debate about what this church had done reminds one of the "Allah" controversy. Granted that a non-Muslim calling his god Allah may not have committed any offence but why stir the hornet's nest that had remained untouched for decades in this country? Why try to create a controversy where there was none previously?

NOT GETTING ANY EASIER FOR KHALID

2011-01-04T23:23:00.003+08:00

IT didn't appear to look that bad initially but with the latest statement from the Selangor palace, Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim and his Pakatan Rakyat team in Selangor seem to have lost it.

Without a doubt the situation took a 360 degree turn by the time the statement became public later today, putting Khalid and team in a spot over the appointment of State Secretary Mohd. Khusrin Munawi. But it did look at one point that it was the latter who was going to face a problematic situation.

This was when Khalid announced that there would be no swearing-in for Khusrin and that he would not be allowed, as an ex-officio, to attend meetings where confidential and important matters of the state are discussed.

The latest turnaround is not helped by the fact that three PR elected representatives have made statements based on their own interpretations of the issue. The tone of the palace statement is clear; it referred to the "misleading, inaccurate and treacherous statements..." Treacherous, that's a very strong word.

One wonders now if Khalid's administration will go ahead to try and convene an emergency session of the State Assembly, itself a source of contention, with the speaker and the palace interpreting the laws differently. Even if the house is eventually convened, it looks unlikely that a proposed amendment to place the power to appoint three senior civil servants with the MB and the sultan will be passed because the PR government is short of the two-thirds majority required.

Amending the law only to satisfy one man's wishes and also to put someone he doesn't agree with in his proper place is not the way to go. This must be done within the proper perspective, for the common good of society and the state, never for an individual. Khalid can expect a less than calm journey ahead as CEO of Selangor. The way things are going he can count himself very lucky if he lasts more than one term.

GOOD GOALS BUT WE'RE STILL MISSING THE BIG 1s

2011-01-02T21:39:00.003+08:00

OKAY I like the goals scored by Safee Sali in the later stages of the of the AFF Suzuki Cup which Malaysia won. Granted too that the boys have done much better than most Malaysian teams since 20 years ago but there is also a need for everyone to keep their feet on the ground.

Every success, every achievement must be seen in the right perspective. This competition is at the lowest possible international level for us. The big one in Asia is the Asian Cup starting the coming week and we are not there. That's where all the best in Asia will be playing, including those good enough to play in Britain and continental Europe.

My faith in Malaysian soccer? I'll start talking if we qualify for the London Olympics in two years time and then the Asian Cup in 2015. Take that first step towards London and only then will I be convinced that the worst is finally over for us after two very long decades.

It's not as if we did not have the players. We did but we know what happened in the early 90s. The boys from the current squad too will go down that way if they cannot resist the temptation of the big bucks offered by the bookies and also the other distractions that have caused the downfall of many a champion athlete -- wine, women and the nightlife.

In the meantime I hope the FAM can sort out what to me are little, little irritants that count for a lot. First, just what is the national team colour? Blue, yellow? My friend Rizal Hashim, sometime newspaper journalist, fellow blogger and local TV pundit, insists that it remains yellow at home and blue away but when I replied to say that the boys also wore blue in the first leg of the final at home, he stopped there. And white shorts with the blue at Bukit Jalil and then black shorts in Jakarta. Just which is which? And I thought that the Youth and Sports had decided a few years ago that our national colour is yellow with the tiger motif. Football seems to be getting way with all kinds of jerseys. And a few other sports and some athletes too, if we looked again at the recent Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.

And to the government -- a public holiday for an Asean title? I think that is going OTT, especially considering the many scheduled public holidays we have.

AN OVER-REACTION BY ANWAR

2010-12-16T21:37:00.003+08:00

READ a report to say that opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim went on the offensive recently, said to be an attempt to try and turn the tables on PM Najib Razak. This came about following press reports in Australia and here quoting Wikileaks on an alleged incident for which Anwar is now facing a charge in court.

There is however one distinct and significant difference between the Anwar case and the allegation linking Najib and murdered Mongolian girl Altantuya Sharibuu. The one on Anwar was a result of a police report made by Mohd. Saiful which then led to an investigation. There was also a medical examination by three specialists because of that report. A medical report is mandatory in such an allegation. The results are used by the prosecutors to determine if indeed there is a case for Anwar to answer.

But the allegation against Najib has remained just that -- an allegation -- without any evidence whatsoever so far to implicate him. Since none has been produced in or outside the courts, what is there for Najib to answer or defend himself against?

While there is a difference there is also a similarity in both and that is on the burden of proof. It is for Saiful, represented by the prosecutors, to prove a case against Anwar. Until there is evidence to implicate him, all Anwar needs to do is sit with arms folded in court, flash his heart-winning grin or smile and say nothing. Similarly the onus is on Najib's accuser to prove any wrongdoing by the PM. Until and unless there is something, there is no compelling reason for Najib to prove himself.

I cannot understand why Anwar should go on the offensive and over-react. My position (and advice to people) is always the same -- if you have done no wrong then there is no reason why you should say anything to defend yourself. It is for your accuser to provide the evidence and if you haven't committed any offence, there will never be an evidence against you.

We often hear people accused of a wrongdoing saying that it is all a result of issues like jealousy, envy and of someone trying to fix them up. Again, what is there to fix if you haven't done anything wrong?

P/S: To regular followers of this blog, sorry again for being absent for about a week. Was back in the north due to an uncle's death and my mother's admission to hospital.

I KNOW WHO THE SULTAN OF KELANTAN IS

2010-12-07T22:29:00.002+08:00

GUA Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah now wants us to believe that his home state of Kelantan appears to have two sultans, thereby causing confusion to some. Ku Li by the way is an uncle to the present sultan on his mother's side and was previously a member of the Royal Succession Council who recently had two datukships stripped.

The Kelantan royal household has been in some turmoil since early last year when the previous sultan suffered a stroke and went on long medical treatment in Singapore. His oldest son Faris was immediately made the regent and a few months ago confirmed as the sultan.

There have been suits and applications before the courts to challenge the position of Tengku Faris as the ruler. So far all, including the Federal Court, have decided in favour of the young ruler. Another case involving the position of the previous sultan's second marriage also did not go in favour of the applicant who claimed that the former ruler had declared a divorce.

I'm not confused as to who the Sultan of Kelantan is. So too the Conference of Rulers and so too the courts. Given the above I don't think anyone from Kelantan should also be confused, unless he or she chooses to be confused.

SIEGE? WHO'S THE ONE UNDER SIEGE?

2010-12-07T21:35:00.004+08:00

THE 12th general elections in March 2008 brought down Umno and its Barisan Nasional coalition partners to the ground with a very loud thud. Of that no one can dispute. Since then the political scenario for the coalition has not always been plain sailing.

There was a period of about a year since PRU12 that not much seemed to be going right for them, losing one by-election after another. But it has been better in the last nine months or so to the extent that many are speculating that Umno boss and PM Najib Razak is ready to call for snap elections come the first quarter of 2011, a good two years before the current term of office ends.

Thus it was hard to see the justification in the words chosen by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim yesterday in response to Najib's recent highly critical remarks about Pakatan Rakyat. To Anwar the verbal bombardment by Najib meant only one thing, and that was Najib was under siege. How the head of a coalition that very comfortably won the last two by-elections could be under siege not many will agree with, much as I am not overly excited over some aspects of Najib's administration.

If at all, Pakatan and Anwar's PKR are the ones under siege, especially due to the mess during the latter's recent national leadership election and the fractious DAP Selangor election. But as some say, Anwar has a way with words, even if these do not translate into much.

Hence his other remarks about how Najib as PM had used the police, the Judiciary and the entire media at his disposal to launch severe personal attacks against Anwar and the PR leaders. Without specifics, again it's difficult to agree with Anwar's contention.

Anwar's trial for alleged sodomy is being held in open court, attended by the local and international press and foreign observers. The slightest hint of any nonsense by the bench or the prosecution is open to intense scrutiny. Anwar's defence team too has made all kinds of applications, which seem to suggest that they do believe in the system after all. The media?

The mainstream media in general are heavily sympathetic to Putrajaya, that's a fact, but operationally they don't wait for signals from there before deciding on their news content for the day. Agreed that since the days of the Tunku our PMs have had a cordial relationship with most editors and have been known to use their aides to try and influence the news slant but for the most part it's the editors themselves who apply self-censorship or make their own decisions about which route they should be taking.

But with the whole world open to all of us via cyberspace, the influence of the MSM is waning. On the contrary, those who know how best to utilise the Internet have a head start on everyone else so there is no compelling reason to support Anwar's position that the media that do Najib's bidding have been doing him irreparable damage.

LOOKING FOR THE MALAYSIAN-NESS IN US

2010-12-06T00:29:00.003+08:00

ONE part of the speech by PM and Barisan Nasional chairman Najib Razak at the coalition's convention several hours ago truly caught my attention and immediately got me into a thinking, analytical mode.

It was what Najib had said about our education system, that's the bit. I quote: "...... in fact we should be proud that we are the only nation in the world that allows the establishment of national schools that continue with the usage of the mother tongue as the medium of instruction".

On this I disagree and have said so a few times here before. Judging from letters to the newspapers, I think I'm not in the majority.

Several weeks ago former PM Mahathir Mohamed wrote about the same. His point was loud and clear, although I thought he should have said more. The response to Mahathir's writing at his blog was muted. I wasn't surprised. Why? Because in talking about those amongst us who insisted on maintaining their (cultural) allegiance to their ancestry, the statement hit the nail on the coffin.

I am amongst those who see our education system as the stumbling block towards this country becoming truly Malaysian in every sense of the word. On the contrary, what we should be is a country with Bahasa Malaysia (the national language) as the main medium of instruction in all schools with English (the lingua franca of the world) as the second language. The same should apply to all signages. No exception, no ifs and buts.

Until and unless all races in this country agree to come to terms with this and agree to revamp what we have, anyone who believes in 1Malaysia is living in dreamland. We are in a ridiculous situation when many non-Malays born from the time of independence in 1957 still can't speak Bahasa Malaysia fluently, let alone read and write. Worse, any Malaysian who ticks off another for this deficiency is deemed to be racist.

Continue to dream and the theme of the Barisan convention -- 1People, 1Nation, 1Vision -- will also be just a dream.

STILL HAVE FAITH IN MALAYSIAN FOOTBALL?

2010-12-02T22:30:00.002+08:00

OUR footballers have just been hammered 5-1 by Indonesia in the AFF Suzuki Cup. Not a surprise to me and there's Laos and Thailand to come. I don't know about Laos but we haven't been doing too well against the Thais in the last 20 years.

Coach K. Rajagobal blamed individual mistakes for the thrashing but who cares how we lost as long as the final score is not in our favour?

The path Malaysian football takes should not be confined to results. Other issues like players salary, EPF contributions, administrative set-up, development programmes and even the state of a pitch must also be looked into.

I saw on TV visuals of two Sultans Gold Cup matches and was sure I had seen similar scenes before of a game being played on a waterlogged pitch definitely of the kind we cannot have if we want to play good football. How the match officials could have agreed to allow the matches in Kota Baru and Johor Bharu to proceed beats me but I guess that's Malaysian football for you.

THE PKR CIRCUS CONTINUES

2010-12-02T22:18:00.003+08:00

NEVER mind the earlier excuses given by secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution as to the poor voter turnout in the PKR one-member one-vote system but after all the excuses had gone past, the turnout in fact went further downhill!

PKR leaders understandably put up a brave front. You can't do otherwise in the battle of the egos but to have only 5% of members voting to choose their national leaders does not give you much legitimacy, does it? You can't go and grab your throne in Putrajaya with that.

To be in the forefront of power, the party will need something like a few million votes in the next general elections but if you can't drag your members out of bed just a day during the weekend to do what members from other parties would love to do, you can't expect others to carry you through. Or maybe that is what precisely PKR is hoping to happen in PRU13. We can't expect much by way of something exemplary from a party which in all intent and purposes is headed by someone who's not even elected into office......

I also read about how some leaders had ticked off former PKR hope-for-future Zaid Ibrahim when he started to wash dirty linen in public but I'm sure I heard on TV outgoing deputy president Syed Husin Ali saying uncomplimentary things about the party's Youth and Women's wings. So that's ok because it came from Syed Husin?

A WIFE COMPLIMENTING HER HUSBAND

2010-11-28T01:10:00.004+08:00

GOD'S gift (to humanity, to lead)? Maybe so but isn't everything in this world a gift from god?

I saw, as I'm sure others did too, how PKR president Wan Azizah Ismail was shown on TV speaking glowingly yesterday about the party's de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim at its annual congress. Nothing wrong with that per se, only that in this case Anwar is Azizah's husband.

You would not expect any wife to not speak glowingly about her husband in public, won't u? But wouldn't it be better for something complimentary like that to come from a third party?

Despite the hype about PKR and how some perceive it to be the lead amongst the three parties that make up Pakatan Rakyat, there is something that no one in its top echelon can deny or dispute and that is the very, very poor turnout during its recent ground-breaking one-member one-vote election to chose its national leadership. Only about five per cent of its claimed total membership of 400,000 bothered to turn up.

Questions were then asked if indeed the party had that many members, to which secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution insisted that was in fact correct. If true this doesn't make the party look any better.

If that was not enough, the turnout at the PKR Youth congress and the empty seats when Azizah spoke at the opening of the main congress only served to reaffirm the observation that members of PKR are a truly apathetic lot. Who or what can Saifuddin blame now for this situation?

But I cannot understand at all this lack of enthusiasm by members of a party whose de facto leader is acknowledged by all to be the only one who can unite any fractious parties and personalities. The irony of course is that he can't even get his own backyard in order. Of this no commentator seems to realise.

IS IT FOR TAIB TO DECIDE?

2010-11-25T21:16:00.003+08:00

HE claims to have found the inspiration while on a recent pilgrimage. Now that he has returned, Sarawak's fourth Chief Minister Taib Mahmud has in mind the date for his state's election, due latest by July next year.

Taib has been around as a member of the administration in local politics for a very, very long time. From 1963 in fact and that's 47 years of his 74 so far. With S. Samy Vellu confirming a few months ago that he will give up his position as MIC president come 2011, Taib remains the only one amongst the veterans who looks to remain in office at least for a few months longer.

Several months ago Taib made clear that he was not about to let go of his position as president of the Parti Pesaka Bumiputra which he has held since 29 years ago, the year he became CM. Whatever his own evaluation of his performance and position as the CEO of Sarawak, Taib's declaration goes against the grind. What is clear is that generally Malaysians are now getting tired of having more of the same.

There are also those who say that if Taib remains as the skipper, the Barisan Nasional ship will only be sailing into choppy waters come the Sarawak election.

No doubt as CM he will have a say as to when the election should be held but the last say remains with Putrajaya. It is also Putrajaya that will decide if Taib should continue to be a candidate and if BN wins, as CM. By my reckoning a decision not in favour of Taib on both counts is not going to be the most unpopular and the most controversial Putrajaya has ever made.

SOME HOPE FOR HOCKEY

2010-11-25T20:54:00.002+08:00

IT was a commendable performance, our hockey team getting into the final of the Asian Games where they came unstuck against Pakistan, losing 2-0. Never mind the fact that they beat only one team worth mentioning en route -- India.

I don't think anyone of us can recall immediately when the previous time these boys were in the final of any decent international competition. On the contrary, the hockey team is more often than not remembered for being amongst the bottom three, if not the bottom, of most competitions in the last 25 years.

Unlike what happened to Malaysian football in the late 80s and early 90s that climaxed in the massive sweep by the police against corruption, the Malaysian public at large is not aware that hockey has had its share of indiscipline -- players enjoying the nightlife into the wee hours even during a competition and celebrating a birthday at a nightspot despite coming last in an invitational international competition a few hours earlier. Most indiscretions had a few senior players in the foreground.

Such was their dubious reputation that during the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, some bartenders at a club frequented by a few of the players remarked that the only we could score enough goals to win the matches was to place a whisky bottle behind the opposite goal mouth!!

The team we saw in Guangzhou had a mix of seniors and young players but we will have to wait to see if they can display the same determination to get them to the London Olympics in two years time. Qualification would have been automatic had they won the title today but now they have to go through the qualifying.

One thing that kept bothering me while watching some of the TV coverage of our athletes was how some of them did not have uniformed team colours. The teams I can recall immediately were squash and badminton. In the case of the former, one player had a white shirt on in the teams competition against Hong Kong while another wore blue. I thought the first thing a country ensures when competing as a team is uniformity of colours.

DOING AS YOU PLEASE & GETTING IT WRONG

2010-11-24T00:43:00.002+08:00

WHEN I first had a glance at the information a few months ago, I had the feeling that the Kangar Municipal Council had it wrong but I didn't have time to record what I had seen.

Since I was back in my hometown again recently to visit my mother, I made sure that I check on it again. What I saw and wrote confirmed my suspicion.

The misinformation is found off a main road close to the Perlis River as one heads to the town end of Bukit Lagi. It may be just another sign to most people but it became a source of irritant to me because I was sure the numbers were wrong.

What the council has done is to show the distances from Kangar to several cities in and outside the country. Here goes: To KL 402kms; Singapore 694kms and Bangkok 810kms. All wrong. As far as I know Kangar to KL via Changlun and the North-South Highway is about 500kms while the distance from Kangar to Johor Baru is more like 850kms. Bangkok? From the border town of Danok across from our town of Bukit Kayu Hitam is about 1,000kms.

Who was responsible for making all these mistakes and where did he or she get the information from? All in all a reflection of the level of knowledge and also a can't be bothered kind of attitude.

A BAD CASE THE MACC CAN DO WITHOUT

2010-11-24T00:33:00.003+08:00

OUT of his mind, that's the only way to describe the misadventure by an officer from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission head office who drove a car with dud road tax and registration plate.

Not surprisingly he got into trouble with the law when stopped at a police road-block in Butterworth on Sunday night. To make matters worse the car he was driving was a BMW, causing suspicion as to how he came to own it.

One paragraph in the report on this in the NST on Tuesday also caught my attention and this paragraph was attributed to a spokesman for the Seberang Prai Utara police and I quote: "We are also investigating to determine if the officer can afford to own the vehicle."

A very noble intention but is this within the jurisdiction of the police? I don't think so. Rather this would be an area for the MACC itself to investigate.

ZAID & ANWAR PROBLEM SEEMS PERSONAL

2010-11-20T15:35:00.006+08:00

IT'S all been happening in PKR since a few months ago, most of it centred around Zaid Ibrahim, a lawyer who wants us to know that he is a reformist politician. I know not too much about him but will not dispute his position. If his politics can benefit people and country, I'm with him all the way.

After a 23-year-old journey with Umno and since mid last year with PKR, Zaid has had enough and will venture on his own, either as an independent or with a new party he may form with like-minded friends. That too is alright with me. But on the reasons he has publicly told us about his frustrations I cannot fully accept and these have everything to do with Anwar Ibrahim, the party's de facto leader who doesn't hold any elected post but otherwise takes to the podium as if he is the president of PKR, a post that in fact belongs to housewife Wan Azizah Ismail, also Anwar's wife.

At one press conference last week Zaid spoke about Anwar's personal issues which Zaid thinks is interfering with the functions of PKR. That was rather strange because the personal issues were already with Anwar before Zahid opted to join PKR. Zaid has also given us an overdose on PKR's deputy president-elect and Anwar's blue-eyed boy Azmin Ali. Of this special relationship I think almost the whole country, including those not with PKR, those still with it and those who have left the party, agree unanimously. And knowing Anwar, this is not something he is about to try and change soon, whatever the damage it is doing.

Yesterday, at the PC to confirm his resignation from PKR, Zaid again went on the offensive against Anwar, this time referring to the latter's time as deputy prime minister whilst questioning what good Anwar had done. Zaid had this piece of advice for us: "Do not just believe Anwar hook, line and sinker. Evaluate what he had done then...."

I'm also with Zaid on this -- but there's a huge difference between his position and mine. I have written on this theme about Anwar since time immemorial and have been talking with friends on the same since the time Anwar was a senior member of the federal administration.

But by only speaking out now Zaid gives the impression that this side of Anwar is something he only recently came to know about, which is unbelievable, unless Zaid had all these years in politics lived under a shell, with no access to news and gossips. Either that or in the last 25 years he had managed to live so far detached from politicians, journalists and friends to the point that everything said about Anwar never reached his ears.

While he has his points about Anwar, the fact that he is only speaking out now also makes the entire separation seems personal, a result of differences between him and Anwar instead of between him and the party.

GREAT FOOTBALL TEAM, GREAT COMMENTATORS AND A DRAGON BOAT RACE.....

2010-11-19T21:20:00.003+08:00

SINCE athletes from all over Asia are still competing at the Asian Games, let's continue with sport, but this time I want to take up issue with the local commentators on TV.

Here I am in the north visiting my mother who hasn't been well lately and being in a town where nothing much happens does not make the stay any better, the time spent at home aside. And if you expect some excitement from our TV coverage of the games, you may be in for a shocker.

Imagine the commentators telling you one thing while the live visuals on TV from Guangzhou shows different teams competing in a different stage!! These blokes deserve to be strangled......

In secondary school I was so bad with numbers that I failed most of my mathematics tests and finally was done in by that in the year end exam in Form Five which created havoc to my overall grade but basic plus or minus I'm still ok.

I'm sure my eye-sight this afternoon was alright and I'm sure the information shown from the venue at the left bottom corner of the TV was correct. I looked hard at one of the three teams that was nearest to the camera and I was absolutely sure the girls were from Indonesia. The give-away were some Irian Jaya-looking characters and the information on the screen confirmed what I thought. The faces on the remaining two teams were not clear from where the camera was.

It was a dragon boat race and the information showed a few times that it was the grand final of the 500 or 600 metres. It also said the teams were Indonesia, China and Thailand but two of the commentators/reporters on TV1 told viewers a different story.

"Ya itu dia, Macau, Singapura dan Iran......" (Yes, teams from Macau, Singapore and Iran....). "Oh ada kesilapan teknikal," said one bloke. ("There's a technical mistake.) which he didn't clarify. And they kept going on and on about the three (wrong) teams, with the winner going into the final. By the way the name on the shirts of the (winning) team next to Indonesia showed China, tallying with the info on the screen.

Hmm, is there another final more grand than the grand final? And whatever the technical error mentioned by the bloke, surely the information on screen, had they been paying attention, would have alerted them to the boo-boo.

But you can't expect much can you from guys who have been consistently getting their facts all jumbled up despite the technological advancements aimed at helping to make the work of TV or radio sports commentators easier? A big name commentator who was recently honoured by a state spoke about the 1/8 football match between Malaysia and Iran recently. My understanding is that he must have meant a quarter-final game. Why then did he refer to it as the 1/8 match? That was the info next to the scoreline on screen.......

Great guys, these chaps, happily saying anything that comes to mind regardless on the frustrations they heap on the more discerning viewers at home.

APPLAUDING A SUB-STANDARD TEAM....TRULY MALAYSIA BOLEH

2010-11-18T02:08:00.003+08:00

I'M almost at a lost for words whenever I see how some amongst us, including the press boys, react to the minutest of success by our national footballers, nothing though this is compared to the highs achieved for a period of about 15 years from the early 70s.

We went over the top when the Under-23 team won gold in the Sea Games in Laos last December, the lowest level regional/international competition ever for us. Such was the euphoria that the government was coaxed into giving a big cash contribution to the squad although without a doubt it was the achievement of the women's badminton that deserved a better accolade.

Now the press is going berserk again, despite the team being already home while the other footballers are fighting it out for the medals in Guangzhou. By my reckoning we are again not looking at the football team's outing in the right perspective.

True that we beat Kyrgyzstan 2-1 but those blokes are ranked by Fifa at a lowly 173, 24 places down from us!! I hesitate to imagine what the coverage would have been like had we won all the four matches, even if these had been against Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka.

What happened next? We lost to Japan and then played out what a friend texted to my handphone what he thought was a disgraceful and shameful performance against China. We had three red cards while seven others got yellow, meaning only one bloke escaped "unscathed". But never mind -- we qualified for the second round for the first time in 32 years after being one of the best four third-placed teams. Never mind the fact that three decades ago we won bronze. The fact that we lost 3-1 to Iran in the second round didn't matter to our press. Praises were heaped by everyone writing the sports reports or doing the commentating on Astro Awani, TV3 and TV1. "Something to be proud of...", "They can hold their heads high." And I saw the TV news at 8 last night showing the team on arrival at KLIA, with the coverage all positive. First time in 32 years, that was the clincher.

How can our footballers not think that they have now made it? How can a team that played four, won one against a lower ranked team but lost the next three feel a lump in the throat or feel like hiding in the washroom until the crowd at the arrival leaves when they are treated almost like superstars?

"Nothing to be ashamed of?" In countries with many high achievers in sports, coming out second is never the lead item in the press. Lose three and win one? You might as well change your flight schedule to time your arrival when no one would be able to spot you at the airport.

ENGLISH AS IT IS WRITTEN.......

2010-11-16T03:55:00.002+08:00

SEEN at a hotel lounge in KL: "Age under 21 years are not allowed into this......"

The bloke who wrote this must have meant: "Anyone below the age of 21 years is not allowed into this......."

PKR & PAKATAN TRULY MORE TALK ONLY

2010-11-16T03:40:00.003+08:00

I DON'T think anyone who follows this blog can say that I've been inconsistent with my position on crucial matters like corruption, good governance and the need for politicians to deliver on their promises.

I also keep telling my friends that I don't see Pakatan Rakyat as the alternative that can bring this country to a promised land where things are done differently, meaning better and more beneficial to the people, than the Barisan Nasional. By and large, time and again those leading PKR have proven that they are not what they say they are.

Our Elections Commission is one that has been criticised left, right and centre by Pakatan, especially when it loses a by-election. The entire system is said to be flawed. Look at what's happening to the PKR election, never mind the embarrassingly low voter turnout despite the electoral system being ground-breaking. A max ten per cent turnout? My foot........ Even the annual meeting of the division led by its deputy president-elect Azmin Ali attracted only a 100 over members when it is said to have more than a few thousand members!

If the EC is accused of being inefficient, I am struggling a word to describe what we see in PKR. These blokes can even look after their own backyard and yet aspire to govern the country.

Similarly what's been happening in Selangor from an administrative viewpoint. Fat bonuses to companies that have not performed including one that was not even a year old when the bonuses were given, allowing agencies to spend willy-nilly on events that have little to do with their main functions and responsibilities and god knows what else.

But the gullible amongst us still believe that there is still hope. How sad.

NEW (OWN) PARTY? WHY NOT ZAID?

2010-11-13T21:11:00.003+08:00

HE apparently said his remark was in jest but if I were maverick politician Zaid Ibrahim, I would give this thought another thought.

When asked about his next step at a roadshow in Kedah a few days ago, the former Umno man turned PKR senior hope-for-the-future turned dissident said that he may just form a new party, maybe something called Keadilan Baru. The responses were immediate, with PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim countering that Zaid shouldn't do that.

Strange. After all the nasty things Zaid had said about Anwar and the bucketful of problems in the party, one would have thought that everyone not supportive of Zaid would like to see the back of him soonest possible.

I wrote recently that eventually Zaid may find partisan Malaysian politics so disgusting to the extent that he may quit PKR too. Thus the best option for him would be to form his own party, with his own rules, policies, approaches and members who would kow-tow to him. Zaid's words so far suggest that he thinks differently from many Malaysian politicians and that he would never fit in into any party led by others.

What other alternative then but to form your own party? He may find enough believers sooner than he thinks because there are many amongst us who are not excited about Umno and Barisan Nasional. Neither do believe in any of the three parties that make up Pakatan Rakyat.

They say Zaid is a multi-millionaire so money should not be a hindrance. He speaks well to an audience, though not as manipulative as Anwar, and should be able to attract a sizeable following from the middle ground. If he isn't thinking seriously about going on on his own, I wonder what is it exactly that Zaid is hoping to benefit politically from a turbulent presence in PKR?

NURUL IZZAH SUDDENLY TAKES SAFE STANCE
PRIOR to Zaid's recent lambast at Anwar and Azmin Ali, we were given the impression that Nurul Izzah was with Zaid all the way but with the situation getting hotter and more muddled, it's clear that the oldest child of the PKR first couple is not about to side with someone who finds her father a liability. Hence her statement that the party had its own ways of solving a problem. Not an earth shattering statement nor is it one you would associate with someone who declared that she had her own mind.

This doesn't surprise me because I also wrote recently that it would be too much to expect her to take a position deemed confrontational to her parents. But if the small number of PKR members who have voted and will be voting this weekend wanted the party to switch course, they would not be ticking a yea besides her name as a vice-presidential hopeful because this would truly make PKR a family party.

NEXT POOR PKR TURNOUT COULD BE DUE TO THE WEATHER.....

2010-11-10T23:46:00.004+08:00

IF the information given was correct, the second round of voting for the PKR national election last weekend was slightly better than the one before, going past the 10 per cent mark, unlike the lows of the first round.

Party secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution found enough reasons to blame for the dismal turnout in the first instance. A football match involving only two states, a by-election in far away Gua Musang and a ban on the party newsletter. If he could find fault in the recent floods Saifuddin probably would target that too but the problem was that the floods affected two northern peninsular states while most of the voting took place in Sabah!

He may be hopeful of an even better turnout this weekend but from what we have seen thus far, I wouldn't want to be too optimistic. Saifuddin can still blame the weather though if the percentage of voters remains low. After all many have blamed the weather before and no one disputed them. The good thing about targetting the weather is that it cannot answer back......

But really, why the poor show when the entire exercise has some positives? The one-member one-vote system itself is a pioneering decision in Malaysian politics. More significantly, if PKR members hope to have Pakatan Rakyat in Putrajaya come the 13th general elections with their party as the lead component, surely this is the time to put the best candidates in their seats in advance.

Instead the very poor turnout has led me to question the commitment of PKR members to their cause. Do they really believe in their cause and do they really want to see their people in Putrajaya? Or are they mostly a horde of hecklers whose presence is felt more during the general elections, only to fade into oblivion for the next four or five years, with little understanding of the process of governance?

No Saifuddin, twelve or even 15 per cent of your 450,000 members (as claimed) turning up to choose your national leaders is a disgrace for a party that says it wants a controlling share in the route Malaysian politics takes.

ZAID MAY NOT ROCK THE BOAT BUT THE DISSENT IS GROWING

2010-11-10T04:18:00.003+08:00

I AGREE with everyone who says that the decision by Zaid Ibrahim to withdraw from contesting for the No. 2 post in PKR and to resign from all party posts is not going to send every party member running helter-skelter. Neither the fact that the other contender amongst three originally nominated to contest is obviously on the same page with Zaid.

A few other withdrawals will definitely further damage PKR's image, worsening the dents it has been hit with in recent months, but that's about all these setbacks mean to the overall position of PKR.

It's not difficult to see why Zaid is not much of a factor, although his open and (strong) criticisms of the PKR leadership, particularly the position of de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, since a few months ago must have jolted some in the party from their slumber. Despite the seniority accorded him, Zaid is very much the new PKR kid on the block. He joined the party only about 17 months ago after being disillusioned with Umno. All positions he held until a few days ago were appointments decided by the top hierarchy.

Given his bio-data, Zaid must have a following in PKR, especially amongst the intellect and those not too excited with Anwar, but that's as far as it goes. His decision may create some mayhem later but the only way this can happen is if someone like Nurul Izzah, Anwar's daughter who seems to agree with Zaid on some issues, comes out in the open to support him but that would mean Nurul going against her father and mother Wan Azizah and that would be expecting too much.

While Zaid's stance on the need for better transparency and a fair playing field in the party election has been consistent, I cannot agree with one reason he had given at his press conference yesterday. This was the one on Anwar's personal issues.

These issues were already there before Zaid joined PKR and didn't seem to bother him then. To only speak out on this now as a problem that is hindering PKR's progress appears to reaffirm Zaid's own frustrations at the hurdles he has faced with in the last few months, much as I am not excited about Anwar as a politician.

Nevertheless recent events are proof of a dramatic shift from the seemingly peaceful and one-minded environment in PKR. Who would have thought a year ago that one after another would six months later find the courage to speak out against Anwar? This to me is the most significant change within PKR. We could be in for more drama.

ZAID HAS BEEN NAIVE

2010-11-09T00:49:00.004+08:00

THE decision was not totally unexpected but my thinking earlier was that Zaid Ibrahim would quit PKR completely. He has instead chosen to quit all party posts and also to withdraw from contesting for the post of deputy president.

How long then will Zaid be prepared to wait in the wings while hoping that the reformation he hopes for will materialise within the party that promises so much but has thus far delivered little in terms of something "tangible" politically? Ten years, 15? Will it not be too late for Zaid, who would be about 75 if he has to wait 15 years?

Maybe he is placing his hopes on Nurul Izzah, daughter of the PKR first couple with whom Zaid seems to be able to connect better than her parents but by my reckoning, any of Zaid's computations will only have a chance when PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim and wife Wan Azizah are out of the equation.

When Zaid started to publicly express his disappointment a few months ago on what was happening in PKR, I told friends that it would not be long before he made a drastic decision like quitting the party. He then sounded too much like a lone voice and you cannot go far that way in politics.

One statement of his -- about the need for PKR to be a party truly for reformation and not merely a reformasi party -- to an extent exposed Zaid's naivete despite his many years in politics. It was obvious that Zaid too got carried away by the rhetoric and sloganeering and this was surprising for a politician and lawyer who had enough friends amongst the country's political elite to be able to decide himself the truth about events.

By opting to remain in PKR Zaid has shown that he is prepared to wait to see the birth of a new and different Malaysian political environment but don't be surprised if eventually he chooses to leave PKR. Maybe a party formed by him and comprising people who subscribe to his politics only will do for Zaid but in the meantime I'm eager to see if he will be able to provide prove to substantiate his allegations of irregularities in the run-up to the PKR national election, a challenged posed by Anwar.

IT'S ALL ABOUT PERFORMANCE & DELIVERY

2010-11-05T00:35:00.003+08:00

CAN imagine how high up in the sky the leaders in Umno and Barisan Nasional must be at this very moment. It's for them to savour, these highly commendable wins in Galas and Batu Sapi so let's not begrudge them.

But that's how it is in politics. Thirty months ago the three parties that made up Pakatan Rakyat seemed god's gift; they appeared to do no wrong. The tide remained in their favour for the next year or so. Umno and its strongest allies were all at sea, under intense pressure to win back the people's confidence, support and trust and in recent months they look to be gaining ground. Galas and Batu Sapi reaffirm this shift.

Screw things up and you lose that momentum. The Democrats in America swept into power two years ago on the back of a young presidential hopeful named Barack Obama, a black American with exceptional oratory skills. But oratory can only take you so far. The bottom-line is still performance and delivery. Obama's leadership has failed to do that vis-a-vis the economy and the American voters made known their displeasure through the ballot boxes just hours ago.

Nothing stays the same in politics for long and naive is the bloke who thinks he can do now wrong, that all he needs to do is to simply go on stage, grab a microphone and talk. Or try to impress the world through the international press with rhetoric, propagating reform while not showing anything tangible as proof, abhorring nepotism while in fact embracing it.

At the end of the day it's not just about words -- pledges and slogans. It's about substance. It would do good for Umno president Najib Razak to always be mindful of this if he wants to lead his party and its allies first past the finish line come the 13th general elections.

OF A BUNGLING ACT......AND QUIZZES FOR U

2010-11-04T04:44:00.003+08:00

IT'S very late in the morning so I'll try to be to the point. Or someone may argue that 4.45 is early morning...... Have to write this before other issues keep my mind off it.

You know the Equatorial Hotel on KL's Jalan Sultan Ismail? If u exit the hotel and go right you then hit Jalan P. Ramlee. Go right and a few hundred metres away is KLCC. Walk straight on till you meet Jalan Ampang and then you go left for about 400 or 500 metres you will get to the information centre for tourists. Ok, fine so far.

Let's go back to that first junction after you turn right from Equatorial but this time go straight towards Concorde Hotel instead of left towards KLCC. You are still with me? Thank you.

About 20 feet from that junction you see a billboard -- and here's where the fun starts.

The first "place of interest" on that board is Chulan Square (500 metres away!!!!). I know there's Cap Square ahead but Chulan Square? But even if City Hall gets the place right, I don't see why a perfectly normal (meaning nothing unique) commercial development should be on that board, just like the Berjaya Times Square you see on some City Hall signages. The only correct info is that the arrow for the Square, if they actually mean Cap Square that is, points upwards, which means straight ahead.

There's also "KLCC", with the arrow pointing downwards (??!!). Mind you we have just passed the road that takes us to KLCC..... The tourist information centre meanwhile has an arrow that points to the right, which technically is correct but as in the case of KLCC, we have missed one road that leads to it!!

But I still like "City Forest" the most. Second time I have seen this on a board by DBKL. You know where this is? I do but I would like to know if you do because to the best of my knowledge, none of our teachers or college lecturers ever told us about the existence of City Forest.........

I'll give you enough time to chew on yet another nonsense by our bloated civil service, the work of people who don't deserve the pay rise they so desire and the bonus some of them think should be given them each year. See you tomorrow.

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS FOR ANWAR

2010-11-02T22:47:00.005+08:00

A FEW weeks ago opposition politician Zaid Ibrahim lamented on the leadership situation in PKR, the party he joined some months ago after leaving Umno and the federal Cabinet a disillusioned man.

Central to Zaid's unhappiness and dissatisfaction was the position of Parliamentary opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim as the de facto leader of the party. It was Zaid's position that no one should supersede the presidency, a position now filled by Anwar's wife Wan Azizah, and set to continue to be hers for the next few years because no one is contesting against her in the ongoing PKR election.

However Zaid is supportive of the attempt by the eldest daughter of the top PKR couple to be elected as one of four vice-presidents. And it does look like she is going to make it past the finish line, thereby creating a dynasty. Granted that Nurul appears to take a different position from her father on certain issues but that she is the daughter of the de facto leader and the party president is a fact she can never change.

On the issue of the position of the de facto leader I fully agree with Zaid.

If Nurul wins PKR could possibly be the only party in the world with such a line-up at the top. Not even notorious North Korea can boast of such a stranglehold by one family. Neither can the Gandhi's in India, although a few members of the dynasty remain active in politics.

Anwar has never contested for any post within the then Keadilan and now PKR. He doesn't need to. By all accounts the party has given him all the power as de facto leader but significantly the position technically frees him of all responsibilities over party affairs. He need not worry about monitoring the goings-on in the party, he need not bother about having to note down dates of scheduled meetings. The latter is something for his wife to look after -- and that's about all we have seen from her.

This arrangement however leaves Anwar free to do as he pleases and since being released from prison six years ago, the main item in his diary have been speaking engagements in every corner of the globe. Some of these could be financially lucrative. Simply put Anwar has the best of both worlds and yet many continue to hang on to his coat-tails as the big hope for the future.

Will Zaid be able to influence many in PKR to effect the change he so desires? Nahh, for now highly unlikely.

SHAMEFUL DISARRAY IN PKR -- AND THEY BETTER NOT BLAME OTHERS

2010-11-01T21:51:00.004+08:00

THERE were hiccups earlier when members were to nominate candidates for various posts in PKR and now we are hearing stories on more administrative flaws in the party. The honest thing to do would be to admit that it is not without its problems but not where party secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution is concerned.

Today he has blamed everything and everyone else for the mess -- the Galas by-election (as if hundreds of thousands of PKR members are there so much so that they can't vote to choose their party leaders), the Malaysia Cup final last Saturday (which involved only Kelantan and Negri Sembilan) and the suspension of the Suara Keadilan permit by the Home Ministry (which takes out the sting from the run-up to the party polls.) Of course Saifuddin didn't say that there has been so much coverage on the PKR elections by the press and on cyberspace since several weeks ago, which more than makes up for any loss of "excitement" from the suspension. Furthermore the party organ only had a circulation of only 150,000, as claimed by Saifuddin, and that's peanuts compared to the combined readership and hits by the former.

In the first three days of the party polls the voter turnout has been a shameful 9 per cent at best and this for a party that is said to be Malaysia's hope for a better future and has a following of die-hard members so focussed on reformation. Bollocks. It claims to be many years ahead of Umno and its friends in the Barisan Nasional.......

My take is very simple and I have said this to friends. What we have seen of the administrative disarray in PKR proves one thing and that is its leaders have never given much thought to doing things right. Rather their priority appears to be trying to win votes in the general election, of scoring points through oratory and therefore arousing feelings of support amongst members. On a normal day the party appears so insignificant in its existence.

ONE MISTAKE AND THEN ANOTHER

2010-11-01T03:26:00.002+08:00

I DON'T know about you but I am not convinced with the explanation given to the Dewan Rakyat on Friday by Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen. The fact remains that her ministry bungled twice in the last few months and that's not good KPI.

First Ng had to respond to a statement by Batu MP Tian Chua that her three-day trip to Singapore should have cost something like RM30,000 instead of the RM90,000 mentioned in her written reply. According to Ng the actual amount was in fact RM16,446, with the mistake made by her officers.

Since the written reply was under her name one would have thought that Ng would have checked it thoroughly before approving it. It looks like she didn't. But given the situation, who outside of her ministry is to know that the correct figure she gave was indeed correct.

But this other part of her statement in Parliament on Friday was where the joke was -- and in this case she said that she did check the draft and found it to be ok, only to be told about basic errors in language in millions of promotional brochures printed for distribution at the Shanghai World Expo from May to October.

Ng's explanation: "I checked the final draft, there were no mistakes. The errors are by the printer in Shanghai." And maybe in an attempt to appease the vultures Ng gave this assurance: "We will not hire the printer anymore." Good but how often does her ministry need a printer from Shanghai?

She didn't check the draft of her written reply to Parliament but checked the draft of a brochure? Hmm.......

I was with a commercial printing company for 18 months many years ago and even then we need not have to input any text for a client because by that time in 1991 the technology was such that whatever we printed was first copied into negatives and then made into plates from positives from the client, which means that if there were mistakes in the text these could only come from the client. By now the technology has evolved further and depending on the press you use, even plates are no longer needed.

I would not believe anyone who tells me printers in Shanghai are still in the Stone Age, using methods we left behind for good decades ago.

I can tell you though that the Tourism Ministry and the Tourism Promotion Board have not been good with their numbers and may one day find the truth blowing up in their faces. Until then they will of course be lapping it up, happily utilising the generous allocations approved due to the "good work" (and returns) of and from the tourism sector. If only someone in the government does an audit diligently.....

APOLOGIES BUT I'M WRITING AGAIN

2010-11-01T03:18:00.004+08:00

YES I know it's been a long time since I last wrote -- almost three months. The same reason. Busy with my layered cake business and also taking orders from friends for various types of Malay kuih. With plans to make the business grow also had to focus on looking for a place to set up a proper kitchen and storage facility. But my apologies to those who have been following Mana-mana closely and may have wondered what it was that kept me away.

Have finally found one courtesy of a friend. Now to the next phase of the business. God-willing everything should be full steam ahead come December, or the latest January 2011.

And having been asked by friends recently about my writings I decided that I must resume it soonest possible. Honestly I was also encouraged by a news item I had read in Saturday's NST, which is the subject of my first post since the third week of August. It may have been only a small news item to most people, buried deep inside the paper on Page 11. It titillated me enough and I hence want to share the joke with you.

JAKARTA DEMONSTRATORS PUSHING THEIR LUCK

2010-08-19T00:35:00.003+08:00

SOME months ago it was only "ganyang Malaysia" or "crush Malaysia", a battle cry made popular by the late Sukarno to get his people worked up sufficiently to get behind him in his konfrontasi (confrontation) with Malaysia.

As fate would have it we didn't get crush but instead Indonesia's elite KKO paratroopers instead got barbecued -- losing their way in the dense forest in south-west Johore, all the worse due to the elements. An overly ambitious but dismal attempt that went awry.

Just days back a group of Indonesians protesting at our embassy in Jakarta added another slogan, albeit one that sounded more serious and threatening. This time they called on their fellow countrymen to declare war on us. Some managed to climb over the gates to continue chanting on the embassy walls. The visuals on TV didn't show many policemen trying to stop the demonstrators. Not a good sign this by their law enforcers considering what happened at the previous demo.

This demo and others before it seem to suggest that we as a sovereign nation must not take any enforcement action against any Indonesian who may be flouting the law here. It is as if they are telling the world that they can act with impunity in our country.

But the Indonesians always know how to play politics with us. When their backs are against the wall or when they need our assistance, they invoke the spirit of neighbourliness and the sama rumpun (same stock) stuff.

Despite all the insults so far I'm very surprised that the more partisan amongst us have not reacted strongly enough to show our displeasure for their lack of respect. This could be why these Indonesian street activists seem encouraged to be more brazen. In so doing they have obviously forgotten that there are probably at least two million Indonesians in our country, either as residents, workers with permits and illegals. And how many Malaysians are there in Indonesia, either working or mostly studying? At best 5,000?

Thus the demonstrators appear not to realise the risks they are exposing their countrymen in this country to, for they simply haven't seen the worst in Malaysians who feel that they have been insulted enough. No, not Malaysians. Even a Malay who goes amok is enough to scare the shit out of others.

No half-baked plan from Aziz

2010-08-18T12:00:00.000+08:00

No half-baked plan from Aziz

Click url to read the article from NST, Monday August 16, 2010

NUR DHIYA WON'T BE THE LAST

2010-08-18T04:32:00.003+08:00

SOME years ago a minister got blasted for suggesting that Malaysians under the age of 18, I think, should be required to have parental consent before being allowed to leave the country unaccompanied by their parents or family. Rais Yatim made that suggestion as a reaction to the many young Malaysians getting into all sorts of issues overseas, usually for being used as drug mules.

The problem has gotten worse, with more and more local women being jailed or awaiting trial in countries like China and of all places, far away Peru.

The latest, 19-year-old Nur Dhiya Ain, was caught in Cape Town on Saturday, believed to have been conned into doing the job by some African men she had befriended online. It was a case waiting to happen, as was the hunch felt by her mother on receiving a phone call from Nur Dhiya while awaiting for her flight.

Another person who sounded very upset was her father A. C. Musa, but he appeared to have directed his frustrations more to the police and the Foreign Affairs Ministry for "not acting fast enough to stop her from leaving the country".

According to Musa, he had contacted the police about two hours before the flight was due to take off, thus "giving the authorities enough time to act".

But act on what basis? And what has the ministry got to do with this? To act the police must have a basis and a 19-year-old due to board a flight to South Africa with some African men would not be a good enough reason for any authority to stop her. In fact I don't think even her parents could have stopped her.

And usually when something like this happens a politician or the police would lament that they could not understand why Malaysian girls or women kept falling prey despite the wide publicity in the press about the problem. You know why it keeps happening despite the many news reports? It's simply because many don't read the newspapers or listen to the news on radio or TV, that's why.

I ACCUSE & YOU HAVE TO PROVE. GREAT.

2010-08-16T01:31:00.003+08:00

INTERESTING, very interesting but not the claim or allegation itself but the way an opposition politician has approached it and the way the story was presented.

By Malaysian standards the amount mentioned is huge for a non-executive chairman of a agency formed by the government and most would find it hard to believe, not when what we have is a mere statement, without the slightest of proof. I would have thought our opposition politicians who pledge to do better and in this case, a lawyer too, would do better.

According to an allegation from PKR vice-president R. Sivarasa as reported by the Malaysian Chronicle, Felda chairman Yusof Noor takes home RM2 million a year. He now awaits Yusof's reaction.

Sivarasa: "Is it true or not.... we are waiting for him to respond, just tell us yes or no." I would advise Yusof or anyone else friendly to him not to respond but with Malaysian politicians you can never be sure.......

I say Yusof should not respond because the onus is on the accuser to prove, not the other way around. But why should Sivarasa wait for Yusof to tell us what is in fact the true situation? Take a look at what else Sivarasa said.

"We have information that Yusof makes RM2 million a year."

So what are you waiting for Sivarasa? Show us your hand -- and your proof. I too would like to see what you have that can be so damaging to Yusof and the agency he chairs. Either you show us proof or you shut your trap.

IT MAY BE THE TRUTH BUT THE CRATER IS HUGE

2010-08-11T01:25:00.004+08:00

IT'S all happening with lawyers and prosecutors. If days ago it was the Anwar Ibrahim trial now it's the inquest on the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock.

On one side you have a lawyer who's pissed with what he described as an offside offence by the prosecution for introducing new evidence months after the inquest had started. It was even said to be a suppression of evidence.

The AG has responded by explaining that an investigator had in fact found a hand-written note, believed to sound like a suicide note, in Teoh's briefcase two months after the probe had started.

It would appear that lawyer Gobind Singh, representing Teoh's family, would get a hand-writing expert to analyse the note to determine its authenticity and identity of the writer. Gobind also wants a Royal Commission of Inquiry to ascertain the truth, a stand similar to the Bar Council's.

But personally I must say that while the AG may be telling the truth relating to the chronology of events and what was told to him by the police investigating officer, the reasoning offered may cast doubts in people's minds. But then again when you look at how badly some IOs have done their job, causing the prosecution to lose many cases in court, this bungling act doesn't surprise me.

It's all up to the coroner now to decide if he wants to believe the AG and allow the inquest to proceed as it is.

THE ALLEGATION IS THERE ALRIGHT BUT WHERE'S THE PROOF?

2010-08-08T20:48:00.003+08:00

I'M still trying to figure out what exactly is happening to the Anwar Ibrahim trial, or rather the distraction resulting from an unsubstantiated piece by a blogger from thousands of miles away.

Following the damning allegation about an affair between the main witness and a junior member of the large prosecution team, Anwar now wants the court to simply throw out the case against him. That is within his rights of course.

I'm flabbergasted because so far I don't remember anyone talking about proof. That piece was written by a blogger who appears to be over the moon with himself for being able to continue to live in London and away from the courts here where he was scheduled to appear before he bolted out across our borders.

The prosecution team and later Attorney-General Gani Patail stated that the officer implicated by the blogger was a junior member who did not have access to the more sensitive and confidential information relating to the trial. That of course may not be enough because one would surely would not expect them to say otherwise.

If and when the trial resumes the officer, whose name I'm not bothered to check and mention here, will no longer be involved with the team. But again, the point is why hasn't anyone provided anything to prove any impropriety between her and Mohd. Saiful Bukhari instead of merely referring to the blogger's allegation? We cannot discount this possibility: For all we know it could have been his concoction.

I'm waiting for that proof and I hope the judge hearing the petition from Anwar will insist on the same.

AND WE ALL THOUGHT PAKATAN WOULD DO IT DIFFERENTLY......

2010-08-05T19:57:00.003+08:00

I HAVE said this before too and will never get tired of repeating it to those who want to hear: People are always wiser when it happens to others but lose their composure and common sense when it hits them. And in trying to deflect from the damage they often get mired in statements and explanations that more often than not confuse the issue even further.

The Selangor DAP is now in a bit of a bother, having to deal with a perception problem affecting a few of its leaders. The first who was dragged into a corner was Klang Municipal Councillor Tee Boon Hock, also a special assistant to state exco Ronnie Liu, relating to some letters he had issued using Liu's letterhead. Not unexpectedly Tee held a press conference to defend himself but shortly after that was sacked from the party.

Guess what? He blamed an unseen hand. We will never know who Tee was referring to because the hand was unseen...... The fact of the matter is he was booted out by the party, not who was responsible for it. But that's what people are all about -- find a scapegoat.

Next on the firing line was Selangor State Assembly speaker Teng Chang Kim, also the chairman of the state's Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency. Teng insist he will only appear at a hearing of the party's disciplinary committee in his capacity as a party member and not chairman of the committee. I have not seen anything to indicate that the party has hauled Teng up in his capacity as Selcat chairman.

The over-riding issue is the issuance of letters from elected representatives supporting applications by contractors and other business people. Teng has admitted doing this himself, the way Tee did, but insists that this is a culture inherited from the previous (Barisan Nasional) administration.

Granted that I agree with this but the Dap and its allies Pakatan Rakyat assumed control of the Selangor administration in March 2008. That's 29 months ago. Without a doubt enough time for Pakatan to change the practise if it wanted to. But it hasn't and because it is now caught in a trap conveniently blames Barisan for it. What crap.

ANWARITES, NOW & FOREVER

2010-08-05T19:41:00.004+08:00

SORRY for the extended absence......

Just as I'm back to pen my thoughts here, two Americans who are not exactly best friends of the country are at it again, expressing their unequivocal support and faith in one Malaysian, definitely their good pal Anwar Ibrahim.

Al Gore is remembered best by cultured Malaysians as the uncultured, downright rude and uncouth former American vice-president who chose to insult his guest -- us -- at a dinner in 1998 when he proclaimed his support for the reformasi movement and then left in a huff without touching what was on his plate. This from a man representing a country that prides itself in democracy but is never short of an opinion about how others should manage their countries.

The other hard-line Anwarite is hawkish Paul Wolfowitz, who has a long liaison with Anwar and is often one of the first to speak in his favour, regardless of the rights and wrongs.

Both have just issued a joint statement giving their dollar's worth on the second sodomy trial involving our former DPM. Their view is that a conviction for Anwar would mean damage not only to Malaysian political life but its standing in the world as a whole. Why this is so only these two blokes can tell but what we can see is that there is less excitement internationally with this trial, unlike the first in 1998.

There is however what appears to be a concerted effort to prop up Anwar's image and to some Americans the best way is to try and create doubts about the trial. Don't forget that it was only days ago that John Mallot, a former US ambassador here, had also spoken about Anwar. Just like Gore and Wolfowitz, Mallot is an Anwar die-hard. See how it's all developing?

WELL DONE BEKENU

2010-07-27T02:01:00.003+08:00

I'M not a (Malay) linguist, far from it, but I believe wholeheartedly in the sanctity of any language, Bahasa Melayu included -- and especially. It is for this reason that the intro to my blog is from a piece on BM, although to be honest English is my first language and BM, my mother tongue but my second language.

Over the years we have been made aware of the position adopted by BM enthusiasts like those who make up the Gapena membership on what they think ought to be done to ensure that BM's importance in the country is not relegated to that of a second language. I say enthusiasts and not linguists because their statements seem to indicate that they do not really know what the problem actually is.

Surely at the outset our concern must be to see to it that our BM is not buggerised, not polluted and chopped into pieces to the extent that it ultimately loses its shape. If we don't our bahasa will end up digging up its own grave, that is be the cause of its own demise. How not to when masyarakat is gone. So too kesan, mutu, berkesan, kecekapan, keretapi, rumah sakit, jentera, tempat letak kereta, kapalterbang, bekas and piala to name just a small number.

In their place? In chronological order as in the above paragraph -- komuniti, impak, kualiti, efektif, efisyen, tren, hospital, enjin, parkir, pesawat, mantan and trofi. In between there's audiens instead of penonton. And many, many more that one can write a book that simply lists out the original BM words and phrases that have been rendered obsolete for no logical reason.

It was thus an evening of much personal elation for me when I saw the visuals on TV in advance of a recent visit by PM Najib Razak to Miri. There in full view were the words Dewan Masyarakat Bekenu, one of the stops on Najib's itinerary. But I wonder how long masyarakat will remain in its rightful place on the front wall of that hall before one brainless bloke decides that this small community too should refer to their community as komuniti instead of masyarakat.

(I've put the words that were once part of our BM in bold to emphasise the importance I attach to them.)

THE S.D.O. & A CHAIR FOR THE C.M.? HMM....

2010-07-24T16:52:00.002+08:00

TO say the least, amusing. That's how I would describe the spat between Penang CM Lim Guan Eng and State Development Officer Nik Ali Mat Yunus, a federal appointee. How Nik was appointed means that no matter how much Lim hates his face, there is nothing the egoistic politician can do so that he sees only the ass of Nik.

Safe to assume that most of us don't know exactly why Lim doesn't like Nik but one would expect a foreign trained accountant and a seasoned politician like Lim to offer the public better reasons. What we do know is that it is not within the scope of the SDO's job specifications to see to it that a chair is there, reserved for the Right Honourable CM, at a launch for which the SDO is not expected to micro manage.

And illegal sand-mining? Isn't that within the jurisdiction of the land office or the district office? How could Lim then drag Nik into the picture and hold him responsible?

And the demolition of arches at a botanical gardens? C'mon Lim, that too the fault or responsibility of the SDO?

I don't want to get into the moral side of the issue, the words one says the other shouldn't be using, but at least Mohd. Sidek Hassan, as Chief Secretary to the Government and thus the country's senior-most civil servant and Nik's boss, has come to the latter's defence. It was a decision backed by the Cabinet at its last meeting.

Nik may have erred but surely Lim must have better reasons than micro issues to want to belittle him in the open.

QUICKSAND IN SELANGOR

2010-07-23T21:50:00.002+08:00

SOMETHING is not right but what exactly is the matter we the public still don't have a clue as yet.

What should have been a simple administrative issue in Selangor is turning more into such a contentious subject which may eventually may put more pressure on the administration of Khalid Ibrahim and divert attention from more urgent matters.

I don't think anyone could imagine a few years ago that something which looks so straight forward could turn into a problem the state doesn't seem to know how to sort out, to the extent that Khalid had to SOS the federal government which in turn not surprisingly said thanks but no thanks.

When asked how it was handled during his time, Khalid's predecessor Khir Toyo said all the sand mining then only involved private land, unlike now. Like him or hate him but I don't remember anyone rebutting Khir's statement.

Now a group of Malay sand-miners who insist they have no political motives want the palace to intervene. Judging from the damage to the environment and the fact that the money to be gained by the state from the business is not going to make Selangor a wealthy state overnight, I will be very surprised if the sultan doesn't provide his input.

But if the activity goes on unchecked, legal or otherwise, I hate to imagine what the landscape will ultimately look like.

ANWAR'S DING-DONG

2010-07-20T23:13:00.004+08:00

EVEN as early as two years back I don't think opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim could imagine this would happen to him. How could he; it was simply unthinkable: Anwar was the darling of the foreign, and especially, western press. Well some amongst the local press too but his bigger stage was offshore.

And how he lapped it up, his every word quoted verbatim, the questions posed to him very mild despite Anwar facing some of the world press's biggest names. It was as if they had prepared questions intended to make him sound better than he was in his responses.

But as written here recently, that appears to have changed and by my reckoning, partly thanks to the work by an American public affairs and strategic communications firm, APCO Worldwide, the outfit contracted by the Malaysian government. The minute Anwar heard about this arrangement I think he knew he was going to face a different scenario. It must have been for this reason that Anwar tried to discredit the arrangement.

In so doing he hurt the feelings of his Jewish friends and the state of Israel big-time, although he didn't seem to realise the extent of the damage in the first instance. By now many amongst the Jewish community in America would have seen through Anwar, the politician who tries to cut it both ways. I describe the theme of Anwar's politics such: The audience is the message.

It would be very naive for Anwar to think that the increasingly bad press about him coming from the US is all down to the brains in APCO. After his ding-dong about the Jews, Zionists and Israel was exposed recently, I would be the least surprised if the Jewish lobby has not been busy at work to dump who was once a chameleon likeable to them.

Be prepared for more negatives about Anwar coming from various writers and bloggers in the US especially.

ONCE IT WAS TIN-MINING BUT NOW DAMAGE IS FROM SAND-MINING

2010-07-15T21:15:00.003+08:00

BY all accounts the sand-mining problem in Selangor, both legal and illegal, doesn't look like something that will go away quietly for Khalid Ibrahim's Pakatan Rakyat administration. And ironically this despite Selangor now having a state established company to handle the business.

It's unbelievable, honestly, that something which you cannot hide from the public eye can take place blatantly. How could you hide when you need a fleet of lorries to transport the sand and also several excavators on site. And you can't be transporting the shipment through dirt tracks all the way to avoid being seen by the public or the authorities.

No one in authority in Selangor wants to admit that there is a huge problem on their plate but the fact that Khalid has written to the higher-ups at the federal level is proof enough that the state needs all the help it can get.

But since land is under state jurisdiction DPM Muhyiddin Yassin has rightly responded to say that he is not going to lift a finger. "It's for the state to resolve this as best as possible" was his suggestion.

Given the many photographs in the press to prove the magnitude of the problem and hence the bad publicity Selangor can do without, I won't be surprised if the sultan comes into the picture to tell the state government what he thinks of the issue.

Remember the landscape left behind in many parts of Perak and Selangor after the tin mining sector went into a decline a few decades ago? The effects of some could be seen from ground level but I have been lucky to get a better perspective from the air of the damage to the land. Believe me it's one sad and depressing landscape. But some of the land has been rehabilitated, giving birth to mixed development areas like the one near the Mines resort and the Sunway Pyramid area.

But what sand-mining in Selangor is doing is to bring back the kind of damage to the environment that we can do without.

ANWAR WRESTLES WITH A DIFFERENT SCENARIO

2010-07-13T21:17:00.004+08:00

THERE was a time some years ago when all the news about Malaysian politics that came out of the United States and some other western countries were positively in favour of one man and very much against the country and the administration.

Central to this was former DPM and now opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. He was a man who could do no wrong and smelt like a rose. TV interviews, the newspapers, news magazines, everything.

But the scenario has of late changed significantly, to the extent that you can say the tables have been turned. Maybe it has something to do with the new media but all of a sudden we are reading stories and commentaries in the west that raise many questions about Anwar. One piece even went to the extent of alleging a link with the CIA.

One Shamsul Iskandar, the head of Angkatan Muda Keadilan, has reacted to this by lambasting Utusan Malaysia and Umno. Granted that Utusan lifted that piece, and to be fair Utusan was not the only one which referred to it, but this was an allegation written by a foreigner in the US, not an article by Utusan itself.

My take is that while Anwar may have got his way during the administration of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, I don't think it will ever be the same again for him under Najib Razak. Get ready for more dirt.

A TRIO FUNNIER THAN THE THREE STOOGES

2010-07-09T21:56:00.003+08:00

THIS Fifa World Cup thingy, while providing some exciting moments, hasn't been good for me. My normal weekly workout has gone out of the window since almost four weeks ago and has left me with a tight schedule to also bake my cakes and cook some other traditional Malay kuih-kuih.

One thing though is not affected -- my late night clubbing, during which I get to watch the matches that started at 2.30am. That part of the schedule to me is R&R after a hectic day's work, for without that I'll be a stressful wreck! Still I have also managed to keep track of the goings-on, political and all. One thing is certain: a lot of people are actually so predictable while others continue to amuse me with statements that say a lot but mean little.

To me that photo of four chaps in a happy mood in an apartment somewhere in London tops the lot -- two fugitives and a former minister (of legal affairs at that!). There can never be a more hilarious trio ever, not even the Three Stooges. Former minister but now PKR strongman Zaid Ibrahim, blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin and former private investigator P. Balasubrammaniam -- you have all made my week.

Also confusing was the explanation by federal CID director Bakri Zinin who wanted Malaysians to know that extraditing Petra from the country of his mother's family "wasn't a piece of cake" and that "what was legally wrong in our country may not be so in another country". As best as I know this is never a criterion in deciding if someone should be extradited.

Another point attributed by the press to Bakri quoted him as saying that "Interpol had also put up a red flag on RPK (whatever that means), denying claims that the police were not doing anything to extradite him". My interpretation of the red flag means the blogger will be stopped in his tracks. That being the case, how did Petra travel to Europe some months ago from London and is free to move around in Britain?

But honestly, let's not bother too much about Petra or for that matter Balasubramaniam who is looking and sounding more and more like a politician without a party membership card than the investigator that he was. He has now given another version on the Razak Baginda/Altantuya story. It also looks like he's enjoying life overseas, flying from India to London and according to my mate Rocky, stopping over in Paris en route to his second home in India. Must be having quite a bit of money to throw around, despite being a fugitive.

ALL OR NOTHING & POLITICS IS NO DIFFERENT

2010-07-05T04:35:00.002+08:00

WHEN do you apologise to people? When you have hurt a friend is one. For a politician, an apology is usually offered when you know that your indiscretion can cause you to lose support from your allies.

And where Israel's policy towards the Palestinians is concerned, how else can you described their behaviour without using words or phrases like Zionist aggression or linking their stance to the unequivocal support from the United States? You can't go wrong here if that's how you describe what Israel is all about vis-a-vis the Palestinian issue and their position as the closest ally of the US.

That's precisely how opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim described them but later saw fit to explain and apologise to his American Jewish friends recently. Why the need to apologise -- unless you know that you cannot do without them.

Never mind the explanation by his believers in PKR/Pakatan Rakyat that it "was all due to a misunderstanding or misinterpretation and that Anwar's position on Israel has always been consistent" but wasn't Anwar there to make a fiery speech during a demonstration outside the American Embassy in KL against what Israel did to the ships that were trying to bring in aid into Gaza? His presence and the substance of his speech criticising the Israelis were a fact he cannot deny.

It doesn't surprise me that Anwar went out of his way to explain to his Jewish friends but I think it would be asking too much to ask Anwar to explain to Malaysians why he did this, as asked by deputy minister Mukhriz Mahathir. According to him the explanation was necessary "so that Malaysians would not be doubtful over Anwar's stand on the Israeli regime".

Why the need for him to explain? We should be smart enough to make our own decisions without having to hear anything more on this from Anwar. We, the people, should be intelligent enough by now to have an informed opinion about Anwar. If he has to explain Anwar will probably say that what he actually said to the Americans has been manipulated here by his detractors and the Umno controlled mainstream media. What else is new?

But one thing Anwar doesn't seem to realise as he tries to continue to manoeuvre his way in politics. With many things in life you cannot cut it both ways -- it's one or the other.

CHINESE NOT BIG ON GAMBLING? TELL THAT TO THE MARINES.....

2010-07-02T00:12:00.002+08:00

I WAS hoping that MCA president Chua Soi Lek was making a joke but since he hasn't denied or clarified his statement, it's safe to say that he was dead serious.

In suggesting last Saturday that the government should set up a fund to collect revenue from licensed gaming companies, Chua also refuted the notion that gambling was entrenched in Chinese culture. To be honest I'm not sure what he meant by a separate fund because the government has always been collecting taxes from licensed gaming companies.

For good measure Chua also remarked that "it's not true to say that the Chinese like to gamble". Phew. If the Chinese don't like to gamble, who does?

When I was a junior reporter donkeys years ago a news editor with the NST by the name of Lim Thow Boon used to tell this to some of us: "Leave gambling to the Chinese and drinking to the Indians... the Malays should just focus on politics". I didn't know Boon well enough to be able to determine if he was serious or otherwise or he was being complimentary to the Malays but I don't think many would have disagreed with him.

I THOUGHT ASRI WAS SMARTER
ALSO on the same day former Perlis mufti Mohd. Asri Zainul Abidin clarified that he was not joining any political party for now. This was in response to a rumour reported by the press that Asri was going to join Umno together with a big group of ulama. Many did join but Asri was not one of them.

I'm ok with that because I too am not with any political party but it was Asri's further remarks that made me decide that he got it wrong.

He told the New Sunday Times that when it was speculated that he was joining Umno, Asri received many calls and messages asking him to reconsider any such thought. "Some of them said I may lose my credibility if I join politics". Why should an ulama who's a political party member lose his credibility?

In the case of Asri or any other ulama, that possibility can only happen if they mix religion and politics but if they speak on Islamic issues without any undue political influence, that should not be a problem.

MOST FAMOUS STADIUM, BEST LEAGUE..., ..AND BEST OF ALL, BEST FLOP

2010-07-01T23:55:00.002+08:00

I NEVER get tired of telling people that the problem with England when it comes to sports is that they believe too much in their own hype. If they are to be believed, there's not much that they are not the best at.

IN football it's about having the best striker, the best attacking midfielder, best centre-back, best knockout competition and best league. And we Malaysians, and I may be repeating myself here, tend to get dragged in because most of what we see on our TV is the EPL two days a week for close to two months. Add the later rounds of the FA Cup and its a massive overdose of English soccer.

As it turned out the best England had to show came out worse than second best at the Fifa World Cup in South Africa, which means that they are back for an early summer holiday while the best of the best stay on to play in the closing rounds beginning tomorrow.

Only three goals scored in three matches. Big names like Rooney, but with the exception of maybe Lampard, a complete flop.

The bigger picture is not much better, with the non-English high profile players from the EPL teams playing also well below expectations. For this read Torres especially. Ironically the "rejects" from the EPL have been excellent so far. Remember Robinho and Elano? Veron too.

I'm looking forward to more sublime football from Brazil and Argentina while fans of the EPL teams and England can dream on.........

POLITICS & RELIGION CAN BE A STRANGE MIX

2010-06-30T23:43:00.002+08:00

THE hints were there and when the PM confirmed that sports betting will not be legalised, not many were shocked. It had to be a governmental decision but I found it odd that Najib Razak had chosen to announce it after the Umno supreme council meeting instead of after a Cabinet meeting.

But I found his explanation more perplexing. "It was after much deliberation on the impact it will have from the perspective of religion and politics. It is not so much the economic factor." That some within Umno spoke out against the idea of giving the licence to Vincent Tan's Ascot Sport was to be expected. How many Malay/Muslims apart from former PM Mahathir Mohamed and former minister Rafidah Aziz would have the guts to agree to legalised sports betting only because it gives the government some control over it? My hunch is that many were against it only because the man who stood to make (more) money was going to be Tan, not exactly every Malaysian's choice for most popular tycoon.

So from the political perspective I can understand but if something that is forbidden by Islam and is allowed only for non-Muslims, how can gambling be a problem from a religious (Islamic) perspective? It has never been an issue with the Chinese and Indians, or religiously the Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and animists.

By not legalising sports betting every single ringgit earned from it will go underground and we are talking an estimated minimum of RM3 billion a year in taxes had it been legalised. The same with other vices like prostitution and drugs.

I told my alma mater's group e-mail that I look at the reality of a situation and find the practical solutions. In the case of our situation no amount of enforcement and religious education have solved half of the problems arising from these social ills. Gambling and prostitution will remain with us. The drug zombies in Chow Kit and many abandoned buildings in the city don't give a damn as to whose looking. They shoot into their veins anyway. Similar the prostitutes.

What legalising will do is to help the government have some control over what happens to the people who indulge. Legalising will allow for proper medical care. Again, if confined only to the non-Muslims how can it be an (Islamic) problem?

KHALID'S CHOICE, AND HIS ALONE

2010-06-26T21:44:00.003+08:00

STRANGE situation this, the speculative talk about unhappiness with Selangor PKR Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim's choice as political secretary.

There has been no official statement on what exactly is happening and to an extent the PKR side is not entirely wrong when they pointed fingers again at the mainstream media for what they described as something created by the press and then blown out of proportion.

On the other hand the fact that the official position has not been made public adds some credence to the speculation.

If indeed Anwar Ibrahim's closest (and one of his longest surviving) ally Azmin Ali and some of his felloe KPR MPs are unhappy with Khalid's choice of Faekah Hussin as his new pol sec to replace Nik Nazmi Ahmad who is moving on to another party appointment, a look at the people involved should pose another question.

Faekah has been pol sec to PKR president Wan Azizah Ismail while Nik was once Anwar's aide, a pol sec too if I'm not mistaken. Given their connections to Anwar, the unofficial supreme leader of PKR, and his wife Wan Azizah, I tend to have a bit of doubt as to whether the MPs would really be so open in their dissatisfaction with Khalid's choice, whatever their reasons.

Strange too that an appointment personal to the person holding office should be a point of contention. It is Khalid's right and power and his alone to appoint someone as his pol sec or press sec or PA. In this case the PKR political bureau apparently submitted its recommendations, from whom two names were shortlisted, with Faekah being one of them.

A situation that defies convention certainly but then again that's how politicians operate sometimes -- defying logic.

A FUN WORLD CUP IT HAS BEEN

2010-06-24T23:32:00.003+08:00

I'M enjoying this Fifa World Cup, enormously so.

France out after scoring only one goal in three games and with all kinds of off field problems. Such was the impact on the team that soon after arriving home Thierry Henry, whose hand ball (twice) against Ireland took them to the final rounds, had an audience with the president!

And at the moment defending champions Italy have just come from behind, scoring a goal to make the score 1-2 against Slovakia. They have about 10 minutes left but don't be surprised if they too have to take an early flight home. England have qualified for the knockout stage by coming out second in their group but despite this, there is nothing much else to shout about their performances.

That bloke Wayne Rooney has not scored a goal and looked like he was never going to get close to scoring. So much for everything about their football -- from their stadium to their competitions to their players -- being the best in the world.

The commentator just said "and Italy still have a chance.... they have seven and a half minutes left". Maybe they will go through. A lot can happen even in a few minutes in football, that I will not dispute but after what has happened so far, the teams that are generally regarded as being the strongest in the world would do well not to look down on others, that they could easily beat the hell out of teams like Algeria or South Korea or Slovenia even if they each play with one leg.

(The referee has just ruled that an Italian "equaliser" was scored from an offside position....)

My position? I would like to see Italy out early just for the heck of it. And Spain too.

Ok. Latest, with only any added time left. Italy 1-Slovakia 3................. I'm going to celebrate.

DIDN'T THEY THINK BEFORE THEY SPOKE?

2010-06-21T19:43:00.002+08:00

I ALWAYS wonder if politicians do think before they speak. And my own answer is that usually they don't. For this reason I find the recent spat between opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and a few of his former believers rather titillating.

The first person to say that Anwar was in favour of removing Selangor PKR exco Elizabeth Wong following a personal indiscretion that was caught on camera and video was former Anwar confidant Zahrain Mohamed Hashim, now an independent MP. Zahrain's claim was backed by another former PKR MP Zulkifli Noordin.

Late last week in Parliament it was clear that Anwar was not amused with the statements made by both men and seemed agitated when pressed on by the press.

This was how the NST of last Friday reported on the issue, quoting Anwar: Anwar said he did not have a video showing Wong in a sex act nor had he watched one. "Why should we entertain him? (Zahrain) If he is serious, he should release the video."

Confused. Zahrain didn't say he had the video. On the contrary he claimed that it was Anwar who had it. That being the case how can anyone expect Zahrain to produce the video as proof?

PERCEPTION VERSUS FACT
WHEN asked for his opinion by the Malay Mail about the proposal to give the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission prosecution powers, PKR Seri Setia assemblyman Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad who is also political secretary to the Selangor MB, had this to say: "We were disappointed with the transformation of the ACA into the MACC as at the end of the day the body was still not entirely independent as it is also perceived as subservient to the Barisan Nasional.

"There's no point for prosecution powers to be given if the MACC is bound to certain quarters. MACC should be free to run on its own and submit their reports to Parliament instead of the PM."

First, all italics are my own. And secondly (and more significantly) the MACC does submit its report to Parliament and not to the PM, as was the case recently with its first annual report. Further, all those people appointed to the various panels or committees do not report to the PM or any other politician nor are they required to do so.

But basically Nazmi did not prove anything with his statement, merely words that could be music to some but nothing substantially factual or the truth.

BARISAN ENJOYING A GOOD LAUGH

2010-06-17T20:58:00.003+08:00

IT was a big joke, with the laugh being on those blokes in the Dap and their friends in Pakatan Rakyat.

Initially we were made to believe that the Perak Barisan Nasional government led by Umno was going to collapse with the anticipated defections by a few Umno state assemblyman. So confident was the Perak Pakatan that its information chief Zulkifli Ibrahim told the press on Sunday that the state Umno was facing an internal crisis which will eventually lead to the defections.

There was a "defection" in fact two days later but it was of the resignation of Malim Nawar Dap assemblyman Keshvinder Singh who then pledged to be a Barisan friendly independent. Of course there could still be defections from the Barisan side to Pakatan, of that no one can say with certainty that it will never happen but for now its Perak MB Zambry Abdul Kadir and his gang in Barisan who are rolling on the floor, lungs bursting, for they are the ones having the last laugh.

Keshvinder's resignation makes it four from the Perak Pakatan since the coalition took control of the state after the March 2008 general elections. But it's been downhill for Pakatan in the state since the last quarter of that year.

It was obvious that the state Dap was taken aback by Keshvinder's resignation. You could see that on the faces of their leaders, previously very vocal but suddenly tongue-tied.

Another issue within Pakatan but one that affects its most celebrated leader Anwar Ibrahim is the question of proof or evidence to back up his claim that the Pakatan MPs who quit to become independent representatives were bribed RM2 million each and given projects by Barisan.

Anwar has been challenged by these independents to come out with the proof. Today Anwar was pressed on this by journalists and showed his displeasure by trying to put pressure on the press by asking one persistent journalist which organisation he worked for. Not surprisingly Anwar said the time was not right. His offensive against that journalist too is one predictable reaction whenever he faces persistent questioning by the press.

It's all becoming very predictable. Like the resignations of the Pakatan elected representatives......

IT'S BEEN 25 LONG YEARS.......

2010-06-13T22:09:00.002+08:00

IT was that long ago when I fist heard statements from the government about the need to straighten things out in the security services sector.

The politician who said the most at that time was the late Megat Junid, at that time the deputy home minister and thus the man who was tasked with overseeing the sector. There was talk about the need for more and better training, the need to place a cap on the old and physically unfit, as some security guards are.

I remember shaking my head in disbelief when I saw a guard at a branch of my former newspaper office. The guy looked so old and frail that all that was needed to floor him was simple scream from a burglar!

These days the sector is dominated by Nepalese guards. Gurkhas they are not but these blokes appear to be doing a better job than the many locals security companies had hired previously. They do fall asleep while being on late night duty but not as bad as the locals but the downside is that most know only a little bit of Malay and are no better with their English, which doesn't help because they are in a frontline sector.

Now the same ministry is echoing what Megat had said more than 20 years ago, which to a newsman like me is a big joke which leads me to question "Why has it taken the ministry so long not to deliver??!!"

I also was not surprised to heard a statement earlier in the day saying that the better salary structure the ministry had originally wanted to start from July 1 has been postponed "to a later date" by the Cabinet. This is not the first time the Cabinet has had to tell a ministry to postpone the implementation of a new scheme. Sometime last year the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry also had to postpone a plan to introduce a new rate (and rather complicated scheme) for motorists buying petrol.

Obviously not much thought had gone into the thinking by officers at these ministries. To the public these flip-flops only influence them to further think lowly of politicians who make up the administration an also the calibre of our civil servants.

WAA, SO POWERFUL

2010-06-09T23:47:00.002+08:00

FACTUALLY she wasn't wrong but such was the power of the lobby that she had to apologise, just like some before her.

That was had happened to iconic White House correspondent Helen Thomas, all 89 years of her and still doing the circuit. After almost 60 years there, Thomas has covered the administrations of 10 American presidents and is given a seat in the centre of the front row in the press room.

Her problem began when remarks she made to a rabbi last week on the Palestinian issue vis-a-vis the Jews was posted online. When asked about it Thomas said "they (the Jews, in this case the Israelis) should get the hell out of there" and "go back to Germany, Poland, America, anywhere...."

This again illustrates that although they are separate entities, only a thin line separates the hardline Jews and the Israel state. An so powerful is the Jewish lobby in the west, especially in America, that anyone who says something seemingly unkind about Israel is bound to ultimately left with no choice but to apologise to the Jewish community, not Israel.

Same with those who questioned the holocaust and there have been quite a few.

The irony is that you can say something nasty about the mainly Muslim Middle-east and many things Islam, tear Iran, Iraq, al-Qaeda and the Talban to pieces and the western world doesn't think this is offensive but just one word against the Jews or Israel and they are up in arms.

Israel kills the innocent, imposes a blockade, ignores United Nations' resolutions, keeps nuclear weapons and god knows what else and that is A-ok but Iran has a nuclear programme and a fourth round of sanctions looks to be underway.

What a screwed-up world -- led by America and a first black president for them who promised so much to the Muslim world last year but hasn't delivered any. He's a great speaker isn't he, this Barack Obama? And what did I write some months ago about orators and great talkers? For those who missed it basically, I said they are simply a bunch of talkers but not doers.

BLAME IT ON SOMEONE ELSE

2010-06-07T21:38:00.003+08:00

I Never knew a public relations outfit could be that powerful and influential. One that has been in the picture lately is APCO, and American company that opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim says has done work for Israel and later engaged by the Malaysian government.

Anwar seems peeved that after he had gone on an offensive against the company, a Jewish organisation came out with a statement that was uncomplimentary about him, accusing him of being anti-Semitic. Recently Anwar countered by saying that being anti-Israel did not mean that he was anti-Semitic. That in fact has been the position since many years ago of former PM Mahathir Mohamed, not in any way Anwar's best friend although for 16 years Mahathir treated Anwar as his most trusted lieutenant in the government.

It is widely known that Anwar has influential friends in the US, some Jewish. Thus it must have hurt him quite a bit to be the subject of a ticking off by a powerful Jewish group.

The point is Anwar has alleged that he got entangled in this all due to the influence of Apco. Going by past Anwar methods I read that to mean that he was trying to indirectly maligned the Malaysian government also.

I am all for the truth but when he spoke about APCO at a gathering at the Sultan Sulaiman Club in Kampung Baru, the report I read did not quote any evidence from Anwar to support his claim. And because he hasn't provided any evidence I cannot go along with Anwar on this.

VETO SYSTEM MUST FIRST GO

2010-06-06T00:45:00.004+08:00

EVERYONE is barking at the wrong tree. Everyone -- demonstrators in KL, Istanbul and god knows where else.

True that the Israelis behave the way they do, which is with impunity, because of unequivocal support from the US government. They get not only arms but money. Also being aided handsomely money-wise is the Egyptian government which helps the Israelis enforce the blockade on Gaza by closing the crossing on their side.

For being so helpful to the enemy of the Muslim world and thus being hurtful to their fellow Muslims in Gaza, the Americans do not seem to mind the fact that Hosni Mobarak has been Eqyptian president for about three decades now. Similarly with former Pakistan president Pervez Musharaff who was backed to the fullest despite failing to keep to his pledges on democratic reforms and all.

But shouting your displeasure at both the Israeli and American governments is not going to change them. Just look at what US vice-president Joe Biden said in an interview about the Israeli massacre at sea of the Gaza freedom flotilla. "Israel has the right to know what's on board the ships because Israel is still at war with Hamas." Ya okay but who gives them the right to kill people as they wish? Of course the interviewer didn't ask Biden this.

What makes the Israelis and many others act like cowboys not governed by any rules or decency is the system within the United Nations, specifically the veto system with the Security Council. For this reason there will never be any tough measures like a blockade of transportation routes or sanctions against a rogue state like Israel because the Americans will veto such a proposal against their closest ally in the Middle-east.

Thus what every other government should be trying to do is to have this system changed. Do that and I'm sure the Israelis will finally understand what decency is all about.

KSSB HAS FAILED, PERIOD.

2010-06-03T21:06:00.002+08:00

I WOULD love to hold a senior position in this company and I'm sure you would too. Imagine getting a fat bonus less than a year into your job?!

From what I have read, the Selangor government company Kumpulan Semesta Sdn. Bhd. has been very generous to its senior management but not so with its rank and file although what its senior people say indicates that it's the blokes at the bottom who should be given more. But the bottom-line is that so far it's been one shitty situation simply because the company has shown that it is not able to deliver what is expected of it.

The company was formed late in 2008 to put right what the state government saw was a business that was benefitting illegal operators rather than the government. Sand mining is big business and Selangor is one state where a lot is happening in the sector.

So to cushion the impact and effect of what its top people told the state's Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) was a "difficult and dangerous" business, KSSB decided to happily give a four-month bonus to those at the top and 1.5 months to those below them. Nope, we cannot argue with them if KSSB had made money as heavy as the sand it has been selling. But not in this case, the bonuses given just 10 months after it had been formed and in the words of one senior guy, "against projected revenue or profit".

The fact is that KSSB seems well short of what was expected of it by the Selangor government. Selcat was told that its share of the market last year was a shameful 17 per cent while the rest was controlled by the unlicensed operators. Sales came up to only RM31 million against the state's projection of RM130 million. That's not even 24 per cent.

The fact is KSSB was formed to put "the house in order", which means to check on the illegal operators and deliver the rightful amount of revenue to the state. So far it has failed on both counts.

Since the PKR-led Selangor government spoke so loudly about doing everything right as opposed to what many said was a nonsensical Barisan Nasional administration before March 2008, I now wait in much anticipation if the state will act swiftly and decisively to walk the talk.

SAME OLD @#%$!!!!!

2010-06-01T19:51:00.002+08:00

YES, you have read the heading correctly and I'm talking about how I'm describing this latest despicable and highly insensitive act by the Israelis.

There we are, half the world, including some countries known to have good relations with Israel, speaking in one voice to condemn. There have been demonstrations in many cities including our own KL, there was a marathon session of the UN Security Council which came out with an anti-climax of a statement, watered down most likely due to the influence of the Americans. The White House? It regrets, that's all -- regrets -- the deaths of those on board the ship that was boarded by commandos in international waters, in itself an unlawful and barbaric act.

You are expecting more? More strongly worded statements? Whatever for?

How the world has reacted so far is not going to affect the Israelis one bit. The condemnations after past atrocities have not altered the political landscape and have not moved the Israelis to remove the blockade of Gaza. The condemnations this time around are going to have the same effect.

Another resolution by the UN? That too is not going to make the Israelis sob with regret. What could possibly work is to impose sanctions, the way the Americans, British, Germans and others from the western world have been pushing against Iran and Iraq but never is an action like this ever suggested by them against Israel, no matter how brutal its regime and how indifferent it is towards international laws and conventions.

We have not seen the last of what kind of damage and harm the Israelis are capable of, if only what the world can manage is to merely condemn through demonstrations and statements.

MIC NEEDS A MAKE-OVER, NO TWO WAYS ABOUT IT

2010-05-31T02:19:00.002+08:00

IT'S a joke really, how one man can have almost limitless powers to do as he pleases within a political party.

Speak out against him and long-serving MIC president S. Samy Vellu will most likely sack you, which he has done countless times even to central working committee members duly elected by members.

S. Murugessan, appointed a secretary-general only seven months ago is an exception in that he gets to retain that CWC seat but he too has been removed from the appointed post. According to my friend at the New Straits Times, Samy has now appointed his eleventh sec-gen in 31 years!

The Gerakan Anti-Samy Vellu or GAS didn't seem to have much gas in it when only an estimated 5,000 people turned at its rally Sunday. If the organisers were expecting triple that number to attend -- and to comprise mostly MIC members -- I think they misread what the power of the president can do to put fear into members.

The fact is the powers vested in the president make it almost impossible for anyone to unseat him. Show the slightest hint of dissent and he sacks you. Given this freedom to do as he pleases, how many would dare to be seen to have the courage to challenge him?

Samy has said that he will go next year, some months before his term is due in 2012, but it really doesn't make much of a difference. What matters is whether those who take over the reins are prepared to give the party a make-over so that it doesn't continue to be a laughing stock by having rules and powers which are associated with 19th century politics, not this millennium.

I hope Samy's successor and others below him will have the decency to turn the party on its head, amend the constitution and start anew. Otherwise the MIC will become just another political party that has no relevance to Malaysian politics.

ALLEGATION WITHOUT PROOF IS CHEAP, WORTHLESS

2010-05-29T23:09:00.004+08:00

IT'S music to the ears of your believers who would immediately say "I told you so" but in essence what has been alleged against the PKR elected representatives who have left the party is nothing but a lot of noise and hot air.

It's a popular line that cannot go wrong, whatever your party, and is something we have been hearing for years but without proof, just like this latest round of claims by PKR adviser Anwar Ibrahim and his wife, party president Wan Azizah Ismail.

I don't know what Anwar meant when he said he had seen enough statements to show that the former PKR boys were indeed paid to desert the party. Statement as in words spoken by people? Statement as in a bank statement? What?

Azizah was more specific, mentioning a bribe of RM2 million each plus contracts. But despite being so sure they have not lodged any report for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate, which to me contradicts what their party says it resolves to do -- and that is wipe out corruption of the face of this country. Instead Azizah says she just wants to tell the public. But how can the neutral public believe her when she has not substantiated her claims with evidence?

The point is what husband and wife have said is something you and I can say each day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. What's the problem when you don't have to produce any proof? Is time for the PKR deserters to take them to court, the way Anwar has been talking some people to court.

IT'S THE MIC WHO WILL LOSE OUT

2010-05-27T23:26:00.002+08:00

NOT the first time we have heard a component party of the Barisan Nasional threatening "to review its membership".

The MIC is the latest to do so, coming many months after similar sentiments were mentioned by the MCA and Gerakan after the 12th general elections in March 2008. So far none has come close to actually doing it, which means that it's been one hell of a big sandiwara. Roughly translated it could mean shadow play or a stage show, theatrics.

MIC Youth leader T. Mohan recently spoke about the need to review his party's position within BN after Vell Pari, the son of the the president S. Samy Vellu, boldly alleged that Umno was behind a move by a sacked MIC Youth leader to launch a movement against Samy. As I know it Mohan and Vell are cousins but Samy was quick to say that the statement from his son did not reflect the party's official position.

After reading what Vell had said I understood that he was speaking out in defence of his father.

But back to Mohan. I've said it before and I'll say it again -- these people should not just threaten only to have the issue end in a whimper. Leave if you feel strongly enough.

Who needs who more? Where would the MIC be if it is out of the Barisan? From what we have seen in the last few years since some months before PRU12, the support from the Indian community has shifted away from the MIC, especially from the more radical segments of the community.

I'm sure a lot of people can visualise what will eventually happen to the MIC if it leaves the Barisan and that will also be the scenario for Gerakan. Both did badly in the last general elections and most likely will not do any better on their own. The only alternative available is Pakatan Rakyat but they are not going to gladly open their doors to Gerakan, not when the Dap has already parked itself there. MIC will have to contend with the more hardline Indian politicians who were previously with the now banned Hindraf and those with the Dap. They too are not going to readily embrace the MIC. Whatever for?

INDISCIPLINE IN BADMINTON NOTHING NEW

2010-05-25T23:53:00.002+08:00

AFTER the initial blame game which saw our national shuttlers blaming everyone and everything else except themselves another picture has emerged -- and this unfavourable to them.

Indiscipline amongst national Malaysian athletes is no longer news. In a big way we first had the footballers and bribery, the long hours of fun, fun and more fun. Some senior hockey players also had a liking for life after dark but since hockey is a very distant cousin to football in terms of popularity, not many in the press were aware of their indiscretions.

Actually this revelation about our badminton players keeping late nights does not surprise me because there had been instances of past players also lacking the discipline necessary to help them hold on to their positions at the top for long, unlike the Indonesians, Chinese and South Koreans.

There were problems in 1982 which by my calculation were a major contributor to our dismal performance against England in Gloucester. There were also problems two years later when we again lost to England at Stadium Negara.

In 1984, while on my rounds to watch the teams in training at the stadium, I saw how the South Koreans went about doing their warm-up and cooling down diligently even in the absence of their officials. One night the Indonesian players who were watching a game got out of their seats on realising that it was close to 10pm. I remember seeing Hastomo Arbi in the group. They all left to get the team bus to send them back to the hotel. Our players? A few of the senior ones were still there lepaking (having it easy) at the stadium foyer although it was close to midnight!!

The Thomas Cup is a team competition and everyone who is part of the contingent must behave like a team member. No ifs and buts. But many know how one senior player in 1982 went about on his own only because he could not stand the sight one one coach. Some years later the team had two camps -- one comprising players under BAM and the other those who signed up with the now defunct Nusa Mahsuri.

Only strong and firm leadership will do it for Malaysian sports but badminton seems to lack clear focus. Imagine association president Nadzmi Salleh first praising the players for their "ability to self-appraise" only for him to shift his position when the press and others reacted negatively to what the players had to say. And now the shit about indiscipline at the training camp. Too much of the good life.......

BEST WISHES TO PETRA IN LONDON -- OR ANYWHERE AT ALL OUTSIDE MALAYSIA

2010-05-23T22:51:00.004+08:00

IT sounded like one heck of a bold, upfront challenge. Lots of heroics that can only come from a bloke with balls of steel. The only problem is Raja Petra got his wires all crossed.

Worse, the audience said to number about 300 at a law school which by my reckoning cannot be an old or historical institution, didn't seem to spot the gaps in his story. Or rather the story I read from one Shannon Teoh at the Malaysian Insider portal didn't say if anyone from the floor asked Petra the obvious.

The MI piece's heading was "RPK dares Malaysia to fight him in UK" while the intro says that he "has thrown the gauntlet to Malaysian authorities, challenging them to bring standing charges against him to the courts in the UK -- his territory".

I would have understood it well if the fugitive blogger had challenged Malaysia to try and get him extradited from London but no, he has challenged that charges for offences allegedly committed in Malaysia be filed in the courts in Britain! If Petra said that even a first-year law student can tell you that it is for the prosecution to prove his guilt instead of him having to prove his innocence, I can tell you that even a court interpreter can explain to you that you have to be charged and tried within the jurisdiction under which an offence is alleged to have been committed.

If I were in power here I don't think I would bother to try and have Petra extradited. Try that and lose your request and he will tell the world "I always knew I was right and that they were always going to fail". Win, bring him back to KL and he'll spin it to make him look like a martyr, which I'm sure is what he wishes. So Petra is best left to his own devices in London or wherever he chooses to be -- as long as he is not in Malaysia.

The world may have become much smaller with the Internet and all but a Petra living in London complete with burly bodyguards is less effective than a Petra causing much mischief from his home in Sungai Buloh or from a laptop at a kopitiam in KL or PJ. Being in London makes it easier for a few to meet him but most who wish to see him will not be able to do so.

Allowing him to live comfortably in a country of his mother's ancestry makes him less effective and less of a mischief so why should we bother to try and get him extradited?

NEVER WITHOUT AN OPINION - BUT ONLY WHEN OUT OF CIRCULATION

2010-05-20T22:28:00.004+08:00

WE haven't heard the last about problems in Sime Darby Berhad, the world's largest plantation group, after it was revealed recently that it had lost more than RM1 billion due to cost over-runs.

Not unusually the board decided that group CEO Ahmad Zubir Mursyid should take leave of absence until his contract expires later in the year. My friend Rocky has written at his blog that the actual amount could exceed RM1.8 billion but anything more he has about the group will be written in the next installment.

Another who has decided to speak out is one Dr. Chan Chin Cheung, Sime Darby's board member from 1974 to 1992. He was also on the board of Bank Negara and the old Bank Bumi and comes from a wealthy family. Chan has written a piece published by the MalaysianInsider in which he outlines the shit within the group over the years.

Good job. In less than 10 minutes of reading time I managed to learn so much about so many instances in which the Sime management was said to have acted cowboy style. But in so doing Chan is no different from many others who have a lot to say and are critical of things as they are but were muted while they were on board a company, a political party or a government.

Chan makes clear of his position in relation to the many transactions as outlined in his piece -- that always had a question or two and was not in favour of these decisions. Fine again and I have not problems with that but if indeed Chan was in disagreement and didn't think that was not the right way for one of our biggest companies to operate, why did he stay for 18 long years on its board? Why didn't he leave on his own accord instead of waiting until those above him decided it was time for him to go?

If he had done that -- resigned on his own based on principles -- I would be the first to circulate the piece I had just read. Instead I decided that the best thing to do to his piece was to read and destroy.

BLEEDING FOR KRUNGTHEP

2010-05-19T23:07:00.002+08:00

I HAVE always loved Bangkok, especially those times in the mid-80s when I had a love interest. She's been long gone from the city of her birth place, having decided to leave behind a failed marriage, but I still count on many Thais as my good friends.

I love the country too and its peculiar ways. Well, most of the time, except for the one occasion when some Thai Malay goons decided to be funny with my friends and I as we walked past the border at Padang Besar to take a taxi to Haadyai.

Since about 15 years ago I have not made that many trips to Bangkok but continue to feel an affiliation with and affection for the city of about 10 million people. My Thai "auntie" still has a shop on Suriwongse Raod and has been a most hospitable host to many of my friends and relatives. It was good to know that the bloody action in the last two months was confined to Silom Road, parallel to Suriwongse and about 300 metres apart.

With such fond memories of the city with perhaps the longest name in the world -- Krungthep Mahanakorn is an abbreviated name -- it bleeds my heart to see the news daily on TV of the mayhem that has seen about 40 deaths so far. As is often the case, a straight-forward peaceful protest eventually escalated into violence.

Buildings have been set on fire and the scene these last couple of days have been one of the sky filled with thick, dark plumes of smoke from burning tyres. And now a curfew throughout the night, the first since the 1992 rioting. Imagine one of Asia's most vibrant and carefree cities restricted in its movements by a curfew. Who would have thought.

Silom, Lumpini, Chidlom and those other busy places around Siam Square were all areas I used to frequent, often on long walks under the sun. Exactly the places where the Red Shirt protesters decided to put up camp and later to turn into street battle zones with the police and the army.

Several of the group' leaders today surrendered, albeit too late I think. Why the government didn't move in on them earlier is anyone's guess but everything that happened since about two months ago and all those decisions by the government do not surprise those familiar with Thai society, its government and the way they essentially do things.

They remain, again in their own peculiar ways, one of Asia's liberal societies, with a press that is acknowledged as free compared to many others in the region. I don't know about you but to me it is this freedom and liberal attitude that has caused so much damage a country otherwise known the world over for its hospitality and charm.

WHAT STRATEGY RASHID?

2010-05-18T01:00:00.002+08:00

WE got bundled out of the Thomas Cup semis after losing the first of three games against China in what every news report I read said was a most disappointing performance by our best ranked players.

Not many things in Malaysian sports, and that includes the performance of our athletes, surprise me. After all although I was never a sports journalist full-time I did cover some Malaysia Cup football games, rugby and the 1982 All-England and the worst of all defeats in our Thomas Cup history a few months after that, when we went down hardly fighting against England in Gloucester.

Since that defeat by China a few days ago I have looked and looked but could not find anything to help me agree with what Rashid Sidek, the former national singles No. 1 and now the national singles coach, had said. The fact that the report did not have him elaborating was of no help either but I did see the remark by Rashid clearly written: "Our strategy went haywire."

That's what left me stumped. What strategy? That we were not confident of Lee Chong Wei beating Lin Dan but expected our first doubles to get the better of the Chinese? Can't be because the latter had a better record against our boys head-to-head. Or that our second and third singles Wong Chong Hann and Hafiz Hashim would stun the Chinese with a bit of encouragement from our rarely tested and scratch second doubles pair? Can't be this either. So now I'm hoping that people who know badminton and are reading this would help me out to make sense of what by reckoning is a nonsensical observation.

I don't know what the BAM will do next but previous press reports suggested that they may ask doubles coach Rexy Mainaky to pack off. If the coaches only are to be blamed I would not hesitate to ask the whole lot to go.

But the simple fact of the matter is that we just don't have the depth. We simply do not have enough players who can consistently play well at the top in first grade tournaments and that you will have to link to the association's development programme. If lack of depth is the issue then the coaching cannot be entirely at fault because development should rightly be handled by a director of development or an academy. Indonesia too looks to be having the same problem since about 3 or 4 years ago, where once they had more than a few singles and doubles players who ruled the badminton world alternately with the Chinese.

CHECK-MATE IN KOTA BHARU

2010-05-13T23:56:00.003+08:00

I DON'T know how many of you realise this but there was a massive check-mate in Kota Bharu recently which should help to resolve the dispute within the Kelantan royal family.

If the sultan had made it to Singapore for further treatment, as intended by some members of his family but without the involvement of the state or the regent Tengku Faris, it could have made the situation worse since certain personalities were expected to continue to shield the ruler from being examined and evaluated by a government-appointed independent medical panel.

But having been examined by the panel, the sultan is now back at Istana Mahkota where one branch of his family has been making its own arrangements to treat him, which is unusual in this country given the simple fact that he is a sultan.

And as assured by Attorney-General Gani Patail, the sultan is also now free to be taken to Singapore as planned and if so wished by people keeping him confined to within the walls of Istana Mahkota.

The fact also remains that the Kelantan constitution demands that a decision is made at the end of 12 consecutive months regarding the condition of the sultan in relation to the throne. The deadline is about now and the report by the independent panel will be the one crucial document which the Succession Council will have to depend on when deciding on what happens to the throne next.

Decide they must if Kelantan doesn't want to find itself still without a sultan after more than 12 months and with it a host of legal and constitutional complications and ramifications. It's not about choosing one or the other; it's just that the constitution demands it.

THE LOW POINTS IN MALAYSIAN BADMINTON

2010-05-12T22:52:00.004+08:00

ON March 16 I wrote here about Lee Chong Wei's victory for the All-England singles badminton title over Japan's Kenichi Tago.

Those who saw the game on TV saw a bad line decision that called the shuttle in in favour of Chong Wei when it was clearly out by about 5cm. A big part of the country including the press decided that it was an occasion to rejoice, although the press was well aware of the dubious line call. I must have been one of the rare exceptions.

The title of my post was "Not a title to be proud of". In in I wrote about hoe Tago and Japan may get to avenge that defeat yet -- in the Thomas Cup final rounds now being played at our Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil. Somewhere at the bottom of my post I wrote "But it is not the end of the road for Tago and Japan", mentioning that Japan had another strong singles and one reasonably good pair.

The fact is last night two of their three singles won to add to the one doubles win to give them a surprise 3-2 win after Malaysia had led 2-0. I'll spare you the rest of the embarrassing details like how one player said he succumbed to pressure while another had an ugly outburst in reaction to taunts from the spectators.

I wasn't there at Bukit Jalil but was present in Gloucester to cover another embarrassing night in 1982 when we lost to England in the quarter-final and two years later was a spectator at the Stadium Negara when England repeated that feat. I still remember vividly how Ciro Ciniglio, England's long-serving manager then, pumping his hands into the air as he exclaimed "We've done it.... We've beaten you in this heat, this cauldron!"

As I write this piece we are tied 2-2 with Denmark with the last singles to be played. Our second singles Wong Choong Hann tonight lost again, his second consecutive loss in this campaign. I don't know about you but I won't be surprised if the Danes pip us to the post and get through to the semis at our expense.

THE 6-KM CAR CHASE THAT WASN'T

2010-05-11T20:55:00.003+08:00

ONE has been charged and more may follow, depending if there's evidence to show culpability.

The fact that Corporal Jenain Subi has been charged in relation to the death of 14-year-old driver Aminulrasyid Aamzah recently has cooled things down a bit but the police surely must know that this will not be the last time any incident in which a firearm is used will be subject to public scrutiny.

Never mind the fate of the other cops who were involved in the car chase that early morning in Shah Alam but the police's top brass would want to find out more about the inputs given them by those lower down the line connected to the case.

Remember the statement about a 6-km car chase and that Aminulrasyid had also beaten a few traffic lights?

As of now it appeared that the car chase involving two or three police cars could have been over a distance of maybe 2kms only. If the boy went past a red traffic light, most likely it was the one in Section 10 or 11, not too far away from his house.

In the meantime the newspapers continue to publish letters from readers regarding the case. Some show their appreciation for the good work by the police but caution that they too must abide by the law and procedures. More than a few send a message to remind parents that it is their responsibility to inculcate good values in their children while showing little sympathy for kids who roam about town well past their bedtime. For this parents are the ones solely responsible should anything untoward happen.

FORM THE COMMISSION

2010-05-08T22:02:00.005+08:00

IT hasn't been a good 10 days or so for the police, with the case of another teenager being shot while being pursued by the police. Unlike the Shah Alam case in which Aminulrasyid Amzah was killed, Mohd. Azizi has undergone surgery in hospital and is not reported to be in danger.

The cop in question has been suspended from duty immediately while CPO SAC 1 Osman Salleh has apologised to the victim and his family for the incident.

Under the police's Standard Operating Procedures a cop is to fire his gun only when his life is threatened and Osman stated that the cop's life was never in anyway threatened. Hence the initial disciplinary action against him.

Not many may realise this but that is the risk we have when we arm all our cops. The temptation is always there to use it under even the slightest provocation and when that happens, it may be too late because a life may have been lost.

I am for the proposal to have the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission. If it is good and can protect the interests of both sides -- the public and the police force -- why should anyone object? But when the police did not agree to this recommendation in 2005 by the Royal Commission on the Enhancement of the Management and Operations of the Police, the government agreed to a watered down version to cover all enforcement agencies, to be known as the Enforcement Agencies Integrity Commission.

It's been almost a year but nothing has been done since to form the EAIC. Look at the title of the two commissions and you will notice that the EAIC differs significantly from the proposed IPCMC. One focuses on integrity while the other is about complaints and misconduct.

While the investigations into the death of Aminulrasyid continues, there remains characters who do not want to be left out.

I read yesterday a statement from Pas Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad which is not going to be of any help to either the victim's family or the investigators. In fact it could make it worse for main witness Azamuddin Omar, who appears to be the source for the story by Khalid. This is what Khalid said:

"The boys thought the car belonged to a VIP and the motorcyclists were outriders. They were convinced it was a big shot when a police car started to chase them."

On the police questioning Azamuddin, Khalid had this to say: "I feel the police are deliberately questioning him to find inconsistencies in his story, " adding that the police might then accuse the boy of being an unreliable witness.

The first part about what the boys (Aminulrasyid and Azamuddin) thought of the situation is definitely something new which only Khalid has mentioned. Who else can be the source of this story if not Azamuddin or his family. An unreliable witness? It doesn't matter what the police think. If ever this case goes to court, which I think it will, or alternatively an inquest is held, it is not for the police to decide which witness is reliable and which isn't. An MP like Khalid who has a degree is expected to understand this elementary principle.

ALREADY THERE ARE CONTRADICTIONS

2010-05-05T23:22:00.002+08:00

WILL spare the details but if you have been following the press reports on the Aminulrasyid case religiously, you should by now be aware of the many contradictions on the chain of events -- and by all sides mind you.

We have a government appointed panel comprising eminent persons in society to probe the probe and there are some who are dissatisfied, questioning the scope of work and the legal basis. If you too want to get to the bottom of things, is the legality something that should matter?

My sympathies though go to 14-year-old Azamuddin Omar, on whose lap Aminulrasyid was reported to have died last week from a shot from a police gun. Again without going into the details I have seen little, little contradictions in his stories about what happened that night, both through the press and in versions circulated by those who know the family or the kids.

The adults around him should know that what matters eventually is what transpires in court or before any other authority and not what is being said outside of it, no matter how close to the truth a version is. If this case eventually goes to court there will be a time when Azamuddin will have to take the witness box alone, to face tough questioning by the prosecutors and other legal counsels. There he won't have his family, friends and others to flank him as close as possible to provide support and encouragement the way they can do now.

The sooner the investigations are wrapped the better. Best too if someone as young as Azamuddin is kept away from public scrutiny to try and get over a traumatic experience and not used to pursue something that may be advantageous to others but not even an iota for him.

CURFEW? WHY NOT.....

2010-05-05T23:04:00.002+08:00

SOMETIMES I don't understand the attitude of Malaysians towards social issues, specifically what needs to be done to find a solution.

Recently the debate on whether there should be a night curfew for young people was re-ignited following last week's fatal shooting by the police of a 15-year-old boy in Shah Alam, after the boy and a classmate just as young went on a "joyride" in his brother-in-law's car. Being 15 he of course was too young to have a driving licence.

The other question which some people think is irrelevant given what ultimately happened to the boy (and who did it) was why he should be out of the house in the early hours of the morning.

The idea of a curfew was talked about several years ago when the press reported on the social problem that became to be known as the bohsia -- that of under-aged girls being involved in all kinds of mischief, including of the sexual kind. I remember that one man who was very much in favour of the night curfew was former Perlis mentri besar Shahidan Kassim. Some immediately lynched him, justifying their displeasure by arguing that parenting should be left to parents, not the law.

As many are aware, a night curfew is nothing unusual even in the United States, known the world over as one with a liberal attitude towards most issues. In some of its smaller cities a siren goes when it's time for the curfew to start and parents whose kids are found in town during the curfew can expect a phone call from the cops. Singapore and some other developed countries too have a similar curfew.

But for one reason and the other not many people here are in favour, with some saying that to have such a curfew would be to deny the rights of our young (read under-age). Rights? I agree but there is also what we call the law. That is why we have an age limit to qualify for a driving licence, to apply for a passport, to vote and to patronise a bar or a disco.

The bottom-line is there is a time for everything and parents should be the ones to impress this point upon their kids. Failure to do so should mean that the parents must be held accountable.

You still want to dispute my argument? I was brought up in a different way, by a father who never believed even for a second that his children should not be involved in any adventure while they were still in school and growing up. You only do that -- and that too within the limits he expects you to always be mindful of -- after you have come of age and have the means to do it.

I CAN TALK BUT NOT YOU......

2010-05-03T23:43:00.002+08:00

WHILE the case of the death of the 15-year-old boy in Shah Alam following a shooting by the police is still being given prominence by the press, the family of Aminulrasyid Amzah wants everyone, especially the police, to stop making statements that could hurt the feelings of the family. Everyone else that is, except the family.

I'm writing this shortly after reading a news item on what the boy's friend, 14-year-old Azamuddin Omar, told journalists today at his friend's house. Azamuddin was the friend who went out late in the evening in a car driven by Aminulrasyid, thereby breaking the law.

Azamuddin is reported to be the son of a cop. If indeed he is, his father should have advised him that while the investigation is on-going, it's best that he doesn't say anything else for public consumption. Someone should tell this boy that everything he says can and may be used against him later.

Amongst the things told by Azamuddin was that he fell into a drain after the car rammed into a tree. Thereafter he claimed to have been assaulted by five cops but managed to escape to his house.

Wait. I thought there were only four cops involved in the car chase which eventually resulted in Aminulrasyid's death? I'm not saying that Azamuddin was lying but I find it hard to believe that a 14-year-old who must have been injured from the accident and the fall and must have been scared stiff because he knew he had committed a serious offence and that his friend had seconds earlier died on his lap would be able to escape after being assaulted by not one but five cops -- adults all, mind you.

But regardless of what actually happened that early morning, Azamuddin's claims at this point in time are not going to do anyone any good, certainly not for Aminulrasyid's family.

I have read many comments on the tragedy, with many blaming the police only and insisting that the only offence committed by Aminulrasyid was to drive without a licence. My position is that his family cannot be absolved of blame entirely.

Granted that driving without a licence was Aminulrasyid's offence in the first instance but that was to result in other offences which unfortunately ended in his death. First he grazed someone else's car, then there was this accident with a group of motorcylists who chased after him, he also beat several traffic lights and eventually also ended up being pursued by the police who could not at that time and under the circumstances tell who was behind the wheel.

As a member of the public my immediate impression of anyone running away from the police or anyone else in authority must have known that he had committed an offence and those chasing him may not have the slightest clue as to what the offence had been.

WORSE BUT BETTER? I'M LOST......

2010-04-27T05:05:00.002+08:00

NEVER mind the claim about vote-buying but Hulu Selangor has provided yet further proof that politicians can amaze and amuse.

It's perfectly normal for beaten PKR man Zaid Ibrahim to feel letdown. After all the big name within our national political landscape had just lost a Parliamentary by-election to an MIC candidate who was virtually an unknown outside his party until he began making the rounds in Hulu Selangor.

Hulu Selangor had always been a Barisan Nasional stronghold until the late Zainal Abidin Ahmad, a former Umno man himself, took the Parliamentary seat although Barisan had won the three state seats comfortably, giving the coalition a comfortable total majority of 6,175 votes from the three seats. It's not often that one party that wins all state seats within a constituency ends up losing the Parliamentary votes.

In March 2008 the Barisan's G. Palanivel won 49.78% of the valid votes but on Sunday P. Kamalanathan outdid him by 2.07%. And where Zainal Abidin secured 50.21% of the valid votes in 2008, Zaid could only manage 48.27%, giving him minus 1.94% compared to Zainal Abidin's total.

That being the case it simply means that regardless of the total margin of victory for the Barisan from the three state seats in 2008, this time around the coalition has done better while PKR, or rather Zaid, has done worse.

However in his immediate reaction after the result was announced, Zaid chose to touch on his margin of defeat against the Barisan's votes in the three state constituencies in 2008 while conveniently ignoring his performance against that of Zainal Abidin and also the gains made by Barisan through Kamal the MIC man.

OK, I failed my maths in school but I think I can fully understand simple logic. If I didn't it means that my teachers got it wrong in school, which I'm sure they didn't.

Last night I was kept further amused by the remarks from Kelantan MB Nik Aziz Nik Mat. In trying to defend the Pakatan Rakyat's defeat the grand old man from Kelantan said that his party people were not too familiar with by-elections and especially so in this case when they had to face a Barisan campaign led by Umno's top two leaders and a former party president in Mahathir Mohamed. And there I was with the knowledge that Pas had in fact participated actively in nine of the 10 by-elections we have had since after March 2008, the only exception perhaps being the one in Batang Ai.

Defeat can certainly bring out the funny side of even the most seasoned and academically qualified of politicians. I'm sure we haven't seen the last of the lot, not by a few miles.

ZAID USES OTHERS FOR JUSTIFICATION

2010-04-23T22:26:00.003+08:00

I DON'T agree with anyone who wants to smear someone by digging up his past, especially if that person has paid his penance.

But no matter how much we disapprove, a politician like Zaid Ibrahim, the former Umno man who is now PKR candidate for the Hulu Selangor Parliamentary by-election, must always be prepared for the worst. Unfortunate though it may seem, politics in many places is like that.

When stories about his past (and present too) began appearing online, almost all initially anonymously, those with the opposition immediately pointed a finger at Umno and the Barisan Nasional, Zaid's opponent this Sunday. There is no way anyone can tell for sure.

For all we know it could be any of Zaid's former disgruntled law firm partner. Or it could be any of the many staff he had. Anyone.

I like the part about the race-horses the best. Under normal circumstances horse racing involves a lot of gambling and the owner of a winning horse in a major race in Britain or Australia stand to gain millions. So if an owner pockets such a gain from an event involving gambling, the question is "Is that not gambling?"

Zaid admitted to owning something like four race-horses, insisted that he did not gamble but cleverly evaded the part about winnings from his horses. He even went on to justify his fondness for race-horses by saying that many Muslims elsewhere too own race-horses.

This, I thought, wasn't such a smart and wise justification because it was simply a case of two wrongs making a right.

HALILI MUST HAVE HIS REASONS

2010-04-21T20:21:00.004+08:00

I MUST first inform everyone that neuro-surgeon Dr. Halili Rahmat, two years my senior at boarding school, saved me from possible drowning 42 years ago during an outing at Ulu Kenas, outside of Kuala Kangsar.

And when I thought I had a medical problem two years ago it was to Halili that I went for a check-up but these are not the reasons why I'm writing about him.

We hardly meet and on the rare occasion we did some years ago, Halili hardly touched on politics. Instead a friend and I did and despite being a card-carrying Keadilan member then Halili refrained from participating in the debate, not even when we were not complimentary on Anwar Ibrahim.

True he contested on an opposition ticket in two successive elections and was speculated recently as being a possible PKR candidate in the Hulu Selangor Parliamentary by-election. It is not to be, for Halili has not only quit PKR but has also gone a step further by joining Umno, much to the delight of his father.

The personal physician to opposition leader Anwar, a senior of ours in Kuala Kangsar, must have strong reasons to be a pioneer member of Keadilan way back in 1999. He was even caught in the excitement of the reformasi demos in late 1998 and only his medical ID saved him from arrest in the vicinity of KL's Central Market.

Honestly I'm happy that Halili is not contesting although I need not necessarily agree that you should also jump ship to join an opposing camp. But then again someone as bright as Halili must again have strong reasons this time to surprise everyone by joining Umno. The question of timing is his alone to decide. We we can't hold him to ransom for that and ask "Why now?"

Somehow I think Halili is not cut out to make it big in politics. In fact I think he is totally out of place there. For that reason I am inclined to think that he would contribute best to the country and the people by focusing on his expertise and skills as a neuro-surgeon whose name the country got to know when he operated on singer Zaiton Sameon in the late 80s following a road accident.

KELANTAN MUST DO IT RIGHT

2010-04-17T23:00:00.002+08:00

THE front page blurb in the NST last Thursday said "Sister alleges plot to oust Kelantan" but the heading on Page 4 for that item read ""Sultan's sister reveals plot to seize throne". (Highlights in bold my own.)

Following the report lodged on Wednesday by Tengku Merjan, an older sister of the sultan, police are now investigating, as is the normal procedure. Since we haven't heard of the lady providing unchallenged evidence, whatever she told the police would remain a claim yet to be proven, an allegation. An earlier NST report mentioned Tengku Merjan as being the wife of Tengku Aziz Hamzah who a few weeks ago was removed as head of the state's royal Council of Succession. His brother Razaleigh, the former finance minister and the No. 2 in the council, has also commented on the medical condition of the sultan and has given his opinion on what needed to be done next regarding the throne.

My understanding is that sometimes late next month a decision has to be made regarding the condition of the sultan. Specifically it has to be decided if he is incapacitated to continue ruling the state or otherwise. I don't remember any of the other eight states in Peninsular Malaysia with a sultan facing this situation before in modern times.

To clear all doubts and deflect all allegations of impropriety and favouritism, the state government must ensure that everything it does is within the law. The least it can do in the absence of any written declaration on how it must be done is to go by convention. And every interested party must agree that this has to be the only way.

First the state must appoint a panel of medical experts who will then examine and evaluate the sultan's condition. The state will have to officially ask the Health Ministry or Malaysian Medical Council or hospitals like the IJN to recommend the experts who must then be allowed to go about doing their job without any interference or undue influence from anyone.

This is not a normal medical problem where the person concerned, that is the sultan, has the right to determine who his physician should be. No, it is a matter for the state to decide. When talking about the state no one must ignore senior officials like the mentri besar, chief mufti and the comptroller of the royal household.

One thing though I'm quite confident the state will do and that is it will respect the laws, rules and regulations. I don't think the state would want to be dragged into any unnecessary controversy over an issue that has become so contentious.

For now it is not about who wants to sit on the throne. It's about whether the sultan is in a condition to continue to rule. If the evaluation by the experts says that he is incapacitated at the end of 12 months since the time he was admitted to hospital, then a successor has to be found, as provided for by the state constitution. Who will take over is a decision to be made by the Council of Succession. There is no either or.

CELEBRATING A NON-EVENT

2010-04-15T15:53:00.003+08:00

THE first time I joined in the Songkran celebrations was something like 26 years in Haadyai with my friend, his family and his mother. There was another trip to Bangkok a couple of years later around the same period but I was lucky that no one seemed to be celebrating along the route I took. The last time I got drenched during Songkran was also in Haadyai, in the early 90s.

There have been celebrations in Malaysia too but on a much smaller scale and almost entirely by the Thai community within the grounds of their temple, so imagine my surprise when told recently that a few entertainment spots were also having a Songkran celebration.

I honestly couldn't see the benefit of it all because to have a truly exciting time, people around you must understand what the festival is all about and they are game about getting wet as well. Those who don't may be offended, and inconvenienced, if someone decides to throw a pail of water at them when all they wanted to do was to walk around KL's entertainment strip and find a place to bend their elbows.

My favourite bar was one of the few that decided that it must not miss out on Songkran although I could not understand why a nightspot which regularly sees probably no more than five Thais each night amongst its hundreds of patrons should mess up part of its premises all for Songkran.

It was obvious too that those who eventually decided to throw friends and some foreign skirts into a small pool didn't quite know what Songkran meant. But at least no one decided that I too should not be left dry. I wouldn't have found it amusing, for that was not the reason why I went there last night in the first place. You see, I'm more into bird-watching........

I've always wondered too why our clubs and bars and hotels should be celebrating halloween when 99% of the world doesn't even bother. As far as I know only the Americans are big into halloween but us?

More often than not almost all the people in a bar that are dressed in costumes are staff of the place! The odd patrons who decide to become a ghost or an orang utan above the neck that evening do so only because they know in advance that there are prizes to be won for best costumes. But no contest mate. Three costumes awaiting three prizes........ How ridiculous we are sometimes.

THE THAIS REJECTED THEM AS EARLY AS 20 YEARS AGO

2010-04-14T00:17:00.003+08:00

FOR a long while many years ago not a day went by without a press report on one kind of mischief or the other by Indonesian workers or migrants. If it wasn't a murder involving their own kind it was one house break-in after the other.

Later the Africans, particularly the Nigerians, gained some notoriety. They still do, with one TV news recently showing some of them running helter-skelter on being chased by the Rela men and some other enforcement officers who didn't look like they were going to succeed because they were in boots of the combat type and not running shoes! Not very smart, eh, our boys?

But at least the news report did not quote the enforcement boys saying that they could not quite catch up with the Africans because they were much bigger and tended to be aggressive, as was the shameful explanation given some years ago by some cops when a group of Africans escaped while being transported to a holding camp!!

In the last few months another nationality has been making the news, all for the wrong reasons. Usually it's either they are caught at the KLIA trying to smuggle in some drugs or in an apartment somewhere which they have turned into a drug processing or manufacturing lab.

There's another ugly side to the Iranians which I don't think many Malaysians are aware of and this has everything to do with their behaviour and reputation. Many frequent the nightspots in town and have earned the reputation of being the bad boys -- either cheating the female company they fancy or getting involved in needless fights, even when hopelessly outnumbered.

For that matter more and more Middle-eastern types (Mets) are getting into all sorts of trouble, thus hardly helping with the already battered perception of them by the world. Not all of them are Muslims but most are and this image of them does not help enhance the image of Islam either.

Israel would not be anywhere close to what it is now if only the Mets show the same kind of aggression and determination in the region's conflict with the former.

I am however not surprised that the Mets are behaving the way they do. If they were such good people who others have no hesitation in welcoming, the owners of the bars in Pattaya would not have put up notices outside their premises as early as 20 years ago to tell the whole world how they felt about the Mets. The signs read "Arabs (meaning Mets) not welcomed."

A DEPRIVED LOT? WHAT IS THERE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT?

2010-04-11T23:27:00.003+08:00

TO be honest I know very little about the recently announced New Economic Model. Neither have I made any attempt to read up on the plan. But what I do know is about a brief report that was carried by Al-Jazeera the day the PM unveiled the plan.

It was brief and because it was brief, it scratched only bits and pieces of the surface. There were many generalisations, unsubstantiated by facts and figures. Generally that item touched on the dissatisfactions by the non-Malays on economic opportunities but I'm not going to go into facts and figures myself.

What I want to write about is from my own observations -- of what I see and know -- and to an extent, what people tell me.

Whatever the statistics I don't see many compelling reasons why the non-Malays should have too many complaints about so-called lack of opportunities. The Chinese control our economy, from the down on the ground retail sector and wholesaling and everything else and right up to the biggest names in corporate Malaysia.

Drive around some of the upmarket neighbourhoods in the Klang Valley and you will notice that most of the biggest and expensive homes in Damansara Heights, Bangsar, PJ's Section 16, Country Heights and the Tropicana gated community are Chinese owned. So too the more expensive apartments.

Thus I cannot agree with anyone who keeps on insisting that the non-Malays have been or are being marginalised. Whatever said about the ways of the Malays, by and large they are an accommodative people. It is for this reason that the ethnic minorities in Malaysia have never had it so good compared to the ethnic minorities in almost all other countries in this region.

When my fellow school's old boys were debating this issue online some months ago one of the boys suggested that anyone who has any doubts and grouses should take a drive from Thailand, across the peninsular to Singapore and then hop on to Indonesia and the Philippines to see for themselves how the ethnic minorities there are treated, both from a racial and religious perspective. Perhaps they will then realise how fair this country has been to its own ethnic minorities, despite (admittedly) the unfairness of certain policies.

Talking about our socio-political and economic environments reminds me of a letter in the NST of April 7 from a one Dr. Shaari Isa from KL. It was a well thought-out piece so give it a read. It should help you understand this country, if you want to that is.