Thursday, March 27, 2008

The Murderer Named Anu Bah.





“Anu, dia orang tengah anu bah…” was the operator’s reply.

???????

I asked how much longer the repairs would take.

“Anu bah, boss….” answered the operator.

???????




Rantings, Rantings and more Rantings

The power was out for 5 hours today.

I returned ‘home’ from work today with a new hamster cage and great enthusiasm to get my two spoiled brats settled in their new and larger home. I was greeted by total darkness. The power must have been out for quite a while already because the fridge was all warm and clammy.

I called Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) to report the outage. They knew about it already. I asked if any action has already been taken to investigate the power failure.

“Anu, dia orang tengah anu bah…” was the operator’s reply.

???????

I asked how much longer the repairs would take.

“Anu bah, boss….” answered the operator.

???????

I said thank you or something like that and hung up.

I was expected to naturally understand what she meant exactly when she anu-ed me. If I had not been in Sabah for two years already, I would have died from exasperation trying to carry a conversation that makes sense with a Sabahan.

What in the world is ANU??? It’s definitely not algebra, cos Sabahans are not famed mathematicians.

Which smart ass Sabahan/Filipino/Indonesian pioneered the use of the word anu in Sabah?

Everything and anything seem to be anu here. It can represent whatever and ever anyone wants it to.

Anu is employed in all Sabah conversation in all forms - as a noun, pronoun, adjective, transitive verb, adverb and even on its own as an intransitive verb, as demonstrated by my two-minute ‘conversation’ with the SESB operator.

Anu is probably the next most versatile word in the world after ‘fuck’.

I spent my first year in Sabah trying to make sense of what Sabahans were telling me inasmuch as they were trying to understand my Peninsular Malaysian accent.

I’ve given up. Now I just anu them in return for their plentiful anu bahs.

The rot is too deep to repair. Maybe I’m overreacting to the ubiquity of a local slang, or maybe I sincerely feel that effective communication is a yardstick of the progress of a community.

It’s tremendously sad to see potentially-intelligent Sabahan children trying to communicate with anu riddled all over their sentences and daily conversations. Instead of learning new words and broadening their vocabulary, these young minds are emulating their parents, taking the easy way out by employing anu as a substitute for anything and everything they are not sure of. As a result, we have the Sabahans of today – poor communicators, never specific in the message they are attempting to convey and totally poor candidates for any intellectual discussion.

That is probably why they are more passionate in voting for their Akademi Fantasia representative rather than spend time and money reading and writing. When everything is a potential anu, when everything has once been an anu for the most part of one’s life, it’s bound to be difficult trying to write and read something un-anu.

It’s probably why they are deceived election after election with more promises of anu by their local anu politicians. When the DAP/PKR teams flew over from Semenanjung with reason and logic but no anu, the message reached a boundary too huge to surpass.

In my mind, I can picture the Bung-Mokhtar-like politicians visiting the local villages, fire off a barrage of anu in their campaign speeches and still receive a standing ovation from the crowd.

Not every Kadazandusunbajaumurut Sabahan is guilty of this crime of murdering effective communication but certainly, the majority of local folk here are anu-ing without restraint. There has got to be a limit to the number of roles a local slang can play if there were to be effective communication within the local community. How can any community progress if they can’t even communicate their thoughts and views and questions clearly and specifically?

There are many things I can blame BN/UMNO for – corruption, crime, Project IC, healthcare, education etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. This anu thing is one that I never will fault the BN/UMNO for. The dumb politicians were never responsible for creating and propagating the anu culture among Sabahans young and old.

Why should they?

After all, anu means penis in Malay back over in Semenanjung Malaysia.

Surely they don’t want to be referred to as genitals, or do they?























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Ethnic Cleansing in Malaysia - Reality or Myth?


Have you watched the latest Rambo installment?

I am no advocate of violence and bloodshed but apart from the orgy of gore and blood, John Rambo aka Rambo IV is pretty commendable in its message on the ongoing ethnic cleansing of the Karen people by the Burmese government.
This article is not about the Karen people though. It’s about Malaysians, and Hindraf’s allegation of a systematic ethnic cleansing exercise.

When the ruling party practices divide and rule...the threat of ethnic cleansing is received stealthily but clearly.



Ethnic Cleansing in Malaysia – Reality or Myth?

Have you watched the latest Rambo installment?

I am no advocate of violence and bloodshed but apart from the orgy of gore and blood, John Rambo aka Rambo IV is pretty commendable in its message on the ongoing ethnic cleansing of the Karen people by the Burmese government.

I was in the Burmese-Thai border in late 2005 on a ten-day missions trip. Our group visited six Karen settlements, with populations ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. It goes without saying that the Karen refugees in the Thailand border are impoverished and underprivileged. Most of them can effortlessly pack their life belongings in a laptop case. What struck me most was not their destitute state but their determination to achieve self-sufficiency. With limited facilities and little support, they have built schools, hygienic latrines, productive farms and spirited churches. Suffice to say, the Karen people are in general very resourceful and self-reliant compared to most Malaysians, especially the privileged lot that are legally more equal than others.

This article is not about the Karen people though. It’s about Malaysians, and Hindraf’s allegation of a systematic ethnic cleansing exercise.

Admittedly, there is no ethnic cleansing in any degree similar to the one taking place in Burma. Malaysians of all races (except those in jail and under ISA detention) are walking freely, talking casually and working tirelessly. With the exception of the annual UMNO general assembly, no armed group is lobbying for bloodshed and banishment of any particular community.

On the other hand, wars and conflicts are no longer limited to tanks and missiles but constrictive economics sanctions as well.

Similarly, ethnic cleansing need not be manifested strictly in bloody slaughter and merciless executions, even though that too happening to Indian youths in police lock-ups. To a large extent, ethnic cleansing need not be demonstrated physically by the aggressor but is just as real if it is tangible to the party on the receiving end.

Let’s start from the cradle.

Non-Malays are generally hesitant to have more than two children.

Some say that it is just not our nature to breed like hamsters but this argument does not stand. Our grandparents and great grandparents mostly had many children, even while they were living as impoverished immigrants in the then Malaya. Let’s be frank, Barisan Nasional knows fully well why non-bumiputeras are reluctant to have many children. We need to think deeply about their future. We need to support them till the age of 23/25 years of age, and that’s a bloody long time in a human life of 70 years. We do not have sekolah asrama penuh all laid out to welcome our children even if they were high-achievers. Our children do not have the privileges of applying for the many delicious scholarships dished out every day by the rich Malay(sian) government. Like Gentiles in Jewish land, we are the dogs that await the crumps of bread that fall off the dining table, which is why the MCA is so proud to have ‘fought’ for 2000+ scholarships for Chinese students over a grand period of eleven years.

To ensure that our children have an educated future, we work like farm dogs trying to save enough for that university education, in view of the real likelihood that they might not be accepted into our mediocre local universities even if they fared supremely well in STPM over their matriculation counterparts. In order to save that enough of cash, we wander far and wide, effectively creating a non-Malay diaspora. When we do somehow manage to save enough ringgit, we convert it to dollars and pounds to send our children far and wide away from Tanah Melayu, exacerbating a vicious cycle of perpetual non-Malay diaspora. Slowly but surely, over the years since independence, it is estimated that a million non-bumiputeras have left the nation. The NEP has got to be the most successful policy in the history of UMNO.

Our non-bumi children have only a few choices in life compared to then endless openings accorded to the Malays under UMNO rule. Either we educate our children well to become qualified professionals, encourage them into business or send them to peddle illegal DVDs if they can't do the former two.

UMNO does not want more nons in Malaysia, but since they can't officially make that annoucement (yet), they relay the message less than subtly in the form of a half century of racial marginalization. When the going is tough for a certain community, they will to a certain degree limit their fecundity. Couple the apartheid efforts with active immigration of Muslim Indonesians and before long, the population of the unwanted citizens can be reduced tremendously.

My point is, when government policies effectively favor one community and discriminates another, it is nothing less than bloodless ethnic genocide.

That was only education, and education alone is an extremely powerful driving factor – one that drives unwanted citizens away from Malaysia, that is. How about the armed forces and civil service and legal illegal immigration?

There is little truth that non-bumis are uninterested to join the civil service or armed forces. There are more than enough personal testimonies of non-bumis applying for the civil service but end up being rejected. For people like myself who are already in the public sector, I see less and less reason to serve a government that discriminates even in healthcare services. Look at our armed forces – the military, the airforce and the Polis Diraja Malaysia. The Malays guys I used to catch as the deputy head prefect for playing truant and smoking in the school toilet are now handing me traffic summonses and soliciting duit kopi. Conversely, my non-Malay friends who graduated from University Malaya applied to join the police force but were rejected. Preposterous? That’s ethnic marginalization Malaysian style.

When the ruling party practices divide and rule and permits only a certain group of people to bear arms, the threat of ethnic cleansing is received stealthily but crystal clearly.

Come over to Sabah. Unskilled, untalented, uneducated and crime-prone illegals from Philipines/Indonesia roam the streets with unlimited liberty. They are the legal illegal immigrants. A young Filipino lady peddling her body by the streets of Jalan Gaya may hold a Malaysian IC while a highly qualified non-bumi professional requires a working permit.

My verdict is simple. I concur with Hindraf’s allegations of an on-going systematic ethnic cleansing in multi-racial Malaysia, not in a classic armed genocide but through variable measures whose final motive is to reduce the total population of certain communities.



Unlike the Karens in the latest Rambo flick, we will any John Rambo coming to our aid. We do have ourselves though, and change must begin in us. For starters, let’s us all be more vocal and vehement in condemning racial policies, even and especially when racial policies go in our favor, if ever.


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Monday, March 24, 2008

Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia - A True Story, A Blood Story



Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia – A True Story, A Blood Story

Not too long ago, I was the escorting doctor for a blood donation drive. It was held on a Saturday, and was organized by the Kota Kinabalu Branch of Gerakan. Now I didn’t know that initially of course, but even if I did, I would still have gone along. I’m no political fanatic who’ll refuse to participate in something noble organized by a party I oppose and detest much.

Starting at 8.00 am, it was mostly an uneventful day.

The time was nearing 4.15 pm. The blood drive was due to end by 5 pm. The organizing committee was getting restless, so was I. They were restless because Gerakan had yet to fulfill their aim of 50 donors. I was restless because the afternoon was warm and humid. I was on call the night before, barely slept an hour and by 5 pm that day, I would have been awake for almost 36 hours. At 4.30 pm, one of the organizing committee members brought 10 of his Filipino construction workers to the event. Sabahans were not as generous with their blood as they had expected. He had decided the only way to meet their promised target of 50 donors was by getting his labourers to part with 500cc of blood. He was cheered and commended by his other Gerakan accomplices.

I was less than impressed or amused.

Firstly, it was unethical to use one’s position of authority to coerce subordinates into an activity like blood donation. Nothing in medicine is without risk. Blood donation is no exception, both to the donor and the future recipient. Donating blood requires informed consent. His workers, uneducated as they are, may be informed about the adverse effects of blood donation, but were they truly consenting out of free will, or was it out of fear of employer backlash?

My blood was boiling.

I had known better not to judge a book by its cover, but these Filipinos ruggards just didn’t appear to be safe blood donors. They had tattoos all over. They were young, single and testosterone-charged men living among other men. They work half the day away, toiling at construction sites. When night falls, young, single, testosterone-charged men will invite other men for some extracurricular activities. Sex trade is rampant in Kota Kinabalu and Sabah in general. Young uneducated Filipino/Indonesians girls are literally cheap, well within the expenditure of most hardcore labourers.

Energetized men with rushing libido coupled with unschooled girls whose bodies are for hire – a perfect recipe for transmission of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B,C, syphilis and any STDs.

I put up a straight face, despite the fact I was exhausted deep within.

I interrogated the ten men aged between 15 – 45 years. They were not informed for what purpose they were there for. The fifteen-year-old was automatically rejected – he was in no position to make an informed consent, though he just might be smarter than most UiTM graduates. Some of the others confessed to multiple visits to brothels, hardly any surprises there. All had tattoos performed under unsterile methods by non-professionals, which was probably why their tattoos were so downright horrible. The remaining few, after seeing their friends grilled on their sex life by a young doctor, denied any sexual promiscuity despite my strict persistence.

I had no choice.

Like VK Lingam, one’s testimony has to be accepted when one refuses to confess even in the midst of strong circumstances suggesting otherwise. Four of the ten were subsequently cleared for transfusion. The Gerakan guy was applauded by his friends. I am not informed of the further tests on their donated blood prior to transfusion. I can only hope they were clean and properly tested before transfusion. Granted, all donated blood are tested twice prior to transfusion, but there is always a window period where the infection is present, but not detectable. Minimizing the adverse effects of blood transfusions starts at the lowest level – selecting the right donors which was not practiced in this Gerakan effort.

This is the story of a political party that placed more emphasis on saving face rather than the safety of the community they live in. This is the tale of a Gerakan lapdog who will attempt so score political points even if that meant forcing individuals to do something potentially risky against one’s freewill. This is my account of a one-day working experience with Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. I have no idea how many blood donation drives BN component parties organize each year. I dread to think that these same people will be behind the scenes of future events, or the commanding voices in the corridors of power.

This is my Gerakan story. This is a blood story. Above all else, this is a true story.

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Sunday, March 23, 2008

Titles, Honors, Hypocrisy and Self Righteousness




Opposition politicians should surrender their state titles.

To wage war against UMNO yet keep UMNO-associated titles smacks of hypocrisy and self-righteousness.



Titles, Honors, Hypocrisy and Self Righteousness

There is something about Malaysia and Malaysians that I can never gel with.

There is little doubt that the element of feudalism is still heavy and pungent in our evolving society.

The most ominous evidence of it is manifested in the form of titles and honors.

People address so-called VIPs as Datuk, Datuk Seri and Tan Sri, and they take extra care to ensure that no one with a title or an elongated one is addressed wrongly or deficiently. At government ceremonies, so much time and attention is devoted to addressing a fellow human being in the right manner and in the proper order. It must be Datuk Seri and not Dato’ Seri, Datuk Dr. Hj. and not Datuk Hj. Dr.

Folks who have studied in our local universities will definitely remember the mouthful manner in which we address Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr. Hj. Christians who go to that mega church in Damansara Indah are well acquainted with their beloved Reverend Datuk Dr. Pastor.

I do not know if this fixation on titles and honors are found only in Malaysia or if it is a general obsession throughout the world. What I do know though, is that the President of the United States of America is addressed as Mr. President, period. The Prime Minister of England is addressed as Mr. Prime Minister, full stop.

Titles and honors in Malaysia are greatly overrated, especially more so since most recipients are loyalists to the ruling party or anyone who has enough cash to lobby for a title. In most nations, titles and state honors are accorded in few numbers and only to the most distinguished individuals. In our country, one’s Datukship is more often than not an identification of one’s allegiance to the Datuk Seri who in turn is closely aligned to that Tan Sri.

State titles have long been a source of abuse. They are the means to attain that multi-million ringgit contract, the short cut to get something done in one’s favor, the gateway to meet another titled personality.

Personally, I have come to regard most state titles as a badge of shame and a mark of treason.

State titles are awarded by the royalty, but seriously, do we really believe that royalty awards titles totally independent of UMNO/BN’s ‘recommendation’ and ‘advice’?

Does anyone honestly think that the royalties of each state are of full knowledge regarding the people they award with PJK, JP, AMN, ETC?

Most titled persons can never deny that the only reason behind their state titles was their blind loyalty to a corrupted regime.

That is exactly why I personally think that Anwar Ibrahim and his band of PKR brothers should abandon their titles and state honors as a matter of principle. Anwar Ibrahim received his Datukship while he was still in UMNO, so did Khalid Ibrahim.

Why are they still proudly carrying those titles now?

If they are currently of the stand that UMNO is a party that has brought rot to the nation by their corrupt practices, is it not logical that the titles bestowed by that corrupted party is contaminated with nepotism and cronyism too?

To wage war against UMNO yet keep UMNO-associated titles smacks of hypocrisy and self-righteousness.

You can't have your cake and eat it too.

That of course, is only my humble opinion.
























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Principles and Practice of Blogging

My Principles Of Writing


When I first started this web log one month ago, I asked myself in the first post that probably no one had read just what was it that I was trying to achieve.

I didn’t know. I still don’t, to a certain extent.

The Truth is Important
I was determined not to write anything that I am not authoritative enough to. I am not going to lay half truths and frank lies because the mainstream media has already claimed that role. If I were to write anything factual, it would be something that I am personally going through and living in – my niche in daily life. That is why I write about healthcare and education and Sabah and Project IC in a somewhat authoritative manner. I am sure of what I am writing and most importantly, I can face my conscience every day.

Freedom of Speech
I respect the freedom of speech. As Voltaire said, “I may not approve of you say but I will defend to my death your very right to say it.” I’ve learnt from a young age that everyone has opinions, even though they might not verbalize it, as evidenced by the high number of readers in most blogs but the small number of comments. As this is my web log, I am free to write my opinion the same way you are free to criticize. My responsibility as blog owner is to ensure that I will criticize tactfully and with reasons or evidence. Apart from that, the rest is beyond my control like whether one chooses to criticize my opinion or attack my character instead.

Equality for All
Malaysians live in a land of inequality and injustice. We have different rules and standards set in practice for the UMNOputras and Bumiputras, Malays and non-Muslims, BN politicians and opposition, East and West Malaysians. Web logs are different, at least most of them. In this one at least, no one will be denied due credit or spared from criticisms. BN or DAP, PKR or PAS, NECF or JAIS – if I feel and am of the opinion that something rotten needs to be written about, I will and will do so without fear or favor. As a non-partisan Malaysian, I am not obliged to toe the line set in place by any registered organization. I may have voted for a particular party in the general elections or go to a church of a particular organisation, but that does not mean that I am prohibited to speak my minds when my thoughts nag me to. I have my thoughts and I will use them in the way I see fit. If I am to be proven wrong later, I will gladfully eat humble pie.

Emotions Matter
My recent posts criticizing the NECF seem to receive very emotional backlash, with the comments revolving around my character and motives rather than the argument itself. I welcome all your comments and read them through and through. I will not remove any comments unless these are written with malicious intentions to anger or hurt any particular community. I understand that some issues have been projected by the BN government to be “sensitive’ and “touchy” though I personally think that these are overexaggerated. This blog was never intended to be a people-pleaser. I have accepted the fact that no matter what I do or say or write, there is no way I can please everyone and anyone. Therefore, the onus is on readers to decide how they will respond a certain post. Should we be emotional and angry when someone we adore and respect is criticized or do we ponder over it with reason and logic and rebut accordingly?

A Different Viewpoint
I am no political scientist or qualified analyst. I am not trained in statistics or history. There are many learned and authoritative personalities out there who write theses and books and volumes on a wide variety of topics. If there was something I can offer Malaysia and the world, it would be a different perspective - a naïve, questioning viewpoint on the events that are constantly unfolding around us.

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Saturday, March 22, 2008

Bagai Pinang Dibelah Dua?


Bagai Pinang Dibelah Dua?

Some say opposites attract, others believe like begets like. I don’t know, and I wonder if the rhetoric really matters in the first place.

The BN politicians are so similar – arrogant, racist and kiasu, yet together they have ruled and ruined Malaysia for 50 years already.

The opposition politicians meanwhile are so divided by ideals, struggles and methodology. Yet united only via righteous anger towards the wrongs taking place in the land, they have managed to forge a ruling coalition that is currently establishing rule in five states.

People decry the cooperation between the DAP and PAS. From the auntie selling kangkung in the market to the housewife watching Astro TVB8 to the computer geek dining in Secret Recipe, many are questioning DAP’s election pledges and wondering if the DAP-PAS pact would ever last before Britney Spears’ next incarceration in a psychiatric unit.

These are interesting times we are living in, watching like anxious spectators how DAP will learn to share a niche with PAS.

For too long a time now, the DAP and PAS have been unnecessary nemeses. They both have more in common than they realize, and many of their supposed differences will eventually turn out to be similarities and opportunities towards solidarity.

Both DAP and PAS have received the worst from the BN propaganda machineries. PAS has been successfully painted as the Taliban of Malaysia while the DAP, a Chinese-chauvinistic triad group. The names of both parties have been smudged tactlessly for half a century now. In comparison, excluding the shame Anwar Ibrahim endured in Sept 1998, the party of PKR itself has received relatively meek name-smearing from the BN media. From 1957 till 1999, the DAP and PAS were bearing relentless slander while many from the current PKR were still accomplices of UMNO back then. Thus both DAP and PAS were comrades in suffering for a great part of each other’s existence, if they are willing to see from this perspective.

There has been few political parties consistently gung-ho in espousing their principles and practice of governance. Apart from its Islamic state goal, PAS has strayed little from its ideals. It is still the PAS that emphasizes Islamic spirituality as the guiding compass in individuals and ruling authorities. It is still the PAS that practices most of what it preaches – living moderately and leading responsibly, as demonstrated by the humble lifestyles by choice among most of its leaders. Similarly, DAP’s battle cry has not evolved much since the day Malaysia started degenerating under the BN leadership. DAP’s demand for accountability in leadership, social justice regardless of ethnicity, independent media, disinterested judiciary and freedom of speech have always been described as stale and irrelevant by the BN media. The other perspective is to view DAP’s agenda as one teeming with consistency and sincerity. One can’t be singing the same tune for yeas sincere unless one is sincere in words and thoughts. What is remarkably clear is that both DAP and PAS are believers in the same endpoints of good governance albeit through different mechanisms.

Both parties are also notorious for saying the bitter truth and usually in a manner that permits the BN media to quote it out of context. When Nik Aziz remarked that some ladies are dressing too scantily to the effect that a Tok Guru’s faith is put to the test, it was quoted in the media that ladies were dressing so provocatively as an invitation to be raped. When Ronnie Liu stated the obvious that independence was attained not only by UMNO’s sole effort but by many quarters including the Communist Party of Malaya, it was twisted so badly it became Chin Peng bapa kemerdekaan Malaysia.

What I personally see in PAS and DAP is great passion – an earnest desire to right the wrongs.



They are not exactly bagai pinang dibelah dua – two spilt betel nuts aren’t exactly identical by the way. If the two parties can harvest their individual strengths and work on their similarities instead of harping on their petty differences, they can achieve great things together.

Hopefully la.













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Friday, March 21, 2008

Lame. Boy-George Lame.


Just when I was thinking of eating humble pie…

In view that the Christians in Malaysia probably did vote for the opposition parties this time around and therefore contributed to the waves of unprecedented change, perhaps I was wrong in accusing the NECF of subtly influencing believers into maintaining the BN status quo.

Out of curiosity, I searched the NECF website
for perhaps a post-election statement of sorts, all prepared to eat humble pie.

The Jan-Feb issue of Berita NECF has however convinced me that at least one or two personalities of the NECF do have some vested interests in supporting a BN government.

Once again, the NECF attempts to pit Christians against PAS for reasons best known to themselves. In one short passing statement, they equate PAS to nothing but the implementation of hudud and shariah law then proceed to explain in needless jargon why Christians opted for UMNO over PAS out of social responsibility towards collective socialism. They call themselves intellectual Christian think tanks but on this issue, they sound like empty tin cans.

Now while I was contemplating a Kit-Siang-like humble apology to the NECF, they too issued a sorry of their own, but in a relatively Bung Mukhtar style. I was obviously not the only one upset over the NECF’s apparent condemnation of the BERSIH and HINDRAF rallies, and the NECF must have received enough complaints from fellow believers in order to issue an apology of sorts. The NECF clarifies that it is supportive of the right to peaceful assembly. Strange, they truly didn’t seem to be when they openly accused the peaceful rallies of obstructing traffic and disrupting businesses. Now that’s classical not practicing what one preaches. If they had truly believed in the right to peaceful assembly, they would not have condemned the rallies in the identical way the BN politicians did.

In the closing messages of the Jan-Feb issue, the NECF sings a familiar tune more often read in the mainstream media. Apart from the usual “vote wisely”, the NECF adds that Christians should not vote with emotions based on recent events and current issues. Well, it sounds like Ong Ka Ting, looks like Ong Ka Ting but is definitely not Ong Ka Ting or Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, unless both have converted to Christianity in secret.

Lastly, the NECF justifies its apparent silence on social issues. Obviously, I am once again not the only Christian perturbed by the NECF’s deafening silence. The NECF begins its justification by describing its pro-activity on all issues in the past. It went on to announce that it has recently reached an agreement with the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) that they will only comment on issues affecting Christians and the Christian church.

Lame, Boy-George lame.

It is so easy to justify silence by saying we would only mind our own business. Problem is, the NECF did not and does not, as exemplified by their swift condemnation of many of the opposition’s activities since 2004. It does not require any strength and godliness to stand up for one’s own interests and benefits, the UMNO fellows are able to do that on any given day. If that is the stand the NECF has taken, so be it, for it speaks volumes of its principles and practices.

Just as Gerakan and MCA need to reinvent themselves to be more relevant to society, perhaps, just maybe the NECF would like to search within itself too.

I owe them no apology and am not eating humble pie till proven wrong.


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Thursday, March 20, 2008

From UMNO to PKR Hegemony?



From UMNO to PKR hegemony?

I’m made it clear from the start that I have more distrust for Keadilan than I do for PAS.

Recent events vindicate me to a certain extent.When Lim Kit Siang first made a statement announcing a boycott for the swearing-in of the Perak Menteri Besar, bloggers and commentators sounded the battle cry and bashed him with no mercy. The comments on Raja Petra Kamaruddin’s Malaysia-today are proof of it all. Lim Kit Siang apologized publicly soon after, in the most humble and sincere manner from a Malaysian politician to date.

Not too subtly, similar announcements were coming from the PKR’s camp. Syed Husin Ali threatened abandonment of the coalition government if PKR’s demands for representation in the Perak exco were not met. Over in Selangor, the finalization of the state government’s exco list has apparently hit an impasse as a result of PKR’s refusal to grant DAP their fair share of excos, citing racial imbalance and insufficient Malay representation. Surprisingly, there have been little murmurs, if at all over PKR’s growing arrogance and refusal to compromise the way DAP did in the Perak state government.

At parliamentary level, PKR is set to assume the position of opposition leader via Dr. Wan Azizah. Fair enough, in view that they hold the most number of seats among the opposition parties. The lingering question is, do they believe in democracy more than meritocracy? Wan Azizah has been in Parliament since 1999, a total of 9 years – which is a long time. She has had enough time to prove her salt but does anyone actually remember any moments where she created waves in parliamentary debates?

As far as I can remember, it was always the 12 DAP parliamentarians that received the worst from the rude and arrogant UMNO Mps when the DAP bench raised issues that were pertinent to the people of Malaysia. I have not read much of Wan Azizah raising any eyebrow or waking any sleepy eyes in all her years in parliament. If verbal abuses and insulting taunts were a measure of how active an MP was in parliament, Kit Siang, Karpal Singh, Kulasegaran and Fong Po Kuan are way ahead at the forefront. They have been outnumber 10:1 in Parliament and insulted beyond belief – all because they tried to stand up for stupid Malaysian voters. On the contrary, Wan Azizah has not ruffled any UMNO/BN feathers, at least none that ever made it to the press. If PKR truly believed in meritocracy, then there are many DAP parliamentarians that are more suited and qualified to lead the opposition bench compared to Wan Azizah. At the same time, if they truly believed in the principles of democracy, then they would have lobbied for DAP to lead the Perak state government in view that DAP held the most number of seats. Either way, there is the element of cakap tak serupa bikin coming from the PKR camp.

Would you as an employer hire someone who tells you he/she is not interested in the job? Surely not, I say. However, that is exactly what we’ve done. Wan Azizah was never interested the job of being an MP. She was thrust into it after the downfall of her husband. She held it for eight years and has recently announced that she just might step aside after being elected to allow Anwar Ibrahim to contest in a Penampang Pauh by-election. Do you really think a person who is not interested to be an MP is the best person for the task of being opposition leader? Or maybe you think that Wan Azizah will eventually pass the baton of being opposition leader to Anwar Ibrahim later?

Well, Anwar Ibrahim will indeed make a great opposition leader. Just one problem though, like his wife, he too is not interested to be opposition leader. He wants to be Prime Minister, which is why he is currently obsessed luring disgruntled BN MPs to cross over to Keadilan, at no cost apparently. This brings me to my next provoking thought. Isn’t vote-buying and party-hopping more of an UMNO/BN culture? When one is unable to form a government by legitimate means, one has to resort to back door techniques. That, my friend, is exactly what Anwar Ibrahim is trying to accomplish now. Vehemently, he declares that Keadilan would have formed the next government if not for election frauds and rampant vote-buying, but here he is, trying something similar by luring discontented BN warlords and position-obsessed MPs to join his camp. Take a look at Richard Riot, the Serian MP who reportedly resigned from BN out of frustration of not being accorded a cabinet post. Is this the kind of character PKR wants to be associated with?

It’s really ironic that Anwar Ibrahim is canvassing for defectors over in East Malaysia. His party was very much the spoiler to begin with, or at least very much to be blamed for the opposition’s trashing in Sabah/Sarawak. PKR refused to make way for DAP in so many seats that were DAP’s traditional battlezone, resulting in vote-splitting three-way fights that proved so profitable to the BN candidates. In a number of seats, the total votes received by the two opposition candidates actually exceeded the BN candidate’s. If Keadilan were sensible and reasonable enough, it would have conceded that the party does not have much to show in Sarawak especially, as proven by its dismal performance in the 2005 Sarawak state elections. As a late-comer in Malaysian politics, it should have given way to DAP to fight in its traditional seats but it didn’t and now has to resort to backdoor entry into Borneo.

More and more every day, PKR is resembling UMNO in more aspects than one.

I still believe in the possibility of a stable and progressive DAP/PKR/PAS coalition government. If Keadilan continues its unjustified arrogance and unreasonable reasoning however, Malaysia will finally witness real change – a shift from UMNO political hegemony to PKR hegemony.

Some might ask, what can be worse than UMNO? My answer: two UMNOs.
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Slapped, Pushed and Kicked Around.


I don’t feel an attraction or any strong pull towards Singapore or Australia or the USA. I owe my medical career to the rakyat of Malaysia who subsidized my university education. I repeat - I owe my current career to the citizens of Malaysia, not to the BN government. Out of honor, I serve the needy community in return. I do not see a life in another country any more comfortable or satisfying. There is no pull factor, no red carpet, no open arms, no welcome banner, no golden handshake, no personal invitation from any foreign land.

Yet, there is always this push factor from the country I was born in. It’s unspoken, unwritten, unannounced, unpublished. It’s felt and tangible so it must be real and existent.




The Push Factor

A friend of mine will be resigning from the Ministry of Health soon. No, she is not headed for the lucrative private sector. She is headed for university again, having been accepted into the Skim Latihan Akademik Bumiputera (SLAB).

Born of Pakistani father and Sabahan Chinese mother, she is somehow registered as a bumiputra. She entered medical school two years younger than us non-bumis. I don’t remember her as an outstanding medical student. In fact, if I don’t remember wrongly, she was almost retained in the first years for failing three consecutive semesters.

One week ago, she was still a humble house officer – taking blood in the wards, receiving orders from medical officers and specialists and running around frantically tracing investigation reports. She was not particularly outstanding as a house officer as well – not exceptionally knowledgeable or skilful, not noticeably more astute clinically than other doctors.

Next week, she will be a trainee lecturer-specialist in Universiti Malaya. In UM-land, she will join the hundreds of other SLAB beneficiaries and NEP products training to be a surgeon. She will be cradled like a precious stool sample, with extra care and guidance to ensure a smooth sailing over the next four years. Along the process of being spoon-fed, she would be lecturing medical students on how to study medicine and become community-oriented doctors. All tuition fees will be fully sponsored by the Ministry of Higher Education.

Four years from now, at the tender age of 30, she will be recognized as a full-fledged surgeon in Bolehland. She will be barking orders at the medical officers who once ordered her around - non-Malays like myself who are only eligible to begin applying for specialty after 4 years in Ministry of Health service, roughly around the age of 31.

I don’t feel an attraction or any strong pull towards Singapore or Australia or the USA. I owe my medical career to the rakyat of Malaysia who subsidized my university education. I repeat - I owe my current career to the citizens of Malaysia, not to the BN government. Out of honor, I serve the needy community in return. I do not see a life in another country any more comfortable or satisfying. There is no pull factor, no red carpet, no open arms, no welcome banner, no golden handshake, no personal invitation from any foreign land.

Yet, there is always this push factor from the country I was born in. It’s unspoken, unwritten, unannounced, unpublished. It’s felt and tangible so it must be real and existent.

The SLAB programs and its other NEP siblings all serve to inhibit and retard the achievements of non-bumiputeras across a wide range of disciplines and fields. With its strict and increasingly strict requirements on non-bumi doctors to pursue specialty training in Malaysia, it is the ultimate push factor that purges away people like me.

The push factor forces me to rethink the noble choice of serving a community that supported my education versus the obligation of prudent stewardship by looking towards seemingly greener pastures.

It pushes me to study hard so that in future, if and when I come across these NEP/SLAB products, I can confidently kick their ignorant spoon-fed asses.

When one is so slapped in the face by arrogant SLAB products, one is pushed and driven to gain new and marketable skills, to be globally useful and locally humble.

When one is pushed around and kicked about often enough, one learns to seek a place away from the abusive forces.


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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

No winds of Change in the Land beneath the Winds (5)


Already, there are rumors of elected representatives offering to cross over to Keadilan. Whether this takes place or not is really immaterial. Sabah politicians are typified by the likes of Bung Mokhtar – overfed and undereducated, insatiably greedy and incorrigibly corrupted...



No winds of Change in the Land beneath the winds (5)

“Bagus bah sekarang….UMNO akan salurkan lebih banyak wang untuk Sabah.”

“Saya mau undi pembangkang tapi saya kena bagi 30 ringgit bah…”

“Itu DAP tidak mau DEB di Penang.”

“Sekarang BN akan balas Sabah dengan lebih banyak pembangunan and menteri kabinet”

Working in Sabah is really a test of one’s patience. Being uneducated is one thing, being voluntarily ignorant is another.

If I get stupid statements from the ignorant and impoverished rural folks, it is only to be expected and I can fully understand their predicament.

It is totally the opposite however if I get stupid answers and retarded statements from the educated Sabahans in the heart of Kota Kinabalu. I can never understand how a Sabahans think, if they at all. I will never be able to step into their shoes and walk a mile in them cos their BN leaders who have done so have robbed them off their shoes. I am unable to see the world as a Sabahan does.

To many Sabahans, the land of Sabah is their be all, end all – their destiny from the cradle to the grave.

They look upon Sabah as though Sabah is all there is. They think Sabah, talk Sabah, and sleep Sabah. When they vote, they vote for anything Sabah, like Parti Bersatu Sabah, Sabah Progressive Party and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah. Anything with a Peninsular origin will be rejected, anything except UMNO of course, and who knows for what reasons Sabahans look only towards UMNO for leadership and direction.



Most Sabahans thought that their blind loyalty to UMNO in the recent elections would be rewarded accordingly – more development funds, more cabinet representation, more Sabah in everything and anything. There was great anticipation to the day of announcing the new Malaysian cabinet. Well, the day has come and gone.

Once again, they have been let down by UMNO. Their ‘representation’ in the new Malaysian cabinet has remained status quo. It’s the same few lame Sabah faces - Bernard Dompok (PM’s Department), Shafie Apdal (Culture, Heritage) and Maximus Ongkili (Science, Technology and Innovation).

Already, there are rumors of elected representatives offering to cross over to Keadilan. Whether this takes place or not is really immaterial. Sabah politicians are typified by the likes of Bung Mokhtar – overfed and undereducated, insatiably greedy and incorrigibly corrupted.

Money and power will change these politicians’ loyalty, but what about the common man on the street?

Sadly, the fact remains, Sabahans will still lap up every word that comes from the mouth of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Put Najib or Hishammudin or Khairy Jamaludin or even a rotten potato as PM and Sabahans will still support him.

They will never learn from their mistakes. Like a stupid girl, they will forever be looking out for the jerk that cheated her wealth and dignity yet continue to believe that the jerk is sincere and true.


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No Other Choice but MS:ISO




Most people have some amount of useful knowledge and marketable skills acquired through sheer hard work. Some are born with natural insight and tremendous brain power. Very few are gifted with exceptional talents. However, there will always be that unfortunate soul every now and then who has nothing – no knowledge, no skills, no talent and no inherent ability to acquire new skills and craftwork....

When one is not capable of treating dysentery, one needs to earn a living through verbal diarrhea....



MS:ISO And The Prevention of Crime

Many organizations in Malaysia are currently obsessed over ISO accreditation. It’s all around us - private, government and government-linked companies are not spared.

For those who are unfamiliar with ISO accreditation, it is simply this: professionals like doctors and nurses will be instructed by non-medical personnel how to run their wards and manage their patients in the seemingly most organized, tried and tested manner.

More often than not, it means unrelenting and strict rigidity. It means filling up every single form completely and in double copies even when it brings no benefit to patients. It is keeping tons and tons of useless records and statistics even when there are no concrete plans to act on the data. It revolves around slogans and acronyms and more slogans that are not put to practice. It’s the emphasis on style over substance, like decorating the depressing general wards with bright pink posters and banana yellow ribbons and not attending to the elderly patient whose bedsores are drowning in foul-smelling diarrhea faeces. As I am in healthcare, it was only natural for me to use healthcare as an example.

In Malaysia, ISO accreditation programs are run and managed by SIRIM. Other organizations similar to SIRIM is the Institut Tadbir Negara (INTAN) and the Biro Tatanegara in the Prime Minister’s Department.

I support organizations like SIRIM, INTAN and programs like ISO accreditation and National Service and the brainwashing Kursus Induksi compulsory for all civil servants.

Surprise? Let me elaborate.

Most people have some amount of useful knowledge and marketable skills acquired through sheer hard work. Some are born with natural insight and tremendous brain power. Very few are gifted with exceptional talents. However, there will always be that unfortunate soul every now and then who has nothing – no knowledge, no skills, no talent and no inherent ability to acquire new skills and craftwork.

Like the rest however, such a person needs to make ends meet and feed his litter of half dozen kids back home.

That is where organizations like SIRIM, INTAN, Biro Tatanegara and programs like National Service, Kursus Induksi and all other stupid government programs come in. You see, when one has no talent, skills or knowledge, one needs only to be parrots of the ruling party. When one is not capable of treating dysentery, one needs to earn a living through verbal diarrhea.

Read from a text and call it a speech. Show a slide and consider it a lecture. Point at a picture and call it analysis. Lay out some graphs and label it as statistics. Present some data and term it research. Do that every day of one’s life, then retire and receive life-long government pension.

SIRIM, INTAN, BTN – these bodies play a far more important role than the Polis Diraja Malaysia in preventing and reducing crime in Malaysia.

If there were no such redundant organizations and their corresponding stupid programs, I’m afraid that the unemployment rate and therefore crime in Malaysia could be much higher. These unskilled, unknowledgeable and untalented people will find no employment anywhere else and resort to a life of robbery, thievery and snatch.

So the next time you have those SIRIM officers going around scrutinizing your daily work, keep the cool and have some sympathy. It’s not easy living without skills, talent and knowledge. And as for all who are attending Kursus Induksi currently, please bear with that fat idiot up on stage giving a lecture on May 13. He can’t bullshit like the Sabah state neurosurgeon but he’s trying nonetheless. Appreciate the effort at least.

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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

In Search of That Elusive Malay Guy/Girl




Only Malays can change the nation. Only Malays can determine the destiny of Tanah Melayu.

I say Malays and not-bumis because the non-Malay bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak have proven themselves beyond reasonable doubt that they are not resistant to change but receptive to further damnation. The burden of leading the nation therefore falls solely upon the shoulders of our Malay friends.




In Search Of That Elusive Malay Guy/Girl


The March 2008 general election showed that Malaysians of all races and religion can unite in certain circumstances for a common cause. It also showed that only the Malay race can inject a radical change.

There is no way PAS could have taken Kedah if the Malay folks did not swing against UMNO. Similarly, if the Malays in Penang, Perak and Selangor did not opt for the opposition parties, Anwar Ibrahim would not be going around currently prematurely touting PKR as the ‘government-in-waiting’.

Being the majority race, only Malays can decide if Malaysia will have a change of federal government in the future or be forever doomed under the racist Barisan Nasional. With each passing year the composition of non-Malays in the nation’s population is shrinking and with each re-delineation exercise of electoral constituencies, there will hardly be any areas with predominant non-Malay voters.

Only Malays can change the nation. Only Malays can determine the destiny of Tanah Melayu.

I say Malays and not-bumis because the non-Malay bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak have proven themselves beyond reasonable doubt that they are not resistant to change but receptive to further damnation. The burden of leading the nation therefore falls solely upon the shoulders of our Malay friends.

We need to stop this illusion of ever having a non-Malay as PM or deputy PM ever in our lifetime and forevermore. That’s not gonna happen with the bumiputera population flying higher and faster than the DAP rocket and exacerbated by Chinese buggers running off to Australia/Canada/US/UK and further aggravated by our Indian machas focusing their attention on bedding Sabahan ladies.

The search and aim instead should be for a generation of young Malays who are capable of demonstrating unpopular courage.

These are the new age Malays who will speak their minds and not parrot the tiresome UMNO mantra. These are the hitherto unseen Malays who will be unashamed to fly a DAP flag just as the Kelantan Chinese and HINDRAF Hindus were proudly flying the PAS emblem. A number of Malays voted for the DAP this election but few are willing to admit it. A great number might even agree with the DAP’s principles and struggles for a just and equal Malaysia but hardly any has defended the DAP when it came under UMNO’s scathing slander recently. It’s requires no courage to be a Malay and PKR supporter. It requires great courage to stand up and be part of what the BN media has successfully portrayed as a Chinese chauvinist party.

Will we ever find enough of such Malay comrades?

I get pretty disheartened in this respect. I studied in a national school with a pretty balanced composition of the races. I later went on to study in a local public university where the predominant group was and still is and always will be the Malays. I am now serving in the Ministry of Health where I work with, under and for Malays. I must be honest to myself. I have not been too impressed.

The Malays are the only group of people that can make or break UMNO/BN. I wonder if they realize the burden upon their back.

There are some Malay issues I will never touch even with a sixty-foot pole. Mat rempits, incest, intravenous drug abuse, sexual promiscuity, abandoned newborn at suraus – all these are beyond my ability to comment on.

I will take a pick on the more educated Malays however, because they have been given the opportunity to expand their minds yet end up becoming parrots and echoes of UMNO’s racist viewpoints. They end up in exactly where UMNO intended them to be – trapped in an erroneous opinion that they are forever indebted to the NEP and UMNO. They seem contented working as peasants in a feudalistic system that promises little social mobility. They deem it rude and inappropriate to object and disagree even when things are utterly stupid and nonsensical. UMNO has so successfully indoctrinated these so-called university graduates with the dulu, kini, dan selamanya ideology. These group of educated Malays are beyond anyone’s reach and more sadly, they formed the bulk of the the very group with the power to lead Malaysia.

Those that did successfully see through UMNO’s tricks end up like the educated Chinese – too distressed to vote for UMNO yet too comfortable to speak out against it. There are of course exceptions to the rule, but really, are there no more courageous Malays other than the likes of Haris M Ibrahim?

If you’re a Malay brother reading this article, I challenge you to rise up and fill the role destined for you in this land called Malaysia. You know who you are, my friends.


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Monday, March 17, 2008

Stupid Press Statements



This is an article from Sabah's Daily Express.

I will be starting a section on dumb and nonsensical statements I accidentally come across in the mainstream media. The postings will have minimal if any, elaborations as the statements are self-explanatory. To devote any more intellectual time to them is poor stewardship on my behalf. Read more!

The Omnipresent NEP (1970-Forevermore)




It really doesn’t matter whether the NEP exists officially, or disguised under a more innocent name like the New National Agenda of UMNO Youth. For as long as there are UMNO-like Malays in decision-making positions, there will be subtle, silent but tangible marginalization of the minorities in Malaysia...



The Beginning of the End Of NEP?

Many non-bumis are elated that Lim Guan Eng decided to abolish the NEP in Penang. They hail it as a major breakthrough in institutionalized racial discrimination in the land called Malaysia. With the successful ‘abolishment’ of the NEP in Penang, many non-Malay folks are now calling for the Perak government to follow suit.

I say these people are all stupid fools.

Don’t mistake me for an UMNO apologist. I didn’t take any wrong or new medication. I also did not receive any big money from anyone to call my fellow DAP/PKR/PAS supporters degrading names.

It’s just that I honestly think that we were all really overwhelmed by the victory of five state governments that we have lost touch with reality on the ground.

Does anyone really believe that the NEP in Penang is gone forevermore with one official announcement by the chief minister? Does anyone really expect more tendes for non-Malay contractors simply because they now have an open system? Are all non-bumis closely anticipating and quietly hoping that there will be a fairer and brighter Malaysia soon?

Racial discrimination does not need the NEP. The majority race does not need an outdated policy to step over the heads of the minorities. Malay supremacy will continue to be the order of the day even if DAP, PKR and PAS all wholeheartedly denounce the NEP. Elements of the NEP will remain an integral part of Malaysian society even when UMNO is no longer the ruling party of Malaysia.

NEP is but a name of one of the too many policies Malaysia has enacted since independence. That’s all there is to it. In fact, if one scrutinizes the contents and aims of the NEP, no sane Malaysian will object to eradication of poverty regardless of race, amongst others.

NEP is not the cause of our eternal Malaysian curse. NEP merely lends an official name to the systematic ethnic marginalization that takes place in Malaysia due to overzealous Malay supremacists.

It really doesn’t matter whether the NEP exists officially, or disguised under a more innocent name like the New National Agenda of UMNO Youth. For as long as there are UMNO-like Malays in decision-making positions, there will be subtle, silent but tangible marginalization of the minorities in Malaysia. Take for example my alma mater Universiti Malaya. The decision making body in the university is the senate. The senate has the authority to employ as many Malay academic staff as it wants and as little non-Malays as it likes. It is really immaterial whether the Education Minister is Hishammudin Hussein, Mustapha Mohamed or maybe in the not too distant future, a PKR personality. The only factor that is important is whether the senate of UM believes in a fair Malaysia. Thus far, its actions show that it doesn’t. For as long as there are Malay people in positions of power thinking as UMNO does, behaving like UMNO does and feeling as UMNO does, racial discrimination will continue and persist in Tanah Melayu till kingdom comes.

In short, change in our race relations will not come from the echelons of power. It is very much the other way around. A real change can only come when the man on the street stops viewing the other person as a threat. The Malay guy must stop believing that his is a privileged race with a God-given right to supremacy over the other ethnic groups. The Chinese fella must put aside his anti-NEP pride and admit that there exists a great pool of talent among the Malay race. The Indian macha has no choice but to admit under the previous quota system, they were the greater beneficiaries than our Malay brethren when it came to local university intake.

here is no Lim Guan Eng or Anwar Ibrahim or Prof P.Ramasamy to look to in our quest to murder the NEP. The victim mentality among all races must cease – no more blame-the-British among the Malays, no more Malays-are-bullies among the Chinese, no more pundak-MIC among the Indians. We will forever be stalked by the remnants and soul of the NEP for as long we refuse to change our own viewpoints upon one another.

Only when a victim-bully mentality is no more can we truly be free from the NEP, if and when it is finally and officially no more.

Going by the current state of our race relations, do you think that is possible?







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Sunday, March 16, 2008

PAS MB - Are You Afraid? (2)


Think of the characters we have had as Ipoh city mayors. Ismail Shah Bodin is the most memorable not because of his achievements as mayor but for his son’s role in a violent homicide in 2004. His successors are all utterly forgettable and their names hardly ring a bell: Talaat Husain, Sirajuddin Salleh, Hasan Nawawi and Mohamad Rafiai. The past chief ministers were equally embarrassing. From Ramli Ngah Talib to Tajol Rosli Ghazali, my memories of these UMNO crooks revolve around how each succeeding chief minister renovated the official residence immediately upon asuumption of power....



PAS MB – Are you afraid (2)

I will probably not be back in Ipoh, Perak for another few months. To a great extent, I will be out of touch with the issues people are facing back home. The new Perak state government should be up and running the next time I balik kampung. I do not anticipate any drastic changes, however.

People are still worried and fearful of having a PAS MB. Sometimes I can identify with their concerns, at other times I honestly think it is all unjustified paranoia.

We have a tendency to look back in time and reminisce that the past was better and simpler. It’s all biased selectivity. We take the good old times and compare it to the present, subconsciously forgetting the bitter parts as we worry about the future and all its uncertainties.

I am no expert in the history of Perak and more specifically, Ipoh.

I know that Ipoh was once the cleanest town/city in Malaysia and now it is a settlement with pockets of trash here, there and everywhere. Ipoh was once a vibrant hive of social and economic activities but is now the place to reside after retirement. Maybe I am biased in my observation, but Ipoh does seem to have one nursing home every 5 kilometer radius. It speaks volumes about the pathetic state of our warga emas. Buying property is regarded as investment elsewhere in the country but not in Ipoh, or Perak in general. It is sad in a great sense because Ipoh offers so much to its residents or at least, has a potential of doing so.

It seems convenient to blame the previous state government for the plight that Ipoh is currently in.

Think of the characters we have had as Ipoh city mayors. Ismail Shah Bodin is the most memorable not because of his achievements as mayor but for his son’s role in a violent homicide in 2004. His successors are all utterly forgettable and their names hardly ring a bell: Talaat Husain, Sirajuddin Salleh, Hasan Nawawi and Mohamad Rafiai. The past chief ministers were equally embarrassing. From Ramli Ngah Talib to Tajol Rosli Ghazali, my memories of these UMNO crooks revolve around how each succeeding chief minister renovated the official residence immediately upon asuumption of power.

Managing a city and a state is anything but easy. The UMNO rodents never had the abilities and the credentials to begin with. On top of it all, the UMNO goons were greedy and insatiable. Perak was doomed the moment these shady characters assumed power and has been doomed for many decades for now.

It can’t get any worse.

PAS MB, DAP MB, PKR MB or UMNO Baboon MB – the basic necessities and little luxuries of life for the people will still be in place. Water will still be clean, cleaner than Selangor’s and tastier than Sabah’s. Pork will still be available and more abundant than one can ever consume. Sewage will still flow, with or without Indah Water. The transvestites will not fade away in fear of Islamization – visitors to Ipoh will still be able to catch a glimpse of them. The business of tauge ayam will remain competitive although I personally don’t find it appealing in any way. Pirated DVDs will remain lucrative in Ipoh, and the quality will remain inferior to those in SS2, PJ. 4D numbers and lottery outlets will still be packed with crowds of eternal optimists even if they have never won a single time their entire lives. Expensive Foh San dim sum, kiasu Tesco customers, overrated Ipoh white coffee – these simple indulgences of life will not be hijacked under a teething coalition government.

The previous UMNO administration has proven itself to be a tyrant that does as it pleases.

Let’s hope that the new coalition government is one that listens and cares.

With that, I pledge my full support for Ir. Haji Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin, unless he too turns out to be like the UMNO douchebags.


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Saturday, March 15, 2008

Machas, It's Your Turn Now.


....stop boozing your money away and channel it to more beneficial cause – it doesn’t even have to be Indian-oriented. Spend less time trying to bed that Sino-Kadazandusun chick and show some concrete effort fighting for your places of worship. Quit whining and start communicating. Zip up the constant bullshit and cultivate the art of sensible communication. Register as a voter and not as the latest member of the newest gym/club in town. Learn the names of your latest MPs instead of the sexiest Bollywood stars. We don’t need more lame excuses and victim mentality from you machas, show us some guts and balls....



Machas, It’s Your Turn Now.


This is my web log, one I registered out of thin air and filled it with words and thoughts. I do not claim supreme right to say anything and everything I want, especially not things that are half truths and total lies. I also believe that motives behind one’s words and actions are equally important. If I make truthful statements but with the wrong intentions, my deeds are for naught and not any better than UMNO’s keris-wielding frenzy.

Still, I reserve the right to put in writing my thoughts and opinions as well as the right to eat humble pie should I be proven wrong later.

This article is about my fellow Malaysians of Indian ancestry and more specifically, those that work as doctors. More appropriately, it's about kicking fat asses of my Indian colleagues. If you have no interest in Indian tales then you are free to log off. I am quite sure however, most Sabahans will not log off from anything Indian since they seemingly have a fetish for all things Indian. The staff nurses should know what I am talking about – some of them will sleep with VK-Lingam-look-alikes. That’s side talk however and of no importance.

I returned to work after the elections. People were happy, shocked, surprised as well as angry and devastated, each for different reasons and vested interests.

The happiest of the lot from my observation were the Indian doctors. The machas were practically estatic and leaping with joy, high-five-ing each other over Sammy Vellu’s loss. They analyzed the Malaysian “political tsunami” and brainstormed as though they lived and breathed politics. If you never knew these machas you’d think that they were social activists fighthing a noble cause.

There was nothing inappropriate about that except for the fact that none of the Indian doctors I know ever went back to participate in the elections. They were not registered voters to begin with. They’d read anything but Malaysiakini or Malaysia-today. They were habitual participants of drunken sex orgies, not HINDRAF or Bersih rallies. They’d pay hundreds and thousands for a good booze but not a single ringgit or sen to the DAP/PKR election fund. They decry racial discrimination are fully aware about each other’s caste though they might not apply it. Indian professionals desire change but are reluctant or afraid to be part of the process. When change finally arrives without their contribution, they rejoice and jump for joy as though they were the instruments of change.

In fact, I have personally not come across any Indian colleagues who had any role in the election of the present government. Yet they were the happiest when BN/MIC/Sammy Vellu were defeated.

They say that the Indians have awakened after HINDRAF. I say not true. The majority of the Hindraf members was the downtrodden and oppressed, not professionals and educated Indians.

I say that the Malays have always been concerned about the state of the nation and their loyalty will always be towards the party that offers them the best deal in life. The Chinese have managed to unexpectedly kick BN/MCA’s ass real hard to the extent of voting for PAS, PKR and many non-Chinese candidates over the MCA. The poorest Indians have conquered their fear of the MIC and have taken a risk by opting for the opposition. In the midst of all this, the well-to-do and educated Indians are stuck in the same old mould - still as selfish, coward and hypocritical as ever before.

I work among doctors and I assure you, there are many Indian doctors. Most of them will be able to comment on Malaysian issues as though they were the experts in all disciplines. None of them will lift an inch of their pinky finger to help initiate change at all. These are the typical Indian crabs who know that their community is in trouble but will do anything to keep them down and out, especially by doing nothing but bullshitting their days away.

No wonder the Sabahans believe every word that the BN media speaks. They look at the Indian doctors and wonder how there can be any inch of truth in Hindraf’s allegations of a systematic racial marginalization and ethnic cleansing. In Sabah, the wealthy Indians form the largest crowd at night clubs and bars and the smallest pockets in political and charitable events, if at all. They hold the top positions in hospital departments and speak the loudest in any conversation. The biggest tippers, heaviest drinkers and non-stop smokers are all formed by our rich Indian machas. All the while back in Peninsular, their community is slowly trampled upon. They get no rest even at death as the JAIS buggers can come any time to claim that the deceased had converted to Islam before death.

The Indians of Peninsular Malaysia are expecting change – a change for the better for their lagging communities. Indeed they have seen some tremendous change of fate in such a short time.

Heck, Prof Ramasamy is the deputy chief minister of Penang and it is highly likely that the second deputy chief minister of Perak is most likely a macha too. In the long run and greater scale however, Indians need to stop looking at figureheads and esteemed personalities for a tangible betterment of their lot. There are so many well endowed Indians here in Malaysia. Each can play one’s little part to improve their neighbour’s lot. Forget Ananda Krishnan and Tony Fernandez - these two and other well-connected machas are sold to UMNO and are irredeemable forevermore.

Ultimately, it is the average Indianman – the one who speaks eloquently in the courthouse, persuades patients successfully in the wards and so on who will initiate sustained change.

My Indian brethren, stop boozing your money away and channel it to more beneficial cause – it doesn’t even have to be Indian-oriented. Spend less time trying to bed that Sino-Kadazandusun chick and show some concrete effort fighting for your places of worship. Quit whining and start communicating. Zip up the constant bullshit and cultivate the art of sensible communication. Register as a voter and not as the latest member of the newest gym/club in town. Learn the names of your latest MPs instead of the sexiest Bollywood stars. We don’t need more lame excuses and victim mentality from you machas, show us some guts and balls like the Hindraf 5 but fight for all Malaysians rather than Indians alone. The Hindraf 5 could have continued leading a comfortable life while watching their own people suffer in silence. They chose to speak up and fight injustice instead, and mobilized a whole dormant race since Independence.

The ball is now in your court, Dr./Mr./Mdm/Ms Melanin. Your time is now and never again if you screw up. In ten years time, the Indonesians and Filipinos and other overnight bumiputeras will outnumber all the non-Malays put together. Then you will loathe in remorse of the times you chose to booze rather than partaking in the change of the Malaysian society, or maybe you won’t.

This article has been a waste of time. The very people it was intended for are the very people who do not read anything but the latest Bollywood gossip.

Damn it.


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Thursday, March 13, 2008

Beware: Doctors are Jerks



All doctors will screw up once in a while but some screw around all the while. Some pursued the art of learning while in medical school while some learnt the art of pursuing the opposite sex. Then there are those who pray for their patients and those who prey on their patients. Every doctor needs to shit sometimes but some love to bullshit every time. Some put you to sleep to be under the knife, while some make you sleep forever six feet under the ground.A careless doctor is pardonable but a callous doctor is despicable......


The House, Mouse and Louse Among Us.

I hate doctors.

Doctors are jerks. Doctors are bastards.

Not all of them of course. Most of them are not, I think. A few maybe. Or many. I’m not sure.

There are jerks and bastards in every profession. Law, politics, healthcare, engineering, computering, taxi driving, newspaper editing and law enforcement – each one will have its fair share of black sheep.

The difference is most of these professions do not normally have the adjective ‘noble’ attached to it.

No one enters the lawyer’s office expecting empathy and a patient listening ear, or do they? There are more lawyer jokes than there are on Sammy Vellu. It speaks volumes about the general impression of the law profession. Similarly, most voters, in other countries at least, do not buy every word coming from the politicians’ mouths. Our Malaysian voters seem to have wised up a little recently. They finally realized that only compulsive liars make it to the Malaysian cabinet.

In short, most folks are not anticipating goodness and mercy to pour out from the hearts of most professions. For some reason however, most patients and their families still hold medical doctors on a high pedestal. It is as though doctors are more than special and capable of no harm or malice.

I beg to differ. Doctors are jerks, some are bastards, a few are both.

An ICU staff nurse was recently warded in the local mental hospital. She has attempted suicide by slashing her wrists. While her self-inflicted injuries were not life-threatening, she was both hysterical and catatonic at the same. Accompanying her was a young Malay doctor, a medical officer who graduated from the NEP factory known as UKM. Attempting to pacify her and prevent her from spilling the beans, he had administered some tranquilizers easily available from the general wards. The ugly story emerges nonetheless. He was married to a fellow doctor but decided to have some fun, a one-night-stand with this attractive Dusun nurse. Stupidly, she took in his every word and gave herself to him, unaware that he was already married. When he forced her to terminate the unplanned pregnancy, it finally dawned on her that she was nothing but one of his many temporary toys. The reality was too bitter to digest, and her choices are between a live a life of shame and guilt, or a premature death like that of her unborn baby. The young lady has since moved on in life, where and what I am not know. The young doctor has also moved on… to other convenient Kadazandusun targets.

A top-scoring Chinese doctor from University Malaya was placed in charge of a critically ill patient. The patient had a perforated peptic ulcer for which emergency surgery was done. Sepsis was setting in and the patient’s kidney function was deteriorating by the day. His potassium was low, and nearing a fatal level. He was developing bedsores as a result of prolonged immobility. Chest x-rays showed worsening pneumonia. The brilliant UM product deliberately ignored all these ominous signs even after repeated alerts by the astute staff nurses. With no sympathy and little concern except for herself, she allowed the patient to deteriorate. Naturally, the old man passed on but only after two long and painful weeks. The patient will soon be forgotten, as will the lady doctor.

An Indian doctor from the Neurosurgery Department saw the brain scans of a fit, young man who complained of severe headaches. His immediate and confident diagnosis was that of a frontal lobe tumor. He advised urgent surgery but the patient’s family was unsure. It was a major surgery with debilitating consequences should any complications occur. The smooth-talking doctor persuaded the family and assured them of his surgical skills, expertise, and vast experience in dealing with such conditions. He proceeded with surgery. Intra-operatively, the patient bled profusely, requiring massive blood transfusion bleeding was secured. Post-operatively, the young patient did not wake up. He died one week later. The histopathology report came back as an arteriovenous malformation. There was never a tumor to begin with. It was a wrong diagnosis and a wrong operation. The family collected the remains and thanked the surgical team for everything. They were never informed of the final diagnosis. Tomorrow, another patient will go under the knife. The cycle repeats itself.

I am not writing all these to cast aspersions on the ability and integrity of doctors. I am one myself and to do so makes no sense and brings no benefits to myself.

I write because I feel. I feel strongly about something and that’s good, I think. It means I am not numbed to death and dying, pain and suffering, fighting and losing, fear and consequences.

Don’t forget the doctors that have wrecked our nation. Dr. Mahathir got the ball rolling and made us a land of racists. Dr. Ling Liong Sik followed suit and created a generation of mediocre Chinese graduates from the TAR institutions. Dr. Chua Soi Lek screwed around and ended up on Youtube. Dr. Lim Keng Yaik led Gerakan and turned Penang into a mudhole. Dr Ng Yen Yen will be made Health Minister soon so God please save us all.

Our society is still so gullible. People watch ER, Gray’s Anatomy and Scrubs and thinks real-life doctors behave and think like George Clonney’s Dr. Doug in ER. Most doctors don’t watch ER or Gray’s Anatomy. They watch House and start behaving like House. The problem starts when they treat patients like House does without the corresponding intelligence and acumen. They end up being rude, arrogant and stupid doctors. We have a lot of that here in Malaysia. We have a lot of conmen working as doctors and doctors working as conmen too. In Malaysia especially, there are many doctors who were never meant to be in medical school in the first place, and I am not talking about the NEP here, though it contributes too.

All doctors will screw up once in a while but some screw around all the while. Some pursued the art of learning while in medical school while some learnt the art of pursuing the opposite sex. Then there are those who pray for their patients and those who prey on their patients. Every doctor needs to shit sometimes but some love to bullshit every time. Some put you to sleep to be under the knife, while some make you sleep forever six feet under the ground. A careless doctor is pardonable but a callous doctor is despicable.

Be vigilant, be discerning. Common sense will usually tell one if a doctor is a jerk, a bastard or a bullshitter. Finally, one can never fail to recognize that rare doctor who is all three.


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Wisdom from South Park: Douchebag vs Turd Sandwich


After the high of a sweet victory over the BN, DAP-PKR-PAS are back to their old selves.

The outburst by Lim Kit Siang was stupid enough, now Syed Hussin for all his academic credentials is threatening to pull out of the Perak coalition government. Fat ass Abdul Hadi Awang does not want to be left behind. He opposes Guan Eng’s decision to abolish the NEP.

It’s anyone’s guess what these turds are up to next.....



South Park Tells The Truth


In one episode of South Park, the school was holding an election to choose the next school mascot. The students had to choose between a Douchebag and a Turd Sandwich. Stan decided to abstain from voting, saying there’s no point choosing between a Giant Douchebag and a Turd Sandwich. He was finally convinced to vote after someone remarked that “elections have always been between a Giant Douchebag and a Turd Sandwich”.

We can see that here in Malaysia.

After the high of a sweet victory over the BN, DAP-PKR-PAS are back to their old selves.

The outburst by Lim Kit Siang was stupid enough, now Syed Hussin for all his academic credentials is threatening to pull out of the Perak coalition government. Fat ass Abdul Hadi Awang does not want to be left behind. He opposes Guan Eng’s decision to abolish the NEP.

It’s anyone’s guess what these turds are up to next.

Are they worried over the BN media’s dwindling readership? Are they concerned about the lack of racial issues for the BN media monguls to capitalize on? Are they putting up a sandiwara that is neither funny not scary but merely downright irritating? If I were schizophrenic, I’d suspect that these turd heads are conspiring to prove my father right as the prophet of doom and gloom.

It seems that at this moment, only South Park consistently speaks the truth, even when the truth is inconvenient.

Fair enough, Lim Kit Siang has apologized. To give him even more credit, he apologized in a manner far more sincere that the UMNO rodents. Remember Bung Mokhtar’s “sorry if I had offended the feelings of anyone..it’s was just a joke..some people cannot take a joke”? Lim Kit Siang said sorry unconditionally and that to me is pretty commendable.

Lest we forget however, acceptance of an apology is never equal to forgiveness and forgiveness is never equal to pardon.

God forgave Adam yet he had to leave the Garden of Eden. David sought forgiveness over his adulterous episode with Basheba yet their son had to die. Closer to Malaysian shores, Chua Soi Lek apologized over his extramarital sexcapade, but still had to resign and be gone from politics forever.

I will not demand any compensation from the DAP or Lim Kit Siang. He has eaten humble pie and paid a high price by smearing his own name internationally.

I only wish I don’t have to endure such stupid nonsense in future.

Maybe elections since the beginning of time worldwide have always been between a Giant Douchbag and a Turd Sandwich.



Still, if one is desperate after suffering under the Douchbag called BN for fifty years, even a Turd Sandwich might look tasty after all.



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