Friday, August 29, 2008

Menang Sorak, Kampung Tergadai



There are still schools without chairs, villages without electricity, rivers without bridges and families without food.

There’s so much that Sabah needs in order to rise from the current doldrums.

Above everything else though, Sabah needs a band of sincere and capable local leaders to open the eyes of the local people.

Instead, what Sabah gets are



Menang Sorak, Kampung Tergadai


Daily Express August 28th 2008 carries a quarter-page report on how Sabahan quartet One Nation Emcees has done Sabah and Malaysia proud.

Personally, it is with utter sadness when I read such columns on how Sabahans bring glory to their land through singing, singing and singing.

Such news reports glorify the wrong people and send a terribly wrong message to Sabahan youths.

A visitor to Sabah will inescapably marvel at how much development is taking place in Kota Kinabalu and the progress Sabah has made over the last fifty years.

Once upon a time, I too was conned by the apparent advancement and growth that Sabah has made.

As a resident of Sabah however and especially one seeing the poorest folks from the districts, I can only echo the sentiments of the so-called opposition parties lamenting the sad state of Sabah in reality.

A jobless youth with no skills or knowledge is more of the norm rather than the exception in the districts.

An unschooled 24-year-old mother of six is nothing surprising.

Children dropping out of school as early as Primary Six do not raise an eyebrow.

Elderly folks’ waiting by the dusty roadside of Pitas for a Good Samaritan to offer a compassionate ride to Kota Marudu is an everyday affair.

Patients with perforated stomach ulcer for a week before reaching the hospital are not jaw-dropping news.

There are still schools without chairs, villages without electricity, rivers without bridges and families without food.

There’s so much that Sabah needs in order to rise from the current doldrums.

Above everything else though, Sabah needs a band of sincere and capable local leaders to open the eyes of the local people.

Instead, what Sabah gets are endless pretty faces singing factitiously about the beauty of life and death in the poorest state of Malaysia.

As the Malay saying goes, menang sorak, kampung tergadai – the somewhat equivalent of Nero’s fiddling as Rome burns.


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Wednesday, August 27, 2008

BN for Dummies



From its humble but racially-divided roots as a three-party coalition, Barisan Nasional has grown from strength to strength and scandal to scandal.

The BN of today comprises no less than 20 organisations....

BN’s additional members over the last five decades include:
a) Bernama or the National News Agency
b) Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) or National Television Radio Network
c) The Royal Malaysian Police Force (PDRM)
d) The Elections Commission
e) The post-1989-Judiciary and most recently.....



BN for Dummies

The Barisan Nasional (BN) or National Alliance is the current ruling coalition of Malaysia.

Its early roots dated back to the 1951 Kuala Lumpur elections, when the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) first contested as a coalition under the banner of Parti Perikatan, translated literally as the Party of Knots.

Retrospectively, the Party of Knots is indeed the more appropriate and befitting name, and for more reasons than one. As it would turn out decades later, personalities in the Party of Knots more often than not have ties than bind with each other.

For example, the incumbent Minister of Education Hishammuddin Hussein Onn son of third Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Hussein Onn is related by marriage to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak who in turn is the son of the second Prime Minister of Malaysia, the late Tun Abdul Razak. Brotherly ties also feature prominently in the Barisan Nasional. The MCA for example is set for an Ong Dynasty era. It is widely believed that Ong Ka Ting will soon be passing the baton to his elder brother Ong Ka Chuan. It remains to be seen whether the Ong Brothers will fumble like the Americans did in the 4 x 100m relay races during the recent Beijing Olympics.

Barisan Nasional has ruled Malaysia since 1957 then known as Tanah Melayu or Malaya. The rich lands of Sabah and Sarawak also came under BN rule as from 1963.

From its humble but racially-divided roots as a three-party coalition, Barisan Nasional has grown from strength to strength and scandal to scandal.

The BN of today comprises no less than 20 organisations. A complete and thorough listing of the big, happy BN family is not possible here.

BN’s additional members over the last five decades include:
a) Bernama or the National News Agency
b) Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) or National Television Radio Network
c) The Royal Malaysian Police Force (PDRM)
d) The Elections Commission
e) The post-1989-Judiciary and most recently,
f) The Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA).

A dropout from University Tenaga Nasional (Uniten), one Saiful bin Bukhari and his famous rectum, Mohd Rektal bin Saiful are among the list of BN’s latest recruits.

The roles of the component parties in the Barisan Nasional have undergone a somewhat marked change since the March 2008 general elections.

Previously prominent parties like MIC and Gerakan have since then been relegated to insignificant and irrelevant roles, with both parties currently fighting for their individual survival.

Conversely, organizations previously in supportive roles like the ACA and the Judiciary have recently taken more pivotal responsibilities within the harmonious Barisan Nasional family.

For example, in the opposition-led state of Perak, the ACA was unusually efficient and bold in the arrest of two state exco members for alleged corruption in a non-existent RM 180 million housing project.

The judiciary too played its role in BN well by prosecuting these exco members the day before the Permatang Pauh by-elections. In addition, the courts will be re-mentioning the cases on Sept 15, the day before Anwar Ibrahim’s pledged take-over of the federal government.

True to its role as a loyal BN entity, the Elections Commission held the just-concluded Permatang Pauh by-election on a working day to discourage voters from coming out in force to vote for the political icon Anwar Ibrahim. Its strategy failed miserably as evidence by the eventual outcome. The Election Commissions however can boast of sunnier sunny days and greater successes in the form of biased constituency boundaries, dubious electoral rolls as well as selective implementation of election by-laws.

Witnessing the critical roles played out by its fellow BN allies, the Royal Malaysian Police Force (PDRM) was determined not to be left behind. By providing 24-hour surveillance helicopters and riot personnel peculiarly over Anwar Ibrahim’s campaign venues only, the police force has demonstrated its ability to maintain security and order as and when it is politically favorable to do so.

The Barisan Nasional suffered a devastating defeat recently in the parliamentary by-election of Penampang Pauh. Some say it was a blow more humiliating than what the BN politicians have been inflicting upon former Deputy Prime Ministers Anwar Ibrahim and his family.

This has been an introductory article to Barisan Nasional.

We sincerely hope that it has been educational and enlightening for all dummies on Malaysian politics.

Kindly forward this article to your fellow dummies if you have found it useful.

Thank you.


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Friday, August 22, 2008

Turn Them Upside Down!


If flying a colorful piece of cloth upright denotes love and respect from Mr Prime Minister’s perspective, I deduce then that the opposite is equally true – that placing something upside down denotes repulsion and utter disgust.

I’m starting with these.

Turn Them Upside Down!

Blogger Kickdefella is currently under probe by the Royal Malaysian Police Force for allegedly performing an ‘evil’ act of flying the nation’s flag upside down as a sign of national distresss.

The maverick blogger-filmaker has cited credible sources and references to support his claims that flying the national flag upside down is a signal of distress, and by no means a mark of disrespect to the country. Raja Petra Kamaruddin in a recent article, has backed the former’s claims.

Nevertheless, incumbent Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has ordered an immediate probe into the act of flying the flag upside down, describing it as uncouth behaviour and a despicable act.

In typical and increasingly stale UMNO doctrine, the Malaysian premier regards flag-flying and flag-adoration during the independence month an act of true patriotism.


Failure to do hoist the Jalur Gemilang or to do so in the fashion and way UMNO sees fit is seemingly unpatriotic, treasonous and a mark of hatred towards the nation.

I love this country. In spite of all the nonsense and turbulence the nation is putting itself through these days, Malaysia is still the land I was born and raised in.


In fact, if I do not care about the nation’s future, I wouldn’t give a damn about the country’s governance, her shrinking economy, the escalating crime rate, persistent brain drain, worsening pollution or the health of her citizens.

The very fact of criticisms and vigilance is an act of patriotism.

Love to the nation can be put to practice in more ways than one.

The simple habit of refraining from littering our streets as though every road is named after our grandfather is a very untainted form of patriotism.

Recycling one’s garbage goes a long way towards preserving the nation’s natural assets for the future generations of Malaysians, both humans and non-humans.

Registering as a voter and going out there to the ballot box come elections speaks volumes about one’s concern for the nation, never mind the fact that it is only one vote, unless of course one is on UMNO’s payroll in which one might be entitled to multiple votes.

Conserving the citizens’ taxes by not abusing government resources and machinery is a demonstration of nationalism by means of omission as opposed to commission.

Patriotism should be advocated as a lifestyle and not seasonal exhibitionism come every August.

Surely a government dissident who earns an honest living is more of patriot than a minister who siphons off the people’s money through corrupted practices and shady deals?

That unfortunately, is not the ideal espoused by the current regime.

If flying a colorful piece of cloth upright denotes love and respect from Mr Prime Minister’s perspective, I deduce then that the opposite is equally true – that placing something upside down denotes repulsion and utter disgust.

I’m starting with these.
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Monday, August 18, 2008

Disposable Garbage (1): BTN Part 2


Disposable Garbage (1): BTN Part 2
The UMNO agents prepared some short questions to gauge our knowledge about the nation, which they later tried to elaborate from an UMNO perspective:

These were some of the questions, followed by some of our answers:

1. The Malaysian Constitution: The supreme law of the nation that means nothing unless the ruling government itself abide by its principles

2. Article 153: Malay special privileges dulu, kini dan selamanya (then, now and forever)

3. New Economic Policy: The main reason why Malaysia lost 2 million potentially talented, skilful and knowledgeable citizens of all races since 1970.

4. Parliament: A huge building where uneducated pea-brains like Nazri Aziz and Bung Mokhtar can curse freely and utter hurtful words with no fear of any legal repercussions

5. Dewan Negara: A gathering of political has-beens with no freedom to vote with their conscience on any arising matters

6. Election Commission: The 15th component party of Barisan Nasional

7. Barisan Nasional: Irrelevant, Not an edible entity

8. Internal Security Act: Got five HINDRAF guys there

9. Official Secrets Act: Freedom of speech, but no freedom after speech

10. DYMM Yang Dipertuan Agong: Our ruler who was called a "natang" or "animal" by the frustrated Idris Jusoh supporters

11. Negaraku Song: Originally the tune of Mamula Moon

12. Article 160(2): Now, everyone can be Malay! (as long as cakap Melayu, budaya Melayu, nama Melayu and Muslim too.

13. Article 161A(4): That little section of the Malaysian constitution that never garners any attention, as evidenced by the poverty and limbo state of Sabahan and Sarawakian bumiputeras

14. Sedition Act: More commonly known as Anti-Bloggers Act these days

15. Jus Soli: UMNOputras' favorite tagline

16. Social Contract: UMNOputra's second favorite tagline



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Friday, August 15, 2008

Disposable Garbage (1): Biro Tatanegara


“Do not challenge us. Do not test our patience. Do not question. If you want to fight, we are prepared anytime and you will regret…”


Disposable Garbage (1): Biro Tatanegara

“Do not challenge us. Do not test our patience. Do not question. If you want to fight, we are prepared anytime and you will regret…”

“The immigrant population should be grateful because the Malays were so generous as to grant them citizenship in Tanah Melayu…”

“Dr. Azhari Hussin would have died as a true martyr if he had blown himself along with George W. Bush.”

“Anwar Ibrahim is responsible for the recent disappearance of several children in the Klang Valley because he wanted to make the Royal Malaysian Police Force look bad before the general elections…”

“Canny Ong should be held responsible for her own rape and death because she chose to dress provocatively and seductively….”


Prologue

Snide remarks and ridiculous statements are nothing extraordinary in Malaysia. In fact in UMNO general assemblies, comments loaded with racial hatred and extreme religious elements have more or less become customary and the norm rather than the exception.

The above statements however, were not collected from an UMNO gathering but over a recent four-day program organized by the Biro Tatanegara.

A Brief Background
The Biro Tatanegara (BTN) is an organization under the direct purview of the Prime Minister’s Department. The BTN first came into being in 1974. Among others, it functions to organize programs aimed at instilling a sense of patriotism and national unity. Its core target population is primarily students in local public universities and Malaysians in civil service.

The BTN currently has 14 branch offices, one in each Malaysian state. It manages 16 camps known as Kem Bina Negara or KBN in short.

Participation and successful completion of BTN programs is compulsory for all civil servants in all government offices and students in certain public universities. Failure to attend and complete a BTN program may result in the denial of promotion for Malaysians working in the civil sector.

More information on the Biro Tatanegara can be accessed here.

The BTN Doctrine
In stark contrast to its supposed claims of building a united Malaysian race capable of confronting the daunting challenges in a new millennium, the BTN is yet another mouthpiece of UMNO aimed at preserving UMNO’s political hegemony by means of blatant brainwashing propaganda and a Malaysian history tampered to UMNO’s interests.

Many personal testimonies and honest accounts have been written in detail about the BTN program. They can be read here, here and here. Alternatively, one can just google BTN, and I am fully aware that google is not officially recognized as a verb in the English language yet.

A summary of the BTN doctrine is as follows:

The Malays were the original residents of both peninsular Malaysian and Borneo. The fact that they migrated from Jawa does not make them any less original than the aboriginal orang asli because the current Thailand, Indonesia, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo and Philipines were supposedly a grand Malay archipelago. Therefore, the Malays’ migrating from Jawa to Peninsular Malaysia/Borneo is akin to one traveling from Pulau Pinang to Selangor.

The independence of Malaya was fought and won with little and negligible contribution from the non-Malays. In view of that, non-Malays including the non-Malay bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak are eternally indebted to their Malay counterparts.

Lee Kuan Yew is the founder of DAP and DAP is the party responsible for the May 13 tragedy.

The sovereignty of Malay Malaysians is at all times under threat externally from the British, Jews and communist agents and internally from the Chinese and Indian Malaysians.

There exists an official and legally-binding social contract between the ethnic groups of Malaysia.

The people of mainland China are so poor that they are eating dead fetuses. Chinese Malaysians should therefore be grateful that they have four meals per day.

The HINDRAF rally in Nov 2007 was violent and intended to be so. HINDRAF is a terrorist outfit that has no loyalty to the nation because they petitioned the queen of England and brandished pictures of Mahatma Gandhi.

Reflections...
Malaysia is a super-rich nation.
For much too long, Malaysians have been led to believe that the nation’s resources are limited. The truth cannot be further than this.

The BTN camp in Kundasang, Sabah occupies the most strategic location in the whole area. It is perched atop a hill that accords one the most breathtaking view of Mount Kinabalu. Its facilities and infrastructure are maintained in tip-top condition. There are no less than six luxurious mini-bungalows within its ground that house visiting UMNO speakers/facilitators.

So it seems, the government has the millions to erect a first-class, brain-washing boot camp in Kundasang but none of the same to upgrade the ailing rural schools of Ranau and broken village roads.

No, Malaysia is not limited financially or economically. Malaysia is a super rich nation capable of achieving all that she wants to for her citizens. As it is, the current ruling parties squander millions of taxpayers’ ringgit to brainwash young minds instead of opening them up in a world increasingly without borders.

The question is one of political will, or the lack of it.

The Prime Minister’s Department is officially the centre of racism in the nation.
As the BTN is under the direct powers of the Prime Minister’s Department, Abdullah Badawi is therefore officially responsible for the BTN’s racial elements and divisive teachings.

Would it not therefore be reasonable to conclude that the Malaysian Prime Minister is a racist as well?

Bullshit is marketable – it all depends on how one packages it.
The information provided by the BTN program is invariably one-sided, frequently erroneous and occasionally nonsensical. Both history and current national events are presented in such a manner that favors UMNO’s political interests.

We are told that Anwar Ibrahim is a spy for the Americans and Jews and that Venice is in Holland.

Nevertheless, one will be surprised just how successful UMNO’s brainwashing propaganda is. The feedback from participants shows that a great number have changed views or converted to UMNO-ism altogether. There are a thousand and one reason for Malaysian’s gullibility – a lifetime of feudalism, sheer ignorance, the lack of an independent media and all else.

Regardless, bullshit sells really well if one knows just how to package it. The Pakatan Rakyat parties will have a hard time reaching out to BTN converts.


The nation is almost hopelessly diseased.
Far from its officially stated goal of uniting Malaysian towards an increasingly elusive Vision 2020, the BTN thrives on the divide-and-conquer principle. As UMNO and therefore Barisan Nasional was founded on communalism, it can only remain viable for as long as racial politics reigns in Malaysia.

The BTN aids UMNO by inciting racial hatred through its habitual practice of explicit threats of impending violence in a multi-racial nation.

It has been hugely successful to say the obvious.

And that is indeed a saddening thought.

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Saturday, August 9, 2008

Ban, Band, Bandits.


Kuala Lumpur PAS Youth Chief, one Kamarulzaman Mohamad alleged that Avril Lavinge’s scheduled concert on August 29th is an insult to the ‘Merdeka freedom fighters’. Not too long ago, the same Pas group played a crucial role in the eventual cancellation of a concert by Indonesian dangdut sensation Inul Daratista from performing in Kuala Lumpur.



Ban, Band, Bandits


Much has happened over the last 24 hours.

The Beijing Olympics opened to a literally explosive start with 10,500 athletes from 204 nations participating in 302 events in 28 sports over the next 16 days.

The price of crude oil as at 9:51 AM EDT, 2008.08.09 hovered at USD 115.15 per barrel compared to its previous all time high at USD 147.27 on July 11, 2008.

A forum on the legal issues in conversion to Islam was stopped short for fear that a gang of 300 protesters from GPMS, PAS and Perkida would turn rowdy. Members of the organizing committee were jeered with taunts of “babi”, “pengkhianat” and “balik China” as they were exiting the venue of the forum.
Back at the Olympic Games, an American man was killed and a lady injured when the assailant, a Chinese citizen stabbed the victims while they were attending the games. The assailant later leaped to his death.
After their apparent success in denying the process of democracy and freedom of speech and religious rights, PAS has quickly moved on to their next item on their to-do list of anti-West agendas.

Kuala Lumpur PAS Youth Chief, one Kamarulzaman Mohamad alleged that Avril Lavinge’s scheduled concert on August 29th is an insult to the ‘Merdeka freedom fighters’. Not too long ago, the same Pas group played a crucial role in the eventual cancellation of a concert by Indonesian dangdut sensation Inul Daratista from performing in Kuala Lumpur.

At the centre of all this is a deeply entrenched and hopelessly blind opposition to anything Western and white.

Indeed, many western countries are pretty screwed up by what people deem as the decay of moral values in their society. Incredulous same-sex marriages, recalcitrant gay church leaders, legalized marijuana use are no longer news in the western continents. The list goes on, from the absurd to the downright unthinkable.
One thing the Western community is definitely not doing is inundating themselves with drunken hatred.

And that is exactly why countries like Australia, Britian and the US of A are making progress while Malaysia is regressing.

The westerners do not waste time observing and protesting the unconventional attire of veiled Muslim ladies sauntering freely along their streets. They spend hours and weeks and years understanding and researching the new angiogenesis inhibitors cancer drugs and giving them names like bevacizumab and ranibizumab.

The white people do not squander their God-given limbs yielding placards and wielding keris to taunt diligent immigrants flourishing in their land. They train tirelessly and rigorously on the tracks and on the filed and in the pool, coupling scientific principles into sports and create world records in swimming and athletics through the likes of Micheal Phelps and Tyson Gay.

The gwailos know better than to riot and run amok over never-ending, never resolving issues like religion and culture and Middle East politics. They gather opposing parties with contending views and produce movies like Munich and Syriana and make handsome profits out of them which they use later to make more of such lucrative projects.

The mat sallehs comprehend that heterogenecity and pluralism is inevitable in an ever shrinking world that leaves little room for a false sense of racial supremacy and religious domination. For this reason, Asians in the entertainment industry like John Cho, Kal Penn and Russell Peters are having a field day inflicting wicked humor on white people and dismissing racial stereotyping at the same time.
Back in Malaysia, the PAS politicians are still preaching about protecting our local people from the evils of the West.

Epidemiological common sense assumes that a substantial number of these PAS loudmouths are currently on some form of antihypertensive and antidiabetic treatment. These PAS fanatics are beneficiaries of the Western community and the latter’s endless quest for safer drugs and novel treatments.
Malaysians need not thank the West and kiss their feet. At the same time, Malaysians and in particular Malays shouldn’t be so hypocritical and self-righteous too.
After all, our nation is pretty screwed up too.









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Friday, August 8, 2008

Mad Season


I love this country but I will not fly the Malaysian flag come Independence Day.



Mad Season

It’s the month of August and I haven’t written anything for the last ten days, not even in draft form. I find no inspiration in the month of August every year.

The reason is simple. It’s the month when the nation of Malaysia will celebrate her independence from the British 52 years ago on August 31st 1957.

On that historical date, the reign of the white men as colonial masters ended and Malaysia was accorded the liberty to pursue her own destiny.

Colonization ended but feudalism persisted, and the latter is still very much pervasive in the Malaysian community.

Anyway, the silly season has begun. It’s the season to demonstrate patriotism in ways and means that are outright irrelevant and absolutely nonsensical, like 2007’s stitching the longest and most unusable flag on earth.

Before long, the BN politicians will be calling upon all Malaysians to fly the Jalur Gemilang if Malaysians truly love the nation.

Many will inexorably heed the call and do as they were told by their feudal masters, oblivious to the fact that their hard-earned ringgit are falling effortlessly into the pockets of cronies and friends of the ruling party. These folks will proudly fly a solitary Malaysian flag on the top of their car, usually just next or behind the radio antenna.

Perhaps they really love the country and feel that the only way to do so is by flying a mini flag wherever they go. They are probably totally inundated by the half-century UMNO axiom that to love one’s country is to fly the national flag during the month of independence.

I beg to differ.

I love this country but I will not fly the Malaysian flag come Independence Day.

It is hypocrisy to demonstrate patriotism just because Independence Day is around the corner. It’s no different from a Christian who behaves like an angel on the Sabbath when one is in church but transforms into the real ugly self for the remaining six days of the week.

Patriotism is a lifestyle and not an act. In our small ways, we bring out the patriot in us in the work and tasks we perform every day.

Among others, loving the nation means one will not steal from the tax payers by engaging in shady deals through dubious means to enrich oneself. If flag-flying Malaysians can see this with common sense, they’d realise that the current Malaysian government are made up of a gang of lying liars.

In that light, the city hall worker who earns a paltry sum every month sweeping the filthy roads of Kuala Lumpur has more virtue and love for the country than the loud-mouth, tough-talking politician who live off the honest earnings of the people.

The way I see it, the humble, hunch-backed hospital attendant has done more for the nation and her citizens than the deceitful, callous and careless brain surgeon.

It’s just an opinion, but my envy for a Dato’ cum director of multiple listed companies speaking with that fake overseas accent pales in comparison to the friendly, petite lady selling tropical fruits at a makeshift roadside stall. The latter at least, retires to bed every night with a clear conscience knowing one has made an honest living.

In fact just to stretch the limits, perhaps the many uneducated and unskilled and unregistered Filipino immigrants laboring under the scorching sun daily have contributed more to the nation’s progress that the thousands of over-pampered, overfed and overpaid government bureaucrats.

Perhaps we should make these diligent migrant workers honorary Malaysians by virtue of their brute strength and sheer determination. Similarly, perhaps we should suspend the citizenship of those civil servants who regularly take daily two-hour breaks for breakfast, brunch and then lunch.

Let’s not fly the flag for independence day anymore.

Let’s just do our jobs well for starters.

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