finally..all is not lost :) hopefully...

Dear Mr. Melvin,

I refer to your feedback written to us pertaining to your claim
on the telephone bills during the delay on our flight MH005 1 February
2007.

Appreciate if you could let us know your contact number
in order for us to be in touch with you regarding the matter above.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,
for Malaysia Airlines

Tengku Zuraya Tengku Yaccob
Customer Response Department

what a blardy good reply from MAS

Dear Mr. Melvin,

Thank you for your email dated 25 March 2007.

We are sorry for the delay to your flight from Kuala Lumpur to Frankfurt.
We understand and would like to assure you that we do make every effort to
eliminate the anxiety and disturbance to our passengers whenever we
experience retiming to our flights. The delay was however necessary to
rectify a mechanical defect to the aircraft, as passenger safety is of
paramount importance to us.

Malaysia Airlines, like other international carriers, undertake our best
efforts to ensure passengers reach their final destinations safely with
minimum disruption. The times shown in timetable or elsewhere are not
guaranteed. Malaysia Airlines may, without notice, substitute alternate
carrier or aircraft, and may alter or omit stopping places shown on the
ticket in case of necessity. Schedules are subject to change without
notice. Carrier assumes no responsibility for making connections. This
information is indicated under Clause 9 of our Conditions of Contract on
page 2 of each passenger's ticket.

As such, we regret to advise you that we are unable to accede to your
request for the reimbursement of your cellphone roaming bills.

Mr Melvin, we are sorry that your travel plan was disrupted. Rest assured
that at no time the safety of our passengers is compromised.

We hope your next experience will be much more pleasant. In the meantime,
Malaysia Airlines will continue to improve to give our passengers the
quality of speed, efficiency and service they expect and deserve.

Thank you.


Yours sincerely
for Malaysia Airlines


Kelsey@ Siti Khadijah Abdullah
Customer Response

Email:customer@mas.com.my

It's all about politics!

First of all, lock this in our minds first. It is all about the politics.

Anwar Ibrahim is still very much a dynamic leader. Some say he has lost his chance. Some say he is stupid because he went against Dr M. Some say his time is over. Some say he is irrelevant until and unless he rejoins UMNO. Some say he is talam dua muka. Some say he is hypocrite. Some say he is gay and homo. But whatever it is, I can tell you that his English has improved a lot, and for this, he has gained my respect. Mind you, Anwar is now invited to speak in prestigious universities such as Cambridge, Stanford, LSE and many more. Even Dr M or AAB are not popularly invited to speak at those institutions. Some say he is US-ally, some say he is Gore's friend. Some say he is Jewish proxy. That is why he was invited to all these functions. But let me say something, if anybody or particularly the Malaysian Government thinks that all these institutions are Jewish/American-based, then why the hell on earth do JPA spends million of tax payers money to send top bright scholars there? Again, back to square one, it's all about politics. Do you think Malaysia will survive if we don't make friends with USA? USA is the world police and trade 'taiko' (big brother). M'sia is now US's 10th largest trading partner. You can imagine what will happen to our economy if Intel, Dell etc pull out from our Industrial Zones, causing retrenchments and lost of thousands of jobs..finish...

It's all about politics. Anwar has improved himself. Some say that's a little too late. Too little too late. He missed the boat. What he suffers is due to his own folly. He got what he deserved. For everything he did when he was in UMNO and govt. Yes yes, Anwar's critics..say what you like and what you want. In fact, I criticise Anwar at times too. But I personally believe he deserves a second chance. After all, he nearly died in prison by arsenic poisoning and being kicked and punched and jailed for 6 years..but looks like many big 'fishes' are still walking free...you be the judge..Keadilan is a party and why not give them a chance to speak for us. If we find them as useless/corrupted as BN, we can always change back to BN, no problem. And never ever bullshit to me that when you change govt every 5-10 years, there wont be much development. Again and again, that's just political propaganda...huhu

Okay, enough. I think I have said enough. Pretty much hit the bulls-eye. Cheerio!

Opening the Pandora Box

On Jan 31, 2007, I was scheduled to depart from Frankfurt Airport, Germany by noon local time. Everything seemed to be fine. Flight MH 005 called upon all passengers to embark. So I happily marched to the aircraft tunnel and into the 777 plane. I heard 777's size is in between 747 and 737. Anyway, I can see from the outside in the terminal building that the plane do look old despite 777's are supposed to be newer. Anyway, cosmetics ain't matter, I told myself. Or so I think...

The captain announced for passengers to put on our safety belts and bring our seats to 90 degrees. Cabin crew were even told to be seated. The plane was about to be reversed by the 'forklifter' or whatever you wanna call it. We were ready for take off. But strangely, we waited..and waited..and waited as time passed by...

20 mins..30 mins..45 mins..and by 1 hour we still did not take off, there must be something really wrong. 1 hour plus..clock is ticking, passengers are still in the cabin, some of us already got frustrated. Dehydration prevailed. We were still in the dark. Captain told us there were some technical problems. It was only then when he told us we needed to wait longer did the cabin crew start serving drinks to quench our thirst. Suddenly I felt like I was a hostage trapped in a plane.

By 1.45pm or so..the pilot announced that we really couldn't take off as one of the fuel tanks leaked and luckily the engineer checked it out and detected the leak just before take off. So you people can imagine if the airplane really took off...

This fuel leak issue is not something which should be swept under the carpet. And this is the purpose I am going public and online with it. It surely pissed me off when MAS didn't reply my email. But then again, should any explosion happened as a result of the fuel leak, I guess I wont be sitting here blogging today. More to come!

why MAS stands for Mother*&^%$£" Airline System

Dear fellow bloggers and commenters, be it anonymous or not, I thank you for all your comments and i appreciate them very very much. Thank you. You guys give me the hope, dedication and determination to keep expressing my freedom of speech in the virtual reality. Today I want to share something with you. The email below which I have sent to customer@mas.com.my since 25 March 07 has not been replied until today.

Dear Customer Service,

I would like to claim back my cellphone roaming bills
so please advise how do I send the evidence and bills
to MAS. For your information, I was delayed for more
than 24 hours in Frankfurt (Flight MH005) which was
supposed to be departing on Feb 1, 2007 but due to a
fuel leakage problem, departed on Feb 2, 2007.

Thank you,
MR WEELOON/CHIN
Passenger MH005 Frankfurt to KLIA.

NB: I will blog more about the delay and what actually happened with that MAS plane soon. For now, I think that MAS is either ignorant or in denial about this issue.

Of educating and education

Education is a life-long process. Learning is a life-long process. Studying and reading accompany the process. This aspect of life requires a full, dedicated commitment from all parties to ensure its success. Thus education must never be mixed with politics. The problem with our local universities is that there is too much politicking, especially race-based politics. We can never go far with this kind of mentality, no matter how 'advance' you claim you are as it is still a 3rd world mentality.

Recently, the VC of UM Rafiah Salim said that the THES ranking should not be the sole criterion in determining the quality of a university. Yes of course, I would have to agree with her. But let me say out loud that if you put Harvard/MIT in any type of ranking, they are still the top in the world. Can UM be of any good if put into other rankings beside THES? Yeah, we are expecting a little too much here, UM can never ever beat Harvard/MIT like FOREVER. But even if the THES ranking is not the only thing we should look at, it is definitely appalling to see our universities' rankings drop every year. So what has the VC got to say about this?

There is a saying that once you drop into a deep ravine, it's very hard for you to climb back to the top. The more you drop, the harder you need to climb up, of course. So with regards to our local uni rankings, I dread the future. Oh, in fact, I'm dreading now...

Inculcating Reading

A few days ago, a newspaper carried a report on DPM Najib Razak about his hobby. His hobby is reading. He reads during his past time. He owns a large collection of about 3000 titles in his personal library at home. There was a picture of him flipping the pages of a book. He also mentioned that he loves Dan Brown's collection and that those are still brand new and the wrappers yet to be opened. He said he is reading a Jeffrey Archer's book and that he loves Blue Ocean Strategy so much that he bought the books for all his staff members. Yes, this is the spirit we need to see. The love for books is a good thing.

But hang on, sir. Look again. You miss something big. Najib wouldn't be able to go to Kinokuniya or MPH or Borders or Popular or any bookstore to view the books he loves. This is due to his so-called 'super hectic' schedule. So he can get his personal assisants to get the books for him anytime. Does he know how much a typical Dan Brown novel costs in Malaysia? There is a saying which goes 'Compare like with like, apple with apple'. So let us compare one-on-one, i.e. RM1 = 1 euro, we can buy The Da Vinci Code paperback cover by Corgi Publisher for 6.99 pounds. is it RM6.99 in Malaysia? No it's not. It's RM32.90 in Malaysia. So how are we gonna inculcate the reading habit when the price is kinda absurd?

And don't ever bullshit buy converting 7pounds = RM49 so it's more expensive than RM32.90 coz that's just plain bull.
And don't ask poor people like me to buy second hand books or borrow in the library. Foreign books must be tax-free and real cheap, if not just forget about the whole agenda about promoting reading. As they say, "Membaca Jambatan Ilmu".

The yin and yang of politics

The Chinese have a believe that everything in our universe consist of Yin and Yang. Yin is the exact opposite of Yang and vice versa. If we were to look at the Yin Yang logo, it is also represented by two colours, namely black and white. Many believe that white is good and black is bad. Whichever way you look at it, the bottomline is that Yin and Yang had not separated, are not separated, and will never be separated. Yin and Yang exist in a balance in our universe. In science, one of Newton's laws states that action and reaction equal to the opposite. It simply means if you are pushing a wall, the wall may not move but there is indeed a 'hidden' force pushing u back in the opposite direction from the wall with the same magnitude. Looks like science and believe seem to have some similarities.

This applies for politics as well. While we experience ups and downs in our country's or any other country's political process, one thing is for certain, there can never be a state of Utopia. There will always be good and bad. It is the human-being who chooses which path to follow. If they chose to be good, they will be rewarded. If they chose to be bad, they will be punished. Does this always hold true? There is a peribahasa which says, 'Buat baik dibalas baik, buat jahat dibalas jahat.' But in this increasingly materialistic world that we are living now, are you not surprised if the number of people undergoing 'Buat baik dibalas jahat, buat jahat dibalas baik' become increasingly common? This is the yin and yang of politics. Where murderers get away with murder, corruptors get away with corruption, abusers get away with abuses and so on and so forth. If you were to ask any religious figure, the sins or bad deeds a person has done will be judged by God and not for us to judge. Then simply ask ourselves a question: Why do we have prisons and jail cells and gallows and firing squads?

Yes, you may argue that in any society we need rules and laws and regulations to govern a society. So law enforcers and law enforcement are needed. But that is not the issue, the issue is why when people condemned a guilty person, it is perceived that God will surely hate that person too. And usually before any executions take place, the religious authority will say 'May God forgive you in the afterlife'. Who are we to judge the condemned prisoner? So does that mean if he or she is wrongly executed then the executioner will go to Hell? Or if the person who is guilty walks free from the courts, will he eventually end up in Hell when the person dies? Or if he repents in time, will he be given a chance to go to Heaven? This is exactly what is happening around us today, in the cruel and brutal world of politics, where survival of the fittest matters and nothing else. There will always be lucky ones who are free from 'society's punishment' and those who are rightly and wrongly punished. Again, Yin and Yang if you picture it in mind: Guilty vs Innocent, if guilty, rightly punished or wrongly punished; if innocent, rightly free or wrongly free. We are talking about real world here. So what is justice then when the wrongs outdo the right? Those really guilty will never be found guilty forever as the evidences have been destroyed or case closed.

It is indeed sad to have to say that this is life. In life, everywhere you go, everywhere you live, everywhere you work, it is all about politics. Politics exist in the real world and will always contain the Yin's and the Yang's. This delicate balance of good and bad exist to maintain the equilibrium of nature until Earth is exhausted of all its resources. The world would be a super dull place if there are only all Yins and no Yangs or all Yangs and no Yins, don't you think so?

Moral of the story : Accept that life is unfair, then move on and make each day the best out of it...for Yin and Yang will always be around whether you like it or not.

The Problem with Malaysia

Today, let us look at our country Malaysia and summarize what is wrong with her. The fact that Malaysia came from Malaya and have the word 'malay' in it speaks much of the country herself. yes, MALAYsia and MALAYa all have the word malay in it. yes, i have no qualms and do not hate the word malay nor malaya nor malaysia. The difference between bumiputera and non-bumiputera and its subsequent criteria and privileges have certainly went against the core principals of justice and equality. Well, as 'non-bumiputeras', we can still certainly accept that. Fine if the government wants to help the rural malays and the poor malays. Chinese and Indians are okay with it. We live together, eat together and play together. No problem. We can tolerate this 'injustice'. Raja Petra Kamarudin wrote in his article entitled America : A Shariah-Compliant State clearly states that it is USA who actually follows the Islamic fundamentals while Malaysia does not. Regardless, we have live peacefully ever since independence and apart from the racial riots instigated by political parties in 1969, there are no major riots like those in Indonesia and the Phillipines. We the non-bumiputera can live with the bumiputera. In fact, I don't feel threatened in a Malay kampung although I am the only Chinese there. So firstly get it clear that there is nothing against them.

What is actually wrong in Malaysia is actually the mismanagement and incompetency by the public sector. By this I mean corruption and laziness. It so happens that majority of workers in the civil sector are Malays, thus the stereotype. Malays are seen to be corrupt and want fast money. Okay, I say Chinese are also corrupt. Why? The Chinese businessmen 'feed' the Malay administrators and get to make more money. China has a reputation of being a corrupt country and thus the steteotype by Western media although communism states equality and justice for all citizens. Even America itself, a Shariah compliant state, does not treat blacks and Muslims humanly. But watever it is, there is a black and white document underlining the principals of USA. It is the administration who is going against it. In Malaysia, the constitution has already stated The Social Contract agreed by our forefathers. Whenever somebody questions the social contract, one will be threatened by arrest and warned that it was planned by our forefathers of independence. What they had failed to see is that rules and regulations can be amended all the time. Many officials argue that we do not need to change for the sake of changing. But if it's already a corrupted system, would you not change it? Would you allow it to destroy you inside out?

Government ministers and officials say BN has done a tremendous job in managing the country. Opposition cannot even run the country, so they say and time and again, don't change for the sake of changing. Who said opposition cannot run the country? They haven't been given a chance. Yes, you may argue that Kelantan has been under PAS rule for so many years. Yet Kelantan is still backward. It is not because the leaders made it backward, it is because the federal government refused to send money to the people for voting PAS. As long as PAS holds Kelantan, Putrajaya would not be so favourable towards Nik Aziz, least they could do is prepare air transport for Nik Aziz to fly to KL Hospital and make him and everyone in Kelantan happy and know that BN still cares for the people of Kelantan. Look at Penang. Political pundits say DAP-Keadilan may have a big chance to win in Penang this coming GE. For your information, many people are really unhappy with Dr Koh's lacklustre in his leadership and the people of Penang don't really care who is the Chief Minister as long as he is a Chinese. But once this Chinese is being 'threatened by keris' and stuff like that, the Chinese in Penang will vote for opposition. Chinese just want to do business, there goes the stereotype. Remember that Chinese can tolerate UMNO-business based people but once their position are threatened, they can always turn to the DAP. Much more like 'the lalang phenomena' you may say.

Whatever it is, the scenario mentioned above clearly summarizes the problem with Malaysia. Where a main political party holds almost absolute power, then 'absolute power corrupts absolutely'. Change first, talk later. After all, elections are every 5 years. If the people are so unhappy with the opposition, they can always change back to BN. And don't ever rubbish to me that since political parties always change, therefore the country's development will be on hold and the people will suffer. That's just plain lies to put those who stay in power...stay longer in power, what an efficient propaganda! If things go this way, I may also vote for the opposition OR rather not vote at all. Bear in mind that politics is always about perception.

Whither Malaysia?

Of Blogs and Blogging

First of all, my heartfelt appreciation and thank you so very much to everybody who encouraged me to blog again. I had nearly wanted to give up (due to pure laziness and lack of interests as there is nothing a blogger like me gonna make any difference). But since there are people around who gave me the spirit and force to continue, I will continue blogging and hopefully come out with better and more interesting posts. I want to particularly thank:

1.Free Lunch 2020 – for being supportive and told me not to fear to express my thoughts.

2.Maverick SM – for ‘commanding’ me to keep blogging..LOL!

3.Fuziah Salleh (Ketua Wanita KeADILan) – for her best wishes.

4.Selva Kumar Sivan – for encouraging me to continue to post articles, even though they are supportive of the govt!!

This blog is not supportive of any party. This blog argues what is right and what is wrong. This blog only allows constructive criticisms and intellectual discourse in politics. Corruption has become rampant based on the news report below:

Malaysia goes up in corruption ranking (TheStar Online)
By ROYCE CHEAH

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s economy is perceived by foreign businessmen to be more corrupt this year compared to last year, according to an annual survey carried out by Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC).

The survey results that were released yesterday polled 1,476 expatriate business executives in 13 countries and territories across the region in January and February.

In a grading system with zero as the best possible score and 10 as the worst, Malaysia was ranked seventh with a score of 6.25.

When contacted in Hong Kong, PERC managing director Robert Broadfoot said this was a slight decrease from 2006 when Malaysia scored 6.13 although it was still better than the 2005 score of 6.80.

“This corruption perception index is something we’ve done for over 20 years now and although perception and reality are different things, when it comes to corruption, it becomes very important,” he said.

“Companies usually base their investment decisions on perception, not reality. If companies perceive the situation in a particular country to be difficult, then that is likely to work against their decision to invest,” he said.

Broadfoot added that those polled included managers of multi-national companies and banks.

The most corrupt economy according to the survey is Philippines with a score of 9.40, followed by Thailand and Indonesia, both with scores of 8.03.

Malaysia’s score has Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) president Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam worried although he contends that perception surveys are not perfect.

“However, they are the best indication of people’s thinking and assessment of the state of corruption in any country,” he said.

“I would not dismiss it easily as mere perception since consistent perceptions reflect reality,” he added.

Navaratnam said he found perception surveys like these difficult to understand especially if Malaysia was rated as bad as China.

“This makes it all the more important why Malaysia must have its own corruption index designed by Malaysians. Then we could do a year-on-year comparison.”

Navaratnam hoped the Government would give greater concern to the TI-M perception survey index, which TI-M hopes to improve on in consultation with all authorities and non-governmental organisations.

He said persistent reports of the poor perception on corruption undermined the feel-good factor Malaysians now enjoyed.

Back from break..

Yes, Sembang Kedai Kopi is back...there is something i wanna share with u all..enjoy!

Why Does It Always Rain In Malaysia

for a while now, the higher echelons of our political hierarchy have had a new rationalization when things screw up. and the rationalization is this : irresponsible, lying bloggers.

the latest in the fine art of blameshifting that many of our executives seem to be particularly adept at, is our Tourism Minister claiming that the ‘para blogger’ are creating a negative misconception of Malaysia and that all bloggers are liars.

he attributed mudslinging bloggers as one of the causes of a slow flow of tourists into the country despite it being Visit Malaysia Year 2007. apparently we should be singing praises about Msia in an attempt to lure tourists into our beautiful multi-racial, multi-ethnic country that is rich with culture and heritage and history. nevermind the fact that our multi-racial feelgood happy-clappy diversity is as real as the tourist brochures get, and that our govt has a habit of wrecking heritage sites that have such potential as tourist attractions, and the unspoken rule of our historical archiving is that the less-than-glorious parts should be forgotten and never brought up.

Tourism Minister said :

“Our airports are jam-packed daily, the occupancy rates at hotels are high and, furthermore, we are not only concentrating on Kuala Lumpur; the tourists visit other parts of the country.”

airports are jampacked. so? occupancy rates at hotels are high. so? not only concentrating on KL. so? how about not coming up with ridiculously plebeian defences, and actually doing something about the sad failure that is called Visit Malaysia Year 2007 (VMY 2007)? Tourism Minister, here is a newsflash : the tourists that are in our country right now have absolutely no flipping clue it is VMY 2007. the reasons they are here are reasons unbeknownst to us, but as a recent poll in The Star would have it, they are most definitely NOT here for the effectiveness of your campaign in their respective countries. they have no idea it exists. that means VMY is a failure because you people have no marketing savvy.

he also said : “With only one ferris wheel at Taman Tasik Titiwangsa drawing a huge crowd there, what are these people talking about VM2007 being lembab (slow)?”

it is no secret that i hate the stupid eye on fucking malaysia. spending 30 million of public funds on a stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid ferris wheel that will be dismantled by the end of the year is the most ridiculous proposition at tourism enhancement i have ever seen. and with 30mil, you’d think they’d use that money on an attraction that’s UNIQUE and not something that was ripped off another country’s attraction. and what the HELL does he mean that because the ferris wheel draws a crowd, it means VMY is a success? hello but have you not realized that everyone going to that stupid monstrosity are LOCALS???

and dont even get me started on the joke that is the idiotic RM1-for-15 minutes jamban in the middle of our city. it’s making us an international laughingstock, thank you very much tourism ministry. is malaysia so backward that self-cleaning, hygenic and presentable bathrooms have to become a fucking tourist attraction? shouldnt that be the state of toilets all over the country instead of a few strategically-placed glamourized Porta-Potties? how about putting the money that went towards those plastic huts into wages for the people who clean our public toilets? how about putting that money into TOILET ROLLS for our public toilets, for goodness’ sake? and how about not charging RM1 while you’re at it?

i dont know about y’all, but i cringe everytime i read travel guidebooks that say ‘guard your belongings; pickpocket and theft cases are abundant in Malaysia’. if our rampant crime rate is not a secret to the guidebook writers, surely it is not a secret to the people of Malaysia and the government. do something about it lah can or not. and while you’re at it, can we look into the corruption problem as well? yah yah elect Pak Lah and he’ll eradicate corruption in Msia. his service is going into 4 years now, but last month a cop wearing a “Aku Polis Anti Rasuah” (i am an anti-corruption cop) button on his lapel tried to fish for a bribe from my dad. fuck off and die lah, you teabreak-loving currypuff-eating criminal in a crimefighter’s uniform.

seriously. do the people in our tourism ministry travel? are they so saturated in politics that they no longer know what tourists look for when they go out to see the world? come on lah even an 18 year old girl knows what she wants to see when she travels. when i go to Indonesia i look for pisang goreng. when i go to Hong Kong i go shopping. when i go to Vietnam i check out the totally vibrant street life and culture. when i go to Singapore, i totally appreciate the user-friendly public transport system. so……… Malaysia oso got pisang goreng wat. our shopping is one of the cheapest in the region. our street life and culture is thankfully still very much alive. and ok so we dont have a user-friendly public transport system, but we can work on that! see, just do all these things lah. and talk more about nasi lemak. i swear to you, nasi lemak can bring in tourists by the THRONGS, man.

and how about revising some of the restrictions on foreign artist performances? we should hold more concerts! invite more performers! stop estranging international artistes ala Pussycat Dolls and Ang Lee! the Rainforest Music Fest in Swak is cool and all, but it is just not enough. do they not realize that music and the arts were the old black, are the new black, and will always be black! have more showcases and people will come, it is that simple. look at Bangkok .. they know that. look at Singapore.. they know that. yeah i oso know that, that’s why i’m spending a whole week there in two days time for the Mosaic festival, spending Singaporean dollars and buying Singaporean goods and raising Singapore’s GDP. the truth is you can always harp a lot about nationalism and shit like that, but at the end of the day, consumers can only have so much patriotism. we are consumers just as we are citizens. if you dont deliver, then too bad lah, we go across the causeway lah.

and what are they DOING to our night markets and wet markets? i wonder if they realize such things are what make us quintessentially south east asian, and that tourists love to see this sort of thing? why is the bangsar pasar malam, a place brimming with Malaysianness, turning into a DBKL-blue-tent and plastic-table abomination? why do they want to raze wet markets to build high-rise buildings that have bad architecture anyway? people dont travel out of a concrete jungle to see another concrete jungle.

also, if the govt is really so intent on spreading the good word about Malaysia, i honestly see no better way of doing that than via our local filmmakers who are definitely kicking ass in the international arena. but what happens to Yasmin Ahmad? she gets flak about being pencemar budaya. what happens to Tan Chui Mui? they dont give her funding for her movies. what happens to Amir Muhammad? they ban all his movies. WELL DONE LAH GOVT. I’M SURE WE LOVE THIS TEMPURUNG WE ARE UNDER.

what else what else. oh yah. our taxi drivers. but no need to say anything lah that one, you dont know meh, now they trying to clamp down on errant taxi drivers by sending undercover officials on taxi-riding sprees. very effective wan, you dont know meh. that’s why over the past week all these cabbies still tried to charge me RM 30 from mid valley to my place and tried to tell me at 10 freaking PM they have the right to impose midnight surcharge. damn effective these govt strategies! dont simply criticize!!!

and speaking of criticism. of course bloggers got all the shit lah. first of all, what is wrong with critique? why cant you deal with it? as executives, you’re supposed to make us happy first and foremost. if we are not happy, are you not supposed to do something about it? why are you shutting us up? not enough izzit you gag the mainstream media into the pathetic state it is in now? secondly, it is the media’s job to inform and to educate. well surprise surprise and i wonder why, it seems our mainstream media doesnt do a good job of that. so can you blame the information-hungry masses for turning to the internet for their education? can you blame them for finding on blogs what should be in our newspapers in the first place? our PM said at the Asian Media Summit 2006 : “the media must present different sides to a story, dismiss half truths and foster critical thinking so that people can be more informed in their daily lives”. yeah listen to your PM. how come when bloggers present different sides of a story and dismiss half truths, it’s not critical thinking.. but they are told that it is all lies and irresponsibility? oh and of course they are told to ‘check their facts’, as is the popular harumphhh of our ministers, keris-waving, one-eye-closing or otherwise.

okay i’m getting too angsty. it’s just that it’s so aggravating to read about the ministry who gave birth to VMY 2007 (which is a joke) condemning bloggers simply because they arent getting the results they want. Tourism Ministry, if anything, bloggers are the ones putting Malaysia on the map. when we write about our daily lives, people all around the world can become acquainted to Malaysian lifestyles in a way so real and personal, it surpasses all marketing campaigns. and that is something your farcical ‘Malaysia Truuuulyyyy Asiiiiaaaaaa’ ads will never be able to achieve.

source : quaintly.net

this blog is on a hiatus...put on hold for the moment

dear readers,

Thousand apologies to my loyal readers out there...If you noticed lately, I havent been writing stuff, basically just taking news&reports from here and there and just commented on them shortly. For personal reasons, I will have to stop for a while (I do not know how long it will be).

I hope you readers will understand.

Peace,
Penangite.

Can Dr M be our first Nobel Laureate?

PM happy Dr M nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

SEREMBAN: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is happy his predecessor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

“I will be happy together with all Malaysians if he wins the Nobel Peace Prize. But it will be up to those who are evaluating it,” he said after launching the “One Family One Counsellor” programme.

Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim described the nomination as jubilant news and a milestone for the country in the international arena.

“For once, Malaysia is on a level to be able to offer one of its sons for a Nobel Prize,” he added.

Sunday Star had reported that the Sarejevo School of Science and Technology, the Congress of Bosnik Intellectuals and two Christian groups – the Serb Civic Council from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croat National Council – submitted Dr Mahathir’s name to the Norwegian Nobel Committee last month.

Echoing his sentiment is constitutional law professor Shad Saleem Faruqi who drafted the Kuala Lumpur Initiative to Criminalise War which was launched by Dr Mahathir in December 2005.

Prof Shad said Dr Mahathir’s contribution to world peace was subtle but significant in that he believed that economics could be used as an instrument of peace and social justice.

“His vision is of an ethnic mosaic where people can live together, allowing differences, yet are able to achieve unity in diversity.

“This is different from the melting pot concept that the West is more familiar with and for that innovative concept, Dr Mahathir should be recognised by the Nobel Committee,” he added.

cadangan kepada bloggers

Dengan ini, saya mengumumkan cadangan untuk menubuhkan Mahathir Mohamad Strategy and Leadership Institute (Institut Strategi dan Kepemimpinan Mahathir Mohamad).

Note : Kepemimpinan, and NOT kepimpinan.

Apakah cadangan kalian?

Beberapa tahun dahulu...di PWTC

Another Warning Sign

Turtle deaths in Terengganu spark alarm

By R.S.N. MURALI

KUALA TERENGGANU: Marine conservationists and the authorities are baffled and upset over the spate of turtle deaths here.

In just four days, two rare giant terrapins and a greenback turtle have been found dead with wounds on their bodies. The carcasses of the freshwater terrapins were found at separate spots along the Terengganu River bank within days of each other.

The first was found at Pantai Tok Jembal on Thursday and the second one was discovered at Mengabang Telipot yesterday. Both, measuring between 1m and 1.3m in length, were identified as the Asian Giant Soft-Shelled Terrapin, scientifically known as Pleochelys cantorii.

Visible wounds were found, indicating that they could have been injured by fishermen’s trawl nets. The wounded terrapins were believed to have died after being stranded on the riverbank.

In Kampung Merang, a 1.2m-long greenback turtle was also found dead on the beach yesterday by villagers, with wounds on its body.

State Agriculture and Regional Development Committee deputy chairman Rozi Mamat said he wanted the marine agencies to explain why the turtles died.

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu’s turtle research and rehabilitation scientist Prof Chan Eng Heng said she was very upset and distressed over the deaths.

“We want to know the best way to ensure the survival of these reptiles,” she said.

She added that in November, another Asian Giant Soft-Shelled Terrapin, weighing about 40kg, was found dead near Pulau Kambing here by state Marine Park Unit workers. The cause of death has yet to be ascertained.

She described the terrapin as a rare species, last discovered in Cambodia.

“I was excited when first told about the species that was found in the Terengganu River. Unfortunately, we have yet to stumble on one that is alive,” she said, adding that the terrapin found at Mengabang Telipot had been brought back to the university for an autopsy.

Prof Chan said the terrapins were mostly found in freshwater but would travel to the beach to lay their eggs

Out of the Cage

Khairy Jamaluddin
New Straits Times

THE campaign in the Batu Talam by-election has been frustrating. A rural constituency with not much by way of industry or economic development, it is typical of the many agricultural state assembly districts in the Malay heartland. By physical size it is as large as Perlis.

It takes almost an hour to get from the outskirts of Raub town where Batu Talam begins to some areas of Felda Tersang or Hulu Atok at the other ends of the constituency. It is an ideal venue for a classic duel between two of the biggest Malay-based political parties in Malaysia, repeating the many contests that have taken place in the very same place during previous elections.

When news of the death of the former assemblyman was relayed to me, I anticipated a spirited challenge by the opposition in the form of a Pas candidate.

After all, 2006 in many ways was not an easy year for Umno and its leadership. There were concerns over economic growth, divisive issues concerning religion and ethnicity, and a very public and damaging spat between present and past leaders.

The timing of the by-election was, therefore, a fortuitous turn of events for the opposition keen to capitalise on the setbacks of the past year. Or so I thought.

But instead of facing off with Umno/Barisan Nasional in Batu Talam, the opposition has staged a boycott of the by-election. Rather than using the opportunity of the campaign as a platform for raising issues against the government, they have decided to abstain from the election purportedly as a sign of protest against the Election Commission (EC). They claim that the EC needs an urgent and comprehensive revamp to clean up the electoral roll and also to re-examine laws and regulations that discriminate against opposition parties.

Yet, they forget to mention that this is the same EC that oversaw the last general election, the Sarawak state polls and the Kuala Berang and Pengkalan Pasir by-elections which all saw opposition candidates participate freely without any restriction and win some seats. They omitted the fact that after Pas’s loss in Pengkalan Pasir, they challenged, albeit without success, the result of the election in court. They will never admit to the various complaints and reports that Umno has made to the EC of "phantom voters" appearing or the systematic moving of voters from Pas strongholds to marginal seats in Kelantan.

The very real reason that the mainstream opposition is not contesting in Batu Talam is because of the near certainty of losing and losing badly. They know that a crushing defeat will take whatever initiative they had gained during the events of last year away from them. A comprehensive defeat would nullify whatever psychological gains they believe they have made. And they know that the best way of solidifying and uniting the Umno/Barisan Nasional rank-and-file is to go up against Pas, one on one.

So when on nomination day, we discovered that we were not up against Pas, not even against DAP or Keadilan but an independent candidate barely old enough to vote (I’m not even sure that he’s even a registered voter), we knew the campaign would be frustrating and difficult. It would be frustrating because of the absence of a real enemy.

You can never land the sort of punches that you train for years to throw when you don’t have anybody in your weight category to fight. And the campaign would be difficult because you are really just up against yourself. I suppose the best analogy is you cannot expect someone running the 100 metres alone to break the world record. The athlete would have to be running with the best peers in the world to have a chance of setting a new mark.

This is not to say that the opposition has stayed out entirely. Pas, typical of its new schizophrenic brand of leadership under the very confused younger generation of leaders, has given instructions to party members to boycott the election but if they must participate to support the independent candidate.

It was evident during the last few days of the campaign that their boycott didn’t preclude going down to give ceramah on the pretext of explaining the boycott but really lending their political capital for the opposition candidate.

The lack of a firm directive to their own members hardly signals a political entity that is sure of its own convictions and future direction. And as the Umno information chief astutely pointed out, had the by-election been held in Kelantan, in one of the Pas-held seats where the fate of the entire state government would hinge on its outcome, the thought of a boycott would not have even entered their minds.

DAP has also demonstrated a badly concealed indecision over Batu Talam. It is no secret that the independent candidate’s father has had a strong past with DAP and the party’s involvement in the by-election is strongly inferred from all the behind-the-scenes assistance and preparations that have been made for the independent candidate. DAP’s lack of a consistent and principled stand in Batu Talam may be symptomatic of the public power struggle that is imploding the party as it prepares for life after their emperor.

In many ways, Batu Talam reflects the health of the opposition at the national level. They find themselves without a clear direction, devoid of any real electoral strategy and lacking in any real political initiative.

Their neither-here-nor-there posturing in Batu Talam with the feeble excuse of not trusting the EC thrown in, exposes them as a political sideshow clutching at straws for what to do next. Remember, if the government had a rough year politically last year, none of it was due to the opposition’s own efforts. They merely cheered it on, unable to gain traction on any issue they wanted to raise.

Of course there was great hope within opposition circles that the return of Anwar Ibrahim would provide them with fresh impetus. Sadly for them, Anwar ending his nomadic wanderings has not led to any new consensus emerging ahead of the next general election.

He is still short on ideas as to how to position himself between Pas and DAP, desperately not wanting to alienate any part of the vast political spectrum that he wants to straddle. (Sounds familiar?) He has been taking his usual pot-shots, making allegations and spreading innuendo. But 2007 is a year short of a decade on from his heyday reformasi moments and Anwar is beginning to look and sound like a pathetic, marginal has-been.

I suppose one of the greatest failings of the opposition is their lack of any positive platform. What they offer in their rallies, through their elected representatives, in their websites and via their mouthpieces in blogosphere, is what the Americans call negative campaigning.

Rather than getting their policy platforms across, almost all of the opposition’s activities and efforts are channelled towards pointing out what they think is wrong with the government today.

Think about it. When was the last time the opposition came up with an original, positive policy platform? Sometimes they bring up pertinent issues but most of the time, their charges have as much veracity as a blog run by some never-was journo hack with a dried-up contact list and an enormous chip on his shoulder.

What has made it worse for the opposition is the open policy of the present government that has encouraged dissent from within its ranks. Case in point would be the emboldened government backbenchers who regularly take senior government officials to task for failed promises or shoddy execution rendering the opposition redundant.

So as frustrating as the Batu Talam campaign has been it has served — as countless other by-elections have in the past — as a useful indicator of national political trends. Before nomination day many thought that it would be a barometer of heartland support for the government and the prime minister.

But as events have shown, it has exposed the dysfunctional and rudderless state of the opposition that sought to spin the boycott in their favour only to see it blow up right in their faces.

Penangite comments: As I posted very much earlier..as the chief campaigner, of course the absolute victory would be expected. Out of the 'Cage', in to the 'Cave'.

This is real bullshit man!

NS in need of more Chinese trainers

KUALA LUMPUR: The national service (NS) programme is in dire need of Chinese trainers, who only account for 1% of the training force in the 78 camps across the country.

For this reason, the NS Training Council is seeking those who have retired from teaching or from the civil service to volunteer as trainers.

They could fit in for the modules of community service, character building and nationhood, said council chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.

There are, at present, only nine trainers on the physical training module.

Giving a breakdown on other trainers, he said 1,057 were Malays. The others are Indians (18) bumiputra from Sabah (190) and bumiputra from Sarawak (180).

Lee cited the low RM80 daily allowance as one of the probable reasons for the small number of Chinese trainers.

However, he added, the council has proposed to raise the allowance to RM120.

It is up to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is also the Defence Minister, to decide, he told reporters at Wisma MCA here yesterday.

Ahead of the press conference, Lee and MCA Youth chief Datuk Liow Tiong Lai met some of the current Chinese trainers.

Lee said trainers are needed for those who converse mainly in dialects such as Hakka, Hokkien and Cantonese.

Liow said MCA Youth would organise a nationwide road show to draw more Chinese trainers.

“Anyone who is interested can apply through the MCA,” he said, adding that they would have to submit their particulars by Feb 15 to be eligible as trainers for the second batch of training that begins in March.

Applicants can also fax their particulars to the council at 03-2687 3555.

Penangite comments: Hello sir, you said low wages are the cause for Chinese people not to apply to be trainers. Isn't this highlighting and worsening the scenario of economic disparity among the Malays and the Chinese. So meaning that the Malays and other bumiputeras are satisfied with the RM80 allowance? Nationwide road show to draw more Chinese? Eh, NS program kills ppl la..and u know Chinese very 'kiasi and kiasu' right? Even the police force fails to attract the Chinese, u think this small thing will? NS is already a failure as I have said in many of my posts earlier.

Can the government please..pretty please..end this disaster..it kills ppl..i dun care if Najib is involved in the murder of that chick, i can forgive him..heck i can even be frens with him but pls..abolish this NS program...a total waste of resources.

Malaysian Health Minister reflective of Malaysia's ills

I refer to Zafar Shah’s letter “The Arrogant Malaysian Health Minister” and cannot agree with him more. This guy’s conceit and condescending remarks are not only disgusting but increasingly reflective of this government’s “couldn’t be bothered attitude” towards Malaysians in general. He thinks he has rammed down the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 down GPs’ throats and now can sneakily ram down the National Healthcare Financing Scheme down the public’s throats by appointing a foreign consultant and a local CEO while hiding behind the OSA.

Needless to say both he and his publicity seeking Director-General have lost the plot. Just last week they were after private medical colleges for a lack of lecturer-student ratios when even LAN and the Education Ministry didn’t know anything about it and this whole week they appear to be focusing on raiding, through elaborate undercover schemes, clinics that are not run by dukuns, pawangs, Chinese sinsehs (which by the way, Chua will never dare disturb) and ayurvedics but clinics actually run by Medical Assistants, Nurses and Midwifes who in all likelihood were trained by the MOH itself.

Don’t these guys have anything better to do? Forget about Dengue, Avian flu or even the floods. Leadership in Healthcare died with Sardon Jubir (Read MGG Pillai), when the MOH became nothing more then a vehicle for money making. Just look who are the Deans, Presidents of Private Medical Colleges or don't be surprised who directors are of medical equipment suppliers - ex-MOH officials including ex-DGs. So much for transparency, corruption, etc, etc. Even Judges in this country are not allowed to join a legal firm until after 5 years after retirement. But in the MOH anything goes.

This Minister is so arrogant that medical students who came for an excursion to the Ministry of Health must have wished they had skipped it. The minister and his DG’s penchant to hide behind the Malaysian Medical Council’s skirts everytime they want to implement anything controversial does not hold water anymore. The MMC became a discredited body the moment racialist overtones were seen in the Crimean episode. Colleges both private and public unable to meet the criteria set should just be told “NO” to recognition. Manipal till this day is not recognized neither in Singapore, Australia or the UK but we recognize it. Why? Because there is a need for more doctors and this incredible pressure from the government, of whom a subservient MMC is a footnote, not independent of the Executive. The needs of the country must clearly be met lest we fall statistically short of taking care of our countrymen's healthcare needs. The solution is simple - a common exit examination for all graduating medical students, private or public, recognized or unrecognized, science stream or arts stream based, foreign or local, GMC or non-GMC recognized. But never, never, fall into the race trap, for then the medical profession will always have to live with - no credibility. We should then not fault the public or courts for siding with Whitaker instead of Bolam.

To those eager students who visited the MOH for a shot at inspiration but instead got lectured that they may be "no standard", loose not hope for medicine is all about initiative, drive and desire to keep up with new knowledge and changes. And if you have that drive in you to keep learning and apply it diligently - you will always be a good doctor, no matter what people tell you. And to the Minister, the MCA should really send him back to Batu Pahat where I believe mandors currently are in great need.

Sembang Kedai Kopi must never leave out Sembang Bola

Featuring Ronaldinho, Soccer Genius of FC Barcelona.