RELA: Petty, uneducated, jobless men with batons and guns

RELA or Ikatan Relawan Rakyat Malaysia has been getting a lot of flak in the past couple of years. Accusations range from high-handedness and rudeness to outright abuse of power, rape, beatings and violent house invasions.

Lots of folks have put forward arguments and defences about RELA's behavioural issues. Do a search on Google with the search words +RELA +abuse and you'll see how bad things are. NST, Star, The Sun and Malaysiakini also have loads of interesting trinkets about RELA.

But here's why sean-the-man thinks that members of RELA act like angry retards (ie. big bodies, small brains and a bad temper).

2 words. Qualifications and Training.

In order to fully appreciate what RELA lacks in those regards, let us first examine a much more professional voluntary law enforcement body... the Police Voluntary Reserve (PVR) or Sukarelawan Polis (SP-PDRM).

PVR recruitment criteria

Bagi menyertai pasukan ini, seseorang pemohon itu perlulah memenuhi syarat-syarat berikut:- SPDRM-Kontinjen Selangor

1. Warganegara Malaysia

2. Umur: Tidak kurang 18 tahun dan tidak melebihi 40 tahun. Keutamaan diberi kepada mereka yang berumur bawah 35 tahun.

3. Ukuran Badan: Lelaki- Tinggi 162cm (5'4") Lilitan dada 81cm (32"/34"). Berat badan 48kg. Wanita- Tinggi 152cm (5'). Berat badan 43kg

4. Penglihatan dan Pendengaran: Mempunyai penglihatan biasa sekurang-kurangnya vision 6/9 tanpa cermin mata, tidak buta warna dan pendengaran yang baik.

5. Kelulusan Akademik: Sekurang-kurangnya lulus SRP/LCE Pangkat A (sertakan salinan sijil). Golongan profesional akan diberi keutamaan serta fasih bertutur dan menulis di dalam bahasa Melayu

Lain-lain Kelayakan:

6. Mempunyai pekerjaan yang tetap

7. Mendapat kebenaran Ketua Jabatan/Majikan untuk masuk berkhidmat

8. Bersih daripada sebarang rekod jenayah/tapisan keselamatan dan tidak pernah terlibat dengan penyalahgunaan dadah.

Syarat-syarat Perkhidmatan:

9. Pemohon yang berjaya di dalam temuduga pemilihan dikehendaki menjalani pemeriksaan kesihatan, tapisan Jenayah dan keselamatan oleh Cawangan Khas dan pemeriksaan cap jari sebelum diterima masuk berkhidmat.

Note the

- educational requirements (minimum Form 3 SRP grade A and special encouragement for professionals to enlist),

- the requirement that recruits are gainfully employed (I guess it takes a certain minimum calibre of person to hold down a proper job),

- no criminal record and no history of substance abuse, and

- a compulsory background check

PVR training

1. Semua pemohon yang berjaya dikehendaki menjalani latihan asas kepolisan (latihan tempatan) selama 6 bulan sebagai rekrut dan latihan menembak sebelum disahkan berkhidmat di dalam Pasukan SPDRM.

2. Perkhidmatan Sukarelawan Polis adalah tertakluk kepada jadual/ perintah/ peraturan/ kaedah: PVR Regulations 1956, Akta Polis 1967 dan Perintah Tetap Ketua Polis Negara Bah.A502

Training consists of 6 months of police basic training and a code of conduct based on the Police Act and the IGP's Standing Orders.

PVR website: SPDRM Kontinjen Selangor

In stark contrast, here's the stuff that RELA members are made of:

RELA recruitment criteria

Syarat Syarat Am Untuk Menjadi Ahli RELA - Ministry of Home Affairs

1. Warganegara Malaysia.

2. Umur 16 tahun ke atas bagi kaum wanita dan 17 tahun ke atas bagi kaum lelaki.

3. Sihat tubuh badan.

That basically means that ANY 16 year old female or 17 year old male Malaysian who's not physically handicapped (mental handicap is not a problem?) can become a member of RELA.

No educational or employment requirements. No background checks. Nothing at all to ensure the quality and integrity of its recruits.

RELA training

Jangkamasa latihan adalah dari 3 hingga 14 hari dan bergantung kepada jenis kursus. Latihan ini membolehkan seseorang anggota itu dapat memberikan sumbangan yang efektif dalam mencapai objektif pasukan - Ministry of Home Affairs

3 to 14 days?! Damn, that's a pretty long way from the PVR's 6 months, don'tcha think?

I had longer training in the boys scouts and even then, I wasn't allowed to beat people up or break into their houses.

So, now do you see what's wrong? How can you take someone off the street with no educational background nor evidence of good character.., give them a few days of training and then expect them to be able to enforce the law? Some of them might not be able to read the newspaper, much less interpret the law, for god's sake (no educational criteria, remember?).

And some of these people might have no experience being responsible for their own lives (16/17 year olds, no gainful employment criteria nor background checks). How do you expect them to know how to ethically and professionally wield power and authority over other human beings? In fact, can they even be expected to respect the need for ethics and professionalism to go hand in hand with power and authority?

Any organisation is only as good as the standards they hold themselves up to. And as far as I can see, RELA possesses no standards and has no standard whatsover. Therefore, is there any doubt that RELA needs to be disbanded or managed more professionally like the PVR?

RELA website: Ministry of Home Affairs

An interview with Lee Kuan Yew - 27 Sept 2007.

As always, Singapore MM Lee Kuan Yew gives a cracker of an interivew.

This is the complete transcript of Minister Mentor (as the founder of modern singapore is now known) Lee Kuan Yew's interview with syndicated columnist Tom Plate of the UCLA Media Center and new-media expert Jeffrey Cole of the USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future. It took place on Sept. 27, 2007 in the minister's private office at Istana, Singapore.

Here's an excerpt that might interest the readers of this blog:

Q: It's amazing, you come in here and you walk around here in one of the great cities in the world. Yet you are worried about survival.

Lee: Where are we? Are we in the Caribbean? Are we next to America like the Bahamas? Are we in the Mediterranean, like Malta, next to Italy? Are we like Hong Kong, next to China and therefore, will become part of China? We are in Southeast Asia, in the midst of a turbulent, volatile, unsettled region. Singapore is a superstructure built on what? On 700 square kilometers and a lot of smart ideas that have worked so far -- but the whole thing could come undone very quickly.

For this to work, you require a world where there are some rules of international law and there is a balance of forces of power that will enforce that international law and the U.S. is foremost in that. Without that balance of power and international law, the Vietnamese will still be in Cambodia and the Indonesians will still be in East Timor, right? Why are they out? Because there were certain norms that had to be observed. You can't just cross boundaries. This little island with four and a half million people, of whom 1.3 are foreigners working here, has got to maintain an army, navy and an air force. Can we withstand a concerted attempt to besiege us and blockade us? We can repel an attack, yes. Given the armed forces in the region and our capability, we can repel and we can damage them. Three weeks, food runs out, we are besieged, blockaded.

Q: Who will come after you? Who would come after you?

Lee: There are assets here to be captured, right?

Q: Some unnamed bad regime?

Lee: When [Malaysia] kicked us out [in 1965], the expectation was that we would fail and we will go back on their terms, not on the terms we agreed with them under the British. Our problems are not just between states, this is a problem between races and religions and civilizations. We are a standing indictment of all the things that they can be doing differently. They have got all the resources. If they would just educate the Chinese and Indians, use them and treat them as their citizens, they can equal us and even do better than us and we would be happy to rejoin them.

Angkasawan selection process - brains or brawn?

Amidst all the fluff articles in the press hyping up Malaysia's first SFP - space flight participant (even Malaysiakini is not immune to publishing candy floss, see: Space fever grips M'sia as launch nears ??? apart from the press and politicians, who's feverish?), I happened to spot this article on Bernama's website. It lists chronologically how the SFP was selected.

OK, is it just me or does the selection process seem overwhelmingly skewed towards making sure that our SFP doesn't pass out from the physical stresses of space flight, rather than actually turn him into a contributing member of the crew?

I'm pretty sure the chimps they sent to space in the 60s-80s were selected in a similar manner, no?

And here's a superb cartoon that makes a point like no one else except Lat can. This came out some time back, but it just shows that Lat has some amazing foresight into how things tend to turn out the Malaysia-boleh way.

Read also:
Our Malaysian Astrocannot.
Astrocannot is also Cosmocannot
Outer Space - The Final Frontier for Malaysia Bodoh... oops Boleh.

How Malaysia Picks Its First Angkasawan

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 (Bernama) -- Below is the chronology of events leading to the blast off of Malaysia's first angkasawan (cosmonaut) into space:

Aug 5 2003: Malaysia signed a contract to procure 18 Sukhoi Su-30MKM fighter jets from Russia under a package deal worth about US$900 million. The aircraft are to be delivered in stages between June 2006 and end of 2007. The payment for the aircraft will be stretched until 2009. In return, Russia will purchase Malaysia's palm oil, provide transfer of space technology, and train a Malaysian to become Malaysia's first angkasawan.

Oct 2003: Over 11,000 applicants registered online to become Malaysia's first angkasawan. Application requirements included being above 21 years old, a degree holder or a professional pilot.

Aug 27-Sept 3 2005: 894 candidates shortlisted but only 435 took part in the fitness test starting with a 3.5km run which must be completed within 20 minutes. 199 made it through. Of the figure, 194 underwent the basic medical examination based on National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Programme Criteria. 59 passed.

Sept 25-30 2005: First aeromedical test which included blood, nose and ear checks, X-ray, and electrocardiogram (ECG). 59 were tested, 27 passed.

Jan 16-21 2006: Second aeromedical test, including bone, air passage and centrifuge tests. 27 were tested, 18 passed.

Jan 16-24 2006: Overall assessment based on performance in 3.5km run and second aeromedical test as well as psychiatric, psychology, land and sea survival and technical competence. 10 were tested, 8 passed.

Jan 25-26 2006: Medical examination (including CT Scan, endoscopy and blood analysis). 10 were tested, 8 passed.

Feb 9 2006: Eight qualified candidates interviewed by selection panel at Shangri-La Hotel, Putrajaya. Overall assessment based on performance in all the events covering all aspects in communication, character, forwardness and determination.

Four were selected to be sent to Moscow for further medical examination:

Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Sheikh Mustapha, 34, orthopaedic surgeon;

Vanajah Siva, 35, senior quality engineer;

Dr Faiz Khaleed, 26, Armed Forces dental surgeon; and

Mohammed Faiz Kamaludin, 34, Malaysia Airlines pilot

March 2006: The four candidates underwent medical examination in Russia including neurology (brain) and body adaptation in microgravity environment.

Sept 4 2006: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi named Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Sheikh Mustapha and Dr Faiz Khaleed as the final two candidates at the KL International Airport.

Sept 2006-Sept 2007: The two were sent to the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City, Moscow and then to NASA in Houston, Texas, for training. One will be selected to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) while the other is his back-up.

Sept 24 2007: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced that Dr Sheikh Muszaphar and Dr Faiz Khaleed passed the test and recognised as cosmonauts.

Oct 9 2007: Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jamaludin Jarjis announced in Baikonur that Dr Sheikh Muszaphar will be the first Malaysian angkasawan to blast off to the ISS from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Oct 10 2007: Dr Sheikh Muszaphar together with a Russian and an American cosmonauts to blast off to the ISS.

Khairy: We have not lost the Chinese vote... sure or not?

This is just rich.

As if to coincide with Malaysiakini's article entitled 'Family ties make Khairy an easy target',.. my hero, Mr "It's not wrong to fight for your race" (it's really funny if you say it with an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent... honest) plops himself right in front of the cross-hairs when he tries to justify the NEP and racial discrimination to a Singaporean newspaper ala Syed Hamid Albar on BBC's Hardtalk.

Here are some of my favourite quotes from the interview:

IN SUPPORT OF THE NEP

"Distribution of wealth made possible under these policies is crucial not only for the bumiputeras who are doing badly but also for those non-bumiputeras who are still suffering from poverty and do not have educational opportunities."

WTF? Since when has the NEP had any initiatives whatsoever for impoverished non-bumiputeras? When was the last time a Chinese labourer in a new village or an Indian plantation worker given a govt loan, a govt contract or a seat in a residential school? Do you have any facts and figures supporting how the NEP has provided financial and educational opportunities to poor and therefore, politically unconnected non-bumiputeras?

"If you look at broad-based numbers, with regards to education attainment and income disparity, the numbers show a marked gulf between bumiputeras and non-bumiputeras" [with the latter much better off than the former]. "Certain people" would therefore require "certain advantages" in education, poverty alleviation and in the startup of, for example, small businesses.

Oh yes, and who are those "certain people"? According to this here letter (see: Why the NEP is hopelessly corrupted and who it actually benefits), it seems that the afore-mentioned 'certain people' are those people who are politically connected to UMNO. I hardly think they are impoverished, and I hardly think their numbers are 'broad based'... do you?

And answer me this, my hero. Was your education to Oxbridge paid by the Malaysian taxpayer? Did you or any of your family receive a bumiputera discount on a house or houses purchased? If either is in the affirmative, then are you saying that your family is impoverished? How can that be, what with 2 iPhones (running American Cingular Wireless contracts which means paying $roaming charges$ in Malaysia), cars with personalised number plates and being able to buy & sell shares worth millions of ringgit - all this despite having never been employed... ever. So, how come a wealthy chap like you is entitled to enjoy benefits from the NEP?

And as for the 'gulf' of disparity, I think it'll never be gapped because the UMNOputeras' excuse to prolong the NEP (and enrich themselves in the process) is tenable only as long as the Malays as a whole, stay poorer than the Chinese (see: Lesson 101: How to Justify Racial Discrimination).

ON THE FUTURE

"We are not going to make you say you're Malaysian and forget about the fact that you are Malay or Chinese. That is ridiculous. The success of Malaysia comes from the fact that we have our own heritage. The trick is how to work together - to strengthen the Malaysian identity. To me, that is going to be the key to the future."

I have one comment on that... "Who doesn't know your mother is a woman?" Isn't that just stating the obvious? All the races working together is the key to the future... damn, you need an Oxbridge education to know that?

The 'trick', my hero, is the act of working together itself. UMNO's definition of 'working together' is Ketuanan Melayu calling the shots and the cowering non-Malays fall over them themselves rushing to pay rent and tax. And that... is why BN has lost the Chinese vote!

Utterly absurd that video maker's identity overshadows video's content

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Why the NEP is hopelessly corrupted and who it actually benefits.

The NEP (New Economic Policy or NEarly apartheid Policy... depending on your moral fibre) is fatally flawed as it is, because it seeks to trap Malaysians into racial silos and then discriminate between these different races in all areas of their lives.

The "moral" argument (if you can even call it that) for the NEP has always been that Malays lag behind the non-Malays, and the NEP is needed to equalise the 'wealth distribution' between the races. And a large part of this wealth redistribution program is the granting of govt contracts to 'bumiputra' or Class F / Kelas F companies in order to 'encourage' Malays to involve themselves in the business world. For info on what the requirements are to be a Kelas F contractor, see here.

And one of the main factors that the govt has always stressed to cast an illusion of legitimacy on the NEP is that these Kelas F contracts are distributed fairly to DESERVING bumi contractors, so that Malays are incentivised and given ample opportunity to be successful businesspeople.

But many people have said otherwise... that the benefits of the NEP do NOT go to the intended beneficiaries (ie. the average Malay). Instead, the benefits are strongly rumoured to benefit ONLY the politically connected Malays, who also happen to be the rich ones ie. the ones who deserve the NEP the least.

Well... it's a rumour no more. Here's a letter published on Malaysia-Today that was apparently sent from the UMNO chief of Batu Pahat, Johor to the Batu Pahat District Engineer in the Public Works Dept (JKR) that expressly and explicitly instructs the latter to blacklist and exclude a number of Kelas F contractors who are supposedly 'supporters' or 'sympathisers' of the Opposition parties.

Let's do a little logical thinking. The exclusion and blacklisting of Malay contractors who 'support and sympathise' with the Opposition from obtaining means that only those Malay contractors who 'support and sympathise' with the ruling party (ie. UMNO) will be eligible for govt contracts.

Question:

Is the NEP a tool for uplifting the poor Malays?

Or is it a plot to channel the country's coffers into the pockets of those who "support and sympathise" with UMNO?

If you're reading this blog and you're non-Malay, then your suspicions of the NEP's role in destroying this country is confirmed.

If you're a Malay reader, then you've just found out who your true nemesis really is.., who from the very beginning, has been trying their best to derail the upliftment of the overall Malay community in order to enrich themselves and their cronies.

Read also Malaysians Unplugged for an English translation of the letter and his take on this.

The 'New Evidence' on Hamilton's Japan Fuji F1 GP victory on youtube

Hamilton's driving to be investigated
Thursday, 04, October, 2007, 12:07

Lewis Hamilton is facing a stewards' investigation into his driving while under the safety car in the Japanese Grand Prix.

The officials are understood to be considering whether Hamilton could have contributed to the collision between Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel that took the duo out of second and third places during the second caution period at Fuji.

"New evidence has been brought to the stewards' attention and they are currently investigating the matter," an FIA spokesman told autosport.com.

Vettel said at the time that he had hit Webber while distracted by Hamilton slowing unexpectedly.

“I was exiting turn 13 and looking at Lewis, because all of a sudden he seemed to slow down really much and I thought he had a problem at that stage," Vettel told ITV Sport's Louise Goodman in Japan.

“And by the time I was looking back to the front I was already crashing into Mark’s rear end.”

Read the rest of the itv article above for Hamilton, Vettel and Webber's comments.

And it is my understanding that the youtube below of a spectator's video is indeed the 'NEW EVIDENCE' mentioned above.

Apparently under the safety car conditions, the race leader must stay 5 car lengths behind the safety car. So, that's another charge against Hamilton besides the accusation of reckless driving.

Do we really want to send 'The Keris' to UNESCO?

Malaysia's Education Minister Hishammuddin Hussein is going to vie for a seat on the exec. board of UNESCO or the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation - Bernama.

From UNESCO's website, the purpose of the Organisation, as defined by it's Constitution, is:

"to contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration among nations through education, science and culture in order to further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations."

Now I ask you, fellow Malaysians and astrocannots...

DOES THIS MAN FIT THAT DESCRIPTION?!

Can we, in good conscience, send 'The Keris' to UNESCO and allow him to taint that organisation with his racist, supremacist disease?

Will that not be a blatant example of hypocrisy of the highest degree? Where the last Apartheid country on earth purports to send a delegate to help further the cause of universal equality?

Astrocannot is also Cosmocannot

The mainstream media has been referring to our angkasawan, Sheikh Muzhaphar Shukor, as an Astronaut. Even alternative news portal Malaysiakini bought the bull (although they cheekily added the "part time model" reference to their headline). Refer to the earlier post: Our Malaysian Astrocannot for details.

Then bloggers found out that NASA calls him a Space Flight Participant. That apparently means space tourist. To an average joe like me, that means baggage. The Space Flight Participant moniker opened the floodgates of public opinion against the "Nasional Space Program". Malaysians were outraged that we had spent USD30 million to send a man on what is essentially, a joyride to space. And we sounded our displeasure... loudly.

Obviously, our lamentations fell upon the ear of Science, Techology and Innovations Minister Encik Jamaludin Jarjis, prompting him to blurt out:

Malaysia's first "angkasawan" (space traveller) will be recognised as a cosmonaut by the Russian space authorities. He said that an official recognition ceremony for the angkasawan as a cosmonaut would be held in Moscow on Nov 11 following his return from space on Oct 21.

"Some countries might question this, but to me, it is not important. What matters is that the candidate was selected and trained by Russia and the country recognises him as a true cosmonaut."

"The Russians themselves had told our man (angkasawan) that he is a cosmonaut, and that's the end of the story." - Bernama

Really, Minister? Is that really the end of the story? Have you told the Russians that?

I did a quick check at the Russian Federal Space Agency or ROSCOSMOS' website. It's the Russian equivalent of the US' NASA. Turns out that they do have a profile on our angkasawan.


But it's in Russian. So what does it say? What is the ROSCOSMOS calling him? A quick stint at Google Translator reveals that he is called... wait for it... "Participant space flight".


So... who's bullshitting who, Mr Minister?

He still sounds like jettisonable flotsam to me.

>>>>>Update 4 Oct 2007 4:30pm:>>>>>

I found the English pages on the ROSCOSMOS website. Hmmmph... it just got worse. The Russkis are calling him simply 'Flight Participant'. They can't be bothered so much so that they even left out the word 'Space'.

And guess what? Faiz, our Angkasawan #2 is called... 'Flight Participant Backup'. WTF?... Luggage also need backup?

Also read The Star for an account of the Russian Ambassador to Malaysia trying to back up our Minister by contradicting ROSCOSMOS.

>>>>>

A judicious recap of the events surrounding the judiciary

If you've been left behind by the pace of events about the Malaysian judiciary, here's a recap about what's happened and the real issues underlying the circumstance.

The article asks a good question. If the govt has nothing to hide, why does it do so much more to pursue and victimise the whistleblower, but so little to bring the culprits to justice?

Are the culprits part of the govt? Or is the govt the culprit?