I will buy Khairy a plane ticket to Gaza today!

Apparently Khairy wants to personally go to Gaza and fight the Israeli Defence Force.

Khairy juga berkata sebagaimana yang dilaporkan oleh Malaysiakini di SINI "Jika tiada perubahan (daripada) demontrasi di Masjid Negara (mahupun) di Kedutaan Amerika Syarikat, kita akan bangun dan terus ke Gaza untuk tewaskan Israel,"

Mr Khairy Jamaluddin, sean-the-man is so damned impressed with your bravery and commitment to the Palestinian cause... that I will personally pay for your plane ticket to Gaza!

Don't you worry about the logistics and what not. All you have to do is SHOW UP AND FIGHT! Not just them fighting words, dude. Actually FIGHT... just like you said. With guns, knives and other fighting shit.

NOW... do you have the balls to back up that big mouth of yours???

Real Bumiputras need help. False ones want special rights & privileges.

Read this. Isn't this what any affirmative action should be targeting? Rather than ensuring rich Malay businessmen get more govt contracts, govt land or making sure millionaire Malays get big discounts when buying bungalows?

How Ketuanan Melayu has dispossessed the Orang Asli
Fri, 02 Apr 2010 22:30

By Dr Boo Cheng Hau & Helen Ang

Malaysia is the Asia-Pacific’s “best model” in dealing with the rights of indigenous peoples – or so it is claimed. Last Saturday (incidentally the same day Dr Mahathir Mohamad launched the Perkasa inaugural congress), BN MP Makcus Mojigoh said, in his paper presented at a regional conference, that the government is serious about the plight of the Orang Asli.

Really? The Orang Asli don’t think so.

Mojigoh’s comments follow on the heels of the march by more than 2,000 Orang Asli from all over the country earlier on the 17th of this month in Putrajaya. They had gathered to demand recognition of their customary rights to ancestral land – “Tanah kami, maruah kami” was the rallying cry.

The protest is not surprising as the Orang Asli have increasingly been pushed to the margins by Ketuanan Melayu – since the infamous 'Malay Dilemma' of Mahathir and long before that.

Mahathir argued in his 1970 book that the Orang Asli are not the definitive people of the peninsular as they did not form the first effective government, and moreover “at no time did they outnumber the Malays”.

Furthermore, he brushed off the notion that Orang Asli might have prior claims above “the right of the Malays to regard the Malay peninsula as their own country...” and cited his own reading of history to bolster the Malay contention.

Today, learning from school textbooks, pupils would be left with the impression that Malaysian history started from the Malaccan Sultanate, and that before the conversion to Islam of the prince Parameswara, the country was some kind of no-man’s land.

The Malay Dilemma also contended that “in fact, there are no more than a few thousand aborigines”. Contrary to Mahathir’s assertion rubbishing their numbers, in 1969 there were 52,943 Orang Asli.

Orang Asli are not a single ethnic group but collectively composed of 18 (official) tribes. The biggest grouping is classed Senoi, who are the Semai, Temiar, Jah Hut, Che Wong, Mah Meri and Semoq Beri tribes, while two other groupings are Negrito and proto-Malay. All are indigenous people.

Similar to apartheid

According to historians, Orang Asli had been victims of the slave trade by the Malays and Bataks. Despite official denials of slavery, Orang Asli oral literature has indeed recorded slave raids. The English colonial official JWW Birch had documented their enslavement since as early as 1874.

“
...one fact remains the same for all Orang Asli: they are the descendants of the earliest inhabitants of the peninsula.

Totalling some 147,500 persons in 2003, Orang Asli comprise about 0.6 percent of the population, and are disenfranchised on many counts.

Commenting on the demonstration in Putrajaya, Suhakam vice-chairman Simon Sipaun said: “It is expected that the Orang Asli community would protest as they have been marginalised in a system similar to apartheid”.

Previously in South Africa, the white Afrikaner nationalists used an ideology almost identical to that propounded by Mahathir to justify their own indigenous status above the black Khoisan, whom according to the white supremacists, had never established a ‘civilised government’.

If one were to look at Article 153 of our federal constitution, it says that the ‘special position’ is extended only to Malays and natives of Sabah and Sarawak. Omitting mention of the Orang Asli in the said article excludes them from the guarantee of quotas.

[But] ‘We are not Malays, we will always be Orang Asli’ – declare the placards hoisted in Putrajaya on March 17. How then?

‘Refugees’ in own country

Not too long ago on Feb 24, a group of Orang Asli held a demonstration outside the Orang Asli Affairs Department (JHEOA) hospital in Gombak. Speaking to reporters, their spokesman Sokyen Man said the hospital is dominated by non-Orang Asli who are incapable of fulfilling the needs of the community.

The group submitted a petition against the hospital which said, among other things: “A lot of us have faced medical staff who are uncomfortable with the Orang Asli. Sometimes, they pass comments on our features and skin colour.” This particular complaint infers that they are considered an ‘out group’ or ‘inferior group’ (implied by the derogatory connotations of ‘sakai’) by the mainstream.

The term ‘Orang Asli’ was first used by the post-Independence federal government and means ‘the original people’. Colin Nicholas of the Center for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC) notes, “one fact remains the same for all Orang Asli: they are the descendants of the earliest inhabitants of the peninsula.”

It is they whose fate could well be equated with that of aborigines in Australia, Maoris in New Zealand and Native Americans in the United States. This is a more compelling comparison than Utusan Malaysia’s constant, tiresome refrain that Malays are like Palestinians in their own homeland.

It is the Orang Asli who are akin to displaced refugees!

Most destitute group

Going by any socio-economic indicator, the Orang Asli are the worst off among all the local ethnic groups. About half live below the poverty line – according to the government’s most recent statistics. Relative to the other races, their children are malnourished and have high infant mortality rate; and Orang Asli have a lower life expectancy.

A bitter irony is that the authorities insist on perpetuating the myth that Orang Asli are ‘nomadic’. According to Robert Dentan, most of the Orang Asli have in fact settled in stable lifestyles although a small number remain semi-nomadic.

There are about 870 Orang Asli settlements (as at December 2003) mainly in Pahang, Perak and Kelantan. More than 500 of these villages are considered to be located in the fringe and 323 in the interior. About 400 villages are categorized as ‘backward’.

If at all Orang Asli can be regarded as nomadic foragers roaming in the forest or “tanah rayau” – a dismissive phraseology adopted by the government – it is this very government that is forcing them to move from place to place.

The Temuans in Sepang and Bangi had their land taken from them to build KLIA and UKM respectively. In Stulang Laut in Johor, the Orang Seletar were relocated to make way for a commercial and customs complex.

The “regroupment” – an euphemistic official doublespeak – of Orang Asli settlements has resulted in even their resettlements again giving way to logging, mining concessions, highway projects, industrial parks and golf courses.

National Land Act

The federal government expects to table amendments to the National Land Act in Parliament by June. It is learned that the new legislation will give the Orang Asli only 50,000 hectares of the 128,000-ha land they live on, which ultimately amounts to “a policy of planned poverty”.

The Bar Council has recommended the following legal measures on the Orang Asli land issues to empower the community:

1. the issuance of individual land titles to every indigenous family;
2. the gazetting of communal land parcels by the state governments under Section 62 of the National Land Code 1965;
3. the gazetting of communal land parcels under the Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954 with perpetual and unlimited foraging rights extending beyond the gazetted communal land parcels; and
4. in exceptional cases of certain semi-nomadic indigenous communities, who are the most vulnerable of indigenous peoples, perpetual and unlimited foraging rights (with concomitant and greater opportunities for education and vocational training towards sustaining their livelihood).

The authorities tend to take a narrow reading of the Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954 (revised 1974) and regard the Orang Asli’s rights to their land as being one of ‘tenant-at-will’. And that their right to remain in a particular area is at the pleasure of the state authority which can, if it so wishes, remove the Orang Asli from their lands without having to pay compensation for it.

The courts, especially in the Sagong Tasi case, have however deemed such thinking as archaic and unconstitutional. The Orang Asli do exercise native title rights over their traditional lands under common law. But it appears the government is not about to accept this legal precedent.

Writing in Aliran, Yogeswaran Subramaniam observes, “If past records are anything to go by, the states’ performance for gazetting Orang Asli reserves has been nothing short of dismal”.

Changing the face of Orang Asli

The policy that the government is now putting on the table does not recognise customary lands but instead proposes to change the face of Orang Asli land into plantations.

Orang Asli who accept the government’s deal offering 50,000 ha (amounting to just over one hectare per household and with no forests) will not be able to bring any claims later to the courts for customary lands or loss of such lands.

The Aliran article calculated that even assuming Orang Asli want to operate oil palm smallholdings at one hectare, each household will only be able to produce around 15 tonnes annually.

The cash crop sold at RM500 a tonne would bring net earnings of RM5,000 a year, or average income of just over RM400 a month – a poverty level income!

The Orang Asli are a vulnerable minority who have been physically removed from their traditional source of livelihood in the forests. Government coercion has additionally caused the erosion of their traditions, customs and values – and its attendant side-effect of mental stress.

They did not venture to the swanky Putrajaya for “school-holiday sightseeing” as gibed by the condescending Rural Development Minister Shafie Apdal. The Orang Asli descended on the administrative capital because the community has reached a crisis level.

Related stories:

Orang Asli in protest march over land rights

1Malaysia - politics first, people later

Dr Boo Cheng Hau is the Johor DAP chairman and the state assemblyman for Skudai while Helen Ang is an online media columnist. This article first appeared at the Centre For Policy Initiatives' website.

You don't know who your father is?!

This is a hilarious one. And here I was.., thinking that only the bastard children of prostitutes and sperm donors wouldn't know who their father was. Oh shoot... did I just imply that a whole bunch of people who have father issues are the bastard offspring of whores and test tubes?

AYAH CONTROVERSY: "Tell Your Children NOT to Call You AYAH"
Friday, January 22, 2010

The following story is being circulated in the Malaysian blogosphere and email network.

A man came home from work and his children ran to him and called out ‘AYAH! AYAH!’.

His neighbor got very upset and said to him, “Can you please tell YOUR children NOT to call YOU ‘AYAH'?”

The man asked, “Why?”

The neighbor retorted, “Because MY children call ME ’AYAH’ too. They might get confused and mistake YOU for their father.”

Then the man told his neighbour, "Are you not ashamed to say that your children do not know who is their ‘AYAH'. So you are saying by using the word ‘AYAH’, your children will call me "AYAH" too without knowing who is their father."

The neighbour said, "YES, ONLY I should use the word ‘AYAH".

The man said, "Then there is something wrong in what you are teaching your children. They are NOT sure and do NOT know who is their ‘AYAH’!"

Posted by Malaysian Unplug

Johor sultan dies. Got nothing to say about it.

My elders taught me that if I have nothing good to say about someone who has departed, don't say anything at all.

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End of blogpost.

Sultan of Johor dies

JOHOR BARU: The Sultan of Johor, Sultan Iskandar Ibni Almarhum Sultan Ismail, passed away at the Puteri Specialist Hospital here at 7.08pm on Friday. He was 77 years old.

He will be buried at the Royal Mausoluem at 2pm on Saturday. Members of the public can pay their respects at the Istana Besar from 9am 10.30am, while dignitaries can do so from 11am to noon.

He was admitted earlier Friday due to an unspecified illness.

Hire your own vigilantes! Not enough police to guard churches & convent schools.

KUALA LUMPUR: Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan has advised churches to tighten security at their premises because there are not enough policemen to guard every one of them.

He suggested that churches raise their security by hiring guards. - The Star

I can't remember where I got this breakdown of police personnel numbers from. I think it's from one of the Opposition blogs. So, don't quote me on accuracy.

But if this is anywhere near the truth, then why do you need 38% of your people in "management" (ie. 1 manager for every 2 policemen)?

And what are the 40,608 Internal Security personnel doing now, besides protecting politicians and in the case of the FRU, staying in their barracks until the next Opposition candlelight vigil?

There are not enough police?

Good Muslims should expel the church bombers from Islam

Everybody seems to have roundly condemned the firebomb attacks on the churches in Selangor. That's all very nice. Strongly worded condemnations are great for quotes in newspapers and sound awesome when it's played on air during the 8pm news. It really sounded like KJ, The Jib, Hisap and the IGP (Invincible Gangster Polis) really meant what they said and are going to do something about it.

The problem is that mere condemnation simply doesn't work. You can condemn all you want, but as the saying goes "sticks and stones may break their bones, but words can't hurt them". How on earth can harsh words be effective when these psychos think they are either doing the work demanded by god or by UMNO (who's almost like god)?

In this case, even sticks and stones won't work. Those who are driven by god will bear the punishment with relish, like how that albino chap on Da Vinci's Code flagellated himself because that's what he thought god demanded. Those who are driven by UMNO will never be punished... period. They'll probably get a sorry ass Indian staff sergeant from the RMAF to be the scapegoat.

Therefore, when earthly punishments don't work, use spiritual ones. I recommend what good Muslims need to do is to expel these evil church-bombing Muslims from Islam. And conveniently for us, Malaysia is just about the only place where you can actually do it, since Islam and being Muslim is legislated and enforced. Just draft a law to formally expel people who commit violence in the name of Islam from the religion and get the Sultans/Agong and Jabatan Agama Islam to enforce it. Those who commit violence in god's name will lose their identity and purpose when they lose their religion. Those who commit violence in UMNO's name will lose their influence and religious credentials amongst the Muslim electorate. Hopefully, both will lose their will to live as a result.

In the words of Thomas L. Friedman in The New York Times...

"The leadership of Islam rarely take on jihadist actions and ideology openly with the kind of passion, consistency and mass protests that we have seen them do, for example, against Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.

Every faith has its violent extreme. The West is not immune. It's all about how the centre deals with it. Does it tolerate it, isolate it or shame it?"

Good Muslims... less tolerating, more isolating and shaming please.

PM, other leaders condemn arson attacks (The Star)

PUTRAJAYA: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has condemned the attacks made on three churches in the Klang Valley but has asked the public not to start pointing fingers at who may have been responsible for the attacks.

The Prime Minister said he viewed the matter seriously as these actions could jeopardise harmony, adding that the Government would take all possible action to prevent such incident from recurring.

At the same time, Najib had directed the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan to beef up security and surveillance at places of worship.

“We must not allow the peace and the understanding that we have among Malaysians of various ethnic backgrounds and faiths be threatened by anyone or any parties.
Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein and IGP Tan Sri Musa Hassan at a press conference at Bukit Aman on Friday.

“As I have said before, whatever problems that arise, we must use the right channel and method to solve it. Our action must not be against the law as this can jeapordise harmony,” he told reporters after chairing the fourth Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) on Friday.

Also present were Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Chief Secterary to the Government Tan Sri Sidek Hassan.

Najib also reminded the public not to point fingers on who the perpetrators behind the church attacks were but should allow the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter.

“Action will be taken against those responsible based on facts and the law,” he said.

Asked if there were fears of retaliation due to the incident, the Prime Minister said the authorities must nip the problem in the bud.

“I hope with statements and action taken by the police, people will not take law into their hands. The IGP will report to me on the incident once there are evidence and new developments,” he added.
Umno Youth head Khairy Jamaluddin at the Tabernacle Church in Desa Melawati on Friday

Other public figures have come out to condemn the arson attacks against the two churches.

Urging all parties to remain calm, they also asked for swift police action to ensure the situation does not get out of control.

In the meantime, the MCA is offering the Metro Tabernacle Church the use of its hall at Wisma MCA for its services this Sunday, vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said.

The MCA, through its religious bureaus, will find an immediate place for the Metro Tabernacle to relocate, she said.

“This is the act of a very small group of Malaysians. We need to come together and work against any form of violence.
MCA vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen at the Metro Tabernacle Church in Desa Melawati on Friday.

“Do not leave it to the Government or the police alone; the rakyat (people) must come together and stand up for each other,” she said.

MCA national youth chairman Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong also condemned the attacks, saying the movement is saddened.

“Such despicable acts serve no purposes in bridging differences, and ... will ultimately destroy initiatives to help shore up harmony between the various faiths in Malaysia.

“MCA Youth urges all decent minded Malaysians not to let the mercury rise further, and pray in our own ways, that peace will prevail,” he said in a statement.

Kedah Gerakan’s youth wing condemned the acts as despicable and shameful, and described the wrongdoers as cowards trying to cause disunity.

“Our country had came a long way since independence in promoting unity among Malaysians, despite the differences in race and religion.

“As such, all Malaysians should unite to condemn these cowardly attacks that threaten national unity,” said the wing’s chief Tan Keng Liang.

“As an act of good faith in condemning the arson attacks, I hope that the Government would consider assisting, including financially, the churches in repairing the damage caused by the despicable act of arson,” he added.

Gerakan central committee member Dr Hsu Dar Ren described the arson as “a wanton attack on the freedom of practice of religions which we should all treasure and protect in this multiracial society of ours.”

“I hope politicians on both sides of the divide will refrain from fanning emotions and instead try their best to cool the temperature down and let the judicial process run its course,” he said.

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim described the attacks as heinous and said such actions were against the teachings of Islam.

“Islam teaches its followers to respect the places of worship of other religions. I urge all parties to remain calm. I have full faith that Malaysians will be able to resolve the matter without any conflict,” he said in a statement.

Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, who was at the Assumption Church, condemned the attack, describing it as a cowardly act.

“I urge the police to give protection to all churches and conduct a thorough investigation on the attack on the Assumption Church,” he added.

Khalid also said that he was grateful to the church authorities, who had given their reassurance that they would not react to the arson attack.

“I appeal to the people in Selangor to refrain from any further such action, which will only cause further trouble for all people,” he added.

Umno Youth Chief Khairy Jamaluddin said it was a dark day for Malaysia.

"This is a despicable act. This is not the Malaysia I know," said Khairy, who visited the Metro Tabernacle Church in Desa Melawait in Kuala Lumpur, which was attacked by arsonists early Friday.

He urged the police to act swiftly.

Saying that Barisan Nasional Youth strongly condemned the action, Khairy Jamaluddin added that whatever the feelings of anyone on the issue of the usage of the word “Allah” in the Herald, the irresponsible action of those who destroy places of worship should not be defended by Muslims.

“If Muslims are responsible for this incident, they should be ashamed and remorseful because clearly Islam advises Muslims to respect other religious beliefs.

“Malaysia is a multiracial country. There will be arguments and misunderstandings over issues which touch on race and religion.

“What is important is the people should resolve any problems with maturity and respect for each other’s sensitivity,” he said in a statement.

Selangor PAS termed the arson attacks as cowardly acts.

“We view the news of the attacks on churches, including in Selangor, with sadness and regret. Such attacks have never happened in our country and they do not at all reflect our culture, tradition or the religious beliefs of Malaysians.

“Selangor PAS sympathises with the affected churches and urges all PAS members in the state to remain calm and patient and pray for the safety of all,” its state Information chief Roslan Shahir Mohd Shahir said in a statement.

The Muslim Professionals Forum described this as “the cowardly and utterly senseless act of a group of misguided, chauvinistic bigots.”

“This act of arson, committed presumably in the name of Islam, desecrates the very religion it purports to protect. The Holy Quran unequivocally prohibits destroying the houses of worship of all religions, as warned in Surah Al-Hajj, Verse 40,” its board of directors said in a statement.

“During the reign of Umar ibn Al-Khattab, the second righteous caliph, the religious freedom of the citizens of Ilya (Jerusalem) and the sanctity of their synagogues and places of worship were confirmed, they said.

Muslim Professionals Forum urged the authorities to immediately conduct an impartial and thorough investigation to identify, apprehend and punish the perpetrators.

It also urge individuals, organisations and political parties to refrain from further issuing provocative and inflammatory statements related to the high court verdict.

“We also urge all Malaysians to empathise and stand in solidarity with our Christian community in their hour of grief and need, and urge all peace-loving Malaysians to maintain composure and let cool heads prevail,” they said in their statement.

Social activist Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir said it was very important for all Muslim Malaysians to condemn the act whole-heartedly.

"This is not what Islam is about. The leadership must play its role and come out and tell the people not to condemn houses of worship," she told reporters at the church site.

Veteran DAP leader Lim Kit Siang said all political party leaders should take a common stand to condemn the attacks.

They should condemn “in the strongest possible terms the spate of church attacks in the wake of the ‘Allah’ controversy and ensure that there is no further escalation.

“As Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should immediately impress on the Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein to take all urgent and necessary measures to protect the good name of the country or be held responsible for any undesirable consequences,” he said.

Wangsa Maju Member of Parliament Wee Choo Keong said he was very shocked.

“The Prime Minister and Inspector-General of Police mus take immediate action to protect all places of worship regardless of their religion.

“We do not want to inflame the present tensions in the country or the country’s unity will be set back many years -- this is a test for the Prime Minister and his 1Malaysia vision,” he said.

In Miri, Sarawak political leaders condemned the attacks as well, callling for the swift restoration of common sense and wisdom to prevent any escalation of violence.

Senior Iban state leader Datuk Peter Nyarok Entrie said his party, the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), viewed the arson as an attack against the 1Malaysia concept and an attack against all peace-loving Malaysians.

“SPDP, a multiracial and multi-religious party that is made up of Muslims and non-Muslims, is shocked and saddened that the dispute over the use of the name ‘Allah’ in the peninsula had erupted into violence,” he said.

Nyarok, who is deputy president of SPDP, said there was a need to restore calm and order in the Klang Valley.

Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president and state Minister Datuk Seri Dr James Masing said the issue should not have been blown out of proportion.

“Politicians should stay out of this matter and leave it to the religious bodies of the respective religions to sit down and discuss a mutually acceptable way to resolve this,” he said.

Masing said Sarawak and Sabah do not have such controversies because people of all faiths and races were mature enough to accept each others’ beliefs.

Assistant state minister Datuk Daud Abdul Rahman, from the Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu, also stressed the need for common sense to prevail, saying that the state government has always practised tolerance and acceptance when it comes to handling issues of religious and racial nature.

Keadilan Sarawak chairman Baru Bian said the usage of Allah’s name became blown out of context in the peninsula because of political meddling.

He said this is a non-issue in Sarawak despite the name being used widely by all religions in the state for so many decades.

By the way, Hisap says they won't hesitate to use ISA:

"Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the Government would not hesitate to use any means necessary, including the Internal Security Act, on anyone who threatens the security of the country."

At the same time, the IGP says they will use ISA against those who send SMSes about the church bombings.

"Those spreading vicious rumours over the arson attacks on three churches in the Klang Valley on Friday can be arrested under the Internal Security Act, IGP Tan Sri Musa Hassan warned."

Funny... neither mentioned anything about using ISA against the church bombers or those who instigated them to violence.

Sergeant charged for jet engine theft. DO YOU SMELL WHAT I SMELL?

Do you smell what I smell?

A staff sergeant?! A sergeant doesn't even have authority to approve sick leave, much less approve a RM50 million inventory issue out from storage, give approval for heavy transport vehicles to enter military grounds, give approval for heavy transport vehicles to LEAVE military grounds while LADEN with 2 very conspicuous jet engines.

And he was acting alone??!

How can the RMAF storage superintendent, gate sentries and all the other highly trained military personnel walking around the base not see or not feel suspicious about a couple of heavily laden trucks with afterburners sticking out the end, driving out the gate?

And how did they ship it out of the country? How can the customs department or port authorities or shipping company not know when jet engines are being shipped out of the country?

I refuse to believe that something as large, heavy, hard to handle/transport and as eye-catching as 2 jet engines could be moved out of an airbase, and out via a world class shipping port without all the necessary paperwork and approvals from the higher ups. You, my friends, should not believe it as well.

Come on, Jib... you can come up with a better looking scapegoat than this, no? Why? Razak Baginda not free, isit?

Why even bother with an enlisted man? Just blame the Bangla who cuts grass at the RMAF base. He must have carted out the jet engine on the back of his bicycle.

RMAF sergeant, director to be charged with jet engines theft
TheMalaysiaInsider

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 6 — A Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) sergeant and a company director will be charged in the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court today in connection with the missing two F-5E jet engines despite cynicism that the government has covered up the scandalous theft.

Police had earlier said four men, three of them rank-and-file RMAF airmen, were the only ones involved in the 2007 theft of two General Electric J85-21A turbojet engines, said to be worth RM100 million, much to the chagrin of many that the scale of the crime suggests higher-ups were involved.

The RMAF had earlier denied that a brigadier-general and 40 others sacked for incompetence were involved in the crime.

Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail said last night the RMAF airman would be charged for stealing while the company director for disposing of stolen properties.

"Investigations revealed that both F-5E jet engines were removed from the Material Udara 1 (Matra 1) godown in Kuala Lumpur as a result of a collaboration between an RMAF personnel with the rank of sergeant and a company director to dispose off both jet engines," he said in a statement issued via Bernama.

He said based on information from witnesses and documents obtained, he ordered the duo to be charged.

The sergeant will be charged under section 380 of the Penal Code to be read with section 109 of the same code, while the company director, under section 414 of the code.

The jets engines were found missing in 2007 while being taken for a routine maintenance from the 12th Squadron (Scorpion) in Butterworth to the RMAF godown in Kuala Lumpur.

The jet engines were discovered stolen by RMAF on May 22, 2008 and a police report was lodged on Aug 4 the same year.

But like the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal where four executives were charged for criminal breach of trust (CBT), prosecuting the airmen and company director will not abate calls for further investigations into how the jet engines ended up in South America.

Gani had said the engines powering the ageing F-5Es are now in Uruguay after police said it went through a Middle East nation to Argentina.

They have said that Malaysia will seek international cooperation to recover the engines.

But opposition leaders are asking for a royal commission of inquiry into the theft that happened when Datuk Seri Najib Razak was the defence minister.

Now prime minister, Najib has promised that there will be no cover-up but many are left pondering his words with just a serviceman and an aviation services firm director in the dock.

Police report is mightier than pen or sword. Just ask Dr Pornthip.

Read the news on MACC officers making police reports against a PKR publication and Thai pathologist, Dr Pornthip.

See anything wrong with it?

Thai pathologist, tabloid face probe
Sunday, 03 January 2010

SHAH ALAM: Two Malaysian Anti- Corruption Commission officers lodged police reports against Thai pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunan and Suara Keadilan yesterday for allegedly attempting to undermine the ongoing inquest into the death of Selangor political aide Teoh Beng Hock.

Hisham Mohd Yusoff, 30, and Raub Ghani, 41, of the Putrajaya MACC investigation branch, lodged the reports about 10.30am at the Shah Alam district police headquarters here over an article in the Parti Keadilan Rakyat newspaper which confirmed as murder the death of Teoh, who had been called for questioning by MACC.

Hisham said that according to the article, Teoh, who was found dead on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam on July 16 last year, was confirmed to have been murdered based on the second post-mortem conducted at Sungai Buloh Hospital on Nov 22 last year.

“As an MACC officer, I ask the police to conduct a thorough investigation in connection with the article by Suara Keadilan because I feel that what was circulated is sub judice and contrary to the ongoing inquest (into Teoh’s death).

“It is also in keeping with a reminder by the Selangor police chief prohibiting anyone from discussing the Teoh case,” Bernama quoted him as saying.

In the other police report, Raub said he lodged it against Dr Pornthip because he suspected that she had leaked the information on the forensic report to unauthorised people.

“This (police) report is made because every action of Dr Pornthip was contrary to the court’s decision and would further undermine MACC ’s image,” he said in the report.

MACC chief commissioner Datuk Abu Kassim Mohamed, when contacted, said he had just resumed work after his leave and would ask for a report from his officers on the article as well as copies of the police reports.

“If they have lodged police reports, let the police conduct their investigation,” he said.

Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar confirmed that two police reports had been made and that the police would call the persons implicated in the police reports and would decide if these people should be cited under the Sedition Act, and if so it would be for the court to decide if they had committed contempt of court.

There are 4 issues, I reckon, with all this.

“As an MACC officer, I (Hisham) ask the police to conduct a thorough investigation in connection with the article by Suara Keadilan because I feel that what was circulated is sub judice and contrary to the ongoing inquest.

In the other police report, Raub said he lodged it against Dr Pornthip because he suspected that she had leaked the information on the forensic report to unauthorised people.

“This (police) report is made because every action of Dr Pornthip was contrary to the court’s decision and would further undermine MACC ’s image,” he said in the report.

1. "He said." "He feel." Who the hell are these guys to interfere in an ongoing coroner's court inquest? Are they entitled to say or feel anything? In short, do they have any legal standing (locus standi) to throw a charge of subjudice or contempt of court?

As an interested party participating in the inquest, the MACC is possibly entitled to raise such a charge. But are these 2 chaps formally representing the MACC? I thought the MACC was being represented by their lawyers. If the MACC has such concerns, why are they not asking their lawyers to raise it to the presiding coroner? Is that not the proper channel? We Malaysians are sticklers for proper channels, are we not?

Can I then make a police report that these 2 buffoons are being subjudice in turn and are therefore also in contempt of court? I have the same legal standing as they do... I may not be employed by the MACC but my tax dollars are paying their salary.

MACC chief commissioner Datuk Abu Kassim Mohamed, when contacted, said “If they have lodged police reports, let the police conduct their investigation,” he said.

Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar confirmed that two police reports had been made and that the police would call the persons implicated in the police reports and would decide if these people should be cited under the Sedition Act, and if so it would be for the court to decide if they had committed contempt of court

2. Shouldn't any complaints of contempt of court be made to the court, not the police? And then, shouldn't the court first decide whether it feels it's being dissed... ie. the complaint has merit before it instructs the relevant enforcement agency to investigate or act?

Why is the police jumping the gun? Why is the police acting immediately on account of 2 individuals who have no legal standing or legal training/knowledge to make such a complaint, rather than wait to be instructed by the court?

The reports are charging contempt of court.., not contempt of MACC officers. The police should not put the cart before the horse by bringing the cowboy in for investigation without being told.

3. The PDRM is the one Malaysian enforcement organisation which has a worse record than the MACC for detainees being hurt or killed during "investigation". Just ask Anwar, or A. Kugan.

No wonder Dr Pornthip's lawyers expressed worries about her being "questioned" by the police. In these dark times, we can't blame her and her lawyers for thinking that the Selangor police chief's statement that the police intends to "investigate" and "call" her - is nothing short of a barely veiled warning to Dr Pornthip not to set foot in this country... or else.

4. This last one's the most worrying. The lodging of police reports have long been used as an excuse to intimidate. Members of the public are detained against their will "for questioning" (interrogation) for no better reason than that someone made a police report.

It doesn't matter if the report is baseless or based on an individual's personal opinion or based on a charge made by a person who has no business or learning to make such a charge in the first place. The police's position is that they "have to investigate" as long as a report is lodged... even if the report reads like a children's fairy tale or cerita dongeng.

Now... having said that, if the police actually investigate ALL reports, that would be fair... in a sense. At least everybody on both sides gets interrogated, beaten up or killed. Nobody's left out. But the fact that these reports seem to be selectively "investigated" gives rise to the argument that it is being used as a weapon by some people against other people. I'll leave it to you to guess who these people are and whether this argument holds water.

Additional reading for armchair lawyers:

Who is the Coroner: Wikipedia
What is a Coroner's Court: The subordinate courts of Singapore
What is an Inquest: Wikipedia
What is subjudice: Wikipedia, The subordinate courts of Singapore (Media Guide sections 7.3.5 - 7.3.9)
What is Contempt of Court: Malaysian Bar, Crown Prosecution Service (UK), Ministry of Justice (UK), Scottish Courts.

Question to Ustazs... Why the Selective Outrage?

Some obvious but nonetheless, pertinent questions to PAS religious leaders... and published on PAS' propaganda website, no less. I'd be definitely interested to know the reasons behind the outrageously selective outrage. It is almost always directed to the softest (and generally innocuous) targets that garner the most sensationalised, mouth frothing headlines.

3 soalan bukan Islam untuk ustaz PAS
Li Fook Gao in harakahdaily.net

JAN 4 — Wahai ustaz-ustaz PAS sekalian,

Diharap ustaz-ustaz dapat membantu saya dalam mencari jawapan-jawapan terhadap beberapa kebuntuan dan persoalan saya mengenai agama Islam dan juga isu hangat yang sedang dibincangkan sekarang mengenai kalimah Allah.

Untuk makluman ustaz-ustaz, saya pernah membaca buku al-Quran demi memahami intipati saranan ajaran Islam yang dipeluk oleh beribu juta manusia ciptaan Tuhan (Bolehkah saya menggunakan perkataan Allah di sini?). Walaupun pernah membacanya, masih ada banyak perkara yang saya tidak faham mengenai ajaran Islam; mungkin sebab itulah sehingga kini saya tetap tergolong dalam kategori seorang yang kafir.

Soalan 1: Perkara-perkara haram.

Mengapa umat Islam mempunyai perasaan berbeza terhadap perkara-perkara dan benda-benda yang dikelaskan sebagai haram di dalam ajaran Islam? Umpamanya – mengapa umat Islam lebih senang merasa jijik dan mempunyai ketahanan diri yang jauh lebih tinggi terhadap binatang haram seperti khinzir daripada perkara-perkara seperti rasuah, berjudi, berminum arak dan berzina sedangkan perkara-perkara ini sama haramnya di sisi agama Islam?

Adakah fenomena ini berlaku disebabkan budaya kita yang suka untuk membezakan bangsa atau kesilapan proses pengajaran dan penghayatan terhadap agama Islam itu sendiri? Bagaimana ustaz-ustaz sekalian boleh memperbetulkan keadaan ini supaya umat-umat Islam boleh menjauhkan diri dan merasa jijik terhadap benda-benda haram secara sama rata tanpa ada tafsiran tersendiri?

Soalan 2: Persoalan mengenai khutbah.

Di sini saya ingin memberikan satu senario untuk dibahaskan bersama ustaz-ustaz sekalian. Setahu saya, ramai ustaz yang memberikan ceramah agama di masjid-masjid. Persoalan pertama saya, adakah ustaz-ustaz menyediakan khutbah-khutbah itu sendiri ataupun khutbah ini telah disediakan oleh orang lain untuk dibaca ustaz-ustaz sekalian sahaja?

Andai kata jikalau khutbah yang disediakan (sama ada sendiri ataupun orang lain) itu bermasalah dan mempunyai unsur menyeleweng daripada agama Islam, apakah hukum dan tahap dosanya terhadap ustaz-ustaz yang masih sanggup membacanya kepada para hadirin solat sekalian kerana takut dikenakan hukuman manusia seperti penarik-balikan sijil tauliah mereka?

Jika benar perkara di atas berlaku, apakah yang perlu dilakukan oleh ustaz-ustaz untuk mengatasi masalah di atas dalam membendung terlahirnya lebih banyak umat Islam yang berfikiran sempit di dunia ini?

Soalan 3: Kalimah Allah dan nama baik Islam.

Pada pendapat saya, sebuah negara yang majoritinya Muslim perlu sentiasa kelihatan bersih, amanah, cekap dan berintegriti di mata rakyat dan juga dunia. Sebarang kecalaran pada imej negara tersebut akibat amalan rasuah yang berleluasa, kroniisme, nepotisme dan tidak menghormati undang-undang patut dilihat sebagai satu penghinaan besar terhadap nama baik Islam. Sedihnya, sehingga kini tidak banyak pertubuhan gerakan Islam (selain PAS) menggerakkan jentera untuk membantah atau memboikot parti pemimpin yang merosakkan nama baik Islam.

Dalam isu kalimah Allah ini pula, umat-umat Islam negara kita telahpun mula menggerakkan bantahan demi bantahan sekitar negara dengan alasan untuk menjaga kalimah Allah daripada dihina dan disalahgunakan. Semangat “sediakan payung sebelum hujan” di sini amatlah dikagumkan, tapi perkara ini juga amat membinggungkan banyak orang kafir seperti saya, kerana, kebanyakan kami hairan mengapa pula semangat yang membara ini tidak wujud dalam hal isu menjaga nama baik Islam daripada dikaitkan dengan amalan rasuah, kroniisme dan nepotisme yang dipraktikkan secara terang-terangan oleh pemimpin-pemimpin negara kita.

Wahai ustaz-ustaz PAS sekalian,

Mengapa umat Islam tidak pula mempunyai semangat yang membara (seperti semangat yang ditunjukkan dalam mempertahankan kalimah Allah daripada disalahgunakan) terhadap penghinaan terhadap nama baik Islam akibat perbuatan pemimpin-pemimpin Muslim yang jauh menyeleweng daripada ajaran Islam walaupun setelah 29 tahun lamanya? Adakah ini menunjukkan nama baik Islam tidak lebih penting daripada kalimah Allah? Saya rasa sudah tentu tidak, akan tetapi saya tidak tahu di mana silapnya. Adakah ustaz-ustaz sekalian tahu jawapannya?

Sekiranya semangat yang membara dalam menjaga kalimah Allah ini dapat diaplikasikan oleh umat Islam secara sama rata dalam hal penjagaan nama baik Islam daripada diseleweng pemimpin-pemimpin negara yang jahat; sudah pasti kejadian-kejadian seperti kehilangan enjin pesawat, kematian saksi di MACC, bumbung-bumbung bangunan yang sering keruntuhan, skandal kes pembunuhan, pembelian RM42,000 untuk komputer dan katak-katak diutamakan daripada rakyat tidak akan berlaku. Betul tak?

Itulah sahaja soalan-soalan daripada saya pada masa ini. Diharap dapat mendengar jawapan daripada ustaz-ustaz PAS yang sudi menjawab. Saya memohon beribu ampun sekiranya terdapat silap bahasa dan ketelanjuran ayat-ayat saya yang menyinggung perasaan mana-mana pihak.

Buku ilmiah dibawa belayar,
Untuk dibaca mencari tema,
Niat saya mahu belajar,
Bertanya demi muafakat bersama.

1Malaysia. Whose one? Your one or my one?

Najib's administration has been dragging a kicking and screaming Malaysia towards his concept of 1Malaysia. But the thing is... what is in fact, 1Malaysia? Which one is the 1?


The Non-Malays and Non-Muslims are afraid of this 1...


The Malays and Muslims are afraid of this 1...


The Non-Malay Muslims really want this 1... (think Mahathir A/L Mohd Kutty of Kerala, India, Ridhuan Tee and the Mamaks in UMNO). Read Utusan's man of hour, Ridhuan Tee's bullshit here, and an enlightening rebuttal from Art Harun here.


Everyone should be afraid of this 1...


I truly hope we'll someday end up with this 1...


But as things stand, it's 11Malaysia, split into your 1 and my 1. Like 2 parallel lines that is the number 11, never the twain shall meet.

RM800K for IPOH sign. Lucky our city's got a short name. Or else pokai!

Guess how much this "IPOH" signage cost?

According to Malaysian Insider, Ipoh City Council confirmed that a total of RM800,000 was spent on 2 of these giant signs.

That's RM400,000 per sign. Or RM100,000 per letter.

The Pakatan Rakyat (PR) ex-state govt said that the palace proposed the signs (and proposed 4 signs rather than the current 2). PR rejected it. BN usurped the state. Signs were then built and RM800,000 changed hands.

Look... I'm no construction engineer or signage expert, so I'm just pulling assumptions out of my ass. But I'm pretty sure RM800,000 can put a lot of stuff on the slope of those hills. Even if these signs were made of virgin marble, it wouldn't cost that much. Heck.. even if they were made from virgins, it wouldn't cost that much.

So, I'm asking. PR should be asking. The people of Perak should be asking...

• WHO WAS THE CONTRACTOR WHO POCKETED THE RM800,000? IS HE LINKED TO THE PALACE OR ANY POLITICIAN?
  
  
• HOW MUCH LESS WOULD IT HAVE COST UNDER A COMPETITIVE TENDER?

Rubbish Bru

I've de-activated the link to Rocky Bru in the sidebar, as that blogger has taken to spouting rubbish these days.

Why I also believe Anwar is not guilty

This is very good. You guys should read this very perceptive observation from a letter writer to Malaysiakini.

I particularly like the irony of a couple of his questions... namely...

1. How does a 61 year old man, with a bad back and ill health - hold down, rip the pants off of and stick his erect dick into the asshole of a young strapping 23 year old man? Can someone explain to me how Anwar could have possibly done that?

Does anyone realise how hard Anwar's erection had to be in order to penetrate the clenched butthole of the young chap? Wouldn't a simple erectile dysfunction test be a more logical course of investigation than a DNA sample?

2. Since when does the Deputy Prime Minister become the first port of call of an anally raped young man coming from the camp of an opposition leader? Is Najib so free? Doesn't he have something more important to do?

Has Najib ever climbed down from his ivory tower to meet any of the genuine rape victims in Malaysia?

Why I believe Anwar is not guilty
K Bing | Jul 18, 08 6:00pm

First of all, I must say that I do not possess any information which is not already public knowledge. However, I have been following news of the new sodomy allegation against Anwar closely and I’m analysing this from the perspective of ‘reasonable behaviour’ and ‘balance of probability.’ Here are the reasons why I think Anwar is not guilty.

1. Is Anwar gay? A person who has fathered six children has established his sexual orientation firmly. Bisexuality is very rare and in any case he does not fit the mould. He has a loving family and his wife is standing steadfastly by him which says a lot.

2. The highly controversial sodomy conviction of 1998 failed to convince most people. A person in a position of power who allegedly cannot control himself to even keep away from his wife’s driver, must have a string of partners. One must ask, why has nobody else come out of the woodwork? Why was it necessary to coerce false confessions from two of his associates?

3. A person on the cusp of attaining political power would not be so stupid as to risk everything. If indeed one assumes that he cannot control his urge, where are the others that he may have violated or other consensual partners? With multiple partners, it’s a secret which is almost impossible to keep for a public figure.

4. Anwar’s anger and outrage at the new allegation is exactly how a wronged person will react. His body language when he speaks of the issue is consistent with his words.

5. When news broke of the police report against him, Anwar took refuge at the Turkish embassy. I believe he did so as he feared immediate arrest and not so much a threat on his life. This shows that Anwar believes there is a conspiracy against him rather than a private complaint which would not warrant immediate arrest. A guilty person would immediately assume it’s a private complaint.

6. Saiful’s resignation e-mail to Anwar did not suggest he had been sodomised and traumatised by his boss. This e-mail has not been denied by him.

7. The notion that a 61-year-old man can force himself on a 23-year-old youth is unthinkable. If threats were used, what can Anwar possibly threaten him with as he is not in a position of power?

Is there a conspiracy against Anwar? I believe there is for the following reasons.

1. The accuser, Saiful was obviously closely connected with Umno and has been photographed with a few Umno leaders including an aide to the deputy prime minister.

2. Saiful is obviously pro-Umno as had been revealed by his online postings. Why then did he induct himself into PKR as a volunteer if not for some ulterior motive?

3. His visit to the DPM’s office a few months before the incident was explained as him having gone there to apply for a scholarship. This is a very awkward explanation. As a college dropout, Saiful was not in the market for a scholarship and in any case, the DPM’s office is the wrong department to go.

And why would a scholarship applicant have his photograph taken with a senior aide? One must ask, why is it necessary to obfuscate and conceal the real purpose of his visit?

4. Najib at first denied he had ever met Saiful and later admitted that he met Saiful at his residence when a traumatised and sodomised Saiful came to ask for his advice. Why did Najib first deny and then admit later when under pressure? Was he trying to conceal something?

5. Najib said he listened to Saiful’s story and told him it’s up to him whether he wants to lodge a police report or not. This is not credible. Wouldn’t Najib have jumped at the opportunity to discredit his political nemesis and insist that Saiful make a police report?

It is wrong for anybody - much less a minister - who has been told a crime not to bring it to the attention of the law enforcement agencies. Why is Najib giving unbelievable explanations? Is he trying to divert all thoughts away from a conspiracy and overdoing it?

6. Najib said that Saiful visited him a few days before he made his police report. The report was made on Saturday and the sodomy was alleged to have occurred on Thursday. This means Saiful could only have visited Najib on Friday, one day before he made his report.

This is stretching the definition of ‘a few days’ to breaking point. Establishing when the meeting actually took place will shed light on the veracity of the allegation.

7. How easy is it for an ordinary person to drop in and see the DPM at his residence or office on such short notice? If he has been sexually violated, there is no need to hawk his allegation to politicians first before going to the police.

8. Saiful’s smiling and confident demeanor when he emerged a few days after his police report certainly does not indicate a man who has been sodomised and traumatised.

9. Saiful’s public challenge to Anwar to swear his innocence on the Quran is unbecoming of a real victim who would be expected to feel depressed and keep a low profile rather than play politics.

To round it up, let me deal with some objections.

1. It is too outrageous to imagine that Umno would weave a sodomy conspiracy against Anwar again as nobody would believe it.

Do you think negative public opinion will stop them? Umno controls the AG’s chambers, the police, the judiciary all of which are sufficient to convict a man of trumped-up charges. For good measure, they also control the mainstream press.

2. The allegations will increase sympathy for Anwar so a conspiracy is unlikely.

On the contrary, it could well discredit Anwar. The tactic could backfire but it is not beyond politicians to miscalculate the effects of their action.

3. Anwar stands to gain the most from it so Anwar must have planned all this.

Isn’t this even more outrageous than the above? No need to waste words on this.

4. Why sodomy again? Isn’t the script 10 years old?

What else can they pin on Anwar? He is not outwardly corrupt. A legal conviction is the most efficient way to get Anwar out of the political scene for good. After serving the sentence, he will have to wait another five years before running for public office by which time he may be too old to have any political ambition.

5. It is too transparent as Saiful has been photographed with high-level Umno politicians.

The plot may have been hatched after all those photographs. We have to be realistic, there are not many candidates who would do this.

6. Why did PKR take in a person without background checks?

He volunteered at a time when PKR was desperately short of staff. Once in, a person is not easily dislodged even when his previous pro-Umno leaning is known. There’s always the notion of fair play and judging a person by his work rather than his past.

In conclusion, when events really happen, details automatically fall into place. When there’s nothing to hide, explanations do not create more questions. A person’s demeanour and facial expression is a reflection of his inner thoughts.

All the bits and pieces collected together can create a complete picture. The picture is not complete but it is complete enough for me to decide that on the balance of probabilities, the incident never happened and Anwar is again facing another political conspiracy.

Investigate Najib for sodomy

The police commenced investigations within a day of receiving reports of Anwar having sodomised Saiful Bukhari. Since I have full confidence in the professionalism and consistency of the Royal Malaysian Police Force to act without fear or favour.., sean-the-man expects that P.Balasubramaniam's statutory declaration will prompt the police to immediately INVESTIGATE NAJIB RAZAK FOR SODOMY!

Item 25(2) of the aforementioned statutory declaration reads:

Najib Razak informed Abdul Razak Baginda that he had a sexual relationship with Aminah [Altantuya] and that she was susceptible to anal intercourse.

Read the complete text of the s.d. by Razak Baginda's private investigator here.

Highway concessionaires continues sodomising M'sian public

We are still being screwed by the highway concessionaires, with the complicity of the BN govt, of course.

Government compensates concessionaires RM2.97b - The Edge

The government has paid RM2.97 billion in compensation to four highway concessionaires — PLUS Expressways Bhd, Lingkaran Trans Kota Holdings Bhd (Litrak), Kesas Sdn Bhd and MTD Capital Bhd — for delaying their toll rate increases, said Deputy Works Minister Datuk Yong Khoon Seng.

Meanwhile, M Kulasegaran (Ipoh Barat-DAP) asked the deputy minister why the government refused to reveal the terms of the concession agreements to the public.

[The Deputy minister] said the government had been providing information on the matter in the past few years and stressed that the government was not negligent in having to pay compensation to the concessionaires as there were such provisions in the agreements.

But why are these provisions for profit guarantees there in the first place? How did the govt come to the conclusion that unfettered profit guarantees given to private concessionaires makes better economic sense than the govt building the highways itself? Isn't it just a convenient way to make sure that certain cronies get to make unreasonable profits off the public in perpetuity?

Cabinet don't pay for their own damn holidays?!

I'm sure you all have read about how Najib says the "Government is sharing the burden". He is of course referring to the much publicised (and much lauded... by chronic ball-lickers NST) exercise to cut costs and expenses in the govt.

According to Star and Malaysiakini, the gist of the cuts are:

1. The entertainment allowances of ministers and deputy ministers will be slashed by 10%.

The Prime Minister currently enjoys a monthly entertainment allowance of RM18,865 while his deputy gets RM15,015. Other ministers and deputy ministers are given RM12,320 and RM6,000 respectively.

First question: Does a mere 10% reduction qualify as 'slashed'?

Aisehman has a hilarious hypothetical question on how a cabinet member like... say, Najib, would classify his entertainment expenses as public/govt if he entertains the DPM of Mongolia, or private if he entertains a beautiful young model from Mongolia.

End of the day, why would cabinet members need entertainment allowances? If the entertainment is for official purposes, the ministry would have already picked up the tab. If it's for his own private pleasure, why should the taxpayer pay for it?

2. The paid holidays of Cabinet members and their families holidays will now be limited to local and Asean destinations and will not be allowed to claim for more than a week’s holiday.

Wow! I didn't know that cabinet members AND their families get paid holidays to anywhere in the world, at the expense of taxpayers. With their salaries, entertainment allowances, travel allowances, housing allowances, MP's allowance and god knows what other allowances and perks - can't these bastards pay for their own farking holidays?

Can they really go anywhere in the world? US and Europe? Disneyland, Las Vegas?

For how long? (However long, it's definitely more than a week).

And how many people constitutes a family? Does it include the in-laws, brothers, sisters, parents etc? And is there a maximum number of family members? All 4 wives? All 20 kids?

Here's a hypothetical holiday bill (in US$) for a minister with 1 wife and 3 kids, to London for 2 weeks:

With 71 cabinet members (ref: wiki), this translates into an annual bill of RM8.7 million (71 x 123K).

And remember, the assumption is 1 holiday per cabinet member per year, 5 people in a family and a duration of 2 weeks.

Also, we're assuming that the cabinet member's family does not do a 'Rosmah'. ie. go shopping at Harrod's, and then walk out with armloads of stuff, leaving the foreign ministry to settle the bill.

Fuel subsidies must go, but so must cronies, corruption and wastage

Thanks for all the comments encouraging me to continue blogging. I mentioned that I might blog again if the shit hit the fan. And hit the fan the shit did.., in the form of increased fuel prices in Malaysia.

I think there's something intrinsically wrong when a litre of petrol or diesel costs the same as lunch (outside KL lah). But I think it's more wrong if Malaysians are charged market prices for oil, when the govt forces us buy cars and houses at tax-inflated and bumiputra discount-inflated market prices (respectively). I think it's wrong if we are charged market prices for petrol when development funds meant to improve our educational and business infrastructure (which increases our income and hence, our ability to pay market prices) are squandered in favour of enriching BN cronies and faulty bumiputra & ketuanan melayu policies.

Here's a post I made in a local forum on this topic:

Personally, I think fuel prices in Malaysia need to be UNsubsidised. Subsidies are a downward spiral and is nothing less than switching of the burden of higher cost from consumers to taxpayers.

However, subsidies cannot be looked at in isolation. All national budgets are simple creatures. What is the cash inflow, and how is it matched by the cash outflow. Cash inflows are few, mainly taxes and returns from govt investments. Cash outflows are more complex, from govt spending, to govt investment, to these fuel subsidies.

I think the issue here is not the fuel subsidies. It is unrealistic for the public to expect the govt to 'PREVENT' the increase in fuel prices. Malaysia is insignificant to the overall crude oil dynamics as a producer, or a consumer. Trying to hang on to the subsidies in the face of current oil price trends is like trying to hold back a tidal wave with your bare hands. Everybody still gets drenched, and we'll also drown in the process - because we stubbornly stood on the beach staring down the incoming tsunami instead of running for higher ground.

In my mind, there are 3 connected issues:

1. Since Malaysia is a net oil exporter, the net profit from oil will always increase as oil prices increase. Because we produce more than we consume, the increased profit from selling oil that we produce, will always be more than the increased costs of paying for (including subsidies) the oil we consume.

The matter is whether the govt (via Petronas) should spend their oil production profits to 'subsidise' the consumption of oil. For me, that's a matter for the public to decide. BN and PR have made their intentions know (albeit after the elections) in that BN wants to eliminate the subsidies while PR (via Anwar's statements) promises to use Petronas profits to subsidise consumption. So vote wisely.

Me, I prefer that the govt spend the money on improved public transport, better schools and better infrastructure so that the public can increase their earning power in order to cope with the additional cost of living, rather than trying to subsidise living costs. There is no benefit in subsidies (other than delaying the inevitable doom). Additionally, subsidies are so easily and rapaciously abused as I'll show in point 2 below (only one example of many).

2. The consumption of oil itself is fraught with problems. Namely, which consumers do you subsidise? Right now, everyone is subsidised. From the kapcai riders earning RM800/mth to the biggest towkays and royalty driving Mercedes S-classes and Aston Martins. But my thinking is that individual consumption of fuel for private transportation is actually a small proportion of oil consumption.

It's the transportation industry, power generation industry and the smugglers to Thailand (by road) and Indonesia (by boat) who are the biggest users of these subsidies. Should they be entitled to it?

Smugglers... definitely not. But subsidies are like banning liquor and gambling. The more you do it, the more illicit and illegal activities will occur.

And take the power generation industry. Tenaga buys fuel feedstocks from Petronas at subsidised prices. That is justified as electricity prices to the public are also controlled. And electricity tariffs are staggered in that smaller consumers pay less, and larger, commercial & industrial consumers pay more - which is somewhat fair.

But the IPPs (independent power producers) like YTL and Tanjung also pay ridiculously subsidised prices for their fuel feedstocks. If they were selling the power back to Tenaga at Tenaga's cost of production (maybe with a small premium of for the IPP's smaller scale vs Tenaga), that would be okay. However, IPPs sell power to Tenaga at cost+ (ie. guaranteed profits), and the most ridiculous thing is that Tenaga has to buy everything the IPPs produce, even if it is in excess of Tenaga's needs. This means that the IPPs will produce as much as they possibly can to maximise profits, and therefore they are consuming the maximum amount of oil as well... at subsidised prices.

And because IPPs are currently producing excess power that Tenaga doesn't need, the excess power is wasted because it can't be stored, translating into higher costs for Tenaga and higher tariffs for the public. That also means that billions in fuel subsidies are being spent to subsidise IPP production of wasted power. Everyone loses, much is wasted and the only party gaining from this arrangement are the IPPs... and of course, their politician sponsors from BN in the background.

3. Lastly, is govt spending itself. What's the alternative spending if public funds are not spent on subsidies?

How can the govt justify such drastic moves to reduce overspending on subsidies, when we don't seem to be doing anything to reduce overspending on guaranteeing profits for IPPs, highway toll operators, GLCs like Proton, Bernas, Class F contractors, AP permit holders, govt dept waste etc?

In fact, how do we know that the billions saved from these subsidy reductions will not be spent on guaranteeing more profits for cronies and wastage?

Adios from sean-the-man

Since the watershed elections on 8th of March, I've been having endless problems thinking of what to blog about. Yes, the election is over. Yes, the issues and problems continue. And new ones are popping up all the time. But to me, these are not new issues. These issues have existed all along, they are inter-related and in the last couple of years, have been discussed and dissected to death.

My purpose in starting a blog in May 2006 was to help make sure people know all the shit that was going on in this country. It was to make sure that people know there are other sides to a story apart from the viewpoint of the govt, reflected in the mainstream media. I had just become politically aware then (from stumbling upon a few eye-opening blogs while looking for free Malaysian newspapers on the net). And that single experience of the power of blogs made me eager to share that newfound awareness with other folks. Especially those who, like me, were late political bloomers.

Since 8th of March though, I have to say that Malaysians are now much more aware of the issues and the truth. They are much more vested in their political destinies. They are much more willing to take the initiative to look for different viewpoints and different versions of the truth. And judging by the number of blogs that have popped up, they are also more willing to voice their opinion.

I fear I might have outlived my original usefulness. Take the current wave of Ketuanan Melayu for instance. In one form or other, I think I've flogged this dead horse in countless blog posts about Ketuanan Melayu specifically, and NEP or racial discrimination generally. I feel I have nothing new to offer, in terms of insight, nor opinion. How many ways can I say I oppose Ketuanan (Melayu or otherwise), the NEP, racial and religious discrimination? I'm beginning to feel that it's a waste of time to post a counter-arguement every time some bigot opens his big mouth in support of Ketuanan Melayu. Essentially, both the bigot and I are simply rehashing the same old arguments, facts and figures. And I'm tired of repeating myself, and even more tired of hearing bigots repeating themselves on my blog. I know where they stand, they know where I stand, and each of you are now politically and informationally mature enough to know where you stand. Opinion blogging (as opposed to informational blogging) as I see it, is becoming obsolete - especially when it's the same opinions on the same issues, over and over again.

So until I figure out where this blog is headed, I leave you with a list of interesting articles I've read recently. Articles that I really wanted to blog about, but then stopped short when I realised that they were nothing new. More of the same, just said by different people at different times, using different words, under different circumstances.

Until our destinies meet again, or when some new shit somehow hits the fan - this is sean-the-man signing out.

PS. The picture in this post is dedicated to all the supporters of Ketuanan Melayu. KISS MY NON-MALAY ASS!

Pro-ketuanan

Ketuanan Melayu - Redefined

Ketuanan Melayu

Against-ketuanan

Anwar hits out at moves to stir Malay sentiment

The fortress - by Malik Imtiaz Sawar

A roundup: No hard and fast rule on supremacy

And finally something good on May 13: May 13, 1969: Truth and reconciliation

M'sia still British Colony, says Malay Regiment

The Malay Regiment are very proud of the fact that Malaysia is the 4th country (after Australia, Canada and Jamaica) to be doormen and guard dogs to the Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

However, they forget the fact that the Queen remains the current HEAD OF STATE for Australia, Canada and Jamaica. That's why the Australians, Canadians and Jamaicans were there. In taking up the same CEREMONIAL DUTIES, isn't the Malay Regiment saying the Queen is similarly the Head of State for Malaysia?

See here:

The following is quoted from the Monarch's website on the page entitled 'Commonwealth Realms':

"A Commonwealth realm is a country where The Queen is the Head of State. The Queen is Queen not only of Britain and its dependent territories, but also of the following realms: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, St Christopher and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu."

And the spin doctors at NST also failed to mention that this trans-continental act of obeisance to the Queen is costing us RM2 million dollars (see related post: From a whore to the queen. UMNO throws money at the British).

Songkok, Balkis & an Apology 'IF' your balls dislike being kicked

The Songkoks

RPK had dedicated several postings on his site to accuse DAP of being racist and chauvinist. He's not very happy that one DAP politician refused to wear a songkok to a palace function.

RPK reckons that refusing to don a songkok is:

(1) disrespectful of the royals and royal etiquette

The rulers cannot be the impartial rulers of Malaysians of all races & religions on one hand, and the uncompromising champions of Malays and Islam on the other hand. That proposition is as meaningless, contrarian and nonsensical as saying the NEP will ensure the economic special privileges of Malays while ensuring that non-Malays are not disadvantaged.

You can't be one whilst being the other. To possess one necessarily means to dispossess the other.

How do the rulers be relevant to Malaysians of all races, if they cannot get past the need for royal protocol to contort all Malaysians to look & act like Malays in their presence?

If the argument is that a baju Melayu, samping and songkok are the 'Malaysian dress', then shouldn't the mandarin collar, sari and cheongsam enjoy the same status and be acceptable at the palace? Are we not an inclusive society?

(2) disrespectful of the wishes of your host

RPK says here that the host of a house can impose a dress code on his guests. I'm not sure which code of courtesy that came from, but I have always been under the impression that a good host respects his guests' lifestyle and sensitivities - and would always go out of his way to accomodate them.

In addition, it also depends on who paid for the host's house. If all the guests chipped in and paid for the host's house, I'd take a rather dim view on the host who then imposes various terms and conditions on his guests before they can enter the house which they (the guests) paid for.

(3) not seeing the forest for the trees

Here I agree. Could the DAP assemblyman have compromised for the greater good? Sure. But make sure it's compromise, not submission. Mistaking compromise for submission is what got this country into trouble in the first place.

I would also add this point.

Refusing to wear a songkok is racist & chauvinist? How do you logically derive that? It may be unwise. It may be obstinate, uncooperative and unconstructive. It may be downright unfriendly. But racist & chauvinist?

How does one's brain have to work in order to conclude that refusing to don a songkok is racist? Is refusing to speak Malay chauvinist? Is refusing to eat halal food racist & chauvinist? It's unnecessarily unconvenient to all parties concerned for sure, but is it anything more than that?

Isn't it more racist and chauvinist to decree that everyone must wear songkoks, speak Malay and consume halal food only?

Which is more agressive, arrogant and seeking to impose your will on others?... Choosing not to do something (refuse to wear a songkok) or refuse someone a choice (to wear or not to wear a songkok)?

Balkis, Baiduri and Bakti

Apparently a bunch of BN politician wives felt that the RM9 million in a 'charity' are their personal piggy bank which they can move around as they please. They felt that they had worked hard to raise the money and since they weren't confident that the wives of the new govt would put the funds to 'similar' use as they did - they were entitled to endow it to another party of their choosing.

Firstly, I'm not sure if getting money from state owned companies owned or funded by a govt led by their husbands qualifies as hard work.

Secondly, think about this parallel situation.

What if... in the next election, the Pakatan Rakyat wins it to be the new govt... but the old BN govt moves the entire treasury to a Swiss bank account under UMNO - because they (BN) felt that they had worked hard to build the treasury reserves, and they felt that the new govt might not put the funds to 'similar' use?

Why the hell are unelected 'wives' getting their filthy hands on state funds anyway?

The Apology

Hishammuddin 'The Keris' Hussein made a steeply qualified apology to the non-Malays 'IF' they were offended by his antics with his phallic symbol.

Let's not be coy about it. The non-Malays have no problems with a keris, or how it signifies Malay dignity etc. What offended us is the fact that someone drew a keris during an UMNO general assembly AND that act was accompanied by threats of violence and bloodshed against the non-Malays. And is it not fact that the keris has been repeatedly drawn, with the same racial threats being made, during successive UMNO functions since then? It is not the mere drawing of the keris from its sheath, but the manner in which it was drawn and the circumstances and statements surrounding the act which offends the non-Malays.

And the Sham's apology is like apologising to people who were kicked in the balls only 'IF' they objected to being kicked in the balls. The connotation is that no apology is necessary if they don't object to being kicked in the balls. Therefore, the act of kicking someone in the balls is nothing to apologise for, especially if those being kicked don't (dare to?) object to it. Furthermore, he also apologised to those who, like him, enjoy kicking other people in the balls... because he wasn't able to transform kicking someone in the balls - into an act that people (who get their balls kicked) would not be in a position to object.