Can Malaysia cope with 3 Sons-In-Law?

We all know the PM's first SIL (Son-In-Law), but the billion ringgit question is... Can Malaysia cope with 2 more?

ST article below on Jeanne Danker Abdullah & her 2 daughters (Pak Lah's future stepdaughters from his coming marriage)...

Looks like Tun M has his work cut out for him. If 1 SIL can give him 2 heart attacks, imagine the damage 3 will do.

She is his former sister-in-law and used to run his official residence
By Carolyn Hong, Malaysia Bureau Chief and Chow Kum Hor, Malaysia Correspondent, The Straits Times

FAMILY TIES: Madam Jeanne (centre), with her daughters Nadiah (left) and Nadene Othman from her first marriage. Madame Jeanne is divorced from the younger brother of Premier Abdullah's late wife.

MALAYSIAN Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi brimmed with joy yesterday when he announced he would be remarrying this Saturday after some 20 months as a widower.

Datuk Seri Abdullah, 67, lost his wife, Datin Seri Endon Mahmood, to breast cancer in October 2005.

His upcoming marriage to divorcee Jeanne Abdullah nee Danker, 53, is no secret, though.

For months, it had been a topic of discussion in plenty of places, from blogs to coffeeshops.

But little was known about his bride-to-be or the events that led to their decision to wed.

Madam Jeanne, who will marry Datuk Seri Abdullah in a private ceremony on Saturday, is his former sister-in-law.

She also once managed the Prime Minister's official residence, Seri Perdana, in Putrajaya.

She used to be married to Mr Othman Mahmood, the younger brother of the late Datin Seri Endon, but they divorced 15 years ago.

She has two adult daughters, Nadiah and Nadene, from that marriage. Her children lived with her when she was working at Seri Perdana.

Known for being unobtrusive, Madam Jeanne was born in Kuala Lumpur on July 29, 1953, to a middle-class Portuguese-Eurasian family, who were staunch Roman Catholics.

The future wife of the Malaysian Premier, who is a Muslim, is the eldest of four siblings and was educated at the well- known mission school Assunta Secondary School in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

She then carved a career in the hospitality industry.

A statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office yesterday said she had extensive experience in the administration and management of several major hotels, including the Hilton Kuala Lumpur and the Pan-Pacific Hotel.

She left hotels behind about six years ago to become the supervisor of the Deputy Premier's official residence when Datuk Seri Abdullah held that post, and later became the manager of Seri Perdana, which is the official residence of the Malaysian Prime Minister.

It is understood that, after speculation about Datuk Seri Abdullah wanting to remarry intensified late last year, she resigned from her post in January and moved out of Seri Perdana to live in a Kuala Lumpur condominium instead.

Madam Jeanne, who will take the title Datin Seri upon her marriage, has always been close to the Premier's family.

Beaming and joking with reporters yesterday, Datuk Seri Abdullah said he had known Madam Jeanne for about 20 years.

He also said they were family friends and love blossomed less than a year ago.

When reporters pestered him to recall how he had proposed to her, he said he did not remember but allowed that 'there was no bending of knees'.

He also told them that there would be no hantaran (Malay for traditional exchange of wedding gifts) as this was not his first marriage, and that he had not decided on whether to have a honeymoon.

But, he added, he had already picked out a wedding ring.

From June 20, the Prime Minister will make an official trip to Russia, Bosnia and Italy, and his new wife is expected to accompany him.

Of his bride-to-be, he said: 'She's simple and outgoing. When Endon was alive, she (Jeanne) was the one who welcomed guests to the house, including foreign guests. She mixes easily.

'Jeanne loved Endon too.'

According to Mrs Bridget Menezes, a friend of the late Datin Seri Endon, Madam Jeanne began supervising the household at the request of Datin Seri Endon herself, who wanted her expertise in organising banquets, as Datuk Seri Abdullah liked to entertain at home.

Mrs Menezes said of Madam Jeanne: 'She is a warm and kind person and extremely efficient as well.'

One of Madam Jeanne's brothers, Mr Faisol Abdullah, runs Jendela Batik, a company set up by the late Datin Seri Endon to promote batik, which was her pet project.

According to a political source, Madam Jeanne had run the house in a no-nonsense fashion, and had been known to turn away powerful politicians who turned up without an appointment to see the Prime Minister.

For this, some complained that she was overly protective of Datuk Seri Abdullah.

But many people whom The Straits Times spoke to said she was warm and always courteous to every visitor.

Her future husband is said to be besotted with her.

A political source said he carries a mobile phone around to take her calls and will sometimes interrupt a meeting to speak to her in romantic tones.

Their apparent delay in setting a wedding date had fuelled talk that Datuk Seri Abdullah's children had not given the union their blessing.

But the Prime Minister himself said the delay was due to the need to find the right time, and to consult his children and other family members.

He also said his family had given their blessings.

Asked by a reporter if he loved his late wife, he said: 'My love for Endon remains strong, still as strong as ever, but I am falling in love with this one.

'I believe God has created in your heart many people whom you can love. You can love mother, wife, daughter and granddaughter. That's the greatness of Allah, he has created the capacity to love.'

He added that photographs of Datuk Seri Endon are still displayed in the house, and Madam Jeanne could add her photos if she wished to.

As he put it: 'Nothing will change because those are eternal memories.'

Proton nears deal with Volkswagen (VW)

Updated by seantang on Thurs 7 June 2007 4pm: More sandiwara ahead.

Volkswagen Denies Report It Will Buy Control of New Proton Unit
By Chad Thomas and Angus Whitley

June 7 (Bloomberg) -- Volkswagen AG, Europe's largest carmaker, denied a report it will probably buy a controlling stake in a unit holding the assets of Malaysian carmaker Proton Holdings Bhd.

``This report is definitely wrong and only rumor without substance,'' said Andreas Meurer, a Volkswagen spokesman, in a phone interview today. ``We will have a round of talks soon.''

The Edge Financial Daily in Malaysia said today Volkswagen may buy a 51 percent stake in a newly formed unit that will own Proton's manufacturing, research and development and engineering divisions.

To contact the reporters on this story: Chad Thomas in Berlin at cthomas16@bloomberg.net ; Angus Whitley in Kuala Lumpur at awhitley1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 7, 2007 01:45 EDT

Original blogpost:
Is this for real? Would the UMNOputras pulling the strings, really give up management and equity control of Proton? Would VW buy into Proton when it will not control the sales channel? Or will VW setup an independent, competing sales channel, much like EON in the old days?

Malaysia's Proton nears deal with Volkswagen-paper
Wed Jun 6, 2007 9:48pm ET

KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 (Reuters) - Tie-up talks between troubled Malaysian carmaker Proton and Volkswagen are nearing conclusion, with the German firm likely to take management and equity control of key Proton operations, a Malaysian newspaper reported on Thursday.

Quoting unidentified sources, the Edge financial daily said Volkswagen was likely to take a 51 percent stake in a new company into which would be injected Proton's key motor assets, such as manufacturing, research and development, and engineering.

Loss-making, state-controlled Proton would hold the remaining 49 percent and continue to keep ownership of distribution arm Proton Edar, the paper added.

Malaysian conglomerate Sime Darby could take over a 43 percent stake in Proton held by state investment arm Khazanah, the paper said.

A Proton spokeswoman declined to comment while Sime Darby officials could not be reached.

Details are expected to be finalised at a meeting in New York being held between representatives of Khazanah, Sime Darby, Volkswagen and the office of Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the Edge said.

Key Malaysians involved in the talks are in New York as part of a roadshow organised by a Malaysian stockbroker for U.S. investors, it said.

Pak Lah getting married. "Nah, I told you so," says Malaysia-Today

The newspapers just posted the announcement that Pak Lah's getting married to a Jeanne Abdullah aka Jean Danker (picture from Screenshots)

But aiya, that's old news already. It was out on Malaysia-Today months ago, on 22nd February this year.

The Star (6th June 2007):

PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has announced he will marry Jeanne Abdullah, 53, in a private ceremony in Seri Perdana on Saturday, June 9.

Malaysia-Today (21st February 2007):

Anyway, while on the subject of the Prime Minister’s wife, some say Pak Lah married Jean Danker on 22 January 2007 while others say he will be marrying her tomorrow, 22 February 2007. Now, which one is true we do not quite know yet but she is already following Pak Lah on his overseas trips. In the trip he made to Perth to officiate his brother’s Nasi Kandar restaurant, it seems his daughter, Nori, went berserk when she found Jean in Pak Lah’s bedroom. Only after Pak Lah explained that there is nothing sinister about the whole thing because they are already married did Nori calm down and, like it or not, accept the fact that her father had remarried.

Text of both articles below:

PM to get married on Saturday

PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has announced he will marry Jeanne Abdullah, 53, in a private ceremony in Seri Perdana on Saturday, June 9.

Jeanne was born in Kuala Lumpur on July 29, 1953, and is the eldest of four children, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

She was educated at Sekolah Menengah Assunta, Petaling Jaya, and has had wide experience in management roles with several leading hotels in Malaysia, including the KL Hilton and Pan Pacific Hotel.

Abdullah's wife Datin Seri Endon Mahmood passed away on Oct 20, 2005 after a two-year battle against breast cancer.

Watch this space for more updates!

The protégé turned prodigal
Raja Petra Kamarudin

Najib Tun Razak should never have been appointed Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi did not want Najib but then Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad forced his hand and gave him no choice in the matter. Actually, in spite of all the arm-twisting, Pak Lah was still recalcitrant and, as the Malays would say, buat bodoh saja.

Mahathir detected that Pak Lah was playing for time. Of course, Pak Lah did not come right out and refuse to consider Najib for number two. He just dragged his feet and delayed making the announcement while hoping that Mahathir would eventually ease off or lose interest in the whole matter. But Mahathir is like a dog with a bone. Once he gets his teeth into something, it is very difficult to get him to let go again. Take the Crooked Bridge, the sale of sand to Singapore, the Singapore-Malaysia water supply agreement, Proton, MV Agusta, and all those other issues close to his heart. Even at the risk of sounding like a stuck record he is not relenting and continues to bang away until what he views as transgressions are rectified.

In that same spirit Mahathir was not about to allow Pak Lah to get his own way in the matter of the appointment of his number two. It was going to be Najib and no one else. And Mahathir pulled off a marvellous coup in getting what he wanted.

Earlier, the senior civil servants had approached Mahathir to invite him to a farewell dinner. Since he had already retired, and Pak Lah was now the Prime Minister, Mahathir did not see any point in the farewell dinner. You normally say farewell and honour one with a farewell dinner just before one goes, not after one has already left, and Mahathir said so. But the delegation insisted they honour Mahathir with a farewell dinner.

That was probably when an idea popped into Mahathir’s head. Always one to think on his feet, I would not put it past him to see an opportunity in this proposed farewell dinner. He agreed to the belated farewell party on condition they also invite Pak Lah. After all, Pak Lah is the Prime Minister so it would not be good manners to exclude him from the festivities. That was Mahathir’s condition. If they invite Pak Lah, and if Pak Lah agrees to attend, then he would agree to the dinner. If not, then no dinner.

So the delegation went off and approached Pak Lah and explained to the Prime Minister the term to get Mahathir to agree to the dinner. If Pak Lah refuses to attend, then the event is off, and the senior civil servants would not be able to honour Mahathir with a farewell dinner. So Pak Lah has to agree to attend to get Mahathir to also agree to the dinner.

Put in that manner how could Pak Lah say no. He would certainly not want to be the wet blanket or party pooper, so he said yes. And so both Mahathir and Pak Lah attended the dinner that night. And so too did members of the media. And when the press asked Mahathir to make a statement, he said that he would like to thank Pak Lah for agreeing to appoint Najib as his number two.

Pak Lah was caught totally off-guard. His balls shrank and he stormed out of the room and instructed his aids to order a total news blackout on Mahathir’s statement. Nothing is supposed to be reported in the media. But then you can control the mainstream or print media; you cannot control the alternative media or Internet. And that same night what Mahathir announced spread like wildfire through the Internet. So the next day Pak Lah had no choice but to announce, almost 20 hours later, that Najib had in fact been appointed Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister.

By then Mahathir was beginning to suspect he had made a serious mistake in appointing Pak Lah as his successor. It did not take him long to also realise he had made an equally serious mistake by insisting that Pak Lah take Najib as his number two. If Pak Lah was the only mistake then this could be rectified. He could force Pak Lah’s resignation and allow Najib to take over. But when Najib was beginning to prove an even worse mistake, how do you rectify this? In that sort of situation you just can’t force the number one out in favour of the number two. That would be like out of the frying pan, into the fire. You either get fried or get burned. Not much of a choice is it?

Many harbour the opinion that of late Mahathir has slowed down his attacks on Pak Lah because of his heart problem. Actually it is not that at all. No heart problem is going to slow Mahathir down. He is too tough to allow a simple thing like that curtail his attacks. It is the thought that removing Pak Lah would just allow Najib to take over that actually slowed him down. Between the two evils, Pak Lah is the lesser.

Okay, Pak Lah may be constantly sleeping during meetings and functions. He even slept during a very important war council meeting which was called to decide how to respond to Indonesia’s sort of declaration of war by ramming one of our Navy boats. Mahathir can live with this. He can even live with the very greedy and in-a-hurry son-in-law who believes that Rome was built in six days while on the seventh day the ‘lord’ of all that he sees rested. He can even live with the son who already has RM1.5 billion worth of government contracts to his credit. But what he can’t live with is Najib’s interfering wife who thinks that after the death of Kak Endon she now plays the role of First Lady.

Well, I have news for Rosmah: Malaysia does not have a First Lady. And even if we did, which we do not, it would be the Permaisuri Agong and not the Prime Minister’s wife who is the First Lady. And after that we have the nine Rulers (seven Sultans, one Raja of Perlis and one Yam Tuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan) and four Undangs (of Negeri Sembilan). So the Prime Minister’s wife is the Fifteenth Lady while the Deputy Prime Minister’s wife is the Sixteenth Lady, even if the Prime Minister is not married.

Anyway, while on the subject of the Prime Minister’s wife, some say Pak Lah married Jean Danker on 22 January 2007 while others say he will be marrying her tomorrow, 22 February 2007. Now, which one is true we do not quite know yet but she is already following Pak Lah on his overseas trips. In the trip he made to Perth to officiate his brother’s Nasi Kandar restaurant, it seems his daughter, Nori, went berserk when she found Jean in Pak Lah’s bedroom. Only after Pak Lah explained that there is nothing sinister about the whole thing because they are already married did Nori calm down and, like it or not, accept the fact that her father had remarried.

The word being spread through a whispering campaign is that, just before she died, Kak Endon had endorsed Pak Lah’s marriage to Jean. It seems, according to the spin, Kak Endon told Pak Lah that if he ever gets lonely after she has gone then he should take Jean as his wife. This, according to those close to the late Kak Endon, is a spin meant to legitimise the marriage. They dispute this and argue that Pak Lah had already been eyeing Jean even while Kak Endon was still alive. Jean used to be married to Osman Mahmud, Kak Endon’s brother, so this makes Jean her sister-in-law. Kak Endon was in fact very upset and that was why she stayed in the US and refused to come back to Malaysia. To explain why she was in the US and not in Malaysia, they spun the story that Kak Endon was undergoing treatment which was not true. In fact, the doctors had suggested that she return to Malaysia as there was nothing much they could do for her any longer.

Anyway, Najib went to the US to visit Kak Endon and when he returned to Malaysia he disputed the talk that there was no hope for Kak Endon and that she was only waiting for death to come claim her. She is responding well to treatment, argued Najib. Very soon after that Kak Endon returned to Malaysia and died, so there goes Najib’s prognosis that she was responding well to treatment and that talk of her getting ready to die were all lies being spewed by the Internet. You can argue and deny and accuse the Internet of lying, but how do you dispute a body that is lying dead in its grave? So who is lying now?

Kak Endon’s death was a blessing and a Godsend to Rosmah, Najib’s wife. Kak Endon hated Rosmah and would refuse to look her in the face or talk to her. Now she, and no longer Kak Endon, was the First Lady. Hip, hip, hooray! But Rosmah forgot one thing; the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. Under Malaysia’s Constitution, there is no First Lady and even if there was it would be the Agong’ wife and not the Prime Minister’s wife -- and certainly not the Deputy Prime Minister’s wife. And another thing that Rosmah did not take into consideration is that Pak Lah would remarry. So that relegates her back to the role of Second Lady (if you still want to insist that the Prime Minister’s wife is the First Lady).

Make no mistake; Jean Danker is a wonderful human being and a decent lady. I have no animosity towards her and if she can resist the temptation of interfering in the running of this country I am sure even Mahathir might end up liking her as well. In fact, I feel she makes a wonderful ‘First Lady’ and if it is true that she is already married to Pak Lah then I would like to be the first to wish her ‘Selamat Pengantin Baru’. I also hope that Nori and Kamal would leave her alone and allow their stepmother a blissful and happy marriage. Maybe what Malaysia needs is a lady like Jean beside Pak Lah to help our Prime Minister see the error of his ways and maybe distract him a bit from his children and children-in-law. Pak Lah may not be perfect but the problem is compounded by his children and children-in-law who feel that the entire family instead of just Pak Lah is the Prime Minister of this country.

Anyway, that now throws the whole scenario out of whack. With Pak Lah now married, where does that put Rosmah? And the fact that Mahathir now considers Najib a liability does not augur well for the Prime-Minister-in-waiting. If Rosmah just knew that Mahathir considers her as one of Najib’s stumbling blocks it would upset her even further. But Rosmah already suspected that Mahathir is not too pleased with her. Mahathir had been told that Rosmah screamed at Najib and slapped him in the presence of some visitors, a conduct most unbecoming of people in high office. So Rosmah tried to ambil hati Mahathir by attending the recent Peace Conference at the Putra World Trade Centre. I really don’t know whether that worked but it is not that easy to win Mahathir over and simple gestures like that might not quite do the trick.

Rosmah’s and Najib’s quarrel was actually about Razak Baginda. Rosmah wanted Najib to distant himself from Razak and to let him take the fall alone. But whatever shortcomings Najib may have, deserting friends in need is not one of them -- true to his Bugis blood as the Bugis always stand by their friends and if you take on one Bugis then you risk taking on the entire community (I should know). But Rosmah knew that the Razak Baginda case is a time-bomb that might not only jeopardise Najib’s chances of making Prime Minister but may even see him exit as Deputy Prime Minister. Rosmah went ballistic, screaming like a banshee. She gave Najib a tight slap which was heard in the next room where some visitors waiting to meet him were sitting most uncomfortably in their seats and wondering whether they should quietly sneak out to save Najib further embarrassment.

Talking about visitors, recently four people came to meet Najib and Rosmah came out to interrogate them as to whether they were there to talk about politics or business. When one of them asked what the difference was, Rosmah replied that if they wanted to talk about politics then they can meet Najib, but if it was about business then they should talk to her instead. The appalled visitors then remembered one Ministry of Defence meeting that was chaired by Rosmah while Najib just sat there quietly as Rosmah took the chair as the de facto Defence Minister. Rafidah Aziz actually raised this matter at one Cabinet meeting and asked whether Najib or Rosmah is the Defence Minister.

Mahathir no longer feels that Najib should be the next Prime Minister. As much as he wants Pak Lah out of office, the prospect of Najib talking over is even worse. Pak Lah may not realise it, but having Najib as his number two may yet be what saves him. Pak Lah may have felt at that time that being forced to take Najib as his number two was a curse. On hindsight, I am sure Pak Lah feels that this is still the best move yet. If he had taken someone else more suitable than Najib as his number two, then there would be every incentive to remove him in favour of his number two. But with Najib as his number two, Pak Lah is still the better choice in comparison.

Mahathir may have painted himself into a corner this time. Removing Pak Lah is one thing, but removing both number one and number two at the same time is preposterous. And why would anyone want to remove Pak Lah if all it means is that Najib will take over, or rather Rosmah would take over?

Najib has many negatives hanging over his head. The murder of the Mongolian girl is one. His sex escapades are another. But all these can be swept under the carpet. His wife, however, is something else altogether. Najib may have to make a very difficult decision soon. Does he want to stay married to Rosmah or does he want to become the next Prime Minister? He certainly cannot have both so he must choose between one and the other.

Anyway, while Najib makes up his mind, we will stop here and when we return in the next episode we will reveal how Najib spent RM50 million to buy support from the 25 Umno divisions in Sabah. So stayed tuned for more on Najib!

The Sun Editorial: Make the Economic Decision for Proton

This is why I read The Sun. Besides the fact that it's free ;p

Apart from foreign newspapers, it seems to be the only mainstream purveyor of news that dares to call the goddamned kettle black!

At the end of the day, economics must dictate the final decision over Proton - not misplaced emotion and nationalistic fervour which tend to cloud the situation and be abused by other self-seeking parties to further their own narrow causes.

Read its editorial about Proton's Problem below.

Make the economic decision for Proton

Enough time has been spent already over what to do with Proton and the ongoing negotiations with various parties for a revival of the ailing first national car manufacturer, hit with a lack of marketable models.

What needs to be done is to take some hard decisions based on reason and logic with emotion out of the general picture. There are ultimately only two parties whose interests need to be considered - the public and Proton, together with the industries around it.

The more we can get the interests of the two to coincide, the better it will be. But there are forces preventing this which appeal to the nationalistic instinct but are clearly after Proton for what it can offer to their own ailing businesses.

One has to remember that Proton is in no position to help anyone else - it is in critical condition and has to help itself first. Can it do it on its own? No, it is in dire problems simply because it has not been able to develop the kind of models the public craves.

That is no shame - some of the best car companies in the world have failed and needed rescue. The nature of the industry is that development and design costs are too prohibitive for a small manufacturer such as Proton. Proton needs a partner.

To bring in a foreign partner, Proton has to give something - control of manufacturing and development operations in return for technology and for the greater number of cars produced - not just for the Malaysian market but the regional market as well.

Malaysian equity interests in the enlarged Proton will be smaller, but Proton will eventually become much larger and stronger. All the industries around it - distribution, parts manufacturing etc - will thrive too with the right foreign partner which will want Proton to succeed because it's got a meaningful stake in it.

And that's the right thing for the car-buying public as well because good cars can cost less and with more cars produced and economies of scale, the government can roll back protective tariffs, allowing yet more choice to the buyer.

A viable, competitive Proton, not just locally but regionally and internationally, will permit the opening up of the motor sector and encourage foreign manufacturers to set up operations here to supply and service the regional market. After all, Malaysia is the largest car market in Asean.

At the end of the day, economics must dictate the final decision over Proton - not misplaced emotion and nationalistic fervour which tend to cloud the situation and be abused by other self-seeking parties to further their own narrow causes.

Neither Proton, nor the country, needs that.

Proton's parasites (vendors and dealers) keep barking

When it comes to Proton's problem and its purported talks with VW/GM, it takes a foreign newspaper to state the obvious.

The glacial pace of progress is believed to be caused by concerns over the obligation to support the dealers and vendors which are largely bumiputera firms. There are also fears of a big layoff, a move that could provoke a backlash against the dominant political party Umno.

In the meantime, Proton's parasites (dealers & vendors) continue to bark at their UMNO accomplices to restore the gravy train, passing the pain to consumers by limiting the number of years a car can be used.

The Singapore Straits Times article below:

Dealers and vendors are in the red as KL is slow to find a foreign partner for Proton
Chow Kum Hor - The Straits Times

A PROTON car dealer, who wants to be known only as Mr Azman, used to make a decent living selling 50 cars a month.

That was several years ago. Today, he struggles to sell even 20, earning an average of just RM1,900 (S$850) a car. He needs to sell 35 to 40 cars a month to break even.

'Sometimes, I have to give discounts to avoid losses,' said Mr Azman.

He is one of the 168 Proton dealers nationwide who have been bearing the brunt of Malaysia's pioneering carmaker's steady decline.

To make matters worse, the government appears to be dragging its feet in finding a foreign partner.

Proton slumped into a RM591.36 million loss in its last financial year which ended on March 31, with sales dropping 40 per cent from the previous financial year. Proton has been hit by rising competition and tighter credit screening.

Dealers and vendors who supply car parts such as radiator hoses, floor mats and windscreen wipers have been equally hard hit.

Some 90 per cent of Proton dealers were in the red for the first quarter of the year, up from just a fifth over the same period last year.

'By now, this number would have gone up,' Proton Dealers' Association (Peda) president Wan Ahmad Sepwan told The Straits Times.

Proton has been on the hunt for a foreign partner for at least two years now.

The negotiations with Volkswagen AG have been on-off for months. Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi last week said the talks have collapsed but Khazanah Nasional, the state investment arm which owns 42.7 per cent of Proton, clarified last Friday that they are still on.

'We are willing to look at ceding control of certain parts of the business...though we need to retain certain things, such as the brand and the distribution,' Khazanah managing director Azman Mokhtar told reporters last week.

Kuala Lumpur is also in talks with US car manufacturer General Motors. Local firms Naza Corp and DRB-HICOM are also said to be keen.

The glacial pace of progress is believed to be caused by concerns over the obligation to support the dealers and vendors which are largely bumiputera firms. There are also fears of a big layoff, a move that could provoke a backlash against the dominant political party Umno.

Mr Wan Ahmad, whose organisation represents Proton dealers nationwide, described the situation as 'very bad'.

'We cannot afford to wait anymore. Our members are forking out huge sums of fixed costs like showroom rental every month,' he said, adding that Peda members chalked up over RM20 million in losses last year.

About 20 dealers have closed shop recently.

Proton Vendors Association president Dr Wan Mohamed Wan Embong said a large number of its 140-plus members supply parts solely to Proton.

He said one way to boost Proton sales was for the government to move quickly to clear the roads of old and unsafe cars. This includes 'kereta potong', a Malay term used to describe cars assembled from cannibalised parts.

'There are an increasing number of such cars. This not only hurts Proton's sales but also poses a danger to road users,' he said.

He also called on the government to adopt Singapore's policy of scrapping vehicles that have been on the roads for 10 years, but this proposal has not been welcomed by motorists.

Zulhadi Omar/Eddie Teyo - was he actually 'born' Muslim?

When it rains, it pours, doesn't it?

The Lina Joy case was just decided, Subashini's case is not settled yet, the Sharmala, Moorthy and Rayappan cases fresh in our minds... and already we have another religious firecracker brewing.

While Zulhadi/Eddie and Lina Joy are both born-Muslims, the former was actually not... ummm, "born" correctly. DNA evidence proves that he was given to the wrong family (a Muslim one, instead of his non-Muslim biological one) at birth.

So the question is: Does a mistaken identity (at birth) void one's religious status?

The Islamists will argue that he was (rightly or wrongly) under the legal custody of Muslim birth parents at that time, which rightfully makes him a Muslim.

Zulhadi/Eddie will argue that he was "wrongly born" into a Muslim family, and therefore he is not a born-Muslim. Again, this opens up a can of worms. In normal cases like Lina Joy's, the fact that one is born to Muslim parents seals one's fate.

Zulhadi/Eddie's case will test the limits of this logic. What if the facts of one's birth are subsequently proven to be incorrect? Technically, he is not a born-Muslim, but in all other respects - he has led the life of one. Can he, 29 years later, now reclaim the choice that was [unintentionally] taken away from him at birth?

And I think the decision in this case will also have implications on cases where minor children of converts are "improperly" converted to Islam. A case in point is Subashini's where the Muslim-convert husband unilaterally converted their minor child to Islam without her consent. While the primary question of the legality of the child's conversion is itself in doubt, there is also a subsidiary question of whether the "improperly converted" child, upon attaining the age of majority, should be allowed to choose his own religion? For that matter, should a "properly" converted minor child be allowed the same choice upon majority, as he/she is technically not a born-Muslim as well?

Or will the courts take the one-way-ticket view of 'nasi sudah menjadi bubur' or what's done is done? If so, why wasn't this view applied to Lina Joy's conversion to Christianity?

Sigh... such are the problems when the institutions of mere men seek to supplant the almighty himself in the personal relationship between man and god.

Chinese man swopped at birth files suit to leave Islam

AN ODD-JOB worker who was mistakenly given to a Malay family at birth now wants to reclaim his real identity, reported the New Straits Times.

Mr Zulhadi Omar, 29, has the DNA test results to prove that his biological parents are Mr Teyo Ma Liong and Madam Lim Sik Hai.

On Friday, Mr Zulhadi filed a suit in the High Court here asking the director-general of the National Registration Department to declare that he is a Buddhist, not Muslim.

He was quoted as saying that his real name should be Eddie Teyo.

The newspaper noted that in his statement of claim, he said he was born at the Batu Pahat district hospital on July 17, 1978.

His birth certificate registered Mr Omar Saim and his wife Hasnah Salleh as his parents. His identity card stated his religion as Islam.

As a child, Mr Zulhadi was teased about his Chinese features.

He was quoted as saying in other reports that he never felt accepted by the Malay family that brought him up. He left home when he was 13.

On Feb 3, the New Straits Times reported that Mr Teyo and his wife had approached Mr Zulhadi at the supermarket where he worked. They did so after their daughter spotted him and wondered why he bore an uncanny resemblance to her father.

Mr Zulhadi did his own checks and found that on the same day and at the hospital where he was born, Mrs Teyo had given birth to a baby boy.

He went for a DNA test and learnt on Feb 12 that Mr and Mrs Teyo were his biological parents.

Mr Zulhadi's bid to have the word 'Islam' on his identity card struck out came a few days after Ms Lina Joy, a Christian convert, lost a battle in Malaysia's highest court to have the word 'Islam' deleted from her identity card.

Ms Lina, 43, is Malay and was born Azlina Jailani to Muslim parents.

Malaysians saw her case as the ultimate test as to whether Muslims in the country were free to renounce Islam.

Although Islam is the country's official religion, freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Constitution.

But Muslims see apostasy, or renouncing one's religion, as a sin.

The ruling on Ms Lina's case is driving another wedge between Muslims and non-Muslims in Malaysia.

There has been a spate of cases where Muslims married to non-Muslims have been separated forcibly by the religious authorities.

REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Mat Cemerlang..., Mat Rempit... different names, one fucking disease

Lydia Gomez's front page run-in with the Mat Rempit menace (Mat Cemerlang, in UMNO speak) is just one of many, many, many such incidents.

Anyone who's driven in town late at night will have some experience with these two wheeled piranhas that hunt in packs and derive strength from their large numbers.

But dealing with Mat Rempits is actually quite different from dealing with normal criminals.

1. Most criminals act alone or in small groups, and they commit their crimes stealthily or as inconspicuously as possible. Mat Rempits, on the other hand, revel in public exposure. This begs the question... why can't the police stop them?

Is it a lack of resources?

Maybe if the traffic cops spent less time setting up roadblocks and pursuing cars going 10kmh above the speed limit on the tolled highways [which according to Samy... are on par with the German autobahn], or for having big spoilers, bodykits and lights which are too white. Maybe if more policemen patrolled the streets instead of patrolling nightspots harrassing pub owners and patrons, hiding behind trees at intersections waiting for careless motorists or blowing up young Mongolian women.

Or is it a lack of will?

Maybe it's because Mat Rempits are 100% Malay, and in a year or two, they will be able to vote [against UMNO]? Therefore UMNO might not want to imprint a bad impression on a vital future constituent powerbase (hence the Mat Cemerlang programme).

2. Whatever it is, the fact remains that Mat Rempits are a real problem, and it is a problem that the innocent public cannot avoid. To avoid falling prey to robbers and rapists... one can avoid walking along down dark alleys etc. To avoid theft, lock your doors and arm the alarm system.

But how do you avoid Mat Rempits? It's not like we have alternative roads that are constantly patrolled by the police. It's not like we have other more secure modes of transportation to replace driving late at night (btw, not all Mat Rempit incidents happen late at night, mind you).

I think the public need to send the police and their politician masters a clear signal that we will not tolerate being terrorised on roads that our tax and toll money paid for. We will not continue to tolerate inept and ineffective measures by policemen who just got a 35% salary increase for being inept and ineffective. We will not tolerate politicians who rather argue over what uniform to wear to meetings, than work on issues that concern the public.

How do you send that signal? Call your MP. Threaten to vote wisely.

In the meantime, there should be compulsory confiscation of the motorbikes and helmets used by Mat Rempits. Take away their bikes and they become just another pedestrian. I like to see those bastards chase after my car on foot.

What's wrong with fingering voters anyway? (with indelible ink lah)

Here's a fool's statement for ya... an oxymoron if you will (with special emphasis on the 'moron' part).

"We welcome any move to enhance the system but it doesn't mean that the EC should go for outdated procedures" - Deputy Info'n Minister Chia Kwang Chye.

Outdated or not, I think marking the voters with indelible ink is AN EXCELLENT IDEA! Every election is plagued by phantom voters, trucked in voters, dead voters, voters who don't get to vote because someone already voted on their behalf...

What the finger inking will do is ensure that one person = one vote. So, if somebody wants to play dirty and truck in some people from another constituency to vote, those people will either:

(A) not be allowed to vote (because they've already voted in their own constituency and their fingers are inked), or
(B) they can vote here, but lose the ability to vote anywhere else (including their home constituency).

I think the reasons given by BN ie. the govt ie. the people most accused of vote rigging - is weak as piss. If it works, it works! It's cheap, easy to implement and control, and best of all, it's foolproof.

Well... not 100% foolproof. There's always a risk that 'some' people will run around grabbing opposition voters and forcibly dipping their fingers in ink (forfeiting their vote).

Don't go for outdated voting procedures, says Chia

PENANG (June 4, 2007): The current voting system is fair and efficient, and the Election Commission (EC) should opt for up-to-date technology rather than outdated methods if it wants to improve it further, Deputy Information Minister Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye said.

"We welcome any move to enhance the system but it doesn't mean that the EC should go for outdated procedures," he told a news conference in the Bukit Bendera family day carnival here today, reports Bernama.

He was commenting on EC's plan to introduce the use of indelible ink and possibly transparent ballot boxes in the next general election to prevent cheating. EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said on Friday (June 1) that the use of indelible ink had been agreed to in principle.

Lina Joy misinterpreted Article 11 of the Federal Constitution

Let's look at Article 11 of the Federal Constitution again.

Article 11 of the Federal Constitution:

1. Every person has the right to profess and practice his religion and, subject to Clause (4), to propagate it.

2. No person shall be compelled to pay any tax the proceeds of which are specially allocated in whole or in part for the purposes of a religion other than his own.

3. Every religious group has the right -
(a) to manage its own religious affairs;
(b) to establish and maintain institutions for religious or charitable purposes; and
(c) to acquire and own property and hold and administer it in accordance with law.

4. State law and in respect of the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Labuan, federal law may control or restrict the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the religion of Islam.

5. This Article does not authorize any act contrary to any general law relating to public order, public health or morality.

Lina Joy and all the liberalists interpret it as giving each Malaysian the right to freedom of religion. But it doesn't.

Excerpts of the Federal Court's majority judgement on Lina Joy:
Article 11-1 gives you the right to profess and practice your religion... but it doesn't give expressly grant you the right to choose it. In fact, - by using the words 'HIS religion' - article 11-1 makes an assumption that every citizen already HAS a religion.

It doesn't say you have the right to practice 'a religion of your choice' but just that you are have a right to practice your religion, whatever that religion may be. Now... this seems trivial if the religion which you happen to be professing is liberal and does not place any limitations and covenants onto the entry and exit thereof. In this case, establishing what your religion is, and therefore protect your right to practise it - is straightforward.

But Islam is not liberal. Islam compels adherence to whole canons of religious covenants, including those that govern who is and who is not a Muslim. And Article 11 legitimises the enforcement of these religious covenants (Islamic Law or Syariah) by the inference of article 11-3 which says every religious group has the right to manage its own religious affairs. Interpreted widely, doesn't this indeed provide for the application of Islamic laws on the affairs of Muslims? This has been further reinforced by the fact that legally binding Syariah courts have been legislated separately, and article 121-1A removes the civil court's oversight.

Now... back to the case of Lina Joy. She was born to Muslim parents and is therefore Muslim by default (this default is allowable by virtue of article 11-3 and the fact that parents have a right to choose the religion of their infant/minor child). Therefore, the constitution now grants her the right to profess Islam, (and as I read article 11-1), by simply allowing her the right to resist any attempts to STOP her from practicing Islam.

Nowhere does article 11-1 grant her the express right to stop professing Islam (and by default, to change her religion). It just says that nobody can stop her from professing and practicing (article 11-1) whatever religion that she is deemed to profess (and by article 11-3, that religion is Islam by birth). And since article 11-3 allows Islamic law to regulate her entry into Islam (by birth to Muslim parents), it makes sense if Islamic law regulates her exit from Islam.

My conclusion is that article 11 doesn't guarantee the freedom of religion, but rather it simply guarantees the freedom to practice of your religion (article 11-1)... once you have established one (a religion). And by extension of (article 11-3), you will be deemed to have established one (a religion ie. Islam) if you were simply born to Muslim parents. So Lina Joy... tough luck!

sean-the-man says: btw, the govt is violating article 11-2 of the constitution by funding the Islamic departments, religious schools and building mosques using federal and state taxation revenue... which IS NOT drawn exclusively from the taxes paid by Muslim taxpayers.

And if the govt does not take action to separate the tax revenue derived from Muslim and non-Muslim taxpayers, AND does not stop using the taxes from the latter to fund Islamic departments, religious schools and the building of mosques... non-Muslims are constitutionally entitled to refuse to be compelled to pay tax.

In constrast, how the US Constitution guarantees the freedom of an individual to choose their religion is to simply outlaw the making of any laws that seek to establish a religion or to prohibit the free exercise of it.

Therefore US Muslims are free to profess Islam and practice 'Islamic law', insofar that those 'laws' will not be legally binding. As a result, US Muslims can 'choose' (as an individual personal choice) to apply Islamic 'laws' upon themselves. And those 'laws' cannot be administratively or otherwise punitively applied to any individuals unwilling to subject themselves to it.

The text of the First Amendment to the US Bill of Rights of the US Constitution reads as follows:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

DOWNLOAD / READ pdf of - Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim's Majority judgment
DOWNLOAD / READ pdf of - Justice Richard Malamjum's Dissenting Decision

Bring a PUKI home today

Someone sent me this photo of a Taiwanese ad. The email's tagline was great... "if the pig's Puki, is it's mom Pukima?"

This ad would never see the light of day in Malaysia... the main character's a pig... called Puki!

Imagine the outburst of self-righteous outrage by those with thin skins (when it comes to tolerance) but thick hides (when it comes to threats of violence and destruction).
And they even have a "Welcome to Puki City" website which plays a kawaii Puki song when it loads (click the screenshot of the website).

Heheh... the things we give up for the sake of multi-culturalism and (over) sensitivities.

Btw, here's another ad campaign from Swatch which some Malaysians would find a bit hard to swallow:

Swatch "Be Lucky" CNY Collection 2007 - Piggy Snout Ads