Political Maturity. Malaysians, Nah.... Part 2

I did write about political matuarity among Malaysians way back in April http://balankumarpremakumaran.blogspot.com/2008/04/political-maturity-malaysians-nah.html further to various analysis by politicians, armchair analysts and journalist, both mainstream and alternative media, post March 8 General Elections.

I also concluded that Malaysians are not as politically matured as analysts would like us to believe post March 8 General Elections. It's just that people vent their anger on Barisan Nasional and found themselves voting Pakatan Rakyat into power in 5 states.

Recent events further vindicates the believe that these initial euphoria on how Malaysian has voted across racial lines are all but temporary.

Common sense (in Malaysian terms) has prevailed and everyone has gone back to hide behind their own race and religion rather than talking about 'Bangsa Malaysia'. The talk of transparency, freedom of speech and right of assembly are now seen credibly as a mere empty talk of hope and nothing else.

Recent events suggests that no single political party have communicated or acted consistently on the need for everyone to change and act like true Malaysians.

PAS and Umno met secretly purportedly about Malay unity and common understanding on Islam infuriating their partners in in Pakatan Rakyat or Barisan Nasional respectively.

The recent demonstration at the Bar Council by some Malay/muslim groups and political parties , mainly PKR, PAS and Umno related groups, over the conversion of Muslims issues shows how matured malaysians have become.

Pakatan Rakyat's defacto leader released a statement that such issued should not be discussed openly. Now, looks who's talking... about openess, freedom of speech, transparency and equality.

His own party MP defied his boss and stormed into meeting room hurling racial slurs that shocked those who were present. Talk about PKR being a multiracial party??PKR counterparts in Pakatan Rakyat slammed the Kulim MP for his atrocious behaviour, unbecoming of an MP from a multiracial party.

They also slammed police for failing to take action against demonstrators. Hey, wait a minute, I thought they (opposition parties) are the ones who were fighting for freedom of speech and rights to assemble wherever and whenever the public wishes.

DAP Assemblyman for senawang has reportedly called police for arrest those demonstrators under ISA. And all the while we were made to believe that DAP wanted ISA repealed. If the police had arrested the main preparators, Kulim MP and PAS members, DAP would have then changed the story and cried foul over police actions claiming police brutality over a peaceful assembly. We have heard enough of this already over the last 2 years.

On the other hand we have Hindraf continuing to champion for their race, although their focus should be on Hindu Rights, they mainly fight for the rights of Tamilians, not Hindus per se. (Their communication and speeches are all in Tamil, Hindu's of telugu, malayalam and ceylonese are ignored) The Pakatan Rakyat who gladly accepted their support and catch phrase ' Makkal Shakti' and used them to the hilt during the elections, appeared to have moved on. Hindraf is a forgotten entity now.
There was a hunger strike at KLCC last week to fight for the release of 5 ISA detainees. It was reported that hardly 30 people turned up and none of the Pakatan politicians were there to support their cause. Hindraf is now demanding a meeting with PM Abdullah and mentioned that they would not mind supporting BN if the government is willing to meet them and their demands.

Except for Karpal Singh and few other lawyers associated with Pakatan Rakyat, defending the ISA detainees, hardly anyone speaks about Hindraf nowadays.

Haji Hadi Awang of PAS in the recent PAS General Assembly, assured their supporters that PAS will not compromise on Islam even if it means leaving Pakatan Rakyat. It was also reported that PAS would not be part of federal government if Non-Muslim MPs outnumber Muslim MPs. This was in response to Anwar's grand plans to take over the federal government by Sept 16 where large number of expected cross overs are likely to consists of non-muslim MPs from Sabah and Sarawak.

Then we have Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim proposing 10% of places in UiTM to be reserved for non-malays and foreigners. Khalid's suggestion was intended to provide student with better exposure and competition. To be fair,UiTM is certainly not a world class university and Khalid's proposal has it's merit but he miserably miscalculated the people's readiness to change when in comes to race, religion and rights.

About 5,000 students marched to his office to hand over a memorandum protesting his statement. Some of the placards and banners bandied around during the demonstration proved that crude racism is well and alive, at least in Shah Alam.

My advise to Khalid is focus on running your own state rather than sticking your head into KL matters such as Kampung Baru and UiTM. I invite him to visit my area, Selayang where there are lots of work waiting for him and his state government as nothing much has changed here since Pakatan took over.

In Perak, the unregistered Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) complained that none of their nominees were appointed as state councillors. They and Hindraf further complained lack of Indian representation in the state councillor line-ups in Perak and all other Pakatan ruled states. They appear to want Barisan style quota in the state line up, from Exco's to councillors.

MIC and MCA on the other hand jumped onto the bandwagon and now says that they would take a multiracial approach when dealing with public. Aren't they supposed to do just that since they are part of a multi-racial coalition, Barisan Nasional.

These incidences and statements proves the fact that everything is still race based. It's just that political analyst and politicians trumpeted the slight shift in the recent election as if it was equavailent to a Tsunami or Sept 11.

We are far away from that, not least in our generation.

RECAP : By-elections totally unnecessary

I wrote this just after the bruising Lunas by-election in 2000 and this article was first published on Dec 9, 2000 in Malaysiakini.com. It was also published in the Sun Newspaper with similar title.

By-elections totally unnecessary

The battle between the Barisan Nasional and Barisan Alternatif over the Lunas state assembly seat has finally come to an end.
The whole by-election campaign, which started immediately after the death of Dr Joe Fernandez, has drained both the Barisan Nasional and the opposition.
A lot time and money were spent during the by-elections by candidates, supporters and their senior party leaders. Dirty campaign tactics, name calling, lies and maybe even indirect vote buying made the situation worse.
I believe the majority of citizens in this country would not want this unhealthy situation to continue every now and again.
The Works Minister, S Samy Vellu even camped there for a couple of weeks while some other ministers and also Kelantan and Terengganu state leaders made regular visits to Lunas.
I believe they, both Barisan Nasional and opposition party leaders who assume government posts, should concentrate on their jobs rather than spending their time campaigning for by-elections.
They are not elected by people to campaign for by-elections and neglect their official duties for weeks.
It is about time we re-think if there is a need for by-elections should the incumbent pass away or is disqualified due to other reasons.
Generally the trend shows that the constituents actually vote for the party and not the candidate, therefore the party who wins in the general elections shall retain the seat, state or parliament, should the incumbent assemblyman or member of parliament becomes unavailable.
The incumbent's party shall decide on another candidate to assume the seat.
The opposition parties would of course love to continue having by-elections as they believe that their chances of winning are brighter. But they have to remember that they may also lose their own opposition-held seats in by-elections.
Therefore it is a no-win situation for either side which begs the question - why should we have by-elections in the first place?
K Balan
Kuala Lumpur

2008 now, and we have another by-election in Permatang Pauh, only that the situation is slightly different where the opposition leader gave up the seat for her 'Prime Minister in waiting' husband. Millions of ringgit will be wasted organising the elections alone. This does not include the anticipated huge amount to be spent by both political parties. The nation will also come to stand still for almost two weeks. Resident around the constituency would benefit economically though.

I would still stand by the statement that By Elections are totally unnecessary and the money and time could be well spent where it's needed most and certainly not for the purpose accomodating whims and fancies of some politician or political parties.

Losing The PR War

As much as we are anxious to know what will happen to this country in a month or two, the government and it's leaders appears to be unperturbed over continous onslaught by Anwar Ibrahim and the opposition.

Recent study by the Merdeka Centre clearly shows that the government is fast losing their popularity and PM abdullah's approval ratings are at an all time low. The retired Mahathir is far more popular despite all the misgivings that people might have. His recent writings on his blog are remarkable.

BN performance is not that bad when compared to all the weak governments around the world and PM Abdullah situation actually mirror the UK Government where Gordon Brown's approval ratings are more or less the same with PM Abdullah.

Reforms on judicial appointments, ACA, redistribution of resources through cut in subsidies, windfall tax on IPPs and plantations commodities, more open press and freedom, significant investment committed to Iskandar Development Region, cancellation of some mega projects, improved delivery system through PEMUDAH etc are what was expected from the government and they are actually working on it.

The government is actually losing the PR war. They are unable to communicate all these plans and actions effectively. If you remember, when it comes to Malaysians, it will only get into the head if key messages are repeated continously.

If you remember the constitutional crisis, both in early 80s and 90s, Mahathir undertook a nationwide tour to explain his arguement for the need of contitutional amendments. He was basically repeating the same thing, just that in various different venues around the country. He was featured in all dailies and TV almost everyday with the same messages and arguements.

Mahathir did the same right after 1998 crisis, this time to explain on the economic crisis, Anwar, plans to overcome the crisis, currency controls etc. I can still remember that he undertook a nationwide tour and insisted that he explain the whole crisis, political and economic to the Rakyat. He wanted the Rakyat to hear from him directly.

While this approach can also be seen as trying to justify his actions and also partially campaiging, it was effective, no matter if one thinks whether the elections were free or fair in 1999. The Rakyat, the market was convinced as improvements were seen post the currency controls.

What we have now is completely the opposite. Anwar has been criss-crossing the country, having ceramah freely without any restriction. He openly challenges the government, tell his version of Sodomee Part 2, even to the extend how was was stripped at the hospital, how he plans to be the next Prime Minister by Sept 16, the cross overs, corruption, mercedes, fuel price reduction by, now, 70 cents, Najib, the murderer, Abdullah weakness, economy etc. He did not, however, tell the crowd how suddenly he feel safer going around the country and talking freely on an open stage.

The the public appeared to be convinced, if you go by the turnout and also results of the Merdeka Centre survey. Anwar was clever to take advantage of the lack of PR and communication initiatives by the government. As we know how matured malaysians are, they are bound to believe whom they hear most, at the moments they hear Anwar loud and clear, repeatedly with consistent messages, no matter whether they are truth or otherwise.

Today, they announced the by-election date for Permatang Pauh and at around the same time came the news that Anwar will be charged tomorrow. Another round of accusations will fly around the country that Anwar is being deliberately denied the opportunity to contest and also to become the next prime Minister.

If the government chose to keep quiet, they will not only lose the PR war, they may lose power sooner than later. Winning and losing in politics very much depends on perception, not entirely the truth. At the moment Anwar is winning, although not on the basis of truth.

RECAP : Undergraduates Should Be Grateful

Away from Politics (though not entirely) for a while, this Letter to the Editor was first published on 13th August 2001 in The New Straits Times. It was also published in the Sun newspaper at around the same time.


Over the last three years, much has been said and written about the conduct and performance of undergraduates of local universities.
The recent statements by leaders especially both the Prime Minister and his deputy reflects their seriousness in wanting to correct the situation in the campusses in Malaysia.
Undergraduates have to realise that they are grateful lot. They should realise that there are many other students out there who, although with reasonably good qualification but missed the boat to be enrolled in the universities.
Many of these students comes from poor families who can't afford to send their children for higher education at private higher institution of learning.
Just look around us and we will not be suprised that there are many students who works during the day and goes for part time classes to complete their courses at private colleges. Quite a number of students goes the other way, taking full times courses and works at night.
It is not easy to work and study at the same time. I am also one of them. There are times that the work pressure is just too much that on many occasions I have contemplated to give up my studies.
The situation, I was told, is totally different at the university campus. The students are provided with the necessary environment for them to excell in their choice of courses. They have access to library, frequent contact with lecturers, surrounded by coursemates and seniors, even additional lectures when necessary.
This is considered luxury compared to the situation faced by students who work and study at the same time. One hardly has any time to go to libarary, contacts with course mates and lecturers are rare and finally time is always limited due to work committment.
The undergraduates have only themselves to blame if the fail at the university. They have to count their blessings for gaining admission to university. They have to thank the government for providing such an opportunity to many students every other year without fail.The government also looking into building more public universities and colleges which will benefit more students in years to come.
Among developing countries, Malaysia is said to have the best universities, in terms of facilities as well as quality.
Many foreign students enrolled in local universities such as the International Islamic University had many times revealed in press interviews that they are grateful that Malaysian University gave them the opportunity since there aren't such facilities in their own country.
Unfortunately increasing number of undergraduates has become ungrateful and bit the hands that feed them. Their indulgence in activities unrelated to their studies reflects their poor attitude towards gaining knowledge and improving themself.
The undergraduates have this thinking that they are matured and ready to talk about politics, human rights and ISA. The fact is many have never experienced live outside their homes, former schools and now the universities. They have long way to go before becoming a fully matured person. They have yet to face the reality of working, getting married, having children and also building a career hindered by many obstacles. Only then they will know how hard life is and how working adults toil to earn money to support their family. Only then they will realise how hard it is to raise a family.
They do not know how hard life is because almost everything is provided by the government and also their parents to the extend that there are also many that complains that government has gone overboard in helping students, especially the bumiputras.
Political parties has known to take advantage of vulnerability of undergraduates and slowly they brainwash the students to become subscibe to their narrow minded and selfish agenda.
This had resulted in some students taking to the streets protesting government policies and actions. They are also asking for repeal of Universities and Colleges act, in move they call to provide them more freedom.
The undergraduates are admitted to universities to study and nothing else. They should ask themselves, why are they in universities for? What is the society and they parents expecting from them. What would their brothers and sisters think of them? They should always remember that their parents has worked hard to bring them up to where they are today. The undergraduates don't have to excell in their studies to please the government, do it for your parents, society and the nation.
They should be focused on their studies and justify their places. They, especially the bumiputras should prove to public that they are capable of gaining good results despite many gaining admission with the help of quota system. They also should prove that they are just as good as those who were denied of places in the university due to the same quota system. Only then no one can dispute their entry to the universities.
The realisation period will come when they start working but for many it will be too late.
K.Balan
Kuala Lumpur

Recap : Almost 8 years have passed. See how much had things changed.

The goverment now claims that the entry to Universities are now based on meritocracy. Local universities are nowehere near world class while quality of graduates continue to be poor and often criticised.

There is also talk of repeal or amendment of the Universities & Colleges Act which would provide more freedom to both students and staff to enggage in other activities.

If this happens, the quality of our graduates would suffer further. With the current brain drain all the way to the top, yes the very top, don't expect the relaxation of rules to result in birth and surge of creativity among the undergraduates. There would be a gap before that happens, a gap where students get all excited with the freedom leading them to be irresponsible with their acts to the time when they actually realise their follies, appreciate the freedom and finally translate those freedom to creativity. The gap would, however, result in some casualties.

This would also mean that more political activities by students and we may see more and more University and College professors appearing on Television ala CNN as analyst giving their opinion on almost anything and everything.

Having never been to a University, difficult for me to comment on the environment. But having worked with large number of fresh graduates for many years, a great deal of change is required in our universities and colleges before we can proudly proclaim that we produce world class graduates.

The Other Malaysia

I'm sure that Malaysian's are generally confused. Confused about their future, confused about their financial situation, political situation, children's future, their race, religion etc..


What brought about this situation? March 8, yeah..absolutely right as far as many politicians and analyst are concerned.


Malaysians apparently voted for tranparency, more freedom, democracy, security, fairness accountability and other similar terms that I can't think of. The irony is that none of us actually want all these, and we Malaysian are hypoctites to the core. Before you get angry, please read on.


If we really want all these (tranparency, more freedom, democracy, security, fairness accountability), then the rights of each and every race in this country will be affected in some way or the other.


Just imagine if government reverts to meritocracy in terms of awarding contracts, the rich businessmen will surely secure the contract due to the economy of scale that they posses , track record and ability to offer the lowest price. Guess what, all the bumiputra and Indian contractors will never secure anything.


Just Imagine if Scholarship are awarded based on Meritocracy, then majority of it would go to rich students based on urban areas who can afford to study overseas on their own expense. More and more poor bumiputra and other smaller ethnic groups will be deprived of deserved opportunity. Would you accept this?


Just Imagine that the Traffic police becomes more efficient and there are no more discounts on summons. Would you want that?


Just imagine that decisions on building of schools and temples are based on majority decisions based on the locality and population in that area, there would not be any more Chinese and Tamil schools and temples built.

Just Imagine that the local councills are strict to the core, thousands of temples and suraus needs to be demolised and relocated.

Just imagine that the judiciary follows the laws strictly, then the prisons in the country would not be sufficient, if it is not already.

There will be demonstrations everyday, even for flimsy issues like inability of police to track missing cats. Shops, schools, clinics will be closed during demonstrations, productivity drops and more and more people will be inclined to demontrate rather than finding amicable solutions to all problems.

Just imagine meritocracy prevails in government department recruitments, more and more Malays would be jobless.


Just imagine that the government becomes transparent in all their dealings, what would probably happen is that government would never be able to buy arms, fund NGOs, maintain the Space Agency, or other advanced defence technology as Malaysians would question each and every step they take.


Just imagine all political parties are transparent, all of them would have to reveal their accounts and source of funds. Which political party would want to do that? Talk about transparency!


Just imagine that the local councils and Domestic Trade and Industry ministry become extremlely efficient, we would not be able to buy all the pirated DVDs, watches, jerseys and handbags.

Just Imagine press is made absolutely free coupled with lifting of sedition and Official Secrets Act, then you would be reading tabloids in the form of newspaper because you would not know what not to believe anymore.

Just imagine that the local council suddenly plans that we must become world class, we would see the end of teh-tarik stalls and hawker food.

Just imagine that the government do away with Bumiputra discounts in various schemes eg Houses, shares etc, the bumiputra's will continue to languish in the lower rung of the society and probably end up the squatters again.


Malaysian Malaysia or ketuanan rakyat or Bangsa Malaysia cannot be achieved unless all malaysians agree to go through the same school, use same language as medium of instruction, full stop. Would you agree to this and close all Tamil and Chinese Schools? No more MARA boarding schools as well.


Taxes obtained from so called sin-industries such as gambling, alcohol and pig related industries must be utilised for all purpose for all people for the sake of fairness and transparency. Would the muslims agree to this?.

There are also suggestions that local councillors, mayors are to be elected to prove that it's democratic, we will have elections every year, everywhere and the government of the day will be busy with this rather than planning development or taking care of rakyat's needs. Due to this the government of the day will be overthrown in the next election and the next government will be facing the same contraints. In summary, we will end up like India where small political parties will hold the bigger parties on ransom due to slim margin of majority to govern.


There should be 2 party system in the country and both must be mutliracial to reflect the composition of the population. Any takers?

If we strive for (tranparency, more freedom, democracy, security, fairness accountability) in the western context, we will definitely see continuous instability in this country. We will also see that the poor will be poorer and the rich will be even richer. The nation would be further distabilised and there would be change of government every 5 years, or if Anwar is around, every 3 years.

We, the rakyat, have to clearly define what kind of tranparency, freedom, democracy, security, fairness and accountability that we want before even thinking of casting protest votes or changing governments.

My arguements maybe flimsy but the fact is majority of us enjoy the benefits due to weaknesses of others in the country and may not want to lose that in the name of tranparency, freedom, democracy, security, fairness and accountability. That's why I mentioned that we are hypocrites.

The vision 2020 maybe achieved economic wise, but not possible on social, unity, & equality aspects.

Without a clear definition of what we want, we would be forever confused as both BN (Pak Lah's administration) and Pakatan's (with combination of PAS and DAP) views, thinking and ideology which are short sighted. Niether has any concrete vision whatsoever.

Like Singapore, we need not have good Human Rights or Press Freedom records, we need a new leader who is firm, visionary, fair and proves himself a true Malaysian. I have yet to see one, not among the current set of leaders.

The Debate - Missing The Point

I know this is a bit too late. Being a lazy armchair analyst myself, would not want to miss out from commenting on the Famous Anwar vs Shabery debate.

General consensus is that Anwar won the debate while Shabery won respect from all quarters for standing up against Anwar. Shabery should stand for any of the post available in the upcoming UMNO elections and I'm quite sure that with his current standing, after this debate, he will easily find himself in the highest decision making body of UMNO by end of the year.

Many also commented that the actual winner is the people of Malaysia. This includes some major mainstream newspapers who claims that this is a victory for democracy. I'm not sure what this got to do with democracy. It's was just a change of venue and audience, from claims and counter claims that these politicians are good at, only that this time, it's face to face rather than out in the padangs and stadiums shouting out their point of view.

I found that the arguements and questions were quite weak and responses were never straight to the point and at times, both of them had to cheek to claim of lack of time when in fact they were beating around the bush.

I also glaringly found that both Anwar and Shabery missed the main points. Let me elaborate below;

1. Both spoke about Petrol Price and it's relative impact on rising prices and inflation etc. What Petrol price got to do with Rising prices and inflation? No one spoke about diesel price! Rise in diesel price caused transportation cost to go up, which will in turn have impact on prices of goods and public transportation services.

2. Shabery did not speak about rebates given to motorist to counter Anwar's arguement.

3. No one touched the fact that Diesel is still being subsidised via fleet cards issued to transportation companies and fisherman.

4. Shabery simply failed to articulate government's policy of redistribution of subsidies, i.e subsidy and assistance given to the most deserving in the form of rebates for motorist , fleet cards to transportation companies and fisherman etc.

5. Shabery also failed to provide any further measures being taken by the government eg Fuel Subsidies for taxis were announced just a week later and more announcement to come via Budget 2009.

6. Shabery failed to highlight that no other country has reduced fuel prices. He only spoke about nett oil producing countries with high inflation.

7. Shabery also failed to link subsidies to widening budget deficits which will have impact on country's sovereign ratings among creditors.

8. Anwar simply argued on the wastages by TNB and IPPs. Shabery missed to point out that windfall tax has been imposed on the IPPs thus cancelling out Anwar's arguement.

9. Anwar appear not to realise or rather not aware that any forced changes to IPP agreement and even the imposition of Windfall tax has been severely criticised by the market as they the fear impact on our bond market.

10. No one spoke at lenght about rising food prices due to low production, rise in commodity prices, climate issues as a separate reason for inflation. Both linked inflation to rise of fuel prices.

11. Corruption and wastages by government was a weak arguement without being supported by facts and figures. Even prices in Hong Kong, Singapore and scandinavian countries, known for their 'clean' image, rose.

12. I think Anwar chose, for this moment and for the purpose of publicity, to forget numerous advise by IMF and World Bank and economic experts that subsidies are not sustainable.

13. Anwar claims that we may discover more oil reserves when Shabery argued that we maybe a nett importer in 2015. I wonder if Anwar has a crystal ball in his hands or rather his segambut home.

14. Anwar failed to explain what he would do if Malaysia becomes a nett importer in 2015 or earlier. Will he increase the fuel price by few hundred percent or continue to subsidise until bulk of the national budget goes to fuel subsidy rather than education and healthcare?

15. Anwar also failed to explain (Shabery and the panelist failed to ask) what measure he would take if the fuel price rises further to USD 200 per barrel.

To me, the debate was just a political duel which excited supporter from both parties and chance for Abdullah to claim that there's more democracy during his current term.

I would rather think that this was a waste of funds and time as nothing significant came out of this debate. Those who missed the debate : never mind, you did not really miss anything and yes , the fuel price stays.

PS. Anwar was arrested the next day and he claimed that he was under severe pain after being made to sleep on cement floor. But how can he stand for hours on the stage? I have heard advice from expert physicians that for those with back problems, it would only be good to sleep on hard surface rather than a Dreamland mattress.

RECAP : KL Or Selangor

This letter was published in Malaysiakini.com on 1st march 2001. Also Published under the title 'Much ado over 'correct' home address' in the Star daily on 5th March 2001. Also published in the Sun Newspaper at around the same time with similar headings.

KL or Selangor?

I live in Selayang. However, my official home address and post code says 68100, Batu Caves, Selangor. People who see the address immediately have an impression that I live somewhere near Batu Caves, which is not true. The buses that go to Batu Caves never stop anywhere near my home.

There is more to add to this confusion. The local authority for the area is Majlis Perbandaran Selayang (MPS) yet I do not know the existence of any town called Bandar Selayang although there are areas such as Selayang Bahru, Selayang Jaya and Bandar Baru Selayang which are also within the district of Batu Caves.

To my understanding, Batu Caves and Rawang also fall under the jurisdiction of MPS. So rightly, the whole district under the jurisdiction of MPS should be called Daerah Selayang with its own postcode as opposed to the present situation with different districts such as Batu Caves and Rawang and different post codes for them.

To further confuse the people in my area, we pay our quit rent to Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL). Our rubbish and waste are collected by Alam Flora who I suppose was assigned by DBKL.

I do remember when I purchased the property years ago, the land area stated in the sale and purchase agreement (S&P) is the Batu district, which is in Kuala Lumpur. The whole S&P transaction involved authorities in Kuala Lumpur and not Selangor. This is why I acknowledge Kuala Lumpur as the place I live in.

Our water supply comes from a dam within the district in Selangor while the electricity supply originates from Selayang. The police patrol cars in the neighbourhood are from Balai Polis Jinjang and sometimes Balai Polis Selayang.

I remember subscribing fixed line telephone services from Telekom Malaysia in Kepong. Kepong! Now that is further confusing.

And the wholesale market located in the area, the biggest in Klang Valley, calls itself Pasar Borong Besar Selayang when it should have been called Pasar Borong Besar Batu Caves since the address falls within the district of Batu Caves. The signage directing traffic into the wholesale market states 'Pasar Borong Kuala Lumpur'. So which is correct?

The signage indicating the existence of a Rukun Tetangga (neigbourhood watch) Unit in our area indicates that the unit is under the jurisdiction of Kawasan Bandar Sentul while another signage just next to it indicates a PAS ( Parti Islam Se-Malaysia) branch under Batu district, Kuala Lumpur.

So can anyone from the authorities tell us exactly where we live and also explain why those inconsistent signages and addresses were approved?

The list actually goes on to further add to the confusion. I will not be surprised if a similar situation is prevalent in other parts of the country. I hope the relevant authorities will take note of this and make the effort to streamline this problem of district and jurisdiction to ease the confusion among the residents and visitors to a particular area or district.

K Balan Kuala Lumpur

Recap : A years later, The National Registration department changed the address of my daughter birth certificate to 68100, Kuala Lumpur and no longer Batu Caves, which means we are, at least officially in Kuala Lumpur. My entire family's Identification Card address had since been changed to 68100, Kuala Lumpur. Now, the postal office would be confused as Batu Caves still carry 68100 as their post code as well. Oh, what an improvement made over 7 years.

I have yet to find where is Bandar Selayang! Nothing else changed and no one, except me, seems to bother or complain. So, I presume that the authorities are not going to do anything, just to please an ordinary resident like me.

Anwar's Sequel

The nation, I believe will be again plunged into a crisis, exactly 10 years after similar allegation appeared against Anwar.


While the Police must be given the time to investigate the allegation, Anwars antics is questionable. Public is angry, that's normal and natural but looking at the following circumstances (by looking at it rationally rather than being emotional), it would not be difficult to phantom that this whole episode may prove to be final curtain for Anwar.

1. Turkish Embassy confirmed that Anwar came to the embassy on his own accord. Contrary to claims by the Opposition leader, he was not invited to seek refuge in the Turkish embassy by the country's ambassador to Malaysia. He allegedly sought an appointment with the ambassador and chose to remain on the embassador's residence.


2. He claimed that he received death threats, yet he chose not to lodge any police report. He preferred to stay in the embassy. And yet, he spoke to the crowd openly right after he came out of the ambassador's residence. He was addressing about 7,000 people in an indoor stadium. What threats? Remember arsenic poisoning claims back then in 1999.

3. He claims he's innocent yet he did not provide any alibi on his whereabouts on the date of the said incident.

4. Anwar and PKR claims that the government had tried to divert the nations attention away from the perceived lost of support for BN Government due to general election results, leadership issues, price hike etc. The same can be said on how PKR and Anwar are trying to divert what should be an alleged crime, by talking about politics, political conspiracy, him standing in the by-elections and defections by BN MPs.

5. So far, he has not denied having been to the condominium, where the crime allegedly took place.

6. He did not file any report or offered to meet the investigators. Instead he filed a suit against the his ex-aide.

7. Anwar linked Dato's Najib as alleged conspirator without providing any of evidence whatsoever. The only evidence available is the picture of the ex-aide with Najib's aide. I have taken picture with Badawi before, can i be the next victim.

8. Common sense would tell that it would be suicidal for anyone in BN to do this, after all the support and sympathy Anwar gained after the 1998 episode.

9. Even Ezam is not surprised. Dr M isn't either.

10. He claims he will form the government by Sept 16, that's two and half months to go and he has yet to get even SAPP MPs to cross over. He maybe desperate and want some sympathy and this would be his greatest opportunity.

10. Let us also now remind ourselves that as far as the court is concerned, Anwar was involved in homosexual activities in the late 90's. The reason he was released was on the issue of the specific incident of homosexual rape/sodomy, and I quote the majority view of the appeal judges, who included the current Chief Judge:
“even though reading the appeal record, we find evidence to confirm that the appellants were involved in homosexual activities”.
Many conveniently exclude this fact when referring to the 1998 episode and subsequent trials.

I maybe proven wrong but something tells me that this guy is not as innocent as what his party, coalition partners and followers think. Dr M may finally be vindicated.

Pakatan Rakyat's 100 Days

Pakatan Rakat (PR) celebrated their 100 days in office recently.

As a resident of Kuala Lumpur or rather Selangor (still confused, there will be another article on this) let me present my views on their performance.

There were many promises by the PR for Selangor during the election campaign. Can't really remember many of those but based on the report card published in one of the dailies, they appeared not to have fulfilled many of the pledges. To be fair, we can't expect them to clean up the mess and offer all kind of goodies within 100 days.

As I have mentioned in one of my previous blogs, they came to power mainly due to people's anger directed to BN and not due to PR's strength or claim that they can govern better. In fact, there was no PR before the election, just a loose coalition comprising enemies of BN.

Each state governed by PR appears not consistent and have their own manifestos. Again, this is fine as different states have different issues. For example, the over-development in Klang Valley and Penang is an issue with the folks in Selangor and Penang while people in Kedah and Perak wants further development.

What appears to be quite consistent in all different state report cards appears to be the freebies offered. All states appear to be giving out something, eg. free rice, one off payments to undergraduates, disabled etc. While this is good to help reduce the burden of the poor and needy, this is not sustainable and if maintained for a long period, may result in public depending solely on state governments to survive, akin some form of Social Security, a huge burden for developed countries such US and some countries in Europe.

PR governed states have yet to come up with any 4 year blue print on what they would do in the next 4 years. There are a lot of talk but nothing on paper, except for the delivery of the freebies. Since I'm in Selangor, I would like to review some of the actions of the state government so far.

1. Free Water

The state government only managed to ink the deal in mid-june, after disagreements with Syabas. While the public rejoiced, it remains a fact that the main beneficiaries are those who live on landed properties. What is conveniently forgotten is that the middle class and the poor mainly resides in flats and medium cost apartments. The state government simply announced that all needed to be done was to get the entire resident to agree to change their water meters to individual meters. It;s easier said than done and till today, we have not seen any effort from the state government to get this initiative (changingof meters) going. Recently, the state government announced that there would be a minimum charge of RM 6.00 , regardless whether we use the water or not. In the end, if one carefully calculates, the poor and needy have yet to benefit from this initiative.

2. Balkis

Much has been said over this, the fact remains that the PR government did the right thing, however legalities over the organisation status is not on their side. Anyways, the state governments spend too much time over this issue.

3. Hillside development

The public, I think are happy over their stance of hillside development. They, however, if sincere, should quickly step in and stop many development projects already approved in various different parts in Selangor. Particularly in Selayang area where the hillside development are massive and have continued despite PM Abdullah's directive to stop, way back in his first term.

4. Pig Farm

In what proving to be a PR disaster to the new state government, PR government however, again did the right thing to proceed with the project despite strong opposition from PAS as well as criticism from UMNO. It's fine to make unpopular decision as people would eventually realise it's benefits. The only thing they would have to be careful would be the implementation, monitoring and enforcement of the project, something that local authorities found lacking all the time.

5. Councillor's

They finally decided upon the councilors, exactly after 3 months in office. After the initial excitement over promises of the appointments of non-politicians, the PR displayed the characteristics no different to BN or any other political party. They only allocated 25% of the seats to public while PKR, DAP and PAS were allocated two third of the seats. Can the 25% really make a difference or can they influence the Politicians to to put Rakyat first in all their endeavors, remains to be seen.
6. Local Authorities

In the first few weeks, all the PR state governments had some form of problems dealing with the government machineries or popularly known as the 'Little Napoleons'. It's understandable as the 'Little Napoleons' are so used to govern their area according to their whims and fancies. It would take time to change. However, the general public sees no change in the attitude or services rendered by them. The PR state assemblymen are behaving exactly like their predecessors, going to the ground (turun padang) and meeting and hearing Rakyat's grouses over garbage collection, broken drains etc. This, while may make them popular, is not their job, full stop. Their job in the state government is to ensure that the state government departments are functioning as it should be. The municipality officials and councilors should 'turun padang' and not the state assemblymen.

7. Maternity and Paternity Leave

A laudable move, however no study has been published over how this move impacts the state productivity, services and economy. A recent letter to editor in a local daily has one parent complaining that there would be a shortage of teachers at any one time if this move is implemented.

8. Communication and Media

Unlike what was feared aftermath the formation of the state government, the mainstream media (MSM) has been giving wide and fair coverage to the PR state governments. Some papers, like the Star, had admitted that they (MSM) have to change to survive and have been seen to provide reasonable amount of coverage, although their stories are mainly focused on the happenings in Selangor and Penang. Even Anwar has appeared for interviews in the MSM. UMNO owned media, however has been selective. PKR had their application to have its own daily approved. Suara Keadilan, their mouth piece, would not survive if they continue to be PKR's propaganda tool with many of their nonsensical half-truths.

9. CAT (competency, accountability, transparency)

This is PR's promise in all 5 states. This promise hit the snag almost immediately with the jostling of positions (especially the EXCO positions) among the coalitions members and finally, they were just political consideration taken into account and nothing to do with competency.

The allocation of councilors in Selangor were also hazy, where there appear to be no transparency on how the councilors, especially the politicians were appointed. There are also nothing mentioned about how their Competency would be measured. End of the day, they proved just that, politicians.

On the other hand, they had pledged to introduce Open Tender policy for all government projects and procurements. This is still to be seen in terms of implementation. In the coming days and months, the public would definitely closely watch whether they stay truthful with their pledges of CAT.

10. PR Coalition

There were initial rift when the PR won the elections and suddenly found that they had to form the state governments. Deciding the Menteri Besar and composition of EXCO members was never easy in all the PR states and it did take some time. It also did reveal the rift between the coalition members. However, everything appeared to be fine later.

Perak appears to be fragile with the fact that the Menteri Besar is from PAS, the party with the least number of seats among the PR members.

PAS has also proven to be the torn in the flesh to their fellow friends in PR. DAP had been regularly irritated by statements and actions of the Islamist Party, while PKR always seen to be silent on the issues of Islamic lifestyle etc. With significant non-Muslims in Perak, Penang and Selangor, it would be a suicide to even bother implementing any of the so-called Islamic lifestyle, however good it may be, as this would mean isolating a significant majority.

11. Fuel Price Hike

PR de-facto leader, Anwar Ibrahim claimed recently that he had the magic fomula to keep the fuel price down. I wonder what the formula is, that even governments around the world, IMF and World Bank unable, so far, to come up with.

PR has also gone to the streets to protest the hike. This is a no-brainer unless they have solutions and force government to accept their idea and suggested solution. Anwar on the other hand keeps quiet and appears to be endorsing the protest despite having the 'magic formula'.

12. The Anwar Factor

Despite holding together a coalition of parties with differing ideologies, Anwar has proven that he's a good negotiator, manager and as you know, politician.

He has yet to contest in any by-election and yet he's still talking about becoming the new Prime Minister. He continues to taunt BN with his claims of massive BN MP cross overs and formation of a new government by Sept 16. He even went on to say MCA MPs will be crossing over soon. Not much time is left for him to prove that he is not day-dreaming. Let's see. Malaysian's will be making a big mistake if they ever do choose him to be the next PM. DAP will have to be more careful dealing with this shrewd politician, or else, as in 1999, they (DAP) would be completely wiped out.

Pak Lah's 100 days

'Flip Flop' government. That would sum up the performance of the Federal Government.

Pledges to clean up the judiciary strengthen the ACA, deferment of several mega projects, further aids to Sabah and Sarawak, continuation of the Economic Corridors and his continued patience in the face of criticism has won him some friends and support as well.

Tun Dr Mahathir's continued convincing attacks, Fuel price Flip Flop , the Hindraf 5 in ISA, SAPP no-confidence motion, lack of transparency of subsidy distribution, Rosmah's alleged involvement in Altantunya's case, loss of Pedra Branca, scrutiny of his allies and family's businesses, continued silence on many issues are proving to be his minus points. He may as well transfer his power this December or PRakyat is favored create history in the next polls.

In general, based on various survey undertaken recently by MSM and online medias, general public are generally satisfied with PR State Government’s performance while at the same time willing to give them more time to fulfill their pledges as they say 'new broom sweeps clean'. To me and many others, apart from the impact due to the fuel hike, nothing much has changed.

RECAP : Stinking service and quality

ublished in Malaysiakini.com

LETTERS : Sept 14, 2000

Stinking service and quality
Recent complaints from consumers on the hassles in booking Proton Waja caused by some unscrupulous car dealers have prompted me to share the harrowing experience I had with our very own "world class" car manufacturer and dealers when I bought a Proton Wira from USPD.
I went to the USPD showroom next to the Federal Highway after being asked to come by the dealer/agent there. I waited for almost two hours for the dealer, who was the one who set the time of appointment.
While waiting, I asked for permission from a sales personnel to view the interiors of some of the Proton models in the showroom. I was asked to only view from the outside as the car was already sold. What is the point of having the cars in the showroom then? USPD might as well call it a storage.
Finally the dealer came, without apologising or offering any explanation. During the discussion, I was told that the car is already available at their store but only those with full accessories and there were only two colours to choose from. He said that the car will be delivered as soon as I get the loan approved from the financial institution of their choice. Since I have already sold my previous car, I decided to book the car and paid the required deposit.
In less than a week, the loan was approved and when contacted, the dealer said that he was waiting for original documents from the financier before handing over the car. For two weeks, I tried contacting him, but never got a reply. I got him on the third week after booking the car and was told that the delay is due to the customs department which has yet to release the car.
What has the customs department got to do with the car, can anyone explain?
I called the branch manager who revealed that they are still waiting for the car to be delivered from Proton!
Finally, after one and a half months, I received a call directing me to JPJ in Wangsa Maju to register the car. After spending almost two hours there, I was directed to the Federal Highway USPD branch to collect the car. I waited at the showroom for almost four hours. There was no sign of the car or the dealer. When he appeared, again, he did not offer any apologies, merely mentioning that the car had been sent for a wash.
It was almost 10pm when I finally got hold of my car at the back portion of the showroom. There a man approached and offered me the bargain of the day which was a security alarm system for my new car. He showed me how he could break into my car in a matter of seconds and offered me a discount if I were to purchase it on the spot. I was shocked and at the same time thankful for the man's "revelation"; otherwise, I would not have known that Proton cars are not secure.But I am surprised that USPD allows others to operate within its premises, selling a security alarm system for Protons. I am also shocked that Proton which proudly claims that it is a world-class car manufacturer can ignore the lack of security in their cars.
The USPD agent/dealer I dealt with was rude, selfish and untrustworthy. In the one and half months, he only called me thrice while I had called and tried calling him at least 20 times (not an exaggeration).
I still wonder why Bank Negara and the government has acceded to the dealers' demand for commission from financiers. They certainly don't deserve a single sen for doing almost nothing.
As if rubbing salt into the wound, I was told that it will take at least a month before my deposit is refunded. What is USPD doing with the money? Isn't the deposit supposed to be refunded the day I collect my car?
I am sure many consumers have gone through similar experiences and were left wondering how Proton, EON and USPD would be able to survive after year 2005 when Afta comes into effect.
Proton and USPD Tak Boleh!
Dissapointed

Recap : 8 years on, Proton lost their market share and no longer the No 1. USPD don't exist anymore. Proton has certainly improved as they are designing their own cars and have their own engine, of course with some help from Lotus Engineering.

I have also sold off the proton in 2004 and have been using Non-Malaysian car ever since and have no plans to own another, for now at least, until they prove they can deliver the same quality and service levels.

Future seems bleak for Proton unless they seek some form of partnership with established car makers and move away from depending on the government. They just don't have the economies of scale to continue investing and developing new models.