Recently, Opposition Leader apologized to his audience during one of the ceramah. It is very rare to hear Anwar apologise to his supporters or the Malaysian Public. He never apologized for his Sept 16 Opera, which destablised the country for months. He also never apologized for all his conflicting statements and also his corrupt past when he was in BN.
Now all of a sudden he apologises for something petty such as selecting the wrong candidates for the past general elections. His hard core supporters will definitely forgive him, as Malaysians ‘mudah lupa’.
I think Dr Mahathir is the one who should apologise. He did the country no favours when he first invited Anwar to UMNO and as a result, the country political situation has always been unstable ever since Anwar was sacked in 1998.
No opposition leader has inflicted such damage to the country’s image as Anwar did. He criss-crossed the globe saying nothing nice about the country and its leaders. Never mind that he himself got elected by very same undemocratic election system. Never mind that for 16 years, he did nothing to reform the government’s various institutions, never mind that for the same number of years, he controlled the press and helped to build a ‘racist’ newspaper.
Never mind that using the same patronage system, he, his family and friends became rich. Never mind that he defended malay rights to the hilt, BTN, all the repressive laws and the NEP. Has he ever apologized, never. He just reformed himself overnight, just because he was sacked and could not achieve his ambition to become the Prime Minister. He would have never changed anything that was favorable to him if he eventually became the Prime Minister.
The weak opposition then took advantage to befriend him, knowing well Anwar has got substantial grassroots Malay support. Never mind that the first person to accuse Anwar of sodomy and abuse of power is none other than Anwar’s lead counsel for the current trial, Karpal ‘the lion’ Singh. For political power, anything goes. Malaysians ‘mudah lupa’, so Malaysian politicians can change their colours, minds and parties whenever they want.
Apart from Mahathir, the voters who blindly voted for PKR candidates should apologise. You deserve the candidates you voted for. Why ask him/her to step down now. Why no one demanded that the Bota assemblyman to quit when he first crossed over to PKR. Such hypocrisy in Pakatan Rakyat. Elected representative shall remain just that. If people vote for the party, then we don’t need candidates, just vote for the party symbol and let the political party place any representative and have options to change them as and when they like. With this, even by elections will become unnecessary and we can save loads of money.
Malaysia deserves a better opposition leader. There are many within Pakatan Rakyat but I think many talented leaders simply can’t talk and act dramatically like Anwar, hence they are sidelined. Some of them are doing impressive work in their constituency but as they say, in politics, perception matters, not facts. If one were to compile all the facts and track record, rather than rhetoric, Anwar’s achievement as Opposition leader is nothing but a disappointment.
He would probably get some Oscars or Anugerah Seri Angkasa for his stage play, dialogue and (mis)direction, but records show he has not done much since he became the opposition leader. Every state that is governed by Pakatan Rakyat has nothing significant to show eg The same system of political patronage is in place, local councils are filled by mostly local party leaders and race based.
Like Karpal Singh said (telling the truth, emotionally) Anwar should just step down and make way for others. Pakatan Leaders always ask government officials to quit even when they are just being investigated for something. Perhaps, they should ask Anwar to step down until his trial is over. Lim Kit Siang would have done a better job, of course if he avoids calling for Royal Commission of Inquiry for almost everything that goes wrong, everyday and if he can brush up his verbal communication skills.
Or rather, Pakatan Rakyat should emulate BN, where their leaders are replaced (except for Samy Velu) and more importantly, inclusion of young leaders. Except for Guan Eng, we are tired, forced to see and hear from the same old faces in Pakatan Rakyat.
In summary, Anwar need not apologise, Malaysians ‘mudah lupa’ voters should!, Pakatan Rakyat leaders should apologise, for accepting and supporting him all these years, knowing well his track record in BN and current performance and failures in Sept 16 project and losing Perak state government.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Anwar started it all
Finally we have a closure on the Perak Crisis. It was a legally, constitutionally right but morally wrong judgment.
While Pakatan Rakyat leaders threw phrases like 'the end of democracy', 'start of absolute monarchy' etc, the fact remains that they started it all with Anwar's ambition to become Prime Minister and the real crisis or rather circus started when Bota Assemblyman crossed over to PKR in Jan 2009.
Anwar, Lim Kit Siang, MB Nizar and Lim Guan Eng were jubilant when this happened. Only Karpal was silent. When Anwar start counting number of MPs that he claims are crossing over right after the 2008 general elections, no one from Pakatan Rakyat said that the move and strategy was morally wrong.
I can imagine what would have happened if the reverse would have happened in Perak i.e BN retains Perak in 2008 general elections, 3 BN Aduns cross over Pakatan Rakyat. MB Tajol Rosli fails to dissolve the state Assembly, Sultan of Perak asks Tajol Rosli to resign where he refuses, later Nizar is sworn In as new MB from Pakatan. Later BN files case and at the end, MB Nizar is declared the rightful MB.
What would have been the reaction of Pakatan Rakyat leaders? They would have reacted the same way they did when the Bota Assemblyman defected to PKR, they would have shouted 'Gelombang Baru', 'Harapan Baru' etc. They would have criss-crossed the whole of Perak holding thousands of 'ceramah' during the impasse to win over public support for the cross overs.
They would claims that BN is corrupt, racist etc to justifiy their support for cross-over. They would have informally legitimised cross overs in the eyes of public. The would have justified their wins in Bukit Selambau and Bukit Gantang as proof of public support.
In summary, Pakatan Rakyat Leaders would have been certainly singing a different tune if the roles were reversed. Lim Kit Siang should request for formation of Royal Commission of Inquiry to find out the root cause of the fall of Pakatan Rakyat state Government Of Perak. Before he can even start, let me tell him that all fingers are pointed at their great leader, Anwar ' Sivaji the Boss' Ibrahim.
While Pakatan Rakyat leaders threw phrases like 'the end of democracy', 'start of absolute monarchy' etc, the fact remains that they started it all with Anwar's ambition to become Prime Minister and the real crisis or rather circus started when Bota Assemblyman crossed over to PKR in Jan 2009.
Anwar, Lim Kit Siang, MB Nizar and Lim Guan Eng were jubilant when this happened. Only Karpal was silent. When Anwar start counting number of MPs that he claims are crossing over right after the 2008 general elections, no one from Pakatan Rakyat said that the move and strategy was morally wrong.
I can imagine what would have happened if the reverse would have happened in Perak i.e BN retains Perak in 2008 general elections, 3 BN Aduns cross over Pakatan Rakyat. MB Tajol Rosli fails to dissolve the state Assembly, Sultan of Perak asks Tajol Rosli to resign where he refuses, later Nizar is sworn In as new MB from Pakatan. Later BN files case and at the end, MB Nizar is declared the rightful MB.
What would have been the reaction of Pakatan Rakyat leaders? They would have reacted the same way they did when the Bota Assemblyman defected to PKR, they would have shouted 'Gelombang Baru', 'Harapan Baru' etc. They would have criss-crossed the whole of Perak holding thousands of 'ceramah' during the impasse to win over public support for the cross overs.
They would claims that BN is corrupt, racist etc to justifiy their support for cross-over. They would have informally legitimised cross overs in the eyes of public. The would have justified their wins in Bukit Selambau and Bukit Gantang as proof of public support.
In summary, Pakatan Rakyat Leaders would have been certainly singing a different tune if the roles were reversed. Lim Kit Siang should request for formation of Royal Commission of Inquiry to find out the root cause of the fall of Pakatan Rakyat state Government Of Perak. Before he can even start, let me tell him that all fingers are pointed at their great leader, Anwar ' Sivaji the Boss' Ibrahim.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Indian Stupidity- Part 2
Stop the unruly acts during Thaipusam
The Star- 3rd February (letters)
BATU Caves is one of the more popular tourist spots in our country. It is also a holy place for thousands of Hindus who flock there during the Thaipusam festival to fulfil their vows.
I was at Batu Caves during Thaipusam this year, and was saddened by the many unsavoury incidents I witnessed.
First of all, the behaviour of some teenagers in the crowd who did not even care about pregnant women, babies and small children irked me. Where have their values gone?
Another sad thing was the consumption of alcohol which caused great discomfort to others who could not concentrate on their prayers.
I think people who visit the Batu Caves temple during Thaipusam without any intention to pray should not enter the holy site.
UTHAYAKUMAR TECHINAMOORTHY,
Kuala Lumpur.
END -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The above lament by one devotee is not a new phenomenon. I wrote about this in 2002 and not much has changed, which also means the Indian Malaysian public manners and attitude never changed much over the decades.
This year, I have seen things which are even worse. For example there was a group who was carrying the ‘kavadi’ for fun, parading it around until the compound with no intention to complete the prayers. They made lots of noises to attract attention. It was already chaotic, but the public, the bystanders, were more interested to view the antics of these stupid Indians, who have no respect and regards for the religion. In a way, instead of condemning them, the public were in fact encouraging such act, as a form of entertainment.
As for the Temple authorities, they were more interested to make money, who cares if the so-called devotees are adhering to the religious norms. No representative from the two rival Hindu Councils and Hindu Sangam ( why two! Indians what - Have to be divided) were making any statements or reminders asking devotees to behave or adhere to religious norms. What we see at Thaipusam in Malaysia differs from those of in India, hence most of the so-called religious practices are man-made, here by creative Malaysian Indians.
While the above writer mentioned about behavior of teenagers, the adults are no different. It’s their own despicable attitude that encourages the young to emulate them in the first place. Most of the rituals and practices presented for world view that day are never forced upon by the religion. It was on their own will and creativity. Last year there were kavadi’s with Liverpool and Manchester United. So much for Indian creativity. I can only wish that the Indians channel their creativity towards other meaningful endeavors, like their children education.
Some spend thousands on kavadi that is never compulsory. Imagine how much funds that can be accumulated and channeled towards more meaningful causes from just one day.
As for the temple authorities at Batu Caves, they were more interested in reaping profit from the biggest show in Malaysia. They allow stalls to be put up almost ¾ of the temple compound, leaving little space for people to walk about. They also put up a huge fun-fair to add some light hearted entertainment following to some serious religious undertakings by the devotees.
Who is listening? No one, because nobody likes change and nobody wants to change. What about it leaders, even they, including the higher educated ones, don’t want Indians to change. Because as long as Indians remain stupid, these equally stupid politicians can continue to fool them and take advantage to advance their narrow agenda. The religious leaders on the other hand, does not want to make enemies with politicians, who controls most of the temples in the country, hence they tend to keep quiet.
The Star- 3rd February (letters)
BATU Caves is one of the more popular tourist spots in our country. It is also a holy place for thousands of Hindus who flock there during the Thaipusam festival to fulfil their vows.
I was at Batu Caves during Thaipusam this year, and was saddened by the many unsavoury incidents I witnessed.
First of all, the behaviour of some teenagers in the crowd who did not even care about pregnant women, babies and small children irked me. Where have their values gone?
Another sad thing was the consumption of alcohol which caused great discomfort to others who could not concentrate on their prayers.
I think people who visit the Batu Caves temple during Thaipusam without any intention to pray should not enter the holy site.
UTHAYAKUMAR TECHINAMOORTHY,
Kuala Lumpur.
END -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The above lament by one devotee is not a new phenomenon. I wrote about this in 2002 and not much has changed, which also means the Indian Malaysian public manners and attitude never changed much over the decades.
This year, I have seen things which are even worse. For example there was a group who was carrying the ‘kavadi’ for fun, parading it around until the compound with no intention to complete the prayers. They made lots of noises to attract attention. It was already chaotic, but the public, the bystanders, were more interested to view the antics of these stupid Indians, who have no respect and regards for the religion. In a way, instead of condemning them, the public were in fact encouraging such act, as a form of entertainment.
As for the Temple authorities, they were more interested to make money, who cares if the so-called devotees are adhering to the religious norms. No representative from the two rival Hindu Councils and Hindu Sangam ( why two! Indians what - Have to be divided) were making any statements or reminders asking devotees to behave or adhere to religious norms. What we see at Thaipusam in Malaysia differs from those of in India, hence most of the so-called religious practices are man-made, here by creative Malaysian Indians.
While the above writer mentioned about behavior of teenagers, the adults are no different. It’s their own despicable attitude that encourages the young to emulate them in the first place. Most of the rituals and practices presented for world view that day are never forced upon by the religion. It was on their own will and creativity. Last year there were kavadi’s with Liverpool and Manchester United. So much for Indian creativity. I can only wish that the Indians channel their creativity towards other meaningful endeavors, like their children education.
Some spend thousands on kavadi that is never compulsory. Imagine how much funds that can be accumulated and channeled towards more meaningful causes from just one day.
As for the temple authorities at Batu Caves, they were more interested in reaping profit from the biggest show in Malaysia. They allow stalls to be put up almost ¾ of the temple compound, leaving little space for people to walk about. They also put up a huge fun-fair to add some light hearted entertainment following to some serious religious undertakings by the devotees.
Who is listening? No one, because nobody likes change and nobody wants to change. What about it leaders, even they, including the higher educated ones, don’t want Indians to change. Because as long as Indians remain stupid, these equally stupid politicians can continue to fool them and take advantage to advance their narrow agenda. The religious leaders on the other hand, does not want to make enemies with politicians, who controls most of the temples in the country, hence they tend to keep quiet.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Indian Stupidity
Group seeks divine help on SPM issue, The Star, 27th Jan 2010
KUALA LUMPUR: Members of several non-governmental organisations are seeking “divine intervention” during Thaipusam for the Tamil Lan-guage and Tamil Literature papers to be made core SPM subjects.
They plan to fast and carry the pal kudam (milk offering) on Thaipusam Day at Batu Caves.
The NGOs behind the protest are calling themselves the SPM 12 Subjects Retention Group.
Committee chairman A. Thiru-venggadam said the fast and pal kudam offering would take place from 8.30am to 3.30pm.
Speaking at a press conference at the management office of the Batu Caves temple grounds here yesterday, Thiruvenggadam said they also hoped to hand a memorandum to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak when he launches the Thaipusam celebration on the eve of Thaipu-sam.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is what one would call, stupidity in the name of religion.
I did not know that Hindu god, Murugan at Batu Caves can influence the DPM to change his stance on the issue. If this happens to be true, then I would lbe likely to do the same for reinstatement of Teaching Of Science and Maths in English.
Why is there a need to handover memorandum to the Prime Minister when the Hindu God can help is beyond me. The same group, if I am not mistaken held hunger srike few months ago. So what happened? Hunger strike nowdays is from 9 am to 5pm it seems, taking cue from various hunger strike held the same way almost every day back in Tamil Nadu.
The HINDRAF did the same in 2008 praying for release of their beloved leaders. In fact, there’s another group, Sri Murugan Centre who organises annual education pilgrimage to Batu Caves, an event which gathers about 100,000 student who will be sitting for various exams for the year.
Another cult group, have their cult leader’s birthday at Batu Caves seeking better times for their followers, some of whom are in dire situation despite all the rituals and prayers, spending thousands of ringgit in the process.
All these illustrates the stupidity of Indians in this country. Every other year they carry our prayers, wows, harms their body with various sharp object, walk on fire , carry heavy ‘Kavadi’ (some with liverpool and Man Utd logos, another example of their religious stupidity) and it appears like their prayers are not really answered, if you listen to what PKR, DAP and Hindraf politicians has to say about situation of Indians in the country. Who do the Indians blame.. who else but BN. Why not the lord Murugan, who appears not to be answering their prayers. Not wanting to repeat myself, the answers are here. Perhaps they should go here.
KUALA LUMPUR: Members of several non-governmental organisations are seeking “divine intervention” during Thaipusam for the Tamil Lan-guage and Tamil Literature papers to be made core SPM subjects.
They plan to fast and carry the pal kudam (milk offering) on Thaipusam Day at Batu Caves.
The NGOs behind the protest are calling themselves the SPM 12 Subjects Retention Group.
Committee chairman A. Thiru-venggadam said the fast and pal kudam offering would take place from 8.30am to 3.30pm.
Speaking at a press conference at the management office of the Batu Caves temple grounds here yesterday, Thiruvenggadam said they also hoped to hand a memorandum to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak when he launches the Thaipusam celebration on the eve of Thaipu-sam.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is what one would call, stupidity in the name of religion.
I did not know that Hindu god, Murugan at Batu Caves can influence the DPM to change his stance on the issue. If this happens to be true, then I would lbe likely to do the same for reinstatement of Teaching Of Science and Maths in English.
Why is there a need to handover memorandum to the Prime Minister when the Hindu God can help is beyond me. The same group, if I am not mistaken held hunger srike few months ago. So what happened? Hunger strike nowdays is from 9 am to 5pm it seems, taking cue from various hunger strike held the same way almost every day back in Tamil Nadu.
The HINDRAF did the same in 2008 praying for release of their beloved leaders. In fact, there’s another group, Sri Murugan Centre who organises annual education pilgrimage to Batu Caves, an event which gathers about 100,000 student who will be sitting for various exams for the year.
Another cult group, have their cult leader’s birthday at Batu Caves seeking better times for their followers, some of whom are in dire situation despite all the rituals and prayers, spending thousands of ringgit in the process.
All these illustrates the stupidity of Indians in this country. Every other year they carry our prayers, wows, harms their body with various sharp object, walk on fire , carry heavy ‘Kavadi’ (some with liverpool and Man Utd logos, another example of their religious stupidity) and it appears like their prayers are not really answered, if you listen to what PKR, DAP and Hindraf politicians has to say about situation of Indians in the country. Who do the Indians blame.. who else but BN. Why not the lord Murugan, who appears not to be answering their prayers. Not wanting to repeat myself, the answers are here. Perhaps they should go here.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Subsidy : One rate for whole economy is better
T.K. CHUA of Kuala Lumpur wrote this in today's Star
SOMETIMES I wonder how the Malaysian market economy is being managed. I am referring to your news report “Fuel Cap” (Sunday Star, Jan 17). My issue is not on how the fuel subsidy should be managed. My issue is should we have this kind of multi-sector and multi-categorisation subsidy system in the first place.
We know for a fact the Malaysian economy has been distorted and dissected into numerous groups and sectors already. Each distortion and categorisation has created more controversy, inefficiency and avenues for corruption. How we could have managed a market economy with total disregard for basic market principles is simply beyond my comprehension.
Malaysia is one principal customs area. If there is any subsidy or taxation, the rate should be uniformly applied throughout the whole economy.
To dissect, to discriminate, and to categorise into different groups or sectors for subsidy entitlement or taxation burden could only result in more hardship, unfairness, inefficiency, arbitrage and corruption especially by those administering such schemes.
We have fleet cards, subsidies for taxies, buses and boats for fishermen. As if this is not complicated enough, now we want to dissect passenger cars into different categories. We spent hundreds of millions in subsidy on fishermen. Did the amount of fish landed really increase?
How much of the petrol and diesel were really used by fishermen to catch fish? Did the subsidised fuel really translate into lower prices of fish in the market?
How much of the fish we consume were supplied by foreign fishermen who enjoyed no subsides from us?
When a subsidy is given, we can’t guarantee complete fairness. Sure, the rich and the wealthy may have gained more from the subsidy, but they have also contributed more in the form of higher taxes?
When they buy a vehicle, the extra taxes (in the form of sales tax, excise duty, and annual road tax) they pay is probably many times more than the extra fuel subsidy they enjoy. What fairness can we extract from them further? Don’t forget they have also paid higher income taxes.
In managing a market economy, we must allow capitalism and market mechanism to work.
We may tinker a little here and there to make it less painful for some but the objective is not really to achieve complete parity or equality.
Didn’t the communists try to do that but we know the result was disastrous for everybody?
They tried to make equality their priority, but the policies made almost everybody equally poor and today communism is history.
A market economy, albeit with limited government intervention, has made people unevenly rich, which is better than making everybody poor.
To minimise distortions and to enhance efficiency, the Government must first decide whether to subsidise or not to subsidise the fuel.
If the decision is to subsidise, it is better to have just one rate for the whole economy. Multiple subsidised rates for different sectors or different groups of citizens only cause high administrative cost, profiteering, inefficiency, corruption and arbitrage.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I can't but agree with Chua's comment and arguements on subsidy and how it is managed.
The planned fuel subsidy based on mykad and car engine capacity is obiviously flawed and bound to fail especially knowing very well the capability of our enforcement agencies, level of corruption prevalent and the availability of world class, highly skilled home grown fraudsters in Malaysia
Those in high income bracket are already paying high tax rates and those luxury cars are purchased with one of the highest taxes ion the world, how fair is it that fuel subsidy is only given to those who don't pay tax and only pay considerably low tax and duties for the vehicle that they own. As it is only 15% individuals in Malaysia pay tax. The government should find out why is this the case, when based on per capia income figures, those in taxable range should have been substantially more. They should go after this group of people rather than try to figure out and mess up this multi-level subsidy plan.
Chua's questions on the effectiveness of subsidised fleet card to transporters and fishermen is valid and deserves a review. We should allow market forces to determine fish price and cost of transportation, never mind that public transportation is already subsidised in many other forms.
Looking at the Minsiters lack of clarity when replying to the questions on the subsidy plan, all points to a disastrous implemetation of the fuel subsidy plan in May, which will definitely shunned by the people, and Najib will end up like Badawi, whose popularity went down the drain when he drastically raised the fuel price.
In the end, no one will not die if we do not eat fish, especially those caught with fuel subsidy..
SOMETIMES I wonder how the Malaysian market economy is being managed. I am referring to your news report “Fuel Cap” (Sunday Star, Jan 17). My issue is not on how the fuel subsidy should be managed. My issue is should we have this kind of multi-sector and multi-categorisation subsidy system in the first place.
We know for a fact the Malaysian economy has been distorted and dissected into numerous groups and sectors already. Each distortion and categorisation has created more controversy, inefficiency and avenues for corruption. How we could have managed a market economy with total disregard for basic market principles is simply beyond my comprehension.
Malaysia is one principal customs area. If there is any subsidy or taxation, the rate should be uniformly applied throughout the whole economy.
To dissect, to discriminate, and to categorise into different groups or sectors for subsidy entitlement or taxation burden could only result in more hardship, unfairness, inefficiency, arbitrage and corruption especially by those administering such schemes.
We have fleet cards, subsidies for taxies, buses and boats for fishermen. As if this is not complicated enough, now we want to dissect passenger cars into different categories. We spent hundreds of millions in subsidy on fishermen. Did the amount of fish landed really increase?
How much of the petrol and diesel were really used by fishermen to catch fish? Did the subsidised fuel really translate into lower prices of fish in the market?
How much of the fish we consume were supplied by foreign fishermen who enjoyed no subsides from us?
When a subsidy is given, we can’t guarantee complete fairness. Sure, the rich and the wealthy may have gained more from the subsidy, but they have also contributed more in the form of higher taxes?
When they buy a vehicle, the extra taxes (in the form of sales tax, excise duty, and annual road tax) they pay is probably many times more than the extra fuel subsidy they enjoy. What fairness can we extract from them further? Don’t forget they have also paid higher income taxes.
In managing a market economy, we must allow capitalism and market mechanism to work.
We may tinker a little here and there to make it less painful for some but the objective is not really to achieve complete parity or equality.
Didn’t the communists try to do that but we know the result was disastrous for everybody?
They tried to make equality their priority, but the policies made almost everybody equally poor and today communism is history.
A market economy, albeit with limited government intervention, has made people unevenly rich, which is better than making everybody poor.
To minimise distortions and to enhance efficiency, the Government must first decide whether to subsidise or not to subsidise the fuel.
If the decision is to subsidise, it is better to have just one rate for the whole economy. Multiple subsidised rates for different sectors or different groups of citizens only cause high administrative cost, profiteering, inefficiency, corruption and arbitrage.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I can't but agree with Chua's comment and arguements on subsidy and how it is managed.
The planned fuel subsidy based on mykad and car engine capacity is obiviously flawed and bound to fail especially knowing very well the capability of our enforcement agencies, level of corruption prevalent and the availability of world class, highly skilled home grown fraudsters in Malaysia
Those in high income bracket are already paying high tax rates and those luxury cars are purchased with one of the highest taxes ion the world, how fair is it that fuel subsidy is only given to those who don't pay tax and only pay considerably low tax and duties for the vehicle that they own. As it is only 15% individuals in Malaysia pay tax. The government should find out why is this the case, when based on per capia income figures, those in taxable range should have been substantially more. They should go after this group of people rather than try to figure out and mess up this multi-level subsidy plan.
Chua's questions on the effectiveness of subsidised fleet card to transporters and fishermen is valid and deserves a review. We should allow market forces to determine fish price and cost of transportation, never mind that public transportation is already subsidised in many other forms.
Looking at the Minsiters lack of clarity when replying to the questions on the subsidy plan, all points to a disastrous implemetation of the fuel subsidy plan in May, which will definitely shunned by the people, and Najib will end up like Badawi, whose popularity went down the drain when he drastically raised the fuel price.
In the end, no one will not die if we do not eat fish, especially those caught with fuel subsidy..
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Lee Kuan Yew's Take On Chinese Education
SINGAPORE, Jan 5 — Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew was interviewed by Mark Jacobson of the National Geographic in July last year. Read the full article here
While most of the social issues confronting Singapore may be the same as in Malaysia, such as growing immigrant population, insecure original Singaporeans, Race and Religious issues (he spoke about the rise of Evangelical Christians) and others, what caught my interest was his comments about Chinese Education.
Read excerpts from the article below ;
Bilingualism and Chinese schools
We’re losing part of (Chinese culture) because the Chinese schools have disappeared. We’re trying to preserve it in English-speaking schools, but the teachers now were also educated in English-speaking schools and have lost the old traditions. So we’re trying to get them to go to China and see how they preserve these qualities. But we find that in the (Chinese) cities, they’re also changing.
But (I’ve no regret emphasising English). I’m a pragmatist and you can’t make a living with the Chinese language in Singapore.
The first duty of the Government is to be able to feed its people. Singapore has no hinterland and no farming. You have got to trade. You have got to get people to buy your goods or services and get multinationals to come here and manufacture for export.
So we brought the semiconductor factories here. We became a vast centre for the production of computers and computer peripherals. But they all speak English — (including) multinationals from Japan, Europe.
The Chinese-educated were losing out. They were disgruntled because they got the poorer jobs and lesser pay. Eventually, our own Chinese-educated MPs said we have got do something. We’re ruining these people’s careers.
By that time, (Nanyang University) was also losing its good students. Because they took in poor students, they graduated them (with) lower marks and so the degrees became valueless. So when you apply for a job with a Chinese university degree, you hide your degree and produce your school certificate.
I tried to change it from within. Most of the teachers (at Nanyang) had American PhDs. They did their theses in English but they’d forgotten their English as they’d been teaching in Chinese. It couldn’t be done. So I merged them with the English-speaking university.
Great unhappiness for the first few years. But when they graduated, we put it to them: Do you want your old university degree or do you want the English university degree? All opted for the English university degree. That settled it.
(China’s ascent would) make no difference (to the emphasis on English). We are not going to tie ourselves to China to the extent that it makes us hostage. We have many investments there because the older generation are Chinese-educated, they feel comfortable. But the younger generation, they have enough Chinese to go there and do business and they can ramp up (their language skills) if they want.
And not everybody wants to go there. We’ve been offering scholarships to their top universities — Beijing, Qinghua — but very few takers. They say: “Nah, I want to go to America or Britain.” They know they’re coming back here and competing in English.
I can only wish that vernacular education champions back here in Malaysia, most of whom are in awe of Lee Kuan Yew, would realise that in the current century and decade, we are simply losing out. Lee’s assertion that feeding the people comes first makes lots of sense. What is the point of preserving and dying for language and culture if there’s no food on the table.
While we complain that taking away English Medium schools saw the beginning of the decline of education standards in Malaysia, coming from a national school, I could always argue that the rise of vernacular schools also contributed to the decline in English as well as unity in this country.
Further to the decline of English, we are fast losing our competitiveness. Having worked in a MNC before, I have had numerous negative comments on both English and education standards of our graduates. For them, apart from whatever degree that the students graduate in, leadership qualities and ability to communicate effectively (not just speaking English) is more important than say, whether you can count.
Even in National Schools back in 80s and 90s, the quality of English education was quite good as the teachers were from English Mediums. Now with each races segregated in 3 major school streams, we get 3 types of accents and not to mention, less united as a society. The rejection of Vision Schools and the end of teaching of Maths and Science in English can only further deteriorate the quality of our students and our overall competitiveness.
I also wonder why Chinese Schools never reject large number of Malay students in their schools. As champions of mother tongue education, they should have rejected Malay and Indian students and advised them to enrol in national and Tamil Schools.
On the other hand, while Singapore is open to accept more immigrants as their future citizens, we in Malaysia appears only interested in segregate ourselves further.
While most of the social issues confronting Singapore may be the same as in Malaysia, such as growing immigrant population, insecure original Singaporeans, Race and Religious issues (he spoke about the rise of Evangelical Christians) and others, what caught my interest was his comments about Chinese Education.
Read excerpts from the article below ;
Bilingualism and Chinese schools
We’re losing part of (Chinese culture) because the Chinese schools have disappeared. We’re trying to preserve it in English-speaking schools, but the teachers now were also educated in English-speaking schools and have lost the old traditions. So we’re trying to get them to go to China and see how they preserve these qualities. But we find that in the (Chinese) cities, they’re also changing.
But (I’ve no regret emphasising English). I’m a pragmatist and you can’t make a living with the Chinese language in Singapore.
The first duty of the Government is to be able to feed its people. Singapore has no hinterland and no farming. You have got to trade. You have got to get people to buy your goods or services and get multinationals to come here and manufacture for export.
So we brought the semiconductor factories here. We became a vast centre for the production of computers and computer peripherals. But they all speak English — (including) multinationals from Japan, Europe.
The Chinese-educated were losing out. They were disgruntled because they got the poorer jobs and lesser pay. Eventually, our own Chinese-educated MPs said we have got do something. We’re ruining these people’s careers.
By that time, (Nanyang University) was also losing its good students. Because they took in poor students, they graduated them (with) lower marks and so the degrees became valueless. So when you apply for a job with a Chinese university degree, you hide your degree and produce your school certificate.
I tried to change it from within. Most of the teachers (at Nanyang) had American PhDs. They did their theses in English but they’d forgotten their English as they’d been teaching in Chinese. It couldn’t be done. So I merged them with the English-speaking university.
Great unhappiness for the first few years. But when they graduated, we put it to them: Do you want your old university degree or do you want the English university degree? All opted for the English university degree. That settled it.
(China’s ascent would) make no difference (to the emphasis on English). We are not going to tie ourselves to China to the extent that it makes us hostage. We have many investments there because the older generation are Chinese-educated, they feel comfortable. But the younger generation, they have enough Chinese to go there and do business and they can ramp up (their language skills) if they want.
And not everybody wants to go there. We’ve been offering scholarships to their top universities — Beijing, Qinghua — but very few takers. They say: “Nah, I want to go to America or Britain.” They know they’re coming back here and competing in English.
I can only wish that vernacular education champions back here in Malaysia, most of whom are in awe of Lee Kuan Yew, would realise that in the current century and decade, we are simply losing out. Lee’s assertion that feeding the people comes first makes lots of sense. What is the point of preserving and dying for language and culture if there’s no food on the table.
While we complain that taking away English Medium schools saw the beginning of the decline of education standards in Malaysia, coming from a national school, I could always argue that the rise of vernacular schools also contributed to the decline in English as well as unity in this country.
Further to the decline of English, we are fast losing our competitiveness. Having worked in a MNC before, I have had numerous negative comments on both English and education standards of our graduates. For them, apart from whatever degree that the students graduate in, leadership qualities and ability to communicate effectively (not just speaking English) is more important than say, whether you can count.
Even in National Schools back in 80s and 90s, the quality of English education was quite good as the teachers were from English Mediums. Now with each races segregated in 3 major school streams, we get 3 types of accents and not to mention, less united as a society. The rejection of Vision Schools and the end of teaching of Maths and Science in English can only further deteriorate the quality of our students and our overall competitiveness.
I also wonder why Chinese Schools never reject large number of Malay students in their schools. As champions of mother tongue education, they should have rejected Malay and Indian students and advised them to enrol in national and Tamil Schools.
On the other hand, while Singapore is open to accept more immigrants as their future citizens, we in Malaysia appears only interested in segregate ourselves further.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
GST : Focus On Tax Evaders First
I was amused with the comments above from readers of both Malaysian Insider and Malaysiakini for this article
Comments
written by maha, December 16, 2009
the implemintation of GST by the B.N govt clearly shows to what extend the govt of the day is interested in the welfare of in particular the middle and lower income group. So I beg rational voters to bring in pakatan in 13 GE &. we will see what pakatan CAN DO. Pakatan have proven in Kedah, penang,selangor,kelantan and to certain extend in perak.KEEP IT UP PAKATAN!
written by siong, December 16, 2009
GLCs making lost. BN now worried all the economics corridors they promised will bring development, hitting big rock and sink. So, go and collect money from poor rakyat to bail out GLCs linked with BN politicians. 1Malaysia rakyat diutamakan, I mean first to get robbed.
written by i_love_malaysia, December 16, 2009
When come to collecting money, the BN govt is super efficient!!! The govt should stop all the leakages and not just want to collect more and more and more!!! No wonder the Thais and Singaporeans drivers and smugglers are laughing all the way to the banks for our generousity out of govt stupidity!!!
written by lowxinpui, December 16, 2009
Bloody well make sure all the PR MPs are present when the votes are taken.
written by Ahmad Ismail, December 16, 2009
BN is short of money?
then how come can pay so high dividend to Amanah Saham Bumiputera?
GST will be a waterloo for BN inthe next election.
written by Apa Khabar, December 16, 2009
What GST to Najib may just turn out to be like Badawi's petrol price hike, with its repercussion on the next General Election.
No worries, mate!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Similar Article in Malaysiakini
by kgan - 30 minutes ago
Some proponents of GST have touted the 4% rate as lower than the 10% Sales Tax which it will replace. But sales tax is levied at source on manufacturers and importers on nett prices so the GST rate must be multiplied by the markup from source to consumer. Furthermore, GST will affect a far wider range of goods and services than sales tax. Don't forget 4% is only the starting rate, it is set to go up as oil revenue decreases and BN needs ever more money to fund its corruption.
by Habib RAK - 41 minutes ago
Tony Pua from DAP had already articulated this matter very well. He has clearly pointed out that it is not timely to introduce GST as this juncture. What needs to be done first is to get rid of the all the wastages, overpricing, plundering, stealing from the national coffers. The savings from these areas will generate more revenue than from GST.
by M'sian - an hour ago
From next year onwards we can expect more opposition politician to change camps. Government will have more money to buy these people, while tax paid is wasted for white elephant like PKFZ, double rail project and this will be additional income for thief & team (PM & Team).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If this is the quality of their cyber troopers, don't expect much when Pakatan takes over the country, as these stupid cyber troopers will hardly object any wrong doing by Pakatan in future as these cyber troopers appears to be dumb enough to be taken in by anything that Pakatan does. There's hardly any intellectual debate on the GST issue in the comments section except for one Habib RAK. These rest are just some emotional outburst from hardcore Pakatan Rakyat supporters. Just look at the comment by Ahmad Ismail and you would realise how stupid can Pakatan Cyber troopers be.
i_live_Malaysia is also completely wrong, Malaysian government is pathetic is collecting taxes, hence the introduction of GST. While we do not know much of the impact of GST, we should hear more on what the experts have to say rather than what politicians like Tony Pua has to say .
I agree completely with Tony of saving money elsewhere but there's never a wrong timing of GST implementation. Even if the economy has recovered, nobody likes taxes, hence it will be still opposed by those who like to oppose. Will Pakatan Rakyat implement GST when the economy recovers. They are likely to do so, when pressured by economist and foreign experts. See some expert views here, , here , and here
I suspect after the second reading of the bill in March, and if ever Najib decides to implement the policy, Pakatan Rakyat and NGO's aligned to them will take to the streets (as they did against PPSMI policy) The politicians who are strongly against certain government policies could well do something wiser that will be well accepted by Rakyat.
They moan about increased prices all around resulting in higher cost of living. They could well go to the streets when traders increase prices. Why not take consumer's concern to the streets. They could well mobilise consumer association and their hardcore supporters to boycott certain unscrupulous traders, companies and monopolies. Why can't they do that? Why only take the streets only if they do not agree with BN. This is where Pakatan loses its credibility and aptly supported by idiotic comments by their hardcore supporters and cyber troopers, clogging comments section of all online news sites.
They do go to the ground and investigate, unlike LHDN who sits in the office and assess tax submissions just based on documents presented, never mind those duplicate / imitation documents such as DOs. Invoices, Bank Statements, salary slip, EPF statement, EA Forms are easily available for a fee. Have we ever heard someone being charged for tax evasion in Malaysia? LHDN appears no to realise the well known fact that Malaysian fraudsters are one of those in the World's best category.
If taxes are effectively collected, apart from improving the nation's coffers, it would reduce our dependence of oil money and corporate taxes.
As for GST, again how sure are we that traders and businessman don't cheat by increasing their prices. This is something that was raised by opponents of the policy. I think more pertinently, we have ask how sure are we that these traders do not cook up their sales figures and swindle whatever GST meant to be remitted to the authorities. If we do not have an efficient system to track all these possible abuses and without proper monitoring system, we ought not to have the GST in place.
Comments
written by maha, December 16, 2009
the implemintation of GST by the B.N govt clearly shows to what extend the govt of the day is interested in the welfare of in particular the middle and lower income group. So I beg rational voters to bring in pakatan in 13 GE &. we will see what pakatan CAN DO. Pakatan have proven in Kedah, penang,selangor,kelantan and to certain extend in perak.KEEP IT UP PAKATAN!
written by siong, December 16, 2009
GLCs making lost. BN now worried all the economics corridors they promised will bring development, hitting big rock and sink. So, go and collect money from poor rakyat to bail out GLCs linked with BN politicians. 1Malaysia rakyat diutamakan, I mean first to get robbed.
written by i_love_malaysia, December 16, 2009
When come to collecting money, the BN govt is super efficient!!! The govt should stop all the leakages and not just want to collect more and more and more!!! No wonder the Thais and Singaporeans drivers and smugglers are laughing all the way to the banks for our generousity out of govt stupidity!!!
written by lowxinpui, December 16, 2009
Bloody well make sure all the PR MPs are present when the votes are taken.
written by Ahmad Ismail, December 16, 2009
BN is short of money?
then how come can pay so high dividend to Amanah Saham Bumiputera?
GST will be a waterloo for BN inthe next election.
written by Apa Khabar, December 16, 2009
What GST to Najib may just turn out to be like Badawi's petrol price hike, with its repercussion on the next General Election.
No worries, mate!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Similar Article in Malaysiakini
by kgan - 30 minutes ago
Some proponents of GST have touted the 4% rate as lower than the 10% Sales Tax which it will replace. But sales tax is levied at source on manufacturers and importers on nett prices so the GST rate must be multiplied by the markup from source to consumer. Furthermore, GST will affect a far wider range of goods and services than sales tax. Don't forget 4% is only the starting rate, it is set to go up as oil revenue decreases and BN needs ever more money to fund its corruption.
by Habib RAK - 41 minutes ago
Tony Pua from DAP had already articulated this matter very well. He has clearly pointed out that it is not timely to introduce GST as this juncture. What needs to be done first is to get rid of the all the wastages, overpricing, plundering, stealing from the national coffers. The savings from these areas will generate more revenue than from GST.
by M'sian - an hour ago
From next year onwards we can expect more opposition politician to change camps. Government will have more money to buy these people, while tax paid is wasted for white elephant like PKFZ, double rail project and this will be additional income for thief & team (PM & Team).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If this is the quality of their cyber troopers, don't expect much when Pakatan takes over the country, as these stupid cyber troopers will hardly object any wrong doing by Pakatan in future as these cyber troopers appears to be dumb enough to be taken in by anything that Pakatan does. There's hardly any intellectual debate on the GST issue in the comments section except for one Habib RAK. These rest are just some emotional outburst from hardcore Pakatan Rakyat supporters. Just look at the comment by Ahmad Ismail and you would realise how stupid can Pakatan Cyber troopers be.
i_live_Malaysia is also completely wrong, Malaysian government is pathetic is collecting taxes, hence the introduction of GST. While we do not know much of the impact of GST, we should hear more on what the experts have to say rather than what politicians like Tony Pua has to say .
I agree completely with Tony of saving money elsewhere but there's never a wrong timing of GST implementation. Even if the economy has recovered, nobody likes taxes, hence it will be still opposed by those who like to oppose. Will Pakatan Rakyat implement GST when the economy recovers. They are likely to do so, when pressured by economist and foreign experts. See some expert views here, , here , and here
I suspect after the second reading of the bill in March, and if ever Najib decides to implement the policy, Pakatan Rakyat and NGO's aligned to them will take to the streets (as they did against PPSMI policy) The politicians who are strongly against certain government policies could well do something wiser that will be well accepted by Rakyat.
They moan about increased prices all around resulting in higher cost of living. They could well go to the streets when traders increase prices. Why not take consumer's concern to the streets. They could well mobilise consumer association and their hardcore supporters to boycott certain unscrupulous traders, companies and monopolies. Why can't they do that? Why only take the streets only if they do not agree with BN. This is where Pakatan loses its credibility and aptly supported by idiotic comments by their hardcore supporters and cyber troopers, clogging comments section of all online news sites.
What we need to tackle seriously in the immediate terms is to ensure those who are actually taxable pay taxes and this will immediately increase the nation's coffers. And to appease those who swore to live by rule of law, we should charge those who deliberately evade tax.
It was estimated that only 7% Malaysians actually pay tax. That's rather pathetic as I believe many who are in the taxable range are not paying tax at all. Efforts must be made to ensure those who are supposed to pay tax do so. It is so unfair that only salaried people are tracked and forced to pay tax. There are many more out there, such as hawkers, retailers, self-employed individuals (including professional such as lawyers, Doctors, Accountants, Engineers who run their business under Enterprise license) who do not pay tax at all. They evade tax by simply cooking up their accounts, aided by chartered accountants every year. They do pay nominal amount which is usually not reflective of their income.
I am also disgusted that while I pay maximum tax, and many people, who speak loudly about abuse of power, corruption and human rights do not actually pay tax. This includes many of the so-called proponents of rule of law, those who question police's credibility, those who cry about PKFZ and other scandals without any sense of guilt that they are also cheating the authorities. I have, in the past, have been asked to submit documents for audit purposes by LHDN after filing via E-Filling. I asked around those who always under declare taxes, none of them have been asked to do the same. This is why I mentioned that LHDN is pathetic on collecting taxes.
Many people I know that participated in the Bersih and Hindraf rallies do not pay tax at all. Some of them live luxurious life with fast cars and have the cheek to proudly claim that they do not pay much tax. I always feel cheated when I see my pay slip with huge amount of deduction especially when knowing well that people who earn more under-declare their income and some do not pay tax at all.
LHDN will have to improve their monitoring system and ensure that those who are taxable declare their income accurately and pay the required taxes. LHDN should be as tough as their counterparts in the west. In US for example, Inland Revenue are more feared by the public than any other government agency. They work their way to ensure taxes are paid.
They do go to the ground and investigate, unlike LHDN who sits in the office and assess tax submissions just based on documents presented, never mind those duplicate / imitation documents such as DOs. Invoices, Bank Statements, salary slip, EPF statement, EA Forms are easily available for a fee. Have we ever heard someone being charged for tax evasion in Malaysia? LHDN appears no to realise the well known fact that Malaysian fraudsters are one of those in the World's best category.
If taxes are effectively collected, apart from improving the nation's coffers, it would reduce our dependence of oil money and corporate taxes.
As for GST, again how sure are we that traders and businessman don't cheat by increasing their prices. This is something that was raised by opponents of the policy. I think more pertinently, we have ask how sure are we that these traders do not cook up their sales figures and swindle whatever GST meant to be remitted to the authorities. If we do not have an efficient system to track all these possible abuses and without proper monitoring system, we ought not to have the GST in place.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Alkisah India di India dan India di Malaysia — Zaini Hassan
This is the controversial article, said to seditious and belittling Indians in general.
My comments are in bold Alkisah India di India dan India di Malaysia — Zaini Hassan
DEC 11 — Berada di kota raya tua India, Hyderabad selama seminggu minggu lalu amat memberi kesedaran kepada diri ini. Setiap inci persegi tanah di kota-kotanya dihuni oleh ratusan insan. Setiap kilometer persegi dihuni oleh ratusan ribu insan dan setiap bandar raya di negara keramat itu dihuni oleh jutaan manusia. Dan India ialah tanah bagi 1.2 bilion umat manusia. Angkanya bertambah setiap saat.
I have been to Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai (and the whole of Tamil Nadu). What makes it more relevant is that I have stayed in Hyderabad on job assignment for 5 months.
Berada di India bererti kita berada dalam satu realiti kemanusiaan yang sebenar. India ialah tanah bagi manusia ramai. Jurang hidupnya adalah antara langit dan bumi. Yang papa terlalu papa, yang kaya terlalu kaya. Yang kaya, tidak pandang ke bawah, yang bawah tetap di bawah.
Very true, the rich are extremely rich in India while there are still beggars and those who live on USD $1 a day. An average rich person in India is definitely richer than millionaires in Malaysia.
Kasta, darjat atau keturunan masih diamalkan secara tebal di seluruh India. Ia semacam satu agama. Kasta atas tidak boleh bersatu kasta rendah.
Another fact despite all the rhetoric spewed by heroes in Tamil Movies and Indian leaders in general saying all are equal. Caste, Status and Race are very much important in the society.
Jalan rayanya haru-biru. Suasananya hiruk-pikuk. Bas, lori, kereta, basikal, teksi roda tiga, kereta lembu, kuda bersimpang siur. Bunyi hon adalah wajib. Pegang sahaja stereng, bunyi hon dulu. Di belakang bas dan lori tertulis “tolong hon”. Tiada siapa marah jika dia dihon. Hon ialah nyawa.
Very much a true reflection on happenings on any road in India. Horns are really a necessity in India. You have signs such as ‘Horn Please’ at the back of a lorry.
Semasa dalam perjalanan menghadiri makan malam perpisahan di Istana Chowmohalla (dibina pada 1780 oleh Nawab Nizam Ali Khan, Asaf Jah II), pemandu bas yang membawa kami tiba-tiba turun lari meninggalkan bas yang dibawanya. Hilang dalam lautan manusia dan kenderaan. Kami terpinga-pinga. Dua lelaki preman masing-masing memegang submesingan jenis sterling yang mengawal keselamatan kami dalam bas berkata “jangan bimbang”. Pemandu tadi sebenarnya turun untuk meleraikan kenderaan-kenderaan yang sudah berpintal di atas jalan raya. Dia bertindak menjadi polis trafik. Sambil dia menyelesaikan kekusutan itu, saya melihat di seberang sana seorang penumpang turun dari teksi roda tiga yang dinaikinya menolak kenderaan itu yang mati di atas jalan raya. Tiada rasa marah pun di muka penumpang itu yang menolong menolak teksinya yang rosak. Tiada siapa peduli apa yang berlaku di sekeliling mereka. Polis trafik pun menjalankan apa yang terdaya, tanpa memperlihatkan sedikit pun kekerutan di dahinya. Trafik lalu lintas tetap berjalan lancar, walaupun dalam suasana kekecohan.
The real difference is that apparently there are no road bullies in India, people are extremely patient despite the chaotic situation in the roads. It is perhaps that everyone realises that they are equally guilty of breaking the rules all the time.
Sebelah malam, di tepi-tepi jalan insan-insan tidur merata-rata. Ada yang telah nyenyak membungkus tubuh dengan kain selimut daripada kedinginan kota itu. Yang belum tidur, duduk mencangkung sambil memandang ke satu tujuan yang tidak diketahui.
You can see them at five foot way, open parks and even in roundabouts.
Hampir dua jam bergelut kami tiba di istana bereka bentuk masjid itu. Di sepanjang dinding tembok istana tertulis tulisan dalam bahasa Inggeris “Ini tempat suci jangan kencing”. Kencing berdiri sambil si anunya memancut ke dinding adalah pemandangan umum yang biasa. Mungkin kerana terlalu ramai manusia, tandas bukan lagi pilihan. Awas, setiap pagi berhati-hati berjalan di kaki-kaki lima kerana terlalu banyak jerangkap samar dari isi perut manusia berlonggok di sana-sini. Suasana serupa juga juga khabarnya boleh dilihat di bandar raya lain termasuk di Mumbai.
This is a norm in India, Clean toilets are hard to find, one has to get into some hotels or some up market restaurants in India to find some decent toilets. Urinating in public is a norm, something that is decreasing by the day, but still prevalent in most towns and cities.
Sampainya di istana itu, kami dibawa masuk ke dalamnya. Satu suasana antara langit dengan bumi. Kawasan istana lama itu diwarnai dengan lampu-lampu berwarni yang menyenangkan perasaan. Bagaikan berada dalam kisah Hikayat 1001. Tarian-tarian Bollywood dari era 50-an hingga kini dipersembahkan kepada kami. Selesai persembahan kami dijamu dengan juadah Hyderabad tersohor di dunia, nasi beriyani.
Hotels in Hyderabad are much more costlier than those in Malaysia. Even a 1 or 2 star hotel can cost up to the minimum charged by a 5 star hotel in Malaysia as generally there are shortage of hotel rooms throughout India.
Kami makan beriyani kambing dan ayam, tanpa mempedulikan apa-apa lagi. Ia terlalu sedap tanpa boleh ditandingi oleh mana-mana restoran Malaysia, waima Hameediah di Campbell Street, Pulau Pinang mahupun Mahbob di Bangsar. This is the only food I would recommend in Hyderabad. Di luar tembok sana, suasananya adalah terlalu kontras. India yang penuh warna-warni. India yang penuh dengan drama. Di dada-dada akhbarnya konflik di mana-mana. Di Parlimennya pun haru-biru seperti di atas jalan rayanya juga. Televisyen memaparkan bagaimana seorang speaker dewannya tidak diendahkan oleh ahli-ahli Parlimen yang memboikot sesi soal-jawab. Akhbar Deccan Chronicle dalam karikatur muka satunya (macam Senyum Kambing) keesokan harinya mencuit: Mengapa mereka tidak mahu buat sesi soal-jawab dalam kantin saja, kan di situ tempatnya ahli Parlimen selalu melepak?
Parliament and State assemblies in India as more chaotic than Malaysia. As in the case of non-existence of road bullies in India, parliament and state assemblies are noisy but rarely end up in violence. Walk outs, hurling abuses, caste sentiments, race rhetoric are a norm. Not much different from Malaysia.
India tetap India. Orang India ialah masyarakat yang begitu unik. Jika kita sering tengok wayang Tamil atau Hindi, itulah budaya mereka. Kecoh, kecoh dan kecoh.
There’s nothing wrong with this comment. Indian Malaysians are equally kecoh. One need not go far, just look at the prayers, religious events, processions, weddings and other ceremonies. It’s always noisy and chaotic. Thaipusam is a very good example. Only the more educated and civilised Indian Malaysians are trying to change by doing things in a more orderly manner. Those who object to this particular comment are those in denial and they are the ones who are unlikely to change or become more civilised.
Namun, kita di Malaysia pun ada orang India. Kecohnya pun lebih kurang sama. Mereka ini rata-ratanya terdiri daripada ahli-ahli profesional, peguam dan kini menjadi ahli politik. Di Malaysia hanya orang India yang pandai-pandai sahaja yang sering buat bising. Mereka menguasai Majlis Peguam dan kini mereka sudah ramai di Parlimen, bukan mewakili MIC, tapi mewakili DAP dan PKR.
I quite agree, Indian Politicians so far are seen to be more noise than substance, be it Samy Vellu or those from the opposition.
Kerana mereka lantang dan suka buat haru-biru, suara mereka sering kedengaran. Salah seorangnya ialah N. Kulasegaran yang kini memegang jawatan Naib Pengerusi DAP Perak. Beliau lantang mempersoalkan hak-hak orang Melayu. Katanya, beliau tidak faham mengapa setelah bertahun lamanya masih ada kelompok manusia percaya kepada warna kulit atau penampilan yang lebih tinggi daripada satu kaum lain. Kita tidak pasti apakah beliau ikhlas dengan kenyataannya itu. Dia tahukah apa yang dia cakap? Tapi yang pasti kenyataannya itu cukup sensitif dan akan membuat kumpulan lain marah. Tapi seperti biasa orang Melayu marahnya tidak lama. Tak apalah. Orang Melayu tidak seperti orang India, walaupun ada juga Melayu yang darah keturunan Keling (DKK), tapi darah Melayu yang lembut banyak menguasai mereka.
I dont understand why the need for the writer to use derogatory term here, though I am not offended. The point is if compared to India, where certain race and castes are suppressed, there’s nothing much to lose here with Malays having Malay rights & privileges. I am sure Kulasegaran must be aware of the discrimination towards certain caste and within certain races in India. He must be in denial. Even in Malaysia, certain Indian race and caste are strongly against mixed marriages within Indians and you will never see Indian Malaysian leaders denounce this because some of them are guilty of the same.
Jika di India, mungkin kita akan sentiasa dikawal oleh pengawal bermesingan. Kulasegaran perlu mengambil cuti. Pergilah melawat ke India, dan hayatilah erti kehidupan di sana, hayatilah erti kasta dan darjat, miskin dan kaya, seperti yang saya alami minggu lalu. Seburuk-buruk Malaysia, inilah tanah tumpah darah kita. — Utusan Malaysia
Agreed, Indian Malaysian Politicians should visit and study the situation in India. I am just most of them must have been there. It’s just that they are living in denial. I must repeat that most of the problems associated with Indians in Malaysia is of their own doing. These politicians continue to deny the existing problems within the community and pin the blame on the government and the rich. For example, Job opportunities are plenty, but Indian politicians blame the government for falure to tackle urban poor and problem of Indian youth turning to gangsterism. How long are they going to hide behind their own weaknesses are beyond me.
I yearned to come back to Malaysia just after a month of staying in Hyderabad. I really struggled to stay there for 5 months. Never in my mind had the thought of living there forever. No way, Malaysia is heaven on earth and despite all the issues and problems, this is certainly not a country where the citizens should ungrateful of.
Generally, the article presented true account of situation in India, Hyderabad in particular and the similarities found among Malaysian Indians, which I quite agree. . The only issue would be perhaps the use of derogatory term on Indians.
My comments are in bold Alkisah India di India dan India di Malaysia — Zaini Hassan
DEC 11 — Berada di kota raya tua India, Hyderabad selama seminggu minggu lalu amat memberi kesedaran kepada diri ini. Setiap inci persegi tanah di kota-kotanya dihuni oleh ratusan insan. Setiap kilometer persegi dihuni oleh ratusan ribu insan dan setiap bandar raya di negara keramat itu dihuni oleh jutaan manusia. Dan India ialah tanah bagi 1.2 bilion umat manusia. Angkanya bertambah setiap saat.
I have been to Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai (and the whole of Tamil Nadu). What makes it more relevant is that I have stayed in Hyderabad on job assignment for 5 months.
Berada di India bererti kita berada dalam satu realiti kemanusiaan yang sebenar. India ialah tanah bagi manusia ramai. Jurang hidupnya adalah antara langit dan bumi. Yang papa terlalu papa, yang kaya terlalu kaya. Yang kaya, tidak pandang ke bawah, yang bawah tetap di bawah.
Very true, the rich are extremely rich in India while there are still beggars and those who live on USD $1 a day. An average rich person in India is definitely richer than millionaires in Malaysia.
Kasta, darjat atau keturunan masih diamalkan secara tebal di seluruh India. Ia semacam satu agama. Kasta atas tidak boleh bersatu kasta rendah.
Another fact despite all the rhetoric spewed by heroes in Tamil Movies and Indian leaders in general saying all are equal. Caste, Status and Race are very much important in the society.
Jalan rayanya haru-biru. Suasananya hiruk-pikuk. Bas, lori, kereta, basikal, teksi roda tiga, kereta lembu, kuda bersimpang siur. Bunyi hon adalah wajib. Pegang sahaja stereng, bunyi hon dulu. Di belakang bas dan lori tertulis “tolong hon”. Tiada siapa marah jika dia dihon. Hon ialah nyawa.
Very much a true reflection on happenings on any road in India. Horns are really a necessity in India. You have signs such as ‘Horn Please’ at the back of a lorry.
Semasa dalam perjalanan menghadiri makan malam perpisahan di Istana Chowmohalla (dibina pada 1780 oleh Nawab Nizam Ali Khan, Asaf Jah II), pemandu bas yang membawa kami tiba-tiba turun lari meninggalkan bas yang dibawanya. Hilang dalam lautan manusia dan kenderaan. Kami terpinga-pinga. Dua lelaki preman masing-masing memegang submesingan jenis sterling yang mengawal keselamatan kami dalam bas berkata “jangan bimbang”. Pemandu tadi sebenarnya turun untuk meleraikan kenderaan-kenderaan yang sudah berpintal di atas jalan raya. Dia bertindak menjadi polis trafik. Sambil dia menyelesaikan kekusutan itu, saya melihat di seberang sana seorang penumpang turun dari teksi roda tiga yang dinaikinya menolak kenderaan itu yang mati di atas jalan raya. Tiada rasa marah pun di muka penumpang itu yang menolong menolak teksinya yang rosak. Tiada siapa peduli apa yang berlaku di sekeliling mereka. Polis trafik pun menjalankan apa yang terdaya, tanpa memperlihatkan sedikit pun kekerutan di dahinya. Trafik lalu lintas tetap berjalan lancar, walaupun dalam suasana kekecohan.
The real difference is that apparently there are no road bullies in India, people are extremely patient despite the chaotic situation in the roads. It is perhaps that everyone realises that they are equally guilty of breaking the rules all the time.
Sebelah malam, di tepi-tepi jalan insan-insan tidur merata-rata. Ada yang telah nyenyak membungkus tubuh dengan kain selimut daripada kedinginan kota itu. Yang belum tidur, duduk mencangkung sambil memandang ke satu tujuan yang tidak diketahui.
You can see them at five foot way, open parks and even in roundabouts.
Hampir dua jam bergelut kami tiba di istana bereka bentuk masjid itu. Di sepanjang dinding tembok istana tertulis tulisan dalam bahasa Inggeris “Ini tempat suci jangan kencing”. Kencing berdiri sambil si anunya memancut ke dinding adalah pemandangan umum yang biasa. Mungkin kerana terlalu ramai manusia, tandas bukan lagi pilihan. Awas, setiap pagi berhati-hati berjalan di kaki-kaki lima kerana terlalu banyak jerangkap samar dari isi perut manusia berlonggok di sana-sini. Suasana serupa juga juga khabarnya boleh dilihat di bandar raya lain termasuk di Mumbai.
This is a norm in India, Clean toilets are hard to find, one has to get into some hotels or some up market restaurants in India to find some decent toilets. Urinating in public is a norm, something that is decreasing by the day, but still prevalent in most towns and cities.
Sampainya di istana itu, kami dibawa masuk ke dalamnya. Satu suasana antara langit dengan bumi. Kawasan istana lama itu diwarnai dengan lampu-lampu berwarni yang menyenangkan perasaan. Bagaikan berada dalam kisah Hikayat 1001. Tarian-tarian Bollywood dari era 50-an hingga kini dipersembahkan kepada kami. Selesai persembahan kami dijamu dengan juadah Hyderabad tersohor di dunia, nasi beriyani.
Hotels in Hyderabad are much more costlier than those in Malaysia. Even a 1 or 2 star hotel can cost up to the minimum charged by a 5 star hotel in Malaysia as generally there are shortage of hotel rooms throughout India.
Kami makan beriyani kambing dan ayam, tanpa mempedulikan apa-apa lagi. Ia terlalu sedap tanpa boleh ditandingi oleh mana-mana restoran Malaysia, waima Hameediah di Campbell Street, Pulau Pinang mahupun Mahbob di Bangsar. This is the only food I would recommend in Hyderabad. Di luar tembok sana, suasananya adalah terlalu kontras. India yang penuh warna-warni. India yang penuh dengan drama. Di dada-dada akhbarnya konflik di mana-mana. Di Parlimennya pun haru-biru seperti di atas jalan rayanya juga. Televisyen memaparkan bagaimana seorang speaker dewannya tidak diendahkan oleh ahli-ahli Parlimen yang memboikot sesi soal-jawab. Akhbar Deccan Chronicle dalam karikatur muka satunya (macam Senyum Kambing) keesokan harinya mencuit: Mengapa mereka tidak mahu buat sesi soal-jawab dalam kantin saja, kan di situ tempatnya ahli Parlimen selalu melepak?
Parliament and State assemblies in India as more chaotic than Malaysia. As in the case of non-existence of road bullies in India, parliament and state assemblies are noisy but rarely end up in violence. Walk outs, hurling abuses, caste sentiments, race rhetoric are a norm. Not much different from Malaysia.
India tetap India. Orang India ialah masyarakat yang begitu unik. Jika kita sering tengok wayang Tamil atau Hindi, itulah budaya mereka. Kecoh, kecoh dan kecoh.
There’s nothing wrong with this comment. Indian Malaysians are equally kecoh. One need not go far, just look at the prayers, religious events, processions, weddings and other ceremonies. It’s always noisy and chaotic. Thaipusam is a very good example. Only the more educated and civilised Indian Malaysians are trying to change by doing things in a more orderly manner. Those who object to this particular comment are those in denial and they are the ones who are unlikely to change or become more civilised.
Namun, kita di Malaysia pun ada orang India. Kecohnya pun lebih kurang sama. Mereka ini rata-ratanya terdiri daripada ahli-ahli profesional, peguam dan kini menjadi ahli politik. Di Malaysia hanya orang India yang pandai-pandai sahaja yang sering buat bising. Mereka menguasai Majlis Peguam dan kini mereka sudah ramai di Parlimen, bukan mewakili MIC, tapi mewakili DAP dan PKR.
I quite agree, Indian Politicians so far are seen to be more noise than substance, be it Samy Vellu or those from the opposition.
Kerana mereka lantang dan suka buat haru-biru, suara mereka sering kedengaran. Salah seorangnya ialah N. Kulasegaran yang kini memegang jawatan Naib Pengerusi DAP Perak. Beliau lantang mempersoalkan hak-hak orang Melayu. Katanya, beliau tidak faham mengapa setelah bertahun lamanya masih ada kelompok manusia percaya kepada warna kulit atau penampilan yang lebih tinggi daripada satu kaum lain. Kita tidak pasti apakah beliau ikhlas dengan kenyataannya itu. Dia tahukah apa yang dia cakap? Tapi yang pasti kenyataannya itu cukup sensitif dan akan membuat kumpulan lain marah. Tapi seperti biasa orang Melayu marahnya tidak lama. Tak apalah. Orang Melayu tidak seperti orang India, walaupun ada juga Melayu yang darah keturunan Keling (DKK), tapi darah Melayu yang lembut banyak menguasai mereka.
I dont understand why the need for the writer to use derogatory term here, though I am not offended. The point is if compared to India, where certain race and castes are suppressed, there’s nothing much to lose here with Malays having Malay rights & privileges. I am sure Kulasegaran must be aware of the discrimination towards certain caste and within certain races in India. He must be in denial. Even in Malaysia, certain Indian race and caste are strongly against mixed marriages within Indians and you will never see Indian Malaysian leaders denounce this because some of them are guilty of the same.
Jika di India, mungkin kita akan sentiasa dikawal oleh pengawal bermesingan. Kulasegaran perlu mengambil cuti. Pergilah melawat ke India, dan hayatilah erti kehidupan di sana, hayatilah erti kasta dan darjat, miskin dan kaya, seperti yang saya alami minggu lalu. Seburuk-buruk Malaysia, inilah tanah tumpah darah kita. — Utusan Malaysia
Agreed, Indian Malaysian Politicians should visit and study the situation in India. I am just most of them must have been there. It’s just that they are living in denial. I must repeat that most of the problems associated with Indians in Malaysia is of their own doing. These politicians continue to deny the existing problems within the community and pin the blame on the government and the rich. For example, Job opportunities are plenty, but Indian politicians blame the government for falure to tackle urban poor and problem of Indian youth turning to gangsterism. How long are they going to hide behind their own weaknesses are beyond me.
I yearned to come back to Malaysia just after a month of staying in Hyderabad. I really struggled to stay there for 5 months. Never in my mind had the thought of living there forever. No way, Malaysia is heaven on earth and despite all the issues and problems, this is certainly not a country where the citizens should ungrateful of.
Generally, the article presented true account of situation in India, Hyderabad in particular and the similarities found among Malaysian Indians, which I quite agree. . The only issue would be perhaps the use of derogatory term on Indians.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
We Are All Racist!!
It’s quite funny to see Malaysians accusing each other of being racist. This, is from the Ministers right up to the working class ( the cow head group).
I think we Malaysians are in denial. We are all racist. I will outline below why I say so..
All Malaysian political parties are somewhat race based; this includes those who claim to be multi racial. Multi-racial political parties while claiming to be all equal, conduct their ceramah targeting particular race at various spots usually frequented by a particular race.
For example, DAP, MCA and Gerakan have their ceramah at Chinese restaurants, complete with dinner and drinks. UMNO and PAS like to have their campaigns near mosques and open areas within usually a Malay majority area while MIC and Hindraf like to do this in Indian Majority areas and even temples.
The only time these political parties do otherwise is when they campaign for candidate from another party, only then they share the same stage. This is quite evident during by-elections where campaigns are more focused one various ethnic groups apart from the customary door to door campaigning.
Why is that certain political party leaders give their speech in Mandarin and Tamil, aren’t we supposed to be communicating in Bahasa Malaysia or English. The whole objective cannot be other than delivering messages targeted at certain race.
We have various school streams based on mainly race and not really actual mother tongue. We have so called vernacular school champions, whose statement and overall outlook are racist in nature, supported vehemently by MCA, MIC, and not surprisingly self appointed multi-racialist, Gerakan, PKR, DAP and various other mosquito parties.
Why PKR and DAP supports vernacular schools, even to the extend of marching the streets in pressuring government to reverse the Maths/Science in English policy, is beyond me. They were also the first to denounce single stream school idea put forward by a racist party, UMNO (Mukhriz brought it up first in the parliament).
Of course, everyone, including UMNO, MIC, MCA and multi-racial parties often rely on the clauses in the federal constitution which guarantees vernacular education as well as special privileges for the Malays. While Multi-racial parties wants Malay rights to be abolished and the government to treat everyone equally, they are unwilling to accept the idea of having children study in the single school system, even though Mandarin and Tamil will still be taught.
When Vision School idea, a compromise of sorts to maintain Chinese and Tamil schools in it’s current form while sharing a common venue/building, the same racist vernacular school champions objected and not to our surprise again, their objection were supported by so-called multi-racial parties such as DAP. Why, because DAP’s support is mainly derived from one race, hence race is a main factor in DAP’s political strategy. Why is that there are hardly any Malays in DAP, the answer is the same, the actual focus is on RACE, RACE and RACE.
What is the reason for Selangor state government, helmed by a multi-racial party back track on their decision to appoint a Chinese as the head of PKNS. Why is that their representative line up for EXCO and councilors are various local council in all states (including those helmed by multiracial parties ) is based on racial quota, not on basis of experience and competency.
Why do ‘Malaysian Malaysia’ leader Lim Guan Eng, who want equality, and champions ‘Competency, Accountability and Transparency appoint a Malay and Indian Deputy Chief Minister, who have no administrative experience, if not for the reason none other than the candidates RACE!
Why is that DAP is very much focused on the PKFZ scandal and not say MIED or Maika or even the roof collapse of the stadium in Terengganu, if not for the fact that the scandal is linked to MCA, their arch-enemies in vying for Chinese votes.
It’s also normal for all these politicians to take advantage of certain incidents to become champions of certain race. Good example is Kugan and Teoh Beng Hock’s death, though Malaysians as a whole deplored such tragic events, certain politicians found it fit to use it to their advantage and in the process, become hero of the particular race.
In Kugan’s death, Indian politicians from both opposition and BN came to the fore but when innocent and not so innocent Indians are dying on almost daily basis due to violence perpetrated by fellow Indians, these Indian Champions are no where to be seen. I am not exaggerating here, almost one Indian is killed everyday by usually fellow Indians, due to fights, gang fights, crime gone wrong etc. Those who read Tamil newspapers will agree. In fact, I had a relative who became a victim, whose case is never resolved until today.
The same applies when known criminals are shot dead by police, more than usual, only politicians of certain race comes forward to slam the police but when policemen are killed or injured while on duty, the same racial heroes are nowhere to be seen. You must have realized that similar scenarios prevailed in Teoh Beng Hock’s case.
Actually I need not go far to illustrate this point, just go and have a look at the vernacular newspapers. They are full of reports on certain race only. A non-record breaking Sea Games gold medal win by an Indian were glorified by all 3 Tamil newspaper while a double gold medal win by A Sarawakian were left in a small column of the back page in two of the 3 newspapers. Another just highlighted it in the summary.
I pity most of our Malay friends who can’t read these vernacular newspapers. Even for Chinese or rather Mandarin newspapers, one need not know the language; you can know what’s going on, where the focus is, what the main issues etc are by looking at the generous amount of pictures in the pages. You will never go wrong if you conclude that the main issues are about Chinese and key personalities are none other than MCA, leaders as well as Chinese leaders from the so-called multi-racial parties.
In Tamil newspapers, you can also easily detect the media conduct of Indian politicians from so-called multi-racial parties. People like Manikavasagam, Sivanesan, Gobalakrishnan and even Dr Ramasamy (DCM, Penang) . They pander to Tamil media, appearing almost daily basis on stories exclusively focused on Indians. The war between politicians in the Tamil newspapers, who are generally more independent than English or Malay mainstream papers are quite ferocious and these politicians from so-called multi-racial parties use the papers to slam MIC and BN leaders. It is so obvious that the only reason they do this is of course to slam BN but on the other hand, to be seen as a hero to their own race. They hardly invite Tamil Media to cover events involving other races.
On a personal basis, it is common for Malaysians to criticise and make racially insensitive comments about another race when their own kind get together. We would be lying if we deny this. We deplore the habits of certain race and the only opportune time to talk about it is when the same race get together. We make all kinds of accusation against another race when we can easily find similar deficiencies or weaknesses within our own race.
It was apparent in the case of Indians, where all the blame for their misfortunes are leveled against the government and Malays in general when the actual fact, most of the problems faced by the community is their own doing but none of the racial heroes have come forward to criticise their own community for their failures.
I had similar feeling when reading ‘The Chinese Dilemma’ where the community, despite being quite well of in general, was portrayed is being in denial of their own weaknesses. Most of the facts presented were quite true, says a Chinese friend of mine.
In summary, we are all racist and politicians should accept this fact and stop accusing each other of being racist. No country in the world is without racist or people with such tendencies. We just have to minimise such rhetoric’s and focus on bridging the divide.
I think we Malaysians are in denial. We are all racist. I will outline below why I say so..
All Malaysian political parties are somewhat race based; this includes those who claim to be multi racial. Multi-racial political parties while claiming to be all equal, conduct their ceramah targeting particular race at various spots usually frequented by a particular race.
For example, DAP, MCA and Gerakan have their ceramah at Chinese restaurants, complete with dinner and drinks. UMNO and PAS like to have their campaigns near mosques and open areas within usually a Malay majority area while MIC and Hindraf like to do this in Indian Majority areas and even temples.
The only time these political parties do otherwise is when they campaign for candidate from another party, only then they share the same stage. This is quite evident during by-elections where campaigns are more focused one various ethnic groups apart from the customary door to door campaigning.
Why is that certain political party leaders give their speech in Mandarin and Tamil, aren’t we supposed to be communicating in Bahasa Malaysia or English. The whole objective cannot be other than delivering messages targeted at certain race.
We have various school streams based on mainly race and not really actual mother tongue. We have so called vernacular school champions, whose statement and overall outlook are racist in nature, supported vehemently by MCA, MIC, and not surprisingly self appointed multi-racialist, Gerakan, PKR, DAP and various other mosquito parties.
Why PKR and DAP supports vernacular schools, even to the extend of marching the streets in pressuring government to reverse the Maths/Science in English policy, is beyond me. They were also the first to denounce single stream school idea put forward by a racist party, UMNO (Mukhriz brought it up first in the parliament).
Of course, everyone, including UMNO, MIC, MCA and multi-racial parties often rely on the clauses in the federal constitution which guarantees vernacular education as well as special privileges for the Malays. While Multi-racial parties wants Malay rights to be abolished and the government to treat everyone equally, they are unwilling to accept the idea of having children study in the single school system, even though Mandarin and Tamil will still be taught.
When Vision School idea, a compromise of sorts to maintain Chinese and Tamil schools in it’s current form while sharing a common venue/building, the same racist vernacular school champions objected and not to our surprise again, their objection were supported by so-called multi-racial parties such as DAP. Why, because DAP’s support is mainly derived from one race, hence race is a main factor in DAP’s political strategy. Why is that there are hardly any Malays in DAP, the answer is the same, the actual focus is on RACE, RACE and RACE.
What is the reason for Selangor state government, helmed by a multi-racial party back track on their decision to appoint a Chinese as the head of PKNS. Why is that their representative line up for EXCO and councilors are various local council in all states (including those helmed by multiracial parties ) is based on racial quota, not on basis of experience and competency.
Why do ‘Malaysian Malaysia’ leader Lim Guan Eng, who want equality, and champions ‘Competency, Accountability and Transparency appoint a Malay and Indian Deputy Chief Minister, who have no administrative experience, if not for the reason none other than the candidates RACE!
Why is that DAP is very much focused on the PKFZ scandal and not say MIED or Maika or even the roof collapse of the stadium in Terengganu, if not for the fact that the scandal is linked to MCA, their arch-enemies in vying for Chinese votes.
It’s also normal for all these politicians to take advantage of certain incidents to become champions of certain race. Good example is Kugan and Teoh Beng Hock’s death, though Malaysians as a whole deplored such tragic events, certain politicians found it fit to use it to their advantage and in the process, become hero of the particular race.
In Kugan’s death, Indian politicians from both opposition and BN came to the fore but when innocent and not so innocent Indians are dying on almost daily basis due to violence perpetrated by fellow Indians, these Indian Champions are no where to be seen. I am not exaggerating here, almost one Indian is killed everyday by usually fellow Indians, due to fights, gang fights, crime gone wrong etc. Those who read Tamil newspapers will agree. In fact, I had a relative who became a victim, whose case is never resolved until today.
The same applies when known criminals are shot dead by police, more than usual, only politicians of certain race comes forward to slam the police but when policemen are killed or injured while on duty, the same racial heroes are nowhere to be seen. You must have realized that similar scenarios prevailed in Teoh Beng Hock’s case.
Actually I need not go far to illustrate this point, just go and have a look at the vernacular newspapers. They are full of reports on certain race only. A non-record breaking Sea Games gold medal win by an Indian were glorified by all 3 Tamil newspaper while a double gold medal win by A Sarawakian were left in a small column of the back page in two of the 3 newspapers. Another just highlighted it in the summary.
I pity most of our Malay friends who can’t read these vernacular newspapers. Even for Chinese or rather Mandarin newspapers, one need not know the language; you can know what’s going on, where the focus is, what the main issues etc are by looking at the generous amount of pictures in the pages. You will never go wrong if you conclude that the main issues are about Chinese and key personalities are none other than MCA, leaders as well as Chinese leaders from the so-called multi-racial parties.
In Tamil newspapers, you can also easily detect the media conduct of Indian politicians from so-called multi-racial parties. People like Manikavasagam, Sivanesan, Gobalakrishnan and even Dr Ramasamy (DCM, Penang) . They pander to Tamil media, appearing almost daily basis on stories exclusively focused on Indians. The war between politicians in the Tamil newspapers, who are generally more independent than English or Malay mainstream papers are quite ferocious and these politicians from so-called multi-racial parties use the papers to slam MIC and BN leaders. It is so obvious that the only reason they do this is of course to slam BN but on the other hand, to be seen as a hero to their own race. They hardly invite Tamil Media to cover events involving other races.
On a personal basis, it is common for Malaysians to criticise and make racially insensitive comments about another race when their own kind get together. We would be lying if we deny this. We deplore the habits of certain race and the only opportune time to talk about it is when the same race get together. We make all kinds of accusation against another race when we can easily find similar deficiencies or weaknesses within our own race.
It was apparent in the case of Indians, where all the blame for their misfortunes are leveled against the government and Malays in general when the actual fact, most of the problems faced by the community is their own doing but none of the racial heroes have come forward to criticise their own community for their failures.
I had similar feeling when reading ‘The Chinese Dilemma’ where the community, despite being quite well of in general, was portrayed is being in denial of their own weaknesses. Most of the facts presented were quite true, says a Chinese friend of mine.
In summary, we are all racist and politicians should accept this fact and stop accusing each other of being racist. No country in the world is without racist or people with such tendencies. We just have to minimise such rhetoric’s and focus on bridging the divide.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Johoreans Still With BN
It has been a long time since my last post.
It’s wedding season and I returned to Kluang, Johor (not JB for those who think Johor is JB, do read this to know the difference ) twice over two weeks and I also had the opportunity to attend other weddings in KL.
The usual conversation of normal Malaysians like us in a wedding revolves not around serious stuff like gay rights, human rights or global warming (it was rainy throughout my stay there). Apart from commenting about bride, groom, their family, how we have aged as well as the ever escalating rate of wedding ang pows (or Moiyee in Tamil), we also spoke about politics.
In the Kluang weddings, there were pockets of people from Kuantan, Singapore as well as people from all parts of Johor.
Based on my conversation with them on politics, I can summarise that people have grown tired of petty politics played out by both BN and Pakatan Rakyat. While BN bashing has become a fashion, as it is here in Johor, it has certainly become increasingly boring. One thing is quite clear; people have less confidence in Pakatan Rakyat now than before.
When enquired further, it appears that people are tired of both Pakatan national leaders as well as their local representatives. They further amplified that these local leaders are those who canvassed for votes in the last elections and had since, many of their candidates have won.
The real problem on the ground appears to be the local leaders as they have appeared to have promised the sun and moon during the elections. And more glaringly, majority of the Pakatan local leaders are BN rejects and I was told, those who actually failed or sidelined by their former BN party. I was also informed that promises have remained just that, promises. This sync with incidents that we hear and read daily, promises that were never delivered across the country by Pakatan and BN.
BN has a clear advantage as there were not much expectation any way that they will deliver but for Pakatan, promises were made much expectation (especially with the usual heroic stage rhetoric with chants of ‘Makkal Sakhti’ ) , especially in the states governed by them. As in Johor, a BN stronghold, Pakatan gained several seats in the last elections and even with the few seats the state Pakatan appears to be in sleeping mode and not to mention, squabbles in the State DAP and alleged involvement of secret society.
The same sentiments were shared by others in the wedding from other states. People have started to have more confidence in the economy. Malays, I hear do not have much fear over the liberalization of several key sectors (not that they understand much in the 1st place).
In Johor, jobs are plenty, factories are near to their usual capacity and Iskandar is beginning to take shape. More importantly for the JB folks, there is an alternative route to the much dreaded Pasir Gudang highway (for those who have not used this road, I suggest you should check and firm up your brakes before even thinking of using this road).
As for temple and cow heads, I hear that there are no such issues in Johor. Even the Royalty gave the land to the new Crystal Temple in JB and aptly promoted as a tourist destination by the state government. People are equally excited and confused over the Iskandar project as it is being trumpeted frequently by the media and national leaders but there’s little to show at the moment. I was informed that there few evidences of jobs being created for the project.
As for the Indians, people I know appears to be singing a different tune now as compared to pre and post general elections when there were strong anti-BN and pro Hindraf (pro Pakatan) sentiments. People here are disgusted with Hindraf leaders and other Pakatan Indian leaders. Indians are also slowly losing their trust on Anwar. One asked me where is he?, while another asked if Anwar is planning to return to UMNO, speculation further to the alleged meeting with Najib.
People are also beginning to get tired with the antics of Indian leaders, especially when they try to defend criminals and criminal acts. A local said that the 5 Indians who were killed in a shoot out with police, deserves to die. For those who are not aware, this shoot to kill policy are often played out in many Tamil movies and known as ‘encounter’ and it is a normal happening in India where court and trials take ages to even start and police choose this alternative unofficial method to rid society of known and proven hardcore criminals.
As for support for Najib, many are cautiously optimistic that Najib will deliver, with many commenting on his fast paced, business like moves and less political rhetoric in the recent past. Despite the usual distrusts, people are impressed with his pace and measures that has been taken thus far, though many think it can be better, especially on cost of living.
In summary, though I may have only met few people in Johor and they may not represent the majority, it appears that Johoreans still trust BN though they are much more cautious than before. If Pakatan Rakyat do not put their house and people in order, it would be quite difficult to take over this BN strong hold.
It’s wedding season and I returned to Kluang, Johor (not JB for those who think Johor is JB, do read this to know the difference ) twice over two weeks and I also had the opportunity to attend other weddings in KL.
The usual conversation of normal Malaysians like us in a wedding revolves not around serious stuff like gay rights, human rights or global warming (it was rainy throughout my stay there). Apart from commenting about bride, groom, their family, how we have aged as well as the ever escalating rate of wedding ang pows (or Moiyee in Tamil), we also spoke about politics.
In the Kluang weddings, there were pockets of people from Kuantan, Singapore as well as people from all parts of Johor.
Based on my conversation with them on politics, I can summarise that people have grown tired of petty politics played out by both BN and Pakatan Rakyat. While BN bashing has become a fashion, as it is here in Johor, it has certainly become increasingly boring. One thing is quite clear; people have less confidence in Pakatan Rakyat now than before.
When enquired further, it appears that people are tired of both Pakatan national leaders as well as their local representatives. They further amplified that these local leaders are those who canvassed for votes in the last elections and had since, many of their candidates have won.
The real problem on the ground appears to be the local leaders as they have appeared to have promised the sun and moon during the elections. And more glaringly, majority of the Pakatan local leaders are BN rejects and I was told, those who actually failed or sidelined by their former BN party. I was also informed that promises have remained just that, promises. This sync with incidents that we hear and read daily, promises that were never delivered across the country by Pakatan and BN.
BN has a clear advantage as there were not much expectation any way that they will deliver but for Pakatan, promises were made much expectation (especially with the usual heroic stage rhetoric with chants of ‘Makkal Sakhti’ ) , especially in the states governed by them. As in Johor, a BN stronghold, Pakatan gained several seats in the last elections and even with the few seats the state Pakatan appears to be in sleeping mode and not to mention, squabbles in the State DAP and alleged involvement of secret society.
The same sentiments were shared by others in the wedding from other states. People have started to have more confidence in the economy. Malays, I hear do not have much fear over the liberalization of several key sectors (not that they understand much in the 1st place).
In Johor, jobs are plenty, factories are near to their usual capacity and Iskandar is beginning to take shape. More importantly for the JB folks, there is an alternative route to the much dreaded Pasir Gudang highway (for those who have not used this road, I suggest you should check and firm up your brakes before even thinking of using this road).
As for temple and cow heads, I hear that there are no such issues in Johor. Even the Royalty gave the land to the new Crystal Temple in JB and aptly promoted as a tourist destination by the state government. People are equally excited and confused over the Iskandar project as it is being trumpeted frequently by the media and national leaders but there’s little to show at the moment. I was informed that there few evidences of jobs being created for the project.
As for the Indians, people I know appears to be singing a different tune now as compared to pre and post general elections when there were strong anti-BN and pro Hindraf (pro Pakatan) sentiments. People here are disgusted with Hindraf leaders and other Pakatan Indian leaders. Indians are also slowly losing their trust on Anwar. One asked me where is he?, while another asked if Anwar is planning to return to UMNO, speculation further to the alleged meeting with Najib.
People are also beginning to get tired with the antics of Indian leaders, especially when they try to defend criminals and criminal acts. A local said that the 5 Indians who were killed in a shoot out with police, deserves to die. For those who are not aware, this shoot to kill policy are often played out in many Tamil movies and known as ‘encounter’ and it is a normal happening in India where court and trials take ages to even start and police choose this alternative unofficial method to rid society of known and proven hardcore criminals.
As for support for Najib, many are cautiously optimistic that Najib will deliver, with many commenting on his fast paced, business like moves and less political rhetoric in the recent past. Despite the usual distrusts, people are impressed with his pace and measures that has been taken thus far, though many think it can be better, especially on cost of living.
In summary, though I may have only met few people in Johor and they may not represent the majority, it appears that Johoreans still trust BN though they are much more cautious than before. If Pakatan Rakyat do not put their house and people in order, it would be quite difficult to take over this BN strong hold.
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