Friday, January 25, 2008

Rice monopoly

Surprise, surprise, what else in Malaysia is not a monopoly ? Benefitting the politically well-connecting, under the august yet sinister and corrupt umbrella of 'social engineering', New Economic Policy.
It was in the early 80s and 90s I recall rice millers all over Malaysia was forced to sell of to BERNAS (The National Rice Company)

Today it is a corrupt organization with a monopoly to import rice.
How convenient, a corrupted organization, monopolising the staple food for 24 million man, woman and child.


As usual, kudos to Raja Petra for this excellent coverage.
Read it here.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

An Glaring observation by an Expat

The good and bad thing about the Internet - a free-flow of unsolicited information. This could have been either a boon or a bane, depending on how you would view it.
However, what it really means - it's now too easy to be in the spotlight. Secrets and dirty linen can no longer be kept secret. That which would have been so easily surpressed is now open to scrutiny and questions.

Here is a post in an expat. forum entitled "Glaring Observations of Malaysia"
Original post here

I produce here the post in full.
As a long-time expatriate in a private institution in your country, I happen to observe a number of uncanny ‘facts’ about this country. The people do not often address themselves as Malaysians, with most still preferring their own ethnic identification.

One group has practically full control of the civil service, education and law enforcing, leaving the others scrambling for whatever are the leftovers.

This group also continues to enjoy a good percentage of special discounts when purchasing real estates, decade after decade and this is a very unique situation.

The disparity of the number of voters in the different parliament constituencies is alarming. One has more than a 100,000 electorate while another could well be only one-fifth of that. The bottom line is that a party or coalition can still form a government with majority seats despite winning only some 40% of the popular vote.

The elites of one group already hold a large chunk of the nation's economic pie, yet the government came out with dubious figures claiming the contrary. Statistics have been badly abused and often manipulated by the powerful.

Many able-minded citizens have been moving overseas. This plays right into the hands of the government that only feels comfortable among the mediocre.

Most mega-projects have been ill-conceived let alone properly planned. The squandering of the nation’s wealth solely benefits a particular section of cronies and party faithful.

Well, this country is fast becoming one of the several failed states that were once British colonies, but are now torn apart by ethnic and religious forces. The turbulent undercurrent of discontent seems to be growing, waiting to surface one day. But by then, it would be real ugly.


Of course, this is just an observation from a single individual and does not or may not reflect the entire sentiment of the nation.
However, one may ask is his observation valid ? Think it through.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Malaysian Police arresting MP on Parliament Grounds

11 December 2007, the darkest day of Malaysian Parliament.

Police arrested Mustafa Ali within Parliament compound this morning, without any court order.

The unparliamentary police action could be seen as 'invading' the Parliament and utter contempt of the sanctity of the Parliament.



Parliamentary Democracy ? Rule of Law ? Read Lim Kit Siang's blog or go to youtube.
This is an MP on Parliament grounds, not your regular on the street Joe.

A new Economic Agenda

..Indeed, as of 2005, Malaysia lived down to its empty slogan of Malaysia Boleh by
setting yet another record, this time for having the worst income disparity gaps
in Southeast Asia, behind even Indonesia and Thailand, as measured by its GINI
coefficient of 0.47. According to the World Bank, individual inequality in Malaysia as
measured by the GINI coefficient is the second worst in all of the Asian countries for
which data is available. Only Papua New Guinea ranks worse.


..The ongoing quest to protect the status quo and special Bumiputera business
privileges has created an opaque environment that does not sit well with international
investors demanding transparency and efficiency. Malaysia’s tender system that
is weighed in favour of affirmative action rather than meritocracy creates a noncompetitive
environment for business, and opens the door for corruption, which has
become pervasive in all sectors of society.
Read full article here
Adobe Reader Required.






Highest proportion of Government expenditure, coupled with lowest GDP growth.
To borrow from my mathematics course..What is the corollary ?
1. Inefficient use of funds ?
2. Entrepreneurial spirit shackled ?
3. Rampant leakages (corruption) ?

Think about it.

Religious Freedom ? - Res Ipsa Loquitur II

CONFISCATING OF CHRISTIAN LITERATURE

The Council of Churches strongly deplores the action of the state enforcement officials of the Publications and Al-Quran Texts Control Department under the Internal Security Ministry who recently confiscated English language Christian children's books said to contain offensive caricatures of prophets from several bookshops in three states; Johor Baru, Negeri Sembilan and Perak.

Such officials have no right and have overstepped their bounds by confiscating Christian literature.

It has been stated that illustrations of prophets depicted in the children's books are offensive to the sensitivities of Muslims.
In the first place, the Christian children's books are not meant for Muslims, so how can it be offensive to them?

Second, the illustrations contained in whatever form in such books depict biblical characters of spiritual significance for Christians.

By such an action the officials have offended the sensitivities of Christians because their publications and depictions of their biblical personalities have now become targets of unscrupulous Muslim officials bent on curtailing religious freedom in the country.

The Council of Churches strongly urges the Prime Minister and his Cabinet to take immediate action to put a stop to such actions by the said Ministry.

If such actions continue, it will undermine democracy and tarnish the good relations between the different religious communities in the country.

Immediate steps should be taken to amend administrative rules and regulations especially in the Internal Security Ministry that give a freehand to enforcement officials to act at their whim and fancies.

(signed)
Rev. Dr. Hermen Shastri,
General Secretary
Council of Churches of Malaysia

17th January 2008.
Original Post here
It is these high-handed little Napoleons again, who continuously wreck havoc in this country and minority communities are constantly kept on a vigil, looking out for any enroachment of their basic rights, time and energy are constantly wasted protecting and ensuring your rights and way of life. Nobody has time for nation-building anymore, it's all these petty crap that occupies everyone's mind. If you are a non-muslim, there is no peace of mind for you in Malaysia.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Little Napoleons again and again..

...let us all go to the Kuala Lumpur High Court at Jalan Duta on 17th and 18th
January 2008 and take a good look at the defenders of the dignity of Islam,
those 'moral police' who arrest Malay girls and boys who work in discos and then
photograph them in the nude and then demand sex as out of court settlement



Original posting here

Some "juicy" excerpts if anyone is interested - this is the state of the nation, and we're not Kosovo nor Serbia in the midst of a civil war where sex-crazed militia roam the streets for helpless women, armed with bayonets. This is 21st century modern metropolis of Kuala Lumpur. Home of the Petronas Twin Towers, the towering bastion of modernity. Yes it is indeed unfortunate, no it's not unfortunate, it's sick and it's all in the name of religion.

According to the police report that this Muslim woman made, which is the basis
of the suit, she plus all the others were handcuffed and placed in the police
truck. After some time she needed to answer the call of nature and requested
permission to go to the toilet. However, they refused to allow her to go to the
toilet and asked her instead to just pee in the truck.

In the police station, the men were separated from the women. The women were
then taken to a secluded part of the police station and photographed. But they
were not photographed in the normal 'criminal' way with their numbers on their
chest and so on. Instead, they were told to assume sexy positions -- bend
forwards, backwards, sideways, etc. Basically, they were asked to pose in erotic
and sensuous positions for the benefit of the cameras, sort of like the
centrefold of Playboy or Penthouse, if you know what I mean


Then the women were told they could avoid getting charged by settling the case
'outside court' in exchange for sexual favours. All they had to do was drop
their panties and after a quickie they would be allowed to go home without any
further action taken against them.


and no, it's not a made-up story, as Raja Petra said, go to the High Court and see for yourself the face of the perverts.

Friday, January 4, 2008

We are not North Korea nor are we East Germany

Picture from New York Times




From Rocky's Bru and here



What is a scandal ?

Some say Malaysia (especially the Malaysian Chinese Association) was rocked by a "scandal"
Yes the sex scandal by the Minister of Health.

More links here
I ask all of you - how would one define a scandal worth the attention of the entire nation and the resignation of a Cabinet Minister ?

What he did in his private time, behind closed doors with another consenting adult ?
Or a 4.6 Billion white elephant project, wrought in corrupt practices, hand-outs and kickbacks ?

One more link here - from Singapore Straits Times
Both are MCA projects - who should resign ?
You tell me ? Who has betrayed your trust for public accountability ?

It's about time we think with our senses and not be sheeps - running around and herded by sheepdogs (yes, the mainstream media)

If you ask me, Malaysians deserve the government they get.

p.s. Ancient Mariner asked :

"How come no Royal Commision of Inquiry to determine authenticity of DVD ?"

Indeed, it's disgracegul, MCA should be ashame. Between Angelina Yam and all of us...

We are being screwed big time and we are not even all consenting adults either.

- from Ancient Mariner