Rights of the Dead by Tricia Yeoh

Like many Malaysians, I had followed closely the developments of the Teoh Beng Hock case, who mysteriously fell to his death while being summoned as a witness by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Corruption to assist in the investigation of a minor case involving an opposition party politician.

I thought I knew everything about the case. Indeed the film shred no further insights into the case, but what I did not expect was the extend to which I could be moved by the film. What really stood out in the film was the human elements - the grief and anger of the people that are close to Beng Hock was especially hard hitting.

3 years has gone by, a Royal Commission was setup for it. But yet the case remained unresolved, at least not in the heart and mind of the people. There was a terrible sense of injustice, and the farcical and almost comical inquiries only fueled the anger of the people.

This film made me realized just how deep seated the anger towards the unholy trinity of the executive, the judiciary and the police runs. The footage of our prime minister promising the people "The whole truth, nothing but the truth" almost made me wanted to throw a rotten egg at some rotten somebody.

Thanks Tricia, for producing this excellent film. And congratulation for being a winner of the Freedom Film Fest Festival.

Next show time:

http://freedomfilmfest.komas.org/

Money (6): Money - the Root of All Evil?

As elaborated in Money (4): There are more Debt than Money in our Economy, the one single defining characteristics of our current debt based monetary system is the chase for profits. The private banks that control money creation will only extend credit to a borrower when it is certain the borrower is able to eventually repay the loan plus interest.

This is the most fundamental reason why a subprime crisis in U.S. can trigger a near meltdown of the whole world. All of a sudden the banks stopped lending – because they don’t know who will survive the crisis. It created a self-fulfilling prophecy, which almost sent the whole world back to the great depression of 1929.

The farms are still bearing fruits, the factories are still fully operational, and the workers are able- bodied and willing to work. But the whole system came to standstill because a few private banks stopped lending. Such is the fallacy and insanity of our monetary system.

The massive money printing by the various Central Banks somehow prevented the world from sinking into the deadly deflational spiral, but at the expense of pilling massive debt to the respective governments. This is a classic proverbial kicking the can down the road scenario. Many analysts are already warning that a much bigger crisis is looming in the horizon. The sovereign debt crisis as we witnessed in Europe is only a foreshadow of what is to come.

Money may not be the root of all evils – but the current monetary/banking system practiced all over the word is definitely evil to the utmost degree. It is the mechanism that continuously and relentlessly funnels wealth and power towards the top. It is pointless to talk about changing the government without reforming the very mechanism that permeates all aspects of our life, corrupting everything along its way.

You may think that this subject is too vast and too encompassing, and that there seemingly nothing you can do about it as an individual. But think again. There has been enough ground swell that over threw many well established regimes in recent years. But so what if we managed to vote the old corrupt government out? The hyper rich tycoons – the real power brokers that work hand and glove with the corrupt law makers will remain untouched. They will continue to pull the strings behind the scene, corrupting everything they touched. The new government will have its hands tied in addressing the issue of wealth polarization that is tearing the world apart.

The least you can do is to educate yourself with this all issue important and spread the awareness. The reform movement is happening. If you Google “monetary reform”, you will see all sorts of groups popping up all over the world. Something big is brewing. A monetary reform to make money serving the interest of the people rather than a few elites will be incomparably more significant than throwing out a few corrupt officers.

"The world economies are held hostage by the financial terrorists. They are withholding credit-money -- the only kind of money most people think there is -- starving economies everywhere of the grease that enables commerce and provides working opportunities. But, the question must now be asked, forcefully and urgently: Should banks be allowed exclusive rights to produce the world's money supply?" Huffingtonpost - The Instant Solution to the New Depression: Debt Free Money

 

Below are some additional resources. Search "monetary reform", you will see many, many more.

Public Banking Blog

The Money Reform Party

Positive Money 

Money (5): Endgame - The End of the Debt Supercycle and How It Changes Everything

Take a look at the chart below, the sovereign debt projections for a few developed countries as a percentage of GDP. This is another eyes popping chart.

Public Debt/GDP Projection (BIS Working Paper www.bis.org/publ/work300.pdf)

The red dotted line is how it would be if situation remains status quo. The green dotted line is how it would be with serious efforts to cut down deficit spending. The blue dotted line is how it would be with inhumane level of spending cut, like pensions and social services like health care, education, etc.

I first came across this chart from a book:  Endgame - The End of the Debt Supercycle and How It Changes Everything. The authors are no doomsday prophets. This is a very serious book with lots of statistics, charts, historical trends, precedents and a comprehensive survey of the various schools of economics ever put into practice. This is one the most demanding book that I read recently.

The chart below includes private debt.

http://www.gfmag.com/tools/global-database/economic-data/10403-total-debt-to-gdp.html#axzz1xGXCg6gr

To summarize - the statistics and trends all lead to a hell of a BANG. The book gave a few possible outcome and possible actions by the various countries, but none is pretty. One thing is sure - these mountains of debt can't be repaid, and most won't be repaid.

The graph below is another way of understanding what the sovereign debt means to the people.

The interest cost is over 250 billion in 2012 for U.S., and is projected to grow to 800 billion in 10 years time. And the annual total tax income of U.S. is only 2 trillion dollars!

The question is ...

Here I would like to explore this phenomena from another angle. 

The Fantastic Growth of the Financial Industry

Size of Financial Assets as Percentage of GDP of the Host Country

Luxembourg	2,461%	Austria	299%
Ireland	872%	Spain	251%
Switzerland	723%	Germany	246%
Denmark	477%	Finland	205%
Iceland	458%	Australia	205%
Netherlands	432%	Portugal	188%
United Kingdom	389%	Canada	157%
Belgium	380%	Italy	151%
Sweden	340%	Greece	141%
France	338%	United States	82%

Source: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2010/12/bank-assets-as-a-percentage-of-gdp.html
This is another eyes popping chart. How is it possible for the banking sector to grow to such an enormous size? To give you another perspective - the size of the 3 largest banks in France amounts to over 300% of France GDP. The too big to fail banks has actually increased in size and number after the 2008 meltdown! Now these banks are not only too big to fail - they are too big to bailout!

A note of explanation to those who are not familiar with the banking business. Banks are not into buying and owning real assets like land, houses and commercial buildings. Banks 'assets' are almost exclusively what other owes the banks. In other words bank assets are exactly what the rest of the world owes them.

Now just how much are the banks earning? In U.S. the banking sector profit account for over 35% of all U.S. domestic profits (down from over 40% prior to the 2008 meltdown)! Just exactly what 'productivity' do the banks add to the society to justify such a huge chunks of profits?

It doesn't take an Einstein to see the correlation between the fantastic growth in debt and the fantastic growth of the private banks. Now every country (perhaps except for North Korea) is seriously in debt. We have the grotesque situation where the whole of humanity is owing an astronomical amount of money to a few private banks.

 

Money (4): There are more Debt than Money in our Economy

It turns out that my calculations regarding the Fractional Reserve System could be wrong. One source I came across is stating that 1K of deposit can generate as much as 100K of loans!

Whatever the amount is, for all intent an purposes, the Fractional Reserve Banking allows practically unlimited capacity for the banks to create money. Some countries even abolish the need for reserve. UK is one example.

Now I want to bring you something that will makes you jaw drop.

There are more Debt than Money in our Economy!

I almost fell off the chair when I came across it. How is it possible? How it is possible to be debt free when there is more debt than available money?

I checked a few sources. The basic fact is true, but there is no definitive explanation of how it gets to be so and what it means. Let me try to summarize it here.

Let me bring you back the core fact about our monetary system - over 95% of our 'money' are actually created out of thin air and extended as credit to borrowers. That means that almost every dollar in circulation are borrowed from the commercial banks - and incur interests.

The amount that we borrowed from the banks constitutes our money supply, and the amount that we have to pay back eventually is our debt. The difference between them is the interest spread.

What it means that the society as a whole has to borrow ever larger amount of money to pay back the old debts. The economy can function this way - as long as the banks are willing to continue to extend credit to roll over the old debts. This is like playing musical chair. Everything will appear OK as long as the music keeps playing.

 But it should be clear the total debt will increase at a compounding rate. This is exponential growth in mathematical terms, but in reality defaults do occur, especially during the periodic bust cycle, so the rate of growth will be dampened somewhat.

It should be clear now that our society can never be free of debt. It is a mathematical certainty. Some economists argue that growth in debt is OK as long as the economy is growing at a faster rate. For example it is OK for the debt of a company to grow at the rate of 5% p.a. if the company is expanding at the rate of 7% p.a.

This is one key characteristic of our monetary system - it assumes and demands the economy to grow at an exponential rate. This is clearly an impossibility with real world constraints like limits in natural resources, the decreasing and aging population in developed countries. The periodic boom and bust cycle is inevitable with our current monetary system.

It is clear that the sovereign debt crisis the world is facing now is impossible to resolve without changing the current monetary system. No amount of austerity measure is enough to bring down the debt. The only way debt can be reduced in our economy is via massive defaults, massive reduction of our money supply, and the resulting massive recession.

The way we are trying to solve the problem now is by massive printing of money, in the name of quantitative easing. It is essentially creating more debt and injecting more of the same poison that is killing our economy.

Think about it. Every country in the world (Germany inclusive!) are seriously in debt. Please let me know if you find a country that is not in debt. But just to whom are these money owed to? Something very fishy and very sinister is happening here.

Next: Money (5): Endgame - The End of the Debt Supercycle and How It Changes Everything

Money (3): Money Creation is in the Hands of Private Banks

Over 95% of money in circulation are forms of debt to the commercial bank. Confounded? Disbelieve? Rage?

This is one reason why the ever escalating mountain of debt (government, commercial and private) cannot be repaid. Paying down the debt means reducing the money supply and will trigger a severe recession. It is mind boggling, but it is absolutely true!

There is another factor - all loans carries interest. Try to figure out what this means. I will get back to this point later.

Now I want to bring your attention to a serious consequence of this bizarre banking system that is practiced all over the world:


Money Creation is in the Hands of Private Banks

What does it means to you an me? Please take your time to watch this 20 minutes video clip. Pause and rewind if you need to.

"The privatised creation of money by banks is at the root of debt, poverty, inequality, unaffordable housing. It makes our boom-and-bust economy completely unstable, and is also fuelling the environmental and energy crisis." http://www.positivemoney.org.uk/

The mother of all privatization (piratization!) happened without the knowledge of the world population!

"It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning." Henry Ford

Next:  Money (4): There are more Debt than Money in our Economy

Money (2): Money IS Debt

OK - the commercial banks can't simply create money as they like. There are some restrictions. The Central bank requires that the bank keeps a fraction of the deposits as 'reserve'. This is called the Fractional Reserve System.

The reserve is usually very small, 10% - 20%. The Central bank usually adjust the reserve requirement from time to time. You may think - the commercial banks can only loan out 80% of the deposits, that can't be too bad right?

This is the most deceiving aspect of the Fractional Reserve System. Let me show you why. Let say bank A obtained RM 1000 seed money from Bank Negara Malaysia. It can loan out RM 800 of it. Say the customer who took the loan wrote a cheque and buy a wedding ring, which got deposited into bank B. Now bank B can make a loan of RM 640 based on the deposit, and so on.

From RM 1000 of seed money from the Central Bank, the commercial banks can create a further RM 4000 of loans. If the reserve requirement is 10%, the extra loans that can be generated is 10 times the seed money.

Just how much of such money is being created? See the two charts attached, one for Britain, and one for Malaysia.

You may find it hard to quantify the amount shown in the graph. What is important is the exponential growth in the money supply. In both countries the money supply grew 100% in the 7 years leading to the financial meltdown in 2008. The relentless growth in money supply happened all over the world. It is the driving force behind the spectacular growth in share market and housing. Yes, it is the prime cause of inflation! And when it crash, the whole world CRASH together.

The technical name for these commercial bank created money is 'quasi money'. You are right, it is what the name says, they are not real money (which only the central bank can print). In fact, all money hold in the banks as bank balances are quasi money.

But for all intent and purposes, they function as real money. Try default on your house loan and you will know what I mean. From one person taking a loan to buy a house, the seller of the house will see an increase in his bank balance and use the 'money' to purchase further things.

This is the nature of digital money, as opposed to the physical notes and coins you have in your wallet. Any form of monetary transaction in digital form (cheques, bank transfers, credit card etc) can be traced back to a loan with a bank somewhere.

In Britain 97% of money in circulation are commercial bank created money, only less than 3% are physical money issued by the Central Bank. The figure is similar in other countries. In 2011 the total money supply of the world is 50 trillion USD, of which 48 trillion, or 96% are bank created quasi money.


Next: Money (3): Money Creation is in the Hands of Private Banks

Money (1): Ever Wondered Why There's So Much Debt

Ever Wondered Why There's So Much Debt?

Watch this 3 minute video to discover where all these debt came from, and why it can't be repaid...

http://www.positivemoney.org.uk/

You may ask how is this possible - if I borrow 500K from bank A to buy a house, the bank will have to remit the money to the seller's bank (say bank B). Where does bank A gets this 500K from?

But bank B will be making loans as well - and some of the sellers will be using bank A. At the end of the day, all the loans from different banks will more or less contra off each other. Whatever tiny amount one bank owes to another will be settled using the Reserve Bank money.

In comparison to the HUGE amount of loans made per day, only a very tiny amount of Reserve bank money is required for this daily inter-banks settlements. In UK where the bank created 'quasi money' has grown to 2 trillion pounds, the Reserve Bank money is only around 60 billion pounds.

HUGE amount of money was created out of thin air this way. 97% of Britain's 2 trillions pounds money in circulation was created this way. It is the same all over the world. The consequences to the society is deep and all encompassing. It will make you revolt if you realize how much it affect our daily life.

Next: Money(2): Money is Debt
 

Malaysia Fear-no-more (part I)

I was there at the Bersih 2.0 rally. I was attacked by tear gas, sprayed with water cannon, chased by FRU personnel. But alas I am fear-no-more.

In hindsight, I can see very clearly how pervasive and all-encompassing the propaganda of fear has been against the Bersih rally. The constant arrests of activists relating to Bersih, army rehearsal with banners saying “Disperse, or else we will shot”, the “third line of defense” declaration, weapon cache “discovered” by the police, and all sorts of thinly veiled threats from the government and pro- government right wing groups.

The all out intimidation and psychological warfare unleashed by the government was sickening and nauseating to the utmost degree. I was so turned off that I did not hesitate for a single moment when I was invited to join a small group of friends to participate in the Bersih rally. Despite all the fear drilled into my consciousness I knew that I had to do something. I knew that Malaysia is in real danger of descending into a police state if the people do not put a stop to it.

We anticipated that KL will be completely barricaded, so we book some hotel rooms in KL for Friday night to make sure that we won’t get locked out of the action. But our little group got more and more un-nerved as the day approaches. We took all sorts of extreme precautions – including purchasing new handphones, new prepaid SIM cards, and we would not exchange our new phone numbers with each other over the phone. Yes – we were paranoiac. The fact that we have some recognizable faces associated with a NGO weighted heavily on the group.

Our horror story begun to intensify tremendously soon after we checked into the hotel on Friday evening. Our group leader received a very strange phone call after we can back from dinner.

 “Is Mei there?” a voice asked.

“No”.

“Your friend Mei from Singapore is in trouble. Can you come down?” the voice said.

“I do not know of such person.” Somehow somebody thought that one of us was from Singapore. Of course our leader was not so naive.

The phone call got everybody very uneasy. Then around mid-night we got winds that the police have started raiding hotels. Now everybody is getting really nervous. We were told not to put the “Don’t disturb” sign on our doors – and we should never answer the door.

The next morning proved to be even more unnerving. One of our group member pointed out that seated next to our breakfast table was two personnel from the Special Branch. It was obvious from the type of boot they wore and their crew cut hair, she said. Everybody was a nervous wreck by then. We decided to erase any trace of evidence that can link us to the Bersih rally. No salt, not even face towels, and we made up stories why we were in the same hotel together. Our leader even told us that if decided to pull out, we should not feel that we have failed.

I am telling you all these so that you can get a sense of the type of pressures that one has to endure in being associated with anything that is perceived as being remotely anti-government. It takes a lot of courage to be in the forefront of change. Amiga, and indeed the whole Bersih committee, deserve every bit of recognition for their courage.

I was quite nonchalant about all these intimations nevertheless, much to the annoyance of my wife. I had my reasoning and perception of the situation. My reasoning was that firstly we have not committed any crime. If we were to be harassed by the police, I do not even feel that there is any need for us to explain ourselves. Doesn’t the constitution guarantee our freedom of movements?

What annoyed my wife most was that I could not care less to lower my voice. I continue to blare with my booming voice. I discussed passionately and openly with our group members about the crisis the world is facing and the future of Malaysia. I had no concern that whatever I said could be misconstrued as being seditious (whatever it means). I have deep faith that true sincerity, with no hatred and no negativity, has the power to touch another heart. So what if the Special Branch personnel are spying on us? I wouldn’t mind at all - if that is way for our plights to get across to the government.

But fundamentally I don’t think the police can do anything to us. There is no ground for the police to harass us is one thing. More importantly there is little value for them to harass us, and I don’t think they have the man power anyway. We as individuals are simply too small and too insignificant to have an impact on the rally.

The total deployment of the police force, together with the plain cloth police and Special Branch personnel that do not care to cover themselves are totally irrational. The massive display of force can make it inconvenient for people to get into KL, but there is no way for the police to prevent an individual from entering and remaining in KL, apart from a court order. The government did manage to obtain the court order to restrain 91 people from entering KL, but that is already making the government a laughing stock in the eyes of the people and the international community.

It is all about intimidation. That’s the only logical conclusion I can reach. But logical reasoning is one thing. It took a lot more to alleviate the fear drilled into our emotional brain through decades of propaganda. It wasn’t until the rally begun with explosive suddenness that my fear was shattered with with the suddenness of being woken up from a bad dream.

Middle East Fever Hits America!

85,000 - 100,000 people marched to the street in Madison, and students are walking out in many parts of the country. You don't get to see news like that in CNN. The mainstream media in US are sanctioned. News in US are not free, it is not any better than Malaysia.

What is it about?

Michael Moore in Madison, Wisconsin on March 5, 2011:

"America is not broke. Not by a long shot. The country is awash in wealth and cash. It's just that it’s not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks and the portfolios of the uber-rich ... The only thing that's broke is the moral compass of the rulers. And we aim to fix that compass and steer the ship ourselves from now on." –

Contrary to what those in power would like you to believe so that you'll give up your pension, cut your wages, and settle for the life your great-grandparents had, America is not broke. Not by a long shot. The country is awash in wealth and cash. It's just that it's not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks and the portfolios of the uber-rich.

Today just 400 Americans have the same wealth as half of all Americans combined (note: it is more like 60% in reality).

Let me say that again. 400 obscenely rich people, most of whom benefited in some way from the multi-trillion dollar taxpayer "bailout" of 2008, now have as much loot, stock and property as the assets of 155 million Americans combined. If you can't bring yourself to call that a financial coup d'état, then you are simply not being honest about what you know in your heart to be true.

And I can see why. For us to admit that we have let a small group of men abscond with and hoard the bulk of the wealth that runs our economy, would mean that we'd have to accept the humiliating acknowledgment that we have indeed surrendered our precious Democracy to the moneyed elite. Wall Street, the banks and the Fortune 500 now run this Republic -- and, until this past month, the rest of us have felt completely helpless, unable to find a way to do anything about it.

I have nothing more than a high school degree. But back when I was in school, every student had to take one semester of economics in order to graduate. And here's what I learned: Money doesn't grow on trees. It grows when we make things. It grows when we have good jobs with good wages that we use to buy the things we need and thus create more jobs. It grows when we provide an outstanding educational system that then grows a new generation of inventors, entrepreneurs, artists, scientists and thinkers who come up with the next great idea for the planet. And that new idea creates new jobs and that creates revenue for the state. But if those who have the most money don't pay their fair share of taxes, the state can't function. The schools can't produce the best and the brightest who will go on to create those jobs. If the wealthy get to keep most of their money, we have seen what they will do with it: recklessly gamble it on crazy Wall Street schemes and crash our economy. The crash they created cost us millions of jobs.  That too caused a reduction in tax revenue. Everyone ended up suffering because of what the rich did.

The nation is not broke, my friends. Wisconsin is not broke. Saying that the country is broke is repeating a Big Lie. It's one of the three biggest lies of the decade: 1) America is broke, 2) Iraq has WMD, and 3) The Packers can't win the Super Bowl without Brett Favre....

So how do we make this happen? Well, we do it with a little bit of Egypt here, a little bit of Madison there. And let us pause for a moment and remember that it was a poor man with a fruit stand in Tunisia who gave his life so that the world might focus its attention on how a government run by billionaires for billionaires is an affront to freedom and morality and humanity....

More here:
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/america-is-not-broke



Make sure you watch Michael Moore speech. The youtube clip was viewed 500,000 times. It was simply WOW. Anwar Ibrahim would never be able to deliver a speech like that. Anwar is the lesser evil compared to BN - but he is very much a player within the system of power and greed. The current political/economic system simply needs a complete overhaul. Period.

A different type of leadership has to emerge for humanity to have a tomorrow. It will emerge. The signs are all over the wall. The question whether we will wisen up and assume the necessary discipline to make the inevitable transformation as painless as possible.


"  Only everybody-all-at-once can change the current chaos."   - Adi Da

Are we in for another May 13?

I was furious and alarmed by the news that 3 churches were being fire-bombed over the Allah issue. I was not angry at the Muslims. No – I don’t believe that Muslims are behind the bombing.

There were a lot of hot air, a lot of rousing speeches surrounding the Allah banning issue – as if the whole Muslim world were mightily offended and up in arms against the recent court ruling that non-Muslim can use the word Allah. There were even threats of a massive demonstration, which the Prime Minister and the Home Minister deemed justifiable (see Malaysiakini).

But whatever happened to the demonstration? As reported in Malaysiakini - only a few dozen here and there participated in the demonstration. It was really pitifully small compared to a ceramah by Dato Sri Anwar Ibrahim. So where were the angry Muslims?

From the onset – the Allah issue was artificially drummed up. The Christian Church had used Allah for over 50 years in Malaysia. Has anybody heard of a single incident of a Muslim gotten confused, doped, cheated, confounded, mislead over its use? Were there any cases of police reports regarding this BEFORE the Home Ministry brought up the issue?

Apart from a handful of UMNO politicians and pro-Barisan Nasional NGO’s blowing a lot of hot air, PAS president Nik Aziz as well as many learned and revered Muslim authorities have already expressed their views that Allah should not be ban for non-Muslims.

It was completely obvious to me that right from the beginning there was never a religious or racial issue. I had thought that with PAS and Pakatan Rakyat standing firm on the side of reason nothing much would come of it.

The arson attacks on 3 Churches came as a complete surprise to me. I was terribly angry – not with the Muslims. I never believe that religious motives were behind this whole saga. My anger was towards Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the many politicians from Barisan Nasional for irresponsibly stirring up racial sentiments out of a non-issue.

The arson attacks are so out of proportion that one could not help but suspect some sinister agendas behind the scene. I don’t want to make any conjecture least I got hauled up with sedation charges. Is this going to lead to another May 13 or land Malaysia into military rule? I don’t’ believe so, although I don’t rule out that some really sick and really powerful people may be plotting something of such nature.

Put it this way. Malaysia is in deep problem right now. Our social, political, economic and judiciary systems have been in rapid decline. We simply could not afford a major disruption of such nature. I believe that the Christians and other non-Muslims have enough good sense that they will not react with violence. I believe that the Pakatan Rakyat state government and many good people in the police force are doing what they can to maintain peace. I believe there are enough good people with good judgments working hard to prevent more violence from happening.

This is a shameful day for Malaysia indeed. This incident is going to put Malaysia in the spotlight of the world media for the wrong reason. It makes a complete mockery of Najib’s 1Malaysia initiatives. It deals another blow to Najib, who is already suffering from major credibility problems.

Every cloud has a silver lining. Despite the constant drumming of politically motivate racial rhetoric; we have seen many voices of moderation at work as well. One lesson we can learn from this saga is that we don’t have racial problems as such. All racial tensions are stirred up intentionally to serve the interest of a few people in power.

This is a time of reflection and reconciliation. It is touching to see PAS and a few Muslim groups kick into action right away to raise fund to rebuild the churches that suffered damage from the attack. This is the most significant inter-faith cooperation that I witnessed in Malaysia. This is the type of spirit that we need to rebuild our beloved country from the ashes.

A Million Dollar Question Regarding the Allah Saga

I have been keenly watching the unfolding saga regarding the Home Ministry of Malaysia banning the Christian for using the word Allah to refer to God in its publications in the Malay language. I believe that many Malaysian are stirred up one way or another by this saga. But my interest is more on the sheer amount irrationality and idiocy displayed by the many parties directly or indirectly involved in this issue. Please, before you curse me to hell, allow me to qualify what I mean by this statement.

Firstly, I don’t intend to start a theological debate. I am simply not qualified for it, and furthermore many highly qualified people have already expressed their highly informative views.

Now let's begin from the very beginning. Why did the Home Ministry raised this issue in the first place? Culturally and historically Allah has been used by Christian in Malaysia as the Malay translation for God for decades. It is also the case in Indonesia, the country with the highest Muslim population.

The Home Ministry’s reason for doing so was that the use of Allah by the Christians would ‘confuse’ the Muslim. But was there any actual complains, any police report, that anybody actually got confused, mislead, tricked, duped or deceived by this particular translation of God? Was there any evidence of Muslim got converted to Christian because of it?

Should we investigate the validity of the claims by the Home Ministry before we start throwing daggers and shooting machine guns at each other? I have been patiently monitoring the development of this saga, and as far as I can tell, there is no evidence whatsoever of this claim. Despite the highly emotional and explosive rhetoric by various ‘authorities’, I have not seen anybody producing a single piece of evidence to substantiate this particular claim by the Home Ministry.

Of course now that I have raised the question, the 'authorities' can always fabricate all sorts of 'evidences' to substantiate this particular claim by the Home Ministry.

In other words, this is a completely non-issue. But yet certain parties are already threatening to detonate nuclear bombs on each other. Do you see how absurd this situation is? I have patiently waited until the point of views of the various parties has more or less completely surfaced before writing this article, so that the reader can see how ridiculous this whole saga is.

Ok, the nuclear bomb is only a figure a speech. We are not really about to spill blood over this non-issue. I don’t think Malaysians are so crazy yet. But look at how the politicians, almost exclusively from Barisan Nasional, and state owned media is playing up the public emotion over this.

What is the true motive of the Barisan Nasional government in stirring up public emotions over a non-issue? This is the million dollar question.

Now I got your attention. Don’t you feel ridiculous that Malaysian are spending so much time and energy over a non-issue while the whole country is plaque with political/economic instabilities and engulfed in scandals of epic proportions?

Do I need to remind you the twelve billion ringgit PKFZ fiasco, the missing Jet Engines and whatnots from Royal Air Force of Malaysia, the special task force and body guard of the (then) Defense Minister implicated in murder with military C4 explosives, Sodomy II, constitution crisis in Perak,…

How about the GST, the declining economy, declining competitiveness, depleting oil reserve, depleting natural resources, raising prices of sugar, flour, petrol, …
Have you wondered how we are going to pull through all these? Have you wondered whether the Barisan Nasional government is able to lead us out of this quicksand? Why did the Home Ministry stirred up such explosive racial tensions over a non-issue while ignoring the real issues under its jurisdiction like police corruption, police brutality and sky rocketed crime rate?

You see, if you ask the right question the answer stares right at you face. I don’t want to elaborate further here least I got haul up with sedation charges. But I trust that you know what I mean.

Cool it, my Muslim and Christian brothers and sisters. Please ignore the unscrupulous bigots and politicians and recognize that this is a non-issue. Malaysia is in real crisis. Let's not fool ourselves. Our quality of life has degraded tremendously over the recent years. We will continue in this free fall unless we learn to cooperate and work together regardless of race and religion.

The Imam and the Pastor

From vengeance and killing to healing and forgiveness…
a moving story of grass-roots peace building that gives hope to humanity

This 39-minute documentary film brings to life the astonishing reconciliation between Imam Muhammad Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye, and their peace-making initiatives which have ensued. They were leaders of militant groups involved in conflict between Muslims and Christians in Kaduna, northern Nigeria. Pastor Wuye lost a hand while Imam Ashafa's mentor and two close relatives were killed in the fighting. Now they are taking bold initiatives to promote co-operation and resolve conflicts. The film, narrated by Rageh Omaar, shows that it is possible for the perpetrators of inter-religious violence to become instigators of peace. It is a story of forgiveness and a case study of grass-roots initiatives to rebuild communities torn apart by conflict. Imam Ashafa and Pastor Wuye are the joint founders and directors of the Inter-Faith Mediation Centre in Kaduna.



This is one of the most touching documentaries that I have watched in recent years. I am grateful to Nur Damai efforts for presenting this film at the forum organized by SABM.

Many of you may not have heard of SABM (Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia), and most of you would definitely have not heard of Nur Damai. You may ask - what is the relevance of two almost unheard of organization in the current world situation?

Lets not fool ourselves. The current world situation is in chaos and rapid decline. Many people are moved to do unexpected and unusual things. Two years ago I would not have guessed that I would one day be involved in political rallies and candle light vigils, not to mention blogging.

The effort of an individual person - or any isolated group of persons will not be able to achieve much. But recently there have been an explosive growth in civil consciousness, fueled by the explosive growth of the Internet. Millions of civil societies sprung into existence all over the world in recent years; and they represents the voices of the common people yearning for a change in the current corrupted and corrupting mode of existence.

This is the People Power movement at the global scale. What is required now is for a core group morally enlightened and fearless leaders to step forward to take charge and lead the change. It will happen as a matter of necessity for our collective existence.


Reconciliation and cooperation, as exemplified by this touching documentary, is my new year wish for the coming decade.

Nur Damai means Light of Peace. It is about Multifaith Peacebuilding - the essence of which is inter-communal reconciliation and healing of memory among Malaysians.

Next Showing of the "Imam and the Pastor"

SABM has graceful agreed to host another showing of The Imam and the Pastor on Saturday, 9th January 2010 at 7.30 pm at Rumah Anak Bangsa Malaysia.

Please contact faridajivamala at gmail.com for more information.

The Last Emperor of MIC

The result of Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) election did not take me by surprise. I had thought that if MIC delegates have any sense at all, they would at least get Subramaniam elected as the deputy president. But frankly I couldn’t care less what happens with MIC. If Subramaniam is worthy of being elected at all then there is no sense for him to stay with MIC. What can one person do when practically the whole party machinery is being controlled by Samy Vellu?

Today’s MIC election result is only another indication confirming the irrelevance of MIC. Yes, Samy Vellu reigns supreme again - but to what? Isn’t the past 8 by-elections, where over 85% of Indian voted for the opposition party - Pakatan Rakyat, a good enough indications that MIC should just be dissolved?

The fate of MIC can be compared to the late Ching Dynasty of China. During the last days of Ching Dynasty the child emperor Pu Yi was confined to the Forbidden City while the whole country descended in utter chaos. His emperorship was maintained by the warlords for political and diplomatic manipulations.

Pu Yi was confined in an imaginary world, left behind time and out of touch with reality. He was surrounded by an entourage of concubines and eunuchs who have no where else to go. Many stayed behind to plunder whatever left of the imperial treasures amassed through centuries of exploitations.

Such is the fate of MIC now. Tell me that Samy’s candidate lineup is not a bunch of eunuchs and concubines. Tell me that the delegates who voted for Samy’s lineup are not a bunch of eunuchs and concubines. Tell me that this bunch of eunuchs and concubines are not there to share Samy’s 32 years of loot. Tell me that these bunch of eunuchs and concubines are there to serve the Indians.

The sorry state of MIC could also be said of the rest of Barisan Nasional component parties. The whole Barisan Nasional government has gotten so stinking rotten that one just wants to flush it down the toilet and forgets about it like a bad dream.

I don’t want Pakatan Rakyat to feel congratulated by what I wrote. I can very honestly say that I don’t think Pakatan Rakyat is worthy of being a political party. I don't think it is able to form a shadow cabinet without causing major split in the party. I don't think it has done a great job in governing the states under its control as well. I would be very reluctant to give Pakatan Rakyat a 50% passing mark.

But at least Pakatan Rakyat is not a pile of complete bullshit. If the recent Japan election were to serve as an indicator – Pakatan Rakyat may just well win the next general election, and I think more likely than not that it will.

I don’t believe that the answer to the profound ills that humanity is suffering now lies in the political arena. Humanity needs a new beginning. The current chaos is but a time of awakening. A new type of leadership needs to arise. It will happen as a matter of necessity for humanity continued survival.

"Only everybody-all-at-once can change the current chaos."
Adi Da
Not-Two Is Peace

Not-Two Is Peace – A Definitive Guide to People Power

I had wanted to introduce this remarkable book, “Not-Two Is Peace” by Adi Da to the Malaysian readers, but felt daunted and inadequate. Truly there is nothing I can write that will do justice to the profundity of this book – except to bring up a few salient points.

This book is about establishing world peace and cooperation; however the wisdom is applicable in the local context as much as in the global context. One important point I like to highlight is that People Power is not about everybody having a lot to say about everything. Rather the key is an initial council of morally enlightened lenders, who has the capacity to make connection to the people and establishes a right representation of the whole population.

Below are some excepts for Not-Two Is Peace. The book is published on-line HERE.

Part I
On the dangers of the old tribalisms, and the necessity for a Global Cooperative Forum based on the Prior Unity of humankind

1.1. The old moral, social, and political order of humankind is now dead.
1.2. This is the moment when it will be decided what the future is going to be…

1.28. At present, a culture of total war, a culture of death, is ruling, while the people are engrossed in consumerism.
1.29. The only power on earth that can stop the trend toward total war is the power of the human population declaring it will not cooperate with this nihilistic culture of total war and the ideologies of total dominance.
1.30. In the present day, declarations of independent states based on ethnic and religious traditions are creating huge problems. Previous larger confederacies are breaking down.
1.31. This trend is all about tribalization, setting up absolute pockets of power—based on the mythologies of the past, the traditions of the past, the separateness of geographical zones, the separateness of particular classes or races of people.
1.32. This disastrous fragmentation of humanity has to stop. What is needed is exactly the opposite of that.
1.33. The absolutization of tribal minds is the happening of the human race in this moment, and this is exactly what must be transcended. That requires a new kind of political orientation…

1.45. Presently, the powers of the separate state are being used to control populations all over the world.
1.46. The power of industry and money is actually senior to governments, and is now controlling the entire world.
1.47. The only power that can deal with these powers that are on the verge of destroying the world is everybody-all-at-once—meaning not merely mob power, but a new cooperative system for dealing with issues.
1.48. The efforts of separate states and vested interests to control the people are not going to work forever. Sooner or later, the global population is going to demand a cooperative, benign situation.
1.49. That is why there needs to be a Global Cooperative Forum, in which all of humankind participates through right representation.
1.50. Such a Global Cooperative Forum would not be subordinate to a tribalization program imposed by nation-states, but would inform all of the existing political entities benignly and cooperatively.
1.51. Humankind has got to get down to its own business and choose itself, and the Global Cooperative Forum is the means to do that…
1.55. In the "room" of humankind as a whole, the "room" of everybody-all-at-once, there is no "two"--there are no flags, there are no religions, and there is no "self"-imagery that may be exclusively asserted. Rather, humankind must simply represent itself, and get together to create a new global domain for human existence. This is the great project.


Part II
On the Necessity to Give Institutional Form
To the Principle of Prior Unity

2.18. The means to bring about the Global Cooperative Forum is not some council of highly-placed morally-enlightened individuals merely making a proposition to everybody that this is necessary.
2.19. The role of the initial council must be to accomplish the connecting with the human totality.
2.20. Without that participation of the world population, the Global Cooperative Forum would be just another group of highly-placed people communicating high-minded notions and struggling to achieve them. It would be back to the same old process.
2.21. The initial leadership of the Global Cooperative Forum will come from individuals who are disillusioned with power, and who see that the current efforts to improve the situation of humanity are not sufficient to transform the whole.
2.22. If the initial council knows how to make the connections, and does so, and establishes right representation for the global population, then the Global Cooperative Forum will emerge virtually out of the woodwork.
2.23. It is essential to fully connect the six and a half billion people to a process. That means that the total human collective, or everybody-all-at-once, must become conscious of itself.
2.24. Everybody-all-at-once must be communicated with by the initial council, and enabled to make itself known.
2.25. Everybody-all-at-once must be able to require that it be heard and that its requirements be acted upon in every positive sense.
2.26. This is the happening that is not in the works. Making the connection to the six and a half billion people has never been done.
2.27. The Global Cooperative Forum is the institutionalized face for the six and half billion to manage itself.
2.28. The initial council is needed first. That council defines the issues and also organizes all the means of connectedness to the human totality. Then an effective, participatory process of global dialogue can begin.
2.29. The internet would be the necessary means of this connectedness.

Part V
On Non-Cooperation with What is Wrong
and On Mobilizing the Human Totality
Based on the Self-Evident Truth of Prior Unity

5.18. In fact, the Global Cooperative Forum begins in the instant of its being communicated to the human population. Everybody-all-at-once has the immediate ability to implement it, by virtue of everyone hearing the message and seeing the tacit obviousness of it.
5.19. The happening of truth is not through the mind--it is at the heart. Truth is not a proposition argued over against other propositions. Truth is self-evident, because the heart authenticates it in the moment of reception.
5.20. Truth is an embrace, just as love is. You do not get argued into love. It is self-evidently right.
5.21. One responds to truth as one does to love, simply through recognizing it. It is not about argument, not about the domain of mind, or of opposites.
5.22. That is how the Global Cooperative Forum will come about. It will happen with everybody-all-at-once, because it is right. It is true, it is so. There is no argument either for or against it. It is simply self-evidently true—immediately, on the moment of its presentation.
5.23. Merely to create another NGO, or some kind of entity that is going to try and convince everybody through argument, or, essentially, the play of opposition, to join a Global Cooperative Forum is never going to work. It will just be another piece of the tribal world.
5.24. Prior unity is not a union of many; it is an intrinsic unity in which there is no separateness, no differences, no others, no oppositions, no duality. It is one.

http://www.da-peace.com

1Malaysia, Slogan First, Performance Ever?

We lived for 22 years under Mahathir’s iron fist regime, but hardly anybody would remember that his slogan was “Bersih, Cekap, Amanah (Clean, Efficient, Trustworthy)”. Similarly we suffered 8 years of Badawi’s administration, but I bet you that many would not be able to say his slogan "Gemilang, Terbilang, Cemerlang (Excellence, Glory and Distinction)” correctly. It took me a bit of Googling to dig it out myself.

But in barely two months our sixth Prime Minister Najib has managed to make his slogan “1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now” more recognizable than Mac Donald’s Big M symbol or Kentucky Chicken’s “Fingers licking good” slogan.

I heard that Najib paid top dollars (mind you, it was our tax money) to engage a top PR film to dress up his public image. I supposed Najib needs all the help he can get as in Malaysia’s 52 years history we have never seen a Prime Minister laden with so much unsavory allegations and with such disastrous approval ratings.

As a slogan “1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now” is ultra modern, catchy, rhymes beautifully, and more importantly it conjures up powerful images of what Malaysian’s REALLY desired for the country. It succinctly expresses Malaysian’s detest over the endemic corruption, excesses and racism that is ravaging the country. But here also lies the problem. What the slogan expresses is as far from reality as it can be.

Perhaps Najib intention is to fulfill the slogan – but the people are yet to be convinced. This powerful slogan has met with nothing but ridicule form the beginning. The worst damage was actually inflicted from within UMNO. The constant blaring of ultra racist views in state controlled media by the right wing extremist elements were like intentional sabotage to this inclusive and moderate slogan.

1Malaysia, Slogan First, Performance Ever?

I remember on the day that the slogan was announced, it was also announced that 13 people detained under the Internal Security Acts will be released. But due to red tapes and administrative snafus the ISA detainees were released a day later. The slogan was instantaneously morphed into: “1Malaysia, Slogan First, Performance Later.”

To an outsider such cynicism may seem uncalled for. But it nevertheless indicates Malaysian’s distrust of Najib capability and real intention to fulfill the slogan. And things seem to be sliding down a slippery slope from there.

Next came the naming of the new ‘clean and slim’ cabinet. I recalled that the cabinet was ‘slim down’ by only 2 persons, and were no lacking in criticisms for the many tainted characters retained in the Cabinet. The slogan became: “1Fat Cabinet, Cronies First, Performance Ever?”

Since then I have seen Najib creating special positions to reign in delinquent and rejects like Koh Tsu Khoon and Chua Sooi Lek. I am quite sure that by now the cabinet is actually larger than the already bloated Badawi’s cabinet.

Then came the continued unfolding of the saga associated with the hugely unpopular and scandalous coup in Perak. The people got so totally pissed off that the slogan became: “1BlackMalaysia, Power First, People Never”.

Now with the PKFZ scandal and disastrous 6% economy contraction exploding into the scene, I hope it will not end up in: “1ScandalMalaysia, Cronies First, Corruption Forever.”

Cynicism aside, the people are not going to see such a good slogan coming to waste. Various parties are having a good time capitalizing on it. The most famous of which is: “1BlackMalaysia, Democracy First, Elections Now.” in relation to the coup in Perak.

Imitation is the best form of flattery, so it says. The explosion of variations and imitations of the 1Malaysia slogan is a testimony on how powerful the slogan is. Perhaps Najib should have patented the slogan. I guess if Harvey Davidson is able to patent the sound of motorcycle’s exhaust, the 1Malaysia slogan can also be patented as well. Anyway with the Kangaroo court on his side, Najib should be able to sue to the last dollar anybody who attempt to ‘abuse’ his pet slogan.

Below are some variations if the 1Malaysia slogan that I have seen in the Internet. Please don’t quote me, as my memory is rather imperfect, and many are free association triggered by what I have seen. Anyway, below are some of them:

1Malaysia, 2 Chief Ministers, 3 Prime Ministers.

Everybody knows about the ridiculous 2 Chief Ministers in Perak.

I am not going to name our 3rd PM, a twisted soul, a face disfigured with much anger and hatred, and a body bloated with willful self-indulgence. She is probably the most despised woman in Malaysia.

The old fox PM1 had always been critical of PM2, and had made many damaging remarks against PM2. Now PM2 seems to be staging an all out revolt, and the two seem to be heading towards total open warfare. It makes one wonders who is actually running Malaysia.

1Indian, 2PPP, 3Hindraf.

The 1Indian is a concept proposed by MIC. Talking about MIC, the legendary Samy Vellu automatically came to mind. He is an enigma, a true eye opener to the culture of ego maniacs of the Mahathir era. Samy Vellu seems to be determined to bring MIC to the grave with him. In times to come he may very well be known as the last emperor of MIC.

Now Samy’s son Vell Paari is being primed to take over MIC. But apart from being Samy’s son, the only things I ever heard of Vell Paari are the many juicy scandals befitting of a gangster than a worthy representative of the people. In fact with Samy Vellu at the helm the whole of MIC looks more like a Mafia gang than a political party to me.

By putting forward the 1Indian idea Vell Paari may think that he is licking Najib’s ass. But just imagine the Chinese also wanted to do the 1Chinese thing, the Mamak doing the 1Mamak thing, and the 1Hakka, 1Cantonese, 1Tamil, 1Dakyat etc all joining the foray. Can you see how ridiculous the idea is?

Everybody knows what 2 PPP means. The maverick Murugiah is playing on the perception that Najib is on his side, but the incumbent Kayveas is no push over. I am waiting to see how Najib is going to handle the situation.

Now the 3 Hindraf refers to the fractioning within the Hindraf movement. I counted 3 fractions, and I suspected that there are many more. One spinster group even got themselves registered as the Makkal Shakti society. Obviously Barisan Nasional is behind them. You can see this as their ploy to corrupt the Makkal Shakti slogan, much like how the opposition is corrupting the 1Malaysia slogan. I find that a real pity, as Makkal Shakti has been such a power slogan for the people power movement.

Not Enough Indian Representatives?

Yes, the Indians are being marginalized. But it is not because there is insufficient Indian representation in the government. The real problem is that there are too many people claiming to represent the Indians; and they are literally killing each other over it.

As a matter of fact it is not just the Indians that are being marginalized. The whole system of corruption and patronage has created a society so imbalanced that only a small handful of power mongers are controlling the vast majority of the country’s wealth. It is not that these scumbags are able to consume all the wealth under their control. Their personal palaces, mistresses, fleet of sport cars and overseas shopping spree only cost some number of millions in the long run.

The bigger problem is that these people are hell bent to maximize their wealth and maintain their privileged position. They have resorted to sowing hatred and manufacturing artificial racial tensions to keep the society divided. It is causing widespread social ills that cannot be measured in dollars and cents.

Everybody is being marginalized. Even the middle class professional couples are finding it hard to make ends meet, not to mention the kampong folks and the underpaid blue collar workers. People power cannot allow for the tribal mindset and artificial division to continue. Nobody should fight for any particular race, everybody should instead stand together to fight for the common survival for all.

I am not asking everybody to become an unquestioning and cultic follower of Pakatan Rakyat. In fact there are many dubious people within Pakatan Rakyat that I do not trust any more than the Barisan Nasional goons.

The 318 tsunami was only a wake up call, and Pakatan Rakyat is only the stepping stone. People Power will eventually have to move beyond the political divide. We will need a different type of leadership. A group of fearless and incorruptible people will have to step forward to take lead and bring everybody together, regardless of race, religion and political affiliations. That will be the next paradigm shift that needs to happen, otherwise with the current rate of decay the whole society will descend into a downwards spiral sending everybody back to the middle ages.

1Malaysia, Jolly Good Slogan It is!

Below are some more variations:

1CorruptMalaysia, Money First, Power Now.
1BarisanNasional, Power First, Screw You Now.
1MACC, Cars and Cows First, PKFZ never.
1KangarooCourt, Fix Judges First, Justice Never.
1BlackCoffeeAfterWork …
1Black Café …

You see, the slogan is so versatile that you can mix and match a small number of key phrases to come up with virtually infinite variation of it. It can be used in the commercial sector as well – for example:

1HeavenlyResort, Luxury First, Heavenly Service Now.
1TandooHouse, Good Taste First, Gratification Now.

1Malaysia. Jolly good slogan it is!

Pete, You Don’t Owe Malaysia an Apology

In response to My most sincere apology to the nation by Raja Petra Kamarudin

Dear Pete,

I don’t think anybody can be hold accountable for something that his or her 32 years old son did. While I understand the plight that you have to go through as a parent, I don’t think you owe anybody an apology.

The way you handled the situation – of facing it squarely, not giving in to the temptation to bribery, is setting a shining example for all Malaysian. If anything at all, everybody who ever participated in bribery in any form owes you an apology.

I am one who should offer you an apology. I am one who lost counts on the number of times in which I settle speeding and other offences ‘on the spot’ with the police. I am one who participated in and propagated and the culture of corruption in Malaysia. I knew how easy it is to give in to the temptation of doing it the easy way. Your example put me to shame. It should put many people to shame.

But I also like to let you know that I have stopped doing that. It took me almost half a life time to learn some fundamental things about not going with the flow, not taking the easy way out, and standing up and speaking out against what is wrong.

It feels good to do so. For the first time in my life I felt hope for Malaysia and for humanity altogether. For the first time I felt a sense of purpose for Malaysia. The purposefulness came from knowing that I am not an innocent victim, that I have the responsibility and the power to change those around me. For that I have to thank you for being the pioneer, for being the voice that awakened me from stupor.

You don’t owe me an apology Pete. But gratitude and appreciation I have plenty for you.

I don't know where you are now but I hope one day I can work with you. I hope soon you will be able to come out of hiding; where you and your family don’t have to live under constant threat. I hope soon we can provide you with a safe circumstance so that you can enjoy a normal family life.

People power ultimately is beyond the political agenda. It is primarily about going beyond our tribal mindset so that we can collectively and cooperatively provide a safe and sane circumstance for all.

Is the ball really in the Sultan's Court now?

Mahathir and the Age of ISA

If I were to describe Tun Dr. Mahathir with one sentence, it would be: “My way or the Kamunting way”. Mahathir era can be termed the era of the Internal Security Act (ISA). He perfected the ‘art’ of ISA detention. He pushed it to the max, and utilized it to the max.

The word ‘art’ is only is only a figure of speech. Dr Mahathir never cares about being artful or aesthetic. He is completely unabashed about what he did. He is too proud to lie, too proud to have to justify his action. ISA is a perfect vehicle for him. Everybody and anybody can be detained without trial. Nothing needs to be explained, and nothing needs to be justified.

Now take a look at what Mahathir has to say about the Perak stalemate: Dr M: Pakatan will win Perak snap polls (Malaysiakini May 14)

First, the 83-year-old former BN chieftain said there was no need to hold a fresh election in Perak in order to resolve the political impasse in the state. But he quickly added that it was a ‘forgone conclusion' that Pakatan Rakyat would win if an election is held.

"I think the opposition... well not the opposition... I think that Pakatan is going to win. So why have an election?...

Instead of fresh polls, Mahathir said the right process now is for the state assembly to sit and move a motion of no-confidence against Nizar.


What Tun Dr. Mahathir saying is that he knows Pakatan Rakyat is going to win a snap poll, so he is not going to play it that way. He will only play it the way he is sure that HE can win.

It doesn’t matter to him that the High Court has already ruled that Nizar is still the legitimate Chief Minister of Perak. It doesn’t matter that the legality of the ‘new’ speaker Ganesan is in doubt. For him the ‘right’ process is for the state assembly to sit and move a motion of no-confidence against Nizar.

Is it ‘right’ as in being legal and constitutional? That is never Mahathir concern. It is ‘right’ because he said so. It is ‘right’ because he can win. That is Mahatharism.

But what about public opinion? "I hope people have short memories" was his reply. For Mahathir the people never matters. They can be easily hoodwinked, brought over, suppressed and coerced.

Perak Fiasco – Is the ball in the Sultan’s Court now?

Now take a look at what Najib has to say about the Perak fiasco: BN does not fear fresh elections in Perak

The Barisan Nasional (BN) is not afraid of facing the people should there be a fresh state election in Perak, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today. We are ready to face the people…"

The prime minister reiterated that it was up to the Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah to decide whether a fresh election should be held for Perak…

Have you noticed how Najib has been absolving himself from the Perak scene? Let me remind you how proud he was as being the commander in chief in engineering the coup in Perak.


Did you see the stark contrast between Mahathir ‘way’ and Najib’s ‘way’?

The statements by Mahathir and Najib were given on the same day. The contradiction between Mahathir’s statement and Najib’s statement is as stark as it can be. Mahathir’s unabashed frankness makes Najib looks so shady, phony and puny. Mahathir’s statement made a mockery of Najib’s.

So Perak is the Sultan prerogative as claimed by Najib? I am not so sure.

Najib is all eager to appear ‘good’, ‘reasonable’ and ‘civilized’ in the eyes of the people. His way of dealing with issues is through lies, denial and scapegoats. I believe that Najib is merely makeing a scapegoat out of the Monarchy.

My opinion is that the biggest loser in the Perak saga is perhaps the Monarchy. The High Court ruling, which clearly states that Sultan Azlan Shah had acted unconstitutionally in sacking Nizar was bad enough. But even more damaging is how Najib has been dragging the monarchy into the picture every step along the way in the Perak fiasco, creating the perception that the monarchy is in cohort with UNMO in the whole event.

I wondered you noticed that the Monarchy had all but kept quiet through the whole saga. But even so UMNO had been ultra eager to come to its 'defense'. Nizar and Pakatan Rakyat were labeled treacherous to the monarchy and crowned enemy No. 1 to the Malay race. Many people were charged under the sedition act for voicing out their discontent of the Monarchy.

While I do not presume to know why the Monarchy is maintaining silence on such a grave matter, it is completely obviously to me that Najib has no interest to protect the monarchy.

The public opinion on the Perak coup is undeniably obvious, as indicated by a NTV7 poll which showed that 99% of the respondents wanted fresh election for Perak. The anger of the rakyat towards Najib is abundantly clear, to the point other component parties of Barisan Nasional are voicing for a fresh poll in Perak.

Najib’s tactics of constantly dragging the Monarchy into the picture is sinister to say the least. Najib may have intended to make use of the Monarchy to lend legitimacy to its actions in Perak, but it only managed to get the monarchy to share the public blames and angers.

Sultan Azlan Shah may have made an error in sacking Nizar as being the Chief Minister, but all the rest – the defections of the three frogs, the subsequent court cases, the farcical May 7 state assembly sitting, the crack down of dissidents etc, are all the work of Najib.

Even right now, is the ball in the Sultan’s court as claimed by Najib? My understanding is that the sultan cannot order the dissolution of the state assembly, just as he has no power to sack the chief minister. The ball is still very much in UMNO’s court.

This is my understanding of the constitution anyway. If anything at all, the past grueling four months had thought me a lot about separation of powers. It has been a live lesson on how screwed up and corrupted the Malaysian political system is.

Many probably find the silence of the monarchy regarding this important matter very disquieting. Many had looked toward the monarchy for voice of sanity in the midst of the current chaos. My sincere hope is that HRS Sultan Azlan Shah will break the silence and make a clear stand in due time and lead Perak out of the current mayhem.

ISA is Fading Away - but What's Next?

The Internal Security Act has gain so much notoriety under our former Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar that practically the whole country is revolting against it. The circumstances in which Syed Hamid invoked the ISA were so ridiculous that it was almost comical. Incidents like the detention of a young reporter for her own ‘protection’ will surely pass down in folklore and the Alternate Annal of Malaysia Politics.

The current public sentiment is that ISA can no longer be invoked against the opposition parties without provoking major backlash from the people. ISA is no longer unchallengeable as can be seen by Hindraf leader Uthayakumar defying his condition of release from ISA as reported in Malaysiakini. We shall see how Hishammuddin is going to response to such open challenge.

Syed Hamid has made himself so unpopular by his indiscriminate use of the ISA that his political career is buried for good. Now let see how long is Hishammuddin able to stay in this hot seat.

For all intent and purpose, the era of ISA heralded by Mahathir is all but gone. For tyrannical acts like ISA to work, it will require an almost total blockage of free expression – like in communist China now, or Malaysia during Mahathir era. In this era of internet and cell phones it is impossible to exercise such tyrannical power with causing total uproar from the people.

This is not time to rejoice yet – for I was alarmed by the large number of people charged under the sedition acts and illegal gatherings. Lets hope that this is not the beginning of the era of the Sedition Act.

• Oh Najib, what have you done?

Swine Flu, Bird Flu - Political Lies and Media Disinformation

No-one yet knows whether swine flu will become a global pandemic, but it is becoming clear where it came from – most likely a giant pig factory farm run by an American multinational corporation in Veracruz, Mexico.

These factory farms are disgusting and dangerous, and they're rapidly multiplying. Thousands of pigs are brutally crammed into dirty warehouses and sprayed with a cocktail of drugs -- posing a health risk to more than just our food -- they and their manure lagoons create the perfect conditions to breed dangerous new viruses like swine flu.

Read on:

• Political Lies and Media Disinformation regarding the Swine Flu Pandemic
  


• Flying Pigs, Tamiflu and Factory Farms
  


• What's Missing From Every Media Story about H1N1 Influenza
  

Sign the Petition

Let's call on the United Nations World Health Organisation and the Food and Agriculture Organisation to investigate and regulate these farms to protect global health. Big agrobusiness will try to obstruct any attempts at reform, so we need a massive outcry that health authorities can't ignore.

You can participate by signing the petition organized by Avaaz.org.

Sign the Petition

CIMB housing loan owner - Beware

I received a letter from CIMB about 2 weeks ago, offering an insurance policy to protect our house from landslides. Another junk mail I thought, so I chucked the letter into the recycle bin without a second thought. Then my wife picked it up and noticed that there is an "Opt Out Instruction Form" at the bottom.

On closer inspection, the letter actually states that if I do not sign and return the "Opt Out Instruction Form", the additional protection will be automatically included into my insurance policy.

Something is clearly not right here. Why should I have suffer the inconvenience of having to go to a post office to cancel something that I did not asked for. If somehow I missed it - as I almost did, I will be charged additional fees for something that I do not need. Most of us will not even notice the increase in premiums when the insurance fee is charged to the account.

So I called up the help line:

Operator: Which branch did you open you account? You will have to call your branch and they will help you to sort it out.

Me: No, I don't want to make another call. You mean it is not originated from HQ, and HQ has no control over your branches? If that is the case I want to lodge a report against the branch for unethical practices ...

So I got the operator to take down my details, and got her to promise to sort it out for me. A few minutes later, the operator called back.

Operator: This is their number, XXXXXXXXX. Please give them a call tomorrow ...

Me: Who are 'them'?

Operator: Allianz General Insurance Company ...

Me: No I don't want to call Allianz. As far as I am concerned, my housing loan is with CIMB, with the insurance and insurer pre-arranged, I don't even have a say on that. The letter is issued by CIMB. I hold CIMB responsible for this...

------------------------------

I got the operator to promise to sort it out for me. But to be sure, I will still post the 'Opt Out' form. It's a 10 minutes walk to the post office for me, but such is life in Malaysia.

This is definitely an unethical business practice. I can bet you that many people will simply chuck the letter away - and ended up paying a premium for something that they do not need. Most will not even notice the premium increase!

I am contemplating lodging a report to the consumer association.

Chicken ala Carte

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

This is the winner of 56th Berlin Film Festival for best short story, it is also the most viewed entry at Culture Unplugged.

The backdrop of the story is poverty and imbalance in wealth distribution, but the essential message is the simple love and caring in the humblest circumstance.

This is a simply story, an everyday happening right at our backyard. But one cannot help but be touched, because the unnamed impulse to love and to share is inherent in all being, always yearning to break free. And loving and caring for one another does not require a lot of material resources.

This is the type of heart awakening that is require to turn around the profound crisis that humanity is facing now. I think this film will make an excellent theme for the people power movement.