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/

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.

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

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?

An Unsuppressable Defiance

The Chinese government began a new internet censorship campaign last year called "Harmony", ostensibly aimed at combating "vulgarity and pornography" on the Chinese web. However, it has been used most often to shut down Blogs and discussion forums (like this one), including those that only mildly criticize the government.

So enter the "Grass-Mud Horse", or "Cao-ni-ma". Here are some popular depictions:




As you can see, there are even cute Grass-Mud-Horse dolls, and now there is a music video with Chinese children singing:



There is a herd of Grass Mud Horses
In the wild and beautiful Ma Le Desert (Gobi Desert)
They are lively and intelligent
they are fun-loving and nimble
They live freely in the Ma Le Desert
They are courageous, tenacious, and overcome the difficult environment

Oh lying down Grass Mud Horse
Oh running wild Grass Mud Horse
They defeated river crabs in order to protect their grass land
River crabs forever disappeared from Ma Le Desert

...Well, as it goes in Chinese, "Grass-Mud-Horse" is legal to say, of course, but "Cao-ni-ma(草泥马)" also sounds like "F*** your mother". And "River Crabs(河蟹)" sounds like "Harmony(和谐)" (the government's censorship program)! The "Ma Le Desert(马勒戈壁Gobi Desert)" is "your mother's private part".

This all "loses a lot in the translation" but in Chinese it is hilarious, especially when it sounds like children are singing about a cute horse that just wants to be free.

The Cao-ni-ma movement is spreading like wild fire in China. Top intellectuals and artists are getting involved. Many variations of the song appeared and are sang publicly. There are also many artistic renderings, toys, dolls etc.

The intended meaning of the punt may seems to be vulgar, but one simply could not help cracking up at its cleverness. What came across is the purity, innocence, humor and ingenuity. It defies any form of tyrannical suppression. It made a mockery of the oppressors. It is simply an unstoppable force of truth that will touch many hearts and souls.

Such is people power at its best. This is the type ingenuity and purity required to break through the dense darkness that is enveloping the world at present.

We are going to need something like this urgently in Malaysia. The recent development in Malaysia politics sent chills up my spine. I can feel that the Barisan Nasional machinery will stage an all out onslaught on Pakatan Rakyat with end game brutality, until it is beaten lifeless like Kugan.

With the Barisan Nasional government subjugation of the Executive, Judiciary, Legislative and Police institutions. People power is all that we have to protect our hard won fledging democracy. Direct righteous confrontations will have it place. But I believe we will need something pure and humorous like Cao-ni-ma to diffuse the darkness of the situations and to reach out to the masses.

Cao-ni-ma is light years ahead of our "Altantuya Mongolia" song (sang in the tune of "When the Saint go marching in"). I am sure that we have enough talent to match this. I will personally donate RM 100, plus do a personal fund raiser with my old boys association to anybody who can create something that matches Cao-ni-ma. Maybe something about a crocodile named Isa. Any takers?

People Power shall prevail. Our inherent unity shall prevail. This is the time for it. This is the only force that can righten the profound ills in our world today.

Before I pen off, I would like to offer to the following:

• A Cao-ni-ma to Be End, let its ending come swift and painless.


• Two Cao-ni-ma to um....No. Lets banish this rotten no-no to Ma Le Desert.


• Three Cao-ni-ma to stinky Najis and Rosie Mama, direct from Ma Le Desert, the homeland of Altantuya. Lets Cao-ni-ma prevail till justice is served.

"Something new must emerge ..... A new mode of social contract ...., an egoless mode ...... based on cooperation, tolerance and universal participation and accountability. " Adi Da, Not-Two IS Peace

Oh Najib, what have you done?

One of my favorite jokes goes like this: If 2 Malays get together, they will form a political party. If 3 Indians get together, they will form a workers union. If 4 Chinese get together, they will ---------- play mahjong!

The joke is innocent enough, but poignantly illustrates a maddening trait of the Chinese race. The Chinese as a race has gone through an un-proportionally high number of man made and natural calamity in its span of history. This cultivates the pervasive mind-your-own-business and keep-peace-at-all-cost mentality. You can insult them as being squatters, threaten them with a weapon, they will swallow the insult as long as there is some bread crumbs left for them to make a living.

It is virtually impossible to motivate the Chinese to do anything other than making money, as 50 years of DAP struggle can testify. The 308 tsunami got them somewhat excited. But even so you won’t see many Chinese in various rallies and anti-government protests. Their first instinct is to protect the rice bowl. There is nothing you could do to get them away from their comfort zone. But all of that changed over the past few days, with the unfolding of the coup in Perak.

Najib may seem to have won the battle in Perak, but he made a very serious tactical mistake. It can prove to be a very deadly mistake indeed. Najib, being so immersed in the Malay Ultra culture surrounded by yes-man Chinese, is completely unaware of a taboo; an un-crossable line in the Chinese psyche. In his desperation to gain back some morale after a string of humiliations he committed the worst offence in the eyes of Chinese.

The Chinese are not what they seem on the surface. Nobody is what they seem on the surface for that matter. Whatever a certain character trait is overtly demonstrated on the surface, you can be sure that the complete opposite is lurking in the shadow. The seemly peace loving Chinese are not all that benign under the hood. It can be seen in the pervasive triad culture, the kung fu culture, the patriotic literature, even in its religion. The most popular god for Chinese is not Buddha the transcendental one; not Guan Yin the goddess of mercy; but Lord Guan, the god of war, the legendary general revered for his absolute loyalty and righteousness.

The bloody history of China was spotted with numerous upraising against foreign invaders and tyrants and oppressors. The secret societies’ heroic deeds are enshrined in literature and folklore, and the virtues of righteousness and absolutely loyalty sworn with blood are deified in Lord Guan. By the same token the traitors that sold out their own race are similarly enshrined in history to be cursed for eternity. Such is the dark hidden aspect of the Chinese psyche. The Chinese have no qualms about shaking hands with you even if you are a murderer. Money comes first; the rest is none of their business. But betrayal, especially betrayal of the race is an absolute taboo, an unforgivable sin.


Najib, in his haste to win Perak, has created one such unforgivable sinner in the person of Hee Yit Foong. In doing so he put himself in the position of a corrupt tyrant. The stage is set and all the actors in place: the villain Najib, the traitor Hee, and the unexpected rise of Nazir as the grassroot kung-fu hero. The racial memory is awakened and the Chinese finally united and up in arms for an epic struggle. PAS and DAP comradeship was never so strongly cemented.

Well done Najib, you managed to achieved what DAP could not do in the past 50 years. The hatred for Hee will be forever tied to you. No amount of sweet talk can get you out of this. No amount of money can buy you out of this. I am not sure how the collective hatred will manifest, but it will be a very ugly reality for you. It will be as dirty as the techniques you used to siege Perak.

Look at it objectively; the coup in Perak is really only a storm in the tea cup. It is nothing close to the Manchurian invasion or the Japanese occupation. Is the hatred projected to Hee Yit Foong really justified? There are 4 assembly men/women who deserted Pakatan Rakyat, why the exclusive focus of hatred to Hee?

But human beings hardly ever act rationally. The mob emotion is a very dangerous beast. This incident is the proverbial last straw that breaks the camel back. What got released is a deluge of pent up anger, frustrations, hatred and what not. There is nothing rational about it. But the despicable intrigue that Najib played to topple the Perak government was equally irrational and unjustified. It was completely uncalled for in the current global climate. The blatant disregard of the wish and feelings of the people was a form of wanton selfishness. Such irresponsible act will prove to have a very destructive effect for both the Prime Minister to be and to Barisan Nasional.

I would have loved to see the incarnation of a culture of tolerance and cooperation where all these ugly memories can be put to rest forever. I would have loved to see Barisan Nasional stand strong and lead the country out of the epic crisis that is already at our doorstep. But the rampant corruption in Barisan Nasional had not given me any hope yet. It has been getting from bad to worst for all that I see.

My support for Pakatan Rakyat is not because of the historical ideologies of the respective component parties. The rather unexpected victory in 308 has forced the three parties – PAS, PKR and DAP - to go through thorough transformations to adapt to the new roles they have to play. My support is a way of facilitating the transformation so that it can become vehicle for our common survival in the current global crisis. I will give myself in completely for that.

This is a time of reflection for all, not for rash actions. There are a lot of questions to ponder. Why would Hee Yit Foong, who dedicated 28 years of her live with DAP, made such an irrational decisions? Her action is akin to suicide. Her actions is destructive to herself, to the parties she sworn allegiance to and to the people that she pledged to represent. It is a grotesque and tragic manifestation of uncontrolled egoity, much like the destructive game that Najib is playing now but in different flavor. This is a complex question. I will write more about it later.

Is the battle lost for Pakatan Rakyat in Perak? May be. But I think the war is only just beginning to warm up.

“The Chinese are sons of Adam. The Malays, too, are sons of Adam” Nik Aziz Nik Mat
"Something new must emerge ..... A new mode of social contract ...., an egoless mode ...... based on cooperation, tolerance and universal participation and accountability. " Adi Da, Not-Two IS Peace

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead

KT by-election: a major corner stone is laid for Barisan Rakyat

I have been glued to the computer for the past few days reading every bit I can find about the Kuala Terengganu by-election. Needless to say I was elated, almost overwhelmed to see a convincing win of 2651 votes for Pakatan Rakyat Candidate.

To me the KT by-election is much more significant that the Permatang Pauh by-election in August last year. The Permatang Pauh by-election represents a lot of what I always hated about politics, the most disgusting of which is the extreme racism and vicious character assassination tactics being used.

Yes, Pakatan Rakyat managed to deal a humiliating blow to Barisan Nasional. That was satisfying, but nevertheless the whole episode left a bad taste in my mouth. The endless parading of Altantuya and the Saifu Bukhari characters during the election period made one wonders what the election was about. It was like parading our backside for the whole world to see and made Malaysia a laughing stock to the international community. It was a shameful episode that should never be repeated again.

I wondered whatever happened to the Saifu character since. I have heard quite a few things. From the grapevine I heard that somebody did receive a ‘scholarship’ that is worth 3 million ringgit. But I wondered whether that is an enough compensation for the humiliation that he has to suffer for the rest of his life and the ordeal that he has to put his fiancé and family members through.

Maybe he was only a gullible young lad who wants to make it quick. He made it quick for sure – now he must be one of the most recognized face in Malaysia with a world famous backside to boast about. I am not convinced about his sodomy allegation against Anwar, but I am absolutely certain that he was being sodomized and exploited through and through by the heartless and merciless political machinery.

So much about the Permatang Pauh by-election. I am glad that the Kuala Terengganu was carried out on a completely different basis, at least for Pakatan Rakyat. As for Barisan Nasional, the election tactics were as dirty as ever save the highly seditious character assassinations.

It was just as well that the KT by-election started in the backdrop of a raging controversy involving one of the most contentious issues – PAS Islamic ideology and general mistrust of Islam amongst the Chinese. It was just as well that KT is not a safe seat and every vote from every people counts, regardless of race. Pakatan Rakyat components parties really had to work extra hard to bridge their differences, and I have to congratulate them for doing a wonderful job at it.

To me that was the most significant happening since the 308 election. This is the turning point where Pakatan Rakyat stopped being united by common hatred for BN, and begun to be united by the realization that we need each other – every single individual regardless of race, to succeed.

Malaysia has been subjected to 50 years of the most insidious systematic indoctrination under the BN government. We don’t have a real racial problem as such, as in Malaysia the races do work and mingle in harmony and we do make good friends with each other. But the incessant propaganda of hatred has nevertheless taken a heavy toll in our collective psyche.

I remembered reading about a Chinese couple giving up one of their children to be adopted by a Malay family. It happened less than 50 years ago. That sort of things was complete OK then. But last night I intended to share some excess fruits with my neighbor, my wife stopped me and told me that it is a sensitive issue for Muslim to receive from non-Muslim, and we don’t want to put our good friend in a difficult position. I have been away overseas for 16 years and I took it that there are still things I have to catch up with. But it really alarmed me that our social fabric has degraded to such an extent.

Such is the insidiousness of the hatred propaganda of the BN government to keep the race divided so that a small gang of thugs and power mongers can reign supreme as being the maintainer of peace. A lot of the ‘sensitivities’ are completely absurd and unnecessary. The game plan was very simple – make some really stupid policies or statements that stir up the racial sentiments to the boiling point, and then declare the issue to be ‘sensitive’ and come down hard with shock and awe and ISA and whatnots. And the result was more consolidation of power and the population in even tighter control.

So much of terrible policies and bad governance were morphed into racial issues this way. The ‘outsider’ race cannot protest because it was racially sensitive, and the ‘protected’ race is not allowed to protest either because it pertains to the interest of the race. In the end everybody losses out while a small gang thugs reign supreme while robbing the country clean.

We saw such tactics used in the infamous Ops Lalang incident. The recent stirring up of the hudud issue was another example to create fear amongst the Chinese so as to weaken PAS. But Malaysian has finally grown up and won’t buy into such bullshit anymore.

The KT by-election is a major turning point for Malaysia indeed. This is the first time ever that I saw real efforts involving all parties high and low in bridging the racial and religious gap and succeed in overpowering the BN hate machine. The most moving moment for me was to see PAS spiritual leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat joining for dinner with the Chinese voters, and declared that: “The Chinese are sons of Adam. The Malays, too, are sons of Adam”




We still have a long way to go. But at least we have set foot in the right direction. Unity has to be the operating presumption to move forward or else will only be repeating the same bullshit in different flavors. It is only in unity that we know how to cooperate and care for each other. I do not see how else we are going to get through the crisis of the century that the BN government is still insisting that Malaysia will not be affected.

Special thanks to the bloggers united for bringing us the up to the minute news and working tirelessly in the background to help to cement the KT victory.



And special tribute our greatest hero RPK – who has done more than anybody else in cracking down the racial barrier in Malaysia. He never let us down. We shall all stand by him and not let him down either.

KT by-election - you can help too

Please read the excellent article by our true hero RPK: The dark horse of Kuala Terengganu

RPK: 8 March 2008 was one message we sent Barisan Nasional. The Permatang Pauh by-election was the second message. But both messages fell on deaf ears. So we must, yet again, send them another message. And this message must be to deny them the Kuala Terengganu seat. And we have to keep sending messages as long as they remain deaf. That is the only way and no other way.

To those who wish to donate to the Kuala Terengganu by-election effort you can bank in the money to the following bank account:

Tabung Dana Pilihanraya
CIMB Islamic
Bank account number: 1449-0000017-10-4

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I just banked in RM 50 as a humble token of my appreciation the sacrifices made by the Malaysia-Today guys and the many good leaders in Pakatan Rakyat. I am always with you guys in spirit, and I am glad that I can contribute some substance.

Let this election be a demonstration of the power of unity. Let this be a demonstration that humble unity of the people can trounce the big-gun heartless, soulless and murderous political machinery.

People Power - The True Story of the Internet

Most of you will probably agree that Malaysia is in the midst of a huge revolution that is going to change the political landscape irrevocably. I would like to propose that at the heart of this revolution is a paradigm shift in our collective consciousness, brought about in conjunction with the development of the Internet as a communication medium that enables instant connectivity and encourages active participation from all. The result is people power, the rise of the voices of the ordinary people as a ground shaking collective force.

What we are observing in Malaysia is not isolated. Similar developments are developing all over the world, although most of them don't take the form of political uprising. I am including an excellent video about it below. You will see from this video that the new internet revolution is already shaking the foundations of the mass media and capitalist establishments.

I am certain that this is the era of people power. The collective force from the ordinary people lead by the selfless service from morally enlightened individuals is the only force that is able to avert the current march toward total annihilation.

I highly recommend this video to all. To my fellow Malaysians, it will give you a very good insight to the nature of Malaysia-Today as a social phenomena and why it is unstoppable.

Malaysia-Today as an interactive web site does not just belongs to Raja Petra alone. It is where 1+ million of us participate actively to share our views and inform each other what is right and relevant. It is where we hang out and share our heart and soul with each other. It belongs to all 1+ million of us. The government’s recent move to block Malaysia-Today is another of the idiotic move that will guarantee serious repercussions down the line.

Who is MCMC to tell us that Malaysia-today should be blocked anyway? On what basis did MCMC came to such conclusion? How many complains did MCMC received and from who? Why is Utusan Malaysia not being blocked for that matter? The five states lead by Pakatan Rakyat have made strong criticisms and called for the boycott of Utusan Malaysia for its ultra racist and seditious reporting. Isn't that enough 'complains' for its license to be revoked?

Malaysia-Today is NOT about lawless mob tearing down the establishments. Yes, there were a lot of criticisms about the BN government, but it is only because of its overwhelming corruption and incompetence. Malaysia-Today is not mindlessly endorsing Pakatan Rakyat either. Our respected Raja Petra and various others have written many very critical articles about Pakatan Rakyat and its component parties. I have written quite a few critical articles about Pakatan Rakyat myself for that matter.

Primarily Malaysia-Today is about human dignity and establishing the right religious and culture values. It is about building a nation where different races and religions can live in harmony and progress together. This is a place where we discover that there is hope after all in the midst of the current darkness. This is a place where we find the moral strength and the collective force to bring about the necessary change for the future of all.

MCMC should have known better that technologically it is impossible to silence Malaysia-Today. It is an unnecessary provocation to the people that is already overwhelmingly against the government. So much about MCMC and the BN government. I am ever more certain that it is simply beyond redemption….

People Power - The True Story of the Internet (part 1 of 5)


The above video is part 1 of a 5 parts series posted in YouTube. The rest of the series can be found here. It does take some time to download. My recommendation is to initiate the download on all 5 parts simultaneously, and come back 2-3 hours later to view them together.

The mystery of our vanising oil money

When common folks talked about our oil revenues we usually think of Petronas and the government as being the same entity. That was my perception when I wrote my last article: The 56 billion ringgit questions, but little did I suspect that I would have to completely reconsider my understanding almost the moment I posted the article.

I posted the article on 3:45pm June 4, and moments later I received an SMS that petrol price is going to go up. I was about the chuck the SMS away until I logon to Malysiakini and confirmed that the news was true indeed.

I was shocked by the suddenness and quantum of the increase as Najib’s reassurance of no price hike was still fresh in memory, and Shahrir was only hinting of a price adjustment in August the day before. My first reaction was that Pak Lah has just hammered the last nail in his own coffin.

I am not an economist by any means, but I came from a poor family and I have been through the years where every cent counts. It was completely baffling to me why Pak Lah would make such a sharp increase in petrol prices while the whole country was still reeling from the pain of the recent hike in the prices of food and other essential items. The combined effects are going to cause so much hardship to so many people that I seriously doubt Pak Lah is going to survive the fallout of it. And it got me thinking hard...

The Mystery of Our Oil Money

Let’s get back to the mystery of our oil money. After many hours of research and considerations – I came to realize that the relationship between Petronas and the government is much more complicated that it looks on the surface. The two are not the same entity after all; and by some recent announcements I think there could even be open hostilities between them. Read:

• Petronas could go bust by 2018 if all its profits are handed to the Government…
• Petronas should not be made the scapegoat for the fuel price hike

One key understanding is that although Malaysia is a net exporter of crude oil, our products are of very high quality and are primarily for export while we consume lower grade oils that are mainly imported from the Middle East.

While the exploration, production and export our crude oil are handled almost exclusively by Petronas, the import side is a bit more complicated. The importing and retailing of petroleum products are carried out by companies like Shell, Exxon, Petronas, etc. These companies are mandated by the government to sell below cost, thus they are compensated for their losses by the Government in the form of subsidy.

Yes – our government does subsidize our petrol. But it also receives money from Petronas in the form of royalty, taxes and dividends. Petronas is reported to have contributed 52.3 billion ringgit to the government for the financial year ended March 2007.

Is that a fair contribution to the government? I will be eagerly waiting for Petronas supposedly full disclosure. I don’t give much hope that the full disclosure will reveal details like why some big shots get to live like a king with private jet and helicopters, but it should give some basis for some intelligent guess-nalysis.

How much is the Government getting from Petronas?
The graph above shows Petronas contribution to the government over the past few years. I plotted it along with the yearly average crude oil price. The yearly contribution was obtained from Hassan Marican interview in RTM1 reported in Guang Ming Daily and the average oil price from EIA. As you can see Petronas contributions go up nicely with the price of crude oil, as most of us would expect.

What will be Petronas contribution for this year? That will be everybody’s guess. Would it be 70 billion? 80 billions? Whatever it is, it seems that Petronas is mightily reluctant to cough out its profits to the government.

How much is the petrol subsidy costing our government?

Our daily crude oil consumption is 501,000 barrels, or 183 million barrels per year. Each barrel is 158 liters, and typically yields 73.8 liters of petrol, diesel and other by products after refining (data from EIA).

Our yearly petroleum consumption is thus:
183 million barrels X 73.8 liters/barrels = 13.5 billion liters.

At the current crude oil price of 130 USD per barrel, the market price is RM 3 per liter for petrol (according to Shahrir).

Our government’s yearly subsidy on petroleum can be calculated as follows. For lack of data I will assume that the cost price of petrol and diesel is the same.

Before Price hike:
 The average price of petrol and diesel =
  (RM1.98 + RM1.52) /2 = RM 1.75

 Subsidy per liter = RM 3 – RM 1.75 = RM 1.25
 Total Subsidy = RM 1.25/liter X 13.5 billion liters 
                                   = RM 16.9 billion

After Price hike:
 Average price of petrol and diesel  =
   (RM 2.7 + RM 2.52) / 2 = RM 2.61
 Subsidy per liter = RM 3 – RM 2.61 = RM 0.39
 Total Subsidy = RM 0.39/liter X 13.5 billion liters
                                   = RM 4.0 billion

What do all these figures means?

Firstly, since Pak Lah took helm, Petronas has contributed RM 146.5 billion to the government. Petronas has been in operation since 1974 and contributed a total of RM 336 billion to the government. Pak Lah’s first 4 years in office received 43.6% of Petronas 35 years of total contributions. It is more than what Mahathir received in 20 years, inflation adjusted. And it does not even include this year’s contributions!

Is your reaction that of disbelieve? Are you wondering where have all these money gone to?

Mahathir is known for his opulence and extravagance and have created monsters like Twin Towers and F1 circuits to match his distorted ego. But what have Pak Lah done that is worthy of being mentioned? To give you a perspective, it costs RM 11 billion to build Putrajaya, and the order of RM 20 billion to build all our toll roads. Whatever happened to this mind boggling 147 billion ringgit? It seems to have just vanished in thin air. Something must be seriously wrong somewhere.

Now the 56 billions petrol subsidy quoted by Shahrir. My own calculations indicate that it should cost the government RM 16.9 billion. My calculations do not include subsidy for gas, but would it amounts to the RM 39 billions difference? Either my calculations are completely wrong or Shahrir is bullshitting. I would appreciate if somebody can verify my calculations.

My calculations show that with RM 52.3 billion contribution from Petronas the government should still be making a net profit of RM 30+ billions. And the recent price hike is going to bring extra RM 17 billions to Pak Lah’s coffer. Is it conscionable for the government to make such an obscene amount of money at the expense of such widespread suffering of the people?

I am shock beyond words by what I discovered today. The level of corruption and mismanagement by the Barisan Nasional government is way way beyond than my wildest imagination. It sickens and disgusts me to the point that I just want to cast the whole Barisan Nasional government to hell right away. Right now I will not hesitate for a moment to lend my support for Pakatan Rakyat to step in to take over the government.

Do I believe that Anwar is able to bring down the price of petrol and give Sabah and Sarawak 20% oil royalty? I have no doubt that he can, if he managed to gain back the control of the oil money. I do not agree with his oil policy, but that's a separate issue altogether. At least with Pakatan Rakyat there is hope that ordinary people like us is able to participate to bring about the right changes.

This is the time for us all to wake up. If the level of suffering and darkness of the current moment is not enough to wake you up, I don’t know what will.

Look who is suffering now? We all are. Does the 50 years of racial politics bring about the supremacy of any race? I hope our sad state of affairs is convincing enough to show us that racial politics can not work. It never will.

We have to forget about race, religion and other trivial differences and stand united as one. This is the time to exercise our collective power, our makal shakti, this is the only strength that we have to cast out the slime bag power mongers that are hell bent to destroy each other and bringing down the whole country with them.

More comments in Malaysia-Today

The 56 billion ringgit question

(Also posted in Malaysia-Today)

I am referring to the article in Malaysiakini: Pump price at 'market levels by August'.

First of all lets get some basic facts right.

Firstly Malaysia is a net exporter of crude oil. So the government did NOT subsidize our petrol. The RM56 billion ‘subsidy’ per year is the extra amount that the government would have earned if it had exported all of our oil production. There is no 'spiralling bill', the government did not lose any money because it is our own oil and we are not paying anybody for our oil supply.

Secondly – when the government scrapes the so called ‘subsidy’ that it did not pay any money for in the first place – it is forcing the rakyat to buy back our own resources at a much higher price. Each and every one of us will suffer because of this, especially the poor.

The hike in oil prices has not caused hardships to our government. On the contrary it has already earned record profits for Petronas. And now our government is going to squeeze even more profits by squeezing the rakyat. Put it bluntly, the Barisan Nasional government will get filthy rich form the blood money of the rakyat.

Now the 56 billion ringgit question. What will the Barisan Nasional government do with the RM56 billion windfall per year? We already suffered a price hike on our petrol almost a year back, and have we seen any accounting on what has been done with the extra money that the government collected? I remembered that there were some talks of using the money to improve our public transport system. But so far I have only heard about the ailing KTM, failing bus companies and government cutting subsidry to Rapid KL.

Don’t you feel suspicious of what is going to happen to this hefty sum of money? RM56 billion is a mind boggling sum of money, it is almost enough to build 5 Putrajaya according to the official figure. The last thing I want to see is for the money to end up in political machines and lining the pockets of politicians and their cronies. I hope our Pakatan Rakyat representatives will see to it that every sen of it is accounted for.

I am not against raising the price of petrol. It is a matter of urgency that we cut our dependency on fossil fuels now as it is the main source of green house gas that is causing havoc in our weather patterns and ecosystems.

Even if global warming and destruction of our ecosystems is not your concern, you still have to consider the fact that crude oil price is not going to come down. Some analysts even projected that crude oil may reach USD 200 per barrel by 2012. Have you asked what is going to happen to our economy when our oil reserves run out in 5 years time?

Don’t you find it amazing that nobody is talking about these pressing issues now? This whole issue about oil subsidy is completely beside the point. The way it was phrased as if it was costing our government a hefty sum of money was completely misleading. The more pertinent point is really how we can best make use of the last of our rapidly depleting resource to safeguard our future. I have not seen any sensible policies regarding this from the Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat camps as yet. It is already sparking riots in many parts of the world, including our close neighbors, and yet nobody here seems to think that we have a problem.

I don’t think we can look towards our government for answers. Our so called ‘leaders’ are engrossed in fighting and bringing each other down, unscrupulously stirring up racial sentiments for their survivals. They never have the track records of putting the interest of the rakyat in the forefront anyway. The whole political scene is simply disgusting and depressing beyond words.

This is the time that ordinary people like you and I have to come forward and take charge. Count ourselves lucky that we have a 5 years grace period to get ready for the end of cheap oil. But we need to make sure that every ounce of our resources is used wisely for the survival of our future generations. That can only happen if we, the rakyat, unite as one single voice to demand for the right things to be done.

There are a lot we can do together, and we are not isolated either. There are already over a million environmental and social justice organizations around the world that we can work with right now. The fisrt step is to realize that we have a problem in hand. This is not just any ordinary problem. What we are facing is a problem of epic proportion that is going to require the cooperation of the whole world.

My deepest condolences to May 13 victims

I did not expect to see the strong reactions from some people about my article What is this May 13 anyway. The purpose of the article was not to ignore the sufferings of May 13 victims and to erase the incidents from history – but to point out that the ultra right stance and continued racial instigations and propaganda have done much greater harm to the society than the incident itself.

May 13 is an incident that should not have happened, and I have great sympathy for the victims. Justice was never given in the first place, and 39 years of continued threat of it happening again was a continued relentless assault. No living soul should have to bear this agony.

Let’s recognize that we live in the same land and breathe the same air and we are as dependent on each other as Siamese twins. The Chinese as well as the Malays have contributed their fair share in the atrocities. This is not the time to find out who cast the first insult and which side has done more damage on the other. Let’s put this neighborhood war aside for now and hold each other hands to rebuild the trust that was damaged by decades of racial politics.

I sincerely hope that one day we will have an open forum where grievances can be voiced and acknowledged. For most, a listening ear, a supportive society, and assurance of justice and protection from harm would be sufficient to heal the wounds.

Lets this be a lesson for all that racial politics is not leading us anywhere.

I offer my deepest condolence to those who suffered in the event. I apologized for not making myself clear earlier.

What is this May 13 anyway?

The topic May 13 is almost a taboo; it is a subject that stirs up different level of discomfort in most people. But how many people really know what it is, how many of us actually lived through the horror of it?

It happened when I was 9 years old, and my only memory of it was a few blissful days of no school and no homework. The incident was very insignificant in terms of human suffering. It was infinitesimal compared to the Japanese occupation, which has long been forgotten in our collective memory. But why does a small incident like May 13 get stuck in our collective psyche with such stigma? Yes, there were social and political ramifications – but how many of us really – I mean REALLY – took time to understand the cause and effect of it?

I would like to suggest that most of what we think we know about May 13 are mostly false, and most of our emotions associated with May 13 are mostly irrational. They are the results of almost 40 years of insidious propaganda. We were constantly being bombarded with threats about it repeating, each time with some new connotations added, until it became a boogeyman that everybody feared or hated but nobody knows exactly what it is.

The nature of the human mind is that we are extremely vulnerable to propaganda and brain washing techniques. Read the following article: 'We can implant entirely false memories'

"We can easily distort memories for the details of an event that you did experience," says Loftus. "And we can also go so far as to plant entirely false memories - we call them rich false memories because they are so detailed and so big."

Powerful emotions, it seems, can both reinforce and weaken real memories… And false memories, once accepted, can themselves elicit strong emotions and thereby mimic real ones.

The impressionability of the human mind is a crucial survival mechanism, for without it we would not be able to assimilate a vast amount of information within the rather short human lifetime. But it also renders the mind extremely easily exploited.

The human mind can be manipulated not just in terms of believing in falsehood. Witness the trial of Altantunya, observe how the trial process and the media were being manipulated. A hideous high profile murder could have been erased from the collective memory of the whole nation in the matter of months if not for the timely reminder of our true champion Raja Petra Kamarudin.

Human being can be driven to mass hysteria very easily as well. For example it only took one person waving a weapon, followed by a few provocative slogans chanting, and the country is divided and driven into hating each other. It is as irrational as the hysteria generated from a rock concert!

Today is the 39^th anniversary of the May 13 incident. Frankly this date holds no meaning to me whatsoever. For one thing I had always refused to believe in the racial hatred propaganda propagated by the Barisan Nasional government. I had always been driven by my yearning to reach out to another. I have been to many countries and made many good friends of people from different races. Skin color and trivial cultural differences has very little significance in the face to face, heart to heart relationship to another human being.

39 years is long enough for a lot of things to be forgotten and forgiven. May 13 would have been long forgotten if not because of the constant instigations from certain unscrupulous parties.

Any form of mass communication is extremely effective in influencing the population, and our mainstream media have been subverted into senseless propaganda machines for propagating all sorts of lies. It is time for the rakyat to stand together to put a stop to these bullshits.

Outrage at Cheras Toll

I am referring to the continue saga regarding the barricade in Bandar Mahkota Cheras, as reported in Malaysiakini:

Barricade row: Answers next week

Before getting into the legalities of the issue, let’s investigate why Bandar Mahkota Cheras and surrounding residents are so pissed off by the barricade. It begun when Grand Saga, the Cheras-Kajang highway concessionaire, blocked off an access road two years ago to divert the traffic to the toll. As a result of the barricade the residents have to make a 6km detour – and on top of that they have to join the jam leading to the toll plaza and made to pay the RM 0.9 toll.

Lets do a simple calculation on how much the toll is costing the Bandar Mahkota residents. Assuming the current market rate of RM 0.6 per km for petrol, car maintenance and depreciation cost. Assuming that it takes 15 minutes to travel the 6km, and human resource cost is average RM 10 per hour.

Petrol and car maintenance:
6km X RM 0.60/km = RM 3.60
Human resource cost:
RM 10/hour X 0.25 hour = RM 2.50
Toll amount = RM 0.90

Total cost one way = RM 7.00
Total cost both ways = RM 14.00/day
Total cost/month (22days/month) = RM 308/month

Now you understand why Bandar Mahkota residents are so pissed off. Just because one private company willfully asserting its rights, it barricaded a fully functioning access road and make the residents suffer RM 7.00 direct and indirect cost for every 90 sen it collected. This whole thing is utterly ridiculous no matter from what angle I look at it.

The absurdity doesn’t end here. The legality of the barricade had been in dispute since day one. Refer to the following reports in Malaysiakini: Confirmed - residents can tear down concrete barrier.

The Hulu Langat land office did confirmed a few days ago that Grand Saga indeed had NO right to erect the barricade. So the Cheras residents took matters in their own hands and tore down the barricade. That provoked a violent reaction from Grand Saga. Read the follow up reports:

Grand Saga 'advised' to re-erect concrete barrier
Cheras residents in stand-off to protect toll-free road
Police fire tear gas at Cheras residents

So there was the rebuilding of the barricade, which the residents tore down immediately. Grand Saga responded by getting the Federal Reserve Unit involved. I read in utter disbelief that that over 200 FRU armed with tear gas and water canon were activated to protect the interest of one single private company against the residents of a whole township.

The legality of the barricade was in dispute in the first place. Under such circumstance how could the police take side? How could the police use extreme force - beating up and arresting MPs and residents, and fire tear gas and water cannon at them?

The whole happening was a complete outrage. It was a subversion of justice, not to mention a complete wastage of public resources. How could a private company wields such influence over the police? Who has the authority to order such a massive deployment of the police force?

These are things that got the rakyat so angry at the government that drove us to vote for the opposition. I thought the Barisan Nasional government would have learned something from the setback in recent election. But lo and behold, our Prime Minister was not even aware of this happening when asked about it yestarday!

Why wave the Keris to begin with?

(also posted in Malaysiakini)
Last edited 7th May 2008 12:05 am

This response to Hishammuddin keris waving apology (Hisham apologises for keris act) is late in coming, but I found the whole episode so bewildering that even after writing my first response (Hisham: I apologize for my apology??) I still felt something very unsettling about it. It took me a further full week investigating the various aspects of it before I felt I have enough clarity to pen down the following questions and observations.

Let’s begin from the very beginning. I would like to post this question: what message was Hishammuddin trying to convey by waving the keris, accompanied by the ultra radical slogan from UMNO youth supporters? Did Hishammuddin thought that the Chinese were making too many unreasonable demands such that he has to wave a weapon as a gesture to defend the rights of the Malays? If that was the case, then what were the demands the Chinese made that were deemed so unreasonable to him?

Was he referring to the Chinese demands for more Chinese schools? What I recalled was that the Chinese communities were not even demanding for more Chinese schools, the demand was only to relocate some schools in the rural areas to the city, to reflect the change in demographic of the population. Or is there something wrong with Chinese education, for example that it hinders ethnic integration? If the Chinese education was not the issue, then what was it?

Whatever it is - can our leaders enter into mature dialog with each other to resolve them instead of resorting to waving weapons and chanting ultra radical slogans?

As of now, I still do not understand what this whole episode was about. Hishammuddin apology was as if it had something to do with the dignity of the keris and the Malay race. That was a lot of nonsense to me. He could have waved a parang or a Chinese Sword and people would be equally offended by it.

Similarly Najib’s follow up statements (Najib: Keris apology won't derogate Malay dignity ) and MCA acceptance of the apology was equally nonsensical.

I remembered reading about how the Beatles was being promoted at the beginning. The promoter hired a bunch of young girls and got them to scream and tear off their clothes, and that set off a whole generation of mass hysteria. Now we have one person waving a weapon with a few people responded with some slogans and the whole country is divided in semi-hysteria.

To me this whole episode was only a cheap publicity stunt, intended to further the political interest of one person.

Karpal – please leave the rotten apples alone

Also posted in Malaysia-Today
(Last edited 30 April 2008 8.52am)
As our respected Raja Petra Kamarudin said – there were rotten apples in the basket. I would like to add that if something is rotten, warn others about it, but otherwise leave it alone and let it rot quietly - least it stinks up the whole place.

Karpal should concentrate on solving the many burning problems that we all are facing – or about to face. Suing the royal family is not something the rakyat needs now. It is not about being right or wrong in principle. It is just that no matter from what angle I look at it – I could not see a positive outcome for this action. Instead it will stir up a lot of shit and provide ample opportunities for unscrupulous people to exploit.

Karpal – please understand that DAP victory in GE 12 was mostly due to our disgust with Barisan Nasional’s corruptions and racism, not so much because of our love for DAP leadership and ideology. Yes – DAP struggle has it time and place, but we are in a different era now.

Truly, there is nothing much left worthy to fight against nowadays. The whole of Barisan Nasional is imploding, collapsing under the cumulated weight of 50 years of corruption. Just take a look at the Ku Li/Badawi/Mukhriz saga, the Khir Toyo vs. Sami Velu, Lim Keng Yik vs. Gerakan, Donald Lim vs. MCA saga - the whole lot can rot in hell for all that I care. But what I do care very much that Pakatan Rayat is not anywhere near the rotten scenes.

What we need most urgently now is not somebody to fight for us – but somebody who can provide a strong leadership to ride through the impending global crisis. We need good, efficient, rational governance – and more importantly we need compassionate leadership to bring the races back together.

Is is not even that the rakyat will vote DAP out in 5 years time if it doesn't perform accordingly. It is more that if the parties as well as the rakyat don't assume a position of unity and cooperate with each other on that basis, there may not be much left to be cherished after the worst recession in 30 years hit us in full force.

Hisham: I apologize for my apology??

I have to say - the article Hisham apologises for keris act that appeared in Malaysiakini got me very confused. I must have read it at least three times and I am still struggling to try to understand it. And then the following article Najib: Keris apology won't derogate Malay dignity came out today – oh man, that got me utterly confounded.

At first Hisham made an apology to the non-Malays, and then almost on the same breadth, was an apology to the Malays about having to make the apology. Sorry I am a computer geek, but something just doesn’t compute here. I mean – doesn’t the second apology nullify the first?

In the first place, what was the intention of waving the keris anyway? I am by no means a historian or a scholar, but my perception of the keris is that is a symbol of justice, courage and dignity. These are universal virtue that transcends race, religion and ideology. But the way the keris was being waved, the forum, the context, the intention, the radical stance – was every bit in contrary to the virtue that the keris represents. It was the subjugation and perversion of a sacred symbol for political means.

The waving of the keris was the act of derogation of human dignity. So Hisham apology should be to the whole of humanity, plain and simple. But the way the apologies were made, one apology to the non-Malays, and another apology to the Malays, was as if it was a matter of one race against others.

We have to put a stop to these racial bullshit. All Malaysians, regardless of race, should cherish and honor the virtues represented by the keris. We have to say no to racial politics. We have to stop the keris and other cultural/religious items from being hijacked for political means.