Still?

It's been awhile since i last update myself on the political and social news in Malaysia. I think the last thing I remember was, Kok, RPK and the Sin Chew reporter being detained under ISA for petty reasons. And a few other news I can't recall by now. Being in in this line gives you limited time, connection, sources, but mostly a sense of concern to give two pots about stuff like that.

Only today did I 'tergerak hati' to type on Malaysiakini's web address (and thankfully I still remember the login password) and enlighten myself with the latest updates. And my, my... It hadn't change a little.

While leaders around the globe are working on global crises, especially economic as we know how rapidly deteriorating it is, ours - as in Malaysian leaders - are still caught up in worrying about whether yoga affects Islamic faiths, and other issues pertaining to Malay's special rights/privileges. So, what's new?

Still waiting for things to change, even in the slightest ways, before I can blab more about this.

Out.

Of Optimism in Possibility

"… given the increasing diversity of America's population, the dangers of sectarianism have never been greater. Whatever we once were, we are no longer just a Christian nation; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers. …

And even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools?"
- Barack Obama Call to renewal: keynote address June 28, 2006.

I was talking - or more of arguing - with a friend regarding the political issues in Malaysia, which sparked off upon learning the acquittal of Razak Baginda (unbelievable yet expected), and which eventually led to the topic of the US' most phenomenal and exciting presidential election ever. I must have talked of Barry Obama as if I'd known him personally and sounded so confident that he will bring about the change that we'd been long wishing for, because this friend countered my confident opinions by asking, "How do you know he will do as he campaigned and promised?"

And again, I reiterated the positive and optimistic attitude of opening to the possibility of change. I wouldn't possibly know if it's going to be better. But none of us know if it's going to get worse either. Change itself is a subjective word that doesn't indicate better or worse, positive or negative. But why choose to stay is stagnant situations rather than anticipate something that could actually be done something about? Better yet, why choose to stay in situations that are already shitty anyway?

And of course, I don't know if Obama is as multiculturally tolerant and determinant as he is in the speeches he delivers. But here's the thing; John McCain is no better, and yeah I'm judging by the gists of their speeches. But if McCain can't even proove his ability and magnetism through the way he delivers messages and keynotes, then... You get the drill. You may say that I'm too delusional; anticipating a change that would revive political scenes and eventually the world. But hey, better delusional than indifferent.

I in the first place, might not even be in place to comment anything about it; I can't vote for US president anyway. Malaysia's ministerial is also in a mess, better focus on that before bothering to comment on other countries' presidential election (did I say it is the century's most exciting elections ever???). But this is not about just any country. This is America we're talking about. And you know what they say, when America coughs, the whole world catches cold. =)

Just Forget About It?

Our PM today urged us to "Have faith in Najib, ignore Altantuya allegations." Read more here (if you have access to Malaysiakini, that is).

Okay, sure, I think I can do that. Not like I trust the source 100% anyway. But what about the issue regarding the submarines and Sukhoi jets purchase? That was huge. But then again, yea sure, I think I can get over that one too, not like I've seen the thorough records of the transactions and all. But there another thing; what about the 'Keris' issue dated way back in 1987? Okay, don't get me wrong I'm not trying to stir racial tensions here, just something to make you - those of you who think that Najib should be PM soon, or ever) - rethink your opinions. I mean, yea sure he can survive all the allegations shoved at him and he might make a good Defence Minister (I'm still not sure about him being Finance Minister though). But how is he gonna handle the more important task, which is to unite the people in this country? Owh, let's not get that ambitious. How is he even going to unite the people in HIS party? Look at UMNO itself, especially presently.

Oh... I can't even start to imagine what's our country gonna be like in the next couple of years.

Courage the Cowardy Sent Hero to Kamunting

"Syed Hamid berkata penahanan Raja Petra itu berasaskan kepada penulisannya yang mempunyai unsur menghina dan boleh membangkitkan kemarahan umat Islam." - BERNAMA.
Read more here.

Raja Petra is a Muslim. And he had in numerous ways admitted that he is, explained thoroughly why he thinks that the majority of the Malaysian Muslims are not applying it the way it should be applied - NOTE that he did not in any way insulted or offended the religion. The way I see it he was just criticising how the religion is being practiced by most Malaysians. I'm a Catholic who have three-years of Islamic education experience - though vaguely remembered - and tonnes of Muslim friends who agree with this guy (Raja Petra), so I know that he couldn't be wrong in convicting his opinions. So tell me, in what way are the Muslims enraged by his posts, and if so, were my three years of Islamic education distorted in any way, or are my faithfully practising Muslim friends wrong in having the same opinion like Raja Petra?

And if the answer to all these questions are "NO", is it safe for me to say that the Government are just acting like insecure babies?

Sept 16 (yea, the Government-Toppling thing)

It's 6.50pm of September 16, 2008. No news. Nothing. Niente. Nada. Aiso. Wala.
I didn't expect anything to happen really. And just because none of the government MPs jump ship, it doesn't necessarily mean that all the 9-16 furore was in vain and for nothing. Look at the bright side; didn't the opposition got the government to tremble a bit? And, as a result of that, Sabah and Sarawak are suddenly getting all of the attention, scared that the wooing of the opposition would convince them to jump ship. Fascinating.
If there's anything that went wrong in all this commotion, it's only the accuracy of the chronology. Anwar shouldn't have named a date. But hey, for all you know, something is already happening. We'll see.

Sept 16 (Nothing to Do With Anwar's Plans to Topple the Government)

"Kamu orang dari mana datang?" asked a middle-aged Chinese aunty we met while shopping the other day. When we told her where we come from, she replied with a nice-mannered way of she "could tell by our looks." What came out next was either hillarious or offensive, depending on the decoder of the message. "Ramai orang Sabah and Sarawak datang Malaysia kerja." We laughed...

Ya we found it funny, until it finally came to my mind how offensive that was, I screamed, "What??!!!" at her and swore my way out of the shop. Ha ha. Kidding.

It's funny (or maybe sad) how some people still think that Sabah and Sarawak are separate entities and it makes me wonder why. Part of it could probably be the blame of the Borneans themselves (some of us can be quite defensive or take pride in telling how we're not from 'here'). It's an attitude that really needs to be altered. But on the other hand, it couldn't be our fault that we're classified as 'the others' by the government, right? While all the other races are given their respective proper race classifications, we're enlisted as 'Lain-lain' (okay, okay, I know I've been going on and on about this, but hear me out). I understand that there are just too many ethnicities to list out in forms and such - hundreds. But we would appreciate it if we could tick 'Bumiputra' when filling out forms. This, and a number of other things as well, could have been the cause of Borneans sometimes being too defensive about our ethnicity. I reiterate, we should have only one race classification; Malaysia. It would be nice to stop hearing people say "Chinese," "Indian," "Malay," "Kadazan," "Iban," when they're asked "Orang apa?", or better still, not to hear people - Malaysians in particular - asking the question at all.

And speaking of that, I remember Klahid Ibrahim's proposal on making Sept 16 a nationwide public holiday. Back in KK we're used to having that priviledge. Sept 16 is always a holiday for us and we would celebrate it by attending the parade at Padang Merdeka downtown (di KK ah, bukan di KL), very much like celebrating the usual Merdeka Day. It's kind of weird not having that 'here' (again, it feels like referring to a foreign place).

It's not that I'm making up excuses for more of public holidays, but shouldn't we acknowledge the day Malaysia was formed? Doesn't it mean as much to welcome new members, which completes an entity, as it is to form one? Just a thought. (NOTE: I'm not complaining. It's just something that I thought of and want to share *smiles*).

I'm sure there are a lot of things that can be done to counter this problem, this whole racial polarization (and I don't think ISA is part of it). Just sitting on it and prohibitting people from talking about it are definitely not solutions. I've always believed that education can do so much to a person. And I mean, informative education instead of persuasive ones. One of the reasons why I became so aware and critical of issues like these was BTN, and very chauvinistic talks we were made compulsory to attend during my three-years of uni life. For a start, why don't we drop that from the course, kan? That would be nice. And probably things won't get as tight as they are today if things like BTN, TITAS and CTU don't exist. Why do they anyway? Oh well. I don't get to call the shots.

More later. Ciao.

"I Swear..."

It seems like crimes and wrongdoings these days can be easily 'cleansed' and justified just by taking oaths. First, the allegedly sodomized pretty boy. Then, the whole government crew asking Anwar to 'prove' his innocence by doing the same. And then, in the latest oath-taking trend updates, Najib did so too, 'proving' his innocence over the dead Mongolian's murder.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. You want to take oaths or cleanse your sins (as Najib would have it) in the Islamic way, go ahead. But why make a big fuss out of it? Why push people to do it? Because I think that when it comes to religion, willingness matters, meaning that you shouldn't challenge people to do it, nor dare them. Judging by the reports by the media these past couple of weeks, taking oaths have been made to sound like it's a sure thing that proves truth or justice. Does that mean that anyone who takes oaths by books deemed holy by believers are off the legal hook? That just because you SAY and 'admit' that you did not do something, means that you truly did not do it?

“Anwar says he cannot trust the police, courts and doctors. Don’t tell me even in Allah he does not trust?” he (Najib) told reporters while visiting Taman Sembilang in Seberang Jaya yesterday.

May I offer you my two cents on this? Err... Anwar did take the oath ten years back when he was first accused of the same case, sodomy (duh). But he ended up being sent to jail anyway, for six years (poor guy). So, I think it's not the case of whether or not he believes in Allah. I think it's the case of having have to do things and settle matters your way, dear Government.

Never before has a by-election been so heavily publicized, or being paid so much attention to. But I guess this one's a completely different one, as we're facing the possibility of having a sodomiser as a Prime Minister. Yes, the current ruling power is so worried that the Rakyat of Malaysia will be ruled by a gay fellow that they're doing all they can to gain the people's trust, including decreasing the fuel price by 15 cents (correct me if I'm wrong), two days prior to by-election polling day, when they could have done so weeks ago when the world crude oil price dropped (yea, it didn't just dropped days ago). Wow, how thoughtful.

By reading my posts, readers might have the notion that I'm anti-government and pro-Anwar, or a die-hard supporter of the opposition. News, I'm neither. I, like many others I bet, am just wishing for a change. I never said that the opposition will make good or better leaders than the shitheads we already have now. They (Anwar and his crew) will definitely bring changes should they win this. But for better or worse, God knows which. But for better or worse, it's gonna be a change, and that is all I'm looking forward to. Our Malaysia is already a mess anyway. Any change (good or bad) is better than sitting there taking all the shit the so-called leaders are giving us.

Even the media are getting to obviously biased. I don't know if it's just me or they are publishing/broadcasting all that is good about the government and criticising Anwar to his guts. Bikin sakit hati bah kalau tinguk brita skarang. Silaka. So you see, that is why sometimes I'd rather not pay attention to the media, coz they're just as screwed up as the government anyway.

It's five days to Merdeka Day, but who's talking about it? Comparing last two year's celebration with that of this year's, it doesn't feel as liberating as the former's. At least I think so. Lesser people bother about waving the Jalur Gemilang this year, or even giving a damn about it at all. What does that say?

Looking forward to August 31st had turned stale since couple of years back (yea, being a non-Muslim and a Sabahan, I have a lot to complain about). But this year, it's even worse. I'm only looking forward to it because of the holiday we'll be having on Monday (screammmmmmmmmm!!!). But i guess that all depend on tomorrow's result. Let's see what happens after tomorrow (I honestly can't wait). But in the meantime, I'll just pay attention to the EPL. Coincidently, Liverpool is playing against The Villains on the 31st of August. Yeap, I'm looking forward to that.

On the Herald Issue

I love the Catholic Lawyers' Society of KL folks.

Here's what they have to say about the silly issue that shouldn't even be an issue. Read here.

There are things about Christianity that he (the Home Minister) obviously does not (neither wishes to) understand; that it is universal. Translation; it involves every aspect of life, even the littlest ones. And this is about our government, about the future of our leaders. Is it wrong to update other fellow Christians about what's happening and at the same time ask them to pray for a fair election? Which part of the constitution says that?

Yeap, another one of those religious casualties. Yawn.

Insecure Imbeciles

How utterly embarrassed and disappointed I felt when I saw the photo of 5,000 UiTM students marching to protest the 10% opening of student quota to non-bumiputras. I've heard on Sunday that there was going to be a protest, but didn't actually thought that they would stupidly do it.
What an imbecilic, insecure, racist bunch of people.

Here's what I came across in the paper today, the idiocy of the students (click on it to read the details from the source):

UiTM student body president Luqmannulhakim Mohamad Idris said the students wanted Khalid to retract the statement and apologise.
“We (the students) are very disturbed by the statement and we have planned our strategy on what to do if the Mentri Besar does not apologise and retract the statement,” he said.

Yeap, they're asking a menteri besar to apologize for a suggestion. First of all, it's a SUGGESTION, something that's yet to be implemented, or agreed upon. Imagine these people panicked just listening to a suggestion and quickly organized a completely unnecessary march which they must have thought of as heroic for acting in defense of their overrated, overly professed rights.

Another racist political figure added up to the fire by pintpointing that the MB who proposed the idea did so to fish for votes from the non-bumiputras, I guess an act done to make the opposition party to look like the big-bad wolf who's gonna snatch the main race off their spoon-fed rights.
"Melayu jual Melayu," he said.

PPIM (some consumer association) said the move would be seen as challenging the special rights of the Malays (read more here). They added that, there was "no need to sideline Malay special rights," despite the fact that Malaysia is a multiracial country. And Ms Whatever-your-name-is, what makes you think that others can be rightfully - not only sidelined, but deprived of their rights?

I've talked about this with fellow Malay friends of mine who uninamously thought that the idea is ridiculous. A bunch of university students who are supposedly educated and expected to be wise enough to not make such nonsensical decision in an absurd way (I'm pretty sure the Vice Chansellor and his peeps know how to handle it without the protest), making fools out of themselves.

The MB proposed it as he thinks that having non-bumiputras - who are known to be competitive and smart - in UiTM will actually encourage the bumiputras to be more, well, competitive, in order to produce more students of higher quality. The protestors rebutted by saying that UiTM had been producing excellent scholarsand also had many graduates who were able to compete with other races in the job market. Forget about the idiot who's making the web more complicated by linking it to politics and shit.

Now, if that is the case, if it is a known fact that UiTM had produced students of excellent quality, then why make a big fuss out of a proposal? Why panic? What else would would have made them reacted so sillily if not because of feeling intimidated by the other races?

I know that UiTM existed on the basis of enabling the bumiputras to be on par with the other races in terms of education achievements and thus, in career achievements. But do you actually think that spoon-feeding them with special rights shit will make them genuinely brilliant or excellent? I should be mindful of what I say, as I am one of those who are 'spoon-fed' by the government. But what the point of success at the expense of fairness and unbiased treatments?

I bet a lot of non-bumiputras out there who deserve to be in UiTM or any other public university for that matter. They might even deserve it more than some bumiputras who are simply taking such chances for granted. But I guess some races just need all the help in the world to make something out of their lives. Geez.

Why Selfish?

It's common sense that any issue, problem, or crisis, can be best resolved by discussing it, talk about it, find out what's the root of it all, what can be done, etc. But apparently, a majority of dumbass Malaysians (excuse the language. I wanted to use the word 'stupid', but it's too nice) prefer to just sit on it with no questions asked.

No? Really? So tell me, why was it that a number of about 400 people gathered at the headquarters of the Bar Council while they were having a forum? Sadly, the police, our ministers, even our Prime Minister and his Deputy, as well as our Education Minister, openly displayed their stupidity and dumbness by asking the Bar Council to not proceed with the forum. And when the Bar Council went on with it anyway and got protested against, the so-called respected, all-for-unity and harmony, just and fair top leaders called them stubborn, and speaks as if saying, "I told you so." Actually, that's what they said, only, it was in Malay language.

I hate to use the word stupid or dumbass when describing our leaders and a majority of our rakyat, but here's the thing; The forum was about discussing - DISCUSSING - the jurisdiction of the Syariah Court/Law and Civil Court/Law, which obviously got a lot of people, especially the non-Muslims, confused. Many are dissatisfied about it and so, they found a way to resolve it peacefully, professionally, and dare I say fairly, coz there were representatives from all possible sides to offer opinons and answer questions. Three-hours before the scheduled closure, some major idiots came with banners and sepanduks saying, "Jangan mencabar Islam." Right...

Now, let me get this straight; discussing rights and jurisdiction, and mencabar... Hmm... Can someone show me the clear relevance to that?

Worse, our beloved Prime Minister came out with a statement that encourages us not to discuss 'sensitive' matters like religion and race. So in a way, he is saying that if we are being robbed off our rights, we should just shut up and live with it even if they rub it all on our face. Kudos, Datuk.
I have friends who are Malays and Muslims as well, and we have no problem hanging out together. We talk about religion and race openly, with no major arguments that could lead us to hate each other and what we're made of. And of course, obviously, these people I know personally are nothing like those idiots up there. I put the blame fully on them coz instead of trying to resolve racial tensions in the country, they are actually firing it up and encouraging us to sit on problems that could be easily solved if only people try to understand. Unbelievable. I'm utterly disgusted with the government, as well as the oppositions (PKR, PAS) who were actually leading the protest.

I know very well that Islam is a religion of peace and love and tolerance and justice, because i studied it for three years. But if this is how the people of Malaysia (you know who you are) depicts it, I don't think I would favor people of that belief or race anymore. Would it be too much to ask for you people to just try to understand other religions and race, like how we've understood your religion for decades?

Freakshow Stars

I swore to myself that I will not post another post of anti-government sentiment or that with influence of political connotations, at least until another interesting politically motivated scene comes up. But I can't help it, especially after seeing how our mainstream media can be really biased in their reporting.

I was reading a local english daily, N** S****** T****, and there was this sidebar on the second page, opinions on Tuesday's great debate. There were 6 to 7 opinions and to my expectations, all 6 or 7 clapped for the government side of the debate. They told of how Shabery did a great job and how he had presented the facts so well. You see, i watched the debate live. I know how it was and it was pretty obvious who was the better speaker. But uhm, yah, oh well, let's give Shabery a clap as well. At least he had the guts.

Anyway, as i was saying, biased comments. Out of the thousands who watched that debate, I doubt that there wasn't even one who was on the opposition's side. I am for one. But i truly believe that there were quite a lot of folks who raised up their hands in support of Anwar. The comments on the other hand, showed none of what anybody has to say anything good about him.

That is one thing. The second one; I was attracted to what Khairy said (yea, he was one of those giving their two cents worth on the newspaper). His exact words are kinda vague in my head, but what i do remember is that he talked about minyak. Back to March this year before the big-E day (in case you're wondering, it's Election Day), ya, Anwar did say that he promised a cut down on fuel price down to lower than RM1.92 per litre. Tuesday night, he promised a decrease of as much as RM0.50'; facts of which the government came in too quick to judge that Anwar broke his promise. Either Khairy is playing dumb, or he really is just plain stupid. Back in March when Anwar made his promise, had the fuel price gone up by then? I believe, anyone would know the answer to that. No. It hadn't, at least not for the second time. The second price hike (in a time-frame of one year) barged in last month, out of the blue, suddenly (i remember the MASSIVE traffic congestion as everyone lined up to rush for the then cheaper price of fuel. It was terrible with capital 'T').

Tell me if i'm just being too critical of the government. I have to say that i'm no supporter of Anwar either. I don't trust our government to be in the hands of any of these freakshow stars. Sodomist, 'explosive' murderer, hypocrites, racists, extremists, ah... the list goes on. But really, the government has really done a great job in turning Anwar into a big-time star. People are going to remeber him well. Seriously. I'm even finding myself starting to believe in his persuasion. Daym.

Cheers everyone. Time to go to bed. Nite nite **

Not Politically Motivated?

Anyone with the right mind would know that the arrest of you-know-who yesterday afternoon was politically motivated. What the hell was the Home Minister talking about?? “Whatever action being taken is according to the due process of the law... not poolitically motivated.”

Blimey. When an ordinary citizen gets sued for an offence, the summon letters come a week after. Yesterday we see that they had preponed the arrest. My my. When you said 2pm, then 1.59pm would still be considered as breaching the deal. One must be precise about these kind of things especially when it's regarding anything that includes the law.

When asked, they simply answered, they were afraid that he would not showed up. Okay, so he did not turn up on Monday and the authotirities are scared that he'd do it the second time. But yesterday, they did know that he was at the ACA for questioning and then called him up to confirm whether or not he was showing up at the police headquarters, a question to which he replied yes. He even asked the ACA to cut it short as he's afraid that he was going to be late. Well, they had asked that the so-called sodomist (i still refuse to believe he has any reason to f*** that 23-year-old-probably-bribed-victim-of-a-political-ploy guy) go straight to the police HQ from ACA. Okay, so he had taken a different route to stop by hus house. Can't a man say goodbye to his family and maybe freshen up a bit? He'd been at the ACA being questioned the whole morning. Not politically motivated, u say? ( http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/).

I can imagine how these guys wake up yesterday morning and anticipated the time to come for them to arrest the de facto leader, dying to get their hands on him and have him arrested. It's probably not their fault. They are just being paid to do it, it's their job. It's the people that they're working for that i pity. The way the government handle this is soo terrible that now they're making a so-called sodomist look like a hero, and themselves like big-bad, foolish giants.

p/s: If Michael Moore is of this country, we would have a movie out of this. Our political scene is just so soap-opera, as one of my friends said. We have a so-called sodomist as an opposition party leader, and a possible murderer as the Deputy Prime Minister. How cool can a government be. *wink wink*

Cheers.

An Unbeatable Brilliant

"Brilliant. That old man still has it," was my first thought when i watched the "Tubuh Kerajaan Hari Ini, Harga Minyak Turun Hari Esok" debate between Anwar and Shabery. I found myself nodding to everyone of Anwar's points, and said "Cheh!" to every one of Shabery's. Does that make mean that i'm against the government and pro-opposition?

I'm on nobody's side. But i must admit that the de facto leader is damn convincing. He has a charisma that would make people who support him give their whole heart and soul to defend this leader. And i don't know if it's just me or the debater he was against was a bit too defensive. I must say that he did a great job lah, going against someone as great as Anwar (yeah, i really think he's brilliant). But i think that he was acting too defensive of the government that he came on too strong about it, which is too bad, coz wouldn't that make the Rakyat feel like the government is going against them?

In defending their decision to rise up the fuel price in this country, the government really should stop comparing our price with other countries. A lot of things should be taken into account; producing country, inflation rate, purchasing power, etc. And Anwar was right, we have nothing against Petronas. What's in question is the processes run by the government (like, somebody please tell me what the hell IPP is for? A body that regulates how much of Petronas' revenue goes to the government and to TNB or anything else so that it wouldn't look like the government is robbing Petronas off its money directly, is it)?

Of course, i hate to make an ass out of you and me. So i won't assume. But uhm, somebody please enlighten me if you may.

What makes me really look up to Anwar is how he always managed to maintain his composure, never losing his cools. With all the shit that he went through and still fighting to this very day, awesome i would say.

But i still think that the massive traffic jam was a set up, to give the rakyat the perception that "Because of Anwar, we had to endure this kinda shit." Don't you think? But yah, i don't wanna start being a movement leader or anything. Just sharing my two cents worth.

Cheers!

p/s: This had just got in. Anwar's arrested, two hours ago. I thought they said a 2pm deadline, not 1.15pm. and he was late because he was at the ACA for questioning. What the crap??

Selfish Scumbags

The massive traffic congestion two days back didn't die down as soon as i thought it would have. Yesterday while on our way back from the office, my friends and i had another 'discussion' about it, obviously being against the police and the authority over them who had assigned them that stupid task of having have to stand there doing nothing except placed con/corn/cone (Damn it, i forgot how to spell the word) by the road sides, making it impossible for the traffic to move smoothly, konon-kononnya to deter Anwar's followers from organizing a rally, which didn't happen *exhales breath*. Okay, i'm obviously still pissed about it. Everybody is lah.

I thought that the road bloack was set at such a bad time; early monday morning when people are rushing to get to work on time, left damn early just to beat the traffic jam. We were stuck in it for a complete two hours. Everybody came in late that day. And then the next day, the government just turn up in the front page of mainstream print media and apologized. Walaweh... Well, they're not paying for their car fuel tank anyway, neither do they have to drive, do they?

The worse part is that the police did NOTHING. Nada. Niente. Rien. They just stood there and talk. I assumed that they're on stand-by mode just in case a rally happens and get out of hand. But if that was what it was, are the cons/corns/cones (shit, i don't know how to the damn word) necessary? Was it really even useful for them to narrow the path for motorists to use? And if so, they didn't even warn us about it. So everybody ended up swearing all the way to work, honking each other, angry, and arrived at the office cranky. I hate to say it, but they can be very selfish sometimes.

Truth Is Ugly

Since examination and assignment deadlines last April, i barely paid any attention to what's going on in the politics of this country, or to anything else in the news for that matter. And then semester break came which only worsened the condition of my awareness and information level. It itched me to not know what to say in return when friends or people who knows i'm into these things talk about it. My connection to the virtual world - where i normally feed my brain with the latest updates - was completely cut. I vowed that once i get connected again, on a frequent basis, i will read these kind of stuff again, intensively. And one of my favorites is always Raja Petra's. So i confidently went to my blog where i've listed Malaysia Today as one of y favorites, and clicked it. To my surprise, it's no longer there. It was hacked. I hope i'm not the only donkey who just found out about that. Boy how stupid i will look. But like i said, my connection to the virtual world was completely cut. It's not that the place that i came from do not have any ainternet connection, it's just that i barely have the time to sit and face the PC. But getting back to what i was talking about, one of my favorite website, hacked.

That wasn't all that happened after my comeback (cheh, macam star. Pui). Malaysian politics are definitely getting messier by the day. After only one month of taking a break, including not logging in into blogspot, the face of this country's governance and politics had gone ugly, and it looks like an unrepairable ugliness, which i hope would be otherwise. I desperately need to catch up with things, but there's just too much of it that i'm running out of breath. Sodomy case of you-know-who resurfacing, Altantuya's case still unresolved, Deputy Minister being involved in it, Raja Petra's arrests, the "no-confidence" stand of opposition parties, fuel price hike and the presumed agenda behind it, yada yada yada... The list goes on. Sigh.

As if it's not bad enough that there are people who just had to murder to resolve problems, rape to satisfy their lusts, drive fast and wrecklessly simply for the adrenaline rush, etc., we just have to have leaders - be it on the national level or states - who are self-centered, authority-hungry, power-abusive and self-profit-seeking, don't we? Great.

As ugly as things are currently, with the thinnest hope of things turning out to be better, let's not look at it with ignorance, nor pessimism. It's easier to be ignorant, and indifferent. That's what i've been for the past couple of months. And no, i do not like the feeling. When at first you thought that what you don't know won't hurt you, it's even more hurtful to know that what you don't know is actually happening and other people obviously know about it but you don't know about it. As Barrack Obama would have it, "Audacity of Hope", instead of arrogance. Do know, and hope that things will get better.

Bravo Malaysians

"BN lost its 2/3 majority for the first time in forty years." What a news to start off a day. I found myself smiling as i was getting ready for a futsal tournament Sunday morning when the radio announced the news. I had stayed up all night the evening before, watching the scoreboard, and everytime we see a color different from blue passing through it, my friends and i would slightly cheer. Abdul Rahid announcing that BN had won the election - as they always had for the previous terms - was expected, yet it was a huge relief that it wasn't a 2/3 winning at all, or else we risk having our constitutional rights continually being abused.

I take my hats off for those who had dared opted for change, namely Penang, Perak, Selangor, and Kedah (Kelantan is exceptional considering they had been ruled by the same opposition party for the past donkey years), and in some districts in certain states who had collatively voted for change. This year's election is sure a slap on the government's cheek waking them up and showing them that the rakyat are not stupid after all. And that they should do more than just sleep during parliamentary meetings, waving keris in the air, hiking petrol prices and not explaining why thoroughly, nor fix the roads only when it's near election dates.

Sabah remains as the biggest disappointment when it comes to this. I don't know who to blame (maybe i'm guilty as well for not casting any ballots), either the fact that most people in Sabah are still under-exposed to the source of Independent News, knowing that these news are only available online and most rural areas do not have immediate access to Internet, OR the fact that most of them only cared about having roofs over their heads, food to eat and clothes to wear, and nothing more. It would be a lie if a party, any party is to say that they do not use monetary rewards to 'fish' for ballots. And these people in Sabah, believed to be baited by, well, monetary rewards, ... the rest is history. Or they just simply do not see, hear, nor read news and inputs from other sides apart from the government's, therefore they don't know how these so-called democrats had been ripping rights off the people.

PAS is now the official ruler of Shah Alam. Rumor has it that lots of changes are going to be made, specifically about implementing Islamic laws in its administrations. My fellow non-Muslim friends and housemates are all saying, "Matilah kita ni." I laughed and said nothing but "Give them a chance." Honestly, i don't even know what i'm saying. PAS is being known as too radical in practicing its Islamic cultures and values. Even during the campaigning for this term's election, it said little in trying to convince the non-Muslims. All of its promises are dedicated to Anak-anak Selangor. So we are not the least excited when it won the election for our area. However, i believe that no governance of a country should be associated with any religion, especially in a country that claim to be democratic. Therefore, i believe that we shouldn't hate PAS just because it is an Islamic party. My religion didn't teach me to hate other religion, and i believe that Islam does too. So i hope our new ruling party will keep that in mind.

All in all, i'm delighted with the results. It seems like we woke up breathing fresh air on Sunday Morning. I'm not sure how these opposition parties will do in the next four years, although i hope nothing but the best for them. With the risk that the rakyat take to vote for change, they should be using that trust wisely, so as to ensure they'll get another round of winnings in 2012. Let us all cross our fingers.

Bravo malaysians!!!

To Elect Or Not To

Somebody reminded me about registering for voting yesterday. He asked me if i'm going to register or not. I said "No". And he asked, "Why not?" "The government is gonna win anyway. And the oppositions are not in a better position to win either." "Ignorant citizen." And i shut up.

For one thing, yes, i'm being irresponsible for not giving a damn about the election and thus ignoring the part i'm supposed to play as a citizen of this country. But on the other hand, i believe i'm right; the government IS GONNA WIN ANYWAY. The Election Commission of Malaysia as we all know is an unofficial component of Barisan Nasional, and its chairman is an UMNO member isn't he (go and look it up, you'll see it for yourself)? So practically, in its function to regulate the election, its subtle (or probably even obvious) purpose is to ensure BN's winning by hook or by crook. So why bother? They are gonna win anyway.

And it's not like i favor any of them oppositions either. Handing over the governance of this country to them might not change anything, or may even makes it worse (especially financially). Both (govenrment and opposition) parties, despite the fact that providing monetary or material rewards for voting or not voting certain candidates are considered as an offence, are doing it as a matter of factly speaking. In a nutshell, i personally think that our politicians from both parties are corrupt. Our governance is corrupt. I understand pretty well why Fong Po Kuan backed off. Politics are no longer (or has it ever even been) a noble and humanity-saving field to be involved in.

I do not post this to induce ignorance in my readers. You wanna vote, go ahead. But if you think that it's gonna change anything, I just wanna let you know that i envy your optimism. May it one day be so.

p/s: I was thinking, Mat Rempits as stated in the news every now and then are the number one enemy of our country. But imagine this, if they roam the roads and streets waving BN flags while wearing BN T-shirts, making the same nuisance that they always do without exhibiting any BN identities, would they still be the enemy and get apprehended? Or would they be granted monetary rewards instead? ;)

Tuesday, February 19, 2008 in Current Affairs Permalink Comments (4)