MAHATHIR

Got this from Ian who got it from Kuan Mei. Brilliant.

When Dr. Mahathir was Prime Minister of Malaysia

One lousy day in the middle of the economic crisis, PM Mahathir was feeling extremely frustrated and wondering how a neighboring country can be doingbetter than Malaysia .

One of his aides said, "I heard that the leaders consult Feng Shui masters to ensure prosperity for the country."

Dr Mahathir thought if that was the case, Malaysia Bomoh also can, and went to seek the top bomoh's advice in the country. After reviewing the case, the bomoh told Dr M that there were 2 things that he must do :

Bomoh : Step 1. You must blame the crisis on SOROS for everything.

Dr M : But Why ?

Bomoh: Because SOROS stands for 'Speculate On Ringgit Or Stocks'. You must blame him, and look at ways to control the ringgit and stock market.

Bomoh : Step 2 - You must get rid of ANWAR.

Dr M: What! why him?

Bomoh: Because ANWAR stands for 'A Nation Without Any Ringgit'.

Dr M: But how ? This is most difficult to do, he is popular with the people.

Bomoh : Aiyoh, you bodoh lah! Look at your name, MAHATHIR. Make AnwarHomosexual And Then Highlight It Repeatedly.

No-mood Random Post

Another massive traffic jam yesterday evening on the way home from work and I thought to myself, "What the hell? Another Anwar-related speculations???" The traffic was sooo damn bad. Asif and I were stuck in the car for 3-f***ing hours, remained static in one spot for 1-damned-hour. Can you imagine that? We were going crazy until I thought of a good idea to pass the time; found an NSync audio CD in his car and we put it on full volume (yea, it was REALLY loud) and sang, as well as dance, along. We must have looked like a couple of silly kids, or insane adults, singing at the top of our lungs, with the windows winded down, holding cigarettes in our hands and dancing... to NSync??? What the??? Well, what two spontaneous friends can do.

I officially consider myself as an anti-government, as I found myself blaming them every chance I got. But I'm no pro-opposition either, although i do believe that there are fabrications in a lot of the government's deeds - be it good or bad.

Hey, I checked out Saiful's med report from the Pusrawi Hospital, posted on RPK's blog. Looks genuine. Maybe it is. I don't buy it 100% tho. I read the mainstream media's side of the story too. As expected, they denied every claim. Kudos.

(read it here)

Nothing much today. Don't really feel like it.

Cheers.

Yours truly.

Estranged Home

"Here in my home..." In the first place, i honestly thought that the whole idea is cliche. Don't get me wrong; the song is good. The lyrics are beautiful and the melody as well as the whole composition of the song were done nicely. Two thumbs up for Pete Teo and his fellow comrades. I seriously look up to their optimism and effort.

Pessimism however, got the best of me, as i find myself questioning the Malaysian Artiste For Unity Project. I asked, "Is this song really going to make any difference to the racial polarization in this country?"

I took Italian for my third-language course and the man teaching my Italian class was real Italian. I remember him asking me, "Why does it matter so much whether you're a Chinese, or Malay, or Indian, or Sabahan?" I guess I must have sounded a bit defensive when he mistook me as a West Malaysian.

In another incident, during my second year in uni, we were given this assignment to interview foreign ambassadors and i got myself the Ambassador of Cuba. He told me that in his country, "we don't have classifications like Malaysia does. When people ask what race are we, the only answer there is, is Cuban." Imagine how sick i felt of our country then.

Why is there racial polarization? Why do some people who were born and raised here, and had stayed here for the past donkey years still feel outcasted? Why does a Malay still generalize Indians and vice versa? Why do East Malaysians still refer to Peninsular Malaysia as 'tempat orang'? Is not this our place too?

When I first got here three years ago and looked around me, I noticed one major difference between this 'tempat orang' and the place where I come from (Sabah); segregation. The Malays will sit and eat with the Malays, the Chinese walk with the Chinese, the Indians hang out with the Indians. There was only one time when I saw that color didn't matter; in church. And that was it. Being an East Malaysian gives me the priviledge of being friends with all the main races, and the other will just talk bad about the other.

At that point on, all my beliefs about harmonious + united nation of Malaysia, shaped by all the unity ads i saw on TV and heard in radio, crushed. It was further damaged by this stupid talks and lectures delivered to us in campus. I was so loathed by how the speakers urging - in high-pitched voices, practically shouting - the Malays to fight and stand for their race and religion. Maybe they forgot that there were East Malaysians among the audience, or Malays whose parents might have been of Chinese or Indian heritage. Racist.

I immediately had my perception about racism completely turned upside-down. For a while in my life, I was tempted to buy all the notion of racism and chauvinistics; to hate the other races and fight for our rights. But in my life, i was blessed enough to meet nice people, and these people do not come from just one race; they vary. There are nice Chinese and bad Chinese. There are nice Indians and bad Indians. There are nice Malays and bad Malays. There are nice East Malaysians and bad ones. Translation; whether a person is good or bad, it is not up to his/her race/religion to determine it.

Apart from broadcasting harmonious, united multi-racial one nation ads, the government really is not doing anything more about this problem. When asked to, they denied that we have any of such problem in Malaysia. Hypocrites.

For a start, they can begin with the racial and religion classifications requirement when filling in official/unofficial forms for any applications. Just what is the need for that anyway? So that they (authorities) can give priority to the 'bangsa rasmi' of this country? Now how is that fair? I'm just sick of having have to be labeled as "Lain-lain", when the East Malaysians are the aboriginals of this country and makes up more than half the population (read more on http://amyswavelength.blogspot.com/2008/03/letter-to-whom-it-may-concern.html).

I was at the monorail station waiting for the next train and i overheard a Chinese kid, not more than five years old, asking his dad at the point of seeing another Chinese family, "Hey dad look, they're Chinese too." His nodded with a smile. The kid looked around and stopped at the point of seeing an Indian kid with his family as well, and asked his dad, "Are they Chinese too?" His dad of course answered, "No, they're Indians." The same question asked when the kid saw a Malay kid, and the dad answered, "No, they're Malays." The kid must have heard the homophonic of Malays and Malaysia and asked the dad, "They're Malaysians?" to which his dad asnwered yes. He continued asking, "Aren't we Malaysian too?" And the dad told him, "It's not the same," and the conversation ended there.

I cannot quite make out what his means by saying "It's not the same." But I could detect some bitterness in pointing that out.

The government and other ignorant, indifferent people should really stop pretending like everything's okay between us. They should stop emphasizing so much on what race a person is and stop giving special rights to different races and religion. Why don't we all just be a Malaysian?

Too Bad To Move On

A man was found dead in what is believed to be suicide, yesterday morning. Two of his children aged four and one respectively were also dead, just nearby him. The guy was in the process of divorce. It is aasumed that prior to taking his own life, he poisoned his children. And they presumed that he did what he did because of depression due to family issues.

It aches anyone to hear such news (especially when you're on your way to work very early in the morning... what a day-starter). Some would have reacted with an out-spoken "Bodoh," or "Why the hell did he do that?" Some would have said, "Kesian." Some would have not even bother reacting to it (yah, i know some really indifferent scumbags). Some would have said nothing in reaction, for whatever reason.

I said nothing. Not because I don't give a shit about some Malay guy in Nibong Tebal took his own life after killing his kids. I think it was too sad to know such things are happening. Not shocked, because we have heard such cases happened before. Note the plural form of c.a.s.e.(s). And that's what's making me sad about it. It seems that many people are turning into suicide as an answer to their lives' problems.

And it got me thinking, this guy could have been anyone i know. It could even be me. Life can get pretty ugly, as we all know and went through. I won't deny the possibility of any one of us resorting to such solution. Most people are too proud to admit that they'd be stupid enough to kill themselves. Or that life for them is too good to even think of it. I don't blame them. We've all had our shares of highs and lows. But were our lows as disturbing, confusing and depressing as that of Shaari Hamid's? What i meant to say is that, what could be so bad that you have to end lives? Life is a one-time oppurtunity. How screwed up can it get that a person can just destroy such oppurtunity?

My answer is, nothing can be that bad. Nothing can be so screwed-up that there's no solution other than end a life. As long as there's breath, one is capable of anything. Of course a mute person can't sing. But i know a mute friend who can play the guitar. And of course a wheel-chair bound person can't dance. But I know a friend, Susan Leong, who has no ability to speak, walk, or respond properly, and she writes song lyrics. I'm getting somewhere. Read on.

I don't dare say that I'm not going to be stupid enough to commit suicide as an answer to life's difficulties. I don't dare say that if life hits me hard someday, suicide would be the last thing on my mind. I don't dare say that i'm strong enough to face any kinds of problems in life. Because i'm not strong. Trust me, I learned it the hard way.

I believe that i hadn't survived a tough childhood on my own accord, that there's a great source of strength that had sustained me throughout all the troubles, the high-tides of life. Many times i felt like giving up. Well actually, by attempting suicide three times during my teenage years, i've already given up. But i guess the Big Guy up there refused to give up on me and thus rejected taking my life just yet.

The one thing that i believe a person should have in his/her life is a belief. A belief in something greater beyond human strength. Some things, most things, no... ALL things couldn't be possible without that belief in a God; at least i think so. And somehow i wish, I could have detected all these people who were so troubled in life and committed suicide, moments or a day before they did so, to share with them what I believe, and maybe change their mind... *Silence*

Mixed Up Priorities

Our ministers and MPs are fighting over what kind of cars to use; filling spaces of printed media just arguing about which one will cost them more/less. We are arguing about territorial sea and how many nautical miles do each side owns with Singapore. Our government is doing all within (or even over) their limits to stop a de facto leader from taking over governance, even up to the point of getting it all mixed up with the latter's personal life. So what if he had anal sex with a guy (note, i sad 'IF', indicating that i still don't buy the whole political ploy setup by the governmnet)? Now sendiri susah have to explain to diplomats about what's actully going on (i doubt it was a thorough, unbiased explaination tho').

All the attention to these - what i would consider as nothing that needs immediate attention - compared to other problems going on in this country. 127 juveniles are being locked-up, as of yesterday, which i bet will increase in number, given a few days. Our inflation rate had reached a number higher than ever (7.7%folks... 7.7). 2,957 people still lost, location unknown, still searched by family members, and yes, this includes children (http://www.rmp.gov.my/). A total number of 43,897 cases of murder, rape, robbery, armed attacks, etc. as of 2008 itself. 1 more league title before Manchester United beats Liverpool's record of 18 times league champion... (yes, this disturbs me too. Kidding). The list goes on. And these are only the number of recorded cases, excluding those unreported.

How can our authorities are acting so eager and determined about matters like what car should the members of the cabinet use, or did or did not Anwar sodomized Saiful? How can we spent millions on an astronaut program and another millions on dams when that money could have been spent on R&D for better security or more effective economy system? Are hydroelectric resources, low-maintenance Mercedes-Benz cars, more important than the lives of the people?

Who is supposed to ensure the betterment of the rakyat? Who is supposed to look after the safety of the rakyat? Is not that the police's, government's job? Oh, wait a minute, our police are all busy ensuring the safety of our MPs and Dato's. 50 police officers to guard one minister, when somewhere else a child is being kidnapped, raped and murdered. Nice job, officers. How mesra, cepat and betul you guys are. And the government, who is supposed to think of ways to reduce the burden of the rakyat in trying to make a living for a life that is becoming more and more expensive? Oh, they're busy trying to stop this one man from taking over power. Yeap, they're all too busy. Let's not kacau them doing their job.

Yes, i'm bitter. But do you think that i'm proud doing this? I mean, i'm talking about my government here. One is supposed to be proud of their country and all i ever do is say, "Screw them." When one criticises and chastise a government, there must be something wrong in what they're doing. Besides, I ain't the first person to do this. Thousands of other people are pretty mad at the government. That means, there must be something REALLY wrong in what they're doing. We can't be complaining for nothing, right?

No Government-Chastising Today, Folks.

My fellow intern and i were standing in front of this building we work in, taking our daily dosage of nicotine. And what we usually do is watch the cars that pass by (our office is facing the main road, located in the middle of the city, so quite a number of vehicles to look at, and really good, expensive ones too). He pretty much enlightened me with a lot of info about cars (a total car-freak, thus, very in-depth knowledge). And then it came to me, "If i can own a car, ANY car in the world and being given a lifetime support of fuel for it, what would i buy?"

I''ve always loved big, bulky, 4WD cars. So i came up with the coolest car i could think of, a hummer. Hummer H2 SUT to be exact (no, i don't know that much about cars, but there is such a thing as the search engine *winks*). Bulky, big, bullet-proof (well, i don't actually know what's the use of having such attributes in a car, especially when you're no celebrity or president of anything. Heck), and still sophisticated. I loike.

But that's if i have all the money in the world lah. Damn that thing is like 5cc man. Imagine how much will be spent on fuel. Ooooooohhh...

So, i popped the balloon above my head and thought of something more achievable and realistic. I want a Jeep Wrangler. A TJ Wrangler Rubicon. I know it's a 2-door, but it's also convertible. Ahhh... (imagining myself driving along the coastline of Marblehead, Massasuchetts, at sunset, alone... Okay, okay, Jalan Putatan-Kinarut would do, as long as it's sunset time). Nice...

Anyway, there goes my wishlist of cars. It's good to do this sometimes. At least i have my mind set on something, which i rarely do. Haha!

Cheers!

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 **