A WedNURSEday's Inter:Lude!

This Wednesday is less of woe, but more of gifting and l'ving, because among myGoOdfriends are several Friday's Childe. I have in mind especially one dwelling nigh Catsville.

I'm writing a long and rambling Post today because of a conjunction of some happenings in the lust 24. And forwarning is that I'm using DDC in generous doses-- not venomous nyet! -- to deter some readers because, as I wrote Yesterday, my Comments channel went BUST! because of overwhleming response to The New Nu'espaper intro.

Yes, "lust" in the first sentence in DDC plays TWO ROLES -- the literal refers of course to "last" night w'ile the "knotty" side implies something "sexy" coming along to feed the voyeuristic tendencies in each of YOU. YOU is spelt with CAPS to remind the honourable ER here, sometimes spelt "hear" (Cos you're supposed to listen while I speak, No?) but mainly to emphasise the importance of each individual mousing in as Time's PERSON OF THER YEAR 2006.

I keep reiterating this Honour because two fellow Malaysian Bloggers are facing defamation suits. I may not agree with awe/all the things that JeffOoi (whom I regard as my Taiko) and RockyBru had written, wrote, write but I believe the plaintiffs have used a hammer to try kill two flies. I don't know who invented this "metaphor" so I can't prim and properly attribute, jest don't charge Desiderata2000.BC for "plagiarism". It may be just, not fair. Okay, remove the "comma" and let's see if there's a difference: It may be just not fair. I'm a democrat at heart, so YOU -- Time's P....... (I hear mGf the *hoRst of allofhelen.BC whispering: Cheong hee wan!) -- decide/deside.

I was concerned this morn/mourn when I received an email from a Times&Chimes reader saying that he/she could not access desiderata2000.BC. I asked her to "try again", even desperate enough to plead she went about it a roundabout way thus:
"OooohhhhhH somebody is sab(O)taging my Blog!Try again; OR go visit yantouch.wordpress.com, the*hoRst of my Borneo Post writes, and in the righthandcolumn, click on her Daily REads ~~ desi."

*hoRst is an ORI DDC from Yan in a story she related. If thou art a true-blooded Curio cat, go search in both our archives. There is not such a thingy as free catsfood, or freelunch2007.

NOW I REACH THE BODY OF MY POST TODie AFTER A LONG PREAMBLE, which is the BIGGIE for Intro, which is the short for that long INTRODUCTION. Remember in my early Desiderata.English writes, I lectured you on Essay-Writing? That a good Essay must have an arresting INTRO, with an alluring BODY, and a climactic CONCLUSION?

What I would consider a "miracle" happened when I jumped into Blogospheric writHing was on the first day, my intimation -- don't mix up with intimidation! -- of my poetic-asspirations won me a fair maidenly visitor. She was a month older, so I acknowledge her as Blogsworld Jie-Jie, who ID herself as Yan. She has since led me up the garden path in exactly 1-1/2 months to sing FirstOfMay on The BorneoPost using exquisite words, as "WORDS are all I have, To take your hear away... " We later exchanged reminiscences on the Bee Gees and Don't Forget to Remember Me, she with The Boy Next Door, and Me, with FirstOfMay "when I was small, and Christmas trees were tall..."

I had to APologise to Yan, hoRst of www.yantouch.wordpress.com -- no, not that I did not gift her an AP! -- recently when I exchanged SMS with her using an overdose of DDC. She reminded me that she's dyslexic, and in last Sunday's Inter:Lude, I had writ:

"Interruptus: *is DDC, short for Da Desi Code, for newbies to this site which I use to spice up my **'rites for I believe LIfe is already too serious so we must ENJOY Blog's rides together, hence some adventurism with humour and wordplay. I APologise to a few of my ER (EsteemedReaders) who have what is termed DYSLEXIA, which I shall write more about in another Inter:Lude."

_____________DETOUR TO FELLA BLOGGER's SOJOURN___________

Yan elaborated on her "problem" soon after on Jan 19, thus:


Being TaggedPosted by Yan under Uncategorized[3] Comments
I have been tagged byJust me on five things you don’t know about me.
Probably, the ‘big thing’ you don’t know about me is I am dyslexia. Huh? Yes, I am. I am going to tell you what I don’t know how to do being dyslexic.
I am not going to count because I don’t count. I don’t count well. I remember when I was in Primary school, when we started to learn the times table (2×2 equals 4 etc), my teacher hit hard on my palm 99 times because I only get one correct, that is 2×1 is 2. Today, still very much handicapped with the times table, thanks to technology, there is a thing called calculator.
I learnt my Chinese first. That was an advantage to a dyslexia. Because I only concentrated on one language. I learnt Chinese well, but not without tears and pains. Thanks to my father who had treasures of Chinese classic stories that attracked me.
I learnt my English only when I entered fourth form. Thanks to my Engish teacher from India, Francis! I wrote about him somewhere in this blog. read it here
I never get to settle with Bahasa Malaysia! I just could not grasp the logic of per, me, kan…
Yes, I am dyslexic. But I read pretty well. I write articles too, both Chinese and English. Thanks to God for working on me, and still working on me…. I always borrow the words of Robert Browning's to tell my significant other or good friends -
Grow old with me, The best is yet to be!
Well, it’s my prayer too!
__________________Thanks, Yan, for the reminder! ____________
From here onwards, I'm not using any DDC. The DDC used in the preamble is to demonstrate the kind of words a dyslexic like Yan would have difficulty in deciphering, and I want to tell her:

Treat my Post today as a personal challenge. Read at leisure the preamble before her Post I reprised above, and slowly but surely mull over the wordplay a friend had concocted to tease my EsteemedReaders, including thee.

My motivation is above board, which means it's gifted to a Friday's Childe with this scribe using a percious God's gift to try to lead my readers on a critical thiking path. I have had stated I'm a democrat at heart. It's tru I try to avoid didactic writing. Didactic writings are shuffed down te reader's throat, which in the main is "suffocating". May even result in mental death.

I am encouraging Yan to accept the challenge of reading my DDC writes, including the old ones, to perhaps digest them at lesiure without fear, and just maybe, with a lightning strike of "awakening" one beautiful day, her dyslexia suddenly vanishes into thin air.

Then I'll come with a killer Mr Bill, even if I have to swim across the South China Sea.

I think a wordsmith must win his readers over to te extent of ENJOYING THE BLOGGER's JOURNEY, or he would have failed in this endeavour. It is bonus to me when some readers engage me further via Email -- and hopefully, we one day become fRiends. I type the last word in the previous/precedent sentence verl slowly, that I not leave out the "R", hence the emphasis with in Cap. Otherwise, it could prove to be a fatal mistake, typo not withstanding.


I wish to address the "problem" being faced by mGf numbering SE7EN on my fingers-and-toes ledger in Life's journey. Yes, Yan, this Post is specially dedicated to YOU.

I had promised I would blog on (after some research-lah:) this subject later, so here it's served on a silver goblet of Haridas' kambing rendang teased with BlueFurongRoserie tenderiser and ever-flowing tehtarik perfumed with Catsville RedBungaRaya lacey ginger.

On googling, here comes one dictionary definition, followed by some medical information about DYSLEXIA :

1) dyslexia. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. ...A learning disorder marked by impairment of the ability to recognize and comprehend written words.
New Latin : dys- + Greek lexis, speech (from legein, to speak;...

(2) The following characteristics have been adapted from R. D. Davis,
37 Common Characteristics of Dyslexia.[20] [edit]

General Individuals with dyslexia: May appear bright, intelligent, and articulate but are unable to read, write, or spell at an age-appropriate level. Have average or above average intelligence, yet may have poor academic achievement; may have good oral language abilities but will perform much more poorly on similar written-language tests. Might be labelled lazy, dumb, careless, immature, "not trying hard enough," or as having a "behavior problem."

Because dyslexia primarily affects reading while sparing other intellectual abilities, affected individuals might be categorised as not "behind enough" or "bad enough" to receive additional help in a school setting. Might feel dumb and have poor self-esteem, and might be easily frustrated and emotional about school reading or testing. Might try to hide their reading weaknesses with ingenious compensatory "strategies". Might learn best through hands-on experience, demonstrations, experimentation, observation, and visual aids.

Can show talents in other areas such as art, drama, music, sports, mechanics, story-telling, sales, business, designing, building, or engineering. Have related problems with attention in a school setting; for instance they might seem to "zone out" or daydream often; get lost easily or lose track of time; and have difficulty sustaining attention.

[edit] Vision, reading, and spelling

Contrary to how it has been portrayed in the popular press, individuals with dyslexia do not perceive words backwards or upside down. In fact, visual problems are typically ruled out before a diagnosis of dyslexia can be made. Early studies of dyslexia did focus on the possibility that dyslexia is caused by visual difficulties, however very little evidence was found to support this theory. Likewise, there is little evidence that visual training provides effective treatment.

[21]. A popular theory in the 1970s suggested dyslexics may have Meares-Irlen Syndrome, a visual deficit in which the glare of the white page against black letters causes the words to shake, shiver, spin, etc. after a few minutes of reading. The proposed treatment was the use of colored plastic overlays that were thought help anchor the words to the page. This treatment has fallen out of favor as scientific studies have failed to support these claims. (See link below to asfedia).

Spelling errors - Because of difficulty learning letter-sound correspondences, individuals with dyslexia might tend to misspell words, or leave vowels out of words (e.g., spelling "magic" as mjc).

Reading - Due to dyslexics' excellent long term memory, young students tend to memorize beginning readers, but are unable to read individual words or phrases.

[edit] Writing and motor skills

Because of literacy problems, an individual with dyslexia may have difficulty with handwriting. This can involve slower writing speed than average or poor handwriting characterised by irregularly formed letters. Some studies have also reported gross motor difficulties in dyslexia, including motor skills disorder. This difficulty is indicated by clumsiness and poor coordination. The relationship between motor skills and reading difficulties is poorly understood but could be linked to the role of the cerebellum in the development of reading and motor abilities.[22].

[edit] Math abilities

Dyslexia should not be confused with dyscalculia, a learning disability marked by severe difficulties with mathematics. Individuals with dyslexia can be gifted in math while having poor reading skills. However, in spite of this they might have difficulty with word problems (i.e., math problems that rely on written text rather than numbers or formulas). It is also possible that individuals with dyslexia have difficulty with multiplication tables, and other mathematics which involve remembering the order in which numbers appear.

DESIDERATA hopes this little sojourn to understanding a little medical condition will inform us better. That we approach our interactors on a daily basis as human beings with strengths and weaknesses, but that as a God-fearing person, we must render each other support to enhance the goodness in each of us. With the less positive traits, we render assistance too to minimise the defects so that we are mutually enriched. I need to remind myself too of this credo, easily said, not so easily endeavoured.

Desi ends with a small prayer that all persons placed on this Good Earth will perform to the peak of their individual gifted potentials. The good Lord always has a plan and programme for each of us to walk in FAITH with Him, however and whoever YOU perceive Him to be.

I wsih all mGf, especially Yan, well as well as can be in our Times and Chimes,
For if we try hard enough, we will always hear the bells of joy ring,
We give thanks for tender mercies that come with small dimes,
We give thanks most of all for the miracles that each new dawn will bring.

The NUDE CROOKED TIMES Returns

DESI today generously -- after raising another 2million -- puts out a SECOND EDITION of The Nude Crooked Times due to Popular demand. "Popular" is an understatement because the Comments channel to the Inaugural Edition of the said daily was "disabled" due to the overwhelming response coming from my EsteemedReaders and I had to truncate to just five, oh, S'X, as an added-on because of its sexy nature.

The Frontpage reads:

Gov't sacks education minister S-G & D-G,
promises reform to correct depressing state of affairs

Seremban, Tuesday: Just a month into taking over the reins of government,
the Cabinet at its fourth meeting yesterday sacked the Secretary-General and Director-General of the Education Ministry for the many failures to check the decline in eduacation standards, especially that of the English standard.

The newly-appointed Education Minister of the Alternative Aces Action FRont noted the dismal failure of the many adhoc measures to overhaul the school system as well as the consistently falling standards of the local universities, chiefly in producing the bulk of graduates who could not write a 100-word letter in simple English.

This situation has prevailed in the past decade and is a growing disaster in an internationalised market-place where communication skills in the English language has emerged as the chief determinant of landing the executive level or corporate job.

The Minister pointed to the consistent appearance of Malaysians as among the foreign students graduating from universities abroad who couldnot communicate in prim and proper English, what more using exquisite English.

The Education Minister pulled out an old copy of a Malaysain daily dated 30 January 2007 to cite two examples of
(1) the ad hoc measures taken by the former Government contributing to the present state of affairs;
(2) Malaysian students today replacing Korean and Thai students having chalked up the honours of graduates with poor English language skills at Australian universities.

The Nude Crooked Times would refrain from paraphrasing the reports referred to by the Honourable Education Minsiter -- who is humble to the extreme as to not wanting his picture to be frontpaged.

Not that he did not wish to compete with the beloved Prime Minister, but that it's the contents of the topic that should be highlighted, and bolded thus, not the personality, he said.

The old culture of "fostering sycophancy" shall be replaced by one of "in pursuit of excellence" in all fields of Malaysian endeavour, the Minister stressed.


Example 1:

Frontpage

English on the double:ELiTE plan to boostEnglish proficiency
30 Jan 2007 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Year One pupils to get 18 English lessons a week, instead of the present eight, under a pilot project with emphasis on getting pupils to understandand be more comfortable with the English language Mathematics and Scienceclasses will be effectively turned into English lessons.

The objective: To help illiterate Year One pupils as they are the ones who struggle with their studies in subsequent years. Last year, 163,835 Year One pupils had trouble reading and writing.

KUALA LUMPUR: A plan to double the periods for English lessons will be tried out in schools in a bid to boost the pupils’ proficiency in the language. A pilot project to give Year One students 18 English lessons a week instead of the present eight would begin soon in 50 schools, said Education Ministry director-general Datuk Dr Ahamad Sipon.

The year-long project, called "ELiTE or Early Literacy Through English programme", will see the Mathematics and Science lessons, of which there are seven and three periods a week respectively, effectively turned into English lessons.

:
:
:

Stopping from boring the Press further, the Minister pledged that from now on, the new Governemnwil no longer "experiment" with any pilot or non-piloted schemes in education.

He promised a review of the school and university systems by Eminent Malaysians for six months with a blue-print to be implemented two years from now to ensure a long-term road map in education for Young and Young@Heart Malaysians.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


DESI: Okay, now it's timely to reprise the relevant news item headlines, from Jan 23, 2007 titled: Introducing a new nu'espaper:
(See, Desi is a great believer in Re-Cycling to keep healthy and wise, or OtherWise:)

Declining English language standard:
Students' proficiency higher than teachers'
-- Researcher and findings dismissed

The Nude Crooked Times ran an exclusive report examining the causes of the falling standards of English in local schools and universities, quoting many parents as hearing from their school-going kids that their teachers were speaking "funy" English in class, adding "s" to nouns and verbs when they should not carry any "asses", and vice-versa.

It is "embarassing" to say the least for situations arising when some pupils stood up to "correct" the teacher's grammar. Of course, the pupils did not have any inclination to "embarass" the teachers, but such scenarios have become a common feedback to the Parents-Teachers' Associations.

Also, the parents urged the Education Ministry to be stringent in recruiting teacher- trainees as English specialisit teachers in requiring them to undergo competency and proficiency English tests conducted by internationally accredited and recognised bodies.




___________________________________________

EXAMPLE 2:

(You can refer to The Star World news for similar copy, but what follows is the Original I copied after Yahoo-Searched)

World (as of 5:01 PM)

Study: Asians graduate in Australia despite bad English

SYDNEY (AFP) - More than one-third of foreign students graduating from Australian universities, mainly Asians, have such poor English skills they should never have been admitted, research released Monday showed.

A study by demographer Bob Birrell found that more than 50 percent of South Korean and Thai students did not have sufficient English to work professionally in Australia, along with more than 43 percent of Chinese graduates.
m
Some 17 percent of students from Singapore and India, where English is more widely spoken, also failed to reach the required level, Birrell found.
Overall, 34 percent of the graduating foreign students offered permanent residence visas in 2006 did not have competent English.

Birrell, of Melbourne's Monash University, said almost all the 12,000 graduates tested for the survey were from Asia because these students are the most likely to apply for permanent residency on completing their studies.

However, he said that he believed the study to be representative of all foreign students, partly because Asia was a major source of fee-paying overseas students for Australian universities.
"It does raise questions about university standards," Birrell told AFP.

Education Minister Julie Bishop described the survey as "an extraordinary attack by professor Birrell on our universities."

"International students must meet international benchmarks in language in order to get a place in a university in Australia," she said.

The study found all graduates tested had enough command of the language to cope in most situations.

"But people who have reached this standard are still not capable of conducting a sophisticated discourse at the professional level," it said.

Tertiary institutions are reliant on international students because they provide 15 percent of funding, leading to suggestions that academic standards are sacrificed in favour of financial rewards.

In his report, Birrell said there was a "mountain of anecdotal material" that many overseas students struggle to meet their course requirements and that universities cope by lowering the English demands of courses.

"There is widespread recognition of the English problem," he said.
But universities were hesitant to make students take extra language courses because this would make them more expensive and therefore less attractive than rival institutions, he said.
Professor Gerard Sutton, the president of the Australian Vice-Chancellors Committee, said most foreign students would be proficient in reading, writing and listening to English.

"What I think has been highlighted is a deficiency in spoken language," he told AFP, adding that a deficiency in this area would not prevent them from completing a university course.

Of the students surveyed, those from South Korea fared the worst with 55.5 percent not meeting the required English standard.

They were followed by Thailand (50.9), Nepal (47.9), Taiwan (47.4), China (43.2), Hong Kong (42.9), Bangladesh (42.0), Japan (36.8), Vietnam (32.9), Indonesia (32.0), Sri Lanka (25.1), Pakistan (24.8), Malaysia (23.5), Singapore (17.8) and India (17.3).
Education is Australia's fourth largest export, with foreign students paying some two billion dollars (1.5 billion US) to attend universities annually.


DESI: To be continued~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~from 11.55AM~~

The new Education Minister noted with "deep regret" that Malaysia's ranking in 2007 has now risen to number two after Indonesia in the latest findings by Australian academics on the "performance by foreign students in English language proficiency" with the number 1 ranking as "faring the lowest" in English proficiency.

He drew the attention to the fact that China and Thailand have improved by leaps and bounds since the Jan 30, 2007 news report and now are almost on par with Singapore, which retains its supremo position as being the"most proficient" in English mastery among the foreign graduates in Australia.

"We have lost it in terms of competitiveness in the key areas of education and globalised village, as international commerce is closely tied to the Englsih language mastery, now the dominant medium used by all the important players in the mainly high-tech and Internet-cum-knowledge economy." he added.

_________________ IMPORTANT NOTICE ______________________

GEIC: Please note the Cover-date of the latest edition of The Nude Crooked Times is Jan 30, 2017.

___________This is a Privileged Look at the Possible Things to Come IF ONLY MALAYSIANS DO THEIR PART RIGHT____________ Desiderata2000

The Face of A Tiger

(or The Face of An Anarchist)

A was aged about 21
He came from the Village
They think all villagers were Morons

B must be a year older
He came from B'g, B'd City
I know this one was a Menace

Bee spoke of socialism
That we must take care of humankind
Therefore be kind to your fellow men

Aye told Bee to take his socialelitism
with him back to his toilet
Bee was furious
So he sent Aye a lawyer's letter

"My client wanted to be your Friend, Aye.
But you had the audacity to reject him.
That's not very socialistic.
That's not what humankind should be.
Furthermore, we are both C.......ly brothers."

Yeah, Aye replied:
"We are both Homo sapiens but not C.......ly.
Don't call everyone you meet Brother,
Or fRiend."

"Drop that 'R', Tiger."

DESIderata was inspired to pen this poem about 10.33AM,
January 29, in the Year of Our Lord 20h0hSE7EN
by johnleemk's uestion over the wickend:

Does “Walk With
Us” stand for anarchy?

Minus the politics on Sunday

Sunday's Inter:Lude


This morning I'm publicising some Email conversations -- one I maintain P&C the correspondent, the other it's going public because he himself has been very vocal on Blogosphere, so a li'l more mileage won't do any harm to one John not-so-Little!

I'm extracting from my responses to the two conversationists who have potential to become greAt journalists, but my constant harping on poor-as-church-mousey writHers must have discouraged them. Never mind, one *terrortory's loss in another +terrain's gain.

Interruptus: *is DDC, short for Da Desi Code, for newbies to this site which I use to spice up my **'rites for I believe LIfe is already too serious so we must ENJOY Blog's rides together, hence some adventurism with humour and wordplay. I APologise to a few of my ER (EsteemedReaders) who have what is termed DYSLEXIA, which I shall write more about in another Inter:Lude.

_______________ DIGRESSION, a Blogger's much abused Privilege____________

* terrortry is "territory" with negative connotation -- like where terorists lurk? (Contrast with +terrain which is neutral, hence you can roam there unlike a place where even angels fear to tread...

** 'rites can be deemed to be writes or plain rites, the latter as in our mundane living, when some among us go through the motions as "walking dead", deeming Life as a ritual to be endured than to be ejoyed.


________________Hence you are Encouraged to start a Blog
to be able to abuse your ER! ____________________________

NOTE that the Email extracts are in Italics thus, with some TYPOS corrected, and my Ruminations today are in normal script.

Hi (FavouredOne):

You are not the only one saying that "your posts these
days very political,..." and " I
don't really understand them...".

Even ipohlang AweOfHelen -- who first charged into
Desi's like the Light Brigade charging she understood
just about 30% of my DDC (her coin for Da Desi Code in
view of the Da Vinci fellow hogging all the horizons
... who has heard of Newton and Einstein?



Ah, when I first saw you email ...re-quoting "as every action comes
reaction" I thought Newton's law has impelled
someone finally to send me an art for Times and
Chimes. YOU did tackle some times, what about the
CHIMES? So I am left suspended -- in suspence?

I quote again ~~ "'We built too many walls and not
enough bridges' and being so quotable, (FavouredOne) is
hereby commanded not so sunbly to expand by another
300 words, combined with thy post ... and you are ready for a BYLINE in
TheSundayPost.

AS to understanding the politics, we are at a
crossroads -- like changing of the PM 1-1/2 terms
from now; and I'm sort of a political activist (Bhind
the scene, as I hate frontal attacks). And I'm, sort
of trying to "propagandise" PKR and Anwar, not too
successfoolly I See from your line...

Death knell will chime (is that NOT a contradiction?)
if the logical succession in UMNO takes place -- and
death came to visit a Mongolian beauty as well as her
"mistaken" twin whose exquiste beautifull body-ly pix
were plastered all over Malaysian press in a wrongly
ID parade, just to sell more papers.


" There sure IS more to life than to worry about the
woes and I am definitely not trying get more clouds
hovering above my sky =) " Quote a poet like Max the
erring one or Wordsworth the worthy wan, and you have
wrapped up a CNY preesent to Desi, thyself and all OUR
ER.

Now don't get me wrong, tghis is no a NS command. It's
just worth a thought, or a word or 2, just BT2OU..and
that's another DDC in parting, and I wave thee Adieu,
and Not Goodbye.

Cheers,

YL, DEsi

PS: I'll try to cut down on my Politics writHings and
do more Life's beatings around the mulberry Bush since
the war-monger is not Malaysia's president. YOu have
adopted the partial 'liar' of the UK prez?

DESI: From today onwards, I will bear in mind my pledge given to (FavouredOne) plus a few others via Email that "I'll try to cut down on my Politics writHings..."
Of corse, Sunday's Inter:LUde will remain a column for Life's Reflections in the tradition of my teachers like Ehrmann, Wordsworth, Shakespeare and Thoreau. Fame sought (NOT seeked, K!) by Association if you don't qualify by endeavour. Local names I can cite are my Blogger mates like JohnLeeMK and BakriMusa and DinMerican in similar vein, while JeffOoi et al are in another vein. No need to elaborate lest I get *shot. This word can be "incendiary" in Blogosphere because certain peole see
GH STS where there is N NE.

_______________________________



11am Sundae
I just got back from my CON BF!

Hi John:

As a senior (I won't use the word Mentor here!) by age
and experience, my advice is that you Q has this
answer from DEsi: Resounding YES to your Does “Walk With
Us” stand for anarchy?

I surfed to Walk... to check if my RE-send on their
ABOUT US -- they redeemed themselves "slightly" by
finaly Posting my Comment -- my FIRST and LAST!

I had already sighted another commenter "labelling"
you as another SPM? I guess this is the desperate
resort of ANARCHISTS who fear discourse, so I think
you should "CEASE" engaging them. Cut the links with
such "empty" minds who again prove they also DON'T
WALK THE TALK -- just as they accuse Pak Lah and his
Government.

But at least Pak Lah and his Goons got elected through
the General Elections, whatever its hurdles and
disadvantages stacked against the Opposition (which is
another ISSUE we have been discussing at other times,
yes!)

Now lets' return to normalcy smell some Roses, and
sing "Rose, Rosey, Rose on the Rise, I love thee.
You don't have a choice, it's between HellA and Me!"

Regards,

YL

PS: Call me if you wanna further discussion.

_____________________________________________


DESI: THe above is self-explanatory if you surfed Malaysian Blogsworld well enough as my mentee sometimes role-reversed to Mentor most times is a recognised Voice reasoned and rational too advanced for most of his Seniors (by age accounting)in the IQ and Discourse department, and Discourse here is along the plane alonside such humble names as Socrates, Orwell, Descartes and Oscar Wilde. You may add your favourites via Comments, but Desi must APologise ahead if those nominated are not in my (or john-not-so-little's) *leg. *a humble sub-class to A* league.

_______________________________________________

As I promised (FavouredOne) -- and being overworked and under-paid smoetimes NOT paid at all for my Thoughts! -- I borrow from TheSundayPost (now online @www.theborneopost.com!) an article that deserves wider circulation. Of course I'm doing this not 100% out of altruism. TSP is running my Times and Chimes inaugural today, and I get paid for the time and sweatATlabour. I'm looking forward to that first check, hopefully it brings me nearer to that 20million goalPOST!
My next promise: I'll surely also bye thee tehtarik IF you can track Desiu down or up through the Furong Maze and Kuala Lumpur Haze plus across the bumpy South China Sea or Sungei Ujong. Bring your own roti canai or siew pau and mee rebus, watever! as LONG as it's not laced with ARSEnic Port Dickson Chow!

Wow, What a Long Preamble before you come to the CONtents! It had better be goode, for Desi's survival's sHakes.
" quote from allofhelen.blogspot.com's whispering hope. Thanks sisdar, I 'ear thee:)

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Updated : 10:00 am January 28, 2007


Odds in shining legacy

By Alexius barieng

'Sinar Baru’ is a Malay word that literally means new ray. For village chief Selia it means a hope for new and better things in life that she must work hard to achieve, else it would be just all in a name.

KUCHING: Selia Alek, 39, married and a mother of four with a small business to run to supplement her husband's income had all the chores to keep her busy from dawn to dusk.


But being busy was what every able person would love to do in Bintulu, a town immersed in brisk economic activities, and Selia was one of those enterprising women who had found their niche.

Thus, when the phone rang last July telling that her old man had died and that she had to come home, it never occurred to her that she would leave Bintulu for good. To put it simply, life was so good – for those who worked hard for it, that is.

Yes, she came home for the funeral, but while Selia lost her father, the villagers had lost their headman, and they badly wanted a successor – Selia!

“I told them I couldn’t because everything I had was in Bintulu. Besides, I knew that no leader could get every one of his people to agree to him, let alone when that leader is a woman,” Selia said of the time the villagers met her with their proposal.

But the villagers persisted, put her name to the local votes, and by November she was already the new Ketua Kaum of Kampung Sinar Baru, Padawan near here.

This wife, mother and businesswoman had to move lock, stock and barrel from Bintulu to take on the responsibility of her new appointment.

Of this she said: “It’s a sacrifice I had to make for the legacy that my father had left behind for a village that he helped establish way back in 1983.

“Besides, and more importantly, I believe I can do the job…with a lot of support from my family, of course.”

Although it is not unheard of for a woman to hold the top post in a village, it is nevertheless a rarity, as it is still predominantly the domain of men.

“Naturally there were objections among some of the villagers when I was nominated and later voted as the new Ketua Kaum.

“Personally, I feel that the most important requirement to be a good Ketua Kaum is the perseverance, patience and sincerity to do the job well,” she told thesundaypost during an interview at the village recently.

Selia said if she did not think she could handle the responsibility she would have just stayed in Bintulu.

Under her care now are about 450 villagers, mostly second generation residents who are children of leprosy patients of the nearby Rajah Charles Brooke Memorial Hospital (RCBM). The patients were the original settlers of the village.

The village, therefore, is made up of people from various racial backgrounds, since at one time leprosy patients from all over the State sought treatment at RCBM.

“Only about 35 of the original settlers here are still around. Now the people who live in the kampung are made up of the second generation and even the third generation,” said Selia, who insisted on giving a tour of the kampung during the interview, to highlight some of the problems that she and her people were facing.

She stressed that she did not want to focus on herself during the interview; rather she wished that the spotlight be more on the village, which she described as being special and unique in the State.

“Our village came into being in 1983, and it is special because in the beginning the settlers were all ex-patients of RCBM.

“The first generation of villagers preferred to make a new home near RCBM because the social stigma in their village of origin was just too strong for them to take,” said Selia, adding that some never returned to their real ‘home’ until the day they died because they felt society had no place for them and no longer accepted them.

During a tour of the village that day, Selia pointed to a solitary grave on a hill slope and went on to explain that the most urgent problem for the villagers now is that it had no proper burial ground.

According to her, in the past, those who died were allowed to be buried at the burial grounds within RCBM, but now the authorities have put a stop to this.

Her father was the last person to be buried at RCBM’s graveyard, she added.

“Right now, this is the most pertinent issue for me to handle,” she said, pointing out that she was in touch with the relevant government departments to find a solution to the problem.

Another challenge for her now is to make sure that all children of school-going age in the village attend classes.

“I believe that more than 20 children, who are supposed to be in school, are instead just staying at home…some of these children are influenced by their older siblings who have dropped out.

“To me, the task at hand is to convince parents in the village that they must make sure their children go to school,” said Selia, who herself possessed an SPM certificate.

She said one of the major reasons villagers did not seem to put education as their priority in life was poverty.

According to her, for such poor people, putting put in the plate is already hard enough; there is simply nothing to spare for school fees, uniforms and books.

Members of the village development and security committee (JKKK) who were accompanying her that day did admit to knowing about government educational aid, but according to them the financial burden was just too much for some large families.

“That is why the JKKK hopes to start an education fund in this village, just so that we can help the school children here,” she said, adding that she also hoped they would get funding from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and government agencies to help them realise this plan.

“What we can do ourselves we will try our best to do…but for now, I know that just because I am a woman, there are some villagers who don’t believe in some of the ideas and plans that I have,” she said, adding that this negative attitude among some of the people had made her more determined and focused.

A member of her JKKK cut in: “If we had chosen a man to be our Ketua Kaum, one who cared for his own wellbeing, it would be useless.

“Whether it is a man or a woman, the most important thing is that the person who leads us makes sure that things ‘move’, otherwise we will never see improvement,” the member said.

Selia revealed that her biggest fear is that her village, which is so close to the urban area, would be left behind due to ignorance and apathy on the part of her people.

Although she was grateful for the help given by government and non-government agencies to the leprosy sufferers and their families over the years, she now hoped the help would also extend to the community as a whole.

Selia, however, was confident that by the end of the year, there would be a lot of improvements in the village.

“Now that I have told you that openly, it means that we have to really push ourselves to make our plans work. We can’t afford to be complacent anymore.”

Selia certainly knows the daunting task ahead, but she had done so well in Bintulu where she thrived on challenges as a wife, mother and entrepreneur.

Now home to carry on a legacy left by her father, the responsibility is on her to brighten up Kampung Sinar Baru.

The sun certainly shines on her, and her radiating effect, it would seem, is rubbing on a village that hopes to wallow in the glow.

Selia really wants to see improvements in the village and she wants things to change for the better from now on. We’ll go the distance with her,” a member of her JKKK said, which really seemed to sum up the mood of the villagers since she made her commitment to them.

PIC of SELIA: The most important requirement to be a good Ketua Kaum is the perseverance, patience and sincerity to do the job well. — Photos by Jeffery Mostapa (DESI: surf to www.theborneopost.com-lah, I'm not a painter!)


_______ Thanks to TheBorneoPost
with Three Goblets of tehtarik --
in Au, Ag and Pt! ~~ Desi
12.29PM, Jan 28, 2007___________________________________


PS @1.05PM: Something extracted from malaysia-today.net which is relevant to the advice I gave johnleemk earlier~~

27/01: Swelling the ranks of latter day surrogate orientalists – Part II
Category: General Posted by: Raja Petra
GUEST COLUMNISTS

Dr. Mazeni Alwi & Dr. Musa Mohd. Nordin
Muslim Professionals Forum

"We read the responses that ensued MPF’s “Swelling the ranks of latter day surrogate orientalists” with much amusement. We have always held the view that much of what thrives in cyberspace is 80% junk and the bloggers were true to form!

"Quite a few have a vocabulary problem, restricted to 4 letter words I might add. One “True Muslim” is probably experiencing a schizophrenic crisis (pardon our cyberspace diagnosis). He had the audacity to write; “ Also, very strangely, there is no mention of your name or that of your office bearers anywhere in your website. Why are you are all in hiding?”

"And by the way “True Muslim”, if you were to peruse more carefully, with calm and serenity, you would find the list of our board members, fully transparent, unlike many the likes of you, who choose to hit and run more than often in a variety of irresponsible modes – irreligious, islamophobic, racist, pornographic etc

"We welcome the opportunity for an intellectual discourse in a civil and responsible manner. Those that breach the norms of civilised and cultured cyber communication is only deserving of the delete button and the thrash bin."
:
:
:
:DESI: You are advised to read the Original article in full, it's educational and good for Sundae's desserts.

I felt homey at a Reformasi function

Last night's function organised as a Tribute to Reformasi at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall saw a motley crowd of informal Malaysians gathering for an informal event, with attendees dressed most informally. As a journalist, I felt much at home at the Chinese Assembly Hall, not because I am of Chinese descent. I felt very Malaysian indeed because there were a majority of Malaysian Malays, with a good number of Malaysian Indians and other ethic origins well representative of the NegaraKu I love. Understandably in a Tribute organised for the people involved closely with a former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, a majority were from the multi-racial Opposition party spearheading reform and to replace the incumbent-getting-irrelevant Barisan Nasional government. Saudara Anwar (yes, so informal to the extent I hardly hear anyone addressing him as Datuk Seri...) was still as sprightly and spirited as almost ten years ago, leading with "Reformasi" in three loud cries in his short, motivating address. Of course, followed in good time by the fervent supporters' echoes. My estimate there was a crowd of 500-600 Malaysians who came to give credit where credit is due.

I must say the Younger listeners must be awed by the father's apple of the eye when "puteri" Nurul spoke -- with some cute Mandarin spiced rehearsals for the future! -- all too briefly. "Wo Men Xi Yi Jia Ren", I did say i an aside too my companions -- I hope this wish comes near to reality with the coming decade or two (one impatient one says the wait is too "long!":)

I applaud the Organisers for their Salute To the Reformers (too few among us,I must lament), their families and colleagues who wanted to see a reform of what they preceived as a highly corrupt government, failing i its promises of accountability, responsibility and transparency.

I was extremely proud to listen to a young man, still a student, testifying fondly of his father's small role in the Reformasi process, having been victim to the Internal Security Act and paying a high, and yet worth in the family's eyes, for his principles and convictions, spending six years at Kamunting. Yes, a few droplets did follow the law of gravity well observed by Sir Isaac Newton. I had to write this reference because of an Email I just read, but you're not privi to know. But the freeluncher did not see the watery speck in my eyes, also johnleemk of the I-I-I-connection. If some ER do not see through these few lines, the fault is entirely mine. See the aweof Helen if you need to understand the DDC. "Helen Jie2, my H2O -- don't compare with the AP queenie's flood, K!"


Another testimony worthy of note came from a fellow journalist (the late) MGG Pillai's son, Sreejit, who recalled that his father had always believed in the POWER OF THE WORD. Yes, worth rreppeating ~~ The pen is mightier than the sword. Many Malaysians have exceeede the scribe's expectations, for in Sreejit's recollectionm his Pa had told hime he would have been delighted if he could, via his writings, cause some change (or understanding) in just one reader's mind of the issues that he wrote about. Indeed, many Young Malaysians must thank this Towering Malaysian, a pioneer in online journalism and Blogging - for touching their lives, Yes?

Anwar did speak a few words, but I shall not detail lest I be accused of being a partisan Blogger which I try not to. But frankly, I always believe when it comes to NegaraKu, one can't help but be involved in partisan politics up to a certain level IF YOU WISH TO MAKE A DISCERNIBLE DIFFERENCE.However minuscule the droplet of difference.

Yesterdie, I promised an offering on "No Holes Bared". Now YOU go obediently to 2020freelunch.blogspot.com and hopefoolly, you get a dish of No Holds Barred. She may even spring a SIRprise lie on thee, blinkered ones who did not accept our INVITE to free bytes, lust night. Your loss, not ours, thine not divine.

PS: Just for the record, I am happy to report it was illuminating in catching up with one buddhist "The Monk" Stanley KohI kept addressing this "LOST" for a decade! friend as Stanley Ho (my 20million must be on my mind!). I must also mention with gladness so she won't blog madness about Desi! one Elizabeth Wong, a sometimes colleague once upon a dime but always activistic as the vista allowed, or aloud; johnleemk's Senior, Dr Lee JIn, an ENVIRONMENTALIST expert!; and in my eyes, two seasoned and truly-committed MALAYSIAN REFORMISTS, Dr Syed Husin Ali, and his brother Syed Hamid. As promised, I bought freelunch (finally!) A* kopiSuaraKeadlian and half-tehtarik-edKOPI to johnleemk, cheapskate that Desi is, and hear I am.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As an aside, but relevant to the currrent political landscape in great flux, I
serve thee late lunch, mamybe stale, from an archived years-old write:


Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in his 22 years reign as helmsman of Malaysia, very much as a one-man show, has also seen the country through many good, and bad, and ugly, times. The most tumultuous event would, in my humble opinion, be the "sacking of Anwar Ibrahim" as the deputy premier and as deputy president of UMNO, which was followed by a series of "strange events" in the courts, and in the streets of Kuala Lumpur. For me as a journalist, these events amounted to what I'd term as "rude awakenings"; but there was not much room for putting down in words one's feelings of bewilderment and outrage at these events. Most just watched with a sense of resignation at the unfolding drama; many termed it as "sandiwara" (Malay opera), but these "shows" at least stirred many Malaysians from their life-goes-on-as-usual life-style. For once, many became more politically conscious, if not active, and they asked questions, if not in public, at least at the teh-tarik stall or higher class coffee-house, or at their favourite water-hole. People began to wonder what's happening, and where are we, as a nation, headed? Featured here is one poem composed during these interesting times, relating to the then unfolding, mainly political, events:

It Gets Curiouser and Curiouser

When I was young I was told

Spinning a story you must be bold

But it still must have a beginning

And an ending, and somethin' in between

But lately my motherland

Gave birth to very strange events

The cycle was like a record

Being played out from the end

Remember Michael Jackson's video clip

When uprooted trees regained their standing stature

Dried up safari land became green pastures

And elephant carcasses stood majestically alive again

It gets curiouser and curiouser

As was observed in Alice in Wonderland

And events in Malaysia the past decade

Closely mirror Lewis Carroll's rich imaginings

The story purportedly started in September 1998

As many Anwarists would want you to believe

That Reformasi was galvanized

When the deputy PM was excised from the head

But my friends, be reminded

It was way back on a May Day in '88

When the court sat on a holy day

A panel of junior judges sacked their chief

Salleh Abas Lord President was dismissed in a jiffy

But then DPM Anwar Ibrahim held his tongue

A decade later with one fell swoop

Anwar became a lauded victim in the vicious loop

Reformasi Anwar started, his loyalists proclaim

They forgot Salleh and his Brave Ones

Who stood their ground for justice

They indeed were the unheralded Originals

Reformation is not only taking to the streets

It's changing of the mindset

What became of the Judiciary following Salleh?

It was downhill all the way

It led the country's leading judicious mind

The late Tun Suffian Hashim to lament in 2000:

"I wouldn't like to be tried by today's judges,

Especially if I am innocent.*

*Quoted from a speech on March 10, 2000 that the former Lord President delivered at a Bar commemoration for the late Justice Tan Sri Wan Sulaiman.


ADDED ON @3.45PM AS FODDER FOR THOUGHT, the food ran off with freelunch!:

It was a long night and day (started at 6.00pm Fridie and ending at 12.245AM Saturdady). There is a Young Mind full of Reformasi Thinking -- I wish there is aMORE of such Young& Articulate Malaysians around. So from infernalramblings.uni.cc. see if you can help speed up that paradign shift.


The Death of Malaysia
Home >> Articles >> Malaysian Socio-Politics >> The Death of Malaysia

Malaysia is at a crossroads, and it the generation of all Malaysians presently living who will decide which route we take. Will we choose the path to infinite ignominy, or the highway to permanent prosperity? We must stand up for change, because if we wait for our children to do so, it will be far too late. Now is the time for political change.
Written by johnleemk on 10:21:01 am Jan 22, 2007. Discuss the Death of Malaysia at the forums.

A message I have been continually attempting to communicate through this site, ever since its inception, is that it's time for a paradigm shift in Malaysian politics. I am not just talking about changing from a race-based view to a non-racial conception of leadership, nor am I spouting mere rhetoric about greater unity in the opposition. What I am talking about is simple: kicking Barisan Nasional out of power. Nothing less. "

DESI: Engage him, John not soLittle, at his site. I am only an overworked, underpaid messenger boy messing up some infernal minds, my own too, and yours too if you don't guard it with your life.

But I revive from my grave of another rambling for sharing if you have the time. I offer no dime either, as I was never the Finance Minister.The poem was composed some years back, when we were younger and gayer . with passing time, some of us have moved forward, a large section has just moved on, not knowing it's forward or backward; but a "dangerous" section has been moving the country towards the Abyss. No wonder johnleemk titled his article "The Death of Malaysia".

One mGf Shares My Apprehension

Several of mGf (short for myGOODfriend, both in the singular or plural)have expressed via email about their apprehension at the goings-on in blogosphere here arising from the defamation suits against two fellow Bloggers, JeffOoi of Screenshots and Ahiruddin Attan of Rockybru.


As a journalist of two decades-plus experience, I am thankful to Jeff for inspiring many of us to take to Blogging, and I am sympathetic to his plight in the spirit of solidarirty with a member of this relatively "young" Fifth Estate, compared with the rivals he and Rocky are facing from a mainstream press, member of the longer-termed Fourth Estate. At the same time, I urge my EsteemedReaders not to comment unnecessarily (esp speculatively) on the two suits as some counsel, rightly in my humble opinion, had raised the point of "sub-judice", and even at this stage we are "not privi" to the 13 articles referred to by the plaintiffs in Jeff's case, and the 48 Posts in Rockybru's.

***Reference: THe Star page N28 today headed:
Blogger applies to strike out suit
Plaintiffs' statement of claims fatally deficient, says Ahirudin****

Back to johnlee's Post, here goes, bear with him because I am only a willing, okay, I'm also the endorsing, pro bono mind YOU!, messenger. I hope to confirm that, at the same time I pray some of our lawyers involved are rendering pro bono services to the two Bloggers involved.

My apprehension was publicised in my post on
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Joining the Bloggers' Bandwagon... ,

Extract~~

Desi feels a little discomforted -- maybe "apprehensive" is the better word -- when I surfed to WalhWithUs linked via Jeff Ooi's update yesterday (I read him daily to hear from one of two horses' mouth -- the other being RockyBru) the developments concerning the NSTP et al's defamation suits against the two fellow Bloggers now making waves beyond the Malacca Straits and South China Sea.


Do I have grounds for my "apprehension"?
YOU -- Time's PRSON OF THE YEAR 2006! -- decide.

_______________________________________________

And one Y&A johnleemk has decided. And I hereby reprise his +Comment posted in the steal of lust night, and the referred ++"Summary" relevant to this morning's discussion (Go read in FULL HIS SUPERB ARTICULATION in his own Blog @infernalramblings.uni.cc. If you don't follow this knightly command, it's YOUR LOSS, not mine, your mind:).

+
"desi, I was absolutely astonished to see this nonsense about Pak Lah's comments on the rule of law being used to interfere with the judicial process. It's absolutely ridiculous. As I said, how on earth could you read Pak Lah's comments in that way? All he did was state that the law applies to bloggers as well - not that Jeff or Rocky are guilty, or that they should be found guilty. All he said was that bloggers (not even referring to any specific ones) are not above the law. How is this wrong?

By johnleemk, at 12:05 AM "

++
Abdullah's Comments: Don't Interfere with the Judiciary's Independence
Home >> Articles >> Malaysian Socio-Politics >>

(EXECUTIVE SUMMARY)
Apparently, some people are trying to nail Abdullah for ostensibly interfering with the judiciary and passing judgement on a case in contempt of court, simply because he made a simple truistic statement about the rule of law. This kind of commentary makes bloggers look bad, because anyone with a reasonable brain can see that all Abdullah did was defend the rule of law - something unfortunately done by the government only when it benefits them.

(The PM had commented to the media in London:)

"We do not censor the Internet and that’s our policy, but they (bloggers) must understand that there are also laws on defamation and sedition. These laws are enforced. They should bear in mind that they cannot hide and they cannot take advantage of doing something against the law. The law is the law. They cannot hide and hope to be protected under some kind of a cover or whatever they think that they have. And if you want freedom, what is freedom without responsibility? I don't agree with freedom without responsibility. Freedom without responsibility is anarchy."


(Johnleemk's take, partial extracts only only; emphasis in BOLD THUS is Desi's.)

"Actually, it is being irresponsible. This is actually one of the more sensible things to have proceeded from Pak Lah's mouth during his administration. I don't see how anyone could disagree with this - certainly Jeff hasn't, since he has prominently placed a notice at the end of each one of his postings about how "INTERNET does not operate in a legal vacuum." The laws on defamation and sedition apply to the internet just as much as they apply to any other medium. (However, there is, as Pak Lah noted, significantly more freedom of speech on the internet because it is not subject to draconian censorship laws such as the Printing Presses &Publications Act.)

I don't think the bloggers supporting Jeff and Rocky would disagree with this statement. Nevertheless, they seem intent on using it to whack Abdullah nonetheless, claiming: Abdullah is an interested party in the defamation suits filed against the two bloggers, and their cases are pending. As such, Abdullah should have refrained from invoking defamation and sedition to incriminate the subject of his comments, and to subtly coerce the Judiciary to prosecute the defendants whose are still at their early stage.

Anyone denying that Abdullah is an interested party in the case would be out of her mind. Abdullah, as the bloggers note, is the President of UMNO which controls the NSTP through a long and convoluted chain of holding companies and conglomerates. However, I find the other assertions highly incredulous and difficult to swallow.

Let's look at the first one - that "Abdullah should have refrained from invoking defamation and sedition to incriminate the subject of his comments". Read his original comment again. Does this sound like he is incriminating the bloggers? He doesn't even sound like he is speaking about Jeff and Rocky in particular - he seems to be addressing the blogosphere as a collective.

Does Pak Lah say "Jeff and Rocky have committed defamation", or even that "Some bloggers have committed defamation"? No. All he says is that we have laws concerning defamation and sedition, that these laws apply to the internet, and that we must respect the rule of law. That's it. How is this even subtly accusing the bloggers concerned of defamation or sedition?
Indeed, this is probably the kind of truism any other Prime Minister would spout if he were placed in a similar situation. "
:
:
:


Written by johnleemk on 10:09:38 am Jan 25, 2007. "
________________________________

One more extract and additional notes from my Wednesday's post~~

"Desi is reproducing his humble Comment made yesterday (Jan 23, 2007) at the said referred site ("WalkWithUs") because I truly feel this subject is of utmost concern to ALL BLOGGERS -- veteran, few years old like Desi, newbies alike -- and I stress that my views are just One Concerned Blogger's, and there is enough room for diversity and divergence of opinions. As I posted earlier: "Blogger's Spectrum as Diverse as Journalists'"

My said Comment (ylchong Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.
January 23rd, 2007 at 2:39 pm )time 2.39pm at host's site timeline has NOT appeared as at Jan 26, 2007 as I am penning this Post at this time of checking @10.45AM Jan 26, 2007 and I had just RE-sent it with a PS added:
I am now also apprehensive maybe my Comment was BANNED?
Following my taiko's credo,
THINKING ALLOWED, THINKING ALOUD.
and for Desiderata2000's archival note in:


FOR THE RECORD~~

"ylchong Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.
January 23rd, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Jeff Ooi and Ahiruddin Atan are actual persons who dare to reveal true IDs. Any initiative on their Cause also must reveal their true IDs, otherwise what standards are you following o=if not these TWO LEADERS?

You guys state as if we Bloggers in Malaysia are caught in a Cloak&Dagger situation, to wit:
“Admittedly, we are gripped in a total state of fear, and no one can trust no one. You may not even want to trust us, which is perfectly sensible and understandable. But knowing this country, we simply can’t take chances.”

Take a look in the mirror, you already have planted the seeds of fear and suspicion where in the first instance, there was NONE with me as a blogger who was inspired by Jeff and I started blogging 1-3/4years ago with my ID fully revealed.

I throw back this challenge to you: Show true grit, otherwise, cease and desisit because you can not rise to the clalenge (dilemma) faced by the owners of Screenshots (Jeff) and RockyBru.

PS: I’m RE-sending this (with original copy, typos and all!) as my first one did NOT appear since first posting. Hope I’m lucky second time around.~~ Desi

_____________________________________________

DESI: Am updating this current issue on an urgent basis "on the run todie". Things are in a state of flux. Indeed, these are challenging times for all bloggers, and I wish these are also "interesting times" for some APs out there. If you have to ask "What APs?", you obviously don't want to know and such times better not involve thee. But if you still need to satisfy thy hunger pangs, email me @chongyl2000@yahoo.com, preferably with that cheque...mayhaps? May Day, May Die!

WATCH THIS SPACE TOMORROW as I share some INTI-matey confidential details about my writing journey. Borrowing from RPK's motto, adapted slightly: NO HOLES BARED.


PPS: Am i seeing YOU at the Chinese Assembly Hall for freebies tonight?
And that's not directed at ProjectPetalingStreet, dumbo:(

China Over-flushed with Vitamin M

The article by PY CHIN first appeared in TheSundayPost Jan 21, 2007.


CHINA IN ENVIOUS POISITION OF HAVING TOO MUCH MONEY

Each day China's coffers are ballooning with billions
of US dollars, as its foreign exchange reserves keep
piling up, without any stoppers in sight. By
end-October 2006, its reserves passed the USD1
trillion mark; and soon by end of this year, the US$2
trillion-mark will be broken with ease. The rising
reserves are having a tremendous effect on its
currency, the yuan, which has not stopped appreciating
since it was floated.

By P.Y. Chin

Email: py1818@yahoo.com

Last week, China announced three sets of statistics --
two whose figures broke the US$1 trillion (RM3.5
trillion) mark; and the third chalking up an
astonishing record.

The first statistic was that shares on the
Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges were more than
tripled in value, reaching a total of US$1.01 trillion
(RM3.55 trillion) as of last Thursday's close.

With this, China is now the third-biggest stock
market in Asia by value, after Japan with USD4.8
trillion (RM17 trillion) and Hong Kong with USD2.1
trillion (RM7.4 trillion). The US stock market, at
USD17.4 trillion (RM61 trillion), is the world's
biggest.

At USD1.01 trillion, according to Bloomberg
data, China's stock market is equal to 46% of the
value of its economy, which is worth US$2.2 trillion
(RM8 trillion). Comparatively, the US stock market is
equalled to 126% of its economy while the Hong Kong
stock market is 649% of its economy.

The second statistic was announced by Beijing's
central bank earlier this wee that its reserves stood
at USD1.0663 trillion at the end of December 2006, up
more than 30% from one year earlier, making China the
first country officially to top the USD1 trillion mark
as well as the country with the world's largest forex
reserves.

The third landmark statistic was that China's trade
surplus which ballooned 74% last year to a record
USD177.5 billion (RM622bil), up from USD102bil
(RM357bil) in 2005.

All these three statistics produced an immediate
effect on China's currency, yuan -- pushing it with
ease for the first time in 13 years right through the
psychological barrier of the Hong Kong fixed peg of
HK$7.80 to the US dollar.

In forex trading rooms, the yuan was traded at
HK$7.7935 to the US dollar at the Thursday's close
last week. It had since recovered, but stayed a
whisker below the HK$7.80 mark.

There was of course loud expressions of great
consternation within the corridors of the offices of
Hong Kong's monetary authorities and forex traders'
trading rooms.

A debate began to emerge as to whether the
existing peg of the HK dollar to the US dollar would
remain, and whether the yuan would replace the HK
dollar as the official currency unit in the colony.

The HK dollar-US dollar peg has been in place
since Oct 17, 1983, after the currency plunged 48%
against the US dollar for the previous nine years as
China publicly asserted its claim to have Hong Kong
back in its fold.

The British, who was in control of Hong Kong
then, sought to boost confidence in the currency,
retained the peg during talks with China on the return
of the colony to Chinese rule targeted for 1997.

Since 1983, the HK dollar-US dollar peg had
managed to remain stable despite the 1987 Black Monday
worldwide stock market crash, and later when Hong Kong
was officially handed over to China in 1997.

During the Asian financial crisis in 1997, to
keep the peg, Hong Kong monetary authorities fought
off an attack from currency speculators on the HK
dollar by buying USD15bil (RM53bil) worth of shares on
the HK stock exchange.

In response to the yuan breaking the 23-year-old
peg, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), which in
essence is the colony's central bank, was quick to say
that "any change will rock investor confidence".

The HKMA added: "The government has no intention
to change the linked exchange rate system, which
continues to serve Hong Kong well."

HKMA's firm stand is understandable as it has
all along insisted that the HK dollar-US dollar peg
would not be dropped, and that there would be nothing
to be gained from any change. At the same time, for
the last three years it had tried to stop the HK
dollar's appreciation.

This means the peg will continue to remain for
some time to come. HKMA chief Joseph Yam was quoted to
have said months before the breakthrough that "the
yuan reaching 7.80 is just a psychological level that
will not play a role in setting Hong Kong's currency
policy."

Indeed, official policy of the HKMA prevents its
currency from trading more than 5 HK cents either side
of HK$7.80 to the US dollar.

Despite the firm commitment of the HKMA, many
currency traders are expecting the peg to end next
year, according to a Bloomberg survey of 10 currency
strategists in Hong Kong recently. The strategists had
also forecast a rate of HK$7.20 to the US dollar by
2010 after the peg is removed.

But what's significant was that last week, China
allowed for the first time, yuan-denominated bonds
outside China, which HKMA's Jospeh Yam commented:
"This is the first step for the yuan moving towards
the international stage." Others see it as a first
step towards the yuan's full convertibility.

With the yuan now slightly more expensive than
the HK dollar (the exchange rate was 1.0004 yuan to
the HK dollar last Thursday), the first to benefit are
the mainland tourists in the colony. Already,
retailers in Hong Kong had last week started to accept
the yuan for payment in addition to the Hong Kong
dollar from mainland Chinese.

The rise in the value of the yuan is also
reversing a trend where Hong Kong people have been
used to travelling across to mainland China for cheap
goods and services. Now, mainland Chinese may find it
cheaper to buy goods and services in the colony.

One other point: The rising value of the yuan
could in due course stoke the fires of inflation in
the colony as the bulk of Hong Kong's basic food items
are imported from mainland China. With a more costly
yuan, the prices of these foodstuffs could go up.

The rise in the value of the yuan is not
unprecedented. Nor has the rise been unexpected.

In the last few years China's economy has been
growing at unprecedented rate of an average of 9 to
10% a year. The US and European governments have
consistently maintained their stand that the yuan is
under-valued. They have kept pressing China to make
its exchange rate of the yuan more flexible to reflect
such an economic scenario.

China continued resisting the external
pressures, until the middle of 2005, when the intense
debate over China's currency and foreign exchange
policies reached its height. Finally, on July 21,
2005, the People's Bank of China, which in essence is
China's central bank, abolished the peg and allowed
the yuan to float against a basket of currencies.

For decades the yuan was pegged at a fixed rate
to the US dollar. Now, the float resulted in a virtual
revaluation of the yuan by 2.1% to 8.11 yuan to the US
dollar.

But that was not enough. A 3% appreciation of
the yuan followed over the following year. And 18
months from the day of the float, the yuan had
strengthened a total of 5.6% against the US dollar.

Even that was not enough. The yuan continued its
strong advance, and by last week when it broke through
the HK$7.80 to the US dollar barrier, it had gone up a
further 6.2% on the top of the 2.1% virtual rise at
the time it was floated.

According to a study, the yuan is still on its
climb with much room upwards. This year, the study
estimates, the yuan will add a further 3 to 4% against
the US dollar, taking it to a rate of 7.5 yuan to the
US dollar at the end of this year from the present
7.8.

This prompted a foreign currency trader
operating in China to comment: "The gains reflect a
fast and amazing assimilation of capitalist culture."

Despite the additional increase, the US and
European governments still insist that the yuan is
"still cheap and under-valued", and that there should
be a greater revaluation as well as greater
flexibility in the exchange rate mechanism.

At present the yuan is not easily convertible
into US dollar or any other foreign currencies. The
People's Bank of China has also very tightly
controlled the margin of flexibility with regards to
the yuan's peg. In effect, what China did was to
implement "a regulated, managed exchange floating rate
system based on market supply and demand".

The issue of revaluation of the yuan has been
sticking out like a sore thumb at every economic
meeting between China and the United States; the last
meeting was in the middle of last month when US
Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson flew to Beijing.

Back home, Paulson is under pressure from the
Democrats, who now control both Houses of Congress and
Representives, are exerting pressures on the
Republican President George W. Bush's Administration
to push China into resolving the revaluation of the
yuan.

The strong rise in the value of the yuan is in
essence a reflection of the strength of China's
economy which has grown 10-fold since the late Chinese
leader Deng Xiaping opened the whole country to
international investments in 1978.

More specifically, the strength of the yuan lies
basically in the heavy trade surplus now building up
in China's favour vis-a-vis its major trading
partners, especially the United States. At the same
time, the building up of foreign exchange reserves has
also helped strengthen the yuan considerably.

China's foreign trade last year was a record at
USD1.76 trillion (RM6.2 trillion) with the trade
surplus widening also to a record of USD177.5bil last
year.

External trade is expected to grow even bigger,
as China's products keep overwhelming the world.
Already, China's Ministry of Commerce has predicted
last month that the country's trade volume would grow
by 15% to US$2 trillion (RM7 trillion) this year.

Although export growth has slowed, import growth
has slowed even more sharply. This trend according to
some reflects a longer-term structural shift in
imports as more industries in China produce more parts
and assembled more products, substituting present
imports.

If China's trade surplus is growing bigger, the
trade deficit between China and the United States is
expanding even faster -- reaching a record USD214bil
(RM750bil) by November 2006 in China's favour. (This
is according to US' standard of measurement, which
classifies exports from Hong Kong to US as coming from
China).

This widening gap in trade between China and US
is already putting heavy pressures on Paulson to deal
more firmly with China, especially on the issue of the
revaluation of the yuan.

In assessing the situation of the China-US trade
deficit, many tend to miss the point that it is the US
consumers that are to be blamed. So long as US
consumers keep spending more than they save, and keep
demanding for China goods, the trade deficit is
unlikely to disappear soon.

Thus, if the Democrat-controlled Congress is
getting very impatient and plans to introduce
legislations this year that will hit hard at China,
then the Americans may have been misdirected in their
actions. China-bashing may not help to lessen the
problem of the trade deficit; neither will China
revaluing its yuan do any good to the present dilemma.

China's State Council, similar to the Cabinet, is
scheduled to meet this month to decide on setting up
"an oversight body" to co-ordinate policies among the
various economic management and financial regulatory
groups. This would include managing the forex
reserves. The China Daily newspaper reported that this
new framework would be in place "no later than March
next year".

Presently the bulk of the forex reserves are
channelled into US treasury bills which generate low
yields and low returns, which also means China is
holding its forex reserves mainly in US dollars.

In buying more and more US treasury bills, China
is really in a financial sense helping US to finance
its imports. Thus, some have argued that for a country
as poor as China, it certainly makes no rational sense
to "bankroll the world's richest economy".

In view of the huge holdings of US dollars,
China is therefore sensitive to any weakening in the
value of the US dollar, simply because China would be
forced to incur losses in its central bank's balance
sheet that contains the forex reserves. This is
certainly not acceptable in whatever way, even
politically.

However, China has announced last month that it
would consider seriously moves to diversify the
composition of its forex reserves, investing some in
financial instruments with higher yields and returns.
Already, market traders are seeing not a
diversification, but more of China buying less US
treasury bills when making new investments with its
forex reserves.

Meanwhile, China's Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan has
suggested using part of the forex reserves to help
build up strategic mineral resource. The China Daily
newspaper commented: "It looks like a stone with which
China can kill two birds -- the growing imbalance in
its international payments and its need for key
resources like oil and minerals."

Even with this idea of buying mineral resources,
China has to tread cautiously, as a tiny part of its
forex reserves could make the world commodity markets
tremble, and make every trader nervous. It has been
reported that only a year of China's imports of iron
ore, soybeans, copper, alumina and nickel would cost
about USD40bil (RM140bil).

RIP: van Winkle

RIP: VAN WINKLE: "Life is a fairytale..."

THis morning finds Desi in HI-spirits, so I am taking a dig.
If I were to spell it DICK, someONE may complain it's against the Multimedia Media and Communications Act under some sub-section defining "decency", so I shall not test the unchartered waters.

Frankly speaking, so many Malaysians have been taking digs at the thre-year-old Prime Minister, honouring him some fairie-airie titles as Sleeping Beauty,and ah, yes, RIP van Winkle! Dare I add: More Talk, No Walk aMore...

The title is of course an adaptation of the character famusly cooked up by one American who woke up from deep freese after the land mass suffered from global warming and he told a wondrous tale of his perfect vision of his motherLAND. The stress in NOT on MOTHER cos she's transient -- like YOU and Desi who's not important to be honoured by Time last year as PERSON OF THE YEAR -- and the land is permanent. Unless some "small" politicians of Port Klang ribbed as DZ think they can take it along when they retire to EqualLand about two metres underground.

Now, where am I heading?

Yes, it's premature to hang the sign: RIP.
Van Winkle is not about to go away. He may be having forty winks, or even eighty, but do not be missled. Even the sleeping China of a dragon finally woke up. Yes, RISE IF POSSIBLE is the opther apt definition.

And in the Malaysian scenarion, the PM has stated clearly from LONDON in an interview with the BBC:
I'LL RUN IN NEXT ELECTIONS

Dont be kedekut-lah, the oil price at the pump won't rise in near futyure, trust Desi! Spend RM1.20 and read in in the People's Paper, page N6.

Okay to those quite nigh to bankruptsy, though I know you feign it, one Amore line:

"There is a lot of work to be done, says Pak Lah in BBC interview".


Oh, yes, I'm planning a trip to The Chinese Assembly Hall tomorrow because I hear they serve good free: NO, can't be lunch at 8.30PM! Neether, nayether SpecialBrunch, Cos that's only available at PeaceHill. POETRY, SONGS and PERFORMANES. "from F1 to f4" I here, and don;t ask me to elabiorate on what f4 is. That would be testing That Act agin!

Why am I in such HI -- LO, and Behold -- spirits?
I don't know myself, maybe:

It's 'cause Spring is in the Air,
Soon to be followed by May
Dare I confess to say
Yes, many Y&A Malaysians were born that month fair
And the Government of the day
Has to decalre: May Day! May Day!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CUT&Paste from
2020freelunch.blogspot.com~~~~~~~~~~~~


Dear ER of freelunch:

(I share a poem I composed after attending a Ceramah by Sdr Anwar
Ibrahim at Port Dickson on May 31, 2005 at 9.00pm ...

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

May Day! May Day!

From January to April
A writer can scribe on whim and fancy.
But when May comes around
The Muse and Inspiration abound.

I sauntered from civil to political sojourns,
Often it sinks the spirit amid woes and mourns.
The politicians preach but do not walk the talk
Expecting the Citizens to swallow all their poppy-cock

This month of smooching the magic of May,
I try to write of happier and optimistic days.
Still I meet more and growing dismay,
Yet I try best, crafting my poems in positive ways

But the past 30 days or so,
Did not instil in me much besides sorrow.
Fellow Malaysians question what's in for the morrow,
To survive now -- need to beg, steal or borrow?

DearFriends, don't ever fall into any Illussion,
That our troubles will be over through wishing and
patience.
We need a GamePlan, we need a Leader with Vision,
SomeOne prescribed V2020, yet the Rakyat stagger on
false medicine.

World petrol prices go up, logically it's good cheer
for Malaysia,
We earn more from our oil resources, but They make our
petrol costlier.
Pak Lah promised a cleaner, more accountable
administration,
But after a year and six months of honeymoon, it's
growing frustration.

So it's not happy days in May,
It's more like May Day, May Day!
The only option now is for People's Power,
For grassroot democracy to once again flower.

So dear one, somewhere find time to ponder
Don't leave the Quest to others, and just wonder.
On this significant date of May the thirty first,
SomeOneSpecial in Port Dickson is quenching some
thirst.

Regards,
--DEsi-YLChong
PS: FL, now you must bye me Dinner by PD shore
I'm Msian Oliver Twist: I want summore!
Labels: anwar ibrahim, badawi, cakaptakserupabikin, democracy, malaysia, pak lah, pm, politics, reformasi


posted by freelunch2020 at 8:13 PM | 1 Comments


Tribute to REFORMASi Heroes ~~ an evening of songs, poetry and performances

Venue : KL-Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, No.1 Jalan Maharajalela, 50150 Kuala Lumpur.
Date : 26th January 2006
Time : 8:30 pm

The call for reforms, or Reformasi, began in 1998. It has since been an important historical marker in our quest for political reform in the country.

This would not have been possible if not for the sacrifices of ordinary Malaysians, who have searched and worked for justice, freedom and genuine democracy.

In our collective struggle, we have lost many committed ‘reformists’ such as Ustaz Fadzil Noor, MGG Pillai, Umar Tan Abdullah, Haji Taib, Hajjah Ning, Cikgu Non and countless others.

“Tribute to Reformasi Heroes” is an evening of songs, poetry and performances, to commemorate those among us who have departed, and to celebrate the spirit of ‘Reformasi’ of those who remain in the journey for a brighter, better tomorrow.

The Guest of Honour will be Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Advisor to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan).

For further information, please contact Ms Ginie Lim 012 669 3453 or Nasir Isa 019 399 9744.

FREELUNCH: For my personal account of 1998 "Remembering 1998 : Anwar's violent fall from grace", click here (Desi: travel to her Blog-lah, you NOT lazybum!). For the record, I was never part of the Reformasi movement but was just an observer as I was in the midst of my university education in the UK. It was indeed an event that shocked the nation, and left many like me still in a sense of disbelief that Anwar Ibrahim has returned once again to recapture the country's imagination.
Labels: 1998, anwar ibrahim, malaysia, politics, reformasi


posted by freelunch2020 at 5:02 PM | 1 Comments

Joining the Bloggers' Bandwagon...

Desi feels a little discomforted -- maybe "apprehensive" is the better word -- that when I surfed to WalhWithUs linked via Jeff Ooi's update yesterday (I read him daily to hear from one of two horses' mouth -- the orther being RockyBru) the developments concerning the NSTP et al's defamation suits against the two fellow Bloggers now making waves beyond the Malacca Straits and South China Sea.


Do I have grounds for my "apprehension"?
YOU -- Time's PRSON OF T%HE YEAR 2006! -- decide. Best you are advised to first check out the horse's mouth.Chew the grass then, spit out yor frankest and innermost food for thought. Meanwhile, I give ye my Comment dare ~~





MY perspective is just ONE BLOGGER's, for I do not represent any other though I have some good Blogger friends who debate, banter with me almost constantly. In the next PPS Bash, I think a few of them would want to BASH up, or down, Desi. But I have many Seconds, or Thirds, with me ... "Plagiarism" expert, thou heareth Desi?



"
Desi is reproducing his humble Comment made yesterday (Jan 23, 2007) at the said referred site because I truly feel this subject is of utmost concern to ALL BLOGGERS -- veteran, few years old like Desi, newbies alike -- and I stress that my views are just One Concerned Blogger's, and there is enough room for diversity and divergence of opinions. As I posted earlier: "Blogger's Realm as Diverse as Journalists'"

ylchong Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.
January 23rd, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Jeff Ooi and Ahiruddin Atan are actual persons who dare to reveal true IDs. Any initiative on their Cause also must reveal their true IDs, otherwise what standards are you following o=if not these TWO LEADERS?

You guys state as if we Bloggers in Malaysia are caught in a Cloak&Dagger situation, to wit:
“Admittedly, we are gripped in a total state of fear, and no one can trust no one. You may not even want to trust us, which is perfectly sensible and understandable. But knowing this country, we simply can’t take chances.”

Take a look in the mirror, you already have planted the seeds of fear and suspicion where in the first instance, there was NONE with me as a blogger who was inspired by Jeff and I started blogging 1-3/4years ago with my ID fully revealed.

I throw back this challenge to you: Show true grit, otherwise, cease and desisit because you can not rise to the clalenge (dilemma) faced by the owners of Screenshots (Jeff) and RockyBru.

___________________________________________________________________

I also am taking the liberty to reproduce below the Comment at the same site of a fellow Blogger (who I have interacted with and I know he's all for wide circulation of his views, so...); and I endorse the sentiments he expressed. ~~ DEsi



nathaniel tan Says:
January 22nd, 2007 at 2:25 am

"Dear Walk With Us,

A good effort you have here, thanks for the work!

I would humbly and sincerely invite you to post the names of the people involved in this site, as while anonymous blogging may have its time and place, this may not be it. After all, without putting our name to our work, are we not after all being penembak curi?

Thanks again for your initiative!

Best wishes,
nat"


____________________________________________________________


One mGf a Malaysian based in Solomon Islands (seeking his wisdom dare?) expressed in a recent Email to Desi, extract~~

"desi
:
:

it is sad and a shock to hear bloggers being sued for political view. i know it is real this time but hope ppl of malsia dont get too embroiled in this issue and neglecting others urgent matters. i dont have time to read your full article except the one on the defence. will come back and read it later.
:
:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(truncated Email for obvious reason; other Kaypohchic stuff NOT relevant,
or ruled out of order by this hoRst!:( You may APpeal that I share, but my answer is NO,
unless that check for 20million comes with your Post:)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ :)"

Chong YenLong wrote:

First time my ER used the word "SANDIWARA" to describe
the latest going-us making international headlines. I
agree with your obs -- but one qualifier. This san(d)ywar
can't be ignored as IT IMPACTS ON ALL OF US bloggers,
esp civil-political ones (I believe I belong hear?).

I did ONE post on the issue, not saying much, but I
think it's best not to say too much becos it's such a
COMPOLEX ISSUE. Put it mathematically (knowing you're
science-inclined), it's akin to:

IMPACT (B) = SUM of f(B) + f (B+Po) + f(B+Pg) + f
(B+NGO) + f (MSM) + f (Others)

where B: Blogger
Po: Politician of Opposition
Pg: Politikus of BN
NG: all the activists not aligned with g mainly,
tho some are g-supported
MSM: mainstream media
and f is function, or relation of several variables.
Others: etc, etc, with minimal factoring efect.



:
:
:

Regards,

YL"

PS: NOTE: If you no understand, ask the Blogger sitted next you eg the hoRst @maverickysm.loogspot.com

DESI: Briefly, what I am saying is that the IMPACT on each of us Bloggers varies, depending mainly on where we hail from. The variety of bloggers defines the breadth and width of the Bloggers' spectrum, which is well nigh "infinite", just as wide ranging but covering different, sometimes over-lapping, as Fourth Estaters. Thre factors that influence the Impact include if thew Bloggers is also a politician, or P-wannabe -- BN or DAP, PKR or PAS, MCAP? -- or an NGO activist, or a Dr Mahathir supporter, or Anwarista (which Desi admits to being one from a few years ago!), or Pak Lah admirer (Don't write the PM off, for many ER enjoy Rip van Winkle, I think!), "... et cetera, et cetera..." as YuklBrynner
sang with a dismissive wave of his bare hands in "THe King and I". Frankly, Desi doesn't know why YB and the blardy k'ng's name cropped up in a discusion of the Fifth Estate. Never mind, maybe the Real Estate was on my mind -- One UMNO King Liveth In A "Small" House in Port Klang, remember?

_____________________________________________

Last, but not least, on Bloggers' bandwago cometh the Prime Minister; let the CEO have his lust say!
Many ER think he's a Ripped van Winkle, but I do not -- he's having 40 winks, sometimes 80, but he sees more than you and I do.
If you don't believe, ask the number 2 at The People's Paper -- double Datuk aMore!:(:(

The Star, page 3

Nation
Wednesday January 24, 2007


Bloggers must be responsible

LONDON: Bloggers must be responsible for what they write on the Internet as there are laws on defamation and sedition, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.

The Prime Minister said these laws were enforceable and bloggers must bear in mind that they could not hide or take advantage of the Internet to do something that was against the law.

“They cannot hope to cover themselves or hide from the laws,” he told Malaysian journalists at the end of his three-day working visit here yesterday.

He said bloggers, just like newspaper journalists, must be responsible for what they wrote or risk facing legal action from others.

Abdullah was commenting on the legal action against bloggers Jeff Ooi and Ahirudin Attan by the New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd (NSTP), its deputy chairman Datuk Kali-mullah Masheerul Hassan, Group Editor in Chief Datuk Hishamuddin Aun and former Group Editor Brenden John Pereira.

He raised the question of “what was freedom without responsibility,” saying that laws must be respected.

On the lack of proficiency in English among teachers and lecturers, he said there was a need to improve the curriculum and methods to teach English in schools.

He added that Malaysians must understand that English was an international language.

Abdullah was responding to questions from journalists on the declining standard of English in Malaysian schools and universities.

Earlier, Abdullah told Malaysian students at the London School of Economics of the need for Malaysia to be competitive, pointing out the paces already made by the Chinese and India.

Related Story:
Bloggers to set up legal fund to protect their interests
(Go-lah, read from TheStar, pay RM1.20 that you saved by BoyCoting the NST!:(~~ DEsi, who gets no 30% for this pro-promo, and wan dis-promo.
Yes, I seem to be speaking in tongue, Some Bloggers are twisted indeed.
IUf YOU have no SENse of humour, or rumour, please boy/gal-cott Desiderata2000. I won't sue you. Because I can't afford a Lawyer. Mave, when are you qualified to give free/flee serbis?


PPPS:

A poem I think I composed during the Reformasi days (1999/2000) which rings some notes of relevance today~~


Questioning Mind

They talk in many tongues
Preaching salvation
And monopoly of the Truth

Breathing hellfire
On those who'd not stay
To sing the same saccharine song

You're a traitor to the Cause
If you should raise just a murmur
of any question

You'd die a thousand deaths
If you'd doubt the Elder's tongue
Or God forbid,
Challenge the wisdom of his Word

So remain a meek lamb
Another number in his obedient flock
Or else, bid farewell
Jump off this wagon quick
So that Heaven has one more
Vacancy to dwell.

Chong Yen Long