Peace H'll Holds Its Own Sandiwara

First UMNO entertained the nation full of woe to its Sandiwara on the PWTC Stage.
Some two years later, Peace Hill follows suit, and the fun has just begun.

Protagonists:

Team A: PM, IGP and ACA chief
Team B: Deputy Internal Security Minister, CCID chief
Extras: Rulers Conference, Taiko, Saiko, Ah Longs and No-longers; Bloggers?

Act 2:
Main actor: Datuk Ramli Yusof

According to theSun onlne version~~

'RM27mil cop' speaks up




KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 30, 2007): "I am the RM27 million police officer mentioned by the media," declared Bukit Aman Commercial Crimes director Datuk Ramli Yusof today, but he was quick to add that the figure is inaccurate.

"Even before the investigations commenced, I was already in the news – being persecuted. It’s not fair to me."

Stating that he made an official declaration to the Anti-Corruption Agency, he said: "My income as a police officer of nearly 38 years’ service exceeds my assets.

If I had made a false declaration, it is an offence and is up to the ACA but to say I have such assets. The declaration I made is supposed to be between me and the ACA and the law requires it to be kept confidential but I do not know how such information was leaked to the media," he told a press conference in Bukit Perdana.

Ramli also said he was accused of being an "enforcer and Godfather" of a company in Sabah and was a director and shareholder.

Ramli, who said he was directed by deputy internal security minister Datuk Johari Baharom to investigate Ah Longs which led to the banishment of a gambling kingpin.

He made a scathing attack on the ACA, charging that their actions have resulted in danger to the intelligence gathering ability of the police force and its ability to protect its informants.

Saying that police informants, who provided valuable information on the activities of Ah Long and gambling syndicates have been compromised by these actions, Ramli alleged that his officers had been mistreated by the agency and are "yet to be protected by their own force".

"Two days ago, the PM has indicated that we have to protect the whistleblowers or the police informers. We the police force must protect our informers. That’s my stand," he added.

Over the past few weeks, several officers from the Commercial Crime Department have been charged with falsifying documents. Their cases are pending, but in a three-page statement, Ramli made a number of serious allegations, including:

the police force had failed to stand by him and his officers during the ACA investigation;
files containing confidential information were directed to be handed over to the Attorney-General’s Chamber;
the ACA tracked and recorded statements from police informants;
the informants’ cover had been blown with the ACA naming them in charges preferred against his officers;
the identities of the informants were obtained by circumventing the IGP’s Standing Orders; and
he and his officers were directed to prepare their own affidavits-in-reply to an application to set aside an order banishing one Goh Cheng Poh @ Tengku, which he claimed was unprecedented.

When asked about his relationship with the IGP Tan Sri Musa Hassan, he said: "Very good, very cordial. I have no problem with him. I have been working with him for many years together. There is no question of having any problem with him. We respect each other."

Musa when met later declined comment saying that he was unaware of the press conference. When asked about Ramli’s claims, he said: "Don’t ask me. You have to ask the ACA."

Asked if there was a rift among the top brass in the force, Musa responded: "If there was a difference in opinion, could you consider that a rift? There is no rift."

DESIDERATA: Now howcome crazy Blogger starts off with Act 2?

Patience Miss is also Virtuous, eh?

Act 1, like a movie script sometimes, comes later as a Flashback, yes! Desi will hunt down the contents from malaysia-today.net's archives, can?

So Comments or Voice-overs will come with Act 1, Okay!:) SEMUANYA KO!:(

Monday blues and cheap screws

Monday is always full of blues
My country is always Hi on cheap screws
We buy some Russain jets from Russia
They threw in a free ride on its Soyuz as a bonanza

An astronut riding passenger is played up
Entering space age league is like opening more 7ELEVEN and drinking 7UP
But can we have brains to undersatnd the Theory of Relativity
Or just build a gas-fuelled car from our own ingenuity?
The more one trumpets one's achievement the less the glory be
Mr DPM you don't walk a few inches taller and get ecstasy
Becos that first astronut took a ride into infinity
One can achieve that by donning a pair of Jimy Choo's shoes
But Malaysia will still cuntinue to get its mundane screws
We can still afford many more billion-dollar add-ventures into inner and outer space
We want gaya, we get face
With more Selling forward of Petronas oil, and yes, Signing more IOUs.

I didn'tknow whether to laugh or cry...

***Ours is not to question why
Ours is but to do
Or die.

I hear two PCs were shot to die
Their lives were short cos bulletproof vests were in in short supply
The crime rate in NegaraKu keeps rising
The Gomen BIGshots are still shaking their BIG dickheads wondering
Why the hilltops were still declining and balding
The MB told the PM "I told them not to cut down those damn'd trees!"
I beli've all of damn'd leaders, they cared so much
for you's and me's

Meanwhile Petronas keesp reporting profits galore
Ain't you people jumping with jOy, oh bOy!, at the windfall?
Net profits rising from RM35.5billion
To RM43.6bil and now RM45.4bil
Here's national fortune climbing, here's your climbing toll bill
Leave it to the leaders, another petrol price rise soon
You call 'em daylight robber
or just goon?

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry
Citizen Nades also keeps wondering why

State assemblymen and councillors could build small houses 4 storeys high
But small traders caught selling small nick-nacks can kiss their wares goodbye
MB and the Zak who built such a mansion
Rockybru said the House was unmansionable
But one-eyed Jacks went around scolding the ferrymen
For carrying not enough life jackets which could save the VIPS from drowning
And the ferrymen thought allow'd: But why should I?
I'd rather that they drowned instead of clowning...
God would have done us a favour on the SA's early departure
That my community finally could get, after a decade, the community centre

So the Rakyat didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Desi this knotty Sundae will tell you don't
Pray that these generous, kindhearted SA and MPswould sit down with us
And we'll all sing as The Titanic goes down the famous chorus
"Oh t was sad, oh it was sad
It was sad the great ship went down..."

Most law-abiding citizens didn't know whether to laugh with da Clown
Or cry with the poor women and children wailing, dying
As the ferry caught fire
The Kepten and crew were to jumpship first
If they stayed -- they would die of thirst
And it's not goode for the national news wire
Not to get their stories live from the horse's small mouth
Rather than quoting lowly passengers all with litlle money
And even littler clout

So today being a holy Sunday
You know what to do
Put some money for the special collection
To help ev'ry mata-mata don a bulletproof vest
From thy generous donation
So in peace we will awe rest


I know what I'll do
I'll say a small prayer for you if thou be goode
Write me that blardy 20million cheque will you?
So that I'll stop writing such nonsensical verse
The situation is bad enuf, "You" make it blardy worse
Yes, Mr Minister, MB and MP Yang Berkhidmat so generous
I hear your sweet-mouthed but piercing curse
I live in a "small" house only
Eighteen rooms and swimmin ppol Itali tiles
and Mongolian chandeliers gold-layered cakes with many tiers
"Small" reward for all my sacrifices
Building jetties and satay houses promoting tourism
Don't envy lah my small house you louse
"It's just small desserts and sweet charity
After all, I also entertain the orphans and my BIG family!"

So now is that 20mil cheque for mousey writHer Desi ready?
I'm sure moo_t has found a goode neighbour practising Hi-charity
Otherwise your conscience will not let thee rest
That Desi should wait so long w'ile the VIPS laugh and cry
The wait could render me stiff and bloodless
That's being a most unkindest cut of all -- you blardy creature heartless


Todie this writHer is in a fowl mood
That I'm struggling through life and you are goode
That you lowly b'st'rds have the option to laugh or cry
W'ile a noble prize winner had to beg or steal, or standing still
No option to laugh or cry
But to do as da Leaders says
Or standing still

W'ndering why

Don't jest laugh or cry

Better still

Go and Die!


And the Rakyat cuntinue to shake their heads
Cuntinue putting that cross against the Dacing symbol
Masochistic Malaysians mostly all
They exercise their Vote, still wanna complain -- they have such gall!
Now I know Life is jest a gamble
You roll the die
It always comes up a winner for BIG men who live in small houses
You blardy idiots and louses and losers
You only know how to laugh or cry
Or die
Still your children are w'ndering why


Todie the author of Sundae Inter:lude is in a fowl mood
That he's still struggling through life and you are goode
That you lowly b'st'rds have the option to laugh or cry
W'ile a noble prize winner had to beg or steal, or standing still
No option to laugh or cry
But to do as da Leaders says
Or standing still

W'ndering why

Don't jest laugh or cry

Better still

Go and Die!


***PS @1.05pm after CON SpecialBrunch:

Lest Desi be alleged to be guilty of Plagiarythm, these lines are Adapted from "Charge of the Light Brigade". By Lord Alfred Venision -- Oops, Tennyson! -- I was thinking ahead of next Sundae's CON BF -- lamp chop, beef steak and Oh dear, it tastes like deer meat, not bif stick!

More of Wilde's hemlines

Wth some buddies of mine like those horseying at maverickysm.BC and allofhelen.BC, their Posts often tickle the humerus bone, and if Desi tries to go anywhere near Mave's Bayi jokes, or sisdar helen's Tai-tai's sharings/swaerings, Desi often falls short. Physically and metaphorically -- those who have met Desi will knoweth, with uncuntrolled laughter?

For the less amorous among you, the Post's retitled alternatively:

"aMore of Wilde Hemlock, Thou Knotty ER?"

In the olde daes, when you wanna love thy enemy to death, you use hemlock to welcome him/her into thy chamber, if you couldn't put a dagger into that part of the anatomy below his/her hemline.

Nowadaes, Desi has learnt the finer art of lacing tehtarik with arSENic, slowly loving thee till death do us party.

So if you wanna educate yourself into swearing in Victorian HI-society, here's aMore witticism from wild Oscar himself.

Extracts from
"THE LITTLE BOOK
of
Famous Insults"

Edited by
BETTY JO RAMSY
with illustrations by
FRITZ KREDEL

____________________________________
My copy (please don't steal IT!)
is doggone-eared
and was published by

TOPPAN COMPANY, LIMITED
Tokyo, Japan
PETER PAUPER PRESS, INC.
New York, U.S.A.

____________________________________


"M. Zola is determined to show that, if he has
not got genius, he can at least be dull."

"There are two ways of disliking poetry, one
way is to dislike it, the other is to read Pope."

"(Bernard Shaw) hasn't an enemy in the
world, and none of his friends like him."


"Mr. Hall Caine, it is true, aims at the grandi-
ose, but then he writes at the top of his voice.
He is so loud that one cannot hear what he
says."

"Mr. James Payn is an adept in the art of con-
cealing what is not worth finding."

"The first rule for a young playwright to fol-
low is not to write like Henry Arthur Jones ....
The second and third rules are the same."


"Mr. Henry James writes fiction as if it were
a painful duty."

"George Moore wrote brilliant English until
he discovered grammar."

On George Moore: "He leads his readers
to the latrine and locks them in."

Some barb-trading, which MPs of NegaraKu can never rise to; they only know how to kowtow or descend into the pits:

On Oscar Wilde: "What has Oscar
in common with art? Except that he dines at our tables
and picks from our platters the plums for the
puddings he peddles in the provinces.
Oscar -- the amiable,irresponsible, escurient Oscar --
with no more sense of a picture than of the fit
of a coat, has the courage of the opinions... of others!" -- James M.Whistler

Oscar Wilde's reply to Whistler's attack:
"As for borrowing Mr Whistler's ideas about art,
the only thoroughly original ideas I have ever heard
him express have had reference to his own superiority
as a painter over painters greater than himself." -- Oscar Wilde


Whistler's reply to Wilde's reply: "A poor thing, Oscar!
-- but, for once, I suppose your own."-- James M. Whistler

"(George) Meredith is only a prose Browning --
and so was Browning." Oscar Wilde




___________________________________________

"If you can't enjoy wit, then toy it."

The lust one cometh from an Oscar clone, YL Chong - Desi,

_________________A DEVOTED FRIEND ART THOU? ____________________


"The Devoted Friend",

written by Oscar Wilde.



I.

One morning the old Water-rat put his head out of his hole.

He had bright little eyes and a long black tail. The little yellow ducks were swimming about in the pond, and their mother, who was white with real red legs, as trying to teach them how to stand on their heads in the water.

“You will never be among the top people unless you can stand on your heads,” she kept saying to them; and every now and then she showed them how to do it. But the little ducks paid no attention to her. They were too young. It is a great advantage to be among the top people, but the little ducks were too young to know that.

“What bad children!” cried the old Water-rat.

“Not at all”, answered the Duck. “Everyone must make a beginning. Children need plenty of time to learn. Every parents know that.”

“Ah! I know nothing about the feelings of parents,” said the Water-rat; “I am not a family man. In fact, I have never been married, and I never want to be. Love is very good, in a way, but friendship is much higher. There is nothing in the world that is more beautiful than a devoted friendship.”

“And what, sir, is your idea of the duties of a devoted friend?” asked a Green Linnet. The little bird was sitting in a tree by the pond, and he had heard the Duck and the Water-rat talking.

“Yes, that is just what I want to know,” said the Duck. Then she swam away to the end of the pond, and stood upon her head, in order to give her children a good example.

“What a silly question!” cried the Water-rat. “I should expect my devoted friend to be devoted to me, of course.”

“And what would you do in return?” said the little bird, standing upon a silver branch, and moving his wings up and down.

“I don’t understand you,” answered the Water-rat.

“Let me tell you a story on the subject,” said the Linnet.

“Is the story about me?” asked the Water-rat. “If so, I will listen to it, for I like stories that are not really true.”

“It is not about you, but it has something to do with you,” answered the Linnet; and he flew down and, landing by the side of the pond, he told the story of The Devoted Friend.
***

“Once upon a time,” said the Linnet, “there was a pleasant little fellow named Hans. He never stole, and never told a lie.”

“Was he a high-class man?” asked the Water-rat.

“No,” answered the Linnet. “I don’t think he was high-class at all, but he had a kind heart, and a funny round smiling face. He lived in a little house all by himself and everyday he worked in his garden. In all the country-side there was no garden so lovely as his. Every kind of flower grew in it, month by month, one flower taking another flower’s place, so that there were always beautiful things to look at, and pleasant flowers to smell.

“Little Hans had a great many friends, but the most devoted friend of all was big Hugh the Miller. Indeed, he was so devoted to Hans that every time he passed his garden he wound lean over the wall into the garden. While doing so, he would pick several flowers, or fill his pockets with fruit if it was the right time of year.

“Real friends should share everything between them,” the Miller used to say. Then little Hans smiled in agreement, and felt very pleased to have a friend with such fine ideas.

“Sometimes, the neighbours thought the friendship a little strange. This was because the rich Miller never gave little Hans anything in return, though he had a hundred sacks of flour stored away in his windmill, and six fine brown cows, and fifty large white sheep. But Hans never troubled his head about these things. Nothing gave him greater pleasure than to listen to the Miller as he spoke about friendship. The Miller used to say wonderful things about the unselfishness of true friendship.”

“So little Hans worked away in his garden,” continued the Linnet. “During the spring, the summer, and the autumn he was very happy, but then the winter came. In the winter, when he had no fruit or flowers to bring to the market, he suffered a good deal from cold and hunger. He often had to go to bed without eating anything but a few pieces of dried fruit. In the winter, also, he was very lonely, as the Miller never came to see him then.

“There is no good in my going to see little Hans as long as the snow lasts,” the Miller used to say to his wife. “When people are in trouble they should be left alone. It is not right for visitors to come and take up their time. That at least is my idea about friendship, and I am sure I am right. So I shall wait till the spring comes, and then I shall pay little Hans a visit. He will be able to give a large basket of primroses (a yellow spring flower), and that will make him so happy.”

“You are certainly very thoughtful about others,” answered the wife, as she sat in her large warm chair by the big hot fire; “very thought indeed. It is very pleasant to hear you talk about friendship. The clergyman himself could not say such beautiful things as you do, though he does live in a fine big house, and wear a gold ring on his little finger.”

“But could we not ask little Hans up here?” said the Miller’s youngest son. “If poor Hans is in trouble I will give him half my breakfast, and show him my black and white cat.”

“What a silly boy you are!” cried the Miller. “What is the use of sending you to school?” you seem not to learn anything. Why, if little Hans came up here, and saw our warm fire, and our good breakfast, and all our red wine, he might start wanting such things for himself; and that is a most terrible thing in a man, and would make his nature unfriendly. I certainly will not allow Han’s nature to become unfriendly. I am his best friend, and I will always watch over him. Besides, if Hans came here, he might want to have some flour and pay for it later, and that I could not allow. Flour is one thing, and friendship is another. The two words are quite different, and they mean quite different things. Everybody can see that.”

“How well you talk!” said the Miller’s wife, taking up a large glass of warm beer. “Really I feel quite sleepy. It is just like being in church.”

“Lots of people act well,” answered the Miller; “but very few people talk well. So we can see that talking is much the more difficult thing of the two, and much the finer thing also.” Then he made a very serious face, and looked across the table at his little son. At that, the boy hung his head down, and grew quite red in the face, and began to cry into his tea. However, he was very young, so that was quite natural.”

***
“Is that the end of the story?” asked the Water-rat.

“Certainly not,” answered the Linnet. “That is the beginning.”

“Then you are quite behind the age,” said the Water-rat. “Every good storyteller nowadays starts with the end, and then goes on to the beginning, and finishes with the middle. That is the new method. I heard all about it the other day from a critic who was walking round the pond with a young man. He spoke of the matter at great length. He must have been right, for he looked very clever, and whenever the young man made any remark, he always answered “Nonsense!” But please go on with your story. I like the Miller very much indeed. I have all kinds of beautiful thoughts myself, so he and I are very much alike.”

II.

“Well,” said the Linnet, standing now on one leg and now on the other. “I shall continue the story. As soon as the winter was over, and the primroses began to open their pale yellow stars, the Miller spoke to his wife. “I shall go down and see little Hans,” he said.

“Why, what a good heart you have!” cried his Wife. “You are always thinking of others. And remember to take the big basket with you for the flowers.”

“So the Miller tried the sails of the windmill together, and went down the hill with the basket on his arm. When he arrived, Hans was working in his garden.

“Good morning, little Hans,” said the Miller.

“Good morning,” said Hans, looking up from his work, and smiling from ear to ear.

“And how have you been all the winter?” said the Miller.

“Well, really,” cried Hans. “It is very good of you to ask, very good indeed. I am afraid I had rather a hard time of it, but now the spring has come, and I am quite happy, and all my flowers are doing well.”

“We often talked of you during the winter, Hans,” said the Miller, “and wondered how you were getting on.”

“That was kind of you,” said Hans; “I was half afraid you had forgotten me.”

“Hans, I am surprised at you,” said the Miller; “Friendship never forgets. That is the wonderful thing about the full beauty of life. How lovely your primroses are looking, by the way!”

“They are certainly very lovely,” said Hans. “and I am very lucky to have so many. I am going to bring them into the market and sell them to the Mayor’s daughter, and buy back my wheelbarrow with the money.”

“Buy back your wheelbarrow? Have you sold it? What a very silly thing to do!”

“Well,” said Hans, “I had to sell it. You see, the winter was a very bad time for me, and I really had no money at all to buy bread with. So I first sold my Sunday coat, and then I sold my smallest chair, and then I sold my big pipe, and in the end I sold my wheelbarrow. But I am going to buy them all back again now.”

***

“Hans,” said the Miller, “I will give you my wheelbarrow. It is rather old; indeed, one side is gone, and there is something wrong with the wheel; but in spite of that I will give it to you. I know it is very kind of me. A great many people would think me very foolish of giving it away, but I am not like the rest of the world. I think that kindness is the most important part of friendship, and besides, I have got a new wheelbarrow for myself. Yes, you may set your mind at rest, I will give you my wheelbarrow.”

“Well, really, that is kind of you,” said little Hans, and his funny round face shone all over the pleasure. “I can make it as good as new, as I have a plank of wood in the house.”

“A plank of wood!” said the Miller; “why, that is just what I want for my mill-roof. There is a very large hole in the roof, and I must mend it. How lucky you mentioned your plank! It is quite wonderful how one good action always leads to another. I have given you my wheelbarrow, and now you are going to give me your plank. Of course, the wheelbarrow is worth far more than the plank, but true friendship never notices things like that. Please get the plank at once, and I will set to work on my roof this very day.”

“Certainly,” cried little Hans, and he ran into the house and pulled the plank out.

“It is not a very big plank,” said the Miller, looking at it. “After I have mended my roof there won’t be any left for you to use for the wheelbarrow; but of course, I can’t help that. And now, as I have given you my wheelbarrow, you will of course want to give me some flowers in return. Here is the basket, and make sure you fill it quite full.”

“Quite full?” said little Hans, rather sadly, for it was really a very big basket. If he filled it, he saw, he would have no flowers left for the market; and he very much wanted to have his Sunday coat back.

“Well, really!” answered the Miller. “As I have given you my wheelbarrow, it is surely not much to ask you for a few flowers. I may be wrong, but surely friendship, true friendship, is quite free from selfishness of any kind.”

“My dear friend, my best friend,” cried little Hans, “You are welcome to all the flowers in my garden. I would much rather have your good opinion than my Sunday coat, any day;” and he ran and picked all his pretty primroses, and filled the Miller’s basket.

“Goodbye, little Hans,” said the Miller, as he went up the hill with the plank on his shoulder, and the big basket in his hand.

“Goodbye,” said little Hans, and he began to dig away quite happily, he was so pleased about the wheelbarrow.

***

“The next day,” continued the Linnet, “Little Hans was nailing up some tall flowers against the front of the house, when he heard the Miller’s voice calling to him from the road. So he jumped down from the house, and ran down the garden, and looked over the wall.

“There was the Miller with a large sack of flour on his back.

“Dear little Hans,” said the Miller. “Would you mind carrying this sack of flour for me to market?”

“Oh, I am so sorry,” said Hans, “but I am really very busy today. I have got all these tall flowers to nail up, and all my other flowers to water, and all my grass to roll.”

“Well, really!” said the Miller, “I am going to give you my wheelbarrow, and now you refuse to go to market for you. That seems rather unfriendly.”

“Oh, don’t say that,” cried little Hans, “I never want to be unfriendly to you;” and he ran in for his hat, and walked tiredly off with the big sack on his shoulders.

“It was a very hot day, and the road was terribly hot and dray. Before Hans had walked for two hours he was so tired that he had to sit down and rest. However, he got up and went on again, and at last he reached the market. After he had waited there some time, he sold the sack of flour for a very good price, and then he returned home at once with the money.

“It has certainly been a hard day,” said little Hans to himself as he was going to bed; “but I helped the Miller, and I am glad of that, for he is my best friend. Besides, he is going to give me his wheelbarrow.”


III.

“Early the next morning,” the Linnet continued, “the Miller came down to get the money for his sack of flour, but little Hans was so tired that he was still in bed.

“Well, really!” said the Miller. “Still in bed! I am going to give you my wheelbarrow, which is very kind of me; and I think you should work harder because of it. I certainly don’t like it when my friends lie in their beds instead of working. You must not mind my speaking quite openly to you. Of course, I only speak openly because I am your friend. What is the good of friendship if one cannot speak openly? Anybody can say nice things and try to please, but a true friend always says unpleasant things, and does not mind giving pain. Indeed, if he is a really true friend he tries to give pain. To give pain is to do good.”

“I am very sorry,” said little Hans, trying to keep his eyes open and sitting up in bed, “I was so tired that I wanted to lie in bed for a little time, and listen to the birds singing. I always work better after hearing the birds sing, did you know that?”

“Well, I am glad of that,” said the Miller, laying his hand on little Hans’s shoulder, “for I want you to come and help me now. Come up to the mill as soon as you are dressed, and mend my roof for me.”

“Poor little Hans very much wanted to go and work in his garden, for he had not watered his flowers for two days; but he did not like to refuse the Miller, as he as such a good friend to him.

“I really am very busy today; does that sound very unfriendly?” he asked very quietly.

“Well, really!” answered the Miller. “It is not much to ask of you. Remember, I am going to give you my wheelbarrow; but of course if you refuse to help me, I will go and do the work myself.”

“Oh! I can’t allow that,” cried little Hans; and he jumped out of bed, and dressed himself, and went up to the Miller’s.

“He worked there all day long, till sunset, and at sunset the Miller came to see how he was getting on.

“Have you mended the hole in the roof yet, little Hans?” cried the Miller with a friendly laugh.

“It is quite mended,” answered little Hans, coming down from the roof.

“Ah!” said the Miller, “There is no work so delightful as the work one does for others.”

“I am certainly very lucky to hear you talk,” answered little Hans, sitting down on a stone. “I am very lucky indeed. But I am afraid I shall never have such beautiful ideas as you have.”

“Oh! Ideas will come to you,” said the Miller, “but you must work harder at it. At present you have only the practise of friendship; some day you will have the theory also.”

“Do you really think I shall?” asked little Hans.

“I have no doubt of it,” answered the Miller; “but now that you have mended the roof, you had better go home and rest. You must rest now, for I want you to drive my sheep to the mountain tomorrow.”

***

“Poor little Hans was afraid to say anything to this. Early the next morning the Miller brought his sheep round to the little house, and Hans started off with them to the mountain. It took him the whole day to get there and back; and when he returned he was so tired that he went off to sleep in his chair, and did not wake up till it was broad daylight.

“What a delightful time I shall have in my garden,” he said, and he went to work at once.

“But somehow he was never able to look after his flowers at all, for his friend the Miller was always coming round and sending him off the market or the mountain, or getting him to help the mill. Little Hans felt very worried about this at times. His flowers, he felt, would think he had forgotten them. However, he felt better when he remembered that the Miller was his best friend. “Besides,” little Hans used to say to himself, “he is going to give me his wheelbarrow, and that is an act of great kindness.”

“So little Hans worked away for the Miller, and the Miller said all kinds of beautiful things about friendship. Hans wrote these things down in a notebook. Then he used to read the notes at night, for he was very good at reading and learning.”

***

“Now it happened,” the Linnet continued, “that one evening little Hans was sitting by his fireside when a loud knock came at the door. It was a very wild night, and the wind was blowing and roaring terribly round the house. It was blowing and roaring so terribly that at first he thought the knock at the door was only the storm. But a second knock came, and then a third, louder than either of the others.

“It is some poor traveller,” said little Hans to himself, and he ran to the door.

“There stood the Miller with a lantern in one hand and a big stick in the other.

“Dear little Hans,” cried the Miller. “I am in great trouble. My little boy has fallen off a wall and hurt himself, and I am going for the Doctor. But the Doctor lives far away, and it is a very bad night. It would be much better, I think, if you went instead of me. After all, I am going to give you my wheelbarrow, and so it is only fair that you should do something for me in return.”

“Certainly,” cried little Hans. “I am very glad that you came, and I will start off at once. But you must let me have your lantern, as the night is so dark. I am afraid I might lose my way in the darkness, and leave the road by mistake.”

“I am very sorry,” answered the Miller, “but it is my new lantern. It would be a great loss to me if anything happened to it.”

“Well, never mind, I will do without it,” cried little Hans. He took down his thick winter coat, and his warm hat, and started off.

“What a terrible storm it was. The night was black. It was so black that little Hans could hardly see, and the wind was so strong that he could scarely stand. However, he never lost heart. After he had been walking for about three hours, he arrived at the Doctor’s house, and knocked at the door.

“Who is there?” cried the Doctor, putting his head out of his bedroom window.

“Little Hans, Doctor.”

“What do you want, little Hans?”

“The Miller’s son has fallen off a wall, and has hurt himself, and the Miller wants you to come at once.”

“All right!” said the Doctor; and he ordered his horse, and his coat and hat, and his lantern. Then he came downstairs, and rode off in the direction of the Miller’s house, little Hans walking tiredly behind him.”

***

“But the storm grew worse and worse, and the rain faster and faster, and little Hans could not see where he was going, or keep up with the horse. In the end he lost his way, and the road by mistake. He was now in a wild, open place which was very dangerous, as it was full of deep holes. And into one of these great holes, as full of water, little Hans fell. The next day, poor little Hans’s dead body was found by some men. They pulled the body out of the great hole full of water where it lay, and they carried it back to the little house.

“Everybody went to little Hans’s funeral, as they all loved him, and the Miller was the most important person there.

“As I was his best friend,” said the Miller. “It is only fair that I should have the best place.” So he walked ahead of all the other people in a long black coat, and every now and then he put a big pocket-handkerchief to his eyes.

“Little Hans is certainly a great loss to everyone,” said one of the men, when the funeral was over, and they were all sitting round the table, drinking hot wine and eating sweet cakes.

“A great loss to me at any rate,” answered the Miller. “Why, I was going to give him my wheelbarrow, and now I really don’t know what to do with it. It is very much in my way at home, and it is so old that I cannot even sell it. I will certainly take care not to give away anything again. One always suffers for being kind.”

***

“Well?” said the Water-rat, after a long silence.

“Well, that is the end,” said the Linnet.

“But what became of the Miller?” asked the Water-rat.

“Oh! I really don’t know,” replied the Linnet; “and I am sure that I don’t care.”

“Well, one thing is certain,” said the Water-rat; “you yourself never feel sorry for anyone.”

“I am afraid you don’t quite see the moral of the story,” remarked the Linnet.

“The what?” cried the Water-rat.

“The moral.”

“So the story has a moral?”

“Certainly,” said the Linnet.

“Well, really!” said the Water-rat, in a very angry manner. “You should have told me that before you began. Then I need not have listened to you. In fact, I should have said “Nonsense,” like the critic. However, I can say it now.”

So he shouted out “Nonsense” at the top of his voice, waved his black tail twice, and went back into his hole.

“And how do you like the Water-rat?” asked the Duck, who came swimming up some minutes afterwards. “He has a great many good points, but for my own part I have a mother’s feelings. When I see a man who is still not married, the tears come into my eyes.”

“I am rather afraid that I have made the Water-rat angry,” answered the Linnet. “The fact is, that I told him a story with a moral.”

“Ah! That is always a very dangerous thing to do,” said the Duck.

And I quite agree with her.


**********************************
NOTE by DESI: The above story is re-cycled
as is wont of Desi lost in a lazy hazy mazy
korner of Furong.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

As an After-Thought because the GOoD Lord gave each of us a unique brain to THINK?~~~~~~~

Further Rumination is based on “The Devoted Friend” by Oscar Wilde, (see Top of Page!). Lust night, as I lay sleeping, some Funny, Familiar, Forgotten Feelings swept over me; and in case some of you should ask, I did not see any special angkong jie (4D-lah for the ignoramuses among tee!:( even with BOTH MY EYES OPEN!


If you should be a neighbout of that Jasin MP, his One Eye Closed sees more ringgit than your thousand pairs. And that Zakaria Mad Deros could have given each of the local councillors a few BIG sticks of satay before they pulled down the DZ Sate house, eh! Yes, in good fellowship, the councillors left poor Zak of many tricks -- Ooops, trades! -- to cramp his BIG family into only a mini, tiny, li’l house in the vast Klang Valley, part of the most developed state this part of the world where when world oil prices go up, our pump prices go up too when Petronas petroleum commands a premium price.

Wow, a long Intro indeed, and it's not even Inter:nude for the Doc, because Desi was just up and about from semi-hiatus. No, I didn’t go to Haiti – MAS did not respond to my SOS for flee tickets. They said if Desi were to head for Cuba, I could potentially get a one-way ticket on condition I showed them a political asylum status PR... Anyone hear knows Fidelis Castrate?

Okay, back to the Wilde one, whose Oscar winning quotes are right, or left, up my alley, where cats mate in great abundance and also abandon – it’s really a free world! – Desi cracked his head after Dr Yeoh SM –- yes, sireee, the ysm after maverick if his name in short, in “long” form have to ask his secretary who is tending to a brood of Bayi always singing in the ward.

Quoting his Thinking Aloud: “

2 comment(s):

"I like the story but I didn't catch the insights.

Why not you too try Bayi's style jokes...hehehehehehehehehehehehehe

By Maverick SM, at 4:21 PM "


My Thinking Allowed that followed: “


"mave brudder:

Thou art not the only wan -- I read the Short Story a few times; still digesting it; still not foolly getting the "insights".
Wonder if the wilde wan won't spare us some time clarifying his message?:)

By desiderata, at 5:03 PM

As I was saying, when lust night as I lay sleeping, some FFFF (hey, it's not a dirty swear word!) came rushing into my small brain. Ah, that mighty generous Hari Raya Do/Did/Deed at the small house in the royal city of Klang. It provided the major “insight” – or is it small inside? – into that Wilde story with a “moral” which upset the Water-Rat.I guess rats get upset o’er all sorts of things not edible. So I wonder if like the orphans at that Zak do, did they ask for more?

If by now, half of my ER – hey, it’s not Emergency Room, it’s for EsteemedReaders, if you are stil in te adrk to date, you’reno friend of mine, go join the rats!—would be cursing beneath their breath, why is this Desi so longwinded and not get to the gist of the moral of the story. Folks, I am trying darn’d hard to cultivat the noble trait of Patience among Malaysians. Others get paid stipends and listed/listing companies' directorsheeps, badge of honours like Datuk and DanSi(Horst of allOFhelen says it means "Waiting to die" in Kantonis, ya ke?)for doing NS, Desi gets nothing but some requests for aMore tehtarik – jest watch the fine minute nanosecondthsized mobulae of arsenic, OK! (If you could find the word mobula in Da Dick, I just coined that word because it sounds right. In the exquisite company of Oscar writers, you are allowed some Leejeanswear.

Now where was I? Okay, just to braek the long journey, I reprise from one of the more readable MSM columnists, SYED NADZRI,in the same league as Citizen Nades and Jacqueline Ann Surin(also our mutual buddy Howsy's faves!:) mayhaps?

007/10/16
SYED NADZRI on Tuesday:

The house that Zak built

The public must judge for themselves whether the mansion built by Datuk Zakaria Md Deros is merely a legal issue or one that has moral questions attached to it.


EXACTLY a year ago, this column raised some questions about Port Klang state assemblyman Datuk Zakaria Md Deros and the luxurious bungalow he was building in Pandamaran, near Klang.

The house attracted a lot of attention as it was sticking out like a sore thumb in the midst of humble dwellings of the working class in Kampung Idaman -- very much like a scene of a palace in a feudal kingdom.

It was a hot subject then because it was said that the big house was being built without proper approval under the local council's building and planning regulations.

In that column, I wrote that the whole issue would be very much simpler if it was all merely about a legal issue.

"But," I continued, "quite obviously, it is not.
"There are moral questions. And political consequences. Which is why it is likely that the whole controversy is going to become more complex even after the legal point has been well and truly settled."

That was on Oct 16 last year.

True enough. The legal point has been settled because planning permission has since been obtained. Zakaria is in the clear under the law.

But ironically, the story about "the house that Zak built" was given a new lease of life when newspapers carried the latest reports and pictures about it on Friday.

The New Straits Times story on this, among others, says the celestial mansion has 16 bedrooms and 21 bathrooms, is 21/2 storeys high, and has a large fish pond and swimming pool.

"The flooring in the main hall is marble-tiled with many chandeliers above. There is also a mini golf course and a large garage. The size of the master bedroom could only be compared to a whole apartment and its attached bathroom comes with a jacuzzi."

At a house-warming do last Tuesday, Zakaria hosted about 500 orphans to dinner, prayer session and a sleepover. Oh, how thoughtful.

Going back to where I left off last year, I now leave it to readers to judge on the poser as to whether the above is just a legal issue or one that has moral questions in it. With political consequences.

________________ Ends Syed Nadzri's art __________________

DESIDERATA, being lazy as his CON BF has not arrived nyet, Cut&Paste from his own thoughts the day the story broke showing the lavish, ravishing "small" house that that Water-Rat -- Ooops, Zak -- built. The lardy Miller broke my concentration and Oscar in is winding ways did not help at awe!:(

"
There is indeed indecency in two Houses -- Starhub and Zakaria's 'palace' -- when the newspaper instead of chastising a law-breaker deemed it "fit" and proper (while others like me are getting the fits reading it) to celebrate Zakaria's elevation to being a "King" of the small house towering only 2-1/2-storeys in the Royal city of Klang. (I thought it was supposed to be 4 or 4-1/2 storeys, HOWsy?)

Indecent may not be the right word -- something incestuous is going on mayhaps because in the early days when the story broke about Zakaria having broken the buildings bylaws,, the People's Paper headed by a Datuk even great to great length to call on its Indian feng shui expert to write a PR shit -- oops, mind your language, sheet! -- about Zakaria's misfortune as being due to his mansion's locational bad fengshui. So it's not improbable that one Datuk is rubbing the other Datuk's back and each getting a high in their orifices where the sun don't shine, Yes/NO/Maybe... your democratic objective test, my EsteenmedReaders.

:
:
:

Wrt "...Zakaria said 30 orphans slept in the master bedroom and the rest in other rooms.He said he wanted to honour the children and also to allow them the opportunity to stay in luxury." -- Mayhaps the now law-abiding and charitable State Assemblyman should give these orphans permanent residence in the 'palace'? Anyway, it's only a "small" house what!

As for the major "insight/inside" that Desi wishes to share with Mave is that
like the Miller, Zakaria the state assemblyman, is indeed a kindhearted and generous man. He shared with the orphans -- he promised another group of orphans many happy returns of the day the next Hari Raya Aidilfitri cometh2008! By then he would have added more bathrooms, more chandeliers, and ah,mayhaps, at lust, aMore Mistress Medroom adjoining the Master Bedroom. I qquote from Nadzri's quoted report: --
"The flooring in the main hall is marble-tiled with many chandeliers above. There is also a mini golf course and a large garage. The size of the master bedroom could only be compared to a whole apartment and its attached bathroom comes with a jacuzzi." --

Now if only Pak Lah could be as kind and generous as the Miller and Zakaria, all Malaysians who have a BIG family would be gifted a "small" house by next Hari Raya Aidilfitri. And every recipient would ensure the 'hole keluarga mesra's "V"OTES FOR BN. Long Live, Pak Lah, Long Live Zakara, Long Live the Water-rats!


"The flooring in the main hall is marble-tiled with many chandeliers above. There is also a mini golf course and a large garage. The size of the master bedroom could only be compared to a whole apartment and its attached bathroom comes with a jacuzzi."

"V" for Vendetta. I hear a small voice from Furong valley smiling at Desi at Men Kee food court where there gather many BIG FAT CATS for CON BF like Desi. I hate Water-Rats! Give me a Miller's daughter anytime!

Has April 1, 2008 arrived early?

When I read this Bernama item, I did not know whether to laugh or cry.
There is a famous English saying about the worst of enemies being your own so-called friends betraying you -- "With friends like these (named so and so), who needs enemies?" -- now Desi tried his best to adapt it to read: With such a nincompoop for commander-in-chief, why go to war at all?

__________________________________

Bernama.com
Malaysian National News Agency

Abdullah Disappointed With Police Ambush Strategy
General
October 26, 2007 17:00 PM

KEPALA BATAS, Oct 26 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has expressed regret over the shooting in Sungai Buloh, Selangor, last night which took the lives of two policemen, saying that the incident could have been avoided if police had used the correct strategy.

The prime minister said that information provided by Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan showed that the police team carrying out the drug raid should have informed other units of their intention.

"What Musa had told me was that before conducting the operation, they should have liaised with other police units to come up with the proper strategy to avoid untoward incidents.

"But the approach (used last night) was not right. If they had done it differently, including asking other squads to provide back-up, then they could have surrounded the suspects properly and used loud-hailers to instruct them to come out. Then only the police could say that they were prepared (for the operation)," he told reporters after opening the Kepala Batas Hospital here Friday.

In the 7.30pm incident at a house in Kampung Desa Aman, Sungai Buloh, two policemen from the Selangor police contingent were shot dead while two others were seriously injured.

The team comprising four plainclothed policemen was about to raid the house whose occupants were believed to be members of an international drug syndicate.

Several men in two cars arrived outside the house and fired at the policemen before making their escape.

Abdullah, who is also Internal Security Minister, said the suspects were prepared to do anything to avoid capture as they would face the death penalty if convicted of serious criminal offences.

The house was said to have been used as a drug-processing laboratory.

-- BERNAMA

PS: like what that Nazi sounding guy in the PM's Department on using The Witness Protection Act to protect informers or whistleblowers (wrt Video Tape exposed by ex-DPM Anwar Ibrahim), will Malaysians be surprised that they then come out with a statement saying "The press misquoted me," or "I informed my press aide to amedn my remarks but they failed to carry out their duties."

For oce I support that Bung guy who said wods to the effect that we don't need Malaysian ministers to commmit hara-kiri -- just resign will do for creating scandal aftaer scandal such that Malaysians have become "immune" to be surprised or outraged. But Desi would still prefer that they jump from the top of Petronas Twin Towers. With the right Malaysia Boleh spirit, these incredible ministers may jest sturvive to get another entry into that famous/notorious Malayisian Buku Rekod-Rekod dimainkan again and again:(

Harbinger of bad news, bt I am not about to complain...

I don't know about our honourable Minister of Propaganda-ganda Wang Anda though.

He'd either suffer some fits, and he'd just grab a six-shooter and aim at the messenger. Bt who's the bigger culprit? Dear EsteemedReaders, you tell me!


THE AGE: Malaysia's PM seems to be failing his people at every chance

by Michael Backman

October 24, 2007

ON OCTOBER 31, Abdullah Badawi, Malaysia's Prime Minister, will have been in officefor four years. Abdullah came to office promising to fight corruption and to be a breath of fresh air. He has failed on both counts.

But he has achieved one remarkable feat none of his predecessors could: he has united most of his country's elder statesmen, established businessmen and intellectuals.

They are united in their utter dismay at his performance, a point that many such individuals made to me on a recent visit to Malaysia.

The despair is compounded by the near impossibility of getting rid of Abdullah.

Before 1987, anyone who wanted to challenge the president of the ruling UMNO party (and hence prime minister), needed to get endorsements from just two divisions of UMNO. Previous prime minister Mahathir Mohamad had that changed after his finance minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah challenged him for the leadership and almost won.

Would-be challengers must now acquire the endorsement of 30 per cent, or 58, of 191 divisions. This means that the prime minister's office needs to pay off fewer than 150 division heads with government contracts and licences to ensure their support.

Critics within UMNO are anaesthetised by patronage and sadly the Prime Minister probably thinks that he is doing a good job because his inner circle constantly tells him he is. He is their ticket to riches, after all.

Ramadan has just ended and once again Malaysia has been treated to the spectacle of government ministers and other officials fasting and playing the pious Muslim on the one hand and stealing from their fellow Malaysians on the other.

Abdullah has had three chances in recent times to show that times have changed in Malaysia and to clearly assert his authority when presented with examples of such theft.
He has blown each one.

The first was when it emerged that his Trade Minister, Rafidah Aziz, had handed out to her relatives, government officials and former officials hundreds of lucrative licences to import cars - without any clear procedures or transparency. A good leader would have fired Rafidah immediately. She is still there.

Another opportunity arose with revelations by the auditor-general last month of fraud and corruption in government purchasing. Some of the more flagrant abuses were at the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs. It had wasted millions on purchases such as paying 224 ringgit ($A75) for sets of screwdivers worth 40 ringgit, or 1146 ringgit for a 160 ringgit pen set.

More seriously, the ministry's head, who had the authority to approve contracts worth less than 5 million ringgit, was found to have approved contracts for almost 450 million ringgit. The ministry claimed that the then minister and now Education Minister Hishammuddin Hussein had written a letter of authority for the purchases but this disappeared during auditing. Despite all this occurring under Hishammuddin's watch, he remains in the cabinet.

The third incident relates to an ongoing scandal at the Port Klang Free Trade Zone - Port Klang is Malaysia's main shipping port. Essentially, the port authority was forced by well-connected individuals to buy far more land than planned for the free trade zone and at highly inflated prices, even though it could have compulsorily acquired the land, literally saving billions.

This and development costs, and "professional fees", blew out the total cost for the zone from 1.845 billion ringgit to 4.2 billion ringgit. It is a scam of outrageous proportions and is just the sort of thing that is turning foreign investors off Malaysia in their droves.

Rather than make arrests, the Government is using taxpayers' funds to bail out the authority. The auditor-general tipped off the responsible minister (a term I use loosely) - Chan Kong Choy, the Transport Minister - about the problems, as did a foreign partner in the zone, but Chan ignored the warning. Has Abdullah fired Chan? Of course not. Has the previous minister Ling Liong Sik been questioned by the police? Of course not.

These three instances were good opportunities for Abdullah to show his ministers who is boss. Well, he certainly did that.

One might ask what on earth the Finance Minister has been doing in the face of all this waste and theft. Or, indeed, even who is the Finance Minister? Extraordinarily, it is Abdullah. In a break with tradition, he occupies that post as well as being Prime Minister.
The firings should start with him.

After all, it's not as if Malaysia has a shortfall of ministers. On the contrary, Malaysia has no fewer than 72 ministers and deputy ministers at the federal level. By way of comparison, Australia has 32 ministers and assistant ministers.
Is the quality of public administration in Malaysia more than twice as good as in Australia? Let the facts speak for themselves.

Malaysia is truly at a cross-road. It has many good people with great potential but it is slipping beneath the waves of mediocrity, weighed down by officials intent on an orgy of plunder while the ship's captain stands idly by.

The process of government needs to be dramatically and urgently overhauled. Malaysia needs a dynamic, strong visionary leader who is up to the task. Instead, it has Abdullah Badawi.

DESIDERATA: I like this line "It has many good people with great potential but it is slipping beneath the waves of mediocrity, weighed down by officials intent on an orgy of plunder while the ship's captain stands idly by."

On Minister Mentor said words more or less in the same vein of the first part, quoting again "It has many good people with great potential but it is slipping beneath the waves of mediocrity...

The latter pat came from one journalist Down Under. I guess he knows the Malaysian landscape pretty well. Too well for his own good, nosey Farker, I could more or less read that Minister's lips. Ooops, I mixed up the P and F -- doees that come under PPPA1984, or ISA?

God help us here and down under with the late SA of Ijok, no joke.

I
S
A: men.

Harbinger of bad news, bt I am not about to complain...

I don't know about our honourable Minister of Propaganda-ganda Wang Anda though.

He'd either suffer some fits, and he'd just grab a six-shooter and aim at the messenger. Bt who's the bigger culprit? Dear EsteemedReaders, you tell me!


THE AGE: Malaysia's PM seems to be failing his people at every chance

by Michael Backman
The Age
Otcober 24, 2007

ON OCTOBER 31, Abdullah Badawi, Malaysia's Prime Minister, will have been in officefor four years. Abdullah came to office promising to fight corruption and to be a breath of fresh air. He has failed on both counts.

But he has achieved one remarkable feat none of his predecessors could: he has united most of his country's elder statesmen, established businessmen and intellectuals.

They are united in their utter dismay at his performance, a point that many such individuals made to me on a recent visit to Malaysia.

The despair is compounded by the near impossibility of getting rid of Abdullah.

Before 1987, anyone who wanted to challenge the president of the ruling UMNO party (and hence prime minister), needed to get endorsements from just two divisions of UMNO. Previous prime minister Mahathir Mohamad had that changed after his finance minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah challenged him for the leadership and almost won.

Would-be challengers must now acquire the endorsement of 30 per cent, or 58, of 191 divisions. This means that the prime minister's office needs to pay off fewer than 150 division heads with government contracts and licences to ensure their support.

Critics within UMNO are anaesthetised by patronage and sadly the Prime Minister probably thinks that he is doing a good job because his inner circle constantly tells him he is. He is their ticket to riches, after all.

Ramadan has just ended and once again Malaysia has been treated to the spectacle of government ministers and other officials fasting and playing the pious Muslim on the one hand and stealing from their fellow Malaysians on the other.

Abdullah has had three chances in recent times to show that times have changed in Malaysia and to clearly assert his authority when presented with examples of such theft.
He has blown each one.

The first was when it emerged that his Trade Minister, Rafidah Aziz, had handed out to her relatives, government officials and former officials hundreds of lucrative licences to import cars - without any clear procedures or transparency. A good leader would have fired Rafidah immediately. She is still there.

Another opportunity arose with revelations by the auditor-general last month of fraud and corruption in government purchasing. Some of the more flagrant abuses were at the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs. It had wasted millions on purchases such as paying 224 ringgit ($A75) for sets of screwdivers worth 40 ringgit, or 1146 ringgit for a 160 ringgit pen set.

More seriously, the ministry's head, who had the authority to approve contracts worth less than 5 million ringgit, was found to have approved contracts for almost 450 million ringgit. The ministry claimed that the then minister and now Education Minister Hishammuddin Hussein had written a letter of authority for the purchases but this disappeared during auditing. Despite all this occurring under Hishammuddin's watch, he remains in the cabinet.

The third incident relates to an ongoing scandal at the Port Klang Free Trade Zone - Port Klang is Malaysia's main shipping port. Essentially, the port authority was forced by well-connected individuals to buy far more land than planned for the free trade zone and at highly inflated prices, even though it could have compulsorily acquired the land, literally saving billions.

This and development costs, and "professional fees", blew out the total cost for the zone from 1.845 billion ringgit to 4.2 billion ringgit. It is a scam of outrageous proportions and is just the sort of thing that is turning foreign investors off Malaysia in their droves.

Rather than make arrests, the Government is using taxpayers' funds to bail out the authority. The auditor-general tipped off the responsible minister (a term I use loosely) - Chan Kong Choy, the Transport Minister - about the problems, as did a foreign partner in the zone, but Chan ignored the warning. Has Abdullah fired Chan? Of course not. Has the previous minister Ling Liong Sik been questioned by the police? Of course not.

These three instances were good opportunities for Abdullah to show his ministers who is boss. Well, he certainly did that.

One might ask what on earth the Finance Minister has been doing in the face of all this waste and theft. Or, indeed, even who is the Finance Minister? Extraordinarily, it is Abdullah. In a break with tradition, he occupies that post as well as being Prime Minister.
The firings should start with him.

After all, it's not as if Malaysia has a shortfall of ministers. On the contrary, Malaysia has no fewer than 72 ministers and deputy ministers at the federal level. By way of comparison, Australia has 32 ministers and assistant ministers.
Is the quality of public administration in Malaysia more than twice as good as in Australia? Let the facts speak for themselves.

Malaysia is truly at a cross-road. It has many good people with great potential but it is slipping beneath the waves of mediocrity, weighed down by officials intent on an orgy of plunder while the ship's captain stands idly by.

The process of government needs to be dramatically and urgently overhauled. Malaysia needs a dynamic, strong visionary leader who is up to the task. Instead, it has Abdullah Badawi.

DESIDERATA: I like this line "It has many good people with great potential but it is slipping beneath the waves of mediocrity, weighed down by officials intent on an orgy of plunder while the ship's captain stands idly by."

On Minister Mentor said words more or less in the same vein of the first part, quoting again "It has many good people with great potential but it is slipping beneath the waves of mediocrity...

The latter pat came from one journalist Down Under. I guess he knows the Malaysian landscape pretty well. Too well for his own good, nosey Farker, I could more or less read that Minister's lips. Ooops, I mixed up the P and F -- doees that come under PPPA1984, or ISA?

God help us here and down under with the late SA of Ijok, no joke.

I
S
A: men.

You are paid almost one-quarter for not doing the job!

Cometh January 1, 2008 there will be another toll hike ... you know why? Your generous government has a soft spot for corporates, especially when these companies are linked to UMNOputra bigwigs. If you don't have money, and yet want to undertake mega projects, never mind -- the Government will extend to you a low-interset soft loan. In the case of highway concessionaires like PLUS, the contracts have profit guarantees to the contractors, and periodic toll hikes are written in their favour no matter what F...ing (I dare not spell out this fowl word, it stinks like the chicken's shit, and I don't wanna spoil your BF on next New Year's Day if it ever comes!) profits they have been reaping from the roaduisers!

If your business fails, never mind, the kindhearted Government guarantees you compensation for any shortfalls. No wonder Malaysia produces one of the most capable enterpreneural communitioes in this part of the world.

When the Port Klang Free Zone scandal was blown -- costs overrun by some RM3.4 billion, never mind. The Barisan Nasional with a conscience givethe thee a RM4.5buillion "soft loan". Don't use the word "bailoiut"! It's taboo, and we can use the ISA against you. So I'm not using the word "bailout"! II'm just warning my fellow writHers and readers.

Here's the latest show of generosity -- Santa Clause arriveth early this year, next year and many more years to come -- as long as Petronas oil monies continue on A* roll!

This company Gerbang Perdana-- I bet you you will find some VVIP UMNO bigwig on its board of scavengers -- Ooops, replace that with directors! -- even gets paid almost one-quarter for not doing the job!

From the NST, 25/10:
RM237m for scrapped bridge contractor


THE contractor of the scrapped crooked bridge across the Johor Straits has to date been compensated RM237 million.

Finance Ministry parliamentary secretary Datuk Dr Hilmi Yahaya said the amount included RM55 million for work already carried out on the site by Gerbang Perdana Sdn Bhd.

The government has approved RM292.5 million in compensation.

The RM1.113 billion bridge project to replace the Causeway was aborted following conditions imposed by Singapore such as that Malaysia supply the republic with sand and allow it the use of Johor airspace.

Hilmi said discussions were ongoing with the state government to build a link connecting the causeway to the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex.

On another aborted project, the Broga incinerator, Hilmi said the compensation amount had not been determined.

Replying to Dr Mohamed Hayati Othman (BN-Pendang), he said negotiations have not concluded with contractors Konsortium Ebara Corporation and Hartasuma Sdn Bhd on the RM1.5 billion project.

The incinerator was meant to handle 1,500 tonnes of solid waste per day and serve as a centralised waste disposal system for the Klang Valley.

But it was opposed by residents who claimed it was harmful to the environment and public health.

The government scrapped the project last July.

Ikan bilis, anyone?

TheSUN frotpage today, Wed, 24 Oct 2007 flags off with arresting headline:

AG's report: 10 charged


PUTRAJAYA: Eight government officers and two contractors were charged in court yesterday with misappropriation of public funds as highlighted in the Auditor-General (A-G)'s Report 2006, with the Anti-Corruption Agency saying more such cases are under probe.

Of the officers, two are senior officers from the National Youth Skills Institute (NYSI) under the Youth and Sports Ministry, five from the district welfare departments in Sabah and one from the welfare department in Pahang.

ACA director-general Datuk Ahmad Said Hamdan told a press conference that the 10 were charged in Kota Baru, Sabah and Raub where the offences were allegedly committed.

On the NYSI case, 13 people were initially questioned but four were charged for allegedly buying three over-priced cameras. He said the two contractors charged in relation to this case were a supplier and an official from a consultancy company.

He said the five district welfare departments officers in Sabah were charged for allegedly misappropriating aid fund for old folk.

"The investigations found that they paid people who had passed away and made false claims to their department heads."

He said the welfare department officer in Pahang was charged with allegedly misappropriating the aid fund amounting to RM12,175.

The ACA investigated two officers from the same department but only one was arrested.

Elaborating further on the investigations, Ahmad Said said the ACA had also recommended disciplinary action against five officers from the Youth and Sports Ministry related to the alleged misappropriation of funds (in the NYSI case) and a technician from a government agency in Penang for making false claim that the repairs of government counters had been completed.

"The ministry officers involved were found to have attended meetings on the purchase of equipment and facilities for the usage of the NYSI at a higher price," he said, adding that the officers received kickbacks from the contractors to go abroad without permission.

"We are still investigating six other officers," he added.

The A-G’s report on the NYSI project said the ministry paid RM224 for a set of screwdrivers costing RM40; RM5,700 for a car jack that costs RM50; RM8,254 for a digital camera that costs RM2,990; and RM1,146 for a set of technical pens with a market price of RM160.

The ministry was alleged to have spent RM8.39mil on equipment for the NYSI.

Ahmad Said suggested the government review the method of direct negotiation in public procurements practised by government departments. "Other procedure of (public procurement) which are open to abuse should also be reviewed," he said.

He said the ACA also proposed adding a clause explaining offences under the Anti-Corruption Act 1997 in all documents related to government contracts to remind those involved not to receive bribes.

He said the ACA would make it an annual routine to investigate alleged misappropriation of funds mentioned in the A-G's report.

"This was not the first time we took action based on the the A-G's report. Previously, we also took actions but they were not highlighted.We will continue investigating cases based on the report," he added.

DESIDERATA: Just as I was going to top up my Noodles BF with an additional CON BF to celebrate that occasion when one's HOPE is lifted -- with finally some action on ACA's part -- mGf Rajan remarked: Chong, ini IKAN BILIS sahaja-lah!

"You forget so soon the guy (Jack of many trciks?) who built that "small" house, ah? "Rajan just couldn't restrain himself.


You know what, mots of my poltical buddies don't share my Optimistism as a writer anymore in this fight against corruption. Do you blame them?

Okay, I'll settle for French fries. Ikan bilis also cun! Knot nyet the fool CON BF todie, wait till Sunday if I survive all the cynicism.

Now turn to page 2o for Citizen Nades' latest column:
A short-lived
safety culture

Desi is reproducing only THAT part which explains our cynical lens nowadays, and who can blame my dear EsteemedReaders if they asketh: Ikan bilis, anyone?Be grateful okay, as I copied this in longhand as the online edition is still not up nyet!:(


In R Nadeswaran's words:

But you have to hand it to Mohd Khir. He not only took the initiative
to check the ferries bt also attempted to prove the maxim "It takes one
to know one". Guess who waswith him when the surprise check was carried out?

According to the same newspaper (Desi:The Weekend Mail),he was
accompanied by "Port Klang state assemblyman Datuk Zakaria Md Deros!
The country's most infamous law breaker is out trying to catch
the law-breakers! What if the fery operator had turned around
and asked the Mentri Besar: "Dia bina istana tanpa kelulusan boleh,
tapi kami tak cukup life jacket pun mau kacau!"

Thus ends short extract from Citizen Nades' take.

Desi's parting words:

Just chastise Nades a litle hear -- you did not quote that maxim in fool! Doing CSI reporting, You can't be shy-shy wan! Should rightly read as "It takes a thief to catch a thief."
But Desi still welcomes thee to Furong to join me in tehtarik or CON BF!

One fare thee well, one welcome ye back:)

Here is one 18-going-on-17 guy who terrestrially left for the Land of Dreams a few months ago. Writing FarThee.Well.to Howsy yesterday made me recall Y&A johnleemk @infernalramblings.com. So today I welcome him back cyber-speakingly since MASs refused requests from cber-writHers like Desi and caffeinbar -- por mouses! -- although we promised to write only goode stuff. Like how we conquered outer-space and the Russians took us on an expansive ride. When john becomes a billionaire-at-27, I can afford to go as bag-carrier for this mentor while he travels business kelas as a paying tourist, rite?

NOTE: I assume todie I have gotten my mentor's permit to use his expansive writHing! john, don'tsue me, knot worth thy w'ile!

Malaysia and South Africa, In Denial?

While South Africa admitted it had a problem over a decade ago, Malaysia continues to deny that there is anything innately wrong with discriminating against people on the basis of an accident of birth.
Written by johnleemk on 4:20:01 am Oct 21, 2007.


Earlier today, the South African team won the Rugby World Cup for the second time. It was a poignant moment for them, considering the divisive nature of sport during the era of Apartheid.

Before the granting of full rights to black South Africans in the early 1990s, football was a sport for blacks, and rugby a sport for whites. The divisions persist to the present day; the South African rugby team has only three blacks on it.

However, the last time South Africa won the World Cup, it was hailed as an immense triumph not for white South Africans or black South Africans, but for all citizens.

South Africa is a favourite point of comparison for critiques of Malaysian ethnic policies; Malaysia's division of its people into de facto first and second class citizens is often compared to apartheid. I think that's a reasonable comparison to make.

Of course, there are a lot of people who would beg to differ. Most Malaysians accept that different races are just different; to them, as long as everyone minds their own business, it doesn't matter that we aren't united. What really makes Malaysia unique as a nation is how its different people are united solely by their belief that they should be divided.

Every race demands the right to be special; every race wants special treatment. Everyone wants to be Malay, Chinese and Indian; they are interested in being Malaysian only insofar that it assists them in constructing their own separate identities.

If we truly are not like apartheid South Africa, I wonder, why is it that we are so much worse than post-apartheid South Africa? Although like any heterogenous country, they have their ethnic tensions and ethnic problems, South Africa's government and their people largely recognise that they are not primarily black or white; they are South African.

In Malaysia's case, we seem only interested in perpetuating our ethnic differences. They say that the first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem. South Africa admitted it had a problem 13 years ago. Malaysia continues to deny that there is any problem at all with treating its people differently.

Why am I intrinsically less Malaysian than someone else? Why is this not my country as well? Too many Malays say I don't appreciate what they give me; too many Chinese and Indians share this opinion. But what we fail to grasp is that what we have is not the Malays' to give.

Of course, you can make the case that 50 years ago, the Malays consciously granted a substantial number of non-Malays citizenship. Maybe you can hold that against those non-Malays, such as my grandparents.

But why hold any of this against me? Why am I not entitled to the same rights as a citizen, the same recognition and acknowledgement of my worth as a Malay Malaysian? Because I happened to be born into the wrong family?

We often wonder why Malaysians migrate; we often wonder why we lack patriotic sentiment. Not too long ago, it was announced that 70% of those who renounced their citizenship in the past decade were Malay.

OF course, the primary reason is economic; nobody cares if they don't have legal rights if they're rolling in money. A million dollars can buy you any of the rights you want. But at the same time, these Malaysians who leave, these Malaysians who don't have any significant passion for their country (and this includes the Malays) have recognised that our country has a problem. There is something innately wrong with declaring your citizens to be of different standing based on an accident of birth.

South Africa has recognised her problem; Malaysia continues to deny it, as epitomised by our ***Foreign Minister's recent scandalous remarks. Until we admit that we have a problem, we really are little better than apartheid-era South Africa.

________________________________________________

*** Now be a goode boy and surf to infernalramblings.com to read some fiery stuff that some Malaysian ministers were made special hyde to fend off in a Sept 22, 2007 Post on
"Placing Myself in Syed Hamid Albar's Shoes".

From the Desk of DSAI

This is a Community Service Message -- running an important statement from PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, a potential Prime Minister looking to contest the next General Elections if held after April 15, 2008. As the Press Statement is bilingual, it also is one way to help some Malaysians, including Desi, to improve their Bahasa Malaysia, yes!:)


KENYATAAN MEDIA

22 Oktober 2007

Pada hari ini tiga orang pegawai dari Badan Pencegah Rasuah mengunjungi pejabat saya buat kali kedua dalam tiga minggu berikutan siasatan mereka terhadap rakaman video yang telah saya siarkan kepada awam pada 19 September 2007.

Saya menghargai kerjasama BPR yang berterusan tetapi saya ingin menegaskan kegusaran saya bahawa kerajaan menggunakan BPR untuk melambatkan siasatan sebenar dan mengalihkan perhatian orang ramai dari isu-isu penting berkaitan salahlaku kehakiman yang ditimbulkan oleh video tersebut.

BPR merakam sebuah kenyataan lanjutan dari saya hari ini. Saya memaklumkan kepada mereka bahawa klip video 14 minit yang asal bersama dengan sumber yang membawanya kepada saya. Saya memberikan mereka jaminan saya bahawa saya akan membekalkan salinan sebenar yang mana mereka boleh menentukan kesahihan klip video tersebut pada Khamis 25 Oktober. Namun selepas habis mengambil kenyataan serta mendapat jaminan saya, pegawai BPR menerima arahan untuk mengarah saya menyerahkan klip asal rakaman video tersebut, termasuk segmen 6 minit yang belum dikeluarkan kepada orang ramai, pada atau sebelum Khamis. Arahan ini dikeluarkan meskipun saya sudah memaklumkan bahawa salinan asal ada dengan sumber. Kegagalan memenuhi arahan ini mungkin akan berakhir dengan pendakwaan.

Adalah langsung tidak munasabah bahawa BPR terus menumpukan perhatian mereka terhadap kesahihan video tersebut sedangkan VK Lingam, Ahmad Fairuz, Vincent Tan dan Tengku Adnan yang disebut di dalamnya masih belum disiasat atau memberi kenyataan awam menafikan perbualan di dalam video tersebut.

Justeru, saya menyeru BPR untuk memenuhi matlamat mereka untuk membanteras rasuah dan menyiasat salahlaku pegawai awam dan bukan sekadar siasatan terhadap pendedah rasuah.

Saya juga amat prihatin dengan kebajikan individu atau individu-individu yang telah meminta saya membawa video ini ke perhatian umum. Permintaan kami untuk jaminan terhadap keselamatan peribadi mereka dan perlindungan dari tindakan undang-undang masih lagi belum dijawab. Ini merupakan persoalan yang mesti dijawab sebelum kami mengeluarkan baki rakaman video tersebut.

Penubuhan sebuah Suruhanjaya DiRaja yang bebas untuk menyiasat tuduhan serius rasuah di dalam video ini terus mendapat sokongan Majlis Peguam Malaysia, parti-parti politik dari pembangkang dan juga di dalam kerajaan, serta badan-badan bukan kerajaan. Saya hanya ingin mengulangi desakan saya agar langkah-langkah ini diambil agar siasatan ini dapat disempurnakan segera.

Rombongan BPR tersebut diketuai Tuan Sazali bin Salbi, Ketua Cawangan Tindakan Khas merangkap Timbalan Pesuruhjaya BPR Putrajaya.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

MEDIA STATEMENT

22 October 2007

Today three representatives of the Anti-Corruption Agency visited my office for the second time in three weeks in relation to its investigation of the videotape that I released to the public on 19 September.

I appreciate the continued cooperation of the ACA but must reiterate my solemn concern that the government is using the ACA to delay a proper investigation and to divert the public's attention from the critical issues of judicial misconduct that are raised by the video.

The ACA recorded a further statement from me today. I informed them that the original of the 14 minute video clip is with the source who initially brought it to me. I gave them my undertaking however that I would supply them a genuine and proper copy which they could use to authenticate the video clip on Thursday 25 October 2007. However after completing the statement and despite my undertaking, the ACA officers received an instruction to issue an order to me compelling me to submit the original complete videotape recording, including the six-minute segment of the video that has yet to be viewed by the public, on or before Thursday. This was done despite my informing them that the original was still with the source. Failure to meet their demands may be met with prosecution.

It is an anathema that the ACA would be so concerned about the tape's authenticity when those featured in it, VK Lingam, Ahmed Fairuz, Vincent Tan and Tengku Adnan, have not been investigated or issued any public denial of the conversation that is featured in the videotape.

I therefore call upon the ACA to adhere to its mission in rooting out corruption and investigating the misconduct of public officials and move beyond what can only be described today as a witch-hunt for the whistleblowers.

I also remain deeply concerned over the welfare of the individual or individuals who have asked me to bring this videotape to the public's attention. The guarantee of their personal safety and immunity from legal action are yet unanswered questions that must be addressed in order for the remainder of the tape to be released.


The establishment of an independent Royal Commission to investigate the serious allegations of corruption that the videotape raises remains an option favoured by the Malaysian Bar Council, political parties from the opposition and from within the government, and other civil society organisations. I would simply reiterate my call for these measures to be taken so that the investigation can proceed in a timely manner.

The ACA delegation was headed by Tuan Sazali bin Salbi, Head of Special Tasks Branch cum Deputy Commissioner, ACA Putrajaya.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

DESIDERATA: I'm reserving my comments because the writing is so clear on the wall. Sometimes we Malaysians ae justified to dream that we have a "V" around to help us!

mGf Howsy, Fare Thee. Well.

mGf wilde hoRst @howsy.blogspot.com has an aversion to the MSM -- and I believe he coined this term to define Mainstream Media like the New Straits Times, The Star and theSun (I'm restricting to only the English medium) -- just as Desi coined mGf, which if late blommers must know, stands for myGOoDfriend, which is a general term I address my ER (EsteemedReaders hear!) of loner rterm engagement. No, the ceremony does not ivolve the exchange of RM1million rings as I'm neither Datuk K nor Zak, who built a RM7million "small" house, forgot o'lady, ah?

Howsy aka Dr Say Yee How is leaving Malaysian shores again, this time for the Land of Dreams -- in his own words, the "New England") -- today, and this Post is to Fare Thee mGf. Well.

If thou doeth not achieve thy dream/s, just follow our mutual GOoD friend's advice, from another Doc "Quek", hoRst at maverickysm.BC, "Bring back an angmohpoh!"

"Quek" rimes with "quack" and I used the term as an endearment to these two buddies because at my time of need -- a victim of shingles and appendicitis, they both abandoned Desi at the Furong Hospitality to suffer in s lence. "GO PLACIDLY amid the noise and the haste..."

Somehow, the three of us clicked pretty well in blogosphere the past two years plus, and we have met and hugged and embraced and engaged. But there is a missing "jigsaw" in the Three Musketters puzzle -- Anak Merdeka keeps hydeing somewhere in mazy, hazy and crasy Furong. I tried to entice her with flee kopi at Men Kee Korner with autogiraffed kopi of my Anthology of Midnight Voices, she didn't show. And despite Mave's and Howsy's constant nagging, this shy-shy "Maskedidtoe" -- Desi was roped in on late arrival as The D*art -- steal goes MIA in the night:(

Okay, being lazy, hazy and daisy -- whatever that lust byte means! -- DEsi does another Cut&Paste to "fare thee.wella.myRAMBLINGboi!"

Banter Around The Dinner Table

GK Chesterton inspires
My heart's desires
At dinner time

Some close buddies
Serving up mirth laughter
To spice up the meat
To add ale to water

Veggies taste sweeter
When downed with plain talk
and giggle

It's of comradeship
Sharing some trade gossip
Catching up on a mate's latest
of pain in his heartbeat


Chong Yen Long
Copyright ©2007

A JudicialLight Glows...

Amid the Gloom and Darkness Clouding Much of the Malaysian Landscape.

There is some HOPE yet if more Malaysians in the realm of High Court Judge Yang Ariff Justice Hishamudin Mohd Yunus truly dedicate themselves to doing what they are paid to do -- performning their duties without fear or favour, according to their professional responsibilities, with the primary conscience subsume to the larger interests of The Malaysian Nation and society.

Sunday Interlude this tme around can do with one more Rumination because the Justice delivery system in NegaraKu has come under pretty close scrutiny the past few decades, and it's the little candle-lights of Hope that flower in the gloom that truly lift us up as a community. May we hope these candle lights will blaze into full fires to burn bright and glorious Malaysia's Judiciary that was once our national pride but brutally mangled by less than judicious minds sitting as magistrates, judges and Chief Justices? Oh yes, they have had as ace Accomplices well-placed politcians... as their masters, not the Malaysian people and taxpayers who actually pay their salaries and perks.

MALAYSIAN JUDGE MADE HISTORY

Guest Blogger: KIM QUEK

21.10.2007



For the first time in history, a Malaysian judge heavily punished the government for gross abuse of its draconian law – the first big slap on the face of the Executive, long accustomed to unrestrained and unconstitutional persecution of political dissidents with virtual impunity from compliant attorney general and judiciary.


In a judgment that is bound to illuminate the Malaysian judiciary for a long time to come, High Court Judge Hishamudin Mohd Yunus ruled on Oct 18 that the state has violated the Constitution and awarded political detainee Abdul Malek Hussin RM 2.5 million in total compensation.


Malek was arrested by the police under the dreaded Internal Security Act (ISA) in Sept 1998 in the tumultuous days of Reformasi (reform movement) following the sacking and imprisonment of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim. During the 57 days of detention, Malek was subjected to - in the words of Judge Hishamudin - “vile assault, unspeakable humiliation, prolonged physical and mental ill-treatment”, and completely deprived of legal counsel.


In Mar 1999, Malek filed a civil suit, citing a police special branch officer Borhan Daud, the then Inspector General of Police Rahim Noor, and the government as correspondents.


In his judgment, Hishamudin found no evidence of Malek posing any threat to national security but every indication that the detention and torture was politically motivated arising from Malek’s support to Anwar Ibrahim and his reform movement. As such, Malek’s detention was unlawful, and a violation of his constitution right under Article 5(3).


In hard hitting language, the judge described the defendents’ behaviour as “inhuman, cruel and despicable”. He awarded an exemplary damage of RM 1.0 million “to show the abhorrence of the court of the gross abuse of an awesome power under the Internal Securtiy Act, and to ensure that the extent of abuse is kept to the most minimal, if not eliminated completely.”


In his 41-page judgment, Hishamudin pin-pointed several police officers for breaching the law and concocting evidence. He also expressed displeasure at the Deputy Public Prosecutor for having implicitly colluded with police officers in thwarting Malek’s complaints.



COURAGEOUS JUDGE



Justice Hishamudin is no stranger to human rights watchers, who have been impressed by his consistent record in delivering independent and impartial judgment - a remarkable feat in a judiciary perceived to often bend to the wishes of the high and mighty, in scant regards to the Constitution. His most notable judgment is perhaps his decision in May 2001 to free two Reformasi activists – N. Gobalakrishnan and Abdul Ghani Haroon – arrested under ISA at the height of repression against the Reformasi movement under former autocrat Mahathir Mohamad.


In the present judgment, Hishamudin’s courageous and righteous act has undoubtedly brought cheers to a nation long dismayed by unrelenting decline in judicial integrity and most recently shocked by the stunning revelation of the Lingam video clip. In this latest scandal, lawyer VK Lingam was allegedly conspiring with present Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz in a telephone conversation to “fix” judicial appointments, apparently inspired by their personal loyalty to then premier Mahathir Mohamad in 2002. Subsequent events had turned out to tally with the scenario outlined in the Lingam-Fairuz conversation, thus strengthening the credibility of this tape.


Such subjugation of judiciary to political manipulation has in fact been common knowledge, as evident from many cases of glaring perversion of justice whenever the interests of the ruling power so dictate. The deterioration of our judiciary has however hastened in recent years as seen in the rapid promotion of judges of dubious records in a process shrouded in secrecy. Some of these promotions are seen as rewards for having “delivered” in the shameful Anwar trials and appeals.



SKEWED JUDICIAL SYSTEM


A prominent example of this skewed system of promotion is seen in the contrast of fortunes between Justice Hishamudin and Justice Augustine Paul (of the infamous Anwar trial fame). While Paul, newly promoted to high court judge to handle the Anwar case in 1998, had leapfrogged to the nation’s highest court (Federal Court) by 2005, Hishamudin has remained stagnant as a high court judge since 1995, despite his illustrious judicial record. Another example is Court of Appeal judge Gopal Sri Ram, the most senior judge who has made Malaysians proud for his many impartial and courageous judgments, has been by-passed for promotion to the Federal Court 14 times by his juniors since his direct appointment to the Court of Appeal in 1994. Some of these promoted on the express train had stayed in the Court of Appeal for only one year, notably those who were seen to have “delivered”.


The moral of the story in our judiciary is obvious: fortune only smiles on those who are obedient and submissive, but woe to those who are steadfastly principled. Under such a system, is there any wonder why our judiciary has been traveling on a downward slippery way?


While our spirit is buoyed by the Hishamudin judgment, we must temper our joy with the realization that the likes of Hishamudin and Sri Ram are rare gems that numerically could not influence the course of our judiciary. As they say, one swallow does not a summer make. Judicial reform is a long journey, and we haven’t even started yet.


But start we must, as the Hishamudin judgment has already opened our eyes to the immense benefits that a just judiciary can bring to the nation.


JUDICIAL REFORM A MUST


Imagine our courts are filled mostly with judges of Hishamudin’s integrity – from high courts to court of appeal to federal court – and led by a chief justice of impeccable honesty and competence, wouldn’t that be the best deterrent against the rampant breeding of corruption and abuse of power that is raging in every strata and section of our government – the cabinet, judiciary, attorney general’s chambers, police, government departments, anti-corruption agency, election commission, statutory bodies and GLCs (government linked corporations)? In fact, a competent judiciary can act as a powerful agent to cleanse our political and administrative systems of corruption.


Corollary to that, wouldn’t a revamped judiciary bring about a more level playing field for political contests through restoration of citizens’ constitution rights while suppressing similar infringement by the incumbent power? Through such restoration of democracy, we will surely see the natural replacement of the corrupt and the incompetent by the bright and the dedicated to lead the nation.


In summary, a cleaner administration in a more vibrant democracy, served by a competent judiciary, is certainly the right recipe to restore investors’ confidence, which has seen steady decline in the last decade.


Judicial reform is therefore a crucial move that will bring about a turning point in our history - arresting the present decline in government quality, rejuvenating the leadership, while serving as a major catalyst to boost our economy.


It is for this reason that we cannot afford to compromise on our quest for a royal commission of enquiry to look into the judicial rot revealed by the Lingam video clip, as a first step towards full reform.


And you can contribute towards making this objective a reality by supporting a petition to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to set up such a royal commission. All you need to do is to email your name with IC number to: savethejudiciary@gmail.com. The full text of the petition can be read at: http://harismibrahim.wordpress.com.




Kim Quek.