Then Dismayed.
No, it's not that I miss my month of May, when Poets and their asspirants are extraordinary geneorus with words.
It's only words, and Words are all I have To take your heart away...
So where did I go for my sojourn?
Briefly, I went to Massachusetts, in Spirit.
"And the lights all went out in Massachussets
The day I left to see my way with you"
See, I told you I was/am/will be a BeeGgie one day, didn't I? Finally made it to final 10
of asiablogawards. Do they reward as well as for teachers? Miss Penanggal, Lucia Lai, please whisper...
I experimented with going into Darkness for 48. MIA -- Missing In Action -- is good therapy for the spirit, I don't know about the Soul!
There is a distinction between Spirit and Soul, I'm told by two Blogger-teachers, Yan of yantouch.wordpress, who provides manna for the soul, and joepsc of jp-sijun.blogspot.com,who gifts with poems that Desi envies.
I wonder if these two teachers -- one in Kuching, the other in Sinland, they avoid Desi in Furong as they did not want me to know...I think, or suspect! My question point blank is Do they also give tuition? -- If, yes, I'm tempted to bill them alternate Sundays for my CON BF!
NST today frontpage
More teachers slacking in school to ride the tuition gravy train -- and they think it's okay...
Teacher 1:
'Some of us teach the basics in school.
We teach what is needed, yo understand
the details, the students attend tuition.'
Tecaher 2:
'Teachers no longer want to give their best in
school. If we giive our best, there is no way we
can earn the additional income.'
My dear ER: Guess how much do these Teachers earn from tuition?
My comment: IN-decent.
The sum DIS-MAYS Desi. And it's now only September.
I won't mention here because the warning sign came on: "Kuasa anda akan terputus-diputus 60 seconds (or saat, which sounds like a name of a person) dari sekarang."
Basics at school,
the rest at tuition
11 Sep 2006
KUALA LUMPUR: They teach the basics or go through the motions in school. Then they tell their students to attend tuition classes if they want a better understanding.
After saying the 40-minute teaching periods are insufficient to get everything across, they add: "Those who need further assistance, please attend my tuition classes."
Brazen? Certainly. They also ask their students to pass the word around that they are running tuition classes.
The number of teachers who openly solicit students for tuition classes, it appears, is on the rise.
With parents eager to give a leg-up to their children in an increasingly competitive environment — and the fact that having one’s own teacher provide tuition is considered a plus point — there is no dearth of students.
This is particularly so in urban areas where teachers are raking in the money.
Some of these teachers can afford luxurious landed properties, go for annual overseas trips and drive imported cars.
PS: If the kuasa returns, SemuaNya OK, Desi will continue with some elaboration. K!
PPS @11.00PM:
Yes, like Superman and his kryptonite power(I hope I get spell right!), Desi comes back with no vengeance, just a mite spirited after downing a CON dinner for a 'special' occasion -- 9-11, Remember?), so motivated to write aMore...
Just C&P from NST again:
It’s a gold mine for father of two
John Tang
Salary: RM1,800
Housing loan: RM650 monthly for 25 years
Car loan: RM480 monthly
Tuition fee for two children: RM360 monthly
Groceries: RM450 monthly
Wife’s salary: RM1,400
Income from tuition: RM10,000 to RM11,000 monthly
Most money spent on leisure: During Chinese New Year, about RM10,000
Five years after starting to give tuition, 35-year-old Tang would not have it any other way. After all, he earns at least RM10,000 monthly.
He solicits students for additional classes at the beginning of the year.
The primary school teacher started with Mathematics tuition. To his surprise, 45 students responded in the first month.
"I started charging RM60 monthly for twice-a-week tuition."
Tang said by the beginning of 2001, he had 200 students from different schools.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RM2,100 pay not enough for bills
R. Kaur
Salary: RM2,100
Housing loan: RM520 monthly for 25 years
Car loan: RM557 monthly
Tuition fee for two children: RM780 monthly
Husband’s income: RM2,950
Income from tuition: RM6,000 monthly
Most money spent on leisure: Travelling to Asia and Europe, about RM5,500 per year
"We were short of money and my husband and I had to trim our expenses," Kaur said.
She moaned that her RM2,100 salary monthly seemed to just slip through their hands as they tried hard to meet escalating expenses, including their children’s tuition fees and housing loan payments.
Kaur had been teaching in a secondary school for nine years before venturing into giving tuition to earn extra income in 2003.
"I saw many students struggling with their subjects. I informed them of my plan to give tuition and the response was good."
She had 100 students at first. Now, she teaches 20 students daily."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yan, Joepsc and Mave raised some interesting points, which I bring to frontpage for rumination -- we need mental supper besides chowing down mee goreng or black pepper steak! I hope otrher ER lend their views as some point in life, this question of your child/children going for extra classes, tuition or school-conducted, will arise.
3 comment(s):
Are teachers so poorly paid to resort to that you said, or is it their greedy scheme to afford that extra fling?
Can Desi teach us something?
By Joepsc, at 3:09 PM
Could it be the parents and teachers?
I studied a little of economics - the demand and supply.
We need an economist here beside the spiritual 'guru'.
Yan
By Yan, at 7:28 PM
Let the teachers earned some extras... they didn't steal; the politicians did but semua OK....
By Maverick SM, at 7:55 PM
DESI adds:
Joepsc, teachers here are paid just like other civil servants, depending on their grades, with of course, the highest being graduate teachers with recogised tertiary qualifications. (I speak with some insider information as a few in my family are teachers, and one of them watches Boston Public without fail.)
The top of the rung are headmasters are specialist teachers who are emplaced on Super Scale (Special Grade), just like other branches of government service officers moving from Grade E, upwards to D, C etc.
Yan, I think I know what you're thinking -- that society is developing like a lassaire fair (need to check spell here again!) marketplace, following the Law of Supply and Demand, and the fees/costs of the services involved (in this case, tuition fees).
Brother Mave has a point that we should adopt the attitude to "Let the teachers earn some extras... they didn't steal;...)
I totally agree, but "some extras" would normally mean a FRACTION of their official pay they earn as teachers. If this "extra" sum translates into "several times" (as in the cases cited by the newspapers, though I believe it's only some of the hugely popular tuition teachers earning that sort of extras!), then my viewpoint, IT'S WRONG.
I am no saint either. As a journalist, I did some "freelance editing" occasionally to earn maybe several hundred ringgit extra, even then, NOT every month, once in a blue moon! Several hunded is a fraction of my humble gaji of a few thousand-lah! I c an decalre IT if you assure me the IRS would give Desi a refund, because I think a few years they over-taxed Desi but I just Let It Be...
Back to the subject matter, if a teacher could earn three or four times (RM6,000 to RM10,000 in the two cases reported) his salary as official pay from the Government, I think on principle he should just give up the government's job and go into tuition fulltime. Giving tuition for long hours would mean he/she is not focusing on his teacher's profession. One can't have the cake and eat IT too. (Though here I tahank one Prose for offering Desi cheesecake to go with my tehtarik last Sunday when I went MIA -- yes, some things in life you get gratis, but that's because a GOoD friend is considerate of you.)
But thank God, I have personally witnesses teachers who give extra classes to "less progressive" pupils with NO FEES charged, on afternoons or Saturdays to truly help those who ate in greatest need.I also now some parents insist on their children going for tuition even when their teachers have rated them as performing in school. Don't the parents there is more sense in investing in deveeloping the kids' extra-mural skills like music, laying a msuical instrument, sing or dance like Elvis, Madonna or Beyond or Siti Nurhaliza.
If we are to have an education system that is close to be fair and equitable, I believe teachers should be restricted to giving tuiition to earn not more than 50% of their pay. Anything more would mean they are not performing at least to a minimum standdard while teaching in school. And of course, the fact is that pupils/students from the low-income groups are again disadvantaged -- they can't afford any tuition because it is "too expensive" from their parents' earnings poitn of view.
THe Government has moved towards quite an egalitarian system of schooling where no child should be deprived of at least 6+3 years of education, enhanced with the latest Budget provision that no fees for public examinations will be levied from 2007. I seldom praise the Education Ministry for progressing in the "RIGHT" DIRECTION. BUT two Fridays ago, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's administration did something right. And we must acknowledge we indeed have a leader, despiute his elegant silence, is listening. In his quiet, but eloquent ways.
Monday, September 11, 2006
Friday, September 08, 2006
What IF...?
The country's power grid crashed down on US completely.
And we are thrown into total darkness for 48 hours?
No electricity.
Lots of sweat. I don't know about toil and tears.
Candles. Yes, soon the sundry and moony shops will run out of candles. But candle power cannot connect me to the PC. Can yours?
No Internet. No Word-processing, which is my lifeline to keeping body -- dunno about the soul! -- A-LIVE.
And I have an assignment with a newspaper to complete, Dead-line 2pm Friday, Sept 8, 2006, which, if NOT MET, I'm Dead!
But the paper's bosses would understand, right?
Is that a rhetoric Q? I dunno. I may ask mGf Yan when we meet next in Kuala Lumpur.
She was in the big, bad, city of wolves yesterday and we were supposed to catch for a semi-official breakfast meeting at 7.30am this moUrn. Luckily she called at about 6pm (I think) to "cancel" as she needed to return to Catsville for somethin' "urgent"! I hope she did not miss her fright!
That "What IF" thought crashed on Desi at about 7.00pm as I was working on some press summaries. I forgot to bring a diskette -- a case of More haste, Less speed again -- I used "again" because obviously, it's NOTthe first time. Neither can I promise thee it would be the lust. If some Maverick complains Desi is back to his DDC menace, my retort would be: Hey, please detour to another website, K! I have other ER like Helen and FA and PRose who enjoy some teasing of the mind; further now I'm among Top 10 Bloggers in NegaraKu, (ref: asiablogawards.com, or contact fashionasia.blogspot.com and allofhelen.blogspot.com, the hoRsts of which are my campaign managers -- one conscripted to lure her back from hideout! and the Other, a A-volunteer!)
WoW! Desiderata2000 has at least Three diehard fans! and I don't mean the Three Musketeers! I think sometimes they act bona fide de les', that is, in con-cert, or in con-sort, trying to put Desi on the hot plate.
I suspect either 1, or 2, or 3 were responsible for putting up desiderata2000 nama to the ABA orgasmnisers. I may sound "ungrateful" (as ex-PM Tun DR Mahathir Mohamad had alleged of some people, so also the Trio might follow suit. Power by association, eh?)
But I desire their (The 3 Musks' I mean) banters/bantai!), therefore today I won't overdose on DDC. OthereVice, this scribe be accused of acting aksi.
Now, where was I?
Oh, as I was saying, I was writing out press precis. I forgot to bring diskette to the Internet Cafe -- where they don't serve Coffee or Tehtarik (THINKing allowed: don't know if I can complain to the Consumners' Claims Tribunal for my money back?) -- so I sued the Yahoo Mail "DRAFTS" channel to work on my assignment. No, I am NOT a fulltime Blogger. I blog because it helps to clear my block(ed)head so that I can earn some moolah (B&B, with some kaya thrown in) writing serious Business/Economics articles and some...
Was 2-1/2 hours into the job, then Poop! a pictute took over the PC screen, and I LOST the precious document!
I begged the Cafe supervisor (telepathisedd him I won't make the Tribunal claim...) to help me to try to recover the document. "Sorry" was the first, and lust words he said. "Too bad-lah" came in between.
WSo was I glad that sisdar Yan cancelled on the BF Meet though I was looking forward to an early CON BF (by 48 hours).
So back to my important question.
WHAT IF the country's power grid broke down for 48?
Hours-lah, can't be 48 days -- we are not 4th world, are we?
Also not 48 minutes, we are not yet First WEorld, are we?
The Most Important Questions that follows ~~
My EsteemedReaders, how would you cope without electricity for 48 hours?
Pick from the following trains of action~~~~~
(1) DESPERATION: Jump from the Twin Towers?
(2) OPPORTUNITY: Call your Boss and ask: Can I take a holiday?
(3) BLOGGERSSOJOURNITY: Organise another G7+ Meet?
(4) MAKELOVEWHILETHESUNSHINES: ala-Lionel Ritche "AllNights&Days Long"
(5) OTHER
PS: If you select (5), please enunciate/elaborate/essay. IF it's award-winning quality, I'll forward to the :: ABA orgasmnisers :: for
con-sideration for the following year's awards.
Oh, kuasa telah kembali,SemuaNya OK!
And we are thrown into total darkness for 48 hours?
No electricity.
Lots of sweat. I don't know about toil and tears.
Candles. Yes, soon the sundry and moony shops will run out of candles. But candle power cannot connect me to the PC. Can yours?
No Internet. No Word-processing, which is my lifeline to keeping body -- dunno about the soul! -- A-LIVE.
And I have an assignment with a newspaper to complete, Dead-line 2pm Friday, Sept 8, 2006, which, if NOT MET, I'm Dead!
But the paper's bosses would understand, right?
Is that a rhetoric Q? I dunno. I may ask mGf Yan when we meet next in Kuala Lumpur.
She was in the big, bad, city of wolves yesterday and we were supposed to catch for a semi-official breakfast meeting at 7.30am this moUrn. Luckily she called at about 6pm (I think) to "cancel" as she needed to return to Catsville for somethin' "urgent"! I hope she did not miss her fright!
That "What IF" thought crashed on Desi at about 7.00pm as I was working on some press summaries. I forgot to bring a diskette -- a case of More haste, Less speed again -- I used "again" because obviously, it's NOTthe first time. Neither can I promise thee it would be the lust. If some Maverick complains Desi is back to his DDC menace, my retort would be: Hey, please detour to another website, K! I have other ER like Helen and FA and PRose who enjoy some teasing of the mind; further now I'm among Top 10 Bloggers in NegaraKu, (ref: asiablogawards.com, or contact fashionasia.blogspot.com and allofhelen.blogspot.com, the hoRsts of which are my campaign managers -- one conscripted to lure her back from hideout! and the Other, a A-volunteer!)
WoW! Desiderata2000 has at least Three diehard fans! and I don't mean the Three Musketeers! I think sometimes they act bona fide de les', that is, in con-cert, or in con-sort, trying to put Desi on the hot plate.
I suspect either 1, or 2, or 3 were responsible for putting up desiderata2000 nama to the ABA orgasmnisers. I may sound "ungrateful" (as ex-PM Tun DR Mahathir Mohamad had alleged of some people, so also the Trio might follow suit. Power by association, eh?)
But I desire their (The 3 Musks' I mean) banters/bantai!), therefore today I won't overdose on DDC. OthereVice, this scribe be accused of acting aksi.
Now, where was I?
Oh, as I was saying, I was writing out press precis. I forgot to bring diskette to the Internet Cafe -- where they don't serve Coffee or Tehtarik (THINKing allowed: don't know if I can complain to the Consumners' Claims Tribunal for my money back?) -- so I sued the Yahoo Mail "DRAFTS" channel to work on my assignment. No, I am NOT a fulltime Blogger. I blog because it helps to clear my block(ed)head so that I can earn some moolah (B&B, with some kaya thrown in) writing serious Business/Economics articles and some...
Was 2-1/2 hours into the job, then Poop! a pictute took over the PC screen, and I LOST the precious document!
I begged the Cafe supervisor (telepathisedd him I won't make the Tribunal claim...) to help me to try to recover the document. "Sorry" was the first, and lust words he said. "Too bad-lah" came in between.
WSo was I glad that sisdar Yan cancelled on the BF Meet though I was looking forward to an early CON BF (by 48 hours).
So back to my important question.
WHAT IF the country's power grid broke down for 48?
Hours-lah, can't be 48 days -- we are not 4th world, are we?
Also not 48 minutes, we are not yet First WEorld, are we?
The Most Important Questions that follows ~~
My EsteemedReaders, how would you cope without electricity for 48 hours?
Pick from the following trains of action~~~~~
(1) DESPERATION: Jump from the Twin Towers?
(2) OPPORTUNITY: Call your Boss and ask: Can I take a holiday?
(3) BLOGGERSSOJOURNITY: Organise another G7+ Meet?
(4) MAKELOVEWHILETHESUNSHINES: ala-Lionel Ritche "AllNights&Days Long"
(5) OTHER
PS: If you select (5), please enunciate/elaborate/essay. IF it's award-winning quality, I'll forward to the :: ABA orgasmnisers :: for
con-sideration for the following year's awards.
Oh, kuasa telah kembali,SemuaNya OK!
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Globalisation marches on Malaysia stealthily...
And Malaysia will pay a heavy price for being caught sleeping.
Especially when our so-called national leaders wake up one day, and the truth dawns that we are a nation of Rip van Winkles.
Ignorance is bliss, they say, but this is only for the children and maybe for the teenagers. It is no excuse for grownups and adults, and that includes Mat Rempit, UMNO Youth and putera, MCA Youth, and puteri and What MIC clones have you.
Sometimes, yes, Ignorance can be bliss, in small things.
But on national, and international affairs like trade and commerce, Ignorance can be that Evil Iblis.
The world marketplace is a jungle, and the fittest will survive. Back to basci Darwinian Theory of Evolution and perpetuation of the species. I am a God-fearing man, but out there in the Economic and Business Battle-fields, prayers won't get any nation or tribe very far.
It's knowledge, information technology, intelligence and mental reparedness that are Today's weapons for battle.
Will Malaysia be able to keep pace with changing times, especially in the world marketplace of ideas and knowledge, fast-changing information technology so that we remain competitive relative to other nations?
The picture is not optimistic.
From The NST today, page 7 headlines:
Malaysia ranks 25th
on ease off doing busines
Desi: I won't go into details except ask of you: Are you surprised that an immdiate neighbour -- yes, SINGAPORE! -- topped the list of most business-friendly nation?
Now don't anyone start any anti-Sinland diatribe against Desi because I normally don't venture into any comparison except when there is an official survey report, hence it's independent. And don't any smartalec start saying: Oh, it's not totally independent as not all relevant factors have been taken into account ... Less of such crap will you, Mat Rempit or Mat Dungu!
But I'll reproduce in full the second report,with some highlights mine (THUS BOLDED) viz:
Report: 'Business
friendliness' low
KUALA LUMPUR: The World Bank has pointed out Malaysia’s strengths and weaknesses in its annual business friendly report released yesterday.
Scores from the report, aggregated from 10 sub-categories, showed the country’s standings drop in several areas compared to the previous year, namely in dealing with licences, employing workers, trading cross-borders, enforcing contracts and closing businesses.
To start a business in Malaysia, entrepreneurs may have to go through nine steps compared to the 8.2 steps taken on the average in the region, over 30 days on average, and at a cost equal to 19.7 per cent of gross national income (GNI) per capita.
The steps, time and costs of complying with licensing and permit requirements for ongoing operations is a staggering 281 steps at a cost of 78.19 per cent of income per capita, compared to the region’s average of only 17.6 steps.
As for property, it will take about 144 days to register a property in Malaysia compared to only 85.8 days on average in the region.
It takes about 31 steps and 450 days to enforce commercial contracts in Malaysia.
The time and cost required to resolve bankruptcies in Malaysia takes 2.25 years and costs about 14.50 per cent of the estate value. The recovery rate, expressed in terms of how many cents on the dollar claimants recover from the insolvent firm, is 38.69.
The report showed the costs involved in importing and exporting a standardised shipment of goods in the country is better compared to the region.
Malaysia scored higher against the region in terms of investor protection, which include transparency of transactions, liability for self-dealing, shareholders’ ability to sue officers and directors for misconduct and Strength of Investor Protection Index.
~~~~~~~~~
DESI: I have said this many times, the latest was in conjunction with the Merdeka Essay Series, that what our country's leaders fail to do and deliver in preparing NegaraKU to face the international competition out there, by default this role will be surrendered to the maurauding forces of Globalisation. From my article, I reprise from the subsection titled:
The American Conundrum
"The issue of Americana features prominently today because I'm only spending time on one point -- Globalisation. We are "Americanised" in many ways though we may not be consciously aware. Just check the movies and entertainment you enjoy -- a ballpark estimate is that some 50% come from the great United States we deem the big, bad Brother. For only one reason, that since the Cold War ended, the USA has become the sole super-power remaining, though mainland China is doing a Hop, Step and Jump to catch up. Leave Russia and Fidel Castro alone -- reminds Desi of that mad Roman emperor strumming, or fiddling, a musical instrument while the city burned...
Malaysia has to learn from history. On which side is our bread buttered?
We want to trade more with western nations, led by the number one trading power, the US; simultaneously, Islamist voices are condeming anything "western" as decadent, devilish and ... (ER can fill in the blanks).
National leaders play to the gallery, often caught speaking with forked tongues. The Little Emperor/Napoleon as termed by our esteemed Prime Minister Pak Lah, wears no clothes on National Day parade, but he says he's one for Transparency. So many fellow Bloggers have recorded prime, naked? examples -- also equivalent to the proverbial "Seeing the speck in thy neighbour's eye, but not seeing the plank in one's own eye".
What our leaders can't deliver, then by default external forces would throw our country to the wild, wild winds of change. The Age of the Internet and information technology -- accompanied by the march of Globalisation -- will mean we ignore the external factors of power and influence on our nation's destiny at our own peril.
While short-sighted leaders fight for their loot or bounty, especially when the economic pie is getting squeezed and smaller, we find ourselves, many innocents among the silent majority, being pushed nearer and nearer to Doomsville. Let's try to prevent the flagship called NegaraKu being mis-directed by clueless pilots towards the Abyss."
~~~~~~~
DESI: Bids thee an Adieu w'ile the hoRst Googles for "Rip van Winkle" -- lazy bum that he's! -- will do a Cut&Paste after a tea-break, Can? And that of course, my dear EsteemedReaders, is a rhetorical question. For nu'ecomers to this Blog, which I expect a deluge will occur after Desiderata got onto a Top 10 List (nu'es broken by a Bravegal from Penang Who's Not Afraid of KL Wolves, virginal or non -- yesterday, but the tsunami did not come, so far. I wait with Miss Patience, which is preached as a Virtue. Also newcomers better get used to being A-bused with much Digression/Aggression, one of Blogosphere's occupational hazards. The hazard is on thy part, not mine. Desi's is the privilege of Digression.
PS @3.19PM:
From wikipedia, oh dear! I had overslept by a century, am I now in 2105? Howsy, mave sm, Anak Merdeka, Helen: Art thou with Desi steal?
Rip Van Winkle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Rip van Winkle)
Rip Van Winkle is a short story by Washington Irving published in 1819, as well as the name of the story's fictional protagonist. It was part of a collection of stories entitled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon. The story has become a part of cultural mythology: even for those who have never read the original story, "Rip Van Winkle" means a person who is inexplicably unaware of current events."
The story, written while Irving was staying with his sister Sarah and her husband Henry van Wart in Birmingham, England, is set in the years before and after the American Revolutionary War. A villager of Dutch descent escapes his nagging wife by wandering up Kaaterskill Clove near his home town of Palenville, New York in the Catskill Mountains. After various adventures (in one version of the tale, he encounters the spirits of Henry Hudson and his crew playing ninepins at the top of Kaaterskill Falls), he settles down under a shady tree and falls asleep. He wakes up 20 years later and returns to his village. He finds out that his wife is dead and his close friends have died in a war or gone somewhere else. He immediately gets into trouble when he hails himself a loyal subject of George III, not knowing that in the meantime the American Revolution has taken place and he is not supposed to be a loyal subject of any Hanoverian any longer.~~*wink* winkle, *wink*
Especially when our so-called national leaders wake up one day, and the truth dawns that we are a nation of Rip van Winkles.
Ignorance is bliss, they say, but this is only for the children and maybe for the teenagers. It is no excuse for grownups and adults, and that includes Mat Rempit, UMNO Youth and putera, MCA Youth, and puteri and What MIC clones have you.
Sometimes, yes, Ignorance can be bliss, in small things.
But on national, and international affairs like trade and commerce, Ignorance can be that Evil Iblis.
The world marketplace is a jungle, and the fittest will survive. Back to basci Darwinian Theory of Evolution and perpetuation of the species. I am a God-fearing man, but out there in the Economic and Business Battle-fields, prayers won't get any nation or tribe very far.
It's knowledge, information technology, intelligence and mental reparedness that are Today's weapons for battle.
Will Malaysia be able to keep pace with changing times, especially in the world marketplace of ideas and knowledge, fast-changing information technology so that we remain competitive relative to other nations?
The picture is not optimistic.
From The NST today, page 7 headlines:
Malaysia ranks 25th
on ease off doing busines
Desi: I won't go into details except ask of you: Are you surprised that an immdiate neighbour -- yes, SINGAPORE! -- topped the list of most business-friendly nation?
Now don't anyone start any anti-Sinland diatribe against Desi because I normally don't venture into any comparison except when there is an official survey report, hence it's independent. And don't any smartalec start saying: Oh, it's not totally independent as not all relevant factors have been taken into account ... Less of such crap will you, Mat Rempit or Mat Dungu!
But I'll reproduce in full the second report,with some highlights mine (THUS BOLDED) viz:
Report: 'Business
friendliness' low
KUALA LUMPUR: The World Bank has pointed out Malaysia’s strengths and weaknesses in its annual business friendly report released yesterday.
Scores from the report, aggregated from 10 sub-categories, showed the country’s standings drop in several areas compared to the previous year, namely in dealing with licences, employing workers, trading cross-borders, enforcing contracts and closing businesses.
To start a business in Malaysia, entrepreneurs may have to go through nine steps compared to the 8.2 steps taken on the average in the region, over 30 days on average, and at a cost equal to 19.7 per cent of gross national income (GNI) per capita.
The steps, time and costs of complying with licensing and permit requirements for ongoing operations is a staggering 281 steps at a cost of 78.19 per cent of income per capita, compared to the region’s average of only 17.6 steps.
As for property, it will take about 144 days to register a property in Malaysia compared to only 85.8 days on average in the region.
It takes about 31 steps and 450 days to enforce commercial contracts in Malaysia.
The time and cost required to resolve bankruptcies in Malaysia takes 2.25 years and costs about 14.50 per cent of the estate value. The recovery rate, expressed in terms of how many cents on the dollar claimants recover from the insolvent firm, is 38.69.
The report showed the costs involved in importing and exporting a standardised shipment of goods in the country is better compared to the region.
Malaysia scored higher against the region in terms of investor protection, which include transparency of transactions, liability for self-dealing, shareholders’ ability to sue officers and directors for misconduct and Strength of Investor Protection Index.
~~~~~~~~~
DESI: I have said this many times, the latest was in conjunction with the Merdeka Essay Series, that what our country's leaders fail to do and deliver in preparing NegaraKU to face the international competition out there, by default this role will be surrendered to the maurauding forces of Globalisation. From my article, I reprise from the subsection titled:
The American Conundrum
"The issue of Americana features prominently today because I'm only spending time on one point -- Globalisation. We are "Americanised" in many ways though we may not be consciously aware. Just check the movies and entertainment you enjoy -- a ballpark estimate is that some 50% come from the great United States we deem the big, bad Brother. For only one reason, that since the Cold War ended, the USA has become the sole super-power remaining, though mainland China is doing a Hop, Step and Jump to catch up. Leave Russia and Fidel Castro alone -- reminds Desi of that mad Roman emperor strumming, or fiddling, a musical instrument while the city burned...
Malaysia has to learn from history. On which side is our bread buttered?
We want to trade more with western nations, led by the number one trading power, the US; simultaneously, Islamist voices are condeming anything "western" as decadent, devilish and ... (ER can fill in the blanks).
National leaders play to the gallery, often caught speaking with forked tongues. The Little Emperor/Napoleon as termed by our esteemed Prime Minister Pak Lah, wears no clothes on National Day parade, but he says he's one for Transparency. So many fellow Bloggers have recorded prime, naked? examples -- also equivalent to the proverbial "Seeing the speck in thy neighbour's eye, but not seeing the plank in one's own eye".
What our leaders can't deliver, then by default external forces would throw our country to the wild, wild winds of change. The Age of the Internet and information technology -- accompanied by the march of Globalisation -- will mean we ignore the external factors of power and influence on our nation's destiny at our own peril.
While short-sighted leaders fight for their loot or bounty, especially when the economic pie is getting squeezed and smaller, we find ourselves, many innocents among the silent majority, being pushed nearer and nearer to Doomsville. Let's try to prevent the flagship called NegaraKu being mis-directed by clueless pilots towards the Abyss."
~~~~~~~
DESI: Bids thee an Adieu w'ile the hoRst Googles for "Rip van Winkle" -- lazy bum that he's! -- will do a Cut&Paste after a tea-break, Can? And that of course, my dear EsteemedReaders, is a rhetorical question. For nu'ecomers to this Blog, which I expect a deluge will occur after Desiderata got onto a Top 10 List (nu'es broken by a Bravegal from Penang Who's Not Afraid of KL Wolves, virginal or non -- yesterday, but the tsunami did not come, so far. I wait with Miss Patience, which is preached as a Virtue. Also newcomers better get used to being A-bused with much Digression/Aggression, one of Blogosphere's occupational hazards. The hazard is on thy part, not mine. Desi's is the privilege of Digression.
PS @3.19PM:
From wikipedia, oh dear! I had overslept by a century, am I now in 2105? Howsy, mave sm, Anak Merdeka, Helen: Art thou with Desi steal?
Rip Van Winkle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Rip van Winkle)
Rip Van Winkle is a short story by Washington Irving published in 1819, as well as the name of the story's fictional protagonist. It was part of a collection of stories entitled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon. The story has become a part of cultural mythology: even for those who have never read the original story, "Rip Van Winkle" means a person who is inexplicably unaware of current events."
The story, written while Irving was staying with his sister Sarah and her husband Henry van Wart in Birmingham, England, is set in the years before and after the American Revolutionary War. A villager of Dutch descent escapes his nagging wife by wandering up Kaaterskill Clove near his home town of Palenville, New York in the Catskill Mountains. After various adventures (in one version of the tale, he encounters the spirits of Henry Hudson and his crew playing ninepins at the top of Kaaterskill Falls), he settles down under a shady tree and falls asleep. He wakes up 20 years later and returns to his village. He finds out that his wife is dead and his close friends have died in a war or gone somewhere else. He immediately gets into trouble when he hails himself a loyal subject of George III, not knowing that in the meantime the American Revolution has taken place and he is not supposed to be a loyal subject of any Hanoverian any longer.~~*wink* winkle, *wink*
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Another A-Joke -- from a Malaysian Abroad?
Desi read The Star Sept 5, 2006 page N16 the now "infamous" case about Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang quoting Bakri Musa's call to the Prime Minister to step down, now!
The news item did not do justice to what Bakri and Kit Siang said, I'm sure, knowing the MSM coverage of news not glowing of the Administration, what more the Prime Minister. So today I'm reproducing the said article in FULL and then like a surgeon, I'm dissecting it bit by byte in an academic exercise to provide a counterpoint (but based on my convictions), as well as ask aloud a variant of what I posed the day before: Who Started A-Joke?
Article by BAKRI MUSA
September 3rd, 2006
The Original by the US-based surgeon author is in BOLD, thus.
Desi's comments are in italics, para by para, thus.
Undur lah, Pak Lah!
(Step Down, Pak Lah!)
Few images could match the pathos of a man struggling to keep his head above water as he is drowning. A more tragic scene would be seeing a Mongoloid child quietly slipping underwater, oblivious of the mortal danger he is in as he sinks down, grinning. No intimations of fear or helplessness; a few moments later he would be found lifeless at the bottom of the pond.
Desi: Mr Elegant Silence, aka Mr Nice Guy, is an apt descritpion of our nation's CEO helming the ship called Malaysia for almost three years now. Drowning? Far from it. The ship is afloat and Pak Lah remains at the steering wheel. The comparison with a Mongoloid child, my esteemed doctor fellow scribe, is a mite too drastic, isn't it, as Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi still talks coherently, maybe not as fiery as former DPM Anwar Ibrahim, or as charismatically as former PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
This is the image Prime Minister Abdullah currently projects, and it is not far from the reality. He is way above his head, and is blissfully unaware of it. He still maintains the “elegant silence” of a Pak Bisu (the lovable deaf-mute uncle), and a “What? Me Worry?” grin of Mad Magazine’s Alfred Neuman.
Desi: So also the image of a spiritual person, who seeks the peace within, gives Pak Lah an image of an elder in the mould of a wise leader. He does not raise the crowd's temperatures, but why should NegaraKu expect such leadership? Isn't the racist cacophony of sound and fury emiting out of the PWTC Great Hall sufficient for entertainment? Hey, leading NegaraKu is serious business; Mad magazine is good for writers who think they can be seriously taken by such childish picture painting of others. Maybe Desiderata can be compared with the Madcap at Tanjung Rambutan for writing this piece spontaneously,but with fruity passion, Dr Bakri?
He is sinking fast, and he does not know it. He is also taking his party and the nation down with him. Unfortunately, it is not within our culture for those closest to him to warn him of the impending disaster, much less to rescue the poor soul. On the contrary, they would continue to shield him from the harsh reality, all the way down to the bottom of the pond. They are more interested in protecting their own interests rather than in saving the man or the nation.
Desi: NegaraKu is very much alive and kicking. The RM40billion a year allocations under the 9th Malaysia Plan was a good start. The just announced RM160billion Budget is a sweetener. Remember, the economic hard times upon us is not unique to Malaysia. The world's economic landscape is undergoing convulsions. Even Japan has not been able to come to grips with its plateau-ing economy for the past 10 years. Bank deposit rates are almost at zero percent.
Undur lah, Pak Lah! Step down, Pak Lah! Spare your party, race and the nation you love needless grief.
Desi: And why should Pak Lah heed your lone ranger's call to step down? Are you saying the parliamentary process we have been observing all these years is not working for dear Malaysia, except for some traumatic times when the Constitution was suspended, along with the then Parliament, and we experienced an imposed Rule by a National Operations Council under the leadership of (the late) Tun Abdul Razak?
It would be presumptuous of me to suggest that you might also be sparing yourself, your loved ones, and those closest to you. That is not for me to say.
Desi: Indeed, I would say you're presumptious!
Right Decision; Right Timing; Right Reason
By stepping down now, Abdullah would be making the one right decision at the right time and for all the right reasons, something that has sorely eluded him since becoming Prime Minister.
Desi: wrong Decision; Stupid Timing; Moronic Reason
By stepping down now, he's guilty of dereliction and abdication of duty of the highest order to the Office to which he was duly elected following the March 2004 General Elections. Are you aware, Dr Bakri, that you are calling on the nation's CEO to subvert the choice of the Rakyat?
This would be an appropriate time for him to announce his resignation, to be effective following the election of a new leader at UMNO’s forthcoming annual convention in November. Doing so now would spare his party and the nation the endless distractions of a leadership tussle. With Ramadan coming up, there will be only a few weeks for the members to focus on electing their leader. The restraining influence of that holy month would curtail the more blatant “money politics” that has plagued UMNO. That would help ensure a clean election; at least I hope so.
Desi: As far as I know, Pak Lah was elected to be the prime minister of the whole country called Malaysia, was it not, Dr Bakri? So why should the duly elected nation's head of government pay heed just to a minor section of the people under an umbrella called UMNO? AS far as I know, this year's UMNO Assembly did not have scheduled elections, so why subject the UMNO President to special treatment? (Or is it subversion?) What clean elections are you talking about? It's the same members largely, the same era (of less than three years since the last tainted party elections when the senior most elected Vice President had to resign because of "money politics".) Anyway, Dr Bakri, to my mind, I don't think you are even an UMNO delegate unless you are specially appointed in absentia?
Were Abdullah to reveal his stubborn streak and hang on however tenuously, rest assured that the party and nation would be consumed by the leadership brawl. Forget about the Ninth Malaysia Plan, economic growth, or even plain normalcy. Even if Abdullah were to survive (a very big “if”), it would be a hollow victory. He, the party, Malays, and Malaysia would have been senselessly and irreparably battered in the process.
Desi: Who indeed are the Other protagonists involved in the leadership brawl? Are you, Dr Bakri, fighting on behalf of the previous PM who had alreay served 22 years, and still suffered from insufficiency of prewsidential food and power? Remember, Tun Dr Mahathir did say even if he had won by a "single vote" (in the contest involving arch rival Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah), it would have been still a victory, and he would remain UMNO President? (Fact is Dr Mahathir won by 43 votes.)
Or is a section of Malaysians conveniently enjoying selective memory recall, or suffering piecemeal memory retention?
Clinging on would only make him look even more pathetic and helpless than he is already now. Please spare us the sorry sight!
Desi: Beauty, and its opposite, Ugliness, lies in the eye of the beholder, Dr Bakri?
I trust the collective wisdom of UMNO members to select Abdullah’s worthy successor. They have been through the exercise many times before. When Datuk Onn left the party in a huff, sulking because the members would not do his bidding, they demonstrated great judgment in picking the hitherto unknown and colorless civil servant, Tunku Abdul Rahman. It was a prescient choice for later he would lead the nation to Merdeka. In contrast, the daring, brilliant and charismatic Datuk Onn was content to remain in the false security of the colonial cocoon.
Desi: Selecting an UMNO past incident to justify a subversion of a duly elected UMNO President (also Malaysia's Prime Minister, an anachronism thrust on us reluctant Malaysians who are non-UMNO members!) some 50 years later does not speak much about Malaysia's march towards democratic practice. A subversion remains an aberration, however good Dr Bakri's and like-minded UMNO supporters' intentions. May I also remind that "The path to hell is paved with good intentions".(Samuel Johnson?)
Similarly later when the Tunku was enjoying himself too much in being the “world’s happiest Prime Minister” while the nation was fracturing, UMNO members again asserted themselves. That famous genuflecting letter to Tunku from Dr. Mahathir may be from one person, but not its sentiment.
Desi: Oh, Dr Mahathir, now we discern some intimation/motivation as to the origin of this A-Joke? (Maybe the present deputy Prime Minister is smiling in the wings of the PWTC STage?This "Thinking Allowed" is a continuation of my Narration of the EPIC PLAY for which I had completed Two Acts, and I indicated the PLay continues...)
Granted, the UMNO of today is a far cry from its earlier being; it is now corrupted to its core. The rot accelerated when Anwar Ibrahim introduced the party and its members to “modern” forms of campaigning, as with “money politics.” It was only through outright corruption and blatant bribery, condoned by the party’s senior leaders, was Anwar successful in dislodging Ghaffar Baba as Deputy President and thus, Deputy Prime Minister. However, as we Muslims would observe, Allah has His Ways; nothing happens without His Will.
Desi: It is convenient to step on a past DPM when he's almost 90% down, and he becomes a convenient mat, does he not? I used to hold your writings in high esteem; I was praying I was reading your piece on April 1, 2007. But I woke up this afternoon from a snooze (April 5), it said Tuesday, so Desi was not living in a world of his own. I don't know how the calendar in the USA reads the date and day, year as you wrote your article?
Today money politics is entrenched; it seems futile to have faith in UMNO’s ability to make wise decisions, uncorrupted by money and influence peddling. Examine the last leadership convention, and that was with the two top positions not contested. Imagine the ugly tussles and ensuing gross corruptions had both positions been vacant.
Desi: I second and endorse 100% this said paragraph. God willing, I hope I can agree with you more, henceforth.
There is some reason to hope that this time it would be different, if Abdullah were to resign now. With the restraining influence of Ramadan and Hari Raya, as well as the short notice, there would not be a prolonged disruptive and acrimonious campaign. There would be corresponding less time for intrigue and bribery. It takes time to form alliances and to engage in backstabbing.
Desi: The right and proper thing to do for anyone or party to see a change in the nation's leadership is bide your time. Miss Patience, I often aver here, is also Virtuous. Wait for the next General Elections -- we have not long to go,the most 2-1/2 years. Likely to be A shorter wait -- GE2007/08?
This may well be the only opportunity for the party to have a relatively honest election, and for its members to express freely their collective wisdom. This may also be the only chance the party has to cleanse its leadership, and thus itself.
Desi: I seem to detect some contradiction from the foregoing paragraPH where I endorsed your view 100%. Well, one can always hope that a Leopard can change its spots through wistful thinking. But I doubt.
If Abdullah does not seize this rare opportunity and instead succumb to the flatteries of his courtiers, rest assured that the party and nation would needlessly be distracted until he is out. Not a pretty prospect, for him, the party, and the nation.
Contrary to Abdullah’s perception, Mahathir is not the problem; silencing him would not be the solution. Mahathir is getting wide hearing not because he is the former Prime Minister (although that is a factor), rather the issues he raises resonate with the citizens.
Desi: Mahathir is now plain citizen Joe, like you and me. Why do you wish to be proxy to his thoughts and battles? He has served as PM for 22 years. Was that too short a tenure to prove himself?
Undoing Mahathir’s Legacy
If Abdullah were intent on undoing Mahathir’s legacy, as Abdullah’s many interlocutors seemed to convey, then stepping down now would do it. He would have effectively broken UMNO’s ill-advised “tradition” of not contesting the two top positions. This presumes that Najib would contest the top slot with Abdullah’s withdrawal, and thus automatically vacate his Deputy President post. There is nothing to indicate that he would not do so.
Desi: Righting the wrongs inherited from Mahathir'S era?
Undoing, Dr Bakri, how?
The old regime brought all the FOUR ESTATES to their knees.
An Omnipotent Executive.
A Subservient Legislature.
An Emasculated Judiciary.
The Media -- the Fourth Esate, is another A-Joke.
It was just over two years ago that Abdullah received an overwhelming mandate from the people. He has not committed any egregious deeds, which would be the usual reason in calling for a resignation. On the contrary, he has done a few things right; that is to say, I agree with those decisions.
Desi: Now you're talking some sense. Acknowledgements. I endorse again your observations.
That is precisely Abdullah’s problem. Even when he did the rare right thing, as with trimming the budget deficit, canceling that silly crooked bridge, and reducing the petroleum subsidy, his timing was off and or his reasoning flawed.
Desi: Right things -- but "timing" and "reason" were off. Dr Bakri, spare us the semantics. I thought you were of better mettle!
It was pathetic and painful to see his ministers and other defenders going through contortions to justify canceling that bridge. As for the timing, the penalty payments may yet exceed the cost had the boondoggle been built!
Desi: Take note that many of these Cabinet members were inherited old baggage. I completely agree they are encumbrances. Ostriches around the PM's neck. But thanks to his prececessor's choice in the first place, and a BN system totally out of gear with changing times. You can't deny the MCA president from a Minister's post, can you? Or even a stubborn, semi-valued one of a party lagging merrily behind other communities, or lumbering? Unless a neighbbouring country does us a favour to block a crook via court proceedings, yes?
As for Abdullah’s overwhelming mandate of 2004, do not read too much into it. Malaysians are by nature generous and forgiving of our leaders, at least the first time around. When Tunku took over from the towering Datuk Onn, Tunku’s Alliance Party won all but one of the 52 seats. Datuk Onn scrapped through with the only one seat.
Desi: Yes, first time around, the "feel good" factor and generous of spirit. So don't give your Report Card until the next term, which means another 7-10 years for Pak Lah to deliver. If earlier PMs were given more than one term, why not Pak Lah? To me, it's premature to give a verdict on the current PM's performance. I think besides "generosity", two other Malaysian virtues are patience and fair play.
This was not because Malaysians were mudah lupa (easily forgetting) or being ungrateful to Datuk Onn for his great service in establishing UMNO and saving the nation from becoming a dominion. Rather, Malaysians prefer giving their new leaders a rousing start and a generous chance.
Desi: That's one interpretation. I have mine, but it's not important.It doesn't have much bearing on your call on Pak Lah to resign, immediately. I suggest you revive that call seven years from now?
Resigning the prime ministership is quite the tradition in Malaysia. Chalk one up for the nation! Tunku did it temporarily to concentrate running his campaign in 1959. A decade later the Tunku missed the subtle Malay signals and was more or less forced out, albeit civilly and with decorum in 1970. Hussein did it gracefully in 1981, without prompting, when he found himself overwhelmed.
Desi: Your reading of what happened to Tunku in 1969 could elicit many opposing acounts, but I'm no historian. My suspicion was that someone seized the opportunity to "subvert" the then duly-elected Prime Minister, then declared "Emergency rule" -- a dark period in Negarku which as a citizen, I'm not proud of. Are some quarters working towards a repeat? God forbid.
Fast-forward to today, Hussein Onn is fondly remembered despite his forgettable tenure. In contrast, during the recent celebration of Merdeka’s 49th anniversary, few recalled the Tunku’s pivotal leadership in that fateful event.
Desi: Another facet of historical reccall which may beg a different take. Even among my Blogging mates like Anak Merdeka, Howsy and Mave SM, we could end up with four different opinions. See the wisdom of Seven Blind Men and their Pet Elephant?
Mahathir made it clear that he now deeply regrets anointing Abdullah as his successor. That point is irrelevant. By resigning now and simultaneously opening up the nomination process by letting anyone to participate by doing away with the onerous branch nomination requirements, Abdullah would reduce the corrupting influence of money politics and help ensure getting the best candidates. Let the membership decide who are serious and who are frivolous candidates. By resigning now, Abdullah would also ensure that the next generation of leaders would truly be the choice of the membership. That is a legacy that even Mahathir could not match. That is also the one enduring legacy worth leaving.
Desi: Dr Mahathir when faced with potential rivals to the UMNO throne, changed the party's Constitution to gain an incumbent's advantage. Dr Bakri, You mean Pak Lah should surrender the advantages of incumbency? Is there a saint among politicians? I'd gladly give up my life to meet up with one.
Then I'd like to become his disciple. Serious.
Undur lah, Pak Lah!
Desi,: Pak Lah, Don't give up. Many Malaysians are behind you. Just that you need to act -- more decisively and now!
Special Note by Desiderata:
I had written the above article mainly as a writer-journalist in the best interest of My Country. I have been an Opposition supporter in my political journey, and I'm not ashamed to publicly decalre I had always voted Opposition in all General Elections to date.
But I also respect due process that once Parliamentary Elections has been properly conducted, and the Government duly constituted, I must respect the Office of the Prime Minister, though I don't hold much respect for some of the members in the current Cabinet. Just as I expect the Government to uphold the Rule Of Law. And restore and respect Judicial Independence. I also would support any Opposition or NGO efforts to practise "Civil Disobedience" such as protesting over fuel price hikes in peaceful, public rallies if the Government imposes hardships and sufferings on the citizenry. As indeed, I had taken part in some demonstrations as a concerned citizen. I write this note to dispel some potential quarters (I have had APs visiting Desi's Blog) levelling at Desi being a Government apologist. I go chiefly by THE ISSUES, not so much the Protagonists involved, though the Players are important too. Desi
The news item did not do justice to what Bakri and Kit Siang said, I'm sure, knowing the MSM coverage of news not glowing of the Administration, what more the Prime Minister. So today I'm reproducing the said article in FULL and then like a surgeon, I'm dissecting it bit by byte in an academic exercise to provide a counterpoint (but based on my convictions), as well as ask aloud a variant of what I posed the day before: Who Started A-Joke?
Article by BAKRI MUSA
September 3rd, 2006
The Original by the US-based surgeon author is in BOLD, thus.
Desi's comments are in italics, para by para, thus.
Undur lah, Pak Lah!
(Step Down, Pak Lah!)
Few images could match the pathos of a man struggling to keep his head above water as he is drowning. A more tragic scene would be seeing a Mongoloid child quietly slipping underwater, oblivious of the mortal danger he is in as he sinks down, grinning. No intimations of fear or helplessness; a few moments later he would be found lifeless at the bottom of the pond.
Desi: Mr Elegant Silence, aka Mr Nice Guy, is an apt descritpion of our nation's CEO helming the ship called Malaysia for almost three years now. Drowning? Far from it. The ship is afloat and Pak Lah remains at the steering wheel. The comparison with a Mongoloid child, my esteemed doctor fellow scribe, is a mite too drastic, isn't it, as Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi still talks coherently, maybe not as fiery as former DPM Anwar Ibrahim, or as charismatically as former PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
This is the image Prime Minister Abdullah currently projects, and it is not far from the reality. He is way above his head, and is blissfully unaware of it. He still maintains the “elegant silence” of a Pak Bisu (the lovable deaf-mute uncle), and a “What? Me Worry?” grin of Mad Magazine’s Alfred Neuman.
Desi: So also the image of a spiritual person, who seeks the peace within, gives Pak Lah an image of an elder in the mould of a wise leader. He does not raise the crowd's temperatures, but why should NegaraKu expect such leadership? Isn't the racist cacophony of sound and fury emiting out of the PWTC Great Hall sufficient for entertainment? Hey, leading NegaraKu is serious business; Mad magazine is good for writers who think they can be seriously taken by such childish picture painting of others. Maybe Desiderata can be compared with the Madcap at Tanjung Rambutan for writing this piece spontaneously,but with fruity passion, Dr Bakri?
He is sinking fast, and he does not know it. He is also taking his party and the nation down with him. Unfortunately, it is not within our culture for those closest to him to warn him of the impending disaster, much less to rescue the poor soul. On the contrary, they would continue to shield him from the harsh reality, all the way down to the bottom of the pond. They are more interested in protecting their own interests rather than in saving the man or the nation.
Desi: NegaraKu is very much alive and kicking. The RM40billion a year allocations under the 9th Malaysia Plan was a good start. The just announced RM160billion Budget is a sweetener. Remember, the economic hard times upon us is not unique to Malaysia. The world's economic landscape is undergoing convulsions. Even Japan has not been able to come to grips with its plateau-ing economy for the past 10 years. Bank deposit rates are almost at zero percent.
Undur lah, Pak Lah! Step down, Pak Lah! Spare your party, race and the nation you love needless grief.
Desi: And why should Pak Lah heed your lone ranger's call to step down? Are you saying the parliamentary process we have been observing all these years is not working for dear Malaysia, except for some traumatic times when the Constitution was suspended, along with the then Parliament, and we experienced an imposed Rule by a National Operations Council under the leadership of (the late) Tun Abdul Razak?
It would be presumptuous of me to suggest that you might also be sparing yourself, your loved ones, and those closest to you. That is not for me to say.
Desi: Indeed, I would say you're presumptious!
Right Decision; Right Timing; Right Reason
By stepping down now, Abdullah would be making the one right decision at the right time and for all the right reasons, something that has sorely eluded him since becoming Prime Minister.
Desi: wrong Decision; Stupid Timing; Moronic Reason
By stepping down now, he's guilty of dereliction and abdication of duty of the highest order to the Office to which he was duly elected following the March 2004 General Elections. Are you aware, Dr Bakri, that you are calling on the nation's CEO to subvert the choice of the Rakyat?
This would be an appropriate time for him to announce his resignation, to be effective following the election of a new leader at UMNO’s forthcoming annual convention in November. Doing so now would spare his party and the nation the endless distractions of a leadership tussle. With Ramadan coming up, there will be only a few weeks for the members to focus on electing their leader. The restraining influence of that holy month would curtail the more blatant “money politics” that has plagued UMNO. That would help ensure a clean election; at least I hope so.
Desi: As far as I know, Pak Lah was elected to be the prime minister of the whole country called Malaysia, was it not, Dr Bakri? So why should the duly elected nation's head of government pay heed just to a minor section of the people under an umbrella called UMNO? AS far as I know, this year's UMNO Assembly did not have scheduled elections, so why subject the UMNO President to special treatment? (Or is it subversion?) What clean elections are you talking about? It's the same members largely, the same era (of less than three years since the last tainted party elections when the senior most elected Vice President had to resign because of "money politics".) Anyway, Dr Bakri, to my mind, I don't think you are even an UMNO delegate unless you are specially appointed in absentia?
Were Abdullah to reveal his stubborn streak and hang on however tenuously, rest assured that the party and nation would be consumed by the leadership brawl. Forget about the Ninth Malaysia Plan, economic growth, or even plain normalcy. Even if Abdullah were to survive (a very big “if”), it would be a hollow victory. He, the party, Malays, and Malaysia would have been senselessly and irreparably battered in the process.
Desi: Who indeed are the Other protagonists involved in the leadership brawl? Are you, Dr Bakri, fighting on behalf of the previous PM who had alreay served 22 years, and still suffered from insufficiency of prewsidential food and power? Remember, Tun Dr Mahathir did say even if he had won by a "single vote" (in the contest involving arch rival Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah), it would have been still a victory, and he would remain UMNO President? (Fact is Dr Mahathir won by 43 votes.)
Or is a section of Malaysians conveniently enjoying selective memory recall, or suffering piecemeal memory retention?
Clinging on would only make him look even more pathetic and helpless than he is already now. Please spare us the sorry sight!
Desi: Beauty, and its opposite, Ugliness, lies in the eye of the beholder, Dr Bakri?
I trust the collective wisdom of UMNO members to select Abdullah’s worthy successor. They have been through the exercise many times before. When Datuk Onn left the party in a huff, sulking because the members would not do his bidding, they demonstrated great judgment in picking the hitherto unknown and colorless civil servant, Tunku Abdul Rahman. It was a prescient choice for later he would lead the nation to Merdeka. In contrast, the daring, brilliant and charismatic Datuk Onn was content to remain in the false security of the colonial cocoon.
Desi: Selecting an UMNO past incident to justify a subversion of a duly elected UMNO President (also Malaysia's Prime Minister, an anachronism thrust on us reluctant Malaysians who are non-UMNO members!) some 50 years later does not speak much about Malaysia's march towards democratic practice. A subversion remains an aberration, however good Dr Bakri's and like-minded UMNO supporters' intentions. May I also remind that "The path to hell is paved with good intentions".(Samuel Johnson?)
Similarly later when the Tunku was enjoying himself too much in being the “world’s happiest Prime Minister” while the nation was fracturing, UMNO members again asserted themselves. That famous genuflecting letter to Tunku from Dr. Mahathir may be from one person, but not its sentiment.
Desi: Oh, Dr Mahathir, now we discern some intimation/motivation as to the origin of this A-Joke? (Maybe the present deputy Prime Minister is smiling in the wings of the PWTC STage?This "Thinking Allowed" is a continuation of my Narration of the EPIC PLAY for which I had completed Two Acts, and I indicated the PLay continues...)
Granted, the UMNO of today is a far cry from its earlier being; it is now corrupted to its core. The rot accelerated when Anwar Ibrahim introduced the party and its members to “modern” forms of campaigning, as with “money politics.” It was only through outright corruption and blatant bribery, condoned by the party’s senior leaders, was Anwar successful in dislodging Ghaffar Baba as Deputy President and thus, Deputy Prime Minister. However, as we Muslims would observe, Allah has His Ways; nothing happens without His Will.
Desi: It is convenient to step on a past DPM when he's almost 90% down, and he becomes a convenient mat, does he not? I used to hold your writings in high esteem; I was praying I was reading your piece on April 1, 2007. But I woke up this afternoon from a snooze (April 5), it said Tuesday, so Desi was not living in a world of his own. I don't know how the calendar in the USA reads the date and day, year as you wrote your article?
Today money politics is entrenched; it seems futile to have faith in UMNO’s ability to make wise decisions, uncorrupted by money and influence peddling. Examine the last leadership convention, and that was with the two top positions not contested. Imagine the ugly tussles and ensuing gross corruptions had both positions been vacant.
Desi: I second and endorse 100% this said paragraph. God willing, I hope I can agree with you more, henceforth.
There is some reason to hope that this time it would be different, if Abdullah were to resign now. With the restraining influence of Ramadan and Hari Raya, as well as the short notice, there would not be a prolonged disruptive and acrimonious campaign. There would be corresponding less time for intrigue and bribery. It takes time to form alliances and to engage in backstabbing.
Desi: The right and proper thing to do for anyone or party to see a change in the nation's leadership is bide your time. Miss Patience, I often aver here, is also Virtuous. Wait for the next General Elections -- we have not long to go,the most 2-1/2 years. Likely to be A shorter wait -- GE2007/08?
This may well be the only opportunity for the party to have a relatively honest election, and for its members to express freely their collective wisdom. This may also be the only chance the party has to cleanse its leadership, and thus itself.
Desi: I seem to detect some contradiction from the foregoing paragraPH where I endorsed your view 100%. Well, one can always hope that a Leopard can change its spots through wistful thinking. But I doubt.
If Abdullah does not seize this rare opportunity and instead succumb to the flatteries of his courtiers, rest assured that the party and nation would needlessly be distracted until he is out. Not a pretty prospect, for him, the party, and the nation.
Contrary to Abdullah’s perception, Mahathir is not the problem; silencing him would not be the solution. Mahathir is getting wide hearing not because he is the former Prime Minister (although that is a factor), rather the issues he raises resonate with the citizens.
Desi: Mahathir is now plain citizen Joe, like you and me. Why do you wish to be proxy to his thoughts and battles? He has served as PM for 22 years. Was that too short a tenure to prove himself?
Undoing Mahathir’s Legacy
If Abdullah were intent on undoing Mahathir’s legacy, as Abdullah’s many interlocutors seemed to convey, then stepping down now would do it. He would have effectively broken UMNO’s ill-advised “tradition” of not contesting the two top positions. This presumes that Najib would contest the top slot with Abdullah’s withdrawal, and thus automatically vacate his Deputy President post. There is nothing to indicate that he would not do so.
Desi: Righting the wrongs inherited from Mahathir'S era?
Undoing, Dr Bakri, how?
The old regime brought all the FOUR ESTATES to their knees.
An Omnipotent Executive.
A Subservient Legislature.
An Emasculated Judiciary.
The Media -- the Fourth Esate, is another A-Joke.
It was just over two years ago that Abdullah received an overwhelming mandate from the people. He has not committed any egregious deeds, which would be the usual reason in calling for a resignation. On the contrary, he has done a few things right; that is to say, I agree with those decisions.
Desi: Now you're talking some sense. Acknowledgements. I endorse again your observations.
That is precisely Abdullah’s problem. Even when he did the rare right thing, as with trimming the budget deficit, canceling that silly crooked bridge, and reducing the petroleum subsidy, his timing was off and or his reasoning flawed.
Desi: Right things -- but "timing" and "reason" were off. Dr Bakri, spare us the semantics. I thought you were of better mettle!
It was pathetic and painful to see his ministers and other defenders going through contortions to justify canceling that bridge. As for the timing, the penalty payments may yet exceed the cost had the boondoggle been built!
Desi: Take note that many of these Cabinet members were inherited old baggage. I completely agree they are encumbrances. Ostriches around the PM's neck. But thanks to his prececessor's choice in the first place, and a BN system totally out of gear with changing times. You can't deny the MCA president from a Minister's post, can you? Or even a stubborn, semi-valued one of a party lagging merrily behind other communities, or lumbering? Unless a neighbbouring country does us a favour to block a crook via court proceedings, yes?
As for Abdullah’s overwhelming mandate of 2004, do not read too much into it. Malaysians are by nature generous and forgiving of our leaders, at least the first time around. When Tunku took over from the towering Datuk Onn, Tunku’s Alliance Party won all but one of the 52 seats. Datuk Onn scrapped through with the only one seat.
Desi: Yes, first time around, the "feel good" factor and generous of spirit. So don't give your Report Card until the next term, which means another 7-10 years for Pak Lah to deliver. If earlier PMs were given more than one term, why not Pak Lah? To me, it's premature to give a verdict on the current PM's performance. I think besides "generosity", two other Malaysian virtues are patience and fair play.
This was not because Malaysians were mudah lupa (easily forgetting) or being ungrateful to Datuk Onn for his great service in establishing UMNO and saving the nation from becoming a dominion. Rather, Malaysians prefer giving their new leaders a rousing start and a generous chance.
Desi: That's one interpretation. I have mine, but it's not important.It doesn't have much bearing on your call on Pak Lah to resign, immediately. I suggest you revive that call seven years from now?
Resigning the prime ministership is quite the tradition in Malaysia. Chalk one up for the nation! Tunku did it temporarily to concentrate running his campaign in 1959. A decade later the Tunku missed the subtle Malay signals and was more or less forced out, albeit civilly and with decorum in 1970. Hussein did it gracefully in 1981, without prompting, when he found himself overwhelmed.
Desi: Your reading of what happened to Tunku in 1969 could elicit many opposing acounts, but I'm no historian. My suspicion was that someone seized the opportunity to "subvert" the then duly-elected Prime Minister, then declared "Emergency rule" -- a dark period in Negarku which as a citizen, I'm not proud of. Are some quarters working towards a repeat? God forbid.
Fast-forward to today, Hussein Onn is fondly remembered despite his forgettable tenure. In contrast, during the recent celebration of Merdeka’s 49th anniversary, few recalled the Tunku’s pivotal leadership in that fateful event.
Desi: Another facet of historical reccall which may beg a different take. Even among my Blogging mates like Anak Merdeka, Howsy and Mave SM, we could end up with four different opinions. See the wisdom of Seven Blind Men and their Pet Elephant?
Mahathir made it clear that he now deeply regrets anointing Abdullah as his successor. That point is irrelevant. By resigning now and simultaneously opening up the nomination process by letting anyone to participate by doing away with the onerous branch nomination requirements, Abdullah would reduce the corrupting influence of money politics and help ensure getting the best candidates. Let the membership decide who are serious and who are frivolous candidates. By resigning now, Abdullah would also ensure that the next generation of leaders would truly be the choice of the membership. That is a legacy that even Mahathir could not match. That is also the one enduring legacy worth leaving.
Desi: Dr Mahathir when faced with potential rivals to the UMNO throne, changed the party's Constitution to gain an incumbent's advantage. Dr Bakri, You mean Pak Lah should surrender the advantages of incumbency? Is there a saint among politicians? I'd gladly give up my life to meet up with one.
Then I'd like to become his disciple. Serious.
Undur lah, Pak Lah!
Desi,: Pak Lah, Don't give up. Many Malaysians are behind you. Just that you need to act -- more decisively and now!
Special Note by Desiderata:
I had written the above article mainly as a writer-journalist in the best interest of My Country. I have been an Opposition supporter in my political journey, and I'm not ashamed to publicly decalre I had always voted Opposition in all General Elections to date.
But I also respect due process that once Parliamentary Elections has been properly conducted, and the Government duly constituted, I must respect the Office of the Prime Minister, though I don't hold much respect for some of the members in the current Cabinet. Just as I expect the Government to uphold the Rule Of Law. And restore and respect Judicial Independence. I also would support any Opposition or NGO efforts to practise "Civil Disobedience" such as protesting over fuel price hikes in peaceful, public rallies if the Government imposes hardships and sufferings on the citizenry. As indeed, I had taken part in some demonstrations as a concerned citizen. I write this note to dispel some potential quarters (I have had APs visiting Desi's Blog) levelling at Desi being a Government apologist. I go chiefly by THE ISSUES, not so much the Protagonists involved, though the Players are important too. Desi
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Who Started A-Joke?
Desiderata, as many ER would know by now, always enjoys songs as they are poetry set to music as also by now you'd know Desi shamelessly self-promtes hmself as being an Poet-aspirant.
Sometimes like thick-skinned politikus, a writer must trumpet his own songs.
From my collection is a favourite Bee Gees' "To love somebody" album which has this
self-deprecating lament. I prefer to put IT as a question like WHO SAJ?
I Started A Joke
I started a joke, which started the whole world crying,
but I didn't see that the joke was on me, oh no.
I started to cry, which started the whole world laughing,
oh, if I'd only seen that the joke was on me.
I looked at the skies, running my hands over my eyes,
and I fell out of bed, hurting my head from things that I'd said.
Til I finally died, which started the whole world living,
oh, if I'd only seen that the joke was on me.
I looked at the skies, running my hands over my eyes,
and I fell out of bed, hurting my head from things that I'd said.
'Til I finally died, which started the whole world living,
oh, if I'd only seen that the joke was one me.
Joke1?from theSUN Sept 4, 2006, frontpage~~
No standard!
KENG YAIK BLASTS POLITICIANS WHO RAISE RACIAL ISSUES TO FURTHER AMBITIONS
KUALA LUMPUR: "No standard politics!" That was how Gerakan president Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik described the politics of those who use the racial card to further their political ambitions.
Warning that their actions would create disunity and divisions within the multiracial country, he branded those who exploit racial issues to climb the political ladder as "opportunists".
Racial issues should be raised at the proper forums, Lim told the media after closing the party's 35th delegates conference yesterday.
By raising them openly, "putting on the face of a Chinese chief minister (Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon) and taking pot shots at him", only shows these people have "no standard".
"I can see the opportunistic intentions of those who exploit racial issues a mile away," he said.
"I do not care who they are. They are not fit to be political leaders. And I do not even want to waste my breath replying to a young man who employs outdated and `low standard' politics."
Although he did not name the "young man", Gerakan expressed displeasure recently over statements made by Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin that the Malays in Penang had been marginalised by the Gerakan-led state government and that they did not enjoy development as the other races in the state.
Lim lamented the rise of racial politics in the Barisan Nasional. He said it is a disturbing trend because the struggles of the coalition are for the well-being of all the races.
The trend of highlighting racial issues in the media or in public is outdated as this strategy was used in the 1950s and 1960s. "Now we are in 2006 and they still play racial politics. I'm glad Gerakan has not responded to all these useless racial criticisms," he said.
:
:
DESI1: Did Lim Keng Yaik, two decades in BN politics, suddenly wake up to find himself a Rip van Winkle?
Did Lim Keng Yaik start A-joke?
Joke2? From The Star, page N8, Sept 4, 2006~~
‘Stop exploiting race and religious issues’
KOTA KINABALU: Political parties and non-governmental organisations should promote harmony and understanding to strengthen the Malaysian society, said Umno vice-president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
“They should focus on creating harmony, rather than dissent, and understanding instead of conflict, among the people.
“This is the type of initiatives we all want to see,” he told reporters yesterday after opening the Papar Umno division meeting about 30km from here.
He said this when asked what his advice was to political parties and individuals raising race and religious issues.
The Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister said the Government would be happy to see positive intervention by all groups to promote greater understanding among the people, instead of harping on differences.
Those raising issues related to race and religion, he added, must heed the Prime Minister’s advice to stop bringing up these matters.
“No debate on such issues should be considered tolerable because it might create problems within society,” he said, adding that those involved in such debates did not have other issues to exploit.
Muhyiddin said their actions and statements only created ill feelings and if they had things to resolve, they could make representation to the Government or even meet the ministers concerned to clarify matters.
The rights of all Malaysians, he added, were enshrined in the Constitution and protected through government policies that had taken into account the interests of all races and religious groups in the country.
“Everyone has a share of the economic pie,” he said, urging all groups to refrain from exploiting race and religious issues as the Government was trying to focus on the implementation of the Ninth Malaysia Plan and other socio-economic development agendas.
DESI2: Did the UMNO politicians wake up after some four decades to suddenly realise from among their midst had risen modern clones of Melaka-in-the-15th/16th-century folk heroes brandishing keris like Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat?
Did this UMNO Vice-President, just a few breaths away from the UMNO Presidency -- hence the Premiership of NegaraKu -- suddenly wake up on the nation's 49th birthday another Rip van Winkle?
Did Muhyiddin Yassin start A-Joke?
Joke 2B? From The Star, page N8, Sept 4, 2006~~
Khairy to wait for BN meeting to explain
MALACCA: Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin will wait for a Barisan Nasional Youth meeting to be convened to explain a remark attributed to him that component parties would take advantage of the situation if Umno became weak.
Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein is expected to set the date for the meeting.
“I'll wait for the date and we will discuss with Barisan Youth on how to strengthen unity, co-operation and relationship,” he told reporters after opening the Tangga Batu Umno Youth, Wanita and Puteri delegates conferences here yesterday.
He said the Barisan Youth meeting was the best forum to him to state the truth. “I don't want to discuss (the matter) in the newspapers because I know it's not constructive.”
Later speaking at the delegates meeting, Khairy said that a balanced income should be the party’s main agenda and there was no time for other petty issues.
“It has been 20 years and the nation is well developed in the industrial sector and others, but in comparison with the other races, Malays are still left far behind,” he said.
“We really want to see the improvement of the Malays, that’s why I voiced my suggestion,” he said, adding that the Government could consider studying the income gap among races.
DESI2B: Is this young upstart, and his MCA counterpart, Ling Hee Leong, the A-Joke 2B?
Joke3? From theSun page 2, Sept 4, 2006~~
Keadilan to fight BN in nine states
PENANG: Parti Keadilan Rakyat adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim disclosed yesterday the party would put up a fight in nine states in the next general election.
He said he would be in the frontline in Penang and his wife, party president Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, would be in the frontline in Selangor.
"Many do not see the strength of party Keadilan," he said at a press conference after Keadilan's annual national congress at a hotel here.
Anwar said that unlike the Barisan Nasional, where the races are divided among the component parties, it is multiracial in Keadilan.
"In Keadilan, it is a Malaysian party, all the races are comfortable together, and the party has a bright future in the general election," he said.
"Unfortunately, we die at the hands of the media.They are given instructions to black out anything we have to say, and the only media reporting Keadilan news are the Chinese papers.
"But we are going to fight and we are going to win."
Anwar also denied recent rumours that he has plans to rejoin Umno, describing them as attempts to create embarrassment for him, and confusion among his supporters.
"I even received an sms from one of my lawyers, telling me he met some Umno leaders in Kuala Lumpur who claimed they even have the forms and can show my application letter (to rejoin Umno)," he said.
"There has been a major shift towards Keadilan so there is no reason why I would want to go back to Umno."
DESI3: Is Sdr Anwar Ibrahim credible after some two decades in the Barisan Nasional. Did he also wake up as another Rip van Winkle?
Did Anwar Ibrahim start A-joke?
DESIDERATA:
Friends, Malaysians, countrymen, Lend me your years.
I'm not here to play any joke on thee.
I'm here to wake thee up and not become another Rip van Winkle.
I'm here posing you an important question regarding the three main speakers, plus one secondary, cited above.
These are some of the important Protagonists in the Epic Play
Being acted out now on the PWTC STage.In absentia are the main Players, comprising:
current Prime Minister, his Deputy and a former Prime Minister, significantly, all from UMNO.
I ask of them: Who Started A-Joke?
And I ask of all my fellowmen, women, and youths, and children: is the Joke on Thee?
I hope you find some sort of redeeming answer before the next General Elections.
In fact, I pray that you find the one and only right answer before the next General Elections.
I:
S:
A: men.
Sometimes like thick-skinned politikus, a writer must trumpet his own songs.
From my collection is a favourite Bee Gees' "To love somebody" album which has this
self-deprecating lament. I prefer to put IT as a question like WHO SAJ?
I Started A Joke
I started a joke, which started the whole world crying,
but I didn't see that the joke was on me, oh no.
I started to cry, which started the whole world laughing,
oh, if I'd only seen that the joke was on me.
I looked at the skies, running my hands over my eyes,
and I fell out of bed, hurting my head from things that I'd said.
Til I finally died, which started the whole world living,
oh, if I'd only seen that the joke was on me.
I looked at the skies, running my hands over my eyes,
and I fell out of bed, hurting my head from things that I'd said.
'Til I finally died, which started the whole world living,
oh, if I'd only seen that the joke was one me.
Joke1?from theSUN Sept 4, 2006, frontpage~~
No standard!
KENG YAIK BLASTS POLITICIANS WHO RAISE RACIAL ISSUES TO FURTHER AMBITIONS
KUALA LUMPUR: "No standard politics!" That was how Gerakan president Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik described the politics of those who use the racial card to further their political ambitions.
Warning that their actions would create disunity and divisions within the multiracial country, he branded those who exploit racial issues to climb the political ladder as "opportunists".
Racial issues should be raised at the proper forums, Lim told the media after closing the party's 35th delegates conference yesterday.
By raising them openly, "putting on the face of a Chinese chief minister (Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon) and taking pot shots at him", only shows these people have "no standard".
"I can see the opportunistic intentions of those who exploit racial issues a mile away," he said.
"I do not care who they are. They are not fit to be political leaders. And I do not even want to waste my breath replying to a young man who employs outdated and `low standard' politics."
Although he did not name the "young man", Gerakan expressed displeasure recently over statements made by Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin that the Malays in Penang had been marginalised by the Gerakan-led state government and that they did not enjoy development as the other races in the state.
Lim lamented the rise of racial politics in the Barisan Nasional. He said it is a disturbing trend because the struggles of the coalition are for the well-being of all the races.
The trend of highlighting racial issues in the media or in public is outdated as this strategy was used in the 1950s and 1960s. "Now we are in 2006 and they still play racial politics. I'm glad Gerakan has not responded to all these useless racial criticisms," he said.
:
:
DESI1: Did Lim Keng Yaik, two decades in BN politics, suddenly wake up to find himself a Rip van Winkle?
Did Lim Keng Yaik start A-joke?
Joke2? From The Star, page N8, Sept 4, 2006~~
‘Stop exploiting race and religious issues’
KOTA KINABALU: Political parties and non-governmental organisations should promote harmony and understanding to strengthen the Malaysian society, said Umno vice-president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
“They should focus on creating harmony, rather than dissent, and understanding instead of conflict, among the people.
“This is the type of initiatives we all want to see,” he told reporters yesterday after opening the Papar Umno division meeting about 30km from here.
He said this when asked what his advice was to political parties and individuals raising race and religious issues.
The Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister said the Government would be happy to see positive intervention by all groups to promote greater understanding among the people, instead of harping on differences.
Those raising issues related to race and religion, he added, must heed the Prime Minister’s advice to stop bringing up these matters.
“No debate on such issues should be considered tolerable because it might create problems within society,” he said, adding that those involved in such debates did not have other issues to exploit.
Muhyiddin said their actions and statements only created ill feelings and if they had things to resolve, they could make representation to the Government or even meet the ministers concerned to clarify matters.
The rights of all Malaysians, he added, were enshrined in the Constitution and protected through government policies that had taken into account the interests of all races and religious groups in the country.
“Everyone has a share of the economic pie,” he said, urging all groups to refrain from exploiting race and religious issues as the Government was trying to focus on the implementation of the Ninth Malaysia Plan and other socio-economic development agendas.
DESI2: Did the UMNO politicians wake up after some four decades to suddenly realise from among their midst had risen modern clones of Melaka-in-the-15th/16th-century folk heroes brandishing keris like Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat?
Did this UMNO Vice-President, just a few breaths away from the UMNO Presidency -- hence the Premiership of NegaraKu -- suddenly wake up on the nation's 49th birthday another Rip van Winkle?
Did Muhyiddin Yassin start A-Joke?
Joke 2B? From The Star, page N8, Sept 4, 2006~~
Khairy to wait for BN meeting to explain
MALACCA: Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin will wait for a Barisan Nasional Youth meeting to be convened to explain a remark attributed to him that component parties would take advantage of the situation if Umno became weak.
Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein is expected to set the date for the meeting.
“I'll wait for the date and we will discuss with Barisan Youth on how to strengthen unity, co-operation and relationship,” he told reporters after opening the Tangga Batu Umno Youth, Wanita and Puteri delegates conferences here yesterday.
He said the Barisan Youth meeting was the best forum to him to state the truth. “I don't want to discuss (the matter) in the newspapers because I know it's not constructive.”
Later speaking at the delegates meeting, Khairy said that a balanced income should be the party’s main agenda and there was no time for other petty issues.
“It has been 20 years and the nation is well developed in the industrial sector and others, but in comparison with the other races, Malays are still left far behind,” he said.
“We really want to see the improvement of the Malays, that’s why I voiced my suggestion,” he said, adding that the Government could consider studying the income gap among races.
DESI2B: Is this young upstart, and his MCA counterpart, Ling Hee Leong, the A-Joke 2B?
Joke3? From theSun page 2, Sept 4, 2006~~
Keadilan to fight BN in nine states
PENANG: Parti Keadilan Rakyat adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim disclosed yesterday the party would put up a fight in nine states in the next general election.
He said he would be in the frontline in Penang and his wife, party president Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, would be in the frontline in Selangor.
"Many do not see the strength of party Keadilan," he said at a press conference after Keadilan's annual national congress at a hotel here.
Anwar said that unlike the Barisan Nasional, where the races are divided among the component parties, it is multiracial in Keadilan.
"In Keadilan, it is a Malaysian party, all the races are comfortable together, and the party has a bright future in the general election," he said.
"Unfortunately, we die at the hands of the media.They are given instructions to black out anything we have to say, and the only media reporting Keadilan news are the Chinese papers.
"But we are going to fight and we are going to win."
Anwar also denied recent rumours that he has plans to rejoin Umno, describing them as attempts to create embarrassment for him, and confusion among his supporters.
"I even received an sms from one of my lawyers, telling me he met some Umno leaders in Kuala Lumpur who claimed they even have the forms and can show my application letter (to rejoin Umno)," he said.
"There has been a major shift towards Keadilan so there is no reason why I would want to go back to Umno."
DESI3: Is Sdr Anwar Ibrahim credible after some two decades in the Barisan Nasional. Did he also wake up as another Rip van Winkle?
Did Anwar Ibrahim start A-joke?
DESIDERATA:
Friends, Malaysians, countrymen, Lend me your years.
I'm not here to play any joke on thee.
I'm here to wake thee up and not become another Rip van Winkle.
I'm here posing you an important question regarding the three main speakers, plus one secondary, cited above.
These are some of the important Protagonists in the Epic Play
Being acted out now on the PWTC STage.In absentia are the main Players, comprising:
current Prime Minister, his Deputy and a former Prime Minister, significantly, all from UMNO.
I ask of them: Who Started A-Joke?
And I ask of all my fellowmen, women, and youths, and children: is the Joke on Thee?
I hope you find some sort of redeeming answer before the next General Elections.
In fact, I pray that you find the one and only right answer before the next General Elections.
I:
S:
A: men.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Another landmark happening, we should celebrate...
at *Denmark House, or raise the Judiciary flag at Dataran Merdeka. I'll DHL barrelfools of tehtarik and aromatic coffee, provided DHL accepts debit note and some Rose from a KL Garnern sends the Coffee beans. Haridas advancing the bestA tehtarik in the 'hole of Furong is a God-given.
Belatedly I play CatchUP with my PAtient ER, who by now should know they possess a VirtuousNURSE in return. And if Mave complains that Desi did a C&P from his Blog on this item, I will throw him back with this 1/2-retro Q: And where did you get IT from? Cut&Pasted 24 earlier, that doesn't lessen the gravity of the offence. In fact, it set a terrible precedent!
See if you agree when I say the item next (the highlight thus BOLDED is mine, not Mave, not the paper he quoted from...)reinforces my proposition that Mr Elegant Silence has all along been speaking at low desibels; some of you chose not to ear him. Desi heard above the sound and cacophony of noise and fury...Some have eyes but do not see, some have ears, but do not list.. and it has nothing to do with the Stock Exchange!
I hope Helen and Anak M are enjoying the code-ine so far as there is an air of influenza around. Please unravel from the DDC, aka Da Diplomatic Corps...I think
Magazine did not defame lawyer, says court
International Commercial Litigation Magazine (ICL), a London-based magazine did not defame lawyer Datuk V.K. Lingam in a 1995 article, about him having corrupted or attempting to corrupt the Malaysian judiciary, as the write-up was based on a Court of Appeal judgment.
High Court judge Justice Hishamudin Yunus’ main grounds for dismissing a RM100mil defamation suit Lingam filed against ICL staff writer David Samuels, editor Joff Wild, editorial publisher Robert Menzies Walker and owner Euromoney Publications PLC.
Hishamuddin said it was Lingam’s own wrongful conduct in the Ayer Molek case that had led to the publication of the article entitled “Malaysian Justice On Trial” in ICL’s November 1995 issue.
“There is the common law principle that a person cannot bring an action based on his own wrong,” he said in his written judgment.
“That the plaintiff (Lingam) is guilty of wrongdoings, namely, abusing and manipulating the process of court so as to cause injustice to the defendants before the High Court in the Ayer Molek Rubber Company Bhd case, is clear from the judgment of the Court of Appeal in the case, which is the main subject of the article.”
He added that in order to appreciate the article and the legal implications, one must know the facts of the Ayer Molek case, which was set out in the 1995 Court of Appeal judgment delivered by Justice N.H. Chan.
The judgment by Justice Chan, who has since retired, was essentially about Lingam obtaining for his clients an ex parte order from a High Court to compel Ayer Molek to register a substantial block of Ayer Molek shares that the clients had bought.
Justice Hishamudin said that Justice Chan had severely criticised Lingam’s conduct in obtaining the order and found the latter guilty of “abusing and manipulating the process of court so as to cause injustice to the defendants in the case.”
“The Court of Appeal concluded its judgment by further criticising the plaintiff (Lingam),” Justice Hishamudin said.
“The chiding remarks concerned his conduct as solicitor for the plaintiffs in the Ayer Molek case in filing the action in the appellate and special powers division of the High Court instead of the commercial division.
“Such a course of action might give the impression to right-thinking people that he was choosing the judge.”
Justice Chan had in his judgment referred to this issue by saying that such observations were made so that people would not say “something is rotten in the state of Denmark.’’
Justice Hishamudin said that the quotation above was meant as a *pun because the High Court then was located in Denmark House in Jalan Ampang here.
He added that he had not been persuaded by Lingam’s contention that those remarks in the Court of Appeal judgment had been expunged by the Federal Court 17 days later.
“In my judgment the so-called ‘Federal Court’ was not a legally constituted court under the law and the Constitution.
He said the Federal Court panel that heard the leave application in the Ayer Molek case comprised only “two legally competent judges, namely, the then Chief Justice Tun Eusoff Chin and then Court of Appeal judge Datuk Dr Zakaria Yatim.
The third judge on the panel, Datuk Pajan Singh Gill, he said, was not legally competent to sit on a Federal Court panel as he was only a High Court judge then.
“The panel therefore cannot stay, criticise or expunge the Court of Appeal judgment. I shall just ignore the judgment of the unlawful panel,” Justice Hishamudin said.
Lingam, when approached later, said he would appeal against the decision.
His counsel Datuk V. Sithambaram said a notice of appeal would be filed on Monday. He has a month to file it.
~~~~~~~
DESI: I had writ, and today I re-cho, the Bar Council's call on the Government to set up an inquiry into the Sacking of Lord President Tun Salleh Abbas, and two Senior Judges in 1988. The latest Court finding adds weight, and urgency, that a perceived "wrong" committed to a few honourable men in this fair land of Malaysia needs to be adddressed. Hopefully, Pak Lah hears the voices in low desibels like his receive his hearing, though it be behind public eye at this moment. We now see some memorable momentous times in the making.
And I'm continuing my Merdeka holiday on a Hi! ~~ DEsi
*PS: Even people in high elevation have time for a "pun", like DEsi. See the power of association? Master some wits about you, mGf?
Belatedly I play CatchUP with my PAtient ER, who by now should know they possess a VirtuousNURSE in return. And if Mave complains that Desi did a C&P from his Blog on this item, I will throw him back with this 1/2-retro Q: And where did you get IT from? Cut&Pasted 24 earlier, that doesn't lessen the gravity of the offence. In fact, it set a terrible precedent!
See if you agree when I say the item next (the highlight thus BOLDED is mine, not Mave, not the paper he quoted from...)reinforces my proposition that Mr Elegant Silence has all along been speaking at low desibels; some of you chose not to ear him. Desi heard above the sound and cacophony of noise and fury...Some have eyes but do not see, some have ears, but do not list.. and it has nothing to do with the Stock Exchange!
I hope Helen and Anak M are enjoying the code-ine so far as there is an air of influenza around. Please unravel from the DDC, aka Da Diplomatic Corps...I think
Magazine did not defame lawyer, says court
International Commercial Litigation Magazine (ICL), a London-based magazine did not defame lawyer Datuk V.K. Lingam in a 1995 article, about him having corrupted or attempting to corrupt the Malaysian judiciary, as the write-up was based on a Court of Appeal judgment.
High Court judge Justice Hishamudin Yunus’ main grounds for dismissing a RM100mil defamation suit Lingam filed against ICL staff writer David Samuels, editor Joff Wild, editorial publisher Robert Menzies Walker and owner Euromoney Publications PLC.
Hishamuddin said it was Lingam’s own wrongful conduct in the Ayer Molek case that had led to the publication of the article entitled “Malaysian Justice On Trial” in ICL’s November 1995 issue.
“There is the common law principle that a person cannot bring an action based on his own wrong,” he said in his written judgment.
“That the plaintiff (Lingam) is guilty of wrongdoings, namely, abusing and manipulating the process of court so as to cause injustice to the defendants before the High Court in the Ayer Molek Rubber Company Bhd case, is clear from the judgment of the Court of Appeal in the case, which is the main subject of the article.”
He added that in order to appreciate the article and the legal implications, one must know the facts of the Ayer Molek case, which was set out in the 1995 Court of Appeal judgment delivered by Justice N.H. Chan.
The judgment by Justice Chan, who has since retired, was essentially about Lingam obtaining for his clients an ex parte order from a High Court to compel Ayer Molek to register a substantial block of Ayer Molek shares that the clients had bought.
Justice Hishamudin said that Justice Chan had severely criticised Lingam’s conduct in obtaining the order and found the latter guilty of “abusing and manipulating the process of court so as to cause injustice to the defendants in the case.”
“The Court of Appeal concluded its judgment by further criticising the plaintiff (Lingam),” Justice Hishamudin said.
“The chiding remarks concerned his conduct as solicitor for the plaintiffs in the Ayer Molek case in filing the action in the appellate and special powers division of the High Court instead of the commercial division.
“Such a course of action might give the impression to right-thinking people that he was choosing the judge.”
Justice Chan had in his judgment referred to this issue by saying that such observations were made so that people would not say “something is rotten in the state of Denmark.’’
Justice Hishamudin said that the quotation above was meant as a *pun because the High Court then was located in Denmark House in Jalan Ampang here.
He added that he had not been persuaded by Lingam’s contention that those remarks in the Court of Appeal judgment had been expunged by the Federal Court 17 days later.
“In my judgment the so-called ‘Federal Court’ was not a legally constituted court under the law and the Constitution.
He said the Federal Court panel that heard the leave application in the Ayer Molek case comprised only “two legally competent judges, namely, the then Chief Justice Tun Eusoff Chin and then Court of Appeal judge Datuk Dr Zakaria Yatim.
The third judge on the panel, Datuk Pajan Singh Gill, he said, was not legally competent to sit on a Federal Court panel as he was only a High Court judge then.
“The panel therefore cannot stay, criticise or expunge the Court of Appeal judgment. I shall just ignore the judgment of the unlawful panel,” Justice Hishamudin said.
Lingam, when approached later, said he would appeal against the decision.
His counsel Datuk V. Sithambaram said a notice of appeal would be filed on Monday. He has a month to file it.
~~~~~~~
DESI: I had writ, and today I re-cho, the Bar Council's call on the Government to set up an inquiry into the Sacking of Lord President Tun Salleh Abbas, and two Senior Judges in 1988. The latest Court finding adds weight, and urgency, that a perceived "wrong" committed to a few honourable men in this fair land of Malaysia needs to be adddressed. Hopefully, Pak Lah hears the voices in low desibels like his receive his hearing, though it be behind public eye at this moment. We now see some memorable momentous times in the making.
And I'm continuing my Merdeka holiday on a Hi! ~~ DEsi
*PS: Even people in high elevation have time for a "pun", like DEsi. See the power of association? Master some wits about you, mGf?
Sunday, September 03, 2006
"Try a little kindness" Budget
This Post should have been posted up yesterday, doing a post-mortem on the Prime Minister's announced Budget. Bad Engrish -- should not use words originating from common root 'post" together in close viciity of each other -- if this be an English lesson, but it's not. This is for the records so that my more discerning -- sometimes can be dis-con-certing -- broken up to make sure, or 'ensure' (which is preferred in precis-writing as it is one 'word' comapred with two) the spell is right -- ER like Howsy and Mave SM, most times acting in con-cert, and with AM, in con-sort too, but why is Desi's back to his old habit of digressing? You're askin' Desi, I arse who?
Tell you two GOoD reasons:
Reason one, to Cheer about!, is that long LOST Sabrina Tan is now back conversing at Desi's, which is a relief on Sunday morn as it adds a high to my CON BF from which I get a weekly Hi from th aromatic, generous spread of peanut butter. Yes, I enjoy being nutty, and also good at buttering up -- some people and bread.
Reason two, not for cheering!, is that another long LOST mentee continues to go MIA.
He "failed" to turn up for a G7 Meet planned especially for him to welcome his "desertion" from I guess, the Foreign Legion.
But never, mind, I had a catchUP with Y&A Kyels, I emailed Sabbie that we could feel her "Audrey Hepburn" presence in spirit at KLC-See "we do have thee on our mind!", and the lunch turned into a sort of late Breakfast at Tiffany's.I "miss'd" Penangites a lot, so I settled for Nasi Kandar (no, it's not from Kandahah! ha! ha!) while Kyels settled for poo-Rich, that's how e fanny Buggers spell it, you know the 3/4-cooked rice in swriling hot H2O, ah,ah, oh, oh? Burnt your tongue, young chic?
Back to serious, G2 was productive and educating, as mentee-turned-Mentor Kyels shares a li'l aout her contemporary Gen3 (we shall keep these findings under wraps at present, life a precious gift!); but I did advise this Y&A to take another Y&A under her belt, black, white or karate!
Back to more sseerrrrious, the national issue,our dear Prime Minister Pak Lah gave Desi a triple-Hi with his Budget. I deem this a semi-socialist Bud; mayhaps an early Geneeral Elections is in the offing, GE2007?
Am I glad that Pak Lah's Budget resembles a Socialist inclined roadmap, one after my heart -- a good start after three years! Mt Elegant Silence does speak with high eloquence at the right platform, and at the right time, doesn't he? So myGOoDfriends like Howsy, Mave and Anak Merdeka, who I suspect are somewhat doubting Thomases/Thomasey about Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's capability to act like a National CEO, I often ask of them: Give the PM a break!
Eepecially on a Sundae! And I too take a break for a belated CON BF-cum-lunch, it's o'lady! 12.30PM while my mind thinks it was about 10! Becoming a li'l weathered after yesterday's travel, and akin to Waiting for one Godot?, but no elegant silence on 2 waiters -- I was humming Try a Little Kindness all the time/dime, on account of the socialist-in-our-CEO delivering gifts the day afore.
Seeya later, I won't go Join the Legionnaires, the situation back home is steal not desperate, Sabbie! NO V: for Vendetta Eeether, or Ayether!
Continued @2.22PM:
The headlines say it awe:
The weekend mail: INCENTIVES GALORE
The Star: Budget for all
I'm reprising the Highlights (for the record, from page 5) from the MM, jest Cut&Paste like hot pastries just outa the oven while I prepare piping hot tehtarik, K!:)
~~~~~~~
Budget 2007: Highlights
- RM159.4 billion for Budget 2007
- Students who obtain 10 A1s in SPM or its equivalent, from families with monthly income of RM1,500 and below, will be given scholarships to pursue tertiary education.
- To encourage computer ownership, eligibility period for the incentive to purchase one, currently given once every five years, is shortened to once every three years. Current RM500 tax rebate replaced with a tax relief of RM3,000.
- Specific excise duty on cigarettes increased by one sen a stick and for liquor with alcohol content of more than 40 per cent, excise duty increased by RM5 a litre.
- Civil Service Fixed Allowance increased to RM50 a month from Jan 1, 2007.
a. Those earning up to RM750 a month will be paid two months bonus. Those earning more than RM750 a month will be paid one month bonus subject to minimum of RM1,500.
b. pensioners receiving less than RM750 will receive RM400, while those receiving more than RM750, will get RM200 in a one-off payment.
- Tax relief on the purchase of books will be increased from RM700 to RM1,000 a year.
- Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd (SPNB) expected to invest RM10 billion during the period of 2006-2010, increasing the number of trains by 140, new buses by 1,000 and a double track commuter rail line.
- RM4.9 billion to enhance the efficiency of the Royal Malaysian Police operations.
- RM685 million for the development and management of arts, culture and heritage activities.
- RM149 million for Visit Malaysia Year 2007
a. Income tax exemption for tour operators providing packages with at least 500 inbound tourists a year or 1,200 local tourists a year be extended for another five years until 2011.
b. Tour operators be given 50 per cent excise duty exemption on locally assembled four-wheel-drive vehicles.
c. Income tax exemption to employees for local leave passage provided by employers, currently only for fares, extended to include expenses on accommodation and meals.
- RM33.4 billion allocation for operational and development expenditure for education and training system.
a. RM6.7 billion for primary education; RM6.2 billion (secondary); RM10.4 billion (higher) and RM10.4 billion (training)
b. 22 new primary and secondary schools operational next year, 198 new schools will be built, including fully residential secondary schools. Two new Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM) and new equipment for existing ones.
c. RM195 million to upgrade and improve facilities in existing universities. Establish Universiti Darul Naim in Kelantan, upgrade Akademi Tentera Malaysia into University Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia.
d. RM288 million allocated under the Bestari school programme.
e. RM450 million to build and upgrade polytechnics and community colleges.
- Annual grant of RM30 million for NGOs to undertake women and family and community programmes.
a. RM80,000 for ministries and government departments to set up childcare centres.
b. RM50 subsidy for every mammogram done in private clinics and hospitals registered with LPPKN.
c. RM721 million to implement youths and sports programmes.
d. RM50 monthly allowance for primary school children and RM70 for secondary students from poor families.
- RM10 billion for provision of health facilities and equipment, services of specialists and training programmes. RM125 million for three new hospitals in Shah Alam, Selangor, Pendang, Kedah, and Permai, Johor.
- Under-declaration and smuggling of high duty goods like motor vehicles, cigarettes and liquor will cost offenders a minimum compound of five times the total tax payable
- RM154 million for MDeC for various activities, including provision of more comprehensive services ranging from registration to operations and SME industry development programmes.
- Corporate tax rate reduced by two percentage points in two stages — 27 per cent next year and 26 per cent for 2008.
DESI: the HIGHLIGHTED points in the Highlights (BOLDED THUS) are mine -- as I term it, Socialist-inclined Pak Lah's traits reflected and refined, after Desi's heart. Just for the record, Desi on Sundays without fail is 100% capitalist -- so that's to bst day to date me, 'rite! Please bring along thy Platinum kad! I won't check thy I-See
Yes, the PM has tried a little kindness. Rising above all the noise and cacopjony of sound and fury the past few, taxing months. Despite some no-shows, there are in deed some showers of blessing Malaysians have grounds for some morsels of Optimism on its 49th birthday.
And ending on a culturally socialist note,surely we have heard enough criticism that NegaraKu can boast infrastructure to best the First World giants like the USA and Japan, but we trail like a century behind in its toadlike mindset?
So let's rejoice -- hope it's not in vain! -- at this Initiative:
~~~~~~~
Budget 2007: How does RM100m sound?
THE announcement to establish the Creative Industry Development Fund, to develop creative arts and produce export- quality content, including animation, was welcomed by many industry players.
Karyawan Malaysia president Freddie Fernandez said the move was just what the industry needed.
“We need to explore new markets because the one here is shrinking. We have to think big and start exporting our products,” he said.
“Before we can do that, we have to beef up quality. The funds will come in handy, especially in terms of training, to raise the standards.”
Fernandez added that there were a few funds before this but not many knew how to get it.
Singer and businessman Norman Abdul Halim agreed that the fund would provide a catalyst for growth for the creative arts industry.
“This will create jobs and opportunities for entrepreneurs in that field,” he said.
“The industry needs a push; the local market is small and we need to look at ways to export our products,” he added.
Persatuan Akademi Industri Muzik Malaysia general manager Jennifer Thompson said: “Hopefully, the allocation and administration will be done fairly.
“I hope that it’s not too late because the industry is really in a bad shape.”
Recording Industry Association of Malaysia chairman Sandy Monteiro added: “This is the first budget in 10 years that included the creative arts industry.”
To encourage private sector participation in sponsoring local arts, cultural and heritage performances, it was proposed under the 2007 budget that the current tax deduction on contributions up to RM300,000, be increased to RM500,000.
Yet, many in the local performing arts scene don’t think that would make much difference.
Gardner & Wife producer Diong Chae Lian, was unconvinced.
“I’ve been hearing this for the last couple of years. I don’t think it’s going to significantly change anything in the day to day running of the arts scene.”
“People assume the problem is the lack of money, but the main problem is the bureaucracy,” she said.
“I don’t think many in the Ministry know that there’s a 25 per cent entertainment tax across the nation.
“If that’s abolished, we should see an improvement in the arts and culture scene.”
KLPac Theatre manager Teoh Ming Jin agreed.
“They talk about tax exemption, but that’s not really true. When they said the same thing in the last budget, DBKL still charged the same rates because they weren’t sure of what kind of shows or events the policy and exemption included.”
He said that the Government has to understand that the arts scene encompasses many different forms and the authorities have to make the guidelines or policies clear to all.
DESI: I just hope under this Fun-d, the role and initiatives by the likes of jeffooi.com, malaysia-today.net, ah, latest babe on the blogsworld sin -- RobertChai.com -- are encompassed, yes? Desi's Place and all mGf's A-abodes too-lah, if it's not too much to ask. We are all tax-payers too, yes!
PS: In the spirit of Mr Nice Guy, and also this being a Sabbath Day for a good section of my ER,and specially for sssssspirit who requested some poesy, I'll borrow from Glen to provide some Campbell's soup for the soul, may Eye?
Try a Little Kindness
If you see your brother standing by the road
With a heavy load from the seeds he's sowed
And if you see your sister falling by the way
Just stop and stay you're going the wrong way
You got to try a little kindness
Yes show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness
Then you'll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets
Don't walk around the down and out
Lend a helping hand instead of doubt
And the kindness that you show every day
Will help someone along their way
You got to try a little kindness
Yes show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness
Then you'll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets
You got to try a little kindness
Yes show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness
Then you'll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets
Tell you two GOoD reasons:
Reason one, to Cheer about!, is that long LOST Sabrina Tan is now back conversing at Desi's, which is a relief on Sunday morn as it adds a high to my CON BF from which I get a weekly Hi from th aromatic, generous spread of peanut butter. Yes, I enjoy being nutty, and also good at buttering up -- some people and bread.
Reason two, not for cheering!, is that another long LOST mentee continues to go MIA.
He "failed" to turn up for a G7 Meet planned especially for him to welcome his "desertion" from I guess, the Foreign Legion.
But never, mind, I had a catchUP with Y&A Kyels, I emailed Sabbie that we could feel her "Audrey Hepburn" presence in spirit at KLC-See "we do have thee on our mind!", and the lunch turned into a sort of late Breakfast at Tiffany's.I "miss'd" Penangites a lot, so I settled for Nasi Kandar (no, it's not from Kandahah! ha! ha!) while Kyels settled for poo-Rich, that's how e fanny Buggers spell it, you know the 3/4-cooked rice in swriling hot H2O, ah,ah, oh, oh? Burnt your tongue, young chic?
Back to serious, G2 was productive and educating, as mentee-turned-Mentor Kyels shares a li'l aout her contemporary Gen3 (we shall keep these findings under wraps at present, life a precious gift!); but I did advise this Y&A to take another Y&A under her belt, black, white or karate!
Back to more sseerrrrious, the national issue,our dear Prime Minister Pak Lah gave Desi a triple-Hi with his Budget. I deem this a semi-socialist Bud; mayhaps an early Geneeral Elections is in the offing, GE2007?
Am I glad that Pak Lah's Budget resembles a Socialist inclined roadmap, one after my heart -- a good start after three years! Mt Elegant Silence does speak with high eloquence at the right platform, and at the right time, doesn't he? So myGOoDfriends like Howsy, Mave and Anak Merdeka, who I suspect are somewhat doubting Thomases/Thomasey about Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's capability to act like a National CEO, I often ask of them: Give the PM a break!
Eepecially on a Sundae! And I too take a break for a belated CON BF-cum-lunch, it's o'lady! 12.30PM while my mind thinks it was about 10! Becoming a li'l weathered after yesterday's travel, and akin to Waiting for one Godot?, but no elegant silence on 2 waiters -- I was humming Try a Little Kindness all the time/dime, on account of the socialist-in-our-CEO delivering gifts the day afore.
Seeya later, I won't go Join the Legionnaires, the situation back home is steal not desperate, Sabbie! NO V: for Vendetta Eeether, or Ayether!
Continued @2.22PM:
The headlines say it awe:
The weekend mail: INCENTIVES GALORE
The Star: Budget for all
I'm reprising the Highlights (for the record, from page 5) from the MM, jest Cut&Paste like hot pastries just outa the oven while I prepare piping hot tehtarik, K!:)
~~~~~~~
Budget 2007: Highlights
- RM159.4 billion for Budget 2007
- Students who obtain 10 A1s in SPM or its equivalent, from families with monthly income of RM1,500 and below, will be given scholarships to pursue tertiary education.
- To encourage computer ownership, eligibility period for the incentive to purchase one, currently given once every five years, is shortened to once every three years. Current RM500 tax rebate replaced with a tax relief of RM3,000.
- Specific excise duty on cigarettes increased by one sen a stick and for liquor with alcohol content of more than 40 per cent, excise duty increased by RM5 a litre.
- Civil Service Fixed Allowance increased to RM50 a month from Jan 1, 2007.
a. Those earning up to RM750 a month will be paid two months bonus. Those earning more than RM750 a month will be paid one month bonus subject to minimum of RM1,500.
b. pensioners receiving less than RM750 will receive RM400, while those receiving more than RM750, will get RM200 in a one-off payment.
- Tax relief on the purchase of books will be increased from RM700 to RM1,000 a year.
- Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd (SPNB) expected to invest RM10 billion during the period of 2006-2010, increasing the number of trains by 140, new buses by 1,000 and a double track commuter rail line.
- RM4.9 billion to enhance the efficiency of the Royal Malaysian Police operations.
- RM685 million for the development and management of arts, culture and heritage activities.
- RM149 million for Visit Malaysia Year 2007
a. Income tax exemption for tour operators providing packages with at least 500 inbound tourists a year or 1,200 local tourists a year be extended for another five years until 2011.
b. Tour operators be given 50 per cent excise duty exemption on locally assembled four-wheel-drive vehicles.
c. Income tax exemption to employees for local leave passage provided by employers, currently only for fares, extended to include expenses on accommodation and meals.
- RM33.4 billion allocation for operational and development expenditure for education and training system.
a. RM6.7 billion for primary education; RM6.2 billion (secondary); RM10.4 billion (higher) and RM10.4 billion (training)
b. 22 new primary and secondary schools operational next year, 198 new schools will be built, including fully residential secondary schools. Two new Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM) and new equipment for existing ones.
c. RM195 million to upgrade and improve facilities in existing universities. Establish Universiti Darul Naim in Kelantan, upgrade Akademi Tentera Malaysia into University Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia.
d. RM288 million allocated under the Bestari school programme.
e. RM450 million to build and upgrade polytechnics and community colleges.
- Annual grant of RM30 million for NGOs to undertake women and family and community programmes.
a. RM80,000 for ministries and government departments to set up childcare centres.
b. RM50 subsidy for every mammogram done in private clinics and hospitals registered with LPPKN.
c. RM721 million to implement youths and sports programmes.
d. RM50 monthly allowance for primary school children and RM70 for secondary students from poor families.
- RM10 billion for provision of health facilities and equipment, services of specialists and training programmes. RM125 million for three new hospitals in Shah Alam, Selangor, Pendang, Kedah, and Permai, Johor.
- Under-declaration and smuggling of high duty goods like motor vehicles, cigarettes and liquor will cost offenders a minimum compound of five times the total tax payable
- RM154 million for MDeC for various activities, including provision of more comprehensive services ranging from registration to operations and SME industry development programmes.
- Corporate tax rate reduced by two percentage points in two stages — 27 per cent next year and 26 per cent for 2008.
DESI: the HIGHLIGHTED points in the Highlights (BOLDED THUS) are mine -- as I term it, Socialist-inclined Pak Lah's traits reflected and refined, after Desi's heart. Just for the record, Desi on Sundays without fail is 100% capitalist -- so that's to bst day to date me, 'rite! Please bring along thy Platinum kad! I won't check thy I-See
Yes, the PM has tried a little kindness. Rising above all the noise and cacopjony of sound and fury the past few, taxing months. Despite some no-shows, there are in deed some showers of blessing Malaysians have grounds for some morsels of Optimism on its 49th birthday.
And ending on a culturally socialist note,surely we have heard enough criticism that NegaraKu can boast infrastructure to best the First World giants like the USA and Japan, but we trail like a century behind in its toadlike mindset?
So let's rejoice -- hope it's not in vain! -- at this Initiative:
~~~~~~~
Budget 2007: How does RM100m sound?
THE announcement to establish the Creative Industry Development Fund, to develop creative arts and produce export- quality content, including animation, was welcomed by many industry players.
Karyawan Malaysia president Freddie Fernandez said the move was just what the industry needed.
“We need to explore new markets because the one here is shrinking. We have to think big and start exporting our products,” he said.
“Before we can do that, we have to beef up quality. The funds will come in handy, especially in terms of training, to raise the standards.”
Fernandez added that there were a few funds before this but not many knew how to get it.
Singer and businessman Norman Abdul Halim agreed that the fund would provide a catalyst for growth for the creative arts industry.
“This will create jobs and opportunities for entrepreneurs in that field,” he said.
“The industry needs a push; the local market is small and we need to look at ways to export our products,” he added.
Persatuan Akademi Industri Muzik Malaysia general manager Jennifer Thompson said: “Hopefully, the allocation and administration will be done fairly.
“I hope that it’s not too late because the industry is really in a bad shape.”
Recording Industry Association of Malaysia chairman Sandy Monteiro added: “This is the first budget in 10 years that included the creative arts industry.”
To encourage private sector participation in sponsoring local arts, cultural and heritage performances, it was proposed under the 2007 budget that the current tax deduction on contributions up to RM300,000, be increased to RM500,000.
Yet, many in the local performing arts scene don’t think that would make much difference.
Gardner & Wife producer Diong Chae Lian, was unconvinced.
“I’ve been hearing this for the last couple of years. I don’t think it’s going to significantly change anything in the day to day running of the arts scene.”
“People assume the problem is the lack of money, but the main problem is the bureaucracy,” she said.
“I don’t think many in the Ministry know that there’s a 25 per cent entertainment tax across the nation.
“If that’s abolished, we should see an improvement in the arts and culture scene.”
KLPac Theatre manager Teoh Ming Jin agreed.
“They talk about tax exemption, but that’s not really true. When they said the same thing in the last budget, DBKL still charged the same rates because they weren’t sure of what kind of shows or events the policy and exemption included.”
He said that the Government has to understand that the arts scene encompasses many different forms and the authorities have to make the guidelines or policies clear to all.
DESI: I just hope under this Fun-d, the role and initiatives by the likes of jeffooi.com, malaysia-today.net, ah, latest babe on the blogsworld sin -- RobertChai.com -- are encompassed, yes? Desi's Place and all mGf's A-abodes too-lah, if it's not too much to ask. We are all tax-payers too, yes!
PS: In the spirit of Mr Nice Guy, and also this being a Sabbath Day for a good section of my ER,and specially for sssssspirit who requested some poesy, I'll borrow from Glen to provide some Campbell's soup for the soul, may Eye?
Try a Little Kindness
If you see your brother standing by the road
With a heavy load from the seeds he's sowed
And if you see your sister falling by the way
Just stop and stay you're going the wrong way
You got to try a little kindness
Yes show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness
Then you'll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets
Don't walk around the down and out
Lend a helping hand instead of doubt
And the kindness that you show every day
Will help someone along their way
You got to try a little kindness
Yes show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness
Then you'll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets
You got to try a little kindness
Yes show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness
Then you'll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Give RobertChai.com a visit, wilya!
There is a new Initiative by a group of Bloggers, inclding Boringest whom I had interacted with occasionally in blogosphere, now led by Rober Chai, to further the cause of Bloggers' jounrney by making it FUN-D!
Also, he has thrown in some kurl prizes as an inSENtive for all-comers to regsiter and become noticed among Blogsworld peers. I wonder if the House of Lords in UK recognise our status?
Anyway, knowing that this's an awefoollly enthusiastic group, I'm giving a leg-up (Hey, Moulin Rouge style, Howsy, don't bend down to see if my panty-hose in loose and lousey-red!)to their recent start-up.
Having just recovered from Seven-Day binge on Merdeka! (7times) Essay Series, and later a Bloggers lunch to celebrate (No, not celibate, as none of us is loneliness defined!) at KLC-See, I will do some Cut&Paste from RC's email, k!
"Dear YenLong,
Thank you very much for your reply.
Yes, the idea behind RobertChai.com is to put back the fun in
blogging, and especially, coming up with original posts instead of
reading copy & paste articles which are so rampant nowadays. If only
alot more people are as supportive as you.
It would do wonders to RobertChai.com if JeffOoi could accord us the
same support as he did to you when you started blogging.
Unfortunately, none of us 5 team members know him personally, so
hopefully, he will take notice of us in time to come.
Meanwhile, happy blogging!
Yours faithfully,
From the developers of RobertChai.com
RobertChai, Boringest, CyberPartyGal, Justin and Andrew
http://www.RobertChai.com/
"
PS: If you win any prize, jest remember Desi's usual30% CONmiss... Applies also to mals, and in-betweens, tho I said "miss"!:) Strive to Be Happy, wilya? And that's my usual Rhetorical Q!
Also, he has thrown in some kurl prizes as an inSENtive for all-comers to regsiter and become noticed among Blogsworld peers. I wonder if the House of Lords in UK recognise our status?
Anyway, knowing that this's an awefoollly enthusiastic group, I'm giving a leg-up (Hey, Moulin Rouge style, Howsy, don't bend down to see if my panty-hose in loose and lousey-red!)to their recent start-up.
Having just recovered from Seven-Day binge on Merdeka! (7times) Essay Series, and later a Bloggers lunch to celebrate (No, not celibate, as none of us is loneliness defined!) at KLC-See, I will do some Cut&Paste from RC's email, k!
"Dear YenLong,
Thank you very much for your reply.
Yes, the idea behind RobertChai.com is to put back the fun in
blogging, and especially, coming up with original posts instead of
reading copy & paste articles which are so rampant nowadays. If only
alot more people are as supportive as you.
It would do wonders to RobertChai.com if JeffOoi could accord us the
same support as he did to you when you started blogging.
Unfortunately, none of us 5 team members know him personally, so
hopefully, he will take notice of us in time to come.
Meanwhile, happy blogging!
Yours faithfully,
From the developers of RobertChai.com
RobertChai, Boringest, CyberPartyGal, Justin and Andrew
http://www.RobertChai.com/
"
PS: If you win any prize, jest remember Desi's usual30% CONmiss... Applies also to mals, and in-betweens, tho I said "miss"!:) Strive to Be Happy, wilya? And that's my usual Rhetorical Q!
Friday, September 01, 2006
We did our part as Concerned Citizens!
Hi folks!
Sleepy eyed, one eye closed, or both I-I; hopefully we get a note from our
Dear Prime Minister with Aye! Aye!
I've just sent off the Merdeaka Essay Series about 10 minutes ago,
time-stamped 11.40AM
1 September to:
ppm@pmo.gov.my...
with the following "greAtings".
"1 Sept 2006
YAB Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Prime Minister of Malaysia
Attn:
The Press Secretary;
The Personal assitant to PM,
Prime Minister's Office,
Putrajaya.
(Hope the person receiving this Email bring to YAB
Pak Lah's attention: Thank You.--Desi)
Dear Mr Prime Minister,
Just for your kind information, I hosted a Series
of Essays, over seven days, to mark Hari Merdeka, for
thse second year running, with the last article by the
humble concerned citizen uploaded this morning.
I hereby attach all of the instalments --
contributions by fellow Bloggers who care for
NegaraKu -- and hope the matters raised would receive
your sincere attention.
I hope you and fellow Cabinet members
have had a Good Merdeka celebration in Kuching.
Good wishes to you and Colleagues,
"Belated" Happy 49th Hari Merdeka GreAtings
from All of Us at Blogsworld, but I emphasise
all the contributors have personal identities quite
established,and of course, traceable addresses.
Regards,
YLChong
Desiderata
A Concerned Citizen
012-9702285
Blogsite: desiderata2000.blogspot.com"
Now Dear Awe ~~ Chow!
I'm going off for a CON BF-cum-brunch-cum~
Merdeka Special!:):):):):):):)
Sleepy eyed, one eye closed, or both I-I; hopefully we get a note from our
Dear Prime Minister with Aye! Aye!
I've just sent off the Merdeaka Essay Series about 10 minutes ago,
time-stamped 11.40AM
1 September to:
ppm@pmo.gov.my...
with the following "greAtings".
"1 Sept 2006
YAB Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Prime Minister of Malaysia
Attn:
The Press Secretary;
The Personal assitant to PM,
Prime Minister's Office,
Putrajaya.
(Hope the person receiving this Email bring to YAB
Pak Lah's attention: Thank You.--Desi)
Dear Mr Prime Minister,
Just for your kind information, I hosted a Series
of Essays, over seven days, to mark Hari Merdeka, for
thse second year running, with the last article by the
humble concerned citizen uploaded this morning.
I hereby attach all of the instalments --
contributions by fellow Bloggers who care for
NegaraKu -- and hope the matters raised would receive
your sincere attention.
I hope you and fellow Cabinet members
have had a Good Merdeka celebration in Kuching.
Good wishes to you and Colleagues,
"Belated" Happy 49th Hari Merdeka GreAtings
from All of Us at Blogsworld, but I emphasise
all the contributors have personal identities quite
established,and of course, traceable addresses.
Regards,
YLChong
Desiderata
A Concerned Citizen
012-9702285
Blogsite: desiderata2000.blogspot.com"
Now Dear Awe ~~ Chow!
I'm going off for a CON BF-cum-brunch-cum~
Merdeka Special!:):):):):):):)
My Merdeka Wish for NegaraKu: Poet-aspirant
***“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” ~~ Mark Twain (American Humorist, Writer and Lecturer. 1835-1910)****
LET US KEEP UP WITH CHANGING TIMES!
Desi actually began his thoughts for this Hari Merdeka sometime back with a post WISHING that our esteemed Prime Minister would do away with a classification for an applicant to state his/her Race, as in now required in all official Government forms. Just this one symbolic act alone would have been a hallmark of visionary leadership; it would be a giant leap towards steering NegaraKu towards a United Nation -- a process which Desi has deemed had not even started in our country for the past 49 years. We are in what many have termed a "poor state of affairs" in relation to our aspirations towards attaining Vision 2020, just 14 years away. Developed Nation status, NegaraKu? BY rdefining the criteria? Like what a state CEO had done?
I pray our National CEO acquit himself better. He has the potential. Does he have the daring and fervour?
He started his premiership about three years ago with much promise.
But so far, it had proven to be a leadership anchored on mere pronoucements, but Not Walking The Talk.My Wish is that Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi -- the spiritual mind that God begifted him -- will use his Wisdom and Courage to become that VISIONARY LEADER I THINK HE CAN BECOME.
Because no bold leaders dared to do What is Right by the nation, Many have done What's Expedient for narrow partisan, political survival. Will Pak Lah prove that he will be an exception? I am prepared to give him two to eight more years (basically, over two terms as our beloved Prime Minister).
Desi has always been American history-inspired, but he's no "banana" because he speaks some irreverential respectable Mandarin. Because he dabbles with paints, caligraphy became a drawing interest at one time. so I can getaway with B*S that I graduated from Peaking University by writing some Chinese prose, quoting Li Pai. I had one Coww for a sifu!
Today's ***quote above starting off my finale neighing has been echoed many times here because I believe it encapsulates a stance and spirit that rebuts all the sound and fury emitting so predictable from many mouths in Our Country year-in and year-out. I believe the MSM can just pull out the previous year's press cuttings and Re-cycle, and nobody would have noticed the diff. I don't know about Reduce-lah. I realised late yesterday on re-visiting xpyre@textfiend.net that his other Blog's identity is Reduced and Recycled -- I had minus-ed da d just I'm inclined to take off da d from Xpyred. So the d-minus is all mine, not the Guest hoRst's.
For other ER who misbehaved -- luckily, so far it has been just two! -- I not only minus-D, I completely erased to treat them as non-identity. Madness does sometimes visit Desi, especially ala-van Gogh (You know he cut off part of his ear in a fit?) on Stary, Starry Nights. This digression shows Desi's been much affected by the "shoot the bugger" episode involving Jeff Ooi and my impending move to activate Word Verification as a basic protective measure. So sad that Blogoshere has to come to this journalist-induced "always looking out for potential potholes" in our writings. And be extra alert against Agents Provocateuraka Agitators.
The American Conundrum
The issue of Americana features prominently today because I'm only spending time on one point -- Globalisation. We are "Americanised" in many ways though we may not be consciously aware. Just check the movies and entertainment you enjoy -- a ballpark estimate is that some 50% come from the great United States we deem the big, bad Brother. For only one reason, that since the Cold War ended, the USA has become the sole super-power remaining, though mainland China is doing a Hop, Step and Jump to catch up. Leave Russia and Fidel Castro alone -- reminds Desi of that mad Roman emperor strumming, or fiddling, a musical instrument while the city burned...
Malaysia has to learn from history. On which side is our bread buttered?
We want to trade more with western nations, led by the number one trading power, the US; simultaneously, Islamist voices are condeming anything "western" as decadent, devilish and ... (ER can fill in the blanks).
National leaders play to the gallery, often caught speaking with forked tongues. The Little Emperor/Napoleon as termed by our esteemed Prime Minister Pak Lah, wears no clothes on National Day parade, but he says he's one for Transparency. So many fellow Bloggers have recorded prime, naked? examples -- also equivalent to the proverbial "Seeing the speck in thy neighbour's eye, but not seeing the plank in one's own eye".
What our leaders can't deliver, then by default external forces would throw our country to the wild, wild winds of change. The Age of the Internet and information technology -- accompanied by the march of Globalisation -- will mean we ignore the external factors of power and influence on our nation's destiny at our own peril.
While short-sighted leaders fight for their loot or bounty, especially when the economic pie is getting squeezed and smaller, we find ourselves, many innocents among the silent majority, being pushed nearer and nearer to Doomsville. Let's try to prevent the flagship called NegaraKu being mis-directed by clueless pilots towards the Abyss.
Just a minor, but relevant diversion. I sought a Comment from a fellow Blogger friend now residing in UK, and besides sending her Merdeka greAtings on Tuesday, Mei0305 said:
"Chong:
While I am working here, I strongly feel that Malaysia is not
internationally competitive. The "Malaysia Boleh" slogan is merely
words. Indeed, Thailand and Vietnam are progressing more steadily than
Malaysia does.
Malaysia must get rid of its cronyism and racial politics for its
national development."
Here's reprising another Email "greAting" from (:dreamerI:)
received on Hari Merdeka eve:
"Dear Desi,
Hi! Just dropping by to wish you a good Merdeka break,
as much as there is little cause to celebrate... till
then, let us keep dreaming, and hoping that somehow,
someday some things will change for the better!
:
:
Yours sincerely,
eugene aka dreamer idiot"
As my Guest Bloggers have generously covered a good spectrum of the challenges confronting NegaraKu, there seems the air is fraught with much apprehension and guarded pessimism (witness emails from Mei0305 and dreamerI, and yes, comments with a constant refrain from sabrinawstan@LOTR!:). I have writ much about the concerns and woes the country faces, but today I shall elaborate on what I think is the greatest and foremost and immediate problem to overcome for the next decade. IT is the Economic War being constantly waged from many fronts.
And it's no more a local battle. It's regional. It is global.
I sighted media reports that say the US is the greatest debtor-nation in the www, yet most of the world's economies are tied to the American's. And not able to find any alternative path to move away from what clearly is a worldwide dilemma. Nobody has a concrete solution, despite an ocasional bark from ex-premiers like Tun Dr Mahathir Mohoamd to sus the gold dinar, not the Greenback, as the international currency for trade and commerce.
It's a peculiar conundrum -- quite alike the saying that when a bank lends a few million to a businessman, the corporate owes the bank. But when a bank lends a few billion to the customer, the customer is truly king. The Bank now owes him and must ensure his survival. Failure is not an option on either party. Pak Lah also avers that "failure is not an option for Malaysia".
China is fast gaining strength, and it has built up national reseves last reported a few weeks back nearing USD1trillion!Yet we have leaders who are so arrogant when questioned about "regressive" policies dismissing such queries with "You don't like our policies, Go elsewhere (like China)...!"
So are our leaders keeping up with fast and ever changing times, and new forces of change? The bumiputra-advantaged New Economic Policy, transformed later into National Economic Policy, or whatever attire, would be rendered irrelevant. It's just a matter of time. When policies deter the inflow of FDI -- foreign direct investments -- and free-market competition for the supply and demand of goods and services, the price to pay is economic failure. Visionary Developed Nation strategies must be anchored on sound economic policies, not just political expediency. And greed.
And among certain sections of the Malaysian populace, greed knows no bounds. While we are lucky to be blessed wit Black gold, and new oil field finds, there is a lot of leakages. My guestimate is rising to nigh 30-50 percentage.
Greed breeds corruption, from under to above the table, and like Cancr, if left unchecked and untreated with will and determination, soon bring NegaraKu to the terminal stage of sickness.
Hence, I have repeated asked of NegaraKu, the citizenry, especially its leaders, Quo Vadis?
What's next for the country?
Are we heading towards Vision 2020?
Or are we regressing?
My inherent optimism as a writer-poet-aspirant is often tempered by much "Doom and gloom" expressed in no uncertain terms by fellow Malaysians -- young, not-so-young, and advanced in age yet so discerning in thought and observation. I continue to find strength and inspiration learning, and perhaps guiding, some of the YoungOnes (like johnleemk and kyels, also sabrina and theels aborad), so that perhaps all our efforst to move NegaraKu forward can add up to something meaningful No one can then fault us for not trying, even striving, for My Country, Your Country, OUR COUNTRY.
And let not us, especially less-than-equipped YB Minister of any hue and political affiliation, question any of fellow Malaysians' loyalty and patriotic spirit. We prefer to be guided by wiser counsel like from Mr Twain, though sometimes, it's true that "Twist East and West, the Twain, may never meet"!
Till we meet again, I thank from the bottom of my heart AllMyEsteemedReaders, but especially the following "HORSTS" for their contributions to the National Day Project (Year 2), naming their Abodes which Desi advises it's worth your visit at leisure:
1. allofhelen.blogspot.com
2. maverickysm.blogspot.com
3. anakmerdeka.blogspot.com
4. howsy.blogspot.com
5. xpyre.textfiend.net
6. johnleemk (abode fails in Desi's memory bank)
7. kyels.com
8. fashionasia.blogspot.com
9. john, where is Desiderata's abode?
***“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” ~~ Mark Twain (American Humorist, Writer and Lecturer. 1835-1910)****
PS: Desi's email response to that dreamerI's:
"hi dreamer not IdIotIc:
Thanks for greAtings.
We shall celebrate despite...
We shall overcome despite...
We shall triumph because there are Many
Poets
and Dreamers
among our midst.
It's just One by Me,
One by Thee,
But a Force
by Us.
Merdeka!
Merdeka!
Merdeka!
Merdeka!
Merdeka!
Merdeka!
MERDEKA!
Malaysia -- DreamerI and Desi still beLIVE in
Negaraku.
YL, Desi
9.29AM
Merdeka Eve 200S'X"
Dear EsteemedReaders Awe, TERIMA KASIH for a wonderful and learning seven-day Merdeka Anniversary Journey. Now Go Forth, and Strive to Be Happy!:) Multiply too!:):)
LET US KEEP UP WITH CHANGING TIMES!
Desi actually began his thoughts for this Hari Merdeka sometime back with a post WISHING that our esteemed Prime Minister would do away with a classification for an applicant to state his/her Race, as in now required in all official Government forms. Just this one symbolic act alone would have been a hallmark of visionary leadership; it would be a giant leap towards steering NegaraKu towards a United Nation -- a process which Desi has deemed had not even started in our country for the past 49 years. We are in what many have termed a "poor state of affairs" in relation to our aspirations towards attaining Vision 2020, just 14 years away. Developed Nation status, NegaraKu? BY rdefining the criteria? Like what a state CEO had done?
I pray our National CEO acquit himself better. He has the potential. Does he have the daring and fervour?
He started his premiership about three years ago with much promise.
But so far, it had proven to be a leadership anchored on mere pronoucements, but Not Walking The Talk.My Wish is that Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi -- the spiritual mind that God begifted him -- will use his Wisdom and Courage to become that VISIONARY LEADER I THINK HE CAN BECOME.
Because no bold leaders dared to do What is Right by the nation, Many have done What's Expedient for narrow partisan, political survival. Will Pak Lah prove that he will be an exception? I am prepared to give him two to eight more years (basically, over two terms as our beloved Prime Minister).
Desi has always been American history-inspired, but he's no "banana" because he speaks some irreverential respectable Mandarin. Because he dabbles with paints, caligraphy became a drawing interest at one time. so I can getaway with B*S that I graduated from Peaking University by writing some Chinese prose, quoting Li Pai. I had one Coww for a sifu!
Today's ***quote above starting off my finale neighing has been echoed many times here because I believe it encapsulates a stance and spirit that rebuts all the sound and fury emitting so predictable from many mouths in Our Country year-in and year-out. I believe the MSM can just pull out the previous year's press cuttings and Re-cycle, and nobody would have noticed the diff. I don't know about Reduce-lah. I realised late yesterday on re-visiting xpyre@textfiend.net that his other Blog's identity is Reduced and Recycled -- I had minus-ed da d just I'm inclined to take off da d from Xpyred. So the d-minus is all mine, not the Guest hoRst's.
For other ER who misbehaved -- luckily, so far it has been just two! -- I not only minus-D, I completely erased to treat them as non-identity. Madness does sometimes visit Desi, especially ala-van Gogh (You know he cut off part of his ear in a fit?) on Stary, Starry Nights. This digression shows Desi's been much affected by the "shoot the bugger" episode involving Jeff Ooi and my impending move to activate Word Verification as a basic protective measure. So sad that Blogoshere has to come to this journalist-induced "always looking out for potential potholes" in our writings. And be extra alert against Agents Provocateuraka Agitators.
The American Conundrum
The issue of Americana features prominently today because I'm only spending time on one point -- Globalisation. We are "Americanised" in many ways though we may not be consciously aware. Just check the movies and entertainment you enjoy -- a ballpark estimate is that some 50% come from the great United States we deem the big, bad Brother. For only one reason, that since the Cold War ended, the USA has become the sole super-power remaining, though mainland China is doing a Hop, Step and Jump to catch up. Leave Russia and Fidel Castro alone -- reminds Desi of that mad Roman emperor strumming, or fiddling, a musical instrument while the city burned...
Malaysia has to learn from history. On which side is our bread buttered?
We want to trade more with western nations, led by the number one trading power, the US; simultaneously, Islamist voices are condeming anything "western" as decadent, devilish and ... (ER can fill in the blanks).
National leaders play to the gallery, often caught speaking with forked tongues. The Little Emperor/Napoleon as termed by our esteemed Prime Minister Pak Lah, wears no clothes on National Day parade, but he says he's one for Transparency. So many fellow Bloggers have recorded prime, naked? examples -- also equivalent to the proverbial "Seeing the speck in thy neighbour's eye, but not seeing the plank in one's own eye".
What our leaders can't deliver, then by default external forces would throw our country to the wild, wild winds of change. The Age of the Internet and information technology -- accompanied by the march of Globalisation -- will mean we ignore the external factors of power and influence on our nation's destiny at our own peril.
While short-sighted leaders fight for their loot or bounty, especially when the economic pie is getting squeezed and smaller, we find ourselves, many innocents among the silent majority, being pushed nearer and nearer to Doomsville. Let's try to prevent the flagship called NegaraKu being mis-directed by clueless pilots towards the Abyss.
Just a minor, but relevant diversion. I sought a Comment from a fellow Blogger friend now residing in UK, and besides sending her Merdeka greAtings on Tuesday, Mei0305 said:
"Chong:
While I am working here, I strongly feel that Malaysia is not
internationally competitive. The "Malaysia Boleh" slogan is merely
words. Indeed, Thailand and Vietnam are progressing more steadily than
Malaysia does.
Malaysia must get rid of its cronyism and racial politics for its
national development."
Here's reprising another Email "greAting" from (:dreamerI:)
received on Hari Merdeka eve:
"Dear Desi,
Hi! Just dropping by to wish you a good Merdeka break,
as much as there is little cause to celebrate... till
then, let us keep dreaming, and hoping that somehow,
someday some things will change for the better!
:
:
Yours sincerely,
eugene aka dreamer idiot"
As my Guest Bloggers have generously covered a good spectrum of the challenges confronting NegaraKu, there seems the air is fraught with much apprehension and guarded pessimism (witness emails from Mei0305 and dreamerI, and yes, comments with a constant refrain from sabrinawstan@LOTR!:). I have writ much about the concerns and woes the country faces, but today I shall elaborate on what I think is the greatest and foremost and immediate problem to overcome for the next decade. IT is the Economic War being constantly waged from many fronts.
And it's no more a local battle. It's regional. It is global.
I sighted media reports that say the US is the greatest debtor-nation in the www, yet most of the world's economies are tied to the American's. And not able to find any alternative path to move away from what clearly is a worldwide dilemma. Nobody has a concrete solution, despite an ocasional bark from ex-premiers like Tun Dr Mahathir Mohoamd to sus the gold dinar, not the Greenback, as the international currency for trade and commerce.
It's a peculiar conundrum -- quite alike the saying that when a bank lends a few million to a businessman, the corporate owes the bank. But when a bank lends a few billion to the customer, the customer is truly king. The Bank now owes him and must ensure his survival. Failure is not an option on either party. Pak Lah also avers that "failure is not an option for Malaysia".
China is fast gaining strength, and it has built up national reseves last reported a few weeks back nearing USD1trillion!Yet we have leaders who are so arrogant when questioned about "regressive" policies dismissing such queries with "You don't like our policies, Go elsewhere (like China)...!"
So are our leaders keeping up with fast and ever changing times, and new forces of change? The bumiputra-advantaged New Economic Policy, transformed later into National Economic Policy, or whatever attire, would be rendered irrelevant. It's just a matter of time. When policies deter the inflow of FDI -- foreign direct investments -- and free-market competition for the supply and demand of goods and services, the price to pay is economic failure. Visionary Developed Nation strategies must be anchored on sound economic policies, not just political expediency. And greed.
And among certain sections of the Malaysian populace, greed knows no bounds. While we are lucky to be blessed wit Black gold, and new oil field finds, there is a lot of leakages. My guestimate is rising to nigh 30-50 percentage.
Greed breeds corruption, from under to above the table, and like Cancr, if left unchecked and untreated with will and determination, soon bring NegaraKu to the terminal stage of sickness.
Hence, I have repeated asked of NegaraKu, the citizenry, especially its leaders, Quo Vadis?
What's next for the country?
Are we heading towards Vision 2020?
Or are we regressing?
My inherent optimism as a writer-poet-aspirant is often tempered by much "Doom and gloom" expressed in no uncertain terms by fellow Malaysians -- young, not-so-young, and advanced in age yet so discerning in thought and observation. I continue to find strength and inspiration learning, and perhaps guiding, some of the YoungOnes (like johnleemk and kyels, also sabrina and theels aborad), so that perhaps all our efforst to move NegaraKu forward can add up to something meaningful No one can then fault us for not trying, even striving, for My Country, Your Country, OUR COUNTRY.
And let not us, especially less-than-equipped YB Minister of any hue and political affiliation, question any of fellow Malaysians' loyalty and patriotic spirit. We prefer to be guided by wiser counsel like from Mr Twain, though sometimes, it's true that "Twist East and West, the Twain, may never meet"!
Till we meet again, I thank from the bottom of my heart AllMyEsteemedReaders, but especially the following "HORSTS" for their contributions to the National Day Project (Year 2), naming their Abodes which Desi advises it's worth your visit at leisure:
1. allofhelen.blogspot.com
2. maverickysm.blogspot.com
3. anakmerdeka.blogspot.com
4. howsy.blogspot.com
5. xpyre.textfiend.net
6. johnleemk (abode fails in Desi's memory bank)
7. kyels.com
8. fashionasia.blogspot.com
9. john, where is Desiderata's abode?
***“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” ~~ Mark Twain (American Humorist, Writer and Lecturer. 1835-1910)****
PS: Desi's email response to that dreamerI's:
"hi dreamer not IdIotIc:
Thanks for greAtings.
We shall celebrate despite...
We shall overcome despite...
We shall triumph because there are Many
Poets
and Dreamers
among our midst.
It's just One by Me,
One by Thee,
But a Force
by Us.
Merdeka!
Merdeka!
Merdeka!
Merdeka!
Merdeka!
Merdeka!
MERDEKA!
Malaysia -- DreamerI and Desi still beLIVE in
Negaraku.
YL, Desi
9.29AM
Merdeka Eve 200S'X"
Dear EsteemedReaders Awe, TERIMA KASIH for a wonderful and learning seven-day Merdeka Anniversary Journey. Now Go Forth, and Strive to Be Happy!:) Multiply too!:):)
My Merdeka Wish for NegaraKu: Conscripted FashionistA!
Desi feels a Fashionista's Merdeka Story @fashionasia.blogspot.com deserves a wider circulation. With her AP Permit, I'm doing a quikkie Cut&Paste.
FA is defintely a trendy one, traipsing down Milan's and gay Paree's catwalks, and yet feeling so at home doing the elephant walk and getting chic -- not cheap! -- buys at Chee Cheong Kai. I pinched this down memory lane recollection,as I was feeling 'guilty' not sending her an official invite (THOUGH I HAD PUT OUT A MESSAGE THIS PROJECT WAS AN open affair, BUT SHE WAS BEESY IN MILAN on a more glam affair!); further, FA gave a good explanation of why Merdeka must not be splt into Merde Ka!
Conscripted Blogger: FASHIONasia
*** A Merdeka Special!****
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Happy Merdeka My Malaysia!!
Getting it Right
So just like how we reminded the people last year that MERDEKA is not the birthday of Malaysia.
August 31st,1957 was the day that the Federation of Malaya (Peninsular) gain its Independance.
So MERDEKA as its original meaning "Freedom" ....which means that it is actually a celebration of being free from the British ruling.
While Malaysia was born(formed) in 1963 (16th Sept), where Singapore, Sabah, and Sarawak were added to the federation, creating the Federation of Malaysia. Then, technically its got nothing to do with the people in Sabah & Sarawak.....hmm...then how come this year's host state for the Merdeka celebration is Sarawak? hehe...some food for thought there.
So thats a brief history of Malaysia and Merdeka.
Moving on next.
I was really thinking hard of a Merdeka story for the past 1 week but sadly but i couldnt see Malaysia in a bright light in the recent years. When I want to think of something good, i had to dig deeper into my earlier years while i was still in the kampung. I guess my almost 10 years living in the hussle and bustle of city life here in KL, did not leave me any fond "i love Malaysia" story apart from the awesome gastronomy affairs.
So be it, let my story be a reminicense about the good 'ol days in the small little kampung. That is where I want to remember and love Malaysia for.
We used to live in the small kampung where my mom was working in a corporate office while dad was a civil servant. However living in a malay dominiant location, my dad was perhaps the only chinese in his work place. While my mom had a mixture of Malay, chinese and indian co-workers that we grew pretty close to. My dads best friend was En.Nafi while I love to hang around my mom's office with Uncle Kumar and Pakcik Asin...
I remember Uncle Kumar as a handsome man and he was very kind, he took care of me and even carried me across the steam while we went for picnic at the waterfall. Picnic at the waterfall was a common event for us back then. I love waterfalls, the cooling clear stream.....beautiful stones....homemade sandwitches and air syrup
During durian season, we will normally be invited by my parents Malay colleagues over to eat Nasi Durian! oh boy its heavenly i tell you....and my favourite season was definately Hari raya because we get to wear beautiful clothes and drive to the even more kampung area where pakcik asin stays.... I love visiting his wooden bungalow house. Every year he will make his famous beef rendang and nasi dagang, yumyum my favourite and many many more yummy cookies and sweets. And we'll have air bandung or air syrup. and the best part is we eat on the floor with our bare hands!! (the food is on the plate lah duhh)
So those were the beautiful days that I really want to remember Malaysia as.
You know city folks tend to think that people from the more rural areas like Terengganu or Kelantan to be less racial tolerant....but let me tell you that it is not true. All the races live in harmony and much more sincerity than people here in the city. People tend to have this wrong notion that kampung folks are barbaric but the truth is those living in the concrete jungle are the real barbarians.
So in the spirit of Merdeka this year, I hope that we will all be reminded that this is the day where our first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman the leader of the Alliance Party, a loose coalition of Malay, Chinese, and Indian parties, led us to the independence.
To me, MERDEKA is a word that should never be splited apart because if you split the word. you'll get the word MERDE and KA
www.dictionary.com explains the meaning :
1. Merde
Main Entry: merde
Part of Speech: interjection
Definition: crap!, shit!; an expression of annoyance, disgust, or exasperation Etymology: French
Usage: slang
2. Ka
ka /kɑ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[kah] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun Egyptian Religion a spiritual entity, an aspect of the individual, believed to live within the body during life and to survive it after death.
For better understanding, refer to this blog post by brader Kakicucuklangit
Conclusion, when split, MERDEKA becomes MERDE KA = Shit Spirit
With this, I end my story wishing Malaysia a happy Merdeka and may you never split in nation...buck-up on the spirit of unity because we can achieve greater things united.
United we stand, divided we fall.
Sekian Terima Kasih.
FA is defintely a trendy one, traipsing down Milan's and gay Paree's catwalks, and yet feeling so at home doing the elephant walk and getting chic -- not cheap! -- buys at Chee Cheong Kai. I pinched this down memory lane recollection,as I was feeling 'guilty' not sending her an official invite (THOUGH I HAD PUT OUT A MESSAGE THIS PROJECT WAS AN open affair, BUT SHE WAS BEESY IN MILAN on a more glam affair!); further, FA gave a good explanation of why Merdeka must not be splt into Merde Ka!
Conscripted Blogger: FASHIONasia
*** A Merdeka Special!****
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Happy Merdeka My Malaysia!!
Getting it Right
So just like how we reminded the people last year that MERDEKA is not the birthday of Malaysia.
August 31st,1957 was the day that the Federation of Malaya (Peninsular) gain its Independance.
So MERDEKA as its original meaning "Freedom" ....which means that it is actually a celebration of being free from the British ruling.
While Malaysia was born(formed) in 1963 (16th Sept), where Singapore, Sabah, and Sarawak were added to the federation, creating the Federation of Malaysia. Then, technically its got nothing to do with the people in Sabah & Sarawak.....hmm...then how come this year's host state for the Merdeka celebration is Sarawak? hehe...some food for thought there.
So thats a brief history of Malaysia and Merdeka.
Moving on next.
I was really thinking hard of a Merdeka story for the past 1 week but sadly but i couldnt see Malaysia in a bright light in the recent years. When I want to think of something good, i had to dig deeper into my earlier years while i was still in the kampung. I guess my almost 10 years living in the hussle and bustle of city life here in KL, did not leave me any fond "i love Malaysia" story apart from the awesome gastronomy affairs.
So be it, let my story be a reminicense about the good 'ol days in the small little kampung. That is where I want to remember and love Malaysia for.
We used to live in the small kampung where my mom was working in a corporate office while dad was a civil servant. However living in a malay dominiant location, my dad was perhaps the only chinese in his work place. While my mom had a mixture of Malay, chinese and indian co-workers that we grew pretty close to. My dads best friend was En.Nafi while I love to hang around my mom's office with Uncle Kumar and Pakcik Asin...
I remember Uncle Kumar as a handsome man and he was very kind, he took care of me and even carried me across the steam while we went for picnic at the waterfall. Picnic at the waterfall was a common event for us back then. I love waterfalls, the cooling clear stream.....beautiful stones....homemade sandwitches and air syrup
During durian season, we will normally be invited by my parents Malay colleagues over to eat Nasi Durian! oh boy its heavenly i tell you....and my favourite season was definately Hari raya because we get to wear beautiful clothes and drive to the even more kampung area where pakcik asin stays.... I love visiting his wooden bungalow house. Every year he will make his famous beef rendang and nasi dagang, yumyum my favourite and many many more yummy cookies and sweets. And we'll have air bandung or air syrup. and the best part is we eat on the floor with our bare hands!! (the food is on the plate lah duhh)
So those were the beautiful days that I really want to remember Malaysia as.
You know city folks tend to think that people from the more rural areas like Terengganu or Kelantan to be less racial tolerant....but let me tell you that it is not true. All the races live in harmony and much more sincerity than people here in the city. People tend to have this wrong notion that kampung folks are barbaric but the truth is those living in the concrete jungle are the real barbarians.
So in the spirit of Merdeka this year, I hope that we will all be reminded that this is the day where our first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman the leader of the Alliance Party, a loose coalition of Malay, Chinese, and Indian parties, led us to the independence.
To me, MERDEKA is a word that should never be splited apart because if you split the word. you'll get the word MERDE and KA
www.dictionary.com explains the meaning :
1. Merde
Main Entry: merde
Part of Speech: interjection
Definition: crap!, shit!; an expression of annoyance, disgust, or exasperation Etymology: French
Usage: slang
2. Ka
ka /kɑ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[kah] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun Egyptian Religion a spiritual entity, an aspect of the individual, believed to live within the body during life and to survive it after death.
For better understanding, refer to this blog post by brader Kakicucuklangit
Conclusion, when split, MERDEKA becomes MERDE KA = Shit Spirit
With this, I end my story wishing Malaysia a happy Merdeka and may you never split in nation...buck-up on the spirit of unity because we can achieve greater things united.
United we stand, divided we fall.
Sekian Terima Kasih.
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