Like a thousand blooms.
"Bloom, flowers, bloom"
and there's HOPE YET FOR NEGARAKU, about 49 years old,
yet unsure of its footing, because many adults -- many are national leaders no less! --instead of leading us
and LIGHTING UP THE PATH FOR THE RAKYAT, AS PROMISED IN THEIR ELECTION MANIFESTO!
are taking us down that SLIPPERY SLOPE OF SLIDE AND SLIME.
Many Malaysians are getting tired, many are resigned to the fact it's more of the same with each passing day, then choosing to remain on the sidewalk; and some are running scared...but choose to "stick their neck out" to speak their mind.
For the less politically educated, Desi has this challenging question:
Would you feel complimented OR offended when someone in taking leave waves
with this parting shot "MAY YOU LIVE IN INTERESTING TIMES AHEAD!"?
Please Gostan from here and read "A bulb lights up..."(06.06.06)
and today's morning post "A bigger bulb lights up...?"
After a blistering report card full of red marks on Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's premiership in about three years, the former PM TUN DR MAHATHIR MOHAMAD could have said the above quote as a farewell greeting "Pak Lah, may you live in interesting times ..." and IMHO, half the 219 MPs in RUMAHssParlimen would think it a handsome compliment. I'd exclude Sharir Samad and Rais Yatim, but definitely include Said bin Yusof. Yeah, can sue Desi if I'm procven wrong, I have a potential Mave waiting in the wings for defence:)
+++
"Et tu, brute!"++++ to Howsy and other Footbrawl mates -- less than 24 hours away, and I'm still hunting down the 22 balls.
If you can't follow DDC so far, don't blame yourself, because sometimes one has to speak in tongue (and chic) in certain terrortry!
I'm seeking your indulgence as I think Allowed and Aloud in the tradition advocated by my sifu in blogosphere-lah, with some reluctance at arriving at firm conclusions with the current Sandywar going on the Malaysian stage -- in the style of Julius Caesar in deed because at stake is the future of NegaraKu, just as Mark Anthony and Brutus and Cassius (not Clay-lah, the one 'with the lean and hungry look'!)had to confront the situation of the great Roman Republic on the verge of becoming a Kingdom as Caesar was thwarted by a team of conspirators, who in Brutus' words then, avowed that: "It's not that I love Caesar less, but that I love Rome more...".
Ah, that quote often thrown about by Desi +++: I had commented several times before, was that expression by Caesar of the greatest "betrayal" in literature/(history?) that I'gonna recycle, it's not that I'm lazy, it's jest that I love the short cut more!It was made in conjunction with Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's stand in expressing full support for Pak Lah, in the face-off between ex-and current PMs~~~
"Et tu, brute!" in Latin means "You too, brute!" with 'brute" being a word-play in the 'best friend" to Caesar's name Brutus, who plunged the dagger into the Emperor-2B's chest at the Capitol ion the IDES OF MARCH that proved to be the fatal "stab in the back". Described by Mark Anthony as "the most unkindest cut of all".
Was Pak Lah's decison in aborting the Crooked Bridge the "unklindest cut of all" in the eys of Dr Mahathir, who "anointed" him as successor over Najib who got the "higher number" of votes?
Who is the one acting in the nation's interests?
Or God forbid, is it a case of between The Devil and the Deep, Blue Sea?
Both parties were acting in their ownor cronies' interests, so damn you Malaysian rakyat for giving us the huge mandate GE, after GE, after GE2004 with the mostest of damned all at 92%!
Yes, that fateful day when the skies rained down cats&dogs&tigers&elephants and all manner of sound&fury to preface a great calamity to befall Rome! -- that also inspired a li'l Desi's birth of Desiderata2000. And this "betrayal" echoes with deafening silence along the corridors of power in Putrajaya, does it not, my dear ER? You tell Desi, because I'm still trying hard to "desi-pher" through the maze, haze and gaze on the world that is the Malaysian stage.
Okay, enough of Digression&Aggression, which I told you you must let a Blogger indulge in in his own terratry!:(:
That little bulb that lights up some fellow Malaysians, including Desi's and Primrose's, lives~~~~~~~
***An open letter to the PM
By: Jacqueline Ann Surin (Thu, 01 Jun 2006)
Dear Prime Minister Abdullah, When you first came into power after the 2004 general election, you promised us that you would be prime minister for all Malaysians.
In fact, I still have the letter you sent out to voters before the elections that promised you would fulfill your duties with sincerity, integrity, efficiency and fairness.
It was a letter that moved people, including staunch Opposition supporters.
There was hope that a new leadership which was more conciliatory, more willing to listen to differing views and more just was in store for the country.
And people invested in that hope by voting the Barisan Nasional back into power with a clear majority.
But recent events, including your administration's reactions to these events, have been deeply troubling.
The most recent has been the disruption of a peaceful and legitimate public forum in Penang organised by a group of non-governmental organisations that wanted to help people reclaim their rights under the Federal Constitution.
It was unfortunate, but really no longer inconceivable, that those who opposed such a civil discussion should frame their opposition in ways that incite hostility, threaten violence and make false accusations in the name of Islam, a religion that in fact promotes peace and justice.
What is actually more troubling is that as prime minister, you have also publicly announced that these issues of Constitutional rights are "sensitive" and the organisers of such events must be careful not to tread on "dangerous ground", lest the government has to use the Sedition Act against them.
Why would you lend legitimacy to the argument that Malaysians should steer clear of discussing issues which affect us all as citizens, whether Muslim or non-Muslim?
By continuously telling Malaysians these issues are "sensitive" and "dangerous", isn't your administration really creating a self-fulfilling prophecy? Aren't you in fact supporting the argument that these issues should not be discussed?
Additionally, Malaysians have been reminded by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz that it's not for no reason that the word "amok" comes from the Malay community.
Non-Muslims - and that easily translates to non-Malays in this country - are told we cannot speak out about the way Islam is used to formulate laws and public policies in this country even though they affect all of us.
We are told that not just the Sedition Act can be used, so can the Internal Security Act which allows for detention without trial.
In fact, I found it deeply paradoxical that Nazri could repeat the threat of the ISA at an international meeting of experts on Islam and human rights last month.
How can an unjust law be Islamic? We know it cannot, and yet, it would seem your administration is wielding it as a way to silence citizens in a democracy.
The way I see it, naming something "sensitive" and "dangerous" is just a disingenuous way of saying, "This is not open for dialogue and discussion. We might tolerate your views but only to a certain extent."
What that extent is, is left to be seen. We hope your election promises will be kept for all Malaysians, but really, many of us are more fearful than reassured.
From a non-Muslim perspective, the events leading up to the need for public discussions such as the Article 11 forum in Penang, have been disconcerting and troubling.
The painful injustice suffered by S. Shamala who found that her estranged husband could unilaterally convert their children to Islam, and the widow of M. Moorthy who discovered she could not bury her husband according to Hindu rights, are real and frightening.
But those instances of injustice are not being framed as "sensitive" by non-Muslims. They are not being used to threaten violence or incite hostility in order to silence discussion of the issues at hand.
Additionally, when you upheld the decision for the tudung to be used in police parades, did you consider how it would make non-Muslims feel? How can it still be a surprise then that most non-Malays will not join the police force?
Really, I don't need to be a Muslim or a Malay to have a stake in this country. But even that might be delegitimised because in more ways than one, I'm a minority.
And I'm constantly reminded that my views and concerns must give way to the privileges and rights of the dominant race, and a specific interpretation of the faith they profess.
But really what I want to ask you is this: Why do I have to constantly feel afraid in my own country? Why am I continuously told I have less rights to discuss important issues affecting my community?
You promised to be prime minister for all Malaysians. We hope you will remember that promise.
A Malaysian citizen. "****
Jacqueline Ann Surin believes that you cannot be neutral on a moving train. She is an assistant news editor at theSun.
DESIDERATA salutes Jacqueline for getting away from the sidewalk to speak her mindfrom a fellow Concerned Citizen here. Please note that the emphasis highlighted like this in her OPEN LETTER is done by Desi.
I was gladdened to read this response in theSun's Letters column Speak Up today -- another salute to another
Little Light Bulb!~~~~~~~
"An Open Letter to Jacqueline Ann Surin
Dear Jacqueline,
YOUR "Open Letter to the PM"
(Extra June 1) may cause an
uproar in some quarters but I
would like you to know that I
hurt terribly because you are
hurt. I grieve because you live
in fear.
I weep because this country
could have taken the higher,
nobler path but it has not.
You speak of fear, yet your
very letter to the PM is
testimony to uour courage. You
despair, yet I sense you still
have hope for better times, for
if hope had died, your letter
would have died as well.
I do not know you but you
are my sister because Malaysia
is our home and we are her
daughters. When I read what
you write, I do not see your
race. I do not see your faith. I
see only your heart and the
wounds it bears from broken
promises. And I am wounded
too.
Because you are my sister.
Farida J. Ibrahim
Petakling Jaya."~~~~~~~
"TWO SALUTES TO TWO SISTERS,"
from a brother, Desi.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
A bigger bulb lights up...?
In English, which is a beguiling language, tricky too, ticklish as well, there is great importance in using punctuation to serve your communication well. You don't throw ina comma or exclamation mark anywhere you like. Hence you must ask: why does Desi put a Q mark -- the "?" -- in the post title?
Contrast with the story on ANI AROPE's when it was titled "A bulb lights up..." on Omen's Day of 06.06.06.
My most EsteemedReaders, exercise your ind well before the World Cup frenzy hits your kepala (Oops, "Watch Out!" that Wangi Rooney's *F-ball!-- See, there's an exclamation mark after Out...) *F is not another proFUNity-lah, stands for Freekick-lah!:)
To help thee understand the subtlties of the Bard's language (not bastard, or bastradised, BIG difference Okay!), let Desi give you some hints:
* ANIS AROPE was then just a CEO (chief executive officer) of a GLC (Government-linked Company), and BTW, first an Employee
* Dr Mahathir was then CEO of NegaraKu, and BTW, first a Politician
* CHIAROSCURO, the title of a column my press buddy, the late MGG Pillai, used, is APT in describing the present SANDIWARA lighting up the Malaysian stage. It's not all Black OR wWhite -- there's the whole spectrum of grey in between.
SEERIOUS mode now, not that I've not been serious preceding this, it's MORE now. See the double EE?
It's all over the frontpages in every newspaper in town. And it's not any German city.
Right here in Malaysia, out of PUTRAJAYA, from the bigger bulb in no less than TUN DR MAHATHIR MOHAMAD.
Just a sample, from theSun frontpage with the protagonist's pic tightlipped like readying for battle (so we will see another FACE-OFF?):
Tun Mahathir's regrets
Broken promises
'There were certain
things promised that
would be done by the
(present) government, but
the government not only
did not do what was
promised but in fact
reversed many of the
decisions made while the
leader of the (present)
government was (also) in
the (previous) governemnt."
Choice of Abdullah
'Having chosen him as
my successor, in fact
he was not the first choice
he was second as he didn't
have the highest votes.
Najib had. I chose him and
I expect a degree of
gratefulness. But I was told
that I had (been) involved in
mega projects and finished
the money."
Continued on page 2~~
Dr M: Abdullah reneged (Desi: IN RED COLOUR!)
on his promise
PUTRAJAYA: In his most direct attack on his successor to date, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday said Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had reneged on a promise to continue with his policies.
Expressing some regrets over picking Abdullah as his successor, Mahathir lamented: "I chose him and expected a degree of gratefulness (sic). But I was told I had been involved in mega projects and had finished the (government's) money."
Conceding he had made mistakes in supporting people who later stabbed him in the back, he said: "I have a habit of choosing the wrong people".
Mahathir had four deputies during his 22 years in power. The first Tun Musa Hitam quit after falling out with him in 1986 while the second, the late Tun Ghafar Baba, was ousted by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who latter clashed with Mahathir and was sacked and jailed.
Mahathir said he had chosen Abdullah over Datuk Seri Najib Razak to be his successor despite the fact that the latter had the higher votes as Umno vice-president to fill the vacuum left by the sacking of Anwar.
Mahathir said this at a press conference called to talk about a global peace forum that the Perdana Leadership Foundation is organising. After the briefing, he took questions from journalists including the foreign media.
"The (present) government not only did not do what was promised (to me) but instead reversed many of the decisions made when the leader (Abdullah) was part of the (previous) government," he said.
"I tolerated this as much as possible, including the charge that I finished all of the government's money ... that the government was bankrupt and couldn't have any more projects," Mahathir said.
"I kept quiet but when something that is done that is really harmful, l think I would be failing my duty as an ordinary citizen and an ex-prime minister if I don't direct attention to these matters."
Mahathir said he had suffered "bruises" as a result of being accused of finishing the government's money.
But he stressed that despite his unhappiness, he was not engineering the ouster of Abdullah saying that it was "for Umno members to decide".
DESIDERATA calls to mind Shakespeare's famous line, from As You Like It, or even if somebody don't like it! (it should be 'doesn't' instead of 'dont' but What The H..., that's how playwrights take liberty with Grandma...)
"All the world's a stage
And all the men and women merely players..."
Now enter another protagonist in the ongoing musical play my lundun-based friendORfoe (nowadays, you can't tell until the dagger is OOUCH!) and I term
THE SANDYWAR~~
From The Star, page 3,
Najib stands
by Pak Lah
New Delhi: Datuk Seri Najib
Tun Razak has urged all political
leaders, UMNO members and the people
to give their full support to the
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi.
Expressing his confidence in Abdullah's
leadership. the Deputy Prime Minister said he
would stand by him in managing the country.
"I bel;ieve that every Prime Minister will do
what is best for the country, based on
prevailing conditions and situations.
:
:
:
DESIDERATA: The scenario above recalls for Desi the famous/infamous betrayal of Caesar by his best friend, Brutus, whose dagger plunged into the aspiring Emperor's chest was that "stab in the back" described by Mark Anthony as "the unkindest cut of all". You wanna read the script more, go pay RM1.20;
I'm reserving my energy looking for 22 balls, with the
signatures of the leading legends of World Cup since I was born
so that I can auction off at eBoy -- RM20million, MY GOAL.
Contrast with the story on ANI AROPE's when it was titled "A bulb lights up..." on Omen's Day of 06.06.06.
My most EsteemedReaders, exercise your ind well before the World Cup frenzy hits your kepala (Oops, "Watch Out!" that Wangi Rooney's *F-ball!-- See, there's an exclamation mark after Out...) *F is not another proFUNity-lah, stands for Freekick-lah!:)
To help thee understand the subtlties of the Bard's language (not bastard, or bastradised, BIG difference Okay!), let Desi give you some hints:
* ANIS AROPE was then just a CEO (chief executive officer) of a GLC (Government-linked Company), and BTW, first an Employee
* Dr Mahathir was then CEO of NegaraKu, and BTW, first a Politician
* CHIAROSCURO, the title of a column my press buddy, the late MGG Pillai, used, is APT in describing the present SANDIWARA lighting up the Malaysian stage. It's not all Black OR wWhite -- there's the whole spectrum of grey in between.
SEERIOUS mode now, not that I've not been serious preceding this, it's MORE now. See the double EE?
It's all over the frontpages in every newspaper in town. And it's not any German city.
Right here in Malaysia, out of PUTRAJAYA, from the bigger bulb in no less than TUN DR MAHATHIR MOHAMAD.
Just a sample, from theSun frontpage with the protagonist's pic tightlipped like readying for battle (so we will see another FACE-OFF?):
Tun Mahathir's regrets
Broken promises
'There were certain
things promised that
would be done by the
(present) government, but
the government not only
did not do what was
promised but in fact
reversed many of the
decisions made while the
leader of the (present)
government was (also) in
the (previous) governemnt."
Choice of Abdullah
'Having chosen him as
my successor, in fact
he was not the first choice
he was second as he didn't
have the highest votes.
Najib had. I chose him and
I expect a degree of
gratefulness. But I was told
that I had (been) involved in
mega projects and finished
the money."
Continued on page 2~~
Dr M: Abdullah reneged (Desi: IN RED COLOUR!)
on his promise
PUTRAJAYA: In his most direct attack on his successor to date, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday said Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had reneged on a promise to continue with his policies.
Expressing some regrets over picking Abdullah as his successor, Mahathir lamented: "I chose him and expected a degree of gratefulness (sic). But I was told I had been involved in mega projects and had finished the (government's) money."
Conceding he had made mistakes in supporting people who later stabbed him in the back, he said: "I have a habit of choosing the wrong people".
Mahathir had four deputies during his 22 years in power. The first Tun Musa Hitam quit after falling out with him in 1986 while the second, the late Tun Ghafar Baba, was ousted by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who latter clashed with Mahathir and was sacked and jailed.
Mahathir said he had chosen Abdullah over Datuk Seri Najib Razak to be his successor despite the fact that the latter had the higher votes as Umno vice-president to fill the vacuum left by the sacking of Anwar.
Mahathir said this at a press conference called to talk about a global peace forum that the Perdana Leadership Foundation is organising. After the briefing, he took questions from journalists including the foreign media.
"The (present) government not only did not do what was promised (to me) but instead reversed many of the decisions made when the leader (Abdullah) was part of the (previous) government," he said.
"I tolerated this as much as possible, including the charge that I finished all of the government's money ... that the government was bankrupt and couldn't have any more projects," Mahathir said.
"I kept quiet but when something that is done that is really harmful, l think I would be failing my duty as an ordinary citizen and an ex-prime minister if I don't direct attention to these matters."
Mahathir said he had suffered "bruises" as a result of being accused of finishing the government's money.
But he stressed that despite his unhappiness, he was not engineering the ouster of Abdullah saying that it was "for Umno members to decide".
DESIDERATA calls to mind Shakespeare's famous line, from As You Like It, or even if somebody don't like it! (it should be 'doesn't' instead of 'dont' but What The H..., that's how playwrights take liberty with Grandma...)
"All the world's a stage
And all the men and women merely players..."
Now enter another protagonist in the ongoing musical play my lundun-based friendORfoe (nowadays, you can't tell until the dagger is OOUCH!) and I term
THE SANDYWAR~~
From The Star, page 3,
Najib stands
by Pak Lah
New Delhi: Datuk Seri Najib
Tun Razak has urged all political
leaders, UMNO members and the people
to give their full support to the
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi.
Expressing his confidence in Abdullah's
leadership. the Deputy Prime Minister said he
would stand by him in managing the country.
"I bel;ieve that every Prime Minister will do
what is best for the country, based on
prevailing conditions and situations.
:
:
:
DESIDERATA: The scenario above recalls for Desi the famous/infamous betrayal of Caesar by his best friend, Brutus, whose dagger plunged into the aspiring Emperor's chest was that "stab in the back" described by Mark Anthony as "the unkindest cut of all". You wanna read the script more, go pay RM1.20;
I'm reserving my energy looking for 22 balls, with the
signatures of the leading legends of World Cup since I was born
so that I can auction off at eBoy -- RM20million, MY GOAL.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Sometimes we must say NO!
Desi at the BF table spied a news item and thought it could be good Food for Thought for today's post, but some phantom of doubt and hesitancy did linger, for some time.
It could be "extreemely sensitive" if not well articulated; it fact, it could be "sensitive" even when well and properly artic..., well, you know what I mean.
Then I caught up with mGf nigh Catsville, and the ending lines from one "Angel" decided for Desi I should proceed.
From yantouch@blogsome.com first, an extract from
"Uncle George and Angela" June 5, 2006 posting~~~~~~~
***...
And to her boy and girl she says
"It's nice when we agree
But if you can't say 'NO', you'll never grow
To be all you were meant to be
Because I know I am sometimes wrong
And because I love you so
You will always be my angels
Even when you tell me 'NO'"
-Barbara K. Bassett
...****
Second, from The Star, June 7, 2006 page N3, and since the item is short, I reproduce in full, thanks to The People's Paper:
The sky is
the limit,
says PM
KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Michelle Yeoh,
Siti Nurhaliza and Amber Chia
are among the celebrities who have gained international fame,
exemplifying the national principles of glory, excellence and distinction.
They join a string of Malaysian luminaries who have earned accolades
in their field and named as achievers in the Malaysia Book of Records (MBR).
Last night, the MBR added to its list a posthumous award to the late
Tun Ghafar Baba for being the longest-serving MP
and the late Tan Sri Dr P. Ramlee for being the
most versatile artiste.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Effendi Norwawi
presented the awards, on behalf of Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi,
at the MBR 10th Anniversary Edition and Awards Night 2006 here.
In his speech, read out by Effendi, the Prime Minister called on Malaysians to start breaking international records in science, education and business.
Abdullah said Malaysians must equip themselves to face the future with confidence and the belief that they were no lesser individuals than others.
“I hope you will continue to break records not just nationally but internationally. The sky is the limit,” he said.
“For all Malaysians here today, the record-holders should inspire you to seize the day, to dream and to achieve. Turn your thoughts and ideas into record-breaking reality.
“Malaysians should focus on quality, world-class achievements which would add value to our society, enrich our culture, strengthen the moral fibre and provide strong role models for young Malaysians.”
He cited squash champion Nicol Ann David, Mercy Malaysia president Dr Jemilah Mahmood and the Malaysia's astronaut candidates as examples of outstanding world-class characters. (All emphasis in BOLD LIKE THIS is Desi's)
DESIDERATA: I have some reservations about the "luminaries" mentioned, and entered into the MBR. I'll take uup only the case of AMBER CHIA because she has been "in the nu'es" quite a lot, and I had held my tongue previously, but today I decided, even venturing into "sensitive" terrortry!:(
One: I recently had read at various blogs several "negative comments" on Amber's speaaking in English plugging for a corporate advertisment. I have no quarrels with beauty queens earning good money -- but when the "decision-making" is less than intelligent like taking on an assignment quite beyond you, that's not what an iconic model would do. But I held my tongue then.
Two: Her association with PLAYBOY magazine, Indonesian maiden issue which was "banned" from import into Malaysia (I stand corrected on this point, my ER please feedback me if I am astray...)
Three: One name "prominent by its absence" is the Malaysain businessman-hero who conquered Mount Everest recently. Is his "feat" not of international record standing?
So far, only MIC president had come out with a pledge to "honour" him, but I had asked why MIC and not a national level accolade?
I am not against "Playboy" magazines per se, England, American, Mexixcano or Malaysian edition (should IT APpear if some biggun can get an AP!:) What is in question is why should a national beauty queen associate with a product which in the popular mind belongs to that "playboyish/playgirlish" playground?
Is MONEY, MONEY, MONEY the over-riding factor in such decision-making, for a national role model?
Remember, PERCEPTION in terms of branding is important as any advertising cashes in on "the popular image" created in the public mind. Never mind the details of the "Playboy" assignment -- it's the association with the brand that raises the question of "iconic" model imaging.
Or this beauty was pushed into such assignments as part of her CONTRACT terms?
I wish to be educated. Maybe her sponsors can intervene on this hot issue?
I will give FREE, FRONTPAGE PROFILE at Desiderata2000-lah, no fees charged!
I'm leaving that RM20million quest to mGf like Howsy, Maverick SM, Anak Merdeka and Helen, et al...Yes, mayhaps, even Yan of nigh Catsville.
Now the currrent air-waves (listen to Light&Easy-lah!) feature yet another Amber's product advertisment -- and in English language that's "torturous" to listeners' ears, maybe even primary school kids'! Each time she plugs for a certain "chair" in view of fast approaching Father's Day, I "agonised" over her English pronunciation, her artificial mouthing of just a few sentences which show nakedly she's in "forced labour".Can she learn to say NO when she's NOT YET UP TO IT FOR SUCH ASSIOGNMENTS?
PERHAPS, there is a lesson to be learnt from the closing news report about making PRINCIPLED STANDS.I am reproducing that report in full mainly because it is of universal interest as the subject in question is your Everyday Companion, yes?
My questions which I'll speak aloud here -- with reluctance but yet I feel strongly enough to belabour the points! -- are thus:
Did Amber Chia make any compromises in taking on the Indonesian PLAYBOY assignment?
Did Amber Chia take on the role of plugging for Corporate Advertisements in English when she's NOT YET UP TO IT?
MAYBE she made some false steps; she's still young.
As a concerned Malaysia,
I have some advice to Amber since she's being flagged off as a role model to the Y&A in NegaraKU, borrowing from -Barbara K. Bassett
"...
But if you can't say 'NO', you'll never grow
To be all you were meant to be..."
Enhancing with Pak Lah's words of wisdom~~
“Malaysians should focus on quality, world-class achievements which would add value to our society, enrich our culture, strengthen the moral fibre and provide strong role models for young Malaysians.”
WISE WORDS. I hold the PM to his word, that Malaysians who follow this credo
would be given due recognition by the government of NegaraKU and not be made to feel, adapting from the PM's words, that they were, indeed, lesser individuals than others.This is a lament of many Malaysians, leading them to "migrate" overseas, or for those who have studied and grduated in foreign universites, are reluctant to return to NegaraKU. Whether their laments are valid or not, it's NOT for Desi to judge, but they CANNOT be ignored.
BONUS CLOSING NEWS ITEM AS FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
Bear with Desi as he tries to Tarck Down an item he read earlier but it just went "MIA" from the www before I could C&P! It's basically about Google.com suffering a sharp fall in the stock market when the company "compromised" with the Chinese government authorities to "censor" its China search engine in order to make it accessible to mainland Chinese Internet surfers.
Americans that are at a higher plane of subscribing to democratic ideals did not take kindly to this "compromise" -- raising issues of integrity and business ethics, and the news report I sighted "for a while" had quoted a fromer founder Prin (? did not register his fool /full name...)lamenting Google's decision, avowing that it would have been wiser to maintain a PRINCIPLED STAND with no compromises made to conform to another marketplace's authoritarian/communist regime... (something like dat).
So my ER, if you spy a "similar" report, please load onto my Comments channel and I'll do a C&P to promote the "lesson" in da Frontpage. One tehtarik manis-manis to a good Samaritan like for Da Beauty Queen with Brains, oso-cun!:)
It could be "extreemely sensitive" if not well articulated; it fact, it could be "sensitive" even when well and properly artic..., well, you know what I mean.
Then I caught up with mGf nigh Catsville, and the ending lines from one "Angel" decided for Desi I should proceed.
From yantouch@blogsome.com first, an extract from
"Uncle George and Angela" June 5, 2006 posting~~~~~~~
***...
And to her boy and girl she says
"It's nice when we agree
But if you can't say 'NO', you'll never grow
To be all you were meant to be
Because I know I am sometimes wrong
And because I love you so
You will always be my angels
Even when you tell me 'NO'"
-Barbara K. Bassett
...****
Second, from The Star, June 7, 2006 page N3, and since the item is short, I reproduce in full, thanks to The People's Paper:
The sky is
the limit,
says PM
KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Michelle Yeoh,
Siti Nurhaliza and Amber Chia
are among the celebrities who have gained international fame,
exemplifying the national principles of glory, excellence and distinction.
They join a string of Malaysian luminaries who have earned accolades
in their field and named as achievers in the Malaysia Book of Records (MBR).
Last night, the MBR added to its list a posthumous award to the late
Tun Ghafar Baba for being the longest-serving MP
and the late Tan Sri Dr P. Ramlee for being the
most versatile artiste.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Effendi Norwawi
presented the awards, on behalf of Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi,
at the MBR 10th Anniversary Edition and Awards Night 2006 here.
In his speech, read out by Effendi, the Prime Minister called on Malaysians to start breaking international records in science, education and business.
Abdullah said Malaysians must equip themselves to face the future with confidence and the belief that they were no lesser individuals than others.
“I hope you will continue to break records not just nationally but internationally. The sky is the limit,” he said.
“For all Malaysians here today, the record-holders should inspire you to seize the day, to dream and to achieve. Turn your thoughts and ideas into record-breaking reality.
“Malaysians should focus on quality, world-class achievements which would add value to our society, enrich our culture, strengthen the moral fibre and provide strong role models for young Malaysians.”
He cited squash champion Nicol Ann David, Mercy Malaysia president Dr Jemilah Mahmood and the Malaysia's astronaut candidates as examples of outstanding world-class characters. (All emphasis in BOLD LIKE THIS is Desi's)
DESIDERATA: I have some reservations about the "luminaries" mentioned, and entered into the MBR. I'll take uup only the case of AMBER CHIA because she has been "in the nu'es" quite a lot, and I had held my tongue previously, but today I decided, even venturing into "sensitive" terrortry!:(
One: I recently had read at various blogs several "negative comments" on Amber's speaaking in English plugging for a corporate advertisment. I have no quarrels with beauty queens earning good money -- but when the "decision-making" is less than intelligent like taking on an assignment quite beyond you, that's not what an iconic model would do. But I held my tongue then.
Two: Her association with PLAYBOY magazine, Indonesian maiden issue which was "banned" from import into Malaysia (I stand corrected on this point, my ER please feedback me if I am astray...)
Three: One name "prominent by its absence" is the Malaysain businessman-hero who conquered Mount Everest recently. Is his "feat" not of international record standing?
So far, only MIC president had come out with a pledge to "honour" him, but I had asked why MIC and not a national level accolade?
I am not against "Playboy" magazines per se, England, American, Mexixcano or Malaysian edition (should IT APpear if some biggun can get an AP!:) What is in question is why should a national beauty queen associate with a product which in the popular mind belongs to that "playboyish/playgirlish" playground?
Is MONEY, MONEY, MONEY the over-riding factor in such decision-making, for a national role model?
Remember, PERCEPTION in terms of branding is important as any advertising cashes in on "the popular image" created in the public mind. Never mind the details of the "Playboy" assignment -- it's the association with the brand that raises the question of "iconic" model imaging.
Or this beauty was pushed into such assignments as part of her CONTRACT terms?
I wish to be educated. Maybe her sponsors can intervene on this hot issue?
I will give FREE, FRONTPAGE PROFILE at Desiderata2000-lah, no fees charged!
I'm leaving that RM20million quest to mGf like Howsy, Maverick SM, Anak Merdeka and Helen, et al...Yes, mayhaps, even Yan of nigh Catsville.
Now the currrent air-waves (listen to Light&Easy-lah!) feature yet another Amber's product advertisment -- and in English language that's "torturous" to listeners' ears, maybe even primary school kids'! Each time she plugs for a certain "chair" in view of fast approaching Father's Day, I "agonised" over her English pronunciation, her artificial mouthing of just a few sentences which show nakedly she's in "forced labour".Can she learn to say NO when she's NOT YET UP TO IT FOR SUCH ASSIOGNMENTS?
PERHAPS, there is a lesson to be learnt from the closing news report about making PRINCIPLED STANDS.I am reproducing that report in full mainly because it is of universal interest as the subject in question is your Everyday Companion, yes?
My questions which I'll speak aloud here -- with reluctance but yet I feel strongly enough to belabour the points! -- are thus:
Did Amber Chia make any compromises in taking on the Indonesian PLAYBOY assignment?
Did Amber Chia take on the role of plugging for Corporate Advertisements in English when she's NOT YET UP TO IT?
MAYBE she made some false steps; she's still young.
As a concerned Malaysia,
I have some advice to Amber since she's being flagged off as a role model to the Y&A in NegaraKU, borrowing from -Barbara K. Bassett
"...
But if you can't say 'NO', you'll never grow
To be all you were meant to be..."
Enhancing with Pak Lah's words of wisdom~~
“Malaysians should focus on quality, world-class achievements which would add value to our society, enrich our culture, strengthen the moral fibre and provide strong role models for young Malaysians.”
WISE WORDS. I hold the PM to his word, that Malaysians who follow this credo
would be given due recognition by the government of NegaraKU and not be made to feel, adapting from the PM's words, that they were, indeed, lesser individuals than others.This is a lament of many Malaysians, leading them to "migrate" overseas, or for those who have studied and grduated in foreign universites, are reluctant to return to NegaraKU. Whether their laments are valid or not, it's NOT for Desi to judge, but they CANNOT be ignored.
BONUS CLOSING NEWS ITEM AS FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
Bear with Desi as he tries to Tarck Down an item he read earlier but it just went "MIA" from the www before I could C&P! It's basically about Google.com suffering a sharp fall in the stock market when the company "compromised" with the Chinese government authorities to "censor" its China search engine in order to make it accessible to mainland Chinese Internet surfers.
Americans that are at a higher plane of subscribing to democratic ideals did not take kindly to this "compromise" -- raising issues of integrity and business ethics, and the news report I sighted "for a while" had quoted a fromer founder Prin (? did not register his fool /full name...)lamenting Google's decision, avowing that it would have been wiser to maintain a PRINCIPLED STAND with no compromises made to conform to another marketplace's authoritarian/communist regime... (something like dat).
So my ER, if you spy a "similar" report, please load onto my Comments channel and I'll do a C&P to promote the "lesson" in da Frontpage. One tehtarik manis-manis to a good Samaritan like for Da Beauty Queen with Brains, oso-cun!:)
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
A bulb lights up...
And we consumers are wised up to the fact we have been suckered/sucked/*ucked! Again and again,
and certain Malaysians are already calling on Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to make a come-back.
How MASOCHISTIC can Malaysians get?
Every four/five years they go to the polls, vote the Dacing, then complain, complain, cuntplan...
TENAGA NASIONAL BHD (TNB) raised tariff rates by 12% from June 1, 2006 and a certain minister says only about 40% of the populace would be affected. He meant that the power income holdholds who use less than RM40 a month of electricty bills would not be affected.
The minister DISCOUNTS completely that the business sector, especially transportation, manufacturing and all large and medium sized businesses would have to put up with higher power bills, so naturally this rise in expenditure is passed on to the customers -- finally the end-users like Avergae Joe/Jane will see a declining ringgit purchasing power and less money in the pocket before the end of the month is out, anxiously waiting for the next payday. Yet such minsiters are voted in GE after GE; and 90% mandate for the Barisan Nasional in March 2004. Dear consumers/voters, don't you think you bear a large portion of the blame/bill?
Okay, the bulb that lights up the dark room is ...
TAN SRI ANI AROPE, former TNB Executuive Chairman.
IN an exclusive interview with The Star June 6, 2006 on page B3, Ani said chiefly to the effect:
* The suckering came about from the time when the Government decided on the PRIVATISATION ("Piratisation" as some smaralecs say:( of the power geeneration sector to address the issue of stable power supply after the landmark 1992 BLACKOUT.
** In was during ANI's chairmanship of TNB from 1990 to 1996 when the KEY ISSUE of TNB buying the power generated by the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) had to be decided, and TNB literally was told it had no power -- yes, zilch! -- to have any input on the decision-making. The EPU will decide -- and TNB's head and all his staff can go fly a kite, that was what it amounted to.
*** The TNB management was over-ruled in decision-making by those powerful people at the ECONOMIC PLANNING UNIT (EPU) -- and if you don't know that the EPU is located at the Prime Minister's Department, now you know!
And you you still are in the dark who was then the PM, it's (now retitred) TUN DR MAHATHIR MOHAMAD; okay, now you know. And if you wish to stop reading from here, please do so, I won't blame you.
So if you still long for the halcyon days pre-2004 for two decades: Go get some Other Light!
Just some key extracts, and I would refer other Readers still interested to go spend RM1.20 on the paper-lah; if need to, read before twilight (about 7.00pm by my reckoning) before you have to switch on the living room lights!
"Change life-style-lah!", you masochistic Malaysians. If I offend thee with such a parting shot, IT'S NOT TARGETED AT ALL MY ER.
It holds true top those who "makan cili dis lah yang rasa pedas nya". Desi also does NOT hail from Pedas, Negri Sembilan. For the record, I come from Furong aka Seremban, NS.
From the horse's mouth~~~~~~~
"...THEN it surfaced that it wanted to privatise the power plants. I am not anti-IPPs per se. It is good to have other players but it has to be done fairly. It has to be fair to the consumers, not just TNB, which is a conduit. TNB, because of the electricity hike, has been treated as the whipping boy. The focus should be on the consumers.
When the generous terms were given to the IPPs, all my other peers around the world asked what was happening. They said they would like to have a share in the IPPs. They said (the contracts to IPPs) were “too darn generous.'' (The terms) were grossly one sided.
The Star: How was the Malaysian model of IPPs created?
Ani: Ask our previous Prime Minister.
The Star: How was the process of negotiations with IPPs conducted?
Ani: There was no negotiation. Absolutely none. Instead of talking directly with the IPPs, TNB was sitting down with the EPU. And we were harassed, humiliated and talked down every time we went there. After that, my team was disappointed. The EPU just gave us the terms and asked us to agree. I said no way I would.
The Star: What about the pricing and terms of the contracts?
Ani: It was all fixed up. (They said) this is the price, this is the capacity charge and this is the number of years. They said you just take it and I refused to sign the contracts. And then, I was put out to pasture.
DESIDERATA: One tall salute to TAN SRI ANI, who paid a heavy price for sticking to his PRINCIPLES. Does this ring some light on one MP, from JB, that this reminds me of one Sharir Samad?
So few goode men left in Malaysia;
but you VOTERS have better protect this declining species.
Before Desi switches off the bulb, here's some sobering words for Malaysians -- from one I deem a Towering Malaysian -- and I hope they raech especially those serving as CEO at listed, listing and de-listing companies of BURSA MALAYSIA (former Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange)~~~~~~~
The Star: How were you affected by the process of awarding the IPP contracts?
Ani:
I felt sick. It was morally wrong and not fair. If it is legal and not fair, I will not do it. If it is fair and illegal, I still won’t do it. It has to be legal and fair.
We work for the consumers, workers and shareholders. TNB is morally obligated to these three, but the consumers come first, otherwise we won’t be around. It is then the workers and the shareholders.
When I said that, they said ‘Dia ingat bapak dia-punya’ (He thinks this is his father’s company). This job is an amanah (trust). You are entrusted with this responsibility and you carry it out to the best of your ability. I do not want somebody to come and urinate on my grave. In the Malay culture, that is about the worst insult they can do to a man.
PS: An extract from KLSETRACKER.COM~~~~~~~
GOVERNMENT APPROVES TENAGA's NEW TARIFF HIKE OF 12%
TENAGA NASIONAL reported May 24, 2006 that the Government had approved its tariff hike of an average of 12% for monthly consumption in excess of the first 200kwh. Exemptions from the price hike are also provided for certain agro and farming-based primary production industries and for Government schools, universities and welfare institutions.
EDITOR's NOTES:
TENAGA is the Government-controlled electricity utility. The utility purchases a fair amount of its electricity from privatised concessionaires at relatively high prices. These privatised concessionaires were set up during the Mahathir Administration to overcome shortages and as political trade offs for certain vested segments.
The Government allowed for a tariff hike to overcome costs increases for the utility. The tariff hike is expected to give TENAGA a Revenue boost of RM1.5 bil. per year. In FY2005, TENAGA recorded Revenues of RM18.9 bil. The last tariff hike was in 1997.
TENAGA earned Net PAT over Revenue (ROR% - Return on Revenue %) range of 4.5% to 6.7% in the past 3 years up to FYE2005. Based on FY2005 ROR of 6.74%, TENAGA is likely to earn an additional Net PAT of RM100m. With NOSH (number of outstanding shares) of 3.23 bil shares as at Feb 28, 2006, the Net EPS is approximately 3.09 sen per share.
Based on noon closing price of a gain of 50 sen per share, the PE multiple of the projected gain translates into a PE multiple of 16.2 times.
and certain Malaysians are already calling on Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to make a come-back.
How MASOCHISTIC can Malaysians get?
Every four/five years they go to the polls, vote the Dacing, then complain, complain, cuntplan...
TENAGA NASIONAL BHD (TNB) raised tariff rates by 12% from June 1, 2006 and a certain minister says only about 40% of the populace would be affected. He meant that the power income holdholds who use less than RM40 a month of electricty bills would not be affected.
The minister DISCOUNTS completely that the business sector, especially transportation, manufacturing and all large and medium sized businesses would have to put up with higher power bills, so naturally this rise in expenditure is passed on to the customers -- finally the end-users like Avergae Joe/Jane will see a declining ringgit purchasing power and less money in the pocket before the end of the month is out, anxiously waiting for the next payday. Yet such minsiters are voted in GE after GE; and 90% mandate for the Barisan Nasional in March 2004. Dear consumers/voters, don't you think you bear a large portion of the blame/bill?
Okay, the bulb that lights up the dark room is ...
TAN SRI ANI AROPE, former TNB Executuive Chairman.
IN an exclusive interview with The Star June 6, 2006 on page B3, Ani said chiefly to the effect:
* The suckering came about from the time when the Government decided on the PRIVATISATION ("Piratisation" as some smaralecs say:( of the power geeneration sector to address the issue of stable power supply after the landmark 1992 BLACKOUT.
** In was during ANI's chairmanship of TNB from 1990 to 1996 when the KEY ISSUE of TNB buying the power generated by the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) had to be decided, and TNB literally was told it had no power -- yes, zilch! -- to have any input on the decision-making. The EPU will decide -- and TNB's head and all his staff can go fly a kite, that was what it amounted to.
*** The TNB management was over-ruled in decision-making by those powerful people at the ECONOMIC PLANNING UNIT (EPU) -- and if you don't know that the EPU is located at the Prime Minister's Department, now you know!
And you you still are in the dark who was then the PM, it's (now retitred) TUN DR MAHATHIR MOHAMAD; okay, now you know. And if you wish to stop reading from here, please do so, I won't blame you.
So if you still long for the halcyon days pre-2004 for two decades: Go get some Other Light!
Just some key extracts, and I would refer other Readers still interested to go spend RM1.20 on the paper-lah; if need to, read before twilight (about 7.00pm by my reckoning) before you have to switch on the living room lights!
"Change life-style-lah!", you masochistic Malaysians. If I offend thee with such a parting shot, IT'S NOT TARGETED AT ALL MY ER.
It holds true top those who "makan cili dis lah yang rasa pedas nya". Desi also does NOT hail from Pedas, Negri Sembilan. For the record, I come from Furong aka Seremban, NS.
From the horse's mouth~~~~~~~
"...THEN it surfaced that it wanted to privatise the power plants. I am not anti-IPPs per se. It is good to have other players but it has to be done fairly. It has to be fair to the consumers, not just TNB, which is a conduit. TNB, because of the electricity hike, has been treated as the whipping boy. The focus should be on the consumers.
When the generous terms were given to the IPPs, all my other peers around the world asked what was happening. They said they would like to have a share in the IPPs. They said (the contracts to IPPs) were “too darn generous.'' (The terms) were grossly one sided.
The Star: How was the Malaysian model of IPPs created?
Ani: Ask our previous Prime Minister.
The Star: How was the process of negotiations with IPPs conducted?
Ani: There was no negotiation. Absolutely none. Instead of talking directly with the IPPs, TNB was sitting down with the EPU. And we were harassed, humiliated and talked down every time we went there. After that, my team was disappointed. The EPU just gave us the terms and asked us to agree. I said no way I would.
The Star: What about the pricing and terms of the contracts?
Ani: It was all fixed up. (They said) this is the price, this is the capacity charge and this is the number of years. They said you just take it and I refused to sign the contracts. And then, I was put out to pasture.
DESIDERATA: One tall salute to TAN SRI ANI, who paid a heavy price for sticking to his PRINCIPLES. Does this ring some light on one MP, from JB, that this reminds me of one Sharir Samad?
So few goode men left in Malaysia;
but you VOTERS have better protect this declining species.
Before Desi switches off the bulb, here's some sobering words for Malaysians -- from one I deem a Towering Malaysian -- and I hope they raech especially those serving as CEO at listed, listing and de-listing companies of BURSA MALAYSIA (former Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange)~~~~~~~
The Star: How were you affected by the process of awarding the IPP contracts?
Ani:
I felt sick. It was morally wrong and not fair. If it is legal and not fair, I will not do it. If it is fair and illegal, I still won’t do it. It has to be legal and fair.
We work for the consumers, workers and shareholders. TNB is morally obligated to these three, but the consumers come first, otherwise we won’t be around. It is then the workers and the shareholders.
When I said that, they said ‘Dia ingat bapak dia-punya’ (He thinks this is his father’s company). This job is an amanah (trust). You are entrusted with this responsibility and you carry it out to the best of your ability. I do not want somebody to come and urinate on my grave. In the Malay culture, that is about the worst insult they can do to a man.
PS: An extract from KLSETRACKER.COM~~~~~~~
GOVERNMENT APPROVES TENAGA's NEW TARIFF HIKE OF 12%
TENAGA NASIONAL reported May 24, 2006 that the Government had approved its tariff hike of an average of 12% for monthly consumption in excess of the first 200kwh. Exemptions from the price hike are also provided for certain agro and farming-based primary production industries and for Government schools, universities and welfare institutions.
EDITOR's NOTES:
TENAGA is the Government-controlled electricity utility. The utility purchases a fair amount of its electricity from privatised concessionaires at relatively high prices. These privatised concessionaires were set up during the Mahathir Administration to overcome shortages and as political trade offs for certain vested segments.
The Government allowed for a tariff hike to overcome costs increases for the utility. The tariff hike is expected to give TENAGA a Revenue boost of RM1.5 bil. per year. In FY2005, TENAGA recorded Revenues of RM18.9 bil. The last tariff hike was in 1997.
TENAGA earned Net PAT over Revenue (ROR% - Return on Revenue %) range of 4.5% to 6.7% in the past 3 years up to FYE2005. Based on FY2005 ROR of 6.74%, TENAGA is likely to earn an additional Net PAT of RM100m. With NOSH (number of outstanding shares) of 3.23 bil shares as at Feb 28, 2006, the Net EPS is approximately 3.09 sen per share.
Based on noon closing price of a gain of 50 sen per share, the PE multiple of the projected gain translates into a PE multiple of 16.2 times.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Thinking Allowed on the Judiciary
TWO SATURDAYS ago I was up in the clouds looking at the vast landscapes of castles, forests, rolling hills interspersed with palans, maybe some gardens -- but they were all bathed in cottony white. Some shades of grey here and three -- but it was overwhelmingly white. You thought of angels and demons, goblins and elves hidden behind those cottony abodes -- and wonder if Planet Earth would one day look like this after Armageddon. Not a sight any any human beings, like men at work by their kebun, and children at play at the school or kindie. Armageddon brought about by a dozen nuclear bombs, enough to snuff out the human race in a matter of hours, and all because the species among them contained some deviants. Michael Crichton would be able tp spin an impressive storyline of this scenario. Maybe Steven Spielberg is already working on a movie based on such a storyboard?
IF thou art Lost at sea, it's just myself looking out of the window of the plane on my way to Kingswood Inn and the sea below looked deceptively calm without any moving waves, just a darker shade of grey below the cottony clouds. Deafening Silence.
When I wrote about ANGELS on Sunday, don't you remember Interlude,, so short thy memory isit? one solitary respondent commented, and I quote See Fei, who I remember on his maiden visit here was a mite taken aback by Desispeak, and left not too CONplimentary a note. Okay, sperring ellor here, should read Complimentary. Jest having one back on See Fei, a fellow Malaysian and I believe a spirited Ipohlang but I don't know while he listed himself as located in da Solomon Islands but yet often blogs about Da Sin-land. Mysterious, some of these Ipohlang!
Never mind, I was taken by da quote, which I deem discerning, enlightening, and contains a code for us to desipher:
"See Fei said...
angels...demons...they come from the same place. one a bureaucrat, the other an entrepreneur.
10:11 PM "
Another quote was very much of my mind this morn as I listened to "You needed me" on Light&Easy on the way to work.
"EACH NIGHT WHEN I GO TO SLEEP, I DIE. AND THE NEXT MORNING, WHEN I WAKE UP, I AM REBORN." ~~ Mahatma Gandhi
Hey, Monday is not a holiday for Desi -- he has to work like most Tom, Dick and Harry to put "kaya" on the B&B. Of coursem some Dicks work more than others.I don't because I work SMART. But I feel blessed because I am reborn as a new son with the rising sun.So I startr my day with a whispered Thank You prayer that I can converse with my friends.
Earlier in the evening on Sunday, I had read an interesting interview by the New Sunday Times (NST) with a retired judge whom I had the privilege of "covering" in my journo days -- hence the loyar buluk in Desi. Yes, the esteemed jugde, then a Prosecuting Officer if I'm not mistaken, or he was on the bench as Sessions Court President? Well, gain an inkling of a fine mind at work, and patriotic Malaysians must take heed of what he says, for the future of a very important Institution is hugely at stake, and all interested parties must reflect on someone who finds the time to share his experience: ~~~
Sunday Interview:
'If the courts are contaminated, where else can people go?'
04 Jun 2006
One of the best ways to ensure integrity in the judiciary would be to set up a Judicial Commission, says Datuk Shaikh Daud Md Ismail. Tracing allegations of corruption within the legal system back to 1988, the outspoken former Court of Appeal judge tells (NST) that the authors of poison-pen letters should be protected.
NST: Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim said recently he had received poison-pen letters alleging corruption in the judiciary and had forwarded them to the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA). He said the judiciary had conducted its own investigations but had no ‘credible evidence’. What is the perception now about corruption in the judiciary, compared with before your retirement in 2001?
A: Everybody held the courts in high esteem until the 1988 crisis and the respect really plummeted. Before I retired, there had been hints but no one put it down on paper except for a particular incident in 1996 when there was one petition against judges.
It was about corruption in the judiciary and naming some judges for high living and that sort of thing. It was distributed to all the judges attending the annual judges’ conference in Kuching.
All of us read it and we thought the petition, although anonymous, should have been investigated.
NST: Was this the poison-pen letter written by then High Court judge Datuk Syed Ahmad Idid Syed Abdullah Idid, who later resigned?
A: That’s the one I was referring to. In our view, some of the judges’ view, the petition was not investigated but the writer of the petition was investigated.
That is why I say, people now resort to anonymous letters because it has become a norm that whistle-blowers become the victims at times. So people are afraid to put their names. Especially, for example, if someone wants to complain against a judge.
Now, who would be in a better position to know whether a judge is corrupt or not? Probably lawyers. Do you think a lawyer would dare send a letter openly, putting his name, to say that this happened in his case? His career is going to be ruined.
NST: Why do you pinpoint 1988 as the year things started to change?
A: The removal of the Lord President, Tun Mohamad Salleh Abas, affected the court tremendously. I don’t know whether corruption started after or before that, but it seemed to surface.
In my retirement speech, I quoted an incident which was told to me by one senior lawyer.
After he interviewed a client for (a civil) case, he was of the view that the client had a bad case so he recommended that they settle it out of court.
The reply he got was shocking. His client said: "Don’t worry, you file it in this particular court and boleh menang (can win)."
That clinched with what a businessman had told me (earlier) about not wanting to win or lose because a particular judge was sitting in that court. That should never happen and it had never happened before.
NST: The Chief Justice has proposed having more than one judge presiding over a trial to prevent corruption. What are your views on that proposal?
A: In theory it may be OK, but in practice, I don’t think it would work. For a start, you would have to treble the number of judges immediately. That would prolong the hearing of cases.
Three persons sitting might ask more questions and probe further. One may not agree with another. The courts must also be equipped to have three judges. Some parts may have to be enlarged to accommodate three.
NST: Solicitor-General Datuk Idris Harun has suggested jury trials to tackle the problem. Please comment.
A: Jury trials would reduce corruption because it is not the judge’s decision on facts. The jury’s decision is on the facts of the case but the judge will guide the jury on the law.
But the reason why jury trials were abolished is because they were ineffective. I did a number of jury trials in the High Court and I found our juries are not equipped to handle the situation.
DESIDERATA is truncating the Interview midway and encourages my ER to grab a back-copy of the Sunday paper to fully enjoy the elucidation. I'm not spoiling my Readers here. Spend 60sen-lah, half price most likely for a 24-hour-old copy!
Among other more interesting points, Shaikh Daud said that "I remember when I was senior federal counsel with the ACA from 1973 to 1976, we successfully prosecuted cases which started from anonymous letters."
Also the newspaper added an important~~~
FOOTNOTE: Then Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohtar Abdullah said in July 1996 that the 12 judges implicated in the letter had been interviewed by the authorities. "My officers and I have perused thoroughly the investigation papers of the ACA and the police and we are satisfied that the allegations are wholly untrue and baseless," he said.
DESIDERATA's Blues Mondae ChallengiA: How many of my EsteemedReaders see the significance of the year mentioned above -- 1988?
Now, please indulge this scribe a little if I conduct a little "history" lesson, mostly political, but having much, okay, IMHO if that counts much or little, do I care? ~~~ a "huge" bearing on the Judiciary. (That self-posed question was inserted because I was Thinking Allowed that so many judges voices had been dismissed, what is a little voice of a journalist? Do you see da light, mGf?)
But can I delight with a poem, maybe reprised;
I'm not sure because nowadays, memories are short.
(Jest to avoid any missunderstanding,esp with the ladies who are not so interested in Politics!:( the unsureness is not about the Poem, it's aboyut it being reprised here. Sorry for the digression/aggression, a trait I picked up from obserrtving lawyers at work. Serious.)
Questioning Mind
They talk in many tongues
Preaching salvation
And monopoly of the Truth
Breathing hellfire
On those who'd not stay
To sing the same saccharine song
You're a traitor to the Cause
If you should raise just a murmur
of any question
You'd die a thousand deaths
If you'd doubt the Elder's tongue
Or God forbid,
Challenge the wisdom of his Word
So remain a meek lamb
Another number in his obedient flock
Or else, bid farewell
Jump off this wagon quick
So that Heaven has one more
Vacancy to dwell.
Composing the poem enabled to writer to “release” some really strong feelings bordering on anger, and questioning, at some of the “lies” he had come across, especially coming out of the mouths of “preachers”, and I don’t restrict these to the religious order. Included are those activists shouting the Cause of independent journalism, environment conservation, consumerism, even feminism or other social causes. There are just too many wolves in sheep’s clothing around, smiling tigers too. Trouble is, the modern “preachers” now wear designer attire, and they live at five-star hotels, I mean it, literally, while they bring the word of their “almighty” Cause to the poor and lowly, down-trodden, ignoramus, or pitiable converts-to-be – ordinary men and women in the street - staying in humble dwellings and working overtime to earn their three square meals!
Dr. Mahathir’s 22-year reign as the helmsman of Malaysia has also seen the country through many good, and bad, and ugly, times. The most tumultuous event would, in my humble opinion, be the “sacking of Anwar Ibrahim” as the deputy premier and as deputy president of UMNO, which was followed by a series of “strange events” in the courts, and in the streets of Kuala Lumpur. For me as a journalist, these events amounted to what I’d term as “rude awakenings”; but there was not much room for putting down in words one’s feelings of bewilderment and outrage at these events.
Most just watched with a sense of resignation at the unfolding drama; many termed it as “sandiwara” (Malay opera), but these “shows” at least stirred many Malaysians from their life-goes-on-as-usual life-style. For once, many became more politically conscious, if not active, and they asked questions, if not in public, at least at the teh-tarik stall or higher class coffee-house, or at their favourite water-hole. People began to wonder what’s happening, and where are we, as a nation, headed? Featured here is one poem composed during these interesting times, relating to the then unfolding, mainly political, events:
Now bear2 with Desi, with a seond ditty, mayhaps reprised, I'm not sure2!~~~
It Gets Curiouser and Curiouser
When I was young I was told
Spinning a story you must be bold
But it still must have a beginning
And an ending, and somethin’ in between
But lately my motherland
Gave birth to very strange events
The cycle was like a record
Being played out from the end
Remember Michael Jackson’s video clip
When uprooted trees regained their standing stature
Dried up safari land became green pastures
And elephant carcasses stood majestically alive again
It gets curiouser and curiouser
As was observed in Alice in Wonderland
And events in Malaysia the past decade
Closely mirror Lewis Carroll’s rich imaginings
The story purportedly started in September 1998
As many Anwarists would want you to believe
That Reformasi was galvanized
When the deputy PM was excised from the head
But my friends, be reminded
It was way back on a May Day in ‘88
When the court sat on a holy day
A panel of junior judges sacked their chief
Salleh Abas Lord President was dismissed in a jiffy
But then DPM Anwar Ibrahim held his tongue
A decade later with one fell swoop
Anwar became a lauded victim in the vicious loop
Refomrasi Anwar started, his loyalists proclaim
They forgot Salleh and his Brave Ones
Who stood their ground for justice
They indeed were the unheralded Originals
Reformation is not only taking to the streets
It’s changing of the mindset
What became of the Judiciary following Salleh?
It was downhill all the way…
It led the country’s leading judicious mind
The late Tun Suffian Hashim to lament in 2000:
“I wouldn’t like to be tried by today’s judges,
Especially if I am innocent.”*
*Quoted from a speech on March 10, 2000 that the former Lord President delivered at a Bar commemoration for the late Justice Tan Sri Wan Sulaiman.
In closing this long track, following in the stylo of the New Sunday Times, here's Another Footnote from Desi~~~
I’d add here is that many Malaysians have short memories, including so called Anwar’s supporters who only cried “foul” when their leader was deemed to have been unfairly treated by the authorities, going through the motion of some court proceeding, followed by jail terms. But did they ever ask: when the judges were sacked about a decade earlier, and Anwar was part and parcel of the Government (first as Finance Minister, then as Deputy Prime Minister), did he raise any protest when “injustice” befell the former Lord President and five fellow judges? There is a saying, “What goes around, comes around”, which many of the country’s politicians must take heed of, if they do have a conscience.
FURTHER READING SUGGESTED:
But if you wish to Close One Eye or Switch Off Half A Brain,
don't bother to visit malaysianbar.org.my
to expand your historical knowledge of a landmark event (or series)
in Sejarah Malaysia, not accoridng to RTMElm!
Seah: History will exonerate
me for taking a stand -- The Hidden Story
By ©Datuk George Seah
IF thou art Lost at sea, it's just myself looking out of the window of the plane on my way to Kingswood Inn and the sea below looked deceptively calm without any moving waves, just a darker shade of grey below the cottony clouds. Deafening Silence.
When I wrote about ANGELS on Sunday, don't you remember Interlude,, so short thy memory isit? one solitary respondent commented, and I quote See Fei, who I remember on his maiden visit here was a mite taken aback by Desispeak, and left not too CONplimentary a note. Okay, sperring ellor here, should read Complimentary. Jest having one back on See Fei, a fellow Malaysian and I believe a spirited Ipohlang but I don't know while he listed himself as located in da Solomon Islands but yet often blogs about Da Sin-land. Mysterious, some of these Ipohlang!
Never mind, I was taken by da quote, which I deem discerning, enlightening, and contains a code for us to desipher:
"See Fei said...
angels...demons...they come from the same place. one a bureaucrat, the other an entrepreneur.
10:11 PM "
Another quote was very much of my mind this morn as I listened to "You needed me" on Light&Easy on the way to work.
"EACH NIGHT WHEN I GO TO SLEEP, I DIE. AND THE NEXT MORNING, WHEN I WAKE UP, I AM REBORN." ~~ Mahatma Gandhi
Hey, Monday is not a holiday for Desi -- he has to work like most Tom, Dick and Harry to put "kaya" on the B&B. Of coursem some Dicks work more than others.I don't because I work SMART. But I feel blessed because I am reborn as a new son with the rising sun.So I startr my day with a whispered Thank You prayer that I can converse with my friends.
Earlier in the evening on Sunday, I had read an interesting interview by the New Sunday Times (NST) with a retired judge whom I had the privilege of "covering" in my journo days -- hence the loyar buluk in Desi. Yes, the esteemed jugde, then a Prosecuting Officer if I'm not mistaken, or he was on the bench as Sessions Court President? Well, gain an inkling of a fine mind at work, and patriotic Malaysians must take heed of what he says, for the future of a very important Institution is hugely at stake, and all interested parties must reflect on someone who finds the time to share his experience: ~~~
Sunday Interview:
'If the courts are contaminated, where else can people go?'
04 Jun 2006
One of the best ways to ensure integrity in the judiciary would be to set up a Judicial Commission, says Datuk Shaikh Daud Md Ismail. Tracing allegations of corruption within the legal system back to 1988, the outspoken former Court of Appeal judge tells (NST) that the authors of poison-pen letters should be protected.
NST: Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim said recently he had received poison-pen letters alleging corruption in the judiciary and had forwarded them to the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA). He said the judiciary had conducted its own investigations but had no ‘credible evidence’. What is the perception now about corruption in the judiciary, compared with before your retirement in 2001?
A: Everybody held the courts in high esteem until the 1988 crisis and the respect really plummeted. Before I retired, there had been hints but no one put it down on paper except for a particular incident in 1996 when there was one petition against judges.
It was about corruption in the judiciary and naming some judges for high living and that sort of thing. It was distributed to all the judges attending the annual judges’ conference in Kuching.
All of us read it and we thought the petition, although anonymous, should have been investigated.
NST: Was this the poison-pen letter written by then High Court judge Datuk Syed Ahmad Idid Syed Abdullah Idid, who later resigned?
A: That’s the one I was referring to. In our view, some of the judges’ view, the petition was not investigated but the writer of the petition was investigated.
That is why I say, people now resort to anonymous letters because it has become a norm that whistle-blowers become the victims at times. So people are afraid to put their names. Especially, for example, if someone wants to complain against a judge.
Now, who would be in a better position to know whether a judge is corrupt or not? Probably lawyers. Do you think a lawyer would dare send a letter openly, putting his name, to say that this happened in his case? His career is going to be ruined.
NST: Why do you pinpoint 1988 as the year things started to change?
A: The removal of the Lord President, Tun Mohamad Salleh Abas, affected the court tremendously. I don’t know whether corruption started after or before that, but it seemed to surface.
In my retirement speech, I quoted an incident which was told to me by one senior lawyer.
After he interviewed a client for (a civil) case, he was of the view that the client had a bad case so he recommended that they settle it out of court.
The reply he got was shocking. His client said: "Don’t worry, you file it in this particular court and boleh menang (can win)."
That clinched with what a businessman had told me (earlier) about not wanting to win or lose because a particular judge was sitting in that court. That should never happen and it had never happened before.
NST: The Chief Justice has proposed having more than one judge presiding over a trial to prevent corruption. What are your views on that proposal?
A: In theory it may be OK, but in practice, I don’t think it would work. For a start, you would have to treble the number of judges immediately. That would prolong the hearing of cases.
Three persons sitting might ask more questions and probe further. One may not agree with another. The courts must also be equipped to have three judges. Some parts may have to be enlarged to accommodate three.
NST: Solicitor-General Datuk Idris Harun has suggested jury trials to tackle the problem. Please comment.
A: Jury trials would reduce corruption because it is not the judge’s decision on facts. The jury’s decision is on the facts of the case but the judge will guide the jury on the law.
But the reason why jury trials were abolished is because they were ineffective. I did a number of jury trials in the High Court and I found our juries are not equipped to handle the situation.
DESIDERATA is truncating the Interview midway and encourages my ER to grab a back-copy of the Sunday paper to fully enjoy the elucidation. I'm not spoiling my Readers here. Spend 60sen-lah, half price most likely for a 24-hour-old copy!
Among other more interesting points, Shaikh Daud said that "I remember when I was senior federal counsel with the ACA from 1973 to 1976, we successfully prosecuted cases which started from anonymous letters."
Also the newspaper added an important~~~
FOOTNOTE: Then Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohtar Abdullah said in July 1996 that the 12 judges implicated in the letter had been interviewed by the authorities. "My officers and I have perused thoroughly the investigation papers of the ACA and the police and we are satisfied that the allegations are wholly untrue and baseless," he said.
DESIDERATA's Blues Mondae ChallengiA: How many of my EsteemedReaders see the significance of the year mentioned above -- 1988?
Now, please indulge this scribe a little if I conduct a little "history" lesson, mostly political, but having much, okay, IMHO if that counts much or little, do I care? ~~~ a "huge" bearing on the Judiciary. (That self-posed question was inserted because I was Thinking Allowed that so many judges voices had been dismissed, what is a little voice of a journalist? Do you see da light, mGf?)
But can I delight with a poem, maybe reprised;
I'm not sure because nowadays, memories are short.
(Jest to avoid any missunderstanding,esp with the ladies who are not so interested in Politics!:( the unsureness is not about the Poem, it's aboyut it being reprised here. Sorry for the digression/aggression, a trait I picked up from obserrtving lawyers at work. Serious.)
Questioning Mind
They talk in many tongues
Preaching salvation
And monopoly of the Truth
Breathing hellfire
On those who'd not stay
To sing the same saccharine song
You're a traitor to the Cause
If you should raise just a murmur
of any question
You'd die a thousand deaths
If you'd doubt the Elder's tongue
Or God forbid,
Challenge the wisdom of his Word
So remain a meek lamb
Another number in his obedient flock
Or else, bid farewell
Jump off this wagon quick
So that Heaven has one more
Vacancy to dwell.
Composing the poem enabled to writer to “release” some really strong feelings bordering on anger, and questioning, at some of the “lies” he had come across, especially coming out of the mouths of “preachers”, and I don’t restrict these to the religious order. Included are those activists shouting the Cause of independent journalism, environment conservation, consumerism, even feminism or other social causes. There are just too many wolves in sheep’s clothing around, smiling tigers too. Trouble is, the modern “preachers” now wear designer attire, and they live at five-star hotels, I mean it, literally, while they bring the word of their “almighty” Cause to the poor and lowly, down-trodden, ignoramus, or pitiable converts-to-be – ordinary men and women in the street - staying in humble dwellings and working overtime to earn their three square meals!
Dr. Mahathir’s 22-year reign as the helmsman of Malaysia has also seen the country through many good, and bad, and ugly, times. The most tumultuous event would, in my humble opinion, be the “sacking of Anwar Ibrahim” as the deputy premier and as deputy president of UMNO, which was followed by a series of “strange events” in the courts, and in the streets of Kuala Lumpur. For me as a journalist, these events amounted to what I’d term as “rude awakenings”; but there was not much room for putting down in words one’s feelings of bewilderment and outrage at these events.
Most just watched with a sense of resignation at the unfolding drama; many termed it as “sandiwara” (Malay opera), but these “shows” at least stirred many Malaysians from their life-goes-on-as-usual life-style. For once, many became more politically conscious, if not active, and they asked questions, if not in public, at least at the teh-tarik stall or higher class coffee-house, or at their favourite water-hole. People began to wonder what’s happening, and where are we, as a nation, headed? Featured here is one poem composed during these interesting times, relating to the then unfolding, mainly political, events:
Now bear2 with Desi, with a seond ditty, mayhaps reprised, I'm not sure2!~~~
It Gets Curiouser and Curiouser
When I was young I was told
Spinning a story you must be bold
But it still must have a beginning
And an ending, and somethin’ in between
But lately my motherland
Gave birth to very strange events
The cycle was like a record
Being played out from the end
Remember Michael Jackson’s video clip
When uprooted trees regained their standing stature
Dried up safari land became green pastures
And elephant carcasses stood majestically alive again
It gets curiouser and curiouser
As was observed in Alice in Wonderland
And events in Malaysia the past decade
Closely mirror Lewis Carroll’s rich imaginings
The story purportedly started in September 1998
As many Anwarists would want you to believe
That Reformasi was galvanized
When the deputy PM was excised from the head
But my friends, be reminded
It was way back on a May Day in ‘88
When the court sat on a holy day
A panel of junior judges sacked their chief
Salleh Abas Lord President was dismissed in a jiffy
But then DPM Anwar Ibrahim held his tongue
A decade later with one fell swoop
Anwar became a lauded victim in the vicious loop
Refomrasi Anwar started, his loyalists proclaim
They forgot Salleh and his Brave Ones
Who stood their ground for justice
They indeed were the unheralded Originals
Reformation is not only taking to the streets
It’s changing of the mindset
What became of the Judiciary following Salleh?
It was downhill all the way…
It led the country’s leading judicious mind
The late Tun Suffian Hashim to lament in 2000:
“I wouldn’t like to be tried by today’s judges,
Especially if I am innocent.”*
*Quoted from a speech on March 10, 2000 that the former Lord President delivered at a Bar commemoration for the late Justice Tan Sri Wan Sulaiman.
In closing this long track, following in the stylo of the New Sunday Times, here's Another Footnote from Desi~~~
I’d add here is that many Malaysians have short memories, including so called Anwar’s supporters who only cried “foul” when their leader was deemed to have been unfairly treated by the authorities, going through the motion of some court proceeding, followed by jail terms. But did they ever ask: when the judges were sacked about a decade earlier, and Anwar was part and parcel of the Government (first as Finance Minister, then as Deputy Prime Minister), did he raise any protest when “injustice” befell the former Lord President and five fellow judges? There is a saying, “What goes around, comes around”, which many of the country’s politicians must take heed of, if they do have a conscience.
FURTHER READING SUGGESTED:
But if you wish to Close One Eye or Switch Off Half A Brain,
don't bother to visit malaysianbar.org.my
to expand your historical knowledge of a landmark event (or series)
in Sejarah Malaysia, not accoridng to RTMElm!
Seah: History will exonerate
me for taking a stand -- The Hidden Story
By ©Datuk George Seah
Sunday, June 04, 2006
INTERLUDE
This post is dedicated to all mGf in Blogsworld I've acquired since the Ides of March 2005 when like a coy maiden, I typed Desiderata to enter a brand new world. Nebulous? Strange? Yet when you read truly what comes from the sribe's heart, it's not so nebulous or strange terratry you are entering.
It can prove more "personal" that your lunch time buddies at work because nmost times your conversations centre around the curent project, the prospects of landingthat lucrative deal ... money, money, MONEY.
Or even with drinking hole budiies. Mostly the talk is about World Cup favourites, and going ga-ga over Ronaldino's donkey smile or Rooney's overgrown sharp-shot balls. Did I offend any diehards out there?
Todays's INTER:Lude is especially dedicated to mGf, Phyllis, defintely my honoured "maiden" visitor to Desi's Place -- now drunk on Haridas' tehtraik, kurang manis? -- as it marks a Second Chapter in both our journalistic collaboration.
May 1 last year was that Sunday's love affair with Desiderata.English transfering its debut to BORNEO POST, which earned some "kaya" to throw at B&B as is my traditional CON BF once a week. I enjoyed Journalism mainly in that while it feeds the passion for Words, Words, WORDS, it also throws in the occasional Busman's Holiday.
For the Ignoramauses out here (defined: those who ignore the hoRst's occasional indulgence in blowing his trumpet sometimes:), because Others are breathless:(, when your newspaper sent you overseas for an assignment, you stayed at 5-star hotels when lovely receptionists greet thee with more than a smile. You paid with Company's luxurious funds, and wake up to yes, CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST every day!
Last Sunday I had one such at Kingswood Inn. Busman's holiday I mean -- mostly play, a little work.
This morn I just had another at Liza De Inn. (Everyone is besotted with DVC and mona Liza nowadays, will divert there another twilight, TWO LIGHTS:) when a fellow writer Fishtaeler entertains...
Desi's somewhat besotted with little Inns, reminds of Sherwood Forest. Catching me, maid Marian?
Ah, where was I?
Yes, today The Bornep Post, which came Desi's way when an Angel landed on my shoulder two Marches ago, launched its collaboration with
klsetracker.com, where I mostly earn my B&B as a freelance writer.
The debut of a Business page is the culmination of some three months of planning,
"interruped" momentarily by the Sarawak State Lections, which was a necessary "interlude" of sorts in Malaysians' life course about once every four/five years.
Writers influence each other in their trends or trains of thought, so I am not shy in admitting that the hoRst of yantouch.blogsome.com does weave some threads in my Posts; maybe I do in hers too.
So here's another Extract, who originally named her abode as yancorner when we met via blogspot.com, and she bequeathed Desi with My Blue Heaven as she moved on to a new land that rhymes with Awesome. Or isit Blossom?
So it was catching a "lonesome" mGf holidaying by the Rejang River thinking aloud/allowed~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~like da river folowing out to da sea ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~
~~~~
Yan softly ~~ she does not wish to disturb the roar of the sea! ~~ narrates:
"I am with Palmer’s A Hidden Wholeness today. This is the other book of Parker Palmer that I own. The other one is “Let Your Life Speak”.
In this Hidden Wholeness, Palmer leads to ponder upon paying attention to our souls. He says of soul,
whose “guidance is more reliable than anything we can get from a doctrine, ideology, collective belief system or leader.”
I am very, very amazed by how Palmer writes about “Silence and Laughter”. He says,
Silence and laughter may seem like strange bedfellows, but experience reveals that they are not. What, for example, do we call people who can spend hours together in silence without feeling awkward or tense and who can use humour to help each other through hard times? We call them, of course, good friends.
(ends Extract)
~~~~~~~~ and Desi shifts to another ~~~~~~~
Interlude
Performed by Timi Yuro
*Time is like a dream
And now for a time you are mine
Let's hold fast to the dream
That tastes and sparkles like wine
Who knows if it's real
Or just something we're both dreaming of
What seems like an interlude now
Could be the beginning of love
Loving you is a world that's strange
So much more than my heart can hold
Loving you makes the whole world change
Loving you I could not grow old
No, nobody knows when love will end
So till then, sweet friend
(Repeat *)
The airwaves currently are filled by a reprised version of the song
dedicated by some Angel Of the Morning.It opens with
"There’ll be no strings to bind your hands
Not if my love can find your heart..."
I believe it evokes often warm feelings among those caught in the net of nostalgia; for others luckier now still in the Angel's embrace, it's often the closest to a Heaven on earth.
But Heaven is different things to different people really, and even that "place" called Heaven changes with changing times.
The march of time.
So fast for those living it UP.
Too slow for those caught up in a bind.
For most human beings on earth, time just goes on at an undulating pace,
most times along a monotnouus plateau, with some hiccups indicated by small humps, along the plain occasionally, but never intruding too much into the ordinariness of the scheme of everyday things.
But sometimes certain individuals do pause in the hustle and bustle of life, They ask questions, like DO ANGELS EXIST?
And don't thibnk Angels are female only, though the popular depiction by artist(e)s is often of "feminine" mien. Visit allofhelen.blogspot.com and you will see X-men 3 does reward the ladies with An Angel quite the opposite, Yes? I'm writing based nmainly on her witnessing -- I haven't even seen X-men 1! (Sunday confess... in Helen's freespirited tradition)
Another fresh Email Desi received gives an inkling in response to my Post where I advised another mGf down in LOTR terratry, Sabbie NOT TO STOP BLOGGING.
If you are weary,
Take a hiatus, I said.
"ANGELS NEVER CALL IT QUITS."
Desiderata's parting reminder.
mGf @sweetspirits.blogspot.comspoke about Angels~~~~~~~
"Hi Desi
This morning when the Lord opened a window to
Heaven, He saw me, and asked: "My child, what is
your greatest wish for today?"
I responded: "Lord please, take care of the person
who is reading this message, their family and their
special friends. They deserve it and I love them
very much."
The love of God is like the ocean, you can see its
beginning, but not its end.
This message works on the day you receive it. Let us
see if it is true.
ANGELS EXIST but sometimes, since they don't have
wings, we call them FRIENDS.
Regards ...sweets"
How sweet of thee, Sweets, that you consider Desi a FRIEND. And that's a fruit which blossomed about one year enchanting over Blogsworld, and we have not met over tea or CON BF in person, though I plan to do that one day. God willing.
Yes, to Net citizens even as you read tis, believe me that there are Angels in this world, and several may just land on thy window sill.
Just that you must Be Prepared , like a BoyScout or a GalGuide, to open up that window of yours.
DA WINDOW TO THY HEART.
It can prove more "personal" that your lunch time buddies at work because nmost times your conversations centre around the curent project, the prospects of landingthat lucrative deal ... money, money, MONEY.
Or even with drinking hole budiies. Mostly the talk is about World Cup favourites, and going ga-ga over Ronaldino's donkey smile or Rooney's overgrown sharp-shot balls. Did I offend any diehards out there?
Todays's INTER:Lude is especially dedicated to mGf, Phyllis, defintely my honoured "maiden" visitor to Desi's Place -- now drunk on Haridas' tehtraik, kurang manis? -- as it marks a Second Chapter in both our journalistic collaboration.
May 1 last year was that Sunday's love affair with Desiderata.English transfering its debut to BORNEO POST, which earned some "kaya" to throw at B&B as is my traditional CON BF once a week. I enjoyed Journalism mainly in that while it feeds the passion for Words, Words, WORDS, it also throws in the occasional Busman's Holiday.
For the Ignoramauses out here (defined: those who ignore the hoRst's occasional indulgence in blowing his trumpet sometimes:), because Others are breathless:(, when your newspaper sent you overseas for an assignment, you stayed at 5-star hotels when lovely receptionists greet thee with more than a smile. You paid with Company's luxurious funds, and wake up to yes, CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST every day!
Last Sunday I had one such at Kingswood Inn. Busman's holiday I mean -- mostly play, a little work.
This morn I just had another at Liza De Inn. (Everyone is besotted with DVC and mona Liza nowadays, will divert there another twilight, TWO LIGHTS:) when a fellow writer Fishtaeler entertains...
Desi's somewhat besotted with little Inns, reminds of Sherwood Forest. Catching me, maid Marian?
Ah, where was I?
Yes, today The Bornep Post, which came Desi's way when an Angel landed on my shoulder two Marches ago, launched its collaboration with
klsetracker.com, where I mostly earn my B&B as a freelance writer.
The debut of a Business page is the culmination of some three months of planning,
"interruped" momentarily by the Sarawak State Lections, which was a necessary "interlude" of sorts in Malaysians' life course about once every four/five years.
Writers influence each other in their trends or trains of thought, so I am not shy in admitting that the hoRst of yantouch.blogsome.com does weave some threads in my Posts; maybe I do in hers too.
So here's another Extract, who originally named her abode as yancorner when we met via blogspot.com, and she bequeathed Desi with My Blue Heaven as she moved on to a new land that rhymes with Awesome. Or isit Blossom?
So it was catching a "lonesome" mGf holidaying by the Rejang River thinking aloud/allowed~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~like da river folowing out to da sea ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~
~~~~
Yan softly ~~ she does not wish to disturb the roar of the sea! ~~ narrates:
"I am with Palmer’s A Hidden Wholeness today. This is the other book of Parker Palmer that I own. The other one is “Let Your Life Speak”.
In this Hidden Wholeness, Palmer leads to ponder upon paying attention to our souls. He says of soul,
whose “guidance is more reliable than anything we can get from a doctrine, ideology, collective belief system or leader.”
I am very, very amazed by how Palmer writes about “Silence and Laughter”. He says,
Silence and laughter may seem like strange bedfellows, but experience reveals that they are not. What, for example, do we call people who can spend hours together in silence without feeling awkward or tense and who can use humour to help each other through hard times? We call them, of course, good friends.
(ends Extract)
~~~~~~~~ and Desi shifts to another ~~~~~~~
Interlude
Performed by Timi Yuro
*Time is like a dream
And now for a time you are mine
Let's hold fast to the dream
That tastes and sparkles like wine
Who knows if it's real
Or just something we're both dreaming of
What seems like an interlude now
Could be the beginning of love
Loving you is a world that's strange
So much more than my heart can hold
Loving you makes the whole world change
Loving you I could not grow old
No, nobody knows when love will end
So till then, sweet friend
(Repeat *)
The airwaves currently are filled by a reprised version of the song
dedicated by some Angel Of the Morning.It opens with
"There’ll be no strings to bind your hands
Not if my love can find your heart..."
I believe it evokes often warm feelings among those caught in the net of nostalgia; for others luckier now still in the Angel's embrace, it's often the closest to a Heaven on earth.
But Heaven is different things to different people really, and even that "place" called Heaven changes with changing times.
The march of time.
So fast for those living it UP.
Too slow for those caught up in a bind.
For most human beings on earth, time just goes on at an undulating pace,
most times along a monotnouus plateau, with some hiccups indicated by small humps, along the plain occasionally, but never intruding too much into the ordinariness of the scheme of everyday things.
But sometimes certain individuals do pause in the hustle and bustle of life, They ask questions, like DO ANGELS EXIST?
And don't thibnk Angels are female only, though the popular depiction by artist(e)s is often of "feminine" mien. Visit allofhelen.blogspot.com and you will see X-men 3 does reward the ladies with An Angel quite the opposite, Yes? I'm writing based nmainly on her witnessing -- I haven't even seen X-men 1! (Sunday confess... in Helen's freespirited tradition)
Another fresh Email Desi received gives an inkling in response to my Post where I advised another mGf down in LOTR terratry, Sabbie NOT TO STOP BLOGGING.
If you are weary,
Take a hiatus, I said.
"ANGELS NEVER CALL IT QUITS."
Desiderata's parting reminder.
mGf @sweetspirits.blogspot.comspoke about Angels~~~~~~~
"Hi Desi
This morning when the Lord opened a window to
Heaven, He saw me, and asked: "My child, what is
your greatest wish for today?"
I responded: "Lord please, take care of the person
who is reading this message, their family and their
special friends. They deserve it and I love them
very much."
The love of God is like the ocean, you can see its
beginning, but not its end.
This message works on the day you receive it. Let us
see if it is true.
ANGELS EXIST but sometimes, since they don't have
wings, we call them FRIENDS.
Regards ...sweets"
How sweet of thee, Sweets, that you consider Desi a FRIEND. And that's a fruit which blossomed about one year enchanting over Blogsworld, and we have not met over tea or CON BF in person, though I plan to do that one day. God willing.
Yes, to Net citizens even as you read tis, believe me that there are Angels in this world, and several may just land on thy window sill.
Just that you must Be Prepared , like a BoyScout or a GalGuide, to open up that window of yours.
DA WINDOW TO THY HEART.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
China as an emerging superpower
If any student of internatiuonal relations tells you that China is already a world superwoer, you may not agree with him/her. But if he says
by the time Malaysia reaches Developed Nation status, China with a current population topping 1.3billion would by 2020 become the top superpower -- even surpassing the USA -- you might just pause, then nod your head in agreement.
So if any Young Malaysians are misled by any Politikus here to think that "learning Mandarin be not be a high priority" to compete in the international marketplace,please pause and THINK TWICE. If anything there is to learn, keep abreast of world news such as this, on page W44 in The Star today, which flags off the story as LEAD headlined:
China to be a top world power
Multination survey: It will be a formidable rival to the United States by 2020
I reproduce the full contents from Da Horse's Mouth -- thanks to Reuters~~~
BERLIN: The United States will lose its position
as the world's undisputed leading power over the
next decade and a half, with China emerging as a
formidable rival. acording to a new survey from
Germany's Bertelsmann Foundation.
In the survey, based on interviews witof 10,250 people
worldwide, 57% of of respondents said they believed the
United States would be a world power in the year 2020
compared to 55 percent who saw China in that role.
That compared to 81 percent who currently see the
United States as a world power and 45 percent who
believe China has already attained that status.
The survey, entitled “World Powers in the 21st Century,
was conducted by the Gallup and TNS Emnid polling
institutes in nine countries — Brazil, China, France,
Germany, India, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and
the United States — between October and December 2005.
Between 1,000 and 1,500 interviews were conducted in
each of the countries.
The survey showed the Chinese themselves are confident
they will gain influence on the global stage. A full 71
percent of Chinese respondents said their country would
be a world power by 2020, compared to 44 percent who see
China in that role today.
By comparison, 54 percent of Americans see China as a
global power in 2020, up slightly from the 51 percent
who already view China that way.
The survey showed that India would also rise as a world power,
with 24 percent of respondents assigning it that status in 2020
against only 12 percent today.
Besides the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and
Japan were expected to decline in status, shedding 11, 6, 5
and 5 percentage points, respectively in the next 15 years.
Of the respondents within those five declining countries, only those
in France went against the international trend and said their country
would gain in status from now until 2020 — with 33 percent of French
seeing their country as a world power today and 35 percent in 2020.
DIFFERENCES IN MILITARY POWER, TERRORISM
The survey showed that people in the nine countries considered
“economic power and potential for growth” as the most important
quality for a world power.
There was disagreement on the importance of “military power” as a
factor, with a third of respondents in China and the United States
listing it as crucial, but only 7 percent in Germany and 16 percent in
Japan viewing it as important.
There were also differences in how the countries viewed the main
challenges confronting the world. In seven of the nine countries, over
50 percent of respondents listed international terrorism as the chief
challenge.
But in China and Brazil less than a third of those surveyed put
terrorism in that category. The Chinese listed environmental
destruction
and scarcity of natural resources as top threats.
In only China and Germany was a majority of the population of the
opinion that peace and stability in the world could best be achieved
under the leadership of the United Nations.
Read "China to rival US as world power by 2020: survey" (Google-lah~~DEsi)
DESIDERATA:
This Bonus Post is mainly C&P but the contents speaks for itself.
I hope Malaysians would not continue to adopt a "blinkered views" of events taking place across the Globaliised Village that we live in today -- whether Ahmad, Ah Chong and Arumugam OR Tom, Dick and Harry like it or not.
THE COMPETITION TODAY IS NOT FROM FELLOW MALAYSIANS OF ANY PARTICULAR HUE -- IT STARES AT US FROM ACROSS THE REGION, THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD AS IT IS NOW A BORDERLESS WORLD.
Don't worry about Singapore with its 4.5million people. China with 1.3billion and India with 1.0billion (Hey, that's the numerals followed by NINE zeroes in case some writers, including economic/business journos, putting it down as SIX ZEROES! Don;t lauigh mGf, I have seen it with one senior Business Editor describing Malaysia's GDP in terms of XXXmillions! Buy me that teh-C lah and I'd give thee name/s. But pulleese bring along thy lwayer, a loyar buluk also-cun:(
SeeYa, I APologise if I spoil thy moUrn BF, Con or not, I don't care.
I have given thee a Bonus, and in such harsh hard times,
how often do you get such a generous gift. Yes/No/Maybe. Objective test
Universiti stylo. Change your life stylo if you ain't following Desi!:)
by the time Malaysia reaches Developed Nation status, China with a current population topping 1.3billion would by 2020 become the top superpower -- even surpassing the USA -- you might just pause, then nod your head in agreement.
So if any Young Malaysians are misled by any Politikus here to think that "learning Mandarin be not be a high priority" to compete in the international marketplace,please pause and THINK TWICE. If anything there is to learn, keep abreast of world news such as this, on page W44 in The Star today, which flags off the story as LEAD headlined:
China to be a top world power
Multination survey: It will be a formidable rival to the United States by 2020
I reproduce the full contents from Da Horse's Mouth -- thanks to Reuters~~~
BERLIN: The United States will lose its position
as the world's undisputed leading power over the
next decade and a half, with China emerging as a
formidable rival. acording to a new survey from
Germany's Bertelsmann Foundation.
In the survey, based on interviews witof 10,250 people
worldwide, 57% of of respondents said they believed the
United States would be a world power in the year 2020
compared to 55 percent who saw China in that role.
That compared to 81 percent who currently see the
United States as a world power and 45 percent who
believe China has already attained that status.
The survey, entitled “World Powers in the 21st Century,
was conducted by the Gallup and TNS Emnid polling
institutes in nine countries — Brazil, China, France,
Germany, India, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and
the United States — between October and December 2005.
Between 1,000 and 1,500 interviews were conducted in
each of the countries.
The survey showed the Chinese themselves are confident
they will gain influence on the global stage. A full 71
percent of Chinese respondents said their country would
be a world power by 2020, compared to 44 percent who see
China in that role today.
By comparison, 54 percent of Americans see China as a
global power in 2020, up slightly from the 51 percent
who already view China that way.
The survey showed that India would also rise as a world power,
with 24 percent of respondents assigning it that status in 2020
against only 12 percent today.
Besides the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and
Japan were expected to decline in status, shedding 11, 6, 5
and 5 percentage points, respectively in the next 15 years.
Of the respondents within those five declining countries, only those
in France went against the international trend and said their country
would gain in status from now until 2020 — with 33 percent of French
seeing their country as a world power today and 35 percent in 2020.
DIFFERENCES IN MILITARY POWER, TERRORISM
The survey showed that people in the nine countries considered
“economic power and potential for growth” as the most important
quality for a world power.
There was disagreement on the importance of “military power” as a
factor, with a third of respondents in China and the United States
listing it as crucial, but only 7 percent in Germany and 16 percent in
Japan viewing it as important.
There were also differences in how the countries viewed the main
challenges confronting the world. In seven of the nine countries, over
50 percent of respondents listed international terrorism as the chief
challenge.
But in China and Brazil less than a third of those surveyed put
terrorism in that category. The Chinese listed environmental
destruction
and scarcity of natural resources as top threats.
In only China and Germany was a majority of the population of the
opinion that peace and stability in the world could best be achieved
under the leadership of the United Nations.
Read "China to rival US as world power by 2020: survey" (Google-lah~~DEsi)
DESIDERATA:
This Bonus Post is mainly C&P but the contents speaks for itself.
I hope Malaysians would not continue to adopt a "blinkered views" of events taking place across the Globaliised Village that we live in today -- whether Ahmad, Ah Chong and Arumugam OR Tom, Dick and Harry like it or not.
THE COMPETITION TODAY IS NOT FROM FELLOW MALAYSIANS OF ANY PARTICULAR HUE -- IT STARES AT US FROM ACROSS THE REGION, THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD AS IT IS NOW A BORDERLESS WORLD.
Don't worry about Singapore with its 4.5million people. China with 1.3billion and India with 1.0billion (Hey, that's the numerals followed by NINE zeroes in case some writers, including economic/business journos, putting it down as SIX ZEROES! Don;t lauigh mGf, I have seen it with one senior Business Editor describing Malaysia's GDP in terms of XXXmillions! Buy me that teh-C lah and I'd give thee name/s. But pulleese bring along thy lwayer, a loyar buluk also-cun:(
SeeYa, I APologise if I spoil thy moUrn BF, Con or not, I don't care.
I have given thee a Bonus, and in such harsh hard times,
how often do you get such a generous gift. Yes/No/Maybe. Objective test
Universiti stylo. Change your life stylo if you ain't following Desi!:)
CONtrasting Columnists ... (Part 2)
UPDATE THE DAY AFTER
June 2, 2006 @ 10.50AM
A senior editor in The Star, WONG CHUN WAI in a Comment on page N25 on June 21, devoted HALF A PAGE to the subject. I wondered allowed then if you would spend RM1.20 for the rest of the cili crab/crap then as I reproduced only the first two paras for initial comment.
~~~~~~~
We need to be more marketable
COMMENT: By WONG CHUN WAI
MANY Malaysians have long complained about job vacancy advertisements that require applicants to have compulsory knowledge of written Chinese and spoken Mandarin.
For job-seekers who are only proficient in Bahasa Malaysia and English, such advertisements must be frustrating, particularly if they feel they are qualified for the jobs offered.
~~~~~~~
Wong CW only deliberated on the advertisement requiring Mandarin proficiency, taking after the big foot steps of Deputy Prime Minister whom he must really idolise. The same laments by Najib Tun Razak a few days ago regurgitated, expanded to cover international market palces like Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden and Australia, okay nearer home Singapore, then China, Hong Kong and Taiwan -- but he alos never mentioned, not even ONCE, the other category of Advertisements inviting that only "BUMIPUTRAS ONLY NEED TO APPLY". Which must be at the back of your mind, NO?
This for someone second in line to the People's Paper's GEIC. Oh, I remember, he's a double Datuk, so it's possible he harbours Political ambitions. OR isit what you call another AP? APologist...
Therefore, journalism is far from someone's mind...
I rest my case. OR isIT RIP?
Like The Sarawak Tribune?
I would not cover more grounds except advise my ER to read Comments in Yesterday's Post to see the discussion from some ER; but I won't bring to Frontpage afrer a "re-look" in the tradition of the same columnist asking whether there should be a "re-look" at the proposed IPCMC in yet another column two days earlier. I won't digress there as many of you by now could have suffered an "overdose". BTW, you can still sign up to support the Malaysian Bar Council's campiagn to call on tyhe Government to set up the IPCMC, Promto! Visit petitiononline.com, especially for the benefit of one See Fei ... See, I look out for my ER' interest/s!:)
On Gem2, I wish to echo one moo_t's one-word Comment: Bull's eye.Da Rationale is so plain to see that here is one
Writer who speaks her mind, Without Fear or Favour, some "trait" that is a dying one among Politikus, especially from with the Government ranks, except for a few rare Gems (my ER described him as among the "few good Men left in Parliament"...) like Sharir Samad, who earned the distinction of Voting in support of DAP's motion, and paid a heavy price for his Principled Stand. He had to resign his Backbenchers Club chairmanship.
Oh, where was I?
Reprising just three paras from Marina's "Fact or fiction?":
"Then there’s fact derided as fiction. Price hikes hurt people. Our universities are not fabulous. Lelaki Komunis Terakhir is a security threat. MPs seem to get away with anything. We are nowhere near solving our drug problem. Our mainstream papers don’t report all the news that’s fit to read.
No wonder people get confused. We seem to be living in parallel worlds. One is the hunky dory one where everything seems to be going great, where one can simply adapt one’s lifestyle to suit our shrinking wallets, convince ourselves that laws are just meant for bad people and not us, pat ourselves on our backs that we can endure any misery without having to demonstrate or protest like other people. Then there is the real one where people are really finding it hard to make ends meet, where we can see obvious corruption and abuse of position, where women really have a rotten deal, where segregation is becoming an increasing reality.
The worst fiction of all, and for some reason this is one bit of fiction that almost everybody believes, is that nothing can be done and we should resign ourselves to it. We could take that as fact and then have to live with the fiction that we are a democracy. I suppose over time we can make ourselves believe anything at all. "
~~~~~~~
DESIDERATA draws your attention to her LAST PARA ... which she termed as "the worst fiction of all" in NegaraKu. I totally concur. This scribe wrote about exactly the same condition which I term as an "dangerous affliction" just a few days earlier. Bear with me if I reprise~~~
"Some Blogosphere residents think there is a lot of SANDIWARA going on in Bolehland. And who's to dismiss them -- there has been lots of wayang, opera and shadow play going on for decades, year after year, so much so the citizenry has first become confused, then tired, then nonchalant, then RESIGNED TO IT ALL.
This is a dangerous affliction. Being resigned to the fact ... that we can't do anything about it. Just stay on the sidewalk ..."
Because Desi is in a productive mood -- not dangerous nor the worst fiction/affliction of damned all! -- as today marks an auspicious occasion, I'd follow up with a Bonus Post shortly, or longly, whatever:)No pay rise in such harsh times, ne'er mind-lah, at least this hoRst provides some fodder...?
June 2, 2006 @ 10.50AM
A senior editor in The Star, WONG CHUN WAI in a Comment on page N25 on June 21, devoted HALF A PAGE to the subject. I wondered allowed then if you would spend RM1.20 for the rest of the cili crab/crap then as I reproduced only the first two paras for initial comment.
~~~~~~~
We need to be more marketable
COMMENT: By WONG CHUN WAI
MANY Malaysians have long complained about job vacancy advertisements that require applicants to have compulsory knowledge of written Chinese and spoken Mandarin.
For job-seekers who are only proficient in Bahasa Malaysia and English, such advertisements must be frustrating, particularly if they feel they are qualified for the jobs offered.
~~~~~~~
Wong CW only deliberated on the advertisement requiring Mandarin proficiency, taking after the big foot steps of Deputy Prime Minister whom he must really idolise. The same laments by Najib Tun Razak a few days ago regurgitated, expanded to cover international market palces like Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden and Australia, okay nearer home Singapore, then China, Hong Kong and Taiwan -- but he alos never mentioned, not even ONCE, the other category of Advertisements inviting that only "BUMIPUTRAS ONLY NEED TO APPLY". Which must be at the back of your mind, NO?
This for someone second in line to the People's Paper's GEIC. Oh, I remember, he's a double Datuk, so it's possible he harbours Political ambitions. OR isit what you call another AP? APologist...
Therefore, journalism is far from someone's mind...
I rest my case. OR isIT RIP?
Like The Sarawak Tribune?
I would not cover more grounds except advise my ER to read Comments in Yesterday's Post to see the discussion from some ER; but I won't bring to Frontpage afrer a "re-look" in the tradition of the same columnist asking whether there should be a "re-look" at the proposed IPCMC in yet another column two days earlier. I won't digress there as many of you by now could have suffered an "overdose". BTW, you can still sign up to support the Malaysian Bar Council's campiagn to call on tyhe Government to set up the IPCMC, Promto! Visit petitiononline.com, especially for the benefit of one See Fei ... See, I look out for my ER' interest/s!:)
On Gem2, I wish to echo one moo_t's one-word Comment: Bull's eye.Da Rationale is so plain to see that here is one
Writer who speaks her mind, Without Fear or Favour, some "trait" that is a dying one among Politikus, especially from with the Government ranks, except for a few rare Gems (my ER described him as among the "few good Men left in Parliament"...) like Sharir Samad, who earned the distinction of Voting in support of DAP's motion, and paid a heavy price for his Principled Stand. He had to resign his Backbenchers Club chairmanship.
Oh, where was I?
Reprising just three paras from Marina's "Fact or fiction?":
"Then there’s fact derided as fiction. Price hikes hurt people. Our universities are not fabulous. Lelaki Komunis Terakhir is a security threat. MPs seem to get away with anything. We are nowhere near solving our drug problem. Our mainstream papers don’t report all the news that’s fit to read.
No wonder people get confused. We seem to be living in parallel worlds. One is the hunky dory one where everything seems to be going great, where one can simply adapt one’s lifestyle to suit our shrinking wallets, convince ourselves that laws are just meant for bad people and not us, pat ourselves on our backs that we can endure any misery without having to demonstrate or protest like other people. Then there is the real one where people are really finding it hard to make ends meet, where we can see obvious corruption and abuse of position, where women really have a rotten deal, where segregation is becoming an increasing reality.
The worst fiction of all, and for some reason this is one bit of fiction that almost everybody believes, is that nothing can be done and we should resign ourselves to it. We could take that as fact and then have to live with the fiction that we are a democracy. I suppose over time we can make ourselves believe anything at all. "
~~~~~~~
DESIDERATA draws your attention to her LAST PARA ... which she termed as "the worst fiction of all" in NegaraKu. I totally concur. This scribe wrote about exactly the same condition which I term as an "dangerous affliction" just a few days earlier. Bear with me if I reprise~~~
"Some Blogosphere residents think there is a lot of SANDIWARA going on in Bolehland. And who's to dismiss them -- there has been lots of wayang, opera and shadow play going on for decades, year after year, so much so the citizenry has first become confused, then tired, then nonchalant, then RESIGNED TO IT ALL.
This is a dangerous affliction. Being resigned to the fact ... that we can't do anything about it. Just stay on the sidewalk ..."
Because Desi is in a productive mood -- not dangerous nor the worst fiction/affliction of damned all! -- as today marks an auspicious occasion, I'd follow up with a Bonus Post shortly, or longly, whatever:)No pay rise in such harsh times, ne'er mind-lah, at least this hoRst provides some fodder...?
Friday, June 02, 2006
CONtrasting Columnists - a Gem or 2?
Today I had problems with Internet Access, LOST one hour of Writes for the topic, which I tried salvaging by Clicking on Recover post.
NO LUCK.
So today I'm short-cutting by extracting from TWO COLUMNS spied from The Star, one by a GEIC waiting-in-the-wings, and the other just a Part-timer GUEST COLUMNIST.
I may have my bias and prejudices, but I feel one columnist held his tongue in confronting the Issue, the other DID NOT.
I trust my ER know the distinction.
I partially gave Da Rationale in my UPDATE to Yesterday's Post, but I invite my ER' views before I update with further responses on Frontpage tomorrow, CAN? Compromise as I'm fighting against time having LOST an hour plus of "missing" writes, TWICE this moUrn.
I appeal my EsteemedReaders to give their 3sen worth, from the perspectives of a Malaysian with priorities on national interests but bearing in mind this is truly now a Globalised Village we live in, whether we like it or not. ~~ Desi
Gem1?
Opinion
Friday June 2, 2006
We need to be more marketable
COMMENT: By WONG CHUN WAI
Opinion
Friday June 2, 2006
MANY Malaysians have long complained about job vacancy advertisements that require applicants to have compulsory knowledge of written Chinese and spoken Mandarin.
For job-seekers who are only proficient in Bahasa Malaysia and English, such advertisements must be frustrating, particularly if they feel they are qualified for the jobs offered.
At a glance, Malay and Indian applicants would seem to be the ones discriminated against, but English-educated Chinese are also in the same boat.
Many Chinese can speak their Cantonese or Hokkien mother tongues, but like their Malay and Indian brethrens, they would be rejected by such employers who must have their reasons for insisting on the ability to read and write Chinese.
On Tuesday, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak urged the private sector to stop the practice of making it compulsory for local graduates to be proficient in Mandarin.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the private sector should be more open in accepting and training local graduates without imposing certain requirements.
Employers who insist on hiring only a certain race and gender have long infuriated Malaysians. Often, these are not even offers for high positions but simple clerical or supermarket jobs.
Employers must realise that it makes good management sense to have a balanced staff of various races. Not only would they have a larger pool of applicants to choose from, but the company would also be able to deal effectively with a larger market of customers. Managing leave for staff would be easier too.
For government agencies where Malays make up the majority of the staff, it has always been a nightmare during Hari Raya Aidilfitri. If there are more non-Malay civil servants, such manpower problems would not exist.
Advertisements that impose conditions on language and race should not just be stopped for job vacancies but also those relating to rental of apartments or houses.
There is absolutely no need for employers to state such conditions openly, although there is nothing to stop them from culling candidates who do not meet their expectations in the selection process.
As a Chinese, I fall into the category labelled by some as xiang jiao ren (literally banana people: yellow on the outside, white inside – a Chinese who does not speak Chinese).
When watching Cantonese dramas or movies, I rely on the subtitles. When on holiday in China with tour groups, the English-educated ones like me find ourselves unable to comprehend what the guide is saying.
Most Malaysians are bilingual, but next to those who attended Chinese schools and who can speak three languages, we are at an obvious disadvantage.
But we have to be practical. We can either whine about it, pretend we are not affected by our lack of language skills, or we can learn these languages because of their economic value.
While people like me may find it late to start learning to read and write a new language, there is nothing to stop the younger set, especially fresh graduates, from learning Mandarin, Arabic or Spanish.
As Najib stated, the number of graduates have almost doubled from 45,000 in 2000 to 85,000 last year, but a recent survey showed that 32% of graduates today have yet to secure jobs after completing their studies last year.
No one is surprised by the figure.
The slowdown in the economy has not helped. Employers have become more cautious of escalating production costs, thereby imposing stringent rules on recruitment.
For job seekers whose degrees are not in demand in the job market, they become even more unmarketable when interviewers find that they have a poor command of English.
For many local graduates, that inadequacy is already reflected in their application letters – if they can’t string together a proper sentence in English, how can employers have faith in them putting up a decent sales presentation?
This poor command of English is evident among many local graduates, regardless of race. They are victims of an education system that has neglected English. If anybody is to be blamed, it’s the politicians. But unfortunately the damage has been done.
The elites can send their children for education overseas but most Malaysian parents cannot afford to do so. If one is living in a kampung, new village or estate, the children have little exposure to English, putting them at a disadvantage against urban kids.
Even in China, employers have begun to insist on fluency in English among fresh graduates in the market. If you want to do business in India, it’s still English.
The reality is that English, Mandarin and Arabic would become more important in the coming years because China, India and now the United Arab Emirates have emerged as big markets.
A local company with plans to set up office in China, Hong Kong or Taiwan would insist on Mandarin-speaking candidates. A Chinese Malaysian who can only speak Cantonese or Hokkien would lose out to a Malay who speaks Mandarin and write Chinese.
Likewise, a Mandarin-speaking job applicant is useless for a company doing business in Dubai.
Good English and Arabic would certainly be an asset. Tour operators for Arab visitors to Malaysia would hire Arabic-speaking graduates.
In Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden and Austria, most people there can speak at least three languages, but in Malaysia and Singapore, we do not seem to have that skill despite our plural set-up.
In Singapore, many speak English and Mandarin but cannot speak the Malay language, while in Malaysia, most of us are merely bilingual but the trend is that many are becoming monolingual, which is something that we need to check.
Nobody owes anyone a living. We should not expect the Government to give us a job as a pegawai in the civil service, simply because we are graduates.
What we should do is improve ourselves to become more marketable and adaptable to the requirements of a demanding world.
Learning does not stop once we step out of school or university. Learning is, to borrow a phrase, a “lifelong” process.
~~~~~~~
Gem2?
Columnists Musings
Wednesday May 31, 2006
Fact or fiction?
MUSINGS
BY MARINA MAHATHIR
AMIDST the endless chatter about The Da Vinci Code recently, a British survey revealed that almost half of the people who had read it thought it was likely to be true. Considering that the book is billed as fiction, how can this be?
Perhaps we cannot blame these people. These days it is so hard to tell fact from fiction that anyone would get confused. Take the case of another book, A Million Pieces by James Frey, that was supposed to be biographical until it turned out that the author had made up some of the stories in it. Either way, it sold millions of copies so maybe people don’t mind being confused.
But this confusion is not limited to books. Fiction is often aggressively touted as fact so that other objectives may be achieved. The one that most comes to mind is the one about how Iraq needs to be invaded because they have Weapons of Mass Destruction. When this turned out to be irrefutably fictional, other little fairytales were trotted out as hardcore fact. The latest is that “the election of a constitutional government in Iraq justified going to war”, cheerily announced by President Bumble and Prime Minister Bee. That’s rather like saying that the marrying of the Prince justified Cinderella being careless enough to lose an expensive pair of glass slippers that night. Isn’t hindsight great?
There are numerous other examples of fiction touted as fact. Abstinence prevents HIV. Polygamy is good for women. Our schools are really good. Our MPs are intelligent and sensitive people. We have an open society. Every bit of gossip and rumour we hear is true and comes from reliable sources.
The latest marvellous one is that men can be charitable by marrying women without having to be responsible for them. This only confirms my contention that in this country we promote lots of sex and lust as long as it’s legal. A friend of mine made a good point; at least prostitutes get paid for their services. In kahwin misyar, women don’t even get that!
Then there’s fact derided as fiction. Price hikes hurt people. Our universities are not fabulous. Lelaki Komunis Terakhir is a security threat. MPs seem to get away with anything. We are nowhere near solving our drug problem. Our mainstream papers don’t report all the news that’s fit to read.
No wonder people get confused. We seem to be living in parallel worlds. One is the hunky dory one where everything seems to be going great, where one can simply adapt one’s lifestyle to suit our shrinking wallets, convince ourselves that laws are just meant for bad people and not us, pat ourselves on our backs that we can endure any misery without having to demonstrate or protest like other people. Then there is the real one where people are really finding it hard to make ends meet, where we can see obvious corruption and abuse of position, where women really have a rotten deal, where segregation is becoming an increasing reality.
The worst fiction of all, and for some reason this is one bit of fiction that almost everybody believes, is that nothing can be done and we should resign ourselves to it. We could take that as fact and then have to live with the fiction that we are a democracy. I suppose over time we can make ourselves believe anything at all.
It used to be, for example, that teachers, doctors, lawyers and the like used to get into politics because, having seen the realities of life for ordinary people, they decided that the only way to help was to get into Parliament. That was fact dealing with facts. Nowadays people aim to get into Parliament using the fiction that they wanted to help others when the fact is often that the only people helped are themselves. We should take a close look at those who make claims about helping others, usually those who have the same interests as themselves, and see what they have actually done to help those really in need. Then, based on those facts, let’s stop this fiction that they are there to serve the nation.
I don’t know about you but the fact for me is reading the news daily, our politicians are losing credibility daily. Already they are our least trusted people (wasn’t it funny that none wanted to make a comment on that?), but with all the recent pronouncements, is it any wonder that our confidence gets eroded even more? Did we actually elect these people? What on earth possessed us?
To stop living in a fictional world where we think everything is fine when they are actually not, we, as citizens, need to take more responsibility. If a politician says something objectionable or stupid, we should boo them loud and clear. We mustn’t close one eye to it all.
~~~~~~~
DESIDERATA: I await your Comments, the better articulated ones will be promoted to the Frontpage for further discourse tommorrow as we have some NATIONAL ISSUES under focus. ~~ Desi
NO LUCK.
So today I'm short-cutting by extracting from TWO COLUMNS spied from The Star, one by a GEIC waiting-in-the-wings, and the other just a Part-timer GUEST COLUMNIST.
I may have my bias and prejudices, but I feel one columnist held his tongue in confronting the Issue, the other DID NOT.
I trust my ER know the distinction.
I partially gave Da Rationale in my UPDATE to Yesterday's Post, but I invite my ER' views before I update with further responses on Frontpage tomorrow, CAN? Compromise as I'm fighting against time having LOST an hour plus of "missing" writes, TWICE this moUrn.
I appeal my EsteemedReaders to give their 3sen worth, from the perspectives of a Malaysian with priorities on national interests but bearing in mind this is truly now a Globalised Village we live in, whether we like it or not. ~~ Desi
Gem1?
Opinion
Friday June 2, 2006
We need to be more marketable
COMMENT: By WONG CHUN WAI
Opinion
Friday June 2, 2006
MANY Malaysians have long complained about job vacancy advertisements that require applicants to have compulsory knowledge of written Chinese and spoken Mandarin.
For job-seekers who are only proficient in Bahasa Malaysia and English, such advertisements must be frustrating, particularly if they feel they are qualified for the jobs offered.
At a glance, Malay and Indian applicants would seem to be the ones discriminated against, but English-educated Chinese are also in the same boat.
Many Chinese can speak their Cantonese or Hokkien mother tongues, but like their Malay and Indian brethrens, they would be rejected by such employers who must have their reasons for insisting on the ability to read and write Chinese.
On Tuesday, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak urged the private sector to stop the practice of making it compulsory for local graduates to be proficient in Mandarin.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the private sector should be more open in accepting and training local graduates without imposing certain requirements.
Employers who insist on hiring only a certain race and gender have long infuriated Malaysians. Often, these are not even offers for high positions but simple clerical or supermarket jobs.
Employers must realise that it makes good management sense to have a balanced staff of various races. Not only would they have a larger pool of applicants to choose from, but the company would also be able to deal effectively with a larger market of customers. Managing leave for staff would be easier too.
For government agencies where Malays make up the majority of the staff, it has always been a nightmare during Hari Raya Aidilfitri. If there are more non-Malay civil servants, such manpower problems would not exist.
Advertisements that impose conditions on language and race should not just be stopped for job vacancies but also those relating to rental of apartments or houses.
There is absolutely no need for employers to state such conditions openly, although there is nothing to stop them from culling candidates who do not meet their expectations in the selection process.
As a Chinese, I fall into the category labelled by some as xiang jiao ren (literally banana people: yellow on the outside, white inside – a Chinese who does not speak Chinese).
When watching Cantonese dramas or movies, I rely on the subtitles. When on holiday in China with tour groups, the English-educated ones like me find ourselves unable to comprehend what the guide is saying.
Most Malaysians are bilingual, but next to those who attended Chinese schools and who can speak three languages, we are at an obvious disadvantage.
But we have to be practical. We can either whine about it, pretend we are not affected by our lack of language skills, or we can learn these languages because of their economic value.
While people like me may find it late to start learning to read and write a new language, there is nothing to stop the younger set, especially fresh graduates, from learning Mandarin, Arabic or Spanish.
As Najib stated, the number of graduates have almost doubled from 45,000 in 2000 to 85,000 last year, but a recent survey showed that 32% of graduates today have yet to secure jobs after completing their studies last year.
No one is surprised by the figure.
The slowdown in the economy has not helped. Employers have become more cautious of escalating production costs, thereby imposing stringent rules on recruitment.
For job seekers whose degrees are not in demand in the job market, they become even more unmarketable when interviewers find that they have a poor command of English.
For many local graduates, that inadequacy is already reflected in their application letters – if they can’t string together a proper sentence in English, how can employers have faith in them putting up a decent sales presentation?
This poor command of English is evident among many local graduates, regardless of race. They are victims of an education system that has neglected English. If anybody is to be blamed, it’s the politicians. But unfortunately the damage has been done.
The elites can send their children for education overseas but most Malaysian parents cannot afford to do so. If one is living in a kampung, new village or estate, the children have little exposure to English, putting them at a disadvantage against urban kids.
Even in China, employers have begun to insist on fluency in English among fresh graduates in the market. If you want to do business in India, it’s still English.
The reality is that English, Mandarin and Arabic would become more important in the coming years because China, India and now the United Arab Emirates have emerged as big markets.
A local company with plans to set up office in China, Hong Kong or Taiwan would insist on Mandarin-speaking candidates. A Chinese Malaysian who can only speak Cantonese or Hokkien would lose out to a Malay who speaks Mandarin and write Chinese.
Likewise, a Mandarin-speaking job applicant is useless for a company doing business in Dubai.
Good English and Arabic would certainly be an asset. Tour operators for Arab visitors to Malaysia would hire Arabic-speaking graduates.
In Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden and Austria, most people there can speak at least three languages, but in Malaysia and Singapore, we do not seem to have that skill despite our plural set-up.
In Singapore, many speak English and Mandarin but cannot speak the Malay language, while in Malaysia, most of us are merely bilingual but the trend is that many are becoming monolingual, which is something that we need to check.
Nobody owes anyone a living. We should not expect the Government to give us a job as a pegawai in the civil service, simply because we are graduates.
What we should do is improve ourselves to become more marketable and adaptable to the requirements of a demanding world.
Learning does not stop once we step out of school or university. Learning is, to borrow a phrase, a “lifelong” process.
~~~~~~~
Gem2?
Columnists Musings
Wednesday May 31, 2006
Fact or fiction?
MUSINGS
BY MARINA MAHATHIR
AMIDST the endless chatter about The Da Vinci Code recently, a British survey revealed that almost half of the people who had read it thought it was likely to be true. Considering that the book is billed as fiction, how can this be?
Perhaps we cannot blame these people. These days it is so hard to tell fact from fiction that anyone would get confused. Take the case of another book, A Million Pieces by James Frey, that was supposed to be biographical until it turned out that the author had made up some of the stories in it. Either way, it sold millions of copies so maybe people don’t mind being confused.
But this confusion is not limited to books. Fiction is often aggressively touted as fact so that other objectives may be achieved. The one that most comes to mind is the one about how Iraq needs to be invaded because they have Weapons of Mass Destruction. When this turned out to be irrefutably fictional, other little fairytales were trotted out as hardcore fact. The latest is that “the election of a constitutional government in Iraq justified going to war”, cheerily announced by President Bumble and Prime Minister Bee. That’s rather like saying that the marrying of the Prince justified Cinderella being careless enough to lose an expensive pair of glass slippers that night. Isn’t hindsight great?
There are numerous other examples of fiction touted as fact. Abstinence prevents HIV. Polygamy is good for women. Our schools are really good. Our MPs are intelligent and sensitive people. We have an open society. Every bit of gossip and rumour we hear is true and comes from reliable sources.
The latest marvellous one is that men can be charitable by marrying women without having to be responsible for them. This only confirms my contention that in this country we promote lots of sex and lust as long as it’s legal. A friend of mine made a good point; at least prostitutes get paid for their services. In kahwin misyar, women don’t even get that!
Then there’s fact derided as fiction. Price hikes hurt people. Our universities are not fabulous. Lelaki Komunis Terakhir is a security threat. MPs seem to get away with anything. We are nowhere near solving our drug problem. Our mainstream papers don’t report all the news that’s fit to read.
No wonder people get confused. We seem to be living in parallel worlds. One is the hunky dory one where everything seems to be going great, where one can simply adapt one’s lifestyle to suit our shrinking wallets, convince ourselves that laws are just meant for bad people and not us, pat ourselves on our backs that we can endure any misery without having to demonstrate or protest like other people. Then there is the real one where people are really finding it hard to make ends meet, where we can see obvious corruption and abuse of position, where women really have a rotten deal, where segregation is becoming an increasing reality.
The worst fiction of all, and for some reason this is one bit of fiction that almost everybody believes, is that nothing can be done and we should resign ourselves to it. We could take that as fact and then have to live with the fiction that we are a democracy. I suppose over time we can make ourselves believe anything at all.
It used to be, for example, that teachers, doctors, lawyers and the like used to get into politics because, having seen the realities of life for ordinary people, they decided that the only way to help was to get into Parliament. That was fact dealing with facts. Nowadays people aim to get into Parliament using the fiction that they wanted to help others when the fact is often that the only people helped are themselves. We should take a close look at those who make claims about helping others, usually those who have the same interests as themselves, and see what they have actually done to help those really in need. Then, based on those facts, let’s stop this fiction that they are there to serve the nation.
I don’t know about you but the fact for me is reading the news daily, our politicians are losing credibility daily. Already they are our least trusted people (wasn’t it funny that none wanted to make a comment on that?), but with all the recent pronouncements, is it any wonder that our confidence gets eroded even more? Did we actually elect these people? What on earth possessed us?
To stop living in a fictional world where we think everything is fine when they are actually not, we, as citizens, need to take more responsibility. If a politician says something objectionable or stupid, we should boo them loud and clear. We mustn’t close one eye to it all.
~~~~~~~
DESIDERATA: I await your Comments, the better articulated ones will be promoted to the Frontpage for further discourse tommorrow as we have some NATIONAL ISSUES under focus. ~~ Desi
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Internet-Blogsworld language rankings...
I'm reprisng two relevant items I fikled in my Archives; there is a subtle message, maybe not subtle, eye-opening!, for Malaysians. Ordinary Malaysians, leave out Da Ministers -- they live in a world of their own. To know why Desi is ranting thus, read the precedent, which means the PREVIOUS, entry, (See,can Eye-to-I with Desi? flee Engrish tuition I talked about!) okay it's titled: See the speck in thy neighbour's eye...
Now, brokeback to Archives, its imporatynace when the brain vells run a li'l dry, like Petronas oilfields~~~~~~~
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
The language of blogs
What is the main language in which blogs are written? Did you guess English? Well, sorry, wrong!
"Technorati's David Sifry has produced some interesting data on the language of the blogosphere, indicating that Japanese, not English, is actually the most popular language for blogs. 37 per cent of blogs are in Japanese, followed by English (31 per cent) and Chinese (15 per cent)."
The Telegraph's Shane Richmond adds:
"But it isn’t just the blogosphere we should worry about – the Internet at large is being divided along language lines. The latest figures show that there are around 300 million English-speaking internet users compared with just over 100 million who speak Chinese. However, Internet usage in China is growing at a terrific rate and it won’t be long before the Chinese Internet is bigger than its English-language counterpart."(The emphasis, in BOLD like this, is Desiderata's, not ABC!)
So well, here we have another disparity - not only geographic but also by language.
(By Asia Business Consulting)
posted by JM @ 11:19 AM
Global Internet Usage
An impressively high number of youth aged 15 and above around the globe accessed the Internet in March 2006 = 694 million.
This is slightly above 10% of total global population - still a long way to go, but hey, public access to the Internet is not that long available. So let's celebrate those numbers as advancement and progress.
But naturally, there are huge disparities in the usage:
"China, Japan, India and Korea - which represent nearly 25 per cent of the total worldwide online population (168.1 million users). These four countries combined represent a larger user base than the US, which had over 152 million users in March."
Just imagine what benefits will happen if the usage spreads?
(By Asia Business Consulting)
My 3sen's worth, also retrieved from The Archioves!:)
"The growing power of the Internet, hence also Blogosworld, and concurrent emergence of China as the next Superpower to rival the USA. It's just a matter of a decade before the Europeans need to master Mandarin in order to tap the Chinese market, or they prish and fade away ... maybe then my country will wakeup from its 15th cventury dreams of olde worlde Malacca singing the praises of P Ramlee and debating whether to allow the screening of a Communist titled musical documentary by Amir Muhammad!"
ylchong | Homepage | 05.10.06 - 8:18 am | #
------------------------------------------------------------------
Advertisement PLUG @5.00pm ~~~~~~~~ PLEASE visit asiabusinesssconsulting.com and
say Hi-Lo to JASMINE, the summariser of the two ABC gems quoted above. ~~ Desi,
who believes that "One goode turn deserves another Badder wan...", and that's in Blogspiak.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now, brokeback to Archives, its imporatynace when the brain vells run a li'l dry, like Petronas oilfields~~~~~~~
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
The language of blogs
What is the main language in which blogs are written? Did you guess English? Well, sorry, wrong!
"Technorati's David Sifry has produced some interesting data on the language of the blogosphere, indicating that Japanese, not English, is actually the most popular language for blogs. 37 per cent of blogs are in Japanese, followed by English (31 per cent) and Chinese (15 per cent)."
The Telegraph's Shane Richmond adds:
"But it isn’t just the blogosphere we should worry about – the Internet at large is being divided along language lines. The latest figures show that there are around 300 million English-speaking internet users compared with just over 100 million who speak Chinese. However, Internet usage in China is growing at a terrific rate and it won’t be long before the Chinese Internet is bigger than its English-language counterpart."(The emphasis, in BOLD like this, is Desiderata's, not ABC!)
So well, here we have another disparity - not only geographic but also by language.
(By Asia Business Consulting)
posted by JM @ 11:19 AM
Global Internet Usage
An impressively high number of youth aged 15 and above around the globe accessed the Internet in March 2006 = 694 million.
This is slightly above 10% of total global population - still a long way to go, but hey, public access to the Internet is not that long available. So let's celebrate those numbers as advancement and progress.
But naturally, there are huge disparities in the usage:
"China, Japan, India and Korea - which represent nearly 25 per cent of the total worldwide online population (168.1 million users). These four countries combined represent a larger user base than the US, which had over 152 million users in March."
Just imagine what benefits will happen if the usage spreads?
(By Asia Business Consulting)
My 3sen's worth, also retrieved from The Archioves!:)
"The growing power of the Internet, hence also Blogosworld, and concurrent emergence of China as the next Superpower to rival the USA. It's just a matter of a decade before the Europeans need to master Mandarin in order to tap the Chinese market, or they prish and fade away ... maybe then my country will wakeup from its 15th cventury dreams of olde worlde Malacca singing the praises of P Ramlee and debating whether to allow the screening of a Communist titled musical documentary by Amir Muhammad!"
ylchong | Homepage | 05.10.06 - 8:18 am | #
------------------------------------------------------------------
Advertisement PLUG @5.00pm ~~~~~~~~ PLEASE visit asiabusinesssconsulting.com and
say Hi-Lo to JASMINE, the summariser of the two ABC gems quoted above. ~~ Desi,
who believes that "One goode turn deserves another Badder wan...", and that's in Blogspiak.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
See the speck in thy neighbour's eye...
STOP! Lembu Crossing A-head!
If Desi again writes in strange tongue, it's because there are some adddicts out there arse-king for IT!
I'm always carrefool when driving in the night -- not that I'm careless driving in daylight. Am I making sense? Okay, rephrase: I am careful when driving on Malaysian roads, but increase my careful alertness at night. Better? If thou art still confused, come back on Sunday for some flee tuition.:(
I see the Sangkancil laughing at Desi for his humour,
but I hear some rumour the species called LEMBU are getting extinct.
That's why they are mullinh over Desi's proposal to erect the road signs shouting:
"STOP! Lembu Crossing A-head!"
Actually this is the moral of today's 'sermon'; badder word is Aesop's fable updated to 21st century. I'm doing IT in reverse. No, Howsy, not Brokeback Mount style.
Gostan, that's all, starting from Da End. More arrest-ing Dat Way.
So to Da Beginning~~~~~~~
From The Star, page N18,
Thursday June 1, 2006
Fong: Mandarin should be optional
PUTRAJAYA: The requirement for prospective employees to be fluent in Mandarin should be made optional.
Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr Fong Chan Onn said making it a must would limit employers to a small pool of people when searching for dedicated and hardworking staff.
“I will talk to the private sector on this and I hope this demand for Mandarin proficiency when employing new workers will stop,” he said after meeting Nepalese Deputy Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli at his office yesterday.
“Language proficiency can be provided as part of an in-house programme for employees and need not be for Mandarin only,” he said.
“Employees should also be conversant in English and Bahasa Malaysia.”
On Tuesday, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had asked the
private sector to stop making it compulsory for local graduates to be proficient in Mandarin.
In Kuala Lumpur, Bernama reported Overseas Umno Club Alumni chairman Ahmad Zaini Ismail as saying that such restrictive conditions would create problems for Malaysians in seeking jobs after completing their studies overseas.
However, Malaysian Human Rights Commissioner Prof Dr Chiam Heng Keng had a contrary view.
“From the eye of the employer, there is no discrimination,” she said, adding that the companies' management had the right to select the most appropriate candidate for a particular post.
~~~~~~~~
DESIDERATA poses this ChallengiA:
Which is MORE UNHEALTHY IN ITS DISCRIMINATION?
Class A Advertisements for Job Vacancy:
Condition: Only BUMIPUTRAS are eligible to apply.
Class B Advertisements for Job Vacancy:
Condition: Proficiency in Mandarin is requisite for this Vacancy.
OBJECTIVE TEST:
Answers
(1) Class A
(2) Class B
DESIDERATA: Look at how I have phrased the Question.
I've stated from the start that BOTH ARE DISCRIMINATORY.
The difference is that one discriminates on Political/Ethnic qualification;
the other discriminates on Language ground.
For a young nation of 49 years, and trying to foster unity among muli-racial groups that are diverse in culture, language and religion, Malaysia indeed faces many challenges that Homogeneous populated societies like Korea, Japan do not face. (Recall that one Senior Editor at a public forum said, in all seriousness, that Malaysia was unlike other Homogegeous societies like The United States of America ... Go figure who, and why, and how?
But many of our myopic politicians don't see beyond their ethnic lenses, or noses. They see the speck in the neighbour's eyes, but can't see what?
The Lembu Crossing A-head!
(So some Politikus killed the poor Sangkancil just now crossing the well-lit road because its size was a mite too small for his/her vision!)
Desi has through Blogging been trying to promote a Civil Society where there is no discrimination on grounds of ethnicity, religion, gender, and even in most fields of civil society activities where aopplicable, no discrimination on political affiliation e.g. scholarships awards, whether by PSD, or private sector's. Hence, as was done in last year's Merdeka Day Essay Series,(August 25-31, 2005) I and some mGf here have called for an early start to nation building for NegaraKU by dismantling Race-Based Parties (& in tandem, Policies), such as UMNO, MCA and MIC, as well as Religion-based parties like PAS.
OtherWISE, I hold the opinion that Malaysia -- "as a nation" -- have not even started on our slow march towards building a truly, united nation.
Our DPM has joined the ranks of one other Minister who asked us to travel by Lembu kereta commutiung KL/PP, yeah, save on petrol but taking 0ne-and-half months -- they are so out of touch with the pulse of the Malaysian common folks ekeing out a living at Chow Kit and Petaling Street, or Jalan Sambanthan, or Jalan Hang Tuah, Lebuh Carnavon, Jalan Kamunting or Jalan Tan Sri V Manickavasagam.
Of course, MCA Ministers like Fong Chan Onn would bow, say Yes, Deputy PM, I'd follow up with a directive tomorrow to ask that "... the private sector on this and I hope this demand for Mandarin proficiency when employing new workers will stop.”
He can't see the double standrads demanded that he -- poor koolie! -- had to commit.
Well, at least one shing spark in the form of Prof DR Chiam still has the guts to speak her mind. One Salute.
Just an aside, side by side in the last para was this wise challenge thrown up by out esteemed ex-PM:
"He added that the boys should buck up because the girls now made up 60% of the university student population."
Thinking allowed, if some Politikus stretch their argument to its logical conclusion, One Day We Will See The Following Advertisement worded thus?
University Admission to XYZ Science or Law Faculty:
Condition: Only MALE students need to apply.
Now where was I?
The saying that You see the speck in your neighbour's eye, but do not see the branch/plank in your own eye.
I wonder if there is a parallel in Desi's moral of~~~~~~~~. If none, never mind, it's my morn's breakfast offering.
Oh yes, preserving the Sangkancil and Lembu!
Must inform my businesss friends involved in billboarding to tender for the job. My 30% cut! Tradition in NegaraKu, hence the original tender form factors this in by upping bill by 300%. You add one zelo here, another zelo there, make so many contractors happy, YES?
Getting paid RM100million as compensation for a Job hardly started.
Now you know where the oil dollars have been floating...
Do you swim, mGf?If yes. please, go fish out some Ringgit notes for Desi...
Thinking A-HEAD for coming Sunday's CON!:(
PS: Please look out for a Bonus Post this afternoon -- I'm thinking aloud again that I have in my archives a relevant nu'es item. Not poetic, but discerning...
Chow! --myGOoDfriend, as in "Adios, Adieu, See You Later."
OR "Go eat thy breakfast of Bread&Butter, throw in some kaya if you can steal afford IT;
for Man shall not live on air, water and sunshine alone."
We shall meet a-gain. InsyaAllah. God willing.
UPDATE THE DAY AFTER
June 2, 2006 @ 10.50AM
A senior editor in The Star, WONG CHUN WAI in a Comment on page N25, devoted HALF A PAGE to the subject. I extracted jsut the first two paras, Go pay RM1.20 for the rest of the cili crab/crap!
~~~~~~~
We need to be more marketable
COMMENT: By WONG CHUN WAI
MANY Malaysians have long complained about job vacancy advertisements that require applicants to have compulsory knowledge of written Chinese and spoken Mandarin.
For job-seekers who are only proficient in Bahasa Malaysia and English, such advertisements must be frustrating, particularly if they feel they are qualified for the jobs offered.
~~~~~~~
He only deliberated on the Class B advertisement, taking after the big foot steps of Deputy Prime Minister whom he must really idolise. The same laments by Najib Tun Razak a few days ago regurgitated, expanded to cover international market palces like Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden and Australia, okay nearer home Singapore, then China, Hong Kong and Taiwan -- but he alos never mentioned, not even ONCE, Class A Advertisements inviting the BUMIPUTRAS ONLY applicants.
This for someone second in line to the People's Paper's GEIC. Oh, I remember, he's a double Datuk, so it's possible he harbours Political ambitions. OR isit what you call another AP? APologist...
Therefore, journalism is far from someone's mind...
I rest my case. OR isIT RIP?
Like The Sarawak Tribune?
If Desi again writes in strange tongue, it's because there are some adddicts out there arse-king for IT!
I'm always carrefool when driving in the night -- not that I'm careless driving in daylight. Am I making sense? Okay, rephrase: I am careful when driving on Malaysian roads, but increase my careful alertness at night. Better? If thou art still confused, come back on Sunday for some flee tuition.:(
I see the Sangkancil laughing at Desi for his humour,
but I hear some rumour the species called LEMBU are getting extinct.
That's why they are mullinh over Desi's proposal to erect the road signs shouting:
"STOP! Lembu Crossing A-head!"
Actually this is the moral of today's 'sermon'; badder word is Aesop's fable updated to 21st century. I'm doing IT in reverse. No, Howsy, not Brokeback Mount style.
Gostan, that's all, starting from Da End. More arrest-ing Dat Way.
So to Da Beginning~~~~~~~
From The Star, page N18,
Thursday June 1, 2006
Fong: Mandarin should be optional
PUTRAJAYA: The requirement for prospective employees to be fluent in Mandarin should be made optional.
Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr Fong Chan Onn said making it a must would limit employers to a small pool of people when searching for dedicated and hardworking staff.
“I will talk to the private sector on this and I hope this demand for Mandarin proficiency when employing new workers will stop,” he said after meeting Nepalese Deputy Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli at his office yesterday.
“Language proficiency can be provided as part of an in-house programme for employees and need not be for Mandarin only,” he said.
“Employees should also be conversant in English and Bahasa Malaysia.”
On Tuesday, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had asked the
private sector to stop making it compulsory for local graduates to be proficient in Mandarin.
In Kuala Lumpur, Bernama reported Overseas Umno Club Alumni chairman Ahmad Zaini Ismail as saying that such restrictive conditions would create problems for Malaysians in seeking jobs after completing their studies overseas.
However, Malaysian Human Rights Commissioner Prof Dr Chiam Heng Keng had a contrary view.
“From the eye of the employer, there is no discrimination,” she said, adding that the companies' management had the right to select the most appropriate candidate for a particular post.
~~~~~~~~
DESIDERATA poses this ChallengiA:
Which is MORE UNHEALTHY IN ITS DISCRIMINATION?
Class A Advertisements for Job Vacancy:
Condition: Only BUMIPUTRAS are eligible to apply.
Class B Advertisements for Job Vacancy:
Condition: Proficiency in Mandarin is requisite for this Vacancy.
OBJECTIVE TEST:
Answers
(1) Class A
(2) Class B
DESIDERATA: Look at how I have phrased the Question.
I've stated from the start that BOTH ARE DISCRIMINATORY.
The difference is that one discriminates on Political/Ethnic qualification;
the other discriminates on Language ground.
For a young nation of 49 years, and trying to foster unity among muli-racial groups that are diverse in culture, language and religion, Malaysia indeed faces many challenges that Homogeneous populated societies like Korea, Japan do not face. (Recall that one Senior Editor at a public forum said, in all seriousness, that Malaysia was unlike other Homogegeous societies like The United States of America ... Go figure who, and why, and how?
But many of our myopic politicians don't see beyond their ethnic lenses, or noses. They see the speck in the neighbour's eyes, but can't see what?
The Lembu Crossing A-head!
(So some Politikus killed the poor Sangkancil just now crossing the well-lit road because its size was a mite too small for his/her vision!)
Desi has through Blogging been trying to promote a Civil Society where there is no discrimination on grounds of ethnicity, religion, gender, and even in most fields of civil society activities where aopplicable, no discrimination on political affiliation e.g. scholarships awards, whether by PSD, or private sector's. Hence, as was done in last year's Merdeka Day Essay Series,(August 25-31, 2005) I and some mGf here have called for an early start to nation building for NegaraKU by dismantling Race-Based Parties (& in tandem, Policies), such as UMNO, MCA and MIC, as well as Religion-based parties like PAS.
OtherWISE, I hold the opinion that Malaysia -- "as a nation" -- have not even started on our slow march towards building a truly, united nation.
Our DPM has joined the ranks of one other Minister who asked us to travel by Lembu kereta commutiung KL/PP, yeah, save on petrol but taking 0ne-and-half months -- they are so out of touch with the pulse of the Malaysian common folks ekeing out a living at Chow Kit and Petaling Street, or Jalan Sambanthan, or Jalan Hang Tuah, Lebuh Carnavon, Jalan Kamunting or Jalan Tan Sri V Manickavasagam.
Of course, MCA Ministers like Fong Chan Onn would bow, say Yes, Deputy PM, I'd follow up with a directive tomorrow to ask that "... the private sector on this and I hope this demand for Mandarin proficiency when employing new workers will stop.”
He can't see the double standrads demanded that he -- poor koolie! -- had to commit.
Well, at least one shing spark in the form of Prof DR Chiam still has the guts to speak her mind. One Salute.
Just an aside, side by side in the last para was this wise challenge thrown up by out esteemed ex-PM:
"He added that the boys should buck up because the girls now made up 60% of the university student population."
Thinking allowed, if some Politikus stretch their argument to its logical conclusion, One Day We Will See The Following Advertisement worded thus?
University Admission to XYZ Science or Law Faculty:
Condition: Only MALE students need to apply.
Now where was I?
The saying that You see the speck in your neighbour's eye, but do not see the branch/plank in your own eye.
I wonder if there is a parallel in Desi's moral of~~~~~~~~. If none, never mind, it's my morn's breakfast offering.
Oh yes, preserving the Sangkancil and Lembu!
Must inform my businesss friends involved in billboarding to tender for the job. My 30% cut! Tradition in NegaraKu, hence the original tender form factors this in by upping bill by 300%. You add one zelo here, another zelo there, make so many contractors happy, YES?
Getting paid RM100million as compensation for a Job hardly started.
Now you know where the oil dollars have been floating...
Do you swim, mGf?If yes. please, go fish out some Ringgit notes for Desi...
Thinking A-HEAD for coming Sunday's CON!:(
PS: Please look out for a Bonus Post this afternoon -- I'm thinking aloud again that I have in my archives a relevant nu'es item. Not poetic, but discerning...
Chow! --myGOoDfriend, as in "Adios, Adieu, See You Later."
OR "Go eat thy breakfast of Bread&Butter, throw in some kaya if you can steal afford IT;
for Man shall not live on air, water and sunshine alone."
We shall meet a-gain. InsyaAllah. God willing.
UPDATE THE DAY AFTER
June 2, 2006 @ 10.50AM
A senior editor in The Star, WONG CHUN WAI in a Comment on page N25, devoted HALF A PAGE to the subject. I extracted jsut the first two paras, Go pay RM1.20 for the rest of the cili crab/crap!
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We need to be more marketable
COMMENT: By WONG CHUN WAI
MANY Malaysians have long complained about job vacancy advertisements that require applicants to have compulsory knowledge of written Chinese and spoken Mandarin.
For job-seekers who are only proficient in Bahasa Malaysia and English, such advertisements must be frustrating, particularly if they feel they are qualified for the jobs offered.
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He only deliberated on the Class B advertisement, taking after the big foot steps of Deputy Prime Minister whom he must really idolise. The same laments by Najib Tun Razak a few days ago regurgitated, expanded to cover international market palces like Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden and Australia, okay nearer home Singapore, then China, Hong Kong and Taiwan -- but he alos never mentioned, not even ONCE, Class A Advertisements inviting the BUMIPUTRAS ONLY applicants.
This for someone second in line to the People's Paper's GEIC. Oh, I remember, he's a double Datuk, so it's possible he harbours Political ambitions. OR isit what you call another AP? APologist...
Therefore, journalism is far from someone's mind...
I rest my case. OR isIT RIP?
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