Glen Knight: WRONG to have prosecuted Tan Koon Swan...

THAT WAS THE FRONTPAGE HEADLINE in one of the Chinese newspapers I read at the Furong Pasar where Desi and a disparate group of politikuses would gather almost every morn for our cuppa UNLESS IT RAINS CATS&DONGS&LEMBU from about 8.00AM daily. So I was damned interested, seized my companion's copy of China Press (I stand corrected...I was so absorbed I was only taking note of the grabbing headline which also leads to several inside pages' reports....!)

Things that come to mind immediately: Pan El share trading fiaisco, Singapore Stck Exchange closed for 1 or 2 days, then MCA President riding the political crest in the Chinese community was charged, later found guilty and JAILED IN SINGAPORE; Glen Knight the main prosecuting officer was himself later found guilty of an UNRELATED TO PAN EL offence; wOw, juicy retrospective stpories to occupy SIN- and MAL- shores the sext few dies!:) OR :(


My first reaction was: BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER?


Stay tuned wile I hunt down the detailed news accounts via Internet. I'm sure the English media will do justice to this NEWS-SHATTERING DEVELOPMENT! (About 8.0 in thew media Reichter scale by SIN-standards? I'm sure ex-PM Lee Senior (Kuan Yew) and current PM Lee Junior (Hsien Loong) would soon react!

Desi awaits with BATED BREATH!:) OR :( -- YL, Desi


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UPDATEd @636PM, took care of many TYPOS -- hey, can some1 loan Desi a sexcretary? -- and although I "googled", I could NOT find any current news items, so for meantime, enjoy the backgrounder,from en.wikipedia.org OK!:)~~~

Glenn Jeyasingam Knight (born in 1945) is a Singaporean lawyer. He was the first Director of the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD)[1] when it was founded in 1984.[2] He lost his post in 1991 after being convicted of corruption in a much-publicised trial.[3] In 1998, he was again tried and convicted for misappropriating money while in office.[4]
Knight is married to Pathmavali Rengayah. The couple have no children.[3]
Contents [hide]
1 Background
2 Notable cases
3 First investigation and trial
4 Aftermath of first conviction
5 Second investigation and trial
6 Aftermath of second conviction
7 Notes and references
8 External links
[edit]Background

Knight was a student of Anglo-Chinese School. In the 1990s, he was the vice-chairman of its Old Boys' Association[5] and a member of its board of governors.[6] He studied in the University of Singapore in the 1960s, and played the guitar in a jazz band to raise money for his tuition fees.[3][7]
He joined the Singapore Legal Service in 1970 and rose through the ranks "with the speed and power of an Exocet missile," as Queen's Counsel Roy Allaway later described it. Soon he acquired a reputation for being a law enforcer who prosecuted criminals without fear or favour. News of his ability and integrity impressed the late David Marshall, so much that when he retired he offered to give Knight a full partnership in his law firm; however, Knight was content to remain in the Legal Service and declined the offer.[8]
[edit]Notable cases

In 1978, Knight was the deputy public prosecutor in the trial of former magistrate Khoo Hin Hiong. In 1983, he acted for the Prosecution again in the trial of Adrian Lim, who had murdered two children.[8] In 1985, he was the senior state counsel and deputy public prosecutor who filed an affidavit on behalf of the Attorney-General requesting that the High Court cite five defendants for contempt of court over an editorial published in the Asian Wall Street Journal (AWSJ) on 17 October 1985. Titled "Jeyaretnam's Challenge", the editorial had questioned the "integrity and impartiality" of Singapore's judicial system. The affidavit led to an apology from the editor of the AWSJ.[9] In 1986, he was the public prosecutor for the Commercial Affairs Investigation Department[10] who filed charges against key people in Pan Electric Industries ("Pan-El"), such as Tan Kok Liang,[10][11] Tan Koon Swan,[12] and Peter Tham,[13] in the aftermath of the company's collapse. For his role in the Pan-El investigations, Knight was commended by then-Finance Minister Richard Hu in 1989.[14] Knight also led the prosecution team in Singapore's first case of insider trading, that of former United Overseas Bank banker Allan Ng.[15][16] On National Day 1990 (9 August 1990), he was awarded the Public Administration Medal, Gold, for his work as Director of the Commercial Affairs Department.[17]
[edit]First investigation and trial

On 23 March 1991, Knight was suddenly replaced as CAD director by Senior State Counsel Lawrence Ang in a decision that shocked the local legal community.[2] It turned out that Knight was under investigation by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB).[18][19] After an investigation lasting more than two months—one of the longest probes into the conduct of a public servant in Singapore—Knight was arrested on 27 May 1991[20][21] and charged with corruption the next day. He was the first Singapore legal officer to face such charges.[22] Specifically, he was accused of cheating three businessmen into investing S$3,000,000 each into the former Batam Island Country Club on the Indonesian island of Batam, as well as giving false information to the CPIB regarding vehicle purchases, an application for a car loan, and his corporate investments.[23][24][25] The judge originally set Knight's trial to commence in October 1992, but changed his mind and brought it forward to September 1991 after the prosecution complained that its witnesses had been subject to intimidation, and investigating officers had received mysterious phone calls warning them to "watch out".[26][27] In July that year, his wife and two others were also arrested and charged over the Batam resort investments.[28][29][30]
In a district court on 29 September 1991, Knight pleaded guilty to cheating then managing director of Trans-Island Bus Services Ng Ser Miang to try to make him invest in the Batam resort project, which had been planned by Knight and his wife.[31] In October, he was sentenced to three months in prison.[32][33][34][35]
Knight appealed against the sentence, and in March 1992 he managed to get his sentence reduced to a $17,000 fine and a day in prison.[36] He served the jail sentence and paid the fine on the day it was announced.[37] In deciding to reduce the sentence, High Court Judge L.P. Thean said that a "nominal custodial sentence" was sufficient given the mitigating circumstances in Knight's case.[38] In April, all charges against his wife in relation to his case were also dropped.[39]
[edit]Aftermath of first conviction

Although the sentence meted to him was eventually reduced, the corruption case had left permanent damage on Knight's career as a civil servant. After investigations on him began in March 1991, he faced disciplinary hearings and his services were terminated on 26 March 1992.[40] The President also revoked the prestigious Public Administration Medal, Gold, that had been awarded to Knight.[41] In August 1994, the High Court struck Knight off the roll of advocates and solicitors, meaning that he could no longer practise law.[42] After being disbarred, Knight worked as a consultant in a public-listed company.[43]
[edit]Second investigation and trial

In 1998, Knight was again charged in court—this time with criminal breach of trust by misappropriating money totalling $4,200 when still the CAD's Director on two occasions, in 1989 and 1990.[44][45] This second charge caused Knight to resign from his job.[43]
During the trial, the defence argued that the proceedings were invalid as Knight had been granted immunity by the Attorney-General's Chambers in 1991 from further charges arising from his corruption investigations, in exchange for him to plead guilty in the earlier trial. They argued that the latest set of charges stemmed from that investigation and thus were subject to the immunity clause.[46][47] The CPIB revealed that it had been tipped off about the misappropriation of money only in 1997 by an unnamed informant.[48] The court ruled that the proceedings could continue because the 1991 probe into Knight's dealings did not investigate his misappropriation of money.[49] Eventually the court found him guilty of two charges of misappropriation and sentenced him to a $10,000 fine and another day in jail.[4]
[edit]Aftermath of second conviction

The second conviction left Knight even worse off than before. The company he was working for before his second trial refused to re-employ him. Jobless, he engaged himself in community work in his church, Covenant Community Methodist Church, and often visited a pub in Boat Quay of which his wife was a partner.[3] He faded quietly from public life.[50]
On 25 April 2007, he re-appeared in the news when he filed an application seeking court approval to be reinstated as a lawyer. His application was granted on 22 May 2007, making him only the sixth lawyer to be reinstated in the Law Society of Singapore's 35-year history.[51][52] He will be joining the law firm Bernard & Rada Law Corporation.[53]

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Tan Koon Swan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tan Koon Swan (born 24 September 1940) is a controversial Malaysian political and corporate figure, who was president of the Malaysian Chinese Association from November 1985 to September 1986.
Tan first entered the political fray in the late 1970s. A self-made millionaire largely touted as a financial wizard, he assisted Lim Goh Tong in establishing Genting Highlands Resort as a successful tourist destination, and was invited to take up the position of Managing Director of Multi-Purpose Holdings Berhad, the corporate structure through which the MCA hoped to encourage Chinese participation in all areas of economic development.[1] He joined the party in 1977 and took up the position.
In 1978 Tan made his political debut, winning a parliamentary seat in Raub, Pahang. The following year, he was elected to the party's Central Committee and appointed Chairman of MCA Wilayah Persekutuan State Liaison Committee. In 1982 he cinched a landslide victory for the parliamentary seat in the opposition stronghold of Damansara.[2] 1984 saw him appointed as vice-president of the MCA.
In March 1984, Tan was sacked as vice-president from the MCA along with 13 other members for urging the party to investigate its member records for the presence of non-existent people, an issue that had sparked off factionalism and crisis within the party.[3] However, he and the other 13 were all reinstated two months later with the support of 1,600 MCA members in an extraordinary general meeting.[4] In November 1985, he was voted to be president of the MCA winning 76.9% of the votes cast, the largest majority in the party's history, and the first challenger since 1954 to win national leadership.[5][6]
Tan remained a highly prominent member of the corporate sector, controlling numerous companies, including Sigma International, which had a 22.6% stake in Pan-Electric Industries,[7] a Singaporean-based company. On 12 December 1985, he signed an agreement that gave the troubled company S$ 20 million of funds through an interest-free loan and allowed it to resume trading.[8][9]
In 1986 he was charged in Singapore with abetting criminal breach of trust relating to the collapse of Pan-El. He was sentenced to two years imprisonment by Singapore High Court Justice Lai Kew Chai. In Lai's judgement, Lai said Tan’s offences had “struck at the very heart, integrity, reputation and confidence of Singapore as a commercial city and financial centre”[citation needed]. After his sentencing, Tan resigned as MCA President.[2] In 1988 Tan was also sentenced and imprisoned in Malaysia, declared a bankrupt, and reportedly owed over RM400 million, at the time roughly equivalent to more than 100 million US dollars. He was ordered to pay RM1000 a month to the Official Assignee and the New Straits Times estimated it would take him 35,316 years to pay off his outstanding claims.[10] In the mid-1990s, after full repayment, Tan was discharged from bankruptcy.[11]
Tan, still a respected member of society, is a born-again Christian who likes to maintain a low profile.[12]
In 2012, a book by Glenn Knight revealed that Chief Justice Yong Pung How stated in a 1996 hearing that Tan Koon Swan had been wrongfully charged in the Pan-El case[13][14].

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DESIDERATA:

The highlighted sections (THUS BOLDED) in the wikipedia extracts are all done by Desi, the significance is for my ER -- intel yes? -- to infer, although I would help by coming back to embellish, OK!

Meanwhile, if you were to SIGHT any current news item related to the subject, please COPY&Pastry into my Comments section and I'll bring it back to main ppage..NO Payment but endless rounds of tehtari' if you can track Desi down at twilight at the TE Miang Koner!:):) -- YL, Desi


DESIDERATA UPDATEd further @711PM: See how heART I work FREE for thee?

I didn't siht any news item on this subject -- hey, what are all the news orgs doing? Orgasm izzit? --so I will add some juices to peropheral points, can I?

* At the same time that Koon Swan was arrested in SINland, my sources told me they were also looking our for a few BIG Malaysian market players -- you want names, please brng some kambing to Te Miang Coner, cun? To the extent those who felt the heat wisely avoided visiting the Little Dot. Even you went dare as a comma, you'd be spotted -- the SIN authourities were DAT GOoD! I Understand one of these tracked "plea-bargained" and settled out of court. No, I don't have any figure -- don't tell me it's kacang putih, that's awe I can say:(

Another reportedly enjoyed such HIGH POLITICAL CHARGE he/she/it could NOT be touched, even with a 20-km pole from across the crossway. Yeah, the term QUAN XI has greater meaning than merely in mainland Commie China OK!


Now, about that point of "born-again Christian" -- I think a few of Koon Swan's buddies in this privileged group -- they call themselves FULL GOSPEL XTIAN FALLENSHIP, izzit? -- were also charged in Malaysian courts for stocks-related offences. Hey, quan xi again played a HUGE ROLE in their sentencing! Mere ffew million dolar fines, NO JAIL SENTENCE> You see they would put away that bugger who stole a packet of maggi mee for a few weeks, NO JOKE! Thinking allowed, maybbe the judge wanted to ensure the bugger had some curry lice meals at taxpayers expense for a few weAks, also no sleeping in kaki 5, or shivering from the cold, and suffering mosquito -- Aids! -- bytes!

Stay tuned w'ile I adjourn to Te Miang Coner in case a few of my diehard fannies turn up -- taking my INVITE seriotously! -- Desi:):)


DESIDERATA2 or 3:

SINCE I could not sight anything current from news sources, how about SOMETHING FROM THE PAST, and starring the same duo2!

Of course, ONE minor boo-moo by the press, and one other by Desi! -- Hey, I'm humane OK! and To Err is Dewine:) -- caught Desi's sharp eye, trained as a journalist. Koon Swan reportedly had been promoted to being a ++++former Cabinet minister. Mr Editor, The STar, half-asleep on the job? Your bosses might demote you when y=they read my post today -- you wanna Desi make the necessary adjustments. Can Kau Dim wan!:)~~~
Desi's boo-moo was saying the SINland Stock Exchange was closed 1 or 2 days -- The Singapore ST reported as 3 which I believed was right (Desi was also leftist and wrong!:)
Saturday August 1, 2009

Duo show it’s possible to overcome failure
By CHEONG SUK-WAI



Ex-CAD director Glenn Knight and ex-MCA president share stage at leadership conference.

THERE is usually nothing too exciting about two speakers sharing a stage to talk about bouncing back from failure, especially not at a dime-a-dozen leadership seminar.

But on July 23, former Malaysian magnate and ++++Cabinet minister Tan Koon Swan galvanised the audience at the Suntec International Convention Centre in Singapore when he spoke alongside Singaporean lawyer Glenn Knight.

For about an hour, both took turns to speak of their past and how their Christian faith had sustained them through life’s setbacks.

In 1986, Knight, the first director of the Singapore Commercial Affairs Department (CAD), charged and prosecuted Tan for abetting a criminal breach of trust in the high-profile Pan-Electric Industries (Pan-El) case. Listed Pan-El and two other listed companies related to it went under after being some S$480mil in debt.

Their collapse caused the unprecedented closure of the Singapore and Malaysian stock exchanges for ****three days and triggered an overhaul of the share-trading system in Singapore.

Tan, then the MCA president, was jailed for 18 months and fined S$500,000.

By then, Knight was known as a crack crusader against white-collar crime. But in 1991, he was arrested and found guilty of trying to cheat three businessmen of S$3mil and faking an invoice to get a government loan.

He was jailed for a day after the court reduced his three-month jail sentence. He was also fined S$17,000 and disbarred.

Then in 1998, Knight was jailed for a day and fined S$10,000 for misappropriating government funds.

Today, Tan, 68, advises his family business while Knight, 64, is a litigation partner at Colin Ng & Partners.

The two men were speaking to more than 1,300 mostly-Christian delegates at the biennial Eagles Leadership Conference. It was organised by the Singapore Christian-based non-profit organisation Eagles Communications, which develops leaders.

The crowd erupted in applause when the two called the other “a good friend”. They said they were appearing together publicly for the first time since Pan-El to show that anyone could survive even abject failure.

Speaking to The Sunday Times later, Tan revealed that he never felt bitter about Knight. As he put it sanguinely: “I’ve nothing to forgive him because he had not done anything wrong against me. He was just doing his job.”

In 1985, before Pan-El went bust, Tan had paid Knight a visit at his office or, as the latter put it, “a courtesy call”. Knight returned that courtesy in 1986 when he visited Tan in the latter’s jail cell shortly after a rather rough interrogation. He told Tan that he bore no personal malice against the latter, and also told him to prepare to be made a bankrupt.

Indeed, throughout this interview, each egged the other on to tell his side of the story and sometimes even finished the other’s sentences. When Tan said he feared repercussions from this chat, Knight reassured him: “Never mind. It all sounds good.”

Asked what they could possibly have in common besides their faith and Pan-El, Knight said: “Because he was flying high. He was MCA chief. He was the top dog. So was I.”

Of his own tumbles, Knight told the audience earlier that God was “disciplining’ him for something else he had done in the past.

As he put it: “I had to ... come down to earth and accept that everyone is a normal human being. I suppose I had to be brought down.”

Tan was in town with his second wife, Penny Chang, who was famously described as his “constant companion” during the Pan-El trial as she was always by his side.

Now 60 but looking very much younger, she was dressed in a chic black and white outfit. Her straight, shoulder-length hair was pulled back in a pony tail to reveal fine-boned features and tanned skin. Her serious “don’t-mess-with-me” look throughout the event kept most people at bay. The couple have three daughters.

The son of a waiter and hawker, Tan grew up in Selangor and rose from a government clerk to a rainmaker chief executive who helped create the Genting Highlands casino. He then became an MP and MCA president.

But he became notorious because of Pan-El. He was plunged into debts of more than RM400mil after trying to, as he put it, rescue Pan-El by taking over and resuscitating the ship-salvaging and brokerage business. In its heyday, Pan-El owned more than 300 ships and its shares were red-hot on the Singapore stock exchange.

Tan entered into some US$100mil worth of dodgy forward contracts, in which loans were secured by shares with sometimes vastly inflated prices. While in prison, he lost 19 kg within three months. But he said what really broke him was seeing Chang getting fed-up with his self-pity and buckling under intense media scrutiny. She visited Tan almost every day throughout his incarceration, “drenched in tears”, he said.

Watching her falter emptied him of pride and bitterness, which proved his salvation. As he put it: “For God to save you, you’ve got to be really remorseful.”

At that time, Tan and Chang were not legally married although they had a daughter. He was then already a father to three other children with his first wife, Catherine Chong, a paraplegic.

In 1988, the Malaysian High Court declared Tan a bankrupt and some estimated it would take him 36,000 years to discharge himself. But two of his friends bought a piece of land on his behalf and then sold it so handsomely that, by 1995, he erased his entire debt.

Tan was coy about his exact dealings these days, but allowed that he was “in the background” as a corporate adviser to a Malaysian-based property development business run by his children. He would not say more.

More than two decades on, both men took pains to stress that they were at peace with themselves and others now.

As Knight put it: “It’s just a hiccup in your life. It may be five years or 15 years; get on with it.” — Singapore ST

Mr Prime Minister, order your police officers to "Cease and Desist"!

When the Penang UMNO leaders stomped on State Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's official picture, THE POLICE TOOK NO ACTION.


Post Bersih3.0 428 rally in Kuala Lumpur, a group of veteran ex-soldiers perfrmed a BUM-dance showing their buttocks in front of Bersih3.0 chairperson Datuk Ambiga Sreenavasan's house, THE POLICE TOOK NO ACTION.

But when a few exuberant Malaysian youths "misbehaved" (that's all I would deem their action, BEING RUDE!) by displaying a falg other than the Jalur Gemilang to celebrate Merdeka Eve at the Dataran Merdeka -- a popular gathering point every year on the day at midnight welcoming Malaya's independence -- THE POLICE QUICKLY SPRANG INTO ACTION.

A few teenagers who stomped on pictures of PM Najib Tun Razak and wife Rosmah Mansur, THE POLICE QUICKLY STOMPED INTO ACTION.


"Related" to this incident, a total of 11 photographs of so-called "offenders" at the Dataran Merdeka 55th Merdeka Eve welcoming party were splashed all over Malaysian media asking them to "surrender" themselves at the nearest police station.

I read of at least TWO below 20 -- one guy and one girl -- tendering their apologies, one by the guy's father, the other by the girl accompanied by a lawyer.

NOTABLY, the girl who surrendered herself at a police station in Johor, WAS HANDCUFFED TO BE ESCORTED TO BUKIT AMAN (?) gor her statement to be recorded. This is a SORE POINT with many Malaysians to see a young girl being "handcuffed" for an alleged offence under Sedition Act yet to be proven. IN CONTRAST, And we all know how the Chairman of the National Feedlot Corp (by the way mention, his wife was former Minister still current UMNO Wanita chief Sharizat Jalil) implicated in the famous COWGATE RM250million scandal, was treeated with a velvet glove. And the whistle-bloweers PKR Strategy Director Rafizi Ramli and a bank clerk who fed the information, were also HANDCUFFED when they were escorted to be charged in court.

MR PRIME MINSIER, we Malaysians have gotten FED-UP with all these cases f blatant DOUBLE STANDARDS IN TREATMENT OF MALAYSIANS IN IMPLEMENTATION of our nation's laws.

We see that UMNO-related parties are subject to treatment of a kinder nature akin to kindergarten's discipline while "Opposition" or NGO-Malaysians or even just Malaysians in their PRIVATE CAPACITIES -- they are treated harshly by your ROYAL MALAYSIAN POLICE for mere alleged infringement of the law.


NOW ARE WE SURPRISED THAT AMIDST ALL THESE UNNECCESARY AND SELF-INFLICTED WOUNDING (BY THE BN TOP-GUNS AND GOONISH LAW ENFORCERS...) OF FELLOW MALAYSIANS THAT THE RECENT 55TH MERDEKA CELEBRATIONS WERE NOT JUBILANT AT ALL?


Mr PM, if thou art caring and nation-building promoter number one leader, THEN CEASE AND DESIST ON ALL THESE DIVISIVE ACTS OF DOUBLE STANDARDS IN APPLYING THE LAW. In the eyes of the law, all Malaysians must be seen to be traeted EQUALLY, be him/her a beggar, social activist, professional or government servant or private sector employee or a businessperson.


MR PM, SHOW CONSISTENT LEADERSHIP AND ORDER YOUR POLICE OFFICERS TO "CEASE AND DESIST" from all these meaningless nation-breaking acts! With draw all the "arrest" cases and cease further arrests! -- an appeal from a humblejustice-seeking and generally law-abiding Malaysian-cum-proCHANGE-blogger, YL, Desi, knottyaSsusual


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FOR CONTEXT, just reproducing below part of a news report courtesy of the Malaysian Insider of pone related incident, its repercussions still in progress:(





Cops arrest duo for flying pre-Merdeka flag


UPDATED @ 09:09:10 PM 07-09-2012 By Hafidz Baharom September 07, 2012

People display the Sang Saka Malaya flag during a Merdeka eve rally in Kuala Lumpur. — Picture from singaselatan.blogspot.com
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 ― Police have detained the two youths who courted controversy during Merdeka Day eve when they raised the Sang Saka Malaya flag, the pre-independence nationalist banner that served as the model for the flags of Umno, Indonesia and Singapore.

Sang Saka Merah-Putih, Indonesia’s national flag.
Kuala Lumpur CID deputy chief Aziz Zakaria said in a statement here that the duo were arrested at the Dang Wangi police station here at 2.35pm today.


Mohd Zairi Shafa'ai and Muhammad Nasir Abu Bakar, both 24, are being investigated under Section 9(1) of the Sedition Act 1948, a British-enacted law that the Najib administration recently said it will soon repeal.

“Both of them surrendered to the police today and are being processed. No statements have been taken or made yet,” said their co-counsel, Afiq M Noor at 4.20 pm.

Afiq told The Malaysian Insider at 7.10 pm that both detainees were waiting for the investigating officer to record their statements.

IgNOrance is BLiiisSS...(Fool!)

I REALLY DON'T WANT TO KNOW best describes this feeling in the most challenging of contexts!

Songwriters: BARNES, HOWARD ELLINGTON RIDDIFORD / ROBERTSON, DON


How many arms have held you
And hated to let you go
How many, how many I wonder
But I really don't want to know.
How many lips have kissed you
And set your soul aglow
How many, how many I wonder
But I really don't want to know.
So always make me wonder
Always make me guess
And even if I ask you darling
Don't confess.
Just let it remain your secret
But darling I love you so
No wonder, no wonder I wonder
No, I really don't want to know...

[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/e/eddy_arnol

DESIDERATA: As mots of my regular ER would know by now, I really wanted to be a roving cowboy -- Alan Ladd in SHANE, John Wayne in NORTH TO ALASKA and the seven bros in MAGNIFICENT SE7EN and another set in SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS sealed my bondship with cowgalhoodism.

In life, some of the things we know of someone's past keeps us down, weighed down by a heavy load because THAT PAST WAS GUILT-WRENCHING, for both doer and the knowing VICTIM. I'm sure you beyong age 21 must have such a burden thrown on thy adulthood shoulders, and often enought, you wished YOU HAD NOT KNOWN. Yes, that Ignorance is Bliss wish cometh to mind, mine2!

Today's number evokes such a strong sentiment when your eyes catch that strAnger of an arresting beauty that has just walked into you common room -- bar, KaRaOK, or KFC or MacDonald or A&W, the lust I like best as it trult connotes my WWW sentiments -- her eyes catch yours (Of some 30pairs inthe crRoOwoWeded rooOoom, she picks yours, that's like winning the 3-digit!!!:)

ANYWAY, to such a stranger from paradise, I of10 when the circumstances -- well circumscised of oppositionists -- allow Desi to praise the NOE aloud with a cowboy's rendition, with a stress -- for your ears oly! -- on:~~~~


I Really Don'T Want To Know:):).

""So Ai Ren, Cheerio, C U Agin, INsyaAllah!""-- YL, Desi

POSTsript: On reflecton, let this cowboy add that "pause when your eyes lock in blissful anticipation, for lady Temptation can wreak its price/prize!" DejaVu to "ALMOST PERSUADED" message:(~~~~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTK_omsan4I

FROM cowboylyrics.com:):)~~~~~~~~





ALMOST PERSUADED
Recorded by David Houston
Words and music by Billy Sherrill and Glenn Sutton

Last [G] night, all a-[G7] in a bar-[C] room
Met a [G] girl with a drink in her [D] hand
She had [G7] ruby red lips, [C] coal black hair
And [G] eyes that would [D] tempt any [G] man. ... [D]

Then she [G] came and sat [G7] down at my [C] table
And as she [G] placed her soft hand in [D] mine
I [G] found myself [G7] wanting to [C] kiss her
For temp-[G] tation was [D] flowing like [G] wine. [D7]

And I was [G] al-[G7] per-[C] suaded
To [G] strip myself of my [D7] pride
[G] Al-[G7] most per-[C] suaded
To [G] push my [D7] conscience a-[G] side. ... [E7]

CHANGE TO A:
Then we [A] danced and she [A7] whispered, "I [D] need you!
Take me a-[A] way from here and be my [E] man."
Then I [A] looked into her [A7] eyes and I [D] saw it
The re-[A] flection of [E7] my wedding [A] band. [E7]

And I was [A] al-[A7] most per-[D] suaded
to [A] let strange lips lead me [E] on
[A] al-[A7] most per-[D] suaded
But your [A] sweet love made me [E7] stop and go [D] home. [A]

UMNO seeing apparitions -- is the Dr in the House still healing?

Is is HE the cause of the problem? You tell me, I am NOT an UMNO member! My fellow scribe KimQ has his take:)~~~~

Replacing national flag: chasing after fantasy demons?

By Kim Quek


As tension continues to mount ahead of the imminent general election, almost the entire top heirarchy of the incumbent Barisan Nasional government appears to have gone bonkers.
Two apparently well-meaning youths displayed a flag that looked similar but different from the national flag as a token to commemorate unsung heroes of independence at an independence eve rally, and lo and behold, the entire top leadership of Umno jumped instantly into a frenzy of wild accusations against the opposition without any proof.
Prime Minister Najib Razak accused the opposition of wanting to replace the national flag, and warned of many more undesirable changes including the institution of royalty, should the opposition alliance come to power.
Minister of International Trade and Industry Mustapa Mohamed warned of a plot to amend the constitution and to turn the current constitutional monarchy into a republic.
Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Noh Omar said that in wanting to replace the national flag, the opposition has lost direction, and shown signs of power crazy even before they are in power.
Minister of Home Affairs Hishamuddin Hussein said he would act decisively against the “perpetrators of the provocative act”, adding that the police have started investigation, and the attorney general will prosecute upon obtaining sufficient evidence.
Many other Umno ministers also launched similar attacks against the opposition simultaneously, including Rural and Regional Development Minister Shafie Apdal and Youth and Sports Minister Shabery Cheek.
Meanwhile, the police announced in its face book page that it was launching a man-hunt on the offenders who “tried to change the national flag”, saying that such act “violates the federal constitution and the democratic process”, which is a breach of the Sedition Act.
ACCUSATION DEBUNKED
Amidst this furor, two youths promptly appeared on the scene to debunk the story of changing flag.
Blogger Serigala Selatan, a student, claimed in his blog posting that he and a friend Zairi Shafai were the duo who showed the flag in question, known as Sang Saka Malaya. It was a flag used by pre-independence nationalists during their struggle to gain independence for then Malaya. As the story of their struggles has been erased from the official history, they wanted to remind the country of the existence of these forgotten heroes by displaying the Sang Saka Malaya on this commemorative occasion.
Serigala said they have not the slightest intention to replace the national flag (known as Jalur Gemilang) with Sang Saka Malaya, from which the Jalur Gemilang has evolved.
Meanwhile, top leaders of Pakatan Rakyat instantly and flatly denied that they ever conceived the idea of changing the national flag.
HILARIOUS BUT SERIOUS MISCONDUCT
Judging from the ferocity and intensity with which so many Umno ministers jumpted to the attacks, one would have imagined that the opposition must have been caught red handed in the act of committing the highest treason against the country, but alas, the truth turns out to be simply that these senior Umno leaders have been acting like a bunch of hyper-imaginative kids chasing after some fantasy demons, as there is neither a shred of evidence nor any credibility whatsoever to their accusations.
As DAP leader Lim Kit Siang succinctly put it, “the change of national flag is never a Pakatan Rakyat agenda and has never been discussed or raised in any Pakatan meeting”.
In fact, the entire episode is so bizarre and funny that it would have made a hilarious Hollywood comedy, if not for the serious implications it carries for the nation.
Here we are not talking about some naughty politicians politicking, but the entire top hierarchy of the Malaysian government making unfounded accusations that are grave and obviously far-fetched.
Such weird conduct by the ruling clique suggests that they are either dim-witted or dangerously deceitful, or perhaps both.
Whatever case it is, it means our country is in terribly bad hands.
Needless to say, this is another serious setback for BN along its bumbling road to defend a political power that looks more precarious by the day.

Kim Quek

03.09.2012

Musa Aman's backside being probed overseas when the locals dare not touch!:(

Ah, Bruno Manser Fund is exposing Malaysian politicians when the local corruption agency turns a blind eye/s? VIA Reuters:~~~

Swiss probe UBS over alleged Malaysia money-laundering



UBS AG
UBSN.VX
CHF10.68
+0.13+1.23%
08/31/2012

ZURICH | Fri Aug 31, 2012 6:46pm BST
(Reuters) - Swiss prosecutors have opened a criminal money laundering probe into UBS (UBSN.VX) after an environmental campaign group filed a complaint accusing it of links to the proceeds of alleged illegal logging in Malaysia.

The investigation could be a new embarrassment for the Swiss bank, fined for helping clients dodge U.S. taxes in 2009 and facing similar accusations - which it denies - in Germany. It comes as Switzerland is trying to clean up its image as a haven for ill-gotten gains.

A spokeswoman for federal prosecutors said they had opened a criminal investigation into allegations of money laundering.

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She confirmed that UBS was being investigated in connection with its relationship with Musa Aman, chief minister of Malaysia's Borneo state of Sabah.

He was accused in the complaint brought by Switzerland's Bruno Manser Fund in May of links to illegal logging in Borneo. He did not respond to phone calls, but has previously dismissed graft allegations as a political conspiracy.

UBS said it was cooperating with the investigation.

"UBS complies with the rules and regulations in all the markets where it operates," a spokesman said, noting the bank is obliged to report to authorities fighting money laundering if it finds evidence it is holding assets of criminal origin.

In its complaint, the Bruno Manser Fund, which campaigns to save tropical rainforests in Borneo and the people who inhabit them, accused UBS of breaching its duty of care by accepting more than $90 million it said was earned from logging in Sabah. Citing documents it presented to Swiss prosecutors, it said the money was banked at UBS in Hong Kong and Zurich.~~ Reuters

(Reporting by Katherina Bart in Zurich and Niki Koswanage in Kuala Lumpur; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)

Some Thinking Aloud Still Allowed on Dr M?

via Hornbill Unleashed, by Koon Yew Yin:)I know the writer has been a succesful businessman hailing from Perak, and is doing some philanthropy (see cpiasia.net...) -- remember how his BIG donation to MCA's flagship project called the TAR College/University was run aground and hogged the aiwaves for some time? Today, let's join this prolific writer on some Sundae Rumination that is the traditional pastime at Des's place. Wanna endless rounds of tehtari'? Seek me oouch at Temiang Corner -- you please bring your own rendang kambing!:) -- YL, Desi, knottyaSsusual~~~


Hornbill Unleashed
September 2, 2012

DEVIL OR ANGEL: Dr Mahathir – how will history JUDGE him
Filed under: Politics — Hornbill Unleashed @ 12:00 AM
Tags: Malaysia Politics, Save Sarawak, Anak Sarawak Bangsa Malaysia

Koon Yew Yin

Some friends have asked me as to how history will remember Dr. Mahathir. This has led me to thinking about Ho Chi Minh, Sukarno, Nehru, Lee Kuan Yew and other Asian giants of colonial and post colonial history, and how Dr. Mahathir measures up to them. However, comparing him to other leaders in our Asian neighbourhood may be unfair to Dr. Mahathir as it may be demanding too high a standard in leadership, given the unusual and extraordinary crop of leaders in our part of the world.

Instead, I am now more inclined to compare him with leaders from other countries of the world where the comparison may be more appropriate. One leader with whom I am sure Dr. Mahathir would not mind comparison is Kwame Nkrumah, a giant of contemporary African history who Dr Mahathir is probably hoping – when his own obituary is written – for future generations to put him in the company of.

Is Dr. Mahathir who has borrowed the ideas (and the slogans) of Nkrumah and other leading post independence leaders worthy of such a comparison? Or does he belong to some other group?

Revisiting Neo-Colonialism

Some 40 years ago, when I was a younger man, Nkrumah who was president of Ghana (1960–66), coined the term neo-colonialism in his book Neo-Colonialism, the Last Stage of Imperialism (1965). In it he described the socio-economic and political control that can be exercised economically, linguistically, and culturally, whereby promotion of the culture of the neo-colonist country, facilitates the cultural assimilation of the colonised people, and thus opens the national economy to the multinational corporations of the neo-colonial country.

Although Nkrumah was an outstanding political leader who was the chief catalyst for his country’s independence (he had a much rougher time from the colonial regime than most aspiring politicians and Dr. Mahathir ever had) many colleagues and I who lived through that turbulent post-colonial period were not sympathetic to his ideas on neo-colonialism. While it may have had some validity in some post-colonial states, none of us ever thought that our country, Malaya then, was ever a neo-colonial or puppet state of the British or any other Western interest.

In the first place we had a successful transition from the colonial yoke to full independence without the kind of traumatic experience that some African countries went through. The legacy that Britain left in Malaysia was also a positive one. As for me, I personally never felt beholden to the British in any way. In their relationship with me, my English friends were always respectful and they genuinely took pride in their positive contribution to our nationhood. When I had business dealings with the British following independence in the country, they were always honorable and kept their promises.

Of course this does not excuse the exploitation of the Malaysian economy during the colonial period by the British and their attempts at divide and rule to sustain their authority. But I find it troubling and unacceptable whenever our ultra-nationalists – including Dr. Mahathir – whenever it suited their agenda – to shift the blame for the problems of our economy and society to the machinations of foreigners and former colonial powers.

Borrowing from a distortion of Nkrumah’s neo-colonial thesis, these ‘patriots’ see a foreign snake, hidden behind every bush and they will raise their voices audibly about this threat every time they need a distraction from their own domestic failings.

The most outstanding preacher of a dummy’s version of an anti neo-colonialism hero is Dr. Mahathir. Here is a man who has milked the foreign bogey – whether it is Britain, Australia, Singapore, the United States, Israel, Jews, the Green movement, the IMF, George Soros, etc – loudly and incessantly to serve his political interests and feed his ego.

Unlike most foreign analysts, I feel that it is not his crying wolf on neo-colonialism on so many occasions that Mahathir will best be remembered in history. Rather it is the cynical, divisive and racist ideology that first appeared in his Malay Dilemma book, which he has never renounced and which he has now revived in his twilight years.

It is also necessary to point out that although Dr. Mahathir is credited with the bold objectives of “Vision 2020”, he can be regarded as one of the main obstacles standing in the way of that vision. This is a subject I have covered extensively in my book on “Malaysia: Road Map to Achieving Vision 2020” which is available in most book shops.

Many Malaysians are now aware too of his adoption of the classic colonial strategy of “divide and rule”, a strategy designed to take us backward instead of forward. The espousal of this discredited strategy stems from his frantic and desperate attempt to prevent the opposition from coming into power, and his greatest fear that a new Pakatan Rakyat government will uncover and expose all the dirty tricks and scandals of his era, thereby overturning the official and bloated version of the achievements of the Mahathir regime.

The Two Leaders’ Opinions of their Societies

Despite all of Nkrumah’s failings, the African leader always thought highly of his people and nation, and sought the highest ideals for them. In one of his essays, Nkrumah wrote:

“We postulate each man to be an end in himself, not merely a means; and we accept the necessity of guaranteeing each man equal opportunities for his development. The implications of this for socio-political practice have to be worked out scientifically, and the necessary social and economic policies pursued with resolution. Any meaningful humanism must begin from egalitarianism and must lead to objectively chosen policies for safeguarding and sustaining egalitarianism.” (1967 essay entitled “African Socialism Revisited”).

In 2000, Nkrumah was voted Africa’s man of the millennium by listeners to the BBC World Service.

Dr. Mahathir in contrast has had little respect or good to say of any of the communities that make up our society. He has always thought poorly of his own adopted Malay community and even worse of other long settled and assimilated non-Muslim communities. Witness not only his writings but also his recent playing of the ‘immigrant’ card to inflame Perkasa crowds against the Pakatan Rakyat and Anwar Ibrahim. His focus on native Malay and Muslim rights and hegemony appears hypocritical since he has been the Prime Minister responsible for condoning – no, encouraging – the largest wave of immigrant arrivals into the country in recent times. Witness also his latest attempts to prevent the transition of the country to a more democratic and less authoritarian one.

I think Dr. Mahathir will ultimately be remembered not for the quality of his leadership or the way in which he has sought to unlock the potential of all our citizens. He will certainly not be remembered for his standard of governance or the example he has set in arousing Malaysians to give their best to the country. Rather he will most be remembered for his extraordinary long record of leadership in the country. It is a 22 year record of political opportunism and survival secured through appealing to the baser instincts of self aggrandizement and greed and the manipulation of the major institutions of government.


This is why history will not judge him so kindly but will place him in the company of lesser and even failed leaders such as Marcos, Suharto and Mugabe.


DESIDERATA: The highlights (THUS BOLDED...) in the article are all done by Desi, OK!

Wanna know what the INTP Experience Is?

Then visit a new (S)exciting site created by lawyer Jason Evans whose earlier site clarityOFnight was where I bodned wit' some international blogger-writers, especially of Short Stories; now his new site explores what to Desi is a new, min(e)dfield:) ~~ YL, Desi

From intpexperience.com:)~~~~~~~~

The INTP Experience
DECONSTRUCT ~ LEARN ~ CELEBRATE


INTP (Introverted iNtuiting Thinking Perceiving) is one of the sixteen personality types under Myers-Briggs typology. INTPs are the Architects, the discoverers, and the system-builders. If you are an INTP and sometimes feel isolated or struggle to understand your place in the world, you've come to the right place!

Although INTPs enjoy wonderful gifts that allow them to observe, quantify, and understand the world, these skills often don't equate with closeness and companionship. I've set out to determine, once and for all, why?

This site is different than general Myers-Briggs sites. It is written by INTPs, for INTPs. Here, we turn our powers of observation to the dark places. Here, we hunt down and answer the whys.

The INTP Experience Articles:

CHAPTER 1 - WHY DO I FEEL DISCONNECTED?

CHAPTER 2 - OVERLOAD

CHAPTER 3 - TONIGHT'S MAIN EVENT: ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS VERSUS THE EVIL TWINS OF THE INTP PSYCHE

CHAPTER 4 - BUSTING THE MYTH THAT INTPs ARE NOT EMOTIONAL




DECONSTRUCT ~ LEARN ~ CELEBRATE

Here's a peep at a TEAser Chapter:):)ENJOY! ~~ Desi


Chapter 3: Tonight's Main Event--Romantic Relationships Versus the Evil Twins of the INTP Psyche


"Forgive me if I am not justified in what I ask," said Scrooge, looking intently at the Spirit's robe, "but I see something strange, and not belonging to yourself, protruding from your skirts. Is it a foot or a claw?"

"It might be a claw, for the flesh there is upon it," was the Spirit's sorrowful reply. "Look here."

From the foldings of its robe, it brought two children; wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable. They knelt down at its feet, and clung upon the outside of its garment.

"Oh, Man. look here. Look, look, down here," exclaimed the Ghost.

They were a boy and a girl. Yellow, meager, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility.

--Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

I've read a fair number of online resources that try to guide the various Myers-Briggs personality types on matters of relationships and romance. Especially regarding the particular pitfalls and difficulties with them. You probably are landing here if you are INTP and have found those basic discussions not entirely helpful or insightful.

The general view of INTPs in relationships goes something like this. INTPs tend not to show emotion or value emotion. Since they aren't in touch with their partners' emotions, they don't give enough emotional reassurance, leaving their partners feeling unloved. The root of the problem, then, would appear to be that the supposed avoidance of emotions by INTPs is fundamentally at odds with love and its expression.

But, my friends, that's not nearly good enough, is it? Or especially accurate. I doubt it was written by an INTP, that's for sure. As I said in my earlier articles, INTPs are highly emotional. And passionate. Some other mechanism or friction must be responsible for turning our Harlequin romances into SpongeBob SquarePants episodes.

So what is really going on behind the scenes that rots the plumbing of our romantic relationships?

When I tackle a problem, I always look for the fuel. The core, fundamental reason it happens. In this case, how do our cognitive differences from other personality types create conflict and discontent on both sides of the equation? That's our challenge for today. So, I poked, I pondered, I pried, (and then ran out of P-verbs), and what I found hiding down under the folds of OUR robes are two naughty children. Most of the time, they make us proud. Sometimes, they're ugly little bastards. And they take delightful pleasure in screwing up our romantic lives.

Let me introduce them.

Evil Twin #1: hyperMindfulness

There are good traits and bad traits in humans. Helpful and hurtful. But even great traits often come with a price. (And some of bad ones probably come with a benefit.) For example, extreme height comes in very handy if you want to be a professional basketball player. It helps you to excel in the game. You dunk that ball hard and pretty. And it even lets you be a human crane when someone can't reach the teapot on the high cabinet.

Being uber-tall, however, also means that you'll have to duck through every doorway you pass your entire life. And collect head bruises when you don't. The same trait that allows you to excel in one context becomes a handicap in another. An INTP trait that I'm going to call "Mindfulness" is very much like that. (Note: The word "mindfulness" is a much-used term in Buddhism, psychology, and other philosophies. Although my use of the word is almost entirely consistent with those uses, I want to make clear that I am using the word in my own way and do not intend to rely on those other definitions.)
We are the encyclopedia writers (see Chapter 1)--the theorists and students of intricacy. How do we do it? It all starts with a strong drive to perceive the world, analyze our observations, gain understanding, then store the results. It is a conscious, directed process. It is not breezy or hit-or-miss. It's lights on, not lights off. It is Mindfulness.

Mindfulness is a focused mental state in which we are primed and prepared for input and analysis. It has a few particular attributes: (1) you must be aware that you are perceiving (seeing, hearing, tasting…i.e., taking in information), (2) you must be aware that you are thinking about your observations and patterning them, and (3) you must have the goal of remembering and integrating new information. Of course, all people experience mindfulness, regardless of type. INTPs, however, don't commonly leave it. We usually have to consciously decide to rest, to succumb to exhaustion, or to (temporarily) immerse in a feeling moment.

Mindfulness is good, right? I think so. So why does it turn naughty? How does it misbehave?

Do you remember being a kid giddy with excitement about something you wanted? I mean pure, over the top excitement. Non-rational excitement. I remember being six years old and desperate for a Spiderman web shooter that strapped to your wrist. I think you even had to mail order the thing. I dreamed about all the amazing tasks I would be able to accomplish with my righteous Spiderman skilz. Point, bend wrist, then thwap! I hounded my parents until I could have it. (No, it wasn't expensive.)

Were you ever hyped about something like that? I'm sure. Here's the question--how long did it last?

I quickly discovered the limitations of my spring-loaded, plastic toy. The poor design. The fragility. The string that really didn't let the dart fly very well. The clear fact was that I was not going to be doing any of those amazing things I imagined. Another personality type might have haven been undeterred by the reality. They might just PRETEND. Not only did my careful (and natural) deconstruction of the object eliminate my ability to enjoy the toy, I felt embarrassed for being excited in the first place. I should have known better. I shouldn't have been such a sucker. My lesson, I hoped, would be useful in avoiding similar mistakes in the future.

Put another way, have you ever seen a painted masterpiece in a museum? Okay, how about a paint-by-numbers kit? What would happen if you overlay one over the other? The now deconstructed masterpiece doesn't feel so magical anymore, does it? Mindfulness can be the magic-killer. And that's when our first evil twin is born. When Mindfulness becomes hyperMindfulness, or Mindfulness gone too far. Here's a more painful, but pertinent question. Think about some of the times that SOMEONE ELSE brought you something that they were giddy with excitement about.

You just felt a sinking feeling, didn't you?

What did you do? Well, you deconstructed/analyzed the thing and deflated all the excitement for the other person. You killed it. You turned the smile upside down. I know I've done it.

Mindfulness went too far. Clueless hyperMindfulness barged in and sat right on the birthday cake. If we are experienced with this sort of "mistake," we might even try hard not to speak our mind when we want to deconstruct. We try not to let the analysis slip out. Sometimes we succeed. Sometimes we don’t. But man, are we bad at faking excitement. Usually, the best we can do is say nothing. We can't whip up emotions we aren't feeling.

In relationships, we need to get competent at keeping Mindfulness from progressing to hyperMindfulness. Sometimes, the most important thing is not objective truth. Sometimes the feelings of the other person need to supersede. We get emotional thrills out of logical truth, even when it comes from someone disagreeing with us. We are energized when someone cares enough to gain knowledge with us. Most everyone else, however, wants something very different. They want approval, praise, or their own flavor of understanding. Often, they want to share an emotional experience. And they want it at the expense of truth, if necessary. That fuel doesn’t resonate with us, but it's very important to them.

More on hyperMindfulness and fighting it later.

Evil Twin #2: The Persistent Reaction

hyperMindfulness doesn't play alone. It has a sibling that multiplies the destruction when the two get together. As usual, we'll dig at identifying it through an analogy. (I love analogies in case you haven't noticed by now.)
Imagine you're five years old, and someone has decided they're going to introduce you to a wonderful thing called baseball. They explain, "I'm going to throw you this ball, and you're supposed to catch it."

You nod. They wind up. They throw.

And you catch the ball with your face.

Ouch!!

Tears, apologies, and cold compresses ensue. But what do you do the next time a ball is thrown at you? Maybe run. Maybe dodge it. Maybe reposition yourself for a catch with your hands, but protect your face at the same time. One thing for sure is that you're never going to just stand there and watch the ball hit your nose again. You won't do that on the next throw. You won't do it a year later. You won't do it twelve years later. You have a Persistent Reaction to a ball thrown at you.

Now, let's flip the tables from a negative to positive lesson. An ice cream truck frequents your neighborhood. You like getting ice cream. It rocks. As an INTP, you probably take note of when the truck tends to come. You note how much things cost. You note how much you need to have in hand to get what you want. You bug your mom in advance. You make sure you have pockets for the money. All of these observations go into a construct that allows you to be fully prepared for when the truck shows up.

Those structures burn in for INTPs. You don't even have to try to remember them. Everything about your brain and personality is driven to deconstruct, analyze, and store information in order to maximize your success. And once you have a piece of information, you generally don't forget it. Ever. On the other hand, your scatter-brained neighbor can't seem to get his act together to score the ice cream. No matter how much emotion he pours into wanting it, he forgets to take care of some part of the equation and royally screws it up.

The Persistent Reaction is a direct outgrowth of our encyclopedia creation. While Mindfulness is about writing the encyclopedia, Persistent Reaction is about making good use of the pages once written. Learning only has meaning if you hold onto the lesson, and we excel at integration and recall. When A happens, we know that we maximize the opportunities if we do B. If A1 happens, then we do B1. If A1-4c-16A222F happens…well, you know. It's all in there, linked together in our brains.

A transient reaction, however, is based on the moment it happens and no more. It comes. It goes. It is not ascribed with any special meaning. Most people classify emotions as transient reactions. You've probably heard things like this: I was mad, but I got over it; I was just in a mood; just ignore it; it didn't mean anything. I figure that most people live alongside a massive trashcan where many of the day's experiences get tossed and forgotten. Seen one way, that can be very wasteful. So many lost opportunities to learn. However, seen another way, life can stay very fresh each day. Even common events remain a surprise, because even if it happened before, it isn't remembered. Sometimes I envy that kind of brain.

So, now let's place ourselves in one of those romantic relationships we're hoping to excel in. We are Mindful. Very Mindful. We are learning and deconstructing and reassembling our understanding of the person, of ourselves, and of the relationship.

That's good. That's what we do. We are great at setting aside our emotions to address problems "safely" and rationally.

But then, there's friction. Normal friction. It's unavoidable. Now what?

Our partner will tend to have a transient reaction--it lives and dies in the moment. It might carry forward, but only partially and imperfectly, which can be hard for us in its own way. If we are going to carry forward anger or happiness, we will have a consistent, rational reason for it. We will feel doubly violated if we get criticized for something that makes no sense. To be attacked is one thing, but to be attacked with no valid basis adds deep insult to injury.

For us, relationships go into the encyclopedia also. We try to learn and understand. We begin to form Persistent Reactions based on what we are observing. Something may happen once. Something might happen twice. After that, there is a strong likelihood that it will happen three times, six times, twelve times. It will happen forever.

So what does that kind of pattern-forming and permanence mean for relationships? Well, relationships are notorious for ruts filled with repeated (and petty) friction. Everyone gets annoyed with their partner. Especially for persistent things. However, when a person with transient reactions hit those rough patches, the imperfect carry-over makes it a very organic process. They might go ballistic. They may be mildly annoyed. They might not even notice or care. You can't predict the reaction. You can't navigate a pattern. Persistent Reaction, on the other hand, is fundamentally different than transient reaction. As INTPs, we're not just reacting to the current iteration of the problem at hand. With the encyclopedia as our guide, we are also fighting every recorded fight we ever had on that topic. We are also fighting every fight we can predict ever having in the future. And that makes the battle huge for us. Everything is on the table, and the stakes are high. To the other person, the weight we bring to the situation may seem like a gross overreaction. Our emotions won't seem to be in line with the importance of the issue. But that's because they aren't. We are fighting every fight at once. They are fighting one by itself.

The Bottom Line

hyperMindfulness and the Persistent Reaction…let me boil down these hombres to a very simple sauce for disaster.

With hyperMindfulness, we piss people off. With Persistent Reaction, we get pissed off.

With hyperMindfulness, people leave us. With Persistent Reaction, we leave them.

Spirals and Relationship Self-Cannibalism

So what happens precisely in relationships in the face of Persistent Reactions? Well, relationships are littered with the threat of spirals, which are a cross between self-fulfilling prophesies and the law of cause-and-effect. Here's an example. Let's say one person gets irritated by something the other one did. A guy asks his INTP girlfriend a series of amorphous, meandering questions, and as each one takes more energy to answer, she begins to feel drained. Having to stop and devote enough brain power to fully answer his questions just becomes too much. She maxes out.

Especially if he has a habit of asking tortured questions (cue Persistent Reaction). She subtly locks down and withdraws. It's her defensive reaction to protect her energy and mental integrity.

When the guy perceives the change in her, he has his own reaction. Why is she refusing to answer his questions? She must be hiding something. He asks more questions in a more accusatory manner.

How does she then react? Her belief that he is intentionally violating her has just been confirmed. He has ignored her "clear" signals and intensified the attack. Now she's indignant, not just annoyed. Which he, in turn, interprets as further secret-keeping and a blossoming life-or-death battle of trust. He insinuates that she has done something wrong. He criticizes her reticence and evasions. She perceives a declaration of total war. Her anger detonates.

You see the spiral of reactions/counter-reactions all based on incorrect interpretations and assumptions? We do that all the time as humans. We misinterpret and thereby create the next turn of the spiral.

One big danger of Persistent Reaction is that it tends to make us the first ones to be annoyed. We can start these spirals, because today is not just today. Today is the sum of our life's observations along with all of our future predictions. As we strive so hard to deconstruct and understand, bumps in the road can make us irritated. In chronically troubled situations, we can become almost constantly irritated. It is Persistent Reaction injecting bad vibrations into the relationship and revving up a rash of conflict spirals. The relationship quickly erodes into dysfunction.

Sending the Twins to Bed Without Supper

We need some practical advice to help lasso the twins when they get out of hand. If nothing else, I'm doing these articles to help INTPs be happier and more effective in the world we have to live in. So what kind of discipline do we need when the hooligans act up?

The beginning of relationships, even for INTPs, is largely emotional in nature. Mindfulness can be there, sort of, but it's totally corrupted. The desperate hope to find a kindred spirit, someone to finally understand us, fans the desire and the pounding heart and the dwelling thoughts. We immerse in the moment, and it takes us.

But after the initial fuel is expended, the deeper, enduring desires begin to emerge. Eventually, we want to see the hoped-for connection actually happen and come to fruition. This maturation of the relationship is where Mindfulness comes forward again and operates normally. And where we have Mindfulness, the twins can show up.

Remind yourself that although the reason we want a relationship is to share Mindfulness with another, the experience of a great relationship is always emotional. When our INTP-nature finds a connection with someone, it's a rush of euphoria. However, the euphoria isn't the sensation of raw mental connection. Euphoria is the emotional result spurred by the connection. Romantic relationships must have this kind of continuous emotional content to stay strong. Therefore, we must train ourselves to slip into emotional, experiential states even when the reason (or fuel) isn't perfect for us. A moment can be beautiful without logical nirvana. A landscape can be stunning. A summer night. Looking into someone's eyes and thinking, oh my God. We must practice how to have emotional immersion for other reasons. Seek emotion for emotion's sake. By doing so, you will feed the relationship for both of you. Maybe it's going out to dinner, or intimacy, or travel. Maybe it's just taking a nap together on a winter day.

Combating Persistent Reaction is harder. The unfortunate fact is that unless you are paired with another rational, a linear progression of shared thought and study will never be sufficient fuel for a relationship. You'll want that, but your partner won't. Compromise will be necessary. If your partner is wise, he or she will understand your INTP fuel. And if you're wise, you'll understand your partner's fuel. A solid relationship will be an exchanges of fuels. One gallon for me. One gallon for you. Much of our nature is directed toward a linear progression of knowledge, like a road. But beware. A road has to lead somewhere. It could very well lead away from the relationship if you follow it blindly.
One last point. If you are the partner of an INTP reading this article in the hope of connecting better with him or her, one concrete thing you can do is try to come along with us on one of our linear adventures. Learn something together. Progress. Grow towards a clear goal. We gobble that stuff up. It makes us really happy. Even if it might not look like we do on the outside. We might seem serious and focused, but inside, we're flying.

Conclusion

I love the twins. They are part of what makes INTPs who they are. But learning and advancement don't always equate with happiness. In fact, the opposite tends to be true. The more you know, the more you find inelegant realities. The more the magic drains away.

We can train ourselves to step away from our core rational nature and immerse in feeling, but don't be concerned if you find it to be like scuba diving. You'll only have so much air in the tank, and once you're out of air, you'll have to resurface back to rationality. But that's okay. You will still have achieved something good and important.

Keep manufacturing that emotional fuel. Without it, we will never be able to stay happy in a relationship.

Ode to September III (updated from Odes 1 and 2:)

An Ode to September

Cool clean showers
Kiss my body, cool my tongue
Springtime flowers
Greet with generous smiles

Temper man's tempers most vile
Making upright heavy shoulders
That innocent children's eyes can still wonder
At Nature's streaming blooms and misty veil of colours

Descending on creatures big and small
They don't bother if you're short or tall
But if you do not make foul the air
Your two fairy feet would surely dance in pair

Just as I see a September Child
Born to love, give and yet, should sigh
Cos the adults don't respond as a child
With a gifted hand, and a face sweet and mild


Go, go you silly Man
Away, away to your messy Land

Let us be as Nature lets things be for just today
Let me kiss the last strains of September
In the still of the night, we still remember
Mum's like a sublime night's bosom caress may

Find me rested, above those Adult-erated moves
This world of spring showers,I sight
As morn sinks into night
A flight of departing Doves.

These verses close all the sweet September days
All the wine, roses and singing ways.
I wait patiently for the sure cycle of eleven months
Visiting again gifting Spring flowers and wondrous Mays.

(c) YL Chong
Midnite September 29, 2005

_________________________________________

My Kind of September 

I just composed a few hours ago an Ode to September dedicated to Raja Petra Kamarudin aka Pete who was recently detained under the ISA (second time around) and other 60 plus Malaysians still under detention under the oppressive Internal Security Act. I now also reprise two articles first published in malaysiakini.com where I served with pride as News Editor for a year among the pioneering group of journalists.

Try to remember, 
Eight years ago.

"Be true to your work, your word, and your friend." -- Henry David THOREAU 

A writer in his professional output will always look back and stand tall on certain works he has had crafted. I reprise a NUGGET to share with those not in the know, and for those who have read it before, it's a re-visit which Desi feels is worthwhile, because it is about Malaysia's important crossroads. 

It was significant because I believe the nation took a quantum leap into maturing as a democracy, the main Players pursuing political agendas, yet with others pursuing their dreams, main and bit parts players, like in a Shakespearean Play, caught in the current that swept them along, some as passersby, and some as victims Desi would categorise as The Unsung Heroes. The Bard had likened the world as a stage, and all the people are the actors (actresses are contained within the 'actors':) -- Mama Mia, I hope the feminists don't get out a hitgal on Desi!:(

I just pray my EsteemedReaders won't choose to remain as mere spectators. 'Cos Malaysia belongs equally to everyone of US -- which includes You and Me. We have equal stakes in the present, and the future, in this land called MALAYSIA -- NegaraKu.

Face Off, the book (Part I) 

Sept 19, 2000

RUMINATIONS 
Chong Yen Long

I deliberately titled this piece thus as after reading Sabri Zain's journal of our country's traumatic times, I believe it could easily be the script for a movie too, not just a book. 

Dare we dream that a Malaysian Peter Weir could emerge to give us a visual feast of FACE OFF: A Malaysian Reformasi Diary (1998-99)? 

As I read over the weekend the 200-odd pages slowly, digesting it for a "review", I can't help but recall a film I had seen "The Year of Living Dangerously", in which the protagonist is also a newsman.

Sabri's chronicles benefit from his journalism background as most of his paintings and narratives were objective enough, though the choice of words, emotive and descriptive ones, clearly reflects the bent of his loyalties to the burning issue of the day: the reformation movement spawned by former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim.

From the outset, I must make clear this is not the usual book review, as I take the liberty of randomly highlighting segments that to me are telling gems, and Ruminations breaks a tradition by bringing the reflection in two parts.

First, I quote from Rehman Rashid's foreword which he began with a familiar refrain: "Try to remember the kind of September" which I believe stirs a lot of nostalgia among us, of better times past?

To the romantic at heart ... if anything one expects presaged by the refrain a romantic setting of poetry and song, wine or the intoxicating journalist's brew - teh-tarik - or women in red (I prefer the word "lasses" and in blue too, but some colleagues object) lazing by a sidewalk café in Paris in the springtime, Sabri's diary is not "it".

"It" is romance of the political kind and of a higher plane ... The kind that has a bearing and great import on dear Malaysia's future for a long time yet and it is precious for all of us, Malaysians, to be involved. It is not of normal plane because this year-long sojourn does not instill just momentary pleasure, it aims to touch the inner heartstrings of Malaysians. I hope these feeling Malaysians are a majority of the 22 million here.

Also, Sabri's diary will stand up as an important historical document, with wit thrown in to dilute the reader's swelling anger perhaps, which future generations of Malaysians will treasure ... and not waste 
precious time poring over reams and reams of newspaper cuttings to ever get near to any approximation of the truth of momentous history still in progress.

For those who missed the "action" where it happened, centred mainly around Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square) and its vicinity starting in September two years ago, Sabri brings the readers to the arena where the episodes of Malaysian history were played out. The writer's baptism that led him to cross Anwar's path - that Abim kid, his term of endearment - was that moment in 1974 where it started with a remonstration exactly 26 years ago - led by that "Abim kid" highlighting peasants' plight in Tasek Utara, Johor. 

For whom the bell tolls

Key figures revolved around Anwar and his family and, of course, the puppet master or script writer or political conductor himself, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in person, or via his proxies, and the band of Malaysians that visiting American vice-president Al Gore proudly described as "brave Malaysians". (I actually agree with him and 'em, even if you call me "unpatriotic", so be it; as a journalist, I subscribe to the motto: Don't shoot the messenger!)

Most importantly, the less heralded players, nameless yet exalted, faceless and unobtrusive yet endearing and enduring, are the ordinary Malaysians whom Sabri observed and recorded their "involvement". These bit players cared, and stood up to be counted. To me, the diarist has done them justice by his anecdotes of the true Malaysians ... the sum total of their contributions will form the substance of the reformasi, not just the rhetoric of politicians, though their roles should not be under-estimated.

In "Shopping For Justice" (Oct 10, 1998), Sabri notes: 

* "Despite the attacks on demonstrators in the weeks before, despite the warnings almost every day this week that the authorities would crack down on any form of demonstration, despite the fear, despite the threats, despite the solemn pronouncements by the powers-that-be that the Reformasi ... movement is dead - tens of thousands of Malaysians came out today - defiant and free."

Sabri was more than a little astute when he made some observations in "We Don't Tell Lies ... Up To a Point"( Nov 9, 1998), viz: 

* "The only memorable news about Anwar in the weeks leading up to his sacking were denials by him and Mahathir that there was a rift between them and Anwar was being called on to resign. Mahathir was even quoted as willing to "kiss him on the street" to prove the point - a very risky proposition, considering the nature of the sexual accusations that were to emerge later."

* "The news of the country losing its Deputy Prime Minister was the third or fourth segment in the TV3 news that evening - after the top news of a change in the elementary school curriculum and some insignificant official opening by some insignificant minister in some insignificant place I can't even remember."

In "Waiting For Justice" (Nov 13,1998), the introduction quoted Tun Salleh Abas, former Lord President (from the book with K Das, May Day For Justice): And justice cannot be done hastily. And justice cannot be done in the dark ..."

Sabri's diary records the dark moments in Malaysia's justice delivery system ... today it may be Anwar, but tomorrow, the question on many minds was:"For whom will the bell next toll?" 

However, the consolation is that Anwar was never alone in facing his travails.

At the Kuala Lumpur High Court:

* "My little group started discussing the reasons they were here. Some of them were here for the first time, others were relative "veterans". 'I've been here almost every day since the trial began,' said the Malay gentleman in the faded batik shirt. 'Sometimes I managed to get in, but most times I can't. I'm just here to show my support for Brother Anwar ...'."

* "The (elderly Malay) lady admitted she was very confused by everything that was happening. 'I don't know if he is guilty or innocent. But even if he is guilty, I don't understand why they are treating him like this. Our leaders are coming out with so much filth in the papers. It shames his family and it shames our race.'"

In "Changing Times" (Feb 2, 1999), the uplifting observation is that the times in Malaysia, are a-changing ... for the better I believe, as denoted by the revelation that all the panelists in a political forum organised by the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall Civil Rights Committee were all Malays, namely PRM president Dr Syed Husin Ali, PAS Youth chief Mahfuz Omar and PRM's Rustam Sani (now Barisan Alternatif Information Chief).

As recorded in the diary, Rustam noted:

* "One of the changes was that it was now a global world. 'With the Internet, people know there are much better alternatives to what you are fed in the local press! And Internet writers like Sabri Zain now have far more credibility than almost all the chief editors in our local newspapers!'"

Make no mistake, the compliment to the author was not self-trumpeted, but from a respected academician-writer himself, Rustam, whose father was the great Independence fighter Ahmad Boestamam, and whose freedom fight will assuredly continue with many of his family members after 
him.

Salute to heroes

And Malaysians must always treasure another veteran freedom fighter - Syed Husin, who was quoted as saying:

* "Race has always been - and still is - used by the rich and powerful to divide and rule. The government's recent scare-mongering campaign among the Chinese community is a classic example of this divide and rule tactic. To protect itself from the wrath of the people, the government is now trying to turn Reformasi in Malaysia into a racial issue. Malays will riot, they say. Malays will burn Chinese shops, they say. Malays will rape Chinese women, they say. And their loudest message of all - remember Indonesia."

The above entry was dated Feb 2, 1999 and today, one and half years later, Syed Husin's reminder still rings true to warn us Malaysians to remain vigilant: Witness the Umno Youth's recent demonstration in front of SCAH housing Malaysian Chinese Organisations' Election Appeals Committee (Suqiu) office to demand an apology for its 17-point appeal allegedly questioning Malay special rights (Genuine appeals must gain govt's hearing: PRM, Sept 18).

In the chapter on "Heroes" (Feb 13, 1999), Sabri salutes the ordinary man in the street who shines, as Malaysia undergoes growing pains in a phase when the "worst of times frequently brings out the best in people".

At a demonstration at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman on Sept 20, the day of Anwar's arrest, was recalled:

* "... an ordinary security guard became a hero to dozens of people - simply by doing his job. The security guard of a firm located on Jalan TAR allowed drenched, injured demonstrators into the building, locking the grilled gate after them - much to the annoyance of their baton-waving, red-helmeted pursuers. The FRU troopers shouted curses at the security guard, kicking the grill with their boots and demanding to be let in. The security guard - though visibly shaken and frightened - stood firm. This was private property."

"A junior supervisor refused to allow FRU personnel into a fast-food restaurant where demonstrators had sought refuge. They battered the glass door of the restaurant with their batons until it cracked - but the supervisor ensured his "customers" finished their hastily-ordered meals unmolested."

There is another episode of a Malaysian Samaritan - a retired headmaster - who stopped along Jalan Parliamen to help a young man lying on the road, and found himself "in the middle of hundreds of riot police pursuing demonstrators who had marched to the Prime Minister's official residence that night".

* "An FRU officer in full-riot gear approached him and asked if a car accident had happened! "Can't you see?! This boy's been badly beaten by your own officers!" The policeman then warned the pensioner to leave the injured man alone and let the police "deal" with him. "He's a Malay," the officer said. "You're an Indian - don't get mixed up in this."

The pensioner refused. "Are you stopping a Malaysian from helping another fellow Malaysian in need?"May there be more such God-fearing Malaysian standing tall out there - just carrying out their duties and acting human as human beings should ... We have hopes for this young nation yet.

/\__/\ 
o o 
={_!_}=

*******

Face Off, the book (Part II)

Sept 20, 2000

RUMINATIONS 
Chong Yen Long

Sept 20: Today marks the second anniversary of the arrest of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim; by natural news development, it also marks the birth of Face Off, though the budding could be traced back to that fateful day at the then Selangor Club Padang, exactly 26 years ago when providence brought the nascent author in contact with the "young kid from Abim".

Years later, the Philippines has seen the rise of Cory Aquino; maybe history will also honour Malaysia with an equally blessed first woman premier, now in the horizon (near or far), for a potential local counterpart is found in Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. Women's groups can hasten the process by taking naturally to political waters as they take to the kitchen, PAS notwithstanding!

If Malaysians can help realise this dream, we would have proven to the world that an Asian democracy has actually blossomed and matured and arrived; until then, true and genuine Malaysian democrats must stay the fight. If September 1998 marks the leave of absence for her husband Anwar as an "active" player on the Malaysian political landscape, his significant other (using Sabri's quite unusual, fond reference) has slowly but surely risen in stature, yet with a grace and dignity that is indeed premium and prime.

To many of the Reformasi followers, Wan Azizah is the icon for their struggle - in the common pursuit of change, freedom, democratic government and, of course, justice.

I now continue with another entry from "Heroes":

* "The latest hero to have emerged recently appeared, quite unexpectedly, thousand of miles away from the courts, rallies and streets demonstrations of Kuala Lumpur - in the draughty corridors of Malaysia Hall in Bryanston Square, London. During a question-and-answer briefing on the current political crisis by Prime Minister Mahathir to Malaysian students there early this month (February, 1999), a young student stood up and suggested that Dr Mahathir Mohamad apologise to Datuk Seri Anwar and his family. The student also suggested the Prime Minister resign."
Harking back to Dr Chandra Muzaffar's laments in "All Honourable Men" (March 13, 1999), and later "The Emperor's New Clothes" (June 13, 1999), it is well appreciated that pockets of heroism sallied forth from unexpected quarters, just like Hans Christian Andersen's innocent child breaking out loud with the unexpected: "The emperor is naked!"

When a forum on ‘Public Intellectuals and Contemporary Challenges' to be held at the Universiti Malaya, the country's oldest seat of tertiary learning, was banned by the authorities, there was no outpouring of outrage and protest.

* "Why - in the midst of Malaysia's worst political crisis ever, in the face of the worst abuses in its human rights record - does there seem to be no sense of outrage at all among the country's elite - its intellectuals, its writers, its academics, its judges, its elected representatives?"

And these academics seem ready to accept little inconveniences such as suppression of freedom and are quite happy to continue, in Chandra's words, "living with a lie".

* "And it is a Big Lie that they are living. The brutal beating of street demonstrators. The absurd tragi-comedy of the Anwar trial. The indiscriminate arrests without trial. The torture and ‘turning over' of detainees. The prostitution of the media.

Often it's a case of: ‘See no evil. Hear no evil. Say no evil. And you'll keep your Volvo. But it is quite unfair to just single out academics. Other honourable men continue to live with the Lie. Not a single Member of Parliament has resigned in disgust.'"

But Sabri must surely be kidding when he added that "Not a whisper of dissent has been heard from the Umno Supreme Council."

If these councillors did not put a dagger into the victim's back, the poor "fall guy" was already blessed; more likely than not, in the cover of darkness, they will bludgeon you, blindfolded and handcuffed, to near-death. They won't want you dead for that would be martyr-creating, they relish to see you suffer, naked and helpless, preferably begging for mercy, calling out the name of the Almighty!

Here I digress by recalling a joke that Time magazine (July 3, 2000) ran to show the wit of Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid: "Egypt held a competition to guess the age of a mummy. France, Germany and the US sent archaeologists. Indonesia sent a military officer. The French team spent two hours with the mummy, then gave up. The Americans spent longer, but their guess was wrong. The German team estimated 3,200 years - also wrong. 

"The Indonesian military officer asked if he could study the mummy in a closed room. Fifteen minutes later he emerged and said the mummy was 5,224 years, three months and seven days old. The jury was amazed - he was exactly right and won the prize. As he was leaving the Cairo airport, journalists asked him how he got the answer. ‘I hit him black and blue until he confessed.'"

Back to Sabri's diary, "The emperor realised that the people were right but could not admit to that. ‘I shall pretend that there is nothing wrong.' And though he knew that he was really naked, he thought it better to continue the procession under the illusion that anyone who couldn't see his new clothes were either stupid or incompetent."

Lives turned upside down

An important chapter, "The Accused" (March 20, 1999), pays tribute, truly deserved I believe, to a group called the OKTs.

* "But amid all the twists and turns of the Anwar trial, just across the river from the (Kuala Lumpur) High Court, another drama was unfolding - almost unnoticed, almost forgotten.

Police arrested a total of 331 people in connection with massive street demonstrations that erupted following Anwar's arrest on September 20. In a series of eight reformasi trials, these people were being charged with illegal assembly, under Section 27 of the Police Act. If found guilty, they are liable to a fine of not less than RM2,000 and up to RM10,000 - and imprisonment for up to a year.

They're known as the OKTs - Orang Kena Tuduh or the accused. Because most of them spent many traumatic days in police lock-ups before bail could be raised for them to be freed, others preferred another meaning to the acronym - Orang Kena Tahan, the detainees. One bitter cynic among them said it also stood for "Orang kena terajang" (the beaten up).

Today, the significant other and I were fortunate to join about 80 of the OKTs at a small tea party held for them at the Bar Council Auditorium. It was a humbling experience.

The first thing that struck me was the number of ladies among the OKTs - shy, demure young girls in veils whom we thought were family members were, in fact, OKTs themselves! ‘There were 17 of us from October 17!' chirped one young girl proudly, referring to the day when police unexpectedly attacked demonstrators dispersing from the Royal Palace and pursued them all the way across town to Independence Square.

As a result, many OKTs had to take no-pay leave or even leave their jobs, so they could attend court. Those who were petty traders or had their own businesses have found the situation really tough.

‘These are people who have to support families,' said one of the lawyers defending the OKTs. ‘Some have lost their jobs, seen their businesses crumble, lost friends, they cannot find jobs ... their lives are being turned upside down.'

‘The financial hardship some of them are suffering cannot be underestimated,' said another lawyer. ‘During the trials, we actually discovered OKTs who skipped lunches and would just lie in a corner at the court and sleep - they had no money for lunch.'

Despite all they had been through, not one of the OKTs I talked to had any regrets. ‘If anything the whole process has made me stronger in my commitment to seeing justice prevail,' said one OKT."

Birth of 'Justice'

In "The Eye Of Justice" (April 4, 1999), Sabri records the graduation of social justice movement ADIL into a full fledged political party - Parti Keadilan Nasional or the National Justice Party, at the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel Renaissance, Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur ... the party's mission is crystal clear: to uphold truth and justice.

* "Everywhere (at the hotel) - on the walls, on tables, on posters, even along the staircase banisters - the blue-and-white "eye" of the Keadilan logo stared out at you.

Then came the moment everyone waited for. The whole room rose to its feet in wild cheers as Dr Wan Azizah walked to the podium to deliver her first-ever speech as the leader of a political party.

‘We're gathered here to fulfil a demand from the people - they are demanding justice. We are here to fulfil the demand of the Malaysian race - bangsa Malaysia. They are demanding the dignity of their race. And we are fulfilling the demands of our changing times - the time has arrived.

‘Ten years of rapid development has given us confidence. But for some, that confidence has turned to arrogance. Our economy was driven by ego and the desire to show off. Crony capitalism dominated the New Economic Policy. Corruption, cronyism and nepotism grew like an cancer. Massive mega-projects eroded our economic fundamentals and shook the stability of our banking system. The lust - nafsu - for mega-projects left our defences weak. Because of these weaknesses, the currency speculators attacked.'

She explained the party logo, which consists of a white sphere on a sky blue background, representing a pure cause, and a smaller blue sphere on the white, representing justice for all. "At first sight, you might think it looks like an eye. There are reasons for that.

‘Firstly, I am an ophthalmologist!' she quipped, to peals of laughter and applause from the crowd. ‘Secondly, it's to remind us of the infamous black eye,' she added, more seriously.

‘But it also has a deeper meaning,' Dr Wan Azizah continued. ‘It is our mata hati - our inner eye that helps us distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. It is a symbol of our quest for truth and our struggle for justice. It is the ‘eye' that seeks justice.'"

'Rainbow on the horizon'

"Anniversary Day" (Sept 19, 1999) records a Reformasi gathering of tens of thousands at the National Mosque, spilling across the road into the KL Railway Station and stretching to the Dayabumi complex.
* "And I am sure I have never before seen so many Chinese within the courtyard of the National Mosque. Today, there was a cause that transcended the racial barriers that once divided us. I suppose the tyrant's whip does not distinguish between the colour of your skin , the language you speak or the faith you hold."

Sabri's epilogue titled "Rainbow On The Horizon?" holds an optimism - hence the rainbow - tinged with some reservation as posed by the question mark. This throws a quiet challenge to Malaysians whether they are responsive and responsible enough to be moved, perhaps encouraged by his narrative of the many heroes doing their little bit, but definitely not enough to claim victory to date, to continue the quest for truth, freedom and justice.

* "We have arrived at a crossroads in the history of our country. We can keep on the familiar road of break-neck, unbridled development, at all costs, to the detriment of social justice and equality, political freedoms and basic human rights. Or we can take the road of sustained and sustainable development, where social development progresses in pace with economic development.

If Malaysians casually accept all that has happened so far without question - the climate of fear, trial by media, detention without trial, violent repression, blatant unfairness, sheeplike loyalty - then Malaysians will stomach anything.

In that case, we'd probably deserve whatever happens to us."

DESI'S CURRENT THOTS:

REgular readers here/hear would know that I had expressed the wish that given a SECOND LIFE BACK ON EARTH -- may not happen Cos it would just be blasted to smithereens the way the Homom sapiens the world over are becoming more and more suicidal! -- I'd like to be born agaoin as a COWBOY DOWN IN 10NYSEE, TexaS in the the greAt USA!

My current thoughts are best reflected by the following:

THE W aY www A rd WIND:) OR :(


ala FRANK IFIELD:):) E n J O Y!

via: http://www.elyrics.net/inc/vidplay.php


The wayward wind is a restless wind
A restless wind that yearns to wander
And he was born the next of kin
The next of kin to the wayward wind

In a lonely shack by a railroad track
He spent his younger days
And I guess the sound of the outward-bound
Made him a slave to his wand'rin ways

And the wayward wind is a restless wind
A restless wind that yearns to wander
And he was born the next of kin
(From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/f/frank-ifield-lyrics/the-wayward-wind-lyrics.html)
The next of kin to the wayward wind

Oh I met him there in a border town
He vowed we'd never part
Though he tried his best to settle down
I'm now alone with a broken heart

And the wayward wind is a restless wind
A restless wind that yearns to wander
And he was born the next of kin
The next of kin to the wayward wind

Kim Quek Restates PR POLICY on "Hudud"...

Hudud: A PAS objective, not an agreed Pakatan agenda
By Kim Quek

30.08.2012


Like any reader of The Sin Chew Daily, I was stunned by its front page headline on Aug 28, which reads: “PAS will implement Hudud when it rules”.
My split-second reaction was: “Gosh, this is serious!”. Flashing instantly across the mind is the image of an Islamic state, mixed with the consternation that PAS might have suddenly changed course over the Islamic state issue and the devastating electoral repercussion that can be expected to ensue from the Chinese community following such a shocking turn of event.
Anxious to know more, I read through the entire two pages covering the event without pause, and was relieved that, as I expected, PAS has indeed held on to its policy of putting the pursuit of an Islamic state and implementation of Hudud as a long term objective – certainly not the current priority. I am happy that the alliance of PAS-PKR-DAP remains intact and on-course in its relentless march to Putrajaya.
Meanwhile Sin Chew’s headline on Aug 28 has kicked up a mini-storm in the Internet.
MAT SABU DENIES, BUT SIN CHEW PERSISTS

PAS Deputy President Mat Sabu immediately denied that he said PAS would amend the federal constitution to implement Hudud should it come to power.
“I did not say (we'll bring) hudud (to Parliament),” he told Malaysiakini.
He added that good governance and social justice must be practised in Malaysia before implementing the Islamic penal code.
However, Sin Chew on the other hand also defended its headline report by giving the following sequence of events through its website on Aug 28 (Tuesday):
Stage 1: On Sunday, Aug 26:
Sin Chew asked Mat Sabu to comment on PAS President Hadi Awang’s statement on Saturday (Aug 25) that PAS would implement Hudud through the democratic process.
Mat Sabu answered: "Democracy is to govern through the ballot box, and change to any policy must be done through Parliament, and two-thirds support (in Parliament) is needed to amend the constitution."
Stage 2: On Monday, Aug 27:
Based on the above Mat Sabu answer, Sin Chew’s evening edition said in its headline story: “Mat Sabu says PAS has decided to propose constitutional amendment to implement hudud should the Islamic party capture Putrajaya”
Upon learning from an English daily that Mat Sabu had denied saying so, Sin Chew called Mat Sabu to clarify further.
Mat Sabu reiterated that if any party wanted to amend “any Act”, it would need to go through Parliament, and that he didn't mention hudud.
He also stated that the party had not discussed whether to table a motion to amend the constitution.
However, Sin Chew reporter pressed further and asked: “The ‘any Act’, does it include hudud?”. Mat Sabu answered: “Yes.”
The reporter further asked: : “Can I say PAS ‘memang berhasrat’ (intend) to amend the constitution to implement any Act, including hudud, but at the moment has not discussed the matter of tabling a motion in Parliament?”. Mat Sabu answered: “Can.”
Stage 3: (Tuesday, Aug 28)
Sin Chew splashed the headline “PAS will implement hudud when it rules”, saying in its first line: “PAS Deputy President Mat Sabu says PAS intends to seek constitutional amendment in Parliament in order to implement hudud, when it rules in the central government”.
THE TRUTH
From the above sequence of events, we can see that Mat Sabu was telling the truth when he denied he said PAS would amendment the constitution to implement hudud. The word ‘hudud’ was planted into the conversation by the reporter, who was smart enough to put the questions in such a way that Mat Sabu could hardly answer in the negative.
In fact, Mat Sabu was only making a general remark when he answered that a constitutional amendment needs to have two thirds support in parliament. He was certainly not specifically referring to hudud, so it is not fair to coin the words in such a way as to portray Mat Sabu as driving the point that PAS will seek parliamentary approval for implementing hudud upon taking over the federal government.
It is apparent that Mat Sabu didn’t want to give a direct answer. The reasons are simple.
In the first place, a parliamentary motion from PAS needs to go through the process of building consensus within Pakatan Rakyat, more so when it is a constitutional amendment as momentous as the introduction of hudud and the conversion of the status quo into an Islamic state. There is no such consensus now or in the foreseeable future.
Secondly, social conditions are not ripe for implementation of hudud as exemplified by the lack of social justice and good governance in our country, as pointed out by Mat Sabu and other Islamic scholars.
Thirdly, it is suicidal for PAS to hammer home the hudud agenda at this sensitive election time when it says it is still in the process of building greater understanding among non-supporters of hudud,who in all likelihood, predominate the electorate.
So, with all these hurdles standing in the way, does it make sense for PAS to trumpet the message that upon reaching Putrajaya, it will implement hudud – as if this is currently its urgent priority ?
HEADLINE MISLEADING
Perhaps what causes the furor most is not so much the details in Sin Chew’s report as the grossly misleading and sensational title of “PAS WILL IMPLEMENT HUDUD WHEN IT RULES”. It distinctly gives the impression that hudud is on the cards, the moment PAS steps into Putrajaya.
So, who among the non-Muslims wouldn’t be alarmed and shocked by such a headline and the leading sentences of the story, when they have all along been assured that PAS will only move through consensus within Pakatan Rakyat and that the latter’s prime political objective is to improve the people’s welfare by replacing the corrupt and obsolete Barisan Nasional?
Considering that many readers do not read through all the relevant details or possess the analytical mind to sort out the wheat from the chaff, many must have already been misled and alienated by this sensational report.
(In all fairness to Sin Chew, despite the misleading headlines and the leading story on Aug 28, its entire coverage of the subject, particularly its exhaustive coverage spreading over five pages in the following day, Aug 29, do contain sufficient truthful information for the more discerning reader to form the correct conclusion).
Now that the damage has been done, it falls upon Pakatan Rakyat and democracy activists to dispel the misperception and spread the truth that hudud remains a PAS objective, but not an agreed Pakatan Rakyat agenda when it comes to power. And hence, a vote for PAS is not a vote for Hudud, but a vote for good governance.

Kim Quek



DESIDERATA: To my fellow party colleague-scribe KimQ, Desi adds that SinCHew has MISrepresented PAS leader Mat Sabu's remarks. Furthermore, a DAP veteran leader is also not helping the PR Common Agenda by feeding fodder to the UMNO/BN cannons with constant harping on the "over my dead body"-such like statements regarding Hudud and other Islamic matters best left to PKR defato leader DS Anwar Ibrahim and other PR Muslim seniors to sort out. The more the junior and less-ifnormed non-Miuslim PR leaders utter on the subject, the more ammo they give to UMNO/MCA/MIC to twist and turn their views to frighten the non-Muslim Malaysians into "VOTING BN THE DEVIL YOU KNOW"! Hey, why deal with a devil led by a puppetmaster who could be AN IBLIS?! The term "iblis" was first publicised by a former PM referringto yet another ex-PM in the former's early premiership. And Desi is not tokking football hear!:( -- YL, Desi, knottyaSsusual


Desi2: Following is to put the matter fom both sides of theconflicting perspectives. See how heART I writHe for thee, my ER knot necessarily wiser or stupider than me:) IF thjou knot like the way I write, hey, this is a democrazy cyber-world -- feel free/flee to get the hear/here out of HELL!

From mysinchew.com, via malaysiansmustknowthe truth.blogspot.com:~~~~


WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2012
Statement by Sin Chew Daily on Mat Sabu interview


Sin Chew Daily published on its August 28 edition a news article titled "PAS to implement Hudud Law if it wins the election," quoting PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu.
On the following day, Mat Sabu told the online media that Sin Chew Daily had published a news report which was factually incorrect. He also pointed out in the party's mouthpiece Harakah that Sin Chew Daily had misinterpreted him.
Some online media had accused Sin Chew Daily of intentionally marring the image of Pakatan Rakyat through the manipulation of this issue.
As a matter of fact, our reporter conducted an interview with Mat Sabu pursuant to a statement issued by PAS president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang after the party's political and election bureau meeting on August 25, stating that the party had the intention of implementing the Hudud Law through democratic process, as reported on Harakah.
Since the issue is a major concern of the Chinese community, our reporter followed up the issue to fulfill his journalistic obligations.
The reporter sought to clarify from Mat Sabu, "Bolehkah kami kata sebegini, PAS memang berhasrat membuat amendment konstitusi melalui Parlimen untuk melaksanakan semua undang-undang, termasuk undang-undang Hudud?"
Mat Sabu replied, "Boleh."
Mat Sabu also said his party had yet to discuss tabling the motion in the Parliament, and would only take the next course of action after Pakatan had won the next general election.
The above had become the basis of our article.
Immediately after Mat Sabu made the accusation through other media that Sin Chew Daily had misinterpreted him, the paper had been trying to contact him through phone and SMS in hope of obtaining clarification from him but to no avail.
Prior and after this incident, Sin Chew Daily also reported the views of other PAS leaders such as the party's spiritual leader Nik Aziz, secretary-general Mustafa Ali, information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man and PAS Supporters Congress president Hu Pang Chaw. Their views are consistent with what had been reported in our news article.
Hu Pang Chaw, a member of PAS' political bureau, confirmed that the bureau had indeed made a decision to try to implement the Hudud Law.
On August 28, Sin Chew Daily also published the full statement issued by PAS president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang on the Harakah webiste about the implementation of the Hudud Law. The article included many advantages and positive aspects of the Islamic faith.
In addition, we also interviewed several leaders from other Pakatan parties such as DAP and Keadilan Rakyat, and published their feedback on the issue.
We strongly believe that all our news reports on this matter have been written in compliance with the principles of comprehensive, objective and factual news reporting as required by the journalism ethic.
-mysinchew.com

Diverse Flashpoints and Desi Says: It's Time the UN Be More Proactive!

And being mor pro-active requires LEADERSHIP -- nipping in the bud before the flashpoint develops into FULL-SCALE WAR, as is happening in SYRIA, where a foremer UN Sec-Gen Kofi Anna gave up trying to lead an Observer Peace Mission.

In the following reported dispute, the countries involved should be well advised to refer their claims to the International Court at The Hague.

As for Syria, how about ALL COUNTRIES JUST BOYCOTT ITS EXISTENCE FOR ONE MONTH -- treating it as a PARIAH STATE? OK, Desi admits he's just a writer, so is an armchair "diplomat". (But I did serve as a Public Affairs Officer at a foreign mission based in KL, so does that maketh Desi a half-baked wan?:( -- YL, Desi, knottyaSsusual

From Reuters via MI:)~~


Japan blocks landing on disputed islands to defuse China tensions


August 27, 2012

Members of a Japanese nationalist group raise Japanese flags as they land on Uotsuri island, part of the disputed islands in the East China Sea, known as the Senkaku isles in Japan and Diaoyu islands in China, in this file photograph by Kyodo in this August 19, 2012 photo. — Reuters pic
TOKYO, Aug 27 — The Japanese government today refused to let Tokyo metropolitan authorities land on islands at the centre of a territorial dispute with China, a move aimed at defusing tensions that led to biggest anti-Japan protests in years.
Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara has proposed buying the islands from their private Japanese owners and has sought central government permission to send a team of officials to survey the land.

The plan has prompted Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to suggest that the central government could instead buy the islands it now leases. Both plans sparked outrage in China.

“The government has reached a conclusion of not permitting landing based on the purpose of its lease, which aims at peaceful and stable management and control of the Senkaku islands,” a government official said.

The decision comes after anti-Japanese demonstrations in some Chinese cities over the weekend, which followed much bigger protests a week earlier.

The uninhabited islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China have long been a source of friction between Tokyo and Beijing and competing territorial claims to the islets and surrounding fishing areas and potentially rich gas deposits.

Tensions over the islands flared in mid-August, when the Japanese coast guard detained Chinese activists who sailed from Hong Kong and landed on the island. Tokyo sent the group back home without charging them to calm things down, but a landing of Japanese nationalists just days later led to another flare-up.

Thousands of people in several Chinese cities took to the streets in biggest anti-Japanese protests in years after the tit-for-tat landings.

Tokyo also remains locked in a bitter feud with South Korea over another disputed island chain.

In a symbolic, but rare gesture the Japanese parliament on Friday passed two resolutions asserting Japan’s sovereignty over both island chains, calling Seoul’s control over one of them an “illegal occupation” that should end soon.

The resolutions prompted angry rebukes from Seoul and Beijing in an escalating war of words.

Despite close economic ties, bitter memories of Japanese militarism run deep in China and South Korea. The territorial disputes show how the region has failed to resolve differences nearly seven decades after the end of World War Two. — Reuters