Laugh, Perkasa, and Be Effing Happy!

By Kee Thuan Chye

Yahoo! News

5/11/2013

The disclaimer at the beginning of the show tells it all: “This programme is intended for immature audiences only. This programme is NOT intended for educational purposes, merely to stimulate FUN. If you are easily offended,
mudah tersinggung
or
terkeliru
, probably best to
close the window right now
.”

This is
That Effing Show
, described by its producers as “a satirical news show that laughs, pokes fun and points out the (often) obvious and not-so-obvious absurdities of Malaysian socio-political life”. Created by a bunch of clever, creative and concerned young people, it has been coming out regularly on the web TV network PopTeeVee since 2010.

By its own description, the show is a parody of Malaysian life, done in good humour, which means it is not to be taken seriously. Those who are easily offended or confused are warned not to watch it. This being clear, the show should therefore not expect any complaints against it except aesthetic ones – like perhaps it failed to generate fun or to entertain, or that the technical production was sub-standard, or that its actors performed badly.

Perkasa, however, is taking it very seriously. The Malay rights organisation has taken exception particularly to the series’ recent segment, ‘That Effing Show #95: Allah, Apa Lagi?’, and its complaint is not on aesthetic grounds. Perkasa has even made not just one but nine police reports against it!

Selangor Perkasa chief Abu Bakar Yahya says show #95 insults the recent ruling made by the Court of Appeal, which banned the Catholic weekly newspaper
The Herald
from using the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God. He says the show has also offended the Islamic community. No kidding?

I have since viewed the six-minute video a few times, and I still can’t fathom how it could be an insult to the court’s verdict. At no point does any of the performers in the video question the verdict, either directly or obliquely, let alone show it any disrespect. What one of them does say is that Muslims need not fear getting confused if others used the word ‘Allah’; it should be the other users who would be confused. Besides, Islam is the official religion, so what’s there for Muslims to be worried about?

The video gets funnier in the next skit, which features a banter between two Malays on one side and two Indians on the other.

The Malays (played by Ezra Zaid and Faiq Syazwan Kuhiri) emphasise that now the court has given its ruling, other religions should use words other than ‘Allah’ for their God – like ‘Tuhan’ or ‘Jesus’ or ‘Yahweh’ – and leave ‘Allah’ solely to the Muslims. The Indians (played by Kubhaer Jethwani and Umapagan Ampikaipakan) retort, “OK, if you want to play like that, if you Muslims want to take back words, we also can take back words!”

At this, the Malays shrug and pull funny faces to mock what they’ve heard. Until the Indians tell them, “You think Bahasa Melayu is so original? There are actually many words in it that originated from Sanskrit, Tamil, Portuguese, Persian.”

“Hah!” scoff the Malays. “Original or what, take back lah what you want! We have ‘Allah’, what more do we need? Go ahead!”

“Confirm?” ask the Indians.

“Confirm,” say the Malays.

Then the Indians say that the first word they want to take back is rokok (smoke/cigarette). The Malays are taken aback. “Where did the word come from?” they ask.

“It’s Dutch,” say the Indians.

The Malays are a bit flustered by this, but they say, “OK, take it back. Surely, that’s all. Anyway, we still have ‘Allah’.”

But the Indians reply, “There are many more.” Then they rattle off a few other words –
bahasa, budaya, bumiputra, raja, negara, pahala, puasa, cinta
. As the Indians savour each word, the Malays agonise. They can’t stand it now. “These are favourite words of the Malays!” they cry. “From the time we wake up in the morning, we use all those words!”

The Indians try to console them. “We are merely concerned. We don’t want you to be confused. Because so many words in Malay originated from Sanskrit, when you guys use them, we don’t want you to ‘terHindu’!” (terHindu = accidentally become Hinduised)

The Indians continue: “Because that would be a ter-rible problem.”

The Malays ask each other, “What do we do now? We surely don’t want to ‘terHindu’!”

“I know, I know,” says one of them. “We’ll call on our big back-up … we’ll call Uncle Ib … we’ll call Ibrahim Ali.”

“He’s from Perkasa, right?” ask the Indians.

“Yes,” say the Malays.

“Perkasa …,” reply the Indians, “… that word sounds Sanskrit.”

This is too much for one of the Malays to stomach. He launches into a manic mimic of that famous moment caught on video of Perkasa President Ibrahim Ali blustering in an interview with Al-Jazeera, “I … I … I … I … Don’t talk shit! I tell you … three times! Don’t talk shit! Don’t talk shit!”

Hahaha! Perhaps this is the part that offended Perkasa the most! And drove its members to make the police reports!

But it’s a great send-up that comes at the right time in the show, and provides the perfect satirical ending to it. As the “Don’t talk shit” bluster goes on, the Indians pointedly tell the Malays, “If you don’t like it, you can
belah
!” (
belah
 = short form for get out of the country, leave, emigrate, vamoose.) The tables are effectively turned, the Malays are on the receiving end, the laugh’s on them.

Is this supposed to be taken as an insult to the Malay-Muslim community?

Well, only by those who are dense and have utterly no sense of humour. And of course those who don’t understand satire and parody.

That Effing Sho
w does what it does well, which is to invite us to laugh at ourselves. If the people of Perkasa are unable to do so, it’s not the fault of the show’s creators. It’s more a reflection of the level of evolution these Perkasa people are at. After all, it takes intelligence and sophistication to be able to laugh at oneself.

Besides, as US theatre director and educator Elizabeth Gaidry says, “If … we can laugh at ourselves and laugh at our situations, I think we become happier people.”

Perkasa – and other uptight Malaysians – might want to take note of that. Then, instead of habitually running to the police station to cry over every little thing that makes them unhappy, they could sit back and relax instead. And call out three cheers for
That Effing Show
!

* Kee Thuan Chye is the author of the new book The Elections Bullshit, now available in bookstores.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 7 November 2013, 1:35 pm and is filed under
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Racial extremism bad for economy, warns ex-diplomat

Lawrence Yong

Malaysiakini

Nov 7, 2013

Malaysia will lose its competitive economic edge if its politics continue to cater to racial and religious extremes, a former senior diplomat warned today.

Razali Ismail, who was a diplomat for 35 years before retiring in 1998, warned that although polemics – the practise of one-sided political arguments – was inescapable in multi-racial, multi-religious Malaysia, it must not translate into a welfare state.

“If you just want to be a backwater country somewhere, that’s a different story.

“But we are in a strategic position (for economic growth) …all the differences between us have to be worked out,” Razali said at the Prime Lecture on Culture 2013, where he was invited to speak on “polemical politics” by the Tourism and Culture Ministry.

To emphasise his point, Razali cited that Malaysia’s rivals, such as Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, already woke up to global realities and are well on their way to fortifying their own economies to attract foreign investments.

During his years as a diplomat, including as ambasadors to several European counctries, he saw almost all countries he served in as seeing Malaysia as a stable country.

However, Razali added, his international friends have of late started to question the divisive goings-on in the country.

“They are confused, their confidence has been shaken… As public servants, there is no way out but to do the right thing.”

In his speech to a room full of about a 100 high-level ministry officers, the former president of the UN General Assembly said that he sensed a high degree of sensitivity and resistance to change, especially among young bumiputeras.

“Any suggested changes by the prime minister in line with the New Economic Model (NEM) apparently has been met by some bumiputera with a inertia…

“We should not let populist polemics lead us to squander possibilities by attaching our fates to a debilitating culture of welfare dependency,” he said.

Gov’t must also tackle corruption

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak introduced the race-free NEM in 2010 and ended the pro-bumiputera New Economic Policy (NEP), which was initiated by his father Tun Abdul Razak after the racial riots of May 13, 1969.

Recently, Najib appeared to be skewing the economy back towards bumiputeras-enriching policies with his Bumiputera Economic Enhancement (BEE) measures.

Meanwhile, Razali further urged the government to tackle corruption in all forms.

Razali, who is also chairperson of the Global Movement of Moderates, said he recently met with young activists and came out feeling concerned.

“The younger generation are beginning to lose faith and confidence in public institutions,” he said.

He cited that while political masters had sound ideas and good policies, the implementation part of the process was often poor.

“There are all these questions. The question of accountability comes out regularly… you say you want to stop corruption, but how are you going to do it?”

Razali, 74, has served as Malaysian ambassador to Poland, Germany, Czechoslavakia, Hungary, and he was High Commissioner to India before becoming Malaysia’s permanent  representative to the UN.

He was the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Myanmar from 2000 to 2005, and was also a former president of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Malaysia.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 7 November 2013, 11:08 pm and is filed under
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Why did Norazita die?

 – Liew Chin Tong

The Malaysian Insider

November 07, 2013

The murder robbery of Norazita Abu Talib shocked the nation. She was brutally shot in the face by a security guard who was said to possess a fake identity card.  The senseless death of the Ambank officer late last month has opened yet another can of worms pertaining to our worsening crime situation.

Why did Norazita have to die like that? Let me be blunt here; yes, we can blame Umno leadership – for refusing to reform the police and for allowing cronies to run security firms.

There’s no need to cringe or get upset. Please bear with me. The facts are all there.

Criminals everywhere, yet they are looking for communists

While the crime rate is high and the situation is said to be worsening – murder, rape and other violent crimes – the Umno-led Barisan Nasional government is still obsessed with the communists!

Our police are still operating in the Cold War mode as if the communists are still lurking around the corner, notwithstanding the fact that Chin Peng is long gone and that the Haatyai Peace Treaty between the Malaysian Government and the Communist Party of Malaya was signed in December 1989. That was 24 years ago.

Yet Budget 2014 still allocates money to hunt for communists. (risikan keselamatan  – “menjamin keselamatan negara melalui aktiviti risikan keselamatan secara sulit dan terbuka ke atas ancaman komunis, anasir-anasir subversif dan pelampau, perisikan, pengintipan dalam negeri dan ancaman luar negara. – page 644).

As I said before, the crime rate is high. Never mind the police and the government statistics that suggest otherwise.  Fear of crime drives demand for private security protection. In Kuala Lumpur, we can see the mushrooming boom-gates and guardhouses in middle class housing estates in recent years.

Hence, I’m dumbfounded to read Home Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s Parliamentary reply to Er Teck Hwa, MP for Bakri, that the crime rate has fallen by half between 2008 and 2013. Is he actually referring to Malaysia?

While there are enough police personnel per capita (approximately 110,000 police to 28 million people), only a fraction is involved in direct crime fighting. Omnipresence of the police and quality investigation are two most important factors, yet half of the police personnel are in management, logistics (12%), special branch (5%), riot police (3%), and the communist-fighting paramilitary unit General Operation Force (15%).

No reforms, more crimes, more overworked crime fighters

As a result, police patrols are not adequate enough. Crime investigators are overstretched and overworked. Only less than 10% of the police force are in the crime investigation department, with only about 2,000 are ranked inspectors and above with full authority to investigate. The heavy workload forces many to sleep on old sofas in ill-equipped police stations. My sympathy is with them.

The things you learn from CSI – whether in the TV series or in real life in some other developed and recently-developed countries – won’t apply here for obvious reasons. Science and intelligence-based investigations are a rarity in Malaysia. Confession-based investigation is still the order of the day.

Former Prime Minster Tun Abdullah Badawi announced the formation of a royal commission headed by former Chief Justice Tun Dzaiddin in December 2003 and a comprehensive 600-page report was submitted in May 2005. I guess the thick book is gathering dust right now.

And here comes the private security firms

With high crime incidences and the refusal of the BN government to shift police priority from fighting communists to crime busting, it’s no surprise that there is a huge ready market for private security protection.

At a glance there’s nothing wrong with it. Private security firms must be highly controlled and firmly regulated. Once upon a time, it was extremely difficult for anyone to obtain a license to operate a private security firm.

In October 2011, the Home Ministry informed me in a Parliamentary reply that there were 584 security firms registered with the government. Two years later, the number jumped to 751.

The 2011 parliamentary reply claimed that there were 160,000 Malaysian security guards and another 1,049 Nepali former soldiers.

Now The Star reported (November 6, 2013) that there are 400,000 security guards, of whom 150,000 are illegal foreign workers.

According to the Parliamentary reply: “lesen 2 (a) (syarikat kawalan keselamatan) adalah mengikut syarat-syarat seperti berikut:

a) Salah seorang pemegang saham terdiri daripada sekurang-kurangnya bekas pegawai tinggi Polis Di Raja Malaysia atau Angkatan Tentera Di Raja Malaysia yang berpangkat sekurang-kurangnya SAC II ATAU Kolonel yang memegang 30% ekuiti saham syarikat; ATAU

b) Salah seorang terdiri daripada sekurang-kurangnya bekas pegawai awam dalam kumpulan Pengurusan dan Professional yang pernah berkhidmat dalam sektor keselamatan selama sekurang-kurangnya lima (5) tahun yang berpangkat sekurang-kurangnya Gred 52 atau yang mempunyai sijil kursus keselamatan atau yang setaraf dengannya memegang 30% ekuiti saham syarikat.

c) Hendaklah ditubuhkan syarikat Sdn Bhd.

d) Mempunyai modal berbayar RM300,000.

e) Pegangan saham syarikat dimiliki oleh Bumiputra sebanyak 70%.

It seems that it’s not that difficult to set up a private security service firm in Malaysia.

Private security firms – why we can blame Umno leadership

The root of the problem lies in Umno-led privatisation – three phases of Build-Operate-Transfer of infrastructures – which was the main model in the 1980s, exemplified by the North South Highway. In the 1990s, utilities were privatised in a big way such as to independent power producers. Post-2000, Umno was increasingly relying on its licensing power to placate an ever expanding lobby for contracts, permits, licenses and favours.

There can only be a certain amount of construction contracts to be dished out. But licenses and permits are more elastic. For instance, millions of foreign workers were and are still being brought into the labour force, resulting in a race to the bottom of wages for low end workers, many of whom are Malays.

In the private security sector, licenses used to be given only to very senior retired police chiefs or generals. But in recent years, Umno politicians and their proxies received most of the new licenses.

For quick money, the Umno-linked licensees are prepared to do anything. And there is practically no scrutiny. So, thanks to them, we become a nation of mercenaries in the form of foreign guards.

Failure of government, greedy cronies

The usual reply given whenever one is asked why locals are not hired is that “locals don’t want to work because the salary is low”.

This is always the wrong question to ask. In the current job market context, if a security guard is paid RM2,500 per month, I am sure many locals would rush to become one, especially former members of the armed forces and police, many of whom are forced by circumstances to become taxi drivers. But then again, junior entry level police are also very lowly paid.

So someone will ask, why should we pay security guards so much money? The private security firms even objected to a proposed RM700 per month minimum wage for security guards in 2011. It is as if they want to pay the lowest salary to the person is who is supposed to protect our life and our property.

What I am suggesting is that we must take an approach to understand the total and actual cost of public policies. Once everyone realises that it is not cheap to maintain law and order through private means, at some point the pressure will be on the government to improve on overall security and safety so that no one needs to hire private security protection.

And, ultimately we must ask ourselves, why do governments exist? Any Politics 101 course would parade Thomas Hobbes’ notion that government exists as “the necessary evil” to ensure that law of the jungle is not the order of the day, that there is peace and order. That’s the most essential duty of any government.

Hence, Norazita died because government policies have failed her. She died because the ruling elites were more interested in dishing out permits and licenses, and not interested to take a hard look at the real crime situation. She died because there was no police reform to refocus police’s priorities to curb crime. And she died because cronies’ interests triumphed over ordinary people’s concerns.  – November 7, 2013.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 7 November 2013, 10:22 pm and is filed under
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Dr M: Will Kit Siang only retire when he’s dead?

By Zurairi AR

The Malay Mail Online

November 8, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 8 — Age has not dulled his acerbic tongue as Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad continued to trade barbs with political foe Lim Kit Siang, asking the DAP adviser if he was still fearful of the shadow of a man who had retired from government a decade ago.

The former prime minister, who has repeatedly crossed swords with Lim in Parliament between 1981 and 2003, hit out at the opposition leader in his latest entry on his Chedet.cc blog yesterday, in exchange for the blows rained upon him in the run-up to the Sungai Limau by-election on Monday and immediately after the results were announced.

“Kit Siang also campaigned but it was as if DAP is still afraid of my shadows. The focus of Kit Siang was to run me down, as if I was the one contesting. Kit Siang was uncomfortable that I am still active even after my retirement,” Dr Mahathir said.

In his blog rebuttal, Dr Mahathir said he had not planned to campaign for the BN in Sungai Limau, but had decided to hit the ground for certain reasons—which he did not elaborate—and that the state seat had been part of the Kota Setar Selatan parliamentary constituency that he had represented as an MP between 1964 and 1969.

The 88-year-old Kedah-born said both he and Lim had cut their teeth on politics in 1964 but while he had passed on the government’s reins to another 10 years ago, his former parliamentary opponent chose to stay on the political battlefield.

“When will Kit Siang retire? When he is dead? Even if he retires, will he remain the DAP’s Senior Leader?” Dr Mahathir asked.

The two had locked horns in the run-up to the May 5 general election when Lim ran for the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat—which he won—and more recently in the campaign for the Sungai Limau by-election, which was called following the death of its incumbent assemblyman, Tan Sri Azizan Abdul Razak from PAS, the DAP’s political ally.

Lim had said in the campaign last week that Dr Mahathir’s waning influence on Malaysian politics would be confirmed if BN failed to wrest the seat from PAS.

Even as Dr Mahathir made a last minute campaign appearance for BN in Kedah, the Gelang Patah made several jibes against the Umno veteran’s failure to prevent his victory in the Johor federal seat.

Lim also took several shots against Dr Mahathir’s son and Kedah Mentri Besar, Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, who had thrown his hat in the ring for last month’s Umno vice-presidency election and lost.

The senior opposition politician alleged that Dr Mahathir had mounted a campaign of “lies, falsehoods and character-assassination”, which he added, had formed the staple ahead of polling day in Sungai Limau.

Lim noted that it was similar to the campaign the former prime minister had initiated against him ahead of the 13th general election, citing Dr Mahathir’s accusations that he was contesting in Gelang Patah to make the Chinese “dislike and hate the Malays”, and claiming that the DAP wanted to remove the Malays from political dominance to set up a Christian state.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 8 November 2013, 12:04 pm and is filed under
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Election Commission chairman doesn’t see facts!

P Ramakrishnan

Aliran

7 November 2013

It is incredulous that Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof is totally blind to facts. But that seems to be his speciality.

A crowd jostles for cheap essential foodstuff being sold at a BN carnival in Sungai Limau on 3 November 2013 – The Malaysian Insider pic by Zulkifli Sulong

He is unable to see the various election abuses and offences blatantly committed by the Barisan Nasional in their true perspective. He seems to be an expert in explaining away these abuses as non-electoral offences.

His recent comment following the Sungai Limau by-election – that there was no element of bribery in the sale of rice and sugar at greatly discounted prices by the BN – is mind-boggling.

A 1kg packet of sugar was sold for RM1; and a packet of 5kg rice normally selling at RM18-20 was sold at RM5. A huge surge of people snapped up these offers.

The point to take note of is that this generosity was not displayed in Sungai Limau before the by-election; nor were the discounted prices made available in other parts of Kedah. These reduced prices were confined to Sungai Limau and offered on the eve of the by-election.

But according to Abdul Aziz, “What I know is, the act is not an offence. I was not informed of this. If it was sold to the public, it shouldn’t be a problem but what is not allowed is if they had called voters to buy the items at a cheap price and then insisted that they vote for a certain candidate.”

There is no need for the voters to be told to “vote for a certain candidate”. It was obvious that the offer came from the BN and the intention was very clear. No one could miss the point as to why this was made available on the eve of the by-election. There was no need to say the obvious. The implication was crystal clear.

Yet, Abdul Aziz contends, “There are no election laws regarding this…” Indeed there are no restricting laws to prevent offers at rock bottom prices. The question is, why at this point in time? And why, only in Sungai Limau?

Aren’t there laws about bribery during elections? Doesn’t it say that it is not permitted to offer inducements to influence voters?

Ask the person in the street, ask the person who has not gone to university, ask any simple person and they will tell you that it was nothing but blatant bribery! It is a wonder how this simple truth did not dawn upon Abdul Aziz!

The voters of Sungai Limau must be congratulated because they refused to be swayed by the last-minute inducement to vote for the BN. They realised that the BN was not addressing their need but was only feeding the greed of the people. And that did not work!

Hopefully, this will be the fate of the BN in future by-elections. The people will accept what is given to them but they will vote according to their conscience.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 8 November 2013, 11:55 am and is filed under
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Mahathir wants me dead but I pray that Mahathir will live to 100 years to see the decline and end of Mahathirism

Mahathir wants me dead and that is why he embarked on his mission in the 13th General Election to campaign in Gelang Patah to turn it into my political “burial ground”.

Before the 13th general election, Mahathir called on the people of Johore to pool their energy to ensure that the state of Johore will be my “kubur”, which elicited rapturous response from the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who declared that I was “trapped” in Gelang Patah and that I was “finished” politically.

Gelang Patah in the 13GE was my “life-and-death” political battle as I fought not just the popular four-term Johore Mentri Besar, Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman, but another three UMNO stalwarts –  Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Deputy Prime Minister, Muhyiddin and Malaysia’s longest-serving Prime Minister Tun Mahathir himself.

But I was prepared to put my head on the chopping block, leaving the safe parliamentary seat of Ipoh Timor which I had won in 2008 with more than 21,000-vote majority to a high-risk Gelang Patah where the MCA/BN had won with nearly 9,000-vote majority in 2008 and a humongous majority of 21,666-vote in 2004.

I want to thank members, supporters and well-wishers for their support and prayers on the night of May 5, 2013, as I have learnt from my travels  throughout the country in the past half-year that they were very worried about the outcome of the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat as, just like me that night, I have no idea of the outcome and I left my political fate completely in the hands of the voters of Gelang Patah.

On that night of May 5, 2013, Mahathir lost and I won.
I proved Mahathir wrong as the former Prime Minister had indulged in gutter-politics of the most despicable and immoral kind, disseminating lies and falsehoods  that I was contesting in Gelang Patah to cause a racial confrontation between the Chinese and Malays, that I wanted the Chinese to hate the Malays and reject working together with the Malays.

The contrary was in fact the case, as throughout my campaign, I had spoken and exhorted all voters, regardless of race, to work together as one Malaysian people in pursuit of a common Malaysian dream in support of the multi-racial and multi-religious coalition of Pakatan Rakyat comprising DAP, PKR and PAS.

In all my speeches in Gelang Patah during the three-week election campaign, I stressed that I wanted to win not just on Chinese votes but also with the support of Malay and Indian voters.

I was humbled and vindicated on Polling Night as I could not have won Gelang Patah with a majority of over 14,000 votes without the support of the Malay voters – a powerful testimony that the Malays in Johore were not easy victims  for the Mahathirish lies and falsehoods to racialise the Gelang Patah campaign.

Mahathir’s failures in the 13GE  particularly in Gelang Patah, Shah Alam and Pasir Mas where the former Prime Minister had staked his entire political reputation on his ability to affect the electoral outcomes, were not the  only signs that the power and influence of Mahathir and Mahathirism were not that  all-powerful and all-mighty as they had been made to seem.

In fact, there had been earlier signs of such vulnerability like Mahathir’s ignominous failure in 2006 to get elected even  as a delegate of his old Kubang Pasu UMNO division to the Umno General Assembly, which led to his resignation from UMNO and escalation of his campaign to topple the then Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

But Mahathir’s setbacks in the 13GE, particularly in Gelang Patah, Shah Alam and Pasir Mas are the first of a trio of significant signs in the past six months after the 13GE that the influence of Mahathir and Mahathirism are on the wane.

The other two are:

•	The failure of his son, Mukhriz Mahathir to be elected as one of the three UMNO Vice Presidents in the Umno party elections last month, with him blaming money politics for Mukhriz’s defeat; and

•	His failure despite eve-of-polling appearance/campaigning in Monday’s by-election in Sungai Limau (part of the Kota Setar Selatan parliamentary constituency that he had represented as an MP between 1964 and 1969) to swing victory for Mukhriz, who is Mentri Besar of Kedah.

Mahathir’s realisation of his waning influence may explain his bitterness which caused him to blog that I am afraid of his “shadow”, asking: “When will Kit Siang retire? When he is dead?”

There is no reason for anyone to be afraid of Mahathir’s “shadow” when it has become quite a penumbra.

What Malaysians should be concerned is the bane of Mahathirism – the legacy which Mahathir has left behind after his 22-year premiership.

The chief bane of Mahathirism is Mahathir’s repudiation of Vision 2020 and his Bangsa Malaysia policy (as well as Najib’s1Malaysia Policy) by  becoming the Godfather of Malaysia’s Ku Klux Klan movement with its dangerously divisive  rhetoric and politics of hate in championing racist supremacy instead of Malaysian supremacy. This has led to the worst racial polarisation in Malaysia in the nation’s history.

Other banes of Mahathirism include:

•	Subversion of a truly independent judiciary and a just rule of law;

•	Lack of national and international confidence in the efficiency, quality, professionalism and integrity of key national institutions;

•	Degradation of a world-quality educational system – primary, secondary and tertiary; and

•	Rampant corruption, cronyism and abuses of power in high political places.

Mahathirism will continue to be a bane and not a boon to Malaysia’s aspiration to become an united, successful and competitive nation in the global community.

Mahathir wants me dead but I pray that Mahathir will live to 100 years to see the decline and end of Mahathirism.

To his question “When will Kit Siang retire? When he is dead?”, let me dedicate a famous saying by the Sung Dynasty scholar-general Wen Tianxiang for him to ponder:
“All men are mortal, but my loyalty will illuminate the annals of history forever”
.

For Mahathir’s ears, the “loyalty” here refers to loyalty to Malaysia.

Artikel ini juga boleh didapati dalam Bahasa Malaysia di:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/11/11/mahathir-mahu-saya-mati-tetapi-saya-berdoa-mahathir-akan-hidup-sehingga-100-tahun-untuk-menyaksikan-kemerosotan-dan-berakhirnya-mahathirisme/

                This entry was posted on Friday, 8 November 2013, 5:20 pm and is filed under
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Worst Educational Measure Ever? Making History a Compulsory Pass Subject

Koon Yew Yin

8.11.2013

The recent policy decision to make history a compulsory pass for SPM students ranks as one of the most ill-conceived and irresponsible measure ever introduced into the Malaysian educational system since we gained our independence.

According to the  Second Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, the move is an effort toward teaching students to become good citizens.

“It is not our intention to fail them. We intend to pass them, but at least let them know the basic history of our country.  He also said that if history is not made a compulsory-pass, many treat the subject as unimportant and they don’t want to know our history, what happened in the past and will not appreciate what we have now,” he said.

Everyone knows what a bad state Malaysian education is in. At the secondary school level standards of mathematics and science are low; fluency of Bahasa and English is poor; and knowledge of ICT and technology is limited. At the same time competence in skills such as analysis, problem solving, reasoning and communication are lacking.

These are the core subjects and skills that need more time and attention if Malaysia is ever going to make it to the first or even second rung of nations.  Without mastering them we will continue to wallow amongst the also-run nations living off our oil and gas bonanza which will end sooner or later. Without improving on these internationally core subjects and other work-related learning, we will continue to churn out even worse than half baked high school products who will enter the job market or colleges and universities woefully unprepared and unable to compete with their peer group from other countries.

Instead of improving standards of attainment in these areas, what we are getting is a policy departure which will have the opposite effect. None of the advanced countries that I am aware of have a policy of making history a core subject. None of them insist that the student needs to have a pass in history before he is deemed to have successfully passed through his secondary education and can move on to higher studies or the job market with a formal certificate.

In Britain, a country after which we have patterned much of our educational system, history, geography and the arts are part of what is regarded as non-core non-compulsory subjects which are made available to students if they so desire to learn them. This should be our policy – history as a non-core, non-compulsory subject with no ulterior political or other agenda or objective or as an elective subject.

What will be the effect of the new policy measure? Firstly, we will see less time and attention given to the core subjects. Secondly we will have greater controversy rather than unity or loyalty. There has already been much opposition to the current history curriculum by many parents educationists which have gone unanswered by the authorities.

If the Minister of Education, Muhyiddin and his colleague, Idris Jusoh, believe that making history a compulsory pass subject will make for good and loyal citizens, they are badly mistaken. What will happen are the following negative impacts:

1.	Students will regurgitate what is necessary to earn a pass. There will be no attempt made to instill critical and analytical skills as these skills will lead to a questioning of key subjects such as the pre-Islamic history and culture;the British and immigrant role in building up modern Malaysia; the anti-Japanese and nationalist movement; the struggle for independence; what happened during May 13; etc.

2.	If the history curriculum is as badly skewed as shown by the Kempen Sejarah Sebenar (KemSMS) or Campaign for True Malaysian History 	group, then we will see racial and religious extremists and bigots get their introduction in indoctrination in the schools leading to greater polarization.

3.	Already, one of the country’s top Malay civil servants, Tan Sri Razali Ismail, has recently revealed that he sensed a high degree of sensitivity and resistance to change, especially among young bumiputeras. If a ketuanan mentality emerges among young bumiputeras and they cannot cope with change, the history curriculum and entrenchment of history as a core compulsory pass subject will be among the key causal factors. We already have one film producer, Shuhaimi Baba failing to distinguish between fact and fiction and lies, distortions and truth in the film, Tanda Puteri. The new policy will see other such bigoted and opportunistic individuals being nurtured to emerge and ply their propagandist products to Malaysians.

4.	We can also expect rural and poorer students in the national school  system to be the main victims of the new policy measure as many of them will fail in the subject and become drop outs. This will also only widen the inequality between private and public schools with the private schools offering a superior syllabus focused on making their students compete in the global market and the national schools offering an inferior all-round syllabus.

If the government is of the opinion that Malaysian students need to be inculcated with patriotism and loyalty to become good citizens, then the right place for fostering these values is in the realm of citizenship studies. It is in this subject where older students can study, think about and discuss topical political, moral, social and cultural issues, problems and events and also by extension, the historical developments.

Citizenship studies is also where our Malaysian secondary students can be provided with the foundation of the legal, political, religious, socio-economic and constitutional and economic systems that influence their lives and communities and look more closely at how they work and their effects. Here too, they can be involved in the life of their school, kampung or new village or urban area and develop a wide range of skills, knowledge and understanding in these areas.

At the end of it, they will learn much more about fairness, social justice, respect for democracy and diversity at school, local, national and global level, and become the more holistic good and patriotic students that the Ministry is looking to produce.

I predict that the proposed method which makes history as the main channel for knowledge to produce loyal and patriotic students will be an unmitigated disaster and call on the authorities to review and reverse the policy decision before it is too late.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 8 November 2013, 10:02 pm and is filed under
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CHANGE – (a short story)

by S.R.

It was an undisputed fact that Cikgu Wong and Cikgu Wahab were the best teachers of Sekolah Kebangsaan Kampung Senik. It was also a fact that neither of them would ever be promoted to the coveted post of a headmaster. For the two scholarly gentlemen, who had taught with unwavering dedication for more than two decades, were unschooled in the art of politicking. To put it simply, Cikgu Wong and Cikgu Wahab were first class educationists and rotten bureaucrats.

Lesser individuals would have become embittered by the humiliation of being constantly passed over for promotions. Not Cikgu Wong and Cikgu Wahab.

Cikgu Wong, a mathematics genius with an entrepreneurial bent, set up a tuition centre from the comfort of his home. The monthly revenues from his centre far outstripped his meager teaching wages. Best of all, it was tax free.

Cikgu Wahab, a language teacher by profession and an altruistic philosopher by nature, diverted his energies to writing poetry and tutoring his weaker students for free.

Both men were quietly satisfied with their existence, until the advent of Cikgu Zainab in their lives. Cikgu Zainab  made a memorable entrance at a mundane morning meeting of all the teachers, in the poorly ventilated staff room.

“I am your new headmistress,” screamed Cikgu Zainab.

“I don’t know how things were done in this school before but now you are all answerable to me! This school will be run my way! Do you hear me?”

Cikgu Zainab was heard not only by the teachers, but also by the entire student population who had converged at the school podium, a good hundred metres away from the staff room.

It soon became clear, Cikgu Zainab never spoke, she merely screamed. Cikgu Wong and Cikgu Wahab resolved then and there, never to linger unnecessarily in her presence. Unfortunately for them, there was no escaping Cikgu Zainab, for she would summon all and sundry to what seemed like an endless series of meetings.

“Teachers!” she would shriek over the megaphone.

“You are all required to urgently convene at the staff room now!”

The first time it happened, Cikgu Wong and Cikgu Wahab fearing the occurrence of a calamity of epic proportions  rushed to the staff room

“Teachers!” hollered Cikgu Zainab.

“I value punctuality! I notice from the attendance register all of you come to school just in time before the school bell rings. I want you all in at least fifteen minutes before the scheduled school hours! Do you all hear me?”

Exactly two days after issuing this edict, Cikgu Zainab issued yet another one.

“Teachers! I notice that there is no written agenda available when a staff meeting is held! Without a written agenda, precious time is wasted whenever we hold a meeting! Therefore, to make sure that time is spent usefully, I have prepared an agenda of all the items I wish to discuss at the next meeting! The purpose of today’s meeting is to ensure that you are all aware of the agenda for our next meeting. We will now go through this list, do you hear me?”

These constant interruptions evolved into a daily affair. While Cikgu Wong despaired of these meaningless intrusions into his valuable teaching time, Cikgu Wahab consoled himself with the reasoning that all events, however meaningless, occurred for a greater purpose. And it was at one such meeting that it became clear to him.

“Teachers! Your record books lack visual presentation! Henceforth you will use different coloured inks to record data! Your lesson plan for the month will be in black, daily lesson plans in dark blue, light blue is not permitted,  students’ data in deep red__”

Cikgu Wahab, a champion of true education,  could contain himself no longer.

“This is nonsense!” he shouted.

Cikgu Zainab was shocked into silence.

“The purpose of coming to school is to teach and not to develop fancy coloured record books to please some bureaucrat!”

Puan Zainab recovered enough to screech,

 “How dare you question my authority!”

Growing more purposeful by the minute, Cikgu Wahab, retaliated,

“I dare! People like you have ruined our teaching profession, with your petty rules and nonsensical red tape, totally unconnected to productivity!”

In an ideal world, Cikgu Wahab’s heroic outburst  would have been met overwhelming support, repudiating the rule of tyrannical educators. Instead, all the other members of that noble profession, huddled closer together, away from Cikgu Wahab, to avoid being identified as his conspirator. Bereft of his colleagues’ support, Cikgu Wahab stormed out of the staff room and returned to his teaching pursuits.

Now Cikgu Wong, who had the good fortune of being blessed with chicken pox while this staff room soap opera was being enacted, returned to school two weeks later, only to find Cikgu Wahab reduced to the status of a social pariah. Teachers and staff, including the janitor, went out of their way to avoid him.

“I say Wahab! What happened?”

“This school is being run by a power crazy woman and everyone is too afraid to do anything about it!” came the bitter  reply.

“Come! Come!” said Cikgu Wong gently.

“They need to survive this system, the younger teachers, especially! They are completely at her mercy! Look at the bright side of things! You only have a few years to serve before retirement!”

“And,” added Cikgu Wong positively,

“She has probably forgotten the whole thing by now!”

Cikgu Wong’s optimism was misplaced as Cikgu Zainab had an especially vindictive streak. Cikgu Wahab found himself saddled with the task of teaching History and Art.

“I know nothing about History or Art!” he protested to the Senior Assistant, the next in line to Cikgu Zainab.

“I am a language teacher and have been one for the past twenty five years! What’s more, my students are facing critical exams shortly! You can’t deprive them at this last minute! ”

His protests were futile. Depressed, Cikgu Wahab  plodded through his lessons, as best as he could. His sad plight did not go unnoticed. Cikgu Wahab found an unexpected ally in his students, who detested Cikgu Zainab, with equal if not greater fervour. While Cikgu Zainab raved and ranted at the teachers in the relative comfort of the staff room, the students were forced to assemble daily under the blazing sun  to receive her verbal onslaught. A few enterprising pupils even invested in earplugs.

Bound by their mutual dislike, a close affinity developed between master and student.

“Cikgu, you should be the headmaster, not GG!”

GG, as Cikgu Wahab found out, was the nom de guerre for Cikgu Zainab and not some exotic dancer. It stood for ‘Gurubesar Gila’.

“Yes Cikgu, there is no one who teaches or cares for us like you, except for Cikgu Wong! Both of you should be in charge!”

Cikgu Wahab smiled sadly.

Fate had dictated that he would remain a school teacher for the whole of his working life. He would nevertheless face the capriciousness of fate like a man.

Cikgu Wahab threw himself into a poetry writing frenzy and continued to tutor an even greater number of students. Most of them were his former pupils who were unable to tolerate their present language teacher. That teacher, who had formerly taught them History and Art, had eagerly agreed to the teaching of  languages, despite her lack of proficiency in the subject matter. She was due for a promotion in the forthcoming year and was unwilling to jeopardize her position.

Now that same fate which had reduced Cikgu Wahab to a persona non grata one day unexpectedly invoked change.

“Teachers! I have received news that the school inspectors will pay us a visit anytime within the next fortnight! We will immediately embark on a school beatification project! Do you hear me?”

Overnight, teachers and pupils alike were reduced to the status of sweepers, cleaners, gardeners and painters. The students naturally rejoiced at the welcome holiday from academic rigours. A few conscientious teachers feverishly rescheduled their lesson plans, although the prospect of them completing the syllabus in time for the year-end exams appeared dim. The majority of the teachers however, took comfort in the fact that their school largely functioned as a social joint. Real teaching took place in tuition centres.

The only teachers who refused to swerve from the upright  path of academia were Cikgu Wong and Cikgu Wahab.

Cikgu Wong produced a medical certificate, conveniently signed by his nephew, a prominent doctor at the local government hospital, which pronounced him to be unfit for extreme physical assertion of any kind.

“Well, what will you do then?” screamed Cikgu Zainab.

 “Teach I suppose,” he replied sweetly.

“The final year pupils are facing their public exams in four weeks. They could do with a little extra coaching.”

Cikgu Zainab was not about to give up.

“Very well!” she snapped, reluctantly.

“You can continue teaching but first, I have some typing for you to do! You can type out a memo for me, photocopy it and distribute it to all the students, do you hear me?”

Meanwhile, Cikgu Wahab wrapped in his cocoon of isolation, continued to teach the odd pupil who dared to attend his class. Fortunately for them, Cikgu Zainab was far too busy supervising the school’s refurbishment process to notice this transgression.

The school gradually transformed into an impressive structure, replete with a resort-like feel, thanks to expensive potted palms donated by a teacher who was famous for her lacklustre teaching skills. Another teacher, famous for her absenteeism,  had the foresight to sew eye-catching embroidered lace curtains with matching cushion covers and table runners for Cikgu Zainab’s room. The room strongly resembled a bridal boutique. Cikgu Zainab immediately made a decision to vigorously recommend both of them for promotions.

Sekolah Kebangsaan Kampung Senik, all primed and primped up, was now ready for its important visitors from the Education Department.

Indeed, to Mr. Bhagavan Singh, the elderly education inspector and his young and enthusiastic assistant, Cik Kamilia, the facade of the school was awe-inspiring.

“It’s beautifully kept, like a five-star hotel!” whispered his assistant.

Mr. Singh nodded, impressed.

The headmistress must be doing a fantastic job, he thought to himself.

However, no sooner had he entered the school’s threshold, Mr. Singh’s instincts alerted him to the fact that something was not quite right. Mr. Singh, famous for rooting out dirt on wayward schools immediately discerned the cause.

“ It’s far too quiet Kamilia. Pupils are never this quiet!”

Mr. Singh was right. The school, silent as a morgue, was devoid of the raucous voices of students. Not a single student seemed to be in sight. Mr. Singh, a great fan of Sherlock Holmes, decided to employ the art of stealth to identify  the cause of this eery silence. Moving quickly from class to class with his assistant, as discreetly as possible, he found all of them to be empty, except for lessons being conducted as usual, by Cikgu Wong and Cikgu Wahab.

Cikgu Wong was busy expounding the mysteries of algebra to a bunch of unusually earnest pupils, who were determined to score a distinction in the forthcoming public exams. Cikgu Wahab’s faithful  followers were no less enthusiastic. They too were deeply engrossed in his explanations, absorbing the finer nuances of literature. Neither party noticed the school inspectors. Cikgu Zainab’s routine disturbances had rendered them immune to outside influences.

These examples of academic devotion pleased Mr. Singh. However, he could not ignore the mysterious disappearance of the rest of the students. Even his youthful assistant,  inexperienced as she was, was baffled by this anomaly.

“Sir, only two classes seem to be going on in this school!  The other pupils seem to have gone missing!”

Mr. Singh decided it was time to ferret out all the teaching staff, including Cikgu Zainab. Chaos prevailed. Opinions were offered as to the wholesale truancy by the rest of the students while Cikgu Zainab hung back, uncharacteristically meek.

Cikgu Wahab and Cikgu Wong  who thought themselves above the petty feelings of revenge found it impossible not to gloat over Cikgu Zainab’s increasing discomfiture as she was interrogated by the relentless Mr. Singh.

“But Cikgu! Where are all the other students? What is happening in this school?”

“I__I__” she stammered.

Cikgu Zainab tried her very best to appeal to Mr. Singh’s tender side. Alternating between a show of tears and pathetic whimpers and sniffs, she gave a stellar performance of  emotional sentiments  that would have put any award-winning actress of Korean soap operas  to shame. Cikgu Wong and Cikgu Wahab cringed at the disgraceful and highly unprofessional display of theatrical behaviour.

Mr. Singh, an upright man, was far from amused by this appalling spectacle. It only served to stoke his temper and convinced him that Sekolah Kebangsaan Kampung Senik was not a beacon of educational excellence, that it originally appeared to be. Vowing to get to the bottom of things, he and his assistant left. Sekolah Kebangsaan Kampung Senik, in the hands of the diligent Mr. Singh, was about to undergo a transformation beyond its cosmetic make over.

“ I say Wahab, but you are looking happier these days!”

Cikgu Wahab smiled warmly at Cikgu Wong. With Cikgu Zainab no longer at the helm of the school, peace and education had returned at last.

“ I have a going-away present for you.”

Cikgu Wong held out a piece of paper. Puzzled, Cikgu Wahab reached out for the paper and scanned its contents.

“So, this is why__” he gasped.

“Exactly!” chuckled Cikgu Wong.

“Surely, you were not behind it Wong!”

“Me? Oh no! It was purely a mistake! You see, that Zainab had the cheek to ask me to type a memo__ to all the students! Especially when she has a typist for clerical work!”

“So, it was our typist? I can’t believe he did this!”

“No, no, he was too busy painting a wall, on her instructions. Actually, since I’m no good with computers, I asked a bunch of students to help me out.”

“The students? They typed this?”

“It’s amazing what kids can do with computers these days! Apparently, they scanned the contents of an earlier memo written by her, changed the date, printed the thing out  and sent it to all parents!”

“But that’s fraud!”

“Wahab, the students don’t see it that way! They claim it’s a genuine error! You see, the contents of the earlier memo was almost identical to her latest memo. Except of course, the error in  the last line. You know, where it says pupils must not attend school”.

“I  don’t understand! What error?”

“ The earlier memo ended with a ‘pupils need not attend’statement. The mistake was, the pupils substituted the word ‘need’ with ‘must’ but forgot to delete the word ‘not’!”

Cikgu Wahab, understood. The memorandum which was to have read “students must attend school” instead  conveyed the message “students must not attend school”.

“But Wong, it is still not right! You can’t justify their wrongdoing!”

“Actually, I am championing their cause! Look Wahab, no one intended for this to happen. Who would have thought that a simple linguistic error would have caused a toxic headmistress to be transferred out of the system?”

“Will you name the students?”

“No, I won’t. They have confessed to me and as a gentleman, I take full responsibility for this bizarre turn of events!”

“Is that why you are resigning?”

“That and partly because I have been offered an excellent opportunity to franchise my tuition centre. Say, I don’t suppose you would like to join me? Good people are hard to come by these days!”

“No, “ said Cikgu Wahab resolutely.

“I belong here.”

“Yes you do,” agreed Cikgu Wong, as he took leave of his friend, the new headmaster of Sekolah Kebangsaan Kampung Senik.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 9 November 2013, 6:56 pm and is filed under
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Education ministry’s tacit approval of racism in schools

 — Ravinder Singh

The Malay Mail Online

November 9, 2013

The stand taken by Hashim Adnan, president of the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) and Datuk Mohd Ali Hassan, President of the National Parent-Teacher Association Collaborative Council that the Ministry of Education must issue circulars on racial issues to schools is correct and should be supported by all anti-racism persons.

They were responding to Education Minister II Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh’s defence of the racist things going on in schools by saying that school authorities should rely on their “conscience and moral realisation to know the sensitivities of other races”.

So has he let the cat out of the bag? Does he mean to say that the Education Ministry has all along been in full and tacit support of head-teachers who have been telling non-Malay students to “balik India, balik Cina”; hiding non-Malay children in toilet cafeterias during Ramadan; slaughtering cattle in school compounds in the name of Korban, etc. for these actions (and maybe more) were carried out with full “conscience and moral realisation knowing the sensitivities of other races”.

The two NGO leaders, who happen to be Malay Muslims, are rational enough to see the harm and damage that racism in schools is doing not just to the children, but to the nation itself. Instead of building good, ethnic relationships across the races, the schools that are practicing racism are building walls between the races. Is this what the government wants? Is this the much touted 1Malaysia?

That the education ministry is condoning racism in schools and giving the school heads a license to do what they want, is unacceptable.

Our law, the Penal Code, has a whole chapter on “Offences relating to religion”. According to the Minister’s warped logic, we might as well throw this chapter away and leave matters to the “conscience and moral realisation” of the people at large who should “know the sensitivities of other races”.

I have a question for the Minister: Will you maintain your stand if Chinese schools which  have Malay Muslim students started celebrating their festivals with the slaughtering and roasting of pigs in schools?  Will you keep your peace if Chinese school headmasters started telling their Malay pupils to “balik Indonesia”? Please give honest answers.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 9 November 2013, 8:33 am and is filed under
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Absence of appeal in Liong Sik acquittal suspicious, say lawyer, MP

By Ida Lim

The Malaysian Insider

November 9, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9 — The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) decision to not challenge Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik’s acquittal over the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal was dubious when it appeals even redundant cases, according to two critics today.

When contacted today, civil rights lawyer Syahredzan Johan described the decision as “baffling, to say the least”, contrasting it to what he categorised as the AGC’s swiftness in appealing against court rulings that were in favour of human rights.

“The AGC has always been quick to appeal against the decisions that promote human rights and constitutionalism and also decisions in favour of opposition politicians, but when it is a decision that concerns allegations of corruption against a former Cabinet member, the AGC has decided not to pursue the appeal,” he told The Malay Mail Online in an email reply.

“As an example; in the UKM4 case the AGC decided to appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal in favour of the 4 former students, even when the matter has become academic as the law has been amended and the 4 are no longer students,” he added.

Syahredzan was referring to the case of four Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) students who were charged under now-amended Section 15 (5)(a) of the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) for their alleged presence during the 2010 Hulu Selangor by-election campaign.

The High Court found that the clause barring university students’ participation in politics was unconstitutional, but the matter was brought by the AGC to the Court of Appeal and Federal Court, where the apex court struck out the case on November 22, 2012 as it was by then “academic”.

Today, Syahredzan also questioned the rationale behind the AGC’s decision.

“Is the AGC taking the stand that there would be no merits in the appeal? Is it because the case was weak from the start, or is it because there is a flaw in the prosecution of the case by the AGC itself?

“If the case was weak from the start, why is it that they decided to prosecute? If there are weaknesses in the prosecution, then questions should certainly be asked as to why these weaknesses are there,” he said.

DAP’s veteran leader Lim Kit Siang said the Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail should “step down”, claiming that it was the straw that broke the camel’s back in an alleged “series of miscarriages of justice” by the former.

“How can a minister, a so-called grand corruption case brought to court be allowed to be lost in such a scandalous manner and there’s no appeal?” Lim asked when contacted, claiming that it meant that the government’s top prosecutor did not even believe in his own case.

“The AG must be responsible for his own charges, the charges preferred against Liong Sik in this case,” Lim said, saying that it was not a case involving mere “small fry”.

Lim insisted that “the sense of honour demands” that Abdul Gani steps down.

He said the case was a test of the government’s “sincerity” in fighting corruption, going on to equate the AGC’s decision not to appeal to the alleged failure of the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration in combating graft.

But Syahredzan disagreed that the AG should resign over the case involving Dr Ling.

“Personally, I do not think that the AG should step down solely because of this case. But the AGC should at the very least explain its decision,” he said.

When contacted yesterday, the case’s lead prosecutor Datuk Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah merely said “no appeal” in a brief text message to The Malay Mail Online.

Tun Abdul Majid, who is also Deputy Solicitor-General II, did not provide the reasons behind the AGC’s decision to not proceed with an appeal in the high-profile case.

On October 25, High Court judge Datuk Ahmadi Asnawi ruled that Dr Ling’s lawyers managed to raise reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case and acquitted the former MCA president from the cheating charges hanging over his head for the past few years.

The trial started in August 2011, with Dr Ling ordered to enter his defence on March 9 last year while the defence closed its case on June 20 this year.

Dr Ling, who was Malaysia’s transport minister for 17 years from January 1986 to May 2003, was charged in July 2010 with deceiving the Cabinet into approving the land purchase for the PKFZ project, despite knowing that the approval would result in wrongful losses for the government.

Dr Ling also faced two alternative charges of deceiving the Cabinet into believing that the land purchase’s terms — at RM25 psf plus 7.5 per cent interest — had the acknowledgment and agreement of the Land Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH) despite knowing that there was no such agreement.

The criminal offences were allegedly committed between September 25 and November 6 in 2002, a few months before he stopped serving as a transport minister.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 10 November 2013, 6:48 pm and is filed under
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AG’s report: Charge the culprits for CBT

 — Ravinder Singh

The Malay Mail Online

November 10, 2013

NOV 10 — To tackle the problem of “stupid” people in the public service who have been enriching certain people with their not so stupid purchases of laptops for RM40,000.00 a piece and wall clocks for RM3,800.00 a piece, the MACC has proposed that Integrity Management Units be set up in each ministry to help the MACC prevent corruption. Is it not the duty of each and every head of department to ensure their own integrity and that of all others below them?

Sorry to say so, but this whole idea looks stupid. The best way to deal with stupid people is to educate them using the most effective means of doing so. In this case, the educational process has to take the form of ENFORCEMENT. If stupid people begin to be charged for CBT, you will see how fast they change without the need for any Integrity Management Units.

The Auditor General has already done most of the job. He has identified the stupid things that were done. The MACC and the commercial crime police should take it to the next stage of tying up any loose ends and filing appropriate court cases.  For the MACC to declare that stupidity is not a crime and no action can be taken against anyone for being stupid, itself looks stupid. Civil servants in charge of government procurement are bound by rules and regulations.

The introduction to a directive from the Government Procurement Division of the Ministry of Finance on Malaysia’s Government Procurement Regime states:

“The prime objective of the Malaysian Government procurement is to support Government programmes by obtaining value for money through acquisition of works, supplies and services. To meet this objective close attention is given to price factors as well as nonprice factors such as whole life cost, quality, quantity, timeliness, maintenance and warranty. The benefits or value from procurement should commensurate with the costs involved and that the best procurement is well and thoroughly evaluated, reasoned and justified. In this context, the Malaysian Government procurement is based on the following policies, principles, objectives and procedures.”

One of those principles is “fair market prices”. This puts responsibility on those responsible for government procurement to educate themselves about fair prices of the goods they are purchasing, e.g. is RM40,000.00 a fair market price for a laptop, or RM3,800.00 a fair market price for a wall clock?

There are provisions in the Penal Code for Criminal Breach of Trust (CBT):

Sec. 405: Criminal breach of trust

“Whoever, being in any manner entrusted with property, or with any dominion over property either solely or jointly with any other person dishonestly misappropriates, or converts to his own use, that property, or dishonestly uses or disposes of that property in violation of any direction of law prescribing the mode in which such trust is to be discharged, or of any legal contract, express or implied, which he has made touching the discharge of such trust, or wilfully suffers any other person so to do, commits “criminal breach of trust”.

Sec. 409: Criminal breach of trust by public servant or agent

“Whoever, being in any manner entrusted with property, or with any dominion over property, in his capacity of a public servant or agent, commits criminal breach of trust in respect of that property, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than two years and not more than twenty years and with whipping, and shall also be liable to fine.

Sec. 409A: Defence not available

It is no defence for any offence prescribed in sections 403, 404, 405, 406, 407, 408 and 409 to show that the property was openly appropriated or that the appropriation was duly recorded and entered in the books and accounts of any company or association or body of persons whether incorporated or not.

Sec. 409B (1): Presumption

Where in any proceedings it is proved … [list of offences including the above], it shall be presumed that he had acted dishonestly until the contrary is proved.  So why is it not criminal breach of trust for public servants to purchase laptops at RM40,000 a piece, wall clocks at RM3,800 each and make a myriad other purchases at prices that are inflated from tens to hundreds of times?

Under these sections what has to be proved is that there was an abuse of the trust placed in the person(s) concerned, or failure to comply with the direction of law. Do the regulations about making purchases only say that the lowest tender must be accepted regardless of the prices quoted as compared to the market prices? I don’t think so. The Auditor General should clarify this.

When public money is put at the disposal of public servants for them to make purchases for their respective departments, is there no element of “trust” that such money must be used honestly?

Do the rules and regulations pertaining to the use of public funds for purchases not amount to a “direction of law prescribing the mode in which such trust is to be discharged”?  When the purchasing officers sign Local Orders for the purchases, are they not “entering into legal contracts, express or implied, touching the discharge of such trust”?  The Attorney General, on whom the burden falls for charging people with CBT should explain why the purchasing of goods and services by civil servants at prices from tens to hundreds of times higher than the market prices does not fall within the ambit of the offence of CBT.

If there is a duty of care on the civil servants to ensure that tender prices are competitive as compared to market prices, and this was not done, then a wrongdoing should be proven, i.e. non-compliance with the direction of law. If this is proven there is no need to prove it was done with dishonesty as this is now presumed. Let the accused prove his honesty or “stupidity and carelessness”.

Or is reluctance to prosecute because the Penal Code on CBT offenders is too harsh for civil servants (who are said to be the ruling party’s vote bank), as it provides for imprisonment of not less than two years and not more than twenty years, whipping and also liability to a fine? Therefore “tak sampai hati” (no heart to) to send the offenders to prison as they have families and children to take care of! And therefore again, the government must take care of their rice bowls for them. So, find an excuse to let them off the hook – they are stupid and stupidity is not a crime!

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 November 2013, 8:53 am and is filed under
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In Dr M vs Lim it’s advantage, Kit Siang

Terence Netto

Malaysiakini

Nov 9, 2013

COMMENT
 The latest round of skirmishing between Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Lim Kt Siang testify to the enduring nature of some political vendettas.

It appears ageing politicians don’t easily forget their resentment of some opponents; they just nurse it to higher degrees of virulence.

Former prime minister Mahathir has often displayed a visceral antagonism towards DAP adviser Kit Siang, one that goes beyond the usual bounds of political rivalry and contention.

From the time they first jousted in Parliament in the 1970s, through the 22 years of Mahathir’s premiership (1981-2003), and continuing into the post-Mahathir era, the Umno stalwart and the DAP strongman have traded blows in one of Malaysian politics’ more enduring examples of loathing.

An examination of this antagonism would find that Mahathir had more often than not been the initiator of hostilities.

Quick and combative as a mongoose, Mahathir seldom wastes a chance to deliver a dig at Kit Siang’s expense.

This is not a surprise coming from someone who tends to see politics as a matter of public antagonism and who cannot resist the low blow where others would prefer a straightforward punch.

On his part, the DAP durable has rarely been slow on the uptake, adept at giving back as good as he takes.

Even when the stimulus was as trivial as Kit Siang’s understandable, if petulant, snatching of a ticket at a Plus tollgate during a long traffic snarl in the early days of the North-South Expressway, Mahathir could not let the occasion pass without comment.

He denounced Kit Siang’s behaviour as indicative of someone who had no respect for the law, treating the oppositionist’s audacity like it savoured of mutiny against king and country.

A dish best tasted cold

The latest skirmish concerns the older man’s bemusement over his bete noire’s unduly – according to Mahathir – deferred retirement.

If vengeance is a dish best tasted cold, invective is a weapon best delivered clinically.

Kit Siang’s response to Mahathir’s sarcasm combined a withering litany of instances of the latter’s diminishing influence with a wish that the man lives long enough to see his noxious legacy buried for good.

Rarely in the annals of democratic debate between political antagonists in Malaysia has one had the other in his cross-hairs with a defter combination of precision targeting and dripping scorn.

Mahathir, skilled at trotting out pretexts for deferring his own retirement during his protracted premiership, is fond of equating the year of his start as a parliamentarian (1964) with Kit Siang’s beginnings in politics.

This is a misleading equation, because Mahathir was 39 at that time and Kit Siang was only starting out as a political aide to his mentor, Devan Nair, at the age of 23.

With that lopsided equation, Mahathir can paint himself as having quit active politics in 2003 when he retired as PM (he was 78 then) while showing that the now 72-year-old Kit Siang, with the supposedly same starting year as Mahathir’s, as still lounging around in the arena, overstaying his welcome.

Mahathir had an earlier start to his political career than the year of his election as MP for Kota Setar Selatan in 1964. His political commentaries, under the pseudonym ‘Che Det’, appeared in newspapers as long ago as the late 1940s.

In those days, a column counted for currency in the political arena, so a political columnist was not a person merely at an observatory post as he/she is these days.

Several who wrote for the Malay language papers especially, were active political operatives; the boundaries between politics and journalism were pretty fluid then.

If those early years are taken as the commencement of Mahathir’s political career, he has had a longer stay in the arena (late 1940s to 2003) than Kit Siang’s, which is now a 49-year innings.

A tryst with democratic destiny

Really, these length-of-tenancy comparisons are tendentious, but they need be made for perspective.

Actually, a more objective comparison would be to see if the career in question has attained the aims it had set for itself at its outset.

Mahathir’s career, with its aim of bringing about Malay socioeconomic advancement, had, by his own admission, not attained the objective he himself sought for it.

But he has had his chance – nothing less than a 22-year tenancy at the pinnacle of political power in the country – to achieve it.

Kit Siang’s career, occupied as it was and continues to be, with a return to the spirit of the country’s 1957 Merdeka constitution, has begun to glimpse the realisation of what, prior to the 2008 general election, seemed unattainable: a tryst with the democratic destiny spelled out in the Merdeka Proclamation.

In that sense, one cannot say now it is the “useless” career that Mahathir had once derided it as having been.

In fact, as comparison, it can be said that Mahathir’s career has been a personal success but a corporate failure, whereas Kit Siang’s may well turn out to be a personal and corporate success.

The point – considering a career’s goals and the possibility of their realisation – about length of tenancy, then, becomes nugatory.

Some goals are worth going to your grave with your boots on, provided of course they haven’t seen any use in trampling on rivals’ careers.

TERENCE NETTO has been a journalist for close on four decades. He likes the occupation because it puts him in contact with the eminent without being under the necessity to admire them. It is the ideal occupation for a temperament that finds power fascinating and its exercise abhorrent.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 November 2013, 8:39 am and is filed under
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JB to remove ‘inappropriate’ mural by foreign artist

By
Kow Gah Chie
 | 11:34AM Nov 11, 2013

Malaysiakini

The Johor Bahru City Council will remove three murals painted by an internationally-recognised street artist, following a controversy over one mural that addresses the high crime rate in the city.

However, city mayor Ismail Karim said, all the three murals by Lithuanian-orn Ernest Zacharevic will be removed as they were painted at inappropriate places, China Press reported today.

Earlier, Malaysiakini reported that Zacharevic – better known as Zachas – defended his mural, which has been criticised by the state government has having ‘tarnished’ the city’s image.

“Art does not damage a city’s image, crime does,” rebutted Zacharevic (right) yesterday in an email response.

The Lithuanian-born artist had reportedly been invited to the city to put up his artwork, and contributed three pieces earlier this month.

The ‘contentious’ mural, dubbed ‘JB, home of Malaysia’s very own Legoland’, shows Lego figures portraying an armed robber lying in wait to rob from a woman carrying a Chanel handbag.

Zacharevic also uploaded a photo of the mural on his Facebook page on Nov 7 and it has  generated much discussion and registered more than 6,600 ‘Likes’ since then.

However, state executive councillor Tee Siew Keong (left) advised the artist to use his talent in the right way and to help promote the state’s tourism and development.

Tee also reportedly said it was up to the local council to decide if it wanted the mural to be removed.

To this, Zacharevic said his public artwork is not meant to be a permanent feature.

“I paint it and leave it. It is up to the local community to decide what happens to it, ” he said.

“If I react to every criticism I receive, I would have never paint a single painting … I celebrate democracy and embrace pluralism.

“This is how it should be – people publicly, in a civilised manner, discussing what they like and what they don’t like. As an artist I follow my own consciousness and it is up to the rest how they interpret my artwork.”

He also said everybody is entitled to an opinion and that different people have different views.

Inspiration for the mural

Zacharevic said local residents had alerted him to the crime rate in JB, and this had inspired the mural.

“Every time I asked locals if there is anything other than Legoland I should see in JB, they whispered to me, ‘Yes, but you have to be careful’,” he said.

Zacharevic, who is currently in Japan, said he will return to JB in spite of the state government’s disapproval of his work.

“Johor Baru has a lot to offer. I think this town really needs more art, not only from me, but young emerging Malaysian artists as well,” he noted.

The artist makes much use of 3D materials in his murals. Many of his iconic pieces feature children and happiness, as displayed along Armenian Street in George Town, Penang

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 November 2013, 9:52 pm and is filed under
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Mahathir mahu saya mati tetapi saya berdoa Mahathir akan hidup sehingga 100 tahun untuk menyaksikan kemerosotan dan berakhirnya Mahathirisme

Mahathir mahu saya mati, kerana itu beliau menjalankan misinya dalam Pilihanraya Umum ke-13 dengan berkempen di Gelang Patah untuk menjadikan kawasan itu “kubur” politik saya.

Sebelum pilihanraya umum ke-13, Mahathir menyeru rakyat Johor untuk mengerah tenaga bagi memastikan negeri Johor menjadi “kubur” saya. Seruan beliau itu diberi sambutan hangat oleh Timbalan Perdana Menteri Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yang mengisytiharkan bahawa saya “terperangkap” di Gelang Patah dan kerjaya politik saya telah “tamat”.

Persaingan di Gelang Patah dalam PRU13 adalah pertempuran politik “hidup dan mati” bagi saya kerana saya berdepan bukan saja dengan Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman yang telah menjadi Menteri Besar selama empat penggal, tetapi juga kerana saya terpaksa berdepan dengan tiga lagi orang kuat Umno – Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Timbalan Perdana Menteri Muhyiddin dan Perdana Menteri yang paling lama memegang jawatan di Malaysia, iaitu Tun Mahathir sendiri.

Tetapi saya bersedia mempertaruhkan nasib, meninggalkan kerusi parlimen selamat bagi saya, iaitu Ipoh Timur, yang telah saya menangi pada tahun 2008 dengan majoriti lebih dari 21,000 undi, untuk bertanding di Gelang Patah di mana MCA/BN telah menang hampir 9,000 undi majoriti pada tahun 2008 dan 21,666 undi majoriti pada tahun 2004.

Saya mahu berterimakasih kepada ahli-ahli parti, para penyokong dan semua pihak yang mendoakan kejayaan saya pada malam 5 Mei 2013 lalu. Menerusi lawatan saya ke seluruh negara sepanjang beberapa bulan lalu, saya mendapat tahu bahawa mereka bimbang tentang kedudukan parlimen Gelang Patah ketika pilihanraya umum dan bahawa mereka, seperti juga saya, sama sekali tidak dapat menjangkakan keputusan pilihanraya di kawasan parlimen itu. Ketika itu, saya menggantungkan masa depan politik saya sepenuhnya di tangan para pengundi di Gelang Patah.

Pada malam 5 Mei 2013 itu Mahathir kalah dan saya menang. Saya telah membuktikan Mahathir telah berbuat silap kerana bekas Perdana Menteri itu telah bermain politik rendah yang jelek dan tidak bermoral dengan menyebarkan pembohongan dengan mendakwa saya bertanding di Gelang Patah untuk meninbulkan ketegangan antara kaum Cina dan Melayu dan bahawa saya mahu Cina membenci Melayu dan menolak kerjasama dengan Melayu.

Sedangkan hakikatnya berlawanan. Sepanjang kempen saya telah menggesa semua pengundi, tanpa mengira kaum, untuk bekerjsama sebagai satu bangsa Malaysia untuk mengejar Impian Malaysia dan menyokong Pakatan Rakyat sebagai pakatan politik pelbagai kaum dan agama yang terdiri daripada DAP, PKR dan PAS.

Dalam semua ceramah saya di Gelang Patah sepanjang kempen pilihanraya selama tiga minggu itu, saya telah menegaskan bahawa saya mahu menang bukan saja dengan undi Cina, tetapi juga dengan sokongan Melayu dan India.

Saya merasa lega pada malam keputusan pilihanraya kerana saya tidak mungkin menang di Gelang Patah dengan majoriti lebih 14,000 undi tanpa sokongan para pengundi Melayu – ini adalah bukti nyata bahawa orang Melayu di Johor tidak semudah itu menjadi mangsa pembohongan Mahathir yang mahu mewarnakan kempen Gelang Patah dengan unsur perkauman.

Kegagalan Mahathir dalam PRU13, khususnya di Gelang Patah, Shah Alam, dan Pasir Mas, di mana bekas Perdana Menteri itu telah mempertaruhkan seluruh reputasi politiknya atas keupayaannya untuk mempengaruhi keputusan pilihanraya, bukan satu-satunya petanda kuasa dan pengaruh Mahathir dan Mahathirisme tidak lagi sehebat dan seperkasa yang cuba ditonjolkan.

Sebenarnya, telah ada beberapa tanda awal kemerosotan tersebut, misalnya kegagalan Mahathir pada tahun 2006 untuk menjadi perwakilan Umno Bahagian Kubang Pasu ke Perhimpunan Agung Umno. Rentetan daripada itu beliau telah keluar daripada Umno dan meningkatkan kempen beliau untuk menjatuhkan Perdana Menteri ketika itu, iaitu Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Tetapi kegagalan Mahathir dalam PRU13, khususnya di Gelang Patah, Shah Alam, dan Pasir Mas adalah petanda pertama daripada tiga petanda penting kemerosotan pengaruh Mahathir dan Mahathirisme sejak enam bulan lalu.

Dua petanda lain:

Kegagalan anak beliau, Mukhriz Mahathir, untuk merebut salah satu dari tiga kerusi Naib Presiden Umno dalam pemilihan Umno bulan lalu, walaupun Mahathir menyalahkan politik wang sebagai punca kekalahan Mukhriz; dan

Kegagalan beliau untuk membawa kemenangan kepada Muhkriz sebagai Menteri Besar Kedah dalam pilihanraya kecil Sungai Limau (kawasan yang termasuk dalam parlimen Kota Setar Selatan yang Mahathir adalah Ahli Parlimennya di tahun 1964 hingga1969) walaupun beliau turun berkempen di sana.

Mungkin kerana menyedari kemerosotan pengaruhnya, Mahathir menunjukkan kekecewaan dengan menulis dalam blog beliau bahawa saya takut pada “bayang” beliau dan bertanya: “When will Kit Siang retire? When he is dead?” (Bila Kit Siang hendak bersara? Setelah mati?)

Tiada sebab untuk sesiapa pun takut dengan “bayang” Mahathir dalam keadaan bayang itu sendiri telah mula pudar.

Rakyat Malaysia sepatutnya lebih bimbang dengan kesan buruk daripada Mahathirisme – warisan Mahathir setelah 22 tahun menjadi Perdana Menteri.

Kesan buruk Mahathirisme paling besar ialah apabila Mahathir sendiri meminggirkan Wawasan 2020 dan dasar Bangsa Malaysia beliau (selain dasar 1Malaysia Najib) dengan menjadi Godfather gerakan Ku Klux Klan Malaysia yang sarah dengan khutbah pemecah-belah dan politik kebencian dalam menjuarai ketuanan kaum dan bukannya ketuanan bangsa Malaysia. Ini menghasilkan jurang perkauman paling lebar dalam sejarah Malaysia.

Kesan buruk Mahathirisme yang lain:

Terjejasnya kebebasan badan kehakiman dan prinsip kedaulatan undang-undang;

Merosotnya keyakinan pihak di dalam dan luar negeri terhadap kecekapan, mutu, profesionalisme dan integriti institusi-institusi negara yang utama;

Kemerosotan sistem pendidikan yang dulunya bertaraf antarabangsa – di peringkat sekolah rendah, menengah dan pengajian tinggi; dan

Berleluasanya korupsi, kronisme, dan penyalahgunaan kuasa di jabatan politik tertinggi

Mahathirisme akan terus memberi kesan buruk kepada Malaysia dan tidak akan membantu negara ini mencapai cita-cita untuk menjadi sebuah negara yang rakyatnya bersatu, berjaya, dan berdaya saing di peringkat dunia.

Mahathir mahu saya mati, tetapi saya berdoa Mahathir akan hidup sehingga 100 tahun untuk menyaksikan kemerosotan dan berakhirnya Mahathirisme.

Untuk menjawab pertanyaan “Bila Kit Siang hendak bersara? Setelah mati?”, izinkan saya memetik kata-kata terkenal Wen Tianxiang, seorang sarjana dan panglima Dinasti Sung, untuk direnung oleh Mahathir: “Semua manusia akan mati, tetapi kesetiaanku akan menyinari catatan sejarah selama-lamanya.”

Untuk makluman Mahathir, “kesetiaan” yang saya maksudkan di sini adalah kesetiaan kepada Malaysia.

This article is also available in English at:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/11/08/mahathir-wants-me-dead-but-i-pray-that-mahathir-will-live-to-100-years-to-see-the-decline-and-end-of-mahathirism/

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 November 2013, 10:44 am and is filed under
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Mahathir vs Kit Siang – no penance for old men

Malaysiakini

Nov 10, 2013

 YOURSAY
‘This is a classic case of David vs Goliath. Mahathir had everything at his disposal to get rid of Lim.’

‘Mahathir wants me dead, but I want him to live’

Slumdog:
 DAP leader Lim Kit Siang, you are a true statesman and you always conduct yourself with dignity and decency, qualities that former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad does not possess.

Your eloquence in rebutting whatever Mahathir dishes out to you is said with decorum and intelligence. This is in contrast to Mahathir’s usual vile and sarcastic manner in which he attacks his political foes.

The legacy that Mahathir leaves behind with not be cherished by the majority of the rakyat but he will be remembered with much disdain.

Swipenter:
 This is a classic case of David vs Goliath. Mahathir had everything at his disposal to get rid of Lim. He tried but did not succeed just like he tried to kill off his then deputy Anwar Ibrahim.

Slowly but surely Lim is getting the respect and admiration of Malaysians for standing up to Mahathir and Mahathirism whereas the latter is receiving the opposite from Malaysians.

Lim is not the only one who hopes Mahathir will live up to 100 years, so do millions of Malaysians. We all want him to witness the end of Mahathirism for himself for what it is worth.

ACR:
 Someone commented here about Mahathir being a ‘world leader acclaimed by his admirers and feared by his detractors’.

I was once told by a reliable source who worked in Wisma Putra in the 1990s that all Mahathir’s diatribes against the West and being seen as the leader of the 3rd World (mostly by despotic African tyrants) never made news in the West.

Perhaps in some countries, a small corner of a newspaper tucked inside one of the pages on the deeper end of the paper would carry his news. Why would the West bother about some noisy third world leader of a nation of 20-25 million?

What Mahathir did do in this regard was to create a civil service with ego of ‘ketuanan’ inflated proportions that some officials in Wisma Putra had the audacity to remark that the international beggar was in town when Nelson Mandela visited Malaysia in 1993

Yeoh Chee Weng:
 When the common Malay realises and speaks up against all the ills that were begotten from the decades of the ex-PM’s twisted mentality to institutionalise racialism and mediocrity, then finally would Malaysia mature and achieve developed status. May this malevolent PM live to see this day.

Onyourtoes:
 Saudara Lim, you should just let the people, the commentators here and everywhere to defend you. The whole world knows you won hands-down.

You represent integrity, principle, and competency. He represents duplicity, dishonesty and mediocrity. You are a democrat; he is a third world tribal chief. You are in politics for Malaysia and its people. He is in politics for himself, his family, cronies and friends.

You sacrificed, suffered and agonised, he exploited, enjoyed and lived lavishly. You are respected home and abroad, he is despised everywhere. You can walk with your head high; he will only sigh.

Funny, the Abrahamic monotheist people should understand their destiny better. But not this one.

Crazy Analysis:
 I agree with Lim. I like to see Mahathir live very long although I am many years younger than him. In fact, he should outlive me. I love his ‘contradicting jokes’. I want to die listening to his jokes and I wish he will continue with his jokes on the other sides we arrive.

Each time he will say different things and make you so confused that you can’t make it out what is said. Anyway the real joke is that he himself claims he has “retired” from politics.

Atilla:
 A well and meaningful reply to Mathathir’s sarcasm. A mark of a well-respected and responsible leader unlike those in Umno who say things without using their brains.

It is very obvious that Mahathir still craves the influence and power that he once hold and that explains why he is so bitter that he no longer calls the shots after he stepped down. To try to get into the spotlight, sadly he turned back to his radical ways and has lost whatever respect he had over fellow Malaysians.

JTC:
 We want Lim to live for a long time more. We also want Mahathir to live for a long time too. The only difference is that we would prefer if the latter was kept in jail and that the key thrown away.

Clever Voter:
 The reality is that the feeding chain that Dr M has not created many loyalists but also many dependencies. They are also proxies who have chose to remain silent.

Dr M may seem to have lost political support his influence is not to be underestimated, and the potential trouble he can create cannot be ruled out. Lim is not a threat to him but more as an irritant.

FairGame:
 Nobody is afraid of Mahathir’s shadow. But Mahathir is definitely afraid of all the skeletons in his own closet. He is truly a forlorn and pathetic old man.

Even in his twilight years, he is still full of bitterness and hate. He is even not at peace with himself, which truly shows that in the event of his demise, he will not go peacefully.

Trublumalaysian:
 An ode to Mahathir: “Surely if living creatures saw the results of all their evil deeds, they would turn away from them in disgust. But self-hood blinds them, and they cling to their obnoxious desires. They crave pleasure for themselves and they cause pain to others; when death destroys their individuality, they find no peace; their thirst for existence abides and their self-hood reappears in new births.

“Thus they continue to move in the coil and can find no escape from the hell of their own making.”

——————————————————————————–

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                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 November 2013, 1:20 pm and is filed under
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Why is it always about race, asks Lim Guan Eng

by Looi Sue-Chern

The Malaysian Insider

November 11, 2013

Lim Guan Eng slammed former information minister Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin today for turning his criticisms of Felda buying an expensive hotel in London into a racial issue.

The Penang Chief Minister accused Zainuddin of playing the race card when the latter did not address the issue at hand.

“The problem with Umno is when they cannot give an explanation, they go back to racism. They can’t answer the two important questions I had asked.

“Why pay RM100 million more (for the hotel)? Is someone making money? Prove to us you have the expertise. Don’t turn this into a race issue,” he said in Penang when asked to comment on Zainuddin’s remarks in his blog, Zam Kata.

Zainuddin had lashed out at Lim for questioning Felda’s recent purchase of a RM500 million apartment complex cum hotel in London.

He accused Lim of looking down on the ability of the Malays to manage international hotels, and thinking that only the Chinese could do it.

Zainuddin also hit out at Lim for saying that Felda should only focus on agriculture-related businesses.

Lim reiterated that the question was never about race but why Felda had to pay more when it could pay less, and chose to spend so much when it had no experience in running a hotel in a foreign country.

Lim, who is also the DAP secretary-general, said the 198-unit Grand Plaza serviced apartments in Bayswater, London bought by FIC UK Properties, a subsidiary of Felda Investment Corporation (FIC) Sdn Bhd in early September, was valued at £80 million (RM408 million) in March but the amount went up to about £98 million (RM500 million) in six months.

“Where is the proof (to show how the value shot up)?

“And what is Felda’s expertise in running foreign hotels. In London, there are so many big boys. Who is Felda?” said Lim.

“Everything in Malaysia is racialised when the question should be about competency, buying what is value for money and protecting public funds.”

He also cited how the DAP-led Penang government adopted a policy of divestment when it took over the state in 2008, getting out of businesses where it had no expertise to prevent loss of money.

“Why is it that when we question Putrajaya and ask it to do the same, it becomes a racial issue?

“If this is the case, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should also be questioned about getting out of businesses that lose money. He also carried out the policy of divestment,” Lim added. – November 11, 2013.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 November 2013, 3:41 pm and is filed under
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Instead of removing Zachas’ “high crime” mural, it should be allowed to remain as a challenge to all relevant authorities to make JB low-crime and a  standing testimony that high crime rate in JB is a “story of the past”

For the past few days, the  relevant authorities in Johor Bahru including the Johor Bahru City Council, the Police and the Johor State Government had been most vexed and upset by one of three murals painted by internationally-recognised street artist Lithuanian-born Ernest Zacharevic highlighting the high crime rate in the city.

The city and people of Johor Bahru would have been the real beneficiaries if the energies expended on debating and deciding on what to do with Zachas’ mural of high crime rate in  JB had been devoted to reducing the high crime rate in the Johor capital.

Instead of removing Zachas’ “high crime” mural, it should be allowed to remain to serve as a challenge to all relevant authorities to make JB low-crime and a standing testimony that high crime rate in JB is a “story of the past”!

The only way to remove the sting of Zachas’ “high crime” mural would be to remove JB’s notorious reputation as crime capital of the nation, when Zachas’ mural can become a tribute to the transformation of the Johore capital into  a safe and secure city.

The “sting” in Zachas’ mural is not in what it depicts but in the high crime rate in the city.

Zachas’ mural is an unpleasant truth as it is a reflection of the sad present reality of the crime situation in the city.

Are the relevant authorities capable of turning an undoubtedly adverse commentary on high crime in the city  into a challenge and inspiration to rally all  the relevant authorities with the full support of the people of Johor Bahru to make JB low-crime and let it stand as a standing testimony that high crime rate  in JB is a “story of the past”.

This will definitely be a more creative, innovative and positive response to Zachas’ “high crime” mural and will make Johor Bahru even more famous than being city with two dubious records – firstly, Zachias’ “high crime” mural and secondly,  its being scrubbed off  by the relevant authorities while crime remain high or even higher to  haunt the safety and security of the affected population.

Right-thinking Malaysians will agree with Zacharevic – “Art does not damage a city’s image, crime does”.

Let this be a challenge to  the relevant authorities including the Johor Mentri Besar, the State Executive Councillors,  the Johore CPO and the JB city mayor and JB councilors to rise up to the occasion to use an adverse mural to transform JB into a safe low-crime city for its residents, tourists and investors?

Artikel ini juga boleh didapati dalam Bahasa Malaysia di:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/11/20/mural-jenayah-tinggi-zachas-patut-dikekalkan-sebagai-cabaran-untuk-pihak-berkuasa-menjadikan-jb-bandar-rendah-jenayah-dan-sebagai-testimoni-bahawa-kadar-jenayah-yang-tinggi-di-jb/

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 12 November 2013, 8:49 am and is filed under
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Johor Bahru
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