The Sensintrovert: October 2006

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Crocodile Tears

Crocodile tears.

The latest:

[Source]

[Source]

Previously,

[Source]

Sob! Sob!

Trick Or Treat!

Dayum, annoying kids!

AP Alloween!

3 Years On: Still "Baru 10 Minit Main Bola Sudah Mau Hukum Saya"?

TODAY marks the end of the third year in office for Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Read a commentary by The Star and decide if it's a spin or not.

Reflect and refresh your memory on this historical handing-over ceremony, 3 years ago. Pay special attention on the body language and facial expression between the predecessor and successor, and compare it with now. The background music is very corny and sarcastic; it goes something like 'Aku cari bukan wang berjuta-juta'...

If you would like to leave a message to congratulate him on this, you may do so in the comments section.

If you would like to share your fond memories that you had under his three glorious years of leadership, you may also leave a comment.

p.s. This blogger is sarcastic as always.

When The Mainstream Media (MSM) Contradicts With Each Other, Can We Still Trust Them?

theSun says 'Open!'

Satay outlet may stay open for a while
by Terence Fernandez and Llew-Ann Phang

KLANG: He is an assemblyman, an Umno leader and a public figure. This is why the illegal satay outlet operated by Port Klang assemblyman Datuk Zainal @ Zakaria Mat Deros may still do brisk business for a while.
Klang Municipal Council (MPK) president Abd Bakir Zin said yesterday that although numerous notices have been issued to DZ Satay House to stop operations, the decision to seal, close or demolish the structure has not been exercised.

Although MPK has every power to do so, it is awaiting the green light from Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo before action is taken.

"He is an assemblyman, an Umno leader ... so he is answerable to the MB," Abd Bakir said at his office.

He said a detailed report on the stall containing documents and information gathered will be submitted over the next few days to Mohd Khir.

There will also be a report on other issues, including the failure to pay assessment by several councillors.

Abd Bakir reiterated that the council has left the decision on the next course of action on DZ Satay House to Khir because: « Zakaria is a state assemblyman and the council respects his position; « he is the Port Klang Umno division chief, and « he was appointed as a councillor by Mohd Khir.

"The decision will have to be taken by the MB and I will make sure he reads the report and makes a decision," Abd Bakir said, adding that he wanted to follow proper procedures as the matter had become a national issue.

On a newspaper report that DZ Satay House had been sealed, Abd Bakir said: "Not sealed. We have sent several notices to stop operations as it is being run without proper approval."

Asked why the outlet was not open, he said: "They might be on holiday (masih cuti raya)."

He said the council is also waiting for Zakaria to withdraw from the councillor's post but is abiding by the time-frame of up to Nov 8, as directed by the state government.

He explained the current status: Zakaria "accepted" the position which made him a councillor, thus he has to withdraw from the position.

"Failing this, the decision to dismiss him from the position will be implemented by the state government," Abd Bakir said.

He also said the council's operations had been affected because of the delay in appointing the 2006-2008 councillors.

He said committee meetings and full-board meetings could not take place, hence the delay in drawing up policies and implementing decisions.

[Source: pg4, theSun, 31st October, 2006).

The Star says 'Closed!'

Spin! Spin! Spin!

Temples and Churches Demolition, Mobs Disrupting Forum, Mat Skodeng, Are These The Malaysian Multi-Faith Ties You Want To Learn, John Prescott?

So this sleazy, adulterous, secretary-boinking John Prescott, wants to learn from Malaysia, eh? From Bernama:

To quote:

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who met his British counterpart John Prescott here Monday, said Britain, which also has a multi-religious population, is attracted to the concept of inter-faith dialogue practised by the Malaysian government.

Prescott, on a four-day visit to Malaysia, praised the Malaysian government-initiated inter-faith dialogue which he described as a "useful tool" in maintaining good relations among the multi-racial people.

'Interfaith dialogue'? What's that? I've never heard of it. Is your blood all concentrated in your dick that you can't think properly? There NEVER was and will be an interfaith dialogue in Malaysia. We're too sensitive and thin-skinned (as claimed by your BBC correspondent), you see? You discuss something 'sensitive', BAM! WHAM! 'Social contract', 'sensitive', 'princes-of-soil rights' and 'ISA' cards will be slammed directly to your face at instance!

Perhaps you have missed out reading your news agency's article before coming to your ex-colony, eh?

So, you want to learn the 'multi-faith ties' from us, eh? Hear, mate, I have some suggestions:

1. Demolish places of worship of the minorities. That will teach them a lesson and shut them up.

2. Impose strict dressing rules to all. And that includes your police force. For women, half a breast or at least the belly button must be bared and for men, crotch-grabbing jeans are a must.

ALL women should dress like your darling, Kiera Knightley.

3. Kissing, holding hands (and shagging) should be done openly, not under closed doors and especially not behind trees. Snoop squads are a must. Force 'em to kiss in public.

4. Put your geezers, hoodies and chavs into good use. Declare them as 'glory youths' and employ them as mobs to prevent those minorities from holding forums. It's 'too sensitive', you can claim.

5. THIS IS A MUST: Shout 'This is a secular country! You don't like it, you get the hell/f*ck out of the UK' in the House of Commons'.

There, don't say that I don't give you some fruitful suggestions. Try it at home today.

Oh, here's some information on this department-stripped-off DPM :

The latest:

[Source]

His sex-scandals (Oh, in Malaysia, if a politician is caught in night-club raids, we just gag our mainstream media not to report it and if sex-scandals are involved, we just marry them and divorce the latter, you know, like...) here.

His timeline of problems this year here.

His redundancy in the UK cabinet here.

Read also related post by Shagedelica: Dear John.

John Prescott Likens Hindu Groups Building Temples As Nomadic Gypsies

Look at what he said:

Prescott said he has spoken to Najib about Hindu groups' complaints that their temples were being closed down in Malaysia.

He said Najib indicated that some of the cases were due to building permit problems.

Prescott said Britain, too, had faced such issues with gypsy groups building without permission.

[Source]

According to the Wikipedia, this is the issue they are having:

Planning issues in the UK

Recent criticism against Travellers in the UK centers on Travellers who have bought land, built amenities without planning permission, then fought eviction attempts by claiming it would be an abuse of human rights to remove them from their homes. The families applied for retrospective planning permission whilst they were living on their land. This received much media attention during the British 2005 General Election, after it was brought up by former Conservative Party leader Michael Howard.

The use of retrospective planning permission arose after the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which Michael Howard brought through the Commons, started closing down many of the sites originally provided for the community. Howard advised that Travellers should buy their own land instead and assurances were made that they would be allowed to settle it.

However, a block to Travellers' attempts to follow this advice has emerged since, with a 2003 government survey finding that 96% of Travellers who applied for planning permission to settle on their land have had permission refused, compared to figures of less than 30% for the general population. Travellers have said that unless they use the retrospective technique, the closure of the caravan sites leaves them effectively homeless and unable to settle. Support networks have also pointed out that the number of retrospective planning applications brought by Travellers is dwarfed by both commercial and settled applications.

In a spate of 2004-5 evictions, concerns were raised internationally over the treatment of Travellers, and allegations have been made of violence used in eviction attempts by publicly contracted groups, such as assault, and destruction of traveller property (e.g., burning of caravans). Dale Farm, in Basildon, Essex has become the focus of a major legal case, as the council have refused to provide alternative sites for the travellers who currently occupy the ex-waste ground.

Mr. John Prescott, first of all, the Hindus in Malaysia are not nomads like gypsies. Secondly, they are rightful citizens of Malaysia by the law and Constitution, which promises the freedom of religion and worship. Third, don't tell me that your Gypsies had built those settlements a century ago?

Please brush up on your blatant ignorance on the background of your ex-colony before visiting us!

Since his Office of the DPM has closed down since the last cabinet reshuffle, his office now is the Department for Communities and Local Government. The contact details is here. Alternatively, you may want to write to Tony Blair to tell him how you feel about his statement.

Read the background on the temple cleansing in Malaysia here.

John Prescott Is Already Britain's PM, So Spins The Star

Need I say more?

[Source]

Spin, spin, spin!

Monday, October 30, 2006

Malaysian Education Reform Forums in the UK: Do Foreign Students’ Views Matter?

Yet another forum to come out with a resolution to reform the current education system, courtesy of an e-mail received from a Little Bird.

First, a preliminary warming-up session in Cardiff:

Cardiff Regional Open Forum

“Sesi Percambahan Minda Mengenai Dasar Pelajaran & Pengajian Tinggi”

Topics to be discussed & debated:

1) Pelan Induk Pembangunan Pendidikan Di bawah Rancangan Malaysia Kesembilan : Ke arah Pendidikan Berkualiti

2) Sistem Persekolahan Menghadapi Cabaran Globalisasi

3) Hala Tuju Pengajian Tinggi Negara : Di antara Realiti dan Cabaran Masa Hadapan

4) Sistem Jaminan Kualiti Negara

5) Ke arah Kecemerlangan Institusi Pengajian Tinggi Negara: Satu Pandangan Kritis

A resolution needs to be achieved as the outcome of the forum, which is:

Merangka Resolusi Ke arah Penambahbaikan dasar Pendidikan Negara

Date : Tuesday, 31st October 2006

Venue : Refactory, Trevethick Building (Engineering Building)

Time : 6.30pm – 8.30pm

Chairperson : Rashdan Harith

Contact Person

- Rashdan - 07877185607

- Ayie
- 07890655353

- Eric - 07894229886

All Malaysian students & professionals are invited.

How to get there?

1) As you reach the end of Queen’s Street, walk down Newport Road & turn left to West Grove street. Trevethick Building is on your left.

2) If you’re from the Student Union, walk down the road, and go through Senghennydd Court (ask your friend for the gate code), go across the flyover and the Trevethick Building is literally 5 minutes from there.

3) Google Earth: 51º 29’
03.38” N, 3º 10’ 09.15” W.

Everyone is highly encourage to attend this forum to voice out your our concern & opinions towards the education system in Malaysia, and means of improving it.

The outcome of the discussions & resolutions from regions all over the UK & Ireland will be submitted to UKEC, and will then be passed on to the Minister of Higher Education, Dato’ Mustapa Mohamed & the Minister of Education, Dato’ Hishamuddin Tun Hussein on Thursday, 2nd of November 2006 in Nottingham.

Then, more follow-up sessions in Nottingham, with more lawatan sambil belajars by ministers and IPTA VCs, under the expenses of taxpayers' money, of course:

ATUR CARA SESI PERCAMBAHAN MINDA
MENGENAI DASAR PELAJARAN DAN PENGAJIAN TINGGI
BERSAMA PELAJAR-PELAJAR PASCA-SISWAZAH DI UNITED
KINGDOM, PERASMIAN NOTTINGHAM GAMES 2006

2 November 2006 (Khamis)
Tempat :
C14 Lecture Theatre
Pope Building
University Park Campus
University Nottingham

Tajuk Sesi Percambahan Minda

1700 - Pelan Induk Pembangunan Pendidikan Di bawah Rancangan Malaysia Kesembilan : Ke arah Pendidikan Berkualiti oleh Y. Bhg. Dato' Dr. Salleh bin Hassan, Pengarah Bahagian Perancangan dan Penyelidikan Dasar Pendidikan, Kementerian Pelajaran

- Sistem Persekolahan Menghadapi Cabaran Globalisasi oleh Puan Hajah Noor Rezan Bt. Bapoo Hashim, Pengarah Bahagian Sekolah, Kementerian Pelajaran

- Sesi Soal Jawab

1823 - Solat Isyak

1900 - Makan malam

2000 - Majlis Perasmian Sesi Percambahan Minda Mengenai
Dasar Pelajaran Dan Pengajian Tinggi Bersama
Pelajar-Pelajar Pasca-Siswazah Di United Kingdom

- Ketibaan tetamu kehormat
- Bacaan doa
- Ucapan TYT Pesuruhjaya Tinggi Malaysia ke United Kingdom
- Ucapan YB Menteri Pengajian Tinggi
- Ucapan YB Menteri Pelajaran
- Perasmian Bersama oleh YB Menteri Pelajaran & YB Menteri Pengajian tinggi
- Sesi Dialog
- 2200 - Tamat sesi hari pertama

3 November 2006 (Jumaat)
Tempat:

Great Hall
Trent Building
University Park Campus
University of Nottingham

Sesi Perbincangan Panel II:

0900 - Hala Tuju Pengajian Tinggi Negara : Di antara Realiti dan Cabaran Masa Hadapan Oleh Y. Brs. Dr. Mohd. Padhil bin Hashim, Setiausaha Bahagian Perancangan dan Penyelidikan, Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi

0930 - Sistem Jaminan Kualiti Negara Oleh Y. Bhg. Dato’ Dr. Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hassan Shahabudin, Naib Canselor, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

1000 - Ke arah Kecemerlangan Institusi Pengajian Tinggi Negara: Satu Pandangan Kritis Oleh Y. Bhg. Prof. Dato’ Dr. Dzulkifli Abdul Razak Naib Canselor, Universiti Sains Malaysia

1030 - Sesi Soal Jawab

- Solat Jumaat

- Jamuan

- Solat Asar

Pembentangan Kertas Maklum Balas oleh Pelajar Pasca Siswazah

1420 - Kertas 1

1440 - Kertas 2

1510 - Kertas 3

1530 - Sesi Penggulungan 1:
Merangka Resolusi Ke arah Penambahbaikan dasar Pendidikan Negara

1640 - Solat Magrib

Minum petang

Pembentangan Kertas Maklum oleh Pelajar Pasca Siswazah

1720 - Kertas 4 :

1740 - Kertas 5:

1810 - Kertas 6:

- Solat Isyak

Sesi Penggulungan 11:
Merangka Resolusi Ke arah Penambahbaikan
Dasar Pengajian Tinggi Negara

1900 - Sesi Penggulungan II : Merangkan Resolusi ke arah Penambahbaikan Dasar Pengajian Tinggi Negara

1930 - Makan malam

2000 - Resolusi Bersama Sesi Percambahan Minda:
Dipengerusikan Bersama oleh Y.B. Menteri Pelajaran
dan Y.B. Menteri Pengajian Tinggi

2100 - Majlis Penutupan Sesi dan Penyampaian Sijil

4 November 2006 (Sabtu)
Tempat:
Sport Centre
University Park
Campus
University of Nottingham

0900 - Majlis Perasmian Nottingham Games oleh Y.B. Menteri Pelajaran

1149 - Solat Zuhur

1230 - Makan tengah hari

1401 - Solat Asar

1400 - Perjumpaan dengan pemimpin pelajar

1629 - Solat Maghrib

1830 - Penutup Nottingham Games oleh Y.B. Menteri Pengajian Tinggi

1930 - Majlis Sambutan Hari Raya

With the current climate of 'ASLI=Rubbish study', 'Kami sokong' and 'Don't question by noble intentions', do you think any opposition or radical views will be taken into account?

You want foreign views, ministers and VCs? Why not try looking at papers by your beloved PM's SIL's alma mater first, for example like this:

Lying alongside this relatively positive agenda of cultural and religious tolerance in the Moral Education curricula, however, is a rather more insidious agenda of, for want of a better term, political indoctrination. From the first year of primary school, pupils are taught that they have a moral obligation of ‘respect and loyalty (setia) for leaders, king and country’ (Ministry of Education 2000b, Tahun 1: 26). In year six, the field of ‘self-development’ contains a element dedicated to ‘gratitude’ (berterima kasih), in which pupils are taught that ‘national leaders are the pride of the people’; prescribed activities include writing ‘thank you letters’ to national leaders and writing poems on the theme of ‘the people’s support for their leaders’ (Ministry of Education 2000b, Tahun 6: 12 & 15). In form four of secondary school, under the section on ‘trustworthiness’ (amanah), pupils undertake activities themed on the slogan ‘clean, efficient and trustworthy’ (bersih, cekap dan amanah) – one of the BN regime’s main campaign slogans of the past two decades (Ministry of Education 2000a, Tingakatan 4: 10).

By secondary school, the Moral Education curriculum contains an entire field of study devoted to ‘patriotism’. Activities undertaken here include ‘discussing ways of showing gratitude to the government for its efforts to develop the nation and the people’ (Ministry of Education 2000a, Tingkatan 4: 23). In examining ‘freedom of speech’, pupils are encouraged to discuss the ‘bad effects’ (kesan buruk) of political demonstrations, clearly aimed at the massive reformist demonstrations of 1998, which were universally criticised by the compliant and fettered newspaper industry (Ministry of Education 2000a, Tingkatan 4: 30). Indeed, it is noteworthy that in a curriculum much of which is devoted to promoting the use of information technology as a learning aid, pupils are here specifically instructed to use the (government-dominated) newspaper industry as a source for their discussions, rather than the Internet, which proved to be one of the main vehicles for the dissemination of the reformist agenda (Abbott 2001; Brown 2004).

The whole education system in Malaysia was and is designed to make the students to be compliant (a very familiar word now) to the ruling government. You talk until the cows come home (for example like the Zahid Report vanishing in thin air now), it still will not change. Period.

Ammended: Try 'lihat ~~kuman-kuman~~ gajah-gajah (like Kit and Tony&Kian Ming) di kelopak mata sebelum lihat ~~gajah~~ kuman di seberang laut' first (from the Malay proverb: "Gajah di kelopak mata tak nampak, kuman di seberang laut nampak" meaning "Sweep you own backyard first").

What say you, back home there?

Come, Come, Foreign Consultancy Firms! Make Big Bucks in Inefficient Bolehland! (The Sequel)

The prequel post here.

Experiencing sloth-like service and bureaucratic red tape in gomen? Nevermind, consult Harvard.

Crackin' bridges? Nevermind, consult Halcrow.

LRT overshooting? Nevermind, consult foreign consultancy firms again.

Want to attract foreign consultancy firms? Here, I've already helped design a promotional poster.

CLP: The World's Best Kept Secret and Toughest Exam?

Apparently, there were many letters published in the MSM and the alternative media on this CLP controversy recently. Take this letter by Julian Puvenaswaran to MKini, for example:

And the latest letter, from theSun, today:

Elusive pass mark for law exam

IT was once thought that the process of appointing the leader of the Roman Catholic Church was one of the best kept secrets in the world. However, through time and people's pressing curiosity, the Church had slowly painted us a picture as to what goes on behind closed doors upon the demise of a Pope.

In Malaysia, one need not travel far to discover another best kept secret, that is, the mystery surrounding the Legal Qualifying Board Examination, more popularly referred to as the Certificate in Legal Practice or the CLP Examination.

To the uninitiated, upon a foreign law graduate passing this examination, he/she is able to practise in Malaysia as an advocate and solicitor of the High Court of Malaya.

I am a foreign law graduate who will be sitting for the CLP Examination for the third time next year. For the last two sittings, I consistently failed the same paper(s). Now that I am about to embark on this whole daunting and depressing process for the third time, I am still unaware as to what led me to fail the same paper twice.

My question to the Director of the Legal Qualifying Board is simple: Why the secrecy?

Why does the CLP Board find it unfathomable or difficult to do what is obvious and logically right? Don't they realise that by attaching the examiner's report to our result transcript, we are able to see where we went wrong in our answering methodology?

Probably we are not addressing the rel evant issue or that we lack the necessary skills in properly gauging the questions in the paper. But we will never know unless we can see the examiner's report, and we will foolishly keep making the same mistakes over and over again.

A lot of my peers are sitting for the exams for the third, fourth, fifth and even the sixth time. Why? Because of the passion in them in wanting to practise as a lawyer. I share a similar passion and having to face this absurd exam after completing my law degree is extremely frustrating.

How is it even remotely possible for as many as 90% of the CLP students to fail the examination this year? From such a startling statistic, are we to deduce that we aren't as smart or as intelligent as our peers in the government universities, who seem to be exiting the local universities as lawyers in such large numbers? One can't help but wonder what is truly going on.

What surprises me the most is the Bar Council's silence in all of this. As future lawyers, we hope that the Bar Council would not keep mute at a time when their voice could matter the most. I urge the practitioners and members of the council to step up and help us gain admittance into this prestigious field of study. We hope the President of the Bar Council will be our "Datuk Michael Chong" in our time of crisis.

Clearly our polluted air is not the only hazy problem that is plaguing our country.

Alex Kuala Lumpur

But spin-miester, The Star, would beg to differ. Look at what a former LLB lecturer, who co-incidentally (or pre-planned?) is the Negeri Sembilan MIC chief, had to say:

[Source]

To quote:

“There is no quota. None at all. There has been no need for that. The truth of the matter is, those who fail just do not deserve to pass. They (candidates) are just not good enough,” the sources said.

So, are you telling me that all the lawyers mainly graduated from foreign unis who sat for the test are lazy and stupid?

Malaysia, Truly Quota and Kulitfication?

Related post: World's toughest exam

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Will UMNO Sack Mahathir?-The Sequel

UPDATED: It's official! They are now bringing it to the Supreme Council to ~~plot against~~ discuss about the sacking of Mahathir from his gomen posts.

[Source]

***

Earlier in June, Husam Musa via Malaysiakini said that UMNO will sack Mahathir to prevent him from openly critisizing ~~Pak Lah's Family Values~~ the government. The Taiko had also blogged about it here.

[Source]

Just look at the headlines in the Malay mainstream media today.

And most prominently, this:

[Source] or read its original English version here.

So, if I'm (or Uncle Desi) the Editor-in-Chief (EIC) of a mainstream media, let's say, theSien, to carry my bosses' balls and to save my rice bowl, I would put a frontpage like this:

Uncanny resemblance to the New Straits Times and The Star is unintended.

Oh, here's Zakaria Mat Deros' contacts in case you want to ask him for tips on getting lands to build palaces and bungalows or simply if you want to add him to MySpace.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

The Star Spins A Good Image For Khir Toyo. Literally.

In the midst of more revelations of CCN (corruption, cronyism and nepotism) under the BN administration and particularly in the Selangor state, it's the peak of the spinning season by the mainstream media; this time on your beloved 'Semuanya OK' leader.

[Source]

Glow on the face doesn't come cheap, dear!

Here's a quote:

“His face even glows now. When we praise him for looking good, he smiles shyly,” the staff added.

Met at a Deepavali open house last week, Dr Khir's wife Datin Seri Zahrah Kechik smiled when told how much her husband’s improved looks were drawing attention.

Asked about the secret, she merely said her husband's looks were a reflection of his “hati lapang” or happy heart.

'Hati lapang'?

'Tanah lapang'? (Empty land)

[Source]

Read Citizen Nades' open letter to him here.

Saw III: "You Wanna Play A Game, Jeff?"

UPDATED: OMFG! Can you believe this?

[Source]

Free publicity! The Saw makers would be extra laughing all the way to the bank, since its's already No.1 in the USA.

***

Well, this is the second time the character's name 'Jeff', appeared in a psychological thriller after Hard Candy. So in case you are looking for the other Jeff, sorry to disappoint you here.

Almost exactly one year after Saw II (reviewed here), Saw III premiered today in the UK and as always, managed to be among the first to catch this highly anticipated film yesterday.

Warning: Plot spoilers ahead.

To start things off first, as usual here's the movie poster:

The movie synopsis, from Wikipedia:

Jigsaw has vanished. Now aided by his new apprentice Amanda (Shawnee Smith), the puppet-master behind the cruel, intricate games that have terrified a community and baffled police has once again eluded capture and vanished. While city detectives scramble to locate him, Dr. Lynn Denlon (Bahar Soomekh) is unaware that she is about to become the latest pawn on his vicious chessboard. One night, after finishing a shift at her hospital, Lynn is kidnapped by the deranged Amanda and taken to an abandoned warehouse where she meets Jigsaw, a.k.a John Kramer (Tobin Bell), who's now bedridden and on the verge of death. Lynn is told that she must keep the madman alive for as long as it takes Jeff (Angus Macfadyen), another of his victims, to complete a game of his own.Racing against the ticking clock of Jigsaw's own heartbeat, Lynn and Jeff struggle to make it through each of their vicious tests, unaware that Jigsaw and Amanda have a much bigger plan for both of them.

And the movie trailer:

Written in just under a week by James Wan (Malaysian born-yeah, yet another brain drain again and you'll see The Star soon with all this 'Malaysian writes Saw III' headline) and Leigh Whannell, the sudden twist in the ending would make lame M Night Syamalan eat his humble pie. Overall the film was not too bad but not too good either, and although there is full frontal nudity, much of the audience would have been immuned with the blood and gore in the games set up big Jigsaw and oh, his apprentice, Amanda. It is definitely the better horror/thriller film this year (as Halloween approaches) as compared to the lame Grudge 2 and Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. So in 4 words, I would describe the film as:

Predecessor. Successor. Revenge. Game.

Sounds familiar to you?

Filmed in a 'flashback' mode, the 'games' set up mostly by Amanda this time include Body Chains, The Ribcage Trap, Shotgun Collar, Ice Shower, Intestines Pool and The Rack (which you could read more of the details from Wikipedia). As I said earlier, these blood-guzzing, sadomasochistic 'games' are kinda pretty lame already. Basically the games are the same: You read the clues, listen to the tape recording, find a key and unlock the victim within a period before the head/leg/body blows up. You will pretty get immuned to the gory traps in Saw I and II that the movie went into a boredom phase towards the middle of it.

Not much of emphasis was put into the story of the victims and how they ended up in the 'games' to make them regret what they do, but instead the focus is on Amanda this time, which the unexpected ending involves her also. This film is not quite a sequel (continuing from the sudden twist in Saw II which Amanda is actually an apprentice of Jigsaw) and not quite a prequel (where the infamous toilet scene is shown again, in which the set was actually borrowed from Scary Movie 4, which spoofed this movie series); i.e. a bit of both. I won't give out too much details here, so you have to watch the movie yourself. Oh, and it seems there will be Saw 4.

Overall, I would rate the film as 6/10 as the blood and gore is kinda lame already but is fortunately saved by the sudden twist in the ending.

For the benefit of you in Malaysia (who will be unsure whether it will pass the censorship board), here are some scenes from the film, all from Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB.

The 'Troy' scene.

Another 'Troy' scene.

You could watch a clip of the 'Troy' scene as follows:

Amanda, the apprentice with the head trap she designed.

The nekkid scene.

Yes, all full frontal glory nekkid.

The apprentice, Amanda, with her master, Jigsaw.

Revenge is a dish best served...?

Looking forward to Borat next week! Wohooo! Keep your fingers crossed for the review.

Labels: film

Friday, October 27, 2006

Satisfied For Being Silent

Quote of the day:

"I was a bit dissatisfied but as for giving him the opportunity to speak, I'm satisfied"

[Source]

Who's the b*tch and who's the b*tch?

* the third and fifth vowel, respectively. ;)

Karma Irony?

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Doses of Venom...

UPDATED:

Read the full transcript of PM's latest interview here.

***

SSSSSSSSSSsssssssssssssss......

[Source]

After venom, gobble up?

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

The Malaysian Blog War of the Year Has Officially Started?

The Malaysian Blog War of the Year has officially started?

All I know that it only takes a heavyweight to tick it off...

An Elegant Spin By The Star (Not Like It's The First and Last)...

The finest spin of the day so far, credits to Mr. Paul Choo!

[Source]

In case you can't see it, let me enlarge it for you:

“I decided that I would write a short poem on how Malaysia would develop under his leadership and give it to him. He is a very dedicated man and I’ve always wanted to meet him in person,”

Since it's the pantun craze now due to a particular influential blogger, let me look into my crystal ball and (poorly) attempt the poem written by her:

Laya datang lambuk bubur,
Buat aku senyum selalu,
Malam-malam I tak boleh tidur,
Pasai mau jumpa sama lu.

Laya datang maaf zahir batin,
Polis sibuk Ops Sikap,
Lu cakap mesti serupa bikin,
Atau bikin mesti tak serupa cakap?

Lao Ma cakap lu catit buku hitam,
Boleh kongsi kah, apa macam?
TV3 lu kata minyak naik cam-cam,
Sikalang minyak turun apa macam?

I suka makan Maggi Mee,
Solilah I teruk Bee Emm,
Anak lu kasi jaga Scormi,
Menantu lu kasi jaga EeSeeEmm.

I datang sini sama mami papi,
Sangat lapar, you see?
Itu pompuan ketuk ketampi,
Lu kata No Aye Pee See Emm See.

Lapan belas point sembilan,
Atau empat puluh lima?
Itu ASLI report lu kata matyehlan*,
Tapi transparen also po-po ma ma*.

Zakaria Mat Deros bina istana,
Bersantai di pantai Melaka,
Walhal rakyat masih papa kedana,
Semua marah nak jerit 'Celaka!'.

Lundun mau bina centre for sport,
Tak mau guna untuk subsidi petrol,
CNN lu kata 'I command support'
Kenapa masih manyak kali cakap 'I'm still in control'?

Dulu lain sekarang lain,
Semua olang sikalang bodek lu,
Oil-for-food lu kasi sain,
Olang kata lu tadak malu!

* Cantonese equivalent of 'WTF?'
po-po ma ma= dilly dally.

Care to attempt? I know I don't have Chocolates for you...

An Elegant Spin By theSun/Oriental Daily?

Source: thesSun's frontpage 26th October, 2006

In case you are amnesiac, this is what was said last Monday:

The economy is bad. I know because a lot of Chinese business people are very unhappy. I have told Pak Lah that some of them have said they will not vote for Barisan Nasional at the next election

And here's the Eunuch leader speaking:

Ong: Don't drag in Chinese traders
by Kong See Hoh

MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting says Chinese businessmen should not be dragged into the spat between Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
It is unfair to the businessmen, he said.

"We are convinced that the Chinese businessmen in Malaysia will continue to seek investment opportunities within the country and play a positive role in its economic development as they are responsible. We hope they are not dragged into the endless bickering," Ong was quoted as saying in a report in Oriental Daily News yesterday.

"We do not want to see the Chinese businessmen being dragged into the row ... we want to be fair to them."

He said that with globalisation, it is normal for the Malaysian Chinese to seek business opportunities abroad and this should not be seen as a negative development.

Ong said whatever problems they face, they would always raise them with the government through the proper forums.

"In the past, MCA and Chinese groups have discussed a lot on problems related to the economy with the cabinet, the prime minister and the ministers concerned," he said with reference to Mahathir's remark that the Chinese businessmen are unhappy with the economy.

Ong spoke to reporters while attending a Hari Raya open house hosted by the prime minister and the Muslim cabinet ministers at Putra World Trade Centre on Tuesday.

Mahathir was reported to have told a press conference on Monday, a day after his meeting with Abdullah: "The economy is bad. I know because a lot of Chinese business people are very unhappy. I told Pak Lah some of them have said they will not vote for Barisan Nasional at the next elections.

"And some of them said today they prefer to go to China to do business because there are more opportunities in China than there are in Malaysia because they don't find it easy to do business in Malaysia."

Mahathir's remarks also drew flak from Chinese community leaders who said the Chinese businessmen who venture overseas do so purely out of commercial interest and it is not a recent phenomenon as the Mahathir administration back then had encouraged Malaysian businessmen to invest abroad.

Hua Zong (Federation of Chinese Associations in Malaysia) president Datuk Seri Lim Gait Tong said it is also good for the country that Malaysians are venturing overseas as "this will enlarge the economic pie".

As for Mahathir's remark that Chinese businessmen are unhappy with the economy and some of them would not vote for Barisan Nasional in the next general election, Lim said different people may hold different views but "this is not what the Chinese would think".

Seven Major Clans Association president Datuk Ng Teck Fong said there is a slack in the economy and all people, not only the Chinese businessmen, are affected.

He said there is nothing wrong with investing in China, or where the business is, and bringing back the money. "It is not fair to only say the Chinese businessmen are not happy with the economy," he said.

Now only he knew that the Chinese are bogeymen?

Zakaria Mat Deros-Sultan Selangor: Meet or No Meet?

theSun said that he can't escape the meet with the Sultan:

Zakaria can't escape date with sultan
by Terence Fernandez

PETALING JAYA: "I can wait. No matter how long it takes, he still has to show up!"
This is the Sultan of Selangor's sentiment following the snub by Port Klang assemblyman Datuk Zainal @ Zakaria Mat Deros.

Palace sources, quoting Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah's stand, said as far as the ruler is concerned, Zakaria will not be able to escape a royal ticking-off.

"The summons still stands. The onus is now on Zakaria to show up and explain himself to His Highness," said one source yesterday.

Zakaria, who has been in the news for a litany of wrongdoing this past month, was summoned to Istana Mestika on Monday to explain the negative reports. The letter which was delivered by the Klang OCPD on Friday, stated that Zakaria must be present at the Istana at noon .

However, he did not show up, instead checking himself into hospital on Sunday and discharging himself the following afternoon.

The source added that at the end of the day, Zakaria is answerable to the rakyat and to the Sultan, as the guardian of the people.

"We will wait till after Hari Raya. Let him enjoy his raya and spend the festive season in Malacca where he is. After Hari Raya, he will have to show up," said the source, adding that Zakaria must get in touch with the palace to offer a new date and time which is agreeable to the Sultan.

"Tuanku is very concerned about what's going on in Klang and His Highness wants an explanation," said the source, adding that Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo will also be questioned.

Zakaria has been in the news since theSun front-paged the illegal construction of his fourstorey mansion among low-cost homes in Kampung Idaman earlier this month.

Following this expose, it also came to light that Zakaria did not pay assessment for his present home for 12 years.

However, Utusan Malaysia reported that the Sultan was furious and will not meet him anymore:

So, which is which?

The only thing I know that in ancient times (and some modern countries), making a Sultan furious would result in one's head chopped off.

In case you are wondering how this 'sick Klang Sultan' (for having a palace) was celebrating his Raya, he was frolicking on a Malaccan beach.

To refresh your memory, here's the story on him so far:

Click on image for larger view.

Just imagine this- normal kecik mayung councillors could have 'palaces' and mountain heaps of money, what about ministers and of course, the Pee Emm?

~~God~~ You, eligible voters, please save Malaysia.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Howsy Is A Surfer...

Howsy is a surfer...

[Source]

Text:

Jarrad Howse (Aus) / 28 years old / 2006 Foster’s Men’s World Tour Member.

“I’m really happy to be here and starting like that is the best way for me. It’s been a tough year so far, I smashed 8 boards during my heats this year in both WCT and WQS events and now I’ve got this good one. I’m still not out of the WCT requalifying race as Brazil and Pipe will be crucial soon but I this 4 Star events reminds me of my victory last year in Spain, the one that got me back on track and gave me the spot in the Top 45. I’ll just be thinking of this event and forget about the rest for the moment,” confessed Howsy.

Ahem, wished that I am that cool too. Nevertheless, the another 'Howsy' here is still a surfer, a web surfer. :P

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Are Open Houses Superficial?

Discuss the following two quotes:

"The visitors included all races and this kind of open house shows that the various races in the country are united," he said in an interview with RTM.

He said such open house also helped foster closer relationship among the various races in the country and at the same time showed the world that Malaysia was a united nation despite the various races living here.

[Source]

"I believe those who came are happy. Some told me keep on going with the good job. We will support you (they said). There are some who are happy and some not. People give me confidence...I like to meet the people," Abdullah added.

[Source]

Here we come!!!

A hungry Malaysian is an ugly Malaysian?

As a bonus, here's a photo caption contest for you to try out. No, I don't have Chocolates to offer to you, but please attempt, will you?

Malaysia's `Riot' Bogey Quells Economic Debate

More C&P stuff for your holiday reading leisure. From Bloomberg:

Malaysia's `Riot' Bogey Quells Economic Debate: Andy Mukherjee

By Andy Mukherjee

Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- There is a touristy Malaysia, which beckons visitors to ``come experience the unique potpourri of Asia's great cultures -- Malay, Chinese, Indian and the many ethnic groups of Sabah and Sarawak.''

And then, there is the other Malaysia, the one that investors deal with, where cultural harmony is just a veneer; scratch it off and you are left with a tightly packed powder keg of racial politics and politicking.

In this Malaysia, it is somehow immoral to question a longstanding policy favoring the economic advancement of ``Bumiputeras,'' mostly Malays and some indigenous tribal peoples.

That's because politicians such as Musa Hitam, a former deputy prime minister, believe that debates, even academic ones, can turn emotional and degenerate into race riots, like the ones that took place between the Malays and the Chinese in 1969 and became the justification for subsequent affirmative action.

And that really was Malaysian economist Lim Teck Ghee's crime -- to dispute the government's claim that Bumiputeras, literally ``princes of the earth,'' own less than 19 percent of Malaysia's corporate equity, far short of the 30 percent target set for them by the New Economic Policy of 1970.

The rationale for the 30 percent target was to remove a root cause of social strife by ending the concentration of wealth in the hands of non-Malays -- especially, the ethnic Chinese -- who in 1970 owned 96 percent of the Southeast Asian nation's economy.

The Centre for Public Policy Studies, the Kuala Lumpur-based think tank that Lim headed before his resignation this month, argued in the study that corporate equity controlled by Malays may be as high as 45 percent.

Bouquets and Brickbats

The political significance of this finding is simple: If the policy for redistribution of wealth has more than met its target, raising Bumiputera economic ownership to 45 percent from a meager 2.4 percent in 1970, then let's discontinue it.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi denounced the study as ``irresponsible.'' Mahathir Mohamad, former prime minister and Abdullah's most bitter critic, said a sudden end to affirmative action could cause political instability.

Mahathir's businessman son, Mirzan Mahathir, who indirectly controls the Centre for Public Policy Studies, apologized for the report and retracted it on Oct. 10.

Lim quit the next day, saying he stood by his study.

He now says he may not get another job in Malaysia, in which case, he will have no option except to leave the country.

And that would be a pity, not only because a good academic can't freely air views he believes to be true but also because the brouhaha about whether Bumiputera corporate equity is 19 percent or 45 percent -- or somewhere in between -- is irrelevant to the more pertinent issue raised by the study.

The Right Debate

``Economic policies based on race do not serve as an incentive to disadvantaged segments of society to participate in the economy,'' the study said. ``Equitable wealth distribution can only be achieved if the recipients are subjected to income and asset tests, regardless of race, a mechanism employed in countries that have adopted affirmative action.''

To me, this is really the crux of the report.

Publicly traded companies in Malaysia are required to have at least 30 percent Bumiputera holding.

Hypermarkets must allocate 30 percent of their shelf space to products made by Bumiputera companies.

Many government contracts require companies to have a Bumiputera partner owning at least 30 percent of the business.

Foreign-owned companies are nudged to hire more Bumiputera staff whether qualified candidates are available or not.

All of these are rather clumsy attempts at social justice. A dogmatic pursuit of the 30 percent rule creates entitlements for the rich and the middle classes, who then trade them away.

Government Wealth

If Malay investors use the equity acquired by them at initial share sales to buy real estate, does that mean there's no increase in Bumiputera wealth?

What mechanism is there to ensure that within the Bumiputera, the less privileged also benefit?

Lim's study also raises an important question about the government's wealth.

The four largest companies by market value in Malaysia are Malayan Banking Bhd., power producer Tenaga Nasional Bhd., ship owner MISC Bhd. and phone company Telekom Malaysia Bhd. In all four, the biggest shareholder is the Malaysian government, acting through investment holding companies and funds.

To which race should this wealth be attributable? Malays make up 60 percent of the country's population of 26 million; the Chinese account for a quarter.

Who's Right?

To be sure, the 45 percent figure arrived at by Lim's researchers can at best be called a guesstimate. It counts 70 percent of the market value of publicly traded government-owned companies as Malay corporate wealth and adds it to the official estimate of Bumiputera equity, valuing the latter as a fifth of the combined capitalization of all shares listed on Bursa Malaysia, the stock exchange.

Prime Minister Abdullah says he doesn't mind divulging how the 19 percent figure is calculated, but the opposition has to stop insinuating that the government's number is fudged.

Then again, it doesn't really matter whose estimate is right. The competitive landscape in Asia has changed a lot since 1970; Malaysia's appeal to investors has been dimmed by the emergence of China and India.

Malaysia must acknowledge the altered reality. Its focus on redistributing wealth may now be coming in the way of creating it. Taking on a Bumiputera partner or sub-contractor who brings nothing else to the table is a cost to a foreign investor.

Rather than shouting ``riot'' to quell discourse, politicians should encourage a debate.

(Andy Mukherjee is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

New Straits Times Is Officially Mahathir's Enemy

Some excerpts of the latest interview transcript, which probably you will never see in New Straits Times or their group-blog:

It is wrong what TV3 reported, saying that I agreed with him that what I had done made me and him unpopular and only Anwar Ibrahim and Nik Aziz benefited. This is what he said, not what I said.

Dr M: I have achieved the objective of telling him in quite substantial detail. I am quite sure that the reports that are in the controlled press, the spin from people like (News Straits Time group editor) Brendan Pereira and (NSTP deputy chairman Datuk) Kalimullah (Hassan) and all that would have given him a completely wrong impression of what I have done.

Now I have the opportunity to tell him as it is, no Brendan in between, no Kalimullah in between.

So to that extent I am satisfied, no “spinning” that things were not going like that. (Makes spinning motion with finger.)

Dr M: I didn’t know about it when I was PM (about the UN oil-for-food programme).

The first time I heard about it was when it was published by the (New) Straits Times that his name appeared there. Subsequently Najib said: “Don’t talk anymore about it.”

And of course there were no more reports about this affair in the Straits Times or any other newspaper.

Recently in the course of writing my memoir, I tried to get hold of the copy of the Straits Times which reported this thing but it seems to have disappeared.

The Berita Harian was there but the copy of the Straits Times has disappeared. Maybe somebody has a copy, can lend it to me.

I know the New Straits Times will have to make some kind of spin about this, TV3 too will have to spin somehow, but fortunately for us that in my time, we have the Internet, so I would advise people to read the Internet and not these newspapers because they are all getting phone calls.

Tomorrow the PM says we won’t build this bridge because Singapore might be upset, immediately the comments from people with pictures, their faces in the Straits Times with comments “We must not build this bridge, It is wrong.” You see the change is fantastic.

Meanwhile, Pak Catit-Buku-Hitam just scored a brownie point from MM Lee.

Oh, another thing which I have discovered. For the blog-group (and their bloggers) worshippers, it seems that you can now comment there.

Terms and conditions apply though, for example, they won't publish what they don't want to hear or want people to hear like this.

Now, what happened to the 'go beyond the traditional print edition and to provide a holistic package to readers' thingy? Seems more like a C&P job to me, which I think is a very taboo word to some of the bloggers there.

Still want to 'Join the fun!'?

Peace and Salam Aidilfitri.

Monday, October 23, 2006

Internet-savvy Russian Seeking Help

I'm not sure why I keep getting these e-mails. A price to pay for ~~being so femes~~ my blog being in the public domain? Read on to see if this can be trusted:

Dear Friend,

Please excuse me for any inconvience caused by this message.

My name is Valentin. I'm student and I live with my mother in city Kaluga,
Russia. My mother is invalid. She can not see and she receive very small pension
very rare which is not enough even for medications.

I work very hard every day to be able to buy the necessities for my mother, but
my salary is very small, because my studies still not finished.

Due to deep crisis authorities stoped gas in our district and we cannot heat our
home anymore. I don't know what to do, because the winter is coming and the
temperature outside will be lower than minus 30 degrees Celsius, as it was in
the last winter.

I am very afraid that the temperature inside our home will be very cold and we
will not be able to survive. Thanks to the free internet access in our local
library I found several e-mail addresses and I decided to write you with prayer
in my heart for small help.

If you have any old sleeping bag, warm blanket, portable stove, warm clothes,
electric water-boiler, canned and dried food, vitamins, medicines from cold, any
hygiene-products, I will be very grateful to you if you could send it to our
address which is:

Valentin Mikhailine,
Rileewa Uliza, 6-45.
Kaluga. 248030,
Russia.

If you think that it would be better or easier for you to help with some money,
please write me back and I will give you details for sending it safely if you
agree. This way to help is very good because in this case I will be able to buy
a portable stove and heat our home during the winter.

I hope to hear from you very soon and I pray that you can help us. I also hope
very much that this hard situation will get better very soon in our country.

I send you many thanks in advance for your kind understanding. Please excuse me,
once more, for inconvience caused by this message.

Valentin and my mother Elena.
Kaluga. Russia.

Mahathir Greets The Eid-ul-Fitr With 'Mercun Bambu' To Pak Lah

So, you think the meeting was a lovey-dovey affair and all well that ends well, eh? Look at these toadies, trying to fool themselves. Now, here's the Da M Code behind The Most Awaited Reality Event of the Year, from Bernama:

On why the meeting was initiated in the first place:

Speaking at a press conference at his house in Seri Kembangan, he said mubarak, the association of former elected representatives, approached his son to try to resolve his problems with the government following his spate of criticisms against Abdullah.

He said Mubarak initially came out with several suggestions to resolve his spat with Abdullah, including that he should meet with Umno supreme council and if that could not be done, he could instead meet with the Malay members of the cabinet.

"If that is not possible... then for me to see Pak Lah (the prime minister), I don't know but anyway, Pak Lah agreed to see me," he said, adding that since this was initiated by Mubarak, he would like to see Mubarak first to find out what was it that they were asking him to do.

He said he met five of Mubarak members who said they liked him to see the prime minister who had agreed to the meeting.

"I said if I want to see Pak Lah I want to tell him about what I have been criticising him about. So I told Mubarak how I felt about things. And after Mubarak members listened to me, they felt that I should tell these things directly to Pak Lah," he said.

On recording the dialogue (or did the successor had the meeting was bugged, with a earpiece feed from Level 4 to his ear, as speculated by Whatalulu?)

At yesterday's meeting with Abdullah at the prime minister's official residence Seri Perdana in Putrajaya which was held under a cloak of secrecy, Dr Mahathir said he told the prime minister that he would record their dialogue.

"So I set up the (tape) recorder...and I told him I was so critical about the government. Of course, there are so many things I have said but within one-and-a-half hours, I covered lots of things. After that he explained, of course he interrupted me several times," he said.

On generous amount of money to fling:

Dr Mahathir had told reporters after yesterday's meeting that it was a worthwhile meeting because he got to say things frankly to the prime minister, the way he had criticised him publicly.

The former prime minister's criticisms included charges of nepotism, incompetence and for axing some major projects conceived while he was in power. He said it was not true that the government did not have money to carry out projects, adding that when he decided to step down in 2003, he made sure that the country was stable, with the economy and government's finances in good shape.

"Only after that I decided I would step down. The government now has money, the government has more money that it has ever before," he said.

Dr Mahathir said during his time, the highest profit by Petronas, the national oil corporation, was RM56 billion but this had increased to RM86 billion in the last financial year, bigger than the total collection of corporate tax at around RM60 billion.

On benefiting the opposition:

At Sunday's meeting, he said Abdullah told him that they had done a survey that as a result of his criticisms, he (Dr Mahathir) had become very unpopular and their differences had only benefited opposition leaders like Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat.

"I told him that I don't care whether I'm popular or not, but if anybody does anything that is damaging to the country, and to the Malays in particular, I reserve the right to criticise".

On the verge of economic downturn under Pak Lah's administration:

He was asked if he was concerned that his legacy after 22 years as prime minister was being kept away.

"It's not being kept away. It is the action of the government for the past three years.. there has been no move. The economy is not doing well, the people are unable to get jobs, unemployment is still high. Nothing has been done to improve the economy although of course we read very good figures.

"But you see, retail business is not (good), contracts are not easy to come by and plus people have no jobs and a lot of small contractors have folded up. The economy is bad. I know because a lot of Chinese business people are very unhappy. I have told Pak Lah that some of them have said they will not vote for Barisan Nasional at the next election," he said.

Dr Mahathir said he was told that people today preferred to go to China to do business because there were more opportunities there than in Malaysia and that they did not find it easy to do business in Malaysia.

On the post-meeting (aftermath):

Asked if he felt he had achieved much in his meeting with the prime minister, he said: "I have achieve the objective of telling him in a quite substantial details. Now I have the opportunity to tell him. There is no spinning of what I said". Asked if he wished that he had not stepped down, Dr Mahathir said actually he wished that he had done so in 1998 if it had been possible and in 2002 (when he announced at the Umno General Assembly that he is resigning) but it was Abdullah who told him to stay on for another year.

To this he said today: "This is something I appreciate but this is not the question of what you do or character.. this is not about his character but this is about what is happening".

On his next move after Sunday's meeting with Abdullah, he said: "I've told you that I would continue to criticise and I will go on with my usual way".

Dr Mahathir also said despite his problems with the prime minister, he did not think that it was possible for the opposition to win the election.

"In my assessment, it is not possible for the opposition to win but they might reduce the majority of the government.

On the problems it might pose for Umno, he said: "It is not the internal problem of Umno or unity within Umno. Umno cannot win election without public support and today the public is very critical of the economy, system of administration, involvement of family members. These concern the public. If the public does not support, even if 100 per cent of Umno supports our candidates, they will kill you".

Summing up the meeting where he raised a host of other matters, he said: "There were a few other things he mentioned. I talk for two hours, I decided that the meeting was over. I got up, collected my recorder, said good-bye to him".

Oh, just to refresh your memory, this is what the Pak Catit-Buku-Hitam said last last Sunday:

"No, no, no, I don't think it's a political suicide. He has been saying a lot of things, I've decided to keep quiet and to go on doing what I want to do.

"And the people want me to do what I want to do. And I have and I still command majority support today," he said in an interview with Anjali Rao in the "Talk Asia" programme aired by Cable News Network (CNN) Saturday.

Now, who's delusional here?

Further reading:

Mahathir launch Hari Raya Ballistics from Doc Mave.

Dr Mahathir - far from 'satisfied' from KTemoc.

And other countries around the world headlined this meeting:

India: Badawi has turned Malaysia into police state: Ex-PM

France: Malaysia's Mahathir widens attack on successor, suggests he is personally corrupt

Taiwan: Former PM Mahathir claims successor has turned Malaysia into 'police state'

Sorry, spin-doctor of Malaysia. All the spin-doctors claiming 'I'm satisfied' and 'He states his stand' couldn't put ~~Humpty-Dumpty~~ Pak Catit-Buku-Hitam back together again.

Oh, salam Aidilfitri. Easy on those real 'Mercun Bambu', kids!

Eid-ul-Fitr Mubarak!

The Sensintrovert would like to take this opportunity to wish its readers a very blessed Eid-ul-Fitr (especially to blogger Walski-amacam, boleh DHL lemang, ketupat dan rendang ke?)

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Some of the ads from Petronas again.

This year's

2005

And some other previous years

Check out the rest here.

Again, this blogger is neither affiliated with Petronas nor condone their lack of corporate transparency.

Mini Media Circus and Mini Paparazzis

The US of A has him:

[Source]

The UK (and the whole wide world) had her:

[Source]

Some say these are wayyyy past items already...

[Source]

Instead, this is the hottest pair in town lately...

From NST:

Reporters stake out Seri Perdana

KUALA LUMPUR: The whole nation appeared to be waiting with bated breath yesterday over news that Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad were meeting.

By afternoon, phone calls, emails and text messages concerning the peace talks reached a frenzied pace as many Malaysians wanted to find out the latest.

An aide close to Dr Mahathir said he received more SMS asking about the meeting than those extending him festive greetings.

Over the past several days, rumours had been rife that the meeting would take place yesterday but as the time and place could not be confirmed, it kept journalists fully occupied in verifying tip-offs and checking facts.

The strongest rumour was that the two men would meet at Seri Perdana, the Prime Minister’s official residence. About 30 journalists, from both local and foreign agencies, stationed themselves in front of the building, some as early as 8am.

At 3.30pm, reporters spotted Abdullah’s official car entering the compound of the official residence and sprung to their feet but it proved to be a false alarm.

But there was still no sign of either Dr Mahathir or Abdullah.

Some journalists shuttled between Abdullah’s official and private residence located in Precinct 10, about a kilometre away.

Some were even seen walking to and from the lake behind the house in case Abdullah or Dr Mahathir decided to travel by boat.

At 4.45pm, reporters at Putrajaya and their counterparts standing by at the Putra World Trade Centre and Menara Dato’ Onn in Kuala Lumpur heard the latest — that the meeting was taking place at Seri Perdana.

What Third World? We are a First World country already, lar!

Police State (or Lack Thereof)?

It was mentioned in the Most Awaited Reality Event of the Year (or not?):

DR MAHATHIR: We met for two hours. My intention was to convey all my doubts. I managed to express all that was in my heart. All of it. After 20 minutes, he touched on a bit, only a few things, including his son’s (Kamaluddin) and (his son-in-law) Khairy’s (Jamaluddin) involvement and my allegation that we have a police state.

I said each time I am invited, the police will question and intimidate the people. He said this was not true. He disagreed that we have a police state.

Police state? Or lack thereof?

[Source]

Wrong priority for the police?

Aye-Pee-See-Emm-See, eh? Let's see this interview which sounds interestingly very familiar to all of us:

There wasn’t much else. For me, my intention was to convey my views, and we will wait and see if there will be changes or not. I brought up and explained the bridge issue but there were no comments from him. Many other issues I brought up were not touched on but he noted everything in his little black book. All the time I was talking he was jotting down. It was thick. I hope following this meeting there will be some kind of action.

Q: How did the Prime Minister react when you said you would continue criticising?

A: He didn’t say anything.

Q: How do you read that?

A: As far as I am concerned, if he doesn’t say anything, I will do it. Whether he says yes or no, I am going to continue. I am going to continue if I feel that something done is not beneficial to the country.

Q: Were a lot of the issues you raised answered?

A: No ... he didn’t answer much as there were two hours and I spoke for one-and-a-half hours. There was half an hour left and he touched on several issues and then he stopped, you see, so we went back.

Q: What was the tone of the meeting?

A: He listened.

Congratulations! We are officially captained by a Pak Tak Tahu, Pak Senyap (or Bisu?) and oh, Pak Catit-Buku-Hitam.

Who Said That We Don't Attract FDI? Look Here!

Malaysia is a very investment friendly country. Look here- an Iraqi millionaire widow refugee wants to invest in our great land.

From: FATIMA ALI
Reply-To: fatimaali1991@yahoo.com
To: [you know me e-mail]
Date: 22-Oct-2006 16:05
Subject: BUSINESS ASSISTANCE

From:Mrs Fatima Ali.
Attn:The Managing Director

Before I proceed, may I humbly introduce myself to
your goodself, My Name is Mrs. Fatima Ali, an Iraqi
refugee ,my husband was until recently, one of the
personal aid to the president of Iraq who was formerly
overthrown out of power by American Government .
Prior to this last serious crisis that is still
ravaging in my country,which recently led to
misfortune of our government and my late husband
position as the personal aid to the president, we were
able to come over here in Thailand ,we inherited the
sum of US11 million.The funds were originally gotten
from my late husband proceeds. My late husband was
able to safe guard the fund with a very good
diplomatic contact from my Country.

I have decided to contact you because I am interested
in investing in your country which is investment
friendly. Please kindly guide and assist me in making
the right investment since I am also interested in
buying a residential property as I will be moving my
family over there as soon as every thing regarding
technical and logictics details is worked out and
ascertained to our respective satisfaction. In view of
your participation,I am ready to give you a good
negotiable percentage for your assistance,or better
still commit it into viable Joint venture projects,be
assured that you stand no risk of any kind as the
funds belong to me and my only survived son. As soon
as I get your consent, we will quickly move this fund
to your country for investment .

However, upon your acceptance to work as my partner,
you can contact me with my private telephone number or
e-mail for more details.

I am here with my only surviving son Musa Muhammed, I
strongly believe that associating with you to embark
on this and other business ventures will derive a huge
success here after, please include you private contact
telephone number and private e-mail when replying.

Yours Sincerely..
Mrs Fatima Ali

Any Latuks interested of applying? I can be your agent. 30% commission as usual. :)

Sunday, October 22, 2006

So, They Finally Met...

UPDATED Monday 23rd Oct: The most elegantly silent meeting of the year? From The Star (Which seemed to be the leading MSM on the coverage of this meeting, to the extent that Utusan Malaysia also had to borrow photos from them. And oh, NST is still sleeping).

Dr M: I had my say

PUTRAJAYA: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he was satisfied with the private meeting he had with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Sunday because he was able to have his say.

Dr Mahathir said he fulfilled his intention to pour out what was in his heart over issues he had raised against Abdullah in recent months.

However, the former Prime Minister said he would continue to criticise the current administration if he felt “anything done is not good for the country.”

Dr Mahathir said he had raised various matters including the crooked bridge, the Approved Permits issue, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz and Proton.

He, however, said Abdullah did not respond to all that he (Dr Mahathir) had raised during the meeting, including about the cancelled crooked bridge project.

“I can't say I am happy (with the meeting) but I am satisfied that I have been able to say these things directly to him. People say that I have been making comments from outside but now I have seen him.”

Dr Mahathir said he spoke for one hour and 30 minutes and Abdullah, who jotted everything down in a little notebook, spoke for 30 minutes.

He said that Abdullah had touched on a few issues such as allegations against his son Kamaluddin and son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin, whom Dr Mahathir had criticised as being too influential.

“He said it is not right – this accusation, that they ring up people and all that is not true. But he wants to find out from them whether they did or not,” he said.

On how Abdullah reacted when he said he would continue criticising if necessary, Dr Mahathir said Abdullah did not say anything.

The prime minister, he said, told him that because of his actions to publicly criticise Abdullah and his administration, he (Dr Mahathir) had become very unpopular and his actions had also affected Abdullah's popularity.

“He said that the people who benefited from all this was Anwar Ibrahim and Nik Aziz, who have become more popular,” said Dr Mahathir.

Dr Mahathir said he would wait and see what would happen after the meeting and “if there will be changes or not.”

The meeting, he said, ended cordially with both shaking hands before parting.

I guess I was wrong in the final bolded part there. Read the below conversation in Malay for larger context.

Bernama even published a chronology of events leading to the meeting yesterday:

It all started when the former premier raised several issues, including the issuance of approved permits and the fate of national car manufacturer, Proton.

The government's explanations failed to satisfy Dr Mahathir.

The conflict heightened after Abdullah on April 12 announced the cancellation of the bridge project to replace the Johor Causeway.

Following are the chronology of events after the bridge project was scrapped.

* April 27 - Dr Mahathir gave a 16-point reasoning for the bridge's construction after he could not accept the government's reasoning for calling off the project.

* May 14 - Dr Mahathir said his opinion differed with the government's only on the bridge's cancellation.

* May 28 - Abdullah met Dr Mahathir in Tokyo but no issues were discussed.

* June 9 - Dr Mahathir criticised Abdullah's administration and said that he was only seeking answers to his earlier questions.

* July 14 - Dr Mahathir hurled allegations over the cancellation of the bridge project, forcing the government to declassify several confidential documents and made them public.

* July 19 - Abdullah said he had no problems with Dr Mahathir despite the latter's criticisms.

* July 25 - Dr Mahathir admitted that Malacca Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Khalil Yaakob met him. Khalil was said to be the mediator between Abdullah and Dr Mahathir.

* July 28 - There were talks that Dr Mahathir wanted to be prime minister again but he flatly denied this.

* July 28 - Dr Mahathir was attacked by pepper spray on his visit to Kelantan.

* Aug 8 - Dr Mahathir again denied talks that he was eyeing the prime minister's post.

* Aug 9 - Dr Mahathir said he would continue to seek answers from the government, two days after Abdullah appeared in a television interview to refute allegations of nepotism and cronyism.

* Aug 11 - Perak Ex-Elected Reps Association (Mubarak) planned to arrange a meeting between Abdullah and Dr Mahathir to settle their differences.

* Aug 13 - Abdullah refused to comment on a remark by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz that Dr Mahathir's incessant attacks on the government were aimed at bringing him down.

* Sept 11 - Dr Mahathir, who failed in his bid to be a Kubang Pasu Umno division delegate to the party's general assembly in November, blamed it on corruption.

* Sept 12 - Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak asked Dr Mahathir to lodge a complaint with the Umno disciplinary committee on his allegation of corruption in the Kubang Pasu election.

* Oct 18 - Abdullah and Dr Mahathir agreed to meet before Aidilfitri.

* Oct 22 - They met at the prime minister's official residence in Putrajaya.

***

UPDATED: So, they finally met, with the contents of discussion unknown.

Friday, October 20, 2006

Malaysian-Chinese Director Major Winner at Busan Film Festival

Direct C&P from IHT:

Malaysian-Chinese director major winner at Busan film festival
The Associated Press

Published: October 20, 2006
BUSAN, South Korea A 28-year-old Malaysian Chinese director was the big winner at the Pusan International Film Festival on Friday, bagging an international movie critics' award and sharing the prize for best new Asian filmmaker.

Tan Chui Mui's "Love Conquers All," about a woman confused about her feelings after moving to a city, won the FIPRESCI prize awarded by the International Federation of Film Critics.

She also shared the New Currents award — given to best new Asian filmmaker — with China's Heng Yang, who directed "Betelnut," the story of Chinese youths who spend an aimless summer together.

At a press conference Friday, Oscar-winning Hungarian director Istvan Szabo, chairman of the New Currents jury, praised "Love Conquers All" as "a beautiful film using a known cinematic language but in a very, very nice way."

Szabo said the jury picked "Betelnut" for its "new cinematic value, great acting by all the cast, powerful pictures and beautiful silent moments."

Tan said she will use the US$30,000 (€23,742) cash prize to finance her company, Da Huang Pictures, which also produces movies by other directors.

"This is (a) very important film festival in Asia, and they set up a section for new directors. It's very rare," she said.

Tan said it's difficult to get government funding for Chinese-language films in Malaysia because the authorities there classify movies that have 70 percent or more of their script in the ethnic Malay language only as being Malaysian. Malaysia's population is dominated by ethnic Malays, but Chinese and Indians form significant minorities.

She said her next film will be about about two middle-aged women.

"Love Conquers All" was backed by the Hubert Bals Fund of the Rotterdam International Film Festival.

In other awards, the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema named South Korean director Roh Gyeong-tae's "The Last Dining Table" as best Korean feature film. The movie portrays the social isolation of lower-class families.

Meanwhile, festival director Kim Dong-ho announced that festival organizers will run a spinoff event in Los Angeles in spring 2007 that will focus on Korean and Asian films.

Kim also said the festival will set up its own TV channel, as the Sundance film festival has done, which will air 50 films that have been shown in the Busan festival.

He also announced that South Korea's JoongAng Broadcasting Corporation will set up a 50 million Korean won (US$52,603; €41,635) fund that will help Asian documentaries get airtime.

___

On the Net:

Pusan International Film Festival Web site:

http://www.piff.org

And here's the movie poster, sourced from here:

And Amir Muhammad is the movie's producer:

Cast:
Ah Ping...................................Coral Ong Li Whei
John.........................................Stephen Chua
Mei............................................Leong Jiun Jiun
Hong Jie.................................Ho Chi Lai

Country of Production...............Malaysia
Year of Production.....................2006

Producer....................................Amir Muhammad
Director....................................Tan Chui Mui
Director of Photography.............James Lee
Assistant Director....................Gan Hui Yee
Sound Design by.....................Steven Leong

Here's the movie synopsis:

A love story. At first sight maybe a simple love story. About how blind a girl in love can be. Slowly but unavoidable the story will become less simple, will raise more questions without giving too many answers.

Main character - if not main victim - is Ah Peng (Coral Ong Li Whei). A common girl from Penang. She arrives in some outskirt of Kuala Lumpur to find work in the economy rice stall of her aunt. She is taken in by the family like an older daughter and shares a room with little sister Mei (Leong Jiun Jiun). In a way Mei is the main character - and certainly no victim - of her own love story with a mysterious pen pal. The indolent Ah Peng and the bright and lively Mei get along very well. Like real sisters.

Ah Peng has a boy friend in Penang. Regularly she makes her way to the public phones to make her ritual call. Fate has it that just there she attracts the attention of John (Stephen Chua Jyh Shyan). John shamelessly listens in on the conversations between Ah Peng and her boy friend and right there starts a relationship that has to be doomed. John even tells her - in the same shameless way - how to lure a girl into prostitution. But revealing this can not stop this fatal story.

Although certainly not a period film the movie renders homage to two disappearing tools of communication: the handwritten letters by Mei and the fixed to the ground public phone calls by Ah Peng. Soon this kind of phone booths and letter boxes will form a problem for the movie art departments.

FYI, a Malaysian documentary ,'18?' was earlier banned from participation in the EBS International Documentary Festival (EIDF)in mid-July. I blogged about it here.

Majulah ~~filem~~ Mat Rempit Untuk Negara.

Vannakam, Diwali Vazthukal, Romba Nandri

Wishing all a blessed Diwali. Diwali Vazthukal.

May the good triumph over the evil.

Vange! Vange! ~~Murukku~~ Bombay Mix! Anyone?

And here are a few Petronas' Diwali ads, in case you miss these on TV.

This year's:

See the ad here.

2005

A Deeparaya one, 2004

2000

And some of the videos where their embedded links are disabled:

1998-2001

2002

p.s. This blogger is not affiliated in anyway with Petronas nor condone their lack of corporate transparency.

Takaful Nasional Wishes All Diwali Vazthukal. Yes, It's Real!

Damage Control? Source: theSun, today.

Like budak hingusan said 'Damage has been done'. It's up to you whether to continue patronising this company.

Eat, Drink, Be Merry and....Sing!

TGIF's Joke For Your Long Holiday Weekend

A TGIF's Joke For Your Long Holiday Weekend:

A Spanish teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine. "House" for instance, is feminine: "la casa." "Pencil," however, is masculine: "el lapiz."

A student asked, "What gender is 'computer'?" Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class in to two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether "computer" should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.

The men's group decided that "computer" should definitely be of the feminine gender ("la computadora"), because:
1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheque on accessories for it.

(THIS GETS BETTER!)

The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be Masculine ("el computador"), because:
1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;
2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;
3. They are supposed to help you solve
problems, but half the time they ARE the problem; and
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realise that if you had waited a little longer, you could have got a better model.

The women won.

Klang's Istana Idaman: Pak Lah Says It's Unacceptable But...

First things first. Congrats and bravo to theSun for standing up against this blatant, farcical case.

Aww....I so admire him, he's finally our Justice Bao after all...awww...I'm so gonna vote for him at the next election. You are my hero!!!!

Unacceptable!
PM: PEOPLE RIGHT TO BE ANGRY WITH KLANG ASSEMBLYMAN WHO BROKE THE LAW

KEPALA BATAS: The action of the Port Klang Assemblyman who built his mansion without planning permission has roused the ire of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Acknowledging the people's anger with Datuk Zainal @ Zakaria Mat Deros, he said the Selangor government will act according to the relevant laws.

"From the people's perspective, this action is not acceptable as we are the ruling government and he holds a position representing the government," he said.

"Of course, the people will be unhappy about this. Even if he wanted to do (build his mansion), he should have obtained permission. When he went ahead to build without permission, of course people will be upset and angry about such incidents."

Zakaria, who was slated to be reappointed Klang Municipal Councillor, is building the four-storey mansion among low-cost houses in Pandamaran on land alienated to his wife. The swearing-in ceremony has since been postponed till after Hari Raya.

He also owed annual assessment for his existing house, which occupies two lots, for 12 years, amounting to RM5,433.60.

It is learnt that Zakaria paid up all assessment he and two Umno offices owed to the council. A council official said Zakaria's representative issued a cheque yesterday afternoon for RM46,118.60, reports Terence Fernandez.

Zakaria paid up following a warning by Klang Municipal Council president Abdul Bakir Zin that he should settle the arrears or face seizure of his property.

Asked about this earlier, Abdullah said Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo briefed him on Tuesday on actions that would be taken against Zakaria, who had also been informed.

"I leave it to him (Khir) to take the appropriate action against Zakaria according to the necessary laws," he said.

(On Wednesday, Khir said Zakaria could be fined only 10 times the submission fee of RM2,400 for not getting planning permission).

Asked if Umno would act against Zakaria since it was the party which appointed him to the council, the Umno president said the offences committed by Zakaria were not related to party matters, but were against local government laws.

Hold your guns, mate! Read on further:

Asked for his views on the report that three members of the same family (Zakaria, his son and his daughter-in-law) would be appointed to the MPK, Abdullah said: "This is usually left to the council and state government to decide. There is nothing wrong if all of them have the necessary qualifications to serve in the council.

"However, they must ensure that while serving, they must not be involved in decisions related to the family. Khir informed me that all three of them have the necessary criteria to serve."

In Putrajaya, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who chairs the cabinet committee on local government, said the government will review the practice of appointing family members to one local council. He said such a thing had never happened and the government would evaluate the situation.

"We will have to review this thing, of certain local councils having family members in it," he said after chairing the first cabinet committee meeting on investment.

On Wednesday, Khir had said there was nothing to prohibit law-breakers (as in failure to submit building plans) from becoming councillors and the political system allowed those who held party positions to be made councillors.

Zakaria's daughter in-law is slated to serve a second term and his son is to be appointed councillor.

So, what's the 'necessary requirements', one may ask. For all I know, it's all about whether you have the guns to play the CCN (corruption, cronyism, nepotism) game...

Kids, this is a fine example of 'pot NOT calling the kettle black'. If he has his 'family council' in the government, I don't see why not for these Little Napoleons!

Presenting....Malaysia's 'Justice Bao' and his happy family... [Source]

Speculations, Speculations, Speculations

One of the most speculative news editor, Pak Non of theSun on The Most Awaited Reality Event of the Year™, even better than that Datuk K-Siti's wedding!

Will DrM and Pak Lah shake hands or even hug?
News analysis by Zainon Ahmad

(Oct 19, 2006) SO FAR we only know two things about the impending meeting between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his predecessor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad: That it is going to be before Aidilfitri, which is expected to fall on Tuesday (Oct 24, 2006), and that it is going to be a one-on-one affair.

We do not know the day yet. The most auspicious evening of Ramadan is the 27th, which is tomorrow. It is known as the Night of Power as it is said to be the occasion when Prophet Mohammad received his first revelation from God.

But then surely they would want to spend the evening offering additional prayers and reflecting on their past deeds instead of being cooped up somewhere blustering away at each other.

The meeting could also very well be the eve of Hari Raya on Monday (Oct 23, 2006). By then the last terawih prayers (the additional non-obligatory evening prayers during Ramadan) were already performed on Sunday (Oct 22, 2006) night. So Monday evening is a free evening.

This is, of course, if the meeting is not planned to take place during the day. The aides of the two men who are planning the meeting are taking cognisance of the fact that Muslims must not be angry or lose their temper while fasting.

They are uncertain Abdullah and Mahathir will be as cool as cucumber and maintain their equanimity throughout, so the meeting could be held during the day? Everyone knows that the former PM is an angry man and has a long list of complaints and his successor is adamant that he is right in whatever he is doing and very unhappy with the barbs thrown at him.

As to venue Abdullah said that "the day when we meet, that will be the venue." It is, of course, going to be a room somewhere. It cannot be the PM's office or Mahathir's office at the Perdana Leadership Foundation. One possibility is one of the rooms at PWTC where Umno has its Hq.

After all it is in the end about Umno. And it is to ensure that the party remain united that the veterans and the respected members of the party had nudged the two towards a meeting hinting that the spat between them had gone on long enough.

Now who is to enter the room first. Abdullah is no longer the subservient deputy but a full fledged PM, with all the power of the state at his command, and party president and so he should not be kept waiting. But he may want to be gracious and so enter first to wait for the elderly Tun.

If that happens, it could well set the tone for the meeting. It would also auger well if Mahathir, PM for 22 years, insisted that he will wait for the Prime Minister of Malaysia and the president of Umno.

It could also be planned so that the press cameras could record something as the press conference after the meeting - if one is planned - could not be expected to be much of a story.

This could take the form of the two men arriving at the same time, getting out from their cars almost at the same time, and walking up to each other, smiling and shaking hands and - possibly even hugging.

After all hugging is not uncommon among Umno leaders even if they are rivals or especially if they are rivals. Sometimes they also hug to dispel rumours that they are rivals. The recent famous hugging is between Mahathir and International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz two years ago. It changed nothing.

Malaysians, especially Umno members, are probably very excited about the meeting after months of verbal war between the two even though many do not think it will end Mahathir's hounding of the PM - at least not yet.

But, nevertheless, it is a positive development. Umno supreme council member Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad thinks so but is unwilling to put much store by it. Others approve of the one-on-one meeting. It could be the beginning of Abdullah and his former boss being on talking terms again instead of doing so through the press or their respective aides.

It could happen that Mahathir would accept what he told this writer a long time ago that different leaders have different styles and that the leadership had to be different also because of the changing times and circumstances.

It could also happen that Abdullah would accept Mahathir as an elder brother - or an elder statesman - who could be occasionally consulted on party as well as national matters and to also occaasionally acknowledge publicly that he owed his position to the former PM.

Umno would certainly benefit from its two staunchest and most loyal members - Abdullah refused to abandon the party when the faction he was in lost its bid for power and Mahathir showed such passion for the party that he was given the title Dr Umno - getting together again and probably working together.

It may be wishful thinking but everyone agrees that the consequences of continued acrimonious public row between the two could only be dire to the nation.

Will be it a sandiwara after all?

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Catch theSun's Interview With ASLI's Dr. Lim Today

UPDATED: The full interview is available online here.

***

Catch theSun's Interview With ASLI's Dr. Lim Today!

In a paragraph in the interview, he mentioned that an 'elite poltician' rang him up to say that he had at least opened the call for transparency, in which I think, will be swept under the carpet again in the midst of stuffing themselves with rendang, lemang and murukku.

MCA's Nanyang Share Disposal: Desperate Attempt To Win Back Chinese's Heart?

Still in the dark about the Nanyang saga? Then read this commentary by theSun then:

Who gains and who loses in Nanyang saga?
by Ng Kee Seng

AFTER five years, the Chinese community on Tuesday witnessed the result of the MCA's political and commercial manoeuvrings of the Chinese newspaper industry in the country.

No doubt, the acquisition of Nanyang Press Holdings Bhd cost the party dearly in goodwill with the Chinese community and financially. But the aim of the MCA, or more accurately certain leaders of the party then, has now crystallised.

The MCA's investment arm, Huaren Holdings Sdn Bhd, which also controls The Star, has freed itself from Nanyang's problems. And the result is that the country's four major Chinese dailies are now under the control of Sarawak timber tycoon Tan Sri Tiong Hiew King, who also controls the rival Sin Chew Media Corporation Bhd.

Although MCA is no longer the largest shareholder of Nanyang, its remaining 20% equity stake in Nanyang makes the party a partner of Tiong, who now wields considerable power and influence as the boss of the four leading Chinese dailies in the country - Sin Chew Jit Poh and Guang Ming Daily (under Sin Chew Media Corporation) and Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press (under Nanyang Press).

Will this make all four dailies "friendly" to the MCA in its news coverage?

There are now only two other players in the Chinese newspaper industry in the peninsula the century-old Kwong Wah Yit Poh, which remains contented with its control of the northern region market, and the relatively new kid in town, the nationally-circulated Oriental Daily News, which was launched by the Sarawak KTS timber group soon after the takeover of Nanyang by the MCA and staffed by ex-Nanyang/China Press staff.

It is interesting to note that the KTS timber group is a rival of Tiong's Rimbunan Hijau timber group, and in Sarawak, KTS-owned See Hua Daily News is being challenged by Sin Chew Daily for its leadership position in the state.

It now looks like only the Oriental Daily can act as a counterweight to Tiong's Sin Chew/Nanyang media group although, at this stage, it looks like a tall order. Tiong's four dailies have a combined daily circulation of around 800,000 copies compared with Oriental/See Hua's 150,000 copies. In terms of share of Chinese print advertising revenue, the Sin Chew/Nanyang group will have around 80% market share. That is formidable.

What this means for the Chinese community readers and businesses going forward will be interesting to observe.

But the community, for so long pampered by a relative more aggressive style of reporting by Chinese newspapers, knew immediately back in 2001 what they would lose in such a political takeover of the two newspapers which were strong critics of the MCA.

The performance of Nanyang and China Press took a dip over the years after the Chinese community switched their choice of reading.

The MCA, then led by Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik, was plunged into a leadership crisis when it went ahead with the Nanyang takeover, despite widespread opposition from the Chinese community.

On June 24, 2001, at an MCA extraordinary general meeting, 1,176 members backed the purchase and 1,019 opposed. The 157-majority vote shocked Ling but he still went ahead with the purchase.

It sparked a protracted party leadership crisis which saw Ling leading what was then popularly called Team A, and Team B led by then deputy president Tan Sri Lim Ah Lek.

The leadership strife also featured the party's most embarrassing history on Aug 3, 2001, when the MCA Youth general assembly at Flamingo Hotel turned unruly with delegates attacking each other with chairs over the Nanyang takeover issue.

The Team A-Team B crisis ended on May 23, 2003, with the simultaneous resignations of Ling and Lim. Then Team A loyalist, vice-president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting was appointed president, while Team B's Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy (also vice-president) was appointed deputy president.

In terms of financial losses, Ong apparently told party members in a special briefing in Wisma MCA's Auditorium San Choon on Tuesday that Huaren Holdings Sdn Bhd had to date paid RM58 million in interest alone on the RM300 million loan it secured to buy Nanyang.

Party insiders say the annual dividends from cash cow The Star paid to Huaren was barely enough to service the monthly loan and interest instalment. That is the reason for the sale now.

So who are the real winners and losers of the MCA's ill-fated move to take control of Nanyang in 2001? Tiong is certainly a beneficiary. But a few other key players who gained are now no longer in the picture. As for the Chinese newspaper readers and advertisers, it's interesting times ahead.

Alternatively, you can also read a commentary-letter from Malaysiakini.

A desperate measure to win back Chinese's heart, since they can't even have the balls to stand up against a 30-year old budak belum kering hingus?

Disposal of shares? So what? The whole Malaysian mainstream media is STILL controlled by the government. The Star-still MCA, Media Prima-UMNO, and oh, theSun-Vincent Tan and Najib 'partnership'.

Time to set up my own 'theSien' newspaper then? Anyone wants to join me? I know that Desi is eager to be the EIC...

Now, Even Criminals Can Run The Government Under Broad Daylight

From The Free Dictionary:

crim·i·nal Pronunciation (krm-nl)
adj.
1. Of, involving, or having the nature of crime: criminal abuse.
2. Relating to the administration of penal law.
3.
a. Guilty of crime.
b. Characteristic of a criminal.
4. Shameful; disgraceful: a criminal waste of talent.
n.
One that has committed or been legally convicted of a crime.

Now, who will fit into that category? Hint: Look at theSun today's frontpage:

Er, I mean the story on the right, unless you want to think otherwise that the Ling Sr. is a 'criminal' to the Chinese community, which I will blog about it later.

MB: System lets law-breakers be councillors
by Terence Fernandez and Maria J. Dass

SHAH ALAM:There is nothing prohibiting law-breakers from becoming councillors and the political system allows undesirables to creep in because of the positions they hold in the party.

This frank admission came from Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo (pix) in the wake of reports concerning Port Klang assemblyman Datuk Zainal @ Zakaria Mat Deros, who built his mansion without planning permission and had not been paying the annual assessment for his existing house for 12 years.

At a press con ference after the state executive council meeting yesterday afternoon, Mohd Khir said: "In the regulations, it does not say that people who break the law cannot be appointed as councillors. We appoint councillors according to party positions. This is decided by the party, so anything concerning the party, we will refer back to the party management committee.

"I will follow orders which state that the appointment of councillors should be according to party positions."

Zakaria's daughter-in-law is slated to serve a second term and his son is to be appointed councillor.

However, the swearing-in of councillors scheduled for today has been postponed due to, according to Mohd Khir, "possible problems in the list".

After meeting with Klang Municipal Council (MPK) president Abd Bakir Zin on Tuesday morning, Mohd Khir headed for Putrajaya for another round of meetings. Before breaking fast, the news was already out the swearingin will be postponed until after Hari Raya next week.

Officially, Mohd Khir maintained that "the municipal council president is empowered to postpone any meeting" and Abd Bakir's response was equally officious one sentence reaffirming what theSun reported on Tuesday postponement of the ceremony.

Which leaves us with the inevitable question: Why?

While Mohd Khir was evasive, the postponement, is said to be linked to Zakaria, who is said to have caused embarrassment to the Barisan Nasional leadership by his acts and omission.

Under the law, Mohd Khir said, Zakaria can be fined only 10 times the submission fee of RM2,400. He said any additional punishment against Zakaria will depend on the party leadership.

As for defaulting on assessment, Mohd Khir pointed the finger at the council. MPK, he said should take appropriate action. Local authorities, he said, should enforce the law uniformly and take care of the welfare of the people.

I mean, what's new? If 'criminals' are legalised to be 'Mat Cemerlang, Gemilang, Terbilang', what is this?

~~God~~ You-eligible voters, please save Malaysia.

'Confused White Guy' On The NEP: Ignorant or Just Pure Naivety?

I came across an angmoh's letter from Malaysiakini about his perception on the NEP:

Timeless masterpiece of the ‘sensitive issue’
Confused White Guy
Oct 18, 06 5:38pm

After I read Terence Gomez's Don't racialise debate on equity ownership, I was quite taken aback. I thought to myself, surely bumiputera equity ownership figures are not as high as he pointed out. If they were, the 'special rights' should have already been a thing of the past.

Working as a British journalist here in the Tanjong Pagar on the small neighbouring island south of Malaysia, I have a fair share of access to financial information. And Gomez was absolutely right. When you add up the equity of the government-linked companies with that of the major individual shareholders that are Malay of the major large market cap companies, you will find that it adds up to a whopping 70%, and in some individual companies, more than 80%.

What I don’t understand is why the publicly available figures differ so greatly from the government estimates of the high teens? I'm a person of facts, so I place more reliance on the former than the latter, from who the sources seem quite unapparent to me. If that be the case, then surely the bumiputera rights should have been long gone by now.

I went to university in England just like most folk who were born there. Though that was what seems to be a long 22 years since, I recall my time there where I got to know some Chinese Malaysians. I didn’t know them too well, but in my first year, I shared a flat with this Chinese guy Tong from Seremban (who sadly passed away from an accident a few years ago) and 10 others, and he would have a few of his Chinese friends come by about once a month for dinner. They were all very pleasant people, and very hardworking as well.

You could see that their good upbringing was a trait common to these people, who were of humble origins, and only were here because their parents had saved up and put aside for them to be able to get an education, that I was getting for free. When I went to his funeral, I bumped into his younger brother Alex, who was much younger than Tong at 26 years of age, and who I later met up for drinks in Clarke Quay recently when he was in town.

After about three beers, Alex was a little more relaxed, and started to talk about things back home. We got to the topic of politics, and he explained how the 'sons of the soil' were accorded certain privileges to achieve a more equitable distribution of wealth, such as permanent discounts on house prices, government bodies set up for the sole purpose of extending financing for education of Malay students abroad (I later found out that literally all Malay children can be expected to be given one till the entity was in trouble some time back as most of the Malays who don’t do well in their studies are required to pay back a certain percentage of the money extended to them and didn’t), special preference when bidding for government contracts, a mandatory 30% equity stake in listed companies, a disproportional share of the government, the list goes on and on ...

I was a little bit amazed at first, but when he told me that these 'rights' have been there since Malaysia gained independence in 1957, I was dumbfounded. That’s like a year short of 50 years, I was thinking, it must have been achieved by now! The nation of Japan took less than half that time to come back from the brink of nuclear destruction and become a world superpower. But here in Malaysia the wealth of the country has yet to be equally distributed amongst the majority of the population, or so you would be led to believe by the Malaysian government. Surely something must be amiss.

I Suggested to Alex that surely a lot of people would have questioned the continued existence of this affirmative action for the majority, and voiced out that it needs to go. He told me that nobody was allowed to talk about it as it is a so-called 'sensitive issue'. At this juncture, being a journalist, I was angered at this blatant violation of free speech. Then I remembered that Malaysia has never been too good at these human rights type issues.

I asked Alex why he has put up with it and not moved somewhere like down here, and he just smiled and said that at the end of the day, it is the Malays themselves that lose out, having to go around carrying this subsidy mentality that they have. I thought that was very mature thinking for someone his late 20s.

I did more research and found various news stories and articles that deliberated on the amount of corruption in the Malaysian government. After reading quite a bit, I concluded that there were quite a few (more often that not, those in power or connected to them) that got rich throughout the years by sucking the governments coffers, and most of them don’t have the slightest inclination to share their wealth with some less fortunate other Malays.

No wonder the government is constantly in deficit. And what amazed me most is that it is still happening today, under the current regime, with the son-in-law of the prime minister buying over a government company for a fraction of what its worth. Back home where I come from, they term that daylight robbery! But whatever the case, it has become apparent to me that the 'rights' are still around because of greed of those that abused the power entrusted to them by their very own people to achieve a more equitable distribution of wealth.

And reading the letter by FN, which I have to say is completely void of maturity of thought, it became crystal clear that Alex was right about the 'rights' backfiring.

Without getting into the debate of the accuracy of the government's distribution of wealth numbers again, the more basic question I have is when are these 'rights' ever going to go away? What has the magic number in terms of buimputera share of wealth got to be before the 'rights' expire like they should already have eons ago.

Well, the answer is - never. Why? Because the non-bumiputeras are not allowed to debate the issue to begin with. Now that’s what you call a timeless masterpiece. Thank god, I'm not a non-bumiputera living in Malaysia.

With more than 35 years under the so-called 'affirmative action' and 'positive discrimination' under the broad daylight in Malaysia, is it rather surprising that foreigners (read:Whites) do not know the existence of it? Was it because they were hoodwinked by the 'Malaysia, Truly ~~Hazy~~ Asia' billboards? Was it because they were awed by the tall skycrapers that everyone in Malaysia stand as tall as them, regardless of race and religion? Or was it just because they are ignorant or just a result of pure naivety? You decide...

As for me, I had encountered many Whites who had the same perception and were shocked that the 'positive discrimination' still happens in the broad daylight in modern Malaysia. A policy meant for....the majority population, I mean. Should I be ashamed?

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Lord of the Ringtones: Return of the Phones

Lord of the Ringtones: Return of the Phones

Gah! I'd rather have this.

SE, so...do you want to sign me up here? :P

Dearest One, I Am Writing To You As I Was Moved By Your Profile

I am sooooooo flattered upon receiving this e-mail opening:

Dearest One,

I am Ms Kudi,writing from Ivory Coast,I was moved by your profile and i decided to contact you for assistance as your profiled as proofed who you are and your capabilities too.

Wow, supposedly someone was so bloody moved by my (blog) profile and was so 'impressed with my capabilities'.

But, stop! Before you (and I) continue to kembang further, please read on...

There is this ($12,500,000.00 United States Dollars) which my late father kept in Utility Delivery And Sleaning Company in Ivory Coast as containing family valuables before he was assassinated by unknown persons from the rebels after the new political crisis in my country in 2001.

Right now,i am not able to clear this box from the company because of my tender age and can not secure this money here because of the political crisis in this country,now i wish to relocate to your country where the box of money will be shipped to and we meet after the box has been transfered to your country for investment.

I want you to help me claim and retrive the box from the security company with the documents I have here with me and transfer it into your country for my future life purposes and on profitable investment.

According to the Security Company on my last discussion with the manager Mr Clark Richard,they are some little taxes which must be cleared up before the release of the box also,and this is the reason I cried unto you for Godly help to get this money out of the Company.

I will be attaching the Certificate of deposit,my photo and Course of signing the documents with the security company as soon as you indicate your interest in this transaction.

I will be waiting patienly for your email and hope to get maximum coperation from you.

Goodbye,

Miss Kudi Suleman.

Oohhhh...I dunno...will I believe that...ooohhhh...shall I write back to her....ooooohhhh...you know, I heard from some Latuks back home...ooohhh....they also replied to these kind of e-mails....ooohhhh...but.....

Enough of sarcasm. It's just unbelievable that some Latuks still succumbed to these e-mails.

Interested of Becoming Penang's Public Transport CEO?

Do you believe that you have what it takes to be a CEO to manage the bus services in Penang? Then click on the advert for more info.

p.s. This blogger is not affiliated in any way with the Penang SEDC, Gerakan or ~~KJ's good friend~~ Koh T.K.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

And They Finally Agree To Meet...

UPDATED: The other side has agreed to meet.

[Source]

Wah, like a scene from Election liddat!

Here's a cartoon for today to cheer you up also:

[Source]

***

In early July, The Star gave out an exclusive piece of news saying that there will be a mediator to end the Battle Royale between Pak Lah and Dr. M, which turned out to be Khalil Yaakob.

In early August, I speculated that the two will face each other due to the same invitation to a conference in KL.

Then again, a week ago, The Star again speculated that a meet between the two is coming on the way.

[Source]

Then just a while ago, it's official. Well, at least the instigator has agreed to meet.

[Source]

The Star even gave the news a full frontal front-page treatment.

So, what will be the contents/agenda of the meeting be? Will it be held on a train full of gravy, if you know what I mean? ;)

Malaysia's Leader-In-Waiting: Kinda Scary To Think About It

In the midst of those CNN and Bloomberg interviews, there was one out there also granting an interview to an international news agency, Asia Times. Guess who he was? Read on for some excerpts of the interview:

It's unclear how much that would change under a Najib-led administration. Najib has in his long political career established a vast network of loyalists, comprised of political and bureaucratic veterans and powerful business brokers, both domestically and overseas. "He is the most well connected politician in Malaysia," notes Shamsul Amri Baharuddin, director of the Institute of Malay World and Civilization, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

"He's been in six different ministries, and this has helped him build relationships among many different people. And he's shown an ability to dish out the goodies, country-wide, from Kedah to Johor," he added, referring to two states at opposite ends of Malaysia's peninsula.

Najib's power sources begin close to home. His brother Nazri is the chief executive of CIMB, Malaysia's biggest investment bank which maintains a global presence. Nazri and two other brothers, Nizam and Johari, are also involved in GP Ocean Food, the country's biggest integrated fisheries group. Najib's cousin is Hishammudin Hussein, education minister and son of Malaysia's third prime minister Hussein Onn.

Najib's wife, Rosmah Mansor, is also said to wield significant political influence. Najib reportedly maintains close ties with the state oil giant Petronas and with many prominent businessmen, including tycoon Vincent Tan. Najib also "holds the dollar bags of the Defense Ministry," as one Kuala Lumpur-based analyst, requesting anonymity, puts it.

Transparency is scant in Malaysia. The Official Secrets Act, for instance, restricts access to information of public interest, making it difficult to accurately gauge the extent of Najib's influence and connections. Economically, Najib may prove to be a cross between Abdullah and Mahathir. In his public speeches he has called for streamlining approval procedures for potential foreign investors. He has applauded a number of Abdullah's economic policies, including the targeting of value-added large-scale agriculture and hi-tech as future sources of domestic growth. And like Abdullah he has emphasized the need to return to fiscal balance.

***

Likewise, Najib has done less than some would have hoped in tackling endemic government corruption. After UMNO's 2004 elections there were numerous allegations of money politics. Rather than calling for an independent investigation, Najib's response was to urge those making the allegations to come forward. Last year, amid criticism that the Abdullah administration's corruption drive had netted only one high-level politician, Najib said, "This is the start of UMNO's fight against money politics. We will continue to pursue it." But no high-level politicians have been formally charged since.

Elsewhere, Najib has said that allegations of vote-buying within UMNO should be an internal affair and not probed by the Anti-Corruption Agency. When a code of ethics was introduced by Abdullah in 2004, Najib publicly applauded the move, saying it would deter government officials from abusing power. Critics, however, say the new code is in the main toothless, falling well short of requiring politicians and officials to declare their assets before taking office.

Now, now, is he going to sue Asia Times Online for 'portraying the government as lack of transparency'?

Read the rest of the interview here.

Oh, in case you forgot, here is an interesting excerpt from the series of Oxford U's papers on the NEP:

The cycle of protest was intensified by a series of counter-demonstrations organised by various groups with UMNO. On the same day as the MCA-DAP joint rally, some five hundred UMNO members also held a demonstration, but the primary target of their anger was their coalition partner the MCA, rather than the DAP; demonstrators burnt MCA flags and posters (NST, 12/10/1987). Subsequently, on October 17, UMNO Youth held a rally at a disused stadium in Kampung Baru, a large Malay district in Kuala Lumpur. The rally, attended by some six thousand people, was highly chauvinistic, and the target of the protesters wrath was against the government MCA rather than the opposition DAP. Banners called for the resignation and of Lee Kim Sai, and urged the MCA to ‘go to Hell’ (pergi Jahanam). Other banners expressed broader and often violent anti-Chinese sentiments: ‘May 13 has begun’, a reference to the ethnic riots of 1969, and ‘Soak [the kris] in Chinese blood’ (Malaysia 1988: 1417). The UMNO Youth president, Najib Tun Razak, addressed the crowd, calling for Lee’s resignation and demanding that the MCA acquiesce to government policy, or else leave the BN (Asiaweek, 20/10/1987).

[Source]

Oratory Skills-Compare and Contrast

Just to refresh your memory. This is not the first time he mentioned about the 'minyak naik cam cam lagi' (drastic increase in oil prices). The latest one is this:

Abdullah said the government had long-term plans and during that period various things could take place, adding that the increase in fuel prices had an adverse impact on the current efforts of the government.

Er, I thought that we are also an oil-producing country. I'm not an economist expert, but if oil price increases=oil-producing country=profits? No?

This is for Desi (the all-time lobbier for him) and for KTemoc (his skeptic). Happy now?

Who is the most convincing one? You decide...

Oh, and last but not least, this is for Doc Mave, who has finally made the decision for a comeback. Kleenex warning ahead!

Monday, October 16, 2006

Trouble, Insinuations and Accusations Because There's No TRANSPARENCY, Dear.

He is not a very happy man upon reaching Malaysia again.

Who said that he's not happy?

M Bakri Musa likened the smile above to this “What? Me Worry?” grin of Mad Magazine’s Alfred Neuman.

"Don't insinuate. Why make insinuations? Insinuations, accusations bring no benefits. If one seeks an explanation, ask properly. Why seek explanation by insinuation? Why seek explanation by making accusations? That's not the way to go about it," he told reporters on his return from performing umrah.

Why the fruss and fuss? Was it because he saw this news?

[Source]

"If the intention is to cause a disturbance, see what will happen. If one wants to ask something, do it properly," he said.

"People will take advantage whenever they can ... they will do so with an open policy, when restricted they will want to challenge demanding why (the policy) was restrictive, why there was no transparency today, why there was no freedom ... they will take advantage.

'Take advantage'? Must have been Awang whispering to his ears again...

[Source]

"Those who want to cause trouble will take advantage (of the situation). When we are open, the trouble-makers take advantage ... it is the attitude of people to take advantage," he said.

'Take advantage' again? Sounds familiar? Yeah, it came from his SIL as well.

Asked whether his statement was a warning to the group involved, Abdullah said: "To whoever it is, whoever the case may be, Malays or non-Malays, do not cause trouble; if one wants to ask properly, do so properly.

"If people do good once, we can do so 10 times over. Once you do something bad, be careful ...'.

A final picture for all...

[Source]

Satu again?

The Malaysian Viagra™-Overdose Effect

ALL RISE...

[Source]

NO DOWN...

[Source]

p.s. This list is not exhaustive.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Pathetic Screen Capture Quality

Pathetic screen capture quality, from a 'premier' newspaper.

I thought that they have an army of ICT-savvy bloggers who are so well-known for their ~~cam-whoring~~ photography skills?

Or is it intentional to jest at the pathetic interview?

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Back-to-back CNN Talk Asia Interview With Pak Lah and Dr. M

UPDATED: Some excerpts of the interview, from Bernama:

PM Dismisses "Political Suicide" By Reversing Dr M's Decisions

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has dismissed the notion that he may be committing "political suicide" by reversing some of the decisions made by his predecessor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and be seen as rolling back on everything the latter had put in place.

Admitting that Dr Mahathir is still being held in the highest regard by many people after 22 years leading the country, the prime minister said he too commanded majority support.

"No, no, no, I don't think it's a political suicide. He has been saying a lot of things, I've decided to keep quiet and to go on doing what I want to do.

"And the people want me to do what I want to do. And I have and I still command majority support today," he said in an interview with Anjali Rao in the "Talk Asia" programme aired by Cable News Network (CNN) Saturday.

Abdullah also pointed out that not everybody appreciated it when Dr Mahathir began his criticism.

He, however, said despite his silence, he did not ignore Dr Mahathir's criticisms and have made necessary adjustments if the criticisms were relevant.

"And some I can't accept," he said when asked by Anjali if he ignored Dr Mahathir's criticism of him.

The prime minister also dismissed a suggestion that he was rolling back everything Dr Mahathir had put in place by calling off some mega projects namely a new bridge linking Malaysia and Singapore.

"Not everything he put in place. No. Vision 2020, his biggest achievement, that's my target too. That we share, I share the vision. I have developed what I call a national mission. The mission is very big in order to achieve that vision," he said.

Abdullah said he believed there were other things the Government could do to develop this country.

"We are very practical about our approach and the bridge has nothing to do with the life and death of Malaysia," he said.

To a question whether Malaysia could have achieved such a major success if Dr Mahathir did not rule the way he did, Abdullah said as the prime minister for 22 years, Dr Mahathir had achieved considerable success for the country.

"We are proud of his achievements. That's a fact," he said.

On Singapore founding father Lee Kuan Yew's remark on Sept 15 that Malaysian Chinese are being "systematically marginalised", Abdullah reiterated that it was a groundless allegation.

"Yes, it's groundless. And it is an issue that can cause unhappiness to many people. Why? Some may even regard it as tantamount to interfering with what we are doing.

"The Chinese in Malaysia are doing well. They are better off than the indigenous people, than the Malays," he said.

He said the Malaysian Chinese achieved what they have today because the Government provided them opportunities to be successful.

-- BERNAMA

Read from MKini also if you have the subscription.

I have lost count on the number of times he had said 'I'm in control', 'I'm still the PM', 'I still have the mandate' already.

***

His first ever 'live' interview with an international news agency?

[Source]

Hope that there's no 'cakap fitnah', 'biar berani kerana benar' and 'tulis surat' thingy.

Stay tuned to YouTube. His previous interview in TV3 is here.

Oh, his predecessor is up next week. Interesting.

Stay tuned also for their interview transcripts here.

Selamat menyambut bulan Ramadhan.

Quotes From New UN's Secretary General That Pak Lah Should Emulate

So you must have known by now that the South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, has been formally elected the next United Nations secretary general. Read more from Beebs.

Known for his low-key and mild-manneredness, which bears many uncanny resemblance with our favourite FIL at our backyard, he has already made several quotes, which the FIL can emulate:

"The true measure of success for the UN* is not how much we promise, but how much we deliver for those who need us most"

"We reform not to please others, but because we value what this organisation stands for"

"We cannot change everything at once. But if we choose wisely, and work together transparently, flexibly and honestly, progress in a few areas will lead to progress in a few more."

* try replacing 'U' with 'B'

Perhaps SIL can persuade FIL to ponder upon those quotes. ;)

More Oxford Papers on NEP

More papers on NEP, courtesy of SIL's alma mater (wonder if he ever reads all these). All authoured by Graham Brown of CRISE, University of Oxford; for your weekend reading, dedicated to enthusiasts like Mave and Xpyre. Enjoy!

[1] The Formation and Management of Political Identities: Indonesia and Malaysia Compared

[2] Balancing the Risks of Corrective Surgery: The Political Economy of Horizontal Inequalities and the End of the New Economic Policy in Malaysia (Must read: On how MCA became a lap dog for UMNO).

[3] Playing the (Non)Ethnic Card: The Electoral System and Ethnic Voting Patterns in Malaysia

[4] Making Ethnic Citizens: The Politics and Practice of Education in Malaysia

My favourite excerpt from [4]:

Lying alongside this relatively positive agenda of cultural and religious tolerance in the Moral Education curricula, however, is a rather more insidious agenda of, for want of a better term, political indoctrination. From the first year of primary school, pupils are taught that they have a moral obligation of ‘respect and loyalty (setia) for leaders, king and country’ (Ministry of Education 2000b, Tahun 1: 26). In year six, the field of ‘self-development’ contains a element dedicated to ‘gratitude’ (berterima kasih), in which pupils are taught that ‘national leaders are the pride of the people’; prescribed activities include writing ‘thank you letters’ to national leaders and writing poems on the theme of ‘the people’s support for their leaders’ (Ministry of Education 2000b, Tahun 6: 12 & 15). In form four of secondary school, under the section on ‘trustworthiness’ (amanah), pupils undertake activities themed on the slogan ‘clean, efficient and trustworthy’ (bersih, cekap dan amanah) – one of the BN regime’s main campaign slogans of the past two decades (Ministry of Education 2000a, Tingakatan 4: 10).

By secondary school, the Moral Education curriculum contains an entire field of study devoted to ‘patriotism’. Activities undertaken here include ‘discussing ways of showing gratitude to the government for its efforts to develop the nation and the people’ (Ministry of Education 2000a, Tingkatan 4: 23). In examining ‘freedom of speech’, pupils are encouraged to discuss the ‘bad effects’ (kesan buruk) of political demonstrations, clearly aimed at the massive reformist demonstrations of 1998, which were universally criticised by the compliant and fettered newspaper industry (Ministry of Education 2000a, Tingkatan 4: 30). Indeed, it is noteworthy that in a curriculum much of which is devoted to promoting the use of information technology as a learning aid, pupils are here specifically instructed to use the (government-dominated) newspaper industry as a source for their discussions, rather than the Internet, which proved to be one of the main vehicles for the dissemination of the reformist agenda (Abbott 2001; Brown 2004).

Wow, so much so for Pendidikan Moral indeed. A good read if you want to get bullimia upon knowing our education system.

Now you know the real agenda behind the Newspaper-In-Education (NIE) programme in schools and why blogs=devil, eh?

Oxbridge Entrance Questions: What Questions Would SIL Get?

Weird questions in order to get you in ~~weird, nerdy~~ elite universities. From Beebs:

Other quandaries posed during Oxbridge interviews included:

* At what point is a person "dead"?
* Put a monetary value on this teapot.
* Of all 19th-century politicians, who was most like Tony Blair?
* How does a perm work?

Now, now, what sort of questions would our favourite SIL got? Something like these:

[1] How 'thick' would you consider to be 'thick-skinned'?

[2] How much 'race' would you consider to be 'racist'?

[3] How many 'cards' would you play to win your 'cards' back?

[4] How 'white' would you consider 'whiter-than-white'?

[5] What is the decible would you shout in order to get Condy to ~~suck~~ meet you?

[6] What is the ratio of Remp:It in order to get a good Mat Cemerlang?

Happy answering! :)

Friday, October 13, 2006

Foreign Press 'Biased' In Haze Reporting?

Biased?

And here's one of the report on the haze by Beebs:

[Source]

And another one from The Age, Australia:

But can we blame them when our beloved adik-abang leaders came up with headlines like these:

[Source]

"The foreign press is rubbishing Malaysia. I heard Australian TV stations and the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) talk about Malaysia, (but) why not Singapore, Brunei or Indonesia? Why only Malaysia?” he asked, adding that he was saddened by such discrimination.

Wow, 'saddened by such discrimination'? I thought it is a part and parcel of our Malaysian life and we are very numb of hearing the phrase already?

Are they biased in this case when you can literally smell and taste the smoke at your own backyard? You decide...

Related post: The Upside of Haze: Time To Recycle Your Blog Posts

Ya Libnan (Lebanese Press) Is As Gullible As Malaysia's New Straits Times, Except A Little Bit Smarter

I noticed that I got a (insignificant) surge in my site traffic, coming from people searching for 'lord elie youssef najem' but never give a sh*t about this loonie, until I saw this news from Malaysian Medical Resources. So, I decided to Google-News for him and I found this news:

A Friday the 13th joke or jinx? [Source]

Yes, they were as gullible as the Malaysian press but interestingly, here is what they wrote:

Lebanon needs every help it can get and Ya Libnan is hopeful that the above pledge is for real but was unable to verify the credit worthiness of Najem. Forbes which publishes the list of all the Billionaires did not have his name listed. Whether his wealth is under an assumed name could not be also verified.

Well, unlike a particular mainstream media and their group blog who just exist to toady their political/business masters, wasting precious trees and taking up the internet bandwidth, at least this Ya Lubnan was a little bit smarter to do a check on the Forbes list.

Read also other related news on this from Naharnet and Daily Star.

Related posts:

[1] 'Elie Youssef Najem Was Prince Hector in Troy'

[2] Have You Attended Elie's Ground Breaking Ceremony?

[3] The Elie Youssef Najem Fiasco: Are Malaysians Really That Shallow?

[4] Show us the cash already, Elie!!!

[5] Biggest African-like Lebanese Scam Openly in Malaysia.

[6] MAKNA Benefactor Peter Jackson-Lookalike Loves Tongkat Ali?

Thursday, October 12, 2006

ASLI Had To Retract Paper and Quit, What About Oxford's Paper on NEP?

Now, now, if this 'rubbish' academic piece of work could cause such big controversy and 'damage has been done' (as claimed by SIL) and as also it was done by 'a particular race group who have certain agenda' (as claimed by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) political science lecturer Prof Shamsul Amri Baharuddin), what if similar research was done by 'another own particular race group' and by SIL's alma mater?

Read CRISE, Oxford's working paper "Ethnicity and Inequality in Malaysia: A Retrospect and a Rethinking" by Maznah Mohamad here.

Some interesting excerpts:

4.3. UMNO’s Politics of Relevance

After the setbacks it suffered from the 1969 election and subsequent riots, UMNO’s relevance was reinstated with the NEP. It took full control of the “interpretation” of the NEP. Its power base was dependent on rewarding Malays in exchange for loyalty. For UMNO it was the most crucial instrument for its revival and legitimacy after the 1969 election. In that election UMNO lost a large chunk of its support to the opposition, and hence it was through the NEP that UMNO was able to rebuild its credentials and legitimacy among the Malay constituents. The NEP created another opportunity structure for UMNO to build its power bases through the dispensation of political patronage, including access to material resources. The growth of “money politics” built around the largesse of the NEP made UMNO powerful. UMNO was the trustee and gatekeeper of the distribution process (Mehmet, 1986)

I'm sure there's lots more research papers on NEP. Do they have to retract and quit also?

50 Years Of A Nation: It's Blasphemy To Share Festivals

I saw these pictures and ads in theSun's Deeparaya pullout section today and realised that I'm in Fantasyland after all...

Buddy Walski has a lot more on this. Read from his blog.

My tears had long dried out already. Anyone spare to drop a tear in replacement for me?

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Bila Adik Akhirnya Berjumpa Abang...

When Adik finally meets Abang...

I'm also trying to compile information for an article which I intend to write, titled: "Welcome to Bolehland, where there's no room for intellectual and academic discourse." Watch this space.

The Departed Blog: Dr. Maverick Yeoh of Cakap Tak Serupa Bikin Calls It Quit?

After one of my greatest mutual blogger motivator, Carbon Copy has gone in a long hiatus (he is making a comeback now, it seems), my another good esteemed cyberfriend has dropped a bombshell yesterday. I wouldn't have expected that. Guess that he must have made this difficult decision after much consideration and thought.

Read from his blog.

To quote:

Time passed fast. The world continue to evolve, things continue to evolve and life activities continues to get more intense and complexities sets in. Time becomes the essence in almost everything in life. Everyone need or wants your time ... my family, my work, my friends, my studies, my writings, my exams, my students, my clients, and most of all, my blogging. Blogging takes 80% of my available time after work (because I crave to write and read the others' blogs). I had to do much consideration and re-adjustments. Time just wasn't enough and sleep just wasn't enough. My family, my children, didn't have enough of me. My studies are badly affected. My readings are badly affected. My research are badly affected. There are also negative implications to the career.

Yes, I agree with you. Blogging is just like heroin. It is totally addictive. When you read about something which provokes you to think, especially on socio-political issues, you just have to blog about it. There's just no stopping in doing that. But if you find you are too indulged in blogging until it affects your daily life and career, I'm all for you to make this difficult decision. Personally, I hope that I would not be forced to make the same decision myself one day.

And,

Blogging had become part of my life - a life line ... in my bloodstream - but it must come to an end soon. I just felt that it is time to call it a day. The time is now ... it has to be. I had to stop blogging, if not entirely, almost...I hope it is not the end of my blogging days, maybe temporarily, maybe for a year, at least, maybe, I will just pop in once a while. I hate to come to this decision, but I just had too much to do ... too much to catch up with other things.

I want to thank all my esteemed readers, particularly those who took time to post comments of which was the greatest motivator in my life as a blogger. I just hope CTSB would not end here, I hope it would also be like Pak Lah and Nazri - Cakap Tak Boleh Serupa Bikin .... I prayed it's just a hiatus. Bye, bye!

I sense that it is just a long hiatus, not a permanent stop. Therefore, I sincerely hope that you will not totally stop blogging. Less frequent updates will be expected if you're bogged up with personal assignments, but a total quit would be most saddened upon and would be a great loss to the Malaysian blogosphere indeed. Once a week update perhaps, like every Wednesday, just like M. Bakri Musa?

So long, my friend, not for long, I hope. Will miss your newspaper scans a lot. Wishing you all the best in your future undertakings.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Haze, Haze In The Air, Who's The Most Silent Of Them All?

'Change your lifestyle' bloke has said something. Not brilliantly.

Mr. 'I have a celebrity wife' has also said something.

Kodomo even said something.

~~Eunuch~~ Boey has also said something.

But guess who's the most silent (couple) of them all? No prizes for correct guesses.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Pay Up First?

Of course, most of the time, it comes with terms and conditions. Like, it is only applicable to the 'underpriveleged' or the most favourite phrase nowadays, the 'marginalised' ones. Not applicable to these 'priveleged' ones:

[Source]

[Source]

Oh, the only kind of 'pay up first' which I knew is the kow tim pay-up-first...you know, especially at those dark corners and road junctions... ;)

Related post: But makciks 'Up to Speed' ma!

Malaysian Overseas Eunuch Club: Thanks, But No Thanks...

Thanks, But No Thanks...

“By taking part in the debates, we can get first-hand information and not just secondary information via the media or internet,” he said.

Yes, I'll have to admit that the media or internet gets only the second-hand info. You are the first to get info on who's getting which part of the gravy train, which tailo is conquering which territory, and which Mou Gan Dous in giving what info now.

“... were established with the aim of helping to look after the welfare of Malaysian Chinese in foreign countries,” Lee said.

You can't even f**king make a 30-year old to apologise, you want to nose into overseas business. F**king find your balls first.

“... members residing in Malaysia and the overseas club members could let one another know what life is like and update on the latest developments,” Lee said.

What life is like? Say, life is definitely better overseas? Where meritocracy prevails? Latest developments? Say, like the 'marginalisation' is stil the same? Like how the haze is still the same?

...convey accurate information on Malaysia to Malaysians in Japan or Japanese interested in knowing more about Malaysia.

Enough of your f**king bullsh**ting brainwashing already, bloody f**king eunuchs.

“Most of our members have been in Japan for more than a decade and we are losing touch with what is happening at home,” he said.

Losing touch? Don't worry. The quality of life's still the same, some say even worse. Like mentioned above, the annual Mega Burning Fest is still annual, what else...you all know better than me.

Tam’s counterpart in Britain, Alan Ling Sie Kiong said attending the AGM enabled the overseas members to learn more about the party and the situation in the country.

Another Ling dynasty overseas? No thanks. Learn more? Like learning that your party has no f**king balls? Situation in the country? I believe there is such thing called the internet.

Again, thanks, but no thanks.

The Upside of Haze: Time To Recycle Your Blog Posts

UPDATED: It is as if I have the sixth sense...just look at Monday's theSun's front page...

Who said it? Looked like our baPAK has learnt from our PAK Lah. From theSun:

Indonesia faces obstacle to put out fires

JAKARTA: Lack of funds has seriously hampered Indonesia's efforts to put out illegal cropland fires which have sent the choking haze to other parts of Southeast Asia in the past several days, local media reports said yesterday.

Thick haze from illegal land-clearing fires and plantation estates had reduced visibility in some places of Borneo to only about 50m, forcing commercial airplanes to delay or cancel flights to several cities.

"We have run out of operational funds. Without funds, it is impossible for us to combat the fires. We need to buy fuel for extinguisher tools and for transportation," Agung Catur, head of the fire-fighting task force in central Kalimantan province, told the state-run Antara news agency.

Local authorities in south Sumatra province claimed fires raging on peat land have been difficult to extinguish because the blaze's sources were located 3m underground.

Governor of South Sumatra, Syahrial Oesman, has admitted defeat and is hoping for rainfall to douse the forest fires .

"Only the rain can put out the fires. So, let us pray and hope to Allah for an immediate rain," Oesman was quoted as saying by the daily Media Indonesia.

Fires burning in Kalimantan, and Sumatra, also forced local authorities to shutdown schools, and were blamed partly for land, river and aircraft accidents.

The annual haze phenomenon is worst during the dry season, which runs from July through October due to uncontrolled slash-and-burning practices by farmers, plantation owners and loggers.

Indonesia banned the practice of openfield burning in 1999. Anyone found guilty of breaching the law faces a maximum sentence of up to 10-years imprisonment and a 10-billion rupiah (RM4 million) fine.

According to a Reuters report, the town of Palangkaraya in Indonesia's Central Kalimantan province on Borneo, visibility fell as low as 30 to 50m.

The Antara state news agency said the air pollution index in the town was at the "dangerous" level and people were having to wear protective face masks even in their homes.

Fires were also still raging in the Sebangau National Park in the province. Reuters

***

This post is inspired by buddy Walski.

Bloggers, are your suffering from blogger's block? No ideas to blog about? Felt bored and frustrated with the haze? Well, worry not, coz it's time to dig up your old posts on the haze and post it again in your blog when it happens. I'm doing it right now.

The lightning stroke twice (and indeed more) on a day...

Global Appeal for Fresh Air-Please Donate Generously

Mmm...I like the haze...it smells good!

Perjuangan Yang Belum Selesai (Unfinished Business): Top 10 ( Possible) Malaysian Book of Records to Counter Haze

The Haze Is Back?

Fog Off! What The Fog! Not Again!

From Merdeka Fest To Membakar Fest?

And some of my favourite haze pictures (click on images for larger view):

Especially this one...the classical quote:

[Source]

"When something like this happens, we have to
ask for God's help," said Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Banking For Pay TV

Banking For Pay TV...

[Source]

“I divide the profits with my mother and save my share to install the satellite television service,” he said.

And he is waiting eagerly for the day when he too can catch the latest movies and cartoons at home.

“My neighbour is always boasting about the Bob the Builder series that he watches and I am also curious about the cartoon character,” he said.

His mother Sapiah Ismail, 38, who sells local delicacies nearby, said her son was keen on having satellite television installed in their home.

“I told him that we could not afford it. But he promised to work hard and to even pay the subscription fee, so I decided to let him go ahead with it,” she said.

I hold my piece for now, again. I let you out there to comment.

Banking On Malaysian Street Geezers and Mobs

UPDATED: They want 'special treatment' from Your Royally Force. From theSun, Monday, 9th October:

You're on your own, organisers told

Why do they need the police to control the crowd unless they feel unsafe among the Mat Rempits?" Federal traffic chief SAC II Nooryah Mohd Anvar
by Charles Ramendran

KUALA LUMPUR: Putera Umno, which plans to attract 50,000 Mat Rempits (illegal street racers) to a mammoth motor carnival in Bukit Jalil in January next year, will not see the police standing by them to control the crowd.

The carnival, whose objective is to get the Mat Rempits to sign up as members of the Umno wing, was supposed to be in November but was postponed to January as Putera Umno is seeking the assistance of traffic police to keep things under control at the carnival.

Federal traffic chief SAC II Nooryah Mohd Anvar said if the event is held, police will only carry out regular patrols and not specifically task teams to control the crowd.

She said although the carnival is a noble cause, it is the duty of the organisers to ensure the crowd behaves.

"Why do they need the police to control the crowd unless they feel unsafe among the Mat Rempits?" she asked.

Nooryah warned that the police will not be lax in enforcing the law on the Mat Rempits if they turned unruly at the gathering.

"We can't be silent and just watch when traffic laws are breached. We will not provide special teams but will carry out our usual patrols if this event kicks off.

"And if we catch them racing on public roads, riding illegally modified machines or do not have valid driving licences, then they have to face the music. We will act accordingly," Nooryah warned.

She said the Mat Rempit menace was getting out of hand with the youths jeopardising their own lives and that of innocent road users by their stunts and antics on the road.

Putera Umno head Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim was quoted by a Bahasa Malaysia daily last week as saying that as the event will be attended by thousands of teenagers, he will seek the assistance of the police to control the crowd as he did not want the event to backfire by turning unruly.

He had said Putera Umno could not handle the event on its own.

The event had drawn criticism from the public who feel it would be a mockery for the law enforcers to provide security to Mat Rempits who constantly flout the law

Also, Mat Rempit a.k.a. Mat Cemerlang is now Mat Pembunuh (Mat Murderer). Also from theSun:

21-year-old stabbed to death in Mat Rempit clash

KUALA LUMPUR: A 21-year-old youth was killed when two groups of Mat Rempit (illegal street racers) clashed over a minor accident during an illegal race on Jalan Damansara Endah, Bukit Damansara, early yesterday.

Agus Asrafi Sumarji of Kampung Pandan, who was stabbed in the chest, died an hour after being sent to the University Malaya Medical Centre at about 3am.

Brickfields police chief ACP Dzuraidi Ibrahim said investigations showed that the two groups of youths from Ulu Langat and Kampung Pandan were racing at about 2.30am.

One of the youths was said to have brushed his machine against that of another, causing the latter to almost lose control of his bike.

When the race ended, the groups confronted each other at a bus stop and a punch-up took place.

The Ulu Langat group made up of only four youths were outnumbered by the other group which comprised more than 40 men.

Police learnt that during the brawl, a member of the smaller group whipped out a knife and stabbed Agus.Minutes later,the men dispersed and the victim's friends took him to a nearby petrol station where they called the police who arrived minutes later.

Dzuraidi said three other youths were also injured in the clash.Thirteen suspects have been arrested.

***

Banking on Mat Rempits...

[Source]

Banking on them to do what?

Washing up cadavers and stirring dodols....

"Next week, there will be a programme on mandi dan sembahyang jenazah (cleansing and prayer rituals before a funeral) and a kacau dodol (dodol making) programme to prepare the delicacy for Malaysia’s peacekeeping forces in Lebanon and Afghanistan,"he said.

And most importantly...

Azeez said that in a general election, the mat rempit could help to put up posters and banners for the party.

Fair enough. If their 'marginalised' counterpart party has taikos, mah chais and Mou Gan Dous, why not them? This is an ingenious idea indeed!

So, what the next 'activity' ? Something like this:

The infamous post here.

Or most gracefully, this?

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Yue Liang Tai Piao Wo De Sin (月亮代表我的心)...

Happy Mid Autumn Festival...

Mummy, why the Chang-Er like Superman one? Image source.

It's really literally autumn now, not sure whether it is mid or not, but it's getting colder now (and hence the rising gas bills!!!).

Wai guo de yue liang bi jiao yuan? (Oversea's moon is rounder?) Neh...

Here's an authentic video from Teresa Teng, not David Tao's cikai-cikai one...

Alternatively, you can listen to an angmoh singing it here:

Untuk orang yang tak paham, inilah satu-satunya lagu Cina Datin Siti 'K' Nurhaliza yang pernah nyanyi...

The Departed: Gwai Lou Mou Gan Dou ?

It premiered in the USA and UK yesterday so I was among the first in the world to catch it.

As you may know, it is another Hollywood remake from Asian movies, but perhaps the first from Hong Kong? (Correct me if I'm wrong, Swifty). Its original movie is Mou Gan Dou or Infernal Affairs, The Trilogy.

Warning: Plot spoilers ahead.

For this movie 'review' (I don't quite consider it a review as these are just the compilation of information I got over the internet), of course unevitably, I will have to compare it with Infernal Affairs (alrite, the casts only), although I still have a very vague memory of the first in the trilogy and I haven't actually seen the rest two.

As usual, here's the movie poster:

Gwailo Mou Gan Dou.

Chink The Departed.

Starring:

Matt Damon, as Colin Sullivan, the Irish Triad's rat in the Police.

Andy Lau as Lau Kin Ming, Hiong Kong Hak Seh Wui geh kan tip.

Mr. Leonardo 'I Jump, You Jump' DiCaprio, as Billy Costigan, the Police's rat in the Irish Triad.

Tony Leung Chiu Wai as Chan Wing Yan Hiong Kong Wong Kah Keng Chak geh kan tip.

Jack Nicholson as Frank Costello, the Irish Triad Boss.

Eric Tsang Chi Wai as Hon Sam, Hiong Kong Hak Seh Wui tai lou.

Here's the movie synopsis, from Wikipedia:

The Departed is set in South Boston, where the Massachusetts State Police is waging war on the Irish Mob. Young undercover cop Billy Costigan (DiCaprio) is assigned to infiltrate the mob syndicate run by gangland chief Frank Costello (Nicholson). While Costigan quickly gains Costello's confidence, Colin Sullivan (Damon), a hardened young criminal who has infiltrated the police department as an informant for the syndicate, is rising to a position of power in the Special Investigation Unit. Each man becomes deeply consumed by his double life, gathering information about the plans and counter-plans of the operations he has penetrated. But when it becomes clear to both the mob and the police that there's a mole in their midst, Billy and Colin are suddenly in danger of being caught and exposed to the enemy—and each must race to uncover the identity of the other man in time to save himself. But is either willing to turn on the friends and comrades they've made during their long stints undercover?

And here's the movie trailer:

"Sei Kwai Lou, chau yan keh!" (Bloody angmohs, copy cat ours one), one might say. But here's a trivia for you:

The Infernal Affairs Trilogy bears great similarity to Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver.

In the prequel Infernal Affairs 2, Ming's descent into Sam's gang was in large due to his infatuation with Sam's female lover Mary. This parallels Travis Bickle's obsession with Betsy in Taxi Driver. In Infernal Affairs 3, Ming spirals into paranoia and delusion, culminating with a mass shootout at the police station. This is also similar to the climactic shootout ending of Taxi Driver. Ming's gunshot wounds and attempted suicide are also similar.

Finally, in the Directors' Cut of Infernal Affairs 3, the ending shows Ming recuperating at an asylum. A final shot of Mary appears. This emphasizes that his descent and delusion was due to his obsession with Mary.

Ironically, Martin Scorsese is directing The Departed, which is the Hollyword remake of Infernal Affairs.

Yes, the great Martin Scorsese is directing the film, partnering again with Leo DiCaprio after The Aviator. If either one of them doesn't win the Oscars this year, I don't know what to say more...

But if you haven't actually seen the original film, just like you haven't read the original Da Vinci Book before watching the film, I would say this film is fabulous!

So, in 5 words, I would describe the film as:

Smelly Rats With Bloody End.

I'm not going to go further on the storyline as some of you might be more familiar than me, so I will talk more about the actor's performance and the scenes more.

To start off with, Jack Nicholson, with his graceful acting, is almost effortless as an Irish Triad Boss, even though you don't get to see that many mah chais following him around like the Hongkies. He is never short of his sexual innuendo jokes and his mulut laser (lasered mouth). Here's some trivia on him:

Jack Nicholson signed on to play Frank Costello because he had done comedies in the past ten years, and he wanted to play a villain again, since his turn as The Joker in Batman. He has mentioned that he considers his character of Costello to be the ultimate incarnation of evil.

Yes, although the film was rated 18 by BBFC (the same as ~~porn~~ 9 Songs and ~~paedo movie~~ Hard Candy) and was never short of foul words, it is not that violent, at least no parang street fights were shown.

Matt Damon, who actually researched his role by patrolling with the police fares the best against Jack, especially when he tries to cover up his arse every time his identity is in the verge of being revealed.

"What? You're not really my real Dad?" (Matt calls Jack 'Dad' over the phone to hide his identity).

Sadly, Leonardo DiCaprio seems to have reverted back to his 'shout-the-lines' acting mode (as in The Aviator), in the vain hope of overpowering Nicholson. In short, IMHO, he is just not gu wak chai (street smart kid) enough for his character.

"Ah Leo, lengchai har, lei ng kau ku wak har, ngo ng sun lei" (Leo, my cute boy, you are not street smart enough, stick to your pretty boy roles).

Maybe I was just unfair to him here. That's why it is bad to have a one-time, big-shot, character sterotyping (as for him, after Titanic). Like Orlando Bloom, what more roles could he actually venture in besides pretty boy roles such as Pirates. His Calcium Kid failed miserably.

Mark Wahlberg (as Lam Kah Tung's character?) and relatively unknown, Vera Farmiga (as Kelly Chen's role, the psychiatrist) are also two hidden gems in this film. And yes, Vera seemed to get a lot more time compared to Kelly in this film.

Gwai Lou Lam Kah Tung.

Gwai Lou Kelly Chan Wai Lam.

Now, who played Sammi Cheng and the negligible Elva Hsiao's roles in this film? Watch it to find out more...

Some of the memorable quotes are here. But my favourite one would be this:

They don't earn that much, so what do you expect. They are like working in a fuedal company anyway!

So is the quote referring to our Royally Force or the Irish triad in the movie? You make the decision...

Overall, I would rate the film as 7/10. It is worthwhile watching (if the Malaysian Censorship Board is kind enough to not censor the f**k words and the bullet in the head scenes, just like what they did to Snakes on Plane and Remp-It). Don't lar go and say 'if not for Hong Kong's Infernal Affairs, Martin Scorsese wouldn't have done it'. Kwok yau kwok hou (Each film has their strength's).

Friday, October 06, 2006

Pak Lah: "I Have My Own Sweet Time To Deliver Election Promises"

From theSun, 6th October, pg 2.

Report on bumi equity inaccurate: PM

PUTRAJAYA: The prime minister has described the report released by the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (Asli) on the New Economic Policy as inaccurate, baseless and irresponsible.

The report, which concluded that the NEP target of 30% bumiputra equity had been achieved, and in fact exceeded, had drawn criticism from various quarters which maintain that the equity was 18.9% in 2004.

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi questioned the accuracy of the report as it was based on a survey of 1,000 companies.

He said the information and documents used by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) when preparing the 9th Malaysia Plan involved surveys on 600,000 companies in Malaysia.

"When information is inaccurate and the base of the survey is inaccurate, how can the conclusion made be accurate.This is an inaccurate conclusion."

He said if this conclusion is used as a basis for discussion in public forums, it could cause various reactions, "which I think is not good".

Abdullah said the report had raised many questions and could cause people to make accusations against others.

"The action of tabling the survey, which in my opinion is incomplete and inaccurate, is something I see as irresponsible."

He said the survey's treatment of government-link companies (GLCs) as bumiputra concerns is incorrect as they are government companies.

"If everybody think GLCs are bumputra, it is wrong and it will create a lot of anger. It is not right and is very irresponsible." He was speaking to reporters after chairing the 5th meeting of the National Implementation Task Force for the 9th Malaysian Plan at his office here.

Asked if he planned to call for a snap general election after Umno decided to postpone its party election next year, he said: "Why should I? Give a reason why I should."

On whether he was seeking another huge mandate from the people,Abdullah said he still had a lot of time to deliver his promises to them.

Asked about the cabinet's stance on Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's reply letter, Abdullah said he had nothing further to say.

"The cabinet agreed with my stand and the decision I had made."

Asked if he considered the issue closed, he added that he was not making any more statements on it.

"We can't tell them what to say or not to say. As far as I am concerned, I have said what I have to say."

Aside from this matter, he said relations between the two countries are the same and there has not been any other repercussions.

On the task force meeting, Abdullah said it discussed ways to improve the standard of schools and teaching in rural areas as many of them are lagging.

Among the steps to be taken are to improve laboratory facilities, including computers, electricity and water supply and increasing the number of teachers.

About the status of projects under the 9MP, he said about 50% of projects have been tendered out, adding that he wanted things to move faster.

I hold my piece here. I leave it for you out there to comment, especially those red bolded ones.

Congratulations, UM and UKM! You Are Still World's 200 Best

UPDATED: Managed to fork out £ 1.40 to pay for this NST-thin The Times Higher Education Supply yesterday (Fri, 6th October 2006).

£ 1.40, eh? Now you know why these rankings matter! They wanna make money!

I don't normally buy THES, but here's specially for you education enthusiasts out there. As for me, my interest of these ranking has wanned out already. What's the point of going to the 3rd top university in the world while you're still being a racist mob and a jerk?

Nevertheless, here's The World's Top 200 Universities List, complete with the breakdown of peer review score (40%), recruiter review (10%), international faculty score (5%), international students score (5%), faculty/student score (20%) and citations/faculty score (20%). I've also included the editorial page, the methodology page and the page on NUS. Download the full PDF here (resolution so-so only but still acceptable). Feel free to distribute it as I don't have any watermark on it but please kindly quote that you've sourced it from The Sensintrovert.

UKM scored 0 for the citations/faculty score. UM scored 1 for that. Click on image for larger view.

And last but least, this postcard I got from Oxford couldn't come more aptly now:

***

This might come in a bit late, so read it from Kit and Tony.

Remember this last year?

Contoh papan tanda pencemar bahasa. Akan didenda RM 1000. (A fine example of 'language polluter'. Will be fined for RM 1000)

Embrace yourselves for this, this year:

2007: Masih '500 Gedung Ilmu Terbaik Dunia'?

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Malaysia Space Centre: A White Elephant?

I had my finest laugh when I saw this piece of news. How long more before we stop fooling ourselves and really come back to reality?

Here's my point-by-point analysis, since the MSM is only interested in toadying their political/business masters.

Title: PM: Centre shows our success in space science

Er, excuse me, what success do we have so far? Did we perform a space surgery lately? And oh, I heard that our finest cuisines are not even going to space after all? And it doesn't help when Datuk Dr. Mazlan Othman had to put her foot in her mouth when she could only come out with a very 'scientific' experiment. Was any of the scientific experiments to be performed in our space mission ever being mentioned?

BANTING: The newly launched Malaysia Space Centre signifies the country’s achievement in space science, said Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Eh, is the 'Malaysia Space Centre' the same as this har? I might want to bring my kids later.

The National Planetarium at Jalan Perdana, KL.

The Prime Minister said the Government was committed to enhancing the country’s capacity in space science research and innovation because Malaysia could not become a developed country without building on this important field.

Wah! 'Could not'. Yeah, we 'could not' but we still 'could' when we still do not know the reason behind the sugar shortage. We 'could' when we are still having our annual Mega Burning Fest. We 'could' when we legalise corruption, cronyism, nepotism, and oh, Mat Cemerlangs.

“To compete with developed countries, I believe we have to master the various fields of science and technology, including astronomy,” he said when launching the centre yesterday.

Alrite, you may have your point here. But please refer to the above rebuttal.

The RM100mil space centre is located on a 161.8ha plot of land in Kampung Sungai Lalang here and equipped with state-of-the-art laboratories to assist in work relating to satellite systems.

There goes our hard-earned tax-payers money again when we say that we can't afford to increase the salaries of our civil servants which includes our Royally Force.

It has the capability to monitor and communicate with the Malaysian astronaut who would be assigned to the International Space Station.

Erhmm, I can 'monitor' and 'communicate' with my family thousand miles away with MSN, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk, Skype, [insert your favourite video conferencing software]. F.O.C. Sans TMNut Screamyx, of course.

Besides this centre, the Government has set up a national observatory in Langkawi, with the country’s first robotic telescope to enable the observation of space through the Internet.

May I question why the need of two centres? Langkawi, eh? Are you buying a sweet for your predecessor?

On the first Malaysian to go to space, Abdullah said that because the astronaut was a Muslim, the Government had to address how he could practise his religious obligations in space.

“We want our astronaut to show to the world that Islam is not a hindrance to development but can also explore space,” he added.

Ooopsie, they have shown it already:

Muslimin (22 years ago. 22? A familiar number?):

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

And The Incitement Continues...

UPDATED: Just as what I would expect, they have responded. Read from MKini here.

And The Incitement Continues...

Did I hear some people already lighting torches and marching towards their building already?

Citizen Nades Does Not 'Pity Him Lar'

Remember 'Pity Him Lar'?

Citizen Nades saves himself from pity by NOT pitying him. From theSun:

Sweet messages about bitter medicine

As long as the hawker displays a price sheet with the prices prominently displayed, nothing can be done. There is no law in the country which can prevent him from selling mee at RM100 a plate!
by R. Nadeswaran

IF you are invited for tea at the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry or by its officials, you'd be better off declining it.

That's because the ministry and its officials are trying to tell us to use one tea bag for every 10 cups of tea! Not exactly though, but by words to that effect.

The minister, Datuk Mohd Shafie Apdal, in his festive season message via a full-page advertorial, suggests that consumers should "minimise the use of ingredients such as sugar and flour by making cookies with less of such ingredients".

How the heck do you make cookies without the right amount of ingredients?

The advertorial is not the only media the ministry is spending on.

Hoards of billboards have sprouted with all kinds of messages which make little sense. (And the legality of the billboards, will of course be discussed later.) Why are our civil servants making the minister look stupid with such unkind statements?

Didn't someone go through the copy and make the necessary changes so as to prevent causing embarrassment to the minister?

There are many "facts" in the advertorial which ridicule the minister's understanding of his role.

For example, the minister is quoted as saying: "If there are any price increases, report it and we will take action."

What action, Sir, can you take if the hawker increases the price of a plate of fried mee by 10 sen?

As pointed out several times in this column, nothing can be done zilch! As long as the hawker displays a price sheet with the prices prominently displayed, nothing can be done.

There is no law in the country which can prevent him from selling mee at RM100 a plate! So, why keep on deceiving the people into believing that the ministry has some magical power over every eatery in the country?

The advertorial also says "the ministry will do everything to make sure traders do not profit unscrupulously.

What is his definition of "unscrupulously"?

A glass of tea in the warong is 80 sen; RM1.20 in a restaurant; RM6 in a cafe and RM14 in a fivestar hotel. All use the same ingredients.

So, if someone can do it for 80 sen, then, are the others unscrupulous?

Why hasn't the ministry acted against the hotels which charge astronomical sums for food?

Sir, it all boils down to market forces supply and demand. If no one wants to pay RM14 for a cup of tea at the hotel, it will be forced to bring it down.

But as long as there are consumers who are willing to part with their money, there's nothing the ministry can do.

Talking about supply and demand, what is the ministry doing about the shortage of sugar that has plagued this country for the past four months?

The minister and his officials are busy posing for photographers and camera crews visiting shops and supermarkets with slogans of "there will be enough sugar", but the reality on the ground is quite different.

So, tell us why the country is suddenly running short of sugar? Is it because Malaysians have doubled their intake of sugar?

Is it because manufacturers have halved their production?

The former sounds incredible and the latter more probable.

But if manufacturers are cutting production, isn't there a mechanism in place to penalise them?

Even if there is a production problem, why can't licences be issued to businessmen to import sugar? Or is there a monopoly (as there was in the case of APs for cars) when it comes to imports of sugar?

Having more train wagons to ferry sugar is not the answer. First, there must be enough sugar to be transported. So, where's the source of the problem?

Can't the ministry work with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) to issue permits for more sugar importers or is the latter protecting the interests of a few?

It is no use talking in whispered tones and off-record when the problem is a reality and consumers continue to suffer.

And by the way, is the ministry aware that some of its so-called messages are placed on unlicensed and illegal billboards?

Shouldn't the ministry be setting an example by going by the book and complying with all the requirements?

Besides, shouldn't it be helping the Road Safety Department by ensuring motorists have their eyes on the road and not a TV screen in front of them?

Why then is the ministry running its television commercials on giant screens at road junctions? R. Nadeswaran is deputy editor (special reporting) at theSun. He can be reached at citizen-nades @thesundaily.com.

Remember this?

[Source]

'The Orphaned Children' Poem

Putra
by Hardial Singh

Why do you forsake me Mother?

I was born of your womb
Drank your milk
Sung your songs
Cheered for you
when you triumphed
And consoled you
when you suffered defeat
Spoke your tongue
And defended you against others
Felt your pulse
And responded to you sublimely.

Was it because

My skin colour was darker (or fairer)?
I looked different from the others?
I spoke your tongue hesitantly?
And dressed differently?

That you never regarded me
As your ‘putra’?

Do you know Mother
That you drove me into
The arms of a Foster mother?

Amongst her children
My skin is now darker
My looks even more different
My tongue even stranger
And I can hardly sing her songs.

But even though not of her womb
I can demand to be treated equally

And do you know Mother

That though I sometimes cannot
Feel my Foster mother's pulse
And respond to her sublimely.

She accepts me
As her ‘putra’

Where you would not?

[Source]

Miss Malaysia Was Passenger In Turkish Airliner Hijack Drama

UPDATED: More than 24 hours after you have heard it first from The Sensintrovert, the MSM (mainstream media) reported it here.

Okay, enough of narcissism and angkat bakuls here. Can we get back to 'apologies', 'marginalisations' and oh, 'the haze'?

***

The latest from Beebs:

Miss Malaysia in Miss Globe International 2006 Pageant, that is.

This pageant:

Visit the pageant's website here.

And here are the stats for Miss Malaysia.

Name: Angie Goh
Age: 23
Hair Colour: Black
Eyes Colour: Black
Height: 172 (cm)
Weight: 52 (kg)
Bust: 33 (in)
Waist: 25 (in)
Hip: 36 (in)
Hobbies: Dancing
Special talent: Dancing
Ambition: To be successful in both professional and social activities

And for the benefit of my readers across the Causeway, here is your beauty queen, who was also on the flight:

This is yet another beauty pageant news brought to you by The Sensintrovert.

NST Seeks Toady Paddy Bowie As Proxy

Apologies if there are too many rhymes in the title.

Well, what more could you expect from this press ~~and its group-blog~~ except to propagandate and to serve its political/business masters.

[Article here]

First, Rocky Bru, a former NSTP group journalist, briefly mentioned about the article.

Then, mGf, Desiderata The Dissenter, wrote an excellent rebuttal for that article. Check it out here.

I just happened to have a quick Google search on the name 'Paddy Bowie' and guess what I found. I leave you all to check it out all these:

Her profile is here.

How she decribed the Badawi phenomenon here.

How she ~~apple-polished~~ spoke good about her boss here. (Isn't the job of consultant supposed to be like that?)

Guess you know how 'independent' and 'free-thinking' these columnists who write for the MSM could be, eh? Yes, and that includes those blo...ah, you-know-who.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Flip-Flop-F**k: The Keris Edition

Sept 12th: "Hell No!"

[Source]

Oct 2nd: "Drag 'em to jail, muthaf**ka"

[Source]

And here's the obligatory picture:

Bye-Bye B&W Terengganu Flag

Don't like the national anthem's tempo? Change it! Don't like it? Change it again!

Don't like a university's name? Change it!

Don't like the Federal Territory flag? Change it!

Don't like the Terengganu flag? Change it! Contest somemore!

Bye-bye B&W. Whiter-than-white maybe, eh? You know the KJ and Patrick 'Badawi' Lim team is based there...

What's next? Since we are already in the verge of becoming one already, how about this?

Picture source from buddy Walski.

Don't like the gomen? Make sure you know what to do...

Steve Irwin Would Have Wept If He Was Still Alive and Visited Kuching

Why?

K.I.L.L.

[Source]

K.I.L.L.

K.I.L.L.

[Source]

Read also here.

I mean, what's the f***ing point???

Excerpts of Harry Lee's Apology Letter and There's More On The Crooked Bridge Drama...

UPDATED: Read also from Bernama.

I was just wondering what took them so long to publish this news, only in the still (or steal?) of the night, just like the fuel hike. Some players on the fourth floor?

Oh, the letter was dated 29th Sept.

Also, "You want it front page, Sir? You get front page!"

***

C&P from The Star. ~~Still waiting for the internet to reveal the full transcript of the letter~~ The full text of the letter is here.

Lee Kuan Yew: I am sorry for the remark

Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has told Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi that he was sorry for the "discomfort" caused by comments he made about how Malaysia treats its minority Chinese.

Lee, who is the said after a decade of troubled relations with Abdullah's predecessor (Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad) it was the last thing he wanted.

"I am sorry that what I said has caused you a great deal of discomfort. After a decade of troubled relations with your predecessor, it is the last thing I wanted.

"I had no intention to meddle in your politics. Indeed, I do not have the power to influence Malaysia's politics or to incite the feelings of the Chinese in Malaysia,"he said in a letter dated Sept 29 forwarded to Abdullah's office in Putrajaya by Singapore High Commissioner T. Jasudasen yesterday.

A copy of the three-page letter was made available by the Singapore High Commission here last night.

Abdullah had written to Lee on Sept 25 seeking clarification over the latter's controversial remarks that the attitude of Malaysia and Indonesia towards the republic was shaped by the way they treated their Chinese communities.

Lee thanked Abdullah for the letter and said he made the remarks in a free-flowing dialogue session with former US Secretary of Treasury Larry Summers before many foreign delegates attending the IMF/WB meeting on Sept 15.

He also included in the letter the transcript of the relevant passage as reported by Reuters.

"Let me sum it up nicely, why you must have a government in Singapore which is really firm, stout-hearted, subtle and resolute. My neighbours both have problems with their Chinese.

"They are successful, they are hard working and therefore, they are systematically marginalized, even in education. There are quotas to prevent you.

"So, you've got to make money to go abroad or go to one of the private universities which are being set up. And they want Singapore, to put it simply, to be like their Chinese, compliant.

MORE ON THE CROOKED BRIDGE DRAMA...

"So every time, we say `No' to some scheme to knock down the Causeway and build a bridge, he says, `Oh you're not cooperative, you're only thinking of yourself'. For no rhyme or reason, we knock down a causeway, nearly 100 years old, which served us well. He wants to build a bridge because it looks pretty and he says ships will sail and his containers can move from the East Coast to the West Coast via this.

"But we say no. So, we said, "All right, if you give us commensurate benefits, we'll agree". But you need a government who'll be able to, not only have the gumption, but the skill to say `No' in a very quiet, polite way that doesn't provoke them into doing something silly," Lee said.

He said that on the bridge and the half bridge to remove the Causeway, Abdullah made the position of the Malaysian government clear that Malaysia respected legally binding agreements and acted in accordance with international law.

"This made unnecessary a reference to ITLOS (International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea) and the International Court of Justice that would otherwise have been unavoidable. This respect for the law is the basis for sound long-term relations between us," he said.

Lee said he was explaining to a liberal audience of westerners who wanted to see a stronger opposition in Singapore why the republic needed a strong majority government, not a weak coalition that would hamper it in defending its national interests.

"Singapore needs a strong government to maintain good relations with Indonesia and Malaysia and to interact with Indonesian and Malaysian politicians who consider Singapore to be Chinese and expect Singapore to be 'sensitive' and comply with their requests," he said.

All's well ends well. There is a common enemy out there after all, if you know what I mean...

Monday, October 02, 2006

Why The Cops Are Still The 'Kings'

Well, I know Malaysians are generally amnesiac, so let's take a look at very recent examples.

First, they slashed the traffic fines and put it on frontpage, without 'going throught the Cabinet' yadda-yadda.

Then, just today, they wanted the traffic speed to be reduced and already on the verge of implementing it. But the RTD said "Hold your guns (literally?)".

Also, none of the mainstream media (MSM) reported on the Baldgate II. Read here for more details.

IPCMC= Aye Pi See Emm Cee? [Want to go see (doctor) for MC (for you-know-what the good cops have done?)]

The Star Wouldn't Report On Campus Election Bias, So They Sent A Proxy Writer Instead

They previously reported it as 'very smoothly'. Nothing was mentioned on the posh hotel stay. Zilch on the turning off electricity in residential colleges to force students to vote. So they sent in this proxy as 'Lu Mati, Lu Punya Pasai':

High jinks in student politics?

COMMENT
By AZMI SHAROM

STUDENT politics bores me. Nothing can be more soul-numbing than a bunch of young people whining about the poor food in their colleges or the lack of parking spaces for the cars that daddy bought them.

My interest in student elections is therefore not based on the issues but on the process itself. This interest arises out of my dual role as a lawyer and as an educator.

Let’s take the first role: the lawyer. Lawyers are often the brunt of unflattering jokes and usually we tell the best ones. But amidst the snide comments about our shark-like tendencies, it is forgotten that at the core of our values should be justice and fairness. If we don’t have these ideals, then really, what’s the point of being a lawyer?

In the interest of fairness and justice then, it is important to make sure that things are run in a manner that reflects these two ideals. In this sense, I do not think that the way student elections are conducted on our public university campuses pass muster. Let’s begin by looking at the less contentious points first.

The rules in place with regard to campaigning are really laughable. There are banners and posters put up here and there but they say absolutely nothing except the name of the candidate. There is no mention of their policy grounds and their campaign promises. This is made worse by the fact that the candidates are given about a day to campaign! Add to this the ban on the creation of formal coalitions, and what you get are voters who have little opportunity to know who they are voting for. It makes a mockery of the idea of a true democracy.

Why the crazy rules? There has been since the 70s a fear on the part of the Government that students are a political force to be reckoned with. This was why the draconian University and University Colleges Act (UUCA) was passed; to neuter this force. In the late 1990s, in the fervour of reformasi, again student bodies were at the forefront calling for political change.

In the light of all this, efforts have been made to make sure that university elections cannot reflect in any way real politics. That is why the system is set up to be so utterly sterile and insipid. As though it is not bad enough that the UUCA prevents students from having any sort of political party allegiances, their campus politics are emasculated to such an extent that it becomes near impossible to reflect any sort of political views.

Now we get to the contentious issues. Not content with stifling the entire election process, university authorities then decide to get actively involved by clearly supporting one group of student candidates over another. The group of choice is known as the Aspirasi group. All sorts of lavish treatment are given to this group, and its candidates are seen very much as the university’s candidates of choice.

Certain activities which can be seen to be in contravention of the UUCA like the Selangor state government’s treating Aspirasi candidates to a stay in a luxury hotel in Petaling Jaya prior to the elections this year, go unquestioned.

It’s rather funny that students would align themselves with the university authorities when really they should be aligning themselves with the student body, but never mind, different strokes for different folks. The problem here is that this sort of cosiness breeds a mentality that somehow the Aspirasi members are a sort of semi-university authority.

I argue that that is why the student representatives of a public university who abused fellow students for merely setting up a help desk behaved in that way. They obviously thought that their thuggish behaviour was being done on behalf of their university. The fact that they did not get even the mildest slap on the wrist seems to show that the university too believes this.

What is worse are the accusations, so far not properly investigated, that university authorities and Aspirasi candidates actually threaten students with expulsion from residential colleges if they do not vote for Aspirasi.

Things also take a fishy turn when votes are marked in such a way as to be traceable back to the voter, and electronic voting, as conducted in some universities, cannot be scrutinised.

Speaking of scrutiny, I wonder why a recent delegation of Aspirasi members begged the Government not to allow Suhakam to monitor student elections. I have always thought that if you have nothing to hide, it matters not if you are being scrutinised. Obviously, I’m mistaken.

This practice of favouring one camp over the other is not limited to election time either. Worrying reports from students suggest that for ordinary student projects, Student Affairs will be more helpful if the project members were Aspirasi supporters. If this is true, and please note I am not saying it is, then what we have here is full-scale corruption.

It is imperative that all universities are thoroughly investigated by a neutral third party to come to the truth. Are student elections being conducted in a manner that is as constitutional and as democratic as possible? Are allegations of Student Affairs’ unethical involvement in student politics and everyday student activities true?

If these allegations are true, they must be put to a stop. If they are not true, let it be shown by a neutral third party that they are not true.

Although not completely definitive, an occurrence during the last student elections is worrying and is further reason why a proper investigation should be conducted. What happened was that the voting for two faculty representatives had to be done again because the number of votes was more than the number of voters. The original vote was done at the various colleges. The re-election was done at the Faculty concerned.

In the first vote, an Aspirasi candidate came first, narrowly followed by an independent candidate. In the re-election, the two independent candidates won by a margin far larger that the original vote.

What this shows are two possibilities. Either the original votes were tampered with or that students voted differently when the venue for the election was a neutral one. (Colleges have a reputation of being very pro-Aspirasi.)

As an educator, I pray that these allegations can be proven to be categorically untrue. Because if they are true, then what are we teaching our young people? That it is OK to have an electoral system that favours one group over all else? That it is OK to use one’s power to behave in an unethical manner so that one can win?

If these are the lessons being imparted – and remember they are being imparted to the future leaders of a nation that is supposedly a democracy –then God help us all. Because a nation led on cynical Machiavellian pragmatism and not the ideals of democracy and fair play would be a poor nation indeed.

# Dr Azmi Sharom is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, Universiti Malaya.

Dr Azmi had also granted an interview for theSun. Read about it here.

Meanwhile, the latest development on the 'thuggish behaviour done on behalf of their university' is here.

theSun has a different approach on this. Read on if you are interested:

Why the polls discrepancies, UM asked
by Pauline Puah

PETALING JAYA: Universiti Malaya (UM) should explain the discrepancies in the campus election a fortnight ago which resulted in a byelection to select the law faculty representatives for the student council.

A law student, who declined to be named for fear of disciplinary action, said although it was good for the university to call for a fresh election after some students complained about the irregularities, the university has yet to explain what happened.

theSun understands that the by-election was called because of phantom voters.

At a residential college polling centre, even though 68 law students were registered to vote, 71 students turned up, and it was announced during the election results that there were 72 ballot papers.

Four students contested for the two law faculty seats in the student representative council.

Samuel Leong and Nur Atina Markiman were independent candidates, and Tan Guat Cheng and Zuhair Rosli were the pro-Aspirasi or pro-establishment candidates, respectively.

In the earlier election on Sept 21, Leong and Tan won. However, in last Wednesday's by-election, which was moved from the residential colleges to the law faculty, Tan lost while Nur Atina was voted in.

Leong garnered 263 votes and Nur Atina 206 out of the total 410 votes. The 410 students who voted represented 86% of the 475 students who were registered voters.

In local campus politics, students have been labelled as either belonging to the pro-Aspirasi or antiestablishment factions.

In this year's campus election, the proestablishment faction in UM won overwhelmingly. Following the by-election, pro-establishment students hold 36 of the 41 seats, and Gagasan Mahasiswa UM, an anti-establishment coalition member, three seats. With Leong's and Nur Atina's by-election victory, there are two independents in the student council.

UM vice-chancellor Datuk Rafiah Salim said in a telephone interview that as far as she was concerned, the issue of irregularities had been settled.

"I personally decided for the by-election to be held. What else do they (students) want us to do? In fact, I can say `no' to a by-election, but I want the students to learn from the process," she said.

She said there should not be any more allegations of irregularities since the proAspirasi students had lost in the by-election. She said the students should learn that "the reality of life" was that no election was perfect.

Asked if she was willing to discuss a proposal from a group of law students for amendments to campus election rules and regulations, Rafiah said: "This is an internal issue, we should talk about it internally."

Oh, also see how Wong (the single Wong lar, the other chow liao) tried to gain back some of their eunuch's balls while his other counterpart columnist continues to embark on building his own empire.

Australian Muslim Wins Third Placing in Miss World 2006

C&P from The Daily Telegraph, Australia:

Czech out our Sabrina

HER heritage spans the globe. And now Australia's multicultural beauty queen Sabrina Houssami has finished third at the Miss World 2006 beauty contest.

The 20-year-old university student from Georges Hall, who caused a stir in the Muslim community when she declared she was happy to wear a bikini for the contest, was one of 104 young women vying for the coveted diamond crown.

For the final night of the competition, held in Warsaw, Poland, she wore a stunning white floor-length gown trimmed with silver.

An estimated television audience of two billion people from 200 countries used the internet and text messages to vote Czech Republic student Tatana Kucharova, 18, the winner.

The Miss World winner is Tatana Kucharova from Czech Republic with Romania's Joana Valentina Boitor, 17, as the runner up.

Houssami, the glamourous daughter of a Lebanese-Muslim father and Indian-Hindu mother, had ignored criticism from Muslim clerics who slammed beauty contests as a "slur on Islam'', saying she was happy to wear a swimsuit for the pageant judges because it was for charity.

Houssami said her religion was a private matter and if wearing a bikini helped her to raise money for a good cause it should not be against the rules.

So far, she has raised more than $1.2 million for charity through her pageant work. She hopes to become a television journalist when she graduates, using her profile to "raise awareness of philanthropic ventures.''

The Miss World organisers said this year's final offered the largest-ever participation of voters around the world using the internet and text messages.

The London-based Miss World pageant is a different competition from the US-run Miss Universe contest won by Australia's Jennifer Hawkins in 2004.

And here are some photos for you to cuci mata (Yes, they are true beauties, not Rojaks' Ahqua/Papaya Farm):

Tat's life ... the new Miss World takes it all in after the ceremony.

Hail the queen ... Tatana Kucharova waves after being crowned.

Sabrina's bewitching ... Aussie Sabrina Houssami, who came third, with Tatana and, in second place, Miss Romania Ioana Valentina Boitor.

Unnur's a stunner ... Miss World 2005 Unnur Birna Vilhjalmsdottir of Iceland kisses the 2006 winner Tatana Kucharova of the Czech Republic as Miss Australia Sabrina Houssami applauds.

And save the best for the last: