Time to Quit, Samy!

I get sick the moment I read news of Samy Vellu or when the paper man back in the Ipoh house says that word "That Bloody Bastard."

Samy Vellu remains the only leader left who has yet to hand over power to a younger person. If Dr M hands over leadership to AAB, or Ling Leong Sik handing over to OKT and LKY handing over to Koh Tsu Koon, why is he isn't doing that so?

Samy is now at 71, he can't hold on that long. He has to retire already. As according to Malaysiakini, Lim Kit Siang is pushing for it.

When the HINDRAF broke out, the government only started to act immediately. Just as what Chan Kong Choy should have done earlier to stop the Bukit Gantang bus accident or the ferry incident at Tioman Island, Samy Vellu isn't doing anything. But now, it turns as a desperation for the BN government. The toll price increase, the MIC hotline, these are those desperate things implemented last minute for they know that the support for them is starting to drop and they can't risk losing to the opposition.

Remember that the police actually started the whole mess at the rally, so it is them they should have the $100 million ringgit in hand because if the court finds them responsible, they will risk paying a lot of money to those whom they beat up that day. $2.5 million has been given in damages and compensation to Malek Hussain, and I am sure they do not want to pay more to them. But then again, people gets back their own money..it's tax payer's money, right?

Mainstream Media - Aiming To Please

I asked around some friends around of telling things from the Star, notably from my brother, my cousin and my friend Edmund, and the first thing they said about the papers, take NST or the Star is that most domestic articles, with exception to sports, world and are aimed to please the 4th Floor boys.

Yes, I tend to feel it now when I read these stuff on the papers. With exception for crime news, most articles are written based on the dictation by the ministers of Bolehland in power. Anything bad about the government is never covered here for the fear of backlash by the 4th Floor boys.

Uneducated idiots.

One week, the paper was covering the wake of Mr. Genting, Lim Goh Tong, instead of the important part of lawyers march. Is the lawyers march more a pressing matter than the Mr. Genting thing? All in all, when I read some articles like this one from Bernama, I feel it is not critical but aiming to please.

The thing that angered me a few weeks ago is the instruction by Musa Hassan to say that this number of people got arrested and only a small number showed up for the BERSIH rally. This was only the numbers on Friday, not on the rally day itself. The fear here is that people will be mislead by the spin doctors of Putrajaya.

The editors, well I had some sympathy as well as Shar, who spoke to me about whether Is the Mainstream Media Sulking? Yes, they are under pressure to censure those stuff that could inflict the wrath of the 4th Floor people.

There are things that tend to mislead, but not many people are aware of such things, which is why there is campaign of boycotting the papers. They are going on to show the government that the mainstream media are puppets and politically owned. I don't really blame the reporters or the editors, it's just that just Anwar Ibrahim said that 4th Floor spin doctors are semi-literate.

Remember during the UMNO assembly that the Mamak of Merbok got ticked off by the name Malaysiakini? Now he suggested paper on the wall? Go back to Merbok, fool!

Trust is Something That Kills

Everybody says that the police were the ones that started the trouble among the Indians during the HINDRAF rally last week. So now, Malaysiakini reports from today's SUHAKAM conference that there's plenty of body contact between the police and protesters, and targets more on Indian guys. This is indeed a stark contrast to what IGP Musa Hassan said the other day. Musa stills remains in active denial mode.

KL OCPD Zulhasnan Najib has committed a FATAL mistake for the second time by refusing a permit for peaceful rally. This, in conjunction with Bedol Napoleon and SIL, demanding police to arrest those who participate in the assembly shows that:

1. The police is just another extension of the Bolehland government that takes orders.
2. Trust is something that will kill a person.

The second indeed is what the police is believing right now.

Back in New York, during the gang wars long time ago, people get mistrustful of the others save for their close relatives or loved ones. I supposed that this kind of thing carried over in everyone's lives. Zulhasnan, at the time before the rally, was full of What If's, and was on the borrowed time. If he decides to go ahead and approve it himself, he gets backlash from high superiors and the interference from the government. Or he decides to lay low and play their games by refusing their permit.

There is no police independence here.

Harv Eker once said: "The only reason you believe is because it had credibility from past information and programming."

In this context, the police did not re-examine their believes based on who they are today and what they want to be tomorrow. That is why, to this day, the police remains untrustable towards people who want to hold rallies. To succeed in live, you need to put trust into those who you be involving them with. If there is no trust in the beginning, you are not likely to see the fruits of your new believes.

They could have gone ahead, and help to make sure things go well. Nuff said. But no, they decided against it. Just like the semi-literate ministers, long on brutality, short on foresight.

Alright, this coming few weeks, there is going to be another three more rallies. If Zulhasnan decides to turn down again, he's not taking care of others but saving his ass from the bureaucrats. How are they going to contain 100000 people in total, for example, if the cops, especially the CID department and Bedol Napoleon decide to arrest all participants? You can't fill everyone inside the detention cells in Kamunting, Simpang Renggam, or Sungai Buloh.

The problem is Bedol Napoleon is full of advisors intending to take advantage of the knowledge by misleading him. Some want him out by forcing his hand. The threat of using the ISA is one moment that would force him to do the unthinkable. When that happens, when the news spread out to the world, he will face great pressure from everyone.

Sick in Bed

I was down with a virus early this morning, which I felt that my legs were numbing and my head is spinning with pain.

So, I decided to take a half-day medical leave off and going back to take a sleep, which might help me. I thought I was able to pull through the entire afternoon, but somehow, I couldn't hold that for long. Rather than spreading the virus to certain people, like two of my colleagues does, I decided to have a rest there.

What am I going to have tonight?

Who The Hell is Harv Eker?

Who the hell is he?


He's the author of Secrets of the Millionaire Mind in which I attended last week. I came down to Singapore last week to attend this course that is offered for free. It was fortunate for me to have a place to stay because all hotels down there were fully booked.

Now I know why he has a T. initial included in his name. The T symbolizes as "The One and Only". He said, in this world, there is only one and only person that is yourself. There is no one else in the world that is a duplicate of you, which was why he deliberately put a T there.

The first day was frustrating because I did not have proper sleep after arriving in Singapore. I thought of cursing the other guy Rob as I didn't feel the humor and excitement than Harv does. But it all changed during the second day.

That seminar intensive was teaching us of how Millionaires think. There are of course hilarious and excitement moments including dancing sessions, but the climax of the show is a stunt called "The Leap of Faith."

The Leap of Faith serves as a metaphor that various challenges will not be attempted if you mind says "What IF". The stunt was dangerous; someone pushes the arrow the V bone at your throat and it is your challenge to move one step forward, breaking the arrow that represents your fear.


You want to see it? This kind of arrow can kill a grizzly bear, but the shaft was broken into two because of the challenge.

While I was taking pictures, I found a shot that looks like if the person /subject is glowing or ethereal. This was an accident shot...

I heard that they are coming over to Kuala Lumpur in May'08 so it would be great for them to come over here to teach others. After all, there has been a case of mismanagement of funds among the government. Harv was contracted to teach here for 1 full year so it would be full circle by the time he finishes the seminar in December 08.

Lessons From Singapore Part II

During my last week trip in Singapore, I was staying at my family friend's house in Sengkang, a district somewhere near Woodlands. On the second night, while we were waiting for her son, Benjamin to come back home, I was surprised to find out that the TV station there is broadcasting feature movies in High Definition format.

Though blurred, I noticed the playback frame rate of Black Hawk Down, the movie that is played that night is much slower than a normal DVD. I asked Benjamin whether it is HD format and he said yes.

So I guessed that the television sets there is much cheaper than here.

When I came back, I received a mail from my dad of an article by Ahmad Mustapha, an old friend of Harry Lee, which serves as a good idea of how ideas from the south can be emulated by Bolehland, who is in the rotting status thanks to the idiots.

Singapore practices corrupt-free meritocracy and Malaysia affirmative action. The former attracted all the best brains and the latter chased out all the brains. The Singapore cabinet consists of dedicated and intelligent technocrats whereas Malaysia has one the most unwieldy cabinets. Not only that, brain wise it was below par not even good for the kampong.

With that kind of composition, one that is very brainy, naturally Singapore , with no natural resources could outstrip Malaysia in every aspect of development. Malaysia, on the other hand, was too much preoccupied with its Malayness and the illusory 'Ketuanan Melayu' and was also more interested in useless mega iconic development rather than real social and economic development.

Whenever Kuan Yew utters anything that deemed to be a slight on Malaysia , voices were raised admonishing him. Malaysia would never dare to face reality. That Singapore had shown that it could survive was a slap on those who believed that Singapore would fold up once it left Malaysia . Therefore it was natural that these doomsayers would try to rationalise their utterances to be in their favour to combat on whatever Kuan Yew commented. Its political jealousy.

Singapore achieved its development status without any fanfare. But here in Malaysia , a development that was deceptive was proclaimed as having achieved development status. It was trumpeted as an achievement that befits first world status. This was self delusion. Malaysians are led to believe into a make believe world, a dream world. The leaders who themselves tend to believe in their own fabricated world did not realise the people were not taken in by this kind of illusion.

Lee Kuan Yew believed in calling a spade a spade. I was there in Singapore when the People's Action Party won the elections in 1959. He was forthright in his briefing to party members as to what was expected of them and what Singapore would face in the future. Ideologically, I did not agree with him. We in the University of Malaya Socialist Club had a different interpretation of socialist reconstruction. But he was a pragmatist and wanted to bring development and welfare to the Singaporeans. Well! He succeeded.

Malaysia was so much embroiled in racial politics and due to the fear of losing political power, all actions taken by the main party in power was never targeted towards bringing wealth to all. Wealth was distributed to the chosen few only. They were the cronies and the backers of the party leadership to perpetuate their own selfish ends.
Seeing the efficiency and the progress achieved by Singapore caused the Malaysian leadership to suffer from an inferiority complex. That Malaysia should suffer from this complex was of its own making.

In a recent interview, Kuan Yew said that Malaysia could have done better if only it treated its minority Chinese and Indian population fairly. Instead they were completely marginalised and many of the best brains left the country in drove. He added that Singapore was a standing indictment to what Malaysia could have done differently. He just hit the nail right there on the head.

Malaysia recently celebrated its 50th year of independence with a bagful of uncertainties. The racial divide has become more acute. The number of Malay graduates unemployed is on the increase. And this aspect can be very explosive. But sad to see that no positive actions have been taken to address these social ills. Various excuses were given by Malaysian leaders why Singapore had far outstripped Malaysia in all aspects of social and economic advancement. Singapore was small, they rationalised and therefore easy to manage. Singapore was not a state but merely an island.

There was one other aspect that Malaysia practises and that is to politicise all aspects of life. All government organs and machinery were 'UMNO-ised'. This was to ensure that the party will remain in power. Thus there was this misconception by the instruments of government as to what national interest is and what UMNO vested interest is.

UMNO vested interest only benefited a few and not the whole nation . But due to the UMNO-isation of the various instruments of government, the country under the present administration had equated UMNO vested interest as being that of national interest. Thus development became an avenue of making money and not for the benefit of the people. The fight against corruption took a back seat. Transparency was put on hold. And the instruments of government took it to be of national interest to cater to the vested interest of UMNO. Enforcement of various enactments and laws was selective. Thus a 'palace' in Kelang, APs cronies and close-one-eye umno MPs could exist without proper procedure. Corruption infested all govt departments, the worse is the police and lately even in the judiciary.

Singapore did not politicise its instruments of government. If ever policisation took place, it is guided by national interest. To be efficient and to be the best in the region was of paramount importance. Thus all the elements like corruption, lackadaisical attitude towards work and other black elements, which would retard such an aim, were eliminated. Singapore naturally had placed the right priority in it's pursuit to achieve what is best for its people. This is the major difference between these two independent countries.

Malaysia in its various attempts to cover up its failures embarked on several diversions. It wanted its citizens to be proud that the country had the tallest twin-tower in the world, although the structure was designed and built by foreigners. Its now a white-elephant wasting away. It achieved in sending a man into space at an exorbitant price. What's the purpose? These are what the Malays of old would say "menang sorak" (hollow victories).

It should be realised that administering a country can be likened to managing a corporate entity. If the management is efficient and dedicated and know what they are doing, the company will prosper. The reverse will be if the management is poor and bad. The company will go bust.

There are five countries around this region. There is Malaysia, and then Indonesia . To the east there is the Philippines and then there is that small enclave called the Sultanate of Brunei . All these four countries have abundance of natural resources but none can lay claim to have used all these resources to benefit the people. Poverty was rampant and independence had not brought in any significant benefits to the people.

But tiny Singapore without any natural resources at all managed to bring development to its citizens. It had one of the best public MRT transport systems and airlines in the world and it is a very clean city state. Their universities, health care, ports are among the best in the world.

It is impossible to compare what Singapore has achieved to what all these four countries had so far achieved. It was actually poor management and corruption, and nothing more. Everything is done for the vested interest of the few. Malaysia , Indonesia and the Philippines and the Sultanate of Brunei need good management teams. They would not be able to do this on their own steam. I would advise that they call on Kuan Yew to show them what good governance is. Why look East to Japan when it is just next door across the causeway.

The number one reason why Malaysia is lagging behind now in all aspects post-Mahathir and Anwar Ibrahim is due to semi-literate leaders. Prime examples of that would include, Village Idiot Nazri Aziz, Grand Imam of Islam Hadhari Abdullah Badawi and the Dis-Information Minister, The Mamak of Merbok Zainuddin Maidin.

Sometime ago, Anwar Ibrahim in a Malaysiakini article said that most of BN leaders, that comprises of UMNO fools are semi-literate. Today's posting by Zorro shows how stupidity leads them to say such remarks that can be deemed offensive to Christianity and those who are educated in missionary schools like myself. Now, Mahathir has bellowed a challenge for the current administration of Bedol Napoleon to disprove his thesis that the government is now one-step backwards.

An article by columnist Dr. Farrukh Saleem entitled "Why are Muslims so Powerless?" is also another living proof to back up the fact that we are ruled by idiots who do not accept the best brains of being the contribution to the country.

Excerpts of it:

1. A Muslim-majority state has an average of 40 percent literacy with a non-Muslim majority state has a higher literacy rate, close to 100 percent, with 98 percent of its people completed at least primary school education.

2. There are only 230 scientists and 50 technicians out of 1 million Muslims in Arab nations. This contrasts to 5000 scientists and 1000 technicians out of 1 million Japanese people.

3. A non-Muslim majority nation uses 5 percent of its annual GDP on RnD, whereas a Muslim-majority nation uses only 0.2 percent.

The bottom line? Well, it's a grim fact that the Malaysia-minority community are better educated than the majority.

This complete posting is shown here.

Lessons from Singapore Part I

That's me in Singapore on Friday night, at the new Expo center near Changi airport on the first day of a convention conducted by the legendary Harv Eker, the author of Secrets of the Millionaire Mind.

I carried some cash in Sing dollars, which gave me a good return when I changed back a single $50 dollar bill which carries the value of $117 when I came back to Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

I won't be talking about the seminar for now, but what I've learned during my first day was mainly about how prosperous those people are down south.

Economy

First thing was about selling. The people have great ideas to sell things. There, as Harv said, you start by selling low but offering much value to entice people. Then as the demand goes above the roof, you increased your selling price bit by bit, with the knowledge that there's a high demand for it.


These guys there are not afraid to give extra for a low value. Forget about currency conversion rate, I had a set meal from Burger King as a quick lunch on the second day, and the burger bun I had is 1.5 times bigger than the burger bun size here. And it costs only $6.40. One thing is that the prices is counted together with a 7 percent GST, (effective July), and rounded up to the nearest value. But Malaysia just followed suit of making 1 cents an invalid value by April 2008, which I can say that Malaysia is far behind in mentality despite having first-world facilities.

More than half of the 5000 people in attendance here have great spending power in Singapore. You can get a Sony phone at just $445 dollars compared to paying $1199 here in KL. A friend of mine told me that the government is encouraging every people to get a television set for their homes. That is why getting a TV there is cheap, even if that means getting a brand new Sony Bravia X HD television set!

Economic planning there is well thought out. It's like laying things and revising things on the drawing board. Housing and television is the main priority for their citizens. Each person gets their own apartment given of the limited land size there, which is about 700 square miles. The most favorite part of this section is about money...Just imagine paying $3 for a plate of fried prawn noodles. $3 compared to $4++ at K.L? Hey...I would pay there..it's cheap. I thought of the currency as of in 1993.

Social

Of course, the social order in Singapore is quite strict, with emphasis on cleaning. When I was at the LRT station, it was smelly beneath. Why can't DBKL be kind of active in handling the cleaning. This is what is Bolehland is all about...hahaha

Every person there is quite good in English. I thought many would speak as what people in Penang do, but then the exception here is that every person knows English well. After going along the expressways to the Expo center, I thought it would be sensible for Malaysia to put English language signs here first or dual-languages instead of putting just Bahasa Malaysia first.

The logic behind it is that you are catering for investors to come in to Malaysia to ply their trade in future. If you just simply put BM only ads / billboards, the first impression these guys will ask is...what the heck does that say?

I Put No Stock In Religion

When I arrived at the Woodlands checkpoint at 1 a.m. in the morning, I tend to notice that people, especially the Muslim women do not wear the headdress unlike their counterparts here in Malaysia.

I came to understand because of one reason: the clear establishment of the line between of professionalism and religion. In this case, as together citizens of Singapore, they are encouraged not to show, even a thin establishment of religion in appearance. That's to give the impression to the people coming there that they are neither Chinese, Malays or whatsoever, but as Singaporeans working together for a common goal. We can indeed do this hear, and through emulating that, we can actually show the rest of the world that we are Bangsa Malaysia.

But why can't we do it here? Fear? Backlash? The International Trade Ministry is setting an example of this, but why can't others? That's to say that there is a leaning of religion instead of the correct path professionalism. Or, we can say that religion is added together in the working ethics.

I only came to know of the aftermath of the Hindraf rally via Malaysiakini or my friend Haris' blog. As what the Cameron Highlands MP was saying, the rally happens for a reason. Harv was saying, everything in this world happens for a reason. Jonathan Kent said to his son Clark, he was here for a reason. The theme about the rally was more about the racial treatment of the Indians in Malaysia. I have to concur though that the MIC, whose purpose is to safeguard the interests of the Indians, as part of a multi-racial society objective in Malaysia has failed in its purpose.

Seeing this and the NEP, which tends to discriminates people in favor of Malay priority serves as the reason why Malaysia is still lagging behind top Asia nations like Singapore, Hong Kong, and even the upcoming nations like China and India. The actual way of working is reward by performance, or judging by the capabilities of a person irregardless of race. I would somehow agree with Mahathir's half-past-six statement on the current Bedol Napoleon administration, if things get worse later on.

Back From Singapore

Whew....what a trip!


I left Singapore from Beach Street at around 10.30 p.m with a bus reaching Kuala Lumpur at around 3.15 a.m. But I didn't feel anything throughout the ride except for stopping by Immigration checkpoints at Tuas (Second Link) and at a rest house before Yong Peng.

Something woke me up at around and I was back at Sungai Besi heading towards the bus stop in Pudu. Back there, numerous taxi drivers are there, waiting to greet passengers coming from the south. But I refused to take a cab because of one reason: they don't use meters round the clock. I must say that those cab guys in Singapore are showing more professionalism than those guys around here.


So I had to take a short nap at a nearby McDonald's shop while waiting for the LRT station to open its terminals at 6 a.m. Boy, I had to waste about 3 hours before being allowed to go back. I am not prepared to pay extra money for a taxi man who is inclined to pick people but wanted extra in the process.


I think I am the first guy on board of a train in the morning....

From the station, I took a long 15 minute walk all the way back home. Needed a good rest, so I slept the whole morning.....and blogging everything that I didn't fill up last week.

Watch the other spaces later on about my period in Singapore...

Behold...Low Light Photography!

I was in Singapore for the last 4 days and during dinner on the first night at Singapore, my friend took a picture of me. When she saw the picture after taking it, she got shocked.


She told me that the picture was able to capture natural colors and interestingly, I did not use any flash for the picture. Unconvinced, I showed her another picture by taking another picture of her, with the same settings.

I basically used ISO 800, with lighting set as florescent high levels. The most important thing about the picture is that there is sufficient amount of back lights in order for me to take the picture. But then, while I examined some of the pictures which I took during the nighttime dinner at the Lake House, I noticed there is evidence of grain. Someone told me that higher ISOs may result in picking up of grain.


Maybe I might have to try shooting it at 400 ISO.

English Ladies In The Making

On the second day of our trip at Cameron Highlands, we had an afternoon tea session at The Smokehouse. Located somewhere between Tanah Rata and Brinchang, all of us decided to go there for tea. This was one of the oldest spots in Cameron Highlands.

Staying there is roughly at around $150 to $200 USD per night so it would not be a problem for tourists to come here and stay for a night or so.

It was a great time for all of us to have tea time, despite being priced at $22 per person and interestingly, there's infinite refills.



My cousins and my aunts were at one corner and tried hilariously to reenact a tea-time session among themselves as English ladies while the men had theirs at a bigger table.


This is what we had as tea - freshly baked scones with Tea.

More tea, vicar?

It was raining there heavily in the evening. We couldn't move out to get our vehicles, but there was a piano there which my uncle played many songs that most of us would tag along. Unfortunately, the room guests were complaining about the noise we made and we stopped after someone from the staff came and told us about it.

Further Readings:

1. Reminiscing the Past, 55 Years Later
2. Am I Driving As In The Shining?

Reminiscing the Past, 55 Years Later

My paternal grandfather was the resettlement officer of Cameron Highlands during the Templer years (see Tun Sir Gerald Templer) in 1950-1952, before he applied transfer to Ipoh (that's how he met my late grandmother). He was second in command behind the district officer, E.M Sheppard, so it was his duty to assign lands to natives there.

During his time there, he noticed a lot of Aborigines, or the actual Sons of the Earth here wandering on the main towns of Cameron Highlands. He used to tell us stories of how Templer's convoy got ambushed by Communists, how he practiced weaponry at Kea Farm and spending his free time at Tanah Rata.

For him, coming back there after 55 years evokes a lot of memories which awed us, including my parents, my relatives and my cousins. Not all joined in like my brother as he was having examinations and the others unable to commit due to their schedules.

The District office, located at Tanah Rata was refurbished extensively unlike a small house 50 years ago and I could not remember what has changed since my last visit there 12 years ago.


This shop, now called You Hoo in Tanah Rata was once a sundry shop. Above is where my grandfather used to stay during his three year tenure here. He remembered some few guys here notably, the village head in Tanah Rata is a man called Dick Cheong.

On the second day, we took him around the spots he would remember most. After that, I noticed that he remembered three spots: Kea Farm, The Lakehouse and The Smokehouse.


This was taken at Kea Farm. Before the new shop lots were up selling vegetables and flowers are up, there was a roundabout at that place where he used to go in there. Down there, near the Chinese primary school, it was where he practiced shooting with Stern guns, Enfield rifles and grenades used in WW2.

The Lake house in Ringlet was a famous location as it was built opposite a lake that houses a hydroelectric generator that powers Ringlet and Tanah Rata. While we were tinkering of the location for our second day dinner, we decided to have there since it's raining heavily there.


I actually experimented one shot in black and white and my dad, who was with me, came in and was surprised over the photo style of how the picture was taken. From that commendation, I felt that I've captured one of the best photos that I've taken so far. Perhaps, that shot above should be printed out and saved as a photo album.

Further Readings:

1. English Ladies In The Making
2. Am I Driving As In The Shining?

Am I Driving As In The Shining?

Last Monday, I was on leave as we had a 3 day family gathering at Cameron Highlands. My colleague William told me that instead of going via Tapah, I can access the new route to the other side of Cameron Highlands via Simpang Pulai.

After using the other road back to Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, I finally realized that going from the new route is much more shorter than the conventional route. The conventional route is about 100 kms long, that is 52 kms from Ipoh to Tapah and another 47 km from exit at Tapah to the first town called Ringlet.



On the other side it's about 91 kilometers from Ipoh town to reaching the other side of Cameron, a village called Kampung Raja.

However, when I drove from Simpang Pulai to there, there was no petrol station all along the way so you need to have adequate fuel, at least a quarter tank or more to go there. It was raining that day, so....



I thought for one moment that driving through the wide roads on the mountain side is similar to the opening segment of The Shining. It is not as winding as the old route so I took my time and overtook some vehicles on the way up. I somehow loved the white skies on the pictures that I've took. This was taken using Neutral color settings of my Powershot camera.



So this is the crossroads between the East Coast and Cameron Highlands. Up ahead is the route that goes to Blue Valley and Gua Musang, a town at the western side of Kelantan. It's about another 43 kilometers from here to up there, which we would cross the state border. Turning right is going to Kampung Raja, that is about another 20-30 kilometers from the crossroad.

On the third day, I left early, thereby unable to join my other family members in visiting the Boh Plantation estate as to reach back in Kuala Lumpur before my half-day shift starts at 2 p.m. On the way from Ringlet back to Tapah, there had been 5 occasions of landslides, thanks to Tuesday's heavy rainfall. The first landslide forced motorists to wait for 30 minutes for the road workers to clear of the trees. The third landslide forced motorists to wait for 10 minutes as to let fellow drivers from Tapah go up before letting us ahead.

All, in all, on that third day, I managed to reach my office 10 minutes before 2 p.m, but I didn't feel like eating lunch so I had biscuits at office.

Further Reading:
1. English Ladies In The Making
2. Reminiscing the Past, 55 Years Later

Patrick Teoh In Wrecks

I have just covered Neil Labute's one-man show called Wrecks starring Patrick Teoh at KLPac just now. Was quite excited to meet him in person as my mother and her friend met him back in Ipoh sometime ago.

Told him about myself and about my mother and he gave me a name card which may be beneficial for mum to make a date with him and her friend.

Somehow, I managed to get to figure out everything he was rambling at the fourth wall with a nice twist that is a debate among viewers of the show. The secret four phrase line.

Unfortunately, I do not have a picture to take as my camera just ran out of battery since last night when I was taking pictures at the family gathering at Cameron Highlands - which I will be covering in a few days time as I am to sort through the pictures taken.

Most of the outline of the show is at Rentakini.

They Will Try Again

I remembered once the title post was one of the taglines used in Terminator 2. In the film's context, it was referring to Skynet trying one more time to rig the game between humans and machines by sending another Terminator back to assassinate young John Connor.

Let's picture if Abdullah Badawi's government is akin to Skynet, knowing that they are losing public support, they will try anything to stay in power, from rigging elections, planting moles into certain departments, doing this and that, and all sorts of unimaginable things much to the chagrin of the country-loving citizens.

I am wondering whether if the people are misled by the statement issued from the national palace by saying that the King regretted of the rally. Some people who could see through the veil like Raja Petra is convinced that this was an attempt by palace people, acting as eyes of the Government attempting to create another impression of rally failure by having that statement out by some high ranking castle men inside there.

Let's examine NST's article. The article was published at 1.45 p.m yesterday. How about Malaysiakini? It was published at 1.34 p.m. Within 12.15 p.m. to 2.45 p.m, the Malays would take a longer time off to perform their Friday prayers. So, within that time, the King must have probably gone to the National Mosque to perform Friday prayers with some of His citizens.

Just who is this Datuk Pengelola Bijaya Diraja thing? A housekeeper?

Raja Petra knows the palace protocol more than any normal citizen do. The truth is:

1. BERSIH has notified the King in advance that they want to hand the memo.
2. The King asks in reply who are the six representatives that will send the memo.
3. And just to make sure that it's not just six, 40000 came along. This gives the clear meaning to the King that the memo is written by the 40000 people as well. In addition, it gives a clear signal that the people are serious and would like to have an audience with His Majesty.

According to the castle rules, only the Keeper of the Ruler Seals can make an announcement. If you recall in Hari Raya, it's only him and no one else that makes the announcement. Now, do you see something suspicious about that Datuk Pengelola person sending a message out? Do you think that it is somewhat coincide with the ACA circumventing the IGP's standing orders? The bottom line right now is that the government is trying from another angle to say that they do not need to have further reforms to the electoral system. They are trying to say that the King has turned down the petition. But are those words directly from the King himself. We all would want to hear his words first before deciding whether it's true or not.

The fear right now is that people may be misled by what the statement is all about. So, it will take a hard effort to inform the people that they need to understand a certain set of royal protocols. By understanding that, at least, people will notice that there is somewhat an inconsistency in that statement.

My friend once admitted that he never reads The Star because of some things being blacked out. Sure, the Star is an MCA mouthpiece. In the past few weeks, anything related to MCA has to be said out in the paper. They had to stay under the UMNO imposed rules. If they keep saying this, then the MCA is not doing the job they are entrusted to do: protect the interest of the Chinese. And it ends with just kotow to the master. Like an under dog....yuck.

Judicial Crisis Scoreline: People 2 Government 0

Two up for the people.

Just at around 7 p.m, Abdullah Badawi has relented to public pressure to establish a Royal Commission to investigate into the Lingam tape scandal. This was following a unison voice from the Haidar panel recommending the same thing. It would have been better if Bedol said it earlier rather than waiting for close to two months to say the same thing!

A check on the newspapers indicate that Bernama and Malaysiakini are the only papers that has the article on confirmation of establishment of the commission.

Now, is Lim Kit Siang getting his dream team? The dream team of Sultan Azlan Shah, Tun Dzaiddin Abdullah and N.H Chan?

I hope so. When I talked about the Lingam tape scandal to certain friends, they all concur that because of the judiciary rot, foreigners would rather ply their trade in Singapore and elsewhere than Malaysia. Simple, each trial's been rigged and politically pressured.

A immediate pressure to buckle up after last week's Bersih rally? Yep...the government is fearful of people's confidence plunging down and they are starting to realize about it.

Is the Mainstream Media Sulking?

I am wondering whether following the anger and mob reaction by the government and some quarters of over the Bersih rally last Saturday, the spin-doctors have instructed the mainstream media under the control of the BN-component parties to write the post about the so-called another Bersih rally at the Batu Buruk.

Well, for those who fight for press freedom and those who believe that the country is in turmoil would say that Bersih has accomplished its Saturday objective. But those in the Bolehland ruling elite are cursing under their breaths over their latest defeat against the people.

So childish and sulking over the defeat that they, the spin-doctors have instructed the newspapers to show this articles in the papers.

NST: No Show at Batu Buruk
The Star: Planned Assembly Fails to Materialize

I supposed that ZAM was embarrassed over the fact that the international community was shocked to hear his remarks over the live Al-Jazeera interview following Bersih rally. Still being humiliated, he and the 4th floor boys decided to mislead the people again with the news article above. But, the question is, were they mislead by others and boasted their thing by having their underlings to write that in the paper? I guess it's a taste of their own medicine for trying to mislead the public over the Bersih rally matter.

A check on the Bersih site has no indication that there was an assembly at Batu Buruk. A check at Anwar Ibrahim's blog reviews that there was no agenda at Batu Buruk, but at Mecca.

All in the end, according to Malaysiakini is that the Malaysian Human Rights commission decided to launch a public inquiry against the incident in September.

The bottom line? The spin-doctors of the AAB administration are sulking over the defeat at the Rally. I supposed that they lost badly instead of expecting a win as what the Son-In-Law wanted. When the PM said, "Saya pantang dicabar!" last Friday, all he got was "Rakyat Pantang Dicabar!" on Saturday.

Not One Step Backwards!

In late July 1942, Joseph Stalin had seen enough of Russia losing land to the German invaders who had launched the blitzkrieg operation called Barbarossa to push the army deeper into Russia. The number one factor behind the advancement of the Germans was due to the retreat and defeatist attitude of the Russian soldiers. Finally on 28 July, he signed the secret order #227. The order was famously known as the "Not One Step Backwards" order. All soldiers who are part of the Stalingrad defense noticed a truncated version of the order signed by Stalin:

It’s time to stop the retreat. Not a single step back! This shall be our slogan from now on.

We need to protect every strongpoint, every meter of Soviet soil stubbornly, till the last droplet of blood, grab every piece of our soil and defend it as long as it is possible. Our Motherland is going through hard times. We have to stop, and then throw back and destroy the enemy, whatever it might cost us. The Germans are not as strong as the panic-mongers say. They are stretching their strength to the limit. To withstand their blow now means to ensure victory in the future.

All those who retreat without order from above, are traitors of the Motherland and will exterminated on sight. To fulfill this order means to defend our country, to save our Motherland, to destroy and overcome the hated enemy.

This is the call of our Motherland!

The order calls for the inclusion of a penal battalion that largely forms of criminals who are serving sentences in prison that being drafted into the military during the war OR those who had judged to have disobeyed military orders. The order is brutal : if you are seen by the immediate commanding officer (commissar) running backwards, you will be shot on the spot. If they managed to advance and survive the barrage after a certain period, there will be mark called ATONED in BLOOD stamped in their military records.

I'm not trying to refer to the Russian history and compare it with Saturday's rally. That will be a talk for someday soon. But the interesting of the title phrase is that there are some ministers of the Bolehland are showing a half-past six and one step backwards attitude. What I mean is that they still have the thinking of the past, those in the 70s or so. We are now in the new millennium whereby there are new things coming up, new technologies that can be used for good use. Unfortunately, there are some people who has the mindset of the past which can be a bad thing if those past principles are used in administering Malaysia.

I can tell you that the newspapers, mainstream media articles by certain minsters do exhibit the attitude being one-step backwards. It's just two days after the November 10 Yellow Wave Rally that is deemed illegal by the government. And now there are many Cabinet Ministers including Abdullah Badawi are criticizing for the rally as being involving the royals in it. I got word from an unknown source that the memorandum was copied 8 times and given to the other rulers of the Malay Rulers council.

Malaysiakini says that the response was pretty weak and unconvincing. Clearly, the ministers are running out of excuses to say about the rally. Seems that they are wavering as they feared that the public, although only 50000 turned against them, demanding a clear resolution and answer from their questions. But they chose to ignore it, thinking it is a farce. But then the challenge has been laid out to them. Whether they like it or not, they will have to answer or risk the King's displeasure, soon.

When I read the observer's view of the Rally in these past few days, I came to realize that what was reported at Al-Jazeera is indeed a non-partisan and accurate account of the truth. But our Dis-Information Minister, the Mamak of Merbok chose to criticize Al-Jazeera as if like being Chuck Austen and accused them of misleading the international community although it was certified true by many witness accounts. However, it is the local community that got mislead by your directive to the mainstream media. You even try to issue an official warning to Al-Jazeera.... for being correct. The interview was broadcast once. The second segment was censored on his orders, that's what Tony told us at the dinner in Bangsar. ZAM's been on the warpath with bloggers. He doesn't even know a single thing about blogging. So...we can say he's one step backwards of the people.

After some time of silence, de facto Law Minister Nazri Aziz, El Balachi started to make noise as to gain publicity. Calling people as short circuit. I remembered BAR president Ambriga Sreenevasan saying that if people rally, it means that there's something is wrong. The cops who sided with the crooked ones are the ones responsible in making the ruckus. If the Law Minister receives criticism and much correction from the other law experts who have better knowledge than him, it means that he isn't fit to run the show of law. You can also say that Nazri circumvented or Nazri is one-step-backwards or whatever.

I got appalled by certain quarters at the past week's UMNO assembly particularly when a young energetic woman by the name of Noraini Ahmad made a repeated statement of the Wee saga and the bloggers. I wonder whether if we, new generation people who tend to know more of information technology and better awareness. Then what about Badaruddin who criticized Karpal? Again, he made another mistake of the Airasia stewardess. Nobody now seems to be bothered of the meticulous dressing but they do wear proper clothing as long as it is for work, for play, for functions, but not because of the religious issue thing. Do you find it outrageous to wear a long dress that covers body parts even though common sense tells you to wear loose and t-shirts if we are to go for physical exercises?

Well, I'll leave it to certain women like Marina and Nuraina (thanks for the past) to handle the women side of the problem.

The bottom line is that these people in those issues that I've highlighted (ministers and politicians) are classic examples of people who have the half-past six mindset and they seem to be taking one-step backwards. Well, the thing is that these people are fitted into our very own penal batallion. If there is combat scenario like in Stalingrad, and these people adopt that kind of mindset and retreat backwords, that means that they can be shot on sight by commissars.

Previous Readings:

1. Rally Aftermath
2. The Yellow Revolution Part II
3. The Yellow Revolution Part I
4. I'll Play Taffer at You!
5. Long on Brutality, Short on Foresight
6. Big Mistake, Kiddo!

Rally Aftermath

In the aftermath of the rally, we had a blogger gathering back in Bangsar. Basically, it is nothing more of discussing the events that happened to other fellow bloggers when we were separated from the long queue.

See, Anu (Galadriel) and Ancient Mariner had their accounts, but they were together with Shar. Rocky was with Stephen and former MP Wee Choo Keong (interestingly, he mistaken me as SK Thew). Of course there are accounts from Haris, Sheih (Kickdafella) and Liz. Tony's account, as of this time I think it's partially finished.

Eric, who was with me, playing the young covering a sick old man, had constantly trying to talk about showing the *fuck* at ZAM, as we are getting too excited to hear what he would say later on. True to his word, that fella hit back at Al-Jazeera.

Tikus but Nat had their accounts included as well. Sadly, Bernard could not join us as he was in Penang for something.

We had a long drink and food at Bangsar. But we were waiting for the next day news.

Sure, Abdullah Badawi suddenly musters up the courage to speak from Penampang, about getting the royals in involving in politics. I suppose that there is a desperation to turn to them when all else fails, as what Anwar was saying in the evening news.

Jeff's account fills up the missing gaps that were not included in our blogs. I must take credit for his additional info in filling the blanks. Malaysiakini also clarified the final number of people arrested - 29 instead of 245. The numbers 4000 and 245 were deliberately said by IGP Musa Hassan as to show the readers outside Kuala Lumpur the bad image of the demonstration.

But the one that insults me and the bloggers most is about the Mamak of Merbok, Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin. Since becoming Abdullah Badawi's gatekeeper of information, the latest mistake made by ZAM is that the ordered total blackout of coverage for the English mainstream media. Instead of reporting the coverage, the Star and NST could only report of traffic jams and road blocks into the city. No photos of the rally were allowed and they could only show it at page 8 of the papers.

What a bad mistake it is for withholding information to the public. A warning: they are no longer being kept in dark anymore as the level of awareness has gone better than ever. More people are getting aware of what is happening in Malaysia. You better quit asshole! Again, if the one thing that ticks you off is Malaysiakini, the reason it happens is because that the mainstream media is never given free rein and control to cover things properly. Just a small thing and an excuse of security means total blackout for them. Shall I repeat the word Malaysiakini again?

Finally, the clear copy of the Al-Jazeera's Hamish McDonald's report of yesterday's rally:

Next: Not One Step Backwards!

Previous Readings:

• The Yellow Revolution Part II
• The Yellow Revolution Part I
• I'll Play Taffer at You!
• Long on Brutality, Short on Foresight
• Big Mistake, Kiddo!

The Yellow Revolution Part II

I wasn't sure of going down to town for a rally once I got a call that the appointment with a friend got cancelled. At noon, the skies around the city look dark, and I knew it's going to rain heavy. I also knew that the police are trying to stop cars coming to town from various directions so I decided not to drive my car yesterday. I thought of wearing my yellow stripe shirt but I decided against it because of the police paranoia that seems to stop anyone that wears yellow.

At the main road in Jalan Pahang, there are a number of skittles on the side of the road, meaning that the police was waiting to pounce on cars coming from the east coast. After a meal, I took a bus to Chow Kit and I started walking from that point all the way to Central Market.



I had a walk all the way from this starting point, passing through Maju Junction and then Sogo. I noticed that there were policemen lining up at the main entrance of the complex. They anticipated that this would be one of the four rally points for them in event that the Merdeka Square would be sealed off by the police.


I kept walking until I passed Coliseum and at the end of the road, the road got sealed off. If you look at the background, the FRUs and many police trucks were there as to bring the people that they arrested into the truck back to the police stations. I tried crossing to Petaling Street from the Masjid Jamek LRT station.


An FRU red truck was already in deployment with later that some people of the BERSIH coalition attempting to break through the lines. From the small lane at Burger King, a big group of PAS Youth people emerged from there. There were lawyers at the background as well. They would play an observer role, ready to help those who might be arrested by the police.


There, I met Tony and Ancient Mariner. At the mosque, the PAS Bersih guys are getting ready to be motivated by some figurehead, in preparation for a march out against the police. Later we were joined by Haris and Eric (I Am Malaysian).

The rain was quite heavy and another round of thunder and lightning was expected. If there is raining during the march, it means that the police would be cooling down.

According to Confucianism, the King is symbolized as an avatar of God on earth. And the signs of thunder above serves the warning against the police. Mencius, who lived B.C. 372-289, and devoted himself to the task of spreading and consolidating the Confucian teachings, made no attempt to lead back the Chinese people towards their early beliefs in a personal God and in a spiritual world beyond the ken of mortals. He observes in a general way that "those who obey God are saved, while those who rebel against Him perish. Those came are loyal to the country and the king, and in that Mencius context means they can be saved, while whoever attempts to kill or torture can be punished (perished). Coincidence?

Mencius said, "He who uses force as a pretense of Humaneness is the de-facto strongman among the princes. But such a strongman must have a large state in order to be effective. The man who uses his virtue to practice Humaneness is the true king. To be a real king you don't need an especially large territory. T'ang did it with only seventy li and King Wen did it with only one hundred li. When you use your power to force people into submission, they will never submit with their hearts; it is only because they don't have enough strength to resist. When people submit to virtue, they are happy from the bottom of their hearts, and they submit sincerely, the way the seventy disciples submitted to Confucius." (2A3, tr. Muller)

We were at the Bar council office. Rather than waiting for rain to die down, we dashed to Central Market via the back lane. We met Liz for a moment before going for a drink.

This was while we were waiting for Anu (Galadriel)



We got word from Tony that the entourage was leaving earlier than expected. So Anu came on time and we went back to the Bar Council office. Two roles of FRU were in standby. We could not get a closer view of what was happening in front. I had to be ready in case things go violent. With an umbrella in hand, I had to play taking care of the sick man thing and Eric had to play the sick man. :)


Rather than getting stuck in the blockade, we took another route, the path across Petaling Street along the river bank.


So we walked all the way through the palace, and we took some shots along the way. I ended up at the divider going to Mid Valley. There were Special Branch people on top of the high ground, so we didn't take any photos of them.


The king's representative came out and everyone shouted Hail to the King (Daulat Tuanku). Then there some speech by PAS head Abdul Hadi Awang, following by the lead representative Anwar Ibrahim. When Anwar showed up, the FRU stepped aside to let him move to the gate. Coming through the way I came with Eric, Wan Azizah showed up, and the words Reformasi were ringing out loud among the PKR supporters. No sooner than a few minutes we started moving back, we knew that memorandum has been handed and the organizers called for peaceful dispersion. It finished sooner than expected, not even before 4.30 p.m.


I've seen no less than 3 helicopters circling around the city. The lowest position the chopper went was as low as the Lee Rubber Building at Jalan Tun Perak.


While on the way, we told some of them to go as the memo has been handed over. We met Nat and Polytikus. We wanted to meet Rocky at Central Market but we finally found out that he was at the National Mosque. Then we got word from Shah that the meeting point will be at BSC center.

We were deliberating the turnover showing up, and Anu hit the right estimation of 50000. I thought was 70000. But somehow it's about 25 to 10 times more than the number of UMNO members at the general assembly. Malaysiakini said that the turnover was close to 50000. And it was said that BERSIH had hoodwinked the police of location.


Here's an interesting note: Stephen and Rocky were the only ones at the empty Merdeka Square!

But then, the fracas was only done by certain cells of the police as there is a splinter cell wars that divides the police. The Special Branch are the ones that will sit above the fence. Some who are helping people out peacefully are the ones who support the CCID department while the others picked the crooked side. Credit to them for helping us out.

While the Mamak of Merbok is in active denial mode over the Al-Jazeera, you can be sure that he is lying out because he has no balls to acknowledge the truth. The whole blogger lot is likely to write the criticism of the Mamak idiot. He can shove the mainstream media and his statements back to his throat.


Coming later: Comparing Russian Revolution with this and Dinner after Rally

Previous posting: Part 1
Next: Rally Aftermath
Additional pictures can be viewed at my Flickr gallery. See the side bar of my blog page.

The Yellow Revolution Part I

The Bersih Rally was concluded successfully with the memorandum handing over to the King at around 4,15 p.m, earlier than expected. However it was not without several incidents. Among notable incidents were:

1. 245 people were arrested, 23 were released as of 7.30 p.m, as confirmed by Azmi Sharom. Later, all were released after recording statements.
2. There was raining twice, just at noon and around 2.15 p.m.
3. Confirmed that the total turnover is around 50000, as what Anu (Galadriel) had expected.
4. Roadblock from routes to town, with complete roadblock at PJ (Armada Hotel).
5. There were rumors that the King had called on the military to protect the people who is in the rally. The rumors were deemed false as it was a deliberate intention of a person intending to start confusion among the supporters.

According to Malaysiakini, some journalists, including an Al-Jazeera journalist were attacked by the riot police for failure to disperse. According to Tony, the Al-Jazeera journalist was blinded by the tear gas attacked. Footage of the video from Al-Jazeera stopped after that point.

Some pictures of the clashing with police at the rally at Jalan Tun Perak (pics by Al-Jazeera):

Further Reading:

1. Rain, chemicals and tear gas at Masjid Jamek
2. Paint It Yellow
3. Memorandum to the King
4. Malaysian Petitioners Defy Police
5. RPK: Scenes of 10 November 2007

And you're saying?

The Al-Jazeera news article was by far the complete, non-partisan view of the rally. But then, the main stream media channel like TV3, RTM2 and etc were showing news that were totally contrast to what was seen live on location. So you can say that what the main stream media is saying is a lie and intends to mislead the people.

Bernama has misled the people thinking that only 4000 came, which is the actual number of police personal deployed throughout the city. In actual fact, it is at 50000.

We all knew that the Mamak of Merbok is likely to say something in response to today's rally and he did say something in response to the Al-Jazeera journalist being attacked by tear gas. This was recorded on Al-Jazeera but the idiot seems to dismiss the thing as a farce.

As for that man, he can shove the mainstream media back to his throat, asshole. It seems that people are not believing as what the government intends them to be. It will be sometime before the truth of the wrongdoing by the BN hits out the fan to the people. At the UMNO assembly, he claimed that not many people would show up but instead it's half-true with 50000 turned up. So, was he who told the mainstream that only 4000 showed up? How pathetic!

Someone asked where is Abdullah Badawi when today happened? He just disappeared. Period.
So, it means that he has NO BALLS to face the people in addressing this situation. Remember what he said before, "Work not for me, but work with me?" Well, this is against his principal. Where has Najib gone where this thing happened? Back in Pekan. So, the only cabinet minister that speaks up for today's rally was none other than the Mamak of Merbok. What about Nazri? He has remained silent since his last interview with the NST.

So, in summary:

1. The police is intimidating everyone of not coming for the show.
2. The government is afraid of such change happening soon.
3. Bernama and the mainstream media is misleading the people outside Kuala Lumpur with its account contrasting to the true account. This means that the trust in the media might wane soon enough...
4. We found out that the police force is divided. The approval of performing the security watch, deployment, dispersement paperwork and etc is done by the CCID, Commercial Crime Department. There is a splinter cell war between CCID and CID. Special Branch is caught in the middle. So, they are now siding with CCID, which seems to be right on just ensuring proper order of the show rather than go gung-ho and brutal as order by the other cell.
5. The government has scored an own goal!

Continue reading Part II of the account:

I'll Play Taffer at You!

So, it seems that Abdullah Badawi is somewhat gone up to fever pitch with a wavering threat against those who would be coming down for tomorrow's rally at Merdeka Square.

They say that the police is mounting roadblocks monitoring cars coming from Rawang, Seremban, and even the Karak Highway. They are threatening to stop and question any car coming to Kuala Lumpur. But I was in town, and I don't see any police trying to stop me and my car while on the way. I wonder if that's actually and empty threat and intimidation by the police?

The way the police acts has clearly violated Article 10 of the Consitituition which every citizen in Malaysia is entitled to. But then, don't they know that the king, the Agong is involved in this situation being at the end of the march? Have they all forgotten the second principle of Rukunegara? Kesetiaan Kepada Raja dan Negara?

The reason why the rally will be conducted is not because they want to, but they had to, forced to. It is like being put into the last resort. Clearly they have said that they had appealed to the government to do so but they were ignored, turned away by Abdullah Badawi and his cronies. If everything has been denied, while you are a worker, what else can you do except to hold a rally and report to the king that the government has failed to do what they should do to the people? I've already said many times that the police has long in brutality but short on foresight. The actions today indicate that they are cannon fodders for UMNO and they are not independent as what we perceive of them.

At the assembly today, Abdullah went fever pitch and gone CAPITAL LETTERS on some occasions, according to the Sun. The immortal phrase line in the article? "I will not be challenged!" The English saying, "Be careful what you wish for" seems appropriate for him as he might think himself being on the omnipotent position means there is no fall. Someday, he will. Picture this: will he for an unknown occasion he ended up like the fall of Tsar Nicholas II?

The reply, based on quotes in the Malaysiakini article and the Sun clearly gives the clear impression and implies that:

• 1. Abdullah Badawi has failed to fulfill his promise despite having many chances in his duty as PM as dictated in the 2004 General Election Manifesto. Corruption and crime rate still remains high and racial tensions still remain at high.
• 2. Abdullah Badawi is afraid to come out and face the truth of the current state of social affairs in Malaysia and prepared to correct his mistakes. Instead he cowers behind and gets the cannon fodder to do his work of suppressing the people. I wonder whether if this contradicts with one of the statements, the rally is against the law and the people.
  
• 3. Abdullah Badawi is not what it seems of people looking at him as Mr. Clean.
• 4. Abdullah Badawi is unwilling to face the problems that a leader expects in his power base.
• 5. Abdullah Badawi is running out of leadership ideas after all have been expended on expensive lavish projects. The ECER is one of the last bullets in his arsenal.

..and many mistakes that I can't seem to recall.

Simply put that Abdullah Badawi has made too many mistakes that cannot be tolerated anymore by country-loving citizens, those real patriots, not the ultra-nationalists. Mistakes that should have been corrected at first sign of danger but instead was ignored totally. Instead of admitting your mistake, he blamed the opposition as part of the tactic to overthrow or sway people confidence towards them. It is the one step backwards mentality of certain leaders in the country that the people had no confidence of. Someday, arrogance can be punished.

The real problem in the country's progress lies in certain policies deemed as third-world mentality rules by those who have achieved high level of awareness and those well educated to understand the rules in the current context. Many leaders have failed to see this in long term. So, if they can remove some things that are meant to fix those in the old days, the better it will be in long term.

No matter what is the outcome of the rally tomorrow, Abdullah Badawi will still end up in the losing situation. If everyone is aware of how brutal the police and you all in the government act at the end of tomorrow, expect to see many condemnations by international observers, thousands of court cases and perhaps the government will have to spend a lot of money to compensate the victims of potential brutality. He will end up like another Than Shwe, by attempting to suppress what people are entitled to.

If things go worst, they will end up paying tax payer's money back to the people in long term as damages and compensation because they start first beating people. They had guns and all those batons, gas grenades, while those who come for the rally had nothing at all. So if the government tries do the violent thing, people will have to disobey, using the Civil Disobedience principle. If this thing reaches international media from Al-Jazeera, CNN, and BBC via someone unknown, then we are likely to see our faces in the whole wide world and Malaysia will become a laughing stock because of the government.

There is little time left for Abdullah Badawi to correct his mistakes, and he has to do it now, starting with election reforms and the judicial crisis. If he decides to call election while this has not been solved, you might seeing a repeat of the 1999 elections, thankfully it's not going to be in this year, but somewhere in March. But the results is likely to follow the 1999 results.

If the police think that they are somewhat having a distinct advantage because of their equipment, you better be prepared to be sued in court and prepared to have all the money out to compensate the people if you are found responsible for the brutality. You can call me a taffer for such believes, but I am not partisan of any side. This is a two-sided view story.


For me? Well, I'll be having an appointment somewhere else, but in spirit, I'll bring a blackjack and some moss arrows. I'll hit them and the City Watch behind to set the truth free for everyone!