Gangsters Meet

The Gangsters Meet in Dick Tracy (1990).

One Napoleon, One Washington, One Me!

Orang Yang Tak Tahu Ekonomi

I remembered watching a video of Anwar Ibrahim's speech in Kajang saying that he was prepared to lower the oil prices as his first act if the opposition wins the next general election. But in my opinion, it's dream on.

But then a line which from the speech reads: "When I do that, Najib will bash me. He will say, this man doesn't even know economics. Who says? Najib..." (a direct translation from the video, for the sake of international readers)

I came across an interesting piece from the Sun yesterday that simply reads "The Right Way to Fight Inflation" which contains an experts piece of advice of how to fight inflation. In there it does point out to three possible strategies that were introduced by the government a few weeks ago. The final point deals with having a national price council to ensure price efficiency and reduce price profiteering, which is a proper method, but the government had gone wrong with the first two.

The piece also said of a better way (contrasting to the Star's commentary) than stockpiling: removing the restriction of setting up business and bringing imports. Two more ways to do so is to pass benefit of price cut to consumers and removal of import duties. This is something that the Customs department and the government is not doing so. Anwar recently said that the old crude NEP is driving investors away. How will Eric Schmidt, Google CEO, do business in Malaysia if he runs into the NEP requirement if he sets his Google Malaysia up here?

Anyhow, it was a mistake for Abdullah Badawi to hide the actual economic data from the public. I think it was kind of preserving the feel good news image to the people, spins from the 4th floor boys. Any economic data expert who does a meticulous research can see through a thinly veil meant to mislead the public. Does those lies mean that Malaysia has no safety net, right? Now this shows an genuine example of 'Orang Yang Tak Tahu Ekonomi'!

See also @ Malaysiakini: Media Told to Control Coverage on Inflation

Disclaimer: I do not endorse Anwar despite some accurate facts from him.

The Long Waiting Period....Bah!

Some friends of mine commented that leaving the company early to take a good break is something to be deserved.

So does Edmund.

But I don't really like waiting that long. I thought waiting for too long won't do good to a person, especially if a person is itching to go back to work. Well, in the few days after I left two weeks ago, I was convinced that I could start as early as after Chinese New Year. I have attended about six to seven interviews and most of them said to me that I need to wait for one or two weeks later before they say that I come for second interview. What...second interview? I thought I would score, sign the offer letter and then start as soon as one interview is over. I just don't feel like waiting for too long.

Second interview has become a common practice already. But I am still contemplating of whether to take this part time job. A friend of mine, moonlighting as a PFA - Personal Finance Agent man would like me to join him in the outsourcing business. I thought it would be good for now, extra income while waiting for a job to come, and etc.. no requirements except applying for a ID number for the agent record and just 3 hours of training...wow. Seems like it's a good thing to do for now....

All in all I never like doing those things. I just want to dispense with the pleasantries and just go into work...bah!

X-Men Animated Series Cohesion

In my recent entry, I have discussed a retrospective view of X-Men the animated series. True, I have finished watching all the 76 episodes on YouTube. However, when we moved to Episode 71, I notice that the art and character design had changed a lot and no longer reflects the Jim Lee art that is seen in the first 70 episodes.

As said, that's because Saban had taken over the ownership of the production and produced the last six episodes before it was canceled by September 1997.

Now, going back to the cohesion thing, I have mentioned that Season 2 is the most cohesive season as it deals with the Savage Land arc, all episodes inter-related with one another with no continuity problems, culminating with the showdown of Mister Sinister at the end. In season three, the season is called The Phoenix season as it deals with Phoenix Saga..nine episodes and it also has a sub-plot that is a character study of Cyclops.

Some episodes that are slated to appear in Season 3 were broadcast later, in other words, got jumbled up. The main reason was due to animation problems, where animators had to fix those problems. For instance, the episode, No Mutant is An Island was slated to appear after the first Phoenix Saga. It was moved to season 4. Putting that after Phoenix Saga will actually provide a clear exposition of how Cyclops was in grieving mode after the Phoenix aftermath.

The inconsistencies appear mostly between season 3 and 4. Courage serves as a the resolution for Morph. One episode in Season 5, Longshot was supposed to appear as the interlude to the Dark Phoenix Saga. If that happens, it clearly resolves, in timing continuity of the Mojo episode. In place of Longshot, and Courage are two episodes that are actually written for season 4. In fact Nightcrawler was intended to be introduced at Season 4.

The list can be very confusing. But you can check the comparisons between the slated ones and the actual broadcast episodes.

Again, the success of the first season would resulted in Fox ordering another 3 more seasons or 39 more episodes.

Malaysia's Education System Creates Robots

I had a discussion with with Edmund and Simon yesterday in regards with the current education system in Malaysia. The idea was sprung up from a description of his friend Elvin, who does not know how to write a single, simple e-mail even though he is quite good in academics including writing thesis, reports and etc.. Elvin scored A in a the English 1119 subject but yet could not construct an e-mail simply baffles me.

The Malaysia's STPM is simply not accepted by foreign universities because its standard is not as equivalent to the international A-level. That means that all your efforts you put in the less-than-two years studies for your Form six will be put to a waste.

My dad is an opponent of sending children like ourselves to Chinese schools. He had a logical reasoning: the Chinese schools, although it produces more intellectuals than national-level schools has methodologies that resulted in children taking too much stress than the actual levels a normal child can take. As a result, putting a child into non-national schools will kill a child mentally. A child must be balanced in having proper intellectual intelligence and emotional intelligence. The problem right now is that there is an imbalance where intellectual intention outweighs the emotional thought that a person should have.

The Malaysian education system is a direct inheritance of the British system. The problem is that the Englishmen are arrogant and proud to say that their system is the best. However, the unwillingness of teaching the different kind and the incompatibility of the system makes it a failure in Malaysia. Even a Standard 1 or 2 student has to take tuition classes just to get high scores in their exams.

In my 12 years in school, I have came to realize that students are merely taught to spot the question and answer them. It's like pattern recognition. All these exam-oriented things you learn are no longer applied in the working world. As the result, people are behaving like robots instead of humans. What good is exams for now? Just to get high marks and recognition? That's the only thing right now.

The examinations are just right and wrong answers. You are made to read by the book, they expect you to read the text book to spot what are the potential questions they might ask you. But in America, they don't do that. They would ask open-ended questions that would make you think. For that situation, there is no right and wrong. But it makes things difficult for the examiners because each answer is unique and requires thinking. But then, that's how Americans and Jews could do well in every field because of the way of education.


R2-D2 and C-3P0 are classic examples of emphasizing the important balance of emotional and intellectual intelligence. Even though they are robots, we should learn by the way both of them communicating. It has been more than 75 years since they started to meet each other and despite some hiccups, they remained good buddies for life, as they witnessed passing down of ownership from the older generation to the newer generation. And what about stormtroopers? They are just taught to behave like machines, gears of the Galactic Empire, stripped of their emotions and conscience. That is the living proof of the British-inherited Malaysian education system!

The education system here is unrealistic despite having the blueprint. Currently, there are still many school dropouts and people are having frustration to study at foreign universities despite doing well in STPM examinations. So who's to blame? Only one party: the Education ministry. The current curriculum needs to be revamped from start to finish, not to modify parts and parts. Should we say that it's Kerisman's fault for this whole problem here?


He's just isn't doing much to get young Malaysians to prepare for the working world. Even sports athletes had to sit out just to study hard for their SPM / STPM exams. Give me a break! All the time, he just waved the Malay dagger in the assembly but not helping others. Hey..we picked you, we expect you to make people well educated in all aspects as the Education Minister..and now nothing? Do you expect everyone to move at graceful precision like one step up...stop at point A, turn 90 degrees..etc?

Cameo By Yours Truly

While rummaging through various photos and images from the scenes from the Internet of yesterday's protest at KLCC, I happened to see a picture of myself. The picture was meant to be taken by the writer to indicate the RELA man behind me. Unintentionally, I was appearing right in the middle of the frame. You can see the RELA personnel on the left.

PROTES - Dozens Arrested in KLCC

As the title post suggests, the estimated number of 30 people were arrested in part of PROTES' protesting against a possible oil price hike, likely in April. The rally was deemed illegal since it does not have a permit required to be applied to the police. The police had obtained a restriction order from the Magistrate Court of Kuala Lumpur on Friday. The copies of the warrant (in 3 pages) were pasted on various locations within the vicinity of KLCC.

I had a slight hassle of going into the interview. The main area was quiet with the knowledge that the assembly will be held today. The shutter doors towards the main meeting area seperating the two towers and the shopping mall were sealed off and the only exit is via two side doors. I encountered problems with a rookie police officer who insisted that I had to carry a letter of request or a special permit to go to Tower 2. I was telling the woman that the interview is only today and it's a walk-in interview. I had to repeat it again in Bahasa Malaysia for her to understand. Finally, a senior officer came in to intervene and I told him of the interview. He'd let me go to the tower.

While awaiting for my turn for interview, I saw a helicopter flying within the vicinity of KLCC. At one point it went as low as the level that I am at KLCC. See the picture above.


Question: How did you end up there?

Answer: The answer is that I did not go there on purpose. As mentioned above, I had an interview with the giant IT firm Accenture at Tower 2 today. It was at 1 p.m. I had to wait until my turn for interview at 2.15 p.m, in which question and answering session finished close to 3 p.m. I was about to leave Tower 2 when I saw a big crowd gathering there. I was on the way back to the subway station.

Question: What protest is that?

Answer: It is a protest by opposition parties and NGOs protesting against the impending price hike of petrols. There has been a hint that the government will increase the price of petrol by another 30 or 40 cents coming April after general elections because of the inability to control the subsidy. The opposition parties and NGOs protest here because the Malaysian Petroleum Club is located in the Twin Towers.

A news article over the all media indicated that DPM Najib Razak and DCA Minister Shafie Apdal had urged the newspapers not to reflect the bad side of the price inflation. Some people take that actions by the two ministers as covering the truth from the public.


Question: So what happened?

Answer: Besides my understanding, mostly from asking people around; from the point after my interview, FRUs and policemen were marching from the main entrance towards the side entrance facing Ampang Park. The protest was split into two groups, with the other one is being at the Australian High Commission. The thing is that they are prepared to face the group of supporters that are marching from Ampang Park station all the way towards KLCC. According to Malaysiakini, the arrests were made at random, particularly on those who might be behaving unusually at the point of the event. The Malaysiakini journalist was also one of the 30 arrested as well. One of the five figureheads of PROTES, Dr. Hatta Ramli was arrested as well.


I suppose this could be the main person in charge of the operation but given the name tag, it's not Pak Zul. But the rank and the cap wore by this officer as well as the antics mean that this man is itching for action in catching people.

At about 3.30pm, about 200 Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) supporters marching from Ampang Park towards KLCC were locked in a standoff with the police. Ten minutes later, at least 12 PSM supporters and leaders were arrested after a minor scuffle with the police.

I acknowledged the statement above from Malaysiakini. It happens in the photo above. Later on, 12 PSM people (those who wear the red badges) were taken into the police arrest vehicle as well. As the vehicle is moving out, the chants of "Hidup Rakyat" were echoed from those who were arrested. But as they are about to move out more were arrested and some wanted to join them all the way to the IPK office. Suddenly one of the Special Branch people retaliated after being provoked by a detainee in a move described by many observers as the animal side of the police force. Lawyers were there as well, observing the scenes of the protest and the brutal way the police acts on the people.


Question: The Tally?

Answer: The number of 30 was given base on the estimation by fellow blogger / human rights activist Elizabeth Wong, (picture above) whom I met with Howsy in September. Later, at this time of writing, I believe the number is a little less than the estimation according to the account by a PAS man. But the report by this PAS man is a little more accurate than mine, so it can be a good reference to the accounts of the events there as well.

Question: What's your opinion?

Answer: Just as my friend said the other day, this could be a measure to prevent the government from calling elections in March. There could be more events similar to this coming soon, with a BERSIH gathering on the 23rd of February, HINDRAF meeting PM with roses and etc.. But anyhow, I will not go to either sides. I'm just a fence sitter, that's all.

Translation of the Restriction Order (for the sake of international readers)



From Page 2:

And therefore, the court has found you and the PROTES protesters will proceed with the assembly without the approval from the authorities.

And therefore, the court feels that a necessary action is required to avoid potential danger and threat of security to the public which result in potential injuries, fights and etc..if held.

And therefore, the court has found that it is necessary to issue a restraint order and issued in an ex-parte manner due to insufficient time and given the fact that the assembly will be held on 26 January 2008.

Updates:


This photo by Elizabeth was taken near the vicinity of where I was with her, at the time the man above was arrested. After he threw the shirt, an SB man was reacting violently at him shoving him into the truck. The chants was initially Hidup Rakyat started by PSM's Dr. Nasir. After the man was shoved in, the chants changed to 'Reformasi.

As of late last night, the final number was about 56 people. Jonson Chong, a lawyer whom I bumped into was among the 56. 10 were let go free after statements as well as a Malaysiakini reporter.

Deja Vu Again

This is the second time in the space of one week that deja vu I had sometime ago happened this morning.

I decided to change my tooth brush to replace the worn one. The new toothbrush is greenish in color and after finished brushing my teeth, I noticed the brush in the exact position I saw in dreams sometime ago.

Sometimes, things you see in dreams can be a reality. Am I a Foreteller?

Dei...Don't Bullshit Me!

On Monday, my father told me that in anticipation of a possible boycott by Hindus at Batu Caves for this year's Thaipusam celebrations, about 1 million Hindus will travel to Penang's Waterfall temple instead. All hotels in Penang, mainland and in the island were fully booked. Most of them would travel on Monday night or on Tuesday. Alternatively, they might try to go to another temple in Klang.

It was no surprise that after many years of pressuring the federal government to extend the Thaipusam public holiday to cover the Federal Territory that finally it was agreed upon this year.

I am no fan of neither HINDRAF nor Samy Vellu. From various accounts I've asked around, the turnover at Batu Caves on Wednesday morning and afternoon was far lower than the previous years. As expected most would do it in Penang, Ipoh or Klang, shunning Batu Caves. The main reason was that to avoid a repeat of the November 25 HINDRAF rally, the FRU men were stationed at the temple compound, making the taste of celebration turned sour.

Earlier, Samy Vellu arrived for the celebrations under heavy escort by anti-riot police. About 50 Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) members escorted Samy Vellu from his car to the Thaipusam celebration operation centre where he delivered his address.

The boycott was a measure to indicate Samy Vellu that the Indians are no longer had faith to the MIC and being a branch of the BN-government. To them, MIC had failed them. Seeing the HINDRAF rally prompted them to act sooner rather than doing whatever possible to help their own kind. Extending Thaipusam to federal level is a last desperate attempt to save Samy Vellu and his post as well as to regain the people's trust on Barisan Nasional. Another thing that the government did is to improve the quota of police personnel promoted to the Inspector level, increased from 1 to at least 3 or 4 Indians.

All in all, BN is desperate of winning back after being hit by a series of rallies since November last year.

Look at this piece from The Sun:

"The crowd is the usual crowd. I come here for Thaipusam for the last 60 years. I know the crowd. Today, devotees (and visitors) spread out because unwanted buildings have been removed to create more space for people to walk around.

"I don't think religious people who want to pray to Lord Muruga will listen to all the naughty fellows," he said, adding that more than 950,000 people thronged Batu Caves last night.

"Now (at 10.30am) there are fewer people because they are tired," explained Samy Vellu, claiming that most devotees had gone to take a break but will be back later in the afternoon. He said the people who sent such SMSes are "dirty fellows".

"A clean man with a good brain and head will never send such an SMS ... the only thing they know how to do is to accuse people," said Samy Vellu.

The SMSes claimed that the temple committee had allowed the police to enter the temple complex during the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) rally in November to disperse supporters gathered there.

"These are nasty, low grade fellows. They do not have the capacity to do things that comply with law and order."

Asked for his opinion on rumours that Indian votes will swing towards the opposition in the next general election, he said: "Ya, the next government is an opposition government. That is what they are dreaming.

"I show you, this time we smash the opposition. All the opposition fellows got bundles of nonsense behind their heads. They have so many dirty history, every one of them. When they start blaming anyone, that is the time we talk about their history."

Samy Velly also initiated the issue of the Indian Contractors Foundation Association who claimed that they had not received any help from the government.

"Don't just accuse. If you sit at home, we're not going to bring the contracts to you. They must be active and show interest. The government wants to help them, but they must help themselves first."

He said the government will take care of Hinduism in the country and that the religion is already set in the Federal Constitution.

He asked the Indian community to ignore opposition parties' tactics in using religious places for politics. "We must know how to be ashamed. Those who know how to be ashamed will not use kuils.

"God knows what is happening and what we have done and he will only help MIC and BN.

The last line simply implies, that you MUST vote for BN...if by force.

I can surmise that not many Indians start to trust BN now given how the police acted at HINDRAF. They locked the temple gates, started spraying water cannons at them, now who is the one started the whole thing? (Read: police)

Samy...Dei....don't bullshit me!

Malaysiakini - Indians 'pre-amp' message to MIC, Samy

Image by Mob

Lingam Was Bragging

I was sitting in the court room yesterday and it was in the afternoon session. The case of fixing cases is barred from covering from the commission panel. But the thing that alerted me was Shockalingam's answer to a lawyer:

This was in my house, in the privacy of my room. My house is my castle. I’m the king of my house. I can talk whatever rubbish I want in my house, as long as I don’t get drunk outside and misbehave.

I cannot recall I said that. Even if I did, I’m sorry to use this word, but I was bulls****ing and bragging.

I thought for one moment, wait...is he trying to buy time by bullshitting? At times, dad use to say that to me sometimes when I was hesitant or when he knows that I wanted to cover this up. Perhaps the similar practice can be used in the Lingamtape inquiry, except it's used at the bigger level.

Dei...Don't Bullshit Me!

Deja Vu

dé·jà vu /ˌdeɪʒɑ ˈvu, ˈvyu; Fr. deɪʒa ˈvü/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[dey-zhah voo, vyoo; Fr. dey-zha vy] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun

1.	Psychology. the illusion of having previously experienced something actually being encountered for the first time.

2.	disagreeable familiarity or sameness: The new television season had a sense of déjà vu about it—the same old plots and characters with new names.

---

[Origin: 1900–05; < class="luna-Img" src="http://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/luna/thinsp.png" alt="" border="0">]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

The deja vu turned reality on Tuesday.

There was one night in dreams I saw myself siting at a bench in a room with many people inside with many black coats. I was sitting 15 degrees off the center of the room. At the end of the room, there were 5 people sitting on a throne like chairs. My eyes were focused on of the 5. He had short hair and wears spectacles.

The man leaned forward, with the electric mike turned on and spoke to a black coat man asking him for clarification to be sure of the question the man was asking. After some answering from a lawyer he nodded.

And on Tuesday afternoon, I was sitting in the same room, same position and saw a lawyer, the name of John Fan answering Steve Shim's question in the exact way that I saw in sleep. Immediately, I felt that I saw this in dreams but do not know when it happened.

I had experienced at least one deja vu every year, and this is one of them.

On that day itself, I also sat in the room where Mr. Wee got reprimanded that bad by 'Uncle' Haidar. His voice sounded familiar with Alec Guinness. The name prompted me to recall whether I have seen him in Bank Bumiputra office or whether he looked like one of my grandfather's friends in the government in the about 40 years ago when I was a little boy. Then again, the name sounded familiar as one of the supporting characters in one of Salman Khan movies!

Any Idiot Can Figure It Out!

"The battle years in the making! Except the story's too short. Not enough suspense. Any idiot can figure out the ending."

Cleve Gorman, Return to Big Nothing

Return to Big Nothing marks the return of the Punisher into the foray of the first attempt on silver screen starring Dolph Lundgren. And it was one of the great Punisher pre-Ennis stories before the Ennis-era showcases the accurate portrayal of Frank Castle in the Punisher MAX series.

Well, enough of that for now.

*

When Shockalingam made his testimony yesterday, he said he was too drunk to remember about the corruption video. And secondly, he said that the guy on the video sounds like him and resembled him.

Of course this contrasts to what Gwo Burne was saying about Lingam at the night of shooting the video. He heard a phone ringing and Lingam picked up the phone, answering the call. At the final six minutes, he said it was Ahmad Fairuz. The video expert checked through the whole thing and it's indeed, no mistake, Lingam on the video. And our bugger denies everything.

You can actually trace your caller's number and store it in your phone. He doesn't remember.

Everyone including the expert is saying the man in the video is him. He said it's not him.

If you are a frequent wine-drinker like myself, you don't get drunk after 2 1/2 glasses. Maybe around 4 to 6 will give you the tell tale sign. He's a frequent wine drinker.

If you watch the video again, he's still sober at the time of the conversation. If you are drunk, you would move unevenly or hiccup some times. He doesn't show both signs, meaning he's sober.

Any idiot can figure it out easily. You don't need an Einstein brain to deduce that Lingam is making tons of excuses to escape from inquiry and walk away scott free.

In the morning, when I woke up reading this on the online version of the dailies, I was laughing because he's trying to fool everyone with a nice gag but no one buys into it.

It's kind of like Samy Vellu trying to run away from his mistakes when the Indian community is still in anger mode. Lingam is just another person like Samy, except he's in a professional career.

See also: Malaysiakini - Lingam wants NZ holiday expunged

The Mamak Maidin Chronicles 2007 Part II

Poster by Mob

Continuing from Part I, and now here is Part 2, showcasing articles featuring Mamak Maidin which is kind of absurd and one-step-backwards in the second half of 2007.

Mamak Zainuddin Maidin is a fool and a disgrace to the journalist community. He told the Malaysian pressmen, that they should prevent information from reaching the "Big Ears" of the Prime Minister.

July:
Zam: Ignore 'goblok' bloggers

August:

• Not all bloggers are stupid, says Zam
• Malaysiakini BM: Senarai Aspirasi Rakyat, Satu Cubaan Pecah-belah Rakyat kata Zam
• Some Lessons in Latin

September:

• Zam Laments Critique by DAP on Crime
• Zam: Lawyers Shouldn't Hold Street Protests

October:

• Malaysiakini: ZAM to Media: No Need to Tell PM The Truth
• Zam: Lim is Using Canadian For Politcal Mileage
• Zam: Varsity Victory Shows Support For Government
• RSF Press Freedom Rating Not Valid Says ZAM

November:

• Malaysiakini: You People Are Nonsense!
• ZAM Slams Al-Jazeera's Coverage
• Malaysiakini: Kit Siang - ZAM Minister of Misinformation
• On Bersih - Don't Be Swayed By Extremists, Says ZAM
• Malaysiakini: Anwar - Semi-literate Ministers Are An Embarassment

December:

• ZAM: Legal Channels Still The Way to Solve The Problem
• ZAM: Chinese News Agency Responsible
• ZAM: No Need for The PM to Meet HINDRAF

Additional material here and at Howsy's two parter on bloggers. (part 1), (part 2)

True, our friends in Indonesia are right about ZAM being a cock-up. Do you want him to serve another term here as a Minister? If you are wise, stop him, tell the people of Merbok of how foolish he is!

The Mamak Maidin Chronicles 2007 Part I

Image Courtesy of Mob

Showcases the news and articles from Main Stream Media (I use The Star as for MSM) and Malaysiakini, from January to December 2007. The articles chosen reflects the various nouns for The Mamak of Merbok: (or Mamak Maidin)

Stupid, Arrogant, Pathetic, One-Step-Backwards, Unrealistic, Trapped-In-Past,
and much more...

tapi aku nak ulas hal Zam Maidin mamak Merbok ni bising. malu betui. sangat-sangat menunjukkan yang dia tu takdak akai langsung. tak buleh di bawak ...

I picked the Star because its archives are arranged by dates the article item was published out, making it easier to check back.

Part 1: January to June

January: - None...!

February:
Ban on Foreign Flavor in Ads Stays

March:
Don't Quote Websites: Zam

April:

• ZAM Slams News Channel for Interview with Anwar
• Malaysiakini: ZAM Unhappy With Reporting With Singapore Media

May:

• Malaysiakini: ZAM Recommends Labels for Bloggers
• Spread Info By SMS And Blogs, ZAM Tells Officers
• ZAM: Classify Bloggers
• ZAM: Few People Read Blogs

June:
ZAM sees Nothing Wrong With Dukun

One of Anwar's Lawyers

Source: The Star (20 January 2008)

My house is located behind the Muslim cemetery in Jalan Titiwangsa. At around 12.30 p.m, when I was about to go out to collect my laundry in Setapak, I saw a big crowd on the small lane between the main road and Jalan Titiwangsa. I don't have to peek in there to see. The compound of my house is a bus depot and there was a stool there. I just stand on the chair and saw a big crowd at the burial grounds.

I guess it must be them or related to the above, but I didn't ask.

X-Men Animated Series Retro

The X-Men animated series to this day remains the #2 longest running animated series in the entire cartoon history behind Batman: The Animated Series. It features the characters drawn and designed by Jim Lee (noted for character anatomy dynamics) and shows all the comic storylines, particularly those written by Chris Claremont in his first stint at Marvel in animated format.

Note: This excludes The Simpsons.

Episodes Run and Overview

The series had a successful 76-episode run from October 31 1992 to September 20 1997. All of these episodes were executive produced by Stan Lee himself and Avi Arad, with Joe Calamari. Then Marvel publisher Bob Harras was the creative consultant for the production. Much of the story arcs seen in comics like the Legacy Virus, Sentinels, Savage Land, Days of Future Past and The Phoenix Saga were successfully translated into episodes run. These episodes were produced by Saban Entertainment, the company distributing Power Rangers worldwide and they were broadcast under Fox Kids and it was shown almost every weekend on their networks. After the successful run of the first X-Men movie in 2000, the series had another successful rerun but it was Disney who broadcast the rerun when they bought the broadcasting rights from Saban in 2001.

Each episode had a consistent average rating of 8 out of 10. Out of the episodes, only 2 were noted to draw flak and criticism from fans. Episode 24, Mojovision, featuring the voice of Andy Dick as Mojo was rated 6.8 while one of the final season's episode, entitled Jubilee's Fairy Tale was rated as the worst episode ever of the series.

The opening title sequence featuring the name of mutant and their abilities were designed by Dave McCarty. This title sequence would serve as the basis for another Marvel animated production series, Iron Man. However, the final season featured a modified title sequence.

At this time of writing, I have watched the first two seasons of the run. Season 2 remains the best of the lot because of its overall cohesiveness. The main plot is about Mr. Sinister and the Savage Land. Most of the episodes are connected to one another featuring a small segment of Professor Xavier and Magneto at the Savage Land, bookmarked and setup for a 2-part showdown called Reunion.

The Fall of The Run

Arguably the success of the 5 seasons was due to the efforts of two men, Larry Houston and the supervising producer Scott Thomas.

Season 5 was supposedly ended at Episode 70 with the conclusion of the two parter Storm Front. However after that, Graz Entertainment, closed shop due to bankruptcy and the writing duties and storyboarding went directly to Saban Entertainment with the production seen by former Batman animated series producer Tom McLaughlin. However, no sooner by March 1997 after the release of Episode 73: Old Soldiers featuring Captain America, Fox Network has decided to cancel the series. But they allowed Saban to release the final three episodes that they had already worked on.

Influence in Film

The first X-Men movie mostly has a storyline that was influenced by the first season of the animated series. If you are to compare the story in the first film and the first season, you will notice that are many similar elements in the film. The only exception is that the episodes focus on Jubilee while the story in the film focuses on Wolverine with Rogue as supporting because Wolverine has brings more character appeal to the fans and Rogue, with her well documented beginnings seen in comics complements of showing a character on the run to a key member of the team.

Pre-Harry Potter Influence?

The character relationships and dynamics of Rogue and Gambit served as the influence of the relationship of Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour by JK Rowling. Like Gambit, Bill is a charmer and has the panache while Fleur, like Rogue can be sometimes an aggressive tough-as-nails character. At least either one of them is a French character except from different origins. Remy is a French-New Orleans guy while Fleur is from Southern France. At the end of the Harry Potter series, Bill and Fleur were married, had three children. Likewise, in the X-Men: The End, both were married and lived in Valley Solada except that their fates were in contrast to Bill and Fleur. The Extreme X-Men series by Chris Claremont has prominently examines their relationship there.

Theme Tracks

Anyone can remember the signature opening theme that was used in the first four seasons. During the production stage rehearsals that I was involved in school back in 2000, a schoolmate of mine managed to perform the opening track by just recalling from memory alone. We had one piano in the school hall and he played it during rehearsal breaks.

Another theme that I believe was the second best would be the harmonica Bishop's theme. It gives the feeling and inference that Bishop is one tough ass who would love to tackle baddies a la cowboy style.

The theme track is available at this site for download in MP3 format.

I Want to Watch It, How?

Currently you can watch all the 76 episodes of the series on YouTube. But the number of videos are doubled. This is because YouTube has a restriction that will allow a maximum of 10 minutes per video. These videos can be watched but without the opening and end titles.

References:

1. X-Men Animated Series on Wikipedia
2. Interview with Bob Harras (1992)
3. The Episode Guide of the series

Lingamtape Inquiry Day 5: Seeing It Live!

I suppose that I am the only blogger besides my other two friends (a lawyer and a reporter) to cover a one day of the Lingamtape public inquiry held at the KL Court Complex today.

From sayings with some people I knew, I was told that in order to get into the room, you need to be among the first 15 in order to gain this 'public pass'. Due to the room space there, being limited, only 20 passes were available. The rest, 40 for media and an unspecified amount for 'lawyer observers' , those who are specified in the list prepared by the BAR Council. So I was at the courthouse since 7 a.m and managed to be among the first 10.

I thought that the guest today would be Anwar Ibrahim himself, but due to his schedule, the testimony was instead delivered by former CJM, Eusoff Chin. Today's session lasted only until at noon since today there was a Friday prayers and judging from things, there would not be much to be discusses because of time constraints.

How does the room look like?

I understand that not many people could go in and there isn't a video feed to help people tune in into the inquiry. The room consists of 12 benches for reporters and the public. Each bench can fill in 4 people and it is arranged in a 3 X 4. Four rows, 3 benches. Some extra chairs are included to fill up the number of 60 non-court personnel. For security reasons, no cameras are allowed into the room.

After the benches, a small paddock separates between the BAR Council lawyers and observers (yellow pass) guys with police personnel and the DPP, as well as the court personnel. On the far end there is a stage where the five members of the commission preside.

Day's Trial in Points:

I suppose that Malaysiakini or any other mainstream media has the coverage on today's session.
Below are the points mentioned. I just leave it for you to check both versions, mine and theirs especially, if for some reason feel that the paper report is missing some details or whatsoever. If you really want an 'things mentioned live and on the spot' well, here it is.

Session kicked off at 10 a.m, with Wee making a request on behalf of Balan, Lingam's brother.

1. Balan wants to testify and applies for permission. It will be decided.
2. Balan made several reports to the police and ACA and they were ignored. One of the reports were also referenced in one of Rocky's post last November.
3. Wee is making an inference that there is a degree of closeness between Eusoff and Lingam.
4. Wee showed to the court a larger photo of Lingam and Eusoff in Queenstown, New Zealand.
5. Mahadev suggested that Wee should make the application after Eusoff finishes his testimony.
He thinks that the timing was premature and feels that the application and inference by Wee would make the application meaningless if Eusoff denies everything.

Eusoff came in later.

1. He could not recognize the person on video (it was played) as it was blur but did say that the voice sounds like Lingam.
2. The relationship is a professional judge-lawyer, not to the extent of closeness.
3. He doesn't even know Berjaya's Vincent Tan.
4. On most of the extracts of the transcripts (marked by yellow highlights) asked by the DPP and Ranjit Singh, he claimed he doesn't know the meaning of the lines. Such as 'Pom..pom.pom' and 'Dzaiddin hating Eusoff.' - he denies of the claim. And he said that most do not involve him because he retired at the time of the video was shot. December 20 2001. He retired in 2000.
5. The BAR had a copies of the New Zealand trip planner (written by Eusoff's secretary) from December 22 to 30 1994. It details of the flights from Singapore to Christchurch then to Queenstown and Auckland.
6. Eusoff confirms that Lingam was tagging along during the New Zealand period. He met Lingam in Changi. The trip to Queenstown back and forth was by a chartered van holding nine persons excluding the driver.
7. Ranjit mentions that the ninth person on the trip, when later I found out he was Vincent Tan's personal bodyguard.
8. Eusoff offers to make a submission but was advised to have a counsel by Mahadev. He agreed and a submission would be arranged at a later date.

The main question that baffles is that how does Lingam know of Eusoff's personal plans on the trip? The trip was no coincidence as they were in the same flights from Singapore and back forth.
Smaller copies of the photo were given to the lawyers and commissioners. The same one that Wee has.

Session's over....

I happened to meet a Keadilan guy, Pushpalingam, infamously knows most Special Branch officers and policemen in KL and was among the 145 arrested at the National Mosque in protesting the case where Anwar was poisoned at the prison 10 years ago. I didn't say much but listening to his views and things related 10 years ago with the inquiry.


While having a drink with a cameraman and Pushpa, I saw Balan on a table ahead. He was there. He gave info to the reporters. He came here in case he was needed immediately for testimony.

It's nice to come but if you want, come by 7 a.m to get your seat.

It's Time To Go...

Well...back to square one.

After close to two years on the current job, I'll be going back to the job market. Yesterday was my last day at the current company.

I've been on the current job on a contract basis since starting in March 2006. Being on the contract basis means that I'm entitled to most benefits that a permanent employee do except for a few little things or two. So last Monday, I had a contract review with my employers. We talked about many things over the last year. I had an extension last year. After going through the details, I wasn't happy over a few aspects. In my view, it's the potential medium-term prospects, my frustration, the department level atmosphere and most important of all, my relationship with my immediate manager. But on the management side, it's that they are kind of not so happy over my methods of solving problems. So both parties with mutual agreement decided not to extend my contract or convert my position into a permanent one.

According to the contract, I will officially leave the organization on 1st of March. But on that day of discussion, when both sides decided on the decision, I appreciated that they helped me on getting things ready when I leave the company. First of all, I only one small task left on my weekly report, which means that they would let me leave earlier, either today or yesterday to help me complete my handover of duties to whoever takes over me. So yesterday, I had to backup all my personal documents and take some stuff back - but no network connection as security measure. Secondly, I would be paid in full for this month itself an a specified amount for February.

I am somewhat grateful being given to honor to work for that kind of organization. They took care of things quite well and I received bonuses for 06 and 07. The staff were quite good, especially the support department who loved me so much. I was quite sorry to leave. My departure yesterday was low key. I just took all my documents from the drawer and left with soft-documents. Whenever I saw a colleague, I just didn't say that I was leaving. Only two people knew that I was leaving: my manager and my finance manager, William.

The timing of the departure would give me plenty of time to look for a new post. Interestingly, after I decided to leave, I applied for some jobs online and I had 5 interviews lined up next week.

I knew that will come sometime soon. Dad wanted me to move to a better industry, particularly a international level or a banking industry. I looked at the monthly pay and felt that given of things that could happen in the next few months or so, I would need more than the current amount.

So what would I do now? Well, it's time for a break. A well deserved-break. I've got a few things in mind:

1. Try to start back my put-on-hold internet marketing.
2. Improve my soft-skills and those Java-skills. Starting to realize to expand that skill set.
3. Go for job interviews.

I'm bit tight this week while waiting for my pay next week. But I get all the time in the world to enjoy on my own. I only told my mum about it. She had me get ready if things didn't go out well.

Know what I did today? I went to cover the Lingamtape inquiry live.

Chuah Gets The Grilling

I stopped by the KL Court Complex yesterday and today as to get some updates and perhaps gain a personal opinion from watching the Haidar commission up close and personal.

Unfortunately, I need a pass to go in and in these two days, I did not have the chance to do so. Because of this, I had to get the updates and so from my other two blogger friends there, Polytikus and Haris.

So far the prominent witness in question for the last two days was ACA Supt. Chuah Lay Choo. This was the woman who issued the summons against Anwar Ibrahim and Sivarasa for violating a directive to hand over the complete 14-minute Lingam clip in October.

Yesterday, according to Malaysiakini, the royal panel grilled her over 11 discrepancies discovered when comparing with her version of the video transcript against the one meticulously prepared by the Bar Council. She also faced a barrage of questions queried by the Bar.

Many expected today Dr. Mahathir to be providing the testimony in the morning. However, there was a change in the schedule as Chuah has yet to settle yesterday's issue and was designated the first witness in the morning. After Chuah, the next witness was the former Chief Secretary, Samsudin Osman. Dr. Mahathir appeared at the afternoon session, 2.30 p.m.

At lunch today, I was told that Chuah got another grilling today over the phone numbers. The ACA could not get the phone numbers of V.K Lingam as the lines are pre-paid, not post-paid. Not many questions could be answered and as such, she was due to appear as the first witness in tomorrow's session.

On a side note, Lingam tried to fool by saying that the person in the video was identical to me. This was against what the analytical results of the video revealed and other witness testimony. It was a nice try for Lingam, but he cannot deny that any longer.

Paul Thomas Anderson - The Next Kubrick?

The late Stanley Kubrick was known to be the first of the filmmakers to exercise total control over all aspects of his movies. He is also an artist - a man with at least three faces as writer, producer and a director. Subsequent and successful filmmakers like Francis Coppola, George Lucas, James Cameron and Steven Spielberg all followed the traits and skills of Kubrick in exercising their own creative control without restrictions and interference from the studio who would all agree to their control over the picture.

It was during the making of Spartacus when Kubrick complained that he could not rework the script - not allowed by star and producer Kirk Douglas - that Kubrick started to learn to exercise control and authority over all aspects of the movie.

All of these top filmmakers came from the experience of battling media moguls over their work on their earlier pictures. In the end, they won, they achieved great successes and that paved the way into reaching the pinnacle of top filmmakers in the world.

In the late 90s, additional players came in like Michael Mann, with his signature work, Heat, Luc Besson and among others. But there was one very young player, a rookie in the field that the world does not know until late 1999. He has the passion of making movies, wearing three hats in one identity and has a strict discipline in control over work. He is the youngest of the lot and judging by his works, he was claimed by some as the next Kubrick.


Paul Thomas Anderson (b. June 26 1970) is the son of Ernie Anderson, the host of the TV show Ghoulardi, (hence his company is called Ghoulardi Pictures). At a very young age of 23 he worked on his first short called Cigarettes and Coffee that served as an entry at the Sundance Festival. Like Kubrick, during the making of his first feature, Sydney, he had to battle with the studio over several matters, including the title (he wanted to called as Sydney, but the studio called it Hard Eight in exchange for him to keep the final cut), the film and of course the titles. Like in Kubrick's movies, he wanted just one title card and the end credits to show up at the end of the movie. Working on Sydney, he learned that being a filmmaker involves dealing with egos who would butcher the movie just to suit the marketing needs, and in the battle, he won of course.

Anderson is one of a kind that sticks to the basic principles of film making procedures which hearkens back to the 40s to the 60s. He did cited John Huston as a basic example. Robert Elswit, his cameraman in all of his movies since Sydney did say that he was a walking filmmaking encyclopedia at the tender age of 25. Only Cameron was a bit later than him. To Anderson, the technical side is the one that he loved most.

I thought once a while that some attitudes reflect either the current trend or the past. For me, I was more of sticking to my dad, wearing non-punk retro style clothes, listening to the music of the 80s and the 90s. This was in contrast with my brother who loves watching anime and listening to all those punk, techno and Japanese music. As it was something that drove him to behave like that. I have no answer to explain why it could be like that.

The major difference between Anderson and Kubrick is that most of the films that Anderson wrote are original unlike Kubrick who would adapt a book that would match the message and themes he would like to deliver. In his movies since Spartacus, only 2001 was his only original work.

Not even at 30 and his film, Magnolia was considered as his magnum opus. It was incredible for a kid at the age of 28/9 to write multiple storylines that encapsulate into one film. And there are numerous references to the infamous Exodus 8:2 thing that happens everywhere in the movie itself. It took him about two weeks to write a 3 hour plus script movie in William H. Macy's cabin and judging from that, he was incredible to pump out many ideas to form a big epic story.

Of course that gave him an AA nomination of an original screenplay award. But some people think that once you reach the pinnacle, you would not have the same success again. Wrong. Anderson's best buddies are Adam Sandler and John Reilly. It was when Sandler wanted to work on a serious drama, since most of the time he is considered a funny man, and people thought that when Anderson replying a question of his next project after Magnolia - "I'm going to do an 80-minute film with Adam Sandler," - was a joke. That resulted in Punch Drunk Love about a man who could not find love with an opposite eventually meets a girl thing.

There Will Be A Blood, his new film (I suspect that he took his time in making the movie) was out and it did well. He was consistent in all of his movies. Most of it got a 7.5 to 8 out of 10 rating and it seems that he still repeat the same thing over and over again and yet he's not even at 50. So you can say that he as much more energetic as Kubrick but he was not a perfectionist as he gives actors space to try out new things and so on. Shelley Duvall was made to do 127 takes in one scene that put him into exhaustion. Kubrick had everything planned out in advance. Fincher was another guy that follows like Kubrick. But in the overall work rate and methodology, Anderson was kind of close to Kubrick.

Add. Material: Blood For Oil

Fine Dining In Ipoh Part I

I was in Ipoh since last Thursday until Sunday. I remembered a story that my dad told me a few weeks back that he took the family to a place at Brewster Road (Jalan Sultan Idris Shah) opposite Padang Ipoh for dinner. That place was simply called Brewsters (opposite the famous F.M.S Bar.)

The restaurant's signature dish is called Pork Knuckles. Unfortunately, when I went there that day, I was told that they only sell that on weekends.

But there are some signature dishes that after that round, I really enjoyed it. I remembered my mother tried going there one Monday in November while we're all in Cameron Highlands for the family trip, but it was closed.


The best starter dish would be the Pan Fried Sauted Mushrooms. The mushrooms are those button ones. Thursday's special includes a Ham Salad - the ham was cured with some honey and vinegrette and with some salad.


Besides the pork knuckle, one of the dishes was called the Wicky Wicky Pork Chop. Served with mint, mushroom sauce with potato salad, the pork was deep fried with a crispy skin outside. It's fillet portion too!

I recently learned that they had successfully acquired the liquor selling license, which means, in the next month or so, they would start selling wine there as well. Upstairs, is a special room catered for parties that can accommodate 60 people.

I find the pricing there is reasonable. The serving size is quite big given its price. It's worth the food there. Another place for fine dining would be Indulgence, but it will cost another 20 percent more for the same quality of food.

I thought I saw this in a Star Central Metro article, but instead, I found out through my blog buddy Howsy. The owner was one Anne Dass, whom I thought she was someone else until I read the post.

Basically, it's easy to find the restaurant, except having the trouble to find parking. It's directly opposite the FMS Bar and just next the the Perak NUBE office.

Address: No 5, Jalan Sultan Idris Shah, 30000 Ipoh, Perak

It's Last Call!

On Wednesday, at lunch with my usual friend, we were discussing on Bedol Napoleon's shock that the crime rate of the nation had rose by another 13 percent. And a measure to help reduce crime rates is by installing CCTVs (Close Circuit Cameras) around buildings in towns.

I must say that this implies that the tenders for CCTVs are now open and the winner of the contract is not judged by the quality and bidding levels, but instead it is to the preferential Malay-first tender. And you know that means that the riches gained from the contract is given to one group, not everyone. Just imagine that installing CCTVs worth about $5000 per building in about 1000 buildings in the Klang Valley alone can net about $5 million in profit to whoever wins the award.

If you agree with my inference, then congratulations - you are a real-thinking Malaysian.

But CCTVs alone is not enough to combat crime. Even if you have the CCTVs there, the police still could not track the identity of the killer of Nurin! The rules of engagement, the standards of law enforcement still remains at a abysmal and unacceptable level. The police recently had misused or violated the standards set by utilizing unnecessary resources against things like the HINDRAF thing.

After reading that thing, I felt that what Dr. Farrukh Saleem said about the literacy level in a Muslim-majority nation is much lower than a non-Muslim-majority nation is definitely right. From the statement of Abdullah Badawi, this clearly means that he doesn't really understand a lot of the current affairs of the whole nation. He's a flip-flop and decisions are left to the 4th Floor guys to do it. I actually stumbled upon an e-book by an organization claiming of 70 reasons of why Abdullah Badawi is weak. Some points are sensible but not all are to be accepted.

Now back to the Sharlinie thing, it's clearly that the same man behind the Nurin murder.

Johor is one state in the Peninsular that is the most notorious. The amount of criminal cases in that state is far more compared to the number in Klang Valley or even in Penang. I suppose that it is either lack of enforcement or people's attitude of a man is an island thing that could be the cause of the thing. (See latest Malaysiakini case: MIC Man Shot Dead in Johor). Remember the Tengku Goh thing? It happens more in the south than in the central or the northern region.

The media has been reporting signs of election fever coming around the corner. So, it's clearly that it's set on 15 March. Why? Two reasons: the school holiday week and secondly, to prevent Anwar Ibrahim from competing in the politics arena. They all knew that he would be eligble for contest after April 2008, so why wait for him?

It's now the last call for the police force and the government. No identity has been established - the name of the killer - but a photofit. If they cannot catch the killer by the time election is around the corner, I can have a good guess that BN would be suffering a much heavier defeat compare to 1999.

I don't have to do over-the-top rant as Uncle Bernard do or be more sarcastic as my buddy blogger Howsy would say but Musa Hassan's job credibility is in stake. He had been entrusted by Abdullah Badawi through a two-year contract extension. Failure to that means loss of trust to the police force. After all, they have been hit by criticism of brutality act in the rallies. Need I say more?

Lingamtape: For Reference

For reference in future and for humor :)

The complete transcript is as follows:

LINGAM: The CJ (Chief Justice - judiciary’s No 1 post) said his relative is now the Agong, so he wants to stay on to 68, so, Tengku Adnan said - I told Tengku Adnan, yesterday I had a meeting with him - he said PM is already very angry with him … and … he said no problem, he is going to make you acting err… confirm your position as PCA (President of Court of Appeal – judiciary’s No 2), working very hard, and then get Tan Sri Mokhtar as CJM (Chief Judge of Malaya – judiciary’s No 3).

Ah, so we just keep it confidential. I am working very hard on it. Then there is a letter, according to Tengku - I am going to see him tomorrow - there is a letter sent to … ah … CJ - I mean Tan Sri Dzaiddin - that Datuk Heliliah, …er Datuk Ramli and Datuk Maarop be made judges, and he rejected that Dr Andrew Chew and apa itu Zainudin Ismail lah because Zainuddin Ismail who condemned your appointment and Tan Sri Mohtar’s appointment.

And then you also, it seems, wrote a letter for the remaining … confirmed as judges. As per our memo, I discussed with Tun Eusoff Chin and we sent the same memo to PM. I just want to get a copy letter that this has been done.

And then Tan Sri Dzaiddin said he is going to recommend six people for the Court of Appeal, but until today the letter hasn’t come to PM. He never discussed, but neither he has sent the letter to PM. He has not sent. So, I know it is under the constitution, for judges all, that is your job, Datuk, to send, but we don’t want to make it an issue now.

Ah, okay. Actually I told Tengku Adnan to inform PM, PM to call you for a meeting. But I will organise this so that Tengku Adnan will call you directly. And then I got your number, I will tell him to call you directly to for you to meet PM lah. Ah… So should be okay, then ar… correct, correct, it is very important that the key players must be there.

Correct, correct, correct. Correct, correct. You know that the same problem that Tun Eusoff Chin had. He tried to do all this and yet he has run out of soldiers. He couldn’t do it because many were from the other camp. Last time was unfortunate because Tun Daim was doing everything sabotaging, - you know lah -otherwise how are things with you - everything is okay? No, don’t worry.

You know sometimes Tan Sri Vincent said that half the time we are talking about judiciary rather than doing the work. But if I don’t do this part, my work will be useless. Ha! Ha! Ha!

Ah, yes. Correct, correct, correct, correct, correct. Right, right, right. Correct. Ah. Ah. Right! Susah. You see he has now asked for six Court of Appeal judges, so that he can put his men before he retires.

Correct, correct, correct, ah, and then, ah, ah, correct, correct, correct, correct, correct.

Ah, never mind, I will do this, I will get er… Tengku Adnan to arrange for PM to call you and Tan Sri Vincent Tan for PM to call. You know why, actually, I am very grateful to Tan Sri Vincent Tan, You know why? I brainwashed him so much I even quarreled with him.

One day I went to Vincent Tan’s house, I fired him at night in his house. I said bloody hell, if you don’t do this who will do it? All these people, Tun Eusoff Chin, Datuk Ahmad Fairuz, Tan Sri Zainal all fought for …that. Then he called Tengku Adnan. Tengku Adnan he said, saya bukan Perdana Menteri Malaysia lah, you know. If the old man doesn’t want to listen to me, go to hell.

He quarreled with me. I said never mind, never mind, Tan Sri, you talk to PM again tomorrow morning to put Datuk Ahmad Fairuz to CJM.

So next day morning he went and he called me back 9.30 that he said PM has already agreed. So I said never mind, we hope for the best. So I said no harm trying, the worst that it can happen is you lose.

Being the old man, he is 76 years old, he gets whispers everywhere, and then you don’t whisper, he get taken away by the other side. But, now the PM is very alert because every time he gets letters from Tan Sri Dzaiddin, he calls Tengku Adnan, he says discuss with Vincent, come and discuss. And…

Yes, yes, ya. Correct, correct. Ya, but you see although I know PM, but my views … I am a lawyer in practice… my views are… I go through them, I go through them lah.

Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah.

And then Dzaiddin will go and tell them you went and saw PM and make a big issue out of it. Oh ya, I think so, I think so.

Okay, fine, fine, fine, fine. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Right, okay, okay. Ah. Ah. Correct, correct.

Now I heard Raja Aziz, Raja Aziz ah, two weeks ago spoke to my lawyer Thayalan, and another lawyer Anad, in the High Court - they have a case with each other. So, Thayalan and Anad asked Raja Aziz, how is Tan Sri Wan Adnan?

He said he is on his way down. But you know what is the shocking thing he said? Datuk Fairuz became CJM. He overruled everybody, in three months time, he is going to be PCA, and six months time, he is going to be CJ. He said I can’t take this shock. He told lah. Ha!

It seems ah that they are going to organise a campaign … they are going to organise a campaign to run you down. But you just keep quiet - don’t say anything. Don’t … even the press ask, you said I leave it to God, that’s all. Don’t say. I really like your message. You said I work very hard, what can I do? I leave it to God. That’s the best answer, Datuk, that you can ever give. Ah.

Yes… I will also get Tan Sri to remind PM to put a Tan Sri ship this year lah. You know, this will elevate you, you know.

Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. Ah. Steve Shim got so fast, Tan Sri Chong waited for a whole year to get Tan Sriship.

Ah. My God, that’s why, ah. Correct, correct, correct, correct, ya, ya, ya, ya, right, right, right, correct, correct.

Note: One of my ring tones is in this second sub-section. Correct..correct..correct

Don’t worry, we organise this. And if Tan Sri Vincent and Tengku Adnan want to meet you privately, they will, I will call you. We organise a private arrangement, in a very neutral place.

No, don’t worry, Datuk, I know how much you suffered for Tun Eusoff Chin. And Tun said Datuk Ahmad Fairuz 110 percent loyalty. We want to make sure our friends are there for the sake of PM and for the sake of the country. Not for our own interest, not for our own interest. We want to make sure the country comes out well.

Well, you suffered so much, so much you have done - for the election petition, Wee Choo Keong, everything. How much, nobody would have done all these.

Yes, you know. Ah. Good lah. You don’t worry. I am constantly working on this. I…

Ya, ya, don’t worry, don’t worry. We work hard on this er Datuk. And if Tan Sri Vincent and Tengku want to see you, I will organise it in a confidential place.

Okay, Datuk, all the very best. God bless you and your family.

Okay. Thank you, thank you. Bye-bye, bye-bye.

[Off Camera Voice]:
Who is that Dato?

Lingam:
Chief Justice Malaya.

[Off Camera Voice]:
Who is that?

Lingam:
Dato Ahmad Fairuz

[Off camera voice]:
Oh Ahmad Fairuz.

Lingam:
I put him up there. Don’t tell this, please. I cannot tell this to Manjit. And he is acting President Court of Appeals Number 2 post. He is next Chief Justice. He always says “I leave it to you.”

[Off Camera Voice]:
I thought you were very close to Tun Eusoff Chin, Datuk?

Lingam:
He is Eusoff Chin’s man, Eusoff Chin retired. But Dzaiddin hates Eusoff Chin, you understand? Ah..

[Off Camera Voice]:
Because you know I…I…I..as far as I know you are very…

Lingam:
Eusoff Chin and I are extremely close. Because you know…Yeah. Eusoff Chin in power, I can straight and get in Pom! Pom! Pom! Pom!

But now Dzaiddin is there. So Dzaiddin is attacking our cases. That means what? James Kumar is aligned to Dzaiddin. But Dzaiddin is retiring in 15th of September. He is finished.

[Off camera voice]:
Next year?

Lingam:
So Dzaiddin really wants to go…Don’t worry. Dzaiddin recommended Malik Ahmad to be Chief Judge of Malaya. But we went and “cut” “cut” cut” cut” I and Tengku Adnan and Vincent told PM.

I stop him for now, because he is anti-PM. We put Fairuz in. And we put…I told you three months ago he became CJM [Chief Justice Malaya]. He said “Don’t believe.” Then he got it. He rang up to thank me.

And all that. He now acting PCA because Wan Adnan is sick. Right?

This. Apart from law knowledge you need kow tow. Please understand that. You need to know the emperor.

Knowing the law doesn’t give you the winning formula, you must also kow tow to the emperor.

Correct or not? So now I am working very hard. So he agreed to meet Vincent Tan and PM and…what you call Tengku Adnan.

[Off camera voice]:
Do you think Vincent has an interest over PM?

Lingam:
You don’t know about the history. Businesswise may not be successful. Robert Kuok is very brilliant. Lim Goh Tong is very rich.

Vincent Tan, you know what PM say? He went to Averton he went to Langkawi. He said bincang. I want you to build a hotel here. His wife pulled him away. [Inaudible] He said Dato Seri I will think about it. The wife pulled him away.

There is another [inaudible] cannot get a bank loan. Vincent there. Vincent, can you build a hotel? Ready for next Air show?

I want you do it in 6 months. `Datuk Seri, Don’t worry, I will get it done.’ He paid double the price to get all of them. A big loss lah.

Then Solomon Island and Fiji and all, he said, Vincent go and invest there, he went and bought…[inaudible] the government factory [inaudible] you do this project a bit and cover up your loss. PM will do what he want to do to cover your backside.

[Off camera voice]:
Vincent is very close to him.

Lingam:
That’s right. Don’t ask… because Vincent has taken me to PM’s residence… the house … [inaudible]… Anwar’s case… the lawyers…Wee Cheong … [inaudible]. But I cannot go and talk to PM just like that and say promote this and that…

Because ah, he knows… I am a… but when PM calls me on Anwar’s case, I can tell him… he’ll listen…

But if I go promote so and so, that means I got interest. So, I don’t do that. I use Vincent and Tengku, go and do that. I don’t f*** them up. They go and do that.

But I tell you this lah. Don’t tell in front of people, of course.

Life, one thing go confidential wrong is dangerous. Ah. Never, never say…You should… never. Even though to PM. You should never say.

I don’t know. I always say “I don’t know.” That’s all.

[Off camera voice]:
Everybody… I think many people know. Even the son case, everything I talk the father, …. Talk until he agreed.

Lingam:
You know me [inaudible]. But I never talk about it. Even the son’s case, I do everything. I talk to the father…Talk until he agreed. But if it is a big crisis that affects him, ….I can talk, he will listen.

But if I want to favour somebody, that I cannot guarantee. Because my interest is not his interest. You know what I mean.

Tomorrow invest your interest involving your father, I can come say this this this, you will listen. But tomorrow I appeal for me, you are not obliged to listen. Because you are a politician, PM.

Politician is what is your interest, not what is my interest. But if I am giving advise on your interest, you will listen. On my interest, you will not. You must be careful about this.

[Off camera voice]:
Datuk, I need to ask you this question.

Lingam:
Ask me. Ask me.

[Off camera voice]:
For a while now…

Lingam:
Because we can talk behind these people.

[Off camera voice]:
… Actually, I think, you know, Daim has more equity interest in Berjaya than Vincent Tan, isn’t that true?

Lingam:
Let me tell you something … [inaudible] was bought by Daim … [inaudible]. Later on he did some deals where Daim supposed to help him.

One or two he helped. Supposed to give him some money. Didn’t give. Part was paid, part not paid. Later on Daim called up and he got paid.