Not Exactly, Dr. M.

Yesterday, The Malaysian Insider has reported here that Dr. Mahathir commented that the Chinese voters are the kingmakers in the country and they would be the ones that who will decide who will form the next government after GE-13.

That is correct in one certain perspective but in overall he is partially right. There are reports running around both political fronts that the Chinese are leaning towards the opposition and have already determined to bury MCA six feet under. In other words, as what others have reported, UMNO has already in heart given up on MCA's efforts to get Chinese support and as what was written previously, they have already focused more on Malay support.

However, taking into the account of the number of parliamentary / state seats won by MCA alone in the previous GE, the party won no thanks to votes from postal and those who still blindly believe on the party that claims that elephants fly and money grows on trees after more than 2 score years.

If we take into account of Dr. Mahathir's statement, then Pakatan can improve its previous score of 82 to a good guess estimation of 105 seats. However, as what Raja Petra said yesterday here, "The next election is going to be a photo finish.". Chinese as kingmakers is not sufficient enough.

The total votes ratio (with postal included) will be a 3:4:3 thing meaning that as what Pete said in the same posting that a 5% swing from the 40% fence sitters can give a win to either one coalition.

Have we also forgotten about Sabah and Sarawak? The convention of both states being safety deposits has already been broken. They are also another kingmaker, and either front must get at least 20+ seats to form a government. 

We also have to remember that for those who are fence sitting they still are looking into who to choose. However, what they may not know is that because the next GE is a make or break for either one side, they may unaware choose to believe in continuing the believe of the party that indirectly claims elephants can fly.

So it's not exactly correct, doctor.

There's No Country For Old Men

The old fossil by the name of Abdul Aziz from Sri Gading has a mouth faster than the brain (equivalent to Ibrahim Ali and other MPs under that characterization), calling for Ambiga's hanging. This dinosaur believes that Ambiga's leading of Bersih is an attempt to topple the Najib administration. Such claim is equivalent to what was spoken in Europe 500-700 years ago where accusing a person of heresy. Ambiga was doing her duty on behalf of the people asking for the rights to have a level playing field in elections -  a win-win situation.

In whatever Ambiga talks in the run up to Bersih 3.0 , Ambiga has never referred once to the Agong on her speeches and talks.

All the time in the context of Bersih, UMNO has perceived this as a threat to their sole right to run Malaysia. It is a norm for governments to change, so defeat in an election is no strange matter. Any government must have an opposition front. Utusan and Berita Harian, as adding fuel to fire or adding a drug to the present hallucination tends.

The people in Sri Gading should boot him out in the next elections. Stop believing that elephants can fly if you know what I'm saying.

If this is the case then elections should have been outlawed since they are unwilling to make it accessible to all sides and instead keeps believing that they would capitulate like the provisional IRA. 

Yesterday, the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail said that Najib is one of the few leaders that are false democrats - holding elections  but have no intention of giving up power” and their “serious political rivals are jailed and their parties are outlawed on legal technicalities

Even repeated denials by Wisma Putra cannot save this. It is actually true but it is to save themselves from being shamed. In Japan, there is a code of honor where disgraced people would immediately leave or resign. The fear of shame and the fear of inability of people to handle truth are the main reasons of constant flurry of denials by the ruling administration

The only sympathy I have for the old men is that they have been mislead from the start. Their newspapers will not have the guts to show anything that says opposite because it would make them upset. This however, makes them clueless, in the blue and complacent. In other words, they are actually lying to themselves as well.

Surely you don't want the old men to hold leash for another 5 more years don't you?

Still The Same Way Taught Until Today

I would want to have a brief stop on talking political related subjects a little while and go back to what some people have said about in secondary level. Just recently someone has brought out an interesting subject about Moral studies and the nightmare that every student has to do in that subject: memory recall.

Everyone is a victim in that paper. I had the same case 12 years ago. Anyone who has just stepped into Form 4 will be horrified to find out how what you answer, even if it's a close to what you want your teacher will put a big X there saying that's wrong. There ain't any flexibility there. There wasn't a proper way to answer any question at that time, until your teacher shows you how to answer the question. And as the lesson goes on, you would be eventually be shown that there is only one intended structure and approach to be answered with no space to move. 

And so the teacher had to us just to help us out to create a deck of flashcards (just like the multiplication flash cards we used to do in primary school) just to help us recall which moral value is being used when answering a question. Remember that you have only 2.5-3 hours to finish everything in the paper. Psychologically, it makes everyone feeling demoralized and learning no longer fun and excited.

Moral studies is just a case of example where it forces students on the old method of memorizing every piece of word and phrase. This is already far worse than the effect of memorizing everything you need to know just for the sake of scoring high grades in public exams. And to what end a person stands to gain in addition to gaining qualification to tertiary education and basic knowledge?

Instead it makes people becoming more like robots and incapable of thinking on their own, and at times the opportunity to improvise. After I left school for slightly more than 10 years, I feel that there's a hate relationship with how our present government of the day presides over education policies. It makes people still more stupid and there are still many of them in a blue-collar level jobs instead of white-collars. The profound effect of the policies is that the work patterns no longer match the work and think patterns thought in school. Today in the job market, much of what you have learn don't match any longer except what you do is just mere passage to getting a pass to level 3 and then to working level. Even those who didn't get level 2 previously do succeed in other things, for example if a person is well talented in sports.

Until today there's more donkeys than bright lights, more butter boys than those well deep thinkers there. Learning is no longer fun already with those ridiculous policies there. It's no longer already appreciating life but to be a slave and stripped of your mental rights.

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MORAL STUDIES SPM RESULTS – DEMORALISING!

My daughter was a student of SMK Tarcisian Convent, Ipoh who obtained her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) results on 22.3.2012. She together with 8 of her friends managed to get 8A+ for all subjects they took except for Moral Studies. I believe for the first time in the history of the said school none of 120 odds students got A+ for moral. This outcome may seem nothing out of the ordinary except that in the standardized SPM trials(means that the examination paper and answer scheme is set by the respective state education department) 26 of them obtained A+, over 40 of them A and so forth for Moral Studies. How is
it that not a single student obtained an A+ for Moral Studies in the actual SPM examination?

The plight of these students was extensively highlighted in the print media (StarMetro[23.3.2012], Tamil Nesan[23.3.2012], Nanben[25.3.2012] & Makkal Osai[23.3.2012])(see attatchment) and the electronic media (Malaysiakini and Perakview portal)(see link above). A total of 39 students have appealed to the Lembaga Peperiksaan Malaysia to have their examination results re-checked with payment of RM50.00 and
awaiting the outcome which may take up to 3 months from the date of the SPM results. By the time the outcome is known the students would have lost their chance to apply for JPA and numerous other scholarships as well as entry into universities/colleges of their choice because of their inability to secure an A+ in Moral Studies.

Therefore, the lackadaisical attitude of Lembaga Peperiksaan Malaysia in taking 3 months to re-check and revert with the outcome ensures it is an act in futility and the right to re - check illusory.

Also to my surprise, after taking up the plight of the students in SMK Tarcisian Convent, I discovered that most parents are not aware that Moral Studies is a compulsory subject only for the non – Muslim students which is taken into account in determining the overall performance of a student in SPM. Also are you aware that Moral Studies is a “closed paper” which means that past year papers are not available in the market for students to use as references? Why should it be so? Muslim students do not take Moral Studies but instead
Islamic studies.

Logically, Moral Studies as part of the curriculum should be taught with a view to inculcating good values, so that when the students step out into the real world they would know how to conduct themselves in a manner acceptable in a civilized society. Therefore moral studies should touch on simple matters needed for daily co – existence, such as mutual respect, responsibility, tolerance, obedience to law, etc.
 

These are matters that one can even learn from life’s experiences. In a gist, there should be nothing technical or mind boggling about studying moral as a subject.

Somehow “the educationist” entrusted with the drawing up of the syllabus thought fit to make the subject as technical as possible with so much rigidity that students are forced to memorize 36 “values” and definitions word for word and to regurgitate them like a parrot in the examination. Any departure from the words used will be penalized. It baffles me to discover that my daughter’s schools engaged “ experts” to teach the students the technique of answering moral studies questions. As we are aware morality is a most subjective matter because what is the accepted norm and standard of conduct or behaviour  differ from society to society and era to era.

Therefore what ought to have been a simple subject has been made so difficult by the people entrusted with preparing the syllabus and setting the examination questions that the non – Muslim students who excel in the sciences and mathematics do not fare well in Moral Studies. This raises a few questions.

i)Does it means that a student who gets 8A+ in all other subjects except moral studies are deemed not morally excellent or lacking in it?

ii)Does it also mean that Moral Studies is a subject far more difficult to comprehend and answer than the sciences and mathematics?

These questions clearly indicates, to quote Shakesphere “that there is something rotten in the state of our education(not Denmark )”.

This has been going on for more than 10 years and year in year out we hear rumblings from students and parents how they or their children have lost out because of the failure to secure A+ (before this 1A)in
Moral Studies. However no concrete action has been initiated till to date put an end to this mockery.

Therefore the parents of this year affected student from SMK Tarcisian Convent, Ipoh together with the help of an NGO intend to make representation to SUHAKAM that Moral Studies be completely removed from the syllabus or at least downgraded to a non – examination paper in schools. We intend to raise it as human rights issue affecting the minority in this country (only the non – Muslims) as right to fair education is for every citizen and is enshrined in the constitution and no one should be allowed to usurp that. Furthermore, it is not fair that non – Muslim students should study Moral Studies while Muslim students take Islamic studies and the results from these two very diverse subject determine the overall performance of a student in a critical examination like SPM. How can one compare the worth of an apple to an orange? Also I feel the time is appropriate to raise this issue as the government is requesting feedback from all stakeholders with a view to reviewing the entire education system that has gone to the dogs.

We have written to SUHAKAM through an NGO for an appointment to make representation in respect of Moral Studies and its implication on non – Muslim students’ future in this country, as the parents of the affected students have realized that there is no other platform for them to ventilate their anguish and frustrations.

This email is sent to you with the humble request that:-

i) if you are a student (or the parents on behalf of the student) who obtained the SPM result in 2012 and felt
victimized by the Moral Studies result, please let us have the following information, namely the student’s name, which school, how did the student fare in the other subjects that the student took and what did the student obtain for Moral Studies in the trial examination and in the actual SPM result; OR

ii) you are a student who set for the SPM examination BEFORE 2012 and felt victimized by the outcome you are also welcome to give us any comments, feedback or information which will assist us to take up this matter; OR

iii) the parents of children who will be facing the same predicament in the years to come, we would like you to write to us or let us have your views or comments on Moral Studies; OR

iv) any other person who would like to express your views.

When Words, Books and Who You Are Simply Become Blasphemous

There was a scene in the movie, (unfortunately which I couldn't recall its name) where the Marshall warns against going to war against Saladin and his army while the truce with Baldwin is still on until when the king dies. Upon saying that, the Templar army in the king's court immediately brushed it aside and calls the Marshall's warning as blasphemous. Similarly, these groups of people have started showing their nasty tendencies to brush or shove hard on things that do not match their ideals. Isn't that also quite similar to how right-wing policies operate right now?

In that context above, notice how LGBT groups are accused and badmouthed. Another example would be on how a bookstore manager simply gets charged and accused for distributing the "Allah Liberty and Love" book even she has no control over the selection. 

The problem here is that the religious authorities does not have any other solutions nor proper facts to dispute the scenario of LGBT or the contents documented by Manji. Instead of disputing, like animals they chose the brute manner. Does that make people look stupid because it shows that they are incapable of effective problem solving rather than outright hoping that people would forget the whole episode. 

More importantly, this makes people especially those who are simple minded and naive look more stupid. It keeps the shackles of the mind on the people. It's like you are told never to question anything at all, irregardless whether a subject matter has raise curiosity or otherwise. The Napoleonic wars period (1799 - 1815) has already freed the society mindset until conservatives and royalties have started to fear of the people uprising. 

Next, look at the recent attacks on the LGBT group of people. It goes to the extent that a deputy minister declares that these group of people are not protected by the Federal Constitution. On the contrary, the Constitution is silent on groups of people just as it is silent on who can be the Prime Minister. The attacks have gone from outside into going more personal, given by the attitude and approach by the religious police to go after them. No longer is your privacy is for your own, instead, just as few acknowledged that Malay society has started to mind people's business to the lowest degree - being a busybody and minding a person's private business - including who you are, what religion are you, etc..

Until today, the religious body, if they really disagree with the book, has not released a distillation, dissection of the questions raised by the Irshad Manji book couple with the proper answers to dispute and acknowledged the problems perceived by other fabrics of the society towards the religion they claim to preach and brag that they are pious.

We still have yet to answer the question of why there are still people inside the LGBT classification. Peer pressure and the present society conditions are form the most basic of answers into why there are still people there. We may have to blame ourselves that we have not paid attention to this people who maybe looking for help, consolation, and solace in the arms of people are prepared to understand their problems and helping them.

What compels them to do like that? Does God make them to do that? Science can take them to a certain extent but no further than their own answer.

Hard hand approaches by these religious police makes things far worse and creates more prejudice towards the system. In the case of the books, these kind of methods are in fact a precursor to bootlegging and piracy cases that still could not be put down effectively. It's the censorship and the inflexibility of the present policies that create much of the problems right now.

Most of the time, I noticed many of the usual clergyman do not go overboard with their way of life and wealth. As a model of humility they do not have those plenty materialistic possessions that a narcissistic person would have. Any religion would basically say that when you come to this world, you start with nothing and when you leave this world at the end of your life, you too will end with nothing in possession. Until today I am still unable to understand why these men who claimed to be pious, men of god would go raving around brandishing their "holier than thou" thing at everybody.

Then again, they claim to be that great but when you see them in luxurious cars on work to office or at lavish homes, it tells a different tale. These men speak things at times might be incorrect If these men claims themselves holier than thou just because their word is as if comes directly  from God, then they might as well spare the troubles and migrate to Saudi Arabia - sparing the troubles of others.

At What Real Cost?

The top brass of Barisan Nasional has been running around the country and giving all sorts of promises, splashing goodies around to the people in exchange for requesting them to give support in the next general elections. I was already certain that the general election would be somewhere around in November mainly because this takes into account of how the possible feel good hype that would be elicited from the people after the 2013 budget announcement, and the incentives that could be offered in conjunction with the Haji and Deepavali holidays. Analyzing on people sentiment, the ruling coalition is likely to count on the Malay votes (if you can understand their psyche, mindset as well) and the roller-coaster mindset of the Indians which can go up and down depending on the situation that arises that involves their society.

It is unlikely that they would wait until after Chinese New Year because the situation seems not well to them. It has already been established that most of Chinese are dead-set to vote for the opposition. The one thing that many in the top brass may find it hard to comprehend even including UMNO's partner, MCA is perhaps of the level of maturity, awareness and the mindset of the Chinese community in comparison with the other races of the Malaysian community. It is already noted that the level of support is very low that UMNO has already given up any big chance to regain support from the Chinese.

From the tone of what I am to present:

Sounds like I am talking race comparison.

Sounds like I am looking down at other people.

Sounds like I am talking race stuff. 

Sounds like I am screaming "I'm better than you." 

But out of here, there is a question that I wish to bring out especially at the naive and those who find it hard to believe in it. There's not much need for me to harp on the racial, royalty and religion thing as it is not my forte to talk about nor to those who are looking more bigger issues than those three that merely scratch the surface.

Recently there have been speeches from the big brass like (e.g Mahathir, Muhyiddin, Rais Yatim, Najib) calling for Malay unity, general unity, demands for gratitude to the ruling party, you help me I help you things in particular. They shout non-stop almost every day of "vote for us to keep the country stable." These leaders imply that the country would collapse if they do not hold on to their power on and on. And on prime time television, the party-owned private channels in particular are playing propaganda ads as to push for more support -no thanks to their infinite amount of resources, so as they perceived. But then again it's already almost 60 years they are in power, yet they are found to be caught with misconduct in almost every aspect of the country administration.

Some people have been asking why most of the Chinese community and the well-educated middle class have already no longer willing to stick to the convention and decide to go for something totally different and out of the box. The country's running old men have been calling and accusing some of them as creating a revolution and scream of instability if there's a change of guard in the country. Contrary to that, there's actually no such unusual effect happening since this scenario often happens in other countries. There's nothing to be excited about and to cheer about it. And as to allow me to answer that, it comes to one high probable reason: if you can understand the saying of "survival of the fittest" then perhaps it can answer that solution above. People have started to get past the "must feed me" thing and use other means to achieve success in live.

So why does the mainstream media seem to glorify the government although they are clearly have committed some gross misconduct? One thing is for sure, they are now lagging in support and are trying to drum up support way to the finishing line sometime around next year at most.

I appreciate some of the writings written by some of my friends that when being conveyed their own people which describes of how people are being mislead over the promises made by the present government of the day only to see what was promised being denied claiming of no such claim. Note that the present opposition has not at once run as the government of the day so it is not right to compare their track record because we didn't give them the chance to demonstrate their capabilities.

I also appreciate that through their writings that their people have started to acknowledge their mistakes and have started to wake up. However my only question to them would be on what about those who are still unwilling to correct their mistakes and stand for the coalition that has committed many misdeeds and gross misconduct? And what about those who are going to be ultimately mislead?

Here's one example of a person being ultimately mislead: Recently the man who accused Mat Sabu on the Mat Indera case has already admitted to the court that he made a police report based on the Utusan newspaper report. It was already proven that Mat Sabu did not utter or say anything that is referred to Communism in his series of public speeches. The man has then admitted to this and has asked the Sessions court in Penang to drop the case. This means that the man was a victim of misleading by the spin by the media - the spin that the government of the day, the present ruling coalition wishes to show it to the mass people.

Sure, it is still their right to decide. You can't obstruct them from making their choice. At what cost in exchange for your vote for them?


Okay, you would accuse me as another person dead set on going against the coalition party. I have my own set of reasons behind it. Any well educated, matured person can think of it. And if people ask me whether I am taking the risk to go and do something unconventional, the answer is yes. It's like making an unusual bet of (e.g a Double 0 in roulette, Snake Eyes for dice craps, etc..). Let's face it that the fate and future of the country is not decided by the handful of people nor just the minority of the Malaysians but the majority of people that forms the big part of the Malaysian society - but the problem is of being too simple-minded.

And allow me to fill in the blanks for you, o'naive and unbeliever ones for the question above:

1. You are actually acknowledging that flocks of sheep fly in the sky and monies fall from the trees.
2. You are condemning your future generations and your country to remain mundane until the point we're all gone and after say another 100 years of independence.
3. You show yourself that you're chickening out with no guts to think out of the box and vs convention.
4. You are actually saying that up becomes down, black is white - what is illegal is legal and vice versa.
5. You are saying that you don't really believe the real warnings - not by those who claim to say it's okay for now -  until it is too late to go back because you got complacent subsequently. The Greece scenario is a case in point.