They Could Have Approve It

Saturday afternoon:

I went for a Citizen Think Tank session that discussed about the problem with having public assemblies. The problem right now is you need a *POLICE* permit for a gathering of more than 5 people. Even if you are to hold press conferences, *weddings*. Can you imagine how ridiculous it is to have one for weddings or if you are to perform school plays? Whoever came out with this Police Act Section 27 1967 is either a person who doesn't trust everything or has a low foresight or intelligence of the society.

It was stressed by the people there that the Section 27 of the Police Act 1967 is contradicting with Article 10 of Federal Constitution. So far a guideline to a peaceful demonstration was not outlined at all. And it is a high probability that an assembly of political nature or something that is deemed to voice their frustrations against the government will be rejected in a blink of an eye.

And that's where it contradicts with what a person is entitled to according to the primary articles of the Constitution.

The motive behind an assembly of such nature is basically as "a last resort thing" and you can sum up with the rest. The are flaws right now in having one that includes:

• 1. Unclear definition of rallies, demo and assembly.
• 2. What are the protocols, requirements, and handling procedures as well as assistance in handling those assemblies?
• 3. How is law enforced on those matters? Civil way or the brutal way?
  

The Vigil

I was driving along Jalan Tun Perak, going for my favorite beef noodles. The road at Jalan Raja was closed off because of the vigil gathering for the Hindraf 5 ISA. There are trucks and police cars barricading the road on Merdeka Square I was following the updates on papers as to get some analysis out of it.

At 9.35 p.m. another two trucks arrived. Those FRU ones. I thought they would be facing the side of the DBKL, but instead the faced the site of Market Street or perhaps the road along the Bar Council office there. I think I came too late. Various accounts said that they dispersed at 8.35 p.m with the arrival of water trucks and tear gas. I indeed saw a FRU guy with a gas grenade strapped to his bandoleer walking along Market Street. Somehow, I think it's sensible for the police to give them 20 minutes before dispersing. But it was anti-climatic.

I thought that problem would be solved if the police simply approves it and as to help things running smoothly, they should at least send say 100 of their officers to help it out. After all, it's only at one location. And it's just only 200 people gathering for less than one hour or so. Also, they are just carrying candles, not weapons. It's just like bloggers gather out there when Nat Tan was held under the OSA. Why make the fuss out of it? When they rejected the permit, the excuses that they listed there was kind of unconvincing. The Star's report on the permit reject contrasts differently from Malaysiakini. Based on the comparison of notes, The Star intends to make people believe that GMI didn't file appeals or permit. Malaysiakini's one is different: after an appeal has been submitted, the appeal was deliberately ignored by the police.

Looking at 'Pak Zul' (Asst Comm Zulkarnain Abdul Rahman, the man responsible for the permit matter) I can sum three possibilities:

1. Either he can't think that long term and instead rejects request by request for permit.
2. He was itching for action and doing one act like sending FRUs is kind on the way for promotion or
3. He had some conscience on this matter but feared of reprimand and job if he goes against the order that is kind of incorrect from superiors above.

I remembered that Pak Zul was responsible for refusing the BERSIH permit. And there are watchdogs and observers who did warn of the government facing the possibility of high-amount lawsuits and possibly be prepared to fork out damages. And now it just started - Uthayakumar has filed a $100 million lawsuit and Musa Hassan was directly responsible for the accusation that sets off everything. Now that's something that is born out of ignorance!

You Always Were An Asshole!

You always were an asshole, Gorman.

(Vasquez, Aliens)

And so is Mat Taib. The Muhammand son of Muhammad is reportedly refusing to face Raja Petra Kamaruddin, who challenged UMNO and Mat Tyson himself to an open debate scheduled a month from last week.

Excerpts from a source I've found in Malaysia Today: (sorry, but in Malay language)

Bagaimanapun, Muhammad dilaporkan enggan berbuat demikian dengan alasan Raja Petra cuba mengalihkan isu sebenar.

>>He refused to do so with the excuse that Raja Petra tries to shift the real issue.

27 Julai lalu ahli Umno menggangap Muhammad sebagai ‘hero’ apabila membuat laporan polis terhadap Malaysia Today.

>> UMNO members consider Muhammad as a hero when making the police report against Malaysia Today last 27 July.

Malah ‘kejantanannya’ kononnya semakin terserlah apabila beliau berkata sanggup mati dibom demi mempertahankan Raja, agama, bangsa dan negara.

>>He showed his guts of being a man when he declared that he was willing to be bombed to defend the King, religion, race and the country.

Rupa-rupanya apabila diuji, ‘jantan’ mereka hanyalah di kelompok penyokong dan nampak gah dalam media milik mereka. Apabila diajak berdepan secara terbuka mereka akan kecut dan menikus - tidak lebih dari itu.

>>But it seems that when the guts of male is only revealed to be among the groups of supporters and with the media to support. When invited to show up openly, they would be afraid and hide like rats - not more than that.

Muhammad salah seorang daripadannya. Beliau menolak cabaran Raja Petra dengan alasan pengendali web Malaysia Today itu cuba menutup ‘kesalahan besar’ yang kononnya menghina Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, Islam dan Melayu.

>>Mat Tyson is one of them. He turned down Raja Petra's challenge with the excuse that the Malaysia Today web owner tries to cover his big mistake of allegedly insulting, the King, the religion and the Malay race.

He's a coward after all. Maybe he is afraid to react since there are tones of evidence of his wrongdoing. I've lost count of how many mistakes he has done, by I would like to invite you, especially the international audience to read this article: Muhammad son of Muhammad, I accept! He's chickening already. If he doesn't show up, it means, you are giving RPK the clear fact that you are in the wrong already.

He's afraid of the truth hitting out.

Mat Tyson is always an asshole - another Vasquez echo courtesy of Aliens (1986)..PWAAK!

Bloggers as karaoke singers?

Today ZAM compares bloggers as karaoke singers:

He said some people might enjoy their "singing", especially those who shared their views, but many rejected them because they sang "out of tune" and their views were unacceptable to the majority of the people.

He said some of the bloggers were those who had once received the attention of the mainstream media, but were now rejected, and so had to find a new avenue to vent their frustration. However, not many people read their pieces.

"Anyway, I see this development as something positive because with the opportunity to "sing in the karaoke", they can relieve their tension and 'addiction'.

And the statement of saying the mainstream media will sway more people than blogs. Of course the mainstream is government-controlled, fools. There is definitely censure and our editors are under pressure of not letting a single thing hit the fan that is the government or they will risk losing their job. Is that something they had to bear and don't like? I mean the editors? Yes!

You dolt! If people starts to know the truth then what happens to the politicians. Some are cheered, some are jeered and some will be arrested by the ACA.

But you are also comparing those who write diaries, life rants and those who love cooking as karaoke singers! Your statement is encompassing every living person in Malaysia who might not be involved in social commentary but women and children!

I told you many times already. Start a blog and let your stories and information tell you the actual picture of what blogging is. If you don't have...don't open your mouth on this subject. But I am not forcing you. I have lost count of the number of times people hit back at ZAM because of this ridiculous remarks.

All images are courtesy of Mob's Crib

You always were an asshole, ZAM - another round of line from Vasquez (Aliens)!

Revy Two Hands Does A Terminator

One of the Black Lagoon episodes that my brother showed me - Moonlit Hunting Grounds has a very reference theme from the first Terminator film.

In the first film, the Terminator crashes into the police station killing people in search for Sarah Connor - a target for termination.

In here, Revy Two Hands was given a job to start a ruckus as part of the distraction to recover a painting from the hands of the Aryan Socialist Union party people who was having a party on board the ship.

Screenshots of the episode is available here.

The few things I find it amusing:

1. Dutch's conversation with the old SS man about the painting.
2. The killing of people aboard by Revy Two Hands.
3. Fritz Stanford's bragging - he should have shoot Revy on the spot.
4. Charles Whitman reference. Killing people whenever he goes.

The Swimming Pool Night

It was raining quite heavily on Sunday night.

I parked my car at St. John's for a change, thinking that I can walk nearer to the LRT station down the hill. I never like to park at KLCC for the parking fee there is the most expensive ever in town.

So I spent the entire day getting the necessary torrent stuff from Starbucks' broadband network.
It was 8.30 p.m. when it's still heavy rain outside. From what I was told, the rain started at around 6 in the evening. I was back at the LRT station in Masjid Jamek, adjacent to Royal Selangor Club.


Fortunately, I did carry my umbrella along just in case. I had a hunch that it's going to rain in the evening. But I didn't know that it would rain so heavily. The picture above is the mud mess in Jalan Melaka. That night, I had to stop and shelter at two places. A restaurant along the road was the first stop. I had to have my dinner there, in case if I could not move out back to the car due to the prolonged heavy rain. There was thunder and lightning so I had to wait for the right time to go. I dashed across the road ignoring my shoes and pants in the big puddles of water and ran all the way to the church to dry myself again.


I was made to wait for another 30 minutes or so before I moved. At that time, the rain was not as heavy as before. I heard that after I left, the windows of McDonald's or Burger King was broken due to the excessive vibration from the bus driving down the flooded road.

The next day - would you look at that. The same place where I came out yesterday evening back to my car.


Immediately I thought of a accidental swimming pool made from the graces of Mother Nature.

I met my friend who was working at the Star during lunch hour. We talked about the flood thing. Told him of the 6-person injury that night. And what I got was that he told me that I was lucky not to park at Merdeka Square. At least the parking lots at St. John's is at the higher ground.

Development Authorities Rapped

Today, PM Abdullah Badawi rapped the DID - Department of Irrigation and Drainage for not implementing sufficient measures to combat such disasters as the flood. And look at how the department director Ahmad Fuad Embi fumbled in replying to the PM's criticism.

Frankly the SMART tunnel isn't totally complete yet. I talked to some people including Jeff Ooi and I concurred that the the car tunnel was completed first ahead of the flood alleviation component which is the foremost component of the project. See, this shows that some development authorities lack the foresight. If there is one reason I am asked to give of why the tunnel ahead, it's probably the urgency to recoup the money needed for the development and concessionaire of the project.

So far only half of the planned water retention ponds are completed. The rest of the ponds that were not finished was due to design conflicts, costs, unexpected delays and worst of all - procrastination.

See, procrastination is still a bad habit in Malaysia, and haven't we learn from Sunday's disaster or last year's Johor flood disaster that we should go ahead and do more things if we have extra time available from the time we saved? It is indeed worth to do more rather than nothing. I think that until this thing is solved, we should at least consider holding the toll collection thing off until July. Yesterday, there are some angry people, for the first time ever threw stuff like bottles - real anger - at the development authorities.

This is the government that we choose and we face.