Religion's Loss In Sense of Loving, Sharing, Caring and Forgiving

Early this year, the Brits are given a slight rude awakening with the unearthing of more historical findings of the famous King Richard III. The king’s identity was confirmed by the scientists of the Leicester University following the skeleton’s discovery at the car park in August 2012, buried by the Greyfriars after the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. Following the confirmation, things started to show up such as the artistic impression of the church prior to the Dissolution of the Monasteries, graphic visuals of how the Tudor propaganda vilifies Richard via Shakespeare’s play and of the indication by art experts pointing that a well-known portrait of the monarch that has the slightest signs of biasness.  Since then, there has been hardly of the play being performed. People are starting to see a different angle to the history that was shown to them more than 500 years after that series of events.

If that's what happened about Richard III, why not Chin Peng? After all, the existence of Internet has allowed users to look for alternate information to what is found the present books available in the market or at our home shelves.

There has been an admission by the English and the historians that the 1948-1960 communist insurgencies led by Chin Peng against the British have accelerated plans for independence by 10-12 years. Had Japan was not A-bombed at the end of WW2, Malaya would have been declared independent on 17 August 1945.

I can understand that many of us, especially those who were born pre-Merdeka are quite scarred by the horrors inflicted by the faction that was led by the man himself that it is quite hard to forgive such person and to move on. In fact the emotion before the moving on stage is the difficult part for most of us.

There is a sense of inconsistency where JI terrorists originally from Malaysia like Noordin Mat Top were allowed to be buried back home while just because Chin Peng is not a Malay or just because the name strikes prominently in the Malaysian history that politicians, government and people have started to get too emotional until the point they lose their marbles and the logic to think properly that they outright said no way Jose on bringing the remains back.

I was watching Hanipa Maidin’s speech on the Legal Profession Act amendment a few days ago and at one point, he was describing of how our authorities and sometimes leaders tend to act very emotionally rather using their heads to think properly under a very calm state of mind. No doubt this is exactly why the Malaysian society has still yet to match with their counterparts in the first-world countries, socially speaking.

Every religion in the world actually emphasizes on loving, sharing, caring and most important of all forgiving. Instead, most of the preaching now no longer emphasizes on that but instead merely points on sin, legal, not legal and most important of all, heaven and hell. Every Friday, there are news articles that shares what Jakim tries to talk during their Friday sermons. The texts are prepared by them, and imams are not given the free reign to decide whether to use their own sermon or to use the prepared text sermon.

The late Sultan Idris Shah of Perak wrote three days before his death that the religion has lost its allure and has the need to show the love and caring attitude (love thyself and thy neighbor mantra) rather than scaring the people with things that are sinful or talking just of heaven and hell. Turns out he’s right - that after nearly three decades since his passing things have taken a turn or the worst.

History has often shown by number of cases and scenarios that most of the Christian missionaries are much more successful than their Muslim counterparts. It is largely attributed to the approach that they undertake. It is noted that most Christian missionaries adopt the community service method and show them of how they can help the community there and how the community can help them in return. This would be in far contrasting with the more hardball approach that the Muslim missionaries would adopt. 

Further reading: RPK’s article The Approach (6 Feb 2013)

Towards Merdeka, JAKIM’s controversial sermon has painted an impression that vilifies the non-Bumiputra. And to add more insult, JAKIM seems to paint itself as someone who has a direct divine communication with God with so many recent non-sensical statements. They may have forgotten while they keep fingering other people as their worst enemies in the name of religion, it is they themselves that they are not aware of, as of one finger forward, three finger backwards.

So what’s the point of writing this? I am trying to say that despite all of Chin Peng’s atrocities during the communist insurgencies; it would be a rather less messy and let the wounds heal by letting his ashes being interred back in Sitiawan. Why would the authorities and UMNO in particular want to scream around and flog a dead horse that is called Chin Peng whereas there’s a more pressing national situation that would be addressed? Are they implying that as in the Spartacus movie they are like what Crassus would react and feared of Spartacus even after his death? Are you saying that a whole city fears just one man?

History is not always 100% accurate, as what the further discoveries surrounding Richard III has shown us. The Malaysian history as what we’ve learnt in the school books isn’t always accurate. UMNO and the police have already shot themselves in the foot by highlighting one man by the name of Chin Peng. On the other side of the coin, this has instead increased the curiosity of knowledge-seeking people that wants to see more of the history than what it was written on the surface. In fact what is written in the history books in school is just a scratch on the surface.

The society controlled by old men is somewhat driving many people towards mundane and in fact getting more people lazy and being manipulated. The internet, on the positive side has instead shed more light to what was hidden from the surface of the Malaysian history that we have known about.

A Promise That Is Warm As A Fowl's Manure

One of the views that were shared by the Dutch, English and even the Portuguese on the natives of the land from the 16th century until now is still relevant today and it has still been proven that the myth of the lazy native still exists. Negative perceptions, describing about the natives have been documented by an UMNO research paper in the early 1970s entitled the "Mental Revolution."

Of course, I definitely would like to find time to comment on why majority of Malaysians are still unwilling to change, apart from a few identified factors that have been identified that have been commented by other people such as from the election campaigning perspective and the mindset of people in certain states, but given that this piece has been written at a public location, I might find some time to comment on one attribute that is hindering overall national progress.

The negative view that was given by our then colonial masters to describe the attributes of the Malays was that the Malays have the tendency to make promises as describe by the Malay idiom "hangat-hangat tahi Melayu" or the translation in English would be "as warm as the fowl's manure". What it means is that once it has been promised, a party would do it well at the beginning but efforts undertaken by them would be diminished in the subsequent period / years after the original undertaking. And given of the latest case of car price talk, I felt it is appropriate to frame that problem to the issue just as to state my point.

Out of the desparation to get it's diminishing urban and possibly a certain small percentage of rural support, BN added in at the very last moment of one of the PR's manifesto cases to be implemented, which was the gradual reduction of the car excise tax. Base on the parliamentary-seat results of the election, it seems that together with the die-hard old timers that refuse to change, many fence sitters fell for that promise.

So we thought that we could see the same thing that PR promised that BN would do before the year is over that they would reduce the car prices. After all, one of the problems that many people face is replacing their worn and torn cars that have aged more than seven years for newer and more efficient cars. To compound the existing problem, the car insurance premium has gone up by another 15% across the board. It means that more people face problem with the money in the pockets since you need to have an insurance before you are allowed to renew your vehicle road tax. 

Presently, things are not going well. And from what Tok Pa said about only reducing car prices by 2017/2018 at most, as what Tony Pua said in his letter in Malaysiakini, it is indirectly signalling to the lower-level people in particular to forget about buying newer cars. But hold on, didn't Najib Razak promised about reducing car prices in stages? 

Excerpt from Malaysiakini and Bernama

“As promised, car prices will be reduced in stages until 2017. Insya Allah, I will ensure that every promise is fulfilled." - Najib on 28 May

 
"Car prices will not be reduced (at one go). Prices will be reduced in accordance with market forces" - Mustapa Mohamad on 28 May

Sounds contrasting isn't it? Now it's almost a month since the general elections and the new cabinet has been sworn in the presence of the King, so where's that happy hamper that every car buyer is waiting for? 

Maybe to show that promise is a equivalent to an Indian capati, I would suggest people who are buying a new car to pay according to the actual price minus the additional excise tax. You are already paying for service and import tax already together so why pay extra when that money has been found to be misused? Let's give an example: a Mazda 3 selling at RM 100K, 1.6 is actually selling at RM 56K, with import and service tax included, and insurance counted in. $44K balance should been used to pay as a deposit for an average apartment in Kuala Lumpur that sells around RM 450K.

Motor scrapping and old motor exporting is actually a lucrative business, especially that Africa now needs a lot of those vehicles for those poor natives to afford it so, I don't see why there are more excuses of not reducing car prices except to enrich the fat cats whose income "solely" depend on those exorbitant cash.

So it seems that people who voted for BN have either been mislead about that promise or are actually as what Mental Revolution said: not truthful of themselves. If any of the people that belongs to the latter, there's something wrong with the logic. Why pay two times to buy one car whereas you can actually use the extra money for investment, or for those young and working professionals use it as deposit to buy a new house to stay? I just would hope that whoever defends BN with such crazed would suddenly rant about having a hard time of getting one car like that when you don't earn that much money as the rich would do and yet being willing to be manipulated by the wily old man Mahathir for his own personal ends indirectly.

I am sure many nay sayers would definitely come out with the conventional argument of "closing off one source of income" with that excise tax, but since Proton is still yet to perform at the satisfactory level on their own despite plenty government assistance, stripping them of the assistance would psychologically get them to think and work hard on putting their foot on their own on the global level. There are some of us who would gape in awe over shiny and prestigious cars that our Singaporean friends drive into the country but yet showed their other side of themselves by defending what is illogical and incorrect without being honest with themselves.

What Tok Pa said about that matter is exactly the problem that our previous English colonial masters described of the natives: promises as warm as a fowl's manure. In plain English, it is called as not walking your talk, since Tok Pa is part of the current incumbent government. But that commentary was written over 100 years ago, still relevant but it no longer confines to just one race of people in Malaysia but instead everyone of us.

Excerpt of Tony Pua's letter in Malaysiakini:

Umno president, Najib Abdul Razak announced that, if the BN is returned to power, it would “revamp the National Automotive Policy to gradually reduce car prices by 20-30 percent and increase the competitiveness of the national cars”.

Yesterday, however, International Trade and Industries Minister Mustapa Mohamed - who is in charge of automotive policies - announced that car prices will only be reduced after another five years and not in the near term.

In effect, the BN government is telling Malaysians that they can stop dreaming of cheaper cars for the next five years, and if car prices drop at all, it will be after the 14th general election.

When The Outcast Is Ultimately Proven Right

Utusan has put up a two big cover pages in succession with a different Islamic scholar but each of them declares that it is forbidden to support DAP save for the exception of MCA and MIC. According to their demented logic, DAP doesn't recognize Islam’s pre-eminence. But then again, DAP has repeated so many times that it recognizes that Malaysia is a secular nation with Islam as the official religion. I don't recall having seen such logic as defined in either the holy books but as someone who has a rough idea - that logic absurd and non-existent.

Misinterpreting that phrase will get you into tons of headaches and confusion. This is apparently the intended goal that is indirectly intended by UMNO with some of those clerics quoted of saying that. The religion is already been used as a political tool now by UMNO as what PAS did many years back. This is already, out of control religious interference into the system of administration.

When Lim Kit Siang famously hammered Barisan in the early 90s over the Bank Bumiputra scandal in Hong Kong, many of those accused him of being all sorts of time - like naughty, chauvinist, a foreign power instrument and attempting to undermine a Bumiputra institution. This was not very well known outside the Parliament circles and was kept under wraps in order to keep people in the dark, but when with the power of Internet, people have started to ask questions about that the government finds it hard to keep in tabs. Seems that the skeletons in the closet have come out to haunt politicians in this time period for their mischief.

A pity that there are still a portion of Malaysians who do not use their brain to think, when they are presented with such statements above, or they could have forgotten of what happened the other way round almost a dozen years ago. In 2001, when Dr. Mahathir famously declared that Malaysia is an Islamic state, none of UMNO's partners dare to have the "testicles" to rebut that statement in contrary to what was written in the Constitution nor what was affirmed by the first three Prime Ministers.

During the two years leading to the 2008 general elections, many of us have repeatedly whacked MCA and MIC for not doing their job right and rather becoming a running dog for UMNO. Why this happened and why that 2001 incident happened all ties up to one common reason: they would be whacked one way or another in a subtle way. To this day, the big partners MCA and MIC have yet to recover to the level of respect they wanted. Instead, every time people like Chua Soi Lek talks trash on television on main print, everyone will really say something that is not going to stand well with those two parties.

While Barisan attacks the opposition for doing what is right, they are actually selling out the country by failing to control illegal immigrants to come in, amassing the mass riches for themselves while claiming to protect the Malay race from everything, and claiming to represent the people but actually doing things opposite that put ordinary people in misery. So much of being cheated of false promises more by the party that rules for 55 years and not the opposition who has yet be given the chance to demonstrate their ability to run in national scale.

There are people who had the foresight and are concerned that the interference from the church or the religion would put a damp to the country's stability and confusion in administering the law and system, since religious law differs in various aspects in contrast with the secular law.

As what RPK said recently, "Eventually, Christendom saw the separation of church and state. But this did not happen overnight. It took more than 1,000 years for that to happen. Islam, however, although it took the same route as Christianity to spread, did not go the same route of separation of church and state, as Christianity had."

I previously touched about Kemal Attaturk in my previous posting, a reminder to PAS. I said:


The one that is closest to the situation of secular / hudud law is Kemal Ataturk's implementation of Turkey. It fascinates me that he had a clear firm hand that religion should be kept out of every day administration, even though he himself is a Muslim. To his mind, there is a certain believe that the Ottoman law and sex segregation prevented social interaction between men and women - required to further advance the country.

Here, Raja Petra also mentioned another point about Kemal Attaturk:

No doubt Islam had Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the Father of Modern Turkey, the seat of the Ottoman Empire, who attempted to impose the separation of church and state. Atatürk, however, although viewed as a reformist by those from the west, is viewed as a traitor by most Muslim scholars. In fact, people like the PAS President, Abdul Hadi Awang, label Atatürk as an apostate and one of Islam’s greatest traitors.

The notion of separation of church and state is not an acceptable concept in Islam. And any ‘true’ Muslim would agree with this. To disagree would make you a deviant Muslim or a Muslim who is defying God’s command and who is violating the Qur’an.

Fine, maybe separation being unacceptable is what makes people unhappy about, but in the modern times, it is no longer putting too much stock into the religion. It is as what Darwin or that mutant En-Sabah-Nur (Apocalypse) used to say "only the strong in the chain will survive". In this case, Malaysia can't survive the harsh realities of the outside modern world if we have people like those two ulamaks, and other people who seem to look at the angle of religion as threatening their own race. 

Kemal Attaturk and Lee Kuan Yew are the two notable figures of the 20th century whom I noted that attempted to prepare the country to face the harsh realities of the outside world, in the level of the great empires of the 20th century like America, Europe, Russia and even China. And they have eventually succeeded in doing so. While doing that, they (Attaturk in particular) are branded traitors to their religion by many naysayers. Ultimately, they were right in the end.

There are also several literary references where the character branded the outcast by a society ultimately wins on the long run and eventually proven right. You can take the Weasley family - proven right to the end despite branded as a blood-traitor (the love of other levels of society rather than their own) or even Batman, once considered as a outcast but proven to be savior at the time of desperation.

When that day happens what will then happen to those who hold power but proven wrong? Whine and say that the society has lost direction? They are not likely to make an apology or neither they are unwilling to take the reality that is now.

There would be a day where the talk of religion as politics will not save a country or the world from the disasters to come. There are many things in the world that knows no religious boundaries so if that is the case that many of us know accept that, shouldn't we all be branded as apostate or deviants like what people like Hasan Ali or Ridhuan Tee would call?

Finally, let's go back to the DAP question. What will the two ulamaks say if they were eventually proven wrong? DAP wouldn't go as far as having 1/3rd of representatives in Parliament so they can never call their own shots at everything. The party only wanted to uphold what was already established as the nation's foundation stone. That's all that is. Speaking of which, the two ulamaks never mentioned of ridding of corruption. It simply implies of following false prophets and tells people to continue the culture of Ali Baba, patronage and bribing. What's wrong is halal now it seems.

People have called others who don't share their ideals as "infidels" or called countries like Britain as "infidel country" but yet they have conducted themselves better with minimal level of corruption - which adheres to even Islam and other religion core principles. But then these people are committing tons of acts that Islam forbids. Who's the loser eventually? Who's eventually proven right? It's the moment when those people who found themselves on the wrong end that I really wish to see, especially of those two.

A Pity For The Succumbed and The Indoctrinated

“In our style of writing, we have fact, spin and — one more — blatant lies. From the point of psychological warfare, let’s not follow ‘blatant lies’, let’s not write lies.

“Spin we can; no matter how we spin a certain fact to be biased in our favor, that’s okay."

-- Zaini Hassan

I had a feeling from the beginning of why Utusan Malaysia would come out with news that were colored with their own facts. The whole idea was meant to manufacture people's (since they claim to be the leading newspaper for the Malays), especially those in the civil service consent and opinion that the opposition especially the DAP will tend so spoil the country if they happened to take over Putrajaya someday or so. When this was reported in an online newsportal a few days ago, it confirmed not just my suspicions but others who may have the same thinking as I do.

If you notice carefully, among the parties co-organizing that event that day, one of them is the BTN (National Civics Bureau). For decades, the agency has been involved in brainwashing many people to believe of certain things that are in fact bogey man in nature. With that statement above, it seems not hate but a pity for many of those who read that paper (among the MSM-based papers) have been mislead and brainwashed indirectly by not just the party that claims to represent the Malays but an agency that is out to implant hate among other people.

In short, the thrall and the toxic indoctrination has extended its tentacles to its people especially those who are naive and those who are alive prior to the 1969 riots. 

Lately, the Najib administration had a multi-prong approach moves including attempts to recapture Selangor, enticing youth support and putting all those propaganda-oriented ads everywhere (billboards, trains, buildings, etc..). People at times may feel fed up and a well mature, knowledgeable person would know that this whole thing uses people's money (but they think it's their own money) for this big amount of publicity.

Yesterday at KLCC's park, there was the 1M4U event thing there. Spotted on the podium among them was Najib, his cousin Hishamuddin and Shabery Cheek. There's something that I felt irked by that event. It's not the turnover that I aimed to point out. There's a banner for example above. It's somewhat reminded me of Batu Caves or having seen that being pasted in every KTM Commuter caboose there. Looking at the phrase, "I M 4 U" sounds like a  man being worshiped as a god or something.

Looking at the crowd, I felt a tingle of uncertainty. The "One" thing that is the prefix of his 1Malaysia campaign thing often points me to the "One World Government", "One World Order", secret organizations that conspiracy theory buffs would often talked about. In fact whenever we do or trade, there are things that are indirectly, unknown to us point to that hidden things mentioned. When McCain and his partner came to visit Najib in Kuala Lumpur recently, some people like myself would think that visit is a secret message or a reminder sent by the cabalists to him.

It can be very dangerous at times to use that One prefix to everywhere in life.

I'm For You - would be better if it's I Am God.

I wondered for a fact whether these people and participants have been ordered to come here or whether if there are people among the congregation who support it but unaware that they are supporting things that they are really against of. Can you imagine dozens of buses and police security vehicles lining up within the vicinity of KLCC yesterday? I also wondered whether if these people could be either be brainwashed into believing non-existent things. In the last few posts, I have often brought out the phrase of "believing that elephants can fly" and related some example.

I guess the first guess was right. The Milo Suam blog has released a leak circular letter with an order to get 10000 people minimum to fill in the KLCC esplanade. (See entire post here)

Call it paranoia or insomnia, but having seen the crowd there by myself, I keep wondering whether they, being potential first time voters would make a first-time and only mistake that would condemn themselves, their future and their generations to come into more misery.

And when you realize that you've made a mistake, you lament that it's already too late to reverse it.

Call it a pity for those who succumbed to temptations and brainwashed to accepting falsehoods by people, politicians and parties who claimed to be omnipotent.

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?

This Is Not Democracy. It's Dictatorship

"This is not democracy. It's dictatorship. I am the law." - Herman Boone, Remember The Titans

Remember the Titans was one of my favorite sports-themed movies where in the first part of the film, Coach Boone (Denzel Washington) was saying that line above to his team before they started pre-season training of college football. The line held me dearly and after reading through quickly the first reading text of the Peaceful Assembly Bill, I see that things are getting from bad to worst.

From my several observations these new measures seem to imply that we are no longer heading towards democracy and in the line of the real reform that Najib Razak was promising about. Instead, it was heading towards the other end, turning it into a police state. Think of the whole idea as the Big Brother system, which is actually happening right now. Everything you wish to do, has to be done way ahead, one month ahead. According to the draft, there are 8 conditions that must be fulfilled by any organizer before a permit can be issued. And to make it worse, the police, with its given powers will ultimately say either yes or no and like a dictator, their word is law.

Remember that not all human conventions and declarations mentioned in the UN Human Rights charter. So far, Malaysia only ratified two. They are articles against discrimination of women and another for children. But others were never ratified at all. In fact, Malaysia especially United Malays National Organisation has not acknowledged and even ratified the Human Rights Declaration. This is why till today there is still detention without trial, cases of third-degree interrogation in police stations resulting with people dead in custody, cops refusing to accept the IPCMC recommendations (see Malaysiakini's Dzaiddin Recommendations Ignored) and even people / authorities responsible for beatdowns walking away scott-free.

One paragraph from the Bar Council's statement can say how bias the tone can be in setting up:

This Bill, like section 27 of the Police Act, vests wide powers in the police, who are empowered to impose restrictions and conditions, and to disperse assemblies and arrest participants. The police’s past consistent and atrocious conduct in suppressing assemblies shows that it is crucial that the police change their mindset and abandon the culture of impunity in managing freedom of assembly. In other jurisdictions, the power to impose restrictions and conditions vests in the local authority or a procession commission.

The summary is that the bill is merely separating Section 27 of the Police Act out and making it as an independent act. Nothing more. Same wine, different bottle like the replacement to the ISA.

It is natural to see street protests everywhere throughout the world. To forbid such thing is to suppress people dissatisfaction when they are unable to voice through channels or all avenues of venting their problems have been exhausted. If you say no to protests, how can you answer the question of why the Bolshevik Revolution happened more than 80 years ago or why is there the phenomenon of Occupy Wall Street? You can't go against the nature. But the caveats, drawbacks and everything seem to point for one reason - an ulterior motive, I would say. As Aspan, my friend said sometime back, change is natural, no one can run away from it. (see here)

The powers vested to the Home Minister, the custodian of the bill in adding / subtracting prohibited places coupled with the discretion by the police in approving the permit or otherwise can be considered as dictatorship. So whoever says that Malaysia is a democractic place now seem to have been misled by those claims as it is actually more or less a guided-democracy and slowly heading towards a failed state.

The Bersih 2.0 rally has already terrified many people in pro-government, particularly those who screamed most - from United Malays National Organisation. The biggest fear, and the main factor of motivating them to clampdown is the fear that it could alter the existing political landscape. That's it and that's the main reason. Altering the political landscape means they ultimately end up playing second banana and losing the power they have been holding for the last 55 years. Otherwise, what could explain why have some people became paranoid with unfounded things, figments of their own imagination like Ibrahim Ali? 

Who actually came up with the bulk of those things? AG? Cabinet? Nazri alone? Main party? Najib alone? 

This is one of the "projek pembodohan" that is in the play. Many people saw this as an insult of intelligence from Najib thinking that the conditions and laws drafted in this bill will make people happy, but many think otherwise. It's not surprising that we can see many "butter boys" and "pembodeks" that will say sweet and nice things of the bill tomorrow in the papers and the online mainstream press. In fact I am ready to see it coming and it's likely that many naive people will fall for it, in the process become a bonsai plant.

I would like to repeat this question again. Can anyone of you imagine if you are among the 30000 people that ended up in prison for doing something that is part of your basic human right, doing something of a crime that is not written in stone or doing something that is morally right but considered wrong by the oppressors?

Looking Back: Bar Council Forum 9 August 2008

This cable was written by then U.S Ambassador to Malaysia James Keith in 2008, in view of the incident of the "conversion to Islam" forum held at the Bar Council. At the very last minute, Ambiga, then Bar Council president decided to put a stop to the forum after the intervention and plea by Pak Lah.

From Wikileaks:

The Malaysian Bar Council attempted to hold a forum, entitled "Conversion to Islam," at their national headquarters on August 9.  Included in the forum was a panel discussion of two high profile conversion cases involving the difficulties faced by non-Muslims in conversion cases related to religiously mixed marriages. 

A hostile crowd of about 500 protesters assembled in front of the building, including representatives from the Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS), Anwar Ibrahim's People Justice Party (PKR) (including a Member of Parliament), the United Malay National Organization (UMNO), and Muslim-based NGOs. A group of protesters led by Peninsular Malay Students Federations (GPMS) Vice-president Jais Abdul Karim and PKR MP Zulkifli Noordin stormed the building shortly after the forum began. Police at the scene made no attempt to stop the protesters, but actually escorted them inside, where the demonstrators disrupted the proceedings, using racial epithets and other derogatory language and forcing Bar Council President Ambiga Sreenevasan to close the forum. Police did not make any arrests of the protestors, but have announced that they are investigating the forum's organizers.

Police at the scene made no attempt to stop the protesters, but actually escorted them inside, where the demonstrators disrupted the proceedings, using racial epithets and other derogatory language and forcing Bar Council President Ambiga Sreenevasan to close the forum.  Police did not make any arrests of the protestors, but have announced that they are investigating the forum's organizers.

Conclusion excerpt:

The response to the Bar Council forum has illustrated the Government's willingness to utilize religious sensitivities and tensions for political gains.  The involvement of party members from PAS and PKR show the fragile nature of the Opposition's coalition and the potential for UMNO strategists to continue exploiting the coalition's lack of cohesiveness, especially along religious and racial lines.  

Full cable excerpt can be read at: Malaysia Today (here) 

Perhaps some of the pics taken below on that day can allow us to revisit that very day itself.

The Overprotectiveness of PAS

In light of the statement that Elton John is performing in Malaysia, PAS has been making statements of popular singer figures coming in to Malaysia and perform for the past all these years as somewhat promoting the "western culture that is wrong (in their definition)" among youngsters here. Elton John is not the only one that is also the target of PAS Youth, but past figures including Gwen Stefani for instance and a few others. To most people including fans in the world, the adjective of gay as what Elton John publicly declares is eclipsed by his popularity in pop culture given by his array number of hit songs / music that was performed in over more than 30 years.

What I am trying to point out is that PAS is in this case over protective of the people. It is like a overbearing mother who tries to keep a child inside a shell although it clearly defies the nature of curiosity inhabited in each and everyone of us. What is also underscored by their actions is that PAS still has yet to let people able to make their own decisions and having them to use their own discretion. This in one way is best to encourage people to think for themselves, not to show that "I know best, and I do it for you" thing.

To say that this is from the western culture is not entirely accurate. It is actually part of the capitalism culture - to make money, profits from it. Famous people come and perform here because of the demand from fans, with firsthand knowledge of how popular they themselves are. Simply use this on the Far Eastern artists that come here to perform. Aren't they on the same capacity as these famous artists do, until to the point where PAS has to bark up on that?

It is best for PAS to say "I let you decide" but they should not have a strong hand of intervention on this case. The more positive statement that they might say is "Look, we don't really encouraged you to get spoiled by their rowdy behavior but you make the final choice".  What PAS do not understand that many youngsters are willing to pay extra money, like in Singapore dollars to go down the causeway to watch their favorite concerts, if there happens to be none performed in Kuala Lumpur. Since having performed here is cheaper than going down (considering the cost of food, travelling and lodging, not to mention the high exchange rate between the hosting currency vs our currency).

It's very hard to see a celebrity coming down once in a blue moon to perform here. To shoo a famous person off, in spite of noble intentions and despite a person with a famous popularity and reputation is to give a slap as the first impression on the artist performing here. As the saying goes, people don't forget on how you make them feel, even though they may forget and forgive what you would do to them. So, the real bottom line is that PAS Youth in particular should start moving away from its overprotective attribute of themselves and encourage people to let them think.

If it is not already enough with our present education system which churns out people to think and behave like a robot instead of encouraging a creative and inquisitive mind who is able to make better judgements and learn more by its curiosity. This culture, with the ulterior being to prevent a person to go rocking the boat because of the curiosity nature (a.k.a suppression) has stop here, if Malaysia wants to have a level up in its society, since we still have many lazy and submissive natives around.

PAS should go around and ask everyone, not just their own Malay youths on whether they like for instance Elton John music or they like people to come here or not. This is not the 1980s, but we're in the 21st century. Already PAS has taken a lot of brickbats from its hudud saga and they should not give more info for the enemy to hit them with such kind of issue. Aren't they aware of traps to make people's support for them to wane already?

It's Comes Overdue Already

Najib announces repeal of ISA, three emergency declarations

Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced tonight the repeal of the Internal Security Act 1960 (ISA) and the three Emergency Declarations when both the Dewan Negara and Dewan Rakyat have their next sitting.

The prime minister said that new laws will be enacted to protect the peace, harmony and security of the country.

He also announced that the government will do away with annual printing and publishing permits with permits that can be cancelled if regulations are flouted.

Najib acknowledged in his address to the nation on the eve of Malaysia Day that the move to increase civil liberties was “risky, but we are doing this for our survival.”

“No individual will ever be detained simply due to political ideology,” he said in his speech that was broadcast live on all local television stations.

The move to scrap the law has been hailed by ex-ISA detainee and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng as “an epochal move.”

The Barisan Nasional (BN) chief said that two new security laws would be introduced for preventive detention which would be limited only to cases of terrorism and “ensure that basic human rights are protected.”

Najib said that under the new laws, detentions could only be extended by the court and therefore “the power of detention will be shifted from the executive to the judiciary, unless it concerns terrorism.”

Before a studio audience of 800 including his entire Cabinet, he also announced that the Banishment Act would be repealed while he will do away with the need for annual publishing permits under the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA).

 -- The Malaysian Insider

I once said before that it takes a disaster for the country to realize its mistakes. And by the time they realized that there's the need of having a reform, it is already far overdue already. For instance, when Bersih 2.0 decided to launch it's campaign to make a statement to the government of the necessity of election reforms, many - especially the government's butter-up boys do not really believe in their claims and instead, misguided by the MSM papers including Utusan were made to believe that they are about to start another 13 May 1969 incident.

And that allegation came unfounded. But it is only after they noticed that 1700 people arrested and how the cops handled the situation, with the directive from they themselves, they realized of the terrible mistake that they have committed. They only then also realized that they cheated themselves into believing that there was to be another riots or so. They didn't even trust themselves, like a dog being duped by it's own reflection on the pool..and so decided to embark on the reforming thing that they've spewed out on the news.

The ISA abolishment was also another thing overdue. When the anti-ISA movement decided to protest in the streets August last year (that's to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its inception), the government refused to believed in that thing and the GMI's demands, thinking they can handled on their own terms. Scores of people arrested, roadblocks here and there, well of course I've kept some pictures as to remember that incident. With more and more people pressuring the government, it became imminent and evident that even amending the ISA is totally impossible. But it took more than 20 years since the cession of arms against Malaysia by the CPM to realize that ISA is already irrelevant.

Many people still do not understand why ISA has to go and in fact some people including those in Perkasa think that ISA is still needed for something that is illogical like Malay rights. However, many are not aware that there's no such thing as abolishing ISA without something to compensate, right? With the specter of 9/11 around us, of course there has to be something to replace it and of course people have proposed a new Anti-Terrorism bill in its place. As what Nazri said, the bill is for real terrorism. This missing piece of information is one of the causes of bro ha has that foam in the mouths of those people who complained about removing ISA.

With people getting angry over the EO6 episode, what is much more necessary of putting the EO 1948 off coupled with the close to the 80 year old Restricted Residences (a.k.a Banishment) act for good? What...applying a more than 60 year old laws into the 21st century scenario? Somewhat doesn't fit like big engines into a small car?

Connecting the dot from that above is the official end of three declarations of emergency. I suppose that many people and politicians have forgotten about it, with many assuming that the 1989 ceasefire automatically ends it, but there were no proclamations until 22 years later where they finally realized that they have overlooked that matter. It took lawyers and civil movement pressure to get them to come into their senses.

In spite of all that, there are still things neither never mentioned or partially mentioned that raises questions from other quarters. For instance, the publications permit - whether it can be challenged in court after the annual renewal condition is removed. However, people still bash Pornstar Chua over the need of having online publication permit - this guy is one hell of a jester in this point.  Talk about another Rais Yatim thing that is.

I am bit unclear about this amendment to the notorious Section 27 of the Police Act. Demos usually happen if whatever statements that is to be sent out are totally ignored by the government of the day, so generally it is theirs to be blamed. Bersih rally happened because of government ignorance, otherwise how would those unnecessary police ruckus happened on that day? I would definitely would want to see and read more of the amendment ideas before talking more.

Unfortunately, the AUKU 1971 act was never mentioned and this has raised dire questions from university students who felt the need to have more active participation in the present issues. They were asking "what about AUKU". Sedition Act remains one of the archaic laws that has yet to be asked then.

I look at some of the statements and thoughts by other people in regards of this in online avenues. Some good, some disagreed but I have the thought that this could be one something else that motivates the reason of Najib Razak doing such thing, that would be discussed later. Since these things are to be brought forward to the Parliament when it reconvenes next month, I have the feeling that it could be well opposed by some of the MPs in his front, who are also UMNO warlords and those who have a different opinion of his statements. If most of the Cabinet ministers were in the studio where he made the statement, it's likely that most of them have already agreed to follow the ship's directions, albeit a few, probably.

Ibrahim Ali has also been making noises but when the government finally realizes their mistakes and started doing things, he has been quiet over this subject or so. It's my gut feeling that he could be making noises tomorrow to show his disagreement over what Najib would say.

Anyhow, it's about time, too long already.

Bersih - Alahai Mat Sembab!

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 — Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today drew parallels between the recent UK riots and last month’s Bersih rally even after the prime minister distanced himself from the harsh crackdown on the march for free and fair elections.

Seemingly out of step with Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s new, more conciliatory stance, Muhyiddin congratulated the police for their handling of the Bersih rally after citing the UK riots as a “clear example” of how a country can descend into chaos if “elements that threaten peace and security” are not stopped.
 

“Although it (UK) is a modern nation, there were people... who took the opportunity to riot and create chaos to fulfil certain needs that are not in line with the needs of the majority,” he said at the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) College here.
“The government is very proud and pleased with the role and bravery of PDRM in handling the illegal Bersih demonstration on July 9, 2011 that was, in fact, dirty (kotor).”
Muhyiddin’s comments today comes one week after Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said Malaysians should be thankful that police action had prevented the Bersih rally from turning violent like the UK riots.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar has also previously said on his Facebook page that the riots in London and other major cities in Britain were evidence of the “nightmares” that could be prevented by avoiding street protests.

Najib said on Monday that a bipartisan parliamentary select committee will be formed “as soon as possible” to examine the current electoral system, a key demand of Bersih.

His announcement was seen as a major concession acknowledging the political fallout from his administration’s harsh clampdown on the rally for free and fair elections that brought the capital to a standstill last month.

The Najib administration was roundly criticised in the international media, with his reformist image taking a major hit after authorities took extreme measures including firing tear gas and water cannons at largely peaceful demonstrators.

The prime minister’s decision also suggests he was forced to give space to Bersih and its iconic leader Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan as the government has been floundering since last month’s rally.

Muhyiddin Likens Bersih To London Riots - 18 August 2011, Malaysian insider

*********************

This has been a number of times that I've lost count of Muhyiddin Yassin keeps saying that Bersih is related to this and that for all I care. If I recall correctly, back in the beginning, Muhyiddin was noted saying that Bersih is used by Opposition to topple BN, Bersih is a threat to national security, and Bersih is undemocratic and so forth.

I just went back to check the chronology of statements leading to the Bersih event on 9 July and there are matching entries relating Muhyiddin's statements to that. The UMNO paranoia started on 16 June, 3 days before the launch (the launch was on 19 June, a Sunday) with Utusan first started the fuse with Bersih's launch. (Note: Utusan news hitman columnist Zulkiflee Bakar started the drum with his column). And that started the avalanche of accusations by the government on Bersih.

You can read the sequence of events of Bersih that has Muhyiddin's statements:

1. 16 June - Bersih is undemocratic

2. 18 June - Opposition using Bersih to topple BN

3. 25 June - Muhyiddin Insists That Bersih Is Political, Threat to Security

4. 2 July - Kuasa Besar Boleh Masuk Jika Malaysia Bergolak

5. 3 July - Bersih A Trick To Get Power

6. 7 July - Bersih Inciting Hatred in Stadium Merdeka Choice

These instances above, even from one source alone is enough to paint a picture that Muhyiddin led UMNO's paranoia on Bersih and subsequently, from there, government refused to give rally permits, intensify detention before rallies, and the illogical arrests on anything that is yellow and of course Bersih, perceived as a society but actually a movement that was declared illegal by Hishamuddin.

Several other people including Ibrahim Ali and Zulkifli Noordin  have added oil to fire, making things hotter and hotter. With their paranoia including in their speeches, this has influenced the police to stop the rally at all costs, peaceful or otherwise. But all the paranoia that these men have come out of their mouths turns out to be unfounded. Was it to hide the guilt that the cheating game of elections necessary? But who actually lit the fire and made it bigger? The statements from him makes it possible.

In the end, most of us tried digging for proof to such claims above to refute it and there was absolutely none. Pure nonsensical and tons of lies to make a shit out of nothing for an event. And yes, failure to understand English well also plays part of it. That's why there are still people out there who still cannot even differentiate between a protest and a riot. In fact we even fell behind to Myanmmar when they have started to loosen things up bit by bit.

But sometimes there is also a logic of looking at this incidents as red herrings. Was it part of a plan to entrap Najib? Some of my friends and people have always said that Najib is not only facing enemies on the outside but in the inside, in this case, other factions in the party itself. And this puts a question of whether this was meant to get people to get angry at Najib Razak and thus hasten his exit? 

These statements above also reflect the childish mindset of the government. Instead of giving a 3 hour permit for that day, they deliberately make things from bad to worst, just to show their dislike on anything or anyone that challenges or disputes their rule. Giving a permit to them means capitulation, a.l.a IRA style. But it is them that refuses to listen and do the fixes. If they close their ears all the time, then how will the people get their attention? If you write a letter to someone yet the letter was never opened after a specific time, how are you going to follow up and get their attention to your problem?   

Sometimes, being above and sitting behind a desk can put a person into not able to hear the ground. That's the caveat of being in the high-ranking job. 

Alahai, bising banyak tuduh banyak bagi orang tak salah kena tangkap, si penjenayah masih lagi bebas berkeliaran. Ni masih tak faham apa pasal gaduh di London dengan bantah di KL! Aiyoh!

Annotation: I've asked some people what it means by "sembab" and it means swollen face. Incidentally, Hishamuddin Rais always called this guy "Mat Sembab" because he had this swollen look and the face of a pirate.

Failing The Spot The Difference Game

AUG 11 — It does seem like honesty is a rare commodity in Malaysia. Not once before, during and after the Bersih rally have the BN government, police and senior politicians spoken truthfully about the rally.

Now we have the country’s No. 2 cop alluding that police put down the Bersih rally because otherwise things would have gone awry like the London riots.

This is the same line of argument put forward by Umno bloggers and the mainstream media (one can only surmise that instructions were handed down by Putrajaya).

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Khalid Abu Bakar is rewriting history. It is an open secret that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, after an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, decided to offer the Bersih people the use of a stadium.

Soon after that meeting, he chaired a meeting of government officials and announced that he had decided to offer a stadium to the Bersih cause, prompting a round of congratulations by attendees who were pleased that a reasonable solution to the stand off was in the offing.

That stadium offer was revoked the next day. Why? It is anyone’s guess but a representative of an NGO met the PM a day before July 9 and said that the PM was talking about an uprising to overthrow the government and about resistance from groups within Umno.

It is interesting that some of the PM’s insiders are now blaming the Home Ministry and police for the mishandling of Bersih, saying that both groups told Najib that the Bersih people would not vacate the stadium for weeks ala Tahrir Square in Egypt and would force the collapse of the BN government.

These insiders say that Najib’s gut feeling was to allow the rally to take place but was persuaded otherwise.

All that sounds nice on hindsight but the fact is that he took the advice of people — home minister and the police — who don’t have a clue on the DNA of Malaysians. Ninety-five per cent of people who marched on July 9 probably have jobs, unlike the unemployed in Egypt and the yobs in London.

The Bersih people were marching for electoral reform. A sizeable number are from the middle class, and the middle class all over the world are not looters or people who are willing to lose their employment by staying in a stadium for days or weeks!

So for the police and Home Ministry to liken the Bersih rally to the situation in Egypt and London is dishonest.

The police clamped down on the rally because their political masters in Putrajaya told them to do so. 

Now Khalid is trying to put a sheen of credibility on the over-reaction by the police by drawing a parallel between Bersih and the London riots.

How far has the rot set in?

--- What A Load of Rubbish by The Malaysian Insider, 11 August 2011

*******************

I was laughing my ass of loud on Khalid Bakar's comments. Not only me, but in twitter space, everyone too is having a good laugh at how the deputy IGP puts the London riots with Bersih protests. However, in this case, Khalid has failed in his language because it shows that there are people who are unable to discern the difference between riots and protests.

A few of us got "maki hamun" by some at twitter about talking bullshit in this subject matter. But I just simply asked those a question of whether they are able to understand the clear definition of riots and protests. Even the dictionary also defined it clear and concise of what is protests and riots. Therefore, if you are unable to discern the difference, either you have fared poorly in English in school or, as I have told someone, MSM inaccuracies and spinning as been feeding you with shit. Full stop, and I don't even bother to reply at all.

The London riots originally started with the killing of an innocent man. Similarly, the Los Angeles riots in 1992 started with the beating of Rodney King and the first acquittal of the four police officers involved. While it's clear that the four were guilty, acquitting them got the city into furor and thus days of carnage started. Bersih 2.0 in contrast was just only a one day, 3 hour affair on the streets to send an electoral message to Najib and Co.

I sometimes asked the nay sayers whether they have read the history of Malayan Union, which I always remembered that part while in secondary school. UMNO was formed out of the protest against the Malayan Union. They came out in demos to make a collective statement to the English that they don't want the plan. Otherwise, Malaya then Malaysia would not have exist. This of course contradicts Dr. M's famous statement in the aftermath of the Perak takeover in 2009, which he said "Demo is not our culture". Sounds contrasting, yes?

As what Pete said today, the riots in London happened for no reason apart to loot, plunder and making mayhem along the way for nothing. If anyone of you who have watched The Dark Knight, you would see the tag title, "Welcome to a World Without Rules." A world without rules is like you can do anything you want including riots above there. Good and bad allowed, no holds barred. But as what was witnessed in Bersih, there have been a clear set of rules - a three hour affair, once message has been sent to the King, disperse. Simple as it. Bersih's protest, as he said, was to make clear political statement to the Najib administration and the Election commission.

The BERSIH march was a political statement. There was no political statement in the UK riots. It was all about plundering, looting, robbing and stealing.

No, we can’t compare BERSIH to the UK riots. This would be like banning drivers/bikers who do not drink and only allowing drunks on the road because drinking and driving causes only 1.4% of traffic accident deaths.

Did not the Malays oppose the Malayan Union that the British were trying to impose on Malaya through a street demonstration? And was it not because of this demonstration that the British abandoned the plan for the Malayan Union and instead the Federation of Malaya was formed?

-- Ban Non Drinkers, Malaysia Today

Of course, when the ruckus happened on 9 July, this shows that Najib has violated his own tenets, whereas the many events happened during Pak Lah's time indicate that he too violated his own Islam Hadhari tenets.

The main mistake that politicians made out of paranoia was to associate protest with riots. This was how the tone of antagonism towards Bersih started. The 1969 riots happened because the ruling party could not stomach losing the customary 2/3rds control fair and square in the elections. From there that's where they got berserk, fueled with delusions. A side note though, my late grandfather was absolutely upset later when it was known that his ex-colleague Harun Idris started the whole thing.

Back to Khalid Bakar, the mistake was assuming that people are stupid. In fact, the statement simply reflects of making himself look stupid or "membodohkan rakyat". I always held that man as an unqualified person sitting behind Ismail Omar and a liar on the fateful night on 9 November 2008. In fact, there are more and more people that start to laugh at his face since this morning for the nay sayers, I am not the only one needed to be criticized of.