For I Beheld Satan

"For I beheld Satan and befell from heaven like lightning" - Luke 10:18

I see things have gone upside down today. Never before I have seen people arrested for nothing apart from wearing t-shirts, carrying pamphlets or selling anything that is yellow. And that offense was never mentioned in any of the law books. The cops are to be damned. Many have sold off their moral ethics in for subservient to the ruling regime. They do whenever they are told, even if its wrong of all aspects.

It is clear that the Devil is running the roost today. And God is not here today for there was no things that turn and set it right. It reminded me of Raul Julia's final line in his movies before his tragic death from stroke.

I thought of writing something else, but I didn't have the time to write it. If I can, maybe in the morning before work, I supposed.

See the video here.

Ibrahim Ali Eclipses Superman OTK!

KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 — Datuk Ibrahim Ali called the Bar Council today a “bastard council” and accused it of playing double standards for attacking the Barisan Nasional (BN) government. 

“They are hypocrites...I don’t respect at all the Bar Council,” said the Perkasa chief at a press conference today.

Ibrahim pointed out that the Bar Council had protested the burning of Bersih 2.0 chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan’s pictures at a recent Perkasa gathering, but was silent on the burning of Interlok writer Abdullah Hussain’s images at another protest.“So...the spirit behind this rally is to overthrow the government,” added the pint-sized Malay rights advocate.

Ibrahim said Bersih 2.0’s rally for electoral reforms was a front for Pakatan Rakyat (PR)’s political agenda, pointing out that the coalition’s deputy chairman was PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, while other PR politicians comprised part of the committee.

When pointed out that the independent polls watchdog had invited Barisan Nasional (BN) to join its rally, Ibrahim said: “That’s propaganda.”

Ibrahim also stressed that he did not oppose Ambiga because she was Indian, but because of her “evil” actions in becoming a shield for the federal opposition.

“They (PR) just want to confuse people by putting forth Ambiga, who is the former Bar Council president,” said Ibrahim, who raised his voice several times during the press conference.

The outspoken MP also lambasted Tan Sri Hasmy Agam, the president of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), for urging the Najib administration to allow Bersih 2.0, Perkasa and Umno Youth to exercise their constitutional rights to hold their respective rallies on July 9.

“He is a liberal who wants to fight for freedom, but what about responsibilities?” asked Ibrahim.

********************* Read more here

I found it very funny and could not stop laughing. - sorry if you are not able to get my beat Ibrahim Ali has started to beat left and right of everyone. It reminded me the days when Ong Tee Keat, a.k.a Superman OTK goes and whack left and right his rivals in MCA, including Chua Soi Lek but in the process got voted out and MCA puts a pornstar into being the president of the party. 

Of course the Bar council finds whatever that the self-styled village champion by the name of Ibrahim Ali says today is an insult to the intelligence of law professionals there. But there was an accusation that says to overthrow the government is a misconception in the pea brain mind of Braheng. Instead, it can happen, only if the government is shooting themselves on their own foot, which is happening right now. 

Then of course, he goes and whack Ambiga, by calling "evil", and then whacking Human Right commission team which has started to pick up the pacing on monitoring human rights of Malaysia (still in an abysmal record with latest being the 3rd degree style of interrogations and beatings of PSM activists in Penang police station). Boy, I must be wondering whether the heart surgery that he underwent last year has suddenly put him in a very active mode, but he'd be called a clown in the international level there.

They say that an iguna can be wild if provoked and this is true when Braheng Ali is pushed into one direction. Kelantanese people use to say this case "natang bewok" or lizard animal. Anyhow, just let him do his strut. It can be humorous sometimes and we should note that's he's the salt of the BN's soup pot. I do really wish to see more of his "wild out of control rants". I would really hope to see him out in the streets in his counter protest with him shouting in the bullhorn. At least it proves that UMNO is not able to put him in the line.

Nasir: Rais Really Have Phd?

Well, I have not been writing for quite sometime due to an assignment for a potential clientele in Cambodia so, I was hopping like mad in office on the weekends, hoping to escape and do my necessary weekend work in and out. A pity. I actually planned to write about the absurd arrests that is happening around like if McCarthyism is happening again since the last time about 50 years ago.

Anyhow, what is interesting is about Rais Yatim, a.k.a Ayah Dino, a.k.a Menteri Rogol Amah. Frankly, in the last few days, this senile old man has been talking nonsense, such as:

1. The arrested PSM activists are trying to start another communism

2. Bersih rally is a plot of overthrowing government 

3. Hacking is part of the Bersih rally

Well, his remarks have drew the ire of everyone, including youngsters and intellectuals alike. In the context of Bersih, people are saying he is talking crap, mixing things with other things. Ambiga called whatever he said as intimidating people. Others say that bringing communism is a fickle of his imagination or whatsoever. I found it hilarious when Dr. Nasir Hashim was asking whether if Rais really have Phd

"He doesn't deserve his PhD and should be stripped!" exclaimed a Malay friend of mine when we met over a cup of tea early of the month. His thesis was talking about the negative things of ISA and yet he talks the complete opposite. My friend was asking whether his principles were compromised when he started talking opposite and I was wondering whether he is a clear cut example of a "yes man", whenever I see a picture of him with Pak Lah sometime back.

The Twitter channel, #yorais has drawn a lot of people tweeting about the senile old man that even Khairy said that the old man doesn't know about e-mail but yet is a Information Minister. Yes, at this point of time, he is just like Zainuddin Maidin that hardly knows about e-mail, blogs, except he's one level up in speaking of paranoia and mixing things here and there. And youngsters are not really happy about his comments on Internet - remember Green Filter and the hacking thing? Doesn't even answer the context at all.

People really hate his antics and some reporters have a hard time questioning him particularly when this video was shot one year ago that whips reporters ass. What are you going to do that? It's all down in the GE where people from Jelebu has to throw him out. Word is that things are not going well down there really.

Yes, I have to agree with Nasir's posing that question. How could a PhD graduate talk shit like that?

Bersih 2.0 Launch Night Pix

Today, I have planned to discuss on Bersih's rally covering several aspects, but well, I didn't have much of time because of some activities I have been setting up for my own after day's work. Anyhow, just to cater readers out there and since there's been a heavy buzz on Bersih with the rally being another 16 days away from the date of 9 July 2011, here are some pics from the Sunday's launch there.

I asked a few people how many people do they think. Many put around 1500, but given of the number of chairs and rows coupled with some outside, I bet it is just around 1000 people, which of course is a good response anyhow. There were places allocated for UMNO, Gerakan and the BN component party representatives to come. (Remember that Ambiga was saying everyone is invited, as it is a bi-partisan organization). Sadly neither BN component parties come that I've seen the Gerakan guy on Twitter talking about the X's of Bersih all the time!

But that will be another story later. For now, I've simply picked some pics that I've taken for those of you who were not able to see the launch there. There are some familiar faces there, and the emcee for the night was Hishamuddin Rais. And of course, we get to see a glimpse of the Kelantan Dinar, which is worth RM 250!. For those who want to watch the videos there, you can just do some search on Youtube on the launch videos.

The Way Forward That Ibrahim Ali Doesn't Faham

Perkasa kicked off its Bersih 2.0 counter-protest here in Kampung Baru today by burning images of Bersih chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and issuing a warning to the Chinese to stay indoors as “anything could happen”.

 

Perkasa Datuk Ibrahim Ali, who earlier appointed himself “war general”, said if electoral reform coalition Bersih goes through with its July 9 rally, he will not be held responsible for any untoward incidents which may occur.

“Imagine if chaos erupts. If the Bersih rally is not cancelled... I believe the Chinese community will have to stock up on food.

“Yes, anything can happen. And so I ask the police to act and use whatever powers are at their disposal,” he told some 500 supporters who gathered at Kelab Sultan Sulaiman here for the launch.

Ibrahim stressed, however, that Perkasa and the other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) opposed to the Bersih rally would not resort to violence as they were only interested in safeguarding the nation’s peace and prosperity.

But the Malay rights leader added that he would not be held responsible for the actions of those who might use the rally as a cover to commit crimes.

Ibrahim also suggested that Ambiga — described in a flyer being passed as “a dangerous Hindu woman” — was working for foreign powers seeking an excuse to interfere in Malaysia’s internal affairs.

He cited the former Bar Council president’s defence of Lina Joy’s right to convert from Islam and her involvement in the interfaith council as examples of her repeated “illegal actions”.

“Perhaps she is an agent of the Jews,” he said.

The Pasir Mas MP also repeated a claim made by Utusan Malaysia today that the opposition will use the rally to trigger an uprising similar to the ones seen in Egypt and Libya before forcing their choice of prime minister upon the people.

Read more here.

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Ibrahim Ali was trying to talk as if he is a military leader or something whereas he is actually trying to play hero to show everyone in Malaysia that he's a somewhat a big ace in the hole. However, if he tries to play head to head of maybe vs Obama or Putin, he'd be a good laughing stock of Malaysia in the eyes of the world because the foreigners can hardly understand things that are "jaguh kampung". He wants to wipeout Bersih but whatever he says has proven that Perkasa is thumbing with their chests so high and mighty in contrast in Bersih that never talks big and does thing in a very professional manner.

Of course, in the way of today's Perkasa launch, Ibrahim was playing bomoh telling other races to stay home to avoid another May 13. But May 13 incident was already 42 years ago. Of course at that time it happened because people are poorly informed, but today's game is different because there is Internet to thank for. One of my Malay friends, did pointed out that Ibrahim and Perkasa are like salt in the soup. Too much, soup, and it will be too salty, in metaphor speaking, damaging the image of BN along the way if he goes too deep.

I told some people that I think that if Ibrahim Ali wants to march out to the streets, then fine by me, but he better watch out for himself because having done a heart surgery last year, he better not overstressed himself on that day including hollering that loud on a bullhorn, if Perkasa happens to carry it, lest he could find himself in a physical precarious situation. 

The one thing that Braheng doesn't get it is that the May 13 scenario will never happen. Simple. PAS has pledged at least 100000 of their own people to come down on 9 July to help things out for BERSIH, voluntary and no money required. Just like the first edition. They would be the first line of protection indeed.

Back in October 2010, RPK wrote about something which mentions that May 13 version 2 will not be Non-Malays vs Malays, but it will be two groups of Malays fighting one another. I reproduce below second half of the article - The Confused Way Forward just to refresh our minds and as to point out that the way going forward that Braheng Ali doesn't get it at all.

Umno could not even get 100 Malays onto the streets of Kampong Baru in the aftermath of the 2008 general election. But the opposition can get 50,000 Malays onto the streets any time. So, if the handful of Umno Malays want to start trouble, they will have to face tens of thousands of other Malays.

No, if riots do start it will not be a la 1969. The next riot, if it happens, will be Malays facing Malays. The Indians and Chinese need not participate in this May 13 Version 2. They can just stay at home or go to Singapore or Thailand for a short holiday. Let the Malays handle this matter.

The Indians and Chinese need not fear anything. Dr Hatta Ramli has already issued a challenge. PAS will form a human shield. The Malays from PAS will emerge in great numbers to face those Umno Malays who want Indian and Chinese blood. As Dr Hatta said, “Over our dead bodies.” The Umno Malays would first have to slaughter all the PAS Malays before they can reach the Indians and Chinese.

And let me assure you: many other Malays not from PAS are also issuing this warning. The Indians and Chinese are our brothers and sisters. And if the Umno Malays want to harm them then they will have to first deal with the non-Umno Malays.

And this is because the non-Umno Malays are Muslims first and Malays second. This is what Islam demands of Muslims -- to be Muslims first and last while racism is haram or forbidden

.

And in Islam justice must prevail and the non-Muslims must be protected even to the extent that Muslims go to war with Muslims to protect the life of the non-Muslims. This is Islamic justice. And in Islamic justice no one must be persecuted or discriminated against because of his or her race.

So, is it not good that PAS is an Islamic party? Notwithstanding the fact that there are some in PAS who aspire to see Malaysia transformed into an Islamic State (which can never happen unless PAS wins more than two-thirds of the seats in Parliament), an Islamic party like PAS is good for the non-Muslims because this party upholds Islam, which means the non-Muslims receive protection against persecution and discrimination.

Umno does not know what it is getting itself into. It had better tone down that race riot rhetoric lest it backfires on them. If they think the Indians and Chinese are going to react like they did in 1999 -- they reluctantly voted for Barisan Nasional out of fear -- then Umno is going to be in for a surprise.

Today, the Indians and Chinese have faith in their Malay brothers and sisters. They know that May 13 Version 2 being bandied about by Umno is not going to be a Malay versus non-Malay incident like back in 1969. May 13 Version 2 is going to be a Malay-versus-Malay affair with the non-Malays standing on the sidelines as mere spectators.

And if you think this is not so then go ask the non-Umno Malays in Pakatan Rakyat. Hear it from their own mouths. And they will tell you exactly what I have just said.

Everybody Hates Rais The Senile One

Bersih 2.0 chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan denied today all links between the recent spate of cyber attacks on government websites and her electoral reform group raised yesterday by Datuk Seri Rais Yatim, saying his conjecture is an attack on Malaysians.

 

A group of hackers calling themselves Anonymous mounted an attack on at least 200 websites last Thursday, saying they are against censorship of websites by the government.

“It’s a wholly unfounded, unreasonable, preposterous suggestion made by a Cabinet minister who should really know better than to make such wild accusations,” she told The Malaysian Insider.

She added that Rais’s comment was an attack not just on Bersih but on Malaysian citizens’ constitutional right to assemble peaceably.

“I am entirely surprised by the raving of a few members of the government against Bersih 2.0 and their attempts to demonise Bersih; and I view Rais Yatim’s comments as one of these attempts.

“I consider this an attack on the people and it is a shame they chose to do this rather than listen to the people,” the former Malaysian Bar president said.

Rais, who is the information, communication and culture minister, had linked yesterday the mass attacks on some 200 local websites to the upcoming Bersih rally on July 9 after Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili told reporters initial investigations showed 90 per cent of the hackers were based in Malaysia.

Rais further described the cyber attacks as politically-motivated and intended to disrupt the workings of the government, but did not provide details as to how the denial of service attacks were related to the July 9 rally that is pushing for electoral reforms.

Read more here

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No, it's not Everybody Loves Raymond but the title alone is opposite to what's happening right now.

I simply cannot understand how a minister with a PHD certificate would say something crap and nonsense as above. This has clearly demonstrated that he is unable to discern the clear difference of the real purpose of those attacks by Anonymous group and the purpose of Bersih 2.0 rally holding on. This also demonstrates that he is not worth living with the title given. Instead what is seen is jumbling things up, and trying to connect both as one. From what he said above, it seems clearly he has been probably wrongly advised by his advisers or other colleagues and bringing into his kind of conclusion.

Prior to this, he did say that Malaysia was unperturbed by attacks shows how ignorant can a minister be and chose to remain eye-closed to the reality.

Anonymous's intentions is clear: they, on behalf of Malaysia netizens want to send a message to the government of the clear displeasure of the MCMC, acting on the request of the Domestic Consumer Affairs Ministry, (Ismail Sabri a.k.a. Ayah Dafi) to block 10 file sharing sites, which includes some that are legit, and it got mixed with some that are famously the bane of some parties (e.g The Pirate Bay). They also want to send a message that the Najib administration has violated the promise of no Internet censorship, and blocking those websites is also considered a violation to that promise.

Note: If you have read the text they have sent - there are absolutely no references to Bersih. Unless it was deliberately skewed.

So Anonymous' intentions has totally nothing to do Bersih's objectives and intentions. Both Bersih and Anonymous are two different eggs, yet Rais puts them in one basket.

Until today, there are thousands of youngsters that are very angry at not only this senile old man but other ministers and parties that are behind their problems and inconvenience. Six minutes ago at this time of writing, the number of 1M Malaysians Don't Want SKMM Block File Sharing Website on Facebook hit 32000. Meaning, there are 32000 Malaysian netizens that angry at these people. Not only that, in the last two days, there are many tweets out there with the tag #yorais that vented anger at that imbecile.

Here's a screenshot to show the thousands of tweets focusing anger at that man.

A friend of mine recently lamented of the thesis that Rais wrote previously about the evils of ISA and other things that needs to be repealed that in later on, Rais's stance is a complete opposite of what he stood and wrote for. He did questioned of whether it's the matter of his own principle being compromised for the political stand and having his own principles run down. This was one of his observations regarding him and he summed  / rant one conclusion: "Someone should strip him the PhD certification."

There are still some people to this day call him "Rape Maid" Minister because of his scandal involving the rape of an Indonesian Maid , although it is a matter of time yet to be seen whether those being sued by him over that claim would be able to proof with many things that indicate that what actually happened is contradicting Rais' claims. This is still one of the skeletons remaining in his closet.

Maybe it's time for him to be dropped from the Cabinet, as what Abdullah Badawi did to Zam Maidin previously - but already too late.

You see below is the excerpt of an open letter written to the senile old man by the name of Rais "Ayah Dino" Yatim. There are many youngsters out there very angry at that old man. 

Assalamualaikum Datuk Seri. Hari ini saya ingin mengajukan beberapa soalan. Dimana , tidak semua yang mengetahui asal usul penyekatan yang dibuat. Dan saya memerlukan jawapan yang terperinci , bukan yang disebarkan oleh media-media akhbar , tetapi dari mulut Datuk Seri sendiri.

 Soalan pertama , Why block us?. Dan jika Datuk Seri cakap tentang Violation , What violation? If the malaysian citizens are downloading Local Artists music , video and others , you should compare that to what they gain. Even without us downloading their work , some of us wont even download it , "Why?" do you say? Because , i would rather HEAR Justin Bieber instead of hearing some of the locals. You should get a download statistic. Compare the downloads between locals and foreign.

If File-sharing is illegal , then am i sharing my notes to my friend , illegal aswell? Some of us , is working for a foreign company , but they are working inside of Malaysia , and sometimes they need to send a large files. So how do they do it if not through a file-sharing websites.?

No censorship for the internet was stated on the Bill of Guarantees and was said TWICE by both of our Prime Minister , that is Tun Dr. Mahathir dan Dato' Sri Najib Razak. Yet this line was crossed.

Local artist have a low income because of File-Sharing sites? And was it our fault? First of all , the quality standard , and the attitude of some local artist , i would say that it is BELOW average. That is NOT good.

To love the local artist? AS soon as you hear foreign artist , you would be throwing local away. Im talking about modern artist. Comparing V.I.P under KRU , with Rebecca Black , I would still rather HEAR Rebecca Black sing.

Dan apa pula KAITAN Bersih dengan hacker? Isnt the hacker that attacks the website is called Anonymous , which is a foreign hackers while the Dragon Force Malaysia , Rilekscrew and other hackers is NOT EVEN a political party hackers. Why would you even go THAT far to think about hackers involved with politics! I myself, is learning Software Engineering. I THINK like engineers and i THINK like those hackers as those hackers was also once a Programmer , a Software Engineer , a Networking Student. We IT student THINK alike , as we LOVE the same thing. My MIND doesnt even COME with politic, yet you said that those Hackers are involved with it.

AND! you said , the hackers have been identified , but yet you STILL accused Bersih to be having or IS the hacker. We need you to give us a proof please.. EVERYONE would like to know this.. Who is the hacker and Why do you still Accused Bersih if YOU HAVE the hacker already.

Read more here.

Examining The RM 1.8 million Six Facebook Fan Pages Case

KUALA LUMPUR, June 14 — A whopping RM1,758,432 was spent on developing six Facebook pages to promote Malaysian tourism, the Tourism Ministry said today. 

Deputy Tourism Minister James Dawos Mamit said this today in reply to a question from Anthony Loke (Rasah-DAP).

Each Facebook page cost RM293,072 — Cuti-Cuti 1 Malaysia, Citrawarna 1Malaysia, Karnival Jualan Mega 1 Malaysia, Festival Pelancongan Seni Kontemporari 1 Malaysia, Kempen 1 Malaysia Bersih and Fabulous Food 1 Malaysia.

The Citrawarna 1 Malaysia page has so far attracted 20,292 Facebook fans since it was launched on May 21.

Mamit said that the RM1.8 million included costs for designing, flash programming and coding, testing and debugging, uploading and launching the application, system server deployment and campaign management.

“You need RM1.8 million to run Facebook pages and applications? A six-year-old can start a Facebook page.

“If Datuk Seri Ng Yen Yen has problems getting people to help start Facebook pages, DAP headquarters can help her out, we have people who can develop these things at no cost,” Loke told reporters later at a press conference.

Loke said that unless Ng explained the reasons behind the “exorbitant” costs for the “social media branding” exercise by her ministry, he would lodge a report to the Malaysian Anti-Crimes Commission (MACC). - The Malaysian Insider

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I was briefly involved in freelance web design process cycle with one of my ex-colleagues that was done as way of making an extra buck out of it and we actually have a rough idea how much these kind of service would cost, depending on requirements, the hosting facilities, the content required, and the time needed. This is then factored with the number of additional people required to complete that work. Back in 2008, we had done this kind of work before, and given of the need to have it ready by a month, we had a few extra hands in India side to help us out. And of course the final cost would wary on that.

At first, when the minister said that it cost RM1.8 million in total for those six Facebook pages, I was at first thinking that the minister has actually no idea of how much is the production cost of developing those pages. It's likely that since there's not many savvy people in IT in that department, it crossed my mind that they have no idea that it would be that high or otherwise. 

As what Anthony Loke was saying in Parliament, any person can create a Facebook fan page without a cost or even a small fee just to get it done professionally. A web page can cost more than that because there is also the annual cost of hosting (depending on the size) and domain name fee, creating other features and so forth. If you are creating a Facebook Fan Page (since it accommodates more than 5000 fans), you don't even need a domain name, no need database and a hosting since Facebook already has it already.

For those who are unsure how a fan page is created, you can view one of the sample guide sites on doing.The first link is a basic how to create a Facebook fan page, while this link has much details and tutorials on doing a fan page.

I decided to do some search via Facebook's search function and Google and it turns out that by entering those entries it turns out to be that some are not really Facebook fan page, but actual pages itself. For instance, confirmed non-Facebook pages are: 1Malaysia Green And Clean, Fabulous Food 1Malaysia, while Citrawarna 1Malaysia is confirmed to be a Facebook Fan Page. I suppose that the Tourism ministry website is also being counted on the RM 1.8 million work that is, since the last update was just today.

Thus, whatever that James Davos was replying in Parliament is not entirely accurate and can be tantamount to misleading the Dewan Rakyat on the information given. One argument about that thing was that he said all of those pages are Facebook fan pages, whereas it turns to be not all. For the cost factor, after looking onto the entire content, the cost for RM 293K per page is acceptable for the three non-Facebook pages, because it requires flashy content, high storage capacity, ability to update information on the go, search engine optimization and the number of people required to work on the website. 

So RM 293K X 3 = RM 879K.

The cost of working on 3 Facebook Fan pages is little fishy here, should cost a fraction of RM 293K. If that is the case, after calculating the above, I suppose that the balance of the RM 1.8 million spent would be on the advertising marketing campaign, in order to promote these six websites.

Unfortunately, at this time, there has been lack of information on the breakdown of costs. We don't know at this time whether there are at least two companies involved in working on those pages. One for design pages, another one for aggressive advertising. The one for designing pages was identified as Impact Creations Sdn. Bhd. There are several references to Tourism Ministry and Impact Creations, with several items related to like:Tourism Minister's Friend Admits Links To Company (referring to Juni Ewe). The rest can be seen on search results: 

Unfortunately, I didn't really agree entirely to some other people who wrote on this matter, including Paula - who wrote it 5 hours ago. But what is interesting on the matter is that politicians from both fronts (e.g Anthony Loke and Khairy) have been pushing for Ng Yen Yen to reveal for it opens the interest of everyone to find out more about the thing. And there must be an emphasis that the answer that James Dawos Mamit gave is not accurate in entire.

They Say No To Bersih. This Implies Cheaters Do Prosper

“Perkasa will launch a counter-demonstration, to show that there are people who do not agree with this rally, I am stopping this on the principle of democracy,” Ibrahim (picture) told reporters today.

He said Perkasa will be organising a roundtable discussion tomorrow night with 70 NGOs, where they will deliberate on all aspects concerning the Bersih rally — safety concerns, and how the rally could affect the country’s tourism sector.

“I cannot imagine if there is a rally that day and there is a big crowd, anything can happen,” he added.

Ibrahim, together with members of the Independent Caucus (Konsensus Bebas) — Datuk Seri Zahrain Hashim (Bayan Baru MP), Zulkifli Noordin (Kulim-Bandar Baharu MP) and Mohsin Samsuri (Bagan Serai MP) — submitted an emergency motion on the matter to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia.

“We submitted it at 10am today... why must you go on the streets? We don’t want any chaos, democracy to be hijacked by the opposition.

“This is a pre-emptive decision to make sure there is no chaos,” said Zahrain, who left PKR last year to be an independent lawmaker although his statements have been supportive of Umno.

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I expected UMNO, being the lynchpin of other NGOs would lead the group that would oppose to rallies that the people felt it is needed to do so. Many in that side have still yet to understand Ambiga's emphasis that there was never an intention of doing a rally, unless it is a last resort. This emphasis was underscored many times and as what Ambiga said on Saturday night at a forum it is because that the top brass is not listening to the grass roots level.

I have been also told of rumors circling around that Najib could be out by next month not by the opposition, but by those in his side. This also underscores that you can't all the time attack the opposition front, like what Utusan and other bigots would do but there is always arguments inside your own camp, except that newspapers are not willing to cover it, lest it invites angry men from Home Ministry to come over and make noises over why was that article written. Therefore, Najib is in a peril of having weak advisers and many yes men around whereas his opponents from the own coalition have smarter ones. It's always the saying of in UMNO there is 3R vs 3M - if you know what I mean.

Anyhow, let's go back to the point to be discussed. Perkasa has simply decided to rush headlong into the fray of saying that they want to do the same thing, but the complete opposite on the same day as in 9 July. Utusan has largely played the part of spreading UMNO's propaganda of asking people not to follow the dirty rally and have also harped of many anti-Islam things in there. 

As far as I recalled and matching back to the first rally, there is no such thing as anti-Islam in that rally. It's largely made up by Zul Noordin, ultimately branded as a hypocrite by several people including Raja Petra. For me, what I understand is that Zul Noordin was caught by the balls by UMNO because of one mistake, one thing, and another being is that being in that protest against Bar Council in December 2007 also attracts displeasure from his previous party PKR, for going against the tenets of the party.

Ibrahim Ali was telling to the press today of being on that rally day he would be there himself. One thing to be cautioned though, since Braheng had a heard surgery months ago, he better not exert himself too much in those things, lest he could be collapsing on the spot and further complications would ensue. Yes, it's understood that they have the right to come as part and parcel of democracy. But is this the only logical thing that ever comes out of the mouth?

I can imagine that other Ind MPs, Zahrain and a few would echo, no more than to say yes, since they are being squeezed left and right by certain quarters.

A shame that UMNO and the NGOs that share the same view as the party have failed to see the bigger picture that their own narrow minded view. Reasons of money loss, people don't want to come and so forth, all are not really big picture views. But by saying no to that rally, it clearly implies that the parties that say no clearly imply to others that the present election system is good enough, but in the process, cheating is "halal" and cheaters to prosper! The Sarawak state elections simply speak of how big the cheating game was on. It clearly implies that these people want to cheat to win - all for the reason of staying in power.

The organizing committee of Bersih never said that they would stop anyone from coming. But as Mat Sabu commented on how the hard-man approach that Perkasa would take, I'd say, that Ibrahim Ali and co lives up to the militant tag that John Malott called him ago, and the reaction to this day is still amusing of him hopping like mad at the US Embassy. Clearly, I can see cheats to prosper in Malaysia really, as long as there are still people who are not really aware of what is happening around, particularly in the rural land.

Bersih is still inviting these parties to come over for roundtable talks on its launch this Sunday and according to Ambiga answering my question on Saturday night, these bunch of people are still invited to come. If they don't come, then it's their fault really. They would blow their chance and it shows how foolish would that be, right?

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Violating The No Net Censor Promise

Flashback:

Less than two months ago the Prime Minister wowed that his govt “would never censor the Internet.”

The govt also has an Internet “Bill of Guarantees” (BoGs) in place that stipulates citizens are granted certain incentives, rights and privileges. Among them is BoG 7 which states that the govt is “To ensure no censorship of the Internet.”

On May 30 2011, The MCMC sent a circular to all ISPs in Malaysia. See the letter below:

As of this time of writing, many people particularly youngsters have expressed outrage at the party causing all of this: the Domestic Consumer Affairs ministry. According to the letter, the request was submitted to the MCMC by the Ministry. True, you can't really blame MCMC in this case. The Facebook page, 1M Malaysians Don't Want SKMM Block File Sharing Website at this time has 5424 likes.

Of all the 10 websites blacklisted, Pirate Bay is the most famous of all. It is also banned in Italy and Indonesia. Hollywood studios called that site the bane of their existence. However, Sweden ISPs refused the government order, Danish ISPs challenged the court order and Dutch ISPs have decided not to follow the request. (see related news here)

However, some of the legit online storing sites were also victims of the block. A statement by the MCMC enforcement division director, Mohd. Roslan Mahayudin, quoting from The Star said:

“Anyone who feels the ban is wrong can write to us and we will look into it.” 

Not only does the action invited anger, some industry analysts say that it is a wrong approach and instead suggested that  co-operating and finding alternative means would be better than a suicidal front approach that will invite backlash. Some notable quotes in regarding to that:



“Forcibly blocking access to the website only lent more credence to online censorship which contradicts the MSC Bill of Guarantees. In fact, it is foolish to think that online censorship works. There are still many other ways for surfers to access the portal.”

Content providers could look into means to “offer more competitive pricings” so as to encourage consumers to not be involved in the piracy of copyright content.

Two years, ago, a Universal music executive has clearly admitted that it is virtually impossible to wipe out piracy, citing that no matter how hard the laws can be on blocking sharing sites, there are still people getting it from alternative means, particularly the resourceful type of users. This problem is caused as the result of uncontrolled capitalism system and the problem of people unable to acquire things due to inaccessibility and financial affordability also contributed to this factor.

In light of the case, many resourceful users have been trying ways to get pass the blockade.

This is no coincidence. There is a sinister agenda behind it. This is likely following the damage on the USA government done by Wikileaks. Interestingly, there was a letter published on Malaysia Today on Friday that has the excerpt below:


The Malaysian government is under the order/direction of the US government. If you've read recently, US government legislated new laws to ban P2P and other file sharing/hosting websites.

This is after the Wikileaks incident.


Connect the dots, and you will see there's a war against humanity going on... 

" legislated new laws to ban P2P" - The main proponents of the bill introduced in the USA is none other than Senators Patrick Leahy and Orin Hatch.

This extract below from Tech Dirt reads:

They do realize, of course, that Hollywood (who is pushing them for this law) was established originally as a "pirate" venture to get away from Thomas Edison and his patents, right? Things change over time. Remember, that YouTube, which is now considered by Hollywood to be mostly "legit," had been derided as a "site dedicated" to "piracy" in the past. It's no surprise that the Justice Department -- with a bunch of former RIAA/MPAA lawyers on staff -- would love to have such powers, but it's difficult to see how such a law would be Constitutional, let alone reasonable. And finally, we must ask, yet again, why the US federal government is getting involved in what is, clearly, a civil business model issue? The Senators quote the already debunked US Chamber of Commerce reports on the "harm" of intellectual property -- which just shows how intellectually dishonest they're being. They're willing to base a censorship law on debunked data.

Oh, and even worse, this proposed law is supposed to cover sites worldwide, not just in the US. For a country that just passed a libel tourism law to protect Americans from foreign judgments, it's a bit ridiculous that we're now trying to reach beyond our borders to shut down sites that may be perfectly legal elsewhere. The way that the law, called the "Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act," would work is that the Justice Department could ask a court to declare a site as a "pirate" site and then get an injunction that would force the domain registrar or registry to no longer resolve that domain name.

For those who do not know about Leahy, he has a brief appearance in The Dark Knight opposite the late Heath Ledger.

They Didn't Use Their Heads and See The Big Picture!

There were 8 reports made to the police in regards to the upcoming BERSIH 2.0 rally on 9 July and leading the party of complaints is UMNO Bukit Bintang and UMNO SHEB department following by Perkasa FT Branch, ABIM Kepong, Jalan TAR Petty Traders Association and GERTAK. I can find that the excuses presented by these parties, particularly from this UMNO man above is very amusing and didn't really make sense. You can use your head and figure it out. All you have to do is to take a weekend walk down to SOGO and picture yourself being on 9 July, walking all the way up past Dayabumi all the way to the National Palace, then go back to the starting point. It's very similar to what happened the last time round on 10 November 2007.

Anyhow, the key focus here is to point some silly mistakes and to show that those who complaint about this doesn't use much of a head and instead these bunch of jokers made a fool of themselves with their bullshit. Let me illustrate some of those:

1.“The police reports are lodged as an early measure to stop the rally as it will affect city dwellers and the business community.

--This is only a one day affair. It's is not like in Tahrir Square, Cairo, where days (I repeat days) of protests really hit businesses. It's just only a few hours. There is a big difference between a few hours, one whole day of 24 hours and many days. The scales vary. So they can't spot the difference. Yikes!

2. “July 9 is a Saturday, a busy day that attracts scores of people to the area; in addition, the night market would be held at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman.”

-- Where got night market on daytime? Your head lar! Night market is night time, by 6 pm. Rally is 2 pm...by the time it's 6 pm, it should be far gone already! See..another no brain point used.

3. “Bersih can raise its concerns in Parliament through its elected representatives,” 

-- Did this guy ever go to forums that involves Election Commission officials and Bersih? Anyone seen him or them before? No? Then they didn't understand. Just go and ask Ambiga or any of the Bersih and people and they gladly will fill in for you. Asking anyone from the party may give you an impartial answer. No harm done asking others, right?


4. “It is their right to gather peacefully but not on the streets.”

-- Here's the question. If your plea for attention is totally ignored at the first time at a controlled place, how do you get the attention of others? Common sense can tell you that the point is right but as the last resort. Since after the first one, the demands have not been met, means the plea for attention has been totally ignored. With no other avenues, no one to get your point, what else can you do but by crude means? If you don't want that then they should have done it earlier and do as what Bersih say. Ambiga have stated that this is always the last resort - and it's true.

5. Bersih 2.0 organisers would be able to control the participants.

-- Too bad these guys didn't see how the PAS Unit Rela was in action that day. They did well. Everyone of them was called in to handle the job, even it was raining heavily on 10 November 2007. There are some of us who have pictures to testify that Bersih 2.0 got these people. Why not this Tengku chap go and ask Mat Sabu? Can he have the balls to ask Abang Mat?

6. “Based on past experience, a lot of things happened. The participants became overly emotional and when police tried to calm them, they claimed police provocation"

-- If my memory serves correctly, it is true that on that day the police started the whole problem. There are many accounts to corroborate. Of course many people perceive that in the case of UMNO people having their own protests, they cry of unfairness and why the police didn't take action against them? The logic is simple. Remember policemen are civil servants and public sector workers. Their monthly source of income is from the government, not private corporations. And the government of the day is ruled by BN. BN is led by UMNO. This is real politics. You just need to do some trace backs to understand. 

7. "Jangan sampai dah rugi RM10 juta baru nak ambil tindakan. Tak ada gunanya lagi"

-- This is another stupid excuse raised out. UMNO never understood and realized Malaysia is losing more money via patronage, cronies, corruption and so forth. Billions, which is a few hundred times more than just the RM10 million to be lost on that one day itself. Pity that they will never wake up and see the big picture. Pity that they never used their heads well. And since they are the government of the day, who is actually really going to sell the country out? PR? Wait..PR is not the government in ruling now....but fingering on the other party but not by yourselves first? But on that day in November 2007, did it happen? PAS said nothing happened. No windows broken, no robbery, no property damage, no money stolen, according to them, so why the excuse?

I always see this thing like they want to play hero (jaguh kampung) and in fact scare the shit out of unaware and uncertain people that participating in this event is an omen that befell or something. But what is portrayed from UMNO reveals that BN is afraid of implementing those changes that BERSIH wants, for if it happens, it is the end of the 37-year-old coalition. This is not an insult, but a reality that few hardcore people have yet to understand and see it properly, not in a distorted picture. For them, to win the election, they need the same state of system to play with.

Many have people have criticized the ruling government as moving one step ahead, two steps backwards. You can call it a flip-flop. But in Russia World War II, that thing is considered as one step backwards (1-2 = -1). And WW2 Russia considers those who walk one step backwards as traitors that they will be shot on sight. This was famously known as Order #227. Were that case to apply here, you can imagine what will happen to those jokers up there. 

The problem is that these people open their mouths without seeing the real undistorted big picture and never bothered to use their heads. Why? Just to be hero? Or are they really afraid that of not facing the people? I though BN takes care of people and problems? And have they understood who's who in the top part of the Bersih 2.0 umbrella? Are those people hooligans and violent people? Have these people who complaint seen that angle? No? Then why whine?

Cool Dude Mat Will Provide More Bite For PAS

I have attended several ceramahs or even go to some big public gatherings like the anti-protest fuel hike in June 2008 or even earlier the Bersih 2007 and if there's a significant person being there, one of them is Mat Sabu. I have seen some videos of him talking as to refresh my mind and he's more straightforward, with some in-cheek jokes inserted into his talks, not so as mega as Anwar.

When Mat Sabu was announced as PAS no 2, it is actually very smart move played by the grassroot members. First, the party needs to reinvent the image of rather being a conservative, Taliban-perceived party as what MCA always whack people about. Secondly, it tends to give the party more bite in its bid to become a party that is able to stand on its own feet, in the goal of emulating the success and capability of DAP, in its performance in the Sarawak state elecetions. Third, the new lineup should be able to make more roads into reaching the appeal of everyone. Finally, there is a realization by members that they need a leader from grassroots who is able to take care of issues that many want attention to.

"This new leadership will put fear in UMNO", as a grassroot member said. As predicted, the moment the non-scholar lineup was announced, Utusan and those from UMNO have been speaking things that say that they are in a panic mode. For instance:

1. "Braheng Ali" calls new PAS leadership as Anwar's voice.

2. Perkasa sec-gen says Mat Sabu' has no academic qualifications

3. DAP and PKR have influenced PAS to change its principles: Mukhriz

4. Utusan blames Anwar, DAP for PAS ulamas electoral defeat

All sorts of predictions in the case of the ulamas losing out in the main lineup have been expected and turns out to be true. We are seeing the coming of the end of patronage in politics

But PAS work has just started. There is of course many things cut out and to be completed like:

1. Some insiders have been mentioning the PAS Youth team as the only sole "scholar faction". How will the new team deal with them?

2. UMNO still keeps propping out the issue of unity government with them. How will the new team will get the entire party to say firmly no to that idea, when there is knowledge of some people and factions in the party interested with that idea, for the sake of prestige and privilege.

3. Transition from Nik Aziz - Credit must also be given to Nik Aziz, for his views on the party and being the main opposition block against the unity government project. Nik Aziz may be "off" anytime, so there is a need to provide a smooth transition and someone who is as capable of him that can be progressive as well. Prior to this, the leadership is still in conservative mode and this didn't give much appeal to people.

I must say that Mat Sabu is an added bonus to leading the opposition, if Anwar and Azmin are considered as not very good or being the weakest link of the coalition, then he can be one asides from Guan Eng and some capable people from the other two parties. I can also point Nizar as another potential person but there is a need for him to concentrate on taking back Perak in the next general elections.

Mat's a cool dude. Not the guy that talks big and quoting many things like Anwar does. You can see it if you can have time with him sitting in a warung if you can. Or if you can't you can just watch some videos on YouTube to judge for yourself. Recent videos in Kerdau can be a starting point.

I would really look forward to see how this cool dude will say and appear in Bersih 2 next month.

Chinese Railways

This 5-minute documentary directed by acclaimed director Zhang Yimou features the bullet train and the 7531 km railway network in China.

Within a short few years, China achievement has reached the massive network.

Malaysia single double track rail project is still half cook for past almost 8 years or more and high cost, many times higher.

If we use "Ketuanan Melayu", we will never match China's progress.

Press Conference by Helen Caldicott, Montreal, March 2011

I recently recalled that anti-Lynas protesters who went to meet the IAEA review panel got bullied and harassed by the by the pro-Lynas supporters and those who support Adnan Yaakob. But what they hardly know of is the chemical and health aspect of having a plant within the vicinity of the residential area. Chernobyl and Fukushima are the clear examples of it. 

There are many elements that can be very harmful, like plutonium, polonium and a few others that will affect everyone in times to come. The fallout of Fukushima has cause radiation effect problems to spread towards North America and upwards. 

So whoever thinks that having Lynas plant for money is good, perhaps you might want to rethink because being with the lobbyists for the sake of political means can be a no brainer, but disastrous in the end.

I happened to stumble upon a video featuring a press conference by Dr. Helen Caldicott in Montreal, March 2011 that talks about Fukushima. Now, some people in Canada are considering leaving their homes for other places because of the fallout..

New T-Shirt Huh?

PAS at Crossroads

It is interesting to watch the PAS's general assembly, due to be held this weekend from tomorrow onwards. This mainly is due to the election, where it bits candidates from both sides. One side is the so called "scholars" side, while the other one, as some called as the Erdogan faction, would be the professionals side. Political contests can be seen as of a fight to see who gets into power. It is also a battle of ideologies, and classes. That's the two classes that will be battling out in the PAS election. PAS is merely a the minority bourgeois of the Malays while the rest of the pie is UMNO's to own.

There have been people inside PAS that have been considering the strong merits of forming a unity partnership with their archrivals. There have been people within that feels that they can get their own big piece of the action by becoming persons like ministers, top-level officials by the unity project of UMNO. These kind of people are not only in just one party but all within the Pakatan coalition. 

The most interesting posts to be watched out in the PAS general assembly is generally those of the vice-president posts and the deputy president posts. Of all, the one to be watched out is the contest between the incumbent deputy president, Nasarudin Isa against Mat Sabu and Tuan Ibrahim Man. The deputy presidency post is very important to watch out because, this will determine the direction of the party it will be heading to. If the party wishes to move one level up and be on the same level of standards like DAP is trying to, they must have a mix blend of leadership with professionals and scholars in it. 

It has been noted that the Hadi-Nasa team has been giving much problems even to the Pakatan coalition mainly because it exposes one of the weaknesses in the coalition. Secondly, it gives a political opportunity for UMNO to push for unity with PAS over the religion factor. This has been repeated many times over and over again, as spoken by several UMNO top men, including Najib, Muhyiddin, Ahmad Maslan. Today's Youth postings have all been filled up by allegedly those under the "unity favor" group. This may not go well for the party and coalition in the upcoming months.

There have been word circling around that the "unity project" is actually going behind the scenes, and to make it happen, they need to have the Hadi-Nasa leadership ahead. Utusan has been actively campaigining for the Hadi-Nasa outcome there. But chances are Nasa could be losing in the race, given that the number of divisions have that nominated Mat Sabu is far more than Nasa. With that possibility, Tuan Ibrahim is considered to be the insurance policy. He only came in last minute, largely due to the persuasion of some of the quarters in PAS, starring at the possible scenario, and to spoil Mat Sabu's chance of winning.

Perhaps this screen garb will make the point. This title is UMNO's agenda of the week. They wished for it to happen. But the only thing that stands in the goal is Nik Aziz and Anwar Ibrahim. Both are very much against that unity idea. Note: see also results on Google ("Anwar pengaruh minda orang PAS")

It is important to understand, even before the contest began, of where both Mat Sabu and Nasaruddin Hassan stands at. For Mat Sabu, he may be a non-scholar but where he stands is where he gains most of the respect. If you have seen him in several marches and protests around KL and other places, that's what he's representing: the common people. Economically speaking, he can represent the lower and middle-class people from farmers, petty traders, retirees and even professionals who have yet to reach to a million ringgit of income. Where does a scholar stand in the political economic scenario? Not much, but merely a brand name to sell a concept. That's all.

I've seen Mat Sabu in several protests on video or on the street and clearly he represents the common people especially those oppressed. During his speech in Subang Jaya recently, he had spoken of how he had helped his comrade Lim Guan Eng in many cases that benefited everyone. He's also one who is against the unity government idea that the faction in PAS is in favor of. He is seen as a big influence in the coalition. Nasarudin is seen by some as didn't have the proper fighting spirit as Mat Sabu demonstrates, but instead has the telltale signs and impression of collaboration with UMNO, although he would clearly deny it upfront. Ibrahim Man, is more or less the "expendable choice", as long as to keep Mat Sabu away from the Number 2 post.

Nasharudin Mat Isa walau pun dalam Parti Pas tetapi memiliki niat dan mimpi untuk menjadi borjuis besar - borjuis nasional. Cita-cita untuk menjadi borjuis nasional ini hanya akan termakbul jika sekiranya Pas dan United Malays National Organisation dapat bersatu dan bekerjasama dalam satu perserikatan yang baru. Penyatuan ini dibawah lambang Perpaduan Melayu. - Hishamuddin Rais

In order for PAS to go one level up and mature further as well as becoming a strong PR component, Mat Sabu should win the Number 2 post. Not only it shuts off the "Malay unity" project off strongly, it also gives a worthy alternative to the qualities of Nik Aziz, in case if anything goes wrong with the Spiritual leader himself, not to mention of his old age. Secondly, it also allows a mixture of better thinking professionals to be involved actively in the leadership and demonstrate via image that the party is not a Taliban-style party. Third, it also gives PAS more bite to go against its archrival UMNO. With Hadi-Nasa, the party has become a bogeyman target used by MCA and UMNO in the past by-elections, particularly in Tenang. 

However, this posting, written just in time prior to the PAS general assembly is to sum one thing: looking into the future and giving more credibility to having a good competition between two coalitions, Mat Sabu should be given the chance to reach the leadership level to help all the three parties together. Where can we find one of a good, prospective opposition leader like Mat Sabu in future, when Anwar cannot lead someday?

Having Mat Sabu as number 2 is a valuable political strategem against UMNO. PAS should also leverage on the EIU analysis that the middle-class Malays hardly support UMNO. Quoting Malaysian Insider:

Its latest country report on Malaysia said that the “decline in support may have intensified” among middle-class Malays due to Internet sites “exposing government corruption and political intrigues of individual members of the ruling administration.”

“Although voters in the rural heartland of Peninsular Malaysia continue to support Umno, there have been suggestions that the party has lost the support of a significant number of educated, liberal middle-class Malays,” the research arm of the London-based Economist weekly said.

But the EIU also warned that “conservative Malays have meanwhile been voicing concerns about the government’s plan to reform policies favouring Bumiputera (ethnic Malays and other indigenous peoples), as they believe that the special rights accorded to them in the constitution may be rescinded.”

Racial and religious tension has escalated of late with right-wing Malays accusing the Chinese community of trying to usurp political power.

PAS is in the crossroads now. It is now up to the grassroot people to vote who should be leading PAS with Hadi. Vote for the wrong person, and see the party failing instead of moving to higher ground and heights. It is wrong as what Professor Aziz Bari said to have an entirely scholar faction to lead the party alone. A grassroot leader should decide on whether to vote for which class of people: the oppressed ones, thus living by the principles of justice and fairness as dictated in Islam and its values or merely supporting the elite cabal and losing the dignity in the long run.

Note: Read also the speech by benefactor Koon Yew Yin. Excerpt:

Let me begin by posing a question. The question that I and many other Malaysians want to ask PAS is, how will PAS help the country and ordinary Malaysians take the right road to a brighter and harmonious future? Which is the road that PAS and its leaders want Malaysians to follow?

Let me tell you which will be the wrong road. The wrong road is one which aims at setting up a religious state. The wrong road is the one which seeks to “Arabise” our country or wants to “out-Islamicise” Umno.

The fact is that we are a multi-religious and multi-racial country with a constitution based on the principle that Malaysia is a secular state and with Article 3 providing for Islam as the religion of the federation. This is a principle that all Malaysians accept and no party should undermine in any way.