Gleefully, I Told You So!

I don't really want to elaborate more on the Teoh Beng Hock RCI case. Now that it is over it is noticed that how and who did it is very similar to the recent Ahmad Sarbiani case. In summary, what is intended to be illustrated is that both victims are unfortunate persons suffered from third-degree interrogations used on witnesses making statements to the case.  

“TBH had to face MACC interrogation heavyweights like Arman the bully [who would manipulate his witness to obtain evidence], Ashraf the abuser [who was Machiavellian in his method to secure evidence] and HH the arrogant leader [who would have no qualms in lying as long as the ends were achieved, regardless of the means employed],” the RCI report had pointed out.

This is what the RCI points out on the three men mainly responsible for Beng Hock's death. Now, approximately a month after Beng Hock's death, in August 2009 a letter containing the MACC letterhead purportedly written by some MACC officers do alleged the same thing above, but it mostly points to Hishamuddin Hashim, then deputy director of MACC Selangor. One testimony mentioned in the letter was in regards to how there were fingerprints of Hishamuddin on Beng Hock's belt and how Hishamuddin likes to intimidate people by holding by belt. This supposedly points to the fact that Beng Hock was threatened and forced to make a confession, fabricate one if there needs to be by threatening to drop him from the window. 

After reading this Malaysia Today's document on events leading to Sarbani's death, part 7, you can see that it is related, though not exactly the same: 

Sheikh Niza brought Ahmad Sarbaini to KUS Mohd Fauzi's office, which was next door to the pantry (remember what happened to Teoh Beng Hock). Here, he was verbally abused. KUS Mohd Fauzi called Ahmad Sarbaini a disgrace to the Royal Malaysian Customs, that he was not fit to wear their uniform. Rather shaken up, Ahmad Sarbaini pleaded for pity and a drink of water.

Shockingly, they brought Ahmad Sarbaini to the pantry. Incredibly, as punishment for attempting to retract his ‘confession’, Mohd Fauzi ordered him to climb out of the window and forced him to stand on the ledge. 

KUS Mohd Fauzi wanted Ahmad Sarbaini to ponder and reflect on his actions while standing on the edge as “orang macam kau ni lebih baik mati dari hidup menyusahkan orang lain”.

Nervously, Ahmad Sarbaini climbed onto the windowsill as ordered by Mohd Fauzi who continued taunting and abusing him with insults. Sheikh Niza merely looked on. In that split second, Ahmad Sarbaini’s belt got stuck on the outer part of the window and he lost his balance and his life.

And, horror of horrors, what happened to Teoh Beng Hock happened to Ahmad Sarbaini when he fell to his death onto the badminton court below.

Now, this scenario together with Beng Hock's infers that these MACC people are forcing witnesses to come out with a statement that can at least prove their innocence, or shall we say "guilty until proven innocent", in this case, they whack you as if you are guilty from the start and along the way there are third-degree interrogations. If they are still unconvinced, they would try to throw you or make you jump off. The players are not the same, but the scenes are almost related and similar to one another.

To illustrate the point - you only need to see one scene from the John Travolta movie, Be Cool where Elliot (Vince Vaughn) was about to be thrown off from the top of a building. That's to get the idea of how Beng Hock or Sarbani would die, but minus the torn out of the belt / pants. And when the interrogation went wrong with the accidental deaths of those two men, there is a mad dash to concort a story that will make people agree with their point

another  suicide theory would be too close to the Teoh Beng Hock ‘suicide’. 

That's another point being underscored here.

The other problem is on the AG chambers end. They can't take or understand between a potential witness that don't even have an idea of what is happening or a witness that knows things but decide not to reveal for many reasons. In this case, when both men do not have much information on whatever being asked, and when reported, the AG chambers would go ballistic and demanded extraction of more info, even to the extreme. This is the theory that many would look at now.

But again, the point is not on theory. It's to say that when the RCI report got released and read through the key statements, I must gleefully say that I told you so. If there leaked letter was included, then we have already hit the jackpot, in addition to the three MACC men being responsible. It also potentially answers what and how Teoh got accidentally plunges to death! If it gets answered earlier, it can prevent the prolonged agony and anxiety seen in the aftermath of TBH.

EO6: Only The Cops To Be Blamed

There are people, average citizens out there very angry that the police still have refused to let close-relatives and lawyers to see the detained six of the PSM people in the Bukit Aman holding up center. Despite repeated assurances from the IGP that all six are handled well, people refused to be convinced. It's just the revelation that Saraswathy got forced into lie-detection tests and forced signed confession that got people so edged up. And one week ago, public anger simmered when the prosecution from the AG chambers came to the court and told the judge that they had not prepared anything and asking her for two more weeks.

I had the feeling that it's merely a delay tactic in order to get a detention paper of 2 years that will send the six to the Simpang Renggam detention facility there. The EO as what the BAR council people and human rights activists would say is the inverse of the ISA. If the ISA is top to bottom, then EO is vice-versa. There were close to 500 reports against the cops themselves over alleged mistreatment, refusal to allow visits and accusing the six for crimes with no evidence. I guess in Malaysia it's the other way round of being guilty until proven innocent.

We just need to go back to 25 June 2011 when they were detained. The main cop who said of such alleged crime was the Penang state deputy chief Abdul Rahim Jaafar. The question would be on how reliable the intelligence of the PSM people carrying material relating to communism? Was the entire thing fabricated just to fulfill the KPI quota of crime solving? This is one of the baffling things that I have came across whenever I witnessed people doing vigils. Since the early of the month they have been asking repeatedly to let them be charged in court, instead of putting in solitary confinement for 30 days. 

Instead, what really happens is actions of certain cops who pissed off a lot of people indirectly by pushing them off for disperse and Special Branch people who, to some see them as nuisance, busy bodies who are supposed to go for more serious crimes than snooping at people. Lawyers representing them have already have substantial amount of information to say that things that are related to crimes are non-existent. It can be associated as either the police were misinformed, got faulty intelligence from certain parties or in the worse case fabricated.

The criticism I reserved for cops is simply the lack of capability to distinct clearly between socialism and communism. It's also similar to the problem where we can't differentiate between Zionism and Jews. Another thing is simply that the cops on the beat that I've seen barely have the smarts to differentiate and recognize a citizen and a hooligan. It's simply taking orders top to bottom and disobeying one, even if he/she has the moral intelligence to assess the scenario is tantamount to insubordination and risk going cold storage.

I suppose that the refusal of the IPCMC recommendations plays a part of it. And the key person who refuses to take is Musa Hassan of course. Obviously there are several reasons to it but the caveat of not accepting that is plainly the good and brilliant officers go cold storage, no control and finesse over people control, and the continous third-degree interrogation that is happening still now. And look what happened - people dead in jail cells, cases of forced confessions, innocents get whacked for nothing by bad apples, you name it. But that will be for another time.

Back to the EO6 - there's another 2 days left before the decision comes of whether to let the six out or another 30 day to 2 year detention. There's no evidence to prove their crimes and backing the EO charges. Section 122 charge was dropped at the start, then the six rearrested under orders from Bukit Aman. It's a typical lose-lose situation. If Hishamuddin signs the extension, more public anger at cops. Even if they let them go, KPI score for them gets dropped and the one who makes the decision faces scoldings from the top brass.

So if we are to revisit the beginning, it's the cops to be blamed. For what they have received turns out nothing. And Dr Kumar gave them the ultimatum: charge us or he goes hungry strike. And of course the ball is in their court. They made a wrong move at the start that got into the mess. There was a saying that doing right but risking anger from a government who do not like things going against their way somewhat outweighs losing the gomen thumbs up but gaining people confidence. And it can be started by how they handle non-violent crowd gatherings.

The Bourdon Spillover

When French lawyer William Bourdon was deported back to Paris, Hishamuddin Hussein claimed to say that Monsieur Bourdon had violated his visa which happened during his talk in Penang, the first leg of the Suaram fund-raising dinner. However, Hishamuddin actually lied on visa because by the Schengen visa Rules, an European citizen from one of the 25 European countries under the Schengen area is allowed to enter select countries with no visa required if period of visit is less than 90 days in the six month period.

This is part of Regulation 539/2001. According to the image above, Malaysia is designated under regulation above that allows visa-free to Schengen areas and vice-versa. (tagged as green in color). From what is learned that Bourdon's permit was cancelled under Section 9(a) of the Immigration Act, it seems that the scope of what an immigration director can do can be "limitless" because it can be cancelled without a reason.

But in any case, it's clear that Hisham lied and it reveals of the fear that of more damage if Bourdon is left to his own devices reveal a lot of things as what was documented in the Penang leg of the dinner. And of course, as what some said, it already spells out the cards that have laid out on the table unknowingly to the public, cryptically but it points to his cousin Najib. And that is his blunder in the part.

What does that simply mean?

When Bourdon speaks of the present events, including the revealing of the investigation papers to the public in September, the shit has hit the fan and whatever Najib's involvement, despite repeated denials have been proven true. It's clear that the man has been lying to save his asses not only from the public but the 3M faction within his own party.

And it clearly has hinted one thing: Najib is likely the third man in the photo of Razak Baginda and Altantuya. 

This is in addition to the French fact-finding that the deputy Defence minister at that time lied on who actually paid Perimekar the 114 billion Euros.

The least thing to buy more time would be two things: deport Bourdon (after receiving intel from Special Branch over the Penang chapter dinner) and of course the European visits to Rome and Vatican. That is obviously to get clemency before he risks getting subpoenaed.

Zahid's another of Najib's butter boys has quickly jumped the gun and wildly accused DAP and Suaram making use of him. However, one quote from Zahid caught the interest:

"Ask him to ask himself whether he got the right to defend the case here. If he would like to defend his case, do it in France, not here"

Indirectly, this also hints of cover attempt, in the way of how Zahid would respond and indirectly a blunder. It also contradicts the description of Bourdon who doesn't let any party manipulate and a famous human rights lawyer. The French court could possibly also penalize him for obstructing Bourdon's work here, if the French administration thinks that their work is impeded by Najib and co.

All in all, those three men have blundered themselves and Altantuya's ghost will always hang around.

Your Typical EO6 Vigil

Usually, the EO6 vigil is usually held at the main gate towards the police headquarters at Bukit Aman, but for today the cops have been shouting that the vigil is a "threat to national security", a reason that doesn't sound sensible considering people carry no weapons that can harm others. And while on the way back I overheard a cop yelling a "racist manner" remark which says of bringing pillows to sleep on the streets like beggar. 

Anyhow, today is an unusual one and there are close to 100 people doing today's hourly vigil.

Two notable people there were SUARAM's Dr Kua and Tony Pua of course. 

The usual thing is the shouting chorus of Hidup Rakyat, Mansuh E.O and etc.. following by stories and then announcements, all with candles lit up. From 8 to 9 that is. Well, in summary it's because that the six are detained without trial nor proper charge that those people out there were put in this kind of situation. So whose fault is it really? Cops acting on faulty intel? 

Today's one is not at the usual gate but at Jalan Tanglin / Parlimen

It's Annie a.k.a Auntie Bersih there with a "Hidup Rakyat" shout.

And there's Tony Pua

Taking Anwar Out Doesn't Mean We're Out of The Woods Yet

"Many believe Anwar is innocent of the allegations of sodomy and the porn tape and what have you. If that is what we believe then let it be. Let’s not bother with an inquiry or investigation or whatever because the chances would be the findings or verdict will not be what we want."

-- NHB: Najib Has A Point

One thing has caught my attention is of the excerpt mentioned above by Pete, and there is a battle of getting support to say either Anwar Ibrahim is the man in the Datuk T's sex video or otherwise. Last few months over in Twitter, one of my friends and a KITA high-ranking man was consistently and keep insisting that the man in the video is Anwar. There also have been rants of Anwar Ibrahim making secret trips to Thailand back and fro to do this kind of sexual intercourse, which Eskay was talking all about. Some BN MPs do share that kind of view but they don't say it very often.  And of course pro-UMNO bloggers have been talking the same thing over and over again, that is until the newer incidents occurred like Bersih or the MACC case thing. On the opposite end, the PR people insisted that Anwar didn't do it and they have been saying that the stomach of the performer in the video doesn't match Anwar or the nose doesn't match it and so forth.

Of course it is understood that the goal of the slug fest (PR whacks BN and vice-versa) is to get the support of 40 percent of the fence sitters to say that either Anwar Ibrahim didn't do it or he did it. That is, getting support of approximately 7 million remaining Malaysians to the either side of the battlefield.

Those kind of talk from my friend at times can get me feeling a little uncomfortable while it also got me looking into a bigger picture than being so obsessive on the subject called Anwar Ibrahim. At the very beginning, I have been insisting that I am no fan of him. The problem right now is that United Malays National Organisation's obsession is very dead set of taking Anwar out simply because he is a big threat to the party's and BN's hegemony for survival. As long he's running around and not in prison, it's a big headache for the party. Either jail time for Sodomy II or the full public awareness that he's the actor in the video would be the solution to that.

I was certainly sure that the obsession of taking Anwar Ibrahim out by BN does not mean that Malaysia will be out of the mire of problems that is presently at hand. There are bigger problems in hand and Anwar can be considered as the first or second chunk of the iceberg that could cause a shipwreck. The story of PIGS  is one case that horrifies us except for those simpletons in rural areas who have no clue of economics or whatsoever. When Ireland went into default, the government was ultimately kicked out by people in a no-confidence vote for it is the leaders themselves that got them into the country's financial mess that they had to agree to IMF's conditions of the bailout. This too is similar to Indonesia when it went default, Suharto got kicked out. 

But what about Malaysia? In 2009, Najib did a McCain thing by saying "our economic fundamentals are strong..". However, the numbers published on official papers may not seem to match the actual debts that the country is facing. And given of the current predicament that UMNO was willing to play dirty to maintain their political power (as according to the latest Malaysia related Wikileaks cable) it seems that economy factor is being second to none in order of priority. 

Here this of course involves whacking Pakatan Rakyat to kingdom come - ensure total obliteration. From here, we can see a IRA-style mentality that over present government is facing, even noticed in the Bersih 2.0 period. For instance if there is something that hits them in reputation, the government can at times go ballistic (you can notice of statements by leaders) because they see those things as capitulating to the enemy -even losing a battle, which is part of a war.

And should the worst things happen even if they manage to take Anwar Ibrahim out, and the government of the day still remains BN, then well, suffice to say that they are likely to get whacked kingdom come by an angry mob of people bigger than Bersih. If Malaysia defaults, well, FUCK is one famous four-letter word, the new four-letter word would be UMNO. And in this case, the statement and claim of "demonstrations are not our culture" would been proven wrong and we're still stuck in the thick forest even after taking the actor out of submission.

This piece is not intended to glorify AI but to look one level up than playing school boys level of game. Even if PR wins the general election, there's still a pre-condition of whoever can command the confidence of majority of the 222 MPs becomes the PM thing to be fulfilled prior to forming a new Cabinet. Of course in this case, MPs in both fronts have the right to have someone else as PM rather than AI. Some would say I whack PR but the people in constituents can actually go up to their elected MP and tell them that "I can accept others but AI as PM".

Pete's right in one point to say that don't bother of the investigation or something because the results may not be what is intended. If I expect a yes and I get a no, of course I would be upset. It's because you have a expectation in hand that you hope the answer matches the predicament. Maybe it's what I felt way back during school time. That's why when people ask me about what's the outcome on the sex video, I refuse to give any answer because I am sure that the answer may not be as what I want. I in fact added that I refused to comment anything until I see a proper answer.

FLOM's Diamonds

One of the songs played at the fund-raising dinner I attended a few hours ago is this song, an allegory to FLOM (Fat Lady of Malaysia's) RM 24 million diamond ring, and this 007 theme song is also a dig at Bik Mama!

A kind of relief postings.

Najib's Series of Blunders Lately

Along the way during his European trip, it has been shown that Najib has made several series of public relation blunders that it can be implied and inferred that not even APCO can help to fix the self-inflicted blunders incurred.

Previously, a few other blogs and posts have pointed out that the main media adviser for the PM's office is none other than TV3 CEO Ahmad Farid Ridzuan. Some have been murmuring that there's been some inconsistent and flip-flop signals coming from Najib mainly no thanks to the strategy of smearing Bersih and villifying it.

Two of the famous blunders highlighted include the famous stadium flip-flop that one day Najib said, that they are prepared meet Bersih to allow the use of Stadium Merdeka as part of the agreement reached by Bersih and the Agong. Then after that, Najib famously said: "I didn't say that I'll meet Bersih". 

This is the TV3 audio excerpt that mentioned of Najib preparing to meet. Notice the part: "Kita bersedia untuk berjumpa dengan pihak berkenaan" (We're prepared to meet with the relevant party so that the assembly can be held at the stadium"...")

While those responsible would look into the requirements to be fulfilled before such events are held, Najib said permission would only be given to organisations that are registered.

And since Bersih has never been registered, it is an illegal organisation, he added.

That is the excerpt of what he said on 6 July (3 days before the rally). This suggests that since Bersih was declared illegal by his cousin, it means don't layan, don't give permit to stadium.

That's the first blunder. With permit to use stadium instead of streets refused, it means, refusing to take the King's intervention and word. And as the result, many people have told the world of the real thing contrary to what state media reported which is bias and heavy towards pro-government side. 

The second blunder was noticed during his interview with CNN in London: (FMT's transcript interview_)

Defterios: We have seen a bursting movement in Malaysia this last week, and some 20,000 protesters under the umbrella of electoral reforms. But what is really behind this? This is a generational gap? I mean, why such a high level of protest?

Najib: Well, John, it is basically politics. Because there is democracy in Malaysia. And we are committed towards electoral reform. And it will come up to see that we are all for fair and clean elections. And as you know, the last general election, you know, the ruling party lost five states. And we were deprived of two-thirds majority.

Defterios: So five of 13 states overall.

Najib: Five of 13 states and not a fair, clean election. We wouldn’t have lost five states. But we are committed to making better.

Defterios: Some would say you had (made) 1,600 arrests of some 20,000 protesters. Are you satisfied with the security response to that particular round of protests, yourself?

Najib: It was quite mild, you know, because although they were taken in, they were released after eight hours and they were treated very well. There was no undue use of force. And, you know, the demonstrators were dispersed using minimum force.

There are some phrases above that I've put it in italics. Other statements and witness testimony seem to be contradicting to what he said above. Unfortunately Najib's statement is built on the assumption that people outside will think that what comes from the leaders is true. However, there are other ways to gauge the accuracy of information, thanks to the use of social media. So for those tech-savvy and smart people can judge whether the man is lying or not.

The third blunder is involving the Christian issue. Statements from Najib when meeting with Pope Benedict contradicted when Najib makes statement upon returning from Malaysia. In Rome Najib said of: 

“He made an exception to meet with me. I met with Pope Benedict because I wanted to show that we are an inclusive government"

and

Meanwhile, the prime minister also said that adherents of any religion in the country should accord respect to other religions before they could expect to be respected in turn.

He said the government could engage with those who loved peace and respected the Islamic leadership.

“We accept them. We can engage with them. We can have dialogue with them because we want to uphold peace in this world,” he added.

This is what Najib said on returning back to KL:

“We wish to tell our friends, the Malaysian Christians . . . if they respect us, we will also respect them."

This of course refers to the Insider report Respect Islam First And We Will Respect You. The statement seems to contradict what is mentioned during the Rome trip. Of course, this implies a slap on the Pope. Once ties with Vatican have been formed, the will be a need to set up an embassy / consulate in KL and failure to allow one in favour of shouts by fanaticism over Christian taking over country defeats the purpose. Many saw through this whole thing and refuse to buy Najib's statement to to the Pope.

Another of the prominent blunder is of course happens after Najib touches down in KL. Instead of saying something of equivalence to "Hello", he instead keeps whistling the tune of "Bersih still out to topple government", although the event was over on 9 July itself. Whoever advised him on this thing maybe still have the sick mind of hate thy opposition thing. But the answer is not it seems for there are factions inside UMNO are out for his blood and there are making him paying for the blunders committed. 

Final Update on BUM 2011 Seats

This is a quick and final update in regards to BUM 2011:

There are tentatively approximately another 26 seats left.

The deadline is by noon tomorrow. There's still time to leave a seat or two.

Please see my previous posting.

But It's Still A Lie, Right?

Several paragraphs of "Taken The Cleaners" by The Economist have been "black marked" by the Home Ministry in their allegations that those things mentioned are false. As the saying goes, he holds then pen commands the statement. The bigger the lie, the more it turns to truth as what Goebbels once said before.

The several lines black marked were:

1. "and one man died of a heart attack" (para 1)

Corroborated: According to the press conference just outside Bukit Aman last Saturday, Maj. Kasim Ahmad, the dead man's brother acknowledged that the man had a case of heart problems. Yes, heart problem contributed to the man's death in addition to an autopsy report that say of cracked ribs that the police did not revealed.

2. "The march itself was then banned, although the authorities offered Bersih a stadium to meet in—and then withdrew the offer." (end of para 2)

Corroborated: The day after Ambiga met the Agong at the palace, Najib went on press to say that they are prepared to offer a stadium for Bersih to hold the rally. However, the next day, Najib backtracked saying that he didn't say such thing. This was recorded by several people and posted on Youtube.

3. The heavy-handed police tactics have provoked a lot of anger; the government has conceded an official investigation into claims of police brutality. In one instance (caught on film), police seemed to fire tear gas and water cannon into a hospital where protesters were sheltering from a baton charge. (para 4).

Corroborated: Today, Ismail Omar has promised on transparent investigation into police brutality. Likewise, Amar Singh said: "We’re looking at the execution of duty, how we did our work. Whether it was done properly, whether everything was within the ambit of law and whether there was abuse." This clearly implies of the statement above.

Summary: So why does the KDN want to black marked that? The third point has already been acknowledged by the police. But such things imply that they want to lie to the people or in translation "menipu rakyat." Remember that in KDN, one of the main persons who decide on whether a book is banned or not in addition to Hishamuddin is this woman (see my previous posting on the Bible prior to Sarawak state elections)

In the second  point above, there has been a revealing info on one of the media advisers for Najib: TV3 CEO.

Then again, what they lie about claiming it didn't happen is still a lie right, with a lot of witness testimony?

Updates and Chance to Participate BUM 2011

This is in a follow up to our posting of BUM 2011 (see previous posting here).

We've still yet to have and see the number of young people to come and participate in this event.

Just a few updates:

1. We've now extended our invitation to all youngsters and youths to participate in this event. To give them a space of participation, we are now giving space of up to 40 people to participate. This will be a first come first serve basis.

2. The special offer of RM 10 (including luncheon) stands for those interested to participate this event.

3. To allow more time for young people to join in, the closing date has been extended to this Thursday noon (21 July).


4, Food is halal as we've catered for Malay speakers who are participating in this event.

Don't wait! Take part and experience the event that will focus and discuss on the theme of nation building across the political divide.

Here's how to participate:

1. Write an e-mail to us at this link here. Include your name, age and the subject "BUM 2011 Special Offer". The title is to help us to identify participants and to avoid mail being tagged as spam by the e-mail service.


2. Wait for an e-mail from us on Thursday night of 21 July as we will advise you on how to make your payment for your reservation.

Now That Bersih Is Over, What's Next To Do?

I have been listening to many people talking about things post 9 July with many sharing their stories and experiences about the event, many groused at the mishandling and brutality of the police doing their duty in their day and of course the government's constant state of denial of the mistreatment of detainees and contradicting claims to witness testimony over the raid at hospital or BERSIH was given the opportunity but not squandered it, and many things to say.

Of course, I understand that as part of keeping the spirit of the fateful day, there will be those flash campaigns like wearing yellow, meeting up for impromptu chat and meals and of course candlelight vigils for the 6 PSM party members who are still being held in the EO ordinance. From what I understand, the vigils will be on until the hearing of the habeas corpus on 22 July (next Thursday).

To this day, the state of denial strategy is still being played by the government in order to satisfy the curiosity of the simple-minded people, particularly those in the rural area. Manufacturing consent is still the key in getting those kind of people in supporting the present government in spite of clear cut evidence of mismanagement and constant backstabbing over one another.

Yes, I do agree that flash campaigns, talk over meals and vigils do play a part in keeping things going on. However I opined that this is more or less a short-term work. But where is the long-term goal to keep this on? There's one thing to know is that from what I listened during a forum with Bersih and the EC in Petaling Jaya earlier of the year, reforms in the present system will be very hard, under the present laws, because most proposals will be in the mercy of the cabinet who decides whether it's a yes or no.

Chances are no likely because surely a level playing field would be disastrous for Barisan Nasional to maintain their win by dirt way. As many of us agreed that if on a level playing field in 2008, Barisan Nasional would become the opposition coalition instead of the ruling coalition. Many, particularly those die-hards would definitely scream this as a loss of political power of the Malays, blah..blah.blah and all sorts of excuses to say that only BN can run Malaysia.

That's the present situation right now. 

I've seen many people on tweets, Facebook and on the street, particularly the young ones ranting about Bersih, ranting about the need to revamp the elections, fraud corrupt practices by politicians and so forth. Ranting alone will not take you far enough. What's really next to do, on the long-term go is to turn the rants of a people into the vote into the ballot box. That is one sheet of paper, place an X on the party you want to select and just put it into the box. It's just a plain 10-15 minute job that is done once every 5 years. 

Sure, many have read and heard that if there are another 400 000 votes in 2008, there would be more PR MPs than the existing numbers they have. I suppose that I do not need to repeat the same points mentioned by other people as well.

Under the present game rules, there is no automatic voter registration, so people may not realize that when you hit 21 years old, you can already have the right to cast a vote into the ballot box. So recently, there have been numerous voter registration exercises to get more people to become voters. Actually, waiting for roadshows like this is WRONG. You do not wait. What you have to do is that the moment you hit 21 or you realize you didn't vote at all, go and barge into a post office or best of the state EC office and tell a personnel there that you want to register. Ask them when can you be under the electoral poll.

You don't know where the state EC office is, please use Google and do some searching. That's what modern information technology is all about. It's also about using your own brain to think and not do anything. I tweeted earlier of the day in response to someone that when I reached 21, I went straight to the state EC office to register and 1 month later, my name is in the electoral roll. Signing at roadshows will take longer, if you understand what I believe.

The present rules can be unfair to some quarters but with the numbers it is possible to overcome the disadvantages in the game. Sometimes one vote can determine the outcome of a contest. For example in Pengkalan, Perak, the margin of win was only merely 18 people.

That's the first long-term thing. It's your ethic and behavior that dictates what has to be done in the case above. The other one, the second long-term thing is to make your folks and friends realize their mistakes. They may not understand the implications but the effect is on their children, grandchildren and so forth...in issues like inflation, can't buy houses, brain drain, etc.. Sometimes a nudge or an insult to those who won't believe it is necessary to get them to realize their mistakes of making the wrong decision. Maybe it's their fear of repercussions that influence their thinking but in the end, it's all bullshit.

That's the second long-term goal, if real reforms to the election system is to be implemented. 

Anecdotes and Annotations of Bersih 2.0 Rally

Author's note: This is the final part of the companion piece of the Bersih rally coverage. Consists of the transcript of the live coverage recorded on 9 July, following by a pics gallery (rest on Facebook album). It is advisable to refer to the transcript and coverage before reading on.

Because this posting will eat a lot of space if most pics are included, I will put in comments based on pics number. Key for looking pic numbers is from (left to right, top to bottom, 4 in a row).

1 - 5: Hopping off from Bandaraya LRT station. I overheard the police telling the LRT personnel there to shut down the place no later then 12 noon. Direct entrance to Sogo was blocked off, so the security guard said to use the side entrance at the basement. I saw some people around the main street of Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. From those pics I took, it was I was sitting while at the same time I was turning on the Cover It Live feature, which many of the audience have tuned into it. Most cops do not have numbers and names on uniforms simply I have the suspicion of people remembering the names. But the squad that was at Sogo was from the Sentul branch, judging from the FRU shields seen in #5 and #8.

6. The cops where doing a short marching drill up to the street and coming back down. 

8. Sitting in front of the Sogo main entrance.

10. At Masjid India. At least there are a few stalls up, and at least there is some fire sale that can be made from there.

13. At the end of Merdeka square, it's definitely sealed off, but obviously no one is going there, so technically it's an empty field there.

11-12 - It's a ghost town along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman

15 - MPSJ councillor Michael Tamil and Masjid India Bumi Traders Association Chairman Muhd, Hafifuddin - who was wildly stating of "wanting to know the extend of losses happened on that day".

16 - 23: It's around noon time and scores of people were arrested in Masjid Jamek area. While being here, I was told that scores of people arrested in Brickfields and in Sogo area. Hundreds in Brickfields while people got beaten in batons and rotans, as I was informed.

18 - Masjid Jamek LRT just closed its doors. 

24 - 33: FRU trucks on the ready from Merdeka Square junction / Tun Perak. They got word of the convergence at Kota Raya later on. 

34. Squad of cops at the junction

40: Lawyers monitoring the proceedings. They took note when Mahfuz Omar and Salahuddin Ayub was arrested.

41. Truck is on standby -ready to move at Hatta Ramli's group later on. 

44 - 47: Shouts of "Takbir" and "Allah" were heard that loud and every reporter / photographer would rush to there in front of Standard Chartered Bank. Hatta Ramli was giving a few words to the crowd surrounding there. I am told that Chegubard was there, but could not see whether in the crowd or not.

49 - 57: The cops and FRU squad are ready to come after Hatta's group in case they decide to go down into Jalan Melaka, but it didn't happen, they bypassed the road and the crowd later showed up in front of Maybank HQ.

58: Jalan Tun H.S Lee is pretty quite quiet at that time.

59 - 70: The crowd at Maybank HQ swelling. At the same time, Chegubard and Hatta was giving a few more words on a loud bullhorn. Suhakam and Lawyers were seen in the scene as well.

71 - 72: Crowd from Petaling Street and Tan Cheng Lock converging together. 

80 - 88: Crowd with DAP leading coming from Jalan Bukit Bintang converging to Jalan Pudu heading towards Maybank HQ. The numbers swelled a lot, forming an estimate of 32000 by the time all are in (see pics 89-93).

94: Tear gas fired with water cannons first time. They are from the truck convoy first spotted at the start of Jalan Tun Perak. There were warnings given by the FRU squad commander.At this point of time between 1.30 to 3.00 pm, I was unable to do live coverage as the phone signal strength at Maybank HQ was weak.

95 - 99: The crowd would move back and forth just to make sure that the FRUs are not firing more tear gas and water cannons. After a pause, they would move to Jalan Pudu, intending to reach the Merdeka Stadium. 

100 - 101: MP Ipoh Barat M. Kulasegaran

102 - 107: Moving along Jalan Pudu towards Times Square. 105: Shamsul Iskandar PKR Youth chief drinking a dunk load of water.

108: It's raining and when I was sheltering at Tung Shin - it's quite heavy.

110: DAP's Ngeh Koo Ham and Fong Kui Lun

111 - 116: Walking along Jalan Pudu

118: The other end of Jalan Pudu was blocked by FRUs preventing anyone from reaching Times Square. This is just after the other end of Tung Shin Hospital

119: Sheltering in the parking lot due to heavy rain, not because of cops coming in from left and right.

121: Standing at the hospital main entrance. After this was taken, two canisters of tear gas were fired in the surrounding area of the hospital. Many bear witness to that moment, so that would be no lying from other officials.

124: With the rain reduced to drizzle, I decided to move out and fortunately two Al-Jazeera reporters where walking right at the entrance, so I managed to blend in with them. Fortunate though. The two guys are seen in # 126. I must say that this part is my close call section. I couldn't find a power outlet to recharge my iPhone as I am also doing live coverage. Fortunately to find one and recharged it to half-strength full.

127 - 135: FRU squads are closing in on the hospital area.

136: Ngeh and Sivarasa were trying to negotiate with the police to let the rest move out. But there was no dea in the end. Ngeh and Sivarasa taken to the police station. #137, partially hidden is Sungai Petani's Johari Abdul, whom I bumped into him in KFC after that. #138, Sivakumar from Perak

139: Water cannon is being fired again.

144 - 150: Pics of those FRUs who those arrested in front of the hospital.

151 - 152: A squad of cops charged into the hospital and simply arrest those who have yet to leave the hospital. 

159 - 162: More footage of those arrested after the raid.

163 - 164: At 4 p.m, the event was called to a close as indicated by the organizers. A Samad Said that they were unable to hand over the details of the memo to the Agong as the police blocked them 200 yards

165 - 169: 4.45 pm - press conference by some of the Bersih sterling committee members at Midah Hotel.

BUM Cordially Invites Youngsters This 24 July

Calling all youngsters / youths who are actively blogging and passionate with our national social-political issues out there!

If you fall in those two things above,  and have not heard about BUM (Bloggers Universe Malaysia), you are cordially invited to the event and luncheon on 24 July in Kuala Lumpur.

Please visit this link for the complete details and agenda of the event.

As part of our initiative to reaching out and have more active participation from youths and youngsters alike, there will be a never-before-seen offer for those interested to come but have not heard of it before. 

This offer is this: Instead of RM 50 to participate, the participation will now cost only RM 10 per person only!

However, there are limited spaces available, only 30 spaces left and the closing date to reserve is on 19 July (next Tuesday). Reminder: you must be under the above criteria above (in italics)

If you want to participate, drop us an e-mail with your name at either this e-mail address or this e-mail address with the subject BUM 2011 Special Offer

Very Important: Please watch this space we will be advising on how to make the payment soon.

Time to Wake Up!

Lily Allen - Fuck You

The lyrics have bear resonance to the present corrupt politicians in Malaysia, some who are racist and wannabes in nature.

Bersih 2.0 Rally Pics

As I have promised at the start of the live coverage in the previous post, I will providing high-resolution pics that I have captured throughout the event, in places that I have covered. If the locations are not included in the areas of coverage, you can look at other picture galleries (Note: Malaysia Today has some other locations).

I must admit that two worst events occurred yesterday was how the cops beat protesters with a rotan until one got KOed at Puduraya. The second one was firing tear gas cannisters at the Tung Shin hospital, and cops violating private premises by going in and arresting those who can't come out. 

I overheard a cop telling a Malay detainee: "Kau orang Melayu kah? Orang Melayu bukan macam begini." which gives me a picture that the cop got brainwashed with BTN shit, and the holier than thou picture. 

As the saying goes, a pic tells a thousand words, so I am pretty exhausted now that it's time for me to hit the sack now. Thanks for those helping to comment on the coverage as well the well wishes. If I am to comment on key pics, I would go back and comment it later.

Note: One of the hot spots was Tung Shin hospital and Kota Raya, which I covered as well. 

More pics can be viewed here.

Bersih 2.0 Live Coverage

This coverage will go live from 11 a.m onwards as I will be attempting to cover events on my track throughout the city tomorrow. Do watch this space as part of getting live coverage of the event apart from other sources as well.

For Facebook, Wordpress, MySpace and Edublog, the link is here.

RSS Feed here.

Update 9.06 a.m: This will be my last update before leaving: If you have any information that is found in an area that is not covered in please also add in your comments as well if possible. I am pleased to inform that MT is also promoting this link as part of doing live coverage in KL.

Update 10 July 9.35 a.m: Companion pics can be viewed at this next posting.

Bersih Says Govt. Cannot Stop Us = Do Not Fuck Us

KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 — Bersih has insisted that the government has no right to stop its rally at Stadium Merdeka tomorrow despite last-minute attempts to secure the venue coming to nought.

The electoral reforms movement also called for Malaysians to show their patriotism and stand up against what it called the lack of principle shown by the Najib administration.

“No government agency has any right whatsoever to prevent Malaysians from exercising their freedom of movement and access to our capital city.

“Malaysians have now seen the degree of paranoia and lack of principled leadership that seems to have gripped the government. It is imperative that patriotic Malaysians rise now and take this stand together to save Malaysia from slipping further into this insane darkness,” it said.

*****

This clearly reminded me of Fight Club where the our favourite man warned the Police Chief not to screw with the people. I guess there is some resonance there of Bersih telling government and police not to fuck with them because both of them have blown their chances off with their paranoia and dementia rather than giving them the permit as to solve the problem.

People are very angry of too many roadblocks and police coming around for nothing. Early in the afternoon, one colleague of mine was stopped by the FRU squad even he doesn't have anything related to Bersih. I had to intervene and told the police that I am his boss before they could let him. 

I wonder if the cop in the picture could have been our Deputy IGP or someone equivalent to it, that deserves to be sacked. 

The Magic Flute And Its Relevance

This year marks the 220th year since The Magic Flute, Mozart's final opera first premièred in Vienna. In fact, this was the money-making opera for Mozart since he's beset by financial difficulties, owing many people money. I actually planned to write this to commemorate it on its premier date, 30 September, but the recent situation involving how the government reacts to the planned Bersih rally, which I admit that they have gone bonkers and delusional coupled with throwing bewildering accusations at Bersih, including arresting many people in accusation of supporting it somewhat makes it fun to put some relevance to Mozart's masterpiece. 

By November 1792, the opera has been conducted 100 times, but sadly Mozart died before that time, in December 1791.

The opera was largely influenced by Enlightenment philosophy and it is an allegory to absolute enlightened absolutism. The narrative progression goes from chaos through religious superstition to rationalistic enlightenment  by trial and error culminating in the creation of a kingdom of heaven. 

What is interesting is that the key characters in the opera represent the many facets of society. The characters are simplified as follows:

The Queen of the Night - a representation of obscurantism , in other words, the practice of deliberately preventing the facts or the full details of some matter from becoming known. This is ironically what is happening right now, where people are denied the knowledge of what they want to know. Instead, they were threatened with a charge of the Official Secrets Act if information is to be revealed. And this is why many people to this day has either no clue or they acted foolishly without the proper and sufficient knowledge. The aristocracy's obscurantism of the social problem's is the main factor the start of the French Revolution.

The three ladies of the Queen - Represents the agents that will carry out her order. The mainstream media has been ordered to do a smear campaign of Bersih. The main goal is simple: manufacturing consent, to create a consent among the simpleton minded (those like Papageno) that Bersih is a no good thing, without presenting the reasons why Bersih would do such thing. They would also twist to include statements from leaders who are opposed to the idea of clean elections.

Ironically, like Tamino, the trials that are facing the people is how to march and protest in peace without having the consistent troublemaking from the police. It's a pity that many policemen were programmed to do as ordered, without using their common sense and even if the orders are in conflict with morality grounds.

Sarastro - a representation of the enlightened sovereign who rules according to principles based on reason, wisdom, and nature. The complete anti-thesis of the Queen of the Night. He reveals that she attempts to bewilder people with superstition and groundless fears. The first model that serves the influence of the character was Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II - an ultimately flawed figure despite his attempt on using the principles above.

Pamina - daughter of the Queen of the Night, representing people. Sarastro refused to let her return to her mother because she was not properly guided. As what Mozart and Schikander put in - the people must be guided proper, even if there are mistakes apart.

Tamino - the main protagonist - representing the trials that mankind must go through. At the start of the second act, Sarastro declared that Pamina must be guided by man, Tamino represents the trials that Pamina will faced or in other way round, the people.

Papageno - Tamino's companion, Papageno represents the foolish and the error of the people. These people are mainly simpletons, those who do not really bother about enlightenment and wisdom but just food, drink and companionship. In Act II Scene 5, the priests scolded Papageno because he will never know the enlightened bliss of the gods, but instead Papageno said, there are many unenlightened but happy. This is the danger of being susceptible to the danger of superstition and groundless fears. 

The are three famous numbers for this opera:

1. Hell's Vengeance Boils In My Heart - The most difficult aria, performed by the Queen of the Night. She orders Pamina to kill Sarastro, or risks being disowned in pain by the mother. The pitch notation of this aria can reach up to F6. A few sopranos could perform at such degree, and currently the modern day soprano that could perform that is Diana Damrau. 

2. A Girl Or Young Woman - Papageno's number representing his desire for a young woman as a wife, but it is already that he refuses enlightenment, as mentioned at the start of Act II. 

3. Papapapa duet - Papageno and Papagena stammer at each other that they started to warm up and eventually got their wish of love.

The storyline or whatsoever is not quite important. The metaphor of the story is. Looking back at the story, and coupled of what is happening right now, it is clear that the government's paranoia over the matter of people demanding for fair and clear elections is akin to what the Queen of The Night would exhort to do. The police, and some ministers like Hishamuddin Hussein are like the Queen's three ladies, doing her bidding. They would harass people, simply arresting people, do all the silly things instead of catching the real scum out on the streets.

It's the government's paranoia - the fear of losing power, to divert the internal fighting among themselves, and all the things that are considered to be a bane as well as how the society will go against them prompted them to be in such obscurantism. 

The mainstream media, like one of the three ladies have been on the smearing Bersih campaign. The main goal is obviously to manufacture consent among the audience, particularly simpletons and those in the rural land area. They are the ones ignorant or do not have alternative access to other channels. Manufacturing consent is one of the things the acclaimed Noam Chomsky spoke about in several of his books. I am very critical on the attitude of many Papagenos online. I have seen many people who seem to be very ignorant of those and have yet to understand the realities of the fragile present election system. Many claimed that Bersih is opposition. On the contrary no. It is natural for them to support for they have been victims of fraud. The instance of fraud in Sarawak or Hulu Selangor is the case in point.

Monostatos is the big henchman of the Queen of the Night. Perkasa can the example

Obviously, Pamina is representing the people themselves and the actions of trial and error will determine whether she would either go back to her mother or follow the guidance of Sarastro and the marriage of trial / Tamino. 

The problem with Malaysia is there are lack of enlightened leaders to lead the way. By the antics of how they deal, Najib and his most team of ministers are mere showman, but not with people with quality. They could have handled the situation well, give Bersih 3 hours for the day and solving the problem. Unfortunately, because of paranoia, they decided to play hard. Can Anwar be under the group of enlightened leaders like Sarastro? No, given of the present skeletons in his closet. 

The Saturday's rally will be a trial that Malaysians who have realized the importance of fair playing field of the election game that will determine the outcome in generations to come. It will be one step towards enlightenment or one step backwards to obscurantism as what the present government of the day is advocating, by playing dirty. And it has already attracted an international audience, with human rights groups in particular paying attention. 

I am certain that the Vatican and London is also watching as Najib will be visiting these places from tomorrow and next week. Many said that Najib is a laughing stock now given of his handling of the situation. I bet it would be.

Diapers and Politicians Should Be Changed Often

Star Paper: Games You Can Grasp

I appeared in Star Weekend's article "Games You Can Grasp", which talks about the board games that I would play in the weekends in Bangsar. My friends, Harris and Stefan (son of Dad's friend Priscilla) were featured prominently. 

“With computer games, you only interact with the screen; you can’t think out of the box because everything has already been programmed. It’s like watching TV – you just sit down and let the computer do all the work for you,” says Tho. “With board games, you get to use your critical thinking skills and even go around the rules if you want. Basically, you get to be creative.”

As Dawson puts it: “In board games, you actually have a chance – even at the end of the game – to make a comeback.”

Come On, Let Me Hear The Dirty Word Socialism!

This is an allegory to Hishamuddin Hussein who declared (his mouth is law) that yellow and Bersih are two illegal words. Which means, it is now added into the list of taboo words including Altantuya. But still the number one word that is considered dirty by anti-socialists is of course Socialism. Well, it is popular in Cuba and Venezuela, but I somehow remembered this rap that actor Warren Beatty performed in his satire movie Bulworth (this was 13 years ago).

Anyhow, I managed to dig up the video seen in You Tube, which the rap is a little of 3 minutes long. The rap is actually meant to make a long speech and Bulworth's truth confession a little more interesting with some amusing results of course.