There's More Than Just What Petra Says Plainly

I had seen many people who have either bashed or expressed total frustration in light of Raja Petra's (RPK) interview with the New Straits Times early this week. He did underline that he would only grant interviews if any media is willing to take word by word (whatever is said from his mouth), not twisted or manipulated by any other means apart from him. And when this was published in the papers, people and the now opposition, Pakatan Rakyat keeps bash him left and right since to them, Pete was considered a double-dealing son of a bitch, to an extent PKR Sec-Gen called him a blogger hired by UMNO.

First thing, I wanted to retrace some history way back.

Frankly speaking, since I started writing in 2007, right after I started having my own internet connection and the confidence to write and blog, I started to love the present habit of cussing and whacking United Malays National Organisation kingdom come for their shear arrogance and blunders. I got to admit that it happened when I started reading his series of things he writes in both columns, and then later during the Permatang Pauh by-election, the funny writings of Hishamuddin Rais even raised my anger up and along the way I started to feel cynical about that damn bloody political party. Along the way, I wanted to meet the man in person so whenever there were any functions or parties just to say how I really enjoyed reading his material, that has occasionally full of wit and sarcasm at times. 

And so by chance, I was invited to some soirees / parties / dinner by a mutual friend that from that on, I happened to have some encounters with the man himself. At times the group of people had some food, listening to some interesting things he had to say and it was kind of interesting and great to remember some moments. This went on until the last time I encountered him in person was during the 2009 New Year's party (he remarked how I was so hungry that I was eating my meal that mad, as I just finished work late) - the next month he left - as I learned of what could happen had he not left. At least from meeting a part of the man's personality can show what's said plainly and what's said indirectly.

In the last three months (or you can go back further if you want), Petra keeps quoting things from Sun Tzu's Art of War. The first chapter alone had a few things that were quoted. For instance, 1:18-22 says:

All warfare is based on deception. #

18

The truth of this pithy and profound saying will be admitted by every soldier. Col. Henderson tells us that Wellington, great in so many military qualities, was especially distinguished by "the extraordinary skill with which he concealed his movements and deceived both friend and foe."

19

Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. #

20

Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him. #

All commentators, except Chang Yu, say, "When he is in disorder, crush him." It is more natural to suppose that Sun Tzu is still illustrating the uses of deception in war.

21

If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. #

22

If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant

Here we are right now.

If Pete quotes things like that above, then I was certain that there is a definite hidden reason of why he would eventually do the interview with News Straits Times in Singapore. The interview, having read most of it is a duality in nature. 

It can be a real weakness in Pakatan Rakyat. Many have forgotten that a party can function well with stinging and nudging criticism even from their own supporters. As if a person is walking on a tight beam, a hand counterbalances the other hand and if the other hand is not put out, a person is high likely to fall off balance. PKR is always since the last three years remain the weakest link of the coalition, particularly because it still carries the relics of the UMNO mentality. And if you are in the party, you will need to understand (read: sizing) the clear relationship between Azmin and Anwar during their heydays in the Finance ministry. While some ex-UMNO men have already turned into a new leave, there are still things that are remain the same as the opposite.

I don't want to repeat or summarize whatever Petra has said in the papers. Of course this has given the UMNO-owned media ammunition to whack the opposition again and again, resulting in many of fans calling him a sell-out. There are people who have tried to tell you of holes in your turf, but you turned them away. There are people who are offering help to make it better, but you turn them away. There are people who want to air grievances to alternate media to let you know, but you don't bother...so where can the people turn to, huh?

But along the way, if you can picture how an pro-UMNO supporter (we're referring to the butter-boys as a case in point) think and feel with that you would notice how some things that Petra quoted from Sun Tzu comes into the fore.

No sooner later when he did say in "Which Category Are You In?", where he did pointed out that "I expect to get whacking", I have a good idea and a reason why Pete would be up to that. If I am to look at the opposite of the coin, there's a feeling and false sense of relief. The underlying theme in the game of poker is deception. It's really up to us to use our heads well and think where the game of politics is like cards on the table. Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington was also noted to be a master of the game to outsmart his opponents including Napoleon, which was why he was an integral person in fighting the Napoleonic Wars.

Until today I didn't really buy into the feeling of others about the man their idol double-crossing and selling himself out to the enemy. For instance, I read a few comments in Facebook of some people expressing their disgust and they being let-down from the event. Or even someone, like Paula, (a.k.a Masterwordsmith) whom I've met many times before was giving an interesting expression of frusration title a few days ago - "Why....RPK?". So it turned out to say there are some people who don't really understand clearly what's the intended statement, apart from you need to maybe read a few rounds to get the drift and the other meaning, if you're aiming for the advance level of mindset thinking.

The enigmatic Snape, from the Harry Potter series was also a clear literary case study of a character playing both sides of the game with deception. But along the way it has an ugly side of making your friends feeling cheated and unhappy along the way. Since Pete has made it clear from the beginning, then I don't have anything to whine about but at least can figure a few ways to pick up from the trail here. 

I've repeated many times that I am no fan of Anwar Ibrahim although there are things in Pakatan that I like about. But right now, I am in very sarcastic and cynic mood to see how UMNO, their partners, party-related NGOs, Perkasa, Braheng Ali making a fool of themselves with their almost immature nonsense statements and blunders. True, we got to move on and Petra's statement indirectly nudges everyone to go on the goal of Anything But UMNO. At Melewar last month, the message relayed was not to be afraid of BN or UMNO but to bury them 6 feet under. 

Since these mob groups spend their money like if it's nobody's money but theirs, we might as well ask them to pay us up to $50 million if the lose in the GE, ain't so?

It's Comes Overdue Already

Najib announces repeal of ISA, three emergency declarations

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 -- The Malaysian Insider

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Imbalancing of Expenditure vs Income

Three weeks ago, back home over a round of drinks, a few friends including parents have asked me why have I not buy a house in Kuala Lumpur given that I have been in the Klang Valley over the past six years and since there is the introduction of the "My First House Scheme" thing. Of course my first answer would be that most houses in Klang Valley, even an apartment is valued at more than the cap value permitted for a loan, which is at RM220K. A flat, don't say Mont Kiara, for example like the Green Project in Setapak (behind Taman P. Ramlee) costs at least RM 419,000 and given that property prices will go up between 10 to 20 percent this year, it may cost more. If you are lucky, you can buy a second-hand house, but the start price will be around at least RM 300K +.

Forget about getting a new apartment in Penang Island at very cheap price for it costs 3 times more than in the mainland due to its land scarcity. A Batu Ferringhi apartment of 1100 sq ft will cost 1/2 a million ringgit to buy but bigget ones can cost between 1 to 2 million. Straits Quay seafront houses are at start of RM 3 to 7 million, depending on square feet available. This means that it will be almost impossible to qualify for the housing scheme as houses exceed the conditions offered.  

Mainly this was the first reason. But secondly, I would imagine that if I am to buy a house on loan, the repayment rate, given of the average of middle-income individual group's income, it might take up to 30 years to repay the loan completely. Along the way, if you have already started a family, your children will start to have debt that has to be shared the moment they are born until they grow up - until your repayment period expires. So basically, a child's savings starts not at 0, but at a negative amount. This was why I didn't really think that the My First House Scheme is beneficial, but it instead is more or less a propaganda tool meant to elicit the waning support from the community, unless you are a hardcore believer who believes blindly.

Famed author Robert Kiyosaki once said - it was a valuable fact for me -  is that even if you buy a house on loan, (this also apply to all things) it is actually not an asset, but a liability unless you have the extra money to pay it off as soon as possible. Otherwise, if you get something via a bank loan and you are a job casualty, you will have problem to repay and face the coming of the repossession men, for not settling your monthly pay - which is a very dangerous risk that few are aware of.

House buying problem and the unaffordable is part of the poor purchasing power problem faced by Malaysia. In fact, many Gen Y people like ourselves, if we don't factor in parents helping out, will have a hard time of getting a good house to stay and could be pushed into buying those PPR low cost houses. 

Poor purchasing power, low salary are the most hotly debated items in the last two weeks or so, having read several coverage pieces. Australians have recently in late were bold in taking one more step ahead, by launching a house buying strike. Prosper Australia has helped written a "buying abstinence". The following is the first three paragraphs of the strike pledge:

It is economically irresponsible to expect young adults to commit to thirty years of heavy debt merely to get on to the first rung of home ownership.

The current price of land is grossly overvalued compared to take-home earnings.

Compounding this, Australia is in the grip of a housing Ponzi scheme similar to that which brought the northern hemisphere to their knees.

Malaysia is no more or less facing the same problem of being in the grip of the Ponzi scheme. And yes, the Najib administration is economically irresponsible not just on this matter but other things as well. But doing a strike will also affect those who would do property investment too. So it's a juggle job here. But almost a little more than half of people surveyed in Melbourne would surely agree to the idea of a buying strike.

Related piece: Should KL Homebuyers go on strike?

The low purchasing we have here is mainly of insufficient take home pay to compensate expenditure. Trying to do that on the scale means that the scale is imbalanced, tipped to the expenditure side. Contrary to the claim that Malaysia is cheap in purchasing, the diagram seems to speak otherwise. There are also statements from Malaysians working in other parts of the world that would say otherwise contrasting to ministers or politicians that would claim that.

People can buy great cars easier in other places unlike here where AP and high import duties (double) is why people can't even get one Honda at a very low price that is new. And since the Asian Financial Crisis, the ringgit has never recovered in strength against SGD, UK pound, and even gets weaker against the AUD. When I traveled to Australia last year, the rate was around 2.80 average before departing. As of last week, the rate has shot up to 3.25 average, which is an approximately 30% devalued. 

A few people spoke of working in Europe or Australia is not as pushing yourself too hard and over the limit you should be entitled to. The chart above tends to illustrate the point. We work 3 times longer than in Sydney or New York to get one Big Mac really. Translate that to currency and it's more or less the same. This leaves us to the last part of minimum wage. If Najib keeps talking about ETP, high income nation, then how come we are not seeing something to start with minimum wage act? 

If the government recognizes the May day celebrations, then why the police would arrest those who would come out to celebrate Labour Day? Just because it's against the "accursed" Police Act that people gets cuffed for nothing and go to the police station?

Related piece: Malaysians Plague By Poor Purchasing Power

If I am someone who is tasked to solve the problem, the immediate solution is to make minimum wage mandatory. Statistics revealed that private sector profit margins are very high yet, they give low wages to workers despite workers working hard enough each month. This is actually a true fact indeed. The government actually can do it, but they can't do right now because they faced stiff opposition from the employers union. If they don't do that, there's the imbalance right now. So, it's really true to say that either the Human Resource Ministry or Pemandu don't have the balls to make the minimum wage mandatory while they say it's easy to cut subsidies. It's like other bases are not covered to solve the problem. 

Today, Hong Kong is the latest country to make it mandatory of having a minimum wage. The minimum wage per day is set at $3.60 USD per hour - which means that on a 5 day work week, the minimum wage can be between RM 1800 and RM 2000 per month. Therefore, the act implemented in Hong Kong has benefited 10% of people there or around 270000 workers. Thus. the so called proposal base line of RM 700 per month is absolutely a pathetic baseline mooted by Subramaniam and his ministry.

Subramaniam is also under the firing line by other people including Klang MP Charles Santiago by saying that wage is based on productivity. That's the old saying indeed but the salary scale in Malaysia doesn't reflect the current times so, Subramaniam is also caught with the pants down. Remember that the wage increment over the last decade was only 2.6% whereas it should be at around 26% or 10 times compared to 10 years ago.

Some BN MPs and politicians have also said that the Buku Jingga that PR has talked about in doing it in the first 100 days is merely a pipe dream. One of the acts under skepticism scrutiny in regards to the book that was asked was about increasing the minimum household income to RM 4000 from RM 1500 in the period of 5 years. The problem raised by them is that if they are to meet the target in the space of 5 years, the PR federal government will have to spent billions annually over the five years to meet that target. This gives the picture that the moment PR takes over, the amount in the national coffers will start at a negative, red mark. But someone from PR said that this clearly is in motion provided if the minimum wage act is implemented first because their reasoning is that most private companies have higher profit margins and even use foreign workers to even maximize their value and get cheaper labor! Could it be the reasoning of going against the minimum wage thing perhaps?

It's true that 80% of households income is less than RM3000. Some of the highlights that CPI brought up is as follows:

Malaysian workers continue to be at the mercy of individual bosses in the absence of a minimum wage act. The 8-hour workday has been insidiously converted into 12 hours in two shifts in an arrangement that benefits the bosses. Compulsory overtime to supplement low wages has become a necessary evil for workers but it deprives them of rest, and time for family and community.

The government’s low wage policy incentive to attract foreign investors continues to erode whatever rights workers enjoyed. By amending labour laws the government has made it easier to sack workers. 

Unemployment and job insecurity have been created by allowing cheap and docile migrant labour without exhausting local labour supply first.

The message is clear. The government will betray workers and pawn their rights to preserve the interests of the capitalists with whom the ruling elite are strongly bonded. This has become all the more obvious with the adoption of neo-liberal market mechanisms that are hostile to workers.

I am not very versed in economics but if the minimum wage is incorporated into it, does that mean that the present income of professionals will also be calculated to include the minimum monthly wage across the board?

It appears that Malaysia has already deviated from the strong sense of dirigism that it used to practice before. China and Singapore are clear examples of those who would use dirigisme to ensure national economy is well managed even including steering out of recession and rebounding it. I used to remember that Singapore used a fraction of the reserves of approximately $600 billion in 2009 to stimulate in the recession and look what happened then - viola. With all the politicking and obsession of the sex video over other top priorities that BN are in, Malaysia's economy is in the autopilot mode, lack of the keeping the eye on potential factors that could affect economics all over country.

People's Right To Know Refused To Make People Stupid?

1. First of all, I applaud the Selangor state government for putting in the FOI bill which surely will answer what the people want. If the people wants to the breakdown of costs for each project, it will be an obligation of the state government to reveal it, without showing bullshit to the people. In other way, it also eliminates the presence of Mr. 30 percent (those who want an extra cut from the project). And it lives to the billing of the PR Selangor of the SELCAT concept (similar to the one in Penang).

2. What I am appalled though is that none of the BN assemblymen support the FOI Bill. If I am not mistaken, Gerakan called the Penang FOI bill like OSA. Perhaps this is the same opinion that was taken by the BN. According to Free Malaysia Today, not even one person from BN came in, though invited to show support for the bill. With that it clearly implies that it is not willing to make things known for people as part of the right to know thing.

3. Times have changed. With the power of the Internet, people know start to exercise the right to know more than what is served in the platter. If the platter is the newspaper, is whatever is there enough or they need to more specifics if the newspaper doesn't cover it? I agree that people's awareness is getting much better on, but still there are many people that has no clue over what is happening or so because of the impasse on the information to be given out.

4. "Will cause problems to the public" is the main excuse for not revealing information to people. I suppose because of high-profile scandals that will impact the public that information is stopped before it's out of the door. But the problem, is without more clarity and specific information, how will other parties promptly respond to the problems that they are facing without adequate input?

5. Therefore, the common bullshit above must be stopped. It has already making people look stupid and it insults people intelligence thinking that people have no right to know whatever that is necessary.

6. There are actually many entities that are actually owned by the public. Petronas is an example. Bank Simpanan Nasional, and a few other entities are government-owned, which is actually chosen by the people. Therefore, people have the right to know all the information of what the government is doing especially, what they are planning to do with our money. As of this time, because of the OSA tag, it simply prevents people from knowing. Sometimes, out of keeping people out from what could be potentially damaging, the OSA has been simply misused.

7. For example, crime statistics access, in which women are entitled to know got blocked by the police. Why would the IGP Ismail Omar classify that as a secret document? Is it that if the real statistics hit out, that the Home Ministry or the police could be embarrassed because the statistics don't match the NKRA set? If this is the fear factor, then maybe it's okay to spill it out and get help from outside. You can't bottle up alone.

8. There is always a struggle of whether divulging sensitive information would be beneficial or not. The bad side of not having the FOI is that it can be used to cover-up heinous acts particularly if committed by a politician. And it also raises suspicion that the project cost could go more than usual because of the presence of the Mr. 30 Percent. All in all, people of the 21st century are not like people before and they have the right to know. Britain, previously introduced the OSA has now showed a turn of attitude than it was 60 years ago and with the introduction of their own equivalent of the FOI act, people at least get the knowledge of where is their money, as taxpayers. We too are taxpayers. Even if we do not pay income tax, we still pay the 6% service tax. All of us. That's where the right to know comes in!

The Need For PR To Reinvent The Wheel

It's always non-stop for BN to use their owned-media apparatus and government agencies that they believe in owning it to whack the opposition Pakatan Rakyat in all corners as to make sure that they are no longer the threat. When they are stunned to see the losses that they have never seen before in the last General elections, they have declared that the Anwar Ibrahim led coalition is a political threat to their survival and would play to the gutter. The three main things that gutter politics would involve would be:

a) Anwar Ibrahim must be removed from the board at all costs.

b) PAS via Malay unity talks must be separated from the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, no matter how many times it needs.

c) The propaganda to throw Pakatan Rakyat into chaos will have to keep on being intensified via their owned-media.

The most important goal to achieve is to give a bad image to the opposition and to manufacture people consent of not trusting PR and herding people into believing of there is only one coalition to support with. It is right now a battle of perception at overdrive mode. Politics is a game of perception as well. Anwar Ibrahim has been called with things related to bad image like a chameleon, sodomizer and the CIA agent - as what former NST editor Rose Ismail called in 1998. And it still goes on and on. That is on the personal capacity. The big three parties each have sometime that the BN would accuse them of in the form of perception. Therefore, in this case, Pakatan Rakyat needs to reinvent the wheel to show a different perception that it was.

PKR always draws the biggest problem from everywhere, in and out. There are several opinions about the party in this case, some people would call them a tool for Anwar, Azmin and Shamsida's ends. However, many failed to understand the closeness of the three which dates way back to the early 90s. But having the three will give one kind of perception. And in the follow aftermath of party elections, there are some who called them as the same system as UMNO - with some grassroots ignored and some preferential treatment over who to be in which post and that. Many are unhappy that instead of fair votes that most ended up in Azmin as Deputy President, and with some intimidation and so forth.

The biggest problem is to shed the image and perception of being a relic and the same system of UMNO and the need to move away from thinking that it's just party for the three person ends. This means that the three of them should move to another unexplored avenue and give the leadership to someone as good as them to avoid more negative perception. Many have earmarked Nurul and a few young leaders as good to go in and head the party with young mix with the experience of it. Like the Mentor Minister concept in Singapore, Anwar will need not stamp his signature onto every matter, only when necessary or last resort.

For PAS, the unity government is always the constant problem and the "conservative" factions poses more problems up front. If you are someone who knows little of the party, the faces of the front leadership can give you perceptions that it is a "Taliban" style party and these leaders are "cleric-trained" - those who from the religious background in nature. Barisan Nasional knows that there are some who really crave to be ministers and they would dangle carrots in front those who really wanted it. However, it is the Nik Aziz factor that put a stop to the so-called unity talks there.

Yes, there is still public perception that PAS would implement Islamic state laws if anyone would vote for that and all other kinds of statements that enemies would throw at them. But one thing I respect for them is that they are not ass kisses unlike other component parties in BN would would lick and kiss big boss (UMNO). Currently, there is also the progressive faction in PAS - those highly-trained professionals that are progressive in nature and would be able to move forward in the party there. If PAS needs to reinvent the image as a not-a-backwater party, the progressive faction should be leading the party. I suppose that Nik Aziz would definitely agree it would be more beneficial for the party and the image as well.

There is not much avenue for BN to attack DAP except to say that PAS kowtow to DAP or DAP is a Chinese party. This is a misconception and there is a failure for many in the "get to know the party" factor. Of all the big three in the PR. DAP already has potential successors lined up for smoother transition, but it is the question of when can they go. DAP is originally intended to be a multi-racial party but hardly a few Malays in the party. This problem is the only thing that needs to be debunked by they themselves.

The mainstream-media, owned by BN political parties have been directed to attack PR at all costs. The moment if someone from the PR party is being accused for crimes or investigated by the MACC on corruption accusations, the entire matter will be exaggerated politically.

As quoted by Hishamuddin Rais last year:

Aparacik dan jentera kerajaan federal sedang digunakan oleh Najib Rosmah untuk melemahkan kerajaan Selangor. Kes demi kes telah dibuka oleh SPRM terhadap pimpinan kerajaan Selangor. Semua dilakukan untuk menekan agar ada Adun PKR yang akan berpaling tadah.

Media gerombolan telah digunakan hingga ke tahap maksimum untuk mengolah persetujuan orang ramai. Seluruh Malaysia cuba diberi tahu bahawa krisis yang amat besar sedang melanda kepimpinan kerjaan Selangor. Kerajaan Selangor ini akan runtuh bila-bila masa sahaja dan Khir Toyo boleh kembali berpesta ke Disneyland tanpa soal jawab.

Whatever the problems noticed are part of real politics.All leads to one objective that Anwar Ibrahim and PR is a threat to the political power of UMNO. The present perceptions of PR is giving them ammunition to attack PR everywhere. And if the attacks do not seem to do the real impact, the secondary strategy is to keep pushing for PAS to have unity talks with UMNO for the sake of Malay unity. But there is no such thing as Malay unity in reality. By reading past histories of mankind, it can provide us of such fact. 

PR will need to have a very fast effective fall back plan. Rather than people thinking that it is used for Anwar's end, and still the same system as UMNO's they will need to reinvent the wheel in out to say that it's a mix of experience and young talent, coupled with different and progressive leadership.

The Liberation of The Mind

“Anarchism, really stands for the liberation of the human mind from the dominion of religion; the liberation of the human body from the dominion of property; liberation from the shackles and restraint of government.” - Emma Goldman (1871-1940)

1. It is now Yemen's turn to have mass people protests after the successful people's revolution in Tunisia and Egypt. It is maybe partly because the success of the first two countries has already energised Yemen and inspired them to do the same thing. But if you notice carefully, the bulk of people who protest in the three countries related are mostly the young and professional ones who could not make the fortune in the turbulent stage of the respective countries.

2. These young people have realized that they have been cheated and given false promises by the government that they have given their support into that. When they realize that normal channels and means could not help them into addressing their problems, they are pushed into doing what they have to do that what we have seen - street protests. From there, fuelled with new ideas and with the realization from what is really happening, they spread the word to the masses and called them out for things that is reported in the news.

3. Instead of paying attention to the masses, massive crackdowns are launched against protesters and the prisons started to fill up with people who carry no arms but to gather in peaceful means. I have mentioned several times that if the number of people put into there for nothing is more than the number of convicted ones for crimes of passion, then something is wrong with the state. It also means that this somewhat akin to a police state. 

4. If this problem persists on, the only thing that is likely to put the stop in the tracks is either the numbers or the genocide. Either path can solve the problem but each with a different ending to a crisis. If it's the numbers, then it's the same thing as in Egypt and Tunisia. The other way round, then it's like Burma, Rwanda and the bloodbath that ensues. 

5. In the process, people has been galvanized with the need to know things and the desire to change things if something stays there too long and gets irrelevant. This doesn't happen just there, but in Malaysia as well.

6. Face it, what happens in Yemen do happen in Malaysia, but not in that big scale. Malaysians are slowly galvanized, energized by the need to change after 54 years by one party ruling and running the nation. People are actually gradually liberating their minds from the common bullshit that they have been fed. Only people who still believe in the bullshit would think otherwise and fall into the abyss that they can never escape. Of course, the liberation of the mind is what will eventually defeat the oppressors because they were hoping that by having people clueless, and stupid, they can do whatever things to maintain their hegemony of the nation. The fear is there and for that reason, they would rig games and even would want to do King Kong to make sure the other party never gets to run Putrajaya. If that is the case, election should have been outlawed already. 

7. People can gather and do anything they like as long they don't commit any crimes of passion. But to gather without permit is wrong, as according to the police. Aren't the cops should be minding more on catching violent criminals then going and harassing people? Even some people have complaint how they were treated as criminals even if they have don't nothing wrong. What about IPCMC that some people have asked? Hishamuddin says no way. I know why - partly if you can read the insider's account on the problem in the police force, then that will answer it. 

8.Is Malaysia a police state? It's a yes definitely. Cops are given orders to play dirty at times, people can get harass at times. Is that my opinion alone? No, there's more than just one with the same opinion.

9. As what John Oates said, the human mind is the subject of false conditioning and needs to be liberated. The greater part of the mind is the free and independent post-concious that will allow us to deduce the truth. 

Further quoting:

We humans are currently taking tentative steps towards an ideal world society. If we succeed in setting it up it shall surely be because we reached universal agreement, and that could only have been because we embraced supraconsciousness. 

The word humantruth has been coined to distinguish that truth which is knowable and highly relevant to our daily lives, from the rest of the entire truth that I believe to be understandable to the human mind but which might never reach our understanding, and which, thought it may be of great interest, eg space exploration, is not relevant. 

If you achieve the state of total awareness that recognises humantruth but the world remains indifferent, you will suffer frustration, but only as long as you are in a minority. When the majority are with you it will be another matter. Unless you lead the way by opening your mind, however, there never can be a humantrue majority. 

True awareness is always beckoning, carrying the hope of beneficial worldwide change. Even the most automated and conditioned of humans are touched by this hope as they uncomfortably witness the suffering of fellow humans on the other side of Earth and wish someone would do something to relieve it. 

It Takes One National Scale Disaster For People To Wake Up

We have seen recently the 18 days of mass protests in Egypt, culminating with the resignation of Mubarak and the start of the road to election process due in September. It is clearly due to people power, the mass numbers and the refusal to buckle upon the pressure by regime authorities that threaten arrests for things we do that do not amount to crime that the government finally relent to pressure. The starting point comes from Tunisia, where the moment citizens reach the boiling point and could not stand any more, they decided to come down to the streets and protest, to get the government of the day's attention.

The Domino Effect

One nation after another, other nations have started to take cue from Tunisia and Egypt. The list includes Jordan, Yemen and now Algeria. The exhilaration of people power in both countries will turn that into a domino effect. Imagine of knocking a tile of domino and in turn will knock down thousands of it in a matter of few seconds. Of course, in the process, the hegemony of United States and Israel, coupled by the big two's quest for world domination would be disarrayed with mass revolutions. Fortunately, the response in Jordan towards mass people dissatisfaction was very fast and swift, with a well-educated ruler in King Abdullah sacking the existing government and appointed another one with the key condition of mass and swift reforms.

But before the spark starts, there must be a reason to explain why the people would go down to the streets to protest. Something that in mass scale that will enrage people from all kinds of society and race that eventually realized that it is time to change, time of one party hegemony is over and the old ties that bind will have to be broken down to make it better, a.l.a. house restoration. People in Arab have already awaken from the long slumber of false sense of reality.

Sense of omnipotence too play a part of a leader's downfall. Suharto, Murbarak and even Marcos ruled a country for more than 2 decades. Same thing over and over again, with nothing much to change upon and bad track record on reforms, human rights - and still the leader wants to preside over the country again and again - to when? When they die? 

Taib Mahmud could be following the same path, fate and situation as those three people. Having running Sarawak for 3 decades, isn't it time to go? Aren't angry over mass fortunes that he has that violate the priority of Sarawakians first before his own family? Aren't there many reports that express anger over the sense of his omnipotence?

There are some points that I agreed on Dr. Mahathir's recent laments, particularly on how not even a single Muslim country is well developed because mainly on many placing religion over main priorities. In fact, Dr Mahathir should also look into Malaysia as well - the direction is too following the problem above. Some similar cases can be noted here, except that Malaysia is still a secular country because of multi-racial population and the use of English-style Federal Constitution. As what the famous scholar Al-Qaradawi said that preserving freedom is more important than going too much religion that can spook people here.

The One Common Thing That Really Makes It Happen

If we have the analytical mind, we can find out the one common thing that triggers in all those nations involved in the people revolution: national-scale disaster. A disaster that can be felt by almost everybody from top to bottom.

Most of the nations mentioned in those cases are having national-scale disasters in the form of heavy unemployment, a very weak economy, mass inflation that makes the poor more poorer, unfair people treatments and discrimination and a few other things. This has been happening elsewhere many times before. Indonesia is the best case in point, where because of the Asian Financial Crisis, Indonesia has devalued the rupiah so severely to the point that people would not stand anymore of its impact - inflation, debts, etc.. , coupled by the bad human rights track record by Suharto that people have decided to go down to the streets to protest. It might be a different case in each country, like in Philippines,  Aquino Sr's assassination after a return from exile by agents of Marcos forced the people's hand - simply killing a respected opposition figure for means of eliminating the political threat causes mass protests because of bad human rights record.

In this age and time, there are two main themes that primarily be formed as part of a national disaster - an economy disaster on the national scale or a tragedy that makes people angry in following a bad human rights track record. The former is the worst because a country will not be able to run with mass debts hanging around the neck.

Having a big number of intellectuals - figures that spur people spirit against oppression in Egypt and in Tunisia also helped to spark people revolution there. These intellectuals have liberated minds. But these kind of minds are considered dangerous to some authoritarian regimes.

Will It Happen In Malaysia?

At this point of time, I don't really think the majority of Malaysians will wake up to the false sense of reality that is around us. The Tenang by-election - using the voter situations there illustrates the present state of reality in Malaysia.

The following excerpt is from Clarissa (taken from Loyar Burok):

Well, we probably should think of Malaysia and Malaysians as people living in the Matrix. They believe they have the freedom, that the economy will improve with all these economic transformation plans, that they can still enjoy material excess and progress, that they will continue to live in comfort. I think I have written about this more than a decade ago and the situation still has not changed, not one mite.

People are still lulled by a false sense of security, not understanding that the carpet will be pulled out from under their feet anytime, at any moment. They are not unlike North Koreans in general, minus the physical deprivation and visceral torture, because they believe in much of what is fed to them. The government is smart in creating a quasi welfare state, and in creating a false sense of us going somewhere, when in reality, we are just going in circles, as what I have seen from the time I was a freshman in college, more than a decade ago.

Tenang election clearly illustrates that. Kuala Selangor illustrates that. People are still lulled by false sense of security. In other words, we are still slumbering in false reality. And clearly, it will take a national disaster for people to really wake up the fact that there are many things that have already mislead us. Simply read any article on any Malaysian newspapers that involves any BN politicians / ministers and it tastes more of a feel good thing for government. (Notice that it's play nice with government and thrash the opposition style of writing). But sometimes, it is also equivalent to lying to yourself with such sentiment.

Answer? - Not likely until disaster strikes.

The One National-Scale Disaster That Could Happen in Malaysia

I clearly believe that the next national-scale disaster is neither political, nor natural in nature (e.g, floods). Instead the next one would be economical in nature.Malaysia's national debt stands at RM 577 billion and counting. The signs of trouble of a possible worldwide scale economic bubble burst are happening now and no nation will be spared from this problem the moment the economic bubble of China or America bursts. 

When the US Dollar is no longer accepted as the main reserve currency worldwide, America dies economically and the whatever US reserves we carry in Malaysia will no longer has value. It will become a paper money with no value. Therefore, the reserves that Malaysia hold, could go below zero and the deficit becomes higher since USD reserves would not be taken into account.

The ringgit could be possibly devalued again, subsidies could be totally removed. However I was really certain that this subsidy rationalization is part of a economic hit men suggestion. Indonesia's economic collapse was also due to economic hitmen. A confession by John Perkins in his Confessions of Economic Hitmen book revealed his part in Indonesia - advising "politikus" on various things with the ulterior motive of conning the nation, billions of money out. This is no doubt is what could be happening in Malaysia in the space of one to two years time.

Once part of the integrity of a foundation has been compromised, you can see how the chips fall and it will culminate in a national-scale disaster. Not even Perkasa who screams of Malay rights, not even political games, not even hero village attitudes will save Malaysia. This is a potential global scale disaster that can bankrupt Malaysia even before Idris Jala's 2019 bankrupt forecast.

Test Case on Mitigation

Is Malaysia ready for to mitigate such risk? Not likely and I don't really believe that Najib's administration has a solid plan at all. That was the conclusion I could get. A few days ago, I have decided to query a Member of Parliament in a forum that I participated. I did not ask anything that is political, but instead concentrated on economical question in nature since the forum topic deals with East Malaysia politics and economy. I posed a question whether he is aware of possible economic bubble burst in China and America. I stressed that the answer I was keen to here is purely on personal point of view.

The answer I got is that there is a concern for the China bubble, since America is considering of forcing China to increase the yuan rate to suit US. Military might and confrontation is definitely out of the way since neither side can win in provocation contest. 

Malaysia, unlike Singapore do not have the sufficient reserves to withstand the impact of the next upcoming economic collapse. Singapore is the opposite, with reserves standing close to $600 billion SGD, with only a fraction used for its stimulus package during the 2008 recession and its currency close to the value of the US, Australian and Canadian currencies. 

The other main question that I asked was whether Malaysia has sufficient safety nets for this situation. The reaction that I got from the YB seems to tell me that Malaysia doesn't have adequate measures, with the politicking still running around and the main party seem hell bent on annihilating the opposition before national priority on all aspects. Why would Perkasa even complaint about Anwar Ibrahim's alleged plan of escape where an economic meteor is hitting Malaysia, which takes precedence over other matters?

Conclusion: With incapable politicians running and handling  the economic policies coupling with corruption index rate that has yet to improve, Malaysia is not likely to withstand that disaster long-term. Even the warning by the PM on not letting the same thing happening in Egypt is not going to work anymore, so I think that having seen the letter written by one Eunice Wong from Seremban, I don't really think that will work as one factor that could cause that is due to the government's own failings and mismanagement.

After Waking Up, Too Late To Take Back

Most of the heads and rulers of the aforementioned Arab nations with their families are found to amass a big fortune. The Mubarak family has been amassing over $70 billion US dollars of assets in Egypt and in overseas. This allegation has in fact prompted the Swiss bank to freeze the accounts pending investigation. Likewise, in Tunisia, when the former president Ben Ali left, Leila, the young wife of Ben Ali ran with mass gold - the value can feed millions of poor Tunisians there. What is concerned that if people have successfully ousted oppressed regimes, the dictators and corrupt leaders in particular will take their fortune, that the government should have and returned to the people away. It's plundering we're talking about!

The story of how Leila's obsession and antics can be equaled to Rosmah's with both of them are in housewife-style of politics. Don't get what they want, and they would call their husbands, and lamenting like a child. Not only for the two women above, there are wives of leaders elsewhere that could fall in that category.

The saying of prevention is better than cure is not likely aware by many Malaysians in this case. There are a few scenarios to illustrate the above point: if the Opposition beats Barisan Nasional in the general elections by a big majority (corrupt and greedy leaders will attempt to plunder whatever they have before going, something like in Selangor where state docs are destroyed on the night of election, and they could go King Kong), or if there happens to be a revolution like in Arab that ended successfully with leaders thrown out.

Yes, we can wake up after disaster, but at what cost? There are things too late to be done, where if not for our own coward and ignorant citizens who still are in slumber in false reality. The country's attempt to rebuild the economy after the Asian Financial Crisis goes in vain again and it could take more than the same amount of time to rebuild the economy. If the government of the day still is BN by the time a disaster like that happen, the next four letter word that people would cuss on would not be "FUCK" but "UMNO"!

Not Yet March 8 2011 And There's Another By-Election Looming!

PETALING JAYA: The nation will see yet another by-election, the 16th, with the death of Umno’s Kerdau elected representative Zaharuddin Abu Kassim this evening.

It is learnt that Zaharuddin, 63, died after suffering from a fall in his washroom at about 6.30pm.

His death was confirmed by Temerloh’s deputy police chief Supt Zundin Mahmood.

The politician was reported to be serious last year when he was admitted at the Nation Heart Institute (IJN) in a critical condition over kidney and heart complications.

He however recovered sufficiently and got married to Rozlifah Ahmad, 33, late last year.

The country had just witnessed a by-election in Tenang, Johor – a state seat which was retained by Barisan Nasional/Umno.

There will be another by-election in Merlimau, Malacca on March 6 following the death of the state rep, also from Umno.

The Kerdau by-election will be the first in Pahang, the homestate of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

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The above is a news flash from Free Malaysia Today.

I suppose there should be a rule calling that all assemblymen cannot die without consent of Bik Mama. Maybe this is because of the number of unprecedented by-elections that is happening before we hit 3 years after March 8 2008.

According to the 2008 statistics, the bulk of the 6000 plus voters are Malays (89%). Kerdau is in the Temerloh constituency and it is in the upper part, heading towards Kuala Krau. Ideally, a PAS candidate can be there or if there is PKR man who is famous in that part of town, then they should put that fellow there.

I wonder how much money that Barisan Nasional has splashed in all the by-elections so far. Not even the recent by-elections can surpass the astronomical amount of goodies and campaign money (actually can be used for subsidy money instead of for the wrong ends).

The big question is how can we educate voters on not to be afraid of bogeyman tactics and used their heads properly without thinking of such defeatist mentalities like (follow the leader, all is fate, etc..?)

"Demo Bukan Budaya Kita" - 2 Years Later

DEMO BUKAN BUDAYA KITA: DR M

KUALA LUMPUR: Pembangkang, yang hilang kuasa mentadbir kerajaan Perak, perlu sedar demonstrasi jalanan bukan budaya Malaysia dan menunjuk kekuatan seperti ini boleh berlaku erhadap mereka pada masa depan, kata Mahathir Mohamad.

"Ia (demonstrasi jalanan) bukan budaya kita. Bagaimana anda hendak membentuk sebuah kerajaan dengan bertindak di jalan raya. Jika mereka (pembangkang) sendiri menggalakkan demonstrasi jalanan, macam mana pula mereka hendak mentadbir negeri.

"Jika anda bertindak di jalan raya setiap kali ada masalah, maka jika dan bila anda membentuk kerajaan, orang lain akan melakukan yang sama," katanya kepada pemberita selepas demonstrasi teknologi SmartPool di the Mines Waterfront Business Park, di sini, semalam.

Dr Mahathir diminta mengulas demonstrasi jalanan oleh penyokong Pakatan Rakyat ketika upacara mengangkat sumpah Menteri Besar Perak yang baru kira-kira satu kilometer dari Istana Kuala Kangsar kelmarin.

Kerajaan PR yang belum berusia setahun tumbang selepas empat anggota dewan undangannya melompat ke Barisan Nasional (BN).

Dr Mahathir berkata "tindakan melompat" itu seharusnya mengakibatkan pembubaran dewan undangan negeri (DUN) tetapi oleh kerana Sultan Azlan Shah mengisytiharkan tidak perlu diadakan pilihan raya, keputusan itu harus dihormati.

Katanya, Menteri Besar pembangkang harus dibenarkan memanggil mesyuarat DUN dan undi tidak percaya perlu diluluskan terhadap kerajaan berkenaan.

"Tetapi jika Menteri Besar tidak mahu mengadakan sidang DUN, jadi bagaimana kita boleh paksa beliau berbuat demikian. Undang-undang menyatakan undi tidak percaya mesti diluluskan sebelum ada pertukaran kerajaan.

"Sekalipun mereka terus memerintah negeri itu, mereka bertindak sebagai kerajaan minoriti. Bagaimana kerajaan minoriti hendak mentadbir negeri, bila ia tidak punya sokongan," katanya.

Mengenai laporan bahawa pembangkang bercadang mengambil tindakan undang-undang terhadap Sultan berhubung keputusannya, Dr Mahathir berkata walaupun tindakan pembangkang itu tidak beretika, undang-undang membolehkan tindakan itu diambil.

Bagaimanapun, Ketua Umum PR Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim semalam berkata, pihaknya tidak akan memfail saman terhadap Sultan.

- Berita Harian - 8 February 2009

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Today I will not talk much except to bring back something for everyone of us to go through and compare to the current situation, 2 years after the report was first published. True, I am pretty exhausted after work in office and treating myself to watching a movie to have some fun.

This week marks exactly 2 years of when Dr. Mahathir made that statement above that "demonstration" is not our culture" in the wake of the fall of the Pakatan Perak Government 2 days before on 5th February 2009. There have been plenty of demonstrations in the last 4 years, tracing back to the Lawyer's march in Putrajaya in August 2007 in the wake of the Lingam tape leak, then going on with the Bersih rally in November 2007 and the Hindraf rally three weeks later.

Those three demos got the ball rolling and in other words proved to Malaysia that anyone can gather for a common cause. However, do note that demonstrations usually happen primarily because of whatever grievances aired via official channels were mostly ignored and turned away by the government that we have entrusted our vote with in the elections.

The Perak coup de tat was the lowest point of all because the sultan had ignored the Perakians vote and choice of the government and instead UMNO and Barisan had taken over via the backdoor route, a.l.a. Katak frogging that Anwar Ibrahim spoke of about the never happened 916 promise. And still, there happen to be more demos in the subsequent times after the low point including anti-GST tax rallies, anti-ISA rallies, and so forth.

Why does it happen? It's primarily that people's wishes were ignored in favor of political power and survival. If the majority of people say no to ISA for example, the government must immediately throw it off, not to amend, not to keep it because the boss said so. Demonstrations happened usually as the last resort when everything was turned away and people - like an infant - cry for attention when there is no one else to turn to.

There are more than a dozen of demos around Malaysia after Dr. Mahathir's statement. This means, that in other words, that no one give a hoot on Dr. M's statement. And it also reveals that in this situation, Dr. M has misjudged himself as well as getting too much than what he can chew on. Maybe his statement could be irrelevant already, if we take the domino factor from Egypt, Tunisia and Jordan as well.

PPPA: When People Get Angry at Senile Old Men

It's already clear that with the recent events of introducing extending the scope of publishing controls to encompass online media as well as gagging a blogger over the "rape maid" scandal clearly implies that the access of information more than what is usually seen is reaching to the point that they were unable to bear to see their control is slipping out of their fingers. Instead of going for information transparency, the government with such dementia is resorting to tightening the noose on citizens, including the cyber community that is expanding exponentially. No doubt, the main excuses used to state their decision includes: that a lot of false information and lies out there, and of course to have more control of what information goes out or not since the Wikileaks disaster that put America to its knees.

How Far Can People Stand Before Reaching The Boiling Point?

Generally, the people who mostly does the writing on online avenues are mostly formed of youngsters and those who are less than 50 years old. The numbers and statistics do speak for themselves. These group of people are more Internet savvy and they now do have the right to talk whatever they want. The moment if a group of senile men decide to impose such controls on them, what does that imply to all of us? It means to simply catch people for a crime that does not make sense, which is to talk anyway. 

The Sedition act charge against the Sri Muda assemblyman simply tells us that Malaysia is still a neo-feudalistic country with people from NGOs who know nothing much about the advancement of human civilization open their mouths and shooting at the person who has legit points to say in reply to a subject or an occasion that arises. As what the ex-Mufti Dr. Asri previously said - rulers are not on the level as with the famous prophets that we read in the Bible or the Quran. Humans do have flaws, and to say that people that fall under the group of rulers as omnipotent is a misconception and wrong. Since 2010, Britain has abolished Sedition laws mainly because the reality is that you can't catch a person just because he talks. 

If the controls persist there, how long do people can bear before they say that such laws are nonsensical and decide that enough is enough and the hell with the men who wanted those controls? Egypt is the perfect example - people, like the young are angry at senile old men for blocking access to what they want to say online. Online social and blogging sites like Facebook, Twitter, and etc..got blocked. People get angry, they would find a way to bypass the block and do whatever they want. To them, the message to be conveyed is "the hell with you."

This same case also applies to the attempt by the government to go after people who do illegal downloading. But to do that without solving the root causes of the problem - unrealistic censor laws, poor services in the cineplexes, the high cost of buying a video from the store is to invite more anger from the cyber-savvy community. Can you imagine blocking a 18-year person off from Internet because he's just writing diaries or things he want to talk? 

Go To Prison Because of Talking?

Thus, if the number of people in prisons for illogical petty crimes - talk, get stuff, participate in gatherings, etc.. surpasses the number of prisoners,  who are in there for murder, theft, white-collar crimes, and violent-nature crimes, then something is really wrong with how the country is run. In this case, you might need to build more prisons to house thousands of people guilty of petty crimes. 100,000 petty against 5000 violent - you do the math and conclusion! 

Online Privacy Invasion

Many people too believe that such controls is tantamount to privacy invasion. Remember back in 2007 where our former Information Minister Zam Maidin wanted to do blogger classification? Similar thing to what the government is bent to do. It's like wanting to know what a person is doing, event privately? There's the case of where people get Chinese New Year greetings from Najib. How do people's e-mail addresses or phone numbers in particular reach the hands the men who relayed Najib's message out? Aren't the telcos bound by the privacy clause that the personal information is strictly confidential and only used for their internal marketing purposes - not to be given to other parties? 

People do not like to be intruded upon and to scrutinize what people write is to see the big scissors on top of the ceiling ready to come down on people for nothing.

Information Branded A Lie But Factually True and Vice-Versa

That thing is a problem to contend with. The scenario is like: if Bernama writes news that is not entirely accurate but someone who write reveals information that was deliberately withheld and turned around by the news agency, where does that news landed into? An outright lie? A truth covered up as a lie?

But then, the lie disguising as a truth can be more venomous in nature because it misleads people into thinking that the lie has distorted many things and make people believe of some stupid things. For example, Article 153 in paper and word never talks about Malay rights at all, but it has been fanned into a political issue by NGOs and those affiliated to UMNO themselves. It is very misleading if you are told of a lie but never bother to investigate further by tracing the source materials that are claimed to back up a statement.

Senile and Unqualified Old Men

So who's to blame for all of this? Look at Zam Maidin and Rais in example. These are old men (all in the 60s) that said of the desire to control access to information. But are they really qualified to do that? Do they have the knowledge of the information technology discipline to say that? Zam is an old-fashioned reporter before becoming a politician. Rais doesn't have much knowledge of things like e-mail, social networking and yet wants to do that? Do the other politicians have a familiarity with those modern technology materials?

In fact, to do those various print control amendments, retain sedition acts, monitoring petty things unravels their paranoia and dementia of people looking for information in cyberspace. Britain, who originated Sedition Act, has thrown it away to the bin because of the reality that you can't simply catch people for talking. Same in school, you can't stop a person from talking and asking questions. 

The young and educated community in Egypt are very angry at senile old men that attempt to turn off information and attempting to control cyberspace and talk. They have responded with street demos and various bypasses to the blocks. The American government tries to stop organizations from supporting Wikileaks, they got hit back with hacks and DDOS attacks..those have one thing in common - to snub senile old men who run and try to introduce nonsensical policies.