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.

Wikileaks - Is Pak Lah Actually Still Holding The Smoking Gun?

From The Asian Sentinel:

Cables show the US embassy in KL feared "prosecutorial misconduct" during the sensational 2009 trial

The US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur closely followed the trial of the accused killers of Mongolian interpreter Altantuya Shaariibuu and frequently discussed whether current Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was involved in the killing, according to diplomatic cables supplied to Asia Sentinel by the WikiLeaks website.

The diplomats, like much of the public, also speculated that the trial was being deliberately delayed and feared what one cable calls "prosecutorial misconduct" that was being politically manipulated. The embassy officials based their concerns on sources within the prosecution, government and the political opposition.

The cables also draw attention to an intriguing allegation that then Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi may have attempted to use the proceedings to implicate Najib, a claim that was quickly hushed up in the Malaysian press.

Altantuya was murdered in October 2006 by two of Najib's bodyguards, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri, 30 and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, 35. who stood trial and were pronounced guilty in April 2009.  Abdul Razak Baginda, one of Najib's best friends and Altantuya's lover, was accused of participating in the murder but was freed without having to put on a defense.

The murder has been tied closely to the US$1 billion acquisition of French submarines by the Malaysian ministry of defense, which Najib headed as defense minister during the acquisitions. Altantuya reportedly acted as a translator on the transaction, which netted Razak Baginda's company a €114 million "commission" on the purchase.  Reportedly she had been offered US$500,000 for her part in translating.  After she was jilted, she vainly demanded payment. A letter she had written was made public after her death saying she regretted attempting to "blackmail" Razak Baginda.

French lawyers are investigating whether some of the €114 million was kicked back to French or Malaysian politicians. Despite the scandal, the US government has not publicly backed away from Najib. In April 2010, Najib visited the White House and was praised by President Barack Obama for the parliament's passage of an act allowing Malaysian authorities to take action against individuals and entities engaged in proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The cables are replete with accounts of a long series of meetings with opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who repeatedly told the Americans that Najib was connected to corrupt practices in the acquisition of the submarines as well as the purchase of Sukhoi Su-MCM-30 Flanker fighter jets from Russia.  Anwar also called attention to Najib's connection to the Altantuya case.

A Jan. 24, 2007 cable, marked "secret," wrote that "Perceived irregularities on the part of prosecutors and the court, and the alleged destruction of some evidence, suggested to many that the case was subject to strong political pressure intended to protect Najib."

In a Feb. 1, 2008 cable, the embassy's Political Section Chief, Mark D. Clark, wrote that a deputy prosecutor had told him "there was almost no chance of winning guilty verdicts in the on-going trial of defendants Razak Baginda, a close advisor to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, and two police officers.  She described the trial as interminably long." (That, of course, turned out to be wrong. Sirul and Azilah were ultimately convicted and have appealed their sentence) 

Clark called the trial a "a prosecutorial embarrassment from its inception, leading many to speculate that the ineptitude was by design.  On the eve of the trial,Malaysia's Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail dropped his lead prosecutors and replaced them with less experienced attorneys.  Similarly, a lead counsel for one of the defendants abruptly resigned before the trial 'because of (political) attempts to interfere with a defense he had proposed, in particular to protect an unnamed third party.'"

The protracted nature of the case, Clark continued, led "at least one regional newspaper to speculate that 'the case is being deliberately delayed to drive it from public view. Malaysia's daily newspapers rarely mention the case's latest developments, and it is unprecedented in Malaysian judicial history that a murder trial could drag on for seven months and still not give the defense an opportunity to present its case.  Such an environment has led many to conclude that the case was too politically sensitive to yield a verdict before the anticipated general elections."

A January 2007 cable called attention to Razak Baginda's affidavit confirming that he sought the help of Musa Safri, later identified by reporters as Najib's aide-de-camp, in ridding him of the jilted woman, and in other cables pointed out that Musa had never been called for questioning.

In another cable, dated May 16, 2007, Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, a deputy home affairs minister in former Prime Minister Ahmad Abdullah Badawi's cabinet told US Embassy officials that he was "certain that government prosecutors would limit their trial activities to the murder itself and the three defendants; prosecutors would not follow up on allegations of related corruption or other suspects."

In a Jan. 27, 2007 cable, marked "Secret," embassy officials wrote that "In December we heard from one of (Anwar's) lawyers that Razak Baginda's wife was in contact with Anwar and Wan Azizah, suggesting one possible source for Anwar's information." 

Razak Baginda's wife, during one of his first appearances in court, screamed that her husband "doesn't want to be prime minister." That was taken by observers as a reference to the fact that Najib reportedly had been having an affair with Altantuya but passed her on to Razak Baginda because it would be unseemly to have a mistress when he succeeded Abdullah Badawi as premier.  Najib has offered to swear on the Koran that he had never met the woman.

However, in July 2008, P Balasubramaniam, a former policeman and private detective who had been hired by Razak Baginda to protect him from Altantuya, filed a sworn statement saying he had been told by the accused man that Najib not only knew the murdered woman but had an affair with her and introduced her to him, passing her on because he did not want the onus of having a mistress in the event that he would become prime minister.

In a telephone interview on May 9, Anwar, however, told Asia Sentinel that Razak Baginda's wife was not the source of his knowledge of Najib's connection and that instead he had been told of the connection by Setev Shaariibuu, Altantuya's father, who said he had wished to present evidence of Najib's involvement, but was not allowed to do so.  Multiple attempts to contact Setev by Asia Sentinel have been unsuccessful.

Almost immediately after he made the statement, Balasubramaniam was picked up and driven to a police station, where he was forced to withdraw the statement and write a new one saying Razak Baginda had told him nothing of the sort. Balasubramaniam fled Malaysia for India.  He later said Najib's brother, Nizam,  and wife, Rosmah Mansor, had met with him and that he was offered RM5 million (US$1.48 million) to forget his statement connecting Najib to Altantuya. Balasubramaniam displayed a flock of checks drawn on the account of an associate of Najib's wife.  The former private detective has made a a series of statements from outside the country about Najib's involvement.

A February 2008 cable from Political Section Chief Clark gives a hint that Abdullah Badawi himself may have been trying to get rid of Najib by forcing Razak Baginda to implicate him in the murder.

"In the latest turn of the ongoing Altantuya murder trial (reftels), accused political insider Abdul Razak Baginda, who has remained calm and composed through most of the proceedings, unleashed an emotional tirade shortly after the February 20 noon recess on the trial's 90th day," Clark wrote. "Referring to the Prime Minister by his nick-name 'Pak Lah,' Razak reportedly exclaimed:  'You can die, Pak Lah! (in Malaysian - Matilah kau, Pak Lah!) I'm innocent!' according to unpublished journalist accounts. 

"Local  newspapers and the government news service Bernama reported the fact of the outburst, but did not print Razak's  statements.  The short-lived exception was the English language newspaper The Sun, which included the quotations from Razak in its early morning February 21 edition.  Sources at newspaper confirmed to us in confidence that the Ministry of Internal Security compelled The Sun to withdraw and recall thousands of copies of their first run paper in which the original quote was included.  Prime Minister Abdullah serves concurrently as Minister of Internal Security."

During the trial, Clark wrote, Razak Baginda, "appeared uneasy throughout the morning session of court on February 20.  Razak's father, Abdullah Malim Baginda had whispered something to him shortly before the trial had begun for the morning and apparently upset the accused.  Razak had remained quiet throughout the morning hearings, but just after the noon recess was called and as he was leaving the courtroom he kicked and banged the door and yelled "You can die, Pak Lah! Die, Pak Lah!  I am innocent.  I am innocent."  He was later seen crying before his lawyer while his mother attempted to comfort him."

"Speculation is rife in Malaysia's on-line community concerning what it was that set off Razak Baginda  outburst, including conspiracy theories alleging the Prime Minister's office had urged Razak to implicate Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak …in return for  sparing Razak a guilty verdict and its mandatory death sentence," officials wrote.  

The cable goes on to write, "Regardless, the Internal Security Ministry would want to limit any possibly inflammatory reference to the Prime Minister at the trial, and particularly at this juncture due to the proximity of Malaysia's general election to be held on March 8.  Any connection between the Prime Minister and the murder trial would be scandalous.  The GOM (government of Malaysia) reportedly has worked hard to 'drive (the case) from public view' … and is not about to allow the case to influence the coming elections." 

*****

This is what Asia Sentinel wrote when they have received Wikileaks cables involving Najib and Altantuya. I don't really know if this really coincides with the MoU that was signed between Raja Petra and Julian Assange, but given that the murder has occurred more than 4.5 years ago, with no proper conclusion, and the trial riddled with inconsistencies, it is one step closer to finding out the real truth really.

The Altantuya murder happened mid-October 2006, when Pak Lah was the PM. His premiership was from 1 November 2003 to 1 April 2009. What attracted me to question is the referencing between the cables and the Statutory Declaration that Pete wrote in June 2008. 

Remember that Pak Lah was still the PM as of that time of the SD was first released.

In the SD, two of the paragraphs written was as follows: 

4. I have been reliably informed that Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has received a written report from the Military Intelligence confirming what I have revealed above and subsequently handed over to his son-in-law Khairy for safekeeping.

5. I have also been reliably informed that one of the Rulers has been briefed about this matter and His Highness is fully aware of what I have revealed above

On 25 June 2008, Pak Lah released a press statement denying that he had in possession of the so-called dossier above. Khairy later then followed Pak Lah's statement above. Later on 4 July 2008, the Intelligence division director of the Military also denies this.

As far as I recalled later on, Pete once said that the particular dossier (MI) no longer exists.

Now on cross-referencing, if the cables revealed that Pak Lah has been trying to implicate Najib and Rosmah (also mentioned by some people) in the murder of the Mongolian woman, one possible implication  and theory would be that a copy of the dossier actually exists but Pak Lah denies having it because if revealed it could bring more complications to him at that time. Pak Lah would try to remove Najib but bidding for the right time.  But he could not do so in time because of the dismal results in the 2008 GE. Now that he is no longer PM and Khairy doesn't have a ministerial post, both have nothing to lose but if they are to go all out, Najib's faction would try to block all efforts to do so.

Apart from that, there is still skepticism over possible theories surrounding the murder which I will not comment at this time. But the cross-referencing above could pose a question and second thoughts of whether Pak Lah still holds the smoking gun?

This Is Where Old Men Get Bash Up

A lot of beans involving sex of BN politicians got spilled recently. For example, the alleged "maid rape" finger-pointing at Rais Yatim, Jamalluddin Jarjis' groped a waitress at Le Meridien, Pornstar Chua's sex in the hotel room and so on - those are a few instances that caught BN by the pants down largely due some "own surveillance" work by normal citizens and the online community.

In fact, the citizens own brand of surveillance over Barisan Nasional's mismanagement has contributed to their uncustomary losses in the 2008 GE. And then, the tons of exposure on Taib Mahmud's mismanagement and abuse of wealth is driving most of these old men bonkers.

And of course it is no strange that these old men, e.g Rais Yatim, Hishamuddin, and Nazri are about to announce a series of guidelines pertaining to the definition of "online sedition".  Only at the feudal age. Until we get to hear what defines as "online sedition", we can first of all say that it is tantamount to online censorship.

There have been several attempts to introduce online censorship, e.g Green Filter, bloggers registration and classification, online monitoring of Wikileaks by Foreign ministry and other silly stupid things that Barisan Nasional would do, but whenever they open the mouth on that, people would bashed the old men who would suggest such a thing. For instance, last year, the old man by the name of Rais Yatim gets bashed left and right over Facebook, Twitter control. Many believed even in the capacity as the Minister of Communications, he doesn't even know how to use e-mail at all.

Yes, the government is very nervous over the Wikileaks and many of the alleged exposures of malpractices by the online community. They said that it is a lie., but if you study the pattern, the obvious trend is "if they say that is a lie, then it is actually true.". Translate that into a scenario: if politician A says that he has not heard nor received a military report on case X, that means, he actually heard and received it. Many exposures, including the soon to be released 1000 plus documents by Wikileaks on Malaysia is going to embarass Barisan Nasional, and they need to stop the damage via a few measures, online sedition is being one of the sinister things to see soon. If you think exposures like in Malaysia Today is as hallucinogen, think Wikileaks as hallucinogenic 5 times stronger

Don't forget that Britain, who once introduced the Sedition act previously, had abolished it themselves, in place of Freedom of Information Act, where any exposure is treated as something that needs to be investigated by the police and Scotland Yard in particular. Sedition Act is 63 years old. Time to go...but we're still seeing elements of neo-Feudalism here. 

Whatever these old men are doing is not going to go well with the online community. If misused by them, it is equivalent to privacy invasion. If there is solid proof of misconduct by politician exposed, they would shut you up a.l.a gangster style. If that happens, but politicians committing sex, isn't that banning what is legit while allowing what is wrong?

According to Hishammuddin, six existing laws will be incorporated into the guidelines - the Penal Code, Sedition Act 1948, Film Censorship Act 2001, Printing and Printing Publishes Act 1984, Multimedia and Communications Act 1998 and the Internal Security Act 1960. He said, “Offences will be charged under these six laws”.   - Mariam Mokhtar, Malaysia Chronicle

Say 5000 people do the same thing. That same thing falls under the those 6 laws. Are you going to send 5000 people who carry commit non-passion crimes like those to prison? Doesn't that sound like sending people into prison for just owning a copy of a book the government doesn't like? Well, this is coming very ugly in terms of people's privacy. Gomen is starting to get busy body, gawking at every single one of us....so get ready...

And that is where there is no country for old men like those. That is where old men get bashed up by the world.

Selvachandran's Detention: Protest at Bukit Aman

Selvachandran's wife, still dark over his whereabouts.

 

A few days ago, K. Selvachandran, who testified against a corporal believed to have caused harm Gunasegaran while in custody, was arrested in Wangsa Maju by a few policemen led by a "Inspector Suresh". As of until yesterday, the family, including the wife still remains dark over his wheareabouts, after Selva was beaten and handcuffed in front of his family. 

Angered, fearful of another beat down as a result of testimony against cops and demanding to know his whereabouts, civil societies, a few MPs (present there were Sivarasa, Dr. Dzul Ahmad, Khalid Samad and Charles Santiago), NGOs and the Bar Council marched up to Bukit Aman police headquaters to hand a memo directly to the IGP Ismail Omar.

Handling the talks between the group and the police where Selva's lawyer, Surendran and Latheefa Koya. It took 90 minutes to meet up and awaiting for their answer. Eventually, it turned out that Selva's case was similar to Benji, where the Narcotics department put him in detention with no trial for 60 days at the KL police headquarters in Pudu.

Afterthought:

According to eyewitness accounts on the night of the arrest, the man who led the arrest carries the name of "Inspector Suresh". The name Suresh seems very familiar and the name is mentioned in prominent cases like the man being involved with dealing with PI Balasubramaniam, and was also mentioned in the Sosilawati murder. A question arises whether this man is the one and the same. 

Free Malaysia Today carries the full account here.

Additional pictures covered in this event at this Picasa album.

 

There are tears in Selva's wife's face. Next to Dr Dzul is Rawang's ADUN, Gan Pei Nee.

Surendran handling talks with Ismail Omar's rep.

Done: Selva is held in Pudu by the Narcotics department, allowed to be visited on Monday.

Tak Mahu Ganti Ah, Hisham?

 Government says no to abolishing Sedition Act

So soon after saying no to a Race Relations Act to combat racial crimes, the government announced today that it had no plans to abolish the Sedition Act 1948.

In a written reply to Chong Eng (DAP-Bukit Mertajam) in Parliament today, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein asserted that this was because the Sedition Act was needed to help curb racial issues.

In her question, Chong had pointed out that Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim himself had suggested that the piece of legislation should be abolished and replaced with a Race Relations Act.

In his interview with English daily The Sun in September, Rais had called the Sedition Act “outdated”, pointing out that a new Race Relations Act should be put in place to properly spell out what is acceptable and what is not when it came to racial matters.

He had said this was to avoid a repeat of incidents such as the recent cases of the racist school principals.

Despite his suggestion, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of unity affairs Senator Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon announced in his written reply in Parliament last week that the government would not enact the Race Relations Act.

He said that this was because the country had enough laws to govern race relation issues.
Today, Hishammuddin echoed Koh’s view and said that the Sedition Act was still “relevant” based on the country’s atmosphere and landscape as a diverse nation with different races, cultures and religion.

“It is needed to uphold national security and the peace and harmony of the country,” he said.
He pointed out that at present, the government was taking action under the law in 10 cases involving racial issues.

“Although there are only 10 cases, the law is still needed to curb racial issues and stop it from becoming more serious,” he said.

Hishammuddin explained that the Sedition Act was enacted in 2008 to allow the government to charge any individual, group or association that have a tendency towards instigating racial hatred through their actions, speech, words, publications or others.

Calls for review of the country’s preventive laws on racial issues cropped up recently following a spate of racially-charged issues.

The government has been accused of dragging its feet in the cases involving two school principals in Kedah and Johor who were accused of uttering racial slurs.

It was announced yesterday that the Kedah principal had already been punished with a heavy warning and a transfer.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz had claimed that the government has done its part by issuing a stern warning to the Kedah principal, and it was the “heaviest” form of punishment the government could dish out to a civil servant.

Last week Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin refused to allow a debate in Parliament over the alleged racial slurs made by two school principals, claiming that action had already been taken against them.

Pandikar did not, however, provide any details on the supposed action taken against the two.

 The Malaysian Insider - 19 October 2010

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

I didn't say any other word other than replace. I'd say replacing, not abolishing the so called 62 year old Sedition Act with a new better act, e.g Race Relations Act that Karpal Singh spoke about recently.

In Australia, there is this 1975 Racial Discrimination Act which makes it an offense for whomsoever commits acts that shows a clear discrimination to the other person in all forms - employment, rendering services, access to facilities, and so forth. An offense under that act can land a guilty person a maximum of 6 years in jail. A supplement act, the 1995 Racial Hatred (inserted after part II of RDA Act) makes it a criminal offense for a person to be in an offensive behavior because of race, religion and so forth.

If this act is used in Malaysia, then the two principals involved in the racism remarks problem could have been jailed for up to six years! And even those bigots like Ahmad Ismail previously would end up in Kajang or Sungai Buloh prison for that offense. Sadly, in this case, Malaysia, with UMNO in the lead are still practicing the divide and conquer tactics in addition the race-based politics. If we are to take that law into the context, don't you think that UMNO leaders could be sent to jail over this offense thing, particularly those who were caught by the press of saying racial related matters?

Speaking of application of law, the Race Relations Act is better in these times rather than using a pre-Independence law against the 21st century. Those who are well-educated or think far ahead would wonder why such old law is used in a new age where not many people use old methods anymore whereas if new ones can do things much better how? Of course, the problem would pose is whether the new solution is is still the same as what the present law would do or so, as what the government would argue.

Hishamuddin Hussein is not the first person to say no to abolishing Sedition Act. Koh Tsu Koon previously said no to Race Relations Act, even though it is already high time for one act like that. But Koh's statement is the same as Hisham's but just two differences between two men: Koh is old fossil, since he's already 60 but Hishamuddin is not even 60. And secondly, Hisham is a legit MP but Koh is merely a senator appointed despite losing in a general election! From that statement above, do you think that what he said is equivalent to what old men would say, or in other words thinking like an old fossil?

 

Sigh...Tak mahu ganti ah, Hisham? I didn't say abolish but replacing it, lest I'd get misquoted!

A Dunce at The Inquest!

“You have to understand. I work for the rights of the dead, not the Selangor government." - Pornthip

There's the dunce at the Beng Hock inquest on Wednesday. What kind of foolish question would he ask on a leading Asian expert on forensics? And to ask her about her qualifications from a top Asian university not recognized from Bolehland is also adding more stupidity to his performance on that day.

And to suggest that Beng Hock strangled himself is also another sheer stupidity. Where got a person do that to himself? Unless if a person is brainless, then yes. Answer is simple. The statement taking session that Beng Hock is supposedly to have HAS TURNED into a third-degree interrogation. The man who could possibly instruct and do such thing or being present at that night is likely Hishamuddin Hashim, as alleged in the leaked letterhead.

From Malaysian Insider:

Abdul Razak pointed out that the other four doctors found no evidence of strangulation and asked Dr Pornthip if Teoh could have strangled himself.

Lawyer Gobind Singh Deo immediately stood up and asked Abdul Razak to demonstrate this, causing the gallery to erupt in laughter.

Abdul Razak also did not seem to grasp the difference between being unconscious and being dead.

 Oh, I just loved that part. It got me cracking in laughter...!

Don Giovanni in Bolehland

Don Giovanni was Mozart's blackest opera. It was parodied in George Bernard Shaw's play, Man vs Superman which compares the opera to the Nietchze's Superman idea. But the key interesting point of the opera is about the fate of a rake, arrogant noble who eventually cannot escape and cannot kill and enemy despite doing that to others.

The climax, when Don Giovanni faces the dead Commendatore (actually Pedro, Anna's father) over dinner invitation. The dead commander calls for the villain to repent but Giovanni refused and as by consequence, he was dragged down to hell.

What I can see about this is in the form of Altantuya and Rosmah. The dead Altantuya's spectre and shadow still roams around Malaysia seeking for its real murderers and those who actually ordered it.

Part of the scene's libretto by Lorenzo Di Ponte reads:

Commendatore: Don Giovanni! I'm here to dine with you! You've invited me and here I come!

Giovanni: I'd have never believed it! Leporello, have another serving brought at once!

Leporello: Master, we're all dying in fear!

.......

And this is prior to the end (rough English translation):

Commendatore: I've accepted your invitation to supper. Now you must accept mine. Answer me! Will you come and dine with me?

Leporello: Tell him you don't have time!

Giovanni: No man shall ever call me a coward!

Commendatore: Decide.

Giovanni: I've already decided! 

Commendatore: You will come then?

Leporello: Say no! Say no!

Giovanni: My heart is stalwart. I am not afraid. I shall come!

Commendatore: Give me your hand in pledge!

Giovanni: My hand! What deadly cold!

Commendatore: Repent! Change your life! This is your last chance!

Giovanni: I will never repent! Let me go!

Commendatore: Repent, villain! 

Giovanni: No, you doddering old fool!

Do you  notice that these exchanges seem similar to what happened to Malaysia?

Look, this is not making up. It is coincidence.

The following video is the climax from the Franco Zeffirelli's 1990 directed opera in Prague which starred Samuel Ramey as Giovanni and Kurt Moll as the Commendatore (arguable the best baritone for that role).

What About The Other Big Fish?

Pic by MI

In light of Ling Liong Sik being charged for two counts of cheating over the PKFZ, there are several parties that are questioning of charging the other big fish that were involved. Of course, earlier on, there supporting characters of the PKFZ including OC Phang were already charged. 

Of course this article by The Malaysian Insider about 'PR unconvinced by charges against Ling' is something that I agreed upon. And of course it serves as to question Superman OTK's statement that no one's above the law. Let's put his statement in the current Malaysian law and judiciary. Do you think that even one big fish has been caught that the others will be caught as well?

Remember that there are still bigger fishes involved in PKFZ including some UMNO men mentioned behind the scenes. Do you think that they would catch them? Some of us have cautioned that when OTK is removed as the MCA president, the next man to come in will sure try to bury the PKFZ into the ground or sweeping it under the carpets? Do you now notice something bad behind Kong Cho Ha (being Pornstar Chua's lackey) order the PKA must pay the remaining money to the bondholders? 

Sadly, PKA couldn't do much of the thing, but the only logical thing is to bring the other big fishes into the net. Of course the figures include Chan Kong Choy, Tiong King Sing and some several UMNO men behind it as well. Then that will mean that Malaysia is living by Superman's statement. But now OTK is grounded, so does Superman at this time!

Jangan Percaya! Don't Believe Him..Kah Kah Kah!!!!

(Bernama) PEKAN, July 4 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said he leaves it to the authorities to take action against blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin. 

The prime minister said the people should not believe the claims made by the blogger who has fled the country to London.

“If Raja Petra is funded by the opposition, it means that his statements are politically-motivated. We should weigh them carefully and not merely accepting them,” he told reporters after opening the Pekan Umno meeting here today.

He was asked to comment on the statement by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz yesterday that the government had proofs that Raja Petra was funded by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).

This morning, I was in a pretty sarcastic mood before work stress kicked in from late morning onwards until 8 p.m, today, I got up very early and I couldn't go back to bed - that was at around 3 a.m and reading that thing has given me a feel good that what was written could be a truth behind the text. Although it doesn't really mentioned directly about Altantuya but instead smacks at Pete, but by from reputation and having relished the chance to meet him a few times before his exile, I can say that whatever is written is hot, is from the trench.

No UMNO-owned media would usually dare to publish such revelations - and backed by leaked letters for the fear of witchhunt by Cousin Hisham's ministry and making those who walk the corridors of power running helter skelter over that thing. Those secrets were supposed to be hush hush and no public person would know that, except for insiders.

If Ustaz Mongolia says "Jangan percaya", then Pete hits back, "Then who do we trust?" And to add more chastisement to Najib, Khairy added another dose of hurt - why didn't the police act on Pete? If you remember back then, there seems to be a split between Musa Hassan's faction and the Ramli Yusuff's faction - which could be still on then. But the question of why by Khairy can be answered in form of Zaid's response.

Sarcastically, I must say that whoever from Yong Soo Heong-led news agency - National News Agency, no more no less - that wrote that piece above has done the people an accidental good service: which is that Najib has shot himself on the foot with that statement.

And the statement interestingly reveals something that we should know by now: what was claimed to be a denial on Altantuya was actually wrong and there is such thing as an affair. And since those things including the coverage of RPK in London all points to Altantuya at the very end, it seems that there the First couple, particularly Bik Mama, are getting restless as the day grows by - they were really involved.

And I was smiling to myself that whole morning.

Her Spectre in Hulu Selangor..

The chair and the cup that Najib used when visiting Hulu Selangor..what is there to be proud of? It's just a person coming over there, obviously to beg for votes there from the kaki bodeks there.

In any by-election, the spectre of this girl will still haunt everyone since the case was never resolved, even after that sham verdict. That is unless, whoever was really behind the murder gets unmasked.

I bet that "name" is forbidden in the Malaysian vocabulary.

Who Really Pressured Pornthip?

When Pornthip said that she was not prepared to testify when the inquest resumes next week, it threw everyone and the government in panic. The government offered them protection, while the state government offered her video conferencing as not to require her physical presence.

The question mark remains on who actually were the force that are trying to pressure her off from testifying? The first party that comes across my mind could be of some people within the Anti Corruption Agency. I am not saying all, but I believe there is a group within the agency, who is probably responsible for the things behind the whole thing.

I keep thinking about this party itself simply because there is some event similarities that happens to P. Balasubramaniam. As you know, Bala only wants London, not Singapore because he felt much more safer and London being an adoptive turf for him. To show up in Singapore can mean cancelling his ticket for some because if he happens to show up there, he could be extradicted at Malaysia's request, just as what happened to Mas Selamat. That is one half of the thing.

And then I thought of the alleged leaked letter. What if the leaked letter actually answers the whole thing? That someone in the MACC did that? And then there was cover up realizing that the attempt of third degree interrogation of Beng Hock ends up in a catrastophe? Could also this actually backs up the truth?

In the first few months of the aftermath of Teoh's sudden death, there has been a scramble by the MACC to do damage control over its reputation. Could this probably that they see that Pornthip's testimony is going to point fingers at them again, thus tarnishing their reputation in no less than a year after its rechristening?

Nazri went over more bite than he can chew when he accused Pornthip, an acclaimed pathologist, one of the best in the world of being a liar. And that meant filing for contempt by the victim's family. For a man whom at times some people think of him as an arrogant taxi driver, people at times is willing to put a boot at his face.

Our Automated Enforcement System With Israeli Connection?

AUTOMATED ENFORCEMENT SYSTEM (AES) WILL BE INSTALLED NEXT MONTH TO CATCH TRAFFIC OFFENDERS

PUTRAJAYA, – The Automated Enforcement System (AES) designed to nab traffic offenders will be implemented after the Road Transport Act is amended by Parliament next month.Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said implementation of the AES would not only help to reduce road accidents, but also corrupt practices among enforcement officers.

“The idea (AES system) was mooted four years ago but it was only last year that we managed to fine tune some of the past inadequacies,” he told reporters before chairing the ministry’s post-cabinet meeting here Wednesday.

The AES system, which is widely used in developed countries like Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, is essentially a system where cameras are installed at accident-prone areas to detect speeding vehicles and cameras are placed at traffic light junctions to nab those beating the red light.

An estimated 3,000 cameras are expected to be installed nationwide. The locations have been identified by the Road Safety Department and the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research.

Meanwhile, Ong said 201 fatalities were reported during a month-long integrated road safety campaign held in conjunction with Chinese New Year since Jan 21.

He said the figures showed a drop of 11 deaths or 5.2 per cent from 212 deaths in a similar campaign conducted last year.

“The average daily death during the period is 13 compared with 18 on normal days, a drop of five deaths daily or 27.8 per cent,” he added.

He said a total of 14,185 cases of road accidents were reported during the campaign period this year, a drop of three per cent or 433 cases from 14,618 cases in the campaign last year.

Ong said the focus of enforcement during the campaign period was on nine serious traffic offences, adding that it had succeeded in reducing fatal accidents .

The offences are exceeding the speed limit, overtaking on double-lines, queue-cutting, beating the traffic light, using the emergency lane, dangerous driving, overloading, not wearing the safety belts and not wearing crash helmets, he added. - Bernama (25.2.2010)

*****

I remembered previously where our Automated Enforcement System is to be replacing manual means of enforcement by having cameras linked to the system installed to nab traffic offenders. The installation process, if I am correct is to be commencing in May, with the full system to be on nationwide by July.

But some of us remembered of the so-called E-Force Solution that was to be developed by Web Power Sdn. Bhd. Was that related to the present Automated Enforcement System that is to implemented?

We know that AES that is to be used here is has the bulk of the technology developed by Asiasoft Pte Ltd in Singapore where it was spearheaded by two notable Israelis. You can read Pete's link below for further elaboration. - (Also reported on 27 June 2008) But I was wondering whether it is the exact same technology used in Australia, US or so forth? And the remaining?

Anwar has blew a lid at the corridors of power with such revelation. There are people who scream about themselves against Israelis, anti-Zionists or so forth but caught being in collusion with them will now have to answer now that they are seen with pants down. But this kind of technology here, reminds me of how dangerous people or BN selling secrets to other nations. That's what economic hitmen will tell them to do and everyone of us will be paying a terrible price later on. We don't want another Robert Hansen* matter, don't we?

*Hansen was an ex-FBI agent who was caught selling country secrets to Russia by the US.

Where's The Other Two?

So, the Kugan case has just kicked off this week with a few witnesses providing testimonies against one Indian police officer accused of committing torture. But just only one? No!!!! You can't torture a person single handedly to make a suspected criminal dead like that! The logical thing is that you need more than one person to put a person like Kugan in suffering injuries in a short period of time! Doing it alone is will not achieve such effect within the short time of Kugan suffering massive injuries.

Which means, that in fact, there is actually more than one police officer involved. What was never revealed to the main press is that there are two other officers involved. And both of them...as according to some insiders and revealed in the recent piece by Pete, revealed Malay officers. It is a not so secret thing really but one possible reason of why the other two were never revealed is the fear of the identities exposed and turning it into a racial issue if this issue is exploited or goes out of control.

And this case has revealed how vile the third degree interrogation methods are used on suspects, those who are not convicted of the crime yet!

You can call this as a speculation but anyhow, it could be revealed later when our current suspect testifies or being cross-examined in the court. Psychologically speaking, the officer in question could be revealing that thing later on if he feels that he can get out of the guilt of not telling it out.

And speaking of which, do you think that the testimony by today's witness is worth it or not?

Flashback: 6 August 2008

The Anwar Ibrahim Sodomy II trial has drawn much of attention from local and international media, with each sides portraying Anwar in a contrasting matter. In the western print, the international media like the Washington Post, Al-Jazeera, has portrayed Anwar as a victim of political persecution, a frame-up victim and many things that indicate of his innocence. They also did mention of the same script from Sodomy I being reused again for the plot of the decade.

The local media, including the hawk media of Utusan has portrayed Anwar as a liar, charlatan, and many other things likewise as to say he is actually lying in his teeth and guilty of the sodomy outright. As a reader reading both sides of the story, you would be definitely be confused over which story to trust - either the local BN-controlled media or the international press.

I have already mentioned this many times that I am not a Anwarista or a loyalist to the man, but sometimes, there are some opinions and facts that are hurled against the man seemed to be incorrect in logic and moral aspects.

Utusan did a mistake last week, having published photos of the visit to the condominium. As a result, this was exploited by Anwar in today's call for the recusal of the judge, citing bias decisions that the judge made in the past.

What's my opinion on this? So far neither, until more things unfold later on. But at the beginning of the trial, I was reminded something which was 18 months back.

Exactly 18 months ago, there was an article that surfaced on Malaysia today entitled "Sodomologist Extraordinaire". What was written contains a very interesting line which details notes and charts to incriminate Raja Petra and Anwar Ibrahim. According to that piece, the sodomy plan II was also conceptualized there as well. Of course this eventually led to the suit against Pete by Shafee on 15 August 2008.

What is to say is that piece written 18 months ago gives a hint and orientation of how the trial, if it goes as it is planned , the trial of Anwar Ibrahim Sodomy II would go. You don't need to be an idiot to figure it out eventually.

Britain No Longer Uses Sedition, What About Malaysia?

We all use to read our history books which says that Malaysia uses the law that is modeled after the English law - considered well respected by the world. However, as time goes on, we notice that old colonial laws that they have are now abolished and replaced with new more efficient laws. This is because that people perspective, public opinion and believes have now changed already and with information technology to back it up

Section 73 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 has mentioned that crimes of sedition are no longer valid and was abolished from Tuesday onwards (Wikipedia mentions that the date of commencement was on the 12th whereas others say it's on the 1st).

If there is a application of extradition of Pete, the English court will not take sedition into account for transaction, for it falls under the four bars that spells rejection to extradition, in addition to crimes in political nature. So, Musa and Gani have scored an own goal of the mob.

So, since Malaysia has called themselves of inheriting English from the beginning, why not start by dropping the Sedition Act and drop all cases involving that act? That act is already 62 years old, introduced during the Malayian Union period. Now it's no longer Malayan Union already.

But look, the ruling party wants to stick to the past, wanting to show how superior they are from the past until now that they are unwilling to ditch the sedition act. It's 2010 now, boyo.

Remember what Hisham said?

June 18 2009 - Bernama:

KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 (Bernama) -- The government has no plan to abolish the Sedition Act 1948 as its provisions are still relevant at the present time, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said Thursday.

He said the provisions enabled the government to act if individuals or organisations attempted to undermine security and public order.

"Individuals who use words of a seditious nature in their speech or writing can be prosecuted under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act," he said in a written reply to Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) in the Dewan Rakyat.

Karpal Singh had asked whether the government was prepared to abolish the Sedition Act 1948 which was formulated to stop protests against the formation of the Malayan Union proposed by the British administration then.

The Face of An Ally, The Mask of A Foe

I don't rule out the possibility that a party who offers their hand in support of the victimized is actually instigating the whole thing out of the reason of the anticipation of loss of power which a party has held for the last 50 years or so. The party was banking on the majority population support which most of them are docile, doesn't know the truth and can be fooled into following their words.

As Goebbels once said, the more the lie it becomes, the more it becomes the truth, which leads to more kaki bodek following the statement, even if the statement is absolutely wrong in all aspects.

Enough of my rantings.

I had met Jackie Surin (not sure last year or the year before that) at the BUM meeting, where I was invited to have a picture taking session with Farish Noor. Her writing - "Who started it?" shared the same opinion as I do. Read here.

As if that is not enough, do you think it is always possible to consider a party that wishes to instigate or make the issue big by financing the mob groups that go violent? Read here.

My friend, whom I have not spoken and met over the last four months or so once told me of 'Father's Recipe' meaning that if things can get worst, our PM can go back to his father's recipe of the 1969 disaster with the help of cousin Hisham, and best buddy Zahid Hamidi. Like I said, anything is possible and permitted.

Of course such possibilities above mean that everyone should be careful lest you repeat the 1969 and fall to the trap of those who intend to set it up. Got it?

The Subtle Hint of Wrongdoing By MACC

Christmas Eve - The Selangor police started an investigation by Lim Guan Eng's claims that Beng Hock was indeed murdered. Khalid Bakar was quoted to say that Guan Eng's statement is considered as inciting the public to believe that Beng Hock was murdered. But on the 29th, Pornthip declared from her analysis that Beng Hock was indeed murdered. Which means that the content of the first report - allegation is rendered superflous given that the statement says it all.

Then a police report was made at Pornthip by the MACC over the allegation that the beans were spilled too early over it. Some said that it is one way to scare and intimidate Pornthip of not showing up for the inquest session, which is resuming this Thursday. That is one part true and the other part is it is hinting of the MACC's wrongdoing over Beng Hock's case. The first part - being intimidation - means that the MACC is committing a criminal offense as well into intimidating a key witness from providing key testimony and statement.

Previously, an anonymous letter with the MACC letter head was making its rounds on the Internet around a week after Beng Hock was found dead. It contains details that the MACC Selangor was using intimidation tactics on Beng Hock. The more elaborate details include how they would force and break someone into giving a simple info, even to point a finger at someone in exchange for their freedom or something. It was also alleged in that letter that Beng Hock doesn't have any idea to the questions posed by them and they tried to do the extreme - dropping him down from the 14th floor in order to get information. But that intimidation stunt ended in a disastrous manner in the way Beng Hock fell - which posses a question of why is there a rip on the trousers?

Let's just say if what was written in the letter eventually turned out to be correct after all - which means that the appeal ruling over the interrogation hours will become irrelevant at all (that's one of them), and secondly, there's going to be a massive overhaul in the organization, and of course, the officers involved in that session that night, could be finding themselves out of the job.

In anyways, let's wait until Thursday to see things going.

Shooting The Whistleblower For Bad Things

The whole buzz on the Malaysian media over these two weeks is about the obsession to find and take RPK out from London back to Malaysia. Most of them who spoke of these obsessions mostly come from the mob group called United Malays National Organization. Other BN component parties never even mentioned a single word or two about this kind of development. Counting the number, the number from the mob group was about three notably, one from Puad Zakarshi, one from Pete's friend Megat, and one more from Latif Ahmad.

One of the points mentioned by this kaki bodek Latif seems illogical:

Dr Abdul Latif urged the police and Immigration Department to intensify their probe in exposing the sponsor’s identity.

He also claimed that other bloggers could be part of a syndicate to tarnish the country’s good name but that only Raja Petra was special enough to have been sponsored on an overseas trip.

Let's remember that most bloggers don't tarnish. They expose the big fish and the big figures. Back in 2004, there were 18 characters - big fishes including ministers and politicians known to be involved in high-level corruption and mismanagement. Sadly Latif might not know that MSM cowered because they fear repercussion from the Home Ministry over publishing something that could catch the fat cats with the pants down. And to get the ball rolling about big fishes in that, even the IGP friend Musa is also one of them - since he's colluding with underworld figures. Otherwise, why would the name Moo Sai Chin suddenly appeared during Rosli Dahlan's trial?

The Altantuya murder mystery still REMAINS not closed entirely. It's already three years. The sooner such gimmicks and comedy of errors done by gomen go on and on, the longer people are waiting to find out who actually killed Altantuya. Certainly, Sirul and his other partner were made scapegoats as what PI Bala's original SD implies.

Unfortunately, it's true as Pete claims that you need to think more and deeper of how he got out of Malaysia and so forth. But the more important things are in hand now, which to get the bigger fish not going after those small and innocent fishes. If somehow the bigger fish can't be caught even though it is visible and big in size, then there's something wrong with the catcher and it needs sight replacement, if you know what I mean. Or is the catcher afraid of being bitten?

So, since now Musa Hassan has asked the British police to look for Pete, you may know what it could come back in the end. It's like turning the tables around you / hunter becomes the hunted.

Shooting the whistleblower..... Where's that Witness act that Nazri mentioned before?

Aha ! Bik Mama's Stresses

Out of the blue when Malaysiakini reporters decide to ask a question on allegation at Bik Mama, Rosmah got rattled and started to say no time for gossip and lies. Here's the quote:

“I said only relevant questions (about this function). I don’t entertain gossip. I don’t entertain lies. I don’t entertain… This is why… please, this is why I said earlier that we must concentrate on bigger issues.”

I notice some emotional content in that statement. Pretty sure that Rosmah is actually in a very tight situation and indeed in trouble. There are lot of attacks from various corners, in and out. As to illustrate the direction of attacks, you have one corner where Tian Chua said that RM 600K of money was channeled to her in Dubai by an associate of hers. Then Raja Petra was saying that she was paying off Bala with warnings from her brother-in-law Nazim and money from her toyboy Deepak. Then you have Mahathir who was slamming Najib for putting Malaysia in a pro-USA stance, something that doesn't bode well with the old man given the old man harbors suspicion of the Americans - of course that is to say that she's not happy with that too.

And of course, the allegation of her being at the scene of murder of Altantuya.

That is why to this day, Bik Mama is in hell a lot of trouble. Given that she tends to get involved more in things than any other first ladies, sure, she's encountering more trouble from whistleblowers everywhere who tend to expose the misdeeds of the present Najib administration, and those in the past. There are many people who are not happy of how things are shaping up here. That is why there are thorns to be removed with one of them being Pete.

I was pondering a few times, what if every shit hits the fan and she is caught with pants down, while the media is facing at her?

Stamping Them Further Into The Gutter

Seems like the govt. is kind of trying to pretend that there is nothing happening around and they wish to close the cases under the tag as No Further Action. This doesn't happen on one front, but two examples instead. And we got people who are faster enough to detect how stump these top brass are. Perhaps it is mainly of many excuses, not only no proof but in fact that they want people to forget it as if nothing happens and the last of all, to cover the boss's ass - Najib's ass that is and someone behind him - Bik Mama.

The government is now in Catch 22 situation and is caught with the backs behind the brick wall.

After Americk wrote an e-mail (see Bala's Six Conditions For Interview With MACC ), there's still yet a response coming to them from the MACC, undecided on whether they wish to conduct the interview with Bala. They wish to put this in cold storage, thinking that Shamsul Iskandar could not find him as what he promised, but Americk's mail means that they cannot ignore it at all. If they attempt to close, people will think that the MACC is colluding with their political masters in attempting to cover up the blackmail thing and subsequently pointing all the way back to the start - Altantuya's murder.

Having them to come to Singapore or London to take Bala's statement is going to cost them a lot of money, particularly in the latter since a pound is RM 5.50 here and they are not willing to come out with a lot of money to go there to do the job. Some slackers indeed really, I suppose?

Like I said, it's a 'behind the 8-ball' situation. If they don't take the statement, people say that MACC is covering up for First Couple and colluding with the political masters. But if they risk taking the statement from Bala, it is showing the professionalism, but in the process, it will not bode well for the First Couple, particularly Big Mama.

This is only one part of it. And this comes to Karpal Singh. Karpal has taken up Nazri's challenge to prosecute Mr. 'Korek' V.K Lingam and surely Karpal is itching to kick off the case. To make sure he doesn't waste his time, he has asked for a fiat to prosecute Lingam in seven days. But that depends on the A.G chambers to issue it or not. But of course, if Karpal doesn't get that fiat, it tells people that the government is colluding with those brokering judges or those white collar criminals!

You keep seeing and hearing "People First Performance Now" slogans everywhere, but if there are no responses to those above or nothing happens, then that slogan is pretty hopeless and no substance at all. Sometimes, you will need to stamp them into the gutter to make things work.