When Expletives And Profanity Are Necessary

There's are two interesting notions I can draw about from how these ignorant and insensible people making burgers, showing their buttocks and making the bro hahas around Ambiga's residence in Damansara Heights. I don't really want to talk much about what other people have said - what they are doing, why they are doing and so forth, except the whole thing summarizes that these people who claim to be themselves pious, praying to God almost everyday yet they indirectly say it is legitimate and halal to support what is expressively forbidden by God and the things that have been written into stone - e.g commit corruption, supporting or doing evil. Even by saying no to Bersih, it also means that they really want to play dirty or they do not know what is actually behind the whole thing so to speak.

Anyhow, the first part I want to talk about today is about the business. In business, there is such a thing called a firesale, meaning, you make sale at an very well discounted price, just to take advantage of the situation. At Bersih 3.0 recently, there are some traders who knew who to grab the opportunity in that situation. There were many people out there to grab a quick bite or have a quick drink to quench their thirst. Those who did so made a decent amount of money on that day. Those who didn't, well it's their own business and their mistake anyhow.

I once used the comparison of the parking management companies and their parking prices in general as the example case in point of how smart and savvy traders use ways to get people to come again vs those who do not know about it and use only one poor way to recuperate their operations and investment. The missing piece that separates between what makes a good sale vs an unsatisfactory sale (high price but unsatisfactory service) is the elements that form a carrot stick for the people. Taking off other factors into consideration for the price setting (including target audience, target revenue and so forth), I get the opinion view that smart and savvy managed companies will offer a unique pricing way to attract people into coming. How's the idea of RM1 - 2 for the first three hours on weekdays sound? In the view of the consumer, it's worthwhile, assuming that if one stays there for a little more than 3 - say 5 hours for the price of 60% of the actual.

Compare it with RM 4 per hour with no attractive marketing strategy - people will get angry and you lose their services. How does that approach sound like?

The traders who demonstrated at Ambiga are mostly those who don't really know how to finesse themselves in the art of selling things out to attract people. The claim of the Bersih rally losing money is not really concrete. The main reason is that there was never a police advisory board of them to close the business. Instead, it is their folly and their decision with lack of wisdom to close that got them into the mess. They should not instead blame Bersih and their organisers and instead should blame themselves for it.

The notion that I got is following and being mislead by the ringleader by the name of Jamal Younus. It is well known that Jamal is an UMNO member and a known bedfellow of Noh Omar (note: Sekinchan Ikan Bakar is also first based in Tanjung Karang). One thing that caught my attention is his claim of being a nasi lemak seller, whereas it was proven that he was seen several times driving a luxorius car that no commoner would be able to buy given of its price inclusive of its import duty 100% of its original value. Another that caught my attention is that the campaign of getting support for their traders anti-Bersih rally indirectly is profiteering one man alone - him. Maybe you might want to read more about DAP's alleged claim about this fellow here.

Who's more a fool? A fool himself or the fool that follows the fool? The other thing is that those who said no gets mislead by an unfounded claim by a man who is affiliated to UMNO. And you're not a savvy trader who immediately gets duped into believing Bersih is anarchy? Why do you blame people whereas it is their own wrong decision that gets them into the trouble? Were if they are able to sell like some of their own ilk who did that on the event day, they could be making some additional money out of it. Were they aware that the event was attended by everyone of all races for just one cause - eliminating the gerrymandering in elections and instead pursue the goal of level of playing field?

You mean that you people out tell us that playing dirty is fine and legit?

This is why expletives and profanity words at you are necessary to get your brain right: words like -

cibai - niamah chow hai -  so hai - fuck you -  churn choi - sor hai - bodoh - tolol -  kena tipu - malaon

and the list goes down to say that people like you will not make the country mature and progress better.

Amateur Day(s) At Casino UMNO

Before Bersih 3.0, I wrote a posting about Casino UMNO. I also had said that if the people turnover on that very day, April 28 was quite much compared to the first two, then like a Casino, then can make a big bucks or losing out a lot. Having read several accounts in the post-Bersih period, I can imagine how the present government acts now, including damage control measures, arresting people and deflecting accusation at others as a way of recuperating a sudden money blitz in one day.

It's like watching that critical blitz scene from Ocean's Thirteen where at the end of the day $500 million went out of the door, no doubt thanks to the shrewd manipulation of gambling inventory (rigged card shufflers, dice added with polymer material. and some internal sabotage from the people inside The Bank). There are still people out there who are unwilling to take the fact that about 250,000 people alone in Kuala Lumpur have come out to say that the election system is still inefficient and full of discrepancies.

Considering if every of the 250,000 in attendance are high rollers in a casino, then UMNO lost maybe around $750 million or more in one day itself. It can be considered as a "Amateur Day" event. The amount falls between the estimated amount of RM600 - RM1.2 billion of election war chest to be used for the next general election. Amusingly, there are people out there who scream things that point out on "capitulation" to the enemy. Even Najib himself declared that the whole thing was like the Arab Spring, which was never intended by the organizers.

Maybe Najib was misadvised by the intelligence reports of the Duduk Bantah plan or maybe not. However, if we are to put in comparison what is the same thing happening here with Ocean's Thirteen is not about faulty equipment, it's about accidental screwing up by those in charge. Two parties notable for this is the DBKL and of course the police. 

I keep wondering if Ahmad Fuad would have said yes instead, those around him would immediately point fingers at him as insubordination to political demands of the main party lynchpin (read UMNO). Indirectly, it has got people more and more angry and hostile towards the City Council. The other one, which I found it more amusing  and a reason to ridicule at is the IGP cop himself. It was surprising to read that instead of acting base on the situation, it was the "cry to mummy" case.

Here's an excerpt by Raja Petra about the IGP recently in his "The IGP must fall on his sword" piece:

When news broke that Bersih is, yet again, going to organise a rally in April, the IGP went running to the Prime Minister to ask him as to what to do. What the hell is going on? The IGP should be having his fingers on the pulse of the nation. He should be the one advising the Prime Minister as to what to do, not asking the Prime Minister what the police should do.

Yes, on Twitter, the rumors have been of a few police officer's death on that day that got the police being too emotional instead of being professional. The same brutality as in Bersih 2.0 happens again, but approach was different. The second one was considered like a witchhunt. This one was more of a hate yellow thing. That's why there are pictures of cops identified in assaulting people including journalists. More shocking was that IGP privately admitted that he had lost control of the force.

The IGP crawled back to Najib’s office with this tail between his legs and sheepishly told the Prime Minister that he had lost control of the police on that day. 

What happened? What made the police go berserk?

It was because of the rumour, the IGP replied. There was a rumour circulating amongst the police that three police personnel had died, killed by the Bersih protestors. Hence the police were outraged and were out for revenge. They no longer could control the police personnel on the ground.

It's true that the brutality exhibited in the second rally drew a lot of people that many wanted to come out and witness / participate in person for Round 3. It is also likely that if there is a Round 4 of the rally, the number would have been doubled, close to a million - as what Mat Sabu is talking lately on 1 million for Round 4.

 

Picture this in a film, both men might have played a roll of a pitboss. The cops can be considered as the security personnel of a casino. What about Hishamuddin? Where does he fit into that day itself? He was not consistent in his words. Hence his moniker as "Mat Lidah Kontot" called by a few people on him is accurate. One moment said that Bersiih was not a threat to security. Later, what he said seems to imply that it's a threat to security and pushing for Stadium Merdeka. Hold on: if previously Bersih was not given the right to sit at Stadium Merdeka then what the hell this time you said ok for?

If there is another Bersih that happens, first it means, that more people are starting to get awake from slumber, with the amount of the 3rd rally attracts them. Secondly, it's another amateur day to go to Casino UMNO. With the same type of players sabotaging by accident in the casino, it is likely that it will be another 1 -4 billion ringgit out of the door in one amateur day, if 1 million high rollers come in to that day itself. 

Consider that as taking back the money you paid to the government of the day.

A/N: I know I have not been writing anything in the last few weeks but I admit that being in the period of work transition, it means a hard time to pass and adjust to the new environment so it will take more time than writing here, which I am trying to accommodate some time here.

Bersih 3.0: Third Time's A Charm

Some people have asked me during my breakfast and lunch break on that fateful day whether if the Bersih 3.0 rally was the first time I've been there. Many have admitted that it's their first since the second one in 907 gained popularity everywhere. If the first one didn't draw that much, while the second got much attention due to people being accused as villains, then the third one sparked everyone and the numbers swelled. Those who had been into the first two and had foresaw the whole thing were right all along.

Some were surprised when I answered that it's my third time. I got the tendency to believe that third time's a charm. I have also went with some of those "veterans" (those who have participated into this previously). My cousin's group whom many have told me it's the first time being among the swarm of people walking on the streets.

In the previous rally, I've done a live online coverage where a lot of people worldwide were tuning in. But this time I didn't because I thought that there are other channels and media providing the on the ground coverage. Therefore it allowed me to concentrate on doing my walkabout and photography work there.

On the night before I've done some scouting on the possible entry and exit points. Neither seems to be appealing because of the lack of parking space and as I've anticipated, entry into the Royal Selangor Club was off limits to everyone including member even though the court order provides an exception to that. At least with that there's a proper entry plan. There were three ways of entering into the city, but as agreed with other friends, there is need to pick a group and stick with it before the rally began.

Anticipating the possibility of the main LRT stations beginning to close in the later part of the morning, I started off from Masjid Jamek walking along Jalan Tun Perak to see the crowd level. It's still more or less the same as was the night before except that the traffic was cleared off to allow people to gather at that point. Since there's a group of people whom I am to about to meet in Petaling Street, I took the back route heading to Petaling Street, via Central Market.

I could count about one to two policemen barricade through Central Market on the way to Petaling Street. There, there were a lot of people, yellow and green having breakfast while waiting for the time to come down to Jalan Tun Perak. Former PKA chairman Hwa Beng happened to be spotted by the author at Petaling Street as well.
 

Meanwhile, Central Market opened at 10 a.m. At around 11 plus, Ambiga, surrounded by some Unit Amal men had a little conference and meeting with her supporters and fans alike. Central Market was one of the meeting spots and the police doesn't seem to care much until later in the afternoon. Not much for me to move around except to check back with the other group I intended to meet at Coliseum Cafe later on.

The number of people increased a lot during my return walk to Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman / Tun Perak intersection, with more people appearing. At lunch with my cousin's group, I enquired whether most of them are first timers. I knew that my cousin was at the Lawyers' march in 2007 (the march in light of the Lingamtape video) so he can be counted as an exception to this. 

By the time lunchtime was over, cops -  about a few hundred of them - started marching from Sogo all the way to the junction. People cheering at them, thinking that they might helping out the crowd later on. At that point of time, the crowd, especially those who came from KLCC started to fill up the streets all the way up to Menara Maybank with the kick off to protest barely 30 minutes away. People around here have started to chant a lot of common phrases you can hear at any ceramahs, like "Reformasi", "Hidup Rakyat", "Hancur UMNO", "Stop Lynas" and a few more.

I knew that by the time the sit-in starts I would not be able to move in and out easily with people sitting on the road. Fortunately, I managed to bump into another group of friends (one of them is ABU's Sam Haris) and we moved out through the small lane back to Lebuh Pasar and Bar Council.

At the intersection of the Jalan Silang / Tun Tan Siew Sin, people from Central Market / Petaling Street have started to converged to the intersection of Jalan Tun H.S Lee / Tun Perak. At this time. The numbers have started to swell at that spot already. However, we were not aware that the protest kicked off earlier than the planned 2.00 pm start point. Back at the Bar Council building, the FRUs have already formed a line.

There has been some instruction to head down to Menara Maybank in Jalan Tun Perak. Some when down there, while some remained before the barricade of barb wires there. Away, we could hear some shots of tear gas being fired at Tun Perak. There was a FRU truck that was siphoning the river water to fill up their water tanks. Minutes before the police dispersing of protesters, the barricade in front was removed. Many thought that they were allowed to move further in but the FRUs have moved several yards back. People there were cautious. And at 3.26 pm, the FRUs have started their crowd dispersal ways. Tear gas grenades and the water cannon started raining onto the weary public.

The crowd at Lebuh Pasar started running helter-skelter. Some ran back towards Masjid Jamek, some retreated to Central Market / Petaling Street. The effects from the tear gas had my tears a little teary, blurred vision and pretty dizzy that I could not concentrate well on walking except keeping in mind to get out of war zone before the cops swarm in like possessed demons and beasts. At that end, I could not stop and take more pictures.

RapidKL had a share of the blame for not opening exit points for people to leave the city. As what the findings from the observers say, the cops are more or less intending on boxing the participants with no exits up or down. This was the same case as happened at the Tung Shin hospital portion during the the Bersih 2.0 rally.  If the exit stations of Dang Wangi and Pasar Seni were open and had they ignore the cops demand to shut down the station, people could have disperse better. I had to retreat back to Petaling Street, cutting through the lanes to reach back to the old railway station to leave.

I knew the risks before coming. But in those risks, there's the fun. But the point of contention and anger is how those cops act like gangsters and another thing was how our DBKL people are behaving like schoolchildren, unwilling to share a piece of a toy for others. I thought the iconic field was for everybody, but Pak Samad was right on statement: it should been branded as Dataran Tak Merdeka. I knew there were a lot of naysayers who talk trash of the rally including the last one. Were I to bet with them, they would have loss big and ridiculed for lack of substance.

Full photo album here.

Bersih: Raising The Stakes

With slightly less than 24 hours to go before Saturday's Bersih 3.0 rally, Putrajaya has already flip-flopped. Hishamuddin Hussein, who previously said that Bersih is no threat to security has no declared that cops will be acting against Bersih with the first move being the police are trying to get the court injunction order to stop top Bersih people from reaching Merdeka Square.

This has come in addition to DBKL declaring a lockdown on Merdeka Square from 6 am Friday morning and threaten people under Section 65 Local Government Act 1976. If Hishamuddin acts like this, it means he's not acting alone, but instead acting in concert with other UMNO warlords who are unable to swallow or take pride of what is to come. This also subtly hints that Najib is also facing internal opposition from his people within UMNO itself rather than the public image of opposition coalition attacking him.

The real question is who among the UMNO hawks and warlords that are the ones calling the shots?

The argument by the mayor Ahmad Fuad Ismail that Merdeka Square is merely used for national events do not seem to make it quite sound. To make it worse, the Peaceful Assembly Act bill which comes into effect on Monday seems to not include the right to outright reject something by the authorities and is in violation of assembling in one pre-defined location. In other words, the cops and city council have a mockery of the bill already.

Today, both sides have raised their stakes. Imagine this as a poker game between two people where one tries to call bluff while one has clearly have a better hand in play with the help of the 5 cards on the table. Putrajaya and DBKL are upping the ante by getting court-order to restraing people from coming in tomorrow. The Bersih commitee has responded with a "we will go ahead regardless" response. Occupy Dataran movement has responed with crowding the square tonight at

Sometimes, it can be wonderful how reverse psychology can be. The more pressure applied by authoritarians, the more people will start coming in to the square later on. Therefore, it's not possible to see a ideal half million people gathering there. I can see a 60% probability that DBKL will start bleeding money on that day, as they had to bring in their own personnel in addition to calling

It's a strange thing to see that while other cities outside KL are allowed to hold an event for two hours, I can't see the logic behind a no thing. Anyone who talks about #TKLLogic will also have the same opinion like I do.

To cut the story short: how do you stop on 500,000 potential people swarming in the city tomorrow?

You Only Need Another 15 Or More

Political analyst Wong Chin Huat's summation that for every one rural vote, represents six urban votes is correct given that it is based on how the constituent areas were drawn. Some small, some are big, while some are separated from the previous deliniation exercise. It is no doubt that 33.8% votes for BN at least is enough for them to form a federal government with a minimum of 112 seats.

"Something is seriously wrong when you can win 50.4 per cent of Parliament with just 18.9 per cent of the votes." Chin Huat said.

I once lamented that the rural people do not know the cost and the price they will pay if they still vote for a government known to have bad conducts.

Penentration of rural voting is quite hard. This is not because people do not trust alternatives like BN.

It's simple because many are illiterate. Even if they talk, but yet they are not able to get to know the parties well. They are merely given cash goodies and told to vote for the "dacing" (read BN). Therefore, talk about corruption, cows, Felda, Scorpene submarines that the big three men Anwar, Lim Kit Siang and Hadi Awang don't really work 100% at all. It will take a long time to cure this syndrome because in the next 10-20 years, many would have already been dead. There's not really much things we can work on, unless you fight fire with fire. Here, the urban minorities have to do a little more work to reach out the rural areas.

In the States, people who are based in major cities like New York and Los Angeles are the ones that reached out to the people in the mid-west / center America to let them know of

Previously, Lim Guan Eng spoke of winning at least another 15-20 parliamentary seats in the next GE. I was pretty skeptical at the beginning because it assumes that PR is able to defend their previous winning successfully. Many fence-sitters (i.e those who did not register as voter previously) are not aware of the unexpected success that there could be higher chances of defending and winning a few more seats. With more legitimate (not the foreigner for citizenship) voters being registered in the EC, the forecast results based on the 2008 statistics is not really relevant already.

Guan Eng's estimation of at least 15 is quite modest in estimation and target. It's not that hard to win. They can take 5 more parliamentary seats out of each of the 3 states in the Southern Peninsular: Negeri Sembilan, Melaka and Johor. Pahang can also be a bonus, give or take 3 more due to the Lynas issue. Negeri Sembilan is in deep trouble, Johor and Melaka will start to see more penetration by PR. If some of the DAP veterans are moved back to Johor, then the chances are MCA is likely to be finished almost entirely.

Actually, winning big for PR is a dream big goal, but to go for that at this point of time is too unrealistic because they cannot match the BN's warchest of between RM 600 million to RM 1.7 billion. However, adding another 15-30 more to their PR parliamentary pocket can cause some ripples and unprofound effects to the East Malaysia partners. You have to remember that Sabah and Sarawak are actually kingmakers (with their local parties there), not fixed deposits, mind you. Sabah and Sarawak's way of thinking is not the same as people in Peninsular.

As for the profound effect of what might happen, I let figure it out.

Casino UMNO

Most of the people are aware that the next general elections coming around the corner will be the dirtiest ever. To the extent of winning at all costs (as what Najib has been shouting about) the BN-led government would bring in more foreginers for citizenship in exchange for votes (59000 spotted as announced today), making a blitz of electorial amendments last week that makes things more worse and opposite of clean and fair elections.

It is very clear that UMNO in particular is a entity whose fear of power capitulation. I have written this in an earlier article called "Fear of Capitulation". Like its Irish cousin, the Provisional IRA, BN is behaving like them as well.

Barisan Nasional has an election war chest of almost infinite amount. Some say it is within the tune of RM 600 million to RM 1.7 billion mostly from contributions by GLCs. This is of course goes against the basic rules of campaigning that the Election Commission doesn't even bother to care about. Even fraud cases won't do much if you decide to take it to the courts.

From my understanding that the maximum amount of campaign money a coalition can spend on MPs and assemblymen would be around RM 100 million. (44.4 million for 222 MPs, 50.5 million for 505 assemblymen minus Sarawak ADUNs). The war chest is 6 to 17 times more than what is supposed to be. As what someone told me, Najib is like Santa Claus, splashing money here and there, with the intention of buying people for votes. It sheds the light that Najib is more of a mere showman and splashing people's money like if it's "duit bapak".

But even if they splash out RM 500 as in BR1M, are we aware that they can take back the money in forms of taxes and other things that could be imposed after GE13? Not many know about it. There's a simpulan bahasa in related to this "buruk siku". You first give it out for charity but later you decided to take it back from the person whom you give it.

This reminds us of the Moggiville scandal (the 2006 Serie A match-fixing) where referees in the Italian Serie A were implicated in the intercepted phone conversations to give Juventus football club a clear favor in winning the league titles for year 2005 and 2006. The EC are like referees asked to tilt the voting favor for Barisan Nasional - in line with UMNO's "dulu, kini dan selamanya" slogan.

Since attempts to persuade EC to improve the system via roundtable discussions have failed, and the system is getting more from bad to worse, hence, Bersih. I have seen how the previous Bersih 2.0 have faced the negativity and vilification from the press and many naysayers, most from BN in particular. Many, whom I observed simply talk in pervert logic and behave as if they are being brainwashed to say something no outright without thinking straight. Some say that this means a loss of Malay power. This is absolutely rubbish and nonsensical because the numbers in population speak for itself.

Someone wrote to my blogger friend Haris in Facebook about Bersih:

"We M’sians are simply too docile.If only we are as steadfast + hell bent like the Egyptians + the other Arabs,hundreds of thousands of us would remain in Merdeka square for weeks + months until the Govt is brought down,period .The power of the Rakyat is unstoppable if we are courageous and determined as we have the numbers."

This is true as Raja Petra quoted from Howard Zinn - "You Can't Be Neutral on A Moving Train":

"Civil disobedience. . . is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that numbers of people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been killed because of this obedience. . Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity and war and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem."

It's high time for people to stop being docile. I find the Facebook comment above should be the starting point.

It's not just being hell-bent to stay there. It's being a dare of raising the stakes against them, fighting fire with fire.

If anyone has watched either Casino Royale or Ocean's Thirteen, these two movies share one thing in common.

Casino Royale, the first James Bond book has 007 pitting against the principle antagonist Le Chiffre for the high amount of money staked in the card game. If anyone has seen the last poker hand (poker is more played than baccarat) in the film, then it's about $115 million, the amount Le Chiffre could have recuperated had his hand is bigger than 007's.

On the other hand on Ocean's, the crew rigged Willie Bank's casino to make sure every customer wins on the opening night. The Ocean crew were there not for the cash but to settle the score against him who double-crossed their crew member Rueben.  How much The Bank lost one night at the end?

Half a billion.

So what does that mean? It means there are a few ways to make UMNO eat their own medicine and humble pie.

It's about the challenge and dare game of raising the stakes and taking the money back and out from Casino UMNO - making them lose with a bigger margin call.

Why not you people out there challenge the naysayers on Facebook and Twitter to bet for high amount of money if Bersih ends successfully in Malaysia and worldwide? 

Why not bet against UMNO to pay you the whole lot a total of $300 million if they lose in the election? Why not give the entire vote to the opposition in the spirit of "Anything But UMNO" and make BN losing their campaigning money for each seats they lose? 

You already know what's at stake, so that answers the question of what will you people are staking in particular, yes?

You think they will accept it? Unlikely. But at least it shows that they scream, having foam in their mouths and even making a lot of excuses including "gadai negara", whereas it's proven that their leaders are doing it right now. I have no problem in deciding who to vote. I have also prepared to take the risk of doing it different.

Maybe I might be talking trash here, but come to think of it, you should show the guts to do it, not to be docile! You are really supporting and endorsing evil acts even you choose to do nothing and stay out of it.

When Bumpkins Are More Than Intellectuals

There was a mob of UMNO-affiliated people who assaulted students at the Merdeka Square in the early hours of the morning. Not only I got pissed, but it turns out that Malaysia is churning more bumpkins then intellectuals. The bumpkin syndrome is obviously the opposite of progression and churning of intellectuals. It's not just that mob group but some politicians and grassroot members across parties on both fronts.

These bumpkins have been lately making immature statements. You got Azwanddin Hamzah declaring war on LGBTs at the expense of paying more attention to those that involve greater sins. You got PERKASA saying that APs are exclusively for Bumiputras only at the expense of equal playing field. Ahmad Maslan calls students as opposition tools And of course, the ringleader behind the early morning incident is the same fat asshole that was at the Asalkan Bukan UMNO event in Jalan Kebun in Klang.

Malaysia is in the state of disarray largely because many of its ruling leaders and politicians are bumpkins, despite having education certifications. Those of people who managed to watch the Parliamentary proceedings would at times have noticed that there are MPs who make immature statements. And our education system, emphasizing only on passing exams, teaching children to obey without questioning at all turns out to be creating more bumpkins instead of what the real world careers demand: thinking and creative people. There are some who have managed to get past it, which I am happy to say it. But many still have yet to do so. In school, children are not even taught of proper financial education, save for the "save for the rainy day" thing and the basic money management skills. Any economist would tell you to do the "let the money make money for you", but few know it. That's why UMNO-men keeps harping on "if PR does this then the country would go bankrupt" bogeyman thing.

Anyhow, today in light of the PTPN protest issue, my opinion is that the PTPN is mismanaged. It should have been done properly and the issue of "interest" from money is also another bone of contention to deal with. Since the fund is used by everyone, it is against the Muslim religion to have riba or interest out of it. It's considered as a sin right? If the claim that whatever profit gained from the interest amount to paid back is given to the alleged cronies in private colleges, then I supposed that there is a legit reason for kicking up the bucket to fuss about.

Out of those who don't really agree about protesting PTPN, the big percentage of it are those who blindly follow (aka, bodek) those who simply outright say no. In other words, you follow the fool and like them start to have foam in their mouths. A quick study of their characters too can tell them whether they are bumpkins (narrow minded) or otherwise.


Let me make one thing very clear. All those names (e.g Ibrahim Ali, Azwanddin Hamzah, Zahrain Hashim, etc..) I have mentioned are not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, if you know what I mean. They are the opposite of intellectualism. If you have any opportunity to personally interact with them you will come to the conclusion that they are country bumpkins. They are very narrow-minded and shallow in thinking

- Human Rights and Fundamental Liberties For Idiots, 16 April

Can you count around how many politicians currently part of the running government of the day can fall under that category above. Today, you have seen a few apart from Ibrahim Ali, like Sri Gading's Mohd Aziz, Khaled Nordin, Hishamuddin "Kerisman" Hussein and Ahmad Maslan (all Johoreans) making bumpkin-grade statements. It's a pity that many of the grassroot followers couldn't even establish the line between right and wrong. They just a product of the education system as to study hard and excel in exams, not to think out of the box and be given the creative freedom whenever they can.

Why do you think that there's more than half of people who didn't even reach up to the degree level?

Sometimes, what people from opposition say are by point right that Malaysia's brain drain still goes on and on no matter what programs and initiatives launched including TalentCorp. I can't really think of anything more than seeing the country going in groundhog mode with bumpkins running the show and the many Pak Pandir antics calling a day's work.

I Would Love Being A Commissar

Once in 1941 from Operation Barbarossa, the Russians were starring at the blink of defeat with Nazi Germany's blitzkrieg tactics hitting them hard. Adolf Hitler turned against his one-time ally Stalin and like Napoleon was hoping to run over the Eastern front. Hitler tried to fight in two fronts and on the east end, it failed because like the 1812 invasion, the cold weather in Russia had sapped their morale, depleted their supplies and resulted in the number of casualties. Background aside, the Russians had no other choice but had to put a hard stop on the line of retreating and retaking back their territories occupied by Germany.

It is a very hard thing to do for Stalin but to issue the infamous order #227, called the "Not One Step Back" (Ni Shagu Nazad) order at end of July 1942. Basically, the main idea states that you are not allowed to fallback or retreat unless there is permission to do so. Failure to do so means you are branded a traitor and will be shot by a political officer called the commissar. In the battlefield, there will be 1 to 3 penal batallions (comprising of soldiers with disciplinary problems) for each front. The penal batallions form the first line of attack. At the back of each front would be the blocking detachment comprising of commissars. Turn back you will be shot.

Both measures were cited in the preamble of the order as having been successfully used by the Germans during their winter retreat.

If you have watched documentaries or watched the Jude Law / Joseph Fiennes movie, Enemy at The Gates, it surely would make sense and the idea.

From the start way before the official announcement of Bersih 3.0, I have already began to guess how people from both sides (those who agree and disagree) who react to this and what are the possible titles that the mainstream media would likely use to villify Bersih for what they want to do. And of course, if you recall previously as in June 2011, Najib media's advisers, led by TV3 CEO Ahmad Farid Ridzuan have been advising a bash-them-till-you're-dead campaign against the "fair and clean agenda", utilized by RTM, Utusan. Bernama, The Star and even their Media Prima-owned channels. The number arrested only 9 July 2011, 1700 approximate for a non-violent offence is somewhat an outrageous thing that maybe Najib realized that he was misadvised by those who were hellbent on putting minorities into prisons.

If anyone has studied Boolean algebra or familiar with the basic if-else coding blocks in programming, you would clearly understand that even the government claims to have addressed 7/8 issues it still counts as a fail condition. e.g (if demand >= 8 then (do success scenario) else sayFail(bersih)). One of the demands there got shot down, the minimum 21 days campaign period is somewhat tied to the demand for free and fair media access. One logical reason of not giving them 21 days is indirectly, it gives voters more time for second thoughts of voting the same party over and over again.

What is very humourous about this matter of Bersih 3.0's announcement is the reaction more from those who don't really agree. True, it's okay to let them talk but I find very humorous at times. For example:

Wan Ahmad Omar: They should be patient... they say they are smart but they are close-minded... what they are doing is rushed, hasty and troublesome to people, The EC has not even come out with any statement, we will study the proposal and come out with an official reply later.

Bung Mokhtar: It's the opposition’s tactic is to attack the government from the streets

Problem is they are too slow. Some things can be done in the space of few days. Why want to drag? Then you got Ibrahim Ali saying that all of the Bersih committee  should be put into Sedition Act; Ahmad Maslan saying that it's always opposition's fault this and that. All the time the other side is blamed while they fault is on themselves. Wait till one Friday where Jakim-issued sermons are read in mosques where they could be say trash material about Bersih is sin, etc..The list of excuses can go on and on including the excuse of damaging buildings and money, whereas event like that can be a firesale if you take it in a positive way.

There are maybe a handful of tweets or arguments I observed that don't really give the proper logic to back a person's disagreement to Bersih. Some are personal-oriented attacks in contrast to arguments of fighting a cause. Mostly these arguments are from those people who are still willing to be enslaved by the neo-feudal mindset who keeps believing the superstition, mumbo-jumbo things or they are yet to be enlightened. 

Here you are, you have the opportunity to proof to yourself and others that you have the guts to translate your cause into action. After all, every religion encourages its people who practices its faith to move forward in time. Why want to dwell back longer? 

I can see those kind of people thinking like a Provisional IRA member where they want a zero opposition while if they lose one bit, they scream capitulation and start scoring own goals. I have written this in my previous posting entitled The Fear of Capitulation. It obvious isn't it? If these measures are implemented, then the number of seats that Barisan in particular as of now will be chipped off by another 30 to 40 percent and they could be screaming "hilang kuasa" like a person in dementia.

In metaphor to what I'm talking, they represent people instead of walking forward, they walk backwards. 

The "Not One Step Backwards" Stamp

If this is still Russia in World War II, these people and apologists (para pengampu dan pembodek) would have been lined up in the front and made to move at the German firing range. If they refuse to do so but to move back, they would have been lined up and shot by the blocking detachment. 

If there is such scenario above, I love to be a commissar and even would volunteer to do the shooting and execution. Bang bang bang. Butter-up boys bewarned.

Dinosaur in Modern Age Exemplified

Rais Yatim is the living example of a dinosaur in the modern age world. He is also considered as an example where there is no country for old men. In other words, old men should not be running the show where modern things and modern scenarios aren't compatible with old-way scenarios. Heck, even some of his younger BN MPs also do have the same opinion above, for example Khairy who once whacks him over the Twitter row and some time back called described Pasir Salak's Tajudin Rahman as another example as well.

I had a close friend of mine who has a relative of his telling that the same phrase that the Chinese should be grateful to the MCA for what they have done to the community. He told that he gets a little bored of hearing those rhetorics for the clear fact established is that political parties don't demand gratitude from the people. That is a feudalism practice. Who is he to say that the government demands gratitude from people whereas it is they should say the other way round?

In fact, a well free-minded person would vote on a party base on the performance of a party to the people. The problem with Rais Yatim's statement is that Dr. Mahathir doesn't even understand well the 1Malaysia concept. Secondly, like in the RapidKL buses some of them don't put on those TV ads inside because it can be a distraction for those commuters inside. This is also another way of Rais indirectly saying of telling people that you must vote party A or else...something like that - which is of course a blackmail offense if this happens in the election campaign. If it happens, he could have been barred out from contesting already.

Just to keep things short for this posting, a lot of people, young in particular hated this dinosaur specimen that running the land in the future-transition period that many think that he's past his prime and old-mindset behavior.

 

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http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/rais-taxi-drivers-must-promote-1-malaysia-as-sign-of-gratitude/

Taxi and bus drivers should highlight the positives of the prime minister’s 1 Malaysia concept and act as “government ambassadors”, Datuk Seri Rais Yatim said yesterday. 

  The information, communication and culture minister said public transport operators should not keep silent when carrying fares but must help explain the concept to passengers who “are critical and accuse the government of all sorts”, Utusan Malaysia reported today. 

“It must be done as a sign of gratitude and thanks for the government’s efforts to continuously safeguard their welfare, like Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia and the specific government aid to taxi drivers,” the Malay daily quoted him as saying in Kota Kinabalu. 

“When ferrying passengers, we ask that they tell those sitting next to them or behind them, ‘Taxi drivers like us have been given aid by the government. We are very grateful for the government’s mindfulness.’” 

He added that taxi and bus drivers were “frontliners” who played an important role in promoting the 1 Malaysia concept to not only their passengers but also the public in general. 

Putrajaya previously tried to enlist taxi drivers in the service of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to help curb graft. 

In September last year, de facto law minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz asked taxi drivers to act as the graftbuster’s “eyes and ears” on the ground. 

“The involvement of people from all walks of life is important in fighting corruption,” he had said. 
“Taxi drivers are those who frequently interact with the public, they can get a lot of information from their passengers.” 

He added that if taxi drivers suspected their passengers of wrongdoing “they should immediately take the passengers to any MACC office and lodge a report”.

The Fear of Capitulation

Coming Monday, the six-month PSC on the election practices will come to an end as they will present their final report to the Parliament on findings and recommendations that should be taken and implemented for the next General Election. While it has been established that one of the eight demands - indellible ink would ultimately see the light of the day, the goal of seeing all the eight issues addressed is not likely to happen. In the end, maybe about six would be addressed eventually.

Amendment 26 of the U.S Constitution occured largely of public pressure and student activism. Because of people pressure, there shouldn't be any excuse to lower voting age requirement from the present 21 to 18 below. Could it be because of some people sharing the thinking of Dr. Mahathir who views having UUCA is to have young people focus on studies instead of street-activism work? Any mature thinking parlimentarian in the house on both bridges should see that the time and trend of young people is far in contrast to the trend that was in the 70s. In fact, there thinkers who view Malaysia administering ways still stuck with the mindset of the 80s, particularly with there is a handful number of old men still running the country until today.

No doubt that until today, it's very unlikely that we would see fairer MSM media coverage or level playing field in elections even after the final report has been presented. There are a few things that explain it. First is likely the possible red tape that is likely to be encountered along the way - a legit excuse to say that it can't be implemented. Secondly, the final decision lies on the Election Commission (note that some have been cautioned of the agency being the unofficial component party of BN).

The third reason and the main point of discussion is the fear of capitulation.

The fear of capitulation exemplified is the Provisional IRA - the more violent faction of Irish Republican Army prominence during The Troubles at around late 1969 up to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. At that time the Provisional IRA's sole goal is to remove Northern Ireland from London's control by force and political persuasion, contrary to the older faction's ideology and way of dealing with the nationalist community. Anytime within that period there will be countless of bombings and shootings with many civilians caught in the crossfire. Whenever there are events such as this happening or if you see any "No Surrender" banners around, it underlines their fear and dementia of capitulation.

The last well known documented attack before the ceasefire agreement was the 1996 Manchester bombings.

A loss or defeat to them by the English means handing Ireland in a platter to Britain.

This in Malaysian context means that BN owns Malaysia for life and if PR wins, BN hands Malaysia to PR (perceived as the enemy) in a platter. End of story.

Along the way, when people start to think and say something cock, e.g Chua Soi Lek's comment of Opposition raising issues to confuse people, they are actually scoring own goals into their own net. In that point above, MCA is scoring own goals in BN's net. Ditto for PR as well. The excerpt from "Aiyah! Why so Stupid One Ah" shows:

Aiyah! Why is the MCA President, Chua Soi Lek, so bodoh one ah? The Opposition has created endless issues to confuse the people, said Chua Soi Lek. But of course! That is the job of the Opposition. Why would the Opposition want to raise issues in support of the government? Their job is to raise issues against the government. What a stupid statement. No wonder he got caught with his pants down, literally.

And to make him even more bodoh, he held a press conference to confess that it was he in that sex video. No one asked him whether it was or was not he. Before anyone could ask, he quickly called a press conference to confess. Bodoh or not? At least VK Lingam was cleverer. He said that the man in the video looks like him, sounds like him, but is not he. And Anwar Ibrahim replied that the man in the sex video is too fat while he is thinner so it must be a double. But Chua Soi Lek goes and confesses it is he before anyone even asks him. No wonder he is making bodoh statements like the one reported by The Star.

And the Umno leaders are saying that the Opposition is trying to grab power, the Opposition is trying to kick out Barisan Nasional, the Opposition is trying to take over Putrajaya, and whatnot. Is this not what the Opposition is supposed to do, to take over the government? Why are these Umno people so bodoh one? Why state the obvious? Of course that is what the Opposition is trying to do. That is the job of Opposition parties all over the world.

Aiyah! Why so bodoh one ah? Can we hear more intelligent statements from these Barisan Nasional people? If they want to impress us then they had better stop making stupid statements.

And the Opposition is no better. They are now saying that the next general election is going to be a class war.

Aiyah! Why so bodoh one ah? That is what I have been saying for some time. When I say that they whack me and call me all sorts of names. I already said for some time that the next battle is going to be a class war. I said it is going to be a battle between the haves and the haves-not. When I said that you say all sorts of things about me. Now the Opposition is saying the same thing.

On the media issue, as to answer why is BN-owned media unwilling to allow some opposition side content into their own? Simple: in their logic they think that if the public is hearing anything that hurts (in means of inflicting their own defeats) them, the people will start coming in masses of asking all sorts of things, thus they start to lose control and handling of the people. But on the other hand, they, like the Provisional IRA wants to whack Britain kingdom come that almost every night on TV news that whack Opposition leader parties and no space is given for people like Mat Sabu to answer their thing. Child's play don't you think?

Even if should PR takes over the Federal government, the efforts to allow fairer media, even if promised would still be limited no matter how much relaxing of control and better press freedom they would give. Assuming that there is allowance for government-owned TV channels and radio, it is the BN-owned media companies that are unwilling to capitulate. There's no need to whine if we happen to see Utusan or TV3 taking remarks from politicians who lost that say "Malays lose power" or "Malaysia is destabilizing": it's already expected from someone who holds power that long for almost 55 years. 

But by nature and time, these attacks would eventually result in nothing that in the end, the IRA had to accept Northern Ireland being part of the UK and the Good Friday agreement details because people are already sick with the senseless and brute way of achieving their goals. See how this relates to our national political scenario right now?

Both coalitions BN and PR have the same problem where organization comes ahead of causes. In the US, even certain politicians have the right to disagree with the party's direction if the party's direction is heading against the cause. It's okay there but in Malaysia it is a long way to go to change the way a party's workflow / mechanism.


The reason for this is simple enough to analyse. Most people put their loyalty to the organisation or to their leader as paramount and above the cause. When movements or leaders override the cause then that is what happens. Muslims forget that they are brothers-of-the-faith and unite under the banner of a movement or a leader. Hence Islam saw three major civil wars that divided the Muslims forever

Some of these people have foam in the mouth talk in things that don't really make up the logic when they put loyalty to an organization

I may not the only one who may have the same observation as others do that we see people from both sides of the political divide keep being a butter up boys to the big brother party. A friend of mine pointed out that eventually, lower hierarchy people tend to be like salt that will ultimately be rinsed out of the washing of a plant / vegetable.

On the other hand, seeing how more people from BN makes stupid remarks, for example of the country pluging if they are not in power, I just love to sit back and laugh all the way while they score own goals and do the antics of Pak Pandir..

Remembering...

Today I will not write anything but observing a day's of silence and memory to my late grandfather. It's already 3 years, so I would be lighting a candle later on.

R.I.P.

There's No Harm Giving Them Chance of a Term

It is very certain that the elections would be around early June, as to take advantage of the school holidays. Arguably, a pointer to that is the launch of the Federal Territory BN election machine officiated by Muhyiddin Yassin himself at Titiwangsa yesterday. There's not much room of manuever and selecting the best date for election largely due to external factors. However I recalled having seen somewhere that having the election around that date is also one way of Najib telling his mentor Dr. Mahathir that he's not going to call the elections at the expiry of the term, as what the old man wishes for.

Everyone knows the saying of "lesser of two evils". If people are simply accepting what Najib Razak is begging over the last few days including going up and down Perak, KL and Selangor, then you are expected by them to be stupid, not well educated to allow them to commit the very sins that taint the nation - crimes unfounded, money spilling out and many that will take a lot of space to list up in one posting.

The fault of who decides it is simply the people themselves. Whatever we have taught with the still stagnant and mundane education system has made us more of robots and seeing things in the boundaries of a box. We are merely taught to memorize and excel in exams, but in reality whatever we've learnt will hardly be used in the real-world work experience as different material is being taught and utilized. So we were never educated properly of what we can do under the concept of democracy. What is still happening in Malaysia still falls under the ideology of neo-feudalism.

That ideology is defined as rebirth of policies of governance, economy and public life reminiscent of those present in many feudal societies. It is related to some of the ideas of neo-medievalism. Look at several aspects of society around us. Does it all relate to the neo-feudalism defined?  We all shout about cronyism, corruption, bias towards minorities, but are we doing at least something to back your words? Voting and going to demos is the simplest of the lot. It is part of translating your anger into action. No bloodshed is required and it requires a virtue needed to execute it: courage.

Okay, maybe we can say that 50 percent of those above 21 (legit, registered voters, Malaysians) with all the information from all avenues available have the same opinion as I do which is to give the other side a chance to demonstrate their governance. The only problem some may share as I do is the mindset of those who are unwilling to do so. There's the law of nature which says that everything is not indispensible or omnipotent. 

This too points out that UMNO's "Dulu, Kini dan Selamanya" motto is against the laws of nature, and it gives the picture of omnipotence, like how the Pharoahs think of themselves in Egypt. There are people who are afraid of what happens on a change of a Federal government. There's nothing unusual, as it's happening everywhere. People have been threatened and scarred of the so call Malay unity being destroyed, society in brink of problem, with other cock - in fact most of those threats are non-existent - just to keep them in power, so there's virtually nothing to be afraid about something proven to be non-existent. Maybe the "Myth of the Lazy Native" mindset still lives in us until today, for before 1957, it was by colonial powers for almost 4 1/2 centuries.

In this case, why not give the federal opposition at least a term? They did well in some states but in order to see the full capability, they need to be on the federal level, not state. 

Previously, people tried to give them a chance, but were there are another 300K to 500K move votes in their favor, PR would be running the federal government, and you won't hear all the "nothing promises" like the 16 September crossovers and so forth. The scenario could have changed - if there were more people who came out to vote. Even a sen makes a difference between 0.99 and 1 ringgit - not by rounding.

Give them the chance and a term to gauge how effective and fast they can be in doing things they have promised like reducing corruption, improving living standards, doing the tons of reforms they promised and so forth. The most important reason of giving them chance to manage the national coffers better. If there is a BN politician who argues that the opposition does not have experience in doing it, the argument is not proper because they were never given the chance to shine and demonstrate what they can do - BN hogs everything like a school child.

If they want to get people to decide and sell themselves out to the people, you definitely have to give coverage to both sides - not bashing every night and not letting them have a 15-minute spotlight! Is it because of IRA-thinking of capitulation that government-owned media are unwilling to give them a share?

On the other hand we should not expect so much from the PR-MPs to perform like Superman where all the 50+ years of dirt can be wiped slate clean in one instant. The most they can do is to remove as much grime and clean up as many areas they can cover.

If they still slack after the 5 years, then fine, we can go back to the dacing. The PR coalition has already stated that if BN-run Malaysia goes bankrupt in the next few years , they don't want a hand in running the state. Everyday, people in the city often hear Najib's "give us another term" thing or there won't be reforms, and surely from the words of one of the few men who splashes money for votes thing, do you find it a little insulting?

Superman-Level Expectations for Reps

I was at the IDEAS-organized forum early last month for the included academics, and two notable MPs from both political fronts. UKM's Anis Yusoff famously said during the forum that "The rakyat should not have this very high expectation that their MPs should be a Superman, the MPs have to be there [is] because obviously you are promoting corruption without realising [it]."

This quote above has brought out something to be questioned with. This is arguably a problem faced by first-time MPs / assemblymen or those who are from the different political front that replaced the other one from the opposite front. When this situation happens, expect calls from citizens in the constituency where you belong coming to their service centre doorstep to barge in and "demand" that their problems rectified in the first place. And if he / she is an assembly-person in a state run by non-BN, things get tougher because the funding from the BN Federal Government is not that much since they view opposition as their enemies.

One thing that people really did not get the picture is that there is a distinct difference between a first-time MP or a multi-term MP. One of the differences established is the room of error permitted. Of course, an newly-mint MP needs time to wet the feet and to do the duties required (meeting municipal councils, visit places and people, etc, getting funds). But if the MP selected is a multi-term MP then it's different. Making the same mistakes and overlooking the things the constituent have been asking over and over again is more or less not befitting the proper standard of a veteran MP. For that case, the MP is already past shelf life and should be replaced. Why would a person vote the same person over and over again if it is known that the MP / assemblyman is not doing the job properly?

A sub-question to be debated is how much room of error and how tolerant can people take before labeling a representative a slack?

To cite an example to the dilemma above, Palanviel was formerly a multi-term MP for Hulu Selangor before he got voted out in March 2008. How many things he didn't do or overlooked or how many mistakes did he make in his capacity as MP? Contrast this to an MP like Nurul Izzah who is a first-time MP with the same pair of questions above. Surely people in their constituency who want to bring up their problem will need to use a different way of approaching their MPs when talking, right? - particularly if it's a representative different from the last time. And the level of expectation has to vary and increments if the MP is re-elected for another term and so forth.

People should have a fair share of the blame, not just the politicians as well. As the last resort, they should not just leave everything to the representatives to do it but to do things at their own initiative - get together, and collaborate to get the attention of their representatives.

Winning By Crook

Back on 28 December 2011, Suhaimi Shafiei, an assemblyman in Selangor has criticized Najib's allocation of RM 2.71 billion to the state, but the money to be funded will bypass the state government. Shafiei described the action as "insolence from the Federal Government" towards the state government.

The assemblyman is partially correct at least. Barisan Nasional is viewing states under the Pakatan as enemies instead of having proper partners in nation building. Terengganu in 1999-2004 is the best case in example. The customary oil royalties was pulled out by Mahathir at that time and was reinstated by Pak Lah's administration after the 2004 GE landslide. What the YB and other people should constantly remind themselves is that BN is doing anything to regain Selangor back in the by crook method. The money announced by Najib is an indirect way to take back Selangor.

Najib remarked previously of winning back Selangor at all costs. Selangor is considered as UMNO's piggy bank. It is also no doubt the richest state of the country. UMNO sees losing it again is considered as the "IRA capitulation" - capitulating to the enemy. That is why they are playing a lot of dirty tricks. There are some analysts who opined that if Najib could not recapture the state, he would meet his Waterloo.

Dirty tricks includes making illegals - Banglas, Indons and others legit citizens of Malaysia by buying in cash, and in turn making them vote BN. The other way is splashing money as if it comes to the sky to the people there. We might be going back to the days of Khir Toyo if they are

Where does the RM 2.7 billion come from? Petronas royalties or borrowing money from international financial organisations?

This post is written because I was pointed to some article written in the PKR's mouthpiece Suara Keadilan last week by a friend of mine. I am aware that I am repeating what many people have said but it seems that many people may have forgotten about the state problem.

I've met and know a few PR die-hards of the state in the past. And it's better for them to be ready earlier as a possible GE date could be end of May / early June. The word of caution is that PR could lose the state even with a lot of votes is on the opposition hand largely due to several factors like illegals' votes, RELA / postal votes and of course the main factor being the Malay vote factor.

It is already established that the election can be decided primarily by the Malay voting community since they form a little more than half of the nation's population of 28 million people. Emotion and misconception plays part of the people's psyche, especially if they are being duped into believe that such things happening.

My understanding is that if PR wants to hold up another 5 years, there are at least two possible things that should be done. The first thing is to have the status quo or more than the 31/25 seat arrangement. Ideally, areas in Hulu Langat, Kuala Selangor and Sabak Bernam is where PR may want to attract and interest the voters there. Win there, and they can get another 5 to 6 more. Perhaps looking back at the election result chart at Undi.INFO could be considered as reference material.

Most urban areas are a foregone conclusion since BN is not really well liked there.

The other problem is egos in PR. DAP's state leadership and Khalid Ibrahim's ego must be put aside. These are potential problem risers as they have been noted to give problems previously. Alternatively, Khalid should step aside to give the MB to someone with an equal caliber as his. Presently, I notice that not all PR assemblymen might match his forte.

Do you remember what Bersih said that if all 8 demands are not met? Keep that in mind as well.

You're Your Own Worst Enemy

I couldn't recall who first said "You're your own worst enemy." but from my understanding, it was originated from "Man is his own worst enemy" spoken by the Roman senator and philosopher Cicero. The quote is what I've been summarizing about in regards of my observations of PKR, it's top two leaders and apart from that KITA's Zaid Ibrahim. Similarly, there are many fellow colleagues who view the famous Allies General George Patton's ego as his own worst enemy. One of them who famously alluded that was his close friend, Omar Bradley. It is the ego of man that gets the best out of him and it's a tough thing to defeat unless it can be kicked out of a man's system.

I've been reading rants and tweets from a friend of mine, KITA's former CEC-member who was unceremoniously dismissed with the other members of the committee. I can dig up the whole list of tweets in regards to what he said, if wished. Previously when Zaid said KITA will not contest in the elections and instead show unconditional support, I was certain that Zaid made several big mistakes while he's still at PKR. I did remarked previously that you need to understand the relationship between Anwar Ibrahiim and Azmin Ali before you can attempt to take on them. One friend of mine told me of Zaid being cautioned of that relationship during the Permatang Pauh by-election campaign. But having been in the party for less than year, many viewed his actions in the party as impatient and barging through.

When he announced today that instead of dissolving the party and have KITA contesting in seats in several states, a friend of mine opined of him as a flip-flopper. Easy enough to say. But this doesn't mean that I am anti-Mr.A or anti-Mr.B or something.

Which now brings back to Anwar. Anwar's main weakness is also about the ego getting the best of him. At times, he claims to have this and that, he can turn around things in Putrajaya. There's an acknowledgement that the need to win seats in Sabah and Sarawak to gain control of the government. But then the sentiment and mindset of Sabah and Sarawak is not the same as in Peninsular. Their's as they put it as their own independent sub-camp. If the big-three from peninsular wants the lion's share of seats in Sabah and Sarawak, it would be very difficult to accomplish the objective. Unless, they make partners and friends with the local-based parties like SNAP, STAR and so forth.

Why can't PKR and their two partners make more friends with their local partners? It's one way to demonstrate their show of autonomy giving to East Malaysia. If you recall the agreement points of the two states prior to joining the federation in 1963, it's not appropriate to push and exert over there. That's what STAR is doing right now in Sabah. That's fine if the peninsular parties can represent there, but the scale has to go lower. In other words, give them to the local parties there. Lest, the mistake is seen in Batu Sapi. Barisan Nasional has local partners there, and as the saying goes, there's no harm done in having extra partners to help them out in the agenda.

If the PR's agenda is to also inline of "Anything But UMNO" agenda, then the ego, being their own worst enemy has to be shed. People with notable egos like Anwar, Azmin and Khalid Ibrahim - not just the three of them, but others have to step aside or at least settle their differences with their other partners before going ahead with the agenda. There's not much time really, maybe at least another 2-3 months before the earliest time of a general election. The crisis in Kedah is also another example of Azizan's old methodology, considered obsolete in the current age compared to what was 30 years ago. Obsolete is also alluded to what some people and think-tanks look at the Pemandu's ETP as well.

It may be a harsh way to get those with high egos aside but it is also a way to pave for more caliber people to represent the community in the Parliament. Having watch Patton biographical movie many years ago, I was reminded of the infamous Cicero quote above - a man's downfall from an enemy he can't defeat: himself.

This Blog is 5 Years Today!

I really didn't have anything to write apart from one posting planned (had a write block today) but I know that today is the 5th year of this blog.

I took cue from a friend of mine who started writing a few months ahead of me and following that I finally decided to start one once I had this Maxis Broadband in 2007. At that time P1 has yet to be launched. 

For the first three months, I write whenever I please and by May 2007, I've mostly jumped into the social-political scene, while at times write something casual just out of the fun.

People asked me why "Taffer" at times. The answer is, I took cue from a two places: a video game series called Thief and a Welsh slang meaning of low-life. It's the video game's nice slang that caught my attention hence the name and moniker.

Anyhow, quite tired today, not that usual, so I sign off with a birthday greeting.

When Owners Barreling At The Front of The Door

It's the Scolari case over and over again 5 years ago. I was counting on the case where Villa-Boas would be fired at the end of the season as what happen to Carlo Ancelotti but it happened prematurely, with barely 2.5 months towards the end of the season. This assumes that the club has been knocked out of European football but still having to play the remaining Premier League games and continuing their FA Cup challenge.

The problem is that Roman Abramovich is a living example of people in the football industry that is barreling at the front door. No patience. Many failed to see the need to understand long term of having a great depth of squad before mounting a challenge of trophies. Instead, the approach was the opposite - buying great players at the start hoping to go past the post instantly. There have been a few clubs that really actually understood the value of long-term projects, like Man Utd and Everton. These are clubs that show the close and strong relationship with manager and the chairman; there's an acknowledgement of making a good team will take years on. It took Alex Ferguson 6 years to win his first Premier League trophy, 12 years to win his first European Cup. (they came agonizingly close to final in 1997 when they lost to Dortmund in both legs in semis)

By this barreling at the front door attitude, Abramovich had to spend millions to compensate Villa-Boas (28 months remaining of the 3 year contract). And it is 8 managers in 9 years, average of one per season. It's similar the rich mega-spending club in Russia, or a few clubs where the owner attempts to interfere with the manager's work on team selection, thus the manager will be complaining about how he's unable to have autonomy on work. Abramovich is not the only person or parties that adopt this attitude. Fiorentino Perez's first spell at Real Madrid was also case in point. His mistake was not to keep Vicente Del Bosque while at the club even if Del Bosque won 2 European Cups in the space of 3 years (2000 and 2002) and then going through lots of coaches. Fabio Capello's second stint at the club lasted only a full season, having left even if the team won the league trophy. Sates the club and fans satisfaction of winning trophy, yet being unappreciated and get thrown out? It really scratches my head really.

It's more frequent to see this problem and attitude of the owners / fans in Middle East football. Take Saudi Arabia for instance, where a coach's job hangs on the balance in no more than a dozen games unless the team either qualifies for the country-level continent competition. If one condition is not met, expect the man to be shown to the door. For the owners, their nigh-infinite amount of money from oil can be splashed in bringing in coaches here and there as they please. But it will be the squad that will suffer for each coach has a different way of traning and strategy and thus the struggle to adapt to the system desired. Until today most Arab-club owners and FAs still barrel in front of the door, impatient, expecting a magic pill to happen.

Still it's not as severe as in Brazil's famous Dance of the Coaches syndrome - coaches go in and out after a few games within a season. Much of it is because of intense fan pressure and owners' impatience - even a slight setback in form a league game defeat means of people taking offense and unable to accept it. In fact, it can - if overuse - drive players and coaches mad as hell. Can you imagine, like in 2002, at the end of the first month of the Brasilla state championship that 12 coaches were replaced? In Brazil, coaches are made scapegoats and if a team is elbowed, the coach gets it first.

Abramovich never has the passion of the game. His is strictly on the business and expecting the magic pill with no patience and no finesse. The passion component is missing and will never happen with his impatience and barreling at the front of the door. Only crazy money can really tempt a potential coach into joining Chelsea. A coach potential coach offered to join Chelsea should first hand know the history of the club of the last 10 years before taking the risk. Otherwise, it's best to snub any offer Abramovich would offer and let him keep searching and searching around. Then we can see who's laughing the last.

Unforgiven

Some call it as a point of desperation. Others call it as a cheap way of illicit sympathy votes from the people, while some call it begging then giving a slap in the face by reverting back to old habits. I guess that's the context behind Najib's begging for forgiveness for the mistakes made in the past. But the sheer magnitude of the mistakes committed in the last 40 years plus or so makes it technically very hard to be forgiven.

I am unable to understand the logic of BN starting to go into this mode apart from them realizing from the way they are moving, they are starting to lose more support from the public, particularly from the non-Malay community. Why Najib would move into that is clearly based on the people psyche. As what Raja Petra said recently in "Malay unity at is best", people are easily forgiving, unless you make them "small heart" (kecil hati). This is the factor that they are banking on, hoping that in flock they would return to conventional BN support previously.

Are they really sincere in begging forgiveness? If you look at how they ridicule Kelantan as the poorest, perhaps it could hint of insincerity. Kelantan has the potential of being rich, with its oil reserves, but because it is being run by opposition, they were refused the entitlement of the 5% royalty. If the Petroleum Act bill is being respected irregardless of which party running the state, then there is not going to be any ridicule and excuse that BN would do to Kelantan. After all, Mahathir's grudge against PAS is evident in the period of 1999-2004 in Terengganu. 

In the last 35 years, we could have earned about trillions from petroleum discovered, but yet the money was squandered in other things and to enrich only 0.5% of the population of 28 million, with further atrocities happened by the same group of people running the country. And then they are begging for forgiveness? It's like thieves trying to be pious at people and will resume their dirty habit once given chances over and over again.

What is also stated by Najib also hints that he could be out of power with Muhyiddin slated to take over. It also hints that Najib is going to be kicked out, in and out anyways. The statement by Muhyiddin after Najib's since to paint the impression. In the party scale, it also hints that UMNO is going to be out, unless if they win by the way of the crook. I once recalled my primary school standard 6 teacher, going by the name of Latifah, said that most Malays believe that prior to death, he / she would act rather strangely. A band of pirates acting arrogant and brash then suddenly does this act of begging at people? There are signs that elections happening within the next 3 months already.

What are we going to do with them? Hammurabi's Law is using the eye-for-an-eye concept. If they are asking for forgiveness, then don't give them the space needed to resume their heinous crimes. Why was our tax money paid to bail out Mirzan's company many years ago? 

It's unforgiven. We should never forgive them at all and it's hell to pay.

Have We Calculated The Cost?

The question is: which one is your friend and which one is your enemy? Your enemy is not the 51% Malay voters who voted Barisan Nasional in March 2008. Your enemy is certainly not the 49% Malay voters who voted Pakatan Rakyat in March 2008. Your enemy are those who walk in the corridors of power in Putrajaya and the 2,500 Umno delegates who attend the Umno general assembly to elect their party President who then becomes the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

- Malay Unity At Its Best (Malaysia Today, No Holds Barred 1 March)

I do not deny that it is very important for voters to identify who is the enemy and who is the friend. Once we have identified who is the real enemy and who are your friends, then at least you have a clear point of focus. I do not like to chastise or mock other people for voting for the wrong reasons. I acknowledge that it is their own choice to do so. However after seeing the effect from making the wrong choice and paying a terrible price in the way of suffering, I get very angry and agitated at those who made the wrong choice and as well at what Pete refers to "those who walk the corridors of power". 

What he wrote above has caught my attention to write my opinion which I have thought for a while back.

The aftermath of Hulu Selangor and Bagan Pinang by-elections is the case in point where I get angry at people making wrong choices. And I've seen news reports of people there complaining about not getting what they need when they put in the "grand old party and its scale" in power back. I am angry when by putting bad apples to run the country (those who do bad like corruption, getting away with crimes) people who choose their leaders poorly are indirectly saying that bribing, murder, white-collar crimes at the highest level is legitimate, permitted and we turn our eye blind from it as long it is money. But while we make these choices, have we actually calculated the cost of our mistakes?

The next general election will hinge on the 40% of the voters who are on top of the fence. They those who are full of uncertainty of picking which party to run the government from either mid-2012 or 2013 onwards. The issues to be raised here is have they see what would be the consequences like if they make a bad choice? Which side are they going for - those who want to keep the old guard or those who felt the need to shake the nation up after 55 years? Never mind the 30% of each side who are dead fixed on following the ideology of the coalition, but it will be a tug of minds to get the remaining 40% voting.

There have been people who worried, like myself over what future would behold if the wrong choice is ultimately made. Apart from seeing more corruption, bankruptcy can be reality in the next 3 to 6 years, with Malaysia ultimately capitulating to the demands of the IMF and the World Bank. Socially, the society ladder, where Malaysia is supposedly should move up will remain in the neo-feudalistic level as it is. And of course along the way, racial politics will still remain.

Everyone should take the share of the blame. We've been quite ignorant and making the same mistakes over and over again. We've been succumbing  / buckled to false threats and temptations to the same party who have been sweet-talking over the last 55 years and so forth yet at times break promises. 

How will one realize of the cost of making the wrong choice, particularly for those who have voted many times? I can identify one possible solution, but a very distasteful one. If I say that is the only way, I feel that some people would be "hati kecil" over an over-the-top act. I have said a few times way back that sometimes "an insult is necessary to wake people up". Sure, anyone who may have the same opinion as I do would do that at the risk of making people "small hearted" - but for greater good and shaking things up. 

One identified risk is that for us who are voting for the future, our children / grandchildren will someday scold us and despise us for all life if we give them the wrong future by making the wrong choice. This goes out to everyone and those who refuse to see the reality beyond the veil of illusion that is sown by the mainstream media - instructed to write things that sugar-coat realities mere to please. I worry that one day a child of mine would spit on me and said that "Daddy has been ignorant and making it legit for what is morally wrong." I've heard opinions and decisions from the young that many are prepared to move out to other countries to work and never come back if the situation and outcome remains as bad as it is right now. There goes TalentCorp to the waste.

 

While we are squabbling over the fault of one race or vice versa, we've been dropping our priority objective which is to ABU. Anything But UMNO can't just be another mere slogan. It has to be translated into action. The first and foremost objective and priority that has to be focused is to at least reduce the BN majority, or if desirable replace it with the other government. This of course needs people to know who's your friends and who's the enemy. If we're to whack the enemy to kingdom come, your friends have to avoid making the bad choice - and it requires helping one another to do so.

Does that reveal the key action point needed to ensure ABU success?

Namewee Screws Lynas

Note: There's a joke on Warcraft: It is a good day to die