Ladies and gentlemen, if you are a non-Muslim, do you have anything against the dome and the crescent moon found on mosques? If you are a non-Christian, do you have anything against the cross? If you are a non-Buddhist, do you have anything against the pagoda? If you are a non-Hindu, do you have anything against the statues, each representing every deity available in the Hindu religion?

We need to look back at why we need MPs for. Are they there in Parliament to discuss such irrelevant and sensitive issues? Have the MPs no sense for moderation of speech? While they are in need of wisdom, where has it gone?

If you answer yes to any of the questions above, then you do not belong to this country. Obviously, this country is not suitable for you, because you cannot even respect the traditions, culture and the theology of the various religions in the world. Also, you would believe that your own religion is the only correct religion in the world. People who think like this are the ones who will bring about social turmoil and unrest.

So, what has all this got to do with our Members of Parliament (MP)? Well, personally, I have nothing against them. It's just that sometimes it is indeed appalling to see how some of our representatives could not suppress their tongues from making foolish, baseless statements. It makes you think, "Have we chosen a wrong MP?"

On the 29th of October 2007, the Dewan Rakyat had its usual parliamentary meeting which started around 10.00 or 11.00 a.m. and ended at about half past eight at night. I managed to get a copy of the hansard which can be downloaded from www.parlimen.gov.my. I read most of the content (it was 147 pages long) and this one particular page got me interested. The following picture is a facsimile of one of the pages of the hansard:

Referring to the extract of the hansard above, you will see that there is this MP for Parit Sulong making an interesting statement. For those who do not know Malay, I shall tell you the gist of the extract. The MP for Parit Sulong made the following claims or allegations:

1. Missionary schools such as Convent, La Salle and Methodist schools have Board of Governors that are partially administered by the Vatican City.
2. The permission of the Board of Governors, in which part of it is controlled by the church, must be obtained first before a surau is permitted to be built within the premise of the school.
3. Muslim parents who send their children to missionary schools complain because school sessions begin with the singing of church hymns (or church songs).
4. Religious symbols are seen within the compound of the school and the MP for Parit Sulong feels disappointed to see the statue of the Virgin Mary right in front of the school should he be visiting, say, a Convent school.

The MP for Parit Sulong was then interrupted by the MP for Sri Gading, who stood up and said that a father informed the former that such missionary schools did not close during Hari Raya Aidilfitri. He then sat down, in which the MP for Parit Sulong continued to make the following statements:

1. Not only are statues seen within the premise of the school, but crosses are often found as well. What the MP for Parit Sulong could not comprehend was whether the Education Ministry officials failed to see them or is it that allowing such statues or crosses displayed is within the base of the Constitution.
2. Seeing it as his responsibility to himself, his religion, his race as well as his country, he proposed that the statues be demolished, the crosses destroyed and the church influence be stopped.

So much for his "factual" speech. Let me now correct all the above statements that the MP for Parit Sulong made and state them as facts:

1. The missionary schools do have a Board of Governors, but they are NEVER governed by the Vatican City. Why would the Vatican City be interested with schools that are built here in Malaysia? Would it bring any economic growth to the Vatican City? For all you know, it will be a headache to them. So why, would they bother?
2. No missionary school is unequipped with the surau. Permission to build a surau need not be obtained from the Board of Governors. It is just that perhaps relocating the surau from one section of the school to another section may not be approved so easily due to the lack of floor space available in the school. Face the fact, not all schools have plenty of space to waste. No school in Malaysia has a prayer room for non-Muslims AND non-Christians. So if you have one within the school premise, be contented about it and shut up (unless there are other reasons that would expedite immediate relocating of the prayer room). If you don't, then request for one.
3. Never in my eleven years of study life in St. Michael's Institution (a La Sallian school) had I sung any church hymns or church songs. Complaints stating that church hymns are sung are simply a complete farce. If the singing of hymns did take place, why is it that the mass media never covered such stories, and that the Education Ministry never reported such cases? Also, why is it that other missionary schools never receive any directives regarding that matter? We would have been informed about it, would we not? By the way, while having our weekly prayers during assembly, we have a Muslim prayer followed by a non-Muslim prayer. See for yourselves how such schools actually respect and care for every religion and culture. The least you could do is show some respect to these schools and not just blurt out any baseless arguments in the Parliament.
4. Not all symbols or statues are religious ones. The Paterfamilias statue standing at the foyer of St. Michael's Institution is not for a religious purpose. It represents a teacher imparting knowledge to a student. It also represents the commitment and the dedication that academicians in SMI would portray. Even if some of the structures, such as the cross, are religious symbols, does it kill you to look at them even if you are not a Christian? Also, why is it that you cannot enjoy and appreciate the diversity of culture and tradition that we have in architecture? Such structures are rare and some of them have even been sanctioned by the state governments as valuable historical sites. What the MP for Parit Sulong proposed was to eliminate such history! This is atrocity at its worst!
5. The Education Ministry has nothing against the cross and the statues displayed in the compound of missionary schools. They have the wisdom in knowing that such tradition and display is rare and bear a meaningful beginning or legacy of the school. Thus, they should be left alone. If the Education Ministry does not even have anything against those structures, why should the MP for Parit Sulong even bother in the first place?
6. His proposing to have the statues demolished and crosses destroyed is outrageous. Assume that a school is built with all the Islamic features available in a non-Islamic country. Now, here is then an MP who proposes that the dome be removed and replaced by a flat roof and the crescent moon be replaced by the symbol of a lion. I wonder how will the MP for Parit Sulong feel? If he is angered, what about the Christians who have now heard of his proposal to have the crosses and statues removed?

Ladies and gentlemen, did you know that many of our politicians, royalty and great personalities hailed from such missionary schools? I will name some: YAB Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak (Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia), His Highness Raja Dr. Nazrin Shah (the Raja Muda of Perak), YAB Datuk Seri Dr. Lim Keng Yaik (Minister for Energy, Water and Communications), YAB Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye (former MP), Mr. Koo Kien Keat (Badminton champion), Mr. Ralph Marshall (CEO of Astro), Ahmad Farid Ridzuan (CEO of TV3) and many more! Why is it that the MP for Parit Sulong never bothered to inquire from the people available in the politicians sphere in which many came from missionary schools as well?

We need to look back at why we need MPs for. Are they there in Parliament to discuss such irrelevant and sensitive issues? Have the MPs no sense for moderation of speech? While they are in need of wisdom, where has it gone?

Members of Parliament have been chosen and elected by the people to represent them for various constituencies. They are there to see that our welfare and the economic needs are met. They are to report to the government whatever dissatisfaction that have occurred. The MPs are also responsible to help resolve certain dilemmas that are happening in their constituencies. We don't need MPs who can talk a lot of nonsense, we need MPs who can speak up for the people's rights and walk the talk!

The fact that they have been elected by the people as their representatives mean that the people put a certain amount of trust in them to lead them. However, from what we can see from the hansard, it's clearly a misuse of trust. We have elected MPs who go to the Parliament to invoke racial and religious sentiments and are so desensitised to the fact that people are hurt by such remarks. Do we need such people in the Dewan Rakyat? Clearly, ladies and gentlemen, we should vote them OFF from the Parliament. Why should we have such people wasting everybody's time with absurd, baseless, appalling remarks? It's time we get to see a show of maturity within the august House.

Our MPs really need to think first before they say anything in the august House. If they have nothing to say, it is far better that they just don't attempt to find a convenient (yet offensive) topic to speak about and just shut up. Nobody is going to penalise them for just keeping their tongue still. It is far better to keep quiet, rather than to let the tongue damage one's reputation. Better be led by wisdom rather than be led by the heart.

Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, my most important advice is THINK!

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When I read this piece of news I was stunned by the intolerant stance taken by Beijing. Apparently "security reasons" is the cause of this ban. To me this is absolutely unacceptable as it borders on the ridiculous and shows how extreme the officially God forsaken country is. Athletes are also prohibited from bearing any kind of religious symbol at Olympic facilities.


Well if Bibles are banned, are Korans banned too? Well I would think Muslim athletes will surely be denied their sacred book too. As far as I know devout Muslims will not accept such nonsense. This seems like an insult on Islam itself. To take it further are Muslim headscarves banned to? They certainly are a religious symbols and they will be banned unless Chinese are hypocrites.

Furthermore, what will happen to Jews and their skullcaps? How about the Sikhs and their turbans? Well it can go on forever but the whole message Beijing is giving that they are bigoted Mao Tse Tung butt kissers money worshipers. Good job Hu Jintao your men have insulted the whole wide world.

Of course this can only culminate in one thing - the mass boycott of the Beijing Olympics. To me this would surely make my day as I have already decided that the Chinese government has absolutely no ethics and is one hundred percent morally bankrupt. All because of oil and money China ganged up with Russia to support the rape of Darfur. Genocide takes place there because they block all international efforts to stop the Sudanese. Remember the Burmese who died in their struggle for freedom! China and the Asean especially despicable Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore gave the finger to the democracy movement.

May you burn evil China!

~multum in parvo~

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From the BBC News website:

Attack on giant Pakistan Buddha

Suspected pro-Taleban militants have tried to blow up an ancient carving of Buddha in north-west Pakistan. The statue, thought to date from the second century BC, sustained only minimal damage in the attack near Manglore in remote Swat district. The area has seen a rise in attacks on "un-Islamic" targets in recent months. This is the first such attack in Pakistan and is reminiscent of the Taleban's 2001 destruction of the giant Buddhas at Bamiyan in Afghanistan.

[ Read article ]

The last time this happened was at Bamiyan, Afghanistan [ read article ], where the world's largest Buddhist statues were destroyed by the then-ruling Taliban regime for being "un-Islamic". Although the Taliban are now no longer in power, and on the run from US-NATO forces pursuing them in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan bordering Pakistan, already new extremists have stepped forward in Pakistan to continue their heinous crimes.

..the Bamiyan Buddhas survived for sixteen centuries in the remote fastness of the Afghan Hindu Kush. Neither the ravages of time, nor the conquering armies of Islam--not even the scourge of Genghis Khan--had laid them low.. - Andrew Forbes, CPAmedia.com

Supposedly following the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas, an international organization was established to protect and conserve religious sites worldwide [ read article ]. Granted, their jurisdiction probably accounts for nothing in the tribal-controlled border regions of Pakistan. Still, this startling lack of action on their part (aside from the expected cries of outrage and condemnation) is worrisome, as it demonstrates the terrorists' capability to continue their activities unimpeded, despite the world's opposition and horror.

It is obvious enough that the terrorists possess an agenda against all those who are not Muslims. Even better, considering events in Iraq (and the Middle East in general), they're more than willing to wage war against Muslims as well who do not see their side of the coin. Isn't it any wonder Islamophobia is at its height, and the United States is taking an increasingly hardline stance against nations suspected of harboring Muslim terrorists?

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Yesterday the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown showed that he deserves no respect at all. The world owes a debt to the United States for its leadership in the fight against international terrorism, Gordon Brown has said. What an obscene statement! The US under the reckless chickenhawk Bush administration has only led the world headlong into an increase in terrorism. Nobody owes a debt to a nation that has imperiled us all.

According to many sources the Iraq war has caused a sevenfold increase in terrorism. Yes, a sevenfold increase! To make matters worse they were no terrorist Iraq in the first place before the war. Using the false pretenses of supposed weapons of mass destruction under the preemptive strike doctrine brought about to destroy terrorist they (America and gang) invaded Iraq. The deposed and executed Saddam Hussien but left utter chaos behind. Civil wars are raging in Iraq. Terrorists now call Iraq the University of Terrorism (they attended terrorism school in Afghanistan). Baghdad is now the murder capital in the world. Even the humanitarian situation is worse than before the war. I call it total mission failure!

One war and America (Bush Administration) has lost its right to lead the world against terrorism (until they redeem themselves). To make matters even more dire the terrorist are back in Afghanistan ready to bounce back. These terrorist are now attacking the NATO forces there. They even control some parts of Afghanistan. You can blame opium or anything else but if America sent only troops to Afghanistan no such nonsense would have occurred.

To hell with Bush for he imperiled us all by emboldening terrorists! The world owes nothing to America but they owe us a blood debt that can never be paid.

P.S: This post is another reason why I hate politicians so much.

~multum in parvo~

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basement storeroom is now full of s*** sewage

In the UK, Parliament is basically the House of Commons. Here in Malaysia it's now infamously known as the House of Leaks. Our nation is also the home of a really disgraceful court complex. To make matters worst there is the chauvinist mosquito and the sexist one-eyed jack making a crude and vulgar joke about a opposition woman MP which insults all women and shows that they don't respect their own mothers. What has happened to my country!?

Several years ago the government spent RM 90 million to renovate the Parliament. Down the road the symbol of Malaysia is leaking in multiple places as written in this article. It's obvious somebody did something fishy, it smells of corruption. To make matters worse we then have two chauvinist monkeys denying the leaks while making a broadside vulgar insult at women just to attack the opposition. It becomes even more disgraceful with the deafening silence of Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs, the asinine apologetic ministers and politicians. At the end of the fiasco all we get is a "fake" apology. At least now the government as admitting that there are leaks. Why does a leaking Parliament have to symbolise the moral bankruptcy of some of the people's representative!?

The new court complex in Jalan Duta, Kuala Lumpur is another shame of Malaysia. First we had a crumbling roof which begs for awe and anger. Why did the contractors make an unsafe building? After that, the cafeteria ceiling had to "rain" because of a piping problem in the complex's cafeteria with press present. The incident reached a sickening low when a guard trying cover up the incident by trying to rough up reporters and shouting obscene words. That insult to guards even challenged the photographers to a fight. It's a shame that the judiciary is being undermined by obvious a shoddy building. Is corruption present here too? You guys can answer that question.

For the finale, the court complex's basement storeroom is now full of s... sewage because a sewerage manhole leaked. A number of files, including that of high-profile cases are now damaged. It's ironic that in Malaysia and only in Malaysia injustice can be brought through sewage.

Fusion16 wrote: "Our Prime Minister, while delivering his speech from his ultra-modern office located at Putrajaya, cowers in fear, wondering whether the poorly maintained roof will fall down on him". Soon the catchphrase won't be "first class facilities, third class mentality" but it will be "first class facilities as a facade, third class facilities in reality, third class mentality" if all these shambolic incidents keep repeating.

~multum in parvo~

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History classes taught students about historical bias. But to know that such misdeeds have been done to hide the bloodiest day in our history? Unthinkable!

When I was a student in secondary school, I always wondered about the May 13 riots that happened nearly 40 years ago in Malaysia. My history textbook barely devoted even a paragraph to this issue.

Among other things, it only states that:

1. the violence was triggered by the Chinese-dominated opposition supporters’ provocation in celebrating their electoral victory which saw the ruling Alliance Party suffer a major setback;


2. racial tensions that arose due to economic disparity between the major races also contributed to the riots;


3. the riots were the basis for the formation of the National Operations Council (which most Malaysian students would know - if they remember at all - as MAGERAN, or Majlis Gerakan Negara) under Tun Abdul Razak, and;


4. this led to the formulation of the New Economic Policy, which aimed to uplift the economic standards of the Malays (and is still in place today).

But now I know better.

Not-so-recently, Dr Kua Kia Soong released a book unveiling the truth behind the infamous May 13th riots. His book, May 13: Declassified Documents on the Malaysian Riots of 1969, is the result of three months of research at the Public Records Office in London to study records and declassified documents on the riots.

The book also debunks some of the myths behind the darkest period in our country's history and paints a different, shocking picture into the reasons behind its occurrence.

[...] the May 13 incident was a coup d’etat against the Tunku [the Prime Minister at the time] by the then emergent Malay state capitalists - backed by the police and army - to seize control of the reign of power from the old aristocrats to implement the new Malay agenda. [...]

[...] A secret document from the British cabinet office featured in the book showed that barely a week after the riots broke out, the Central Intelligence Agency had figured out what Tun Razak was planning - “to formalise Malay dominance, sideline the Chinese and shelve the Tunku”. [...]

[...] The role of the security forces in the May 13 bloodshed was also questioned in Kua’s findings. “Even at that time, people in the diplomatic core (were wondering) how come the day the riot broke out, Razak met with the chiefs of the police and army but they did not do anything,” he said. [...] “They are one of the most effective in putting down the communist insurrection [which was] a far, far more difficult operation than putting down riot, but they could not put down (such riot [sic]) in 1969 for days, for weeks," [...]

[ note: Susan Loone has made available a comprehensive summary about the riots from Dr Kua's book ]

History classes taught students about historical bias. The tales of old would be told by those with power and wealth, rewritten as they saw fit. Even King Xerxes alluded to this in the movie '300':

There will be no glory in your sacrifice. I will erase even the memory of Sparta from the histories. Every piece of Greek parchment shall be burned. Every Greek historian and every scribe shall have their eyes put out and their tongues cut from their mouths while uttering the very name of Sparta or Leonidas will be punishable by death. The world will never know you existed at all!

But to know that such misdeeds have been done to hide the bloodiest day in our history? Unthinkable! At the worst it would have only remained a conspiracy theory, a rumour, nothing more. Now the evidence shows otherwise.

Now the government has moved into 'damage control' mode, unwittingly providing the book with free publicity:

Ministry seizes controversial May 13 book
May 15, 07 8:56pm

The Internal Security Ministry confiscated 10 copies a controversial book with new claims on the May 13 racial riots from a major bookstore in the Midvalley shopping centre today. According to the publishers of ‘May 13: Declassified Documents on the Malaysian Riots of 1969′, a team of ministry officers visited the MPH bookstore this afternoon. The officers advised the popular bookstore not to sell the book as it may be banned.

According to a letter issued by the ministry officers to the bookstore, the books were confiscated from the shelves for suspicion of being an “undesirable publication” based on Section 7 of the Printing Press and Publications Act 1984.

The act empowers the minister to ban any publication which is “prejudicial to or likely to be prejudicial to public order, morality, security, the relationship with any foreign country or government, or which is likely to alarm public opinion”.

[ courtesy of MalaysiaKini ]

But a press statement by SUARAM indicates the government might not have been officially involved at all:

We have been informed by our distributor that ten (10) copies of SUARAM’s latest publication titled, “May 13: Declassified Documents on the Malaysian Riot of 1969″ by Dr. Kua Kia Soong, were taken from MPH Midvalley yesterday afternoon by officers from the Ministry of Internal Security.

The reason given by these officers led by Ahmad Faisal Arshad was that the book had contravened the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984. We were further informed that these officers had advised the bookshop not to sell or display the book.

It must stressed that there are no orders coming from the Ministry of Internal Security pertaining to this book. Further, the book contravenes no part of the said Act. We consider the actions of Ahmad Faisal Arshad and his team to be arbitrary and illegal.

SUARAM views the seizure of those ten (10) books as illegal, and demands that KDN pays for the ten books or return these books to the bookshop within 7 days; failing which, we will instruct our legal counsels to take action.

Now three senators from the Dewan Negara are calling for this book to be banned, while Deputy Internal Security Minister Fu Ah Kiow states that the ministry will look into the book's contents and take action soon.

But Dr Kua has this to say about the possibility of his book being banned:

“In the age of the Internet, what does banning a book mean? We can put it on the Web, you can’t do anything.”

Bravo, Dr Kua! :)

It now remains to be seen how this new controversy will develop. The question is, about the youth who were never there during the bloodshed and violence, will they even bother to know about this?

~verus rara avis~

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Islamic (syariah) courts cannot and should have jurisdiction over non-Muslims. This is against the democratic principle of the rule of law i.e, laws cannot cause injustice and unfairness. Religious values e.g, Islamic values cannot be applied to non-Muslims as this is contrary to justice and fairness. In Malaysia the Federal Constitution guarantees that only Muslims are under the Syariah Courts.

Recently we had many cases that highlighted the ongoing "tug-o-war" between the the civil courts and Syariah court. These include the cases of Shamala, Lina Joy, Nyonya Tahir, M. Moorthy, Rayappan Anthony, Subashini, P. Marimuthu, and perhaps the latest, Magendran Sababathy. One can argue that these cases are causing ethno-religious harmony to be slowly eroded. Dr Wan Azhar Wan Hamad of the Centre for Syariah, Law and Political Science, Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (IKIM) today has come into the fray with a suggestion that syariah courts have some jurisdiction over non-Muslims in order calm the "tug-o-war" in this article.

Forget about Wan's justification of doing this for if what he suggests comes to pass we are all finished. It will a start of a slippery slope of religious intolerance descending into outright religious persecution. First Syariah courts will start giving biased decisions which are unfair to non-Muslims. Then they will police your morals e.g., moral police will roam the streets checking for "immodest" attire like in UiTM's INTEC; touching your lover will get you slapped with a fine; spending time alone with the member of the opposite sex will land you in jail. Finally everyone may be forced to convert to Islam. Making Islamic values and rules apply to non-Muslim is outright bigotry. Religious values are of a personal nature, if I'm not a Muslim I won't have Islamic values, as simple as that. The state has no right to interfere at all unless we live in a dark place ruled by a Saudi like government.

Azhar is definitely irrational at best and a religious bigot at worst because what he suggests is outright injustice, a certain kind of religious jingoism. We all must denounce his suggestion as it will imperil our very human rights. We must have freedom of religion and expression, the state must not interfere. We live in secular democracy not a dark dictatorial theocracy e.g., Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Another bone of contention is that only Muslims are allowed to discuss the "tug-o-war" without fear as implied by the article and recent events. Remember that the Article 11 group discussion was canceled due to the threat of violence and police apathy (and perhaps some Islamic bigot(s) in the upper echelons of power). Just this week the international Muslim-Christian dialogue – the Building Bridges seminar – organized by the London office of the Archbishop of Canterbury has been canceled according British sources and postponed according to local sources. A question keeps ringing in my head, why can't we have a say about something that affects us?

Let's us hope that one day we embrace all the values of democracy, tolerance, competitiveness and equality otherwise we may go to the dogs like Zimbabwe and Nigeria.

~multum in parvo~

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Hmmm, the world must be wondering what kind of people Malaysian are, with our politicians behaving no better than low-cultured folk. I refer to the recent event of a certain government MP who was reported to have made a derogatory remark to a female Opposition MP (read the Star article)

First thing, I really fail to see the connection between the possibility of leaks in the Parliament building and the monthly cycle of a woman. It was hell rude, if you don't mind me saying. I thought debates, especially one so important as a Parliamentary, were supposed to be intelligent exchanging of views with a healthy dose of wit, rhetoric, charisma and sarcasm. This latest episode (following on a string of other numerous verbal blunders) just shows how much more we have to go in becoming a progressed nation, mentally.

Before proceeding, let me clarify that my reference is The Star's coverage on that incident. I quote the paper: '“My advice is that MPs should be careful with their words next time,” he (Speaker Tan Sri Ramli Ngah Talib) said amidst cheers and the thumping of tables by the backbenchers.'

And that's just it?? *incredulous* The cheering and thumping of tables seems as though the other backbenchers think that making jibes as such is acceptable. Or is it because it was in their favour, and not the Opposition's?

Another from the article: 'Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz said Fong should have taken the matter in her stride.
“It is normal to play with words,” he said, adding that it would be wrong if the statement had been made with malicious intent.'

I do agree with his statement but plain rudeness staring you in the face with a defiant eye shouldn't be accepted. Especially from a person of public influence.

We keep hearing of these incidents from time to time. When will our politicians learn to take responsibility for their words? We wonder why are they even there and realise, damn! we voted for them. What kind of people have we elected to lead our country? People who are merely skilled in talk (which borders on the nonsensical at times)? Which brings me to the question - who are the bigger idiots, us or them?

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Listen to the UN watch representative's condemnation.

Syria, Iran, Sudan, Russia and China condemned Israel because it's USA's proxy. These criminal governments maybe except Syria orchestrate far worse crimes than Israel. Why don't I see these countries condemned at the UN Human rights commission? The OIC is another hypocritic organisation. Why don't they condemn the Arab racists, murderers and rapists of Sudan? Why no condemnation of Muslim on Muslim killing in Iraq? Why no censure against the pseudo civil war in Gaza? Hypocrites!!

~multum in parvo~

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I'm a cynic when it comes to politicians. While attending the KDU Law faculty briefing I was told that a law degree is the best path to politics. Corruption was registering in my head when I was thinking about politicians. Practically all politicians are hypocrites and liars.Try to prove me wrong! Here are some categories of evil misdeeds by politicians.

1. Generals conduct wars but politicians are the warmongers. The illegal Iraq war is a testimony to all warmongering leaders. The traitor Bush wrought chaos and destruction on Iraq all for bloody oil. I would tell you that all wars are for selfish reasons. World War I was for utterly petty reasons e.g. jealousy. The Vietnam was a truly foolish endevour of muscle flexing. India and Pakistan almost annihilated each other over a terrorist attack that took a relatively insignificant number of lives. Therefore all politicians who advocate war are selfish murderers.
2. Then we have the thieving kind of politician. These lowlifes steal from the public to feed their greed. Many people know Dick Cheney is super corrupt. We have the king of Swaziland bedding young girls and buying them luxury cars while his country gets decimated by Aids. Our country get ever more corrupt as the years go by. Our politicians are surely involved.
3. Then of course there is hypocrisy. Bush has yo-yoed on policy all the time. We have Chinese pretending to be neutral while shielding Sudan against the wrath of the world for genocide. We have a whole range of leaders who scream slanderous rhetoric and then conveniently denying any wrongdoing e.g. our Tourism Minister. We also know all to well that election manifestos are all empty promises. Look at Indonesia, their president promised to stem corruption but nothing has changed. Indonesia is still hyper-corrupt. Does this ring a bell?
4. Politicians also enjoy raping Mother Earth by proxy. The Japanese want to reintroduce whaling when whales are still very threatened all to inflate their ego. European fishing ships are overfishing the West African coastal waters with politicians helping them by blackmailing West Africa by putting sanctions on the table. All this because of being bribed by fishing companies. Our government (politicians) allowed the leatherback turtle to go extinct locally.

Politicians = principled leaders? Think again....

~multum in parvo~

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Watch the video to find out how flawed the Iraq war really is. Listen carefully to Mr Benn as well, he's one awesome orator.

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"Giving priority to cases involving civil servants is not meant to delay other cases. Rather, it would save the Government money as civil servants were still getting paid while waiting for their cases to be disposed of." - Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, Chief Justice (Malaysia)

That statement offers an awfully interesting insight as to how our judiciary system works, no?

Justice means 'the upholding of what is just, especially fair treatment and due reward in accordance with an honour, standard or law'. I struggle to see the fairness in prioritizing cases involving civil servants.

Scenario

Let's assume that both me and a civil servant are charged with contempt of court. Let's also assume that both me and the civil servant are sentenced to a three-month jail term and we have both appealed for that decision to be overturned.

If we apply the rules of our Chief Justice, the civil servant's appeal would be processed first, seeing as he's getting paid by our Government while I am not. His appeal is successful and he gets off. Only then do our courts process my appeal.

Since these processes take a friggin' long time to process in the first place, I wonder how long I have to wait before they finally see my appeal. A case in point this one involving Murray Hiebert (1999).

If you read that article, you'll soon come to the realization that he waited two years for his appeal to be processed. So is it fair if a civil servant's court case processed in say, six months or a year while I wait for two?

Hmm?

Let's all be civil servants, guys and gals...

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Look down! Look down!
Don't look 'em in the eye.
Look down! Look down!
You're here until you die.

The sun is strong,
It's hot as hell below!
Look down! Look down!
There's twenty years to go.

I'll die, O Lord,
Sweet Jesus hear my prayer.
Look down! Look down!
Sweet Jesus doesn't care.

I know she'll wait.
I know that she'll be true.
Look down! Look down!
They've all forgotten you.

When I get free,
You won't see me, 'ere for dust!

Look down! Look down!
Don't look 'em in the eye.
How long, O Lord,
Before you let me die?

Look down! Look down!
You'll always be a slave.
Look down! Look down!
You're standing in your grave.

---adapted from Les Misérables

To those who have watched Les Misérables, you should know what the above lyrics of the Entre'Act reflect. To those who do not know, pray read more.

Its main theme is about the poverty and war that struck France in the early 1800s. Poverty and war have caused much social unrest, and law at that time was unmerciful. This is what was the writer of the novel Les Misérables, who is Victor Hugo, tried to portray. In those days of war, people who are poor could become rich through stealing and doing other sorts of things. According to the novel (and the drama), college students have to defend their own land from being conquered. They were outnumbered and all but one died in the war.

Although the story discusses about poverty and war, I'd like to draw your attention on the matter of war. Human beings have not ceased to gain glory through conquering and colonising other people's lands. This was since the first civilisations appeared on earth. And till now, war is still going on.

As we ponder back into the days of modern history, we find ourselves looking back into the First and Second World War, the Vietnam War, the Iraq War and many more, we see that war brings nothing more than just misery, loss, condemnation, sufferings and so on. What is it that you see is good from war?

Who decides to wage war on other nations? Surely it is the leader of a country who does so, against the leader of another. But they forgot that war affects not only the leaders but the innocent ones as well. Sometimes a leader wages war against another leader for the wrong that the latter has done, but does that make the people in the wrong, too? Because of the decision that the former makes, the latter's people have to suffer the consequences, too. Is this what we would constitute as justice?

The worst of all is this: after the war, the people who are afflicted by it will still continue to suffer. While the victor continues to wash their hands in butter, the defeated ones have to continue grafting for as long as they are able (yes, I'm using quite a lot of words from Les Misérables). And it isn't just for a few weeks or a few months, it's for years!

We have seen for ourselves the hard times the Iraqis are going through now since the Iraq War. Although many lives have now improved and restored to normality, chaos still happens and people are still living in fear.

We know perfectly well that war brings misery and suffering to the people. In history, people have often been tricked by other nations about how they can help free the nation from other conquerors, how they can help develop their nation if the people co-operate with them. However, in the end, they still are conquered, albeit by another nation, and is still neglected. All I am trying to say is this: (Most) war-mongers make empty promises.

Don't agree with me? Well, have your say here then! Feel free to drop comments.

P/S: Sorry that I can't write a more extensive entry about this matter. I'm currently down with sore throat and cough (I've lost my voice!). And I'm sorry that I haven't been able to post here often.

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Heil Hitler!!


Tyranny of the majority is a phrase describing scenario in which decisions made by a majority under that system would place that majority's interests so far above a minority's interest as sometimes to be comparable in cruelty to "tyrannical" despots.

tyr·an·ny (tĭr'ə-nē)
n., pl. -nies.

1. A government in which a single ruler is vested with absolute power.
2. The office, authority, or jurisdiction of an absolute ruler.
3. Absolute power, especially when exercised unjustly or cruelly
4.
a. Use of absolute power.
b. A tyrannical act.
5. Extreme harshness or severity; rigor.

Examples of tyranny of the majority being practiced.

It was said that Thailand's Thaksin bribed the poor to impose tyranny of the majority in order to rape his nations resources. This contributed to his downfall.

Tyranny of the majority was also used to oppress the blacks in the US before the civil rights movement. Thanks to Martin Luther King Jr's activism all minorities in the US now enjoy civil rights.

In Iran people of the Ba'hai faith are heavily persecuted due the non-existence or utter contempt towards religious freedom laws. The majority Persian population supports this being brainwashed by their leaders. Even in the Arab world enemies are labelled as Ba'hai as an insult of credibility.

In India Dalits are still heavily discriminated as nobody really cares about them or just despise them thinking of them as vermin. Most Dalits have abandoned Hinduism as it places them as vermin.

Remember that according to Bush Iraq is a democracy. In Iraq Sunni Muslims were and still are undergoing genocide supported by factions in the government in Shia majority or mixed areas. All men with the name Omar have either been killed, changed his name or has fled according to the Time magazine. Only Sunnis have the name Omar! In retaliation Sunnis have an ongoing campaign of bombing Shia civillians. The Mandaens and Christians suffer the worst of fates. There's an ongoing extermination by Sunnis and Shias campaign on these people in Iraq.

Let's not forget that Hitler had popular support of the German people. He used this support to try to totally wipe out Jews, homosexuals, Gypsies, mental patients, the mentally disabled and the physically disabled. This became known as the Holocaust. Who's the most evil man ever, Hitler or Stalin?

Let's hope Malaysia will never degenerate into practicing tyranny of the majority. But I fear worse may come after hearing the violent rhetoric of the UMNO firebrands. What do you think?

~multum in parvo~

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Najib: No point building libraries if people don’t care to read

This article caught my eye. For once the DPM made a good point, or rather for once, he managed to point out the obvious. I'm going to get a little political here but I don't get why our politicians point out what we already know. Is it because they just figured it out coz they're a little slower, or because they only know so much and can't seem to dig deeper.

If I put you in office, it is certainly to do more than state the obvious. It is the responsibility of the media to tell me the condition and climate of the country. The politicians are supposed to be doing something about the reported condition of the country. I know we don't need to build libraries coz Malaysians read only two books a year. I know that it is because most books are in English and most Malaysians have such a poor grasp of the language that it takes too much effort to read an English book. I know that it is because teachers themselves suck at English and pass on the suck-iness to their students. What I want to know is why the Education Ministry doesn't do anything about it. What were you doing about the problem when you were Education Minister, Mister DPM? Because those teachers teaching English now went to school while you were in power? (Man, I could get so sued for this.. haha)

Anyway, what I'm really trying to say is that if we don't do anything to stop the cycle, it won't stop. How do we get better English teachers? How do we more effectively teach English to our kids? From an economic stand point, better teachers requires better salaries, from an education standpont, better teachers require better universities. Revamp our TESL syllabus in universities. Bring in foreign experts in TESL. Make our TESL undergraduates read good books in the first place. Raise the bar so people who can't speak English don't graduate with English degrees. So much that could be done, if we spent less time stating the obvious and more time doing what should be obvious.

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After reading the list of SPM top students of 2006 I noticed someone's name was missing. Where was Melisa Sia? For those of you who are blur, Melisa scored 16 A1s in the 2006 SPM. Certainly no mean feat that definitely deserves recognition. Melisa may not deserve to be the best SPM student of 2006 but she certainly belongs on that list. I know that all the people on the list will receive an award from the Examination Syndicate.

Cynics can point out that the reason Melisa is not on the list is so that the Examination Syndicate's choices of 10 A1 scorers as top SPM students don't seem unwise. They are afraid Melisa will overshadow some of the top 100 SPM scorers.

Notwithstanding, I don't think Melisa should be bothered. The award given to the top 100 SPM scorers is not really meaningful in the first place. I know of five top SPM scorers of 2005 who failed to receive any government scholarship. One scored 14 A1s and was the top Malay student!! He's name is Ahnaf. There is also a boy named Han Ern who scored 12 A1s but was rejected by JPA on some technicality. The other three were from the disabled category,Alice ,Jaziel and Kah Yee. Ahnaf and Han Ern may have been rejected because they are Asean scholars studying in Singapore. Unfortunately for Kah Yee, Jaziel and Alice they just didn't get enough 'A's. What is the meaning of the top scorer award for these people?


From left, Sugasini (13 A1s), Esther Jack (15 A1s), Albert (11 A1s, disabled category), Ahnaf (14 A1s), Raja Ezman (11 A1s) & Jaziel Tan (disabled category).

As for me, I received the same award but had to fight for my JPA scholarship in the press. JPA didn't even want to even interview me at first. When I was rejected outright by JPA, I really felt betrayed. Luckily, through the help of our honourable Prime Minister I received my hard earned scholarship.

Do you see an inconsistency?

~multum in parvo~


(Images courtesy of Paper Napkin)

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It seems that Bush has been whining a lot on why the Iraqis don't feel gratitude towards him for toppling Saddam. Who wants to feel gratitude when utter chaos has ensued from the American occupation in Iraq. So, is Bush stupid or there's something more sinister below the surface?

Bush actually has a superiority complex. Disturbingly, Bush has an incessant concern with the proper level of fealty. The word that he repeatedly uses when discussing what he wants from nations he thinks he's helping—"gratitude"—implies a supplicant's relationship to his lord. Power has evidently overpowered him.

As Stanley Renshon, a political psychologist at the City University of New York Graduate Center (and generally a Bush supporter), puts it, "Gratitude is something you give to somebody who's superior. It's very different from, say, appreciation, which is something that equals give each other."

Bush thinks American generosity gets to little credit. He refuses acknowledge, however, that governments give aid or go to war for their own interests, not just for the interests of others, and therefore don't generally require gratitude notes. Nor does he seem to realise, whatever his motives, that nobody likes whiner-donors who demand bowing and scraping are often resented, if not despised. Like almost all American politicians Bush is one self centered hypocrite. America brought anarchy, suffering and death to Iraq for bloody oil.

I wish Bush gets struck by lightning as that man doesn't deserve to exist. He hasn't brought anything good in this world. He should quickly join Saddam, Hitler, Stalin, Mao etc. wherever they are.

~multum in parvo~


(Images courtesy of Paper Napkin)

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Bloggers are actually now a very powerful force globally and locally. Through blogging opinions and news can be easily distributed to the masses. Added to that the ability to discuss blog content on a mass scale very quickly surely speaks volumes. Traditional medium cannot compare to blogs in some ways. Although blogs have not really brought sweeping changes worldwide we are seeing a trend that blogs will bring democracy to the next level.

But here we still have a politician who slanders bloggers especially women bloggers accusing us as liars and traitors. In a statement yesterday, published in Sin Chiew, the Tourism Minsiter Tunku Adnan lashed that all bloggers on the Internet are liars, out of which 80% are unemployed women.

“All bloggers are liars, they cheat people using all kinds of methods. From my understanding, out of 10,000 unemployed bloggers, 8,000 are women.”

“Bloggers like to spread rumours, they don’t like national unity. Today our country has achievements because we are tolerant and compromising. Otherwise we will have civil war. "

Why must our leaders allow such detrimental generalisations be spewed? Obviously we RANDTSers are not liars or traitors. I also wonder why sexist politicians persist with their nonsense without being rebuked by our leaders.

We have achieved so much after existing as nation for half a century. I truly believe blogging will bring our country to greater heights.

~multum in parvo~

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From The Star Online:

Me married? Just rumours, says PM
By IZATUN SHARI

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi laughed off talk that he has recently got married, dismissing it as mere rumours.

The Prime Minister was in a jovial mood when asked about gossip on the Internet that he had gotten married.

Speculation that Abdullah had remarried or was about to do so has been rife after recent postings on the Net, especially after one blogger published a fictionalised movie poster with a picture of the Prime Minister posing with a woman.

Subsequently, the blogger posted his “wholehearted apology” which stated, among other things: “At this particular instant, I can only assume that the speculation is true until it is proven beyond reasonable doubt, fictitious.”

Some of the postings also suggested that Abdullah was already married to the woman on Jan 22 while others claimed he was married on Feb 22.

To a question by a reporter whether he was planning to get married as spread by talk on the Internet, Abdullah replied : “Itu rumour, itu rumour.(That is a rumour).”

The reporter carefully broached the subject with the Prime Minister, who appeared amused during a press conference after a Bank Negara board of directors quarterly meeting.

“Harap Datuk Seri tak marah. Rumour dalam Internet mengatakan Datuk Seri akan berkahwin (Hopefully, Datuk Seri will not be angry. There are rumours in the Internet saying that Datuk Seri is getting married),” said the reporter.

Abdullah drew laughter from the floor by replying : “You kata ini nak bagi I marah? That’s why you say harap I tak marah? Itu rumours, rumours, rumourslah. (Are you saying this to make me angry? That’s why you say ... hopefully I won’t be angry. They are rumours)

Pressed further on whether he was planning to get married in the near future, Abdullah said laughingly : “Rumours, rumours.”

The exchange of questions ended with the Prime Minister saying once again: “Rumour-lah” with a grin before asking to move on to another topic.

“Ada lagi soalan lain?Siapa lagi nak kahwin? (Any other questions? Who else wants to get married),” he said in jest.

Pak Lah getting married again? Perhaps - but he's already dismissed the rumours as "just rumours". Strange? Indeed. I wonder.

What do you think?

~verus rara avis~

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My blood boiled after reading this.

In Saudi Arabia it's hell being a girl. Those barbaric Saudis are so sick and monstrous to sentence a nineteen year old rape victim to receive 90 lashes.

A SAUDI woman who was kidnapped at knifepoint, gang-raped and then beaten by her brother was sentenced to 90 lashes - for a meeting a man who was not a relative, a newspaper reported.

But the her sex maniac rapists only get away with pathetic sentences ranging from from 10 months to five years and endure no lashings. Still I'm amazed that those men were punished knowing the Saudis too well.

Girls you all are so fortunate not to be born in Saudi Arabia. Down with the diabolic regime of Saudi Arabia!

~multum in parvo~

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