Monday, May 12, 2008

Seminar and Semester break

Exams over!

Weehoo! After all those sleepless nights, countless cups of coffee, days of bad fever, finally, my exams are over.. Ah, what a great feeling! I shall resume reading my fav books again now. Move over textbooks. :p

Anyways, I'm heading to another seminar tomorrow morning; "Seminar Media dan Pilihanraya Umum 2008", organized by the faculty of Mass Communication and Media Studies, UiTM.

I'll try to post a summary of the Palestine Al-Nakbah seminar soon. In the meantime, check out some pictures here and here.
Later.

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Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Karpal Singh vs Sultan Perak

Karpal pertikai sultan - Sifatkan istana campur tangan pentadbiran negeri Perak

KUALA LUMPUR 5 Mei – Pengerusi DAP, Karpal Singh terus mempertikaikan tindakan Sultan Perak menitahkan Menteri Besar menarik balik arahan pertukaran Pengarah Jabatan Agama Islam Perak (JAIP), Datuk Jamry Sury, yang disifatkannya sebagai campur tangan istana dalam pentadbiran negeri.

Sambil mengingatkan Istana Perak supaya memahami kuasa terhad raja-raja, Karpal menekankan bahawa “rakyat kini tidak lagi hidup dalam zaman feudal.’'

‘‘Sultan dan Yang di-Pertuan Agong perlu bertindak atas nasihat pihak eksekutif (kerajaan). Sultan Perak tidak ada hak di bawah undang-undang untuk campur tangan dalam keputusan kerajaan negeri menukar Jamry sebagai Pengarah JAIP,” katanya pada sidang akhbar di Parlimen yang turut dihadiri anaknya, Gobind Singh Deo (DAP-Puchong). [berita penuh]

Kurang ajar punya Kapal. Mana hormat Karpal pada Sultan? Nasib baik ini Malaysia. Kalau Pakistan, dah lama orang macam ni kena tembak.

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Thursday, May 1, 2008

Tun Dr. Mahathir blogs!

“This site is dedicated to publishing my writings as and when I am able to pen my thoughts and opinion,” he says.
Former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has started his own blog (Chedet.com), using his old pen name, Che Det, when he wrote for the Straits Times newspaper in the 60s. This is definitely an interesting development in Malaysian blogosphere. To me, it didn't really came as a surprise, as I feel it is just a matter of time before Tun starts his own blog. Many people in the past have asked Tun about setting up a blog and now finally the time has come. Next in-waiting, is his yet to be published memoir!

He started his first post by writing on the judicial reform issues by saying that there is no details mentioned on how the recently announced Judicial Appointments Commission will work. Touching on this subject, besides Tun's blog post, A. Kadir Jasin has also written a long thoughtful entry on his blog, entitled, 'Suruhanjaya Saingi Kuasa Raja dan PM'. I'm beginning to have a second thought on Zaid Ibrahim now.

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Tun Dr. Mahathir - "The Case for Criminalising War"

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad, former Prime Minister of Malaysia
Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad
[image source: AFP]


Malaysia's ex-PM Mahathir wants Iraq war leaders on war crimes charges

LONDON (AFP) — Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has called for an international tribunal to try Western leaders with war crimes over the war in Iraq, spokesman for the organisers said.

In a speech at Imperial College, London, Mahathir called for a tribunal to try US President George W. Bush plus former prime ministers Tony Blair of Britain and John Howard of Australia for their part in the conflict, said a spokesman for the Muslim group the Ramadhan Foundation, which set up the event. [full report]

Many thanks to Ammar Waraich, Chairman of the Political Philosophy Society, Imperial College Union, who posted the mp3 recording of the event on Facebook. I'm not sure if the video recording of the event is available on the net, but click the link below to download the mp3 version (61.02 minutes.24.9MB). http://cid-ecebc6764b14292b.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/Mahathir.mp3
But it won't be for long. Should you fail to download from the link above, head over here or go straight to http://shahnon.com/mahathir.mp3. I've saved a copy for myself on the server. If there is a 'Security Warning' while downloading, do not worry, it is safe. :)

Facebook is definitely the top social networking site in promoting events like public lectures, political events, social gatherings and such. Two upcoming events promoted in Facebook, which I've noted down in my mobile diary are;
i) Farish A. Noor's www.othermalaysia.org Lecture Series II at The Annexe, Central Market, KL on 3rd May (Saturday), 3.00 pm and

ii) The "Palestine: 60 Years of Struggle; Al Nakbah Remembered" forum, organised by the International Movement for a Just World and Peace Malaysia at 10.30 am, Sin Chew Hall, Sin Chew Daily, Petaling Jaya.
(but sadly, I'll probably miss this one cos I'm having exam on this day! %$#@*)

Anyways, talking of Facebook, I think the recently most successful event being promoted on Facebook would be the "KL Freeze in Unison" which was held at The Pavillion, KL, few weeks ago. The event was very successful in getting a large number of people to attend within just a short period of time! It was picked up by The Star and was mentioned in Fly.fm radio too. If you don't have an idea what is this all about, read it all here;
The Star: One posting on Facebook drew 1,000 to take part in KL Freeze

Click here and here to view the 'Freeze' video in London and New York. Cool eh? It doesn't really have any purpose though, but it was enough to cause an alarm for the security personnels. :p

Last but not least, this blog will be on an indefinite hiatus, probably until the end of my exam week, next Saturday.

Happy Labour Day to all!

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Saturday, April 26, 2008

Pak Lah and Malaysia

While switching on the TV awhile ago, I was shocked to find out that famous blogger, Raja Petra will appear live on RTM1 tomorrow night, Sunday 27th April. I just feel that he should just stick to his Malaysia-Today blog. To me it is just a waste of air time to watch him on tv.

Frankly speaking, if we look at the trend of what is happening now, Pak Lah's so-called reform agenda is actually paving the way for the opposition to win the next general election. The trend is already there. Sadly, this is a government with no clear sense of direction. More than a month have passed on since the disastrous election result for Barisan Nasional and yet I still don't know where Pak Lah is heading. It's as if business as usual for him. It has now come to the point that even when Pak Lah does something good, the people just don't have faith anymore in him. I hope that he won't be re-elected at this year's UMNO party election.

Pak Lah's so-called reform agenda reminds me to an article by Isham Rais in his 'Dari Jelebu' column in Malaysia-Today, 'Dolah dan Gorby – Perestroika dan Glasnot'.
..Seperti Gorby, Abdullah Badawi merasakan telah sampai masanya ruang demokrasi dibuka dan satu penstrukturan baru wajib dilakukan. Abdullah sedang melihat jalan buntu di hadapan Putrajaya. Apa yang sedang kita lihat hari ini adalah hasil empat tahun dasar perestroika dan glasnot Abdullah Badawi..

Hishamuddin Rais has made a good comparison of Pak Lah's so-called democratisation, openness and reform agenda with former Russian USSR President, Mikhail Gorbachev. As an overview to this issue, in the 1980s, Gorbachev has launched a series of reform in terms of governance, social freedom, media and economy (Glosnost and Perestroika). Some of the effects of this reform were that, the Communist government relaxed its censorship on the media and soon after, the media took the opportunity to expose social and economic problems by the Soviet government. Gorbachev's economic reform by introducing an 'open market' system too has not really gone down well with the public. It was dogged down with many problems. This has caused the public to lose faith in the Soviet government.

Gorbachev's original goal to reform the Soviet Union has finally proved to be a failure when later in 1991 the Soviet Union was dissolved. If we look back at the Soviet's history in the 1980s, the collapse of the Soviet Union has actually began in 1985, the moment Gorbachev introduced the Glosnost and Perestroika policy.

So basically, my view is that if UMNO does not listen to the calls for Pak Lah to resign or clearly spell out the transition plan immediately, I believe this is what is going to happen in the next 4 or 5 years (or maybe by end of this year if what Anwar's claim is true). A clear reform is needed not only by UMNO but the BN as a whole. History has shown that many dominant political parties who ruled for decades had lost. A few examples would be the Kuomintang in Taiwan, Indian Congress Party and the latest being the Colorado Party in Paraguay which lost the election to the Patriotic Alliance for Change coalition after ruling Paraguay for 61 years.

Isham Rais concluded his article by saying;
Saya yakin rakyat akan mempertahankan glasnot dan perestroika untuk memunculkan Vladimir Putin dengan parti barunya. Pilihan rakyat ini akan membuka era pencerahan di Malaysia.

While he seems to acknowledge and suggest that Pak Lah's openness policy (which I see it as Pak Lah's weaknesses) will subseqently benefit the opposition parties, I just hope that the 8 March election results is not the end of a new beginning.

Related article
'The Age of the Sledgehammer' by Karim Raslan
Umno leaders should learn from Asia's other once dominant parties who lost office but were able to reinvent themselves and regain power..

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Belasungkawa - Rustam Sani (1944 - 2008)

At the time of this writing many must have read about the passing of Rustam A. Sani, a great intellectual scholar. I had the chance to read his thoughts once through his book 'Ke Mana Nasionalisme Melayu (2004)' in which he explains academically about the failure of the Malay (or UMNO) nationalisme.

In the meanwhile, Johan Jaafar has written a good piece of article in his weekly Saturday column in the NST (See excerpts below). Allahyarham Rustam A. Sani is also supposed to launch his new book 'Failed Nation?: Concerns of a Malaysian Nationalist' and 'Social Roots of the Malay Left' today, but as fate has it, god has other plan for him. Al-fatihah.
JOHAN JAAFFAR: Rustam A. Sani, a scholar and an intellectual
By Johan Jaaffar
2008/04/26
HE lived in the shadow of his famous father, Ahmad Sani Kecil, better known as Ahmad Boestamam. To the literary community he was Ruhi Hayat -- poet, novelist, essayist. He was a journalist with Utusan Melayu and later Warta Malaya but more importantly he was a nationalist and freedom fighter. He was imprisoned many times for his beliefs.

Rustam Abdullah Sani, who used the name Rustam A. Sani, was brought up in a household where perjuangan (struggle) meant everything. He, his sister and their mother endured difficult times.

Rustam, born in August 1944, knew what his father stood for. In fact, his views were moulded by his father's struggles. Understandably, he was attracted to politics.

His leftist leaning was no secret. He was involved with his father's party, Parti Rakyat Malaya. But whatever principles he stood for, he was a fair man with a penchant for objectivity.

He had reasons to use his writings to pursue his political objectives, but Rustam knew the limits. He was an intellectual first, a politician last.. [full article]


Related article
TheStar: Farewell to a true Malaysian - by Jomo K.S.

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Monday, April 21, 2008

BBC Hard Talk with Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad

Dr. Mahathir Mohamad

In case anybody missed out Tun Dr. Mahathir's interview with BBC Hard Talk on tv, click here to watch it online (23.10mins).
(RealPlayer is needed to view the video)

I like some of the points brought up by Tun Dr. Mahathir and here are some excerpts of the interview with BBC Hard Talk anchorman, Stephen Sackur.

Tun Dr. Mahathir on democracy;
If you look at the history of the west, they come up with all kinds of ideology, they used it for some time and then found it defective and they dropped it and start on another. One day they will going to forget about democracy because in some countries democracy actually ended up in anarcy and there were practically no government.

It's (democracy) not a system that can fit everybody. You must have a certain understanding of the limitations of democracy in order to make it work.

The great civilisaton of the past do not have democracy and yet they became great.

It's not necessary that the system will work for everybody. But if you have a bad leader , even the democracy system would fail. You must remember that in this democracy country which dropped atom bomb.. killing two hundred thousand people.

Tun Dr. Mahathir on Malaysia
The fact is that we have a multiracial country and if we are not careful, there will be racial flare up and if you look at most of the countries with a multiracial population, they are never peaceful. Even Northern Ireland, it took you such a long time to solve the war in Northen Ireland.

Tun Dr. Mahathir on his "..Jews rule the world by proxy" remark at the Tenth OIC Conference in Putrajaya, 2003.
I'm stating fact..again and again, this is what has happened... Well, this idea of anti semitism is created by the Jewish themselves. we cannot say anything. In fact journalists have been arrested for saying something against the holocaust and.. where is the freedom of press?
No, I am not anti semitic. The fact is that the United States obeys what Israel wants it to do.. I don't want Islamic terrorism anymore than I don't want Jewish attack in Israel or American bomb in Baghdad.

Also check out some other quotes by Tun Dr. Mahathir that I keep in this blog.
Tun Dr. Mahathir on Leadership
Tun Dr. Mahathir on Srebrenica
Tun Dr. Mahathir on 'trusting your memory'
Tun Dr. Mahathir on the US 2004 Presidential Election

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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Pak Lah oh Pak Lah?

Malaysiakini: Anwar says he's moving toward forming new government
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim today said he was moving towards forming a new government after landmark elections, with the help of defectors from the ruling coalition.

I just don't understand how Pak Lah can be so in denial about the election results. Barisan Nasional lost 5 states (According to sources, all these five states contributes to about 60% of the national GDP) And yet he can claimed that BN still have the support and 'close to winning two thirds majority in parliament'. Doesn't he know that this is the first time that there were a significant swing of votes not only from the Chinese and Indians but the Malays as well, which had never happened before. In 1999, when the Malay votes were split between BN and the opposition, the non-Malays stood behind BN. In the 1969 general election, even though the non Malays voted against the then Alliance party, the Malay vote is still strong and they only lost two states, Penang and Kelantan. Unless if there is nothing serious being done, the prospect of BN future under Pak Lah is, sadly going down.

For the next two three months, Anwar's steps will definitely be closely watched.
On another note, former Semangat 46 president, Ku Li is challenging Pak Lah for the UMNO presidency. Though I very much doubt Ku Li can still make an impact, I hope his challenge will at least show to Pak Lah that there are plenty of things that are not well in UMNO.

MP for Gua Musang Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has made public his intent to challenge Umno president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for the presidency. He has offered himself to lead Umno to “heal the party”, which he described to be "in a bad way.”
While acknowledging that his advancing age might be used against him, the 71-year-old former Finance Minister, who held the Gua Musang parliamentary seat since 1969, expressed willingness to take up the challenge if he was given the opportunity. [full report]

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Malaysian Cabinet 2008

So Pak Lah has announced his list of cabinet members which are much smaller in size compared to the 2004 XXL size cabinet. Besides the fact that Rafidah Aziz is out for the first time in approx. 30 years and also for the first time Wanita Umno does not have a real Minister in cabinet (Shahrizat was appointed as the PM's Special Advisor), one of the first thing that I noticed in the list is that - Dafi AF6's father is in the list (??). Umno Bera MP, Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakub is the new Youth and Sports Minister. I think he is perhaps one of the lesser known Youth and Sports Minister in recent years. This ministry used to have big names previously, e.g. Azalina and Hishamuddin.

On another note, few days before the election I was expecting to see Datuk Dr Noraessah Mohamed, former Bank Rakyat Chairman, to be one of the Minister in Pak Lah's cabinet, but sadly she lost to an unknown PKR candidate in Balik Pulau with a small majority.

Looking at the list, one cannot miss the presence of many Sarawak and Sabah MPs being appointed as Minister or Deputies. All thanks to them for ensuring that the Barisan Nasional rules Malaysia.

Another significant change in the lineup is that, for the first time the Parliament Secretary post is scrapped, in order to make way for the Deputies to hold larger responsibilities in parliament.

Click to view list of Malaysian Cabinet 2008

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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Malaysian Crazy guy on Bike

I've been following Tzuo Hann's Long Way From Home bike journal on and off for quite a while and recently while checking on his website, I noticed that he has now finally crossed the Malaysian border, Padang Besar! I remember the first time that I bumped onto his journal, he was still somewhere in Istanbul, Turkey. Well, that was many months ago, obviously. As a Malaysian I feel proud for him. Correct me if I am wrong, I think he is the first Malaysian to cycle round the world, yes? But sadly there has been no serious media coverage on him. I wonder.. I hope the government would give some sort of a recognition to his amazing feat. Man, cycling round the world, sacrificing everything that you have isn't really something that anybody can do. Though I know that he has already claimed, "..no family of my own, no job, no girlfriend, no strings. What more can I ask for? The time comes around only once!". :p

I've always fancy the idea of travelling the world (well, who does not) and I really enjoy reading Tzuo Hann's travelogue and his beautiful photographs. To those not in the know, Tzuo Hann Law is a Malaysian graduate from an American university, unemployed with no commitment, and is currently on his way home on a bike from the USA. He has cycled over 28,286 km (17,576 miles) over 293 days from May 28, 2007 to present time. His journey started from New Jersey to Washington, USA to Europe, Turkey, the Middle East, Central Asia, China, Southeast Asia and now back in Malaysia..

His achievement is definitely no easy feat. I would strongly recommend him to publish all the journals and photos into a book. I'm sure he's already have this idea in mind. This is something that should be shared with all young Malaysians.

You can view his journey map here

In case if some of you are wondering why do I suddenly have interest in this crazyguyonabile, it's because I was a former mountain biker enthusiast too, during my school days. So yeah, basically that's about it. But sadly, the surrounding area of the oil palm plantation that we used to go mountain biking were now all gone - it has turned into a huge housing estates. hehe. Anyways, congratulations again to Tzuo Hann for his amazing biking adventure.

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Friday, March 14, 2008

Malaysian General Election II

Mengikuti perkembangan politik semasa tanah air, semakin geram dibuatnya melihatkan tingkah laku DAP yang terang-terang sudah menunjukkan belangnya walaupun majlis angkat sumpah di negeri Perak belum lagi bermula. PAS dan PKR adalah parti oportunis yang jelas. Kerana kuasa, mereka sanggup diperkudakan DAP di Perak. Kerana ingin menjadi kerajaan mereka sanggup bersekongkol dengan parti yang terang-terang menolak Islam. Tapi PAS tak peduli semua ini. Asalkan dapat kalahkan UMNO dan BN. Asalkan MB Perak orang PAS. Lim Kit Siang dengan angkuh sombong dan berlagaknya telah terang-terangan menghina pimpinan PAS dan Sultan Perak apabila tidak bersetuju dengan lantikan Menteri Besar calon PAS pilihan baginda tuanku. Setelah menerima desakan semua pihak barulah beliau memohon maaf kepada Tuanku Sultan Perak.

Dia ni tak tahu agaknya bahawa di Perak ramai penyokong PAS telah pangkah parti Roket ini? Tapi apa PAS buat? Tak buat apa. Sebab apa? Calon MB Perak orang dia. Tak kisah kerajaan sebenarnya dikuasai DAP. Dapat jadi MB boneka pun tak apalah. PAS dan PKR ni agaknya kalau bekerjasama dengan parti Yahudi pun mereka sanggup agaknya, asalkan UMNO kalah. DAP juga seolah tak faham sensitiviti masyarakat Melayu di Perak apabila pada awalnya menuntut 8 jawatan Exco negeri diberi kepada DAP. Gila! Saya tak mahu membangkitkan isu perkauman di sini, tetapi realitinya majoriti negeri Perak adalah Melayu, maka keseimbangan kaum dalam kerajaan negeri itu seharusnya mencerminkan keadaan sebenar! Di sini kita nampak keangkuhan DAP yang jelas dan nyata! Nasib baik Timbalan Pengerusi PKR, Dr. Syed Hussin Ali, berani bersuara mengugut keluar dari pakatan kerajaan Perak atas isu jawatan Exco ini. (Dalam masa saya menulis ini, isu pembahagian Exco antara DAP-PKR-PAS sudah diselesaikan)

Dalam satu senario lain pula, saya menyokong penuh isi kandungan surat tulisan Mukhriz Mahathir (surat Mukhriz) yang mendesak Pak Lah agar berundur. Dalam pada masa pemimpin parti-parti komponen BN, seperti MCA dan Gerakan masing-masing sudah mengaku bertanggungjawab sepenuhnya di atas kekalahan teruk BN dan mengambil langkah proaktif untuk merintis perubahan dalaman parti, di pihak UMNO pula, apa yang kedengaran hanyalah suara-suara bodek membodek oleh pemimpin-pemimpin di sekeliling Pak Lah. Dalam pada masa pemangku Presiden Parti Gerakan, Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon dan Presiden MCA, Ong Ka Ting, sudah menerima tanggungjawab penuh di atas kekalahan teruk parti mereka, tak ada langsung, diulang semula, tak ada langsung kenyataan Pak Lah yang mengatakan dia bertanggungjawab di atas kekalahan teruk Barisan Nasional, di mana Pak Lah adalah Presidennya. Pak Lah pernah kata dulu, katalah yang benar walaupun kenyataan itu pahit. Tapi apa Pak Lah buat sekarang? Pak Lah cuma mahu dengar apa yang dia nak dengar saja - bodek-bodek oleh para pemimpin yang berkepentingan.

Memetik kata-kata pensyarah saya. "BN perlu lakukan perubahan! Selagi Pak Lah ada, keadaan akan tetap sama. Pak Lah perlu letak jawatan dan bertanggungjawab penuh dan Khairy tidak harus diberikan jawatan kabinet!"

Malaysia di zaman Pak Lah membuatkan saya tertanya-tanya banyak kali, ke mana hala tuju Pak Lah nak bawa Malaysia ni? Sayangnya apabila Tun Dr. Mahathir telah menyediakan tapak dan landasan yang jelas buat Pak Lah sambung, tetapi malangnya semuanya hancur..

Kenyataan Tun Dr. Mahathir adalah sangat tepat apabila beliau mengatakan bahawa kerajaan yang lemah (majoriti BN di parlimen hanya 63%. BN menang pun hanyalah dengan ihsan kerusi-kerusi tetap Sabah Sarawak) adalah tidak sihat untuk masyarakat berbilang kaum seperti Malaysia. Sebab apa? Sebabnya apabila kerajaan lemah, apabila kerajaan sentiasa merasa terancam oleh pihak pembangkang, mereka sentiasa memikirkan cara untuk kekal berkuasa, atau dalam kata lain, tumpuan akan lebih tertumpu kepada hal-hal politiking, hal-hal mengumpul pengaruh maka dengan ini perancangan dan pelaksanaan pembangunan negara tertolak ke tepi dan tak dapat dilaksanakan dengan efisien.

Gosip politik sekarang ialah Anwar kini sedang dalam proses melakukan coup de tat, dengan cubaan memujuk (baca: membeli) wakil-wakil rakyat BN berpindah ke pembangkang di mana mereka hanya memerlukan 35 kerusi untuk membentuk majoriti mudah di parlimen? Sumber: http://beritakmu.net Kesahihah diragui. Wallahua'lam.

Ke mana, Malaysia?

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Thursday, March 6, 2008

Malaysian General Election

Barely two days left to go for the big day. Frankly speaking, to me voting in an election in Malaysia is like choosing between the lesser of two evils. There is no clear and obvious right or wrong side. But I'm no fence sitter. I've already made my decision long time ago. Come this Saturday, I'll cast my vote for the parliament seat of Kelana Jaya and the state seat of Subang Jaya. The Kelana Jaya parliament seat will see a three-cornered fight between Barisan Nasional (BN); Mr. Lee Hwa Beng,former Subang Jaya assemblyman, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR); the famous Lingam photographer, Loh Gwo Burne and independent candidate, Billi Lim.

If you ask me, I'll tell you straight away, who is this Gwo Burne fellow before the Lingam trial? Where? What was he doing? Admittedly, I admire his courage for stepping up to become one of the witness in the Lingam trial. But what has that got to do with him standing up as an opposition candidate? PKR is just capitalising on his popularity of the Lingam saga. Nothing else. I'd rather cross my vote for the independent candidate, Billi Lim than this fellow. Billi Lim might get some sympathy votes from the fence sitters, perhaps. Lee Hwa Beng has a long proven track record here, so I feel this should be an easy win for BN and Lee Hwa Beng.

As an experienced three term assemblyman, he should have it easy this time around. Maybe there would be some swing votes among the disgruntled voters here, but to me I just don't have faith in the PKR candidate for Kelana Jaya. And same goes for the PKR and Anwar Ibrahim! It is not that I'm a big supporter of Pak Lah. No. It's just that I have no love lost for Anwar or Hadi Awang. Period. Anwar? He has already missed the golden opportunity to be Prime Minister. Thank goodness he didn't become one. I'll post some more soon, maybe.

Later.

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Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Parliament Dissolved

Breaking News!
PM dissolves Parliament
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today announced the dissolution of the Parliament at a specially arranged press conference at his office in Putrajaya.

This is the news that everyone's been waiting for. Malaysiakini has picked up the news 10 minutes ago.

Now let's wait for the election date, which is to be announced by the Suruhanjaya Pilihanraya (SPR).

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Friday, February 8, 2008

Off The Edge Issue 38

Off The Edge February 2008 Issue 38
..Off The Edge February 2008 Issue 38

Hey all, don't forget to grab a copy of the Off The Edge's February Issue (Marina Mahathir cover). For the first time they're giving a free complimentary cd, entitled 'Faith, Hope, Chaos' - Malaysian Contemporary Music Vol 1. I haven't listen to the music yet but free cd is always good to have. :P

I always think that Off The Edge is the best magazine in town, in terms of their content at least. I shall mention this that I have no any interest with Off The Edge (OTE), just thought of sharing my thoughts on the magazine. I'm now a loyal subscriber of the mag and enjoy 25% discount. In OTE, you have a range of excellent writers like Farish Noor, Hishamuddin Rais, Patrick Teoh and Kam Raslan (author of Confessions of an Old Boy: The Dato' Hamid Adventures), just to name a few. I don't have to agree with what they write all the time to enjoy reading their piece every month. I feel that in some way, OTE has shaped and increased my thinking, views and knowledge on certain things.

I think Kam Raslan is one of the best English writers that we have. If you have been following his writings on 'The Dato' Hamid Adventures' published on OTE for few months until around mid last year, you must've been very dissapointed like me to know that Dato' Hamid is in fact a fiction character! It's like so unbelievable! The way he narrates the whole story surrounding is so real. Anyways I'm not going to write a review of the story here though. If you haven't heard of the name or his book, click here.

I like what Hisham Rais commented about the book;
"As an Old Boy of MCKK [the Malay College of Kuala Kangsar], I was so convinced that Dato' Abdul Hamid bin Dato' Sidek was indeed my school senior. Then one day I was told that Dato' Hamid was the creation of Kam Raslan. I was dumbfounded. How could Kam Raslan create such an illusion and I fall for it. Until today I am not willing to accept Dato' Hamid as a fictional character. To me Dato' Hamid is the missing link between secular Malaysia and the born again Malay Muslim of today's Malaysia"
Hishamuddin Rais
Writer, film-maker and cultural activist


Later folks!

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Malaysia dan Indonesia

Perang Siber Indonesia - Malaysia II*

Penulisan ini adalah sebagai reaksi daripada hubungan Indonesia - Malaysia yang makin keruh akibat mainan media massa di Indonesia. Ianya berikutan isu lagu Rasa Sayang dan batik yang kononnya dicuri Malaysia yang kini sudah merebak ke internet. Perang Siber yang wujud semakin menjadi-jadi, terutama sekali disebelah pihak Indonesia. Manakala, situasi di Malaysia kelihatan sangat tenang. Malah ramai yang tidak mengetahui wujudnya perasaan kurang senang oleh pihak di seberang sana kerana media di sini bersikap tidak membesar-besarkan isu ini. Blog ini juga bukanlah hendak menangkis semua tuduhan dan cercaan para bloggers Indonesia, tetapi hanya komentar secara umum tentang hubungan kedua-dua negara, kerana saya percaya pergaduhan yang terjadi adalah sangat sia-sia dan tidak ada faedahnya.

Ini juga adalah sebagai reaksi balas terhadap blog-blog negatif yang memaki hamun kedua-dua negara. Saya hanya dapat mencari 1 sahaja blog yang kononnya milik rakyat Malaysia yang mencaci negara Indonesia iaitu, blog ihateindon.blogspot.com, tetapi blog dan forum yang menghina Malaysia adalah jauh lebih banyak dan saya tak ingin nak mengira jumlahnya. Antaranya ialah seperti website http://www.malingsia.com, blog http://rasa-ganyang.blogspot.com, http://malaysia-malingsial.blogspot.com, http://malaysiamaling.blogspot.com, http://malayria.blogspot.com dan banyak lagi.

Kewujudan blog ihateindon.blogspot.com yang kononnya milik rakyat Malaysia adalah sangat diragui. Banyak perkataan yang digunakan oleh blogger itu adalah sangat asing dalam pertururan seharian rakyat Malaysia atau dalam bahasa yang lebih tepat ianya mirip tulisan seorang rakyat Indonesia sendiri. Tak ada rakyat Malaysia yang menggunakan perkataan-perkataan seperti, "diinjak-injak" (Bahasa Melayu,BM - pijak), meladeni (?), jelek, nyolong, Polandia (BM - Poland), "kalo nyontek tu biar nggak mirip", "bikin ulah". Semua ini adalah sebahagian daripada tulisan daripada blog ihateindon.blogspot.

Tidak wujud istilah ini semua dalam percakapan seharian/bahasa pasar seorang rakyat Malaysia. Justeru, saya cenderung unutk mengatakan ianya adalah blog seorang rakyat Indonesia yang cuba mengapi-apikan dan mengeruhkan lagi hubungan kedua-dua negara di alam cyber. Kalau pun benar blog itu adalah kepunyaan rakyat malaysia, 'perang siber' yang kononnya melibatkan Malaysia - Indonesia ini dilihat bersifat sebelah pihak sahaja kerana tidak ada tindak balas yang sama dari pihak Malaysia, baik oleh media massa ataupun seluruh rakyat umumnya.

Kerana apa? kerana rakyat di Malaysia rata-ratanya lebih rasional dalam melihat isu ini. Banyak lagi isu yang lebih besar yang lebih patut diberi perhatian, seperti beban kos kehidupan yang makin tinggi, kenaikan kadar inflasi, kenaikan harga tol dan minyak dan lain-lain lagi. Sentimen media massa dan masyarakat Malaysia adalah lebih waras dan rasional pemikiran mereka. Tak ada demonstrasi di depan kedutaan atau di mana-mana atau sebarang reaksi balas yang negatif. Kesimpulannya isu ini dianggap sebagai non-issue atau kalau ada sekalipun hanyalah berita kecil di bahagian dalam dada akhbar.

Suka saya menceritakan hubungan Malaysia dan Indonesia dari sudut sejarah. Dari segi sejarahnya, seluruh gugusan kepulauan Melayu itu adalah satu, atau juga disebut sebagai the Malay archipelago. Kepulauan Melayu itu secara umumnya adalah penduduk yang mendiami kawasan Selatan Thailand, Semenanjung Malaysia dan Malaysia Timur, seluruh negara Indonesia kini hinggalah ke Selatan Filipina.

Boleh dikatakan penubuhan tidak rasmi negara Malaysia dan Indonesia berlaku pada tahun 1824. Iaitu apabila termeterainya perjanjian Inggeris-Belanda (Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824) yang membahagi-bahagikan wilayah di kepulau Melayu ini. Antara perkara terpenting perjanjian itu menyaksikan Belanda menyerahkan Melaka kepada Inggeris. Inggeris mengambil Singapura dan seluruh Semenanjung Tanah Melayu pada tahun-tahun berikutnya. Inggeris juga menyerahkan Bengkulu, Sumatra kepada Belanda manakala Belanda mengambil pelabuhan Batavia (kini Jakarta) dan seluruh pulau Jawa, Sumatra, Batam, Bintan dan Belitung.

Seperti disebut di awal perenggan di atas, kesan terpenting akibat perjanjian dua negara penjajah ini ialah dunia Melayu itu dengan rasminya dibahagikan kepada dua.
Hal yang seakan sama turut boleh dilihat di Timur Tengah pada awal kurun ke-20 setelah tamatnya Perang Dunia Pertama dan jatuhnya empayar Turki Uthmaniah, di mana Inggeris membahagi-bahagikan tanah-tanah Arab dengan Perancis. Akibat daripada itu, wujudlah negara-negara baru seperti Jordan, Kuwait dan Iraq - ketiga-tiga negara ini di bawah jajahan Inggeris, manakala Lubnan dan Syria di bawah takluk Perancis.

Berbalik ke Nusantara. Namun begitu, walaupun Inggeris dan Belanda telah berjaya membahagi-bahagikan wilayah-wilayah Tanah Melayu, Sumatra, Jawa, Singapura dan lain-lain, interaksi sesama bangsa, kebudayaan Melayu (Melayu di sini merangkumi seluruh suku-suku kaum di kepulauan Melayu) itu umumnya tetap tidak berubah. Kita seharus melihat sesuatu isu itu dengan skop yang lebih besar, makna kata, tidak hanya dari aspek negara Indonesia dan Malaysia sahaja kerana dari segi seni dan budayanya, Indonesia dan Malaysia itu sebenarnya adalah satu. Suatu ketika dahulu keluasan jajahan takluk Melaka itu merangkumi sebahagian daripada Riau dan Lingga termasuklah sebahagian besar Semenanjung Tanah Melayu. Penjajahan Inggeris dan Belanda dahululah yang memisahkan kepulauan Melayu menjadi dua dan sempadan di antara wilayah Inggeris - Belanda pada tahun 1824 di kepulauan Melayu menjadi asas kepada sempadan Malaysia - Indonesia pada abad seterusnya hingga kini.

Satu perkara yang harus diketahui oleh rakyat Indonesia ialah, sejak di penghujung kurun ke 19 dan awal kurun ke 20, ramai masyarakat dari Sumatera, Jawa, Sulawesi, Kalimantan dan lain-lain berhijrah ke Semenanjung Tanah Melayu. Oleh sebab itu kita lihat di Malaysia ini terdapat ramai masyarakat Melayu dari suku-suku kaum seperti Jawa, Bugis, Minang, Aceh, Mendeling, Banjar dan lain-lain. Mereka yang berhijrah dulu turut membawa segala kebudayaan, tradisi dan resepi masakan suku kaum mereka. Umpamanya seperti di Johor terdapat banyak tarian atau seni yang mempunyai kaitan dengan budaya Jawa seperti tarian kuda-kepang dan permainan muzik gamelan yang di bawa dari Jawa. Sekali lagi, kita tak pernah mendakwa seni budaya ini semua adalah milik Malaysia, tetapi milik seluruh masyarakat Nusantara amnya.

Satu contoh lagi ialah lagu Rasa Sayang dan batik. Batik bukan sahaja milik orang Indonesia tetapi milik orang Melayu juga. Perhatikan sahaja perbezaan di antara batik Jawa dengan batik Melayu. Begitulah juga halnya dengan batik Melayu. Corak, motif dan warna berbeza. Begitu juga halnya dengan wayang kulit. Di Jawa ada wayang kulit, di Kelantan dan Siam pun ada wayang kulit. Oleh itu adalah sangat jahil jika sesiapa yang mengatakan bahawa wayang kulit itu adalah hak milik Indonesia sahaja.

Malaysia juga tidak pernah 'mengklaim' lagu Rasa Sayang, batik dan lain-lain seperti mana yang dituduh oleh media massa di Indonesia. Buat pengetahuan semua dari Indonesia, lagu 'Rasa Sayang' yang menjadi isu kebelakangan ini, sebenarnya telah pun dinyanyikan sewaktu zaman datuk nenek saya lagi. Maka, ingin saya tegaskan di sini bahawa seni dan budaya Nusantara itu lebih luas sifatnya menjangkaui sempadan sesebuah negara, dan dalam hal ini, sempadan negara Indonesia dan Malaysia. (Sempadan negara yang mana telah diasaskan oleh pihak penjajah Inggeris-Belanda pada tahun 1824.)

Indonesia mengutuk penggunaan ayat 'Indon', tetapi mereka membalas dengan memanggil kita Malingsia. Terus terang saya katakan, tidak ada sesiapa pun di Malaysia yang ambil peduli semua ini. Kita tak ingin bergaduh dengan mereka. Hanya mampu tersenyum sahaja melihat reaksi mereka terhadap laporan-laporan media massa Indonesia yang bebas melaporkan isu-isu yang dirasakan dapat membangkit semangat nasionalisme rakyat Indonesia.

Akhir sekali, saya minta agar semua di Indonesia lebih rasional dalam hal ini. Jangan kita termakan bulat-bulat segala apa yang disuap oleh media massa yang mungkin ada kepentingan atau agenda-agenda tertentu. Mungkin juga ada pihak ketiga yang sengaja mahu mengambil kesempatan atas hubungan baik Malaysia-Indonesia dengan mengapi-apikan cerita ini.

Artikel berkaitan -
NST: On sweetening ties between neighbours - Amy Chew
Kalau link sudah tidak wujud, klik sini

Nota kaki
Istilah tidak rasmi 'Perang Siber Indonesia - Malaysia I' merujuk kepada peristiwa penggodaman (hacking) laman-laman web di antara kedua-dua negara sewaktu krisis Ambalat di Laut Sulawesi yang melanda tahun 2005 dahulu, di mana terdapat banyak laman-laman web rasmi kerajaan Malaysia dan Indonesia yang telah digodam.

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Thursday, February 7, 2008

Happy Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Holidays all! :)

Note to Self.
15/2, Friday - MWP assignment submission
16/2, Saturday - MTIS presentation
19/2, Tuesday - Explosions in the Sky live in Malaysia!

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Friday, February 1, 2008

Dr Mahathir's Selected Letters to World Leaders

Dr Mahathir's Selected Letters to World Leaders
..Dr Mahathir's Selected Letters to World Leaders (2008 Marshall Cavendish)

I happened to came across the book during lunch time at KLCC few days ago. I would usually visit the Times Bookstore to kill some time while waiting for my queue number to be called at the post office. It didn't took long to decide to buy even though it is quite pricey (sighh). I wish our government would subsidies the price of books! Books in Malaysia is too damn expensive! How would you want to cultivate reading habit among the public, if the book price is too expensive? Yes, we do have public libraries but it makes no point having a beautiful library but is inaccessible in the middle of a congested road (read: National Library, Jalan Tun Razak). Libraries, I think should be built near housing areas which have an easy access to public transport and other basic amenities.

Okok anyways, this book is definitely one of the books to look forward to read.

From Jeff Ooi's blog, I found out that the book launching event was held yesterday. Dr. Mahathir officiated the launching at the Perdana Leadership Foundation, Putrajaya.

The book is a compilation of 71 letters by Dr. Mahathir, Bush, Chirac, Blair and Thatcher among others with an introduction and commentaries by Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad (aka Dollah Kok Lanas). The letters covered wide area of issues from terrorism, economic and diplomatic relations as well as war and conflicts. I haven't actually start reading it yet but flipped through a bit and found some interesting piece of letters written in simple yet understandable English by Dr. Mahathir. It amazes me to think how a busy Prime Minister like him still had the time to write these kind of letters. Initially it is said that Dr. Mahathir wanted to publish about 200 letters (whoa..), which none have been published before, but due to certain restrictions or whatnot, only 71 were published in this book.

Here are some excerpts from the last two paragraph in one of the letter in the book. The letter below was sent to the then President of USA, Mr. Bill Clinton in September 1998. (urm, I know that the following posting is illegal by law, but I'm posting it here on the basis of writing it on my personal space, so I hope it would be alright.he he);

..Mr President, Malaysia fought hard against Communist terrorists from 1948 to 1990. We have no love for terrorists or terrorism. But we also abhor State terrorism. No one, not even the State should use terror tactics against its own people or others.

Mr President, I regret that Malaysia cannot be associated with, or in any way condone, the missile attacks by the United States against Sudan and Afghanistan. Such attacks should be directed at the murderous Serbs. It is a travesty of justice that whereas the Serbs are free to terrorise Albanian children and old people, the Afghans and the Sudanese are killed indiscriminately.

[signed]
DR MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD

The above letter is an example how direct and straight forward his letters were. It was sent after the bombings of Al-Shifa factory, a pharmaeceutical factory in Khartoum, Sudan. A factory that was supposed to be visited by Dr. Mahathir. The US, without any evidence, claimed that the factory produces chemical weapons that it belonged to Osama bin Laden. What a preposterous claim to bomb a sovereign nation.

I am also aware that Dr. Mahathir now is in the process of writing his memoir. I suppose many would be eager to wait for it. I can't wait too.

Lastly, Selamat Hari Wilayah Persekutuan and happy holiday to all KLites!

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Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Explosions in the Sky is coming to KL!!

Explosions in the Sky Live in Malaysia
..Explosions in the Sky Live in Malaysia

Mannn, I really thought that I'm done with going to concert, gigs or watching live band performance, but the fact that Explosions in the Sky, (Explosions in the Sky wei! :p) is coming to KL next month is simply irresistable. An event not to be missed!

Thanks to Bali for breaking the news to me. :)

JunkOnline.net

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Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Book Sale and Books

Gerak Budaya Year End Sale 2007
..Gerak Budaya Year End Sale 2007, Petaling Jaya. This is not your typical book sale. :P I can see some weird looking eyes here.

This is another late blog entry. Should've post this up last month. Anyways, I found out about this event from an ad posted on Facebook, so, many thanks to Facebook and my friend, Firdaus. Being a warehouse sale addict, I can't resist myself from not going. Books were sold from 30% up to 70%! And mind you, some books were sold for free! But, you won't find any books from Danielle Steele, JK Rowling and the likes here. There were only books on history, politics, Malaysian Studies, International Affair and such. So I bought 7 books, which some of them are related to my studies.

Gerak Budaya Year End Sale 2007
..7 books for RM50! How cool is that! 2 of them are free, though

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Saturday, January 19, 2008

Election and et cetera

The election season is coming again! I think Pak Lah and his strategist are probably thinking of whether or not to allow Anwar to contest in the next election by now(if election is held before April, Anwar wouldn't be able to contest) Rumour has it that, Anwar is trying to so-called destabilise the country by organising demonstrations, in an effort to delay the election date as he feels that Pak Lah wouldn't call for election in time of crisis. Well, that is just one of the many political gossips flying around.

Here are some of my thought that have been bugging me since Pak Lah took over the premiership from Tun Dr. Mahathir.
First of all, I'm excited of that fact that I'm going to vote for the first time! The right to vote is something many have have fought and died for, though I can't think of such incident actually happened in Malaysia(or Malaya, back then). I am fully aware that my kawasan is 'sadly', a 'safe seat' for BN, hence not much of a drama or real challenge can be seen, unlike some seats in Penang or Kelantan. That is also a reason why the percentage of voters turn out here were always lower compared to some kampung districts.

Anyways here are some of my thoughts on the current administration.
First thing is about the current state of Putrajaya and Cyberjaya. As someone who considers Cyberjaya as one of his hometown (studied and lived there for 4 years) I am dissapointed to say the least at what has happened to these two 'mega cities' after Pak Lah became PM. Development and progress at these places seems to be going on at a snail's pace! We can't rely on Perbadanan Putrajaya or the Majlis Perbandaran Sepang (the local council for Cyberjaya) alone on this matter, there must be a strong political will to develop it. I wonder what are these people in Putrajaya are doing about this. Unless, if there is some hidden agenda to discredit all of Tun Dr. Mahathir's legacy, which I wouldn't want to go into.
Main reason why Tun Dr. Mahathir built Putrajaya was simply because he knew that Kuala Lumpur is getting more congested and as such he felt that there must be a new administrative capital for Malaysia to divert all the hassle and traffic from KL to Putrajaya. But the situation that we have now is that, KL is getting more developed. Just look around Jalan Ampang area, more office towers, luxury service apartments are being built. Don't get me wrong, I am not against any development in KL. I just feel that the focus should be more on developing Putrajaya or I'm afraid that Putrajaya could soon be following the same fate as the once hyped E-Village. Yes? No?

Another issue is about the MSC. Tun Dr. Mahathir has clearly laid down the foundation of the MSC. What happened to the MSC now? I only know that it has changed its name to MSC-Malaysia. I really can't recall when was the last time Pak Lah talked about the MSC, or anything on ICT matters. Cyberjaya is supposed to be the nucleus of the MSC, but seems that other states want a piece of the nucleus too. We heard about Terengganu wanting to be the centre of animation and multimedia. Now we have another cybercity near the Perak Hi-Tech Park in Perak. Why can't they just concentrate on Cyberjaya and channel all investors there?? This I just can't understand. Even in the States, there is only One Silicon Valley. Cyberjaya itself is still very much under develop I would say. Just go to Cyberjaya and see for yourself. Nothing has changed since I left in 2005. It is sad to see all these. The nearby Paya Indah Wetlands has closed shop. Millions have been spend. All gone to waste. Paya Indah was a nice retreat place, actually. I guess I was probably one of the lucky few who have been there.

Next, if there is one thing that I want to see the government to subsidies is, book price! Book price in Malaysia is exorbitantly expensive! By reducing the price, I feel it could definitely help to increase the number of book readers in the country, right? :)

There are few more things which I wanted to write, but I'm feelin sleepy already discussing this matter. I am not trying to be an expert on the issues discussed above. I'm just writing my heart out. If there is any factual error or comments, I'd like to hear them.

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