When Tun Dr M Tells Off Najib

and says he had no choice but to keep on "menegur" the leadership and policies of Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Everyone's reading it that  Dr Mahathir, so fed up with the Prime Minister's way of running the country that he has "withdrawn" his "support" of Najib.

Actually, Dr Mahathir had already shown in his remarks since before the 2013 general election that he did not support what Najib had been doing.

"Saya tidak ada pilihan selain dari menarik balik sokongan saya. Ini pun tidak berkesan. Oleh itu terpaksalah saya menegur," he wrote in his latest blog posting.
This is not a sudden decision.

Be that as it may, should we be worried when Dr M keeps on with his "teguran".

I should think so.

The last time he lambasted a sitting PM, that (former) PM had it quite bad.

Tun Dr M was Malaysia's prime minister for 22 years before stepping down and handing over the premiership to Datuk Seri (now Tun) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

This open attack by Dr M against Najib certainly is not pleasant. Already, the knives are out -- Dr M's and Najib's supporters.

Ahirudin Attan in his blog, said the PM needs Dr M's backing.

"The PM needs everyone's support. These are trying times for his party, for his race and religion, and for the entire country. He needs the people to rally behind him and if those standing behind him include Dr Mahathir, the better for him. Therefore, Dr M's decision to publicly declare he was withdrawing support for the Umno president - his party president - is not a minor setback. It's something Najib can do without. "

Read his posting here.

A Deafening Silence From Our NGOs on Gaza

There is a gnawing question among groups of Malaysians lately on the lack, or absence even, of protests by non-governmental organisations  in the country against the  Zionist atrocities in Gaza that have killed some 2,000 civilians, the majority of whom are women and children.

These groups are referring to self-proclaimed pro-democracy Malaysian NGOs  who were in the past involved in staging demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur.

Comango – Coalition of Malaysian NGOs – has been named along with Sisters In Islam for “not a murmur” of protest against the genocidal assault on Gaza.

“Where are their suara yang lantang”? asked a lawyer who is a partner in a well-known KL-based law firm. 

“Surely this is a humanitarian issue and clearly a gross violation of human rights that merits some protest from them?”

In the wake of “Save the Children of Gaza” rally at Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, film-maker Dr Anwardi  Jamil updated his Facebook status with:

“Heard Ambiga & Co weren't at the gathering to Save Children of Gaza and Palestines. I guess any real demonstrations and rallies that doesn't help her in her political agenda is pointless to her."

His friend, writer Awang Goneng AKA Wan Hulaimi remarked in the comment box:

“And then they go to France to take an award. France banned such demonstrations.”

Is their deafening silence telling on them and exposing them for what they really are?

On the subject of the “Save the Children of Gaza” peace rally, what was glaring was the lack of support from non-Malays.

Perhaps, they are silent supporters. Perhaps the weather on Saturday afternoon was punishing. There were only a handful – notably the Tai brothers (activists Tai Zee How and Tai Zee Kin) and their friends and maybe others hidden in the huge crowd.

That is the other gnawing question a lot of people, especially Muslims are asking in social media – that has gone to real tabletalk discussions – the non-Muslim detachment of this humanitarian crisis.

Why are non-Muslims detaching themselves from what’s happening in Gaza.

No explanation is quite needed because one has only to look at remarks by mostly non-Muslims on Facebook especially.

Some regurgitate the Israeli narrative and the evil of Hamas, reflecting their ignorance while others see it as a Muslim bias.

How so? They would post photos and reports of the brutal killing of Christians by ISIS and ask why there has been no protest in Malaysia on the scale of Gaza.

I would suggest that someone organises one and I along with many Malaysians would most certainly join and denounce the brutal act of ISIS that is not done in the name of  Islam, and neither in mine.

The issue of Palestine is not a religious issue although some lesser Muslim leaders tend to get a bit emotional about it.

You don’t have to listen to these people.

Whatever standard you apply, surely the mass killing of women and children defy any justification?

The siege and offensive on Gaza this year began about a month ago, in the first week of Ramadan in retaliation – it was reported then,  to the killing of three Israeli teenagers by Hamas “militants”. But this was later found to be untrue.

Since then, Israeli forces under the Zionist regime have shown no sign of scaling down .

On July 30, Israel pounded artillery shells into a school full of evacuees, killing at least 20 people and wounding dozens as the slept.

Most of the dead were children.

The building was the sixth United Nations school in the Gaza Strip to be shelled during the month-long  conflict.

In response, the United Nations accused Israel of  violating international law.

People across the globe reacted with horror, describing the situation in Gaza as a humanitarian crisis. Many were provoked into openly criticizing Israel for carrying out ethnic cleansing and .

Israel seems to be telling the world to shove it as its forces continued with air and ground strikes on the Gaza population.  Casualties have been mostly women and children.

Israel maintains that it is protecting its security and was only responding to Hamas’ firing of rockets .

Israel has also accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields and planting bombs in schools and public areas.

The UN and other independent bodies have found no evidence of this.

Meanwhile, the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA),  reported to the UN Security Council that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has  “surpassed United Nations capabilities for emergency shelter and services”.

Its commissioner-general Pierre Krahenbuhl , describing the crisis as a “precedent”, expressed regret that UNRWA “no longer has the resources to provide for the additional influx of refugees”.

He noted that with the growing number of refugees, there is yet Palestinians fleeing their towns,  there is no organization on the ground that has the resources to provide food or water, let alone shelter for the night.

The United Nations estimates up to 440,000 people are now displaced with 240,000 residing in UNRWA facilities.

News website, Mondeiss reported that this meant that a quarter of the population of Gaza is living in tenuous, temporary shelter.

“In addition to the devastation to the civilian infrastructure in the northern communities of Shuja’iyeh, Beit Hanoun and Jabaliya, over 103 United Nations facilities and 24 medical facilities have been damaged. Seven UNRWA workers have been killed since the beginning of Israel’s Operation Protective Edge,” it said.,

Krahenbuhl was reported to have, warned the Security Council that Gaza “will become unlivable in a mater of years unless urgent steps are taken.”

He had also said that “immediate steps” must be taken to address “root issues, not limited to Israel’s security and lifting the blockade across the besieged Gaza Strip.

Mondeiss quoted him as having stressed accountability from Israel “as the occupying power to provide dire relief, as UNRWA has exhausted all of its means of caring for nearly a quarter million refugees.”

Stand With Palestine

Viva Palestina Malaysia (VPM) together with Aqsa Syarif will hold a a peaceful "Save the Children in Gaza" rally on Saturday Aug 2 from 3pm to 5pm at Dataran Merdeka in KL.

Viva La Palestine!

New Toll Rates At Causeway Via SIB From Tomorrow

And they doth protest too much.

So why do they?
Perhaps, because nobody likes to pay toll. It's another dent in one's pocket. It's a burden to the people. So, it is a big deal.
Also because having good roads and highways is a right of citizens of the country.
Who cares how much it cost to build those great highways that, in the end help to ease the grind of travelling on congested roads.
 
In this case, it is largely because un-informed and dis-informed people are so easily influenced and misled by politicians' (not political) propaganda, no matter how erroneous their arguments are.
The very politicians who are now enjoying shorter travel time to their constituencies on the very tolled highways they had attacked when the projects were proposed.

So, tomorrow (Aug 1) motorists entering Singapore through the Causeway via  the Sulltan Iskandar Building (SIB) will have to pay new toll rates.

Last Friday, the Malaysian Highway Authority announced the new toll rates -  RM9.70 and RM6.80 for inbound and outbound cars. For motorists exiting Malaysia and aentering Malaysia through the SIB.
JB residents using the 8km or so through the EDL, but not going into Singapore, need not pay.
Presently, motorists entering Malaysia through the SIB pay RM2.90.
Buses pay RM13.30 to and from Singapore, while taxis  - RM8.20 for a return trip.

It is quite a hike. No wonder, people - especially Johoreans - got riled up. They think it affects everyone.

It does not.

(This is under the Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL) and has actually solved Johor Baru's notorious traffic congestion.
 EDL is an 8.1km expressway that connects the end of the North-South Expressway (NSE) at Pandan Interchange to the CIQ in the city and is part of  Iskandar Development Region program.)

Here are the facts that the critics and naysayers won't tell you:

*  The EDL continues to be free for close to 180,000 users daily who do not go pass CIQ.
JB residents are benefiting from less congestion and better traffic flows.  Roads along the EDL have also been  upgraded .
* Out of 220,000 daily vehicles currently on the EDL highway, only 60,000 are the CIQ users and out of this 60,000 vehicles 80 per cent are Singapore-registered cars.
 * The EDL has also proven to be a major traffic solution for JB. For the past two years JB residents
have been enjoying less city congestion.

You know, there are many Malaysians working in Singapore using Singapore-registered vehicles so they don't pay Singapore's vehicles entry permit .
Singapore just increased VEP to RM90 per day, and I don't hear them complaining.

Besides paying  a lot for vehicle permits, they also pay ERP -  area road pricing - in Singapore.

As Johorean The Patriot says:
" While Singaporeans cannot drive Malaysian cars in Singapore and will be slapped with a hefty fine, we allow Malaysians to drive Singapore registered vehicles on Malaysian roads if it eases their purpose.
They pay road taxes to the Singapore government yet drive on Malaysian roads. They pay income taxes in Singapore, yet enjoy the cheap cost of living in Johor.
They cannot have it both ways.
Either they pay us a small sum while driving Singapore vehicles as a small compensation for using Malaysian roads or pay Singapore a high fee while driving Malaysian vehicles compensating Singapore for the same."

So, yeah, perhaps it hurts. Just a little. But, as a blogger said: "you can't have your cake and eat it".

So go to  EDLConnects for more information.

Also do read these blog-postings :

Another Brick On The Wall

Jebat Must Die

Rocky's Bru

Eid Mubarak

Or as we say it here -- Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

A time of celebration after a month of fasting. 
Joy and happiness.
But we know this Raya will not be that joyous, Nor will we be celebrating it as we have been in the past.

This year has been a grim 2014 for us all as we are still reeling from the shock of MH370 and MH17  .

Celebrate Eid, we must. But it will be sedate and low-key. We feel for those who lost their loved ones in the two tragedies.

Never the same.
No graves to visit.

Gone but never forgotten.

May time help heal your pain.

#prayforMH370 #prayforMH17 #saveMalaysiaAirlines 

Israel - An Apartheid State

Israel's atrocities against the Palestinian people are reminiscent of the Nazi genocide of the Jewish people. One is reminded of the Holocaust. And one cannot help but wonder how a people of the Holocaust could unleash the same kind of evil and horror on another.

I have always wondered about that. Did the Jews not suffer so cruelly under Hitler's Nazi?  So how could thee the heart to treat the Palestinians so cruelly? Why has Israel  been so relentless in trying to wipe out the Palestinian population? Targeting women and children seems to be an apt strategy.

Lenny Lapon was given an automatic Israeli citizenship in 2010 by virtue of the fact that he is a Jew. Yesterday, he renounced his citizenship.

He wrote:

"As a serious student of the Nazi Holocaust, I can only be horrified at the disgrace that the State of Israel and its Jewish supporters continue to bring upon the memory of Jewish Holocaust victims. It’s a moral abomination to emulate Nazi tactics in the name of the Jewish people and their alleged security: cowardly massive bombings and slaughter of civilian populations who have no air force to protect them, collective punishment and torture, mass incarcerations, destruction of thousands of homes, and the vicious blockade and ghettoization of Gaza.

Israel is not becoming an apartheid state—it already is one with separate and unequal laws and policing for its Jewish citizens on one hand and for its non-Jewish, mostly Arab citizens and victims of the occupation on the other hand."

His is just one of the many stories of Jews who are against Zionist Israel's  genocide of Palestinians.

Read his article in  Mondoweiss  HERE

Al Fatehah : First Malay Woman Doctor Dies

 Today I received a text message from my physician Tan Sri Dr Ridzwan Abu Bakar to say that his mother had passed away. She was 95.
Al Fatehah

Here's the NST report.

Tan Sri Dr Salma Ismail, the country’s first Malay woman doctor, passed away this evening at Pantai Hospital in Bangsar at 6.15pm due to old age. She was 95.
Her eldest son, Tan Sri Dr Ridzwan Bakar said his mother died at 6.15pm, and that she was warded at the hospital recently.
He urged those who wanted to pay their last respects to her to do so before noon tomorrow (Monday) at No 6, Jalan Mesra, Off Jalan Aman, Kuala Lumpur.
“My mother’s determination to become a doctor superceded the norms of the time especially for a single Malay girl to journey from her hometown of Alor Star by boat to study in Singapore. But she did.”
The Second World War did not stop her from finishing her course, and it took her 11 years, which is longer than usual to finish her medical studies after it was interrupted by the war.
“She was the only girl candidate and the first in Kedah who passed the Senior Cambridge with distinction,” Dr Ridzwan said when contacted.
Dr Salma is the first Malay accredited doctor, after she completed her medical studies in 1947.
While studying midwifery in Dublin, Ireland, she met the late Datuk Dr Abu Bakar Ibrahim, also an Alor Star native and they later married.
Dr Ridzwan said his late father later became Director for the Institute of Medical Research.
Dr Salma returned to Alor Star to serve as the Royal Midwife to the late Sultanah of Kedah, following her studies in Dublin.
When Dr Abu Bakar was transferred to serve as Medical Superintendant of Kuala Lumpur General Hospital, Dr Salma became one of the first Malay private medical practitioners in the country to open a private clinic in 1967 – Klinik Salma - which still stands today. She retired from private practice at age 82.
Dr Ridzwan said his mother lived by the principle: “Have confidence in yourself, be honest, do not talk bad about others and give help to those who need it”.
She received the Bintang Cemerlang Kedah award in 1957 and Dato Paduka Mahkota Kedah (DPMK) in 1996 by the sultan of Kedah.
In 1997, she received her Tan Sri title after being conferred with the Panglima Setia Mahkota by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
Dr Salma was also involved in the Higher Education Advisory Council, Governing Board of Tunku Kurshiah College, and was president of Private Practitioners Association of KL and president of the Pan-Pacific Southeast Asia Women Association.
She is survived by three children, who include Dr Ridzwan and six grandchildren.

Get Them Criminals And Make Us Feel Safe (Again)...

What happened to Dickson Wong could happen to you, your child, or a loved one.

It does sound like a cliche but I daresay that we are now living "in dangerous times". No exaggeration. I will tell you why later.

First - I'll continue with Dickson's tragic story.

The 22 year-old student died of head injuries sustained during a robbery in an alley in Taman Mayang, Petaling Jaya early Saturday (Oct 26) morning. He died without regaining consciousnes.

He was attacked by four men on two motorbikes. Passersby found him and took him to hospital.

Dickson was from Sibu, Sarawak. The criminals took all his belongings that he was left with no identification card. He was only identified the following day. His family was only made aware of
the attack on him through the newspapers.

But they managed to be with him at the hospital.

We all should be able to relate to this story, because we either have a brother, a nephew or a son -- just like Dickson.

So why do I say that we are living in "dangerous times"?

For one -- there have been so many cases of violent snatch theft and robbery that we have begun to look at everything around us just to know why and to find answers so that we can avert, avoid and prevent....
We all have been made to feel so unsafe and helpless.

And Dickson's case shows that the situation is not getting any better.

I don't have to cite cases. We have read them in the newspapers - print and online, or on  crime awareness and crime prevention websites. You have known some victims personally. Or like me -- you have been a victim yourself.

As for the police -- well, I know that they have said many things. I won't go into that because it will be like a broken record.

I do know that they have, under the NKRA to curb crime, install several features in housing estates to make it safer.

For instance in Taman Tun Dr Ismail where I live, we have more street lights and safety fences along main roads.

I'm not sure if these have helped to reduce the crime rate in our neighbourhood. But judging by the occurrences of break-in, snatch theft and robbery...

But the very good thing about TTDI is that we have a very proactive residents' association and police team who work closely together.

Also the residents themselves as a whole are a concerned lot and are active on their neighbourhood  watch website.
Most of them look out for each other.

Apparently this is not enough because TTDI continues to be a favourite target of snatch thieves and burglars -- as are some other neighbourhoods.

So, my question is -- Why is there no stopping these criminals? Why do we feel that no where is safe in the Klang Valley (and elsewhere in the country,I might add).

Some people blame drugs/drug abuse. Others feel we are victims of our own success -- affluent communities invite bad hats.

And then, of course, some blame all the ills on an inefficient police force.

We can blame everyone and everything under the sky and till the cows come home, can't we?
I don't have the answers.

But the reality is, these cases seem to be happening almost every other day. Just look at the statistics,

We despair over these cases, especially the fatal ones.

The other day, I attended a gathering of TTDI women residents and an officer of the Brickfields
police (because TTDI comes under Brickfields) on "Amanita" - an initiative under the NKRA to have home-makers (housewives) be the eyes and ears for the police in curbing crime.

The rationale is that these ladies are often at home while most others are at work and therefore can see the goings-on in their neighbourhoods.

I don't quite agree entirely but that will be in a later posting.

The lady officer -- Puan Azlin -- spoke on how we all have to do our part to prevent crime. How we must always be alert, be careful and cautious at all times, install safety and security features at our home including having a hailer or have with/on us safety gadgets such as angel alarm for our kids, pepper spray, as examples.

Frankly, it was nothing (except that Angel alarm for our kids and the hailer at home) that I have not heard or been advised before.

To be honest - at this point in our lives -- we are doing all that and more. Come on.

How much more? We have made our homes into fortresses,. Yet we are violated.

We take care not to walk along lonely and dark streets. Yet we are attacked.

We lock our car doors and hide our handbags. Yet we are attacked at traffic lights.

We are neither safe on the streets, in the park, in the neighbourhood, in our car and worse of all, in our own homes.

So, don't keep telling us to be careful and to do this or that.

Tell us that YOU are going all out to catch the criminals. To hunt them down. No rest until you nab them.

Tell us too that the task force you have set up is already in action to do this. To come down hard on these criminals that have been getting away with murder.

Let me relate to you my sister's case. It was in section 16, PJ where my sister, Nina and her family live. It happened late last year. She and her 16 year-old daughter were attacked right in front of the gate of their home by four guys on 2 motorbikes.

These guys came to both sides of the front windows of Nina's car. They smashed the windows.

Mother and daughter (who have basic martial arts skills) put up a fight but were no match to their armed assailants. Both sustained some injuries but were more shaken than anything

My sister found out later that the neighbours living on the other streets had all been victims.

Yet, no real action had been taken by the police to prevent recurrences.

The attack on my sister and daughter was just waiting to happen.
 
What was more disappointing was the fact that my niece managed to locate her snatched IPod using ICloud.

You'd think that with this information, the police would have taken follow-up action.

Sorry. But none whatsoever.

Sometimes I wonder what is the police stand on this besides their official one.

I'm sure they care and are concerned.

My point of view: that the bad guys have no fear of the police. Emboldened further by their drug-induced state, I imagine.

To the police -- declare war on these crimes that have made Malaysians feel absolutely unsafe to a point that many have joined in the chorus saying that Malaysia is no longer safe.
We know, of course, that Malaysia is still a very safe country.

Yet, why do we feel that nowhere is safe -- not even neighbourhoods that are considered "safe" and "nice"?

Call to arms, if you must. I will support the police on this.
Desperate times call for desperate measure.

We have the right to security and safety in our homes, streets, neighbourhoods and playgrounds.

We have done all we could to protect ourselves and our families. But, clearly there is just so much we can do.

In the process, we have become a frightened and helpless lot, resigned to have our homes and personal security violated.

Consider a "wise" advice -- to leave some valuables including your car keys in your living room  within sight of any intruder so that they'd be satisfied and not angrily invade your bedroom for what they could not get. How scary is that?

To the police, I ask - will you regard Dickson's case as just another snatch theft? Will his case be consigned to your dusty brimming files?

Will you hunt down his perpetrators?

Dickson had so much to live for.

His death should serve a purpose so that he would not have died in vain.

But I suppose that maybe too much to ask.

Salam Maal Hijrah

Selamat Menyambut Awal Muharram, wahai sahabat2 Muslimin dan Muslimat ku.
Semoga tahun baru ini akan membawa lebih kesejahteraan, kebahgiaan dan segala-gala kebaikan dan yang bererti bagi kita semua. Inshalllaah. Amiin.

Happy Deepavali!

To my Hindu brothers and sisters...

Policies Favouring The Malays Have Something To Do With "Soaring Crime"?

"..some say the country’s ethnic-based policies that favor majority Malays are partly to blame...(for soaring crime in Kuala Lumpur and urban areas across peninsular Malaysia).."

This is a line from a New York Times article - "Wave of High-Profile Crime Have Put Malaysians on The Defensive" by Thomas Fuller.

Now, how do you make sense of that sentence?  -- that "ethnic-based policies" favouring the Malays are partly to blame?

Fuller must have meant the New Economic Policy. What else could he be referring to?
The NEP was introduced in 1971 and we know why it was introduced, don't we?
And how long ago was that?

Fuller, in the second para of his article, acknowledged that Kuala Lumpur used to be "considered one of Asia;s safest cities".

And yes, I'm sure he meant that KL had been that during the time and duration the NEP and related policies were put in place.


But, he was discussing the current situation.

So, what is the connection between "ethnic-based policies favouring Malay" and "soaring crime" in KL et al...

What a load of bull!

Fuller attributed it to  "some" people...

So, he must have spoken to some Malaysians.

What kind of Malaysians, I wonder? You can't quite tell but among the people he quoted were  DAP's Tony Pua and two from the National Defense University of Malaysia - criminologist Teh Yik Koon and professor Ahmad Ghazali Abu Hassan.

But none of them actually blame these policies for the soaring crime although the good professor was quoted by Fuller to have  suggested that the "system of preference for Malays should be modified to address inequality within our society, without identifying race.”

Ahmad Ghazali said ethnic Indians were particularly in need of help and that he still believes  that poverty is the root cause of the rising crime.

Here is the article:

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia’s population has tripled over the past four decades. Its largest city, Kuala Lumpur, a place once so sparsely populated that it looked like a botanical garden, has exploded into a cosmopolitan metropolis of shopping malls, luxury hotels and sprawling suburbs.


But with modernity and urbanization came an unwanted corollary: a soaring crime rate that has blighted Kuala Lumpur, previously considered one of Asia’s safest cities, and other urban areas across Peninsular Malaysia. It is hard to find someone in Kuala Lumpur today who does not have a story about a purse snatching, a burglary or worse.

“Whatever defense we put up is not enough,” said Chong Kon Wah, a British-trained engineer who was burglarized twice at his home in the Kuala Lumpur suburbs and robbed once while in his car — all within 10 days in August.

Residents in middle-class and wealthy neighborhoods have begun to gate their communities, often without local government permission. And the demand for personal guards has soared, with the number of certified security companies nationwide more than tripling over the past decade to 712 from 200, according to the Security Services Association of Malaysia, which trains guards.

Read the full article HERE.

Chin Peng

When opposition (read:DAP) supporters, members and some of its leaders came out making a controversy of Malaysian Communist Party leader Chin Peng with suggestions that he was a hero as much as those who fought in the struggle for independence from British colonialists, I was stumped. 

I was even more stumped when people actually bought that rubbish. Hey, I am still alive. I was around when we were still under threat of communist insurgency. Reports of people killed by communist terrorists were not figment of anyone's imagination.

How they and their self-serving "intellectuals", "academcians" and "thinkers" bent backwords to rewrite history.

The things they do to instigate hatred.

I will say no more because Anak Si Hamid has articulated it well..couldn't have said it better myself.

Here is an excerpt of her posting:

History, as we know, is written by the winners. So, our analysis of history, its events and personalities, needs to be considered within a clearly-stated context to be understood.  In particular, who stands to benefit from the writing?  And who defines the terms: who defines the crooks and the heroes, the monsters and the saints, the terrorists and the freedom fighters?

Take those last two labels.  They have been bandied about, and manipulated (implicitly and explicitly) to fit into many different agenda by accredited academics and other opportunistic 'rogues, rascals, and scallywags'.   "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter"- how many times have we heard that cliché?  Often, no doubt, when talking about Palestine. And increasingly, nowadays, when talking of our own recent history here in Malaysia.

Now that LCP has departed, there seems to be a revival of the urge to rewrite Malaysia's history - most especially that of the period from 1930, through the Japanese Occupation and the 'Emergency' to Merdeka. And especially the role of LCP.  So how do we make sense of the various events and personalities that make up that history over that time?  Perhaps we need to look at the context - the context of both time and space.

In particular, the time of the post-1948 Emergency (or perhaps 'Insurrection" is a better word) coincided with the demands and wars for independence from European imperial powers.  It was also the period of the Cold War between two competing ideologies, Communist and the (so-called) Free World - and it especially saw the rise of Communist China and the war in Korea.  But the 'Emergency' had a longer  (and more particular) formative history than this.
 
You can read the full article HERE.

Hello Again!

If you've been wondering where I've been in the last two months, wonder no more...

I haven't left the country. I have been busy, though.

Yes, I'm still alive and kicking.

So, here I am.

Hello, again.

Salam Aidilfitri

How time flies. Begitu pantas masa berlalu...

After a month of a blessed Ramadan, it is time to celebrate Syawal. So here's wishing my Muslim brothers and sisters a wonderful Hari Raya Puasa. Ampun maaf zahir dan batin..

And a Happy holiday, everyone!

Malaysia's clash of cultures

By Jonathan Kent BBC, Kuala Lumpur

When it comes to interpreting Islam, many Malaysians are torn between their own culture, Western influence and a growing trend towards copying all things Arabic.


A few days ago I visited P Ramlee's old house in Kuala Lumpur.

Modernisation has been rapid

Unless you are from this part of the world you probably will not have heard of him.
But in Malaysia, more than 30 years after his death, he is still an icon.
In life he was Malaysia's Elvis and Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant and Irving Berlin all rolled into one. His modest bungalow is now a museum.
But when I visited I was alone, apart from an attendant who seemed to be hiding under his counter.
So I wandered around looking at photos from P Ramlee's films and listening to his wonderful singing voice.
'Gentle and sensual'
One of the reasons I look forward to the holidays here is because the local TV stations always screen a good selection of his movies.

P Ramlee was an actor, singer, comedian, songwriter, screenwriter and film director

My favourite is the comedy Madu Tiga - or Three Honies - made in 1964.
P Ramlee plays a married man who decides to take a second and then a third bride, all with the collusion of his first wife's mischievous father.
But despite his best efforts to keep the three from finding out about one another, inevitably they meet, become friends and finally gang up on him.
It is a cautionary tale.
But what is most striking about P Ramlee's films from the 1950s and 1960s is their depiction of Malay life.
His movies are gentle and sensual, the people relaxed, fun-loving and charming. There are even jokes about gin.
Shadow puppetry
One can still catch glimpses of a Malaysia P Ramlee would have recognised, in backwaters like the east coast state of Kelantan.

Hindu influence can be seen in carvings

I had travelled deep into its countryside looking for Dollah Baju Merah-Abdullah, who wears a red shirt. He is the last performer of the local brand of Wayang Kulit: shadow puppetry.
"I can't speak well," he told me, when he came out onto the porch of his little wooden house to greet me and he tapped his chest.
"I've been ill," he said.
He was not up to giving a demonstration but half-heartedly pulled out a couple of puppets from a box to show me.
I could see instantly why his is a dying art. The puppets depict heroes and gods from the Hindu epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
The local government in Kelantan put a stop to Dollah's performances. Likewise traditional dance.
They are considered un-Islamic.
Foreign endorsement
Elsewhere in Kelantan I met up with Nik Rashidee, the custodian of an astonishing collection of Malay woodcarvings assembled by his late brother Nik Rashidin, the greatest carver of his age.
Among the antique pieces the Hindu influence is obvious: carvings of Garuda (a Hindu deity and king of the birds) and dagger handles in the shape of Shiva's head.

Traditional carving is a dying art in Malaysia

They were not even exhibited in Malaysia until they had already been shown at the British Museum.
It took the endorsement of a foreign institution before locals even started to wake up to their beauty.
All these crafts are being destined to oblivion, not just by conservative Muslims who dress in the Arabic style and frown on their own culture, but also by Malaysia's rapid modernisation.
Malay people seem to love the new and shiny, not the old.
Whirlwind of change
At the same time they have been consumed by a wave of Islamicisation that swept across the world from the 1970s, a wave ridden by Malay politicians who after the Iranian revolution decided it was that, or be drowned by it.
"Now we understand what it is to be proper Muslims," people tell me, and in this rapidly developing country many have found in their faith a still centre in a whirlwind of change.
But it is not just traditional arts that are under pressure.
Looking at posters from P Ramlee's movies, I realise that films like these could not be made today.
"All we can do these days is tut tut at one another," a Malay friend tells me.
Across the country one sees the evidence of a culture of disapproval.
Young Malay women wear headscarves drawn tight around their faces; something their grandmothers never did.
Nightclubs are raided by the religious police, couples are prosecuted for holding hands and Muslims are sentenced to be whipped for drinking beer.
This is not policy. This comes from the conservative grassroots.
Behind closed doors
The federal government seems unsure how to respond.
Those who raise their voices against the new breed of religious teacher, schooled in Egypt, Saudi Arabia or Pakistan, are shouted down. "Kaffir," they scream.
And jokes about gin are just not seen as funny.
But the saddest encounter I had in Kelantan was with a criminal lawyer.
"What keeps you busy?" I asked.
"Rape," he said. "It's all rape."
Incest, drugs and rape afflict the Malay community far worse than Malaysia's large Chinese and Indian minorities.
Piety in public. Acts that lead to self-loathing behind closed doors.
There is a sense that the Malays are a people increasingly adrift, and as at ill at ease with themselves now, as their grandparents' generation appeared content.
It would have broken P Ramlee's heart.  

Alvin and Vivian

I did not post anything on these two kids when they posted their "bak kut teh" Ramadan greetings on facebook two weeks ago that got so many people, - Muslims and non-Muslims - really upset.

I had wondered "why-lah?'   What was their intention? For fun/ or For real?

Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee had posted a rather mischievous and provocative Ramadan greeting. It would have been so sweet had they not shown themselves enjoying bak kut teh -- a herbal pork dish -- with a halal sign displayed.

I really cannot fathom their action. Are they really all that ignorant, insensitive, stupid or just unthinking pranksters?

Some people, or rather, their defenders have come out to say that people had overreacted. It was harmless, so why the fuss. Some Muslim apologists even said that they were not insulted by Alvivi's (Alvin-Vivian) posting. Good for them. But not everyone nor every Muslim can see the joke.
 
(Alvin, when asked why he did it, said "No reason. Just a joke, I guess".

Well, not everybody has a sense of humour. You see, people are free to do whatever they like. And what people do or say may not please everyone so other people are also free to react to what you say or do.

So, Alvivi  got a lot of backlash online. Police reports were made and they were arrested, detained and charged on  three charges under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948 in connection with their posting and the uploading of an obscene photograph online.
They are liable to a maximum fine of RM5,000 or up to three years' imprisonment or both.
They were denied bail which means that they were to be in remand until the disposal of their case which has been set for mention on Aug 23. Tan is in Sungai Buloh prison while Lee is in Kajang prison.

They claimed trial and later filed a revision application on the decision to deny them  bail.

Today (July 25) the High Court today allowed for their release on RM30,000 bail each in two sureties.

Judge Datuk Mohd Azman Husin made the decision after revising the sessions court decision which had earlier denied them bail after they were charged last week.

Mohd Azman also ordered the two to surrender their passports to the court and report to the nearest police station once a month.

They are also not allowed to upload any provocative comments, articles or photos on the Internet and they are prohibited from using network communication devices to repeat similar offences.


Well...if you asked me....Alvivi asked for it.

Malaysian Redevelopment and Regeneration of Battersea

Update;
and here's what the PM has to say about Malaysian involvement in the project.

"As one of London's innumerable foreign admirers, it gives me great pleasure to think that my country is helping preserve one of its most distinctive buildings."

This is an excerpt from his speech at t at the groundbreaking ceremony of the iconic Battersea Power Station project, officiated together with British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday in southwest London.



Original posting:
--------------------
Malaysian investors are backing the redevelopment of the huge Battersea Power Station project that is set to change the landscape of London.

They are SP Setia, Sime Darby and EPF.

A massive project, undoubtedly but the British government is intent on preserving the iconic structures.

"This first phase of the works involves repairs to the external brickwork, wash towers, the steel frame, windows and the replacement of the four chimneys, which will be reconstructed to the highest structural standards ensuring they remain a landmark on the London skyline for generations to come."

That's how it should be.

Our definition of redevelopment when we do redevelopment projects is a world of a difference..
We build mega projects worth megabucks ...like theme park, and theme park..
It's obscene when history and heritage are wiped out.

So at home, not surprising that we have people  keen or bent on destroying the country's heritage...in the name of development? or megabucks??

Also read Rocky Bru here.
Read this, this and this.

The article below is from The Financial Times.

With its iconic white chimneys as the backdrop, the Battersea power station will this week take centre stage as one of London’s biggest regeneration projects of recent times.

Building starts on Thursday of phase one, involving 850 apartments and penthouses, which will form part of a residential and retail complex set to emerge on a 39-acre site, which has sat unused since the power station was idled in 1983.

But while the vast brick structure has been familiar to passing Londoners and tourists, what is less known is that the backers of the project are from Malaysia, a country not usually known for making splashy investments overseas.

The Battersea site was bought 12 months ago for £400m by a three-member consortium from Malaysia, which has said it believes the whole development will be worth £8bn by the time it is completed in 2024.

The Malaysian prime minister, Najib Razak, is set to officiate at a ground breaking ceremony, with London mayor Boris Johnson, at the site on Thursday.

The two biggest investors are Sime Darby, one of the world’s largest operators of palm oil plantations, and SP Setia, a large Malaysian property developer.

But the third, providing 20 per cent of the funding, is barely a household name in southeast Asia, let alone further afield: the Employees Provident Fund, the largest Malaysian government pension fund by assets.

The EPF traces its origins to a pension fund started in 1951 by the British in what was then Malaya and is now the sixth-largest pension fund in the world with Rm537bn ($169bn) in assets under management.

The EPF has grown to that size thanks to government pension rules that require 11 per cent of all employees’ salaries be channelled into a state pension scheme while a further 13 per cent is paid in by the employer.

This means that millions of Malaysians see the equivalent of a quarter of their salaries pumped into government pension funds every month.

Over time, such inflows have generated huge war chests for the EPF and its smaller rivals Permodalan Nasional Berhad, and Tabung Haji, an Islamic pension fund that helps finance Malaysian muslims’ annual pilgrimage to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia.

Yet with Kuala Lumpur’s relatively small stock and bond markets, the funds have been forced overseas in the hunt for returns.

That has propelled the EPF and PNB into the London commercial property market, helping turn Malaysia into the sector’s second-largest investor after the US.

“These guys have some of the biggest cheque books in Asia,” said Steve Clayton, senior country officer for JPMorgan in Malaysia.

 “They are in the early stages of searching for and making large cross-border investments. But, as they find more and execute more, their global influence will undoubtedly increase”.

An EPF spokesman said the fund aimed to have 23 per cent of its portfolio invested overseas by 2014/15, up from 18 per cent now.

British government officials said Malaysia’s renewed focus on the UK is matched by an effort the other way in seeking opportunities for British business in the fast-growing markets of southeast Asia.

During a visit to Kuala Lumpur last year British prime minister David Cameron – who is due to meet Mr Najib this week – pledged with his counterpart to double the value of bilateral trade to £8bn by 2016.

Britain’s investments in Malaysia have been growing steadily, if unspectacularly, since vacuum maker Dyson started using Malaysia as its global manufacturing base in 2002.

Tesco, the supermarket operator, has 44 stores in the country and Hamleys, the famed London toy store, opened a branch in Kuala Lumpur last week.

Hugo Swire, minister of state in the Foreign Office responsible for southeast Asia, on a visit to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore last week, said Britain “hadn’t done a very good sales job” in the region in recent years. But that was now changing.

“There’s been a huge increase in the number of ministerial visits. A lot of us are travelling a lot more,” he said.


The article is here.

Haze : Improvement in Singapore But Worsening in Malaysia.

Yesterday the pollution index in Singapore escalated to the "life-threatening" level, breaching the "400" mark- a record high. The previous day, the highest was 371 - already considered hazardous. 

Today it dropped to "moderate" in Singapore  but the haze --  I'd call it smog -- has intensified this side of the causeway.

This morning was a smokey choking morning in Taman Tun dr Ismail. I could hardly see the hills. Nor the towering One World Hotel.

Expectedly, the PM  has declared emergency in Muar and Ledang districts with immediate effect after API readings in the two areas surpassed the 750 mark. 

That is way too high.

According to Bernama, the PM said the haze  emergency declaration does not involve imposition of a curfew and also there is no change in the method of administration either at the state or federal level for now. 

 Muar recorded the highest with 750, followed by Bukit Rambai, Malacca (357) and Malacca City with (364).

The highest API ever recorded in Malaysia was in Sarawak in 1997 with reading of 860.


API readings as at 8am today (23/06/13) are Pasir Gudang (123), Kemaman (140), Klang (189), Balok Baru, Kuantan (137), Petaling Jaya (111), Johor Baru (114), Shah Alam (104), Port Dickson (168), Kota Tinggi (137), Banting (110), Bukit Rambai, Malacca (357), Malacca City (364), Muar (750).

Indonesia has begun seeding clouds in an attempt to create rain to extinguish the blazes in the hot spots and at the same time has launched  investigations into plantation firms suspected of starting the fire. How far these investigations will go and whether any action will be taken remains to be seen.

You know, they could have started the cloud-seeding operations before the haze got to be so bad. If this was the only way to put out the fires.

I do recall an Indonesian official saying that the government had considered cloud-seeding but decided against it as it would take two weeks.

“If there is no downpour then the haze could last for weeks, or even months. So we’ve decided to leave it in the hands of nature. And let’s just pray for that,” Indonesia's  Forestry Ministry general secretary Hadi Daryantohad said.

Well...now buat pulak  cloud-seeding.
 They had given the impression that they were not going to bend backwards to make life better for us or the Singaporeans. And the truth is thye have never been quite bothered despite have fostered all sorts of undertaking to resolve the haze problem that is caused by forest fires in Sumatra.

This is not the first time we've had the smog blown in our direction. It is a yearly thing. Year in, year out. But this is the worst since 2005.  Before that, it was in 1997 -- causing serious health problems in the region as well as devastating business activities.

You can't force Indonesia to please put out the fires, to please stop those farmers from slashing and burning the plantations that will also burn the peat soil which will take such a long time to be put out. Or to please ratify the Asean Agreement on trans-boundary Haze Pollution that was adopted 12 years ago.

Singapore, so badly enveloped by the choking smog, has been pressuring Indonesia. Indonesia, in response, had,short of saying shut up.

Might as well have said shut up.. Its minister Agung Laksono told Singapore not to behave "like a child and making all this noise".

I tell you -- Indonesia is happy to have unleashed the smog. It's their message every year to Malaysia and Singapore that -- well they can send us the haze and decide how much smog we deserve.

Anyway -- let's pray for a lot of rain  now . We can't wait for June 28 -- that's the date Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has predicted that rain will fall.

Meanwhile -- take good care of yourselves during these smoggy days -- stay indoors, drink lots of water, and if you have to go out, wear a mask...

RIP: PG Lim

KUALA LUMPUR: TAN Sri Lim Phaik Gan, Malaysia's pioneer woman ambassador and one of the country's first woman lawyers, died yesterday  in Perth, Western Australia, at the age of 96.

Better known as "P.G. Lim", she was born in Britain in 1918 and was among the first Malaysian women to earn a Master's in Law from Cambridge University.

One of her best-known cases was the defence in 1948 of Lee Meng, a guerilla detained in Perak for alleged communist activities.

She also defended 11 youths sentenced to death for consorting with Indonesian infiltrators and for possessing arms during Confrontation in 1968.

Lim, who won the Merdeka Award in 2009, served as legal adviser to several unions who could not afford to hire lawyers, and often championed the underprivileged.

Former Court of Appeal judge Tan Sri V.C. George remembers that, as a pupil in chambers in 1956, "I followed her around the country, carrying her bags in court. I realised what a formidable advocate she was. She was a tough fighter, who didn't pull her punches. She was hot tempered and impatient, but worked very hard. From her, I learned to focus on the real issues and not on the fringe."

Retired lawyer Ernest Devadason also remembers his first job, working at the law firm which Lim set up: "The foundation she gave me as a young lawyer was the best I could have had and stood me in good stead."

The rest of the article

1Malaysia Foundation Trustee Lee Lam Thye has suggested that a national consultative council be set up to  address issues on national unity and racial integration.

Lee said the council should be made up of representatives of interested groups or individuals who could offer suggestions or ideas to help address the current development. 

"It is also to address key issues on how to bring the nation together after a strongly heated and bitterly-contested general election," he said in a statement (reported by Bernama).

Lee also called on all political leaders and all strata of society to immediately stop the drfit towards racial polarisation. 

"The time has come for us to identify more ethnic bridge builders and emphasize on their crucial role, at this juncture, to break down the serious racial divide in the larger interest of improving ethnic relations in our country. 

"Multiracial living and community are part of our history and heritage. They have become a key source of racial integration for years and have certainly played a part in making Malaysia a harmonious place to live, learn, work and play," he said. 

The Prime Minister had on Monday said the government would embark on national reconciliation efforts to unite the people who seemed divided in the 13th General Election. 

International Movement for a Just World (JUST) president Dr Chandra Muzaffar, who supported the formation of the council, said it was important not only for national unity, but more so for the restoration of racial relations.

"The council must represent all the political parties, individuals within or outside the political arena who can contribute ideas on solidarity and participate in sincere dialogues," he said. 

However, Chandra said the prime minister must give detailed explanation on the actual meaning of national reconciliation so that it would be truly understood by every strata of society.

Chairman of the Global Movement of Moderates Foundation Tan Sri Razali Ismail said all parties should support the idea thrown by the prime minister, as we could not allow the tension arising from the general election to worsen.

He stressed on the partiality of the government and its institutions, saying that the effort to reconcile the nation must be done with the acceptance of all races, and added that political parties should not take advantage from the effort. 

Another vital ingredient for national reconciliation, according to Razali was that the press must be free. 

"What is not right must be mentioned by the press. We cannot reconcile if the press is not free. The people must be made to have a say in the press. This is to regain the ability in making the people believe what has been distributed by the press," he said. 

He added that national reconciliation was also needed to build national consensus in addressing many internal or external issues. 

Meanwhile, the Director of the Technology Policy and International Studies Centre, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) International Campus, Profesor Dr Azmi Hassan said the quickest action that the government could do towards national reconciliation was through the formation of the cabinet.

"The make up of the cabinet members is most important to demonstrate that the Barisan Nasional (BN) government is transparent and sincere in forming a Malaysian society and championing the cause of all races in the country," said Azmi, who is also a Geostrategist Expert.

He said the cabinet that would be formed should still have a minister from the Chinese community although the MCA had stated its stand not to join the cabinet to honour the decision of the top party leadership earlier. 

Explaining further, Azmi said one of the measures that could be taken by Najib in efforts to regain the support of the Chinese voters was to make way for a representative from the Chinese non-governmental organisation (NGO) to join the cabinet.

"The situation cannot be aggravated, that's why we must invite a group that is trusted by the Chinese community such as the NGO in the fields of social, education and economy. That is the best way to reconcile the situation," he said.

For historian Prof Emeritus Tan Sri Dr Khoo Kay Kim, whatever measures that were being implemented by the government now and in the future towards national reconciliation, the most important question was the schooling system.

He said it was possible that now was the time for the national education system which emphasised on examination where the student must memorise to obtain high marks be replaced with a system that absorbed the spirit of patriotism among the students.

"We need to decide whether we want a national education system that would turn the young generation into citizens that give priority to the country or to become individuals who only think about self-interest," he said.

DAP national deputy chairman Dr Tan Seng Giaw said the move to promote the spirit of unity after the election process was timely, but any racial sentiment must be checked first of all.

"Solidarity must be based on policies and statements that were not inclined towards a particular race, religion or region alone," said Dr Tan, who is also the Kepong Member of Parliament. -- BERNAMA

R