What is this?! Congestion planning for Penang....?

Like almost everyone else, I like to go to Penang's Batu Ferringhi beach area.
Not to swim or get a sun tan (I am tanned enough), but just to hang around the beach - jalan-jalan makan ice cream while looking at people fly around above the waters using parachutes (para-sailing).

But in the last few years, we have all seen how both sides of the tiny road going into the area have been opened up to build high-rise condos.
Many of these condos, too many of them.

And now, guess what?
The government of Penang, it seems, have now nearly tripled the density requirements for building projects. For the whole state.

So, for the same area of land, you could technically build more units in, and stuff more people. More people mean more cars.
For the jalan Batu Ferringhi, already choked on weekends and peak hours on weekdays, things will get much worse.
A Pakatan government approval, or by the previous government?
And why was this not explained properly to people first.
It came out during a media interview with the boss of Hunza, a property developer.
Penangite Anil Netto has some comments too.

Or maybe this is just for NON-Ferringgi areas?

PICTURE: The four towers of The Cove, beautiful with 6,000 sq ft units.

Japan changes govt, Malaysia frets on birthday

As widely predicted by everyone, Japan has voted in a new government after 50 years of LDP.
Japanese wake up today to see the DPJ in charge.
Out with the LDP, which people are tired of.

The Democratic Party of Japan won 308 of 480 seats in the lower house elections.
Malaysia also has its lower house (Parliament) and upper house (Senate).

This guy - see picture here - will be the new Japanese Prime Minister. Let's get to know his name first - Yukio Hatoyama.
Nampak orang muda berbanding dengan yang tua-tua PM lama. Baguslah tu. Lebih semangat.
TETAPI sebenarnya berumur 62 tahun! - Umur bersara di Singapore!
Bapanya ialah orang yang memulakan syarikat gergasi tayar, Bridgestone. Adoi, anak orang kaya. Profil Hatoyama-san di sini.


Unlike the Liberal Democratic Party which is full of factions and kept changing PMs (it changed four PMs in the last four years! That was part of the reason also why people got fed up), DPJ is so strong he could last quite long, it is said.
My big hope for all of us in Southeast Asia - is that Japan will become more confident and its economy, still the second biggest in the world after the Americans', will grow strongly again after like 15 years of being half-asleep.

Jika depa ni masa musim dia tidur boleh bawa kepada dunia Sony dan Toyota, Nintendo dan Toshiba, Canon dan sushi, Doraemon dan Pokemon, bayangkan jika ekonomi dia kuat!


And in Malaysia, Happy 52nd Birthday.
Although, as we all know, there is a big sense of disquiet on the ground. Nothing much, really, to celebrate about.

Not just among the Chinese and Indians who are pushing for their rights (as they should) after being denied for so long, but as I wrote here, among the Malays.
There is big unease in Melayudom that the other races are pushing too strongly at the gates for their rights in Tanah Melayu. As reflected also by the much-loved sakmongkol AK47 .

The problem is how to manage this without the "bridges", as PM Najib Razak said last night, being broken.
Everyone knows that they should continue to share the country, because the alternative is very bad. Very ugly.
Najib said in his speech that issues are now exploited for political gains - you can see that clearly whether in Kampung Buah Pala (where it became a racial issue, no thanks to Hindraf) and the cow-head parade in Seksyen 23 Shah Alam).

Worries about the country being torn apart, and that both the opposition and the government should work together was one key reason why PM Najib met with Parliamentary Opposition Leader Anwar in July, I was told.
There is such a thing as bi-partisanship, ie there should be issues where whether you are Government or Opposition, you should step back from playing politics and work for the good of the country.
Like no more huge street demos that disrupt the flow of goods (I wrote about Malaysia's weak economy and how exports could be disrupted here). Nak demo masuk stadium lah, bukan tak boleh. For the sake of the country.
And of course, the government agencies have also to show evenhandedness to control emotions. The police's excuse on why it didn't stop the cow-head parade was disgraceful.

Dah 52 tahun Abang dan Datin, bila nak taubat?
Nak kasi hancur negeri ke?
Seriously, I don't think there is a sense of realisation among politicians of both stripes that they should play less politics and see the big-picture of trying to heal the wounds from the fight since general elections in March 2008.
Umno-BN want to fight to stay in power at all costs, Anwar and Pakatan want to come to power at all costs. Hancur.
I weep for my adopted country.

Abdullah Badawi kini pengerusi IKIM

Dah saya tulis bulan April lagi, dan diulang pada Mei, bekas-PM Abdullah Badawi akan dilantik menjadi ketua IKIM.

Dah jadi kenyataan empat bulan kemudian - lihat di bawah.

Cuma belum lagi nama badan itu ditukar jadi IKIA. Bukan saya nak persendakan atau mengutuk beliau seperti yang disangka orang yang komen di bawah posting itu.

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Abdullah Appointed IKIM Chairman

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 28 (Bernama) -- Former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has been appointed chairman of the Malaysian Institute of Islamic Understanding (Ikim) effective Sept 1.

Abdullah, who holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Islamic Studies from Universiti Malaya, will replace Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid who has decided to step down.

Abdullah's appointment would boost IKIM's effort to enhance true understanding of Islam among Muslims and non-Muslims, the Prime Minister's office said in a statement e-mailed to Bernama on Friday.

-- BERNAMA

Esok, setelah 50 tahun, kerajaan Jepun tumbang

Seperti yang pernah saya tulis baru-baru ini, Jepun di ambang pertukaran kerajaan yang besar.
Selepas kira-kira 50 tahun berkuasa, Liberal Democratic Party akan tumbang kerana rakyat dah jemu. Ekonomi lembek dan kerajaan gagal nak atasi masalah rakyat yang semakin tua, dan skandal corruption kerap juga (Jepun, macam Singapore, rakyatnya dalam 20-30 tahun lagi, lebih ramai yang tua dari yang muda, ageing society).

Jepun mengundi Ahad/esok, dan pada malam esok kita dapat bayangan teruk mana LDP kena bantai oleh pembangkang Democratic Party of Japan, parti berusia 11 tahun.
Tetapi rakyat khuatir juga sama ada DPJ boleh 'bawa' Jepun naik kembali atau terus tinggal dalam negara yang dipandang lemah kini.

Ada pengajarannya untuk Umno, Pakatan dan rakyat Malaysia.


GAMBAR: Tak tahu kenapa telor Jepun dua biji ni warna merah. Besau pulak :-)

Orang Umno Selangor, PM Najib & Khalid Ibrahim

SOALAN 1

Selepas insiden seperti yang terjadi di Shah Alam, di mana kepala lembu telah dipolitikkan, semua orang tentu bertanya sama ada ini kerja (maaf kata) Umno Selangor.
Sama ada Khir Toyo sedang khusyuk berpuasa dan bertasbih di masjid atau di istananya, orang tak kisah. Desas-desus bahawa ini kerja Umno dah keluar pun dari semalam lagi.
Kasihan juga parti terbesar di Malaysia ni. Depa duduk diam-diam pun orang tak percaya.

Tapi tak apa jika orang tuduh melulu. Depa dari pembangkang ni memang kurang ajar.
Baiklah ianya ditepis dengan cara gentleman.
Jadi kita nak dengar apa kata Khir Toyo sebagai supremo Selangor Darul Terkejut.
Adakah beliau akan mengutuk tunjuk perasaan yang mengguris masyarakat Hindu India - seperti musuh politiknya Khairy Jamaluddin telah mengutuk tindakan itu?
Atau cuma kata beliau tidak terlibat, tetapi tidak mengutuk?

Adakah beliau setuju, demi membantu masyarakat Melayu-Islam Seksyen 19 (di depan rumah orang), bahawa kuil itu dipindahkan ke Seksyen 23 di mana ianya akan dibina 200m dari rumah terdekat?
Atau beliau akan berkata ianya harus dipindah saja ke Seksyen 22 sepertimana rancangan kerajaan Umno-BN dulu?
Beliau tentu fasih tentang isu ini kerana pernah jadi Menteri sangat Besar.

Dan saya rasa Umno sebagai sebuah parti (menerusi Majlis Tertinggi) harus kondem cara demonstrasi jalanan seperti ini. Bahaya beb. PKR dah kutuk pun.



SOALAN 2

PM Najib Razak telahpun menunjukkan bahawa beliau marah dengan isu mempermainkan agama orang lain.
Sekarang kita hendak dengar pula suara Timbalan PM Muhyiddin Yassin.
Tan Sri, tolong kutuk juga.
Atau beliau akan kutuk saja kerajaan Pakatan Selangor kerana kurang sensitif kepada masyarakat Islam Seksyen 23, tetapi tidak mengutuk tindakan penunjuk perasaan?

PM Najib dan TPM Muhyiddin pun belum komen tentang pertemuan dengan Anwar Ibrahim. Saya PASTI (confirmed) perjumpaan itu memang telah berlaku.
Blogger Aisehman kata di sini bahawa sejak perjumpaan itu Najib tak banyak serang pembangkang, sedangkan Muhyiddin menyelar Anwar sebagai pembelot kepada orang Melayu.



SOALAN 3

Apa pula kata Abang Polis?
Saya memang selalu belas dengan puak ini kerana seperti kepala lembu, institusi polis telah lama dipolitikkan.
Mereka tangkap penunjuk perasaan, dituduh anti-pembangkang.
Tak tangkap dituduh takut dengan Umno.

Katanya ramai polis semalam di Shah Alam mengelilingi lembu-lembu yang menunjuk perasaan dengan kepala lembu tu. Tetapi tak ada yang ditangkap.
Tak sembur water cannon. Tak tembak gas pemedih mata.
Tak asak pun.
Lor, apa dah jadi?
Lepas tu ketua polis Selangor Khalid Abu Bakar membuat satu statement yang mengejutkan.
Malaysiakini:
As of now, Khalid said no police report has been lodged over the incident.
"If a report is lodged, we will definitely take the necessary action," he stressed.

Huh? Nak tunggu laporan polis sebelum bertindak?
Tapi tak apa, seperti saya kata kasihan Abang Polis ni.
Maka itu kita transfer cerita ini kepada menteri yang jaga polis, Hishammuddin Hussein Onn.
Apa kata beliau?
Kutuk atau hanya bertutur: 'Polis AKAN ambil tindakan keras'.


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Seperti isu Kartika nak dirotan, isu ini dah jadi bahan berita antarabangsa. Adakah sekali lagi kerajaan akan rilek dan terus dibantai di persada dunia sebelum nak membuat reaksi yang menyejukkan hati pemerhati luar.
Takut jika lambat reaksi yang jitu, pelabur, pelancong dan orang yang simpati dan sayang dengan Malaysia (seperti saya) rasa gusar lagi.
Minggu lalu, Malaysia nak rotan perempuan. Lepas tu diharamkan konsert Black Eyed Peas dan Michael Learns To Rock (ini Pemuda PAS). Terbaru, dijadikan pegawai masjid Selangor boleh tangkap orang minum arak. Lepas tu parti besar Cina berpecah dua, apa lagi nak jadi?

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SOALAN 4

Khalid Ibrahim, Menteri Besar Selangor, dan PKR serta Pakatan pun sebenarnya tak dapat lepas lari dari isu ini.
Memang senang nak menuduh melulu ini kerja Umno.

Tetapi biar saya kata terang-terangan: Sejak 17 bulan Pakatan mempunyai kuasa lebih besar di Malaysia, ramai orang Melayu-Islam yang saya jumpa - bila berehat di KL dan merayap satu Malaysia buat laporan, dan juga di blog-blog - tak puas hati.
Mereka kata sejak Pakatan ni jadi kuat, bangsa Cina dan India terus mengasak kedudukan Melayu dan hendak melemahkan kedudukan Melayu dan Islam.
Memang betul ada privilege Melayu yang berlebihan dan tak adil (seperti AP kereta), tetapi kenapa semua nampaknya nak dibuang dalam sekelip mata?

Orang Pakatan jika ditanya menjawab: ini 'kerja Umno' atau itu hanya perasaan segelintir.
Atau, tak 'yah lah main isu bangsa lagi kerana rakyat kini dah matang.
Saya tak rasa begitu.

Maksudnya, memang Umno ada cucuk jarum, tetapi telah sekian lama orang Melayu (melalui Umno-BN) berkuasa penuh. Jadi jika kedudukan mereka dihikis dengan cepat begini, mereka tentu marah.
Saya rasa lebih baik berjalan dengan perlahan sedikit dalam isu ini.


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Untuk Umno-BN

Memang betul takut undi Cina dan India tak kembali ke Umno-BN. Tetapi jika mereka kembali ke pangkuan sedangkan orang Melayu rasa disepikan, masalah lain timbul.

Di sini, maaf kata, orang Umno boleh lihat cara Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang Lim Guan Eng membuat kerja.
Dia cuba memujuk orang Melayu - memberi bantuan kewangan kepada yang miskin, dan memberi wang saguhati kepada hufaz (penghafal Quran), misalnya. Pengundi yang tak mahu dengan beliau.
Tetapi beliau tidak pula dilihat mengabaikan pengundi Cina.

Begitu juga dengan apa yang dibuat oleh PM Najib menarik balik atau mengurangkan isu-isu yang mengaitkan bumiputera dalam business dan investment sejak kebelakangan ini.
Slow sikit, To' Sri.
Biar orang Melayu dapat bernafas sikit.

(Saya debat begini bukan nak halalkan tunjuk perasaan kepala lembu, tetapi khuatir ia dipolitikkan oleh yang merasakan Melayu kian tersepit di 'Tanah Melayu'.)

Melayu & Islam, kepala lembu & kepala babi

BABAK 1

Kita semua faham apa rasanya apabila secara tiba-tiba, ada rumah ibadat atau bangunan pejabat atau kondominium, akan dibina dekat rumah kita.
Atau jika tanah kosong atau kawasan belukar dekat rumah tiba-tiba akan ditukar kepada hypermarket atau sebuah lagi projek perumahan.

Tentu kita bantah.
Jika perlu dengan berdemo di jalan raya.

Itulah yang jadi dengan penduduk di Seksyen 23 Shah Alam.
Tetapi kenapa menghina agama lain sampai begitu?

Apa perasaan kita jika esok orang bawa kepala babi macam gitu kerana bantah pembinaan masjid dekat rumah kita?
Lepas tu mereka berkata hati mereka tak aman jika ada masjid di situ sebab bunyi azan dan kuliah subuh yang bising?
Dan mereka kata kepala babi ni untuk Ketua Umno Mr X dan Mr Y.
Tak meletup Umno dan orang Melayu....


BABAK 2

Lagi satu saya tak faham. Dulu orang Seksyen 19 minta kuil dipindah sebab dekat sangat dengan rumah mereka.
Mereka merasakan ditipu oleh PKNS, badan kerajaan Selangor yang selama ini dicontrol oleh Umno - baik Mat Taib, Abu Hassan Omar atau Khir Toyo.
Orang Melayu di situ beli rumah teres, rupa-rupanya di depan rumah dah ada kuil Hindu lama.
Hanya 6m/20 kaki saja dari pintu rumah!
Umno Selangor buat tak tahu selama 26 tahun!

Sekarang kerajaan Pakatan nak tolong orang Melayu Seksyen 19.
Mereka pindahkan kuil ke Seksyen 23 di KAWASAN PERINDUSTRIAN!
Orang Hindu kata semuanya okay.

Rumah terdekat ialah 200m dari kuil ini jika dipindah.
Surau pun 200m.
Kalau orang yang bersembahyang di kuil itu park kereta mereka di kiri kanan jalan sebanyak 100 buah kereta pun, saya rasa tak sampai di depan rumah pertama, yang jaraknya 200m jauh.
Untuk orang KL, jarak anda berjalan dari Suria KLCC ke Masjid KLCC tu baru kira-kira 120m. Ini lebih jauh lagi.
Jadi apa hebohnya, saya tak faham.

Di tempat saya tinggal di Singapore ni, ada sebuah masjid dan DUA buah gereja kira-kira 200m dari flat saya.
Tak adalah bising atau sesak orang gereja tu hingga iman saja jatuh dan tak dapat tenteram nak sembahyang konon.
Orang Cina di tempat saya pun (orang Melayu dan India hanya kira-kira 10 peratus saja di apartmen ini!) tak ada buat hal sebab orang masjid bising.
Bila sembahyang Jumaat, sesak kereta park di kiri kanan jalan raya depan masjid, tak sampai ke apartmen saya pun.


Penjelasan isu ini dibuat oleh orang kuat PAS Selangor, Khalid Samad di blognya, di sini dan di sini. Ada layout helikopter kawasan Seksyen 23 lagi.

Jika beliau bohong atau tersalah, baik anda betulkan demi masa depan negara Malaysia ni.
Saya jarang baca blog beliau, tetapi nampakya beliau menjawab jika ada ditanya orang (macam saya di blog saya).
Sebab kalau asyik gaduh secara ini, dengan menghina bangsa dan agama lain, hancur brader. Hancur.

Five different ways to pay zakat in Singapore

Muslim household heads have to pay zakat (tithe/alms giving) every year during the fasting month, right up to before the Hari Raya prayers at the end of bulan puasa.
The zakat is, of course, one of the five pillars of Islam.
The money is used to help the poor, etc.

Like every year in Singapore, the Mufti of Singapore, Syed Isa Semait - yes, Darul Dollar also has a person called a mufti - will send me a letter to remind me to pay zakat. Even when I was renting out my flat all those years, the Mufti sent me a letter because my address is computerised into the Muis system.
The colourful letter is in Malay and English.
Syed Isa presides over Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura or Muis. See its website - all in English to reflect the main language of all Temasekians, including the fabled 'oppressed Malays'.

Over the years, I have paid my zakat at mosques and suraus in Malaysia and Singapore, and in shopping malls in Malaysia. Face to face through an amil - an official appointed by the religious authorities to accept the zakat.

This year, after receiving the Mufti's letter, I actually read through the details of what's inside (jangan marah ah Pak Mufti, lama saya tak jumpa beliau ni).

The zakat rate in Singapore this year is:
a) S$4.50 (RM10.35) per person based on the price of 2.3kg of rice of normal grade - the type consumed by most people. So if I have 5 people in my family, I pay S$4.50 x 5.
OR
b) S$6.50 (RM14.95) per person based on the price of 2.3kg of rice of a HIGHER GRADE - the type consumed by those with the means to eat better-quality rice.

In Malaysia, I am quite sure, there is only one grade of zakat.
In Singapore, YOU decide whether you want to pay more (if you are earning a higher salary and eat better grade rice), or not.

Additionally, the letter lists the MANY ways to pay zakat in Singapore.

(1) The traditional method of going to a mosque or surau to pay through an official.

(2) Using cheque and mailing it to Muis, ensuring it arrives before Raya. Or pass it to a mosque official at a mosque or surau.

(3) Using the thousands of AXS Stations found all over Singapore. What are these? These 'access'/AXS (get it?) machines look like ATM machines except you can pay all types of bills using it.
Bring, say, your electricity bill, or cable-TV bill, stand in front of these machines, punch numbers, shove the bill into the machine, and then it asks for money!
Either use your Cashcard, or ATM card, or Nets card, or cash, or cheque, and pay.

4) Pay online using eNets Debit - ie you must have an Internet banking account.

5) Using what it calls Fitrah Telepoll, calling in to pay zakat.
Each call you make will debit S$4.50 or S$6.50 per call - there are two different 1900- numbers given for the different rates.
Ie if you have 5 family members, you call five times and the money will be sucked out from your phone credit! Amazing (to a boy who lived in kampung Keramat-Setiawangsa-WangsaMaju like me, anyways).

The Mufti, bless his beard, reminds people to 'pasang niat' (stating your intention in your heart that the funds are for paying zakat) before paying, or making the call, or signing onto the internet banking account!

I have tried (1) of course, I hated using cheques in (2), and I get intimidated by AXS machines (3).
So I tried paying using my internet account (4), since that is how I pay my phone, bill for water-electricity, cable-TV and credit-card bills.
Finished in 10min without leaving my desk.
Though of course not as syiok as going to the mosque, queueing up and paying. Perhaps.

Maybe next year I will try (5).

The letter also teaches us how to calculate paying zakat for our other assets - like savings in the bank, pension funds or gold bars and stocks.

Wanna know more? go to http://www.muis.gov.sg/cms/services/zkt.aspx?id=2232
Brilliant. Takbir!

"Who? Me *colored?"

(*American spelling, because this is an American story)

A black dude says to the white guy:

When I born, I black.
When I grow up, I black.
When I go in sun, I black.
When I cold, I black.
When I scared, I black.
When I sick, I black.
And when I die, I still black.

You white folks....
When you born, you pink.
When you grow up, you white.
When you go in sun, you red.
When you cold, you blue.
When you scared, you yellow.
When you sick, you green.
When you bruised, you purple.
And when you die, you gray.

So who you calling colored?

Ekonomi M'sia recession pertama kali dlm 10thn

Dah penat mengutuk dan dikutuk isu politik dan isu Islam, saya ubah topik sikit malam ni.
Saya cakap tentang ekonomi, sebab benda ni kalau tak dijaga, boleh hancur negara yang tercinta, tak kira siapa yang memerintah.

Berita Buruk: Malaysia masuk recession pertama kali dalam 10 tahun. Kali terakhir ialah di zaman Mahathir dan zaman Reformasi! Ouch.

Tetapi ada Berita Baik: Keadaan ekonomi dunia dah nak pulih, jadi Malaysia pun steady pada tahun depan! Alhamdulillah/Pujian untuk Allah.


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CERITA YANG BURUK DULU:

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) mengumumkan hari ini bahawa ekonomi Malaysia telah MASUK ke dalam kemeleSETAN (atau recession).

Ekonomi sesebuah negara dikira sama ada ia berkembang atau menguncup dalam
sesuatu suku tahun/quarter year (tiga bulan).
Apabila gross domestic product (GDP), atau keluaran dalam negara kasar (KDNK), untuk suku tahun MENGUNCUP dalam DUA-SUKU BERTURUT-TURUT, maka ekonomi masuk ke dalam recession.
Tak faham KDNK?

Cakap mudah: semua data pengeluaran kilang besar dan kecil (mungkin tidak 100 peratus, tetapi kebanyakannya) dan perkhidmatan/services yang diberikan (seperti kerja memunggah di Port Klang, atau sektor penghotelan dan restoran, atau services perbankan) dikumpulkan Bank Negara.
Maknanya, pendapatan kasar kilang Intel dan kilang sos cili Lingham's, supermarket Carrefour dan Hotel Renaissance, serta Public Bank dan nasi kandar Pelita - semua yang bayar cukailah! jika tidak macam mana nak tahu pendapatan berapa - dikira.
Maklumat dirakam dalam Ringgit Malaysia menjadi KDNK.


Kata BNM, KDNK bagi suku tahun pertama (Jan hingga Mac) menguncup 6.2 peratus, berbanding dengan Jan-Mac tahun lalu.
Untuk suku kedua pula (Apr hingga Jun) ia menguncup lagi 3.9 peratus, berbanding Apr-Jun 2008.

Ini adalah kali pertama dalam 10 tahun ekonomi Malaysia menguncup selama dua suku berturut-turut, kata agensi berita Bloomberg.

Untuk setengah tahun pertama (Jan hingga Jun) ekonomi menguncup 5.1 peratus berbanding dengan tahun sebelumnya.
Laporan rasmi Bank Negara di sini.


Cakap mudah: Dalam enam bulan pertama tahun ini, eksport barangan Malaysia berkurangan, sebab ekonomi seantero dunia lembab.
Sebabnya:
- Kira-kira satu perlima (2o peratus) daripada eksport Malaysia (dikira dalam Ringgit) dijual di Amerika Syarikat. Jadi sebab ekonomi Yankee meleset teruk, mereka kurang membeli barangan Malaysia.
- Pembeli besar barangan Malaysia yang satu lagi ialah Singapura. Dulu kira-kira 12-15 peratus, tak tahu sekarang ini, saya tak ada maklumat. Barangan yang diimport Singapore ni ditambah-nilai lepas tu diesksport juga ke Amerika!
Tambah-nilai tu apa? Misalnya Malaysia eksport elektronic parts ke Temasek, ianya disiapkan jadi hard drive, lepas tu di hantar ke Amerika).


Masuk bab politik:
Jika Malaysia bergaduh dengan Amerika atau Singapore (zaman Mahathir dulu), kadang-kadang saya khuatir ia menjejas ekonomi.
Dan sebab itulah banyak syarikat antarabangsa yang berpusat di Temasek gemar sangat baca berita tentang Malaysia. Sebab ia terikat dengan perdagangan dan ekonomi.

Sebab itu mereka khuatir jika politik bergoncang atau kemungkinan pihak yang, katanya, pro-Taleban berkuasa di Malaysia.
Atau isu corruption, sebab perdagangan mereka terjejas sekiranya pegawai kerajaan minta duit bawah meja sebelum luluskan projek.
Dan jika mahkamah dilihat tidak adil, kerana mereka khuatir jika business mereka dibawa ke mahkamah, hakim boleh dibeli oleh sesuatu pihak lain - seperti yang dikatakan banyak terjadi di Indonesia.
Dan mereka khuatir isu yang mungkin merosakkan gerakan barangan eksport. Sebab itu mereka khuatir demonstrasi jalanan yang membuat traffic jam satu bandar (bukan semua salah yang nak menunjuk perasaan, sebab selalunya yang huru-harakan demonstrasi aman ialah Abang Polis).

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GAMBAR - Kompleks BNM di tengah bandar raya KL. Dah lama saya tak menghadiri sidang akhbar setiap tiga bulan untuk pengumumam kedudukan ekonomi negara. Saya pernah menghadiri sidang akhbar ini dari zaman Gabenor Ahmad Mohd Don, ke Gabenor Ali Abul Hassan Sulaiman hingga ke Gabenor Zeti Akhtar Aziz.

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BERITA BAIK

Tidak seperti dalam 1998-2000 dulu, kemeleSETAN kali ini dijangka pendek saja.
Macam kena injection kat bontot bila jumpa doktor. Kejap 'je.

Ini kerana:
1) ekonomi terbesar di dunia, Amerika, kian pulih.
Orang Amerika ni suka berhutang - lebih dari (maaf kata) orang Melayu. OKlah, orang Melayu Singapore kerana, maklumlah, tertindas; bukan orang Malaysia yang kaya raya.
Orang Amerika suka beli komputer terbaru, kereta terbaru, telefon terbaru, TV terbaru, dsbnya.
Nasib baik depa bodoh, kalau depa tak beli yang terbaru, hancur ekonomi Malaysia dan Singapore! Dan juga banyak lagi negara lain.

2) ekonomi ketiga terbesar di dunia, China, terus berkembang dalam setahun kebelakangan ini, walaupun banyak negara nak tenggelam.
Dan ekonomi besar dunia, India, pun terus mara dengan kencang.
(ekonomi kedua terbesar ialah Jepun, tetapi negara ni tetap lembek ekonominya).

Sebab ekonomi China berkembang 8 hingga 10 peratus sejak 10-15 tahun kebelakangan ini (macam ekonomi Malaysia dalam 1987-1998), maka barangan eksport negara sedunia banyak juga dihantar ke China. Dan ke India.
Whew, selamat kita semua.
Terima kaseyyyyy kepada orang China dan India (mereka yang di China dan di India, bukan yang di Malaysia yang selalu cari pasal! Hahaha)

Tak adil juga jika kita tidak memuji cara PM Najib Razak dan BNM mengendalikan kelembapan ekonomi di hujung tahun lalu lagi, dengan stimulus package - pakej perangsang economi. Kalau dah campak RM60 bilion ekonomi terus pingsan, maknanya negara mempunyai masalah besar.


AL MUTAKHIR

Maknanya, kerana ekonomi Malaysia dah nak pulih, kita semua boleh sambung bergaduh dan berdebat sampai negara nak rak, tentang isu remeh dan penting, seperti biasa.
Yahoo!

Kartika lepas, Malaysia kena sebat teruk

Jika Kartika dah melanggar undang-undang dan hukumannya kena sebat, cepatlah jalankan.
Saya tak faham kenapa kerajaan khayal selama tiga minggu apabila cerita ini mula keluar.
(Jika itu hukuman, just do it!)

Sehingga sampai klimaks pada pertengahan minggu lalu, apabila wartawan akhbar saya di KL menjadi wartawan yang pertama dapat berbual dengan Kartika melalui telefon. Kartika duduk di Sungai Siput, Perak, rumah bapanya.
Dia kata nak sebat-sebatlah di khalayak ramai. Tunggu apa lagi.

Lepas ceritanya keluar di Straits Times Singapore, keesokan harinya wartawan kami di KL itu di telefon oleh AFP, Al Jazeera, BBC dan CNN. Semua nak tahu bagaimana hendak menghubungi wanita itu.
Lepas itu cerita meletup.

Itu pun kerajaan masih tidor.
Maka keluarlah cerita yang menggambarkan Malaysia ini negara kampung zaman batu, negara kuno, agama kejam dan sebagainya yang keluar di media antarabangsa.

Saya yang memantau di meja berita rasa malu.
Keluar di banyak sangat akhbar seluruh dunia!
Jika dulu orang Afrika, India, Eropah dan Amerika tak pernah dengar nama Malaysia Darul Islam ni, sekarang semua dah tahu dah.
Tak payah buat kempen pelancongan.

Itupun pemerintah terus rilek.
Sehingga sampai Isnin (semalam), Kartika disumbat dalam van di rumahnya di Sungai Siput - di depan kamera-kamera dan wartawan media asing - untuk dibawa ke penjara Kajang.
OKlah tu saya ingat. Biar lekas cerita ni habis.

Fulamak! Selepas 15 minit keluar, van patah balik. Setengah jam selepas masuk van, dia dihantar kembali ke rumah bapanya.
Eh! Apa dah jadi????

Rupa-rupanya selepas tiga minggu, nama Malaysia dah disebat bertubi-tubi, dihitamkan oleh media, dimomokkan orang bukan Islam, baru kerajaan sedar ini masalah besar.

Saya rasa Kartika dan bapanya harus diberi tugas baru oleh kerajaan Malaysia - jadi adviser macam mana nak maximise public relations. Mereka lebih pandai dari Fox Communications.
Pandai mereka spin cerita agar orang belas. Di Amerika, mereka ni main 'victimhood' - di mana orang yang bersalah main cerita agar dilihat sebagai victim/mangsa!

Benda ini dah meletup satu dunia, terpalit najis di muka Putrajaya.
Akhirnya:
Kartika 1, Malaysia 0.


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Sebenarnya Kartika bukan wanita Islam pertama yang dijatuh hukuman sebat atas nama agama di Tenggara Asia.
LIHAT GAMBAR.
Di Acheh, perempuan kena rotan di khalayak ramai di depan masjid sering berlaku di hujung Sumatra (di seberang laut dekat Penang).
Memang kontroversi.
Tetapi bila dah jatuhkan hukuman, cepatlah jalankan.

Lagi satu contoh - tak lama dulu Singapore nak gantung seorang rakyat Australia kerana kesalahan dadah. Memang Temasek tak kasi chan. Kau main dadah, kena gantung.
Tetapi ramai warga Australia sehingga perdana menterinya pun, meminta agar dimaafkan saja budak Australia yang keluarganya berasal dari Vietnam ni.
No deal.
Bising satu dunia. Undang-undang kejam, negeri kuno, hak manusia disepak.
Tetapi Singapore terus gantung dia pada 2005.
Lepas tu cerita habis. Media dah penat komen, buat cerita lain.


Tetapi kerana selama tiga minggu isu Kartika ni tak diselesaikan apabila dah keluar di media, dan hari ini baru nak ditangani, dah busuk nama negara.
Cara ia diatasi pun masih penuh kontroversi.
- PM Najib kata Kartika boleh mohon appeal. Lepas tu dia cakap boleh bertaubat dan dimaafkan.
- Shahrizat kata hukuman hanyalah disuspend - bukan dibuang kes.
- Hishammuddin pula kata pegawai penjara bodoh - sebab dia kata Kartika tak akan disebat sebab penjara tak pandai nak sebat cara syariah.

Saya nak syorkan: kalau minum beer yang mungkin memudharatkan diri sendiri disebat 6kali, apa kata kita sebat orang yang mencuri duit rakyat 100 kali.
Boleh?
Baru orang hormat sikit Malaysia ni agaknya.

Permatang Pasir, PAS & amar makruf

Ini kali pertama saya tulis tentang Permatang Pasir.
Sebab dah jemu dengan pilihanraya kecil.
Ini kali keempat pilihanraya di kawasanundi Permatang PAUH dalam 17 bulan!

Mac 2008 ialah dalam pilihanraya umum.
Ogos 2008 Wan Azizah Wan Ismail turun, Anwar Ibrahim menang.
May 2009 Penanti, apabila BN buat pertama kali tidak menurunkan pemain.
Dan kini Ogos 2009 di Permatang Pasir.

Memang gerenti calon PAS menang.
Tetapi mungkin kurang undi dari yang dijangkakan, walaupun calon Umno Rohaizat Othman ditenggelami masalah peribadi.



Tetapi yang dibisikkan sekarang ialah sama ada perpecahan di antara pemimpin atasan Umno.
Perpecahan yang mengerikan.
Saya berhenti di sini kerana takut dituduh menyerang Umno.
Yang pasti, selepas ini tentu ada lagi pilihanraya kecil.
Mungkin di Lunas?



Dan ada isu lagi - isu Hassan Ali, PAS Selangor menyatakan dia dah memberi warkah kepada pegawai dari 370 buah masjid untuk menangkap sesiapa yang menjual atau meminum arak.
Baguslah untuk umat Islam, mungkin, tetapi isu sebegini harus dibincang dulu dengan exco Selangor lain.
Salah silap pengundi Cina dan India lari kerana takut Taleban datang. Seperti yang saya selalu tanya amar makruf nahi mungkar dalam Islam mesti mengenai tudung dan arak ke?


I often wonder why my fellow religionists when they think of doing good for agama, sex, booze and women are the first things they think of.
Why not help the poor feed and house themselves, finding jobs and training lowly educated workers, helping poor estranged wives and their kids get fairly divorced, and helping the ISA families. ie doing Justice.
(During Mat Taib's time as Selangor MB, his snoop squad was disbanded because its members caught sinful couples and drunken guys, and then asked for money. corruption again).

Why must amar makruf nahi mungkar mean snoop squads. and banning things?
Amar makruf (doing good) doesn't mean doing good for the poor and jobless?
Nahi mungkar (stopping sinful things) doesn't mean helping education of ex-convicts and their families so that they won't return to vice?

Why must the FIRST issues to be settled involved banning things and making people think of Islam as stupid and backward?
Why not enjoin Islam unto them with words of wisdom and good behaviour?

Well, I better stop. Because when it comes to religion, a group of people out there think only they know what is good for Islam.
In Malaysian life, I have learnt, I can ask a doctor if his prescription is wrong, I can sue my own lawyer for giving wrong advice, and scold the central banker why his prognosis on the economy is horrible.
But in the most important thing of all, agama, we are told we cannot question anything because we are all stupid. Follow blindly.
If you question, you are a 'liberal Muslim'. Resistance is futile.

OKlah, saya wartawan biasa dari negeri tak beragama.

How Singapore got its name (an alternative history)

How did Singapore get its name?
Lion is an obvious answer in the history books.
This is an alternative version, to show that in Singapore the Malays are not oppressed, because sometimes they make big news!

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When Stamford Raffles sailed up the Singapore river for the first time, some Malay ladies were swimming-bathing in the river.
They left their clothes on the tree at the river bank.
A half-blind Punjabi Singh was cycling by the side of the river.
He saw some sarungs hung on the tree.
He looked around and saw no one nearby.
So he took everything including the sarungs.

The Malay ladies saw the man from a distance removing their clothes.
They started shouting at the top of their vocies: "SINGH KAPOH.... singh kapoh, singh kapoh...."

Stamford Raffles heard the roar of the beautiful giggly ladies, got enchanted, and so - based on his British ears - decided to name the place, SINGAPORE.

(And you can safely assume that's where ang mors got the term 'sarung party girls' from also).

PKR shaken up - Here today, there tomorrow

This is the state of the trio of parties that harbours hopes to take over the government by 2013.

- One is a Chinese-based party that Malays fret about. It wants to sell beers wherever it could, never mind if this discomfited many Muslims.

- Another is an Islamic party that the 40 per cent non-Muslims worry about. It wants to stop beer sales and given a chance would push its narrow interpretation of Islam down people's throats. Then again, another group within this party doesn't really care about these issues and is willing to give up some of its Islamic rights in order to come to power. Or so it seems.

- The third party, it seems, is the worst of the lot. It has a great talking-head loved by the foreign media. Someone who is seen by many in the 40 per cent group of saving the country from Umno (not a bad proposal).
But his party was cobbled from liberal Malays, liberal Chinese and Indians, hard-headed NGO types and disgruntled Umno-ians.
So now one has jumped over the cuckoo's nest, in Kedah. He joined the duo in Perak who jumped last March.
And one from the Chinese party who jumped at the same time.

And there are rumours of more defections - three to five - in coming days.
There are suspicions of money having changed hands.

How to run a country like that?

New York Times on Malaysia 'the lucky country'

Good commentary from NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/21/opinion/21iht-edbowring.html?_r=2

I guess Bowring, a long-time Asian hand, meant 'the blessed country', rather than just 'lucky country'.
(That's why I made it my adopted country, ler).


Among his views:
- ...the opposition reflects extremes of the racial and religious spectrum while the governing coalition, with all of its problems, still holds much of the middle ground.

- Najib is taking a liberal stance on economic issues and willing to reduce some privileges for Malays, but he shares former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s authoritarian instincts.

- The (BN) coalition, however corrupted, is still seen by many as representing moderation and stability. UMNO may have pandered to Islamist demands, but few would accuse its leaders of piety or puritanism.

- Widespread public perceptions of rot within the system do not easily translate into confidence that the opposition provides a viable alternative. Anwar is widely admired for his eloquence but has been unable to shake off the perception that he is an opportunist telling different groups what they want to hear.

Selangor - Umno-BN mungkin dikuburkan lagi

Jika betullah Khir Toyo atau pemimpin Umno lain nak jatuhkan kerajaan Pakatan Selangor, saya tak faham apa baiknya.
Tidak seperti di Perak di mana Pakatan sedang rilek, mereka kini dah sedar kemungkinan diserang.
Jadi, jika Khir dan BN nak menyerang, mereka akan terus lari ke Sultan untuk membubarkan DUN.
Lepas tu pilihanraya satu Selangor.

Jika ini berlaku, Umno dan BN akan dihentak lebih teruk dari keputusan pilihanraya umum Mac tahun lalu. Kedudukan kerusi di DUN Selangor kini ialah 36 Pakatan, 20 BN.

Di Perak, selepas lima bulan diambilalih (dirampas, kata Nuwar Brahim), Umno-BN masih belum berani adakan pilihanraya satu negeri sebab pasti kalah teruk macam Brazil lawan Singapore.

Kenapakah saya rasa Umno-BN terus ditolak?
Orang Cina dan India terus muak dengan BN, semua rakyat Selangor masih marah dengan Khir mengenai kes rumahnya yang tidak diperjelas dengan betul, dan luxury trips beliau ke Disneyland yang kononnya menghabiskan duit rakyat.
Dan mereka dapat lihat, katanya, dah kurang rasuah di Selangor dengan Pakatan.

Orang Melayu di Selangor? Saya tak rasa mereka masih sayang dengan Umno.
Tak sampai 50 peratus pun sokongan Melayu di negeri yang paling maju antara 13 negeri di Malaysia Darul DiaSapuSemuaKitaTerusMiskin.
Kenapa? Tak percaya? Jika ke Jalan Ampang, jangan saja ke hotel ternama.
Lawati rumah-rumah orang miskin dan flat kos rendah yang bertebaran di Keramat/AU1 hingga A5, dan di hujung Jalan Ampang.

Pun begitu, bagus juga jika Pakatan cuba digegarkan di Selangor.
Sebab saya nak lihat BN dihancurkan di Selangor.
Maaf jika kasar bahasa, Abang dan Datin.

Sebab jika puak ni dah disedarkan sekali lagi bahawa mereka ni terus dibenci rakyat, maka mungkin mereka akan bekerja keras untuk menarik balik hati pengundi agar tidak bungkus dalam pilihanraya 2013.

Belum terlambat Umno dan BN sedar diri, reform parti dan *kurangkan berpolitik sesama sendiri jika mereka mahu terus berkuasa.
(*Saya dah dengar desas-desus mengerikan dalam Umno yang boleh membawa perpecahan besar, tetapi belum berani nak tulis. Eeee dah saat genting pun masih nak berpolitik).

GAMBAR: Rumah impian saya. Untuk Khir, satu realiti.

Picture of Sultan Kelantan in ward

I said here that his majesty's picture in the royal ward was being arranged.
Well, here it is.
You are seeing a picture for the first time here since Sultan Ismail Petra was warded in Mount Elizabeth hospital in May 24. The picture is published in my paper today.

No Malaysian newspaper or internet media has this. Yet.
It was given to me and my paper in Singapore yesterday.
Courtesy of Raja Perempuan Kelantan.

Let us pray that the ruler will recover further.
Daulat Tuanku! Hidup Melayu!
[ Wah, marah LKY :-) Mampos aku kena tinggal Pulau Bukom nanti]

Hsu Dar Ren cheated by cab in Singapore!

Apa punya negeri ini?!?
Dr Hsu is a respected name in Gerakan.
His biggest mistake (apart from being cheated twice) was not getting the cab number.

In Singapore, once he reported the incident in - just an email to the cab company will do - the driver would be in real hot soup.
Even sacked if he cannot explain himself properly on the longer route.
In Temasek Darul Dollar, even if a cab driver claimed S$1 above your regular price, you can ask him why, and email his company if you're not satisfied.

http://hsudarren.wordpress.com/2009/08/20/a-singapore-experience/

My guess is Dr Hsu must have stayed in a posh 5-star hotel so the driver assumed he was a complete stranger to the tiny dot and wanted to give him some sight-seeing tour.

Congress, Kuomintang, Golkar, LDP, Umno....?

Kerap juga kita diberitahu, selepas 50 tahun berkuasa, parti politik selalunya kian muak dipandang rakyat.
Yang jatuh merudum itu ialah parti merdeka di negara masing-masing dan pastinya parti yang mempunyai sejarah yang terikat kuat dengan negeri masing-masing.
Bukan itu saja. Kebanyakannya parti itu ialah yang namanya sinonim dengan nama kerajaan negara.

- Dunia telah melihat bagaimana parti Congress India jatuh daripada kuasa. Yang paling teruk dalam 1996, lalu diganti dengan parti agama, BJP (parti Hindu).

- Parti Kuomintang di Taiwan lemah sekitar tahun 1994.

- Golkar, Golongan Karya atau Professionals Group, menjadi lemah dengan jatuhnya Presiden Suharto dalam 1998. Kini naik parti nasionalis Demokrat pimpinan Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

- Dan kini, parti yang namanya sinonim dengan Jepun, LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) nampaknya di ambang kekalahan teruk.
LDP - parti yang jarang sangat kalah sejak ditubuhkan dalam 1955,- tidak lama setelah Perang Dunia II berakhir dan negeri itu kalah - nampaknya akan tenggelam dalam pilihanraya umum Jepun pada Ogos 30.
Ini berita yang saya sedang perhatikan dengan rapi di pejabat.

Lawannya ialah DPJ atau Democratic Party of Japan.
Ceritanya samalah seperti cerita lain. Orang dah muak.
Slogan DPJ pun biasa kita dengar di negara Malaysia yang tercinta:
'Japan will change'.
'People's lives first'.

Jepun dulu ialah ekonomi terbesar di dunia selepas Amerika Syarikat.
Dan produk ciptaannya sangat disegani - dari kereta (Toyota dan Honda), kepada barangan elektronik (Sony dan Toshiba, Sharp dan NEC), kepada kartun (Doraemon dan Pokemon), komik manga dan cara berdisiplin ia menjalankan business. Makanannya pun jadi cuisine terkmuka di dunia - sushi dan sashimi (ikan mentah letak atas nasi, dan ikan mentah gitu saja!)
Tetapi sekarang ekonomi negara China dan India yang lebih disegani.

- Di Malaysia, Umno pun nampaknya di zaman gerhana.
Model pemerintahan cara Barisan Nasional dah tak relevan lagi - ini yang kata Ku Li, bukan saya.
Tetapi mungkin ada harapan jika Umno-BN - musuh sekarang panggil mereka UBN - boleh belajar bagaimana Congress boleh kembali berkuasa dengan megah di India.



CERITA RAHUL GANDHI JADI CONTOH
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Jauh sebelum pilihanraya umum India pada Mei lepas, cucu Indira Gandhi dan anak Rajiv Gandhi (kedua-duanya perdana menteri) mula mendekatai rakyat kampung.
Nama mat ini ialah Rahul Gandhi, 39 tahun.
Beliau kerap berdamping dengan orang biasa dengan bermalam di tempat mereka - tetapi tanpa memanggil media.
Yang boleh berada di situ ialah para bodyguard Rahul.

Orang politik yang panggil media apabila hulur bantuan kecil kepada orang kampung dilihat nak pancing undi, bukan nak pancing hati.
Yang menghantar para doktor periksa orang kampung bila ada pilihanraya kecil itu bodoh namanya, sebab dia ingat rakyat bodoh.
Yang menggali longkang apabila pilihanraya kecil itu bahlul namanya, sebab dia ingat rakyat bahlul.

Untuk Rahul (ibunya ialah Sonia Gandhi, wanita bangsa Itali), walaupun ada media nak tulis, mereka akan di'halau' segera agar beliau dapat berdamping dan makan-minum dengan kaum miskin dan rendah.
Kalau saya kata beliau duduk bersama kaum Dalit, kita tak rasa apa-apa. Tetapi di India, mereka ini adalah dari kasta yang sangat rendah. Dulunya dipanggil 'untouchables'.
Beliau sanggup 'mencemar duli' duduk dengan mereka dan makan lauk mereka!

Setelah kemenangan besar Congress pada Mei, beliau kini kerap disebut sebagai bakal perdana menteri, untuk meneruskan sejarah keturunan Nehru-Gandhi.
Apatah lagi Perdana Menteri India kini, Manmohan Singh, sudah lanjut usia.

Sanggup ke para pemimpin Umno buat sedemikian?
Dulu pernah begini, kan!?!?
Yang saya lihat memang ramai yang makan dengan orang kampung.
Tetapi mereka datang naik heli, duduk atas stage di kerusi empok, dan makan ditempat VIP yang ada pasang aircon khas!
Kalau makan bersama rakyat pun, makanan dimasak oleh special caterers.

Saya kenal rapat seorang Puan Sri, orang Umno kuat. Pemimpin Umno semua kenal beliau.
Dia memberitahu, pemimpin wanita hari ini bila ke kampung nak berkempen - mereka naik kereta mewah, pakai gelang emas dan baju 'Datin'.
Lepas tu tak mahu duduk di lantai bersama orang miskin.
Sebab tu, bila Puan Sri ini berkempen, dia dengan groupnya sendiri, kalau boleh jangan ada orang dari kumpulan glamour ini ikut dan menakutkan pengundi.
Mereka datang nak mendengar masalah rakyat dan suara orang kampung.


PAS DULU DAN SEKARANG
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Sebenarnya masa ini adalah masa yang baik untuk Umno menang semula hati rakyat.
Sebab orang PAS ni dah naik lemak. Dan mula kejar glamour.
Biar orang PAS marah saya, tetapi ini orang media seperti saya melihat sendiri:
Dulu orang PAS yang saya kenal, bila muktamar atau pilihanraya kecil, baik pemimpin mahupun member biasa, ramai yang tidur di rumah ahli di kawasan itu.
Makan dan solar dengan mereka.

Tetapi selepas itu, kira-kira 5-7 tahun dulu saja, jika di muktamar di Kelantan, pemimpin dah mula tidur di Hotel Perdana di Kota Baru beramai-ramai.
Member biasa ada yang tumpang di rumah kawan, tetapi ramai yang masuk hotel murah.

Dan kini, kalau muktamar di KB, oiiii, semuanya duduk di Hotel Renaissance!!! Hotel Perdana yang lama dah tak laku dah, walaupun hotel milik kerajaan Kelantan.
(Tahun lalu muktamar di Ipoh, pemimpan PAS di Impiana Casuarina.
Baik yang di atas mahu yang di tengah. Yang tak mampu saja yang tinggal di hotel murah.
Mereka pun kalau makan waktu muktamar, kini ada tempat VIP!

Jadi, Umno tunggu apa lagi?
Ikutlah cara Rahul, sebab nampaknya musuh dah syiok mandi air bunga dan lupa daratan.
Atau nak tunggu sampai dah telungkup ke???

15Malaysia.com - Watch it & appreciate diversity

Click here:
www.15malaysia.com

Nik Aziz Nik Mat, Namewee the rude rapper, KJ as a taxi driver - they are all here.

Anak Suharto nak jadi boss Golkar

Ini satu kejutan di Indonesia.
Anak bekas presiden dan diktator Indonesia, Tommy Suharto, membuat pengumuman hendak menjadi pengerusi Golkar, bekas parti bapanya.
Golkar - Golongan Karya (Professionals Group) - dulunya parti terbesar di negara itu dan disegani, seperti Umno di negara jiran.


Setelah pilihanraya umum Indonesia untuk memilih ahli Parlimen pada April, dan pilihanraya presiden bulan lalu, parti Golkar nampaknya sudah lemah.
Pengerusi Golkar sekarang, Jusuf Kalla - bekas Wapres (Wakil Presiden, atau jika di Malaysia di panggil Timbalan Presiden) - dijangka disingkir pada perhimpunan nasional parti itu bulan depan.

Siapa yang sepatutnya mengganti beliau belum jelas, jadi Tommy (nama sebenar Hutomo Mandala Putra) nak mencuba nasib.
Masalahnya, anak Suharto yang bongsu ini ada sejarah hitam dan kelabu, termasuk masuk penjara kerana membayar orang membunuh seorang hakim.
Baca ceritanya di The Jakarta Globe di sini dan di sini.
(GAMBAR JakGlobe).

Bapak Aburizal Bakrie dan Bapak Surya Paloh, udah tentu enggak duduk diam.

My reply to Anonymous - On Hindu temple issue

A hardworking Anonymous poster was placed under my posting 'Singapore PM frets over race and religion'.
You have to read this or else you won't understand what the issue is about - At least read the very last bits.

The poster gave a very good argument on the issue of the demolition of Hindu temples in Malaysia, an issue that often raise anger and racial insults and claims that Islam wants to kill Malaysian Hindus.

This is what Anonymous wrote:

ANONYMOUS
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Only one problem.

Hindu Temples are known to be built on places no mosques or even churches would dare venture into, like govt & private (of other ppl) owned lands, road & canal reserves, under big trees, forest reserve etc. Places which are unlawful for any kind of construction/structures unless special permission is given beforehand.

Unfortunately in most if not all cases, they are built without any permission i.e. illegally. Even in some cases, they present danger to road users, even upsetting landowners and neighbouring residents.

So, how can the govt replace them with new ones when they are already 'illegal' to start with ? Not to mention, there are countless of them. Each for different deity. Millions of deities.

Imagine that happening in Singapore ! What will Singapore govt do ? How will they react ?

For a small red dot, I doubt that they will rebuild one on the seafloor !

p/s :
I like the One Wedding & A Funeral article.

Now, tell me, who really needs to " give and take " in this matter concerning the temples and the likes. One friend lamented to me, upon hearing about Kg.Buah Pala. He said, " Kalau org Melayu duk situ, dah lama kena bulldozed ".

Indeed, the Malays are always known to give, but sadly, they never received ...

18 August 2009 08:49

REME's REPLY
--------------------------------------------------------
(Apols if I sound like I must have the last word, just because it is my blog. You can reply to this of course!)
(I had written this under your comments, but Blogspot.com said the reply was too long - so pardon the small letters with no capital letters at the start of sentences).


Anon,
You posted the comments at 8:49. Awalnya dah bangun main komputer!
Terima kaseyyyy.

Living in Malaysia full time for 12 years and part-time in the last 2 years (since I got posted back to Tumasick), we all know about this kind of stories well enough - I have seen these small shrines in my area too.
First there was an empty piece of land - usually govt land.
Then a group of Hindus decided to build a small prayer altar there.
The altar grew into a shrine.
Years later it has grown into a temple.
When the govt wants the land back, susah.

1) I thought there are district offices everywhere, so what happened to the enforcement side?
In rules-based Singapore, squatters would have to move out FAST, or else they will be forced by the court to pay RENT for occupying govt land (incl in kampung buah pala).

2) the indian leaders themselves should stop this. petition the govt to get land legally BEFORE hindus in the area start doing this, samy vellu. the problem is, he was so busy with other matters.
once the govt has given-sold you land to build a large temple, ensure that the hindus in the area do not build illegal shrines.

3) it always boggles my mind, when i put on my Tumasick hat, why groups of people who sat on land illegally for FREE for years and years, instead of being asked to pay rent to the landlord, can instead make demands! instead of leaving fast when the landowner wants it back, can ask for bungalows and threaten police!

the court system is weak? or is it because the laws are weak? (plus ofcoz there are groups like Hindraf, Jerit and the opposition muddying the waters).


another issue is: Hindraf, the opposition and the likes of blogs/Malaysiakini (I have friends working there in Kini and i am glad that it had introduced new ways of looking at things,but I am unhappy with this bit of their coverage) always report the issue in this manner: 'Malay-Umno govt wants to tear down another Hindu temple. Injustice! Racist! Islam wants to kill Minorities!'
(some bloody wire agencies have also started to follow).

they never discuss much its illegality, nor do they even bother to mention at least as one last word or paragraph that in developments, many suraus and mosques got torn down too!

in kampung buah pala why make noise about indian rights being trampled, when in a radius of about 2-5km from my house in Wangsa Maju, there were many Malay villages and their suraus torn down (using rough tactics too) when the new Duta-Ulu Kelang Highway (DUKE) was being built.

still, once the shrines and temples are there, then the govt in taking back the land - please use softer tactics.
it does not help that you have a bunch of malay boys in uniform of local authorities started to (allegedly) break the images of the gods. let these be removed by the temple officials. if they refuse let MIC types cart these to a nearby temple after a reasonable period of discussions and time.

but whether the govt likes it or not, since it was its fault for being lax in enforcement, a better way would be to have built a temple/shrine elsewhere to replace the one/s to be taken down.
or else, perhaps ask the developer (or the govt itself) to make a sum of donation to the nearest temple to cool heads.

(notice that CHINESE temples do not have this issue - errrr or do they? - because i think most of their prayer houses are built legally on land donated by people).

ofcoz, there is another issue: the role of hindraf, the opposition and blogs/malaysakini types who like to report things from one side of the coin only.

Tok Sri Naj had better appoint a respected mediator NOW - if he hasn't - so that when the next 'temple demolition' issue is about to arise (dont lah wait for Kini and Insider to report before appointing a mediator) to talk to all parties (hindraf and oppo) and work out a mechanism on resolving this issue.

i don't know. ultimately as a stranger in paradise with no voting rights (and who better not talk too much) - it is not up to me, but up to the dwellers within to try and resolve issues. from the media to NGOs to the opposition and govt.
the problem in malaysia is everything becomes a political football and a good media story - incl the very sad deaths of teo beng hock and kugan.
some matters stopped being problems that everyone wants to resolve for the sake of the country, but just golden opportunities that can be exploited to show the other side's weakness.

(Ah kan! aku pun dah cerita panjang-panjang!)

Singapore PM frets over race and religion

My biggest worry about Muslims in Singapore is this.
There are just about 450,000 of us - around 15 per cent of the population.
We are mostly weak financially, and definitely weak politically
(unlike Malays in Malaysia who are strong politically, and quite strong financially. There is a large section of confident Malay middle class in the Klang Valley).

Most Malays in Singapore are just trying to get by, working hard like all other Temasekians to bring food to the family table. Nay, we work harder because we are poorer. I know this from my own relatives, several of whom have two jobs and many kids (And there are many Chinese and Indians who are poor and take on two jobs also).

But there is no complaint of discrimination (despite what Malaysian Malays think) because if you work hard enough and get the right breaks, you can rise higher than most other Singaporeans.
I cannot say Zero complaint (that would be lying), but the system is fair.
There is no systemic Bumiputera, Pribumi or affirmative-action policy like in Malaysia, South Africa, Indonesia, India (the lower castes have quotas for jobs and university places) and especially Israel (if you're not a Jew, errrr....).


But here is the bad news: there are Muslim murderers and madmen out there who, for their own purposes, want these poor struggling sods called anak Melayu Singapura to start maiming and killing innocent people.
We have Mas Selamat Kastari, a Singaporean (born in Indonesia). And many others. All Singaporeans. There must be at least 20 Singaporean Malay Muslims of this crazy bent who have been caught.

So what if, one day, one of these struggling Singaporeans got converted to this ideology and bomb, say, Orchard Road, or some bank?
And dozens of Chinese Singaporeans are killed?

The implications would be horrendous for race relations in Singapore. And for Islam and its symbols - the dozens of mosques and the four local madrassahs.
Except for areas in the east coast (Geylang, Bedok and its surrounds) where Malays perhaps number 40 per cent of the residents, the rest of us could one day wake up with angry Chinese with parangs and knives out to kill any Malay for revenge. Who can blame them?



STARK REALITY
--------------------------------------------------------

This is the stark reality that apparently frightens the Singapore government, too.
It may not put those worrying thoughts in such stark terms. Maybe it doesn't want to frighten people, or maybe I read the government wrongly.

But I sense that worrying drift because since 911 and the capture of a bunch of murderers called Jemaah Islamiah in Singapore, the government has repeated and repeated the same message to all Temasekians:
Do not take religious tolerance in this island for granted.

You just need a small spark to burn the work of one generation.
It happened during the Maria Hertogh riots of the 1960s, it happened again in May 13, 1969 (Singapore had race riots too, catching on from Malaysia. I was a 10-year old child but remembered vaguely how my dad and uncles suddenly sharpened knives and lembings in our Malay kampung and herded us into one house and guarded the place all night, for a few nights).
It also happened in Kampung Medan in PJ in March 2001.
One spark and the whole race-religion issue stopped becoming a debate, and you start counting charred bodies.

And so, in his annual *National Day Rally last Sunday evening, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke out frankly against the rising tide of religion (and race) in Singapore - not just about Islam but also about the rise of fundamentalist Christians in Temasek.
(*Singapore's National Day was on August 9; every year the Prime Minister of the day will deliver his state of the nation address, called the National Day Rally, live on all media channels. This year there were podcasts, twitter and what have you).

For minorities like me, his speech affirmed what we wanted: That the government will stay fair, and will play fair in disputes involving Bangsa dan Agama.

Read these two great examples that we all can learn from:
- One wedding and a funeral.
- From Gujarat to Temasek.



BUILD BEFORE YOU DESTROY
-------------------------------------------------------
I have said this before to both BN and Pakatan people whenever the subject of destruction of Hindu temples in Malaysia cropped up:
Do you know why you never heard Singaporean Muslims complain about our mosques and suraus being torn down by the PAP government?
This is because it always built a replacement mosque first.
Simple.

Before you tear down a mosque or surau due to development, build another to replace it first.
Sometimes a few suraus and mosques in one area needed to be taken down due to development.
The replacement mosque (if one only is to be built) is always larger in capacity than the combined ones that are to be torn down.
(Of course, there will always be complaints about the new building being further from our houses etc. People want amenities right at their doorsteps all the time).

Apply the same principle in Malaysia, and I think you will have less Hindu angst.

With respect, Minister Ong - please pay up

NEWEST 8.00pm
--------------------------------------------------

And now, Lim Kit Siang asks: How come Deputy PM Muhyiddin Yassin was taking a military heli when he was attending an Umno function?
Work it ouy, politicians. The days of free rides and then pretending it's not happening is quite over. I think the voters expect more accountability.

And I guess we can also ask Kit whether he agrees that it is wrong for the Selangor government to say that the graft busters MACC can only have limited time to question Pakatan leaders.
As I said, the voters want more accountability.
You can't point fingers at the other side and then expect favours when your side is being investigated, surely.


NEW 12.40pm
--------------------------------------------------

Just as I mengumpat his boss, an aide of Ong Tee Keat put up a story about his work.
Read his story here in NST. His blog is here, now added to my Blogroll.

The aide, Chow Kum Hor, used to work for NST and then The Straits Times Singapore, before joining OTK.
Come back to journalism lah KH, ada offstone time, can rilek one kornar.
Waste time working for all these politicians....


EARLIER POSTING
--------------------------------------------------

I covered the March 2004 general elections by being based in Alor Setar for two weeks (staying at Holiday Villa).
I was covering both Kedah and Perlis, which PAS has claimed would be the next to fall after Kelantan and Terengganu (It didn't happen of course because stupid PAS miscalculated badly).

At that time, I read, saw and heard that then-new PM Abdullah Badawi and some of his Cabinet ministers were flying around using the government's jet and helicopters to campaign all over the place, including in Kedah.
That was the only way to go if you wanted to be at many places fast.
There was even a picture published in one of the papers of then-MCA president Ong Ka Ting who had just landed to campaign somewhere (in Johor?). Behind him was a big helicopter with the words 'Bomba' that he had utilised!

BUT, this surely is wrong! This is because once Parliament is disbanded, all official posts are no more. The positions are suspended and you become a caretaker government.
This means that you are no more Cabinet ministers who can use (or abuse) the government machinery like this!

The same happened in the March 2008 elections.
I was based in Kota Baru for two weeks (at Renaissance hotel).
Ministers were flying around freely using jets and helis. Businessmen had to accede requests for use of their jets because they form part of the circle who benefited from government largesse.


Additionally, something interesting happened in the Permatang Pauh by-election in August last year. Anwar Ibrahim was taking over the constituency from his wife but Umno was hoping it could stop him.
On the day of the results, some reporters told their friends that they saw then-PM Abdullah Badawi at the not so far away air force base in Butterworth. This was late afternoon.
Apparently he had been told by some in his party that Umno could WIN, so he was flown in that special big-jet, Malaysia's Air Force 1, to Butterworth to await the confirmation.

If Umno-BN won, he would arrive in Permatang Pauh and look like a big hero for being able to kill Anwar and stop Pakatan (just five months earlier Pakatan had won five states and many seats in the March general elections).
Apart from being R E A L L Y out of touch, should then-Datuk Seri Abdullah, as re-confirmed PM no less, be using the jet that taxpayers pay for, like this?
Was this official government business? Or Umno-BN business?


(If you think, this is a personal attack on PM Abdullah, no lah. I mean, I am sure Dr Mahathir and his Cabinet also did the same! And PM Najib Razak? Let's see whether he is now more careful with this use of the jet that is paid by taxpayers).


Which brings me to Ong Tee Keat.

Many people salute him for being upfront on Port Klang Free Zone.
But now there is that RM10 million to contend with - I don't think he personally took it for his own benefit. If the money was given at all.
But then there is that touchy issue him using a private jet to fly around, and then pretended that he is waiting for the bill to arrive to pay.
A hell of a lot of money is being claimed (by my poor journalistic standard lah).
The USD40,000 claimed bill translates to about RM130,000 - which is way above what most journalists and most Malaysians earn in ONE YEAR.
'Anak pistol' (Son of a gun) - as A.R.Tompel said in one P.Ramlee movie.

Bayarlah, and move on.
The days of free rides from corporate sector is quite over.
(Yang bodoh ialah orang BN sendiri yang serang beliau).
So now, he is saying he WILL pay up. Great.

The worrying thing about this episode is this: Had the issue not been exposed, would OTK have paid up???



Et tu, KHALID?
(xxxxxxx added because the wrong Khalid was mentioned - see comments under this posting. Tx much to gaban!)
-------------------------------------------------------
(I put this story at the bottom because it is not quite clear what had happened).

There is a report that says xxxxxxx, xxxxxxx, owed money to a travel agency.
I am not clear of the details.
But Nanyang Siang Pau frontpage today/Sunday has a travel agency asking him to pay RM40,000 owed in air fares.

Nak tunggu bill juga ke?
Please explain yourself.
And those who can read Chinese, please help! Website is here.

Masjid berbentuk pagoda di Kelantan

Heboh satu Malaysia tak lama dulu apabila Mufti Perak membangkang rancangan nak bina sebuah masjid untuk kaum Cina Islam di Perak.

Kalau orang Melayu boleh berkumpul di masjid di Keramat, dan orang India di masjid Jalan Masjid India, kenapa pula orang Cina tak boleh berkumpul nak bincang isu komunitinya?

Di Temasek Darul NoAgama, ramai orang Cina Muslim yang hendak merapatkan diri dengan kaumnya sendiri berbuat demikian di Muslim Converts Association of Singapore atau nama lainnya, Darul Arqam.
Mereka yang di sana kita panggil nama manja OCBC (yang juga nama sebuah bank besar di Singapore) - Orang Cina Bukan Cina. Mereka Cina tetapi sebab Islam, banyak isu lain yang perlu diambil kira.
(Kira-kira 20 tahun lalu, saya aktif di sana, tetapi dah lama tak melawat - di majlis Darul Arqam tinggal dua orang yang saya kenal - bekas presiden Ridzuan Wu dan Ariff Sultan. Baguslah mereka masih aktif).
Susah abang dan Datin, kalau jadi Muslim convert di Singapura di mana orang semua boleh makan dan minum di semua tempat, yang Muslim kena cari tempat yang ada perkataan Halal.
Kena bincang bagaimana jika keluarga menolak mereka yang baru masuk Islam - tak kisah sama ada kerana kawin perempuan Melayu atau kerana yakin dengan Islam.

Jadi saya tak faham kenapa orang Malaysia (pastinya tak semua) melarang orang Cina berkumpul untuk bincang isu 'Islam dan bangsaku'.

Orang Melayu masuk Islam kira-kira 400 tahun lalu apabila peniaga Arab tiba di Nusantara.
Orang Cina masuk Islam kira-kira *1,000 tahun dulu lagi, melalui Silk Route.
(*Bukan 2,000 tahun dulu. Maaf)

Apapun, kini dah ada pun masjid 'berbentuk Cina' di Malaysia.
Ia bersebelahan tempat yang saya suka shopping - di Rantau Panjang di Kelantan.
GAMBARnya sempat saya ambil bulan Mei dulu.
Gambar di bahagian dalam ada di blog ini.

Ceritanya di sini. Harganya RM8.8 juta.

Tuanku Sultan Kelantan semakin pulih

Menteri Besar Kelantan Nik Aziz Nik Mat berada disisi Sultan Kelantan, Sultan Ismail Petra, petang Sabtu tadi.
Inilah kali pertama Tok Guru berkunjung ke Singapore untuk melihat keadaan Tuanku sejak sultan mula dirawat di Hospital Mount Elizabeth (off Orchard Road) pada 24 Mei.

Sebelum masuk ke wad di raja, Tok Guru dan exco Kelantan Husam Musa mengadap Raja Perempuan Tengku Anis lebih kurang setengah jam.
Saya sempat merakamkan GAMBAR.

Tuanku, kata Husam dan para pegawai yang berada di sana, semakin pulih.
Beliau kini boleh mengadakan perbualan dengan pengunjung, tertawa dan daya ingatannya pun dah pulih.
"Keadaannya adalah sangat lebih baik berbanding dua bulan dulu," kata Husam.
Tengku Temenggong Muhammad Fakhry pun ada di sana tadi.

Tak ada kesempatan saya memetik gambar Tuanku dalam wad.
Lain kali agaknya. Sedang cuba diatur.

Dunia di ambang kekurangan gula, ikan salmon

Hanya setahun yang lalu, rakyat sedunia marah sebab harga beras dan minyak melonjak giler.
Ini diikuti dengan harga barangan lain.
Kini ada dua masalah baru mengenai makanan.


1) Sweets for my sweet, Sugar for my honey

Minggu depan dah Puasa, dan kemudian Hari Raya.
Naiklah keperluan gula - untuk buat kuih.
Dan banyak gula digunakan oleh sang Muslim bila berbuka sebab dia nak minum air yang manis-manis belaka. Dan kuih pun letak gula banyak-banyak biar sampai kena kencing manis.
Masak rendang ke, sambal goreng pun orang lempar gula.
Bukan saja di Tenggara Asia, tetapi diseluruh dunia yang ada orang Is-le (ni orang Klate kata) semua nak makan manis!

Maknanya kurang lebih 1.5 billion manusia Muslim (jumlah penduduk dunia 6.7 bilion) akan beli lebih banyak gula dalam 5-6 minggu ini. Yang tak puasa pun jika tinggal di mana ramai Muslim boleh kongsi beli juadah puasa dan kuih Raya. Dan berbuka dengan yang berpuasa, tak ada salahnya.

Tetapi tuan-puan, berita kurang baik.
Kerana kurang hujan di India, dan terlalu banyak hujan di Brazil, ladang pokok tebu banyak yang rosak atau tak menjadi.
Brazil ialah negara penanam tebu terbesar seantero dunia.
India ialah pengeksport gula terbesar.
Dan kini laporan-laporan berkata, dunia di ambang kekurangan gula.
Sebelum semua panik lari ke Carrefour dan Jusco, baca dulu ler.

Kekurangan gula ini dikhuatiri akan merebak ke hampir semua barangan lain.
Jika anda ke supermarket dan lihat bahan buatan biskut, susu, roti canai frozen, Pepsi dan sebagainya, semua pakai gula, gula dan gula.
Yang kita harapkan ialah kerajaan Malaysia baik Singapura dapat kawal harga di dalam negeri masing-masing.


2) If you teach a Man how to fish...

Dan jika seperti ramai orang, anda gemar makan ikan yang mempunyai daging tercantik di dunia, salmon, ada juga berita buruk.
Saya kata dagingnya cantik ialah kerana mana ada ikan lain yang dagingnya berwarna merah jambu-oren dengan berjalur putih. Jalur gemilang.
Tengok saja dah steam.
Potong tipis-tipis, perah lemon sikit dan makan dengan sambal 'wasabe' Jepun. Syiok.

Ikan salmon ini ada yang dipelihara, tetapi banyak yang ditangkap liar. Dia hidup di negeri sejuk mat salleh (Kat Malaysia, Singapore pelihara tilapia cukuplah! Singapore wants more farms - read here)
Tahun ini, masalah besar, Datin dan makcik.

Jutaan salmon tidak muncul untuk beranak-pinak di sebuah sungai di Canada. Aiyoh.
Saya baca berita ni pun dah seram sejuk!
Sebab jika jutaan dah mati, maknanya tak ada yang bertelor untuk tahun-tahun depan. Mampoi nak makan salmon sashimi di restoran Jepun dah tak ada lagi!
Lain kali kita makan tilapia sashimi. Yucks.

H1N1 - Tapering off in S'pore, panic in India

My mom is a loyal follower of her ustaz/Muslim cleric at her local mosque in Choa Chu Kang in Temasek Darul NoAgama.
In the early days of the Influenza A (H1N1), it was called Swine Flu.
In Bahasa, that sounded horrible: Demam Babi.
Sensitif, beb.

And then the demam was renamed.
My mom told me her ustaz said,
'Dia ingat dia boleh sembunyi di belakang nama lain.
'Apa itu H1N1? Maknanya Haram No.1, Najis No.1 (ie he was referring to Babi).'
Ouch.

[Actually, if you are Muslim, read here: Islam says we cannot eat the babe. It did NOT say we should HATE it. Because sometimes Muslims like super BENCI/hate this poor animal with the cute flat nose. If we hate pig rearing, it is because of hygiene issues and the horrible smell of its waste -- hate the bloody dirty farmers not the oinkyoinky. Kasihan dia :-) ]
[Of course, after SARS and JE, Muslims are saying 'I told you so' about the meat of the twirly-tailed one. Seems its body is a good incubator of some virus. I said seems because I am no scientist].


Even our fav Information Minister Rais Yatim, wants the H1N1 called Selsema Babi.
That is, if it was up to him, he would call it Selsema Babi. Not H1N1.
When the whole world changed it to H1N1.
Surprising, because surely he knew unlike SARS or JE, this flu's link to the animal that Muslims and Jews don't eat is more remote. There is more avian/burung and human/manusia link as much as swine. See PICTURE.


Anyway, I sense a mild panic rising in Malaysia with this, ahem, Demam Babe.
Because as of Thursday, 44 people have died!

In Singapore, the number of victim is 10.
Of course, Temasek the tiny island is small compared to Malaysia. Still, it is a densely populated place compared to Malaysia. It is I think among the top 10 densest places on earth after places like Hong Kong and maybe Tokyo (and Gaza, said to be THE smallest place with the most people).

And now, good news. The Temasek government thinks the worse is over for the tiny island.

In India though, the a real panic is just starting. Part of my job is to understand events there, and sadly, I sense the panic will get worse.
Only 20 dead so far, but 10 came from Pune city in Maharashtra state (where Mumbai/Bombay is located), so there is real fear of a pandemic.
The government even had to warn TV stations to stop creating panic.


The reason why Temasek's H1N1 is slowly tapering off?

The Straits Times:
The experience of previous pandemics suggests that herd immunity will develop in one to three weeks' time, said National University Hospital's infectious diseases division head Paul Ananth Tambyah.
The rate of infections will slow as more people become exposed to the virus.


If that is correct, Malaysia's herd immunity should kick in soon enough. If I am not mistaken, the virus reached Singapore at about the same time as Malaysia.
But if you are really worried, stay away from malls, cinemas, restaurants.
Makan kat rumah dengan keluarga. How nice!

Rais Yatim, Nik Aziz - Eh? Betul ke ni?

1) A big shock and 'shy' I feel seeing what sakmongkol AK47 posted.
A clip of Info Min Rais Yatim attacking a reporter.
Yes, the reporter asked his question in English, so what is wrong with that? He was from an English newspaper, yet the minister railed against him.

We all know as reporters what it is like to be at the receiving end of a lashing from a minister or some senior official.
We cannot fight back because the minister/official will become even more 'violent'. In the end, the reporter always loses - ie can you imagine a minister/senior official saying 'Oh yeah ah poor reporter, I apologise. You were right'.
Worse, if he loses face, the minister/official will report the incident to our bosses - 'Your reporter showed me no respect'.
And not only that, as Information Minister, Rais could even take away our cari makan press pass.


2) And now, just as shocking, ~penarik beca complained here about what Nik Aziz Nik Mat has said.
He basically said something like 'never mind lah if DAP insulted Islam, they're not Muslims so they don't know nothing much'.
Wow.
Has the hatred for Umno so unforgiveable that he will now allow non-Muslims to "insult Islam" openly and say Tidak Apa? - if that is indeed what DAP is doing lah.


Lemme say it again about these two incidents: Well, I never....

Maybank board revamp after Indonesian problem

From The Straits Times today.
I wonder how come Insider, which freely takes our stories daily, did not see this story.


---------------------------------------------------------

KL raps Maybank board, orders changes

It paid too much for Indonesian banks

By Leslie Lopez, Senior Regional Correspondent

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's central bank has directed a sweeping overhaul in the board of directors of the country's largest banking group Maybank, in an unprecedented government censure on a board of a financial institution.

The little-publicised revamp followed government displeasure at the controversial acquisition of an Indonesian lender by Malayan Banking (Maybank) last year, officials say.

Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII) was bought from a consortium led by Singapore's Temasek Holdings at a price that was deemed too high.

Prime Minister Najib Razak, who directed Bank Negara to review the transaction, has endorsed the central bank's decision calling for a Maybank board revamp, the government officials say. 'The decision was also made that the board revamp will be carried out in stages and directors who are retiring won't be re-elected to the board,' said a senior government official who was involved in top-level discussions on Maybank's Indonesian venture.

Maybank's main shareholders are national equity fund Permodalan Nasional and pension fund Employees Provident Fund.

Bank Negara declined comment for this article, citing its policy of not discussing issues involving individual financial institutions.

Maybank executives, including its chief executive officer Abdul Wahid Omar, also declined repeated requests for comment for this article.

But the bank did announce the retirement of two directors and the appointment of three new members mid-last month. Between end-October last year, when the acquisition of BII was completed, and this March, three directors have resigned.

'This is part of the reforms that the PM is pushing for and it will raise the sense of greater accountability in the boards of government-linked companies,' said a senior adviser to PM Najib who is familiar with the central bank's decision on Maybank.

In March last year, Maybank entered into an agreement to buy a 55 per cent interest in BII from Sorak Financial Holdings, which is majority-owned by Singapore's Temasek Holdings. The Malaysian bank agreed to pay US$1.5 billion (S$2.2 billion) for the stake and then make a tender offer for the remaining 44 per cent for roughly US$1.2 billion.

But the global financial meltdown raised questions over the health of banks in general and reignited criticisms that Maybank was paying too high a price for BII. Maybank's position was further undermined when Indonesia introduced changes to its corporate takeover rules, which called on the Malaysian financial institution to sell down 20 per cent of its holdings in BII within two years of its takeover.

Bankers close to Maybank had argued that the disposal was surely to lead to massive losses.

Faced with the prospect that the deal could adversely hit Maybank and the Malaysian banking system, Bank Negara had revoked its approval for the BII acquisition.

The approval was later reinstated. The deal was finalised after the Temasek-led consortium lowered the purchase price for the transaction by US$220.5 million for the 55 per cent interest in BII.

In Bank Negara's review, which was completed in April this year, it concluded that Maybank's purchase price for BII was too expensive. The central bank also concluded that the Malaysian financial institution did not put in place adequate measures to protect itself in the event that the deal encountered problems, the government officials said.