As BN Falls The Rakyat Rises!

Storming of the Bastille, 14 July 1789

Yesterday I received notifications from Blogger that two of my blogs had been locked. I had to laugh, because my first thought was that a BN cybertrooper or some inarticulate injured party had flagged my blogs in fury. "Great!" I said to myself. "My kick in the groin must have connected!" However, the explanation could also be that Blogger's robot patrols mistakenly identified my blogs as spamsites. How ironic! Nobody detests spam as much as I do, and here's some stupid, soulless cyberbot accusing me of spamming.

I know how Anwar must feel, constantly being accused of sodomy and corruption by those who themselves may be the biggest, baddest and most corrupt pederasts on earth.

Anyway, even as Barisan Nasional begins to sink out of sight below the horizon of basic decency, the Malaysian people are swiftly rising to the occasion and boldly speaking their thoughts and feelings - thanks to web portals like Malaysiakini and Malaysia Today - not to mention the thousands of blogs sprouting up every week, run by rank amateurs as well as seasoned veterans.

Because my blogs were locked, I decided to spend some time reading other people's contributions to Malaysiakini and was rewarded by several excellent pieces that resonated so robustly, I simply had to promote them on my blog. So I've cloned one of the essays and provided a few links to the others. The well-crafted essay below (credited only to "Kein") comes pretty close to expressing my own dream and nightmare scenarios whenever I consider the political crossroads Malaysia has reached today...

BETWEEN A DREAM AND A NIGHTMARE...
Kein | Aug 1, 08 4:19pm

Last night I had a dream. I dreamt that it was 2010 and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had handed power over to his deputy Najib, putting an end to his pointless and rudderless rule. Malaysia was now in firmer hands and the country had passed a defining fork in the river of time.

As I dreamt on, time seemed to be compressed into fast changing glimpses of unfolding events. The nascent opposition had failed to take over the federal government in 2008. Anwar Ibrahim was languishing in prison, convicted of sodomy in a scandalous show trial without an iota of credible evidence. The government shrugged off the torrent of international condemnation as ‘meddling in internal affairs’ and carried on business as usual.

Najib stamped his mark on Malaysia as an authoritarian in the mould of Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Democratic space which allowed the opposition to flourish under Abdullah’s rule was severely curtailed. Political blogs were outlawed and control over the mainstream pres tightened. The ISA was liberally used to quell dissent.

Social reforms proposed for the judiciary, the ACA, the police and the AG’s chambers during Abdullah’s time were stalemated and never saw the light of day. The rule of law had broken down with the acquittal of all accused in the murder of a Mongolian lady.

The economy went into free fall under the onslaught of massive corruption and the implementation of unproductive mega-projects which did not benefit the rakyat but were vehicles for enrichment of a small group of elite. Foreign investment dried up, the ringgit depreciated drastically, the gap between rich and poor widened and people’s lives became harder.

When the time came for the 13th general elections, the ruling party pulled out all the stops to win. Free and fair elections were impossible with the total control of the mass media by the ruling party and the use of threats, intimidation, vote-buying, repression of the opposition and massive cheating. The ruling party won with a handsome majority in parliament..

Meanwhile, the shrinking economic pie led to a resurgence of Malay nationalism instigated and nurtured by Umno leaders. Chinese, Indians and other non-Malays faced a slew of racially-based polices which imposed new limits on their education, employment and economic opportunities.

The best and brightest of human capital fled overseas to escape the racial discrimination. On their heels were to come maids, labourers and other unskilled workers seeking work overseas as unemployment soared.

But for the ordinary Malays themselves, life did not improve. They were deceived by the nebulous notion of Ketuanan Melayu, Malay special rights and NEP which did little for them except to benefit a ruling oligarchy. They had begun to realise the deceit but it was too late to turn back the clock. A pseudo-democracy had replaced real democracy in a political system which the ruling party could never lose.

Deteriorating economic conditions led to widespread social discontent but suppression of public demonstrations had become more brutal. I watched as intimidating-looking red-helmeted FRU men armed with clubs and shields beat a defenseless crowd demonstrating over a surge in inflation.

The air was thick with the acrid smell of tear gas and a short distance away, a water canon was spewing a powerful gush of chemically-laced water as the crowd ran helter-skelter. Amid the noise and the commotion, I heard a sharp crack and an old lady fell in front of me, her weary face lined with pain as I woke with an abrupt start with her scream of pain reverberating in my ears.

Moonlight filtered through the windows and rain pattered on the roof with a steady rhythm as the wind howled outside. I was drenched in cold sweat with a feeling of extreme disquiet. The alarm clock read 2 am, it was too early to get up so I had a drink of water before settling down again to try to sleep.

I thought of Malaysia, the future of the country and the reality that social injustice and authoritarian methods always lead to economic decline. I drifted off again and was soon again in the dimension of dreams.

It was a sitting of parliament and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was addressing the lawmakers in the presence of the King and Queen. He promised a new Malaysia where all races were equal partners in the economic and social life of the country while the special rights of the Malays guaranteed under the constitution will remain protected.

Corruption will not be tolerated, social justice upheld and emphasis given to reviving the economy. His first act was to lower the price of oil to assist the wheels of economy which he asserted Malaysia could afford as an oil-exporting country.

Under the new government, wide-ranging reforms were made to repair severely damaged democratic institutions. The judiciary, the police and the ACA benefitted from reforms which accorded them true independence from the executive. An independent police complaints commission was set up, the powers of the attorney-general clipped and good men were appointed to helm all these institutions. A host of oppressive laws such as the ISA, OSA, UUCA and PPPA were repealed.

On the economic front, open tenders were conducted for all government contracts and non- productive projects which do not benefit the rakyat were cancelled. Unfair one-sided agreements with toll concessionaires and IPPs were re-negotiated. The billions saved were used to subsidise oil prices and spent on projects with real benefit for the people.

Foreign investments flooded in following open market policies without race-based restrictions and the ringgit appreciated.

In the new climate of meritocracy and equal opportunities, the ‘brain drain’ which had afflicted Malaysia for decades reversed itself. The country no longer bled its best and brightest youth to foreign shores and local professionals and specialists who had gone overseas made a beeline back to the country they still called home to contribute their energies and skills.

The much abused NEP was replaced by the Malaysian Economic Agenda which channels affirmative action based on need instead of race. Help flowed to those who really needed it..

With proper economic management, foreign inflows and a stronger ringgit, the per capita income of the people increased and poverty was drastically reduced.

The end of race-based policies and racial politics brought the various races closer together. In schools and colleges, in work places and entertainment outlets, people of all races mingled and interacted in the spirit of genuine friendship. Malaysia became a shining beacon of democracy where the various races lived together in harmony and a true ‘Bangsa Malaysia’ began to emerge.


The cheerful sound of big band music sliced through the clear morning air as Malaysia celebrated its Independence Day. It was a joyous occasion which saw an endless parade of colourful uniformed bodies marching proudly past a spellbound crowd.

At the grandstand, Prime Minister Anwar lifted a ceremonial keris high in the air to shouts of ‘Merdeka!’ as trumpets blared and a shrill ringing became louder and louder until it cut through the reverie to wake me from my slumber.

Outside, the rain had given way to a cool breeze rustling the leaves outside my window. Night was slowly receding to the pale light of a new day, a full moon looked down while the faint barking of a dog could be heard in the distance. I looked at the new dawn breaking above the horizon and dared to hope.

More juicy contributions by Malaysiakini subscribers:

DID THE POLICE COVER ALL THE ANGLES?
Aug 1, 08 10:33am

MR PM, PLEASE ANSWER MY DAUGHTER
True Malaysian | Aug 1, 08 4:05pm

WAN AZIZAH, A TOWERING MALAYSIAN WOMAN
Richard Kamalanathan | Aug 1, 08 4:16pm

"Let the Polis Investigate." Har har har har har!

Saiful Bukhari Azlan's lawyer, Zamri Idrus, could do with a crash course in holding media conferences. His whole demeanor, body language, and evasiveness mark him as somebody with a hidden agenda - and those tinted glasses hardly help to dispel the impression that we're looking at a somewhat "shady" character. All the man can say is:

"Let the polis investigate."

"It's under polis investigation."

"No need to go into this issue."

"I can't comment on that."

Asked about the first medical report by Dr Osman Hamid of Hospital Pusrawi, Zamri's ridiculous reaction is that nobody knows what "the so-called report" is all about. Hey, bodoh... it's about Saiful Bukhari being a goddam liar, making up a wicked story about being sodomized eight times by a guy with a bad back.

The reporters want to know why Saiful is under polis protection. "He requested it," Zamri says. Boy, the Malaysian polis are ever so accommodating, always eager to serve the rakyat. Does Saiful think Anwar's supporters will hunt him down and hang him from a lamppost? Obviously, these Umno thugs believe everybody else thinks just like them.

Not only Zamri Idrus, but every Umno mouthpiece that has commented on this repulsive piece of chicanery - from Badawi (PM) to Botak (home minister) to Moh Choon Toy (health minister) - has used this phrase, "Let the polis investigate," like a magic mantra. Indeed, the phrase seems to be interchangeable with "Leave it in God's hands!"

And Malaysia is NOT a polis state??? Well, whatever it may be, Malaysia is definitely in a totally psychotic state - or, at least, the hoodlums are that have been misruling this poor country for decades. Now that Umno is facing its own imminent demise, panic has broken out and is causing it to sink deeper and deeper and deeper, with every move it makes, into a stinking quagmire from which it will never be able to extricate itself.

Glub glub glub. Good riddance, Umno.

ANWAR: A MAN OF EXTRAORDINARY DESTINY

It never ceases to amaze me when perfectly intelligent folk keep parroting unoriginal notions acquired from coffeeshop gossip and loose talk over a few beers. How many times have I been told by those supposedly in the know that “Anwar can’t be trusted. He’s a chameleon.”

Dammit… look at that bunch of utter nincompoops strutting around the corridors of power today: anal-retentive Umno stereotypes like Abdullah Badawi, Najib Razak, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, Syed Hamid Albar, Muhammad Muhammad Taib, and Khir Toyo… DO YOU TRUST THESE CREATURES? They can’t even speak in public without sounding like robots or reading from scripts! Anwar is human and passionate and you can sense a burning intelligence in his eyes.

Okay, back in the mid-1970s when I first read about this hotheaded leader of ABIM (Muslim Youth Movement), I went ho-hum. Back then Anwar Ibrahim was your archetypal ethnocentric nationalist sporting the mujahideen goatee - but at least he was outspoken on issues affecting the rural poor, and that got him into jail. Seeing his leadership potential, Mahathir persuaded Anwar to join Umno and got him spewing forth the expected foam about bangsa and ugama. I confess that in 1989 I actually did a caricature of him and labeled it "Anal Ibrim" little suspecting that within a decade Anwar would be plagued by that very word. And I'm still troubled by a rumor I once heard, naming Anwar Ibrahim as the minister who came up with the wicked idea to convert the dysfunctional Jabatan Hal Ehwal Orang Asli (Orang Asli Affairs Department) into a tool for converting the Orang Asli to Islam and assimilating them into the Malay mainstream.

Well, I don't know if there's any truth to that accusation - but even if it were true, that was back in 1990, and the man has suffered six years in prison for that reprehensible gaffe. You could say Anwar has paid all his karmic dues. Let's delete Anwar's slightly murky past when he was Umno deputy president and Dr M's hand-picked protégé, and take a closer look at what happened around the time of the currency depreciation in mid-1997. A bunch of young Turks in Umno were pushing Anwar to the forefront as a potential heir to the throne, goading him to attack Mahathir on the corruption front, the old man's weak underbelly. The Mamak didn't like that one bit - and neither did his former finance minister, Daim Zainuddin. Anwar was given the option to hand in his resignation - or face extreme vilification and political damnation.

Anwar, unlike other DPMs, refused to yield to Mahathir’s awesome might and megalomaniacal ego. Anwar fought back when he could have cut his losses by taking up a diplomatic or academic post abroad, returning quietly to the Umno fold a few years later like Musa Hitam.

On September 2nd, 1998, Anwar Ibrahim underwent a radical transformation from Umno bigwig to political renegade - he literally took on the mantle of a messianic cult hero when Malaysia urgently required one. I’ve watched him closely since his sacking and subsequent arrest - and he has performed impeccably as a spiritual warrior and icon of righteous resistance. Over six years of incarceration Anwar maintained his dignity, focus, perseverance and humanity - and that’s when the beautiful, strong women in his life rose to the occasion.

No man who has seen his wife and daughter go through so much on his behalf would ever behave like a male chauvinist pig; he would have a healthy respect for the feminine principle. This is what I see in Anwar and that is why I have publicly hailed him as Malaysia’s best hope at this critical juncture in our political evolution.

Anwar has every quality that marks him as a man of extraordinary destiny. I trust him as much as I trust myself - and because I fear him not, I would walk up to him and tell him to his face if ever I felt he was turning into a tyrant. As a former victim of Dr M's tyranny, Anwar would never want to go down that ignominious road.

In 2001 while overnighting at a friend's house, I flipped through a copy of Anwar Ibrahim's Asian Renaissance I found in his library. Anwar came across as somebody I could imagine having a damn good conversation with on a one-to-one basis. But what most impressed me and turned my views around on politicians in general and Anwar in particular - was the bibliography at the end of the book which listed - among a broad spectrum of classics including the sublime poetry of Rabindranath Tagore - the Tao Te Ching. Now, anybody who can claim to have read that supreme masterpiece in pithy, organic wisdom is welcome in my household anytime. And if he decides to run for high political office, I'd put my money on him. These are no ordinary times we are living in. Successfully navigating the uncharted political seas immediately ahead calls for an extraordinary helmsman - one who has survived the worst storms!

[Here's an inspiring perspective on Anwar Ibrahim by Charles R. Avila that was uploaded today on Din Merican's blog.]

APPENDIX A

Wednesday, 30 July 2008

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Malaysia Today

At 2.30pm on Wednesday, 25 June 2008, Senior Assistant Commissioner (SAC) II Mohd Rodwan Mohd Yusof met Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan in room 619 of the Concorde Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Prior to this secret meeting, Rodwan and Saiful spoke on the phone at least eight (8) times.

Three days later, at 2.00pm on 28 June 2008, Saiful went to see Dr Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid of the Hospital Pusrawi to ‘complain’ that he had been sodomised by ‘a very important person’ and that he wished to lodge a police report. The doctor, however, found no traces or evidence that he had been sodomised and suggested, for purposes of the police report, that Saiful go to a government hospital.

Who is Rodwan, other than the fact that he works for the IGP and is known as the police chief’s bagman and go-between with the organised crime syndicate that controls all the drugs, prostitution, loan-sharking and gambling rackets? Well, read the following archived reports to get a better understanding of this scumbag and slime-ball named Rodwan. Maybe then you can understand why he met Saiful in a hotel room three days before the sodomy allegation against Anwar Ibrahim exploded.

APPENDIX B

This comment was posted 30 July 2008 on Susan Loone’s blog:

Susan,

I would like to write the following statement in the name of GOD whom I believe.

I am a government doctor in the rank of consultant working in Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL). I know personally the doctors who examined Saiful on that day - 28 June 2008.

The so-called medical report mentioned in the NST is a fabrication or imagination by the UMNO paper. There is no such medical report submitted to the polis yet.

When examining Saiful, the specialist could not find any signs of Saiful being sodomised. Saiful was very cheerful, unlike real sodomised patients who will usually be very sad and disturbed.

Saiful was subsequently admitted to the ward and observed for a day. He was completely well in the ward and not emotionally disturbed.

Please let RPK know of this.

Thanks.

SUNDAY FUNNIES: The Genie and the Ostrich

A man walks into a restaurant with a full-grown ostrich behind him. The waitress asks them for their orders.

The man says, "A hamburger, fries and a Coke," and turns to the ostrich. "What's yours?"

"I'll have the same," says the ostrich.

A short time later the waitress returns with the order. "That will be $9.40 please," and the man reaches into his pocket and pulls out the exact change for payment.

The next day, the man and the ostrich come again and the man says, "A hamburger, fries and a Coke."

The ostrich says, "I'll have the same."

Again the man reaches into his pocket and pays with exact change.

This becomes routine until the two enter again. "The usual?" asks the waitress.

"No, this is Friday night, so I'll have a steak, baked potatoes and a salad," says the man.

"Same," says the ostrich.

Shortly the waitress brings the order and says, "That will be $32.62."

Once again the man pulls the exact change out of his pocket and places it on the table.

The waitress cannot hold back her curiosity any longer. "Excuse me, sir. How do you manage to always come up with the exact change in your pocket every time?"

"Well," says the man, "several years ago I was cleaning the attic and found an old lamp. When I rubbed it, a Genie appeared and offered me two wishes. My first wish was that if I ever had to pay for anything, I would just put my hand in my pocket and the right amount of money would always be there."

"That's brilliant!" says the waitress. "Most people would ask for a million dollars or something, but you'll always be as rich as you want for as long as you live!"

"That's right. Whether it's a gallon of milk or a Rolls Royce, the exact money is always there," says the man.

The waitress asks, "What's with the ostrich?"

The man sighs, pauses and answers: "My second wish was for a tall chick with a big butt and long legs who agrees with everything I say."












[Forwarded by Jason Rao]

Another Juicy Scoop From RPK!

RPK, what would Malaysia do without you? This latest juicy scoop from Malaysia Today deserves the widest possible dissemination. That's why I'm reproducing it in full on the Magick River blog. Thanks again, Pete! :-)

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

THE MALAY UNITY SODOMY CONSPIRACY

Actually, there is a lot more sodomising going on in Malaysia than most people realise. The question is: who is sodomising whom? Or are they taking turns to sodomise each other?

The sad thing is, all those involved are Malays who profess the religion of Islam. And some are even from an Islamic political party. They talk about Islam until they foam at the mouth. They say that all Muslims are going to heaven, even bad Muslims who will of course have to serve a short term in hell to pay for their sins before they get transferred to heaven after their ‘sentence’ has been fully served. Good non-Muslims like Mother Teresa, never mind how good they may have been, will all end up in hell because they do not profess the religion of Islam.

Yes, this is the Malay mindset. Do good and you go to heaven. Do bad and you still go to heaven. And if you do bad all your life and repent a day before you die then you will go to heaven. Just make sure you repent at least a day before you die. Then you can escape hell.

Everything about the Malay mind revolves around heaven and hell. They will have this ‘little book’ like a weight-watcher’s book of calories and they measure their deeds with debits and credits. Sure, you can do bad. But just make sure you ‘balance’ your bad deeds with some good deeds. You do a bad deed and you get one debit. But if you know how to work your way around the system, then your good deeds can earn 27 credits. So one good deed can wipe out 27 bad deeds, depending on the degree and ranking of these good-bad deeds.

Yes, it’s all about balancing. And it’s all about punishment and rewards. Malays will avoid bad and do good only if there is a reward system. And the good is done only so far as it can help balance or wipe out the bad deeds. Conscience does not come into play here. In fact, there is no proper or precise word in the Malay vocabulary that is equivalent to the word ‘conscience’. The closest ‘description’ to conscience would probably be hati kecil or suara hati. Even then this is more a description rather than a translation because hati kecil or suara hati can describe other things as well and may not necessarily refer to conscience.

And that is why, of late, we have seen many acts perpetuated by people without any conscience and who feel that one bad deed is not a big deal when one can always go to Mekah to pray in front of the Kabah after the deed is done and this will wipe out all traces of the bad deed. An atheist is good because he or she is good by nature. A ‘religious’ person is good not necessarily because he or she is good by nature but because he or she is a coward and is too scared of hell or he or she wishes to be ‘bribed’ with heaven.

The Malay unity talks between PAS and Umno are not something that just sort of happened. They were carefully planned way ahead with the objective of restoring Malay political power and to ensure that the non-Malay ‘immigrants’ would not become the dominant political force in Malaysia. Part of this plan involved ensuring that PAS would lose confidence in Anwar Ibrahim to the point they would see that their future lies with Barisan Nasional rather than with Anwar.

Anwar is, after all, a traitor to the Malay race (he espouses Ketuanan Rakyat instead of Ketuanan Melayu and he is opposed to the New Economic Policy and wishes it to be replaced with a new, more-equitable, policy) and an American agent (reinforced with the US’ recent statements condemning Malaysia on this latest sodomy allegation against Anwar). So Anwar, the traitor that he is, needs to be destroyed for the good of the Malays.

Did it not make you wonder why it was Saiful’s uncle (or was it his auntie?) and not his father who called the press conference asking Anwar to swear on the Quran that he never sodomised the young man? Why the uncle/auntie? Why not the father? Anyway, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak too swore in front of 900 Umno national and grassroots leaders that he never met and does not know Altantuya. Are the people convinced that since Najib has sworn an oath then he is telling the truth? Or has his oath not changed the people’s minds one bit?

Actually, Saiful hardly knows his father. His father abandoned his mother soon after he was born and the mother remarried. When his mother died, his stepfather also disappeared and Saiful was subsequently brought up by his uncle (or was it his auntie?). And one important aspect in this whole episode is that Saiful’s ‘God Mother’ is Mumtaz Jaafar - who is Rosmah Mansor’s nominee and ‘bag lady’ in all their clandestine business deals.

[Even more intriguing, I've read in one blog that Mumtaz Jaafar's daughter is Janna Syariza,who happens to be engaged to Saiful Bukhari (although Saiful has flatly denied that Janna and Mumtaz are related. Will somebody who knows the facts enlighten us on this score? It's an important detail, because if this were true, it further reinforces the link between Najib Razak's wife and Saiful Bukhari.]

Now does that explain why Najib agreed to meet Saiful? Many just could not understand why a busy and important Deputy Prime Minister would want to waste time meeting a university dropout. It is because Saiful is Mumtaz’s ‘God Son’. That was why Najib met him.

Looking at Saiful’s uncle, who looks and acts like his auntie, you can now begin to understand what makes that young man tick. Did the doctor find Saiful’s uncle’s semen specimen in the young man’s sorry butt and that is why the police are not able to charge Anwar? That may explain why the police released Anwar on police bail after the dramatic Hollywood-style arrest just a day earlier.

Saiful’s father is a member of the Malay unity ad hoc committee that was set up to engineer the PAS-Umno talks. Another committee member is the Sapura Managing Director, Rameli Musa, an Anwar ‘crony’. Yes, little did Anwar realise that his ‘best friend’ was setting him up for a fall. Heading this committee is someone from Military Intelligence who I shall not name at this stage.

Yeap, Military Intelligence again. Now can you see why Military Intelligence leaked the information about the official report on Rosmah Mansor’s involvement in the Altantuya murder? It was meant to bring Najib down. And these same people are involved in the PAS-Umno unity talks, which has, amongst its ranks, committee members like Saiful’s father and Anwar’s so-called best friend, Rameli Musa (right).

Okay, recently, Saiful’s father, who had abandoned the young man way back when he was born, came back into his life. Why, after riding off into the sunset 20 years or so ago, does this father suddenly appear on his son’s doorstep? Simple. He wanted to send his son to meet Najib. Yes, that’s right. Najib thought he was sending Saiful to Anwar as a Trojan Horse. What Naijb did not know is that, in the first place, this young man was sent to him as a plant. Najib thought the young man was God sent and the weapon he could use to destroy Anwar. Actually, he was not God sent. He was sent by the committee to engineer the PAS-Umno Malay unity talks. Najib swallowed the bait - hook, line and sinker.

And that is why Saiful’s father did not want to appear in public, especially on camera. If his face were to appear on TV then many would probably remember seeing him all over the place. He is not employed of course. His job is ‘brokering’. He is what we would call a Mister Fixit. If you want something fixed, if you want to win a government contract, if you want to set someone up, if you want to meet a Minister or the Deputy Prime Minister, then call Mister Fixit and he will fix it up for you.

The deal is simple. Conjure new sodomy allegations against Anwar. This will get PAS worried and they will start having second thoughts about Anwar and Pakatan Rakyat. Get PAS and Umno to sit down and talk about Malay unity. Let PAS see that their political future lies with Umno and not with PKR, which is going to be brought down by the latest sodomy allegation against Anwar. Tell PAS that Umno agrees to the implementation of Islamic laws in the states they control and that Umno agrees PAS shall be the Menteri Besar (whereas PKR is opposed to Islamic laws just like their other partner in Pakatan Rakyat, DAP).

The architects and engineers of the PAS-Umno Malay unity talks realise that offering PAS the Menteri Besar post and agreeing to the implementation of Islamic laws alone is not enough. They need to also destroy Anwar’s credibility to prove to PAS that its future lies with Umno and not with PKR. Is it any surprise then that the ad hoc committee for the PAS-Umno talks is also the ‘committee to get Anwar’ and that Saiful’s father together with the Military Intelligence are crucial players in this whole thing?

As I said, Malays don’t have a conscience. There is no precise word in Malay that means conscience. Anything goes as far as Malays are concerned. Okay, so they commit the sin of fixing Anwar up on sodomy charges and they sell out the voters who voted for them. But these sins can be washed clean by just going to Mekah to pray in front of the Kabah. And if you repeat these sins after your return to Malaysia you can always make another trip to Mekah and repeat the repentance scam in front of the Kabah.

Sigh... I just wonder why those Indian Muslims are insisting that the government recognises them as Malays.

IT'S LAUGHABLE... NOT LOVABLE!

RAIS vs RICE ROW OVER ANWAR

Friday, 25 July 2008 08:54

(TODAYOnline) - The war of words between Malaysia and the United States over the Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim affair, which began in a letter earlier this month, continued yesterday as the two countries' top diplomats defended their governments' respective stands.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the US would never stop speaking on human rights and political cases while Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim accused the US of meddling in Malaysia's domestic affairs.

The two had earlier met for 15 minutes on the sidelines of the 15th Asean Regional Forum where Rais told Rice that police investigations into the sodomy case involving Anwar were not politically motivated.

At her press conference, Rice dismissed Malaysia's claim that the sodomy case is an internal affair.

NOW WHO TO BELIEVE - UNCLE PET OR UNCLE PETE?

"What has happened... has happened but we have to go on with our lives. And we are confident Allah will come to our aid. [Saiful] is my nephew and I trust him." - Saiful Bukhari's "Uncle Pet" (left)

“I refuse to respond to the plea on grounds that the charges are both defective and mala fide. I'm in the mood to fuck the government. What more do you want me to say?” - Uncle Pete aka Raja Petra Kamarudin (right)

Umnesty, The Best Policy?

The New Straits Times Group, fully owned by Umno, have a travel-and-tours subsidiary called Enesty - which once led to my flippantly suggesting they adopt as a corporate tagline, "Enesty is the best policy."

Since the exhilarating results of GE12 - which might have been far more exciting if BN had been reduced to playing the role of Opposition, instead of still clinging on to the reins of federal power (a feat accomplished through massive electoral fraud, gerrymandering and devious manipulation of postal votes) - Umno has been misbehaving so hideously the party has become a bad joke in very poor taste.


As things stand - with between 80-90% of the rakyat pushing for REFORMASI under a Pakatan Rakyat government, led by the increasingly popular Anwar Ibrahim - the entire nation seems to be in a political deadlock.

Anwar Ibrahim at the Kelana Jaya Stadium, 6 July 2008 (Photo courtesy of T.V. Smith)

The Pakatan Rakyat cannot move forward without a sizeable section of BN parliamentarians crossing over. And BN is paralyzed by its abject fear of non-survival - for its survival as a political party now depends entirely on holding on desperately to the primary tools of governance, viz., control of the mass media, the police force, the treasury, judiciary, and the armed forces.

BN's fear is very real and understandable. Once it loses power, anything can happen. A brand new government would abolish the repressive laws that have all but stifled dissent since the Mahathir era. With the complete overhaul of the judiciary and police force, replacing the contaminated elements with politically neutral and professionally qualified personnel in key positions, thousands of Umno skeletons will surely come tumbling out of the closet.

Not just Umno misdeeds perpetrated by members of the present cabinet, but the lifting of the lid on issues of criminal mismanagement will unearth reprehensible acts carried out by former Umno warlords like (to name but a tiny handful) former finance minister Daim Zainuddin, former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, former home minister Megat Junid, former Malacca chief minister Rahim Thamby Chik, and scores of their cronies in the corporate sector.

Would the rakyat be content to let bygones be bygones? Personally, I think not. Simply because the magnitude of the criminal excesses committed by various Umno, MCA and MIC leaders (particularly during the Mahathir era) must be exposed to the light of day. The poison must be pumped out of the system once and for all or it will work its evil again on any administration, especially since the backbone of government is the civil service - and old, entrenched ways are hard to weed out without some sort of ritual, Greek theatre style, catharsis.

The problem is that these miscreants are extremely well-connected. Like a rainforest ecosystem the complex intertwinings of political and financial power reach far and wide and, ultimately, impact on millions of lives. In America a similar situation prevails wherein influential political families like the Bushes, Kennedys, Rockefellers, and so on are genetically and economically linked with a plethora of other powerful lobbies - not the least of which is the Zionist-Israeli-Khazarian lobby which cohabits openly with the rightwing fundamentalist Christian lobby and heavy-duty media owners, defense contractors, the Pentagon top brass, US Airforce, and the Office of Naval Research.

In effect, yanking out a Godfather-like entity like Daim Zainuddin will reveal an entire root system of corruption, greed and corporate misdeeds stretching across the region and back in time over generations. The Status Quo cannot be forcibly and too hastily demolished, lest the ceiling itself collapses around us and kills some of our family members and friends.

Name the dirty deed. These characters in Umno, MCA and MIC have done it one time or another. From straightforward CBT (criminal breach of trust) and barefaced lying to outright theft, rape, incest, pedophilia, abduction, blackmail, and murder - the accumulation of BN's sins is monumental. Indeed, pile them up in a heap and even Mount Kinabalu would be dwarfed.

What I propose is that we take a page out of South Africa's book at the end of the Apartheid era. There was a period of National Reconciliation during which Special Commissions were allowed to investigate and expose a broad spectrum of abuses - particularly on the part of the secret police - and perpetrators were offered the opportunity to publicly apologize for their crimes. The most serious ones were then imprisoned for a spell before being paroled, while most were absolved and released from public service. In other words, many hardcore criminals received little more than a slap on the wrist.

This approach suits me fine as I personally do not believe that vengeance is all that healthy. Where forgiveness is possible, it has to be the option we choose. However, forgiveness is impossible without public revelation, full disclosure, and a heartfelt expression of remorse. The stubbornly recalcitrant understand only one thing: harsh justice. So we have to give them what they want - but in gentle, measured doses. For we don't want to become like our enemies. "You become what you hate" is indeed a sagely observation.

So let's consider a period of Umnesty - when we allow Umno warlords and senior lackeys the chance to come clean, so to speak, with the proviso that they will not be too sternly judged and punished for past misdeeds. Once the terror of severe punishment is allayed, we may witness a collective sigh of relief such as has never been heard in the entire spectrum of time. Those who have misappropriated the rakyat's money will be required to voluntarily return at least two-thirds of it. A wag of the public finger, a sharp slap on the wrist, perhaps a token jail sentence and/or fine. More serious crimes - like blackmail, conspiracy to defraud the public, and even cold-blooded murder will, under the terms of our Umnesty, be handled with genuine compassion and mercy.

For example, if Najib and Rosmah confess to their complicity in the abduction and gruesome murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu, we shall not demand that they be "hanged by their necks till they die." We shall give them the chance to buy their freedom by returning 75% of the ill-gotten gains acquired through abuse of their privileged positions - and then allow them to live their lives out undisturbed in any country that will offer them permanent residence. They will only be allowed to visit Malaysia after a minimum cooling-off period of seven years; and, even then, they can only stay for a maximum of three months each time, like any other tourists.

As for Dr Mahathir, perhaps the best punishment is to simply ignore him. In any case, I'm pretty certain that the day Anwar Ibrahim takes his oath of office as Malaysia's new prime minister, the nasty old coot will suffer his final, fatal heart attack. He will be given a modest-scale funeral and buried in an unmarked grave - so nobody will be tempted to defecate on it. As a human being, he deserves at least that much respect.

What A Glorious Feeling!

On July 7th my iBookG4 refused to boot up. All I saw was a black screen with an unearthly glow just barely visible below the surface. After several attempts to get it going I gave up and SMSed my Mac doctor - a cheerful, extremely competent and good-looking chap named Adam Loh who calls himself Doc Mac, and rightly so. Adam's diagnosis was dire. "I'm afraid it could be logic board failure," he sighed, after my iBook refused to release the OSX repair CD he had inserted in the disc drive. That was serious. A new logic board for the G4 costs around RM2,000! Adam said he'd ask around and see if he could obtain a refurbished logic board for me. Even so it would cost me RM400-500. Well, over the next two weeks I had to get my computer fix at a cybercafe - which is like offering root beer to a hardcore alcoholic. But one good thing about not having a computer at home was I got to spend more time chilling with my beloved housemates Anoora and Ahau...


... and studying the breeding habits of the feline community... aaargh! too many cats!


But sometimes an exquisite creature like Inanna graces your home with her celestial presence and makes it all seem worthwhile...


Well, on July 18th I got an SMS from Adam informiing me that my iBook was "up and running." Appparently, Adam had unscrewed the casing to retrieve his stuck CD and when he reassembled the unit it booted up normally. "I didn't do a thing," Adam reported. Aha... a self-repairing G4! Guess we must cherish all the miracles we can find to make up for all the debacles we are witnessing daily on the economic and political fronts. Anyway, I'm so overjoyed to have my iBook back I'm just going to share a bunch of happy images with you, starting with a delightful visit last month from a couple dozen energetic youngsters associated with Project Connect - a cross-cultural experience managed by Brian Jones and Jade Ong of Cloudbreak. Here's the whole gang posing on our Bamboo Palace after a vigorous splashabout in the river and a hearty picnic on the rocks...



Towards midnight on Bastille Day two vans rolled up in front of our house and discharged Sheldon Blackman & The Love Circle - ten larger-than-life Trinidadians who breathe, eat, sleep and live music. They had come directly from a successful gig at the Rainforest World Music Festival in Sarawak and were totally exhausted. In fact, the princesses in the group immediately demanded that somebody send a bus to pick them up and deliver them straight back to KL. Sheldon himself (right) was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I don't blame them. Here's a full-scale touring band with all their heavy gear finding themselves in a remote village in the dead of night with all their luggage stacked up on a tiny veranda of an Orang Asli domicile. They had been on the road since 5PM and nobody had fed them apart from a dead boring sandwich on their MAS flight. They certainly looked like refugees from a flood or earthquake. In the end they realized they were marooned in my low-cost paradise and resigned themselves to the fact. As to be expected, after a good night's rest their spirits began to perk up...

The Love Circle pose on the bridge over the Selangor Dam



Claudette Blackman, mother of a whole orchestra of beautiful and talented sons and daughters

Seven out of ten members of the group are from the famous Blackman family, proud sons and daughters of the late great Ras Short I (Garfield Blackman), founder of The Love Circle and father of the musical genres of “Soca” and “Jamoo." The other three are long-time family friends Jason Bishop (guitar), Jeremy McIntosh (bass and percussion), and Clifton Harrydass (tuned steel drum and percussion).

On the second night angelic voices were heard wafting across the verdant valley. Nehilet (pictured above), Marge and Abby Blackman took turns showing off their powerful voices, while Jason practised Caribbean-flavored ragas on the open tuning he had picked up while in Sarawak. Sheldon performed a song to be featured on his next album which spoke poignantly of "mountains overflowing with water." Even I was inspired to play them a few of my own songs!


This year, for the first time in ten years, I wasn't at the Rainforest World Music Festival (for reasons I shall reveal at some point but not till some legal issues have been resolved). However, the soul of the festival came to me - and that felt real good. Thank you, Sheldon Blackman & The Love Circle. It was a great pleasure meeting and befriending you all! :-) Here's one last photo I shall always cherish: a farewell visit from a very beautiful mother (Jeyanthi) and daughter (Dharshini) before they returned to Kiwiland on June 20th.