contrasting view

Gone are the days when official words of government-owned media are the only ones that reach the public at large and other voices are only cries in the wilderness. It is very interesting to see that the government is still pursuing strategy to curb or silence these alternative voices rather than accepting the fact that the world has changed a great deal and people are free to express their opinions elsewhere and get their views heard. It is then up to the public to judge credibility of their thoughts. If their outlooks meet universally accepted norms and values, they are then readily accepted.

Hoodwinking people may be the government’s custom and practice given their over half a decade rule over Malaysia. In this information era and internet media they cannot pull wools over peoples’ eyes anymore.

Najib made a statement in the Indonesia that was a clear contempt of the court in a bid to legitimise his government’s unconstitutional and brutal act of gaining control of the Perak state from opposition. It was also a way by which he was sending a signal to the court of appeal to deliver judgement on their favour. This gives us a sense of Deja-vu. We have heard it before, haven’t we? Rewind a few years back and you will see a similar approach by the then Mahathir’s administration.

Najib is clearly out of touch. Even Mahathir failed miserably as seen at the end of his administration that eventually saw him relinquishing his post as it was utterly impossible to fight the tide against injustices propagated by his regime. The fact that now he is back in control of the country having gone through process of reinventing himself and repackaging his approach to make it palatable is another topic worth analysing but that will be done later perhaps. Walking through the same path of Mahathir will only get Najib into trouble, which is good indeed. Time has changed. What was effective then is no longer practical now. Now we have alternative views being aired for the whole world to see and read almost instantaneously.

How about Anifah Aman’s, the new defender and chief worshipper of Najib, statement accusing Anwar of bribing him with a DPM post in a bid to buy his support openly at a joint press conference with Rodham Hillary Clinton? The respond by Anwar through his lawyer threatened him with sedition suit almost instantly (in legal time frame mode of course) is a demonstration of speed of information travels in this internet age. Whether or not the court drags its feet or not is immaterial. In fact if it drags its judicial feet, the better it will be in this game of perceptions.

What the BN administration should do is to clear their acts and serve the people but when they are lost as to the reason for their existence, it spells trouble clear and obvious. No doubt about it at all. Their very existence is to serve the public and since they forget that and use their positions to amass wealth, they incur public’s wrath. The worst part is that they are still perplexed as to why the whole nation wants to give them the boots! This stupid behaviour we pray will continue and the public will be further enraged hopefully and will send them packing earlier than anticipated.

We are now living in a cyber age and everyone is free to air their views. If they make sense, it will get peoples’ sympathy and support. If they contradict universally acceptable views, they will just be voices in the wilderness or just mere shouts in cyberspace that do not even get an echo.

king and kingmakers

Still on the subject of political impasse in Perak, I came across a posting by Kenny Gan in the Malaysiakini. He opined that final judgement will have a very significant impact to the future of politics in Malaysia. He concluded that UMNO in future will use Sultans and The Agong to remove heads of states and possibly Prime Minister without going through legislative assembly. Kings will then be real kingmakers. As much as this may benefit UMNO, what if the opposition (or anyone for that matter; or UMNO’s favourite demon the “foreigners” the term mostly associated with their enemies) befriends the kings to the level that they work hand in gloves to remove PM? Will UMNO gladly accept this?

I would love to see the above scenario happening in future but I know this is not right. If we are seriously considering moving towards civil society, we must uphold rule of law and separation of powers. We cannot make short term gain but lose long term objective of creating a civil society. But then again why don’t we get the king to send these bastards to hell and set about correcting what is wrong later on? Tempting indeed!

A short posting today but read the piece below extracted from “Return of the Kings” in Malaysiakini!

Kenny Gan: The importance of the Nizar vs Zambry court case goes far beyond Perak and Umno's bid to hold on to its power grab in the state.

The matter of contention here is whether Nizar was rightfully deprived of his post by the sultan and Zambry legally appointed.

No doubt this case will be appealed up to the Federal Court. If the final judgment favours Zambry then Malaysia has crossed a legal and constitutional rubicon which throws into doubt the concept of constitutional monarchy in the country.

It means that the Agong and the sultans are given the power to dismiss the prime minister or chief ministers without going through parliament or assembly proceedings but by merely professing their opinion that the incumbent has lost the confidence of the majority.

As this alleged loss of confidence is not put to the test in the House, there is no way to dispute the opinion of His Majesty.

Hence by implication, the PM and chief ministers hold their office at the pleasure of the royalty or state governors.

Will we then cross the line between constitutional monarchy and absolute monarchy? This court case must be allowed to proceed without interference from the executive.

Trying to influence a favourable decision got Zambry for the sake of holding on to power in Perak is shortsighted as such power accorded to the royalty may be used against Umno in the future.

lunatics running asylums

I spoke about written judgement to a friend. Now I read that there is also such thing as a “written grounds of judgement” specifically in cases where they were shuffled from one court to another. I am not a lawyer and I interpret these “written judgement” and “written grounds of judgement as two sides of the same coin.

This subject came up when I was debating with a friend on the grounds on which judgement was based on. We were trying to understand the whole legal issue. In the absence of a written judgement, it is difficult to ascertain whether the ground upon which the judgement made is sound or not. In other words, does the judgement is based on solid argument and sound interpretation of the law. Sadly enough based on the report below some judges either delay in releasing their written judgement or simply ignore requirement for written judgement to the dismay of interested parties.

Lately in Malaysia, courts are becoming favourite grounds for settling dispute, even those disputes that involve legislative assembly that do not fall under the purview of the courts. Gone are the days when disputes are settled by arbitrators other than the formal court. It was started by goons that have a hand in these courts and so it was being used to legitimise their agenda by getting judgement in their favour.

Back to the subject of written judgement, I believe it is mandatory for a judge to do so and do it swiftly. How can a disgruntled party interpret a ruling by a judge to be fair, sound or without flaws? To simply pass a judgement without any sound reasons and in reference to a written law is easy and a “loyar buruk” or perhaps better described as “engineered lawyer” like I am can do the job and do it with greater ease, excellence and speed.

On the other hand, if “written judgement” complete with grounds upon which judgement is made; and “grounds of judgement” are two different things, I need a lawyer then to shed some light.

On the relevance of today’s topic in this rather political blogsphere, of course it does! I want to see whether these judges that pass erratic decisions are a bunch of lunatics or men of honour that we can rely on. Perak debacle is a subject very much at the back of my mind. Who the hell is fit to rule this silver state? Since I spend my childhood days in the state, I qualify as an interested party to the whole mayhem.

When courtrooms are turning into asylums, we definitely have lunatics running wild.

troubadour

On a gloomy day in Pattaya city! Have a go at an article below:

http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/21898/84/

UPDATE: PLEASE REFER TO A NEW ARTICLE BY HANIPA MAIDIN ON THIS ISSUE -Very Enlightening indeed.

Refer to: http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/22012/84/

an old man and his addiction

He was famous for his double speak. Now he is even more famous with his double speak. We can read him like a book. If you want to read the next political move, just give him a platform, he will not fail you. Since the PM Najib is a puppet on a string, the one holding it and pulling it all over the place is this evil man who lost his power once and bounced back with great vigour and vengeance.

Che Det’s grip on the power to manipulate Malaysians is getting stronger by the day. One can no longer ignore noises coming out of him or a whimper or simply his stark silence. To me his silence is deafening. I would detect hidden messages and his next few moves almost instantly. But I am not alone. Millions of netizens in Malaysia and keen observers abroad also do not miss this. Many writes on him and exposes his impending moves and in a any war game, having your moves read aloud by your enemy is recipe for doom. KJ SIL of Badawi suffered similar fate in as far as his moves that many described as “text book”.

This old man is addicted to power. He is a first class junkie. But as far as being a strategist, he is no longer apt or even come close to the label “strategist”. He is now but a novice in the world where information travels instantaneously and reaches millions of people across the globe, amongst them are a hundred times better than him. They not only read his move with much clarity but able to pre-empt his next agenda.

Today Malaysiakini reported that he admitted PR ability to win Perak hands down if snap polls are held but revealed his true bluer than blue colour when he scorned and was against giving power back to the people to decide who should rule the silver state. He was peoples’ man when he was out of power and now he is back holding strings attached to his minions in the BN cabinet, from the CEO to front-liners and soothsayers.

I love these war games. They bring out the best in me. The old man and his merry men are my biggest enemies. Reading their moves is my daily routine and my predictions are spot on. It is no longer intriguing but becoming mundane. Maybe I should choose a different enemy before I drop dead with boredom engaging novices in these sordid war games.

troubadour

Sun Tzu says; “To lift an autumn leaf is not an act of great strength, to see the sun and moon is not an act of sharp sight, to hear a thunderclap is not an act of good listening”

of appaling looks, vile creatures and the creepy crawly tale

Today I am in a mood for some bashing. Of course I have a bunch of idiots that I consider world class morons that I want to poke fun at. This will really make my day.

“If looks could kill, they probably will”. This line is from a song by Peter Gabriel (who was the original front man for the band Genesis). I could not quite remember the title of the song. Maybe it is “Games without Frontiers” since I remember vividly the full line chorus that goes “If looks could kill, they probably will, in games without frontiers, walls without tears”.

The phrase of course refers to a beautiful person but for today’s writing I am going to take the literal meaning of the line. Funny it seems that some people’s look can be down right offensive and one cannot help but rile at the sight of the person. The fake chief minister of Perak, a one Dr Zambry is one such figure. A mere glimpse of his face sends my stomach churning and I have to rush to the toilet for fear of vomiting in full public view.

We are not talking about ugliness. Beauty, by the way is in the eye of a beholder. But these sorts of people make you cringe every time you lay eyes on them or see their photographs. They seem to have this sinister look and level of cockiness that you cannot help but cower upon seeing them. This Perak dud chief minister has to be the top of the list amongst other contenders such as Najib Razak, Khir Toyo and Ibrahim Ali. Yes, I consider king of the frogs as one with a look that kills your appetite to live through the day. The botox-faced ex-chief minister of Selangor is equally vile and Malaysia’s CEO and Crime Minister that came to town pretending to sympathise sufferings of citizens resulting largely from his mismanagement of the country and its administration.

When he was running riot robbing the state’s coffer, this botoxed but claimed “TEMPE-treated” faced moron’s faces were plastered all over large billboards across the Selangor state. I had to wear blinkers for fear of accidentally shut my eyes to avoid my stomach turning around.

What about the king of the hopping kind? Yes, this guy’s look really kills you, to borrow JD Salinger’s line describing a guy that taunts the lead character Maxwell Caulfield almost daily in the novel The Catcher in the Rye. This amphibious creature is now considering hopping into the BN melting pot after securing parliamentary seat on an opposition ticket. He is truly the king of the frogs and toads and his look is of course amongst the most loathsome creature I have laid my eyes on.

And the Malaysia’s CEO and game master! He has to be one of the most pretentious looking creatures around in Malaysia. Does he not realised that sticking his posters all over the country will only make people despise him more. What more with ghosts of the deceased (and blown to bits) Mongolian beauty lurking all over the country in search of their murderer to make matters worse. The mere sight of this creature bearing 1Malaysia slogan sends you to your deathbed.

There goes my beautiful serene morning being marred by vivid pictures of these morons in my mind but the most evil one for now has to be the “Nasi Kandar” man, Zambry Kadir aka “Mamak Tongkang”.

Troubadour on a serene Thursday morning in the “Sin City”.

policing the police

I wrote about the authority’s bid to flush underground dissent in the form of bloggers to the surface through formation of bloggers union. Many surfaced from of underground, formed the union only to be blown apart. There were those brave seasoned bloggers that could not care less of the impending implication and obliteration. There were also however those that sincerely thought that the government of the day was serious about recognising rights of these bloggers to continue to air their opinions in cyberspace. This behaviour is down right naïve if not plain stupid. Do they really expect a corrupt institution that rule over half a century with clasp iron fists to transform into a wimp overnight? Just accept it that transform they will not and change they will never do!

It is easy for one to let off his or her guards especially when one is tired physically and mentally having to struggle for more than ten years assuming one was awaken in 1998. Those who were children (below the age of 12) in 1998 are now voters in their own right. These adults are now making up a big portion of the population and a glaring fact is that they cannot comprehend the struggle that we are putting up. To them, some fragment of the society is doing things that make no sense to them at all. Those that can think for themselves and have the intelligence to do so will naturally assume the struggle.

Those with this so called intelligence or a “capacity to reason” are few in numbers. The 80-20 rule prevails. Only 20% has the capacity to think. The rest are the ones that need to be convinced of the sanctity of this struggle to free ourselves from clutches of tyrants that abuse powers at will and subject citizens to unending hardship and tyranny.

I was a student in London when Tory rules and the miners were on strikes. From Newcastle to London there were strikes almost daily. Police were storming the “scabs” as these miners were referred to. The whole UK was like war zones. I could not understand why these miners were throwing tantrums. I did not bother to read their plight. I was at the end of my teenage age and about to become an adult. I understood little. To me, filling concert halls night after night and week after week was far more interesting. How could I appreciate sufferings of miners losing their jobs and an ability to earn a living!

How about police brutality? I was acquainted with a one time Malaysian student that failed her studies and continued living in the UK having married an Irish chap in the Midlands. She was screaming police brutality almost daily and she referred to these men-in-arms as “bastards”. I understood little and ridiculed her every action. I was indeed mistaken. These police are actually real bastards after all. As I arrived in the UK when events than turn men-in-arms to bastards had long gone, I could not understand peoples’ resentment. Police institution has become tool for Tories to silent dissent and the fact that the police chose to do so willingly was testimony of the dire state to which the nation has been reduced to.

Fast forward twenty years and I am witnessing a similar pattern right inside my backyard. Police stoop too low to be passed on simply as a coincidence. The whole institution is corrupted to the core. The mistake that Badawi regime did was to maintain the chief of police all in the name of avoiding a witch hunt in the wake of leadership change or avoiding victimisation and being humane. Likewise, institution that safeguards the law was equally tainted and left to operate in that sorry state as well.

Fracas in the Perak state assembly was testimony of police stooping far too low by conspiring with BN to wrest control state legislative assembly through vile, immoral and unlawful manner. Meteoric rise in crime rates and lawlessness seems to grip the nation so much so that citizens no longer feel safe. Even the OCPD was not spared. One OCPD was reported robbed in his own house where he was tied and gagged! Rapes increased and snatch thieves killed their victims in the process of practicing their professions. What sort of police institution is safeguarding our rights as citizens of this blessed land of ours?

It is not only a small segment of the police force is used by BN to promulgate their course but the whole institution allowed itself to be intimidated into doing its bidding. Again my favourite subject of the central part of the police force the intelligence unit aka the special branch (SB)! Intelligence is central and crucial to the smooth and efficient running of the police force. When this particular unit spends almost its entire time on spying on and diffusing and sabotaging the opposition, this explains failures in other crucial aspects of safety of citizens and the nation as a whole.

Policing is in itself a specialised profession. If we can get the police force to do their job of policing, there are numerous examples and role models that we can emulate. Whenever we speak on the subject of transformation or change management inevitably we will come across a famous character by the name of Bill Bratton will surface. His turnarounds of the New York and Boston police forces were subject of great interests to proponents of transformation exercise. Again I wish to stress on the word “IF” here. If our Malaysian police force is serious enough about doing their job instead of being tool of BN, we will see a safe Malaysia for all to enjoy. Is it much to ask for a mere citizen like me?

troubadour

For those who want to read a bit more on Bill Bratton, please go here: http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=119&subid=156&contentid=251223