moribund breed

Having roamed the earth close to half a century, I had the opportunity of meeting personalities from both political divides in Malaysia. In the heydays of UMNO, I worked with two politicians as backroom boys preparing inputs for economic papers especially for tabling in the parliament. Those days these politicians seemed sincere enough in wanting to do something good for the nation. I closed one eye to their pursuit of personal gain as they also contributed, even though minute, towards nation building.

Political awakenings as a result of persecution of Anwar Ibrahim opened up opportunity for me to meet with and getting to know politicians from the other side of the divide. I realised then that there was another side of the coin, the side I was not acquainted with but suspected all along to contain a lot of misconception.

I stumbled upon a group of aspiring young entrepreneurs who were sick of being foolhardy in chalking up slices of economic pies. These young men formed a new branch of political party PAS and set out to study its constitutions and embracing its methodologies in shaping members to become concern and deeply involved citizens, choosing to walk with their eyes open.

I was very impressed with their commitment and their intelligence drew me towards their movement. I joined the group a few sessions of studying and understanding PAS constitutions. My father had in all his active years in politics been telling me to read PAS constitution and yet as a person who seemed so sure of what he was doing, I chose to ignore this instead. I should have heeded my dad’s advice. If I did then, I would have treaded a different kind of path, a path filled with much wisdom and continuous learning.

I toyed back with “usrah” or study group with PAS. This was nothing foreign to me as I had experience with such a movement when I was a student abroad. However, this time around it was more systematic complete with syllabus and curriculum and a host of recommended (read compulsory) materials as references. While Syed Qutb’s “In the Shade of the Quran” was familiar to me, other literatures like Fathi Yakan’s “Kenapa Saya Seorang Islam” (Why Am I a Muslim) were alien to me. 40 Hadeeth was a must.

Today, I understand the “PAS Way”. Beginning with Guide to Usrah and then digesting the PAS constitutions cover to cover, continuous reading and understanding the Holy Quran and Way of the Prophets and Virtues of Sahabah and then emulating the way of the Mujaddid in Ikwanul Muslimin was a comprehensive way of moulding a man to face current political scenario. As with others’ struggles in the past, this war to bring people from an ignorant to an informed state of mind is thorny and treacherous. Only those that truly go through the discipline would be able to come out unscathed.

All in all, this allegiance leaves a profound impact on me. I begin to see the world as it is and not the one painted by the (controlled) media of the government. It was an awakening indeed and having seen the light, I would not want to even get near the dark ages let alone reverting to it. As with other great experiences, I would want others to walk in similar paths and not be blinded by the false light shined through coloured filters by those in power.

Today, I have grown up children who are fortunately more aware politically and walk in same path as I am. I am blessed with intelligent children that choose ways of the companions of the Prophet as their paths and propagated further these ways to their friends and foes alike.

Gone are the days when politicians were able to pull wools over our eyes and spread their hideous ideologies only to enrich themselves and made us fools. These unscrupulous politicians are of a dying breed and they have lost their legitimacy in handling the society and its affairs.

It is heartening if dirty politicians are vanishing but if the learned ones are disappearing also, it is a course for concern. We pray that those with sincerity in seeing this nation comes out of this dark-age will multiply in numbers and continue to shed lights towards real freedom.

troubadour

p/s: Wise man says “It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all”.

doses of hypertensions

I refrain from writing on politics, the ruling federal government or those in power in Malaysia but time and again I fail to live up to my desire. Just an instantaneous flip on TV3, RTM or other “controlled” channels, I will stumble upon some morons making ridiculous statements that is so vile and despicable. A glance at headlines of their subservient print media drives up my blood pressure in a similar manner.

When will those idiots in UMNO understand what it means by transparency and good governance? Or do they actually understand this phrase yet choose to do things devoid of transparency and govern in a shitty manner? Whichever way it is, one thing for sure is that they will meet their doom soon enough.

In a world where information flows readily free and at the speed of light, these goons choose to lie and a great one at that as well. Not a single sentence is uttered without lies in it.

First there is this Interior Minister that keep on saying that ISA is justifiable by citing the Mumbai Massacre as a good example of an incident that can be avoided with an act like ISA in place. Twenty years ago he could get away with this sort of ignorance. But now, they may hide behind many kinds of masks but truth is too glaring to be ignored. Don’t they know that they are making fools of themselves and they look down right silly, arrogant and very stupid?

This old fart is angry with Malaysia Today for printing a satirical interview with him, purportedly ridiculing himself talking about current affairs. It is a satire but the fact that he went out to cite it for contempt is only a demonstration of the truth the satire carries.

There was also another dimwit giving interviews somewhere that I received a posting from a friend that told a story of a friend of Chief Minister of Melaka defending him on his inability to converse in English or making sense when speaking in the English language. This apple polisher was saying that this particular chief minister once headed an international youth movement with this shortcoming. The chief minister must have mismanaged and misguided the movement then if it goes by this claim. How can one get the respect of the world if one cannot even utter a sentence in English? Republic of China’s premier may get away with it because they are a super power but for a Malaysian living in a former colony of mother England, it is preposterous. Outrageous it may seems but this is the kind of idiots we have running the country. No wonder international watchdogs continue to mock us with their reports. We have ourselves to blame for this kind f stupidity that we are faced with.

Then there is our flipping Prime Minister announcing a formation of Judicial Appointment Commission that reports to him, all in the name of reform. What a load of rubbish this flopping minister is talking about? He might as well appoint the judges himself and this will save a hell lot of taxpayers’ money. A rose by any other name smells as sweet and equally, a shit smell as foul whichever way one put one’s nose in it and this faeces smell bloody awful coming from the highest person in the country. Bloody idiot!

There is this war against those cyclists that “ride for change” and the Chief of Police is keeping mum while his underground boys went on to threaten and to top it up torched their bikes and point fingers at arsonists from the general public. Since when have Malaysians embraced anarchism? This happens when everyone knows that the only people who dare to act in such a manner belong to the elite group of the police force. What kind of crap is this so called Chief of Police is giving us?

We are truly living in a challenging time. The real challenge is actually to keep our blood pressure down just going through our daily lives with our eyes open and witnessing all these horrendous acts of those we elect to run the country and those they in turn appoint to run civil service. It will not be long before we kick the bucket due to sheer weight of conscience on our heads.

Malaysia Boleh! Anything Boleh! This is indeed a Bolehland! I have no doubt at all!

troubadour

adressing needs

We always take for granted the things that we already have very much at our disposal. This is closely associated with our needs and how we respond to our ever changing needs. Maslow’s Theory of Needs proved this point clearly. Maslow depicts needs in the form of a pyramid and we constantly move upwards as we acquire our needs. We move to the next level the moment we have acquired certain needs and thus take for granted what we already earned.

I had this experience of losing something and only then realise that I took for granted so much of the thing that readily have access to. The internet!

Even though other countries have moved leaps and bounds when it comes to access to internet and the kind of speed that they are privileged to have, we so much lag behind that whenever a colleague from abroad experienced our line and cursed its sluggishness I felt like burying my head in the sand like ostriches do. Despite all this backwardness I embraced this technology and now cannot live without it. When I cannot access the internet for whatever reason be it technical or financial, i.e. my company fail to settle the bill for example I feel like screaming on top of my voice. Then I realise how have taken this little luxury for granted and how much my life depends on this communication media and most importantly my resource centre, readily available at a push of a button.

Today is Sunday and I woke up early in the morning as I was awakened by sound of wild swine scouring my backyard looking for worms. This is what these pigs are after I was told, crawly creepy worms. As I live in some kind of a country home, wild pigs are common sight late at night or before dawn. Up and about so early in the morning, I had the time to write and when I want to access the internet, I could not do so. We have become creatures that depend so much on machines. Now the machines rule us.

Back to the subject at hand, one will only miss something when one loses whatever that one use to have and taken for granted all along, lost of loved ones for example. We long for our loved ones only when we lose them or been away from them. This kind of feelings is human after all. Otherwise Maslow would not have studied and discovered as such.

Humans’ pursuit of wealth is also something that demonstrates the working of this Theory of Needs. It is never enough. The reason for this, according to theory, is that move to the next level of needs having acquired the kind of wealth that we already achieved. Crude it may be but this is what we generally termed as greed. Our greed takes over every time we entertain our love for worldly objects and ignore our inner feelings of gratefulness of what we possess.

How do we then deal with our greed? Or better still how do we train ourselves not to be greedy and to be grateful at all times for the worldly possessions that we have and the health and our serene state of mind. There is no substitute for peace of mind and there is a way of getting rid of greed inside us.

The Prophet taught us to inculcate this attitude of gratefulness. This can be achieved by always comparing ourselves with the less fortunate or those of lesser wealth when it comes to worldly possessions and as for doing good deeds the Prophet stressed that when it comes to good deeds, we must always compare ourselves with those who are more charitable, humble and pious and knowledgeable when it comes to pursuit of knowledge.

There is no end if we continue to pursue mere material wealth but on the other hand knowledge is power and knowledge is “having it to apply it”.

Kuala Lumpur, on a gloomy Sunday and drizzling all day long!

troubadour

old horse learning new tricks

One is never too old to learn. It is a fact yet many choose to die ignorant than to learn even on a deathbed. If we care to look around us, we can see that those who continue to work and sharpen their brain as they age will actually live a long, happy, rewarding and relatively free from diseases. And it also goes to prove that manipulative persons live a hell lot longer. This is perhaps the reason for the phrase “only the good die young”! Of course we do not consider those that kick the bucket because of self inflicted injury or get knocked down by the garbage truck. Those that self inflict themselves with three to four packs of cigarette also it seems manage to live beyond our expectation. For those who wish to join the ranks of those that live a healthy long life, let us look at one particular figure that outlive his expected average lifespan and continue to run havoc or create much mayhem. The infamous Tun Mahathir! Having ruled Malaysia unjustly for most of the latter part of his premiership, the old man keep on coming back to haunt us with his ranting, tantrum and a host of tangential issues. What I hate most was his demolition of the Multimedia Super Corridor, MSC. He and his close advisors came up with a brilliant idea of communication media industry to replace industrialisation and privatisation policy, only to destroy it later when he went after his then anointed deputy premier. And now, when we are all caught up in this stupid political crisis ever since that incident, he is back in the centre stage pointing in all directions except towards him for all the blames. In fact he never leave Malaysian political scene. His sabbatical leave was only when he was on the operating table for a coronary bypass. Even that could not stop the man. He gave a press conference barely hours after operation. What is it that drives this ancient of a man that continues to dominate our space and prolonging his long age? One thing for sure, he has this strong desire to cover up all his wrongdoings and misadventures. Secondly, he truly believes that it is him and him alone that can do the job, or in other words, he is one hell of a conceited bugger. How about lying? Studying the old man you will note that he lies a lot and I mean truck loads of those almost on a daily basis. He will not just lie, but lie with a straight face and shove it to us as if we are morons. You will not see him giving a whimper over what he has done. He just tells lies with a bloody straight poker face. Set up a blog, write and taunt the public with your undying ideas? Yeah, that was what he did and he continues to insult us almost daily. Self fulfilling prophecy Theory goes to say that if we truly believe that we are good, then we will be good. As for Tun, he honestly believe that he is right and if goes by the theory, then he is right! Does this make any sense? Perhaps it does. That is why he is right! (Not anymore though as his one time powerful media is now under the command of his protégé, the man dubbed C4). So, in conclusion, be a conceited bastard, cover up as much as possible all the mess that is created, lie and bullshit, always believe that you are right and surely then you will have a long and healthy life. Forget all other people’s recommendations such as taking vitamin supplements and eat healthy stuffs that contain a lot of anti-oxidants. It is very true then that only the good die young and even an old horse continue to learn new tricks. And if you are approaching your average lifespan, get cracking. Be a real conceited bastard and try a thing or two that we learn today. Do not be overly worried if people call you a bastard because you know that you will live a long-long life. Worry about hellfire when you get there. By then it will be too late anyway. troubadour Penang, the Pearl of the Orient.

we shall till at will

A fertile land is ripe for planting. It is also haven for weeds and bushes. This lush land that we toil has become a sanctuary for insects and birds and animals of various kinds. Little that we suspect that amongst God’s creatures there are those that harbour ills towards us. These are villains and foes for human kinds. Their existence is devoted to destroying the very fragments of human society. This alternative coalition to the ruling federal government is comparable to a fertile land, fully covered with lushes of greens and full of life. While many seek refuge in this coalition, many are still sceptical of what it stands for and what it is capable of. That is what sceptics are good at, wonder in awe and disbelief. They will prove to be a nuisance in times of needs. This coalition has blossomed into something that allows many to hang hopes on. This then is the envy of foes, perching nearby. When it threatens the very existence of the enemies, it is an acknowledgement of its superiority. It is time that this sworn enemy be attacked ferociously and destroyed beyond recognition and banish from the face of the earth. Coalition comprising of three unlikely parties, seemingly poles apart but proven to be a viable alternative when they share a common goal, a goal to have a country governed in a just and transparent manner, and free of corruptions and devoid of hatred. But when differences are ironed out and common interests promoted and unity is achieved, they awaken the enemy from their deep slumber. Counter attacks have started. The enemies have sown seeds of discords on this very fertile land we cultivate. The seeds germinate in abundance, blossoming with flowers and transforming into fruits filled with venoms and poisons and ripens in the sun. Some harvest this fruits bountifully. They look scrumptious and hide their poisons well. Many took a bite. The poisons rush throughout the blood vessels, choking in an instant but we die so very slowly. Years belie, we live the lie “multi-racial society, living in harmony”. Racial cards maintain the divide. We have been ruled by divide, half a century of division by fostering suspicion. We remain divided and though attempts at uniting us are successful, the unity is very fragile. While it is very difficult to foster genuine unity, it is incumbent upon us to forge close working relationship so that we begin to understand each other’s fear and shortcomings. It is through continuous interactions that we are able to understand each other, empathise and appreciates that we are all human and that vast majority of us wants the best for us, our children, their children and generations yet to come. We must work hard towards maintaining this relationship and not to let us be swayed away from our goal. We have a divine objective of seeing all men live in peace and harmony, true to the command of The Supreme Being. Cultivate goodness and weed out the bad. We owe it as much to our future generations to inherit a nation truly united, rich in culture and full of diversity. And true to the words of a troubadour, “The fields lie fallow, whatever ye sow so shall ye reap! This ground we hallow is ours to tend but not to keep”. troubadour On a rainy day Monday Kuala Lumpur

internet is the mainstream media

A lot has changed in Malaysia. Traditional thought and belief that a government knows best what is good for its people is gone. A bit too late for Malaysia but it is better late than never. While other democracies flourish, Malaysia remains backward in term of discharging her duties towards the citizens. People were made fools by those in power and for now at least there is hope. This is evident in events prior to the March 2008 general election. For once a party that rule the country for half a century conceded that there is a more powerful medium of reaching to the people, the internet, and people for once chose not to let absolute power continues it corruption of basic rights of citizen to voice discontentment and take fate in their own hands. In a world where democracy continues to be shoved forward for the masses to swallow, many find it hard to ignore that this western style democracy is firm in the hands of the haves and not the haves not. Money still rules but for now democracy is the only acceptable system that is touted as the answer to the world’s turmoil, albeit this shortcoming. Money in turn allows aspirants to buy access to the second “M”, machinery that will see to it that it will mobilise forces to fight the enemies and work days and nights for its candidates. In this information era, the third and final ingredient to propagate ideology is of course access to media. Traditional media has been overshadowed with the advent of the internet. And in case of Malaysian politics, the internet has become the mainstream media. This is the main reason on the part of the archaic ruling party of Malaysia to scramble madly towards acquiring this coveted media. It has this notion that everything can be bought at the right price. Attempts are made at rounding up this coalition of internet writers. Little that these unscrupulous lots comprehend that this coalition exist because of a common cause of propagating reforms, fight for injustices and promotes transparency and good governance on the part of government that are missing components of civil societies. A few falls into traps set by these shameless lots. As with any struggle for that matter, there will be those who succumb to pressure or simply not committed enough to usher into a new dawn of information freedom. And there are those who realise that it is virtually impossible to buy into internet portals that carry credible news and commentaries choose to get themselves involved in setting up portals that do their bidding for them. In an era where free expressions thrives and prospers, websites that do not go along a mainstream of political freedom fall like monsoon rain or disappear into oblivion the minute it goes on cyber space. Enter a jungle where the only rule that applies is the namesake law. In this dense jungle the game played by these scumbags is the one with no rule. Those that we cannot conquer, we will imprison with fear. Those that have the courage to fight, we will break with draconian rules and oppressive laws. Will this curtail struggle for freedom? Recent blunder of internet censorship and disruption by the Malaysian government proved to be costly and self serving. But as with other repressive regimes, this budding regime learns very little. Persecution against dissents will continue even though this will serve only to bring destruction to all. But it only goes to prove that the internet media can no longer be ignored and as for battle ground of the future, these internet wars are wars of the future. troubadour

Kuala Lumpur

islamic movement / harakah islamiah

Ahhh.. They bite the SB bait. The SB that set up the site on Kumpulan Erdogan must be laughing mad and at the same time languishing in sheer satisfaction. Time and again they prove themselves to be geniuses. In the first place there is no Erdogan Team at all. The SB lot studied the success of Turkish “Islamists” methodology. Not only Malaysian SB, even the CIA and Mossad marvel at Turkish approach to propagating Islamic rule. It was brilliant. Simply outstanding the way the whole Turkish team operates. Not many people are aware that this Turkish group is the product of true Islamic teachings, the way of the Muslim Brotherhood or “Ikhwanul Muslimin” pioneered by Hassan AlBanna in Egypt. In Malaysia, these true Muslim fundamentalists are all in PAS. That is why UMNO and its subversive machineries the SB unit of the police force are afraid of. Their mentor, CIA and Mossad taught them so. They will wage war at PAS at all costs. They truly believe that with PAS gaining a lot of ground politically in Malaysia, it spells trouble for them. In actual fact, PAS success in becoming mainstream party or any Islamic movement whatsoever is a “threat” to the Jewish state, Israel. This so called threat is a fringe of their imagination. True Islamic parties will oppose crazy Jewish propaganda of enlarging their territory at the expense of other people, be it Muslim or Christians. This has nothing to do with religion but rather it is actually a crime against humanity. Turkish “Islamists’” party did so well that their method becomes a blueprint for others to emulate. They truly move according to the law. Turkey is very secular and yet the so called Islamists manage to come to power in a lawful manner and continue to respect the law and abide by the very law that was enacted when they embrace secularism. However, there is a reason that many simply fail to notice. Their success comes after a long period of education. The party follows steps laid down by the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt then as to how to build strong and long lasting Islamic movement. PAS in all its existence tried very hard to do this. Their constitution is an exact copy of the Muslim Brotherhood but their failure to strengthen their movement through this institution of education systematically is causing them to take a tumble time and again. What more with assault from the SB unit through subversive work and immense infiltration deep inside the Islamic party. We will witness time and again these deep agents shoot themselves in the foot. For keen observers, this is too obvious but then the one that cast the first stone normally disappears and situation is quickly seized by spin doctors that ignite it into such a frenzy and euphoria that everybody is lost in the confusion and objective of demonising a particular entity or movement becomes a real success. Fifty years is half a century. It is a very long time for a political party to remain in power. Such a grip onto power give rise to massive resources both manpower, institutions and instruments to not only maintain power base but enlarging it to such an extent that it is virtually unshakeable and what we can only hope is that their success will breed their own downfall as their members engage in excesses and for get the very reason of their existence in the first place. As other empires that perish before, UMNO/BN will follow the same route. We are seeing it happening already. They coined the term money politics as opposed to the right and internationally accepted terminology of an act of bribery as corruption. Let them taste their intoxicating savouries. PAS is still caught in this time capsule. They engage in infighting and this is precisely what the enemy wants. They must quickly wake up and be back on track. It is the quality of its members that will determine their success. Numbers delude you into believing that you are mighty. Early Muslims succeed not because of numbers but because of the level of commitment and quality of its people. So, if you truly believe that there is this Erdogan Team, they will appear in droves. Perception is by the way, a reality.

dimwits at the gates

Listening to or reading statements made by ministers these days just simply spoil my day. I would cringe in anger and if I am alone driving I would be screaming mad. That idiot Hamid Albar’s statement on police practicing no double standard was one such statement. Bloody stupid moron! Whenever there is an opposition leader making some “incriminating” remarks, he is summoned to the police station for the police to record his statement but when an UMNO or BN man make “seditious” statement, the police goes to his house to record a statement. If this is not double standard, it must be psychopathic rule of this ugly home minister. Looking at those in power in UMNO now and will be our “tuan” leading the nation to ruin, you will notice a bunch of idiots. Birds of the same feather flock together. It is understandable that they behave the way they do. They mix among themselves and when a bunch of morons sharing their thought, it was a real stupid mayhem. They are so daft and the only thing that they care is money and women. If you are to do a thesis on this species, you will discover that inbreeding is really creating these unique characteristics of men-beasts. We have come full circle as far as this lot is concerned. With the exception of the late Tunku, other former PMs inbreeding programmes give rise to a number of progeny, and all without exception inherit this dim-witted thick skull moronic features and behaviours. Just look at Najibultantuya, the moment he opens his mouth, you smell foul scandals from a mile away. Even though the softie Lower Education Minister is quiet these days, you have to agree that he is one daft offspring, yet another product of years of inbreeding process. How about the other bald-headed fool, the third son of the longest serving elected dictator? His stereotype remarks that echo his father’s past only goes to prove that this sibling is also a tainted one. He brought disgrace to his Ansara group, except for a few that worship the ground he walks. He distanced himself from “money politics” (read corruption) and spoke of its grave danger but of course this was easy as it was someone else that was doing the bidding for him. He walked tall but Tun “Dime” hurried from behind with planeloads of crispy greenbacks. The Albar’s may not be that famous but the late Jaafar of the Albar’s will turn in his grave if he were to witness his son’s senseless ranting. Pundit says, nepotism is killing the industry. If indeed politics can be considered an industry by virtue of it being process oriented with input and output, it too will be destroyed beyond recognition. Unfortunate it seems that this politics manifests itself as a country and a country is made up of people and its obliteration is an annihilation of Malaysian citizens. Goodnight Malaysia, your days are numbered. troubadour

will to survive

What does it take for one to depart away from old, obsolete and incorrect practices of yesteryears? The answer is simply humility. Looking at the ills we are facing, it is apparent that we are good at installing an excellent system but fail to equip our people with the right tools and techniques to perform our tasks. What constitute the right tools? Right tools and techniques are those that proven effective and systematic. Why is it so difficult for people to make the change? It is this fear of the unknown that kept people away from change, even it is actually for the better. People always have this tendency to move, as electricity does, along path of least resistance. Understanding this and myriads of other issues will enable us to lead and manage change. How about leadership? What constitute a good leadership? Leadership does play an important role in instituting a change. Generally there must an acceptance as to the leadership in question. If people readily accept the leader, then it is relatively easier to lead and manage change. Acceptance comes with a meeting of perception and expectation with reality. Generally a good leader is perceived to possess many positive attributes, charisma and strong sense of commitment may top the list. Many leadership gurus agree that a good leader always own up a failure and when success comes all the people gladly proclaim that they did it themselves. A true leader will be forgotten in euphoria of success and also when things return to a state of relative calm and harmony. He will only be remembered and missed when turmoil comes in and everything is in a state of disarray. That is looking at a company level. As always, event happening in a company is similar to going-on in our country. CEO of a company is comparable to a CEO or premier of a country. We Malaysians have been sitting (ducks) for many years. We go about doing our chores with little regards to the direction the country is heading to. It is understandable. We are a selfish lot. We pretended not to notice a neighbour coming out his door going to work daily, all in the name of maintaining our privacy. A little nod would suffice but we choose to look elsewhere. This is a shameful practice. It is time we make the change. Be a caring society. For all you know, your neighbour has not had a single meal for the day. He could be facing tons of problems and his world could be tumbling down. Make that first move. A little humility goes a long way. Look for that will to change. Open up your eyes to the sorry little state we are in today. Crimes abundance, chaos everywhere, innocents imprisoned, laws trampled on, kangaroo courts mushrooming, honour disrespected, truth silenced and all of us have been taken as fools. Where is the great leader? Will he come forward and lead. Armed us the tools and the techniques! Let us march together towards greatness. Or have we lost our faith and continue to wallow in our disgrace. This time around it is going to be a merciless wave. Rich or poor, able or disable, young and old, we will face a depression never seen before in the history of mankind. We may as some say approaching doomsday. Whatever the fault is, it does not matter as this depression will get the best of us. We will suffer and this will continue to generation yet to come. When justice means nothing anymore to us and good governance is a mere slogan and economic recession to top it all, we are but at His mercy and compassion. Raving of a troubadour! Pattaya, the sin city: November 25th, 2008

gravy train

I had the (unfortunate) opportunity to meet with a NEW “Razak Baginda” (NRB) recently in Thailand. At that point in time, the OLD Razak Baginda (ORB) (Yes, the one that got the knack to say publicly today that his one time master and his wretched wife never knew his one time lover and that bloggers are making the accusation worse!) was still under prison authority’s custody. NRB was apparently despatched to Thailand by the premier-in-waiting (PIW) to verify certain matters relating to a company that was bidding for a sizeable contract from Malaysian government. He was to ascertain whether the company was worthy of its getting such a lucrative contract. The existence of this NRB is indeed alarming but not a surprise. I was sure someone would assume the role as there is much to do. How else could lucrative contracts be awarded to the right parties that fit these daylight robbers’ profiles of brother-cronies then if not using this shameful approach? NRB is relatively young and a true blue UMNO man. He spoke with much authority and his constant blind admiration for the PIW reflects his overdependence on the PIW for his needs. Like ORB, NRB is deeply involved in “Defence Equipment Supplies”. He carried a consultancy business card, milking government-owned companies under the pretext of helping these companies to break into the world market. These companies provide a fat income base for NRB and the likes of him to live and travel the world comfortable at the expense of other fitting “consultants”. In the first place, these NRG and the likes are the very people that convinced unsuspecting but corroborative partners to aim high, think big and be optimistic in conquering the world. They are still living in a dream world created by the previous premier, the champion of privatisation. Majority of the Malaysians were caught in this euphoria only to wake up and found that their world come tumbling down. They lost everything including their sanity. And when things begin to subside and order is about to return, off they go to start another madness. This NRB is a classic example of how things are done in UMNO. It goes to demonstrate how difficult it is to bring down a long-established institution despite it being corrupted to the core. When will this all end? As long as we have the current government ruling at federal level, we can expect the same things continue to happen and the masses be ignored a taken on a ride. There is however some change happening in the country. With a stronger presence of oppositions in parliament, we are witnessing a number of moves by the government are being questioned and scrutinised by them. This slows down these robbers activity and many are crying. Used to lavish lifestyles, they suddenly finds that their pockets are thinning and their coffers are drying at such a fast rate. A friend put it quite interestingly to me that “the gravy train is simply not moving and when it moves, too few are getting a fat meal of it”. This causes a real panic. Rome is about to fall. Generators of income are not running. The robbers are now running. Helter-skelter it seems. Can this provide an impetus for a revolution? Not quite it seems. As long as people can still scrounge around and still get their three times a day meals, we would see more and more NRB being borne out of this sordid state of affairs and we continue to ride this roller coater heading for nowhere. Goodnight Malaysia, you are but a pain in my one that lives under (read it with a rhyme mate)! Kuala Lumpur, November 20th, 2008 – it’s raining cats and downing dogs!

malaysia my second home?

It is a vast continent. Population is barely 21 million. Premier Kevin Rudd is the Labour government's head. He is approaching his first full year in office and even though clamouring for continuation of a Howard’s American alliance policy he is actually moving tangentially away from his predecessor’s direction. His policy is more Obama’s than Bush’s and prefers to pull out of Iraq quietly. Australia began to reform even before Rudd’s appearance in her political scenery. The country continues to prosper. Of course the credit crunch is affecting Australia as well but the country’s foundation is solid and it will be able to weather the storm fairly easily. Shortage of manpower to support the nation’s growth is addressed with proactive emigration policy that is fluid and strategically addressed current needs. It started with professionals from strategic discipline and permeates through to blue collar manpower. A caring government is elected and this greatly helps nation building. This is in complete contrast to selfish and self serving governments that are elected in countries where voices of the people are muffled and truth concealed. Australia embraces globalisation. Government steers the economy up the value chain. The country is strategically positioned to enable it to compete globally. The people have been made to go through an education system that sees through colours and creeds. Meritocracy sees to it that equal rights breed citizens that fuel the nation’s growth. Intellectual properties are abundance. Innovations are apparent in all areas of government and economy and this propels progress. The government is managing the economy very well instead of engaging in destructive politics. Relationship between public and private sectors is a hand-in-glove and unassailable. Supports and incentives are poured into the private sector by the government. Niche businesses sprout throughout the nation. Press freedom is evident. This gives birth to a civil society, generally devoid of hatred and discord. Although one may not be fully agree with western democracy practiced here, one has to admit that it is far superior to distorted democracy being promulgated in countries like Malaysia. Environmental protection policies are well in place. Awareness level is very high. Citizens chip-in in making Australia greener and ecologically balanced and safe. How about healthcare then? Well, a friend that migrated recently put up his thumb and proudly boasts his healthcare programme and benefits that is cheap and first class. Social benefits make one cringes as they make Malaysia look like hell on earth. So much for paying taxes regularly without fail only to be short-changed by the morons that rule the country! One wonders also with a twin tax system of conventional system and the Islamic “Shariah” system of zakat (alms) prevalent in Malaysia and yet hardcore poor are increasing in number and majority are still living in poverty. Providing shelter is perhaps another area where Australia scores a high point in our analysis. Housing for the people is given top priority and couple with environment conservation plan people are living in harmony with other God’s creatures in peace and harmony. Given a political turmoil and economic uncertainty in Malaysia, one is tempted to seriously consider Australia as a home and make Malaysia on the other hand a second home. Not a bad proposition indeed considering Malaysia is inept in taking care of her citizens and chooses to lead them astray. The significant other’s suggestion for one to seriously look at possibility of migrating for good does not sound that foreign now. Goodnight Malaysia or maybe it is a goodbye soon, now that you push me to the brink of poverty and I am slowly loosing my sanity. troubadour A chilly summer in Melbourne and tired from combing it in an attempt to “spot the Aussie”! Aussie Spotting, a new favourite past time since train spotting is no longer fashionable! (Bruce Dickinson, eat your heart out!) November 14, 2008.

quality of a party worthy of supremacy

A product must be of certain level of quality to be able to command a premium pricing. While quality itself is subjective, benchmarking will enable subjective matters be made objective and considering other competing products’ attributes, one can ascertain quality level of a product to a reasonable level of confidence. Effort can then be directed towards perfecting the product to beat competition. Perceived values are responsible for a product to be sought after. Values generally refer to functional value and aesthetic value. Functional value is the primary function of a product. A policemen’s truncheon or baton must be able to perform its primary or main function of knocking someone head senseless with. If the “copper” cannot use his baton to clobber someone, the weapon is said to be failing to perform its primary function. It then has no value. Having been able to be used to bash someone alone is not good enough. The weapon must have other values such as aesthetically pleasant enough to make a cop wants to own it. To make it more appealing, it has to be shiny yet sufficiently provocative to scare a potential demonstrator from staging a candlelight vigil while singing the national anthem. These secondary values must be able to entice intended user or buyer to wanting to own it and more so as far as a sadistic law enforcer is concerned as he cannot wait to break this Hindraf Makkal Sakhti dissent. A political party is comparable to any product in the market. A good quality political party must perform its primary function of helping the people and for those who are real “user” will look at other “aesthetic” functions such as sound constitution, noble causes and objectives, leaders’ charisma and members’ conduct as secondary values that a progressive party must have. Looking from viewpoint of value, one is able to see the kind of political party that appeal to the masses. Understanding values will enable one to look at a party he belongs to and help in restructuring his party to draw support and increase membership. If a political party is ancient, outdated and antediluvian, it will not be long before it meets its end. A political party must have a political will to depart from the past and move with time. UMNO as a political party is no longer able to perform its primary function of helping the people. It attempts to continue to hoodwink people into believing that it has the peoples’ welfare at the top of its agenda whereas in actual fact it just uses the people to legitimise its hold onto power. How about secondary values? These are virtually non-existent. UMNO constitution puts Malay agenda at the pinnacle of its list of major plans. UMNO is simply a racist party based on this agenda alone. It does not comprehend the fact that racial divides that separate the various races and ethnics in Malaysia has collapse. A new era has emerged where there is a genuine understanding and tolerance between these different groups. In other words, political landscape has changed and UMNO failed to understand let alone react to this transformation. This is what happens to the majority of the lower rank UMNO members. The leaders realise this change but as they themselves are the main problems, solving their problems would be at their expense. Members leave in droves. Exodus began in 1998, trickling in numbers henceforth but gained momentum again as the country moves towards the last (March 08) general election. This trend will continue and we will see a demise of once a formidable political party that has people at its heart. It is sad for those who truly subscribe to its ideology and continue to hang onto it but it is sadder still to those who have been betrayed. Nothing is everlasting and so is UMNO in this new world devoid of racial hatred. troubadour Rainy day Thursday, Melbourne! 141108

doomsday dogma

Ranting of ex-PM Mahathir on income of Zaid Ibrahim is uncalled for. He insinuated that Zaid’s income was a lot higher than that of a minister. He added in jest that the lawyer’s success was a result of government’s positive discrimination policy that favours Malay businessman and the lawyer’s cry for an end to this policy is hypocritical. He accused that the lawyer amassed wealth quietly and had the cheek to demand the lawyer to prove otherwise. An outburst of this nature goes to show the kind person he really is and his tilted sense of justice. The burden of proof is on the accuser. This explains turmoil of his tenure is largely attributable to him and him alone. Being the CEO of the nation, he was responsible for the mess the country and its people are in now. After all this mayhem, he continues to stoop lower and lower in his bid to exert further influence on people who are perceived to be in power now. He simply has to be the man behind this power and all must succumb to his wishes and dance to his tune. Yes his presence and regular statements do colour the Malaysian political scene but his views are as archaic and irrelevant as the man himself. Press’s persistence in seeking his views, observations and scrutiny on a host of subjects is diabolical and uncalled for. This must stop. It may be hilarious to some seeing the old man making fools of himself but it is sending a wrong signal to the public that his views matters and that we look up to him for inspirations. His opinions do not matter anymore. He is the last of the dinosaur. We learnt a great deal from fossils of other Tyrannasauraus rexes and we do not need a live one to shed anymore light as to their yesteryears’ tyranny. History is best left as it is. Abolishing the positive discrimination policy of New/National Economic Policy (NEP) would be in the best interests of the nation and the Malays. Adverse effects of policy far outweigh benefit in the form of a considerable number of Malay intellectuals that the policy generated. Disparity of wealth between ethnics was largely attributable to this policy when cronies accumulate immense wealth at the expense of masses. The rich gets fatter and the poor scrounges for to get decent daily meal. Majority of the Malays were duped into believing that without such a policy they would perish, whereas, it is the policy itself that curtail their enterprising spirit. Malays are sensitive when it comes to religion but they themselves fail to understand let alone practice their religion. This is very true in the case of the Muslim members of UMNO that make up the bulk of the racial-based party. If one cares to observe their leaders conduct, one will glaringly notice that their Islamic practices are purely ceremonial. Leaders pray only when they officiates opening of mosques. Going by teaching of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), a person who fails to uphold pillars of Islam is a “faseeq” which literally means “in a constant state of sin”. A “faseeq” loses a number of rights in Islam, such as becoming a person that gives away a bride in wedding vow. It is also advisable for a believer to avoid taking a “faseeg” as a friend. A person who is in a constant state of sin is close to becoming a “munafeeq” or loosely translated as a hypocrite. A hypocrite can easily be identified by having three dominant hypocritical characters namely a person that tells a lie whenever he speaks, break promises and betray a trust placed upon him. Sounds very familiar indeed if one cares to observe leaders that govern the country now! Leaders that we have up there holding the power are those that tell blatant lies, go against their promises of bringing prosperity to the nation and betray every little trust placed by electorates upon them. Have we not witnessed the same things in Mahathir’s era? Elected (by cheating and coercion means) representatives hurried to enrich themselves the moment they got into position of power, casting aside their (fake) manifestos. NEP was used as a tool to achieve this feat. How can we simply forget this and continue to adore him. At least that is what it looks like when we keep on asking for his opinions on current issues. Badawi and Mahathir are both leaders that forsake people and plundered and looted nation’s wealth to be divided amongst them and their cronies. The worst part of all this fiasco is that they continue to line up crooks to ascend into power to replace them. With the exception of the late Tunku, we will be seeing nepotistic crowning of Najib, Hishamuddin, Mukhris, and possibly also Khairy. If we want to put a stop to this charade we must resist this grand design with all of our might. Nepotism, as wise man used to say “is killing the industry”. A nation is just like an enterprise. Nation will fall and turn to ruin if this is allowed to happen. But then again this is Bolehland and generally most Malays have forsaken their religion. They will continue to demand to continue to hold onto their crutches, move with a limp, heads full of wishes, throw tantrums at others, ransacking the nation’s wealth and put in place a succession plan that will see to it that the cycle will continue. In every civilisation, there is a seed of its own destruction, meticulously nurtured and immaculately programmed to reach for doom. Goodnight Malaysia, the land of doomsday dogma. troubadour In the heat of an early summer night in Melbourne, November 13 2008!

wicked ways

Will there be new explosions? Explosive de-facto PM seems to be able to consolidate his position now that coward nomadic PM has announced demise date of his short-lived dull career. Will the conceited son-in-law (SIL) gives any challenge at all to the hot-headed former C4 peddler? The smug SIL muffled a statement signalling his subservient future direction. This submissive and compliant behaviour gesticulates that he acknowledges inferior situation he is in. His downfall looms for all to see. He knows that if he so much as croaks a little bit loud, an end may come sooner. He realizes that he has to gain ground to prolong his position at the apex of the idiotic youth movement UMNO. Cold war and counter espionage will continue to be fought between the two. One is close to reaching pinnacle of his career and the other is trying to salvage his dream of leading the nation one tragic day, the day when greater injustice would befall its inhabitants. While these two selfish politicians are waging war at each other and outwitting one another, the nation continues to slip into oblivion. Who is likely to win? Bookies are calculating the odds. The DAP Secretary General predicted that the SIL would not last beyond first quarter of 2009. This sends chills to the big-headed youth and similarly low temperature wind is blowing towards his cronies’ colony. The seemingly meek future PM will go for the kill. He would be overwhelmed with too many problems if this pompous SIL is left standing. This arrogant juvenile politician is like an irritating and itchy wart on his butt. It is and will continue to be a real pain in the arse. Even though the egotistical novice is trying to portray that he is not treacherous, his every move is being scrutinised. His every move is being blocked. He is suffocating and gasping for air. His every move halted by his increasingly powerful enemy. He is a fly waiting to be smacked by a giant palm of a hand. He knows he is a sitting duck and he is aware that he is at the elderly bomber’s mercy. The chief detonator is merciless. However, to swat this irrelevant fly would be strategically incorrect, despite it being politically accurate. He would be allowed to linger a while and only slapped when the itch gets unbearable. Will our life get better now that this grenade of a man gets more and more powerful? Will we be able to see a better Malaysia post baton handover? What is certain is that democratic rights would be further eroded. Given the state of the police, we will continue to be a police state. Enter the village-idiot future PM. The touchy PM-in-waiting proved to be a coward when it comes to eye-to-eye debate. He displayed for all to witness his sheer ignorance of parliamentary procedures. This is a clear sign as to direction this God forsaken country is heading towards. The country is becoming increasingly desolated with this kind of politician openly displaying their utter disregard for rules and regulations. Tourists may ignore this kind of ignorance but those who have much to lose will think twice before making a move to invest in the country. Opposition needs to put in a sound strategy. A person’s strengths are normally his weaknesses. His impatience to wrest control country from the embattled PM will be his major weakness. In his haste to grip onto power he will trip and fall. All we need to do then is to open the gate to an empty city and remove the fire from under the cauldron. Oh how I love these devious and deceitful ways. Goodnight Malaysia, truly (standing at the end of the long line of) Asia. troubadour Melbourne, November 11 2008.

keynesian versus najibian economy - we are doomed

Toxicologist turned economist has spoken. Here is a piece by Dr. Dzulkefli Ahmad, the Director of PAS Research Centre! Truly magnificent! My ranting earlier this morning is exactly this! Being a bloody engineer and a layman economist, I may have put my reading quite differently but along the same line.

Yes, we are in a real deep shit going by the way the economy is being handled by our economist (my ass!) finance minister!

I refrained from posting other people’s writings thus far but I have to make this an exception. Thank you Kuala Selangor for a brilliant piece here!

Excerpt from Malaysiakini:

Missing numbers in 'stimulus package' puzzling
Dzulkifly Ahmad Nov 5, 08 3:20pm
Analysis
MCPX
In what was Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's maiden speech as a Finance Minister, he has cast more doubts about his alleged or perceived ‘financial prowess' of being better than prime minister when it comes to managing the economy.

Hopes quickly evaporated midway through his delivery of his ‘stimulus package' to bolster the economy. It has nothing to do with his refusal to allow the Opposition Leader and MPs to interject during his delivery - an unprecedented move strangely condoned by the Speaker.

Firstly, quite unsolicited, he decided to take a pot-shot at the Pakatan Rakyat's budget - perhaps more accurately the Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim - by accusing that the Pakatan budget was "contractionary" as opposed to their "expansionary" one.

He cunningly reminded everyone, that the nation will be in greater trouble - like during the 97-98 financial crisis - if we were to pursue Pakatan's budget.

Najib is either clearly ignorant, which of course spells doom for this nation's future or simply misleading the House, which is worse, as his limited credibility will be further dented.

A budget is either ‘expansionary' if there is a deficit or ‘contractionary' if there is a surplus.
While the BN's 2009 budget poses a projected deficit of RM28.45 billions, the Pakatan's budget deficit stands at RM22.10 billions.

Both are deficit budgets, ergo expansionary budgets, period. A lesson in Economics 101 for our new finance minister.

The Pakatan package

On Oct 23 Pakatan presented a budget strategy in response to addressing financial uncertainties and restoring confidence in our economy.

While clearly expansionary and anti-cyclical - in order to weather the ‘slowing down of growth with concurrent inflationary pressure on goods and services with the consequent massive unemployment' (ie stagflation) - our budget addresses where and how the deficit is to be funded and sustained.

Going by the current global prices of crude oil (CO) and crude palm oil (CPO), even a conservative estimate will show the present BN budget's revenue projection having a RM18 billion shortfall.

CIMB's Research House estimated that for every US$10/barrel reduction in price (Tapis crude oil), we'll lose RM4 billion a year. For every RM100/tonne of CPO, we will be robbed of RM1.7 billion.

An estimated loss or reduction of revenue to the tune of RM18-25billions is to be anticipated.
Our approach was not just expansionary, it was prudent so that we maximise the ‘multiplier effects' in critical sectors critical sectors of quality housing, healthcare and education.

A ‘quality deficit' was intended, not speculative endeavours like injecting RM5 billion from Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) to shore up ‘undervalued companies' or delving into mega-projects - like underground cables, double-tracking railways or dubious military helicopter procurement.

Najib was glad to announce the RM7 billion saved from reduced fuel subsidies, yet side-stepping the spending spree with his ‘expansionary stimulus'.

Opposed to our projections or even CIMB's, Najib stated that the revenue drop would be only RM176.22 billion to RM168.73 billion - which is only a RM8 billion revenue loss.

Presumably the revenue reduction takes into account CO and CPO. Which does not add up.

Missing RM7 billion

Even with our conservative RM18 billion deduced by the RM7 billion saved in fuel subsidy reduction, a yawning RM11 billion is the revenue deficit.

He did not admit this out-right, but there was an indirect concession when he stated they were expecting a bigger deficit of 4.8 percent.

But behold, the finance minister foolhardily informs of another RM7 billion, which he claims is from the fuel subsidy. Mind-blowing.

The numbers do not jive, whichever way you look at them. This additional RM7 billion must either be from borrowing, leveraging or gearing - all dirty words from the US financial crisis.
It would have been better for Najib to admit that the money is to be borrowed from a source like EPF or that the government is raising bonds.

Yes, we may have a healthy national reserve of 37 percent of our GDP.
Yes, we may have low non-performing loans for the time being.
Yes, we may have a low foreign debt currently at RM187 billion with RM70 billion private debt. As of April 2008, this maybe 20 percent of the foreign reserve.

Pakatan may have to grudgingly admit that our national fundamentals are strong, even if they are not naturally trickling down to the rakyat - thanks to inflation and poor distributive justice.
But bear in mind that we have had 10 years of deficit budgets.

Irrespective of whose fiscal stimulus package is put it as a anti-cyclical measure - be it BN or Pakatan's - it has to be prudent and carried out productively.
Our bullishness may now be totally misplaced as party time has long expired for our finance minister.

The Eurocopters deal and a slew of mega-projects should have been voluntarily withdrawn a long time ago.

I doubt if you have any hindsight. Your recurring blindspot is extremely distressing and very worrying to say the least.

DR DZULKIFLY AHMAD is director PAS Research Centre and member of parliament for Kuala Selangor.

deeper shit

Najib (economist my ass!) finance minister asserted that EPF Valuecap loan is guaranteed by government! Yeah, great aint it? What a load of bollocks. He is talking cock again. The government has no moral right to guarantee the loan. The government itself lost it legitimacy to govern when it won the March 08 election via fraudulent means.

When the government lost its credibility, whatever they say is doubtful and always, and I repeat, always have ulterior motives and full of deceptions. The government will definitely guarantee the loan and when the time comes for Valuecap to pay the loan, time extension is given and then a further deliberation and additional roam and finally when all else fail, they will resort again to reaching into the same coffer and then other alternative coffers. This is the issue. Modus operandi is same and very predictable. It is the people again and again been taken for a ride.

The country is broke and these idiots are still running around looting again! What do we do? We are sitting on our butt watching the world go by and wonder why such a misfortune befalls us! What a sorry lot! It was this slightly over 40% of the population that voted these morons to get to rule us that get us into this mess. We must drum this fact into these 40% or so sleepy lot to wake up and see what is happening around them. Their own livelihood is at such a great risk and they are still dreaming of a white Christmas.

We have been saying that the budget needs a review. This “British-trained” economist is saying that it is not necessary to do so. He went to table RM7 Billion stimulus package to boost the economy. A budget will address income and if there is no bloody income, how on earth is he going to pay for all these sweet goodies? If an earlier budget was a deficit, read carefully, expenses is more than income and now almost half of the so called revenue is going to come from “oil revenue” that has dropped from almost USD100 to slightly above USD50 per barrel!

Let us see the goodies promised. Aha… our EPF contribution! He is assuming that he is going to get a boost from a-50% takers for a reduction of EPF contribution, giving him RM2.4 Billion. This additional income from the 3% reduction in EPF contribution will get you and me to spend it and hence we live happily ever after when collective additional RM2.4 Billion is circulating in the economy. This is coming from our pockets, not his bloody bank.

Then there is RM1.2 Billion “allocation” to construct affordable houses. This will definitely get screwed up by the cronies. They will get the projects, houses not completed and the cronies will have overseas vacations or most likely get villas in the South of France or both! We will be back to square one.

Next is the magic RM7 Billion figure coming from savings due to reduction in subsidy of petrol price! This is the mother of all bulls. The UMNO lots are going to have a real feast with this RM7 Billion. Shoddy roads will be built and newly repaired ceiling for schools and public buildings will collapse. Bridges will get washed away and public amenities get screwed up. Hail this greatest economist (my ass!) ever roamed the earth! Problems are opportunities in disguise. They will continue to skin us alive.

Goodnight Malaysia, just go wherever you bloody like to go.

longing to unwrap a special gift this coming boxing day

Ho ho ho ho… lo! here comes Santa Claus on a reindeer-sledge! It is going to be a white Christmas after all. Children singing carols, adults scrounging the cities for presents! Ah what a sight!

It is going to be a very merry Christmas.

RPK has spoken from behind solitary walls. Revolution it will be, evolution it will not be. Bonapartean it has to be, Darwinian it cannot be.

If bloggers community is awake and start to shake, the Police’s Special Branch will start putting a brake because the powers that be has too much at stake.

What is there for you and me to do? A lot! Let me suggest one or two points here.

One very important thing to do is to bombard the cyberspace with enormous information to educate the public at a maximum level as to the misdeeds of the UMNO/BN government. Those silent majority inside and outside the government must join this up-above (cyberspace underground) movement. They possess huge amount of information that exposes current federal government’s misdemeanour. It is time to share this government’s squalid affairs and bring them out into public domain.

Information stuck in cyberspace carries no meaning and serves no purpose. Information must reach target audience. We must collectively forward this information to our acquaintances. It is just at a click of a mouse button, to the entire our e-mailing list.

I remember vividly the 1998 reformation movement. The flame was kept alive, spirit held high through distribution of hard copies of vital information that influences and shapes peoples’ minds. Effort must be heightened towards printing hard copies of documents and distribute them wide and scatter.

Make effort to meet with and know our (PR) elected members of parliament. Knowing and understanding, sharing thoughts and working hand in hand in bringing out this change! The process will be very thought-provoking, challenging and intellectually rewarding.

Organising functions that have ample time for intelligent discourses would be another effective strategy. Effort must be enhanced towards projecting right image of people that will take over and govern this beloved country of ours from these ashes of ruin and devastated state.

Last but not least, let us not forget that it is the peoples that will lend their power towards making this initiative a success. With sacrifices, there are expectations on rewards. Peoples are expecting rewards for their efforts. We must be able to convince them that the rewards are worth waiting. These would be in the form of better security for the nation, education that transcends racial barriers, justice that is not blind and myopic, wealth in abundance for those who seek it and equal opportunity for all. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, “That this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedoms, and that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth”.

a sure thing?

Is there such thing as “a sure thing” I watched a movie way back 1985 titled as such. It was about a college kid who worshipped and longed to bed a girl of his dream. Throughout the movie he went on chasing this dream. At the end of it, he had the girl on the palm of his hand only consciously choosing not to bonk her instead. To digress a little, it had this George Benson’s (who?) song that had a line about the singer doing his best but his best was not good enough. A lovesick friend crooned this song his entire six months abroad idolising a girl he chased, only to lose her to another friend (He will cringe if he reads this piece!).

Back to current topic, Malaysia’s move to prop up the share market with an RM5 Billion “loan” from EPF was a stupid move and a futile effort. Opposition leader’s quip that 90% of that fund would swiftly flow out of the country was a sarcastic remark but nevertheless spot on. The fact that the first (economist my ass!) finance minister came up with this answer to the so called impending economic woes due to credit crunch in itself is beyond comprehension. He must have got his priority upside down and topsy-turvy. Not to mention that the British would curse like hell if he is bent on claiming he is a graduate economist from their prestigious university.

Valuecap Sdn Bhd saw the opportunity in the wake of the credit crunch, to kill two birds with one stone. These daylight robbers are getting out of dilemma of paying old loan by borrowing another almost an equal amount under the pretext of saving the nation from stock market loss as a result of capital flight. The old loan was in the first place obtained via issuance of bonds that are not able to be transacted or traded. EPF and other suckers were duped into buying these valueless bonds and continue to hold onto them and watching in vain as the papers transmogrify into junks quicker than the eyes can see.

Is Valuecap trying to redeem old bonds with this new loan? Or are they are using this loan for another (mis)adventure? Whichever way it goes, you and I are made fools in this game of political satire and comics in this social quagmire. Our hard earned monies are being thrown to the wind while these idiots continue to rule the country as they please.

Where are those champions of transparency and good governance and corruptions’ chief whip? He must have been wallowing in his massive collections both in cash and kind.

So the moral of the story in the opening paragraph above is that there is no such thing as a sure thing. But figuratively speaking, one thing for sure, all the money thrown in would go down the drain. The drain flows downstream to a collection point disguised as thrash-trap that hauls in freshly minted notes. One man’s loss is another man’s gain. The general public continues the rat race. It surely is a dog-eats-dog in this rat race. And as the late Freddy Mercury’s put it so accurately, it leaves you bleeding lying flat on your face.

And once again, goodnight Malaysia, wherever you may be and wherever you may wish to go.

what is this struggle all about?

For those who may wonder as to why we are making so much noise in this cyberspace, here is something that will enlighten you. There are two things that we seek to uphold namely justice and transparency and good governance.

Justice

Justice must be done. Universal concept of justice must be upheld. A person is innocent until proven guilty (in the court of law). The burden of proof is on the accuser. To err is human, to forgive, divine. A society is at fault if a subject is not cared for. Further, there has to be separation of powers between judiciary, legislators and executives. Judges must be selected by a commission and of highest integrity. To be fair and just is to put things in its rightful places.

Transparency and Good Governance

Uppermost in our struggle is to instil a system that is transparent and govern it well, and righteously. These words conjure little meaning if we are ignorant. Ignorant many would say therefore is bliss. Not knowing what to expect leaves us with no imagination at all.

This struggle first and fore most is about instituting a reform. Essentially this is about change, changing from a bad state to a better one. This change requires the right methodology for it to be effective and ends up well. Leading this change must be in a manner that will impact the masses. The general public must “buy” this argument before any change process can begin.

The reform that we are fighting for would begin with the two things above. This will ensure that other damages in our society can be reformed. These are education system, wealth distribution and financial systems, law enforcement, country’s security, foreign affairs, international trades, business system, communication system, housing, agriculture and sports and so on.

In short, the reason for reform is pure and simple. These systems have all been trampled on and raped by the current government, corrupted to the core and destroyed beyond recognition.

It is time for reform and to change the government before the wrath of the Almighty befall us because of our refusal to correct what is not right and install what is right.

The alternative is a painful one as God says that His land is expansive and no one should succumb to and continue to live under tyranny. It is a choice between fighting or get lost. Look like it is between the devil and deep blue sea? It is never a-too-late. Being a reformer meant more than race, meant more than pride. I rest my case.

bracing for difficult times ahead of us

It is going to be a grim outlook indeed. The American credit crunch as it is called is contagious. The fault lines apparently pass through Europe and are heading towards our shore. That is what the economists are saying. Our number one economist aka Najib Razak and his bunch of merry-men of lawmakers turned lawbreakers are saying otherwise. Malaysia’s economy is as solid as a rock. Funny though, secretly they are ransacking treasury for some leftover dough.

Will it hit us hard? Well, the extent depends very much on how fast we can instil measures to lessen the impact. If our response is fast enough, we may not have to resort to putting in money into the vacuum created by defective financial system of the IMF the world subscribed to.

Financial institutions’ penchants for creating innovative products that has subjective values and widely distribute them further increase their risks. As these products are not inside the balance sheet of the financial institutions, we are not able to detect them. We do not know who is badly exposed and by how much and who is credit-worthy and who is not. The flow of funds between banks stop as money market respond by freezing credits. Financial system becomes totally without credibility. People will chose to hold onto their money instead of dealing with banks. Governments scramble to guarantee savings to prevent massive withdrawal.

A new system has to be founded and that would mean a total reconstruction of existing financial system. Not an easy feat to achieve.

Already we are seeing prices of commodities, steels and other raw materials and oil come spiralling down. Cost of manufactured goods would be lower but demand falls a lot faster and hence recession sets in.

When we, a general public are grappling with these complex issues, we will be at a loss and require a caring, competent and responsible government to see us through these difficult times. But in our case, when our pilot and co-pilot are engaged in a power struggle, the country is running on auto-pilot en-route Bora-Bora, a sunny carefree holiday destination.

We are seeing a panic move by the finance minister and proposed for a propping up of the share market with a view of saving a few companies. This is a classic piecemeal solution that is devoid of aggregate effort and highly likely to be flawed.

Let us for God’s sake forget our differences and sit down together on a discussion table to finding solutions to these conundrums. We have to get passed this self-denial and look again at our budget and the country’s financial planning. A revisit is crucial in response to an already changing circumstance and new playing field. We must act fast enough and brace ourselves for an arduous spell ahead of us. We are indeed living in the most challenging period. This global village is small enough and Uncle Sam sneezes, we catch cold and if not attended to we will die of high fever.

Good night and good luck Malaysia, wherever you are.

troubadour

of peoples’ coffer, its custodian and the plunderer

The feeling is a “cloud nine” level! It is a real ecstasy and real feeling of jubilation! The heartless crook and criminal UMNO/BN goons time and again proved us right. These moronic idiots are so predictable. Or are we a hell lot smarter than these corrupt politicians? Perhaps both then! Oh, well, we are so good!

Their dirty hands are reaching into EPF (read PEOPLE) coffer again! When the nation is on the brink of bankruptcy and there is scanty fund available, the people are going to be victimised and trod on again. The story is almost always the same, and the players are also (Oh My God!) the same!

First the finance minister announced EPF fund to be used by Valuecap to prop up the market, the second finance reinforced the need and tried to justify the move citing profit would be made and then EPF went on to deny the move! Aha…! What is going on? Is there a shadow-play going on in public domain? We would welcome the move by EPF to not agreeing with the move. EPF is our old age retirement fund. Yes, you and I. We would stand to lose our pension fund if this crime is allowed to go on without a fight. We are talking about mega sin here. This is not a petty theft. It is a daylight robbery!

Those entrusted to manage this fund must be of highest integrity and honesty. They must safeguard peoples’ savings down to the last penny.

What will be their next moves then! Let us predict then! Maybe we can conjecture some crafty moves by these hijackers.

PETRONAS’s coffer! Well, they raided this treasure chest too many times already. But then again, who cares! Maybe the CEO of Malaysia to whom this state oil company answer to would relent. The robbers can prepare justification paper as thick as the phone book and the CEO can be hoodwinked into agreeing with the move. This is a viable alternative.

There are a number of favourite treasuries where they do not concern the non-Muslims. The Chinese and Indian community may not mind. After all, they are not contributing to these funds. These institutions could collectively syndicate considerable sum for all and sundry to feast on. This would be brilliant! Heading the syndicate would be the Pilgrims Fund (Tabung Haji). Smaller ones would be the nation’s main Islamic alms collection, the “Baitulmal” and all the states ones. Perhaps the rescue plan fund can be repackaged and sold to the unsuspecting public as a “People Development Fund” or the Malay-Muslim acronym would sound more palatable, “Tabung Pembangunan Ummah”. That sounds terrific. Definitely can close sale! How about “National Development Fund”!? This resonates well with the whole nation. The non-Muslim section would not mind and more likely even to support it.

How about Pension Fund? Kumpulan Wang Amanah Pencen can be duped again. They conceded before when the goons twisted the directors’ arms. They could try again. Who can stop these them? Most trustees were appointed through political conduits anyway. They would be subservient to their masters anyway.

How about states’ petroleum royalty? Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak oil royalty can be delayed and rerouted. It is a noble cause anyway. These oil rich states are under BN rule. UMNO trampled and squashed them thus far and yet they relented. Stretching them a little bit more will not be a problem. They are still barking like mad dogs in parliament. They are not likely to rebel. They are well fed and become submissive and compliant. BN parliamentarians from Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak are nothing but docile and obedient lot. Their loud howling and barking in parliament daily now is proof enough of their stupidity.

Then there is Chef Ministers Incorporated. BN govern quite a number of states. These chief ministers want to remain in power. They can be duped or coerced. Again it is a national interest anyway. This tagline is so powerful.

Manipulative minds work wonders. A friend remarked recently that politicians live longer because of their manipulative minds. Only the good die young. But what is not said is “the crooked live longer to incur wrath of the Almighty and live to see their plan destroyed and their castles turn to ruin”.

Goodnight Malaysia, wherever you are!

troubadour

courage and conviction to forge ahead

I read with disdain news of wasteful exchanges in parliament over “long gone” past performance of BN government in Anwar’s era. Do these BN Sarawak’s parliamentarians understand the meaning of collective responsibility? Anwar is no longer a BN man. As he was a BN/UMNO man in his heydays, he would have to uphold vision and direction of his then party. To bring up obsolete and redundant issues now is a sheer waste of taxpayers’ money. Parliamentarians are elected to enact laws for the benefit of masses, not to debate trivial, petty and frivolous issues en-route a cul-de-sac.

Lately in parliament, this fear of impending takeover of the government by the opposition has caused such a disarray and blinded the government’s parliamentarians to such an extent that they engage in wasteful debates and stupid squabbles choosing to attacking as strategy for defence. I watched in dismay while idiotic lawmakers made complete fools of themselves and irate political pundits. These mindless psychopaths do not deserve to represent the people in the hallowed house of parliament in the first place. This only explains the kind of manipulation that got in the way of their election into office. We have a bunch of idiots running the country now.

Both dependent government-owned and independent press tends to sensationalise reports, Hansard transcript brings to light a great deal of information. While words may not fully capture emotions and atmosphere of the debates in parliament they do to some extent give quite an expose.

We cannot help but sing praises to the informed lot in the opposition bench on their focussed and engaged manner of their conduct. It is heartening to note that they choose not to let their imminent conquest get in the way of pushing for reforms these very minutes, both in politics and most importantly the economy. A peek into backgrounds of the opposition’s parliamentarians reveals individuals with sound and impeccable and immaculate credentials and unquestionable commitment. Years of struggle against an oppressive regime and its self serving machineries taught majority of these people’s representative significance of struggle and how much trust electorates placed upon their shoulders. These are courageous human beings, dedicated and full of convictions.

Astute opposition leader also choose to let bygones be bygones. On a few occasions he openly declared his regrets for past omissions and commissions. This act of admitting one’s shortcomings with remorse and a promise to remedy them right not only made him appear chivalry enough but also humane enough to earn admirations from friends and foes alike. This is a mark of a genuine statesman.

Daily as parliament sitting gets under-way these unsung heroes led by the opposition statesman are teaching the BN goons the meaning of humility and trustworthiness. The conscientious amongst them will learn righteousness and modesty and may come to realisation that theirs’ is a lost course and will abandon ship in favour of joining hands with the respectable representatives. Together, these magnificent men and women will form a new government that have the moral right to govern and rule justly and earnestly. This will mark an era for a new Malaysia, a true government of the people, by the people, for the people and perish it will not from this blessed earth. Let the new democracy usher in with vigour and splendour. Long live Malaysia, a vibrant economy with people of diverse culture and background living in peace and harmony!

troubadour

universal declaration of social justice

I have always been fascinated with inspiring and insightful speeches. In my younger days I admired those who could muster public speaking skills. I would secretly picture in my head being able to command such a skill and imagined myself delivering powerful stimulating speeches. I would memorise phrases, idioms and words of wisdom and formed sentences in my head and delivered inspirational speeches before imaginary audience. It was breathtaking. And to borrow Salinger’s favourite phrase, I got real “kicks” out of it!

My “field of day” came when there was a selection process for speakers for the English debating team at school. Aspirants were asked to speak on any topic in front of the classroom. I remembered a friend who cited the lyrics to the song “Hotel California” by the Eagles in a poetic manner. It was hilarious and the whole class was laughing loudly with great joy.

I chose to deliver Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address to the class. I thought that the speech was discerning and of course very motivating. I could still remember the whole speech in my mind to this day.

As one grows up, values set in and inevitably one find oneself in a position of leadership. The very least is we have our families and we are the reluctant leaders. We begin to place many universal values of goodness in our aspirations. Human rights, social justice and values a civil society should possess are suddenly of paramount importance to you. One begins to seek sources of inspirations.

Where does one turn to for motivation and inspiration, faced with such a noble and monumental task of educating humanity and finding solutions to cure ills? I had an interesting conversation with my subordinate yesterday on this “reference” point. I was professing consulting an expert and consulting right sources were crucial to finding credible and practical answers to problems in general and inevitably one’s values and belief dictates one’s source and direction. I turned to “classical sources” of my belief and found Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) “Last sermon” to be a truly inspiring speech and the Prophet’s reminder has stood the test of time and dimension.

In this sermon, the Prophet stressed upon 10 issues. These are:

To deliver a promise and fulfil trust.
To be fair and just in our conduct.
Prohibition of and to avoid usury (“Riba”).
To be a forgiving (for past wrongdoings and proceed on a clean slate).
Observing what is forbidden down to the smallest/trivial things.
Rights of man over woman and vice versa and to protect women at all times.
Uphold and observe the five pillars of Islam.
Men are created equal and Muslims’ brotherhood.
Everyone is answerable for his deeds (to the Almighty).
To use the Holy Quran and Prophet’s Teaching as guide and reference.

One has to read the Sermon carefully to be able to understand elements of Social Justice being outline by the Prophet (pbuh). For a full speech of the Prophet (pbuh) please visit troubadour's Attachment site at www.wandering-troubadour-attachment.blogspot.com.

troubadour

non-malay dpm to win over the informed lot – highly unlikely!: malaysiakini

It is not what you say that matters. Action speaks louder than words. Talk is cheap, walk it and you get immense followers. A strategy to pull wool over non-Malays eyes will not work. The non-Malays are already wary enough of this foul ploy.

UMNO will never see what we have been talking all this while. They continue to think that this is all about holding onto power and it is all a game. Governing a nation is no longer child’s play and it is a responsibility of an elected government in a fair and clean manner. As BN hold onto power is a direct result of cheating and swindling, they are not a legitimate government of the day.

Already the ground is buzzing with “excitement” over this newly cooked strategy? That is what spin doctors would like to believe. Non-Malays are not stupid to bite this savoury bait. I would be very happy if UMNO continues onto this path. You can promise the sky but the atmosphere thins out only a few feet above the ground. Over and above the atmosphere, the air is too thin and one will suffocate. Promising the moon and delivering molehills. “Cakap tak serupa bikin” (Talk is cheap). Theirs is a strategy full of deceptions.

But then again, looking on the bright side, if UMNO promises a non-Malay DPM, PR is already a credible government-in-waiting, full of niceties and goodness and blossoming into a caring government. What can stop us from doing the same when we take over and live it the way in should be: true power-sharing in a transparent well governed society. Oh life, it is full of bliss!

raising the corpse from the dead – najib disowned manifesto

Malaysiakini report on Najib’s unveiling of his manifesto if to be taken as a landmark effort by the Defacto PM is indeed a let-down. Now he disowned the manifesto when earlier on it was reported that it was his "support group" that released the Manifesto. We believed that it was indeed his own manifesto but having seen adverse comments in internet media especially, he chose to distant himself from the manifesto. He realised that ultra-Malay trail is but cul-de-sac and Malaysians have gone past racial politics.

What the manifesto does is it confirms our belief that this idiot is still practicing racial politics. This is the problem with a politician who seeks popularity based on a belief that Malays are parochial and racist enough to buy his distorted manifesto.

Najib’s think-tank must have fed him with some intelligence work. His old ministry the MINDEF’s intelligence unit must have cooked up something to convince him that this divide-and-rule is a sure bet. Propaganda disseminated through this underground network manages to convince many that Malay must not lose its dominance. This is the Malay section that is blind and dim-witted enough to buy their argument and swallow wholeheartedly and help to carry the propaganda further.

We noted that Malaysians loved to engage in political talk. Just give yourself a try. I did and found it very revealing. Conversation inevitably moved towards current politics. It was alarming to say the least that even those high up in society’s rank believed this Malay-must-dominate-the-politics mantra. When we went deeper we began to understand that this group generally belonged to the unintelligent and thick-skulled group and a fraction came from crony’s outer circle that benefit immensely from this corrupt government. However, on a brighter side, they made up only a small percentage of the general public. Let them continue to cry this mantra and their world would soon come crushing down.

Racism in whatever form is an antithesis of a civil society. No religion in the world condones racism and supremacy of a particular race and if there is a claim by any that their religion professes racial supremacy rest assured they are the deviants. These extremists survive and continue to garner support because society is still very much uninformed. Deliberate containment of information to select few is a mark of selfish leaders. These prophets of doom will continue to prey on uninformed segment of the society.

Choosing to resurrect the dead Najib went on to shove to us that this was what he promised his father on the father’s deathbed. This was nothing but a dirty strategy of raising the corpse from the dead. A promise made on a one’s deathbed does not legitimise a wicked deed. Swearing on one’s dead father does not legalise what is criminal. Continuing to make a fool of the general public is a sin of the highest order. He should be banished from this hallowed land of ours till he meets his Lord, if he has any.

Najib was crying foul over revelation of his misconduct attributing it to dirty tactic on the part of opposition and opponents alike. It is morally correct for one to expose misdemeanours. He dismissed charges of misconduct on both sms-exchanges with a crooked lawyer and expensive purchase of helicopters, ascribing them to again and again the dirty work on the part of his opponents. Little that he understands that a leader must not only be clean but he must also be seen to be clean. He has long lost his legitimacy to govern the moment he insinuated that it was his right to govern and not a responsibility bestowed upon him by electorates to govern in a just and faithful manner.

Najib knows that only the 2,000 or so UMNO candidates that matter. General public has little effect on him, at least for now since election time is 4 long years’ away. He round up the whole media to rally around him and together with his paid minions they continue to propel delusion in the heart of society and in doing so justifies his claim for the coveted premiership.

It is sad indeed that the outgoing premier is so naïve that he is trapped in his own web of deceit. His strategies are so transparent that they can only be attributed to his greenhorn advisers. Wisdom comes with age and his two key advisors namely his son-in-law and his son are novices compared to seasoned politicians like Najib, his perspicacious mentor Mahathir and a host of other shrewd minions that are propping this Defacto PM up. We can only watch in disbelief as the PM is slowly led towards his slaughter house. The murder would be a tragedy most foul in the history of this nation and we would regret this distasteful event soon enough and the only consolation is that perhaps we can write a correct history for our coming generation to learn a thing or two from this sordid affair.

Looking on the bright side, at least we have our cyberspace to continue this fight. We must lure this ferocious tiger out of the mountain. We must decide the battleground and we must have the will to survive. Ours is a noble course and God willing we will be triumphant. The good almost always wins over the crooked one. The onus is on us to forge ahead toward a better Malaysia where you and I and our children live to benefit from this blessed land of our forefathers. Long Live and goodnight Malaysia, wherever you are!

troubadour