Inevitably it will come to this. We are seeing signs of desperation on the part of the ruling government to garner support by means other than legitimate ones. The corpse has been summoned from the dead.
The May 13 Riot that saw the birth of “positive discrimination” policy, the infamous New Economic Policy (NEP) and when politics matures a great deal over the years, we are seeing UMNO and BN warlords running hither thither to salvage whatever is left. With economy sliding deeper into a recession, there is little to rob. Whatever available is too meagre to be shared with the masses!
Enter universal panacea prescribed to avert depression! Go to war! That is precisely what the new PM will administer. He is looking at every possible avenue to create disorder and the Perak fiasco is going to provide him with a golden opportunity. When the bogus set of Perak peoples’ representatives convene the bogus call for a house seating and people trounce the streets of Ipoh in Perak, the police will open fire at will at people who act violently in response to aggravation by agent provocateurs. This is not a threat to the general public but rather a situation that we must avoid.
In this age of information, will such a provocation bear fruits? It will! We have countless occasions whenever chaos reign these agent provocateurs easily play their roles in ensuring confusion ensues. Some people will be sacrificed to enable these goons to hang onto powers. Crude it may seem but this is the reality of existing politics in Malaysia.
With Mahathir as the government advisor, we can only pray that he may answer his Maker’s call before he can do a lot more damage to this country. Events during his direct rule of 22 years are testimony of his brute ideology and monstrous conduct. We only have to go down the memory lane to foretell what lies ahead of us. We dread to think of another ten years or so if he lives beyond a decade old.
We witnessed recent clashes in Thailand and the powers that be in Malaysia are looking at similar method as an option. For those not so familiar with Thailand’s politics, please be aware that recent riot in Thailand was a real abuse of democratic rights by the pro-Thaksin movement. There were daily broadcasts by Thaksin on national television in Thailand. He was given equal slot on national television, a phenomenon unheard in Malaysia but his politics of amassing immense wealth and feeding crumbs to the poor in Thailand heartland that was a carbon copy of a successful method by BN government in Malaysia is no longer acceptable to the informed electorate there. When countless calls for a peaceful uprising fall on deaf ears, Thaksin opted for a violent way. It was unbelievable that he could incite such a crowd to rise against a democratically elected government. But given Thaksin’s immense wealth funding his campaign, we can only watch in awe at events unfolding before our eyes. Western democracy and money are inseparable but the ways by which funds are gathered and spent remain a major item that differentiates between true and false democratic parties.
With Thailand as the backdrop, Malaysia is hoping that international community will simply ignore chaos and disorder that they intend to propagate. We can only hope that we have the will to fight this. We are but a small nation clamouring for change and very insignificant in the eyes of the world. Furthermore in the name of sovereignty of a nation, action of the BN government to feint disorder will not be noticed by an international community.
So much for a hope to be saved by the international community! We are but left alone to fight this corrupt regime. We can only depend on unity within opposition ranks to ensure we do not fall into traps set by agents of the corrupt regime. Let us move on. Record every event and happenings on a camera and video and keep them in safe places for us to produce evidence in the aftermaths of the bloodbath. Do not get yourself caught in the crossfire.
Sunday, 19 April 2009
Thursday, 2 April 2009
impending disaster
This has to be the most depressing day in my entire life on this earth. How could a man full of controversy be allowed to ascend to the highest level in the country? I know there are millions others like me out there who are utterly dismayed at this occasion.
All my years of struggling to feed the family and instilling discipline in my children’s conduct and striving to do my bits for the society, I have never been at my lowest of spirit as I am feeling now. How could those who call themselves Muslims in UMNO can simply cast aside their beliefs and condone injustices happening right in front of their own eyes? Are they blind, eyes and heart to not see this travesty of justice? May the Almighty protect all of us from calamity!
Najib Razak is an inch away from becoming the prime minister. Already there are informed citizens calling him by a different pseudonym, be it “Pembunuh Monggolia” (PM) and another, Crime Minister for he has been dodging this accusation of his involvement in the brutal murder of a Mongolian lady translator. His evasiveness in facing a slightest mention of the name and authority’s warning against mentioning the Monggolian lady’s name is casting shadows over his innocence.
An all out attempt by those around him that are at his disposal to shield him from this issue is having a reverse effect of drawing him closer to the murder. A person is innocent until proven guilty but misusing every available instrument at one’s disposal to prevent being called to testify in court is a sign of guilt, or at least perceived so. Never have Malaysians be subjected to such a charade before in 52 years of her independence.
There is an adage that goes “never expect a good sapling from a bad seed”. Revelation of the late Tun Razak’s involvement in May 13, 1969 race riot is surfacing. History was fabricated to hide this fact. Now, thank you to the UMNO morons, we have his prodigal son ruling with iron fists and in cohort with an ex-Prime Minister known coldly as Malaysian Modern Pharaoh (Mahafiraun) hounding Malaysian public and bringing us closer to insanity.
News of this debacle appeared in newspaper all around the world. It makes me ashamed of being Malaysian and continues to be subjected to horrendous questionings by foreigners whenever I come across them in conversations be it on the street or in plane en-route the many destinations I frequent. What have we innocent Malaysians done to deserve this ignominy? We just pray that wrath of the Almighty will not befall us for not lifting our finger to avert injustices.
Oh dear God! Give us the strength to fight this cold war and bring about peace, harmony and much prosperity to our fellow countrymen and let tyrants be forever banished from this fertile and sacred land of yours. Amen! By the grace of the Almighty, let our prayer be fulfilled and become reality!
All my years of struggling to feed the family and instilling discipline in my children’s conduct and striving to do my bits for the society, I have never been at my lowest of spirit as I am feeling now. How could those who call themselves Muslims in UMNO can simply cast aside their beliefs and condone injustices happening right in front of their own eyes? Are they blind, eyes and heart to not see this travesty of justice? May the Almighty protect all of us from calamity!
Najib Razak is an inch away from becoming the prime minister. Already there are informed citizens calling him by a different pseudonym, be it “Pembunuh Monggolia” (PM) and another, Crime Minister for he has been dodging this accusation of his involvement in the brutal murder of a Mongolian lady translator. His evasiveness in facing a slightest mention of the name and authority’s warning against mentioning the Monggolian lady’s name is casting shadows over his innocence.
An all out attempt by those around him that are at his disposal to shield him from this issue is having a reverse effect of drawing him closer to the murder. A person is innocent until proven guilty but misusing every available instrument at one’s disposal to prevent being called to testify in court is a sign of guilt, or at least perceived so. Never have Malaysians be subjected to such a charade before in 52 years of her independence.
There is an adage that goes “never expect a good sapling from a bad seed”. Revelation of the late Tun Razak’s involvement in May 13, 1969 race riot is surfacing. History was fabricated to hide this fact. Now, thank you to the UMNO morons, we have his prodigal son ruling with iron fists and in cohort with an ex-Prime Minister known coldly as Malaysian Modern Pharaoh (Mahafiraun) hounding Malaysian public and bringing us closer to insanity.
News of this debacle appeared in newspaper all around the world. It makes me ashamed of being Malaysian and continues to be subjected to horrendous questionings by foreigners whenever I come across them in conversations be it on the street or in plane en-route the many destinations I frequent. What have we innocent Malaysians done to deserve this ignominy? We just pray that wrath of the Almighty will not befall us for not lifting our finger to avert injustices.
Oh dear God! Give us the strength to fight this cold war and bring about peace, harmony and much prosperity to our fellow countrymen and let tyrants be forever banished from this fertile and sacred land of yours. Amen! By the grace of the Almighty, let our prayer be fulfilled and become reality!
great mind of a man
Politicians thrive on chaos. I could not help having that kind of feeling. I was watching Anwar Ibrahim giving his speech titled “Global Economic Crisis and The Future of ASEAN” at the Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.
The talk was organised by the Political Science Department of the University. This talk was a maiden speech as far a foreign speaker was concerned. The department decided to invite Anwar Ibrahim as a foreign debut.
I had never seen him speaking before an audience before. Nor had I had a chance of meeting this respected figure before. His reputation definitely preceded him. I sent an e-mail afterwards to YM RPK, a friend I knew way back when I was struggling as an entrepreneur, saying that I could not help but being impressed.
His delivery may lack a bit of punch because the way he chose to deliver it, i.e. by referring to his written text, but his bid to elaborate the points was very good. I thought that he might have had a brilliant think-thank working on his speech or perhaps the man himself was a man of substance. Judging by massive followers that he has in Malaysia and the region, the latter could be the case.
Immediately the day after the event I read the full text again on the internet right down to each finer point. The speech merits further deliberation indeed. For those who wish to get yourselves enlightened on current turmoil, do visit this site: http://anwaribrahimblog.com/2009/03/31/the-global-economic-crisis-and-the-future-of-asean/#more-6547.
In Pursuit of the American Dreams
I had been trying to explain to my fellow staffs the reason behind current economic crisis and cited greed as key to the whole issue coupled with flawed financial system where usury being the main culprit. I am glad that I did not run far away from what was said by the said speaker. I referred to this excessive greed on the part of the population to pursue material wealth at all costs and casting aside social responsibility. This madness is often referred to as an “American Dream”, a dream to pursue not so much “freedom and independence” as what was then synonymous to but rather a blind pursuit of material wealth. Younger generations often associated freedom and independence to ability to amass, accumulate and indulge in immense wealth and engage in activities without any limit, be it social, religious or cultural.
The world economy is bloated with goods and services that have superficial value. This superficial value stems from creative manipulation of human behaviours. People are being bombarded with (dis)information that conditioned their mind to believe and accept that some useless products or services possess extremely great values. These superficial values attached to these products and services are very much apparent if one studies value engineering where “aesthetic” value aspects are given greater emphasis as opposed to “primary” value. Primary value (or often referred to as “function”) is the key value. Aesthetic or other attached values are values that make one wants to own a particular product or wanting a certain kind of services.
In a world where brand building has reached a stage where it makes products or services command values far surpassing their actual value, we will be procuring pathetic values at exorbitant prices. Profit then flows into the hands of minority few that get richer at the expense of uninformed consumer. Again greed is central to the whole issue. We formed this popular opinion that happiness equates material wealth.
Next in our pursuit to satisfy our greed, we borrow when we have insufficient fund to finance it. We indulge in excesses thinking that we are embracing fully this capitalistic behaviour.
The key thing is how long can this practice continue. Definitely not very long at all! This madness comes to an end with the credit crunch. Now we have to scramble to stay afloat, to pay our credit cards and mortgages. On the behest of this new revelation, we are now awake and become a bit sober. There is this social responsibility part that we have forgotten in our lunacy to pursue material wealth.
Looking at a macro level reveals another flaw. Economy is always spoken about without fail with reference to government spending. Economy will grow when government spend. Governance and transparency on the part of government in its spending is of paramount importance. Government’s irresponsibility in dishing out “contracts” to cronies at costs far higher than actual costs is causing a leakage in the economy. We are again paying higher price for a meagre service or product. Similar to commercial goods, this practice lead to excessive profits ending up in coffers of select few.
Economic Connoisseurs
Interesting to note that Mr Anwar brought up that it was the failure on the part of economists to predict the impending crash that made the impact more devastating. Everyone was caught with their pants down. Further, the effect is very far reaching and pundits are still debating as to viable prescriptions to get us out of this doldrums. Whichever way the argument goes, one cannot ignore that government’s role is central to solving this predicament. “Bailouts” did not go down well during the Asian Financial Crisis. Now in Malaysia we are being introduced to “Stimulus Package, perhaps a positive way of looking at bailouts as means of pouring in much needed cash into the economy. However, if economists failed to predict this catastrophe in the first place, they therefore may not be qualified to offer prescriptions. Can one trust their recommendation, advice or suggestion? Doubtful indeed! Already there is accusation that these specialists grossly underestimate intensity of the problem and depth of the “black hole”. How much capital does it take to spur growth? Cash poured in seems to disappear without any noticeable impact to the economy and in Malaysia’s case leakage is the main worry. It is like throwing dust to the wind!
Structural Defects
Whatever measures that we are going to take, we must not run away from first addressing structural defects prevalent in our system. If we do not do this, we can guarantee that whatever we do will not be any good. These defects are mainly poor governance and opaque practice that suck the very life out of the economy. People in the end suffer.
Besides defects in the delivery process there are also defects in the financial system itself. With excessive profiteering and magnanimous payment on loan interests, monies flow only to the haves and the haves-not are reduced to extreme poverty level. No wonder it did not take long for demand of goods and services to dwindle.
Widespread Pessimism
When news of collapse of lending institutions reaches the masses, they can only react by tightening further their spending in anticipation of further disintegration of the already fragile economy. Property price plummets and mortgages defaulted. People only buy basic necessities. There is then widespread belief that things are going from bad to worse and people wait for the illusive bottom of the ravine that is slow in coming to the surface. We refrain from making any unwarranted spending. The economy is reduced to a standstill.
Impact of this psychological behaviour of the masses to the economy is devastating and there is little that one can do. Only time will be able to mend this effect and time is exactly what we do not have since we are suffering a great deal with this economic downturn.
This brings us back to the talk at Chulalongkorn University and the title of this piece by troubadour today.
The chaotic state in which Malaysia is in today seems to provide an excellent platform for astute politicians to justify their existence. Much like murky and troubled waters, there are those that fish rather skilfully in them. Elaborating on questions fielded by Suthichai Yun of the Nation Group, the Larry King of Thailand, Malaysian opposition figure could not be more at ease. Audience had a field day with his answers from crafty one as to when he would become the prime minister to solutions for the upheaval in the South of Thailand. He tackled them rather professionally.
The press conference at the end of the talk was equally exciting. The perceptive leader was a darling to journalists from Thailand and other foreign presses. He listened intently before answering the questions with great perception, intelligence and sense of conviction. As this was my first encounter with him, I chose to observe more than testing his knowledge of regional politics, which is partly the subject he spoke about earlier on.
Mr Anwar was resolute in his pursuit to change the government it seems. He was bent on doing it to bring Malaysia out of its misery. At least that is what he claimed and I kind of believe that he can do it. It was not this encounter that I had that influenced me but rather the sorry state the country is in today that sealed my heart that he is the leader that can do it.
The Governor of Bangkok, Sukhumphan Boripat spoke highly of this particular leader. His descriptive words and the soft manner by which he chose to describe Mr Anwar led us to believe that he was being very sincere and forthright. One could not help but felt very proud that a fellow country man was being accorded such a respect. Our only regret is that the country is about to change from a slight more democratic leader to a tyrant disguised as a potential leader that is a saviour to the nation by the name of Najib Razak. His manipulation of the government, its machineries, civil servants, judiciary, police and the army in the days of the PM’s “sabbatical leave” can only be a reflection of more oppression to come.
Troubadour on the eve of Najib Razak’s ascension to the premiership of Malaysia!
Pattaya, 2nd April 2009
The talk was organised by the Political Science Department of the University. This talk was a maiden speech as far a foreign speaker was concerned. The department decided to invite Anwar Ibrahim as a foreign debut.
I had never seen him speaking before an audience before. Nor had I had a chance of meeting this respected figure before. His reputation definitely preceded him. I sent an e-mail afterwards to YM RPK, a friend I knew way back when I was struggling as an entrepreneur, saying that I could not help but being impressed.
His delivery may lack a bit of punch because the way he chose to deliver it, i.e. by referring to his written text, but his bid to elaborate the points was very good. I thought that he might have had a brilliant think-thank working on his speech or perhaps the man himself was a man of substance. Judging by massive followers that he has in Malaysia and the region, the latter could be the case.
Immediately the day after the event I read the full text again on the internet right down to each finer point. The speech merits further deliberation indeed. For those who wish to get yourselves enlightened on current turmoil, do visit this site: http://anwaribrahimblog.com/2009/03/31/the-global-economic-crisis-and-the-future-of-asean/#more-6547.
In Pursuit of the American Dreams
I had been trying to explain to my fellow staffs the reason behind current economic crisis and cited greed as key to the whole issue coupled with flawed financial system where usury being the main culprit. I am glad that I did not run far away from what was said by the said speaker. I referred to this excessive greed on the part of the population to pursue material wealth at all costs and casting aside social responsibility. This madness is often referred to as an “American Dream”, a dream to pursue not so much “freedom and independence” as what was then synonymous to but rather a blind pursuit of material wealth. Younger generations often associated freedom and independence to ability to amass, accumulate and indulge in immense wealth and engage in activities without any limit, be it social, religious or cultural.
The world economy is bloated with goods and services that have superficial value. This superficial value stems from creative manipulation of human behaviours. People are being bombarded with (dis)information that conditioned their mind to believe and accept that some useless products or services possess extremely great values. These superficial values attached to these products and services are very much apparent if one studies value engineering where “aesthetic” value aspects are given greater emphasis as opposed to “primary” value. Primary value (or often referred to as “function”) is the key value. Aesthetic or other attached values are values that make one wants to own a particular product or wanting a certain kind of services.
In a world where brand building has reached a stage where it makes products or services command values far surpassing their actual value, we will be procuring pathetic values at exorbitant prices. Profit then flows into the hands of minority few that get richer at the expense of uninformed consumer. Again greed is central to the whole issue. We formed this popular opinion that happiness equates material wealth.
Next in our pursuit to satisfy our greed, we borrow when we have insufficient fund to finance it. We indulge in excesses thinking that we are embracing fully this capitalistic behaviour.
The key thing is how long can this practice continue. Definitely not very long at all! This madness comes to an end with the credit crunch. Now we have to scramble to stay afloat, to pay our credit cards and mortgages. On the behest of this new revelation, we are now awake and become a bit sober. There is this social responsibility part that we have forgotten in our lunacy to pursue material wealth.
Looking at a macro level reveals another flaw. Economy is always spoken about without fail with reference to government spending. Economy will grow when government spend. Governance and transparency on the part of government in its spending is of paramount importance. Government’s irresponsibility in dishing out “contracts” to cronies at costs far higher than actual costs is causing a leakage in the economy. We are again paying higher price for a meagre service or product. Similar to commercial goods, this practice lead to excessive profits ending up in coffers of select few.
Economic Connoisseurs
Interesting to note that Mr Anwar brought up that it was the failure on the part of economists to predict the impending crash that made the impact more devastating. Everyone was caught with their pants down. Further, the effect is very far reaching and pundits are still debating as to viable prescriptions to get us out of this doldrums. Whichever way the argument goes, one cannot ignore that government’s role is central to solving this predicament. “Bailouts” did not go down well during the Asian Financial Crisis. Now in Malaysia we are being introduced to “Stimulus Package, perhaps a positive way of looking at bailouts as means of pouring in much needed cash into the economy. However, if economists failed to predict this catastrophe in the first place, they therefore may not be qualified to offer prescriptions. Can one trust their recommendation, advice or suggestion? Doubtful indeed! Already there is accusation that these specialists grossly underestimate intensity of the problem and depth of the “black hole”. How much capital does it take to spur growth? Cash poured in seems to disappear without any noticeable impact to the economy and in Malaysia’s case leakage is the main worry. It is like throwing dust to the wind!
Structural Defects
Whatever measures that we are going to take, we must not run away from first addressing structural defects prevalent in our system. If we do not do this, we can guarantee that whatever we do will not be any good. These defects are mainly poor governance and opaque practice that suck the very life out of the economy. People in the end suffer.
Besides defects in the delivery process there are also defects in the financial system itself. With excessive profiteering and magnanimous payment on loan interests, monies flow only to the haves and the haves-not are reduced to extreme poverty level. No wonder it did not take long for demand of goods and services to dwindle.
Widespread Pessimism
When news of collapse of lending institutions reaches the masses, they can only react by tightening further their spending in anticipation of further disintegration of the already fragile economy. Property price plummets and mortgages defaulted. People only buy basic necessities. There is then widespread belief that things are going from bad to worse and people wait for the illusive bottom of the ravine that is slow in coming to the surface. We refrain from making any unwarranted spending. The economy is reduced to a standstill.
Impact of this psychological behaviour of the masses to the economy is devastating and there is little that one can do. Only time will be able to mend this effect and time is exactly what we do not have since we are suffering a great deal with this economic downturn.
This brings us back to the talk at Chulalongkorn University and the title of this piece by troubadour today.
The chaotic state in which Malaysia is in today seems to provide an excellent platform for astute politicians to justify their existence. Much like murky and troubled waters, there are those that fish rather skilfully in them. Elaborating on questions fielded by Suthichai Yun of the Nation Group, the Larry King of Thailand, Malaysian opposition figure could not be more at ease. Audience had a field day with his answers from crafty one as to when he would become the prime minister to solutions for the upheaval in the South of Thailand. He tackled them rather professionally.
The press conference at the end of the talk was equally exciting. The perceptive leader was a darling to journalists from Thailand and other foreign presses. He listened intently before answering the questions with great perception, intelligence and sense of conviction. As this was my first encounter with him, I chose to observe more than testing his knowledge of regional politics, which is partly the subject he spoke about earlier on.
Mr Anwar was resolute in his pursuit to change the government it seems. He was bent on doing it to bring Malaysia out of its misery. At least that is what he claimed and I kind of believe that he can do it. It was not this encounter that I had that influenced me but rather the sorry state the country is in today that sealed my heart that he is the leader that can do it.
The Governor of Bangkok, Sukhumphan Boripat spoke highly of this particular leader. His descriptive words and the soft manner by which he chose to describe Mr Anwar led us to believe that he was being very sincere and forthright. One could not help but felt very proud that a fellow country man was being accorded such a respect. Our only regret is that the country is about to change from a slight more democratic leader to a tyrant disguised as a potential leader that is a saviour to the nation by the name of Najib Razak. His manipulation of the government, its machineries, civil servants, judiciary, police and the army in the days of the PM’s “sabbatical leave” can only be a reflection of more oppression to come.
Troubadour on the eve of Najib Razak’s ascension to the premiership of Malaysia!
Pattaya, 2nd April 2009
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
down to earth
Some things are best left unsaid. What more when it is written. Life is full of surprises. That’s why many suffered a stroke and kick the bucket.
At macro level, we see the state of the nation coming to ruin. What happens at the national level, we can see happening at micro level. Here close to home, companies are suffering from short of cash to continue doing business. But when market is uncertain, how can a company invest?
Big is no longer harder to fall. Small ones fall like lead balloons as well. Economists no longer have credible prescriptions. Havoc rules.
When Malaysia introduced a RM60 Million stimulus package, we could barely hear the hums. Analysts are already saying that individuals that make up general public have nothing to cheer about but they see agony ahead.
If that is not enough, we have to agree with pundits that much of the stimulus will flow into cronies coffer and public at large is deprived of the much needed amenities and infrastructures or even “grants”.
It is also scary to see the once “policy driven” auto sector in Malaysia is ignored. RM200 Million Automotive Development Fund (ADF) will only sit still in the bank the government elects to manage the fund. Companies are simply too over-stretched financially to be able to borrow more. Do not be fooled by the lower interest rate attached to it. It makes no difference!
Companies in Malaysia, local ones especially are never competitive. Very few are able to go beyond Malaysia’s shore. Even those that manage to go abroad, they are saddled with negative cultures that they export together with their equipment and expatriates.
Perhaps we have to go back to the drawing board. However, this is simply impossible to do if current government is still in power. This denial syndrome is too deep-rooted to be pulled out and allow us to see ourselves as others see us. We are simply goners.
Assuming that we can throw these idiots into the sea, we can look back into education to bring about civil society.
Back to economy, we are also caught in this euphoria called “The American Dreams”. We are so engrossed with this pursuit of material wealth that we forget social aspect.
Furthermore, these so called material wealth as well as services is procured at extremely high price that is justifiable because of relative perceived values brought about by branding. Brands that position well in the mind of prospects are perceived to be so valuable that we want so much to own them. This is pure greed. We can only rid ourselves of this sickness by going back to basic. We must come back down to earth and question our very existence on this earth. It is simply to seek the pleasure of the Almighty and the rest will fall into places.
Wake up Malaysians, however sleepy you may be!
troubadour
Pattaya moving closer to Songkran!
At macro level, we see the state of the nation coming to ruin. What happens at the national level, we can see happening at micro level. Here close to home, companies are suffering from short of cash to continue doing business. But when market is uncertain, how can a company invest?
Big is no longer harder to fall. Small ones fall like lead balloons as well. Economists no longer have credible prescriptions. Havoc rules.
When Malaysia introduced a RM60 Million stimulus package, we could barely hear the hums. Analysts are already saying that individuals that make up general public have nothing to cheer about but they see agony ahead.
If that is not enough, we have to agree with pundits that much of the stimulus will flow into cronies coffer and public at large is deprived of the much needed amenities and infrastructures or even “grants”.
It is also scary to see the once “policy driven” auto sector in Malaysia is ignored. RM200 Million Automotive Development Fund (ADF) will only sit still in the bank the government elects to manage the fund. Companies are simply too over-stretched financially to be able to borrow more. Do not be fooled by the lower interest rate attached to it. It makes no difference!
Companies in Malaysia, local ones especially are never competitive. Very few are able to go beyond Malaysia’s shore. Even those that manage to go abroad, they are saddled with negative cultures that they export together with their equipment and expatriates.
Perhaps we have to go back to the drawing board. However, this is simply impossible to do if current government is still in power. This denial syndrome is too deep-rooted to be pulled out and allow us to see ourselves as others see us. We are simply goners.
Assuming that we can throw these idiots into the sea, we can look back into education to bring about civil society.
Back to economy, we are also caught in this euphoria called “The American Dreams”. We are so engrossed with this pursuit of material wealth that we forget social aspect.
Furthermore, these so called material wealth as well as services is procured at extremely high price that is justifiable because of relative perceived values brought about by branding. Brands that position well in the mind of prospects are perceived to be so valuable that we want so much to own them. This is pure greed. We can only rid ourselves of this sickness by going back to basic. We must come back down to earth and question our very existence on this earth. It is simply to seek the pleasure of the Almighty and the rest will fall into places.
Wake up Malaysians, however sleepy you may be!
troubadour
Pattaya moving closer to Songkran!
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
filling in the dossier
| Interesting it may be but in a country where the police are running it (to the ground), one must exercise caution. One of the most powerful conglomerates out of the blues was keen on entertaining bloggers to check on their popularity or the opposite. Makes me wonder whether this was in fact a genuine act or merely an attempt by the ruling federal government to solicit information as to who these “cyber buggers” are and “we will deal with them later on. For now, let us feed them fried “meehoon” and grilled satay. Used extensively by the seedy government of the day, these government-linked companies (GLC) were the second coffers that financed shoddy deals on their behalf. It is a fact that these GLCs are headed by proxies of the government of the day. Some of these hired honchos are genuinely talented and tried hard to function effectively as CEOs but more often than not they lack talents (and on visions one can forget about it totally) that may contribute towards uplifting these companies performances. They serve their masters very well and in times of needs, they sell their soul for contracts and dough that see to it that they retire rich and visits mosques, churches and other places of worships in their senior citizen years asking god for forgiveness for sins known only to them and the MACC. While the MACC is an entity that is so ripe to take a swipe at, we shall leave it for another day. Today, we are talking about free meals to catch dissents or for now just to prepare a list of potential occupants of Dang Wangi lock-ups and eventually the twin of Guantanamo, the Kemunting detention centre. This sudden interest to be close to bloggers is widespread. Opposition leaders’ interest on bloggers may be genuine but when it comes to the government of the day, one has to be a bit wary. The likes of Kadir Jasin and Ruhanie Ahmad are pro BN instrument. RPK’s clones or wannabes will be severely dealt with in no time at all. Ascension of the lawmakers and peoples representatives’ chief abductor aka Najib Razak cannot be taken lightly. One has to be a novice to ignore risks of abduction, torture and prolong imprisonment given recent incidents with hoppers’ experience. The eyes are the windows to ones souls and these hoppers eyes revealed threats and intimidations. Well, we can feast while we can but we are mere souls seeking justice and when it comes to a choice between ability to continue to feed and care-for for our family, we have to admit that it is better to continue tasting freedom even it is in exile. Sabri Zain chose this and I sure as hell would migrate one day than to lose my freedom, integrity and most of all unable to practise my religion (read way of life) at will. Seeking fame is certainly not in us, bloggers agenda and being in the list of “certified” bloggers may prove to be costly in time to come. Goodnite Malaysia, this particular blogger has left the building. |
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
the vanishing game
| Disappearing acts are what they do best. They are not magicians though. They are BN politicians. When people from their constituents come a calling, they will disappear. Promises of projects and immense wealth are thrown at will come by-election time. And when it comes to delivery time, they are busy in the capital city, making more promises. Chief of this “poligicians” is one Najib Razak. He made a Mongolian lady disappear according to one Mr. Balasubramaniam, who swiftly retracted the accusation. He was then made to disappear as well, to many laymen on the street by no other than the chief poligician himself. We are watching closely as to whether the pioneer crossover lawmaker Bota-man will also vanish. We are living in a truly interesting time indeed. Stories that normally headline tabloids are now splayed on front pages of mainstream papers. Sordid maybe but these headlines depict the kind of dirt poligicians throw around. KT by-election was full of magic. Pundits have it that PAS candidate could have won with a majority exceeding 7,000 votes but as it turned out, the figure was a mere 2,631. Yes it was big enough to get BN people to bury their heads in the sand but the magnitude of the result was not impressive enough to give BN a cardiac arrest. But then again slow death on the part of the enemy is more rewarding perhaps to those that are being waged war at. Let the enemy dwell in their self denials and inflict a lot more injury that death would come but in a sudden manner just like a strike from a samurai sword. When will poligicians stop doing their disappearing acts? To many, this will only happen when they are shown the doors by voters. But to me, this waiting game is simply pure hell as I am seeing their lewd misconducts almost daily. One only has to switch on the idiot box and watch their spin doctors doing their biddings on the part of these idiots. The country is going to the dogs and they are worried only about losing their power that eventually translates in opportunity at making more money. Look at the kind of creatures these animals have turned into. They rape almost everything and rules are definitely meant to be broken at will. Elections of their own leaders are marred with corruptions of the highest order. How can one expect clean leaders to be elected amongst beasts of the worst kind? A wishful thinking indeed for those who continue to worship these animals and the ground they walk. If we are to see more humans emerging and cross over from these groups of animals, we will witness more disappearing acts perhaps and the public is always fascinated when circus comes to town and magicians appear in droves. But then again in this country, it is much more splendid than a circus. This is Bolehland where poligicians rule and people disappear and never to be seen again. |
Sunday, 14 December 2008
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”.
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”.
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