What a load of bull!

I am truly ashamed of Malaysia.

We have had such bad press lately.

We made headlines, by the way - in the foreign news papers and news over the last two months

1) Caning of part time model Kartika for drinking beer in public - that was on the front page of the Straits Times and all over BBC and CNN

2) Indonesians threw eggs at our embassy over a traditional dance (???) and ....get this....the National anthem- that made headlines too obviously

3) PKFZ - now , how could that be left out of the news, right? It's really dog eat dog isn't it? Word on the street is that the in-fighting will see the demise of MCA.

4) The death of political secretary Teoh Beng Hock

5) And last but not least, we have the infamous and sordid Cow Head incident (this was really beyond words for me - just could not find any words to express my sentiments over this) !

This is really really humiliating for all Malaysians.

What sort of picture are we painting to the rest of the world?

Is is worth it? To the parties behind all of this - is it worth it? Is it worth losing our credibility and even worse, our common sense and spirit of decency?

Sigh.....

Sigh......

Sigh.....

Or do Malaysians even know what decency means?

I am begining to doubt it.

We have become the laughing stock in South East Asia

Land - An interesting point to note.....

Something interesting caught my attention this weekend. I happened to chance upon an advertorial for a development project in Ipoh. Therein, I noticed the conditions for the use of the land. *Land* - after all is under the purvue of individual state governments in Malaysia.

Restriction in interest for the land title : "Consent by the Menteri Besar is required" (for transfers etc.)

Huh?? What the"hey"????

What sort of condition is that? I have seen land titles requiring the consent of a state authority (ie. a committee etc) but to leave such decisions to one person? How can there be any transparency or exercise of good governance with this sort of condition?

I wonder whether this is common for other states ?

How can this be allowed ? This is an open invitation for corrupt practices.

Now I understand why it was so important for BN to "wrestle" control of the state.

Now I understand why the post of Menteri Besar is so coveted.

This is probably only the tip of the ice-berg......

Farewell to the Storyteller

I had heard with much dismay about her collapse on Friday. I was away on Saturday with no access to the internet and only learned about her passing this evening. This is indeed a sad loss for Malaysia. She was known for her works of art having produced the award winning movies Sepet, Gubra and most recently Talentime. She was also the Creative Executive Director of advertising firm Leo Burnett and was renowned for her groundbreaking Petronas advertisements which taught us Malaysians, the value of our unique Malaysian culture. Most of all , she was known for her controversial if not radical views that challenged the conventions of everyday Malaysians. Her basic philosophy was to believe in the strength of the human spirit and believing in love above all else. Her stories cut across the racial divide and exuded with true Malaysian culture and spirit. She was brave in her subject matter, choosing to deal artfully yet realistically with tough and current issues.

I met her once while having lunch (she was at a nearby table) and could not resist getting up to congratulate her on her art (Sepet and Gubra at that time) and trying to find out the basis for the ending of Gubra (after the credits....) I got my answer from her with a frankness and true optimism that is her hallmark. I will leave her contact in my rolodex despite knowing that she is no longer with us.

Yasmin, your loss will be truly felt and I hope that there will be other Malaysians out there who will continue your legacy of true artistry and your honest insights into the lives of us ordinary Malaysians. You will continue to live through your works of art!

A Sad day in Malaysia

Deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Mr Teoh Beng Hock.

We have reached a very dark point in Malaysia's political path.
There is no longer any credibility in the current administration and its law enforcement agencies. How could this be allowed to happen?
Malaysians have been too tolerant
We have let too many things slip in the past.
Will we continue to let it happen?

Will justice be served?

Grow up Politicians!

It's amazing how the Malaysian political sandiwara has progressed.... we don't need soap operas on TV nowadays - there is enough nauseating entertainment in our local papers. (urghhhh....)

Truly amazing to see how low politicians from both sides of the fence can stoop to manipulate everything from the media (old and new ) , our children's education (BN, PKR, PAS), the rakyat's livelihoods and home (Buah Pala BN-DAP/ PKR), jostling over positions in the State Municipal Councils and Legislative bodies (Selangor, previously Penang PKR-DAP) , in-fighting within component parties (DAP-PKR) and within the parties (MCA, PAS).....

Face it...most politicians are the same! Only a few are worthy to note.

The battleground for control and pursuit of self interests - that is essentially what politics in Malaysia is all about. It is no longer about pushing for reforms and effective policy making. It is no longer about having an independent judiciary or a the fight against corruption.

Can the rakyat trust the courts or the MACC to act with independence and integrity?


While all this is "happily" progressing, the rakyat are left wondering if our leaders can't even get their act together, how can they run the country?

Pull it together people! Get your act together! Stop all this nonsense and get down to work! That's what we voted you in for!

Let's hope that 1Malaysia will deliver...or will it be more of the same?

As commented in response to Tony Pua's blog article (highlighted in my previous post)
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I think that the public will give recognition if it is due. Somehow though, I cannot help but agree with you ... the whole concept that is currently being pushed forward sounds really nice like a rather expensive advertorial but fear that the actual product does not match the description. The whole concept is good but the manner in which Perak was handled and peaceful dissent clamped sends out opposing messages. PKFZ -what's the latest dig on this? - UMNO seems to bulldoze through many other policy matters without considering the views of the component parties but does not offer any assistance to OTK? Our "favourite" Umno politician, KT of Selangor getting away with all his excesses also leaves the public feeling short changed and angry at his blatant disregard for public opinion and accountability. The MACC and police force is more a convenient and selective tool used by the government to serve its needs rather than an institution that the public can believe acts with integrity and independence. The whole point is that when the actions do not match the rhetoric, Malaysians will end up with a product which doesn't deliver but costed alot to advertise. I would rather they focused more on action and less on the packaging. Just got my first dose of propaganda on TV ..... looks nice but......Still, I would rather not continue to rant but will give the benefit of the doubt (yet again), watch and wait. Can someone explain more about Equinas to me?

Finally - a politician worth noting...

Odette's commentary:

The article below is taken from Tony Pua's blog.....

I think that his sentiments really reflect what every thinking Malaysian feels and witnesses on a daily basis. Rhetoric is nothing if not substantiated by action. That is why most of us will only watch and wait. Actions ultimately speak louder than words...

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In brief, here are Najib's promises when he launched is 100-days in power celebrations:
The prevention of crime;
The fight against corruption;
Access to quality education;
The improvement of the living standards for the lower income group;
Improvement of rural infrastructure;;
Improvement of public transportation.So what's new? We have heard all of the above before from Mahathir's era to Pak Lah to now Najib. Will things actually change?We had such high hopes when Pak Lah made the above promises, but we all fell flat on our faces. Anyone remember the "18 big fish"? Or the "All out war against crime"? Or the twice announced public transportation fund in 2006 and 2008 (with absolutely nothing to show)?He has rightly placed the prevention of crime on top of the list. But he has shown that he is absolutely unwilling to reform the police force, for he is obligated to them to clamp down on all civil and political dissent. Najib was so engrossed in grabbing power in Perak, maximised the use of the police to suppress dissent, which resulted in crime rising massively in the state over the past 6 months.We are faced with the greatest financial scandal in living memory with the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone scandal. But til today, all we see is Najib washing his hands completely over the issue. Such a big scandal afflicting Malaysia, and yet, not a word from the Prime Minister. All he has mentioned about the subject so far is that the MCA president will deal with it. In other words, "Let Ong Tee Keat sink all by himself, I'm not going to get my hands dirty on this." How does that sit with his promise to "fight corruption"?And public transportation? He must be joking. The most important move today is to consolidate all departments involved with transportation under 1 ministry/minister. And yet, when the Entrepreneurs & Cooperatives Ministry was dissolved under his cabinet reshuffle, the Commercial Vehicles and Licensing Board is transferred to the Prime Minister's office instead of the Transport Ministry. So we have the Prime Minister directly taking care of taxis and public buses, the Finance Ministry taking care of RapidKL buses, the transport ministry taking care of KTM and LRT, and the Works Ministry taking care of the road transport network. A complete recipe for disaster.And as for quality of education? We've not seen any moves yet from the Najib's administration on this except to reverse the teaching of Maths and Science back from English to Malay. My views are expressed here.I think Malaysians in general will do well not to have their expectations set too high, if they were to have any expectations at all. I'm certainly once bitten twice shy, and I never trust somebody who will use ruthless measures to suppress peaceful protests, clampdown media freedom and stifle dissent. At least for Pak Lah, he appeared to be more "liberal" with his management of opposing voices, whether intentional or otherwise.