Go to Hell, Devil !

I found this article (below captioned) written by one of the alien Somali which solely speaks of his opinion, whereby I rather concur with him, so do many other fellow Malaysians too, I believe. As an alien, he must be very observant and had gone through studies of this kind of tyrannical character such like Dr Mahathir's. His comment is laudatory for he almost speaks on our behalf based on his stand as a Muslim! Judging from the view points of Muslim, more others will find it non-racial and a fair piece of discourse which tends to hit the hearts of inert which had been so much intoxicated with enmity, and all the gullible minds have fully been charmed and obsessed by the foul mouth racist politicians, with Dr Mahathir being the witchcraft doctor! I personally contempt this vindictive old man as much as the Somali writer contempted him!

Incidentally, I had a personal approach with our Venerable Tuanku Abdul Rahman, two months or so before his demise. My very close Chowkon Vitton (a high ranking Siamese Monk) from Bangkok popped in to me one day asking to bring him to our then retired (forced to) Tuanku in his residence at Jln. Air Rajah, Penang! I was puzzled to have come across such mission as Tuanku was our Bapa Malaysia having such a godly position my humble status then as a youngish adolescence made me feel so inferior to have been able to seek for such an approach and appointment! Somehow, I did it and I brought along two of my buddies together with Chowkon, simply bulldozed ourselves to the sentry post of Tuanku's residence, with God's willing, we were allowed in to meet our dearest Tuanku!

The moment I met our most benign Tuanku, I still remember, he was saddled in a wheel chair, in a state of feckless and feeble clearly spoke of his senility. He was then taken care of by his loyal servant, a tout and mighty Chinese, also his bodyguard cum driver who behaved like Tuanku's godson. So loyal that he did not leave Tuanku to take care of him like his real father! I felt very touched amid empathy to see my most respected Honorable Tuanku's loneliness and feebly outlook, though, he still forced himself to stand up from his wheel chair! I offered my helping hand to bolster Tuanku up from the wheel chair and found that he was so weak and flabby in muscle, the luster of the past, when he stood up high and hailed - 'Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka' had all lost but still clear in my memory and perception! A Hero in the twilight of his life, had been tortured mentally and leading such a lonely and miserable life, I deeply felt and cried in my heart, it's not fair for Him!.............

When after seated in the couch, I noticed Tuanku had a problem with his retina and hearing system running without any hearing aid, invited Chowkon to sit next to Tuanku with us opposite facing Tuanku and Chowkon both engaged in conversation. Tuanku spoke of his past assistance to the Siamese Temples (Wats) and Chowkon expressed gratitude and appreciations claiming that, the King Monk of Thailand sent him here to pray for blessings to our highly respected Tuanku (in Thailand) for his kindness and ever unforgettable contributions that he had granted to the development of Siamese Buddhism, thanksgivings and blessings of longevity from the King Monk of Thailand and all the followers were showered and flourished upon Tuanku! Tuanku with his palms closed in a posture of meditation received all the blessings and mantra which Chowkon chanted for more than 15 minutes!.........

Unexpectedly, all caught in the puzzle and shock of our lives, immediately after Chowkon had blessed, Tuanku spontaneously uttered a request to Chowkon - "Please pray for me, pray for my victory over Dr Mahathir"! So puzzling that I remembered, Tuanku was then engaged with DAP and S-46 oppositions to endeavor toppling Mahathir and he was being used by the oppositions as a statue to lure for votes!..........

Whilst mission accomplished, Tuanku bid us farewell, when we just stepped out from the threshold of Tuanku's mansion, I noticed a white Honda Accord and few guys went in to pick up the wheel chair with Tuanku sitting in it, they mobilized Tuanku as if they were shifting the statue from one place to another to attend the rally, known to be held in Perlis on that very day! ....A stream of furore tugged my heart string and there and then in my heart I cursed and condemned the cruelty and ruthlessness of the egocentric politicians, what the fuck, instead of paying homage to our Honorable Bapa Malaysia, they used him as a tool!....

That was the vendetta, deepened in Tuanku for decade years even when he's in his twilight years, he could not let go and subconsciously, he still wished to take vengeance against Dr Mahathir of plotting threw him out, of toppling him and confiscating all his, Tuanku's graciousness and glory that He had hard earned for Himself, for the whole Nation!...

To recall oneself - Mahathir had once threatened to withdraw the moniker of "Bapa Malaysia" from the Honorable Tuanku, though was Mahathir's egocentric and out of his demented demeanor, had also received the many gullible Umno Malays to voice out their consents! It was so uncouth and cringe-worthy, lunatic in the form of utterly despicable an act the so-called - unabashed 'Father of Modernization' had cheekily suggested!

Today, the vendetta has crept in to haunt Dr Mahathir, if Pak Lah were to remember history, he would have proposed to strip his 'Father of Modernization' and in lieu of it, bestowed upon him - 'Father of all Evils', surely all patriotic citizens will find it relevant and much appropriate to epitome all these misdeeds, the foul mouth racist, Dr Mahathir has been portraying himself to be well qualified for!.....................Go to hell, Devil!

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I'm a Somali living in Malaysia who follows the local scene here very much. I would have to admit that Tun Dr M's greatest disadvantage is his pure, unadulterated hatred for anyone who disagrees with him.

Never have I seen a human being whose sole motivation, drive and engine is pure hatred. Just visit his blog which is read by friends and foes, locals and foreigners and I must tell you it epitomizes him in every way.

Since he started it after complaining of UMNO media strangulation, did you see an article that he has written concerning the poor, the needy, the widows, the orphans, the handicapped, the downtrodden, the wayfarers, compassion, empathy, sharing, sacrifice, charity, morality, accountability, God's fear and Judgment, forgiveness, patience (etc)?.....the answer is No!

Always it is about some people, blaming others, calling them names, dishing out unvanished, pure hatred. Blaming others for this and that and exonerating himself from all blame? Surely, at this age? You can't build a society and a nation through hate, vengeance, intense anger and mean spirit. You would have to remind the people the higher
purpose of life for them to get motivated and work harder for the less fortunate and for themselves.

Finger pointing, blaming others, planting defeatist culture in the Malays, reducing them to mad people (we are sensitive, we will run amok society that makes even foreigners despise the Malays) will not help this society and nation!

My people (the Somalis) suffered from cruel leadership and when the hatred became too much, we turned to each other and till today, we are the only nation with no Central govt. The Malays share with us almost every trait, very feudal, manipulated easily, territorial, misuse of Islam for expediency, rigid explanation of Islam and too much interest in outward Islam than inward Islam that strengthens the hearts, our only difference is that the Malays have the Chinese and the Indians around that make them watch out for the "enemies.".......

For us, we didn't have that and that's why we turned to each other. If God has loved the Malays and Malaysia, it is because He brought other people here. If some Malays regret the presence of the Chinese and Indians, ask us the Somalis and you will know what it means to be an incestuous (homogeneous) society and you will praise the Almighty day in day out. If it was possible, I would have shipped the Chinese and Indians to Somalia to create diversity in my nation but it is wishful thinking..................

The other person who makes me cringe in shame is one Curry [Khairy] Jamaluddin. Never have I seen a more uncouth, uncultured, degenerate, pugnacious, ill, nefarious and utterly infantile being than this young man. I have a big heart who tries to understand everyone and put itself in their place, but I don't think my heart can accommodate one Curry Jamaluddin. He is a primate and deserves the worst treatment (though I hate it because we are Muslims and human beings) but honestly he is too much.

-Abubakar on October 25, 2008 at 5:43 pm

"The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated" - Mahatma Gandhi

The Thai's Uprising.

Thai anti-govt protesters besiege state buildings
Thousands of Thai protesters surrounded parliament Monday and besieged other state buildings in what they said would be their final battle in a six-month street campaign against the government.

Demonstrators began leaving Government House -- the prime minister's cabinet offices which they have occupied since late August -- and marched towards parliament a few blocks away in Bangkok's historic district.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said about 18,000 protesters from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) had taken to the streets and managed to block all three roads leading to parliament.

A joint parliament session of elected MPs and senators was postponed as lawmakers could not access the building, house speaker Chai Chidchob said, calling for calm.

"I promise that there will be no violence today, not a single drop of blood drop will be seen," he said on parliament radio. "I ask for all sides to stop the movement now. If you love the king, please return home."

The PAD began their protests on May 25, and aim to bring down the government elected in December, accusing it of being a corrupt proxy of exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a September 2006 coup.

A sea of protesters dressed in yellow shirts and headbands which symbolise loyalty to the monarchy marched through the government district Monday, many waving national flags and portraits of deeply-revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Black-clad volunteer PAD security guards wielding homemade batons protected the crowd.

One group of protesters moved from parliament to the finance ministry, while another group broke down a blockade on a road in front of the Bangkok Metropolitan Police headquarters, Thai television showed.

Officials have said about 2,000 police armed with shields are on duty to try to prevent a repeat of bloody street battles outside parliament on October 7 that left two protesters dead and nearly 500 people injured.

Pibhop Dhongchai, one of the PAD leaders, proclaimed the postponement of the parliament session a victory for their movement, and vowed to push on.

"Now the protesters are at the finance ministry to say the government has spent the people's money for their own interests," he said. A police officer at the ministry said about 300 PAD protesters had turned up.

Government spokesman Nattawut Saikuar said on Sunday that about 2,000 soldiers were on stand-by but vowed authorities would not use force.

PAD co-founder Sondhi Limthongkul told AFP earlier that they could call on the crowds to besiege other locations including the stock exchange in their self-proclaimed "final battle" against the government.

The PAD occupied Government House after massive rallies in late August, and called for their supporters to march on Monday to avenge the death of one of their supporters in a grenade attack at the protest site last week.

PAD leaders accuse the government of being behind that attack, which also injured 29 protesters, as well as a similar explosion that killed one more protesters and injured seven on Saturday.

The government has denied any involvement, and Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat -- Thaksin's brother-in-law -- has vowed an investigation into the violence, although no arrests have been made so far.

Somchai is currently in Peru for a conference, but one of his deputy prime ministers called an urgent cabinet meeting Monday to discuss the protests.

Three small blasts also hit near PAD leader Sondhi's Bangkok offices early Monday, causing minor damage but no injuries.

Thaksin fled the country in August this year but a power battle is raging between those who support the former leader and the old power elite in the military, palace and bureaucracy who want to purge Thailand of his influence.

Why Stoop so low?

Nine held for attending illegal assembly

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 — Police detained nine men, including several Pas leaders, following a gathering which was described as an illegal assembly at the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) Square in Pandan Indah, Ampang, near here last night.

Among those detained were Pas vice-president Mohamad Sabu, Pas Youth chief Salahuddin Ayub, Federal Territory Pas Youth head Kamarulzaman Mohammad, Selangor Pas Youth information head Mohd Sani Hamzan and several other supporters.

Seven of them were detained while gathering at the square and were taken to the Pandan Indah police station for questioning. Mohamad Sabu and Salahuddin were detained when they went to the police station to discuss the detention of the seven men.

Ampang Jaya police chief ACP Abd Jalil Hassan said the police had to detain the men as they refused to disperse.

"We will take their statements before releasing them after an investigation. We had earlier reminded them against holding the illegal assembly but this was ignored," he told reporters at the Pandan Indah Police Station after midnight last night.

He said about 300 police personnel including the Federal Reserve Unit were deployed to maintain security at the gathering attended by about 150 supporters.

The gathering at the MPAJ Square began about 9pm. It was organised by the Movement for the Abolition of ISA (GMI). Parti Keadilan Rakyat advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was scheduled to open the gathering but he failed to turn up. — Bernama

Footnote Comment

Why make ourselves low class?!
written by Candidmen, November 24, 2008
The OCPD of Bukit Mertajam had yesterday in a dialogue with us appealed to the community leaders that the social security works, crime prevention is not only the works of the police force, the residents must collaborate by setting up more RA, Rukun Tertangga, Rela etc., joint-patrol the area and wipe out undesired elements to prevent alleged crimes. The reason - the Police force is very much short-handed! And, I have had heard of this appeal for more than half a dozen times.

Ironically, Ampang Jaya chief is proving the OCPD wrong, that, they have redundant of man power by sending 300 police personnel to standby watch the merely 150 odds of protestants of ISA! Is this somekind of privilege that they were giving to the VIPs, or, it was the special attention, given that those 150 odds were highly dangerous warlords, more dangerous than the street snatch thieves, the 30 over mobs that assaulted the poor Detective until he admitted ICU, the break-in house robbers, the gang rapers, the gun hitmen whom several lives had lost to them, and the many you can name!

Perhaps the Police can instead blame, these are the people who caused redundant works for the police force and neglecting others is the fault of these people! These are the people who caused undue insecurity and social costs?! As a law abiding citizen, I for one will protest - "'Then why not permit was issued to allow a legal gathering therefore not so many of the redundant uniformed personnel would have needed, not so much of the resources would be wasted on the 'illegal' gathering"! The police can then enjoy better efficiency and even can afford to allow the staff to have enjoyed some more leisure times with their families! The are also human, not robot! After all, the vigils or whatever past gatherings had been proven peaceful and led by leaders of integrity who were capable of nurturing discipline and order! They are all self-constraint people and they are merely brave citizens whom they feel they are obligated to walk their rights as the civic conscious civics and they are no terrorists!

The Police or rather the Government have been over-reacting on such people's project, which is only fair to be encouraged so as to portray to the world that we are truly a democratic Nation! Why stoop as low and proving ourselves to be no better than the abysmal and contemptible Junta?! It makes us low-class!

The D-Day will come!

D-Day will come our way!
November 18, 2008

I just wonder why, what had happened to our Nation? Like it is sicked and getting more and more sickening! A supposed to be peaceful candlelite vigil which held on Saturday night (15/11/08), in Penang, could also turn rile and invited almost a platoon of riot police to attend to it! Protecting the safety of a passel of mere hundred odds peace lovers ?!

What about the more serious crimes, the felonies that had recently occurred in Penang which involved several lives lost to the brutal criminals with the perpetrators still on the run?! Have they attended to all those they have unsettled? The Police now has redundant manpower save from the usual complaint of being short handed by the Police chief?!

It turned out otherwise, that night, the emcee of the ceremony to express the wills of the law abiding citizens, to urge for the repeal of ISA, was arrested immediately on the disperse of the crowd! Miss Khoo who was the emcee was the poor victim she had been tugged in to the police station for questioning! Being a gentle lady, though brave to stand out to the high handed authority, in the public, still she was caught unaware with puzzle and shock that’s the normal reaction of a fair-minded person who thought who had not done anything disorder! What’s wrong with her when she merely went along with a group of harmless and educated people whom they left behind their children at homes, sacrificed their family days, for just one purpose, they were there at the vigil to express their sense of civic consciousness, to attend a noble cause which they thought were obligated to help making the society a more secured, more peaceful and fearless place to live. Ironically, the Police was proving to them that staying back at home would be most peaceful!

I had attended twice the candlelite vigils at the same place except to have skipped the last one on that very night due to contingency matter. The previous ones were quite successful and peaceful even though during each and every occasions, there were always two handful of police officers staying on guard. They were rather friendly all the while but beyond any expectation, they would have turned wild that very Saturday night and pounced on the poor and petite Paula Khoo and ‘invited’ her to the police den for harassment! It’s clear to every mind that it was an action directed following the villainous police action taken against the same candlelite vigil with the same purpose in PJ ! Our Nation seems like has fallen into the hands of the Nazis Gestapo! I feel regret for such uncalled for actions from the police and express sympathy to Paula Khoo she had unfortunate enough to bear the brunt!

Whilst the police can break our bone, they cannot break our soul and by continue to suppress our will, our burning desires to fight for fair justice and the abolition of the draconian ISA, the despotic Government will have to be made to pay for the price of the consequence!

Come on comrades! Let’s fight on, keep the fire burning until it erupts as the lava, come next general election, the burning lava will run over the racist and totalitarian Government led by UMNO, will make them disappear and extinct like the dinosaurs! We have to prove to them, not unassailable is UMNO’s bastion of corruption and hegemony; invincible is our will and peoples’ power!

A new dawn will take its course! D-Day will worth all our struggles and sacrifices! Though we can’t do as much as Raja Petra, we must also do the least to supplement his efforts for he is doing all the good deeds not only for him, but for the majority of us! Can we just afford to let him stand alone and fight as a lone ranger?!

Definitely not, if you ask me!

The Anwar Dilemma.

Anwar Ibrahim: A power game plan that fell apart
Written by Kazi Mahmood
Sunday, 16 November 2008

The main plan of the opposition was to get the MP's from Sabah to jump ship and form a new national government with the PR, thus toppling the BN and elect Anwar Ibrahim as Prime Minister.

The political storm that hit Malaysia on March 2008 is not over and there are signs of a massive cyclone gathering on the horizons. Will Anwar Ibrahim make it or break this time? His strategy, from the start, was to depend on the states of Sabah and Sarawak where the wind of change is still filled with uncertainty.

Anwar Ibrahim is at the center of the current political storm that is hitting Malaysia. He is working day and night to get the majority that is needed to topple the Barisan National (BN) regime but so far, he managed to grab non-Parliamentarians who fell off the ranks within the BN and the United Malays National Organization (Umno) and this is not sufficient for his strategy to be implemented.

It is now obvious that Sabah was the core of the Anwar Ibrahim strategy to run down the BN government by September 16th 2008, six months after the devastating electoral set back suffered by the BN against the loose coalition headed by Anwar Ibrahim. The strategy fell apart after it was clear that Sabah MP's were not willing to be pawns in the power game plan laid by the astute opposition leader.

Wooing the Sabahans with promises of a better economic deal and more power to the locals in the running of the state did not led the political class to bite the bait. Instead, many of the potential MP's targeted by the Party Keadilaan Rakyat (PKR) became vociferous opponents of the Anwar Ibrahim;s plan to topple the BN.

Opposition websites and newspapers were filled with stories of dejection, poverty and abuse of power or of resources in the states of Sabah and Sarawak. The aim was to create a sensation of despair within the BN and among the people of the states. This was expected to force the people of these states to think of alternatives rather than to keep fulfilling their allegiance to the BN.

Cracking Sabah alone could be damaging to the BN government. When the SAPP decided to quit the BN and join the opposition, hopes were high in the opposition ranks that there will be more MP's from the state of Sabah who would join the SAPP in the opposition, thus fulfilling Anwar's ambition.

While the BN were feeling the heat of the opposition campaign to dislodge it from power after more than 50 years of rule, the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) were also taken by a storm that shocked the supporters of the PKR and of the Democratic Action Party (DAP). The Party Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) was being courted by the Umno and offers were being made to create a new 'Islamic' alliance in the country to prevent the loss of Malay-Muslim political power.

The PAS was not in agreement with Anwar's original plans for take over. The leaders of the Islamic party certainly knew how the former jail bird planned to arrest power from Abdullah Ahmad Badawi but the glitches that existed in the plan put them off. The fact that most of the MP's willing to jump ship from the BN to join the PR were non-Muslims would have created a situation of great unrest in the country among Malays-Muslims. The Muslims would not want a regime headed by a Malay but run by non-Muslims in general. The number of MP's of Islamic faith within the PR became an important question that Anwar could not tackle.

The September 16 date clashed with dates that are important in the Islamic calender, such as the Nuzul Quraan. The Muslims in Semenanjung Malaysia felt Anwar was being 'sarcastic' and were showing 'disrespect' to the Muslims by repeatedly calling for a change of regime in Malaysia on that fatal day for the opposition grouping. The PKR failed to rally the majority of MP's to take power based on the predictions and the landmark date set by Anwar Ibrahim himself.

The month of Ramadan in Malaysia is not the same as those in Afghanistan or Iraq and Somalia where war is still ravaging the countries and disturbing the fasting month of the Muslims. It is a peaceful, joyful and enriching month with prayers and recitations across the Muslim community in Malaysia. Setting the target date to take power by overthrowing the ruling regime – a Malay regime by all means – was a mistake by Anwar.

He gave more importance to the date when Sabah and Sarawak effectively joined Malaya to form Malaysia and in the process offended many Muslims who would have otherwise supported his plans to throw Umno out of power. The date could have differed from the September 16th date says critics of Anwar Ibrahim who added that it might have been different had Anwar waited patiently for his time to make a breakthrough.

Most of the observers met by WorldFutures said Anwar has a huge problem that is going to haunt him. He fails to realize that he has to be patient and to work out better strategies before he aims for the Prime Ministerial post. He seems in a hurry in preventing Najib Tun Razak from taking power and fails to understand that he may get better allies within the Umno itself if he has the right political strategy and policies. They cite the PAS which made breakthroughs with Umno leaders on several issues since the parties where Muslims are majority has understood that in the end, they may need each other to salvage what is left of 'Ketuanan Melayu' or Malay political power in Malaysia.

In the meantime, Anwar annouced on his blog that his party made breakthroughs in Sabah where some 12,000 grass root members and supporters of the BN were joining the PKR. This indeed consolidates the PKR in Sabah but it does not deal an immediate blow to the BN since no MP's are leaving their places in the government to join the BN.

Anwar has the charisma and the capacity to bring the supporters of the BN to rally in his favor but has lost the charm and the power to break down the MP's – those he needs to take power in the short run and prevent Najib Razak from becoming PM.

It is undoubted that he will be able to drag more grass root support for the PKR but in the mean time he cannot afford to sit back and watch Najib rise to the occasion as Prime Minister. While the entire nation is feeling that Umno is heading for a slow but sure death, there are reasons to believe that such an institution can still defeat its own ogres and rise as the phoenix from its own ashes.

Efforts within the Umno and outside the party, made to salvage the Umno ideology, cannot be ignored. The party members appeared to have withstood the challenges posed by the September 16th deadline and has re-aligned behind the future PM, Najib Razak. The immediate effect of the announcement of the resignation of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in March next year is the rallying of the party grass roots, leaders and members to the folds.

It must also be said the Umno garnered enough Malay votes in the March 2008 elections while in the Permatang Pauh defeat against Anwar despite the trashing it received, it garnered sufficient Malay votes to indicate that it has not lost all the support.

Permatang Pauh also indicated that the other race based parties in the BN were 'passe' and has to adopt new policies and strategies before they face any elections in the future. The rejection of the BN so far is still focused on the shift of non-Malay voters to the opposition camp, a situation that can be healed if the Umno applies the right policies and strategies, WorldFutures was told.

Nevertheless, pressure is mounting on the Umno to prove that it can seal the various races into a nation and failing to do so will impede its chances of a quick recovery in the next general elections (GE). With these elements in his favor, Anwar Ibrahim should be able to cause more damages to the Umno and the BN in a future GE but it is not certain whether the Umno will tumble and fall this time around. It is also not certain whether the PAS will continue to play second fiddle to the PKR in the future as the party is facing internal pressure to advance further in its agenda of becoming a national party rather than remain a 'Malay' belt party. The PAS has a great need to win more Parliamentary seats in order to influence the course of the nation's future. Winning 20 seats will not help it contain the largely non-Muslim supporters and their agendas for a more secular Malaysia to emerge after the downfall of the BN.

With Sabah now calm and the possibility of a massive cross-over dimmed, the Anwar Ibrahim plan to seize power must now focus on the Umno and its supporters and MP's. Why? The Umno remains the largest political organization in the country. The attempts at chipping away the BN with the wooing of non-Muslim parties to leave the coalition having failed, the Umno is the most attractive and lucrative target for Anwar Ibrahim and the PKR. And that would include, though with limited chances, a return of Anwar Ibrahim to the Umno!

Comments (2)

A new dawn will come!
written by Candidmen, November 16, 2008

Well said Kazi, you spoke of the general perceptions people have over DSAI. He had made a move of blunder to announce his plan of besieging Umno too early and too rashly before he garnered enough supports and laid his route to sure victory! Instead of his 916 proclamation of change realized into a death knell for Umno, he triggered the alarm bell for Umno to regroup and rallied their defected members into fold, though it's not overwhelming, it has caused those hanging in the balance to have hold sway and stayed put to graze the last stack of hay spared for their votes in the Umno divisional election! To a certain extent, it did help to dilute the Malay supports to PKR with Umno consolidating its members!

With Najib looming to take over from AAB as the PM, he managed to pre-empt the powers to thickly veil all his scandals connecting to the Altantuya murder, by releasing Razak Baginda has effectively graved all the evidence which could possibly be unraveled in the court if RB was dragged to face the dock! Now that Najib is safe, DSAI is in the limbo of planning out his next move amid his mind boggling sodomy II trailing his back harassing his already perturbed mind! He needs two brains to conceive plans of effective to curb problems both of party level (PR consensus of ideology) and also on a personal level, how to lighten his shoulder with the heavy baggage which contains all the law suits!

As time flies, the Anwar syndrome has begun to dim and the co-operation amongst the PR coalition seems to be sliding and gradually falling apart which needs immediate mending of DSAI despite his charisma is leaking through the seam! The rakyat after failed to see the realization of cash cheque dated 916, have also fallen into the doldrums and many have lost hopes believing that Anwar can do wonders within the near future before Najib swamps in to pin him 6 feet beneath the mire! Most have been anguished enough of pondering and run out of steam, though not giving up, we can merely pray for Anwar, pray for ourselves the change that we are yearning with the morale in a funk, mostly but not all!

We will continue to fight, with RPK is out and Datuk Zaid Ibrahim joins the rank, we will continue to slug it out! We all understand - Rome was not built overnight and it was built! So does a new Malaysia, it will be built for sure!

New strategy
written by observers, November 16, 2008

I believe the PR need a new strategy, a new ideology. I remember reading what Khairy said on the PR and Anwar. He said the reform cannot rest on the shoulders of only one person and in the PR it is on the shoulders of many people but it is Anwar who is seen as the reform leader. His failure to make 916 happen brings his star further down and it affects the PR, the PKR and the reform movement.

I bet the Umno has a better strategy in place now and that things will move differently soon if the PR continues to have differences that seem 'unbearable'.

Many of the PR supporters too are one sided, stubborn and seem to have an outright anti-Muslim agenda. This too must change if the PR want support from all and sundry in Malaysia! Perhaps worldfutures should inquire among the Muslims about this 'anti-Muslim' thing that may destroy the PR after all!

Pete the Hero and Mdm Marina the Heroine

Dear Pete and Madame Marina,

I take off my hat and salute YOU both with the highest honor and my full respects! You are our Hero and Heroine I bow with gratitude whole heartedly on your sacrifices and the whole heart of oak you have had contributed for the future and hopes of all of us, the true Malaysians! God will always bless you and your family for doing such a benevolent good deed!

Puan Marina has set a good paradigm of virtue being the Woman behind the Great Man and you have gone through very tough time during the 56 days Pete suffered incarceration! I respect you like I respect Puan Azizzah and I despise Rosmah and even that Jean behind the useless mule! You are a role model for all our wives who used to be timid and shun us from getting involved with all these good cause we are fighting for not only the families but the next generations! Our so-called sacrifice compared to you both are trifling and I feel shameful in front of YOU both! More so I feel shameful on behalf of those who didn't even dare to voice out and attend the vigils that had been held during the period when Pete and Puan endured in great sufferings!.............

God Bless great humankind like YOU both and good fate will shower upon YOU! We will still stay together to slug it out despite the road ahead is tough!

Cheers and toast to Pete for retrieving your freedom!

The road ahead is still tough !

Our Hero RPK had gone through tough time. He was arrested on the 12th September, 2008, which I marked in my diary and in this blog as a black Friday. The black Friday was also a day when the so-called holy prayers were conducted in the mosques and wicked devils were fangs to tug RPK with shackles into incarceration! More so ridiculous and ironical was during the month of Ramadan, when Muslims were supposed to exult over the auspicious holy month with good mood and sense of compassionate humanity, such evil plot could be allowed to take place in the guise of piety to Islam! As serious as blas-phemous to God's preaching, and if those vile and arrogant politicians are not to be blamed and reprimanded, it will be truly a laughing stock to the commoners whom they have different belief in preaching! Scoffed at are those who distorted the true Islamic value and have gall to claim to be pious Muslims, and not Islam the religion!

Who is the real insult to Islam? The one who is being pious enough to narrate the essence of Islamic preachings, or, the one who is always capitalizing on Islamic tenets, politicize and skew implementing to provoke fears amongst the public?! Being the laymen and atheist, we need not have to be baptized, our common sense will lead us not to believe that Islam is such a grisly religion as if a belief of terrorism which is under the ugly depict of the lunatic fringe and the stuck-up mediocre Ministers, with that Botak Syed Hamid top the list! A disgrace to the Nation!

The bare bone accusation that RPK was insulting Islam with his writings without going through proper verification and attestation of the religious preachers, by mere instinct and personal dislike feeling that some crooks had been insulted, and blamed others of insulting Islam, abuse in the name of Allah, are those of inflicting the most sinful and insults of highest order to the Prophet, to Islam!

Welcome back the Hero - RPK !

Raja Petra, surrounded by his wife and supporters, is all smiles after his release from detention. — Picture by Choo Choy May

The Malaysian Obama is freed and the fight is still on!

Raja Petra freed

SHAH ALAM, Nov 7 — The High Court today ordered that Raja Petra Kamarudin, editor of the popular news portal Malaysia Today, be released from detention after ruling that his arrest for allegedly causing racial tensions was unlawful.

High Court Justice Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad ruled that the Home Minister acted outside his powers in having Raja Petra arrested on Sept 12, said the blogger’s lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar.

He quoted the judge as saying the grounds given for Raja Petra's detention were insufficient and that his arrest under the Internal Security Act was unlawful.

The ISA allows the government to detain anyone for an initial two-year period without charges, and to extend the detention indefinitely.

Raja Petra, who was accused of threatening public security and causing racial tension by publishing writings that ridiculed Islam, will be taken to court later today to be formally set free.

Malik said the order was a "historic ruling”.

It's not the first time that a court has ordered the release of ISA detainees, and the ruling also does not prevent the government from re-arresting him under the ISA. The government can also appeal the ruling.

Raja Petra, 58, has increasingly infuriated authorities by publishing numerous claims about alleged wrongdoing by government leaders on his highly popular site, Malaysia Today. The government has denounced most of Raja Petra's allegations as lies.

He is also on trial in a separate case, having been accused of sedition by implying that Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was involved in the murder of a Mongolian woman. Raja Petra denies the allegation. If convicted, he faces up to three years in jail.

The detention came at a time when the government's popularity hit at an all-time low and is riven with factional fighting and faces the threat of being ousted by the opposition.

The ISA is a holdover from British colonial days, when it was used against communist insurgents. Independent Malaysia's post-colonial government has kept it in the statute books and has used it sparingly against political dissidents, ignoring calls from opposition groups and others to disband the law.

Raja Petra's arrest triggered widespread protests by civil society groups, lawyers and other online commentators.

Some of Malaysia's most popular blogs offer strong anti-government commentaries and present themselves as a substitute for mainstream media, which are controlled by political parties or closely linked to them. The government estimates there are more than 700 Malaysians who blog on social and political issues.

Meanwhile, Raja Petra’s wife, Mable or Marina Lee, described as “fantastic” the High Court decision to free her husband from detention under the Internal Security Act.

“I don't know what to say...it is a fantastic breakthrough that happened today,” she told reporters after the decision.

Marina, who wore a red T-shirt with the words “I Am With RPK”, was elated that the decision was what she had expected. — Agencies

Social Contract or Racial Contract?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

My sedition trial will resume on 10th November 2008 after a three week postponement. Thus far six prosecution witnesses have testified and it appears like the prosecution has 10-13 more witnesses lined up.

Basically, the government is of the view that my article, “Let’s send the Altantuya murderers to hell”, is seditious. And to ensure that I am duly punished, other than facing trial, I am also under Internal Security Act detention. This means, even if the court acquits me, I shall still not be free. It is like taking double insurance. Either way you are covered.

I suppose sedition is the natural thing to charge me with. Moses was charged with sedition that he had to flee Egypt. Jesus was charged with sedition and the Christians believe he was executed because of that. Muhammad too was charged with sedition and the Muslims believe that God commanded him to flee Mecca lest he get murdered that same evening.

I am not trying to compare myself to the three main prophets of the Abrahamic religions. What I am trying to say is that if even the three most important prophets of the Jews, Christians and Muslim are not spared the allegation of sedition, then who am I to escape?

On 7th November, the court will decide if my ISA detention is legal. I could say that my freedom is now in the hands of the judge and may he rule wisely. And of course, to me, “wisely” would mean to free me – whereas that may not quite be the government’s view of “wise”.

Something significant of late was the Rulers’ statement on Article 153 and the “Social Contract”. We could say that this was historic as the Rulers have never thus far made such statements. Could this be said as something timely or something the Rulers should not have done? I really don’t know.

The Pakatan Rakyat Kedah state government’s ruling of imposing a 50% Bumiputra quota on houses in the state does not help either. Why 50%? Why even 30%? Should in the first place there even be a quota?

If you have not done so this you should read Zaid Ibrahim’s book “In Good Faith”, Zaid has addressed this matter of Article 153 and the “Social Contract” with great clarity.

What the Kedah state government has done is unconstitutional. Article 8 and Article 153 of the Constitution do not allow this. You just can’t dictate how people run their businesses.

Those who support the imposition of quotas argue that there exists a “Social Contract” that allows them to do so. But while they mention this “Social Contract”, they fail to mention the terms of this “contract”, what it says, and who is bound by it.

In short, if I am not a party to that contract can I be bound by it? The contract was entered into by the Malays and the then immigrant Indians and Chinese; of course it is not really a written contract as much as a verbal contract and we all know that a verbal contract is not worth the paper it is written on.

Nevertheless, should Malaysian-born Indians and Chinese who have never even visited India and China be made to abide to a verbal “contract” made by their immigrant parents and/or grandparents? How long will this “contract” run? Will Indians and Chinese 1000 years from now still be made to abide to a “contract” made in 1957?

There should be a cut-off date. There must come a point of time when all Malaysians are regarded as equal. How can an Indonesian who migrated to this country a few years ago be regarded as Bumiputra when Chinese and Indians who come to this country in the 1400s are still second class citizens?

Yes, Article 153 accords Malays certain rights and privileges. But that same Article, and Article 8, do not allow imposing of quotas and permits which deny Indians and Chinese their rights in favour of the Malays. This, many people do not seem to understand.

We also seem to have forgotten that the New Economic Policy is a two-pronged attack. Other than reducing the gap between the different races it is also about reducing the gap between the rich and the poor. And this would mean regardless of race.

When we talk about the Malay farmers and fisherman. We do not seem to realize that there are Chinese farmers and fishermen as well. Poverty does not recognize race.

It is time that the “Social Contract” be reviewed. A new “Social Contract” must be drawn up that looks into the SOCIAL structure and not RACIAL structure that the present “Social Contract” addresses. Only then can it be called a “Social Contract”. If not, then let us call it what it really is, a “Racial Contract”.

The poverty level also needs to be reviewed. The new “hardcore” poverty level should be RM1200. Anyone earning below RM1200 per month should be considered poor. That would mean a high percentage of Malaysians. Then the NEW “Social Contract” should address the needs of those who live below the NEW poverty level of RM1200.

And the NEW “Social Contract” should no longer be a verbal contract but chiseled in stone. And it should be a contract to take care of Malays, Indians, Chinese, Portuguese, Ibans, Dayaks, etc. As long as you are poor, meaning earning below RM1200 then you are taken care of. That should be Malaysia’s NEW SOCIAL CONTRACT.

Before I sign off, I would like to apologise for the quality of my articles. It is not so convenient to type from where I currently live so I need to just get my points across without much focus on the presentation. I hope this will not be for long and that I may soon be back with you. Anyway I was told that Malaysia Today is under control and in good hands. Till we speak again.

The old devil is marching with the junior to haunt the rakyat again!

Zaid: Mahathir is back in power with Najib
Consultant Editor

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 6 — Former de facto Law Minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim says Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s impending rise to become Umno president and Prime Minister marks the return of “Mahathirism”.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, he said, will become Malaysia’s “de facto PM”, standing behind Najib.

He said the fall of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is a result of Dr Mahathir prevailing.

Zaid, who resigned recently from Abdullah's Cabinet in protest against the use of the Internal Security Act, said he did not expect Najib to continue Abdullah's reform agenda once he takes over.

"Legal and constitutional reforms make you less powerful, more accountable and less able to use the privileges of power.

"Why would someone trained and schooled by Dr Mahathir introduce reforms. Have you heard Najib speak of reforms?” he told The Malaysian Insider.

Zaid said he expects Najib's administration to be more authoritarian with more controls and restrictions compared to that of Abdullah's.

Abdullah, he said, believed in reforms, but "he did not have the stomach" to push through the changes needed.

During the interview he also responded to allegations made against him by Dr Mahathir on the latter's blog recently.

In his chedet.com blog, Dr Mahathir accused Zaid of being in Perth, Australia during the March general election, and for helping the Pas candidate win the Kota Baru constituency against the Barisan Nasional.

Dr Mahathir also criticised Zaid's move as minister to have the government institute ex-gratia payments to the judges who were sacked as a result of the 1988 judicial crisis.

Said Zaid in response: "He says I helped the Pas candidate, but the fact is Pas was going to win no matter what because of the anti-BN mood.

"He has conveniently forgotten that he actively asked the people to vote against BN to teach Abdullah a lesson."

Zaid added that Dr Mahathir would never be able to accept why ex-gratia payments were made to the judges because it reflects badly on his legacy as Prime Minister.

He said Dr Mahathir would never understand the need for reforms because, to him, "more authoritarianism is better”.

The former minister said Malaysia's political and economic uncertainties today is a result of Dr Mahathir.

He also blamed Dr Mahathir for Umno's unpopularity and lack of proper leadership.

"The truth is we have had no proper election since 1987," he said in reference to the year in which Dr Mahathir defeated Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah by a wafer-thin majority to retain the Umno presidency.

Soon after that election, Umno was declared illegal in a court case which led eventually to the 1988 judicial crisis and the sacking of judges involved in the case.

Under Dr Mahathir, the Societies Act was also subsequently amended disallowing judicial review of any political party decision.

"After the Societies Act was amended the president of Umno could do anything.

"You have destroyed the fabric of our lives as a democracy. Have you not done enough?''

Zaid said Malaysia faced an uncertain and more authoritarian future when Najib takes over.

"You had 23 years of Dr Mahathir, so let's say Najib lasts for 10 years as PM with Mahathir behind him. That means a total of 33 years under Dr Mahathir."

*Mahathirism = authoritarianism, freedom and democracy abolitionism, corruptionism, cronyism, and you name it, all those philistinism!

America Rejoins the World

UN: Hope that America Rejoins the World
The World Reacts
By Barbara Crossette

Jubilation should be the order of the day at the United Nations when an American who is also a son of Kenya and a child of Indonesia is elected president of the most powerful country in a world in need of healing. But while there is quiet joy and relief at the victory of Barack Obama, there is also a strong undercurrent of caution. Is the end of an unfriendly Republican era enough in itself to bring the United States back? Or have the Democrats, the heirs of the UN's founders, drifted too far from internationalism?

Much has been written in recent years about America "rejoining the world." Nowhere more than at the UN have Washington's bullying tactics and stunted, provincial vision of global challenges cast such a pall over international cooperation. Here, the United States is close-up and personal. After the naming in Washington of a new secretary of state, the appointment most eagerly awaited at the UN is that of the next American ambassador.

Peter Maurer, Switzerland's ambassador to the UN, says that what he hears among his diplomatic colleagues is a plea for trust to be restored between the US and the UN. There are the wounds of the Iraq war, and there is skepticism about the motives of Washington when politicians talk about UN reform. "The new administration will find a kind of window of opportunity because there is enormous goodwill around the UN to see and to hear some new voices" Maurer said. But the UN as well as the US will have to work on closing the rift, he added.

The world of the United Nations is divided into two distinct camps. The people of the headquarters Secretariat and the various agencies are recruited or appointed international civil servants who are expected to leave their nationalities behind and work for a global constituency. Many of them fail to meet that test, but that's another story. Separate from them are the diplomats who represent the 192 member nations. Their missions are in essence embassies to the UN and their views, at least formally, would reflect those of their governments.

To the foreign diplomats based in New York, perhaps surprisingly, the ambassadors sent to the UN by the Bush administration have generally been respected and liked, from John Negroponte and John Danforth to Zalmay Khalilzad, the first Muslim to represent the US in New York. John Bolton was the exception, but his period as ambassador was relatively brief and he was regarded as competent even by some who found him undiplomatically abrasive and driven blindly by his distrust of internationalism and rigid defense of American sovereignty.

Samir Sanbar, a former UN under secretary general for communications who now publishes a gossipy newsletter, unforum.com, describes the mood in the Secretariat this week as "caught between hope and apprehension." He says that the organization remembers the Clinton years, when the White House backed away from some important international commitments and crudely dumped a secretary general, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, out of what appeared to be domestic political skittishness.

Middle Easterners (Sanbar is from Lebanon) also see no real possibility of change in regional policy in the Mideast, he said. Not long ago, before the election, a Brazilian diplomat remarked that there is concern about the Democrats' aversion to free trade. A lot of Indians liked the Republicans because they gave New Delhi a nuclear supply deal that may have killed the nonproliferation treaty.

Maurer, an expert in international law, said that a hoped-for thaw in US-UN relations would need to translate into action. "We all know what some of the concrete issues are, where many delegations would hope that a new administration would eventually set some priorities," he said. "This goes from climate change to engagement on a balanced nuclear disarmament, nonproliferation, policy. It goes to a new engagement for multilateral human rights, approaches which we certainly missed. New ideas, new approaches might be extremely welcome."

A list of international agreements rebuffed by the US awaits the Obama-Biden administration, beginning with the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty against nuclear weapons development, which the Clinton Administration shrank from sending to a hostile Congress. Also under Clinton, the US signed but never ratified the 1998 treaty creating the International Criminal Court, the first permanent tribunal designed to deal with perpetrators of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. In 2001, the Bush administration rescinded even the US signature and set out to undermine the court. Now, without standing in the court, Washington is in the awkward position of wanting the president of Sudan to be tried there for the horrors of Darfur.

The United States also opted out of joining the Human Rights Council, created in 2006 to replace the discredited Human Rights Commission. An early decision will have to be made on whether to vie for a seat in the new year.

On climate change, the US has not joined the Kyoto Protocol, which sets binding targets for reducing greenhouse gases in industrialized countries. The agreement, due to expire in 2012, is scheduled to be renegotiated next year at a global conference in Copenhagen. Strong leadership and active American participation will be needed to draw in major developing nations that have so far refused to be bound by internationally agreed limits.

The UN seems to have been a bone thrown by Washington to the ideological right. After the Security Council refused to endorse the American invasion of Iraq, Republicans excoriated the UN and Secretary General Kofi Annan for his opposition to the war and on whom, with more than a hint of revenge, they tried to pin responsibility for corruption in the Iraqi "oil for food" program a few years later. That the secretary general had no authority over the Security Council and that almost all the corruption turned out to have been found in corporations operating outside the formal system, whose rules Council members failed to enforce, were conveniently overlooked.

Sanbar says that the current secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, whom the US (and particularly Bolton) propelled into office in 2007, may be wondering what will happen when and if he seeks a second five-year term. He will have to open channels to the Democrats.

The UN Population Fund may have the most to gain in the short term from the Democratic victory. Since 2002, the Bush administration has barred American contributions to the fund, known as UNFPA, on specious claims that it was involved in programs in China that included forced abortions--claims the State Department argued were not true. The cumulative loss to UNFPA neared $300 million this year, at a time when maternal mortality remains high and family planning programs, in great demand in poor nations, are falling well behind funding campaigns for fighting HIV-AIDS.

In the Senate, Obama and Joe Biden have been supportive of programs for women--Biden co-authored the Violence Against Women legislation--and the ban on UNFPA is expected to be lifted early, along with what is known as the "global gag rule" introduced at a population conference in Mexico City in the Reagan administration that prevents US aid to any organization worldwide that condones abortion.

With the new administration, the broader American opposition to social programs in the UN system may end or be greatly diminished. The US has been in league with the Vatican and conservative Islamic countries on women's reproductive rights. It has failed to ratify the 1979 Convention on All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (along with nations such as North Korea and Iran) and is only one of two countries (Somalia is the other) not to have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Maurer said diplomats who watched the presidential debates this year with great interest noticed that the UN did not figure in the candidates' foreign policy messages. Ignoring the UN has become bipartisan. Reluctance to make commitments "went far beyond the President Bush administration," he said. "There has to be something in the American political fabric which produces these opinions."

Advances in universal human rights, international criminal law and accountability in the UN system all depend on American involvement, Maurer said. "There is no doubt that if you want to have functioning multilateralism you have to have the United States engaged and on board. If this is not happening, you are immediately in the vicious circle because then the results of negotiations will always be weaker if the US is not pushing within the institution, at the table."

Peoples around the world are in relvery upon Obama's victory!

Obama Girls, a hula dance group formed in honour of Barack Obama's Hawaiian heritage, performing to celebrate Obama's victory in the US presidential election in the town of Obama, western Japan, yesterday. The people of Obama were ecstatic on the senator’s victory. — AP pic

Barack Obama won the Presidency of USA

Barack Obama crowns his victory by giving his children a puppy

Barack Obama's two daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, have double reason to celebrate their father's historic victory in the American presidential elections today. For as a gift for all their help and support on the campaign trial, they are to be rewarded with a furry friend.

Taking a break from the flag-waving and the applause in Grant Park, Chicago, where Obama made his acceptance speech, he said to his children: "I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House."

Obama did not go into details about a name or breed of the dog, but he is sure to become the focus of intense media interest. The Bush family had two Scottish terriers, Barney and Miss Beazley, who are arguably the most photographed animals in the history of animalkind. Lyndon Johnson's mutt Yuki, who he found at a gas station, often appeared in the photos with the president in the Oval Office. The Kennedy family took things a little further, keeping a pony, Macaroni, in the garden. Perhaps the most famous pet of all, however, was Richard Nixon's dog Checkers. After he ran for vice-president in 1952, he was accused of receiving illegal campaign contributions and said he was keeping the dog no matter what. It became known as "The Checkers Speech."

A Devil vs the Lameduck?

All the right moves but lost opportunities abound
COMMENTARY

NOV 5 - Tried and tested is probably the best description for the stimulus package announced by Prime Minister in waiting Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday. The package is unexciting overall but an extra RM7 billion is nothing to sneer at in times like these.

Similar measures have helped soften past hard landings for the economy -- boost the infrastructure and construction sectors, increase disposable income, keep the property sector afloat.

These helped Malaysia muddle through the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis ten years ago, and will probably work to some degree now.

But if the stimulus package is food for the body, the question that follows is what will Najib offer as food for the collective Malaysian soul?

When the Budget was unveiled in September the world was a much different place. People were bracing for more expensive fuel and dearer food, wondering how they were going to make ends meet in the face of rampant inflation.

Seven weeks later, the spiralling global financial crisis has cast different shadows on the immediate future. Falling house prices and toxic financial instruments have wreaked havoc in the US and UK, and threatened the stability of banks and insurance companies and roiled currencies around the world.

The price of oil has plunged, which has helped moderate inflation. But prices of commodities that Malaysia exports such as palm oil and rubber have nose-dived too.

Malaysia has been spared the worst so far, but confidence here is nonetheless low. The stimulus package offers the prospect of some immediate relief, but does little to alleviate a sense of "coulda, woulda, shoulda".

Now is probably not a good time to address some long-standing, deep-seated issues, but if we had done it when times were better, we might have built up some fat reserves against the lean times facing us tomorrow.

If only we had set a 10-year deadline in 2001 to reduce fuel subsidies to zero, we would probably have more than RM7 billion today to spend our way out of the approaching economic difficulties.

If only we had faced head on the protection for the national car Proton five years ago, we'd have cheaper cars now and more disposable income.

Years of high automotive tariffs on non-national cars has extracted a high cost in consumer welfare foregone and taken a toll on the economy.

Between 2001 and 2007, car buyers paid more than RM30 billion in duties and tariffs on the vehicles they bought. They forked out between RM9,000 and RM16,000 on average in taxes on each car purchased. And those who took car loans paid interest on those taxes.

Additional disposable income injected directly into the economy has a higher multiplier effect, so that money would probably have had a far bigger impact, in helping create jobs, say, than as development expenditure spent by the government. It would have more than made up for higher pump prices.

And it's probably too little, too late for Proton to say now it is ready to seek a foreign partner, when the world's car makers are slashing sales forecasts and seeking capital and financing.

If only the burden of the New Economic Policy on the economy could be addressed, and the ability of the country to compete on the global stage and attract foreign investment. But as recent events have shown, a thorough discussion on that issue is probably some way off.

If only we had made the most of opportunities as they came along, the country could perhaps have entered 2009 without a budget deficit which hampers attempts to spend our way out of a slowdown or recession.

Yesterday's stimulus package means the deficit will grow by a third, to 4.8 percent of gross domestic product, from the 3.1 percent announced in the Budget in September. And if a recession does strike, expect the deficit to swell further.

If only there was something that Najib could offer -- by way of commitment, of promises of a better future -- so Malaysians can see their way clear, not just for one year or the next, but for a long time to come!

A lameduck which causes the Country drifting !

Abdullah’s inaction pushes Malaysia back to Mahathirism

COMMENTARY

NOV 3 — Putting aside for the moment the question of whether the return of Mahathirism is a good or bad thing for Malaysia, let us agree that one man’s failure has provided the ripe conditions for its return.

If today Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s influence in government and among Umno members is growing, and his ideas on tackling the economic slowdown to fighting malaise in the Barisan Nasional are gaining traction in the community, it is because Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi did not provide the strong, decisive leadership which Malaysians want and crave for.

Abdullah and his supporters may complain that the advent of Mahathirism is a return to the days of power being centralized in the hands of the few; with institutions being trampled upon and the rule of law being subjugated but there is little evidence that the Abdullah years were watershed years in governance and transparency.

On Thursday, it was exactly five years that the baton of leadership changed hands between Dr Mahathir and Abdullah. Those were days of promises; pronouncements; new beginnings. Nothing exemplified this more than the motion of thanks to Dr Mahathir which Abdullah proposed in Parliament on Nov 3, 2003.

Scroll through the motion of thanks today and two things become apparent: why Malaysians were so taken up with what Abdullah had to offer and his inability to add flesh to the grand sounding rhetoric of that day.

Here are a few examples:

“We must seek and identify new sources of economic growth. We must develop new approaches to enhance our competitiveness and strengthen our resilience to face global challenges. The distribution of economic opportunities must be equitable to benefit the broadest range of people.”

Fact: Five years on, the government is still talking about finding new sources of growth. The reality is that Malaysia is still far too dependent on oil and commodities for its revenue. Our manufacturing sector is built on a brittle foundation — the uninterrupted flow of cheap foreign labour.

And yes, we are still a long way off from becoming a modern agriculture powerhouse.

“We must respect the separation of powers between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. This is important to maintain the checks and balances needed to prevent abuses of power.”

Fact: What separation of powers? The concept of separation of power truly works only when judicial review of administrative processes is allowed.

Abdullah’s promise of ushering a judicial renaissance is pretty much work in progress.

“It is incumbent upon us as elected representatives to display exemplary political leadership, which can only be effective if we are respected. We must cultivate an image that is clean, incorruptible, modest and beyond suspicion.”

Fact: March 8. On that day, many Malaysians gave their verdict on Barisan Nasional candidates, whom they viewed as arrogant, power crazy, avaricious and corrupt.

Despite all the talk, the consensus was that many elected representatives ran roughshod over Abdullah during his first term as the prime minister, predicting correctly that unlike Dr Mahathir, he would not use the powers of incumbency to bring them into line.

When lined up side by side, the Mahathir years seems like a time of progress; of a country taking shape; of economic growth; of a vision; of punching above the weight in international relations.

In contrast, the Abdullah years seems like a time of intangibles; more democratic space; more willingness to tolerate differing opinions and more respect for Parliament.

But precious little for the little man to appreciate and cling on to as evidence of a better standard of living.

Given this backdrop, it is not difficult to understand why many Umno members and a good number of Malaysians are not as troubled about the return of Mahathirism as members of the chattering class and Abdullah’s supporters.

They yearn for a strong hand, especially in these uncertain economic times. They want to know where Malaysia is headed.

Abdullah’s motion of thanks on Nov 3, 2003 also gives a clutch of hints on why not everyone is in mourning over Dr Mahathir’s return to the main theatre of politics in Malaysia.

This is what Abdullah said five years ago: “The development of our infrastructure and human resources grew at its fastest pace during his premiership. More importantly, he placed our country on the world map and has made Malaysia an example of political stability, economic prosperity, racial unity and religious tolerance. We are now widely acknowledged as a progressive Islamic country.

“The Member of Parliament for Kubang Pasu has imbued us with self-confidence, dignity and national pride. He is a hero to his nation and to his people — a hero who elevated his country in the eyes of the world.”

> Fact : The MP for Kepala Batas had failed us, have been caused total lost of confidence in him! National dignity and pride had all gone into drain! Fall of fame not only caused the Nation to have become an international clown, more so the mediocre cabinet Ministers many of them behaved mulish and stupid, as if they are mules! Malaysia has fallen in fame in many aspects, enmeshed with scandals, corruptible sex maniacs became international playboys claimed to be future leadership, plunderers of national coffer hanging loose overseas enjoy lavishly like they are still the Knights! AAB is a coward in the eyes of his Umno goons and to his people, he is a nationally known hypocrite and useless lameduck ever has born in the Malaysian history!

Extreme Power can buy justice in Bolehland.......

Razak Baginda saved by his affidavit

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 - The acquittal of political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda in the high-profile murder case of his former Mongolian lover made big headlines in Malaysian newspapers yesterday, with many zooming in on how his affidavit had saved him.

The sleazy and sensational affair, and Abdul Razak's close ties to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, had kept the case in the public eye as the trial ran for two years.

His almost-forgotten affidavit filed two years ago was the highlight as it was pivotal to the High Court judge's decision to acquit him of abetting the murder.

The document was filed in court in an attempt by Abdul Razak, 48, to obtain bail before the trial started. He failed to get bail and there was criticism then by legal experts who considered it a wrong move to disclose
his case so early in the trial.

But it turned out to be an astute move. High Court judge Mohamed Zaki Mohamed Yasin on Friday ruled that the tell-all affidavit had helped clear him of the charge of asking two policemen to kill Altantuya
Shaariibuu.

"In the absence of the rebuttal evidence against them (statements in the affidavit), coupled with the fact that there is no legal onus for him to rebut any statutory presumption, there is clearly no reason for the
statements to be ignored and rejected," the judge said.

The lengthy document detailed how Abdul Razak met Altantuya in 2004, and had an affair with her that lasted until 2005.

After they broke up, he alleged that the 28-year-old interpreter harassed him, and that he had sought the help of the police. But he denied telling them to kill her.

According to court evidence, Altantuya's remains were found in a jungle outside Kuala Lumpur, blown up with explosives after she was shot dead.

The judge found that 13 statements in the affidavit were not rebutted by evidence put forward by prosecutors. In a nutshell, they recounted how Abdul Razak had asked Musa Safri, a security aide of the deputy premier, for help because of Altantuya's harassment.

Musa reportedly said he would introduce him to a police officer. The co-accused Azilah Hadri, an officer from an elite unit that guards VVIPs, called Abdul Razak the next day.

Abdul Razak said he called Azilah on Oct 19, 2006, when Altantuya turned up at his house.

Altantuya was taken away by three police officers. Abdul Razak said he subsequently asked Musa what had happened to Altantuya but the aide said Azilah did not tell him.

The judge on Friday found these statements were corroborated by witnesses at the trial, and "clearly negated and nullified the act of abetment as alleged".

This detailed legal explanation was, however, described by veteran opposition politician Lim Kit Siang as a technical one, as he demanded further investigation.

The immediate public reaction on the Internet was, as expected, similar. Abdul Razak's close ties to DPM Najib were hauled out to hint at favoured treatment although there was no evidence of this.

Lim wrote in his blog that it was imperative for Najib to face an independent government inquiry on the allegations.

So far, Abdul Razak has not given his side of the story. After his acquittal, he went back to his house in upmarket Damansara Heights before going to the mosque for Friday prayers.

He wore broad smiles each time he came out of the house, but declined to speak to reporters. He also said he had been fasting for the 22 months since he was arrested.

His two co-accused, Azilah and Sirul Azhar Umar, who allegedly killed Altantuya, have been ordered to present their defence. The hearing will begin on Nov 10.

Here are excerpts of the affidavit filed by Abdul Razak Baginda:

EVEN though I had appointed (private eye) P. Balasubramaniam, the harassment by Altantuya against my family and me did not stop. Hence, I asked Deputy Superintendent Musa Safri (a security aide to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak) for help.

I also sought help to be introduced to a police officer from the Brickfields police station as my house was under their jurisdiction.

DSP Musa told me that he would introduce me to an officer who would help me.

On Oct 17, 2006, the deceased came to my house and wanted to meet me. I was not at home at that time, and my wife learnt of her visit.

On the night of Oct 17, I was at home and there was a commotion outside the house.

I called Balasubramaniam and Dhiren Norendra (a lawyer) to help me. A police patrol car arrived to settle the matter.

DSP Musa later called me and said a police officer would call me to help me sort out my problem with the deceased.

On the morning of Oct 18, 2006, Azilah Hadri (one of the co-accused) called me and introduced himself as the police officer who was referred by DSP Musa to help me.

I subsequently met with Azilah. I told him that the deceased had caused a commotion at my house, and asked him to conduct patrols around my house.

On Oct 19, 2006, Balasubramaniam called me and told me that there was a commotion outside my house. I was out with my family. So I called Azilah for help.

Balasubramaniam told me that three plainclothes police officers came to my house... to take the deceased away.

On Oct 20, I bumped into DSP Musa. I asked him what happened the night before and DSP Musa told me Azilah did not tell him anything. - - The Straits Times