The miserable state of affairs

This is the 2,001st post of this blog since I started it on March 1, 2013. That's almost eight years ago.

I have slowed down a lot though with only 89 posts last year.

Truly, 2020 was a miserable year.

Unfortunately, things are not looking any better so far this year.

Covid-19 is getting worse and so does the political nonsense.

The whole country, except Sarawak is going under MCO again as the number of daily Covid-19 cases continues being far worse than when the pandemic started.

I'm not sure how they are going to enforce this MCO, but judging from how it was the past week, I don't think it would do much good.

Yea, even with that stupid state of Emergency, which I still think is political, on top of it.

Well, unless they make it much stricter. Something like when how it was before - everyone stays at home except those who really need to be out there.

Otherwise, it will just be for a show and more people will die.

I don't know about you all, but I'm already holed up here in the East Coast since I got out of KL when the MCO started there a week ago.

I'm not taking any chances. If the government chose to be wishy washy about it, I just have to rely on myself to avoid being infected.

It's good that my employer understand the situation and let me work from home. 

I don't understand why some other employers insist on risking the lives of their workers by not doing the same.

I mean, if the work could be done from home, just let them work from home lah.

And those big shops which continue to remain open, don't they care about the safety of their staff and customers?

Do they wantt things to go on as normal and let everyone be infected?

Those are big corporations selling branded goods and led by smart educated people, okay.

Corporate bottom line shouldn't be down to dead people, okay.

Yeah, I know, the government allowed them to remain open, but just wait la until more people die to a point where there would be not enough of us to go to their shops.

Shit. I'm sitting here in the kitchen early in the morning writing about this really gloomy situation.

But what to do, that's what's happening right now.

The only hope now is for the vaccine they said they will give us, to work.

However, I'm a bit apprehensive about them being rather slow about it.

Singapore, for instance, is already going full speed ahead with theirs.

Well, at least I know that my relatives over there are okay.

On our side, maybe they are still discussing over it....and discussing over it...and discussing over it....

Sigh.

I actually can go on and on about the miserable state of affairs now, but what the heck la, it's not going to change anything, right?

Feeling quite helpless, actually.

Wish I could go to sleep and wake up when the whole mess is over. Sort of hibernate. Weeks, months, years....

See, this is why I have slowed down a lot with the blogging business. Everytime I wanted to write, I was overcame by the miserable feeling of doom and gloom.

Okay, enough of that. I'm beginning to sound like a whining windbag.

Sorry if I'm making you all feeling miserable too. 

I'll try to find something more cheerful to write about for my next post.

Ciao.

MCO or CMCO...please be clearer

 It turns out that the currently enforced MCO is not as strict as the one at the start of the pandemic.

Was told by a friend in KL that it's basically the same as just a CMCO.

Offices and businesses are opened as usual.

The only difference was that food need to be tapaued and there were roadblocks again.

Guess, I shouldn't have left KL and instead work as normal.

I could have easily use a letter from my boss to get through the roadblocks.

That day I actually thought everything is going to be closed down like during the first MCO.

Asked for my boss' permission to run off to the East Coast to avoid going crazy alone in my room and she said okay.

Sigh....I wish they had made it clearer with their announcements.

Say la it's CMCO instead of MCO.

Now I'm stuck here in the East Coast.

Luckily, my boss told me that I can continue working from home over here.

She doesn't want me to risk kena saman for trying to cross state borders to get back to KL.

Anyway, if people could still go about and mingle at their work places, what's then the point of the lockdown?

People can still kena Covid-19 in their offices, I think.

Now I'm begining to wonder if it's not that strict, why do they need the State of Emergency.

By right they should make it stricter than the first MCO because based on the number of daily cases and deaths now, it's much worse than back then when Covid-19 hit the country.

Now even Ikea and Habib Jewels are opened.

Just sell online cannot ka?

Anyway, do people still want to buy furniture and jewellery during a lockdown? Too much money, is' it? I thought everyone suffering and don't have money now.

Well, maybe having the lockdown and State of Emergency is what really matter rather than really curbing Covid-19.

Maybe some people have decided that having this Covid-19 could be useful for something as it's a good excuse to get what they wanted.

Don't know lah. 

I just hope we can end this nightmare as soon as possible.

And I want to go back to my office too.

Maybe we deserve a totalitarian regime...led by Sajat

I'm now at my hideout in the East Coast trying to do my best working from home.

Never been comfortable working like this as I'm used to my routine of going to the office.

Anyway, I suspect this MCO/CMCO is going to be for a long haul.

The Health DG yesterday said it would take at least until May to flatten the Covid-19 curve.

Therefore, the current two weeks lockdown is almost certainly going to be extended up to even more than a month.

The damage, especially economic, is of course will be enormous.

But, I guess we all simply have to bear with it.

This is to save lives.

It's better to be a poor third world country with living people than be an advance country with dead people. Right?

Yea, I really believe now that our country is on its way to be something like Cambodia or one of those African countries of poor people.

Something like going back to the 1950s when up to 70 per cent of our people were living below the poverty line.

And there is also the possibility that we are going to lose our democracy.

The precedence has been set - once power is in our hands, don't ever let it go. Use any excuse to hold on to it.

Soon, people will start campaigning that it's better to get rid of democracy as it would be easier to manage the country by having a government which is all powerful and without check and balance....like how it is now under this State of Emergency rule.

Well, never mind. If it's fated to be like that, then we just simply have to get use to it.

After all, some people in North Korea are still happy despite their country being like that. We can be like them too, right?

Anyway, I have think quite a bit and concluded that maybe we do deserve to live under the rule of a totalitarian regime.

It's because I found that many of us do think that it's okay to bully others.

I hate bullies and there are apparently many of them in this country, either at the workplaces, schools, and even in social media.

Just look at the recent Jais versus Sajat case.

Even if that Sajat is an irritating and troublesome pondan, I don't think they should have bullied her like that.

Why do they need to forcefully handcuff Sajat for an interrogation after she voluntarily went to the Jais office?

I have seen the recording of the incident, and I don't think they should have done that.

If they need to charge her, then just charge her instead of behaving like a bunch of thugs.

And there's no denying that the hundreds of comments that came with the video were purely a case of  mob bullying.

The worst was that they use Islam as their excuse for bullying.

Suddenly everyone is a defender of Islam and feels to have the right to use derogatory words to pass judgement on another human being.

I don't thik that's what Islam teaches us.

Trust me, I'm no fan of Sajat and I think she's annoying beyond belief. But then again, she's still a human being and deserves to be treated as such.

Really, I find it disturbing that so many of us have that bullying mentality.

Buli pondan seems to be an enjoyable pastime.

Oh ya, maybe that's why Allah is punishing us by letting an undemocratic government to rule over us.

If we are bullies, we have no right to later complain about being bullied by such a government.

And then there's the never ending Covid-19. Maybe that's Allah's punishment for us too.

 So, don't complain too much, okay.

Just pray for Allah's forgiveness and try to be a better human being.

Maybe then things will change for the better.

Hmmm...maybe I'm saying all these to myself more than to you all.

Cheers.

State of Emergency, handling Covid-19 without democracy

 I was driving to the East Coast when they announced the State of Emergency yesterday.

Yeah, I was escaping the strict MCO about to be imposed in KL when that happened.

I was actually okay when PM Muhyiddin announced the lockdown the previous day but think the Emergency was unfortunate.

The lockdown is understandable because Covid-19 is now worse then when it first hit the country early last year. However, let us be honest about the Emergency being declared for political purposes.

With that, the current government has admitted that it can't handle Covid-19 in a democracy. That's why it needs the Emergency, which practically suspends the country's democracy. 

So, that's the way Muhyiddin's administration intends to handle the situation.

Well, I think it sets a precedence for other governmemnts which will come after this - faced with a crisis and losing the majority support of elected representitives: declares an Emergency.

Got it.

Najib could have done it when he was at the brink of losing GE14, and so could Dr Mahathir too when Pakatan Harapan was emploding. Just cook up something distressing and says the government needs to be focused and not be distracted by the opposition to solve it.

But they didn't.

Najib accepted defeat and Dr Mahathir resigned as per the democratic process.

Muhyiddin, instead, just changed the game.

Something like; I'm losing this football match, so I'm switching to rugby.

Not very fair, isn't it?

Never mind, it's done already.

It's until at least August, so I guess Muhyiddin now has time to convince Umno to continue supporting him and his administration....or getting their troublesome leaders being placed in jail for one reason or another.

Guess it's worth a try.

Whatever it is, I doubt it would change things much on the ground.

The most it would do is to prolong the uncertainty.

When BN lost GE14, the Umno grassroots mostly stayed with their party despite some of its leaders switching over to Pribumi Bersatu and became ministers and such.

I believe it will be the same this time.

They'll just wait until the next GE even if it is to be held in 2023.

Just imagine the Emergency being extended till then. Our economy will definitely suffer and Malaysia probably becomes a new Cambodia at that time.

Hey, it's possible okay, with the Covid-19 damage and all.

By then, I'll probably be selling pickled mangoes at a traffic light like these guys;

Hopefully not lah.

Let's pray for Malaysia, okay.

A possible way out for Muhyiddin

 A friend who knows a lot of things told me via Whatsup yesterday that Muhyiddin may resign from his PM post tomorrow.

He didn't eleborate and I didn't ask for more details.

I  was sceptical. Heard all sorts of nonsense of late.

Then it occured to me that there is a possibility that Muhyiddin may do exactly that.

His position is not good now as Umno is threatening to kick him out of Putrajaya soon.

So, this is how I think he may do it.

Muhyiddin will hand over power to Anwar and bring Pribumi Bersatu back into Pakatan Harapan.

Yup, that's how I see it.

And with that Umno, Dr Mahathir and other anti-PH gang will be screwed.

Muhyiddin will just say he's doing it for the good of the country.

No election amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, which is getting worse.

Anwar will happily accept it.

After all he doesn't have any big quarrel with Muhyiddin like he does with Dr Mahathir and the Umno gang.

Heck, Anwar may even kiss and make up with Azmin and the gang.

I don't see any problem with him doing that for the sake of power......well, he can kill them off later what.

You all know lah how politics are in this country.

PH will then have a clear majority in parliament, better than Perikatan Nasional now.

As for Muhyiddin, Anwar may give him an important position and let his PBBM continue to chip at Umno's Malay vote bank.

I even think that there's a chance that Pas may join Muhyiddin into PH. Hey, they can keep some of their ministerial posts what.

Afterall, Anwar may need them to keep PBBM disciplined in PH. You know, divide and rule kinda way.

But then again if Pas decides that it can't stand DAP in PH, it may just side with Umno and the gang including the Sarawak parties in the opposition camp.

No problem.

Whatever it is, the Malay unity wave seen during the consecutive BN's by-election victories over a year ago may has subsided by now.

Even if it hasn't, Anwar, DAP and gang have over a year to do what they can to crush the opposition.

Deregister Umno, perhaps.

Eh, that's possible okay.

Anwar may even find an excuse to put Dr Mahathir in jail for all the handsome old man did to him back then.

Untuk keadilan, he would says.

Oh, Najib, Zahid and others will definitely go to jail one. That's for sure.

Urgh.....

Okay, that's my thought on politics for the day.

Going to take a nap now.

Cheers.

From now till Jan 31

 Received quite a number of queries yesterday about the Umno supreme council meeting last night.

As if I know what was about to happen.

Honestly, I don't know at that time.

I just told the guys that my instict suggested that the Umno leaders will push for a general election.

Reason - most of them are getting shit deals from Muhyiddin's gang even after supporting the 2021 Budget that day.

And of course that was what the Umno grassroots wanted in their proposals during the recent divisional meetings.

Well, by now we know that was almost exactly what happened, except that they said it will be decided at the party's general assembly on Jan 31.

Those who asked me about it earlier sounded dissapointed, saying it was an anti-climax. They were actually expecting Umno to pull the plug on Muhyiddin there and then last night.

Among them was my beloved who supports DAP.

Seriously, nowadays my beloved even think that Najib is better than Muhyiddin.

Now Muhyiddin and his Pribumi Bersatu gang have until Jan 31 to offer Umno something to prolong their hold on Putrajaya.

I told my beloved that Muhyiddin also still have the Covid-19 lockdown card to play.

If Umno continues with its plan to push for election, the government could always impose another lockdown to thwart them.

And it's going to be with good reason because the pandemic is now worse than when it first hit the country in March last year.

So, the political ding dong is going to continue for quite a while more.

Also, I would like to mention about what happened before the Umno supreme council meeting yesterday, when Annuar Musa, who was sacked from his BN sec-gen post openly accused Umno president Zahid Hamidi of colluding with Anwar Ibrahim and DAP. 

I told myself that something was wrong with this Annuar guy. He was put there as BN sec-gen by Zahid back then despite his quite uselessness in my opinion and now he's whacking his boss like nobody's business.

I doubt his claim that it was because he loves Umno and his wish to preserve his integrity. He is after all a minister in Muhyiddin's administration.

Anyway, as I wrote before, I no longer mind if Umno makes friend with DAP if it's for the good of the country.

Both need to moderate their ways, of course. And they need to get rid of the bad ones who always spoilt things among them.

So, whatever Annuar Musa tried to pull yesterday did not work on me.

And I suspect it doesn't work much among the majority of Umno members and supporters too.

I even know of this one old lady who supports Umno and despises DAP who said it's better for Umno to be friends with DAP than Pribumi Bersatu.

No kidding, okay.

Well, let's wait and see what will happen between now and Jan 31.

Somehow, I have a feeling there is going to be a new lockdown....hahahaha

Too bad for the economy and everyone, I guess

Cheers.

Prasarana as expected, and a tough 2021 start

 Let me start by saying  this is why appointing politicians as chairmen of GLCs is a very bad idea,

Prasarana under MACC investigation, CEO told to go on leave

Well, by now, I believe most of you all already know about what the actual shit that has been happening at Prasarana. The whole thing had gone viral. So, no need for me to eleborate lah.

Whatever it is, politicians, with the exception of one or maybe two very moral individuals should not be let even near a GLC. 

Being made a chairman, they simply think they own the place.

By right, they should only be chairing the board meetings and that's about it.The running of the GLC should be left to the professionals.

That's how it should be, okay.

Anyway, I wrote about this one on May 27, last year

The unfortunate political appointments - Sime Darby Plantation

excerpts;

To appoint politicians to GLCs is one thing but to appoint unqualified and proven failed politicians to important posts in GLCs is simply bad and there's no excuse for it.

Still, I have ignored this issue till now as I wanted the focus to be on the Covid-19 war.

I have to admit though that I cringed upon reading news of those appointments....such as Khaled Nordin as Boustead chairman and Tajuddin Rahman as Perasarana chairman.

"Tak ada orang lain ke?" I asked in my heart.

So, don't tell me I didn't give any warning.

Really, Muhyiddin and his Pribumi Bersatu guys fucked up very badly on this political appointments at GLCs.

Anyway, it's too bad that we have to start 2021 with these sorts of nonsense.

A lot of bad stuff actually happened these past first five days of the year.

I have given up on the shitty politics. No matter what, the politicians will always try to fuck us up anyway. I'm tired of writing about them.

At the moment, I'm more concerned about the major flood which hit several parts of the country.

There have already been several fatalities and thousands are now at flood relief centers.

Hopefully this will get better within the next few days and those flood victims receive the necessary help.

Also, I'm more concerned over the continuing high number of Covid-19 cases.

Praying that it will end soon. Yea, what else could I do.

On the personal front, things have not been so well for me either.

Several of my friends passed away over the past weeks, including arwah Zakhir Mohamad whose death affected me quite significantly.

There were several other issues that I'm facing now, but they were too private for me to tell you all.

On a lighter note, I'm also still without a place to practice my darts and for now at risk of being beaten by about anyone at my club. Hahaha.

Really guys, those are my real concerns instead of all the nonsense about who should be PM or which party should run the country.

They are all the same to me now. All quite useless, actually. So, let them sort that one out for themselves. If we have to vote later, we should just vote whomever we feel are the better ones among them. We should vote the ones with less bullshit and really want to work for us. Doesn't matter from which party.

Seriously, for the next general election, I'm not going to vote along party line. For me, it's the candidate that counts. One thing for sure though, I'll definitely not going to vote for a politician GLC chairman or any of their type.

I sincerely believe that's one way to teach the politicians not to fuck up things anymore at the expense of the rakyat.