A novel

I was trying to sleep early just now but have not been able to do so.

Decided to do this posting instead.

Okay, the country's political scene at the moment is rather dull.

It's dominated by the hudud issue, which is not exactly a new thing.

It's a subject which I actually rather not discuss.

It's because if I write what I truly feel about the whole thing, the comments section will probably be inundated with calls for my head to be chopped off for being a heretic.

Normally, I wouldn't care less about such things written by the commenters but of late I feel that I need some peace of mind.

After all, as far as I am concerned, the whole thing was just a Pas' attempt at winning back the Malay support which it lost due to the party's bending backward to win the approval of DAP and its solid Chinese support.

It's actually just a gimmick. Pas was hoping for Umno to reject the private bills for hudud to be implemented in Kelantan so that they can point at the rival Malay Muslims party and as usual accused it as being the one standing in the way of Islamic law being enforced in this country.

Of course Umno has its obligations to its non-Muslim friends in BN and will not support the bill....that is, unless Umno feels that it's better to join up with Pas rather than sticking around with parties such as MCA whose over a million members refused to vote its own candidate and Gerakan, whose leaders openly spat on Umno and calling it a racist party.

But seriously, would you stand the thought of supporting something like this being sanctioned by our country's laws :

Is that really Islamic laws?

Guan Eng, your friends want to have such things in this country. So, you still want to be together gather with them?

Anyway, those were not what I really intended to write tonight. They were just a reminder of the hypocritical nature of our political establishment.

Grim, isn't it?

Well, never mind, I rather forget about it.

What I really wanted to tell in this posting is that I am starting to write a novel.

I had planned it for quite awhile and finally had completed its draft.

It's going to be based on the real life story of my father.

It's about a struggle for life, the most strange love story, deceit and betrayal as well as repentance.

Nope, it's not going to be one of those Malay romance novels made for drama to be shown on TV3.

I believe its going to be quite complicated and lengthy. There will be quite a bit of politics too, particularly Malay-Chinese relations.

I am also going to write it in English.

I will try to find a publisher, once I had done with the transcript.

If I can't find any, I will probably publish it in cyberspace for free.

As it is with this blog, money is not my motivation for writing the novel.

I am doing it just for my own personal satisfaction.

The makings of a fair and just ruler

There is this very good article written by Tunku Abdul Aziz which was published by NST on Saturday.

You can read the full article here,

The makings of a fair and just ruler

For those who are a bit too lazy to click on the link, I put here part of the article,

Closer to home, Raja Nazrin Shah, the Regent of Perak, was reported as saying, according to the New Sunday Times (April 20), that "The institution of Malay rulers must be dynamic in facing challenges and fulfilling demands".

He went on to state that the throne must be non-partisan and stand above political polemics at all times.

His reminder about the duties and obligations of the Malay rulers could not have come at a better time, reflecting as it does the sometimes unflattering sentiments on the ground towards some of our rulers and their families.

In a stark reminder to his elders, Raja Nazrin made it clear that the institution was not merely decorative, as the role and responsibility of the ruling monarch had been spelt out.

Raja Nazrin restated an immutable universal principle of kingship that embodies service and public duty in the public interest above all other considerations. Are our rulers up to the challenge that the wise young Raja has thrown into the ring?

His father, Sultan Azlan Shah, a constitutional authority in his own right, once said that: "The role of the constitutional monarchy goes beyond what is stipulated in the constitution.

"The rulers have a far wider responsibility in ensuring that the spirit of the constitution, the philosophy behind the written law, and the interest of the country and the people are safeguarded at all times."

Sultan Azlan Shah was clearly making a distinction between the formal functions of a Malay ruler as set out in the constitution of his state and his traditional duties as a hereditary ruler.

A ruler of a Malay state is, therefore, more than a constitutional creation. He is the embodiment of all that is noble, virtuous, fair and just. Many rulers, past and present, have not lived up to these ideals, but, on balance, it can be fairly argued that they are conscious of their duty to the people. They have a duty that goes beyond the constitutional framework, which has neither spirit nor soul and which only a wise and caring ruler can give.

I now turn to a consideration of what rulers have to do in order to earn the love and respect of their people.

First, they must uphold the dignity of their exalted position by behaving in ways that will set them apart from the rest of us, mere mortals, as models of honour, decency and rectitude. What this means in effect is that they must set high moral and ethical standards of behaviour for themselves and their families in keeping with their anointed roles in life. A ruler must steer clear of involvement in partisan politics.

Equally unacceptable in the eyes of their people is for our rulers and their children to reduce themselves to being supplicants, petitioning politicians for land for speculative purposes and government projects.

There is, in my considered view, no quicker way for royalty to lose their self-worth and respect than to be seen to be behaving in this way.

Obama? Johoreans? Heck, I rather watch a movie.

Well, Obama is coming here today.

He is only the second US president ever to visit Malaysia while in office.

The first one was Lyndon B Johnson in 1966, which is almost half a century ago.

Everyone seems to be so gaga over Obama's visit....almost.

I'm one of those who are not that very excited.

For me, Obama, as it was with LBJ, is just one of those minor presidents of the US.

The guy's presidency has so far been mundane.

Honestly, I am not really sure what is his most significant achievement as a president.

Even that moronic Bush junior was a more significant president. He went to war and give new meaning to state terrorism.

Obama on the other hand is just plain mundane. That's about it.

The only significant thing about him I could think of is that he is the first US president who is black....or supposedly black.

The guy is half white actually.

Okay, he seems to be a nice guy...despite his American soldiers still going around killing people in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan etc.

Well, never mind, the guy is a guest, so I better not run him down too much....that is despite him being the leader of a country which is the biggest supporter and supplier of deadly weapons of that Muslim-killing machine Zionist state, which goes by the name of Israel.

I have to admit that I wish we do not need the Americans. I wish we are still the best friend of China.

But, what to do....China also like to bully us lately. They even want our territorial water off Sarawak and Sabah.

So now, Malaysia, which has all these while been the best friend of China in this region now forced to flirt with the GI Joes.

Too bad that China really doesn't know how to appreciate its friend.

If only they know how to be a really good friend instead of being a neighborhood bully....

Really, being a bully will not get you what you want.

People will just be turned off by your bad behavior and switch to the opposite side despite them not wanting to do that.

It's a lesson which should be learnt by those in power in my home state of Johor.

They should realize that people will revolt when they can't take it being conned and robbed anymore.

They may even switch support to Kit Siang and his gang when they could not stand being bullied anymore....

....okay, I know they would not do that, especially the Johorean Malays....

....they will be loyal to Umno and BN no matter how much or how blatantly they were being robbed and conned....

....well, what the heck, as if the Johoreans care.

LUASKAN KUASA MU!!! LUASKAN KUASA MU!!! LUASKAN KUASA MU!!!

....so they cheered at the football stadium.

Ah, really, why bother, isn't it?

I rather go to the movies instead.

Here is a nice trailer of one of my favorite movies,

Okay, for the macho guys out there, I think they would prefer this one,

Urgh...discussing movies is definitely better than getting excited over that mundane US president or trying to save willingly bullied and conned Johoreans, no?

Star Wars lightened up my mood

I have actually been in serious mode ever since MH370 disappeared over a month ago.

I find it hard to get back on the light side of things after the tragedy.

However, when I woke up just now for a fresh new day, I told myself to cheer up and snap out of my sombre mood.

Then I saw this story as reported by the Mole

MAS employees held hostage in Beijing

I was like "What the....???"

I understand that the family members of the victims were upset and grieving but to go to such extreme was so unnecessary. The MAS employees were after all there for them.

Hopefully the MAS people are safe and the situation can be resolved when everyone calm down.

Back to my sombre mood, I still think I need to lighten up quite a bit more.

I need to stop thinking about negative thoughts and try to see the silver lining at the fringes of the dark cloud ahead of me.

Like that Johor thing, I don't think myself being concerned too much will make any difference.

The Johoreans themselves don't seem to be too concerned about being conned and robbed. They have been happily going about their usual business.

The Johorean Chinese were conned by Kit Siang and gang during the general election last year while the Johorean Malays were conned by the crooks from among themselves who took over power in the state after that.

Well, who cares, right?

Go ahead guys, rob and con the Johoreans all you want. Nobody care, you know.

LUASKAN KUASA MU!!! LUASKAN KUASA MU!!! LUASKAN KUASA MU!!!

I think I better watch my favorite Star Wars movie whenever I am in a foul mood

Hmmm...at least the son is a good guy, eh :-)

Okay, after that I would like to watch my second favorite Star Wars movie

Those lightened my mood a bit.

Time to get up for work.

Hmmmm... I wish I can wear this halmet in my office to creep out my bosses

You all have a good day, okay.

Expend your power in Johor

I've been on the road the past few days and had no time to write at all.

Attended to some private tragedies and other matters.

Anyway, there is nothing really new to update in this blog.

The Johor thing I tried to highlight is a dead end.

I am not going to get any help on it.

I was informed the other day by a friend who works for the mainstream media but close with the top pro-establishment bloggers that no one among them are going to touch on the "Johor thing".

They apparently have also given up on it.

It's too troublesome to handle.

Johor is a gone case, said my friend.

"You better close your eyes too. If the top bloggers, some of whom were more Johorean than you are walking away, then you better walk away too. There is nothing more you can do. If you continue, then you will be just a lonely dog barking at the hill," he added.

Another friend who was part of the team assisting former Johor MB Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman during the defense of Johor in last year's general election said Johor BN will still be in power for another term despite the excesses which are happening there at the moment.

"The overwhelming majority of Johorean Malays are still loyal to Umno. The crooks who are robbing the state know that and are exploiting that loyalty to the maximum. They feel that no matter what they do, the Malays there will still support the establishment in Johor which will enable them to stay in power," he said.

My friend added that the Johorean Malays will only "revolt" when those excesses have become so obvious and begin to directly affect their life.

"Once the people are fed-up and can't take it anymore, then Johor will be like Selangor," he said.

But I guess, those who are robbing Johor now can't be bothered with what will happened seven or eight years from now.

By that time, they will be rich enough to insulate themselves from the fallout of a BN's defeat in Johor.

They may even jump to the other side and get their sins absolved like this former Selangor MB,

No need to return the loot too. Best deal in the world.

As a Johor exco member was reportedly remarked,

"Ini masa buat duit."

So, be damned with the future of the State. I guessed.

Well, if other Johoreans were not bothered for now, why then should I be so upset about it.

As they keep chanting at the football field during JDT's violence-prone matches,

"LUASKAN KUASA MU!!! LUASKAN KUASA MU!!! LUASKAN KUASA MU!!!

Why should I care then..???

Okay, need to get up now and go to work.

Have a good day everyone.

An organization of excesses in Johor

A journalist friend who is a fellow Johorean called me after reading my plea,

Datuk Najib, please save Johor

He advised me not to get too involved with the "situation" in our home state..

"It's not worth it. You will just get yourself in trouble," he said.

"They would not give a damn anyway," he added.

Well, I have to do something.

That posting was the least that I can do.

I know it's not going to get the prime minister to hurriedly fix things in Johor. It's not in my wildest dream to think that Datuk Najib reads anything that I wrote in this blog.

My only hope was that one of his media handlers who monitor the blogs would conveyed to him my worries about my home state and my belief that he could do something to stop the rot.

Then maybe the prime minister will do something. Who knows...

At least at the end of the day, I can take comfort that I did try to do something to save my beloved home state.

For those who doubt the veracity of what I wrote about the scale of excesses which are happening in Johor right now, please ask those who are familiar with what are happening down in JB.

Also, check with them whether it's true that those excesses had even spread among people who have been entrusted with ensuring the welfare and development of the state at the lower levels.

For example, you may check whether there is an organization in Johor which exploits were such as I listed here:

1. An organization set up by the government to bypass the civil service with the objective of ensuring massive developments take place in an area in southern Johor. Those who work for this organization earn up to three times more than the civil servants who perform similar tasks as them.

2. It's not a very competent organization. For an example, one of the organisation's favorite project was to install multi-million ringgit security CCTV system all over JB but after years of talking about it, has failed to do so. It's latest attempt at doing so ended with it being conned by its own appointed contractors.

3. The top guns of the organization seem to like going on "familiarization trips" which involves stopovers at golf courses in Indonesia. Occasionally, they would go elsewhere such as the recent "learning and development trip" to UK and other European countries which costs millions of ringgit but didn't produce any tangible result or knowledge sharing.

4. From 2010 to 2014, the organization spends RM240 million on "operational expenses", which many believe were spend on petty projects given to a bunch of businessmen who once went to the same all-boys boarding school.

5. The organization was supposed to be the prime mover of the JB Transformation Project but has failed to move anything after a year from the given deadline. I doubt the project which was meant to turn JB into a beautiful garden city of sorts will ever be realized.

6. The organization was supposed to provide opportunities for the bumiputera community in southern Johor. It was to uplift their living standard in line with the rapid development there. It had however failed to do so with efforts made towards that objective being what the Malays would described as "melepaskan batuk ditangga". It will be interesting to see what actually happened to the allocations provided for the organization's bumiputera projects if the government is to send in an independent auditor.

7. This organization has become a nest where young politicians aligned with powerful people sought million ringgit projects through direct negotiation process.

8. Many high ranking staff of this organization are Pakatan supporters who despite justifying their political views on what they claimed as a corrupt BN government, practice corruption themselves.

9. The CEO of this organization has a Ferrari, two BMWs, a Mini Cooper, a Range Rover, a Hyundai Sonata and two Japanese-made luxury cars. He also has over 10 significant private properties worth millions of ringgit

10. The organization's CEO of three years is paid about RM50,000 per month.

Well, there are a lot more I can put in the list but I think 10 is enough for you all to use as leads. It's up for you all to do a bit of research and asking around to find out which organization it was that I'm writing about. That would be more fun then me spoon feeding you all everything.

Okay, I give you a bit more of a hint. Hang around this makan place in JB for breakfast and you will know what I am talking about.

As they always said, the rot starts  from the top.

Sadly, many people will do the wrong things because they saw their leaders did that and got away with it.

"Alah, boss boleh buat, tak kan kita nak buat sikit pun tak boleh," was the usual line used by those who commit corruption.

The thing is, IF YOUR BOSS EAT SHIT, DO YOU WANT TO EAT SHIT TOO?

The excesses at the top in Johor will have a chain reaction all the way to the bottom of society in that state.

It is already happening now.

If nothing is done to rectify the situation, then I think that's the end of Johor as we know it.

We can also later on at the next general election say goodbye to Johor as the "tiang seri Umno".

I am quite sure of this.

Datuk Najib, please save Johor

Honestly, I have to a certain extent given up on trying to save my home state Johor.

I am of the opinion that the excesses which have been going on in the state ever since the change of state administration following the 13th General Election last year would be too hard to stop now.

I had concluded that Johor is doomed to fall to DAP and its gang in the next general election.

More and more people, including from among the 83 per cent Johorean Malays who voted Barisan Nasional in GE13 are now fed-up with what's been going on in their state.

I do not wish to write in detail anymore about these excesses as I do not want to play any further part in causing the fall of Johor.

Suffice for me to say that Johor and its economic interests were being carved out into pieces and being distributed among several bunch of powerful people.

To make it even more shocking, all these were done in broad day light for all to see. It's done with impunity because those who did it feel that they were invincible and above the law.

There was no more sense of shame among these people.

That's why I had almost given up on Johor being saved.

I wouldn't have written all these if not for a plea I received from someone in Johor tonight.

This high ranking government official wrote these,
"Johor dah nak kena jual. Penjualnya is that so called pejuang rakyat dan agama. Semua dah dicontrol. Banyak isu-isu rakyat tak ditangani. Cuma sibuk jaga boss sediakan keperluan sambil sama-sama buat laba. Tolong kami selamatkan Johor."

The truth is I had tried, but I don't think I will get the desired results. I had written about all these several times previously without much impact.

After all, I am just an insignificant anonymous blogger.

All I could probably had achieved was getting more people to know about what were happening in Johor.

An instance which indicates that more people are becoming aware of the impending disaster in Johor was this blog posting by former minister and senior journalist DS Zainuddin Maidin,

TEAM BOLA SEPAK YANG DIBENCI DAN DIMUSUHI RAKYAT

Excerpts from the posting,

"Beberapa insiden yang berlaku sebelumnya mewajarkan kita untuk melihatnya sebagai  cetusan perasaan penentangan rakyat  terhadap penerapan budaya samseng dan ketakburan yang didorongkan oleh kemabukan kuasa dan keyakinan kepada  kekebalan."

"Jika keliaran  perasaan kekebalan dibiarkan bermaharajalela di hati  maka ia akan  semakin meghakiskan  keyakinan  rakyat kepada  kerajaan negeri  sebagai pelindung kehormatan mereka."

"Kerajaan negeri mesti berani untuk memberhentikan penerusan budaya ini dalam semua bidang demi untuk mengekalkan kehormatan  dan taraf   peradaban rakyat Johor dan juga pengekalan kerajaan BN di Johor.Kebencian ini boleh merebak menjadi kebencian politik."

Honestly, I don't think the state government under the leadership of DS Mohd Khaled Nordin is capable of doing anything regarding the situation as I think his people are being part of the problem.

I believe most people who know about the situation in Johor would agreed with me.

My personal opinion was that only PM DS Najib Razak could do something to save Johor.

I had made my appeal to all those whom I know, who have direct access to the prime minister.

I am sure if Datuk Najib, being a good man that he is, realizes the dire situation in Johor, he would have put a stop to all those excesses. The problem is that he may not be informed of the true nature of the problem in the state and the discontent which is brewing there now.

Therefore, I am renewing my plea,

Datuk Najib, please save Johor. Thank you.

Remembering Karpal

I distinctively remember the first time I met Karpal Singh in person. It was at the Parliament.

I was walking along the corridor outside the Dewan Rakyat hall when I saw him coming from the opposite direction.

There was only the two of us on the whole stretch of corridor. The Dewan was in session at that moment and he was probably on his way back in after a break at the wash room or something. I was at the Parliament due to my work.

Karpal was not yet wheel-chair bound on that day and he looked very fine.

Being at that time a fresh law graduate, I was at awe upon seeing him in person. After all, I was familiar with his exploits as reputably the best criminal and constitutional lawyer in the country. I was back then dreaming of being a lawyer like him.

Karpal was all smiles and charming when I approached him and introduced myself. He was visibly pleased when I told him that I had recently graduated from law school and how I admired his work.

He asked when would I be sitting for my CLP (Certificate of Legal Practice) of which I explained that I was working to save enough money to pay for the tuition and examination fees.

I had studied and got my law degree on my own money as I had not obtained any scholarship or study loan.

To my amazement, Karpal was actually concerned and asked if I needed any help.

There I was, meeting him by chance for the first time and he was already offering me help. It was after all just a brief encounter.

I thanked him and said I would be fine and should have saved enough money by the end of the year to go back to my studies for the CLP.

Karpal nonetheless told me that I may call him if I needed help and gave me his calling card.

I remember his calling card well as there was on it a jawi script of his name, among others.

Yesterday, Karpal died in a tragic road accident.

When I got to know about it in the early hours of the morning, I was genuinely saddened.

Karpal may belong to the DAP, a party which real objectives I am so much against, but him as a person is a totally different matter.

I once talked with former PKR man Zaid Ibrahim, who is a prominent lawyer in his own right and asked him what differentiate between him and DS Anwar Ibrahim.

Zaid replied that there were two types of people who joined the opposition parties, of which the first were those who think they may gain something by doing so while the second were those who uphold the idealism of those opposition parties.

Zaid said he belongs to the second group.

I believe Karpal belonged in the same group too. He was steadfast in his beliefs and fiercely defended those beliefs without any compromise. I may disagree with his methods but I do respect him for his professionalism and forthrightness.

I will miss Karpal's presence in the country's political scene.

I am sure he will also be missed by all, especially those directly involved in Malaysian politics.

It's especially heartening to note that even Karpal's political opponents went out of their way to extend their sincere condolences to his family.

PM DS Najib Razak immediately tweeted his message of condolences for Karpal's family right after he landed in Angkara for an official visit there. He had then issued an official statement to that effect later on.

DPM TS Muhyiddin Yassin also yesterday personally visited Karpal's family in Penang to extend his condolences.

If anything, I would like to believe that Malaysian politics suddenly doesn't seem to be such a nasty business after all.

My heart felt condolences for Karpal's family.


Note 1: I never did call Karpal after that first time I met him nor did I in the end sit for my CLP examinations.
Note 2: I will not allow rude comments on this posting.

Life probably better in Kluang

I really need to lose some weight.

It was a struggle going up the hill at the cemetery for Qingming this morning.

I haven't weight myself for quite a while, but I am sure I had breached the 50 kg mark.

Need to stop eating any carbohydrate food and start exercising again.

I need to discipline myself.

It's not just because I want to look nice, but more importantly, it's to maintain my good health.

I will be driving back to KL later tonight.

Honestly, I wish I don't have to.

I wish I can just stay here where I am.

I'm tired of life in KL.

My work is really a chore now and the routine is really tiresome.

I feel that life in this small town could be so much more fulfilling.

I wish I can stay here and look after my grandmother.

Of course, whenever I told my mother all these, she would scoffed at me and says it's not going to be me looking after my grandmother but my grandmother looking after me.

Well, true also.

My grandmother is probably healthier than me despite being in her 70s.

I need to carry on with my life and earn my keep.

Since I'm not very lucky with the love thing, my guess is that I wouldn't be able to find someone to look after me.

So, I have to be realistic and take care of myself.

Nothing to worry about.

Better be single till the end rather then ended up marrying a lousy bastard.

Okay, I know I'm rambling again.

Sorry.

It's really very hard to write about politics of late as there's nothing fresh going on at the moment.

There's the PKR's "husband versus wife" presidential contest, but I'm really tired of all the bullshit cooked up by Anwar Ibrahim, to write anything about it.

For sure, I rather be single than ended up like Wan Azizah with a husband like that.

Pas is again with their hudud theatrics and their DAP lovers are playing along with their usual "I love you, but I won't make love to you" game on the matter.

How Malaysians could support such hypocrites was beyond me.

Well, of course there's the wishy washy BN people on the other side. Sometimes they can really turn off people from supporting them.

The Pakatan people don't really have to do anything as the BN people will trip and fell over on their own due to their own lack of intelligence.

Really, it's a repeat of post 2008 General Election, all over again.

It's getting very tiresome sometimes....like now.

I know, we got no choice but to get on with it.

But for me, it's not at this moment.

I needed this break.

See lah how. Once, I regained my interest, I will start writing serious stuff again.

Okay, I need to go join the rest of the family for steamboat now.

This one got no pork. Grandma prepared a seafood one with lots of veggie.

Cheers.

Qingming

I had to take down my last posting due to technical difficulties.

I was alerted of it by a commenter who wrote this

Annie, what happened to the three pics; they're not showing ... on Apa lagi Bumis Mau?

Thanks.

I had tried to fix it but was unsuccessful. The pictures just refused to stick.

I will get help and once it's fixed, put the posting back on.

Anyway, I'm actually now in Kluang.

Drove down from KL early this morning with my mother and aunts.

We are back in our kampung for Qingming.

I have joined my Chinese relatives for the Tomb Sweeping Day since I was a kid.

My mother took me along with her for the occasion despite objections from some Muslim friends who felt that it's against Islam for my mother and myself to observe Qingming.

My mother told me not to worry as we were just paying respect to our ancestors and not praying at the graves. Something like what other Muslims do when they visit the graves of dearly departed on Hari Raya morning.

My father doesn't objected to it even though he never joined us.

What I appreciate my father most about the whole thing was that he never tried to turn my mother into a Malay.

My mother once told me that when she converted to Islam and got married, it was my father who insisted for her not to take up a Malay name and put a "binti Abdullah" at the back of her name, much to the displeasure of the Perkim and Jabatan Agama people who advised her to do so.

I believe that my mother made a point to retain her Chinese identity because she had married my father against the wishes of her family. It sorts of lessen the burden of her family to accept the fact that she is now "different".

For Qingming, everyone were back here, including my relatives from Singapore. Among them were my favorite big auntie and small auntie. It's almost like a mini New Year celebrations.

I am going to help around with the cleaning up of the house today. I can't help with the cooking as there may be pork among the dishes. My mother and myself have our own pork-free meal arrangement.

Later in the afternoon, I'm going to drive my grandmother to town to do a bit of shopping.

We will visit the graves tomorrow.

Here is a bit of lesson on Qingming

Bits on bad dream, Malaysian springtime and betrayal.

Woken up by a bad dream about 4am.

In the dream I was having a shower when my place was raided by Jabatan Agama people. I was so angry that I woke up. Well, come to think of it, in the dream, there was someone I'm in love with at my place when it was raided. Hmmm... really weird.

Well, can't go back to sleep till now, so that I decided to do this posting.

Surfed around the net and found quite a number of people writing about the current "Malaysian Springtime".

From Chuah Bee Kim's latest

Springtime In The Tropics

and

My "Sakura Boulevard"

to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's latest

SPRINGTIME IN PUTRAJAYA

Yes, even the handsome old man is writing about it.

Guess, everyone need a bit of a break from writing about serious stuff sometimes.

On another note, I found out yesterday that I had been betrayed by someone close to me.

It hurts, but I don't think I can do anything about it.

That someone doesn't owe me anything, so, I don't think it's my right to demand loyalty from her in the first place.

I have to accept the betrayal as part of life and hope to grow wiser from it.

After all, being betrayed is part of life's learning process.

That reminds me of how Dr Mahathir used to love someone like his own son, who then betrayed him.

He nurtured the guy and made him his would be successor.

In a way Dr Mahathir placed the guy ahead of his own sons.

The old man never tried to place his own children in a position of power when he was the prime minister of this country for 22 years.

But he did that for that guy he used to love like his own son.

It must had hurt him so much when the guy finally betrayed him.

I don't think many of the young people these days really know the story of Dr Mahathir and this guy whom he love like one of his own children.

Maybe they should learn about it.

It's a lesson on life actually.

I wish I can be like Dr Mahathir in handling such a betrayal.

Be really cool and professional about it.

Not as easy as saying it though, especially when I'm boiling with anger over the betrayal.

Untalented unlike Mozart

Note: The line here seems to be better this morning.

The problem is, once you are not in the mood, it's much harder to write.

This is particularly true for someone like myself who is not actually a talented writer.

Well, I never claim to be one, ya.

My blog is not even close to be among the best political blogs in Malaysia. Well, not even among the pro-establishment ones.

I hardly do a thorough research of what I wrote unlike Helen Ang, Big Dog, A Voice and other senior sopo bloggers who have millions of hits to their credit.

I don't even aspire to be like them.

Honestly, I don't even mind if no one read this blog. I'm not ambitious or love being popular. I don't even have any active social media account, either it be Facebook, twitter or whatever most people these days spend most their time on.

All I have is this blog, which is just something like a journal on how I feel about things that were happening around me.

Example: Anwar in the news for claiming that he can find MH370 in a jiffy if everyone voted him as PM: I think that he is so full of shit for saying that and so, I write here why I think he is so full of shit. Thats about it. My blog is just about that. No rocket science stuff.

Writing in this blog is also something like a therapy. If something not so good happened to me, at least I have an outlet to lessen the stress.

Example: Someone doesn't want to marry me because he loves eating pork more than he loves me: I think he is so full of shit and so, I write here that he should had just told a big fat pig that he loves it and marry that animal instead of bothering me with all the sweet talks in the first place.

Yes, I know, most of you think that mine is a frivolous blog, but I don't mind that.

I am happy the way it is, and that's all there is to it.

Anyway, blogging is actually quite outdated compared to the other more fashionable social media platforms.

But still, I prefer it compared to the others as it's more private and gives me a sense of privacy and exclusivity.

Unlike using Facebook or the other social media platforms, I don't feel like I'm shoving my thoughts on others with this blog.

Readers of this blog come here because they choose to do so. That includes the DAP cybertroopers who love to hang around here and taking potshots at what I wrote.

I don't go around doing things such as planting my writings on other people's Facebook wall like some itchy bitch and causing others a lot of irritation, especially if they were Pakatan supporters.

If there is anything I would like to claim credit for, it's that I'm not a rude person.

Yea, that's all.

Okay, that's what happened when I write while not in the right mood. I just ramble whatever crosses my mind.

Sorry if you feel you were wasting your time reading my nonsense above.

I will write a proper posting later in the evening when I am in a better mood...provided the Celcom's line continues to be good like this.

Eh, here is a bit of Mozart from the movie to end my rambling. Just for fun, okay.

Unlike myself, Mozart was one talented dude.

Cheers and be cool everyone.

Celcom, please fix the line

I am writing this using my phone. So, its going to be short and simple. The small screen and font are hurting my eyes now.

Actually, I had wanted to write a long proper posting, but when I set up my laptop, it just can't get connected to the wifi hotspot of my hand phone.

The Celcom line was simply bad at the moment at my place near Cyberjaya.

Unfortunately, this problem has been around my neighbour for quite awhile.

Sometimes it's okay, sometimes it's just horrid like tonight.

Hopefully they will fix the line as soon as possible.  It's very frustrating when you got something really interesting to write but can't do so because of some stupid technical bullshit like this.

I hate the idea of having to switch telco every time something went wrong with the line.

Nonetheless, I will indeed switch telco if Celcom itself refuse to acknowledge my loyalty as a customer over the years and choose to just ignore my plea here.

Okay, my eyes really hurting now. This is just it, okay. Celcom people, please la do something.

Traveling better than bitching

It's another Sunday.

We were supposed to take a rest today.

Well, at least that's what the Christian tradition says.

I'm not a Christian, but since that's been also the way it is in this country, I think I want to take a rest too.

No heavy stuff for this one, okay.

Yes, I know, the DAP evangelists are today still busy spewing their anti-Umno sermons from the pulpits, but I am too fed up to care....at least for today.

I want to instead write a bit about overseas travels, my favorite past time....whenever I have extra money.

Okay, it's just about the top five places I had been which made me happy:

5. Great Wall of China, Beijing : Walking along the ancient wall in winter was a thrilling experience for me. It's the only Seven Wonders of the world I have ever visited.

4. London: I just enjoy walking around the city. It's friendly and I understand the language. The food is also great.

3. Somerset, UK: Staying at a hotel which building is older than the oldest functioning building in Malaysia. Crisp fresh air and blooming flowers of English countryside in spring. Simply splendid.

2. Ubud, Bali: The most restful place. Walking around the town, shopping for souvenir, getting traditional massage etc. Friendly people.

1. Shanghai: I was happiest during my travels at this city. Eating the famously delicious dumplings, shopping and eating hairy crabs at Yu Yuan Garden, walking along Nanjing Road in a night drizzle, best massage ever, and the most unforgettable moment at the Bund...among other things.

Hmmm...nice memories. I like to remind myself of those happy moments. It made this life worth living.

Well, at least it was better than to write about all those hate mongering of hypocrite politicians.

Anyway, I admire those who manage to make traveling their livelihood such as Anis Ibrahim, the writer of Five Foot Traveller which I had included in my blog roll.

Today I also updated my blog roll to include:

- Chuah Bee Kim's new blog Ardent Indulgence for the latest in my home state Johor and some light reading,

- Firdaus Abdullah's APANAMA at its new web address,

- and Israq Adventure to monitor the progress of the motorcycle expedition of Rocky and gang to the Holy Land.

Okay, that's about it for today. I am driving back to KL later in the afternoon. Today is the last day of my longest break from work in more than six years.

It's been a restful lovely two weeks. I spend most of it sleeping under a bamboo tree :-)

Cheers everyone. 

What if Hannah got her hate wish

I have been accused of being a hateful racist many times by the DAP cybertroopers who seem to love hanging out at this blog.

You can read such of their comments at many of my previous postings.

Normally they resorted to accusing me of being a hateful racist bitch whenever they find it hard to argue against what I wrote:

Example:

Me: Over 90 per cent of Malaysian Chinese worshipped Guan Eng despite him being an irritating immature prick.

DAP cybertrooper: Eeerrr....uh uh, how to argue???....uh uh, Annie is a racist. Yea, Annie hates Chinese...ne ne ne ne ne.....

Well, excuse me DAP cybertroopers, actually, HATE is what that keeps DAP and the Pakatan gang going.

Here is what DAP's Selangor assembly speaker Hannah Yeoh tweeted following the death of pro-Pakatan blogger Bernard Khoo,

“I am off tonight to raise a glass in honour of my buddy and to pledge that we will carry on the fight to rid this nation of that cancer called Umno / BN.”

Helen Ang wrote about it as Deepest condolences and simultaneously a pledge to eradicate Umno 

So, Hannah the holy evangelist of City Harvest Church wants to get rid of Umno/BN which she described as a "cancer".

And she said all that at a time of someone's death.

There's no hiding of her hate towards BN or to be more precise, Umno. So much for all those talks about love, forgiveness and reconciliation.

I guess, for Hannah and friends there should not be any let up in the hating game. It's their source of strength against Umno, that dastardly Malay scums party.

I sincerely believe that once DAP and its Pakatan gang attained full power in Putrajaya, they will pursue that agenda using every means at their disposal. Something like what the PAP of Singapore did to all those Malay political elements back in the early days of that country.

Bear in mind that Hannah is a top official of DAP and not one of those not so bright DAP cybertroopers trolling at my blog.

Well, never mind.

Let say Hannah got her wish and Umno is really dead in the end, what's next?

No more Umno, and BN dissolved.

Who to hate then?

Will Hannah and her friends go after Pas after that?

After all, I am quite confident Pas will want to have their wish fulfilled too after getting to Putrajaya.

Who to keep them in check?

Remember, Umno is dead at that time, okay.

Well, Hannah, all those Umno goons you hate so much will run to Pas and be like this guy,

Good deal that one. 

Enjoyed all the excesses while in Umno and giving the party a bad name, and when he had done with it, jumped into Pas and have all his sins absolved.

No need to pay back all those millions he stole when he was the Selangor MB, the guy is almost certain going to paradise after he died, just like all good Pas people.

Well, that's what most of them believe anyway.

You got such good deal at City Harvest Church, Hannah?

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how DAP is going to handle Pas which by then have become the biggest party in the country, thanks to the exodus of members from the dead Umno.

Imagine Hannah, you all will be up against an Islamist party which will then be bigger than the now hated Umno.

You think Pas will continue be the docile junior partner in Pakatan after that? How are you all to stop them from pushing through the hudud thing?

Okay, let's not even think about them having control of the military and other security apparatus which were mostly manned by Malay Muslims. That would be too scary.

Understand the GST, don't become a monkey

The Pakatan gang and their friends among the NGOs will organize a rally in KL on May 1 to protest against the implementation of the Good and Services Tax (GST) scheduled for April next year.

They are planning to march from the Dataran Merdeka to the Petronas Twin Towers or something like that.

Bear in mind that it's going to be on Labour Day where elsewhere around the world the day was marked by street protests, many of which had turned ugly and violent.

Those who are going to participate will likely be the usual suspects such as these,

But seriously, do these young Pakatan-obsessed people really understand what is the GST and the real impact of its implementation? Do we?

The government had tried to explain the whole thing from the start, but as usual, those hell bend on toppling the BN government choose not to hear it and instead tried to drown out the explanation with their usual crap against the establishment.

For easy understanding of what is the GST, here is a Bernama report which was picked up by Sin Chew Daily (I choose to use the one published by a pro-Pakatan Chinese newspaper because I don't want to be accused of trying to peddle a government's propaganda stuff),

What 6% GST means to Malaysians

Here is another simple explanation of the GST,

GST Malaysia Explained

Okay guys, please read those explanations. They are not too long, okay.

Please don't simply turn yourself into pawns of the Pakatan politicians by monkeying yourself on the streets to protest against something you don't actually really understand.

The advice was meant for Marina Mahathir too. Don't be such a dumb shallow old girl. It's not cool to be stupid, okay.

The Pakatan leaders actually needed this rally simply to whip up support for themselves.

They need to keep the momentum going against the government after their so-called "Kajang Move" fell flat on its face with PKR president DS Dr Wan Azizah Ismail only managing a win of reduced majority in a self-engineered by-election that no one really cares about, amidst the country's anguish over the missing MH370.

The Pakatan's so-called Reformasi 2.0 also apparently failed to gain any traction despite DS Anwar Ibrahim now facing the possibility of spending several years in jail for committing sodomy.

Nobody seems to really care about the old sexy daddy man anymore except his hardcore supporters.

Well, they can try to have this GST rally, but seriously, I think the right-thinking people among the ordinary folks were getting tired of all the nonsense.

I also believe the authorities need to stop being soft on those who want to flaunt their stupidity in public by having that rally in downtown KL.

If they still want to gather to protest against these and that, please ask them to go to some stadiums somewhere outside the city centre so that they do not disturb the life of other people.

They may claim to have the right to make monkeys of themselves, but I believe we, who disagree or don't give a crap about their political nonsense have the right not to be bothered by them too.

The authorities must develop a backbone on this. Otherwise, things will only get worse with these Pakatan clowns later on.

Well, if they really can't be persuaded from making a scene in a public place, ask them to have the rally at Gurney Drive in Penang. They can have all kind of political rallies there every weekend if they want. 

I am sure Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng will be thrilled with the idea. As Mat Sabu said about such rallies, "Ini akan menjana economy kerana peniaga peniaga boleh menjual barang barang kepada peserta peserta demonstrasi."

How Guan Eng? You want the demo in Penang or not? Boleh menjana economy tau?

Thanks everyone, especially Australia

It has been almost a month now since MH370 went missing.

So it has been concluded that the Malaysia Airlines plane with 239 souls on board had disappeared over the Indian Ocean.

How the KL to Beijing flight had ended at that remote southern part of the ocean is still a mystery.

Search and rescue (SAR) effort is still on going and so far no trace of remains of the plane had been found.

PM DS Najib Razak was in Perth yesterday, where the SAR team is now based.

He had told the world that Malaysia will not give up looking until it's certain what had happened to the plane.

Najib had also conveyed Malaysia's appreciation to all 26 countries involve in the SAR effort, and members of the team who were painstakingly scouring the thousands of kilometers of ocean where the plane was believed to have crashed.

As mentioned by the PM, a special thank you was reserved for Australia and its government for currently hosting the SAR team in Perth.

Australian PM Tony Abbott, in particular has been great in his handling of the tragedy ever since the focus of the SAR shifted to the south of Indian Ocean off the coast of western Australia.

Today, there will be no more of the MH370 daily Press conferences in KL.  As was announced, Press releases will be issued to media organizations here of any latest development in the SAR effort.

The focus will now be in Perth as indicated in this report,

Australia to represent Malaysia

It was indeed a sad ending to another phase of the tragedy.

As it is, the mystery of the plane's disappearance was yet to be solved.

Hopefully, the SAR effort, now centered in Perth will yield the desired results soon.

Let us pray for the safety of the SAR team members and their success.

China should have been a better friend

China has never really been aggressive towards its neighbors throughout its estimated 5,000 years' history.

It has never been a conquering nation. Back then, if the rulers of China ever felt like having some military action to satisfy their ego, they rather do so by killing each other rather then taking the trouble of invading other countries.

The only foreign wars the Chinese had ever fought back then were defensive wars against the barbaric northern tribes such as the Mongols and carrying out occasional punitive actions against the pirates of Japan who were causing some mischiefs along the Chinese shoreline.

As for the natives living south of the Chinese border, they were mostly looked down at and considered too inconsequential to be bothered with.

Small states such as the Malacca Sultanate regarded China as a benevolent superpower and looked up to it as a protector, especially to ward off the local bully of Siam, now known as Thailand.

Sometimes I wondered what if China had at that time decided to colonize all the countries in South East Asia. I am confident the Chinese at that time could had done that if they really wanted to do so. 

Had they done that, I would probably be writing this in Chinese.

But China had remained a docile giant which preferred to mind its own business.

Things however changed at the turn of last century with the demise of imperial China and the ensuing upheavals which cost millions of lives due to wars, famine and other such nasty happenings.

It was around this time that waves of migrant Chinese, fleeing the hardship in their motherland arrived on the then Malayan shores and other parts of South East Asia.

They were forced to assimilate by the locals, except in the then Malaya. The Malays of this country accepted the Chinese the way they were and in return the Chinese at that time agreed that the Malays and other natives may have certain rights exclusive for themselves. It was a relationship developed on trust, a concept  hardly understood these day.

Fast forward to present day, China is poised to take over from the US as the biggest economy in the world. 

Despite the new found wealth, the country is still relatively a developing country with the overwhelming majority of its over one billion people still living in poverty. 

That's why you can find Chinese nationals working in massage parlors here, among other places. There was even a video of a female Chinese national giving some sorts of dodgy massage to a very famous Malay politician.

Nonetheless, the Chinese government had apparently decided that such indignities needed to be rectified and therefore the country needs to flex its muscle to show the world that it's a real superpower instead of exporter of cheap labour of all kind.

Thus the China's departure from its peaceful nature, nurtured all those centuries ago.

Just look at this China's territorial claim over most of South China Sea and decide for yourself whether China does now intends to be a big bad bully of the region as part of its show of force,

Their marines had even landed on the James shoal within Malaysia's territorial water off Sarawak a few months ago, claiming it as theirs.

Lying about 80 km (50 mi) northwest of Bintulu, the shoal is 80 kilometres (50 mi) from the Malaysian coast and about 1,800 kilometres (1,100 mi) from the Chinese mainland.

They had done the same in territorial water of Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines.

As history had it, Malaysia has always been considered as China's best friend in the region. Yes, we have better ties with China than Singapore, the close American ally which majority of its population were Chinese.

Despite that, now that it's rich and really powerful, China had decided that Malaysia is just a little country which should listen and fulfill its wishes, even to the point of surrendering its sovereignty and territory.

"We are your friend, but you better listen to what we say and comply with our demands."

That's China's current language of diplomacy as far as Malaysia is concerned.

The MH370 tragedy had amplified the status quo of relationship between the two countries with Chinese state-control media going all out at condemning Malaysia's handling of the crisis.

Even the demonstration by relatives of MH370 passengers at the Malaysian embassy in Beijing last week was believed to have been sponsored and carried out with the blessing of the Chinese government.

It's an exercise which demonstrated China asserting its dominance over a small country.

Most readers of this blog were probably not well versed in Chinese and therefore not aware with what's happening in the Chinese social media where anti-Malaysia feeling was being whipped up in the aftermath of the tragedy.

The attacks were not just directed at our government, but the country as a whole.

Malaysia is once again just an uncivilized incompetent little country, south of the Middle Kingdom's border. 

That's what our country had been reduced to be in the eyes of the Chinese. 

The most unfortunate thing was that there were fellow Malaysians who joined in the attacks against our country in those Chinese social media platform.

So, where should we go from here as far as China is concerned?

Should we be a closer ally of the US, to counter the threat posed by the Chinese?

Bear in mind that the majority of Malay Muslims of Malaysia may not like it that much if the government get too cosy with the Americans who had been all these while been bullying their fellow Muslims in the Middle East.

But what was the value of their thoughts on the matter, anyway?

It's such a pity that China has to behave the way it does.

We would have prefer Malaysia to be a closer friend of China than that of the US.

But what choice do we have now after being treated that way by the Chinese?

I guess, success just got into the China's head, making it swelled too big for its own good.

It's just too bad and such a let down.