At the Pribumi Bersatu AGM

I was at the Pribumi Bersatu AGM in Shah Alam today.

It was pleasant meeting my friends there.

Haven't seen them for quite a while.

There's an aide of Pribumi Bersatu president TS Muhyiddin Yassin who used to be quite close to me.

The guy was all smiles when he saw me.

We chit chatted for a bit but I didn't want to hold him up too much as he was very busy at that time.

Another Muhyiddin's aide also said "hi" to me.

We are old friends but I last saw her more than two years ago and at first didn't recognise her.

She's now wearing tudung and much slimmer. It was fun meeting her again.

Then there's another old friend who is an aide of party chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who was very happy to see me.

He cracked a joke about me not being on his side and we shared a laugh on it.

I think he understands my position and that's why he still regards me as a friend.

I also bumped into Pribumi Bersatu deputy president DS Mukhriz Mahathir and shook hands with him. He still remembers me. He's the only politician I have ever had selfie with.

The AGM itself felt very much like an Umno function, which is understandable as most of those present are former Umno members.

I think you all can find the stories on it all over the net by now. So, no need for me to write more on it, I think.

Okay, I took several pictures there which I want to share here;

Delegates at the registration counters before the AGM

Dr Mahathir delivering his policy speech

Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali was also present at the AGM

Dr Mahathir flanked by Muhyiddin and his son Mukhriz

Star political writer Jocelyn Tan was among the media people covering the AGM. She is perhaps the most senior and only prominent journalist at the event. As I previously wrote, she's a real on the ground type of a journalist.

Doing it for a better Malaysia, really?

Let's say Pakatan wins the next general election, do you think there will be a better democracy in Malaysia?

If you are a Pakatan supporter, of course you would say YES.

But, honestly, is that what Pakatan people really want?

BN people are saying Pakatan is no better or even worse than them.

Are they?

Well, I once told a good friend who is a Pribumi supporter (previously Umno supporter) that I'm uncomfortable with the incessant talks among people on his side about throwing Najib and other BN people in jail once Pakatan takes over the country.

"But isn't that what the rakyat want?" he shot back.

"I think the rakyat want justice, but you can't give them that if you already condemned those BN people before you even win the election and has the power to dispense justice," I said to him.

I then told my friend that Pakatan would be no better than BN if it has such mentality.

I think they need to work more and talk less.

Seriously.

Furthermore, imagine you are going into a battle and even before the fighting starts you keep hearing the enemy saying that they are not taking any prisoner and will execute everyone on your side once they win.

I bet you will go all out and fight as hard as you can using every means necessary to win. After all, the enemy  had said they are going to kill you anyway even if you surrender to them.

And of course if cheating means you can win, you will cheat. It's a matter of life and death, okay.

The enemy had already stated that they couldn't care less about following the rules if they win, so why should you be nice and proper with them, right?

Try imagine this - BN plays according to the rules in the coming GE14 and then Pakatan wins. Then they arrest Najib, Rosmah and the whole gang. Do you really think there will be a fair trial for them?

Okay, let's say there's a fair trial and much to everyone's surprise, it turns out that they were not guilty of anything. How do you think the Pakatan people will react?

Eh, remember ya, you all condemned them already even now.

Seriously, do we really want what is best for our country or do we want what is best for ourselves and our beliefs?

I'm not saying it's wrong to go against BN, but are we clear of our intention for doing so?

Think about it okay.

Will things be better? Are we better than the people we regard as our enemies?

Let's take the media for an example.

First of all, do you all really believe in freedom of speech and the need for the media to be politically neutral?

I think I have tried my best with this blog on this one ever since the Najib-Dr Mahathir war started in 2015. I published almost all comments and I criticised both sides if they did wrong.

Unfortunately, based on the comments that  I received, I don't think that most of you all really appreciate my effort on that.

Most of you all, especially from the Pakatan side strongly condemned me whenever I wrote something which went negative from your belief.

So, you all have to excuse me if I don't believe that the media will be better even if Pakatan takes over after GE14.

I even believe that the main stream media will be the same, except that it will just change sides.

I know that some of the behind the scene operators who control those media outlets are already hedging in case BN is really going to lose GE14.

They are not the visible top mainstream media people, Pakatan hopes to kick out if it comes to power, okay.

One of them, who is a "player" responsible for the recent ousting of several senior editors in his organisation had a private function with Pakatan people as guests just several weeks ago.

The purpose of that was very clear, I think.

Well, these type of people will remain in control of the news organisations even after a Pakatan victory.

And nothing will change. Mainstream media will remain the tool of those in power even if they are from Pakatan.

After all, Pakatan people as for now seem to still favour just stories which are nice about their side.

Personally, I feel that if Pakatan really wants to win the coming GE14, it needs to prove that things I wrote here were wrong.

You all Pakatan people must show the rest of us that you all are better than the BN people, instead of just saying that.

Sorry to say that at this moment, you all are not there yet.

Kalau sikit-sikit asyik nak kutuk aku je, apa perbezaan positif yang korang nak bawak kat Malaysia ni?

Orang tak suka macam tu tau.

Try to say things nicely lah, okay.

Felda land noises, just another palace intrigue

There has been a lot of noises concerning Felda's land at Jalan Semarak.

Media Prima's pro-establishment Berita Harian broke the story a week ago,

Pindah milik tanah FELDA Jalan Semarak dicurigai 

Then TS Shahrir Samad, the current Felda chairman made his usual noises,

Felda will do whatever it takes to get back Jln Semarak land,

All fingers pointed at former Felda chairman TS Isa Samad, who said,

Isa Samad ready to cooperate over Felda land issue 

The opposition parties, of course as usual say this is the government's fault. They want it fried at the coming general election.

So, what the hell really happened?

This is what I was told about the whole nonsense:

- The land deal started in 2014. Felda wanted to develop the land but it had no money for it, thus the deal.

-  The deal is that the company taking over the land build a building on it for Felda. That's the tower they were talking about lah. Felda lost its ownership of the land, but it got that building there while the company takes whatever other profits coming out of it.

- The deal was done legitimately. Yup, through the BOD and everything.

- Everyone who should know about the deal, knew about it from day one. Nothing was said about it because everyone agreed that there's nothing wrong with the deal. That's the reason why MACC was quick to say there was no element of corruption in the deal. They knew it much earlier and had checked on it much before BH broke the story.

- The whole brouhahah was actually started by a bunch of people who were unhappy because the land deal leads to other deals which benefit a gang of people, believed to be linked with Isa. They were unhappy because they were left out of it, actually.

- These unhappy people, who have a degree of control over Media Prima are the ones who told BH to break the story which triggered all the noises.

- Shahrir responded to it because.....well, Shahrir is Shahrir.....he simply has to say something.

- All in all, this is just another palace intrigue. A struggle for power and profits between one gang of eunuchs against another gang of eunuchs. Something like that.

Well, at least that's what I understand about the nonsense.

See, I tried to explain it as simple as I could.

If I'm Najib, I would have thrown the whole bunch of them out. The scheming bastards couldn't care less that the general election is to be held just within months from now.

Anyway, should the Felda settlers be worried that the issue may cause hardship to them?

I would say NOT REALLY. They will not directly or immediately be affected by the issue.

In my opinion, they should not jump to conclusions and instead wait for the full investigation to be completed.

Sabar ya.

Even if they want to get emotional, it's better if they could understand what it's all about first.

Anyway, even if the deal goes on after the promised investigation has been concluded, Felda may actually reap from the "investment" of giving the land away. They got a tower and what ever else which goes with it. It was said that the whole thing may rival even KLCC.

The KLVC being built on the land at Jalan Semarak

One more thing, I was told that the company which now holds the land title had requested to meet a Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department weeks before the story was let out by BH.

The company had wanted to work with the government in mitigating the impact of such a story because they sensed that it could be quite damaging for both itself and the government.  The company probably had been tipped at that time about the move to make the deal looks totally bad in the media.

Unfortunately, the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department refused to see the representatives of the company.

Stupid guy.

Now only he made some noises.

Well, too bad then.

Eh, enough lah.

I need to take a nap now.

Cheers.

A less political Christmas, probably

It's Christmas day, so, merry Christmas.

That goes to not only Christians but also others who celebrate the occasion.

I know of some non-Christians, including Muslims who celebrate Christmas. Used to cringe at it but nowadays  I have no problem with what people want to do with their life.

It's up to them lah.

Maybe they are just being fashionable.

Anyway, if we look at the origin of it, Christmas is actually a celebration of the winter solstice, which is not really a religious celebration.

If I'm not mistaken, Jesus was not even born on Dec 25.

This year , things have quite down a lot.

I hardly heard complaints of pro-opposition political sermons in churches anymore.

Very much difference compared to before the last general election in 2013.

At that time even Christmas messages turned into political speeches.

I feel that it's better this time.

Never like it when people used religion as a political tool.

Back then it was DAP which used Christianity to its advantage.

It probably still does but not as blatant as it used to be.

I think DAP learnt to manipulate religion for its interest from Pas when they were friends in the now deceased Pakatan Rakyat .

Of course those two are bitter enemies now.

Personally, I'll just cancel out those who preach religion to tell people how good they are and their piousness should  be why they must be supported.

The whole concept of religious self promotion is repulsive.

It's just another con job, if you ask me.

At least, that's to me lah.

If you all still want to support people for their supposed closeness to their gods, then it's up to you all.

I just think that you are silly. That's all.

Not everyone makes the government looks bad

Okay, I admit I was being silly when I wrote this headline of my last post,

• Wang Kelian, waiting for Zahid and IGP

Of course Zahid and IGP will not give a definite answer whether there's a cover-up on the mass graves story as alleged by NST.

If they say "yes", then police is bad, if they say "no", then NST, a prominent pro-establishment news outlet ends up being a fake news outlet.

So, the most convenient answer remains"kes masih dibuka, kita akan menyiasat, semua yang bersalah akan dihukum"....well, that's about it.

My bet is - nothing will happen.

I know, it makes the government looks bad, but what to do....shit happens.

But not everything always looks bad for the government and the people it backs.

Yesterday, there's this story,

ASB investors to get 7.25 sen dividend/bonus & 1 sen special bonus

excerpts;

The distribution for this year is the highest in three years. In 2015 PNB declared a dividend of 7.25 sen and a bonus of .5 sen and last year it was a dividend of 6.75 sen and bonus of 0.5 sen.

At a briefing today on PNB’s 2017 fourth quarter update, Group Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar said the majority of unit holders, numbering 7.5 million with  a balance of up to 10,000 units, will get an effective return of 8.25 sen a unit while 800,000 unit holders who own between 10,001 and 40,000 units will receive at least 7.5 sen.

The remaining 700,000 unit holders will receive at least 7.26 sen.

That's not bad at all, right?

Somehow, that story makes me feel that I was not wrong when I wrote this a few months ago,

Wahid is still a good guy 

Wahid is really doing good and not corrupted as alleged by some people.

Otherwise the PNB that he led wouldn't be able to do such good, right?

Of course credits also to his PNB team.

Hopefully they all will continue to do their best.

In my opinion, people like Wahid and his team are the ones who even out the damages done by people who claim to be supportive of the government but actually made it as if the government and authorities are incompetent, corrupt....or even involved in mass murders.

Wang Kelian, waiting for Zahid and IGP

This NST story actually makes our police and other security agencies look bad;

The secrets of Wang Kelian exposed

These last few paragraphs suggested that the so-called cover-up went all the way to the top;

(excerpts)

Trying a different tack, the team sent a number of text messages to the then inspector-general of police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar. They, too, went unanswered.

Finally, the team managed to track Khalid down at an event at a bowling alley in the capital, and asked him about Wang Kelian.

After listening to us, Khalid finally relented and agreed to talk, but on one condition — that the conversation not be recorded. His ADC made sure of it.

The team had a number of burning questions, not least of which was why had the discovery of the death camps been kept a secret. What was the overwhelming justification in allowing the slaughter of scores of innocents, including women and children, to continue unabated?

Khalid was visibly apprehensive when confronted with these questions. It took a while before he finally spoke.

And when he did, his voice betrayed the enormity of what he was about to tell us.

The NST Special Probes Team is bound by journalistic ethics in honouring the condition Khalid imposed, which was not to publish what he had told us.

If the former IGP himself was not willing to come out in the open about the supposed mystery, then the alleged cover-up must have gone further up than him.

At least that's how I understand it.

Bear in mind that despite the title of the article, all that were written in the report had never been confirmed.

They were all coming from unnamed sources.
.
Khalid being "visibly apprehensive" and "his voice betrayed the enormity" of what supposedly happened in Wang Kelian were the closest the report came to properly exposing the secrets.

By the way, who is higher than an IGP when it comes to this matter?

Well, his immediate superior I believe is the Home Minister.

That should be DS Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

By right Zahid should have said something about it today.

I was informed by a journalist friend that Zahid had a function today at the place where they produced our passports.

However, he told me that journalists attending the event were not allowed to ask questions about Wang Kelian.

That's weird.

The pro-Pakatan people are already saying that the NST report is part of a plan to get rid of Zahid.

You can check it out in some of their prominent blogs.

They said the report was purposely made not to only make the police look bad, but also to undermine Zahid.

Well, I think Zahid should better come up with some answers as soon as possible.

Anyway, how about the current IGP?

Hopefully some of the clever journalists have already got to him on this supposed "Wang Kelian cover-up".

By the way, why the report didn't get him to say something in the first place ya?

This almost made it as if the current IGP is also involved in the "cover up".

If there's no cover-up, then he would have said something, right?

Don't tell me NST doesn't have access to the current IGP.

Personally, I don't believe our police and other security agencies are that bad.

I'm convinced there must be some right answers coming out soon.

Guess we have to just wait then.

By the way, I don't think this report answer the real question here,

Wang Kelian case still open, Nur Jazlan says

That's a standard PR answer of "Kita akan siasat".

Again, the real question is;

Is it true that there had been a cover-up by police or anyone?

Pakatan needs credible people too

So, Rafizi's think tank says

Pakatan expected to win GE14 even with 3-cornered fights

Fine, I don't want to dispute that possibility.

But, in my opinion, there are glaring flaws in the findings of that report,

excerpts 1;

Invoke projects that in such a scenario, BN would win 107 parliamentary seats, while PAS would be left with no seats at all. A political party needs control of 112 seats in the Dewan Rakyat to form the government.

In Peninsular Malaysia, PH is projected to win 102 out of 165 parliamentary seats, while BN is expected to take 63.

PH is expected to capture eight and five parliamentary seats in Sabah and Sarawak, respectively, while BN would be left with 14 and 26 seats, respectively.

Currently, BN holds 132 parliamentary seats, PH (70), PAS (15) and Parti Warisan Sabah (two).

Annie's comment : I think that is being a bit too optimistic.Get real la. For one thing, I'm quite sure Pas will not be left with no seat at all.

excerpts 2;

Invoke said voter support for Umno was lower in key battleground states, such as Kedah and Johor.

Only 31% of Malay voters in the Kulim Bandar Baharu and Merbok parliamentary seats, for instance, would vote for Umno in a three-cornered contest.

“This signals that support for Umno in Kedah is lower than it is nationally.”

In Johor Baru, only 30% of voters would choose Umno in a three-cornered fight, the survey revealed.

“This figure is in keeping with a study by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Centre of the National University of Singapore, which found that Umno’s support level among Malays is 35% throughout Johor.

Annie's comment; I don't think the Malay support for Umno in those two states is as bad as that. Citing the Singapore's study which says only 35 per cent of Johorean Malays are still supporting Umno was not a very clever move. The Singaporeans don't know much about Johor even though they were next door neighbours, okay.  I do believe that the figure could go down but not from the 83 per cent in 2013 to just 35 now no matter how bad Umno has been performing in that state the past five years. 

excerpts 3;

Meanwhile, Chinese voter support for PH has returned to its 2013 level of more than 80%, with the same occurring with Indian voters.

“Likewise, Indian voting preference mirrors the pre-2013 level at 60% for BN and 40% for PH.” 

Annie's comment; Cannot be. For one thing I know that most Malaysian Chinese living overseas are not coming back to vote this time. I believe the level of political enthusiasm among the Chinese now is much lesser than in the run up to GE13. 

Well, if the survey had been done by a more credible and independent organisation, then I would be more inclined to believe it.

But not this one. Furthermore, it's unrealistic.

Rafizi actually doesn't have a very good track record when it comes to refraining from exaggerating things.

His "findings" had put Pakatan in a spot a number of times. The latest is that Rahman Dahalan's brother claim.

Actually, if this survey had been done even by an Azmin Ali's outfit, then I would have taken it more seriously.

Sorry to say la, I think Pakatan needs a more credible spokesperson for these sort of things than Rafizi.

This kind of survey is actually best done by DAP. Theirs tend to be more realistic and factual.

Last Jedi and a day at the mall

I've watched the Last Jedi.

It's the first Star Wars movie that I watched in cinema.

Quite good, should I say.

Better than all those comics reboots.

In fact, I think it's the third best among the Star Wars films.

My favourite is still The Empire Strikes Back, followed by A New Hope.

Nothing beats those.

Well, this latest Star Wars movie is good because it's the best of the non-original trilogy and it beats Return of The Jedi in my list of favourites.

It's serious and quite dark but I guess that's what the audience want these days.  Heard that even Dr Mahathir and Dr Siti Hasmah went to see it yesterday.

I'm not going to do a full review of the movie because there were already plenty of those around.

Just want to say that I agree with those who said that it should be the last of the old Star Wars movies and the start of a new series.

Felt a tinge of sadness watching Luke Skywalker's final scene.

Luke, the real tragic hero of Star Wars.

The guy remained single all his life. I think he fell in love once but it turned out that Leia is his sister...urghhh....what a tragedy.

Somehow I believe Rey, the new main character, will end up like him.

I suspect that she loves Finn, but that guy will later on turned out to be in love with Rose, the cute chubby Vietnamese girl.

Somehow I think all guys tend to prefer Asian girls, if they were given a choice.

White girls can't beat Asian girls even if the Force is strong with them....hahahaha

I just hope that they don't make it that Rey will later on find out that Finn is actually her brother by some genetic engineering or something, so as not to hurt her too much for losing out to Rose.

They did that to Luke in Return of The Jedi just to make him looked less pathetic for losing out Leia to Han Solo. I really hate the movie because of that....aside from the Ewoks....

Seriously, why they need to make it so complicated.

Well, whatever it is, I do recommend this new Star Wars movie. Seriously, it's good.

Anyway, I spent my Sunday yesterday at the IOI Mall in Putrajaya.

The place was packed with shoppers.

Christmas shopping I guess....even though I think more than half of them are Malays.

Still, it's good to see people enjoying themselves.

Lots of bargains too.

I bought a pair of new shoes on sale for RM209. The original price was about RM300. Nice, tough and comfortable.

Here are some pictures I took at the mall,

Early Christmas carol

A Christmas tree

Long queue at an expensive ice cream kiosk

Long queue at McD

A packed Manhattan Fish Market. Same at the other restaurants too.

Ice skaters

Chong Wei, yours is not a Pie Face lah

A real tough life

On my way to work the other day, I stopped at the NKVE Petronas station to top up my Touch n' Go card and withdraw some cash.

As I was walking to the ATM machine, a lady stopped me. She looked worried and her teenage son who was with her looked sickly.

'Dik, boleh tolong call telephone kakak tak? Anak akak main telephone tadi tertinggal dalam teksi," she said.

So, I dialed the number and gave my phone to her.

A few minutes later the taxi driver arrived at the petrol station and gave her the phone.

The taxi driver had actually found the phone and was on his way back to return it.

The lady was very grateful.

I was a bit puzzled though as to why she took a taxi to go to a petrol station.

"Apasal kak naik teksi datang tempat ni?" I asked.

"Sebenarnya ada orang bagitau akak yang anak-anak akak dapat bantuan. Duit tu dia orang masuk kan dalam akaun akak. Ni lah nak check sebab kat sinilah mesin ATM yang paling dekat dengan rumah akak,"she said.

"Biasanya akak datang sini jalan kaki tapi anak akak ni sibuk nak ikut. Dia demam dah dua tiga hari ni. Tu yang bawak dia naik teksi. Orang teksi tadi tu kenal arwah suami akak, jadi dia tolong hantar kan," she added.

She told me that she stays at a PPR (low cost flats) in Lembah Subang.

It's about five km via a walking short-cut path from the petrol station.

I went on to withdraw some cash from the Maybank ATM while she and her son went to a BSN ATM.

However, after that I saw her looking downcast as she walked away from the machine.

"Kak okay?" I asked as I approached her.

"Duit tu tak ada la dik. Agaknya dia orang belum masuk kan lagi," she said.

I asked how she and her son wanted to go home and she said they intended to walk.

"Anak kak tu nampak tak sihat. Mari saya hantarkan," I told her.

After quite a bit of persuasion she agreed.

It's quite out of my way to work but I'm glad that I offered her the ride.

The drive to her home took about half an hour, and on the short trip I learnt a few things about the poor lady;

- The lady is 48-years-old
- The 11-year-old boy with her is the youngest of her nine children
- Her hometown is somewhere in Perak
- After school, she worked as a domestic helper
- She married her late husband, who was from Kelantan soon after that
- Her late husband drove a taxi and did some small business to earn a living
- Their first home was at a squatter area. Her husband later on bought a low cost house but unfortunately, due to financial difficulties, they lost the house and had to rent the flat at the PPR for the past 10 years. The rent is RM250 per month.
- Her husband died along with a friend in July last year after their pick-up truck crashed head-on into a trailer near Gua Musang. They were on their way to Rantau Panjang to get supplies of goods for their small business. The accident was reported by the media.
- Of her nine children, six are still staying with her. Three of them are still at school.
- Her children who had left home are themselves struggling with their life and can't help her much.
- She now earns a living to support her family by sewing tudung, baju kurung and baju melayu.

"Kalau bulan puasa nak raya tu ramai juga lah orang bagi upah jahit baju. Tapi kalau time biasa macam ni jarang lah," she said.

Listening to her life story, I felt whatever difficulties I face in my life seemed so trivial.

The lady, with very limited education and prospects, have to shoulder such a heavy burden.

It made me wonder why so many people are complaining so much about life while their problems seem minuscule compared to those of the lady.

She did not actually complain much except saying that food and household goods are quite expensive these days.

"Saya sekarang usaha sedaya mungkin untuk anak-anak dan diri saya. Selebihnya saya berdoa pada Allah," she said.

When we reached her flat in Lembah Subang, I handed her some money which she very reluctantly accepted.

"Kak ambik lah ni sikit yang saya mampu tolong. Kak doa kan lah kalau esok lusa saya pulak yang susah, Allah gerak kan hati orang lain tolong saya," I said to her.

Thinking back, I wished I had given her more. The amount I gave her was actually just the usual I spent to buy lunch for friends at a Japanese restaurant. Very thoughtless of me.

The Padi Rescue snowball

My guest blogger Lebai Sudin yesterday asked this question;

• Padi Rescue, are they for real?

excerpts;

Annie, hang boleh tolong check ke betul ke tidak berdaftar. Kalau betul, mereka adalah pertubuhan haram. Hang ada ramai kawan, mintalah tolong mereka untuk buat semakan. 

So, I googled "Padi Rescue Malaysia", and at the top of the search results is this story dated Nov 29;

Wan Azizah slams planned legal action

 against Padi Rescue 

excerpts;

Wan Azizah urged the government to take immediate steps to stop Bernas from initiating legal action against Padi Rescue in connection with its memorandum submitted to the prime minister on Oct 20, 2017.

“We call for the re-establishment of LPN to return the public functions mandated to Bernas, which are due to expire in 2021, in order to protect the national rice industry.”

From that story, I concluded that basically, what was demanded by the opposition leader is exactly what this group called Padi Rescue wants.

However, I can't find much about who are the real people who set up Padi Rescue as it seems that the group has no website where I can check their background.

I had asked a friend at the registrar of society (RoS) to check but he hasn't got back to me.

Anyway, the most prominent name highlighted in reports about Padi Rescue is someone named Fitri Amir, who claimed to be its "representative" or "coordinator", but I believe that he's not the real main man of the group and instead just a "front".

This is one of such stories dated Oct 20,

Padi Rescue mahu Lembaga Padi ditubuhkan semula 

excerpts;

Katanya, permintaan untuk LPN ditubuhkan semula itu adalah salah satu dari 14 tuntutan yang dihantar kepada Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak hari ini.

"Hanya badan yang bebas dari kepentingan komersial atau keuntungan sahaja layak menjaga industri padi dan beras negara, dan bukannya syarikat persendirian seperti BERNAS (Syarikat Padi dan Beras Nasional Berhad) yang ditadbir berdasarkan kepentingan komersialnya.

"Tidak dinafikan BERNAS berjaya dalam memastikan kelangsungan syarikat dengan mengaut keuntungan berjuta ringgit, namun syarikat terbabit gagal menjalankan tanggungjawab sosialnya iaitu untuk terus memperkasakan kilang beras milik Bumiputera.

"Kini hanya 20 kilang Bumiputera yang menyertai skim di bawah BERNAS berbanding lebih 200 kilang sebelum ini. Kami hairan mengapa jumlah kilang berkenaan boleh merosot sedangkan keperluan beras di negara ini tidak pernah berkurang," katanya selepas menyerahkan memorandum 14 tuntutan itu di Bangunan Perdana Putra, di sini.

Turut bersamanya untuk menghantar memorandum berkenaan ialah Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Majlis Tindakan Ekonomi Melayu Bersatu (MTEM), Ahmad Yazid dan Pengerusi Persatuan Pengilang Beras Melayu Malaysia, Musonnef Md Radzi.

Somehow, the last name mentioned in the excerpts of the story sounds familiar.

Malaysia Malay Rice Millers Association chairman Musonnef Md Radzi.

So, I googled his name and found this NST story dated June 11 2015 (which is much before all these talks about Padi Rescue)

LPN reinstatement lauded 

excerpts;

Musonnef said the government was the suitable body to look after the padi and rice production instead of Padiberas Nasional Berhad (Bernas) after it was privatised in 1995.

“Bernas has played the role of regulator and distributor for the country’s rice industry as well as to ensure the nation’s rowing rice demand be fulfilled through the management of the National Stockpile and the Padi Price Subsidy Scheme.

“However, since the privatisation of Bernas, most of the Malay Rice Millers’ Association had gone ‘bankrupt’ as Bernas solely looked for profit instead of its farmers’ welfare and the rice production,” he said here today.

Well, it seems to me that this Musonnef guy have been championing the revival of the LPN (Lembaga Padi dan Beras Negara) to replace Bernas much earlier than Padi Rescue.

But back then it was a fight of the rice millers. Now these people calling themselves Padi Rescue are saying that the fight is for the padi farmers too.

Guess it's a case of the more the merrier.

Anyway, I checked with a friend in Kedah who is familiar with this issue and he promptly told me that before I can find out more about Padi Rescue, I need to know more about the Musonnef guy who has been championing the issue from the start.

He declined to confirm whether Musonnef is the actual person behind Padi Rescue but instead emailed me copies of these documents;

My friend said Musonnef's rice mill accumulated debt to Bernas from 2007 till it closed down in 2015 because it failed to produce the required amount of rice from the padi sent to it for processing by Bernas over those years.

He nonetheless declined to say why the mill failed to produce the required amount of rice.

"That, I don't want to say because from my understanding, even Bernas wanted the case to be settled peacefully," he said.

My friend said that based on the legal action, the mill owed Bernas about RM6.5 million but after the bankruptcy notice, Bernas only managed to recover its losses by receiving the mill's assets which actual estimated value was just about RM2 million.

Anyway, I guess, because of the whole thing, this Musonnef guy was angry and wanted Bernas to be closed down and replaced by a new LPN.

First it's his fight, then it became the rice millers fight, after that it also became the padi farmers' fight, and now it even became the opposition parties' fight.

Quite a snowball, it seems.

By the way, can a bankrupt be the chairman of an association?

This issue is quite interesting, I think.

Okay, if I got new stuff, I'll post some more about it.

Cheers.

Padi Rescue, are they for real?

GUEST BLOGGER

By Lebai Sudin

Hi Annie..

Maaf la Annie.. aku sibuk seminggu dua lepas. Dua orang abang aku nikahkah anak masing-masing. Aku balik kampung dan bantu serba sedikit kenduri kendara. Masih best  lagi kat kampung tu, boleh lagi majlis kenduri kahwin dibuat secara gotong-royong.

Lagi pun para peminat blog hang ini sibuk dengan Perhimpunan Agung Umno. Walaupun mereka bukan ahli Umno, tapi sentiasa ambil tahu apa Umno buat. Paling tidak, mereka akan kutuk-kutuk Umno. Begitulah relevannya Umno kepada mereka. Hihihi.. jangan marah ye.

Aku tak mahu cerita pasal Umno. Aku nak cerita pasal padi.

Kenapa padi?

Kerana padi ni tak semena-mena menarik perhatian aku.

Ini kisah dalam MRT (MRT lagi).. aku kan pengguna tegar MRT.

Dalam perjalanan dari Kajang ke Pasar Seni minggu lalu, aku terdengar dua lelaki berbual pasal satu nama NGO, Padi Rescue. Tidak la berapa jelas butiran bualannya, tapi mereka bercakap pasal Padi Rescue meminta kerajaan tubuhkan semula LPN (Lembaga Padi dan Beras Negara). Aku cuba pasang telinga, agaknya mereka perasan, lantas masing-masing perlahankan suara.

Sempat juga aku dengar mereka menyebut bahawa Padi Rescue itu mengaku memperjuangkan nasib pesawah padi. Tapi, ahli-ahlinya adalah pemilik-pemilik kilang dan pemborong. Tapi yang aku agak terkejut apabila seoang daripadanya cakap yang Padi Rescue tu tidak berdaftar.

Annie, hang boleh tolong check ke betul ke tidak berdaftar. Kalau betul, mereka adalah pertubuhan haram. Hang ada ramai kawan, mintalah tolong mereka untuk buat semakan. Aku ni malas sikit.

Aku bukan pasal apa Annie…aku nak tau juga apa hal dengan industri beras ni. Rasanya macam tak ada masalah dan industri ini penting kepada kita semua kerana ia adalah makanan harian kita. Aku kalau tak makan nasi sehari, macam tak lengkap kehidupan pada hari itu.

Ada jugak la aku cari-cari kat internet, dan nampak la Padi Rescue ini ada buat demonstrasi dan serah memorandum kepada Perdana Menteri. Menurut yang aku baca, mereka menuntut 14 perkara. Katanya, mahu menyelamatkan industri padi dan beras negara.

Tuntutan nombor 1, minta LPN ditubuhkan semula. LPN yang baru, hendaklah kendalikan semua urusan beras dari benih hingga ke tanam padi termasuk racun, baja dan kemudian tuai, urusan kilang dan pasaran.

Amboi…semua sekali kerajaan kena tanggung ke? Kalau tak silap dalam Bajet 2018 ada penambahan subsidi padi.

Aku rasa la Annie, hang sebagai blogger prihatin, cuba tengok-tengok sikit isu ini. Ape cerita sebenar dalam hal Padi Rescue ni. Daripada apa yang aku baca mengenai tuntutan mereka, banyak soal pesawah. Apakah benar pesawah kita bermasalah?

Bukan ke subsidi yang diumumkan dalam Bajet 2018 adalah untuk membantu pesawah?

Sementara itu, aku pun nak selidik juga sikit. Aku bukan apa, sebagai anak nelayan, soal petani dan pesawah pun dekat dengan hati aku..Terima kasih Annie.

(Annie's note to Lebai Sudin : I will check on this. Thanks)

Media Prima after the civil war

There were a few of these sort of comments which landed at this blog over the past few days;

Anonymous9 December 2017 at 21:22

"TV3?"

Heheheh, power beb!

"MEDIA Prima Berhad, konglomerat media terbesar di Malaysia yang memiliki antaranya TV3 dan New Straits Times, menawarkan kakitangannya pilihan untuk rehat sementara tanpa gaji, bagi mengurangkan tekanan kewangan syarikat.

Media Prima beberapa bulan lalu melaksanakan skim pemisahan sukarela melibatkan kakitangannya yang berumur lebih 50 tahun sebagai sebahagian langkah mengurangkan kos operasi.

Tawaran terbaru ini dimaklumkan kepada kakitangannya pada satu taklimat di ibu pejabat Media Prima di Bandar Utama, Kuala Lumpur semalam.

Mereka diberikan dua pilihan sukarela: cuti antara enam bulan hingga setahun tanpa gaji, atau kerja setengah bulan dengan separuh gaji."

Padan muka...

I believe the commentators were referring to this piece of news;

After voluntary separation scheme, 

Media Prima offers workers "career break"

excerpts;

At a town hall meeting yesterday at the Media Prima head office in Bandar Utama, Kuala Lumpur, employees were encouraged to go on unpaid "career break leave" of six months to a year, or work half a month for half pay.

Various sources told The Malaysian Insight that employees who had served the group for at least three years could apply to do one or the other immediately. Those seeking a career break will be able to commence leave next month.

Earlier this year, the media conglomerate introduced a voluntary separation scheme for employees above the age of 50 to cut operational costs.

Sources said the management spent the minutes in the townhall  talking about the challenge new media presented to traditional media.

They urged the employees to cooperate in the company's transformation plan to adapt in the internet era.

Well, I guess this is partly the outcome of the

• Media Prima at war

Since then, that guy FD Iskandar, the then chairman who tried to steer the media group to safer water and was mercilessly whacked for his effort had left.

Well, I guess that's the way it is at Media Prima.

A few days ago I received this screenshot of a WhatsApp message which I believe tells something about the Media Prima's newspapers ;

So, "no longer NST, BH or Metro", just NSTP.

Well, I guess it's something like a three-in-one newspaper....or is it one-in-three newspapers?

Never mind.

Anyway, it may be a brilliant move.

If we look at this daily newspapers circulation figures from end of last year, those Media Prima newspapers were suffering;

Now that they have combined the newspapers, the daily circulation figures should be like this,

New Straits Times (54,490) + Berita Harian (91,229) + Harian Metro (142,262) = NSTP (287,981)

Not bad isn't it ;-)

It's more than The Star's 220,972.

Still, this new NSTP newspaper need to push more to catch up with Sin Chew Daily's 316, 564.

Sometimes it puzzles me why the Chinese newspapers are doing relatively well compared to the others.

Chinese made up at most just 30 percent of Malaysians, and I think less than half of them can read Chinese.

Yet, their newspapers are not doing so badly.

The only answer I can think of is that the Chinese read more than Malaysians of other races.

Or maybe their newspapers don't have too much politics, back stabbing and such.

Annie bragging a bit

So, I was right when I wrote this,

Umno lock down

excerpts;

I was told that this had been agreed upon by the party's supreme council and will be turned into a motion to be later on endorsed by the general assembly .

The next Umno election, scheduled after the GE14, which is in a few months time, will see no fight for the president and deputy president posts.

The general assembly has the power to do that despite the party constitution saying everyone can challenge for anything.

The motion for it, however must be specific, that it's confined for just the next party election.

This is the story yesterday,

Motion on no contest for top two Umno posts passed

Well, sometimes I did get things right.....even though at some of  those instances I actually wished I was wrong.

Never mind.

If you want to know what I think of the whole thing, just click on the link to that previous post of mine above and read it again.

What else can I say, right?

Anyway, a friend told me the other day that he doesn't think this blog makes much difference as not many people read it anymore.

He said this blog used to receive over a hundred comments per post but now reduced to less than 30 or fewer.

Told the guy that he's probably right. People now prefer Facebook and twitter.

Anyway, it had never been my intention for this blog to be influential or popular. It's just me recording my thoughts of what's happening around me.

Whatever it is, I'm quite glad that my friend think this blog is nothing much. If it is so, then I don't have to worry about being sued or closed down.

Nobody read it what.

And I can write more about my friend's boss whom I whacked quite a bit in the past.

He should be okay with it I guess.

No one is going to read it what....hahaha.

By the way, I actually wonder why would anyone read hundreds of comments on a single post anyway. A bit too much, don't you think?

If less than 30 or fewer, then not so tiring isn't it?

Okay, that's all.

Need to work now.

Here's one of the favourite songs of a lovely boy with autism,

Cheers

Between GE14 battle cry and manoeuvring for party election

GUEST BLOGGER

By Gondrong

Semboyan PRU14 ditiup kencang pada Perhimpunan Agung Umno (PAU) kali ini yang dianggap sebagai Bapak Segala PAU.

Mungkin ada 2 atau 3 bulan lagi tempoh untuk warlords dan ahli-ahli bersiap untuk ke medan perang yang akan menentukan hidup mati parti siasah orang Melayu itu.

Persoalannya adakah panglima-panglima dan ahli-ahli menyahut sepenuh hati semboyan yang telah ditiup itu.

Antara yang didengar 3A ;

1. Action 2. Action 3. Action, setiap pemuda kena jaga 30 orang muda dan kalau ikut jumlah mampu jaga 1.9 juta pengundi muda.

Bukannya susah permintaan itu, katanya.

Pasal peluru tak perlu risau akan sediakan.

Kata-kata semangat lain, dicincang hingga lumat tak  kan berundur sehingga ke titisan darah terakhir.

Begitulah antara bunyi bunyi semboyan bagi menyemarak dan membakar semangat ahli untuk sedia sepenuh hati ke medan peperangan PRU14 dianggap bapak segala PRU.

Persoalannya adakah panglima-panglima perang dan ahli-ahli akan menggunakan segala kekuatan dan strategi yang ada untuk ke medan.

Atau semboyan itu hanya bermula selepas pembubaran Parlimen yang kalau ikut tempoh tarikh tamatnya Jun 2018.

Kesiapsagaan tidak cukup dengan laungan jeritan pekikan kerana ia hanya seperti anjing menyalak bukit jika hati masih tidak terbuka sepenuhnya.

Tiada lagi apa yang diistilahkan sebagai perjuangan berasaskan keyakinan kepercayaan teguh dilakukan seikhlas demi masa depan agama, bangsa dan negara.

Sibuk semboyan dibunyi sibuk juga panglima-panglima dan ahli menyusun papan untuk pemilihan PAU akan datang yang mana persediaan ke medan peperangan PAU antara kabilah-kabilah ini lagi hebat dan dahsyat katanya.

Dikatakan perjuangan dalam menentukan tempat dalam saf kepimpinan lagi penting kerana naiwatunya jawatan itu boleh membuka 1001 peluang lain.

Puak-puak ini masih dalam kepompong comfort zone BN Umno pasti menang malah kononnya lebih besar pada PRU14 dan penentuan kelangsungan perjuangan lebih penting adalah pemilihan PAU akan datang.

Konotasi PAU itu sendiri sudah agak negatif dan sewajarnya diberikan penjenamaan baru lebih segar dan mempunyai jiwa.

Jadi, ingat-ingatlah wahai pemimpin dan ahli-ahli Umno. Bukalah minda dan hati dan perbetulkan landasan dan naiwatu perjuangan demi agama, bagsa dan negara kerana itu saja boleh membawa kepada kelangsungan dan kekuatan perjuangan.

Lihatlah sekeliling keadaan dan suasana sudah jauh berubah. Peperangan di sosial media masih terkebelakang, dan realiti di atas medan adalah mengikut kawasan tertentu yang menyaksikan bandar dan sub bandar perlu ditingkat keupayaan manakala luar dan pedalaman jangan sekali-kali ada rasa selesa kerana kemungkinan untuk terperangkap sentiasa terbuka.

Umno lock down

So far, this is the most significant news from the ongoing Umno general assembly;

All three Umno wings do not want contest for top two posts

I was told that this had been agreed upon by the party's supreme council and will be turned into a motion to be later on endorsed by the general assembly .

The next Umno election, scheduled after the GE14, which is in a few months time, will see no fight for the president and deputy president posts.

The general assembly has the power to do that despite the party constitution saying everyone can challenge for anything.

The motion for it, however must be specific, that it's confined for just the next party election.

Basically it's a lock down.

My understanding of this whole thing is this,

- Najib will remain as Umno president for another term no matter what happen in the near future.

- Zahid is safe as Umno deputy president for the same duration....unless Najib later on decides otherwise. Zahid better not be naughty like Muhyiddin.

Other things that I think will happen as a result of the lock down;

- Hishammuddin will remain as the vice-president for the next party election....unless Najib later on decides otherwise.

- Khairy will be the firm favourite to take up one of the other vice-president posts and will be seen as the number two of Hishammuddin as the upcoming new top of Umno line up....unless later on Khairy himself decides he is better than just being a Hishammuddin's side-kick.

- One of the Sabah guys will take up the other vice-president post. My bet is on Salleh Said Keruak, even though I wish the guy could be Anifah Aman.

- Shahrizat can keep her Wanita chief post until she's 179 years old or maybe even beyond that. Seronoknya.

Of course, all the above are subjected to BN winning the coming general election.

If BN lose....honestly, I don't think there will even be a next Umno general assembly if that happens.

Well, that's just my reading okay.

Hahahaha....so much for the most important thing for the ongoing general assembly being the GE14.

Told you all so.

See, they are talking more about the party election than the general election.

Well, I don't mind.

Heck, I'm not even an Umno member, so why should I care too much.

Just being an observer, okay.

By the way, I spent a bit of time at PWTC the past two days.

Simply jalan-jalan and look around.

The place and atmosphere were still more or less the same.

Met some friends from the good old days.

Quite nice hanging around with them at the mall across the street.

They torn down the place where I usually parked my car when attending previous Umno general assembly.

So this time, for the first time, I went there using the MRT and LRT.

Took the MRT at a station near my office, switched to LRT at Merdeka-Plaza Rakyat and then all the way to PWTC.

Quite easy and nice.

Less than RM5, no jams, parking and toll fees.

Eh....I better stop at that.

Need to get up and go to work now.

A bit busy today.

Cheers.

What's important at Umno general assembly

The Umno general assembly will start on Tuesday.

These are two of the usual Bernama stories the past week for the build up to the event;

Destiny Of Country, People Depends On Strength Of UMNO - Hishammuddin

excerpts;

"It is important for the delegates to concentrate on the 14th General Election - that is most important. Put aside the personal agenda. I hope they will not raise matters regarding party elections," he said at his office at the Ministry of Defence.

Focus To Ensure BN's Excellent Victory In GE14 - DPM Zahid

excerpts;

He also urged the UMNO members to forget for the time being the internal party election at the upcoming general assembly and to instead focus on the agenda to face the approaching GE.

He said the question of position in the party would be irrelevant if UMNO and the Barisan Nasional (BN) failed to achieve victory or merely obtained a small majority in the general election.

"What is the point of holding position in the party if we lose and cannot form the government, I feel this is no longer relevant, even if we sit on comfortable chairs in politics, this will be meaningless if we cannot form the government.

Both Hishammuddin and Zahid were reminding Umno members that they need to focus on the GE14, and not the party election which comes after that.

By right such a reminder is unnecessary but Hishammuddin and Zahid knew that the Umno delegates have always been more keen to use the general assembly as a meeting ground to lobby for positions with the party election in mind.

That was the case even during last year's general assembly.

Some even had karaoke sessions in the evening after the meetings for that purpose.

Well, somehow that's the way it is with people involved in politics in this country.

They always think much ahead than they should.

Even the anti-BN people tend to do the same.

Some Pakatan leaders were already talking about who is going to be what once they take over the government from BN.

They got excited with just the possibility of becoming ministers and such.

Really.

They talked as if they were so sure Pakatan will win the general election.

That's why we have instances such as Rafizi manoeuvring to outdo Azmin, just in case Pakatan manage to win Putrajaya.

They really could hardly able to contain such nonsense under the lid.

Pas people who were supposed to only care about the afterlife also have the same mentality.

That's why they had that big fight in 2015 which resulted with the setting up of Amanah.

It's just the way they are.

So, Hishammuddin and Zahid were just wasting their energy trying to advise Umno members like that.

I'm quite sure they will still talk more about the party election than the GE14 at the general assembly.

Many of them feel that what's the point of BN winning the general election when after that they lose their position in the party.

Personal interest comes first, then only the interest of the party....or maybe interest of the party comes much later after interest of many others who are more important to them.

So, never mind all that, okay.

Meanwhile, i really can't stand Umno stories such as this,

UMNO Wanita Chief: Be Agile To Parry Accusations

I advise you not to click on the link, though. The story may damage your brain.

Seriously.

Be agile to parry accusations?

What is that la Shahrizat?

How to be agile? Explain la.

Simply says only this woman.

If people read the story they'll get frustrated as they won't get it what the woman meant by being agile or whatever else.

Sheeeessshhhh.....

Talk only can la this Shahrizat.

Nothing but just that.

And the poor Wanita Umno ladies still kept her as their boss.

I really don't understand why.

Last general election, I believe BN lost a few hundred thousands of votes just because of her and the cows.

Rafidah was much much better.

Miss that garang old girl.

Well, too bad.

Okay, I'm going to rest now.

Missing someone.

Playing this song again,