Flight delay - stay cool, okay

A journalist friend yesterday requested for me to write a bit about the recent problem that Mat Sabu had with a delayed Malaysia Airlines flight.

He said I should write one because I used to work for an airline.

I told him that he was being slow because everyone has already talked about it such as reported here;

Mat Sabu flamed for ticking off Malaysia Airlines

After all, Mat Sabu is an ass. It should be expected that he does such stupid things. Well, you all voted for an ass, you get an ass minister.

It's actually just a case of poor time management and terrible public relation on his part. You are meeting the PM in London, go la earlier to avoid risk such as flight delay. Then made so much noise some more. Really stupid.

But I told my friend that I can write about flight delay because I did work for an airline several years ago.

No, I was not an air stewardess. I did go for an interview once but didn't get the job. Most likely because I'm not pretty enough for it.

I actually worked in a hangar. Engineering department.

So, I know quite a bit about aircraft and what it takes to make them fly.

One thing for sure, you can't cut corners when it comes to aircraft. Doesn't matter whether an aircraft belongs to a normal or budget airline, it must be treated with the same high level of care. Everything about them must be exactly as it should be. The rules are stringent.

One thing that surprised me when I first started working at that hangar back then was that I discovered that an aircraft is actually made of quite light and fragile materials. They have to make it light yet sturdy enough not to fall apart while flying thousands of metres in the sky. With that, you can't afford a single mistake in it's care.

It's the only way to ensure safety which is paramount for any airline.

Knowing all that, it's easier for me to understand when told that my flight has been delayed. You can't rush an aircraft and I understand that a delay is almost always unavoidable and for good reasons.

Yet, throughout the years of flying around, I hardly experienced much flight delay. I think this applies to most people and that's why they can't take it when they were delayed once in a while.

For me, the only significant one was when I went for a holiday in Japan in autumn 2015. It was a Malaysia Airlines flight from KLIA to Kansai Airport in Osaka which was supposed to take off just before midnight but only managed to do so about 4am.

The passengers were only informed about it as they were waiting at the departure lounge, probably due to a sudden problem detected with the aircraft.

There were many angry passengers  complaining loudly about the delay but I noticed that they were all Malaysians. None of the Japanese passengers complained too much, as somehow they seemed to understand better when the Malaysia Airlines staff told them about the necessary delay.

Somehow, that trip was jinxed for me. The flight back to Malaysia a week later was delayed for a good 12 hours. But the good thing was that, I was informed beforehand of the delay so that I didn't waste my time too much waiting like stupid at the airport. By the way, Kansai Airport is the best - it even have a very spacious smoking room.

Other than that trip, my flights were almost always on time.

Some people complained about budget airlines being always delayed, but I honestly don't have much such complaint either.

I know that the other day the Tony guy of AirAsia said his planes are often on time, causing him to kena whacked by many people. But really guys, I don't have any problem the few times I flew with that budget airline.

The way I see it, maybe there were delays here and there but most of the time, things are okay. And also, those who were delayed naturally complain, while the majority who are on time don't say anything.  

Well, even if I later on experience flight delay with the budget airline, I wouldn't want to complain too much just the same I always do with Malaysia Airlines ,which I mostly flew with.

Again, the delays are most likely necessary to ensure our flights are safe. At least that's how I see it.

My journalist friend who asked me to do this posting also requested for me to highlight reasons for flight delay which were beyond the control of airlines. He gave me a list drafted after talking with people in the airline business.

This is the list ;

Weather conditions that is declared unsafe for an aircraft to fly for safety reason. 

Air traffic congestion at certain times of the day where there are too many flights taking off and landing at the same time. So the Air Traffic Control(ATC) that manages the air traffic by scheduling the take-off and landing of an aircraft schedules the process accordingly-which ends up in delay because of the high volume. 

Ground congestion- once the aircraft is fully boarded and ready to depart the captain has to wait for his turn to taxi out when there are too many aircraft at the same time.
- Many occasions passengers will have to endure long queues at Immigration and the aviation security (AVSEC) area because there are insufficient counters to service the load of passengers. (peak hours)
- After all the security checks, it doesn’t help where passengers will have to take extremely long walks before they reach their boarding gates. 
- If the passengers who have already checked-in and their luggage and it has been loaded on the aircraft and they are unable to make it on time to board the aircraft- before they are offloaded- their luggage has to be traced and removed. A list of paperwork must also be completed for this reason. In such situations, the delay can take up to 30 minutes. 
- There are times, when passengers load things they are not supposed to carry in their check-in luggage and it has to be removed. That can cause a snowball effect where other flights can be delayed because of this incident.
- There are situations where there are disruptive passengers at the boarding area that needs to be dealt with and automatically affects other passengers boarding. 
- The terminal design with congested space makes boarding even more slower. 

So guys, in case you experience flight delay in future, do be calm about it.

I know it's frustrating but it's delayed for our own safety or due to unavoidable problems.

Try to be cool about it and not be like Mat Sabu, okay.

After all, most flights are on time. Really.

An advice and a bit about water

A friend told me last night that he doesn't think Umno and its allies, including Pas, can wrest back Putrajaya in the next general election.

That despite all the troubles currently faced by Pakatan.

My friend used to be a staunch Umno supporter and the last time I checked, he was still a party member.

I am not.

He was not even impressed with the BN's recent by-election victories in Cameron Highlands, Semenyih and Rantau.

His reason was that he can't see much change in Umno from the pre-GE14 defeat last year.

However, he admitted that he has not been following the political development closely since GE13 and even more so after the BN's defeat.

So, I told him that I still take the trouble of going on the ground whenever I could and from my observation, there is a chance that Umno and gang may win the next general election.

I was actually of the same opinion as my friend just a few months ago.

I also thought that Umno was stuck and not likely able to change much.

Basically, I thought Umno was dying a slow death.

Then came Mat Hassan to take over the lead from Zahid, who was facing legal problems.

And things began to change.

It's all there to be seen during those by-elections.

That's when I began to believe that it's not yet the end of Umno, BN and now their new friend Pas.

Okay, I still don't like Pas too much but since they were willing to meet Umno and BN halfway, then I should do the same with accepting them as friends.

If DAP can did that during the Pakatan Rakyat days, why not me, right?

Actually, I'm also not a big fan of Mat Hassan and has never really care for him before this.

But if he can make the necessary changes, then why not support him, right?

What ever it is, we still need a good and strong opposition, especially now that we know how useless the Pakatan government can be.

Just look at the sad state of the economy, broken election promises, stupid and arrogant ministers, rude and racist attempts to change the constitution as well as the Pakatan's ever worsening internal bickering.

I told my friend that even some of the intolerable Umno personalities such as Ahmad Maslan and Shahidan Kassim nowadays looked not so bad compared to some of their Pakatan counterparts.

But of course he was right, Umno needs the necessary changes.

I told him to give Mat Hassan a chance and not give up.

That's before we ended our teh tarik session last night.

Anyway, I woke up early this morning and discovered that there's no water supply at home.

A quick check and I found this story;

Another major water supply disruption in Selangor

It's the recurring pollution story again.

And in Klang there were several burst pipe incidents over the past weeks, causing days of no water supply in large areas.

Maybe for next election they can consider promising uninterrupted water supply instead of some free water in Selangor.

Free also no point if there's no water.

Well, at least no school kids were hospitalised like in the recurring air pollution incident in Pasir Gudang, Johor.

And as usual these days, the authorities were not really sure why all these were happening.

Minister Bee Yin, you so busy with plastic bags and such, how about this air pollution hazard?

I think poisonous air will kill us first before the plastic bags can strangle us.

But then again, this is Malaysia Baru....well, never mind, okay.

I'm just hoping that I could take a shower when I come home later.

Gamuda highway deals - Guan Eng versus Datuk Kadir

Something seems wrong with this news

Highway takeovers will give Gamuda money for Penang projects

excerpts 1;
Gamuda Bhd’s cash position will be significantly enhanced, providing significant liquidity to its asset profile, upon successful acquisition of its four tolls by Finance Ministry.
MIDF Research said it opined the the potential cash proceeds could be utilised for other projects, which includes the funding of its large infrastructure projects in Penang.

excerpts 2;
“The market also has high expectations of the massive Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) of which Gamuda is in the driver’s seat via its 60 per cent stake in the consortium, that has been appointed the project delivery partner,” it added.

I always wonder why Guan Eng as the finance minister wants to take over the Gamuda's highways in particular?

So that Gamuda can do things in DAP's beloved Penang, is it?

Well, today we have this story;

PM’s media adviser wants Gamuda’s highway deals scrutinised

excerpts;

Writing in his Facebook account, the media adviser to the prime minister acknowledged Gamuda’s plan to sell its toll highway assets in the Klang Valley to the government for RM6.2 billion for whatever is left of the concession period.“Some say it’s a win-win deal. Others aren’t so sure. The latter says it’s cheaper to compensate Gamuda for non-toll collection than to buy the four highways outright, at an amount less than the proposed purchase price. In any case, the highways will revert to the government in about 10 years when the concession period ends,” said Kadir, who is also a Pribumi Bersatu supreme council member.

Isn't it a bit weird to scrutinise the deals now that Guan Eng on Saturday had said this;

Acquiring four highways would save govt RM5.3bil in compensation

That's the Finance Minister talking, okay. It's basically a done deal...as Anwar would likely put it.

Then why did Datuk Kadir still asked for the deals to be scrutinised?

Well, I suspect that he knows something shitty about the deals and decided to make noise about it.

Maybe his journalist self managed to overcome the politician side of him this time.

Let's wait for the media of Malaysia Baru to chase after Guan Eng and get more details of the deals.

I'm sure Datuk Kadir would have sounded his juniors now running the media outlets to do so. For the sake of the rakyat, okay.

If they don't, then all I would say is that things are all still the same....or maybe even worse.

One year, two years, three years...toying with Anwar

This is a story on May 15 last year, just a few days after GE14

Mahathir says may stay as PM for 1-2 years

and this is the story today,

I will not go beyond three years - PM Mahathir

which funnily came AFTER this story yesterday

Anwar confident with PM transition plan, 
says it's a done deal

I seriously think that Dr Mahathir was toying with Anwar.

If I'm a journalist at the Anwar's press conference I would have asked him when exactly he expects to be made PM. What were the details of the done deal? One, two or three years?

I don't think he has a proper answer to that.

It's becoming more certain now that the chances of Anwar becoming the next prime minister is almost zero.

Dr Mahathir may just say something else next year.

Well, I don't care too much about that.

In fact I'm in favour of Dr Mahathir staying in office for life.

The guy simply can't have a successor.

So, let us save the trouble of having another Dr Mahathir versus his successor fight.

If he gives Anwar the post, I'm quite sure we will see another fight.

Anwar will screw up things for sure and Dr Mahathir has to go on another round of campaign against yet another successor.

Anwar definitely can screw up (or down) things worse than Najib.

Anyway, why the hell does Anwar need to be PM so much? Ego, is it?

Dr Mahathir is 94, okay. So, let's not tire him. Let him run the country till the end of his days instead of forcing him to have another fight with Anwar later on.

That is if Pakatan continues to rule.

If the BN-Pas alliance wins the next general election, then it's a different story lah.

Farewell Jason

Today is Jason's funeral,

Jason died in a traffic accident on Friday.

I received the news that morning from a friend via WhatsApp.

This is a news report of that accident,

Former NST Malacca journalist dies in accident

This is a tribute to him at NST,

Goodbye Jason, you will be missed

I mentioned about Jason and his ailment in this post on March 28,

• Even Forest City is trying to help needy journalists

I last talked to him in early May as I was trying to help him get some works to supplement his income due to his medical condition.

It was not to be.

Condolences to his family and loved ones.

Jason was indeed a really good guy.

Rest in peace my friend.

Malay men, do something about your reputation, okay

I have not been writing for almost a week now because I was trying to avoid the Azmin sex video scandal.

I was honestly disgusted by it.

Nonetheless, everyone seemed to be so engrossed with it.

I even got a foreigner friend asking whether the whole thing was for real.

Of course it's real, okay.

Someone really made and distributed the video to destroy Azmin and as the man said, it was an inside job.

Inside PGayR, that is....hahaha.

But on whether it's really Azmin in the video, that I wouldn't know for sure.

That's what I told my foreigner friend.

Personally, I hope it's not Azmin because for me, the guy is the best hope for the country if Pakatan Harapan is to continue being the government in the event Dr Mahathir is ever to step down.

I'm totally against Anwar as PM as I think he's going to wreck the country.

But if Azmin is having the same problem as Anwar, then I think the guy shouldn't be allowed to replace Dr Mahathir too.

Well, that's not so good for Pakatan Harapan, particularly because it doesn't have that many good Malay leaders capable of being the prime minister.

Just look at these "realistic" options,

PBBM - Muhyiddin (health, age and capability issues), Mukhriz (questionable capability).
Amanah - Mohamed Sabu (IQ problem)
PKR - Dr Wan Azizah (questionable capability)
DAP - Kit Siang (Chinese and old), Guan Eng (Chinese and stupid)

There you have them.

Well, they can stick with Dr Mahathir but the guy is 94. You want him as PM till he's 100, is it?

What ever it is, I'm sure the fight with Anwar will continue.

My money is on Dr Mahathir winning the fight as he did two decades ago.

But after that? What's going to happen to the country's leadership?

Never mind. Let's think about that later. You all voted for this, so bear with it and don't complain too much.

As of now, I'm more concerned about the effect of Azmin's alleged homosexuality on the image of Malays, particularly Malay men.

Are Malay men prone to homosexuality?

It's a valid question, okay.

Here we have a party president and his deputy facing allegations of involvement in buggery activities on top of other things. Both are Malay men.

Then their alleged victims/partners are also Malay men.

Really, what's wrong with Malay men lah these days.

Not enough women, is it?

Then we have these sort of Malay men too,

Okay, the last one you have to use your imagination a bit.

But really, I think all these sex scandals, particularly of the homosexual variety is bad for the reputation of Malay men.

And this is not fair to them. I believe there is a need to correct whatever misconception caused by the scandals.

Well, I leave that for the Malay men to do it themselves. They need to prove their manliness themselves, one way or another, so that people don't talk funny about them.

Of course there are many other things they need to prove but for now, this manliness issue is the most important.

Okay, if they want to get angry for having to do it, then get angry with the PGayR Malay male leaders who started the whole thing.

But being angry aside, they need to do something about it.

Whatever it is, they need to improve what others think of them.

Sifting through the garbage of sex video scandal

Someone asked me last night as to why I was not writing something about the Azmin sex video nonsense.

Well, actually it's because initially I only have theories and not real facts about it.

I was trying to learn more about it as I wouldn't want to write something I'm not really sure of.

As of now, one thing is for sure, it's part of the intensifying fight between the camps of Dr Mahathir and Anwar over the promised transition of power which looks more than ever is not going to happen.

Yes, it's as written by some prominent bloggers over the past two days.

After all, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out.

Just look at who were making the statements over it.

I was actually told that it's Anwar making a pre-emptive strike to avoid himself being hit with something similar.

At the same time, the hit was directed at Dr Mahathir's preferred successor to undermine any attempt to immediately promote Azmin.

Quite intense, right.

And more to come soon from this fight.

At the moment, it's more or less a stand off.

Anyway, I need to caution you all on the importance of reading carefully to differentiate between the garbage and actual facts of the scandal as presented by our mainstream media, which I feel has not really changed much so far under Pakatan's rule.

Okay, let me help you all with this story by national news agency Bernama;

PKR rejects heinous and dirty politics - Anwar

These are actually about all the facts from the story while the rest are garbage;

excerpts 1 -

Anwar said the PKR fully supported the investigation by the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on the allegations hurled at Mohamed Azmin and hoped that the process would be carried out fairly and thoroughly.

A sexual video was viralled in the social media purportedly involving Mohamed Azmin, who is also the Minister of Economic Affairs, and an accusation that a company's fund was channelled into the account belonging to the minister.

That's because Anwar wants Azmin to be investigated so as to put more pressure on him.

excerpts 2 -

To another question, he said for the moment no action would be taken against the PKR member, Muhammad Haziq Abdul Aziz who claimed that he was the individual in the sex video.

Of course la no action will be taken against the good boy.

As for the rest of the Bernama's story, they are just garbage you all should ignore. This Bernama's picture also;

Well, I don't blame the Bernama journalists and editors. I know that they are trying their best under the circumstances.

They need to keep their jobs and provide for their families. Really, I sincerely mean it.

As to, is it really Azmin in the video?

Why the hell should I care, okay. It really doesn't matter to me.

However, if you all care, then that's your right to be so. Suka hati korang lah.

Anyway, I'm just glad that except for one or two stupid pricks who tried to claim credit over the nonsense, Umno and it's friends have stayed away from it.

They should continue doing their own things.

Let the Pakatan people fight their own dirty war.

Who knows, maybe we can even have a snap election as early as next year.

The bocor airport for rakyat marhaen

This is bad,

'Waterfall' in klia2 - Netizens react 

to burst pipe at Gate K8

excerpts;

"OMG. In @ChangiAirport they have waterfall in the airport. #klia2 also building our own waterfall ke?" tweeted @rayongtim.

His tweet was in response to another Twitter user sharing a footage of a collapsed ceiling with water gushing at a lounge in klia2.

The footage posted by @UncleAhBoon was captioned, "This is serious...klia2..."

I have to congratulate NST for putting that part into the story instead of just the PR statement by Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) which was the main highlight of the report by Malaysian Insight;
MAHB lauds speedy action to fix burst pipe at klia2
Sorry ya, I can only give you all Malaysian Insight's headline but not their story because unlike the NST's one, you have to subscribe to read their story.

Anyway, I think MAHB should not congratulate itself for fixing a problem which shouldn't be there in the first place as well as coming up with excuses as to why such a problem happened.

It should have make sure such things never happened.

Key word here is "maintenance".

You all at MAHB tak bothered nak buat maintenance ke sampai paip pecah dan bumbung nak roboh?

Or is it just at KLIA2?

Because it's an airport for budget travellers?

Less wealthy travellers get bocor airport, is it?

Is this part of being Malaysia Baru?

And KLIA2 is very new compared to KLIA. How come can bocor?

Actually, I heard all kind of bad things about KLIA2. Even the toilets were said to be inferior than those in KLIA.

Now I'm beginning to believe that they were true.

I think if I have the time. I'll go check it out one of these days because I have never been to KLIA2.

Whatever it is we shouldn't have a leaking and roof collapsing airport, okay.

Really, that's just not right MAHB.

You all can't have this don't care attitude even with that almost total monopoly of airports in this country.

After all, you all charge the travellers using KLIA2 with the same airport charges/taxes as those in KLIA.

I don't know whether you all realise it, but I was made to understand that almost half of the amount we paid for our plane tickets went to things like airport taxes/charges.

Why can't they make use of that money to ensure we have good airports....instead of bocor airports.

By the way,  the Tourism minister and several others are now making noises about expensive airfares such as reported in these stories;

PKB gesa syarikat penerbangan kaji semula kadar tambang Sabah-Semenanjung

Harga siling, dasar langit terbuka murahkan tiket penerbangan

The way I understand it, they were mostly demanding for the airlines to reduce the airfares.

Obviously they were ignorant of the fact that it's the other things included in the airfares that made up almost half of the ticket prices.

Yup, those extras such as airport charges/taxes for the use of leaking, collapsing airports made the airfares more expensive than they should be, okay.

And those people should check back this story on a statement by the Transport minister in September last year,

Tiada harga siling tambang penerbangan

Well, that's more or less the government saying it's not reducing those other charges.

So, if the government doesn't care to do the necessary to reduce airfares, why should we expect the airlines to be more benevolent?

A doctor in the house Part 2

This is a comment I received just now at my last post;

Politischeiss8 June 2019 at 18:25

Da Mahn has spoken - FULL STOP

All the noises, bleats and whines which have followed are just like farts against thunder.

"Decision on Latheefa’s appointment final, says Dr Mahathir"

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2019/06/08/decision-on-latheefas-appointment-final-says-dr-mahathir/1760299

I almost laugh when I read that.

Hey, what did you expect? Quite funny, right.

Let me make it easier for you all, just click on this link to read the whole story;

Mahathir says Latheefa’s appointment final

Nonetheless, I think we must particularly take note of this part of the story;

excerpts

Dr Mahathir said this when asked to comment on media reports that PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was of the opinion that the Prime Minister should clarify Latheefa’s appointment as the new MACC chief.

It's basically Dr Mahathir saying "Shut up Anwar, I'm in charge and I don't have to answer to you or anyone else".

Well, the fact that Dr Mahathir is not even considering Anwar's opinion for him to clarify the appointment was quite hurting for Anwar, I guess.

This is like in the 1980s and 1990s, when Dr Mahathir was fully in charge.

I believe that Anwar could feel the chill going down his spine when he learnt of the handsome old man's statement.

He should know now that Dr Mahathir will whack him again if he tries to get in the way, just like it was back then.

I now even suspect that he appointed Latheefa to that post just to send that message to Anwar.

Surely Dr Mahathir got some aces up his sleeve now.

If I'm Anwar, I really better back off.

Let Dr Mahathir runs the country as long as he wants and in any way he pleases.

Really Anwar, it's not worth going to jail again at your age now.

Well, this is what the majority of people who voted Pakatan Harapan in GE14 wanted - Dr Mahathir in full control of things, just like it used to be back then.

Right isn't it?

For the young ones who were not yet born or still small kids at that time, get use to these sort of things.

Try to get one of those books on Mahathirism and read it.

Understand it well, so that you all can adjust yourself to this Malaysia Baru.

Oh, and I think they should start on the Part 2 of this book;

Cheers.

Waiting for the implosion (updated)

UPDATES

Yup, it's starting already.

Anwar wants Mahathir to clarify Latheefa’s appointment

ORIGINAL POST

On the same day Latheefa Koya was appointed as MACC head, which was on Raya eve, there were these other stories of Dr Mahathir's strongmen;

Rein in supporters pressuring Dr M 

to quit, PM's pol-sec tells Anwar

Ministers should step up and stop relying 

on Mahathir, says PM's media advisor

The first one is on Zahid Md Arip and second on Datuk Kadir Jasin.

Zahid was quite harsh, actually.

excerpts;

Zahid, in his response, used an analogy of a mangy dog which barks at passersby in a neighbourhood when it senses its master’s frustrations.

“The dog is not barking for the first time, it has barked many times, this being the latest. Whoever passes by the house, it will bark, it has a sickness,” he said.

Asked what “sickness” the dog has, Zahid said it has “penyakit kalah di bahagian” (sickness from loss of the division).

“It’s not just one person, I hear there is another, Klang or Kapar. I see this as a plot to pressure Dr Mahathir, it will not stop here and it will continue after Hari Raya.”

Zahid said the dog cannot be calmed by anyone but its master.

“So I hope the master will speak up to silence them, if not people will say that the master is in cahoots with the dog,” he said, adding that he hoped this was not the case.

“We live in the neighbourhood together, we don’t really care if the dog barks but this seems to be going overboard to the point we are uncomfortable.”

So, Anwar's supporters are now like mangy dogs, eh Zahid.

I wonder what Anwar's people think Dr Mahathir's supporters are akin to nowadays.

Mangy swine?

My read into this is that the likes of Zahid in both Dr Mahathir and Anwar camps are all gearing up for the coming fight next year in the very likely event that there's no transition of power as promised.

Datuk Kadir, who represents the more intelligent side in Dr Mahathir's camp saw the danger of Pakatan's implosion from such a fight and tried to buy time as much as possible.

excerpts;

Commenting on the transfer of power to Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s Anwar Ibrahim, Mr Kadir recounted how he told those at the seminar that while PH’s election promises were not cast in stone, the transition from Dr Mahathir to Mr Anwar “was clearly stated and was the linchpin in the pre-election agreement”.

“I told them that they should be encouraged by Mr Anwar’s recent statements that he wasn’t in a hurry and that Dr Mahathir would continue to play a major role thereafter,” he said.

As for concerns over whether there would be any u-turn in policies after Mr Anwar takes over, Mr Kadir said this would be “unlikely”.

Yet Datuk Kadir, being among the harshest critics of Anwar during the Reformasi days of late 1990s surely knew that the fight is inevitable.

How can it be otherwise after these sort of things;

I don't think Datuk Kadir would be so naive as to believe that Anwar could truly forgive all that and will not take his revenge after he got the power to do so.

I believe he was just trying to keep the peace for now so that the fighting would not start too early before the deadline which was supposed to be in May next year.

Meanwhile, they are gathering all the bullets and power for the showdown.

Well, while all these were going on, Umno, Pas and their gang have been rather quiet, especially after their victory in Rantau.

From what I know, they are moving quietly on the ground, building strength at the grassroots level.

Better that way, I guess.

Just wait for the Pakatan implosion and meanwhile avoid making mistakes such as issuing unnecessary statements.

Yup, that's the right way to do it.

So much for MACC's independence (updated)

UPDATES

Please note that these statements were not made by Umno, Pas or their friends.

Pelantikan KP SPRM tidak dirujuk jawatankuasa Parlimen

excerpts;

"Pakatan Harapan (PH) dalam mementingkan kepentingan awam dan kebebasan SPRM, menyebut mengenai janji menerusi manifestonya bahawa SPRM perlu merujuk kepada Parlimen.

"Tanpa merujuk kepada kemampuan peribadi, integriti dan perwatakannya, pelantikan Latheefa yang juga ahli PKR, satu parti dalam kerajaan PH akan menjejaskan kepercayaan orang ramai terhadap SPRM.

New MACC chief Latheefa still listed as PKR member, says sec-gen

excerpts;

He said he did not get any resignation letter from Latheefa, who announced that she “sent in” her resignation as ordinary member of PKR, a component party of the ruling Pakatan Harapan, yesterday with immediate effect when she was informed she would be appointed to lead the nation’s anti-corruption agency.

“As of today, her name is still in the system,” Saifuddin told Malay Mail.

When asked if ordinary PKR members need to submit resignation letters to the party secretary-general, Saifuddin said: “For this high-profile case, she should write to sec-gen. That would be the proper way to do.”

ORIGINAL POST

We, Malaysians got this news on raya eve today,

PKR’s Latheefa Koya is new MACC chief as Shukri Abdull ends contract early

Honestly, I was shocked that they were being this blatant.

Not even Umno at its worst had done such thing.

But of course, a short while later we got this follow up news

On taking MACC helm, 

Latheefa resigns from PKR and LFL

Ya, sure, with that MACC will remain independent.

Whatever.

Somehow I suspect that this is going to be part of their coming civil war when Anwar was supposed to take over the premiership from Dr Mahathir next year.

Bear in mind that Latheefa is definitely not in love with Anwar and his gang.

Well, I'm not going to write my full thought on this nonsense for now as it may spoil my mood for whatever little raya celebrations I'm supposed to enjoy.

After all, this is Malaysia Baru, so they can do whatever they want.

Malaysians voted for them what.

I'll just wait for their spins on this and have a good laugh later.

Okay guys, happy hari raya.

Cheers.

Mat Sabu's defence policy

If you read this story by The Star

Mat Sabu: Region faces complex security dynamics

or this one by FMT

US-China row affects regional stability, says Mat Sabu

which were written as reports from the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, you would probably think that there's nothing wrong with our defense minister.

He sounds quite ministerial and even a bit boring.

Actually, those stories are part of the magic tricks of our media in this age of Malaysia Baru which is begining to feel more and more like Malaysia Lama when media outlets spun their stories to make ministers look good.

Well, this is Mat Sabu in video at that premier Asia Pacific defense and security summit,

Yup, that's our defense minister.

Nice or not?

And he is the president of one of the parties in the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition.

Okay, I'm not going to say anything about the standard of his English because I have no problem with people who speak the language that way. I'm not an arrogant Anglophile snob.

I just want you all to concentrate on the message that Mat Sabu was trying to convey....if you can understand what he was saying la.

My favourite part is when he said that the Chinese Coast Guard is bigger than our navy and because of that there's nothing we can do except to talk to them if the Chinese decide to come over and do whatever they like in our territory.

In all seriousness, if our own defense minister can say that in front of an international audience, then we may as well close down our navy and save the billions of ringgit for our country's defense.

Heck, why not close down our entire armed forces while we are at it. Let's not waste our tax payers' money.

Just roll over and die whenever anyone wants to invade our country.

Yeah, why bother, right?

Even the Singaporeans have better looking armed forces than ours. So, tell the world la that we are going to let them take over our country if they feel like it.

And I wonder what our soldiers, sailors and airmen of Angkatan Tentera Malaysia think of what Mat Sabu said at the event.

The guy who is more or less in charge of them basically said that they are quite useless.

All those sacrifices, and lives lost while defending this country over the years amount to nothing for this current defense minister.

He can't even seemed to remember how our armed forces defeated the communist insurgency, won the confrontation with Indonesia and other instances when our men and women in uniform did good in defending our country.

I don't know lah, but this sort of idiocies among the Pakatan ministers are really getting on my nerves.

And it doesn't seem to be getting any better any time soon.

Pre-raya blues

It's already raya mood now.

Many have went balik kampung, taking the whole week as holiday.

I'm not going anywhere though. Staying put in KL.

As usual, I don't really celebrate raya like most people.

Just the compulsory two or three visits of close relatives. That's all.

No baju raya, duit raya, raya open house and such.

For me, raya is time to rest.

Resting is celebration enough.

But, that's me. You all celebrate lah as according to what makes you all happy.

Tomorrow I'm planning to pay the compulsory zakat fitrah for myself and my family.

That's my routine as raya draws near.

I used to pay for my beloved too, just simply because I thought maybe Allah will give us blessing if I pay a bit extra.

I know, that's rather stupid but I just like the idea.

Anyway, this Ramadhan was not so bad.

I tried my best.

Still, I don't think I got full marks for my puasa. My puasa was definitely not perfect.

Hopefully Allah will be a bit lenient on me.

By the way, this is going to be the second raya for Malaysians under the Pakatan rule.

I wonder if people are happier compared to when raya was under BN rule.

For one thing, are preparations for raya now cheaper without GST?

You all have enough money for raya or not? Still have a job?

Well, politics aside, I hope you all are alright one way or another.

Sorry ya, today I'm not really in good mood and actually quite tired.

Someone made me very angry this afternoon until I got very exhausted.

Don't know what's wrong with me that I got so angry like that,

No energy now except for just this little bit of rambling.

Hope you all don't mind too much.

Here's a song I've been humming since this morning, Hope you all enjoy it.

Ciao.