Waiting for 2021

Going on a long drive later today.

It's Christmas eve, and I'm going to spend the holidays in the east coast.

Been a bit occupied with inconsequential things the past weeks and now need to rest.

Covid-19 is still bad but life has to go on and I have to plan ahead.

Need to be motivated again after this mostly depressing year.

I think this country needs the same.

Focus on what really matter and just ignore the stupid politics. Just support anyone good irregadless from Umno, DAP, PKR, Pas or whatever.

My focus would be on improving my work, which I hope I still have next year.

Well, if I lose it, I just need to opt for plan B.

My dream is to open a darts cafe somewhere in the east coast once this Covid-19 is over.

At the moment I'm quite rusty as I have no place to practice. If I have my own darting place, maybe I could improve until I can play in the world championship....hahahaha.

Dreaming is nice.

Anyway, I also intend to improve my personal life. Maybe settle down and stop doing crazy things.

Yeah, hopefully 2021 will be a much better year.

I know that I have said this before, but really, I will try to write more once the new year starts.

Happy holidays guys. Cheers.

Umno set to be in the driving seat again

 It has been a lot of time and energy wasting on the Malaysian political front the past one week.

Despite all the noises, nothing actually happened.

In Perak, its business as usual again, except that Umno now having the upper hand and PH looking rather silly for failing to grab the opportunity to set up a new governing alliance there.

Yesterday, again it was another anti-climax, as Budget 2021 passed its final hurdle, and all that talks of a new government taking over Putrajaya become a number one bullshit.

Well, I'm okay with all that as my life remains the same. The nonsense doesn't directly affects me.

Go to work, earn enough to survive, play darts a bit whenever I could, and that's just fine with me.

Anyway, I'm quite sure now that the current government will stay in power till the end of this term.

Umno, which has been unhappy with the way it was being treated by Pribumi Bersatu must had been appeased somehow.

My bet though is on the party to maintain the status quo only until the next GE.

I believe the prospect of Umno, along with its BN allies going on their own after that is very likely now.

Some top party leaders, including the much respected deputy president Mat Hassan have already rejected the idea of BN joining forces with Pribumi Bersatu's Perikatan Nasional (PN).

Many would have thought that this will split the Malay/bumiputera votes again, but that would depend quite a bit on Pas which currently has both its feets in PN and Muafakat Nasional (MN), its alliance with Umno and the other BN parties.

If Pas does the wise thing, that is sticking with MN and leaving PN then the split will not be very bad.

PN would likely die a natural death if Pas really do that. 

Pas have a lot to gain under MN as it would almost certain to have the overwhelmingly Malay-majority states of Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah. It would also have more opening in the Cabinet as without Pribumi Bersatu, there would be more jobs to be filled.

A combination of Umno and Pas is also almost certain to wipe out any opponent in Malay-majority constituencies.

These can't be said if Pas choose to stay in PN as Pribumi Bersatu is not strong enough to face Umno and its BN allies as an opponent.

I also believe that Pas would not risk splitting the Malay votes by too much as the worst that could happen to it is if Pakatan Harapan (PH), with DAP as its driving force comes back to power.

Yes, the best that could happen for PH, especially DAP is for the Malay votes to be split again the way it did during the last general election.

Pas, I think will chose the best option to prevent that.

Nonetheless, Muhyiddin and his Pribumi Bersatu would likely see this coming and try to mitigate it.

Well, they have to offer Umno and Pas something really big to avoid being left out of the next deal.

I can't think for now what they could offer, but whatever it is, Umno is set to be in the driving seat again.

Unless, of course if they are too stupid to realise it and screw up again.

We can do without the surat sokongan problem (updated)

UPDATED at 14:38, Dec 8 2020 

Annuar admits endorsing Umno-linked firm for road project

excerpts;

“Thankfully, the PM (Muhyiddin) did not consider it (the letter of support). If not, who knows what other slander(ous comments) might surface.

“A letter of support is neither a verdict nor an order. It may not necessarily be accepted.

“When the people ask for support and there is merit to it, then it is the job of the elected representative to support their requests. Whether it is accepted or not is a different matter,” said Annuar, who is also Ketereh MP.

Honestly, I do wonder what is the merit of a request to put the job on direct negotiation instead of open tender.

Is it the job of a waikil rakyat to support such requests from contractors?

Anyway, I wonder whether the contractor endorsed by the minister finally get the job anyway after it was put on open tender.  

ORIGINAL POST

Someone forwarded this to me just now,

Well, same old, same old.

This is the sort of surat sokongan nonsense they came out with to get "their people" the government contracts which was supposed to be given in an open tender.

That's one of the main reasons why many aspiring businessman entered politics back then, in particular by joining Umno.

It's for them to get these surat sokongan.

The likelihood of getting a government contract is almost certain if you have such a recommendation letter from a powerful politician in the ruling party.

That's when you got all kind of shit happening.

In many cases, the right people for the job are not getting the contract because the wrong people have a surat sokongan.

In this particular case, I don't know whether the contractor involved is good or not, but he surely have a significant advantage with that surat sokongan from an "influential" minister.

Furthermore, the letter clearly stated that it's a request for the Prime Minister to award the contract to that particular contractor by way of rundingan terus (direct negotiation) instead of it being offered in an open tender.

I think that's a little bit too much.

I don't know whether PM Muhyiddin is going to really entertain the request but, since the surat sokongan comes from Annuar Musa, he must have at least pause for a while to consider it.

After all, Annuar Musa, who is the BN secretary-general has became the most vocal supporter of his Pribumi Bersatu party.

Some even see him as a spokesperson of Pribumi Bersatu,when he enthusiastically urged his own party Umno to continue to support the current government.

That despite all the bad deals Umno has been getting from Pribumi Bersatu of late.

Muhyiddin may probably think that if the direct negotiation request for the contract is not entertained, then Annuar may not be so enthusiastic with his support anymore.

Well, at least that's how I would think if I'm in Muhyiddin's position.

That's tough for the PM, okay.

It's tough to do the right thing.

Anyway, let's hope Muhyiddin will stand firm and let the contract be offered in an open tender so that the best contractor get the job done.

We don't want the highway to be built starts to crack up and such within just a few months after its completion, don't we?

Let's support Nga Kor Ming

 I'm supporting the effort by DAP's Nga Kor Ming to be friends with Umno.

As I previously wrote,

• Umno being friends with DAP is nice

excerpts;

I know, many of you would think this could never happen but who knows, Malaysian politics could be quite weird sometimes.

Anyway, just let me daydream of it for a while.

Yeah, Umno and DAP being friends is nice.

Maybe they could find a common ground for the good of the country.

And if that happens, I don't have to quarrel over politics too much anymore with my beloved who is a DAP supporter.

That's really nice.

Nga in his open letter today said,

DAP-Umno cooperation leads to more tolerant multiracial government

excerpts;

“Apart from ensuring stability, it can also prevent the government from being held hostage by PAS’ extreme populism, the threat to diversity and pressure towards fundamentalism, which are a threat to the secular and pluralistic spirit of the Federal Constitution,” he said.

I totally agree with him on that one.

I'm not so much against Pas as I used to be but there is a need to check on the penunggang agama among them who became more visible after the party joined the government side. 

I will always remember the case of a Pas minister who went vacationing overseas at the height of Covid-19 scare and blatantly ignored the SOP.

Nga's letter was actually meant for the DAP grassroots who opposed the possible cooperation with Umno over the Perak crisis.

It was actually written in Chinese.

Well, the same as in Umno, DAP also have its share of extreme members and supporters who hate their opponents just for the sake of hating.

Such members and supporters also prefer to take the easy route of getting communal support by playing the racial cards.

But, I believe the majority of DAP and Umno people are not of that type.

They want what is best for the country and Malaysians, which is a tolerant multi-racial society as when the country was founded when it achieved Merdeka.

The question now is whether DAP and Umno are controlled by the majority good people or minority intolerant scheming politicians.

Let's wait and see on that one.

Honestly, my money is not on the good people winning but who knows, maybe we'll have a pleasant surprise.

Personally, I think the Perak crisis is an opportunity which opens the door to a possibly better political environment, which will contributes to a more stable and successful Malaysia.

God provides....brain too

 I do agree that this country is now in quite a bad shape.

With the Covid19 and shit, people are losing their jobs and life is tougher than before.

The government is not doing that well too, barely hanging on to power by a thread.

And the politicians are sounding more like scums than ever. Sometimes I felt like punching their faces when they opened their mouth to say some shit things, really.

Seriously, I wondered when the slide is going to stop.

Nonetheless, from what I know, it's shit elsewhere too in the world at the moment.

Some are even much worse than here.

Yeah, I have seen the miserable slums in Mumbai and Delhi. I wonder how the poor souls there are doing right now.

Nothing compare to the shit we are facing. I'm quite sure of that.

I wouldn't want to visit India again after my experience at those places. Too depressing.

How the rich people in that country could live with no guilty conscience knowing there are their countrymen living in those slums is beyond me. And they are a proud bunch too. Don't know what they are so proud of.

They should have reformasi in that country, really.

Anyway, have you all watched that Labenese movie Capernaum?

If you haven't, do give it a try.

I agree with that boy Zain in the movie, parents shouldn't have children if their situation do not permit them to do so.

Living in a slum with no means to bring up children properly and still want to fuck and have babies. That's fucking irresponsible.

The men, especially.

Know your limit la. Sure, God will provide, but God also gives you all brain to think.

Sigh.

All this remind me of a couple I know who stopped having children after their second child was diagnosed with autism.

They know their limits.

What's more important is to bring up the children properly with whatever resources available instead of simply fucking like rabbits and say that God will provide.

So guys, it's now Covid19 time and if you have lost your job or got a pay cut, try not to impregnate your wife and add more hardship to your life.

Postpone it until things get better, okay.

Honestly, I was quite irritated with news about people going out of their way to get married during this pandemic.

Well, somehow I'm feeling a bit upset tonight. That's why I'm writing like this.

Come to think about it, I better concentrate on my job instead of caring too much about what's happening around me.

Why should I care too much....my situation is not so great either, after all.

Eh, I better stop my rambling.

It's almost 1.30am

Ciao.

How to avoid being drunk and racist

 Well, as I thought, nothing actually happen with the budget voting.

Just lots of hot air as usual.

Wasting time only paying attention to it.

So, I'm not going to waste my effort on that one anymore.

For this posting, I just want to comment a bit about this piece of nonsense which my friend forwarded to me just now;

NST Blasted By Netizens For Racial Stereotyping

excerpts;

A few hours ago New Straits Times (NST) had headlined an article titled, ‘Help Minimise Threat To Society’  which referred to a study by the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2019 that stated alcohol drinkers in Malaysia made up 11.8% of the population and 45.8% drank excessively. This content had an image of an Indian middle-aged man as its feature image.

Hmmm...I saw the picture and I wonder why they put it there. The guy was not even drinking.

Must be a slip up of some sort.

NST being racist towards the Indians? I don't think so. There are lots of Indians working and holding senior posts in that newspaper.

Anyway, NST has already replaced that picture and apologised to those offended, saying it didn't intend to insult anyone.

Ok, I'm fine with that, but for its next story, I think NST should do a racial breakdown of the drinkers so it could dispel the perception that Indians have a drinking problem.

Break the racial stereotype, kind of.

Hopefully the frogs will not get offended. It's just Kermit being drunk, not a frog being drunk, okay. 

Well, the whole point of the story was that we need to tackle the drinking problem in our society.

Don't drink too much lah, okay.

I'm not one of those who demand for the ban on sale of alcoholic beverages, but I prefer people who drink them not to do so just to get piss drunk.

Just drink to have fun is okay but not until you lose your senses and do stupid things. And of course, those whose religion forbid them from consuming intoxicating drinks shouldn't drink at all.

There are so many cases of people getting drunk and went driving, causing fatal accidents.

Yeah, there was even the case of a man who got drunk and drove through a police roadblock during the MCO, killing one of the cops.

That's terrible and for that, I'm totally fine with the recent decision to impose heavier penalty on drunk drivers.

Eh, you drunk already, call Grab la. Save yourself and others lots of trouble.

Then there was also once the extreme case of a bunch of people getting drunk and went rioting and beating up a fireman to death.

Maybe we should increase the penalty on beating up a fireman to death too. Or at least take some sort of action against the drunk bastards. Last time they did that, no one got punished, okay.

See, that's why there's a need to educate people not to get drunk.

People should know their limit when drinking.

Don't try to be macho and drink more than you should.

If two cans of beer can make you get drunk, drink only one. Or better still, don't drink at all. 

It's really pathetic actually to see a man trying to be macho and getting drunk after just two cans of beer.

Oh, and they talk so much shit some more. And loudly at that.

Really irritating.

It's one of the reasons why I don't really like going to the clubs where that sort of drunks hang out.

If you want to get drunk, please make sure you don't disturb others like that, okay.

The best way to to do so is by drinking at home.

Do drink all you want at home until you pass out. I'm fine with that.

But of course don't go beating your wife and children after you got drunk.

Maybe the wife should chain you to something before you start your drinking binge to make sure you don't get violent once you lose your mind to the alcohol.

Well, that's my take on the issue.

Happy weekend guys. Cheers.

Budget 2021 voting wouldn't really matter as life will go on

I have to admit that I don't really care much about anything these days except to survive this Covid-19 pandemic.

Especially not politics.

I'm hardly excited anymore about anything when it comes to politics. 

That's why I'm not writing much these days.

I find it hard nowadays to differentiate between being ruled by BN, PH, PN or even probably MN.

Yesterday, I even told a colleague, who is a BN supporter in Segambut to vote for Hannah Yeoh if she honestly thinks the DAP MP has been doing good for her constituency.

No point in voting for a PN or even BN candidate against her if that person is not good.

Same to DAP supporters - don't vote for DAP if it fields a lousy candidate.

Main thing is; vote for the candidate, not his/her party.

Well, at least that's my opinion at the moment.

The voting for the Budget 2021 is coming up soon.

It looks more and more that there would be an attempt to reject it in parliament.

Honestly, I don't really care about it either.

Either way, my life will go on.

If the budget is defeated, then most likely Muhyiddin has to step down and Anwar will eventually become PM.

I will have to endure that and continue on survival mode.

But if it goes through, I don't mind it too. I believe it would still be the same and I have to continue with my need to weather the Covid-19 hardship.

Yeah, there will be more political mess, but it's already a mess as it is now. How much worse could it be, right.

For all I know, if Anwar indeed is to take over, the new government wouldn't lasts too long anyway.

We can do this musical chairs thing as much as we want till GE15. I wouldn't care.

Hopefully, comes GE15, things would be clearer for us to choose the less worse among them.

For now, I think we Rakyat simply have to endure, work the best that we can, and try not to suffer too much. Take care of ourselves rather than let ourselves be made fools by those politicians.

Myself, I'll work and try to have a bit of fun, if I could. No matter what, I don't want to let everything to be all doom and gloom.

This weekend, I'll be stuck in the room again, same as it has been since this CMCO started.

I'll do the usual - watch Korean dramas or movies. 

I miss the East Coast. Hopefully when the CMCO has been lifted, I can go there again.

Okay, that's all. Here's a beautiful song to cure my Saturday blues,

Cheers.