Happy Anniversary to my Pa and Ma

I took these from Helen Ang's blog at -

Silent anger among Malays is growing

Translation excerpt is also by Helen Ang -

6:30 onwards — Translation from Hokkien

“Is it possible for us to become first class citizens in Malaysia? For 50 years, over a period of 50 years we have been second class citizens, third class citizens, fourth class citizens, aaah. Enough is enough, true or not? So we need to tell Abdullah Badawi, to say to Ong Ka Ting, say to Koh Tsu Koon so that they will know … we want to be first class!”

“Do I have your promise that all of you here will vote for DAP?”

That speech was delivered by DAP sec-gen Lim Guan Eng just a few nights before the general election in 2008.

I wonder whether the Pas and PKR Malays realized what was being said by Guan Eng to the Chinese folks during his campaign rounds.

Noticed that Guan Eng was asking the Chinese crowd (in Hokkien) whether they want to be first class citizens. He did not talk about equality among the races. If he wants the Chinese to be first class citizens, who are then supposed to be the second, third and fourth class citizens?

I wonder how would the Malay supporters of Pakatan in the crowd would had felt if they understand Hokkien and what Guan Eng was saying to the Chinese in the crowd. Would they felt like first class citizens?

Anyway, are the Chinese really second, third and fourth class citizens? Are they being so oppressed in this country? Are they suffering so badly?

I think you all should answer that for yourselves based on your own personal observations.

As for myself, the Chinese are already first class citizen in my family.

My mother runs the show in the house. My father let her have her ways most of the time because he always tries to avoid quarreling with her. It's very much like the Sino-Malay relation in this country.

My mother, despite being totally Chinese educated works for the government and earning almost twice my father's salary. She is a smart, feisty and tenacious lady.

My father, by comparison is a quiet man. But my mother has always told me that he is actually the smartest and funniest guy she had ever met. She said if not for his lack of ambition, my father could have been very successful in his career. "Typical Malays," she would quipped. My father would laugh whenever he overheard her saying that.

Actually, I can write a book about my parents. Their relationship mirrors the history of Malaysia, actually. Love, overcoming differences, acceptance, tolerance, commitments and responsibilities for each others, etc.

Anyway, I do know my parents love each other very much. Maybe my father seems to love my mother more, but that's probably because he is the sentimental Malay type. Whenever he bought her flowers, my mother would scold him for it. Don't waste money, she would told him. But he still continues to buy her flowers, because I think my father knows that deep down inside, despite her fiercely practical Chinese self, she does love receiving those flowers from him.

Pa, Ma, I know you all are not reading this or any other blogs, but still, I'm wishing you all the happiest of anniversary here.

I'm glad the two of you met many years ago and manage to love each other despite your differences. I love you both, very very much.

Hoi! When is the election la?

This is Ai's weekly weekend posting -


By Ai

What is this nonsense I heard that the general election will only be held at the end of May?

Really. Someone in Malaysia called and told me that PM DS Najib Razak is going on an umrah trip next week and the dissolution of parliament will only be after he came back.

If this is true, then the dissolution of parliament will only be after the middle of April and polling day should be about a month later. There should be about two weeks between dissolution of parliament and nomination day and at least 11 days of campaigning period.

I hope what I heard is not true.

I had already bought my flight ticket from Taipei back to KL for a two weeks break starting around the end of April. I was dead sure the election will be held around that time. If the election is at the end of May, that means I will miss my chance to vote. I didn't register as a postal voter.

Well, if that happens, then too bad for me and too bad for BN. One vote lost.

The consolation, however, was that my Chinaman is not likely get to vote for DAP too. He is back with his family and recuperating in Singapore after the almost a month treatment here. He will be too weak to fuss over the election even if it is to be held at the end of May. So, that cancel out BN's probable loss of my vote, I think.

Well, whatever it is, it's really my fault that I may not be able to vote. I should had registered as a postal voter when I first arrived in Taiwan in January. I believe I could had still done so at that time. What to do, it's water under the bridge already.

Anyway, I'm honestly tired of the waiting. I believe most people are tired of it too.

Been checking the sopo blogs and found that most on both sides are going round and round repeating the same things. Except for some pictures of people smelling armpits last week, I failed to find something that's really groundbreaking.

What else are new?
Guan Eng is stupid and childish? Nah, everyone knows that already.
Anwar humping boys and girls? Knows that too. Ok, the armpit thing is new, fine.
Hadi treated like some donkeys by Kit Siang and Anwar? Err, old news again la.

See, aren't that tiring?

Honestly, I don't know what strategy Najib and his people are employing by delaying the election. Bore everybody to death, maybe.

Or maybe, it's because he is trying to prevent Pakatan from pulling some tricks such as delaying the dissolution of the State assemblies under their control so that they can have separate State and general elections.

I guess, we simply have to trust Najib on this one.

As for myself, if the election is held at the end of April or early May, then I will get to vote. If later.....then that's that, sorry, I can't afford to fly back again at the end of May. BN has to do without my vote.

If no election while I'm back home, I plan to spend half of my time with my brother in KL and another half at my Chinaman's family home in Singapore.

I will nonetheless still be hoping that I can vote for now.

Ok, that's all for now.

Cheers everyone.

Pigs can fly, says Guan Eng, and they will believe him

Apparently, DAP is now so well entrenched in Penang that it can paddle any amount of nonsense, especially to the Chinese community there, and they are still going to buy it.

The best part of it is that the majority of the Chinese community in Penang knows that the DAP is bullshitting them, yet they are still going to support the party. The reason being, it is just the trend of most Chinese to support DAP and vote anything but Umno (Asal Bukan Umno - ABU, which also subconsciously means Asal Bukan Melayu). Not to do so means betraying the community. At least that's what the DAP's propaganda is telling them.

Meanwhile, their almost extinct Chinese rivals can only scream and shout but to no effect about the bullshit being dished out by Guan Eng and gang. Here is a story of that -

Tan: Guan Eng's 'typo' excuse absurd

Yup, first there was that excel error of the DAP's central executive committee election and now the typo error of DAP's billions ringgit tunnel project.

DAP sec-gen and Penang CM Lim Guan Eng was not even bothered to give better excuses.

Guan Eng knows the people know his excuses were bullshit, but he doesn't care because he was cock sure they are going to buy those bullshit anyway. He is supremely sure that he has already in his pocket the support of especially the Chinese community.

At the moment, no matter how absurd it get, the majority of Chinese community members will believe it as long as it was endorsed by DAP leaders. Even this picture, I think -

DAP is so sure they are not going to lose any vote over such things that their leaders Kit Siang and son Guan Eng can strut around challenging their rivals to fight them....at outright Chinese majority constituencies, of course.

Let say these are all errors committed by BN, I'm quite sure the reaction would be different.

Panda, dragon and the arrogant tokongs

Helen wrote this rather funny but I think accurate assessment about MCA -
Why the MCA mascot is now fittingly the panda

I too think that MCA should choose a different mascot. Maybe they should have choose a dragon instead. More garang, I think. 

Well, never mind, those were just mascots. The MCA guys probably choose the panda because of its cuteness and the endangered animal being from China.

Whatever we think of MCA, I believe there are still those who sincerely believe in the party and working hard to ensure its survival.

The party has after all done good for the Chinese community even before it become a political party in the early days of this country's birth.

Among its major contributions to the Chinese community was assisting migrants to gain citizenship in this country when the authorities opened up the door for them to come here in the early days prior to Merdeka.

If not for MCA's efforts at that time, I think the Chinese would probably be just 10 per cent of this country's present population.

Even my mother probably would not be a born in Malaysia. Her grandfather came to this country around that time. 

Heck, I would probably not even exist. My Ma and Pa probably would not have even met.

Another big thing done by MCA was that it has been instrumental in ensuring better education opportunities for members of Chinese community.

They collected funds for the Chinese schools, provide scholarships for the students, and setting up institutes of higher learnings such as TAR college which caters mostly for Chinese youths.

What are DAP's contributions to Chinese education in this country? 

It has to be admitted too that most MCA people who were given the opportunity to be wakil rakyat work hard to assist those in need. The MCA community service centers are arguably the most active compared to other parties.

Another thing I like about MCA is its leaders being mostly realistic about their political shelf life. They mostly know when to go and give way to younger people.

This is what the party president said two days ago -
GE13: About half of MCA's candidates to be youths

Meanwhile, the father and son leaders of DAP are going around town like cockerels daring this and that people to fight them -

Take me on in Gelang Patah - Kit Siang dares Soi Lek

GE13: Guan Eng wants face-off with Penang BN chief

Such is the arrogance of the DAP tokongs now as everyone is talking about MCA being on the brink of extinction.

Well, it is for the Chinese community to decide if they want to be totally led by the Lim family and their arrogant ways or preserve MCA as a check and balance. 

Necessary security lessons and upgrades

I'm at the moment in a hotel room. It's an outstation work I'm doing for the past and coming few days.

Having some chocolate and tea as I'm writing this. Winding down for the night.

I left the TV on without watching it. Just need the presence of some noise. I hate staying in a quiet hotel room. The show on it was a movie titled "Act of Valour".

Actually I have seen the movie before this. It's a US propaganda film about a bunch of indestructible American special forces heroes who shot dead terrorists and drug dealers all over the world as if they were mere ten pins. It also features all those American super sophisticated hardware. For instance the bullet proof vests those Americans wore could stop multiple hits from an AK47 and even a rocket propelled grenade. The main bad guy in the movie is a Russian Muslim convert who fought on the side of the Chechens during the Chechnya's War of Independence. In the movie, this bad guy recruited a bunch of Muslims from southern Philippines to be suicide bombers and tried to smuggle them into the USA so that they may wrought havoc there.

Of course the American heroes shot dead every single  one of those supposedly Muslim terrorists....as always. It is after all an American propaganda movie, so, no one should expect otherwise.

Nonetheless, notwithstanding my personal preferences, I do consider the movie as an effective tool for instilling patriotism and confidence among the Americans. Anyone who mess with them will be annihilated. That message is clear. It also projected the image that the Americans are cool and invincible.

Well, maybe we should not too long from now consider making such a movie about our own heroes who fought the  Sulu intruders in Lahat Datu. Maybe it could explore the subject matter even deeper and all the way to the existence of Malaysian traitors who struck a deal with the Sulu gunmen or even finance their incursion to instill a sense of insecurity in this country with the general election being just around the corner.

I think Malaysian audience would love to watch such a movie.

But, please get a good producer, director and team of actors to do it. Definitely should not be Yusuf Haslam of the Gerak Khas fame.

On the side of that, I think it is good that our government is planning to bolster our defense. Here is the story (note: please bear in mind that I don't agree with the election prediction in this story) -

LANGKAWI, Malaysia, March 28 | Thu Mar 28, 2013 4:56am EDT

(Reuters) - Malaysia has shortlisted five manufacturers as it seeks to buy 18 combat aircraft by 2015 to replace its ageing fleet of Russian-made MIG-29s, the defence minister said on Thursday.

The choice was between the Britain-backed Eurofighter Typhoon, Sweden's SAAB JAS-39 Gripen, France's Dassault Aviation Rafale, Boeing's F/A 18E/F Super Hornet and Russia's Sukhoi Su-30, Zahid Hamidi told Reuters.

"We've made the shortlist," Zahid said on the sidelines of the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition. "We don't know the cost yet."

Industry sources said the purchase could run into billions of dollars. The deal will help modernise the air power of the Southeast Asian nation, which is in dispute with China over parts of the South China Sea and with militants from the southern Philippines over its far eastern state of Sabah.

A decision on the fighters is only expected after the country holds elections, which Prime Minister Najib Razak has to call by the end of April. His Barisan Nasional coalition is predicted to win narrowly in a tight contest.

All five manufacturers were represented at the Langkawi airshow. Four manufacturers told Reuters they would be able to deliver aircraft to meet Malaysia's requirements, while officials from Sukhoi were not immediately available for comment.

Mark Kane, managing director of the Combat Air division at BAE Systems, which is one of the manufacturers of the Typhoon, confirmed that the company has had informal talks with the Malaysian government.

"Of course there isn't going to be a great deal of movement before the elections," he added, speaking at a briefing also attended by British Defence Equipment Minister Philip Dunne.

The Eurofighter Typhoon is on prominent display at the entrance of the exhibition.

Dassault meanwhile said in a statement that it is ready to develop long-term business ties with Malaysia in major civil and military aviation programmes.

Industry sources said Dassault has initiated talks with Malaysian companies for support services should Malaysia choose to buy the Rafale aircraft.

On Tuesday, SAAB signed an agreement for industrial cooperation with Malaysian conglomerate DRB-HICOM Berhad with a view to including the firm in the global supply chain for the Gripen aircraft.

And Michael Gibbons, Boeing's vice-president for the Super Hornet programme, told Reuters: "No doubt about it, we're looking at industrial participation for Malaysian companies."

I prefer Malaysia to purchase more of those Su-30MKM.

The ones we have now seem to be very good. And I believe they are comparatively cheaper than the others shortlisted by the Defense Ministry.

But then again, I'm not an expert in these sorts of things. So, let our defense people decide on this. Whatever it is, the deals must be done as transparently as possible without revealing too much of our defense secrets.

Yes Zahid, that part about not revealing too much was meant for you...

Other than that, I also hope that our security forces, including the police will be allowed to upgrade their capabilities, especially in fighting threats such as the Sulu intruders. This include providing better weapons, intelligence capabilities, and training for our security personnels.

Forty seven per cent Chinese not good enough for Jui Meng

Apparently, PKR number one man in Johor, Chua Jui Meng has gone missing.

Attempts by journalists to contact him have been futile ever since PKR de facto leader DS Anwar Ibrahim announced DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang as Pakatan's candidate for Gelang Patah last week.

Chua had been fighting Johor DAP chief Dr Boon Cheng Hau over the seat, leading to their very public spat last month.

The announcement of Lim's candidacy for Gelang Patah effectively means that Chua has to contest in a constituency where he has less likely chance to win.

The former MCA leader who betrayed his party for a new lease of political life in PKR after Pakatan's unprecedented gains in 2008 has been going around telling anyone who care to listen that he has been working hard for the people of Gelang Patah over the past one year and therefore deserves to be a candidate there.

However, everyone in Gelang Patah knows that the Pakatan man who has been working hard there for many years prior to 2008 is Dr Boo.

Now, both Chua and Dr Boo had been sidelined by their leaders from KL and are not going to contest the much coveted seat.

Anwar and Lim doesn't care about serving the people of Gelang Patah as what is more important to them is ensuring they get enough parliamentary seats for Pakatan's passage to Putrajaya.

Dr Boo seems to be more gracious in accepting his fate. Chua, on the other hand seems to take Anwar's betrayal of his expectation to be fielded in Gelang Patah rather more bitterly.

Johor PKR election director Steven Choong, who has been the party's spokesman in the State since Lim's candidacy was announce admitted to pro-opposition portal Free Malaysia Today that he expected Chua "to take time to accept the decision" because he has been serving the Gelang Patah constituents since last year.

Choong said Chua will most likely now be fielded in Segamat against MIC deputy president Dr S Subramaniam.

You can read the three-day-old FMT report here -

Jui Meng tipped to stand in Segamat

By right, Chua should be appeased for being given the chance to contest in Segamat as the constituency has the Chinese community as its largest number of voters at 47 per cent as compared to the 43 per cent Malays and 10 per cent Indians. On top of that he will be contesting against an Indian whose community is the smallest among the three in Segamat.

It is a known fact that Pakatan is banking mostly on the perceived anti-BN sentiments among the Chinese voters to secure some seats in Johor. All their target areas are those with high percentage of Chinese voters.

But from the way Chua is keeping mum right now, it appeared that the 47 per cent Chinese voters in Segamat are not good enough for him. Gelang Patah by comparison has about 53 per cent Chinese voters.

So what is it that Chua is still not satisfied about?

Let's say that he will get the full support of the 47 per cent Chinese voters in Segamat, all he needs now is just a minimum 4 per cent votes from the other races to win. Surely he can get that, can't he?

Well, why then he is still sulking?

My bet is, Chua must have some knowledge that indicates he will not get all of those 47 per cent Chinese votes in Segamat.

I believe that he knows it is a fallacy that all Chinese believe in the garbage being dished out by Pakatan.

Farewell Pak Non

This is just in from NST SMS alert -

27/03 Veteran newsman Zainon Ahmad or Pak Non, 70, died of liver cancer at Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab II, Kota Baru, Kelantan this afternoon.

I'm not a close associate of arwah Pak Non, but he played an important role in giving me a chance to a better life many years ago.

I will always be thankful for what he did for me.

I will also always remember him as a kind and gentle person.

May Allah bless his soul and place him among those whom He favored.

Alfatehah.

Kulasegaran is not safe...(note: Ai is safe)

There is this story in the pro-Pakatan Free Malaysia Today which says that DAP's Indian strongman of Perak M Kulasegaran is being send to contest in Johor -

Kulasegaran's exit causes concern Actually I had heard about this move by DAP for quite awhile. The story behind it was that Kulasegaran had proven himself to be quite problematic in the overall DAP's scheme in Perak. Or to be more precise, Kulasegaran is seen as a problem for the DAP twins of Nga Kor Ming and Ngeh Koo Ham. Here is an article on that by New Straits Times -

'Cousins out to oust Kula from Ipoh seat' 

I had checked with my sources in Ipoh for the latest on whether Kula is really going to contest in Johor.

The reply that I got was that he will do his best to stay put in Perak and not let the cousins have a free hand at running things.

Kula was said to be worried that if he is indeed being forced out of his Ipoh Barat seat, that will spells the end of what ever left of the Indian community's support for the party, not only in Perak, but also in other parts of the country. It is believed that other than Kula, his supporters, in particular the other DAP Indian leaders in Perak will also be sidelined along with him. This will trigger a chain reaction along the DAP's Indian rank and file.

Kula also knows that if he is really being send to Johor, the chances of his political career to survive beyond GE13 will be very slim indeed.

He knows that the DAP's onslaught in Johor will be banked purely on the perceived blanket support of the Chinese community there for the party. Being a DAP non-Chinese leader with a bad track record when it comes to cooperating with DAP Chinese leaders such as Nga and Ngeh, Kula cannot hope to be placed in a Chinese constituency deemed safe for a DAP candidate in Johor.

So, by hook or by crook, Kula will stay in Perak.

(Note : A strong 6.0 magnitude quake hits Taipei this morning. Initial report was that several people were injured in the incident. I immediately contacted my friend Ai who is in Taiwan. She said she is safe.)

What the Chinese DAP supporters conveniently forget

Most of my Chinese friends are Pakatan supporters, or to be more precise, they are DAP supporters.

Their political stance is more or less the same - The Malay BN government only care for the Malays and discriminates the Chinese and other minorities. It is also corrupt and ineffective. As for the non-Malay members of the BN government, they are regarded as just running dogs of their Malay colleagues from Umno. MCA = Chinese running dogs, MIC = Indian running dogs, etc.

Of course they don't openly talk about the Malay stuff as that would make them sound like racists. Normally they would masked the "Malay" word with the word "Umno". But, sometimes it just still slips through. I would normally listen to their rants without saying anything.

I actually understand why their political inclination is such.

Basically, they just can't stand being governed by the Malays whose community is in their eyes of lesser quality then that of their community. The part about corruption, poor governance, flip flop decision making process etc, despite to a certain extent being true, were just the usual camouflage to what is deep inside their actual perspective of the BN rule.

Ask any honest Chinese person and they will readily admit that they think the Chinese community is of a better quality than the Malays'. They have a better work culture, better financial management, care more about their children's education, etc. And I don't fault them for thinking that way. To a certain extent, I do agree with them that the Chinese are better in a lot of things compared to the Malays.

But of course, the Chinese are not better than the Malays in everything. Every community has its advantages and disadvantages. However, it's just not productive to go tit-for-tat every time we want to discuss this, so I just rather not do a comparative study on the subject between the Chinese and Malay communities in this short posting.

Anyway, these Chinese friends of mine are not actually underprivileged or unemployed. They are mostly educated young professionals, and earning good salaries working at multi-nationals and companies of good reputation. Some are even working for the government or government-related entities, and earning good salaries.

Occasionally, when I'm in the mood for a bit of argument, I would asked them back whether their life is so bad in this country that they make it sound that this country is governed so badly that we are on par with Zimbabwe or that the minorities here are treated as bad as the blacks in apartheid South Africa of yesteryears. After all, that's what the DAP leaders had been labeling the BN government's affirmative policies - apartheid. DAP sec-gen Lim Guan Eng and Johor DAP chairman Dr Boo Cheng Hau are among those who had used that terminology to describe BN's policies.

The usual answer that I got from them when I passionately asked those questions would be in the negative.

Anyone can have a good life in this country if they work hard enough to get it. That, they have to agree with me, as they are the living testimony to that.

But, of course my friends would not want to admit that without a fight either, thus they always added that this country could be much more than what it is now.

And for dramatic purposes, they would further add - "We could have been like Singapore."

Ok, at that point, I would normally start laughing.

Honestly, why would I want this country to be like Singapore? I rather Malaysia be like Maldives, for heaven's sake. Nice beaches and more fun, don't you think?

Well, actually I would be laughing because this Singapore bit reminds me of my Pa and Ma whenever they argue about politics. Singapore is my mother's last line of defense when my father cornered her and made her admit that her life and those of her family are actually better than those of his and his family despite all those BN affirmative actions. (As I had mentioned in an earlier posting, my mother is a Chinese while my father is a Malay)

Normally, when my mother starts talking about Singapore, my father just make a funny face and let her carry on with it as he knows that's the limit to the argument. I know he loves her very much and for that he lets her win. He would tell her to stop giving him a headache and just vote for DAP when it is election time. As for himself, my father never bothered to vote at all, which reason is still a mystery to me till this day.

Whatever it is, I do notice that my Chinese friends, as it is with my mother, always without fail never address the whole issue of how it's going to be once Pakatan, consisting DAP, PKR and Pas rules this country.

They normally talk as if it's going to be just DAP being up there running Malaysia the same way as PAP runs Singapore. They conveniently forgot that the non-Chinese side of Pakatan consist of the ultra-Islamist Pas and the wishy washy PKR led by the morally questionable DS Anwar Ibrahim. And these non-Chinese side of Pakatan outnumbered the Chinese-side.

They also conveniently forget that these non-Chinese elements of Pakatan may have  their own agenda on the side and they would work on it once they come to power.

Has it ever occurred to the Chinese DAP supporters that Pas will not forever be the Malay lapdog of Pakatan? That Pas' ultimate goal is to unite the Malay Muslims under its ultra-Islamist banner once they managed to kill off Umno? Has it ever occurred to the Chinese DAP supporters that Pas will eventually swallow up the Malays of the wishy washy PKR? That their wish for Umno to die will leave no voice of moderation among the Malays to prevent the ultras from taking over the leadership of the community?

If DAP is now feeling strong because the about 30 per cent Chinese are united under its leadership, then just wait until the almost 60 per cent Malays unite under Pas after the demise of Umno.

Do the Chinese of DAP honestly think that the Pas people love their Chinese way of life so much better than the Umno people?

OK, some may say that the Chinese in Pas-ruled Kelantan and Kedah seems to be fine. Well, they are by percentage very much lower than those at the national level so that they are not feeling the heat much. Do wait until the Pas-DAP game is already at the national level. I am quite sure things will not be so rosy by very much in the new Pakatan federal government.

Well, so much for the Singapore dream...

A new Johor MB should come from Batu Pahat

I had a conversation on Saturday with a friend, who is a Johor Umno person.

He seemed to be quite optimistic about BN's chances of defending the State, including the Chinese majority constituencies, notwithstanding the incoming onslaught by DAP.

"We had done the necessary works since three years ago. The DAP may field all their big guns here but we are ready for them," he said.

DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang had already been announced as candidate for Gelang Patah and more supposedly popular ones will follow and be named to contest in Chinese majority areas in Johor.

"They will try to win as many parliament seats as they can in the Chinese constituencies as they know there is no way they can take over the State. It is all about the DAP and Chinese votes now," said my friend.

My friend, who is a member of the Johor BN election command centre added that Pas and PKR are totally out of the equation in Johor.

"Pas' and PKR's only role in Johor now is to break up the Malay votes so that the DAP could focus on winning all the Chinese votes and grabbed the constituencies with Chinese majority.

"Surprisingly, Johor Pas and PKR are going along with it. Pas even gave up two of its Malay majority seats for DAP to place their Malay candidates to contest against BN's non-Umno candidates there."

My friend was however confident that works already done on the ground by Johor BN will stem the DAP tide.

"We had repeatedly gone to the grassroots and meet everyone, solved every outstanding problems that we could and doing all we can to convince everyone that they are better off with us than Pakatan," he said.

"Honestly, there is no real issue for Pakatan to exploit here in Johor. The economy is doing well, infrastructures in place, security improving etc.

"The way I see it, all they (Pakatan) could exploit is the racial sentiments of the Chinese who are unhappy with certain policies which seem to favor the Malays and bumiputra.

"We are trying to explain to them the rationale behind such policies and that they are not actually being marginalized by the government. It is not as if the BN government has never helped the Chinese community when they needed help. We tried to explain to them that in the overall scheme of things, BN policies are to benefit everyone as proven by how this country had progress over the years."

My friend also highlighted the fact that the Johor Umno leadership is currently being undermined by ultra-Malay factions within the party for allegedly favoring the Chinese community and business interests.

"It is not that we are favoring anyone above someone else. It is just that we are fair to everyone. If a Chinese works hard then there should be no reason why he or she should be denied being successful. The same goes with anyone of any race.

"We hope the Chinese community could understand that we are doing everything to be fair to everybody to the point that we are being accused of betraying the Malays by these people within our rank."

On the campaign to undermine the Johor Umno leadership, my friend said there is nothing to be done about it as this is a free country.

"The attacks via blogs and other means would be too costly for us to defend. We do not have the time nor resources to do so as our focus is now at defending the State from the real enemies which are the opposition."

Asked if he is worried that the attacks from within Umno will eventually erode BN's chances in Johor, my friend said he is quite confident they could hang on till after the election.

"I think we will survive at least until we are done with the election. After that, we will see how things are going to be.

"I was told that the current Johor Umno leadership is all ready to let go off their authority once they had successfully defended the State. It is up for the prime minister to decide after that. If he believe in all those allegations that the current Johor Umno leadership is selling the State to Chinese of all sorts, then he better sack us all. After that, well, good luck to Johor."

Asked who should be the next Johor MB in such event, my friend's answer was - "Since these attacks apparently come from a group originated in Batu Pahat, I think it would be appropriate to suggest someone from there to take over as Menteri Besar. Maybe Puad Zarkashi is suitable. He has been giving lots of statements in newspapers lately. He must be very clever and suitable to be the new MB."

Of course, my friend laughed after he said that.

F1 - will it be the last in Sepang?

Just finished watching the Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prix at Astro.

Been years since I last watched the whole of a F1 race. It's just so happened that I was lazing around at home today and the best thing on TV was the race.

I was a big fan of the F1 during the days of Aryton Senna and Alain Prost all the way to the hey days of Mika Hakkinen.

I lost interest though during the long boring spell of Michael Schumacher's dominance.

As I watched the race today, I noticed that I do not know most of the drivers' names. That's how long it has been since I was last interested in the races.

The race today was quite good though, with many overtaking maneuvers but the outcome was rather too predictable to my liking. The fact that it was much decided by team orders was a bit of a let down too.

Reigning champion of Red Bull Sebastian Vattel won the race ahead of his visibly unhappy teammate Mark Webber in second. Mercedes Petronas' Lewis Hamilton was third courtesy of team order at the expense of his team mate Nico Rosberg.

I was actually rooting for Rosberg to overtake Hamilton and chase after the two Red Bulls. But it was not so as the German was frustrated by instruction from the paddock that he had to tail the fuel conserving Hamilton till end of the race.

Despite all that, the F1 race is good for Malaysia. Entering it's 14th year, the races in Sepang placed Malaysia on the world map and bring in good returns in tourism numbers and inflow of income. It's one of those things that Malaysia managed to be ahead of the usually more illustrious in money making neighbor, Singapore.

Bringing the race to Malaysia was the brain child of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. It was initially criticized by the opposition as one of his extravagant ego trip projects. But over the years, as it became obvious that the races are good for the country, the criticisms died a natural death.

Today Prime Minister DS Najib Razak handed the winning trophies at the podium.

I wonder if DS Anwar Ibrahim, as the probable prime minister in the event Pakatan wins the next general election will do the same at next year's race.

Or will Pakatan scrapped the race as part of their promise to erase the legacy of BN and its leaders such as Dr Mahathir?

Armpit fetishism

This is another posting by Ai for this weekend.

By Ai

Last week there was a series of photos from a video recording of a gay couple in action being circulated in the cyberspace.

Honestly, I'm not very impressed by them. Very mundane actions, actually.

The only one that piqued my interest was this one -

I was like, what in the world was that chubby boy doing smelling the armpit of his male lover.

So, I did my usual lazy research at Wikipedia and found this -

Armpit fetishism (also known as maschalagnia) is a partialism in which an individual is sexually attracted to armpits.^[1]

The attraction is mostly directed towards the strong pungent odor of the armpit. The odor of the armpit is the most powerful in the body, sufficiently powerful to act as a muscular stimulant even in the absence of any direct sexual association.^[2] Those who have a fetish for armpits often enjoy kissing, tasting, smelling their partner's armpits during sexual foreplay. Sometimes they would require their partners not to shower or wash their armpits, which would cause the smell to become stronger than it normally is.

Well, that apparently what it was all about. Disgusting la, but heck, there is no accounting of taste. Macam-macam ada.

As for the identity of the couple....I think you all should decide for yourself.

I guess it's another case of....looks like me, sounds like me, armpit smells like mine....but it is not me....I saman you RM100 million if you say it's me.

Ok, that's all for this time. I need to go check on someone at the hospital now. Have a nice Sunday everyone. Cheers.

Kit Siang should contest against Shahrir in mixed JB

There has been claims that the younger generation Malaysians do not care anymore about their racial heritage.

That they do not vote along racial line.

But the facts on the ground disagree with that.

Look around us and it's clear that Malay youths still tend to hang out with Malay youths while Chinese youths tend to hang out with Chinese youths. So do those of other races.

Even during the Pakatan rallies, the so-called multi-racial crowd tends to be segregated along racial lines. The Malays walks with the Malays while the Chinese walks with the Chinese. Of course there were exceptions, but they are definitely the insignificant minority.

Of course you could find the more racially mixed crowd in Bangsar and other middle class part of neighborhoods, but it's not so in other segment of society. That is a fact.

There is no such thing as a single Malaysian race and there is not a single political party in this country which does not rely on racial appeal to win support.

The two strongest parties at the opposite end of the political spectrum are for all intent and purposes race-based.

The openly Malay Umno at one end and the Chinese DAP masquerading as a multi-racial entity at the other end.

It's the way of this country since its independence.

The thing that gels us together was that super moderate attitude. We reject extremism, either it be racial or religious. The Malays generally reject the Malay extremists while the Chinese reject the Chinese extremists.

It's the reason why DAP could only win in Chinese dominated constituencies while Pas could only win in Malay majority constituencies. Their dependence on racial appeal, disguised in other apparels such as secularism or religious fundamentalism do not fool the average Malaysians who are in the majority

BN rules the country since Merdeka because of the moderate attitude of its component parties. It is normal for a traditional Chinese candidate of MCA to win against a Malay opposition candidate in a Malay majority constituency.

It's not so for DAP. If it wants to field a candidate in a Malay majority constituency for multi-racial gimmick, they have to field a token Malay. This will be the case in Tenggaroh, Mersing in the coming GE13. It will be a Malay DAP candidate against an MIC candidate. Again, DAP is relying on the racial identity of its candidate to win in the  overwhelmingly Malay State constituency.

It's the same reason why Lim Kit Siang is contesting in Gelang Patah which Chinese population made up more than 50 per cent of voters there, instead of the nearby Johor Baru which Chinese population is just slightly less in voters percentage at over 40 per cent.

Wouldn't it be more heroic for Kit Siang to contest against the incumbent Umno veteran MP of Johor Baru Shahrir Samad in that more mixed area than against an obscure MCA candidate in the Chinese majority Gelang Patah?

Didn't Shahrir at one point said he is ready if Kit Siang is to contest in JB? I think he said something to that effect not that long ago.

Well, of course Kit Siang would not want to face Shahrir, even if the fight is not at an outright Malay majority area. Kit Siang needs an outright Chinese majority to ensure victory. His calculation was probably that just over 40 per cent of Chinese in JB parliament constituency would not be good enough to defeat Umno's Shahrir.

With that in mind, despite being branded as a racist party by opposition leaders and their cybertroopers, Umno has proven itself ready to accommodate its Chinese and Indian allies by giving them the opportunity to contest in Malay majority areas. Umno people even work hard to ensure the victory of those non-Malay candidates.

So, to those who keep saying that we don't care about our racial identity anymore when it comes to politics, I think you all better get real. Stop fooling yourself and others. Malaysian politics has and will always be racial....at least it will be so during our lifetimes.

CONFIRMED! Taib Mahmud bought Channel News Asia

Ai send her article a bit early this week. She said she may send another one during the weekend.

By Ai 

Hi, everyone. I hope you all are ok.

Actually I saw this particular article at the Channel News Asia's website and can't resist writing something about it. Just a simple short one ya.

Here goes....

Actually it's true.

That dastardly Sarawak crook Taib Mahmud is now the main shareholder of  Singapore's Channel News Asia. He bought the whole Singapore media organisation using illegal logging money....so I was told by my "sources" in LONDON.

Taib's main purposes for acquiring the Singapore media organization was actually to enable him to suppress the latest attempt at implicating him with corrupt practices. You may read the details here -

Global Witness on Taib: Was it really a sting operation?

The first thing Taib did after acquiring Channel News Asia was to force it to run this story -

Singapore refutes claim it withholds tax info

SINGAPORE: Singapore's Finance Ministry and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) have refuted a claim in a recent video that Singapore facilitates tax evasion in Malaysia by withholding information requested by the Malaysian government.

The video, published by the NGO Global Witness, alleges that Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud and his family are involved in corruption.

In particular, the video featured a lawyer claiming that the Singapore government has a "firewall" and does not share financial information with the Malaysian government. 

In response to queries from Channel NewsAsia, the Finance Ministry and MAS said: "The allegation is simply false. Contrary to what was claimed in the video, Singapore has to date provided fully the information requested by Malaysia for tax purposes." 

The authorities said the two countries have had a good working relationship on tax matters. 

Singapore has also designated a wide range of crimes as money laundering predicate offences including corruption, bribery and fraud. This is in line with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). 

The statement said: "Singapore therefore has been and remains able to provide mutual legal assistance to the fullest extent permitted under our laws where there are requests from Malaysia." 

My only love story

These days, I'm always on my own.

Except for a few close friends, I'm mostly alone.

Even in the office, I restrict myself to just doing my work.

I'm not bothered to be too friendly with anybody. I'm not even interested in cultivating "connection" with the bosses as I have no ambition to "move up" in the organization. As long as they pay my salary and not bother me too much, I'm fine.

Most people think I'm morbid, which is not exactly untrue.

That's the way I'm these days.

But I'm not like this back then.

I was once young, happy, vibrant, friendly....and in love.

Yes, I was once in love with someone.

I was so in love with that someone, that I forsake everything for him.

He was my north, my south, my east, my west.

Such was my foolishness at that time.

At the end of the day, it all came to naught.

It turned out that he didn't even appreciate all that I had done for him.

He forgot all his promises.

He treated me so badly, until one day I asked him why he's doing such things to me? Have I done something wrong?

His answer was that he needed to move on, "move up in the world", he said. And I had become just a baggage to him.

And so, that conclude the only love story of my life.

It is human nature to be selfish and forget even the most solemn pledges and promises.

Do we still remember the promises that we first pledged when we first fell in love?

Do we still remember that once we promised that we would accept each other for the way we were?

Or was that all just a ruse so that we can get what we want from the other person just for that moment?

Now that we got what we want, we would like to have more....even with the other person having less than us.

And when the other person couldn't give anything anymore as we want them, we called them names, abused them with the most vile treatments, and when they still professed that they still love us, we just tell them how ugly they are in our eyes and discard them.

Now, what does that tell us as human beings?

Politically?
Well, remember our social contract? The promises our forefathers made to each other half a century ago? It's the same. Once we got what we want, why be bothered with promises.

Such is human nature.

p.s Here is my favorite love song

Malaysia is growing

If anyone feels that this country is going to the dogs after listening to all those Pakatan's poisonous propaganda, then I would advise this piece of news as an antidote -

UPWARD REVISION: Malaysia's central bank expects growth at five to six per cent this year

BANK Negara Malaysia (BNM) yesterday projected a rosier picture for the Malaysian economy this year and revised upwards its growth outlook to between five and six per cent.

It came in above the 4.5-5.5 per cent projection by the Ministry of Finance at the release of the fiscal budget in September last year.

BNM governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said the economy, which grew by 5.6 per cent in 2012, remains on a steady growth trajectory and domestic demand will continue to become the main driver of growth.

Consumption demand will return to its steady and sustainable growth path of six to seven per cent, she said, despite exceptional growth in 2012.
"At six to seven per cent, it is sustainable. We don't want consumption to be spurred by excessive borrowings beyond the growth of disposable income," she said at the release of the central bank's 2012 annual report here yesterday.

The external demand will offset the moderation in consumption projected in 2013 as trade is expected to improve on the back of better intra-regional trade, which will also show an improvement in net exports this year.

On the supply side, all economic sectors are expected to expand this year, with the services and manufacturing sectors seen as the key drivers, growing by 5.5 per cent and 4.9 per cent, respectively.

BNM's views were shared by market analysts.

CIMB Investment Bank director of economic research Lee Heng Guie felt that while consumption and investment, the domestic catalysts, will continue to anchor growth, the cyclical upturn in exports should improve economic prospects.

MIDF Research economist Anthony Dass expects the domestic economy to remain resilient this year as local demand, mainly from private expenditure, continues to spearhead growth.

Fiscal policy consolidation and addressing the public debt limit will be the centre of attention this year, along with continued efforts to sustain growth momentum and facilitate the long-term transformation of the economy.

Asked to comment on the government debt and the systemic risks it poses to the economy, Zeti said:

"The election is taking place when the economy is doing well ... unlike in Europe where it is faced with issues like unemployment, financial system, (and) credit flow (that has) not resumed."

She said the fiscal consolidation process by the government has already commenced, pointing out that the fiscal deficit has reduced to below five per cent.

"As long as the direction is there, the deficit will continue to be reduced and there will be a reduction in government fiscal indebtedness. Government revenues have improved significantly."

On the narrowing of the current account and balance of payments, she said there was less concern because the current account balance is still expected to remain in a surplus of about 4.4 percent of gross national income.

"The continued investment activity, especially in high value-added and productive sectors, is expected to improve Malaysia's competitiveness, sustain demand for exports, and improve our capacity in terms of imports for investment activity."

Zeti said the Financial Services Act 2013, which will give BNM greater powers, will be gazetted and implemented in the first half of 2013.

Read more: Rosier picture for Malaysian economy http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20130321003958/Article/index_html#ixzz2O9Wpjzmv

Smoking with a dumb prick

I was smoking at a designated area after lunch yesterday when I was approached by a good looking Chinese man who wanted to borrow my lighter. (Yes, I smoke. It's a bad habit which I had tried to quit for years without much success)

I was feeling friendly, so I entertained his queries as we smoked together. Initially, he seemed interested to know why I'm wearing a nose stud.

He said it's rare that a Chinese wears such a jewelry. (He thought that I'm a Chinese....which in a way I am). I told him it was actually just for fun. It was one of those days when I was feeling crazy and decided to have a nose piercing. The diamond stud costs me quite a bit though.

After the second cigarette, the conversation somehow veered to politics, starting with the current big question of when the parliament is going to be dissolved.

Then he started to talk about how Malaysians should change the government and ends the "discrimination" against the minorities.

It was the usual Pakatan ranting. So, there's no need for me to elaborate on what he said here. I just stayed calm, pretended to be listening and continued to smoke. From what he said, I gathered that he assumed I'm a DAP supporter like him....just because he saw me as a young urbanite Chinese woman.

It was actually a bit amusing. A good looking educated man wearing nice clothes and probably a professional talking about being part of a "discriminated minority".

At the end of it, I gave him my sweetest smile and told him in Mandarin that I'm still  going to vote for BN as I think Anwar is a lying prick, who can't control his prick, and those who think he should be PM, such as DAP's Lim Guan Eng, are themselves pricks.

As for him, I told him that he is so dumb that he doesn't even realize that he is a racist for stereotyping me as a DAP supporter just because he assumed that I'm a Chinese.

And as I had guessed, he is one of those banana Chinese who can't speak Mandarin.

When he started to apologize for it, I said it's okay as I was just telling him that if I have my wish, I want Lim Guan Eng to be PM and not Anwar.

He immediately agreed.

What a dumb prick....

Sim on Lim - tsunami sweeping into Tebrau Straits

The last installment of the Jelajah Janji diTepati program will be in Kuantan this weekend.

PM DS Najib Razak will also on the side attend a big gathering for the opening of the new Chong Hwa High School, Kuantan.

Then there are also going to be other big events on the same weekend such as the F1 race which will showcase the Malaysian success.

On the other end, the Negeri Sembilan state assembly will automatically dissolve when its current term expires on Tuesday, March 26.

So, the likelihood that Najib is going to announce the dissolution of parliament on Monday, March 25 is very likely.

The period between the dissolution of parliament  and nomination day normally would stretch for up to two weeks.

This will be followed by a minimum campaigning period of at least 11 days.

Therefore, in all probability, polling day should be in the third week of next month.

Meanwhile, while some who claim themselves to be champions of Umno are working hard to undermine the Johor Umno leadership at the last corner to the general election,  Johor-based NST journalist Sim Bak Heng who has for some time now being accused by some Johor Umno elements of being a pro-DAP hack wrote this about Lim Kit Siang's foray into Gelang Patah (well, if you are too lazy to read the whole article, at least read the last paragraph) -


GELANG PATAH GAMBIT: DAP supremo’s decision to contest down south may well backfire on him

THE fielding of DAP's 72-year-old supremo Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah may above all else be an attempt at ending the  public quarrel between Johor DAP chairman Dr Boo Cheng Hau and  his Parti Keadilan Rakyat counterpart Datuk Chua Jui Meng.

  The duo's exchange of barbs, which stretch back over the past two years, was centred on the tussle for the seat. To end the spat was important for the opposition coalition if it wants to gain ground in the "frontline state" of Johor.

  However, it could well trigger the beginning of more factional problems within DAP in Johor. It is also notable that it took none other than opposition leader and PKR number one Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to make the announcement on Lim's candidacy on Monday night.

  The rumblings on the ground among DAP members were hard to ignore.

  Just hours before the announcement, the party's state vice-chairman Ong Kow Meng, who is the Senai assemblyman, held a press conference lambasting Dr Boo for allegedly practising cronyism and trying to scupper the opposition's effort by fighting with Chua.

  Many see this attack as an effort to undermine Dr Boo in preparing the entry of Lim and other DAP national leaders as candidates in Johor for the general election.

  At the function, which was the party's 47th anniversary celebration, Lim's candidacy, which was announced by opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, had left Dr Boo with little choice but to accept it.

  It is ironic that the announcement was made at Taman Sutera which is located in Dr Boo's stronghold of Skudai.

  At that function, Lim announced that the opposition coalition's target was to capture the parliamentary seats of Johor Baru, Tebrau, Pasir Gudang, Kulai, Pulai, Gelang Patah, Kluang, Batu Pahat, Muar, Ledang, Labis, Segamat, Tanjung Piai and Sembrong. It is notable that these are all constituencies with a large Chinese population.

  In 2008, DAP contested Kulai (with 56.9 per cent Chinese voters), Kluang (49.9 per cent), Labis (47.1 per cent), Segamat (46.2 per cent), Tanjung Piai (46.8 per cent) and Bakri (53.2 per cent). The party only won in Bakri.

  With Lim now joining the fray, the party is likely to contest six seats again this time. One of the seats which is likely to be swapped with PKR's Gelang Patah seat is Segamat.

  Some claimed that Lim actually took a huge risk to contest in Gelang Patah instead of defending his safe seat of Ipoh Timur. This includes him being sabotaged by factions within Johor DAP who may cast protest votes in favour of an MCA candidate to ensure his defeat.

  MCA national organising secretary Datuk Tee Siew Keong, however, disagreed and pointed out that Lim had only been staying true to his "habit" of hopping from constituency to constituency and only chose to do so in Chinese-majority areas.

  Gelang Patah will be the seventh parliamentary seat which Lim will be contesting in his political career stretching over four decades.

  "He is as good as a 'political nomad'. Now, he is coming to Johor and playing his usual tricks," said Tee.

  MCA youth chairman Datuk Wee Ka Siong said the party was not rattled by Lim's decision to contest in Gelang Patah.

  "We are not affected by his decision because MCA has been serving the Chinese community in Johor all the time and not just on the eve of the general election."

  For Dr Boo, the coming of Lim to Johor could probably mean the end of his reign as DAP number one man in Johor.

  Here is little bit of history to show such a possibility.

  When Lim's son, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng moved to Penang, he won the Air Puteh state seat in 2008 and quickly nominated himself as chief minister.

  This had gone against the party's constitution, which stated only a state chairman, in this case Chow Kon Yeow, was eligible to hold the post. Chow has been sidelined, and there is talk he might be dropped as an incumbent for his Padang Kota state seat in the next general election.

  A similar fate Chow may await Dr Boo in Johor.

  Dr Boo has been known for being critical of the Lims' "father and son enterprise" in DAP for many years. Knowing that Dr Boo's popularity as Johor DAP chairman is on the rise, the Lim family probably reckoned that it was time to subdue his influence.

  Lim had told the crowd at the party anniversary celebration that contesting in Gelang Patah would be the most difficult task in his political career in the past 47 years. That may be quite correct.

  The tsunami, or the tornado, that he is trying to create from the south and sweep northward this time, may actually come from another faction of DAP supporters in Gelang Patah.

  Instead of sweeping northward, it may well be sweeping towards his direction all the way into the nearby waters off the Tebrau Straits.

(From left) DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang, Johor PKR chief Chua Jui Meng and Johor DAP chief Dr Boo Cheng Hau are at odds with each other despite their quest to make Johor the opposition’s ‘frontline state’

Read more: Lim risks all in Johor foray - Columnist - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnist/lim-risks-all-in-johor-foray-1.238233#ixzz2O2ahXbzI