Tried not to go to the doctor for drugs but guess I simply need the antibiotics.
Will go to the clinic later in the afternoon when I have a bit of extra strength.
I have been mostly sleeping the past four days.
Yesterday, was however an exception.
Got a call from an old friend saying there was going to be a gathering of my former Johor team.
Sorts of a mini reunion over lunch.
I hauled myself off the bed, ignore my mighty headache and runny nose and went for it.
I can't miss meeting my old friends from Johor.
Of the old gang, I am the only one who is not an Umno member.
I always feel privileged that my friends allowed me to be in their circle and contributed what I can for the defense of Johor back then.
Back then, my friends were on the frontline, trying to stop the Pakatan's onslaught and the Chinese tsunami.
Now they are all standing by the side line as the new team led by DS Mohd Khaled Nordin pushed them aside and tries to run the show in Johor as according to their whims and fancies.
My friends are all loyal Umno members.
They were worried over the development in Johor and were discussing ways on how they may help to prevent the state from falling to the opposition in the next general election.
The risk of that happening is very real.
My friends did some calculations and concluded that the following parliamentary seats in Johor are at high risk of falling to the opposition in the next general election:
1. Johor Baru
2. Pulai
3. Tebrau
4. Pasir Gudang
5. Tanjong Piai
6. Segamat
7. Labis
8. Muar
9. Ledang
Parliamentary seats already in opposition's hand in Johor are:
1. Gelang Patah
2. Kulai
3. Kluang
4. Bakri
5. Batu Pahat
If Pakatan's plan in Johor goes well, they will have up to 14 parliamentary seats from that state after the next general election.
There are a total of 26 parliamentary seats in Johor.
Due to my poor health, I was mostly quiet.
I was actually quite impressed by my friends' loyalty to their party.
Despite being hounded out of Johor by the new Umno people in power after GE13, they could still think of how to help the party survive in the state.
The leader of our gang still talked about how Johor Umno could win back the votes of the young urbanite Malays and lessen the political split among the community in Johor.
He also talked about the need to win back as many Chinese and Indian votes as possible.
I was skeptical of his suggestions but kept my thoughts to myself.
After all, he is our leader and he is the wisest and most knowledgeable among us.
Maybe what he said could be done.
Maybe I should not be too hard on Khaled as every time I criticize him and his thieving boys, Johor BN and Umno probably lose more votes.
I don't know...
But I surely wish they could mend their ways. No more muscling their way for contracts, no more behaving like assholes, no more flaunting their ill-gotten wealth around....come on la, a political secretary driving around an almost RM1 million Range Rover....
See lah how....I will think about it.
Anyway, the lunch was good and I was happy to see my old friends again.
It always feels great to be in the company of good people, especially if you knew that you belong in their gang.
It's hard to contain the Malay groundswell when Iskandar Investment are selling off pieces of land at Danga Bay to Chinese & Singaporean developers. I think seats like Johor Bahru & Pulai can be retained by UMNO but the rest are at major risk of falling, effectively creating a "Red Belt" across southern Johor.
ReplyDeleteTough times ahead for UMNO but after the recent PAU, looks like another scream-and-shout fest that would come up to nothing. Remember KJ's call for "pengkaderan" last year? So, how many new members or voters have UMNO signed-up?
Iskandar Investments is profit motivated, hence they will sell to whomever can afford to buy. Why doesn't UMNO or other Malay bodies buy up the properties and develop them? If this is not done, Iskandar will just keep on selling to outsiders.
DeleteWhere's the "Malay groundswell" in Johor when Johorean Malays in their hundreds are commuting by motorbike daily to work in Singapore?
DeleteIsn't Johor Umno aware of this?
Why don't they demonstrate at the JB CIQ complex and appeal to these Johorean Malays to "cari makan" in Johor instead of in the "little red dot"?
Maybe, the Johor Umno people know that they would be roundly booed and dissed should they embark on such antics.
It is bladdy hypocrisy to moan about Singapore property developers and Singaporeans investing in real estate in Iskandar while turning a blind eye to the plight of Johoreans who need to work in Singapore to support their families.
But, then, there is a lot of hypocrisy in Johor these days.
Not that the pro-establishment bloggers would want to comment on this anyway.
As an entity mandated by the Government of Malaysia to develop the region, they must balance profit with national interest, including the Malay interests.
DeleteUMNO is a political party so why must they buy up the land bank while the master developer and contractors, who are GLIC & GLC respectively, can apportion lands to the Malay in prime areas?
I know the argument is that it would be making low-medium to medium-cost housing for the Malays at prime areas is unprofitable but I guess the current BN government is raking in the money now so that the future PR government can enjoy the spoils of their predecessors' kebangangan.
Anon 14.00 & 16;56.
Deleteit is not Iskandar Investment but actually Iskandar Watefront Holding (IWD), owned by Tan Sri Lim with 60% stake and 40% goes to KPRJ, state investment arm.The former has 4000 acres of land in Wilayah Iskandar.
Land sold to Country Graden China - 28 hectres - GDV 18 bil
Land sold to Greenland China - 14 acres - GDV 2.2 bil
Land sold to RF Properties China by ******- 116 acres - sold at 4.5 bil
Two more Chinese property giants present in Johor are Agile Property and Zhouyuan. Ini belum termasuk lagi Vantage bay, sold to Singaporean and Medini. Above is just the snapshot and believe more land deal in pipeline
teringat lagu rakyat 'Tajuk Johor Tanjung Puteri, Selat Teberau airnya biru'.......hanya tinggal lagulah...
visit http://www.forbes.com/sites/neerjajetley/2014/05/28/malaysias-newest-billionaires-mints-money-from-reclaiming-land-and-selling-dreams/
GLIC & GLC are profit motivated. They have shareholders (including the Government of Malaysia and Khazanah) who expect certain rates of return to ensure that their investments are worthwhile. Hence it will be a pipe dream to expect them to put aside land in prime areas if these can't be sold. I presume you expect them to apportion and give away the land free or very low price? If this presumption is wrong then you surely understand that someone needs to buy the land and pay them the prime land prices? Malaysia is a capitalist country as far as I am aware. What you are suggesting borders on communism..
DeleteSo providing Malays with medium cost housing at prime areas is bordering on communism eh? Okay, if that's how you see it.
DeleteAnon 17:50 has said it - "I know the argument is that it would be making low-medium to medium-cost housing for the Malays at prime areas is unprofitable" I don't think any corporation will do something unprofitable which is hard to justify to the shareholders.
DeleteEverything blame the Chinese now need help ask Chinese for help. Win no credit to the Chinese. Lose, blame Chinese tsunami !!! UMNO only small membership 3m, really shameful. Actual count only 2m non paying members left. Less than quarter votes BN, yet blame the nons. Without nons BN KO O! True or False, let's be honest.
ReplyDeleteWhen they open for online membership registration there will be another 3 million registered...to make them syok sendiri
DeleteWa atak ingat hea aa ,mau lapat Cina punya undi manyak impossible lea aa , manyak buang masa maa aa ,mau kejar Cina punya undi lor rr.
ReplyDeleteSikalang Cina manyak kuat maa aa , tatak undi BN pon 2-3 negeli bulih lapat lor rr , kasi lamai sikit itu Putla Jaya pon bolih angkat lea aa.
Apa pasat itu UMNO manyak mau pikir Cina punya undi , kalang-kalang Wa pon manyak helan , sendili punya Melayu tatak mau kejar ,mau kejar Cina punya undi.
Manyak helan lea aa , Wa tau itu Melayu hati manyak babut ,mau sama-sama eaa a ,tapi Cina punya hati ,manyak kelas maa aa . Kasi buang masa hor rr .
lufang, see beh kang kor di negera jiran leh!
Deletehttp://therealsingapore.com/content/coming-ge-real-problem-pap
lufang....wa aada undi itu bn itu hari. wa ingat aar...wa lain kali takmau undi itu bn...selalu mau ligan itu cina saja...takdak mau ligan melayu....haiyaaa inimacam aar semua cina lah undi bn...semua melayu lain tempat kasi undi lah....selalu ligan cina...panggil cina saja undi kamu lah...wa tatak mau undi lu lah ini macam........
DeleteAlamak lufang....you so funny one, leh.
DeleteAiyoh - lu kasi hantam sini, kasi hantam sana.
Lu Ada ingat, ah?
Kalau ekonomi Johor turun, siapa rugi? Olang Cina dan India atau olang kampung?
Dia tak belajar, tak faham Bahasa Inggeris, macam mama boleh dapat kerja?
Oh, itu no problem, eh brudder. Kita semua boleh pergi kerja di-Singapura atau kita boleh tekkan kerajaan negeri untok beri bantuan.
Syiok sadikit sahaja, brudder!
After voting for BN all my life I am now open to another coalition to steer the country towards the future. UMNO and its coalition partner have entered beyond what space travelers called a point-of-no-return. Remove Najib today and its successor will only last until when the euphoria and its novelty dies down. Then they will be back to their evil ways. Very few in party works for the party and its declared vision for the rakyat and the country. The chinese threats which they shout every year at PAU are just bullshits. The real threat is their demise.
ReplyDeleteSo bye BN, I am going Anything but BN
continue;
DeleteSo bye BN, I am going Anything but BN and PR
As someone who grew up and went to school in Johor in the 50s and 60s (Government English School, Mersing and English College, Johor Bahru), and who is a long-time resident of JB, I have seen how Johor has changed from the pre-Merdeka British colonial administration to the post-Merdeka Alliance and Barisan National administrations.
ReplyDeleteI dare say that many Johoreans of my era are fondly nostalgic about Johor as it was then, especially when English was the medium of instruction in government schools and when mission schools thrived by having students of all races.
I came from a not-so-well-to-do family, yet my parents gave me the opportunity to study in the English College JB (at the time one of the premier schools in the country, on par with Penang Free School and Victoria Institution) all the way up to Form 6 and the Cambridge Higher School Certificate Exams.
It was an education that has benefitted me ever since.
Has the situation in Johor changed for the better post-Merdeka?
Or are we deliberately "dumbing" ourselves down to the lowest common denominator?
Years back I was staying in Trengganu during the period when Maths and Science were taught in English. The kids told me they were happy with that. The textbooks were dwibahasa but unfortunately the teachers were quite poor in English-and that was the real problem.
DeleteGood commentary.
DeleteIf I remember right, the late Sultan Sir Ibrahim's daughter, Tunku Miriam, studied at a mission school - Convent of The Holy Infant Jesus - in Johore Bahru.
In those days, there were no worries about attending mission schools.
No one even raised an eyebrow about it.
It's true - back in the 50s and 60s, the English-medium schools in Johor were good to excellent.
DeleteEspecially the English College JB which had the only Form 6 classes in Johore. The best and brightest students from across the state competed (based on their Form 5 Cambridge School Certificate exam results) to get into Form in "ECJB" as it was fondly known back in the day.
This was a meritocratic approach, and no one (students, parents and politicians) questioned it's bonafides.
I remember that there was this ongoing rivalry between the top 2 girls' schools in Johore - SIGS and CHIJ JB - on who had the best students in the Form 3 LCE and Form 5 Cambridge School Certificate exams.
Say what you like, the British colonial administration put in place an excellent education system in Johore, from primary to secondary levels.
How far have we fallen since then!
For your flu, cold and coughing, try the following treatment . Get one whole fresh lemon. Cut in two and squeeze the whole lot into a mug of hot water. Drink it immediately.
ReplyDeleteMelancholy fit for good companionship .... your happiness is mine too
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqVBGv2hpQ4
Wa ingat untuk senang celita nanti pru14, melayu undi melayu, cina undi cina and india undi india. Lagi senang ma........
ReplyDeleteWa ingat lu cakap atak betut ,tapi sikalang and lulu-lulu pon sutak itu macam maa aa , cuma itu Melayu, kasi undi sama Cina lea aa . Itu sebab MCA sama itu MIC , mau tanding Melayu punya kawasan lor rr .
DeleteEasy solution - redistrict the seat boundaries with more rural malay seats and get a few PR Malays to back it as a way of preserving Malay control. Forget the urbanites.
ReplyDeleteInsanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
DeleteAlbert Einstein
PETALING JAYA: Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been stripped of the title of ‘Datuk Seri’ conferred to him in 1992 by the Selangor Ruler.
ReplyDeleteThe revocation of the Seri Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah (S.S.S.A.) award took effect on Nov 3.
How do we call him from now? Tuan? Inchik? Brother?
A title is indicative of a person's self worth?
DeleteStrange values you have there, bro.
Don't you share the belief that all are created equal in the eyes of God The Almighty?
Yea, we're all created equal before God but after that, some of us make ourselves to be more equal than others, dear brother.
DeletePanggilan terbaru utk Anwar selepas dilucutkan pangkat Dato;
DeleteBABI
Brother Anwar Bin Ibrahim
WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT
DeleteAlthough stripped of one award by the Selangor sultan, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim can still be addressed as ‘Datuk Seri’.
This is because Anwar has seven more awards that carry the title, according to a check on the website of the Prime Minister’s Department’s Ceremonies and International Conventions Secretariat Division.
These include awards from royal and gubernatorial palaces of Perlis (1995), Perak (1995), Pahang (1990), Penang (1994), Sabah (1994), and several others
That horny not-so-seri will do his thing all over again . . . given a chance at our expense
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgYuLsudaJQ
In the mornin' you go gunnin'
For the man who stole your water
And you fire till he is done in
But they catch you at the border
And the mourners are all singin'
As they drag you by your feet
But the hangman isn't hangin'
So they put you on the street
You go back track, do it again
Wheels turnin' 'round and 'round
You go back track, do it again
FOR THOSE WHO HAD NO IDEA
ReplyDeletePutrajaya must come clean on the fact that the country’s economy is on a downtrend instead of creating the false impression that everything is well, said Datuk A. Kadir Jasin.
The former group editor-in-chief of the New Straits Times Press (NSTP) said the government should rationally and openly share economic data with the public instead of being evasive.
“Don’t wait till the people are angry. Be forthright with them. Don’t for a minute think that they are ignorant, stupid or unaware,” wrote Kadir in a posting on his blog The Scribe A Kadir Jasin today.
He said the public was now aware of how the economy worked after feeling the effects of inflation due to fuel subsidy cuts and shrinking incomes after a drop in oil palm and rubber prices.
They are also expecting prices to go up when the Goods and Services Tax (GST) comes into force next year, Kadir said.
He said the public was also aware that the ringgit’s shrinking value would adversely affect the economy.
One cannot miss a typical UMNO when driving especially on the expressway. They usually drive dark tinted luxury SUV or MPV (cayenne, q7, alphard) at breathneck speed, closing down on anyone in the fast lane, even if one is driving well above the legal speed limit. If you don't move aside, you'll get flashed, undertaken with vicious snare.
DeleteDo you expect anyone with this behaviour to be truthful about the state of the nation's economy?
Really? That's sick! I heard about those bolllywood strongmen belonging to the Idris Jusoh during his heydays in Trengganu bossing the highways like that . . . .
DeleteAnon 16:37,
DeleteWa tatak tahu olang UMNO buat itu macam , Wa selalu tengok itu Singapork punya keleta manyak itu macam lekat N/S highway lor rr. Kalang-kalang Wa pikir ini Malaysia tatak undang punya ,lain olang masuk bolih buat apa lia mahu lea aa.
Wa lali 115 KM/s pon kena saman lor rr .
IMF CHIEF ON FALLING OIL PRICES
ReplyDeleteWASHINGTON—International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde on Monday said falling oil prices will help boost economies in the U.S. and across much of the globe, a net positive for a world struggling with slowing growth.
“It is good news for the global economy,” Ms. Lagarde said at The Wall Street Journal CEO Council annual meeting.