Friday 31 July 2015

Neat things

This is the latest from the ongoing mess,

Claims by Sarawak Report prove a threat to Malaysia’s democracy, says A-G


Well, I'm not feeling well.

Demam.

No energy to comment on that.

So, you all go to that link, read the story and conclude yourself what is going on.

For entertainment today,  I suggest you all watch my favorite movie of all time, A Man For All Seasons.

The full movie is in YouTube. Go and find it.

I think the movie can help people grow a bit of conscience.

Here are some neat things about it,



Okay, I'm going back to sleep.

Later going to clinic to get medication and MC.

Good day to you all.

Thursday 30 July 2015

The credible figure that is Zeti

All eyes are now on Bank Negara governor TS Zeti Akhtar Aziz 



With TS Abdul Gani Patail removed from his Attorney-General post, Zeti is now the centre of attention to determine the credibility of the Special Task Force investigating the 1MDB scandal.

All sorts of stories have came out over the past few days regarding her.

I saw this just now,


Well, I heard of the rumors too, that Zeti was admitted at the Pantai Hospital on Sunday night for "anxiety attacks" but was discharged the next day.

Guess, it's false news then.

Anyway, several news outlets are playing up Zeti's stories over the past 24 hours.

This is by Rakyat Post,

Reveal identities of 1MDB Special Task Force, Zeti urged

excerpts;

Tuan Ibrahim said Zeti’s track record and integrity as BNM governor was well known internationally, and hence any attempt to disrupt her from investigating 1MDB would only enforce public perception that 1MDB funds had indeed been transferred to private accounts of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Tuan Ibrahim’s response came after an anonymous blog was published in light of yesterday’s announcements.
The blog had accused Zeti and a few prominent individuals, including Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)’s deputy chief commissioner of operations Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull and former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed’s press sceretary Sufi Yusof among others of allegedly committing “activities that are detrimental to parliamentary democracy”.

As per the report, I also know about the anonymous blog which accussed Zeti and the others of these and that.

I'm not going to give you all the link to the blog here as the content of the post was highly defamatory.

Anyway, I think the blog was specially set-up for the hatchet job of smearing Zeti's name and the others, and therefore I don't want to have anything to do with it.

If you still want to read its nonsense, please get the link from that Rakyat Post's story.

Rakyat Post can afford to provide a link to that defamatory article because it is rich and can pay if sued in court by those being defamed.

Talks about Zeti actually continued this morning and what I heard was that she had tendered her resignation.

It was however not yet confirmed till now.

I guess it's false news too.

A friend who is a senior journalist said it would be "a killer blow" for PM DS Najib Razak if Zeti resigns as Bank Negara governor now.

Anything happened to Zeti now, the credibility of the Special Task Force will be in tatters and the public can't be blame if they then conclude that Najib has indeed stole the billions of ringgit as alleged.

Wednesday 29 July 2015

More headache as the mess worsen

When I read Malaysia Online's (The Mole's)

Full questions and answers at Muhyiddin’s press conference



I told myself that at least the former deputy prime minister was not bitter over his sacking.

He gave very reasonable answers to the media.

I thought there was hope that the whole thing wouldn't escalate into an all out war similar to what happened when DS Anwar Ibrahim was sacked from the same DPM and Umno deputy president posts which triggered the Reformasi havoc of late 1990s.

Then shortly afterward I got to know that this video by pro-opposition Malaysiakini had gone viral,


I was like...what the hell is going on????

Really, all these are making me very confused and not really sure what is going on.

And this is what MyKMU website which is supportive of PM DS Najib Razak had posted related to the video,

RM 2.6 Bilion: Muhyiddin Dan Mukhriz Menipu Mahathir dan Rakyat Malaysia Untuk Fitnah Najib?


excerpts;

Dalam video ini menunjukkan kemungkinan besar maklumat palsu kepada Mahathir ini merupakan komplot oleh Muhyiddin Yassin dan Mukhriz Mahathir. Jika Mukhriz tidak berkomplot mengapa beliau tidak membantah pun apabila Muhyiddin memberitahu Kadir Sheikh Fadzir bahawa sejumlah USD 700 juta dimasukkan ke dalam akaun peribadi Mohd Najib.

I find that very hard to believe as Mukhriz is actually my favourite Umno leader at the moment.

He can't possibly be a bad guy, I told myself.

Since I'm now very confused over the whole thing, I think you all have to make up your own mind over this mess.

I'm tired.

I want to sleep.

Good night.

I can understand Muhyiddin's sacking, but not Gani's

I think most of those who were upset was mainly because of this story,

Zahid is new DPM as Muhyiddin is dropped


But it was not so in my case.

As TS Muhyiddin Yassin said here,

Muhyiddin accepts Najib’s decision 


it's the prerogative of PM DS Najib Razak to include or exclude him in the Cabinet.

If Najib can't work with his deputy, then he has every right not to have him as his deputy.

It's sad but I accept that.

However, I'm actually very much more upset by this one,

Gani’s term as AG terminated, Apandi takes over



excerpts;

National news agency Bernama today flashed a report on its Twitter account saying that Gani’s services were terminated for health reasons.
When contacted for confirmation, Gani told The Mole : “That’s what the letter to me states.”
Asked whether  “they resigned” him,  he said: “Yes, they terminated my services.”
Why did they sacked TS Abdul Gani Patail?

He seemed to be unhappy about his dismissal.

It's not like he said "Yes, I'm not feeling well and therefore I resigned."

I think we have a lot to worry about.

After all, as we all know,

Gani is heading the task force investigating the controversial 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), where the government-owned strategic investment firm faces allegations of misappropriating billions of  ringgit.
Are they going to also sack the other,

(m)embers of the task force (who) are Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, Bank Negara Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz and Malaysia Anti-Corruption chief commissioner Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed.

Especially Zeti. Will they sack her too?

How are we to trust the findings of the Special Task Force now?

Najib had repeatedly asked us to wait for the conclusion of the investigation.

I hope some knowledgable Najib's supporter will try to answer my questions here.

Otherwise I have to conclude the same as many already did, that what happened yesterday was a plain crude purge to save the prime minister from the 1MDB scandal.

Tuesday 28 July 2015

Intermission

I wanted to write, but I don't have the heart to do so today.

I think you all know why.

Admittedly, I never really expected things to go this way.

I need some time to adjust my thinking.

So, for now I just want to close my eyes and be at peace.

Do enjoy this beautiful song instead.


I will write again when things are clearer.

The Malay psyche and drama

I believe it will just get worse in the coming days.

As it is,

Muhyiddin has been asked to wait for the outcome of 1MDB probe

I'm more inclined to believe that it's more of a warning for the Umno deputy president and DPM to shut up about the 1MDB mess following his speech at the Cheras Umno division meeting on Sunday night.


I doubt he will heed that warning though.

What else can he speaks of now that the Umno divisional meetings have started and everyone are talking about the mess.

He will be going around the country to some of those meetings to officiate them.

Muhyiddin has no choice but to speak of it as that's the main concern of Umno members at the moment.

And once he does, he will almost certainly face disciplinary action and it's not that too far fetch to imagine him being stripped of his posts for breaching party discipline.

After all, it's not going to be the first time a DPM and Umno deputy president being sacked.

Bear in mind that some of them have already started calling TS Muhyiddin Yassin a pengkhianat (traitor).

If it ever reached that stage, then it's just too bad.

Everything will break apart for Umno after that.

There will be no way that the party can be repaired in time for the next general election if that happened.

Well, maybe the Umno leadership and ketua-ketua bahagian will remain intact behind DS Najib Razak, but support among grassroots members will be gravely weakened.

The support among non-members will be worse.

It's the way of Malays to be sympathetic to those appeared to be victimised.

They will feel that for Muhyiddin.

He will become a hero for them.

Once that happened, it doesn't matter anymore if Najib didn't steal the billions of ringgit as alleged.

He will automatically becomes the villain.

Malays love such drama plot.

I love it too.

A hero victimised by his powerful evil nemesis.

It sounds nice isn't it?

Well, DS Anwar Ibrahim is one of the beneficiaries of that Malay psyche.

He got all those support during the Reformasi of late 1990s because of such sentiments.

Unfortunately for him, the Malays are now bored of him.

Anwar played the drama queen role a little bit too long.

It just doesn't work for him anymore.

The Malays now want a new hero.

A new drama.

Well, they can have it now.

Monday 27 July 2015

How they confirmed that Muhyiddin is challenging Najib

I woke up just now and saw this in one of my Wassap chat groups,

TAN SRI MUHYIDDIN HARUS SIMPATI TERHADAP JENTERA PARTI, HENTI MENANGUK DI AIR YANG KERUH
Oleh Lokman Adam

Semenjak Anwar disumbatkan ke dalam penjara Disember lalu,  Tun Mahathir mula melancarkan serangan ke atas Dato' Sri Najib secara besar-besaran.  Sejak itulah tugas jentera BN dan kerajaan yang selama hari ini fokus pada usaha menjawab pembangkang, akhirnya lari fokus kepada menjawab dakwaan-dakwaan pembangkang yang diulang oleh Tun Mahathir.

Jika sebelum ini ianya lebih mudah untuk mematikan hujah dan fitnah pihak lawan, namun apabila hujah dan fitnah itu diulang oleh bekas Perdana Menteri yang pernah berkhidmat selama 22 tahun, sudah pastilah kerja menerang dan memberikan pencerahan kepada rakyat terhadap sesuatu isu menjadi lebih sukar, kecuali jika  seseorang itu sudahpun mengenali perangai Tun Mahathir.

Sebagai seorang yang berhubung dengan jentera BN setiap hari, saya secara peribadi menerima banyak kerluhan akar umbi tentang betapa sukarnya mereka hendak mempertahankan kerajaan, terutamanya dalam isu-isu yang rumit untuk difahami seperti 1MDB.  Namun,  apa jua cabaran yang dihadapi oleh jentera-jentera parti ini,  mereka tidak pernah berputus asa,  walaupun tidak dapat dinafikan ramai dikalangan kami syahid terutamanya mereka yang takut kedudukannya tergugat sekiranya  Dato' Sri Najib menerima nasib yang sama seperti Pak Lah.

Berkat usaha berterusan jentera-jentera ini,  kerumitan memperjelaskan isu 1MDB akhirnya dapat dipermudahkan dengan bantuan pemimpin, penulis, pereka grafik, blogger, facebookers, agensi kerajaan dan pelbagai pihak lain, termasuklah ahli biasa yang membantu menyebarkan apa yang kami sediakan.  Alhamdulillah, perkembangan mutaakhir berhubung pendedahan Xavier Andre Justo dan Lester Melanyi telah menyingkap satu persatu komplot mengubahsuai dokumen yang dicuri dari Petro Saudi.  Sedikit sebanyak,  kebenaran yang semakin tersingkap ini memulihkan kembali semangat jentera parti apabila pendedahan demi pendedahan memihak kepada kita.

Apa yang menyedihkan saya malam ini, apabila saya membaca, mendengar dan meneliti ucapan Tan Sri Mahyuddin Yassin di Cheras.  Berulang kali saya baca,  saya bagaikan tidak percaya seorang Timbalan Presiden UMNO boleh mengeluarkan kata-kata sedemikian rupa.

"Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin mengakui terpaksa membaca akhbar The Edge untuk mendapatkan maklumat mengenai syarikat bermasalah 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Timbalan perdana menteri turut mempersoalkan sumber mana lagi yang boleh rakyat percaya mengenai laporan 1MDB jika laporan The Edge tidak boleh dipercayai.

"Saya sendiri pun sukar nak faham mengenai 1MDB, sampai saya terpaksa baca dari The Edge .

"Orang cakap dekat saya laporan The Edge tidak betul, jadi bagitau saya apa yang betul?" - MInsider

Sedarkah Tan Sri bahawa akhbar The Edge ini baru sahaja mula digantung oleh Kementerian Dalam Negeri mulai hari ini?Berita ini sememangnya sudah lama dinantikan oleh penyokong kerajaan yang dahagakan ketegasan kerajaan terhadap pemfitnah yang cuba sabotaj ekonomi negara.  Pernah tidak Tan Sri terfikir kemana perginya maruah KDN apabila Timbalan Perdana Menteri sendiri mempertahankan akhbar yang baru digantung oleh mereka?  Pernahkah Tan Sri terfikir betapa sukarnya jentera-jentera ini hendak memberikan justifikasi terhadap tindakan kerajaan ini? Macamana Tan Sri tergamak mewawarkan seolah-olah ianya satu-satunya sumber berita yang boleh dipercayai? Apa sebenarnya yang Tan Sri fikirkan?

Sebagai seorang Timbalan Pengerusi Barisan Nasional,  Tan Srilah yang sepatutnya memimpin kami jentera Barisan Nasional dan kerajaan dalam medan perang.  Malangnya,  bukan sahaja Tan Sri tidak membantu kami dalam menerangkan isu ini, sebaliknya menambahkan beban kami pula untuk menjawab kepada rakyat apabila ayat-ayat Tan Sri digunakan oleh pihak pembangkang dan Pro Tun M untuk menyerang Kerajaan.  Sedarkah Tan Sri betapa hancurnya hati kami jentera parti bila Tan Sri buat begini?  Kalau Menteri-Menteri lain yang turut membaca bahan 1MDB yang diperolehi melalui Mesyuarat Kabinet boleh membantu untuk menjelaskan isu ini, kenapa  tidak Tan Sri?  Kalau jentera dan ahli parti yang tidak ada peluang dapat penjelasan melalui Mesyuarat Kabinet boleh mencari jawapan melalui internet, kenapa tidak Tan Sri.  Jika kami jentera kerajaan dan para blogger boleh berdialog dengan 1MDB untuk mendapat pencerahan, kenapa tidak Tan Sri?  Kenapa PM pula yang Tan Sri desak untuk menjawab tentang 1MDB?  Adakah beliau CEO baru 1MDB?

Cukup-cukuplah Tan Sri, hentikanlah usaha Tan Sri ini, tidak bolehkah Tan Sri bersabar.  Laporan Ketua Audit sudahpun siap, Laporan PAC pun tidak lama lagi siap.  Siasatan Petugas Khas SPRM, PDRM dan Bank Negara pun tidak lama lagi siap.  Apa tujuan Tan Sri memburukkan kembali isu 1MDB yang semakin nampak sinar kebenaran ini?  Adakah Tan Sri takut kebenaran akan muncul dan peluang Tan Sri untuk jadi Perdana Menteri akan hancur berkecai?  Saya minta maaf banyak-banyak Tan Sri, macam Tan Sri selalu cakap, UMNO perlu diremajakan.  Saya tak nampak proses peremajaan itu akan berlaku jika Presiden digulingkan dan digantikan dengan seorang Timbalan yang 6 tahun lebih tua dari Presiden sekarang.  Simpatilah pada jentera parti,  cukup-cukuplah menanguk di air yang keruh.

3.40am - 27/7/2015

I think this Lokman Adam who wrote the above is that special department JASA guy taken in by Puad Zarkashi to be his number one strategist.

He was attacking Muhyiddin because of this news as reported by Singapore's The Straits Times;


excerpts;

In his 70-minute speech, Muhyiddin admitted that he led a movement to urge Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to resign as prime minister after the 2008 general election.
However, the situation now was different, as he felt that Umno was in a weak position and could not afford a leadership tussle.
Referring to his criticisms of 1MDB, which he made during a closed-door party session that was leaked,  Muhyiddin said he told the Prime Minister the same thing.
“I support the move to probe 1MDB but still some people think I want to somehow do in the Prime Minister.
“I have no malice, why should I, but I have to speak the truth and give my views and advice.”
The Deputy Prime Minister repeatedly reminded delegates that he was not against Mr Najib and that he was part of a team equally responsible to defend the government’s decisions and policies.

As per the report, I didn't see anything really spectacular about what Muhyiddin said.

He basically just repeating what he said previously such as the one not long ago in Janda Baik.

However, something must be really brewing now that  Lokman Adam had been instructed to write those bad stuff against Muhyiddin and made it viral like that.

It basically sorts of confirmed that Muhyiddin is really challenging Najib.

A bit stupid I think.

People who don't know or care about it now know and care to know what's happening.

Well, too bad.

Anyway, I choose to highlight the Singaporean newspaper's report because those by local news sources gave all sorts of conflicting angles of what Muhyiddin said last night at the Cheras Umno gathering.

The Malaysian Insiders:

The New Straits Times:
Muhyiddin advises Umno members to face reality

The Rakyat Post:
Settle 1MDB issues quickly before they become a burden to Umno

The Star;
Should be the PM to tell truth on 1MDB

Astro Awani;
Muhyiddin Yassin worried about UMNO's chances at next GE

Sunday 26 July 2015

The last great Wanita Umno leader speaks against media ban

I wrote that it was,


Yesterday, Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz ,  who was once considered as the "Iron Lady of Malaysia" and the last great Wanita Umno leader  said this.

Malaysians need facts, not a media ban


excerpts;

“While freedom of speech must have parameters determined by factors such as decency, respect for the religious beliefs of others, and the rights of the majority, it is important that media is not unduly penalised, not for going beyond those parameters..but for reporting what some determine to be unsavoury,” she wrote on her Facebook page.
“Surely we are not going the way of some countries where media is directed what to print and not otherwise? Those responsible MUST begin to give to the public the FACTS, and communicate coherently and clearly and to say things as they are, regarding 1MDB or other issues of public concern.
“We can ban some publications… it does NOT solve anything, really,” she added.
Rafidah suggested that the word ban be removed from Malaysia’s political vocabulary, warning that moves like the suspension of the two papers would only turn the public against the government.
She stressed that the government needs to adopt a clear-minded and rational approach in the present era of social media, as any move to block information will only spur more discussions online.
“AND Social Media communication will still continue… and now there’s a new topic to discuss, and condemn. And don’t tell me we now must ‘shut down the Internet’?” she said.

Saturday 25 July 2015

Painful massage but life not so bad ...yet

I'm writing this using my phone as I am having a foot massage.

Just trying to relax today.

Tired of writing serious stuff.

Not as if it's going to make that much difference.

If indeed Najib stole that billions of ringgit, I haven't really feel it yet.

I can still afford this foot massage..

RM40 for 45 minutes.

A bit painful though.

Guess I'm not really healthy. That's why it is painful.

Earlier I was at Citta Mall in Subang.

Had my car washed there. RM25 for wash, vacuum and a little bit of wax.

Lunch was fried salmon set at a Japanese stall for RM12.50.

Then I watched a movie. The Antman. Ticket at RM14.50. It's an okay movie. A bit slow though for a superhero movie. The heroine as in other superhero movies was not very pretty.

Parking used to be free at Citta but now I have to pay. Costs me RM3 just now.

I am having this foot massage at a place in Bangsar while waiting for someone.

Not my BF. I have no BF now.

My ex has found someone new.

Hope he's happy. His new love can eat pork with him. I don't eat pork.

Aiya...this Cina man massaging my feet is really being rough. Now really painful liao.

Eh...I will write proper posting later lah. Cannot cocentrate like this.

Aduih...banyak sakit la ini foot massage.

Have a good Saturday folks.

Friday 24 July 2015

An unfortunate decision to suspend The Edge

I have previously wrote this,

Shutting down The Edge will not help

Well, they actually did it today,

The Edge weekly, daily suspended for 3 months from July 27

It's too bad then.

Many will now regard The Edge people as heroes.

I'm bracing for the backlash.

I think it's the wrong move.

For me, to fight The Edge, the government should instead counter their "lies" via pro-establishment news outlets.

Of course those pro-establishment news outlets must be allowed to be credible and not excessively controlled till they were regarded as nothing more than mouthpieces of the government.

Credibility in the eyes of the public is the most important in this war of perceptions.

This is something the media handlers of the government need to understand.

They can't have lackeys to head those media organizations.

They should instead get real journalists who understand journalism and observe its ethics to convince the people that the government is doing the right things.

The government has no choice but to do this if they want the people to believe them.

After all, this is the age of information technology where the people have options from where they could choose their news sources.

If they think a newspaper is not credible because it excessively promotes the government's policies to a point of being ridiculous, then they rather read even an insignificant anonymous blog operated by a silly but cute girl.

Shutting down a newspaper, no matter how dishonest and unethical it is, will not help.

Back then at the height of racial tension which resulted with Operation Lalang in 1987, three newspapers, The Star, Sinchew Daily and Watan were suspended similar to what happened now with The Edge.

MCA-own The Star went on right after its suspension to become the number one English daily in the country, overtaking the then more established New Straits Times (NST).

The Star's circulation at the moment is about 300,000 copies per day while NST's at between 60,000 and 70,000.

Sin Chiew also became the number one Chinese newspaper after the suspension and now neck-to-neck with China Press with circulation of over 300,000 copies per day.

The Malay-own Watan, however never recover from the suspension and had since ceased publication.

Well, The Edge is Chinese-own.

So, I think it will survive and highly likely thrives after this suspension.

Anyway, I think it was extra silly for the authorities just to suspend The Edge Weekly and Daily.

The publication CEO Ho Kay Tat said,  

"To our readers and fellow Malaysians, you can continue to read our work through our digital platforms like The Edge Markets, The Edge Property, The Malaysian Insider and edgy.my,"

If the authorities feel they have no choice but to be nasty, at least do it properly lah.

Just shut down the whole bloody thing. Don't let them come back to haunt you later.

As what the Malays say,

Alang-alang menyelok pekasam biarlah kepangkal lengan.

You just suspend them, they say you are evil. Then, may as well close down the whole group permanently.

But then again, the US president Obama is coming to town again later this year. He may not like my suggestion very much.

The end of a golden age

My mother sent me this today and said it is similar to how she sees Umno's rule now,

須知萬物消長 自有定數 世家之興 原在於德與才 若不論賢愚 將上下官職都留予他們 不論對錯 凡事先想著他們 這才養出了一幫不思進取 唯利是圖的小人 若不破了這例 於國於家固然不利 於這些大族世家子弟自身為害更多 破而後立 唯有如此 他們或許還能有再興之日

Don't try to google translate it as it will only turn gibberish.

Only a Chinese educated person can really understand it.

It basically tells the state of affairs towards the end of the great Tang dynasty

I copied and pasted the following from www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/history/tang/reason-decline.htm
so that you all get to know what caused the demise of the dynasty which rule, according to historians, marked the golden age of China.

There were four reasons leading to Tang's decline, among which the dominance of the eunuchs, the separatist regions of Fanzhen and clique conflicts were internal factors while peasants' uprising was the external factor.
 First, the dominance of eunuchs during this dynasty was unparalleled in Chinese history, much more rampant than that of Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220) and the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). From the late period of Emperor Xuanzong's reign, the old convention that eunuchs could not be appointed as high officials was broken. At that time, eunuchs' power began to expand. Especially, the celebrated eunuch Gao Lishi reached a position superior to some princes and ministers. In the reign of Emperor Daizong, the notorious eunuch Li Fuguo grasped the military power and controlled the royal power.
Gradually, the power of eunuchs became stronger and stronger. They were able to formulate the national policy, to appoint and remove court officials and to enthrone and depose emperors. As the dominance of eunuchs became serious, the military power of central regime was weakened. Additionally, some wise-minded chancellors were hard to express their ideas. What is more, power struggles between eunuchs and chancellors greatly weakened the ruling of the central regime.
 Second, the separatist regions of Fanzhen were another major problem in the late period of the Tang Dynasty. Actually, the separatist regions of Fanzhen originated from the set-up of Jiedushi (regional military governors). In order to safeguard the border areas, the emperors used to set up many institutions called Jiedushi at the frontier. After the An Shi Rebellion broke out, the Tang court set up more regional Jiedushi to defend the central regime. With much administrative rights and military power, those Jiedushi gradually turned into many separatist regimes called Fanzhen. In competing for the farmland and labor, battles between Fanzhen and the central court constantly broke out. To some extent, all these Fanzhen regimes became small kingdoms whose military forces were only responsible for themselves. This had threatened the unification of the whole country.
 Third, the conflicts between the different cliques were an indispensable factor that caused the decline. The court officials of Tang were mainly made up of two groups. One group was from the traditional noble class while the other group came from the civilian class. Due to different class origin and political status, these two groups respectively formed their own parties. In discussing the state affairs, these parties usually held different political views and adopted disparate policies. In order to be superior to the other group, all these parties were entangled with power struggles. As a result, all these internal disputes broke down the power of the central regime.
 The last one was peasants' uprising which was the only external factor that directly led to the decline. In the late period, the land annexation was quite serious. Under the oppression and exploitation of the landowners, peasants endured a hardship. Because of the years of war, peasants were imposed more tax. Besides, eunuchs forcibly occupied peasants' farmland and extorted their money. When it came to Emperor Xizong's reign, the natural disaster raged for years and the output of food decreased abruptly, but the Tang court still imposed much tax on peasants. Finally, peasants' uprising broke out just like the turbulent flood that could not be restrained. Especially, Huang Chao Uprising was a large-scale peasant's rebellion which greatly shook Tang's regime. After the heavy blow of Huang Chao Uprising, the Tang Empire started to go to rack and ruin.


The Tang dynasty lasted almost 300 years.

Umno has only been around for 69 years.

I hope my mother was wrong.

Anyway, here is a short poem from the Tang dynasty period;

A SONG OF A PURE-HEARTED GIRL

By Meng Jiao

Lakka-trees ripen two by two
And Mandarin-ducks die side by side.
If a true-hearted girl will love only her husband,
In a life as faithfully lived as theirs,
What troubling wave can arrive to vex
A spirit like water in a timeless well

Good night.

Thursday 23 July 2015

Finding the real traitors

Lately, everything seems small for many Malaysians compared to the 1MDB mess.

As rival camps debated on whether DS Najib Razak is still fit to be prime minister, other things are happening in the country.

At the moment they were talking about whether to arrest and charge those who undermine the PM for treason.

Read Big Dog's fancily titled

Primero of pestilentially pernicious

or Malaysia Online's (The Mole's)

Legal experts disagree on treasonous conspiracy to topple PM 

Personally I think it's quite ridiculous.

You all really want to accuse and then execute those people who oppose PM for treason?

It is crazy, okay.

Imagine this headline - Mahathir to hang for treason.

Anyway, as I said, other things are happening while we were so fixated on that nonsense.

This is a Malay Mail Online's story yesterday

Despite police ban, 10000 throng Sarawak independence walk


Now, if we are so itchy to accuse someone of treason, this is our real chance.

Anyone who promotes the break up of our country is a traitor.

There should be no compromise on this matter.

If Najib wants to demonstrate his willingness to be tough, which many have been disputing all this while, this is his chance to do so.

Bear in mind this - people who bitch about 1MDB are dangerous to Najib, but people who talk about separating their state from the federation are dangerous to the country.

It shouldn't be tolerated, either it be for Sarawak, Sabah or the other states such as Johor.

Yup, there are now people in my home state Johor who wanted to take it out of Malaysia.

They wanted to turn it into another Brunei.

I wrote about it here,


I think if no firm action is taken now, the secessionist movement will soon spread to especially places like Kelantan and Penang.

Once that happened, it would be too late to save the country as it is now.

Wednesday 22 July 2015

Malaysia's financial market development is fourth best in the world

There were so many bad unproven stuff written about Malaysia of late.

They made it sounds as if this country is already in the dumps.

I'm actually quite fed up reading them.

So, in order to make myself feel better, I went to the latest World Economic Forum's Report to check where our country really is among the nations of the world.

The following are Malaysia's positions based on a survey of 144 countries;

* Overall global competitiveness index 2014 and 2015 - 20

* Basic requirements - 23
  - Institutions - 20
  - Infrastructures - 25
  - Macroeconomic environment - 44
  - Health and primary education - 33

* Efficiency enhancers - 24
   - Higher education and training - 46
   - Goods market efficiency - 7
   - Labour market efficiency - 19
   - Financial market development - 4
   - Technological readiness - 60
   - Market size - 26

* Innovation and sophistication factors -17
  - Business sophistication - 15
  - Innovation - 21

Well, not really bad, actually.

In fact, Malaysia's rankings are actually quite good.

You can check out for more details at

http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GCR2014-15/Malaysia.pdf

Or you can go  here,

World Economic Forum - Reports

Of course the most impressive was Malaysia's financial market development which is ranked 4th in the world.

We are just behind Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand.

The others behind us in the top ten are Finland, Australia, South Africa, Canada, United States and Norway.

You can read more here,

Which economies have the most developed financial systems

Okay, how the hell the 1MDB mess came about despite our good financial market development is beyond me.

For that, you have to check with the financial experts.

The most tiring fight

Honestly I'm tired of this Najib-Dr Mahathir War.

It's draining for people like me.

I love Dr Mahathir but I don't hate Najib.

I don't believe Dr Mahathir is attacking Najib because he has a personal agenda other than that he wanted Malaysia to be safe.

However, I don't believe Najib stole the billions of ringgit either.

See...I'm split in the middle.

It's not about being spineless. I gain nothing either way the fight goes.

I'm just not sure who is right and who is wrong.

Both sides were not convincing enough for me.

Really.

I got friends and I also got people who treated me with disdain on both sides.

So, it's really difficult.

Okay, I don't like more people on Najib side than those on Dr Mahathir's side, but that was not good enough a reason for me to condemn the PM.

I have to be very sure before I condemn someone.

Otherwise my conscience won't be clear.

The only thing I'm really sure at the moment is that I don't want anyone to attack Dr Mahathir.

I love the old man for being cute and what he did for the country. However I'm not really his true blue die hard fan.

I never get invitations to his private buka puasa or Hari Raya functions.

Still, I can't stand without doing anything when the attack dogs started to bark and tried to bite him.

Dr Mahathir may not exactly be an angel but I think it's still wrong for them to try to destroy the 90-year-old man and deny his great contributions to this country.

Right or wrong, I have to defend him on that count.

Now it looks like the fight is going to the next level with allegations of conspiracy to destroy the country and such being bandied on these and that people.

Well, I'm bracing for a crackdown if any and the fall out later on.

I'm worried about the future of this country. That I cannot deny.

I hope Najib doesn't have to resort to such drastic measures.

He is after all among the last of Umno moderate leaders who were mostly decimated by the Chinese tsunami of 2013.

Hopefully he continues being so and be more clever to do the right thing.

Okay...just wanted to get all that out of my chest.

Now a little music for the night....


(Note: That is my friend Ai's favorite song. In case blogger shuzheng is reading this, the posting by Ai which he referred to in his A Room of One’s Own is this, Year One. Ai posted it a few hours before Sept 20, 2012 which was the first anniversary of the BIGCAT blog. She didn't make up the story and that picture of the mattress on the floor where she slept is really in her room at that time. I have been in that room.)

Monday 20 July 2015

Another Dr Mahathir's achievement

Former PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in his latest blog posting insisted that his effort to topple  PM DS Najib Razak is not a

CONSPIRACY 

However, the pro-Najib camp insisted otherwise.

When I read this report by The Malaysia Online (The Mole)

Tun wants probe into Tun's bloggers

I can't help but to be amused by it.

excerpts:
An advisor of the Ministry of Communication and Mutimedia’s Special Affairs Department (JASA)  has called for the police to investigate several bloggers supportive of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, whom he suspects to be involved in a plot to destabilize the country.
Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz in his latest blog posting listed several ‘suspicious culprits’ that also include newspapers and news portals he alluded to be in cahoots with each other in their attempt to vilify Najib.

Well, I didn't really blame Tun Faisal. After all, his boss in Jasa now is that Batu Pahat Umno hero who Meroyan kalah pilihanraya. That should explain the level of intelligence.

Nonetheless, after reading the report, it occurred to me that Guinness World Records should list Dr Mahathir as the oldest alleged conspirator who had ever tried to topple a country's ruling leader.


The handsome old man turned 90 years old just the other day.

Really, I do wonder whether there was any older person in the history of the world who had ever conspired in such a dastardly plot.

If not, I think Dr Mahathir has once again made us Malaysians proud of another of his achievements.

He apparently still have the intelligence and will power to embark on such an endeavor that no one at his age had ever tried.

I think it's not bad at all an achievement for a Malaysian.

Maybe we should cheer "Malaysia Boleh!" one more time.

We used to do that to celebrate our many achievements during Dr Mahathir's 22 years rule.

Sunday 19 July 2015

About shuzheng the "ultra Chinese"

I was made aware that I'm being lambasted by blogger 書 政 shuzheng a few days ago by this commenter,


Too bad the police is not arresting you.

https://shuzheng.wordpress.com/2015/07/14/racist-chinese-sweet-melayu/


Well, the commenter didn't seems to like me that much, but still I have to thank him/her for the alert.

I checked shuzheng's blog and true enough, he accused me of a bit of this and that over my comments related to the Low Yat Incident.

Racist Chinese, Sweet Melayu at Low Yat

Run Annie, Run…

shuzheng's used to be in my blogroll until he became inactive just before the last general election in 2013.

I thought he was not blogging anymore and had then removed his blog from my blogroll.

He was some sort of a blogging friend of my friend Ai who back then ran the BIGCAT blog.



Ai fondly described shuzeng as an ultra Chinese.

shuzheng didn't like her at first, very much like he doesn't like me now, but towards the end he regarded Ai as a friend with this post after she stopped blogging,

On earth, no feast last forever

I wrote about their blogging friendship here,


I went through shuzeng's blog after discovering that he is now actively blogging  again and found this posting a while after the last general election which was meant for Ai,

Letter to Ai


I suspect that he missed her when he wrote that posting.

If shuzheng is reading this, I want him to know that I checked with Ai and she said she read that post and was touched by it.

shuzheng doesn't allow comments at his blog, so that I have to put all that here.

Well shuzheng, in case you missed my previous post when I mentioned Ai, I want you to know that she is getting married end of this month.

She is marrying her Chinese boyfriend that she mentioned when she was still blogging.

Anyway, I'm putting up shuzheng's on my blog roll again.

Always nice to read a fellow blogger writing about myself even when he was wishing for my ass to be thrown in jail.

Malaysian Jews and Dr Mahathir

Today is just the third day of raya but the Najib-Mahathir War has already started to warm up again after a bit of slow down during Ramadhan.

The pro-Najib camp are now concentrating on the "Justogate" angle, where they argued that there were all sorts of plots such as manipulation of documents by those conspiring to topple the PM.

The pro-Mahathir camp on the other hand are reminding everyone that their rivals' arguments were all beside the point as the billions of ringgit they alleged to be missing from the 1MDB mess has not yet been accounted for.

Honestly, I don't think this fighting will ever end.

It can always takes a new dimension later on with one issue being replaced by another.

I think that, if I want to write continuously about the fighting, I may ended up not writing about anything else.

So today I want to write about something else.

No, not raya stories though. I think that you all are finding my personal stories to be boring.

This time I just want to share with you all the link to this article my mother sent me from Singapore early this morning.

My mother is like that lah...she pretends not to be interested in my writings but kept sending me links to good stuff such as this;

One family's world of Judaism in Malaysia

My mother was probably trying to inspire me to write such articles or at least trying to compensate for not being here with me on Hari Raya.

Well, do go ahead to the link and read the article. It's really interesting.

It even got a section about Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who once shocked the world when he bravely said "The Jews rule the world by proxy" which I'm putting here to encourage you all to read the article and know more about the Jews in Malaysia.


I sit down with Gary in his office meeting room, and a chocolate cake iced with ‘Shalom Andrew Harris’, to discuss his absolutely unique situation. Firstly, what about Dr Mahathir?
“Yes, the previous Prime Minister said things, but I think a little bit is taken out of context,” he says. “But at the end of the day, Yahya Cohen, the late president of the medical association in Singapore, told me he and Mahatir were classmates. And that actually, he was a swell guy.”
Gary’s met Dr Mahathir on several occasions. A photo from one meeting hangs in his lunch room. “Once I said ‘Yahya Cohen’, he became very warm,” Gary says. “He said, ‘Send him my best, how’s that fellow doing, he’s getting old.’ I felt like saying if he’s getting old, Dr Mahathir [born December 20, 1925], you’re also getting old!”
Yahya Cohen was a Jewish Singaporean-born surgeon, with a Yemenite father and Iraqi mother. He became a worldrenowned professor and expert in his field, and died in 2003. Cohen and Dr Mahatir studied medicine together at the then University of Malaya, in Singapore.
Mahatir kept up a correspondence with Yitzhak Rabin when he was Israeli PM, and helped organise a trip with Rabin to bring Israeli kids to Malaysia to meet local Muslim children.
He also runs the Global Peace Forum, and in 2006 invited Bar Ilan academic Dr Ben Mollov and made special arrangements to allow him to enter the country. Dr Mollov went again to Malaysia last year.