A lesson on the Chinese investments

I'm busy.

Lots of work in the office and helping out my mom.

She's still fully occupied with my grandparents.

Taking them to hospital, cooking, cleaning etc.

My mom is a really filial daughter.

I hope I can be like her.

Politics and other things simply have to take the backseat for now.

For today, I just want to cut and paste this Reuters story so that we can reflect on the huge inflow of Chinese investments into this country.

It's not that I'm against the Chinese investments but maybe we can learn a lesson from this story so that we can avoid all the problems later on.

By Shihar Aneez | COLOMBO

China will delay a planned $1.1 billion investment in a port on its modern-day "Silk Road" until Sri Lanka clears legal and political obstacles to a related project, sources familiar with the talks said, piling more pressure on the island nation.

Heavily indebted Sri Lanka needs the money, but payment for China's interests in Hambantota port could be delayed by several weeks or months, the sources added.

After signing an agreement last December, state-run China Merchants Port Holdings had been expected to buy an 80 percent stake in the southern port before an initial target date of Jan. 7.

Beijing also has a separate understanding with Colombo to develop a 15,000-acre industrial zone in the same area, a deal that Sri Lanka was hoping to finalize later.

But Colombo's plans to sell the stake and acquire land for the industrial zone have run into stiff domestic opposition, backed by trade unions and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

A legislator close to Rajapaksa is also challenging the government's plans in court.

Now Beijing has linked the signing of the port deal with an agreement to develop the industrial zone, saying it would hold off on both until Colombo resolved domestic issues, officials on both sides of the talks said.

"China has said that when they start the port, they want the land also," Sri Lankan Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said, although he added that China had not made it a precondition.

Yi Xianliang, Chinese ambassador to Sri Lanka, said the two deals were related.

"If we just have the port and no industrial zone, what is the use of the port? So you must have the port and you must have the industrial zone," he said.

A source familiar with China's thinking said it may wait until May, when Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visits Beijing, to sign both deals.

The Chinese foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

The previously unreported setback for Sri Lanka suggests Beijing is digging in its heels as it negotiates its global "One Belt, One Road" initiative to open up new land and sea routes for Chinese goods.

SPEED BUMPS, MOUNTING DEBTS

President Maithripala Sirisena is struggling to contain popular opposition to land acquisition for the huge Chinese industrial zone, including from Rajapaksa, who remains an influential opposition legislator.

The deal for the port development and industrial zone has also been challenged in court, which means it is stuck at least until the next hearing on March 3.

Asked whether the agreement would be delayed until the court had ruled, Yi, the Chinese ambassador, said: "Oh yes. We will follow the rule of law. We have the patience to wait."

Rajapaksa's role, the court case and violent protests by people afraid they could be evicted from their land underlined how Beijing does not always get its own way even in countries that badly need investment. Sri Lanka wants Chinese money to help alleviate its debt burden; the government had expected to have the proceeds from the stake sale within six months of signing the agreement before Jan. 7.

Sri Lanka has been under pressure from the International Monetary Fund to cut its deficit, shore up foreign exchange reserves and increase tax revenues as part of a $1.5 billion loan agreement struck in 2016. At least part of the money from the port deal would have gone toward paying down some of the more expensive loans on the government's books, some of which are from China, a senior Sri Lankan government official said.

Hambantota port and a nearby airport were built from 2008 by the Rajapaksa government with the help of $1.7 billion in Chinese loans.

When Sirisena unseated Rajapaksa in an upset victory in 2015, he froze all Chinese investments, alleging unfair dealings by his predecessor.

Sirisena eventually negotiated a new deal with the Chinese government that involved the stake sale and further plans for the Chinese to develop an industrial zone.

The Chinese government expects to invest about $5 billion to develop the area within 3-5 years. Sirisena also agreed to give land to the Chinese on a 99-year lease. The terms did not go down well with port trade unions, which have asked the government to reduce the Chinese stake to 65 percent and lease period to 50 years.

Hundreds of protesters clashed with police in January when a demonstration against the planned industrial zone turned violent.

(Additional reporting by Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Paritosh Bansal)

I cut and paste the story instead of just giving its link because I know that most you all are too lazy to click on the links.

Also, by putting the whole thing here, it makes my posting looks longer. Some people think the longer an article looks, the more important it seems to be :)

That's why some people write long articles and repeating themselves over and over again over the points they want to make.

But really guys, it doesn't work that way.

Well, whenever you see me cut and paste stuff like this, its actually because I'm too busy to write properly or I'm just in one of those lazy moments.

Okay, that's all.

Cheers....

Oh, almost forgot. A song for you all to brighten up the day,

Faces of Umno

Had breakfast with a friend at a mamak restaurant earlier this morning.

As usual, when we talked, there's a bit of politics came in.

The guy used to be an Umno fella but now had joined the rebels.

He was not exactly happy with me for not joining him and the others in the fight against "Umno Najib".

"You can't stay neutral like this. That's cowardly, " he said.

"I just don't want to fight you or our other friends," I replied.

I also told him that for me politics is not life and death.

It's just a bit like football to me. You support MU, I support Chelsea. Enjoy the match and that's about it. I'm not going to die for it or lose friends just because they support a rival team.

In fact, I think I can just drop the nonsense and go away if I get so fed up with the whole thing.

Actually, I did get so fed-up with politics at one point that I almost quit this blog at the end of 2015.

Changed my mind though because I got irritated with some smelly ugly DAP rejects(?) who were bragging that I wanted to quit because they had successfully pressured me to do so.

Fuck them lah. Stupid bastards and bitches....

Well, never mind that.

Anyway, my friend, who used to be 10 times more pro-establishment than me insisted that there's nothing good left in Umno, and therefore it must be destroyed.

"How can you not commit yourself to this cause of saving the country from the corrupt Najib and his equally corrupt people?" he asked me before challenging me to name five people in Umno who can change the perception that the party is totally corrupt.

"There are no more good people in Umno, okay," he heatedly said before I can even start giving him my answer.

Since he seemed to be quite emotional, I just smiled at him and changed the topic. We talked about the movies instead after that.

Actually, even though I no longer consider myself an Umno supporter because of my neutrality, I can actually name five people in Umno whom I think are good and should be the face of Umno. (Note: The number one and two of the party are not included in the list because they are already the face of Umno and that can't be changed)

1. Kelantan Umno chief DS Mustapa Mohamed.

Tok Pa is still the same good guy I have known for years.

2. Foreign Minister DS Anifah Aman.

Anifah is arguably the best minister in the current administration 

3. Second Finance Minister D Johari Abdul Ghani

Jo is cool, no nonsense, intelligent, hard working and probably the hope of Umno's future.

4. PNB chairman TS Abdul Wahid Omar

Wahid should be coaxed to do more for Umno so that he can be the party poster boy. I maintain that he should be fielded in his hometown JB to replace TS Shahrir Samad in GE14.

5. All those Wanita members who sincerely work for the party on the ground.

Wanita Umno members are the most valuable asset of the party.

Okay, I can also name five people who should not be the face of Umno because they make it worse for the party.

1. Umno sec-gen Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and working secretary D Ab Rauf Yusoh

Just look at the duo who control the Umno headquarters. Can't Umno get fresh faces?

2. Wanita chief DS Shahrizat Abdul Jalil

I wish Shahrizat had gracefully retire after the NFC issue blew up. BN probably lost hundreds of thousands of votes in GE13 because of it. It doesn't matter whether she's guilty or not. What went on inside the NFC was damaging and she should have sacrificed herself for the party at that time. No honour.

3. Umno cyber media boss D Ahmad Maslan

Honestly, Ahmad Maslan is not all bad. He's still good for orang kampung. Just that his reputation of being a clown has reached a stage where he can't possibly do his job anymore. 

4.  Jasa chief D Ahmad Puad Zarkashi

Always want to talk but most of the time ends up looking stupid. They should put Puad to contest in Batu Pahat again so that I can make fun of him again when he lose the second time.

5. All those Umno Youth members whose behaviour makes people think everyone who joins Umno is looking for contracts and "cari lubang". No picture here because I don't want to offend those who are not like that. Yup, there are actually still Umno Youth members who join the party because they really believe in that kerana agama, bangsa dan negara thing.

Okay, that's about it.

I want to get myself something for lunch.

Cheers

Teowchew Png Kueh

I'm not sure what got into me but I responded to several comments at my last post.

Normally, I don't do that because I prefer for the comments section to be a place for you all readers to express yourself instead of it being a place where I engage you all in debates.

Maybe it's that time of the month....makes me easily irritated.

Sometimes I'm like that lah.

But really, the comments were sometimes so inaccurate that I also cannot tahan.

Sorry if I sounded a bit emo on that one.

Okay, for today, I don't want to write about anything stressful.

Just want to share with you all something my mom sent me last night.

This is one of several pictures she sent me,

Those are Teowchew Png Kueh, just before being steamed.

Nice eh ;)

My mom made those with the rest of the family.

They gathered at my great aunt's place for that last night.

So happy to see my grandma looking so cheerful like everyone else in the pictures. Guess she has fully recovered from her ailment.

I was so jealous that I can't be there myself.

Anyway, Png Kueh is a traditional snack popular among the Teochew people.

Actually my grandma is a Teowchew while my grandpa is a Cantonese.

However, my mom prefers to be identified as a Teowchew.

My dad told me once that my mom is actually very vain. She prefers to be a Teowchew because the Teochew people are supposedly more "refined" than the Cantonese.

Of course my dad kena from my mom after that for calling her vain :)

Families normally make Png Kueh at the end of the Lunar Year as an offering to the gods and ancestors. They made the red ones for the gods and the white ones for the ancestors.

But since Chinese are practical people, they eat the Png Kueh too.

Png Kueh is also known among the Teowchew people as Poon Tor which means peach dumpling.

It symbolises longevity as per story of the Monkey King which became immortal after eating sacred peaches at the Jade Emperor's garden.

Something like that lah.

And in case you are wondering, yes, the Malay word "kueh" is actually Chinese.

My mom actually also sent me a video of her making the Png Kueh as a guide for me if I want to do so later.

Wish I can share it with you all here...but of course I can't.

My mom would kill me if I do that :)

So, instead, I put here a video made by I believe an Indonesian Chinese on how to make the Png Kueh. It got instructions in Bahasa Indonesia so that it's easier if any Malay Muslim reader of this blog wish to give it a try,

Nice eh :)

Taste very nice too, okay.

A word of caution though for Muslims, the minced chicken used as part of the filling could also sometimes be pork.

Well, that's all.

Cheers.

Food flotilla, Azeez and Anifah

A friend called last night and requested for me to write about the Food Flotilla for Rohingya, which is the brainchild of Umno's DS Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim.

"Annie, you write la sikit apa pasal that ship Bangladesh tak bagi landing dia orang punya port. I'm also wondering about something. From what I know, you all Muslims should not let your left hand knows that your right hand is doing a good deed. Why so much funfare for this one?" my friend said.

Well, as far as I'm concerned, Azeez is quite an irritating ass.

But that's me. You all may like him and his showy ways.

Really, what my friend said is actually true. I think that if you want to do good, you don't show it off like that. That makes it too obvious that you are not sincere and only doing it because you want to score some brownie points.

Heck, even if you are doing it for your own sake, be subtle la, for God's sake.

Okay, maybe others can argue that Azeez was really sincere, and that he was just like that because he can't help himself. Just look at the way his name was spelt.

Fine. Who am I to judge him in the first place.

Still, I think the guy should moderate his eagerness over such things.

As for why the ship was not allowed to dock at the Bangladeshi port, I saw this story last night which explains it,

Conditions at Bangladeshi port prevents Food Flotilla to dock

excerpt :

In a statement issued here today, the Foreign Ministry said the Bangladeshi government’s action was based on the fact that the Teknaf Port was shallow, with a depth of only three metres while the ship needed a depth of at least eight metres to move without hindrance to the port.

Seriously, can't they check first whether the ship can dock there before setting sail?

I can't help telling myself "There goes Anifah saving these jokers again".

Actually it's true. I heard Foreign Minister DS Anifah Aman had to call up his buddies in Bangladesh and Myanmar to settle the problem.

Anifah is one of those ministers whom I'm cool with.

The guy is good at what he's doing.

He doesn't do empty rhetorics and I have not known him bullshitting people.

Contrary to the belief of anti-government people, Malaysia with Anifah playing a key role was actually instrumental in the first real effort to help the Rohingya. I highlighted that in this post in May 2015,

Maybe Anifah is more humane than Aung San Suu Kyi

Really, Malaysia is doing its best for those poor people since back then.

Yes, there had been some miscommunications about the Rohingya refugees issue, but in actual fact, we never really turned them back to die at sea.

There are so many of them here already.

Out of the about 150,000 refugees in Malaysia, 55,000 of them are Rohingyas.

Based on that, Malaysia is perhaps among the most compassionate countries in the world.

Some of you all may not like it too much that those people are here, but what to do, we are just like that in this country.

Just a dad's story

Someone called me up yesterday to check whether I'm still alive.

Very nice of him.

He was wondering so because I have not been writing since Saturday.

Just a few days lah....and I've released the comments you all posted here.

Really, there's nothing much worthwhile to write these past few days.

Furthermore, I'm still not feeling very well and got a bit of work to do.

Lack motivation also.

Well, I like writing happy stuff or writing about things that make me happy.

Consider that and the current political situation, I don't really have much to write about, okay.

Whacking Dr Mahathir who did so much for the country doesn't make me happy.

Whacking Najib who is leading the establishment which I support all these while also doesn't make me happy.

So, it's like a bit difficult.

And the other people are mostly making themselves so inconsequential to me.

They talked rubbish too much.

Well, I can't be writing about my love life all the time.

Actually, that one full of garbage too.

Bloody headache only.

Sigh.

See, I'm rambling again.

Sorry, I think I'm wasting your time reading this.

That's why I don't simply write these days.

Anyway, I better put something worthwhile in this post.

Okay, this is for my mom, who is looking after my grandpa now....

Be strong and patient Ma.

I pray to Allah for everything to be alright.

About Pas and a materialistic slut

Saw this story the other day

PAS and Pribumi announce framework for GE14 cooperation 

and told myself that it's just Pas telling everyone, especially Umno, that anyone who wants to be its friend, must do so under Pas' terms.

True enough, several Pas leaders had then came up with all sorts of statements indicating cooperation with Pribumi and other opposition parties are not done deal yet.

They were actually telling Umno that the door is still open for Pas-Umno cooperation but Umno needs to offer Pas more.

Otherwise, we will go to the other side, they seemed to say.

The same opposite message goes to Pribumi and the other opposition parties, if they were serious about being Pas' friend.

It's like a girl who knows two guys are going after her and telling them she will go with the one who is willing to offer her more nice stuff than the other.

A bit of a slut, don't you think?

Well, guess, like the girl, Pas also wants the best for itself.

It doesn't really have anything to do with ideals and doing the right thing, or in the girl's case about love.

It's about getting the best deal. That's all.

Example :
Pas - I'll befriend whoever can give me Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah.
Girl - I'll fuck whoever can give me more money and overseas trips.

Something like that.

Well, I think both sides should just ignore Pas.

Same advice to guys not to go near such a materialistic slut.

But of course they all would not listen to such advice.

It's because they themselves don't really care about ideals and doing the right things.

It's just politics, they would say.

Not unlike Pas, they are also trying to get the best deal for themselves.

It's just like those two guys trying to win over the materialistic slut.

They know the girl is a slut but both of them are still trying to outdo each other to get her.

It doesn't matter to them that she's a slut.

They just want to have a fuck with her.

That's all.

It got nothing to do with love, okay.

Yup, that's how I see it.

Very tiresome, isn't it?

Never mind.

Hey, it's weekend....better spend the day on better things than thinking about Pas and sluts and all the other nonsense.

Cheer up.

Here's a song and dance for that,

Yea, disco :)

Good journalism

I read this and was impressed.

• Covering Trump the Reuters Way

excerpts:

Do’s:

--Cover what matters in people’s lives and provide them the facts they need to make better decisions.

--Become ever-more resourceful: If one door to information closes, open another one.

--Give up on hand-outs and worry less about official access. They were never all that valuable anyway. Our coverage of Iran has been outstanding, and we have virtually no official access. What we have are sources.

--Get out into the country and learn more about how people live, what they think, what helps and hurts them, and how the government and its actions appear to them, not to us.

--Keep the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles close at hand, remembering that “the integrity, independence and freedom from bias of Reuters shall at all times be fully preserved.”

Don’ts:

--Never be intimidated, but:

--Don’t pick unnecessary fights or make the story about us. We may care about the inside baseball but the public generally doesn’t and might not be on our side even if it did.

--Don’t vent publicly about what might be understandable day-to-day frustration. In countless other countries, we keep our own counsel so we can do our reporting without being suspected of personal animus. We need to do that in the U.S., too.

--Don’t take too dark a view of the reporting environment: It’s an opportunity for us to practice the skills we’ve learned in much tougher places around the world and to lead by example – and therefore to provide the freshest, most useful, and most illuminating information and insight of any news organization anywhere.

Maybe our journalists here in Malaysia can learn something from the article.

For me, it's a good advice for journalists, especially those working in a hostile environment.

Whatever it is, we can always do with more proper journalism in this country.

A bit tired of reading craps from both sides of the political divide...which go around masquerading as journalism.

Ok, that's all.

Here's a song for the evening