Day +2188 : The sign of a general election

I am fine today.

We see the work of resurfacing the road almost everywhere recently and this tells us that the generation election is approaching.

My earlier interpretation on resurfacing projects was that they were the effort of the government to tell the voters that they take care of the them, but a friend reminded me that this might not be the only reason. It is more probable that the politicians are "squeezing money" out of these resurfacing works to fund their election campaign. Therefore, this is an act of deprivation rather than concern.
  

See you next post :-)

Day +1891 : A call from Bukit Aman Police HQ - you are involved in criminal case

I am fine today.

Below is a story from my brother, Richard.

I received a call from +603-26163999 (Bukit Aman Police HQ telephone number) this morning. At first, the guy verified my name TING SIE LEE, IC no. 7XXX13-13-51XX, and my address XXXXX. I confirmed with him my detail. I asked for his name and he said that he is inspector ASP Leong. I requested for his police ID no and the number that he gave is AK1305455. After this, he moved on with the following story.

He said that the Hong Kong's police arrested 2 criminals called Mr. Lam Hon Seng and Yap Chun Hong in Hong Kong when they were distributing drug in Hong Kong. He asked me if I know them. He said now Hong Kong's police requested the Bukit Aman HQ to investigate the case and the case is related to me. It is because the money was deposited into my Citibank account in Hong Kong(A/C no: 441956284526) first and then channeled back to Malaysia. So I am now a suspect involving in criminal case.

I told him that I never know them, but he requested me to go to Bukit Aman Police HQ to help the investigation. He said if I refused to report myself in Bukit Aman, the police department will issue a "Waran Tangkap (arrest wrrant)" to arrest me. I requested him to write to me officially and fax to my office 03-80762677. He agreed. Then I told him I never go to Hong Kong before, how can I opened a Citibank over there. He asked me to prove that I never go to Hong Kong. I advised him to check with the immigration department himself since immigration department shall have interlink with the police department. Then he kept silent for a while. After that he asked me to contact the Hong Kong police department to declare that I didn't know the 2 criminals at all. I told him it is his duty to call them, not me.

I requested him to give me a contact so that I can call back if necessary. He gave me +603-26163999. I asked about his extension no.? He said this is his direct line. I said no, what I wanted is the general line and the extension to him. Then he hang up the phone quickly.

After that, I call the number +603-26163999. It is indeed Bukit Aman Police HQ number. I was told that there is no such person as ASP Leong, and that was a fake call. However, one thing that puzzles me is how can the guy make call with their telephone and then let the Bukit Aman Police HQ number to appear on my handphone.

I am sure if anyone listens to him and go to "Bukit Aman", he will be in big trouble. When you reach there, he may be waiting for you there, and then bring you to another place to kidnap you.

The caller ID that showed up on my handphone
See you next post :-)

Day +1574 : Everything kosong?

I am fine today.

The following news from MalaysiaKini show how Malaysia Boleh! I had a chance to stay as boarding student while studying upper six about 22 years ago, and I had very experience on this.

I can't remember most of the details but one thing I remembered very well as that the eggs served was black. You need to be reminded that that was no century egg.

'Sandwich kosong' for school kids, sardines missing

Imagine being promised a sardine sandwich, but given two slices of white bread with margarine.

This is what the Auditor-General found was being supplied under the Additional Food Programme (RMT) designed for schoolchildren by the government.

In its report for the year of 2009, the Auditor-General found that SK Jeroco in Lahad Datu, which was supposed to provide the pupils sardine sandwiches with slices of cucumber, tomato and lettuce, gave them only margarine sandwiches.

Apart from the SK Jeroco, food suppliers in five different primary schools around Malaysia, who were checked out, were caught supplying food way below the quality of the recommended menu for the RMT programme.

"After the feedback from the dietician in the Health Ministry's nutrition department, we found that food from the menu provided can cause the schoolchildren to suffer from malnutrition," the Auditor-General's Report noted.

Six other outsourced school food suppliers have also been caught providing food completely different from the recommended menu in the RMT programme, often food that was of lower value.

The Additional Food Programme was started 30 years ago to give underprivileged children free food, at a value of RM1.80 (in Peninsular Malaysia) and RM2.05 (in Sabah and Sarawak), to supplement their daily diet.

However, the Auditor-General's Report shows that several contractors are still cheating in their supply of schoolchildren's meals.

Another of the many examples of irregularities in the programme was at SJK(C) Choong Hua 2 in Bidor, Perak. The supplier of canteen food provided packets of instant noodles to the pupils, instead of fried bihun.

And the common excuse by the schools, as well as the suppliers, was that "it is difficult to obtain the raw materials, especially when some of the schools are in the interiors.

Contaminated food in hospitals

The Auditor-General's Report also highlighted the poor quality of food in a number of hospitals.

"In our sampling, we found that Sultan Ismail Hospital provides low quality diet. The fried chicken is still bloody, while the Penang General Hospital served vegetable soup with fur/hair in it," said the report.

"This can cause food poisoning and other diseases," it added.

The army has also not been spared from the supply of substandard food. The Terendak Camp in Malacca was found to be serving stale fish and vegetables to the soldiers.

It was later found that this was because the stale produce cost a lot less than the market price.

In another example, the report said visits to the army camps in Sungai Petani, Lok Kawi, Rasah and Terendak showed that the rations received were constantly in excess, with some foodstuff left untouched until they reached the expiry date.

See you next post :-)

Day +1432 : I witnessed an immigration enforcement

I am fine today.

We went to DG food court for dinner after the church management meeting last Tuesday. Half way through the dinner, immigration enforcement team raided the food court and rounded up all the foreign labours.

We saw a guy wearing white T-shirt and jean started to run suddenly in the food court and a group of 4 or 5 immigration enforcement officers swarmed over him, overpowered him and beat him with a chair even though there was not even a slight chance that he could stage an attack or escape.

The food court paralyzed after that as no one was left to sell drinks. The food court has to delay the operation hour to 3:00pm as of today, 5 days after the raid. We relied so much on the foreign labours and a lot of business can't go on without them. We went there for lunch today at about 2pm and discovered that very few stalls are opened for business because no one was selling drinks :-(

The episode of the night convinces us even more on the violation of human right of Malaysia's enforcement officers - beating and killing people unnecessarily. This is reflected in a few high profile cases. They dared to beat the suspect publicly with a chair even though he posed no danger to them at all, we can certainly imagine what would happen in private :-(

Rev. Lau, who worked in Australia for a few years before joining us said that this kind of beating would never happen in Australia. Another "Malaysia Boleh!", again, a shameful one :-(

See you next post :-)

Day +1278 : “Bagaimana sekarang (How now) ?”

I am fine today.

While I was sending a Hong Kong visitor and his family to the church after a lunch last Thursday, a traffic police stopped me. I was very clear why I was stopped – picking up a phone call while driving.

A traffic offence had been committed and I apologized up-front.

“Bagaimana sekarang? (How now?)” the police asked.

“A summon will cost you RM150,” he continued.

“I am a Christian, I can’t give you money,” I answered.

“However, we certainly can have a drink together should you wish to,” I continued.

Upon hearing this, he let me go without issuing a summon:-)

A traffic police who wish to receive bribes would always ask an offender to propose a solution instead of issuing summon straightaway. Be firm when you encounter this situation. Just tell them that you are a Christian and can’t give them money. And most of the time they will let you go :-)

But the best thing to do is – don’t commit any traffic offence.

See you next post :-)

Day +1227 : 1Malaysia? Yes! Allah? No

I am fine today.

I believe most of us don’t really believe 1 Malaysia. Why?

1Malaysia? Yes! Allah? No. How can we achieve 1Malaysia without Allah?

See the below report from Malaysiakini yesterday.

Weekly Catholic newspaper The Herald has lost its publishing permit for next year amid a long-running dispute over its use of the word "Allah".

The loss of The Herald's permit comes as it prepares for a High Court hearing on Dec 14 in a legal battle between the Catholic Church and the authorities over the use of the world "Allah" in the paper's Malay-language section.

The government has argued that the word "Allah" should be used only by Muslims, who dominate the population of Malaysia.

"It is very confusing. One letter in August said we have the licence to print (in 2010) and the next thing is we receive a letter in September saying the permit is not approved. Something is amiss," The Herald's editor, Father Lawrence Andrew, told AFP.

Father Lawrence (left) said the Home Ministry cancelled the new permit without any reason.

The Roman Catholic Church has waged a two-year legal battle with Malaysian authorities over the use of the word "Allah".

The priest said he had met with Home Ministry officials last month to resolve the issue but declined to elaborate.

Home Ministry officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

The Herald newspaper, circulated among the country's 850,000 Catholics, nearly lost its publishing licence last year for using the disputed word.

Asked if The Herald would be available in January 2010, he said: "I hope it will be there."

The newspaper is printed in four languages and has a circulation of 14,000 copies a week.

Strings of religious disputes

The row is among a string of religious disputes that have erupted in recent years, straining relations between Muslim Malays and minority ethnic Chinese and Indians who fear the country is being "Islamised".

Religion and language are sensitive issues in multiracial Malaysia, which experienced deadly race riots in 1969.

About 60 percent of the nation's 27 million people are ethnic Malay Muslims.

The rest of the population includes indigenous tribes as well as ethnic Chinese and Indians - practising Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism, among others.

More than half of Malaysia's Catholics are from indigenous groups, most of whom live on the Borneo island states and who mainly speak Malay.

In an immediate reaction, MCA spokesperson Gan Ping Sieu described the ban as “repulsive and unreasonable”.

“MCA strongly urges the Home Ministry to reconsider the retraction of The Herald's printing permit. By denying The Herald's permit renewal, the Home Ministry could be misconstrued as acting punitively against the religious publication's suit against the government on the usage restriction of the 'Allah' terminology.”

He added that the move would destroy the goodwill between religious bodies and the government.

“The 1Malaysia concept of mutual respect and inclusivity should be upheld by government departments.”

See you next post :-)

Day +1219 : Any good judges among the five?

I am fine today.

The highest court of Malaysia – Federal Court – is hearing the MB vs MB case today. The judges that hear the case are Court of Appeal president Alauddin Mohd Sheriff, Chief Judge of Malaya Arifin Zakaria and justices Zulkefli Ahmad Makinuddin, Mohd Ghazali Mohd Yusoff and Abdull Hamid Embong.

The hearing was concluded after a day-long session but the verdict was deferred to another date to be fixed.

What do you think the result would be? I believe the verdict will be in favour of BN as it is extremely difficult to find good judges in a corrupt judiciary system here.

What do you think?

See you next post :-)

Day +1218 : We paid their salary, they seized our Bibles

I am fine today.

The authority seized 150,000 bibles imported from Indonesia citing the reason that they might be used to convert Muslims because it contains the word “Allah”. This only indicated that those who are involved in the enforcement do no really have any confident on their religion.

Another Malaysia Boleh! I see this as a cancerous act and perhaps only a transplant will be able to strike a cure.

Quote from a news report published today on Malaysiakini :

The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) calls for the immediate release of the 15,000 bibles in Bahasa Malaysia known as the Alkitab, recently seized by the authorities.

Bishop Ng Moon Hing, chairman of the CFM, said that the relevant government official should explain their actions to church leaders and the public.

According to a church leader, the government seized the bibles because of the use of the word 'Allah' in the Malay-language bibles (which means God when translated) which was banned here, as this word is to be used exclusively in Islam.

This is because the authorities feel that the use of 'Allah' in Christian publications is likely to confuse Muslims and draw them into Christianity. Therefore, it was banned from Christian literature.

The Home Ministry said today that the words kaaba, baitullah and solat were similarly banned from Christian publications.

In previous reports, Reverend Hermen Shastri (left), general secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia said that these words were borrowed from Arabic, among other languages and maintained that the community should be allowed to use them.

Suppression of rights

Since the 1970s, the education policies have been centred on Bahasa Malaysia as the national language, and Malaysians have received their education in Bahasa Malaysia.

Therefore, Bishop Ng said that it is ridiculous and offensive to deny the same Christians in Malaysia the right to read and study the bible in the national language.

"The action of withholding the Malay bibles deprives Christians in Sabah, Sarawak and in Semenanjung, a large majority of whom speak Malay, the right to use the Holy Scriptures to practice, and profess their faith and, to nourish themselves spiritually," Bishop Ng said.

The CFM also called upon the government not to curtail or impose conditions on the freedom of citizens to worship, pray and read the Holy Scriptures in Malay.

Previously, the authorities have seized some 15,000 bibles that were imported from Indonesia; 5,000 in March and the rest in September this year.

See you next post :-)

Day +1217 : The worst ever president, the best show

I am fine today.

Sin Chew Daily’s commentary today bluntly pronounced the MCA president, OTK, the worst ever president. It doesn’t matter whether you agree about this as the party plagued by power struggle and personal interest has long become irrelevantl.

If this is the case, what do we expect from the party? The wonderful show :-) A show so splendid that even the best Hollywood movie also loses to it. The twist and turn of the show is something always beyond our imagination.

Friend is enemy, enemy is friend. The best friend is enemy and the greatest enemy is the best friend. The power is something that is above all principles, moral and ethics.

Just sit back and relax, and watch the show. Though we don’t need to pay a single cent to enjoy it, the show is shown at the expenses of Chinese community.

So arise and vote them out during the next general election. We don’t need this kind of show anymore though it is wonderful.

See you next post :-)

Day +1182 : Express bus - What an experience! (2)

I am fine today. Continue from yesterday...

However, we got a refund and managed to purchase a ticket at the first ticketing counter that we had approached at RM 31.10 only. The bus departed at 5:30pm as promised.

I tried to file a complain after the incident but I found out that there was no company to complain to as there was no company label on the ticketing counter. So to whom should I complain to?

There was no bus company name printed on the ticket. What was written on the ticket was the bus plate number only. Apart from this, nothing was written. A proper ticket should have company name, bus plate number, the seat number and departure time. Without the company name, one can only liaise with the counter for any business related to their service; provided it didn't disappear before we get there.

My friend told me last time that a lot of ticket counters actually are not from bus companies. There are agents to another up-line agents and the up-line agents in fact are agents to another up-line agents. And finally, it reached the bus company after so many layers.

In fact this is another type of “yellow cow ticket(黄牛票)”. So should anything happen, the authority will never handle the case. Even a Consumer Tribunal would not want to hear a case like this.

Lessons that we learned from this incident:

1. Never purchase a bus ticket from any agent beside the bus company itselt.
2. Purchase the ticket from a well known bus company like Transnasional, Sri Maju, Causeway Link and other well-known bus company. If you do that, I am sure the Customer Tribunal can protect your interest should a dispute occurs.
3. The best bus company I found so far is TRANSNASIONAL (a member of KTB group). You can get the following advantages:

• You can check their schedule and ticket price at their website http://www.transnasional.com.my/
• You will certainly not overpaid for the bus ticket even during the "cow season".
• You can purchase the ticket in many Petronas station such as Petronas Kinrara BK5. This means that they are open 24 hours/day and you would have your ticket ready before you go to the bus terminal.
• If you miss the bus, the ticket is still valid. You just need to pay some penalty. My nephew Ting Heng Wei missed the bus last time and that was how they handled the case. (For your information, this nephew always miss this and that. He also missed the air flight. Just hope that he won't miss his girl friend or wife later :-))
• You will never need to liaise with a gangster. Ticketing lady can become a fantastic gangster that is worse than a guy.

Transnasional is certainly your preferred choice!

See you next post :-)

Day +1181 : Express bus - What an experience! (1)

I am fine today.

The following was my brother, Richard's experience, regarding express bus service.

On the 21 September 2009, I brought my relative to the temporary bus terminal located at Bukit Jalil at 3:30pm. He would like to return to Johor Bahru (JB) after enjoying his holiday here.

For your information, the temporary bus terminal at Bukit Jalil was set up during festive holiday only; for example during Hari Raya, Chinese New Year and Deepavali.

We approached a ticketing counter and we were told that the next bus leaving for JB would be about 2 hours later; that was on 5:30pm. I noticed that this ticketing counter was labeled with a proper bus company name and I felt that this should be a proper bus operator.

However, we felt that waiting for 2 hours was too long for us, so we approached another ticketing counter. The ticketing lady said that the bus was waiting outside. If we purchased the ticket now (3:35pm), then we will be able to catch the bus that would be leaving at 3:40pm. What a good timing!

We paid RM 35.00 for a ticket, and someone from the counter led us to wait at the bus parking area. We were quite confused as there was no bus waiting there and we saw a group of more than 20 people were there before us.

We waited and waited. At 4:00pm, we didn't see any bus coming; 4:30pm still no bus coming... 5:00pm no bus coming... and at 5:15pm, the bus still didn't appear.

We felt that we were cheated. So we rushed back to the ticketing counter and demanded an explanation from the ticketing lady. Drastically, she showed another face to us; very rude, worse than a gangster. This was the first time I saw a lady being so rude. She could pull your hair and threw a dustbin to you...

To be continued and see you next post :-)

Day +1179 : A fraud or mistake? Buy 500g get 386g only :-(

I am fine today.

My niece, Siew Ling, will be going back to UUM, Kedah tonight. Considering that she rarely has a chance to eat pork in this northern part of the country, I decided to buy some roasted pork for lunch.

I went to a stall called Lai Ji Ipoh Roasted Pork and Salted Duck (来记怡保烧猪咸鸭) to purchase 500g of roasted pork. The stall is located in Restoran KH 20 which is situated next to Pizza Hut at Jalan Kenari 20. The roasted pork sold by the stall is very delicious.

Instead of giving me 500g of roasted pork, I noticed on the weighting scale that they gave about 300g only. I complained on the spot, and the guy weighed second time, and added a little bit more of roasted pork this time. I was still doubtful but didn't complain further. I just paid RM22.50 and went home.

I weighted the roasted pork at home on a digital scale and found out that I was given 386g of roasted pork only. And this amount of roasted pork cost RM15.56 only, which means that I paid RM6.94 extra.

In order to make sure that the digital scale is giving the correct reading, I benchmarked it against a 1-kg pack of flour, and found out that it is in fact very accurate.

I photographed the readings and went back to the stall with my camera.

“Is there anything wrong with your scale?” I asked the lady. “I purchased 500g of roasted pork just now but I was given 386g only,” I continued and at the same time showed her the photo that I had taken.

“Sorry!” she responded. “Come! Cut 200g of roasted pork for this gentleman. Cincailah.”

“Cincai” means “not need to be so calculative, or be generous”.

In the end, the guy compensated 260g of roasted pork, which made a total of 646g - thanks to the “cincai-ness” of the stall.

However, “cincai-ness” after being exposed of weighing scale mistake or fraud would not bring any good impression to anyone at all.

Anyway, I still recommend the stall to you because the roasted pork here is really good. However, before you purchase anything here, better get your digital scale ready.

The stall
In this restaurant
The amount that I got initially - 386g
My scale is sincere - giving right reading
I was compensated with this amount of roasted pork
See you next post :-)

Day +1164 : Good judge or bad judge, how to judge?

I am fine today.

I don’t know.

According to N.H. Chan, a former Court of Appeal judge, that a good judge should administer justice according to law. He has been very vocal in criticizing judges recently. And I believe he is in no better position than anyone of us in judging the errant and corrupted judges in our judiciary system.

To a layperson like us with very limited knowledge in law, judging of judges definitely is not our business. Perhaps, if we would like to get our hand into this business, we should at least read the two books written by N.H.Chan – “Judging the Judges” and “how to Judge the Judges”.

However, sometimes a judgment can be so wrongfully arrived, that an ordinary person with common sense would spot the “nonsense” in it.

A comment by Kim Quek regarding the high court judgment on a suit brought by Perak's Pakatan Rakyat speaker against the state's Barisan Nasional speaker is an example.

The comment was published on Malaysiakini on 9 September. I “quote” the article in full for your reference.

A tragic yet hilarious court proceeding took place in the Ipoh High Court on Sept 8 when the judge blatantly contradicted himself in dismissing a suit brought by Perak's Pakatan Rakyat speaker against the state's Barisan Nasional speaker (yes, two speakers in the Perak assembly).
Judge Azahar Mohamed rejected V Sivakumar's suit to seek damages from R Ganesan for assault and false imprisonment during the chaotic and violent state assembly sitting on May 7.

He said the court had no jurisdiction to hear the case due to Federal Constitution Article 72 stipulating that "the validity of any proceeding in any state assembly cannot be questioned in any court".

And yet in the same breath he declared that "the decision of the legislative assembly to remove the plaintiff as speaker and to appoint the defendant was conclusive and had been fairly determined by the state assembly on May 7, 2009."

Now, the crux of the entire contention between the two speakers is: Who is on the right side of law in the violent tussle for the speaker's chair on May 7?

By declaring Ganesan as the rightful speaker, Judge Azahar is in fact making a legal judgment. Is that not a breach of Article 72? How come he has no jurisdiction to hear Sivakumar's grievances but has jurisdiction to judge Ganesan as legal speaker?

Is that not a contradiction of the highest order?

Apart from this atrocious double standard applied by the judge, the main flaw of the judgment is the inability to differentiate between assembly proceeding and criminal behaviour.

What Sivakumar is seeking is redress for the unlawful physical violence inflicted on him. And Article 72 covers only businesses conducted in the assembly - not unlawful and criminal act.

Judge Azahar has therefore wrongly used Article 72 to come to his judgment. To make it very clear that this is the case, I will quote in full the relevant clauses in Article 72 (Clauses 1 & 2) and explain the reasons why.

Clause 1: The validity of any proceedings in the Legislative Assembly of any State shall not be questioned in any court.
Clause 2: No body shall be liable to any proceedings in any court in respect of anything said or vote given by him when taking part in proceedings of the Legislative Assembly of any State or of any committee thereof.
Note the operative words "proceedings" in Clause 1 and "anything said or any vote given" in Clause 2. It is abundantly clear what Article 72 refers to are the speeches and resolutions made in the assembly, not any criminal or unlawful act.

Tragedy and comedy

But what happened on May 7 was complete pandemonium and chaos in the assembly hall. There was no chance to conduct any business at all, least of all any resolution passed. In fact, the only business done on that day was the address by the Perak Regent Raja Nazrin Shah.

And how was Sivakumar "replaced" by Ganesan during that pandemonium?

While Sivakumar was sitting in the speaker's chair, hordes of police personnel entered the assembly hall, allegedly on Ganesan's order, and physically lifted, carried, dragged and moved speaker Sivakumar into a room where he was forcibly detained until the assembly sitting was over.

And as soon as Sivakumar was removed from the hall, police personnel escorted Ganesan into the hall and ushered him to the speakers chair, with police personnel making a line to stand guard in front of Ganesan to prevent any assemblymen from reaching the speaker's chair.

The entire tragedy-comedy was stage-managed by the police, and it is therefore more appropriate to say that while Sivakumar was elected by the assembly through a resolution, Ganesan was physically planted into the speaker's chair by the police. And that about sums up what happened on that tragic-hilarious day.

And since Judge Azahar appears to be so respectful of the constitutional principle of separation of power as demonstrated by his professed adherence to Article 72, is it not puzzling that he should have chosen to ignore completely the heinous violation of the doctrine of separation of power when hordes of police personnel invaded the assembly to physically replace one speaker with another?

Is it not another shining example of double standard in the Malaysia Boleh tradition?

After the series of judicial decisions that appear to wantonly trample the constitution and the law following the shameful power grab in Perak, the latest low represented by Azahar's decision makes us wonder how much lower our judiciary can sink into, as many more judicial decisions in the same series are still pending.

See you next one.

Day +1136 : Cheated or getting cheated?

I am fine today.

The Home Ministry's wanted to gather public opinion about the Internal Security Act ( ISA). They conducted an online poll starting from 5 August.

Initially, an overwhelming number of respondents were denouncing the legislation as draconian and calling for its repeal, but suddenly the figures shot up in favour of the government's move to review the law.

Malaysiakini reported the following:

The sharp spike - of about 17,000 in two days - led some to wonder if the poll had been tampered with.

Suspicions were raised when almost all of the new voters only answered the abovementioned two of the five questions.

These two crucial questions drew twice the number of voters than three other questions, which asked respondents how they learned about the law, whether they understand it in total and if they were aware that the United States and United Kingdom had similar laws.

Of course the Home Ministry denied the accusation. But what could have happened?

Firstly, it is as what the Home Ministry claimed; there was no vote rigging. That means the Home Ministry didn’t adjust the figure on the website. The sharp spike reflected the real scenario.

Secondly, the Home Ministry did adjust the vote in favour of government stand – that is to review and keep the law rather than abolish it. That means they are telling lie or cheating.

Lastly, someone in the BN camp created some robots – software tools – that automated the voting. The tool was smart enough to present itself as a different person every time and casted many votes repeatedly from a single computer. If this was the case, then the Home Ministry was a victim of fraud.

I believe the first possibility is very slim. As our government like to cheat very much, the second possibility is high but third possibility could happen as well.

So the conclusion is either the government was cheating or it was getting cheated. But whichever is true doesn’t really matter as both of them lead to the same fact – the online poll had been tampered with and thus didn’t reflect the People’s wish regarding ISA.

What do you think?

See you next post :-)

Day +1116 : An argument without ground

I am fine today.

Our Prime Minister was smart to let AG to explain why the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) should not investigate the cause of Beng Hock’s death. I believe he himself also felt that the argument that would be given doesn’t carry any much weight. Therefore, in order to avoid embarrassment, he let AG to justify to the public based on section 2 of the Commissions of Enquiry Act 1950.

I am of the same opinion as Kim Quek and many others than the AG argument is very misleading.

Kim Quek wrote on MalaysiaKini:

...the AG's statement sounded even more hollow. His statement is a blatant attempt to mislead by deliberate omission of the relevant section of the law.

Citing section 2 of the Commissions of Enquiry Act 1950, Gani said it made clear reference to the inquiry into the conduct and management of the government officers and departments for the “public welfare”.

He said the public welfare matters relate to the well-being of society and “cannot be overstretched to cover an inquiry into the death of this nature.”

In this statement, Gani made two assertions. First, the Act covers only government departments and officers. Second, his definition of “public welfare” excludes an inquisition of death.

On Gani's first point. Under the same section quoted by Gani – section 2 of the Act – it is expressly stated under item (d) that the commission is empowered to inquire into “any other matter in which an inquiry would, in the opinion of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, be for the public welfare...”.

So, Gani's assertion is directly contradicted by item (d). He is therefore guilty of a deliberate attempt to mislead the nation as he cannot possibly be ignorant of this elementary and fundamental provision of the Act, being the highest legal adviser to the government.

Probing a death not 'public welfare'?

On the second point. Gani's narrow interpretation of the phrase “for the public welfare” is laughable.

When the nation has been so incensed by the heinous injustice of this tragedy that it is almost at the point of revolt, appointing an RCI to probe into this death is not only legally and politically appropriate but the very minimum the government must do if it still wants to retain a remote semblance of rule of law in this country.

And yet, our AG is telling us that making such a move is incompatible with “public welfare.” Then what will constitute “public welfare”? Waiting for violence to erupt in the streets – knowing fully well that public confidence in the existing law enforcement bodies, including the courts, is already non-existent?

Even when an RCI is commissioned to probe into the death, there is no assurance of justice done, judging from the government's habit of ignoring recommendations of RCIs in recent times; but at least it will calm the highly-strung nerves of the nation by showing that the government is finally taking steps in the right direction.

And I can't imagine any decent person will dispute by saying that taking such a course does not fulfil national interests as implied by Gani's narrow interpretation.

Much has been written and expressed by respectable legal minds, political parties and civil society leaders that the present set up of an RCI-cum-inquest to divide the task of resolving the present crisis is legally and technically untenable and morally unacceptable, and I will not elaborate further in this direction.

Suffice to say that Najib must decide, and decide now, which course he wants to take.

To salvage the image of the nation and redeem himself from a scandal-ridden past by appointing an honourably-constituted RCI with proper terms of reference to take on the crisis, or relegate the task to a magistrate hamstrung by prosecutors and police, all of whom are deeply mistrusted by the public.

Any sound mind person will find out the argument that was given is of no ground at all.

See you next post :-)

Day +1115 : What a response!

I am fine today.

Our PM insisted that he is adhering to laws to set up an inquest to investigate the circumstances surrounding Beng Hock’s death. I find his response disgusting and sickening.

"We must adhere to the laws of the country. Please don't take (political) advantage of this case. Our intention is to find out the truth," he told reporters in Bangi.

"We are interested in the truth. Whether in the form of royal commission or an inquest, we'll find the truth and the truth will be made public and that's the most important thing.

I have a few points to make regarding this:

1. Najib should point out which law of this country prevents a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to probe into Teoh’s death. If there is such law, why both current and former Bar Council chairperson, Ragunath Kesavan and S Ambiga, said that RCI should investigate the death rather than the inquest?
2. Given the pass records, nobody trusts that an inquest presided by a magistrate will reveal any truth. Even there is no question of integrity or corruption, which is most likely not the case, the limited power vested in the magistrate will render him helpless to find out any truth.
3. There is no ground to warn opposition not to take political advantage of this case. The simplest reason is that this case is political motivated and therefore, should by all means remain political. And we shall not only take advantage but also to vote out any corrupted government through awareness generated from this tragedy.

See you next post :-)

Day +1114 : A royal commission falls short of our expectation

I am fine today.

I am profoundly disappointed by the cabinet decision to limit the scope of the royal commission to look only into the MACC investigative procedures while leaving the circumstances that surround the mysterious death of Teoh Beng Hock to an inquest led by a magistrate.

An inquest is a judicial inquiry into a matter usually held before a jury, especially an inquiry into the cause of a death. From this definition, we understand that the purpose of the inquest is to determine the cause of death only, but not who should be held responsible for the death.

Even the inquest is given mandate to determine who should be accountable of the death, nobody will believe that it will do a good job as past circumstances demonstrated that our judiciary is corrupted.

Avoiding accountability in this case will certainly lead us suspecting who was the mastermind of the episode that caused the death of Beng Hock.

If I were the mastermind, I will certainly try all means to avoid the accountability issue. I should say that those in power are cunning enough to satisfy people’s demand of setting up a royal commission and an inquest while avoiding the issue of accountability. This keeps everyone who does the wrong safe.

What a government!

Don't be fooled again.

See you next post :-)

Day +1112 : Justice for Beng Hock

I am fine today.

I believe many of you, like me, are very angry and disappointed with how Beng Hock was treated by MACC. But we really can’t do much apart from waiting for the next general election.

However, there is at least a chance for you to do something now; by signing a petition online.

http://www.petitiononline.com/j4bhmacc/petition.html

The petition demands the following:

We, the undersigned, hereby demand :-

(1) The establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry to independently and thoroughly investigate this tragic incident.

(2) The immediate resignation of the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) National Director.

(3) The unconditional apology by Minister in the Prime Minister Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz over his remarks on Beng Hock’s death.

我们，以下签署者，同声要求：-

（1） 成立皇家调查委员会，独立与彻底地调查明福的命案

（2） 反贪委员会全国主任马上引咎辞职

（3） 首相署部长纳兹里对其言论作出毫无保留的道歉

Kami, yang menandatangan di sini, dengan sebulat suara:-

(1) Menyeru penubuhan Suruhanjaya Diraja untuk menyiasat kematian Beng Hock secara bebas dan teliti.

(2) Menggesa Pengarah Suruhanjaya Pencegah Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) meletakkan jawatan segera atas tragedi Beng Hock.

(3) Mendesak Datuk Seri Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz, Menteri dalam Jabatan Perdana Menteri meminta maaf atas kenyataan beliau terhadap kematian Beng Hock.

If you concur, please click on the link and sign it.

The petition would like to gather 10,000 signatures, and the latest number of signatures gathered totaled to 6965, and the number is growing steadily. I am number 4044. Please email and invite everyone to sign.

See you next post :-)

Day +1109 : If pigs can talk

I am fine today.

I came across this very well written essay in Sin Chew Daily by Moshin Abdullah. I googled and get the English version as well. However, the Chinese version contains something which the English version had “censored”. If you don’t know where is the censored part, please take note of the last paragraph of the Chinese version.

I wish my children could produce an essay like this :-)

The Engish version:

Porky speaks good English. But he's a cartoon character. Stretch our imagination. From the world of animation to a real world where all animals can talk. Including pigs. And if pigs can talk what will they say?

This perhaps..

“It's hard being a pig. I mean all things negative people relate to us pigs. Lazy like a pig. Fat like a pig. Sweat like a pig. Dirty like a pig." After a while we get used to it. Somehow we tolerate that nonsense. At least I can.

But things are getting worst. We pigs are seen as the cause of a war of words in Kedah between PAS and DAP. The Kedah government, headed by the MB from PAS, tore down the abattoir. The DAP is angry and wants to pull out of the Pakatan government. So we pigs are blamed. But in a way it's good for us. Wth no slaughter house in Kedah our life span is somewhat extended. If only temporary. Now the price of our meat has shot up as they have to import pork from outside the state. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Still I hope things don't get out of hand. You see ,some say our wastes from the abattoir flow into the padi fields nearby. The padi farmers are Malays. We pigs don't want to be the cause of any racial conflict.

Remember Nipah E. in Bukit Pelandok. Many of us were culled. Then came the blame game and compensation issue. It nearly became a Chinese Malay thing. Thank God it didn't erupt. Still we pigs are being blamed unfaily. True our living quarters are dirty. But that can be ironed out. Look at where our brothers and sisters in Europe stay. They live in clean farms. The same can be done here. But that cost money. Big money. And both the authorities and the good folks rearing us do not want to spend that kind of money. Hence we're stuck in dirty environment. And you humans have the cheek to say dirty like a pig.

As if all that is not enough we now have a big guy, a minister at that, wanting to pin the blame on us for the influenza pandemic. Hello!!! Even the WHO calls the bug H1N1. It's a mixture of pig. bird and human viruses. But the minister want it called swine flu. Like we the only ones to blame The kampung folks find H1N1 a mouthful? Hello Datuk... that's not our problem. To takut takutkan people of the flu? Well the only people frighten of us pigs are Malays.

So we need only Malays to be wary of the influenza.What about the rest? Let them be bugged?

Oink, Oink, Oink… (By MOHSIN ABDULLAH/MySinchew)

The Chinese version:

莫辛阿都拉‧如果豬會說話

2009-07-15 20:46

豬小弟說一口流利英語，但他只是卡通角色。擴大我們的想像力，從卡通世界來到現實，所有動物都會說話，包括豬。如果豬會說話，它們會說甚麼？

也許是這些：

做豬真難。我是指人類喜歡將一切不好的東西跟我們豬扯上關係：懶惰得像隻豬、肥得像隻豬、汗流浹背像隻豬、髒得像隻豬。過了一會兒我們就習慣了，不知怎的，我們就忍受了這些愚蠢的舉動。至少我能夠。

但是事情越來越糟糕。在吉打，我們豬被視為回教黨和行動黨口舌戰的導火線。由於回教黨州務大臣領導的吉打州政府拆毀了一家屠宰場，行動黨很生氣，決定退出民聯政府。我們豬被怪罪，但對我們是好事：吉打州沒有了屠宰場，我們的生命就可以延長，即使是暫時的。現在我們的肉價飆漲，因為他們必須從外州進口豬肉。不錯，真的很不錯。

我仍希望事情不會失控。你看，有人說我們的排泄物從屠宰場排入附近的稻田。稻農是馬來人，我們豬可不想造成任何種族衝突。

記得武吉不蘭律的立百病毒，我們當中許多被毀，隨之而來是推卸責任和賠償課題，幾乎演變成種族議題。感謝上蒼，事情沒有爆發，但我們豬還是不公平地被怪罪。的確，我們生活的地方很髒，但這是可以解決的。看看我們歐洲的兄弟姐妹住的地方，他們住在乾淨的農場，這裡同樣可以做到。但那需要資金，很高的成本。當局和飼養我們的好人們都不要花這筆錢，所以我們繼續困在骯髒的環境裡，而你們人類就繼續無禮的說髒得像隻豬。

如果那還不夠，我們有個大人物部長要把流感推到我們豬身上。哈囉，世界衛生組織已經稱之為A（H1N1）型流感了，而且那是豬、鳥類和人交錯感染的病毒，但那位部長卻要稱之為豬流感，只有我們被怪罪。拜托……理由是甚麼？甘榜人認為H1N1拗口？哈囉，拿督……那不是我們的問題。要人們害怕流感？其實對我們豬忌諱的只有一種人，所以我們只要馬來人小心流感，其他人呢？就讓他們感染？

我不是要在這裡散播種族主義，只有人類會那樣，我不是人類……馬來人避諱我們，甚至不要稱我們Babi，他們叫khinzir，聽起來比B字音好聽。馬來人甚至不要碰我們，更不用說吃豬肉……這對我們是好事，因為我們不潔。但是賭博、賄賂、通姦、喝酒也是。如果賭博、通姦、賄賂，做一切被禁的事，那不是等於吃豬肉？（譯：張立德）

星洲日報／言路‧作者：莫辛阿都拉‧自由撰稿人‧2009.07.15

See you next post :-)

Day +1107 : Min Hie is here :-)

I am fine today.

Min Hie will be registering for her two years A-Level study at HELP University College, Damansara Campus tomorrow.

My sister and brother-in-law accompanied her to come over here this afternoon. Together with them was Min Hie’s best friend, Siew Xia, who also scored 12A in her SPM exam and denied JPA scholarship earlier. Like Min Hie, Siew Xia was offered JPA scholarship to do a Pharmacy course in the end.

Family photo - Soon Hui, Brother-in-law, eldest sister Sie Huong, Min Hie and Min Hui. Another one, Min Huang is studying in University Sabah Malaysia
Min Hie & Siew Xia
My sister brought a lot chickens from Kuching :-)
Yam
Butter milk bun - can't find it here
And fishes
Kuching's Kolo Mee
Our dinner
Adriel is enjoying the mee
Aaron is expecting some more drink?
No, not drink. Ice cube :-)
See you next post :-)