39 degrees celcius

I am always, acutely sensitive of the rise in temperature in KL

It was briefly 40 degrees as I drove the first 2 Km's, then it came down to 39 degrees

Which is still, damn hot for a drive to Kajang!

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Markus Ng Chung Yau

Markus was a great guy, who has inspired many lives, mine included.

He believed in the idea of a 1Malaysia, even before the term was coined.

He always reminded me that there is always hope for a truly united malaysia.

There were many times I would tell him that I have given up on Malaysia, and every time he would tell me that there is always hope out there as long as there are individuals like us who persevered in our efforts for a better Malaysia.

Once he wrote in a postcard to me from Portugal, reminding me that change is happening in Malaysia, slowly but surely. That was the last thing I got from him.

Everytime I feel jaded by what is happening in Malaysia, I will always remember my friend Markus.

He will always be remembered as the beacon of hope, for a truly united Malaysia.

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Hidup Peter Mendelson!

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From: Wan Mohd Firdaus Wan Mohd Fuaad <wmfirdaus@hotmail.com>

Date: Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:36:53 +0100

To: <wmfirdaus@maxis.blackberry.com>

Subject: Hidup Peter Mendelson!

HIDUP LABOUR! HIDUP PETER MANDELSON!

i miss my NUS days ..this is an excellent speech by P.M endelson

Labour's Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Peter Mandelson's speech to the 2009 Labour Party Annual Conference:

Conference, let me say after these years away – it's good to be back home.

When the Prime Minister asked me to return to the Cabinet last October I felt a lot of things.

Shock.  I think I was as shocked as most of you were.

Surprise.  My network of informants had let me down on this one.

Apprehension.  Returning to the goldfish bowl of British politics – and all my fans in the media. It made me pause.

I had been in this movie before - and its sequel - and neither time did I like the ending.

But I did not hesitate for too long.

The pull was too great.

The pull of coming back to serve my country when it was in the midst of the global whirlwind that had hit us.

The pull of coming back to serve this Prime Minister, our leader, Gordon Brown – who was gripping this financial crisis, leading the fightback against it when so many others seemed caught in the headlights.

But there was something else. It was the pull of coming back to serve our party.

I did not choose this party.  I was born into it.

It is in my blood and in my bones.

I love working for this party and those who work so hard for it – even if, at times, perhaps not everyone in it has loved me.

I understand that.  I made enemies, sometimes needlessly.  I was sometimes too careless with the feelings and views of others.

But please accept this. It was for one reason only. I was in a hurry to return this party to where it should be – in government to help the hard-working people of our country.

I know that Tony said our project would only be complete when the Labour Party learned to love Peter Mandelson.

I think perhaps he set the bar a little too high.

Though I am trying my best.

But the fact is our project is far from complete.

A Labour Government has never been more needed.

Needed to fight back against the recession.

Needed to build and secure our future economic strength.

And needed to ensure we pay down debt in a way that is fair and protects jobs, homes and our frontline public services.

And yet, we must face facts.

Electorally, we are in the fight of our lives.

And, yes, we start that fight as underdogs.

But conference let me say this.

If I can come back…,

we can come back.

I came into politics to help remake the Labour Party as a party of Government.

My relationship with Gordon was forged when people said we'd never form a government again.

It made us not just modernisers, but fighters…

and certainly not quitters. 

That spirit still burns as brightly within us now as it did then.

Gordon, I am proud to serve in your Government as you lead the fightback against the global recession.

The policies conceived and executed over the last year have now begun to pull our economy back onto the long road of recovery.

When it mattered, Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling have made, and are making, all the right calls.

Of course, they could have made different choices.  They could have taken David Cameron and George Osborne's advice to let the recession take its course.

Can you imagine if we had?

I hope these two can find the humility to acknowledge that at every point Tory policy would not just have put the recovery at risk but have made this recession deeper, longer and far far worse.

As we get closer to the election, I want to see them and Tory candidates across the country explaining why they wouldn't provide the money to help small businesses and families in this recession when they needed it most.
 
No extra money to boost family incomes.

No money for the tax deferment for business and no VAT cut.

No additional money to help those who have tragically lost their jobs.

No funding for the car scrappage scheme.

They got it plain wrong at every step along the way and I say to every Labour member and campaigner across the country.

Do not let them off the hook.

I certainly will not.

Conference, the foundation of all that we want to achieve is a strong economy.

So what does that mean?

It means continuing to limit the recession's damage to our economy because when private demand plummets governments must step in.

It means, once we are through the recession – and only when this is clearly the case -  we will tackle the deficit without eating into the fabric of people's lives.

And it means investing in future growth.

On all three counts, the Tories are on the wrong side of the argument.

I tell you.  Withdrawing our help for the economy now as Mr Osborne demands would choke off recovery before it has even properly begun.

Not for the first time, Boy George is sailing close to the wind.

There are encouraging signs that the economy is picking up.  But recovery remains fragile and uncertain, especially in manufacturing and one of its cornerstones, the car industry.

Our car scrappage scheme has been so successful the money is running out.  The industry has asked that the scheme be topped up.  Conference, we cannot do everything but that does not mean doing nothing.  So today I am extending our popular car scrappage scheme with extra money for an additional 100,000 cars and vans.

In support of our car industry too, this government will stand behind Vauxhall workers in Ellesmere Port and Luton where the workforce themselves have been the main driver of change.

And the same goes for Jaguar Land Rover too.

But all of this only makes sense if we continue to invest in our country's future growth.  It is growth that will see off recession. It is growth that is key to paying down debt.


More than ten years ago I spoke to this conference as Trade and Industry Secretary about how we needed to renew the British economy and build it around knowledge, science, innovation and enterprise.

But this isn't 1998. This is a different world.

China and India are undergoing the greatest revolution in the economic history of the world.

The greatest financial crisis of modern times also requires us to rethink our growth model for Britain.

Of course, we should be proud of our record.

Production is up by a third.  More businesses. More research. More people than ever at university.   More people learning new skills although still not yet enough technicians being recruited for our new industries at the heart of our growth strategy.

Some people think that Britain is a post-industrial country that doesn't make anything anymore.

Well, someone needs to tell them that we are still the world's sixth biggest manufacturer.

And we will remain a modern manufacturing nation as long as I and the Government remain in our jobs.

But we do need to accept that, during this time, we have not got everything right.

The truth is growth was so strong we started to take it for granted. We nurtured finance – not wrongly, but we should have done more to nurture our other strengths as well.

The potential is there in Britain – we know that. In the services sector, the creative sector, the biosciences sector and in hi-tech advanced manufacturing. 

But to release this potential we need a clear plan for growth and this is my mission.

First, with Labour in office, there will be no cap on talent in this country.   People with university degrees and skills earn more, climb higher and create more value.
 
The Tories think that more means worse. We don't agree.  Britain gains when every person who is capable can get the chance to go to university, get an apprenticeship or a new skill.
 
But to make this possible in a tough public spending environment we all need to contribute – government, individuals and employers.

Second. I want to see an innovation nation. Science is one of the jewels in the crown of Labour's years in office. And we want closer links between businesses and universities so that good ideas don't stop at the research lab or the library door.

We're one of the world's biggest investors in Research & Development. But we still do the R better than the D and that must change.

Third. We're going to do more to put finance at the service of industry by building up new public channels to deliver private funds to innovative and fast growing companies.

Less financial engineering and a lot more real engineering.

Fourth – no more saying: the market on its own will always sort it out, like some kind of dogma.

Instead, in my department, over the last eight months, we've said: "this is viable, and it's important, but the market alone won't get it off the ground. And we can help make it happen".

We've committed three quarters of a billion pounds to new manufacturing innovation in Britain.

Investing in low carbon cars and aircraft. New digital platforms. Plastic electronics. Life sciences. Industrial biotechnology. Wind turbine development and wave power.

This isn't us picking winners as happened too often in the 1970s, when more often the losers were picking us.

This is us giving public support to new technologies without which they may never get off the drawing board.

Finally, we're committed to making sure that the benefits of investment in growth are felt in every part of this country.

The Tories say abolish the Regional Development Agencies.   We say "go for growth, let's see what you can do."

This is the industrial activism we need more of in this country and I am determined to provide it.

Where are the Tories on all this?  When did you last hear David Cameron or George Osborne last say anything about Britain's industrial future?

I would ask Ken Clarke but his mobile phone and blackberry always seem to be turned off.   Or given that he keeps privately agreeing with me, perhaps David Cameron has cut it off.

The truth is these Tories have nothing to say about an active government economic role because their dogma prevents them.

They just don't get it.

This failure, I believe, speaks to a wider truth about our opponents.

David Cameron has been pursuing a strategy not of real change, but of concealment.

Yes, they have made changes to their presentation.  The image-making department has done its work and done it well.  Who am I to criticise?

But the Tories seem not to realise that change has to be more than a slogan.  The first rule of any marketing strategy is that it must reflect the product it is selling.

And what is becoming more evident by the day is that, in their case, it doesn't.  The two faces of the Conservative Party are increasingly on show. The one they want to present to the public of a revamped Tory party. And the other that betrays the reality of traditional right-wing Conservatism.

You know, the Tories seek to give the impression that somehow they have learnt the lessons from New Labour and our party's march back to the centre ground.

Well, the Tories may have skimmed the headline summary of the New Labour manual.  But they never bothered to read the book.

If they had they would know what real change involves.  They would know what a painful process it is.

We in this hall know what it took to make the change. Show me what has really changed in the Conservative Party.

The truth is that the old Tory right that was rejected in 1997 are quietly feeling at home again with David Cameron.

At home with his tax plans.

At home with the barely disguised glee a new generation of Conservatives is showing at the prospect of deep and savage cuts to public services.

And at home with a position on Europe that sees them aligned with extremists and sidelined in Britain's biggest market.

That is not change.  Its the same old Tory policies.

So lets take on the arguments about change.

This will be a "change" election.  Either we offer it, or the British public will turn to others who say that they do.

Of course, we must celebrate our record and be proud of defending it.  We did fix the roof while the sun was shining.

We can look at the way we have turned around our public services, our record on tackling poverty at home and abroad, our role as a force for progressive social change.  The minimum wage and the new rights for working mothers and fathers.  And we can feel proud.

But let us remember that you win elections on the future, not the past.

Do not make the mistake of sitting back and expecting people to be grateful.

We must not translate the pride we feel in what we have achieved into a defence of the status quo.

Just as we fight against a Conservative Party that is still steeped in the old Tory attitudes of the 1980s, we must not allow ourselves to fall into old Labour thinking.

The British people have their eyes on the future and so must we.

We are the true progressives.

We must be restless for change, impatient to do more for the hard-working people we serve, unafraid to embrace new reform, new policies and new thinking where it is needed.


We need to think like insurgents, not incumbents.

To challenge. To argue for change. To campaign.

To be the real change-makers in British politics.

This is our task.

We need to fight back.  Of course we do.

But to do so successfully it is up to us to explain – with confidence, clarity and conviction – what the choice is.

The choice between a Conservative party whose judgements on the credit crunch were wrong, or a party providing leadership in the toughest of times.

A choice between a party that lurches to the right the second it sees a chance of doing so, or our party that is resolutely in the progressive centre.

A choice between a party that does not understand the new world we live in or even what has happened in the last year, or a Labour Party that knows the world has changed and we have to change with it.

Experience and change with Gordon's leadership.

Or the shallowness of David Cameron.

In one way or another I have been part of the last five election campaigns this Party has fought.

Let me tell you a secret.  Deep down in my guts I always knew who was going to win. Even, sadly, in 1992.

This time, it is not cut and dried.

This election is up for grabs.

So conference, we may be the underdogs.

But if we show the British people that we have not lost the fighting spirit and appetite for change which has defined this party throughout its history then we can and will win.

Win for our Party.

Win for our country.

Win for the British people.

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PAS ke, UMNO ke, sama sahaja dua kali lima

Saya hanya mampu tersenyum sahaja apabila membaca artikel di dalam the star pada hari ini yang memaparkan komen ahli dan pimpinan PAS di bahagian permatang pauh yang dikatakan tidak setuju dengan pencalonan Mansor Othman sebagai calon pilihanraya kecil yang akan

Saya tidak terkejut dengan reaksi ini kerana saya sudah lama beranggapan bahawa di antara kebanyakan orang pas dan kebanyakan orang umno, jiwa politik nya sama sahaja.

Sudah tentu ada kepimpinan pas yang saya anggap tidak termasuk dalam kategori 'sama sahaja dengan umno' ini. Contohnya YAB tuan guru nik abdul aziz sendiri, yb husam musa, yb khalid samad, dan beberapa yang lain.

Adalah amat merugikan kepada pas pulau pinang umumnya dan pas penanti khususnya jika mereka enggan untuk berkompromi dan menerima realiti politik kebersamaan di dalam pakatan rakyat. Mereka sepatutnya, sebagai partai islam, perlu lebih mengingati tazkirah umum yang biasanya mengingatkan ahli ahli pergerakan islam bahawa kepimpinan itu bukanlah sesuatu yang diminta atau dituntut, tetapi amanah yang berat malah di elakkan.

YAB dato nik aziz telah memberi komen bahawa pas penanti perlu ingat bahwa perjanjian pembahagian kawasan sebelum mac 2008 perlu dihormati.

Pas penanti perlu sedar percaturan mereka sebenarnya memalukan ahli pas di tempat lain, yang ramai berpendapat permintaan pas penanti secara terbuka ini seolah olah membuka pekung di dada. Malah ini juga seolah olah menunjukkan ada ahli pas atau bahagian pas yang sanggup berbuat apa sahaja untuk menuntut kuasa.

Pada pendapat saya juga luahan pas penanti ini merupakan satu peringatan kepada kepimpinan pas sendiri dan kepimpinan pakatan rakyat umumnya bahwa rata rata di kalangan ahli pas ada juga yang masih berjiwa politik machiaveli sebegini. Namun tidak dinafikan di dalam pkr dan DAP juga pasti wujuk elemen elemen yang sama.

Mungkin juga ahli dan kepimpinan pas penanti masih ingat waktu waktu dahulu ketika mereka menjadi pembangkang di bawak dato seri anwar sebagai YB permatang pauh mereka yang merupakan pemimpin umno sewaktu itu. Penentangan pas penanti ini juga boleh dibaca sebagai satu signal tidak setuju mereka kepada YB permatang pauh skrg itu sendiri dan juga selaku ketua pembangkang.agak ganjal bukan jika ketua pembangkang tidak mendapat sokongan penuh koalisi sendiri di dalam ahli parlimen sendiri?

Jika ini berlaku di parlimen pekan contohnya, pasti blog blog pembangkang dan malaysiakini dan sbg nya akan memberi komen panjang ttg bagaimana org BN tak setuju dengan PM.

Memang benarlah di dalam politik ini, terutamanya di dalam politik melayu, luka luka yang lama pasti sukar untuk sembuh. Pas penanti pasti masih ingat betapa sukarnya mereka sewaktu mereka dulu dalam pembangkang.kini mungkin sudah jadi kerajaan, tatapi nampak gayanya mereka masih juga tidak gembira.

Saya amat tertarik utk melihat bagaimana perkembangan isu penanti ini akan menjadi pembuka bicara isu isu hangat lain sewaktu pemilihan pas june nanti.

Apa yang penting, saya ingin mengingatkan rakan rakas pas saya, terutamanya yang progresif di lembah kelang, agar jangan terlalu naif memikirkan bahwa orang orang politik pas itu semuanya baik baik dan tidak ada machiaveli elemen.jika anda ingat kami di dalam umno menular dengan masalah korupsi dan perebutan kuasa, sedarlah bahawasanya di dalam pas pun ada juga dua kali lima sahaja.

Pengalaman saya di kelantan menunjukkan bahwaya korupsi konsesi balak contohnya, bukan sahaja menular di kalangan ahli politik umno, malah juga di kalangan ahli politik pas.

Mahu atau tidak, inilah lumrah politik yang sangat mengharukan. Malangnya, inilah politik orang melayu.

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Corruption in UMNO

The case in the picture involves a particular Mohd Nor Awang, former seremban umno division vice chief (naib ketua bahagian). He was caught on tape by another UMNO branch chief (ketua cawangan) taman zaiton indah area, Rezwat Shahril who cleverly trapped Mohd Nor by having a tape recorder in his pocket while the whole event unfolds.

According to Ms Noorfazlin hamdan the DPP in the first case, at a parking lot behind restoran negeri taman catleya in senawang at 12.20pm 1st august 2008, mohd nor offered and gave rezwat RM200 and a 'chai list'

A 'chai list' is a list of preferable candidates in an lection/contest aligned to a particular group.in this case, the chai list refers to the list of candidates aligned to Mohd Nor.

On the 2nd of Aug 2008, at 430pm in seremban center point, Mohd Nor met with rezwat again and handed him RM500.

Mohd Nor now claims trial at the high court of malaya.

This is not the first of many such cases in UMNO, nor would it be the last of it as well.

Corruption such as these in UMNO are unfortunately rampant, to say the least. It is one those cancerous practices in UMNO, across board at grassroot level, all the way to the top.

Of course there are exceptions. Well, it is also unfortunate that nowadays UMNO politicians who are considered absolutely free of such practices at any level are considered, exceptions.

What is more startling is the way corruption is practiced in UMNO.

Such as in above, many of these cases are carried in broad daylight, and even worse, in public designated areas.

These shows how most of them aren't ashame of comitting such dispicable acts, and how much these criminal habits has become a norm in the party.

On top of that, looking at the amount of money involved, one cannot be blamed to be puzzled by how 'cheap' the grassroot 'support' in UMNO can come by, or supposedly so.

For a mere RM700 per branch/cawangan, once can assume to have 'gained' support from that particular branch.

There are usually 150 branch in every division. But you only need a mere 80 of those branch to support u to win simple majority in a local division contest.

A simple calculation would show us that probably by a mere RM 60, 000 one can possibly win a seat in an UMNO divisional election.

I say merely RM 60, 000 because for many rich ambitious umno malays out there, that is such a meagre amount, relative not only to the wealth that are increasingly moving upwards in the malay community, but meagre as well to the 'return on investment (ROI) . Many UMNO people nowadays realise that the ROI will come in the forms of federal projects which are usually awarded through umno divisional leaders. Hence, it comes as no surprise that nowadays it can be easily assumed that more than 70 percent of the top UMNO divisional leaders across the country are either contractors themselves, or they would own shares in a particular contractor company, one way or another.

Of course there is nothing wrong in being a contractor. But what many UMNO people do not find shameful these days are the act of 'buying' their way to UMNO power, in order to position themselves better for more return on their earlier investments.

Orang UMNO ramai yang tidak mahu bercakap tentang rasuah di dalam UMNO kepada orang di luar UMNO, terutamanya kepada kaum bukan melayu. Malah, ramai juga yang tidak gembira jika ada ahli UMNO sendiri yang bercakap tentang rasuah di dalam UMNO, terutama kepada kaum bukan melayu. Tetapi mereka tidak malu untuk memberi dan menerima rasuah. Bagi ahli UMNO yang terlibat di dalam rasuah, ini sudah menjadi sebahagian daripada lumrah permainan politik. Ada juga yang beranggapan adalah naif untuk menghapuskan politik rasuah kerana ramai lagi yang mahu cari jalan mudah untuk menjadi berkuasa, dan ramai lagi yang sanggup untuk menerima rasuah, demi untuk sesuap nasi.

UMNO is by no means the only party afflicted with corruption practices. But it is without doubt the worse of the whole lot, inside and outside BN.

UMNO members knows about how rampant corruption is in the party. It is also without doubt, that money politics (the so called politically correct term for bribery that UMNO likes to hide themselves behind) were rampant during the UMNO general assembly.

It is also true that at both national and divisional level, there is a subscribed view that every individual will only have a limited amount of time to make as much money as possible from their place in UMNO.

As my friends in UMNO usually says, kalau tak jatuh dalam poket kita, jatuh dalam poket orang lain. (If it doesn't go into my pocket, it will go to others)

I find it rare to find people who seriously believe that a corrupt UMNO is bound for a downfall, especially in the coming national elections.

But for those who have already pocketed enough for a nice apartment at KLCC and a new BMW 5 series, what is there to lose anyways?

-Wmf is an umno party member who believes that the only way to totally eradicate corruption in umno is by umno losing power in the next election. He believes that a new generation of umno members will be able to reshape a new and stronger umno in opposition. He is confident that a prolonged Pakatan government will inherit the same corrupt people who are now rampaging UMNO paving a return of UMNO possibly after 15 years of opposition. Power as they say, corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely-

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Better brain drain, rather than brain in the drain?

I found this advert in the star very offensive to the whole idea of One Malaysia

How can we allow a foreign country to advertise in our most highest selling daily english newspaper the virtues of migrating to their country?

This is outright mercenary act (in print!)

Some friends of mine say to me better brain drain than brain in the drain

But I tell them to have a little bit more faith in the future

And we shud all condemn the publishing of such advertisement inviting migration to other country, at a loss to this nation

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The day I stand proud to be an 'Erdogan'

The chairperson of that eventful forum in Davos must be constantly thinking the consequences of his actions to the middle east peace initiative. America is certainly hot on his tails.

Recep Teyyep Erdogan the Turkish prime minister, furious for not given equal speaking time by the chairperson as compared to Shimon Peres the president of Israel who had more than 25minutes to himself, walked out of the forum. Ban Kin Moon was left speechless.

The scene of Erdogan walking out of the forum was shown live across all major channels worldwide. Back in Ankara and Istandul, he returned home as a national hero.

I was not captivated by his walk-out, more than I was with the way Erdogan dealt with the whole situation, and how calm he was through out. Yes, he was certainly incensed by the way he felt the forum was being manipulated, but certain he knew that such was possible anyways.

He knows that Israel, of all nations, cannot afford to make an enemy out of Turkey. As a matter of fact, technically, Turkey is a friend of Israel as it is one of only a few Muslim countries in the world, who recocnise Israel and has an Israeli ambassador residing in Ankara. This is in spite of the fact that the islamist party won convincingly in the last few elections in Turkey.

Erdogan chose his words well. He even made peres rose his voice, of which he reminded the israeli president that by raising his voice, peres was trying to evade the truth. It is the art of such masterful debate and mind game that amazes me. Erdogan reminds us that when it matters most, it how we convince the world, that counts.

Erdogan was merely trying to make a simple point. Israel is unable to hide the fact that its insurgent into Gaza merely a few weeks ago, was a bloody,unlawful act of war. But Peres, mindful that all eyes and ears are now convinced of Erdogan's argument, tried his best to describe how militant Hamas is and that Israel is merely trying to defend itself.

Israel for the past few weeks realises that the global perception are against them. Day in and day out, Peres as president of israels now appears in many television series defending the act of IDF, the army of Israel. Ironically, or rather more as propaganda, even its army IDF, means the Israeli Defence Force.

But for all the rabbit that israel can pull out of hat to trick the world and cajole america, it now has a worthy opponent. And it is to their annoyance, that this new enemy in the form Erdogan and his bright savvy young 'armies', is also considered a dear friend by the mighty United States of America.

Erdogan, is the embodiment of the perfect Islamist. A brilliant man, an extraordinary strategist, savvy and diplomatic, he is the worse opponent that Israel or any enemy of islam can expect. How do israel make a devil out of someone who is even willing to sit and debate with israel and host israel in their own homeland?

Israel loaths Turkey, and even more so the islamist in Erdogan and in Turkey. But why are they unable to demonise Turkey the way they do of iran or even hamas?

America for one, needs turkey on their side in the strategic alliance of nato against the emergence of mother russia north of the black sea. And they found the islamist leadership in turkey an unseeming 'friend' as they try to manouver themselves in between the blacksea and the war in iraq. Israel in return must tow the line.

But it is Erdogan's longsightedness in all things strategic that has allowed the Islamist to rule thus far in Turkey, albeit the support by America. The secularist in turkey has been unable to secure the support of their friends in the cia, simply because Erdogan, unlike the former leaders in Rafah, are much more sophisticated. To put it simply, Erdogan is playing the mind games at a totally different level, at which his enemies do not even understand.

When the secularist (or even america and israel) thought that by taking government erdogan would send off the israeli ambassador, he did not do so. When the constitution disallowed erdogan's wife to enter the official prime minister's residence, he merely said "ok, I ll stay at my own house". Erdogan was openly pro EU and pro market, pushing strongly for Turkey's entrance into Brussels, and thus finding new friends in the likes of britain, italy and spain. As members of Nato, it was a strong ally of america in the so called war on terror.

Secularist has almost given up in turkey.israel is trying their best to understand and read his next move.while america now owes turkey, more than otherwise.

Erdogan knew that he is in a much stronger position to walk out of that forum more than he would have 10 years ago, or even 5 years ago. America needs him more than he needs America.

At the same time, by leveraging on unprecedented moves unexpected of a true islamist in dealing with israel, he makes it obvious that the act of israel, is not an act of self defence, nor is it an action by the "jewish people who are devils" as many people in malaysia like to say, but it is simply an act of unlawful war and terror by the zionist government itself.

As erdogan said it himself in the rally today upon his return from davos. " We must be reminded that the enemy of palestine are not the jewish people, or the israeli citizens, but it is the zionist government".

Of course some islamist would like to equate the 3 as the same, but one has to realise that Erdogan was merely trying to remind us, that by having less enemy, you actually move forward faster and more effectively. Why make unnecessary enemies, well at least, why make them all at the same time?

There is an abundance of thinking that the islamist in malaysia must learn from this drama of erdogan in davos.

To start with, shame on those malay islamist who freely make derogatory terms out of the name Erdogan, to subscribe scournfully those with supposed 'reformist' agenda in the islamic movement, and especially, in the so called islamic party.

As a matter of fact, it is downright patronising to equate 'Erdoganism' with any particular individual political leadership in malaysia. Obviously, Erdogan is way beyond our Malay mentality league or any individual politician who may or may not be erdogan's friend. We the islamist in malaysia, has yet reached that level of thinking, well hopefully not for long.

If anything, the islamist in malaysia, cross cultures,race, mazhab,movement and political party affiliation, must realise that as much as we like to hate the zionist army by boycotting mcdonalds and drinking less starbucks, we will go nowhere in saving palestine, as would like to, unless we start moving to the next level of strategizing and thinking.

It is shameful that even as chairman of the oic, the best we could do to save palestine is eat less mcdonalds and feel less guilty by sparing some change in that donation box. And of course, holding concerts, in the name of palestine. Utterly ridiculous.

Paradigm change is what the islamist need in malaysia. And to embrace erdogan and the islamist movement ideals in turkey is abt shifting our strategy towards mastering the mind games, that is much more effective and powerful but certainly more difficult too.

The islamist in malaysia must shift our gear towards learning the more global issues affecting islam, and learning to strategize for islam in a more global view. Many of us talk abt winning the war for palestine, and yet little amongst us the islamist are aware of essential reading materials such as the haaretz, or the jerusalem post.

But it is not just abt palestine. The islamist in malaysia must learn to be global, in the most real sense, the way erdogan is. We need not to talk abt negara islam and scaremongering others with words like hudud, when in reality an islamic world in malaysia shall be achieve in its truest sense when the islamist in malaysia are more sophisticated and intellectual in thinking, leaving behind elements of racism, tribalism, factionalism and all the ism which has divided us islamist and malaysia for so long.

In a more micro level, Usrah systems must be liberated from mere studies of the same books and materials thought for almost 2 generations. Not disregarding the old books by authors fathi yakan and the likes, young islamist must be exposed to literatures written by karen amstrong or even to strategy books by lou tzu.

The liberation of islam and islamist in malaysia shall draw closer each day. The old will die, and with them, old ideas and old cultures. The young must be brave to bring change, for we do not want to be just mere followers in the global agenda of islam.

islam is a beautiful religion that has been at the end of much fitnah by the act of its own followers.islam is a religion, whose truth can defend itself. And we the young islamist, must rise to the occasion of change, for the rise of islam shall not wait for us.

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Lailatul qadar

 
 "Lepas basuh pinggan, ikut Abah pergi masjid," kata Abah separuh memerintah.
 
 Aku memandang kepada Emak. Emak angguk sahaja. Maksudnya emak mahu aku
 ikut Abah solat subuh ke masjid. Jangan melawan.
 Nampaknya, aku kena batalkan niat untuk sambung tarik gebar selepas kenyang bersahur.
 
 Aku bonceng di belakang. Kami tidak pakai helmet. Kopiah sahaja.
 
 Ganjil. Dalam cahaya suram menjelang subuh, aku lihat kubah masjid berada di tanah. Bukan di bumbung masjid. Ajaib.
 
 Abah macam tidak nampak keganjilan itu. Aku cuit bahu dia dan tunjukkan ke arah kubah yang berada di tanah.
 
 Mungkin kubah itu tengah sujud fikir aku.
 
 "Kenapa?" tanya Abah.
 
 "Lailatuqadar, " kata aku dengan jari masih menunjuk kepada kubah.
 
 "Kepala otak engkau. Berapa lama engkau tak ke masjid? Diorang tengah renovate masjid la. Bumbung masjid bocor.. pasal tu kubah tu dorg angkat letak kat tanah." sambung Abah.
 
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ISA

I am ashamed and appaled by what had happened during the weekend

UMNO and Barisan must do better than this

God help us..

KOTA BARU: De facto Law Minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim (pic) stuck his neck out against the Government by condemning the use of the Internal Security Act (ISA) against civilians.

He urged the Government to revert to the original purpose of the law, which was to curb communism.

“It is time for the Government to go back to the original spirit of the ISA and it should only be used on armed terrorists or those out to topple the Government by force.

“I am not calling for a repeal of the ISA but for it to be used only when there is a real threat to national security and not on civilians,” he told a press conference at his home in Pasir Hor here yesterday.

According to Zaid, he was prepared to accept any consequences from his apparent breaking of ranks from the Cabinet over the issue of the ISA.

He said he was also willing to step down as a minister if his actions were deemed to have undermined the Government and Cabinet.

“I do not want to cause any trouble for Pak Lah (Abdullah). I respect what he is trying to change but on the matter of the ISA, I am against imposing it on civilians. I joined his administration to make changes and everybody knows, I am also for a more open-form of press reporting.”

Zaid was commenting on the arrests of Sin Chew Daily reporter Tan Hoon Cheng, Selangor senior executive councillor Teresa Kok and Malaysia Today news portal editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin on Friday under the Act. Tan was released on Saturday.

By using the ISA randomly, Zaid said, the Government was sending a message that it did not trust the capabilities of its own enforcement agencies such as the police in maintaining peace.

“There were ample punitive law to act against lawbreakers without having to invoke the ISA,” Zaid said.

Zaid, who is a Minister in the Prime Minister’s department, said the use of the ISA also creates an impression of selective prosecution as the Government cannot seemingly incarcerate everybody but only a handful.

“In this latest episode of ISA, we (the Government) have generated an impression of selective prosecution since no action was taken against the person who allegedly uttered seditious remarks. We are saying that we are only acting against those who are disloyal to us.”

He said he was glad that Tan was released but was concerned over the continued detention of the other two

Kita semua adalah pendatang

This article is very refreshing

http://kudaranggi.blogspot.com/2008/09/antara-pendatang-dan-penumpang.html

Monday, September 08, 2008

Antara pendatang dan penumpang

Pada mulanya saya agak keberatan nak ulas kekecohan yang berpunca ekoran daripada kenyataan ketua UMNO bahagian Bukit Bendera, Pulau Pinang bernama Ahmad bin Ismail. Sama ada benar atau tidak apa yang didakwa dikatakan olehnya mengenai rakyat Malaysia keturunan Cina bukan persoalannya kerana isu tersebut sudahpun merebak dan mengapi-apikan keadaan.

Jika tidak ditangani dengan cermat, teliti dan bijak, isu itu boleh ditangguk dalam air yang keruh oleh anasir-anasir yang ingin melihat negara ini hancur serta mengundang campur tangan kuasa asing. Dalam zaman dunia tanpa sempadan dan liputan meluas dan segera oleh media elektronik antarabangsa, apa yang berlaku di sesebuah negara itu tidak dapat disembunyi atau dinafikan.

Isu pokok yang dibangkitkan oleh Ahmad Ismail membabitkan persoalan "menumpang" iaitu rakyat Malaysia keturunan Cina adalah penumpang di negara ini. Beliau menjelaskan bahawa ia merujuk kepada zaman pra-Merdeka. Bagaimanapun, sensitiviti rakyat Malaysia keturunan Cina telah terguris.

Saya tidak mengenali secara peribadi Ahmad Ismail, tetapi kenal agak rapat dengan Allahyarham abangnya, Abdul Rahim Ismail, pemilik Syarikat Pembinaan Rahim yang pada satu ketika dahulu agak terkenal sebagai sebuah firma pembinaan Bumiputera yang unggul di Pulau Pinang. Saya tidak tahu apa dah jadi dengan syarikat itu selepas Abdul Rahim meninggal dunia.

Secara peribadi, saya tidak setuju dengan apa yang didakwa dikata oleh Ahmad Ismail atas beberapa sebab.

Bagi saya, hampir 90 peratus rakyat Malaysia, khususnya di Semenanjung, adalah pendatang dan kita semua sebenarnya menumpang hidup di bumi Allah. Kita bukan pemilik kekal tetapi hanya menumpang.

Sebagai contoh, saya sendiri adalah keturunan pendatang yang menumpang hidup di bumi bertuah ini. Datuk nenek di sebelah bapa saya berhijrah dari Makkah dan dari Brunei ke sini manakala di sebelah ibu pula dari Hadhramut, Yaman. Kami adalah pendatang dan penumpang sama seperti hampir semua penduduk negara ini khususnya di Pulau Pinang.

Bagi Ahmad Ismail, dia juga datang dari keluarga pendatang dan menumpang hidup di negara ini. Ahmad Ismail tidak boleh menafikan hakikat bahawa datuk neneknya adalah pendatang dari India untuk menerokai penghidupan yang lebih baik dan selesa di bumi bertuah ini.

Perdana Menteri Abdullah bin Ahmad juga tergolong dalam kategori yang sama. Datuknya di sebelah ibu adalah pendatang dari wilayah Guandong, China. Pendek kata, datuk Pak Lah iaitu bapa Allahyarhamah Kailan bernama Hassan Salleh atau Hah Su Chiang adalah seorang pendatang. Beliau berhijrah ke Tanah Melayu dari wilayah Guandong (Kwantung) pada pertengahan abad ke-19 dan menetap di Bayan Lepas sebagai pekebun getah, pesawah padi dan kemudian saudagar intan berlian.

Najib Tun Razak, Timbalan PM juga berasal daripada keluarga pendatang iaitu dari Sulawesi, Indonesia atau lebih senang disebut orang Bugis manakala sepupunya Hishamudin Hussein tidak terlepas daripada darah keturunan Turki.

Datuk nenek mantan PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad juga pendatang dari Kerala, India manakala ibu Almarhum Tunku Abul Rahman berasal dari negeri Siam (Thailand).

Kesultanan Melayu Melaka pun dibuka oleh orang pendatang dari Sumatra bernama Parameswara, seorang anak raja atau bangsawan beragama Hindu.

Dalam sejarah kesultanan Melayu, kita dapati ada yang ditubuh oleh pendatang dari Bugis dan ada pula dari Hadhramut selain dari Minangkabau.

Hampir semua orang Melayu di sini berasal dari luar Tanah Melayu tetapi diiktiraf sebagai "bangsa Melayu" oleh Perlembagaan Persekutuan. Kita adalah "Melayu mengikut takrifan Perlembagaan" iaitu beragama Islam, mengamalkan adat resam Melayu dan bertutur dalam bahasa Melayu. Malangnya, bahasa Melayu nampaknya dimatikan oleh orang Melayu (UMNO) sendiri apabila dinamakan sebagai bahasa Malaysia.

Oleh itu, orang Arab seperti Syed Hamid Albar dan saya, orang Aceh seperti Sanusi Junid, orang India seperti Kader Sheikh Fadzir dan Nor Mohamed Yakcop, orang Bugis seperti Najib, orang Minang seperti Rais Yatim, orang Jawa seperti Mohamad Rahmat dan yang lain seperti dari Madura, Pulau Boyan, Siam, Burma, Yunnan (China) dan selatan Filipina dengan mudah boleh diiktirf sebagai "Melayu".

Mereka diterima sebagai orang Melayu tidak kira sama ada mereka bertutur bahasa Melayu atau tidak di rumah umpamanya si Arab berbahasa Arab, si Jawa berbahasa Jawa dan si Minang berbahasa Minang atupun si Mamak berbahasa Tamil.

Bahasa-bahasa yang disebut itu bukan bahasa Melayu dan jika dilihat dari sudut Perlembagaan Persekutuan, tidak boleh diterima atau diiktiraf sebagai bangsa Melayu. Walau bagaimanapun, atas kepentingan dan faktor politik, semuanya diterima sebagai Melayu dan Bumiputera.

Oleh itu, adalah tidak adil untuk menuding jari kepada orang Cina yang juga kaum pendatang sama seperti orang Arab, India, Aceh, Minang, Batak, Mandailing, Jawa, Madura mahupun Bugis, sebagai menumpang di negeri ini. Kita tidak boleh menafikan bahawa sebilangan besar datuk nenek orang Cina telah berhijrah ke negeri ini semasa Kesultanan Melayu Melaka, bahkan kesultanan-kesultanan terdahulu di Kedah mahupun Terengganu dan Kelantan serta semasa Francis Light berjaya menipu Sultan Kedah untuk menduduki Pulau Pinang pada 1786.

Kita adalah kaum pendatang yang menumpang hidup di negeri ini. Golongan yang boleh diiktiraf sebagai orang asal atau anak bumi tulen adalah mereka yang kita kenali sebagai Negrito, Jakun, Semang, Jahut, Orang Laut, Orang Darat, Senoi dan suku kaum masyarakat Asli lain yang masih menjadi penghuni belantara.

Kita tidak harus lupa akan sumbangan dan pengorbanan semua kaum dan suku kaum untuk membangunkan Malaysia sama ada dari sudut ekonomi, kemasyarakatan, keselamatan dan yang paling penting kesepakatan dan perpaduan. Semua orang yang kena dan seharusnya membayar cukai, berbuat demikian tanpa mengira kaum atau asal keturunan, sama ada pendatang atau penumpang.

Kita semua adalah rakyat Malaysia.

Posted by Syed Imran at Monday, September 08, 2008

About the writer

Syed Imran

Ampang, Selangor, Malaysia

Arab-Malaysian born in Penang, Malaysia. Ex-Bernama journalist (1971-1998) and former press secretary to Minister in PM's Department.

View my complete profile

Umno oh umno

Is this what we stand for?

What a bloody disgrace these lot.

And that includes that rascist up north in bukit bendera.

Should kick the whole lot out of the party!

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Kuittho

This is just ridiculous!

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Manglish

The follow are the other "non-sensical" translations which a friend of mine alerted me earlier.

1. Captain jack sparrow ( pirates of the caribbean )

Translated: kapitan jack pipit ?????

2. "I'm leaving u . Period." (From a movie)

Translated: "saya tinggal kan awak. Haid."

Malaysia oh malaysia..

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Tandas tidak bekerja

Recently, I had the pleasure of travelling down to jb on train.I have always loved travelling on trains, going back to my fosis days when after my morning law classes, I wud then take the train to travel up and down the country to train young budding muslims to be involved in uk student politics, only to return back to nottingham by late evening, and sometime in the wee hours of the winter mornings. Those were really the best of days (sigh..)



I took this picture in one of the carriages. Malaysians (translators) has always been known for either their bad english, or bad malay.



In this case, I'm betting that the translator must have been one of those pj boys/girls who had gone through a more anglophilic education, hence the notorious malay translation.



For the benefit of my british muslim friends who are reading this, the malay translation given on the picture for wc out of order is translated in malay as "wc is off work today".



There was this another joke in town, when u go to the movies to watch cowboy movies or a movie involving a shooting scene, the translation in malay wud sometime include words such as "itik!" Why? "itik" is the malay word for duck, as in the donald duck.



But instead of translating duck into "tunduk", which is the true meaning of take cover, so everytime the guy shoots at the villain, the word "itik" comes out.



I wonder sometimes whether those translator do even watch those movies that they are translating.



Ps: to my sime darby friends, I notice that those adverts that sd are putting up as translation to "sime darby- building sustainable futures" is also wrong. They are now put up as sime darby- membina masa depan yang "mampan", but this is incorrect, because sustainable should be translated as mapan without the m in the middle.



Mampan means kukuh or strong.unless of course u meant a strong future, which I don't think you do.



Selamat berpuasa everyone!







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Confidence crisis

This years merdeka celebration has come and go without much fanfare. Many feels that this has probably been one of the worst merdeka celebration in recent times. In contrast to last years extravagant and lavish celebration, this year has been really quiet.

It was almost as if that the whole malaysian nation has decided to cooperate in not putting up as many jalur gemilang as possible, and none of those ridiculous "kek jalur gemilang terpanjang didunia" attempts as well.

On the one hand, it is a positive thing that we encourage a less lavish merdeka celebration, for it is a after all a remembrance of those who has sacrificed for the indepence of this nation.

Nevertheless, it is almost a general consensus that there is a feeling amongst many malaysians, a feeling of despair, a feeling of uncertainty, and a feeling of dissatisfaction towards a many things which has happened and still happening in this country.

Politics, and the economy.

I think I'm tired of commenting on the political state of this country.

But it is a worrying concern to me though, that each day, the economic situation in this country seems to get worse.

I thought the budget was quite good.certainly more goodies than last year albeit the fact that borneo received a whole chunk of it, but really, they deserve it after being ignored for a long long time now.

It is a concern though that again, this is a deficit budget.that means we are spending more than what we are earning.

Its like using the american express lah, no money also can budget to spend.

The vistage-mier ceo confidence index showed that the confidence index in the country amongst its top corporate people are at the lowest ever. It is even 41 points lower than it was at the same time last year.

It has identified the following items as upcoming challenges:

1. Current and expected economic conditions to worsen

2.Lower revenue and lower growth expectations

3.Higher oil prices

4. Political uncertainty

5. Dissatisfaction with broadband service

6. Efficiency of public service

7. Rising living cost

I think we are now living in a very challenging period. interest rate being capped at the current level, will only leave us all guessing, at what point really is the inflation now. The official figure was something like 6 percent or something, but then again we are such a protected/subsidized economy that it is almost impossible to really identify how inflated the economy is at the moment.

A report by a foreign research house says that malaysia will face a recession by 3rd quarter next year, and it may be worse than 1997.

I guess the cycle is back at the bottom now.

Hang on to your seats.fasten the seatbelts!






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Imam Masjid klcc

The imam of the masjid was talking abt prophet yousuf

And how he had to go through the tribulations of being accused of committing adultery with another woman

At the end of his ceramah, the imam goes

" You see , prophet yousuf was accused of adultery at that time because he is not yet married (single)

Now imagine if he s a married man with a family, he ll probably be accused of sodomy instead . sekian assalamualaikum"

And then he stopped his ceramah on that note!

I , like many others, was left stumped by such surprising anecdotal remark!

I could hear murmurs and some small laughters echoing around the prayer hall

There and then I thought to myself, barisan has certainly got a long way to go vis a vis the anwar saga part 2.

I mean hey, if we can't convince the imam how do we convince the ma'mums?

And the real joke is, the bloody trial has not even started yet!

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Traffic jam at 11am

It took me almost 3 hours to travel to work when this happened

Who to blame?

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Lunch with Jim Rogers

Had the pleasure of having lunch with the man himself recently.

A true invesment guru!

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Pak lah in action

How I spent my saturday night

Hmmm...

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Boy bersanding dalam baju melanau

Kepada bebudak smapk yang gagal datang ke miri dan juga kepada yang terlepas kapal terbang :)

Muhd Firdaus dan Nurul Adha

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