Swift US justice closes Saddam chapter

"It was very quick. He died right away," said one Iraqi official who was a witness. "We heard his neck snap,” said another official. A videographer hired to record the execution said: “I saw fear. He was afraid.”

The photo right is from Al-Jazeera website, and read their story here.

This morning the US government (read: The Bush family) got what it wanted - Saddam Hussein was hanged to death at an undisclosed location.

It was a swift end for the former democratically elected president of Iraq. He was charged in a reformed Iraqi court for crimes against humanity for the killing of 148 of his fellow citizens in Dujail in 1982.

In November he was found guilty, on Tuesday his appeal dismissed and today, hanged.

US president says this is a turning point for the Iraqis. It’s funny that he should say that. After all it was his regime which undemocratically unseated Saddam in a 2003 invasion. The justification of the invasion itself remains highly doubtful, if not riddled with lies.

Then, in the name of democracy, a US-set up judiciary with US-trained Iraqi judges and lawyers tried Saddam for his crimes against humanity. The puppet Iraqi government was keen in the pursuit of orders from Washington to punish Saddam, the brutal dictator.

Saddam’s never recognised the court which tried him and till the end claimed that he was still the president and labelled the Americans as invading terrorists.

There is no peace in Iraq today - Sunnis and Shiites are engaged in sectarian violence and December becomes the deadliest month of 2006 for US troops in Iraq. December was also shaping up to be one of the worst months for Iraqi civilian death

Now with the most hated man by the Bush family gone, we can expect jubilation from the long suffering Shiites and the Kurds. At th same time, there will be reprisals from Saddam’s Sunni. It will also bring about some anger among the Arabs over the way the Americans have dictated the rule of law in their backyard.

The photo right shows how the pro-Bush media looks at the hanging. This is from the UK Sun, and their story is here.

But more importantly, lets just hope this execution will not allow Bush and his fellow backers to escape from their crimes against humanity in invading Iraq and then creating a civil war that has put the locals there in deeper trouble than before.

I am not a Saddam supporter but I think any form of punishment against his brutal regime should have come from the Iraqis themselves, at their own timetable, without the backing of an invading army that disregarded democracy and rule of law.

The world today

This haunting image is NOT of the Allied soldiers in World War II. This is NOT Dunkirk or
Iwo Jima.

This is actually in Afghanistan in 2006. These are wounded US soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division.

They are being evacuated from Kamdesh in Afghanistan after suffering shrapnel wounds in a fierce battle with Islamic militants.

This photo is among those shortlisted for Time magazine’s Best Photos of the Year.

Click here to see the remaining photos.

Washed away in the floods

So far the floods in Johor, Pahang, Melaka and Negeri Sembilan have caused the evacuation of about 65,000 people nationwide, as of today.

Ten people had been killed and a loss amounting to RM81 million is being mentioned.

So what has the government done so far? Well for one, it doled out RM150 to each family in Johor (although some said on the spot that their losses were close to RM20,000 range!).

And then the government went on a defensive spin in saying that it had issued a proper warning about the floods. This despite it earlier saying that the floods were an extraordinary happening caused by the highest rainfall in over a hundred years.

Of course, they will not admit now that they were actually preparing for the floods in East Coast - not in Johor.

Now, the government issues a proper warning, asking everyone to be prepared for a second wave of floods as a result of heavy rain expected from tomorrow till Sunday.

The funny bit is that, while we see the deputy premier and the Johor MB making their compulsory rounds to meet the victims, other ministers, state leaders and even state officials are missing.

Why? Have they been washed away in the floods?

Nope. It’s because, as mentioned by a DAP Johor leader, they are all on holiday. The DAP leader wants the prime minister to sack these missing leaders and state officials for dereliction of duty.

The only problem with that - PM himself is on a holiday.

The magic of Hatter’s Castle

This is Hatter’s Castle in Carey Island. It is a relic from the colonial past, believed to be built sometime in the 1920s by the British/Dutch planters.

Today, it sits amid a quiet and peaceful surrounding in the interior of Carey Island. The castle’s renovation and maintenance is wonderfully undertaken by Golden Hope, who owns the vast palm oil plantation in the island which is just 90 minutes away from Kuala Lumpur.

When my family and I 'stumbled' upon this castle during a picnic stop in Carey Island on Christmas Day, we were truly struck by the magnificent structure of this old building.

It is occupied by a Datuk nowadays and word has it that his family and him are generous hosts who openly welcome visitors to their home.

Unfortunately the family was not in the day I was there! It was a pity as it would have been wonderful to see the interior of this castle.

Outside, with its big open area, the castle stands alone in this part of the island. Apparently, there are several other old colonial buildings in other parts of the island, all maintained by Golden Hope.

An excellent anagram

What an anagram, this is. Excellent, I thought, when I first saw it.

But first, what is an anagram? It is a noun and means a word or phrase formed by the letters of another in different order.

And now to the excellent anagram:

The cigarette company = I pay them to get cancer.

source: mel k alt.anagram

It’s a wet, wet Christmas

It has been a wet, wet yearend for so many fellow Malaysians.

While the general situation of the flood is under-control, reports are still coming out that the number of evacuees are increasing.

We still have towns continue to be inundated with water. At the same time, there are also looters on the prowl.

The holidays season is one that will be remembered for all the wrong reasons by the affected people. Click here to read a blogger’s tale of the floods in Segamat.

It is rather strange that only certain parts of Malaysia had such a heavy rainfall. I was in Port Dickson on Saturday and as the picture above indicates, there weren’t any rain in this beach holiday destination.

Of course the clouds were overcast and sun was nowhere in sight, but still with flood just less than 100 km away, this place was still attracting the city folks to enjoy the long weekend.

In the meantime, here’s Merry Christmas to all. Hope the wet weather will not dampen the festivity spirit!

Winning, not winning, not losing in Iraq

Confused? Read on. This came from the US President himself.

Q: Mr. President, less than two months ago, at the end of one of the bloodiest months in the war, you said: Absolutely, we're winning. Yesterday, you said: We're not winning; we're not losing. Why did you drop your confident assertion about winning?

BUSH: My comments — the first comment was done in this spirit: I believe that we're going to win. I believe that — and, by the way, if I didn't think that, I wouldn't have our troops there. That's what you've got to know. We're going to succeed.

My comments yesterday reflected the fact that we're not succeeding nearly as fast as I wanted, when I said it at the time, and that the conditions are tough in Iraq, particularly in Baghdad...

And I want the enemy to understand that this is a tough task, but they can't run us out of the Middle East; that they can't intimidate America.

They think they can. They think it's just a matter of time before America grows weary and leaves; abandons the people of Iraq, for example.

And that's not going to happen.

Transcript of Bush conference.

A penny for your thot, a ringgit for your pee

Toilets represent the level of development of a country, said deputy premier Najib yesterday.

How true! A penny for your thought Mr DPM. Just look at our public toilets, your pee might want rush back into your body after looking at the dirty bowls, messy floors and much worse the horrible urine stench.

Surely if you were to use the public toilets to gauge our development, then sadly we are far away from the first world standards aspired by the government.

So how do we overcome this problem? Easy, splash more money into building self-cleaning toilets. And charge the public to regain the cost of maintaining it.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall seem to think this will work. Or not, it would not have invested RM400,000 each on 23 high-tech toilets around the shopping belt in the city.

According to DBKL, these air-conditioned toilets have an automatic seat cleaner that washes, scrubs and dries the bowl after every use. The entire toilet will be cleaned in a similar manner after every five users.

Wow! I am impressed. But still a few things bother me:

Firstly, these new gadget toilets seem to be aimed at giving a clean image to the tourists coming in during the 2007 Visit Malaysia Year - to give the city a cool, high-tech feel. If so, what will happen after 2007? Same old state of disrepair?

Secondly, why charge RM1 from the public? Is it to offset the cost of putting these urinals in the city? Why can’t DBKL just upgrade the present public toilets and maintain them properly?

Thirdly, the authorities seem to be sidetracking the real problem, which is one of public apathy. Public toilet users, sadly most of whom are locals, simply don’t care to keep these public loos clean. Instead of education, or even punishing them through punitive actions, DBKL seem to look the other way and install these self-cleaning toilets.

The implication of this is that DBKL is okay with letting the public soil these toilets as it now has self-cleaning loos that can carry the can for such bad public behaviour.

Surely this matter is not going to be solved by a user paying RM1 to pee. In fact, some users might even try to create a bigger mess simply because they had paid so much to relieve themselves!

Time's cartoons of the year

The cartoon above is among the 10 chosen by the Time magazine as its Cartoons of the year.

Click here to see the remaining cartoons.

Crash, Bang and Wallop

I liked the way The Sun (from UK) reported Manchester United’s unexpected loss to West Ham yesterday. Here is an excerpt:

CRASH: His (Alex Ferguson) smile turned to despair as sensational goals from Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba gave Jose Mourinho’s side a stunning last-gasp win at Goodison.

BANG: United missed a host of chances to ease away from Chelsea at the top of the table.

WALLOP: Fergie’s day got worse when Nigel Reo-Coker blew the title race wide open with a thrilling winner that cut United’s lead to just two points.

And what an excellent heading too - Fergie choked by Ham 'n Egg.

India’s she-man to lose medal

Indian athlete Santhi Soundarajan is embroiled in a gender controversy after having reportedly failed a test conducted at the 15th Asian Games in Doha.

She/He now runs the risk of being stripped of the silver medal won in the women's 800 metres. Looking at the photo, can you identify this athlete?

How embarrassing for India. This hugely populated nation managed to win only 10 gold medals, 18 silvers and 26 bronze medals -a shameful distance from China which topped the games with 165 golds, 88 silvers and 63 bronze.

It must be embarrassing for Santhi’s coach who claims he know nothing about the gender of his athlete. Worse still for the Tamil Nadu Athletic Association which is organising a reception for Santhi for winning the silver medal.

But you know what is the most embarrassing aspect of the whole issue? It is the fact that even with a supposedly man running the race, India still ended second in the 800 metres! The race was won by Mariam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain.

Forgotten war victims in Kg Lui

Last Thursday, I went to a Felda scheme in Tementi, Pahang, looking for a story. Along with me was a two-person video crew from office. Anyway, more on that expose soon!

On our way back, we stumbled across a World War II memorial in a place called Kampung Lui, some 35 km from Bahau, Negri Sembilan. Here, about 400 Chinese men, women and children were buried after they were massacred by the Japanese in October 1942.

As an avid reader of the history of Japanese Occupation in Malaya, I was surprised to see this memorial as I has not read about the tragedy nor the memorial.

Anyway, what disappointed me the most was the total lack of proper maintenance of this place of some historic value - overgrown lallangs, rubbish, broken signboards etc.

I have written a special report on it in malaysiakini on Saturday with some comments from historian Prof Khoo Kay Khim. Read it here.

There is also a video clip of the unkept war memorial. View it here.

When moron meets menace

Ex-premier Mahathir called Soros a 'moron' in 1997 and blamed him for the financial crisis. Soros retorted that Mahathir was a "menace to the country" and subsequently called on him to step down.

Today they met for an hour and Mahathir said:

"Soros said he was not involved in the devaluation of the Malaysian currency and that other people were involved. And I have accepted that."

On his part, Hungarian-born Soros said Mahathir did the right thing in pegging the ringgit in the wake of the financial crisis, which helped stabilise the situation.

Shocked? Surprised? Don’t be! After all money could be the bottom line to this new friendship. In the near future, you might hear news about Soros’ Open Society Initiative sponsoring Mahathir's Perdana Leadership Foundation!

So what else is about to change? Will Mahathir have a change of heart on his decision to sack his deputy in 1998 on moral grounds?

And how about this for a first-class conspiracy theory? Mahathir, Soros and Anwar joining forces to lead a new front to change the world (or maybe they can start with Malaysia).

Achieving targets

Government’s New Year present

The government plans to give all of us a New Year present! Beginning Jan 1 toll rates for five major highways will be raised.

That’s not new, I know. Our ministers have been talking about it for some months now just to prepare us for the hike. But the real news is the amount of the hike that is going to hit our pockets.

Reuters carried a sourced-story today saying that the toll rates will go up as high as 60 percent - that is the government’s New Year present for us.

Sources also told malaysiakini that this steep increase will affect the Damansara-Puchong Highway (LDP).

The other highways - Damansara-Puchong Highway (LDP), Guthrie Corridor Expressway, Kesas-Shah Alam Highway, Karak Highway and Grand Saga Cheras-Kajang Highway - will see an increase of 10 percent.

An official announcement is expected tomorrow.

I see public resentment against Pak Lah’s government just multiplying next year.

The government too must have sensed that. Otherwise they would not have had a secret briefing for all editors of local media (excluding malaysiakini), asking them to tone down their reports on any ruckus from the grassroots over the hike.

State media may be silenced but how do you keep the public from showing their anger on the ground?

The problems with loose rubbers

“The issue is serious because about one in every five times a condom is used in India it either falls off or tears, an extremely high failure rate.”

What is the issue? Don’t laugh. It’s about oversized condoms. Apparently international sized rubbers are too big for the men in India!

A two-year study discovered that about 60% of Indian men (men from India) have penises which are between three and five centimetres shorter than international standards used in condom manufacture.

You can read the full report on this study in a BBC report here.

For me, immediately two questions raise:

1. I know they have local condoms in India. Aren’t those made to fit international sizes?

2. If the question to the above is no, why not? Especially when you are manufacturing for your local market?

Reproductive expert Dr Chander Puri says:

“Smaller condoms are on sale in India. But there is a lack of awareness that different sizes are available. There is anxiety talking about the issue. And normally one feels shy to go to a chemist's shop and ask for a smaller size condom."

And I liked the positive spin put by an editor to this issue.

Former editor of the Indian version of the men's magazine Maxim Sunil Mehra said:

“It's not size, it's what you do with it that matters. From our population, the evidence is Indians are doing pretty well.”

Exactly my point too! Bigger, looser rubbers are causing population explosion in India. They should start getting something that fits perfectly.

Confidence and trust

CONFIDENCE:

Once all village people decided to pray for rain. On the day of prayer all people gathered and only one boy came with an Umbrella... that's confidence!

TRUST:

Trust should be like the feeling of a one year old baby when you throw him in the air, he laughs... because he knows you will catch him.

Pot calling kettle black

Is it just the PAS-controlled Kelantan state government that imposes double standards on women?

How about the Umno-dominated Barisan Nasional central government?

The following passage is from the latest issue of the Newsweek magazine:

“Malaysia has often been cited as an Islamic-majority country where women, particularly Muslim women, have successfully risen to senior political and business positions. That's true—but in the past year, critics say, the country has backpedaled. The Parliament amended so-called Islamic family laws to make it easier for a man to take multiple wives and to divorce, and the amended laws now allow a husband to claim a share of an existing wife's property if he takes additional wives. Some female lawmakers rebelled at the changes but were ordered on threat of dismissal from the government to vote for the measures.”

If that's the case, do the deputy premier Najib Razak and his colleagues have the moral authority to criticise the PAS dress-code and talk about indiscriminate acts against women?

Wallets, purses and Kelantanese women

Have a good look at this image, especially if you are a woman working in the retail or restaurant industry in Kota Baru, Kelantan for that is all you can do - just look.

You will not be able to fit into them, courtesy of a dress code in your city.

And if you thought criticisms can revoke the ruling, dream on people.

This is was PAS’ spiritual leader and Kelantan menteri besar Nik Aziz Nik Mat has to say over the ruling:

“Why do people keep their money in wallets or purses instead of walking about with it openly?... This is because cash is something precious, just like a woman’s virtue.”

And the bottom line is this:

“It is an Islamic ruling, so nobody should undermine or question it.”

Do I think the Kelantan folks are going to register their protest through the ballot boxes in the next general election?

Hard to say. They are not protesting. Only people from KL have something to say over this sexy-attire ban. That says a lot right?

My previous posting on this matter.

Of al-Anfield and a camel mascot

Author’s note:
First of all, I am glad that Liverpool will be getting the much-needed cash through the proposed £450m takeover by the Dubai International Capital. As a life-long fan, I now look forward to see the league trophy coming back to Anfield.

Okay, now to today’s business.

Now that we know its almost certain of the take over by a mega-rich sheikh, lets look at 10 big changes that might be taking place in this club.

1. The take-over bid includes the financing of the new stadium. Slated for opening in 2009, what are the chances of the stadium being named Al-Anfield?

2. The shirt sponsors Carlsberg must know by now that their contract will not be extended. The contract might even be terminated. New sponsors? How about Emirates Towers Hotel?

3. Advertisement hoardings around the pitch to have more Arab advertisers - Mecca Cola, new posh apartments in Doha, Qatar Airways, Azizi burqa specialists, Visit Dubai, Burj Al Arab etc.

4. How about names of players at the back of jerseys in Arabic?

5. More Liverpool greats to be paraded at Madame Tussauds as we share the same owners.

6. Accommodation for Liverpool’s away matches in Travelodge - again the same owners.

7. At least a trip to the Gulf states every two years for pre-season tournament.

8. More players to be encouraged in horse racing as the new owner is also the owner of the very successful Godolphin racing stable.

9. Finally the break in of Asian players into the Liverpool youth set up as well as into the full squad.

10. A new mascot for the team - a baby camel with a liver bird tattooed in its red back.

p/s: no offences meant for anyone. Take this in a jest. I am glad Liverpool is getting the cash to move forward.

Read more about the takeover here, here and here.

Some info on Dubai here.

PAS’ obsession with eye-popping outfits

The Kota Baru Municipal Council in PAS-ruled Kelantan yesterday showed a red-card to ‘indecent dressing’ by women.

This prohibition involves:

1. All retail outlet and restaurant working women - Muslims and non-Muslims.
2. A fine up to RM500 for offenders.

KBMC’s reasoning for the ban:

1. Revealing outfits smears the reputation of Kota Baru and affects its status as an Islamic City.
2. Mounting complaints from the public.

According to the Star, KBMC had received complaints from ratepayers that certain shop assistants and waitresses here donned sexy outfits, supposedly to woo more male customers.

A trader is quoted as saying:

“Almost everywhere there are retail assistants or waitresses wearing sexy clothes...This is an insult to Islam.”

Obviously such a strict ruling will not find favours with everyone.

Women’s movement proponent Ivy Josiah asked sarcastically:

“I would like to know what is the (acceptable) level of tightness of a pair of pants or jeans, and what happens to those of us who have larger buttocks?".

DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng had this to say:

“Such self-inflicted wounds are politically and economically foolish as these will drive away moderate voters as well as foreign investment.” (read malaysiakini report here)

How true! Just when you thought PAS was opening up by portraying a moderate stand and wooing the non-Muslim voters to be mainstream.

Read stories on the ‘sexy dress ban’ here (Reuters), here (AP) and here (the Star).

p/s: graphics taken from the star, with thanks!

(Malaysian) Bloggers beware!

Just look at this sequent of events:

First, last Saturday (Dec 2), Deputy Information Minister Zahid Hamidi said it was the duty of the mainstream media (MSM) to fire-fight wild allegations and slanders spread through the internet and blogs.

He went on to say that bloggers must be ethnical and responsible in their writings. He added:

“They should have ethics ... everyone have ethics and self-respect. We hope the bloggers will also have ethics and self respect.” (read bernama report here)

Then on Sunday (Dec 3), Deputy Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Kong Cho Ha said that one way to stop cyberspace writers from spreading disharmony and lies was to be ‘stricter’.

He said:

“We need to have stricter cyber laws to prevent these bloggers from disseminating disharmony, chaos, seditious material and lies... We are talking about creating cyber laws to control those who misuse the Internet”. (read the Star report here)

And then today (Dec 4), Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin said bloggers must uphold the tenets of journalism as they had a great influence in moulding public opinion. Bloggers have the same responsibility as the MSM.

He reminded us:

“This responsibility cannot be compromised for the sake of short-term popularity and gains”. (read the bernama report here)

Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang has no compunctions at all - he sees this as a prelude to a possible “strategy to impose a clampdown on the Internet and blogs”.

And he had a question of his own:

“When will the government-controlled media stop their unethical, dishonourable and irresponsible practices of hurling wild allegations and falsehoods against the Opposition and dissenting opinions?” (read his blog entry here)

Looks very unlikely, especially now that Umno will have a bigger control of the media with the impending merger of Utusan and NSTP.

Read more about the merger here and here.

Political reality buries the truth

Kedah’s civilisation older than Malacca’s - so said a Bernama report on Sunday.

According to the Kedah MB, a study at the Lembah Bujang archeological site revealed that an ancient Kedah government was set up in 1136 - 266 years earlier than Malacca which was founded in 1402.

The Menteri Besar Mahdzir Khalid now wants further study to prove these facts so that his state can have the distinction as the first civilisation in Malaysia.

All fine, but will the MB, or his state government, or even the federal government have the political will to admit that the first civilised government was actually a Hindu government?

I am not saying this. A visit to the Lembah Bujang valley as well as other research papers will tell you the real story. The tell-tale signs are quite evident - hindu/buddhist temples, broken deities and more recently the cover-ups to reflect today’s political reality.

Research also indicates that an ancient Hindu-Buddhist kingdom ruled here as early as 300 CE.

Cartoon: Lessons from Vietnam