Saturday, April 29, 2006

From black Wednesday to dark Thursday for Labour

Last Wednesday was labeled as a black Wednesday for the Labour party.

It was the day when the Home Secretary revealed that his office had allowed foreign prisoners to escape deportation. Some of them have since reoffended, putting the community at risk.

Then the Health Secretary was roundly booed and heckled at a nurses’ conference after she said that NHS was at its best. This just after she had announced that the health system was burdened by a mountain of debt and that many nurses will have to be laid off.

To top it off, the Deputy Prime Minister revealed that he had a two-year affair with his diary secretary.

All three apologized and refused to resign.

The Labour party is fast turning into controversy magnet. Its popularity is rocketing down.

Just before these three revelations, the PM himself was embroiled in a ‘cash for peerages’ scandal. That is still unsolved. Then his wife got into the act when it was revealed that she had charged the party for her hairstyle during the last elections. As it is she had been roundly criticized for abusing her position as the wife of the PM in getting speaking assignments around the world.

And other ministers too have been tainted by controversies.

The Environment Secretary is accused of hypocrisy for lecturing on green issues but in turn continues to be the minister who most uses the Queen’s Flight for her travels.

The Education Secretary came under fire for not knowing how many child abusers were still working in schools. And the Culture Secretary was within a heartbeat of a financial scandal.

In the midst of all these, we have the Tony Blair and Gordon Brown camps being involved in continuous back-biting, power plays and constant undermining.

No wonder the public is confused as to what the Labour government has become. Next Thursday’s council elections could still prove to be a darker Thursday for Labour when the public sentiments are translated into votes.

Friday, April 28, 2006

Bankrupt politicians don’t win elections


In most parts of the world, bankrupt politicians are barred from contesting in elections. But nowhere is it more prominently used than in Singapore. There the ruling leaders have made it part of their strategy to bankrupt opposition political leaders to ensure easy election victories.

In the past, many prominent opposition leaders had been barred from contesting after they were made bankrupt following their failure to pay hefty damages handed down in defamation suits.

The ruling leaders will usually file a defamation suit just before the elections – usually based on what has been said in political publications or meetings (and on flimsy grounds) – and will always have rulings and damages in their favour.

And invariably the opposition politicians would not have the financial means to pay the damages and they will end up paying for their political careers.

The ultimate outcome will be an easy win for the ruling PAP. The dearth of opposition is so glaring that in the past three elections - in 2001, 1997, and 1991 - the PAP won the election on nomination day, after the opposition failed to put up candidates for more than half the seats.

This time around, things do look different for the ruling elites. Political awareness is taking place in this nanny state and the PAP will have to fight it out in the elections as opposition candidates fielded enough candidates for the May 6 poll.

However we can still expect the old tactic of defamation suits and bankruptcy proceedings to derail any major victory for the opposition.

Like many previous elections, a defamation suit against one of the opposition parties will hang over the campaign.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his father, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, have launched a defamation suit against the Singapore Democratic Party and eight of its leaders, including party sec-gen Chee Soon Juan, over articles in the SDP newspaper, which attacked the government for its handling of a recent charity scandal.

(Chee has already been made a bankrupt after he had failed to settle the damages to the PM and his father in an earlier suit. He will not contest in this election)

In a country where the government dictates everything for its citizens, it has also now ordered them not to be influenced by the opposition campaigning. To this end, the government has barred the use of pod-casting of political broadcasts.

The ban during the election period also extends to the distribution of online video messages, as well as blogging, or posting political opinions on Web sites.

This, in a state where the opposition has to rely on the Internet as the media here is state-owned.

The government has also threatened to cut public funding in constituencies which support opposition candidates.

For all its ultra modern settings and high economy growth, Singapore is failing where it matters most – it is not a place to see political freedom flourishing. Until that happens, its citizens will continue to have the sheep mentality.


more reads:

Singapore's authoritarian rulers tangled in web (via asia times)
Democratic Party to contest Lees' legal action (via bloomberg)

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Point of no return in Sri Lanka?

Sri Lanka is perilously close to the return of civil war with both the military and Tamil rebels escalating their attacks. The Norway initiated 2002 cease fire is in danger of imminent collapse. And the ultimate victims are once again the civilians of the country – caught in the middle of the government soldiers and Tamil rebels.

Just in the recent days, some 40,000 Tamil civilians have fled from their homes in northeastern Sri Lanka to escape government airstrikes, which has killed at least 12 people and injuring 27 others.

Not that the rebels had not seen this coming though for it was them who had actually started this round of violence going.

On Tuesday a female suicide bomber believed to be a Tamil Tiger rebel and pretending to be pregnant, exploded a bomb in front of a car that was taking Sri Lanka’s top military general Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka inside the army headquarters in Colombo. The general is seriously wounded but 9 others were killed (pix).

Then the rebels followed it up by attacking the Sri Lankan navy craft the following day. In retaliation, the Sri Lankan army launched waves of airstrikes at rebel positions, killing not the rebels but innocent villagers.

The battle for control between the government and the rebels has caused thousands of human lost. Sri Lanka, a beautiful country with lovely beaches and country sides, is once again in danger of becoming the land of bombs and deaths.

I think the majority of the Tamils, who once felt isolated and discriminated by the majority ethnic Sinhalese, would want this wanton killing to stop. I also don’t think they would want to be ruled by the ruthless Tamil Tigers.

Maybe it is time to get back to the drawing board again to resuscitate the Norway-brokered truce. After all the truce was plain sailing until it was halted by disputes over postwar power-sharing.

The government should be seen as wanting the truce. It should not have military commanders and ministers throwing doubts over the process, or worse still openly saying that they will not shake hands with the rebels.

And as for the rebels, they should go back to their original aims of seeking a solution for the Tamils in Sri Lanka and not be obsessed with power craze.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

When religion treads on science

The Malaysian government is hosting a two day international Islamic conference with the specific agenda to find out how a Muslim astronaut should fulfill his religious duties in space. The main task of the conference is to address practical issues which a Muslim astronaut will face when he gets ready to pray in space.

Experts and religious scholars will discuss and debate how the astronaut will get clean water to wash in space before praying. Also in the consideration are matters on how the spaceman will locate Mecca while in zero gravity and how he will determine prayer times on space as in orbit the sun appears to rise and set more than a dozen times a day.

You might want to ask why the need for such a conference in the first place? Is it because these matters are so important for the Muslim world and that Malaysia is taking the lead in organizing a first-ever serious discussion of the issues?

Actually the truth is that Malaysia is sending its first astronaut to space with the Russians next year. But what if the Malaysian astronaut is not a Muslim? Would that mean the findings of this conference are in vain?

Actually I don’t see a chance of that happening and it is very likely that our first spaceman will certainly be a Muslim – a man selected from about 11,000 who had applied for the honour – although there is a Malaysian Indian in the final four.

In the first place I don’t see the need for us to spend so much money for the venture (I think close to millions and it comes as a part of arms deals with the Russians).

Malaysia is not a nation with traditional space related industry, neither are we one which is blessed with numerous intellects and scientists of world prominence.

We don’t even have a readily identifiable candidate to fly our flag on space and we had to undergo a search from scratch to look for one – just like running a Pop Idol contest.

So why are we doing it then? Is it because we want to eagerly join the space club, to be one of the first Muslim nations to have a man in space? Or that we have suddenly developed some interesting scientific theories that need to be tested in space? Can’t be this as well as the only scientific research our man will be involved in is to taste how our local delicacies will taste in space.

Could it be just for pride then, especially to nail down our reputation as a leading Muslim nation in the developing world.

That explains the need for the conference. Again I would ask why must we spend more money on such meaningless conferences, especially if it comes from the public fund and obviously have no public interest in it.

But more pertinent is that question of why should religion come into the picture of a scientific expedition at all?

I could be wrong here but I am sure there are exceptions in Islam for a person in not obliging his religious duties to pray in certain conditions.

I hope some smart person in the conference will highlight this and say that it is not important to worry about missing prayers in space.

No canes but porn for being a bad student

It looks like there is a secondary school teacher in Malaysia who is hell bent in introducing sex education in schools even before the government’s initiative.

Apparently his curriculum includes locking up a mixed group of 13-year-olds in a lab and forcing them to watch porn. It was their punishment for not doing their homework.

During my school days, forgetting to do homework usually resulted in caning. But that is a different story altogether.

As I mentioned earlier, this teacher is perhaps just trying to be ahead of the government in introducing this subject to his students. It is either that or he is a totally deprived person who is not getting it from his spouse, if there is one.

Whatever it is, the education ministry is looking into the matter. I think the teacher deserves a straight sacking and if possible a legal action for sexually assaulting these kids.

What worries me more is how the teachers will cope when the Malaysian government introduces sex education in schools later this year as planned. The government’s idea of such an education is to combat increasing sex crimes and Internet porn.

We are looking at a large scale of change in the Malaysian mindset here as the sex education would start from pre-school level and extend to university level and community programs for adults.

The ministry’s proposals are that children from the age of four will be taught how to protect themselves from sexual predators while older kids will learn about a range of subjects from human reproduction to masturbation and safe sex.

With teachers like this pervert around I wonder if these young school children are in good hands in learning sex education. The ministry must first reek out the bad hats and put in strict regulations to stop anyone abusing these kids in the pretense of teaching them.

I think for starters it will be a good idea to have a pair of teachers to work with the kids while teaching sex education.

Parent involvement is also vital. So maybe some parents can also sit in the classroom. This will not only remove the uneasiness of the students, but also will help keep an eye on what is being taught to the students.

But I am getting ahead of events here. Let’s see if the government will actually introduce sex education in the first place. To do that, it has to start pacifying and mollifying the conservative Muslim population – a large portion of the population which the government is trying not to lose to the Islamic opposition party PAS.

I suppose until that happens we will continue to have pervert teachers trying their best to introduce sex education in their own initiative and for self gain.

Monday, April 24, 2006

Indonesia’s Merapi volcano ready to rumble

Gunung Merapi in Indonesia has been spewing thick smoke for some time now and it is expected to erupt at the end of the month.

However local villagers are ignoring government warnings of the approaching eruption. They would rather stay put in their homes. Some village elders are saying they would rather die in their own land.

The government has thus far relocated more than 600 people from the restive volcano. The official population on the mountain areas is at around 14,000.

Following are some facts about the volcano:
  • Gunung Merapi, or Fiery Mountain, located in the southern area of central Java, overlooking the ancient royal city of Yogyakarta, is the most active volcano in Indonesia.
  • Merapi has been witnessing small eruptions every two or three years, bigger ones every 10-15 years, and very large ones every 50-60 years.
  • The biggest eruptions occurred in 1006, 1786, 1822, 1872 and 1930. The eruption of 1006 was so bad that the existing Hindu kingdom was apparently destroyed while in 1930 more than 1,300 people were killed. The 1994 eruption claimed more than 60 lives.
Lets hope these villagers come to their senses sooner before anything fatal happens.

Sunday, April 23, 2006

So sorry to ruin your double dreams you sore loser

What a sour grape this Jose Mourinho is. He can never accept defeat gracefully or graciously. In fact neither has he been magnanimous in victories.

For him defeat is always a result of poor refereeing or bad luck, never because the other team had been better. His team is always the better one and somehow did not deserve to lose.

Yesterday’s Liverpool’s win over Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals is yet another example of how delusional Mourinho is fast becoming. Everyone who watched the game knew Liverpool were much better in the first hour. They were running Chelsea ragged, making the league champion-elect very normal.

I won’t dispute that Chelsea did come back into the game in latter stages and did not make it an easy win for Liverpool. However Liverpool won because they were better organized and technically were superior to the team from London. And ultimately they made one less mistake than Chelsea to win.

However for Mourinho, that was not the case. As has been the norm with him now, he claims, his team played better football, they lost because some important decisions went against them and that his strikers were unlucky in front of the goal.

Well get this Jose, Liverpool too had some strong decisions made against them, and their strikers too were unlucky in not ending Chelsea much sooner.

Mourinho thinks his team has the divine right to win at all times and at all costs. All he does is go on and on about how his team had been superior and did not deserve to lose. He didn’t even congratulate Liverpool for winning a spot in the finals. And he had the cheeks to continually speak about how Liverpool is way behind his team in terms of progress.

He insists that he has forgotten how Liverpool wrecked his dreams on winning the Champions League last season, but at the same breath still talks about the ‘dubious’ goal that put them out.

Why can’t he move on? After all, the record books will show that Liverpool did win the Champions League last season and this season they ruined his dreams of winning the double.

Next season, whether he admits it or not, Liverpool will prove to be a much tougher opponent to his team and he better, by then, learn to admit defeat graciously.

He also needs to grow up and be genuine in congratulating the winning team.

Who is the floating man?

Who can solve the mystery of the man found floating in international waters between Norway and Denmark?

The man calls himself the stateless American and was found by a Norwegian oil tanker yesterday morning. He was floating in a raft made up of four oil barrels held together by a frame of wooden planks. He was found without any clothes and frozen. He was then taken to Sweden.

According to his rescuers, the man spoke English and said he was from California. The Swedish police said his name is George Williams.

He claims he was left in the high seas by a British ship a few days ago. He did not offer any reasons as to why he was thrown overboard. Neither did he name the ship.

No wonder the police are mystified. They will contact the US Embassy on Monday to confirm his identity.

Until then, can anyone furnish us the details of the British ship and this floating man?

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Cherie, her hairdo and the election

What do you think is the main reason for Tony Blair’s Labour party to win a historic third term last May?

The answer is apparently the hairstyle of Mr Blair’s wife Cherie. It seems she spent British Pound 7,700 from April 6 to May 6 to look her best so that her husband can win the election.

So confident was Mrs Blair that the Labour victory was all down to her hair that she had actually billed the party for the services of her hair stylist. The party declared that as election expense.

Naturally not everyone in the party is happy over it – not when the party is drowning under a bludgeoning debt so much so that it has to resort to secret loans to stay afloat. It may even end up selling its headquarters to repay a 14 million pound loan.

It seems the party spent about 17.9 million pounds on its 2005 general election campaign, of which now we know 7,700 went to Cherie’s hairstylist.

One Labour MP even complained that the money given to keep Cherie’s hair in vogue was almost double to what he was allocated to win his seat.

But party officials are adamant that the money for Cherie’s hair was well-spent.

A party spokesperson said:

“Mrs Blair worked fantastically hard during the election and visited more than 50 constituencies during the campaign and we won the election.”

But I would have thought these visits were part of her responsibility and duty as the wife of the Labour leader. Also I am quite sure that voters were more interested in the policies of the party rather than how Cherie’s hair looked in deciding their vote.

And above all, it really looks petty when the PM’s wife resorts to claim for her hair styles from the party. What’s next? Will she even ask the party for appearance fee?

Let’s protect the foreigners and forget the locals

This is Beijing, covered by dust as a result of a massive sandstorm which struck the capital on Monday. The sandstorm has left homes, streets and cars in brown dust and left the skies a murky yellow.

The government admits that this was the worst pollution in years. Reports said that desert winds dumped 300,000 tons of sand and dust on Beijing, forcing residents to wear surgical masks.

However the Chinese officials are confident nature would not disrupt plans to host environmentally "green" Olympic Games in 2008. As it is the government has initiated plans to reduce the pollution level in the capital during the games.

It will reduce the number of vehicles in the city and stop construction works throughout the duration of the games. In all the government will spend US$13 billion to clean up pollution during the games,

Today there are 8,000 construction sites and more than 2 million vehicles in Beijing – and both these figures will increase in the next few years based on the rampant Chinese economic growth. As it is there are 750 new cars in the city each day. Somehow I don’t see the pollution abating in Beijing.

I also fail to understand why they have to wait till the 2008 Olympics to clean the city of pollution. It is as though you need to clean the city and keep it green just because thousands of people will be coming in during the games. More interestingly, this interprets to mean the Chinese government only cares for the health of the foreigners, while giving a hoot about the locals.

A Chinese friend said that there are two systems of governance in China – the capitalist system on economy and the socialist/communist rule on politics.

This is how these two systems work in China - the Chinese government wants a clean capital so that foreigners will bring in tourism revenue. Any local who dares to ask why nothing is done today to clean the pollution will most probably find himself be persecuted.

Friday, April 21, 2006

Ronaldinho magic

Check out this video...



This video was taken in December 2005 but judging by the way he has been playing in the recent games, especially in the Champions League, it is evident that he has lost none of these magical touches.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

The tale of a digital mermaid

The above images of an alleged mermaid have been around since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. An email hoax revealed that this creature was purportedly captured at the Marina beach in Chennai.

The email claimed that the mermaid was caught by fishermen and was being kept at the state museum (Egmore Museum in Chennai) under tight security.

The images went all over the world, causing some minor elation not just in the scientific community but among the believers as well.

Then the matter died down – hardly surprising as the email did warn that it was a top secret matter!

However this April Fools day saw the re-entry of the pictures into our cyber world. Again the message in the email was the same:

"A fabulous news, top secret! Real-life mermaid was caught by fishermen at Marina Beach a few days back. It's now at Egmore Museum under tight security. Pictures attached.''

This time around there were more people conned, so much as – according to media reports - the phones at the Egmore Museum have not stopped ringing and the curator has been flooded with e-mails.

Apparently even scientists were fooled. According to the museum’s chief curator JA Asokan, a prominent scientist from Kochi and the British museum officials had wanted an opportunity to see the mermaid.

Asokan, a marine biologist, dissects the fake photographs of the mermaid:
“In this case, the fish part of the body below waist is three dimensional and
human part above is two dimensional. A clever digital merging”.
So far the clever hoaxer has not owned up.

The rise of the red tide and the waning of the eagle power

The Chinese president Hu Jintao is on a four-day visit to the US, the apex of which will be the one hour lunch with President Bush tomorrow.

Hu’s visit to the US comes at a time when the Chinese economy is sky rocketing, much to the concern of the Americans.

Bush must be alarmed at the growth rate of the Chinese economy. He surely would like to allay his unease over his country’s $202bn bilateral trade deficit.

Other concerns include the rampant intellectual property piracy in China and Beijing's undervalued currency. China has also been actively pursuing trade deals in Africa and Latin America and coveting many nations that are not in the good books of America.

The communist government has also been busy signing energy agreements with many other nations as it progresses in becoming the biggest oil user, thus its plans to have sufficient supply.

Militarily, it is also showing some muscle by having strategic relationship with Iran and North Korea and at the same time pursuing its long-term ambition of annexing US-ally Taiwan.

And locally, its human rights record has been poor and the Americans for long have been asking for a better record.

Given all these concerns, why then did Washington downgrade Hu’s visit as an official visit and not as a state visit.

What is the difference you may ask? The main one is that in a state visit the Chinese president would have been given a state dinner in his honour. Now he only gets a lunch with Bush.

But more importantly, if it was state visit, there would have been avenues for the Americans to bring up their concerns at a higher, official level formally.

Now, what we might have is a lunch chat with Bush telling Hu about these informally.

However for the Chinese, this visit is surely a profitable one. Chinese businessmen in the entourage have dispensed contracts worth $16bn (£9bn) while Hu has meetings slated with Boeing and Bill Gates at Microsoft.

So why is Bush ignoring the Chinese onslaught?

According to some political commentators it is because the US president has never made up his mind how to deal with China's rise. Others think Washington downgraded Hu’s visit because Bush was angered by China's rejection of its human rights criticisms on the ground "that a government responsible for the Abu Ghraib prison abuses has no business disparaging others".

Yet some say Bush is playing a strong hand weakly. They claim that the leverage the US has because of China's dependence on US trade and investment is useful in moving China's Communist party towards more liberal policies.

I think that Bush simply does not know how to deal with China’s economy burst. What has happened is that the global balance of power is changing and it is now up to the Chinese to set the timetable and agenda in future meetings.

Suddenly Washington is awashed with this panic realization – that the rise of China is posing awkward questions for the US and that its days as the world's economic superpower are numbered.

The Independent put it succinctly:
“China, with its endless supply of goods and its thirst for energy, has contributed more to global growth than America in recent years, and Beijing is well aware of this. Mr Hu's visit to America is about boosting China's prestige, earning respect for the world's fastest-growing major economy and matching some of that financial muscle with real political influence.”

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

The young face of terrorism

This is Samer Samih Hamad. He is 17-years-old and has just etched himself into the Palestinian folklore.

For the Palestinians, Samer is a local lad who has attained martyrdom by being one of the youngest suicide bombers. He blew himself outside an old bus station in Tel Aviv on Sunday, killing 9 Israelis and injuring about 50 others.

For the Israeli authorities, he and his fellow teenage peers are the new, young face of terrorism that they will have to deal with from now on.

And for the rest of us, it is really sad that such a young boy is being used as a pawn in the fight between the Palestinians and Israelis. We feel and sympathise for teenagers like Samer and others for their loss of innocence and youth.

At an age where they should be enjoying their youth and exuberance, they are instead made to become human bombs, fighting for their land.

Just like banning the use of child soldiers, the international community could try to make it illegal to use teenagers as suicide bombers. But then, since when did we have terrorists acceding to the rules of law.

But above all, Samer, and other Palestinian teenagers, is not just moved by his dying love for his land, or by his pure hatred to the Israelis. For him, being a suicide bomber is a religious call. How can you counter?

Samer did what he did voluntarily. His parents and family understood his wishes. His neighbours think he has done justice for his people. Other Palestinians think he has just been a good Muslim.

Now the Israelis will surely retaliate to this latest round of bombing. They might even target young Palestinian boys as a preventive measure. And surely to counter that, more Palestinian teenagers will look for their own calls from above.

And thus continues this vicious cycle of violence in the Middle East.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

The Revolt of the Retired Generals

On Monday the US Army announced that four Marines have died in combat in Iraq, bringing the total of American fatalities to 2,335 in three years since the US-led invasion.

It has not been easy administering Iraq at the moment. Just as the trial involving the former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein is underway, a civil unrest too seems to be escalating in the country.

These days are becoming days of deadly violence with regular car bombings and shootings taking place in Iraq, killing about 30 to 40 locals daily.

The American simple plan of invading and then bringing about democracy looks totally naïve now. And rumbles of discontent are being heard in Washington where some military top brasses are pointing fingers at the Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for failing the Iraqi mission.

Some retired generals are now creating enough noise in calling for the resignation of Rumsfeld. Their mission is called The Revolt of the Retired Generals.

The calls by these generals will surely garner support from the public and as it is in a poll by the Newsweek, more than 83% of those voted agreed that Rumsfeld should go.

Below are some quotations from the generals, Rumsfeld and his supremo George W Bush on this matter.


Gen John M. Riggs:
"Rumsfeld should step aside and let someone step in who can be more realistic."


Charles Swannack Jr. - the former commander of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq:
"I do not believe Secretary Rumsfeld is the right person to fight that war based on his absolute failures in managing the war against Saddam in Iraq."


Maj Gen Paul Eaton:
"Rumsfeld has put the Pentagon at the mercy of his ego, his Cold Warrior's view of the world and his unrealistic confidence in technology to replace manpower."


Marine Gen Anthony Zinni:
"The Secretary of Defense is incompetent strategically, operationally, and tactically."


Maj Gen John Batiste:
"We need leadership up there that respects the military as they expect the military to respect them. And that leadership needs to understand teamwork."


Donald Rumsfeld, responding to the generals' criticism:
"Out of thousands and thousands of admirals and generals, if every time two or three people disagreed, we changed the secretary of defense of the United States, it would be like a merry-go-round."


President Bush:
"Secretary Rumsfeld's energetic and steady leadership is exactly what is needed at this critical period. He has my full support and deepest appreciation."


How long can Bush throw his support behind his beleaguered defense secretary? And how soon before the pressure is on the president himself for leading the invasion on a false premises?

On the downside, I am worried these could just precipitate a military action against Iran.

Monday, April 17, 2006

Victorious soldiers, captured rebels

These are a group of Chad soldiers who emerged victorious after capturing more than 250 rebels who are trying to overthrow the country’s president. Along with the rebels, the presidential troops also got a large cache of weapons - including surface-to-air missiles and heavy machine guns.

The weapons and rebels were put on a display on Friday to show to the public and the world that the president was winning the war.

He also broke off relations with neighbouring Sudan for allegedly backing and arming the rebels. And on Friday he threatened to expel 200,000 refugees from the neighboring Darfur region as well. Today though, he reversed this threat.

Sudan in turn accuses Chad of supporting fighters in its volatile Darfur region, where Arab militias and African rebels have fought for nearly three years.

The Chad government believes the rebels are regrouping and will mount another attack soon and wants the World Bank to release its frozen bank accounts to finance the battle against the rebel.

The reason the account was frozen in the first place was over the president’s abuse of national income on the war.

I just wonder why the western world (read: the US) is not interested in solving the Chad-Sudan crisis. After all there is oil in Chad.

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Why weren't they ready for this?


This is a photo of some Indian police standing guard outside India's largest mosque, the Jama Masjid, in New Delhi. Two bomb blasts have gone off in this mosque after Friday prayers, injuring 14 people.

The police have nabbed four suspects and are looking for more. No details are made as to who and why the bombs were triggered.

Now security has been stepped up at temples and mosques across northern India to guard against reprisal attacks.

But can’t this itself be a reprisal attack following the bomb blasts in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi a month ago which killed 23 people?

If the troops had been one high alert since then, these blasts may have been evaded.

A mouthful of money


This is the world’s most expensive sandwich. It went on display at the Selfridges Department Store in London on Monday April 10, 2006.

It is called the McDonald Sandwich, after its creator chef Scott McDonald. Its ingredients include Wagyu beef – the Japanese cow reared in air-conditioned rooms and with beer.

It also has fresh lobe foie gras, black truffle mayonnaise, brie de meaux, rocket, red pepper and mustard confit, and English plum tomatoes, all packed into 24-hour fermented sour dough bread.

The price of this sandwich – a cool 85 pounds (US$ 148.33).

Not bad for a world where many are still living below the poverty line and trying their best to get at least one bare meal a day.

Friday, April 14, 2006

Bangalore on riot - all for a dead actor

Let’s get this straight first. I am not from Bangalore. I have never heard of Kanada actor Rajkumar until he was kidnapped by sandalwood smuggler Veerappan a few years ago. And I don’t believe that movie actors play any role in determining how we should lead our life.

So with these basic ground rules set, it is not hard to fathom why I was shocked too read about the violent reaction of Rajkumar’s fans to his death.

In the day and age of globalization where making money seems to be the mantra of the day everywhere, folks in Bangalore went on a rampage, creating riots, leaving scores injured and six dead not because they wanted a bigger economy slice in this silicon city but to mourn the passing of the film icon.

In the process, these mourning fans brought life in Bangalore to a standstill. But to be fair to them, it was not just them who caused this. I agree that they did vent their ire on the police and public property when they were prevented from paying homage to Karnataka’s icon Rajkumar, 77, who passed away on Wednesday.

But it was a voluntary decision by the MNCs, bio-tech, banks and private companies and state-owned enterprises, educational institutions, markets and restaurants to close down to mark the actor's funeral and last rites that bewilders me.

India's Silicon Valley too logged out for the day with 1,500-odd info-tech companies declaring a holiday for their three lakh-odd employees as a mark of respect for the actor.

All for an actor whose last movie appearance was maybe a decade ago?

Although the city is returning to normalcy now, the police nevertheless are keeping a close watch.

This is what the Times of India reported today:
Agitated fans of the Kannada icon went on a rampage on Thursday, attacking police with stones and sticks and damaging public property by setting five buses and 10 private vehicles on fire after they failed to have a glimpse of their "Annavaru" (elder brother) at the Kanteerava sports stadium in the heart of the city.

The police was forced to open fire outside the Kanteerava studio even as the last rites were underway when thousands of fans attempted to breach the security cordon and enter the premises to witness the funeral.
I fail to understand the high human emotions shown by these fans. What do they think they can achieve by personally witnessing the funeral of an actor or by bringing chaos to their city.

And I am even more disappointed by the economy naivety shown by the Bangalore industries. Aren’t there any other way for them to show their respect than just shutting down? Or were they influenced by the anger and emotions shown by the fans-cum-workers?

Come on now, no matter how popular an actor is/was, he is just that – an actor. When he acts well, we pay homage to him by applauding him. When he dies, we should similarly preserve his good name by continuing to respect and admire his acting talents. No one should have the right to sully and ruin someone else’s funeral by causing mayhem, chaos and economy losses to the city that is only detrimental to the people who live there.

I hope younger fans will have more brains than those who adulated the yesteryear stars.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Final 32 minutes of mayhem in Flight 93

The cockpit recordings of Flight 93 were heard publicly for the first time yesterday. It was played out to the jury sitting in the terrorism trial of Zacarias Moussaoui.

The recordings give us some insight on the final minutes before the hijacked plane crashed on a Pennsylvania field on Sept 11, 2001, killing all 44 people on board - 33 passengers, 5 flight attendants, 2 pilots and the 4 hijackers (pix).

Flight 93 had taken off at 8.42am from Newark, New Jersey, bound for San Francisco. Investigators believe that the four hijackers intended to fly it into the US Capitol in Washington.

The hijackers, travelling first class, struck at 9.28am. While travelling at 35,000ft above eastern Ohio, the plane suddenly dropped 700ft. Air traffic control in Cleveland received the first of two radio transmissions from the cockpit.

During the first the captain, Jason Dahl, can be heard shouting “Mayday!” amid the sounds of a physical struggle. In the second, he or the first officer can be heard shouting: “Hey, get out of here! Get out of here! Get out of here!”

It was from this point yesterday that the court heard the cockpit voice recording. One of the hijackers, the al-Qaeda pilot Ziad Jarrah, makes an onboard announcement:

“Ladies and gentleman. Here is the captain. Please sit down. Keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb on board. So sit.”

He then repeats it again, by saying:

"I would like to tell you all to remain seated. We have a bomb aboard, and we are going back to the airport, and we have our demands. So, please remain quiet."

The New York Times reported this:
Long silences in the 31-minute recording were punctuated by the cries of the hijackers at the controls, the passengers who were trying desperately to break down the cockpit door and the crashing of objects around the cabin.

There are also the sounds of what may have been the killing of a flight attendant as the hijackers took control: a woman in the cockpit moaning, "Please, please, don't hurt me." Her voice soon appears again for the last time as she is heard to say, "I don't want to die, I don't want to die" followed by one of the hijackers saying in Arabic: "Everything is fine. I finished."

The recording ends with a three-minute crescendo of noise as a passenger apparently just outside the door shouts: "In the cockpit! If we don't, we'll die!" On the other side of the door, two hijackers are heard deliberating before deciding to end the flight to avoid being overcome.

"Is that it? I mean, shall we pull it down?" one asks in Arabic and the reply is, "Yes, put it in it and pull it down." They then both scream repeatedly "Allah is the greatest" in Arabic as the planes goes down at 10:03 a.m.
Read the full transcript of the recording here and here.

No doubt the heroic passengers emerged victorious by bringing down the plane in an open field and not in some government complex or public building where the human cost could have been higher. And now we are to see their heroism depicted in a movie to be released soon.

Losers and victors in the Causeway saga

The Malaysian government’s announcement that it was scrapping the ‘scenic bridge’ plan to replace the Causeway was a shocker for me. After all, work has started on the much heralded national project despite not having any concessions from Singapore to build the other half.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi talks about legal complications attached to the cutting up of the Causeway as the main reason. Surely this can’t be the only reason.

So why the sudden change of mind by Abdullah’s government? His ministers were in talk with the Singaporeans so that a complete bridge could be build. In fact, the Singaporeans agreed to it, providing that Malaysia allows its air space for Singaporean Air Force to train and sell sand for the island’s reclamation works.

This is where the trouble started, I think. Local nationalists, mainly from Johor, were not keen to see foreign aircrafts flying above them. Likewise, local fishermen have been complaining that continued reclamation works in the island (in an attempt to enlarge its land) have resulted in pollution in the sea which meant little catch for them.

Even Abdullah alluded that this was the actual problem.

He said:

“If we proceed with the project, it will upset the people and turn the project into an endless issue. We can't ignore the feelings of the people because we are the government elected by the people, for the people.”

His Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar was more straight forward:

"Since there has been so much feelings about giving airspace, about taking our sand ... we have been listening to the people, we think the best thing is for us to stop the project. We still have the Causeway, we still have the Second Link. The Second Link is still under-utilised, it can be put to full use.”

With the announcement, the Malaysian government had stopped all negotiations with Singapore pertaining to the bridge, thus the issue of the sale of sand and the use of Malaysian air space do not arise any more.

However the Financial Times thinks that this announcement is just a gimmick by the Malaysians to get the Singaporeans to drop some of their demands.

It reported:

There is speculation, however, that Malaysia may have made its decision as a bargaining tactic to persuade Singapore to drop some of its demands.

I don’t know of there is any truth in this but with the bridge, and along it the sand and airspace issue out of the way, the only remaining issues between these two countries are water and the newly built Malaysian Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complex.

The ‘scenic bridge’ was meant to form part of the RM2.5 billion Integrated Southern Gateway project to turn Johor into a regional logistics centre connected by a network of ports, an airport and highways. It also incorporates the CIQ complex.

Now that the bridge is no longer in the pipeline, Abdullah said new roads would be built to divert traffic to the CIQ complex before heading to the causeway. The bridge contractors will also be fully compensated by the government for their losses.

All in all, despite scrapping the multi-million dollar project, the Malaysian government will continue to plough money to ensure that its badly planned project/vision is still viable.

The ‘scenic bridge’, or previously called the ‘crooked bridge’ was from the very beginning beset with problems. It was mooted by the former premier Dr Mahathir at the height of his cold war with the Singaporean government (2003).

Even then many had criticised his plans to have the half bridge built, not just because it made us look silly, it also cost a lot of money and would only further strain the relationship between the countries. Furthermore, the Causeway was still functioning well and the new second link was under-utilised.

Given all these, the Malays in Johor, who form a strong grouping that could influence the ruling party Umno’s leadership, expressed their objections. Now, they were surely not happy with Singaporean attitude in encroaching into Johor airspace and the pollution caused by land reclamation works, but they also did not want the bridge.

When Abdullah took over the government, he spelt a new relationship with Singapore and talks to settle outstanding issues were smooth again. Then suddenly in January his government announced the construction of the ‘scenic bridge’. Abdullah was confident that he could coax the Singaporeans to build the other half.

Apparently that was a false impression he had. Obviously the Singaporeans were unwilling to spend so much money in the project but took a smart way out by seeking space and land concessions. At one point, Abdullah seemed to have agreed to these.

To many Malaysians, especially Umno members, Abdullah’s leadership is still suspect. They think he is not strong in dealing with party/state divisions and power plays. And it is this apparent weakness the Johor Malays have jumped on. I think that by playing the nationalist card, they have forced Abdullah to rethink the whole bridge project.

Meanwhile Mahathir is surely upset that one of his last visions has come to be unfulfilled. He is unhappy and says he could have completed the bridge if he was still in power. He is reported to have said:

"We were about to start but I retired. If I didn't, it would have started two-and-a-half years ago."

And he surely is bitter about how Singapore had gone about in wrecking his plans. He adds this with his characteristic sarcasm:

"Our neighbor is good. We must be very nice to them. All this while, we have always had to take care of Singapore's feelings."

So there we have it then. The big hoo-ha about the scenic bridge has come to a whimper.

Who are the losers here? The contractors, Mahathir maybe, people who thought Johor economy will boom by it and perhaps more than all, Abdullah for his failure to implement a properly devised plan.

And the victors? The Singaporeans and the Johor nationalists.

further read:
Loser and victors in the bridge over Causeway saga (via Bernama)
Malaysia drops plan to build bridge to Singapore (via Financial Times)
Malaysia scraps plans for bridge to replace Causeway (via Channel News Asia)
Mahathir laments scrapping of Malaysia-Singapore bridge project (via Kyodo)

Seven days of violence

Students, political foes, workers and even Maoist rebels in Nepal are all united in protesting to restore democracy that has eroded since King Gyanendra took control 14 months ago.

The King has failed to neither revive Nepal’s slipping economy nor quell communist insurgency. Instead he granted himself more powers and now faces accusation of spending government money for his daughter’s wedding and on other self-interests.

He has sacked ministers and governments, closed state television and radio stations and imposed tight censorship on the media. He discourages open debate.


With the growing dissent on his streets, he has ordered his troops to shoot curfew violators.

So far four demonstrators have been killed, one just today, and around 1,600 people, including prominent lawyers, politicians, activists and civilians, have been reported arrested.


The local papers are calling the protests the people’s movement. They are gaining strength and they are not afraid to call for changes.

With their street protests getting popular by the day, and getting international attention, they might just force about a change in Nepal.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Yes, No, Err…We are undecided (and divided)

Sunday, April 9:

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz says the Malaysian government has decided to set up an ombudsman to tackle all complaints against authorities, including ministers.

He said the government found that the ombudsman would have a wider scope than the proposed Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC). He added the Cabinet felt the IPCMC would unfairly punish the police force as a whole, when only a small minority was involved in abuse of power and corruption.

He also said that the government has rejected the idea of the IPCMC.

(sources: local media)


Monday, April 10:

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his deputy Najib Razak both denied the ombudsman plan. They said that it was still being discussed in the cabinet and being studied by the AG Chambers.

Najib said the government was also looking into other options besides the proposed ombudsman.

Abdullah also said the government has not discarded the IPCMC proposal and that he would be making a decision soon.

(sources: local media)


Tuesday, April 11:

The public is puzzled. They are wondering what is happening in the cabinet. How can one minister announce something one day, just to be denied by his boss the next day. Was Nazri sitting in the same cabinet meeting as Abdullah and Najib? Or was he just trying to show himself as the champion of the people, announcing new measures that he knows will be popular?

But then again, would such an ombudsman come under his portfolio? What is he in the cabinet – a minister in charge of parliamentary affairs. Would he have the inside knowledge of how the government in thinking? He should. After all he is a senior minister (without any serious portfolio, no doubt).

My thinking is that the government is not keen on the IPCMC proposal at all. Abdullah, who is also the home minister in charge of the police, is not keen to hurt the feelings of the boys in uniform.

That being the case, he is looking into some other options but sadly for him before he could fully equip himself about the alternative plan, Nazri has opened his mouth and revealed it all, taking the spotlight from the premier.

I predict that the ombudsman plan will be back on track real soon. Abdullah himself will announce it, saying that it is much better than the IPCMC as it covers a wider area. And he will give us many reasons why the IPCMC will not be a success if implemented.

The next question the public will be thinking is as to who will be the political appointee to become the country’s first ombudsman.


Background

Two Royal Commissions have recommended the IPCMC to look into the police misconduct. The civil society agrees that such an independent commission is needed to keep the police on guard. Even the government backbenchers are up for it. However the government is quite hesitant to set up such an independent commission as it fears it would affect police morale. After all, the government claims, only a handful of police personnel are rotten. The IPCMC is perceived to be too much of a threat to the authorities, the police union rejects it and thus the plans for an alternative.

Monday, April 10, 2006

Media leaks and military strikes against Iran

Governments have always realised the potential powers of the media but nowadays we see them taking advantage of it even more in their bid to implement policies or actions - both popular ones or otherwise.

In any given circumstances, the government will use the media to leak out bits and pieces of sensitive information about its proposed policy and then will sit back to see how the public are reacting to it.

What usually happens is this: a high placed source within the government will leak some sensitive material about the proposed policy which is still being debated in the public sphere. The leak will be given to an established journalist in an influential media.

There are two factors the government will consider in such leaks:
  1. To gauge the public feedback on the proposed policy, and
  2. To prepare the public for the definite implementation of the policy.

These two factors, though sound alike, have distinct characteristics. The first one involves a situation where the government is not sure about its proposed policy. Thus it wants to see how the public will react. The government will take in all criticisms and opinions and then will modify the proposed policy to that.

However the second factor is more serious. In this case, the government has decided to implement the proposed policy and will not buck away from it. It is not interested in listening to other suggestions or criticisms. All it wants to do by the media leak is to prepare the public for it and at the same time fine tuning the implementation of the policy. Policies which fall under this category are usually the unpopular ones.

Another important characteristic of this second factor is that the goverment will always deny the publised report first. After a couple of weeks, more leaks will be made to other media and finally the policy will be implemented and when that is done, the public will not be too shocked to hear about it.

It is under this category the weekend New Yorker magazine online report falls. The report, quoting high placed Pentagon, State Department and White House sources, said that the US is planning a military action against Iran as President George W Bush wants a regime change in Tehran before his term is up.

The Guardian today quotes part of the report as such:

The US is planning military action against Iran because George Bush is intent on regime change in Tehran - and not just as a contingency if diplomatic efforts fail to halt its suspected nuclear weapons programme, it was reported yesterday.

In the New Yorker magazine, Seymour Hersh, America's best known investigative journalist, concluded that the Bush administration is even considering the use of a tactical nuclear weapon against deep Iranian bunkers, but that top generals in the Pentagon are attempting to take that option off the table.


And not surprisingly, the rejections and dismissals of the report have come on fast.

Bush's adviser calls the report as 'ill-informed', saying that the US was committed to a diplomatic solution.

Like I mentioned above, this piece of media leak falls into the second category of just preparing the public for the ultimate military action against Iran.

The denials and counter accusations will now be preceded by more leaks in other media outlets, each drawing close to the final plan of the attack. Each new leaked report will have more material of how and what form of military action that will take place. Finally when such an attack takes place, no one will be taken by surprise.

Even in this first report, we see some details of the plans: that tactical nuclear weapons will be used to attack just the nucleal facilities.

This leaked report is just a follow up to a carefully laid spin doctoring. First we had some influential US senators not dismissing military actions, then we had the US' rep in the UN saying the same thing. Soon to follow was the defence secretary, then the vice president and finally even the president himself spoke about potential military strikes.

In the coming weeks or months the public will be prepared for potential human cost as well as the need for a democracy sweep in Iran.

So it is all following a well laid plan and we now await the proper first strike to happen.

Beware of the Russian skinheads

Foreign students in Russian universities beware. White Russian supremacists are coming after you.

A spate of maiming attacks and killings since last September has led officials to believe that there is an organised campaign of white supremacist terror against foreigners in Russian cities.

The latest incident came on Friday when a Senegalese student activist and anti-racism campaigner was shot dead by skinheads in St Petersburg.

The gun used to kill the student had a swastika mark on it, along with the word ‘skinheads’ and other derogatory slogans.

Previous attacks include:

  • Last month two skinheads attacked a nine-year-old girl in St Petersburg. They cornered the African girl right outside her door, sliced her throat, cut her tongue and left her face covered with blood and gashes.
  • Last week a Chinese/Taiwanese student was attacked outside her apartment.
  • In March a Ghanaian man was brutally beaten.
  • In February a man from Mali was stabbed to death.
  • Last December it was a Cameroonian student who was killed.
  • Last September a Congolese student was killed.

Seven people have been killed, and 79 injured, in more than 40 racist attacks this year, according to Sova, a non-governmental organisation that monitors extremism in Russia.

Last year, 28 people were killed and 366 injured in racially motivated crimes, it says.

From the list above it looks like the white supremacists are mainly targeting African students but you can never know how these skinheads operate. For them anyone who is not a white is not their kind.

I am worried for the thousands of Malaysian students, including government scholars, who are pursuing their studies in Russia.

I hope the Malaysian Students Department representative in Russia is keeping a close eye on the welfare of all our students there. I know that these students have been complaining about these skinheads to their schools and agents who got them there. I just hope it is not too late before we start doing something to protect them.

Maybe the Malaysian government should follow the Taiwanese government which issued a statement urging its citizens in Russia to avoid these skinheads.

It warned that skinhead attacks could increase in April following Adolf Hitler's birth anniversary on April 20 and Vladimir Lenin's on April 22.

So be warned foreign students.

Saturday, April 08, 2006

How long can the Indonesian Playboy last?

Adult magazine Playboy makes its appearance in Indonesia beginning this month. Of course the first issue has much less skin compared to its versions in the rest of the world.

In fact, some local traders are saying that this first issue has less nudity than other local porn magazines (no full nudity, no nipples). Some rightly think that Playboy will gradually increase its adult material.

What is surprising about this whole thing is that the Indonesian authorities have allowed for the publication of this magazine, which over the years have come to depict the Western moral decay here in this Muslim country.

No doubt there are some Muslim leaders who are angry over the local version of Playboy, with at least one threatening to use force to get the magazine withdrawn.

However for the men on the street, this new liberal attitude of the government is a good sign but they are also concerned on how the upcoming pornography law will allow for the continued publication of Playboy.

The new law will make illegal any behavior or images that might be considered sexually provocative. Women who bare their shoulders or legs, or artists who use nudity in their work, could be prosecuted for indecency and fined up to 2 billion rupiah (about $220,000) or even jailed for up to 12 years.

Similarly kissing in public would be outlawed, as would any other acts considered pornoaksi, an ill-defined term coined by conservative lawmakers to mean "pornographic acts."

I am sure the local version of Playboy and many other adult magazines in Indonesia will run foul of this new law.

So does this mean that the Indonesian Playboy will have a short lifespan - only to be banned after the new law is passed?

The government has already fired a warning to the publishers. Information minister Sofyan Djalil said:

"The laws that we can use in this case (are) whether there is a publication that violates decency. So, we need to check the content first. Just using the name is insufficient to ban it."

Going by this, Playboy is safe for now based on its mild content in the first issue but it will run into the long arms of the law and the radical Muslims if it wishes to titillate its readers in the coming months.

I think the liberal readers will just have to continue relying on the blackmarket after all.

Friday, April 07, 2006

UK’s Channel 4 News and Hugo Chavez

UK’s Channel 4 television station has come under criticism over its biased and distorted news coverage of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez.

The report titled Hugo to go? on March 27 portrayed Chávez as a dictatorial menace and referred to his personality cult and Soviet style leadership.

The report said:
“He’s no Saddam, but what’s happening here does feel eerily familiar. A
strongman buoyed up by oil defying the United States, using oil wealth to rearm
and consolidate his own power. Setting off alarm bells in Washington where
securing energy is a key foreign policy goal. A petro-state heading for a
showdown with its northern neighbour.”
We all know that Chavez is like a thorn in Bush’s administration. He has irked the US president continuously, stating that he will not be cowed by the American threat or pressure.

This report also stated Chavez accusing the US of planning to invade his country to take control of its vast oil reserves. And he has reportedly invoked the ultimate deterrent - the bow and arrow dipped in Indian poison.

He is reported to have said:
“If we have to put a few arrows into the invading gringo, then you’ll be done in
thirty seconds.”
Veteran journalist John Pilger finds the Channel 4 news item “one of the worst, most distorted pieces of journalism I have ever seen.”

In an e-mail to the station, he said:
“This was a piece seemingly written by the US State Department, although Channel 4's Washington correspondent, Jonathan Rugman, appeared on screen. It was one of the worst, most distorted pieces of journalism I have ever seen, qualifying as crude propaganda. I have been in Venezuela lately and almost nothing in Rugman's rant coincides with reality… Venezuela is a country in which 95 per cent of the press and TV and radio are owned by the far-right, who mount unrelenting daily attacks on the government unhindered.”
Medialens, an organization that tries to correct the distorted visions of the world media, says Channel 4 is not the only Western media organization that is guilty of wrongly lampooning Chavez.

Read here for more background.

And the situation in Malaysia…

Meanwhile in Malaysia, an overzealous and over protecting press officer of a minister has hurled profanity and used the threat of a defamation suit against an online Malaysiakini journalist for trying to get a comment from the minister.

Although he has apologized to the publication and the journalist, he nevertheless has failed to understand his role as a press officer. He is supposed to facilitate a smooth relationship between the media and the minister.

And after all the minister is a public servant whose responsibility is to the public, via the media – no matter how uncomfortable and embarrassing the questions are.

Read Jeff Ooi for more.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Small people always like to appear tall in Malaysia

For some years now Malaysians have been quite disconcerted with the many record breaking activities by their fellow citizens. What started as an attempt to highlight the ‘Malaysians can do’ attitude based on creativity, skills and perseverance has now been overtaken by various silly, petty and humorous actions.

What else can you say when we have university students compete to make the biggest pancakes or the longest omelette. Or when someone else fighting it out to make the largest kite, biggest pencil or the tallest ladder.

What makes it more embarrassing is the patronage granted by the political leaders and the widespread publicity given by the local media.

It has come to a point where ordinary folks are quite bemused and irritated by all these activities but no one is saying anything to these record breakers for them to stop this idiocy.

A recent article by the online Wired Magazine looks into our penchant for these records, calling Kuala Lumpur as the world record breaking capital. The magazine says that these actions make Malaysia to look like a nation of attention-hungry circus freaks. It says that in Malaysia not a week goes by without a record-setting event and the country might just be the world record holder in holding records.

Many will agree with this remark and I hope that Malaysians will just grow up and look into other real issues to break records. Doing well in sports will be a good start.

I reproduce the full article below:

The World Record-Breaking Capital

The strongest hair! The youngest sumo wrestler! The longest pencil! In Malaysia, making your mark - any mark - is a matter of national pride.

By Jack Boulware

On a steamy morning in downtown Kuala Lumpur, the distinct smell of fresh dough and pepperoni permeates the usual smog. For the past 14 hours, a crew of 40 has been preparing to create an epic pizza. It's going to be really long. The current Malaysian record is 272 feet, but today the staff of the Westin hotel is hoping to reach 492 feet - 150 meters - in five hours.

Nobody is quite sure why they have only five hours; that just seems to be the
rule of making unnecessarily long pizzas in Malaysia.

Banquet tables pushed end to end snake from the hotel's front doors, around the corner, and down the block to a parking lot. Westin chef Rajesh Kanna ticks off the
ingredients: 330 pounds of flour, 231 pounds of mozzarella, 18.5 gallons of tomato sauce. "Definitely we will do it!" he crows.

The madness begins at 9 am. Six assistant chefs dump ingredients onto 3- by 1-foot rectangles of dough and send them through a conveyor oven. After the cooked pizzas emerge, they're positioned on the tables in a line. A second crew covers each seam with more toppings, using blowtorches to fuse the sections with a layer of melted cheese.

A sound system blasts party music by Cher, Bon Jovi, and C+C Music Factory. A spiky-haired emcee named DJ Naughty Puppy works the crowd: "Come on, let's make some noise! You can do it!"

Finally, a clown sounds a bullhorn siren, signaling countdown time. When the crowd reaches zero, Naughty Puppy screams, "157 meters! We've got a record! We Malaysians have set the record, right here!"

The mob explodes into cheers and whistles. Kool and the Gang's "Celebration" pumps out over the PA. TV cameras descend for postgame interviews. Tearful chefs hug each other. And 515 feet of pizza is boxed up to be sold for charity.

From the dangerous (most days spent inside a box with 6,069 scorpions) to the inexplicable (most faces captured on a phonecam) and the outright banal (first independent tire-testing facility), not a week goes by without a record-setting event somewhere in Malaysia. The country might just be the world record holder in holding records.

The efforts are chronicled in the Malaysia Book of Records, a compendium of 2,005 of the country's bests, firsts, biggests, and longests. Many attempts are so outlandish - most time spent cooped up in a vehicle - that they're regularly slotted into the "wacky news" segments on newscasts around the world. To Western eyes, the country seems like a nation of attention-hungry circus freaks. But in Malaysia,
the desire to build the largest tea bag or gather the most twins at a single location is a form of national pride.

The record frenzy began under the leadership of Mahathir bin Mohamad, the country's prime minister from 1981 to 2003. He was obsessed with making his country one of the great nations of the world, especially in the late '80s and early '90s, when neighbors Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan - other so-called Asian Tigers - grew to become more significant economic powers, giving Malaysia a serious inferiority complex.

Mahathir championed the motto Malaysia boleh! (Malaysia can do it!) as a way to motivate citizens to embrace modernity. It was a key pillar of his Vision 2020 campaign: If everyone strived for excellence, he promised, Malaysia would be a fully developed first world country by 2020.

Determined to raise Malaysia's global profile, Mahathir drove the country into debt in the 1990s with a series of ambitious public works projects. In 1998, the 1,483-foot-tall twin Petronas towers opened in Kuala Lumpur, becoming the tallest buildings in the world (they've since been eclipsed by Taipei 101 in Taiwan). Kuala Lumpur unveiled a new public transit system, international airport, administrative capital, and technology corridor. An excellent nationwide highway system was constructed and is now filled with Protons, Malaysian-made cars driven by people who can't afford Japanese or German vehicles.

Mega­projects are good for his country's ego, Mahathir told the Far Eastern Economic Review in 1998. "," he explained. "If you can't get tall enough, you put a box under you." Small people always like to appear tall

The Malaysia boleh! slogan took off. Advertising agencies used it to promote products; fans chanted the phrase at the Commonwealth Games and other sporting events. And along the way to courting national pride, the call to excellence somehow got translated into setting the record for creating the highest stack of cans in 15 minutes.

The Malaysia Book of Records is published every other year by Danny Ooi. At the
product launch of the country's first theft-resistant handbag, Ooi, 51, is wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt with the MBR logo stitched on one side, and danny on the other. He looks like a gas station attendant circa 1975.

Ooi published the first MBR in 1998; it combined a childhood fondness for the Guinness Book of Records, a formidable instinct for promotion, and an unabashed enthusiasm for boleh. He has since started a weekly TV show and is now raising funds to build an MBR museum and hall of records. Ooi also organizes beauty pageants throughout Asia. One night he might crown Miss Tourism International, the next day he is handing out an award to 8,000 people, all wearing clogs.

"Our book is a selling point for the country. If I go to your country, you don't even have a book to show. Which is your tallest building, who is your tallest man?" Ooi says, spreading his arms wide. "It's something to shout about!"

It's also a manifesto for global peace. "If the whole world was trying for excellence, it would be the perfect world to stay in," he says, "because we would no longer be talking about fighting. We'd be talking about breaking records." Perhaps instead of disarming Iraqis, the US should be encouraging them to play checkers underwater.

The day-to-day operations at MBR's publisher are handled by Sujatha Nair. When she signed on four years ago, Nair was skeptical about her job. But when she witnessed the attempt for the longest grill of satay (a Malay kebab), she saw how seriously her fellow Malaysians take records. "I saw the work put into it: 5,000 students in the hot sun, all sweaty," she says. "Some of them were in tears."

Nair's daughter has since set the Malaysia children's record for hula-hooping (two hours and 12 minutes). The accomplishment has made the 10-year-old a regular performer at fundraisers for AIDS research and other causes.

Nair manages a staff of 10, who scan newspapers for award ideas, attend and monitor record attempts, and review submissions from the public. During one week in January, they considered bids for the highest-altitude radio broadcast, the first technology that would let students take college entrance exams via SMS, and the first Malaysian to win a German embroidery competition. All were accepted.

The book sells for RM88 (about $24). Publication of the updated edition every two years is heralded by a red carpet gala broadcast across the country. Record holders come from all over: Subang Jaya has the longest pencil. Kuala Lumpur has the largest pair of jeans. Sabah is home to the youngest sumo wrestler. Selangor has the largest leather shoe. Melaka boasts the oldest pharmacist. Sarawak offers up the first cat museum. And Penang has the largest pizza in the shape of Malaysia and the siblings with the most extra toes.

Jayabarathy Letchemanah drags cars with her hair. The 22-year-old set the women's national record by pulling 5 tons of vehicles 73 feet.

Her father, Ramasamy Letchemanah, was the family's first champion, setting multiple records for pulling heavy objects with his tresses. In 1990, he dragged a 32-ton Boeing 737 more than 50 feet, an achievement hailed by Hinduism Today as "an awesome demonstration of his yogic power." But last October, the Malaysian "Mighty Man" died from heart failure at age 55. His obituary ran in newspapers around the world. Luckily he had already taught his daughter his secret technique.

Many record holders are like Jaya­barathy - individuals who have found a way to show their boleh and enjoy a little fame. Some are participating in massive social events that serve as community fairs in the spirit of boleh. And some are business owners who either want to show their company's nationalism or capitalize on the boleh phenomenon to increase sales.

Not all records are whimsical. Take former newscaster Ras Adiba Radzi, who was paralyzed from the waist down after a car accident. In 2003, she rolled her wheelchair 260 miles, from Johor Baharu to Putrajaya, to call attention to people with disabilities, setting the record for longest journey in a wheelchair.

The idea that Malaysia's national image is burnished by, say, having its citizens parachute a car onto the North Pole doesn't sit well with everyone. One woman in a Kuala Lumpur suburb put it this way: "It's a waste of time. It doesn't mean anything." A letter in Malaysia's New Straits Times lamented, "Here we are, a nation gearing itself for Vision 2020, proud of our largest Hari Raya greeting card or the longest performance of a lion dance."

Sure, events like the largest gathering of people with teddy bears may trivialize the nation's ambitions. But is it any less crazy when Americans wolf down worms for cash or sing off-key on television for a shot at a record deal?

In the southwestern city of Melaka, a man stands under a banner that reads MALAYSIA BOLEH! Four coconuts are set out in front of him. This is kung fu master Ho Eng Hui; he pierces coconuts with a finger faster than anyone else in Malaysia.

He addresses the crowd, describing boleh. His voice fills with emotion, and he
frequently points to his heart. The spirit of doing the best you can, striving
for achievement because you are Malaysian, he says, is the driving force behind
his art.

He passes around a coconut for people to inspect. He shows his index finger, cruelly bent from previous coconut penetrations. And then he pauses to pitch a bottle of red-colored oil that supposedly eases pain, stimulates muscles, and saves marriages.

After an impassioned riff on his special elixir, the boleh spirit summons him. He emits several screams and jabs his finger into the shell over and over until it punches through, splattering coconut milk everywhere.

The crowd cheers. An assistant runs to help extricate the mangled digit, and then - in a masterful stroke of product placement - Ho dumps a bottle of his own miracle potion onto his hand and rubs it into the skin. He bends over and groans in a superior display of showbiz and promotional savvy.

Told about the coconut triumph later, Nair shrugs. "I know a guy who can do it faster," she says. "He just hasn't had time to set up the record."

The article is found at: The World Record-Breaking Capital.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

The empowerment of women – not in Saudi Arabia

We all know about women inequality in Saudi Arabia. There, in the male-dominated conservative society, the women have little say in anything, let alone in the political sphere.

In an austere interpretation of Islam, they are not allowed to drive or even go to public places unaccompanied by a male relative.

Thus, fed up with the male domination, last year five Saudi women underwent sex change surgeries abroad to overcome their psychological complex. Saudi officials say these women suffer from psychological defects. Read an Arabic perspective here.

The five have not been arrested but the state religious authorities have kept a close eye on this new development. A senior cleric wants a religious edict to ban such surgeries in the future.

How sad indeed for the women in this country. I can’t imagine their mental torment living in such a repressive society, to the extend of even undergoing sex change operations to enjoy the little joys of life such driving or going out shopping alone.

A few months ago noted Malaysia columnist Marina Mahathir said that the Malaysian Muslim women were second class citizens as Islamic laws in the country represent a step backwards for these women.

The situation in Malaysia is much better than in Saudi Arabia no doubt. In Malaysia women can drive and go out shopping on their own. They are also well represented politically and in the government.

However as Marina said, there is a problem for women, not just Muslim women, in Malaysia. This is largely due to some Muslim laws that affect these women in marriage, divorce and wealth matters.

Generally women in Malaysia have been known to have strong political convictions - hundreds of brave women had withstood police batons and water cannons during the odd street protests.

But unfortunately not many have achieved to change the government or its policies through these.

In India too, the women there have very strong political leanings. In fact at this very moment a leading environmentalist Medha Patkar is in a serious health condition after being on a hunger strike for seven days.

Ms Patkar (pix) and supporters are protesting in Delhi against the construction of a dam on the Narmada river which will submerge about 220 villages.

This environmentalist is willing to give her life for the sake of the villagers and wants the Indian government to relocate all affected villagers – as ruled by the Supreme Court in March – before it starts to work on the dam.

The problem is that the government wants to rush the construction of the dam which it says will irrigate two million hectares of land. For more background on this matter, read here.

The point to note is that while women in India, even Malaysia, and many other places in the world have freedom to do what they want, we still have places like Saudi Arabia which continues to restrict them.

How sad indeed.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Copulating dingoes and fornicating dogs

Cartoons are proving to be the latest way to trigger political rows. Hot on the heels of the Danish cartoons controversy, we now have another potential outburst of emotions, protests and diplomatic impasse as a result of another series of political cartoons.

The first one – the Danish cartoons on Prophet Muhammad – resulted in anger and protest in the Muslim world. It caused millions to hit the streets, showing their anger at Denmark for cartoons that ridiculed the prophet.

Politically, the row caused a strained relationship between some Arab states and the Danish government. Ambassadors were recalled and Danish diplomatic offices were burnt. Only now the row seemed to have abated.

And just when we thought we can move on, another series of political cartoons have triggered a diplomatic crisis between Indonesia and Australia. This appears to be a storm in a tea cup compared to the Danish controversy but it has the potential of blowing up and affecting the Asia Pacific region.

As it is the Indonesian government has recalled its ambassador from Canberra and its president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned that the matter could get worse.

What has happened is this. The Australian government has issued three-year visas to a group of 42 Papuans, including prominent separatists and their families, who arrived by boat in northern Australia in January.

On top of that, the Australians have repeatedly stated their support for Papuan separatism, something which the Indonesians are not even willing to consider.

To show their dissatisfaction over the Australian support for the Papuan, last week an Indonesian newspaper Rakyat Merdeka carried a front page cartoon portraying Prime Minister John Howard and his Foreign Minister Alexander Downer as copulating dingoes.

In that image, a shaking Howard is mounted on Downer with the Prime Minister saying: "I want Papua!! Alex! Try to make it happen."

In return, The Australian newspaper published a cartoon later in the week showing President Susilo as a tail-wagging dog mounting a startled-looking Papua dog and saying "don't take this the wrong way". The caption under the cartoon reads "no offence intended".

In response, Indonesia has recalled its ambassador to Canberra, postponed an agreement on jointly fighting bird flu, and angry Indonesians have protested outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta.

As it stands now, Indonesia is calling for a review of its dealing with Australia, especially on matters of illegal migration – obviously concerned with the ease in which independent-minded Papuans are getting Australian visas.

Historically the ties between these two countries have never been smooth. And we all know that the Indonesians can get millions to come out to the streets to protest, especially now that the government itself has indicated that it is very angry indeed.

Australia so far has been cool over the issue, maintaining that its relation with Indonesia is not affected by the cartoons. But will they remain the same with continuing Indonesian protest and anger?

backgrounder:
Read Australian media reports here and here and the Indonesian perspective here.

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Who wouldn’t want a freebie in Malaysia?

Almost 50 years into independence, Malaysians are still far from being treated equally. The government still wants to keep its policies of favouring one race over the others on the grounds that Malays are still lagging.

The government launched its affirmative action policy in 1971, following the bloody racial riots in 1969. It reasoned then that the Malays felt threatened by the growth of the other races, especially the Chinese.

The government envisaged a 30 percent Malay share of the economy in 20 years. Today the government says that Malay equity ownership in the corporate sector is still not up to the mark.

According to the 9th Malaysian Plan (2006-2010) report, as in 2004, the ethnic Chinese held a 39 percent stake in the corporate sector, the Malays 18.9 percent and the Indians 1.2 percent.

The poverty rate among Malays still ranks the highest at 8.3 percent in 2004, followed by the Indians at 2.9 percent and the Chinese at 0.6 percent

The report adds that for every ringgit that the average Malay earns, the average Chinese gets 64 sen more and the Indian 27 sen more.

Malays constitute 65 percent of the country's population of 26 million. Chinese make up 25 percent, Indians 7.5 percent, and the rest are indigenous groups.

So seeing that the Malays are still some way behind, PM Abdullah’s government wants to raise the Malay share of corporate equity to between 20 and 25 percent by 2010 and 30 percent by 2020, and the Indian share to 3 percent, while narrowing the income gap so that by 2010, the average Chinese earns only 50 sen more for every ringgit the Malay earns by 2010 and just 35 sen by 2020.

And how does it want to implement this? The answer is obvious - by privatization projects. And it maintains the requirement for companies that bids for government tenders to have 30 percent Malay interest and that at least 60 percent of contract works will go to the Malays.

Steps will also be taken to raise bumiputera asset ownership in residential and commercial property and in intellectual property and commercial enterprises. The government will also continue with its policy of mandating non-Malay and foreign-controlled companies to seek Malay partners and employ Malay executives.

But are these all very new for us Malaysians? Aren’t these policies already being implemented as on-going government policies? Who gets all the contracts in Malaysia now anyway?
Simply put, as I see it, the government just wants to continue its policies of protecting the Malay interest.

There could be a political reason for this too. After all the PM and Umno president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will be an utterly unpopular person if he were to withdraw all these rights.

I just wonder what all the fuss was about in the Umno AGM’s a few years ago when all the leaders were calling for the removals of the ‘walking sticks’ which the government was granting the Malays.

Then they said that they were ashamed to be still aided by the government to improve their economy standings. They also said that in the era of globalization, they were more than capable to compete with everyone.

Voices were also heard saying that the affirmative action policy was obsolete and in actual fact only benefited a handful of well-connected Malays.

I just suppose that things have changed since then. After all, who wouldn’t want a freebie? It’s just sad that the freebies are not available to everyone.