FT Day rehearsal mess

The Kuala Lumpur City Hall should not have FT Day celebration rehearsals on a weekday, especially when it is unable to manage the city traffic.

This morning, several city road closures resulted in massive traffic jam during the early morning rush hour, causing many folks to be late to work.

Personally, a routine 40-minute round trip from Segambut to Brickfields in the morning rush hour today extended close to two hours.

All roads leading to the Dataran Merdeka were closed and the spill-over effect was felt from Selayang to the NEP from Puchong to Bangsar.

No city resident is interested in these FT Day celebrations any longer, I think.

The City Hall should just move all such celebrations to Putrajaya where the slower pace of life is best suited for parades and march-passes.

If City Hall still wants to do it in the city, perhaps rehearsals can be done on a Sunday, or later at night on a weekday.

But seriously, I think City Hall should not even contemplate FT Day celebrations until it has solved the various problems in the city – bad, congested and dirty roads, illegal parking lots and attendants, clogged drains, unkept buildings, unclean and illegal eateries. This list goes on actually.

Was this a worthy win for Shilpa?

I am not surprised that Bollywood beauty Shilpa Shetty has won the Celebrity Big Brother in the UK. After all she had all the sympathy votes going for her after becoming a victim of racist bullying by fellow contestant Jade Goody.

The Indian actor, whose culture, speech and birthplace had been mocked by other contestants, was declared winner of the gameshow with 63% of the final vote.

The bigger question is do we need such a show? A show where a group of people are constantly monitored, every word they say captured, all their moves recorded. What is the purpose of this show?

As for Shilpa, I honestly thought the reason to have her in the show was just a gimmick by the producers to attract the burgeoning Asian viewers in the UK.

When I was there, many of my uni-mates, especially the Asians, enjoyed watching the show and an internal survey by the station did indicate that more can be done to attract these pool of viewers to flush their money in voting for their favourite contestants.

Well done for the masterstroke! The business acumen has been proven right. My fear now is that it will just create a bigger wedge between the locals and the Asian migrant communities in the UK.

More locals are going to be upset that locals were outvoted in this programme and next year what is there to stop them to blindly support a local over others?

Believe me, I see that happening.

As for Shilpa, well done. Maybe now she can try to get into some of the TV series in the UK too.

After all she has cooed the Brits with her response over the racist attacks:

She said:

"Jade did not mean to be racist. I really don't want to leave England getting anyone into trouble. I just want to thank the whole of Great Britain for giving me the opportunity to make my country proud."

Her response to the racists attacks drew this comment from the Guardian:

“This remarkably graceful speech raises three possibilities. Shetty is such a good actor that they should give her the 2007 Oscar now...or she was saying what she really believes. Or she was cannily responding to racists in the manner calculated to make them most uneasy: showing an intelligence and graciousness they will never acquire.”

Read more about her win here and here.

BN’s woes in Batu Talam

There are about 500 Orang Asli voters in Batu Talam. And the government is trying hard to ensure that these votes end up in their kitty.

The problem for BN is this. Of the 10,525 votes, nearly 80 percent of the voters are Malay and from that an average of about 2,500 have always gone to PAS. The Islamic party has contested in this state seat since 1982.

But with PAS boycotting the by-election this time around, there are questions of where will these 2000 odd PAS votes be going.

On the surface PAS has been telling its supporters that while the party is boycotting the polls, it will not stop them from voting. On the ground however, the message is different.

As I see it, we can take for granted these 2000 votes are not going to go into the ballot boxes and even if they do, it will be spoilt votes.

And then we have the Chinese votes - accounting to about 11 percent. All these while MCA has been able to deliver these votes in total for BN candidates. This time around, the contest is between a Malay BN candidate and a Chinese Independent.

The Independent candidate has been playing his cards right by visiting Chinese new villages to canvass for votes. His youthful charm and his plea to allow him to retain his deposit might see him getting some Chinese votes.

Five percent of the votes are from the Indian community and I am sure all these will go to BN. No problems here.

And finally we have the Orang Asli. For me, these are the so-called phantom voters. In the past, there have been instances of their identity cards being used by others for voting.

And again, this time too, Pahang Umno is advising the Orang Asli in Batu Talam not to give out the identity cards to outsiders. A case of Umno being careful so that others don’t follow their tactics?

Anyway, malaysiakini contacted some Orang Asli voters in Batu Talam and found out that the government was holding a series of programmes to keep them close. There is sukaneka, food festivals and sports carnival being held on daily basis and in between they are being told to remember to vote for BN.

But still the worry is there for BN. The problem with the Orang Asli is that, according to a local Umno leader, they have gotten used to being paid for voting.

So even now they want money for their votes. They also want cigarettes and footballs. And they are willing to just give their MyKad to the highest bidder. For them, the time wasted in voting can be better used in gathering petai in the forest.

For the next two days, Umno will be doing all it can to keep these Orang Asli under its total watch. On the other hand MCA will be going house-to-house to ensure the Chinese don’t flip.

But the biggest worry will be the Malay votes. Being a by-election, the turn out will not be high. And then when we minus the PAS votes, it is going to be lower still.

So when the deputy prime minister said he wanted at least a 3,000 majority, he was being foolish. Local Umno leaders realise this and that is why they said 3,000 target is not achievable.

Let’s see how it goes in Sunday.

Stay home and watch Vanavil

“To all the Indians in Batu Talam who make up 5.6 % of the electorate, send your protest loud and clear. Stay home on polling day and watch Astro Vanavil.”

This is what a letter-writer to malaysiakini said yesterday. And he gave 10 reasons as to why BN should be denied the Indian votes.

Read here to see his reasons.

Has he taken a new wife?

There is this unconfirmed report that a top leader of our nation has taken a new wife.

Rumours were rife late last year that he was about to marry her but now higher sources say the marriage has already taken place.

In fact apparently he had taken her to accompany him to his official trips abroad. She was with him in Australia and other places too.

According to the same sources, she has been given security protections and has at least two ADCs with her.

It seems this leader, a widower of just more than a year, had to marry this woman as a dying wish of his wife.

The new wife is apparently a divorcee and was married in the first wife’s family.

Wait for more on this. This is brewing.

A bad omen thru the SMS

It is amazing how gullible people are. All it needs is one simple SMS claiming that something was happening and off goes our people to do something about it.

A few months ago, hundreds of Malay Muslims gathered opposite a church in Ipoh after being wrongly informed of a mass baptism of Malay kids there. Naturally this was a false news but it almost created a racial stand off.

The last Saturday, another SMS was making its rounds. It read that a buffalo had entered into the altar of Lord Sivan. As the day progressed and the SMS’s went up and down the country, the content too changed.

The one I received said:

“A bad omen. A buffalo has somehow entered into the altar of the Tillai Nadarajar kovil (Lord Siva) in Jelapang, Ipoh. Its bad omen. In Hindu philosophy a buffalo is the symbol of Yamadarman - the guardian of the dead. The animal should not enter a worshipping shrine......This is a bad omen for all the people in the country. All Hindu are advised to light up at least 3 agal vilaku in front of our house.”

The place of the alleged incident changed - from Sentul to Ipoh to somewhere in Penang. Finally it mentioned a temple in South India.

And then to absolve this bad omen, the SMS asked Hindus to light a lamp, or three, or even one for each male heir in the family. Not just using normal oil, but ghee.

I think this rumour was started by some ghee company to boost sales! Today Tamil papers denied such a 'bullish' incident ever happened in Malaysia.

But this is not going to stop our people from continuing to believe such SMS rumours, is it?

I await for the next rumour over my mobile now.

‘Rafa isn't stupid’

Finally he admits that Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez is a master tactician. I am talking about Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho after the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool yesterday.

This is what he said:

"Rafa isn't stupid and I'm not a magician. We had no central defenders and I knew two weeks ago that Crouch and Kuyt would play in this game. The defenders we have could have coped with Bellamy but they couldn't cope with Crouch winning the headers and Kuyt's strength holding the ball up.

"In other games of late we've been able to cope but I knew we'd have
problems today and Liverpool did very well."

With this result, the second spot is still reachable for Liverpool now. I just hope they keep the momentum going until that is achieved.

What’s up his sleeves?

What was Abdul Razak Baginda’s game plan in revealing everything in his bail application?

He has now admitted of an affair with the dead Mongolian beauty. Admitted of paying her money. Admitted that she was a nuisance. Admitted that he enlisted the help of some cops to make the problem disappear. Admitted that one of the cops had told him that the problem was solved.

If this is not abetting to the murder, what is? You see, if he had played a direct role in the killing of Altantuya Shaariibuu, he would have been charged with the murder of the 28-year-old Mongolian.

The reason he was charged with abetting was because he was not there to literally pull the trigger. His admission now makes it clear that he had indeed asked the two cops to help him solve the problem.

Now with his admissions, he could have just signed his death warrant. Unless his lawyer knows something which we don’t.

Let’s keep our eyes open now to his appeal against his bail application, or the trial proper in March 2008.

Different agenda in fighting graft

Two different stories in local media today, on a very similar matter - fighting corruption.

First story talks about how the Chief Secretary to the government has instructed all heads of department to take disciplinary action against corrupt civil servants within six months.

This is to show that the government is strict about eradicating corruption, as promised by the prime minister.

And then we have the second story, which is about a 65-year-old man being sentenced to a day’s jail and fined RM2,500 or six months’ jail for bribing a cop. He is accused of giving RM1,000 to the policeman.

Now reading the two stories together, both published by New Straits Times in pages 9 and 22 respectively, we can gather a lot about Pak Lah’s battle against corruption.

You make up your own mind about it.

Unacceptable treatment from MAS

“This is clearly atrocious treatment from a major airline – and worse, the national carrier of Malaysia. It's clear that MAS had already known they were overbooked on the MH2 flight, so why were we not informed before we even boarded the plane in Kuching? Why confirm our booking if there was such an issue?”

This is an excerpt of an angry letter by an irate MAS passenger, as published by malaysiakini today.

What seems to be the problem? Well, it’s our national carrier being greedy by over-booking passengers and then cruelly dumping them as though these passengers just need to hail the next bus to their destinations.

Yet another case of First World Infrastructure, Third World Mentality?

Nope, nothing is under control

It’s very sad and disturbing that this is happening in Malaysia. I am talking about the monster floods in Johor. Supposedly it’s the worst in 100 years but how come did we allow ourselves to be bitten twice in a space of a mere few days.

When the first wave came, we can say that we were taken by surprise. And then we knew the second wave was coming but still how come the rescue operations and the relief centres are in such shambles?

Media reports that foods are not being sent on time, that some centres have insufficient food, and sadder still that some families have to fend on their own to find bits and pieces to eat, are really shocking.

On top of this, we have health alerts being issued by the authorities but what is being done on the ground?

I think we have had enough of remote governance by the premier. He should start visiting these effected places. His visits will at least put some pressure and fear on the local authorities to do something right.

At the moment, these local government agencies on the ground are the kings of the situation. Whatever they say and do goes. Perhaps that’s where the problem lies.

More than 110,000 people have been displaced as of today. Thousands of homes ruined, roads damaged, businesses gone down the water BUT the impression I get is the local authorities saying everything is under control!

Nope, nothing is under control. The best thing the government could do now is the declare an emergency and start mobilising federal agencies to help those poor people in Johor.

We shouldn’t be sending our National Trainees to do the job of professionals either. These kids are not trained to work in natural disasters as being claimed by some now.

And finally, the prime minister must turun padang (go to the ground) to see for himself what’s happening and it need be, make some urgent on-the-spot executive decisions to
make things easier for the effected victims.

Yeah baby, yeah!

A new video clip is making its round at the moment - both in the emails and through mobile phones.

It is a very revealing clip - a full three minutes and 30 seconds of the sexual antics of two consenting adults - the whole nine yards of it. He is recording it using his handphone and she more than happy to pose for him.

What’s new with this, one may ask. After all, there are plentiful clips of such nature in the Internet.

I agree, but then this is a special home-made clip of a prominent daughter-in-law of a vocal minister doing it with her husband’s foster brother. Too complicated?

I will say it again, more clearly and in a less circuitous route - she is a popular lady in the local entertainment scene. Her husband is an aspiring politician. His father a veteran at that game while her lover is a useless bum wasting his foster dad’s hard-earned money.

The implication of this video is severe for all affected parties. So far, none of our media has picked it up but I think it’s just a matter of time before it is exposed.

In the meantime, the clip is doing a brisk round in the net. Look for it and you will find it. And, enjoy the show!

M stands for...

These came in some of the newsgroups that I receive:

A new acronym - MAHATHIR stands for:

Must Always Hantam Abdullah Till He Is Removed.

Or how about this:

einstein has a creative mind
bill gates has a brilliant mind
mahathir is the mastermind
badawi is... oh never mind!

And how about this juicy retort from the old man when asked at a press conference on Monday about Abdullah’s earlier interview with a Thai newspaper accusing Mahathir of 'smashing the rice bowl' of his son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin.

Dr Mahathir just said: “It was a very big rice bowl, running in the hundreds of millions. How much rice can you eat?”

Funny: Think like a Malaysian

There once was a very good old barber in San Francisco.

One day a florist goes to him for a haircut. After the cut, he goes to pay the barber and the barber replies: "I am sorry. I cannot accept money from you. I am doing Community service. "

The Florist is happy and leaves the shop. The next morning when the barber goes to open his shop, there is a thank you card and a dozen roses waiting at his door.

A policeman goes for a haircut and he also goes to pay the barber after the cut. But the barber replies: "I am sorry. I cannot accept money from you. I am doing community service."

The cop is happy and leaves the shop. The next morning the barber goes to open his shop, there is a thank you card and a dozen donuts waiting at his door.

A Malaysian software engineer goes for a haircut and he also goes to pay the barber after the cut. But the barber replies: "I am sorry. I cannot accept money from you. I am doing community service."

The Malaysian software engineer is happy and leaves.

The next morning when the barber goes to open his shop, guess what he finds there...

Can you guess? Do you know the answer yet?

Come on, think like a Malaysian....

a dozen Malaysians waiting for a free haircut!

Who to blame for modern-day slavery

Just last night PM Abdullah launched our Visit Malaysia Year 2007 campaign. The campaign costs RM200 million and much has been and will continued to be done to woo the foreigners.

PM says a successful campaign will bring in 20 million tourists who will spend some RM44 billion here over the course of the year - that’s a massive return for an investment of RM10 per tourist!

But the saddening thing is the deafening silence by the government over issues relating to our own people - people who live below the poverty line, and in some cases, people who are treated as slaves even now as we enter the 50th year of our independence.

As I mentioned yesterday, I did a special report on one such bonded family just last week for malaysiakini.

On Saturday, I spoke to a MIC politician, a political commentator and an academic as to why we still have bonded labourers in our midst.

Interestingly the politician said the blame lies solely on the labourers, the political analyst says MIC and other civil societies should do their job while the academic accuses the media for highlighting such sorry tales.

Read more of the final part here.

Modern day slavery in Malaysia

“Life as a bonded labourer meant working at all hours, being a servant to the owner at all times and quietly receiving punishments for the simplest of mistakes.”

That was the response from 42-year-old Rosamah when asked about her life as a bonded labourer.

Her husband Avadiar was more brutal. He said: “Life was hell.”

About three weeks ago I went looking for this family, along with two video journalists from malaysiakini, all the way to a Felda plantation in Tementi, Pahang. This family has just escaped from the clutches of their ruthless owner and was experiencing freedom in almost the first time in a decade.

We also spoke to the employer/owner, located some 60km from Tementi, in a place called Kampung Serampang Indah, about 30km away from Bahau, NS. He, naturally, denied everything and blamed the family as being lazy and addicted to beer.

We also spoke to a young man who played a vital role in bringing out the Avadiar family to freedom.

It is a sad tale and malaysiakini has been running a special report on this issue since Wednesday, with video coverage too.

Click here to watch the first video and the first story on the escaped family.

And here to watch the second video and read a follow up story on the owner/employere.

And finally a video here on the good Samaritan and his story here.

My final analysis:

This is not a fiction. This is Malaysia - the other side of it. Fifty years after Merdeka, we still have bonded labourers without any rights and this is just a tale of one such family.

Many who read the story too felt very upset. Read their comments here.

p/s: Watch the videos at these links as they are free, free and free, and have the written articles as well!

Can we have our own version too?

“The secrecy surrounding the way in which police officers are disciplined is to end with public hearings for accusations of serious neglect or incompetence.

Officers accused of failings that have led to death or serious injury could face tribunals, which will be open to victims, their relatives and the media, under new powers held by the police national watchdog.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) will have the power to compel forces to open a case if there is genuine public interest in the issues raised that would not be aired at a trial or an inquest.”

Calm down, don’t start jumping in joy. This is not going to happen here in Malaysia. This is a change that is to take place in the UK, according to a report in the Times of London today.

I will be happy just to see the Malaysian version of IPCMC being set up this year, let alone getting tough actions taken against ‘incompetent’ officers.

Happy to be helpful

This is one advertisement which shows what sort of thorough work is put by our Tourism Ministry in preparing for the Visit Malaysia year 2007.

With some RM200 million being spent to make this campaign a successful tourism money earner, and with some much of national pride attached to it, the ministry surely has people at all nooks and corners to ensure a massive ego-boosting success at the end of the campaign.

In the run up to the campaign, many locals and tourists complained that the government seemed unprepared for the campaign - with so many local tourists destinations being neglected and the infrastructure definitely Third World standards.

And then, today there were complaints that the hastily launched Hip-Hop bus service in KL was totally unprofessional.

But for me, this advertisement, carried in the NST on Dec 31, epitomises the whole botched job the ministry has been doing in preparing for this campaign.

Just as the ad says, I am happy to be helpful in pointing out that it is an embarrassing shame to note that even government ads make such silly schoolboy mistakes.

In case you are still wondering, it should read 1 DAY to go, NOT 1 DAYS to go!

If the ministry can’t get it right, how do we expect the front-bench civil servants to properly communicate with our foreign guests?