From rocks to island

Can you beat this? Foreign minister Rais Yatim is talking about merging the rocks called Middle Rocks (next to Batu Puteh which we lost to Singapore) into one longer and wider formation.

At present, the collections of rocks are 500-600 metres apart and our grand plan is to somehow join them so that it would become a bigger single rock (or perhaps island) than Batu Puteh.

So what would we gain by this mega plan? The Utusan Malaysia report which carried this story quoted Rais as saying that the bigger rock (or island) has the potential to have a weather station and marine observatory centre.

Perhaps the unsaid plan is that we want to have an island to overwhelm Batu Puteh and halt Singapore’s development plan surrounding that rocky outlet.

Or maybe the grand design is to build a bigger and taller lighthouse to totally eclipse the one in Batu Puteh.

Let’s see how far the government will go with this grand plan.

Read Utusan Malaysia story here.

Shame on you lot

A story in NST today on a group of Mat Rempits robbing five women at a petrol station in Jalan Travers, Bangsar caught my attention.

According to the report, the incident happened at about 3.30am last Saturday.

What enraged me was the public apathy while the incident happened – no one went to help the ladies! Not the three petrol station attendants who were safely holed up inside the station convenience store or several other motorists who were around.

The Mat Rempit gang must surely know that no one will stop them, thus their brazen behaviour. Disappointing even is the fact that the Travers police station is just up the road!

Apparently three police patrol cars arrived at the scene soon after and police obtained CCTV footage from the premises, but no arrest has been made so far.

Hmmm…..If I may suggest an easier way - just round up all the Mat Rempits (this is not difficult to do) and squeeze the truth out of them.

This is easy. The difficult part is to get our fellow citizens to be more civic conscious!

The ultimate battle

Football or sex?

Apparently, a recent survey in Europe found that half of European football fans would prefer to watch important matches than have sex.

I wonder if the statistics would stand in the Malaysian context!

Read the story here.

A clip that riled the local Malays

A 40-second clip shown in the UK has got some Malaysians upset.

Actually, the 40-second clip showed a man on a beach firing a machine gun into the air and shouting in the Malay language: "I'm the most evil man in the world. Come fight with me. I will kill you all."

Apparently he appeared to be ethnic Malay or Indonesian.

To be precise, the clip was a recruitment video advertisement of the British Navy.

What got our diplomats to be upset? Well, no prizes for guessing but it was the portrayal of a Malay man as a terrorist.

A letter writer had expressed his indignity in Utusan Malaysia two days ago after have watched the advertisement.

And then, since it involved an issue of Ketuanan Melayu, the senators got all worked up and then the foreign ministry got involved and as a result, the British Defence ministry withdrew the advertisement from the Royal Marines Web site.

The clip will not be shown in British cinemas as well.

Excellent! Out top mandarins surely know how to rectify a situation urgently, as long as it was committed by others.

When it comes to such insensitive activities against certain other races locally, we seem to have to wait forever for any action, let alone an apology to those effected.

Read story on the ad withdrawal here.

Figures that matter

Figures that matter:

72 - Number of Indian students who received PSD scholarships this year out of the 2,000 scholarships awarded.

130 - In US dollars or RM418.79, the oil price per barrel today.

242 – Number of missing children in Malaysia for the first three months of this year, 80 percent of whom were girls.

364 – The number of village heads not recognised by the Pakatan-led Selangor government because they were appointed by the BN-led federal government.

7,430 – Number of Year One students in Terengganu who can’t read and write.

10 billion – The net value, in US dollars, of tycoon Robert Kuok, who is Malaysia’s richest man according to the latest Forbes Asia’s list.

570.0 billion – In Ringgit Malaysia, the profit made by Petronas since its inception in 1974 to March 31, 2007.

(source: local dailies)

This is ridiculous…

Misplaced loyalty from a former premier who shaped the future of the nation? Or is it just blind hatred towards the present number one? Or is he bordering on senility?

His latest move is to urge all BN MPs to lompat to become independents, and then return to BN after the removal of the PM.

This latest call by him changes his use of Umno/Malay sentiments to trying to influence the BN cadres to remove the PM.

Is he being fair to the voters?

Read his latest blog entry here.

What’s happening in Cheras?

The first photo is a sad and dramatic image of a woman who was stabbed – at least four times – in broad daylight on Friday morning.

According to a NST report, she was left for dead by robber(s), near the police college in Cheras. The daily today reported that the attack was done by a taxi driver.

Now, note the place of the attack – Cheras, which also happens to be the same place where Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng was ‘assaulted’ – by the police – on Thursday night at an anti-toll gathering (second photo).

My point? Shouldn’t the police be busy protecting the citizens from brutal attacks conducted by robbers rather than ……. (I am sure you get my point).

What a headline...

Do you want to know how our government is portrayed in the Australian media?

The headline in today’s The Australian said Newspaper raid 'like in Malaysia'.

The daily was referring to a police raid to the Perth-based The Sunday Times on Wednesday, to investigate a source-story carried by the daily about election funding.

Read more about the raid and the attack of press freedom here.

I was surprised about the raid for I didn’t think for a moment it would have happened in Australia. And then when I saw The Australian headline this morning, I realised how bad the media industry must have felt too over the raid.

Anyway, the headline is correct. I should now. I was there when the police raided my organisation in 2003.

The timing of the headline could not have come at a more appropriate time for me. I was part of a forum on the future of journalism today and among the questions I was asked related to press freedom in Malaysia.

Interestingly the audience wanted to know if the media laws in Malaysia would be relaxed and if ISA would be done away with.

There was also a question of Anwar taking over the government and if his government would be a good news for the media in Malaysia.

One thing is sure, the audience - basically people from the journalism and related fields - are keeping a close watch on what’s happening on our shores for they too want what most of us want - a free media and a responsible government.

The future of journalism

I am in Sydney at the moment (got in yesterday) to take part in a forum on the future of journalism.

My session is tomorrow and it is on ‘Independent voices: press freedom in the digital era’.

At the moment a group of Aussie panellists are talking about ‘Who will pay for journalism?’ - a discussion on funding for journalism in the future and the ‘death’ of newspapers. The panellists actually don’t think newspapers will go away, but look at a possibility of many newspapers merging.

Earlier New York University’s Jay Rosen spoke about how the online explosion is going to explode to replace the traditional era of journalism. He calls all non-journalists (the mass) as former audiences who will take part actively in journalism. He sees this already happening and wants more free media to join in to create a better era of journalism.

"Send out more boats as not all will last but we need them to reach the other side to make the change," he said.

Will newspapers survive?

Views of Roy Greenslade, Guardian columnist, professor of journalism at City University and was editor of the Daily Mirror from 1990-91.

"Popular newspapers are dying and will die. The serious newspapers too. Dailies with niche market will survive, not mass papers.

Cities with two or three prints will see only one surviving. A paper of record in society will survive.

Net is the most democratic form. It allows everyone to publish. It’s about the freedom of expression.

Now there is more commentaries but I would like to see a pro-active action with more people being involved in news gathering.

I am not doom-mongering...advertisement is fleeing from newspapers. The next major platform is the net. I am sad to new the newspapers go - "the ultimate browser" - but they are dying.

The nuclear option - Last Saturday, a Wisconsin broadsheet The Capital Times has closed its print edition to go into the web edition. It has been published since 1970. It will now publish a free weekly. This option will occur elsewhere too. In the UK, the regionals might go first before the Fleet Street."

Interesting sessions and I will see if I can blog more on these. The venue is at ABC building in this beautiful city.

Click here for more details on the forum (which is a series of conversation).

Live on RTM with Home Minister

On Tuesday night I was a guest panellist on RTM1's 'Bersemuka Bersama Media', having the chance to grill Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar on the ISA and press freedom.

It was a good session, one of which I personally am proud of for having a chance to ask some questions to the minister on these issues.

There is a media report on the programme itself (read here) so I will not get into that apart from saying that the minister did give his assurance that he would continuously looking into making reforms, without making any concrete promises.

So as it stands, there’s no end to ISA and no immediate freer media environment.

Other interesting things that came out from him (both on and off-air):

1. On KDN meetings with editors: He sort of alluded that would not happen under his ministry. So let’s wait and see if he sticks to his words.

2. On having evidence but still detaining people under the ISA: The way he put it, it was as though the Hindraf 5 are hardcore terrorists that were on the verge of toppling the government.

3. On number of ISA detainees: He said there were about 55. Also added that the government was successful in rehabilitating them. I don’t know how when there are some who has been detained for six years and entering into their fourth two-year term (meaning it would be 8 years).

4. On new publishing permits: He said there were about 7 or 8 still pending. Also said it was PM who actually approved PKR’s permit for Suara Keadilan even before the March 8 GE. He clarified that it was not for a daily.

5. On mkini print permit: He said we should just stick to online publication. Said we shouldn’t cause competition to the MSM. However agreed we can re-submit application.

6. On Indian priests, musicians and sculptors: I told him that although there seem to be a change in policy, the immigration people were still not renewing permits for these category of people. The minister said these people would be allowed to remain and work and at the same time said he would move for a revolving system where these foreign experts would eventually be replaced by locals. He said he was going to have a talk with all concerned parties soon to see how this could be done without affecting the temples, foreign skilled workers and local talents.

7. On overcrowded illegal foreign workers detention camps: He said nothing could be done on that now. Said it was unfortunate and blamed foreign embassies for delaying the repatriation of these workers.

8. On mainstream media: Agreed that they had lost some credibility and agreed the alternative media was become mainstream now and indicated his willingness to work together with them. "We can agree to disagree," he stressed.

At the end of the interview, the RTM people were happy with the line of questioning. They are eager to regain some credibility and want to be seen as a reliable news agency - thus the invitation to people like me to go live to question the minister.

The information minister was there too and he was eager to make use of the internet new organisations and bloggers in generating debate. That’s good indeed.

And finally, both the ministers said they were ‘happy’ with the grilling they got from me and The Sun's political editor Zainon Ahmad, the other panellist.

Ex-minister in sex harassment scandal

This is a Bernama report:

“Police are investigating a woman's claim that a former minister molested her at a five-star hotel near KL Sentral last week.

Kuala Lumpur CID Chief SAC II Ku Chin Wah said the woman, in her 30s who works at the hotel, lodged the report at the Brickfields police station on Friday.

The incident allegedly took place on April 14, he told reporters at the Kuala Lumpur Police Contingent Headquarters today.

Ku refused to divulge more details but did say that the ex-minister was currently abroad and police would summon him for questioning on his return.

He said police were investgating the case under Section 354 of the Penal Code which carries up to 10 years jail or a fine or whipping or any two.”

From my sources: the incident happened at the Havana cigar club in Le Meridien Hotel near Kl Sentral. Apparently he was drunk and when this girl served drinks to him, he tried to touch her hand, and then followed her to caressed her buttocks.

The girl shouted and an angry scene arose after her boyfriend, who also works there, confronted the ex-minister. The couple finally lodged a report on Friday.

So who is this sex deviant?

Well, lets look at the clues:

- A sitting MP but dropped in the new cabinet line up.

- He headed a very important space-age ministry before the March 8 general election.

- A very cocky fellow who before being appointed a minister sat in a powerful parliament committee.

- Cigar-loving Umno person

- Was embroiled in a racist controversy last year - for making a nasty, demeaning remark to a student overseas for which he was forced to apologise to the student.

Enough-lah....It should be clear now who this Jinjang Joe is!

First sign of repression?

This was the question posed by opposition leader Lim Kit Siang after the banning of popular Tamil daily Makkal Osai today.

He asked if the daily was denied the renewal of its KDN due to prominence in its coverage for the Pakatan Rakyat.

“Is this the first sign of repression and crackdown on human rights and the little space opening up in the printed media after the March 8 political tsunami?” he asked in a statement today.

Insiders say there are many reasons for that - but chiefly it was for being anti-establishment.

Apparently the ministry was upset that daily gave wide coverage to Anwar (including the Black 14 rally and the police probe that followed) and Makkal Sakthi issues.

The publication of Uthayakumar’s photographs from the Taiping hospital is also said to have riled the ministry.

And finally it seems there was a business competitor who had fed information about Makkal Osai’s misdeeds to the ministry.

I am sure the cabinet had discussed this matter this morning. Is this how the PM is going to regain the trust and support of the Indian community?

As it is I think the one-month suspension of Makkal Osai last August for publishing an offending photo of Jesus caused some resentment towards the government - perhaps it was even the start of such a feeling against the BN.

The government must be smart enough to just renew the KDN and let the daily do its business.

Powdering up for TV appearance

Did you read that the traditional Wednesday cabinet meetings are now to be held on Fridays? What to make of this switch? For me, it shows the lowest level our BN reps can come to.

So low, to the extent of rescheduling the all-important Wednesday cabinet meetings to Fridays so that they can be ‘seen’ doing their job on live parliament telecast.

The question now is this. Fridays, being a holy day for Muslims, mean a limited working day. And then it is also the day for MPs to head back to their respective constituencies.

With all these, can the ministers give us an assurance that they would not be rushing their cabinet meetings to fulfill their religion and constituency obligations? When would they be holding their post-cab meetings and the usual press conferences that follow? Mondays?

Definitely not an effective method of governance.

Also it is uncertain if this arrangement is only during the parliament sittings or throughout the year. I await our beloved PM’s comments on this matter.

The full Bernama report on this can be found here:

Below is the excerpt

“KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 (Bernama) -- The Cabinet meetings usually held on Wednesdays will be moved to Fridays to enable ministers to be present at parliament sittings, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz.

He said it also had to do with the planned 30-minute live telecasts of Parliament proceedings from the end of this month.

"Before this, during question time (Q&A) deputy ministers or parliamentary secretaries answer for ministers because they (ministers) sometimes are unable to be present.

"Now with this live telecast move, the ministers themselves will provide the answers as the people will be closely watching the proceedings," said Mohamed Nazri on the "Bersemuka Dengan Media" talk show programme on the RTM1 television channel tonight.”

The myth of 8 glasses of water

According to a latest study, there is no evidence that you need to drink eight glasses of water a day for your kidneys to flush more toxins from the body.

In fact, researchers say the kidneys don’t function effectively with too much of water to filter.

Their advise is to drink only when you are thirsty and that should be enough. Well, tell that to my urologist who blasted my bladder stone!

By the way, here is the article:

Study pours cold water on drinking eight glasses a day

WASHINGTON (AFP) - - Drinking enough to quench your thirst is sufficient for the body's needs, and there is no evidence to support the common advice to drink eight glasses of water a day, according to a new study.

"Just drink when you are thirsty," was the advice from a study published Thursday in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Doctors from the University of Pennsylvania said "there is simply a lack of evidence in general" that everyone should drink the recommended 1.5 litres of water a day.

Researchers Dan Negoianu and Stanley Goldfarb had examined the theory that drinking more water helped the kidneys flush more toxins from the body.

"So the question is does drinking more water increase these normal important functions of the kidneys. And the answer is no," Goldfarb told NPR radio.

"In fact, drinking large amounts of water, actually and surprisingly, tends to reduce the ability of the kidney to function as a filter."

Water has also been touted as an ideal aid to those who want to lose weight. But while drinking more helps dieters feel full, no clinical study has proved that it will help keep the weight off.

"There were some studies that suggested that in fact, calorie intake was reduced when individuals were given water prior to eating. Other studies suggested that it wasn't," Goldfarb added.

Increased water intake was only really justified in extreme cases, such as for athletes, people living in hot, dry climates and those suffering from particular illnesses.

Read the original article here

A first in Putrajaya

On a day when political manoeuvring were taking shape in Putrajaya, a different kind of activity occurred at dusk yesterday in this administrative capital.

A Bernama report late yesterday on this caught my attention. It was about an accident in Putrajaya which killed two people and leaving two seriously injured.

Accident in Putrajaya? Two dead? Wow! This must be a first in the place!

How did this happen in Putrajaya, a place where there is NO traffic jam? The place has only 6,608 registered voters, meaning the same number of vehicles on average. The road system is excellent, and wide. So how did it happen?

Apparently the victim’s - a cop - car skidded, hit the road divider and landed on the other side of the road before colliding with an oncoming car with a couple in it while it was raining heavily. The cop and his civilian passenger died on the spot.

What intrigues me is this: Was he over-speeding in the rain until he lost control of his car? And as a cop, was he abusing his position to over-speed, if he was?

Perhaps the Putrajaya traffic chief or the two remaining victims can shed some light on this.

SV will surely retain Sg Siput

The article below was reported in the Star today (Feb 15).

Even an army will not stop me, says Samy Vellu

KUALA LUMPUR: Even an army will not be able to stop MIC president Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu from defending his Sungai Siput seat.

"An army can come but I know how to fight it out," he said of reports that the Opposition could be fielding a candidate against him.

"I will defend woh foong (Cantonese for Sungai Siput)," said Samy Vellu, who has held the seat since 1974.

He said he had the full support of the various communities in Sungai Siput and that he had built Tamil, Chinese and Malay schools, hospitals and community colleges in the constituency.

"The people in Sungai Siput are with me. They are my strength. I have strived for them and served them.

"I have made Sungai Siput a very beautiful town. Not only that, I have solved every problem of the community. I have made Sungai Siput a really good place to live in," he said.

Samy Vellu was confident there would be no Indian vote swing away from the Barisan Nasional.

"The Indian voters are all at home and not in the streets," he said referring to the recent Hindraf protest.

On the Barisan supreme council meeting yesterday, he said president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi gave a lot of advice to members.

"We will abide by a policy which is unity in the coalition. The Barisan must be united to gain victory."

I have few problems with SV confident talk here, especially this particular paragraph:

"The people in Sungai Siput are with me. They are my strength. I have strived for them and served them."

Let’s look at the 2004 results for Sungai Siput:

• There were a total of 46,783 voters

• 19,029 voted for SV

• a combined figure of about 11,400 voted for the two opposition candidates

• and there were 927 spoilt votes

• on top of that only 30,806 people turned out to vote that day

That means, of a total of 46,783 voters in Sungai Siput, only 19,029 voters support SV. The remaining 27,754 (more than 50 percent) either didn’t support him or had no reason to turn up to vote for him! That does not make him a very popular MP at all.

OK lets leave that aside as it doesn’t matter at all. That’s why SV is so confident.

We now look at his voter breakdown.

Malays make 31.4 percent of the total voters here, followed by Chinese at 41.4 percent and Indians at 22.5 percent.

Let’s assume that after all that he had done to enrich the Malays, he gets the wholesome vote (translates to about 14,100 votes), which he always does.

His problem would be in getting in the Chinese votes and the Indian votes.

Looking at the Indian votes, they only constitute 22 percent of 47,000 – which means roughly about 12,000 voters. And Chinese votes stand at about 18,800.

That means SV would have to get the whole of Malay votes and at least 50 percent of the Chinese and the Indian votes respectively to win with a slight majority.

I am not sure about the Chinese votes. He might even get more than the 50 percent. After all he has brought development to the constituency. And the Chinese are NOT angry with MIC.

But the same can’t be said about the Indian voters. PSM, the party which might oppose SV, has done extensive grassroots work in Sungai Siput. Even if the entire Indian voters cast the votes for the PSM candidate, he would still fall short of beating SV.

Maybe SV is misreading that ground sentiment by openly saying that “the Indian voters are all at home and not in the streets.”

Even if that is not the case, the MIC president is not in a position to lose the election. Simply because he does not need the Indian votes to be retained.

All he has to do is take care of the Malay populace and the Chinese businesses, and he is on his way to the Parliament once again, most pleasantly on his 72^nd birthday.

As for the Indians, they can remain to be angry, but perhaps without being able to do anything concrete! However their protest vote would surely send the message across!

Such undisciplined lot

Actually this is a funny story about Kelantan female cops. But seriously I wonder why the police chief failed to chide off his male officers for similar offences? A case of gender bias?

Anyway, enjoy the story, as published in the Star today.

Policewomen ticked off for ‘misbehaviour’

KOTA BARU: Several policewomen were ticked off for colouring their hair unnaturally and being rude to the public.

Police chief Senior Asst Comm I Datuk Abd Rahim Hanafi said he knew of such behaviour through letters and verbal complaints about female officers misbehaving and lacking in communicative skills.

SAC Rahim cited a case where a woman officer was asked to remove her headscarf during undercover duties. Her fellow officers were shocked to see that she had dyed her hair, which is prohibited under police regulations.

Other cases involved a policewoman behaving suspiciously with her boyfriend in a car at a district police barracks. Other complaints were about policewomen being rude, while one complainant said a policewoman had married a man thrice her age.

SAC Rahim said he was also disturbed by the attire, such as tight jeans, worn by some off-duty policewomen.

Jawi is the new thing in KL

The KL City Hall is on a mission - it wants to encourage Middle Eastern tourists to the city.

Actually DBKL is on a double mission - it also wants to propagate the prime minister’s pet Islamic Hadhari concept in the capital city.

And how does the DBKL completes its missions?

Simple. It just replaces old road signs around the city with new ones that carry road names in Jawi.

So far, DBKL has completed its mission in Bandar Tun Razak, Taman Seputeh and Taman Tan Yew Lai. In the process now is Jinjang. Please note that the last three residential areas are predominantly Chinese.

Naturally few questions arise:

1. How many people can read Jawi, including the postmen?
2. How many Arab tourists are going to visit residential areas? And what attractions are there for them to see, apart from rows and rows of houses? I have never seen Arabs tourists in Jinjang!
3. And if it is to benefit the Arabs, why use Jawi and not Arabic?
4. Just for the sake of it, why not Chinese and Tamil languages as well?
5. Finally, what is Islam Hadhari? Is it something which alienates the rights of the non-Muslims in this country? The last I heard, it was supposed to be an all-embracing concept which promotes oneness and universal values!!

Both the Star (Feb 4) and The Sun (Feb 11) had carried stories about this new Jawi road signs, indicating that there are grouses from ground level.

Both stories had response from DBKL - yesterday’s Sun quoted an official saying that the new road signs offered “a chance for the non-Muslims to know and learn Jawi”. (see right)

How? By merely looking at the road signs? She must be out of her mind. But let’s not blame her.

It’s the problem of all government officials trying to bodek the PM by promoting his Islam Hadhari, whatever it means.

British-made Taliban fighters

This is really funny. Apparently, the RAF experts eavesdropped on radio traffic in Afghanistan — and heard Taliban fighters speaking in Brummie and Yorkshire accents.

Read the exclusive story by the sun here.

"I can't get anything done!"

Do we have too many public holidays?

Well, the business sector surely thinks so, based on an AFP report titled Malaysia's holiday bonanza no fun for business.

While the business folks blame the lost of income on the high number of public holidays, a political economist argues that holidays are an important stress buster for the overworked.

Meanwhile a lawyer laments, “I can't get anything done!”

Read for yourself the AFP article and tell me what do you think (excerpts):

“Malaysia, Southeast Asia's third-largest economy, has 16 national holidays when the stock market, banks, schools and businesses are closed.

In addition, each state has its own set of holidays, so residents of central Selangor state which governs much of the capital Kuala Lumpur are generally entitled to four or five additional holidays.

As if that weren't enough, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi last month declared the colourful Hindu festival of Thaipusam a public holiday just a few days beforehand, sending people scrambling to shift functions and events.

There are no figures on the costs involved, but in February last year exports shrank 14.41 percent to 41.1 billion ringgit (4.24 billion dollars) compared with the previous month due to "shorter working days and festivities", according to government data.

"On the stock market millions of ringgit in business transactions are lost and we miss the opportunity to make money. This could affect our market's performance," said businessman Michael Chiam.”