TURUN's endless possibilities

Pakatan's "Understand GST, Reject GST" campaign launch on December 20th went ahead without a whimper heard. Free Malaysia Today reported a low turnout of 200 at the Kelab Sultan Sulaiman do. [Read FMT here.]

The poor response could be blame on end of the year school holiday. However, there had been a series of poor response with the most glaring one was the Pentas Perdana Anti-TPPA at the same venue on October 10 and the anti-TPPA rally at the KLCC the subsequent day.

One can easily see through the reason, PKR through Anwar's "jambu" boys intention to play the same game as few years before, to hold a protest rally in the midst of revelers during the New Year celebration in Dataran Merdeka. Obviously, it is to avoid the embarrassment of another poor turnout.

Despite the much hype on the Internet and elsewhere, there is that possibility, and an endless one that the TURUN protest rally turnout would not tantamount to much.

Allah, Christmas, and Love thy neighbour

In his 1Malaysia blog, Dato Najib wrote a Christmas message:

"Let us count our blessings and strive to be a blessing to those around us. Keep alive the Malaysian spirit of visiting one another and bear in mind the teachings to respect one another.

"Let us look forward with hope and confidence, and be assured that all have a rightful place in the future of this beautiful nation of ours. I wish all of you a merry and meaningful Christmas."

More in NST report here.

Same as last year, but this time from a man of the cloth, the message of Christmas and common desire for peace and joy by all religion was lost.

May God bless the man. Let us pray so that he be guided by his faith.

Did Najib read his BN Manfesto?

The toll issue and price hikes can be discussed at length with the pros and cons considered, financial numbers thrown in, economic looked into, and options explored, but forget all that. Let the apologist face the angry public.

Defending it will only make public more angry. Trying to steer the responsibilities away from UMNO to private sector and civil servants is equally hopeless. Not when Prime Minister's is beginning to fumble in his statements like post GE-12 Pak Lah after series of flip flop before this. 

Public is angry with the series of price hike for one reason or another and at the same time, wakil rakyat are increasing their salary and allowance.

On the eve of Perkasa Annual Conference, is cry baby Zaid seeking for Mahathir's affection...

... or it is a Kelantan thing?

Lawyer turned politicians now trying to be NGO but is more cry baby, Dato Zaid Ibrahim wote an article and published by The Star yesterday.

Cry baby usually wants things their way. So does Zaid.Thus we will never see Zaid as a man whose view should ever be given serious consideration. He just wants attention.

That article came about just two days before Perkasa's Annual Conference tomorrow at the Pusat Islam in Kuala Lumpur from 8:30 AM. By the way, all PEJUANG MELAYU are invited. 

The honored guest is Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. While the prince from Kelantan will be honored for his contribution to  Bumiputera economy, he will be speaking on the Constitution. Not sure he will repeat his Amanah message of returning back to the spirit of the constitution as he sees it.

It will be interesting as to what Dato Ibrahim Ali will deliver in his keynote speech. Talk is his speech is about neo-liberal threat within the context of the threat to the constitution.  

God's wrath on Johor?

There was a "twister" occurrence yesterday at the Linkedua Johor Baru. That is around the area of Nusajaya within the controversial and contentious Iskandar Malaysia.

To the locals, Iskandar Malaysia is a Federal Government project, though invite investment, it is seen as an invitation for a land grab by Singaporean under the premise to attract them to "work, reside and invest" in Iskandar.

Some pictures received from our Whass App groups:

Nutty Ku Nan's nutty moments

Federal Territory Minister, Tengku Dato Adnan Mansor's confusing statement had led to 507,000 letters received by DBKL as at 12 noon yesterday and only 80,000 protested the DBKL valuation understood it as an increase in quit rent.

In a rather loud manner here and sounding like a nut case, he clarified. Either he is deaf or he thinks everyone else is deaf. What is the problem with speaking softly? Was the problem created get solved by a higher volume of statement or proper message conveyed?  

Ku Nan claimed the public did not understand him when the real problem was his earlier gangster-like gung ho and insistent statements only misled the public. If he had communicated properly, 507,000 people would not want to waste their time sending letters. 

A case of an obtuse cabinet member too indifferent to the feeling and thinking of his constituencies. Ku Nan must admit the fault is his for misleading the public and his arrogant looking attitude.

His nutty ways had been around long but there is no need to dig up the past. There was an earlier occasion of nuttiness as reported by left leaning news portal FMT here.

Al-Fatihah buat Tok Wan

Primadona filem Melayu, Azean Irdawaty meninggal dunia

Muzaffar Mustapa | Kemas kini: Disember 17, 2013
Astro Awani

KUALA LUMPUR: Primadona filem Melayu, Azean Irdawaty, 63 tahun meninggal dunia pada Selasa pukul 8.26 malam di Hospital Universiti, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Allahyarhamah menderita sejak lima tahun lalu akibat penyakit tumor dan lymphedema yang dihidapinya.

Allahyarhamah merupakan pelakon yang mula mencipta nama sebagai penyanyi pada era 70an dan namanya meledak di layar perak akhir 70an setelah membintangi filem Esok Masih Ada arahan Tan Sri Jins Shamsuddin.

Have Home Minister forgotten the Ambank officer murder incident?

The above picture is Norazita Abu Talib (circle in yellow) with her Ambank collegues at the USJ branch, Petaling Jaya.

In case the Home Minister, Dato Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had forgotten, a gruesome picture of her head split apart with blood splattered all over from a point blank shot by a foreign security guard would remind him.

But, that is disrespectful for the decease but it seems Zahid's Ministry is ignoring a problem raised before in this blog about the underpaid fee paid to security companies by government ministry and companies.

This in turn resulted in security companies hiring foreigners with unknown security background hired for cheap from abroad. Ministry official denied foreigners are allowed to work as security guard.

No toll hike, but cost saving planned

If we had chided Dato Abdul Wahid Omar for being overzealous to please Rating Agencies, but this this time we will defend Wahid for the unfair spinning by intentionally misreporting by The Malaysian Insider (MI).

MI manipulated the sentiment of the public which had been rather edgy with price increases lately to misreport Wahid as though saying he defended toll hike and road user could use other roads. That set up an Internet explosion of critics from both side of the divide and mainstream media.

After having made apologies many times for wrong reporting, when will they ever learn? Someone should teach this MI a lesson, JLho or yes.

Mat Said's common touch for Terengganu

There were many coincidences in our recent trip to Terengganu.

It coincided with the flood. Our planned destinations had to be rescheduled due to the flood. On the Tuesday, water was rising when we were on our way to Kemaman and was alerted to divert.

It was also an opportunity to keep abreast with Terengganu and the current Menteri Besar, Dato Ahmad Said or Mat Said as people would affectionately call him. At the tailend of Tan Sri Wan Mokhtar's tenure, Terengganu was a regular destination.

We had an invitation to Mat Said for breakfast at his official residence sometime two three years ago but forego to opportunity catch an early flight back to KL. Finally, we had the honour to be introduced to him at the lobby of Hilton Sentral after a dinner last year.

The man comes off as fairly quiet and hardly the person depicted as crude and rude by his political detractors.

My moment for Mandela

"Bring back Nelson Mandela" was a song played on Paul Simon's 1986 album, Graceland which featured the music of South Africa. The song was sang by Hugh Masakela, one of South Africa's most prominent musicians and an exiled opponent of apartheid.

It was at the height of the anti-Apartheid and coinciding with major turn of event for our own life and career. We had got the opportunity to work abroad and saw the Graceland Tour concert with the above clipping on TV.

Since the 1970s, the only approach to end Apartheid was through international pressure and lobby. No multilateral bombing on fellow whites.

Upon arriving campus, the anti apartheid stickers at the Student Union gave a lasting impression to this newly arrived young Malaysian in 1978. To claim we contributed to the anti Apartheid movement would be overly self praising but we are just glad to claim we participated.

Four years after the album and concert, Nelson Mandela was released from prison in early February 1990, ending 27 years of imprisonment. Mandela was sentence to life imprisonment in 1962 on charges of conspiracy to overthrow the state.

Alleviating problem with flood

Natural disasters cannot be avoided, but with effort, their damaging effects can be contained

STRUCTURAL MEASURES: 
There are ways to solve flood woes

New Straits Times
December 12, 2013
 
EVERY year, the north-east monsoon season sees continuous rains that bring floods to Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang.

This year, the first wave of torrential rains almost paralysed Pahang and Terengganu. As of Tuesday, there were 10,207 evacuees at relief centres in Pahang and 12,439 at centres in Terengganu.

While natural disasters are unpredictable, are the aftermath scenes what we want to see in a country aiming for developed nation status by 2020?

To roast or Rosmah

Veteran Journalist Barbara Walter will retire next year 2014.

Just days before she announced her retirement in June, the American News Women’s Club honoured her with its annual Excellence in Journalism award and the event became a tribute to her. In the US, their tribute event are called roast.

Speakers will be invited to share stories, jokes, and anecdote to kid around on the honoured. Basically, the honoured is being 'roasted' for laughs. It is a light hearted American way of giving respect and honouring a person of enormous contribution.

Ever since the pathetic answer given by Dato Shahidan Kassim to a question in Parliament on the use of private jet by Prime Minister's wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, she kept getting roasted too.

Only thing is she is not being given tribute but being politically grilled.

Nation building: PKR and Pakatan have no plan

Stumbled on an interesting article on Free Malaysia Today. It relates to an agenda which current government seemed presumptously think it is doing so but in some aspect have negated past efforts and taking strange direction.

While Pakatan thinks that is what they are doing but they are not.

It is not on the right path when they cannot put politics aside and unite on matters of national or public interest. They think they are protecting national interest by imitating Mahathirism in fighting TPPA but they could be anarchic to heartlessly politicise flood rescue effort and insidiously try to create chaos and distrust on rescue effort.

In the discussion Will PKR repeat the history of Semangat 46?, the absence of consistency and blunders of PKR and Pakatan Rakyat was delved into to show they are not credible government in waiting.

Despite their accusation of BN, do they  have the bigger plan and direction for the nation bigger than the factually wrong Buku Jingga? Rakyat should ponder whether they actually have one when they can't register Pakatan rakyat as legitimate entity and resolve the ideological clash between DAP and PKR vsi-a-vis PAS.

Pakatan's flood fued

Few pro-opposition friends alerted us of Nelson Mandela's death. Malaysiakini titled their MySay column today as "We M'sians needs our own Nelson Mandela".

As one, who lent a hand to a fellow South African Malay in Mandela's anti-Apartheid movement in our varsity days in New York in the early 80s, reading their self thumping rhetorics and cheap political propaganda makes us feel like puking.

How are they to talk of Nelson Mandela when these Pakatan supporters could even immorally politicise the flood in Trengganu and Pahang and working to create public unrest through the slanders of their leaders and cybertroopers?

Not mincing words... opening speech uninspiring

As claimed by some moron, the last time blogs like ABITW [read here] wrote on the exposed sexual preference of the Prime Minister's speechwriter, Professor Dato Dr Khairul Anas, we were accused of trying distract Dato Najib's budget speech. It turns out the budget speech was quite acceptable.

Fine and well, this time there is no more talk on Khairul Anas preference for man. On top of that, it is heard that MCMC is out there trying to trace the owner of the blog, The Benchmark that exposed the affidavit in full.

Since they are at it. Khairul Anas should also request MCMC to investigate opposition blogs and Facebooks as well. Don't just be brave to go after our own but dickens is only meant for charles. They have been playing his story many years before.

Also investigate the court for making a public document public. Moronic isn't it? The only way to tell morons is to show how close the similarity of their logic with Forrest Forrest Gump.

Despite no distraction on his gay lifestyle, Khairul Anas written opening speech for PM is disappointing. Not mincing words. The party, ummah and nation, whichever you wish to translate in Malay as, is facing challenges, but the speech is merely explaining the country's policies.

It is so demeaning.

Minister's confusing tariff rate

In the the Monday announcement tariff hike by Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili, tariff in peninsular Malaysia would be up by 4.99 sen per kilowatt hour and by 5 sen for Sabah and Labuan.

Electricity rates in Malaysia should be up by 14.98% or 4.99 sen to 38.53 sen per kWh, effective Jan 1. However, MyKMU here pointed out that TNB's new rates may not be an increase by 15% but more.

If so, it means the Minister wrongly informed the public!

Petronas: Constraint or neo-liberal or hiding something?

The big story on Petronas today will be the resignation of Tun Dr Mahathir as Adviser of Petronas. The "official" reason as mentioned in his press conference after an UMNO forum yesterday was his age and health condition.

There are those speculating that it has to do with "ethnic cleansing" in Petronas that had been voiced by MTEM and a Johor group recently.

Petronas have made a reply to that allegation and basically directed their reply towards MTEM. More to come on this issue as Petronas is due to meet Perkasa in late December.

One news which received coverage by most business media but did not create much buzz is with regard to Petronas's lesser payout which will be compensated by GST. Perhaps, it is because it is an economic and business news, thus the general public is not attentive.

The public must be made aware because it means the days of easy oil is over, and the Petronas tap could not be depended to drive the economy. That statement could be perceived as public will have to pay more taxes.

Another and more basic concern is which is the truth? Lower or higher payout from Petronas?

Banks perpetrated death of Ambank officer

On October 23rd, a security guard at an Ambank branch in USJ, Subang shot and killed a Bank officer, Norazita Abu Talib in a murder and robbery. He fled with RM450,000 from the Bank's vault.

The murder shocked the whole country because the security guard that is supposed to safeguard the bank was the armed robber itself. What was surprising is how an Indonesian immigrant worker could be hired and armed by a security company and assigned to a Bank.

By November 10th, the police managed to catch with the alleged security guard in Johor Baru. By the look of things, the issues raised had died down and soon everything will be forgotten.

The security guard will be dealt with but another perpetrator will scot free. And that is the Bank itself.

Will PKR repeat the history of Semangat 46?

History always repeat itself. Thus the existence of such a term called historical cycle.

Past sequence of events have a tendency to repeat itself. If not the same set of events occuring, it would be similar events or at least, the broad underlying trend is the same. This cycle is qualitative in nature as against quantitative or exacting trend.

Understanding historical cycle has it's importance, thus Edmund Burke's quote, "Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.”

What we are getting at is the emerging of a political trend. It is in contrary to the confident belief amongst pro-opposition supporters and pessimism of certain segment of pro-BN supporters against it's leadership.

If the past events of Parti Melayu Semangat 46 is a historical cycle, an emerging trend indicate PKR replicating it.