Sand and Pebbles Travelogue - Reflections of Life

Corruption & the Nation

2010-09-10T22:24:00.000-07:00

This is an interesting piece by Tengku Razaleigh in his blog but at the same time puzzling. It is puzzling because, it seems that everyone, including the politicians themselves are fully cognizant of the problems and the inherent implications of corruption on the economy/growth of the country, but it never seems to subside or able to stop it. So where do we start and how do we go about addressing it if its already ingrained in the culture of the political system .....?

Please read on the piece from Tengku Razaleigh ....

CORRUPTION

The word “corruption” comes from a Latin word meaning “to break” or “to destroy”. Corruption is a cancer that steals from the poor, eats away at governance and moral fibre, and destroys trust. Although corruption exists in both the private and public sector, the corruption of the public sector is a more fundamental evil. This is because the public sector is the enforcer and arbiter of the rules that hold us together, the custodians of our common resources.

Corruption is the abuse of public office for personal gain.
• Corruption exacts a huge toll on our economy

o In a survey of more than 150 high ranking public officials and top citizens from over 60 developing nations, these officials ranked corruption as the biggest obstacle to development and growth in their countries.

o Corruption empties out the public purse, causes massive misallocation of resources, dampens trade and scares away investors

o The World Bank estimates that corruption can reduce a country’s growth rate by 0.5 to 1 percentage points per year. Where there is a lack of transparency and a weak court system, investors stay away.

o Corruption is a form of theft. But it is a form of theft that also damages what is not stolen. This is because corruption involves the capture of decisions involving public funds. Corrupt decisions mis-allocate public resources and cause tremendous waste in the expenditure of public money. Public money is poured down the drain when projects are selected not because of the value they deliver to the public but because of what can be skimmed from them.

• But corruption is more than an economic cost. It is a curse that attacks the root of the tree. Corruption destroys trust, which is nothing less than the glue holding a society and its institutions together. When it becomes rampant and is conducted with impunity, it also demoralizes even those public servants not involved in it. The common people’s experience with government breeds the expectation that they need to pay before things will move. Small businesses suffer as city hall officials come on their rounds to collect mandatory “donations.”

It is time we recognized corruption as the single biggest threat to our nation. In our economy, corruption is the root of our inability to to make the economic leap that we know we are capable of. There is no other reason why a country so blessed with natural resources, a favourable climate and such immense talent should not have done a lot better than we have.

In our political system, corruption is the real reason why our political parties refuse to reform. In the party I belong to it has debased a once noble nationalism and a concern with the welfare of marginalised people into a rush for the gravy train. The economic development we must bring our people is reduced to nothing more than patronage, and patronage is inflated into a right.

The root cause is in our political parties. It is an open secret that tender inflation is standard operating procedure. Within the parties and among politicians, it is already an understood matter that party followers must be ‘fed’. Politics is an expensive business, after all. Where else are we to get the funds? Thus theft of public goods is normalised and socialised among an entire community, and what we had planned to attain by capability is seen by some as something to be attained through politics.

Politicians are the villains in this piece, but they themselves the villains but they themselves are also trapped. The leadership is trapped because they are beholden to political followers who demand that they are looked after. They demand patronage, and the turn the party’s struggle for the welfare of a community into their sense of entitlement to that patronage. So they take their slice of the project. By the time they they and each person down the line all the way down to the contractor takes a lot and there is not enough left to do a decent job, bridges collapse, highways crack, stadiums collapse, hospitals run out of medicine, schoolchildren are cheated in their textbooks. Corruption may look to its perpetrators like a crime without victims, but it leaves a trail of destruction.

No domain seems safe. The humble school canteen is the domain of Umno branch chiefs. The golf course become a favoured way to pass the cash over. We can place bets for RM5000 a hole. For some reason one party keeps losing. And there are 18 holes. Money thus obtained is legal. It can be banked. We spend billions on the refurbishment of defence equipment; on fighter jets, frigates and submarines. Whe a supplier lays on an exorbitant commission to some shadowy middleman, that commision is built into the price the government pays. That money comes from the ordinary Malaysian.

Military toys are very expensive. I remember from my time in the Ministry of Finance. Even then, patrol craft cost about RM280mil each. We loved Exocet missiles. As Minister, I had to sign each time the military fired an Exocet missile for testing. Every time we test fired one of them, RM2mil literally went out with a bang. When the UK went to war against Argentina, the UK Government came back to borrow them from us because outside of the UK we had the most of them in the world. We must have been under some extraordinary military threat which I did not understand. The list is long: procurement of food and clothing for the military, medicine for hospitals and so on. In all these things the Government has been extraordinarily generous. And paid extraordinarily high prices.

Government servants have to face pressure from politicians who expect to be given these contracts because they need money for politics. This corruption is justified because the party’s struggle is sacred. The civil servants can either join the game or be bypassed. For every government job big or small that goes down, someone feels entitled to a slice of the pie, not because they can do the job, not because they have some special talent or service to offer, but because it is their right. They do not realise that what they demand is the abuse of power for the sake of personal gain, or party gain. They elect those leaders among themselves who are most capable of playing this game. So we get as our leaders people who have distinguished themselves not by their ability to serve the public but at their long proven ability to be party warlords, which is to say, distributors of patronage. And that is a euphemistic way of saying that because of corruption the old, stupid and the criminal are elevated to positions of power while young, talented and honest individuals are frozen out.

Corruption destroys national wealth, erodes institutions and undermines character. And it also destroys the process by which a community finds its leaders. The consequence of this is that the majority are marginalized. Government contracts circulate among a small group of people. Despite all attempts at control and brainwashing, the majority soon catch up to the game.

This game cannot last forever. The longer it is played the more people hate the government and the governing class. They vote against the government, not for the Opposition. They resent the government of the day. In 2008 we saw how the Malaysian people feel about the abuse of power and incompetence caused by corruption.

Since party funding has become the excuse and the vehicle for wholesale corruption, any measure we take to fight it must include the reform of political funding. It is time we enact a law regulating donations to political parties. Donations must be capped. No donor is to give more than a specified limit, on pain of prosecution.

This it to try to prevent special interests from dominating parties. Such money is source of corruption. Let us limit political donations by law. On top that let the government set up a fund to provide funding to registered political party for their legitimate operational needs. This money can be distributed based on objective criteria and governed by an independent panel. This would close off the excuse that the parties need to raise political funding through government contracts.

Another idea is that we should freeze the bank accounts of people who are being investigated for corruption. Public servants and politicians are by law required to be able to demonstrate the sources of their assets. Those with suspiciously ample asssets should have these assets frozen until they can come up with evidence that they have accumulated them by political means. This may sound harsh, but only because we live in a country in which almost no one ever gets nabbed for corruption. In China, those found guilty are shot.

In Malaysia we read about MACC investigating this and that but there are no convictions. No one has been punished. We are the nation with no consequences. The MACC finds no fault. The courts do not convict. And our newspapers do not have the independence and vigour to follow up. We have an MACC with no results. It was a good idea to model our anti-corruption agency after one of the most successful in the world, Hong Kong’s ICAC. However we have taken just bits and pieces of that model. So really this will be no more than PR exercise unless we adopt the model wholesale.

We should repeal the OSA so that people can go to the MACC and the authorities with documentary information on corrupt practice. As things stand, any document which might be incriminating to corrupt public officials is stamped an Offical Secret. A whistleblower risks 7 yrs jail for being in possession of such documents.

We need to identify rot eating through our roots as a nation. It is corruption. We cannot expect the corrupt to embrace reform. It is time for our citizens to stand up and call corruption by its name, and demand reform.

Tengku Razaleigh
—
Speech at the launching of the book The Shafee Yahaya Story – Estate Boy to ACA Chief by Datin Kalsom Taib
Saturday, 19.6.2010

There you have it, a brilliant piece! Yet we still read in the media of incidences of corruption - in all manifestations, including the abuse of power. So do you think that there is hope for Malaysia yet and can we hope to see changes in the future or it will merely remains a rhetoric?

Penubuhan Malaysia (Petikan dari FB)

2010-09-05T12:15:00.000-07:00

Saya berterima kasih kepada Saudara Rizie Ahmad yang telah berkongsi maklumat diatas di Facebook. Bagi tujuan makluman dan renungan bersama, saya turunkan maklumat tersebut di sini terutama sekali memandangkan pelbagai kekecohan yang berlaku di negara tercinta sejak kebelakangan ini sehingga agama pun boleh diperkotak-katikkan dan menjadi bahan sendaan ....

Penubuhan MALAYSIA : perancangan USA sejak 1889?, kertas kerja HARVARD UNIVERSITY

by Rizie Ahmad on Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 1:59pm

1) Kajian yang telah dijalankan oleh UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA dari Fakulti Sains Pentadbiran dan Pengajian Polis kata nama MALAYSIA sudah ada pada tahun 1889 lagi.. perancangan penjajah barat memecah-belahkan dan melemahkan dunia Melayu sudah beratus-ratus tahun dirancang oleh FREEMASON! (buka spoiler untuk tengok gambarnya)

2) Kritikan perancangan penubuhan negara MALAYSIA pada tahun 1937 oleh penasihat luar USA Rupert Emerson yang membentangkan kertas kerjanya di HARVARD UNIVERSITY!.. 10 tahun selepas batu asas FREEMASON (gerakan sulit yang diasaskan oleh Yahudi) diletakkan di Northam Road di Pulau Pinang.. semasa perletakan batu asas FREEMASON tu pada tahun 1927, Rupert Emerson baru sahaja menjawat jawatan professor di Harvard University.. USA panggil dia "specialist on nationalism in Asia" mungkin salah seorang ahli kuat FREEMASON nih..

3) Aku rasa macam nak menangis je bila jumpa benda ni semasa aku cari mengenai sejarah sebenar penubuhan negara MALAYSIA dan INDONESIA, ia bermula ketika aku berasa amat hairan kenapa FILIPINA suatu ketika dahulu pernah nak klaim nama MALAYSIA, sebelum Tanah Melayu, Sabah, Sarawak dan Singapura dapat dulu dulu nama MALAYSIA.

4) Rupa-rupanya perancangan negara MALAYSIA sudah ada kertas kerjanya beratus tahun sebelum diisyhtiharkan "merdeka", dan yang amat jelas ialah kertas kerja penubuhan negara MALAYSIA serta kritikannya di HARVARD UNIVERSITY pada tahun 1937 oleh Rupert Emerson yang merupakan PENASIHAT LUAR USA pada ketika itu serta professor of political science and international relations in Harvard University (gambar disertakan)

5) Dokumen rahsia USA mengenai penubuhan negara Malaysia bertajuk seperti dibawah telah dibuang oleh USA di dalam website rasmi dia setelah artikel mengenainya diterbitkan di Universiti Teknologi MARA.... kuat betul perisik CIA nih. "Foreign Relations, 1964-1968, Indonesia; Malaysia-Singapore; Philippines.Editor: Edward C. Keefer General Editor: David S. Patterson, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 2001."

6) Dato Onn Jaafar : pengasas Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Bersatu (PEKEMBAR), tulisan asal ڤرتوبوهن كبڠسأن ملايو برساتو atau nama sekarang telah diInggeriskan menjadi United Malay National Organisation(UMNO) atas sebab British mengharamkan semua parti yang tidak diInggeriskan

Difitnah teruk oleh bangsa sendiri

7) Ucapan terakhir Dato Onn Jaafar sebagai Yang DiPertua UMNO pada 26 Ogos 1951:

“Oleh kerana saya mempunyai beberapa peluang dapat melihat sesuatu gerak langkah,

sesuatu perbuatan atau cadangan yang hendak dijalankan di Tanah Melayu ini; langkah-langkah dan perbuatan yang mendatangkan kebimbangan kepada diri saya sendiri.

…saya dapat peluang itu oleh kerana dapat melihat tempat2 yang tidak dapat dimasuki

kebanyakkan orang. (adakah Dato Onn Jaafar sudah berjaya masuk ke dalam salah satu

loji FREEMASON di Tanah Melayu http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=3914934875794998082ketika itu?) Melihat gerak

langkah dan cadangan-cadangan yang hendak didatangkannya ke atas Tanah Melayu ini.

Malang mulut saya tertutup, malang saya berkata mulut saya ini tertutup tidak dapat

menzahirkan kepada umat Melayu Semenanjung ini apa yang diketahui oleh saya dalam masa menyempurnakan pekerjaan2 dan tanggungan saya itu…“

rujukan : (Mohamed Abid, 2003, muka surat 191-192)

Penubuhan salah satu loji FREEMASON oleh penjajah pada tahun 1927
di Pulau Pinang, upacara perletakan batu asas

Antara bangunan FREEMASON di JOHOR (perhatikan betul2

apa dia tulis di peti suratnya dan lambangnya)

7) Gagasan USA tentang Malaysia sepertimana yg dihasratkan Rupert Emerson (kemungkinan besar ahli FREEMASON) menjadi kenyataan pada tahun 16 September 1963 bilamana Singapura, Tanah Melayu (atau suka dikenal sebagai Malaya), Sabah dan Sarawak bersama-sama menubuhkan Malaysia. Brunei di saat akhir, menarik diri daripada menyertai Malaysia, dan kekal dibawah naungan jajahan Inggeris hingga ke tahun 1984. manakala Singapura pula menyertai Malaysia setakat tahun 1965.

8) Pendokong gagasan Nusantara Melayu Raya seperti Lim Chin Siong dan Said Zahari yang menentang penubuhan Malaysia sebagai projek kolonial A.S, juga beranggapan Singapura sememangnya sudah menjadi bahagian Tanah Melayu, tidak timbul persoalan tentang Singapura masuk Malaysia. Kita tidak akan semudahnya melupakan derita suatu pengorbanan cita2 masa lalu yg gagal. Perlembagaan rakyat dan gabungan Putera AMCJA, perang anti British darurat, dan kemerdekaan, Barisan Sosialis dan penangkapan ISA terhadap hampir kesemua wakil rakyat Parti Rakyat dan Parti Buruh, Adun, Ahli Parlimen, Ahli Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan, juga pemimpin bahagian dan cawangan, pengharaman pilihanraya majlis tempatan atas kemenangan hampir seluruh kerusi kepada Barisan Sosialis. Presiden Pas, Dr Burhanudin Al-Helmy juga turut merengkok di dalam ISA atas tuduhan kununnya menentang penubuhan Malaysia. Hal ini ditulis Pak Said Zahari, yang dipenjara ISA oleh Lee Kuan Yew di Singapura, selama 17 tahun tanpa bicara, dalam buku memoirnya “Meniti lautan gelora.”

9) Jadi bukan Tunku Abdul Rahman lah yang mencipta nama Malaysia. Jika begitu tertipulah kita gamaknya. Dan sudah tentunya juga mereka inilah yang telah mencatur dan mengatur (indirect rule) siapa yang patut memerintah dan generasi yang bagaimana patut dilahirkan oleh negara Malaysia itu kelak.

10) Realitinya, Dato’ Onn sudah dapat mengesan perancangan ‘mereka’ itu sedari awal lagi, malangnya orang UMNO telah dibutakan oleh dakyah barua British dan agen2nya sehingga ke hari ini. Akhirnya Dato Onn pula yang dihina dan dituduh talibarut British. (Mohamed Abid, 2003, p189)

11) Sesuatu yang besar pasti berlaku selepas era pemerintahan Najib Tun Razak kerana pencaturan Perdana Menteri Malaysia telah berakhir!

R - Tunku Abdul Rahman
A - Tun Abdul Razak
H - Tun Hussein Onn
M - Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.. (Musa Hitam bertanding tapi kalah kepada Dr.M M)
A - Abdullah badawi (Anwar Ibrahim dipenjarakan atas tuduhan liwat/sodomi)
N - Najib Tun Razak (seperti menang tanpa bertanding kerana tiada lagi orang ada nama N)

12) "Kerajaan telah memilih Perang Besar" (sekarang namanya PUTRAJAYA).. sumber rasmi petikan ucapan ini : http://www.pmo.gov.my/ucapan/?m=p&p=mahathir&id=1692

mengikut perancangan ILLUMINATI.. di mana FREEMASON telah bergabung dengannya.. Perang Dunia Ketiga mesti dijalankan disebelah Timur Dunia untuk membentuk New World Order : 1World Government, perhatikan huruf G dalam logo FREEMASON, ia merujuk kepada Government!

"...sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east."
(Genesis 25:6 New International Version)

14) Mengikut ramalan orang Yahudi berfahaman zionis yang sekarang sedang menguasai negara Israel serta parlimen USA (ditubuhkan oleh salah satu sayap gerakan mereka iaitu FREEMASON yang selepas itu sudah bergabung dengan gerakan Yahudi satu lagi dinamakan ILLUMINATI).. Keturunan dari Keturah/Quntura/Ketura iaitu isteri ketiga nabi Ibrahim selepas Hajar dan Sarah, akan mencabar kekuasaan mereka pada ketika dunia hampir kiamat dan Imam Mahdi atau nama lainnya Messiah akan lahir di Timur Dunia, sebelumnya Allah menurunkan Nabi Isa atau nama lainnya Jesus kembali ke bumi untuk membanteras Dajjal yang akan mengaku dia adalah tuhan sebenar, padahal dia menipu (aku pernah baca bahawa dia adalah Samiri pada zaman Nabi Musa atau nama lain Moses yang Allah panjangkan umurnya hingga ke hari kiamat, setelah dia mengintai Nabi Musa yang dipanggil menghadap Allah, dia mengumpul bekas laluan malaikat jibril atau nama lain Gabriel, lalu dia mencipta "tuhan" berbentuk LEMBU yang diperbuat dari emas yang dikumpul dari seluruh kaum Yahudi dan selepas dia mentaburkan sisa-sisa tapak malaikat Jibril itu, tiba2 boleh bergerak dengan cergas untuk beberapa saat dan dia menyesatkan kesemua kaum Yahudi dengan mengatakan LEMBU EMAS, "lembu suci", "holy cow" itu adalah tuhan... cerita ini ada dalam Al-Quran dalam surah Al-Baqarah, dan ajaran Samiri ini kemungkinan besar dia adalah Dajjal dan masih menjadi kepercayaan kuat pengikut agama Hindu yang tamadun besar mereka bermula di Sungai Indus di India)

15) Dengan kepercayaan kuat Yahudi ini yang percaya bahawa suatu bangsa keturunan dari isteri ketiga Kunturah /Quntura/Ketura ini akan mencabar dan mengalahkan mereka, kebanyakan negara kuasa Timur cuba dilemahkan dan dipecahkan manakala kuasa barat cuba dikuatkan.. dunia Melayu dipecahkan kepada paling kurang enam negera - Malaysia, Indonesia, Filipina, Singapura, Brunei dan Timor Timur.. dunia Cina dipecahkan kepada China, Taiwan, Macao, Hong Kong.. dunia Korea dipecahkan kepada Korea Utara dan Korea Selatan.. cubaan menguasai Vietnam.. serta dibom teruk negara Jepun dan dibina pangkalan tentera termaju USA di Jepun, Filipina pelbagai lagi negara di seluruh dunia ini serta serta diberi bantuan ketenteraan melampau kepada Singapura (perhatikan sistemnya hampir sama dengan Israel semasa Israel menang peperangan 6 hari dalam hari dengan negara2 Arab) serta dihantar Jeneral Israel mereka mencatur strategi ketenteraan Singapura.. Lee Kuan Yew namakan mereka sebagai The Mexican.. serta dibinanya fahaman politik2 didunia ini seperti komunis dan sossialis moden yang pengasasnya sama iaitu Karl Marx yang berbangsa Yahudi, serta mahu seluruh dunia mengamalkan demokrasi yang juga sistem asasnya adalah rekaan Yahudi juga, juga dilagakan USA dan RUSSIA yang terletak disebelah timur dunia.. dan diciptanya GOOGLE dan FACEBOOK yang pengasasnya juga adalah Yahudi serta dibelinya YOUTUBE dan juga dikuasai kebanyakan media-media utama dunia, diasaskan juga HOLLYWOOD serta diasaskan kebanyakan syarikat2 studio perfileman di USA untuk pengaruhi seluruh dunia yang dinamakan GLOBALIZATION.

16) Antara perkara yang amat menghairankan juga macam mana Anwar Ibrahim boleh menjadi Timbalan Perdana Menteri Malaysia dengan amat cepat serta boleh pula dia rancang strategi Foundation For Future (sebuah pertubuhan yang sengaja direka oleh USA dan Yahudi untuk merancang politik di Asia) dan berkwan amat rapat dengan Paul Wolfowitz (perancang utama peperangan di Iraq dan Afghanistan).. manakala Najib seperti mengungkapkan misi utama ILLUMINATI atau FREEMASON ini 1World Government : New World Order.. serta pilihanraya Malaysia dulu semasa era pemerintahan Abdullah Badawi diadakan bertarikh "13" (suatu nombor keramat bagi pengikut FREEMASON dan ILLUMINATI).. dan apakah pentingnya nombor "7" dalam FREEMASON? bubuh batu asas FREEMASON di Pulu Pinang pada tahun 1927, perancangan dan kritikan penubuhan negara Malaysia pada tahun 1937 dan pengingsyhtiharan "kemerdekaan" negara Malaysia pada tahun 1957..

LUCIFER show 1World Government sign..

17) Fahaman FREEMASON, ILLUMINATI, ZIONIS ISRAEL..

They (no matter what race) who sold their soul to the ‘MASTER‘ to do all the above will be given the power:

a. to induce spiritual blindness

b. to convince

c. to convert

d. to corrupt

...........politik dunia ini semuanya seperti sudah dirancang semuanya oleh FREEMASON dan bangsa YAHUDI.. di facebook tulis "what are you thinking" dan google sebenarnya ada satu pangkalan data khas serta graf dan macam2 lagi untuk mengetahui mengetahui apa sebenarnya manusia suka cari di internet... semuanya adalah perancangan yang amat rapi!

---------------------------------------------

Pembaca mungkin juga berminat untuk membaca blog Parti Islam Melayu yang turut membincangkan perkara yang sama ..renung-renungkanlah demi agama, bangsa dan negara!

Is it Christmas or Aidilfitri?

2010-09-04T13:56:00.000-07:00

Have you seen the TV3 advertisement on Aidilfitri? Whats going on? Is that an advert for Christmas the Malaysian version or is it Aidilfitri? What is the message that TV3 is trying to deliver?

It is truly a sad year for the Malays and Muslims in Malaysia. How long more do we have to keep up with this nonsense? Our friends in the Middle East must be shaking their heads with what the Muslims in Malaysia are doing ... making a mockery of the religion!

Let us target zero accident

2010-09-03T16:37:00.000-07:00

The festive season is back again and and as typical for Malaysians, all will be rushing back to be among family members and friends to welcome the first day of Syawal or Aidil Fitri. Its not only the Muslims but also the non-Muslims that will be joining the long traffic queue to reach their respective kampongs for the long weekend holidays.

And again the authorities, such as the Road Transport Department and the Police, will be on full alert not only for traffic accidents but also the high incidents of theft and break-ins of houses. For all of them - Police, JPJ, hospitals ' staff and others - we thanked them for their dedication towards their work and having to be away from their own family during the festive season.

Let us all contribute in our own little way and be more tolerable towards all of them. Let us reduce their burden and be more responsible drivers/road users. Let us not hear, read or see gory pictures of accidents' victims this coming season. Let us all target for zero accident this season.

To all my readers, including family members and friends, do your part and may others follow suit. Safe journey back home to the welcome arms of parents and family members.

"Selamat Menyambut Aidil Fitri

Maaf Zahir & Batin

Eid Mubarak ......

Kullu Am Wentum Bekheir"

Aku Penumpang Paling Bertuah

2010-09-03T16:00:00.000-07:00

Ini bukan lah nukilan aku....cuma sekadar ingin berkongsi hasil nukilan Nabilah Khalil yang saya temui di iLuvislam.com. kerana sesungguhnya kita ini semua adalah penumpang.......

Kala laut sunyi hebat melambung ombak benci

Teroleng-oleng sampan kecil mengayuh cari daratan

Angin jangan hembus pergi tenang ini

Aku cuma penumpang menumpang damai lautmu

Cuba lari menjauh desir ribut cebis hati

Cuba tutup mata membutakan kejamnya dunia

Demi umurku bersumpah

Aku penumpang paling bertuah

Punya sampan kecil tapi kuat menongkah langkah

Walau compang camping bertampal gam rekahnya

Walau layar cuma sehelai sejadah buruk hadiah dari Tuhanku

Malam bawa pergi matahariku

Siang bawa pergi bulanku

Penumpang buta tanpa cahaya

Meraba-raba di lautan belantara

Turun naik tinggi gunung ombak

Terkapai-kapai cari capai tangan Hidayahnya

Titis hujan tengkujuh ini menghanyut pergi lukisan mimpi

Dingin hembus nafas sang Murabbi bagai tanda aku dikasihi

Moga doa empati penumpang ini bisa terus menerobos hati Ilahi

Walau sesak sempit penjara sampan dilautan sunyi

Walau kencang angin tidak sayang padaku

Walau dikhianati bintang penunjuk jalan ini

Aku rela walau disimbah asid caci

Kerna aku penumpang sejati cuba cari titik sujud kasih Rabbul Izzati

Demi umurku bersumpah

Aku penumpang paling bertuah.

'Questioning the NEP"

2010-08-29T10:15:00.000-07:00

This is an interesting article written by blogger Jebat Must Die on the issue of NEP. The well articulated argument is a must read for those wanting to have a grasp of whats being discussed by the various political parties and which is being conveniently argued along racial lines at the expanse of national harmony and unity.

I firmly believe that all policy or decision must be based on facts and figures and and discussed in the spirit of tolerance as we are used to in the past 52 years and then perhaps Malaysia could move forward peacefully!

Enjoy the article (though its a bit long but its gonna be worth your while) and have your say .....

Managing Editor of The Star, P. Gunasegaram wrote an article about the NEP. Specifically, what the NEP meant to him. He called for more debate on the NEP and particularly, the real issues of the affirmative action. He said, “major problem with the NEP is that the 30% equity target for Malays and other bumiputras became the very visible and de facto criterion for measurement of the very success of the NEP.”

I believe he had it wrong on this one. While he was correct in saying that the objectives of the NEP are to eradicate poverty irrespective of race and to eliminate the identification of race with economic function, he was definitely wrong when he said that the measurement of NEP’s success is the quota of 30% equity target.

The quota, for those who don’t know, is stipulated in the Constitution. In fact Article 153 of the Constitution, gives the powers to the Yang DiPertuan Agong to preserve and observe a reasonable reservation of positions of the bumiputras in terms of business, educational scholarships and in the public sector. It is all there to see.

Now the Constitution said all these. But how can the Government act on this particular law?

Before NEP existed, the Government at that time did not seriously pursue the issues on poverty and the absence of economic strength of the bumiputras despite the fact that the Constitution of 1957 clearly stated the need to uphold the survival of the bumiputras.

As the result, by the year 1969, huge gaps existed among the races. The chinese, having cornered the economic pie, remain the wealthiest in the nation. Rural areas are only fit for the Malays. There were less than 2% bumi doctors at that time. Most of the Malays fell into the very low income level.

These are the disadvantages of meritocracy. In a homogeneous country, the benefits of meritocracy outweighs its disadvantages. In a multiracial country of ours, meritocracy may have serious pitfalls if it runs unchecked.

A level playing field must first be achieved if everyone have to compete on equal grounds. Thus NEP, the so called affirmative action, is developed to achieve this.

The biggest achievement of the NEP is the creation of large middle class for all races. In the 60′s, nearly 80% of the people are poor. Now, nearly 90% fall into the middle class category. This could not have happened if the majority of the kids back in the 60′s and 70′s did not receive scholarships to further their studies. Most of the students who had the chance to pursue their studies came from wealthy family. Not surprising, most of them were chinese and a few sons and daughters of malay aristocrats. The rest, would have received government’s scholarships. But these were given on merit basis. And so, only a sprinkle of Malays got the chance to further their studies. With NEP, opportunities were given to these children to get out from the vicious cycle of poverty. Where their future was stuck to become fishermen, they now can become engineers or accountants.

How come? Because the NEP acted on the Constitution as the vehicle to ensure that the constitutional provisions can be realised. Hence when P. Gunasegaram said “it will not be seditious if someone questions the 30% bumiputra equity target or says the measurement criteria are seriously flawed.”

I seriously doubt that it is NOT seditious to question one of the pillars of the nation’s code of existence. What does he want to do? Cancel the quota provisions stated in the Constitution? I doubt that because he just wanted this target to be reviewed. Let’s review it then.

The success of the NEP certainly does not bound to the 30% equity of the Malays. It is the creation of the middle class bumis. By the way, 30% equity target as benchmark for the wealth of the Malays are very, very low as compared to the population of the bumis here in Malaysia. Luckily he gave us a bit of a solution when he said, “Let’s take the 30% equity target for instance. It cannot be taken as the sole or even the most important part of NEP achievement because there are other things which are far more important – poverty eradication and racial balance in employment to name just two.”

Correct. Let’s not take it as the sole criteria. Let’s look at the poverty eradication. In Malaysia, the biggest number of people who are poor are of course, the bumiputras. With about 8% of the bumiputras are poor as compared to 0.6% of chinese over their total racial population, no doubt a lot must be done to eradicate this problem*. Affirmative action is needed just to champion this cause.

How about racial imbalance in employment? Yes how about it P. Gunasegaram? We have roughly 1.2 million civil servants in this country. Minus the army, the police force and teachers, we have only about 600,000 – 700,000 civil servants in this country. The overall workforce in this country is about 11 million people and we can conclude now that the rest of the working force are in the private sector. With approximately 10 million people working in the private sector, where is the position of the bumis as prescribed in the Constitution? We must not be in denial when we say the private sector provides level playing field for the bumis to join there.

Let’s face it, even in the so called liberal private sector, racial discrimination does takes place. And so, when the public sector is now getting liberalised, what is being done to help the bumis get out from their low to middle income levels and achieve per capita income similar to that of the chinese? Will the more wealthy chinese help the bumis achieve this? Or will they just shout to the face of the bumis – Who cares! It is meritocracy time! You sink or swim! But how can you swim when certain sectors controlled by the non bumis consciously snuff out any participation of the bumis in their sector?

At the end of his article he stated the obvious – “the time has come for all Malaysians to see beyond these and do what is right for everyone. Help everyone who is needy and if any particular race is more needy than another, it will automatically be helped more too.”

So what is the fuss all about then?

It is actually the greed of the non bumis of not wanting the bumis getting a fair share of the nation’s wealth. In fact, the more they shout and criticise the 30% quota, the more will the bumis realise that even with that 30% target, it is already a very low target. They should get more! No wonder their per capita income is lower than the chinese and indians. Probably if the target is set higher, with more stringent plans and stern enforcement methods, the bumis will achieve the same playing field much faster.

Now that is a thought that everyone seemed to dismiss. The next time anyone said about the 30% target, just take a quick look at any non bumi companies and count the number of bumi staff in there. Is it 30% of the total manpower? Out of 10 million workforce in the private sector, who will take care of the bumis’ plight? I agree with blogger Satd’s suggestion to call for a review or a royal commission on the implementation of article 153 and the corresponding affirmative actions of the NEP and the NDP. Yes we need more debate. But debate is worthless without this white paper study. The Yang DiPertuan Agong is responsible for the special position of the malays and the bumiputras in this country. Therefore, it is only proper for the Agong to commission the government to perform this study to review the success of the bumi special position as intended in the Constitution because the economic achievement of the malays is in the ambit of his responsibility.

Is it really true that all the bumis are wealthy rich and they do not want the NEP anymore?

Is it true that there are no discrimination towards the bumis in all areas of the economy?

We all know that the government was too lazy to make a comprehensive study about the real situation of the bumis when formulating the NEM. They had blindly thought we are trapped in a middle income when all this while the nation’s per capita income was not stagnating but was steadily increasing year after year. It shows us how unfit and unreliable all the economic advisers of the nation are. All the above are the real issues of the affirmative action. When the government tries to enact a policy to help the bumis in this small sector of the economy, the non bumis shouted that it is unfair but at the same time, they consciously deny the rights of the bumis in their larger sectors. This is why the bumis are stuck in a rut. They only have the government to protect them. The private sectors won’t give them any chances. But these days, even the government seemed to bent over backwards or bending over the demands (depends on how you look at it) to curtail the opportunities given to the bumis.

Therefore, the contention of the NEP is certainly not limited to the 30% equity target and all the incessant barking and howling that comes along with it. It cuts both ways. How the non bumis treat the bumis should be taken seriously. If the economic wealth is monopolised by the minority, one true outcome will emerge. The country will become an Apartheid country – where the minority hold the controlling stakes of the country, especially the economy and politics. Meritocracy does not favor the weak and the handicapped. It will create something much worse in the form of income gaps. Severe income gaps in a multi ethnic nations are dangerous. If it is left unmonitored, the situation of 1969 will recur. Shall we then come with another round of policies to eliminate identification of race with economic function once again?

Even in the UK, where meritocracy is known to exist, is plagued with new problems. After a couple of generations immersing themselves of awarding only the best with opportunities, they have come with a new disease. A study was made by the British Government in July 2009 to address the problems of:

- only children from the richest British families can enjoy careers in top professions like law and medicine because of increasingly impenetrable social barriers,

- there was a “closed shop mentality ” in many professions, which excluded young people from low- and middle-income backgrounds,

- there are too many kids out there from average income families who are bright … and who want to go on to get a top professional career but haven’t got the right connections, haven’t necessarily gone to the right school, maybe haven’t had the chance to go to university,

- “birth not worth” had become a greater factor in deciding someone’s chances in life,

- professions had become increasingly socially exclusive / elitist, open to fewer people,

- it found 75 percent of judges, 70 percent of finance directors, 45 percent of all top civil servants and 32 percent of MPs had been to independent schools [for the rich], although just 7 percent of the population was independently educated, and

- those who get professional jobs grow up in a family richer than seven in 10 of all British families, and

- poor children born in 1958 had better prospects than those born five decades on.

Those are the negative aspects of meritocracy. One that will be felt 2 generations down the line. If the UK is now facing a situation similar to what we have before 1969, then we should know better and learn from that painful lesson. If meritocracy favors only the rich, and the rich are made up with people of the highest per capita income or comes from one racial community, then meritocracy is indeed, a racist tool disguised under the cover of a really nice concept we call ‘meritocracy‘. Why do the rest of the people do not realise this?

A level playing field must be achieved before full meritocracy is implemented. We can impose meritocracy bit by bit but at the same time, action plans must be done to help the bumis be given opportunities in any field and any sector of the economy. Only then we can do away with the 30% target because then we are confident that the bumis can compete with the rest. It is no use to eliminate quotas but the outcome of that would be the bumis will get smaller and smaller share. Remember, we are not homogeneous. Even the effort to get all of us much closer and integrated are often been ridiculed as ludicrous by certain sectors.

* 2004 figures. Please refer to the table in here.

** please read Hidup Tuah’s article here which he had written more than a year ago about the side effects of unfettered meritocracy.

My Beloved Nation

2010-08-28T15:39:00.000-07:00

Malaysia... whats happening to you?

You were once the envy of others. Your successful transformation from an agricultural to a manufacturing based economy after independence were lauded by others. You were once regarded as a model of economic development not only amongst the Islamic nations but also among the developing world.

We go all out in promoting Malaysia as a nation that is multiracial and culturally diverse and Malaysia has always been cited and called upon to share our experience in developing a multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural societies. But now it pains me, a citizen of your beloved country, to see whats becoming of Malaysia these days. Every single issue is being racially politicized and used to gain political mileage. While others are moving forward, we are now sliding southward. There is no single discussion, be it economy, security and others, that does not carry a racially political slant or sentiment to it these days. Not contented with dividing the nation along racial lines, religious sentiment is being trampled nowadays.

No one seems interested at addressing the issues holistically and see to the continuous existence of harmony among our society.

Where has all the talk about tolerance - be it religious or culture - gone? Will we be able to continue to celebrate our National day without any animosity in the future.

Happy 53rd Independence Day and May Malaysians continue to enjoy prosperity and peace in the future.....

Child Kidnapping Attempt

2010-08-27T19:19:00.000-07:00

Read this piece of news from fellow Facebook member. I hope that parents especially with small kids to pay extra attention to their children not only while at home but also outside while doing their festive Raya shopping.

"SILA AMBIL IKHTIBAR ATAS APA YANG BERLAKU...
Tajuk : Helah Menculik Kanak-Kanak Di Carrefour JB

Jika anda tiada anak kecil pun, tolong sebarkan maklumat ini kepada sesiapa sahaja. Kita tidak tahu entah siapa yang dapat diselamatkan dengan menghantar e-mel ini. Tolong beri sedikit masa dan hantar kepada kawan yang ada anak-anak dan cucu-cucu. Terima Kasih.

Kita mahu berkongsi apa yang berlaku hari ini semasa berbelanja di Carrefour JB. Seorang ibu sedang membongkok untuk membelek-belek daging, dan apabila berpusing mendapati anak perempuannya berusia 4 tahun telah hilang. Saya berdiri betul-betul bersebelahan dengan si ibu, sementara si ibu tadi terus memanggil-manggil anak perempuannya tapi hampa.

Saya meminta seorang pekerja lelaki Carrefour untuk umumkan kehilangan tersebut melalui sistem pembesar suara. Beliau terus melakukannya apabila diminta berbuat demikian, dan kemudian terus meninggalkan saya untuk membuat panggilan telefon. Panggilan itu untuk memaklumkan supaya semua pintu dan pagar dikunci menggunakan kata kod atau seumpamanya. Jadi mereka telah mengunci semua pintu dengan serta-merta.

Hanya 3 minit diperlukan untuk melakukannya selepas diminta.. Mereka menjumpai kanak-kanak perempuan itu 5 minit kemudian di dalam bilik air dalam keadaan masih khayal. Kepala budak perempuan itu sudah separuh dicukur, dan hanya berpakaian dalam. Ada sebuah beg mengandungi baju, pisau cukur, dan rambut palsu terletak di lantai bersebelahannya untuk menukar wajahnya.

Siapa pun yang melakukannya - iaitu mengambil lalu membawa budak perempuan ini ke dalam bilik air, cukur rambut dan tukar pakaiannya - melakukannya kurang daripada 10 minit. Ini bikin saya menggigil tak sudah-sudah. Tolong perhatikan anak-anak anda apabila berada di tempat luas di mana adalah senang untuk kita terpisah dengan mereka seperti di gedung beli-belah. Hanya beberapa minit diperlukan untuk melakukan semuanya. 5 minit lagi maka anak perempuan itu tentu sudah berjaya dibawa keluar.

Saya masih amat terkejut ada manusia yang sanggup melakukannya, apa lagi dalam masa hanya beberapa minit. Masa anak-anak kecil boleh berlari tanpa hirau telah berlalu. Budak perempuan itu kini selamat. Syukur ke hadrat Allah SWT, dan tahniah kepada pekerja Carrefour yang bertindak pantas.

The days are over when our little ones could run

rampant all over the place and nothing worse would happen then other than them annoying people."

BE SURE TO FORWARD AND INFORM THIS TO EVERYONE, SO THEY REMEMBER JUST HOW SICK PEOPLE ARE OUT THERE !

Janganlah takbir Raya di sambut dengan tangisan kelak!!!

Break-up note

2010-08-25T12:25:00.000-07:00

While browsing the net, came across a posting in one of the fellow blogger's site on a "break-up" note. Though sad of the break-up, its hilarious when one read through the note. Please do enjoy it!

At the end of it, I am not sure if the recepient of the letter got the message..... hehehhehe.

Ramadhan Kareem.

Is DEB the problem or merely an excuse?

2010-08-22T10:50:00.000-07:00

Is DEB the real problem? Or is there another agenda to it? Does facts support the argument for the abolishment? Why not all take a step back and look at facts (real facts and not twisted facts) and try to relate it to the objective and the spirit behind the introduction of the DEB in 1970. Then perhaps it would be much easier to rationalize on whether there is justification for its continuation or otherwise. But in order to do that, all must be honest and civil enough to discuss facts less the emotion and racial outbursts.

There is nothing wrong with DEB, what is wrong is the implementation of the policy. There are too many leakages that need to be addressed. Also there need to be more transparency in its implementation. DEB is meant to addressed the social and economic gap and imbalance in society. It should remain as such and not to be used to perpetuate individual or political agenda of any party.

Saya kongsi dibawah ini petikan dari Blog (Apa Yang Tersirat) untuk renungan semua:

"Isu sokongan pura-pura tantangan besar BN menghadapi PRU-13

Parti mana dan pemimpin mana boleh menentukan sokongan? Di ambang pru-12 tiada yang menyangka BN mengalami tsunami politik. Gejala sokongan pura-pura kepada BN hampir mengundang padah.

Kini sokongan pura-pura itu masih berterusan.

AYT tidak menduduh golongan muda kah, golongan pasca meredeka kah atau golongan veteran. Yang jelas sokongan pura-pura itu masih berterusan.

Suasana politik tanah air kini selain gejala kepura-puraan malah isu-isu yang sepatutnya telah dinoktahkan lama dahulu, malah dibangkit semula.

Isu hak melayu/bumiputera misalnya dijadikan isu sebagai punca kemunduran kepada perekonomian negara. Kononnya pembelaan kepada melayu/bumiputera akan merundungkan perekonomian negara, malah menjadi punca negara tidak dapat bersaing diperigkat antarabangsa.

AYT teringat Tulisan saudara A Kadir Jasin melalui blognya bertajuk “wajarkah korbankan DEB kerana undi minoriti?” pertanyaan ini adalah layak bagi mantan wartawan kawakan ini, kerana usia DEB Cuma 30 tahun, sedangkan pengelibatan beliau dalam dunia kewartawanan telah melangkau 40 tahun. Sudah tentunya pengkesahan mengenai kewujudan DEB seawal pelaksanaaan nya, beliau telah ikuti, mungkin juga pernah menulis mengenainya.

Menurut penulis itu lagi, jika data gross national product (GDP) yang menjadi ukuran, maka sejak DEB dilaksanakan pada tahun 1970, GDP telah meningkat daripada 12 billion ringgit kepda 358 bilion ringgit pada tahun 2007, hanya untuk 27 tahun, dengan kata lain, GDP melonjak 2,875% atau purata 106% setahun. Dengan GDP sebesar 358 bilion riggit, menjadikan ekonomi Malaysia ke- 29 terbesar di dunia.

Dengan menggunakan mata kasar, maka selama pelaksanaan Dasar Ekonomi Baru (DEB), produktiviti negara terus mengalami perkembangan, seiring dengan perkembangan dunia, malah perkembangan ini jauh lebih laju di banding negera-negara yang lebih awal mencapai kemerdekaan.

Di mana kah silapnya, sehinggakan dasar ini terpaksa dikorbankan? Sesuatu dasar yang dianggap berjaya akan tetapi dikatakan sebagai punca pemusnah? Adakah tidak terlalu gopoh gapah menarik dasar ini? Sehinggakan pemimpin kita melepaskan geramnya kepada ilham Tun Razak ini.

Atau memang betul seperti pertanyaan saudara A Kadir Jasin, bahawa mengorbankan dasar ini semata-mata untuk menarik undi minoriti?

Saya hendak mulakan dengan bertanya: Selama 30 tahun Dasar Ekonomi Baru berkuat kuasa, adakah ia menyekat perkembangan ekonomi negara?

Jawabnya tidak. Malah kerana pelaksanaan matlamat-matlamat dan program-program DEBlah, ekonomi Malaysia berkembang pesat.

Keluaran Dalam Negara Kasar (GDP) meningkat daripada RM12 bilion pada tahun 1970 kepada RM120 bilion 1995 dan RM357.9 bilion 2007, menjadikan ekonomi Malaysia ke-29 terbesar di dunia.

Adakah ia menyekat kemajuan kaum-kaum bukan Bumiputera dan membantutkan kemasukan modal asing seperti yang didakwa oleh begitu banyak pihak sehingga membuatkan sesetengah pembesar Umno berasa bersalah dan defensif?

Pun tidak. Kadar kemiskinan dikurangkan dan pendapatan semua kaum meningkat. Tetapi pendapatan kaum-kaum bukan Bumiputera, khasnya Cina meningkat dengan lebih pantas kerana mereka menguasai dunia perdagangan dan profesionalisme.

Jurang Miskin-Kaya Meluas

Malah jurang pendapatan antara yang miskin dan kaya menjadi luas semula sejak beberapa tahun kebelakangan ini apabila kemunculan kegiatan baru ekonomi seperti perkhidmatan (services) dan teknologi maklumat dan telekomunikasi (ICT) lebih menguntungkan sesetengah kaum dan golongan pekerja.

Laporan Rancangan Pembangunan Manusia Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (UNHDP) tahun 2004 mendapati 10 peratus rakyat Malaysia yang paling kaya menguasai 38.4 peratus daripada pendapatan ekonomi berbanding 10 peratus paling miskin menguasai hanya 1.7 peratus.

Kita semua tahu siapa dan kaum mana paling kaya di Malaysia dan siapa pula yang paling miskin di negara kita ini. Malah jurang antara yang kaya dengan yang miskin dalam kaum yang sama turut meningkat.

Bumiputera tidak mencapai matlamat 30 peratus pemilikan kekayaan korporat. Mengikut perangkaan rasmi, pada tahun 2006, pemilikan Bumiputera pada nilai pasaran dalam syarikat-syarikat yang tersenarai di Bursa Malaysia dianggarkan RM88.4 bilion atau 15.1 peratus.

Tetapi bukan Bumiputera yang berupa 34 peratus daripada warganegara memiliki RM251.1 bilion (42.8 peratus) manakala pemodal asing memiliki RM234.7 bilion (40 peratus).

Majoriti aset Bumiputera dipegang oleh institusi amanah dan beberapa kerat ahli perniagaan Melayu yang berjaya.

Lebih Buruk Tanpa DEB

Hatta pada nisbah yang rendah dan berat sebelah ini pun, kita boleh berkata DEB telah berhasil mengurangkan kemiskinan dan ketidakseimbangan kaum.

Misalnya, apabila DEB dilancarkan pada tahun 1971, pemilikan korporat Bumiputera dianggarkan hanya dua peratus.

Jadi apalah salahnya kita meneruskan pelaksanaan sesetengah matlamat dan kaedah DEB yang baik dan berkesan itu?

Mengapakah sesetengah orang Melayu dan parti-parti politik Melayu begitu takut untuk mempertahankan sesuatu yang terbukti baik dan menguntungkan semua kaum?

Kalau ada perkara yang hendak ditentang dan dikritik dalam dasar itu adalah kegagalan mencapai sepenuhnya matlamat membasmi kemiskinan dan 30 peratus pemilikan Bumiputera.

Dalam apa bentuk sekalipun, matlamat membasmi kemiskinan tanpa mengira kaum dan menambah ekuiti Bumiputera wajib diteruskan.

Tetapi dasar-dasar berkaitan pemilikan ekuiti bukan Bumiputera boleh diliberalisasikan kerana mereka bukan sahaja sudah mencapai matlamat itu malah atas dasar meritokrasi sudah boleh bersaing dengan orang asing.

Inilah masanya bagi badan-badan amanah dan tabung-tabung pelaburan rasmi, termasuk Ekuiti Nasional Berhad yang baru ditubuhkan, menambah modal dalam syarikat-syarikat bukan Bumiputera dan asing yang berdaya maju kerana harga saham di Bursa Saham berada pada paras yang menarik.

DEB Punca Bukan Melayu Tolak BN?

Apakah pengundi bukan Melayu menolak Umno dan Barisan Nasional pada pilihan raya umum tahun lalu kerana DEB?

Kalau begitu, kenapa mereka sokong BN sebelum ini, khasnya pada tahun 2004?

DEB hanyalah alasan! Mereka menolak Umno dan BN kerana imej BN yang tidak baik dan kerana mungkir janji. Banyak janji dan ikrar era Abdullah Ahmad Badawi seperti keterbukaan, kebebasan dan liberalisasi tidak dilaksanakan seperti difahami oleh pengundi.

Selain merakamkan protes, pengundi bukan Melayu tahu bahawa dengan menghukum BN mereka boleh membuat tuntutan baru.

Dilema Umno dan BN adalah memastikan agar tolak-ansur dengan bukan Melayu ini tidak akan menambahkan kemarahan orang Melayu dan memastikan orang bukan Melayu mengundi BN.

Yang dikhuatiri adalah apa yang disebut oleh ungkapan Inggeris iaitu pengundi bukan Melayu mungkin “have the cake and eat it at the same time.” Dalam erti kata yang lain, mereka terima apa yang diberi, tetapi tetap tidak mengundi BN.

Ada Bumiputera Tak Sedar Untung Nasib

Bumiputera yang menolak DEB atau berasa bersalah mendapat bantuan DEB sebenarnya tidak kenang budi dan tidak sedar diri.

Apatah lagi kalau mereka membuta tuli bercakap mengenai meritokrasi dan liberalisasi yang mereka sendiri tidak faham implikasinya.

Kalau tidak kerana sekolah asrama penuh, MRSM, biasiswa dan pinjaman pelajaran, adakah mampu bilangan profesional Bumiputera dinaikkan ke tahap sekarang?

Pada tahun 1970, ada hanya 6.8 peratus akauntan adalah Bumiputera, 4.3 peratus arkitek, 3.7 peratus doktor dan 7.3 peratus jurutera. Yang agak banyak adalah doktor haiwan (40 peratus) sebab pada waktu itu Melayu pelihara haiwan. Tetapi pada tahun lalu, 24.5 peratus akauntan adalah Bumiputera, arkitek 38.2 peratus, doktor 52.9 peratus dan jurutera 52.4 peratus.

Apakah Melayu dan Bumiputera profesional ini boleh berada di mana mereka sekarang jika bergantung nasib semata-mata kepada pembiayaan ibu bapa mereka yang mengerjakan bendang, dusun dan huma untuk mendapat pelajaran tinggi?

Sekalipun mereka sudah berdikari dan tidak perlu tongkat lagi, tetapi ingatlah banyak lagi orang Melayu, Iban, Kadazan dan Orang Asli yang miskin dan melarat.

Dan bagi setiap rumah besar yang doktor atau jurutera Melayu miliki, orang Cina miliki lebih banyak dan lebih besar.

Jangan berbangga sangat dengan aset-aset Permodalan Nasional Berhad, Tabung Haji, Felda dan Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera. Hari ini semakin banyak kawasan bandar seperti Seri Kembangan, Petaling Street dan Bukit Bintang, hampir-hampir tidak ada penyertaan Bumiputera malah India pun hampir-hampir tidak ada.

Jadi, apakah yang buruk sangat dengan DEB sehingga begitu ramai orang, termasuk orang Melayu, berasa ia merugikan dan wajib dihapuskan?

Meritokrasi Bila Tembolok Terisi

Orang bukan Melayu dan sesetengah orang Melayu kini asyik bercakap mengenai keadilan sosial dan meritokrasi.

Bukankah kerana keadilan sosial dan meritokrasi di bawah DEB maka begitu ramai orang bukan Melayu mampu ke universiti-universiti ternama di dunia atas pembiayaan sendiri mengatasi bilangan Bumiputera yang dibiayai oleh Kerajaan?

Mengapakah apabila Kerajaan memberi biasiswa atau bantuan kepada Bumiputera, ia dituduh memberi tongkat, tetapi apabila bukan Bumiputera mendapat hak yang sama, ia dikatakan hak dan meritokrasi?

Apabila Bumiputera berjaya dalam perniagaan dia dituduh kroni. Tetapi apabila korporat Cina dan India menjadi raksasa kerana kontrak, francais dan lesen kerajaan ia dikatakan meritokrasi?

Siapa yang memegang monopoli gula sampai hari ini atau menjadi kaya raya kerana lesen judi, lesen TV satelit, lesen IPP dan kontrak berbilion ringgit membina hospital, kereta api laju dan sekolah?

Dan berapa kerat tahu atau masih ingat bagaimana Tun Abdul Razak Hussein terpaksa “menyelamatkan” Malayan Banking pada tahun 1965 apabila pengasasnya, mendiang Khoo Teck Puat, disingkirkan atas tuduhan melencongkan wang bank itu kepada syarikat persendiriannya di Singapura?

Begitulah juga dengan pengambilan oleh IPTA. Apabila keutamaan diberikan kepada Bumiputera, bukan Melayu merungut. Tetapi apabila Kerajaan membenarkan penubuhan IPTS yang majoriti pelajarnya bukan Melayu, tiada siapa pun mengucapkan terima kasih atau bersungut?

Hari ini, ada 20 Institut Pengajian Tinggi Awam (IPTA) yang tersenarai dalam laman web rasmi Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi, tidak termasuk 24 politeknik. Bilangan IPT swasta yang disenaraikan berjumlah 450 – ya, 450.

Dengan pengambilan bukan Bumiputera yang semakin ramai ke IPTA dan kemasukan ke IPTS yang terus dimonopoli oleh bukan Bumiputera, adalah tidak mustahil dalam masa yang singkat pengajian di IPT akan didominasi oleh bukan Bumiputera.

Soal pokoknya adakah situasi berat sebelah yang memihak kepada kaum-kaum minoriti ini menyokong pemulihan Umno dan pembentukan 1Malaysia yang sejahtera, aman dan makmur?

Sudah lupa yang sejahtera, aman dan makmur itu adalah cogan kata manifesto BN tahun lalu?

Dan apakah sudah dikaji dan difahami implikasi sistem biasiswa dua tingkat (two-tier) kepada nisbah kemasukan dan prestasi pelajar Bumiputera dan bukan Bumiputera ke IPT?

Sumbangan bukan Bumiputera Tidak Dinafikan

Tiada siapa yang menafikan bahawa bukan Bumiputera juga menyumbang kepada perkembangan dan kematangan ekonomi negara, tetapi ia berasaskan kepada prinsip keuntungan.

Mereka menyumbang kepada perkembangan ekonomi kerana suasana politik yang stabil sejak 1969 membolehkan mereka meraih keuntungan yang besar daripada apa yang mereka laburkan.

It is not altruism -- bukan sumbangan percuma yang tidak mengharapkan sebarang alasan!

Mari kita hadapi realiti. Selain Singapura yang berupa negara kecil dan majoriti penduduknya Cina, tidak ada tempat lain di dunia di mana orang Cina mempunyai kuasa politik yang begitu luas serta memonopoli ekonomi selain daripada di bumi Malaysia ini.

Tetapi, pilihan raya demi pilihan raya membuktikan bahawa yang menjadi tonggak BN adalah orang Melayu dan Bumiputera lain.

Malah majoriti calon bukan Melayu BN yang menang pilihan raya menang di kawasan majoriti Melayu.

Tetapi akibat kelemahan Umno, orang bukan Melayu bulat-bulat menolak BN pada pilihan raya 2008 manakala ramai orang Melayu memihak kepada Pas.

Perimbangan kuasa antara Umno dan Pas sudah berubah. Tidak mustahil Pas akan menjadi parti utama Melayu yang terpaksa berpakat dengan parti-parti bukan Melayu untuk memerintah.

Itulah yang akan terjadi apabila peranan Umno sebagai parti induk politik Malaysia tidak dapat dipulihkan lagi.

Dan harapan memulihkan Umno sehingga boleh diterima kembali oleh majoriti orang Melayu dan dihormati oleh bukan Melayu tidak akan berjaya jika kepemimpinannya terus dicurigai dan dipertikaikan.

Tindakan tidak menyingkirkan anasir-anasir rasuah daripada kepemimpinan Umno, malah melantik mereka semula, tidak membantu proses pemulihan Umno.

Ironinya, masyarakat perniagaan yang didominasi oleh bukan Melayu boleh hidup makmur sama ada dalam suasana bebas rasuah atau penuh rasuah!

Apabila orang Umno sendiri mendapati sukar mempertahankan parti mereka, adalah sukar bagi Umno mendapat sokongan orang lain, terutamanya sokongan bukan Melayu. Orang bukan Melayu mempunyai banyak pilihan.

Kesimpulannya, janganlah sewenang-wenangnya ditolak kebaikan DEB semata-mata untuk memancing undi atau kerana ia tidak berjaya sepenuhnya.

Itu bukan salah DEB. Itu adalah pengkhianatan oleh pelaksana yang dangkal, lemah, malas dan korup.

Sementara itu Chua Soi Lek dalam penjelasan selepas lebih seminggu beliau menafikan beliau mempersoalkan Dasar Ekonomi Baru (DEB), sekali gus meminta hak dan kepentingan orang Melayu diketepikan khususnya soal pengagihan ekuiti.

Presiden MCA itu berkata beliau hanya menyentuh soal pembangunan di Malaysia, agar bukan satu kaum mendapat semua manakala kaum yang lain dinafikan.

“Mana saya sentuh mengenai DEB (Dasar Ekonomi Baru)... tengok ucapan saya, satu benda pun tak sentuh.

“Saya cakap terus terang, tetapi bagaimanapun penjelasannya, sebahagian orang Melayu tak akan boleh terima, semua seronok dengan agenda sendiri,” kata bekas Menteri Kesihatan itu.

“Saya minta siapa yang tak faham, tengok balik teks ucapan saya dalam laman web MCA pun ada, saya cuma cakap pasal pembangunan di Malaysia, bukan satu kaum dapat semua, (kaum) yang lain dinafikan, tak ada. Semua orang punya kepentingan bersama, untung sama-sama ada yang melatah,” kata beliau dalam temu bual bersama Berita Minggu hari ini.

Pelbagai pihak membidas Dr Chua ekoran ucapan dan resolusi yang diputuskan oleh kongres itu.

Dalam kenyataan baru-baru ini, Menteri Penerangan Komunikasi dan Kebudayaan Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim mendakwa kenyataan Dr Chua supaya ekuiti Bumiputera dikurangkan adalah bertentangan sama sekali dengan Perlembagaan negara.

Majlis Perundingan Ekonomi Melayu (Mapem) akan menghantar satu memorandum kepada Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak berhubung resolusi Kongres Ekonomi Cina itu.

Anggota Mapem dan juga Yang Dipertua Dewan Perniagaan Melayu Selangor (DPMMS) Tan Sri Rozali Ismail berkata memorandum berkenaan akan dihantar bertujuan menyatakan pendirian Mapem berhubung resolusi dan kenyataan Presiden MCA yang tidak mengambil kira sensitivity masyarakat Melayu.

Ketika bercakap kepada pemberita di Ipoh semalam, Dr Chua berkata ucapan beliau yang menyentuh isu ekuiti Bumiputera dalam Kongres Ekonomi Cina Malaysia pada Sabtu lalu adalah sekadar pandangan dan bukannya satu bentuk desakan.

Katanya apabila diadakan kongres, maka pelbagai pandangan akan dikemukakan dan ia adalah untuk kepentingan negara dan bukan untuk sesuatu kaum saja.

Sambil berkata beliau tiada kuasa menghalang orang daripada bercakap, Dr Chua berkata beliau hanya katakan saya tidak bercadang merampas hak sesiapa dan hanya kemukakan pandangan bagaimana negara dapat berdaya saing pada peringkat antarabangsa.

“... bagaimana yakinkan pelabur dan pertingkat pertumbuhan negara supaya dalam masa singkat, 10 tahun ini kita mencapai negara berpendapatan tinggi... itu saja, bukan saya nak hentam sesiapa,” katanya.

Berhubung soala MCA tidak takut berkongsi pandangan dengan DAP dalam perkara yang bawa keuntungan kepada masyarakat Cina, Dr Chua berkata, kalau pandangan berkaitan kepentingan Cina, itu bukan monopoli DAP.

“... jangan cakap DAP jadi jaguh masyarakat Cina. Kalau kita (MCA) sentuh kepentingan Cina, (orang) kata MCA macam DAP... jadi, orang Cina kata betullah DAP jaga Cina sebab (orang) Umno pun cakap macam itu.

“Jadi, MCA jaga siapa? Hujah macam ini sudah tak boleh pakai. Apa yang saya dan pemimpin MCA sentuh... macam DAP.

“Jadi, DAP cakap mereka jaga kepentingan Cina sebab tengok Umno pun cakap macam itu dan orang Cina pun percaya, MCA tak boleh pakai. Apabila kita (Barisan Nasional) tak dapat sokongan orang Cina, kita cakap sebab Cina tak suka MCA, tapi yang bunuh MCA siapa?” kata beliau.

Sehubungan itu, Dr Chua juga menyangkap pandangan tokoh sejarah yang berpendapat perbahasan mengenai isu Melayu-Cina kini mula kelihatan seperti kempen pilihan raya umum 1969 yang kemudian membawa kepada rusuhan kaum.

Dr Chua menyoal: “Anda ingat sekarang Cina dan Melayu gaduh?”

Sebaliknya kata beliau, pada masa sekarang rakyat lebih rasional dan mereka tahu bagaimana duduk semeja dan berhujah memberikan pendapat.

“Perdana Menteri pun hadir (kongres) dan tak merajuk, ada juga peserta Melayu. Saya lihat susah nak kerja macam ini.

“Semua suka kita berpura-pura sehingga sekarang pemuda Cina dan Melayu di bandar tak sokong kerajaan. Sekarang kita dibelenggu budaya pura-pura,” katanya."

Attributes of Leaders

2010-08-19T13:16:00.000-07:00

Leadership is a widely read subject and various theories have been put forward by various academicians and practicioners. Schools offering management studies also dwell on various topics on leadership but yet we still lacks quality leaders .... leaders that are able to understand the environment it operates and adjust accordingly.

Though I am not that well read on the subject of leadership, I did not find many Asians or Malaysians that have put up much discussions on this topic. As such, I wish to share the thoughts of Tun Mahathir Mohamad, his thought on what are the attributes of a leader.

The seven attributes of a good leader by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad

1. A good leader may not be humble but at least he should not be boastful;

2. He must be prepared to accept responsibilities but should not be too pushy and insistent on taking the lead.

3. He should not seek to blame others for failures but to admit his own culpability. He should not point fingers or seek scapegoats.

4. He should be modest and not seek praise and glory.

5. He should know how to handle his followers as much as his superiors. He must be sensitive to the sensitivities of others.

6. He should be willing to do what he expects others to do. He should uphold the slogan of leadership by example.

7. He should be learned and more intelligent at least by comparison to the people he leads.

So, what do you think? Are there many Malaysians qualified to lead?

Petikan Puisi "Keraguan"

2010-08-03T11:19:00.000-07:00

Sekadar ingin berkongsi hasil nukilan saudara ku yang berkecimpung di alam seni puisi.....

masih di dini hari
hujan masih tidak mahu berhenti
mendesir membasahi bumi yang barangkali kehausan
mengharap kasih dari tuhan

bersama iringan hujan
tubuh ku diserang kedinginan
namun mataku tidak mahu memejam
kotak fikiran ku keasyikan mengumam
atas segala pertanyaan demi pertanyaan
yang menyusur mencari jawapan
apakah telah terlunas segala kerja ku selama ini
apakah telah beres segala urusanku
apa telah aku sempurnakan segala kewajipan ku
namun di dada malam yang dingin ini
apakah aku dapat mengertikan
apakah aku mampu untuk ditanggungjawabkan
atas segala rona ujian yang dipersembahkan
hingga terlihat aku dipersalahkan
hingga tidak satu diperkenan
dikalangan sebilangan insan

aku masih kedinginan
namun hati mengiringi tangisan
dengan tiada siapa yang kedengaran
atas apa jua alasan
aku masih mencari jawapan

melalui sepotong ucapan
berbicara bahasa Tuhan
dari kalimah sufi yang diagongkan

dan telah Tuhan memulakan perbicaraan
dengan pertanyaan:
mengapa fikiranmu masih mengumam
mengapa dukacitamu masih digenggam

Ya rabbul izzati
apabila aku mendatangi Mu dengan diriku
aku kecundang
fikiranku tidak bisa menjurus
jiwaku tidak bisa aman
keraguan masih tergenggam

Perjalanan ini membuatku mengerti
mengenali Mu bukanlah dengan diriku
pengenalan Mu adalah dengan Diri Mu

Cahaya Mu yang menyatukan segala fikiran
cahaya Mu yang membakar segala kerisauan

Lalu ku tenangkan hatiku seraya bermohon
wahai Tuhanku, ar-Rahman!
penuhilah hatiku dengan cahaya Mu
tanpa cahaya Mu mana mungkin daku melihat Mu
bantulah aku melepasi ingatan insan
agar aku dan mereka dalam aman
tanpa menitik walau sebutir keraguan
hanya apa yang diharap
hanya ihsan dari Mu tuhan
dan
kembalikan aku aku dengan tugas telah disempurnakan

wak karjo
bangi, 30/7/2010, 03:30

Laziness | FundooMails.com

2010-08-03T07:54:00.000-07:00

Laziness | FundooMails.com

Click on the above and gauge yourself the level of laziness that exists in our society ......

Syabas Imam Muda

2010-07-31T12:01:00.000-07:00

Muhammad Asyraf Mohd Ridzuan, the winner of the Program

Syabas or congratulations to the winner of the "Iman Muda" reality program and also the producer. It has proven to be a success and well received by Malaysians and the global community as reported by the international media such as CNN and other others. The show has been able to reach millions of viewers and they had been able to catch glimpses of the Malaysian Muslim life.

The program indirectly creates awareness on the true teachings of Islam and to some facets of Islam in the various tasks that were assigned to the participants from Day 1 of the program. I sincerely hope that the program had directly contribute towards changing the negative perception of Islam.

There is so much expectations not only on the winner but also all that had participated in the program from Day 1. They shoulder a heavy responsibilities in ensuring that their exposure to the program would not be wasted. Continue with your good deeds and spread the true teachings of Islam especially to the younger generation.

I also pray that they will remain true to themselves and Islam and not allow Islam be politicized. Muslims in Malaysia are now confused over different interpretations of the Al Quran and Sunnah.

"Seven men in uniforms caught trespassing co-ed school"

2010-07-28T04:54:00.000-07:00

Came across this piece of news in one of the mainstream media this morning and could not help myself feeling uneasy with it. Just cant help questioning the motive of the writer for giving such title to that piece of news. Was it purely popularistic journalism to attract readers or was there any malicious intent to malign the uniformed civil service. Why the need to put the word "uniform" in the title when in reality the case refers to former students of the co-ed school entering the school in school uniforms?

For someone to read the headline of the news, it would generally paint a negative perception of the uniform civil service for trespassing the co-ed school. I would not be surprised if there is sort of a planned subtle campaign to malign the uniformed civil service.

Please read the news and how do you perceive it!

Truth, half truth, lies and fabrication.....

2010-07-27T07:23:00.000-07:00

As a creature of habit, one would generally reach for the morning papers over a cup of coffee or perhaps open up the laptop to get the news. But over times, the pleasure is no longer there because what is being churned out by the mass media could no longer lay claim to be the truth. Now, the pleasure in the morning is merely in reading the news without the serious need to comprehend because we could no longer accept what is being written as the gospel truth.

The advent of technology and the internet has further amplified the situation. All news and reports are now slanted or tainted with personal perception, views, motives and agenda only known to the writer. In the past, the general public accepted the mainstream media - be it local or international - to be partial and only writing the truth. But of late, this is no longer the case. We now come across different versions of news depending on the writers and the media with the objetive of changing perception of the people. So are news that comes from the alternative media. One would really have to scrutinize over and over again to know the real truth.

News or reports that are tainted or worst still fabricated are dangerous to society. It could stir unrest among society and perhaps lead to the downfall of governments or conflict such as the fabrication of lies to claim the right to invade Iraq. Those could be the extreme. But nearer to home, for example, we could have conflicting reports on the effects of sand mining on the wetland areas. One side would come up with reports of no implications on the wetland areas but another side say otherwise. So is in the case of water need for Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan!. All these news/reports are suppose to be factual but could still be twisted.

News and reports are important needs in our daily life. But it is becoming to be an insurmountable tasks on a daily basis to find out what is the truth, half truth, lies and fabrication .......

Remembering Srebrenica and People of Palestine

2010-07-22T14:14:00.000-07:00

Sunday 11 July marked the 15th Anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, the worst mass murder in Europe since World War II when Bosnian Serbs militias and Serbian paramilitaries overran the United Nations designated "safe areas" for refugees from the Bosnian War. The militias separated the men from the women and transported them away where they were stripped and deliberately and methodically killed solely on the basis of their identity. The dead were first buried in mass graves and later dispersed in smaller graves in a bid to cover up the evidence of of the massacre. Over the years, forensic experts have exhumed the remains of over 4500 victims in order to identify them and the final 775 bodies were buried in conjunction with the Anniversary.

The burial and anniversary was well attended by over 50,000 people, including leaders from various countries. US President Obama in his statement that was read by the Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina, described the massacre as "a stain on our collective consciousness". After 15 years, we now ponder how could the world turned their back and allowed such atrocities to take place before our very eyes.

While we ponder and regretting for having not acted earlier to prevent the massacre tin Srebrenica that happened 15 years ago, let us also lend our human thoughts to the people of Palestine. Are we going to just fold our hands and continues to allow Israel to do whatever they want on the people of Palestine. Are we so powerless to act? Will we be a silent partner to the Israel's actions in cleansing out the Palestinian population?

Only history will tell and perhaps the world will have a similar anniversary to mark the final exodus of the Palestinian people from their lands in the not so near future.

All Nations Festival - Berlin

2010-07-12T12:32:00.000-07:00

Festival Pass

Malaysia once again participated in the 'All Nations Festival' organized by the Berlin Association for International Exchange (BGiB) on July 10, 2010. The annual event, which began in 2001 is in its tenth year, provides a platform to the participating embassies the opportunity to welcome the locals in an informal manner to catch a glimpse and experience bits and pieces of the culture and cuisine of the respective countries. Interested locals are given “passport” by the organizer where they will visit the participating embassies and get the “passport” stamped.

Despite the sweltering heat, visitors from all walks of life came streaming to the embassy. It was indeed an interesting and enjoyable experience for me, being new to Berlin. Malaysia should consider having such event. It would helps to expose Malaysians – the young and old – to others’ cultures and cuisine.

Crowd Attention

The event which started at 11.00 am finally ended at 6.00 pm. The satisfaction could be seen from the faces of all staff that had played their part to make the event a success. The happy and positive remarks received from the visitors also made the hard work worthwhile.

Enjoy the few pictures attached …….

Animal psychic and World Cup 2010

2010-07-11T06:13:00.000-07:00

The World Cup 2010 reaches its penultimate game this evening exactly a month after the first South African – Mexico match on 11 June 2010. Lots of issues were raised among which included the proposed banning of vuvuzelas, questions on the “Jabulani” Adidas ball and many more which will continued to be discussed in the coming days and later kept as chronicles of the World Cup.

But one thing that I found most interesting is the proliferation of animal psychic to predict the outcome of the games especially as the end of the World Cup 2010 comes to the end. Aside from the infamous German Octopus, Paul, we now have predictions from the South African Octopus, Jabulani as well as the Singapore parakeet, Mani. These are the three animal psychic that I have come to know about though perhaps there are many more in other parts of the world that were not reported. I am not certain though how the football bookies have used the animal psychic oracles to their advantage.

There is slightly more than 5 hours still to go before the final two teams - Spain and Netherlands – to step into the pitch at the Johannesburg Soccer City Stadium to fight it out for the right to be the champion of the World Cup 2010. Both teams would be putting their best performance despite the many predictions from the animal psychics. And we as spectators from all over the world would not want to see less but the best.

May the best team win, either Spain or Netherlands, and both will be in the chronicles of the World Cup - one as Champion and the other the Runner up.

National Service Program need to be revisited

2010-06-27T13:39:00.000-07:00

After more than six years since the introduction of the three-month national service program (which started in December 2003), we constantly heard of numerous teething problems reported by the media. But the recent revelation by Council Chairman on the occurrence of fights in camps among participants principally due to cultural differences raise lots of questions to the perceived achievement of the program’s objective.

Among the stipulated objective of the program at the outset were as follows:

Develop a young generation who are patriotic and with love and devotion for their country
Enhance unity among the multi-racial communities in the country
Instill a spirit of caring and volunteerism among society
Produce an active, intelligent and confident generation
Develop positive characteristics among the younger generation through good values

But the recent revelations proved that there is still a long way towards the achievement of those stipulated objectives. The program must be seriously reviewed so as the allocated funds for the program would not gone to waste.

In my own personal opinion, it is vey difficult to change the mindset, perceptions and outlook of the participants within a short period of time through the various team building exercises under the program. If we want to mould our future generation that is united, patriotic and caring, it has to start from small. The set up of our society especially in education does not promote unity. From the kindergarten days, we have all type of kindergartens that goes along racially/religious track. Then comes the schooling years (9 to 12 years), where again the system allows/encourages racial disintegration among the races through the existence of national and vernacular schools. So from the young age (5 – 18 years), the children have been mould to be among their race, should we thus be surprise at the occurrence of so-called “misunderstanding” among the races and not forgetting the urban/rural divide.

Perhaps, now the proponents of the national Service Program should now revisit the program and come up with a more holistic approach which would ensure the attainment of the stated objective.

UPSR, PMR exams may be abolished

2010-06-20T12:18:00.000-07:00

DPM, Tan Sri Muhyidin Yassin, raised the possibility of abolishing the UPSR and PMR recently as part of the part of government efforts to restructure the learning system which was seen as too examination oriented and failed to provide a holistic education.

I too firmly believed that with less emphasis and pressure of examinations, the children would have more time to mingle and interact through the various extracurricular activities organized by schools. The teachers too would have ample time to impart other social values and skills to the children. With less emphasis on examination oriented education system, the children would be able to be creative and innovative. With equal commitment from the teachers, parents and society as a whole, we would sure be able to produce a balanced and wholesome future generation.

Personally, I opined that the proposal is timely and should be fully supported by all levels of society especially the parents. Children need time to grow and develop at their own pace and not burdened with the expectations of parents and societies at such a tender age. No doubt it is very competitive, the children must be allowed to mature and appreciate the value of education vis-à-vis examination. They must be instilled with the proper values and morals of education and not imposed on them by parents and societies. Too much emphasis on examinations brings about misfits in society.

It would be a move in the right direction especially with the recent government move to create an innovation and creative society.

What happen to our society???

2010-06-12T13:50:00.000-07:00

Outrage over fiery death

Over time, we have always come across news of failure of society to come to the assistance of another fellow being in need. We are good at condemning the act of others but have we ever took the time to reflect on ourselves and are we always ready to assist others in times of need. The recent report over the untimely and fiery death of a woman in her car after petrol kiosk after attendants refused to lend fire extinguishers to save her became another public outcry over the behavior of our society. What has become of our society?? Where are we heading to? Are we no longer a caring society? Is this the price of development that we have to bear?

Sorry Palestine! Sorry Gazans.... you are not worth our leaders’ time !!!!

2010-06-05T11:43:00.000-07:00

Living in hopelessness, that’s what the Gazans must have felt when the United Nations Security Council once again failed to take any tangible action over Israel’s raid on the humanitarian flotilla in international waters and killing humanitarian activists. What comes out of the “urgent UNSC meeting” was a resolution that entails “status quo”. The meeting was being held more to show that they acted due to the outpouring international criticisms. Its more to protect their respective stature in the eyes of the international community and not that they really care for the citizens of Palestine and the Gazans for that matter. The issue of Palestine is lost in the complicity of international politics.

The request by states that show serious concern over the continuous flagrant behaviors of Israel for an international probe team even failed to be passed. It is now up to Israel to conduct a “prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation conforming to international standards” into their terrorist acts which killed innocent humanitarian activists. So what outcome could you hope for when the perpetrators of the acts are given the liberty and freedom to carry out their own investigation? If even the Goldstein reports over the Gaza assault in late December 2008 had not led to anything. So what more could we hope from this? What could the international community do? Even the Americans had to tow the line when it comes to Israel. Perhaps only the people and the NGOs of the world, including those from Israel, could alleviate the sufferings of the Palestinian and provide a glimpse of hope and a smile on the children of Palestine. The state actors had continuously failed to find a solution and I doubt it if we could ever reach any meaningful settlement by the end of this century. Because you, Palestine, are not worth the time of the world leaders ……… !

With American's full backing, Israel will continue with their impunity and our leaders would continue to listen, debate and succumb to whatever justification provided, including for the continuous blockade of Gaza. Over time, there would be no more Gazans because that is the ultimate objective of Israel i.e to rid Gaza strip of Palestine and UNSC, willingly or unwillingly, an accomplice to this agenda.

Gaza Flotilla - Would mere condemnation suffice???

2010-05-31T10:11:00.000-07:00

World leaders and the international community once again voiced their criticism and condemnations over Israel's deadly commando raid on ships taking humanitarian aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip. All the media throughout the world reported the sad tragedy but would it merely remain hollow condemnations with no actions being taken against Israel for its blatant disregard for international laws. No argument whatsoever provided by Israel would provide justification for such brutality to unarmed person or non-combatants. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reported to have said that the commandos who raided a Gaza aid flotilla, killing nine and injuring dozens of others, were under attack and acting in self defense. What self defense are they talking about when it was them that boarded and carried the raid on the ships.The attack has happened in international waters, 75 miles off the coast of Israel, in direct violation of international law. The flotilla was not even in Israel’s waters. So under which particular section of the international law does Israel applies to justify their actions?

read further.......

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Looking back to the past, one would not be surprised of Israel’s actions. There were merely finding an excuse to divert the world attention from continuously pursuing the agenda of peace talks to find a lasting solution to the Middle East crisis. The earlier agreement to convene proximity talks will no longer be a priority and remains shelved to a later date. This is typical of Israel and the international community should be fully cognizant of this. But will the world allows itself to be continuously hoodwinked by Israel.

Lets us see what the Americans have to say about this latest human tragedy??? Would the Americans, under the leadership of President Obama, continues to protect Israel's punitive actions ????

Sonidos de la Terra (Sounds of the Earth)

2010-05-21T14:11:00.000-07:00

Spent the evening attending a musical performance by a group known as “Sonidos de la Tierra” or literally translated to Sounds of the Earth. It should have been more appropriate to mean Sounds of Hope. It comprise of youngsters playing music from classical to the more modern upbeat tempo. It is not the music that interests me to blog but more on the group as a whole.

Briefly, Sonidos de la Tierra was founded in 2002 by internationally recognized master musician, composer, and orchestral conductor, Luis Szaran. He envisioned providing underprivileged kids from the shanty towns and slums of Paraguay with the opportunities to learn how to play musical instruments and, on a more philosophical level, rescue traditional Paraguayan culture and improve the sustainability of local communities by teaching kids skills that can pave the way to higher education and a professional career.

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This program has proven successful where it not only showed how music has changed the lives of many of these children, but how Szaran has created what he calls "a network for social change" in his country, where communities are coming together and organizing through music. What is important to take note is that the program was not initiated with the objective of producing musicians but merely to provide an avenue and opportunity for the children from the poor communities to be responsible citizens.

“The young person who plays Mozart by day does not
break shop windows at night.”

"You need to understand that Sonidos is not only about good musicians, but also about good citizens," Szaran says. He has established music schools in more than a hundred communities across Paraguay and is now expanding into five other countries.

This is one program which could be emulated by Malaysia in addressing the increasing social ills in our societies. Though the focus of Sonidos de la Tierra was more towards the underprivileged children, we could perhaps consider it for others as well, including those dabbling in illegal road racing, etc. It will hopefully creates sense of belongings and instill responsibility among them. With not much success achieved through the PBLKN, perhaps it is perhaps timely that we look at other avenues/programs that could help towards achieving 1Malaysia. ……..