Wednesday, December 30, 2009

PM defends TDM


KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has dismissed the call to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate the claim that former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad wasted RM100bil during his years in office, saying there was no basis for it.

TDM's response to Barry Wain's book that allegedly blames TDM for the loss of RM100B during his premiership.


Malay Mail: Nazri rubbishes call for inquiries into jet engine theft and Dr M's spending

Thursday, December 17, 2009

MYSTERY MANSION


Malay Mail: KUALA LUMPUR: Is this or is this not the RM12 million mansion allegedly being built for former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi?

While City Hall and the Public Works Department have "confirmed" that the massive project at Lot 65, Seksyen 60, Persiaran Mahameru — near Carcosa Seri Negara, right next to the Southeast Asia Regional Center for Counter Terrorism (SEARCCT) — is for the former premier, its status remains very much a mystery as the Federal Territory Land Office as well as the Prime Minister's Department, ironically the project owner, denied any knowledge of such a project.

PPSMI

Hong Kong Chinese schools prefer English, And here in Malaysia we shot down the PPSMI ...

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Monday, November 16, 2009

TDM: Anwar Sebagai Penasihat Ekonomi

1. Saya ucap taniah kepada Kerajaan Negeri Selangor kerana berjaya menganugerahkan Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim dengan jawatan penasihat ekonomi dengan bayaran hanya RM1 setahun.

2. Mungkin kepimpinan Kerajaan Selangor tidak tahu akan prestasi Dato Seri Anwar sebagai Menteri Kewangan Kerajaan Pusat diwaktu krisis kewangan melanda Malaysia.

3. Dia begitu taksub dengan Dana Kewangan Antarabangsa (IMF - International Monetary Fund) dan Bank Dunia sehingga menerima bulat-bulat nasihat Michel Camdessus (pengarah urusan IMF) dan James Wolfensohn (presiden Bank Dunia dan sahabat karibnya) supaya negara ini mengurangkan perbelanjaan Kerajaan untuk mencapai surplus, menaikkan faedah pinjaman bank dengan tinggi supaya peniaga kekeringan modal dan tidak dapat berniaga, memendekkan masa untuk membayar hutang bank daripada enam bulan kepada tiga bulan untuk menjadikan yang berhutang muflis dan bank dibeban dengan hutang tak berbayar (non-performing loans), supaya bank tidak dapat berfungsi dan memerlukan suntikan modal dan bermacam lagi tindakan yang melemahkan dan memburukkan lagi ekonomi negara ini supaya terpaksa mendapat bantuan IMF dan Bank Dunia dengan syarat ekonomi Malaysia diserahkan kepada institusi-institusi ini.

4. Jika pentadbiran ekonomi Malaysia diserahkan kepada IMF maka Dasar Ekonomi Baru akan dihapuskan.

5. Tindakan Anwar ini dikenali dalam akhbar-akhbar sebagai pengamalan dasar IMF tanpa IMF - iaitu tanpa apa-apa bantuan kewangan daripada IMF.

6. Dengan dasar yang diperkenal oleh Dato Seri Anwar maka keadaan ekonomi menjadi lebih buruk dan Ringgit Malaysia jatuh lagi nilainya.

7. Jelas sekali Anwar tidak faham sama sekali pengurusan kewangan dan ekonomi negara.

8. Kuasanya keatas kewangan dan ekonomi terpaksa dipindah kepada Majlis Tindakan Ekonomi Negara (MTEN), sebuah jawatankuasa dan think tank yang ditubuh untuk menangani masalah kesusutan nilai Ringgit dan ekonomi negara.

9. MTEN-lah yang mencipta currency control atau kawalan matawang dan menyekat CLOB (Central Limit Order Book - pasaran saham haram yang ditubuhkan di Singapura) supaya segala perniagaan Ringgit oleh penyangak matawang dan penjualan saham Malaysia dalam CLOB ditamatkan.

10. Tindakan MTEN ini berjaya memulihkan ekonomi dan kewangan negara.

11. Mungkin sikap Gabenor Bank Negara dan Timbalan Gabenor yang cuba mengagalkan currency control tidak ada kena mengena dengan Dato Seri Anwar. Tetapi hakikatnya ialah kedua-dua pegawai ini terletak dibawah bidangkuasa Menteri Kewangan.

12. Saya berdoa Kerajaan Selangor tidak akan dipermainkan oleh Penasihat Ekonominya.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Generasi Muda Sokong Umno Tapi Hadapi Halangan Sertai Parti - Dr Mahathir

KOTA KINABALU: Bekas Perdana Menteri Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad berkata adalah tidak benar bahawa generasi muda sekarang tidak menyokong Umno, tetapi mereka sebenarnya menghadapi halangan untuk menyertai parti.

Beliau berkata ini berikutan ada sesetengah pimpinan peringkat cawangan parti enggan menerima kemasukan generasi muda yang kebanyakannya terdiri daripada mereka yang berkelulusan tinggi kerana bimbang kedudukan mereka tergugat.

"Sekarang ini ramai orang Melayu memiliki ijazah dan inilah cabaran kepada ketua-ketua cawangan, mereka takut disingkir dan diganti dengan mereka yang punyai pelajaran lebih tinggi.

>> So true. Attempted to register several young professionals into UMNO Bahagian Putrajaya without success. The reason stated was that the online form was incorrectly filled. With the recent constitutional amendment, more office bearers will be able to register members, that's a good sign for aspiring individuals to join the cause.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Tun Dr Mahathir - Perjuangan Yang Belum Selesai


Sesungguhnya tida ada yang lebih menyayat
dari melihat bangsaku dijajah,
Tidak ada yang lebih menyedihkan dari
membiarkan bangsaku dihina,

Airmata tiada ertinya,
sejarah silam tiada maknanya,
sekiranya bangsa tercinta terpinggir,
dipersenda dan dilupakan,

Bukan kecil langkah wira bangsa
para pejuang kemerdekaan
bagi menegakkan kemuliaan dan darjat bangsa
selangkah bererti mara mengharung sejuta dugaan

Biar bertatih
asalkan langkah itu yakin dan cermat
bagi memastikan negara merdeka dan bangsa terpelihara,
air mata sengsara mengiringi setiap langkah bapa-bapa kita,

Tugas kita bukan kecil
kerana mengisi kemerdekaan
rupanya lebih sukar dari bermandi keringat
dan darah menuntutnya

Lagi pula apalah ertinya kemerdekaan
kalau bangsaku asyik meniya dan menidakkan
mengangguk dan membenarkan kerana
sekalipun bangganya negara
kerana makmur dan mewahnya,
Banngsaku masih melata dan meminta-minta di negaranya sendiri

Bukan kecil tugas kita meneruskan perjuangan kemerdekaan kita,
kerana rupanya selain memerdekakan,
mengisi kemerdekaan itu jauh lebih sengsara

Bangsaku bukan kecil hati dan jiwanya
bukankah sejak zaman berzaman
mereka menjadi pelaut, pemngembara
malah penakluk terkemuka?

Bukankah mereka sudah mengembangkan sayap,
menjadi pedagang dan peniaga,
selain menjadi ulama dan ilmuan terbilang?

Bukankah bangsaku pernah mengharung samudera
menjajah dunia yang tak dikenal

Bukankah mereka pernah menjadi wira serantau
yang tidak mengenal erti takut dan kematian?

Di manakah silapnya hingga bangsaku
berasa begitu kecil dan rendah diri?

Apakah angkara penjajah? lalu bangsaku mulai
melupakan kegemilangan silam dan sejarah gemilang membina empayar

Tugas kita belum selesai rupanya
bagi memartabat dan memuliakan bangsa
kerana hanya bangsa yang berjaya
akan sentiasa dihormati

Rupanya masih jauh dan berliku jalan kita
bukan sekadar memerdeka dan mengisinya
tetapi mengangkat darjat dan kemuliaan
buat selama-lamanya

Hari ini, jalan ini pasti semakin berliku
kerana masa depan kita belum tentu menjanjikan syurga
bagi mereka yang lemah dan mudah kecewa

Perjuangan kita belum selesai kerana
hanya yang cekal dan tabah
dapat membina mercu tanda bangsanya yang berjaya

Dr Mahathir Mohamad, May 1996

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Tangents: Ignorance Reigns On Merdeka and Malaysia Day

"Sarawak actually gained independence on 22 July 1963, whilst Sabah, interestingly, was declared independent as North Borneo on 31 August 1963! The formation of Malaysia was originally planned for 31 August 1963, to coincide with the independence of Sabah and Singapore, however, it was postponed to 16 September whilst a diplomatic solution was being sought to address opposition to Malaysia's formation by Indonesia and the Philippines".

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Mukhriz dan San Miguel Corp - Melayu `ketam batu dlm bakul'?

In response to articles in Malaysian Insider:

Mirzan says San Miguel stake is just business


Mirzan Mahathir appointed director on San Miguel Corp board


11 September 2009

The Editor,

The Malaysian Insider

I read with interest your article about my becoming a director of San Miguel Corporation (“SMC”). As you rightly pointed out, I sit on the board to represent an investment group, Q‐Tech Alliance Holdings Inc., that invested in SMC.

After being in the brewery business for more than 100 years, San Miguel has decided to shift its attention to the infrastructure, public utility and energy requirements of the Philippines.

Since Kirin Holdings of Japan acquired a significant direct ownership stake in the brewery division, this will result in a dramatic change in SMC’s revenue mix, with beverages expected to contribute
less than 15% of total sales by next year. This major diversification move, made possible by our taking over of Kirin’s 20% stake in SMC, starts a new era for San Miguel and is the principal reason for my involvement in the company.

Since the last quarter of 2008, SMC has bought an option to acquire a controlling interest in Petron Corp., the largest Philippine oil refiner which owns 1,400 retail stations, and a substantial equity stake in Manila Electric Co., the largest distribution utility in the Philippines that has a base of over 4.5 million
customers. Both these firms are publicly listed companies with annual revenues of US$4bn (RM 13.9bn) and US$5.6bn (RM19.4bn) respectively. SMC has also announced its intention to venture into the telecommunications industry through their stake in Liberty Telecom Holdings Inc. with Qatar
Telecommunications Co. to initially build a Wi‐Max network and potentially a full‐scale national cellular operation.

The company also recently won in a public auction, two major power plants with a combined generation capacity of 1,600 MW. Unfortunately, certain parties are keen to turn this exciting positive change in
a well‐managed Philippine corporation into an assault on the reputation of my father, even though he has nothing whatsoever to do with my business interests.

I can only provide a rational explanation for my actions and it would be a pity if facts are twisted to gain dubious points from a straightforward business decision. Your article covered the beverage aspects of San Miguel but ignored the company’s recent purchases and strategy moving forward.

As a Malaysian, I am looking forward to assisting San Miguel chart this new course and hopefully, its success will reflect well on our country and people.

Mirzan Mahathir

Sunday, September 13, 2009

10 arrested after clashes at UK mosque


An anti-Islam demonstration has resulted in 10 arrests, police in the UK said.

Officers were attacked with bricks and bottles and had to act fast to prevent events from escalating, a police spokeswoman added.

Protesters from the Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE) group were greeted by anti-fascist groups and local people when they tried to gather outside Harrow Central Mosque in London yesterday afternoon.

Geng Lembu

"Lagi pula, berdasarkan REKOD, tindakan hanya diambil terhadap pemimpin Hindraf selepas berkali-kali mereka membuat kacau bermula di Masjid Putrajaya, beberapa kali di luar KL dan 2 kali di KL, iaitu selepas berkali-kali mereka menghasut bukan sahaja penganut agama Hindu tetapi masyarakat kaum India dengan tuduhan-tudahn yang palsu, misalnya bahawa kerajaan telah dengan sengaja dan terancang membunuh orang India setiap minggu dan merobohkan kuil setiap dua minggu dan sebagainya. Tuduhan-tuduhan palsu ini menjadi bukti kepada elemen hasutan pemimpin Hindraf dan mereka telah melakukannya berkali-kali dan menggunakan pelbagai media".

YB Zul: Alahai Sang Lembu


YB Zul's take on Sek 23 incident:

"Dimana suara-suara Pak Janggut dan Pak Keris ini apabila Jeff Ooi melabel mereka yang bercita-cita untuk melaksanakan Islam sepenuhnya sebagai ekstremis. Sehingga hari ini Jeff Ooi terus dengan sifat bongkak dan angkuhnya enggan menuntut maaf atas kebiadapannya. Sehingga ke hari ini Jeff Ooi masih bebas, tiada sebarang tindakan pendakwaan diambil terhadap keceluparan beliau. Mengapa Peguam Negara tidak bertindak tegas terhadap Jeff Ooi. Mengapa Jeff Ooi tidak dikenakan pertuduhan dibawah Akta Hasutan, mahupun Seksyen 298A Kanun Kesiksaan?"

"Bukan kita menghalang mereka ber'ibadat. Masih banyak lagi kuil dan tempat 'ibadat yang mereka punyai. Mengikut statistik, dalam negeri Selangor ada 4.3 juta penduduk. Daripada jumlah itu, majoritinya umat Islam sebanyak 2.5 juta dengan masjid hanya sebanyak 259 buah. Sebalik nya masyarakat Budha berjumlah 1.3 juta mempunyai 1,015 tokong. Kaum Hindu pulak, yang berjumlah 647,000 mempunyai 810 kuil berdaftar (ini tidak termasuk kuil yang haram dan tidak berdaftar!). Dan bagi 50,000 penganut Kristian di Selangor, cuba kira berapa jumlah gereja mereka!"

Friday, September 11, 2009

Protes Pembinaan Masjid di Denmark Tanda Kemunduran Pemikiran Mereka

Sekali lagi Denmark mendapat perhatian dunia apabila Parti haluan kanan Danish’s People Party melancarkan kempen membantah pembinaan masjid pertama yang diluluskan oleh Majlis Perbandaran Copenhagen baru-baru ini (Sinar Harian, ruangan Global@Sinar 11 Sept 2009). Katanya, pembinaan masjid ini akan ditaja sepenuhnya oleh pihak Iran yang merupakan “terror regime”. International Civil Liberties Alliance di laman web www.libertiesalliance.org telah melancarkan petisyen online untuk membantah pembinaan masjid pertama di Denmark. Ahli Parlimen Denmark Martin Henriksen pula berkata, sudah tiba masanya Negara Barat meminta supaya Negara-negara Islam meminta maaf kerana kekejaman ke atas wanita, hukum merejam batu dan sebagainya yang dianggap melanggar hak asasi manusia.

Kita juga masih ingat insiden di mana seorang pelukis kartun dari Denmark menimbulkan provokasi besar dengan melakar sebiji bom di dalam serban junjungan besar Nabi Allah Muhammad SAW . Akhbar Jylland-Posten yang memaparkan segmen itu mengeluarkan kenyataan untuk meminta maaf jika terbitan itu menyinggung perasaan umat Islam walaupun tidak salah di sisi undang-undang Denmark.

Pertama sekali, Ahli Parlimen Denmark itu bertanggapan bahawa semua Negara Islam mengamalkan system perundangan yang sama. Ini jelas menunjukkan kemunduran beliau di arena global. Kedua, pihak yang membantah pembinaan masjid itu secara jelas menunjukkan sifat hipokrit orang Barat di Denmark yang melanggar hak asasi manusia dalam menindas kepentingan minoriti di Negara mereka. Ketiga, dana yang disalurkan dari Negara Iran untuk pembinaan masjid pertama di Denmark dianggap dana yang datang dari regim pengganas atau “terror regime”. Ini satu tanggapan yang membinasakan dan sengaja menyimbah petrol ke dalam api untuk memprovokasi umat Islam.

Ini juga menunjukkan bahawa sindrom “Islamophobia” masih nyata dan jelas di kalangan masyarakat Barat secara am, seperti menganggap semua yang berjanggut itu pengganas dan menahan suspek pengganas berdasarkan profil nama dan agama. Penulis berpendapat bahawa bantahan yang keras perlu dibuat oleh Pihak Wisma Putera atas tragedi ini. Di waktu kegawatan ekonomi yang teruk yang melanda Negara-negara Eropah berpunca dari kerakusan Wall Street dengan penjualan “sub prime mortgages”, “derivative speculation” dan spekulasi harga minyak yang melampau oleh penyangak ekonomi menyebabkan ketidakstabilan ekonomi dunia, negara-negara ini terutamanya Denmark perlu sedar bahawa banyak sumber dana untuk menghidupkan semula syarikat-syarikat yang telah menyeleweng wang rakyat datangnya dari negara-negara Islam juga, seperti contoh dana dari Kuwait Investment Authority untuk membela Citi Group sebanyak USD 1B.

Negara-negara Islam juga perlu bijak dalam menangani masalah ini dan janganlah jadikan bantahan di jalan (street protest) sebagai jawapannya. Kita perlu menggunakan kebijaksaan seperti menggunakan kekuatan ekonomi negara Islam dalam menyelesaikan isu ini. Mesej yang penting untuk disampaikan ialah Islam yang mempunyai penganut kira-kira 1 billion tidak mengamalkan dasar keganasan, malah akan membela nasib orang-orang yang tertindas, seperti contoh rakyat Palestin yang setelah lama ditindas oleh pihak Zionis dan baru-baru ini niat regim Zionis untuk membina penempatan haram baru di Tebing Barat, walaupun dikecam oleh PBB. Jika Ahli Parlimen Henriksen dari Denmark ingin membela hak asasi manusia, mulakanlah perjuangan anda di Palestin.

Islamophobia In Denmark (again)


After Copenhagen city council approved the building of Denmark's first mosque, extreme-right Danish People's Party launched a massive campaign against it, citing that the mosque will be funded by "terror funds".

Let's not forget their islamophobic stance when their daily printed a cartoon depicting our great prophet with a bomb in his turban.

Muslims account for 3.5% of the population in the country, with a strength of 200,000.

Here's an excerpt from the petition site to ban all mosque construction:

"Recep Tayyip Erdogan Prime Minister of Turkey publicly read an Islamic poem including the lines: “The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers…” The faithful?

That would be muslims then!

Well let’s blunt their bayonets and hammer their helmets. Sign the SIOE petition Stop all mosque building in Denmark http://www.petitiononline.com/stpmsqdn/petition.html "

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Islam: Antara Nas Dan Pendapat Tokoh

For those who argued that we can't question ulama's decisions or opinions:

MStar:
"Sebagai muslim, kita berhak bertanya dan mencari yang lebih tepat sesuai dengan akal yang Allah kurniakan kepada kita. Kita hormati tokoh, tapi dalam masa yang sama kita tidak akan menggadaikan kebenaran. Kita patut bezakan antara nas Allah dan rasulNya, dengan pandangan tokoh yang mungkin betul, mungkin salah, mungkin patut disemak semula, mungkin juga melepasi batasan keperluan dan kemunasabah untuk umat.

Disebabkan tidak memahami hal inilah, umat Islam pening kepala dengan pandangan tokoh-tokoh agama hari ini yang bermacam-macam. Jika ulama itu berniaga, mungkin dipengaruhi urusan bisnes, yang politik mungkin dipengaruhi urusan politiknya. Begitulah seterusnya. Jalan keluar, kita menyemak alasan dan hujah setiap mereka dan bertanya: adakah ini daripada Allah dan rasulNya, atau tuan ‘rasa-rasa’ sahaja?!."

Darah Tuah: Gugurkan Kaum Dan Agama

"Perlembagaan Malaysia hanya menyebutkan secara khusus / mengiktiraf lima sahaja kaum di negara ini iaitu (1) Orang Asli (Perkara 160), (2) Melayu (Perkara 160), (3) Bumiputera Sarawak [Perkara 161A (6) (a) & (7)], (4) Bumiputera Sabah [Perkara 161A (6) (b)] dan (5) kaum-kaum lain".

"Apa yang sebenar berlaku ialah tahap toleransi antara kaum semakin terhakis dan yang wujud ialah uneasy racial co-existence. Justeru bagaimana pula pengguguran ‘kaum’ dan ‘agama’ ini boleh menyelesaikan masalah sebesar gunung Kinabalu itu? Dijangka kerajaan akan ditomahkan sebagai tidak bersedia ‘menggenggam bara api sehingga jadi arang’, jika syor tersebut dilaksanakan juga."

"Tidak ada lagi hak istimewa untuk orang Melayu/Bumiputera kerana tiada lagi “kaum Melayu/Bumiputera”? Semua bahasa menjadi Bahasa Kebangsaan seperti di Singapura? Semua agama adalah agama rasmi? Institusi Raja-raja Melayu dihapuskan kerana sudah tidak ada lagi orang Melayu di negara ini? Adakah ulterior motive mereka yang sebenar ialah hendak menjadikan negara ini sebuah republik?"

"Apabila agama Islam, Melayu dan Bumiputera tidak lagi diiktiraf dalam mana-mana dokumen rasmi, bagaimanakah hendak melaksanakan peruntukan-peruntukan dalam Perlembagaan yang berkaitan dengannya seperti Perkara 3 (agama Islam), 38 (Majlis Raja-Raja), 39 (Kuasa pemerintah)), 89 (Tanah rezab orang Melayu), 90 (Tanah adat di Negeri Sembilan & tanah di Trengganu), 152 (Bahasa Kebangsaan), 153 (Hak istimewa orang Melayu), 160 (Tafsiran Orang Asli & Melayu) dan 161A (Kedudukan istimewa Bumiputera Sabah & Sarawak)?"

"Bukankah mereka yang mengsyorkan ini sebenarnya tidak ikhlas dan barking at the wrong tree? Jika mereka benar-benar ikhlas hendak mewujudkan perpaduan kaum dengan menghapuskan pengenalan kaum dan membasmi polirisasi kaum maka punca utama perkauman iaitu sekolah pelbagai aliran hendaklah dihapuskan segera dan digantikan dengan sistem satu aliran sekolah kebangsaan untuk semua."

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Economist on Graduates Earnings


Economist: "In America the lifetime gross earnings of male graduates are, on average, nearly $370,000 higher than those of non-graduates, comfortably repaying the pricey investment in a university education (female graduates earn an extra $229,000)."

Friday, September 4, 2009

Let This Be A Lesson For Those Who Are Complacent

Brutally similar to local scenery, 2-1/2 years to the next general election, 2 months to party constitutional amendments. Other than that, nothing revolutionizing to win hearts and minds.

Economist: A landslide victory for the DPJ in Japan

The victors have an emotive name for it: seiken kotai, or regime change. It came in brutal fashion on Sunday August 30th when Japan, Asia’s richest democracy, dumped the party that has ruled it for almost all of the last 53 years and gave a huge win to one that until recently had little idea of how it would govern.

In a historic result, unofficial results showed that the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), a leftist grouping of ruling-party renegades, social democrats and socialists, was heading for a landslide. It is led by Yukio Hatoyama, a mild-mannered career politician likely to be the next prime minister. He promises a government less beholden to the powerful civil service, wants to temper the free market and is keen to dole out cash to the disadvantaged in the economically stagnant and ageing country. He declined to name a cabinet until he is confirmed as prime minister in a special session of the lower house, or Diet. That may be within the next two weeks.

Jubilant cries of Banzai! echoed around the DPJ’s victorious campaign offices. NHK, the public broadcaster, said the party had won 308 seats in the Diet, with almost all the seats counted, as polls had largely predicted. The DPJ hopes to forge a coalition with two minor parties that would give it a two-thirds majority, enabling it to force through legislation. But the three parties do not see eye to eye on all issues, which means plenty of haggling will be needed. The DPJ already holds the upper house.

For the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) there was no disguising its anguish, as discredited heavyweight after heavyweight fell, often to young, telegenic DPJ novices shrewdly drafted in as giant-killers. Taro Aso, the visibly shaken prime minister, conceded defeat, describing the result as “very severe”. When he dissolved parliament in July to hold the elections, the LDP held 300 seats. NHK’s count showed it had won 119 seats so far, almost the same as the puny number the DPJ held before the elections.

The raw numbers, however dramatic, only partly tell of the upheaval this could mean for Japanese politics. The LDP has had its hands on almost every lever of power for more than half a century; even when it briefly lost office in 1993, it regained it within 11 months because the forces assembled against it fell apart.

During much of its tenure, it held power because it helped deliver rising prosperity to a country that had only recently endured the ignominy of second-world-war defeat and American occupation. After taking office in 1955, it turned Japan into one of America’s firmest cold-war allies.

But as Japan’s economic miracle faded, and the country sank into a deflationary funk in the 1990s, the LDP clung onto power largely thanks to an entrenched system of patronage and lavish use of the pork barrel. It used public funds or access to Japan’s vast pool of private savings to launch public-works projects that for its last two decades in power kept its grass-roots supporters, such as farmers and construction workers, loyal.

None of that spending generated a sustainable recovery, however, nor did reforms by Junichiro Koizumi, a political one-off who revived the LDP’s fortunes during the last election in 2005, but whose followers, known as “Koizumi’s children”, were crushed by the DPJ this time round. Instead Japan has become saddled with a debt projected to rise to twice the country’s ¥497 trillion ($5.3 trillion) GDP, and it remains dangerously dependent on its large exporters. Figures released in the closing days of the campaign showed unemployment, exacerbated by the global financial slump, hit a record 5.7% in July. Deflation has also re-emerged; consumer prices fell 2.2% in July from a year earlier.

The LDP’s failure to improve people’s lives was one of the twin pillars of the DPJ’s successful campaign. The other was the LDP’s complicity with an all-encompassing bureaucracy that has been guilty of staggering incompetence recently, not least by losing millions of personal-pension records in 2007. The public has also been vexed by the practice of rewarding top civil servants with plum jobs at firms they formerly supervised. The DPJ has vowed to stamp out that policy.

But how well it can fulfill its manifesto pledges—repeated with worthy insistence on the campaign trail—will depend on many factors. Firstly, it may need to reach some sort of accommodation with civil-service mandarins, because only a handful of its most senior members have experience at cabinet level. Its spending proposals are largely to be funded by cutting waste from government spending; that is always easier to promise than to deliver.

Meanwhile, Japan’s economy is still poised precariously between recovery and renewed slump. If the recovery fails to materialise, it will not necessarily be the DPJ’s fault. But it will be the first test of its administrative competence in a country that is crying out for good leadership.

Besides naming a cabinet, Mr Hatoyama, who has appeared to flip-flop on sensitive issues such as Japan’s occasionally subordinate relationship with America, is soon likely to have to step onto the world stage. He hopes to travel to New York in September for the UN general assembly, and will probably meet Barack Obama on that trip.

But as he sets out to introduce a new era of political openness and accountability to Japan, he will be dogged by a thorny question that was already being put to him as he cautiously claimed victory on Sunday night. That is the position of Ichiro Ozawa, the DPJ’s former leader, who orchestrated this remarkable election victory and is a master manipulator eminently capable of pulling Mr Hatoyama’s strings.

So far, the new leader has ducked the question. But Japan, for all that it will celebrate dealing the LDP a punishment it has long deserved, will want an answer. Otherwise its people may fear they have replaced one dark force with another.

ISA by Tan Sri Sanusi Junid


......"Siapakah sebenarnya yang anti ISA? Ada lima kelompok yang menentang ISA, iaitu:
a. Bekas tahanan-tahanan di bawah ISA,
b. Anggota keluarga kepada banduan ISA,
c. Orang yang takut ditahan kerana keghairahannya berpolitik sehingga didapati bersalah di bawah ISA,
d. Orang yang sering mendengar dakyah menentang ISA tanpa mendengar hujah sebaliknya, dan
e. Orang yang mengikut arus kerana persekitaran yang ternampak menentang ISA"..........

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Era Baru: 2 Ogos Genaplah 35 Tahun Kepergian Tun Dr Ismail


..........."Sebagai Timbalan Presiden UMNO, beliau sangat prihatin tentang keadaan UMNO dan apabila perwakilan UMNO semakin bertambah setiap tahun dan tidak ada dewan yang menampung kehadiran ahli-ahli di Perhimpunan Agung sehingga terpaksa diadakan di The Dragon Court, Hotel Merlin yang kecil dan sempit, maka Tun Dr Ismail telah meminta Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah untuk mencari sebidang tanah untuk tujuan mendirikan bangunan UMNO sendiri.

Ekoran dari itu, jawatankuasa bangunan telah dibentuk dan dipengerusikan sendiri oleh beliau dan timbalannya ialah Tun Hussein Onn. Begitu tegas pendiriannya sehingga sanggup berkata yang UMNO tidak akan mengambil seinci pun tanah kerajaan untuk mendirikan bangunan sebaliknya UMNO telah membeli sebidang tanah melalui usaha Tengku Razaleigh yang memikul tanggungjawab seperti yang diamanahkan kepadanya oleh Tun Dr Ismail. Tengku Razaleigh menyifatkan Tun Dr Ismail yang beliau kenal baik dan rapai sebagai "a real Malaysian and a pillar of strength during that period". Ada juga yang menyifatkannya seperti "Rock of Gibraltar".

Apabila Tun Dr Ismail mengetahui tentang penyakit yang sangat berbahaya yang dihadapi oleh Tun Razak dan dalam keadaan kesihatan beliau sendiri yang membimbangkan rakyat dan negara, Tun Dr Ismail telah melahirkan perasaannya pada 30 Mac 1970 dengan kata-kata seperti ini; "with Tun Razak a doomed man, my heart operation became vitally important not only to myself and my family, but to the whole nation. Between the Tunku, Tun Razak and myself on the one hand, and all the other politicians on the other, there was a wide gap in leadership. With Tunku past his prime, Tun Razak a doomed man although unknown to the nation, everything seemed to depend on me"......

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

More By-Elections

More distractions from the other side to divert attention from real issues:

'Letak jawatan jika tak mampu berkhidmat'
Ogos 21, 09 9:35am
Pengerusi Perhubungan Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Selangor Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim menasihatkan ADUN Pelabuhan Klang Badrul Hisham Abdullah supaya melepaskan jawatannya jika tidak mampu berkhidmat untuk rakyat.

Beliau berkata langkah meletakkan jawatan adalah yang terbaik sekiranya sudah tidak mampu berkhidmat kepada rakyat kerana PKR tidak akan mensia-siakan amanah yang telah diberikan oleh rakyat.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Nut Graph: PAS tunjuk belang

By Shanon Shah:

"MENURUT Nasrudin Hassan Tantawi, Ketua Pemuda PAS, konsert Michael Learns to Rock pada 5 Sept 2009 kelak "akan membawa umat leka dan lalai malah merosakkan moral dan akhlak mereka". Daripada ayat ini saja, saya sudah boleh agak yang tidak ada sesiapa pun dalam Pemuda PAS yang pernah mendengar lagu Michael Learns to Rock.

Bagi saya, Michael Learns to Rock adalah kumpulan muzik yang paling membosankan di dunia. Bila saya terdengar lagu mereka berkumandang di pasar raya atau restoran, saya akan keluar dari tempat-tempat sedih ini. Bila lagu mereka diputarkan di radio atau televisyen, saya akan matikan bunyi dengan serta-merta. Ya, kalau saya ditahan dalam lokap, satu kaedah yang paling berkesan untuk mendera saya ialah dengan memaksa saya mendengar lagu Michael Learns to Rock. The Actor? Sleeping Child? 25 Minutes? Bunuhlah saya, bunuh saya sekarang".

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Muslims Banned from BEP gig: ST

KUALA LUMPUR - MUSLIMS in Malaysia have been barred from attending a concert by US hip hop band the Black Eyed Peas sponsored by Guinness which is owned by the world's biggest spirits group Diageo.

The move comes after a Malaysian Islamic court sentenced a 32-year Muslim woman to be caned after she was caught drinking beer in a hotel and at a time when an opposition Islamic party has moved against beer sales.

>> Only Muslims from Malaysia?

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

10 reasons why Anwar denied meeting PM

By BigDog

Banning Concerts Again

Here we go again, another Youth Chief, same old story. PAS is condemning Cabinet's approval to allow performance by international rock band Michael Learns To Rock.

Syed Akbar Ali clearly opines that PAS has clearly lost the plot. The move was said to be "insulting to all Muslims in the country", according to newly elected PAS Youth Chief Nasruddin Hassan.

It's good that Nasruddin made that statement to give him some cheap publicity. I was not updated in the new hierarchy of the organization. Nasruddin's predecessor and his band of young turks were champions of boycotting concerts (have yet to see them boycott Dato' Siti's concerts). Let's see the young turks march in the cold winds of Genting Highlands.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Nik Aziz Dituduh Sesat?



Era Baru 21/08: Menteri Dalam Negeri Dato' Seri Hishammuddin digesa mengambil tindakan tegas terhadap Mursyidul Am PAS yang kebelakangan ini dikatakan sudah membimbangkan diatas tingkah laku beliau. Mereka mahu Hishammuddin berani untuk menyiasat diatas tuduhan2 beliau terhadap UMNO apatah lagi Nik Aziz tidak menafikan kenyataan beliau Isnin lalu bahawa orang UMNO tidak akan masuk syurga. Ini bermakna Nik Aziz membuat tuduhan itu dalam keadaan sedar dan waras.

Akibat tuduhan terbaru itu, Nik Aziz dikatakan cuba menghidupkan semula "Fatwa Haji Hadi" yang sedikit masa dahulu menjadi pegangan pengikut PAS yang taksub untuk mengkafirkan sesama Islam khususnya ahli-ahli UMNO kerana memenuhi agenda politik mereka.

Kenyataan yang dianggap karut itu telah menimbulkan kemarahan dan kekesalan banyak pihak termasuk golongan agama dan ulamak yang beranggapan bahawa Menteri Besar Kelantan itu semakin nyanyuk dan dihanyutkan oleh arus politik yang dibawa oleh PKR dan DAP.

Ketika Nik Aziz lantang membuat tuduhan yang membayangkan bahawa orang UMNO akan masuk neraka manakala pengikut PAS pula dijamin masuk syurga, orang ramai pula mempersoalkan kenapa Nik Aziz begitu takut untuk mengkafirkan DAP yang sebelum ini telah terbukti begitu memusuhi orang Melayu dan umat Islam di negara ini. Dan Pengerusi DAP, Karpal Singh begitu berani dan lantang bersuara dengan berkata, "langkah mayat saya dahulu sebelum tubuhkan negara Islam"..............

Beberapa tahun lalu, fatwa atau amanat Haji Hadi di Rusila, Terengganu telah menyebabkan orang Islam berpecah belah terutama di negeri Terengganu dan Kelantan. Akibat fatwa itu, berlaku sembahyang dua imam, pernikahan anak orang UMNO dengan orang PAS terbatal, kenduri orang UMNO tidak boleh dimakan, mayat orang Islam yang tidak menyokong PAS tidak boleh disembahyangkan, malah untuk masuk syurga, lambang atau simbol PAS harus diletakkan di bawah bantal tidur......

Sementara itu bekas Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad menyifatkan Nik Aziz sebagai orang yang "lebih dari manusia biasa" kerana kebolehan Mursyidul Am PAS itu yang boleh menentukan siapa orang Islam yang bakal masuk syurga atau neraka. Dalam masa yang sama, Dr Mahathir berkata secara sinis, "kita pun tidak tahu sama ada Nik Aziz akan ke syurga atau neraka".

Monday, August 24, 2009

Ilmu Membangkitkan Keberanian Bangsa

Syndicated from Tan Sri Sanusi's blog:

Itulah sebabnya Lee Kuan Yew dilaporkan telah berucap dalam majlis mera'ikan Presiden Chaim Herzog dari Israel dengan kata-kata yang bermaksud - 'Kamu telah berjaya mengajar Umat Islam di padang pasir, ajarlah kami bagaimana menghadapi Umat Islam di hutan belantara'.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Dr M to Malays: Don't hang too much on Hang Tuah's famous words

KUALA LUMPUR – Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the Malays should give much thought to the predictive words of the legendary Hang Tuah that the race will never be wiped out from the face of the earth.

“His words should make us ponder if the Malays that will be left in the world of the future are the positive types. Or, are they going to be the types that are slaves, beggars or drug addicts?

“If those are the kinds of Malays that will continue to exist, then we are in trouble,” he said at a press conference after launching an exhibition at the National Art Gallery here on Friday.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Another Brick In The Wall: On LKS

If Unker Kit doesn't mind answering, how does he differentiate his own Government paid travelling expenses to visit his constituency in Ipoh and the convenient stopovers for party purposes? Or did he return to Kuala Lumpur first before pursuing his trips to other places?

Monday, August 17, 2009

Outsyed The Box: Keep your money, MCA has RM2B in assets

KUALA LUMPUR: There is no sign of the purported RM10mil “loaned” by Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd CEO Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing in the MCA coffers, treasurer-general Tan Sri Tee Hock Seng said.

“I do not see any donation from outsiders. There is no proof of the RM10mil donation,” he said. Tee said all donations to MCA must be accounted for.

Tee became the treasurer-general after the party election last October, taking over from Tan Sri Lau Yin Pin.

“The whole year’s budget for the party must go through the presidential council,” he said.

On the sources of the party’s income, Tee said it received revenue from the rental of Wisma MCA and Megan Avenue buildings.

“We have assets of RM2bil and do not need donations,” said Tee during a press conference after attending the special briefing chaired by president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat at Wisma MCA yesterday.

French pool bars Muslim woman for 'burquini' suit

PARIS -- A Muslim woman garbed in a head-to-toe swimsuit - dubbed a "burquini" - may have opened a new chapter in France's tussle between religious practices and its stern secular code.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Aspiring Politicians Should Not Have Skeletons In Their Closets - Mahathir

TRONOH, Aug 16 (Bernama) -- Aspiring politicians or leaders should not have skeletons in their closets, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.

He said the people would get to know about them sooner or later.

"If any wrong has been committed, the people will get to know about it. We cannot hide it. That is why, if we want to be in politics or a leader, we must not get involve in anything that is bad," he told reporters at the 9th convocation of Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) here on Sunday.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

KL Foundation to Criminalize War


Efforts to raise Fund for Gaza at this stage is with the specific intention of buying vessels to transport humanitarian aid to Gaza which is currently in a choke hold by the Tel Aviv regime’s illegal blockade.

The blockade has been imposed since 2006. Then in late 2008 through January this year, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) broke the ceasefire and launched a military aggression on Gaza causing over 1400 deaths and massive destruction to homes and buildings.

Following immense international pressure and its inability to subjugate the valiant Palestinians, the Israeli Government ended the aggression.

However, the blockade continued and these resulted in a stranglehold on Gaza, depriving the devastated population of medicine, food and materials to rebuild their homes.

If the act of war by the IDF earlier this year saw lives of thousands of Palestinians, mostly civilians including children lost within the short period of time, this blockade is equally cruel if not worst.

The children, the sick and elderly are subjected to a slow but sure death.

The ongoing genocide of the people of Palestine in Gaza being committed silently by the Tel Aviv regime is largely ignored by the international community either due to their lack of awareness or not wanting to see the ugliness.

But a group of concerned people from the Free Gaza Movement was not about to let the injustices and cruelties by the Israeli Government inflicted on the people of Gaza go unnoticed.

Boarding small boats which they could barely afford to buy, the Free Gaza Movement embarked on its first trip to Gaza from Larnaca, Cyprus on August 2008 carrying much needed aid.

To the Free Gaza members, their efforts were not merely to provide aid to the people in Gaza but more than that, it was an act of defiance, a committed protest to break the illegal siege.

To them, the siege needs to be challenged and if enough people came forward, the siege will be broken.

And that is what the Palestinians want – their freedom and not charity.

Since their first trip, the Free Gaza Movement had launched seven other trips and the last two was aggressively challenged by the Israeli authorities.

The sixth trip which had US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney was rammed by the Israeli Navy while en route to Gaza on December 2008.

Recently on June 2009, McKinney together with Nobel Laureatte Mairead Macguire were on board the eighth trip when their vessel was stopped by the Israeli forces in international waters while again en route to Gaza to send aid and supply.

Together with other members of Free Gaza, McKinney and Macguire were taken to an Israeli prison before being deported.

KLFCW & PGPO chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who met Free Gaza leader Huwaida Arraf in Kuala Lumpur in early July was convinced that Malaysians should assist in the breaking of the siege on Gaza.

Dr Mahathir then went to Larnaca, Cyprus on July 16 to see for himself how the Free Gaza Movement had operated from the port and what kind of vessels they had in order to carry out their future trips to Gaza.

It was then decided that Dr Mahathir and PGPO will take up the efforts to raise funds to help purchase a 300-500 tonnes cargo ship to be used to transport aid to Gaza.

There is an urgency in raising the funds to enable the pruchase of the vessels. Winter is drawing near and the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza will worsen.

Dr Mahathir is hoping that the PGPO and the people of Malaysia will be able to raise enough funds to launch the vessels before winter hits the already depressed population.

Today marks the launching of the Fund for Gaza and all proceeds will be utilised towards purchasing the vessels and humanitarian aid for the Palestinians.

August 12, 2009


>>>

Feel free to donate:
Account Name: KLFCW (Gaza Fund)
Number: 5123 3430 6634
Bank : Maybank

Maybank Berhad
SECTION 14, PJ SSC
18A, Jalan 14/14,
46100 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Malaysia

Swift Code: MBBEMYKL

or Send your cheque/Bank Draft/Money Order/Postal Order to:

Suite 2-4, Level 2, Tower Block Menara Milenium,
Jalan Damanlela Pusat Bandar Damansara,
50490 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.
Fax: +603 2094 2992
Email: info@criminalisewar.org

All donations are tax-exempt under S.44 Of The Income Tax Act 1967. Ref LHDN 01/35/42/51/179-6.6183 Government Gazette: 11643 Dated 30.08.2007

>>>

For more details please email: ram@perdana4peace.org

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

ST: KL raps Maybank board, orders changes

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's central bank has directed a sweeping overhaul in the board of directors of the country's largest banking group Maybank, in an unprecedented government censure on a board of a financial institution.

Forbes: Gov 2.0

Over the past 15 years, the World Wide Web has created remarkable new business models reshaping our economy. As the Web has undermined old media and software companies, it has demonstrated the enormous power of a new model, often referred to as Web 2.0.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Shahrir: Anwar Traitor to Malay Race

After branding Anwar Ibrahim as a traitor to the Malay race and the nation, Dato' Shahrir Samad, Johor Bahru UMNO chief has called on the PKR advisor to sue them as they are prepared for any legal action.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Datuk Kadir Jasin on "Pulling Malaysian Equity Back"

"Mohd Najib must also ensure that non-Bumiputera companies that benefit from his liberalization policies increase their Bumiputera employment meaningfully - not limiting to employing Bumiputera as drivers, bodyguards, tea ladies, dispatch riders, sales persons and guest relations officers as they often do today."

"If Mohd Najib and his Cabinet saw it fit to form a Royal Commission in response to the death of one Chinese political operator, I see no harm in them ordering the Economic Planning Unit or the Manpower Department to do a comprehensive census of Bumiputera employment in non-Bumiputera and non-GLC companies. The results may not reflect the Prime Minister's 1Malaysia lofty ideals."

"BN leaders must have the courage to acknowledge and restate that the BN is a coalition of parties representing the various Malaysian races and ethnic groups, and frame its policies and programmes accordingly."

"There is a world of difference between the various Malaysian races making demands through their race-based parties and outright racism."

"But lately, the BN parties are being cowed by the Pakatan Rakyat to treat such demands as racist, while the PR parties themselves are not beyong stoking racial sentiments."


>> Thinking about those "multinationals" in the country with employees conducting meetings in Mandarin whilst presence of non-Mandarin speaking colleagues, discriminating employment criteria. If MCA opines that liberalization would enhance economic activity, would that change the status quo of cartels running major businesses in the country, both legit and vice?

Tanah Wakaf Untuk Perkuburan Islam

From DS KT's blog:

12. Kerajaan negeri juga belum menyelesaikan isu tanah perkuburan Islam di Kampung Kebun Bunga, Shah Alam.

13. Terdapat tapak perkuburan muslim dan kaum cina yang berada sebelah menyebelah di kampung kebun bunga ini. Namun masalah mula timbul apabila sebuah Dewan telah dibina oleh persatuan kaum Cina di situ di atas tanah wakaf untuk perkuburan orang Islam.

14. Pada 2007, Kerajaan Selangor telah membuat keputusan agar Dewan Orang Ramai Kaum Cina yang didirikan secara haram atas tanah perkuburan orang Islam dipindahkan segera ke Tanah Perkuburan Cina di sebelahnya dengan sebahagian kos pemindahan ditanggung kerajaan.

15. Malangnya, apabila kerajaan bertukar pada tahun 2008, kerajaan Pakatan di Selangor enggan melaksanakan keputusan tersebut. Saya difahamkan ada usaha-usaha untuk membenarkan Dewan "haram" ini terus kekal di tanah wakaf untuk perkuburan Islam tersebut.

Economist: Sex Laws, Unjust & Ineffective

ONE day in 1996 the lights went off in a classroom in Georgia so that the students could watch a video. Wendy Whitaker, a 17-year-old pupil at the time, was sitting near the back. The boy next to her suggested that, since it was dark, she could perform oral sex on him without anyone noticing. She obliged. And that single teenage fumble wrecked her life.

Her classmate was three weeks shy of his 16th birthday. That made Ms Whitaker a criminal. She was arrested and charged with sodomy, which in Georgia can refer to oral sex. She met her court-appointed lawyer five minutes before the hearing. He told her to plead guilty. She did not really understand what was going on, so she did as she was told.

Malay Mail: PAS vs Ronnie

PAS Hassan Ali pressures the state government to strip Ronnie's position as exco member.
Mixed reviews from Exco members. What is brewing up in Selangor? No synchrony in policies with regards to alcohol sales, no co-operation in pretty much anything/everything.

Azmin Ali earlier expressed a similar position. So what is Ronnie Liu's position?

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Bernama - 7 wasiat Raja-Raja

KUALA LUMPUR, 6 Ogos (Bernama) -- Raja Muda Perak Raja Dr Nazrin Shah pada Khamis mengingatkan rakyat khususnya orang Melayu mengenai tujuh wasiat Raja-Raja Melayu yang menjanjikan kesejahteraan, kedamaian dan keamanan jika mereka bersatu dan berpegang teguh kepadanya.

Menurut baginda, wasiat yang disampaikan semasa Raja-Raja Melayu menurunkan tandatangan persetujuan pembentukan Perlembagaan Persekutuan Tanah Melayu pada 5 Ogos 1957 ialah :

* Kami namakan dan kami panggil dia, bumi yang kamu pijak dan langit yang kamu junjung PERSEKUTUAN TANAH MELAYU (sekarang dikenali dengan nama Malaysia);

* Kami isytiharkan dan kami simpan untuk kamu dan kami benarkan kamu isytihar dan simpan untuk anak cucu kamu, selain gunung-ganang, tasik dan hutan simpan, TANAH SIMPANAN MELAYU sehingga nisbah 50 peratus, selebihnya kamu rebutlah bersama-sama kaum lain;

* Bagi menjaga kamu dan bagi melindungi anak cucu kamu serta harta hak milik kamu, kami tubuhkan REJIMEN ASKAR MELAYU selain untuk membanteras kekacauan dalam negara dan ancaman dari luar negara;

* Kami kekalkan dan kami jamin Kerajaan dan Kedaulatan RAJA-RAJA MELAYU memerintah negara ini;

* Kami isytiharkan ISLAM adalah Agama Persekutuan;

* Kami tetapkan bahasa kebangsaan ialah BAHASA MELAYU;