From the town of Bir Zeit, Palestinian , it was reported that circus performers around the world are mobilising in support of a Palestenian clown, Mohammed Abu Sakha who was held without trial by Israel without trial. He was held for more than three months.
In Europe, the circus performers are showing solidarity with red noses and fluorescent wigs and in Isarel itself with a colourful caravan outside an Israel prison. Meanwhile, in Brazil Afro-style capoeira moves are being performed in Abu Sakha's name and songs are sung about him.
Abu Sakha who is part of the Palestinian Circus School in Bir Zeit studied at the said school and was later employed as a teacher had been accused of a member of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. there is no trial being set and he could be under "administrative detention" for a period of six months of which could be renewable indefinitely.
The Facebook page of the Palestinian Circus School had been poured with string of posts from supporters in New York, Rio De Janeiro and Copenhagen just to name a few. There is also a video clip from London and photos from around the world featuring red nosed protesters...
These acts of "clowning around" with red nosed proved that humanity and the fighting against injustice transcend beyond boundaries, races and religions. When it comes to the common objective of human rights, any which way could be adopted even by being clowns with red noses so long as the message of unity is sent aloud accross the globe.
Back to the local scene, wearing red nose or even drawing a "clown" might land you in deep trouble ... Just ask Fahmi Rezza, the 39 year old electrical engineer cum punk artist who was hauled up recently by PDRM.
Two different scenario with two different purposes but with similar conduit, clowns with red noses clowning around ....
Till we meet again ... Nite.
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Counter Revolutionary Act By the Stones @ Havana
In early January 1959, Castro's victorious rebel army drives through Santa Clara towards Havana, Cuba receiving warm greetings by the jubilant Cubans. In the predawn darkness of January 3rd, Che's entourage arrived at the La Cabana garrison in Havana while Castro marched into the heart of Havana.
Fast forward 57 years later in March 2016, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones unleashed two hours of thundering rock and roll concert right in the heart of Havana. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans and foreigners euphorically celebrated the Stones on its first ever concert in Cuba. It was reported a 62 year old Joaquin Ortiz remarked " After today I can die, this is like my last wish, seeing the Rolling Stones."
Che would be at the age of 98 if he were still alive when the Stones thumped and rocked Havana ... short of about 3 months to 98 actually. I just wonder what his reaction would be - will it be like Joaquin Ortiz and the rest of the spectators at the concert? I doubt it ....
I could imagine Che and Aleida, his companion would frown with disappointment from their comandante's house, built against the stone buttresses overlooking Havana. Che for sure will scorn at this despicable counter revolutionary act of the Stones ....
Perhaps to counter the loud and shrieking music of the Stones, Che would mock the Stones and read a poem penned by his dearest friend, El Patojo who died while fighting a revolutionary war in Guatemala in March 1962, the final verses of which are as follows:
Take this, it is only my heart
Hold it in your hand
And when the dawn arrives,
Open your hand
And let the sun warm it ......
the poem is surely better than the Stones, definitely ....
Interestingly, before Che was executed he was asked by Felix Rodriguez the CIA operative whether Che had any messages for his family, he said: "tell Fidel that he will soon see a triumphant revolution in America" True to his revolutionary spirit, he said to Teran his executioner " I know you have come to kill me. Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man."
There you are two different sets of crowds in a two different time zones with a gap period of 57 years ... which one is worthwhile or rather more meaningful ..... you be the judge.
Good night & till we meet again ....
Fast forward 57 years later in March 2016, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones unleashed two hours of thundering rock and roll concert right in the heart of Havana. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans and foreigners euphorically celebrated the Stones on its first ever concert in Cuba. It was reported a 62 year old Joaquin Ortiz remarked " After today I can die, this is like my last wish, seeing the Rolling Stones."
Che would be at the age of 98 if he were still alive when the Stones thumped and rocked Havana ... short of about 3 months to 98 actually. I just wonder what his reaction would be - will it be like Joaquin Ortiz and the rest of the spectators at the concert? I doubt it ....
I could imagine Che and Aleida, his companion would frown with disappointment from their comandante's house, built against the stone buttresses overlooking Havana. Che for sure will scorn at this despicable counter revolutionary act of the Stones ....
Perhaps to counter the loud and shrieking music of the Stones, Che would mock the Stones and read a poem penned by his dearest friend, El Patojo who died while fighting a revolutionary war in Guatemala in March 1962, the final verses of which are as follows:
Take this, it is only my heart
Hold it in your hand
And when the dawn arrives,
Open your hand
And let the sun warm it ......
the poem is surely better than the Stones, definitely ....
Interestingly, before Che was executed he was asked by Felix Rodriguez the CIA operative whether Che had any messages for his family, he said: "tell Fidel that he will soon see a triumphant revolution in America" True to his revolutionary spirit, he said to Teran his executioner " I know you have come to kill me. Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man."
There you are two different sets of crowds in a two different time zones with a gap period of 57 years ... which one is worthwhile or rather more meaningful ..... you be the judge.
Good night & till we meet again ....
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Pak Menteri Buat Lawak Berdiri Lagi ...
In my earlier posting I wrote about the idiotic and nonsensical statements uttered by our Ministers and parliamentarians ... I thought it would stop there but it seems to be a contagious though.
A few days ago, a picture of a certain Minister having dinner in Sabah went viral . There's nothing wrong having a dinner with the "rakyat" but what's wrong was one of the menu was reported to be "telur penyu" ... Turtles being an endangered species is protected under the law so is the "telur" ... Common sense will tell you that "penyu bertelur dan telurnya menetas menjadi anak penyu" therefore the eggs are also protected under the law. I dare say even a primary school kid knows about this.
However not this particular Minister ... when asked by reporter he said he was not aware that "telur penyu" was served at the dinner which he attended. He even said I did not eat the 'telur penyu" ... If I were to be him, I would stop at that but he chose to entertain us further with his stand up comedy. His last statement was he did not aware there was a law prohibiting the consumption of "telur penyu" ... Aduiiii!!! he might have been over exposed to the program "Maharaja Lawak" over Astro or worst still he might be planning to be a contender in that program when he lost in the next GE!!! talk about contingency plan.
It is sad to note that a Minister at that could came up with such idiotic and unacceptable statement. Being an ex Agricultural Minister, he should know better if not being a Parliamentarian who happened to be the first layer in debating and passing the law in Parliament. If he cares to ask any folk in Bera, Pahang which is his constituency, he will get an answer ... Today I read in the news of a Deputy Minister of Sabah State Government defending this Federal Minister by saying that most probably the "telur penyu" was brought in by outsider ... Malay proverbs aptly describe this as "Sokong membawa rebah" or " Pandai tak dapat ditegur, bodoh tak dapat diajar" ... Typical of us always bend towards conspiracy theories...
If this is the type of Minister we Malaysians have to endure with in governing our country of 26 million "rakyat" I dread to think of what might become of our country in the future not to mention the poor turtles!!! I wonder whether there is a specific requirements being put up by Putrajaya for being a Minister or a Parliamentarian i.e. he/she must be able to come up with at least 1 or 2 idiotic statements in a month. Judging by what had been uttered by these comedians, that is being the case...
I just do not know whether I want to cry or to laugh every time such incident occurred ... to the people of Bera, congratulations for your votes ... at least, we Malaysians had been entertained by your representative. To the Minister, please read this aloud "ignorance of the law is not a defense ..."
Till we meet again and please spare Malaysians from this continuous horrific state of affair ....
A few days ago, a picture of a certain Minister having dinner in Sabah went viral . There's nothing wrong having a dinner with the "rakyat" but what's wrong was one of the menu was reported to be "telur penyu" ... Turtles being an endangered species is protected under the law so is the "telur" ... Common sense will tell you that "penyu bertelur dan telurnya menetas menjadi anak penyu" therefore the eggs are also protected under the law. I dare say even a primary school kid knows about this.
However not this particular Minister ... when asked by reporter he said he was not aware that "telur penyu" was served at the dinner which he attended. He even said I did not eat the 'telur penyu" ... If I were to be him, I would stop at that but he chose to entertain us further with his stand up comedy. His last statement was he did not aware there was a law prohibiting the consumption of "telur penyu" ... Aduiiii!!! he might have been over exposed to the program "Maharaja Lawak" over Astro or worst still he might be planning to be a contender in that program when he lost in the next GE!!! talk about contingency plan.
It is sad to note that a Minister at that could came up with such idiotic and unacceptable statement. Being an ex Agricultural Minister, he should know better if not being a Parliamentarian who happened to be the first layer in debating and passing the law in Parliament. If he cares to ask any folk in Bera, Pahang which is his constituency, he will get an answer ... Today I read in the news of a Deputy Minister of Sabah State Government defending this Federal Minister by saying that most probably the "telur penyu" was brought in by outsider ... Malay proverbs aptly describe this as "Sokong membawa rebah" or " Pandai tak dapat ditegur, bodoh tak dapat diajar" ... Typical of us always bend towards conspiracy theories...
If this is the type of Minister we Malaysians have to endure with in governing our country of 26 million "rakyat" I dread to think of what might become of our country in the future not to mention the poor turtles!!! I wonder whether there is a specific requirements being put up by Putrajaya for being a Minister or a Parliamentarian i.e. he/she must be able to come up with at least 1 or 2 idiotic statements in a month. Judging by what had been uttered by these comedians, that is being the case...
I just do not know whether I want to cry or to laugh every time such incident occurred ... to the people of Bera, congratulations for your votes ... at least, we Malaysians had been entertained by your representative. To the Minister, please read this aloud "ignorance of the law is not a defense ..."
Till we meet again and please spare Malaysians from this continuous horrific state of affair ....
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Idiotic statements ..... Are we a mere chattel?
About three days ago, a cabinet member and MP (Kota Belut) was reported as urging the "rakyat" in the city to wake up early in the morning so that they could use alternative route thus avoiding paying toll. Not too long a distance ago, another cabinet member who happened to be an ex CEO of our local bank was saying if the rakyat do not like to pay toll then "gunalah jalan alternatif yang lain"...
The same minister/MP (Kota Belud) was also saying that he will be the happiest person if the people "balik kampung tanam jagung" so that the city will not be too crowded and less pollution. In other words, as a minister of "kesejahteraaan bandar" he will happy and "sejahtera"
We the "rakyat" have been hearing all these idiotic statements from our own ministers who were voted by us thinking that as "wakil rakyat" they will voice out our grievances. On the contrary, these parliamentarians acted or rather spoke like comedians - even comedians are better than them.
The "rakyat" are being treated like garbage and as if they are just mere chattel.... Apart from the above statements, just consider the following amongst others:
1. An ex minister was quoted as saying " kalau harga ayam naik, jangan makan ayam" while urging the "rakyat" to change their lifestyle to cope with the rising prices of goods;
2. A parliamentarian who hails from Sabah and known for his "kebinatangan" statements was reportedly used vulgar, innuendo words like the term "bocor" in an obvious reference to womens' menstruation and the latest remark of "anak haram" to his co parliamentarian...
3. Another MP even used the words "balik tongsan" to his co parliamentarian ... this is racist statement to the core ... no doubt about it!!! Let us "baling" this MP out of the august house ....
I just wonder how long can the "rakyat" tolerate these insults by being dragged around by their noses like a "kerbau" ,,,
I suspect that in order to be a cabinet member it is a prerequisite for him/her to be able to come up with an idiotic statements at least twice a year ... Be a goon or a court jester then you will climb the ladder of Putrajaya fast. On a hindsight, I don't blame these MPs/Ministers as their "Chief" was heard complaining the "rakyat" are being an ungrateful lot in not thanking the "kerajaan bila harga kangkung turun".
We are also to be blamed as we voted these MPs in the GE despite their unbecoming conduct .... So people please wake up and give them a jolt by not returning them in the next GE .... I pity those voters for not realising they had in actual fact returning clowns and court jesters to our parliament and Putrajaya ....
Good night and please sleep early "nanti nak bangun awal"!!!!
The same minister/MP (Kota Belud) was also saying that he will be the happiest person if the people "balik kampung tanam jagung" so that the city will not be too crowded and less pollution. In other words, as a minister of "kesejahteraaan bandar" he will happy and "sejahtera"
We the "rakyat" have been hearing all these idiotic statements from our own ministers who were voted by us thinking that as "wakil rakyat" they will voice out our grievances. On the contrary, these parliamentarians acted or rather spoke like comedians - even comedians are better than them.
The "rakyat" are being treated like garbage and as if they are just mere chattel.... Apart from the above statements, just consider the following amongst others:
1. An ex minister was quoted as saying " kalau harga ayam naik, jangan makan ayam" while urging the "rakyat" to change their lifestyle to cope with the rising prices of goods;
2. A parliamentarian who hails from Sabah and known for his "kebinatangan" statements was reportedly used vulgar, innuendo words like the term "bocor" in an obvious reference to womens' menstruation and the latest remark of "anak haram" to his co parliamentarian...
3. Another MP even used the words "balik tongsan" to his co parliamentarian ... this is racist statement to the core ... no doubt about it!!! Let us "baling" this MP out of the august house ....
I just wonder how long can the "rakyat" tolerate these insults by being dragged around by their noses like a "kerbau" ,,,
I suspect that in order to be a cabinet member it is a prerequisite for him/her to be able to come up with an idiotic statements at least twice a year ... Be a goon or a court jester then you will climb the ladder of Putrajaya fast. On a hindsight, I don't blame these MPs/Ministers as their "Chief" was heard complaining the "rakyat" are being an ungrateful lot in not thanking the "kerajaan bila harga kangkung turun".
We are also to be blamed as we voted these MPs in the GE despite their unbecoming conduct .... So people please wake up and give them a jolt by not returning them in the next GE .... I pity those voters for not realising they had in actual fact returning clowns and court jesters to our parliament and Putrajaya ....
Good night and please sleep early "nanti nak bangun awal"!!!!
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Rambling about " Bangsa"
On the night of Halloween, the word "bangsa" was eerily used in the euphoria of the JDT team's being crowned as the first South East Asian club winning the AFC Cup. I will touch on this later ...
First and foremost, I have to congratulate JDT for their perseverance also my hats off to all Johoreans. A special congratulations to HRH the Johor Crown Prince who, I would say singlehandedly unite all Johoreans and spearheaded the team to victory. HRH had been and always has been a vocal critic of the national football body, FAM. FAM being FAM always live in denial would just brushed off HRH the Crown Prince criticisms on how to managed the affairs and interests of the national football. With this win, HRH via JDT had shown those "little Napoleons" at FAM on how to manage a football team efficiently and successfully. Kudos to HRH and JDT as well as the Johoreans.
My only concern is that the usage of the "Bangsa Johor" seen at the banners depicting the victorious team. I feel that the usage of "Bangsa Johor" would further complicate our current impasse on achieving the ultimate goal of having a single race i.e. 'Bangsa Malaysia". Nothing had been done to achieve the "Bangsa Malaysia" vision not even from those politicians. I would say the politicians are the biggest culprit of all. Recently, it was reported that " Bangsa Dayak" had been officially recognised as a "race" in Sarawak and the Sabah Government had abolished the column "Lain-Lain Bangsa" in the state's official forms. I am not against these efforts as perhaps they might be taken as a step to legitimately recognised a certain race and in the Sabah's case, this would "narrow down" the already mass number of races in Malaysia.
In reality, this is not the case. Just take any of the official government forms, the boxes for race are still there with the main races of "Malay", Chinese", "Indians" and "Lain -Lain" are still there. I just could not comprehend what does it mean by "Lain-Lain". It is so insanely alien ... As far as I know - I might be wrong here - could remember no Malaysians of any races had ever just leave those boxes blank and write the words "Bangsa Malaysia" including yours truly. Perhaps I still did not have the political strength to do this.
Back to " Bangsa Johor" ... these two words to my mind will further put a spanner to our goal and vision of being "Bangsa Malaysia". I am afraid after this should Pahang were to win any silverware, ' Bangsa Pahang" would then crop us and just imagine we have thirteen states plus the Federal Territories of KL, Labuan and Putrajaya in this country of ours. I could not imagine the race boxes will become crowded in those forms ....
Just think about it and I parted with a big congratulations to HRH the Johor Crown Prince, JDT and "rakyat Johor" ......
First and foremost, I have to congratulate JDT for their perseverance also my hats off to all Johoreans. A special congratulations to HRH the Johor Crown Prince who, I would say singlehandedly unite all Johoreans and spearheaded the team to victory. HRH had been and always has been a vocal critic of the national football body, FAM. FAM being FAM always live in denial would just brushed off HRH the Crown Prince criticisms on how to managed the affairs and interests of the national football. With this win, HRH via JDT had shown those "little Napoleons" at FAM on how to manage a football team efficiently and successfully. Kudos to HRH and JDT as well as the Johoreans.
My only concern is that the usage of the "Bangsa Johor" seen at the banners depicting the victorious team. I feel that the usage of "Bangsa Johor" would further complicate our current impasse on achieving the ultimate goal of having a single race i.e. 'Bangsa Malaysia". Nothing had been done to achieve the "Bangsa Malaysia" vision not even from those politicians. I would say the politicians are the biggest culprit of all. Recently, it was reported that " Bangsa Dayak" had been officially recognised as a "race" in Sarawak and the Sabah Government had abolished the column "Lain-Lain Bangsa" in the state's official forms. I am not against these efforts as perhaps they might be taken as a step to legitimately recognised a certain race and in the Sabah's case, this would "narrow down" the already mass number of races in Malaysia.
In reality, this is not the case. Just take any of the official government forms, the boxes for race are still there with the main races of "Malay", Chinese", "Indians" and "Lain -Lain" are still there. I just could not comprehend what does it mean by "Lain-Lain". It is so insanely alien ... As far as I know - I might be wrong here - could remember no Malaysians of any races had ever just leave those boxes blank and write the words "Bangsa Malaysia" including yours truly. Perhaps I still did not have the political strength to do this.
Back to " Bangsa Johor" ... these two words to my mind will further put a spanner to our goal and vision of being "Bangsa Malaysia". I am afraid after this should Pahang were to win any silverware, ' Bangsa Pahang" would then crop us and just imagine we have thirteen states plus the Federal Territories of KL, Labuan and Putrajaya in this country of ours. I could not imagine the race boxes will become crowded in those forms ....
Just think about it and I parted with a big congratulations to HRH the Johor Crown Prince, JDT and "rakyat Johor" ......
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Mass graves at Bukit Wang Burma, Wang Kelian, Perlis ... It's ironic!!!
This is my first post in 2015 .. My last posting was in October 2014. I was in the wilderness, feeling lazy to write on anything. After awhile, I feel like posting this short post on the recent finding of mass graves of Rohingya immigrants at the top of the hill named Bukit Wang Burma, Wang Kelian in Perlis.
It's a dramatic finding I would say after a certain Deputy Minister denied that such graves are to be found on Malaysian soil. Less than two weeks after such denial, the authorities announced the finding of mass graves on the hilltop of Bukit Wang Burma. The media went on frenzy with interviews of the nearby kampung folks claiming to see activities near the border and at the vicinity of Bukit Wang Burma. It is more dramatic when the authorities said their men could not be patrolling the hilltop/slope of Bukit Wang Burma ... Perhaps they should start sending their men for training in scaling slopes/hilltops....
The drama turned into a 'slapstic comedy" if I might say when a certain Minister in the Prime Minister's Department said the "death camps" should be preserved for tourist attraction!!! What a "brilliant" idea from a Minister who hailed from the same state. The next day he denied making such a statement and claimed that what he meant was the death camps should be preserved as a lesson to the public...
It was reported that more than 99 bodies were exhumed before the operation on the hilltop was stopped. The authorities then made an announcement that they died of natural cause and there was no foul play... I take it as ' those immigrants died due to self inflicted then they buried themselves in the mass graves"!!! what a joke and a slap in the face of humanity. what make me baffled when last week I read in the news that the Government will not let the mastermind in the mass graves issue escaped the law of the land ... which is which now ...
I am left numb but come to think of it it's ironic that the mass graves were found on the hilltop of Bukit Wang Burma in the district of Wang Kelian which if loosely translated - "Bukit Wang Burma" might mean " Hill of Burmese Money" .... Greed had overshadowed the sense of humanity ....
Till we meet again .... Selamat Berpuasa ....
It's a dramatic finding I would say after a certain Deputy Minister denied that such graves are to be found on Malaysian soil. Less than two weeks after such denial, the authorities announced the finding of mass graves on the hilltop of Bukit Wang Burma. The media went on frenzy with interviews of the nearby kampung folks claiming to see activities near the border and at the vicinity of Bukit Wang Burma. It is more dramatic when the authorities said their men could not be patrolling the hilltop/slope of Bukit Wang Burma ... Perhaps they should start sending their men for training in scaling slopes/hilltops....
The drama turned into a 'slapstic comedy" if I might say when a certain Minister in the Prime Minister's Department said the "death camps" should be preserved for tourist attraction!!! What a "brilliant" idea from a Minister who hailed from the same state. The next day he denied making such a statement and claimed that what he meant was the death camps should be preserved as a lesson to the public...
It was reported that more than 99 bodies were exhumed before the operation on the hilltop was stopped. The authorities then made an announcement that they died of natural cause and there was no foul play... I take it as ' those immigrants died due to self inflicted then they buried themselves in the mass graves"!!! what a joke and a slap in the face of humanity. what make me baffled when last week I read in the news that the Government will not let the mastermind in the mass graves issue escaped the law of the land ... which is which now ...
I am left numb but come to think of it it's ironic that the mass graves were found on the hilltop of Bukit Wang Burma in the district of Wang Kelian which if loosely translated - "Bukit Wang Burma" might mean " Hill of Burmese Money" .... Greed had overshadowed the sense of humanity ....
Till we meet again .... Selamat Berpuasa ....
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Free Flow Posting on Apak
Actually there are so many snippets on Apak throughout my years with him ... He's quite a funny guy despite him being a teacher. Below are some of the snippets regarding Apak, I might have mentioned some of them in my earlier postings but it is worth repeating ...
Once, somewhere in the mid of 70s, our area was inundated with flood - Pengkalan Pegoh, Changkat Larang and small part of Pasir Puteh, Ipoh - for weeks. Apak as I told you had this penchant/hobby of "menjaring ikan" using "jaring" (fishing net) at the "lombong". He normally went to check the 'jaring" early in the morning after "dipasang di lombong" a day before in the evening. That day, he managed to catch"anak tongsan" and was on his way back to sell it at the "pasar'. Coincidentally, there were reporters covering the flooding area ... they took some pictures of the kids swimming & playing in the flood et al. Upon seeing Apak with his old motorcycle passing by ( actually the flood was about to recede and it was at about knee length), one of the reporter asked Apak to post with his "big catch" of the day and he obliged... Voila!!! The next day, there it was - a picture in black and white of Apak appeared at the front page of NST holding up his "anak tongsan" with a caption " Bounty of flood" , something to that effect. The funny part was the "news" was presented as if the "anak tongsan" was caught due to flood whereas Apak caught it by "menjaring" at a mining pool somewhere in Batu Gajah approximately about 10 km from the flood area. The whole "kampung" was talking about Apak being an instant celebrity for almost a month... I think my brother still keep that photo somewhere ....
Talking about Apak's old motorcycle, I remember it was a Honda with registration number A ... 3058 and it was the only "asset" as a mean of transport for Apak. One day, Apak wanted to go to Pengkalan Pegoh - a small idle town not far from our house for an evening "teh tarik" with me tagging along. On our way there, we were stopped by police in a road block, apparently the police were checking driving license ... Apak confidently stopped athe road side upon being asked to do so by the police. The police asked Apak to produce his license ... Then the "waiting game" began ... The "problem" is this ... Apak kept his license in his wallet and it aws not your "ordinary" wallet. Apak being Apak, he kept almost everything in the wallet, you name it receipts, some notes/addresses, money ( not that he has alot of it anyway!!!), duit shiling and even his old "red card" ( I think it's his teacher's certification or something) and there you are, the wallet ended up about an inch or almost to two inches thick!!!! so you could imagine how Apak diligently standing beside his motorcycle with me still on it 'digging" through the thick wallet trying to find his license!!! I can still remember while waiting for Apak, the police managed to check about 5 to 6 motorcycles and several cars but Apak still at the road side with his thick wallet. After a few minutes, the police said to Apak ' Tak apa la Pak Cik, Pak Cik bole jalan, tak payah la lesen tu!!". Upon hearing this, Pak thanked the police and apologised. At the coffee shop, without being asked Apak told me that actually his "lesen dah mati" the week before and he forgot to renew it!!!
In my earlier posting, I wrote about Apak's old car - yes he always have old things, old motorcycle and old car!! - "jatuh masuk lombong" when he forgot to hand braked the car. After that incident, my brother Asri bought him a "new" second hand car to the chagrin of Mak. The reason being after having that "new" car which was in better shape than the first one, Apak ventured into his "menjaring activities' even further away than the area which he used to go and obviously this worried Mak so much. Thank God nothing untoward happened to Apak ...
This last piece which I wanted to share was an incident told by Apak when he was a 9primary) teacher at Sekolah Kebangsaan Jlan Connolly, Ipoh. This school was a mixed school with Malays (from the nearby Kampung Sg. Pari and its vicinity), a handful of Chinese and quite a number of Indians (from the Indian settlement Buntong). In the class, Apak notice a group of Indian boys sitting close with each other and always making noises in the class room. Apak tried to be "innovative" by separating them, rearranging their seats far apart from each other. Guess what? The result was disastrous ... Being far apart, they became even noisier as they have to "verbally communicated" with each other at the top of their lungs!!! After only 2 days, Apak learnt his lesson and put them closely together gain to "lower down: the noise volume in the class....
There were other interesting anecdotes on Apak but I will reserve them in my later postings ... Good night and till we meet again!!!
Once, somewhere in the mid of 70s, our area was inundated with flood - Pengkalan Pegoh, Changkat Larang and small part of Pasir Puteh, Ipoh - for weeks. Apak as I told you had this penchant/hobby of "menjaring ikan" using "jaring" (fishing net) at the "lombong". He normally went to check the 'jaring" early in the morning after "dipasang di lombong" a day before in the evening. That day, he managed to catch"anak tongsan" and was on his way back to sell it at the "pasar'. Coincidentally, there were reporters covering the flooding area ... they took some pictures of the kids swimming & playing in the flood et al. Upon seeing Apak with his old motorcycle passing by ( actually the flood was about to recede and it was at about knee length), one of the reporter asked Apak to post with his "big catch" of the day and he obliged... Voila!!! The next day, there it was - a picture in black and white of Apak appeared at the front page of NST holding up his "anak tongsan" with a caption " Bounty of flood" , something to that effect. The funny part was the "news" was presented as if the "anak tongsan" was caught due to flood whereas Apak caught it by "menjaring" at a mining pool somewhere in Batu Gajah approximately about 10 km from the flood area. The whole "kampung" was talking about Apak being an instant celebrity for almost a month... I think my brother still keep that photo somewhere ....
Talking about Apak's old motorcycle, I remember it was a Honda with registration number A ... 3058 and it was the only "asset" as a mean of transport for Apak. One day, Apak wanted to go to Pengkalan Pegoh - a small idle town not far from our house for an evening "teh tarik" with me tagging along. On our way there, we were stopped by police in a road block, apparently the police were checking driving license ... Apak confidently stopped athe road side upon being asked to do so by the police. The police asked Apak to produce his license ... Then the "waiting game" began ... The "problem" is this ... Apak kept his license in his wallet and it aws not your "ordinary" wallet. Apak being Apak, he kept almost everything in the wallet, you name it receipts, some notes/addresses, money ( not that he has alot of it anyway!!!), duit shiling and even his old "red card" ( I think it's his teacher's certification or something) and there you are, the wallet ended up about an inch or almost to two inches thick!!!! so you could imagine how Apak diligently standing beside his motorcycle with me still on it 'digging" through the thick wallet trying to find his license!!! I can still remember while waiting for Apak, the police managed to check about 5 to 6 motorcycles and several cars but Apak still at the road side with his thick wallet. After a few minutes, the police said to Apak ' Tak apa la Pak Cik, Pak Cik bole jalan, tak payah la lesen tu!!". Upon hearing this, Pak thanked the police and apologised. At the coffee shop, without being asked Apak told me that actually his "lesen dah mati" the week before and he forgot to renew it!!!
In my earlier posting, I wrote about Apak's old car - yes he always have old things, old motorcycle and old car!! - "jatuh masuk lombong" when he forgot to hand braked the car. After that incident, my brother Asri bought him a "new" second hand car to the chagrin of Mak. The reason being after having that "new" car which was in better shape than the first one, Apak ventured into his "menjaring activities' even further away than the area which he used to go and obviously this worried Mak so much. Thank God nothing untoward happened to Apak ...
This last piece which I wanted to share was an incident told by Apak when he was a 9primary) teacher at Sekolah Kebangsaan Jlan Connolly, Ipoh. This school was a mixed school with Malays (from the nearby Kampung Sg. Pari and its vicinity), a handful of Chinese and quite a number of Indians (from the Indian settlement Buntong). In the class, Apak notice a group of Indian boys sitting close with each other and always making noises in the class room. Apak tried to be "innovative" by separating them, rearranging their seats far apart from each other. Guess what? The result was disastrous ... Being far apart, they became even noisier as they have to "verbally communicated" with each other at the top of their lungs!!! After only 2 days, Apak learnt his lesson and put them closely together gain to "lower down: the noise volume in the class....
There were other interesting anecdotes on Apak but I will reserve them in my later postings ... Good night and till we meet again!!!
Monday, September 22, 2014
Constitutional Monarchy - The 4th Branch of the Malaysian Constitution
This is just a free flow posting regarding our monarchy system in Malaysia. We have been made known - most of the time - of the 3 branches of the Federal Constitution which are the main pillars of our beloved nation, Malaysia. These are the Executive, Judiciary and Legislative branches of the Government[I am using a capital "G" for the 'government" as it represent "Government" of the Rakyat/people].
Most of the time, Malaysians tend to overlook that there is another branch of the Government of Malaysia that is our monarchy .... On this note, I am not going to trace back the alleged "asal usul hikayat" Raja-Raja Melayu who are said to be the descendants of Raja Suran and came down to earth from the "heaven" to Bukit Seguntang and so on .... Those are bed time time stories!!
In Malaysia, our monarchy system is basically based on the Westminster system but with a slight :modification" as we have 9 hereditary States Malay Rulers who would be alternately appointed as the Yang Di Pertuan Agung at the Federal level .... But this is not the focus of this posting, what I am going to touch is on the historical events of the "clash" between the Monarch and the Executive in Malaysia with the backdrop of the currently impasse in the Selangor MB crisis ....
Due to ours is a system of constitutional monarchy, the Malay Rulers have and are bound to act within the parameters of the Constitution be it the Federal Constitution or the State Constitution or what is commonly known as "Undang-Undang Tubuh Negeri". Despite this, there were instances where the Monarch had "flexed" its muscle especially when it comes to the appointment of the MB...
Most recent was the impasse in the appointment of MB of Terengganu in 2008 where UMNO (read as "the Executive") wanted to appoint Idris Jusoh as the MB however the Sultan of Terengganu more keen on Ahmad Said as the MB who later prevailed . In 2008 another "impasse" was also occurred when immediately after the PR swept into power in Perak, the then Royal Highness of Sultan of Perak summoned all parties of PR for a "meeting" in order to determine from which party the MB should be appointed from ... At the end of the day, a Malay MB in the name of YB Nizar from PAS was appointed as the Perak MB.
In both the Terengganu & Perak cases, the Monarch are said to exercise its "powers" within the constitution or at least within the permissible convention "reserved" for the Malay Rulers ... No issue to this as the matter was sort of "amicably settled" among the parties concerned.
The next two cases way back in early 1970s and 1980s which happened in Perak (ooh ooh again my home state!!!) and Pahang respectively nearly caused a real constitutional crisis ...
In 1974, the then Royal Highness of Perak wanted to "change" the MB of Perak, Ghazali Jawi after he was in office approximately for 2 years .... However, the Perak Sultan was advised that this could not be done as under the Constitution once appointed as MB and the said MB commanded the majority support of the ADUNs then he would remain as MB until the term is over. His Royal Highness had openly displayed his "displeasure" and vowed that he would not shave his "misai & jambang" until Ghazali Jawi did not step down as Perak MB. The matter was settled when Ghazali Jawi stepped down at the advise of the then UMNO President ...
In the 80s, there was one outspoken MB by the name of Rahim Bakar. Again for certain reason, HRH the Sultan of Pahang had a "cold war" and "tense" relationship with Rahim Bakar who was then replaced by an interim MB Rashid before the current PM, Najib Razak was appointed as Pahang MB ....
The currently impasse of the appointment of Selangor MB (at the time of this posting it is almost confirmed that Azmin Ali would be appointed as the MB to replace Khalid Ibrahim), again this 4th branch of the Constitution "flexed" its muscle. Despite the "clear support of the ADUNs majority" in Dr Wan Azizah as the MB, the palace had chosen Azmin Ali. This is very peculiar as the state constitution is quite clear on this issue unless all parties managed to mend their "differences" ...
It is peculiar as almost similar precedent had been set in Perak in 2009 (what? Perak again?) where HRH the Sultan of Perak then "exercised his constitutional power" in appointing Zambri as the new MB in replaced of Nizar on the ground that Zambri had the majority support of the ADUNs. HRH Sultan of Perak's royal decree was decided as "constitutionally right" by the apex of Malaysian Federal Court ... There you are two similar cases but with two different outcomes!!!!
I will part this posting by mentioning the "mother of all clashes" between the Executive and the Monarchy in Malaysia during the constitutional crisis in 1983 then the climax of it in 1993 led by Tun M pertaining to the Malay Rulers' power and their royal immunities .... The 4th branch of the constitution in my view had been "literally bulldozed" and its pillar 'cracked" when the then Executives headed by Tun M. The printed and electronic media was used to the optimum to attack the Malay Rulers to the extent that nationwide rally in the name of "Semarak" campaign was carried out nation wide spearheaded by the then "Kementerian Penerangan" ....... There was no holds barred then and there was no enforcement of the Sedition Act 1948 then .... It is quite sad and unfortunate as this 4th branch of the constitution had been 'trampled" by the very own Malays which is not surprising as way back in 1946 the Malays had "practically blocked" the Malay Rulers at the Istana Kelantan in Kota Bahru preventing the Malay Rulers from endorsing the Malayan Union!!!!
Well, there you are, history will be the judge and till we meet again .....
Most of the time, Malaysians tend to overlook that there is another branch of the Government of Malaysia that is our monarchy .... On this note, I am not going to trace back the alleged "asal usul hikayat" Raja-Raja Melayu who are said to be the descendants of Raja Suran and came down to earth from the "heaven" to Bukit Seguntang and so on .... Those are bed time time stories!!
In Malaysia, our monarchy system is basically based on the Westminster system but with a slight :modification" as we have 9 hereditary States Malay Rulers who would be alternately appointed as the Yang Di Pertuan Agung at the Federal level .... But this is not the focus of this posting, what I am going to touch is on the historical events of the "clash" between the Monarch and the Executive in Malaysia with the backdrop of the currently impasse in the Selangor MB crisis ....
Due to ours is a system of constitutional monarchy, the Malay Rulers have and are bound to act within the parameters of the Constitution be it the Federal Constitution or the State Constitution or what is commonly known as "Undang-Undang Tubuh Negeri". Despite this, there were instances where the Monarch had "flexed" its muscle especially when it comes to the appointment of the MB...
Most recent was the impasse in the appointment of MB of Terengganu in 2008 where UMNO (read as "the Executive") wanted to appoint Idris Jusoh as the MB however the Sultan of Terengganu more keen on Ahmad Said as the MB who later prevailed . In 2008 another "impasse" was also occurred when immediately after the PR swept into power in Perak, the then Royal Highness of Sultan of Perak summoned all parties of PR for a "meeting" in order to determine from which party the MB should be appointed from ... At the end of the day, a Malay MB in the name of YB Nizar from PAS was appointed as the Perak MB.
In both the Terengganu & Perak cases, the Monarch are said to exercise its "powers" within the constitution or at least within the permissible convention "reserved" for the Malay Rulers ... No issue to this as the matter was sort of "amicably settled" among the parties concerned.
The next two cases way back in early 1970s and 1980s which happened in Perak (ooh ooh again my home state!!!) and Pahang respectively nearly caused a real constitutional crisis ...
In 1974, the then Royal Highness of Perak wanted to "change" the MB of Perak, Ghazali Jawi after he was in office approximately for 2 years .... However, the Perak Sultan was advised that this could not be done as under the Constitution once appointed as MB and the said MB commanded the majority support of the ADUNs then he would remain as MB until the term is over. His Royal Highness had openly displayed his "displeasure" and vowed that he would not shave his "misai & jambang" until Ghazali Jawi did not step down as Perak MB. The matter was settled when Ghazali Jawi stepped down at the advise of the then UMNO President ...
In the 80s, there was one outspoken MB by the name of Rahim Bakar. Again for certain reason, HRH the Sultan of Pahang had a "cold war" and "tense" relationship with Rahim Bakar who was then replaced by an interim MB Rashid before the current PM, Najib Razak was appointed as Pahang MB ....
The currently impasse of the appointment of Selangor MB (at the time of this posting it is almost confirmed that Azmin Ali would be appointed as the MB to replace Khalid Ibrahim), again this 4th branch of the Constitution "flexed" its muscle. Despite the "clear support of the ADUNs majority" in Dr Wan Azizah as the MB, the palace had chosen Azmin Ali. This is very peculiar as the state constitution is quite clear on this issue unless all parties managed to mend their "differences" ...
It is peculiar as almost similar precedent had been set in Perak in 2009 (what? Perak again?) where HRH the Sultan of Perak then "exercised his constitutional power" in appointing Zambri as the new MB in replaced of Nizar on the ground that Zambri had the majority support of the ADUNs. HRH Sultan of Perak's royal decree was decided as "constitutionally right" by the apex of Malaysian Federal Court ... There you are two similar cases but with two different outcomes!!!!
I will part this posting by mentioning the "mother of all clashes" between the Executive and the Monarchy in Malaysia during the constitutional crisis in 1983 then the climax of it in 1993 led by Tun M pertaining to the Malay Rulers' power and their royal immunities .... The 4th branch of the constitution in my view had been "literally bulldozed" and its pillar 'cracked" when the then Executives headed by Tun M. The printed and electronic media was used to the optimum to attack the Malay Rulers to the extent that nationwide rally in the name of "Semarak" campaign was carried out nation wide spearheaded by the then "Kementerian Penerangan" ....... There was no holds barred then and there was no enforcement of the Sedition Act 1948 then .... It is quite sad and unfortunate as this 4th branch of the constitution had been 'trampled" by the very own Malays which is not surprising as way back in 1946 the Malays had "practically blocked" the Malay Rulers at the Istana Kelantan in Kota Bahru preventing the Malay Rulers from endorsing the Malayan Union!!!!
Well, there you are, history will be the judge and till we meet again .....
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Tribute to ex TI 79/80
It was about a month ago, after parking my car I stepped wearily into Zam Zam Cafe & Satay Club, Bandar Utama ... Here I was with my round neck T Shirt, faded jeans and my ever loyal worn out "selipar jepun merah"!!! Weary due to the word "Club" and its location in Damansara Utama. To be frank, I always consider that part of the town is sophisticated and urbane ... My being just an ordinary mortal in the street always weary of the urbane environment .....
As I stepped in, I saw Nan with his guitar and his three pieces band. He waved at me with his natural generous smile from inside an air conditioned section of the Cafe ... Apparently, our reunion - the batch of 79/80 of Sekolah Teknik, Persiaran Brash, Ipoh had been booked just for us. I noticed quite a few had arrived and gathered having a lively chat with each other ....
Haaa ... there they were Jamil Padukang, Azhar @ Barry, Shaharuddin, Roslina @ Maria ( I guess), Shima, Hilmi, Harith (I last met him when we were sending our kids to MRSM Langkawi years ago) & his wife Zaiton, Faizah (the 1/3 or is it 1/4 of the other Faezah @ Pes, Zihan & Julita), Zihan, Zaim, Nazri Tapi (through to his "Tapi" dia datang Tapi sekejap jerrr), Salleh, Hj Yusri, Duan, Mat Arif, Amin YB, Ali Pek, Lokman, Ismail and few other whom I could not recall their names and of course Raja Abdul Rahman....
We had a good time remembering good old time ... At that function, I became aware of Harith is happily married to Zaiton!!! Another interesting twist apart from my ex class mate Nizam who married to Harifah .. I think this is not the case of " asam di darat ikan di laut bertemu dalam belanga"!!!! Harith as ussual was always in his cool and "serene" state of mind ...
I noticed that Duan had become a bit "wise" and "sobre" ... he he may be age is catching up but not Hj Yusri who was still at his best with his wits and all "ridiculing" YB Amin which happily reciprocated towards him ... I am glad and happy to note that each and everyone of my batch is successful in his/her own life ...
Who would have guess Amin who is a bit stutter ( sorry YB!!!) is an ADUN in Perak ... I came to know about this when Hj Yusri posted about him contesting in Perak DUN (Ulu Kinta) in the FB and when my sister & brother in law mentioned about "this young chap who is very hard working and well liked by the local folks, them included, I proudly declared Amin was my batch at TI Ipoh!!!
Dear Friends, I have to apologise as I could not recall all of you as I only spent barely few hours during those 2 years at TI busying myself with playing truants especially the "high end" Commerce Class ladies!!! Zihan Ibrahim ... hmmm quite a surprise to see the transformation of the old days "cubby" Zihan ... I have not been seeing her since after SPM in 1980 ...
All in all, it was a good reunion ... I noticed the close knit among this batch and I have to give credit to their high sense of togetherness and closeness to eaach other. I wish to put on record my tribute to each and everyone of them and a very special tribute to Raja Abdul Rahman who had been tirelessly organising this reunion so as the past reunions .... To Nan keep on jamming and I really enjoyed the song played during the reunion especially the "haunted" M Nasir's "Cinta Listrik mu"...
To all my friends ... nice meeting you and hopefully in the next round there would be the rest such as Halim Mondok @ Ritchie Blackmore, Shahri Sujak, Badli (really miss him so much), Mohd Noor, Nizam, Harifah and Razif ....
Epilouge:
Seeing Faizah & Zihan that day remind me of Faezah @ Pes who passed away sometime early this year ... She was my class mate (so as Faizah & Julita) and was a very nice and couteous girl next door ... To Fes, regret did not manage to seeing you and may Allah bless your soul ... Al Fatihah....
Till we meet again!!!
As I stepped in, I saw Nan with his guitar and his three pieces band. He waved at me with his natural generous smile from inside an air conditioned section of the Cafe ... Apparently, our reunion - the batch of 79/80 of Sekolah Teknik, Persiaran Brash, Ipoh had been booked just for us. I noticed quite a few had arrived and gathered having a lively chat with each other ....
Haaa ... there they were Jamil Padukang, Azhar @ Barry, Shaharuddin, Roslina @ Maria ( I guess), Shima, Hilmi, Harith (I last met him when we were sending our kids to MRSM Langkawi years ago) & his wife Zaiton, Faizah (the 1/3 or is it 1/4 of the other Faezah @ Pes, Zihan & Julita), Zihan, Zaim, Nazri Tapi (through to his "Tapi" dia datang Tapi sekejap jerrr), Salleh, Hj Yusri, Duan, Mat Arif, Amin YB, Ali Pek, Lokman, Ismail and few other whom I could not recall their names and of course Raja Abdul Rahman....
We had a good time remembering good old time ... At that function, I became aware of Harith is happily married to Zaiton!!! Another interesting twist apart from my ex class mate Nizam who married to Harifah .. I think this is not the case of " asam di darat ikan di laut bertemu dalam belanga"!!!! Harith as ussual was always in his cool and "serene" state of mind ...
I noticed that Duan had become a bit "wise" and "sobre" ... he he may be age is catching up but not Hj Yusri who was still at his best with his wits and all "ridiculing" YB Amin which happily reciprocated towards him ... I am glad and happy to note that each and everyone of my batch is successful in his/her own life ...
Who would have guess Amin who is a bit stutter ( sorry YB!!!) is an ADUN in Perak ... I came to know about this when Hj Yusri posted about him contesting in Perak DUN (Ulu Kinta) in the FB and when my sister & brother in law mentioned about "this young chap who is very hard working and well liked by the local folks, them included, I proudly declared Amin was my batch at TI Ipoh!!!
Dear Friends, I have to apologise as I could not recall all of you as I only spent barely few hours during those 2 years at TI busying myself with playing truants especially the "high end" Commerce Class ladies!!! Zihan Ibrahim ... hmmm quite a surprise to see the transformation of the old days "cubby" Zihan ... I have not been seeing her since after SPM in 1980 ...
All in all, it was a good reunion ... I noticed the close knit among this batch and I have to give credit to their high sense of togetherness and closeness to eaach other. I wish to put on record my tribute to each and everyone of them and a very special tribute to Raja Abdul Rahman who had been tirelessly organising this reunion so as the past reunions .... To Nan keep on jamming and I really enjoyed the song played during the reunion especially the "haunted" M Nasir's "Cinta Listrik mu"...
To all my friends ... nice meeting you and hopefully in the next round there would be the rest such as Halim Mondok @ Ritchie Blackmore, Shahri Sujak, Badli (really miss him so much), Mohd Noor, Nizam, Harifah and Razif ....
Epilouge:
Seeing Faizah & Zihan that day remind me of Faezah @ Pes who passed away sometime early this year ... She was my class mate (so as Faizah & Julita) and was a very nice and couteous girl next door ... To Fes, regret did not manage to seeing you and may Allah bless your soul ... Al Fatihah....
Till we meet again!!!
Saturday, July 5, 2014
29th Year Wedding Anniversary - A Special Post For A Special Aishah
Today, 5 July is our 29 year wedding anniversary ... Yup 29 years of wonderful life together and blessed with three wonderful kids ...
29 years ago at 2.30 PM I took Aishah's hand and took the vow to be by her side for life and we are still going through this wonderful life together. I for my part have my own shortcomings and blessed with Aihah's patience for accepting me for what I am ...
Aishah, I might not be too expressive in pouring out my feeling and emotions but I am very sure you know that I love you as my wife and my soul mate. 29 years' is a long but beautiful journey and let's go beyond together.....
We have gone through the ups and down together ... When I was still studying at UM an you had already had a job at AG's Chamber - how we patiently wade through the hardship together renting a small room in PJ. Then, I became a weekend husband traveling over the weekends to Mentakab where you did your practice. Well, Mentakab is a nice little town and almost every body knows everybody and the people there known us whenever we went for a night walk at the town. The best part was when we went for a movie there - actually there were only two "panggung wayang ' in Mentakab - but the worse part was both the "panggung" screening a same movies.
Remember the days we "makan" the very "sedap" roti canai at Restoran Ali? I wonder whether it is still there and not to mention the sandwich at the restaurant near your office at the town centre. I think we should go there once again and look for our nice neighbour at Taman Pasir, Mentakab. The best part was when we walked together by the riverside - it's a big wide Sungai Pahang - and when we went to the Pasar Malam at Temerloh ....
Those were the days and I am blessed especially when the kids were born which tightened our bond together ...... As a parting note -
" Aishah, happy 29 year anniversary ... I love you so much , I really do and thank you for being with me all these years and insyaallah in the years to come... Love you!!!"
P/S - Today for sahur I will masak nasi goreng for all ... he he ....
29 years ago at 2.30 PM I took Aishah's hand and took the vow to be by her side for life and we are still going through this wonderful life together. I for my part have my own shortcomings and blessed with Aihah's patience for accepting me for what I am ...
Aishah, I might not be too expressive in pouring out my feeling and emotions but I am very sure you know that I love you as my wife and my soul mate. 29 years' is a long but beautiful journey and let's go beyond together.....
We have gone through the ups and down together ... When I was still studying at UM an you had already had a job at AG's Chamber - how we patiently wade through the hardship together renting a small room in PJ. Then, I became a weekend husband traveling over the weekends to Mentakab where you did your practice. Well, Mentakab is a nice little town and almost every body knows everybody and the people there known us whenever we went for a night walk at the town. The best part was when we went for a movie there - actually there were only two "panggung wayang ' in Mentakab - but the worse part was both the "panggung" screening a same movies.
Remember the days we "makan" the very "sedap" roti canai at Restoran Ali? I wonder whether it is still there and not to mention the sandwich at the restaurant near your office at the town centre. I think we should go there once again and look for our nice neighbour at Taman Pasir, Mentakab. The best part was when we walked together by the riverside - it's a big wide Sungai Pahang - and when we went to the Pasar Malam at Temerloh ....
Those were the days and I am blessed especially when the kids were born which tightened our bond together ...... As a parting note -
" Aishah, happy 29 year anniversary ... I love you so much , I really do and thank you for being with me all these years and insyaallah in the years to come... Love you!!!"
P/S - Today for sahur I will masak nasi goreng for all ... he he ....
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
To Sir With Love
This posting is specially dedicated to a special person who changed my looking at history from the normal conservative angle. He is Professor Datuk Dr. Mohammad Redzuan Othman, who was removed from helming the UM's Centre For Democracy and Election (UMcedel) apart from his contract as the Dean of UM Faculty of Arts and Social Science. His controversial sacking was made even ironic when the PM in his Facebook Account commented on the newly introduced PT3 assessment system and said a "holistic education must be a top priority if Malaysia aspires to achieve a developed nation status" ...
In the wake of this controversial episode Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah relinquished his position as a fellow at UM a sign of protest whilst KJ came up with a statement saying that "Putrajaya tidak tergugat dengan kajian UMcedel" in an obvious reference to the Centre's not so favourable reports/survey on the public perceptions towards the government of the day.
I am not going to delve on the sacking of the ex Don but to share my personal "close encounter" with Prof Redzuan ... I first met him when I was a private student at Premier College in Ipoh in the early 80s. I was taking up my STPM examination as a private student and he was teaching history there. Apparently, he took this initiative whenever he was on his semester leave and obviously due to him wanting to share his "ilmu" with youngsters like me. His method of teaching history is not of conventional approach but was very critical as he went out of his way photostating history journals or articles which you could not find in the text books.
Then, I became intrigue with the Professor who was so down to earth - he always came to the class wearing a "reformed" front buttoned baju melayu with black pants and capal!!! Upon queries, I came to know that Prof Redzuan was also instrumental in the setting up of a well known private institution in Ipoh i.e. Institut Sofar. This institute was set up by a group og young graduates and undergraduates of our local varsities to give opportunities to private students to pursue to dream to be enrolled in the local varsities. They also became the teachers/tutors at the said Institute. All these were done during their semester breaks ...
I am very sure that scores of students had benefited from these kind hearted people and Prof Redzuan is one of them. As for me, learning history is never the same anymore and I managed to get distinctions for both my STPM history papers .....
To Prof. Redzuan, history will judge you and your ex students, me included owe so much to you for nurturing us in what we are today. My pray to you and your family, Sir .....
I just wonder whether this is one of the reasons why none of our varsity is being listed in the top 100 varsities in the world ......
In the wake of this controversial episode Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah relinquished his position as a fellow at UM a sign of protest whilst KJ came up with a statement saying that "Putrajaya tidak tergugat dengan kajian UMcedel" in an obvious reference to the Centre's not so favourable reports/survey on the public perceptions towards the government of the day.
I am not going to delve on the sacking of the ex Don but to share my personal "close encounter" with Prof Redzuan ... I first met him when I was a private student at Premier College in Ipoh in the early 80s. I was taking up my STPM examination as a private student and he was teaching history there. Apparently, he took this initiative whenever he was on his semester leave and obviously due to him wanting to share his "ilmu" with youngsters like me. His method of teaching history is not of conventional approach but was very critical as he went out of his way photostating history journals or articles which you could not find in the text books.
Then, I became intrigue with the Professor who was so down to earth - he always came to the class wearing a "reformed" front buttoned baju melayu with black pants and capal!!! Upon queries, I came to know that Prof Redzuan was also instrumental in the setting up of a well known private institution in Ipoh i.e. Institut Sofar. This institute was set up by a group og young graduates and undergraduates of our local varsities to give opportunities to private students to pursue to dream to be enrolled in the local varsities. They also became the teachers/tutors at the said Institute. All these were done during their semester breaks ...
I am very sure that scores of students had benefited from these kind hearted people and Prof Redzuan is one of them. As for me, learning history is never the same anymore and I managed to get distinctions for both my STPM history papers .....
To Prof. Redzuan, history will judge you and your ex students, me included owe so much to you for nurturing us in what we are today. My pray to you and your family, Sir .....
I just wonder whether this is one of the reasons why none of our varsity is being listed in the top 100 varsities in the world ......
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Hang Tuah the diplomat & the "kangkung"....
The media social had been unabated with flood of "kangkung" issue, thanks to the "not so bright" statement by the YAB PM in Kemaman in saying that the "rakyat" had not been fair to the government when criticising about the goods price hike when he was made to know that the price of "kangkung" had actually went down. It was a PR disaster for the YAB PM as he was faced with loads of criticism and cynical responses from the "rakyat" as a result of that statement. One netizen even said "Sedih rasa ada PM macam ni ... "
I wonder whether the YAB PM and/or his advisors had ever heard of how Hang Tuah had shrewdly used "kangkung" as a diplomatic/PR tool when he was appointed as the leader of the Keling mission to China.The narration goes like this:
Hang Tuah was sent by Raja Keling, Kisna Rayan for a diplomatic mission to China. When he arrived in China, despite several times Hang Tuah present himself before the Emperor of China, he aws not able to catch a glimpse of the King's countenance as the Emperor sat on a throne placed in the jaws of a golden dragon. On one occasion, the Emperor invited Hang Tuah for feast at the palace and Hang Tuah informed the China's Four Minister that: " If My Lords wish to prepare us a dinner, our nobles and lords eat neither fish nor meat. All of them, without exception, eat only vegetables, shoots of plant and fruits. These are the ingredients of the curries they cook. The vegetables are left uncut, so that they are long. That is how we eat."
When the dinner was ready, food was served to Hang Tuah. He cleansed his hands and ate,by picking up the long vegetable ("kangkung") with a pair of golden chopsticks and raised it to his forehead. He put the uncut "kangkung" into his mouth, while stealing a look at the Chinese Emperor who was sitting in the jaws of the golden dragon. This was indeed a taboo to the Chinese and upon seeing Hang Tuah's shrewd move, they were ready with drawn swords to execute Hang Tuah. However, the Emperor prevented them and said: Heralds, do not execute him. He is a wise man who wishes to serve his Master; it is difficult to find such a servant and warrior the like of the Laksamana.".
Hang Tuah's diplomatic mission was a success and he returned to Benua Keling with enormous gifts from the Chinese Emperor to Raja Keling, Krisna Rayan.
Talking about diplomatic relationship with China vis a vis how Hang Tuah used a "backyard" tool i.e. "kangkung" as a diplomatic tool, in the early 1970s the US President, Richard Nixon used "ping pong" as a way to pave diplomatic relattionship with China. Ironically, the late father of the current YAB PM, Tuan Razak had also emulate Richard Nixon's move by sending a personal letter to the Chinese leader in 1974 via the Malaysian ping pong team's visit to China. The immediate result of Tuan Razak's brilliant move was that he managed to won the hearts of the Chinese electorates and won a land slide victory in the GE in that year.
The above shows how even simple things such as "kangkung" or "ping ping" could be used to one's advantage if it is used well with a little bit of wisdom. However, if it is used in an unwise manner, it would be disastrous with the whole nation making a mockery out of it.
Let's wait the the damage control when there is a new product called "SK1M", Skim Kangkung 1 Malaysia ..... Oh no!! Please spare me .....
Till we meet again!!!!
I wonder whether the YAB PM and/or his advisors had ever heard of how Hang Tuah had shrewdly used "kangkung" as a diplomatic/PR tool when he was appointed as the leader of the Keling mission to China.The narration goes like this:
Hang Tuah was sent by Raja Keling, Kisna Rayan for a diplomatic mission to China. When he arrived in China, despite several times Hang Tuah present himself before the Emperor of China, he aws not able to catch a glimpse of the King's countenance as the Emperor sat on a throne placed in the jaws of a golden dragon. On one occasion, the Emperor invited Hang Tuah for feast at the palace and Hang Tuah informed the China's Four Minister that: " If My Lords wish to prepare us a dinner, our nobles and lords eat neither fish nor meat. All of them, without exception, eat only vegetables, shoots of plant and fruits. These are the ingredients of the curries they cook. The vegetables are left uncut, so that they are long. That is how we eat."
When the dinner was ready, food was served to Hang Tuah. He cleansed his hands and ate,by picking up the long vegetable ("kangkung") with a pair of golden chopsticks and raised it to his forehead. He put the uncut "kangkung" into his mouth, while stealing a look at the Chinese Emperor who was sitting in the jaws of the golden dragon. This was indeed a taboo to the Chinese and upon seeing Hang Tuah's shrewd move, they were ready with drawn swords to execute Hang Tuah. However, the Emperor prevented them and said: Heralds, do not execute him. He is a wise man who wishes to serve his Master; it is difficult to find such a servant and warrior the like of the Laksamana.".
Hang Tuah's diplomatic mission was a success and he returned to Benua Keling with enormous gifts from the Chinese Emperor to Raja Keling, Krisna Rayan.
Talking about diplomatic relationship with China vis a vis how Hang Tuah used a "backyard" tool i.e. "kangkung" as a diplomatic tool, in the early 1970s the US President, Richard Nixon used "ping pong" as a way to pave diplomatic relattionship with China. Ironically, the late father of the current YAB PM, Tuan Razak had also emulate Richard Nixon's move by sending a personal letter to the Chinese leader in 1974 via the Malaysian ping pong team's visit to China. The immediate result of Tuan Razak's brilliant move was that he managed to won the hearts of the Chinese electorates and won a land slide victory in the GE in that year.
The above shows how even simple things such as "kangkung" or "ping ping" could be used to one's advantage if it is used well with a little bit of wisdom. However, if it is used in an unwise manner, it would be disastrous with the whole nation making a mockery out of it.
Let's wait the the damage control when there is a new product called "SK1M", Skim Kangkung 1 Malaysia ..... Oh no!! Please spare me .....
Till we meet again!!!!
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Minah Gadis Dusun
Let's digress a bit from the hot in the collar political climate which had been sweeping the country since the Parliament was dissolved last 20 April 2013... Let the politicians from the political divide do their job...A s for me, come 5 May 2013 I will vote and my "undi" is "rahsia" but it will surely for a better future of Malaysia ...
I want to reproduce a lyrics from an old 60s song entitled "Minah Gadis Dusun". It's an Indonesian song originally sang by Titiek Puspa. To those who were in the 50s and above might be familiar with the name of the singer and the song. Titiek Puspa is also known for a popular duet song of "Dunia Belum Kiamat" with her husband, Mokhsien.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
The nostalgic years of "Kak Yong" Tengku Mariam ....
I was driving the other day and over Radio Klasik - hey I am 50 years old and could be considered as "classic" anyway - a very familiar voice ... Yup it was Kak Yong's voice indeed!!! After all these years, she's back but as a guest of Radio Klasik...
For the Gen Y, Kak Yong might not be a familiar figure or rather familiar voice so let us walk through those nostalgic years when Kak Yong was a "juru hebah" at RTM...
Her real name is Tengku Mariam Tengku Laksamana Nasir but was overwhelmingly known as "Kak Yong". It was her nick name in a popular radio program entitled "Permintaan Apa Itu" over RTM. The program was on air from 1977 until 2002.
Kak Yong initially was paired with another "juru hebah" Noramin (Busu Noramin) until 1980 and later was paired with Abang Chik (Zainal Abas), Abang Bul (Hasbullah Awang).
It was basically a program meant for kids with songs like "Kain Pelikat" (Anuar Zain & Elina) and "Sakit Gigi" (Shahril). I remember every Saturday at 9.30 AM, I would turn on radio and listened to the program intensely. Although it was meant for kids, it was s popular that Kak Yong even received post cards "permintaan" from adults all over Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei not to mention Malaysian students who studied overseas. Normally, they will send a postcard wishing happy birthdays to their "adik" or "anak saudara". Some even made calls to Kak Yong ....
Those were the days when radio was not adulterated with endless and aimless "verbal diarrhea" of the current "juru hebah" ... ooops sorry!!! now they called themselves "DJs" a sure overrated title I would say.
Back to Kak Yong, I really missed her "keanak-anakan" and lifely voice over the radio and I smiled when she said over radio " Kak Yong ada berlakon drama tapi dengan suara ni Kak Yong tak bole jadi heroin!!" and she laughed with her "trademark" laugh ....
It really made my day as the nostalgic years of Kak Yong was the order of the day ....
To Kak Yong, thanks for those wonderful 25 years of "Permintaan Apa Itu" .....
How "Lembu" made the police job easier ......
I have been keeping a certain clip of an NST Southern Edition for quite some time ... It was about a report on how "lembu" assisted the police in solving the loose end of a crime ...
I thought of posting the news in my Blog earlier but hesitated due to the sensitivities of anything to do with "lembu". Some people might "menyinsing lengan" and "angkat kain" when the word "lembu" is mentioned .... At least one particular lady had done so .... But what the heck!!!
It began when the Johor Baru police crippled a syndicate specialising in stealing dairy cattle, goats and buffaloes in Johor with the arrest of 22 members of the syndicate. The police also recovered 71 animals but was facing difficulties on how to return the animals to their rightful owners.
It was decided that the 71 "lembu" were put at an identification parade after their ear tags were removed. It was reported - it's not me, NST reported - that the police could not believe their eyes when each "lembu" walked towards its owner when its name was called out....
This is an interesting example of an innovative "Rakan Kop" program I supposed. The morale of the story is please do not underestimate the creature we called "lembu". It's proven here that "lembu" could solved a crime ....... perhaps "lembu" might be a lead to an unsolved criminal activities .....
Till we meet again ....
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
What's in Store after the Parliament is Dissolved......
I have posted earlier on what will almost certainly happen once the Parliament is dissolved and once PRU13 is coming nearer .... I will write about it again anyway.
The lists are as below:
1. Obviously, there will be lots of "ceramah pilihanraya" every night from the dissolution of Parliament right up to the midnight before the voting day. Thousands of supporters of political parties wil attend these "ceramah" - hopefully all them are registered voters;
2. Illicit sexual videos alleging certain politicians will be freely distributed or uploaded in YouTube etc. In one of the earlier GE, I found one nicely wrapped in an envelope and ended up in trash because it was a trash!!!!
3. There would be news of political parties' members "jumping ship" to the opponent side claiming that they have lost faith in their political parties. If we read the mainstream media, the favorite target would be PAS and PKR. I have been reading this news since I was in my lower secondary - mind you it was in the 70s - and going by this rate of "keluar parti" PAS by now has not even a single member!!!
4. Vacant lands will be "vandalised" and "penetrated" by the rough edge of the "gigi" backhoe/excavator where politicians wearing a hard hat doing "upacara pecah tanah" for this or that "projek untuk rakyat"!!! Since these politicians are only doing this once in 5 years, somebody who is familiar with the "dynamics" of the machine will be standing beside the politicians turned "driver" for the day. The trick is "pecah tanah" first and just leave the land unattended for the next 5 years for "upacara meletak batu asas". This time the polticians will wear a hat hat, a glove and put a single "bata" with cement mortar!!!;
5. The most pitiful and confused "creatures" would be the "balai raya/dewan orang ramai", perhaps "kedai 1 Malaysia", Kilinik 1 Malaysia", the "jambatan" or any concrete/steel structures on a land which have to painstakingly tolerate the "majlis pembukaan rasmi" & "majlis potong riben". Anybody who cares to check the record might find out that these "majlis" had been carried out during the previous GE .....
6. All the "X Men" Malaysia version will be given wide coverage in the electronic and printed media with vile "abuses" towards their former political parties except for those who had jumped to so many political parties resulted in him not knowing or even remember which political party he actually originally belonged to!!!!
7. Lastly, those universities/colleges professors cum part time political analysts will come up with their commentaries on anything about politics ... and yes!!! these professors will use bombastic words/phrases which are only understood by them ...
The above are my predictions of what will happen from now on. What might not happen or most likely not happen? Well the MB of Pahang will most likely not show the "isyarat lucah" to the public as he might not even be listed as a GE candidate and Datuk Seri Samy Vellu will most likely not being fielded although he was reportedly as saying " I am a winnable candidate!!!" I myself would savour this statement as the #1 pre election funniest joke unless along the way somebody else would overtake him and being the PRU13 "Maharaja Lawak"...
Let's wait and see whether my predictions are correct ....
The "Gong" had been sounded!!! Finally Parliament is Dissolved ....
Today at 11.30 AM, RTM had broadcasted live over RTM from the Prime Minister's Office Putrajaya an announcement by the YAB Prime Minister that:
1. he was granted an audience before the Yang DiPertuan Agong and the King had consented to the dissolution of the Parliament effective today;
2. This is where I need verification - the PM said Parliament is dissolved effective " ... hari ini Rabu 3 April 2012 ...". I might heard it wrong anyway;
3. The PM gave his undertaking should there be a change of government after the PRU 13, it would be a peaceful and "tertib" transition;
4. The PM also took the opportunity apart from announcing the dissolution of Parliament to "kick start" the election campaign by promoting the just "dissolved" government of the day by telling that it has "worked hard" for the "rakyat" for the last 5 years;
5. In a spirit of camaraderie and team work he was flanked by the YAB Deputy PM and all his cabinet Ministers which effectively had been "dissolved" and turned into a caretaker government [The process and legality/convention of caretaker government is another matter altogether];
6. YAB PM also urged all head of State Governments to seek audience with the respective Kings/Tuan Yang DIPertua Negeri to dissolve their respective DUNs so that a simultaneous General Election could be held through out Malaysia.
My take on the announcement is ....Except for the error in stating the date - which I am not sure as I was at first listening over the radio and after that over TV - and the "kempen pilihanraya yang tidak sepatutnya" the YAB PM was generally calm in making the announcement and his Deputy was a bit "restless" sometimes ... "tak cukup tidor agaknya" ...
So people, the "gong" had been sounded and the war drum had been beaten!!! After this, it's like a juggernaut wheel as it will roll on without stop until the D Day i.e. the voting day. Do exercise your right and vote the candidate of your choice ....
Till we meet again .....
Saturday, March 23, 2013
An Instant Democracy in 10 Minutes.......
Apart from having instant noodles, normally an instant 2 minutes noodles Malaysians had been pleasantly introduced with an instant democracy .....
The prime news on 22 March 2013 were focused on the announcement by the "Courteous" cum "Internet" Minister that RTM (read as "Radio Televisyen MALAYSIA" - it has to be in capital letters as "Malaysia" means ALL OF US!!!!) would allow all political parties including the Opposition Parties to have a 10 minutes slot on air explaining their election manifesto...
I bet the following comments would appear in all electronic and printed media, be it from the opposing sides of the political parties, certain academicians cum "part time lobbyists including from the small fraction of the "mentally impaired historians" in the Majlis Professor Negara (MPN)and so on:
1. Politicians from the government of the day, including the "Internet" Minister will say that the 1o\0 minutes air time slot shows that democracy is thriving and breathing healthily in Malaysia. This just shows that the government of the day is being fair to all political parties as they are being given a fair and equal treatment in airing their election manifesto. All of them would appear to be mentally hypnotised by issuing somewhat similar comments - just like their comments every time when the YAB PM had finished the yearly tabling of the Budget with a monotone standard comments: " Belanjawan tahun ini adalah belanjawan rakyat..." Another slightly different comment " Belanjawan ini adalah bukti kerajaan sentiasa memikirkan kepentingan rakyat jelata ...";
2. The few selected academicians from the MPN will echo similar view as per No. 1 but will try their best to differentiate themselves with the politicians under No. 1 by using superfluous academic "big words" like " Ini menunjukkan iltizam kerajaan dalm memperkasakan (not that "Perkasa" yea!) serta membudayakan proses demokrasi ...." whatever that means!!! or quoting quotes from the Athens/Rome era. There might be a possibility of them comparing our latest instant product with those in Communist China or other autocratic states not realising that even in China they changed their Premier every 10 years!!!!
3. Those from opposition will surely say "What can we do in 10 minutes?" or commenting that " It is inadequate as the government of the day has 365 days minus 10 minutes in bragging about their manifesto with BR1M, TR1M, SL1M and so many 1s!!!!"
4. Not to mention the "Listen! Listen! Listen! Lady" who will of course consult the animals before issuing out her comments; and
5. Last but not least, the "great Old Man" who always wants to be different and might most probably say " Apa pun kerajaan buat ... apa nama .... pembangkang tak akan hargai. Pembangkang hanya tahu membangkang saja, dia tak tahu mentadbir negara ...." My dear Sir, that's what "pembangkang" is all about anyway and your comments/statements have come in full circle over the years ....
My comment? ... Well at least it's 8 minutes longer than the "2 minutes instant noodles" and there is no such thing as an instant democracy!!! ....
Till we meet again .....
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Remember "Ali, Tong Seng, Ah Moi, Ramasamy and Salmah?
All of a sudden, I recalled when I was in Standard 1 way back in 1970,there was a Bahasa Melayu textbook with the main characters namely Ali, Salmah, Tong Seng, Ah Moi, Ramasamy and Kumari. I will tell you why my being so nostalgic later ....
Ali and Salmah are siblings so as Tong Seng and Ah Moi as well as Ramasamy and Kumari. The texbook even had pictures of these characters ... Salamah with her long hair and the pony tails and her "baju kurung", Ali wearing a songkok while Ah Moi and Kumari wearing the good old days dark blue uniform ...
In the textbook, these multi racial characters went to school together, they play together and had their "adventures" together ... There was an incident of Ramasamy climbing a tree to save a trapped cat but he ended up trapped and could not go down.His friends managed to get help and Ramasamy was saved by the "orang kampung" .....
It's a simple and ideal multi racial story for us in the primary school though I have to state here that 100% of my classmates were Malays .... Well, there's nothing wrong being an idealistic anyway. Each one of us should emulate the traits Ali, Salmah, Tong Seng, Ah Moi, Ramasamy and Kumari - they learn, play and having fun together.
By the time, I finished my Form Six there were so many textbooks which I had to "digest" and I would say those textbooks made sense to me ..... The textbooks had somewhat gave me the idea of how to be at least a good and civil member of our society.
Fast forward, in 2013 last week I was frowning and frowned hard I was when Tun Mahathir was reportedly as suggesting the 180 pages biography of our PM's wife to be made as a textbook in schools ..... He was quoted as saying the RM150/ (Note: RM here denotes "Ringgit Malaysia" and nothing else!!!) biography could be served as guidance for generations 100 or 200 years from now ......
Given a choice between this RM1.28 per page biography and the texbook about "Ali, Salmah, Tong Seng, Ramasamy and Kumari" ... I would definitely opted with my eyes open the latter!!!!! Have pity on our kids please ....
Friday, March 8, 2013
Light and Free Flow Posting ....
Amidst the hot news on the Sabah being intruded, the following news which appeared in the SUN 1 March 2013 edition really caught my attention ...
It was reported from Lima that a leading Peruvian football club, Alianza Lima is considering the possibility of giving its players Viagra during matches played at altitude in the local championship. It was the club doctor who explained that Viagra could help improve the physical conditioning of players at altitude. The club's coach said that if result showed the male potency pill enhanced on field performance (read as playing football!!!!)then "the club would use it". The club's doctor, Dr. Blacido further explained that Viagra helped the heart pump more blood, thus allowing better oxygenisation without it falling foul of anti doping measures. it is also reported that a Brazil football club, Gremio had already use Viagra for matches played at altitude.
Hmmmmm..... this is interesting!!!! This is what we termed as "multi tasking" of Viagra. The only thing there might be a day when the noble intention of improving the sport via Viagra would be abused ... Well, what say you FAM? Perhaps a good option to improve our Malaysian football world ranking, I reckon...
The second news is from Jakarta ... A tragic case of a murder by a mother who drowned her 9 year old son in the bath, claiming she was worried that his "small penis" would affect his future. She was reported to have drowned her son in a bathtub filled with water then dressed him and laid him on bed before surrendering to the police.
I have no comment on this Jakarta news but my heart goes to this little angel.......
The third news came from thousands of kilometers from Jakarta where it was reported that a Union boss in New Mexico embezzles to pay for plastic surgery. A Ms. Elba Esther Gordillo, who is the head of Mexico's teachers' union and one of the country's most powerful union has been charged with embezzling USD$200 million to fund a lavish lifestyle of shopping spree and plastic surgery. Apart from plastic surgery and shopping spree, the 68 year old also used the "ill gotten" money for acquisition of real estate and artworks.
This what we called "Harapkan pagar, pagar makan padi" and if she is a teacher - she might be (if she is a fully employed union staff)or she might not be a teacher - the "perumpamaan" would be "Kalau cikgu kencing berdiri, anak murid kencing berlari" ....
Till we meet again .....
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