My first car was a Toyota Corolla, model KE 30, and I bought it new after my housemanship for a princely sum of Rm11,500 in 1978.

That car was  not equipped with air conditioner, although there was a very basic radio and cassette player. CDs was not invented yet.  During that era, we were still using turn tables to play records three times the size of a CD.

Proton Saga was not around yet and maybe that was the reason that car was still relatively affordable. But unlike now, when you can practically go to a new car dealer and just give a few hundred dollars for deposits and get almost 99% loan financing, we had to save up about 20% of the cost of the car for down payment, before any banks or finance companies would approve your loan.

The car ran superbly. Until the time when I sold it in 1986, almost 8 years later, it had never once broke down in the middle of the road. I had no worry; every morning I just jumped into the car and without fail, the car would star when I turned the ignition.

In 1982, I came down to KL and my Corolla was stolen in one of the Pudu back lanes. Since public transport was almost as bad as now, and I stayed 13 kilometers from where I worked, I had to get a second hand car, a European brand  (which I bought for only 3000, believe it or not).

Compared to my Corolla, this car  was horrible, breaking down so regularly that I had lost counts of the times that I had to leave it at road sides and took a taxi home.

The police took a few  months to finally recovered my Corolla , found in Jalan Brunei area by a vigilant policeman on beat, who found that the number plate and the number of the car on the road tax disc was different. (Just to side track, that is why it is important for policemen to go on beats).

I thanked God for getting the car back and faithfully used it until 1986.

The point I wanted to make is that Toyota, even though very basic then, was reliable and you can count on it to move from one place to another without fail.

Driving a Toyota , you will have the peace of mind that it would not break down  in the middle of highways where a stalled car can be such a nuisance and embarrassment, or in some remote areas where you would not be able to get help easily and you would worry about your own safety sitting inside a stalled car..

It is this peace of mind and reliability that become the hallmark of Toyota.

Slowly and steadily, Toyota built up a world wide network and reputation of reliability.

Until of course, recently, when the company started to face some very serious problems.  It has to recall 8 million cars world-wide to fix certain problems with the floor mats as well as the accelerator pedals.

Hearing the news of the recall, my first impression was that it has perhaps grown too big and bulky; in trying to make too many cars , its QC sections have failed to catch up and match up with its sales and marketing arms.

It is indeed dangerous to drive a car with an accelerator pedal glued to the floor. Little wonder that upon the announcement of  the recall, its sales plunged  and its share price dropped steeply.

However, do not write the company off.  It has a culture of excellence and even though excellence  has somehow been compromised, it  still practices transparency and accountability and volunteers to recall all faulty cars.

Malaysia too was growing steadily and impressively in the 60s, 70s and even the 80s. Together with other little tigers of Asia, we were the Toyotas of the World. We were looked upon as models of the Third World.

Like Toyota, we made impressive strides– until official policies skewed the whole economy and changed the whole culture from that of striving for excellence to that of ‘cronyism and patronage’, and the whole system becomes so corrupted that the Corruption perception index has deteriorated yearly until now we are deemed to be one of the most corrupted in Asia.

While Toyota has always practiced accountability, we have been sweeping everything under the carpets, including many instances of mismanagement and scandals.

While Toyota has identified the problems, been transparent about them, and announced to recall all faulty cars and fix them, we know about the problems but try to ignore  or at least belittle them.  We try to use gloss paints to paint over all our problems and telling the people that everything will turn out to be nice and good. We are not bothered that underneath the glossy surface, the rots have taken roots.

We try to use all sorts of methods, including compromising the integrity of our institutions,  to cover up the problems. By doing so, we  created more problems trying to cover up  the earlier problems. It has become a vicious cycle. The rots sink deeper and deeper. We do not have the determination or the political will to break the cycle.

We have been loitering around the middle rungs of the world economic ladder for a long time, while those who started at the same time as us have gone much further and higher , while those who were behind and below us have also levelled with us and some have gone past us .

I think we need to  learn a thing or too from Toyota. Perhaps we should really look East instead of just paying lip service.

We need to learn from the Toyota’s courage and determination to right the wrongs, to face its problems head-on, instead of trying to avoid them.

Toyota knows that for the short term,  the company’s fortune and shares would be affected by the massive recall of cars, but in the long run, by publicly admitting and rectifying the faulty areas, the company will  get to a even firmer footing to launch itself higher and further than its rivals .

Ironically, by admitting and rectifying the faults, it sends a message that the company practices good after sales service and that the company puts customers’ safety above all else, including the Company’s reputation and fortune.

We should do the same.

Perhaps it is time to convene  a National Consultative council, like the one we have in the seventies. Identify the problems in economy, education, race relationship, religious differences and other areas.

We must have the courage to do away with self denial and  stand up to face the problems. We must discuss frankly and wholeheartedly what have gone wrong and identify the problems  and rectify the wrongs.

Like Toyota, we should be prepared for temporary hardship in order to launch ourselves further and higher. Like Toyota, we should look further ahead. Like Toyota, we  should let the people know that we put their interests above all else.

Like Toyota, we should realise that to go back to excellence that we have lost, we need to be transparent and accountable, and overhaul the whole system with input from all quarters to right all the wrongs. We need to face all our problems head-on and solve them.

That is the only way forward, for without pain, there will be no gain.

The recent racist remark by a top aide to the Prime Minister may be a signal that all is not well in the dominant party.

A general in the field, no matter how brilliant he is, cannot win battles on his own. He needs to depend on his staff to plan, his subordinates to execute his orders, and most importantly, his foot soldiers to fight his war the way he wants it.

He can be as brilliant as Rommel, deemed one of the best tacticians in the Second World War, but without the support from the people around him, he will never be able to execute his war plans .

A prime minister likewise cannot transform his ideas into actions without the support of his staff and his ministry officials at all levels.

The Prime Minister may be very sincere in wanting to transform the whole political landscape with his 1Malaysia idea, but without the support of the people around him and the cooperation of the civil service, it would be like a general leading an army of discontented and disagreeing soldiers, each wanting to fight his own way.. Worse, this army may have  people bent on undermining the transformation plan. Maybe even a mutiny is possible.

The recent outbursts by this special officer, who is not new to politics, make us wonder whether there is any hidden agenda behind this.

This officer has been going round giving talks no less than 60 times over the past few months. Why the sudden indiscretion?

Any top leader knows that one of the worse things to happen to his image, other than perhaps a sex scandal,  is that of  his closest aide suddenly singing a different tune. It gives an impression that if  people closest to the leader and would thus be relied on to execute the orders of the leader are  not convinced of the 1Malaysia idea, how is this leader going to transform his ideas into action, and how is the whole transformation program going to work?

If there is resistance even at his sides, than it goes without saying that the resistance at party   level would even be greater.

It is natural for any change to be resisted, since it is human nature to resist change. But if there are resistance even at the level where the people are supposed to be handpicked by you and supposed to have sworn loyalty to you, than something is really very very wrong. It is indeed more than just embarrassment.

It is either that this aide is truly against the idea of his boss, or it could signal something even more sinister – that perhaps below the calm water, there are strong undercurrents ready to do havoc.  Either way, this is not a good sign.

It is bad to   lead an army that does not agree with your plan and tactics; but it may be worse if the whole army , under the influence of certain ambitious colonels or retired generals , try to sabotage and perhaps stage a mutiny.

It is up to the general to stand firm and start weeding out those singing a different tunes. An army must have certain discipline; and the general must exercise disciplinary action without fear or favour in order to send a strong signal to those who are in disagreement.

Sometimes, in politics as well as in battles, you need to kill a chicken to warn the monkeys to toe the line.

(This article appears in MalaysianInsider as well as Sin Chew online)

Will Sodomy Charges End Malaysia’s Opposition?

This is posted by one of the top magazines (and my favourite) of the world, Time:

BARADAN KUPPUSAMY / KUALA LUMPUR

On Tuesday, Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, a little more than a decade after he was arrested, beaten and jailed on sodomy charges, walked into a Kuala Lumpur courtroom to face the same charges once again. In August, the government charged the politician with sodomy for the second time in his career, in this case, with a 23-year-old former aide, Saiful Bukhari Azlan. Under Malaysian law, consensual sodomy or sex acts “against the order of nature,” as it is described in the law here, is punishable with up to 20 years in jail.

“I don’t believe in this charge at all,” Aziz Maanan, a 36-year-old food vendor, says as he prepares double-layered, toasted roti at a night market in Kuala Lumpur. “They are all afraid of [Anwar] because if he wins and becomes Prime Minister, they will all end up in jail.”

Whatever the word on the street in the Malaysian capital may be, the government denies any political motivation for the charges, saying Anwar committed a crime and must face criminal trial. Saiful, who was taken into protective police custody after he first made the allegation on June 26, 2008, has not been charged in the alleged act, and has written on his blog that he can’t wait to confront Anwar in court. “I have waited for justice and hope to finally get it,” he wrote in a recent posting.

Anwar, for his part, has always maintained his innocence. “It is a sad day for the country. Let’s hope justice will prevail,” Anwar said as he entered the packed courtroom on Tuesday morning with his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and key political allies, including the venerated Muslim cleric Nik Aziz Nik Mat. In January, Anwar took his case to the people, holding rallies around the country where he claimed that the new sodomy charges had been trumped up to stop him from running for Prime Minister in the upcoming general election, an accusation the government denies. Though plenty of constituents like Aziz Maanan support him, the reception Anwar got from Muslim-majority Malays was not so warm. Anwar steadfastly supports a Dec. 31 court ruling that Christians can legally use the word Allah to refer to their own God. The aftermath of the ruling saw at least 11 churches and several mosques attacked and desecrated.
Read more:

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1958251,00.html

I attended a round table talk on subsidy yesterday. Although most speakers spoke about the need to do away with the cost of living subsidy, like the subsidy for sugar, petrol and so on, what a young man said about being cynical impressed me most.

This young man began by saying that even though all the speakers spoke about the need to do away with subsidy, he was against the idea because being a cynical person, he doubted whether the money saved from abolishing the subsidy (direct and indirect subsidy comes to about 80 billionRM a year), will go to development and helping the poor. He said that being cynical, he thinks that this huge amount of money will go to someone else’s pockets and if so, why should he give up his right to subsidy?

His reason is based on one point only, and that is the whole system is rotten. I thought about it and I think he has a very valid point.

With the rotten system and everyone out to make a fast buck, whatever mechanism of doing away with the subsidy and using the amount saved to channel to development and helping the poor would just not work . Remember that time when the pump price of petrol went up to 2.70 from 1.92? The government promised to use the savings to channel into public transport and make it more efficient. Did we see any money going into the intended sector? A big No of course.

I can’t help but think that if the  money saved from abolishing subsidy (the 80 billions) goes into private pockets and  results in a few more PKFZ,  even though I am all for abolishing subsidy gradually ( with safety nets in place such as cash coupons and cash cards to be given to the poor) , I would want to change my mind and go along with the thinking of this young man.

After all, if you have lived in Malaysia for the past 20 years, you can’t help but become cynical.

It is indeed a sad day for Malaysia when the aide of the Top Leader openly uttered racist remarks, as reported here.

A few points came to my mind when I read about this:

1. Does  his remark represent the majority thinking of those around the Top Leader? A statement issued has stated that ““The remarks allegedly made by Nasir in Malacca today do not in any way reflect the views of the Prime Minister,”.

2. If that is so, why aren’t there  any vetting process in appointing this person to be a special aide to the Top Leader?

3. Why were these remarks uttered at a 1Malaysia event? Is he out to sabotage 1Malaysia or does this represent the thinking of leaders around the top?

4. Even if the Top Leader is liberal, what will happen to his policies if people around him are extremists ?

In US, some of the most powerful people are not the cabinet members , but rather the people working in the White House around the president. That is why the presidential chief of staff has huge influence.

During Chiang Kai Shek’s days in CHina, his office of aides was the most powerful. Ministers and important people had to be in the good books of some of these aides in order to get appointments , and many politicians trying to move upwards tended to bribe these people to say a few good words about them.These aides were vetted by Chiang’s intelligence service, andto be able to get into the office of the aides was a sure way to move upwards in CHina’s politics as well as amassing wealth.

As recently as just a year ago, the ‘infamous’ 4th floor boys yielded big powers; powers which did not commensurate with their official positions.

The powers of those aides to the Top leader all over the world comes  from the fact that they are the persons around the Top and whatever decisions to be implemented would have to go through these little napoleons. And they can play havoc by distorting or giving wrong interpretation of orders.

Since they are the nearest , they can also give a lot of advice which can be detrimental, since the top leaders would not be able to feel the ground by virtual of their high positions, and by giving wrong feedback, they can influence policy one way or the other.

Coming back to this case, what he had uttered about being ‘beggars’ and ‘jual badan’  is seditious. If the Top leader is serious about clamping down on extremist views, he should be investigated under existing laws and face the music. Mere resignation would not be enough. This is the best time to show the rakyat that the Top is serious to rein in extremists. Failure to do so would send another signal that whatever rhetoric about 1Malaysia would remain as rhetoric.

The common view among a lot of people is that there is a group with an agenda to fan emotions and stir up racial tension in the recent spades of asttacks against the various places of worship. Of course, we do not know for sure whether such views are true, and the best way is to have transparency in the investigations and prosecutions of those caught.

If these views are true, then these people are playing a very dangerous game.

Malaysian society is like an egg held between the thumb and the index finger.A slight pressure may rupture it; a slip of the fingers may drop it; a knock will break it.

In any case, the authority needs to act fast to catch the culprits and at the same time, use the massive publicity machines to explain to the people and calm emotions down.

Luckily, Malaysians are no more like their forefathers a few decades ago. They are better informed, better educated and more analytical . So far, the perpetrators have failed in their bid to arouse dangerous emotions. But, if there are such people, they have to  be caught fast, otherwise they might in their subsequent attempts break the figurative ‘egg’ that I mentioned above.

………………………………………

In order not to let those who have a hidden agenda to turn this religious issue into something ugly, there is a need for the various religious leaders to come to the table and talk to each other.

I wish to call for the setting up of a Interfaith Council where frank discussions on religions can be held.

It is not enough to have just an unofficial dialogue and contact, because the impact would be much much less than a Interfaith Council.

…………………………………………………

I was heartened by the joint statement issued by BN and PR youth. This issue should transcend all parties and by issuing a joint statement, it will go a long way to calm emotions down, and pre-empt certain interest groups of trying to fan emotions further.

I was shocked and sadden by the reports that pig heads have been found left at a mosque.

This is a senseless act to provoke and fan emotions. The people doing this are treading on a very dangerous ground and playing with fire.

All right minded Malaysians must unite and condemn this act of cowardice, similar to earlier acts of trying to burn churches and suraus.

I urge  the police to act fast to  catch the culprits  and at the same time  take steps to prevent such acts from occurring again.

Malaysians should realize that all of us, regardless of colour and faith,  are living in the same boat, and such acts are akin to setting fire and dragging the whole boat down.

If we treasure our peace and freedom, we should all refrain from further fanning sentiments by resorting to such senseless and dangerous acts.

I appeal to all who read this blog to donate to the Haiti quake victims.

A buddhist organisation , TzuChi, is organising fund raising for the victims.

http://english.tzuchi.my/

The account number and the bank is posted there.

There is a total lack of firm leadership in the management of the recent religious issue. After the court judgement was passed, a minister was quoted to say that government could not do much if people wanted to demonstrate, and that statement, whether correctly quoted or not, had given an impression that some of the top leaders of the country are encouraging people to show their emotions.

If  the leadership has instead  tried to calm  people ’s sentiments down and explained to their people that the generic term has been used by the natives of East Malaysia for many many years even before Merdeka, things might not have come to this state. The ground perception is that only when the first church was burned, the leadership started to realise the seriousness of the situation, and tried  to calm emotions down.

UMNO messed up the whole issue and missed the boat, while PAS has taken the middle ground, even though there is a segment within PAS feeling very uneasy about their party stand. Apparently, one of the reasonings that PAS leaders used to address their supporters’ unease and disagreement is that the means justify the end result, which is to win GE13 and form the next Federal government , and with that they thought they could have a better chance to realise their ultimate aim of a Islamic State.

If PAS can move to the middle ground, why could not UMNo do so, especially when it is advocating 1Malaysia?

I think there are a lot of politicking within that party. The more conservative group is trying to use this issue to garner support  while the more liberal group is afraid that they might lose support if they are seen to be too liberal.(What goes round really comes around; it was not too long ago that the exTop leader  was pushed out in another power play, and now the top leader must be feeling the heat, too).

I think the position of their top leader is also not as strong as what people might have thought. But for the sake of the country, he should have taken a risk and gone ahead and be firm on this issue, revert back to status quo before the ban of the term, and call for the setting of a interfaith council to discuss the differences among the different faith.

The whole issue smacked of confusion and poor management. Now that there are strong feelings in both sides, it is virtually impossible for the issues to be resolved.

Whatever the Appeal Court decision, it would not please all sides.

With this issue, what little goodwill that the government has gained back has been all lost, and instead, it is now trying to use this issue to harness support from the more conservative Malays.

I hope there will be  cooler heads on both sides, and that there must be a continuing dialogue between the various groups, MINUS the politicians. The best setting is an Interfaith Council where frank discussions could be held.

We must also not forget that under the 20 points Agreement, Clause No 1. stated that “while there was no objection to Islam being the national religion of Malaysia there should be no State religion in North Borneo, and the provisions relating to Islam in the present Constitution of Malaya should not apply to North Borneo”. (Read the 20 points agreement here).

With this row, I see a lot of uncertainties have crept in the political arena, and the possibilities of realignment of political forces are now higher than ever.. Some of the more moderate and multiracial parties within BN would have done better in such an realignment if they are neutral and remain outside of the framework of BN.

I hope all sides would tread carefully and do not politicise this issue further and do not fan emotions further.

We need leaders to exert leadership on this aspect, and rein in their more extreme supporters on this issue. After all, a leader is supposed to lead, and not be led or swayed by the very supporters that they should be leading.

The attacks on churches , temples and suraus must be condemned by all right thinking Malaysians.

Religions teach us to be tolerant and compassionate. To resort to acts like throwing fire bombs at sacred places of worship is despicable and smacks of cowardice. Those who did this are not martyrs trying to protect their religions. They are misguided souls failing to understand the true meanings of religions.

These misguided souls are by-products when religions get mixed up with politics, and they become unwittingly tools that could be made use by people with ulterior motives.

I hope the police, who has been so commendable in arresting the church arsonists, will succeed in arresting these perpetrators.  They should be properly investigated and quickly charged to serve as  a deterent to other misguided souls.

In the meantime, religious teachers have a duty not to fan emotions but to calm down emotions and let cooler minds prevail, if they do not want to see Malaysia degenerate into a nation of confrontation and tic-for-tac fights.

The new season of American Idol has started again.

Those of you who follow the series, like yours truthly, may have wonder how on Earth can the judges go through seemingly stadium full of contestants in a few days. In certain cities where they visit, the crowd can be as big as 6000 or 8000, and even if one contestant takes about 3 minutes, including walking into the audition room and going out (I am sure it is more than that), it would take more than 18000 to 24000 munites, 3o0 over hours. That is if the judges continuously audition, without rest in between, without going to the loos and so on. So in actual fact, the average time would more be like 5-6 minutes a person, and that would aat least take a few weeks to dispose of just one such crowd.

Well, what you see is not what is happening. Like many times at this modern time, what they show you is not what is actually happening.

In fact, the crowds in different cities are screened through by scouts, with each singing just a few bars , and the scouts will select a small portion of those who they think can sing, AND, also those who they think are the worst singers or performers or the most comical ones. This small group will then have to appear before the producers, who will further select the better and the worse ones to go before the judges. (see the report here)

What I am trying to convey is that in this so-called modern society, almost everything is staged. Perhaps it is due to the influence of Hollywood.

Even for those doing charity, you see them hoisting big mock checques, just to show people that so and so is making a donation to so and so.

In Malaysia, many events are staged, especially when it comes to getting votes. When election is near, you see the VIPs walking the round  and giving speeches in stadiums filled with people who are there because they are transported by buses and given incentives to be there. It is not because they like to go there on their own accord.

When a big shot is coming, the whole area will be spruced up , given a new coat of paint; and the staff who normally will spend hours in teh tarik stalls will suddenly be so diligent, serving the people and clients courteously and eagerly.

On another level, what the politicians say and what they believe inside their hearts are often so different. AN example is KJ, who was said to be a liberal before ascendancy of his Father-in-law, but his  speeches when he ruled the fourth floor smacked of  extremist and racist views . 

Many others who may have advocated a single stream school send their children to International schools, a stream that is not even supposed to cater fro Malaysians, but diplomats from other countries.

So, what you see or hear is often not what you should believe! That is life!  Malaysia or otherwise!

Had an opportunity to talk to a few students intending to do medicine in a private university offering twinning program to do medicine overseas.

I asked them, do you know what medicine is about? Do you know that a doctor’s life is not as rosy as many non medical people think? Do you know that it takes years of training to become a competent doctor and in the British system, to become a specialist takes many more years of hard work after the basic medical degree.

A few of them looked puzzled when I asked them these questions. When I asked them what made them think of taking up medicine, one of them gave the reply about doctors’ earnings. Finally, a smiling one confided that if they go overseas to study medicine, it would be their passports to stay behind whichever country they go to, since in most of the Western countries (Australia included even though it is down South), there is a shortage of doctors.

I suspect this is the main reason why suddenly so many people are taking the medical courses, and Malaysia has so now more medical schools than Australia, with UTAR also  joining in this year to offer MBBS degree.

These young people, for whatever reasons, want to leave their home country and settle down overseas.

In the past, Malaysians have always emigrated. Many Malaysians studied overseas, and some remained in those countries where they studied, but many did return.

For the past few years, there is a new trend that lesser and lesser of those who study overseas are coming home; and many of those who returned are mainly those who could not find employment overseas. For those who studied medicine, not many have returned. I have stated that none of my eldest 2 children classmates have returned home, and as far as I understand, none of their senior class returned home too.

Malaysia has lost the shine, so much i can say. with the economy stagnant, inflation overtaking increasing in earning,  polution and traffic jam getting worse, Malaysia is less liveable now than a decade or 2 before.

How do we expect these young and bright people, who could have helped re building the country, to come home when they can have much much better prospect of life and a better lifestyle overseas?

The only consolation is the food perhaps. We have one of the most varied food and it is still relatively cheap to eat out.

An excellent analysis by Professor Marranci, Asso Prof of Anthropology, University of Western Sydney and a research fellow at the Asian Research Institute, NUS, Singapore.

I will post some excerpts here.  For the whole article, please read this link:

http://marranci.wordpress.com/2010/01/18/the-allah-case-in-malaysia/

Recently Malaysia has been at the centre of another controversy. After the fatwa against Yoga (in which it was suggested that Muslims were better to abstain from it), the sentence against Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno (who was condemned to strokes of an “Islamic” cane), and the severed cow heads left on an area awaiting the construction of a Hindu temple, today churches, and other non-Muslim places of worship, have been torched over the issue of whether non-Malay Muslims, and in particular Christians, can use the word ‘Allah’. The Malay government, controlled by UMNO, clearly supports the opinion that “Allah” is, at least linguistically, a Malay Muslim theo-semiotic possession, despite the word being Arabic. Yet to understand the present situation we need to look at how Muslim Malaysians make sense of their social political identity within the country.

To do so we must refer to Article 160 of the Constitution of Malaysia in which a ‘Malay’ is described as a Malaysian citizen, born to a Malaysian citizen, who professes to be a Muslim, habitually speaks Bahasa Melayu, adheres to Malay customs, and is domiciled in Malaysia or Singapore. Furthermore, the constitution, in article 152, defines some privileges for Bumiputra, the Muslim ethnic majority of the country.

read more here.

The tragedy that happened in Penang yesterday, where a dragon boat on training capsized, could have been averted if people are more safety conscious.

It was reported that of whose were drown and or reported missing, only 1 was wearing a life jacket.

From the view of safety precaution, an open sea is a dangerous hazard, no matter how calm the sea may look.

So applying the principle of safety, it would be best to avoid the hazards; but in this case, since the rowers were taking part in a competition, training in an open sea is a necessity , so they would have no choice but to face this hazard.

But they could have chosen an area where the seas were calmer, to lessen the risk of this hazard.. It was reported that normally trainings were conducted in the calmer areas in Tanjung Bungah or Batu ferringhi, but this group chose to do it in a rougher sea. Any training of this sort must be accompanied by safety rescue boats with powerful motor and trained life gurads, but apparently this was not the case.

Then again, if all wore life jackets, it would have at least provided more buoyancy to the person wearing it, and being brightly coloured, life jackets would be more eye catching and easily for rescuers to see them.

I have swam in open seas before , and if a person goes 2 feet below the surface of sea level, you will never be able to see him clearly even if from a distance of a few feet.

So, never underestimate the power of the sea.

There is a Chinese saying that ” you can bully the hills, but never the water”, meaning that it would be safer to climb hills than go out in the seas or even playing in the river.

This is yet another case where safety measures as well as procedures were not adopted.  This came hardly a few weeks after the explosion of a new mall in Malacca, where safety procedures were again ignored resulting in a huge explosion.

Just a few minutes of observing safety procedures would have saved the lives of so many people,. What a waste !

The cover story of Time magazine indicated that Malaysia, not Indonesia or the Phillipines, is the hub, financial and planning centre for the Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist network.

Shocking news? Read part of the article here and you can read more in MT here.

……………….Very few suspected peaceful, relatively prosperous Malaysia, where Muslims make up two-thirds of the population but seemed to have bought into the consumerist, essentially pro-Western views espoused by their leaders.

But after months of investigation and hundreds of hours interrogating detained terrorist suspects, even government officials in Kuala Lumpur can no longer deny that Malaysia was the financial and planning center for the region’s main al-Qaeda-linked terrorist network, the place Osama bin Laden’s proselytizers chose to recruit a core of loyal followers, launch new groups into neighboring countries, and coordinate with Southeast Asia’s existing Islamic radicals. Increasingly, it seems clear Malaysia was one of a number of hubs used in the worldwide preparations for the carnage of Sept. 11 in the U.S.

For those of us in our fifties, a show that all of us must have watched during our childhood is the “Sound of Music”. Even if you did not have the opportunity to watch that show, you must have heard of the song “Do, Re , Mi” or  the theme song “SOund of music”, or “my favourite things”.

For those who have seen the show, the image of Julie Andrews running and hopping and singing with her guitar will forever be imprinted in our minds.

And we will always remember how the family risked their lives escaping from the rule of tyranny, the Nazis which annexed Austria just before the start of the Second World War.

And of course, the Von Trapp family of 7 children. DO you ever wonder where are the children now?

I received some photos via email on their reunion after 40 years.I thought some of you might want to see how they are now :

These were the Von Trapp Family in the show.

They must be my age now.

And,

The who is who :

The show was based on an autobiography by Maria Von Trapp, with many alterations apparently from the real life happenings. For those who are interested in the real story of the Von Trapp,  you can read it  here.

My heart ached when I read about a young Malaysian working in Singapore who was allegedly killed by a drunken Romanian diplomat last month in Singapore. The accident happened on the 15th, but the man died on Christmas day when his newly wed wife gave permission to turn off the life support system since he is already brain dead.

The diplomat was not charged since he has diplomatic immunity and apparently has left the country.

This runs counter to the human belief of fairness and justness. How can a person who is known to have caused the death of a person been let off , just because he holds a different category of passports?

BUt the fact is that in this world, not everything is fair. Some can kill and yet remain above the law. Some who has not committed crime but was charged and sentenced.

This is from the Law Encyclopedia on Diplomatic Immunity:

Diplomats and their families have also been known to use diplomatic immunity to avoid prosecution for criminal behavior. This is illustrated in a 1983 case where the New York City Police Department suspected a diplomat’s son of fifteen different rapes. The son was allowed to leave the United States without ever being taken to court, because he claimed diplomatic immunity. If diplomatic immunity is used as a shield, the police cannot prosecute, no matter how serious the crime may be.

But is there a way around these rules that were established under the Vienna COnvention?

The same Encyclopedia has this to say:

In the United States, if a person with immunity is alleged to have committed a crime or faces a civil lawsuit, the Department of State alerts the government that the diplomat works for. The Department of State also asks the home country to waive immunity of the alleged offender so that the complaint can be moved to the courts. If immunity is not waived, prosecution cannot be undertaken. However, the Department of State still has the discretion to ask the diplomat to withdraw from her or his duties in the United States. In addition, the diplomat’s visas are often canceled, and the diplomat and her or his family are barred from returning to the United States. Crimes committed by members of a diplomat’s family can also result in dismissal.

I suppose there is really nothing much for the family to do except to accept the fact that the son is dead.

There is however a higher law which all of us will have to answer, believe it or not. I hope the diplomat will repent, and from now on does good deeds to society and community, and hopefully with these good deeds, the deceased did not have to die in vain.

This is the excerpt which I have taken from Dr Farish Noor’s latest posting. The highlighting is mine. The article is very long, and for the full article go here.

A Colder Look at the State of Malaysia Today

The rise and expansion of a communitarian public domain in Malaysia that is sectarian and exclusive is therefore something that ought to concern all Malaysian technocrats and social planners, for it would indicate that significant sections of the Malaysian population no longer think in terms of a national goal and national interest, but rather communal interests that are short-sighted, narrow, parochial and essentialist. These communitarian interests foreground primordial sentiments based on a narrow sense of group-feeling and are grounded on selective and sometimes erroneous interpretations of history, leading to historically biased communitarian demands being articulated in the public domain.

For technocrats who have to consider the survivability of the nation-state in the long run, such emotion-driven politics is not only irrational and subjective, but dangerously so for they threaten to undermine the objective basis of any nation-building project. Politicians who pander to these demands, concede to them on the basis of short-term political interests, or worse of all help to fan these emotional sentiments are therefore directly implicated in centrifugal tendencies that may eventually weaken if not sever the fragile bonds of nation-building and nationhood.

Thus in Malaysia what we are witnessing today – with the rise of ethnic and religious based NGOs and social movements calling for more exclusive communitarian politics – are symptoms of a society that is undergoing the traumatic process of change without a social safety net. Calls for ethnic and religious solidarity are not unique to Malaysia, for they have appeared even in the developed parts of the world when structural-economic changes have led to economic slowdown and massive unemployment, etc. (It is not a coincidence that the rise of neo-Fascism in Europe today is happening in parts of Europe where unemployment has passed twenty per cent.)

But the role and responsibility of governments is not to cater to these sectarian demands but rather to moderate them by reminding them of the national interest and long-term national goals instead. This however can be done only when political elites stop playing the game of communitarian politics themselves and stop toying with issues like ethnicity, language or religion to serve their short-term electoral goals. Should such measures not be taken, and should the trend towards sectarian communitarian politics continue in any country, the net result is clear for all to see. In the postcolonial era scores of young nation-states have completely fallen apart thanks to the rise of ethno-nationalist communitarian or religiously exclusive politics.

The fate of Malaysia in the short to medium term may or may not differ from these other failed states if the politicians, political parties and NGOs of the country are not careful; for there are no historical or essential guarantees to the nation-building project here or anywhere else. And in the final analysis, those who are currently involved in the heightening of tensions in the country ought to realise the cost of their actions on the nation’s image and long-term prospects; and the consequences should the nation-building project fail in Malaysia. Malaysia – like every other country in the globalised world today – is not going to be given a second chance; and the world does not owe Malaysia a living, and nor will the march of development slow down for Malaysians to catch up. Malaysians will therefore have to unite or perish, together.

Children, actors and drama queens can be emotional, but not technocrats and politicians; so leave emotions outside politics and govern coldly and rationally.

A sales representative came to see me this morning and he was visibly upset about the current upheavals in the country.

He was thinking of moving to Singapore and in fact, he had gone there to search for jobs.

His main complaints can be summarised into a few points:

1. His disposable income is getting less and less, and he is trying hard to tighten his belts and balance his budget

2. There is hardly any life in KL, with most of his time spent on working and rush hour traffic jams. By the time he reaches home, it is almost 7.30pm, and after dinner, he had hardly one or 2 hour a day to himself before retiring to bed

3. Being a Christian, he was upset about the current situation.

4. Corruption was so rampant that once he was caught for a failed third brake light and the officer hinted to help him. He instead asked for a summons while he settled online. (editor: you can in fact settle all police summons online at http://www.myeg.com.my , so it is not really difficult to settle summons, and so please do not pay corruption)

5. He is worry for his 2 children’s education, and the polarisation in schools.

6. He sees double standard treatment everywhere

That’s about sum up his grouses to me.

So, I told him it is up to him to decide whether to move away. The pasture may really be greener on the other side, I told him.

BUt i told him, he has another choice. Stay back for 2 more years, and vote in the next election.

Of course, I cannot tell you how I advised him to vote since this post is not about politics, but rather the problems facing this young man, and many young middle class people like him.

ISNA Commends Malaysian Court Ruling that Affirms Religious Freedom of Christians

Below is my views on the latest attacks on CHurches, first posted in lmy other blog and I have decided to post it here, since this is about religion and not politics, and politicians should not politicise the issue of religion:

I strongly condemn those who resort to attacking churches, in the wake of the ‘controversy’ in the use of ‘Allah”‘

I would like to remind the people that under Malaysian Federal Constitution Article 3 (1), Islam is the religion of the Federation,  but other religions may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation.

To resort to attack churches in the wake of the High Court decision is deplorable and is a wanton attack on the freedom of practice of religions which we should all treasure and protect in this multiracial society of ours. The perpetrators must be arrested and charged.

I hope both our Muslim and Christian brothers should remain calm and do not let their emotions overtake their common sense.

I hope politicians would refrain from fanning emotions and instead they should try their best to cool the temperature down and let judicial process run its course, as an appeal against the High Court decision is pending.

…………………………………..

Also an article from the Islamic Society of North America:

(Plainfield, IN – January 4, 2010) The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) commends the landmark ruling by a Malaysian Court on December 31, 2009, that affirms the religious freedom of Malaysian Christians. The ruling asserts that Christians have the right to use the word “Allah” to translate “God” into Bahasa Melayu, the Malaysian language. It strikes down a government ban that was placed in 2007 on the use of the term in Christian literature.

The opponents of the use of the word Allah in reference to God have argued that the term “God” is usually translated by Malaysians who follow faiths other than Islam as “Tuhan” in Bahasa Melayu, not “Allah.” They insist that “Allah” should only be used to refer to God in Islam. This argument is contrary to both Islamic understanding and practice.

The Qur’an is quite explicit that Muslims worship the same God recognized by Christians. The Qur’an commands Muslims to declare that the God they worship and the one worshiped by the followers of revealed books, including Christians, is one:  “… and say: We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you, and our God and your God is One, and to Him do we submit.” (Qur’an 29:46)

With regards to actual and historical practices, Christian Arabs have been using the word “Allah” to refer to God in their religious sources since the inception of Islam, and have never been challenged by private Muslims or Muslim governments on this ground. Islamic law is clear that followers of the Christian faith have the right to practice their religion according to their own religious teachings.

Malaysia has long been a good example of Islamic tolerance and we call on the Malaysian government to maintain the tradition of tolerance and uphold the religious freedom of Christians and to let the court ruling stand. We also urge Muslim NGOs to respect Islamic teachings and long-held Islamic traditions, and to withdraw their opposition to the use of the word “Allah” by their Christian compatriots..

………………………………………………….

Below is posted in Wall Street Journal:

The politics of ‘Allah”

God means love in many places, but in Malaysia it can also mean politics. That’s the takeaway from the United Malays National Organization-led government’s attempt to quash the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslim groups.

At issue is the Catholic Herald’s two-year court battle to use the A-word in its Malay-language edition—which it claims it needs to do because there’s no other suitable word for “God” in Malay. Last week, the High Court overturned an arbitrary government ban. Yesterday, however, the church agreed to a stay of the decision—at the government’s request—until the ruling can be appealed. So the Herald is once again muzzled.

Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail characterized the decision as “a matter of national interest,” which implies that somehow Muslims across Malaysia would revolt if the Herald were allowed to reference God in another language. Never mind that Malaysians of many faiths have peacefully co-existed for decades.

read more here

I seldom post hilarious photos, but I can’t help but to share this one (received via email) with you all out there.

Talking about innovation, what about this:

Really functional. Can seat, can store documents, can travel.

Can even answer nature’s call when there is the urge.

Patent pending!

Many Malaysians are studying overseas. Many have graduated. Some have come back, but many have stayed back overseas.

The million dollar question many of these overseas Malaysians, whether they are already working or still studying but would be in the job markets soon, ask is whether they should stay put or return to their homeland.

I have been asked many times by overseas students whom I have met. Take the case of my 2 eldest children who are now working overseas. All, I repeat, ALL their Malaysian classmates chose to stay back overseas. I have not known any of their classmates coming back to work in Malaysia. That maybe peculiar to those studying medicine, since the working conditions and remunerations, and the opportunities to specialise is so much greater and brighter.

As a parent, I long for them to return, but I have left the decision to them, and anyway I have told them to at least specialise first before coming home, as in Malaysia, the chances of being selected to do specialisation depends not so  much of your work or attitude, but more on who you know. SO we have a dilemma here. We would like them to be home but we would also like to see them success and living a easier and less hectic lives than us.

To those studying overseas, they have a dilemma too. Whether to be home to be with their dear ones and perhaps suffer from less material comfort  and lower degree of upward mobility , or to remain overseas and have better chance to realise their full potentials. Life overseas is not a bed of roses. Many would have to face loneliness, a change of living and eating habits, forgoing the warm and love that only family support can provide.

Time and again, I have been asked for my views, in person as well as in blog comments.

It is difficult to generalise since everyone’s situation is different and since circumstances are different for different persons.

First thing to consider is their own family. DO they want to come home and be with their parents, especially those parents who would not be well adapted to western living and who may find it a hassle to travel overseas to visit their children? To be home would be great, what with all the family support , care and love that you do not get staying alone overseas. For me, it would be Ok for my children to be overseas, since internet and technology have make the world smaller, and even though they cannot be physically with me, I can always see their face and surroundings through such marvels like skype and msn messengers. But not all parents are tech savvy.

Another prime consideration for most people would be their line of work, the fields in which they major in. If you are an aeronautical engineer , it would make sense to work for Boeings or Nasa than to come home and work for some VIPs to care for their private jets.

Then  of course you have to consider the upward mobility and job satisfaction. JOb satisfaction means that you work and your efforts get recognised and appreciated, and in the process, you get promoted and maybe someday head a unit . Where do you think you can have better job satisfaction? In Malaysia, often it is who you know, and not what you know, or what you achieve that is important..In Malaysia, there is an unwritten rule that promotion in certain sectors depends more on which group you belong to , rather than excellence of work.

There are discriminations everywhere, even in US , Australia , Canada. It is human nature for a flock to stay together, like the birds..Birds of a feather like to be with the same, and so are human beings. SO you cannot escape discrimination anywhere.

One big difference is that in most developed countries, discrimination is an individual reponse and is not institutionalised.  The same cannot be said for Malaysia, where the perception is there is institutionalised discrimination. Because of this perception, many overseas graduates prefer to stay there.

So for those who long for better prospect of upward mobility and job satisfaction and promotion, the choice is clear and many did not come back because of this reason winning over the urge to be with their own families.

One more point to consider is of course your own loyalty to your country. This is your own home , your mother land. You grew up here, and as the saying goes, who do not wish to be like the leaves that drop down to be with its roots? If you are this group, then come back and join the rank of  those  fighting asking  for a better Malaysia. (‘fighting’ smacks of politics; this post is purely on merits and demerits of coming home, and not on politics).

As I said before, each must take into their own unique circumstances into consideration, and each must make their own decision on whether they wish to return or remain overseas.

Ever experienced having  to run across a busy road, even when you are crossing at a zebra crossing?

Ever experiencing darting in and out trying all sorts of stunts just to cross such roads?

In the West, cars will invariably stop when a pedestrian steps on the designated crossing area.

Even though now more and more cities are using the push-button pedestrian lights in order to allow a more orderly flow of traffics — instead of every few seconds, a car has to stop for a pedestrian, these lights now permit crossing on a need-to-be basis —  smaller towns and less congested areas in big cities are still using the zebra crossings and the people there would still stop to allow pedestrians to cross.

To stop at zebra crossings to allow people to cross first has become a routine as well as a habit to the Westerners, and even those Easteners who emigrated there.

In our part of the world, no such habits exist.

We have to depend on individual goodwill to allow us to cross. There are of course many kind souls who would  time and again  allow people to cross, but on the other hand, at times, you even see people revving up their speed when they see someone walking near the crossings, never mind that to stop and extend the courtesy would cost them less than half a minute of time.

Even in areas where there are  push button systems installed , for example in front of my clinic for pedestrians to cross over to the Pudu LRT stations, drivers sometimes would ignore the red lights and dash through.

Often after dashing through, they find themselves stuck behind jams. Why the hurry to forego a civil act and rush to get caught in a jam, I can never understand such mentality.

Someone told me that this is the “kiasu” mentality. But to see in front of you columns of cars stopping because of traffic jam and still not be civil enough to stop for pedestrians, it is more than kiasu,  in my humble opinion.

Some said it is the ego thing. Maybe, since Malaysians are known to have so huge ego that they would even be willing to spend millions to get a passenger up in space. But I would rather  leave it to the psychologists to say their peice on whether this is the ego thing.

To me, it has a bit of everything, especially the ways children are brought up. The ways children see their parents behaving.

In schools, they are told to stop in zebra crossings to allow pedestrians to cross. But when they attain the age to drive, it is not what the schools have taught them, but the images of how their parents or teachers behaving   imprinted in their minds when they were younger that influence them on their subconscious decision not to stop.

I have seen with my eyes old ladies, some in their 60s, running and tripping while trying to cross the crossing near my clinic. To see an old lady who is weak and frail, sometimes carrying a basket of grocery,  to try to run across the road is anything but heart-aching.

For those who happen to read this article, perhaps it can serve as  food for thought about our own behaviour.

Maybe we can start with a change of our own behaviour, for those of us who are not already practising this civility. Social behaviour is influenced  by peer culture and herd instinct, but each doing our own bit, perhaps we can slowly effect a change and make a difference.

City living is stressful, no doubt about it. But to be under stress does not mean that we cannot set a good example for our children to follow.

One day, we are going to grow old; one day, we would need the kind and considerate soul to stop to allow us to cross the road safely and slowly.

Let us hope that that soul maybe your son or grandchild, and let us hope that in future, while the whole nation ages, we would not have to do acrobatic stunts to do the simple things like crossing a road.

……………………………………………….

(PS. MAny would blame the government and the police. I am not going to discuss that since this is now social bloggings, but i believe all of us have a part to play since social behaviour hinges on peer and herd instinct)

Last night I happened to watch a National Geographic Channel documentary ” 42 ways to kill Hitler”. Aparently, National Geographic has gathered some evidence that from 1930s right up the 1945 , there were 42 attempts at HItler ’s life.

These are attempts at his life and exclude those who fought politically to limit him during th initially phase, including the last President of Germany before Hitler took power.

Most of the 42 attempts were from the German resistance and a few attempts were from allied including Britain and Soviet Union.

Resistance from within forced him to withdraw to a solitary lifestyle, and after the July 1944 assasination, he was to be seen only in the company of those he trusted. So while the internal resistance in fact helped the external powers , especiall afther the JUly 1944 atmept, Hitler was mentally affected by it and this affected to certain extent his conduct of the war.

National Geography, History and Discovery are great channels to watch. get your children to watch too if you want to broaden their minds. In the globalised world, a broad mindset is important and ability to accept other people’s views and other people’s ways of doing things are important too.

I have promised a reader, avatar, that I will write something on the movie Avatar. But on checking the net, there are already so many good reviews of the show, so I thought instead i will write something on another show ” A law abiding citizen”.

This is also dedicated to reader ‘Leong’ who gave us the link to an article on a late Federal court judge who passed away just a few days ago. I would not want to pass any judgement on this person, since by doing so , invariably I will cross the line over to politics. I will touch on the social responsibility of those trained in law to answer to their own conscience.

For those who have yet to see avatar, it is worth paying $18 to see the 3 D version, a very nice show with good meaning too.(It has gone past  the US  1 billion dollar box office mark world wide and still counting)

” Law abiding citizen’ is about a show where justice , as human kinds know it and long for it, is denied. When justice is denied ,  serious consequences can happen, and in this show, did happen.

The show is about an engineer, Clyde Sheldon, who lost both is wife and his young daughter during a ‘break in’ by 2 guys. The 2 guys were subsequently caught, but the main criminal Darby who killed the wife and the daughter got a very good lawyer who bargained and traded with the prosecutor  in charge of the case, Nick, that he would agree to a lesser charge and be jailed for a few years instead of being charged for murder.

Nick agreed to the bargain, in order to maintain his own high conviction rate of 99%, and disregard Clyde’s plea for justice. SO while the lesser criminal, Ames, was sentenced to death by injection, the main guy Darby was only convicted for 3 years.

Nick has the cheek to tell the victim, Clyde , that  ”it is not what we know but what can be proven in court”, and claimed that he agreed to the bargain because he was not sure that he could convict Darby for murder. He claimed that this is how justice works.

Ten years late, Clyde took justice into his own hand, and plotted to kill successfully the main criminal Darby (who died a very gruesome death), and went into jail for that.

Even in jail, he successfully carried out executions of those involved in the case. So the DA, the lawyer, the judge and all those who are involved in denying justice to him,  except Nick, were killed by Clyde through very ingenious way ( I would not go into the details; it is  worth buying a DVD to watch yourself).

In the end, Nick confronted Clyde in prison and took law into his own hand to kill Clyde, after admitting that he would no longer made deals with murderer  (finally seeing the light,perhaps).

This show is about Justice denied.

Denying justice to aggrieved parties can be very dangerous. Clyde said that had Nick tried to convict Darby for murder and failed , he would understand; but he could not understand why the need to bargain trade with a real murderer whom he saw with is own eyes killing his wife and daughter.

The little men like you and me , if something happens to us, for example , robbery and character assassination, the only justice that we can seek is through the channel of justice as we know it — get a lawyer, go to court and appear before the judges.

Lawyers therefore play a very important role. If they know a person is guilty and yet they choose to defend him , then it is not only against the law of justice, but probably against their own conscience as well.

I believe that in these cases, there will probably be a higher law which is totally just and which will be dispensed once we go back and face our creator.