Hishamuddin and his patriotism

I thought he was lame and pathetic when I read his so-called apology, published in the local media on Saturday, April 26.

Was there an iota of sincerity in his carefully worded speech?

Now, see how he justified his apology to the Malays as published in a local newspaper today.

Ketua Pergerakan Pemuda UMNO, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein berkata, keputusan beliau memohon maaf secara terbuka ... bertujuan menyedarkan orang Melayu ... berjuang demi bangsa mereka.

Katanya, ... keutamaan baginya adalah kepentingan parti, bangsa dan agama, selain menyedarkan orang Melayu untuk bersatu dan bangkit semula dalam mempertahankan hak sendiri.

Lagi-lagi parti (UMNO), bangsa (MELAYU) dan AGAMA (Islam).

Tak bosan ke?

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Whatever happened to the first two tenets of our Rukunegara?

Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan (Belief in God)
Kesetiaan kepada Raja dan Negara (Loyalty to King and Country)

I believe I'm a more patriotic Malaysian than someone who only wants to uphold the interests of a particular political party, a particular race and a particular religion in this country.

So sad, isn't it? Seems like the results of GE12 just make them go from bad to worse.

Is NST learning to write from the heart?

This front page editorial from the NaSTy paper today speaks like one of us, eh?

The NST says: GET ON WITH THE JOB

IT’S been five weeks since the general election. The Barisan Nasional was returned to power, albeit with a smaller majority and the loss of five states.

Despite the shock of the result, it was still a mandate that no one could argue with, not even Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in his wildest allegations of electoral fraud. But what has Umno, the leading partner of the coalition and largest party in parliament, been doing since March 8?

Bickering, pointing fingers, baying for vengeance and doing everything imaginable except rolling up its sleeves and getting down to the work of governing.
Enough is enough.

People are getting fed up with Umno’s moaning and groaning, the political wayang and sandiwara its cast of characters is playing up and down the country.

The truth is that the people have long been disgusted with the kind of boorish, loutish behaviour that Umno leaders had exemplified because of their grip on power since independence in 1957.

Brandishing the kris was hurtful to the non-Malays but the party leadership did nothing to take the Umno Youth chief to task for the menacing and insulting gesture. Which was why he was emboldened to repeat it and provide extra impetus for the Chinese and Indians to abandon the BN at the polls.

It also did not go unnoticed that the leadership put up with the racist and inflammatory rhetoric of the delegates at the televised 2006 Umno general assembly.

Then there was the desecration of the temple under the watch of the then Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo which did so much to outrage the Hindus throughout the country and turn them against the ruling coalition. And Dr Khir had the cheek to award a broom to a local council president, when neither he nor the party president could control the warlords who held the party to ransom over the choice of candidates, and stabbed the party in the back when they did not approve of the candidates.

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is now paying for these and other acts of omission, including the undeliverable promises of change that he made when he first became prime minister in 2003.

Every other day, he has had to deflect attacks by party members and ex-leaders who conveniently have absolved themselves of any fault. But every day that he is sidetracked by party bickering is another day affairs of state are neglected — the nation and the people are the losers.

Abdullah has said that he has got the message; he has accepted responsibility for the unkept pledges; and this time, he vows he will deliver on his promises and set the country in order before he retires.

That is, in fact, the verdict of his mandate, and he should be allowed to get on with it. But all the worms crawling out of the Umno woodwork — especially the retired and those with shelf lives past due who have found new breath in their calls for a party coup — won’t let him.

They don’t get it. Abdullah is not solely to be blamed and everything will not suddenly be all well again if he goes. Umno from the roots to the high branches all have to share the blame for their silence, their greed, arrogance and shenanigans that have turned off voters. So stop the navel-gazing and infighting.

If they have to fight among themselves, at least have the decency to keep it civilised and behind closed doors. They don’t have to drag the whole country through their infernal politicking.

There are more important things than private peeves and settling of scores.
Neither the brewing crisis over soaring food prices nor other major issues are going to wait for Umno to put its own house in order. Now is the time for the grand old party to move on, do the things its leaders have promised and show that it still has what it takes to lead the nation.

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Looks like our mainstream media is also keen to join in the fray. Let's see who shuts up first.

Updated: Oh, I like this photo so much that I'm giving it a thumbs up by sharing it here.

Tanjong Sepat assemblyman from UMNO, Karim Mansor in a German pigsty, photo grabbed from Aisehman's blog.

Siva's early Mother's Day message

I suppose he didn't have anyone else to blame short of admitting that he was plain stupid. So the Buntong assemblyman did the next best thing - he blamed his mother!

What a stupid joker.

"Siva Subramaniam said his ailing mother was the one who convinced him to discuss his resignation with the party leadership."

Good riddance to bad rubbish!

Time to weed out such people from Barisan Rakyat.


Buntong assemblyman "My victory in Buntong was a mandate given by the Indian community in the area" quits DAP.

Question: You mean to say you only want to serve the Indian community in Buntong??

Well, good riddance!!!

Update @ 8:07pm :
"Perak DAP rep retracts resignation letter"

Lots of people called him a snake, but I think he is a "sook tau wu kuai" (meaning: turtle retracting back his head into the shell).

Pak Lah the new "close-one-eye"

Remember what happened to those folks who participated in peaceful demonstrations before March 8? Some of them are still locked-up. Many got drenched with chemical-laced water and tear-gassed. I believe some got whacked with batons as well. In the end, they took the PM's advice and voiced their anger through the ballot boxes.

After March 8, re-elected Prime Minister Pak Lah seems to adopt a highly tolerant approach towards public demonstrations and seditious utterings. All done by his party members in the name of protecting "NEP and Malay rights". They were spared the drenching, the gassing and the whacking.

Pak Lah is not only closing one eye on this matter, he probably thinks it is "semua ok" to close both ears as well.

UMNO in numbers game

The new cabinet reveals very interesting distribution of seats (power!!) among BN component parties:-

UMNO 22 ministers + 16 deputies = 38
MCA 4m + 6d = 10
PBB 1m + 3d = 4
MIC 1m + 2d = 3
SUPP 1m + 2d = 3
UPKO 1m
PBS 1m
Gerakan 2d
SPDP 2d
PRS 2d
PBRS 1d
LDP 1d
Outsider 1m

And do you think Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen really got a promotion when she was made the Minister of Women, Family and Community Development as hailed by the MCA?

After you consider Datuk Seri Shahrizat's appointment as Special Adviser to the PM for Women and Social Development Affairs with ministerial status, that is.

If you look at the numbers above, it is a crying shame the way UMNO is given so much "face" by their so-called "partners" in Barisan Nasional, in spite of all their leadership failures.

Menyampah betul!!

Pak Lah is full of surprises

The Chinese would say, "harm yue farn sang"!! (English translation: Salted fish brought back to life. Malay translation: Ikan masin hidup semula.)

Admit it, none of us thought Mike Tyson would come back and haunt us as the Minister of Rural and Regional Development, right?

This one really takes the attention away from the keris-wielding Minister of Education who perhaps will now consider waving a footlong sausage if he felt a sudden urge to get into the front page of the MSM.

The beauty and the beasts of GE2008

From the whole bunch of sore-losers in Barisan Nasional, only one person appeared to come out of the sorry mess smelling like roses.

And Koh Tsu Koon deserves to be respected for his examplary behaviour in the aftermath of what happened on March 8.

Unlike elsewhere where offices are emptied and documents shredded or carted away. Not to mention covert attempts to create disturbances and fear-mongering.

As they say, adversity sometimes brings out the best in men. At worst, it brings out the beast in them.

Jom Ubah - Dari Perspektif Seorang Melayu

I confess I didn't ask permission to reproduce this reader's response to Lim Kit Siang's blog entry titled "Time to move on into the unchartered political waters" today so if anyone thinks I ought to remove this post, just let me know in the comments section.

I want to share what musyu99 wrote in Bahasa Malaysia. Please take a moment to read his heartfelt plea:-

YB LKS,

Sekali lagi saya ingin beritahu, saya berbangsa Melayu dan beragama Islam. Minta maaf kerana saya kurang pandai untuk menulis dalam bahasa Inggeris. Walaubagaimanapun saya akan belajar menulis dalam bahasa Inggeris kelak.

Sebelum PRU12 rata-rata orang Melayu mengatakan DAP adalah parti untuk kaum China jika dipandang dari segi corak politiknya dan sokongan. Manakala PAS pula memperjuangkan Islam dan PKR dituduh sebagai panting untuk seorang individu.

Memandangkan majoriti rakyat sudah jelek dengan kepimpinan BN, jadi mereka telah bertekad untuk mengundi parti DAP/PKR/PAS tanpa memperdulikan ideologi parti berkenaan asalkan BN dikalahkan dan di ajar secukupnya. Rata-rata rakyat ini adalah dari kalangan pelbagai kaum yang mengundi parti alternatif bagi menafikan majoriti kepada BN. Jadi, adakah YB berasa kemenangan besar DAP/PKR/PAS ini adalah kerana kredibiliti dan merit masing-masing? Sudah pasti jawapannya tidak.

Sokongan bonus kepada pakatan ini adalah disebabkan kepincangan dari parti BN dan kelemahan pucuk pimpinannya dan rakyat membuat keputusan nekad untuk mengundi parti pakatan ini. PRU12 ini telah mengubah corak politik negara dan sudah pastinya DAP/PKR/PAS perlu juga meroboh mengikut arus semasa. Dengan slogan DAP: JOM UBAH! Oleh itu DAP perlu berubah bagi membela nasib rakyat Malaysia tanpa mengira kaum dan agama. Begitu juga PAS dan PKR.

DAP/PKR/PAS perlu menjelaskan kepada ahli-ahli mereka betapa perlunya untuk mendapat sokongan rakyat dari berbagai kaum dan agama. Bukan sekadar seronok dan bangga untuk melihat kejatuhan BN. Perjuangan politik adalah bertujuan untuk semua rakyat Malaysia. Yang sudi mendengar rintihan rakyat. Yang sanggup duduk semeja dengan parti yang mempunyai ideologi lain berbincang, bermuafakat bagi kesejahteraan rakyat. Kita perlu ubah suasana politik perkauman dan eksterimis. JOM UBAH!

Alangkah bangganya sebagai rakyat Malaysia yang berbagai kaum kita dapat hidup dalam keadaan harmoni dan hormat-menghormati antara satu sama lain tanpa sebarang perasaan prejudis. Dalam para terakhir artikel YB ... “It is time to move on into the new uncharted Malaysian political waters”... Angin perubahan telah dapat dilihat di negara ini dan kemahuan rakyat seluruhnya dapat dirasai. Terima kasih kerana YB dan penyokong DAP dapat menerima angin perubahan ini. Kita faham ini akan memakan sedikit masa untuk menjelaskan kepada akar umbi. Namun realitinya jika persefahaman dibentuk, pakatan ini akan dapat terus maju untuk membentuk satu bangsa Malaysia.

Perlu diingat bahawa pihak lawan sentiasa mencari peluang untuk melemahkan pakatan ini. Perkara-perkara kecil sekalipun boleh di ulas menjadi besar seolah-olah pakatan ini gagal. Sebagai penyokong kepada pakatan ini, saya yakin pemimpin-pemimpin PKR/DAP/PAS akan dapat bersatu hati menyelesaikan masalah yang timbul secara bersama dengan lebih bijak. Akhir kata ... JOM UBAH!!!!

Saya setuju!!!

Horray! A Deputy PM from East Malaysia

I read this very interesting blog entry by Ranger and I think every Sabah and Sarawakian MP should have a look at this.

Personally, I think they are as much (if not more!) 2nd class citizens as the non-Malays in Peninsular Malaysia under BN rule.

They can do themselves a favour and resolve UMNO's quarelling over Pak Lah's position as PM. They can also do all of us a great favour by putting an end to attempts by certain UMNO quarters to create racial disturbances as seen in Penang.

All they need to do is pick up the phone and call Anwar.

Letting Go

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Ong Ka Ting
Samy Vellu
Mahathir Mohamad
Lim Kit Siang
Lim Keng Yaik
Chua Jui Meng

all have one thing in common. They need to learn how to let go ...

New broom, old ways

I believe non-Muslims who have contributed so much to the success of the opposition coalition in the recent general election is not amused by PAS president's warning.

Talking about banning liquor, negative entertainment which goes against Islamic teachings ala PAS doctrine and hudud criminal procedure code is like pouring a bucket of ice-cold water on the heads of the voters.

And then, we read about demands for Hindraf legal adviser M. Manoharan to be made Deputy CM of Selangor. Similarly, independant candidate V. Arumugam who won the Bukit Selambau state seat in Kedah was also reported to demand for a state exco seat in exchange for him joining the PKR.

Even the internal bickering among DAP politicians is starting to rear its ugly head.

Same ol' same ol', isn't it?

Looks like we got a new broom but it is just shifting the dust around.

Time to proof Barisan Rakyat BOLEH!

I guess the analogy that the fish rots from the head really jives with voters this time around.

And look how many heads rolled!!

Isn't it exciting that Malaysian voters have finally matured to this level of daring to take a chance to have their voices heard loud and clear? I'm so moved by this brave display of a cry for change.

And the only reason why people want to change is because the old ways are no longer acceptable. It is not about UMNO, MCA, MIC, DAP, PKR, PAS or whatever. It is about what you and me have to deal with each day when we try to get things done or just to go about our business to make an honest living.

I really don't care if the cat is black, brown, white or grey. All I want is a cat that can do what a cat is supposed to do. And I'm sure most of you feel the same way.

Whoever is in charge, just do a good job and repay the people's trust.

That's the least they can do for the good of this blessed country.