living in everyday combat

lately i’ve been busy running around, up and down KL. helping some friends, most i knew way back from those heady days of Reformasi 1998 (and most of them are Malay College Old Boys). these are hectic days in Malaysian political scene, if you’re into it. negotiations and deals are concluded as we speak. people with vested interests are scrambling to negotiate allegiances and show their renewed loyalties. politics.. it’s as dirty as it gets, ain’t it? well, i for one, am not political. yes, despite the gasps that i get from friends who read my tantrum in this blog, i am not a political person. i am just a concerned Malaysian, i stand for justice and progress. and i’m just helping some friends. it’s easy to just look and stare when you’re little and in school, but at this able age, i felt obliged to lend a helping hand, or at least give some ideas in the think-tanks. i do love my country, you know. and i am not a fan of Anwar Ibrahim the man, i am a fan of his vision, his ideologies. one of these ‘ideologies’ that really struck a chord with me, is the need to restructure the NEP to help solve the deep-rooted problems of Malay complacency and overall uncompetitiveness (i need a whole new post to explain my stance on this), hence the New Malaysian Economic Agenda. and i am now beyond racial politics.

anyways, i actually write in today to drop my 2 cents (which i already said in some of those ’sessions’) on the current ‘hot topic’ debated among the ‘inner circles’ up to Pakatan Rakyat’s upper echelons as well… do we take over the government NOW or wait until the next election? it’s common knowledge now that Anwar already has the majority (through defections) necessary to take over the premiership from Pak Lah and BN. (and you’ll be surprised to know the names of some defectors already pledging their alliances to him!!). he’s just waiting for a bigger majority (probably 2/3, if achievable) to make his move.

I disagree with the opinion that Pakatan Rakyat should wait and does not rush to form the new government. in my opinion, Pakatan Rakyat should force this issue to Malaysia, for the good of people who didn’t know better, rather than wait another 5 years, in which anything could happen.

the way i see it, this is one of those issues that you need to take control and ‘force’ it to the parties concerned. it’s like when parents forced their children to do something that the children still did not understand, but is actually beneficial to them in the long run, as the parents would know better. although Malaysians generally should take pride about the level of maturity they’ve shown during the recent GE, i really have doubts if the vote swing, especially among the rural voters, could be maintained until the next election, which is 4-5 years away. a lot of things could happen in 4 years, the BN propaganda machine spearheaded by the MSM (mainstream media) would kill PR (Pakatan Rakyat) in these 4 years, and the cash squeeze of the PR-controlled states would be in full throttle. this would certainly give most impact to rural voters, and come next election could you be just as sure that the vote swing could be maintained?

BN is old news, and needs to be changed for the good of the country. it is the only way forward for Malaysia, especially for Malays (why? refer my slight remark on NEP above). but a large section of the country, especially the rural voters, might not see it. when these people are cash-squeezed to the tight end, with the full-blown propaganda in MSM – which most of them relied upon – in 4 years, would they know better come next election? for me, PR needs to act now when they have the opportunity, and force this issue to the people. though they might be some noises, eventually the people will realize that it was done for the good of the country, for the sake of those who didn’t know better.

and another thing. it was claimed (with substantial evidence) that PR actually won the GE, when taking into consideration the gerrymandering, postal & phantom votes, etc. so by right, we should already have a new government. protest votes or not, it’s the result that counts, and the result says that we should have a new government. so why wait? why we have to take a step back? to let the BN machine destroy the rakyat in 4 years so that the votes swing for them come next election? why let all those rural people suffer for 4 years? take control now, and then begin the witch-hunting, if you feel the need to justify your action.

for me, Malaysians are still the ‘children’. Pakatan Rakyat, as the ‘parents’ must force the people to do this now, for their own good. if PR claims to be putting the rakyat’s interest above all else, then this is the right thing to do. as in 4 years time, they might not have the same opportunity, and who will be the loser in the end? the rakyat, and Malaysia. don’t you just dread that thought? we used to be on par with the likes of Korea and Hong Kong, but now even Vietnam has caught up on us. and the Malays will forever lose their competitiveness under the NEP patronage and will always be lagging behind internationally. (which is not the case with the Chinese. the NEP has actually helped them progress to be competitive, to earn whatever they get and be dedicated at what they do, as they don’t have any economic patronage. which is why you rarely see a lazy, complacent Chinese doling it out in universities or at workplace. and you say the NEP has helped the Malays???)

whether defections are ethical or not, it is just politics power play, and who says it’s not dirty. the end justifies the means, more so when it’s for the good of the country.

yep, THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS.

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it had to be you

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i thought of all the things i’d like to say

cramped up and couldn’t write a word all day

so sick of all the things i’m trying to say

cramped up and couldn’t write a word all day

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do you feel a certain sense of synergy between yourself and me?
a kind of macabre and somber Wondertwin-type of harmony?

what if it was you?
you that I needed all along
i felt like a fool
kicking and screaming and pretending we were wrong

do you spend a fortune on those late night prepaid television scams
in search of the perfect blender, steak knife and non-stick frying pan?

what if it was you?
you that I needed all along
i felt like a fool
thinking we were completely wrong

it seemed like a dream
a beautiful scream
that echoed forever
and made us not afraid to feel a thing
and after it ends
we’ll try to be friends
they say that what doesn’t kill us makes us who we are

ALL THIS TIME AND EVERYTHING’S CHANGED BUT I STILL FEEL THE SAME
ALL GOOD THINGS EVENTUALLY END AND GET WASHED DOWN THE DRAIN
WHAT A DISASTER IT WOULD BE IF YOU DISCOVERED THAT I CARED
A LITTLE TOO MUCH FOR FRIENDS BUT NOT ENOUGH TO SHARE

what if it was you?
you that I needed all along
i felt like a fool
now that I’m sure that I was wrong
it had to be you.
it had to be you.
it had to be you.
i knew it was you.

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so much to say

but no words to convey

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i so want to get back on track

and i’ll do whatever it takes

even if it kills me.

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Melayu Mudah Lupa??

believe it or not, Anwar Ibrahim is on the cover of Newsweek, again. now as one of Asian reformists, in the middle of a new giant-killing political trend that is currently sweeping through the old countries, carrying the most said word of the day, ‘Reform’.

‘Reform’ is a big word, and could only be carried by a bigger persona, mind and heart. and ‘Reform’ will only be the flavour of the day when it is dead obvious that something is terribly wrong somewhere and people are getting sick of it. it is a common fact now that without a skewed Election Commission’s gerrymandering, indelible ink u-turn (why hasn’t the police brought anyone to court yet, if the threats to the ink really is true?), the postal votes, busloads of phantom voters, etc., we would have a new government, and a new Prime Minister right now. people are demanding for ‘Reform’, immediately and all over. if your idea of ‘Reform’ in the Cabinet means dropping Rafidah Aziz, installing Zaid Ibrahim and Amirsham Aziz for credibility, but also bringing back Muhammad Muhammad Taib from the dead for… what??.. then you actually have no idea what ‘Reform’ means.

now, even Mukhriz Mahathir, who was previously so silent in the shadow of Khairy Jamaluddin in UMNO Youth, backed by the ageless Tun Dr Mahathir, is crying ‘Reform’ and calling for blood. wait,… what again??

now lets be fair. lets look at the problems, the rot in the system that has got people joining the ‘Reform’ bandwagon, from its roots and cause. take the arduous task of Zaid Ibrahim to ‘reform the judiciary’. the super-rich lawyer has in no time redressed back the 1988 Judicial Crisis, as every concern about the current judicial integrity could be traced back to that very event. yep, our judiciary was among the most independent and reputable before the heady days in 1988 when it clashed with the Executive. the propagator? the man himself, Mahathir Mohamad. 3 venerable judges were unceremoniously sacked while 2 were suspended (later reinstated) just for standing their ground to protect the independence of the judiciary that is the right of the rakyat. Tun Salleh Abas (then the highest ranked judge in the country) was of course, the biggest victim, and to be fair to Zaid, no amount of apologies could ever undo what has been done to him. (the sight of Tun Salleh leading the Bersih rally with Anwar and RPK, braving the rain & police & FRU, at his age, belies the injustice that has been done to him). since then, our judiciary has been in terminal decline and literally became a laughing stock of the world. the height of it? the joke that is the Anwar trial, of course. when the Executive gains control of the judiciary to do as he pleases, that is the kind of thing that could happen. remembering all those mattress and stuffs being carried all over the court, don’t you just wanna laugh, even now? it is also no mere coincidence that the police officer carrying the mattress is now the Inspector-General of Police (Musa Hassan) and the leading prosecutor is now the Attorney-General (Ghani Patail). how convenient is that? and how about the clamp of the mainstream media. several newspapers that stayed true to the noble principle of journalism were revoked of their licenses when they became too ‘independent’. The Star is never the same again after that, and the same goes with all the other major mainstream newspaper, until now. the propagator? Mahathir himself. i could give some slack to Media Prima Bhd as they are a private entity, but RTM is owned by the Information Ministry, which is bankrolled by the rakyat’s money. RTM is supposed to be the rakyat’s media channel, fair and square, not BN’s propaganda arm. but still, poor incompetent Zainuddin Maidin ripped off the rakyat in broad daylight, and abused the taxpayers’ money by turning RTM into what it is now, a joke. yep, that is why you got voted out, Zam, the tribe has spoken. moving on to other issues… Operasi Lalang? ISA? Mahathir. the ever-so-sensitive Memali massacre? Mahathir.

now let’s look at Amirsham Aziz, the just-retired banker extraordinaire, who was tasked to helm the EPU (Economic Planning Unit) which has become the playground of the ‘4th floor boys’ (Google this if don’t know what it means) these 4-5 years. apart from his textbook duties to put some sense (finally) into the nation’s economic planning, the ‘hidden/implied’ task of Amirsham is to somehow reform the public perception, as it is now, of the system of economic patronage to a certain group of cronies who claimed to be the ‘elites’ (whatever that means). the patronage system has always been like a culture in UMNO, but no one has ever pushed the bar up so high it ryhmes with cronyism and nepotism until Mahathir. Privatization of public institutions was a way of making his friends instant millionaires, in his vision to cultivate a breed of Malay tycoons. although the privatization exercise was somewhat influential in helping the nation weather the 1998 Asian financial crisis, but what has become of it now? Mahathir’s legacy in this part of the nation’s history is only filled with huge government bailouts of crony companies helmed by incompetent individuals not up to the standard. what has become of Bernas? Perwaja? yep Eric Chia was freed by the court, but that still did not erase the losses suffered in taxpayer’s money in the Perwaja debacle. and don’t forget the obscene bailout figure granted to MAS under Tajudin Ramli. what about Peremba (better known as PECD) now a PN17 company? and don’t even let me start on Proton, and his sons’ scandal in Pantai Holdings, Tongkah and MISC. the list goes on, and on, and on. the poster boy of this era was of course, non other than Halim Saad, helming the poster crony company, Renong Group (now UEM Group). UEM was just a loss-making, small engineering firm when Mahathir and Daim took over and gave them the PLUS project (later to become the cash-cow of the group), blatantly and arrogantly declaring that the project was given to UEM because ‘we need to build the new UMNO headquarters (PWTC), and who else is gonna fund it?’. Renong became an instant conglomerate having businesses from construction & property (UEM), oil & gas (now form the bulk of SapuraCrest group), telecoms (TimeDotCom), healthcare (now Pharmaniaga) and other interests. and it was so huge that it had to be bailed out twice (with taxpayers’ money) just because the collapse of the group would drag the whole economy with it due to its sheer size. the UEM Group and MRCB were among the few companies from that era that are still going strong today, after several revamps. of course there was also some success stories in that Mahathir’s cronyism era – Lim Goh Tong, Ananda Krishnan, Syed Mokhtar comes to mind – but the point here is that, all these scandals and system of patronage and cronyism associated with Pak Lah’s administration has become a culture in UMNO started by Mahathir himself.

The Edge (which is now owned by one of Mahathir’s most loyal ally, Vincent Tan of Berjaya Group) has lambasted Mahathir for having a ’selective memory’, and his penchant of contradicting himself, in his continued criticism of Pak Lah’s administration. Mahathir’s ability to contradict himself, doing one thing and then saying the opposite right after that, is legendary. for me, looking at the way he’s accusing Pak Lah one after another, with the things that actually started by him in his administration, that ability is now beyond legendary. it is up to the point that it’s not even funny anymore.

Melayu mudah lupa? no, we don’t!!