Hooliganism, their trade mark

I just cannot imagine how the guards at the entrance to the Parliament could have allowed a group of hooligans to come into the compound of the august Parliament, the symbol of democracy which is the revered institution in our beloved Nation.

If we are mindful of the recent address by the King on his sadness to see the unparliamentary behaviour of our MP's, then nobody seemed to care what happened outside the building. For the bunch of idiots who seemed to have nothing better to do than to confront a wheel-chair bound elderly vocal politician by the roadside is a reflection of their mentors who claimed to govern this Nation within the realm of the Federal Constitution.

No matter how provocative Karpal's statement in Parliament had been, there's no excuse for these hooligans to act in the despicable manner and people who are sensible should condemn their utter disrespect towards the institutions of democracy. Those responsible in guarding the sanctity of the area within the compound of the Parliament House must take the rap for this lapse in security.

The toothless tiger

If I am not mistaken it was Tun Salleh Abas the former Lord President ( now known as Chief Justice ) aptly described the role of a Treasury representative on the Board of Bank Rakyat during the trial of the late Dato' Harun Idris who was then charged for corruption.

Today I saw on the news headline about the so-called new Commission to stamp out corruption with it's corterie of 'watchdog committees' to ensure that it's not a toothless tiger. Whether it can bite as much as it roars is much to be seen. But from my past recollection, it's rate of success in getting convictions was rather poor.

But from what I see in the newspapers, a lot of attention has been given to their new uniforms which looked rather more like the ones worn by dictatorial heads of some African countries. If these people who are going to catch the scoundrels who practice corruption start to admire each other's medals and their overhanging gold lanyards most of the times, then they could be fittingly be analagous to those toothless tigers. It's not the name or the uniforms that will do the trick of catching corrupt bums but diligence and hard work that requires patience, alertness and less conspicuous uniforms.

The Bare Truth

People seemed to be quite adept at using technology to bare the truth nowadays. One of the recent victim is Elizabeth Wong, who got voted with a thumping majority at the last GE. Despite our dark clouds over the horizon and the forecasted millions who would be jobless in this part of the world, our nation is immune to these gloom of doom, so to speak.

No matter how much bare truth is being spewed by serious writers about our economic situation, an equally good number of spin writers are gleefully engrossed in circulating the bare truth of another kind. I don't think the people realise what's coming for them or what's going to happen to their ricebowl, for the denial syndrome seemed to have spread like a plague.

According to the EC, it's going to cost them a total of RM 1 million for the two by-elections and no one bat an eyelid or cared very much. Perhaps the amount of money that would be thrown around would be multiplied by ten for all to savour.

If the price of democracy is measured in terms of million ringgits, then we should call it "money democracy" to follow "money politics". That's the bare truth!

Saturday Talk at OPA Penthouse

Last Saturday 14 February I attended a talk organised by the Old Putra's Association on the theme " Where to Malaysia " and the panel speakers were OP Abdul Rahman Embong and OP Nasir Hashim.

The number of OP's attending was rather small and it was expected, because people are always committed to some chores on weekends, I mean personal errands. But it's not the crowd that matters, but the substance which should be on the people's mind.

After listening to the panelists who were moderated by OP Gurdial Singh Nijhar and also the comments from the floor, I took the opportunity to speak my mind.

From what I gathered, OP Rahman was focussing on the Rukunegara which was inadvertantly referred to as Rukun Tetangga by OP Rozaly Rahman and OP Nasir was focussing on more mundane matters related to the masses who are presumably the oppressed poor workers and squatters who have less in life and who should have more in law. One of the floor speaker, OP Rahman Daud commented on his experience in trying to energise the Trengganu civil servants to no avail.

My point was made known that whatever way we looked at the future, the most pertinent thing to focus is the system operators who get things done for the people. They must be on their toes and they should have the right mind-set and not be easily politicised. It's a tall order, but nonetheless essential to make our future generations uphold the good governance and ensure justice and fairness to all.

Karpal vs. Bebal

Of late I am amused by the antics of the veteran politician and his adversaries, namely those young hotheads with yellow bands on their foreheads. The group of people everywhere seemingly shouting " Daulat Tuanku " are presumably hired crowds just like their counterparts in Jakarta,where those well-heeled visitors to that overcrowded metropolis know too well whenever there are demonstrations of similar kind. Does it make sense to waste your precious time to be in the streets if you aren't paid to do so. So don't be deceived by all these phony groups shouting hoarse who had no inkling what the issue is all about.

As a veteran politician and an experienced lawyer Karpal Singh is battle-scarred where politics is concerned. But more so in the Courtroom. Once a person on the bench called him a lawyer of lost cause, but I think that person is eating his words now. The reason why these groups of slogan shouting are being given the publicity by the press is obvious. It is to prove that many are ignorant of the law, including politicians who are supposed to know it but prefer to feign ignorance.

Today an article in the Star, a column entitled "Reflecting on the Law" written by Prof Shad Saleem Faruqi clearly states that the Ruler is not immune from civil suits as from the day of Merdeka. So Karpal, you have the last laugh as opposed to the "Bebals" who roamed in front of your office in Pudu.

Buy (by) Elections

The Election Commission is meeting very soon to set the date for the Buy Election in two places, one in Bukit Gantang and the other in Bukit Selambau. It seemed this time the Buy elections are all going into the hills, unlike the last one which was an estuary.

Despite our gloomy economy due to the world recession, a lot of money will be flying around in the buy-elections.

The retailers in many huge department stores are reporting a drop in sales, indicative of the reduced disposable income of the general population. But owing to the coming buy-elections, quite a number of retailers and suppliers are going to get orders for posters and flags. So even though the supply of money is not forthcoming to purchasers of goods and services, but some people are going to dig into their war-chests for the silver and gold to be pawned in order to buy-elections.

So whoever thought that politics is subservient to economics would be proven wrong since we are going to see a lot of bullshit being bombarded in the local electronic and print media about how well we are managing the country.

The Mind Trap

I am a former "Putra", that's the current term for "Budak" when I was in the Military College in the sixties, the only institution of it's kind. We have an association called OPAand it's members are known as "Old Putras".

Our motto is "Serve to lead" which of course was coined by the British when they set up the College. Just like their former colonial administrators, they were only looking forward to have people who served their interests.

The sad thing is that many of those who passed it's portals still continue to be in the mind trap, that is they are caught in some sort of a spider's web.

I thought when we have gone through half a century of Merdeka, they would have been able to think on their own, but some remained chained.

In the recent events kicking up the furore in the country, some have gone back to days of yonder trying to relive the kind of values which one would have thought to be relevant in the past, not for Vision 2020. Alas, they still languish in antiquated norms and mores, where the splendour of Royal untouchables reign the many parts of the Peninsula.

Today the Royalty are mere symbols of power, to give assent to Bills and to provide legitimacy, nothing more. But to some they still talk about as if we are in the days of absolute monarchs. I think we should get out of this mind trap.

Poor Perak

The people of Perak had enough on their minds for the past week even though not many had been retrenched as in Penang or Melaka. The Wayang on their political stage of Perak is a repeat of Sabah in the past.

Now the poor people of Perak is being given the same scenario but with a difference because the State ruler was a former top judge. True to his training and experience, he just followed to the letter of the law, perhaps throwing wisdom to the winds because he has a lavish lifestyle to upkeep.

To hell with the voters who wanted the change, if the money tap from the Federal coffers is not forthcoming to support his indulgence, ultimately it's the palatial mansions that needs maintenance and it cannot be done by having another state election.

So it's the poor people of Perak that's being screwed up, not the Ruler neither the politicians. Who cares for them anyway. As long as they are not the ones who have to struggle with the economy, they are not the least bothered.

The lesson which the poor people of Perak will be be soon repeated elsewhere. As long as the Federal Government is holding the purse strings, the puppets will just dance according to their tune.

Ipoh Mali

Many people is familiar with the slang which is given to the title above. It refers to the workers who sweat it out for money in exchange for their 'services'. So for the past several days the media in the country has been distracted from the economic gloom on the horizon to provide the " Wayang " from Ipoh.

But this time the timing is rather unfortunate. When everyone's attention should be focussed in providing solutions to the thousands of people losing their jobs, our leaders are being distracted with numbers which are bandied about by stupid idiots who should know better.

I am not fond of politicians but they are just court jesters who play the fiddle when Rome burns. We know that politics has no loyalty and they have neither true friends or mortal enemies. But it's insensible for the ordinary people who have to think where the food for the family is going to come from whereas at the same time a foolhardy idiot said he was promised RM 50 million to make the magic numbers work.

I pray that the Sultan of Perak being the fountain of wisdom will not fall prey to the vultures who are lurking behind his throne.