Submarines, we finally got our submarine

I am a bit of a military buff so this one deals a bit with my interest. Not too many Malaysians are thrilled or bothered when our first submarine reached our shore. She will be joined by another so we will have a pair.


From Nacho photos ... not mine, I did not have the means and time to visit the occassion.


The first submarines emerged way back in the 1860’s in the American civil war. Perhaps the most famous one was the Hunley which story was made into a TV movie and was aired over Astro recently. These early apparatus were used to attack military targets such as warship.

http://www.americancivilwar.com/tcwn/civil_war/naval_submarine.html

However, the really wide scale use of submarines came in World War II where Germany used its U-Boats to attack merchant ships bring in war and non-war supplies into the United Kingdom so that the nation can be starved and deprived into submission.

It became a strategic weapon whereby instead of directly attacking British warship in a conventional kill or be killed confrontation.

U Boats were used as "Wolf-Packs"approach where 3 to 20 submarines seek to envelop a group of merchant ships and try to sink as many ships and materials as possible.

http://www.uboat.net/ops/wolfpacks/overview.htm

The number of Allied ships lost was horrendous. More than 3,000 ships were lost in the Battle of Atlantic. Each ships carried tens of sailor so the casualties were very very high. The plight of the brave sailors injured with severe burns and broken limps floating in the icy cold and violent Atlantic Ocean was too horrible for me to imagine.

http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/losses_year.html

Later American submarines did the same to Japan in the closing stages of World War II and effectively put the entire Japanese population into a state of desperation and famine as supplies of raw materials and essential goods from sea was prevented successfully from entering into Japanese harbours. Some American commanders believed that the situation was so bad that even without the atomic bomb, Japan might surrender after another 6 months of blockade.

Nowadays, the greatest submarines in the world are nuclear submarines carrying nuclear Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles. These vessels are capable of submerging under the sea for months and able to launch nuclear missiles across thousand of miles. It is now a strategic deterrent weapon where if your nuclear opponent has wiped out your armies and air force, you still have your submarines hidden somewhere undetected to retaliate. A means to holocast.

So what did we Malaysians paid millions to acquire and maintain the 2 submarines for?

Malaysia comprise of a peninsular plus the northern shoreline of the formidable Borneo sub-continent so it has a vast area to cover. The most recent and significant threat comes from pirates with small, swift, powerful speedboats and we all remember the high profile Sipadan Island hostage taking case. It must have been a horrible experience for the victims and we must not allow this kind of thing to happen again.

But submarines are not designed to chase pirates in little boats. It s primary weapon is torpedoes which is meant to hit bigger, slower cargoes or warships. Its vision from periscope or its cone tower is very limited compared to helicopters which afforded greater vision to its personnel so submarines are not designed and built to locate and hunt down pirates.

Let’s see how our democratically elected leader explains it

http://bigdogdotcom.wordpress.com/2007/10/24/kd-tunku-abdul-rahman-launched/

“It is crucial for Malaysia to have a small but credible and effective naval force not only to safeguard its sovereignity and maritime interests against any eventuality but more importantly contribute to the maritime security and safety in the region,” he said at the launch and naming of Malaysia’s first Scorpene submarine at the DCN Shipyard, here.

- I don’t get it. Maybe I am stupid. Our shorelines are big and our sea area is huge, extending all the way up to Spratly Island, right? So how can our naval force cover that much area and remain small and effective?

- Imagine trying to hire 2 security guard to walk around the whole Putrajaya administration complex…..

- Submarines are not meant to counter anything and everything as its combat versatility is not great.

Najib’s wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, launched the submarine which was named after Malaysia’s first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman.

- Must have been a charming spectacle, let’s move on….

Najib said the introduction of the Scorpene submarine would certainly strengthen RMN’s naval capability.



-
Huh? To do what? Reads like a karangan tingkatan lima if you ask me.

On the seabed lie underwater pipelines that transport Malaysia’s oil and gas ashore as well as cables that link major international communication networks.


- Naval submarines are not built to ferry civilian pipe engineers to sea bed or watch over miles and miles of cable, right?

- Am I missing anything?

One thing Badawi said about Malaysia is “First World Facility but Third World Mentality”. Given the Nuri accident rates, one wonders about the prevailing maintenance capability and culture.
Our intrepid current DPM who used the nation’s armed forces helicopter to attend his political party’s little powwow was stout, unperturbed and brave as the national asset was expertly landed when mechanical problem surfaced.

However, if our submarine were to suffer malfunction or accident severe enough to render it immobile or even sink it, do we have the capability to rescue our brave, expensively assembled and trained submariners?

Look what the Russians have to endure when the Kursk exploded and sunk

We need to learn from them ... oops another lawatan sambil belajar....

I remember some statistic was quoted to the effect that only 0.01% of the national service boys and girls died so 35 submariners out of thousand of naval personnel could provide a similar acceptable ratio, I suppose.

Whoever that has to explain things to the family of 0.01% has an unenviable task, that’s for sure.

Dr, what the FXXX is this about?

As a wee lad, I used to watch this TV series "6 million dollar man". Of course, now we have "RM1 million is nothing" woman, Dr. Ng Yen Yen.

After stirring/cooking up a little hoo haa over origin of food,
http://www.mmail.com.my/content/13545-nasi-lemak-ours

she went on and clarify that she never said we should patent the food.
http://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/bnm/20090923/tts-ng-food-993ba14.html


Of course she didn't say we should patent the food. I read the Malay Mail article and then Malaysia Insider and there is no mentioning of patents.

http://themalaysianinsider.com.my/index.php/malaysia/38002-truly-malaysian-tourism-minister-wants-to-stake-claim-on-popular-dishes

Registering for the patent will be a joke and enforcing it will be impossible. Just so soon after the MacDonalds and McCurry court case, surely Ng Yen Yen would not have miss out the message from this episode? Food fight without a firm argument to back you up is plainly unnecessary and waste of valuable time and money.

If Ng Yen Yen were to do that, what if MacDonalds patent burgers and start hunting down the Mat Ramli burgers by the road side and ask for royalty?

I suppose, following prevailing tradition and habits, self created crises that waste column inches is helluvaway to get noticed. It is also risk free because there is no need for a solution because, really, there is no problem while the real problems are left unattended.

It is good business for politicians to get noticed (as long as it is planned by the politicians themselves, try and ask another Dr. who was unfortunately got unplanned publicity during his off-duty time).

Just be careful, such craving for publicity and attention can be addictive; just ask another certain Dr. M who might know a thing or 2 about this kinda addiction.

Even certain non-BN celebrities have caught the bug. Good old Hassan instructed cases of custom-regulation-compliant beer to be taken away without warning or notice. Helluvaway to talk to business community and promote their confidence.

My advise to Ng Yen Yen as a voter and a tax payer is that, as a tourism minister, she can gain more mileage by taking on PAS Youth who wants to ban every foreign man, woman and bird to have a concert to Malaysia.

"Who is the heck you guys with wild imaginations approve, eh?" I can imagine her put er high heels down and bearing down on'em "The Singing Burkas?!!" That would put the kill-joys in their places.

This would taint and ridicule Malaysia as a destination for relaxation and fun. People's rice bowl in the entertainment industry will be affected,. Ng Yen Yen can kill 2 birds with 1 stone and yet she choose to pick food fights with Mr and Mrs Kiasu over the origins of unhealthy food items that we food-loving Malaysians never bother anyway. As long as it is affordable and yummy, there is no problem so why go and create 1? (Cia Pah Boh Tai Chi - belly full and too free, izzit?)

Seriously, the kill-joys only have 1 word in their vocabulary and that is "no". The kill joys should try to be constructive and put out a list of who they think can have the sing-along or whatever needs to be done so that they would not be offended. (Frankly, if the kill joys just not turning up would suffice). Their bag daddy also say they are "untuk semua" so why the No No No No, they got Dr No inside, izzit?

I think I should dedicate this article to Drs.......

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Kepada semua rakyat Malaysia yang meraikan hari raya aidilfitri yang mulia ini, saya mewakili semua penulis blog sini mengucapkan selamat hari raya maaf zahir batin kepada semua, terutamanya kepada saudara Awang Selamat.

A 10 minutes analysis of GE 12 from a faulty crystal ball

Number of Parliament seats GE 12 Total 222


Sarawak
Number of seats won by BN 30 (14% of 222)

Sabah
Number of seats won by BN 24 (11%)

Peninsular Malaysia
Number of seats won by BN 86 (39%)

Total seats won by BN 140 (63%)

Total seats won by Pakatan 82 (37%)

http://www.parlimen.gov.my/dR-statistik.htm


To gain control of federal governmentship, Pakatan need to secure 30 more seats.
That would leave BN with 140 - 30 = 120 and PR with 82 + 30 = 122


Can this happen?
- maybe, maybe not


What factors can help Pakatan Rakyat do to get these seats?
- get more younger people to vote

- Pakatan Rakyat can proof their worth as administrators

- Pakatan Rakyat don't shoot themselves in the foot

- BN shoot themselves more often in the foot

- EC would do what other developed countries' EC equivalent would do


Where are Pakatan Rakyat going to get the other 30 seats?
- Sarawak and Sabah, not likely, I can't see East Malaysians will change the way they vote and Pakatan machinery there do not look strong and the logistic is daunting. Seat allocation agreement has to be settled before there is hope in any notable progress.The best they can hope for is to get a few more seats here and there.


- Terengganu? They were under PAS for a term and things look rosy for UMNO there at the moment. Presently BN has 6 seats compared to 2 for Pakatan so there is room for improvement here for Pakatan

- Negeri Sembilan : PR fell 3 seats short to capture the state...hmm...let's see how Bagan Pinang pans out. For Dewan Rakyat, it is BN 5, Pakatan 3 so there could be tight enough for a swing or no more room for improvement for Pakatan.

- Johor (Pakatan won 2 seats out of 26), Pahang (Pakatan 2 outof 14): UMNO stronghold but the gold mine scenario in Raub has given Pakatan Rakyat a rallying point there

- Perak : Pakatan Rakyat has a strong case to reclaim the state and increase number of Parliment seats there. GE 12, BN won 13 seats vs Pakatan's 11 seats

- Melaka: Between N Sembilan and Johor but I feel BN still has the upper hand here. Pakatan only has 1 seat here out of 6.

- Perlis : Close to Kedah, can PAS extend their influence into Perlis? BN currently holds all 3 seats here.

- Penang : If YAB Lim Guan Eng can ahieve more and complain less (although I empathise with him) DAP and other Pakatan component parties will do well to maintain the number of seats (11 vs 2 for Parliament)

- Selangor : BN has 5 out of 22 so Pakatan could have gone as far as it can here? Perhaps the Selcat findings can swing another seat of two? If there is another power grab as rumour has it, then there could be some angry voters by next GE.

- Kedah : The PAS MB may need to learn up "PAS untuk Semua" to please and maintain support from "Semua" as Indians and Chinese votes did contributed to the PAS victory as Malay votes were almost equally split, I think.

- Kelantan : ok, I feel Pakatan can rely on this one

- Putrajaya and Labuan : shouldn't be a seat for them at all.

Is the slim majority enough? Any frogs around?

Let's revisit this come the next opportunity. Your input very much well come.

A Voice from Singapore Malay





Laporan The News Straits Time 30 August 2009
Dr. Suzaina Kadir, 41
Pensyarah Kanan Sains Politik, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (Institut Dasar Umum Lee Kuan Yew)
“Pihak kerajaan dapat bantu memberikan lapangan yang rata untuk semua”


“Jika anda tanya saya apakah maksud “keadilan perkauman”, jawapan saya adalah ia bermaksud hak yang sama untuk semua dalam mendapatkan peluang dan sumber. Ini tidak sepatutnya dilihat dari segi perkauman sahaja tetapi dari segi semua pihak dan perkumpulan.

Perkara ini menjadi rumit apabila kita mengahadapi peninggalan sejarah yang telah menindas hak kumpulan-kumpulan tertentu termasuk penindasan dari segi kaum. Maka persoalan ini berkembang menjadi sama ada pihak kerajaan harus bertindak mewujudkan suatu suasana di mana semua pihak menmpunyai peluang yang sama.

Terdapat pihak yang menyatakan perbuatan ini adalah “meratakan padang persaingan yang tidak rata”. Terdapat pelbagai pendekatan untuk pihak kerajaan cuba untuk mencapai matlamat ini.

Saya bersetuju dengan peringatan Menteri Mentor Lee Kuan Yew dalam Parlimen bahawa kita mesti mengingati “titik permulaan” kita. Kita perlu memahami perbincangan mengenai hubungan perkauman yang wujud ketika dan semasa waktu merdeka. Hanya dengan inilah kita boleh memahami maksud dan matlamat yang membentuk dasar-dasar yang berkenaan dengan perkauman di Singapura. Saya bersetuju bahawa kita sering tidak berbuat demikian dan tidak memahami ini dengan sepenuhnya.

Penting juga kita berbuat demikian untuk menilai sepenuhnya apa yang kita telah capai dan bolehkah kita beralih daripada dasar sekarang. Pemahaman mendalam adalah perlu untuk kita menilai pencapaian kita sama ada telah mencapai matlamat asal kita serta adakah kita telah melakukan kesalahan atau tidak.

Ini membawa saya kepada persoalan yang lebih peka lagi mengenai kaum minoriti di Singapura patut dilindungi dan dibantu oleh kerajaan atau tidak. Ini adalah soalan yang sukar untuk saya jawab dan saya kerap memikirkannya. Seperti ramai rakyat Singapura, saya diasuh dengan dan mempercayai tentang dasar meritokrasi dan saya masih berpegang mengenai dasar ini.

Saya masih ingat lagi dalam tahun lewat 80’an, sebagai penuntut universiti Melayu/Muslim, perbahasan genting ketika itu adalah patutkah pihak kerajaan patut memansuhkan subsidi pendidikan untuk orang Melayu dan saya ingat mendengar pemimpin-peminpin Melayu / Muslim menentang tindakan ini tetapi saya rasa subsidi ini harus dimansuhkan kerana bagi Singapura, cara tunggal yang membolehkan kita bergerak ke hadapan adalah hak yang sama untuk semua kaum. Tanpa mengira kedudukan istimewa orang Melayu dalam perlembagaan Singapura, saya rasa tidak perlu perlindungan khas untuk laum-kaum minoriti kerana ini bertentangan dengan fahaman meritokrasi. Saya memegang kepercayaan kuat bahawa pendekatan yang sama patut diamalkan dalam pelbagai perbadanan bantu-sendiri.

Tetapi keadaan kini bukanlah begitu jelas. Peluang sama rata untuk semua sebenarnya tidak begitu adil untuk kumpulan-kumpulan tertentu. Mungkin kerajaan masih ada peranan lagi. Saya rasa perbahasan kita harus bertuju mengenai apakah peranan kerajaan, bagaimanakah kita mewujudkan peluang sama rata untuk semua kumpulan masyarakat.

Hukuman penjara dan sebat kerana menyerang kaum lain





Laporan Oriental Daily 12 September 2009
Singapore 11hb September
Seorang lelaki Melayu yang berukir kulit (tattoo) perkataan “anti-Yahudi” di mukanya telah menyerang seorang Yahudi di khalayak dan dikenakan hukuman penjara 3 tahun dan sebat 12 kali bawah undang-undang Singapore yang terbaharu “Akta Memelihara Keharmonian Antara Kaum” dan Agama”.
Tertuduh Azmi yang berumur 34 tahun, adalah orang pertama yang didakwa di bawah undang-undang baru ini.
Apabila ditahan polis, beliau cuba berdalih menyatakan tattoo itu adalah lambang kumpulan rok bawah tanah dan telah menambahkan ukiran Merlion di mukanya untuk menutup lambang tersebut.
Selepas itu, apabila beliau ternampak seorang yang memakai topi Yahudi di tepi jalan yang bernama Eliyahu (21 tahun), Azmi telah menyerangnya setelah mengetahui asal kaumnya.
Oleh yang demikian, Azmi didakwa melanggar akta terbaru tersebut dan beliau juga mengakui salah terhadap tuduhan-tuduhan lain iaitu menyamun dengan pisau, perbuatan menggertak dan mencederakan orang dengan pisau.
Hakim Wong Peng Hon dalam ucapan jatuh hukumannya menyatakan bahawa perbuatan membuat tattoo “Anti-Yahudi” di muka, tindakan menyerang orang adalah perbuatan yang tidak boleh diterima, merosakkan perhubungan antara kaum dan oleh kerana perbuatan ini adalah kesalahan besar, maka pihak mahkamah mesti menghantar isyarat lantang dengan menjatuhkan hukuman berat terhadap tertuduh.

Pada masa yang sama, hakim tersebut mewajibkan pihak pendakwa menghantar laporan pemeriksaan jiwa tertuduh kepada pihak penjara untuk mengenalpasti sama ada keadaannya dapat menerima hukuman sebat dan mengarahkan bahawah tattoo itu dikeluarkan daripda mukanya.

Bagan Pinang - An early Analysis

The election commission has fixed Sept 14 as the date to determine the nomination and polling dates for the N31 Bagan Pinang seat in Negeri Sembilan that fell vacant following the death of incumbent assemblyperson Azman Mohammad Noor, of Barisan Nasional last Friday. A very critical By-Election, whichever way you see it. A win for BN, its status quo, a BIG win for BN would embolden Umno to play even more vicious racial card and a big setback and may stall PR's momentum in their quest for Putrajaya. A win for PR... well lets keep it for later. Me humbly thinks any by-elections from now till the next GE would see stakes rising to astronomical proportions.


Bagan Pinang is one of the 5 state seats that falls under P132 Teluk Kemang and Bagan Pinang is also one of the two state seats in P132 Teluk Kemang held by BN. The other 3 are being held by PR component parties PKR (2), DAP (1). BN has also exhorted that Bagan Pinang is a BN "stronghold". I would believe so. With 5000+ postal votes in Fixed Deposit, I do not see why they should not be confident in retaining this seat.

Let us do some mathematics on why BN can be cocky about their chances here. Considering the breakdown as accurate, Non-Malays makes up 34% of the population which translates out to be 4800+ voters, leaving the remaining 9300+ Malay voters but unfortunately 5000 of these would come from postal votes, thus remaining only 4300 or so Malay votes to be casted independently.

Now if we were to take that turnout at 70% which is 5% lower than that during the 12th General Election (I would suppose the polling day would be a weekday to force the turnout to be lower) and we assume that across the board, 3300+ non Malays casted their votes, 3000+ Malays casted their votes and remaining 5000+ can play a major role in determining the winner or winner by whatever quantum that BN would like to make them look good.

Technically, PR will need to secure 90% of the non postal votes to secure victory in Bagan Pinang and that by a very slim margin of within 100+ votes. (That is assuming 5000+ postal votes show a 100% turnout). Now, how do I arrive at that.

Votes casted 3300+3000+5000 = 11300 votes.
That would give us a voter turnout of 79.62% overall.
Votes needed to win= 11300 x 50% = 5600+ votes.
Non Postal Votes casted = 6300 votes.
Votes needed from 6300 = 88.88%!


Scenario 2 (PR obtains 10% of postal votes cast)

Total votes casted = 11,300
Voter turnout = 79.62%
Votes needed to win = 5600-(10% x 5000) = 5100
Non Postal votes casted = 6300 votes
Votes needed from 6300 = 80.95%!

Can you people see now why it is an iron cast BN stronghold? If you assume Malay votes split right down the middle, PR will not win the seat even with 100% non-Malay votes. They will need at least 76.67% of the non Postal Malay votes casted to ensure victory for PR. Do you think that is possible?

Votes needed to win = 5600
Non Malay votes = 3300
Balance Malay votes required = 2300
Total non Postal Malay votes = 3000
% of non Postal malay votes required = 76.67%!

Possibility of BN winning with a majority greater than last General Election is good as they have in their posession 5000 ballot papers! But if a seat where they can manipulate almost 50% of the votes is lost, I do not know what could be worse for BN.

Exhortations of Righteousness? or Plain Bullshit?

I have stopped buying and reading newspapers, but, now and then one can't help but to note the headlies... (pun intended) on the local newspapers.. occasionally I also browse The Star for some "free" online propaganda.

Today is one of those days and The Star clearly chose to ignore to point out all those racist statements made by the PM Jibby's ministers in the past few months while chose to trumpet the PM's call to "Learn Tolerance" and "Mutual Respect" as espoused by the Quran. Everything points to the PM being "different" and definitely working towards the goal of 1Malaysia! Bravo!. If taken in isolation, it would have meant something in Malaysia but merge it with all the events that occur over the past few months, one really wonders if this PM has been out of the country and do not bother to keep in touch with local events or what?

Funnily though, after 52 years of BN rule, the country is still "learning to tolerate"? I mean, 52 years of BN rule! They have not achieved what they have been espousing all these while? On another level, would mutual understanding and respect be a more lasting basis of peace in Malaysia rather than tolerance? Tolerance as its means can have a breaking point. Would it not? Case in point.. there were many and the latest that people would have remembered would be the cow-head demonstration that it is now known. So, "tolerance"? Now, that the so called tolerance has hit the tipping point, the state government called for a "dialogue". A dialogue as we know is a diplomatic discussion by putting your grievances on the table and we try to understand the root of the problem and we "hope" to reach an understanding or rather a prelude to a more substantive discussion to resolve the whole matter. But, the "dialogue" as we all have come to understand today is a shouting match with no substance but obscenities and name calling. There is no desire whatsoever by the people who have "lost tolerance" to come with a mind to have a "dialogue". They seem hell bent on creating ruckus, intimidate and drive fear into others. Is this what our people have come to?

Back to the question, is the PM out of tune right now calling for us to learn tolerance? We have learnt tolerance for 52 years! And never once in the 52 years of tolerating have we ended up dragging something sacred and desecrate it in such a shameful manner. So, Mr. PM, you say we should learn more tolerance? Who should Mr. PM? Should we tolerate the abuser? or should we be more tolerant as the one receiving the abuses? Is your call to learn tolerance a one way traffic? Heads you win, tails I lose?

I would not go into detail as to their political affiliations of the people involved in the fracas of the demonstration and the dialogue session. Suffice to say that BN and Umno in particular have been supporting this group of people is enough to speak of your rant for tolerance and mutual respect is nothing more than a mantra that is ancient and is no longer applicable in Malaysia today.m

A Fool? Or Mere Posturing?

Firstly, thanks to Wee Tak for carrying my request to be a writer on this blog and also my thanks to resident.wangsamaju for believing that I can contribute worthy thoughts to be published in this blog. Its been sometime since I last wrote and I find it horribly tiring to maintain a blog and realize that it is indeed a full time job! Now come to think of it, which nincompoop that said that blog writers are unemployed and housewives?

Over the last few months, blogosphere in Malaysia has evolved tremendously. From mere rantings and sharing of opinion and views, they have become a major tool to get their message over to the masses in a very short time. Also since the so called "political tsunami" that hit Malaysia in March 08, the ancient and obese BN has also come to recognize that blogs and the internet has played a major role in their humiliatingly slim victory in the last general election, hence the machinery was started and "major overhaul" was made to make their presence felt in the blogosphere. To BN, its simple really.. dangle the $$$ in front of some bloggers and wallah! They now have a bunch of famous bloggers that will do their bidding.. have they succeeded? I think time will tell. I do not visit those blogs that often but once in a while I still do.. its good really food for thought to see where these people are heading.

Anyway, my thoughts today are not that ancient as March 08 but on some events that happened in our country lately, from the Perak fiasco, to Terengganu and to Selangor, spins, counter spins and further spins may have either left the people trying to make sense of what is happening to be in a state of being dizzy to being right down feeling completely hopeless that the country's politicians are beyond help and reproach.

There have been many articles pinned on how our Home Minister continues Umno's efforts to drive the wedge further between Malaysians through religion and racism from the recent cow head demonstration. Those articles have expressed enough on what needed to be said.

No, today, I would like to focus on the one man that has got no shame whatsoever. Implicated in various matters but never investigated or manage to get off the hook because he has been buddy buddy with the DG of Selangor's MACC. From shady land deals to working hand in glove with MACC in trying to bring down the current state government. From staying in a 24mil bungalow to his shiny botox-ed face.. from holing up in his office post March 08 shredding documents to his escapades to Disneyland on public funds... he is the famous MAT "BOTOX" TEMPE!

While the Home Minster was sent scurrying to contain his "extreme" defense of the cow-head demonstrators, this idiot of the same kind seem to want to continue to rant about it!

Among the gems of his quote (taken from Malaysiakini)

"The reason (the cow's head) was brought was to show that the (state government) had acted without thinking as the site (for the Hindu temple) was ready (in Section 18), so why relocate (to Section 23)?"

To show that the state government acted without thinking? Huh? So, does it mean that the non-Muslims can take a pig's head to show that the state government had acted without thinking as well?

"I don't know who brought it (the cow's head)... but for me, there is no sensitivity (involved) or link to the animal being holy for the Indians (Hindus)," he added.

No sensitivity involved.. because its to show displeasure to the state government? I really wonder how would a pig's head imply?

"That is up to him. I am not involved in that one. I am just commenting on it (the issue) because people have turned it into a racial issue and that is not right," he said.

His comments on Hishamuddin flopping to charge the demonstrators.... equally baffling. So, let me see, its okay for Umno leaders to have differing views, while if Pakatan members have differing views, (beer issue) then there is a disunity in Pakatan, but when Umno leaders have differing views... err.. its up to him? And nothing else? Hypocrite? A fool? or is it mere posturing to gain political mileage?

I simply do not understand how Malaysians can put up with these people! Can we as Malaysians, put a stop and say NO to these sort of politicians? Will the people of Sungai Panjang do the right thing next time out? Kick Mat Tempe out for good!

What does MCA stands for?

Normally I am more concern about Malaysia and Malaysians as a whole; rather than about my own race but today, maybe a bit too much of MCA news in the Chinese Press for the past few days, I caught a bug and decided to differ.

The Ong Tee Keat and Chua Soi Lek spat is nothing new. MCA No. 1 and No. 2 have always been like cats and dogs with the exception of Ong Ka Ting and Chan Kong Choy. (but in truth, my sister-in-law’s puppy grew up with her kittens and the beasts have more harmony between them than the Malays and non-Malays in the world according to Awang Selamat)

I just wonder what does MCA stands for, apart from their advertisement that they are always “fighting” for the Chinese. (Strange, since they are always in BN “fighting” for the rights of Chinese, just to flip it a bit, they are “fighting against” UMNO (Malays) and MIC (Indians) for “Chinese” interest so one wonders why the Controlled MSM never highlight about this “in-fighting” within Barisan Nasional coalition as a matter of concern).

I suppose Tan Cheng Lock’s MCA started off wanting to Manage Chinese Affairs. I suppose during the first few years, things were fine but over the years, with a party known for perpetual internal party struggles with Many Confusing Allegations and Many Confrontational Actions being thrown about, I would not be surprised if many Malaysian Chinese feel that their interest is not being served but Merely Cast Away and Marginalized Consistently Anyway while Malays have progressed and still progressing very well in terms of their political rights.

The rallying call for UMNO is “Malay Unity” while MCA hardly exclaim “Chinese Unity”, which, in a way, the currency MCA suppose to be dealing with as BN component party but this has not been applied with diligence and focus. Maybe MCA is too generous and Making Concession Amicably all the time as they are “fighting” for the Chinese rights, whatever that means. Personally I believe in Making Considered Approach in more logical in allocating the resource of the country for social justice and public wellbeing.

During the time when Mahathir Commanded All, MCA Meekly Cruised Along, silent during the judicial crises of 1988, leading us to the Lingam Gate and incredulous rulings passed as we witness the Perak debacle today.

Hence instead of protecting Chinese rights per MCA charter, maybe there is a case that they Merely Causing Agitation to the Chinese or even Made Chinese Angry.

While Utusan Malaysia has Made Condemning Accusations against the non-malays, MCA usually pay no heed as they may understand Utusan is Merely Creating Agitation without really meaning to let it degenerate into Major Conflict Anyway. Malaysia now is no longer in 1969.

Any major riot will destroy the economic pie which Malay has very substantial share and I hope Malays Can Assess this intelligently and rationally. Since Raja Niong claimed that on 1 August, RM200million or whatever were lost in few hours of protested without so much of a window being broken, I shudder to imagine what losses and harm an pre-arranged riot would cause and I hope all sensible Malaysians will not get involved.

The Cow Head Gate in Shah Alam is a case in point. MCA here did protest as much as a graveyard while after the Keris apology, there is More Clumsy Attempt from Hishammuddin to balance out the divide and rule tactics. Despite Most Condemnable Act of insensitivity, rudeness and recklessness, is MCA’s silence a sign of its Meekly Consenting Acceptance of the game? Mind you, should MBSA issues summons to the protestors for vandalizing, littering and spitting in public domain?

Annually, the Chinese top SPM and STPM top scorers cry and bitch about the scholarship hijack but one wonders if there is a case for manufactured crises for the Malaysia Complain Agency to justify its existence and says every year “Maybe Can Appeal”. Making Compassionate Appeals? More logical would be to Make Correct Allocations hence the best of our brains are developed, nurtured and retained to service the country and tax payers, rather than Money Chucked Away to less qualifying candidates.

Mind you, socially re-engineering is 1 thing but having incompetent doctors and leaders is a matter of life and death hence there is no room for Making Callous Appointments in getting the right people to do critical, life and death jobs.

Look at PKFTZ, had the parties involved Made Claims Accordingly then there is no problem but as the Pricewaterhouse report mentioned, some claims were Manipulatively Criminally Abusive, and now we Malaysians were made to pay for this Malignant Cancerous Abomination.

I am confused. The Zakaria and Toy properties were not investigated by MACC. Does that Make Corruption Acceptable? As the Teoh Beng Hock case shows, someone is still pretty against corruption practices but time of writing, we still do not know how much dirty money Teoh died for, was it RM2,400 or RM112?

The witnesses from MACC Mutters Conflicting Allegations like one said there was an argument while the other said no. Many Confusion Arises but one thing for sure, MCA seems more concern about its No.1 and former No. 2 WWF rather than some event that stirred the Chinese community here more than anything else.

After the RM10million can of worms is blown open, the Treasurer claims that MCA has …err.. RM2 billion in assets and that the alleged donation is both negligible and never been received by MCA. Fine, Money Can Accumulate but as a political party designed to assist the community it represents, how come so much money is retained and not distributed? One wonders how MCA can amass so much money also.

At the end of the day, any fight is a good fight if the fighters have noble intentions in their hearts. Whether MCA is fighting for the Chinese only or for the nation, I only hope is May Commonsense Arise and all Malaysians, regardless of racial and religious background can benefit from leaders who has Mature Caring Attitude. When time comes to exercise our democratic rights hopefully the quality of leadership available for Malaysians May Change Altogether.

Let Malaysians advertise Pendet and wayang

The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network
By: Riyadi Suparno

We Indonesians are simply overreacting in our response to Malaysia's use of the Balinese Pendet dance in promotional TV spots. We are acting like a big brother and bullying our younger brother. And such responses will not help us become a better nation.

First, it was a small protest from a group of Balinese people, the rightful owner of the dance, then unfortunately it grew into a nationwide condemnation of Malaysia.

Just read the comments posted at www.thejakartapost.com or many other Internet forums discussing the issue, and you will easily find many condemnations from Indonesians against Malaysia, some even urging the government to ganyang (invade) Malaysia, invoking memories of the time Indonesia was in confrontation with Malaysia.

Unwisely, the government responded in the same way, with the tourism minister summoning the Malaysian embassy's top official and sending a letter of protest to his counterpart in Kuala Lumpur.

But it did not stop there. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono joined the fray, calling on the Malaysian government to deal more carefully with "sensitive" cultural issues between the two countries.

Our responses have really gone too far. Just read this news from Antara: Diponegoro University (Undip), one of Indonesia's leading institutes of higher learning, has stopped admitting Malaysian students for the 2009-2010 academic year in an expression of "nationalism".

"We have done it as a concrete expression of our sense of nationalism," Undip rector Susilo Wibowo said Tuesday as quoted by Antara, after attending a ceremony to mark the induction of new students.

But we don't know the real reasons behind it. It could be because there were no Malaysian students applying to study at the university this academic year, which begins in July.

The point here is that we just overreacted to this issue, or worse, we tried to bully one of our closest neighbors.

Malaysia uses various Asian cultural expressions, especially Chinese and Indian, in its tourism campaign "Malaysia Truly Asia". China and India have never protested Malaysia's use of their cultural heritage in its tourism campaigns.

Why then are we so angry whenever Malaysia uses our cultural heritage, including the Pendet, batik and wayang in their tourism campaigns? In reality, though, Malaysia has never claimed the Pendet as their dance, batik as their craft or wayang as their performance.
These are Indonesian cultural expressions brought to Malaysia by the millions of Indonesians who moved there, mostly as migrant workers.

If it's an issue of rights, we don't have copyrights for most of our cultural products. Much, if not the majority of our cultural heritage, was created by our ancestors for the good of society and mankind.

For instance, many of our best classical Javanese gamelan compositions were written by anonymous composers. They were composed for the kings and the people, and the composers deliberately did not put their names there, much less copyrighted them.

Before Indonesia existed, anyone could play these compositions, even people from outside the Javanese kingdom. Now that Indonesia exists, does it mean nobody outside Indonesia can play and use them in their tourism campaigns, even if they have gamelan groups in their own countries?

Currently, hundreds of gamelan groups exist outside Indonesia. If they wish to promote their groups or if their country wishes to use these gamelan groups to promote tourism, they have every right to use gamelan images in their campaign.

Thus instead of getting angry or sending letter of protests or stopping admitting Malaysian students, we should be more positive and collaborate with the Malaysian government to promote our culture in that country.

When there are more Malaysians dancing the Pendet and playing the gamelan and to Indonesian pop songs, it will only mean more benefits, and not losses, to Indonesia. It will mean more commerce and tourism between the two countries.

Not only that, it would also strengthen cultural ties between the two nations.

Similarly, if Malaysia advertises more Indonesian cultural heritage, it would bring more benefits than losses to us.

Lets say, Malaysia advertises the Pendet, and tourists go there because of the advertisement. There is a great chance these tourists will continue on to Bali to see the Pendet at its source. So it not only saves us precious advertising dollars - which we rarely ever spend anyway - but also brings in dollar from more tourist visits.
So let Malaysians dance our Pendet and play our wayang and advertise them. It will only do good things for us in Indonesia.