The problem with Malaysian Politicians 1

I sit down to breakfast and what's the first thing I see? On the front page of both major newspapers (The Star and NST) - UMNO Youth barring Karpal Singh from entering Parliament. His buddies try to protect him and get roughed up. They manage to enter their workplace.

Karpal claims that UMNO Youth sent him live ammunition. UMNO Youth are upset because Karpal called them 'celaka' (damned or more eloquently, accursed). Charming, innit?

Extra notes for those unfamiliar with the dramatis personae:

1. Karpal is an old-hand in an Opposition party. And he is OLD. He's a lawyer too. 'Celaka' would be mild from him if you were his opponent.

2. UMNO Youth include the young-at-heart. I think the upper limit to be a member is 55 years old. Might be 45.

3.  Karpal's buddies above are also old men. What I mean by old is above 60, but I think these guys are all in the region of 70.

4. Word on the street says that UMNO Youth are a bunch of thugs. They harass and bully and behave like a bunch of children. Ironic indeed.

5. Karpal is wheelchair-bound.

To summarise:

Young punks 'allegedly' send wheelchair-bound old man live ammo. Upset wheelchair-bound old man calls young punks celaka. Young punks stop wheelchair-bound old man from entering his workplace. Wheelchair-bound old man's old buddies try to protect wheelchair-bound old man. Young punks rough up old men. They all make headlines.

I know you're thinking these:

1. Grumpy old man + Opposition party member + stuck in a wheelchair + lawyer + politician. Calls you (Ruling party member) celaka. SO?!?!?

2. How does this happen: "Hey boys (say, 5 of your gang) - we've just been called accursed. Let's stop him from entering Parliament!"

3. World economies are going into a massive recession. Don't these guys have more important things to worry about than their state of damnation?

4. The Ruling party has big issues (not even counting the recession) to deal with. An even bigger issue is stepping up next month. The people are very much not impressed. How does "Future leaders of Ruling party harass old wheelchair-bound man and stop him from entering his workplace" improve their image again (sorry, I slept through Malaysian Politics 101)?

5. Karpal has just been given live ammunition. Free! Why not just use it??

Bloody morons. All of them.

The Star: Malaysia's Health Minister admits to sex video

One day after the new year, The Star comes out with this: The Health Minister admits to being the star of a sex video making its rounds in Johor (or, more likely, the whole of Malaysia). He has since taken the route of integrity and honour and resigned from all his political posts. Good on him.

Generally, I would think that the first thoughts of most Malaysians discovering his involvement in the video would be:

• "Aiyah why he so stupid go get caught ah?"
• "I wonder who the girl is (and is she hot)?"
• "So old only want to film your own home video ah?"

But, most importantly:

• "Where can I find the video?!?"

If you scan your eyes further down the front page, you'll come across possibly the finest piece of honest information dissemination from The Star:
Wow, how kind. Thanks Star - guess I won't have to pester my pirated DVD salesman for it.

The Story of Stuff

Whilst going through my Google Reader, I came across this link on Intrepid Flame - The Story of Stuff.Go watch it. If your Internet connection's wonky like mine, you might wanna go to the Downloads page and just get the .mov file (54 MB), probably easier. What an eye-opener - it's a wake-up call to a world gone consumption crazy. Sure, it's targeted towards the US, but the rest of the world is sorely affected too. It's scary stuff, but unfortunately this is the era we're living in and like it or not, we have to take responsibility for this Earth we're living in.

Here are a few teaser videos:

Check it out. And don't keep buying so much crap.

Gaining political awareness in Malaysia

Perhaps its the coming General Elections. Perhaps its our recently celebrating our 50th anniversary of Independence. Perhaps its the coming of age of youth who are getting disaffected by the way things are running, the way things have been run.

The timing is nevertheless appropriate. The rate of secular decline is shocking. The rate of ethical decline is appalling. The rate of political decline is embarassing. Turkey has recently stated an interest in "never turning into another Malaysia".

Free and fair elections. Transparency in governmental affairs. Less corruption, especially in the police force. Revamping the Legislature. Politicians with more integrity and backbone. Repealing laws that flagrantly flout basic human rights. Better roads and public structures. Freer press.

These are just a small list of 'wishes' by the people of Malaysia. Yes, we have things good here. Yes, we should be and are, for the most part, thankful for what we have. Yes, things could be much worse.

However, we, the people of Malaysia, want more. Better. We see Malaysia as the beauty it could be, it should be; and not the horror that it might be, that it seems to be heading towards being. We are tired of being told that we are not ready for this or that, that we might end up in the small nightmare of racial riots, that we'd end up the pawn of American hegemony. We want to get out of the rut of being treated as children and get to know better. Know more. And ultimately, decide for ourselves.

We, the pool of talent, acumen, skills and strengths of Malaysia, want to be more involved in the building of this beautiful nation, this country that breaks our hearts by denying us the avenues to making Malaysia greater than it sees itself now. And we are beginning to make our stand, to claim our birthright and be counted as an individual in the forging of the Malaysian story.

Whatever your political inclination, voting is your responsibility as a Malaysian citizen. Right now, it is one of the very few means we have to be heard so use it! Check out voter registration status at the Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (Electoral Commission) website and if you're not already registered, go to the Post Office ASAP and get it done!!!

Nextly, if you've a Facebook account, pop on over to the VotEd group and join. Get yourself politically educated.
Another Facebook group to check out is called Deny BN 2/3 Majority in the Upcoming Elections. It is a non-partisan (not affiliated with any political party) group that has as its ultimate intention greater transparency and accountability in Parliament by virtue of wider representation. Take a gander to understand their stance, then do with the info as you see fit.

2 interesting sites to check out are:
- the meesh experience for an "activist" blog
- The Other Malaysia for news from an independent perspective

There are many more, I'm sure - do post them here if you come across them.

I'll close off with an excerpt from Tunku Abdul Rahman's speech made a day before he declared Independence:


To the youth of this country I have a message.
You have a wonderful future ahead of you.
Unlike us, you have a country free from any domination.
You grow up with your heads held high as masters in your own country.
As masters you have the privileges as well as your duties and responsibilities.
The future of this country rests on you: whether our star rises or falls, it will be due to you solely.
Therefore, be ready to serve her, to build her up and to give your life in her defence.
You and I must be determined to make Malaya a place which we shall all be proud to call home.
We have therefore a role to play and let us play it well.

- Tunku Abdul Rahman

Me go yoga. Then I petitioned to fire Wolfowitz.

Me heard yoga at True Fitness kicks ass. It's true - me ass got kicked.

Yoga fun. Me prefer teaching at Yoga Zone. More thorough. True Fitness, show then do. Minimal instruction. Me go Hatha, did new things. Fun. Head stand! First time. First time fun.



I later received an e-mail from Avaaz (a community dedicated to creating a global voice to influence international politics, check it out) about a petition to fire Wolfowitz. Now he's a fucker who really should be sent to Guantanamo to be beaten, bullied, bashed and shat on every moment of every day. If you don't remember, he's one of the loudest fuckers calling for dropping bombs in Eye-Rack (yes he's a tactless ignoramus too). Now he's president of the World Bank and committed to fighting corruption - but what happens? He's involved in a corruption scandal that makes sure his girlfriend gets paid more than Condoleeza Rice. Don't just fire his stupid ass, burn his whole family out and remove their stain from our gene pool forever.

Yes, abuse of power makes me go all Hitler. Fuck him up here.