Wednesday, December 24, 2014

In Muslim Malaysia, it's more than OK to wish Merry Christmas

War is Over! If you want it - Happy Xmas from us*. In some other countries, perhaps, it is NOT ok for a Muslim to say Merry Christmas to a Christian. In Malaysia, it has always been alright. Muslims even wish fellow Muslims Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year. That's how strong our iman is, how solid our aqidah has always been as Muslims.

But don't lah take us for granted.

Me, I've always looked forward to Christmas since I was a child. I have many Muslim-Malay friends who feel the same. Not as much as we do Aidil Fitri and Adha, but Dec 25 has always inspired that holiday spirit and goodwill feeling in us, too. So I - we - say, Merry Christmas. Don't start a war.


* Logo, courtesy of Ratpacks, Singapore, was posted on a Triumph Malaysia motorcycle owners' chatroom on Whatsapp; this posting's sub-headig War is Over! ... is borrowed from John Lennon's famous campaign at the height of the protest movement against the Vietnam War waged by America 

Friday, December 19, 2014

Malaysia's most intriguing cold case

The British claimed Maarof, who formed the first Malay bank in Malaysia, commited suicide 

They should re-open Encik Maarof's murder file. The first time I learned about the tragic story of Maarof Zakaria, the man behind Jalan Maarof, which today is not merely a road in Bangsar but an icon of the Federal capital of Kuala Lumpr, was courtesy of the journalist and author Rusdi Mustapha, who had a column in The Business Times back in the Nineties when I was its Editor. If I remember correctly, Datuk Rusdi used his pen name Seri Menanti when he wrote that article. 

Interest in the murder that took place in Dec 1948 was revived when Maarof's son, the veteran Malay actor Mustafa Maarof, died early this week at the age of 79. The anonyous blogger Pasquale described Maarof as one of the original Malay nationalists who "for his entire life until he the day he was murdered he championed and advocated for the Malay economic freedom" (Maarof Zakaria was my father's childhood friend, Dec 16). The photograph above is courtesy of his hard-hitting blog Barking Magpie.
Unfortunately, in spite of many enlightened Malay nationalist like Maarof, Pak Sako, Mustapha Hussin, the Malays then and now are still disunited and easily manipulated, to a point now that they might be losing control of their political domination. Or eventually, if they are still disunited, they may even lose the country. 
Pasquale hits harder still with regards to the current state of Malay politics in his latest posting Push comes to shove

From Tun M's outspoken daughter and her "liberal" friends to a reclusive former Finance Minister who allegedly used his position to amass fortune, "half-breed" newsmen who became rich because of Anwar Ibrahim, and "countless" ex Cabinet ministers who wanted concessions and projects,  few are spared his tirade.

"These ingrates thought Najib can be easily bullied."

Me, I believe Encik Maarof didn't die in vain. Not all Malays have forgotten. In fact, we think they should re-open the file and find his murderers, even if they too are six feet under.

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Saving Bernama TV

Relieved to read YB Shabery Cheek's assurance (Decision on troubled Bernama TV soon - Rakyat Post, 16 Dec) but the Minister has to decide NOT soon but very, very soon.

Shabery to the rescue

Some 180 of my fellow journalists there haven't been paid salaries since October. Shabery is their only hope now for a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. There are bills to pay and school books, uniforms and fees to worry about.

To be fair, BerTV isn't Shabery's baby. Never was. The people responsible for setting up Bernama TV Synergy in those sleepy days of 2008, which lost RM9 million in the first year alone, are long gone (one is Senator now). Bernama, the national news agency, is forced to carry their baby now i.e find money to pay salaries, operations costs, etc (and I was told that the national news agency's finances have dried up because of this).

I agree with Shabery: it's impractical to run a TV program in four languages. And it must find a new business model quickly. 

My 2sens on what the Minister should do:

1. Pay salaries (the wage bill is about RM800,000 a month only);
2. Dissolve Bernama TV Synergy (don't forget to pay hutang2 lama to those local production companies, some of which had gone bust because of Synergy's non-payment);
3. Hand over BerTV to Bernama lock, stock and barrel. Absorb all staff; excessive manpower can be deployed to beef up Bernama's dwindling news operations nationwide
4. Launch BerTV's 24-hour ENGLISH news. Focus on breaking news, analyses and opinions, video streaming, etc. 
5. Sell content to all local tv channels, free-to-air, satellite and internet-based (even with Awani, Astro would still buy if the news churned out by BerTV is compelling and it should be the case because by now the company would be the national tv-news agency); enter into strategic alliances at regional level 

People forget that before Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's 4th Floor came up with the oh-so-brilliant idea of letting a private company use Bernama's sacred name to run a commercial tv station, the national news agency was doing fine with its internal AV unit and mobile studio that had been in operations since the turn of the millenium.

I wrote on BerTV's latest sad state of affairs last week in Dr M's former press sec is new Bernama chief

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Divine intervention needed to close Guantanamo Bay, says US

Have you read this?
US asks Vatican to help close Guantanamo
Don't say absurd, read the excerpts:


President Barack Obama’s goal of closing the Guantanamo Bay prison complex in Cuba has met heavy resistance from lawmakers in Washington, and now the White House is turning to a higher authority for help: the Vatican.
During an hour-long meeting with Cardinal Pietro Parolin on Monday, Secretary of State John Kerry asked the Vatican to help the United States find“adequate humanitarian solutions” for inmates currently being held at Guantanamo.
... There has been no information regarding what the Vatican would do to help.
Now we know why there were so upset with YB Khairy Jamaluddin for telling off US Vice President Joe Biden re the Guantanamo Bay. Because closing that torture facility in the Bay of Pigs is not quite humanly possible. Kena ada divine ntervention.


Monday, December 15, 2014

Why I welcome the Eminent 25

Updated Tuesday: More come forward to support E25 (Rakyat Post) 
11.45pm, Monday: Ah, Life of Annie does not welcome the E-25. But then I don't expect everybody to. Plus there's something so gratifying in being able to agree to disagree. That's why you should read her About being a nice moderate liberal Malay.

Original posting:

Some of the Emiinent 25
Why we all should.  On the day Najib Razak made one of the most defining decisions in his premiership, when he announced that the Sedition Act will stay and be reinforced to ensure religious and racial harmony will not be challenged, he was made to come to that unilateral decision NOT by his party or coalition members or by Perkasa or those brave lawyers who are against the Bar Council, even though they all contributed to the movement to save the Act, BUT, put simply, by the voice of the silent majority. I know that. You may ask how I know. Well, you have to be deaf not to hear the deafening demands of Malaysians from all walks of life for the Prime Minister to keep his hands off the Sedition Act.  
Kamil: A towering Malay
The arrival of the so-called Eminent 25 Malays (some of them ARE genuinely eminent, that I also know) will provide another great avenue for the silent majority to channel their views and feelings and be heard. Of course the E25 is not representative of all Malays (by their own choice, they want to be associated with the "moderate" Malay-Muslims) but neither is Perkasa or Isma. Or Umno, for that matter.  
Call them names if you have to because that's how you've been  brought up but once you're done, let's hear Ahmad Kamil Jaafar and the 25 out. 
They are Malays, too, you know, and right now what we need is for all the Malays to stand up and speak up.
Read also: 

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Friendly fire no more?

With updates, bottom page

Original posting, Sat 13/12/14:
It is starting to look that way.  
For a while, Syed Akbar Ali's OutSyed The Box was the only voice in pro-Umno blogosphere lashing out at Najib Razak's administration. Today, after the police report made by Penang Umno leader Khairuddin Abu Hasan against the 1MDB, Syed is officially not ranting alone. A. Kadir Jasin, Zainuddin Maidin, Firdaus Abdullah and Helen Ang, among others, have joined in the growing blogger discontent against our sixth Prime Minister. Whether they are lashing out in chorus or independently is a matter of speculation but what's definite is this: they (perhaps not so much Helen at this point) seem to have been united in their stand against Najib's 1Malaysia Development Berhad. Something in their conviction about the fund compels you to NOT take them lightly ... 
The Scribe is in his element:


Excerpts:  
"The sources said 1MDB had requested Bank Negara to extend it non-performing loan (NPL) period from three to six months and was agreed to. It is understandable. No matter how unhappy Zeti might have been with 1MDB borrowing, an extension is needed. If it was not given, there would have been a massive default and Tier 1 banks that extended the loans would have to make huge provisions. This could lead to the downgrading of the local banking system." - AKJ in Umno leader lodges police report against 1MDB

Syed's posting is mostly quoting AKJ's. He makes a point about Mukhriz Mahahtir being "dropped" from the Umno Majlis Tertinggi at the start of his posting. He ends his piece with these jibes:  
"Somebody is going to jail" ?? Who is going to jail? I think if anyone is going to jail it will be the stupid macais. 

Kan saya sudah bilang - macais, you better jump ship now. Go ahead. Be a rat. Be the first to leave the sinking ship.  Jangan nak jadi hero.  No one will give a damn about you.  They have made their pile of moolas.  Do you think they will come and visit you in jail?

Think.  Jangan jadi lembu di cucuk hidung. - Syed Akbar Ali in 1MDB's Lodin offered to resign?




Apanama's Umno leaders lodges police report on 1MDB reproduces a report by the Free Malaysia Today on the police report made by Khairuddin. Interesting comments from one of his readers who called himself Tan Sri Ali, asking all Umno divisions througout the country to lodge police reports against 1MDB in solidarity with Khairuddin.
"YAB Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak hanya penasihat 1MDB. Mungkin YAB PM sendiri tidak tahu cerita sebenar 1MDB. Akar umbi UMNO harus tampil membela kepentingan rakyat dan negara tercinta ini. jangan kerana 1MDB sebahagian negara menjadi milik asing. Jangan nanti kita orang Melayu yang mendokong Umno dilaknati Allah SAW kerana membiarkan tanahair dinodai anasir asing. Kita orang Umno mesti bangkit menyokong sisatan terperinci terhadap 1MDB."

Helen Ang believes the first move to bring down Najib has begun. "(It's) the first strike against Najib ..."
Yes, it does look that way, I suppose. The Opposition is keeping quiet, as they always do when someone within Umno is doing their job for them. But they will resuface soon enough to plant more potent seeds of discontent against Najib and 1MDB. If you notice, the pro-Umno blogs are also very quiet but that's because they basically don't have any information on 1MDB that would have helped them defend their boss. In fact, they are probably alarmed by what they read in Kadir dan Kawan2's blogs.   
Things could get worse for Najib. At least for now the exiled RPK, a major force in the movement to topple Pak Lah back then, doesn't seem to be in the mood to join the fray against 1MDB ... 
"I no longer see any point in the sort of exercise because no one really bothers about corruption, abuse of power and whatnot, unless it serves a political agenda." - RPK, Pergi Mampuslah Pakatan Rakyat!


More to come in the days ahead, that's for certain. Like it or not, the PM must shed more light on the whole 1MDB episode after his return from South Korea. Even pro-Umno blogger Bujai thinks so. "And who will be right person to provide us with the answers and explanations?" (1MDB must provide answers).
p.s. I heard that Najib and Tun Dr M had an unscheduled meeting last Tuesday just before Najib left for Seoul for his official visit to the Republic. The meeting lasted 15 minutes. A lot can be said in a quarter of an hour in a four-eyed meeting ...

Updates:

Monday:
 Salim Iskandar's Facebook

Sunday:
A neutral Life of Annie gives both sides now in her latest posting Wassap war on 1MDB.
"The only observation I want to make here is that defenders of the BN government seem to be far less sophisticated in the psychological battle as the pro-Pakatan side utilize their potent cyberwar machinery such as Malaysiakini  to spread information to undermine the BN government. I have repeatedly wrote about this : Umno and its BN allies have no real cyberwar strategy at all to counter those of Pakatan's."
Apanama is piling the pressure on the Najib Administration and the 1MDB management in hi slatest posting in which he throws an advice for the PM's "boys" as his parting words:
"In the meantime I would advise Najib's boys to try to keep their cyberdogs in check because they have been forcing dirty laundry out in the open. This is not a request. TQ" - Apanama1MDB - Don't shoot the messenger and try to politicise the crime (14/12/14)

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Basic lesson on democracy for "puzzled" US envoy Yun

"The Sedition Act does not hinder a vibrant democracy ... (it is) a preventive measure to ensure that no party would incite religious and racial tension that could jeopardise peace and stability in this country." - Foreign Minister Anifah Aman to Joseph Y. Yun, the US Ambassador to Malaysia

Anifah tells off Yun. Pic the Star

I'd expect my government to be firm with any outside parties that try to interfere in our affiairs. Doesn't matter if they are so powerful. Better still if these are the same buggers who lied to us about WMD, who threw suspected terrorists without trial, and then tortured and humiliated them like animals in the name of democracy. Expose their hypocricy!

Nevermind if Lim Kit Siang grovels and tries to get a pat on the back from the Americans (DAP fires Putrajaya for summoning US envoy over sedition law remark). The majority of us patriotic Malaysians aren't fooled by the "puzzled" Yun. His remarks came just days after Vice President Joe Bden's tweets:
"Amid growing US-Malaysia ties, Malaysian government’s use of legal system & Sedition Act to stifle opposition raises rule of law concerns." 
"Anwar Ibrahim’s appeal gives Malaysia a vital chance to make things right and promote confidence in its democracy & judiciary."
Still think Anifah is over-reacting? 

p.s. I must also congratulate KJ for responding to Biden re those stupid tweets.  



Dr M's former press sec is new Bernama chief




Bernama in good hands but at BernamaTV, is the end near?  I wrote about The next Editor-in-chief of Bernama two months ago and am thrilled to read that all the names I mentioned in that posting figure prominently in the new line-up. Congrats Zack, Mokh, Mike and Zul. Datuk Zakaria Abdul Wahab, one of Dr M's press secretaries until 2013, joined Bernama on 1 July 1980. Mokhtar Hussain is the current president of the Naitonal Press Club. 
But while the national news agency is looking solid, things at Bernama TV aren't improving. I hear the staff have not been paid for the last three months,  betul ke!? Sad, if true. Back in 2011, when Rais Yatim was the minister in charge, Bernama TV was already having this problem (read h e r e).  
I hear Shabery Cheek, the current Information Minsiter, is planning to come up with radical changes to turn around the fortunes of the company. I have faith in Shabery. But whatever he plans to do can wait, for now. What cannot wait is the salaries of the staff. Pay up, asap, please.  

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Pemandu or Bersih's Walk Against Corruption?


"The fight against corruption starts with you. If you want to help us fight corruption, don't offer bribes. When you stop giving bribes, corruption will end." - AWO, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department

In all his politeness, Abdul Wahid Omar can sound too direct, sometimes, but sometimes rude is what you need to be to get a message across. The other night, when he made the "request" that developers help the government in its fight to combat corruption by not offering bribes, a lot of the guests were taken aback. The evening, after all, was meant o honor developers for their achievements. Some admitted they hadn't expected to hear the kind of lecture from an "Umno minister. Obviously, they weren't aware that AWO is not a member of any political party even thought he's an integral part of Najib Razak's Cabinet and that there are a lot of UMNO members who hate corruption as much as the next person. I also suspected that some of the guests had felt guilty when the minister made that statement.

The last few years, the movement against corruption has been credited to those who are seemingly or clearly against the government. of the day. Nobody pays too much attention when our anti-corruption boys do good but everybody jumps at the slightest chance to take these boys - and the government - to task. 

This Saturday's Walk Against Corruption is supposed to be different: the sponsor logos show that Najib's PEMANDU (Performance Management and Delivery Unit) and NKRA (National Key Result Areas) are behind the effort. 

BUT I have to ask, why are the likes of Ambiga Sreenevasan and Maria Chin Abdullah being featured as the main speakers for the forum? Tak ada orang lain yang lebih neutral ke? We know that both ladies are staunch opponents of the government that PEMANDU and NKRA serve: despite the evidence that prove otherwise, they insist that this government is corrupt, that it has not practised fair and clean elections. Ambiga, in fact, has appeared in so many Pakatan Rakyat posters alongside Najib Razak's political foes to talk against the BN government. 

I hope somebody from PEMANDU or NKRA can tell us why.

Tuesday, December 09, 2014

At MACC, yet another thankless victory

Read also Bujai's This is CBT. that CBT is not CBT!

Updated 
RM0 NST 09/12: Former Kontena Nasional Berhad CEO charged at the Sessions Court with committing criminal breach of trust involving nearly RM10m

Original article 

MACC blows open a RM9 m hood at GLC

The NST has the story H E R E
I might have missed this news if not for a CEO buddy who sent the clipping wanting to know the inside story: Who is the chief executive officer and which government-linked company? It is by no means a small victory in our collective fight against graft but, as usual, one that is totally ignored and pooh-poohed even by our great politicians and socio-political commenters. 
Kudos, the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission for catching yet another rotten fish. Thank you for trying to keep this beloved country clean. Today's related story: Fully independent MACC is key (The Mole, 9 Dec)

Good scoop, NST!


CEO of GLC, firm owner face RM9m CBT charge

BY HANI SHAMIRA SHAHRUDIN - 9 DECEMBER 2014 @ 8:18 AM
KUALA LUMPUR: THE Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is expected to charge the chief executive officer of a government-linked company (GLC) and the owner of a local shipping company with criminal breach of trust involving more than RM9 million.
A source close to the investigation said the duo were arrested yesterday and would be charged today at the Shah Alam Sessions Court.
“The CEO allegedly committed criminal breach of trust involving more than RM9 million in 2012 at the GLC’s office in the Klang Valley while the latter was believed to have abetted the offence.”
The source said the duo would be charged under Section 409 of the Penal Code for criminal breach of trust, which carries a jail term of up to 20 years and a caning.
They are also liable to a fine upon conviction.
He said the arrest of the two was part of investigations into the private sector by the commission.
MACC special operations dir-ector Datuk Bahri Mohamad Zin confirmed the arrests.
It was reported that the commission had, from 2009 to this year, detained 616 individuals in the private sector and charged 250 of them with corruption


Monday, December 08, 2014

Malaysia appoints first expat to head its national carrier

"Let's hope this Lingus guy is Cunning." - A reader's comment over at A Voice (Aer Lingus is not part of a woman anatomy, 6.12.2014)
Why I have to support Mueller, like it or not. I am sure Mr Christoph Mueller will get lewd-er remarks when he reports for duty as Malaysia Airlines new CEO next year. The people of this country don't take too kindly to Malaysians who don't trust other Malaysians to run anything. It's part of our collective DNA as a people colonized by the Mat Sallehs for more than 500 years: all entities of national significance must be run and managed by Malaysians. The national carrier, the national car, the national electricity board, the national petroluem corporation, the central bank, etc. 
But that's what Khazanah has done: appoint a Mat Salleh to helm our national carrier. This is the first time since the split of the MSA in 1972 that Malaysia Airlines will be CEO-ed by a foreigner. 
The MAS trade unions have been clamouring for change for quite some time so they have no choice but to voice support for Khazanah's decision.  


"We see no choice in appointing a foreigner to bring in the expertise in turning MAS back to profitability ..." Nufam president Ismail Nasaruddin. 
Okay, so the unions' support is conditional: Ismail stressed that "the decision on how and what in regard to the airline must be made by locals" and that although although Mueller will have executive powers to manage the MAS Newco, local stakeholders and MAS unions must be consulted before ay major decision be made. 
Read The Malaysian Reserve's front page today h e r e.* 
That's already a handful for Mr Mueller. But what really will decide if the German will succeed or not in turning MAS around is Khazanah itself. I mean, will Azman Mokhtar and Co allow Mr Mueller to do his job as CEO?  
If Khazanah as major shareholder of the airline is going to continue to place political considerations before business (like not allowing the airline to cancel existing lopsided contracts because they are tied to VVIPs or not cutting jobs because the unions have access to the PM), there is going to be very little that Mr Mueller can do.  
Good luck, Mr Mueller. As a Malaysian, I will fly and support the national carrier, regardless, so whether I like your appointment or not, you have my support.  

*  In the TMR article, Nufam's Ismail says the union will be pushing the government to probe Khazanah Nasional and Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad on an alleged misappropriation of RM12 billion. Y'know, I won't be surprised if Ismail were to call for an Orang Putih to take over Azman Mokhtar's position and run Khazanah ...

Sunday, December 07, 2014

(Another) First Malaysian woman Prime Minister

Monday brews: The blog Apanama, which incidentally was behind the original The 1st woman Prime Minister of Malaysia (4 Nov 2014) is up and running again. The blog's webmaster had to suspend the blog after a massive DDOS attack early last week.


Original posting:
This Bujai has nose for gems. This one adds a huge grin to my lazy, sunny Sunday morning:



Friday, December 05, 2014

After the separation, will NST be looking up?

Marina Mahathir sells papers, like it or not!
Graphic courtesy The Star, with thanks to 
Helen Ang for the insight h e r e.

Not that long ago, the New Straits Times was the English-language newspaper in Malaysia. It was the flagship of the NSTP group. The best writers wrote for this 169-year paper and the best journalists wanted to be on its payroll. Many of the media industry's leaders today came from NST: Ho Kay Tat (the Edge), Jahabar Saddiq (The Malaysian Insider), Shamsul Akmar (The Malaysian Reserve): Nuraina Samad (The Mole); and Ashraf Abdullah (TV3), to name a few. 
Now former DGE
NST is not what it used to be now. There are good journalists in there, still, and thank god for that, but the paper's been losing more and more readers. I fear that following the latest Mutual Separation Scheme, in which gems like Azmi Anshar ("one of the sharpest pens of our time ...") and Deputy Group Editor Rashid Yusof will pack their laptops and go, it will be a steep climb for the paper, if it manages to stop the slide in the first place. 
I hope I am wrong.
Well, the good news is I hear that Rashid Yusof is planning to start a news portal that will help restore our faith in professional and non-partisan journalism in the Malaysian cyberspace. Rashid, who has been a journalsit for close to 30 years, used to advise Daim Zainuddin and later Khairy Jamaluddin on media matters. 

Wednesday, December 03, 2014

Bar Council's election "tak bersih"!?

"The Council has been talking about freedom of the Press. It's funny that no media coverage was allowed." - lawyer-blogger Rapera

It's no secret that the Bar Council is a major force behind Bersih, the pro-Opposition movement that insists that the national electoral process is flawed, dirty, unfair despite the huge gains made by the political parties that it backs in the last two general elections. Former Bar Council boss Ambiga, after all, was the main force behind the post-2008 Bersih and is still one of Anwar Ibrahim's Pakatan Rakyat poster ladies despite her incessant claims of being non-partisan. 

So it must come as a big blow to the Council, to Ambiga and Bersih supporters generally when the Bar Council's own members are now crying foul over the process to elect new Councillors that took place yesterday.

The Press was not allowed but thank God the Mole spoke to members for this story:



The Bar Council’s election for the 2015 – 2016 term ended with controversy when running candidates were prevented from witnessing the entire vote-counting process.

Contender Mohamad Reza Abu Hassan told The Mole that candidates were only allowed to see the process through a live video streaming if they signed a letter of undertaking (LOU).

“I refused to sign it because the election committee could not tell me why we have to sign it.

“They said although it is not stated in the law, that is an internal procedure that we have to oblige,” said Reza, adding that he doubted the transparency of the election.

“Candidates were not allowed to see the live counting process.

“They only showed us the video streaming where I can only see a pair of hands and ballot boxes,” he added.

Reza said he was subsequently barred from watching the live streaming for refusing to sign the LOU.

It was learnt that the media was also prevented from covering the election.

The election, which saw 23 candidates vying for the council’s top 12 positions, saw Hendon Mohamed received the highest votes of 1,948, followed by Datuk Haji Sulaiman Abdullah (1,788) and Brendan Navin Siva (1,638).

Reza, who ended on the 17th spot, claimed he was not surprised with the result as majority of the 12 were “of the same clique.”

Lawyer Datuk Mohd Haaziq Pillay said the council should prove its transparency by allowing members to witness the counting process.

“Besides scrutinisers, the members should be able to be part of the election.

“The counting process should be made public so that the contenders or other members can ask for a recount if they are not satisfied,” he said.

Mohd Haaziq however agreed that the media should not be allowed to cover the election process.

“It’s a private body…But members may turn to the media if they witness any wrongdoing in the process.”

Mohd Haaziq felt Hendon deserved to win.

“She has proven to be a gem because she always supports the council and attends every function it organises.

“She is very vocal in her opinions and the council could benefit from her quality.”

Another contender Datuk Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos also told The Mole that he heard about candidates being prevented from watching the vote-counting.

“The council has been talking about freedom of press but it’s funny that no media coverage is allowed,” he said.

However, freshly-elected committee member Ravi Nekoo said the election was conforming to democratic process.

“I did not hear any complaint regarding the election.

“Everyone has the rights to vote for the candidate they support so we should all respect and accept the results,” said Ravi, who ended up at the ninth spot.

----------------------------------------------------ends--------------------------------------------------


The restriction on the Press provokes the mStar to call for greater transparency: Pastikan Pemilihan Majlis Peguam Bersih, Dec 3  
The Umno blogger MiM is no-holds-barred in his latest posting Memalukan! Pekong Busuk Bar Council Didedahkan!   
p.s. Me, I say clean up your mess quick, mates. And please explain why the Press was not allowed ...

Tuesday, December 02, 2014

What's wrong with Apanama lah?

 
Distributed Denial of Service attack. If you are his reader, you will not be able to access blogger Firdaus Abdullah's Apanama, at least until his domain handlers are able to migrate him to a new site. They were forced to suspend the blog following massive DDoS attacks [What is DDoS attack?] by/from yet unknown sources last night. But since you are a fan, don't despair: Apanama is on Facebook here where he re-posts his blog articles. 
I last wrote about DDoS in 2007 at the height of our blog campaign against Pak Lah, 4th Floor & Co. Kira taktik lama lah beb! : DDoS attacks becomig more commonplace. Back up your blogs, guys! 
p.s. Thanks, Annie, for the midnight alert. 

Monday, December 01, 2014

Bodoh bangang

Stupid moron. Okay guys and gals, I'm not calling anyone stupid or bangang here. I learn from our Prime Minister Najib Razak and Marina the daughter of former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad: every time you call someone stupid, someone else will call you by the same name. So I'm not going to be the stupid and call you a moron. :-) 
But I can't help but notice that Marina is luckier than Najib over this bodoh-bangang thing; her supporters came quickly to her defense and told her not to respond to the chap who called her the STUPID. Not quickly enough [by then Marina had dragged her dad, totally unnecessarily I must say, into it with the angry retort: "If I'm stupid it must be genetic"] but Najib did not have too many people supporting him to start with. 
My comments to The Malaysian Insider were not used, I believe, probably because I was sympathetic towards the PM. I will come to that later but for now, read this "stupid" exchange on Twitter the day Najib said the Sedition Act 1948 will not be abolished but will be fortified instead:




Is Marina calling Najib stupid? I don't know but The Straits Times of Singapore would be stupid not to highlight her speechless rage: 


The Straits Times totally ignored the equally angry response by @izghazali towards Marina's "speechless … the stupid".  
I don't know if I was stupid or what but I had to "talk" to this @izghazali chap so I sent him a direct message. And he responded! 
I reproduce the most part of our exchange, with his permission:




There you go! 
Now, as for the bangang comment made by the Prime Minister in his closing speech at the Umno General Assembly, I hope he does something now that he's been blessed with the knowledge. He can start by getting rid of the "handlers" responsible for those traitorous pro-Umno bloggers!
Those of us who have been blogging before 2008* have long known that 90 per cent of bloggers on the Umno payroll born after that year are either morons or non-existent. [I know some smart ones, like Parpukari and MiMnot all of them are on my blogroll]. When the Malaysian Insider reporter called me for my comments on Najib's bangang remark, I told the reporter I wasn't upset because what the PM was saying is true. Okay, maybe Najib shouldn't have used the B word ...
*2008 was the year Umno woke up from its slumber and recognized that blogs and the Internet are big and potentially lethal weapons. To be fair to Najib Razak,  he was the first senior Umno minister after the disastrous 12th GE to embrace us bloggers ...