Last words on Ku Nan's "slow learner" gaffe

Ain't over yet?

"It would seem that to be a politician and a so-called leader in this party, you must first be an ignorant moron. Students who enter UiTM are no different from those entering universities and colleges all over the world. Some may need more help than others but that is why universities are there. Taught 17 years in ITM where I witnessed the great transformations that education can fire in students. Taught elsewhere too, here and other countries. Have never been but proud of what became of my students in ITM. Universities and colleges can redeem the worst of learners but only wise voters can save the nation from the stupid and the moronic who would happily slander a population to stay in power." - A former ITM lecturer*

Isunya mudah sahaja. Terlajak perahu boleh diundur. Terlajak kata buruk padahnya. Apakah isu ini meletup kerana; 1. Ucapan disalah tafsir.

2. Teknik berucap yang silap.

3. Tersalah terminology “slow learner”

4. Tidak pandai mentafsir atau;

5. Cakap tidak pandang kiri dan kanan. 

Pokoknya para alumni marah. Mahasiswa UITM marah. Ibu bapa marah. Warga pendidik dan pekerja UITM marah dan orang Melayu juga marah. Padahnya pada kerajaan yang memerintah.

Mungkin orang akan tanya, kenapa saya tidak defend. Hati nurani saya menjawab “kan elok minta maaf”. Semoga tidak berulang lagi kerana jumlah alumni UITM melebihi 500 ribu** orang. 

Pokoknya Institusi Pengupayaan Melayu ini perlu diperkasakan lagi. Perhimpunan Agung UMNO 2017 perlu membahaskannya. - Mohd Puad Zarkashi MT UMNO 

* The former lecturer made the remarks at a public digital forum. I believe his are fitting last words to close the Ku Nan gaffe. Nonetheless, as former Deputy Education Minister Puad Zarkashi's views show, not everybody in Ku Nan's party think or behave alike. The Umno General Assembly 2017 happens on Dec 5-9 and if Puad takes it up at the Perhimpunan, then the "slow learner" issue isn't over, not just as yet.

** 740,000 graduates in the last 60 years.

Ku Nan says sorry

HATS off to Ku Nan, the self-professed foul-mouthed politician, for saying sorry and for acknowledging that he should not have used those words. Takes a gentleman to own up. But, please YB, mind your language, anyway (and that's not really a request).

Kudos to the UiTM Alumni and student reps who did not allow emotions to rule but instead offered to go over to the Umno Sec-gen and FT Minister's office to level with him and avoid a potentially messy spat. 

You give a new meaning to "slow-learners". - Nov 28

"Slow learners" meet "No-learner" today

Ah, and what did I tell you h e r e yesterday?

Before the end of the day, Ku Nan will tell the UiTM grads and students that he didn't mean what he said about the "slow learner" bit, that he'd been taken out of context, and blah, blah, blah.

There you go:

You can read the full news h e r e . 

Well, I also wrote that the Minister's excuses aren't important. What's important is how the UiTM alumni leaders and student reps, who are to meet Ku Nan today, deal with anyone who thinks he can insult the institution. I hope they take the opportunity to show Ku Nan what they're really made of. - Nov 28

Read also: 
Ku Nan, the no-learner

You are the reason why "orang marah Umno", Ku Nan

Quiet anger of UiTM graduates 

I wasn't the least surprised by Tengku Adnan Mansor's stupid remarks; this is the sort of rubbish one spews when one is brain dead and long past his expiry date. Read my older posting Tengku Nan's dead to understand where I'm coming from. That was a decade ago and he has not learned anything! 

People are not angry with Umno; they have been angry with some politicians in Umno. Some of the politicians they were angry with have been sacked and some recently left the party to form other parties in the hope of regaining power. But there are the likes of Ku Nan still around and still holding significant positions in government since then (when Dr Mahathir Mohamad took them, including Ku Nan, in) till Pak Lah's time and now with Najib Razak as PM. 

Even if he hadn't run down the 720,000 graduates that ITM/UiTM has churned out (and the 165,000 students currently chasing their papers in over 30 campuses throughout the country), Ku Nan was already that rotten apple in Umno. Residents from Datuk Keramat to Taman Tun Dr Ismail have been up in arms against his "projects" over the last couple of years. A week or so ago he finally felt he'd better meet the residents of TTDI who are fighting to save their Rimba Kiara but his address, to no one's surprise, did not go down so well (The day Ku Nan allegedly Lied to TTDI residents - The Mole, Nov 26).  

Before the end of the day, Ku Nan will tell the UiTM grads and students that he didn't mean what he said about the "slow learner" bit, that he'd been taken out of context, and blah, blah, blah. That's not important, especially when dealing with a repeat offender. What's important is the future. Ku Nan is obviously keen on contesting in the coming GE and at this point, in my humble slow-learner opinion, he is Umno's least winnable candidate. He's that bad apple that will spoil the whole bunch. - Nov 26 2017, Puchong 

On behalf of Jim, thank you!

KL, 21 Nov: "The Coordinators of Jam For Jim expresses their sincere appreciation to the Bands, Guitar Lair, Jammers and wonderful audience for the enormous success of Sunday evening's Jam. Collections exceeded expectations by miles. Jim took the stage with Purple Haze and Blues Gang  the main act of the Jam  Blues Gang said they were honoured to have Jim as their bassist. A true band mate. Ito gave Jim a warm hug before he left the stage. Zizi Blues the latest member of the legendary Blues Gang walked  the extra mile to attend to the nitty gritty of the Jam. Charity Showcase is also grateful for the press coverage received. It surely assisted to achieve the overwhelming success of the cause. The simpulan bahasa Sedikit Sedikit Lama Lama Jadi Bukit was illustrated last night."

Syed Hamid is Mahathir's latest weapon against Najib, really?

Syed Hamid Abandons Najib, now supports Mahathir

http://www.malaysia-today.net/syed-hamid-abandons-najib-and-now-supports-mahathir/

Puchong, 20 Nov: It's one of those things you read and you don't know whether to laugh or to cry, to be sorry or to be thankful. 

I can only guess Syed Hamid Albar must be feeling very lonely and missing the political limelight. But if that's the case, let me assure you that the feeling is NOT mutual. 

As Home Minister during Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's premiership, he was described as "a failure and a non-performer" by a member of his own party. Syed Hamid was the Foreign Minister who in 2003 threatened a Malaysian journalist who was covering the Iraq war with a lawsuit for an article that he said was a personal attack against him and his ministry. He was also the Cabinet minister who in 2008 ordered the detention of the Sin Chew Daily journalist under the now-abolished Internal Security Act "for her own safety". 

Syed Hamid should save his breath and us Malaysians the trouble. Given his record, he is one of the least qualified people to talk about openness and freedom. If Dr Mahathir Mohamad or his people really think Syed Hamid is useful to his campaign to bring down Najib, I wouldn't know if I should cry or laugh ...

Proverbial dogs in Penang floods

Updated with views by others:

If we can come together for Penang, we can come together for Malaysia by Pearl Lee

Penang's hill slope development and floods: Let's talk about it now by Zaidi Azmi

Original article:

Azeez "Putera": From Rohingya to Pulau Pinang

KL, Nov 14: When it was clear that the floods that hit Penang early this month were severe - very severe - the DAP's political foes (i.e. Najib Razak-led BN) did the admirable thing of restraining themselves from politicising the issue. 

They could have hung the DAP State Government out to dry, condemn them for being irresponsibly ill-prepared for the inevitable [yes, inevitable, because all the signs were on the wall and the State Government ignored them!]. 

Instead, those BN fellows came to the distressed DAP politicians and their PKR sidekicks with help, supplies, even moral support. And they did so unconditionally, too. We saw photographs of DPM Zahid Hamidi and the PM himself going to the ground to meet the flood victims and the sorry Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng. 

Najib even asked all parties to stop politicising the Penang floods. "... the focus now is on helping the people," he said on Nov 5. 

Read also: Najib: Providing aid to flood-hit states transcends politics.

But the nature of ingrates is such. Ibarat melepaskan anjing yang tersepit, as the Malay saying goes, sudah lepas ia menggigit. 

Dr Afif Baharuddin, a member of Guan Eng's Penang State Exco, is one such proverbial dog. 

Aliff

Perhaps because the worst of the floods seems to have passed, the PKR assemblyman and Youth leader is bent on turning it into a political circus. 

So, he's accusing that:

1. flood relief for Penang had come three days late supposedly to coincide with the PM's visit.

2. the National Welfare Department failed to "stock up" the Penang state's Welfare Department in preparation for the monsoons.

3. one Federal Minister of paying in cash at a supermarket RM1 million worth of aid and supplies for the flood victims!

Most of all, Aliff wants to know where his counterpart in BN Abdul Azeez Rahim got the money to help the flood victims in a big way. Who is funding Kelab Putera 1Malaysia? 

"Don't tell me it's an Arab donor," he said, in an apparent swipe at Najib's RM2.6 billion donation from an Saudi royalty.

What the hell is wrong with this dude?

Guan Eng is dua kali lima, if Berita Harian's report yesterday is anything to go by. Read Tiada bantuan kerajaan pusat, [No aid from Federal Government].

YB Salleh Said Keruak, the Multimedia and Communications Minister, had warned us of such dogs, actually. In When politics come before the people, which he posted on his blog on Nov 12, the Sabah BN strongman said some politicians put the interests of their party above the people's; in other words, they are in politics not to serve the people but to attain power.

"We get involved in politics as a means to seek a better Malaysia. And this means we need to put the people above politics," Salleh said.

Read also: 

Bekalan makan, keperluan untuk Rohingya di serahkan - Sinar Harian, 9 Feb 2017

Food Flotilla to Myanmar chief Abdul Azeez denies claims humanitarian aid seized - Malay Mail Online, 12 Feb 2017

Give it back, it's our rights, Air Asia tells Mavcom

Kamarudin

TTDI, 10 Nov: You hardly hear Tony Fernandes' long-time business partner Kamarudin Meranun whine about anything. Least of all in public. The AirAsia X group CEO's complaint in the media about the Malaysian Aviation Commission's move to give Malindo two traffic rights to Bangalore that AAX had "battled and fought" for, therefore, has got people talking. 

Was Mavcom unfair to have given the two slots to AAX's competitor, when AAX - not Mavcom nor Malindo - was the one who had gotten the Malaysian government to negotiate for those extra flights with the Indian authorities?

It sure looks that way from where Din's coming from:

“We battled and fought to get those additional slots, but now it is being allocated to another airline that is not even using them,” Kamarudin said in Air Asia questions Mavcom over Bangalore flight slots - The Edge Financial Daily.

To its credit, Mavcom responded to Kamarudin immediately. The same Nov 7 Financial Daily quoted Mavcom as saying that it allocated the flight slots or air traffic rights based on criteria set out under the Malaysian Aviation Commission Act 2015, with key considerations including the effect on consumers, the industry and public interests. So in the case of the Kuala Lumpur–Bangalore route,  it allocated 360 seats to Malindo Air and 24 seats to AirAsia in June. Following these allocations, Malindo Air operates 360 seats, AirAsia 744 seats per week, and Malaysia Airlines 1,920 seats.

“This translates into approximately two times weekly for Malindo Air, four times weekly for AirAsia and 12 times weekly for Malaysia Airlines. Mavcom’s rationale for the allocations performed in June 2017 include: widening the choice for consumers by granting two weekly services to Malindo Air as a new entrant on this route; and facilitating competition and preventing excessive market dominance by any single carrier,” said Mavcom.

I can see that Mavcom is going strictly by the book in trying to be equitable. Be that as it may, Kamarudin has a point. If Malindo isn't planning to use those slots, Mavcom should give them "back" to AAX. It's only right.

Kepala Bapak Kau, no apologies needed

Puchong, 7 Nov: When even Khairuddin Hassan came out to slam Najib Razak's  "kepala bapak kau/bodoh" outburst, it shows how effective the Prime Minister is in reaching out even to those deemed as far beyond redemption. 

For Khairuddin is, to many followers of Malaysian politics, the quintessential Mr Bangang. No, not because he is stupid but because he is so fond of calling everyone and anyone who disagrees with him or his politics bangang (which is another of the great many Malay words, such as bodoh, bebal, baghal, bingai,  to describe stupid). This is the same man who published* the "50 Dalil ..." book 20 years ago, which was used by the powers that be then to sack and jail his Deputy,  but who today hails the still-imprisoned Anwar Ibrahim as a hero! 

As for Najib's outburst, I agree with Salahuddin Hisham the blogger. Make no apologies. Najib should start calling a spade a spade.

Even the young ones at our office, who had always thought of their Prime Minister as so sanitised and sometimes robotic, especially when delivering his speeches in Malay, were excited. They were having a ball playing the same video clip of the kepala bapak kau outburst over and over again. The PM's human, after all!

I must admit this "new" Najib is a great and welcomed departure from the usual guarded, immaculately-scripted, boring manner in which he's come to be know when delivering his BM speeches at official functions and Umno gatherings.

 Just don't call anyone bangang lah, Mr PM. Mengamok Khairuddin kita nanti!

* Khairuddin recently vehemently denied being the publisher of the 50 Dalil book. Oh, well ...

Lawyers: No ground for subjudice in Ambiga's RM90 million dubious role in UK court case

Bangsar, Nov 3: A couple of fellow lawyers are calling Ambiga S, a former Bar Council president,  a hypocrite for "invoking the doctrine of subjudice" to save her own butt in an on-going case brought against Clare Rewcastle-Brown by PAS.

Lawyer Zaki Azmi told the Mole:

“It’s odd that she (Ambiga) deemed it subjudice for her to deny or confirm Clare’s claim, given the fact that she is not bound by British laws and the ethics of the legal professions over there.  

"The way I see it, those in Malaysia are free to openly discuss the case until, if and only if, Hadi decides to transfer the case to a Malaysian court.” 

Aidil: It wasn't subjudice for
Ambiga back then

Another lawyer Aidil Khalid recalled that when she was the president of the Bar Council, Ambiga had taken the position that the rule on subjudice should not override the right to discuss matters of public importance.

“It’s her attempt in wiggling her way out from confirming or denying what Rewcastle-Brown had claimed in her statement of defence.” 

Read Lawyers content that Ambiga has no right to invoke subjudice 

Ambiga has come under mounting pressure to own up to her role in getting Sarawak Report to write a commentary piece in August last year that accused PAS, once a partner in the Opposition Pakatan Harapan coalition, of selling out to Najib Razak and BN for RM90 million. She has refused to do so, citing subjudice and contempt of court. 

A lot of Malaysians are hoping PAS will next sue Ambiga to clear its name of the RM90 million bribe allegations.