Murder With Recourse:Why Western Media Blacked Out Sirul's Story ?

Hantu Laut

It's like a nuclear fallout to many Malaysians, the biggest scoop of the century with politicians from the opposite camp having a field day drawing their knives going for an overkill.

DAP Lim Kit Siang was having the biggest thrill of his life poking murderous pun at PM Najib here.

When it rains, it pours in Malaysia, but it's all quiet on the Western Front........ 

Why?

Why did the Western media blacked out Sirul's story?

I have trolled the Internet numerous times hoping to hook onto some reputable media in the West reporting the story first hand, there was none. Every search I made took me to pages of either Malaysian Insider, Malaysiakini, or some other Malaysian news portal or blogs.

Western media hungry for story like this seemed to have avoided the convicted killer like a leper. Not a single reputable Western media have published the story. The Australian media known for its rapacity for this kind of news have not had a single mention of the story.

Why are the Western media giving Sirul a wide berth and our Malaysian news portals and opposition leaders were having agonising orgasms of Sirul's story. A story from a man whose life hang by the thread, a convicted murderer who now openly admitted to the crime and a crime committed with recourse, but he has not named the person that order the execution.

In the West, I believe they are more conscientious that a convicted killer not be allowed to profit by selling his/her story.


Who did Sirul speaks to? 

There is no guessing who needed this kind of story the most for political mileage.

Saril's interview was with Malaysia's most popular pro-opposition news portal...Malaysian Insider and Malaysiakini, the most partisan and lopsided newsmakers with irrefutable loyalty to the opposition's cause. The disclosure have generated a raging thunderstorm among opposition leaders and their supporters.

How do you reconcile the irony of this convicted felon's conflicting statements............ that he obeyed order from higher up to kill Altantuya, but on the other hand said he had not admitted to the murder. 

He questioned the method he was convicted making it sounds as if circumstantial evidence used by the court was wrong. Many murderers from all over the world had, in the absence of direct evidence, been convicted on circumstantial evidence.

That was his story, but more mystifying is......... who let the horse bolted?

How did Sirul get his passport? How did he manage to pass through the immigration's blacklist? Was his name on the black list in the first place, or someone removed it to make it easy for him to escape? All these are questions left unanswered. 

How could a convicted murderer like him escape detection by the Immigration Dept when bankrupts and people who can't pay up their income taxes are barred from leaving the country, but a convicted murderer can leave the country without hindrance?

Shouldn't the Director of Immigration be hauled up to explain how the horse bolted the stable?

In most cases you do need a motive to kill someone. Most of the time you kill to cover your crime leaving no witnesses behind.

Sometimes, rapists killed their victims if they are known to the victims to cover the crime, as they say "dead man tells no tales"

Why are many Malaysians in ecstatic overdrive?

Is it showing that PM Najib has become very unpopular with the people?

Clive Kessler: The Nutty Professor

Hantu Laut

Here he comes again. It's Kessler's time. 

This time, reading too much into Najib's dissolution speech.

His writing here is nothing more than thought reading on a speech lost in translation and impalpable idiosyncratic ranting of a quirky academician.

Below is Najib's full dissolution speech in Malay. 



If you can find similarity of the above speech with this so-called political anatomists's writing, you must be as nutty as he is.

All Najib said was there should be a smooth and calm transition of power should there be any change in the government of the day, whether at state or federal level.

In all likelihood the insinuation was directed at Pakatan held states that are likely to fall to the BN.

A Weaselling Aussie, A Dead Ringer Of Xenophobia

Hantu Laut

Even his name is a dead ringer of xenophobia. A person you would love to hate because he waddles in places he has no business at all. A nosey parker of sort fooled by the obsecration of the crafty and treacherous Anwar Ibrahim that his country electoral process is the dirtiest in the world. 

A power seeking bounder that will do anything, including running down his own country in order to usurp political powers without, due care and consideration, for the security and safety of the people and nation. 

He has organised street protests through proxies to destabilise an elected government. He promised an "Arab Spring" type uprising if his Pakatan Rakyat loses the general elections, which is very likely, if one is to judge by the desperate warp and woof of Pakatan leaders, running out of substance, recycling old garbage to run the last mile to the finishing line.

Walk in a dunce from Down Under who thinks he can help save this country and deliver it to his buddy Anwar Ibrahim. 

A stupid Aussie lawmaker who took Anwar's bait hook, line and sinker without ever contemplating how in hell Anwar and his 'coalition of willing' could have taken away 5 state governments and 82 MP seats from the ruling Barisan Nasional and subsequently won 8 out of 11 by-elections, if the electoral rolls are as dirty as he claimed them to be. 

If, anything, the BN must have cheated themselves to try lose a general elections. There were badly battered in the March 2008 General Elections.

I have written about this man once, but will not put more pen to paper on this weaselling Aussie, who wants to weasel his way into Anwar's arm at the expense of this nation.

No, we wouldn't let him has his ways, as a sovereign nation we have the right to throw him out. 

Good riddance, matey, you asked for it!

Here he is..... fed up with his own Foreign Minister Bob Carr for lack of support of his stupid mission.



On fact finding mission?  Liar! 

He came here to lend partisan support to his buddy.

Here,  is what one of his country men has to say of him. Read more  at Rocky's Bru.

Dirty Polls: Ambiga's Lost Crusade

Hantu  Laut


Ambiga Sreenevasan  went to Australia to seek help from Australian parliamentarians and politicians to save this country from going to the dogs. My earlier posting on the same subject here.



Her febrile imagination of highly embellished unfair election practices and vote rigging by the government had taken her to Down Under hoping that the miserable snooping and intrusive Anwar's close friend Australian MP Nick Xenophon would help her secure Canberra's agreement to send elections watchdogs to Malaysia's next general elections . 

Your guess as good as mine who sent her ?

What did she gets ?

The Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr has given an answer in the Australian Parliament why Australia should not get involved in matters that are of doubtful nature. He went on on say that the Malaysian government lost its two-thirds majority in parliament in the March 2008 General Elections. However, he probably was not aware or forgot to also mention that the wicked government perceived by Ambiga also lost control of 5 state governments to the opposition and the opposition won 8 subsequent by-elections thereafter.

Anyone, NOT in a state of insanity, which I presumed Ambiga is not, would have asked her if the elections had been so badly rigged how come the long suffering Malaysian oppositions gained so much ground, almost a hair's breadth of toppling the ruling party in the 12th General Elections ?  

Here what she wrote  "Those in the international community may be forgiven for saying, “Is there a problem with the democratic process in Malaysia?” 

Read her growling and grovelling piece here

Obviously, her mission failed.

Let me quote what Lee Kuan Yew said soon after the Singapore 1996 General Elections. He said "Please do not assume that you can change governments.Young people do not understand this" 

Pakatan Rakyat and its agent Ambiga is exploiting the naivety of young voters with their snake-oil concoction to mislead them into voting for Pakatan Rakyat with stories of illegal immigrants  being given citizenship and voting rights to keep the corrupt BN in power.

This scary tale from the quagmire would certainly scare the shit out of young unsuspecting Malaysians.

Maybe, she should try her luck in UK and the US, where Anwar has many sympathetic and dedicated friends and she, a freedom fighter of human rights, decorated by the US government, given "International Women of Courage Award" by Secretary of State Hilary Clinton in 2009.

One thing I can say, this lady has one very swollen head. 

Phnom Penh

A Small Fish With A Big Appetite

Hantu Laut

This small fish with big appetite has nothing nice to say about her country.

 '

If you have political ambition, don't try to defraud the Malaysian people with your "for human rights and cleaning up the electoral roll" bullshit, and don't hide behind the curtain of false pretense. Join a political party and fight your cause, if you do actually have a cause...... or, 

.........you are merely an agent provocateur for your good friends in the opposition Pakatan Rakyat to continuously stir shit in this beautiful and peaceful country and keeping the momentum alive as precursor to..............

...........when Pakatan lose the 13th GE there is reason to go on the streets and accused the government of electoral frauds.......and without any doubt the obvious manisfestation of Anwar's Malaysian Spring to bring down a duly elected government.

Phnom Penh

Nicholas Xenophon Accused A Priest Of 50-Year Old Unproven Rape

Hantu Laut


This man from "Down Under" is a political opportunist using the cover of parliamentary privilege to accuse a priest of a 50-year old rape for which no investigation or charge has been brought against the man.


It's in the word of the accuser against the accused for which this marsupial mole is prepared to destroy a man's character and reputation for his own political expediency.



Well, that's it, so much for the man who supported same sex marriage. 


Has he an axe to grind against mainstream religions too?


Read the article below:

In naming a priest accused, Xenophon has gone too far

by Des Ryan of InDaily

For all the ridiculous stunts he has pulled at different times in his political life, Nick Xenophon’s underlying compassion for the downtrodden and the abused has never seriously been questioned. The worst that could be said of him is he is a political opportunist who knows how to push the populace’s buttons.

This time, however, he has pushed into new territory that raises troubling issues about his motives and judgment.

In the Senate last night, Xenophon used parliamentary privilege to name and shame an Adelaide priest accused of s-xual abuse 50 years ago. The man concerned has categorically denied the allegation, he has never been charged and the allegations have never been tested in a court of law.

Thanks to Xenophon, the priest’s identity and the Adelaide suburban parish where he serves are now in the public domain. His name has been widely reported by the ABC and in The Australian (though not in local newspaper The Advertiser on the grounds that evidence of the allegations has not become publicly available).

Xenophon says he had to name the priest because the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide had failed to adequately investigate the r-pe allegations, which were made by the now-primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion, John Hepworth. Xenophon evidently has issues with senior figures within the Catholic Church.

The Archdiocese says it’s shocked and dismayed with his statement. Quite.

Despite the priest’s denial and the presumption of innocence, Xenophon has totally destroyed the man’s character — a brave call on unproven allegations.

Read more:  http://www.crikey.com.au/2011/09/14/nick-xenophon-names-catholic-priest/

Mr Xenophon Giving Malaysians Xenophobia

Hantu Laut


A raging controversy ensued over NST aberrant reporting of Australian Senator Nicholas Xenophon's speech in the Australian parliament in 2009 portraying him as anti-Islam.


 Xenophon is a close friend of Anwar Ibrahim, who invited him to witness Bersih 3 in action, demanding for free and fair elections, a tragic irony, because the oppositions almost unseat the sitting government in march 2008, so how can it be, not free and fair?

His criticism was against the Church of Scientology, not Islam, as mistakenly published by NST, which do not speak well of its editorial prowess.

Mr Xenophon said "Scientology is not a religious organisation. It is a criminal organisation that hides behind its so-called religious beliefs". 


The Church of Scientology was created by L.Ron.Hubbard,  teaching that people are immortal beings who have forgotten their true nature.It is recognised as tax-exempt religion in the U.S. and many other countries. Mainstream religions consider it as a cult.You may have to pay exorbitant fees for its spiritual services.

This is Mr Xenophon personal opinion not shared by his other colleagues. Read more below.

Scientology cult is a criminal organisation

In spite of retraction and apology from NST this sullen Aussie is going ahead with legal action against NST quoting that his life is now in danger from Muslim extremists.

Since his arrival in Malaysia, many Malaysians are suffering from Xenophobia, suspecting all foreigners coming to Malaysia are trying to topple the duly elected government. 


Obviously, Anwar Ibrahim is not Xenophobic.He loves the Occident.

The Australian: Forensic science in the dock

Hantu Laut

Forensic science and DNA analysis are not yet a perfect science, there are many grey areas and many of the so called experts in Australia are not truly competent to give foolproof analysis of DNA samples let alone our Malaysian expert who had been criticised by the foreign experts.A mistake or carelessness would have sent an innocent man to prison or worse the gallows.

With the ongoing Anwar's sodomy trail the debate on DNA and forensic science is heating up in court with foreign and local experts and solicitors from both sides slugging out in the court room.

Below is a report which incidentally mentioned one of the Australian experts in the Anwar's sodomy trail, the well known and hypercritical Dr Brian McDonald.

Forensic science in the dock

The Australian

BRIAN McDonald knows he has few admirers among the forensic scientists at the nation's DNA testing laboratories. "I am the antichrist as far as forensic science is concerned," he says.

The reason is simple. McDonald, an independent DNA consultant and molecular geneticist, has built a career by finding flaws in the test results some of these laboratories have provided for the justice system.

Of the hundreds of tests for DNA (basic genetic cell material) that have been referred to him by defence lawyers, he says, he has found problems in 30 per cent to 50 per cent of them.

Such a high rate of contested test results is one reason there is growing unease among lawyers that, in some cases, DNA evidence alone is sending people to prison.

DNA analysis, when applied correctly, is widely considered the most reliable form of forensic science. But if the problems picked up by McDonald have also been present in even a small proportion of other DNA tests used in court, there is a risk some people in jail are victims of scientific error.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.

Related Coverage

• DNA evidence could still be on shoes Herald Sun, 1 day ago
• Experts doubt DNA in Knox murder trial Adelaide Now, 25 Jul 2011
• Experts await DNA analysis The Australian, 2 May 2011
• Forensic science 'soils' courts The Australian, 14 Apr 2011
• DNA evidence befuddles jurors The Australian, 7 Apr 2011

End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.

The growing doubts about the evidence of scientific experts is not confined to DNA analysis.

A debate is raging in academic circles about what some lawyers believe is a lax approach by the courts that is exposing juries to "junk science", opinions presented by so-called experts who are unable to explain the scientific methods that helped them reach their conclusions.

Courts in Queensland and the Northern Territory have drawn the line at accepting evidence from people who claim to be experts in forensic odontology, or matching bite marks.

But a recent article in the Criminal Law Journal has unleashed a barrage of criticism at far more established fields of forensic science as well as new areas such as barefoot morphology, or the identification of people from the weight-bearing patterns left by their feet. The authors of that article, who include David Field, director of Bond University's Centre for Forensic Excellence, call for a new approach from the courts to weed out unreliable forensic evidence.

They have urged the courts, before accepting expert evidence, to insist on being told about the known and potential error rates of each field of forensic science.

To bolster their argument, they cite research last year in the US showing the subjective nature of fingerprint matches.

Years after fingerprint experts had made decisions on certain prints, researchers presented them with the same prints and were startled by what happened.

"Two-thirds of the experts made inconsistent decisions; [that is,] they disagreed with themselves," the journal article says.

The same concerns about lack of rigour have been voiced by University of NSW legal academic Gary Edmond, who is a member of the council of the Australian Academy of Forensic Sciences.

He says fingerprint analysis, like DNA analysis, is at the the better end of forensic science. But he says in some areas forensic science is "over-reaching and sometimes just poking around in the dark".

When asked to nominate disciplines at the worst end of the spectrum, Edmond names bite-mark matching, photograph comparisons and footprint matching.

Similar concerns arose last year in the US when a report for the National Academy of Sciences recommended that court testimony by experts should be grounded in science and should acknowledge areas of uncertainty.Read more.

Bribe probe hits former Malay PM

Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker

July 5, 2011

...........................................................................................

The Reserve Bank of Australia's banknote firms are suspected of attempting to bribe former Malaysian prime minister Abdullah Badawi in order to get his help to win a $31 million currency contract.

Mr Abdullah is one of a several highly influential Malaysian political figures whom anti-corruption authorities believe Securency and Note Printing Australia— firms respectively half and fully owned and overseen by Australia's reserve bank— allegedly sought to bribe using part of $4.2 million in commission payments made to two Malaysian middlemen.

Malaysian sources confirmed to The Age that the Australian Federal Police have gathered information about attempts to bribe Mr Abdullah by Securency and Note Printing Australia, which are respectively half and fully owned and overseen by the RBA.

The Age sought comment from Mr Abdullah last night.

Asked about the approach to Mr Abdullah yesterday, an AFP spokesman said: "Given that matters relating to investigations into Securency International and Note Printing Australia are currently before the court, the AFP is unable to make any further comment."

It is understood the attempt to bribe Mr Abdullah related to contract negotiations that occurred around 2003, the year he became prime minister and finance minister. He served as prime minister until 2009.

Before becoming prime minister, Mr Abdullah was deputy to long-serving Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad.

The alleged attempt to bribe of Mr Badawi, who remains a serving MP, adds to the list of high-profile Asian politicians and central bank officials targeted by the RBA firms.

The AFP last week alleged Securency bribed Vietnam's former central bank governor by paying his son's English university tuition fees. Authorities in Malaysia last Friday arrested a former Malaysian central bank assistant governor accused of receiving two bribes from NPA.

The revelations about the attempt to bribe Mr Abdullah come as the fallout from Australia's plastic note bribery scandal continues to spread, with The Age reporting yesterday about the intimate involvement of senior officials from the Australian government trade agency Austrade in Securency's allegedly corrupt Vietnam dealings.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/bribe-probe-hits-former-malay-pm-20110704-1gz6c.html#ixzz1RE2QHCby

Open Water, Divers Beware

SYDNEY (AP) — Australian safety officials said Wednesday that they were investigating a dive boat company that accidentally left a U.S. tourist behind while he was snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, forcing the panicked man to swim to another boat for help.

A spokesman for the company denied Ian Cole was ever in danger. But the incident drew immediate comparisons to the infamous case of Americans Tom and Eileen Lonergan, who died in 1998 after their tour boat left while they were scuba diving on the reef. Officials believe they drowned or were eaten by sharks.

Cole, 28, of Michigan, said he was snorkeling on Saturday when he lifted his head out of the water and realized his tour boat, the Passions of Paradise, was nowhere in sight.

"The adrenalin hit in and I had a moment of panic, which was the worst thing I could have done at that point," Cole told The Cairns Post. "I was able to calm myself just a little bit because there was another boat still out there and I made my way to that vessel. Lucky it was there because otherwise I may have drowned. I did not handle the situation well and I was tired."

A spokeswoman for the Queensland state government work safety agency, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, confirmed on Wednesday that the department was investigating the incident, but declined to comment further.

Passions of Paradise referred calls to Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators executive officer Col McKenzie, who did not immediately return messages from The Associated Press. But he told the Post that Cole was never in danger of drowning, since other boats were nearby.

Read more.

Why Does Australia Want To Send Refugees To Malaysia?

By Marina Kamenev/SYDNEY

Between 2003 and 2004, Marion Le, a Canberra-based lawyer, made regular trips to the remote island of Nauru in the South Pacific. But she wasn't going for a beach holiday. At the time, Nauru was part of the so-called Pacific Solution, Australia's policy of processing and detaining asylum seekers arriving by boat in offshore detention facilities.

From 2001 to 2007, thousands of asylum seekers were in offshore detention centers while Australian immigration officials decided their fate. Le, who helped many migrants file successful asylum claims to Australia, was among the Pacific Solution's many critics in Australia and abroad, saying the system was both a human rights violation and a breach of international law. After former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd came into office in 2007 and closed the centers on Nauru, Papua New Guinea's Manus Island and the Australian territory of Christmas Island, Le recalls feeling "relief" that the government was finally listening to the plight of those that had been confined. (Watch a video about asylum seekers in South Africa.)

So it's something of a surprise that today, Le wants to have the facility in Nauru reopened. "It's the better of the two evils," she says. The second "evil" that Le is referring to has been nicknamed the Malaysian Solution. It's the latest plan by the Australian government to deter its longtime problem of "irregular maritime arrivals," and to stop the business of the people smugglers who get them here. The proposal, tabled by Prime Minister Julia Gillard in early May, mandates that asylum seekers arriving to Australia by boat will no longer be taken to Christmas Island, where they have access to getting an Australian visa. Instead, the first 800 asylum seekers will be sent to Malaysia — "to the back of the queue," as Gillard puts it. In turn, Australia will give a permanent home to 4,000 mainly Burmese refugees over a period of four years who are now residing in or near the Malaysian capital. "Now [the governments] are just people trading," says Le. "What they are suggesting is deplorable."

Since May 7, when the Malaysia Solution was announced, there have been more than 274 people who have arrived to Australia by boat. For the moment, they are in limbo on a detention center in Christmas Island. A formal deal between Canberra and Kuala Lumpur is close to being, signed according to Immigration Minister Chris Bowen, though it has not been announced where the affected migrants will be processed. Bowen told ABC Radio on June 9 that they will be processed in a third country. (See how refugees are living around the world today.)

So far, Malaysia is the closest the Australian government has come to establishing a regional deal. But it's not the first. Gillard had hopes for building a detention center in East Timor, but President Jose Ramos-Horta told journalists on April 29 that this is not an option. There have also been talks with Papua New Guinea about reopening the facilities at Manus Island, and Thailand has reportedly expressed interest in participating in a similar scheme to Malaysia. Critics are concerned about the seemingly arbitrary nature of the location for offshore solutions. "I feel like Gillard is just throwing darts around the Pacific Ocean and hoping one sticks somewhere," says Le.

Malaysia, unlike Australia, is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention, and therefore does not have special national laws that recognize refugees, fleeing their homes for fear of persecution, have different rights than illegal immigrants. "We have a country like Australia that has signed the Convention sending people to a country that hasn't signed the Convention, and where we know refugee protection is deeply problematic," says Graham Thom, a spokesperson for Amnesty International, which expressed concern over the agreement in a press release on May 8. The statement quoted a 2010 report by Amnesty which found that 6,000 refugees in Malaysia are caned annually for immigration-related offences, such as working, which is not legal for refugees in that nation. Bowen has since said that the 800 refugees coming from Australia will be issued with identity tags that should safeguard them against caning.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2077279,00.html#ixzz1PPpx4vDw

Sabah Born Penny Wong Made Australian Minister Of Finance.

Hantu Laut

Sabah born Penny Wong was made Minister of Finance in the new weak coalition government headed by Labour's Julia Gillard.

Wong is the first openly gay member of the Australian cabinet and first Asian born federal minister when she was appointed Minister of Climate Change in the former PM Rudd's government.

Born at Kota Kinabalu,Sabah to a Chinese Hakka father and Australian mother she left Sabah at very young age when the parents separated.She has very little connection left in Sabah other than an aging father who still lives in Kota Kinabalu.

Penny Wong is a lesbian and was the first sitting member of the Australian Labour Party to "come out" while still in parliament.

(Posted in Phnom Penh)

Was Kevin Rudd Rat-Fucked ?

Hantu Laut

Just two weeks ago, while in Australia, I wrote about whether Kevin Rudd is in the rut.Would he loses his job?

Just two days ago Rudd fell victim, not to the electoral process, but rat fucked by his own deputy.As they say "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" or in this case a deputy scorned.

His deputy, Julia Gilard engineered a midnight coup against him in a leadership tussle of the party.Rudd initially says he would defend his position but later changed his mind.The general consensus is that in view of his declining popularity, his government falling short of expectations and contentious issues with his government he would lose the contests as party members would rebel against him to save the party.

Her source of anger was Kevin Rudd's seemingly contemptuous act of sending out feelers to test her loyalty.Whether she if fair dinkum?

Rudd is well known for his short on the fuse, distrust of those near him and a ruddy human relation problems with colleagues and subordinates.

One of Rudd's big problems is his loggerhead with mining bosses on the super tax for the mining industry which has also exposed his other administrative weaknesses.His poor human relations with colleagues and subordinates has finally pulled the rug from under his feet.

Rudd was not a victim of diminishing popularity with the masses.He is a victim of the rich and powerful mining lobby.The mining companies $100 million advertising war chest has done serious damage to his reputation.

The companies took up television,internet and full-page newspaper ads attacking Rudd' government.One ads punctuates that the super tax “Weaken mining, you weaken the country. But that’s exactly what the government’s new super tax is doing,”

Julia Gilard says she is throwing open the government's doors to the mining industry.That could mean compromise or total withdrawal of the tax.

Was Kevin Rudd "rat-fucked" by his deputy?

What an ebb of tide, a man popular six months ago suddenly died of political back-stabbing.

Eyes Wide Shut

Hantu Laut

I have not cared to comment on the NEM (New Economic Model) since it was first announced as I feel it would be a waste of time as I do not have much faith that the government going to implement it as it is.

As it is they say "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." Najib may have the best of intentions but he would not be able to deliver what he promised. The pressure from inside UMNO would be too high and too risky for him to discontinue the traditional politics of patronage.

Many bloggers have put forward their views on the subject including our prolix and prolific blogger SakMongkol47 who has written a number of articles on the subject.One that draws my attention is his "Conspiracy of the rich"

Malaysian politics is all about money.Without money the BN would have done even worse in the March 2008 General Elections.What SakMongol47 wrote of the big projects becoming preserve of the big guns is not far from the truth.I can't see any semblance of serious economic reforms in the 10 MP. Najib will be under pressure to keep rewarding the warlords in UMNO and other component parties.The money train, pardon me, the gravy train must continue to run along the same track.

The only way Najib can succeed is, if he is not afraid of losing his job and to be cruel to be kind.Nip in the butt any opposition from within the party before it become widespread.The success much depend on how unwavering is Najib in pushing forward his plans to change the fate of this nation.

Vision 2020 is less than 10 years away.Many things can happen or not happen.We can join the high income community or erode back to the low income.The ball is in the government's court, whosoever it is the next 10 years.

Do not ridicule Idris Jala. He was not wrong to warn Malaysians the consequence of an all encompassing subsidy mentality.Nations can and have slided back to poverty due to corruptions and poor financial management.Think of the Philippines, think of Argentina, think of all the African countries that have gone to the dogs and lately think of Greece and the other European PIGS.If it can happen to them it can happen to us.

The problem with Malaysians they do not want to hear the bad news preferring euphony even if it is far from the truth.They have now taken subsidy as of rights not as a privilege.

The right thing to do is to bring this nation to a higher income level to increase productivity that can boost our growth rate and GDP.Subsidies should only be temporaries.

I support removal of all subsidies.

Will Najib have the balls to do so? Not likely. Certainly not in the near future.Doing so will cost him the government.We have become a nation of blackmailers.

We much pretty screw ourselves up the past 50 years where those behind us have overtaken us.I will not mention Singapore as it is sensitive and taboo to some Malaysians when making comparison.Taiwan and South Korea are two countries that I can confidently quote as examples of what we could have been or better.I will not give facts and figures at this juncture for comparison purposes.I have one nation which is closer in comparison.

Do you know that in the seventies Malaysian and Singaporean men go to Taiwan and South Korean for sex holidays? Today, the situation is reversed, they are coming over here for cheap sex.If that is not telling of how far we have progressed what does? Malaysia has also been quoted as one of the busiest human trafficking transit point and destination.Not something we should be proud of.

My recent visit to Australia was an eye opener and realised how pretty screwed up we have been, not because nature has been unkind to us, because we have been unkind to ourselves.By right, we should have been better than the bloody Aussies.

Sorry mate!It's fair dinkum!

Let's begin with my internal flight in Australia which may not be the barometer for everything good about the Aussie, but it's a start.

I took a Virgin Blue flight from Brisbane to Perth with checked in baggage.Surprise, surprise! when I arrived, even without going through immigration, there weren't any, anyway, it's a domestic flight, I was amazed my bags were there waiting for me.It reminded me of Changi 25 years ago when I lived in Singapore, they were already delivering baggage ahead of passengers.

I have passed through KLIA six times the last eight months, both through the main and the cheapo terminals. I have to wait between 15 to 30 minutes before I can see my bags on the carousel.

My return from Perth was on Air Asia X.Bags took almost 30 minutes to clear and the terminal was jam-packed to bursting point.The air-conditioned was struggling to keep the terminal cool but failed miserably with the amount of heat generated from those human bodies.Restaurants filled to the brinks and me losing my mind.

I now agree with Tony Fernandez that MAB are run by morons who can't foresee what's coming.This is one airline terminal and yet busier than than the main under utilised terminal.If they have allowed him to build his own airport it would be on the way to completion now and cost a fraction of what the government's costing would be.

Australia has less population than Malaysia and a territory 23 times bigger.

Some Malaysians always have the strange habit of arguing that the reason Singapore is successful is because it is small and easier to manage and control which I find.....what can I say... ignorance, foolish or just plain stupid.

Now, let see what they have to say about Australia, which is 23 times bigger than Malaysia.Some, even called the Aussies lazy.Let see who is actually the lazy one.

There is a difference between working smart and working late.Putting too much time into your work can also mean two things....inefficiency and incompetency.You either do not know your job well or you are just a slow coach which, unfortunately, increases your unproductiveness.If you live in KL the situation is even worse, your productivity and quality of life goes out the window.You have to spend average 2 hours caught in traffic snarl unless you are very well-off and can afford those million dollar condo nearby.

The hotel I stayed in Perth has 123 rooms, has only 1 receptionist (she is also the cashier,the front desk manager and the concierge).The restaurant has 4 workers, 1 receptionist/cashier and three waiters.I still checked in without hassle and get my food and drinks on time.

OK, let's get to the nitty-gritty.

Country Land Mass Pop GDP(2009) GDP (Per Capita)

Malaysia 328,867 sq.km 26 mil $381 bil $14,800

Australia 7,682,300 22 $824 $38,800

You can tell when a country is rich and the people is well-off, not by the number of posh cars on the streets but by the number of mariners and the number of luxury boats in them.Even the smallest mariner here is bigger than the biggest we have in Malaysia and they are dotted all over the country.

Now, Australia 23 times bigger (75% desert), population slightly smaller, GDP 2 1/2 bigger and is almost 3 times richer than us.

Hello! Anybody out there? Can you hear me? Why? Why is Australia doing better than us?

When you travel keep your eyes wide open.

I am beginning to like this man.

(The title is taken from the 1999 movie 'Eyes Wide Shut' starring Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise)

The Oleh-Oleh Rendang

Hantu Laut

After having feasted almost perennially the past week on oysters and succulent Aussie's beef an accidental find of this little Malay restaurant on the quiet side of Hay Street gave me salivating nostalgia of home-cooked food. The spartan interior is typical of most Malay restaurants back home.First thing that came to my mine was, who cares, as long as the food is good.

I am not on a gastronomical journey but simple plain good food is certainly more desirous than pretentious ambience.As good as the food can be a bad service can kill your appetite.

The restaurant was empty except for a table of three launchers at the far end of the room.Malaysians, I guessed, but not sure whether tourists or residents.

Perth had a fair share of Malaysians permanent residents as any other immigrants.I have many Chinese friends that have migrated here.Some have become citizens of the country.

After browsing through the menu I decided to order 'beef rendang' with rice.Scanning the room I noticed some empty plates of previous meals still uncleared from the table next to me.By now I have the gut feeling that I have come to a wrong restaurant.

The guy at the counter spent most of his time talking in Malay on his cellular phone with his friend or girlfriend occasionally leaving his work station to go outside the restaurant to continue with whatever secret conversation that he didn't want anyone else to hear.

By now 20 minutes has passed and there were still no sign of my food.I called the guy and enquired about my food and all he said was it's coming.Goddam hell! I know it is coming but when without saying it aloud.The cardinal rule and always bear in mind that if you are not happy never scowl the waiter till you have finished your meal.

We all know 'beef rendang' is pre-cooked and can be served almost immediately unless the moron think I am not Malaysian, an idiot and do not know what rending is.

Beef rendang, empty restaurant and it took over 20 minutes to get my food to the table.It was rendang exclusive, without anything on the side, not good, not bad but just edible. By the time I finished my meal I would have spent at least 40 minutes in the restaurant and guess what? The empty plates on the next table were still there.Just imagine what the service would be like if the restaurant was full.

The Malaysian Chinese restaurant that I have been to in the Gold Coast and here did not suffer from such lackadaisical attitude.

The owner, whoever he is, is either equally incompetent with his "tidak apa" attitude or as clueless as when he first left Malaysia for this land.He might just as well run his food business from the warong in KL.

You certainly can't take the kampong out of this Ahmad.He has brought his whole kampong to Perth.

The next time you are in Perth try the "Oleh-Oleh" restaurant along Hay Street and hopefully I was wrong or too hasty in my judgement.

Is Kevin Rudd In The Rut?

Hantu Laut

While Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's popularity has soared to 72 percent as of late, in the land of the kangaroos, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's popularity has plummeted to a low ebb.The dire consequences of broken election promises and the new controversial super tax on the mining industry that Rudd is determine to introduce to enhance government's revenue.

David Hogan, the publisher of Scoop of Western Australia described him as Australia's most terrifying politician.

Kevi Rudd came to Perth and about 2000 miners, supporters and families rallied in a park outside the hotel where Rudd was to address a media lunch.


Instigated by mining bosses

Western Australia is where Kevin Rudd's new super tax going to take a deep bite and mining magnates are pulling their firepower to demolish Rudd's ruddy tax on the mining industry which has made some ruddy Australian billionaires.

Rudd's visit to Perth yesterday which the Sydney Morning Herald described as 'Rudd's journey into a lion's den could be a turning point' was indeed what it is.

Opposition to the super tax is confined to a loud but narrow sectional interest group.Out of 500 locals who turned up for Rudd's community cabinet meeting (never heard of it in Malaysian politics) only two raised the super profit tax.

One lady said if the mining bosses think they could not continue mining under the new tax scheme, the government should call their bluff and take back the mining licences and give them to someone else.The other, a man said the only problem with the super tax is that the government has not done enough to explain its benefits to the "man in the street."

Western Australia and Queensland are the two biggest mining states and opposition to Rudd's super tax could come from these two states as it could effect their financial health as the mining bosses would like to put it.

Will Kevin Rudd and his Labour party go the way of Gordon Brown?

The average working class Australians that I spoke to do not think so.They are more concerned with how it's going to effect their welfare and their pockets.

Kevin Rudd's political campaign to preserve his image has also taken on a new perplexing dimension........Japanese bashing, which got the Japanese being one of its biggest trading partners in a state of anger and confusion.

Ruddy Rudd contemplating taking the Japs to the World Court on its anti-whaling policy.

Will Kevin Rudd be in the rot with the Japanese?

The average working class Australians that I spoke to said to hell with the Japanese.

Australians don't eat whale meat and are very annoyed at the idea.

Will Kevin Rudd be in the rut?

The average working class Australians think too early to tell and said don't pay too much attention to the media.

On the home front, Najib's raising popularity may not necessarily translates into votes.Malaysians imbibe party more than personality.

The Westminster system has its drawback.If they think the party is rotten than Najib could become a casualty.If they think the head is rotten than the party become the casualty.Gordon Brown can testify to that.Labour lost mainly because of his lacklustre performance.

Unlike Westerners, Malaysians tend to hide what inside them.Opinion poll, can be misleading and become purely academic, particularly in this part of the world.

Najib not out of the woods yet.

Joining The Communist Party Of Australia?

Hantu Laut

Anyone for joining a Communist Party? Well, I did, for about 20 minutes, not for the ideology but for the cause of the day.....the damning of Israel.

Since the Australian government was mealy-mouthed about the cold-blooded killing of innocent humanitarian activists on the Gaza's aid flotilla, the Communist Party of Australia has taken upon themselves to send the message that what Israel did was murder and should be severely condemned.

The peaceful protest and public rally was held this morning on Perth's busy Hay Street, a shopping and commercial center of the city. It was an incongruous mixture of the discontents, the want to be seen activists and over-zealous members and supporters of CPA.The disinterested and the unperturbed but curious anyway staying on the periphery.A group of policemen staying on the side just in case.

Some photos of the demonstration.

A friend once asked me how come the British banned the Communist Party in Malaysia but allowed Communist Party in Britain and Australia.Maybe, we all know the answer to that.

That's the true test of democracy.As long as they don't take up arm struggle they should not be a problem.That's how the British looked at it.Unfortunately, the CPM (Communist Party of Malaya) decided that intimidation, violence and killing are the answes to taking over a government. The CPA (Communist Party of Australia) is now 90 years old and has not made much progress.The Australians are happy with a government that takes care of its citizens from the cradle to the grave.

A Jew Lover Indeed!

Hantu Laut

While waiting for my flight from Brisbane to Perth at Brisbane Airport I picked up a newspaper left behind by a passenger who presumably have no more use of it for the day.

Browsing through the newspaper a seemingly disengaging article on Israel's attack on the Gaza's aid convoy caught my attention.

The Herald Sun, a publication out of Melbourne has a completely different twist to the story.What happened on the Mavi Marmara on that day I'll leave to your imagination.Andrew Bolt has what Jeffery Archer would have called 'A twist in the tale' or one may say the other side of the story.

Despite world's condemnation of the Israel's homicidal attack, the Herald Sun and Andrew Bolt see a conspiracy by the Islamist to change world's opinion of the Jewish state.

Andrew Bolt may have forgotten that world's opinion of the Jewish state have spurred some of the most anti-Islamist to change their minds after having witnessed the atrocities committed by Israel on the Palestinian people and the attack on Gaza that Israel tried to justify by Hamas puny rocket attacks against Israel.

The blockade imposed by Israel has further choked the Palestinians, depriving them of food and medicine and making the Palestinians prisoners in their own land.

The inhumane blockade has made life sustenance perilous to the Palestinians.Don't they have a right to fight for survival? The US and the rest of the Western powers see it fits that the Jewish state be protected at any cost, even at the cost of other human lives.Israel is the appointed 'Sheriff' of the Western powers in the Middle East particularly by the US.

My taking a different footpath from Andrew Bolt presaging an Islamist's conspiracy has nothing to do with religion.Obviously, Andrew Bolt has creatively turned a humanitarian issue and by his definition an act of terrorism to defend Israel's cruel and inhumane policy toward the Palestinian people and attack on the humanitarian mission which the Israelis gave two hoots about the safety of lives aboard the aid convoy.Guns speak louder than words.Israel does not believe in peaceful engagement.

Even if its is true that Israeli soldiers were set upon with metal bars and sticks when they descended the ship does it justify retaliation by deadly force? A few shots in the air would have brought back the wild and weary to their senses.

They are not hardcore terrorists but overt peace activists who truly believe in the humanitarian cause, bringing food and medicine for the enclaved Palestinians.They should have been allowed to pass through and deliver the aid under the watchful eye of Israel armed forces.

The Palestinian issue is not a religious matter as there are, though in the minority, Christian Palestinians who would have suffered the same fate as their Muslim brethren by the inhumane blockade.

Below is the article published by the Herald Sun.

Don't fall for Islamist hype about flotilla attack, says Andrew Bolt

• Andrew Bolt
• From:Herald Sun
• June 02, 2010

NOTHING more to be said. Israeli soldiers kill at least nine peace activists trying to ship aid to a starving people.

Or as the front page of The Age screamed: "Israel kills boat protesters."

End of story. There are immediate riots and protests against this appalling brutality in London, Paris, New York, Istanbul, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and throughout the Middle East.

The United Nations whacks Israel and calls for an emergency meeting of the Security Council. And from Moscow to Washington, Israel stands utterly friendless. Dangerously alone.

What a coup for those pledged to the destruction of that tiny Jewish country. How discredited and invitingly defenceless Israel now seems. Someone couldn't have scripted this any better.

Well, almost no better, because even the journalists most sympathetic to the activists on the six ships intercepted on Monday by Israel couldn't help but refer, albeit grudgingly, to a couple of untidy details too obvious to ignore.

ABC radio host Jon Faine, for instance, described these poor victims of Zionist aggression as "humanitarian activists with a few knives".

Er, with knives? Humanitarians?

And a strident report in The Age, Australia's most Left-wing metropolitan daily, conceded that video of the Israeli soldiers being lowered on to the ships from helicopters did show that some of the "hundreds of politicians and protesters" on board did offer "signs of resistance".

Here are some of those "signs of the resistance" that this Age reporter tactfully failed to detail.

You see the Israeli commandos, at first brandishing just paintball guns, being grabbed by mobs as they landed, dragged to the ground, and beaten brutally with metal pipes and clubs.

On another clip, apparently shot by protesters, you see a soldier stabbed in the back, and then in the front.

Another soldier is shown being beaten and thrown over the side.

Photographs show two Israeli soldiers, one of them shot, being carried off with serious wounds.

This isn't what you'd normally expect from "peace protesters" or "humanitarian activists", even those armed merely "with a few knives".

So these clues suggest the Western media - and many foolish politicians - have just fallen for a brilliant propaganda coup by the kind of Islamists who threaten us, too.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd also fell for it, saying he was "deeply concerned" by the deaths and condemning "any use of violence under the sorts of circumstances we have seen".

His Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephen Smith, likewise attacked Israel for a "terrible and shocking event" and demanded it hold an inquiry.

Not once did Rudd or Smith suggest an inquiry into who organised this trap in which Israel had fallen - or into those who now stand most to gain.

The despairing Israeli ambassador, Yuval Rotem, could only congratulate the organisers: "They couldn't have had a better outcome."

So who are we talking about? Here's another vital clue.

The Israeli soldiers took over six ships of an "aid" flotilla trying to pierce the blockade that both Israel and Egypt have imposed on Gaza, a territory controlled by the Islamist Hamas.

Only on one of those six ships did the Israelis meet a resistance that clearly - and fatally - caught them by surprise.

This was not on one of the ships manned by the Western politicians, aid workers and other useful idiots brought along for camouflage.

It broke out instead on the Mavi Marmara, a ship bought and supplied by a Turkish "humanitarian relief fund" known as IHH.

IHH may boast about its good works, but intelligence agencies warn that it is in fact tied to Islamist terrorists.

The CIA as long ago as 1996 noted it was linked to "Iran operatives" and gave "support for extremist/terrorist activity", including in Bosnia.

In 2001, Jean-Louis Bruguiere, the prominent French counter-terrorism magistrate, said at the trial of the "millennium bomber" that IHH had played "an important role" in the plot to blow up Los Angeles airport.

He said the charity was "a type of cover-up" to infiltrate mujahideen into combat, get forged documents and smuggle weapons.

In 2006, the Danish Institute for International Studies reported that Turkish security forces had raided the IHH's Istanbul bureau and found firearms, explosives and bomb-making instructions, as well as records of calls to an al-Qaida guest house in Milan.

The Turkish investigators concluded this "charity" was sending jihadists to Bosnia, Chechnya and Afghanistan, where Australian soldiers serve.

IHH has also been a long-time supporter of Hamas, listed in many countries as a terrorist group.

But this time it planned something more effective than an explosion. It decided to destroy Israel's moral standing among its more fickle friends.

Its Mavi Marmara would now head a flotilla to break through the Israeli blockade of Gaza - or, rather, to provoke Israel into stopping it by force.

IHH head Bulent Yildirim gloated that this would be seen as "a declaration of war" against all the countries that supplied the flotilla's passengers, which is why so many foreigners, and particularly sympathetic journalists such as the Sydney Morning Herald's Paul McGeough, were on board, having been recruited from Australia, Britain, the US and many other countries that IHH and its allies hoped could be turned into enemies of Israel.

It was obvious Israel would stop the convoy. It had to: to relax the blockade once would be to open a corridor to yet more ships, giving Gaza yet another conduit for the smuggling of jihadists and militarily useful supplies.

Oh, and ignore soothing claims now that Hamas, which runs Gaza, should actually be negotiated with, rather than blockaded. Hamas fires rockets at Israeli civilians, and has a charter that calls for the destruction of Israel, declaring "there is no solution for the Palestinian question except through jihad".

INDEED, jihad was also the spirit on the Mavi Marmara as it sailed for Gaza.

Those on board refused offers by Israel that they dock at an Israeli port so their aid could be checked and forwarded to Gaza. They rejected warnings to turn back. They prepared instead for a deadly confrontation.

Arab television showed one woman on board exulting: "We await one of two good things - to achieve martyrdom or reach the shore of Gaza."

Added another passenger, Yemeni professor Abd al-Fatah Nu'man: "These are people who wish to be martyred for the sake of Allah. As much as they want to reach Gaza, the other option is more desirable to them."

They got just what they wanted, then, as did Hamas and its chief backer, Iran.

Iran, needing attention distracted from its nuclear weapons program, pumped out instant YouTube footage of this Israeli "atrocity".

Meanwhile, Hamas spokesman Samil Abu Zuhri called for a global "intifada": "We call on all Arabs and Muslims to rise up in front of Zionist embassies across the whole world."

And in capital cities around Australia, we yesterday saw the new front open as angry demonstrators took the streets.

So what, you may scoff. A few of the usual hotheads.

But see this time how many of our politicians, journalists and "thinkers" are on the wrong side of this front.

See how willingly they've surrendered to an Islamist plot more effective than any Bali bomb.

Andrew Bolt participated in the Australia Israel Leadership Forum in Jerusalem and Melbourne

Posted in Perth,Australia