Saturday, April 4, 2009

Najib:He Is No Wimp !

Hantu Laut

He defies expectation of an authoritarian rule predicted by many.Surprises that have thrown the oppositions and skeptics in utter disbelief and one that may influence the outcome of the three by-elections.

Although to early to tell, Najib had started on the right footing, doing what the ethnocentric leaders in UMNO had refused to do for decades.A prime minister who has his ears to the ground will go a long way.

He has on his first day as prime minister did the unthinkable and the unexpected.He released 13 ISA detainees including some Hindraf leaders and lifted the suspension of two opposition publications - Harakah and Suara Keadilan. He has also indicated that his government will comprehensively review the ISA which has been a thorny issue and a rallying point for the oppositions.

Although, I don't expect him to abolish the ISA in totality, I believe he would find ways and means to fine tune it and to bring it in line with the justice system. I am not against the ISA and Seditious Acts as long as they are not abused by those in power and only used in its proper context.

One can now see that Najib is not a wimp or going to be wimpish and intimidated by the warlords in UMNO. His assertiveness to deal with a situation is a good sign.

As he has said earlier to judge him by his actions.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Throw Out A Good Man, Installed A Crook

Hantu Laut

This could, if it happens, be the most dangerous failed state ever.The clock is ticking waiting for the day the extremists and religious fanatics to take over the state and throw the world into utter chaos and possible nuclear holocaust.

Pakistan is now moving much faster than before into becoming a failed state and a nightmare for the rest of the world. The Talibans, the most extreme of all Islamists, had taken over the Swat valley in the north just 100 miles from the capital Islamabad.The government is powerless and have surrendered the territory to this hordes of mad men.

Throw out a good man and installed a known crook, this is what you get.

Can Pakistan Be Governed?

TO ENTER the office where Asif Ali Zardari, the president of Pakistan, conducts his business, you head down a long corridor toward two wax statues of exceptionally tall soldiers, each in a long, white tunic with a glittering column of buttons. On closer inspection, these turn out to be actual humans who have been trained in the arts of immobility. The office they guard, though large, is not especially opulent or stupefying by the standards of such places. President Zardari met me just inside the doorway, then seated himself facing a widescreen TV displaying an image of fish swimming in a deep blue sea. His party spokesman, Farhatullah Babar, and his presidential spokesman, Farahnaz Ispahani, sat facing him, almost as rigid as the soldiers. Zardari is famous for straying off message and saying odd things or jumbling facts and figures. He is also famous for blaming his aides when things go wrong — and things have been going wrong quite a lot lately. Zardari’s aides didn’t want him to talk to me. Now they were tensely waiting for a mishap.

The president himself, natty in a navy suit, his black hair brilliantined to a sheen, was the very picture of ease. Zardari beamed when we talked about New York, where he often lived between 2004, when he was released from prison after eight years, and late 2007, when he returned to Pakistan not long after his wife, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated by terrorists. For all that painful recent history, Zardari is a suave and charming man with a sly grin, and he gives the impression of thoroughly enjoying what must be among the world’s least desirable jobs. Zardari had just been through the most dangerous weeks of his six months in office. He dissolved the government in Punjab, Pakistan’s dominant state, and called out the police to stop the country’s lawyers and leading opposition party from holding a “long march” to demand the reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who had been sacked, along with most of the high judiciary, by Zardari’s predecessor, Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Zardari defused the situation only by allowing Chaudhry’s return to office and giving in to other demands that he had previously and repeatedly rejected.

Yet, despite this spectacular reversal, the president was not in a remotely penitent state of mind over his handling of the protests against him. “Whoever killed my wife was seeking the Balkanization of Pakistan,” he told me. “There is a view that I saved Pakistan then” — by calling for calm at a perilous moment — “and there is a view that by making this decision I saved Pakistan again.” There had been, he said, a very real threat of a terrorist attack on the marchers on their way to Islamabad. That is why his government invoked a statute dating back to the British raj in order to authorize the police to arrest protesters and prevent the march from forming. I pointed out that Benazir Bhutto faced a far more specific threat and was outraged when General Musharraf kept her from speaking on the pretext of protecting her. The president didn’t miss a beat. “And therefore,” he rejoined, “we moved to the other side”: that is, he reversed his order to the police, and permitted the protesters’ march, just before giving in to their demands altogether. Read more....

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Lure Of The Lucre And Bangkok Came To Bukit Gantang.

Hantu Laut

In Batang Ai both sides claim to have over whelming support and would win the by-election.What I heard through the grapevine is that the BN has the edge in this constituency.The people of Batang Ai may not be ready for change yet.

In Bukit Selambau, Kedah the crowded boxing ring is getting too too hot for the independents, attracted by the lure of the lucre but didn't get much attention from PKR and the BN. Both sides of the fence gave them both the lower and tall orders.All will lose their deposits. BN appears to be gaining ground but too early to tell.

In Bukit Gantang the Malays beginning to warm up to the BN but not good enough for a win without the Chinese and Indians supports. BN says it is not a referendum for Najib, Pakatan says it is. Pakatan has all the reasons not to lose this one.BN is in desperate mode here bringing half-naked singers and dancers to entertain the people in a Chinese fishing village and Zaid Hamidi says this is part of Chinese culture.

Look more like Western-influenced go-go dancers in Bangkok nightclubs.



Bukan budaya Cina lah ! Brother Zaid ! Yang lebih tepat ini budaya orang Barat yang disebar dan tersebar diseluruh dunia.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Sacrilegious ?

Hantu Laut

I can understand not to mention or ridicule the Sultan of Perak decision on the Perak crisis but why would mentioning Altantuya name is now considered sacrilegious.

If the Home Ministry acted on this just to carry balls of the new PM than it certainly is not good news for Najib and UMNO. Not a good move at all.

Najib has in no uncertain term said he has nothing to do with the girl and have sworn that he had never met her. There are no evidence that can tie him to the girl.The purported photograph, other than the one doctored by Tian Chua, have never made an appearance. Malaysians should give him the benefit of the doubt and stop the mud-slinging.

Anwar Ibrahim and the oppositions can say umpteen times her name and till kingdom come, if he is innocent he should not worry.

He should take them to the cleaners, otherwise, it wouldn't stop.