The Twitter Twits That Nik Aziz Should Consider Legal Action Against Rocky Bru

Hantu Laut

The twitter twits that Nik Aziz should consider legal action against Rocky Bru.

You see those who support Pakatan can twist and turn corruption like the Rubik's cube.If it's BN/UMNO it's corruption, if it's involved Pakatan, it's not.

'Sedekah" must come from your heart and without strings attached, without motive for gains and without feeling of guilt that you must compensate the giver for giving what is not his own.

Any money or payment in kinds that changed hand, no matter how small, even if it is RM10, in return for a favour is considered as corruption.

If Nik Aziz and the state government has no business dealings with the man than the offer of the trip to do the Haj is not wrong for Nik Aziz to accept. To me, that's not corruption, that falls under 'sedekah.' However, does Nik Aziz looked like he needs sedekah.He may live modestly but he certainly is not a poor man.

But! There's always a but in everything we do, but why make such offer to him and not offer to some poor and unfortunate people who can't, in their lifetime, afford to go to the Haj.With the RM65,000 VVIP price tag, I am sure the donor can send more of the poor people to Haj and he will get lots of 'pahala'.

Although, Nik Aziz has not done anything wrong and was honest enough to disclose the offer publicly, it is the way Pakatan supporters view the whole thing as something not wrong is appalling.

If it has been any BN or UMNO politician, all hell would break loose and they would be screaming for his blood

freelunch2020

I dunno I think Nik Aziz shld ask his lawyers if there is room to take legal action against Rocky....19 minutes ago from TweetDeck
freelunch2020

...allegations when we have the PKFZ billion ringgit scandal....Morgan Stanley said Msia lost abt RM100bn from corruption....

freelunch2020

Aiyoh. Just reading the details of ze Nik Aziz + Haj + timber on Rocky's blog. RM20mil? Why they always have all these peanuts...24 minutes ago from TweetDeck
reelunch2020

It's not as if Nik Aziz can't afford to go on Haj with his own money so the sum is prob negligible to him....35 minutes ago from TweetDeck
freelunch2020

...behave in a way tt suggests that it was a bribe for favours then politicians r also human beings....about 1 hour ago from web

freelunch2020

Buat isu dari tak de isu. Nik Aziz is considered a religious teacher tt ppl respect, etc.... As long as he did not...about 1 hour ago from web
freelunch2020

Allegedly sponsoring Nik Aziz's haji. I dunno-lah, this Bee End. In churches, it's quite normal to "sponsor" the pastor + family's holidaysabout 1 hour ago from web
freelunch2020

Now this fella has attacked....Nik Aziz, calling him a hypocrite!!! I really dunno. So wat? Protected by Dr M?about 2 hours ago from web
What did Rocky writes here.He never alleged that Nik Aziz is corrupted, all he did was tell what he knows about the background of that very generous Santa Claus.
Frankly speaking,UMNO is foolish to pursue their actions asking MACC to investigate Nik Aziz.
All Pakatan's politicians are as clean as a whistle?
Would you believe that?

Will Malaysia Ever Be Color-blind?

In Malaysia, a promise to continue a race-based affirmative action policy will only entrench racism

NAZRY BAHRAWI

The Guardian

After South Africa and Rwanda's harrowing experiences, it might be expected that no country would want its citizens governed racially lest it be torn asunder. But Malaysia considers itself an exception. Its leaders just gave race-based policies a renewed stamp of approval.

Last month, prime minister Najib Razak vowed to continue an unpopular affirmative action policy that favours the nation's Malays (who make up for slightly more than half of its population) over the Chinese and Indian minorities, who account for about 26% and 8% respectively.

The New Economic Policy (NEP), as this racialised national programme is known, was introduced nearly four decades back to raise the Malays' share of the nation's wealth from a meagre 1.5% to a more equitable 30% and create a Malay middle class. To this end, the government imposed racial quotas in such spheres as education and business.

The quotas resulted in civil service scholarships being granted to Malays over more deserving minority candidates, and the same could be said of government jobs. Meanwhile, businesses must meet a minimum level of 30% ownership for Malays and other indigenous people.

While Malaysia's Chinese and Indian minorities were at first agreeable, the prolonged implementation of NEP-type policies has today left them feeling like second-class citizens. Many, especially the affluent Chinese, left Malaysia to seek opportunities elsewhere. The largely working-class Indians were not as fortunate.

Ironically, a sizable segment of the Malay population – from the middle and working classes – also began complaining about these policies on the grounds that they benefited only a select group of well-connected Malays.

Such discontent has led to Malaysians registering their protest during last year's general election by voting overwhelmingly for the opposition instead of the ruling coalition that comprises a hotchpotch of race-based parties headed by Najib's United Malays National Organisation (Umno). Although the latter still won the polls, it took a severe hammering – losing its two-thirds parliamentary majority and the control of five states.

Little wonder that Umno which fashions itself as a party championing Malay rights since its inception in 1946 has now decided to tone down its racial policies through a slew of reforms this year. Among others, it launched the "1Malaysia" concept to unite the nation's racially-fractured citizens. Najib also announced that a merit-based scholarship open to all races will be introduced next year.

While many analysts are quick to proclaim that Umno is now a transformed political entity, evidence that it has moved past racialism is sparse. For one thing, the tenets of "1Malaysia" are still nebulous at this juncture.

Yet the most telling sign could be gleaned from the rhetoric of its up-and-coming politician Khairy Jamaluddin who wants the party to discardits ideology of "Malay dominance" for "Malay leadership". Herein lies the crux of the problem. The pith of the "Malay leadership" ideal is no different from "Malay dominance" – Malays are to reign supreme over other races. In its basest form, "Malay leadership" resonates of the "Hutu Power" ideology in Rwanda and the white supremacist slant of South Africa's apartheid where one race dominates over others.

Instead of eradicating Malaysia's decades-long racialism, its ruling elites look set to entrench it further into the system by making it subtle. However, driving racialism underground has its social costs. To understand this, Malaysia needs to look no further than neighbouring Singapore where racialism is understatedly exercised in the way the city-state maps educational performances and social ills by race.

Doing so has put its minority Malays, largely from the lower income groups, in an unfavourable light. Official statistics show that this group which makes up about 14% of Singapore's largely Chinese population are overly represented in terms of social problems such as teenage pregnancies and divorces. This has the entrenched stereotypes that the Malays are a problematic lot – oversexed and irresponsible.

So much so that some have hinted of racism. One journalist, for instance, likens being a Malay Singaporean to feeling "like the least favourite child in the family". The Singapore example suggests that subtle racialism gives rise to a population trapped in a worldview that hails race as their primary identity marker.

But Malaysia is probably in a worse quagmire. Two years back its capital, Kuala Lumpur, was the scene of a racial protest by lower-class Indians that saw the police clamping down on demonstrators.

If Umno leaders are serious about reforms, then they must seriously consider eradicating racialism in all its manifestations. An alternative proposal mooted by Malaysia's opposition calls for a needs-based affirmative action policy which dishes out aid by income group to replace the government's pro-Malay stance.

Still, the real litmus test of Umno's commitment to inclusivity is a controversial one: disband race-based parties altogether. This would mean outlawing Umno and their partners, supplanting in their place a political entity that is colour-blind. Perhaps only then could Malaysia truly claim itself to be one.

The Guardian

The Most Serious And Dangerous Accusation Against The BN Government So Far

Hantu Laut

When Hishamuddin Onn said the rise in crime was due to demonisation of the police force, like most of those who were quick to jump the gun, my immediate reaction was the same, either he has gone bonkers or was making lame excuses to cover his weaknesses.

It's been a week since he uttered that statement in Parliament that got the oppositions up in arms gunning him down mercilessly for what they considered outrageously stupid and unacceptable statement about the state of our police force.

DAP's Lim Kit Siang lashed out at him for the police failure to provide security to the public.Whacking the police is Lim's favourite past time.

I did not blog about my disagreement with Hisham's statement.I am glad I didn't.I can now see his statement in a new light.

After reading numerous news report and articles in certain blogs it dawns on me that what he said could be true to certain extent.

Read this and this and this and this and this and many more said over the years demonising the police.

When the police shot dead armed Indian criminals after being shot at first some opposition politicians were quick to turn it into a racial issue.Read it here. It is OK to shoot Malay or Chinese criminals dead but not Indians.

It is wrong to shoot Indian criminals even if they are armed to the teeth.It is OK to shoot a dog in the streets but the police must not shoot Indian criminal even if he starts shooting at the police first.

The Indians may want to ask themselves how come being the smallest minority group in this country yet they produced the biggest number of criminals?

Yes! I already know the answer, they are marginalised, discriminated and living in a state of apartheid, so it is OK to make a living out of crime.

What about the Indian professionals, the doctors, lawyers,engineers,accountants are they also marginalised,discriminated and not allowed to practise in their professions because there is apartheid in Malaysia as claimed by some Indians.

Are there segregation of the races in this country that made the Indians feel marginalised, discriminated and unwanted.Every time an Indian criminal is shot dead or died in police custody it becomes a throny racial issue and blown out of proportion by the oppositions to gain political mileage.

Does it matter whether he is Indian, Malay or Chinese if he is a criminal, he is a criminal. Those who live by the gun, die by the gun.

It certainly not fair to say the police only shoot Indian criminals and will not shoot Malay or Chinese criminals even if they are armed. The reason for the high rate of Indians being shot dead by police is because there are more hardcore and dangerous Indian criminals than Malay or Chinese.

If one were to look back at the history of crimes in this country, going back to the pre Botak Chin era, who were the criminals then, weren't they mostly Chinese?

Those days, the Chinese community accepted that one Chinese criminal shot dead by the police was one less trouble for them.Those who got robbed, extorted and kidnapped were mostly Chinese so they were quite happy with the police trying to wipe out the menace.

It makes absolutely no sense, on one hand they want less crime and on the other hand when police shot criminals dead they turned it into racial issues.I don't understand the logic of it all.

Come on! You morons.Make up you mind, what do you want?

I do agree the police may not be up to mark in their fights against crime but isn't what you have been doing all this while adds to the problem, it kills their enthusiasms.

New York, used to be the murder capital of the US and one of the most violent cities in the world.Today, thanks to former Mayor Rudy Giuliani for his zero-tolerance crime policy and the cooperation of New Yorkers, New York's crime rate has declined drastically.

So! Help your police instead of insulting them every opportunity you get that demoralise them.

I like this guy's creative writing here.Good for the soul.

This is the most dangerous accusation against the government so far.This can be interpreted as ethnic cleansing for those who doesn't know Malaysia well.I suggest the next time the police go in search of hardcore criminals take this man along.Maybe, they can use him as human shield.

The police should seriously look into the case of the lady who gave weed killer to her children and herself over the death of her brother, a criminal shot dead by police, to rule out any foul play.

It's hard to believe that a normal person would take the life of her four children and herself for the death of her criminal brother.

Read part of what he says:

IPOH, Nov 15 – A DAP politician has accused the Barisan Nasional (BN) government of waging a war of revenge against the Indian community by ordering the police to kill suspected criminals.

Only fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

Killing The Competitions: Death Of The Far Eastern Economic Review.

Hantu Laut

Many would have thought that the Review died a long time ago.No, it didn't.Dow Jones makes sure it dies a slow excruciating death.The announcement of its demise came in September 2009. The final death blow and the end of its long history will come in December 2009.

I used to subscribe to this magazine for many years.It used to be a highly respected publications in this region, popular with businessmen,economists,government policy makers and those who have keen interests in the business,economy and politics of the Asian regions.It was once the most authoritative magazine in Asia and one that have rattled a few governments of the region.

A few of its issues were banned in Singapore and the publisher sued by former Singapore Premier Mr Lee Kuan Yew.It has also been at loggerhead with former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad.Like Singapore, Malaysia had its fair share of banning certain issues of the Review.I used to remember,with is laughable now, getting my copy of the magazine with either a paragraph or whole page blackened.

The magazine started in 1946 by an Austrian Jewish immigrant and has changed hands a number of times, from its original owner to a consortium of investors, to Rupert Murdoch and finally sold to Dow Jones.

The problems started under Dow Jones, publisher of the Asian Wall Street Journal, which do not enjoy the same popularity as the Review.

Former Chief Editor of the Review Philip Bowring lay the blame on Dow Jones for the decline of the magazine.In 2004, Dow Jones converted the magazine from weekly to monthly issue.In September this year Dow Jones announced the closure of the magazine by December 2009.

It is sad to see a magazine which have enjoyed such popularity among the elites of Asia to finally hit the dust, facing the same fate as Asiaweek which was closed down by Time magazine after having bought it. Both Time Asia and the Asian Wall Street Journal do not enjoy the same kind of popularity as the demised magazines.

Message from the Editor of the Review.

The editor spoke for his masters.

November 2009

From the Editor

Five years after the REVIEW was relaunched as a monthly journal, and 63 years after its founding, we have regretfully decided to close the magazine. Subscribers have already received notices in the mail. Thankfully we still have one more issue left in which to pen a proper valedictory.

In the meantime, however, a few thoughts on the dislocations faced by us and everybody else in the information business. The Economist newspaper's "Banyan" column tackled the review's closure by focusing on the difficulties faced by Asia's regional publications. The market has fragmented as individual economies have developed to the point that advertisers need to target their campaigns more precisely, and local publications have sprung up to allow them to do so. Readers too are less catholic in their interests than they were just a decade or two ago.

Those challenges were widely discussed when the weekly review folded. The business model was put under further pressure by competition from global publications that could use content from other editions and thereby enjoy a lower cost base. Since then, however, it has become increasingly clear that the newsweekly format has passed its sell-by date in most developed markets. It is a hallmark of this gloomy age for journalism that no publisher can afford to take heart from the closure of a competitor; in most cases it does not bring an uptick in revenue but rather is a harbinger of more pain to come.

Nevertheless, there are good reasons to be skeptical that the media business is in its death throes, globally or in Asia. The appetite for information continues to grow, but publishers have made several mistakes that meant they failed to capture this demand. By giving away their content without charge on the Internet, media companies have done double damage. First, they have conditioned consumers to see content as a free good, and second, valuable time has been lost in the development of efficient payment mechanisms.

While e-readers will not be a silver bullet, the development of such new platforms for reading will surely play a big part in the renaissance of publishing. This development comes too late for the review, but it is a natural fit for the niche publication, removing the problems of availability, distribution and production costs.

Eric Halpern founded the review in Hong Kong after he was forced by World War II to abandon a Shanghai-based magazine. Perhaps the review may rise once more in a new incarnation, following Halpern's spirit of optimism that "a period of prosperity will certainly follow."

H.R.

The biggest insult to the Review and its readers was Dow Jones refusal to sell the title.It has received many offers.

Both Time which is owned by Time Warner and Dow Jones are prepared to buy these Asian-based magazines and killed them to improve circulation of their American-based publications.

It's called killing the competitions.A fair game in corporate America.