I Don't Play Golf And 99.999 Percent Malaysian Don't

Hantu Laut

How many Malaysians play golf?

The Prime Minister recently announced that the government has abolished the import duty on golf buggy.This, he says is to make the game cheaper so more people can play the game and more tourists would come here to play.

Wonder on whose advice he arrived at these assumptions?

We all know golfs are mostly played by the well-heeled.It is an expensive,time consuming and highly glorified game which can only be played by those who can afford it and afford the time.In other words golf should only be played by those who have made it and those who wanted to be professional player.

How would the reduction in the price of golf buggy makes the game cheaper and affordable for the lesser souls? Are golf clubs throughout the country going to reduce their entrance and subscription fee to those who wanted to buy membership or are they going to let free use of the buggy since the cost of buying it has come down?

It is more than obvious that golf is an elitist game and those who started out were mostly social climbers who played the game not for its sporting spirit, at least in this country it is, but for the public image and glory.

In spite of the many golf courses in the country Malaysia has not produced any world champion or professional golfers that the nation can be proud of.As in many other sports in this country, the game has become a game of chance for some players, betting heavily among themselves.

If the government is serious in promoting the game to make it affordable to more Malaysians than the right thing to do is to build public courses in populated areas all over the country.Such courses need no buggy.The player can have the option to carry his own bag or employ a caddy.

What is being done now only serve, maybe 0.001 percent of the population.Making the rich richer and those given the sole right to supply the machines even richer.

Are there anymore level-headed people in government who can think of something that can benefit the masses and the less fortunate?

You hit the wrong chord Mr Prime Minister.

"Twin Pariahs Of The United States Of Malaysia"

Hantu Laut

This, obviously, is the living embodiment of "empty vessel makes the most noise"

One of Pakatan's dizygotic twin is heading for the crunchiest crunch, an economic fallout unprecedented in its history as one of the most favoured states by foreign investors. The "Pearl of the Orient" is becoming the "Pariah of the Orient" for foreign investors.

Foreign direct investments are avoiding Penang like a leper colony.Even existing investors are running away.

For Penang to lose out to back-water states like Sabah and Sarawak, it's nothing less than disgraceful.

Thanks to Lim and his able-bodied team.

Read the article below by Calvin Sankaran and do expect a naysay from Lim and all his Pakatan followers and their endless state of denial.

The CM with the negative Midas touch — Calvin Sankaran

Here Selangor Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim boasted about his achievement on FDI for the other twin.

Any right thinking person (except PR supporters) would immediately know this 'crock of shit' of self-congratulatory applause is just another round of foddering the supporters.

Approved investments only.... why so excited? Khalid should release the investment figure already planted on the ground.Out of the RM6.76 billion how much already in the pocket?

Approved investments are like "Memorandum Of Understanding" investors may or may not proceed with the investments.

For Selangor to lose out to Sarawak, a backwater state is most shameful. The BN government have built first class infrastructures for Selangor, the best in the whole nation and yet he lost to poorer state like Sarawak and amusingly Khalid took pride in this laughable achievement.

Come on Khalid,be honest, the credit should go to the BN government, not you or Pakatan.

You are giving too much credit to yourself.With all the money poured into Selangor in the past, your performance is shamefully dismal.

Lest you forget, self praise is no recommendation.

Victim Of Defending Allah

Hantu Laut

"Cakap tak serupa bikin" is a Malay saying meaning 'not doing as one says'

The sacking of Zulkifli Nordin was expected.It's a good political strategy by PKR to preserve the status quo and the 'marriage of convenience' and save the image of PKR before Nordin decides to dump the party.

The rise of Pakatan Rakyat in the 12th General Elections was due to the general perception that Malaysians have lost their basic freedoms to a tyrannical and corrupt regime.They have lost the right to act,speak or think as one wants without hindrance.The connivance of the powers that be, robbing the nation of its resources and infringement of human rights, were inferred in the people's mind.Malaysians, were in a state of hopelessness until the rise of Pakatan Rakyat where it is assumed people can speak,think and act freely.Differences of opinion would be respected and tolerated.In a bigger sphere of things it should encompass all the basic human rights at no cost.

Is it what it seemed?

PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim said there is nothing personal in the sacking of Zulkifli Nordin, it's just a move to uphold the principles of Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

What are the principles of PR? Aren't the above-mentioned freedoms the principles and promises made to the people.Weren't they the ones you askance and fought, tooth and nail, in the last general elections.

If your own lawmaker do not have the freedom to express his religious beliefs and stood by his principles what chance would the people have when you become the powers that be?

Anwar went on to explained that the severe punishment was not due to political expediency but to uphold justice, Pakatan's style.

Short of saying Pakatan does not tolerate dissenting voices, it's total obedience or hell be with you, he seemed contented with his explanation.

It seemed Anwar missed the point between political expediency and political openness.The sacking of Zul is certainly in pursuit of political expediency.The party have scored more credits by sacking him rather than if Zul were to resign, which would be seen as dumping the party, an action taken by the three previous MPs that left the party.

Should a man be punished for his religious beliefs?

Sure, in politics one is expected to toe the line but than Zulkifli's lamentation is not about politics, it's not about party principles, it's about his religion which he felt strongly about.

Has Pakatan declared agnosticism as one of its principles? Since PAS associates itself with Islam it would be interesting to hear what PAS has to say about its stand on the parameters of Islam in the coalition.

Although I do not support the government's stand on the Allah issue, I do believe everyone should have the freedom to express his/her views on the matter and Zulkifli has every right to defend himself for his religious beliefs.

It's obvious that Anwar is under pressure from DAP and PAS to get rid of Zul before he gets rid of them.It is also obvious that Anwar and Pakatan have no stomach for differences of opinion.

Psychology is the scientific study of the human mental functions and behaviours and it is not hard to read what the future beholds with such leaders.Malaysia may be heading for worst time, a totalitarian regime

Penang and Selangor have shown their inclinations by their high-handedness.

Penang's Lim's absolute power to rescind any government contracts without giving any reason whatsoever and Khalid's retaliation of repossessing YBK's land in spite of the fact that a third party has sent him payment for the outstanding amount owing by YBK can be deemed as totalitarian tendencies.

Putting self-interest aside, no government would resort to such drastic measure if payments have been made, where delay or deferment, was with the indulgence of the state government,irrespective past or present, such indulgence is an agreement.

Zulkifli Nordin may be good riddance for now but it will have far-reaching consequence in the Malay hinterland.

How Do 'Rogue Waves' Work?

Workers clean up broken windows on the cruise ship Louis Majesty, anchored at the port in Barcelona

Manu Fernandez / AP

It was like something out of a Hollywood disaster movie. On March 3, a sudden wall of water hit a cruise ship sailing in the Mediterranean Sea off the northeastern coast of Spain, killing two people, injuring 14 and causing severe damage to the vessel.

According to Louis Cruise Lines, the owner of the vessel, the Louis Majesty was hit by three "abnormally high" waves, each more than 33 ft. (10 m) high, striking in clear weather and without warning. "We heard a loud noise, and it was the wave that hit us," Claudine Armand, a passenger from France, told the Associated Press Television News. "When we came out of [our room], we saw the wave had flooded everything." (See the top 10 scientific discoveries of 2009.)

The Louis Majesty wasn't hit by a sudden storm or any of the other expected dangers of maritime travel. Rather, it may have been the victim of rogue waves. For centuries mariners have told stories about sudden waves that would emerge out of the open ocean without warning, strong enough to topple even large ships. The S.S. Waratah, which vanished on a journey to Cape Town; the M.S. München, lost en route to Savannah, Ga.; even the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, "the good ship and true" of the Gordon Lightfoot song, which disappeared on Lake Superior — all were rumored to have been sunk by rogue waves.

Until recently, however, marine scientists dismissed the idea of rogue waves as little more than a sailors' fantasy, with reason — there was little evidence to back it up. But in 1995, an oil rig in the North Sea recorded an 84-ft.-high (25.6 m) wave that appeared out of nowhere, and in 2000, a British oceanographic vessel recorded a 95-ft.-high (29 m) wave off the coast of Scotland. In 2004, scientists from the European Space Agency (ESA), as part of the MaxWave project, used satellite data to show that freak waves higher than 10 stories were rare but did occur on the oceans. (Comment on this story.)

Scientists still don't know exactly how rogue waves occur, nor do they know how to predict them. Open ocean waves, possibly including rogue waves, form when wind produces distortion over the surface of the sea — the stronger the wind, the higher the wave, which is why hurricanes can create such destructive walls of water. Tsunamis, on the other hand, like the one produced by the 8.8-magnitude earthquake in coastal Chile on Feb. 27, don't create rogue waves; tsunamis barely make a ripple on the open ocean and gather in size only when they reach shallow land near a coastline. (See TIME's special report on the environment.)

Rogue waves generally occur out in the open ocean. They may be the result of a number of factors coming together — strong winds and fast currents coinciding, for instance — or of a focusing effect, in which several smaller waves join together to form one big wave. There may even be a nonlinear effect at work, in which just a small change in wind speed multiplies to form a big wave. And certain areas of the ocean, like the strong waters off Africa's coast, may be more vulnerable to rogue waves than others. Read more..