Friday, April 30, 2010

Disgraceful !

Hantu Laut

Not everyone in the police force are bad.I am sure there are many good cops.The shooting incident that killed a young boy was accidental but reading this I am not sure whether the IGP was misquoted, if he wasn't than I am utterly shocked with his statement.

Public outcry is normal with such tragedy where a healthy young boy life was snuffed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.The IGP must not forget that some young people are very frightened of the police and easily panicked.

What do I think of the IGP statement? Well, I think he needs some serious lesson in public relations.


Let's wait and see whether the police 'Internal Affairs' is as good as Hollywood's.


Twice a week, Friday and Monday, I will post my favourite music video to wild away the weekend and drive away the Monday morning blues. Here, is the first one, which I think is brilliantly made.

Enjoy.


Thursday, April 29, 2010

Trigger Happy Cop,Uncouth And Uncultivated Politicians

Hantu Laut

We should never laugh at other people's misfortune and it is morally wrong to politicise other people's grief.

The accidental shooting of 15 year old Aminrulrashid by a trigger-happy cop is regrettable and a full-scale commission of enquiry should be held to satisfy the family of the deceased.

The police is a branch of government.The government should take full responsibility for the unfortunate incident.

The cop who shot the young boy could have taken other evasive action if he had been properly trained to handle such situation.Most law enforcement personnel are trained to use firearm only if confronted with a do or die situation which means the other party is also armed with a deadly weapon.Under no other circumstances firearm should be discharged at unarmed civilian, criminal or otherwise.


I strongly believe our police force needs a general overhaul. The deteriorating code of conduct, incompetence and lack of discipline among some personnel in the force is endangering members of the public.


conversation: 'there's been a police shooting, woman and baby  reply let me guess, they found a machete in the car afterwards?
From the Nutgraph.

Although, the cop might have felt a clear and present danger and reacted in such a manner, it should not absolve the police force of its responsibility.

Lastly, if there were worst politicians in this country I would give the medal of honour to Pakatan leaders for their lack of social etiquette, unashamedly politicising the incident to their own advantage without giving due consideration to the feelings of the family members of the deceased.It's about time these uncouth and uncultivated politicians learn to differentiate what politics and what are acceptable social behaviour. How we should react in time of grief and bereavement, particularly other people's grief.

Those who visit the family or attend the funeral should keep their conversation as brief as possible, the least said the better it is.There is no need to go into details or incite the bereaved family to make unnecessary statement.

All this can be done in good time after the period of bereavement.

MAS, Why Are You Afraid Of Competition?

Hantu Laut

Competition pushes you to become better.It pushes others to become better.The world has become a better place because of competition.

Competition is good for everyone.It improves quality of products and services.It brings down costs. It gives cheaper alternatives. It increases volume of business. It spares those who are competitive and kill those who are not.Most of all it benefits consumers, people like you and me.

Without competition the world's economy would have stagnated.There wouldn't be any kind of sports, no new inventions, no new technology and absolutely no advancement of the human race.

The breakup of the Soviet Union is proof that communism and monopolistic policy can't survive the competitive world.China, opened its doors to capitalism and the free market economy because they knew without competitiveness they wouldn't survive the world's competitive markets.Anti-trust law introduced in the US and some Western countries was to ensure that competition stays for the benefit of consumers.

Why is it that when the rest of the economically vibrant world are in competitive mode Malaysia regress to outmoded economic practices? Isn't it against the very spirit of NEM (New Economic Model) purveyed by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to make this nation competitive.

Why must MAS be shielded from competition that is in collision course with Najib's new economic policy.Isn't the PM involved in the construction and decision making of the economic policy or was it left to the civil servants and political leaders who put a blind eye to fair trade practices simply to protect themselves.

At whose feet the ball stops? The PM,the Cabinet or some nitwitted minister?

Let me tell you why I agree with Air Asia here.

Before the advent of Air Asia we have no choice but to travel all domestic routes with MAS.The airline has the monopoly and screwed its costumers with high fares and bad ground services.Delays were commonplace those days and there was nothing one can do as there were no other choice.In spite of being given monopoly MAS kept saying they were losing money as they have to subsidise the fare.That is now proven untrue.How come, now in stiff competition with Air Asia they are making money on this sector?

Air Asia came on the scene with its no frills and cheap air fare that gave air travel a new meaning....affordable fare for the common people and hence its slogan 'Now Everyone Can Fly'.
The airline was transformed from a one plane airline to become the most successful rag to riches story and a household name in Asia, true to it name.The rest is history.

On the other hand, MAS, the spoon fed sick baby, in spite government protection, was sliding down the hill gathering mosses and losses that needed government bailout with massive injection of fresh capital and the appointment of an oil man to lead the company.

The first thing the new management did was to go on asset stripping exercise, selling its building and all aircraft to a new GLC company with a lease back agreement. The exercise cleaned up the balance sheet giving the impression that MAS has become a profitable concern in its first year under the new management.A closer look at the balance sheet in the first year revealed that the profits were not from its operations but extraordinary profits from sales of assets.

I started using Air Asia about 5 years ago but since MAS introduced its cheap fare I have switched back to MAS and have been using it for the past one year.

AIR-ASIA
Depart
Kota Kinabalu(BKI) to Kuala Lumpur LCCT(KUL)
Wed 12 May 2010
0725 0955

193.00 MYR1 Guest @ 193.00
6.00 MYR Airport Taxes and Fees
Return
Kuala Lumpur LCCT(KUL) to Kota Kinabalu(BKI)
Sun 16 May 2010
0650 0920

193.00 MYR1 Guest @ 193.00
6.00 MYR Airport Taxes and Fees

398.00 MYRTotal


MAS


  • Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu ECONOMY
  • From MYR399ReturnBook now
Book: 11 Feb 10 - 30 Jun 10 Depart: 18 Feb 10 - 31 Dec

Both airlines offered very competitive fares as shown above but MAS has the added attraction of full frills services.

What Azran Osman said about MAS being profitable in the domestic and Asean sector is true.MAS, introduced the low fare to hit Air Asia below the belt.I am sure there are many like me who switched back to MAS, paying low fare and found the benefits of full frills.... free baggage allowance and free meal.It was competition that gave MAS that increased volume of business and profitability, not the monopoly that it is used to in the past.

MAS like most other GLCs such as TMNet, Proton, Tenaga and so forth are spoiled by government protection and monopoly.It kills enthusiasm, loses the competitive edge and makes those managing the company lazy.

TMNet, the sole fixed line Internet provider has not improved its services much since the Internet first introduced to this country, selling broadband that ain't broadband, fleecing costumers and not giving what they paid for.Its broadband speed and coverage is a shame.

Countries like South Korea which used to be behind us in the seventies now has the highest broadband coverage per capita and the fastest connection, at an astounding 14.6 megabits per second, better than many areas in the US.

Compare to Malaysia which has a bigger land mass, tiny Singapore has four Internet Service Providers namely Starhub, Singnet,M1 and Pacnet and some can deliver up to 100 Mbit/s.

I need not go into more details the misfortunes of Malaysians because of our government fear of competition....as they say if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen.Government has no business to be in business if they can't run it properly and without protection.

Many of us are victims of false promises and misrepresentation. TmNet Streamyx fastest package is the Streamyx Corporate ADSL promising 2 Mb/sec.You have to pay a whopping RM1188 per month.Can it deliver the speed?

I have Streamyx Basic at 1 Mb/sec and it can hardly deliver half the speed.If any of you have bought so-called Celcom 3G wireless broadband you might consider throwing it in the rubbish bin.I have done exactly that and will be informing Celcom to cancel the service.It's a pain in the ass and money for nothing.

Why are the government giving protection to all these companies run by incompetent and non-competitive minded people who can't spell the word competition let alone pronounce it.

So, who flies to Pyongyang, Peshawar in Pakistan, Dili in East Timor, Almaty in Kazakhstan, Mahe in the Seychelles and Darwin, Australia?

Here, is a typical run of the mill crappy response from a politician.

I think it's about time Najib tells his boys what he promised the people.

As Mahathir says he doesn't need protection from the government on the controversial book written about him.

MAS, should select the men between the boys, tell the government it doesn't need protection.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Who Will Take Sibu?

Hantu Laut

This is Foochows' country.

This town was founded in 1900 by a Foochow from China, a Mr Wong Nai Siong who was given the right by the White Rajah to set up settlement for his clan.It has the highest concentration of Foochows in Malaysia and predominate the population in Sibu.

The parliamentry seat is presently under BN.The late Robert Lau has held the MP seat since 1990 defeating DAP's candidate at every elections since then.The chart below shows the results of past elections.


Parliament of Malaysia: Sibu, Sarawak[5]
Year
Barisan Nasional Votes Pct
Opposition Votes Pct
1990
Robert Lau (SUPP) 11,914 54%
Ling Sie Ming (DAP) 9,906 45%
1995
Robert Lau (SUPP) 15,317 56%
Wong Ho Leng (DAP) 10,472 38%
1999
Robert Lau (SUPP) 23,227 60%
Wong Sing Nang (DAP) 14,085 37%
2004
Robert Lau (SUPP) 20,501 54%
Wong Ho Leng (DAP) 17,161 45%
2008
Robert Lau (SUPP) 19,138 53%
Wong Ho Leng (DAP) 15,903 44%


DAP many attempts to wrestle the seat from BN failed.In March 2008, while the wind of change blew profusely in Peninsula Malaysia, the political storm did not reach Sarawak.

BN's Robert Lau polled 19,138 votes giving him a majority of 3,235 votes against DAP's Wong Ho Leng. Both DAP and PKR from Pakatan Rakyat fielded candidates and lost.DAP last won the seat in 1982.

DAP will be announcing the name of its candidate today.The BN has settled on Robert Lau Hui Yew, a cousin of the late Robert Lau and son of the wealthy and influential Lau Swee Nguong, Chairman of KTS group, a conglomerates headquartered in Sibu.

With backing of the KTS group, its influence and business tentacles, DAP would have to put up a good fight to capture the seat once again.

BN has the edge.

Also read:
By-election Defeat for Malaysia’s Opposition