The Simple Man

Hantu Laut

Part of what Mukhriz Mahathir said.

“As far as I know, going by the way he goes about, RPK is a simple man, but for him to afford an apartment for so many months now in London tells me there must be a source of funding somewhere,” he said.

You can be impecunious and simple but not necessarily poor.

Listen to "Simple Man' by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

An American rock band formed in 1964 in Florida and rose to prominence in the seventies.Three members of the band died in a plane crash in 1977.Of its original members,only Gary Rossington remained with the band as of today.Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.

Below is their more popular song.

Bertrand Russell, the British philosopher and social critic once said "We have,in fact, two kinds of morality side by side, one which we preach but do not practice,and another which we practice but seldom preach"

(My blog font has gone haywire.Not sure whether it's my MacBook Pro or Google)

Posted at KLIA

Is Raja Petra Sitting On Top Of The World ?

Hantu Laut

Is Raja Petra Kamaruddin or popularly known as RPK a thorn in Najib's flesh, a spanner in his works and an adversary beyond reach?

He is, maybe, not in that order.He is taunting the Malaysian government to "catch me if you can"

RPK, always quoting Sun Tzu as his mentor and source of inspiration.Even James Clavell has made simple Sun Tze's tactical warfare in his book "The Art Of War'.It's was the best layman's interpretation in simplest English of Sun Szu's war strategy.

Is RPK, by Sun Tzu's definition, a warrior or a coward who ran away from a war he started?

When I was young I have always been told, if unsure, to always walk away from a fight, to fight another day.You don't need Sun Tzu to tell you that, it's simple common sense, never take on a more formidable opponent.

David and Goliath may exists in the Bible, a small man with mythical power of the sling that can down a giant.Today, the slings, the bows and arrows are no match for the guns.Might is right.Right is not always right.

The pen mightier than the sword is still true as steel.Just as formidable it can cut you down to pieces.It can kill your career.It can demolish governments.It can change the world for better or for worse.

Half of BN's problems today could be credited to RPK's ability and creativity to mix a hodgepodge of truths, lies and fictions.Because, the government credibility is so low, even the lies have become the truths.

To the uninitiated, young and restless they are nothing but the truths.For those unhappy with the way this country is being run they are nothing but the truths.For the Malay masses who see their names being dragged around and used for the benefits of a few they are nothing but the truth.For the Indians and Chinese who felt marginalised they are nothing but the truth.

Truth is where it hurts the BN's government the most.Most people of average intelligence can separate the lies from the truths. The ignorant and unlearned persons may be less discerning and are harmless than the ones who know better.

The more the government want to clamp down on freedom to speak, freedom of the press and freedom of association the more critical would be the backlash.

We are seeing a radical change in the politics of this country but unfortunately we are not seeing any serious reform within the government to accept the changes. They are still completely immersed in authoritarian and totalitarian behaviour.

I am a supporter of the BN concept of power sharing and accept that UMNO is the lead partner in the coalition.I do not support UMNO per se, I support the concept.I think it is the most ingenious idea of former prime minister, the late Tun Razak Hussein.

I do not support arrogance and wielding power born out of intense sense of insecurity. If those in power think that's how they can silence the restive, the restless and intimidate the people into submission than they ought to think again. Seriously, have they got the right formula to endear the people to them or in everything they do they are actually driving the people away from them?

The recent refusal to renew the publishing permit of PKR's mouthpiece is not good news, not not for PKR or Pakatan but not good for the government.It is good news for PKR and Anwar Ibrahim because the people would see it in a negative light.Surely, "ditindas" would be the word on everybody's mouth.The government has absolutely no reason not to renew the permit.Has anyone not think of damage control? Are there no more people in authority using the thinking cap?

The false reporting of Felda as being bankrupt by Suara Keadilan was no reason not to renew the permit.Felda is suing the publication and the government should allow the process to be settled in court and not use its arbitrary power to muffled the party's organ.Let the court and the people decide who is the liar.

What with Raja Petra?

Leave him alone.Let him be.All the publicity of wanting to catch him is just making him more popular. The government is giving him too much good publicity and itself bad ones.If there were a by-election today and he stood as an independent he may even win.That's how much ado over nothing the government has given him and people are giving credence to his writing because those in power are too lazy to counter his allegations.All they want to do is to arrest him.

Just look who are the bloggers? How many are sympathetic and are prepared to defend the government.How many members of UMNO who are bloggers and are prepared to defend their leaders.All they do all day long are chasing their leaders for contracts.It's all about money and more money.Does UMNO think they deserve to win with this kind of political culture?

I would say almost 80 percent of political commentators who visit political blogs and news portals are pro-opposition.

Since the fallout in March 2008 the BN government has done nothing to increase the use of the Internet to boost their declining influence.What a single man like Raja Petra can do, UMNO with mountain of resources can't.

If you were Pakatan Rakyat wouldn't you want to engage him, be his friend, love him and pay him,whatever? Why are UMNO complaining when Pakatan leaders are seen with him or finance his stay in Britain? Is there anything illegal? Why not some UMNO leaders go to see him and try to woo him to their side.Every man has a price. I am not saying you should buy him but you can woo him in other ways.Maybe, drop the charges against him and let him return to Malaysia on certain conditions.

We want to check who finance him? Big words.You can't even catch him what more finding out where his money came from. Even, if you know who, what can you do?Arrest the man for parting with his money?

"Cops Working Hard To Bring Raja Petra Back" screamed the inside page of NST today's edition.

CID Chief Bakri Zinin says it is not easy to bring a fugitive back but they are working very hard.He also said that something is wrong in our country may not be so in another country.Very profound, he should have known much earlier and knowing so now he should stop wasting time and money to pursue RPK.

What's the point of wanting to interview Zaid Ibrahim?It is not that Zaid would easily throw up everything he knows? He is a seasoned lawyer and a politician who would meticulously choose what to say.

It would be better if the police can get down to doing real police work like working on many of the unsolved murder and missing children cases.

Anwar Ibrahim may no longer be the cause for change.

Beware of people's power.

Now Hisham Admits They Can't Get RPK

Hantu Laut

Over a month ago I wrote in "The Untouchable Putra" that RPK will not be extradited from Britain and today I again reiterated in "Can They Get Raja Petra" that it would be unlikely that the British government would agree to extradite him.

After much delay in making the announcement Hisamuddin has finally admitted here what I knew all along would happen to the case.The British wouldn't play ball with the Malaysian government.

In Britain such act is not considered serious, a non-indictable offence. In fact it is not an offence to criticise or admonish politicians and public figures if they are backed by facts, if not than you are liable and can be sued for libel by the injured party.

Is RPK sitting on top of the world?

Here's something to entertain you. A song of the same title.This blues has been sung by many singers and groups with equal gusto. Below is Eric Clapton reunion with one of his old bands, Cream.

Sorry folks! That was the Yardbirds(Clapton has a short stint with them before).Below is Cream and Clapton.

Too bad, Khairy Jamaluddin.You said it too late.

Can They Get Raja Petra ?

Hantu Laut

Is getting Raja Petra as simple as a walk in the park as the police seems to think?

Bukit Aman CID Chief Bakri Zinin said the police would seek co-operation of Interpol to arrest Raja Petra according to legal procedures.

It is unlikely that the UK police would arrest him based on legal documents presented from Malaysia.

Extradition is a lengthy process and can go on for years and are usually the preserve of criminals including white collar crooks.For non-criminal cases the court process would be more tedious.

Remember? Lorraine Osman, who fought the longest extradition battle in British history.He spent seven years incarcerated in Britain before being extradited to Hong Kong for his role in the biggest banking scandal in the world at that time, loss of $1 billion by BMF, a subsidiary of Bank Bumiputra to the Carrian group in Hong Kong.

Lorraine Osman was a criminal.Hong Kong was then a British colony and even then extradition was a messy and lengthy affair.

Is Raja Petra a criminal?

In Malaysia, he may be, in the eyes of his detractors and those who wanted to silence him.In Britain, under British law, he may not necessarily be considered a criminal.

Western democracies see political persecution as crime against humanity and would give protection to those whom they perceived lives to be in danger or facing political persecution in the home country.

Raja Petra knows his stuff.He knows he can get asylum in Britain or anywhere in the EC.He has two ISA records to prove eligibility.

All he needs to do is to scream for one and he has Sun Tze on his side.