The Global Thinkers Book Club

Foreign Policy

What the smart set is reading -- from definitive guides to the global economic crash to the most unexpected new maps of the human psyche. And no surprise: They're all reading each other.

1. Fault Lines, by Global Thinker No. 26 Raghuram Rajan

Rajan's look at the fissures that brought about the global financial crisis -- and which are still at work today.

Fault Lines: "There are deep fault lines in the global economy, fault lines that have developed because in an integrated economy and in an integrated world, what is best for the individual actor or institutions is not always best for the system. Responsibility for some of the more serious fault lines lies not in economics but in politics. Unfortunately, we did not know where all these fault lines ran until the crisis exposed them. We now know better, but the danger is that we will continue to ignore them."

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His Holiness The Dala Lama And Anwar Ibrahim,What Do They Have In Common?

Hantu Laut

Only prophets are 'Gifts From God'. Is Wan Azizah trying to place her husband in the same category as prophets.

He, maybe, a gift to some men and women but certainly not a gift to all Malaysians. If there is anything more he is just a political nuisance.

There are only two leaders of recent times that I can think of who are truly prisoners of conscience and prisoners of tyrannical regimes, Nelson Mandela and Aung Sun Suu Kyi.These are leaders who would rather suffer mental anguish and physical incarceration in their fights for the rights and freedom of their people.They make personal sacrifices to bring freedom and dignity to the downtrodden.

Mandela succeeded to break apartheid and gained political power for his people after serving 27 wrongful years in prison for his wronged political convictions. I believe Suu Kyi will one day also succeed to bring back democracy to free Myanmar from the evil clutches of the military junta.

Do we have tyrannical government running this country? Is Malaysia in such bad shape that we need this "Gift From God" to save us?

What is Anwar fighting for?

Anwar is fighting for himself, he is fighting for vengeance, he is fighting for power and he is fighting for personal glory.How could he be in the same league as Mandela and Suu Kyi.He flys around the world lobbying for support from foreign leaders, stays in the best hotel and eats in fine restaurants.He is in same league as the Dalai Lama, who is the world's biggest con man.

What sacrifices has His Holiness The Dalai Lama made to save him people and country.He lives in exile and lives in the lap of luxury, conned Western governments to support his so-called cause celebre but failed miserably to help his people.

His eats and sleeps with the CIA, who gave him money to finance his lifestyle and his debunked resistance movement.He has successfully gained Western sympathy for his bullshit cause and has been awarded numerous awards including the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize.I am not sold on this man purest intention.

Is Anwar a messenger of peace or a political warlord who can't wait to be prime minister?

Gift from God??? Please lah!

PKR’s Deplorable Attitude Towards Dissent and Criticisms

by Muniandy Vengaiah

I was one of those PKR members who went on the morning of 27th November to the Petaling Jaya Civic Hall to express openly our disagreement and dissatisfaction with the way the party elections has been conducted and its failure to be clean and fair. Our intention was to demonstrate peacefully and in an orderly manner without disturbing the public or anyone in particular. However, I was very disappointed and saddened to observe how nowadays PKR would respond to any display by party members of any stand or opinion which differs or is not in line with what the party wants.

I had participated before in the Reformasi street demonstrations of 1998-2002 protesting against the injustices committed by the Mahathir regime on Anwar Ibrahim and couldn’t help comparing what happened on 27th November to what I witnessed during the Reformasi demonstrations of 1998-2002. PKR, which was born from the spirit of defiance and in protest against injustice, is expected to be understanding and tolerant of peaceful demonstrations which are just open expressions of dissatisfaction and unhappiness. What more when we the demonstrators are its own party members, not from Umno or MIC or MCA or any BN party. However, it did not turn out that way. The response from the party was not far different from the way the police or FRU acted during the 1998-2002 street demonstrations.

Our banners and posters were seized from us by members of the PKR security squad, just like what the police did back in the 1998-2002 street protests. Our demonstration though peaceful and orderly was met with hostility by the party. We were subjected to verbal abuse, harassed and prevented from gathering at the public space we wanted. Members of the media who were just doing their professional duty in covering and recording our demonstration were yelled at and threatened to stop their coverage. Some of us were roughed up as soon as our intention to demonstrate at the congress venue was known.

In short, if PKR that morning of 27th November had water cannons or tear gas or the FRU at their disposal, I am convinced it would not have hesitated to use all those to disperse or suppress our peaceful demonstration. This is what PKR has come to nowadays. A party which was supposed to uphold and practice the ideals of free speech and free press clearly has forgotten those ideals. What is the cause of this loss in direction? If a fish rots from its head, I dare say PKR is now rotting because of its leadership which is drunk and obsessed with gaining the reins of government, so much so that it has forgotten the original aims of the party which was to reform and bring genuine change to the country for the sake of our children and grandchildren.

To me, PKR now is not much different from BN/Umno. The date 27th November 2010 is one which really saddens me. Malaysian Digest

Tuaran Hajiji's Town

Hantu Laut

Is there a need for a gag order? Or was it meant to deaden the enormity of the Minister's blunders? Read what the Minister decreed here.

In my previous article "There Is No Clean Town In Sabah" I would have thought that the issue would have died down.Obviously, the ministers concerned are slinging at each other to cover their own mistakes.

Tuaran, is the hometown of Hajiji Noor, the Minister of Local Governments and Housing, who is at the centre of the Atkinson Tower and dirty towns controversy.He is responsible to oversee all local councils in Sabah.

My daily morning ritual visit to this small town about 6 kilometers from where I live bagged me a surprise this morning.

Someone, somehow, has done a quick spring cleaning of the town.It is not spick and span but an improvement of what it was.

To be fair, this is not the dirtiest town in Sabah but dirty enough to be in the dirty league.It has one of the most nauseating fish markets making the stench unbearable to those not use to it.The market have not seen a washdown for many years until I saw it this morning.Unusually cleaner than what it used to be.

Surprise! Surprise! the Minister must have taken one step ahead before someone also accused him of neglecting his duty to see to it that at least from where he came he put in extra effort to see that the place is kept clean.

The only minister that I knew who took pride in his hometown and made an effort to develop it and clean it up was Chong Kah Kiat when he was Chief Minister and Minister of Tourism.

At one time, Kudat was probably the cleanest town.I personally like this little town with its alluring rural charm.It's a better planned sprawling townships as compared to other towns like Keningau, Lahad Datu and many others, where you can get traffic jam.

As in the adage of Murphy's Law, "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong" and Tuaran is not short of them. As they say "pictures say a thousand words"













Grim and grimy besides the fish market.













The fish market.Notice the aisle being used as storage area.The fishmongers here are probably the most untrustworthy, biting out more than they can chew.They buy fish in large quantities and store them in the big cooler boxes and take them out every morning for sale.What they can't sell for the day goes back into the box.The same fish can be in and out of the box for as long as one week and you know what in the iced water? Formaldehyde ! I have stopped buying fish from this market unless I know for sure they are "pancing" fish, caught by hook,line and sinker.















First, it was this.This was standard British issue for five-foot way during colonial days, simple concrete finish and drains covered by concrete slabs flush with the walkway.Concerned for safety of pedestrians and knowing the habit of the people for not cleaning anything outside their domain was the criteria.Choosing the colour of dirt for the five-foot way and non-slip concrete finish, naturally makes it not dirty looking and save pedestrians from slipping in the event the floor is wet.















Than came this. Not too bad but this flawed.Notice the drain cover? How they are spaced apart.How do you clean the full length of the drain, knowing how primitive the people and equipment are? Another, even more stupidly designed and dangerous to pedestrians, the protruding hinges, which I have had the nasty experience of nearly breaking all the bones in my body tripping over it.Don't they have people with uncommon sense in the town council?















Than came this.The most horrifying drain cover one can imagine laid on a covered five-foot way.If the monkey who designed this thinks rainwater is going to flush the rubbish away than he must be of the same quality.One can't imagine the stench coming from the drain that permeates into the shops.What are the shopkeepers thinking? Weren't there any objection? The tiles? Try walking on it when it's wet.













Than somebody got a better idea, cut a piece of plywood to cover the hole to keep the stench away but nobody remembers to remove the rubbish.This was in front of a restaurant whom I believe suffered a drop in business because of the stench emitting from the drain.The owner had to improvised to save his business.















A giant tiered flower pot.Where are the flowers? All you can see are the wild 'lallang' Look at the ground.Would you like to walk over it? Why built something you can't maintain?













A clock tower without clocks.How much would it cost to buy 4 clocks? Today's quartz clocks are not only cheap but almost maintenance free.Isn't it shameful that somebody donated a clock tower to you and you simply abandoned it.













This is a new rubbish collection centre that's already looking its age.It has not been bathed since it was born. Typical, everywhere in this country, toilets must smell like shit and rubbish bins must look like shit.

There are still many shortcomings of this little town that would be too long to mention.

There are two golf courses, a 5-star resort and a 3-star resort just stone throw away from this town but tourists avoided the place like a leper colony because it simply has nothing to offer.

It could have been a quaint little town if the town council is manned by people who took pride in their jobs and not their pockets.