TO ALL MY MUSLIM READERS AND FRIENDS WHEREVER YOU MAY BE.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Anwar's Google Hangout - Dismal !
Hantu Laut
Google Hangout with Anwar Ibrahim was a big disappointment. He talked a lot but eluded answering most of the questions he deemed politically delicate.
All he did was "hantam" (attack) UMNO. In fact, the whole "borak" was geared to attack UMNO.
A question by one netizen on whether Pakatan Rakyat is going to downsize the civil service was never answered, instead, he eluded and went on a fault finding mission of the BN government.
The panelists lacked forcefulness.
Watch the video carefully and make your own conclusion.
Google Hangout with Anwar Ibrahim was a big disappointment. He talked a lot but eluded answering most of the questions he deemed politically delicate.
All he did was "hantam" (attack) UMNO. In fact, the whole "borak" was geared to attack UMNO.
A question by one netizen on whether Pakatan Rakyat is going to downsize the civil service was never answered, instead, he eluded and went on a fault finding mission of the BN government.
The panelists lacked forcefulness.
Watch the video carefully and make your own conclusion.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Article 114 A :A Storm In A Teacup
Hantu Laut
I agree the amendment of article 114A was hurriedly done and without giving much thoughts to its side effects.
However, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has agreed for his cabinet to review the controversial law and hopefully appropriate amendment will be made to replace it.
It is only a matter of interpretation. The lawyers in this country are used to the "you are innocent until proven guilty", which in my personal opinion is a misplaced notion. You are always deemed guilty until you proved yourself innocent.
If you are deemed innocent at the time of your arrest, say in a murder case, why do they keep you in prison and bail not allowed. It can only mean they have presumptuously declared you guilty of the crime, otherwise, why the detention before the verdict?
It is still up to you to prove your innocent. If you are truly innocent and you can't prove it, too bad, you may have to go to the gallows or in countries where there is no capital punishment you are condemned to life behind bars.
Miscarriage of justice have sent many innocent men to the gallows. That's why I am against capital punishment. It is an archaic law that have no place in today's civil society and is cruel and irreversible.A verdict sending an innocent man to death is as cruel as murder itself.
Coming back to Article 114A, the legal experts say it is a reversal of "innocent until proven guilty" which they say has become "guilty until proven innocent" unfair to those who are innocent. As I have said in a murder case, it's the same, your are considered guilty the day they charged you.
Under the law Internet users are automatically presumed guilty for any content posted through their registered networks, handheld devices, blogs and web portals.
Remember, when cellular phones was first introduced to this country. When it was expensive, there was no problem because only the higher strata of society can afford to buy them. When it starts to become very cheap to own one and every riffraff in town can buy them, all hell broke lose.......it became an instrument with destructive power, which can be used to send nasty and threatening messages to people you don't like and nasty politicians knowing its 'cloak and dagger' potentials used it to spread lies, slandering their political opponents.
In the early days of the cellphone there was no need to register your name if you buy a prepaid SIM card and no one can trace who sent those nasty messages.Now, you have to register to buy a SIM card. The rest is history.
Initially, there were some protests from some morons but majority of the people agree it was the right thing to do.
Now, there are less evils spawning out of the cellphone.
Article 114A is a necessary evil, all it needs is some fine tuning.
I agree the amendment of article 114A was hurriedly done and without giving much thoughts to its side effects.
However, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has agreed for his cabinet to review the controversial law and hopefully appropriate amendment will be made to replace it.
It is only a matter of interpretation. The lawyers in this country are used to the "you are innocent until proven guilty", which in my personal opinion is a misplaced notion. You are always deemed guilty until you proved yourself innocent.
If you are deemed innocent at the time of your arrest, say in a murder case, why do they keep you in prison and bail not allowed. It can only mean they have presumptuously declared you guilty of the crime, otherwise, why the detention before the verdict?
It is still up to you to prove your innocent. If you are truly innocent and you can't prove it, too bad, you may have to go to the gallows or in countries where there is no capital punishment you are condemned to life behind bars.
Miscarriage of justice have sent many innocent men to the gallows. That's why I am against capital punishment. It is an archaic law that have no place in today's civil society and is cruel and irreversible.A verdict sending an innocent man to death is as cruel as murder itself.
Coming back to Article 114A, the legal experts say it is a reversal of "innocent until proven guilty" which they say has become "guilty until proven innocent" unfair to those who are innocent. As I have said in a murder case, it's the same, your are considered guilty the day they charged you.
Under the law Internet users are automatically presumed guilty for any content posted through their registered networks, handheld devices, blogs and web portals.
Saying that providers of free Internet Wi-Fi for public use can be made responsible for any seditious, defamatory, or libelous article online does not hold water. Wi-Fi providers can ask clients to register before allowing them to log in to the service. Most computers have IP address and are traceable if the police do a good police work.
The most dangerous and more difficult to trace are hackers hacking into your website and posting such defamatory article on yours and other websites using your anonymous identity. The endeavour to prove your innocent can be financially draining and the trauma may be too much for those who do not have the will and money to fight back to prove their innocent.
Remember, when cellular phones was first introduced to this country. When it was expensive, there was no problem because only the higher strata of society can afford to buy them. When it starts to become very cheap to own one and every riffraff in town can buy them, all hell broke lose.......it became an instrument with destructive power, which can be used to send nasty and threatening messages to people you don't like and nasty politicians knowing its 'cloak and dagger' potentials used it to spread lies, slandering their political opponents.
In the early days of the cellphone there was no need to register your name if you buy a prepaid SIM card and no one can trace who sent those nasty messages.Now, you have to register to buy a SIM card. The rest is history.
Initially, there were some protests from some morons but majority of the people agree it was the right thing to do.
Now, there are less evils spawning out of the cellphone.
Article 114A is a necessary evil, all it needs is some fine tuning.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
PKR "turunkan harga kereta" A False Promise
Hantu Laut
From the sublime to the ridiculous. PKR's "turunkan harga kereta" campaign is a hyperbole.
PKR promise, here, of cheaper cars for Malaysians is a desperate attempt to fish for votes. The proposal is ridiculous, impractical and will have serious repercussions if not implemented gradually. This is just another empty promise that they knew could not be implemented due to economic repercussion.
We don't need more cars on our already congested roads. Reducing the price of cars drastically will have serious repercussion on the second-hand car market which may have to close down their businesses as no one would want to buy second-hand car if price of new car is cheaper.
Though, I agree the prices of cars in this country are much higher than many other countries, including developed countries, it makes more sense to first liberalise the importation of cars by gradually reducing the current AP and to finally abolish the practice completely. Anyone, including individuals who can afford to buy directly, be allowed to import their own car by applying for a simple permit from the government at a reasonable fee.
The government can charge fee based on cubic capacity of the engine. The bigger the engine the higher the fee. The reduction in import duties should be gradual and must be done over extended period.
The present system of issuing APs to selected companies do not benefit the government as there are no revenue collected by the government. The AP have made selected Malays/bumiputras very rich and lazy.Most of the businesses end up in Chinaman's hand who make even more money.
Most cars imported under APs are refurbished second-hand cars and under declared by importers to reduce payment of import duty. Here again, the government lost substantial amount of revenue.
I was made to understand some AP are sold as much as RM30,000.00 each. The lucky bumiputra needs only 100 APs and he can collect a cool RM3.0 million for doing fuck all. If Pakatan is serious about stamping out corruptions this is one of the many things they should abolish.
They should not be any love lost with Proton or false belief of national car and national pride.If it can't make money, sell it off, or close it down.Malaysians should not be made to pay to support this losing industry.
The British have lost most, if not all, of its pioneering car industry, closed down or sold off to foreign interests. British Leyland, the biggest car manufacturer decades ago has ceased to exist.
The old Malay adage "biar mati anak jangan mati adat" is not relevant in a business world. Both Proton and MAS should be considered for closure or divest to other interested party.
Of highest priority, is not price reduction of new cars, but improving the public transportation in the country.Malaysia has one of the worst public transportation system in urban and semi-urban areas. This anomaly has been neglected for decades. While our neighbours have commissioned mass transit for many years now, Malaysia is still lumbering over a system for its capital city. The project has also been met by oppositions from landowners instigated by opposition parties.
In Singapore, no private landowners dare to protest against any project of public interest or public purposes and the government has a tough land acquisition law to deal with such opposition. There was no political sabotage of its MRT project as what we see happening in Kuala Lumpur.
Taxis in Malaysia are one of the worst in the world. Try catch a cab during peak hours in Kuala Lumpur, if that is not bad enough, dealing with ill-mannered driver would make your blood reach boiling point. Taxis in major towns in Malaysia are old junks, uncomfortable, badly maintained and dangerous.
Just last week the government announced the increase in maximum age of taxis from 15 to 18 years, that it says would make many taxi drivers happy. What about safety of passengers, are this no concern of the government? The government also give away free tyres to qualified taxis.
All these ad hoc handouts are pre-elections goodies that serve the public no benefit at all.
If the government is serious about improving public transport and bring down the cost of taxi fares that would bring a win-win situation for both taxi drivers and the travelling public, it must first make acquisition of vehicle for use as taxi as cheap as possible.
Remove all duties on this type of vehicle and restrict its use. The car can only be sold as a taxi and must be scrapped after 15 years. Subsidy on fuel and tyres should also be considered.
When fares are cheap more people will use taxis and for the taxi driver, it's economies of scale, the bigger the volume the more he makes.
Taking cheap public transport is a better choice than buying a car. The lower and middle income group will have more money in their pockets to spend on other necessities.
From the sublime to the ridiculous. PKR's "turunkan harga kereta" campaign is a hyperbole.
PKR promise, here, of cheaper cars for Malaysians is a desperate attempt to fish for votes. The proposal is ridiculous, impractical and will have serious repercussions if not implemented gradually. This is just another empty promise that they knew could not be implemented due to economic repercussion.
We don't need more cars on our already congested roads. Reducing the price of cars drastically will have serious repercussion on the second-hand car market which may have to close down their businesses as no one would want to buy second-hand car if price of new car is cheaper.
Though, I agree the prices of cars in this country are much higher than many other countries, including developed countries, it makes more sense to first liberalise the importation of cars by gradually reducing the current AP and to finally abolish the practice completely. Anyone, including individuals who can afford to buy directly, be allowed to import their own car by applying for a simple permit from the government at a reasonable fee.
The government can charge fee based on cubic capacity of the engine. The bigger the engine the higher the fee. The reduction in import duties should be gradual and must be done over extended period.
The present system of issuing APs to selected companies do not benefit the government as there are no revenue collected by the government. The AP have made selected Malays/bumiputras very rich and lazy.Most of the businesses end up in Chinaman's hand who make even more money.
Most cars imported under APs are refurbished second-hand cars and under declared by importers to reduce payment of import duty. Here again, the government lost substantial amount of revenue.
I was made to understand some AP are sold as much as RM30,000.00 each. The lucky bumiputra needs only 100 APs and he can collect a cool RM3.0 million for doing fuck all. If Pakatan is serious about stamping out corruptions this is one of the many things they should abolish.
They should not be any love lost with Proton or false belief of national car and national pride.If it can't make money, sell it off, or close it down.Malaysians should not be made to pay to support this losing industry.
The British have lost most, if not all, of its pioneering car industry, closed down or sold off to foreign interests. British Leyland, the biggest car manufacturer decades ago has ceased to exist.
The old Malay adage "biar mati anak jangan mati adat" is not relevant in a business world. Both Proton and MAS should be considered for closure or divest to other interested party.
Of highest priority, is not price reduction of new cars, but improving the public transportation in the country.Malaysia has one of the worst public transportation system in urban and semi-urban areas. This anomaly has been neglected for decades. While our neighbours have commissioned mass transit for many years now, Malaysia is still lumbering over a system for its capital city. The project has also been met by oppositions from landowners instigated by opposition parties.
In Singapore, no private landowners dare to protest against any project of public interest or public purposes and the government has a tough land acquisition law to deal with such opposition. There was no political sabotage of its MRT project as what we see happening in Kuala Lumpur.
Taxis in Malaysia are one of the worst in the world. Try catch a cab during peak hours in Kuala Lumpur, if that is not bad enough, dealing with ill-mannered driver would make your blood reach boiling point. Taxis in major towns in Malaysia are old junks, uncomfortable, badly maintained and dangerous.
Just last week the government announced the increase in maximum age of taxis from 15 to 18 years, that it says would make many taxi drivers happy. What about safety of passengers, are this no concern of the government? The government also give away free tyres to qualified taxis.
All these ad hoc handouts are pre-elections goodies that serve the public no benefit at all.
If the government is serious about improving public transport and bring down the cost of taxi fares that would bring a win-win situation for both taxi drivers and the travelling public, it must first make acquisition of vehicle for use as taxi as cheap as possible.
Remove all duties on this type of vehicle and restrict its use. The car can only be sold as a taxi and must be scrapped after 15 years. Subsidy on fuel and tyres should also be considered.
When fares are cheap more people will use taxis and for the taxi driver, it's economies of scale, the bigger the volume the more he makes.
Taking cheap public transport is a better choice than buying a car. The lower and middle income group will have more money in their pockets to spend on other necessities.
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