Susilo: There will be no apology for the Apology

Hantu Laut

The unschooled Indonesian media shit-stirring their President for apologising to Singapore and Malaysia, which was the right thing he did, unlike his minister who is equally unschooled in protocol and foreign relation, behaving like orang hutan.

From WSJ:

Indonesia’s president defended his decision to offer a rare mea culpa to Malaysia and Singapore for the haze that long-burning fires are sending into the neighboring countries, a move that sparked a small torrent of criticism in this country of 240 million people where the president’s image isn’t what it once was.

“Due to the fact the haze is from Indonesia, we take responsibility, and saying sorry in that context, to me, is not excessive,” a miffed-looking President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told reporters Wednesday, a day after apologizing to Jakarta’s closest neighbors over a particularly bad spell of an annual conflict dating back to the 1980s.

Asked whether he had felt pressure to apologize after weeks of media attention and statements from leaders overseas, he said “What I’ve done in the past two to three days…is fully my decision.”

He made a point of saying that he would continue to press both countries on issues close to home: fighting for domestic workers’ rights in Malaysia and pushing for an extradition treaty with Singapore, saying the latter remained the home of many assets moved illegally overseas during the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s.

Newspapers Wednesday and Thursday were filled with news of the apology, with many quick to criticize the president for a problem partly caused by the sizable Singaporean and Malaysian plantation companies operating in Indonesia, particularly in the fire-choked province of Riau.

Offering a contrarian voice, however, was the influential daily Kompas, which called the apology “noble.”

But in Dumai — a dusty, outpost town built on palm oil and timber where traffic lights are routinely ignored– the owner of a convenient store downtown offered the more common view across Riau.

“It’s embarrassing. Why does our president have to apologize to Malaysia and Singapore?” Read more http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2013/06/27/indonesias-president-defends-apology-to-malaysia-and-singapore/

Jusuf Kalla's Expos`e Of Anwar Ibrahim's Foreign Backing

Hantu Laut

It came from his good friend, who probably had grown tired of his lies and fed up with his charade.

Former deputy president of Indonesia Jusuf Kalla exposes Anwar Ibrahim and the sources of his furtive funding, which will have far-reaching consequences if he had become prime minister.

Below is the English transcription by The MOLE of Merdeka Online interview with Jusuf Kalla.

Former Indonesian vice-president Jusuf Kalla believes that opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is receiving help and assistance from Washington to interfere in Malaysian politics.

In the second and final part of an interview taken from news portal Merdeka Online, Jusuf questioned Anwar’s motive in receiving help from countries considered enemies of Islam and Malays.

“I received a call from Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono informing me that he (Susilo) had received a call from the ‘Washington Police’ asking the president to accept Anwar’s invitation to a meeting,” Jusuf said, adding that he told Susilo not to bow to Washington’s demands and decline the invitation as Anwar is only an opposition leader and not the Prime Minister of the country.Read more

Here, is the original interview in Bahasa Malaysia.

Pakatan MPs Break Ranks with Anwar Over King’s Speech

It seems Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is now totally out of step with his own side of politics.

Just a day after he tried to downplay the King's speech as being merely a starting point for debate, MPs from his own side of the chamber have lined up to disagree with him.

On Tuesday the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah, called on the rakyat to discard attributes which caused disunity, saying: "I urge everyone to foster unity among Malaysians and do away with disruptive attitude."

To most people, a monarch wanting to see his nation united would seem uncontentious, but Anwar's reaction was swift. He effectively accused the King of being a BN mouthpiece.

But not everyone agrees with Anwar's blatantly self-conscious reaction.

PAS MP Nasrudin Hassan Tantawi praised the speech, adding that he welcomes cooperation between the Government and Opposition as long as it was based on Islam.

"Cooperation, as taught in Islam, would bring good, not something that would be detrimental or encourage hostility," he said, totally abandoning his leader.

PKR's Zuraidah Kamaruddin welcomed Tuanku Abdul Halim's words of encouragement for women in the workforce.

"Family institutions need to be strengthened, the relevant minister needs to take proactive measures to increase the use of women power in the country," she said.

And PAS MP Nik Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz was even more fulsome in his praise saying: "The King's speech has left a positive impact on all of us. He has placed high hopes on us to work together to develop the country."

Read more here.

Meritocracy Memang Cina Punya, Melayu Pun Boleh Jika Dididik Sepertinya

Hantu Laut

Every passing day we get all kind of nut cases in this country.

Before I get to the crux of the matter let us stop at Malacca where a huge controversy is ongoing on a faulty decision made by the new Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Idris Haron to close down Jonker Street. 

Why the need to close down something that has been there for 14 years, had become a tourist attraction and a heritage of Malaysian cultures for the world to see? 

Has the Chief Minister caught the Heng Jebat syndrome, or is he in a Malay dilemma for making such inconsiderate and irrational decision? Isn't he chief minister for all?

I always believe in "if it ain't broke don't fix it", if you do, other inextricable problems may come out of it, which is exactly what happened to Idris Haron. 

I have been to Jonker Street many times before, long before upgrading and after its upgrading, hunting for antiques as I like to keep old things. I think it is a wonderful place. 

What plausible explanation had Idris Haron given the people to close down such a beautiful street that embodied the multi-cultural heritage of this beautiful country.

Rightfully so, now the Chinese is saying it is "political vengeance and retaliation" against the Chinese for voting against Barisan National. 

PM Najib, I think you need to keep your boys in check before they do bigger damage to the peace and harmony of this country. One must not cut one's nose to spite one's face.

Now, let get to the crux of the matter.

A recent statement by a Malay educationist, one Ibrahim Abu Shah , a former deputy chancellor of Universiti Teknologi Mara calling on the Ministry of Education to restructure the education system to do away with MERITOCRACY and bring back justice to MALAY students, is, to me, an insult to the Malay race.

Adding salt to the wound implying that Malays are not able to compete on a level playing field, he and a group of Malay educationists asserted that the merit system have created CHINESE SUPREMACY in the country. 

That in itself is an admission that Malays are slow learners. How could the same education system create one race to become more superior than the other?


If this bunch of Malay educationists do not yet know, let me enlighten them that CHINESE SUPREMACY in education have always been there for as long as they have been around. 

Why are Chinese more successful? 

Because Chinese parents care more about education and will spend every penny to educate their children. I have seen Chinese hawkers, fishmongers and petty traders sending their children overseas for further study. They carry out their tasks indefatigably and saved every penny they could to educate the children. They do not waste time seeking government help to send their children for higher education because they know they won't be getting any. 

Ostensibly, not all Chinese are like that, but majority are, giving highest priority to education. Very rich Chinese do not even bother to educate their kids in this country, after primary education the children are sent to Singapore for secondary education and onward to other countries for their tertiary.Unless they have big family business to take over back home,  most of the bright ones never came back to Malaysia.

I always have had reservation about our education system, from primary to tertiary, whether it can prepare our children to compete in the global place. Not being unpatriotic but more being prudent about the children future, all my children were educated in Singapore for their primary/secondary education and in the West for their tertiary education. I am sure, if the occasion arises, they can find a job anywhere in the world.

In ancient China one have to sit for civil service examination before one can enter the civil service. The great Chinese philosopher Confucious asserted that those who govern should do so because of merit, not of inherited status. His notion sets in motion the creation of imperial examinations and bureaucracies open only to those who passed the tests

To help Malays gain greater height in education it is not by lowering the standard but by constantly raising the notches up to make it competitive for the Malays in order to put them at par with the best in the world. 

Unfortunately, our few learned Malays are looking the other way, to reduce Malays to become moronic students.

What's the point of churning out thousands of mediocre graduates that no one would want to employ other than a government that set up itself a middling education system under a gross misconception that it is helping it own race to achieve better educational standard. These Malay professors need to have their heads examine. 

It is common knowledge in this country that local graduates find it hard to get jobs in the private sector, which survive on being competitive and won't take the risk employing laggards. 

There are thousands of unemployed graduates, who are also their own worst enemies, they overrated their second/third rate degrees and won't take a 'stopgap' job while waiting for better prospect.

To the Malay educationists, I suggest "don't bring the mountain to Muhammad, bring Mohammad to the mountain"