| Hantu Laut | |
| 30 January 2008 | |
| It’s whistling past the graveyard to think that Malaysia is going to escape a US downturn unscathed Following the Davos conference in Switzerland, the prime minister pointed out that 86 percent of Malaysia's GDP is domestically generated and added: "This has become one of our economic strengths (as we are no longer acutely dependent on external trade), and these strengths have come from the policies that we have drawn up and implemented, which are far-sighted.” The small domestic market would not be able to consume excesses from a contracting export market. The major manufactured products for export, especially electronic and electrical products, are not suitable for domestic use. What are Malaysians going to do with a few billion dollars worth of unsold semiconductors, computer chips and other high-technology products? In the same year, export trade with Asean countries was RM154 billion. It is safe to assume that more than 60 percent of exports to Asean countries went to Singapore. Malaysia’s trade with Singapore was MR146.9 billion, making it the second largest trading partner after the U.S. With the exception of Thailand, trade with other Asean countries was insignificant. Lumping Singapore together with other Asean countries to show market diversification is self-deceiving and unjustified. Being the second largest trading partner and for the sake of clarity, Singapore should be classified individually. There also seems to be a great discrepancy between MATRADE figures and those given by an independent body SUITE101.com, which quoted Bridgesingapore.com, usembassy.com and the CIA World Factbook as its sources. The data shows Singapore's total trade with Malaysia in 2006 was US$77 billion. Taking an exchange rate at a constant US$1.00 - RM3.40, trade with Singapore was a whopping RM262 billion, not the RM146.9 billion MATRADE uses, making it the biggest trading partner, bigger than the US. Was the huge difference a result of under- and over-invoicing? It's difficult to say which figures were correct. This can only be established if the external trade corporation were to openly dispute the figures from the other sources. Singapore will thus continue to play a major role in Malaysia's export trade due to two factors. Its efficient ports, higher frequency of ships visiting and its status as a financial center make it cheaper and faster to transact business and ship cargoes to practically any destination. Singapore’s status as an entrepot, with Malaysia as its industrial and resource hinterland, distorts the trade figures that give Asean its trade pre-eminence over the consuming west. Not recognizing that, and not acting on it, spells trouble for Malaysia and its economy. |
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Badawi's State Of Euphoria
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is probably wrong if he is as confident as he says he is that that Malaysia is positioned to avert any negative fallout from a threatened US recession by virtue of trade with the rest of Asean, which on its surface outweighs that of the US. 
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Correct,Correct,Correct
Hantu Laut
"Correct,correct,correct" and now it's "Looks like me, sounds like me".
Can you get anyone with worse antics than this slithering sycophant,a Mr Tag Along and a denizen of the legal fraternity with a magic wand that can influence the appointment of judges.He was so powerful he can actually tell the ex-Prime Minister who to appoint to the bench.
In the controversial video tape he described the ex-PM as "Being the old man, he is 76 years old, he gets whispers everywhere, and then you don’t whisper, he get taken away by the other side. But, now the PM is very alert he because every time he gets letters from Tan Sri Dzaiddin, he calls Tengku Adnan, he says discuss with Vincent, come and discuss".
Who is Vincent? Was he a special rapporteur officially appointed by the government to advise the ex-PM on appointment of judges?
If what he said about the ex-PM was true, than it is most disgraceful and a shocking news to the nation.Judges are appointed to dispense justice to all and sundry and not to be subservient to anyone in particular.Judges have no masters,they are masters of their own .They are expected to adhere to the rules of justice and listen to their conscience, not to anyone else including the Prime Minister.
Was Vincent Tan a close confidant of the ex-PM? It looked obviously so, if we go by what that bragging power brokering creep revealed in the video.For the ex-PM to tell Tengku Adnan to discuss state matters of the highest importance with a man who has nothing to do with matters of government, one can only assume such relationship did exist, unless, that slimy bragging creep was name-dropping just to impress his audience.
It was no coincidence that in 1993, Lingam was Vincent Tan's lawyer in a law suit against M.G.G.Pillai, a journalist who has since died.Tan brought a defamation suit against him and was awarded a substantial amount, unprecedented in the legal history of defamation suits in this country.It was also no coincidence that the damages awarded by the Federal Court was presided over by a team of judges headed by Eusoffe Chin.
In the latest episode, the 'Correct,Correct,Correct' and 'Looks like me,Sounds like me' has manifested into 'I cannot recollect'.
He told the commission."Without looking at the video, I cannot recollect the occasion. After looking at the video, I do not recollect. It has happened so long ago. Looking at the video, there is bottles of wine, whiskey or brandy and 7-Up. I would have had one too many drinks. That was a drinking session, a celebration, a party. I must have had one too many (and) it is more than six years ago. I cannot remember".
"It looks like me. You can ask the question 100 times, I will still give you the same answer".He must have assumed every members of the commission are idiots, to be able to take this kind of crap coming from him, a man void of any dignity and shame.
This legal clown has turned the commission into a circus and tried to fool everyone with intoxicated lapse of memory as his excuse not to remember whom he spoke to on the phone.
This fool and his folly will eventually put a noose around his own neck.A shameless and stinking piece of crap,undignified and fits for the sewer.
Is this the kind of man some of our judges and leaders kept company with?
LATEST FROM LINGAM'S COURTROOM ANTICS.
Now he admits being a bullshitter and a braggart.He is king in his own house and can talk whatever rubbish he wishes.Below are some of his oratorical skills.
1.“I can choose whatever topic I like. I can even pretend to talk to President Bush if I like,”
2.“That (conversation) was in my house. That was in the privacy of my room. My house is my castle. I am the king there. I can talk whatever rubbish in my house as long as I don’t get drunk outside and misbehave,”
3.“Even if I did say it and I am sorry to use this word but I was bullshitting and bragging,”
4.“No, no, no, my learned commissioner, you didn’t get me right. I said it looks like me, it sounds like me. I didn’t said it’s not me. I don’t want to say it’s 100 percent me because the authenticity of the clip has to be established,”
5.“The tickets are separate tickets with separate number. They were just stapled together and anybody can staple them [...] I don’t know who did it, I have not seen it, you have to call the maker who did it,”
6.“I changed my prepaid numbers very often when I lost my mobile phone. I also change my house phone number very often because there are many prank calls to me and my maid at late hours,”
Read Sophie's World anecdotal story on this.
"Correct,correct,correct" and now it's "Looks like me, sounds like me".
Can you get anyone with worse antics than this slithering sycophant,a Mr Tag Along and a denizen of the legal fraternity with a magic wand that can influence the appointment of judges.He was so powerful he can actually tell the ex-Prime Minister who to appoint to the bench.
In the controversial video tape he described the ex-PM as "Being the old man, he is 76 years old, he gets whispers everywhere, and then you don’t whisper, he get taken away by the other side. But, now the PM is very alert he because every time he gets letters from Tan Sri Dzaiddin, he calls Tengku Adnan, he says discuss with Vincent, come and discuss".
Who is Vincent? Was he a special rapporteur officially appointed by the government to advise the ex-PM on appointment of judges?
If what he said about the ex-PM was true, than it is most disgraceful and a shocking news to the nation.Judges are appointed to dispense justice to all and sundry and not to be subservient to anyone in particular.Judges have no masters,they are masters of their own .They are expected to adhere to the rules of justice and listen to their conscience, not to anyone else including the Prime Minister.
Was Vincent Tan a close confidant of the ex-PM? It looked obviously so, if we go by what that bragging power brokering creep revealed in the video.For the ex-PM to tell Tengku Adnan to discuss state matters of the highest importance with a man who has nothing to do with matters of government, one can only assume such relationship did exist, unless, that slimy bragging creep was name-dropping just to impress his audience.
It was no coincidence that in 1993, Lingam was Vincent Tan's lawyer in a law suit against M.G.G.Pillai, a journalist who has since died.Tan brought a defamation suit against him and was awarded a substantial amount, unprecedented in the legal history of defamation suits in this country.It was also no coincidence that the damages awarded by the Federal Court was presided over by a team of judges headed by Eusoffe Chin.
In the latest episode, the 'Correct,Correct,Correct' and 'Looks like me,Sounds like me' has manifested into 'I cannot recollect'.
He told the commission."Without looking at the video, I cannot recollect the occasion. After looking at the video, I do not recollect. It has happened so long ago. Looking at the video, there is bottles of wine, whiskey or brandy and 7-Up. I would have had one too many drinks. That was a drinking session, a celebration, a party. I must have had one too many (and) it is more than six years ago. I cannot remember".
"It looks like me. You can ask the question 100 times, I will still give you the same answer".He must have assumed every members of the commission are idiots, to be able to take this kind of crap coming from him, a man void of any dignity and shame.
This legal clown has turned the commission into a circus and tried to fool everyone with intoxicated lapse of memory as his excuse not to remember whom he spoke to on the phone.
This fool and his folly will eventually put a noose around his own neck.A shameless and stinking piece of crap,undignified and fits for the sewer.
Is this the kind of man some of our judges and leaders kept company with?
LATEST FROM LINGAM'S COURTROOM ANTICS.
Now he admits being a bullshitter and a braggart.He is king in his own house and can talk whatever rubbish he wishes.Below are some of his oratorical skills.
1.“I can choose whatever topic I like. I can even pretend to talk to President Bush if I like,”
2.“That (conversation) was in my house. That was in the privacy of my room. My house is my castle. I am the king there. I can talk whatever rubbish in my house as long as I don’t get drunk outside and misbehave,”
3.“Even if I did say it and I am sorry to use this word but I was bullshitting and bragging,”
4.“No, no, no, my learned commissioner, you didn’t get me right. I said it looks like me, it sounds like me. I didn’t said it’s not me. I don’t want to say it’s 100 percent me because the authenticity of the clip has to be established,”
5.“The tickets are separate tickets with separate number. They were just stapled together and anybody can staple them [...] I don’t know who did it, I have not seen it, you have to call the maker who did it,”
6.“I changed my prepaid numbers very often when I lost my mobile phone. I also change my house phone number very often because there are many prank calls to me and my maid at late hours,”
Read Sophie's World anecdotal story on this.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Will The Hen Crows Louder Than The Cock And Makes It To The White House
Hantu Laut
Will Hilary Clinton makes it to the White House come this November.After the New Hampshire primary, her star seems to shine brighter than a while ago when she lost badly to Obama in Iowa.
"To my mother, who gave me a love of life
To Hilary, who gave me a life of love
To Chelsea, who gave joy and meaning to it all
And to the memory of my grandfather, who taught
me to look up to people others looked down on,
because we're not so different after all"
Those were the dedication in the preamble of Bill Clinton's autobiography, My Life. A vivid description of his life's journey from childhood to his tenure as the 42nd President of the United States.A wonderful and tremendously anecdotal memoirs from one of the most popular US Presidents. The only thing lacking in this book is the absence of a list of contents, which makes timeline search almost impossible and making it difficult to make reference to some of the text in the book.The publisher probably omitted it for a reason.
My interest is not in Bill Clinton but more in his highly ambitious wife, Hilary. A graduate of Yale Law School and majored in political science, she spent eight years as First Lady and was elected a senator in her final years at the White House as wife of the President.
Hilary has her sight focused on the highest office from her early days as wife of the President.Many other women would have created ructions and ruckus over sexual indiscretions and perfidy of the husbands. Not Hilary, she has no intention of making a cause celebre of her marital problem and to attract public sympathy for her, she took it in her stride and publicly displayed her elegant and dignified calmness.Unlike Sarkosy's wife who left him and didn't give two hoots when he became President of French, she stood by her man, ignored Bill's wolfish adventure and indiscretions and fastidiously proceeded with her grand plan to reach for the coveted office. She made known her intention soon after she was re-elected as senator.
Over the past few years America's political scene, which is very much male-dominated, is slowly changing. Women are now included in highly sensitive position in the administration.The appointment of a black woman, Condoleezza Rice as State Secretary is another new element in the changing political landscape of the United States. Would a woman or a black person have a chance to get to the highest office ? I would say, even as near as a decade ago, the answers to that were not likely in the affirmative. The composite picture has changed now, making the journey to the Oval office less hazardous for blacks and women.
In 2007 in a national poll, Hilary was consistently placed as the front-runner for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. She is now on her way to fulfill her dreams.
With her latest win over Barack Obama in the New Hampshire primary, will she makes it to the White House?
Will Hilary Clinton makes it to the White House come this November.After the New Hampshire primary, her star seems to shine brighter than a while ago when she lost badly to Obama in Iowa.
"To my mother, who gave me a love of life
To Hilary, who gave me a life of love
To Chelsea, who gave joy and meaning to it all
And to the memory of my grandfather, who taught
me to look up to people others looked down on,
because we're not so different after all"
Those were the dedication in the preamble of Bill Clinton's autobiography, My Life. A vivid description of his life's journey from childhood to his tenure as the 42nd President of the United States.A wonderful and tremendously anecdotal memoirs from one of the most popular US Presidents. The only thing lacking in this book is the absence of a list of contents, which makes timeline search almost impossible and making it difficult to make reference to some of the text in the book.The publisher probably omitted it for a reason.
My interest is not in Bill Clinton but more in his highly ambitious wife, Hilary. A graduate of Yale Law School and majored in political science, she spent eight years as First Lady and was elected a senator in her final years at the White House as wife of the President.
Hilary has her sight focused on the highest office from her early days as wife of the President.Many other women would have created ructions and ruckus over sexual indiscretions and perfidy of the husbands. Not Hilary, she has no intention of making a cause celebre of her marital problem and to attract public sympathy for her, she took it in her stride and publicly displayed her elegant and dignified calmness.Unlike Sarkosy's wife who left him and didn't give two hoots when he became President of French, she stood by her man, ignored Bill's wolfish adventure and indiscretions and fastidiously proceeded with her grand plan to reach for the coveted office. She made known her intention soon after she was re-elected as senator.
Over the past few years America's political scene, which is very much male-dominated, is slowly changing. Women are now included in highly sensitive position in the administration.The appointment of a black woman, Condoleezza Rice as State Secretary is another new element in the changing political landscape of the United States. Would a woman or a black person have a chance to get to the highest office ? I would say, even as near as a decade ago, the answers to that were not likely in the affirmative. The composite picture has changed now, making the journey to the Oval office less hazardous for blacks and women.
In 2007 in a national poll, Hilary was consistently placed as the front-runner for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. She is now on her way to fulfill her dreams.
With her latest win over Barack Obama in the New Hampshire primary, will she makes it to the White House?
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Another Tragedy In The Making
Hantu Laut
Help Find Sharlinie (Nini) 
Nini, aged 5, missing since Jan 10, 2008. If you know her whereabouts call RakanCop at 03-21159999
Sister: Nini was taken by a woman.
In my previous post 'Malaysian Police - A Crying Shame' , I mentioned the possibly of the murder of Nurin and subsequent rape and murder of Preeshena Varshiny as the work of serial rapist and killer.
With the abduction of Sharlinie Mohd Nashar, another terrible tragedy is in the offing.What I find ridiculous and quite unacceptable was a report in the Star newspaper stating how the older sister of Sharlinie, after much persuasion by the press, revealed that Sharlinie was taken by a woman and bundled into a black car.
Are the reporters trying to do police work? Why would an eight- year old girl needs to be persuaded to tell the truth, unless the reporter concerned fed her with the information in the hope of getting positive response from her. This is a potential murder case and the only reliable witness is a child, where extreme care should be taken not to juggle and confuse her mind. A child of that age would have a clear mind of what she saw and wouldn't need any coaxing to tell the truth.
Reporters should stick to their job of reporting news, not interrogating victims or witnesses.This is police work and should be left to them to deal with.
Unfortunately, our police is not brilliantly famous for its crime busting feats.Over the years many innocent underage girls had been raped and murdered. Only few of the cases had been solved and brought to justice.
Below are few cases of rape and murder of underage girls in this country:
· Preeshena Varshiny (9)
· Nurin Jazlin (8)
· Nurul Huda Gani (10)
· Norshuhada Burak (6)
· Ang May Hong (9)
· Harirawati Saridi (9)
· Siti Nadirah Budah (5)
· Nor Syakila Ramli Abdullah Choo (5)
· Nor Shawni Dahlan (7)
What happen to the old adage 'Don't talk to strangers'. Don't parents teach their child at a very young age not to talk to strangers and not to accept candies or gifts from them. After so many tragedies concerning young girls being raped and murdered, it makes one wonder how some irresponsible parents still allow their child to go out unaccompanied.Unfortunately, the statistics revealed another sad side of this preventable tragedy, most of the victims were very young Malay girls.
Are we less responsible for the welfare and safety of our children or was it the old kampong mentality that we live in a safe environment like our forefathers did, therefore, making us complacent and less alert about the safety of our children?
With the rising crime rate and many unsolved murder cases, Kuala Lumpur would soon be joining the crime capital of the world.
If New York city and Hong Kong can fight crime and make the city streets safe for the city dwellers, it's utterly disgraceful that our police, instead of lowering the crime index, has unashamedly let it takes its own course.
I think the Prime Minister should seriously consider sending a message to the police, 'SHAPE UP OR SHIP OUT'.
Help Find Sharlinie (Nini)
Nini, aged 5, missing since Jan 10, 2008. If you know her whereabouts call RakanCop at 03-21159999
Sister: Nini was taken by a woman.
In my previous post 'Malaysian Police - A Crying Shame' , I mentioned the possibly of the murder of Nurin and subsequent rape and murder of Preeshena Varshiny as the work of serial rapist and killer.
With the abduction of Sharlinie Mohd Nashar, another terrible tragedy is in the offing.What I find ridiculous and quite unacceptable was a report in the Star newspaper stating how the older sister of Sharlinie, after much persuasion by the press, revealed that Sharlinie was taken by a woman and bundled into a black car.
Are the reporters trying to do police work? Why would an eight- year old girl needs to be persuaded to tell the truth, unless the reporter concerned fed her with the information in the hope of getting positive response from her. This is a potential murder case and the only reliable witness is a child, where extreme care should be taken not to juggle and confuse her mind. A child of that age would have a clear mind of what she saw and wouldn't need any coaxing to tell the truth.
Reporters should stick to their job of reporting news, not interrogating victims or witnesses.This is police work and should be left to them to deal with.
Unfortunately, our police is not brilliantly famous for its crime busting feats.Over the years many innocent underage girls had been raped and murdered. Only few of the cases had been solved and brought to justice.
Below are few cases of rape and murder of underage girls in this country:
· Preeshena Varshiny (9)
· Nurin Jazlin (8)
· Nurul Huda Gani (10)
· Norshuhada Burak (6)
· Ang May Hong (9)
· Harirawati Saridi (9)
· Siti Nadirah Budah (5)
· Nor Syakila Ramli Abdullah Choo (5)
· Nor Shawni Dahlan (7)
What happen to the old adage 'Don't talk to strangers'. Don't parents teach their child at a very young age not to talk to strangers and not to accept candies or gifts from them. After so many tragedies concerning young girls being raped and murdered, it makes one wonder how some irresponsible parents still allow their child to go out unaccompanied.Unfortunately, the statistics revealed another sad side of this preventable tragedy, most of the victims were very young Malay girls.
Are we less responsible for the welfare and safety of our children or was it the old kampong mentality that we live in a safe environment like our forefathers did, therefore, making us complacent and less alert about the safety of our children?
With the rising crime rate and many unsolved murder cases, Kuala Lumpur would soon be joining the crime capital of the world.
If New York city and Hong Kong can fight crime and make the city streets safe for the city dwellers, it's utterly disgraceful that our police, instead of lowering the crime index, has unashamedly let it takes its own course.
I think the Prime Minister should seriously consider sending a message to the police, 'SHAPE UP OR SHIP OUT'.
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