it gets nasty at the HINDRAF rally

Look at our Indian brethren, battling the authorities to voice their rights, but do you absolutely agree with their plights?

Watch it here for the police reactions and news reports from al-jazeera on Sunday's HINDRAF RALLY.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m96FCTKHNA8
it gets nasty, with more teargas and water canon fired at the protesters, democracy humbled by the authorities.

HINDRAF rally..

Well, the political scene in Malaysia is going through one of the roughest patches in history and worryingly this time it is not about the rise and fall of political leaders but it is the most sensitive issue- race relations. HINDRAF will take it to the streets on Sunday to hand in their petition claiming for 4 trillion from the British government for bringing their ancestors here which results in many living in poverty. Well, the underlying reason behind this rally is that the Indians have just had enough. They have been the most bullied and compromised race in the country. Demolitions of temples, insult on their jobs by the country's leadership and the most recent being hosting an assembly of the most important political party in Malaysia -UMNO on Deepavali. The last one found the boiling point of many Indians. The constitution has gazetted a public holiday to be observed on important religious and racial festivities, as a mark of respect to the event and the community involved, only to be ignored by those who walk in the corridors of power. Pathetic to say the least of these arrogant hypocrites. How much more the Indians are willing to tolerate?

Although the claim by HINDRAF might sound like a joke involving the British monarch and government, but they are DEAD serious about the message. Malaysia is for all the races and not only for the Malays. Although some of the claims are extreme but only in extremeties, can WE find the average solutions. These protests starting from the Batu Buruk incident are testimonials to the weakness of the Abdullah's leadership. History has taught us that oppositions must be crushed- that is the symplistic notion of Machiavellian politics. It has to be applied to a country such as Malaysia which has loose racial ties and fake unity and harmony. As i've said earlier in my previous post, we are a state in stable tension, only with the assumption that the leader of the day is strong. But with Pak LAH at the helm, political stability in this country will be rocked and this my friends is a bad news to our economic performance. Foreign investors will definitely shy away after back to back street protests which actually are open challenges to Abdullah's government. Now, the rest of the world will be laughing at us. Thank you, Abdullah.

Back to the HINDRAF rally, although I do not support all their plights but some are true. I have seen them with my own two eyes in estates like Kerling. They live in poverty. Yet again, HINDRAF i s stirring racial sentiments, they are only speaking for one race. What about the Chinese and Malays living in poverty as well? Who are championing their plights? HINDRAF is different from BERSIH in the sense that the former is fighting for common interest of the public the latter is not. Whatever it is HINDRAF is gathering momentum, with many Indians especially teachers are at the forefront of the fight against racial injustice. This is a big problem Abdullah, you must stop avoiding the problems, come back and solve it. After all, you were in MAGERAN back in 1969, you should know what to do. If Mahathir was PM, another OPS LALANG would be in place-which I believe is a correct approach, although I know it is a violation of human rights. But racial tension is a national threat, threat to the very existence of this country, and draconian laws need to be put in place to address it. Just like in economics, when the market forces fail to clear, you use other tools like taxation to correct the problem. It is harsh but needed.
Having said that, OPS LALANG should only be the starting point, but serious discussions are needed to solve racial inequalities in Malaysia, and Abdullah needs to be firm in his executions. Or else, back off, just like how Tunku conceded to Razak, it will be the replay of that, Abdullah to Najib Razak.Abdullah has failed us yet again,his weakness has allowed others to take advantage and voice their dissatisfactions in public! And the publicised arrest of the HINDRAF leaders will be an act of political martrydom of these lawyers, which will raise public anger and pose serious threats to the country's stabiliy! And do not get me wrong, I like Abdullah's personality but i'm just tired of it and feel he is not up for the job and never was honestly! It is my hope that he retires gracefully with his dignity and respect intact.

Lingam Saga-Royal commission a posibility?

Well, according to Rais Yatim, the keKKWA(culture, arts and heritage) minister, the government is considering to set up a government comission to probe further on the VK Lingam tape saga. Well, that is only his view as he stressed, not the uninamous decision of other members of the panel which have been set up to look into this matter. The rest are cabinet member, Radzi Ahmad and the de-facto law minister, Mr Minority Nazri Aziz(the funniest guy in politics since mat sabu of Pas), former Chief Judge Tan Sri Haidar and one time politician now activist, Lee Lam Thye. Well, what do you think? Abdullah will actually enquire?

He might announce a setting up of a five men royal comission, which will be chaired by Tan Sri Haidar, i think, and all the panel members will be in it. The comission will try to look as though they are doing work- at least Lee and Haidar would, and the conclusions are only to be countered by the three other ministers. Radzi is bound to support Abdullah, as his political life is hanging on the thread. There are talks in the northern UMNO circles that he will not be fielded for the upcoming general elections,and these rumours as usual are self-fulfilling prophecies. Radzi is old, and has not been doing a good job in defending UMNO in public- well others have been doing his job, like Nazri and Zam, so Radzi,you can take a break from being SG of UMNO! Nazri as always, will never challenge his leader of the day. He would die to protect Pak Lah while he is in office. A loyal minister indeed! Rais's position remains equivocal. He is one of the most interesting man to watch. He might just be the link to overturn the commission's concluding results if he wants to retire from politics, but if he wants to stay, at least in Pak Lah's cabinet, then just agree with the predetermined result. The conclusion will suggest that the tape is not clear, or could be fabricated, and the former CJ, Fairuz was not involved. As aresult, Fairuz is a clean man, and will be appointed as the next Penang Governor! A fairy tale ending=)

UMNO, Malay, Malaysian, Malaysia

Same old, same old. Nothing is new at this year's UMNO general assembly, not yet perhaps. Unless Abdullah steps down, which will be bizarre but unlikely to happen. Shouts of denial that UMNO is a racist party is again echoed throughout the hall-this year,most prominently by the PM's son in law and the Youth wing deputy chief-KJ. Well, it is such a disgrace that Oxford has produced such PPE graduate who does not know the depth of his own political party.Beyond any reasonable doubt that UMNO is racist, it is a racial based party-the one which champions NEP- a racial discriminatory policy. Therefore, in other words, by default it is a racist party with reference to the top guns of UMNO who admits that the party is only looking after the interest of the Malay community and not instilling prejudice against other races. Well, if it is confining itself just to one race and championing the plight of that one race, it is only making that particular community better off and worse still the improvement is at the expense of the other races. Yes, economically,Pareto optimality conditions are fulfilled here, the races are efficient, but isn't what UMNO is doing, a racist act? You be the judge.

Well, as much as I am all for Onn Jaafar's "a century too early ideals" of opening UMNO up to other races, as long as the people want racial politics-then let them have racial based politics. It is what we call democracy! But, UMNO must look ahead of the present day, it needs to be more than a party for the Malays, if it is to remain relevant in the future. How much longer can they claim to be the champion of Malay interests? With current disgruntles from within and outside the party, UMNO has to be bold in changing its setup. It cannot keep asking its members to "shut up"and toe with the party line, it has to stop being bold in defending the present, instead it must be bold in facing changes! As the body with the ultimate say in Malaysian politics, it has to make the move first- a mind shift towards a more Malaysian party. The BN coalition should be dissolved and replaced by Parti Nasional where Malays would be the dominant leader by choice and not by the dafault setting of the party! This is similiar to Onn Jaafar's idea in the early 50's, an idea shot immediately at its infancy by the Malays then. UMNO has to stop masking its weaknesses and work effectively in improving them. The only reason UMNO would not dare to take this challenge is because it knows it will end up being a secondary party, and then the "Malay fate" as they argued, would be jeopardised.Why? Malay by nature is a weak race-this is something which hasn't changed since the days of the Melaka Sultanate. I am a Malay, and proud to be one.But, I am a Malay who is willing to accept my weakness and work for the better! History has taught us that Malays are easily tamed by worldly pleasures, Melaka Sultans and their concubines, Ngah Ibrahim with his mining rights which he sold to the Chinese, we are easily manipulated by others! Furthermore, there is always envy in the Malay society-an anthropological illness which traces its origins from the days of Parameswara. " Selagi hasad dengki tertanam di sanubari, Melayu tidak akan dijulang tinggi." These very words forms my political philosophy. If Malays could absolve itself from envy, and the ease of giving into worldly pleasures, we would be the rightful leaders of this country. And this is what I look to embark on when I surrender myself to the public later on in life. This is what I want to fight for- be it in UMNO or other parties which provide me the space to voice my idea. Bangunlah bangsaku, Malaysia bermula dengan mu!

The demise of Malaysian judiciary

Please observe a moment of silence. The Malaysian judiciary is as good as dead. The departure of controversial magnet, Tun Ahmad Fairuz, the former Chief Justice (CJ), marks not the end of a humiliating period in the proud history of the country's judicial system-worse still, it is just reaching the climax.Tun Fairuz's first few years in office was as good as it could get. Slow and not academically assertive, he blended well with the rest of Abdullah's administration. Well, the graph could not just be horizontal forever, it has to have slopes and curves which is the exact extension path the former CJ took. He started going all wrong, from not so academically sound law lectures, to the issues of scandalous and corrupted judges, to his own VK lingam saga, the BAR council resistance, and the appointment of questionable legal practicioners to the board of judges. Gloomy indeed. When one tempered with fate, this is what one gets. If you are not meant to be in a position of power, only trouble awaits you. That is the law of the jungle- the kind of law which is Malaysia's 50th Merdeka version of the Rule of Law follows. Well, let us not reminisce the yesteryears, and look at the bleak future ahead. What do we expect from the judiciary? Surely, we can't expect the shit of two decades to be undone in two years! However, the appointment of a new CJ is the first step in repairing the damages. Let's face it, UMNO will try and promote Zaki Tun Azmi as their candidate, and trust me even if he is not chosen as CJ now, he will be appointed as the Appeal Court president sooner or later- the exact position UMNO leaders would want. With prominent cases looking to reach the appeal court in the couple of years, namely Altantuya murder trial, Anwar's commercial law suits- it would be handy to have the president of the appeals court in UMNO's bag! As for the new CJ, he will just be a temporary case, and Malaysian will not even remember his name because his predecessor has been soaked in the glamorous heat!