"1-Malaysia" in Blinkers- Dancing to the Fascist Racism Tune.

"It is time we shed the crude nationalism
which refuses to acknowledge things “not invented here”.
This country had a great start in life because we had inherited
a system of laws, rights and conventions that had been refined
over more than seven hundred years."
- Tg. Razaleigh, The Infrastructure of Institutions

Isn’t this exactly why normal people become racist when they see
this sort of shenanigans happening right in front of them?
-James Chin, How you become a racist ...

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There was a time when Malaysians would burst with pride when they speak of their country. They sand the song "Berjaya" with much gusto back then. They watched the "Merdeka Day" parades with awe. "Satu Negara, Satu Bangsa" was the catchword.
Those were indeed the good old days when Malaysians were full of hope for a bright future, in a young nation, forged out of an agreement with the colonial "masters" who were keen on a "new world order.
Tun Razak started a "new order" himself through May 13, 1969 - although with a racist twist to it. Things were fine for a while, with plenty of idealistic rhetoric about a "just" system to benefit all and sundry.

Fast forward to 1981 and onwards - enter the Mahathir era .....(imagine a scratching record here for sound effect). We had "Bersih, Cekap, Amanah", "Look East Policy"and what not which resulted in the dismantling of "colonial institutions" with a newfound spirit of Malaysian-ness. We had Razaleigh in S46, fighting a losing battle against the forces of Mahathir, and then the constitutional crises .... and something had to be done - real fast to repair his injured fortunes.

First, we had to abandon our links to the past - which gave us the excellent civil service and a credible judiciary, which could spoil it all for "our man".
The Mahathir tentacles spread quite fast into the Media, Judiciary, Police, Army, Petronas and even JKK to get a grip on the nation.
He wanted a "Malaysia Incorporated" his way.
It resulted in mega projects and privatization of things like Proton, TNB, Perwaja, Telekom, Indah Water, Alam Flora, PUAS/Syabas, IntraKota/RapidKL, SUKOM, KL Tower, KLIA, KLCC, MSC and what not. The health services would've been added to the list of viable companies/services appropriated by pirates aligned to Umno.

Malaysia was flush with money as a result of apparently never-ending flow of FDI which required immigrant labor to do the "dirty jobs", while Malaysians enjoyed the fruits of Mahathirism. Many an instant millionaire "entrepreneurs" were created out of thin air with the many indirect taxes imposed upon the people who were flush with cash - Tolls, APs, import duties on foreign cars, and the creation of a virtually collapsing public transport infrastructure to increase the sale of over-priced tin cans called the "national cars". Price of real estate sky-rocketted. Massive urbanization was encouraged, while rural agriculture was destroyed. Big businesses were encouraged in Mahathir's "think big" ideas, while small enterprises were destroyed or collapsed.

Malaysians were glowing with pride when they said, "Malaysia Boleh" (note: in some business circles today, it is a code-word for bribing officials/ politicians). It also heralded a period of unsurpassed state of apathy in Malaysia, when the people squandered away their rights for the apparent goodies which the Mahathir regime doled out. Everyone was on the take, and life was good.

Then came 1997 - and many a dream was shattered, and reality hit many Malaysians .... you're not gonna get anything, nor are you immune to brutality of the regime, unless you're aligned to Mahathir's Umno Baru.
With the shrinking of the pie, Umno has pursued an agenda of unbridled corruption, racism and religious bigotry ever since. Everything needed a government hand/ patronage to work. Everything was dished out with a few factors in mind - Money, Influence, Race, Religion or Political affiliation - these were the only criteria needed to be filled for any venture (with plenty of 'grease', of course)..... if you were on the right side and believed in "Malaysia Boleh", you made it. Merit had nothing to do with anything anymore ...

Nope - You cannot get a permit for this or that, unless you practice "Malaysia Boleh". You cannot sort out your legal issues unless it is "Malaysia Boleh". You cannot get a seat in the University unless it is "Malaysia Boleh". You cannot get a contract unless it is "Malaysia Boleh".
The other criteria was of course - "Bumiputra", or just plain good ol' "Malay" status (in which case, it didn't matter if you had "Bumi" status") ...... or you're out on your bare ass!!

From education, justice, security, finances, industry, services, business - they all needed a government crony to make it. The government/ cronies were in on everything - even religion. They dictated to you on even what you do behind closed doors! Malaysians started getting a dose of what Mahathirism or rather, Fascist Apartheid was all about.
After all, apartheid was about "separate development", while fascism was defined by Mussolini as "All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state", and "Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power".

The best (nauseating) part of it all is - despite all the troubles that have hit them, Malaysians are still singing and dancing away to this music of Racism ... albeit, to the "1-Malaysia" rhythm. They go on like parrots, "Indian this Indian that"; "Chinese this, Chinese that"; "Malay this, Malay that"; "Bumi this, Bumi that" - while being totally and happily ignorant that it is the very pretext upon which the plunder of the nation's resources is perpetrated, and they are impoverished.
You'll see plenty of shamelessly (or unknowingly) racist rhetoric - about how the "pendatang" or the natives of Sabah/Sarawak would need to accept the Ketuanan Melayu ideology, and assimilate.(read the naive batsman's - 'PAS, the Chinese, the Malays and the Sabahans' on Malaysia Today, while thinking that he was being very "intellectual").
Or else, you're only fit to be classified as being ungrateful for the good life that Umno (and not all of us who together worked our asses off for the country) has given you ...

That's "Ketuanan Melayu" for you, with a fresh coat of the "1-Malaysia" paint .......

Note:
Heard that Rosmah Mansor was in Sentul yesterday giving out hampers, goodies, free makan, and cash to the poor - and many who were asked to come for them to make up the numbers went away empty-handed, and ashamed that they were lured to the event.
A point to note is that many "Indians" were given these goodies, while many more Malays were left seething in anger, seeing what was happening - that's "1-Malaysia" for you .....

Political Persecution 101 - BN Goons In Action!!

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You're still with us, Buddy .....

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Dedicated to Zac (1964- 1993).
Rest in Peace Brother .....

Related:

• Remembering Zac ....

Racism 101 in "Higher Education" Ministry's "Earthmen" Policy.

The ministry said in a reply on July 14 that Undau’s appeal was turned down because “the candidate is categorised as non-bumiputra (father is Iban and mother is Chinese)” based on a definition used by the Student Intake Management Division, Higher Learning Department and Higher Education Ministry.
Their definition is as follows:
1• If either parent of a candidate is a Malay who is a Muslim/Orang Asli as defined in Article 160 (2) of the Federal Constitution, the child is considered a bumiputra.
2• Sabah – If the father of the candidate is a Malay who is a Muslim/native of Sabah as ...defined by Article 161A(6)(a) of the Federal Constitution, the child is considered a bumiputra.
3• Sarawak – If the father and mother is a native of Sarawak as defined under Article 161A(6)(b) of the Federal Constitution, the child is considered a bumiputra.
-Marina, you’re no bumi

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Here are the implications of the above "1-Malaysia" "education" policy:
(before you start, bear in mind that under the Umno's Ketuanan Melayu definition, West Malaysian "Bumi" genes are supposedly superior)

1. If you're from West Malaysia and a Malay/Muslim/Orang Asli, your children will definitely get "earthmen" status and enjoy the economic benefits - that's even if you're a second generation Malaysian like Khir Toyo (and some say, even Mahathir!)

2. If you're Sabahan, then only your son's genes can carry your "earthmen" status - the women can go fly kites if they don't marry a Malay/Muslim/Sabahan native. Sorry, darlings - Mr. 1-Malaysia (through the "education ministry") says that you just ain't good enough ....

3. You Sarawakians - you're just screwed bigtime!! ALL children of intermarrying couples LOSE their "earthmen" rights.

4. Consequently, there'll be an increase in West Malaysian "earth" genes running around, while there'll be a proportional decrease of those in Sabah, and more so in Sarawak - that's provided you subscribe to Umno's racism, and become a racist bigot who would only seek partners in your own community.

This is such an excellent method of segregating the population, while perpetuating the "divide and rule" policy of Umno/BN - you start them young, at school level. Make them learn that they have to be racists if they want to "progress" under the BN rule.
The "higher education" ministry can also save lots of money and educational opportunities, which can be diverted to nincompoops who end up as drug addicts, corrupt bureaucrats or Umno's mindless minions.
It is also a good policy to make east Malaysian give up their rights, while they allow themselves to be dominated by minority community of racist, or allow themselves to be dominated by West Malaysian "earthmen".

So much for our "higher education"; so much for Malaysian unity .....

"1-Malaysia", my axe!!

Now Playing in Sabah:- The Ketuanan Gambit.

Talk about the people finding it difficult differentiating PKR from UMNO,
you have here the classic example of how similar both parties are.
A snake sheds its skin, that’s all.
For the question of who should lead PKR Sabah,
Ketuanan KL has tromboned Ketuanan Rakyat.
- Hantu II, zorro-unmasked

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The euphoria of the 080308 electoral "victory" is dead and the reality is now setting in - Anwar is the party, and the Party is Anwar. What Anwar says, goes - the Rakyat be damned.

Just 18 mths into creating history with the help of non-PKR members and after one by-election slaughter, Anwar is already backsliding on his Ketuanan Rakyat rhetoric, and PKR appears to be on the verge of a "nervous breakdown".

Zorro has declared that the above logo of Ketuanan Rakyat will be removed from his sidebar - until ".....I GET THE MEANING OF WHAT ANWAR MEANT WHEN HE SAID:

“No way in hell will I have Jeffrey as chief”". What was Anwar thinking? That he & his desire for power takes precedence over the will of Sabahans? Does he not know that it is not for him to dictate terms to Sabahans, and that it is his duty to work with those whom Sabahans wish to lead them?
Maybe Anwar misses the power he wielded as the Umno DPM in the "good ol' days" before the black eye ....... and Haris had this to say, "My source in Sabah tells me that Thamrin is an Anwar loyalist and his appointment will not go down well with the division chiefs and the PKR grassroots in Sabah".
So it is now manufactured leadership - as in the Umno/BN cronyism/nepotism ......

Another factor seems to hang in the air, he appears to be hesitant where taking disciplinary action against racist/religious bigots like Zulkifli Noordin is concerned. What's with this "endless love" he has with Zulkifli Noordin? Has the individual become more important than the general well-being of the party and country?
Does this guy take precedence over the Rakyat? Maybe he's hoping that Malaysians with stunted memories will forget Zul's antics .... but Zul just keeps reminding us that he can do what he wants, and that Anwar is a political wimp when faced with mullah-wannabes!
Or maybe .... just maybe - Anwar wishes to have an Islamic "syura" with wish he can rule with dictatorial powers? After all Zul Taliban has already proposed that the Federal Constitution be amended to make it subservient to the syariah.
Did I hear silence from Anwar or what?

Listen Anwar, if you have ears - Zul Taliban, the intellectual amoeba - has to go!! There's no two ways about that!! And you gotta learn to work with the Sabahans, instead of trying to get them under your thumb.
They don't trust you ever since you kick-started the Umno rule and destroyed their autonomy. Sabah is that much poorer culturally and financially ever since. It is time you seek redemption in their eyes, rather than dictate terms to those you betrayed in the past. Learn to work with the leaders of their choice - and not your's!!
Be thankful that they're willing to give you a second chance.

Anwar better get it into his grand scheme of things - that the people will drop him and his charisma like a hot potato, if he believes in going back on his word. The people would rather not risk political turbulence for more of the same - and mark my words, they'll slaughter PKR/Pakatan Rakyat at the ballot-box in the next elections.

The choice is your's to make Anwar - work with them and save Malaysia, or kiss PutraJaya goodbye and let Malaysia be damned - the people are quite ready to abandon you, if you and your party cannot be disciplined on principles of justice!! (It is what I wrote about in Discipline and Reason, Is All It Takes.)
If that were to happen, you will go down in Malaysian history as the biggest political joke, even if you were persecuted by your rivals - for having made a wrong turning at a critical juncture.
By the way things are going in PKR, it looks like Anwar is set to take the starring/ lead role in an upcoming movie called "A Black Eye- Episode II" ......

The Stinking Scams - "Are We Cowards as a Nation, or a Nation of Cowards"?

Today, I'm posting Art Harun's entry on Facebook, with my comment and that of Michael Lui - which is in essence what I wish to say. (I apologize for not writing as usual due to other pressing engagements.)

1 Scam!!!

Two Acer laptop worth RM9k were bought by MARA for RM EIGHTY FOUR THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED FORTY , the Auditor General reports.

Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) paid RM84,640 for two Acer Aspire 5052 laptops when the price for each was RM4,500, revealed the Auditor-General's Report.

The Balik Pulau Mara Higher Skills Institute also paid RM40,830 more for 15 Hewlet Packard P3005X laser printers and RM3.45 million for 450 Dell Precision desktops -grossly above market price and out of production now.

They also bought teaching manuals worth RM358,476, which were never used.

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/115526

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Cruzeiro Dc

This is the result of Mahathir's Ketuanan Melayu!!
Don't people realize that Ketuanan Melayu is 1-Big Scam, used to fleece them of their blood & sweat?
Year after year, the AG comes out with a diarrhoea of scams, which get NFA - and the Umno malays think they're losing financial/economic mileage to the 'Nons' becos of their weakness, rather than Umno's daylight robbery.
Jeez man - Umno supporters must be such imbeciles!!

Michael Lui

What does it take.. to get a country to be honest, its people to stand up against corruption... its culture to no longer accept it.. its apartheid to be dissolved.

We can't seem to find anyone in politics, in govt and in power that loves the country more then their own wallets.

Are we cowards as a nation, or a nation of cowards. The corrupt flourish while the innocents and voices of reason or dissent against this status quo get thrown in jail. ... Read More

If UMNO or Najib or BN were to change and truly stand up for the people and being already in power they would have the chance to endear themselves to us.. and right so many wrongs. Regardless of the past I could still vote
them.

Instead all I hear from friends since deciding to return to Malaysia is... keep your head down, let the Malays do whatever..its their country, and even was told to ignore crime if I see it.. just take care of my own ass, dress like poor man, look like a poor man and don't bother to vote .. but the bests of all were.. Don't speak out Brother.. they won't gun for you they will gun for your family and Thai/Indon assassin cheap you will be dead for 3000 ringgit.

Our country folks... is in bad shape. Sigh. Crappiest homecoming greetings ever :)

Cruzeiro Dc
ML - Nice comment.
It is called The Disease of Fear and Apathy - I wrote about it here http://cruzinthots.blogspot.com/2007/12/malaysian-disease-of-fear-and-apathy.html in December 2007.

Yes - it's very disheartening, and it breaks ones spirit if we lack faith and courage. They want us to stop.
The media is grossly skewed against the blogs/ online press. Rocky and Marina Mahathir went "on strike" to stop "politicking". First they ridiculed us and called us names. Some of us were harassed by "certain quarters", had our PCs confiscated, files opened on us. But we did awaken the public. Even today they published something saying that there's "political fatigue" everywhere - to break our spirit....

It's a long road, Michael - we only won a battle, and the war is ongoing. We just have to persevere with educating the public about their rights. Let us be thankful that they responded somewhat on 080308 despite all their fears. Nobody thought it would happen.
Though the awakening did happen, it will take time for them get the courage & faith to get up and run ..... so let's keep the faith, bro.
Cheers, mate.

What say YOU, Kadir?

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Hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virtue.
-Francois de La Rochefoucauld
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Allow me to respond to Kadir Jasin

I have said this before and I will say it again. Sabah and Sarawak control 56 parliament seats out of a total of 222 seats in parliament. If you want to form the federal government you must first win a sizeable number of seats from Sabah and Sarawak. If not, then dream on.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Today, A. Kadir Jasin’s article called ‘Zaid, The Hurricane Hattie Of PR’ confirms quite a bit of what I have said in the past, which were pooh-poohed as unfounded rumours and lies. I would like to address some of the points in his article (marked in italics) and bring you back to the points I had made over these many years, which now appears to have been confirmed by Kadir Jasin.

I just love it when I can say: I told you so

He was among the intermediaries used by Umno to reacquire and appropriate its vast assets taken over by the Public Trustee when the party was deregistered in 1988.

I was with the late Datuk Bakar Daud of Kuala Terengganu at the height of this crisis. He lamented that Umno Bahagian Kuala Terengganu was heavily in debt with the bank and was about to lose their Gong Kapas building. The other seven Umno divisions in Terengganu were also facing the same problem.

I went to meet Ahmad Sebi Abu Bakar to inform him of Umno Terengganu’s dilemma and the financial crisis the eight divisions were facing because all their assets had been frozen by the Registrar of Societies and the Public Trustee.

It is not just Umno Terengganu, Ahmad Sebi replied, but Umno all over Malaysia. Even the Umno headquarters building may face auctioning if they can’t solve the problem of Umno’s frozen assets.

It had been the practice that all assets of Umno were registered in the name of Umno. But now that Umno had been deregistered, all these assets had been frozen. The liabilities, however, were not frozen. And since all debts were personally guaranteed by the division heads, treasurers, secretaries, etc., the banks were chasing these people in their personal capacity. Letters of demand were being sent to the guarantors, not to Umno, which no longer legally existed.

Invariably, a huge team of lawyers was engaged to unravel the massive and extremely complicating financial mess. And, as Kadir Jasin, said, Zaid Ibrahim was one of these lawyers, although he was not even an Umno member yet at that time, according to Kadir Jasin.

And I am sure every lawyer who acted for Umno would have made a lot of money, not only Zaid. But Umno was desperate. They would not mind paying whatever it cost to get them out of the mess they were in. I would have whacked Umno for 30% of the assets if I were a lawyer and had been asked to solve Umno’s financial mess.

You paid a lawyer to get a job done. He did it. And you paid the agreed fees. Why now bangkit (resurrect) all this as if you were cheated? Kadir Jasin is making it look like there was some hanky-panky involved here. Even if Zaid did get rich solving Umno’s problems, good for him. That is the kind of man I would want as our leader, someone who knows how to get rich because he happens to be smart and not because he happens to have come out from the right pussy and receives a Bumiputera status because of that.

But that is not the issue. What is would be that Umno learned its lesson. So the new party called Umno Baru did not repeat the mistake of the old party by registering all its assets in the name of the party. Instead, the assets were registered in the name of the President, Deputy President and Treasurer as trustees of the party.

What we should focus on now is where are those assets? We are talking about billions here, and they were registered in the name of trustees, not in the name of the party. Can Kadir Jasin please address this and raise the right questions as to where those assets currently are?

And other than the trustees, what about the proxies? Umno used proxies to park its business interests. Are these interests still in the name of these proxies? And if so where is the money? Remember, PLUS, MAS, TV3, NST, Utusan, DRB-Hicom, etc., etc. etc.? What role did these proxies like Tan Sri Yahya Ahmad, Halim Saad, Shamsudin Abu Hassan, and many, many more play?

The lawyer’s job was to unravel the mess. The assets belonged to the old Umno. Then they were transferred to the new Umno. But the new Umno appointed trustees and proxies to hold these assets to avoid history repeating itself in case the new Umno also gets deregistered for any reason. But did the pagar eat the padi?

Yes, Kadir Jasin, let’s talk about that now.

But he disappointed the Umno higher-ups very early in his career when he failed to deliver his party-endorsed speech on the Ruler and the Constitution during the 1992 Umno General Assembly at the height of the 2nd Constitutional crisis. He chickened out less than 10 minutes into his speech.

Ah, my favourite subject, the Constitutional Crisis. Let us see what Kadir Jasin wrote: when he (Zaid) failed to deliver his party-endorsed speech on the Ruler and the Constitution during the 1992 Umno General Assembly at the height of the 2nd Constitutional crisis.

Zaid is Kelantanese, as Kadir Jasin reminds us, and the Kelantanese love their Sultan. Go stand in the middle of Kota Bharu and shout obscenities at the Sultan and see what will happen to you.

Anyway, the point here is that there was an orchestrated move by Umno to whack the Monarchy good and proper. Kadir Jasin confirms this. And Umno has the gall to accuse the opposition of not showing respect to the Sultan?

For your information, the opposition was against the 1992 amendments that eroded the role of the Constitutional Monarchy. The Rulers may have their shortcomings but at least with Parliament, the Judiciary and the Monarchy, Malaysia would have four branches of government. Now we only have one, the Executive. And one branch means we have a dictatorship.

The opposition was more concerned with the institution of the Monarchy rather than the Rulers as individuals. The Rulers may have their failings, as do many Members of Parliament and Judges as well. But we can’t remove these three Institutions just because the people in the institutions fail us. Instead, we remove the people and replace them so that the institutions can do the job they were set up to do.

Nevertheless, the bottom line is, Kadir Jasin admits that Umno was behind the move to whack the Rulers. So Umno can stop screaming about the opposition being kurang ajar towards the Rulers.

When he was in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s cabinet, his mission to reform Umno and the Judiciary put him at odds with fellow ministers and Umno leaders.

So now Kadir Jasin admits that Zaid’s mission was to reform Umno and the Judiciary. And because of that he was at odds with his fellow ministers and Umno leaders: meaning the other ministers and Umno leaders were against reforms.

I don’t know whether Kadir Jasin realises this or not but he has just given Zaid a reformist’s image and the ministers and Umno leaders as anti-reforms. Did Kadir Jasin not realise that in one swoop he has painted Zaid in a positive light and the ministers and Umno leaders in a very negative light?

Having publicly urged the Yang di-Pertuan Agong not to appoint Mohd Najib Abdul Razak as Prime Minister, the only honourable thing for him to do was leave Umno when the former was made PM and became Umno President.

And Zaid was against Najib talking over as Prime Minister, says Kadir Jasin. And Zaid did the honourable thing and resign, says Kadir Jasin. I don’t think I need to say more to this.

In a recent interview with Malaysiakini, he spoke confidently about the alliance’s so-called Common Policy Framework (CPF) as if he was the spokesman.

But that is just it. Zaid IS in charge of getting Pakatan Rakyat registered plus to explore a common platform for this to happen. So what’s the beef?

He is supposed to be on a six-month hiatus from politics yet he gave a lengthy interview to talk about a very important development in the PR in the very state that he was forbidden from going -- Sabah.

I have said this before and I will say it again. Sabah and Sarawak control 56 parliament seats out of a total of 222 seats in parliament. If you want to form the federal government you must first win a sizeable number of seats from Sabah and Sarawak. If not, then dream on.

Zaid knows this even if the rest of Pakatan Rakyat still has its head buried in the sand. Zaid went to Sabah because many from amongst the opposition and civil society movements told him to go. One or two leaders at the top may have other ideas. But as far as the people, the voters, are concerned, you listen to us and not to the party leaders.

Let me make this clear. The dog wags the tail, not the tail wags the dog. Pakatan Rakyat must do what we say. We call the shots. The people are the boss.

If Pakatan Rakyat wants our support and our votes then they should listen to what we say. And we don’t want internal bickering, and inter-party and intra-party fighting.

Some Pakatan Rakyat leaders are acting like spoiled brats and immature school children. They allow petty things and their overblown egos stand in the way of the bigger picture.

Kadir Jasin may not know this, but it was we, the voters, who sent Zaid a very strong message. And the message was if he does not go to Sabah then we are going to kick his arse. My wife, in fact, told Zaid: don’t fuck with us. You do that and we are going to whack you.

Zaid had no choice. It is not what the PKR leadership wants that counts. It is what we, the voters want that matters. And we wanted him to go to Sabah. I even told Zaid to send Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan my love and kisses. Zaid replied, love yes, but no kisses, especially not in front of so many people.

So Kadir Jasin, that is my response to your piece today.