Malay-sia : Governance, Royalty, "keDaulatan" & Racism.

"This shows how narrow-minded these people are. They probably have very small brains. Furthermore, these people are actually closet racists."
- RPK, Closet Racists in Malaysia Today

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The Royal Houses of Malaysia have repeatedly come under close scrutiny (and understandably so) - and has been receiving quite a few black eyes of late. Except for Perlis and Kedah, I guess the rest have collected their black eyes at one time or other. Without a doubt, they need some PR (I mean public relations- not Pakatan Rakyat!) assistance to do some "damage control" (and maybe some finishing school exposure too- HaHa!).

It is strange though, that RPK should write the above about those who comment negatively about the Royal houses. It is understandable that he should give prominence publish Mahathir's 1,2,3 - to shore up the sagging sales on CheDet.cc, or any other reason. But attacking those who speak the truth, to defend "Kedaulatan Melayu" is I believe, a little "out" in my books.

Below is my comment in response to RPK's presumption/allegation that all those who whacked the royalty and said that it was a waste of money were "Racists". That is I believe, a very simplistic argument - much like what the Veteran who claimed that all who are in support of Chin Peng's return are Communists, and Ku Adnan's claims that all bloggers are unemployed housewives (or KJ's claim that some protesters who take to the streets are monkeys.

Pete,
This piece u wrote ... well- yes & no.
What you imply in your conclusions - that all anti-monarchists are anti-Malay racists is totally "misguided". Then comes your analogies - exaggerations totally out of sync.
You do have your points - that money isn't the real issue where the royalty is concerned - but very weak arguments, Pete.

It is often said that money is just the instrument/ tool/ vehicle that is used in many a "quarrel". Usually, it isn't the money, but rather the issues that lie around the money, that is of concern.
Money isn't the only issue here. Just becos it is mentioned, it doesn't mean that it is the real issue. Just ask any LHDN hotshot or any politician - he'll tell you!

You know very well, that it goes far deeper than that - and to label those using it as an avenue to express their discontent is out of line. Of course there are racists from all walks of life, and in all communities - the royalties included.
The people need to realize that they (the royal houses) played an important role to maintain the identity of the land, when the demographics did not suit them after 1957. There was a real need to maintain the Malay way of life/ culture, and prevent it from being obliterated by the very (economically)powerful Chinese community.
That situation has however been addressed through many a social engineering project over the last 50 yrs - and as such the relevance of the royalties will be increasingly be questioned over the next decade or so.

The point here are these:-

• Do these people lead exemplary lives as representatives of the people?

• Do they do justice to the role they assume at the cost of the people?

• Do these "high & mighty" represent the interests of only a sector of society, and expect all and sundry to accept them?

• If not, what then is their role?

• Do they contribute to good governance and national integration, or do they actually help subvert it?

• Is it an "insurance policy" as you may choose to imply, or are the people held at ransom by certain quarters who play up their insecurities?

• Does a certain community need role-playing figures to give them this sense of belonging?

• Is that how low the morale of these people are- that their "kedaulatan" depends on people who don't seem to be able to earn their respect and their 5-sen?

All systems of governance have their advantages and disadvantages.
The question is whether they can change with the times & perform the functions as society evolves. Should the system not be able to adapt - it becomes obsolete, and for better or worse, will be replaced with another. In Malaysia, the era of the aristocracy consolidated by Umno is coming to an end, and changes are visible in the political horizon.
The idea Pete, is to wean the people off this so called racism, and not to point fingers, play the blame game, or reinforce the idea through divisive propaganda.

The Veterans say, 'Shoot the Traitors'!!!

NOTE: The Haadyai Agreement which was signed in 1989
(during the time of Mahathir) supported the return of Chin Peng,
as long as he swore to abide by the conditions stipulated.

"The people who want him to return must also be communists
and support the ideology of communism.
People who call for his return and support communism should be shot dead."

- Muhammad Abdul Ghani, President of Veteran Soldiers of Malaysia Association

The Haadyai Agreement stipulated that the CPM would disband all armed units and terminate all armed activities. All weapons would be destroyed and CPM members would locate and destroy all landmines it placed in Malaysia. The Malaysian government would pay medical costs for any CPM members injured while removing landmines.
For these concessions, CPM members who wanted to re-establish legal residence in Malaysia could do so after spending at least 6 months in pre-designated places in Thailand. Those taking residence in Malaysia would have to swear allegiance to the King and abide by the Federal Constitution and laws of Malaysia.
The CPM leadership has since ensured scrupulous implementation of the agreement. But Chin Peng's petition to return to live in Malaysia has been denied to date.
-IADL

"If the demand is excessive, explain but don't raise history to cover up shortcomings. Do not get angry always, threaten and dish out pieces of incomplete history for political mileage,"
"When we agree, we must honour the agreement,"
- Zaid Ibrahim

"Di manakah anda boleh berjumpa bangsa yang lebih prihatin, bersopan-santun dan tertib selain daripada bangsa Melayu. Di manakah anda boleh mendapat layanan politik yang baik untuk kaum pendatang? Di manakah dalam sejarah dunia? Saya bertanya kepada anda. Ini adalah fakta. Siapakah anda untuk menjaga keselamatan kami? Saya adalah kalangan 10 peratus kaum minoriti di sini. Tetapi saya amat gembira di sini.''
- VT Sambanthan, quoted by Awang Selamat in the Mingguan Malaysia

"Persoalannya, kini apakah pengorbanan Melayu dikhianati oleh kaum lain?"

-Awang Selamat

Model home safely after dramatic escape

Ary Hermawan , The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 06/01/2009 10:12 AM |

Joyful return: Daisy Fajarina kisses her daughter Manohara Odelia at their residence in Slipi, West Jakarta on Sunday, shortly after speaking with journalists about Monohara’s dramatic escape from a hotel in Singapore. JP/R.Berto Wedhatama

Daisy Fajarina proved she was not just being an overprotective mother or looking for instant fame as she and her daughter, Manohara Odelia Pinot, joyfully returned to Jakarta on Sunday, after a dramatic escape from a hotel in Singapore where Manohara was kept by her allegedly abusive royal husband.

Speaking to a press conference in Jakarta, the Indonesian model recounted her dramatic escape: she had to hideout in a bathroom to buy time, refuse injections against her will and repeatedly pressed the emergency button on the elevator before Singaporean police came to rescue her.

“They then brought me to a room. Mother came to me not long after and I embraced her at once,” she said, as quoted by Detik.com.

Daisy had frequently appeared on TV gossip shows claiming her 17-year-old daughter had been kidnapped and abused by her husband, Tengku Muhammad Fakhry, the prince of the Kelantan Sultanate. She pleaded for the help of government officials, lawmakers, rights activists and religious leaders to release her daughter, while her in-laws in Malaysia downplayed her allegations.

Manohara said she was in Singapore to visit Kelantan Sultan Ismail Petra, who was brought to the city-state for heart treatment. She was informed by a member of the Kelantan sultanate, whom she declined to name, that her mother would meet her there and take her home.

The royal family initially planned to stay there for five weeks but when they knew Daisy was flying to Singapore they decided to shorten their visit, Manohara told reporters. She said she was about to be locked in the sultan’s room before she managed to escape.

Daisy’s lawyer, Yuli Andre Darma, was quoted by Detik.com as saying Daisy coordinated with the American and Indonesian Embassies in Singapore to rescue Manohara after receiving information of Manohara’s visit. An FBI agent, he added, was also involved in the rescue mission.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah confirmed the involvement of US embassy officials, but said he did not know whether the US Federal Bureau of Investigation took part in the process. “I cannot verify that,” he said.

The US embassy was involved because the biological father of Manohara is an American, which makes her an American national, he said. He denied the embassies had orchestrated the rescue mission with Daisy and her lawyers. “The US and Indonesian embassies were contacted by the Singaporean police [after they rescued her].”

Upon her return, Manohara confirmed her mother’s claims of ill-treatment at the hands of her husband, saying that hers was just one example of how bad Indonesians are treated in their neighboring country.

She said her husband thought of her as his “property” and that she was treated like a “toy” during her stay with the royal family. “To Fakhry, Mano is like a toy. Fakhry said, ‘you are my property’,” she said.

She said that she had been sexually abused by her husband, who at one time slashed her with a razor. She was also forced to receive fertility injections.

Daisy’s lawyers said they would report Fakhry to the police now that they have evidence of the abuse. “Manohara’s arrival and her testimony that she had been ill-treated are evidence that this is not mere gossip,” Darma said.

Manohara also called for the ousting of Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia, Dai Bachtiar, for failing to help her and instead telling the media she was fine. The Foreign Ministry, however, said the demand was out of proportion, adding that the embassy there had done what it could.

Manohara is seeking a divorce.

BogeyMan: Chin Peng, May 13 & Najib's "1MALAYSIA" Hypocrisy

ADDENDUM
Something Hilarious as I started my day, and I had to put it up:
"AirKosong" has provided a link to the PwC Audit Report on the PKFZ (now projected to cost a whopping RM 12BILLION) which was initiated during the time of Mahathir/Ling Liong Sik- he got it by entering the name "Najib Altantuya" with a fictitious IC number!!
This "mistake" I believe, is however quite deliberate since they have promised to make it public to the media- in that "certain quarters" are playing a "big game" in trying to discredit the previous administration of Mahathir/Ling Liong Sik and their camp in the current Umno/MCA.

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PUTRAJAYA, April 30 — Former communist leader Chin Peng today failed in his last bid to live in Malaysia after the Federal Court here upheld two lower courts’ decisions compelling him to produce his identification documents before he can be permitted to enter this country.
Justices Datuk S. Augustine Paul, Datuk Hashim Yusof and Datuk Wira Ghazali Mohd Yusof made the decision after dismissing Chin Peng’s motion for leave to appeal.
Chin Peng, whose real name is Ong Boon Hua, was appealing against the Appeal Court’s decision on June 20, 2008, which ruled that he must produce his birth certificate or citizenship to prove that he is a Malaysian citizen before he can pursue legal action against the government.

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In a bid to destroy the rising anti-colonial forces and the CPM, the British colonial authorities arrested thousands of Malay youth who were demanding independence in early 1948. And in June 1948, it declared a State of Emergency and banned the CPM and other anti-colonial and labor organizations. The CPM was left with no choice but to resort to an armed struggle for independence.
The Haadyai Agreement stipulated that the CPM would disband all armed units and terminate all armed activities. All weapons would be destroyed and CPM members would locate and destroy all landmines it placed in Malaysia. The Malaysian government would pay medical costs for any CPM members injured while removing landmines.
For these concessions, CPM members who wanted to re-establish legal residence in Malaysia could do so after spending at least 6 months in pre-designated places in Thailand. Those taking residence in Malaysia would have to swear allegiance to the King and abide by the Federal Constitution and laws of Malaysia.
The CPM leadership has since ensured scrupulous implementation of the agreement. But Chin Peng's petition to return to live in Malaysia has been denied to date.
-IADL

The official stand is taken despite the peace agreement signed between the MCP and government on Dec 2, 1989, stating that party members who were of Malaysian origin should be allowed to settle in the country if they wished to do so.
Chin Peng’s mistake was that he did not take up then Premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on that offer immediately.
Much of the reluctance to allow him to return stem from challenges that are embodied in Chin Peng’s very existence, to official discourses about the origins of Malaysian independence. Firstly, communists such as Chin Peng (real name Ong Boon Hua) were practically the only Malayans fighting the Japanese invaders during World War II.
They did it with material and logistical support from British defenders who had recently so hastily abandoned their colonies in Southeast Asia.
Chin Peng is therefore a reminder of a fractious time when the Japanese were seen as invaders by some but as liberators of Malaya from British control by others.
The portrayal of communists as terrorists was therefore a narrative device that served to depict British colonialists as defenders of decent government, protectors of the public and willing participants in bringing independence to Malaya, in the final days of their empire.
- Malaysian Insider.

"Chin Peng and his commandos killed many people in the past and they certainly do not deserve any consideration from us"
-Rais Yatim, The "3 in 1" Minister.

"Claims that the CPM had killed many people are incorrect, as the British had killed more people during their occupation here compared to the emergency period.
"One thing that we always forget is that Sir Robert Thompson (the then defence secretary in Malaya) had said that the communists' fight for independence had hasten Malaya's independence by 10 years. This is something which the people should always remember,"
- Darshan Singh, Chin Peng's Lawyer.

“The government will not allow this because it would cause unhappiness, especially to the families of those who were killed during (the communist insurgency),”
- Najib Razak, who denies "knowing" the "Mongolian woman".

“Chin Peng wants to come back and somebody asked me what I thought about it so I said if BN wants to reject the communists, then the same can be said about nationalists”
-TG Nik Aziz

"We are all held to ransom by extremists. We want to be rational and we all want to do what is best ... But we cannot do all these .... we will be accused of being traitors, not supporting our own community or our own religion. We will be demonized etc.etc"
- Mahathir, The Extremists

The May 13 Incident is a term for the Sino-Malay race riots in Kuala Lumpur (then part of the state of Selangor), Malaysia, which began on May 13, 1969. The riots led to a declaration of a state of national emergency and suspension of Parliament by the Malaysian government, while the National Operations Council (NOC or MAGERAN) was established to temporarily govern the country between 1969 and 1971. Officially, 196 people were killed between May 13 and July 31 as a result of the riots, although journalists and other observers have stated much higher figures. Other reports at the time say over 2,000 were killed by rioters and police and Malaysian Army rangers mainly in Kuala Lumpur. Many of the dead were buried in the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital grounds in unmarked graves quickly by soldiers of Malaysian Engineers.
The government cited the riots as the main cause of its more aggressive affirmative action policies, such as the New Economic Policy (NEP), after 1969.

-Wikipedia, May 13 Incident

I recall clearly what Razak told Harun,"…the good news is you will continue to run Selangor. Chee Khoon and Chong Eu had just spoken to me that they want status quo preserved. So tell the people gathering at your house to disperse."
-Abdullah Ahmad, an aide to Tun Razak, and a former NST Editor.

Mas Selamat Kastari will not be handed over to Singapore and will continue to be detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) because he is considered a security threat to Malaysia as well, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today.
- Malaysian Insider, No entry for Chin Peng, no exit for Mas Selamat

"Tun Daim Zainuddin has personally told Dr Mahathir that Singapore possesses all the evidence that Najib, Razak Baginda and Altantuya met at the Oriental Hotel in Marina Square one year before she died. This means, with the evidence that Singapore possesses, they would be able to blackmail Najib."
- RPK, The Malaysia-Singapore ‘cold war’

Kita berasa pelik dengan tindakan beberapa pemimpin bukan Melayu dan penulis blog yang “bersemangat” memperjuangkan Chin Peng @ Ong Boon Hua sejak kebelakangan ini.
-Bahaya sentimen Chin Peng, propaganda halus komunisme — Utusan Malaysia

After the return of British rule, the CPM continued its armed insurrection, this time against the British colonial government, via its new militant wing, the Malayan Races Liberation Army (MRLA). Rashid was entrusted by CPM leader Chin Peng to lead the MRLA's Malay-dominated 10th Regiment.
-Rashid Maidin

“They rounded us all up and we were terrified. “Even though we said we were not communists and we had no weapons, they killed one of the young men in cold blood in front of my eyes because he had a permit to collect durians, written in Chinese. “I think the British soldiers must have thought it was a communist document,” she said. “The soldiers then told him to run away but he didn’t want to, but they pushed him and when he did run, they shot him from the back.”
- BBC, Malaysia massacre fight goes on (The Batang Kali Massacre)

Further Reading:-

• Malayan Emergency
• Fight to wear the PJM
  
• Challenge accepted, RPK, No Holds Barred
• Rundingan Damai Baling
  

ROTFLOL- "Wifey" for No2?

According to Bernama, a senior state MIC leader revealed that the former women, family and community development deputy minister had received the blessings of Samy Vellu.
"In a husband-wife relationship there are bound to be fights and disagreements but this does not mean that we have to divorce. That would not make a happy marriage..... My relationship with Palanivel is the same. We are like a husband and wife team," Samy Vellu was said to have told the division leaders.
-MalaysiaKini.
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Interesting scene here - Samy Vellu somewhat describing Palani as his "wife" in the team!!
Holy cow, man! Palani, my man now that he's decided to "jump into bed" with you- what have you offered Samy Vellu for him to describe you like that?
By the way whatever he's offered you must be "good" for you to be his ally .....

Really amazing these MIC guys - they don't see any humiliation in kowtowing to this old man! Not even when he implies that the former (deputy that too) minister for women's affairs is "you know what" ....

Never mind lah, Palani - you just have fun yah! After all how many guys your age can be "attractive" to people like Samy right?
Why don't you practice tying sari for a change to really get into your role, Palani!!

Now Does Our World Descend

Dedicated to the Victims of Persecution in Police States
..................................

..................................
by E. E. Cummings

Now does our world descend
The path to nothingness
(cruel now cancels kind;
friends turn to enemies)
Therefore lament,my dream
and don a doer's doom

Create is now contrive;
Imagined, merely know
(freedom:what makes a slave)
Therefore, my life, lie down
And more by most endure
All that you never were

Hide,poor dishonoured mind
Who thought yourself so wise;
And much could understand
Concerning no and yes:
If they've become the same
It's time you unbecame

Where climbing was and bright
Is darkness and to fall
(now wrong's the only right
since brave are cowards all)
Therefore despair, my heart
And die into the dirt

But from this endless end
Of briefer each our bliss--
Where seeing eyes go blind
(where lips forget to kiss)
Where everything's nothing
-- Arise, my soul; and sing

MAHATHIRISM - Reloaded.....

By "Apanama"

(Note: I'm numbering the points I wish to make today- lest some aging grey matter of mine looses track of them, half-way through reading. Just f%#* the parts my selective @$$ of a memory fails me ....)

1. One way of adulating a politician in power, is to demonize and paralyse the opposition - and give himself pats on the back for pea-brained ideas/ventures (e.g. Bakun Dam, Proton, KLCC, OPV projects) through an idiotic and servile MSM.

2. When a Chinaman across the causeway labels you as an “ultra”, you use it to your advantage- and prove it in your party, by giving all mega-buck contracts to your cronies and party minions while you bleed the ignorant rakyat. make sure though, even if you have to give the most measly contract, you gotta make sure you get your cut ..... at least in the form of what you may call "goodwill investment".

3. It took me decades to live it live it up. When I was Prime Minister there was consternation among many Malays that a “non” could become one. But look at me now - how they "worship" me ..... ! What was .... (hmmmm.....I'm sorry my aging grey matter doesn't permit me to finish this sentence - refer to ChePet.cc for further details on this sentence)

4. However, by the time I stepped down I had managed to lie to the Malaysian morons, in such a way that befits that description. In the 1999 Election it was Chinese votes which helped give me the 2/3 majority in Parliament, because I managed o scare the hell out of the MCA Chinaman (and the Semi Value worshipping MIC Tamilans) with plenty of horrific news about “Islamic extremists”. All I needed to do was to have the blame murders/ assasinations of nons pinned on some vague KMM, Al Maunah (which incidently got their arms from an army depot - during the time of "apanama" as defense minister) or whatever - who cares anyways.
Along with that, as per the Umno method, I also threatened a little 513 lah …. however, they humiliated me later by giving Bodowi a 90% vote in the following elections. These freakin' bus-turds – I'll get them through my baby moron who is now a high-profile deputy minister …....

5. Now the doomsday label is Mahathirism, and it makes my poor old decrepit heart beat with pride. Such was the fear of this thing called Mahathirism that they had to do a Perak on the public to reinforce the fear. The foreign press and the local non-MSM seem to correctly imply authoritarian Government with Mahathirism.

6. No one has yet described the rule of Dato Seri Abdullah Badawi as Badawism. It must be because he is said to be liberal and free from authoritarianism. But is he? Relatively speaking, very much so. But then again, they could've at least used the term Bodowism or something like that.

7. It appears to be simply because the mainstream media, print or electronic, is totally controlled by him through his hatchet man, Kalimullah. However, because Malaysians grew up and resorted to the blogs for information, he wasn't as effective as the media goons in my time.

8. Until the bloggers came into the picture and their blogs became extremely popular as they reported the truth, the black-out was effective. Smart fella this Kali guy - Kali's media reports some of the news and views appearing on the blogs. Meanwhile, my spin-doctors are still clueless as to how to appeal to the masses – and now I have to resort to being a BUM speaker to recruit fresh talent.

9. Anyway, I still don't know why I'm pissed that the general public is not cursing authoritarianism of Abdullah. Just like my time, Ministers and civil servants critical of him have been removed. Many are in cold storage. Tan Sri Sanusi Junid - my dedicated henchman since 1988 Umno elections, who was President of the International Islamic University was one of those removed. No one has been appointed to his vacant place yet.

10. All these, of course aren't as spectacular as my adventures with Tun Salleh Abbas or Anwar, but it was the same tactic – so why don't they curse him? Correct.
Correct, Correct, Correct - In my time, a whole bunch of judges working with the UMNO owned judiciary had to resign, to be replaced by V.K. Lingam's nominees from the sidewalk. Ask Zaki – he'll tell you ….

11. But Corect. Correct, Correct, correct. Linggam has friends amongst the gutter politicians. So we shouldn't complain about Mahathirism. But publicly people have given all kinds of uncomplimentary labels to the 22 years of misrule by the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia.

12. After the Perak coup d'etat and bundling out the Speaker like a sack of potatos, the arrests of people bearing candles and cakes or even wearing black, by now people can draw their own conclusions as to whether Mahathirism is reloaded .....

as Jibby-ism (some call it "Mongolism").