squeak. speak. roar!

My country’s politicians and politician wannabes make me laugh. How am I to take them seriously when they can’t say anything remotely smart or intelligible?

Nazri: Report wrongdoings to ACA, not the blogs

KOTA BARU: The public has been advised to report wrongdoings and cases involving corruption directly to the Anti-Corruption Agency instead of using online blogs.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said those who made accusations on their blogs were not being fair to both the accused and the authorities.

“If they are honest and really want to fight graft, report to the authorities rather than announcing it to the world online,” he said after opening the Kota Baru Umno division delegates meeting yesterday.

“By making a public announcement, they are not only hurting the people they are accusing, they are also hampering the investigation as the guilty parties would have time to hide the evidence.

“We are not curbing the bloggers’ freedom to write but we want to prevent that right from being abused by those who post lies and spread rumours.”

He was commenting on the ACA investigation which cleared Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan and former ACA director-general Datuk Seri Zulkifli Mat Noor of allegations of wrong-doings.

“I am glad they have been cleared as the allegations had damaged the credibility of these institutions.”

Nazri boss, first of all thanks for giving bloggers such immense credit. It is really heartening to know that at least we get to see some investigations being carried out on politicians and government officials rather than having nothing happening at all. And we owe this entire process to the wonderful world of blogging - the super cool tool to spread information credible or not. It’s upwards and onwards in building a mature society capable of debate and discussion. It sure beats illiteracy and autocracy. We are konon a democracy and aiming to be developed nation, kan? :) Good. We’re on track then. At least the blogosphere is.

In Kota Kinabalu, Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin said bloggers were not above the law and legal action should be taken against those who apply the law of the jungle in cyber space.

He said the government did not want to censor the Internet but those who spread lies and seditious materials must be made to answer for their actions.

Khairy said: “It seems that there is no law in cyber space any more.

“It is the law of the jungle and we need to take action against one ‘monkey’.

“I think the other ‘monkeys’ will also get scared.”

“They are not above the law.

“We in Umno need to monitor them,” he said when asked to comment on a report lodged by Umno information chief Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib against the Malaysia Today website for allegedly insulting the king and Islam.

Following Muhammad’s police report last Monday, the operator of Malaysia Today, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, was summoned to the Dang Wangi police station to give a statement.

OMG. So funny. Did Khairy just say “there is no law in cyber space any more”? Sorry to burst your bubble, sir, but there were never any laws in cyberspace to begin with! I’m not sure which generation you’re from but internet should be younger than you so maaaaybe you’re not so savvy with it. But I remember you said that we shouldn’t over react and take blogs seriously?

Flashback to April 15, 2007: Much ado over blogging

[…]

Said Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin: “I don’t think we should over-react or generalise because there are many types of bloggers and the majority are just blogging their personal experiences.”

But, he said, the unsubstantiated and anonymous nature of discussion, particularly in media blogs, is of concern.

“Take the more popular media blogs: there are all kinds of crazy allegations out there. If there is to be credibility in blogs, then you have to address these issues,” he said.

For much of 2006, Khairy was the subject of some the more bizarre and outrageous stories on the Internet. He has not bothered to sue, preferring to “live and let live.”

But that does not mean he does not believe in legal recourse when it comes to defamation.

“Some politicians react with clampdown calls but blogs are here to stay and they (bloggers) have to be responsible. They shouldn’t complain if they’re taken to court because, like everyone else, they’re subject to the same rules of libel. People at the receiving end must have legal recourse and it’s ridiculous to say that the state is coming down on you,” he said.

How come an up-to-date guy like him does not blog?

He said he did not want to start a blog that he could not maintain and he does not believe in outsourcing. But he intends to start a video blog, which is already a trend with politicians in the West, by year’s end.

So fellow bloggers, we must remember to welcome Khairy with much enthusiasm when he decides to join us end of this year. However, I’m not sure why the sudden U-turn to demonise bloggers so much. Need to ‘jump over’ Keris-hishammuddin ke? Who can rise up Umno ranks without shouting some battle cry or another. It’s clear cut example of one trying to ‘out-extremist’ the other. Soon he will want to bath the keris in blogger’s PC circuits. Despite all this, I strongly welcome Khairy’s foray into the cyber community where people tell it like it is and you learn to exercise judgment as to what’s right and what’s wrong, what’s important and what’s easy. You might learn a thing or two about real camaraderie with little strings attached.

I also found the statement by Khairy’s father-in-law equally funny. Seriously, I would rather take the advice or warnings from my Prime Minister more seriously than his little Napoleons in the cabinet or in Umno. I mean after all, who the hell are they?

Watch your blogs, warns PM

KUANTAN: Bloggers are as liable for defamation as publishers of printed materials, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi warned.

Commenting on the on-going debates regarding bloggers and their comments in Internet postings, the Prime Minister added:

“It is wrong for bloggers to go overboard, especially if they post slanderous articles against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Islam on the website,” he told reporters here yesterday.

“This is not something one can take lightly,” Abdullah added.

On July 25, Malaysia Today’s Raja Petra Kamarudin, 57, was called in to record a statement for allegedly posting a series of comments and remarks that insulted the King, degraded Islam and incited hatred and violence in Malaysia’s multi-racial society.

I don’t know any blogger who have said they were above the law. I don’t recall any bloggers who have taken the trouble to put their names forth ever cowering from a healthy debate. Since my PM told me to watch my blog, so erm okay.

*watches blog*

*admiring the grey swirls*

*thinks the layout is super awesomest sexiest*

A quick note though. The sentence ‘Commenting on the on-going debates regarding bloggers and their comments in Internet postings’ is really lousy. lol. One might get confused whether Pak Lah actually said it or left an anonymous comment somewhere :P

Last but not least, Zam Zam and his potty mouth.

Zam: Ignore ‘goblok’ bloggers

MALACCA: The public should be wise in identifying the websites of goblok (Indonesian slang for “stupid”) bloggers, who are willing to be tools of others to destroy the nation, said Information Minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin.

“These writers do not have an Asian mentality but lean towards a Western thinking because they were educated overseas.

“Thus they assume that the Western style of democratic freedom is better. The goblok writers only have their own interests at heart and should be ignored,” he said after launching the Jalur Gemilang Convoy 2007 at Bandar Hilir here yesterday.

Earlier, in his speech Zainuddin said the convoy of 50 four-wheel drive vehicles that would travel throughout Malaysia was important to re-instill the spirit of Merdeka in the people.

He said the participants would be able to see the country’s development throughout their journey.

Okay. For a guy who is 68 years old this year, I really don’t blame him for not understanding bloggers and how blogs work. However, I have yet to hear anything remotely constructive from him that promotes national unity any more than erm, any one of us.

Saying ‘These writers do not have an Asian mentality but lean towards a Western thinking because they were educated overseas. Thus they assume that the Western style of democratic freedom is better. The goblok writers only have their own interests at heart and should be ignored’ wah, really hit below the belt man. And I don’t even wear one!

Tok Pa must be rather disappointed with Zam for hampering the Higher Education Ministry’s effort to retain the brains of Malaysia. Think of all the thousands of government-sponsored bumi-Melayu students overseas in Western states a.k.a. potential Umno recruits Zam’s insulting. And he never study overseas before meh?

In 1969, Zam acquired a Diploma in Journalism at the Institute of Journalism in Berlin, Germany. Then later her got himself a Professional Journalism Fellowship with University of Michigan, in the good ol’ USA in 1981. I’m sure the education in these Western countries have left him appalled and he headed straight back to Malaysia for warm, fuzzy, comforting Asian-style thinking.

I sure hope that doesn’t mean he feels he’s more nationalistic than any one of us. I for one would want to unite Malaysian into one single non-discriminatory economic and social policy because justice is key to prosperity. It’s a whole lot better than defending some race against some politically-manifested evil. Is this anti-government, does this offend the Agong and does this threaten the special position of Islam?

I sure hope not. This mean I have heart and I care not just for myself or my ‘race’ but everybody else regardless of colour and creed. *cue music* *cue lights*. It’s not about wanting glory or wanting recognition.

It’s about wanting people to vote opposition because our government has gotten slack and they are not taking care of the rakyat. The government are at our service, they do what the rakyat says, not the other way around. And having the opposition is in itself part of governance and part of democracy. I know some may say opposition sucks but that defeatist mentality will not get us anywhere. Least we can do really as a step towards nation building is to vote BN out.

If Zam does not understand that there are virtues in a Western liberal democracy (it’s not perfect cos d’oh, nothing is!) then he has clearly contradicted his big boss’s, our PM’s grand plan - to be as advanced and asking us to build up our human capital. Don’t forget the centenary goals for 2057:

We will have nobel laureates, truly global corporations, respected and market-leading brands, internationally acclaimed poets and artists, among the largest number of scientific patents in the world, some of the best sportspersons on the planet - dare I even say the best football team in Asia.

Our students and professors will dominate Ivy League universities and our own universities will be citadels of excellence for international scholars.

We will be pioneers in alternative energy, drawing on our strength in biofuels.

Our cities will be the most livable in the globe, blending cosmopolitan facilities that are rooted in our tolerant and just societal ethos.

We will have managed to successfully find our place in this world.

The rise of regional economic powers will not have left us in oblivion, but motivated us to find our competitive advantage and lead in many strategic industries.

We will become a true logistics hub, the undisputed Islamic financial centre, and the global reference point for biotechnology and modern agriculture.

If we can achieve all this without emulating Western liberal democratic models of governance then slap me silly and call me Billy. The very FACT we need to follow such Western liberal democratic models itself means Zam does not know what he’s talking about and that’s pretty lousy info from my Info Minister.

*sigh*

And he needs a dumb ass convoy to instill Merdeka spirit. Lousy man.