squeak. speak. roar!

Happy Kaamatan and Gawai!!

Time to bring some East Malaysian culture into mainstream! :) I don’t know much about it but I sure am learning :)

Wah big news about major defects from PKR to Umno!!!

It’s just another sandiwara as far as I see it. Why do I say so? It’s because it’s OLD NEWS. Anuar Shaari had already joined Umno waaaay back on March 7, a day before we hit the polls.

What a happy, joyful, bouncy lot! Its all so exciting with these new members!

Abdullah Wants Permatang Pauh To Return To BN

BUKIT MERTAJAM, March 7 (Bernama) — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi wants the Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency to return to the Barisan Nasional (BN) in the general election on March 8.

He promised that the government would bring all the development programmes drawn up for Permatang Pauh if the constituency returned to the BN.

“Previously, Permatang Pauh had been an Umno stronghold but because of an incident, the people here were disappointed. I know, that’s why I did not want to disturb, but not as long as 10 years.

“Now, the time has come for us to be together with the BN to bring progress and development here. We will not be disappointed if we choose the BN,” he said in his speech at a meeting with the local community in Kampung Guar Perahu, here Thursday night.

At the function, Abdullah witnessed two Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) senior members, namely Permatang Pauh division head Anuar Shaari and Penang Youth head Affendi Yusof, rejoining Umno.

Also present at the function were the Prime Minister’s wife, Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah and the BN candidate for the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat, Datuk Pirdaus Ismail.

The Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat is being held by PKR president Datin Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail since the 1999 general election.

So what’s the beef about this ‘oh saja-saja coincidentally joining Umno around the same time as Ezam bullshit’? He’s ALREADY a member lah. What did he meet Najib for when he has already met Pak Lah? What really got me worried was that he wants to go back to defending HIS race and HIS religion. Not OUR religions, not OUR MALAYSIAN race. Uggh, you all do know how much I hate Umno’s arrogance right? lol.

I’ve kept quiet about what I think about cross overs for awhile now and I think it’s apt to make my stand today. From a political perspective, I always believe it is better to see a person’s true colours than to be deceived by them for too long. I support pro-Malaysia Malaysians in whichever party they go to but if it means they will lose their spine (and become racist etc) in the process, then I will withdraw my rally for them. This is why I HATE party politics and chances are I will never join a political party.

I support PAS for it’s philosophy that are at times, very forward-looking and inclusive, which I admire greatly. I also admire DAP for taking issues and making a conscious effort to do something (be it for political mileage or whatever, as long as they HELP and RAISE the issue when other parties fail to do anything). I also believe in PKR’s multi-racial politics however flawed, we all needed to start somewhere, didn’t we?

That’s the political stand that I take. I support issues and causes and never the person or party. That explains my love-hate relationship with many people and many things. People call it fickleness but I think things that divide us (like race, the clothes we wear, even the food we eat!) are given far too much focus. This has been the basis why borders are draws between countries and fences between houses. lol. My idealism astounds even myself sometimes but I guess it has never done me any harm to be worldly and wistful :)

Credit where credit is due, BN tried to be multiracial. However, I think their divide and rule (by Umno proxy) has seen the end of its shelf life because the rakyat has woken up from its slumber to notice that whatever problems or issues faced by another Malaysian, regardless of any human-concocted differences, affects all of us too. More so, many of the problems plaguing us now - cost of living, corruption, petrol prices, rising crime - goes beyond race and creed. I think that itself is a uniting force. I hate to say it, it’s a blessing in disguise and it’s in fact a positive step in nation-building.

Of course there are those who are ‘extreme’ or what not. lol. I believe in the maturing of the human intellect. We will all reach a stage where we will find balance and peace within ourselves. Those in denial will take a while but if we hold on strong to rationale and common sense, we will never be so easily swayed or be offended by labels. Remember, those are just words and who give words its meaning? Us, of course!

So where am I going with this?

Crossovers will help us decide who has a spine and who doesn’t. It will allow us to see what their interests really are and how will affect us. From a political standpoint it’s about numbers and positions. But I see it as part of natural selection, everyone does what they need to do to survive. If joining Umno was Ezam and Anuar’s decision then good for them. It is when nasty things happen, the rakyat needs to look beyond the politics and stand united to fight.

So party-hopping legislation? Rubbish. That goes beyond freedom of association. In a truly liberal country, Ezam and Anuar’s actions will not even make the news. lol. We have so much to learn and grow into. But what to do, Malaysians love a conspiracy to distract them from the harsher boring realities of life :)

But Umno sandiwara really bugs me! As much as I have been annoyed with Nallakaruppan’s inane political (and irritating) opportunism, the inability to read into Anwar Ibrahim’s motives and how ridiculous the Parliament is run. But hey, time to snap out of it and focus on the issues eh?

Just some shots from my good ol’ Canon Powershot A700 :)

Dinner on Tuesday after Parliament was extended to 9.30pm. D’lish’s grilled vegetables in pesto sauce with a roasted tomato. It was good. I wished for more zucchini though.

I had an egg for lunch yesterday (thank you one month old MPs!) followed by this snack around 8pm. Parliament is bad for my digestive system. This is for you, Nat! :)

Yeay, pictures from camera shall grace this blog again!!

Sorry to pinch this from Mkini but you must all read this!

BMC fracas: Police beat up youth

By his account, he was only a curiosity-seeker who wanted to know what was going on at the site of a disputed barricade near Bandar Mahkota Cheras (BMC) last night.

In no time at all, however, Chang Jiun Haur was soaked in his own blood after being repeatedly beaten by 20 riot squad (FRU) personnel armed with batons and kicked with boots.

Chang, 21, his sister and two friends were driving away from the site of the barricade about 11.30pm, when their car was surrounded by police personnel who had earlier dealt with a fracas involving BMC residents.

A high-ranking police officer at the scene claimed that Chang had run over a FRU personnel with his car.

“He asked for it. He ran over a policeman and he got what he deserved,” the officer told Malaysiakini a few minutes after the incident.

(THE ARROGANCE!!!!! GRRRR ROARRRR!!!)

Asked to identify the person who was hit by the car, the officer had initial difficulty in persuading the individual to come forward.

When he did so, the man - who appeared unscathed - claimed: “He tried to run me over… look at my baton, it is broken. What more evidence do you want?”

However, a police officer who took Chang to the Kajang Hospital said none of the personnel had been hit by the car.

This absolutely SICKENS me. It was a complete abuse of power by the FRU (Fucking Reserve Units). Honestly, I can barely contain my outrage!! Reading this made my blood boil! How can the fuckers beat this youth up for reckless driving? The police is suppose to do the warning and arrest first. The FRU had absolutely no right to beat up anybody. No one is above the law. The state should be charging these 20 assholes for assault and causing grievous bodily harm! In fact, if anything is to happen to Chang, the FRU must be charged for attempted murder.

Take note the police said he did not run anybody over. Chang DID NOT deserve anything but protection from the law and not getting beaten up by those who enforce the law.

So just because of this …

… we have this?!

I’m sending an email to IGP (What? No email? Stupid dinosaur public service - nah, fax number: 03-22725613) and Home Ministry (pro@mois.gov.my) protesting against this!

I have very little respect for the police. Having been jeered by them, cat-whistled by them, given the run around by them and let’s not forget the shit Nat went through because the cops fucked up in their investigations last July. Their arrogance is unbelievable! What are we paying taxes in up keeping these people for?

To protect us or beat us up? :(

I finally got my camera back from Fotokem! It was a long wait and instead of them calling me, I had to call them. Ish. Anyway, at least I can take pictures again! :)

I’m thinking of getting my first DSLR some point in the near future. Any recommendations? *eyes Yee Wei*

:)

Just back from work at about 10pm. Had a quick dinner consisting of grilled vegetables and pesto from D’lish. Oh and a giant slice of cheesecake too after been cheesed off all day at Parliament. I don’t know how other journalists do it but I can’t. The quality of debate was a crying shame … but not worth my tears lah :P

And parking WAS hell!!!!!!

Second last day tmrw. Darwin give me strength!! :)

Snippets from conversations I’ve had with friends that feel would make a great blog discussion! It’s the beginning of a series so we’ll see how it’ll last :) lol.

Scene: On the Federal Highway driving. Trying to get onto the Kerinchi turn off into Bangsar. Cars surround us. One car tries to cut in. Friend steps on pedal.

Me: Whoa.
Friend: I’m a Malaysian driver. Trust me.

As we ease at the traffic light that were green … then yellow …. friend steps on pedal to beat red light.

Me: You know, when I was in UK, most if not all drivers signal when they need to and they are always courteous.
Friend: I know. When I was in Australia, they all drive slowly too and there was hardly any problems on the road. They were so nice. But this is Malaysia. You have to drive like a Malaysian to survive Malaysian roads.

Is this really the case? Is it set in stone that Malaysian drivers have to be rude and generally unpleasant to deal with? I’ve only started driving full time a little while ago and I don’t understand why would anyone want to drive in KL. I mean seriously, short of it being a necessity because out transportation system is hell, driving is just so depressing. I swear I was a lot happier taking the LRT and avoiding the rush hour was extremely easy. Unlike, KL where rush hour is there 24-7.

After my friend said the last sentence I almost wanted to add, “Actually, we should be driving like how we learned overseas. Some people don’t have the luxury to have studied overseas and see how people lead orderly lives and drive courteously on the road. Isn’t it our obligation to inculcate this with family and friends at least? It will definitely make driving a more pleasant activity!”

But I didn’t.

lol.

I wasn’t sure why. I didn’t want to sound condescending. Neither did I want to appear holier than thou. I guess I wanted to do was challenge this perceived social norm that we Malaysians have grown to accept. I remember having this urge to tell my friend that everything that is shit about Malaysia can be altered by pure will alone. Maybe I should have, I’m not sure.

But back to Malaysian drivers. What’s with us on the road? Why do we always leave just in time for work thus forcing us to fight it out with whoever that gets in the way of this morning ritual for the employed. Seriously now. Is it so hard to leave home earlier? Is it that difficult to abide by simple traffic laws? Must we always be ‘kiasu’ on the road as though it is the only solution to life’s traffic problems? Is signalling so hard?!

Man, blogging about traffic is frustrating already. lol. I’m dread the drive to Parliament. What’s this I heard about hellish parking? :(

I do apologise once again for the lack of blog posts and updates. I’ve been planning for a site revamp to coincide with this domain’s first birthday but I screwed up somewhere and clearly my CSS, PHP and HTML skills are not what they used to be :P I used to make some really hot layouts … like with sexy chicks and stuff. And when I say sexy, it borders on porno, okay? Shame all my old layouts are kept in old folders in some old corner of my PC. lol. I’m not even sure if I still have them :P But they were for Blogger which I have grown to dislike. I used to make entirely new fresh layouts. I can’t believe I used to have that much time but then again, they all were similarly themed but often with a very different chick in very different colours. Instead I used Wordpress now despite it being 10,000 times more complicated cos of all the template and theme tweaking that I’m so bad with (but addicted to, damn it!)

:)

I’m not exactly the world’s most creative person but I most certainly have a vision for my ideal blog. Organic, uncluttered, clear, humble …. as well as it being 2-columned, rounded edges, specifically coloured, fixed width etc :) I’m undecided if I should launch it when I’m done or when the domain actually turns one. Question is, when did I get this domain?! lol.

Anyway, I’m going to be busy. Making my grand entrance back to Parliament on Tuesday. Eeeps! Wish me luck! :)

Phrases that I have to stop using.

“So cool”
Seriously, this country is tropical-hot and not temperate-cold. From now on, I’m doing a ‘Paris Hilton’ and say, “So hot”. She likes to say, “That’s hot” for those who don’t watch mind-numbing TV like me when I’m bored. Heh.

“Oh my gawd!”
I don’t even believe in gawd. From now on, I will say, “Oh my Darwin!” or “Oh Em Dee!”

“Look at that bloody Chinaman!”
It’s politically incorrect. From now on, it is “Look at that bloody Chinaperson”. lol.

I apologise for the lack in blog posts. Been tied up with random things on the side :) I’ve been terribly uninspired as of late. Hmph.

… and writes a pretty amusing post about it in his blog :)

Hari ini, Mei 19, 2008 saya mengumumkan keputusan saya untuk keluar daripada UMNO. Isteri saya turut bersama.

Keputusan ini dibuat kerana UMNO yang ada sekarang bukan lagi UMNO yang ditubuh 62 tahun dahulu yang berjuang untuk bangsa Melayu, Agama Islam dan Negara Malaysia (Malaya); UMNO yang menggagalkan Malayan Union, memperjuangkan kemerdekaan Malaya dan Malaysia dan membangunkan Malaysia sehingga menjadi Negara yang termaju di antara Negara membangun di dunia.

UMNO yang ada sekarang hanya wujud untuk menyokong Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, keluarganya dan tindakan serta dasar yang tidak secocok dengan kepentingan bangsa, agama dan negara.

Kepimpinan Dato Seri Abdullah jelas membawa kekalahan dan bencana kepada Barisan Nasional, UMNO, MCA, MIC, Gerakan dan PPP. Kemenangan UMNO di Sabah dan BN di Sarawak bukan kerana kepimpinan Dato Seri Abdullah.

Saya akan jelas satu persatu dasar-dasar dan tindakan Dato Seri Abdullah yang menjadikan Kerajaan pimpinannya dan parti BN dibenci oleh ahli-ahli parti komponen sendiri.

Walaupun sebelum perisytiharan ini saya adalah ahli UMNO tetapi sebenarnya selepas saya letak jawatan sebagai Perdana Menteri saya tidak dilayan sebagai ahli UMNO.

Saya tidak dibenarkan berjumpa ahli UMNO dan ahli UMNO tidak dibenarkan hadir apa-apa perhimpunan di mana saya dijemput sebagai jurucakap atau penyampai ucapan.

Menteri-Menteri yang dahulu berada dalam Kabinet saya tidak dibenarkan atau tidak berani atau tidak mahu jumpa saya lagi.

Jemputan oleh UMNO dan bukan UMNO kepada saya diarah ditarik balik oleh Mneteri Besar dan Polis.

Ramai pemimpin UMNO melepaskan kata-kata kesat kepada saya dan ada yang menyuruh saya keluar daripada UMNO walaupun mereka baru sahaja masuk UMNO. Tidak ada pemimpin UMNO yang pertahankan saya secara terbuka.

Wakil ke Perhimpunan Agong tidak dibenarkan menyuara pendapat mereka. Mulut semua orang ditutup.

Yang didengar hanyalah media arus perdana yang memuji Dato Seri Abdullah sehingga dia percaya dia begitu popular dan akan sapu bersih parti lawan dalam pilihanraya umum ke-12.

Hasilnya ialah kekalahan yang teruk bagi Barisan Nasional. Malangnya mesej yang hendak disampaikan oleh pengundi dan penyokong BN tidak dapat difahami oleh Dato Seri Abdullah.

Dia masih berkata dia menang. Ini sukar diterima oleh orang Kedah, orang Pulau Pinang, orang Perak, Selangor dan Wilayah Persekutuan.

Oleh kerana Dato Seri Abdullah buta mata dan pekak telinga dan tidak faham mesej ahli BN, oleh kerana ahli UMNO pun turut bersama, oleh kerana proses demokrasi tidak berjalan, oleh kerana UMNO yang ada sekarang bukan lagi UMNO yang ditubuhkan 62 tahun dahulu, saya berpendapat penyertaan saya sebagai ahli UMNO tidak bermakna dan tidak berguna lagi.

Justeru itu saya ingin umumkan bahawa saya sudah keluar daripada UMNO.

Saya ingin tegaskan bahawa saya bebas dan tidak menyokong mana-mana parti lawan.

Saya akan pohon untuk masuk UMNO apabila Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi sudah berhenti daripada menjadi Presiden UMNO, Pengerusi BN dan Perdana Menteri Malaysia.

Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad (bekas ahli UMNO No 1)
Dr Siti Hasmah binti Mohd Ali (bekas ahli UMNO No 2)

Just a few observations!

1. Is Umno really 62 years old? Have we forgotten the history of Umno Baru?

2. Bekas ahli Umno No. 1 and No. 2 really cracked me up! :)

3. Is Mahathir holding the party ransom? I think so. Darkness looms over Umno’s future. Feel the chill.

4. So how many Umno members will quit alongside Mahathir? Eh BigDog and A Voice?

5. Will ex-Jerai MP do a “kalau you tak suka party, you keluar!” ?

6. Nat quizzed: if all the anti-Pak Lah supporters quit the party then who will be left around to support Ku Li for the top post? I think those who support Mahathir might want to weigh their own political survival to rise up the ranks in the party over a “crazy old man’s” decision. I believe those who REALLY HATE Pak Lah will quit but those who REALLY LOVE power and themselves and money will most obviously stay. Some how I think the latter would be the majority. Everybody thinks they love the party so it’s irrelevant to raise the issue of ‘party loyalty’.

7. I was asked today whether Pak Lah will stay on til November before the Umno GA. I said ‘yes’. I take it back. lol. Umno is going to break and someone’s got to be the ’scapegoat’ (or take responsibility like a real leader). The party has yet to blame some one for BN’s poor showing in the 12th general elections. Did I hear Pak Lah might just be that person?

8. Time for the 13 component parties to see if Umno is competent to lead the coalition. Will a merger between those parties be in the works?

9. I’m curious how Pak Lah sleeps at night. What kind of conversations do you think he has with Jeanne before he beds it?

Pak Lah: Darling. I think my time is up. I cannot lead Umno any longer. I will have to let Khairy take over.
Jeanne: It’s okay sayang we’ll just …
Pak Lah: ZzzzzZZZzzzzzzz *snore*

10. Umno terus lara … rompak rakyat Malaysia :)

There’s more but I need to ZZzzzzz myself :)

Nat and I spotted a missing child in 1 Utama yesterday. The 4-5 year old boy was called Simon Loh (or something to that effect) was running around as though he was playing with his own shadow, apparently without adult supervision.

We didn’t pay much heed at first, but when we passed him a second time, he still appeared not to be under anyone’s care. So Nat kept an eye on him while I went to look for security. I went to the information counter in the old wing and the girl - whose eyes were not on me but at her time piece on her wrist - said the little boy falls under the jurisdiction of the security in the new wing.

Is she for real? This child has lost his parents for crying out loud and all she could do was direct me to the security in the new wing and started packing her bag. I was shocked. I silently prayed she will one day lose her child and experience the anxiety of a parent (or a decent human being).

As I was making my way back, Nat called and said the parents found Simon in the end. It appears he too had a stroke of ‘luck’ when he found Simon’s mother who acted nonchalant about Simon’s disappearance.

“Where were you? Where did you go?” she asked Simon with little concern. She didn’t seem grateful to have found him.

Nat said “She then turned to me and asked, “Mana you jumpa dia?”

“See? I told you I look Malay!” Nat related to me, interrupting his own narrative with a personal finding.

lol.

Who knows, maybe once upon a time, Simon’s mother was a 1 Utama old wing information counter assistant and losing her child made no difference in her life.

We underestimate how important parenting can be sometimes. My philosophy is simple. Bad parents who raise delinquents should be shot and sterilised.