squeak. speak. roar!

I read this and I felt a little dizzy. Amazing what news can do to me. lol. Done in a commentary-style nicked from Marina :)

Abdullah Rides The Commuter And LRT To Gauge Service Quality

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 21 (Bernama) — Setting aside protocol, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took rides on the commuter and LRT rail services from Serdang to the city centre Thursday to get a feel of the transportation problems faced by the public and came away less than satisfied. (Really? No shit. Oh, there is no universal ‘protocol’ that national leaders don’t take public transportation. Surely he can even gauge how bad traffic jams are in the capital but I guess he won’t know this since he has his helicopter, jet, yacht and his convoy of outriders.)

Throughout the one-hour journey, during which he switched trains, the prime minister noted the congestion, especially during the peak period, and spoke to his fellow passengers to get their feedback. (Hmm, I gather the Bernama journo was planted to witness this. So this makes it a PR exercise?)

Speaking to Bernama after disembarking at the Masjid Jamek LRT station, he said he was not satisfied with the rail services and wanted immediate improvements to be made.

He said the existing services were not systematic, there were not enough coaches and coverage was not comprehensive, leaving many areas not serviced.

“I just saw the plight of people using the trains to get to work every morning. They were jostling to get on board every time a train arrived. There appeared to be no system.

“I’m not happy with this because the people are not getting satisfaction from riding the trains. This we must fix,” he said.

“I found the trains really packed with so many passengers. Some had waited for three trains and yet could not board.

“There’s no queue. People push their way in, women with children and old people are pushed aside,” he added. (Wah, that’s a lot of complaints. So what are the immediate improvements that you want to made dear PM? Funny that, not a SINGLE suggestion from the people he spoke to were raised in this story.)

Abdullah, who was not accompanied by any officials from the two rail services, arrived at the Serdang Komuter KTM station at 8.15am but could not get on board the first train that arrived because it was packed. (What’s the officials gonna say to the PM anyway? “Ini macam biasalah. Apa boleh buat? Kita tak terdaya nak buat apa-apa”.)

He got on the next train which arrived 15 minutes later and headed for KL Sentral, the modern transportation hub for the various rail services.

There he also had to wait a while to switch to the Putra LRT service to get to the Masjid Jamek station because again, the first train to arrive was full. (Welcome to Putra LRT KL Sentral stop, where you wait and you wait some more.)

On both the trains that he took, the prime minister, dressed in a red batik shirt with golden print, had to stand although the passengers offered him their seats. (He had to stand although passengers offered their seats? Umm, I don’t get it. He CHOSE to stand you mean?)

Upon arrival at the Masjid Jamek station at 9.15am, he chatted with members of the the public and bought several types of local cakes from the sellers there before leaving.

Abdullah said he would give attention to efforts to improve the quality of both rail services. (Imagine him trying to speak to the million and one ministries and local authorities that have different says over what to do. Hmm. Good luck trying to get a consensus.)

He said trains that were not punctual and people scrambling to get into the trains caused problems to other passengers. (No shit again. Seriously, are all our ministers and people from the upper echelon of society know absolutely nothing about what the ordinary rakyat goes through?? Are their ivory towers so high and pompous above us all?)

Immediate steps would be taken including improving the train schedules, having a more systematic system and giving attention to senior citizens and women with children.(Fuck, man. Give attention to ALL the public transportation users lah. Everyone should benefit.)

“There were many more suggestions given me by the passengers for my attention. I will strive for improvements, I will propose changes,” he said. (Proposing isn’t enough. Act. Implement. Enforce. Upkeep. Talk is not cheap, it’s free.)

I use public transportation a fair bit. So you can imagine how I have a gazillion gripes over this issue (and the way the story was written as well as the PM’s actions). The story tries to project how prihatin the PM is but it seriously comes off showing how daft he is instead.

The way the entire exercise in gauging our public transportation is completely ridiculous. Does our PM not read letters in the papers? Does he not have advisers describing to him how difficult it is for the rakyat to cope with the godawful public transportation system? Why just KTM and LRT? What about super crazy errant taxi drivers?? And the corrupted police and DBKL that allows these buggers get away with flouting the laws? What about parking in town, Mat Rempits, congestion, regulation, integration? Why didn’t he take the damn bus as well???? He only did this for an hour. Try doing it twice a day, five days a week for 12 months.

Aaaargh! lol. I think my annoyance with this story was aggravated by my trip to Setiawangsa LRT today. The rain caused some short circuit in the system and the ticketing machines went haywire. There was a slight flood in the station, I believe. I saw lots of mops around. In gist, my TNG was unusable and I had to pay cash. Wtf? Oh and of course my journey was not short of pushing, shoving and elbow-jabbing but buat tak tau by LRT users. Sigh.

I sincerely hope those whom the PM spoke to gave him a slap piece of their mind. lol. If I had the chance, you bet I will give him mine and all of you guys’ too! :)

Hmmm.

Saiful’s Method Of Swearing On Quran Against Islamic Teachings, Says Nik Aziz

The method of swearing on the Quran used by Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan who has alleged that Parti Keadilan Advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim sodomised him, is against the teachings of Islam, said PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.

Nik Aziz said the holding of a Quran to declare one was telling the truth was more an imitation of the Christian practice of swearing on the Bible.

“In Islam, anyone is free to declare that he or she is telling the truth in a matter, but not by holding the Quran as it is copying the practice of Christians,” he told reporters after accompanying the Pakatan Rakyat delegation during the nomination process for the Permatang Pauh by-election here today. Anwar is the Pakatan Rakyat candidate for the by-election, which will be held on Aug 26.

The Kelantan Menteri Besar, however, said the “sumpah laknat’ (swearing in the face of divine retribution) that was done by Saiful when he swore on the Quran was permitted by Islam and now it depended on the sincerity of his oath that he had been sodomised by Anwar.

On calls for Anwar to do likewise to proclaim his innocence, Nik Aziz said in Islam the one making the accusation should do it to declare he or she is telling the truth and later the accused must defend him or herself.

Can somebody tell me the implications regarding this whole business of swearing on the Quran? Does it have any legal (civil or Syariah) ramifications?

I’d really like to learn. Please share. Thanks.

I thought this piece by Vincent Lee was extremely entertaining. Got this off his blog but I actually read it off StarBiz.

Political Branding - Perception or Reality?

Much has been said and written since the aftermath of the March elections. Over 5 months, 161 days or 3864 hours has gone by and we still don’t seem to have conclusion to this election. The opposition is still behaving like an opposition and the government is as removed from reality as it was before the so called ’shock to the system’.
Complacency is a recurrent and often fatal condition in politics.

Caught in between all this is the poor Rakyat, grappling with high food and fuel prices, they remain in the dark. Salaries aren’t going up and everything under the sun is sky rocketing.? Another by-election is the least priority in the minds of the people.

In the early days of democracy the Romans believed in a concept of ‘panem et circus’(bread and circuses), which had a simple success formula- ‘keep the peoples bellies filled and distract them with circuses’. Gladiators fed to lions were thus standard fare.

We in turn today, are fed with tons of rumors and scandals daily, either through the main stream papers or the digital media. In the first couple of weeks this was indeed entertaining rojak of Bollywood and Sex and the City. But an over dose of slime slinging will only make this country sillier than what’s happening across the Atlantic - a Paris Hilton spoof now running for campaign talk, that epitomizes what one journalist aptly called the devolution to ‘the politics of nothing’.

Perception or reality?

Contrary to popular belief, the last election was not decided by what was badly done, nor not done by the government, but by what was perceived to be done and not done. Time and again we have heard that politics is a perception game and even the old timers kept
harping on this. Yet politicians are so poor in managing perception. One might ask why?

The answer is simple. The old guard failed to listen! Listening is an art. Politicians need to train their ears, for unlike the mouth which one uses daily the ear seldom performs the way it should- if not trained properly. Political hierarchies are such that the higher one is, the less one hears. Leaders can calcify after years of giving orders and listening to sweet platitudes from the people. Power does not merely corrupt, it can definitely deafen. After all within a group of yes-men that tell leaders what they want to hear or think they want to hear, it is not easy to absorb the truth. More often than not, the truth hurts. Think about it - If you don’t use your limbs for a year, imagine what will happen to them. Paralysis.

Anwar – the Challenger brand

In the world of branding, there is always the incumbent, established brand leader. Then comes the challenger brand. Challengers are often fiery and do the unexpected to gain attention as well as sympathy. Typically too the target prospects are young, anti-establishment and willing to try new products or services. The older voters can never be the target for the simple reason that they are used to the old and tested brand and dare not take risk. Often they will ask questions like; Will it work? Will it backfires? Will it be a waste of money? ‘

Anwar, played this branding game perfectly, he positioned himself as the ‘CHANGE” agent right from the start. And he is consistent enough to repeat it time and time again. He is able to embrace the frustration of the people, the needs of the new generation as well as the scepticism within the ranks of government. From the onset, his Keadilan logo was well done. The famous black eye was well transformed into a winning strategy. No doubt he had branding consultants help him professionally.

The rule of thumb in politics on the ‘anti incumbent swing vote’ is that thirty percent of people will be against you even if you are a saint. It worked wonders for the Anwar brand. He just needed to fire up another twenty odd percent to win over the majority. And he has just done that. In the minds of some people, Anwar is the brand of hope and an exciting friend. They are emotionally predisposed to this brand and hence he can do no wrong for the time being. Even when he makes mistakes, it will be quickly forgotten or forgiven. That’s the power of a strong brand. Similarly, how many people will really stop wearing Nike if it exploits workers in some god forsaken place in Timbuktu? Nike will claim its helping third world enterprise, and most people will just buy it- the storyline and the shoe!

Umno/ Barisan brand

Sometime in 2001 the UK press was all onto a leaked focus group study that said that Tony Blair was the new labour brand and that the brand was contaminated. The vibrant discourse that ensued on political branding finally agreed that it was not so much the man as his failed government in handling healthcare, education, pensions etc that impacted on the leader as a brand. Today, here in Malaysia we have the reverse analogy. At the level of brand architecture it shows that Barisan is the mother brand, but in true sense we know that what really drives the nation is Umno. And hence, we shall look at Umno brand verses the Anwar brand here. (Keadilan is the brand on paper, but in reality it is nothing without Anwar) .It is a little like trying to think of Air Asia and not have Tony Fernadez come to mind.

Dinosaur politics

For fifty years, Umno has not changed their brand fight; they kept selling on the same brand promise and even up-ed their ante. Though the promise is still relevant to some, especially the old guard the new generation has somewhat relegated that need to number four or five in
the order of importance. The top three drivers of political change would be transparency,
corruption and? the economy. Just imagine, in product terms its like Umno still selling a hand set mobile phone the size of a massager and lugging the car battery along. (Remember the time when handset phones were first introduced way back in 70’s?).

Oversell and Undersell

To be fair to the Pak Lah government, when he first burst onto the scene the brand promise was somewhat ahead of delivery and hence the blame should go to his communication department. At other times, when areas of significant achievements were met it did not communicate effectively to the nation. Most political observers will agree that Pak Lah should be single minded in his pursuits. He should not be a PM for everything and anything. He should be a reformist as promised. His political outcome can stand up for it- as we look through his achievements he has done reasonably well.

Despite the hype, in areas of Judiciary, GLCs and civil service he out performs Tun Mahathir by a long chalk.

The real Legacy - a snapshot scorecard

Pak Lah gave us the Royal commission, last time we only have the loyal commission. On GLCs, Malaysian Airlines has turned around and is making profits now under the aegis of Datuk Idris Jala. Proton is also making all the right moves and Khazanah is one of the most sought after work places to work in the country. Previously, the tax payer’s money burnt bonfires of vanities and inefficiency in these companies. In the civil service, and in e-Government we now have one day passports, before this we were sent from pillar to post. Car licenses, business licenses and you name it licenses are just a click away now compared to five years ago. It is the small things that ease the burden of the people that count. Not monuments to ego, that bleed the treasury.

With all these changes, how on earth is he perceived to be bad? No thanks to the opposition’s ability in a pre-emptive brand representation of Pak Lah as the ineffective leader - soft and slow and sleepy. His team just could not shake off this brand tag!? But unlike the Blair analogy the Pak Lah government has delivered to some extent and as time runs out for writing his? legacy Abdullah must rise to the occasion- better late than never. He must reveal the real contamination is not Pak Lah but Umno. He needs to focus, to pick on a pragmatic reform strategy for Umno, be honest about it and consistently communicate to the nation his own
perestroika or open agenda.- Malaysia Reformasi.

I enjoyed his observation as to how we actually don’t need a by-election right now to distract us from more pressing issues at hand. But the by-election is just the necessary procedure for Anwar to enter Parliament in hope that it will pave steps to either pressure the government to step up in dealing with society’s problems effectively or bow down with grace (I could only wish! You can bet your bottom dollar Umno will not bow down). So we will put up with the by-elections and the sandiwara that comes with it, for now. As for what comes later, get ready to put on your activist shoes!

His analogies are brilliant. The way he breaks our politics down into public relations and branding strategies - priceless. When people say politicians need better PR, you know they damn well do!

Who said politics is boring? It really depends who’s writing about it :)

From Mkini, it appears the Bar Council’s ‘Conversion to Islam’ forum was forced to end earlier at 10am.

Salient points without ripping off the entire story are:

1. 300 protesters have gathered outside Bar Council headquarters
2. PKR Kulim-Bandar Baharu parliamentarian Zulkifli Nordin led the protesters
3. About 15 police officers and a Federal Reserve Unit truck were deployed, the road leading to the Bar Council office where the forum is held was closed.
4. The protesters, many of whom are from Muslim welfare organsation Perkida and Islamic party PAS, shouted, “Hancur Bar Council” (Crush Bar Council), “Hidup Islam” (Long Live Islam) and “Batal forum” (Cancel the forum); and holding up placards saying “Jangan cabar Islam” (Don’t challenge Islam) and “Bar Council, Don’t play with fire”.
5. The protesters sat down in front of the Bar Council building and vowed that they would not budge until the event has been cancelled. Some have threatened to storm the building to physically stop the forum.

This is just stupid and immature. This is why we will never have proper religious discussions because bigots are too busy protesting against forums instead engaging the general public. It really does not bid well for you religion if you are so narrow-minded and arrogant about it.

How is the Bar Council insulting or challenging Islam by having a forum on the legal aspect of conversions? More so after Syariah lawyer and Muslim authorities are given space to address the floor? Getting angry does not solve anything, especially not over a subject that will continue to haunt this country until some understanding is reached.

I’ve heard it all before. From covering Lina Joy to Subashini to Anthony Rayappan, talking to people and attending forums - if anybody is going to say Islam is a way of life and that I am not Muslim so I have no right to comment on the religion - I have heard enough.

I may not understand Islam as well as Muslims do, but I think if the religion constantly feels it is under sieged, it will always act as such whether the threat was real or imagined. Faith to me is a personal choice and to impose it onto other is exactly what it is, imposing. I disagree with imposition. Most of all, how can I have faith in the religion if it doesn’t have faith in itself?

It is better to spend time thinking and being with your loved ones. Watch some Olympic games and celebrate humanity. It’s a more meaningful route to heaven.

No, it is not a horse. It’s a retirement town for Brits. The very Grand Pier that I was at in 2005 to celebrate Shook Yee’s 23rd birthday burnt down last night :(

Fire levels Grand Pier pavilion at Weston-super-Mare

A huge fire devastated the historic Grand Pier at Weston-super-Mare today.

The blaze, which began shortly before 7am, ravaged the pavilion at the seaward end of the partly-wooden structure. Smoke billowed over the Bristol Channel and was visible from south Wales.

It is thought a small fire began in the west tower of the pavilion. It spread quickly, destroying the building within two hours. There were no reported injuries.

Kevin Pearson, the chief officer of Avon fire and rescue service, said the fire’s cause was unknown but there were deep-fat fryers installed in the area where it was thought to have started.

It would not be safe to enter and examine the wreckage until later today, he added.

Six fire engines and 80 firefighters battled the flames at their height, and embers are still being dampened down.

Emergency workers are concerned about the risk of gaming machines exploding and shooting coins through the air because of the intense heat, and a cordon has been set up around the area.

Structural engineers are to investigate whether the cast-iron girders that support the pier have been damaged beyond repair.

The pier is held in great affection by the residents of the seaside resort.

The novelist Lord Archer, who once worked as a cleaner on the pier when he was growing up in the town, today said it was “the focal centre” of the resort.

“It will take years if it is to be restored to its former glory,” he said.”If they don’t bring it back, Weston will have lost its main attraction. The pier was to Weston what the Tower is to Blackpool.”

Andrew Horler, Weston’s mayor, said the blaze had hit the resort’s 104-year-old “heartbeat”. “I really, really hope it can be rebuilt - it’s pure devastation for the town,” he said.

“It provides jobs and is a massive tourist attraction. It is the very heartbeat of this town. I really hope someone is able to rebuild it.”

Business people said that, without the pier, tourism would suffer. “It is part of our identity, and it would really affect trade if we were to lose it,” Dee Williams, the deputy manager of a seafront hotel, said.

Anthony Wills, an expert from the National Piers Society, predicted that the structure would only be rebuilt in a “very truncated” form.

“It would cost a fortune,” he said. “Unless a miracle happens, I really can’t see it being reinstated even if there’s a big insurance payout.”

Brother and sister entrepreneurs Michelle and Kerry Michael bought the pier in February, spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on new facilities including a £500,000 indoor go-kart track.

A spokesman said Kerry Michael was “absolutely devastated” and had cut short a holiday in Spain to help his sister deal with the disaster.

The pier’s 100 employees face an uncertain future after bars and games booths were razed by the flames.

Their livelihoods will be addressed by Kerry Michael when he gives a statement this afternoon.

The pier has been hit by fire once before, when a 2,000-seat pavilion for opera, music hall and ballet was destroyed in 1930. The attraction reopened three years later, complete with the pavilion that was destroyed today.

The Edwardian-era pier was given Grade II listed status in 1974 and is one of two in the town. The other, the 1867 Birnbeck, which links the mainland to an island, is derelict, although there are plans to restore it.

I had such fond memories of that place. Sure, the beach was kinda gross and the weather was gloomy but it’s lovely to see all the senior citizens playing their slot machines and youths playing their Star Wars X-Wing games. We won some money I think. Shook Yee had lots of luck that day and won a couple of pounds. Not to mention the £1 toffee apples! They were so good.

Perhaps my favourite memory from the place is the best fish and chips that I’ve ever had in my life at Papa’s Fish & Chips (20 Waterloo St, Weston-Super-Mare, Avon, BS23 1LN, +44 01934 626565). Deep fried fresh cod and lots of malt vinegar! Oooh, the scampi, the scampi!

sigh.

I’m glad no one got hurt though.

I don’t buy or read that many magazines. The only ones I recall buying religiously were Smash Hits and Time (what a transition!) I confess, I have never bought a fashion magazine before. I just flick them off my sister. lol.

But I bought my first ever fashion magazine - Style: (yes, it’s called ‘Style’ followed by a colon) today!! Why? Because ….

August issue. RM8. Buy buy!

Upon closer inspection.

And erm, there I am! Inside!!

The picture of me featured inside is very flattering. So much so, you will not be able to recognise me. Even I didn’t recognise myself, which means the make up guy did a fantastically good job! I mean I’d put it all here but I have a policy of not putting pictures of myself over this blog. I’m in the company of very esteemed individuals (and friends) in this article about youths and politics so I am rather pleased. It was really fun doing the photoshoot.

lol.

Erm. So go check it out lah!! Abuthen? :P

p/s: Thanks to Siew Ching for the awesome piece :)

Politicians really need to pick palatable words. More so if you’re a politician who is also the deputy prime minister and currently implicated (sorta) in the death of a Mongolian.

Najib Hopes For Umno-PAS Dialogue To Continue

[…]

On the issue of the Terengganu state government’s purchase of 14 Mercedes E200 Kompressor cars to replace the Proton Perdana, Najib said the issue was considered closed after the explanation given by the prime minister on Friday.

Asked on former Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Idris Jusoh taking legal action on claims that the cost of maintenance for the Proton Perdana V6 Executive cars for official use during his tenure was very high, Najib said:

“The issue is closed following the prime minister’s statement on the state administration’s official car use, whereby they must abide by the circular — they must use Proton cars. So, there’s no need to blow this (issue) up.”

On Friday, Abdullah stated that all the 14 Mercedes cars bought by the Terengganu state government were not allowed for use by Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said, and the state executive councillors and other senior state officials.

A phrase my dad likes to use:

If you can (blow things up), so can we!!!

:)

From uber awesome Wikipedia, 2010 gives us (I omitted events that will have little or no concern to me):

January
January 1 — Croatia is set to join the European Union.
January 1 - Spain takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Sweden.
January 1 — Lithuania, and Denmark are set to adopt the euro.
January 15 — Annular solar eclipse (The longest lasting annular eclipse of the 21st century.)

February
February 12 to February 28 — 2010 Winter Olympics will take place in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, Canada

March
March 12–March 21 — 2010 Winter Paralympics scheduled in Vancouver and Whistler Canada.

April
April — International Space Station construction will be completed.

May
May — The 55th Eurovision Song Contest will be held.
May 10 — Philippine presidential election will be held to replace the incumbent President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (ineligible for re-election).

June
June 3 — This is the latest date the next UK general election can be held.
June 6 — Conjunction between Jupiter and Uranus, Jupiter 28′ south. First conjunction of triple conjunction Jupiter/Uranus.
June 11 — Start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
June 22 — Polytikus’ birthday. Presents in advance? lol.
June 30 — Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will end her nine-year term as President of the Philippines as the 15th Congress of the Philippines begins.

July
July 1 - Belgium takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Spain.
July 11 — Final Match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup scheduled to play at Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg.
July 13 — Support will be cancelled for Microsoft Windows 2000, which was put on extended support in 2005.

August
August — Possible month for SNP-promised referendum about Scotland becoming independent of the UK.
August 14–26 — The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics will be celebrated in Singapore.

September
September 19 — Sweden general election, 2010: Sweden holds elections for the Riksdag.
September 22 — Conjunction between Jupiter and Uranus, Jupiter 53′ south. Second conjunction of triple conjunction Jupiter/Uranus.

October
October 3 — Brazilian presidential and parliamentary elections.
October 3–14 — The 2010 Commonwealth Games will be held in Delhi, India.

November
November 2 — Elections for the United States Congress
November 19 - Publication date for the film version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

December
December 21 — Total lunar eclipse

Well, sounds like a year I would very much like to look forward to!! It’s got football and lunar eclipses and Commonwealth games. Why is everybody getting so down over this lovely year?

From today onwards in light of PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s decision to hand over his leadership to DPM Najib Abdul Razak in June 2010, we can look forward to:

… more turmoil in Umno. Yessss.
… more calamity in Barisan Nasional. Woohoo.
… weakened and whimpering BN come GE13 (unless PR fucks up, of course).
… Najib sitting quietly with this tail between his legs while PM squanders the country’s resources.
… PM siphoning money working as much as possible.
… uncertain, if not, stagnant political climate.
… uncertain, if not, stagnant economic performance.

lol.

Seriously now. It’s just another two years for the rakyat to open their eyes and for scandals to reveal themselves. More time for us to bolster up our stand against issues affecting us. And two years to advocate for change. It could well be more than a political tsunami next round. So much things can happen in two years really, and as clichéd as it sounds, the power is in our hands! Like Captain Planet. lol.

Meanwhile, Najib will be counting down the days and keep praying that Anwar, Bala, Razak Baginda et al will shut up and lead quiet lives. Sadly, this is never the case and I doubt our DPM will have restful sleep anytime soon. Meanwhile Abdullah has bought himself sufficient time to attempt in going down gracefully in Malaysian history (my Darwin, I cannot imagine writing on Malaysia’s political economy and history under Abdullah’s tenure, it will be so upsetting!) As to how graceful his exit will be, I really can’t wait to see. I might fall asleep but I’m sure many of your will nudge me to keep awake :)

I’m hopeful with Abdullah’s (or fourth floor boys’) decision! Don’t forget all the shit hit the fan during his leadership - and it will keep bubbling over and slam itself all over the walls for two more years. If that’s not exciting, I really don’t know what is. Enjoy the sandiwara guys and always ask what’s happening di sebalik tabir.

lol.

Have a good weekend, y’all. I’ll try to do up my Tioman post when I have the time! :)

Oh it just keeps getting funnier and funnier ….

From Mkini:

Bung Mokhtar Radin (Kinabatangan - BN) today made an about-turn by admitting making an obscene gesture in the Dewan Rakyat during a dispute with some of Pakatan Rakyat MPs yesterday

“Yes, I did it but it is not what it means. Everybody has their own perception and it is not rude and it is not what people think it is,” said the Kinabatangan MP when met in the Parliament lobby.

Yesterday he denied making the gesture, describing his hand movements as the palm hitting a clenched fist.

He further reiterated today that he was angry with some of Pakatan MPs who had called him bodoh (stupid) and that was what triggered the Sabahan MP to do the gesture.

Not so much the news as opposed to this gem of a video, actually :) Go Hanief! lol.

p/s: I’m back, yes! More to come soon. I’ve been sooooooooo busy, it’s not even funny :(

Oh c’mon! If you haven’t read:

A police report has been lodged against de facto PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim for allegedly sodomosing one of his aides - the second time that such an accusation had been made in over 10 years.

The report was lodged by the 23-year-old alleged victim at the Jalan Travers police station at 6pm.

KL police chief Muhammad Sabtu Osman confirmed that the report had been made.

[…]

PKR sent out an SMS message stating that the police had detained Anwar’s special aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan this afternoon and forced him to lodge a police report about being sodomised by his boss.

It added that the police are expected to arrest Anwar soon.

Either the government is incredibly stupid to try this stunt again, or incredibly clever to divert the nation’s attention from real issues (price hikes, corruption, Altantuya) with a scandal. The latter strategy seems to be working as I trawled through the blogs and everybody has something to say about Anwar’s alleged sodomy. We fell for it again, suckers.

Nobody believed the sodomy allegations (unless you’re BigDog or extremely ill-informed) back in 1998. I didn’t. Like many others, I have reservations about Anwar over his political ambitions and motives, but sodomy between two consensual adults doesn’t sound like a crime to me. Unless there is some proof that Saiful was forced to spread his legs while Anwar did the deed. It’s physically unfathomable, I don’t think Anwar’s back is up for such vigorous shoving and heaving (think Brokeback). Honestly now. If this is true, I’d like to see corroborative evidence from Saiful’s end (no pun intended). A third party maybe? A video of two men shagging but of poor quality? A stained mattress at a yet unbuilt condominium?? Anal tearing for Saiful? History shows, it was a sandiwara then. Odds are, it’s another sandiwara this time round.

Can you believe this? From Rocky:

“Saya Mohd Saiful Bukhari b Azlan (850706-01-5687) ingin melaporkan bahawa saya telah diliwat oleh majikan saya. Perkara ini berlaku tanpa kerelaan saya. Kejadian terakhir berlaku 26/6/08 di Unit 1151, Kondominium Desa Damansara, Jln Setia Kasih, KL. Oleh itu, tujuan laporan ini dibuat untuk mendapat pembelaan dan keadilan keatas diri saya. Saya juga berasa bimbang dengan keselamatan diri dan keluarga saya jika perkara ini tersebar luas di khalayak ramai. Majikan saya Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim - Ketua Umum PKR.”

And poor Saiful. I speculated that he either owes a HUGE debt to somebody or he is being blackmailed into submission for a dire reason. At 23 years old, his future is as good as over because there is no life after this in this conservative country if you’ve been butt-fucked. Look at Azizan and Sukma - they’ve disappeared and most probably surgically altered their faces in shame ….. or have left the country right after the hearings in 1999.

From the responses I’ve gathered, nobody believes this. With the poor reputation the police has, nobody will believe their investigations. And with all eyes on the judiciary and it’s lack of independence, nobody will believe that you will find true justice in the courts. Nobody believes the government. Nobody believes Anwar. Nobody believes the media.

We’ve been fed with too many lies and distractions. Time to take back the truth. If you can your own independent investigation - do it and blog about it.

Meanwhile, I’m taking all this with a pinch of salt and a slice of lemon.