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! :)

Some foodie shots from brunch with the crew at Marmalade, Bangsar Village :)

Apple crumble.

Apple crumble, custard sauce and hairy arms.

Benny brekkie. I know what you boys are thinking ….

Eggs, spinach, mushrooms, turkey ham and toast.

Muesli brekkie.

Mushroom, pine nuts and cheese lebanese wrap.

Green eggs. Where’s the ham, Sam-I-Am?? lol.

Pesto scrambled eggs, multigrain toast, mushrooms, tomato and avocado salsa.

Banoffee cheesecake. It was diabetes-inducing sinful. lol.

More from their website! I prefer the breakfast menu at The Pink Sage actually :)

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 :)

How ingenious! The tag line is “Any taste for any thirst”. There was another drink next to it but I chose not to buy it. It was called “Whatever”.

Ha freaking ha.

I expect bloggers and the media orgs to go all out in covering the Permatang Pauh by-election. Even if you don’t want to hear anything about the bloody by-election, it will pounce on you and force itself down your throat or up your ass without your consent.

Get ready for it. I know I am :)

I’m sure you guys know about UiTM students protesting against the Selangor MB’s proposal to open up 10 percent of the places at UiTM to non-Malays.The current UiTM vice chancellor Dato’ Seri Prof Dr Ibrahim Abu Shah whacked Khalid Ibrahim’s suggestion and said that “UiTM was the last educational bastion for the Malays and other Bumiputeras to help change their lot, hence no quarters should interfere with its founding objectives and administration.” I’ve also seen press statement from Gamis (Gabungan Mahasiswa Islam Se-Malaysia) making this issue not just about the bumiputeras but about Islam.

Geez.

Anyway, here’s a reply from one of my friends who graduated from UiTM and will be returning soon to teach there. Even if it’s the minority view, she is surely not alone.

So Much For Equality

Kudos to the Selangor MB for wanting to open UiTM to non-Malays. It should’ve been done a long time ago.

The reaction to this proposal?

A ‘peaceful’ demonstration by some 5000 UiTM students OPPOSING this 10% quota of non-Bumi’s into UiTM. Why? Scared? Scared that you’ll lose privileges? Scared that you’d no longer be spoonfed?

The VC said that UiTM was meant to help the Malays and Malays only, it was established to enable them to pursue a tertiary level education.

Erm…hello?? Yeah, that was awesome 30 years ago, but come off it, it’s 2008, i think we can manage on our own. Then you wanna talk about being the ‘best’, ‘largest’, ‘world-class’ university and everything in between. Then you speak about multi-cultural, multi-racial society and what not. This is the height of racism.

Disgusting. There was nothing peaceful about that demonstration. It screamed blatant discrimination against the other races in this country. As it is, Malays get enough privileges, and of course we’ve got racist MP’s making statements like why should the government help non-Malays? All sources should be directed towards helping the Malays.

Riiiiight…tell the truth…you guys wanna help YOURSELVES!

True, i am a UiTM graduate myself, and trust me, the 5 years i spent there, weren’t exactly the best. There’s so much ass-kissing going on. What’s the harm of trying to improve the quality of education and competitiveness?? Seriously, WHAT’S THE HARM???!!!

Before i left for the United States, i had people come up to me and say ‘Be careful, you’re Muslim, they might discriminate against you and all, especially after 9-11.”

Bullshit.

I’m in friggin’ NYU, N-E-W Y-O-R-K U-N-I-V-E-R-S-I-T-Y….where is New York??? United States right…mat salleh country and in my class, you’ve got people from all over the world. Chileans, Koreans, Indians, Chinese, Canadians, Mexicans…you name, we’ve got them all. And there’s healthy competition. We learn from one another. The Korean isn’t going to hold back any information from me just because i’m not like him. So much for being worried about racism and discrimination, where i am right now, we’re all equal.

COME ON MALAYSIA!!! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!!!!

It’s time for equal opportunity.

I hate cowards.

I thought we could do with a little humour. I got this from a colleague and I’m sharing it with you all :) Enjoy!

—

Legend has it that George Washington, America’s first president, chopped down a cherry tree in his youth. George gives the tree a good swing and chops it down with an axe. His father sees the damaged tree and asks his son if he knows who did the deed. George is quoted bravely admitting the truth :- “I can’t tell a lie, Pa; you know I can’t tell a lie. I did cut it with my axe.”

This is a satire of how some Malaysian politicians circa 2008 may have reacted to the question :-

PM Badawi - I did not cut down the tree, I was just taking a nap underneath it.

DPM Najib Abdul Razak - I swear that I have never MET that tree.

Hishammuddin Hussein - … but I only own a keris, not axe, how to cut down the tree.

Dr. Mahathir - Apa nama cherry tree, I chopped it down because, I don’t like the idea of Pak Lah sleeping under it.

Chua Soi Lek - Yes, it was me, I resign as caretaker of this orchard.

VK Lingam - It could be me, it might have been me but I don’t think it’s me.

Anwar Ibrahim - I DID NOT do it, and I am not giving any DNA samples for you to plant on the axe handle.

Khir Toyo - the new state government should just trim the grass and not waste time asking who cut the tree.

Ahmad Said (Terrenganu MB) - I chopped it because cherry trees are more expensive to maintain than durian trees.

Azalina Othman - The cherry tree is not included under my tourism MOU so I cut it down. Besides there were unauthorized signboards put up around the tree.

Shabery Cheek - I challenge you to a debate on tree cutting.

Samy Vellu - I chopped it because Hindraf members were using it as a meeting point

Wira Ali Rustam - We have planted durian trees for 50 years and we will plant them for another 50 years, we do not need cheery trees, apple trees, pear trees and all these other foreign trees.

Rais Yatim - You must see the bigger picture, Ahmad said cherry trees are expensive to maintain, Ali Rustam said that are against our national identity and I needed to test my new axe, so you see, its a WIN-WIN situation all around.

Shahrir Samad - I cut the tree because we could no longer afford to subsidise it.

Karpal Singh - The bigfoot creature did it.

Bung Mokhtar - The big monkey did it

Pandikar Amin Mulia - There is nothing in the standing orders against chopping cherry trees. Kinabatangan duduk, Bukit Gelugor duduk. Sit down.

Khairy Jamaluddin - I did not do it, neither did the Mat Rempits. By the way, what’s a cherry tree?

Lim Kit Siang - (In response to Khairy) Cherry tree also you don’t know, you are an insult to Oxford!

Nazri Aziz - Racist, racist, racist, when we cut down durian trees nobody made a fuss.

Malaysian Citizens - Oh for heavens sake! Somebody plant something before we all starve to death.

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.

I’m so terribly swamped these days!

From Sheih:

Bakaq Haq of the famous Penarik Beca bloq was arrested last night at his home in Greenwood Park, Gombak. According to his wife, 4 police personnel picked Bakaq and his laptop around 11 pm.

Around 12.30 am, Wan Joe of JiwoKelate confirmed that Bakaq is in custody at The Commercial Crime Building in Kuala Lumpur. His lawyer, Hanifah Maidin who is also PAS legal adviser confirmed that Bakaq’s arrest was done under the Sedition Act.

Bakaq or his real name is Abdul Rashid Abu Bakar has contributed a lot in revealing the hidden agenda of the infamous Muzakarah between PAS and UMNO. It is so damaging that the Deputy President of PAS, Nasharuddin Mat Isa has made a threat to sue him although later it was proven that much of what Bakaq has revealed is true.

Bakaq is not a member of any political Party but a stern supporter of PAS’s Constitution to form an Islamic Government that shall be fair to all races.

Bloggers and friends of Penarik Beca will gather at Commercial Crime Building near Bank Negara Malaysia at 2 pm today to give morale support to Bakaq.

Keep blogging about this people!