Idiots remain Idiotic

Sailing to success with RM295m profit

28 Mar 2007

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said the return on investment from the Monsoon Cup had exceeded all expectations.

Despite only being organised for the second time, the 2006 event yielded an investment return of RM295 million, almost 15 times the amount invested.

15x? This works out the investment to be only RM20 million (correction)? So, is Tengku Adnan saying that the government had only invested $2mil for the event last year? Bullshit! What a big fat shit from the bull.

Tengku Adnan has this to say:

According to the Monsoon Cup 2006 Event Valuation Report, the returns on investment were very high compared with other international sporting events, such as the Olympic Games, Fifa World Cup, Rugby World Cup, Formula One Grand Prix and the Commonwealth Games.

"The returns on the government’s investment in the event are good for Terengganu and Malaysia as a whole and with it, we can begin to chart out what we can do for events this year ."

Tengku Adnan said that the ministry was hoping to turn Malaysia into a sports tourism destination.

According to Raja Petra Kamaruddin, the investment for the event is about RM500mil. Tengku Adnan said it's RM20mil. Raja Petra had to explain.

Wash car with rainwater?

Dear Pak Lah,

Be honest and tell me, did you wash your car with rainwater?

Did Kamaladdin and Khairy was their cars with rainwater?

Did your ministers wash their car with rain water?


How would the Cuci Kereta boys wash car with rainwater if they had to wash 50-100 cars per day? Would they need to built reservoirs and dams in order to run a wash car business? What about those hundreds of thousands of people who stayed in flats, apartments and condominiums; where do they store rainwater? What about the wash car services at shopping complex?

Would the authority now impose a new rule that these complexes will have to built an open top reservoir for these services? Or, alternatively, the government will be installing a new pipeline of rainwater for distribution to household and commercial premises?

Dear Pak Lah, Syabas has till today only replaced 35% of the aged-leaking pipes. So, how could you be able to come up with a new rainwater-pipe system which would cost RM1 trillion to built? Another PFI?


Dear Pak Lah, the model is idealistic and can be done for one or two houses. But for hundreds of thousands of existing houses, it takes a mad PM to enact a By-law to impose such regulations. Did you consider the low cost apartments and high-rise buildings? Why don't introduce to parliament building and insists parliamentarians and ministers to comply first? Did your son now owns a factory that manufactures water tank? Oh, or is it Nori who now ventures to this new business? Did Maya Karin install such?

Of Keris or Kung Fu Sword

Hishamuddin: "Give me a ‘kungfu’ sword and I will have no problems waving it too."

That was Umno Youth head Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein’s response to why he waved the keris at last year’s Umno Youth assembly.

There was nothing wrong in doing so as long as it was a symbolic gesture, he said after attending the opening of the MCA Youth’s 43rd annual general assembly yesterday.

The traditional weapon did not belong only to the Malays, said Hishammuddin.

"The young people today no longer see it as a symbol to uphold ketuanan Melayu (Malay dominance)."

Hishammuddin, who is also Education Minister, said that during a recent function in Penang, Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon had done the same.

He said the issue was only sensitive when people took advantage of it.

On his deputy Khairy Jamaluddin’s recent statement that non-Malay political parties would take advantage of Umno if the party was split, Hishammuddin said all parties go through different phases.

The important thing is to tackle it well, he added.

Take Note: As long as they (Hisham & KJ) continue to show glibness, and continues being heretic, they will remain imbecile and prefered to be schleps.

Keris and Sword are symbolical but the symbolical usage often denote the true motive and intention of the warring occasion. In a forum where the denoministic focal of interest is monolistic and tender bias towards the society at large, any form of weapon weavering posed threats and instil fears to those of other denominators. Take a scenario; the Indians at MIC convention waved the parang and shouted: Hidup India; the Dayak wave the blowpipes and shouted, and the MCA wave the kung fu sword and shout, what would become of the nation? Will it trigger anarchy? Will it signify a gross revolution? Will it lead to incidents of misbehavior and trigger clash of civilization? I daren't picturise... it's just disgusting and stirs nausea.

I got a hunch.... it's beginning to get insidious and I see the tide of change rushing to our shores, crushing the seawalls and flowing into the land, causing ripples and tensions, threatening to tear the social fabric into pieces, and signifying the return of the dark age. I pray good senses will prevail and that good conscience prevails and the desire for peace remains the paramount objective and goals of a nation who turns 49 in 3 days time. Amen.

MP's English are Groggy

Some technical contents of the 9MP that were in English had several MPs struggling to find the Bahasa Malaysia equivalent, resulting in more than the usual mix of the two languages. This opened the floodgates for some MPs to ask for the definitions of certain English expressions.

Idris Haron, Barisan MP for Tangga Batu thought that Datuk Razali Ismail, Barisan MP for Kuala Terengganu went a bit overboard when he used “total productivity factor” in speaking about pump-priming the economy.

“What is this total productivity factor thing?” he asked. “If you continue using all these terms without any explanation, then the whole Dewan will not understand what they are all about,” said Idris.

When Razali mentioned the word “pedagogy” when he touched on national education, Datuk Badruddin Amilruddin (BN – Jerai) interrupted to ask:

“What’s that? Groggy? Please explain.”

“Berus gigi pagi (Brush teeth in the morning),” another MP interjected.

Yes MPs; Pedagogy is the art and science of our "groggy" educational system!

Total Productivity Factor (TPF) or often called Total-Factor Productivity, addresses any effects in total output of productivity. Production is an economic process that uses resources to create a commodity that is suitable for exchange.

Go and berus your gigi before going to parliament and before you sleep!

Quality of Malaysian MPs

MPs

Lim Kit Siang, the Parliamentary Opposition Leader had a verbal jousting with Nazri Aziz, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department who is in-charge of Parliamentary Affairs. It started when Kit asked whether the Prime Minister would support the setting-up of three Parliamentary Select Committees – on National Integrity, Higher Education and International Trade and Industry.

Instead of giving a straight-direct answer to the question, Nazri side-tracked the issue raised when he retorted that: “If every issue raised requires a select committee, then perhaps we also need to discuss that former Communist Party of Malaya secretary-general Chin Peng is DAP’s father of Independence. According to Nazri, it was not practical to set up a select committee each time there was a controversy.

“We might as well establish a select committee on allegation from the DAP that Chin Peng was the Bapa Kemerdekaan,” Nazri said.

Kit called on Nazri to retract the remark. Nazri refused.

The opposition moved a motion to refer the Minister to the Parliamentary Privileges and Standards Committee. The motion was defeated as the ruling party controls 90% of the votes.

What is amusing and necessary for all Malaysians to ponder is the quality of the MPs and Ministers we had and the manners in which they are taking into considerations the problems faced by the rakyat.

Over the last few years, year-in and year-out we have aspiring students of all races facing problems of university education, enrolment and inadequacy, problems of the standards of English in science and maths subjects, unemployment and unemployability of graduates, meritocracy and mediocrity, etc, etc.

Isn't it necessary to establish a select committee to review the educational policies and programmes to plug the apparent weaknesses and incompetence, and at the same time, enhance the quality and adequacy of the educational system to prepare the human capital of the nation in meeting the new challenges of the new millennium and the critical challenges posed by globalization.

Instead, the national front government and the minister choose to ignore the apparent issues and resorted to throw muds and creases to smear any relevant proposals forwarded by opposition members of parliament, irrespective whether they are logical, necessary or relevant. Objections for the sake of objections, at the expense of system improvement necessary for the benefit of the rakyat.

Malaysians need to wake up to face reality and we need to ponder what our future holds in the face of globalization, liberalization and the choice of self-destruction which is the apparent route we have been enroute.

In this information, communication and technology age, the rakyat have the ability to be aware of what has happened and what will be happening. The future of the nation is in the hands of the voters. They, and only they, can decide their very own destiny. We must be aware of the recalcitrants; the incompetent; and the atypical corrupt.

God bless the rakyat of Malaysia!

Keris Wielding Act a symbol of struggle, says Hisham

UMNO Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishamuddin reminded the Chinese community they need not fear and have a misconception of the “Panca Warisan keris”, a new symbol of the Youth movement’s political struggle.

Hishamuddin said the keris was aimed at injecting a new spirit among younger Malays and had no ulterior motives.

“The UMNO Youth sees the keris as a symbol of our renewed spirit in empowering the Malays through the umbrella of UMNO. This does not mean that we would not be empowering the Malays through Barisan Nasional.”

“If the community (Chinese) is still afraid of the keris, then I believe they are not able to compete in today’s globalised world which is the talking about atomic bomb, nuclear and scud missile,” he said.

Thank you Hisham for your explanation. Hopefully, the Chinese community can breathe easier now. But you need not choose a weapon to show your economic struggle. The Malays are sensible people and they are capable to think if UMNO Youth is sincerely protecting their interest. Many are successful even tho' they did not directly benefit from the APs and NEP. They had worked hard to earned whatever wealth they had now. Some are still struggling, particularly those from the kampungs. You can use UMNO building funds to help them. The keris won't help them; money will!

Fortunately, the MCA and Gerakan who also are championing the other communities did not resort to ape your act at the recent general assembly. If at the recent general assembly, MCA decides to copy your act and use a sword as a symbol, and Gerakan uses a spear to portray their struggle, and next year it will be MIC's turn to wield a parang to symbolise their struggle, then, if that happens, we may have to face a new clash of civilization . Then you would have set a new trend for the others such as Kadazan, Bidayuh, Dayak, Malanaus, Sikhs, etc to use such symbols like blow-pipes, changkul, water-pistol, ice-cream, cocks, chickens, ducks, dogs, pigs, etc.

Believe me, it is unnecessary to do so. There are more intelligent and sensible ways to motivate the Malays in UMNO like giving them better education and scholarships, spending more time in the constituencies to solve their problems, built more hospitals and clinics, and teach them English so that they will be able to compete globally with the Mat Sallehs. Otherwise, you can also give out more APs to a larger segment of the Malay community, or distributing Petronas and Khazanah's wealth to all of the Malays, but not to your few leaders in UMNO.

For me and the many Chinese and Indians, we are happy to be what we are, not rich, but not living below poverty level. Give my children education up to university level based on their merits; that, I am thankful. I will work hard to earn a few bucks to keep my family surviving. So, you don't have to give me APs.

The Day Democracy Died

Sothi suspended


Datuk S. Sothinathan paid a stiff price for breaking ranks with the Government in Parliament yesterday: He was suspended for three months as Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister. This is the first time such a punishment has been meted out to a senior Barisan Nasional component party leader who is also a member of the administration.

Indeed, it emerged last night that some senior administration officials believed the only suitable punishment for breaching one of the cardinal principles of the BN — that of settling disagreements behind closed doors — was dismissal.

Sothinathan, 45, MP for Teluk Kemang, declined to say very much. "Yes, I received a phone call regarding my suspension, and I don’t have anything to say about it.

"I only want to say that for the next three months I will concentrate on my party work. I will also spend more time in my constituency."

Other senior MIC politicians were also sparing with their comments. They were trying to clear the confusion among MIC members across the country and douse an emotional response from the rank-and-file.

Sothinathan crossed swords with Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad over the de-recognition of the Crimea State Medical University (CSMU) by the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC).

During a heated debate on the issue, Dr Abdul Latiff said that all but one of the BN component party chiefs had accepted the MMC decision. The exception he referred to was MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu.

This remark upset Sothinathan, who stood up and said: "We (MIC) are the party in Government representing the Indian community. It is our duty to right a wrong when it happens."

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said that as a member of the Government, Sothinathan should not have taken a stand critical of the Government.

"It is a breach of party discipline," Abdullah told reporters. Abdullah said Sothinathan, who was the MIC secretary-general, could be the first member of the Malaysian administration to be suspended for disagreeing with the Government in Parliament.

"There is always a first time for everything."

The Prime Minister has received the consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for Sothinathan’s suspension.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Nazri Aziz said that: "What happened was unprecedented. He broke ranks from the front bench... he was at fault and that is why I think action was taken against him."

During the three-month suspension, Sothinathan’s seat in Parliament would be moved to the back benches from the front bench.

He said the suspension was a warning to members of the administration not to go against the Government’s position or policies.

"If you are a member of the administration, it is your duty to defend the stand, decision and policy of the Government. "You cannot have your cake and eat it, too. If you don’t agree, then you can always resign and speak as a backbencher," Nazri said.

Deputy ministers are bound by the principles of collective responsibility under existing code of conduct and ethics for administrative officers, said Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Samsudin Osman.


Ministerial Responsibility

Tan Sri Shamsudin said the Cabinet discussed yesterday the issue of Datuk S. Sothinathan questioning the decision of the Malaysian Medical Council regarding the Crimea State Medical University.

Following the meeting, the Cabinet decided to get the consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to suspend for three months, with immediate effect, the duties of the Natural Resources and Environment deputy minister.

MINISTERIAL irRESPONSIBILITY, The New System of Government?

The Doctrine for the Convention of Ministerial responsibility is basically adopted to ensure the proper accountability of government in Parliament. The doctrine consist of Collective Responsibility and Individual Responsibility.

Collective Responsibility means that members of the cabinet and ministers as a whole, are answerable and accountable to Parliament, and that they must collectively support the final decisions made by the cabinet inorder to show unity by vote or speech, in and outside Parliament.

However, in this case, the Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister, Sothinathan, had only reacted during a heated debate on the Crimean issue, when Dr Abdul Latiff said that all but one of the BN component party chiefs had accepted the MMC decision. The exception he referred to was MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu. This remark upset Sothinathan, who stood up and said: "We (MIC) are the party in Government representing the Indian community. It is our duty to right a wrong when it happens."

In the context of the application of collective responsibility, we have not seen ELSEWHERE that a minister is reprimanded thru' the exercise of this royal prerogative for a situation whereby, a wrong decision made by a department was held to be a FINAL CABINET DECISION.

Doesn't this sound ludicrous and preposterous?

Aren't the application of collective responsibility used to cover-up culpable decisions?

My God, what have you done to my Prime Minister such that he had gone berserk and vagarious?

In a another news report, the Higher Education Ministry today confirmed that it had issued Non-Objection Certificates (NOCs) to Arts stream students who failed their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination. Minister Datuk Shafie Salleh said the students were given the NOCs to enable them to gain entry into the Crimea University in Ukraine to realise their dreams of becoming doctors.

(see: Shafie: We issued the certs )

An NOC is a prerequisite for entry into any university abroad offering medical courses recognised by the Government.

"According to Higher Education Department director Professor Datuk Dr Hassan Said, whom I met this morning, these students were issued with NOCs although they failed their SPM," Shafie said.

"This was because they had additional certificates that carried more weight or were equivalent to the SPM," he said before chairing his post-Cabinet meeting at his ministry today.

He said the "additional certificates" were among those awarded to students who passed the SPM Mathematics and Bahasa Melayu papers in July after having failed in the subjects previously.

He said the issuing of NOCs in this manner was in accordance with ministry regulations.

"Although they had failed their SPM examinations, they could still gain entry into universities as their other qualifications showed they were qualified."

Shafie said the ministry would stop issuing NOCs for this particular university beginning Jan 1.

PUZZLED?

The system of education has always being, that 'O' level exam (SPM) is not modular, but strictly required that all candidates must pass certain mandatory subjects and pass the minimum number of subjects, and have achieve a mimimum aggregate score to be awarded the SPM certificate. What it also mean is that, if a student fails the full exam, and later, resit the few failed subjects, he has not fulfilled the necessary requirement to qualify himself a 'O' Level certificate. What is required to fulfill the criteria for 'O' level is, you have to resit the whole exam, i.e., all the subjects at the same exam.

If someone had failed the SPM ('O' level), he cannot sit for his STPM ('A' level). Maybe, he can have some other kind of certificate, but entry qualification to universities, in particular, Medical Doctorate courses requires the minimum entry qualification, i.e. 'O' level (from Science Stream) plus, probably a pass in pre-university education examination. And, in the case of those medical students who are accepted into Malaysian Universities, the requirements presumably is 10As and above, in SPM, and from Science Stream ONLY!!!!.

Here, we heard of a case where the Ministry had approved someone from the ART STREAM who had failed the SPM and yet approved to further his medical studies in U. Absurd, rediculous, & vagarious?NO! NOT YET!

The MMC decision not to recognize the medical degree from University of Crimea was attributed to the fact that it had accepted medical students who had failed in the SPM. The Higher Education Ministry today confirmed that it had issued Non-Objection Certificates (NOCs) to Arts stream students who failed their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination. Higher Education Minister Datuk Shafie Salleh said the students were given the NOCs to enable them to gain entry into the Crimea University in Ukraine to realise their dreams of becoming doctors. The Minister said these students, "Although they had failed their SPM examinations, they could still gain entry into universities as their other qualifications showed they were qualified."

So, what's the problem? Where's the problem?

Isn't the decision of MMC a direct act of contempt, and a slap in the face of the minister of higher education? The decision of the Health Ministry is contradictory to the decisions of the Higher Education Ministry, and the cabinet agrees to both decision simultaneously?

Did we have a problem? I don't think so. The philosophical and ideological aspects have different tangent and have moved to the outer realms beyond the rule of wisdom into a world of arbitrary conduct manned by a system of governance of absolute absurdity and discretionary rule of law in our motherland.

God forbid that we are returning to the dark age period.

DON'T BELITTLE YOUR OWN RACE

The Raja Muda of Perak Raja Nazrin Shah said people should not be hasty in presenting the weaknesses of Malays as their national identity as though being weak and incompetent is the monopoly of the race.

“Wake up! When a race chooses to belittle itself, it emboldens others to humiliate it. Ultimately, the race will be seen as destitute and its traditions and culture cast out,” he said when delivering the keynote address at the Second Malay Education Congress here yesterday.

He said Malays should not fall into the trap so easily and echo the same views to put down their own race. “When shortcomings are interpreted as weaknesses, we are actually equating padi to lallang and rice to sand,” he said. Malays, he said, should be evaluated fairly and intelligently through a wider scope that looked at all aspects like history, politics, time and culture so that the strengths could be reinforced and the weaknesses overcome.

Raja Nazrin said a race that could identify its weaknesses and succeed in overcoming them would build itself into a strong one. He said that just because there were some Malays who were lazy, it did not mean that the Malay culture encouraged laziness until it was accepted as part of the character trait. According to him, the honour of the race must be defended by instilling a sense of pride and confidence.

AUTHOR'S COMMENT:

Raja Nazrin was absolutely right.

The recent results of SPM and STPM clearly shows that the Malays were NEVER inferior in the ability in achieving success if they work for it. There are also many other Malays currently studying overseas, who had achieve great results. This is testament of their abilities and capabilities.

Similarly, in the civil services and entreprenuers, you can name names of the many Malays who had achieve great successes through their dedication and hardwork.

So, why are there such paranoia? Who is presenting the weaknesses of Malays as their national identity as though being weak and incompetent is the monopoly of the race? Raja Nazrin was not specific when he made this comment.

From the point of views of the other races, as a Chinese Malaysian, being a friend of so many Malays, and as academician, I cannot see the rational of the statement. Many of my Malay friends had achieve tremendous successes in their lives, their careers and having beautiful families. They were happy people, proud of their achievements, and seeking continuous improvements in whatever they are endeavoring. Of course, they do have grouses, as are all the others.

I believe, the only problem within the community and the social aspects is primarily the concerns of many Malays, particularly those in schools and universities, who are weak in English. Due to their incompetencies in the English language, they may have to face difficulties when they begin their career - the question of UNEMPLOYABLE in the global economy.

For those who are fortunate to be accepted into the government services, they would have less headaches. It is because Bahasa Malaysia is still the main language used within the civil service and additionally, the government and the civil service departments does take effort to provide their employees with trainings to improve their knowledge as well as to improve their English.

But, what about those in the private sectors and those who aspires to join multi-national companies? If they are weak in English, they may have problem. In a global economy, every Malaysian, of all races, will have to master the English language, as this is the accepted normal medium of communication - in speaking, writing and reading. At such, for those who are weak in English, it is therefore necessary to make effort to master the English language to remain employable.

To the Malays, and to the non-Malays as well, my advice is: Start your mastering English journey. Do not depend on the schools and universities to deliver it to you. Everyone can improve their English, as well as any other languages, if they put efforts to master it. Success depends on self-determination. If you want it, you can get it provided you put efforts to it. Without it, you stand as a competitively disadvanatageous product

BEST OF LUCK & GOD BLESS YOU!