Project log 5: It's working!!!

Ok, I have finally managed to secure my kit from the Custom Office in Ipoh. They detained the package because they wanted to levy a 10% duty on my purchase. The thing is, by procedure they must send me a notice to notify me. None were coming. If I didn't follow up the shipment myself, they would have confiscated the package after one month. And that is exactly what happened to a businessman I met in the Custom Office on Friday, (21st May, 2010).

Anyhow, I got my kit on Friday, proceeded to get myself a Mountain Bike minus the crank. I will up load some photos in due time.

The installation of the kit was anything but easy. There were no instruction menu, and I pretty much have to guess which part goes where and what is connected to what. It took me 5 hours to complete the installation.

First trial run on Saturday (22nd May, 2010), ended with a broken battery connection. What happened was that the battery wire got entangled with the crank shaft and the connection was ripped off from the battery. So, I have to repaired the broken link. Took me two hours to come up with a solution, I basically screw it up (literally!).

With the battery repaired, I had my third run. This time all wires are secured properly so that it won't dangle and got entangled with the crank shaft again. It was run smoothly and I got bolder. I decided to run a small errant with my new e-bike at the shop just outside my residential area. The chain got derailed. Corrected it, it derailed again. After limping the bike back, I did a more thorough inspection and found that the alignment between the motor gear and the crank gear is out. So, I have to adjust the alignment so that they aligned properly. Also the tension-er of the derailleur at the rear wheel is pulling way too much and so I decided to move the free plastic wheeler to a position so that the tension-er do not have to pull too much. After this minor tune up, the bike ride is awesome!!!! I could even chase motorbike without pedaling.

Theoretically, it could reach 50 km/hr without pedaling but I would be guessing. As I do not have a speedometer.

On Sunday, I test run it by cycling from my home in Pusing all the way to Bukit Kledang. It took me less than 15 minutes to arrive at the foot of the hill. Then I made a mistake, by attempting to climb the hill on the bike. The battery went dead at about 2/3 of the way to where I would normally stop. Pushing the bike uphill is a torture. I estimated it weight at least 17 kg. Lugging the bike up Bukit Kledang is no small feat.

Then, it become worse. I have to cycle back. On the journey back, I noticed more tuning is needed for the bike. With the electric motor assist, I would not have noticed this out of tune parts. Mainly the pedal is not align properly hence making pedaling feel, well, not balanced. I would have to fix that tonight.

All in all, it's a great experience and I gained much insight into the working of a bicycle and motor. I would need several more trial runs before I would use this bike as my commuting transport to work, which is my ultimate goal for this bike.

Project Log 4: Malaysia Custom Office

My hunch was right, I was given a run around. I called the number given, the customer service consultant told me that my parcel has been released to Ipoh Poslaju and asked me to contact Ipoh Poslaju Office without giving a telephone number to call.

So, I went online, search through the Pos Malaysia website and found their customer service number (1-300 300 300). I called the number and this time the Poslaju customer service consultant told me that the item is in Ipoh but detained (ditahan) by Malaysian Custom. The consultant ask me to contact Ipoh Poslaju office directly to get more details about the package. This time, she is kind enough to provide me with two phone numbers.

I called the first number, no one pick up the phone. So, I tried the second. Same thing happen, no one is picking up the phone. I have to repeatedly calling the two numbers multiple times, and every time I call I would let the call ring and wait until the automatic switch of Maxis or Telekom cut me off. I was only managed to get hold of a person on my fifth try. The whole process lasted more than half an hour. Anyway, I was counting my blessing because I manage to get hold of a person just at exactly 5 pm. Gave her the tracking number and she told me that my package is being held by the Custom Office in Ipoh. She then provide me with a phone number (yes another one) and told me to ask to be connected to the custom office.

So, I call the number promptly told the operator who answered my call to connect me to the custom office and I was connected. Another lady pick up the phone and I told her that I wanted to make an inquiry about a package I purchased from Taiwan. She immediately told me that "Oh! It's already 5pm, no one will be in to service my inquiry." She also told me that I have called the wrong number, I should call another number which would connect me directly to the person in charge of such inquiries. Yes, another phone number to call.

Couldn't wait til tomorrow morning to find out what happened I decided to call the number today. This time a guy pick up the phone. Wow! It's 5:15pm and there is still people working in the Custom Office, that's nice. But the first thing that he said over the phone is:"Sorry, it's already 5pm I want to go home." Ok, fair enough, so I asked him what time I should call tomorrow morning. The answer is 8:30 am.

So, there you go. Given a run around for almost an hour over the phone and still do not know what happened to my package. Sigh...

Project Log 3

The package is still sitting in the Custom Office, it has been sitting there for 6 business days already (since 13th May, 2010). I have checked on their website, where they have declared in their customer service standard that such inspection should only take a maximum of 4 working days. So, I wrote an email to make an inquiry on the status of the postal by air parcel.

The reply was a standard answer to refer me to the courier service provider and saying that if the parcel was to be held (ditahan) they would send me a notice. There were no meaningful information regarding the status of my package at all, after reading the 4 paragraph replies I still have no idea what happened to my package. Is it being held for legal issues? Has it been released from inspection? How soon the custom office will release the parcel? Nope, there wasn't any of such information given. It does, however, provide me with another contact numbers that I should call to make further inquiry. Typical Malaysian style bureaucracy, being a Malaysian for the last 30 plus years, I could spot a "give me a run around" attempt from a mile away. Sigh...

Given that this is the only recourse I have, I have no choice but to make the phone call. Will do it later today (20th May, 2010).

What's the point of paying a bundle for an express courier by air service, when the Custom Office is the bottleneck of the whole delivery system?

Project Log 2

I have placed the order of the electric bicycle conversion kit on Monday (10th May, 2010). The seller had confirmed that they had posted my purchase and emailed me a tracking number. Hmm... that's pretty efficient.

Today is Friday (14th May, 2010), I have decided to check where is my parcel. So, I hop into the Taiwan Post Office parcel tracking website, and key in the tracking number. The information provided is very complete. What I found is that the parcel has left Taiwan on a flight and reached Malaysia on Wednesday (12th May, 2010). The latest reported where about of the parcel is, read, Malaysia Custom Office. So, the parcel is sitting there for 2 days already.

I will check back and this would be a good opportunity to see how long does it take for the Custom Officer to inspect electrical components purchased from Taiwan before releasing it to the purchaser.

Project log 1

This is a project log on the progress of an electric bicycle project I have decided to embarked on.

First, I have purchase the equipments and tools for the project. I have found and online site in Taiwan that sells a complete kit set for my project. It should be simple enough as the kit is complete with everything I needed to turn a normal mountain bike to an electric driven bicycle. Albeit I have read that the batteries that come with the kit might not be the best in the market, but since this is my first attempt on such a project, I have decided that I would stick to the original kit battery and test it out first.

The first attempt in purchasing the complete kit bought me to Paypal. I used to have a paypal account some years back, but since I seldom made online purchasing via paypal, I have forgotten how to log in to my old Paypal account.

So, I registered a new account and to my surprise I could now linked my credit card to Paypal, so instead of buying credits in Paypal first I could now charge any purchase made via Paypal to my credit card. Sweet! This means I would no longer need to keep some money in Paypal for future purchase.

However, for security reason, Paypal imposed a limit on my credit card transaction until I have confirmed with Paypal that the credit card really belongs to me. And in order for me to do that I have to wait for the credit card statement as Paypal will charge a small amount of money in my credit card and provide an activation number with the charges. This way, the activation number would appear in my credit card statement together with the charges made by Paypal. On it's activation website, Paypal promised to refund the money after I have confirmed the card.

That's not bad, the only problem I have with such a set up is that I will not be able to satisfy my gratification of actually buying the things I want to buy now as the total purchase cost is beyond the limit set by Paypal now. I'll have to wait for my credit card statement before I could made my purchase. Sigh.

For a Better Malaysia

If you believe in justice, give Pakatan Rakyat a chance. It is already a foregone conclusion that the current UMNO regime is responsible for the demise of the independent Judicial system in Malaysia. The day Tun Haji Mohamed Salleh bin Abas was dismissed is the day the Independent Judiciary died in Malaysia.

Now, what is served in the court is more often injustices than justices. If you think that BN can change, "Mampu berubah" so they proclaimed, then you need to do a reality check.

Cases in point: the Perak fiasco and the infamous Sodomy II trials. From these two show cases, injustice was clearly done, when judgment can be overturned in less than 24 hours time to keep the UMNO guy in power, and when the accused have to prove his innocent rather than the accuser have to show evidence of guilt. The spirit of the law where innocent until proven guilty had not been upheld since Sodomy I. So, how long do you want these injustice be still done? Give Pakatan Rakyat a chance, so that there is chance for Justice be done.

If you believe in having a safe society to live in, give Pakatan Rakyat a chance. How many 15 years old kid have to die before you would open your eyes to see the brutality of Polis Diraja Malaysia? How many people have to die in custody in the dark and dirty lockup of the police station before you are angry enough to do something to rein in the Polis Diraja Malaysia? How many women to get shot at before you start to hold the Polis Diraja Malaysia accountable for their actions?

If you want an Independent Polic Complaint and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to rein in the out of control Polis Diraja Malaysia, give Pakatan Rakyat a chance.

If you want a cleaner government, give Pakatan Rakyat a chance. Over the last two years, both the Penang and Selangor State Government had reported substantial saving with some municipal councils reported a complete turn around from budget deficit to budget surplus under the management of Pakatan Rakayt. Whereas, in the Federal Government under the UMNO Regime, budget deficit continues. Hundreds of Billions of Malaysian Ringgit are unaccounted for under Barisan Nasional (read UMNO) rules. To put the magnitude into it's proper contrast, RM 200 millions is enough to built a University campus for 2,000 students. RM 100 Billions is enough to build 500 such universities. So, RM 100 Billions is enough to build university to offer university degree to 2,000 X 500 = 1 million students. More than enough to offer a university placement for every secondary school students graduating, regardless of their SPM results. So, if a cleaner government is what you wanted, give Pakatan Rakyat a chance.

If you believe in equality and equal opportunities for all Malaysians, give Pakatan Rakyat a chance. What is happening now, is institutionalized Racism. The Malays are told that they are poor because of the Chinese and the Indians, despite the fact that UMNO (Read: United MALAY National Organization) is the one ruling the country since Independence. UMNO and its irks, never fail to remind the non-Malays that they should be grateful because they were conferred citizenship. They always repeat the claim that the Malays had made the sacrifice by conferring such citizenship. Conveniently neglect to mention that the non-Malays too had worked hard to fight for the Country Independence and that the non-Malays in Malaysia todays are all born and grew up in this country, and they only know this country as their birthplace. They also never openly acknowledge all the blood and sweats spilled by the non-malays in building up this beautiful nations called Malaysia. So, if you believed that racial discrimination is wrong, give Pakatan Rakyat a chance. For racial discrimination is all that BN stands for.

If the government is the board of directors entrusted by the Rakyat to manage the country, our current board of directors sucks. They swindle the company funds and made blunders after blunders in the running of the businesses of the company. As a share holders what do you do to these directors? You would sack them and replace them. So, for a better Malaysia, kick BN out and give Pakatan Rakyat a chance.

The known devil has grown to become too evil to be entrusted with the country any longer. Give Pakatan Rakyat a chance, vote for a change of the government so that Malaysia may start to reform for a better future.

Police in Malaysia

I have been intending to write about what happened to Aminulrasyid Amzah the 15 years old boy shot dead by Malaysian Police over an obviously joyride gone wrong.

I have been questioning the modus operandi of Malaysia Police force for sometimes. Whenever I read or heard of a news where policemen have shot dead purported criminals, I can't help to notice that in many of these reports, the police often report that they found a number of parangs (machete) and 1 or 2 guns in the possessions of the deceases, but made no mentioning of whether shots were ever being fired by the purported criminals. In many of these cases, the guns and parangs were always found inside the car or found in the boot of the car.

I have always been suspicious of such reports as I have read and heard many times in the news that police shooting dead criminals but it has been a long time since I last heard of Malaysia Policemen being shot at. The Home Minister statement that it's unfair for the public to be criticizing the police for the shooting of the 15 years old teenager, whereas we were not concerned when the police were shot. But do check back the news, when did the last time a police men got shot in Malaysia?

I checked the figure here and here. The numbers said that over the past 20 years, Malaysian police had shot dead 579 suspected criminals. Meanwhile there were 19 police officers shot dead in the same period. I am not saying that there should be more police men killed in the line of duty. What I am saying is that the numbers do tell a story, especially a tell tale sign of the modus operandi of our Police force.

Now, that there are more witnesses coming out to collaborate the testimony of the second witness (the other 15 years old boy in the car chase). The lies of the Police that the boys had tried to ram the police with their car is falling apart. The credibility of the police, or whatever is left of it, takes another serious blow.

Then I read this in Malaysiakini. First off, I have not expected the "special panel" formed to be any more "special" than a royal commission formed before. Where I still vividly remembered how the police had threaten to let the crime rate rise, if the government proceeded with the forming of the IPCMC as per recommended by that Royal Commission. If a Royal Commission could not get the police to straighten up, what could we expect from a so called "special panel" that has no jurisdiction and any legal standing based on established law?

Then I found this video. The 12 years old teenagers in the video were lucky that they were not in Malaysia. Else, we'd have another 12 years old "criminal" shot dead.

Another question in my mind is if we, as a society, should be held responsible for Aminul's death. I think as a whole, we are indeed partly responsible. We did nothing to rein in the police over the many extra-judiciary killings of "suspected criminals". Many of these shootings were not properly investigated because there were not enough public outrage.

Finally, we might have a catalyst case to push for change but the government of the day is smart and cunning. The formation of such a "special panel" shown their ingenuity to come up with ideas to divert the public attention. Nevermind that such a panel is powerless to do anything to the police force. I do not even expect the panel would be able to get any police officer charged for any crime.

By any international standard, the police men in the scene should all be immediately suspended pending the outcome of the investigation. But alas, they were only reassigned to desk duty. The defensive attitude of the Home Minister, the Inspector General of Police, and the Selangor Police Chief also shown that the police and the government is not interested at all in finding whether the shooting was justifiable or not. Their attitudes shown that they just want this to be gotten over with and the sooner the public forget about this the better.

Of Lies and Liars

Nazri Aziz managed to get himself into the lime light again. He had accused Thai pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand of being a liar: “She lied in the inquest and she is lying now”.

I remembered once read a Buddhist story, where the moral of the story is:"When your heart is filled with shit, you will see shit everywhere."

Nazri Aziz had in countless times, shown himself to be a much more well established pathological liar. Perhaps it is because his heart is filled with so much lies that, the first instinct he had of others is that they had lied.

It seems to be that UMNO had lied so many times that they no longer have the capability to differentiate between what is the truth and what constitute a lie.

Another example, the smear campaign on Zaid Ibrahim. One BN blogger, purportedly have a picture evidence that Zaid Ibrahim is an alcoholic. Which turns out to be a blatant lie, where the blogger (read liar) doctored a picture from the Nutgraph and produced it as an evidence.

It might be true that all is fair in the affair of war and love, but running a smear campaign by splashing doctored picture on the internet is low. It is lower than hitting below the belt. I do not know how much lower BN could go and I am waiting with baited breath to see if they will set a new record.

Liar, liar pants on fire, nose is as long as a telephone wire!

The rise of Oligarchy in Malaysia

Merriam Webster Dictionary define Oligarchy as:-

1. government by the few;


2. a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes;

Watching the political development in Malaysia, from the bizarre right down to the idiotic turns of events, have made me ponder if Malaysia indeed practices democracy.

Take for example, how our Prime Minister is elected. But wait, he wasn't elected! Yes, he is an elected member of Parliament, but there were no election mechanism at all that would determine if Malaysians in general, and UMNO party members in particular have chosen him as the Prime Minister of Malaysia! He had ascended to that seat by means of a "power transition" between him and former prime minister Abdullah Badawi.

The manner that "power transition" was being handled made me wonder if the Prime Minister seat is the heirloom of these few selected families, just like how oligarchy works.

Since our Second Prime Minister Tun Razak, the seat of Prime Minister had and have been from only a few closely knitted individuals many of them from the same family: they are related to Tun Razak.

Third Prime Minister Tun Hussein Onn is the brother in law of Tun Razak.

Our current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib is the son of Tun Razak. The Razak family indeed have a stranglehold onto the Premiership of Malaysia Government today.

Our Home Minister is Datuk Seri Hishammuddin (the son of Tun Hussein Onn).

Khairy Jamaluddin (the son in law of the Fifth Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi) is currently the youth chief of UMNO. (The strongest party in Barisan Nasional, the ruling coalition in the government.)

Datuk Mukhriz, the Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry is the third son of our Fourth Prime Minister Tun Mahathir.

If we Malaysians allow the status quo to remain and let the Barisan Nasional regime to continue ruling Malaysia, we could expect that Datuk Seri Hishamuddin, Datuk Mukhriz or Jamaluddin to one day to ascend to the throne of Prime Minister just like their dads. The ascend would be in the form of power transition plan just like how their fathers (or father-in-law) ascended to become the Prime Minister of Malaysia. The power to rule will be in the hands of the Razak family, the Abdullah family, and the Mahathir family. The transformation from democracy to oligarchy in Malaysia would then be completed and these families would be the new ruling elite class of oligarchy Malaysia.

We, Malaysians might have to chant long live the Prime Minister one day...

14 Reasons why we should vote BN out.

1) RM482 million Shah Alam Hospital.

2) RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone.

3) USD$3 billion Perwaja Steel.

4) More than USD$6.2 billion loses by Bank Negara Malaysia in speculative forex trading.

5) USD$1 billion Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF) Scandal.

6) RM270 million Terengganu Stadium with a collapsed roof.

7) RM1.14 billion cost overrun of the RM6 billion Ipoh-Rawang double track project.

8) RM100 billion wastage via Proton and a string of financial scandals with Tun Dr Mahatir as PM and BN at the helm as government of Malaysia.

9) RM270 billion wasted by the BN government when Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi was PM.

We are not done yet, there are still the Malaysian Military Scandals:

10) The RM50 million missing Jet Engines.

11) The RM6.75 billion leaky Naval Patrol Boats.

12) The overpriced Eurocopter. We spent RM2.3 billion for 12 units while, Brazil only spent USD$1.2 billion (RM4.5 billion) for 50 units.

13) The 1 billion Euros Scorpene Submarine that cannot dive with 114 million Euros commission paid to Perimekar, a company controlled by Abdul Razak Baginda, confidante of PM Datuk Seri Najib.

14) The lucrative RM3.2 billion Sukhoi Jet Fighter deal with RM308 million missing commission.

Isn't this enough reasons (billions) to vote BN out?

To the staunch BN supporters, how many more billions are needed to convince you that Malaysia can no longer afford to let BN rule the country? When you have caught your house maid stealing from you, would you continue to keep her as your housemaid? If you would not keep a house maid that is stealing from you, then why continue keeping BN as our government when we have caught them stealing billions?

我是什么？

我有个名字，可我并不是我的名字。在某个程度上我的名字代表了我，可它并不是我的一切和所有。我的名字只是我的代号。一个方便别人称呼我的代号。

我有个形象，可我并不是我的形象。我的形象会影响别人看我的眼光，可它并不是真正的我。我的形象只是我带给别人的印象。一个虚无缥缈的假象。

我有个职业，可我并不是我的职业。我今天可能是个教师，可我可以辞职，可以转去做一个工程师，可以自己出来创业，做一个老板。我的职业只是我谋生的方法。

我会沉迷，沉迷于很多东西。有时，我会是个书迷；有时，却又会沉迷网中；有时，也会忘我与电游中；也曾经通宵追过电视剧。我已了解，这是我在逃避现实，当我在沉迷时，我正陶醉于我自己的世外桃源。忘我于我的乌托邦。可现实是逃避不了的，我终究还是要回来面对。所以，沉迷的我不是我。

我会迷惘，不知所措，那是因为我不认识我自己，不了解自己。我到底是谁？我是什么?


读张德芬的＂遇见未知的自己＂有感而发。

A glimpse into the attitude of SESB

Dr Daniel M. Kammen, an energy researcher claimed that Sabah’s palm oil industry produces enough waste to generate up to 700MW of electricity based on the 2008 palm oil production statistics and conservative growth estimates in the recent forum on energy options for Sabah organised by Green Surf.

Present in the same forum was one Abdul Nasir Abdul Wahid who represented Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB), who, instead of listening to the claim made by Dr Daniel M. Kammen and at least appear to be interested into what this energy researcher has to say. The good representative from SESB insisted that the biomass approach to generate power was not viable to generate 300MW of electricity needed in the state’s east coast.

From this reported attitude of Abdul Nasir Abdul Wahid in the star online, it gave me a glimpse of the attitude of SESB towards Sabah electricity crisis. It seems that SESB is hellbent to go ahead with their coal fired plant, despite the opposition from the people. It is ironic that the SESB is so dismissive of renewable energy from palm waste as there is actually a United Nation Development Program (UNDP) in Malaysia developing Biomass Power Generation and Co-generation in the Palm Oil Mills.

The mere existence of the UNDP had itself lends credit to the claims made by Dr Daniel M. Kammen of the potential of Palm waste in renewable energy for Sabah.

It buggers my mind that how and why would SESB adopt the attitude of completely overlooking researches done in both private institution and in local universities, namely UM and USM on the huge benefit and potentials of palm waste for renewable energy generation. One such research that the Malaysian Palm Oil Board is also currently undertaking and the report will be readied in a month time as reported by the Plantation, Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok via Bernama.

Sometimes the stubbornness of SESB in pushing the coal fired plant made me wonder if there were unspoken vested interest hidden in their endeavor. It would be extremely hypocritical for Sabah to support the Earth Hour come Saturday night (27th March, 2010), when our very own Electricity Company is pushing for a new coal fired plant.

Justice in Malaysia

Is it still possible to get justice in Malaysia?

Day in and out, from what is published in the news, what we have been served is injustice.

The injustice of the Perak debacle.

The many injustifiable deaths in police custody.

The injustices committed against the many ISA detainees.

The injustice that was just served today: Ex-ISA detainee loses RM2.5mil award, ordered to pay costs

There is also a trend that could be observed. Many cases where justice had been served in the High Court, the reverse will then be done swiftly in the Appellate Court, case in point: the Perak MB case, not only that injustice was done swiftly but quickly as well, in less than 24 hours.

When will we see justice be finally served? Will that day come at all?

After seeing what is unfolding with the Sodomy II and the chest thumping of PERKASA ilks, I shudder to think about the future of Malaysia. The downward spiral trend is clear to all but the blinds. Correction, even the blinds could see that Malaysia is becoming another Zimbabwe, if, we are not already there.

Let's vote out BN and stop the rot.
Let's vote out BN and give Malaysia hope!

1 Malaysia, People first but no referendum for something that affect every citizens

It's ironic how the BN government action and its speech is in direct contradictory. The 1Malaysia slogan is:"1Malaysia, people first, performance now."

Yet, when it comes to something that will affect every single one Malaysians (i.e. the people) like the GST (Goods and Service Tax), "There is no referendum. Parliament is the best place to decide." That's what BN government said.

So, People should come first, but when comes to a new tax that would burden every single people on the street, people have no say, Parliament will decide, where the BN government have the majority, where the BN government can bulldoze the tax through and there is nothing that the people (whom should have come first) can do about it.

Talk about walking the talk...

The Story of Brown Country, Episode 1: No, we have no rats, the rats are all opposition!

There was a serious rat problem in this Brown country. The populace have tried many methods to solve the problem, they tried rat-poison, rat-trap, rat-glue and even had run a RM1 one mouse campaign. All of these didn't work. There are still over-population of rats in their country. So, after much pressure from the people, the government of Brown country finally decided to seek the advice of an international consultant. Of course the consultant didn't come cheap, rumors have it that they have to pay Millions of RM to get this consultant's advice.

Anyway, the consultant came to the Brown country. After looking at the situation Brown country is in, the consultant concluded that the country have two options:
1) To run an image campaign to tell the people that the country didn't really have a rat problem. Everything is fine, there are no overrunning of rats in the country. There are no rats stealing people's food, there are no rats contaminating the water source, no rats biting off people's clothes, all these rats problems are political ploys of the oppositions. In fact, the rat problems are the doing of the oppositions. If the oppositions are all locked up in jail, then the country would no longer have any rats, because all the oppositions are the rats.

Without hearing the second options offered by the consultant, the government of Brown country jumped with joy and jubilation. "That is IT! That is what we would do!!" The PM of the Brown country government said.

So, that is what the government do. They run media campaign on newspaper, TV, and Radio, reporting that the rats are the oppositions. If the oppositions were gotten rid of there will be no rat in the country.

The people believed the government, so for 50 over years, the opposition in Brown country were the rats. Who, in their right mind would want a rat to run their country? So, in these 50 years, there were no hope for the opposition. For there were no one, whom would listen to the opposition. After all, who would listen to what a rat have to say?

Then the people started to realized that the rat problem has become worse, in fact, it's such a big problem that the people do not need to look for a rat to find a rat. The rats were so rampant and bold that they are parading in front of the people! As if to telling the people there are nothing you could do!

The people become enraged, they demanded that the government to do more to show some results in catching the rats.

Being a democratically elected government, the government of the Brown country have no choice but to do something, so they decided to form an Anti-Rat Agency (ARA). A special investigation agency with the power to investigate rats but have no power to prosecute rats. The power of prosecutions lies with the AG, the government explains, "But don't worry, the AG will prosecute based the finding of the investigation of ARA."

The people sigh with relieve, finally there is an institution to deal with rats.

For sometimes, rats are being caught, then the people realized something. All the rats that are caught are all small rats. The big ones always got away scot-free. So the people started asking the government:"Why is the big one always got away?"

The government assuring the people:"NO, that is not true, the ARA is independent, it doesn't matter if the rat is big or small, all will be investigated."

So, the ARA went to work, now they are investigating the big rat. Then the opposition making noises, "Why, is the ARA only investigating the big rats in Opposition? Why is it not investigate the bigger rats in the government?" Ask the opposition.

The government responded: "That is not true! The ARA is investigating all the rats be it big, small, governmental or from opposition!"

But the people sees what happened. They finally realized that the biggest rat in the country is the government! So, the people decided to send the government a big message. The people put more opposition into the parliament. Now, the opposition become stronger, much stronger than the government of the Brown country have ever experienced. The government suddenly realized that they need to do more to show the people that they are serious in tackling the rats problem.

So, the government reform the ARA in to BARC (Brown Anti-Rat Council). BARC will have more power than ARA, but still hold no prosecution power. The government also promised the people that with BARC, rats will have no place to hide.

True to the government's word, BARC was given a free hand to work. But only to target the opposition. BARC have gone further than ARA. BARC have gone to the extend to make rat out of a non-rat in the opposition. BARC in their pursuit of the opposition, oops! correction, rats. An opposition figure died in their office.

Suddenly, BARC is in deep trouble. People are now suspecting that BARC have committed a murder. BARC, together with the police, and the governmental pathologist have come out and desperately trying to tell the people that the man committed suicide. BARC have nothing to do with the man's death. But BARC couldn't afford a reasonable explanation how would a man choose to end his life the day before he was going to marry the love of his life.

Under intense pressure from the people, the government open up a coronal court to investigate the cause of death of the opposition figure in BARC office.

The coronal court session is still in progress, and it's anyone guess what would be the outcome. But the modus operandi of BARC remains the same: "There are no rats but those from the opposition."

For some (read PERKASA and it irks) anything that is universally good for the country is a threat to the Malays.

I read, Ibrahim Ali (PERKASA president) media statement with interest. Particularly on the part about market economy is a threat to the Malays and how the Chinese bogeyman would take over the country (Disclaimer: These are all Ibrahim Ali's word, not mine).

Nevermind about the possibility and the truthfulness of all things claimed by PERKASA and the likes.

Nevermind also that the views expressed is unimaginably narrow and racist in nature.

All that is to it is to suggest something that would move the country (read Malaysia) forward, and you would have the likes of Ibrahim Ali jump up and say, "No! you can't do that because that is a threat to Melayu!"

Let see, opening up the market, that's a no-no, as Ibrahim Ali said it, market economy is a threat to the Malays.

What about globalization? Would we be able to face the onslaught of globalization with the continuation of NEP? That is a non-issue to PERKASA because you wouldn't hear anything constructive from them on how to prepare the country and move the country ahead to face the imminent fierce global competitions.

These people is only interested in free hand-outs, free APs, free highway toll concessions, and free lucrative government contracts.

Anything that is good for the country that would take these free things away from them would be responded with "that is a threat to the Malays!".

1Malaysia, People First?

1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now. How nice, but wait. What do 1Malaysia government mean by people first?

If 1Malaysia is truly People First, why is it that the 2009/2010 Budget is looking to introduce new taxes some with fancy names to tax more people and to tax people more? GST, RPGT, and Credit Card Tax are the prime example of a 1Malaysia government way of taking care of the people: By taxing more people with more taxes. To widen the government tax base, said the 1Malaysia government. What does that mean?

Let see, before GST, short for Goods and Service Tax, only 1.4 million of the 26 millions of Malaysians have to pay tax. With GST, a baby just out of the womb of its mother will have to pay tax. The moment the mother buy diapers for the baby, the baby is taxed. So, is this people first?

Before Credit Card tax, small business owners and many income earners rely on the Credit Card to pay bills, outstanding payments, and even salary. It's one of the most convenient micro-credit services available from Malaysia Financial Institutions for the people. Now this service has become taxable. Out of nowhere, suddenly there is extra taxes ordinary people on the street have to pay. So, this is how people is becoming first according to 1Malaysia budget.

RPGT short for Real Property Gain Tax, it is not enough that the people have to service a life long loan just to own a roof over their heads, now this has become taxable, adding more burdens to the people. On average, we pay installment of 20 years for a house, after 20 years finish paying the mortgage, when we want to sell the house, we have to pay tax. The cost of the house might be RM200K when we buy it, but after counting in the interests of the house it might have gone up to RM400K, and when we sell it for RM400K, the government is going to tax us for RM200K profit, conveniently forgotten that the RM200K is not profit at all, they are cost incurred by the interests we service in the long 20 years loan. So, this is what 1Malaysia people first mean: tax them of their houses.

NAP, short for National Automotive Policy, a policy that allow the continuation of AP until 2015. What guarantee that the 1Malaysia government would not extend the life of AP in 2015? From the track records of 1Malaysia government, APs of NAP will most likely be continued way beyond 2015, while people have to pay more for cars. With NAP, the people have to pay double of what our Neighbor up north (Thailand) to own the same type of cars. The people have to take up to 9 years loan to own a car now. So, this is how a 1Malaysia government taking care of the people. By making the people to pay double to buy a car and to have to pay life long loans to own a car. Great!

So, we are too poor or too old to own a new car, never mind we still have our old trusty car to use. Wait! 1Malaysia government Budget say we have to have our old cars inspected annually or else, the road tax will not be renewed. So, we will have to cramp through the ever crowded and slow PUSPAKOM inspection before we could renew the road tax of our old cars. That is still not enough, 1Malaysia wants to stop importing second hand car parts to prevent us from repairing our old cars with used parts. It's safer that way, 1Malaysia government said. But wait, how about old cars that can't find new parts? Sorry, we didn't think of that, 1Malaysia government said. So, that's what People first means to 1Malaysia government.

When the Selangor Chief Minister wanted to declassify documents to tell the people what really happens that causes a landslide, costing people to lost homes, money and properties, the 1Malaysia government is threatening to sue the Chief Minister stopping him to tell the people what the people should know. So, this is people first mean, don't let them know the truth according to 1Malaysia. We stop the Chief Minister for National Security, that's what 1Malaysia tells the people. Why is documents detailing a landslide is matter of national security, no one in the 1Malaysia government bothers to tell the people. So, that's how people become first.

1Malaysia government is going to privatize more public services in the future. To cut cost, they said. But wait, 40 over years of privatizations records have shown only 1 trend. Services become worse and become more expensive to the people. So, this is how people first means, by making us pay more for our rubbishes to be collected, making us pay more for water, making us pay more for electricity, making us pay more for using tolled roads, making us pay more for Indah Water to service our Septic Tank, which should have been covered in our water bill in the first place, like in most other country. Well, what could we do? But 1Malaysia is people first.

So, I wonder, if 1Malaysia people first really means people pay first.

Accept but will Appeal?

Politicians really have a way with words. I am speaking of Barisan Nasional's official stands on the High Court Decision of declaring Kota Siputeh Kedah state seats vacant. The High Court had ruled that Datuk Abu Hassan Sarif is no longer the assemblyman for the constituency and declared his seat vacant because he was absent for two consecutive assembly meetings this year.

The consequences of the High Court decision is that there will be a re-election to be held in Kota Siputeh, Kedah.

The funny thing is that BN, correction, UMNO decision is to accept the High Court decision (read ruling) but will appeal. Hmmm... I mean, if you accept a decision (read ruling), will you appeal against it? If you are going to appeal against a ruling, doesn't that mean you do not accept the ruling? So, where is the logic in accepting the ruling then appeal against it? Or put it in another way, why accept the ruling if you are going to appeal against it? Or put it in yet another way, if you are going to appeal against a ruling, can you say you accepted the decision (read ruling)?

Is NAP a Policy of BN to milk the people?

Since the inception of the National Automotive Policy (NAP), Malaysians have been burdened with tolls, expensive cars, lousy public transport system, and debts.

When Proton was launch, we were told a dream that we would owe a car that is our National Pride and that it would be affordable. It turns out to be a nightmare where the car that is affordable is not affordable at all, the car that is suppose to be our national pride is more like an international laughing stock.

Why then is the ruling party: Barisan National continue this people impoverishing NAP?

With the continuation of the NAP, Malaysia have to pay fines to ASEAN as the policy violated ASEAN AFTA, and us, Malaysians have to pay double for what it is worth to owe a car. We have to ask: What is the benefit of NAP to the rakyat on the street?

The answer is clear, the benefits of continuing the NAP is not for the people on the street. NAP would protect Proton and NAP would continue to give NAZA many APs to rack in many billions. It is a Policy that BN cannot do without, they need it to "earn" their billions for their cronies and themselves.

The people cow continue to be milked.

Islamic State is Oppressive to non-Muslims.

Muslims all over the world, be it due to their ignorance or religious fervent, most aspire to form Islamic state in their respective nations. If you ask them why, they will tell you that it is their Allah given duty.

Google Islamic State, you'd hit a lot of websites and blogs dedicated or attempted to explain and describe Islamic States. Sieving through all the information found on the internet, it eventually becomes clear to me that an Islamic State in both it's ideological form as well as its practical form, is inherently oppressive to non-Muslims. Let me show you.

From http://www.readingislam.com in their article the purpose of Islamic State, it said:

every Muslim is to be regarded as eligible for positions of the highest responsibility in an Islamic state without distinction of race, sex, color or class.

There were no mentioning of whether non-Muslim should enjoy the same eligibility. To find the answer I do not have to go far. From http://www.parvez-video.com in its Quran - State Affairs page, it said:

since the very purpose of the existence of this (Islamic) state is the establishment of the Divine System and the enforcement of the Quranic status, it is apparent that those who do not believe in its ideology i.e. the non-Muslims, cannot be admitted to participate in the affairs of the state.

Then I found this written in a Muslim blog describing Quranic State:

The State which is established on this concept is called the Quranic State or you can say Islamic State, which encompasses two groups of people:

(i) The group whose members believe in the Quranic concept of Ideology and

(ii) The group whose members do not believe in this Ideology.

The members of the first group run the administration of this State and also look after the human rights of the second group so that the members of this group are not deprived of any human right.

So, here you go, in an Islamic State only Muslims are entitled to be elected to run the country, non-Muslims are automatically disqualified. This is a form of discrimination, the non-Muslims are discriminated base on their religion.

So, what happened to non-Muslims in an Islamic state? If you were denied the opportunity to be elected so that your voice could be heard in the nation that you are residing in, you have been denied your right to freedom of speech and your right to be represented in the running of the state. There will be no one to fight for your rights and to protect you from any oppressive measures or policy to be taken by the state. This in itself is another form of oppression and discrimination.

It is idiotic to say that the Muslims will be able to understand the needs and rights of the non-Muslims via consultations. The very essence of the ideology where an Islamic State could only be run by Muslim is itself a manifestation of the inability of Muslims to respect the right of the non-Muslims to be represented in the affair of the state. When one of the most fundamental democratic right of the non-Muslims to be represented is automatically denied to them, how then the Muslims would be able to treat the non-Muslims fairly and would be able to protect the rights of the non-Muslims in an Islamic state?

Just take a look around the world today, you could see Alberto Fujimori (a Japanese) elected as the President of Peru, Manmohan Singh (a Sikh) elected as the Prime Minister of India, and Obama elected as the President of USA but have you ever heard of a non-Muslim being elected as the leader of any Islamic state? There is none. In the ideology of democracy, Muslims are entitled to be elected as representative just as the non-Muslim, but in an Islamic "Democracy" non-Muslim is automatically disqualified. In this regard, democracy is definitely a fairer ideology compared to Islamic "democracy".

Actually, the argument that Islamic State is a democratic state is based entirely on the Khalifa (khilafah or Khilafat depending which Muslim Scholar source) of early Islam Community. Since the Khalifa were elective in nature, so the Muslim Scholars argued that an Islamic State is democratic. This is a severe distortion of the word: democratic. Let me use an analogy: The leader of the Communist party are also elected, but you don't call Communist Country Democratic. The reason is obvious, only those from the Communist Party (those who subscribe to the communist ideals) are eligible to be elected. Just as in an Islamic State only the Muslims are eligible to be elected. So, to me Islamic Democracy is as oxymoron as the term Communist Democracy.

If you have been told by Muslims that in an Islamic State, non-Muslims would be treated fairly and they would not be oppressed or trampled upon, then you should read what is ordained In the Quran.

(Sura 6:109): "You revile not those whom they call upon besides Allah, lest they out of spite revile Allah Almighty in their ignorance". The problem lies in exactly that there is an escape clause.

(Sura 9:29): "Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued." This justified Dhimmitude.

As is seen in what is already happening in Malaysia, there are bound to be inter-religious conflicts, as we all live together in the same country. When conflicts happened between the believers and the non-believers, any questioning of the "Islamic" practices would be deemed insulting to the said religion. So as ordained in the Quran, it would be state sanctioned that the non-believers be put down by force. As the non-believers would be accused of reviling against Allah. As it's seen happening almost daily around the world.

Also, given the ultra-sensitivity of the Muslims today, any attempt at initiating an intellectual dialogue on all things Islam, would be automatically classified as attempts to insult the religion, as is seen in the Malaysia Bar Council forum entitled "Conversion to Islam: Article 121 (1A) of the Federal Constitution, Subashini and Sharmala Revisited" .

Then if you have been told that the Sharia law would not be imposed onto non-Muslims, you would have been lied to. Think about it, if the Sharia Law become the state law, how would non-Muslims being citizen of the state be exempted from such state laws? In fact, from http://www.parvez-video.com:

The non-believers being the citizens of an Islamic State, Islamic laws shall be applied to them. In their personal affairs, they shall be allowed to take their own decisions, subject to the laws of the Islamic State.

Also from http://www.readingislam.com:

In Western democracy, the people are sovereign; in Islam sovereignty is vested in Allah and the people are His caliphs or representatives. The laws given by Allah through His Prophet ( Shari ‘ah) are to be regarded as constitutional principles that should not be violated.

So, these website has already spelled it out explicitly or implicitly for us. Being the citizen of an Islamic State, Islamic Law will be imposed to the non-Muslims. This is a form of Oppressions as the non-Muslims are subjected to religious laws that they do not subscribe to.

Lastly, the formation of an Islamic State would not be completed until the practice of Dhimmitude. All non-believers would eventually be made Dhimmis in an Islamic State as is ordained in the holy Quran (Sura 9:29).

From Wikipedia. Being a Dhimmi in an Islamic states means that you will have less right compared to that of a Muslim, you would be subjected to state sanction humiliation, your house can not be seen bigger than that of a Muslim's house, your testimony in the court is only as good as half of that of a Muslim, you would have to wear distinctive clothes to differentiate yourself as a dhimmi and you would be the first target of attack of any uprising as is seen throughout the history of all Islamic Empires, and your life would worth as best one half of that of a Muslim. In modern day definitions, being treated as a dhimmi in your own country is definitely a form of oppression.

My conclusion that Islamic State is inherently oppressive to non-Muslim is then verified by an article in http://www.islamfortoday.com/. The article said:

Islamic states inevitably treat non-Muslim citizens as less than equal curbing their access to power and religious freedom.

With this, I end my article here.

If you have reached here, you should note that I use no internet source that is anti-Islam or websites that propagate Islamophobia. Feel free to check them out to verify my claims.