Selamat Hari Raya

It was a long drive but arriving was the goal which we did. Alhamdulillah. Lots of silly folks on the road though.
Unfortunately, some people believe that driving fast is bad, which is true to a cetain degree. Driving too slow can be infuriating to others and cause accidents too..
Not looking forward to another long return drive in a few days time..

In the meantime, we will enjoy all the ketupat,rendang etc and maybe days at the beach..

Selamat Raya all.  None of those pseudo Arab greetings from me.

Ore Kelate

This article really made me proud to be one too.

Essentially, how long do we need to be made to feel as if we owe UMNO our independence? Is that 'debt' can never be considered paid? Even when UMNO is the current tyrant

Melayu telah berubah, Utusan belum – Zaid Ibrahim
JUN 1 – Bagi kebanyakan orang, Ahad adalah hari untuk rehat kerana ia hari cuti. Malangnya Mingguan Malaysia semalam (31 Mei 2009) tidak membolehkan saya rehat dan merasa tenang.
Malahan tulisan-tulisan dalam akhbar itu menimbulkan rasa kecewa, mengingatkan saya betapa jauhnya akhbar Melayu ini dari realiti sebenar kehidupan di Malaysia serta besar jurang pendirian akhbar itu dengan pemikiran orang Melayu masa ini.
Mungkin inilah menyebabkan Utusan semakin hari semakin kurang orang membacanya.Tema dan asas cerita utamanya adalah perkauman, perkauman dan perkauman.
Saya sebenarnya sudah malas baca tapi bila melihat tajuk “Melayu dikhianati?” tulisan ideolog utamanya Awang Selamat, saya paksa diri untuk tahu lebih lanjut.
Kata Awang Selamat, semakin hari semakin teruk hatinya ditoreh oleh tuntutan kaum bukan Melayu yang dakwanya berbau rasis yanag berkemuncak sekarang ini dan bermula sejak keputusan pilihanraya yang lepas.
Wah! Dengan lain perkataan, rakyat Malaysia mestilah menjaga hati Awang Selamat sebelum membuat apa-apa tuntutan kerana bila hati Awang Selamat tertoreh, maka hati Umno pun tertoreh; dan bila hati Umno tertoreh maka hati Melayu pun tertoreh. Begitulah agaknya logik Awang Selamat.
Dia tidak sedikit pun mengulas apa yang dituntut oleh rakyat Malaysia yang bukan Melayu itu.
Apakah yang “kerterlaluan” itu? Kalau pun mereka bertanya soal biasiswa atau pembahagian tanah atau peluang kerja; tak bolehkah dijawab secara rasional dan berpandukan fakta.
Mengapa mudah benar tertoreh hati? Apakah segala tuntutan orang bukan Melayu itu (yang ada hak di bawah Perlembagaan) tidak wajar dan tidak berasas?
Mengikut Awang Selamat begitulah agaknya kerana 50 tahun dahulu Umno dan Melayu telah “bermurah hati” memberi kerakyatan kepada nenek moyang mereka semasa Merdeka.
Jadi kerana kerakyatan itu diberi atas ehsan dan besar hati Umno maka anak cucu mereka tidak sama sekali boleh MEMBUAT APA-APA TUNTUTAN kerana mereka mesti sentiasa dan selama-lamanya mengenang budi kemurahan hati Umno.
Pemikiran seperti inilah yang saya maksudkan sudah tidak laku dan ditolak oleh rakyat semua. Bila rakyat meminta sesuatu walau pun dari Melayu, Cina atau India, adalah menjadi tanggungjawab kerajaan (dan akhbar yang bertanggung jawab menilainya) untuk cuba menunaikan permintaan tersebut.
Kalau keterlaluan, terangkan saja mengapa tapi jangan ungkit sejarah untuk menutup kekurangan kita. Janganlah sentiasa naik marah dan mengugut dan memberi serpihan sejarah yang tidak lengkap untuk membuat modal politik.
Kita mendapat kemerdekaan kerana British telah bersetuju dengan pihak Perikatan dalam hal syarat-syarat kemerdekaan tersebut. Bila kita bersetuju, kita hormatilah perjanjian tersebut.
Usahlah nak ungkit bahawa kita bermurah hati memberi kerakyatan yang mudah kepada Cina dan India. Hakikatnya itulah syarat yang kita setuju.
Tak ada siapa yang memaksa kita memberi kemudahan itu. Pada masa itu adalah mustahil untuk British melepaskan Malaya pada tahun 1957 jika soal kewarganegaraan kaum Cina dan India tidak selesai. Sejak Gerald Templer dihantar ke sini oleh Winston Churchill pada tahun 1952, semua pihak berusaha mencari jalan ke arah memerdekakan Malaya tetapi dengan syarat yang perlu diselesaikan ialah penerimaan kaum Cina dan India sebagai warganegara.
Kerajaan British tegas dalam hal ini. Dan Umno setuju dengan syarat ini. Itulah harga kemerdekaan yang Perikatan faham dam menerima dengan hati terbuka. Apakah Utusan ada fakta sejarah yang berbeza?
Tapi katakanlah kita terima pandangan kononnya Umno telah “bermurah hati “tentang kerakyatan kepada mereka yang menjadi warganegara lebih 50 tahun dahulu; adakah Awang Selamat mengharapkan cucu cicit mereka sekarang ini tidak langsung boleh bersuara tentang hak mereka? Adakah mereka perlu diam kerana tok nenek mereka dulu kononnya telah mendapat ehsan dari Umno?
Pemikiran feudal ini tidak ada tempat dalam sabuah Negara moden yang menghormati hak rakyat nya sendiri.
Satu lagi rencana ialah tulisan pengarang kanan Zulkiflee Bakar yang memberi nasihat kapada pembaca Utusan supaya jangan buta sejarah.
Agaknya Melayu macam saya ini dianggap buta sejarah. Sebenarnya soal sejarah tidak sukar dipelajari dan saya memang berminat untuk mengetahui lebih lanjut tentang sejarah.
Tetapi orang yang paling malang dan kita kasihan ialah orang yang buta hati. Bila hati kita buta, tidak ada fakta dan ilmu yang dapat mengisi kekosongan dalam diri kita. Akhbar Utusan dan Mingguan sepatutnya membantu Perdana Menteri meneroka paradigma baru seperti dalam mencari erti 1Malaysia yang sebenar (perkataanya pun ialah Malaysia; bukan mana-mana kaum tertentu).
Akhbar ini sepatutnya membantu Perdana Menteri mencari jalan membangunkan ekonomi dengan pendekatan dan dasar yang lebih pragmatik dan adil. Akhbar sepatutnya mencadangkan cara yang pragtik dan progresif untuk membantu PM bukan menjadi pelobi ideologi yang usang .
Tapi Utusan masih mahukan gurindam perkauman. Bagi Utusan, Melayu gagal kerana orang Cina, kerana orang India. Sedarlah Utusan, orang bukan Melayu dan Melayu sendiri pun sudah dapat membezakan antara Melayu dan Umno, tahu bahawa bila dasar Umno dikritik, ia bukan mencabar Melayu tetapi mencabar Umno.
Usaha nak lagakan Melayu dan Cina kian hebat di usahakan tetapi percaya lah api perkauman tidak mungkin dapat menyala saperti dahulu.
Usahlah mudah tertoreh hati bila sesuatu dasar Umno dikritik dan dipersoalkan. Orang Melayu telah banyak berubah minda dan kefahaman mereka tentang Malaysia dan masa depan mereka; mereka tahu perbezaan itu.
Mereka tahu apa yang menanti dalam dunia yang penuh mencabar ini. Dan apa perubahan yang perlu mereka lakukan. Cuma Utusan belum sedar perubahan ini.

Russian medical degree

Unfortunately, this is tarring everyone with Russian medical degree with the same brush, BUT, from my personal experience i think it is true.
There is no proof but I am almost certain, deep in my heart, someone (or more than one) in PSD/JPA was bribed to confer recognition to Russian medical schools (and some others too).
We all could and would be better of, if the Govt actually pay more salary (and perks) to medical lecturers , we then can offer more seats locally.
As it is, medical lecturers get worse deal than Ministry of Health doctors. I should know, since I was one. Countless proposals get dumped into the bin by JPA.

It gets clearer nowadays why JPA is not interested to do the logical thing.
One can't get rich by doing things properly.

Pak Lah is selling IJN.

What a lasting legacy. Or was it Najib's decision. I am quite sure CIMB Investment Bank will have a say.Humm, looks like another 20-months bonus coming.
Going by BN's track record of looking after the rakyat e.g. toll agreement, electricity tariff or even fuel subsidy turned into fuel tax, I wouldn't be holding my breath that the promise he made as per The Star today, will happen.

Published: Thursday December 18, 2008 MYT 7:38:00 PM

PM: Take over of IJN only allowed if poor taken care

KUALA LUMPUR: The Government will only allow the private sector to take over the National Heart Institute (IJN) if they fulfilled their responsibilities to the poor, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.

The Prime Minister said there might be good in Sime Darby Bhd’s bid to buy a stake in IJN because with privatisation, more people would have access to treatment despite rising operation and medicine costs.

“It should not matter if the party who wants to take over can give an assurance that the low-income group will be able to seek treatment there and charged reasonable rates,” he said.

“There are criticisms on the move to allow the private sector to buy a stake in IJN, that this will result in a hike in fees.

“At the same time, we have to adapt to changes in the field of medicine and equipment.

“The best experts are also needed, who may need higher remunerations. More beds are also needed.

“All this incur additional costs. The deal depends on many things in the negotiations.

“The Government needs to look into this carefully,” he told reporters at his office in Parliament House on Thursday.

Finding our own balls..now?

This is a sign that your clout is waning? Or not?

How to become very rich in Malaysia

Connections and the ability to flip assets can get you going places

If you have ever wondered how to get rich in Malaysia – fabulously rich and very quickly at that – here’s a model that you might want to look at very closely. Not easy to do but if you do have a couple of projects in the bag, it will set you up for several lifetimes.

First you need connections – strong ones, the higher the better and if it goes right up to the top all the better. You need this because you need to convince the powers that be that your projects are good.

But you might ask if your projects are so good, why do you need connections? Why don’t you just go out and execute? Good questions, those. Here’s the answer - you need the state to give you something to do the deal that will help the nation.

Still can’t figure it out? See, it’s like this. You want to help the country, right? The country needs say a port. But you can’t build a port just like that. You need land to build a port. You tell the state or federal government you need land – cheap land, preferably free to build the port.

Or to take another example, you want to help the country by building a power plant. But look, you need land too and not only that you need the power to be sold. So you want an agreement – an iron-clad one to sell the power to Tenaga Nasional and to pass through all costs.

You see, that’s your reward as an entrepreneur – you get someone else to build the power plant, they guarantee the performance of the plant and someone else guarantees to buy your power and pay for all your costs. Nice deal? You bet. Billionaires have been made that way.

Or you may want to start an air hub. If you are persuasive enough, you can even convince the government to compulsorily acquire the land and sell it to you cheap. Once you have cheap land, lucrative contracts and concession agreements, the sky’s the limit.

Let’s take it a step further. If you want to realise the value of all of these things that you have and still keep control of them, it’s nice to have a listed company into which you can inject them. Inject one asset for shares and you gain control of the company.

And then inject others over the years for cash, taking the money out of the company. Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it too?

Do it right and get a flow of assets to inject in (you can do anything with discounted cash flow valuations – just change the discount rate, and presto, the value changes!), and you get a tidy flow of profits and cash into your personal accounts over the years. I mean a really tidy flow.

Just how much can you make this way, you ask? Why don’t you take a guess first? Did you say RM500mil? Guess again. RM1bil? How about five times that and you may be getting into the right order of magnitude.

One Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary actually made some RM4.5bil that way - actually more because he still controls the listed company.We are not saying he is the only one, which makes your chances of joining the ranks better – if you are connected to high places that is.

But then again, if things change – and that’s still a big ‘if’ – you might not find it so easy anymore.

Royal immunity? I think not

I think it's pretty rich for misbehaving 'Royalties' to request immunity. To be above the law. Why not ask for immortality while you are at it?

If you have been honourable like not making false promises to certain actor, pay off your loans to certain bank etc then all these issues about being immune should not even be discussed.

If you don't create bar fights, running off with somebody's daughters etc, again the issue about immunity should not arise.

If you don't bash up your caddy or hockey coach or pay tax on your Lamborghini Diablo, again the issue about immunity should not arise.

I have yet to hear Prince Charles do anything like that, apart from wishing that he's a tampon to someone!!!

As Head of Islam, whatever that may mean, they all shoud realise that the Prophet was immune from making sin (maksum), not that he asked Allah to be immune from punishment should he deserves it.

I think, in this 'political' dark age, the Royalties are not above arm twisting the current 'weak' government to accede to this silly immunity notion, with silent threat that " we will back Opposition iy don't give us this".

Thank god to less than 2/3 majority.

I wonder what is Malaysiakini's take on this?

Uncommon sense

So, Malaysian Fatwa Council has banned yoga. What is not clear to me is that, Yoga in general has been banned or the chanting part or what?
Secondly, are we going to have Religous Police a la the 'in'famous Mutawwa in Saudi? To actually go around and prosecute those participating in Yoga?

Having said that, I tend to agree with Aisehman and Rocky regarding Hindu Sangam. It would have been better for them to say 'No comment'.

Far too many 'agent provocateur' nowadays and they can be in a form or a person, NGO or Government agency. It would be better for all of us, to be liberal in thought and conservative in words, until the future is clearer.