Who's running the country ?

Pak Lah has gone to Syria, and is on his way to Yemen. Datuk Najib is in Mecca doing his 'umrah'. So, who is minding the country. Has anybody been appointed to act on their behalf ? Datuk Najib needs all the 'divine help' he can get. His defence ministry is in a mess. The ragging incidents at the Air Force College is under probe. The many mechanically unfit aircrafts that have crashed. The silly border guards caught 'playing' with live grenades. And his 'pet' project the National Service is in a mess too. Another teenaged NS trainee was reported dead today,the second death this year and the 19th death since the National Service program started four years ago. And the many sexual and physical abuses reported or hushed-hushed. Meanwhile, the Anti Corruption Agency director general is due for an 'interview' with the parliamentary integrity panel on charges of corruption, sexual abuse and misuse of government facilities, as reported by a fellow ACA officer. The said offences had been going on since the DG was in the police force, and as an ACA official. No action has been taken on him yet. IGP Datuk Musa says he knows about it. The case has gone back to the AG for review. Would a crook catch another crook ? Guess not, thats why there are so many in business. I call on Pak Lah to reduce his globe-trottings and stay put and get some serious work done for the good of the rakyat and the country. Don't be complacent about that victory in Batu Talam.That was no fight at all.

Road safety contest

Its balik kampung season again, this time for Chinese new year. The highways and byeways will be jammed with vehicles, big and small, leaving the big cities for little hometowns and villages. In their eagerness, in their haste to be with family, many drivers tend to be careless and forget about traffic rules. 55 deaths by road accidents have been reported since Ops Sikap XII was launched on Sunday. The death toll may go up further if drivers don't change their attitude on the roads. Think of your family and loved ones waiting for you. A few days back, the Road Safety department thought it had a brilliant idea to keep the roads safe and creating awareness among the public. It launched a public contest called 'Snap,Send and Win' to snap photos of traffic violators caught in the act. Cash prizes were being offered. In other words they want you to waste your precious time and go out and look for traffic offenders and record it in pictures then send to them for action. Risk your own life and limb for a few ringgit. Tranport minister Chan Kong Choy was not amused and directed the department to scrap the contest immediately due to possible abuse by certain quarters. The department should start planning some other strategies or get road safety consultants from other countries to help educate our road users and road designers.

MyKad lucky draw

On Tuesday, home affairs minister Radzi Sheikh Ahmad announced that the 'Jom tukar dan menang' lucky draw for MyKad (new IC) applicants be withdrawn. He said it was silly (actually he said rubbish) to reward people for doing what they are supposed to do. That's the problem with Malaysians ,if you want them to do something, offer something in return. Which is bloody unfair to law abiding citizens like me and you. The former minister (now natural resources and environment minister) Azmi Khalid said he will give a written statement soon on why the lucky draw was held. The third draw supposed to be held in November 2005, was postponed indefinitely, because the NRD announced a RM10 fine for late collection of their MyKad. The contest was overtaken by events, such as the Cabinet reshuffle in February 2006 and the minister Azmi had no intention to stop the contest. He left it to the discretion of the incoming minister Radzi. In Kangar, Perlis CM Shahidan Kassim asked minister Radzi not to be harsh. If he is not in favor of the previous minister's actions, just issue a statement to scrap the contest. Don't call it stupid or rubbish. Why, Datuk Radzi, after all you, Datuk Azmi and Datuk Shahidan are state brothers from Perlis. UPDATE : Datuk Azmi admitted that he had postponed the lucky draw and forgot to update his successor Datuk Radzi. His ministry officials had forgotten too. This minister must be having more pleasant things on his mind,other than just his job. (He just got married at that time to a hot tv personality.)

Bloggers in trouble

Should I feel sorry or what ? Sympathise ? Empathise ? I'm talking about those two blogging guys who got the editors of an established newspaper so riled up. Now those two bloggers are getting sued. Our two 'folk heroes' believe that they speak for the 'misinformed' public. Alternative and unspun news and facts. In fact, many other bloggers too have done the same, but..... they were not targetted. Even the politician bloggers (opposition and others) don't write nice things about the establishment. Nobody has stopped them yet. The common bond between these two cyber-writers is that both of them are unhappy with the newspaper's administration and editorial officials. So some unkind remarks or innuendos were written to embarrass or shame the news guys. Maybe they went out of line somewhere. Its common knowledge that one of the said bloggers used to be on that newspaper team. Maybe the pain of being 'let go' is still burning ? The other fellow is known to be feuding with one of the former editors and likes to ridicule the newspapers. I admit that I do read their blogs and its amazing how they can come up with such sensational stories sometimes. Very entertaining. They should have looked out for their readers comments. Some are so rude and insulting. These commenters will spoil and sullify your blogs. You can criticize, but don't libel. And what's with these news guys ? Makan cili kah ?

Johore flooded again !

Kluang, Kota Tinggi and several towns in southern Johore were flooded again, just three weeks after the first wave in mid-December 2006. Most of the folks had returned to their homes when the floodwaters receded just a few days ago. All the hard work of washing and cleaning their homes to make them liveable again was wasted. Now, some of them had to evacuate their houses to go back to the shelters. Some families claimed that not only their furniture and electrical appliances were destroyed, they found that some valuables and cash were 'missing'. We sometimes 'forget' about these things when our main priority at the time was to save our families and loved ones. We put our trust and faith on the 'security authorities' to keep our homes safe from looters and other like predators. Ever wondered who has access to the flood stricken properties ? Our national leader is not around again to visit the flood victims as he is away on 'official duties' in the Philippines. He promised to come and have a look as soon as he can. When the floods hit the southern states last month, he was on vacation, fishing and looking at a yacht in Turkey. But he did cut short his vacation to come and cuddle babies and mingle with the folks in the shelter. Every smart aleck knows what causes floods. Soil erosion from barren hillslopes causing heavy silting in the rivers and streams and long continuous heavy rains. Rich natural vegetation scraped away for 'mega projects'. There's one very ultra-mega project just recently launched in Johore. This project is named after the state ruler. What every smart aleck doesn't know is that any proposed project that covers more than a hectare of land area must submit an Environment Impact Assessment report to the Environment ministry. Somebody is not doing their job and somebody is faking the report. Who's going to take responsibility for the disaster ? Its been said, time and time again, don't mess around with Mother Nature. See what happened.

Looking back at 2006

Already one week into 2007 and this is my first post for 2007. The holiday mood is slowly fading and everyone's back in their business. Never expected the floods to be so devastating in Johore and the southern states. From the pictures we saw on tv and on internet sites, reminds us of the New Orleans floods in the US, and some coastal areas look like the tsunami aftermath. That is one of the most memorable events of 2006. Wonder what will Mother Nature hand us this year. If only we had preserved her natural assets and protected our environment, we would not be so devastated. Develop some more, cut the hillslopes, chop off the trees, choke the streams and rivers. When disaster comes , you ought to know who to blame. You asked for it. Malaysian politics can be summed up as this : Everybody thinks that they are smarter than the government and Prime Minister and can run the country better. Racial harmony and religious tolerance are not being given the chance to flourish because of certain chauvinistic parties. People without religious credentials shut up say the holier than thees. Local warlords and their kin can break the local bylaws and get away with them. Those other politicians who kick up the ruckus are plain envious, so they say. What next 2007 ? Will we Malaysians ever change ?

Selamat 'Aidil Adha & Tahun Baru 2007

No new year resolutions for me. Don't always keep 'em anyway. Just take things in stride. Not very organised, but it works somehow. Just managed to log in. Been trying for some days, since that Taiwan earthquake damaged the whatchamaycallit cable. Hari Raya Qurban falls on New Year's Eve this year. So, I advise all the decent Muslims boys and girls not to go and make a nuinsance of themselves on New Year's eve to welcome 2007. Respect the Aidil Adha. My daughter made my wife and me proud by her good performance in the PMR ( seven As). That was a fine present for her mum who celebrated her birthday yesterday. Selamat hari raya 'Aidil 'Adha and selamat Tahun Baru 2007.

Arrogance

Our public officials are getting more and more arrogant and self-centred these days. Recently, one deputy minister in charge of internal security, said in Parliament that WE, yes WE, the public are partly to be blamed for the increasing incidences of snatch thieves, assaults, mugging and even rape. He implied that WE are the ones who encouraged those criminals to do what they do unto us. It seems that WE are careless and give an opportunity for the criminals to strike. OK we'll consider that reason. The next thing he said was that women are to be blamed for enticing those hoods. Carrying expensive handbags and wearing body hugging and body jiggling clothes. Come on lah mister deputy minister , even makciks and aunties get assaulted. What so sexy about these sweet old ladies ? What's wrong about carrying expensive handbags ? Mister deputy minister, do what you are paid to do. Keep our streets clean and safe from these never-do- goods. Don't blame the public if you can't handle your job. Our very articulate minister of culture and heritage said he could not prevent city officials from bulldozing a certain mansion in the city. He said the building has no historical value, it was only a mansion built by a very rich man. History and arcitectural experts regret that they were not consulted. A prominent Malaysian historian said it is significant to the history of the city. So, mister minister does'nt know much about history or what ? I believe that there is a plan to rewrite our history.