Gitmo to be closed

US President Obama ordered the closure of the notorious Guatanemo Prison within one year. He also ordered other secret prisons to be closed. What has ex-president George W Bush gotta say about that ?

44th US President

Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the USA at 11.00 am 20/1/09 US time (our time 1.00 am 21/1/09). I watched the event on the Internet. RTM was broadcasting live, but there were too much chatter from the RTM presenter and his guests. The Internet broadcast was slower by 5 minutes, I think. Great speech by Obama, and lots of promises which we hope he can keep.

KT voters reject BN

The voters of Kuala Terengganu gave the parliament seat to PAS man A.Wahid Endut. Even though the BN with DPM Najib had dished out lots of goodies to the KT folks, they still rejected BN's man Wan Farid, by more than 2,000 votes. Najib and other federal BN leaders left town early as if they had known they were going to lose. Syabas YB Wahid and PAS.

Lina is 18 today.

Lina Masturah turns 18 today. She's one of the lucky teenagers who did not have to go to PLKN ( National service training camps). I'm quite happy with that. To pay for her driving lessons, she took a part time job in the office where brother Fahmie works. She passed her Undang-undang (highway code) test today. She's grown up now, and sooner or later I would have to give her some kind of freedom, which I hope she will use wisely and with responsibility. Remember, your mum and dad and brothers love you. Make us proud, whatever you do.

Seat belt dilemma

On New Year's Day, we drove to Alor Star to spend some time with my eldest son Firdaus and family. This is the day that the govt enforces the compulsory wearing of seat belts for back seat passengers. Initially there were five of us going. As our car, a Toyota Avanza can seat seven people, that should not be a problem. But we had to bring along Fadzlil's wheel chair. The back row seat had to be folded to carry the wheel chair, that leaves only three seats in the second row. The seating arrangement was me and Shahman, in front. Fadzlil, Milah and Lina in the second row with Shafiq, bouncing in between them (unbelted). Then, Lina decided not to go. She said it was too cramped up. Shafiq is not so little anymore and gets excited when travelling. We sent her to her friend's house to spend the day. Fahmie was working overtime, so there was no one at home. Imagine, another family with four or five kids, wanting to travel together in a Kancil or Proton Saga/Wira . Because of the heartless 'seat belt ruling', somebody got to be left behind. They wanted us Malaysians to support the local car industry. They sold us cars that are affordable for the average wage earners. Then they make this unreasonable ruling, that keeps the family separated. Now Proton will be producing MPVs to force Malaysians to buy. Is this the reason for introducing this rule ?

New Year 2009

Happy New Year 2009. 2008 is now History. Did we learn anything ? Make this year and years after this better and safer for our children and grand-children.

Sime Darby, keep your filthy paws off IJN !

I'm glad that the govt has agreed to postpone the privatisation of Institut Jantung Negara (IJN) (National heart Institute) by Sime Darby. The IJN has given excellent service to many Malaysian heart patients, rich and poor. If it was privatised (diswastakan) , many poor patients will not be able to be treated . Privatised institutions are notorious for raising fees beyond the means of low-income earners. Sime Darby has no good reason to take over the IJN, other than to make money from people's miseries and to fill the wallets of its cronies. Finance minister and in-coming PM Najib, the postponement is to enable the govt and Sime Darby to further study the matter. That is all bullshit, you know and I know and Najib also knows, this privatisation will become an issue at the coming Kuala Terengganu by-elections, and the BN will lose a lot of votes as well as the seat, if the govt goes thru with it. Even the doctors at IJN are against it. No decent Malaysian wants it. So, Sime Darby and cronies keep your filthy paws off IJN.

Ketuanan Melayu

Ketuanan Melayu or Malay Supremacy or Malays Must Be the Boss and other races just shut up or get arrested for sedition. Every day, the press and TV stations keep on highlighting this topic. Who's for, who's against, who's got a point of view. I'm telling you Malaysians, this ketuanan thing is already established. The Agung is a Malay, the PM and DPM are Malays, the Chief Justice is Malay, the Armed Forces chief is Malay, the Inspector General of Police is Malay, the Attorney General is Malay, the top civil servant is a Malay, most of the GLC 's CEOs are Malay or Bumiputra. Wonder why the Malays are so worked up about this Malay supremacy thingy ? The Malaysian Chinese, Indians and other races are not trying to take over those positions. Its all in the minds of simple minded Malays, brain-washed by desperate unsuccessful Malay politicians and businessmen. What the non-Malays want is fairness, due justice and equal opportunities. If a non-Malay is better qualified , let him or her have that chance. Do'nt pick a second rater just because he or she is a Malay/bumiputra. I'm a 'certified' Malay (just like Dr Mahathir, Hussein Onn, Pak Lah). My roots stretch out everywhere from Turkey, India, Sri Lanka, China and the Nusantara islands. To me, this Ketuanan Melayu is just political crap.