So what's new?

Ah yes, it certainly has been a while hasn't it?

For starters, MCA looks like a big whole mess. People get removed then
reinstated (for the record, I do not agree with Dr. Chua being party
Deputy President). Then we have a "young" chap who was given the
Deputy Presidency then having it taken away. He is now challenging the
ROS over the decision. Meanwhile, the President, who himself is
literally walking on broken glass, decides to sack 4 CWC members for
being alligned to the "younger" chap.

What does the above tell you?....
It's quite clear that all the above personalities are trying their
level best to stay in power. But then isn't that what politics is all
about?

On the side, we have Pas who are also struggling from a leadership
crisis. That's what happens when a ship has two captains. Tell me, if
the spiritual adviser is numero uno, then what function does the
President have? As expected, eventually the two will be at
loggerheads. It was only a matter of time.

As for me, I don't really care. MCA and Pas can go screw their party
members to hell. It makes no difference to me and many like me.

What I care about are the basic things like:
1. The economy
2. Education
3. Safety
4. Justice

As long as these four basics are taken care of, the rest will fall
snuggly into place.

Alas, both sides have yet to show any marked improvement over the
other. It is akin to the old saying of jumping out of the lion's mouth
and into the frying pan. Which is the lesser of two evils? I don't
care! To me, I do want any evil fullstop. Accepting a lesser of two
evils is akin to ackowledging and accepting evil. Enough of that.

Ah well....

--
Sent from my mobile device

If education is not a priority I don't know what is?

I read with much disgust the suggestion by Higher Education Minister,
Mohamed Khaled Noordin, to have Public Universities source for their
own funding.

**************************************
KOTA KINABALU 14 Sept. (Utusan) - Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi akan
mengemukakan cadangan kepada Kabinet supaya institusi pengajian
tinggi awam (IPTA) di negara ini mencari sumber kewangannya sendiri
dan tidak terlalu bergantung dengan kerajaan.

http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2009&dt=0914&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Terkini&pg=bt_03.htm
**************************************

Given that public universities are generally run by either
politically-inclined yes-men type Vice-Chancellors (who could forget
Rafiah Salim?) or career lecturers / professors with the typical civil
servant mentality, it is a rather far fetched idea to expect them to
be financially independant after generations of direct assistance.

I believe, as with everything else in this country, the burden will,
as always, be passed down to the consumer. These may come in the form
of full fees and what nots being charged to the students. As always
the Malays will be at the losing end. For one thing, with todays
appalling level of English proficiency, the kampung types have no
where else but local universities to go to. And for the less
fortunate, local institutions were also the institution of choice due
to the subsidized fees. Even if they were to attend on a PTPTN loan,
the repayment would not be as steep as compared to paying full fees.

Scholarships are a thing of the past. PTPTN loans are the norm these
days but at least fees were reasonable for the average kampung
aspiring graduate. Take thant away and they may end up taking 20 years
to pay up their PTPTN loan if Uni's take the easy way out in terms of
self sourced funding.

If Education is not a priority then what does our government spend on?
Crony-enriching projects like this:
http://www.nst.com.my/articles/11KSL2/Article/index_html
or proper funding for Education and Healthcare?

I'm sick of the over-privatization of everything from Highways to
Public Transportation to even Sewerage Services. If the government
let's loose all these entities, privatize them or even let them fend
for themselves, then why are we still paying taxes? What are the tax
dollars being spent on? Even the building of Putrajaya is done by a
GLC so what does the government actually do with our money?

Anyway, Khalid Noordin is an ass of the highest order and should be
sacked from his post for even thinking of a suggestion as ridiculous
as that.

My two cents....

Cheers!

--
Sent from my mobile device

Once every two months?

Oh dear! Here we go again.... Another by-election.

At the rate we're going, since the last general elections of March
2008 up till now, we have an average rate of one by-election every two
months. The latest death of a State Assemblyman makes this the ninth
by-election in a span of eighteen months.

***************************************************
News of the death below taken from today's Star Online:

Bagan Pinang rep Azman Mohd Noor dies (Update)
Friday, 4 September 2009, 17:34

SEREMBAN: Azman Mohd Noor, Barisan Nasional assemblyman of Bagan
Pinang in Negri Sembilan, died at 2.30pm Friday at the Seremban
Specialist Centre following a heart attack.

The first-term assemblyman was 55.

With his seat now vacant, the nation will have to brace itself for the
ninth by-election since the 12th general election in March last year.

In that election, Azman garnered 6,430 votes against Ramli Ismail of
PAS, who got 4,097 votes.

More to come
***************************************************

With that said, I really stand by what I said in an earlier posting
that aspiring candidates should be screened for health problems before
being allowed to contest. Perhaps make it a requirement by the
political parties before allowing one to contest under their ticket.

Anyway, I have a biopsy scheduled for next week and will probably not
bother about this (what else is new?). Like it makes a damn difference
who wins?

Selamat berbuka puasa and bon apetié!

--
Sent from my mobile device

Ted Kennedy Dies

US Senator Ted Kennedy, brother of assassinated US President John F. Kennedy and assassinated US Presidential Candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. died at the age of 77.

Below is an article from Time Magazine.

***************************************************
Senator Edward Kennedy Dead At 77
AP / GLEN JOHNSON
August 26, 2009: 12:00 PM
Susan Walsh / AP

Senator Edward M. Kennedy (HYANNIS PORT, Mass.) --
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the liberal lion of the Senate and haunted bearer of the Camelot torch after two of his brothers fell to assassins' bullets, has died at his home in Hyannis Port after battling a brain tumor. He was 77. For nearly a half-century in the Senate, Kennedy was a steadfast champion of the working class and the poor, a powerful voice on health care, civil rights, and war and peace. To the American public, though, he was best known as the last surviving son of America's most glamorous political family, the eulogist of a clan shattered again and again by tragedy. His family announced his death in a brief statement released early Wednesday.

"We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever", the statement said. "We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who stood with him for so many years in his tireless march for progress toward justice, fairness and opportunity for all".

Kennedy was elected to the Senate in 1962, when his brother John was president, and served longer than all but two senators in history. Over the decades, he put is imprint on every major piece of social legislation to clear the Congress.

His own hopes of reaching the White House were damaged -- perhaps doomed -- in 1969 by the scandal that came to be known as Chappaquiddick, an auto accident that left a young woman dead.

Ignorance is truly bliss....

Ah yes, today is the "big" day for some. Honestly, I didn't even know that the by-election was slotted for today. I happened to hear about it from someone in passing this morning.

Since June this year I have refrained myself from watching the local Malaysian news on the tele. I do however read headlines pertaining to the idiotic politicians of ours through an RSS reader on my BlackBerry. Since I don't pay for or subscribe to newspapers anymore, it is less irritating when I do read some news that is totally stupid. After all I got the news for free!

As for Permatang Pasir: I don't really know or care who contests, who wins but I do know who loses! Yup, as usual: we are the losers.

So, do yourselves a favour tune-out and let these stupid idiot politicians (from both BN and Pakatan + the independents) not get our attention for a change. They exist only because we give them the time of day. They suffer from the delusion of grandeur only because we turn up at their events (if anything to gauge how stupid they are). Let us also remove them from being our "friends' on Facebook. They seem to have this perasan and syiok sendiri attitude when they think they have huge followers on social networking sites like Facebook.

And for those who keep coming back even though they were rejected, please send them off on diplomatic postings. I was extremely happy to hear of the sending-off of JJ to the US. Let's take it a step further shall we? I recommend Khir Toyo for Consul-General to Medan or Surabaya, Ali Rustam for High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea and KJ as prison inmate. Ok?

Anyway, happy fasting and may you enjoy bliss in ignorance....

Cheers!

Parliament and State Reps: The health factor!

It's been what? Not even a year and a half and we already have loads
of MP's and State Reps literally dying on the job.
While some may argue that the job itself is their killer, it really
doesn't help anyones cause by having by-elections every now and then.
The amount of money being spent, the dirty campaigning, the country
being put on-hold are all factors we should consider before jumping up
and down shouting "Democracy!".

The latest to join the obituary list of YB's is Penang State
Assemblyman for Permatang Pauh who died early this morning. The story
is available here.

Perhaps apart from the screening process of ensuring a capable
candidate in elections, which cover the usual areas of experience,
seniority, capability, qualifications etc, parties should also screen
potentials for health problems.

This can't go on forever. We cannot be having by-elections every now
and then on account of reps dying off while in service.

Anyway, this seems to be the new Malaysia. Full of democracy and dead people.

Cheers!

Hello, hello....

I'm back! It's been a while but I'm back. back from a frustrating month of endless pursuits in terms of career enhancement, better quality of life etc. Was it in vain? Depends but all I know is that Malaysia is not tapping into the right talents for the right fields.
Enough said.

This posting is more of a write-up in venting out anger. Recently, my disabled, paralyzed and immobile father was slapped with a demand letter from a bank for a loan he did not take. He was merely guarantor to the facility, taken by a friend (well, ex-friend now). The friend is rather famous, especially in local circles particularly among the old timers who enjoy the silver screen of yester years. This friend was honoured with a Dato'ship some years back but failed to live up to the expectations that come with such a prefix to his name. He has defaulted on his loan and left his disabled gurantor in the lurch. Left to fend for himself, I could not allow it. not for a single minute. He is my father and I am his son. his problems are mine. His ex-friend is also an ex-friend to me.

What has transpired has shown that people will take advantage of others regardless. Even in my father's condition, no mercy was shown by the bank and his ex-friend. Where is the decency? He could have at least informed us of his inability to pay his dues and that, in turn, would have prepared us for this. But no. He chose to disappear (but appeared on tv some days ago).

And the bank, what about them? They chose not to pursue the borrower simply because he is a "celebrity" and a Dato'. I am of the opinion that all avenues should first be exhausted with the borrower before targeting the guarantor. In all fairness, it is the borrower who took up the loan and should be the first to be made a bankrupt (if he so choses). Only after all avenues are exhausted should the bank go after the guarantor.

Anyway, that is just my opinion. The bank however, have chosen to draw their swords at me. And believe me, that is their biggest mistake. I care not for Dato's, celebrities, politicians or the likes. I eat them up and spit them out in my line of work.

So, bring it on.....