QUOTES BY THE FAMOUS AND INFAMOUS ON OPPRESSION !

WELL, GRASSHOPPER, LOOKS LIKE THE ANTS HAVE WISED UP AND ARE GATHERING!

                                     GIMME UR VOTE OR I LL SHOOT YOU IN THE FACE!!

Why scuba diving is so darn popular!

It is all about wet fun , underwater


http://scubadiversions.blogspot.com

Texting or FB ing or Twittering while driving..DON'T..! This Graphic video will make you think twice!

EVERY driver should see this, especially teens. It is very graphic and is recommended for 18 and older but if they wait till 18 to see it, they may not reach 18. Stuff like these happen all too often.
  PARENTS: Watch this by yourself first then WITH your kids. Explain to them that if they HAVE TO use their phone apps ,gadgets or text, pull over and stop in a SAFE location first, THEN use it.

This is the video that Rafizi meant by "Gantoi" , Zaid Hamidi.! Judge for yourself!

PKR has accused Ahmad Zahid Hamidi of spending more than 10 times the RM200,000 expense limit for his parliamentary seat campaign in GE13, to the tune of over RM2 million.

It has filed two election petitions against Zahid, accusing him of buying votes and overspending in the May 5 general election campaign.

Both petitions refer to videos posted by Zahid himself on his official website, stating that he had recruited 24,000 Bagan Datoh BN supporters, who are also local voters, as campaign workers in his run for the seat.

He also admitted, on video, to giving them RM100 and 5kg of rice each.

"He thinks he is smart in recruiting them as campaign workers and paying them, but on both counts he kantoi (is busted)," PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli told a press conference in Petaling Jaya today.

In the first petition, PKR is claiming that what Zahid did, despite the payments to voters camouflaged as benefits to campaign workers, was outright vote buying and therefore an offence under the Election Offences Act.

The second petition accuses Zahid of illegally recruiting too many workers and using more money than he is allowed to under election regulations.

PKR is arguing that the amount of money needed to pay 24,000 'campaign workers' RM100 and 5kg of rice each, works out to more than RM2 million, which is over 10 times the RM200,000 limit imposed for a parliamentary seat campaign.

You can't please everyone all the time, so why bother!

Since ,you can't please everyone, so just gotta please yourself !

Is it possible to imagine how we can Re think and Re invent our schools!!

Imagine all the people sharing all the world.. You may say i am a dreamer..but i am not the only one..i hope some day you will join us,..and the world will think as one.

 Imagination fuels creativity and innovation..A trait we sorely need more of in our nation!

From Dr. Azly Rahman's  blog.
Imagine a scenario in Malaysian classrooms where primary school children learn the meaning of the word ‘peace’ and muhibbah in many different languages: Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Jawa, Siamese, Bugis, Bawean, Bangladeshi, Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka, Tamil, Urdu, Tagalog, Hebrew, Arabic, Senoi, Jakun, Iban, and Kadazan-dusun.

Imagine the children, in weekly language word-study circles, explaining to each other the meaning of the word in their own language.

Imagine the children learning Language Arts and Social Studies exploring the interdisciplinary theme of the language they use at home.

Imagine them translating proverbs from their native language into English, and next illustrating them and next doing class presentations.

Imagine at the end of the year, the children and their parents proudly dressed up in their cultural outfits, singing songs in their native language without being laughed at, sharing food - in a cultural celebration night.

Imagine secondary school students doing their final school project on the meaning of their cultural practices and the relationship to their ethical belief system and how each may teach them to profess universal values of peace and social justice among different races.

Imagine all of them doing a project that analyses the themes of famous cross-cultural movies and using this vehicle to learn the concepts of cultural preservation and continuity.

Imagine, at the community college and university level, when theyhave had enough exposure and appreciation to linguistic and cultural diversity, Malaysians forming cross-cultural dialogue clubs, engaging in multiple literacies and multiple voices fora, interfaith circles of learning, transcultural network of friends and other innovations in multi-cultural social imaginations - so that we may not need communalism anymore as a basis for our national political design. (full text here)

Mortality, why dwell on it?

Doesn't take very much but the passing of a dear one  to remind us just how fleeting and tenuous our individual mortality is!

It has been very unsettling to me ever since a child until even now,fast approaching half a century in age, to view a lifeless body.!

      
 Most  recent being my very own mother, I am not a very religious person,my mind conceives that to believe in the supernatural,although on the verge of  surrendering to the spiritual desires of the heart, but the mind stubbornly resist when it cannot accept what it has problems rationalizing !.

      And there she was,laying peacefully, this lifeless form now, but wasn't that long ago when she was alive and existing and full of  love to give, this woman that had given me life,to whom i owe my existence, nurtured me ,protected me, mainly enabled me to feel that powerful unconditional maternal love! Till the  day she just went to sleep and never woke up!

     Even as my heart wrenches , just observing her lying in her casket,seemingly peaceful,  that very image triggering conflicting emotions and contradicting thoughts  that keep manifesting. A part of me yearns so much to believe that there is a higher realm,another plane of existence or consciousness for those who have exited their physical bodies and my mother is there in soul or spirit now, a thought that calms the restlessness  I feel to the core of my very own state of existence and conscious thought! 

    It bothers my rational mind to reconcile to the fact that the woman you loved and  worshiped like a saint has ceased to exist!    And hard as it is  to ponder, in all frankness, as a Being with a rigid logical mind,you  just cannot help but think that maybe , Thats it ! That body which used to be a vessel for a precious precious life full of love has gone  and it is no more. It is just what it is, a lifeless form devoid of normal human functions and conscious mind!  

              And what dreads me the most is the thought that I eventually, as with every thing that lives and breathes,inexorably will be going the same  way,

                         The consciousness I possess now , which so acutely gives me self awareness that I am an  intelligent entity , a  being who recognizes my place and acknowledges my existence in the universe,  will  cease the self awareness when it is my time ,the conscious state extinguished like a flame of a candle which has used up all the wax, resting for all eternity! Sentient no more! 

       And it makes me look restlessly inward at my own mortality  ! What will happen when i arrive at that threshold and finally leave my physical body? Will I  still be  conscious and intelligent as a being ? Will I be a free drifting disembodied spirit looking at my own body, which used to carry my very self!  Or will I , this is which i feel most uneasy about, just be another lifeless form  of  flesh and bone, having lost the  very essence that makes me human! My awareness and intellect!

  I suppose if thats the case,then it wouldn't really matter to me anymore!

         

               So therefore, a thought lingers,  if we were to  look more in depth at human mortality, actually we really cannot be sure both ways,is there or isn't there a higher realm of consciousness? After departing from the human form, is our personal consciousness still intact? And moves on to the other realm!

  Nobody can agree nor deny for certain, except for church priests, monks or theologians !  I guess you have to die to know for sure! 

      There are so many unexplained mysterious happenings attributed to the spirit world , right here on earth , that strangely,spooky though it may be,actually gives a sense of hope to atheistic or nihilistic believers that there may be something  to this life after death premise, encouraging hope!

      We humans have a long history dating back tens of thousand of  years, since that time till right now and here,how many humans have existed and died,.probably in the bilions, all that conscious energy from them who have lived and passed on. Also,all the creatures of Mother Nature's creation,their bodies may have died off,but the life forces still lingers. 

     ,There is a personal thought I have,(bordering on Science fiction)  I'd like to think that , consciousness doesn't die, because its  a form of energy that lingers and seeks out other similar energies to mesh and then  just continously drifts on forward  through time,ever increasing its core with more and more sentient energy  without hosts bodies  joining in as it permeates our world, becomes stronger and stronger as a force,that somehow , present day people are tapping in to this energy force in their daily lives without realising it! (Just a hyphothesis mind you!)

 Does God exist?    
 Is there an Almighty ? Or is that very force the almighty in which we speak of !
  Being responsible for the creation of everything,?  Or do we owe our existence as humanity to mere chance and chemical reactions and evolution!

            
  What is consciousness and intelligence in the scheme of things in the universe? Is there a reason or purpose that we seem to be the only beings on this earth capable of intelligence. A totally random act of chance? Or the deliberate design of a omnipotent being,?

          But one things is for  sure! No matter what you believe, our physical tenure as existing beings is so very brief in the scale of the universe!  

       Surely there is more to this state of life and consciousness and self awareness!

   Therefore with that realization on just how brief our tenure on the earth is,50 years and 60 years is hardly anything at all in the scale of universal time,so  with what limited time we have in our physical bodies,lets make the most of it! Why dwell on things we are not sure off like life, death and mortality.

 Unless you are a very religious person, or a college professor or theologian or philosopher researching the subject there are just too many questions on life and living and purpose and dying and life after death!

           We cannot change what's inevitable, it will just be counter productive to worry too much about dying and what comes after  and in the process forgetting how to live.!

  I'd rather kick the bucket with a smile and realization that i 've done as much as i can to live life joyful and contented.,and didn't let too many anxious thoughts weigh me down!   

BryanBB

   

Cry baby syndrome!

Lady's Bleeding Ear Blamed On Speeding AirAsia Flight

An AirAsia passenger has claimed that she's been left almost deaf in her right ear because a pilot allegedly increased the speed of a flight from Guangzhou to Kuala Lumpur to make up for lost time.

KL florist Wong Chan told Guang Ming Daily she now has only five percent of her hearing in her right ear and blames it on a bumpy flight on the low-cost carrier, which at one point included flying through turbulence.

She said the turbulence caused the passengers, including her husband and her son, to cover their ears to ease the discomfort from the cabin pressure.

She also said the flight on 8th May was delayed 40 minutes, departing China only at 9:30PM but arriving at the LCCT at its original time of 12:55AM on the 9th, which makes her believe the pilot flew the plane faster to catch up on time.

She said the pain in her ear lasted until she got home, and then her ear started to bleed. She told the paper she went to a clinic where she was given antibiotics, but when her condition stayed the same, she turned to a specialist.

"The doctor said my right eardrum was injured under the air pressure and I have to be treated for half a year, to observe whether it will heal by itself. If not, I would have to undergo a surgery to mend it," she said.

On top of the hearing loss, she said it feels as if her ear is always blocked and that it hurts whenever she coughs. She said because of her condition, she's unable to work and has to rely on painkillers and sleeping pills every night.

She said she was told to avoid flying for six months, meaning her travel plans to Bali, Phuket and Taiwan have been grounded. She said her son had bought her tickets as a Mother's Day gift and estimates the loss at around RM1,300. 

"I hope AirAsia can compensate me, be it for my medical bill or the psychological impact caused by the incident," said Wong, 59, adding that she has sought the help of Teratai state assemblywoman Tiew Way Keng because she didn't have any flight insurance.

AirAsia has reportedly confirmed receiving the complaint, and a spokesperson issued a statement saying the airline "welcomes other passengers who face similar situations in the same flight to provide us with details". 

Source: Guang Ming daily

Published: 3rd June 2013

What and why Turkish are protesting,and how it started!

Istanbul, Turkey - Nobody predicted that a minor sit-in protest, launched to prevent the demolition of trees in a park in the heart of Istanbul, would soon turn into unprecedented country-wide demonstrations and riots against the Turkish government. Use of force by the police against peaceful protesters in Taksim's Gezi Park, combined with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's escalating statements about the incident, have been the last straw for many Turks frustrated with the policies of the self-defined conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP). Nine days after the initial sit-in, the protests have reportedly spread to at least 48 Turkish cities with two deaths and hundreds, if not thousands, of protesters and police officers injured. How it began It was a sunny and busy spring day in Istanbul on May 28 when about 100 activists started a sit-in protest in Gezi Park. The goal was to prevent authorities from dismantling one of the only green areas in the heart of the city for the sake of an urban development project. Raiding the park on the morning of May 30, the police used tear gas and water cannons to force the peaceful activists out of the area. This was followed by the burning of activists' tents and belongings. The activists, most of whom were students, called for help through the internet. Hundreds of supporters rushed to the area and helped re-gain control of the park. The police raid that followed the next morning caused thousands of protesters to pour into the streets leading to Taksim. They were met by police barricades keeping protesters from entering the square. Following mostly peaceful demonstrations, some clashes and the use of much tear gas continued through the night; the police let the protesters enter Taksim Square on Saturday afternoon. The demonstrators included some members of left-wing groups and nationalists, but the majority were middle-class, secular Turks. Some arrived at the protest area wearing helmets and goggles and carrying medical equipment to avoid the effects of tear gas. "The police has surpassed itself in the level of violence," Emma Sinclair, a senior Turkey researcher of Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera, saying authorities had used excessive force. Opposition 'weakness' The government, for its part, apologised for the initial police raid on the camp, saying police officers had indeed used excessive force. Hatem Ete of the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research, a think-tank close to the government, links the riots to the weakness of the opposition parties in Turkey. According to Ete, some groups in Turkish society see themselves as negatively affected by the events of the last 10 years, as certain military, judicial, media and business circles lost ground. "They also perceive some policies of the AK Party as a threat to their lifestyle, and this threat creates an opposing identity," Ete told Al Jazeera. "Given the opposition parties are far from shifting these concerns to the political arena and far from matching against the AK Party, the concerns of this part of the society keeps growing." Youth on the streets Turkish youth, who have often been regarded as apolitical since a military coup in 1980 and its subsequent restoration in 1983, have flowed into the streets, clashing with police across the country. "It is the first time I join a demonstration and I am not affiliated to any political group," Kerem Gencay, a 28-year-old marketing employee, told Al Jazeera. Like many demonstrators, he stressed that he joined the protests in an individual capacity. "I came here on Friday after the police crackdown on people who were passively resisting to demolition of Gezi Park. I am happy with what it has evolved into because it is right; the government seeks to interfere with people's lifestyles." Another protester, 26-year-old publicist Nihan Dinc, said she is worried about the direction of the country under the governing AK Party. "We are here for our freedom, for a space to breath. We are here to be able to kiss in public, consume alcohol, read without any censorship. We are here for a life without any pressure from the state," Dinc said. Prime Minister Erdogan thinks that he is a sultan, he does not listen to anybody, consult with anybody. He thinks he can do whatever he wants. Yesim Polat, protester Others say the prime minister, who was democratically elected with a large mandate, is acting like an authoritarian. "Prime Minister Erdogan thinks that he is a sultan, he does not listen to anybody, consult with anybody," said Yesim Polat, a 22-year-old student. "He thinks he can do whatever he wants." Those views are shared by most protesters. A recent poll by Istanbul Bilgi University researchers who talked to 3,000 activists revealed that the demonstrators' anger is directed strictly towards Erdogan, not his aides nor his political party; 92.4 percent of the participants said that they have taken to the streets because of Erdogan's "authoritarian" attitude. Fuat Keyman, a professor of political science at Sabanci University in Istanbul, told Al Jazeera that the recent social backlash was specifically directed at the prime minister. "Five or six years ago there was social reaction against the AK Party. Today Erdogan is the only target," he said, adding the riots have broken out because there was no response to democratic action and that media has a responsibility in the outcome. How did it come to this? Before the protests erupted, recent developments had worried and frustrated many secular Turks. Erdogan has publicly criticised the content of some TV shows, made frequent statements opposing alcohol consumption, and spoken out against public displays of affection. He recently called all people who consumed alcohol "alcoholics" but then changed his definition to "the ones who drink on a regular basis". The prime minister also supported an announcement calling on young couples to act "in line with moral values" and not to kiss at a subway station in Ankara. Following the adoption of recent restrictions on alcohol, shops entitled to sell the drinks must close by 10pm. The new law also forbids advertising alcoholic products, and prohibits alcohol licenses for businesses within 100 metres of places of worship or education. In the past, the government also proposed outlawing adultery and abortion, but stepped back after public uproars. Erdogan has disregarded the protesters, calling them "looters" and dismissing them as "marginal" or "ideological" groups. "No one has the right to increase tensions with the excuse that trees are being demolished," Erdogan said in a recent public address. In his references to the issue, he often referred to the economic and environmental success of the government, calling himself "the servant of the nation". In its almost 11 years of AKP governance, Turkey has achieved unprecedented economic success, transforming a crisis-hit economy into a quickly growing one fuelled by trade and foreign investment. 'Message has been taken' Meanwhile, other voices in the government as well as Turkish President Abdullah Gul tried to ease tensions. Gul asked the protesters to go home, saying: "The message has been taken. Democracy is not only about [the] ballot box." Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc apologised for the police's actions against the initial protests in Gezi Park, though he added the government did not "owe anything to those causing harm". Erdogan frequently makes remarks about his party's legitimacy and the fact that it won 50 percent of the votes in 2011 elections. Despite the president's and deputy prime minister's conciliatory remarks, Erdogan has stood his ground - and the demonstrations have shown no signs of abating. Turkey's social crisis looks set to continue.

Source: Al Jazeera

True justice

What can a judge do? Here is  a poignant tale making the rounds of how justice of a divine variety is realised by a human judge.

With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone. – Oscar Wilde

This is a touching story of a “nenek” who stole a piece of tapioca for her hungry grandchild charged in court in a country rich in natural resources, minerals and oil and gas but the majority of whoserakyat are living below the poverty line. Will the rakyat of Malaysia be in this state under Najib’s Umno rule for the next five years?

As it is, Malaysia is the world champion in GDP in terms of the nation’s plundering, pilfering and siphoning of money to other countries. Ministers’ 100-200 per cent pay hike, GST, subsidy removal, AES implementation nationwide and many more much of it for the benefit and pockets of Umno cronies, but nothing much in comparison for the rakyat.

So those who put Umno in power are to be blamed – getting a one-time RM500-RM1000 payment and you will be sucked through the high prices of GST and subsidy removal forever.

Of course, also in karma’s way will be those who aided and abetted in the many instances of cheating throughout the campaign in GE13 that contributed to the ensuing questionable mandate. Now, here’s the story …

The Nenek

An Indonesian Judge, Marzuki, was sitting in judgment of an old woman who pleaded guilty to stealing some tapioca from a plantation.

In her defence, she pleaded that she did this because she was poor, her son was sick and her grandchild was hungry.

The plantation manager insisted that she be punished as a deterrent to others.

The judge, going through the documents, then looked up and told the nenek, “I’m sorry but I cannot make any exception to the law and you must be punished.”

Accordingly, our nenek was fined Rp1 million (US$100) or jailed two-and-a-half years. She wept as she could not pay the fine.

The judge then took off his hat, put in Rp1 million into it and said, “In the name of justice, I fine all who are in the court Rp50000 (US$5.50) as dwellers of this city and letting a child starve until her grandmother had to steal to feed her grandchild. The registrar shall now collect the fines from all the accused.”

The court collected Rp3.5 million (US$200). Once the fine was paid off, the rest was given to our nenek. The fines collected included those from the plantation manager!

This short story succinctly shows what a judge can do to achieve justice, despite the sometimes inhuman strictures of man-made law. To his eternal credit, Judge Marzuki meted out justice of a divine variety.

Extracted from http://aliran.com/14203.html

We Don't Need A "Strong" Leader Ala Mahathir

MONDAY, JUNE 10, 2013

We Don't Need A "Strong" Leader Ala Mahathir But One Who Has Good Morals And Strong Moral Convictions

Mahathir's 23 year reign has long being dismissed by thinking Malaysians as being more destructive than constructive for the nation.

He happened to be the Pm at a time when some say even a donkey could have done economically as well for the nation with its eyes closed.So, we are not going to talk about the 7% annual growth, KLCC or Sepang or Formula 1 or the now moribund MSC.

If you wanted to talk of those, you have to talk about Taiwan, Korea, Singapore and even Thailand - the so-called Asian Tigers - who all did much better than us with less natural resources.

We will focus more on what Mahathir's reign has wrought to the nation's psyche and institutions or the legacy of corruption and corrupting influences we have inherited.

Racial polarisation became entrenched during his divisive premiership, not helped the least by BTN's alleged indoctrination of racial supremacy. Before him, few Malaysians saw each other in racial terms.

Ahmad, Ah Chong, Muthu played as a team. We invited each other to our homes and did not think twice about visiting each other.

Mahathir also emasculated the judiciary with the infamous sacking of the Lord President and several senior judges on dubious grounds; the august institution has yet to recover from the body blow.

Today, very unfortunately, few Malaysians see the judiciary as their last bastion or fountain of justice.

The police, too, appear to have been compromised to do the bidding of their political masters and the AG's Chambers has come to be seen as a mere adjunct to the Pm's department instead of being the custodian of the public law fearlessly prosecuting in the public interest, not selectively to serve the private interests of the administration and the connected.

Public projects are farmed out to cronies, families and the connected under the skirt of the Official Secrets Act and accountability has become a dirty word.

All these done in the name of the interest of the rakyat, but benefit few in numbers.

No business, at least the public ones, seem to be able to move without the expedient of grease and greasing, so much so that one ex woman minister even challenged her ex colleagues to prove that they were clean.

Mahathir was able to do whatever he wanted to because he was strong and nobody dared challenge him.

No, we dont't need a strong leader, we need one who has good morals and strong moral convictions to do the right things, not the convenient and corrupting ones.

What can we expect Najib or the Najib administration to do?

Najib himself is implicated in the still unresolved scandal of the Scorpene submarines and the death of a Mongolian beauty.

His administration has inherited all the debilitating diseases of the previous administrations before him.

And recently implicated too, in the alleged cheating at the polls, including the claims of the treasonous use of foreign voters to pad the numbers.

Can such a Pm and such an administration so encumbered and enervated do what is necessary to put the nation back on the path to reconciliation and progress?

No, we need an entirely new leader, one who has good morals and strong moral convictions and an entirely new administration to heal the nation and move forward

http://lifeasanordinarymalaysian.blogspot.com/2013/06/we-dont-need-strong-leader-ala-mahathir.html

What ails goverment projects?

JUNE 10 — The quality of public works has been gradually declining and, thus, it was not surprising when we heard about the collapse of a section of the ramp connecting the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway to the Second Penang bridge in Batu Maung.

It is not new to find flaws in public works and the lack of an accountability system. The problem is, public projects are issued based on political considerations rather than ability.

Human errors could be found in almost all government projects, including state government buildings, including the collapse of Perak State Park Corporation’s two-storey administrative building near Tasik Banding in 2007; government agency buildings, the Matrade building had been completed nine years late; general hospitals, Hospital Sultan Ismail was infested with deadly fungus; stadiums, the roof of Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium had collapsed twice; flyovers, cracks were found on the pillars and beams at the Kepong MRR2 flyover; and mosques, the roof of a mosque in Terengganu collapsed after it was opened for the public for five years.

It would be a long list if we point out one-by-one the delayed, cost-overrun and high-cost government projects. And sick projects can be seen everywhere.

It is indeed puzzling why flaws in government projects are unstoppable.

Many government projects are issued to some contractors with political backgrounds without going through public tender. Even if there is something wrong with the project, the authorities would just pay to clean up the mess.

Take the roof collapse of the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium as an example; its sub-contractor was ordered to pay a fine of RM10,000 for carrying out construction work without being registered with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), while internal actions was take against the main contractor.

There is indeed a huge distance between the RM10,000 fine and RM292 million cost of the stadium roof, as well as the RM15 million cost of repair works.

Ironically, the roof of the stadium collapsed again in February this year during re-construction works, injuring five workers.

No severe punishment was imposed on the involved contractors while the responsible units have not performed their supervision task seriously, pulling down the construction standard of public projects.

It was said that the collapse of the ramp in Penang was due to scaffold failure. The weight of the bridge deck and whether the scaffold is able to support it can all be estimated. Therefore, if scaffold failure is really the cause of the collapse, there will be no way for the contractor to escape the blame.

The incident this time has claimed a motorist’s life. Who will be the next victim?

The Works Ministry has set up a separate team of experts to probe the cause of the collapse. However, would legal actions be taken?

To curb sick government projects, the current contract distribution system must be replaced by a performance-based system.

It is related to Umno’s political reform. It must take national interests into account and give up the existing contracting system.

Constant flaws in public works bring a waste of national resources. How could there be no reform since the people are watching? — mysinchew.com

A leaking roof in JPJ wangsa maju

Penang bridge extension collapse,killing one and injuring 3. 
 A 4.5 billion BN project indeed!

Another collapsing BN project, fortunately no lives were lost..

BN has lost the war of Popularity

Popularity is Power from the people!

A popular government has the solid backing of the CITIZENS. A popular leader doesn’t have to bribe anyone for support; just a mere word and he can mobilize thousands in one solid show of solidarity and affection endorsing their choice for those whom the citizens prefer to lead them.

When the leader/ leaders possesses the allegiance of the marjority of a nation’s people behind them, commanding their trust, respect and overwhelming support and affection.

WELL, THAT IS POWER! 

What the rallies seem to have accomplished

If popularity is any indicator, I doubt that the BN lineup can come anywhere near to the appeal that Anwar and his brothers in arms command. At merely stating that there is to be an assembly, the people just come out in droves to see them in a show of support and solidarity, without promises of free food or any other enticements apart from the fact that they want to see in person this man and his comrades in the flesh and hear their views. And if needed, to rally behind them in a show of strength and mass support.

 Time and again, this has been demonstrated via the rallies throughout the nation.

 Detractors may feel that the assemblies don’t seem to go anywhere but sifting through all the logic and reason, somehow there is a grudging conclusion that perhaps it does meet a purpose. Shoring up the sentiments of the people, deposit as it were, to be withdrawn in a crucial time. Whipping up the sentiments of outrage amongst the people that they have been defrauded.

 Perceived foul play is a thorn in people’s mindsets.  Everyone of whatever ethnicity feels indignant to have their sense of decency and fairplay mocked, and when ingrained into their psyche, it will stay there for a long time and will be  vented explosively when opportunity comes. The rallies can also pressure the BN ruling coalition to toe the line and not procrastinate anymore if they are really seeking to reform for the better.

The rallies have made superstars of the Pakatan line up. Nurul, Che GU Bard, Tian Chua, Mat Sabu, Tony Pua to name a few, apart from already idolized top guns. And not only exclusively from PR but the personalities from NGOs as well.  The rakyat can easily relate to these personalities, these perceived  champions and identify with them as one of their own. They have captured the imagination of the Rakyat as underdogs championing their cause for justice and righteousneous although, it may be an idealistic notion that may not have bearing to bread and butter issues affecting livelihood

 
Nonetheless, it appeals psychologically to the core essence of decent people with moral values. Touches on raw nerves and pent up emotions that has been set aside in the people’s psyche for years under the iron handed authoritarian rule of the BN. This is an accumulation of those many years of pent up frustrations of the common layman on the street  who have been exposed to, heard about or victimized in one form or another , the excesses of the ruling party , commited with impunity for half a decade ,in total disregard of the rakyat’s  opinions , as if they  didn’t matter. So what is witnessed now in these rallies is the venting of the people’s exasperation and disapproval of the abused practices inflicted on the country for so long.

It takes two hands to clap and make a sound. Pakatan is but just one hand, the rakyat make up the other .If the people are not supportive and in consensus with the cause, very few will attend the rallies. They will stay away not because the authorities tell them to do so or that it is illegal, but simply because they cannot commit emotionally. But on the contrary, looking at the numbers in attendance, in spite of warnings and veiled threats by the powers,  generally  law respecting and abiding people attend the gatherings,  it shows just how  disapproving of the government ( judging from the ground sentiment of the rakyat ) the people are.

 More importantly, it also reveals the intensity of the emotions that is felt by the people. The “Tidak Apa, Biar saja!” attitude has shifted to “ Ta boleh dah.! Sudah lah, cukup la itu, Ta boleh lagi.”

And this represents  the marjority voice of the Rakyat, including even those who prefer not to attend and have voiced out their protest through the ballot. They may want to move on in despair that they were denied the opportunity to UBAH, but doesn’t mean that they have given up all hope.

A voice of Gen Y.

 Especially  among the idealistic  young generation who have  heard accounts about what it was like under BN from the older generation besides interpret ting for themselves how much truth those accounts carry in current times.

They make up their own minds based on testimonies and evidence presented and come to a conclusion by their own accord influenced by their own intellect.

 They may not have felt the brunt of the excesses in comparison to their parent’s generation, but doesn’t mean that they do not feel offended or concerned when their sense of values in what is acceptable and decent in our society and culture is aroused.  More so when perpetrated by those entrusted to lead us and make the correct decisions on our behalf with our best interests at heart.

BN losing the war of perception and popularity

Ask any average man on the street to name any BN ministers or legislators with as much charisma and popularity as that of those in PR and chances are there will be very few names to match that of the house hold names of those in PR.

It is a war of perception ,and on the media front especially the social media , BN is suffering huge casualties in the popularity battle for hearts and minds .

Race card again, does it help?!

And harping on the race card to rally the Malays doesn’t seem to help much either, if anything , BN runs the risk of offending their own coalition members and chasing them away to the other side out of sheer exasperation and despair. Not to mention that it has already successfully created the image on the mindsets of those on the other camp on , how despicable and low those responsible will stoop , to preserve their power and control and how desperate they are in fear of losing that power.

The race bashing may appeal to ultra racist elements within UMNO but just how significant are their numbers? Amongst the 3 million or so UMNO members, many are ordinary people with ordinary lifes that has been integrating with the other communities and to an extent are interdependent on each other to advance and progress.They have been doing so for years and to tell them now they have been dancing with the enemy may offend their sensibilities when they know for a fact it is not so. And neither do they feel threatened by the other communities.  Continue to dispense with this spiteful racial rhetoric  of Us vs Them ,so blatantly designed to incite and manipulate , turns decent rational people who can reason ,off.

UMNO has with credit raised up the economic standing and  intellectual abilities and  capacity of the Malay marjority, yet ,with informed intellect, comes a clearer perception of world views guided by common sense and rational thought.  Education does away with ignorance. It removes the proverbial coconut shell. Educated or informed people cannot be lead by the nose anymore. They can decipher very well or understand, emotionally if not intellectually, what is mental colonialism and oppression, simply because they are now  intelligent and mature enough.

Get off your high horse!

The elite of UMNO and BN need to step out of their gilded horse drawn carriages or their limousine motorcades and mingle with the Rakyat to regain a sense of the pulse of the people. They are so clearly out of touch with what is going on, on the ground, what the Rakyat has evolved into  after  56 years post independence and how they really think and feel about the state of affairs in the nation.

From the makcik nasi lemak to the pakcik warong, Muthu’s dobi to Ah Seng’s workshop to the SMIs, Towkays and Dato’s of Sdn Bhds. What and how do they feel about the past 50 years under BN.? Why so many of them voted as they did during the PRU13??

 In a nutshell , BN is as unpopular as a rotten egg in a crowded room. The stink from 50 years of abuses cannot be washed off overnight. But if they can discard the smelly parts then there may be hope yet.

Please don’t rock the boat and just allow us to be  Malaysians 

In the urban areas, where the economic power houses and life sustaining organs of the nation that generates the wealth exist, the message has been sent loud and clear, No More!  Enough already!  Let’s get on with living as Malaysians and collectively transform it into a nation to be envied for prosperity and cooperation of her patriotic people, who have a very strong sense of nationhood and love for their homeland. Using our very diversity as a formidable strength to challenge the world and emerge celebrated. We can have our cake and eat it too, distributed fairly to all to ensure all will have a piece.

Whether that task can be done by PR or BN is a  moot issue. More pressing are the ideals of the marjority  seeking a better quality of citizenship and way of life in our homeland. 

Here we go again, the Mahathir race card!

Mahathir, under which the cronyism, corruption and nepotism flourished under his 22-year iron-fist administration and are still very much alive and kicking  today is once again playing his infamous racial card again for obvious reason. His UMNO Baru (current UMNO party) is dying a natural death since Mar 2008 General Election. For the first time, the ethnic-Malay, Chinese and Indians have all voted in favor of opposition parties in the last general election in retaliation to the worsening corruption practiced by UMNO and their component parties. PM Najib and his lame attempts at governing  might be one of the reasons voters voted out the arrogant BN coalition but he was the direct production of Mahathir’s assembly-line in churning out low quality leaders. 

 Mahathir does not have much time to waste and his primary focus now is to ensure  there may be a continuation of the  Mahathir dynasty after the Razak dynasty completes the cycle.

But that can only happen if the voters think UMNO has changed for the betterment of the people instead of their own cronies. 

 The coming UMNO assembly also may witness the return of former finance minister Daim Zainuddin besides Mahathir as special advisors who would influence the country’s policies.  It would be fun if  Mukhriz can be convinced to wave the keris (dagger) in imitation to the previous actors,Najib and Hishammuddin Hussein and the frogman Ibrahim Ali. If he does ,wonder what will his competitor Khairi, say to that!.

 The racial card has being used with some success in the past and basically many UMNO leaders today has played that game in one way or another.
  But that was before the explosion of internet via social media or blogging . It cannot be denied that the majority of Malay voters who voted against UMNO in the general election were the educated youngsters who read the “truth” from the net.
  Mahathir is playing a losing racial game if he thinks he can rally this important group of Malay youngsters to back UMNO as the ultimate party in ruling the government forever.

  
 Nevertheless it is to be  believed what some fortune-tellers are saying about Mahathir to live till the ripe age of 88-years-old, Mukhriz Mahathir has to step up and spring board to the premiership come  rain or shine else without his grand old daddy the junior may just ended up as another UMNO ordinary member.

With police force, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Election Commission, Judiciary and to some extent even the Royalty deeply entrenched in the “UMNO Culture”, chances are higher for Mahathir dynasty to become a reality than to have opposition coalition (PR) taking over the federal government. 

The combination of the Three Musketeers Najib-Mahathir-Daim would blow all aspects of democracy to pieces. 

 RE spun from http://www.financetwitter.com/2009/03/mahathirs-racist-agenda-dynastys.html