Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Tanah Melayu and the emboldened Non-Malays

 Tanah Melayu or literally means the "Malay Land" is a peninsula in the Malay archipelago inhabited by mainly the Malays. Tanah Melayu is the basis of modern Malaysia which achieved its independence in August 1957. The Federal Constitution of Malaysia states that Islam is the official religion  and the Head of the State is Yang di Pertuan Agung (YDPA).The population of Malaysia at present stood around 29 million  with the majority of them consisting of  Malays/Bumiputras whose rights are recognized by the Constitution  This was codified in the Constitution  in consideration for accepting more than 2 million immigrants most of whom were Chinese and Indian origins. Today, the non Bumiputeras make up 30 % of Malaysia's population.

Although almost two thirds of the population are Bumiputeras and/or Muslims, the political power of the natives are seemingly on the verge of collapsing. Politically, the Malays in the country are  divided into several factions namely UMNO, PAS and PKR. The  government of the day is still run by a very much weakened Barisan Nasional that is  led by UMNO and captained by Najib Razak whose leadership is being constantly challenged. The fast-growing Pakatan is helmed by the de facto opposition leader cum occasional pornography  actor Anwar Ibrahim from PKR. The opposition parties are enjoying their resurgence and the NGO activists are taking advantage of the fluid political situation.

 Because of the much impotent Malay political power and the political tussle ,the non-Malays in the country have become more emboldened in  questioning  the Malay privileges and rights which are deeply enshrined in the Constitution. And the three famous stooges of the opposition sympathizers and hard core members who keep on harping on the issue are  Irene Fernandez, Ambiga and Ngeh Koo Ham.
The Hindu activist

Recently, the so called human rights activist who is  also the executive director of Tenaganita , Irene Fernandez has gone to the United Kingdom to issue a joint statement together with ERT or Equal Rights Trust to announce that Articles 89 and 153 of the Federal Constitution  are no longer relevant. She even has the temerity to suggest that the articles ought to be repealed. Oh my god we have a Hindu lady who claims to be a Malaysian unashamedly criticizing the Constitution. If this were to happen in Thailand  this accursed lady will be imprisoned for  at least  30 years of hard labour. Instead her announcement was publicized by pro opposition and radical web newspaper-Malaysia Kini ,which is mostly run  by non Malays. I think she is a traitor to all Malaysians especially to the Malays.

This is a classic example of a non Malay questioning the Malay rights. Those articles in the Constitution are there to protect the Malays and the Bumiputeras from being swallowed  and over-shadowed by the rich and powerful non bumiputeras . Most countries in Asia and western Europe have this type of protection clause. Even Australia has provisions in its constitution to protect its natives. The United States too protects the Navajos and the "Red Indians". In India, the Hindus are given special protection rights. Here we have a brazen faced Hindu lady demanding that our Constitution be amended. The sad thing is that  most  Malay politicians just  keep quiet and say nothing about it. These politicians are afraid of being labelled as racists. Even the Malay daily  Utusan Malaysia has said nothing about it. Where are your balls Utusan Malaysia? Do you  take your orders from Ah Jib Gor?
LGBT defender?

Another Indian ruffian is Ambiga, the Bersih 2.0 and 3.0 chairperson. Like Irene ,she is also an "accursed infidel " who seemingly eager to promote LGBT's so called rights. This recalcitrant pseudo politician/activist also  seems to play racial and religious cards. Ambiga who was  the President of the Bar Council from 2007 to 2009  claims that her agenda are electoral and religious reforms but the presence of Anwar ,the pornography actor, at Bersih gatherings looks like there is a bigger political agenda in the making. At the gathering she mentioned that she would retire from politics after the 13th GE. This announcement is not mere coincidence but nicely timed to give greater impact politically.  She has refused to be involved in the Parliament select committees that re-looks at the electoral reforms.She has a 'sinister' plan and  trying to achieve much more than that was offered to her. She is also a great defender of cases like Lina Joy and derives pleasure from ' inflicting pains' on the Muslims in the country. This is a blatant disregard for Islam which is the official religion of Malaysia. She is using  the law to extract concessions from the Malays and also 'challenging' the Constitution.But the sad thing is that Malay Muslims who are power crazy  still work with her in order to wrest control of Putrajaya from the national coalition or Barisan Nasional



Add caption
Another chauvinistic and naive  non Malay politician who enjoys creating controversies and poking fun at the Malays is Ngeh Koo Ham who is a religious christian. He has the habit of insulting  Islam and the Malays. Look at how he cynically responded- "Tuhan  tak kata bagitu" to the tweet by Armand Azha who asked whether Old Town White Coffee had Halal  certification . He seemed to ridicule the halal certification. He just ignored the dietary requirements of Muslims. This is  not a political issue but a religious one.I have learned from a website that Ngeh or popularly known as James is co-owner of the kopitiam (I however can't verify this claim). He has shown no respect for  Muslims at all. Is this the kind of leaders that Malays would want to be the Menteri Besar of  Perak? Is this the leader we would want to vote in as our "Yang Berhormat" a person who has no respect for the Muslims?

In short, the non Malays are getting emboldened  with their actions because they know they will not be questioned by the authorities.They are also emboldened because they know  the Malays are weak politically and divided to the bone. They also know that  UMNO politicians are running scared and will do nothing to stop them from making the clarion call. These so called human rights activists are still encapsulate with a myopic mentality and political naivety to think that the majority of  Muslim Malays will support them.  We need to be united in this coming general election to protect our Constitution and religion from being played out by these so called rights activists/christian preachers/ 'accursed infidels'.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Bandar Baru Bangi

I first came to Bandar Baru Bangi in 1983. The place was then really eerily quiet and full of ready made homes but they were no takers. They were a handful of house buyers who bought corner lot houses in sections 1,2 and 3 but that's about it. In the middle of 1980s because they were not many people who were interested in buying the houses, the state development corporation or  PKNS offered a special program in which people would rent out the houses and later used their rental payments as down payment   to buy those houses. The program was partially successful because some people managed to buy some those houses .  I for one really regret for not buying those houses because my family I was too afraid to live at the corner lot  with no neighbors. But today Bandar Baru Bangi is really a proper and thriving  suburban area with a sizable number of middle class and upper middle class people. The area is also becoming a mecca for noveau rich Malay families driving their expensive continental cars such as Bentley, Ferrari and Porsche. Bandar Baru Bangi is actually a gold mine for many entrepreneurs.Although it is a booming town, there are a number of things that the town lacks. Below are some of my wish list of the things that I want this Malay town to have.

Bandar Baru Bangi circa 1985

I for one would like Bandar Baru Bangi to have a proper shopping mall that is seasonably big and that caters for the upper middle class families. I am thinking of the SACC mall in Shah Alam that is really nice and the tenants contain some of the famous shops/stores and  that the same sized mall  could be replicated and built in Bandar Baru Bangi. Better still if the mall has a hyper market as  its main anchor tenant. What we have at present  is a mini Giant supermarket that  bought over Econsave at the Warta superstore. The mini hypermarket is too small to cater to the explosion of Bangi population. Billion supermarket is also too small for the people of Bangi. In fact, a lot of Putrajaya residents actually shop in Bandr Baru Bangi. They feel more comfortable to look for provisions in Bangi than in Putrajaya. Hence, the consumer market is actually very big in Bangi because it caters also for some residents of Putrajaya. Clearly, the buying power of the residents in this town is really awesome. It is really sad if the State government ignores the potential of development of the  up coming town. 

Bnagi 2012

Another aspect that is clearly lacking in this town is a proper convention center that could be converted to an opulent wedding hall. As it is now, most families are  in their 50 and are beginning to receive hints from their daughters or sons of their intentions to get married. One thing for sure is that Bandar Baru clearly lacks a proper wedding hall that could accommodate around 1500-2000 people. As such, most wedding ceremonies had to be conducted  in Putrajaya or in exams halls in UKM. But the latter is not a proper place to have a wedding reception. The former is always booked  to the brim. I really wish that my son's wedding could be held in Bandar Baru Bangi and conducted  in a very nice lavish hall in this town. I really wish that someone would hear these grouses and eventually built a nice convention center cum a wedding hall.
New Bangi Gateway 
Another thing that is lacking in this booming academic town a an aquatic facilities that house  Olympic sized swimming pools. We the people of Bandar Baru Bangi do envy the people of  Putrajaya for having "Pusat Kejiranan" that includes a swimming pool and children's swimming area.We could not really share the amenities that are available there. I really hope that a world class swimming pool could be built in this town. I would definitely vote for the party  that promises to built a swimming pool in this business friendly town. I really hope that politicians whoever you are and wherever you are would listen to this little voice/bird.

New building coming up
Bandar Baru Bangi continues to grow exponentially  and as such  it has to be planned well so that the needs of the people there could be met. We hope that one day BBB as it is often known will be the largest Malay town in the world and it would also the place where academics from all over the world would meet. We need to have the infrastructure built beforehand . One day hopefully the dreams will be realized

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Pas and Pkr = Pakatan Rakyat



The Malaysian election heat is really unbearable. It is now so close and people are so eagerly awaiting for Ah Jib Gor aka Najib Razak to make the announcement to declare the date for the 13th  general election. The US elections have come and gone and Obama has managed to retain his presidency despite the overwhelming odds. The Neo conservatives and the Jews were actually plotting his downfall since he won the election four years ago. The AIPAC  and the Vegas billionaire, Adelson, were putting so much pressure on Obama but eventually democracy won. Netanyahu who  publicly reprimanded the President of the United States was  far from being flabbergasted. His blustering actions now proved to be his own making and meekingly he congratulated President Obama. Morning will never be the same again for the belligerent Netanyahu for the next four years.

The pot telling the kettle black

In Malaysia, I believe Barisan Nasional will also retain the 220 seat majority just like Obama's 323 electoral college. The party planned by Pakatan will be a sombre one. I think the Pakatan  will only retain just  Penang and Kelantan state seats. The noise that they make only come from a few disgruntled opposition members using their noisy Malaysia Kini, Malaysian Chronicle and FMT web pages. The majority of Malaysians will still vote for Barisan Nasional. The two party system although theoretically good is not sustainable in Malaysian context. Maybe in twenty years time it would be accepted but for now it is just an abstract concept full of incomprehensible plans.Moreover, they have no respected leaders to really pose a serious challenge to the  Barisan Nasional.
No  corrupt leaders please

As a Malaysian who is not an UMNO member and a fence sitter, I would only vote the party in which I have trusts in. The Pakatan is just a hollow entity that makes too many untenable promises sometimes to the extent of  being  nonsensical . Only the obvious moron and the congenitally twisted opposition members would vote for Pakatan. Theirs is a loose coalition with extreme multiple orientations with no affirmative and clear  objectives. What they really want to achieve is to wrest control of Putrjaya from UMNO. And that is it.They have no plans to really help Malaysians. What they manage to do is create the wedge between the Malays, the Chinese and the Indians. What Barisan has successfully done to promote unity is unraveled and destroyed by people like LGE, Karpal Singh and the so called Tuan Guru Nik Aziz, who would theologically rationalize every  distorted actions by  Pakatan associate members.

What the opposition politicians have  managed to do is highlight and label UMNO leaders as corrupt. They actually need to bring these accused UMNO members  to court and imprison them if they have enough proofs. They have to do what the PAP  ministers in Singapore have done to their opposition leaders. Sue them until they go bankrupt.But alas , these are merely baseless accusations. I too don't like a number of UMNO and Barisan Nasional members. They are no angels but neither do the opposition members. Anwar is tainted with his pornography videos. LGE is a "TOKONG" and a dictator who would ruthlessly run Pulau Pinang. He is even worst dictator than Mahathir Mohammad. Nik Aziz has been the Menteri Besar of Kelantan longer than Tun Mahathir holding the PM's post. To make matters worst, his son in law is running the commercial arm of the state investment fund.These  people are like the  pot  telling the kettle black who are similarly  guilty of the same ' crimes'.

What we want is stability and brighter future for all Malaysians. We want the Federal constitution to be defended at all costs. We want jobs for our children. We want reasonable food prices. We want affordable homes for all Malaysians, We don't want empty promises. We don't want pornography actors and we don't want corrupt politicians. We don't want politicians who play racial cards. We love Malaysia. We love our sacred Constitution. We look forward to a very prosperous Malaysia. 

Monday, November 5, 2012

Android applications/Waze/AES speed detector/music player

I was born in the 1960s and if you notice I'm well above 50 year old.Although age wise I'm more than half a century old,  my friends always quietly say that I look more like late 30s or early 40s.I don't know whether that is a complement or not but I know my wife would spend considerable time doing her facial at one of the beauty houses in Bandar Baru Bangi (and these places charged exorbitant fees for their services rendered). Being half a century old would indicate that one is  not very  knowledgeable in terms of technology and I would have to admit that I am bit outdated in that particular area. Well, I'm talking about all the gadgets and  gizmos that you would associate with young people.Despite being  a little rusty and outdated in tech terminologies and hardware, I still would like to relate to you some of the applications that I have managed to collect using my Samsung 7.7 which I bought in the middle of this year. 
Waze application

One of the useful applications that I have downloaded is the application called Waze social GPS traffic and gas.The application is actually free and you can download it from the Playstore. Waze is actually a community based traffic and navigation application.I find this application very useful because it provides real time traffic and road info.You can find out what causes the traffic jam and why there is a  bumper to bumper crawl. Waze also provides report on accidents and other events which are really important especially when you need to go to the busy parts of KL and Shah Alam . With Waze you can also take the best routes to those places especially if you have all the traffic info with you. It's now becoming an indispensable application in my tablet. The display is also very entertaining  and  informative.

The second important application that I find is the Flashlight HD LED. This free application is actually a torchlight in your tablet  that you can use when there is a blackout. I find this useful when you want to go to the toilet at 3 am in the morning and you don't want to wake up your partner who is in deep sleep. It is most useful when you are experiencing a total  blackout which I did because of my short circuited auto gate  My house was in total darkness a few times because of the heavy rain and the problem with my electric gate ( My auto gate was subsequently repaired by a fantastic  guy name Lester (019 263 9968-He is a soft spoken guy who speaks good Bahasa Melayu). This application came in very handy and the light it emitted is better and brighter than my medium sized torch light. The application is also useful whenever you wake up early in the the morning  and could not sleep anymore and you could not find your astro remote control lying somewhere in your bed or on the floor. I think the flashlight can also serve as a romantic dim light if you need it to be.I have not tried it yet for that purpose but I think it works.

Flash light Hd LED
The third most important application for me is the music player. Just go to the market or the Playstore and type-MUSIC PLAYER- and you get dozens of applications. Just choose any one of them especially the ones with at least 4 star ratings. I find the music player important because it can store music and play songs of your choices.Nowadays except for Sinar FM,  other radio stations don't play your kind of songs. At this age you tend to get a bit lonely especially when children have just left the nest. You are just with your wife in a reasonably big house with nothing to do after 6 pm. The music player can actually entertain you with really nice songs especially the ones that you always remember. In my music player I have downloaded songs like "Bunga Tanjung" by Sharifah Aini, Uji Rashid's song -"Ku ingin selalu di samping mu", "Just the way you are" by Billy Joel, D llyod -"Oh di Mana?"; JJ's "Rindu Bayangan", Broery Marantika's "Widuri" and a collection of other beautiful renditions. Sometimes I would play the songs aloud when we had "Ikan Bakar" or  at an outing and my  23 year old son would remind me that I was playing it too loud when in fact he was a bit "malu" because I was playing my favorite "Bunga Tanjung". To him its not cool to listen to the oldies.

AES speed detector app.
Another important application that I have installed in my tablet is the AES speed detector. This application is also free and it tells you where the government has installed the AES systems. The system will warn you if it is within 1 kilometer of the speed trap. It is programmed to say" AES system detected". Sometimes it is too overly sensitive and will continue reminding you at every junction. However, I still find it useful and most the important thing is that its free and you wont get the summons for RM 300.

When you reached 50s life is a bit boring and you need some stimulus to prop you up. I feel  that those applications will come in handy and to some extent it will spice up a bit of your monotonous life. Who says technology cant be associated with old people?

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Proton and Honda

Reading the shocking  news that Proton was planning a strategic cooperation with Honda reminded me of the cars that I have owned.I remember that I've owned many cars as a student in the States as well as a working man in Malaysia. My first car was a Buick le Sabre which was a light green color car owned by a university professor at Southern Illinois university. I bought it for US 800 which I managed to share with my close buddies who were also my housemates.It was an eight cylinder car which moved like a yacht than a sedan but the noise that it made was almost non-existent.The engine really purred like a happy cat.All the windows were powered and I never faced any problems with the power windows and this was in  1980s. We used the car to travel to St Louis and Chicago quite regularly and sometimes speeding up to 100 miles per hour and we were wondering why the Americans were driving so slow not realizing that we were actually dicing with death.
Buick LeSabre


My second car was a used Chevrolet Monte Carlo, an eight cylinder car which was heavily modified by its mechanic owner. The car was in mint condition with low profile tyres in the rear axles. We really had fun driving it and smoking its rear tyres whenever we had free time. The car had to be reluctantly sold after some disagreement on the terms of usage among the co-owners.My third car was more compact and more economical.It was a red four cylider Ford Mustang which I bought for US 1000 and I believe that was the only 4 cylinder Mustang ever poduced. The slow Mustang was made popular by the original version of the serial Charlie's angels which starred the beautiful Farah Faucett whose husband in real life was Lee Major, the infamous Six Million Dollar Man. I traded in  the car for US 800 after owning it for a year and got another red  Monte Carlo which was which was not as heavily modified as the first's .The car was also reliable . It was going to be my last car   in the States which I used for two years and later sold it for US 800 to a student from Thailand.One thing I remember about owning all these American cars was that I had not spent a dime  for any repairs.They were utterly reliable and durable cars but  big.

After coming back from the States, I borrowed my dad's 1966 Volvo 122 with a Penang plate no PE 561X. I used the car for almost a year when working as a trainee teacher somewhere in Negeri Sembilan.The car was really durable and it used a timing chain instead of timing belt. The gear was really tall and the shift was long. It was like driving a bus or a medium sized lorry.I had no complaint about the car except that it was a gas guzzler. After driving the safe and durable Volvo, I got a Japanese car with an engine displacement of 1600 cc from a Chinese car salesman in Pudu who cheated me on the interest calculation. It was a Daihatsu Charmant. Like the Volvo the Daihatsu was reliable too as it had a Toyota engine. I sold the car and got a brand new Proton Saga Megavalve. The car was really fast but it had problem with its radiator and would easily heat up. The dashboard  would also vibrate violently when it was idling.
Chevrolet Monte Carlo

My next car was a solid Toyota EE90 1.3 that looks like a beemer but minus the power. The car was so reliable that I owed it almost for 13 years without any repairs done. Later, I sold the car and got a second hand Wira 1.6. The Wira was a comfortable car but it would drink gas heavily. The car was traded in for a Proton Gen2 1.6 which was the worst car that I had. The second day that I owned the car the right widow of the car fell right through  the door. Finally, after a few months all the windows decided to do the same thing . The battery had to be changed a few times and it finally refused to start when I was at the agriculture fair in Serdang and that was the last straw that breaks the camel's back. No more Proton I need a better quality car than a proton.

Ford Mustang
The news that Proton is working closely with Honda is a great news to everyone of us in Malaysia. Proton really needs a partner to help it design and develop a better quality car. The choice of Honda as the partner is  unmistakable and would benefit the Malaysian car manufacturer greatly. The marriage would also provide a stronger competition to  Perodua whose backer is second largest automaker , Toyota. I have read some where on the Internet that that one of the products of the marriage would be a Perdana replacement which would be based on Honda Accord 2.4. Another product that is planned is the Saga replacement which will be based on Honda Brio. Hope that the marriage with Honda will work out and I would consider buying a Proton again.