I was born on the prairies, where the wind blew free and there was nothing to break the light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures. [GERONIMO]
This article is written by Tan Sri Robert Phang who is the Chairman of Social Care Foundation and a former MACC panel member.
I am amused by the statement made by Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz, the so-called de facto Minister for Law, who declared that he would fight tooth and nail to ensure Chinese representation in a Barisan Nasional (BN) government even if the Chinese component party, namely MCA fails to secure a single parliamentary seat in the coming polls.
That seems to be a truly “Jantan” statement in championing the Chinese cause. If that statement is supposed to elevate Nazri Aziz in the eyes of the Chinese community, then he is mistaken. That statement would in fact constitute an insult to the Chinese electorates.
Who is Nazri to make such offers if the Chinese voters have rejected this Chinese-centric component party? Who appointed Nazri to be the Chinese champion on this issue? Since it is a historical fact that the BN political parties are race-based parties, it is best that Nazri look into his own backyard. I am sure my Malay brothers and sisters would appreciate to have their welfare being continuously taken care of by a vocal Malay Minister like Nazri, and not only during election time.
There is more than meets the eye to Nazri’s statement. I have said it before that the statement by MCA President Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek is nothing more than a cheap political gimmick. Soi Lek loses nothing by making that statement. He knew that his “pornographic” background makes him unsuitable to be a government Minister. Thus, Soi Lek is actually sacrificing the government posts of other MCA leaders who could pose a threat to his MCA presidency. The Chinese community is not stupid to not see Soi Lek’s objectives.
It was only recently that Nazri Aziz was seen interfering with GLCs by instructing them to appoint a favored legal firm in order to cause a withdrawal of the cases that these GLCS have against former MAS Chairman, Tan Sri Tajuddin Ramli. The public uproar showed that Nazri had miscalculated the public’s intelligence and reaction.
But more than that, I am told that it showed Nazri’s failure to comprehend basic principles of corporate law. I am also told that Nazri’s directive offends the Rule of Law because a government Minister cannot suborn the Board of Directors of a GLC which is a public listed company in that manner. I believe that Nazri should know these things better as he is a lawyer, while I am not.
By the same reasoning, Nazri’s statement on Chinese representation in the government offends basic logic on the purpose and objective of elections. A general election is part of the democratic process to allow the electorates to select the leaders whom they would want to govern over them and the country. If the Chinese electorates have rejected the Chinese leaders from MCA, who is Nazri to force upon us to accept such leaders as our representatives in government?
It is more alarming to note the second part of Nazri’s statement that “The system allows us to appoint senators and we need to have representatives of the non-Malay community.” This confirms the public skepticism that appointments to the Senate have been abused as a backdoor entry into government. This is preposterous. More than that, this statement coming from a senior Minister who is a lawyer, displays sheer arrogance which will be deservedly punished in the coming GE 13.
Let us be reminded that the being elected to form the government is part of the democratic process. It erodes the fundamentals of democracy when a government is formed not from elected representatives but by backdoor appointments from politicians who have failed. A government post is not a trophy for political gratification.
I hope that as a person trained in the law, Nazri would recant his statement as it demeans the democracy that we hope to nurture as we mature as a nation. Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!
I certainly agree with Tan Sri Robert Phang's comment about the Chinese representation in the government. Had the Chinese community seen it fit to have Chinese representation, they would have voted for MCA or Gerakan instead of going along with Nazri's proposal of the backdoor approach of senatorship. Even if Nazri meant well, what is the point of having such a representation? To look after the interests of the Chinese community or merely acts a window dressing to show the world that the government is multi-racial in composition. On the first count, MCA could have done the job but failed miserably not because of their lackluster manner in taking care of the community but because they are being restrained by UMNO's strong armed tactics. Even with the appointment of Chinese representations via senatorships, the person/s would still end up being the punching bag of UMNO and more subservient because of the appointment itself. On the second count, the Chinese do not need the charade of window dressing as it is another ploy by UMNO using the Chinese for their own benefit.
Are we going to hand this over to certain corrupt politicians at the 13GE for it to be pocketed and abused? We must make sure that this does not happen.
Selangor recorded investments of RM5.2 billion in the first six months of this year.
In a statement on Friday, the Selangor Menteri Besar's office said the state received foreign investments of RM3.1 billion with local investments at RM2.1 billion.
"A total of 135 projects were approved from January to June this year and this opened up 9,847 job opportunities.
"Of the 135 projects, 89 were new investments and the remaining 46, existing ones being expanded," the statement said.
According to the breakdown by sector, the electronics manufacturing industry posted the highest investments at RM1.3 billion.
Japan was the biggest investor in Selangor with 13 projects involving an investment value of RM1.136 billion, followed by South Korea at RM652 million with three projects and Singapore with RM510 million (eight projects).
Menteri Besar, Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, said the amount showed a high level of confidence among foreign and local investors towards the state government.
The MACC raided Ho Hup’s office a few minutes ago and confiscated all the documents that would implicate the Attorney-General, Gani Patail, in acts of corruption.
The question is: did they raid Ho Hup’s office and confiscate the documents that will implicate the AG so that they can make a case against him or is this so that the evidence can be destroyed?
Let us wait for further news from the MACC or at least for an announcement from them that the MACC has investigated the allegation against the AG and have found that the allegations are unfounded.
If you had any doubt in your mind just how stressful it has been on so called USA Congressmen and Senators, take a look below at just a sampling and then see if you can see straight ever again!
While House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, pictured standing, far right, speaks, colleagues Rep. Barbara Lambert, D-Milford and Rep. Jack F. Hennessy, D-Bridgeport, play solitaire Monday night as the House convened to vote on a new budget.
The guy sitting in the row in front of these two .... he's on Facebook, and the guy behind Hennessy, is checking out the baseball scores.
These are the folks that couldn't get the budget out by Oct. 1, and are about to control your health care, cap and trade, and the list goes on and on.
Should we buy them larger screen computers - or - a ticket home, permanently?
This is one of their 3-DAY WORK WEEKS that we all pay for (salary is about $179,000 per year).
But what about our Malaysian leaders in Parliament? What do they do when the session gets to be a real bore?
A story that will surely tug at your heart strings.
Kleenex time Loons. A few days ago this young fellow decided to audition for X Factor Australia. Emmanuel Kelly, who is 17, started out life in an orphanage in Iraq. He and his brother had been found in a park, in a shoebox, abandoned most probably because both had been born with severe birth defects, thanks to chemical warfare. Enter Moira Kelly, who originally flew them to Australia for surgery, but ended up adopting the two boys. This is his story and song ….
PS You may recognize Moira Kelly, she is the guardian of conjoined twins,Trishna and Krishna, who were successfully separated in 2009 after she found them in a Bangladesh orphanage. Moira heads the Children First Foundation and this is her story.
A husband is at home watching a football game when his wife interrupts, "Honey, could you fix the light in the hallway? It's been flickering for weeks now."
He looks at her and says angrily, "Fix the lights now? Does it look like I have BC Hydro written on my forehead? I don't think so
"Fine", the the wife asks, "Well, then, could you fix the fridge door? It won't close right."
To which he replied, "Does it look like I have Westinghouse written on my forehead? I don't think so
"Fine", she says. "Then you could at least fix the steps to the front door? They are about to break."
"I'm not a carpenter and I don't want to fix steps", and again, he says," Does it look like I have Home Depot written on my forehead? I don't think so. I've enough of you. I'm going to the pub!" So he goes to the pub and drinks for a couple of hours. He starts to feel guilty about how he treated his wife and decides to go home.
As he walks into the house, he notices that the steps are already fixed. As he enters the house, he sees the hall light is working. As he gets a beer, he notices the fridge door is fixed.
"Honey," he asks, "How'd all these get fixed?"
She said, "Well when you left I sat outside and cried. Just then a nice young man asked what was wrong and I told him. He offered to do all the repairs, and all I had to do was either go to bed with him or bake a cake."
He said, "So what kind of cake did you bake?"
She replied, "Hellooooooo ... do you see Sara Lee written on my forehead? I don't think so!"
We went to breakfast at a restaurant where the 'seniors' special' was two eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast for $2.99.
'Sounds good,' my wife said. 'But I don't want the eggs.'
'Then, I'll have to charge you $3.49 because you're ordering a la carte,' the waitress warned her.
'You mean I'd have to pay for not taking the eggs?' my wife asked incredulously. 'YES!' stated the waitress.
'I'll take the special then,' my wife said..
'How do you want your eggs?' the waitress asked.
'Raw and in the shell,' my wife replied. She took the two eggs home and baked a cake.. DON'T MESS WITH SENIORS!!!
WE'VE been around the block more than once!
An elderly Floridian called 911 on her cell phone to report
that her car has been broken into. She is hysterical as she
explains her situation to the dispatcher: 'They've
stolen the stereo, the steering wheel, the brake pedal and
even the accelerator!' she cried.. The dispatcher said,
'Stay calm... An officer is on the way.' A few minutes
later, the officer radios in 'Disregard.' He says.
'She got in the back-seat by mistake.' TELL ME THIS WON'T HAPPEN TO US!!
Three retirees, each with a hearing loss, were playing golf
one fine March day. One remarked to the other, 'Windy,
isn't it?' 'No,' the second man replied,
'it's Thursday.' And the third man chimed in,
'So am I. Let's have a beer.' TELL ME THIS WON'T HAPPEN TO US!!!!
Two elderly ladies had been friends for many decades. Over
the years, they had shared all kinds of activities and
adventures. Lately, their activities had been limited to
meeting a few times a week to play cards.
One day, they were playing cards when one looked at the
other and said, 'Now don't get mad at me ... I know
we've been friends for a long time, but I just can't
think of your name! I've thought And thought, but I
can't remember it. Please tell me what your name is..
Her friend glared at her for at least three minutes she
just stared and glared at her. Finally she said, 'How
soon do you need to know?' TELL ME THIS WON'T HAPPEN TO US!!!!
As a senior citizen was driving down the freeway, his car
phone rang. Answering, he heard his wife's voice
urgently warning him, 'Herman, I just heard on the news
that there's a car going the wrong way on Interstate 77.
Please be careful!' 'Heck,' said Herman,
'It's not just one car. It's hundreds of them!' TELL ME THIS WON'T HAPPEN TO US !!!!
Two elderly women were out driving in a large car - both
could barely see over the dashboard. As they were cruising
along, they came to an intersection. The stoplight was red,
but they just went on through. The woman in the passenger
seat thought to herself 'I must be losing it. I could
have sworn we just went Through a red light.'
After a few more minutes, they came to another intersection
and the light was red. Again, they went right through. The
woman in the passenger seat was almost sure that the light
had been red but was really concerned that she was losing
it. She was getting nervous.
At the next intersection, sure enough, the light was red
and they went on through. So, She turned to the other woman
and said, 'Mildred, did you know that we just ran
through three red lights in a row? You could have killed us
both!'
Mildred turned to her and said, 'Oh, crap, am I driving?' TELL ME THIS WON'T HAPPEN TO ME.
SOCIALISM : You have 2 cows, so you give one to your neighbour.
COMMUNISM : You have 2 cows. The State takes both and gives you some milk.
FASCISM : You have 2 cows. The State takes both and sells you some milk.
NAZISM : You have 2 cows. The State takes both and shoots you.
TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM : You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.
MALAYSIAN BUMIPUTRAISM :You have two cows, the State takes one and gives it to your bumiputra neighbour. From the milk you sell from the remaining cow you buy a bull ! and mulitply your herd. The State takes 30 per cent of your herd as it grows and give them to your bumiputra neigbour. Your bumiputra neighbour has a kenduri each time they receive a cow. - GOOD ONE
UMNOPUTRAISM : The State takes 30 per cent of your herd and parks them in Switzerland in the name of some UMNO official or close relatives, friends and sons-in-law.
MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT LINKED OR BUMIPUTRA CORPORATION : You have two cows. You employ mainly bumiputras to milk them. But both cows have been sent to the kenduri, so the State gives you more cows and write off the losses of the first two. After several kenduris later, you invite an American or German Corporation to turnaround the losses. The Japanese have however already taken their two original cows back home to Japan .
AN AMERICAN CORPORATION : You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead.- hehehe
ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM : You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. Sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States , leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release. The public buys your bull ! A FRENCH CORPORATION! : You have two cows. You go on strike, organise a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.
A JAPANESE CORPORATION : You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create a clever cow cartoon image called 'Cowkimon' and market it worldwide.
A GERMAN CORPORATION : You have two cows. You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.
AN ITALIAN CORPORATION : You have two cows, but you don't know where they are. You decide to have lunch.
A RUSSIAN CORPORATION : You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn yo! u have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 2 cows. You stop counting cows because you're sobering up and open another bottle of vodka.
A SWISS CORPORATION : You have 5,000 cows. None of them belong to you. You charge the owners for storing them. A CHINA CORPORATION : You have two cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity, and arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.
AN INDIAN CORPORATION : You have two cows. You worship them
A BRITISH CORPORATION : You have two cows. Both are mad.
With many Mainland Chinese emigrating to Singapore, this has given the Indians a culinary headache as the visitors have been complaining about the curry smell which they find intolerable. So here goes the song.
