The Rohingyas in Selayang

In the 70s when the boat people from Vietnam arrived on our shores, they were quickly huddled together into a camp in Sungei Besi pending re-settlement in another country by the UNHR.

I have personally visited the camp and I found the people were well behaved (except for one small riot) and the settlement was self-contained with its own sundry shops, barber salons, eateries, etc. Some of the refugees are now well to do Americans, professionally as well as in business.

The multi million ringgit question is, why didn't our government make such an arrangement for the Rohingyas when they arrived here as refugees instead of allowing them to roam free building a hornet's nest like the one in Selayang.

I have just received an audio recording with the voice of a foreigner speaking in BM, telling all that Selayang is their domain and that the Malays have better butt out.

Selayang used to be a typical Malaysian locality where Chinese, Malays and Indians live harmoniously together either as residents or doing businesses. Why has it come to this?

And the person responsible for bringing this people in, why have they left these immigrants on the lurch?

Jennifer Soars writes ....

We are all in the same storm : But as I learnt in the last few days, we are not in the same boat!!

A few weeks ago I wrote the first part, entitled “We Are All in this together.” In that post, I talked about taking responsibility for the posts we write. And how we must not allow ourselves to be a conduit for racial and religious bigotry. I was meant to write this second part within that week. I was thinking of making an excuse as to why I’ve been tardy, but the truth is, it is, what it is. However, I believe that actually, perhaps it’s timely that I am writing this now. A friend showed me today, why my title had to change. And maybe that’s why I had to wait.

We may just be coming out of MCO, and while part of me is feeling the adrenaline rush of anticipation that we are on the mend, I can’t help my feeling of trepidation and no, it’s not excitement. It is an unadulterated fear. My fear stems from a knowledge that as a people, Malaysians are generally not an extremely responsible lot.

Here are some reasons for this observation:

There will be immediately, on an announcement of a lifting of the MCO, an exodus of homeward bound people, with no Moses to lead them into a promised land. Instead it will be thousands of Covid zombies, many who won’t even know they are carriers, wandering around and straight into a wasteland . And until and unless all highways, back roads, and dirt tracks are manned by the police and army personnel and closed, prior to relaxing the MCO, this exodus is going to become a nightmare. In fact, this clamp down should have already started. Because, I believe, with Ramadan, just a couple of days away, some will be sneaking home already.

I know how everyone feels, though. I have so much compassion for my Muslim friends this Ramadan. It was tough on Christians going through Lent without the services at Church. It was challenging not to be able to spend Holy Week with family and abstinence during Lent took on a whole new meaning. It’s going to be harder on fasting Muslims. But I believe it will also be the most rewarding experience. If you will allow it.

However, if we are brutally honest about who we really are, as Malaysians, there will still be buka puasa clandestine gatherings and birthday and other celebrations occurring in little pockets without social distancing being in place. We have already seen how the law can be flouted....it already has been, even before the MCO has been lifted. And the culprits are those who should know better. ‘Kepimpinan melalui teladan, is just a buzz expression. Some of those now governing us believe that the restrictions of the MCO are not meant for them. They have flouted the MCO and the police are nonplussed or intimidated or just plain helpless in the wake of their arrogance. Who do we, the man in the street, look up to for guidance when they are showing such poor leadership?

At a time, when we should be tightening our belts and worrying how to feed our hard core poor, and making sure we do not have another cluster of new patients popping up, our politicians are putting our country on the world map for all the wrong reasons.

One minister, instead of focusing on women and children and domestic abuse, sacked a gentleman, who was doing a great job in her ministry, and then created instant infamy by suggesting that women tart themselves up while working from home , dress up as if they were at the office , and talk sweetly in a Doremon voice to appease their men at home. Even Trevor Noah, stopped insulting Trump for a tad to give her special mention. Or Lordy, save us from the acquiescent and submissive wife.

Then there is Dr Noraini calling for Datuk Seri Dr Zahid to be included in MY’s cabinet line-up. Why? And the PAS president dictating that only Muslims Bumiputras should govern Sarawak.

Thats not all. There’s that two- step, hustle, or line dance which I believe used to be Dr Mahathir’s forte, that caused the Heineken and Carlesberg debacle. Again, why? At a time like this to be calling for a ban on all liquor licenses and shooting themselves in the foot when the country needs the revenue so acutely, borders on the ridiculous, no actually, it borders on the sublimely stupid.

And while we do know that we have to appease that PAS chappie, do we really need a Special Envoy to the Middle East, and now China? What has happened to our Ambassadors? Have they become persona non grata overnight?

However, I believe that the perhaps the worst thing that has happened, has been the de facto law minister, announcing that all ministers of the PN government, will be made heads of GLC’s, which are supposed to be business enterties and not political parties.

So, I must admit, I’m afraid for this country. Not only have we to be afraid of Covid 19 still getting the better of us, where on earth are we heading to, politically? So, while we can no longer use the expression, ‘let your vote be counted’, what are we going to do? Willy nilly we have had a new government forced upon us. The sanction for this Government came from the top. We, the hapless voters are going to have to sit on the sidelines while we cool our heels. And our opposition is beginning to look dubious, if there is even one at all.

Usually it is during a war that we get to separate the wheat from the chaff. Like the proverbial chaff, we have seen a lot of them blowing in the wind, as some of our ministers try to make themselves heard, warm water health minister and 500 countries deputy minister spring to mind. As much as they have failed us, the good news is that we have found a saviour in our Director General of Health, Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah. He has been our rock, calming us and keeping his daily reports brief, honest and clear. And had the exodus home, at the beginning of MCO, not happened, we might have been out of the woods by now. Or not.

Anyway, it’s now time to decide what’s next for us.

What happens when we get out of Covid jail? Parliament will have to sit. They cannot hold off from a sitting, any longer.

Are we going to allow this government to continue?

Have they done right by us?

What do we want?

Are we pushing for elections? Or have you all forgotten that we once went to the polls and fought for change? And won, and that we can do this together, again.

Or have you decided to accept the way things are, the status quo?

Has a fear of the Corona Virus, numbed our minds?

A few weeks ago, someone asked me what has happened to MAJU. They are still here. MAJU is still committed to becoming the third wave. Their manifesto has not changed. Neither have their strategies. As soon as this MCO is lifted, they will continue their road shows. But there can be no real change until MAJU has the numbers, and we are a force to reckon with. We need to be ready. We have been waiting around for 36 days.

Have you guys found the people you want to lead you? Some good people have come to the forefront.

Have you guys stopped enrolling people to join MAJU?

If you have, why? We can only effect change if we have the numbers.

We will come through this. We are already winning the battle against the Virus.

Now we have to continue the fight for our country. And what that means is that we need to gather our wits about us. Our economy has taken a bashing. For many businesses, things will never be the same. Some may never recover. Some of us may have to start over. At least let’s come back fighting. It’s time.

Written by

Carol Jennifer Soars.

22.4.2020

The opinions expressed in this post are my own.

The Prime Minister needs to issue a new type of MCO

PM to issue new MCO for ministers to end all confusion ...

• Trade & Industry Minister has allowed additional sectors like barber shops and salons to resume business... MoH DG said Gov't should postpone. Decision has now reversed.

• Education Minister has proposed to allowed that students be allowed to go home. Again, MoH DG not consulted. Decision has now reversed.

• Federal Territories Minister keen to have bazaars (drive through or otherwise) operating in KL and Putrajaya. Decision has now reversed.

• Domestic Trade & Consumer Affairs Minister allowed Heineken to operate with minimal staff as it had met the criteria as a 'food supplier'. Decision has now reversed.

As these are frightening times with confusing directives, it will be good for PM to put into effect an MCO on his ministers ............... especially a

MOUTH CONTROL ORDER.

Is MCO3 legal?

How could an AG not know about this, something that will affect the public at large. I believe if Tommy Thomas had been still in office, he would have urged the govt to gazette the MCO3 prior before enforcing it.

So now, I can only take it that the road blocks, summons issued to 'violators', etc are illegal and the summoneses to be treated as void?

Any legal eagles out there can lend a helping hand here?

https://www.msn.com/en-my/news/national/new-gazette-needed-to-enforce-phase-3-of-mco-says-bar/ar-BB12xfKx?li=BBr8Hnu

A flaw in the 'one man, one vehicle' policy.

Due to a spat of robberies lately, the authorities have to quickly re-think about the 1 man 1 vehicle policy during the MCO period. A person travelling alone, once out in the open, becomes an easy prey for would be robbers especially in areas or places where there is little or zero traffic due to the lockdown.

For the robbers, three persons can ride on three different bikes to commit the crime. Not forgetting, the masks have now become a convenient item to hide the identity of the robbers.

People may die, not due to the virus, but due to the robberies.

Aren't our mail safe anymore?

This is shocking. Two weeks ago, I sent a registered cover to my business associate using an envelope that was in pristine condition.

Upon receiving the cover, my business associate took photos of the envelope and sent them to me..

The condition of the envelope was appalling. Not only were the sides peppered with tears but it was ripped open. They even used a tape and crudely taped back the opening on one side. A large part of the envelope was still left open.

Fortunately there were no important documents involved. So even if they were lost, I still have copies with me.

Do I suspect that the authorities are now checking our mail? Looks like certain people are getting jumpy these days, and definitely, registered posts are no longer secured.

The Malaysian Birth Rate

According to the latest figures of the Statistics Department, the country's population rises to 31.7 million in 2016, up by half a million from last year's. Of this, bumiputras make up 68.6% (21,746,200), followed by the Chinese at 23.4% (7,417,800) and the Indians at a mere 7% (2,219,000).

While the ethnic Chinese population is on the rise, and has soared past the 7 million mark, birth rate among Chinese Malaysians remains relatively low, resulting in declining percentages over the years.
Statistics show that Malay and bumi birth rate is also moderating, but the trend began to surface only after 2000 while that of Chinese Malaysians saw drastic drops as early as in the 1980s, with no indication of reversal any time soon.

On average a Malay woman gave birth to 2.6 children last year, and Chinese women could only manage 1.4.

If this trend is not arrested and reversed soon, given the marked ageing phenomenon among Chinese Malaysians, it is a matter of time the population will see a negative net growth, meaning more deaths than births among the Chinese. The percentage of Chinese population may slip from the current 23% to only about 18% or even lower another three or four decades down the road.
Although Chinese Malaysians are already a minority group in this country, with foreign migrants outnumbering Chinese Malaysians in the years to come, the community's fate in the future is way beyond our imagination.

As a matter of fact, dwindling birth rate is not an exclusive phenomenon among Chinese Malaysians only. The same trend is seen everywhere across the planet, thanks to generally better education, higher incomes, improved feminism awareness, double-salary urban families, late marriages and a host of other factors. But among Chinese Malaysians, this is accentuated by realistic economic pressure arising from policy discrepancies such as exorbitant education fees, among others. As a consequence, many have opted to give birth to fewer children or none at all.

Against the backdrop of falling birth rate among Chinese Malaysians as well as the country's one-man one-vote electoral system and cruel political reality, this will invariably erode the community's rights in a number of fields such as politics, economy and education, and will have far-fetching effects on the community's grip in politics and economic domination.

Chinese Malaysians must give birth to at least three children each in order to make up the shortfall in population ratio. Childbirth is no longer a personal option or problem, but rather a critical event that will shape the community's destiny in future.

As such, it is now time for Chinese-predominant political parties in the country to seriously look into this issue and explore ways collectively to overcome the dilemma.

The rights of the country's Chinese community can only be assured if young Chinese Malaysians are encouraged to give birth to more children in a bid to maintain an equilibrium in childbirth rates among the ethnic communities.

[Source: MySinChiew]

YB Syefura Osman (Rara) performing her duties as a MPKj councillor

Checking with the resident on cleanliness in their surroundings

Reminding stall owners about the dengue menace

Identifying the source of the dengue problem

 Rara taking snapshots of the styrofoam box filled with water for further action by the MPKj enforcement officers.

Making sure that everyone is safe

Educating the residents on the dengue menace

Time to take a short break

Rubbish packed and bundled, ready to remove to a disposal area

Area cleared off rubbish

A day's work, well done!

Barely weeks into her new job as a council member of MPKj, DAP's Syefura Othman has already started getting onto the grounds.

Rara, as she is popularly known, seen here distributing oranges to the community at the Suntex Garden market yesterday morning.  Tomorrow, she will be meeting the heads of the various RAs as in a get to know you session.

The blogger is the Secretary of the Taman Sungai Sering RA.

A letter from an angry Malaysian to the British strippers of Mt Kinabalu

Many Malaysians were outraged when pictures emerged showing a number of foreign tourists allegedly stripping and urinating on Mount Kinabalu.

The fact that the alleged perpetrators have shown no remorse and instead, have taunted and insulted the locals and their culture on their social media pages, has angered Malaysians even further.

Travel blog Monkeetime founder Emil Kaminski, who claims to be one of the nudists in the infamous photographs, said on his Facebook page:

“It is not based in logic, but superstition. I utterly do not care for superstition. If local religion prohibits certain actions, then local believers of that religion should not engage in it, but they cannot expect everyone to obey their archaic and idiotic rules.”

Following that, Facebook user Melanie Lim posted an open letter to the Mount Kinabalu nudists on June 8 – and it is brilliant.
Read it here:

Dear Emil, Monkeetime, and the rest,

I haven’t been this angry in a long time. In fact, I doubt I have ever been this angry. I was raised to respect people as equals, and I am doing my best to keep that in mind. I am truly, however, disappointed and ashamed to have to call you as such. Please know that there is nothing more I would like to do than cuss you out, but I am a better person – not better than you, but better than that.

I cannot understand and I cannot even begin to fathom how utterly and completely selfish you must be. It is not a joke. It is not even remotely funny. People have lost families and loved ones because of the earthquake. If you did or did not cause it is not the point. If the mountain has spirits or not is not the point.

The point is you.

The point is your disrespect, and your continual disrespect of Malaysia. You have not insulted just the locals of Borneo – you have insulted Malaysia. Every. Single One of us who call it home, whether we live here or overseas.

The point is your insolence for who we are. This is not your home. This is not your country. You are but a visitor, with no right to do what you did. Our culture makes us who we are; who are you to question it, let alone defile it?

The point is your ignorance of the current situation. People have lost lives. People have lost family and loved ones. People have lost their homes. People are suffering. And you don’t care. Don’t tell me otherwise, because it’s evident in the way you speak.

The point is your inability to take responsibility for what you have done. I don’t mean the earthquake – I mean the incivility you have displayed by taking those pictures. You would not go to France and draw on the Mona Lisa. You would not go to England and vandalise the Buckingham Palace. You would not go to Egypt and take a dump on the pyramids. And yet, you have taken nude pictures on sacred land. It’s the same thing; you have come into our land and blatantly, and without any sign of remorse, desecrated something that is special to us.

Own up. Take responsibility. Apologize. These are basic manners ingrained into me since I was a child. I don’t know what background you’ve had, nor how you were raised. I only know the bare basics of how to behave. You have taken those pictures. You have shown nothing but a complete and utter effrontery for us as a country. You have damaged the sacredness of our mountain, and then you have the sheer audacity to insult us and our culture after that.

I am angry, but I am also disgusted. I am disgusted by your hard heart – your lack of empathy towards those who are suffering. I am disgusted that you have such a small mind and such a shallow appreciation for different cultures that you can’t understand what you have done wrong. I am disgusted that you cannot and will not take responsibility for what you have done. I am disgusted by your continual insulting of our culture and our people.

You alone know why you did such horrible acts, and you alone know why you have shown such disrespect towards us as a nation. All I know is that I truly and honestly pity you, because only someone with absolutely no moral standards would ever do something like this. What truly horrible lives you must live and have lived to have turned out this way.

I can only hope that, one day, you find your way back to humanity.

Sincerely,
A Malaysian.

It is certainly sad to see such things happening to a Muslim

There are so many Islamic NGOs including religious bodies like JAKIM, MAIS and JAIS. Why couldn't one body just extend a helping hand instead of ridiculing a fellow Muslim just because she was facing a life's dilemma. Now it took a Buddhist association to reach out to help the poor soul to start a new life.

Now, what shall we do with this fella?

Shall we make a police report, bring him to court, charge him for inciting hatred among the various races, sentence him to a jail term for an indefinite period, lock him up and then throw away the key? And to think we are sending our kids to the national type schools to be educated this way.  

'Cina Babi', 'Balik tiong hua' ... hmmmm

Lately, I have been thinking about a couple of issues which I see as rather comical and hopefully you will see it that way too. This is all thanks to the politics of UMNO Baru.


Those Malays who belong to the pro-UMNO Baru groups always tend to demonise the Chinese as 'Cina Babi', with the deliberate aim of 'hurting' the feelings of the Chinese. They expect the Chinese to get all riled up and frustrated at not being able to do anything at all. Well, the Chinese don't need to.


If they think that the Chinese would get upset, etc, they are so wrong. In fact, the Chinese find it comical as such remark is a no-brainer at all. Simply put, anything that is related to pig i.e. bacon, ham, pork, er ... bak kut teh, are the delicacies of the community and so to the other non-Muslims around the world. Even some Muslims in other countries consume pork or show no abhorrence to pig.

So what makes them think that by calling the Chinese as such would upset the community is beyond me. However, it would be more downright insulting to the Malays if we were to label them as 'Malay babi' which we don't.


Next, every time they get into a racial frenzy, they always ask the Chinese to 'balik Tiong Hua'. Where in the world is 'tiong hua' anyway in the modern day context? 'Tiong hua', as I know it, is an archaic word for overseas Chinese or better known as 'huaren'. If it is referred to as a country, taken in the proper context, then China should be called "Zhongguo" or "The Middle Kingdom" and the people are known as "Zhongguo Ren". So, whenever we are told to 'balik tiong hua', these will appear above our heads, "????????". Anyway, we are Malaysians and we are not returning to 'tiong hua' (wherever it is) any time sooner.


So, please to all those in the pro-UMNO Baru groups, save your breath and stop making yourselves clowns in the eyes of the world. You may like to try something new, I hope? You might like to try some brain-storming first, if you know what I mean.

What a crying shame!

I have just returned from my shopping spree in Taman Shamelin Perkasa in Cheras and despite the fact that there were about 7 to 8 companies which opened their doors to warehouse sales, there was this row of Malay stalls that were closed.

Were they closed because of the 3 pm ruling or were they closed out of the owners' own volition?

I felt it was such a waste to close the eateries when they were located right in the epi-centre of a warehouse shopping nerve centre in the area, and the captive market was there waiting for them to tap. Can you imagine the number of husbands, fiancés and boyfriends hanging out at the stalls to have a bite or a drink or both while their wives and girlfriends are happily spending their time shopping for a bargain.

What really got my attention was I suddenly felt a pang of hunger but there were no eateries opened. Oh, what a waste.

So if the Malays continue to perform badly in business, don't these UMNO Baru fellas start scapegoating the Chinese again.

The Taman Sungai Sering Residents Association Annual General Meeting

Last Sunday, June 29 2014, the residents association of Taman Sungai Sering held its third annual general meeting. It was a good time for neighbours to reacquaint themselves with one another and also the opportunity to highlight problems affecting the neighborhood.

We were also deeply honoured that the event could be graced by the presence of YB Dr Che Rosli bin Che Mat, MP for Hulu Langat, YB Haji Razaly bin Hassan, ADUN for Dusun Tua and YB Eddie Ng, ADUN for Balakong.

I guess, by now, many of you must have been informed of the road collapse at the Jalan Pudu/Jalan Imbi section.

In order to prevent further cracks to the road, it appears that the workers have used musking tapes to do the job.  This can't be for real, or is it?

What!? Now they levying a Chinese New Year service charge?

I believe this tax matter is getting way out of 
hand ... and 10% on top of that!

From this receipt alone, the outlet had collected RM30.72.  I can imagine the total sum collected from all its customers when it closed at the end of the day.

Mother and child reunion

Baby Freddie has been found at 12.20 pm today at Lake Titiwangsa, much to the relief of everyone, more so, his mother, Sarah Joseph.  Following are pix and video of the happy reunion between mother and child.

Sarah Joseph becomes emotional on receiving news that Baby Freddie has been found

A passer-by in Lake Titiwangsa comforting Baby Freddie in her arms, and feeding him with water and snacks

As Paul Simon would sing, "Mother and Child Reunion"

Baby Freddie back safely in the arms of mummy

From someone who saw 'Tanda Putera'

Dear Ms Shuhaimi Baba,

Last night, I went to watch your movie Tanda Putera, despite the many calls to boycott it. I went to see the movie because– 1) You urged Malaysians to see it before criticizing and 2) I had hoped to learn something about the May 13th riots.

After watching the movie, as per your recommendation, I feel I learnt very little, if not nothing, about the May 13th incident. And I believe this is due to two reasons - One, the film tackles the incident in a manner so shoddy, it downright insults the viewer’s intelligence. Second, the director’s poor ability to translate historical interpretation into production leaves the viewer confused as to whether events in the film are fictional or not.

To be quite honest Ms Baba, you lost me at the very beginning of your film when you chose to show communists killing an UMNO election worker and then showed members of DAP and Gerakan terrorizing Malay neighborhoods in KL.

You fail to show how these incidents are related and instead seem to have a jolly good time insinuating that the Chinese were primarily responsible for inciting all forms of violence during the period while the Malays are portrayed as simply trying to defend themselves.

In fact, the scene where former Selangor MB Harun Idris gathers his men and urges them to drop their weapons and then faints when his mob runs riot is simply pathetic. The urination scene too was totally unnecessary especially since, by your own accord, it did not even take place.

Indeed, it is irritating that many fictional scenarios of Chinese belligerence were conveniently created to justify actual decisions made by the country’s leaders.

Ms Baba, you deliberately chose to portray the Chinese as disrespectful and violent knowing you could get away with it. All Umno leaders meanwhile are portrayed as holier than thou.

Your depiction of how Tunku Abdul Rahman “happily resigned” when he had in fact been ousted was also disappointing. Surely as a story-teller, you must realize having one-dimensional characters does your movie no justice whatsoever.

That being said, I must commend your feeble attempt to show how friends of different races stood up for each other during the racial riots. I think, however, there was a lot more you could have done with the subject which would have driven Malaysians to the cinema in droves.

I’m not sure I agree with the Penang government’s directive against screening the film, however, after seeing the film myself, I wouldn’t encourage anyone to watch it.

The last historical drama I watched was Lincoln which reflected on Abe Lincoln’s handling of the Civil War and perhaps I unfairly had that as a benchmark when I watched your film.

Still, when I think of how this film was showed in FELDA areas prior to the elections, I can see why the story had to be distorted even further than what we usually encounter in our history textbooks.

Ms Baba, Malaysia is a young country that has a long way to go in terms of generating honest discourse on racial issues. You unfortunately have in no way contributed to that.

[Sugasini Kandiah]

For once, Tengku Adnan, you did something right by standing up to Utusan

Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s (DBKL) project to turn Jalan Alor in the city centre into a food haven will go on despite Utusan Malaysia’s criticism, Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said today.

He said the project, which aims to promote Jalan Alor as a street food haven in KL’s Golden Triangle to tourists, should be viewed in a “positive light”.

“We’ll go ahead with it,” Tengku Adnan (picture) told The Malay Mail Online after meeting Federal Territories lawmakers across the political divide here.

The editors of Malay broadsheet Mingguan Malaysia — the Sunday edition of Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia — had in an editorial yesterday panned the project, saying only the Chinese community would benefit.

Writing under the shared “Awang Selamat” moniker, the paper's editors claimed a strong Chinese image in the Bukit Bintang area already made it resemble Hong Kong.

The newspaper also attacked Chinese voters, saying that they have never supported the Barisan Nasional (BN) government and that giving them “the moon and the stars” would not garner further appreciation.

Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun said separately today that Jalan Alor played an “important role” in attracting tourists.

“It’ll benefit the country, not just the Chinese,” Fong told reporters after the meeting with Tengku Adnan today.

“Last year, tourists spent RM60 billion,” added the DAP lawmaker.

Last month, KL Mayor Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal Talib announced a project to upgrade Jalan Alor into a “food paradise of international standards”.

Ahmad Phesal had said that quality furniture, including an efficient waste disposal and water system, would be provided to merchants to preserve the hygiene in the former red-light district.

The project to upgrade Jalan Alor to become the global “Food Paradise” is scheduled to begin in October and is expected to be completed 11 months later.

[Source : themalaymailonline.com]