Nostalgic Weekend - Happy 53rd Birthday, Malaysia

When Malaysia came into being in 1963, the music industry was deluged with music and songs by foreign artistes dedicated to the birth of our nation. The greatest contributors were none other than those from The Netherlands where singers like Anneke Gronloh [of the "Burong Kakak Tua" fame] and bands like Boy & His Rolling Kids; and The Jumping Jewels made their presence felt. In true Malaysian spirit certain pieces have become a pop national anthem during that period.

Midnight in Malaya. This piece by Boy & His Rolling Kids was released in early 1963.

Sunrise In Malaysia by Boy and His Rolling Kids, released just before Malaysia Day in 1963.

Oh Malaysia by Anneke Gronloh, released in 1963.

A Tribute To Malaysia by The Jumping Jewels. Although this EP is a collection of four Indonesian songs, nonetheless the group has dedicated them to Malaysia after their performance here in 1964 at the Pavilion Theatre.

Happy Birthday, Malaysia. We shall always remember the way you were.

Here is the video, finally. DPP vs Pornthip

The video is finally out

The video is finally re-uploaded on the AG Chamber's website. However, at time of posting this article, the website is still not accessible. The video is the court scene between Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand and our DPP Abdul Razak Musa, whose line of questioning has left everyone bewildered. However, before reading the following article from the Malaysian Chronicle, here is a video clip you must see. It shows Razak getting into his car after the trial but was blocked by a TBH supporter. Watch the rest of the video and you can see the kind of people we are dealing with.

After much flak from the public, the Attorney-General has finally uploaded the video recording of the latest proceeding in the Teoh Beng Hock inquest, in which Thai forensic expert Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand had been subjected to brutal cross-examination by a government prosecutor.

The video clip was uploaded this afternoon, more than a week after August 18 hearing and the longest that the AG’s Chambers has ever delayed in booting a clip.

It gave no explanation but on Wednesday, Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng gave it a shelling for trying to cover up the bad behavior of DPP Abdul Razak Musa, who had tried all ways and means to chop down Pornthip's credibility.

The video clip spans 3 hours and comes in a huge 805mb file.

“Why not the latest recording? The latest recording is supposed to be the funniest, full of surprises and our government lawyer will be the laughing stock in the whole legal profession and the whole world. So they purposely tried to hide it,” Lim had told a press conference.

Hard to keep a good woman down

Lim was among the lawyers involved in the Teoh Beng Hock case since his body was discovered on July 16, 2009, after overnight interrogation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in connection with a graft probe on several DAP leaders.

Amid public outcry and accusations of a government cover-up, the AG had last year promised transparency and that it would upload the video tape of each inquest proceeding on its website atwww.agc.gov.my

Last week, Dr Pornthip flew in to testify at Teoh's inquest, flustering the MACC because her forensic findings show Teoh’s death was homicide while the federal-government agency has been insistent it was suicide.

The MACC, together with the AG's Chambers, has tried hard to discredit Pornthip because of her popularity with the Malaysian public. In her country, Pornthip is rated as the most trusted individual in the whole of Thailand, according to a recent Reader’s Digest poll.

Among the 'tough' questions that Abdul Razak asked was where was the murder weapon if there had been homicide, if Pornthip had personal experience of jumping off buildings and if it was possible that Beng Hock had strangled himself. He also tried to denigrate her academic background, however, the poised Pornthip managed to hold up well and answered his questions.

Thumbs up for Pakatan, shame on HINDRAF!

This is an email from one Chandra Bose.

The Sitiawan Dindings Indian Association matter goes to show that Pakatan Rakyat representatives are more effective champions of the rakyat.

Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has agreed to cancel the acquisition of the 2.2ha land belonging to the Dindings Indian Association in Manjung for a school project.

The hard work put in by M Kulasegaran, Prof P Ramasamy and P Gobalakrishnan with the support of Indians in the district contributed to stopping the land from being taken over by the federal government.

It was the pressure exerted by the rakyat that eventually forced the committee and the MIC to rescind the move. If the Pakatan Rakyat had not taken the initiative, the land would have been surely sold to the federal government, and the property as a landmark for Indians, would have been lost forever.

What is most glaring is the fact that the so-called Indian 'champions' Hindraf/HRP-Makkal Sathi Party was completely silent on this matter. This so-called vociferous spokesorganisation of Indians have lately become quite docile in taking Indian issues.

In the case of Bukit Jalil estate, HRP merely agitiated for the workers without working out a solution for them.

They are quite vehement in their criticism of Pakatan Rakyat, they refuse to say anything about the MIC.

I am so encouraged and happy

The khatib, or preacher, who caused a stir by reciting the "doa" (prayer) for Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng instead of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong during Friday sermons recently, today defended his action, saying it was not wrong in Islam.

Zakaria Ahmad, however, acknowledged that his approach and the occasion and place where he recited the "doa" for Lim were seen as wrong.

"God willing, after this, I will say such a 'doa' at other occasions and places which are more suitable," he told reporters after giving his explanation to the Penang Islamic Religious Council (MAIPP) in Georgetown following the controversy.

Zakaria who regarded the issue as small, said it was blown up by some politicians and he thanked MAIPP for giving him guidance.

MAIPP president Elias Zakaria said the committee was satisfied with Zakaria's explanation, and the outcome of the deliberation would be tabled at a MAIPP meeting for further action.

He said as for now, no action would be taken against Zakaria as he agreed not to repeat his action.

"We had informed Zakaria on the uneasiness felt and the implications of his action.

"He admitted committing it, promised not to do it again and would even publicly explain the matter for the good of all quarters," added Elias.

In a related development, Penang police chief Ayub Yaakob when contacted said police had taken a statement from Zakaria today and would try to complete the investigation, also by today.

Penang Umno liaison chief Ahmad Zahid Hamidi recently revealed that in reciting the doa' during Friday sermons at some mosques in the state, the King's name had been replaced with Lim's name, incurring the ire of many Muslims.

Police reports were lodged against Zakaria over the controversy.

Zakaria then reportedly admitted having omitted the name of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin in the "doa khutbah Jumaat", reasoning that he was praying for the well-being of all the country's leaders including the King.

- Bernama

Zahid and some of the rightists in UMNO continue to show the rakyat that they do have dinosaur brains. In our church [Catholic], especially when mass is being said on Sundays, we not only pray for peace in our country but also pray for our Muslim brethren and leaders. I wonder whether UMNO muslims will do the same for us? It is interesting to know how much lower UMNO will stoop to cause more problems for Pakatan run states.

Reliving The Carpenters' music

Unbelievable, this Japanese lass does sound like Karen (Carpenter), and so, The Carpenters' music lives on.

Seagate and 3TB drive

Putting more terabytes in the hands of consumers worldwide, Seagate, the leader in hard drives and storage solutions, today announced the world's first 3 Terabyte (TB) external desktop drive.

Available immediately, the 3TB FreeAgent GoFlex Desk external hard drive helps meet the explosive worldwide demand for digital content storage in both the home and office.

With 3TB of capacity, people can store up to 120 HD movies, 1,500 video games, thousands of photos or countless hours of digital music.

A key addition to the company's recently introduced GoFlex family of hard drives, the 3TB GoFlex Desk external drive couples immense capacity with the flexibility to adapt the drive's USB 2.0 interface to a USB 3.0 or FireWire 800 connection to meet varying performance and transfer speed needs.

Consumers can easily create, store and access content from either a Windows or Mac OS X computer on the GoFlex Desk external drive, thanks to an included NTFS driver for Mac.

In a statement today, Dave Mosley, Seagate executive vice-president of sales, marketing and product line management said: "Consumer capacity demands are quickly outpacing the needs of business as people continue to collect high-definition videos, photos and music.

He said Seagate has a tradition of designing products that break into new storage frontiers to meet customer requirements and the 3TB GoFlex Desk external drive is no exception - delivering the highest-capacity storage solution available today.

- Bernama

First there were 13. Now there are 11?

Two down, eleven to go? It looks like the BN is slowly but surely disintegrating and instead of salvaging the situation, certain UMNO leaders and their rightist associates like PERKASA are helping the group to speed up the process. To the BN, UMNO was supposed to be the belt and Najib the buckle, but with all the corruption going on and dissenting views from within, the belt just gave way one hole at a time. However, the buckle just keep hanging on precariously but for how long? The first party to pull out of the BN was Sabah Progressive Party on September 17 2008 under the leadership of Yong Teck Lee.

A possible mutiny on the BN ship has been the talk of the town in Sarawak over the past week, as the rumour mill adds fuel to speculation that the state election is indeed near.

Local newspaper The Borneo Post quoted SUPP secretary-general Sim Kheng Hui (left) as saying that the state coalition's second-largest party faces a tough ultimatum from its grassroots - leave BN or face the wrath of the people.

Online portal FreeMalaysiaToday reinforced this notion, quoting "grassroots leaders" who blamed Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud's authoritarian rule for SUPP's waning influence, particularly among the Chinese.

Their discontent was clearly framed by SUPP's loss of eight seats to the opposition in 2006 and most recently the Sibu by-election, won by DAP, last May.

But is that truly the motivation behind the alleged "push" for SUPP to leave the state BN, some 40 years since they decided to join it in 1970?

Rumours aren't new

There have long been rumours of discontent among the ranks in the way SUPP's political fortunes have dwindled over the years, mostly over their perceived inability to deliver to their largely Chinese support base.

That apparent inability is blamed squarely on Taib (right), who is seen as the architect behind SUPP's emasculation in the eyes of Sarawak's Chinese voters by keeping the lion's share of resources to himself and his party, PBB.

And talk of SUPP's top leaders apparently signing a letter of undertaking last week - to stick with the party, sink or swim - does little to stem the rumours.

SUPP's Sibu information chief Daniel Ngieng noted that the party has decided to leave it to president George Chan or secretary-general Sim to make whatever announcements necessary, citing a gag order on party affairs.

Ngieng however brushed aside speculations over SUPP's possible exit from the state BN as a normal phenomenon before impending elections.

"(Pulling out) is only one of many courses of action, but the leadership has never talked about it. There may have been some frustration, but the issue (of quitting BN) at this moment does not arise," he said when contacted.

When asked about a purported high-profile meeting held between top SUPP leaders in Kuala Lumpur last week, Ngieng (left) said there was no official meeting scheduled, though he added that it was probably an impromptu meeting "over tea".

It was reported that the party's top-brass had met to discuss SUPP's future involvement with the state BN and to get each leader to sign the letter of undertaking to stick with the party, regardless of the outcome of the leadership's decisions.

"The rumours surrounding this (meeting) may have been spread by some people who merely want to speculate over another Ming Court incident," he said, referring to a plot to topple Taib in the late 1980s.

Too much at stake

A long-time party observer agreed that there is too much fluff and not enough meat to back claims of a potential revolt by SUPP.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the observer, who has followed the party's developments over the past 15 years, pointed out that many of the senior leaders would be giving up top government postsif they were to engineer a rebellion.

"Youare looking at the bulk of them holding senior ministerial posts in the state government... do you think they are going to give that up?," the observer pointed out.

Pulling the spotlight onto the grassroots, the observer said the agents behind SUPP's rumoured push to quit the BN would more likely be a silent faction that has enough sway among party members to rock the boat hard.

But until either the party leadership or the alleged faction come out in the open, armed with their intentions, it looks like pundits will have to be content with the near-daily speculation and conspiracies over SUPP's continued partnership with the BN.

[Source: Mkini]