After George Chan, is Ong Tee Keat following suit?

Ong Tee Keat was one of the few high-level Chinese politicians who agreed that Malaysian Chinese are marginalised by Umno, according to a secret US diplomatic cable in 2006 published today at Malaysia Today through WikiLeaks.

The US Embassy’s political officer, Mark Clark, noted that Ong, then MCA vice-president, was one of the few ministerial level Chinese politicians who refused to deny publicly or privately the fact that Chinese Malaysians are marginalised.

Ong commented to Clark in a private meeting that although Chinese leaders from MCA and Gerakan were bound to support government (i.e. Umno) positions, their Chinese constituents were not satisfied with their responses.

In cases such as this, “silence is sometimes our only valid response.” But he acknowledged, “of course we are marginalised, big business to small stall owners know that — but MCA cannot admit it.”

So when pressed by reporters for a public response to Singapore leader Lee Kuan Yew’s accusation that year that Malaysia marginalises the Chinese community, Ong related an old Chinese proverb — “Whether the water in the tea cup is hot or cold, he who drinks it knows best,” the cable said.

Ong Tee Keat foresaw the difficulties facing the MCA in the general election (held two years later, in 2008). There was great dissatisfaction with the status quo in the Chinese community, only partially shown in the Sarawak elections of 2006 when the DAP won six seats.

“Sarawak was a wake-up call for all Chinese parties,” Ong told the US diplomat. The MCA and Gerakan were not sure they could counter the growing discontent in their communities. The Chinese component parties of BN no longer have community focused development projects to show their constituents, as these have all been redirected to Malay communities.

“There was once a day in Malaysia when MCA would get the left-overs, but now we are just hoping to get some crumbs from the Umno table,” said Ong; an example was in the Ninth Malaysia Plan which called for 180 new schools to be built but none of which would be Chinese or Tamil vernacular schools.

Only after loud outcries from the Chinese community did the Ministry of Education “cave in” and announce that two of the 180 schools would be designated as Chinese vernacular schools. Again, MCA could not provide a proportional voice for the Chinese minority, and Ong believed the community took note, the cable said.

[Source: Uppercaise]

From left overs to crumbs? Now I know how it feels to beg, and they are still wondering why the commnuity has stopped voting them into office. Where is the sense of pride and dignity? *sigh*

We salute the five brave ex-servicemen

I believe after much soul searching, the five ex-servicemen finally decided that enough was enough and it was time to come forward to expose the irregularities in the voting system at the various military bases. Despite them being no longer in uniform, they nonetheless felt they were duty bound to do what was right.

Below is my favourite military song dedicated to these five brave souls. To Armed Forces chief General Zulkifeli Mohd Zin, listen to the first line of the song. It says, "Ini-lah Malaysia kita" not "Ini-lah kerajaan kita" or "Ini-lah Barisan Nasional". Your priority is misplaced to question the loyalty of these people.

Burning The Star paper, does it make sense?

When I read the following report about the burning of The Star paper in Penang, I am just wondering whether those who participated in the act knew what they were doing or were they taking the cue from Ezam Mohd Nor about burning down the offices of Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider. What's wrong with these fellas anyway? Everything about them is always about burning down something if that something acts in a way contrary to their beliefs. In the past, we had the UMNO Youth guys who wanted to burn down the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall. This was followed by Sharizat who suggested the burning of the PAS office. It really paints the group as nothing more than a bunch of arsonists. Read the following news article which appeared in the Malaysiakini on August 18 2011. My comments are in bold caps.

A small group of men gathered in front of the Penang office of The Star newspaper today and set fire to a large stack of newspapers over its offending Ramadan supplement.

The 11, who said they represented several Malay NGOs, first stomped on the papers, calling them “paper haram” (illegal) and “berita palsu” (false news). [HMMM, I THOUGHT THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE APPROPRIATE IF ONE WAS TO DESCRIBE THE UTUSAN OR BERITA HARIAN IN THIS MANNER. GIVING THE STAR THE BENEFIT OF A DOUBT, IT WAS MERELY AN PROMOTIONAL ADVERTISEMENT NOT A POLITICAL SPIN. SINCE THE PAPER HAVE ALREADY APOLOGISED TWICE, WHY CONTINUE TO FLOG THE HORSE? UTUSAN, ON THE OTHER HAND HAVE BEEN SPINNING STORIES, YOU KNOW 'BERITA PALSU' THAT WOULD HAVE CREATED SOCIAL INSTABILITY. EVEN WHEN THEY WERE CAUGHT WITH FALSE REPORTING, THEY DIDN'T EVEN HAVE THE COURTESY TO APOLOGISE, AND WE KNOW WHY.]

The NGOs include Malay rights pressure group the Penang branch of Perkasa, Suara Anak Anak Malaysia (SAAM) and Persatuan Kemajuan Insan Malaysia.

Later, the group held up yellow placards carrying anti-The Star slogans, while crying out for the Home Ministry to take further action against the newspaper's editor. [IF FURTHER ACTION MEANS REVOKE THE PRINTING LICENSE, SO BE IT].

They warned of “bigger actions” if the newspaper fails to seriously apologise for running 'buka puasa' (breaking of fast) articles together with stories of non-halal restaurants in a supplement pullout. [BIGGER ACTIONS, IF THEY MEANT MOVING FROM BURNING NEWSPAPERS TO BURNING THE BUILDING?]

“We will later bring three trailers of newspapers to burn if the paper does not apologise properly,” shouted SAAM chief Mohamed Ghani Abdul Jiman.
[NOW THIS ONE REALLY TAKES THE CAKE. MANY MALAYSIANS ARE ALREADY BOYCOTTING THE STAR AND HERE WE HAVE THESE BLOKES SUPPORTING THE PAPER, AND THREE TRAILER LOADS ON TOP OF THAT! THE MANAGEMENT OF THE STAR WOULD BE SO OVERJOYED THAT IN ONE PARTICULAR MONTH SAW A SUDDEN UPSURGE IN CIRCULATION. THESE SAAM AND PERKASA FELLAS USED THEIR HARD EARNED MONEY, BOUGHT SOMETHING THEY DIDN'T LIKE AND THEN DESTROYED IT. AM I MISSING SOMETHING HERE? IF THEY REALLY INTEND ON BURNING THREE TRAILER LOAD OF STAR NEWSPAPERS, SOMEONE SHOULD REPORT THEM TO THE DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT FOR OPEN BURNING. CAN YOU IMAGINE THE DAMAGE IT WOULD DO TO THE SURROUNDING AREAS. HOW DAFT CAN THEY BE?].

Northeast Penang Perkasa chief Mohd Ridzuan Mohd Azuddin said the paper, which represented the minorities in the country, has hurt the feelings of the majority, who are Muslims.

He called for sterner action against the newspaper and its editor by Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.

“They have not seriously apologised for their mistakes. The editor must take responsibility for his mistake,” he added. [I GUESS THEY WANT THE EDITOR TO COMMIT HARAKIRI OR SEPUKU].

'Take sterner action'

Another Perkasa representative, Noorhalim Abdul, said the Home Ministry should suspend the newspaper's publishing permit for its recent error.

“Sterner actions should be taken against the newspaper's editor, he should be terminated from his job,” he said.

“Let this be a lesson to all newspapers, not just The Star, to be sensitive to the feelings of others,” he added. [ALL NEWSPAPERS? DOES THAT INCLUDE UTUSAN AND BERITA HARIAN? IF IT IS, I'M ALL FOR IT].

The group later handed over the yellow placards to The Star's representative Philomena Anthony, asking her to let her “boss” read the slogans inside. [NGOs TURNED SLOGAN WRITERS? ADVERTISING AGENCIES BETTER TAKE NOTE. THERE ARE SOME POTENTIALS HERE FOR YOU TO CONSIDER IN SLOGAN WRITING].

Hishammuddin had said the ministry was not satisfied with The Star's immediate apology over the matter.

He had asked the The Star to do more to soothe the feelings of Muslims who were deeply hurt over the newspaper's insensitive articles in its 'Dining Out' supplement. [WELL MAYBE THE STAR SHOULD ORGANISE A BUKA PUASA DINNER AT A 5-STAR HOTEL FOR THESE BLOKES, IF IT HELPS TO SOOTHE THEIR FEELINGS].

The controversy erupted after the supplement, which was published last week with the cover headline 'Ramadan Delights', was found to also contain articles and pictures of pork dishes and non-halal restaurants, something Muslims find very offensive.

The newspaper has suspended its supplement editor and apologised twice over the matter.

About 50 policemen stood watch while the activity took place in Bayan Lepas, about 1km from the Penang International Airport. [WHY IS IT THAT WHENEVER THESE UMNO RELATED GROUPS PROTEST, THE POLICE HAVE A TENDENCY TO STAND WATCH AND NOT ARREST THE CULPRITS. IF IT WAS THE OPPOSITION, THEY WILL JUMP INTO ACTION AS THOUGH THEY HAVE JUST TAKEN 5 BOTTLES OF LIVITA].

Southwest district police chief Lai Fah Hin (right), who was at the site, said he allowed the group 10 minutes to rally and five minutes to disperse.

He said he had warned them not to damage any public or private property and they had complied with the order.

“As for the open burning, I have reported them to the Environment Department, which will take the necessary action,” he added.

The 1986 Philippines Presidential Election and the consequences of electoral fraud

LET'S HOPE HISTORY WILL BE KINDER TO US THAN THE PHILIPPINES

Calls for election

On November 23, 1985, after pressures from Washington, Marcos suddenly announced that a presidential snap election would take place the following year, one year ahead of the regular presidential election schedule, to legitimize his control over the country. The snap election was legalized with the passage of Batas Pambansa Blg. 883 (National Law No. 883) by the Marcos-controlled unicameral congress called the Regular Batasang Pambansa. The growing opposition movement encouraged Ninoy Aquino's widow, Corazon Aquino, to run for the presidency with Salvador Laurel as running mate for vice-president. Marcos ran for re-election, with Arturo Tolentino as his running mate. The Aquino-Laurel tandem ran under the United Opposition (UNIDO) party, while the Marcos-Tolentino ticket ran under the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) party.

Snap election

The elections were held on February 7, 1986. The official election canvasser, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), declared Marcos the winner. The final tally of the COMELEC had Marcos winning with 10,807,197 votes against Aquino's 9,291,761 votes. On the other hand, the final tally of the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), an accredited poll watcher, had Aquino winning with 7,835,070 votes against Marcos' 7,053,068 points. This electoral exercise was marred by widespread reports of violence and tampering of election results, culminating in the walkout of 29 COMELEC computer technicians to protest the deliberate manipulation of the official election results to favor Ferdinand Marcos. The walkout was considered as one of the early "sparks" of the People Power Revolution. The walkout also served as an affirmation to allegations of vote-buying, fraud, and tampering of election results by the KBL.

Because of reports of alleged fraud, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issued a statement condemning the elections. The United States Senate also passed a resolution stating the same condemnation. US president Ronald Reagan issued a statement calling the fraud reports as "disturbing". In response to the protests, COMELEC claimed that Marcos with 53 percent won over Aquino. However, NAMFREL countered that the latter won over Marcos with 52 percent of votes.

On February 15, Marcos was proclaimed by COMELEC and Batasang Pambansa as the winner amidst the controversy. All 50 opposition members of the Parliament walked out in protest. The Filipino people refused to accept the results, however, asserting that Aquino was the real victor. Both "winners" took their oath of office in two different places, with Aquino gaining greater mass support. Aquino also called for coordinated strikes and mass boycott of the media and businesses owned by Marcos's cronies. As a result, the crony banks, corporations, and media were hit hard, and their shares in the stock market plummeted to record levels.

Events of the revolution

Appalled by the bold and apparent election irregularities, the Reform the Armed Forces Movement set into motion a coup attempt against Marcos. The initial plan was for a team to assault Malacañang Palace and arrest Ferdinand Marcos. Other military units will be taking over key strategic facilities, such as the airport, military bases, TV and radio stations, the GHQAFP in Camp Aguinaldo, and major highway junctions to restrict counteroffensive by Marcos-loyal troops.

Lt.Col Gregorio Honasan was to lead the team that was going to assault Malacañang Palace.

However, after Marcos learned about the plot, he ordered their leaders' arrest, and presented to the international and local press some of the captured plotters, Maj. Saulito Aromin and Maj. Edgardo Doromal.

Threatened with their impending imprisonment, Enrile and his fellow coup plotters decided to ask for help from then AFP Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen Fidel Ramos, who was also the chief of the Philippine Constabulary (now the Philippine National Police). Ramos agreed to resign from his position and support the plotters. Enrile also contacted the highly influential Cardinal Archbishop of Manila Jaime Sin for his support.

At about 6:30pm, February 22, Enrile and Ramos held a press conference at Camp Aguinaldo, where they announced that they had resigned from their positions in Marcos's cabinet and were withdrawing support from his government. Marcos himself later conducted his own news conference calling on Enrile and Ramos to surrender, urging them to "stop this stupidity."

At about 9 p.m., in a message aired over Radio Veritas, Cardinal Sin exhorted Filipinos to come to the aid of the rebel leaders by going to EDSA between Camp Crame and Aguinaldoand giving emotional support, food and other supplies. For many, this seemed an unwise decision since civilians would not stand a chance against a dispersal by government troops. Nevertheless, many people, especially priests and nuns, trooped to EDSA.

Rising mass support

Radio Veritas played a critical role during the mass uprising. Former University of the Philippines president Francisco Nemenzo stated that: "Without Radio Veritas, it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to mobilize millions of people in a matter of hours." Similarly, a certain account in the event said that: "Radio Veritas, in fact, was our umbilical cord to whatever else was going on."^[

During the height of the revolution, an estimated one to three million people filled EDSA from Ortigas Avenue all the way to Cubao. The photo above shows the area at the intersection of EDSA and Boni Serrano Avenue, just between Camp Crame and Camp Aguinaldo.

At dawn, Sunday, government troops arrived to knock down the main transmitter of Radio Veritas, cutting off broadcasts to people in the provinces. The station switched to a standby transmitter with a limited range of broadcast. The station was targeted because it had proven to be a valuable communications tool for the people supporting the rebels, keeping them informed of government troop movements and relaying requests for food, medicine, and supplies.

Still, people came to EDSA until it swelled to hundreds of thousands of unarmed civilians. The mood in the street was actually very festive, with many bringing whole families. Performers entertained the crowds, nuns and priests led prayer vigils, and people set up barricades and makeshift sandbags, trees, and vehicles in several places along EDSA and intersecting streets such as Santolan and Ortigas Avenue. Everywhere, people listened to Radio Veritas on their radios. Several groups sang Bayan Ko (My Homeland), which, since 1980, had become a patriotic anthem of the opposition. People frequently flashed the LABAN (fight) sign, which is an "L" formed with their thumb and index finger.

Shortly after lunch on February 23, Enrile and Ramos decided to consolidate their positions. Enrile crossed EDSA from Camp Aguinaldoto Camp Crame amidst cheers from the crowd.

In the mid-afternoon, Radio Veritas relayed reports of Marines massing near the camps in the east and LVT-5 tanks approaching from the north and south. A contingent of Marines with tanks and armored vans, led by Brigadier General Artemio Tadiar, was stopped along Ortigas Avenue, about two kilometers from the camps, by tens of thousands of people. Nuns holding rosaries knelt in front of the tanks and men and women linked arms together to block the troops. Tadiar asked the crowds to make a clearing for them, but they did not budge. In the end, the troops retreated with no shots fired.^[24]

By evening, the standby transmitter of Radio Veritas failed. Shortly after midnight, the staff were able to go to another station to begin broadcasting from a secret location under the moniker "Radyo Bandido" (Bandit Radio). June Keithley, with Angelo Castro, was the radio broadcaster who continued Radio Veritas' program throughout the night and in the remaining days.

More defections

At dawn on Monday, February 24, the first serious encounter with government troops occurred. Marines marching from Libis, in the east, lobbed tear gas at the demonstrators, who quickly dispersed. Some 3,000 Marines then entered and held the east side of Camp Aguinaldo.

Later, helicopters manned by the 15th Strike Wing of the Philippine Air Force, led by Colonel Antonio Sotelo, were ordered from Sangley Point in Cavite (South of Manila) to head to Camp Crame. Secretly, the squadron had already defected and instead of attacking Camp Crame, landed in it, with the crowds cheering and hugging the pilots and crew members. ABell 214 helicopter piloted by Major Deo Cruz of the 205th Helicopter Wing and Sikorsky S-76 gunships piloted by Colonel Charles Hotchkiss of the 20th Air Commando Squadron joined the rebel squadron earlier in the air. The presence of the helicopters boosted the morale of Enrile and Ramos who had been continually encouraging their fellow soldiers to join the opposition movement. In the afternoon, Aquino arrived at the base where Enrile, Ramos, RAM officers and a throng were waiting.

The capture of Channel 4

At around that time, June Keithley received reports that Marcos had left Malacañang Palace and broadcast this to the people at EDSA. The crowd celebrated and even Ramos and Enrile came out from Crame to appear to the crowds. The jubilation was however short-lived as Marcos later appeared on television on the government-controlled Channel 4, (using the foreclosed ABS-CBN facilities, transmitter and compound) declaring that he would not step down. It was thereafter speculated that the false report was a calculated move against Marcos to encourage more defections.

During this broadcast, Channel 4 suddenly went off the air. A contingent of rebels, under Colonel Mariano Santiago, had captured the station. Channel 4 was put back on line shortly after noon, with Orly Punzalan announcing, "Channel 4 is on the air again to serve the people." By this time, the crowds at EDSA had swollen to over a million. (Some estimates placed them at two million.) This broadcast was considered the "return" of ABS-CBN on air because this was the time when former employees of ABS-CBN were inside the complex after 14 years of closure since Marcos took it over during the Martial law of 1972. The people who were manning this broadcast were the likes of June Keithley, Fr. Aris Sison, Fr. Efren Datu, Fr. Bong Bongayan, Jose Mari Velez, Orly Punzalan and were directed by Johnny Manahan with former ABS employees. Also this was the first time when the late Eugenio "Geny" Lopez Jr.'s cousin Augusto "Jake" Lopez stepped into ABS-CBN after it had been closed.

In the late afternoon, rebel helicopters attacked Villamor Airbase, destroying presidential air assets. Another helicopter went to Malacañang, fired a rocket and caused minor damage. Later, most of the officers who had graduated from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) defected. The majority of the Armed Forces had already changed sides.

AFP holds fire

The actual dialogue on TV between Marcos and then AFP Chief of Staff General Fabian Ver went as follows:

Fabian Ver: We have to immobilize the helicopters they've got. We have two fighter planes flying now to strike at any time, sir.
Ferdinand Marcos: My order is not to attack.
Ver: They are massing civilians near our troops and we cannot keep on withdrawing. You asked me to withdraw yesterday....
Marcos (interrupting): My order is to disperse [them] without shooting them.
Ver: We cannot withdraw all the time...
Marcos:' No, no, no! Hold on. You disperse the crowds without shooting them. You may use any other weapon...

Two inaugurations

On the morning of Tuesday, February 25, at around 7 a.m., a minor clash occurred between loyal government troops and the reformists. Snipers stationed atop the government-owned Channel 9 tower, near Channel 4, began shooting at the reformists. Many rebel soldiers surged to the station.

Later in the morning, Corazon Aquino was inaugurated as President of the Philippines in a simple ceremony at Club Filipino in Greenhills, about a kilometer from Camp Crame. She was sworn in as President by Senior Associate Justice Claudio Teehankee, and Laurel as Vice-President by Justice Vicente Abad Santos. The Bible on which Aquino swore her oath was held by Aurora Aquino, the mother of Ninoy Aquino. Attending the ceremonies were Ramos, who was then promoted to General, Enrile, and many politicians. Outside Club Filipino, all the way to EDSA, hundreds of people cheered and celebrated. Bayan Ko (My Country, a popular folk song and the unofficial National Anthem of protest) was sung after Aquino's oath-taking. Many people wore yellow, the color of Aquino's campaign for presidency.

An hour later, Marcos conducted the inauguration at Malacañang. Loyalist civilians attended the ceremony, shouting "Marcos, Marcos, Marcos pa rin! (Marcos, Marcos, still Marcos!)". On the Palace balcony, Marcos took his oath as the President of the Philippines, broadcast by IBC-13 and GMA-7. None of the invited foreign dignitaries attended the ceremony for security reasons. The couple finally stepped out in the balcony of the palace in front of the 3000 KBL loyalists who were shouting to Marcos: "Capture the snakes!" First Lady Imelda Marcos sang one more rendition of "Dahil Sa Iyo" (Because of You), the couple's theme song, rather tearfully, chanting her trademark Tagalog entreaties:

Because of you I attained happiness
I offer you my love
If it is true that you shall enslave me
All of this is because of you.

After the inauguration, the Marcos family and their close associates hurriedly rushed to leave the Palace. The broadcast of the event was also cut off as rebel troops successfully captured the other stations.

By this time, hundreds of people had amassed at the barricades along Mendiola, only a hundred meters away from Malacañang. They were prevented from storming the Palace by loyal government troops securing the area. The angry demonstrators were pacified by priests who warned them not to be violent.

Don't you think it's a little too late to bring up the subject now, Georgie?

Sarawak United Peoples Party president George Chan’s ‘revealing’ statement that Barisan Nasional coalition does care about the Chinese was well received by the DAP.

Chan, a former deputy chief minister, said that ‘if DAP joined BN, it will be also useless like SUPP, MCA and Gerakan’ because BN does not care about the Chinese.

Chan, who lost his Piasau seat in the recent state election, was referring to an invitation by Nazri Aziz, the minister in the PM’s department for DAP to join the Barisan Nasional.

Nazri last week end urged DAP and PAS to join BN in an interview with Sin Jew Jit Poh.

Sarawak DAP secretary Chong Chieng Jien said: “We have to thank George Chan for telling us the truth that even if DAP was to join BN, it will be useless as the BN does not take heed of the Chinese interest.

“The policy is that the BN does not take heed of what the Chinese want because they don’t care. Whoever joins BN, it is no use. That is the situation in BN.

“This is truth and George Chan’s honesty is appreaciated. But (unfortunately) it comes 15 years too late.”

Chong also chastised Chan and other members of the leadership for speaking the truth only after they had lost their seats and positions in the state Cabinet.

“Why are you telling us now? Why not 15 years ago when you were still the deputy chief minister?

“All this while, you have been telling the Chinese in Sarawak only in BN that you can achieve what the Chinese want. As the opposition you cannot do anything.

“But after you lost the election and your official post you are being truthful to the people. The reason is that there was a conflict of interest when you were inside.

“The only conclusion that we can draw now is that SUPP leaders only tells the people of Sarawak the truth when they lose the election and their official posts,” he said.

‘Fooling the people’

Asked whether SUPP should pull out of BN, Chong said: “We leave it to them to rot in the BN. I don’t give a damn, but I would like to highlight two things from his statement.

“Firstly, for the past 15 years while Chan was inside, they were fooling the people and telling them that only in BN, they can fight for Chinese rights.

“Secondly, SUPP leaders only speak words of concern after they have been ousted from their ministerial posts,” he said.

Chong also took to task Second Minister of Finance Wong Soon Koh, who is also the SUPP deputy secretary general, over his ministerial post.

“What is Wong, the last of the Mohicans, doing inside BN holding a ministerial post if his president said BN does not care about what the Chinese want?

“I want Wong to reply to George Chan,” said Chong.

Chong said that Chan had now indrectly implied that the Chinese community should give DAP their full support in the coming parlimanetary election.

As to Nazri’s invitation, Chong who is also Bandar Kuching MP, described it as a ‘nonsense’ offer and said that DAP did not take the invitation seriously.

He said it was not on the agenda of DAP, and if had been, the DAP would have done so 40 years ago when there was an open invitation to all opposition parties to form BN by Tun Abdul Razak as Prime Minister after ousting Tunku Abdul Rahman.

SUPP, Gerakan and PAS joined the BN government, but DAP stood firm and refused to join as it believed that in a democratic system there must be an opposition.

“After 40 years, the BN government has become more rotten and more corrupted and there are more abuses of power involving more money. Previously it was only millions of ringgit. Now billions are involved,” he said.

[Source: FMT]

Bersih 2.0 was right. We definitely need a review of the postal votes

CONFESSIONS OF EX-MILITARY PERSONNEL

Postal vote manipulation has been a common practice in the military for many years - so it seems - now that more retired military personnel are speaking up.

Now, four ex-military personnel have confessed to committing election fraud - the same way an ex-army man said he did so earlier this month.

The four, who had served at army and air force bases across the country, say they marked thousands of postal votes in three separate general elections between 1978 and 1999.

Monday Humour

A beggar said to another beggar: "I had a grand dinner yesterday."

"How?": The other beggar asked.

First beggar: Someone gave me a RM100 note yesterday. I went to the KL Tower Revolving Restaurant and ordered wine & dinner worth RM 1,000, and enjoyed the dinner. When the bill came, I said, I had no money.

The manager called the policeman, and handed me over to him.

I gave the RM100 note to the police fellow, and he set me free.

Isn't that a wonderful example of financial management?

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Sardarji in Paris !

Sardar,(Mr. Singh)a furniture dealer from Kirti Nagar, decided that he wanted to expand the line of furniture in his store, so he decides to go to Paris to see what he could find.

After arriving in Paris (this being his first trip ever to the French capital), he met with some manufacturers and finally selected a new range of furniture that he thought would sell well back home in west Delhi.

To celebrate the new acquisition, he decides to visit a pub and have a glass of wine.

As he sat down enjoying his wine, soon enough, a very beautiful attractive young lady came to his table, asked him something in French (which he did not understand), and motioned toward the chair.

He invited her to sit down. He tried to speak to her in PUNJABI-HINDI- ENGLISH but she did not speak or know any of these languages. So, after a couple of minutes of trying to communicate with her, he took a napkin and drew a picture of a wine glass and showed it her. She nodded, and he ordered a glass of wine for her.

After sitting together at the table for a while, he took another napkin and drew a picture of a plate with food on it, and she nodded.

They left the pub and found a quiet cafe that featured a small group playing romantic music. They ordered dinner, after which he took another napkin and drew a picture of a couple dancing. She nodded, and they got up to dance.

They danced until the cafe closed and the band was packing up. Then, after they were back at their table, the young lady took a napkin and drew a picture of a bed.

Till this day, the Sardar is trying to figure out how she knew he was in the furniture business .