Life was so much different then

The following material was found in the library of Ohio University. It is a programme booklet of KGMMB's (Kesatuan Guru-Guru Melayu Malaysia Barat) AGM 1968 and the advertisement showing a Malay couple enjoying a glass of Guinness Stout appeared on page 2, side by side with the message from the then Deputy Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak.

The plaque below is from my church, St Francis of Assisi, located at 8th mile Cheras which was officially declared opened on May 1 1979 by YB Dato Seri Syed Ahmad Shahabudin, who was then the DEPUTY HOME MINISTER. I do not see any UMNO ministers, even low ranking ones, performing such ceremonies at churches these days.

HOW TIME HAS CHANGED !

Strange, but true

How did the Taiwanese people succeed in growing so many bananas on one branch (3600 pieces of bananas)???

This is spooky -

An unexpected side-effect of the flooding in parts of Pakistan has been that millions of spiders climbed up into the trees to escape the rising flood waters. Because of the scale of the flooding and the fact that the water has taken so long to recede, many trees have become cocooned in spiders webs. People in this part of Sindh have never seen this phenonemon before but they also report that there are now less mosquitos than they would expect, given the amount of stagnant, standing water that is around. It is thought that the mosquitoes are getting caught in the spiders web thus reducing the risk of malaria, which would be one blessing for the people of Sindh, facing so many other hardships after the floods. UK aid in response to the Pakistan floods is helping millions of survivors return home and rebuild their lives.

Najib and Rosmah thumb their noses

As expected, Prime Minister Najib Razak and wife Rosmah Mansor have decided against complying with a subpoena ordering them to take the witness stand in the sodomy trial against Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

This is the same tactic used by former premier Mahathir Mohamad, when he sacked and jailed Anwar on manifestly trumped-up sodomy charges in 1998.

"It indicates guilt. What else is there? If they are a responsible couple with good morals and have nothing to hide, why not take the stand? What is there to be so uptight about? Show Malaysians what civic mindedness and social responsibility is about," PKR vice president Tian Chua toldMalaysia Chronicle.

But that is not likely to happen. Both Najib and Rosmah filed their applications on Wednesday, through their lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik.

Irresponsible is not cool

With GE-13 looming nearer by the day - with many now whispering it will take place before Christmas - Najib and Rosmah had been expected to look for a way out of their responsibility.

It is telling that just a day ago, Najib had bragged about a re-branding exercise to make him appear to be a ‘cool’ prime minister, so as to attract young voters to the BN fold.

“Not cool, not cool,” PKR president Wan Azizah Wan ismail told reporters on Wednesday.

Pundits had already said chances were high the first couple would apply to the courts to have the subpoena set aside. It is the only way to thwart such a court order, otherwise Anwar can demand for a warrant of arrest against them if they did not turn up.

It was back in August that both Najib and Rosmah refused to be interviewed as potential witnesses by the courts. So, left without a choice, Anwar's lawyers subpoenaed them.

Another public relations exercise on the way

Given Malaysia's skewed judiciary system, there is little doubt that the first couple will be granted their application, following which, they can be expected to launch another high-profile public relations exercise to 'clean' up their image.

Najib has already splashed hundreds of millions of taxpayers' money on public relations to improve his image at home and abroad. Recently, he got into trouble after it was exposed that he had paid FBC Media RM55 million to churn out positive propaganda about his administration and get it screened on international stations such as CNN, CNBC and BBC. The British industry regulator is now probing FBC for unethical practice. The news of the scandal traveled around the world, disgracing Malaysia.

“There’s a great deal of evidence around us to show what a waste of taxpayers’ money this is,” international branding expert Steve Anholt told the local BFM Radio station in a phone interview this morning. He was referring to the FBC Media scandal.

“First of all, the countries that tend to spend most money on these PR campaigns to fix their image tend to be the rogue nations. So I’m afraid I think the whole thing is an absolute scam and a shocking and indefensible waste of taxpayers’ money."

What Anwar said

Anwar was accused of sodomising his former aide Saiful Bukhari Azlan in June 2008. He has pleaded not guilty and has accused Najib and Rosmah of cooking up the conspiracy against him.

"Y.A. (Your Honour), when making the order for the witnesses offered to the defence for interview in court, gave a lifeline to the witnesses in stating in open court that they could refuse to be interviewed. Y.A. did not in doing so evenly handle the scales of justice. Y.A. created and perpetuated an imbalance unbecoming anyone holding the mantle of justice. In fact, the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak, and his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah binti Mansor, former Inspector General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan, and SAC Dato’ Rodhwan bin Ismail who featured prominently in the evidence of PW1 came to the interview room echoing similar protests namely, “We are not prepared to be interviewed” with the Prime Minister saying Y.A. suggested this could be done. These were material witnesses compelling the defence now to resort to causing subpoenas to be issued for their presence," Anwar had said at the start of his trial last month.

"The preparation entailed in this conspiracy was most elaborate and went all the way to the Prime Minister himself and his wife Rosmah Mansor both of whom by the complainant’s own admission had met him in their residence where he purportedly complained of being sexually assaulted. The initial statement by Najib that he had met with the complainant merely to discuss about a scholarship was a blatant lie only to be retracted later after various exposes were made via the social media and the internet blogs. It was obvious that neither Najib nor Rosmah would not want to be seen to be part of the conspiracy being themselves embroiled in a series of other scandals the details of which have been raised in Parliament which to date have never been categorically refuted. But the stakes in this conspiracy are so high that nothing can be left to pure chance for indeed the prospect of the UMNO led Barisan Nasional losing power to Pakatan Rakyat is becoming more real by the day.

[Source: MC]

Remembering the Greats

September 18, the 41st anniversary of the passing of Jimi Hendrix. Jimi was born on November 27 1942 and had he been alive, he would be 69 today.

September 19, witnessed the 7th anniversary of the passing of country singer, Skeeter Davis at the age of 72. Her hits include "The end of the world", "My Last Date" and "Silver Threads and Golden Needles." Together with country guitarist, Chet Atkins, they produced the multi-tracked voice for harmony vocals, that is one person singing in two parts, the main and the seconds.

Monday Humour

SEX OF A FLY

A woman walked into the kitchen to find
her husband stalking around with a fly swatter.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Hunting flies" he responded.

"Oh! Killing any?" she asked.

"Yep, 3 males, 2 Females," he replied.

Intrigued, she asked.
"How can you tell them apart?"

He responded,
"3 were on a beer can,
2 were on the phone?

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Vajpayee and Bush are sitting in a bar. A guy walks in and asks the barman,
'Isn't that Bush and Vajpayee?'

The barman says 'Yep, that's them.' So the guy walks

over and says, 'Hello, what are you guys doing?'

Bush says, 'We're planning world war 3'

The guy says, 'Really? What's going to happen?'

And Vajpayee says, 'Well, we're going to kill a few hundred thousands of

Talibans and one bicycle repairman.'

And the guy exclaimed, 'A bicycle repairman?!!!'

Vajpayee turns to Bush and says, 'See, I told you no-one would worry about
those Taliban fellas!'

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A man was in his front yard mowing grass when his neighbor, a Singh, came out of the house and went straight to the mailbox. He opened it, looked inside, slammed it shut, and stormed back into his house.

A little later he came out of his house again, looking nervous, went to the mailbox, again opened it, and slammed it shut again.

Angrily, back into the house he went. As the man was getting ready to edge the lawn, here our Singh came again,looking very heated up. He marched to the mailbox, opened it and then slammed it shut harder than ever. Puzzled by his actions, the man asked him,'Is something wrong?'

To which the ferocious Singh replied, ' There certainly is!

My stupid computer keeps telling me I have mail!'

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A Jew died and went to heaven. When he got to the pearly gate Saint Peter told him that new rules were in effect due to the advances in education on earth. In order to gain admittance a prospective heavenly soul must answer two questions:

1. Name two days of the week that begin with 'T'

2. How many seconds are in a year?

The Singh thought for a few minutes and answered...

1. The two days of the week that begin with 'T' are Today andTomorrow.
2. There are 12 seconds in a year.

Saint Peter said, 'OK, I'll buy the Today and Tomorrow answer, even though it's not the answer I expected. But how did you get 12 seconds in a
year?'

The Singh replied, 'Well, January 2nd, February 2nd, March 2nd,
etc...'

Saint Peter lets him in without another word.

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Sardar Gurbachan Singh is appearing for his University final examination.

He takes his seat in the examination hall, stares at the question paper for five minutes, and then in a fit of inspiration takes his shoes off and throws them out of the window.

He then removes his turban and throws it away as well. His shirt, pant, socks and watch follow suit.

The invigilator, alarmed, approaches him and asks what is going on.

'Oye, I am only following the instructions yaar,' he says, ' it says here, 'Answer the following questions in brief' ..'

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Ah Beng and Ah Lian were sitting outside a clinic. One of them was crying like hell. So Ah Beng asked Ah Lian, 'Why are you crying?' Ah Lian replied, 'I came here for blood test' Ah Beng asked, 'So? Are you afraid ? ' She replied, ' No, not that. During the blood test they will cut my finger' Hearing this, Ah Beng started crying. Ah Lian was astonished and asked him, 'Why are you crying?'

To which he replied, 'I have come for my urine test.'

Peanuts, not sweeping reforms

Let’s not be fooled, people. The changes Najib announced are merely cosmetic, and will have to be passed in Parliament first before they become effective.

Meanwhile, Articles 149 and 150 are still there to provide Parliament with the power to pass laws that do not have to be consistent with the freedoms guaranteed in Articles 5, 9, 10 and 13, and to allow the Cabinet to declare an emergency. The Emergency proclamations may go, but Article 150 is still around. We the people are still vulnerable.

PEANUTS. That’s what Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s so-called “sweeping reforms” are. They hardly amount to a political transformation.

While it’s cheering to note that the Internal Security Act (ISA) will be repealed – finally, after our many years of waiting – and that the Emergency proclamations are to be lifted – a decision that is decades overdue – it’s disturbing to be told that they will be replaced by two new laws aimed at preventing subversion and safeguarding public order.

And even though the detention period under these new laws may be shorter, with further extensions to be made by court order, the Home Minister is still the one to decide who gets detained for suspicion of being a terrorist.

This means, theoretically speaking, that although Najib has given the commitment that “no individual will be detained purely based on political ideology”, there is no stopping the government from branding a political opponent a suspected terrorist, whether or not he is one. Just to lock him away.

Another so-called “reform” is scrapping the requirement for publications to renew their printing licences annually.

This, also, is nothing to crow about. It still means that publications have to obtain a licence that the Home Minister may or may not grant. It still means the Home Minister has the absolute power to suspend or revoke a licence at any time. And his decision cannot be challenged in court. He does not even have to give a reason.

It also means the Home Ministry can still call up newspaper editors and cow them into submission for publishing something the ministry finds objectionable. Like what happened recently to The Star when it ran the heading ‘Ramadhan delights’ for an eating-out supplement that was not totally devoted to halal food.

The ministry can still practise the double standards it has been practising – turn a blind eye to the race-baiting and rabble-rousing of Utusan Malaysia but come down hard on the minor transgressions of other publications. So where’s the change?

If the government were truly sincere and had the political will, it should repeal the Publications and Printing Presses Act (PPPA) and no longer require publications to obtain a printing licence. That would be in keeping with the spirit of what Najib talked about instituting in Malaysia when he announced the “reforms” on Sept 15 – a “democratic system based on the universal philosophy of ‘of the people, by the people and for the people’”.

Vague reforms

None of the newly announced “reforms” fully cohere with this spirit.

On Section 27 of the Police Act, Najib said there would be a review to take into consideration the provisions under Article 10 of the Federal Constitution which guarantees Malaysians the right to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of association.

But in the same breath, he said police permits would still be required for street demonstrations, subject to certain criteria.

If freedom of assembly, which should be a right of all citizens, is still curtailed in this fashion, what is that rubbish talk of Najib’s about forging a democratic system “of the people, by the people and for the people”?

He did say, however, that “permission to assemble will be given in accordance with procedures to be fixed later that will take into account international norms”. But this sounds vague. What international norms did he mean? And when is “later” going to be?

And speaking of Article 10, why doesn’t the government address the other impediments to freedom of speech, such as the Official Secrets Act (OSA), the Sedition Act, the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA), the Multimedia and Communications Act, the Public Order (Preservation) Ordinance?

No wonder Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein was smirking and applauding when Najib made his announcements. His absolute powers remain intact.

Let’s not be fooled, people. The changes Najib announced are merely cosmetic. And of course they will have to be passed in Parliament first before they become effective.

Meanwhile, Articles 149 and 150 are still there to provide Parliament with the power to pass laws that do not have to be consistent with the freedoms guaranteed in Articles 5, 9, 10 and 13, and to allow the Cabinet to declare an emergency. The Emergency proclamations may go, but Article 150 is still around. We the people are still vulnerable.

Some of us may say that we cannot expect the government to make such truly sweeping reforms in one go, and that we should be thankful for the small mercies we are now getting. Some may say this could be just the beginning, and more reforms could come.

That’s well and good. But at the same time, we should give credit where it’s due for this beginning. It’s not Najib we should thank. What we are getting is what has been due us for a long time, what any concerned government should have given us even without our having to pressure them to do so.

We should instead acknowledge that the March 8 effect lives on, and therefore the credit for these changes should go to us the rakyat for voting as we did on March 8, 2008. We voted in a stronger opposition, we denied the ruling party the two-thirds majority that it had abused to increasingly curb our democratic rights over the decades. We sent them the message that enough was enough.

[Kee Thuan Chye, Free Malaysia Today]

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Be as it may, after all the lies heaped upon lies, I will not touch this Najib fella even with a 10-foot pole. I personally believe that in view of the pending GE13, this is nothing more than another 'syiok sendiri' thingy which has gradually become his hallmark. Punters will not even take bets knowing very well this will eventually come to nothing. And this is the saddest thing of all, a prime minister who has lost the trust of its people long time ago, and he still thinks he has his clothes on.