School threatens student with inquiring mind about Rukunegara

SUBANG JAYA - Instead of receiving an encouraging pat on the back for bravely inquiring into the fundamental tenets of the Rukunegara and the meaning of the 'celebration of independence', 17-year-old student Nicol Paul Miranda (pic) was instead slapped with a police report.

The report was lodged against him by his school. Nicol Paul never got his answer to his valid questions from the school

The ordinary Form Five student, who has since left SMK Vivekananda after his SPM, said the school is also threatening not to release his school leaving certificate which is a requirement to further his tertiary education.

Relating the reasons for his suspension, Nicol said: “I questioned why are we celebrating independence when our democracy has not evolved. It is still under the BN regime.”

He said his second brush with the authorities took place via his Civics answer sheet for the SPM trials. The question was on the pros of Rukunegara.

“I questioned why we needed to recite the Rukunegara’s first principle, Believe in God when places of worship are being demolished. “I also questioned the second principle, Loyalty to the King and Country because it is not right to force an individual to be loyal,” he told newsmen at PKR’s ‘Tweet-Up’ function yesterday.

As a result, his trial exam results were not released. He was further suspended for three days.

Nicol also claimed that the discipline teachers at his school almost harmed his mother when she went there to query his suspension.

“They (school) have also lodged a police report against me in Bukit Aman and Brickfields,” added Nicol who is currently working with a Malaysian NGO on human rights issues.

Lembah Pantai MP, Nurul Izzah Anwar who was also present at the function assured Nicol that she would raise the matter with the relevant authorities.

[Source: MMirror]

Now they have the University College and College Act. After this, I am sure they will introduce the "School, University College and College Act" to ensure that students in secondary schools cannot express dissenting views.

Our Malaysian singing sensation in Taiwan - Li Jia-wei

Our own Whitney Houston in the making?

Like many others, I waited in front of the TV, to watch Superstar Avenue Oh yes, I wanted to see Li Jia-wei (aka as Jess Lee).

According to many people, this young lady’s singing is amazing. Her melodious voice has charmed Taiwan; no, it has captivated the Chinese world.

And she is from Malaysia!

Because of this, many fans and others in Malaysia were filled with anticipation for the telecast of her performance, and all had hoped that the plucky young lady girl could make us proud.

When Jia-wei sang Return Home, she moved every one of her audience. When it was announced that she got full marks, everyone was happy. And when it was announced that she had won the title, everyone jumped for joy, their hearts were filled with happiness.

Jia-wei may not know that what her shoulders carried were not just the expectations of family and friends, but also the expectations of fellow Malaysians. And although she did not know these people personally, they were there with her, heart, soul and mind..

The expectations and support for Jia-wei have become a common phenomenon, and they also bring out a social and cultural significance.

First, it is a collective sense of honour. People want a hometown girl, an ethnic Chinese girl who grew up in Malaysia, to stand on the stage of the Chinese world, and have her light emerged and her talent revealed.

If a Malaysian Chinese girl could win the competition from among a multitude of talents, it would bring great honour to the country's ethnic Chinese, and show the ability and achievements of the Chinese.

Second, this is also the projection of the feelings of the Chinese population. Many Chinese face setbacks and frustration in this land and feel that they are not adequately recognised and valued. And this loss has to be made up for from other areas.

A healing effect has emerged from the voice of a girl. We have also obtained another form of recognition from activities outside the country.

When Jia-wei made her short speech in Bahasa Malaysia, the Malaysian audience was filled with pride and patriotism.

Third, this is a refusal to admit to being inferior. In the face of powerful Chinese communities in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, Malaysian Chinese tend to have a feeling of cultural inferiority. They realise that their competitiveness in the various fields is far below that of the Chinese in other regions. Therefore, they can only hope to create a winner from the sub-cultural arena or individuals.

The love for the lion dance in the Malaysian Chinese community, their pride for the 24-Season Drums, and their love for Yee Sang and Bak Kut Teh, without fear of the rise in cholesterol, are perhaps a symbolic gesture to refute any thought or claim of cultural inferiority.

A Malaysian Chinese girl has beaten the Chinese from China, Taiwan and contestants from other Chinese regions, so she has become a new performing sensation.

When the audience from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore watched Jia-wei lift the winning trophy, they roared their approval for her singing ability. It was a moment Jia-wei is sure to remember and cherish all her life.

Jia-wei’s achievement has given the Chinese community in Malaysia a sense of accomplishment. Despite the cultural background and baggage of the Malaysian Chinese community, Jia-wei shows we can do it.

That night, Jia-wei made us proud and happy. Thank you, Jia-wei!

The following shows her performing a cover by Beyonce.

[Source: MySinChew]

Obama, the leader?

The tune is from the song "Donna" popularised by the late Richie Valens in 1959.

Doesn't that reminds you of someone back home? Hmmmmm .....

Happy Chinese New Year

To all my Chinese friends, here's wishing you a Happy, Peaceful and Prosperous Chinese Neew Year.

You think hip hop is only for the young? These grannies show you otherwise

Out with Tai-Chi and Qi Qung. Hip Hop is in!

Someone wake me up. This must be a prank, right?

Controversial wife of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak may have gone one step too far with her latest shift, quite literally, into the Prime Minister's Office.

A new unit in the Prime Minister’s Department has set tongues wagging.

The unit known as FLOM, an acronym for First Lady of Malaysia, is a full-fledged department that looks into the operational needs of the Prime Minister’s wife, Rosmah Mansor.

Ensconed within the premises of the PM’s Office, FLOM has a six-member staff headed by special officer Siti Azizah Sheikh Abod.

The rest of the unit comprises two personal assistants Saleha Mohd Rabani and Siti Zaiton Abdul Ghani and three assistant officers with special functions – G Vimala, Rizal Mansor and Nurul Rosemiemmy Kahsimi.

What these personnel actually do is anyone’s guess and FLOM’s mission and vision remain a mystery. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) official website too is not helpful.

Suffice to say that FLOM was probably involved in the highly publicised and controversial Islamic Fashion Week, the recent RM4.5 million three-day First Ladies Summit and, not to mention, the additional “official activities” and visits to New York, Europe and the Middle East.

Curious bloggers hot on the Rosmah trail have been spewing venom at her audacity to establish her own unit within the Prime Minister’s Department.

(FLOM shares the same stature in the PMO as that of five other units, namely private secretary, political secretary, Office of the Prime Minister’s adviser, Office of the Prime Minister’s economic adviser and Management Office of Sri Perdana.)

“Already she’s taking away hundreds of millions of ringgit from the taxpayers’ money to channel into her Permata (early childhood education) and other project. When the PM was sick, she ignored Muhyiddin (Yassin) and stood in for PM… Now she has moved into the Prime Minister’s Office… what will she do next, ” ranted one blogger.

Another blog posting demanded to know the operational cost of running a six-member department and who was paying for it.

“What is she trying to do… run the country? The role of the wife of a PM is to complement him in relation to the social aspects.

“Rosmah should play the role of mother to the people of Malaysia, instead of wasting taxpayers’ money to establish a division,” noted the posting.

Yet another posting noted: “Rosmah fancies herself as Michelle Obama (US President Barrack Obama’s wife)… with access to the Oval office.”

Fascinated by the online brouhaha over Rosmah’s latest stunt, FMT made a short call to the PMO only to be told that the “entire” FLOM team was not back from Oman but declined to give furher details.

Meanwhile, a report in The Star last week noted that Rosmah’s “official visit to Oman will further strengthen relations between Malaysia and the sultanate”.

Opposition parties here have not been without their views. PKR has reportedly demanded that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak explain FLOM’s legality.

Said PKR women’s chief Zuraida Kamaruddin: “Najib should explain this division, and the establishment of this unit without going through the legal convention such as Parliament. Rosmah should not have an office in PMO.”
Share this story

[Source: FMT]

The Times, They Are A-Changin'

Western countries are concern and at a loss of how to deal with the situation in Tunisia and Egypt, except to tell their leaders to back off from killing more of their civilians and to implement immediate reforms. Arab countries are deeply worried for they know not when such scenarios would erupt in their countries. Israel is on full alert in the event of a change of heart should a new government take over, especially in Egypt. So, after Tunisia and Egypt, who is next? To all despots of the world, time you take stock or it could be your head next on the chopping block

TUNISIA


EGYPT


Quotable quote: "We will not be silenced, whether you’re a Christian, whether you’re a Muslim, whether you’re an atheist, you will demand your goddamn rights, and we will have our rights, one way or the other."

The Bob Dyland song "The times they are a-changin'" the anthem of the late sixties played and sung by many prominent artistes, at the height of the Vietnam War, still ring true today. This is a performance by Tony DeSare. To help you understand the significance of the song, please refer to the lyrics appended below the video clip.

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'
So get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.