Part 1 - An Experiment

Hi folks. I will still be travelling when you see this. This is just a quick experiment. This picture was taken by me on Sunday in my gym locker at the Clark Hatch gym. Please look at the sign that has been posted. Please tell me what you see and what you think about this. Thank you.

Pt 4 Sarkis Lama Video - Tobat

Pt 3 Sarkis Lama Videos - Perhimpunan Agung UMNO.

The UMNO Assembly is here. I am travelling. The Blog is running on remote. This stuff was actually posted last week.

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I was looking through some archival material on UMNO. This thing popped out. If you have time to waste do spend a few minutes.

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There is a timer in this video. You can Pause the video to check the time elapsed. 50 seconds into the video, the speaker attempts to answer his own question 'How many wives do I have?" Then he takes a full 30 seconds to answer his own question. Plenty of thoughts preoccupying his mind.

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Why the hesitation? Bear in mind the year this recording was made. And who is the speaker. Then you will understand.

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The rest of the stuff is equally time wasting - speaking in longkang hindustani, paring away yet more accusations, useless pantun.

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Bhai tume bey-koov hai

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Pt 2 Sarkis Lama Videos - Battery Vs Solar Powered Bible

Leopards do change their spots. They become striped. Here is another one from the sarkis lama.

Pt 1 Sarkis Lama Videos - No Honour Among 'Friends'

Folks I am actually travelling as you read this. This Blog series is running on remote. I posted this stuff last week.

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The 70th anniversary of December 7th, 1941 is coming up again. That's when the 'Big One' started (World War 2). Visiting Ground Zero. Will be back Wednesday or Thursday.

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Law Of The Jungle To Replace Democracy

I say, I already told you so just today. Democracy will die if these people come to power. They will follow their own law of the jungle. Here is the news :

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Azmin: PKR will break down jail walls to keep Anwar free

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JOHOR BARU: PKR will do anything, even break down the prison walls, to ensure that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim be the next prime minister, said PKR deputy president Azmin Ali.

".. we, the Youth and Wanita, pledge to rise and break down the prison walls to free him.

"... Anwar should be the next prime minister," Azmin said ...

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Folks, you can see for yourselves how they talk - "..Anwar should be the next prime minister.."

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What about the elections man? This is a democracy. We have democratic elections. People need to go through a democratic process called the General Elections before we can pick our Prime Minister.

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Millions of people must get up in the morning, go to the Polling Stations and cast their votes. Then the votes are counted and the winners and losers determined.

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But it sounds like all this is not important. "..Anwar should be the next prime minister.."

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And these people say they are democratic?

Shah Rukh Khan - Interesting

The Near Future

Buying Votes - Fiction Vs Reality

Folks, here is some fictional (imaginary) news - meaning it is not real :

One-off payment for newborns may be doubled

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The one-off payment for newborn babies in Melaka under the state's Golden Child Programme may be doubled to RM200. . . Chief Minister Datuk Sri Ali Rustam said he would propose that the amount be increased from RM100 at the state executive council meeting this week. . . . He said it would cost the state an additional expenditure of between RM5mil and RM10mil a year should the amount be doubled. . . . The programme was proposed in July with a one-off payment of RM100 to babies born from Jan 1 this year.

However, to be eligible to receive the money, either parent must be a registered voter in Melaka. . . .

“The first payment under the Golden Child Programme will be given out next month,” Ali Rustam said in his Awal Muharram message yesterday.

He urged eligible parents to register with district offices or the offices of MPs, assemblymen or coordinating officers of state assembly seats.

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So to get this RM200.0 per new child born in Melaka, one of the parents MUST be a registered voter in Melaka.

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This imaginary news would also be potraying an illegal act by the BN State Government in Melaka. First of all it is definitely bribery. It is buying votes. Why ? Because at least one of the parents must be a registered voter before you can get this RM200.0.

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If you are NOT a registered voter, say you studied hard, went to school and qualified as a registered Nurse, say you went to university, studied for five years and qualified as a registered Dentist, say you worked hard and finally passed all your professional exams and became a registered Accountant and contributed to your community and your State - BUT you are NOT a registered voter - then you do not qualify to get the RM200.0. Only registered voters get this RM200.0.

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The second reason why this corrupt act by the BN State Government in Melaka would be illegal is because it is against the Federal Constitution.

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The Federal Constitution DOES NOT force Malaysian citizens to register to vote. There is no Law in Malaysia that can force you to register to vote. That is one of your Constitutional rights as well. In Singapore, the Law requires that you must register to vote and you must also vote. Otherwise it is an offense.

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However if the Melaka State Government under Datuk Ali Rustam says that you are eligible for State Aid of RM200.0 ONLY if you register to vote, then they are actually directly impinging or trespassing upon your Constitutional rights. They are forcing you to register as a voter. Only then you are eligible for State Aid of RM200.0.

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Dont forget, this story above is just an imaginary story. Ali Rustam did not say any such thing. Remember - I have said time and again that if the Pakatan rules, democracy will die in this country. Let me repeat this again - if the Pakatan rules, democracy will die in this country.

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Folks, now here is some real news (from The Star here)

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One-off payment for newborns may be doubled

GEORGE TOWN: The one-off payment for newborn babies in Penang under the state's Golden Child Programme may be doubled to RM200. . . . Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said he would propose that the amount be increased from RM100 at the state executive council meeting this week. . . . He said it would cost the state an additional expenditure of between RM5mil and RM10mil a year should the amount be doubled. . . . The programme was proposed in July with a one-off payment of RM100 to babies born from Jan 1 this year.

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However, to be eligible to receive the money, either parent must be a registered voter in Penang.

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“The first payment under the Golden Child Programme will be given out next month,” Lim said in his Awal Muharram message yesterday.

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He urged eligible parents to register with district offices or the offices of MPs, assemblymen or coordinating officers of state assembly seats.

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On behalf of Lim Guan Eng may I say that this is NOT buying votes ok. This is certainly not bribery. This is just a cash inducement to get people to register to vote. That is all. Thank you.

Its Jetman

Amending Constitution For A Homo PM ?

This is an offtake from here . It means I took it from there, then I 'offed' it. My conclusions at the end.

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"Supposition Leader (yes as in suppository) Mangkuk Bin Hayun has confirmed that neither UMNO nor BN would support any move to amend the Federal Constitution to ensure that a Homosexual could be Prime Minister." (are you getting confused already?)

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A Supposition Youth Chief had thrown out a dare at anyone to do so, since the Malay nationalist party and its component parties often made use of the issue.

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The Malaysian constitution is silent on the matter, implying that Homosexuals could become PM. Why wont UMNO support such an amendment to the Constitution?

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Among the Supposition there is already consensus that Mangkuk Bin Hayun would become PM if the coalition won Putrajaya. All three members of the Supposition coalition have publicly said there was no bar to their favorite Homosexual becoming PM - which is much more than BN has ever dared to mention. In fact, it is clear that for BN, the top jobs would always go to a non Homosexual.

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“It is a challenge from the Supposition because Umno keeps talking about non Homos, non Homos and non Homos. If Umno is really committed, then we want to see if they dare to do what they talk about among non-Homos" the Supposition leader told a press conference. (folks even I am confused about this part)

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This is just a parody lah, a joke, a 'pulling your leg'. Jangan lah marah sampai nak pitam - doh!

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UMNO never discussed whether the Federal Constitution should be amended to allow Homosexuals to become Prime Minister or not.

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In the same way that UMNO has never even suggested that the Federal Constitution should be amended so that only Malays can be Prime Minister. So dont go around making wild stories. Nanti orang lain pun boleh buat stories.

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No less than Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has made it clear that according to our Federal Constitution, anyone who commands a majority support of the Members of Parliament shall be Prime Minister. And here it is in the Federal Constitution :

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Article 43 - The Cabinet

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is required to appoint a Cabinet to advise him in the exercise of his executive functions. He appoints the Cabinet in the following manner:

• acting in his discretion (see Art. 40(2)(a)), he first appoints as Prime Minister a member of the Dewan Rakyat who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the Dewan;

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Anyone who commands the confidence of the majority of the Dewan (Parliament) can be PM.

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It can even be a black, Jewish, female OKU person (this is a joke from Ronald Reagan's time ok).

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The Malaysian Federal Constitution does not discriminate against anyone based on race, religion, language, sex or sexual orientation. Women, men, heteros, homos or LGBTs are all allowed.

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Some MPs have joked that for 22 years an Indian was our PM !!

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However lets be careful folks. There are threats to this Constitutional Guarantee. Nik Aziz has made a statement before (I believe it is on record somewhere) that any MALE can become the PM of Malaysia as long as the MALE was a Muslim.

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So under Nik Aziz's system, females cannot become PM. And neither can non-Muslims.

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As far as UMNO is concerned ANYONE can become the PM as long as they satisfy Article 43 of the Federal Constitution. Anyone who commands the confidence of the majority of the Dewan (Parliament) can become the PM. This is in our Federal Constitution.

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Male, female, Chinese, Malay, Indian, Kerala, Siamese, Turkish, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, homo, hetero, LGBT semua boleh - the Federal Constitution does not forbid anyone.

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However you (or rather we) the voters make a choice at the Polls. If you want a homo, then you will get a homo. That is the part that we play. After that the Federal Constituion kicks in.

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So a Muslim male homosexual candidate should be ok by the Malaysian Constitution. Nik Aziz will be happy too. The Supposition will be happy too of course. And here is the best part - there is no need to amend the Federal Constituion.

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So dont try to lay the blame on UMNO or the BN ok? (am I confusing again?)

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A Reader's Advice To The PM

The following is a reader's comment. I thought it was worthwhile posting it.

Nik (Tuan Padang of Kelantan) said...

Bro Syed, I agree with your analysis. PM Najib is more popular now, more than his predecessor but cannot match Tun M's due to RM, (not the one who works in a bank). He may not like it but it is the truth. In order to improve image of RM, do what Tun Hasmah, the late Datin Seri Endon,Tun Jeanne, Toh Puan Suhaila, Toh Puan Rahah and the late Puan Sharifah Rodziah all did. They all walk at least two steps behind their husbands.

Some of his UMNO cabinet members are simply not up to the mark. I will list some of them.

a. The minister who nearly destroyed the second hand car and fish industries. He should retire and breed patin fish in his kampung;

b. The minister whose husband was a top science graduate and now a lembu corporate. He treated the Government and MOA as his personal ATM machine, withdrawing RM250 million without even signing the invoice and play with the money by stashing some millions of it it in the up market condos. This is breach of trust my friend. He has the guts to challenge people with libel suits. He forgot that a lot of beans will be spilt in court and further dragging his wife into the mud;

c. This is a Nobel prize potential. This guy runs the ministry that, among others, allow disbursement of the RM250 million Lembu loan without execution of loan agreement.

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He is a candidate for the Banker of the Year Award by Lembu Importers Society, an associate to Dead Poets Society.

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This minister famously messed up the fish industry and the related diesel subsidy. Now I heard from you, he may be linked with the durian monopoly. I should say that he should be sent to the Hague by the WTO.

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His Fisheries department has destroyed my close Chinese friends upmarket fish breeding (sturgeon ) JV with the Taiwanese with their more than 20 "syarat-syarat" in their export guidelines (my friend said that it is more than the maximum raka'at of the Tarawikh prayers). .

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This has resulted in my friend and the JV company moving their business across the border, our neighbour who has an exciting looking PM but with a brother who could be a friend of this Malaysian minister.

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d. Less venomous to UMNO but can be equally toxic to the BN Government, is this relatively fresh looking "junior minister" who could not see to eye with the DG of a vital department of his Ministry. I heard that the clash was over the dishing out of Government contracts. But people talked that he may be a potential MB material that can be a threat to a good corporate driven MB in a state, not too far south of my town.

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I hope PM Najib will do something to these people who are compromising the reputations of UMNO/BN, GOM and more importantly our own race, MALAYS. It is quite simple, just give them the boot at the PRU 13.

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Nik (Tuan Padang) of Kelantan

PSD : JUSA's In The "Pool"

The news from The Star :

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Those who lose govt money will be made to cough it up, says PSD

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"SEREMBAN: Officers who cause the Government to lose money due to their negligence will be made to repay a portion of the lost revenue and they may even be sacked.

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These are among the measures introduced by the Public Service Department to ensure that civil servants are held accountable for the losses highlighted by the Auditor-General in the 2010 Report.

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PSD director-general Tan Sri Abu Bakar Abdullah said this was decided during a meeting with all secretaries-general and the PSD on Nov 2.

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Abu Bakar said that if the Treasury or the state financial officers felt that the errant officer needed to be slapped with a surcharge or be disciplined, it should then make a recommendation to the respective service commission."

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So errant Civil Servants who blow taxpayers money may be asked to repay some of the money.

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I have a question - if the Cabinet approved a loan for a project that is supposed to sustain dinosaurs but the money went into buying cars and clothes (and this was made known too) then shouldnt the Cabinet be fined or made to repay some of that money? Just thinking aloud.

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An ex PTD officer (Pegawai Tadbir & Diplomatik) smsd me that this type of rhetoric (telling Civil Servants to repay lost moneys) has been in the PSD ever since he joined the Government over 30 years ago. He calls it an ICBM - Intercontinental Ballistic Missile - hot rockets that are never fired or exploded. For fear that they may burn everything down. So ICBM's are just for display. Likelwise with these pronouncements by the DG of the PSD Tan Sri Abu Bakar Abdullah.

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I find this a little strange. Say a Civil Servant does some hanky panky that causes the Government to lose money. The fellow can be charged in Court. Say the Court finds him guilty - according to the Law. Then the Court will levy a fine, send him to jail or both. So the Law would have run its course. The errant Civil Servant would have been punished.

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How then is the PSD going to ask him to refund the money that he lost? And say he cannot refund the moneys that he lost, what can the PSD do? You cannot fire him twice. He would have been fired already, and maybe also fined and sent to jail.

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Recently I also learnt something about the way the PSD is being run nowadays. There is increasing talk of favoritism. Sons and daughters of well known people who were themselves senior Civil Servants seem to be on the fast track for promotions and appointments in the Civil Service. I heard this from a senior Civil Servant as well.

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And talking about wasting money they say that there are at least 30 JUSA A and B civil servants kept cold storaged in the PSD "pool". JUSA means Jurusan Utama Sektor Awam. These are among the highest ranked Civil Servants who earn not less than RM20,000 per month.

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So if there are 30 JUSA A and B doing nothing in the "pool" that is an expense of 30 x RM20,000 = RM600,000 per month on their salaries alone. Or RM7.2 million a year that is wasted.

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Senior Civil Servants are usually put in the PSD's "pool" - without any real work for them to do - when they

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i. are facing disciplinary problems

ii. facing some kind of 'suspension'

iii. have been charged in Court and are waiting for their cases to be settled

iv. or they are officers returning from overseas who are waiting for a new appointment somewhere else in the Civil Service.

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So they are put in the "pool" where they do nothing, read the newspapers and collect their RM20,000 or more at the end of every month.

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Do you all recall one high ranking Civil Servant who was caught for khalwat and charged in the khalwat Court? That was more than five years ago. That person too was placed in the "pool" - doing nothing until his retirement five years later.

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Doesnt the Government have a better way of handling these officers? It is such a waste of money to have people doing nothing in the "pool" and yet paying them their full salaries. Here the PSD DG and the KSN will be among the people who are blowing the Government's money.

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Someone commented in my earlier Blog : 'If the Government ran the Sahara Desert, there would soon be a shortage of sand'. How true.

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Why not set up a separate Department - and give them some duties. Maybe they can read the Auditor General's Report and write a Government Blog "An Insider's Analysis" about what went wrong.

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Or they can drive around KL and measure the depth of all the potholes that are forming all over the city. There is one near Taman OUG that can swallow your whole tyre. I had to negotiate the pothole this morning. You know - put them to some good use.

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Why are there 30 JUSA A's and B's in the "pool". OK if this number is exagerrated why are there even 10? Or five? The JUSA grades are supposed to be in the Service for a long time. They are among the most senior and highly experienced Civil Servants in the country. Why are they put in a "pool" doing nothing?

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If they are facing disciplinary or other problems - then what type of Civil Service has it become where so many JUSA's are put inside the tank. Even one JUSA in the 'tank' is one too many.

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During the time of Tun Dr Mahathir, there were people like Tun Ahmad Sarji in the Government Service. Dr Mahathir kept a very close eye on things. That is why everyone was on their toes. The Malaysian Civil Service was at its best during the time of Tun Dr Mahathir. I have personal knowledge. Senior ranking Government servants were well informed. They were professional and knew their work. Things got done. Otherwise we could not have achieved so much under Dr Mahathir.

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Gone are the days.

Government Screwing Up Durians As Well

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Durian people say that today an "important" meeting is taking place between the Government and the durian growers and durian processors. People can even be liwatted over durians. This is another case of "orang yang tak tahu apa benda pun pasal niaga" getting involved in messing things up again (or getting fed with Musang King for life).

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First of all, a little recap. As we all know, many stage bus operators in the smaller towns have stopped their services or are stoppinmg their services. They have been running at losses and they cannot survive anymore. Is that so? Is that really the case?

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What happened to Sri Jaya Bus, Uttam Singh Bus, Yellow Bus, Patt Hup Bus, Len Seng Bus, Foh Hup Bus, Selangor Omnibus, and so on? These are well known stage bus operators who operated stage buses in Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Melaka, Tampin, Selangor and other places. But most importantly, for decades, they had been providing fairly good services to the rural people. People could go from A to B. What happened to all these bus operators? Many of them are coming to a stop.

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The bottom line is, you can think you are being very clever, but if you mess with the market, this is what will happen - the bus services come to a stop.

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You think you are being clever, you mess with the fish wholesalers and what happens? You make their operating costs too high. They make losses. So they will not sell fish anymore. Fish prices skyrocket, siapa jadi miskin dulu? Takkan kita nak makan babi? So the Government flip flopped. The fish wholesalers went back to work. Dont impose ridiculous rules on the fish wholesalers.

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You mess with the Hire Purchase Act (HPA), the used car dealers' cost of doing business went up. The risk borne by the used car dealers also went up. Then what happened? The used car dealers stopped buying used cars. If people cannot sell their old cars to the used car dealers, the people will not buy a new car.

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So new car sales died. This happened just a few months ago. Dah lupa ke. Then the Government flip flopped, amended or did not implement the HPA amendments - and things have returned back to normal.

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And it goes on and on. Yes 30 year old school buses must get off the road. But give them enough licenses, give them cheaper buses (without AP). Only then you can put a gun to their head and say 'Change your buses'.

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But when nothing much has been done to improve their cost structure, and you still put a gun to their head and say 'change your buses' the guy simply will not run his school bus anymore. He does not have money to change his bus according to your timetable. So he has to pull his bus off the road. Bottom line : no school buses. The school children and their parents suffer. Parents have to become chaueffeurs. Menyusahkan orang saja.

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So the Government flip flopped. The Government postponed the requirement to change the 30 year buses. It will not make any difference. There are reasons (in this country many of them are artificial) that determine the cost of running any bus. As long as these costs are artificially high, the bus operators will operate at very thin margins. Putting more pressure on their margins will result in buses being pulled off the road. Bas tak ada. Siapa jadi miskin dulu?

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SPAD has become quite a spud over the stage buses. They dont know what to do. (Read on - the solution is simple). SPAD is gearing itself up to oversee the RM26.0 billion MRT project instead. Not drive down to some local bus station in Tampin or Alor Gajah and sort out the problems being faced by the stage bus operators.

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Someone came up with an idea that teachers should work 9 am - 5am. Why? Sakit hati ke tengok cikgu sekolah balik rumah pukul 1 tengah hari? I guess the cikgu threatened to vote for the Opposition. This idea too was dropped. Another flip flop.

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To solve the stage bus operators' problem first of all it is important to just understand this part - Bas dah tak jalan dah. Boleh faham ke?

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Let me say it slowly again - B..a..s. . . d..a..h.. . . t..a..k. . . ..j..a..l..a..n.. ...d..a..h.

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This is the only part that you have to understand. Lepas sabsidi, lepas pegang lesen, lepas control AP bas, lepas batal lesen orang lain, lepas apa semua . . . b..a..s. . . d..a..h.. . . t..a..k. . . ..j..a..l..a..n.. ...d..a..h. Hooray, pandai sungguh kita buat kerja. Sampai bas dah takde dah.

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Now who will provide affordable and reliable bus services to the kampong folks? Hah? Khazanah Nasional Bhd? Malaysian Airlines?

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The solution is simple. Just break open the market. Siapa nak lesen syarikat bas - bagi saja lah. Kalau passenger ramai and someone wants to operate a 60 seater double decker London Bus between Kuala Sepetang and Teluk Intan, just give it to them. Kalau passenger sikit and someone wants to operate a 15 seater mini bus between Mantin and Tampin, give it to him. At least there will be a bus service. At least people can still go from A to B. Let the market decide what it wants. Kalau Kerajaan (dan Menteri) yang tak faham niaga masuk campur dalam perniagaan, maka akan terjadi lah Lembu Dalam Condo. By the way folks, did you all know that the Lembu Condo was one of Idris Jala's 'high impact projects'? What an impact.

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(Kalau saya dapat soft loan RM250 Juta dengan kadar 2.5% setahun, I can do much much better than 8% return a year. Saya pun boleh beli kondo di Marine Parade (S'pore), di London atau Tokyo)

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Coming back to the durians - there is a new opportunity opening up. Durians are processed, freeze dried and sent off to China. Its a big market in China. Its a new market. Some clever people have whispered into the Government's ear that the Government should control this "durian processing" business. The idea is that the Government will set up a durian processing plant in Batu Kurau (a monopoly) and ALL durian exporters to the China market must send their durians to this Government owned factory to process their durians. (I have no idea how this silly idea is even going to work).

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The excuse or alasan is very simple (and very noble). There are many small scale durian farmers who do not have the capital or the expertise to process durians or freeze dry them for export to China. So the Government factory will actually do them a big favour and open up new opportunities for these small scale farmers. Wah!! Baiknya hati Kerajaan kita. So noble.

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But why insist that ALL durian farmers MUST get their durians processed at this plant in Batu Kurau? Even durians from Johor or Negeri Sembilan must be processed at this plant in Batu Kurau.

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Some processors already complained. To pacify them, another Government owned durian processing plant is being planned in Pahang (Jerantut ke mana). Ini tak masuk akal langsung. If the Government wants to help the small scale durian farmers - by all means go ahead, help them.

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But why create a "durian" monopoly and insist that ALL processed durians for export to China must be processed at a Government plant? This is the part yang tak masuk akal. Just let the market decide what, where, when, who, why and how the market wants to process its durians.

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This is where we must look for the durian di sebalik batu. Is there something else going on here?. How much are the two durian processing plants going to cost? Who is the contractor? More than a brand new Mercedes Benz S320 I am sure. Dato suka warna apa?

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Then who is the plant operator? Talk is that the clever towkay who taught up this crazy idea (in the first place) is also quite ready to be behind operating the plant. Who in their right mind would think that the Government can operate a "durian porocessing" plant? And being a monopoly, they will charge an arm and a leg for "durian processing" services. How much? One person said 'RM600,000 for one months production costs' versus an actual market cost of RM60,000. Ini bukan durian processing brader. Ini ular sawa, nak telan durian sebiji dengan kulit dan duri sekali.

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This will greatly increase the durian processors cost of production. Every business has its risks. If you mess with the profit margins or artificially increase their costs of production, you will kill their market.

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But if the durians for China market is affected, who cares? If the durian processing plant eventually shuts down (like the stage buses) who cares? Bukan duit pak dia. Lagi pun, the contractor who builds the durian processing factory would have makan duit besar (possibly at way above market rates). Mercedes S Series sudah beli. So who cares? Like the stage buses that have stopped running. Who cares?

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And do you seriously expect the durian smallholders to send their fruits to this durian processing plant in Batu Kurau? You must be joking. Does anyone even know where the hell is Batu Kurau? The durian farmer in Ulu Langat will just open a durian stall by the roadside and sell his durians. There is no way that he can afford to send his fruit to Batu Kurau or Jerantut to be processed for export to China.

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This whole idea is just an insane Government monopoly to squeeze some bigger boys who are involved in this business. It will just screw things up again. Like the buses, the fish, the used cars market and the fuel subsidy. Now its the turn of the durians.

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Tengku Razaleigh As Interim Prime Minister

Yesterday was a very long day. Even spent time traipsing around a durian plantation. It was full of new information, new experiences and finally last nite I even took a test. (I think I passed).

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Yesterday evening I attended a seminar where the closing session discussed Malaysia's politics in 2012. Upon request by the organiser (a dear friend) I cannot say which seminar. Some of you folks were there as well - I am sure. The topic was the 13th General Elections.

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When will the 13th General Elections be held? One speaker pointed out that the GE is not due until 28 April 2013. And Constitutionally it can even be postponed by another two months. Lim Guan Eng has said that if the GE is called before June 2012, then the Pakatan held States will not dissolve their State assemblies. Karpal Singh is not in agreement.

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Some other folks I met say that the 13th GE will be held about six months after that Parliamentary subcommittee to study the Electoral reforms has been appointed. The subcommittee has just been appointed in November. Six months hence is therefore April 2012 - still a year before the full term ends.

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My view is it depends on whether the Crown Prince of Sungei Buloh is sent back to sit on his throne in Sungei Buloh. If he is sentenced to sing-sing, there will be some outcry and some sympathy. It will take about six months before the sympathy dies down. His backaches will also start again within about six months of being put in sing-sing. I can already imagine all those pictures of him - wearing braces and sitting in a wheel chair - being smuggled out of sing-sing. (All this is based on whether he is found guilty or not ok).

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Anyway one of the speakers said (to my surprise) that he had spoken to the Crown Prince's lawyers who do not feel confident that their client will be found innocent. In other words they also feel he will be found guilty of the charges.

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So six months from a guilty verdict will be about just right to have the Elections. My own view is that lets have the elections in 2013. We need more time to put things right. The time is not right yet.

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And the PM needs to really revamp the Cabinet. No revamp - can get mauled in the General Elections. Two other things were mentioned yesterday. One speaker said that possibly 70% of voters have already made up their minds who they want to vote. It will be very difficult to change their minds. The battle is actually (or always has been) for that remaining 30% fence sitters. I think there is some truth in this. At the last General Elections, many people decided to vote for the Opposition - no matter what you said or did, they were going to vote Opposition.

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Post 2008, I once embarrased (just pulling their leg) a group of hard core UMNO supporters at a dinner by asking 'Whoever DID NOT vote for the Opposition please raise your hands'. No one raised their hands. I think had voted for the Opposition in 2008. Everyone just wanted to be rid of Slumberjack and the corrupt SIL.

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Anyway, the clever lady who spoke yesterday said something else which I feel is extremely important. And for this round, the Prime Minister better take note of this point extremely very well.

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She said that the last 10 - 14 days before the General Elections are very crucial to help people make up their minds. Since most General Elections only have about two weeks campaigning period, this means a sizeable number of people (possibly that 30% of undecided voters) will actually make up their minds within 10 - 14 days before Polling Day.

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By that time, all the candidates representing all the parties will be known to everyone. This time around if folks like the "Lembu Condo" people appear on the ballot, there will be a price to pay. If the Mat Rempit fellow appears on the ballot, or the SIL, there will be a price to pay. Times have changed.

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There was a consensus (of sorts - two speakers said this quite clearly, while the other two alluded to it) that the BN will win the Federal Government. I tend to agree. There is a difference of views about the margin of victory though. Again the consensus was that the margin may be thin, even smaller than the present number of seats held by the BN.

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As far as the Chinese votes are concerned, one very well informed speaker (a Chinese) pointed out that even at the height of Tun Dr Mahathir's popularity, only 30% of Chinese voted for the BN. In 2008, this percentage went down to just over 20%. In By Elections, this figure has dropped below 20%. What does this mean? The Chinese vote has actually been discounted.

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Tun Dr Mahathir is so right - what really matters is the Malay vote. It is the Malay vote that makes or breaks the elections for anyone. The same speaker also pointed out something else that I have said so many times before - by 2018 the bumiputras will make up 70% of the country's population. It is the Malay vote that will carry the day.

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The young man who spoke about the Crown Prince (my choice of words ok) also said that PM Najib Tun Razak has missed some opportunities to win back much popular support. The speaker said that the PPSMI issue was a missed opportunity for the PM (the PM was in Mecca and chose to remain silent over it - and let the DPM face all the fireworks).

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He said the PM also missed a big opportunity over the lembu issue. His view was that the PM should have just fired the Minister concerned. But the PM did not do this and hence missed a big opportunity to make real reforms.

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The same speaker also said that Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah may consider leading the Pakatan Rakyat in the next GE if the Ketua Umum is sent to jail. So, if the Ketua Umum is sent off to jail, if he (Ku Li) accepts the nomination to lead the Pakatan, if the Pakatan then wins the 13th GE, then Ku Li will serve as Interim PM, until the Ketua Umum is released from prison again.

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Friends, a convicted criminal CANNOT hold political office. A convicted criminal cannot run for Parliamentary election at least FIVE YEARS after being released from prison. So even if the Ketua Umum is sent to jail and then he finishes his sentence (what say in 2022?) then he must wait another five years before he can run for elections.

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Can you see why Guan Eng is so eager to say totally stupid things like 'he will be PM even if he is in jail'. They know exactly what they are saying.

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Unless they arrange a Royal Pardon for the guy of course. All these are 'ifs' ok. He may be found innocent as well. We will never know.

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Tengku Razaleigh is a nice man. The most perfect and polite gentleman. But I really think the Tengku already had his shot at Prime Time. There was a window open in 2008. At a meeting at his house, we did urge him to step forward then. But that was during the corrupt regime of the non performing Slumberjack and his SIL.

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Najib Tun Razak is a different cup of tea. Some say that Tengku Razaleigh is a relic from the past, way past his prime and way past his time. The doctored picture here gives the idea

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But I dont believe even for one second that Ku Li wants to become an "Interim PM", just a seat warmer, waiting for the return of the Ketua Umum. I dont think anyone has that much love for the Ketua Umum. In the past, the guy has actually been a huge obstacle for folks like Musa Hitam, Ku Li, Ghaffar Baba and even Slumberjack. Only when he was sent off to jail, all these folks had a second chance at Prime Time. If the Ketua Umum is locked up, it will be an obstacle out of the way for Ku Li.

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If Ku Li does become PM, it will be for keeps. No such thing as "interim" Prime Minister. You can forget about any pardons too (if he is sent off to sing-sing).

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One speaker also said that Najib's popularity was increasing but the popularity of UMNO and the BN was decreasing. This is an anomaly but it is a true observation. This simply means that Najib must fire the dinosaurs from public life. Only then will the popularity of the BN catch up with his own popularity.

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During question time I asked a 'naughty' question : whether the PM's wife (Rosmah) was a drag on the PM's popularity? Everyone laughed but no one answered the question.

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There was a reason I asked this question. It is true that Najib's popularity is increasing. More than one survey - including one done by the PKR themselves - shows that the PM's popularity is increasing. And the wife is of course closely identified with the PM. Logically then, it should mean that Datin Rosmah's 'unpopularity' is becoming another urban legend. I know you sceptics are gritting your teeth already but look at it objectively. How do you explain a PKR survey that shows that the PM is more popular than the Ketua Umum? Itu lu punya survey lah.

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It is true the PM's wife still appears in the newspapers but did you notice that very often she is photographed with children - budak pintar, top scorers, underprivileged kids and so on. This is becoming a "trademark" of sorts. Oh well.....

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Russian News Script

Europeans Fighting

The key phrase is 'the Euro disaster'.

Platitudes

Miriam Webster's Dictionary defines a platitude as

i. the quality or state of being dull or insipid

ii. a banal, trite, or stale remark

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An example of using the word platitude is given : "His speech was filled with familiar platitudes about the value of hard work and dedication"

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Another way of saying it is 'saying something that is obvious'. My teacher in Form Three, Miss Chee Lan Neo used to say 'If something is "needless to say" then why say it?'

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Exactly the point. Why state the obvious? More than once I have heard so called 'religious scholars' (Nauzubillah - May Allah save us from them) saying this - 'Islam wishes that today is better than yesterday and that tomorrow must be better than today'.

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They sometimes say this with some flourish or a smile - as though this platitude will solve all of humanity's problems. Extending their logic, then may the day after tomorrow be better than tomorrow, and the day after that be better than the day before etc etc. Just empty mouthings which they say is wisdom. Cant they ever be a little more specific?

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I read something today that is also full of platitudes. I dont how these guys can keep churning out these things by the reams and unloading it upon the world.

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Here is a platitude : "The strength of our society lies in its ability to safeguard human dignity and nobility, to build a land fair and happy, just and caring and living by humanitarian ideals."

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Isnt this obvious? Isnt it needless to say this?

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But we live in Malaysia. Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Dayaks, Sulus, Bajau Lauts. Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Sikh, animist, God's children etc. Malay, Chinese,Tamil, Punjabi, Dayak, Kadazan languages. So can we be more specific, please? Whose idea of human dignity? Whose idea of happy? Whose idea of humanitarian ideals?

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Why do people engage in platitudes? Because they dont have the specifics. Its still work in progress.

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"We will fill in the blanks as we go along. In the meantime, close your eyes, place your trust in us and just leap off the cliff. We will save you." Its also called blind faith.

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My view is that things like "belief in spirituality" first kicked off as something platitudinous and has remained so. This is a very powerful belief that keeps many people thoroughly confused.

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Spirituality is also a Biblical word. It is derived from the belief that 'God is a spirit'.

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Lets take it one step at a time. We need some definitions first.

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No one has stopped to explain what exactly is a spirit. First, lets define a spirit. What exactly is a spirit? Anyone? I think it is still work in progress. No one seems to know. Has anyone seen a spirit? Not yet. Can you catch one? Not yet. If you catch a spirit, where would you put it? Inside a bottle? Then wont that become bottled spirits?

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They also say that 'spirit' is also the 'ghost'. As in Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit and stuff. In Spanish it is 'Espiritu Santo'.

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En el nombre del Padre, del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo - In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

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If a spirit is also a ghost, then to be spiritual is also to be ghostly. Keeping Hollywood in mind, isnt that a ghastly thought? Then spirituality should be consonant with being ghostly. A spiritual person would be a ghostly person.

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In Malay it would be even more interesting : spiritual would be 'berhantu'. A spiritual person would be 'orang yang berhantu'. Is that still a good thing? I have not seen a spirit yet. Neither have I seen a ghost. Neither have you.

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Haron Jin says he can catch 'spirits' using a 'bus'. How many 'spirits' can you put on a bus? A real bus - that can seat 44 passengers (seated) 13 standing. "44 penumpang berduduk, 13 berdiri". .

Getting back to the platitudes : "The enhancement of human dignity, the establishment of liberty, the eradication of society’s ills, the revitalisation of our heritage and cultural empowerment which reflects intellectual and artistic achievements are some of the goals to be met by our Government."

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Okey dokey, but is there anything a little more specific about how we can enhance human dignity? Or enhance the establishment of liberty?

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For example arresting Shiahs in Gombak for their religious beliefs - is that part of dignifying humans? Chasing young kids to jump off the balcony for khalwat - how does that establish liberty? Dead kids really do not have liberty. They are dead - we killed them by frightening them to fall off windows and balconies.

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"Revitalising our heritage and cultural empowerment" : how do we do that? Does dressing like confused Arabs revialise our heritage? We are NOT Arabs. How does putting domes on our buildings give us cultural empowerment?

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Here is more platitude : "In our efforts to develop our society, our path to economic prosperity should always be a holistic and multi-dimensional approach. We should be aware that the strength of society lies in its ability to safeguard human dignity and nobility."

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Rasa nak muntah dah. It continues :

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"In line with the views of al-Ghazali, a number of priorities should be given attention in policy formulations, be it education, economic, culture and others. . . In Islam, the purpose of education is to create a good individual who possesses a holistic world view based on divine guidance, good and productive character, very participative in social development and, above all, be willing to uphold truth, justice and cooperate with others."

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Yes for 1,000 years we have seen millions of these 'holistic' people fall and flounder all over the place. Today we see them in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Syria, Iran and a dozen other "spiritually" guided countries. They are doomed. We see a huge chunk of them in Malaysia as well.

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They just cannot fill in the blanks.

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Clean water - what is that brother?

Jobs - Insya Allah habibi.

Good education - Insya Allah.

Freedom of belief - brother if you dont follow the orthodox version you can be fined, jailed or both.

Women's rights - brother please dont get carried away.

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Its work in progress. Berhantu. Ghastly.

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One last platitude : "The road to this success is certainly wrought with challenges, but alternatives are not available to achieve that success in life – creating a noble civilisation."

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Dia sendiri tak faham apa dia tulis.

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Today must be better than yesterday. Tomorrow must be better than today. 24th November must be better than 23rd November. If you dont turn right, you can turn left. You can switch off the light, or you can switch it on. Tomorrow the sun will rise in the east. Then tomorrow evening it will set in the west. Day after tomorrow it will rise in the east again. Then it will set in the west again.

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The Proton Rocket Vs The "Tom Yam" Car

This is a follow up from my recent Blog about Proton. Thank you folks for all your comments. I dont have anything against Proton. I have not given up on Proton. We can make Proton work.

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To convince you of this I would like to propose a few other things as well. I am thinking beyond Proton - I seriously think the time has come to set up our own aircraft manufacturing industry. I also seriously think we should create a rocket engine manufacturing industry (it is a huge market) - it can be done.

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And finally (this is already in my first book 'To Digress A Little - published 2005) we can set up a rocket launching station (a space station) in Malaysia to launch rockets into outer space. So please dont say that I am anti Proton. Saya confident, kalau ikut cara saya, Proton boleh sampai ke bulan dah.

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Lets talk about Proton first. Then we will talk about the rockets. I think at last market forces will penetrate Proton. They have to. The desired deal with Hwa Tai (is it really the same biscuit manufacturer?) and Mitsubishi is proof enough that at the end of the day Proton has to respect market forces.

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The problem is that we tried too hard to establish a Malaysian car brand. This is a very difficult and expensive thing to do. Even Volvo - a world famous brand created in Sweden - was sold to Ford Motor Company in 1999. Then in 2010 (last year) Volvo was bought over again by the Zhejiang Gheely Holding Group - another Chinese car manufacturer.

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The only reason Zhejiang Gheely bought Volvo is because they feel they have a better chance to sell Volvo cars in China (with over 1.5 billion people) which is now undisputedly the largest car market in the world.

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The moral of the story is : if you dont have the volume, then to create your own "car brand" is almost next to impossible. We are finding this out rather expensively and painfully.

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Thailand is now the leader in automobile manufacturing in South East Asia. They are way ahead of us. (And I think they started after Proton). Thailand is now known as the "Detroit of Asia" - even ahead of India.

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The Thais have created a huge car industry where they manufacture cars as well as automotive parts for all car manufacturers around the world. And they are growing and going from strength to strength. Here is SIX YEAR OLD news about the Thai auto industry :

Thailand Automotive Industry Update: 2005

Thailand's is the Detroit of Asia.

World's second largest pick-up truck market

ASEAN's largest automotive market and assembler.

928,081 vehicles in 2004.

Domestic demand grew 17% to reach 626,026 units.

2004 exports, 1/3 of production, exceeded 300,000 units (41% increase over 2003).

Automotive industry worth USS 17.5 billion.

Second highest export revenue in 2003 (12% of GDP).

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That is SIX YEAR OLD NEWS. Now here is more recent news about the Thai auto industry in November 2009

Employs more than 300,000 people

Generating 12% of the national GDP

All major automakers, assemblers and parts and component manufacturers.

Ford, General Motors, BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Toyota, Isuzu, Honda and Nissan all have an established presence

1.4 million vehicles in 2008.

Thailand had just one automotive assembly plant in 1961.

Exports totaled 775,652 units in 2008 to 130 countries

Thailand world’s largest producer of one-ton pickup trucks

Seventh-largest automotive exporter overall.

And here is news about Thailand's car industry from 2010 :

2010

Thailand’s auto industry is going from strength to strength.

Ford and its partner Mazda committed US$800m to new plants in Thailand.

New US$450m greenfield compact car factory

AutoAlliance Thailand to invest a further US$350m

Good news for Thailand’s auto industry.

2009 the country produced just under 1m vehicles

First six months of 2010 hit 769,000 vehicles- increase 100% year on year

Beat comfortably the 2008 peak of 1.4m.

Global Top 10 automaker by 2014, projected to hit 2.3 million units.

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So you see, Thailand's car industry is going from strength to strength, year by year - non stop. Every year there is progress - not like Proton which seems to run into more and more problems every year.

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But folks, despite all this fantastic achievement, there is no homegrown Thai car brand. There is no "Tom Yam" car from Thailand. Apa pasal pula?

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Because if the Thais had decided to make a "Tom Yam" car, they would be in the same situation as Proton today. Not going anywhere. It is very difficult for a Third World country with no automotive industry or auto tradition to create and make a successs of a home grown car brand. This is almost impossible.

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So the Thais (who simply love pick up trucks) focussed on setting up a car industry catering to all the world's car manufacturers - not on making their own Thai car brand.

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The Thais are wildly succesful. Now the Thais are already into designing auto parts and creating new home grown Thai technology to make car parts. This means General Motors from Detroit or BMW from Germany may call the Thais and say 'design a braking system for our next model' or 'can you design an axle for this pick up truck'. The Thais are in a position to do just that. The Thai auto industry has matured. And they have no APs.

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Their car industry employs more than 300,000 people and it is still growing. The industry is worth over USD20.0 billion a year. They produced over 1.5 million vehicles in 2010. And they plan to produce 2.3 million vehicles by 2014 which will put them in the Global Top 10 car manufacturers.

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That is a fantastic achievement.

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But they still dont have a home grown Thai car brand. There is no 'Tom Yam' car. That is too risky. It is commercially suicidal.

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So what should we do? Just copy-cat Thailand. Tak payah memikir dah. The thinking as well as the research & development, all the planning, the execution, the teething problems have already been done for us by the Thais. Ikut saja apa depa dah buat. We have better infrastructure, we have better management talent, better skilled workers - we have everything. Just duplicate what the Thais have done. I am sure we can do better.

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This is why we can also set up an airplane industry. Lets not create our own Malaysian airplane brand - Rajawali ke, Lang Laut ke. It wont work. The Indons failed with PT Nurtanio. They ciplak a Spanish airplane - the CASA Turboprop 235, rebadged it the Casa Nurtanio CN 235 but they couldnt sell it anywhere. Why? No Mat Salleh wants to fly in an airplane built in the Third World.

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But just like the Thai auto industry we can create a airplane industry that makes airplane parts, engine parts, landing gear, fuselage parts, avionics and so on. We can become the center for high tech airplane parts manufacturing for all the world's major airplane producers.

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The same argument applies for the rocket industry. These are high tech, knowledge intensive and capital intensive industries. More and more rockets are going to be shot into the sky. We cannot create our own Made in Malaysia rocket yet (and make it commercially succesful) but we can serve the world's rocket industry. Buat lah parts dulu, engines, high tech materials used in rocket engines etc. This is a picture of the Russian 'Proton' rocket - the workhorse of the Russian (and formerly Soviet Union's) space programs. Imagine 'contract manufacturing" parts of something like this here in our country.

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And yes I think we can set up a space launch station in Malaysia. The Chinese will appreciate a site closer to the Equator to launch their many, many rockets. Why not get the Chinese here to JV a rocket launch site? Kita sewakan tanah saja (tak payah bagi tanah - macam kes Singapura). Imagine the scientific and collaboration work with our local universities and institutions? It will literally take our scientific knowledge base to the skies and beyond. Just the space telemetry stations (Imagine instead of hearing 'this is Houston' it can be 'this is Terong Space Centre calling) will push us way up the high income economy.

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Folks all this can be done. We are not thinking too hard. That is all.

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Why cant we set up an airplane manufacturing industry or a rocket manufacturing industry or a more dynamic car industry?

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Reason Number 1 : Sebab tak ada AP. This means tak ada orang yang akan minat buat kapalterbang.

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Also you must compete with market forces. They dont like this either. Malas nak memikir. They like the cloistered, protected, subsidised, monopolistic, oligopolistic, "skim cepat kaya" type of business. What does that require? It simply means we must make sure that Petronas always has a full tank of gas. Because that is the only way we can support all this time wasting, money burning, 'capacity destroying' activity.

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Petronas pays taxes and dividends in excess of RM50.0 billion a year and we blow it pursuing economically unsustainable activities.

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Bila minyak Petronas habis, habis lah kita.