Speak! Or forever hold your peace

So I got another freelance writing job here in Malaysia. Here's the link:

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/opinion/hafidz-baharom/30171-just-what-exactly-is-1-malaysia

Enjoy reading, everyone.

I seldom take a stance on the issue of Perak because I consider it a state issue. However, since our Home Minister has commented that the removal of the former Speaker Sivakumar by the police is within the Standing Orders of Perak state, I have to interject.

See, this is where being an independent makes you a rational and better human being than being a biased nutcase on either side. You actually seek out information for yourself.

http://www.digitalibrary.my/index.php?view=article&catid=75%3Astanding-orders&id=901%3Astanding-orders-of-the-state-legislative-assembly-of-perak-darul-ridzuan&option=com_content&Itemid=25

Referring to the PDF file provided above, page 28, Standing Order 44 (2):

"The Chair shall order any member whose conduct is grossly disorderly to withdraw immediately from the Assembly during the remainder of that day's sitting, and the Bentara Dewan shall act on such orders as he may receive from the Chair in pursuance of this Standing Order"

The standing order specifically states that the Bentara Dewan shall act on such orders, not the police. Therefore, the government of Perak has every right to sue the police and the Home Minister, as Hishamuddin Tun Hussein suggests.

First and foremost, I would think RPK won't lose sleep over this once since it's not his abbreviation being mentioned in the title.

The World Health Organisation has declared the spread Swine Flu/ Selsema Babi/ A H1N1 influenza as a pandemic flu alert. In other words, people should start panicking as if the world's about to end and billions will perish throughout the world.

Next thing you know, we'll be a soon to be extinct race fighting off robots.

The WHO is being rather hypocritical in declaring just what exactly makes a phase 6 pandemic, aren't they?

Let's look at the statistics.

Patient Zero of the Swine flu/ Selsema babi/A H1N1 influenza virus is still alive.

The reasoning given to raise it to a "Phase 6" pandemic as highlighted by Ban Ki Moon was that it was widespread geographically, but not how virulent it was. - Bernama

Well, I happen to know a virus that has been geographically widespread since the 80's and has killed 25 million people worldwide regardless of race, religion, location, sexual orientation and even age.

The Human Immunodefficiency Virus, or HIV.

So while the world is going around panicking about how people are getting the flu with not all of them dying, and even having a supposed vaccine in the form of Tamiflu, I'm just wondering why they can't or won't do the same for HIV.

If that's too descriminately gay for those descriminatory people out there, think again. It's not just a gay person's problem. Statistics in Malaysia are showing that heterosexuals are the majority of those infected by this virus.

Particularly standing out is the fact that straight women are the one's being infected.

We know very well that HIV spreads particularly, not through the sharing of needles by drug abusers, but through sex.

And yet, we have a government and every single religious body preaching abstinence instead of safe sex with condoms, which, I might add, will also stop newborn babies being found in dumped into toilets, garbage cans and even landfills.

During an open discussion with some friends, it was highlighted by a doctor that he had gone on Al-Jazeera . Also in that interview was a representative from the religious right wing in Malaysia.

According to the doctor, when he highlighted the use of condoms in sex to stop the spread of HIV, he got this reaction from the right winger:

"No feeling."

Okay......

Now while I have yet to ascertain who that moron was and who to write to, it is without a doubt the stupidest excuse to stop the spread of a virus that has killed 25 million people, is it not?

Politics is hypocrisy, which makes politicians the greatest hypocrites on Earth. Any doubt of such was erased just reading the papers right after the PAS Muktamar when you had their leaders at first chastise each other for wanting to form a 'unity government' with UMNO and then mention that they won't be 'joining UMNO'.

Okay. Just what the heck does that mean?

Imagine this.

Let's just say PAS joins the government side. Now we all know that when it comes to voting a resolution in our Parliament, the whip is enforced unless otherwise mentioned.

So then pray tell, just how is PAS going to influence any motion by the government?

Even if they don't vote it won't make much of a difference.

Do you see the irrationality right here?

Well sure, their quest for Malay unity and perhaps more power in handling religious affairs of state would be increased, but in the end it's nothing more than just a smokescreen.

There's only one reason PAS would switch sides and that is to further their goal for a more increasingly religiously conservative government.

And it's obvious that such an objective cannot be met with DAP and PKR, particularly since it has already been stated that such policies will not come to pass without all three parties within the PR's agreement.

With that in mind, what is PAS but basically a courtesan whoring around to see who can give her more power to achieve her ambitions?

Mata Hari had more credibility.

In a recent interview, the PM's wife Datin Seri Rosmah mentioned that women should strive to get at least degrees, particularly highlighting mothers.

Well, just wishing to point out one fact. Most women are, particularly in the urban areas. The fact of the matter is, we are now seeing more women with degrees instead of those with kids.

In fact, I would think that we even have more women striving to obtain a post graduate degree in comparison to men.

I don't think it's a problem for women to excel in the education field since in my college days most of them outnumbered me and were kicking my educational rear end every other quiz or test or finals.

However, I do think that women are receiving a bad rep in terms of employment though the reasons may vary according to profession and job scope.

But the sad part is, we're not even seeing women receiving equal treatment in the government, particularly in this nation. Just look at Parliament and tell me how many women MPs we have.

How many women MPs were candidates? How many women MPs in the government were selected to become Ministers?

How many women were voted onto the PAS Central Committee during the recent Muktamar?

The inequality of treatment amongst our upper echelons of governance and political parties itself speaks loads to the people down below, especially when we now have countries in the Middle East allowing women more favorable places in their parliaments.

Let's face it.

This is a nation that would probably give way to a closeted gay guy in comparison to an all out full fledged feminist who can care for the community just as well.

From TheStar newspaper:

WHEN Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak visited Brickfields – known as the Little India of Kuala Lumpur – soon after taking office in April, he left more than just a good impression on the residents.

Tamil Nesan reported that a popular restaurant there now has a “Najib’s Corner” after its owner named part of the outlet after the Prime Minister.

Owner of the Kortumalai Pillar Restaurant S. Sathasivam said he did it because he wanted to honour and show his support for Najib. He said “Najib’s Corner,” was adorned with photographs of Najib’s visit there during the walkabout.

The restaurant is located near the junction of Jalan Tun Sambantan and Jalan Travers. Deputy Federal Territories Minister Datuk M. Saravanan said the people’s support and respect for the Prime Minister had increased after his visit to the area.

I remember Jaya Supermarket rather well, because it had a Dave's Deli. Probably the first one in the country.

And even after they shut the building down, I still kept seeing it outside the window while I was on the treadmill in Jaya33, which is across the street.

So when I heard that it had come down, and recorded a death toll of 7 members of a deconstruction crew, my first reaction was one of shock.

Really, just 7 guys?

It was amazing that the building didn't crush the homes right across the street when it collapsed!

And wasn't it just amazing that the government waited until the building collapsed and 4 people were found dead, and then suddenly decided to think to move everyone living nearby from the area?

We continually preach that Malaysia is truly Asia in our tourism catalogs.

What we failed to also mention was that our safety standards, law enforcement, transportation systems and even our emergency and evacuation teams are underfunded, poorly managed and like everything else in Malaysia, poorly maintained.

But of course, the government will want a report on what happened. However, without public pressure, it'll be another report that will never see the light of day, similarly like that of our space tourists' research, our spending on SUKOM, the plight of the Penans, etc.

Safety is an issue, but it is not the biggest one yet.

Think about it. Our safety standards are lacking due to the fact that we employ migrant workers in our construction crew. Why? Because they're cheap. Why? Because in comparison to locals, they are willing to exert themselves in physical labor. Why? Because they're desperate and resourceful.

In comparison to our graduates who whine when they can't find a job and make it into the news that the job market is bad, and yet would swear that they won't even consider attending the functions and courses provided by the government.

Why is our law enforcement corrupt? Because we pay our cops too little, thus leading them to move towards bribery. Also, their benefit packages are crappy as well.

Why can't we maintain proper roadworks, let alone proper street plumbing?

Why can't we move into mass transportation systems that work? And why on Earth did KTM buy Korean made carriages for the Komuter which don't meet their specifications?

To get even more micro, why can't Malaysian drivers ever use their signal lights when they overtake on the Federal, and yet can find the ability to use the horn and the high beam?

Malaysians themselves say that the government is driving the brains away from the nation with their current policies, but I don't think that's the crux of all issues in this nation either since brains can be imported.

I honestly think that Malaysians have blond moments and continuously prove that they lack common sense.

When it came to Bukit Antarabangsa, there was news that the people had reported minor landslides to the authorities, yet the authorities did nothing. What they failed to report, and what the news also didn't highlight, was the fact that this was all that the resident's did.

I mean, think about this logically with me folks.

You're living on a hill slope, and landslides start to expose boulders right above your house. Do you move out, or do you just bitch about it to the local authorities and hope they'll come by and cover it with canvas while they go through red tape?

Similarly with the case of Jaya Supermarket. You're hiring a cheap crew with no professional opinions to tear down a building. There's no research, no written plan, just go ahead and tear it down.

Don't mind the dust and debris would affect the health of those living across, the street, of course.

And then it collapses. And you have the government, mentioning that there was too much heavy equipment involved and the floors couldn't take it. But of course, they had to wait for 7 people to die to figure that one out.

Couldn't have foreseen overbearing weight bringing down a floor, now, could we? Not even if seemed funny on Americas Funniest Home Videos.

I saw her come to the school once
Adored by teachers
And students
And parents alike
They all crowded her to the hall

She spoke of her studies
Her brilliance in math
Every teacher loved her
While the students envied her

She spoke of her parents
How they adore her
How she was thankful of them
Yet there were no emotions
No sentiments

Later in life
She went overseas
Got a degree
Got a Masters
Working on her Ph.D

And suddenly ran away
From home
From her parents
From her prodigal self

It made the papers
That she was a hooker
A prostitute
A lost soul worthy of rescue
From Malaysia to Oxford

Why?

She's a genius
She's an escort
Still prodigal
Working on Math while waiting for clients

Referring to The Nut Graph article "PKR's Campaign Homophobia", I just wish to set the record straight. I'm not.

Now I'm just wondering how many people can actually read through that one.

It takes a specific topic to get me riled up. And one of those topics is of course homophobia in Malaysia. I will not tolerate it and if any politician or leader of a political party decides to make a quip about it, they'll be hearing from me.

Similar as how Ahmad Puad Zarkashi got an e-mail for branding our football players as "pondans" for their bad performance.

Similar as to how Zahid Hamidi got an e-mail for branding chickens injected with hormones turning our population into "pondans".

So when I hear that the Penang PKR chief decided to brand Barisan Nasional as "Barisan Pondan" for not contesting in Penanti, does he actually know what he's saying, coming from a party with an alleged sodomiser leading it?

And if you don't believe that he's a sodomiser, then that's good. However, please believe that he's a supporter of gay rights, which he mentions in an article in The Daily Express in 2008 ,which was one of the reasons Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has my respect.

Even former Menteri Besar of Perak, Datuk Nizar, knows better than to joke about such things. It's one of the best things about some PAS MPs, they're extremely polite.

So I honestly hope that PKR, which is supposed to stand for equality for everyone, will know better than to let a homophobic idiot represent them at ceramahs, especially when I'm reading about it, before I start dislodging your youth wing piecemeal.

As per the Associated Press:

Gay US diplomats to get benefits for partners: report

WASHINGTON (AFP) — In a policy shift, the US State Department will offer equal benefits and protections to same-sex partners of American diplomats, The New York Times reported.

The newspaper said the shift was spelled out in an internal memorandum Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent last week to an association of gay and lesbian foreign service officers.

Clinton said the policy change addressed an inequity in the treatment of domestic partners and would help the State Department recruit diplomats, since many international employers already offered such benefits, the report said.

"Like all families, our foreign service families come in different configurations; all are part of the common fabric of our post communities abroad," Clinton said in the memorandum, a copy of which was provided to The Times by a member of the gay and lesbian association.

"At bottom," the paper quotes Clinton as saying, "the department will provide these benefits for both opposite-sex and same-sex partners because it is the right thing to do."

A senior State Department official confirmed the new policy, but did not say when it would take effect, the paper said.

Among the benefits are diplomatic passports, use of medical facilities at overseas posts, medical and other emergency evacuation, transportation between posts, and training in security and languages, according to the report.

Under current policy, diplomats with domestic partners could be evacuated from a hazardous country by the US government while their partners were left behind, The Times noted.

In the past, the State Department declined to provide some benefits to the partners of diplomats, invoking the Defense of Marriage Act, which limited federal recognition of same-sex unions, The Times noted.