135 posts tagged “politics”

For those who do not know by now, this young and greenhorn MP is the son-in-law of Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

While I object to this fellow on a personal level, the fact that his line of logic is parallel to mine is downright disturbing and unnerving.

Here are the points brought up by Khairy Jamaluddin, MP of Rembau, in his debating the Kings Speech.

1. The formation of a Judiciary Commission in charge of promoting judges is a good one to restore faith in the Malaysian Judiciary after the crisis in 1988.

2. The restructuring of the Anti Corruption Agency to be an independent commission known as the Anti Corruption Commission plus the forming of the Protection Act for whistle blowers is timely and appropriate. The power to prosecute should also be given to this commission.

3. Fight bribery through technology. Fight corruption with technology.

4. A freer media by abolishing the Printing Press Act.

5. Put a quota on the petrol subsidy to avoid abuse.

6. Focus more on food production with technological advances.

..... And after that all hell broke loose because he kept taunting the Opposition, but not giving them any leeway to rebuke his statements.

Not so smart, Khairy, but damned slick.

If I were to base his speech only on the points, I would definitely state that his was one of the better ones. But then, I simply don't like this guy personally.

So I'll stick to liking his points.

Right.

Next up: Datuk Abdul Ghapur Bin Salleh (who?), internal opposition?

What happened to the war lasting 100 years.....?

What happened to not believing in climate change initiatives...?

Is the elephant turning donkey-ish?

The honorable MP from Batu Gajah took "center floor" and brought up the following points on the 8th of May 2008:

1. Regardless of party, put the needs of the nation first.

2. Get the younger generation of MPs to lead. Mentions MPs Serdang, Puchong, Lembah Pantai, Labis, Balik Pulau and Rembau.

Sadly, she left out Kelana Jaya. Kesian Loh Gwo Burne.

3. Ministry of Tourism being unfair to withdraw funds for tourism in states controlled by the PR.

4. Ministry of Entrepreneur Development withdrew state development funds from state government to MARA, another unfair move.

5. Ministry of Rural Development's move to create both JKKK and JKKKP with similar objectives, is divisive.

6. The use of state funding in Perak to handle the food crisis instead of federal funding is also misappropriation of funds.

7. The space program. Why is there no cash when the PM and TPM said we had enough cash last year?

8. The wasting of RM2.4 million ringgit on indelible ink which was not used by the EC because of a rumor that the move would be tainted. Four people were investigated, and no outcome or charges were filed. The PM must take responsibility for this blunder.

9.Post mortem by the EC. When will it done?

The cili padi strikes again. Seriously, though, if there was ever a person to lead DAP to a more relevant future and stop the shouting "father and son lawyer team", it would definitely be her.

Her points are quick, to the point and are definitely in my mind as well.

Kudos to Fong Po Kuan.

Up next: Khairy Jamaluddin

This one was on the 8th of May 2008, when the MP of Rasah brought forth the question, why the funding for each Parliament seat was brought down from RM2 million to RM500,000 after the election.

Here was a reply:

"Yang Berhormat, mudah sahaja untuk mendapat peruntukan daripada kerajaan,Yang Berhormat kena masuk Barisan Nasional."

Translated: "YB, it is very easy to get funding from the federal government, just join Barisan Nasional."

This one was from the Bigfoot of Kinabatangan himself, Bung Mokhtar Radin.

Also,

During Fong Po Kuan's speech, about how Thailand and Singapore were doing better than Malaysia.

"Saya tertarik dengan ucapan Yang Berhormat tadi yang mana menggambarkan bahawa negara kita ini tidak baik. KalaulahYang Berhormat diberi pilihan antara Thailand, Singapura dan Malaysia mana Yang Berhormat pilih."

Translated: "I'm impressed with YB's speech which portrays that our country is bad. If YB could pick between Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, which one would you choose?"

As if we were all dumb enough not to spot another "get out of Malaysia" remark, right?

This one came from the MP of Putatan, Datuk Dr. Marcus Makin Mogijoh.

And yet, another dumb remark made by a fellow with a doctorate.

That's 3 for BN, 0 for Pakatan Rakyat.

Haih, I gave the guy some points and he goes and brands an entire political party as the Gigantic Pig Project, or Projek Khinzir Raksasa, PKR.

Amazing, just amazing, Khairy. Goes to show if you give a fellow enough rope, they decide to tie a noose and hang themselves. Oh well.

But then I know why Khairy did what he did. He was countering Azmin Ali from Gombak, who likened the initials of PKR to the acronym for UK's Public Interest Disclosure Act of 1998, or in Malay, Akta Perlindungan Kepentingan Rakyat, PKR.

Honestly, I think Khairy's just pissed because of Azmin's reply that if Selangor, Kedah, Penang and Perak were to declassify state documents, BN and UMNO would suffer.

This was on the 8th of May 2008, and it is in the parliament review.

Thus the war over acronyms. That's just fine in Parliament. After all, the PKR is leading the state of Selangor which is centralizing their pig farming activities.

A potshot, but not below the belt.

And then there was a guffaw that led to another riot in Parliament, when Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui accidentally said that orangutans "were not found in Malaysia, but mostly focused in Sabah and Sarawak".

Haih...and he's from Bintulu, right?

Well, you know how the Opposition reacted to that. They literally saw blood and went for the jugular, stating that we shouldn't separate Sabah and Sarawak from Malaysia.

At least Datuk Peter Chin had the guts to admit the mistake and change it to Peninsular Malaysia instead.

The gym seems to be a place to ask for opinions of relevance these days.

Recently at the gym in Menara Axis someone asked me what I thought about the road issue. Now, I may not be the most knowledgeable person when it comes to this issue, but reading through some of the press, here's what I've understood so far.

Basically, a private owned company developed a road under contract with the federal government to build up a tolled road.

Somehow, in the midst of all the negotiations, the deal turned sour and the road has been blocked off to avoid anyone from using it.

Then the public took notice of this road and started using it, thinking that their taxpayer ringgits are actually paying for it's maintenance. The company, which developed the road got pissed and blocked it off for two times in a row.

The federal government, which contracted the road, remains quiet about everything.

Then the company puts up barricades, the people take down the barricades, the company puts up the barricades again, the people get the politicians in the Opposition side involved to take it down again....

And now the police get involved, basically charged with protecting private owned property being infringed by the people who are using it.

That's the story I've gotten so far.

Did I miss out anything?

I'm sorry, but just because the people are pissed because they have to pay RM0.90 to and from home does not justify breaking the law and trespassing on private land, even if the toll has been raised twice.

And for politicians from the Opposition to support breaking the law in such a way, instead of forming a coalition to discuss the issue and negotiate a settlement with Narajaya and Grand Saga, is stupid and unreasonable.

Why hasn't the Selangor state government, which is so sympathetic to the people, simply negotiate the purchase of the road from Grand Saga or Narajaya and make them toll free?

Narajaya, you now have a defendant to sue for trespassing and aiding and abetting to commit trespassing.

That would include the state government as Selangor with Khalid Ibrahim issuing the statement, along with Ronnie Liu and all Selangor state politicians who are involved in the removal of the barricades, including the contractors.

We continually argue that we are a nation of laws and we need to be lawful. This act of trespassing on private property is unlawful. What say all of us now?

Do we sacrifice our laws because it's more convenient to do so?

Note: This one was an earlier review of the points raised by MPs in their first speech in Parliament. I missed out posting it here...

Now while I will admit it now that I haven't much data on this fellow as I should, other than he was there when Mahathir was tear gassed in Kelantan, I would definitely like to know more about this "Mr. Independent".

Points from his speech

1. Give Terengganu its fair share of the petrol royalties

Now while I support this, I don't see it happening any time soon, simply because the federal government probably relies on this income for their RMK-9 efforts.

2. Give allowances to single moms with two kids or more (RM500), orphans (RM100-RM200) and the disabled (RM300) regardless of race and religion.

This is actually a rather Islamic thing to do, which surprised me a lot. But yes, it sounds good enough.

3. Tok Guru Hadi Awang should be the next PM.

Right....I'm sure we'd all support that one (it's sarcasm, people)

4. The DEB has yet to meet it's target of 30% equity for the Bumiputeras after 18 years. What the hell's going on?

I agree fully with this statement.

5. Put out a white paper on the allegations made by Hindraf.

Yes. There are some nasty allegations brought forth by Hindraf that requires answering.

6. Investigation and publication of the current PM's Oil For Food scandal

Yes, it did hit some of Pak Lah's credibility, so I guess there is a need to investigate this as well.

7. Why hasn't Malaysia signed the UN Convention Against Corruption?

A good point to bring up. After all that talk about transparency and stemming corruption, why not do something to globally recognize it?

8. Change the OSA so that tenders are not included as "Official Secrets".

After all, the people have a right to know what you're doing with their cash.

9. Revamp the ISA, not dispose of it. Include Suhakam.

10. Investigate the cost of importing labor.

11. Investigate the misuse of study visas by foreign students.

12. Giving JPA scholarships to Bumiputeras who score 5As, or 6As while others have to get at least 9As, in the spirit of DEB.

13. Take advice from Tun M

14. Fix the roads in Pasir Mas.

15. OKU's and single mothers in Pasir Mas getting only RM80  or RM70.

16. Hasten the establishment of the Halal Hub in ECER.

17. Mandatory bonus to police and army personnel (RM500 - RM 1000)

These are good points, most of them, of course. Number 13's definitely something I personally don't agree with.

However, most of the points in his speeches are good and worthy of consideration, even if his recommendation for PM is someone I would not nominate within a billion years or so.

Next up: Fong Po Kuan

Before anyone brands me a bigot, let me tell you why I'm unhappy.

Makkal Osai was not issued a new license to print. The reason given by the Home Minister was that they "had broken the terms of their agreement".

Suddenly the Home Minister has allowed them to go back to the presses and the paper will be back on the shelves last Saturday.

This was, of course, after the General Manager filed an appeal.

Before this I had asked the government to be transparent on their decision, because with this new news piece, it seems that the permits are not issued based on national security and reasoning, but merely on personal whim.

I for one do not want newspapers to have to go through what The Star went through simply because it pissed someone off, with no logical backing.

It is therefore urgent that Syed Hamid Albar explain the reasoning behind both the non-issuance of the permit beforehand, and the acceptance of the appeal.

Otherwise, perhaps Pak Lah should stop mentioning the need for a transparent government from now on.

Look, most of you know I am perhaps the least biased among most of the political pundit bloggers here.

So when I say Karpal Singh deserved Ibrahim Ali's quip, it's not out of spite.

For those who did not get the full story of what went down, please read the whole hansard found on the Parliament website. If you can't understand Bahasa Malaysia, may I suggest self lecturing yourself a bit for preaching Bangsa Malaysia without knowing the language, then ask me for a translation.

I'm useful that way.

So Karpal Singh first brought up how certain MPs didn't raise their right hands during the oath taking ceremony, even when the Speaker accepted all oaths, regardless. He continually brought this up for the next 10 minutes or more.

Then Karpal Singh moves up another point of order stating that the Secretary had to witness the swearing in, stating that the Speaker and he are "both lawyers".

Then Karpal Singh continually pushes the Speaker to make a decision, with the help of his son, another lawyer.

See, this is why lawyers are so hated sometimes.

So you have three lawyers arguing in a hall of 243 seats.

And after wasting 30 minutes and not answering a single question, Ibrahim Ali decided to put forth a quip that Karpal Singh shouldn't be able to interject because he can't stand.

Then all hell broke loose.

Now I don't know if Karpal Singh is an officially registered and verified OKU, but he deserved what he got for bringing up and questioning the decisions of the Speaker himself and all those calls for point of orders.

I'm actually looking forward to the day he gets sent out. Perhaps then we can move on and hear some questions being answered.