GOOD LUCK PM

Dear Di,

It more than a week I have not kept in touch with you. A lot has happened and there are so much things to tell. 

The most popular thing to do this month is, of course, going to Open Houses. For the month of Shawal, according to the Muslim calender, this is the month of celebration after one has fasted for the whole month of Ramadan.

OPEN HOUSES ARE COMMON IN MALAYSIA 

Individuals and Corporates are scrambling to hold Open Houses, inviting families, friends, acquaintances, business partners to attend the event which are either held at homes, hotels, golf clubs or community halls. Sumptuous food and drinks are served for the guests who come in the drove.

Malaysians, generally are politically conscious and politics are often the topic most talked about among the guests. Everyone has something to say, either supporting, disagreeing or making general statements of the happenings that have taken place in last few weeks after Ramadan.

Some of the topics touched were the Court of Appeal ruling allowing the two policemen who were found guilty by the High Court for killing a Mongolian woman free. Many took the opportunity to take a whack at the Government and the judiciary, However, many forgot that overturning the decision of the High Court by the superior court is really not something new.

If we were to remember, the Federal Court had released Opposition leader on Sodomy charges on technicality although the judges were of the opinion that sodomy had taken place. There was also an uproar by the public but the leader's supporters were full of praised for the court. I guess it all depends on whom these people support.

We also have a case where a Government deputy minister was angry with the police for killing five gang members who are suspected of being hired killers. But, his statement should not be a surprised as he was formerly the leader of Hindraf, an Indian movement whose members think that the are being treated poorly in this country.

Then, we have our Prime Minister who launched a new clarion call for the nation "endless possibilities". Whatever that was supposed to mean leaves Malaysians guessing.

As usually, the Prime Minister leaves it to the public to define the meaning on their own. Hence, all kinds of definition have been put up in the cyber world for all to see.

But, a friend asked me who are responsible for the PM new campaign? Is it the same group who did the last one 1 Malaysia. He further asked whether PM would entrust the job to a new team altogether as the last one did not do the job effectively.

My reply was that there were no words suggesting that the PM has set up a new team so I guessed the existing one would have been given the task to implement it.

The face of my friend tells me that he did not expect much success. Well, good to the team.

To another question, I told my friend I do not know whether the PM listen or read the various criticism level against him. But, I know deep in my heart, the man does listen. But, he does not have to agree. He may have his own opinion or point of view.

It is his own choice and whatever decision he makes, he has to live with it. There is a Malay saying "berat mata memadang, berat lagi bahu yang memikul".

Good luck to the PM.

Najib and his Ministers: Drive taxis if you must!

Dear Di,


It is almost customary in this country for the main stream media to ponder the performance of elected leaders after 100 days in office.

Focus of attention is always given to the Prime Minister and Menteris Besar. Why 100 days, nobody seems to know. But, I guess that some media practitioners look at the 100 days performance to judge the persons' ability to rule the full five years.

Honeymoon over. Get back to work, sir

What attracted my attention on this subject was a report in the NST about Dato Sri Najib's role as Prime Minister until the next general election.

It is interesting to note that the Prime Minister remains consistent in his efforts to bring progress to this country. He continued to harp on racial harmony, much to the disappointment of some of his die-hard supporters who were pissed off with the majority of the Chinese voters for not supporting Barisan Nasional in the last general election.

Nevertheless, I agree with the Prime Minister. You certainly cannot give up just because you were not fully successful. Any leaders worth their salt know that they cannot, but continue to woe voters all the time.

To maintain peace and harmony among the races, we need to continue harping on the need to unite and work together. It is a fact that no single race can survive in this country without the support of other races.

Our forefathers have thought long and hard about this, hence the establishment of the strategic alliance, Perikatan. Through Perikatan and later evolved to become Barisan Nasional, all the races in the country work together to bring prosperity to Malaysia.

It is only after the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim as deputy Prime Minister and the unholy alliance he formed with DAP and PAS leaders did the unity among the races began to crack.

From then on, Malaysians were bombarded with so many racist issues on a daily basis. The social media was widely used to propagate hatred among the races. DAP used the social media extensively to turn the Chinese voters against MCA and Gerakan whom it described as mere tools for UMNO.

Thus, it came as a no surprise when the Chinese voters were almost solidly behind DAP in the May 2013 General Election, making the party having the most number of Parliamentary seats among the Opposition parties.

The Chinese voters chose to ignore the goodies handed over by BN leaders, including the Prime Minister. They were made to believe that the BN Government would topple and DAP together with PKR and PAS would rule Putrajaya.

Imagine their disappointment when BN was returned to power on the wee hours of May 9, 2013.

DAP and PAS  quickly come to term with the defeat. However, PKR, the new kid on the block could not accept defeat gracefully and went on to organise rallies to challenge the outcome of the election.

PKR went ballistic and tried to stir the people emotions to support street demonstrations, but much to the embarrassment of PKR leaders, the attempts fizzled out.

So far in the last 100 days, nothing much could be done by Dato Seri Najib and his Government as a lot of efforts were spend on watching and monitoring PKR and their associates throwing tantrums.

The point I want to stress here is for the Prime Minister and his Government to stop entertaining Anwar in his unprofitable games, but to focus their attention on flourishing the nation.

Please go back to the people. Show the people that you care. Follow the good examples set by other world leaders. Put the interest of the people first.

MINISTERS AS TAXI DRIVERS? Why not!

Malaysians love leaders who are humble, kind hearted and attentive to their needs. Stop being aloof, be part of the people. Drive taxis if you must.

POLIS YANG LEBIH MESRA

Di...

Cuaca agak panas di luar bangunan tetapi pokok-pokok di tepi jalan kelihatan bergoyang menandakan angin agak kuat. Pembinaan di sebelah bangunan ku rancak berjalan. Ini membuktikan ekonomi kita masih kukuh dan pelabur masih mahu melabur di negara ini.

Hari ini aku diberitahu ruang pejabat di sekeliling kawasan ku semua habis dijual. Nampaknya, usaha majikan ku untuk meluaskan ruang pejabat ini mungkin tidak kesampaian. Nampaknya, kita semua terpaksa bersempit sementara menunggu keputusan majikan untuk berpindah ke kawasan yang lebih luas.

Dari tingkap di tempat aku berkerja, aku lihat kenderaan berpusu-pusu dan suasana amat aman sekali. Ada orang berjalan kaki, ada sedang menunggu bas. Tiada perasaan takut pun di wajah mereka.

Keseluruhan negara secara amannya memang aman, tetapi akhir-akhir ini terdapat sedikit ketegangan kerana berlaku insiden menembak di beberapa tempat di negara ini.

Macam-macam andian dibuat. Ada yang menyalahkan Kerajaan menghapuskan undang-undang pecegahan jenayah seperti ISA dan EO. Ada marah kat polis kerana membiarkan kejadian itu berleluasa.

Pasukan Polis Perlu Imej Baru

Ada pihak meminta diletakkan lebih ramai anggota polis di jalan-jalan di sekitar kawasan orang ramai.  Mungkin benar juga. Dulu, ramai juga anggota polis dilihat berjalan-jalan di sekitar bandar. Kini hampir tidak kelihatan langsung.

Yang sering kita dengar ialah usaha memasang kamera CCTV. Apa gunanya? Kamera tersebut hanya dapat merakam sahaja. Penjenayah pun dah pandai untuk tidak mudah dikesan walaupun dirakam oleh kamera terbabit. Mereka menutup muka, menggunakan plat nombor palsu dan sebagainya.

Mengapa susah sangat nak suruh polis berjalan-jalan di kawasan seperti Bukit Bintang, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, kawasan Brickfield, Petaling Street dan lain-lain lagi.

Apa, cuaca terlalu panas ke? Atau mungkin ada kajian yang dibuat menunjukkan kehadiran polis di tempat awam tidak membendung gejala jenayah?

Selain dari itu, mungkin PDRM atau Polis Di Raja Malaysia perlu membuat beberapa perubahan, terutama melatih anggota supaya bersikap lebih mesra dengan orang ramai.

Kita jarang melihat pegawai polis yang senyum bila berjumpa dengan orang ramai. Tidak semestinya senyuman itu menyebabkan penjenayah hilang takut kepada pihak polis.

Orang ramai akan bersedia memberi kerjasama sekiranya mereka merasa selesa dengan pihak polis yang lebih mesra.

ASAL RAKYAT SUKA....BUAT AJE LAH

Di,

Hari ini jalan-jalan di Kuala Lumpur sudah mulai sibuk. Ramai yang bercuti raya di kampung kini sudah pulang. Pejabat mulai dipenuhi dengan pekerja. Tetapi mood raya masih menebal dan ramai yang lebih suka berbual dan bercerita pengalaman beraya di kampung daripada berkerja.

Saya sendiri lebih banyak habiskan masa bersurfing dalam dunia siber. Rakan-rakan kerja tak ramai lagi bertugas. 
  
Di dunia siber pun nampak tidak begitu aktif. Ramai yang masih "bercuti". Tulisan dan komen tidak begitu pedas lagi...mungkin blogger kebanyakkan masih kenyang dan segan (bahasa utara untuk malas) pegang keyboard.

Bagaimanapun, kawan kita Si Anwar (Ketua Pembangkang) itu dan mula bercakap-cakap. Dia kata, penghapusan undang-undang yang membenarkan tahanan tanpa bicara seperti EO dan ISA bukan punca kadar jenayah meningkat di negara ini. Dia juga kata tembak menembak itu biasa dan berlaku juga semasa undang-undang tersebut masih berkuat kuasa.

Beri kuasa yang lebih kepada Polis buru penjenayah

Bagi dia agaknya, kadar jenayah yang meningkat kini  terjadi kerana pihak berkuasa, polis lah tu, tidak menjalankan dengan baik atau ....

Mungkin Bang Anwar dah rasa bahan kemarahan rakyat yang menyalahkan orang politik kerana menyebabkan samseng bertindak ganas ekoran dari penghapusan undang-undang pencegahan jenayah.

Kini dia mahu Kerajaan dan polis panggil semua pihak, termasuk pembangkang berbincang mencari jalan penyelesaian. Mati-mati, dia dan konconya tidak mahu mengaku yang penghapusan undang-undang itu menyebabkan kadar kekejaman jenayah semangkin meningkat.

Cakap-cakap kosong ini buang masa. Kita perlu bertindak segera. Apa nak bincang lagi. Akhirnya semua akan bersetuju perlunya ada undang-undang baru mengatasi masalah jenayah yang meningkat.

Kita semua dah tahu,  samseng yang dibebaskan dari tahanan buang daerah kini kembali ke tempat masing-masing dan semestinya mahu kembali berkuasa semula. Ini sudah pasti membawa kepada perbalahan antara geng yang membawa kepada kejadian tembak menembak. Yang paling malangnya apabila peluru sesat mengena orang ramai yang tidak berdosa.

Dalam hal ini Kerajaan pun patut disalahkan. Terlalu cepat tunduk dengan tekanan dan tidak mengambil kira pandangan pihak polis sebelum membuat keputusan. Ramai cerdik pandai di negara ini membantah usaha Kerajaan mahu menghapuskan undang-undang tersebut kerana bimbang dengan kesan yang boleh terjadi. Kerajaan tidak dengar. Kerana nak popular, bertindak melulu. Kini, Kerajaan juga yang susah.

Kebimbangan pihak berkuasa menjadi kenyataan dan Kerajaan kelihatan terkapai-kapai dalam mencari jalan penyelesaian. Akhir-akhir ini Kerajaan terpaksa mencadangkan suatu rang undang-undang baru, katanya hampir dengan yang dulu di mana suspek boleh ditahan tanpa bicara.

Saya percaya kerajaan perlu mempercepatkan proses kelulusan undang-undang ini. Walaupun pembangkang akan protes. Bar Council akan protes, Suaram akan protes, Suhakam akan protes tetapi rakyat akan gembira.

SORRY FOR THE MESS, MALAYSIA

Dear Di,

Good afternoon to you.

To borrow NST headline today, politicians in Malaysia should say “sorry for the country’s mess”.

Thanks to their stupidity and instiable hunger for popular votes, politicians from both divide zeroed onto the removal of “draconian laws” that had since Independence helped checked the threats from criminals and kept the country relatively safe.

Both mainstream and social media hailed the removal of these laws as timely and described the move as historic. Leaders earned praises from civil rights groups who saw such a move helped placed the nation closer to that other developed countries in terms of respecting human rights.

Unfortunately, of late both the mainstream and social media are screaming at the Government to reinstate the draconian laws as criminals, some quoted as saying, numbering more than 200,000 are running havoc.

Rare shooting cases in the past have now become almost a daily occurrence. Prominent businessman, a civil servant, a social activist and individuals (some had criminal records) were gunned down.

The armed assailants who might be had been detained or had their movement restricted under the draconian laws were released unconditionally. They now move freely.

Rightly or wrongly the public now fears for their safety. Most fear that the may become accidental victims, hit by stray bullets. Thus, many opted not to go out and have late supper with friends and chose to stay in door at night. Even the Minister of Tourism sounded warning that the situation if left unchecked would drive away tourists. This not a good news as 2014 is the Visit Malaysia Year.

Although there are growing calls from many quarters for some form of preventive laws be introduced soon, some politicians opposed bringing back such laws. Instead, they choose to put the blame on the inefficiency of the police.

They argued that the police has to improve their service and use better crime fighting equipment.

But any law enforcement officials know that that alone is not enough. The country need some form of preventive laws to curb crime since not all crime can be proven beyond reasonable doubts.

Therefore, it come as no surprise that there are countries, including that of the United States, had introduced tough preventive laws that allowed detention without trail.

It is also rumoured that the same country sanctioned the “elimination” of suspects that could be a serious threat to the country, including their own countrymen.

There is no way the police can be everywhere all the time. We need preventive laws to put fear among the criminals. It is better to deny certain rights for a few bad hats than placing the whole population under siege of fear.

HAVE WE GONE MAD?

Dear Di,

For this first time, I decided to write to you to inform what is going on in this country.

After 4 days of Shawal (the month we Muslims celebrate our victory after 29 days of fasting from dawn to dusk in the month of Ramadan), we Malaysians, including yours truly, cannot resist from talking about politics when we met family, relatives and friends during Open Houses. For your information, Muslims celebrating Aidil Fitri usually hold open houses where food and drinks are served fre to almost everyone that walked into their houses.

The conversations mostly touched on politics, crime and politics again. Of course the name of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak surfaced regularly. Most of the time, he blamed for the almost whatever had happened in this country for the last few weeks. Even his cabinet line up came under barrage of criticism.


However, the most talked about issue about Najib is "not talking mood". Malaysians noted that the PM has refrained from making statements concerning many issues that have propped out since the last general election in May and there were demands, especially from the Opposition leaders that he addressed them.

I guess we Malaysians are not use to seeing the Prime Minister maintaining a long silence. In the past, almost all Prime Ministers were quick to make statements, including irrelevant ones just to entertain questions raised by journalists during arranged or ambused-style press conferences.

His long silence and limited public appearance of late, has caused some much rumours to surface.


One of them was that some UMNO veterans were trying to exercise their influence to encourage delegates from the branches and divisions to nominate candidates to challenge the incumbent president. These veterans apparently felt that Najib had to take responsibility for the recent outcome of the general election where he was seen as having failed to improve the number of BN seats in Parliament. Under Najib, stewardship, BN lost 7 seats, reducing its majority from 140 to 133. Thus, some even concluded that Pak Lah was a better Prime Minister than Najib.

I guess some people forgot that under Pak Lah, BN lost more than 50 seats in the 2008 General Election.

Perhaps, we should take a break from talking about politics. Malaysians should pay more attention to the economy and be worried. Many developed countries, especially in Europe are economically sick. The situation there will certainly affect us in the not too distant future. If our exports are affected, workers in this country will lose jobs as factories start to downsize their operating cost.

In the current situation we are in, Malaysians should throw their support behind the Government. Forgot about partisan politics and start to behave like responsible citizens. We need to double our efforts, improve the quality of our work, products and services to compete with shrinking market.

I know it will be a huge sacrifice for some Malaysians to leave politics behind. We are too engrossed in politics that we failed to see that this has affected us economically. We are starting not to trust each other. There are even calls to boycott the other races. Have we gone mad?

We know that there are politicians who depend on our support to survive. But, we are now at a cross road to decide whether we support politics and allow the politicians to continue their role in instigating the politics of hate all the way to the next general election or support the Government to improve the economy and ensure our survival as an economic powerhouse.