"Death by a thousand cuts"

I was alerted to this lingering death, a gruesome method reserved for criminals such as murderers and traitors in China from AD900 until its abolition in 1905. Throughout history, acts of cruelty to human beings know no bounds and it is merciful that today we do not condone such methods in meting out punishments for serious offenders anymore although behind the four walls of the prison cells, we hear whispers of atrocities committed to extract confessions.

"This Is My Home" Part 2

The new kid on the socio-political block, "That Effing Show", takes pot shots at the Nasirs and Yusofs of UMNO in this video.

"This Is My Home" Part 1

I got this video from the People's Parliament blog. It encapsulates the dreams and desires of ordinary Malaysians, bangsa Anak Malaysia. Recent events that have taken place in this nation of ours are worrying. It seems like things are spiralling out of control. Remember Yeats' poem, "The Second Coming"? Here is part of the poem that reflects our present situation: “Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world (Malaysia), The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity”. So young people, do not be naive; do not be apathetic to what's happening; do not be comfortably sequestered in your cocoons. Register and vote; the future is in our hands.

Sigh...Enemies Under The Blanket

First it was the special aide to the Prime Minister, Nasir Safar badmouthing the non-Malays in a 1 Malaysia seminar. Now you have an UMNO excutive secretary stirring yet another hornet's nest in a closed door meeting for London Umno Club members.

It has become all too apparent that even now, non-Malays have never been accepted as Malaysians; they will always be "bangsa asing", "bangsa pendatang", "thieves and beggars", and "prostitutes", and Malaysia will always be "Tanah Melayu", land of the Malays. It is disheartening that even after 50 years of independence we still regard each other with suspicion and fear. What is hypocritical is that the upper UMNO echelon who is supposed to be the 'big brother' of the ruling party should continue to view non-Malays as foreigners while publicly espousing the 1 Malaysia vision. What are we to make of all these remarks by UMNO leaders who seem to be undermining the Prime Minister's tireless efforts to be inclusive? The only plausible conclusion we could draw from these attempts to drive a wedge between the races is that the Prime Minister's leadership in UMNO is hardly assured. It does seem to indicate that a faction of UMNO which seems to wield considerable influence is adamantly not subscribing to his 1 Malaysia.

The UMNO executive secretary denied making those derogatory remarks, but in the same breath said that it was a closed-door meeting and no one outside should be privy to what was discussed. He added that it was "normal" and "acceptable' to talk in this manner when discussing "Malay interests". So it is okay to continue to bad-mouth behind closed doors non-Malays as parasites gobbling up the resources of the nation and attempting to strip them of their special rights as bumiputeras? He further added that the student obviously did not understand Malay and so misinterpreted the contents of the closed door discussion. A Malay student who was sent to London for tertiary education doesn't understand his mother tongue?

UMNO official denies racist remarks in London
By Sahzwan Mustafa Kamal

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 11 — Umno executive secretary, Datuk Abdul Rauf Yusoh, has vehemently denied a Malaysian student’s allegation that he made racist remarks at an Umno Club function in London a few days ago.

Rauf led an Umno delegation to London to meet with party members there in a private closed-door meeting earlier this week. There the student, Ahmad Naim Mazlan, heard the party official refer to non-Malays as “bangsa asing” who were trampling on the Malays in “Tanah Melayu”.

In a letter sent to The Malaysian Insider, the finance and accounting student heard Rauf saying “Jangan biarkan bangsa asing pijak kepala kita.” (Don’t let the foreigners walk all over our heads.)

But Rauf denied making any derogatory remarks, stressing that the session was a closed-door meeting and no one outside should be listening in to what was being discussed.

“This was a closed door session... this is not true, because what I said was that Malays must sustain power in order to gain respect from the Chinese and other races,” Rauf told The Malaysian Insider in a telephone interview.

The top Umno official went to great lengths to point out that the function was a party function for “Kelab Umno” and was not a public forum organised by the Malaysian Students Department.

“I think the student who overheard, his BM (Malay language) was not very good,” he added.

The student in London also claimed to have overheard Rauf and an “Umno Youth Exco” defending Datuk Nasir Safar’s recent racist tirade against non-Malays.

Nasir resigned as special officer to the Prime Minister shortly after controversy erupted over an allegedly racist statement he made at a 1 Malaysia seminar in Malacca. It was alleged that he said, “Indians came to Malaysia as beggars and Chinese especially the women came to sell their bodies”

“I am not supporting Nasir Safar at all! I am not supporting what he said. Let me just put it this way — there is a right forum to talk about Malay interests, and what Nasir Safar did was not right, talking like that in public.

“If it was discussed behind a closed door session, its normal, but he said it outside... what he said was not right,” said Rauf, who used to be the Umno Youth assistant secretary.

He also maintained that Umno is essentially a Malay party, therefore it was an acceptable practice for Umno to talk about “Malay interests”. Source: Malaysian Insider

Below is the letter written by the student:

A Reply To Datuk Nasir's Comments

Datuk Nasir, the special aide to the Prime Minister who tendered his resignation is not far from the truth when he remarked that "the Chinese, especially the women came to sell their bodies". But I am perplexed by the word "especially" as it seems to suggest that the men too on a smaller scale came to sell their bodies. Perhaps the English translation is vague. However, I will base it on its face value.

It is true that during the early 20th century, the incidence of venereal disease was the highest among the Chinese followed by the Indians:

These were cases which sought treatment. What about those who did not seek treatment and relied on home remedies or quacks? The incidence of VD was in all probability under-reported.

The Malays on the other hand mercifully suffered less from the scourge although they were not totally spared from it.

Were the immigrants, particularly the Chinese so loose in their morals that they succumbed to the temptation of the flesh? The answer to the question is of course rhetoric.

If Datuk Nasir is unable to answer the question, then perhaps the table below will enlighten him:

Not only did the Chinese immigrants suffer from emotional and sexual deprivation, they had also to contend with the various tropical diseases as well as hard physical labour which were often only alleviated temporarily by infusion of opium. It was reported in a colonial account that opium apparently gave these workers not only the energy to work but also the protection they needed to ward off diseases.

His labelling the Indians as 'beggars' revealed a deep-seated contempt for their contributions to the nation. The Indians were recruited, with the promise of a better life, as indentured labourers by the British through agents to work in the plantations, roads and railways. They came here not to beg or steal but with hope for a better life. The obvious beneficiaries were the British and the Malay elites of this country. They suffered abuse under the Kangany system of recruitment. Yet there were others who came as doctors, teachers and clerks, and the Indian contribution to the development of the nation cannot be underrated or dismissed.

Many of the immigrants, Indians and Chinese working in jungles, estates and mines and farms never lived to see their homeland. Others, mostly the Chinese succumbed to the addiction of opium.

They knew what it was like in the motherland: the debilitating poverty and the exploitation they faced if they were to remain. Taking a leap into an unknown future in a foreign land was the only recourse open to them.

Source of tables: Some Aspects of Venereal Disease In The Federated Malay States By Ian D Gebbie, Late Malayan Medical Service.

Racism Rears Its Ugly Head

The Prime Minister's historic visit (the only second Prime Minister to do so since independence) to Batu Caves on Thaipusam where more than a million devotees flocked was a sign that Muslim leaders should not be adverse to visiting holy places of non-Muslims. Yet his efforts to be an inclusive leader with his 1 Malaysia concept is constantly being undermined by his UMNO colleagues, the latest being the remark by his aide, Datuk Nasir at, ironically, a 1 Malaysia Seminar in Melaka recently. This aide had also alledgedly warned the Indians that their citizenships would be revoked if their demands continued to be excessive.

Read more at :Malaysian Insider

Wild Piglet

Wild boars are ugly creatures, but their young are much more appealing. I saw this piglet that was captured and is reared as a pet.