Stolen Jet Engines

I was googling the net for Malaysian cartoons to relieve the frustration that I have been feeling over the problems afflicting the country when I came across these cartoons about our stolen jet engines which landed in Uruguay. Stealing from the government seems easier than stealing from your own mother.

Jack Neo's Kiss-and-tell episode

The recent sex scandal that hit Singapura island must have created a tsunami of sexcitement in the tiny island. It engulfed none other than the famous film director Jack Neo whose comedies and TV series have consistently poked fun at Singapore's moral's fibre and government policies. Now it is his turn, unfortunately, to feel the heat. He, however is spared the embarrassment of having his sexual romps recorded on tapes unlike an unfortunate ex-minister.

On February 28, not on the scale of Tiger Woods of course, another little known victim is the head of a China tobacco company whose personal diary of his sexcapades was published on line by his lover's husband (in a fit of jealousy?), though I wonder how the husband got his hand on the diary if not with the collusion of his wife. Or may be from other enraged lovers of the government official? In China, netizens have used the net to devastating effect to expose corruption and abuse of power by party and government officials.

Read more of the posting here. The latest report said that he was sacked and arrested for corruption after the online revelation of his sexual exploits as well as accepting bribes.

"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: