Iskandar Project washed away? Once again, Malaysia has been inundated by massive floods, this time in Johor. Many towns have been cut off from aid, people fleeing their homes and towns, destroyed by massive floods. Many parts of southern Johor including the state capital Johor Bahru is now a sea of mud and water. Now in order to do some damage control and spin this to fend off the anger of thousands of people in the small towns who have seen their property damaged and lives disrupted, the Minister for Science and Technology Datuk Jamaluddin Jarjis has blamed "unusually strong" rainfall. The spin must begin and it must work in overdrive. Where has the billions of Ringgit spent by the government to do flood mitigation works all over the country gone to? And is mother nature to be blamed for this cruel setback hitting many ordinary Malaysians? What about deforestation, wanton hill cutting work, in order to build roads and homes? Does these have anything to do with this latest deluge?

Pictures like those splashed in the newspapers today says a thousand words. We are not a developed country, nor are we even close to attaining such a status we desperately sought after. One glance, and a foreigner could have mistaken the picture to come from Bangladesh. What will the politicians say now? Promise more money for flood mitigation works which inevitably will be eaten away by UMNO division heads and other government agencies for other private purposes? Despite talk of bullish economic growth touted by the government, basic infrastructure remains a distance away. People still live simple basic lives, in most instances depending on a daily wage to live for the day and dare not look beyond today at tomorrow. These are the people who have been hit hard by these floods in Johor. THeir livelihood inevitably interrupted for weeks now, which means they will have to depend on government assistance for sustenance and lodgings. 29,000 people have been evacuated. Massive losses are on the cards and the authorities have carefully decided not to mention any figure at the moment.

Singapore will also be looking at this situation with interest. The government's hopes of luring in massive inflow of Singapore money into the South Johor Corridor Project has taken a beating. No one will invest any money in such flood prone areas which arose in the first place due to mismanagement of developmental work. The government will now have to make public pledges to investors that billions of ringgit would be spent to ensure such massive floods don't happen anymore. But talk is cheap. Such proclamations have been made before and nothing has really changed. Crying wolf one too many times, is not a good thing. One thing is for sure - the so-called Iskandar Project is not going to take off even in small bits and pieces any time soon. The damage has already been done, and Singapore money is certainly not going to be parked in Johor anytime soon, despite the Prime Minister and his son-in-law's close friendship with the republic's rulers.  ¶ 10:50 AM 0 Comments

  My Cats My cats
Do not wash the dishes
But wrestle with grey and brown fur
For a living.
They
Prowl my tiles
For imaginary prey
And lash their tongues fiercely
Against each other
In a private Zen moment.
Sleep comes in shapes
Of contorted eights and nines.
But regal assurance melts
Upon a strange
announcement.
Quickly
They vanish into
The folds of my furniture
Sinking little furry
limbs into fabric
With maniacal glee.

My little friends
Are my Nirvana.  ¶ 6:04 PM 0 Comments

  Young man threatening authoritarianism for Malaysia The Prime Minister's son-in-law Khairy Jamaludin recently warned that if Malaysians don't toe the line in this "new era of freedom", then the government may step in and impose strict controls over Malaysians' right to freer speech. The "mature" 30-year-old politician who does not even hold any official government post apparently said: "This openness is good for today’s political climate but we have to approach it ethically and wisely. We cannot push it too far, too soon, as we are still a maturing democracy.” What caught my eye is the fact that he is not in government, but is arrogant enough to talk as if he is already in government, with the full assurance that his father-in-law will agree with what he spews, words which could have far-reaching consequences for all Malaysians.

I believe many Malaysians who are somewhat aware of developments in Malaysia, do not trust this Khairy Jamaludin to do the right thing. I am in this category especially after his recent antics in Penang and his cheap race-baiting episodes which reflect poorly on his claims as a distinguished scholar and a Malaysian for the new age.

His threats of a crackdown, if it materialises, would be a huge drain of government resources, simply to keep track of all sites in cyberspace on a continuous basis. It is simply not cost-effective to keep track of bloggers who don't believe in the Badawi administration. Yes, the government could haul up a few and make a severe example of them as a warning to others. But in this borderless and flat world, such archaic measures would be amplified to the entire world, with the reverberations of protest ringing loudly in the ears of investors and world government leaders. Malaysia cannot be an island cut off from the world. Yes Myanmmar has managed to do this well, but at what expense? Can Malaysia afford to be authoritarian, simply to clamp down on dissenting voices, and damage FDI inflows and the country's image even further merely to satisfy the whims of a man who was only five years old when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad became Prime Minister in 1981? Are his thoughts well-thought out and guarantees a semblance of success? I would have expected such ominous warnings from old, weather-beaten men walking the corridors of power, afraid of Malaysians who increasingly demand accountability and transparency but certainly not from a thirty-year-old who continue to harbour high hopes of leading this country one day in the near future.  ¶ 6:32 PM 0 Comments

  My India Trip I am lost in the fluid of words
in the comfort of my organic womb.

Brown phrases look at me
uncomprehendingly.
My lily white wallpaper
must be peeled.
And the sword reddened with my history.

I seek in her mind's eye
her boundless ancient love.
I seek her educated eyes
but my ocean is locked up

On a Delhi bookshelf
beyond Malay borders.  ¶ 3:08 PM 0 Comments

  You I walk into a world of strangers and find you.
You, who put a smile on my face
When you sent me an invisible trace through space
Into my back pocket.

I am gently steered into your secret world.
Symmetrical face, milk skin,
Intense heart
Bathe my consciousness.

Your whispers of feminine innocence
Bridge time and space.
My senses awaken
Like white hot metal.

I step into the sun
And find you.  ¶ 7:50 PM 0 Comments

  Malaysia wins 8 gold medals in Doha Malaysia won 8 gold medals at the recently concluded Doha Asian Games and one cannot but notice that 14 out of the 15 gold medalists are non-Malays. I do not like to see things through race-tinted lens as our politicians are so fond of doing but I believe this recent development delivers a sobering reality for all those in power who still cling on to hopes of creating top-notch Malay sportsmen and women, at the expense of talented Malaysians who happens to be non-Bumiputera. There is no NEP in the sports arena, no racial quotas which can bring quick sporting success to Malaysia. Gold medals at the top level can only won by grit and talent, although I still believe that even without talent, a sportsperson can reap success through sheer hard work, determination and the all important will to win. 13 Malaysians of Chinese descent and the notable squash world champion Nicol Davids came home with the ultimate Asian accolade as the best in the continent.

Where are our track and field athletes who used to command respect in the continent? There are now hardly any Malaysian Indian athletes in the Malaysian contingents sent abroad to fight for sporting honour. It is a fact that there are many talented young, long distance runners of Indian descent in this country, many of them who have the aptitude for hard training and the will to succeed. Unfortunately, we do not see these runners donning the national colours anymore. I refuse to believe that these runners are not good enough to represent the country, especially when there are so many of them running and winning at the Sukma Games. By depriving them a chance to compete at a higher level and bring glory to the nation, is a travesty.

Is there a dearth of such athletes in this country or is there a deliberate attempt to sideline them in favour of their Malay counterparts even if they do not have the correct aptitude? An New Straits Times article a few weeks back, also touched on the shortage of footballers of Chinese descent at the national and state level. Such things have happened before; in tennis when talented Indian players were not given enough funding to continue playing at the higher levels. Affirmative action gone haywire is fast becoming a dirty word in Malaysian society. It certainly will not work in the sporting arena.

The authorities are hoping now for a Malaysian athlete to win gold at the Olympics. I am sure they would prefer a Malay to win the first such honour. That will after all, give UMNO something to crow about. I believe Malaysia will win it one day but going by the recent performances of Malaysians at Doha, it's a fair bet that the country's first gold medalist is likely to be a non-Bumiputera. I wonder if the government can live with such a scenario.  ¶ 5:00 PM 0 Comments

  Kuala Lumpur loses part of its soul Another piece of Kuala Lumpur’s colourful past was yet again unceremoniously torn down yesterday. Bok House, a monument to the industry and perseverance of Malaysian pioneers who toiled the fertile land of the then Malaya and made it rich, and in the process showed thousands of Malayans and also modern Malaysians that hard work is the key to success, is nothing now but debris and rubble. Its once proud giant columns will now be carted away to be reused in other faceless construction projects. The Bok House was one of the remaining buildings of its kind in Malaysia, well documented through the years. By setting bulldozers to tear down this mansion, Kuala Lumpur has lost part of its soul which it can never retrieve by building a hundred high-rise condominiums or office blocks in its place, and shout to the world that it is special.

History in this country is not something to be treasured. It is merely an impediment to developers out to make a fast buck. In Europe, we do not see monuments of historical value being mown down to make way for a new highway or an office block. In Malaysia, we talk breathlessly about how we value history and take pains to tell foreigners about our rich culture and heritage, but without even a moment’s reflection, destroy what little of historical value that we have in favour of the almighty Ringgit.

History has been systematically dismantled in this country these days. School text books have been rewritten to exclude the contribution of the pioneers of Malaysia, the Chinese and Indians, who came from faraway lands to help build and develop this land that we still call with pride, our country. History is nothing but just numbers and dates to be remembered, so that exams could be passed. It is in essence, a nuisance that just needs to be shunted aside and quickly forgotten. The contribution of the non-Malays who fought and sacrificed their blood and lives to fight the Japanese occupation and the communist insurgency are virtually erased amongst the memory of young Malaysians. The white washing of this country’s rich multi-racial, multi-cultural legacy is a stain on the integrity of this once great nation of ours. I do not now consider this country being poised for greatness; instead, a country that remains in fear of its history and past, will forever be mired in self-doubt.  ¶ 4:40 PM 0 Comments

  The Prime Minister feeling the heat? Why did the Prime Minister lash out at his predecessor during an interview with the Bangkok Post? Why is Tun still getting under the Prime Minister's skin, if the old man, as the official UMNO line keeps insisting that the old man is finished and outwitted by the "dynamic" leadership currently running the country? What has caught my attention is that Tun remains deeply in the shadows in the last couple of weeks, unlike his earlier visibility. Indeed, he has lost his oldest sister recently and he is not a young seventy-year-old anymore. The Prime Minister losing his cool can only point to one conclusion; that the anti-Abdullah Badawi faction, while small, continues to attack him from the grass root levels. A Prime Minister, content with his grip on power, would not throw a tantrum unbecoming of his position, like what he did recently.

UMNO has never been a docile political party in all its years of existence. The UMNO president who is also the Prime Minister has always had to content with factions that don't agree with his leadership. Even during the 22-year-long reign of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, when dissent were suppressed effectively, UMNO was still wracked by infighting in 1987 and 1998, two major events which sufficiently shook the party to its foundations. Under the current leadership, with the shadow of his son-in-law following the man everywhere, dissent will inevitably rise and i believe it will grow stronger, if the economy continues to go around in circles, coupled with toll hikes, rising inflation and the general feel-good factor fast disappearing amongst Malaysians and UMNO grass roots. The silence of Tun in recent times could also mean that the master politician is working behind the scenes to make life difficult for this administration. Perhaps this latest outburst by the Prime Minister had something to do with this.  ¶ 10:49 PM 0 Comments

  The nightmare begins The nightmare begins. Aptly said by Dr Jacob George, the president of the Consumer Association of Subang and Shah Alam, in reference to the government's outrageous raising of toll rates across all key arterial highways in the Klang Valley. The new stupendous rates will further burden lower and middle income Malaysians, already reeling from higher petrol price and the cost of living. How can the government continue to sing the same old tune that industries should not raise prices and pass the cost down to the ordinary folks? Perhaps the government feels that its silly attempt to muzzle the mainstream media about this toll hike will be effective in downplaying the angry sentiments that will inevitably begin come tomorrow when the hikes are dutifully placed in the middle pages in small two inch columns. This government better think again if they are confident of subduing the public. Inflation will go up, higher than the sterile, safe numbers that Bank Negara is so fond of parroting.

It is astounding that the government gave the greenlight for this action, especially as many assume, next year will be an election year. The Prime Minister is increasingly seen to lose credibility in light of his failure to fulfil any of his electoral promises of 2004. This toll hike may be the straw that breaks the camels back or in Malaysia, the rakyat's back. The arrogance of the Works Minister, the irascible Samy Vellu is a mirror into the attitude of the government towards the people who put them in power in the first place. If Malaysians want the expressways, they better well pay for it, says this caring Minister. Easily said, when virtually all entry into the city has been boarded up with toll booths. Malaysians have no choice but to use these roads to get to work and put three meals on the table for their children.

Secret concessionaire agreements, which inevitably ensures that UMNO-controlled companies keep the lion's share of the public's hard earned money, go against the Prime Minister's limp call for openness and transparency. Indeed, this administration is fast going against all the rosy words it shamelessly uttered in 2004. It's a fair bet that the next elections will see more Malays rise in anger against this administration, as they will be see their standard of living further dented by this latest, ill-timed toll rate hike. Indeed, it's a bigger hole in all our pockets, and Malaysians of all races are certain to grow even more cynical of this government.  ¶ 10:19 PM 0 Comments

  Who is the real Prime Minister? I was disturbed by the Prime Minister's utterances to a foreign news publications, which was given wide coverage in the local media yesterday and today. In the Bangkok Post, he lamented that his predecessor was undermining his beloved son-in-law Khairy Jamaludin. This ranting was delivered to an editor of a neighbouring country. Last I checked, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is the Prime Minister of Malaysia, a preeminent position which should not be stained by petty remarks such as those uttered by this country's current leader. "The old man has destroyed Khairy's pot of rice" - that was the words the Prime Minister said. If there were any doubts about the weight of Khairy on the Prime Minister's back and ultimately how his decisions are being shaped, this article should be a good indication of how truly influential this young man is in shaping the "new" Malaysia. The man has already created another schism in the country's already brittle race relations. Nowhere in corporate Malaysia is his name not being uttered. The name Khairy Jamaludin is on the lips of property developers and equity analysts I have spoken to. This man is powerful, make no mistake about it. I have heard that he, an outsider in Government, even sits in on Cabinet meetings, something that only banana republic states do. If this is true, where are we heading? Malaysia is not a banana republic. Truly not, many would say! But some signs are already there, don't you think?  ¶ 11:18 AM 0 Comments

  Concern about mob rule in Malaysia Don’t’ let mob rule prevail, so says the headline in the Star a few days ago. The article was in a form of a question and answer format, which is usually used by the Star when it wants to get its political master’s concern across directly to the masses and indirectly to the powers that be. The timing of the piece is interesting, so soon after the worrisome antics of the UMNO delegates at the party general assembly just weeks ago. The prominence of the article (almost a full page) also gives credence to the belief that The Star’s owner, the Malaysian Chinese Association (a junior partner in the Barisan Nasional) probably instructed that such a piece be published. The person who was interviewed for this piece, which interestingly carried no byline, was the very articulate Zainah Anwar from Sisters in Islam. In it, she warned about the trampling of the Constitution by a small but forceful group of people intent on stamping its brand of conservative and domineering brand of Islam on Malaysia, with the final aim of supplanting the sacred Constitution with Islamic theology as the rule of the land.

This article finally fleshed out the murmurs that were being articulated for so long especially in cyberspace about just such a plan by certain groups. So now, I can, without being branded a rumor monger, state that such a insidious conspiracy is in the works to change Malaysia into a mullah state. The Moorthy debacle instilled momentum to such claims; the fact that the Star which is known for its timid positions on many important matters of national interest, prints such comments by a lady who is constantly demonized by conservative Islam is important. Is it a turning point in how the MCA mouthpiece will make a stand on issues of Islam that deeply impacts non-Muslims, it’s too early to say. However, this much is clear, MCA is under mounting pressure by the grassroots Chinese who are fed up with the party’s non-committal stance on issues of religion, race, the NEP and meritocracy. I for one, hope that the paper which once stood firmly on issues without fear or favor, will once again stand up and defend the Constitution against a loud minority. It is really time for the silent majority to make a stand and more importantly, be seen to do it for the sake of the long-term survivability of the Malaysian state.  ¶ 10:18 AM 0 Comments