Now, how many of us remember Hindraf's daredevil show of dissent on the streets of KL back in November '07? Stupid question lah, really. Many of us were taken aback. Some were pulverized as they witnessed a phenomenon they've come to denigrate as 'street politics' (just to remind them that confronting a paraplegic MP in Parliament also constitutes 'street politics', no wait, 'gutter politics'). In fact, many of us started to sit up and notice that, yes, there was a severe mishandling of our fellow Indian brethren's state-of-affairs. The Malaysian Indians refused to tango along with BN's gross dance of injustice.
As the son of a Malaysian Indian father, let me be frank that, yes, the appalling standards that our fellow Malaysian Indian brethren find themselves in should be addressed and dealt with. There is, however, an underlying problem there - the perception that only an Indian can take care of the rights of his fellow Indians. Now, what kind of rubbish is this? Just to further juxtapose my statement, let me quote:
"A grassroots PKR leader today lashed out at Pakatan Rakyat and its administration in Selangor for continuing to marginalise the Indian community in the state.
"The sidelining of the Indian community by the Pakatan in Selangor is not much different from what Barisan Nasional has done," said Petaling Jaya Selatan division's deputy chief A Thiruvenggadam today.
He alleged that all promises made by Pakatan leaders, including PKR president Anwar Ibrahim and Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, before the general election in March 2008 to uplift the Indian community remained unfulfilled.
"In Selangor, the PKR-led state government has so far failed to keep up with its promise to do something for the community.
"No job offers have given to the Indian community. No contracts have also been allocated for the Indian businessmen in the state," said Thiruvenggadam, who is a PKR-appointee as a councillor to the PJ city council.
"I have been asking for the past one year or so for the state government under Khalid to make it a state policy to provide jobs and business opportunities for the Indian community but to date nothing has moved," he said in a statement."
Malaysiakini, May 21st 2009, 5.15 p.m.
Just so you know, if any of you had read "the article with my face in it" on the Malaysian Insider, one of the many who stepped forward to have their say included this one Mr. Thiruvenggadam. He spoke of the lies from the BN in making grandiose promises that all Indians would be guaranteed a JPA scholarship. To obvious, blatant lie-making by the PM, of course. And naturally, I believed whatever he said. He even, for our benefit, translated several pages from either Tamil Nesan or Makkal Osai, whichever it is, calling the bluff of Najib Tun Razak.
So it came as quite a shocker to see Mr. Thiruvenggadam come out with such comments. My question to him is: You're placed in quite a relatively prominent post as a councillor. What are you doing about it? Merely complaining that the Indians are being 'sidelined' isn't gonna achieve much, Sir. Might as well get cracking.
I then quote this fool:
"Commenting on this, BN-allied Malaysian Indian United Party (MIUP) leader KS Nallakaruppan said he agreed with the contention that the Pakatan state governments have done nothing for the community. Pakatan won control of five states in the general election.
"The complaints are valid. I have travelled throughout the country, including to the five states under Pakatan control and the feedback I get is that they are still in the same poor, neglected state.
"Apart from appointing some Indians to some high-profile posts and local councils, Pakatan had failed to deliver its promise for the Indian community," he told Malaysiakini."
Malaysiakini, May 21st 2009, 5.15 p.m.
Just so you know, old Nalla here had a major fallout with Anwar Ibrahim, hence the unsavoury comments. The point is, though, that each time an 'Indian' leader makes a comment that Pakatan has abandoned the Indians, they'll always refer to the Penang DCM2, Prof. P. Ramasamy and the Perak Assembly Speaker, V. Sivakumar.
Well, Prof. Ramasamy has made it rightly clear that he's first and foremost a Malaysian, and that he'll endeavour to serve the best interests of ALL Malaysians. Not just Indian Malaysians. The problem with these two jokers is that they expect Pakatan to turn water into wine, when the state governments have only been around for merely a year and a half. Contrast this to the half-century that the MIC had to 'look after' the Indians of Malaysia. Frankly, the only thing that seems to be well-taken care of are the MIC leader's pockets and Samy V's burgeoning belly.
My take on this is, as we recognise that Indians in Malaysia may have their grouses, it is also good to factor in the reality that as much as the Indians may suffer, so do the Chinese and Malays, and of course, the long-suffering tribes of East Malaysia. Why not call for the best from the state governments in the best interests of ALL Malaysians, instead of being selfishly caught up with "hak India sudah tercabul"? In essence, Hindraf, as well as the splinter party Malaysian Makkal Sakthi Party are totally incompatible with the current enmeshed social fabric that we have here.
For me, at least, race-based politics are prehistoric and belong to the archive room, not the hallowed halls of the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Undangan Negeris. It bears reminding though, that as we zoom our missiles at UMNO on the premise of it being a racist entity, MCA and MIC, together with the Malaysian Indian United Party and Malaysian Makkal Sakthi Party, are no little angels themselves. It is time that we rise up as a united entity, free from the shackles of racially-divisive notions about each other. We need to adopt the mentality where "if my brethren falls, so do I". We need each other, or we're doomed, frankly speaking. Let us drill that deep within out hearts and minds.
PemudaNegara.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
My Daddy, The Freedom Fighter.
Well, well. Guess I must've said one helluva something to get myself in the Malaysian Insider eh. Some agreed, while a smattering of fools decided to do otherwise. Oh well, it's a democracy that we live in, so I'll oblige.
Anyway. I'm sure many were somewhat shocked to read about Raja Petra Kamaruddin's son, Raja Azman's arrest in our 'esteemed' newspapers. Well, this being MY blog, therefore I'm entitled to MY take on things.
Granted, when one commits a crime, it really doesn't merit even a fart in space if the perpetrator's father is the PM, a fisherman, a freedom fighter, or even a char kway teow seller. In the Asian way of life, where honour is and should rightly take precedence, the parents would shoulder a portion of the blame for not raising his/her child well. In this context, I would justifiably aim my cannons at RPK for failing to raise Raja Azman up to be a law-abiding, productive and loyal citizen of the country. As a parent, THAT IS YOUR JOB.
Therefore, I was glad that RPK not only humbly apologized for his failings, but he actually rejected the 'easy way out' i.e. bribing the PRDM (Polis Raja Di Malaysia) in exchange for the release of Raja Azman, and the subsequent pin-drop silence on this embarassing issue. Out of honour and staunch principles, RPK was willing to bear the ignominy that he currently faces. You know, in hindsight, the powers-that-be, the keris-kissing types that is, would most definitely use the "he bribed us to free his son" gambit in their defence whenever RPK raises hell upon them in the future.
No worries anyway. At least RPK was gracious to admit his faults. What we have in abundance here instead are a bunch of 'politicians' who are 'tremendous' fathers in their own right. I know I'd want my son to be like Nazri Aziz's son. Are you kidding? That boy has some taste in girls. The women he catches himself frolicking with are muy caliente! And the best part? He escapes from the predatory eyes of JAKIM. I sure as hell can't merely hold hands in KLCC without getting into trouble, but here this guy goes. Hats off, young man. Don't believe me? Check this out: http://politics101malaysia.blogsome.com/2009/01/17/2415/. And if you remember the incident involving one Darren Kang, well you'd be more amazed with this prodigious young man. Read this: http://streetvoices.wordpress.com/2009/05/20/your-son-raja-azman-he-dares-to-admit-his-wrong-doing-and-pleaded-guilty-not-likes-other-bns-and-umnos-son-dont-have-any-balls-to-admit-any-wrong-doing-even-they-had-done-it/
And do we need to zoom in on merely Nazri Aziz? Let's look at our esteemed leaders of the past; namely Tun Razak and Tun Hussein Onn. Their sons, as we know, have a penchant for making bombastic slogans with catchphrases such as 'Key Performance Indicator', while the other, well, he just dabbles in mere keris-kissing. One suspects that Mongolian models aren't his flavour of the day. I'd hate to be his wife. Talk about the lack of attention. But then again, look at their fathers. For the former, it's an obvious case of "bapa borek, anak rintik", while I'll pity the father of the keris-kisser, for he was quite a remarkable leader in his own right.
Anyway, the point that I'm driving home is that, while the Utusan and NST have their field days gloating over the fallen son of THE RPK, they're so eager to cover-up whenever the sons of BN politicians are on the wrong side of justice. Which thus reduces 'justice' to a mere word. Double standards, that's what it is. A registered trademark by the 'eminent' Barisan Nasional. BN, especially those who have their little princes and princesses, let me remind you: There's Najib, there's Kerismuddin, there's Vell Paari, there's Ling Hee Leong, there's Khairy Jamaluddin, there's a whole host of others. Raja Azman may have erred, fair enough. But why don't I ever see these other nefarious characters hogging the headlines? I mean hogging the headlines not with their mouth spouting nonsense, but with justice kicking them hard in their backsides. Boy, don't we all long to see that day arrive.
PemudaNegara.
Anyway. I'm sure many were somewhat shocked to read about Raja Petra Kamaruddin's son, Raja Azman's arrest in our 'esteemed' newspapers. Well, this being MY blog, therefore I'm entitled to MY take on things.
Granted, when one commits a crime, it really doesn't merit even a fart in space if the perpetrator's father is the PM, a fisherman, a freedom fighter, or even a char kway teow seller. In the Asian way of life, where honour is and should rightly take precedence, the parents would shoulder a portion of the blame for not raising his/her child well. In this context, I would justifiably aim my cannons at RPK for failing to raise Raja Azman up to be a law-abiding, productive and loyal citizen of the country. As a parent, THAT IS YOUR JOB.
Therefore, I was glad that RPK not only humbly apologized for his failings, but he actually rejected the 'easy way out' i.e. bribing the PRDM (Polis Raja Di Malaysia) in exchange for the release of Raja Azman, and the subsequent pin-drop silence on this embarassing issue. Out of honour and staunch principles, RPK was willing to bear the ignominy that he currently faces. You know, in hindsight, the powers-that-be, the keris-kissing types that is, would most definitely use the "he bribed us to free his son" gambit in their defence whenever RPK raises hell upon them in the future.
No worries anyway. At least RPK was gracious to admit his faults. What we have in abundance here instead are a bunch of 'politicians' who are 'tremendous' fathers in their own right. I know I'd want my son to be like Nazri Aziz's son. Are you kidding? That boy has some taste in girls. The women he catches himself frolicking with are muy caliente! And the best part? He escapes from the predatory eyes of JAKIM. I sure as hell can't merely hold hands in KLCC without getting into trouble, but here this guy goes. Hats off, young man. Don't believe me? Check this out: http://politics101malaysia.blogsome.com/2009/01/17/2415/. And if you remember the incident involving one Darren Kang, well you'd be more amazed with this prodigious young man. Read this: http://streetvoices.wordpress.com/2009/05/20/your-son-raja-azman-he-dares-to-admit-his-wrong-doing-and-pleaded-guilty-not-likes-other-bns-and-umnos-son-dont-have-any-balls-to-admit-any-wrong-doing-even-they-had-done-it/
And do we need to zoom in on merely Nazri Aziz? Let's look at our esteemed leaders of the past; namely Tun Razak and Tun Hussein Onn. Their sons, as we know, have a penchant for making bombastic slogans with catchphrases such as 'Key Performance Indicator', while the other, well, he just dabbles in mere keris-kissing. One suspects that Mongolian models aren't his flavour of the day. I'd hate to be his wife. Talk about the lack of attention. But then again, look at their fathers. For the former, it's an obvious case of "bapa borek, anak rintik", while I'll pity the father of the keris-kisser, for he was quite a remarkable leader in his own right.
Anyway, the point that I'm driving home is that, while the Utusan and NST have their field days gloating over the fallen son of THE RPK, they're so eager to cover-up whenever the sons of BN politicians are on the wrong side of justice. Which thus reduces 'justice' to a mere word. Double standards, that's what it is. A registered trademark by the 'eminent' Barisan Nasional. BN, especially those who have their little princes and princesses, let me remind you: There's Najib, there's Kerismuddin, there's Vell Paari, there's Ling Hee Leong, there's Khairy Jamaluddin, there's a whole host of others. Raja Azman may have erred, fair enough. But why don't I ever see these other nefarious characters hogging the headlines? I mean hogging the headlines not with their mouth spouting nonsense, but with justice kicking them hard in their backsides. Boy, don't we all long to see that day arrive.
PemudaNegara.
Monday, May 18, 2009
A New Beginning (Perhaps?) and The Repetitive Cycle of Biased PSD Scholarship Awards.
Yes, it's been long overdue, and it's been a long, long while. I believe that, after this self-imposed hiatus, it was high time that I made a comeback. There were, after all, requests for me to return to my blogging self. So now, I'll mark my return with a rather honest thought on the recent PSD scholarship awards and the ensuing furore by the multitudes of those rejected.
You see, whenever it comes to the transparent awarding of scholarships, or for that matter, anything pertaining to welfare expenditure which would lead to an expected increase in the population's living standard, the debate tends to be whether such awards are given out on a need-basis or a merit-basis. In my dear Malaysia, however, such awards are handed out on the most instigative basis of all - race.
Do note however that this isn't one of those naive Malay-bashing articles questioning the 'unfairness' of the Malays towards the non-Malays. Rather, it is UMNO that has deprived Malaysians from achieving a golden ticket to furthering their personal ambitions, as well as the nation's aspirations. It has become regretfully commonplace to see rich, undeserving cronies being rewarded with a scheme that was meant to benefit Malaysians who merit the right to further their education, yet are financially incapable to do so. Picture this, a friend of a friend of mine, a Malay with 10A1s, had his application rejected. He came from a kampung in Terengganu.
Contrast that with the myriad of stories where the children of Datuks and politicians, who bum their way around in school with hardly a damn given towards their studies, are shamelessly given scholarships to further their studies overseas. I shall not name names, lest I be labelled 'seditious'. Legal fees run in the thousands, nowadays.
Of course, many proponents of Ketuanan Melayu would scream and thump their chests saying that it's their birthright to earn scholarships, whether they deserve it or not. My question to them is, korang ni tak tau malu ke? Some may even say that the Malays are weak, that they're incapable. Nonsense. Many top Malay scorers are still languishing in their hometowns, reduced to only dreaming of something beyond their deserving palms. In short, race is used as a factor by the UMNO regime to prop up the children of their cronies.
Now of course, you'd be wondering, how would it be for a Datuk's child if he/she actually did well? Well, I pose it back to you: If a poor Malay/Chinese/Indian/Dayak/Kadazan with 10A1s were to apply, and the same goes for that of a Malay/Chinese/Indian/Dayak/Kadazan Datuk's child with the same credentials, who would you opt to help? It's simple really; you cast away the one that can afford to foot his own study fees.
It is with this justification that I announce this proudly; that even if all those who've earned themselves scholarships were Malays that were deserving, yet financially-incapable, I would be glad for them. No, really. At least I know they warranted the scholarships that they've earned. Problem is, not all of them deserve it, nor are they all financially-incapable. Furthermore, what's wrong with adding on to the paltry quota that exists now? This country isn't a poor one. Especially if the Gov't were to quit fattening the already plump wallets of their cronies, it wouldn't be economically-untenable for the Education Ministry to boost the number of scholarships on offer. In fact, it would only do more good for the country; when more DESERVING Malaysians get educated, they would shore up the workforce, as well as contribute to the nation's collective productivity. Alas, such basic economic logic is lost on such self-serving 'politicians'.
These 'politicians' are, after all, fond of claiming that the 'ungrateful' Chinese and Indians are migrating from their homeland (Malaysia) by the droves. Well, can you blame them, my dear wet-behind-the-ear apparatchiks of UMNO? First, you call them 'pendatang'. Then, you refuse to give them scholarships because they're of the wrong race, or because they're supposedly 'richer' than the Malays. Well, which joker told you that EVERY Chinese and Indian had a silver spoon gleaming in their mouths from the cradle? To those that decide to leave, they do so out of despair at the nation, the one they call 'home', that has betrayed and deserted them. Oh and just a refresher for UMNO, it is the Malays that form the bulk of those that have left the nation. So much for 'pejuang hak Melayu', eh? That's why they're leaving. Such 'faith'.
In summa, when the time has come for us to implement an objective, unbiased and meritocratic scholarship award system for ALL Malaysians, the dodobirds of UMNO are still harping on their broken record of racial pandering and posturing with such unbridled shame, in the quest to tighten their stranglehold on the nation's politics, together with the assistance of their grateful cronies. It goes to show that these 'leaders' are clueless as to the severe political, social and economic repercussions that can be brought about in the long-term, due to their racist and self-centred myopia.
PemudaNegara.
You see, whenever it comes to the transparent awarding of scholarships, or for that matter, anything pertaining to welfare expenditure which would lead to an expected increase in the population's living standard, the debate tends to be whether such awards are given out on a need-basis or a merit-basis. In my dear Malaysia, however, such awards are handed out on the most instigative basis of all - race.
Do note however that this isn't one of those naive Malay-bashing articles questioning the 'unfairness' of the Malays towards the non-Malays. Rather, it is UMNO that has deprived Malaysians from achieving a golden ticket to furthering their personal ambitions, as well as the nation's aspirations. It has become regretfully commonplace to see rich, undeserving cronies being rewarded with a scheme that was meant to benefit Malaysians who merit the right to further their education, yet are financially incapable to do so. Picture this, a friend of a friend of mine, a Malay with 10A1s, had his application rejected. He came from a kampung in Terengganu.
Contrast that with the myriad of stories where the children of Datuks and politicians, who bum their way around in school with hardly a damn given towards their studies, are shamelessly given scholarships to further their studies overseas. I shall not name names, lest I be labelled 'seditious'. Legal fees run in the thousands, nowadays.
Of course, many proponents of Ketuanan Melayu would scream and thump their chests saying that it's their birthright to earn scholarships, whether they deserve it or not. My question to them is, korang ni tak tau malu ke? Some may even say that the Malays are weak, that they're incapable. Nonsense. Many top Malay scorers are still languishing in their hometowns, reduced to only dreaming of something beyond their deserving palms. In short, race is used as a factor by the UMNO regime to prop up the children of their cronies.
Now of course, you'd be wondering, how would it be for a Datuk's child if he/she actually did well? Well, I pose it back to you: If a poor Malay/Chinese/Indian/Dayak/Kadazan with 10A1s were to apply, and the same goes for that of a Malay/Chinese/Indian/Dayak/Kadazan Datuk's child with the same credentials, who would you opt to help? It's simple really; you cast away the one that can afford to foot his own study fees.
It is with this justification that I announce this proudly; that even if all those who've earned themselves scholarships were Malays that were deserving, yet financially-incapable, I would be glad for them. No, really. At least I know they warranted the scholarships that they've earned. Problem is, not all of them deserve it, nor are they all financially-incapable. Furthermore, what's wrong with adding on to the paltry quota that exists now? This country isn't a poor one. Especially if the Gov't were to quit fattening the already plump wallets of their cronies, it wouldn't be economically-untenable for the Education Ministry to boost the number of scholarships on offer. In fact, it would only do more good for the country; when more DESERVING Malaysians get educated, they would shore up the workforce, as well as contribute to the nation's collective productivity. Alas, such basic economic logic is lost on such self-serving 'politicians'.
These 'politicians' are, after all, fond of claiming that the 'ungrateful' Chinese and Indians are migrating from their homeland (Malaysia) by the droves. Well, can you blame them, my dear wet-behind-the-ear apparatchiks of UMNO? First, you call them 'pendatang'. Then, you refuse to give them scholarships because they're of the wrong race, or because they're supposedly 'richer' than the Malays. Well, which joker told you that EVERY Chinese and Indian had a silver spoon gleaming in their mouths from the cradle? To those that decide to leave, they do so out of despair at the nation, the one they call 'home', that has betrayed and deserted them. Oh and just a refresher for UMNO, it is the Malays that form the bulk of those that have left the nation. So much for 'pejuang hak Melayu', eh? That's why they're leaving. Such 'faith'.
In summa, when the time has come for us to implement an objective, unbiased and meritocratic scholarship award system for ALL Malaysians, the dodobirds of UMNO are still harping on their broken record of racial pandering and posturing with such unbridled shame, in the quest to tighten their stranglehold on the nation's politics, together with the assistance of their grateful cronies. It goes to show that these 'leaders' are clueless as to the severe political, social and economic repercussions that can be brought about in the long-term, due to their racist and self-centred myopia.
PemudaNegara.
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