Dow plummets record 777 as financial rescue fails

Dow plummets record 777 as financial rescue fails

What a surprised! The stupid plan end out in drain at last.

Market tumble was normal given that economy was in trouble. Let them drop. Stock market crash is not the cause of economy collapse. Is vice versa.

Let 'invisible hand' to solve the problem.

Oh dear!

GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH

I could never imagine how will I endure what RPK endure now.

You are truly a man, RPK!

We’re all marginalised

STRAY THOUGHTS
By A.ASOHAN

The various races of Malaysia are united in the belief that we’re the only victims.

A FEW years ago, one of my neighbours - your average, educated, urban middle-aged Malay woman - lamented that her then 10-year-old son had no non-Malay friends.

She came from a traditional Klang Valley family, and her circle of close lady friends consisted of just about every race and they could trace their relationships back to their school days.

So she asked her son what happened to the Chinese friend he used to hang out with, and he said his Malay friends had “warned” him that the other fellow ate pork, so that was that.

I had to tell her that when I asked my eldest daughter why she had drifted apart from her best friend of only last year, she had told me, “Oh, she only has Indian friends now, and apparently I am not Indian enough.”

My neighbour shook her head and asked, “Where did we go wrong? Why are our children more racist than us?”

Last year, however, when she saw me, she went on a rant about how “our weak leaders were giving in to the arrogant demands of the non-Malays”. She spoke with a deep, abiding anger, an anger that seemed to have been nursed for a long time but that would have, paradoxically, surprised the “her” of only two years ago.

Yes, here I am, going on about race again. “Harping on about the same issue” or “flogging a dead horse” - choose any descriptive phrase you want to dismiss my ramblings, but it’s true that race relations have now become just as critical an issue as the economy and the on-going political shenanigans.

From street protests in Penang just after the 12th general election in March, to busting up forums seeking to resolve legal issues only incidentally involving religion, it’s obvious that a large number of Malays are worried.

Their fears are being stoked by unscrupulous politicians wearing their bigotry not merely on their sleeves but as badges of honour, and certain media organisations with their selective reporting (interestingly enough, not among the three newspapers recently issued show-cause letters by the Home Ministry).

Oh, and the Chinese feel unappreciated and the Indians feel marginalised, while the “Others”, or “Dan Lain-lain”, don’t even have a voice to express their unhappiness.

We all feel victimised. We feel that if we raise the issue, we’ll be hauled up by the authorities while frothing politicians get away with threats of implied violence and repatriation. And in reaction to all this, we sometimes fall back on our own prejudices €“ just read some blogs and comments where racist rants are given uncensored expression and you’ll know what I mean.

We write these off at our own peril. We can’t just brand them the way I did, with loaded phrases such as “unscrupulous politicians,” “stoking fears”, and so on, because it’s obvious that something very real, worrying, and puzzling is happening here: Unbelievably, every single community in Malaysia feels set upon. We’re all of us feeling the heat of bigotry, we all feel as if we’re being singled out for punishment, we all feel neglected.

Just how did we reach such a stage? We can’t blame it all on opportunistic politicians or the media either. There have been indications over the past few years, but we ignored them - or to be more accurate, we expressed some concern but didn’t hold the government of the day to any accountable action.

We’re all of us responsible for this state of affairs. We non-Malays have a habit of writing off the concerns of the Malays as racist screeds that deserve a like response. We ignore the fact that there are still economic disparities and a large swathe of the Malay community is still lagging behind, and we write off these concerns as the Malays just being ungrateful.

It should be obvious to even the most insensitive of us that many Malays are genuinely hurting, yet we haven’t reached out to them to ask “why.” After decades of affirmative action, there are still disparities, and we’re not looking for the reasons. Instead, we apply the same policies with greater force, rather than using our energies to come out with new solutions.

Many Malays, on the other hand, have yet to acknowledge the fact that there are sections of other communities that are suffering as well. Furthermore, because some members of the other races are not above using their own racial pride as weapons in their bigoted view of the world, the Malays react with passion, leading them to shore up their defence mechanisms, which in turn leads to an even further breakdown in race relations.

The line between racial pride and racist prejudice is insidiously thin. In appreciating the abilities of one race, we’re in danger of denigrating those of another.

It’s a vicious cycle. Racism is a self-replicating infection that threatens the health of this nation, and we haven’t even bothered to begin treating the symptoms, let alone seek a cure. All we’ve ever done is apply placebos and move on.

Enough. We need to stop right now and look at this intelligently and without bias - “we” being both the people and the politicians we’ve invested with the authority to address these issues.

The Cabinet has approved the proposed Race Relations Act (The Star Online, Sept 18). The Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage, and Home Ministries are collecting data and will be studying similar legislation in other countries in drafting the Act, which will include not just provisions on punitive action, but also focus on building and strengthening race relations through the economic and education systems.

Our schools should perhaps start teaching how all the races of Malaysia have contributed to the nation. Students should be encouraged to learn other languages as electives, from primary school onwards. We should weed out racist teachers, while the rest should be trained to be role models of unity and integration.

We need to ask why after 51 years of self-rule and increasing inter-racial marriages there are still large sections of Malaysians who only hang out with members of their own race.

We need to stop advertisements that acknowledge the existence of only one race in Malaysia.

We need to do away with recruitment ads asking for applicants of a certain race only, which has no basis in our affirmative-action policies, or ads on rooms for rent that specify race.

Parents need to shed their own prejudices when their children marry someone of another race.

We need to stop reacting to racism with our own bigotry. We must be willing to risk being labelled “traitors” to our own race for the sake of the nation we all belong to. We need to walk a mile in each other’s flip-flops.

Most of all, we need to stop ignoring each other’s pain.

A. Asohan, New Media Editor at The Star, is glad that his daughters are so racially ambiguous that their friends come from every creed and colour.

And I do believe there are only ONE RACE, DIFFERENT COLOUR, ONE GOD

Just leave, dude!

Gerakan threatens to leave

How should I describe you?

Patience?

Still being cool even the fella tear your picture as if you are NOTHING to them?

Or simply coward?

Scared you will get NOTHING if you have angered UMNO?

Pleas prove me wrong!

Save not only your face but millions of your colleagues!

Teachers must change mindset

DR TAN ENG BEE,
Kajang.

I REFER to your report “More emphasis on schoolwork from 2010” (The Star, Sept 26) and welcome the initiative to introduce a new curriculum to make primary education more holistic and less examination-orientated for students.

It is also in line with the practice overseas such as in Australia and New Zealand where primary school students are assessed based on schoolwork, fieldwork and examinations, although the weightage for schoolwork and examination may defer slightly.

Relying solely on the conduct of examinations is bad as examinations do not measure students’ intelligence or their abilities. Nor do they tell us how the mind processes certain facts and theories.

The classroom environment focuses on mere collection of knowledge without a definite purpose except to score high grades.

Our primary education system is very much examination-orientated and geared toward achieving high grades or “As” based chiefly or partly on parroting what was taught in class.

It is not surprising to see Year 6 students sitting for the UPSR exam being drilled and told to memorise essays which their teachers think they will be tested on in many primary schools and tuition centres.

It is public knowledge that our primary students are basically spoon-fed and when they reach secondary school they expect similar spoon-feeding to take place.

The same can be said of those in tertiary education where many students have not grown out of the “spoon-feeding mindset” that has unfortunately been ingrained in them.

The Education Ministry would have given serious consideration before arriving at this decision, which is long overdue based on the fact that after 51 years of independence, our nation has yet to reach the pinnacle or apex of education excellence compared with developed or developing nations near us.

In the forefront of such endeavour by the ministry are the teachers, as without them the entire initiative will be doomed to fail if teachers do not cultivate a positive attitude towards their vocation.

The teachers’ mindset must be changed and reshaped to understand their new role of producing quality students.

As pace-setters, teachers who are also academics in the real sense are not ordinary wage-earners. They are education professionals who are held in high esteem by the public because they are entrusted with the solemn and serious task of shaping, building and “silhouetting” our students for the political and economic challenges in this globalised world.

While training helps, the teachers themselves must be willing to walk that extra mile to do their best. They must be committed in the vocation they have chosen and be willing to learn new skills and methods. In short, teachers must adopt the practice of continuous learning.

As one who believes in education, I commend the Education Ministry for this positive move that will strive toward achieving academic excellence with the aim of producing better students.

Totally agree with this writer. I have been through every single stage of secondary education in few sch0ools. I would hate to say this, but it's true that only one or two teachers have really impressed me(from my point of view) throughout the entire years.

Mind you, I'm a form 6 student which major in economics and business, but I have not heard any talk regarding current financial crisis. You would not be surprised if you learned that 99% of the form6 students do not know what is happening now.

You must be puzzled what they know or learn in school? It's not difficult to answer that question. Go to popular, search for STPM corner and get a textbook by Longman. You want to know what they learn or know? Just flip through the book!

Yesterweek News 21/9 - 27/9

What a week! I failed my math exam for the 1st time in my life! Hohoho...

Besides that, Vela has scored hat trick! Argh... Want to see him play more often.

Hey, and out of sudden I have a keyboard(piano). Haha... I can pratise everyday now.

Local News
Transfer proposal worked out during private meeting - PM post belong to both of them only huh?

Razaleigh to go for No. 1 - 'This is not a game'. Well said. Keep fighting till last drop of your blood!

Issue IC, Sultan tells NRD - I'm very glad to see this.

Foreign News
Student kills nine in Finnish school shooting - I seriously have no idea why citizen are allowed to possess weapons.

China official says milk scandal "under control" - It's just a matter of time to have another 'problem'. China govt have little chance to control them unless they want to 'slow down'.

The doctors' bill - Basically it's all about bailout and crisis. Forget about this if you are not into financial stuff.

Recession oh recession!
How are you look like actually?
Have you come to us yet?

Education > Politics (updated)

An unusual title isn't it?

I guess a lot people will be blogging about postponement of UMNO party elections at this moment. I do not wish to talk about this because it's _____ (Fill in yourself. So far the best answer is endless children's game of "yours and mine").

I would like to highlight this(I know no one would*grim*).
More emphasis on schoolwork from 2010 - A new curriculum will be introduced at the primary school level in 2010 to make it more holistic and less examination-oriented for pupils.

Well done guys, because of the plan at least! I'm totally support for this! At least our education system is heading to a change!

Eventually this could mean that a school-based assessment makes up a higher weightage of the UPSR at around 70% to 80% while the actual examination score would carry a lower weightage.

Here lies the problem. School based assessment. Basically it means teachers decide everything! If you are someone who do not listen to teacher - in fact you have a strong reason not to follow(teachers are not perfect) - you are in trouble then.

Anyway, I hope the dept will implement this seriously. Make it as perfect as possible and let's build world class human capital in Malaysia!

New curriculum to make learning fun and rewarding - Providing an enjoyable and rewarding learning experience for pupils - that’s the aim of the new curriculum in primary schools to be introduced in 2010.

Cant' wait to see :-)

Memory and thinking

IKIM VIEWS
By DR MOHD ZAIDI ISMAIL,
Senior Fellow / Director,
Centre for Science and Technology, Ikim

Memorisation can be conceived of as being supportive of thinking, as Man can only think according to what he has already known.

BY NOW, I strongly believe we Malaysians are no stranger to calls for reform of our educational system. So often have such calls been made that they cannot but leave some general impressions.

One such impression is that the system as well as its stake-holders are obsessed with examinations at the various levels of the educational ladder.

All this while, examinations have been criticised for placing too much emphasis on memorisation.

This has resulted in less emphasis being placed on thinking and the pertinent skills, leading then to the deplorable state of the so-called “products” of this system, the school-leavers, the university graduates.

As has often been claimed, they seem to be good only at memorising, displaying poor ability - if any - to think.

But in reality, are they good at memorising?

I, for one, am of the opinion that not only are they poor in thinking but, worse, they are equally poor, if not weaker, in memorising.

I have on many occasions encountered remarks that our students can only remember things up to the time of examinations.

That may well be so because, to them, all these are worth remembering only for the exams; other than that, they are meaningless.

Surely our students have many other things which they perfectly commit to their memory; some, I believe, are things they consider dear to them.

But the point is that what concerns us with the state and quality of our education is that we have quite frequently committed the mistake of contrasting the importance of thinking with that of memorisation.

The relation could have been less hostile.

In fact, memorisation can be conceived of as being supportive of thinking; in fact, the latter requires some element of the former in order to materialise.

Such a conception is firmly embedded in the definition of thinking as “the mental act of putting what one has already known into meaningful order in order to attain what one is still ignorant of, which has been famous in the Islamic intellectual tradition and which we have discussed several times before in this column (for instance, IKIM Views, July 22).

Man can only think according to what he has already known.

If, for some reason, he has lost what he knew before, he has to regain it through some means before he can make use of it to obtain new knowledge.

If he has forgotten it, he needs to recall it first - by whatever means at his disposal - before he can proceed to think.

Mentally retaining intact what one has already known requires a certain ability to memorise.

One may minimise this arduous task of retaining every bit of what one has epistemically possessed by storing it in some device - in fact, this is what the ICT Age has empowered us to do, among other things - but one cannot totally do without it without incurring some risks.

Insofar as the past tradition of Islamic thought is concerned, one will surely come across true accounts of how great scholars were able to excel in both, in memorising as well as thinking.

This simply shows that the two can grow together.

What we need to do today, among other things, is to re-learn and revive the manner in which both faculties were successfully nurtured in the past intellectual traditions.

A very sad day...

KUALA LUMPUR (NST) : Malaysia Today owner and blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin was sent to Kamunting Detention Centre in Perak this morning to begin his two-year detention under the Internal Security Act after the Home Ministry issued an order under Section 8 of the Act, signed by the Home Minister yesterday evening.

I rarely salute a person. I judge a person through a lot of angle and quite often, only a few of them(mostly foreigners) deserve my salute, from my point of view at least(i don't mind you view me as a arrogant person).

Even though I have not meet him in person, I salute him a lot! I knew him through his words. And some time see his face on youtube. But that was enough, for me at least, to salute him!

I have learned a lot from you, Raja Petra Kamarudin. I will not hesitate to tell my son that once upon a time, there was a unsung hero who fight for democracy in Malaysia...

Save Our Children

By LIM SUE GOAN, Sin Chew Daily

Politicians are hopeless, let's save our children!

This would be a natural thinking of the people after we have seen how politicians try to seize power, causing political chaos in the country and how a 16-year-old girl was kidnapped and killed, and her body was burned by suspects aged between 16 and 22 years old.

In the political turmoil, economic hardship and steep price hikes, it is worrying that many parents are too busy trying to cope with their own affairs that they have no time to care about their teenage charges who are falling by the wayside. This will cause them to rebel against society and eventually, become part of the social problems.

An sharp rise in juvenile delinquency is worrying social problem as well as a mental health concern. These problems reveals cracks in other areas such as dysfunctional families and our education system.

When parents are addicted to gambling, how are they going to teach their children to stay away from the bad habit of gambling? If parents are tempted to borrow from loan sharks, how could they expect their children to become a responsible adults? How could the children grow up to be pillars of society if their parents are not concerned about their academic performances and their personal and spiritual needs?

Some schools are more concerned about paying attention only to their reputations, and do whatever possible to cover up any disciplinary problems. Schools that do not emphasise on the balanced development cannot expect to produce graduates with strong characters.

The Secondary school drop-out problem is also a serious issue. The non-Bumiputra drop-out rate is 30%. These children may become recruiting ground for criminals and gangsters. Malay youth have their own predicament, include illegal racing, bkie gangs, drug abuse, loitering and un-wed mothers.

Urban and rural young people are facing different problems. Urban parents are facing pressures of life and children are facing school work pressures. Meanwhile, rural parents do not know how to educate their children by setting a good example.

Children are the national assets. When the assets are emptied, the country's future would be at stake. Thus, despite the current difficulties faced by the nation, we must be concerned about our children and save them.

The country is currently facing a historical turning point. But politicians are hopeless and only our children are the hope for the country. (Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE)

Of lawyers and politics (Proud of Bar Council)

By Edmund Bon

The Bar has increasingly become a pressure group lobbying for social change, but this does not mean that it engages in political causes.

CRITICISING the Bar’s historic ‘Walk for Justice’ on Sept 26, 2007, a Minister was quoted as saying: “Those who participated in the ‘Walk for Justice,’ their brains are like Opposition party. It is better for them to register as members of an Opposition party. I will be more delighted if they (Bar Council) register as an Opposition party so that I will know how to handle them.”

The Minister was surely mistaken in likening members of the Bar to Opposition party members. Perhaps the error stemmed from confusing the spearheading of “political causes” by the Bar with supporting “political parties.”

Politics arises by the nature of human plurality. The aim of politics is to promote the foundation of a “good life” and its superior end is freedom.

Politics affects every person’s life. From the price of fuel and vegetables to whether a student is able to obtain a scholarship and the availability of public schools and playgrounds, the political process (which puts the Government in power) shapes the Government’s decisions on these matters. This process also allows government policies to be critiqued and scrutinised.

Political causes attempt to bring about change by shifting or balancing the power equation between the Government and citizens. In the process, those who espouse the cause(s) attempt to redefine and reinterpret the “good life” as they perceive it should be.

Agitating for an improvement in the administration of justice, legal reform and human rights is a political cause. It would entail convincing those in authority to effect certain changes.

This is not a task, which should only be left to political parties, and those who champion political causes do not inevitably step into the shoes of political parties or are to be viewed in the same light. This is where the Minister erred.

The role of the Malaysian Bar

No one should pretend that the Bar or its members are immune from the effects of politics. The Bar has throughout its history and tradition assumed the mantle, whether by accident or deliberately, of fighting for numerous causes, which are deemed “political.” The 1988 judicial crisis is one example.

Continued opposition towards the Internal Security Act and Emergency Ordinance, and heavy-handed measures to curtail constitutional liberties such as free speech and the right to assembly are other struggles.

Upholding the rights of the Orang Asli is another political cause where a redistribution of the country’s resources for the betterment of the indigenous people is sought.

Does taking up these important matters by extension make the Bar a political party, and one which is opposed to the Government?

The Bar’s statutory purpose in section 42 of the Legal Profession Act demands that the Bar upholds the cause of justice without regard to its own interests or that of its members, uninfluenced by fear or favour.

Protection of the public in all matters touching ancillary or incidental to the law is another duty. The Bar cannot fail or neglect to perform these statutory obligations.

Given that the Bar is an “apolitical” body (i.e. it does not support any particular political party), it is nevertheless duty-bound to take up political causes.

While there are attempts by various quarters to cast aspersions on the actions of the Bar Council by continuing attacks that demonise, the truth is rather different. It is neither anti-Government nor pro-Opposition. It is pro-justice and anti-injustice, based on the issues in question.

The truth is that the annually elected 36-member Bar Council (which leads the 12,600-member Malaysian Bar) has as its members those aligned to political parties on both sides of the divide — parties within the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat coalitions.

Some are card-carrying members of the component parties, some highly influential in these parties. Some are sympathisers or supporters of these parties. Therein lies the strength and diversity of the Council.

Problem with Malaysian politics

The political culture today is party-centric or personality-driven. While political parties and their leaders keep at their different games, the real and substantive issues of governance are either ignored, side-stepped or forgotten.

Proposed laws are not debated with sufficient aptitude in Parliament. Important Bills, which affect human rights are not referred to bodies like the Human Rights Commission and other stakeholders. One such example is the recent DNA Identification Bill.

The fault lies not with politics but the people in politics and our political culture.

As this is happening, the Bar’s role in public discourse regarding legislation and rule of law issues is enlarged. With the Bar seeking to provide an issue-based and pro-rights platform to act on a collective conscience of justice and freedom, its role has taken a much greater prominence than anticipated.

It has seemed to become a repository of progressive ideas in search of a more civilised Malaysia. By default, the Bar has increasingly become an indispensable pressure group lobbying for social change. And rightly so.

Just as the Bar must always remain neutral in so far as political partisanship is concerned, similarly it cannot remain indifferent to issues pertaining to the rule of law, such as the weakening of our constitutional institutions and increased rights abuses.

New platform: a lawyers’ party?

Let us return to the Minister’s statement. The results of the 12th general election have opened up the possibility of a two-party system. This represents a watershed in our democracy.

Is there now a need for a third alternative to promote greater intellectual discussion on issues of the day?

Perhaps it is time for a purely issue-driven, pro-rights party bound by a common cause to secure, advocate and protect the rule of law while promoting and improving human rights.

The Minister should be careful about what he wishes for, as he may get it, and ultimately regrets his wish.

> The writer is a member of the Bar Council’s National Young Lawyers Committee (NYLC). Putik Lada, or pepper buds in Malay, captures the spirit and intention of this column – a platform for young lawyers to articulate their views and aspirations about the law, justice and a civil society. For more information about the young lawyers, please visit www.malaysianbar.org.my/nylc.

Yesterweek News 14/9 - 20/9

I did something special this week. Out of sudden, I knew how to play some simple songs by piano! Haha... Thanks to my 7 YEARS OLD teacher. Besides that, I have joined some competition. Hope I can achieve something...

Local News
Abdullah, Najib swap portfolios - Sigh... That is Malaysia. Take a few courses in economics in your undergraduate years and you are an economist! By the way, what is the reason behind this? Well, you don't have to be rocket scientist to know that...

SAPP pulls out of Barisan - Two words: NICE ONE! We should uphold our principles!

Ex-Law Minister Zaid: I have failed - I would salute you more if you leave...

KLCI closes below 1,000 points for first time in two years - Still believe in our govt? Dude, don't dream. We would never escape this crisis unhurt!

Foregin News
China’s baby-milk scandal - Pity the babies... And it is expected actually.

Bluff and counter-bluff - Sorry to put it here. It shoud be local news to me, but not The Economist.


Illustration by KAL. Sources: The Economist

The financial crisis - Be prepared!

Teresa Kok released from ISA detention

Teresa Kok released from ISA detention

Not to forget, RPK is still being detained!

Najib Hopes Teresa Kok's Release Will Abate Furore Over ISA

Hello.. She should never have been arrested in the first place! You are just talking to pacify yourself, what about the rest of the ISA detainees?

The furore will be over once you ABOLISH this inhumane act AND release all the detainee under this act.


Due to laziness to open a new post, I just write it here instead. It's about global economics. Well, needless to say, the trouble-financial crisis- are getting bigger and bigger. Yea, good luck to those who are going to graduate soon. My advice is, do not underestimate ANY job. You simply can't afford to be picky right now. Luckily I have still some years to go. It must be 'booming' then. :-)

Final words,

Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.

---

Nice Move!

SAPP pulls out of Barisan

Well done chaps! You make the right choice for certain.

Just let them say whatever they want. The responsibility of politician is to take care of rakyat. If BN can't do it appropriately, leave the party then. And that's what democracy all about.

When is your turn, Gerakan?

We know what is happening. All of us are clear about the situation. Yet some of us do not want to change and act as if there are nothing happen. Why?

Thought for the week

ICE BREAKER

Belief: People are interesting

Mental Strategy: Inter voice - 'Isn't he/she an interesting person?'

Mental Focus: External

Emotion: Curiosity, excitement

Skills: Rapport, good listener

Self Centered

Belief: Some people are interesting

Mental Strategy: Inter voice - 'Is this person interesting(to me)?'

Mental Focus: Primarily internal

Emotion: Uncertainty
Skills: Questioning

Are you Ice Breaker or Self Centered?

There are no answers to which is absolutely the best.

From a different point of you, if you live what you want then you are one of the luckiest person in the world. Enjoy!

The all-powerful executive

DR SHAD SALEEM FARUQI is professor of law and legal advisor at Universiti Teknologi Mara, Shah Alam, and has been associated with the faculties of law at the International Islamic University Malaysia and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. He graduated from Wesleyan University, USA, at the age of 19 and has been studying and teaching law for over three decades. He has written on the Malaysian constitution and on Islam, democracy and good governance. He has been involved in several international and national projects, been consulted by Fiji, East Timor and Iraq on their constitutional documents and had helped draft the constitution of the Republic of the Maldives. He told ZAINON AHMAD and LLEW-ANN PHANG that the trend of executive dominance of the legislature and of the judiciary is pronounced everywhere in the world.

CONTINUE HERE or HERE(with colourful highlighted 'phrase')

If you were to count each clause as a separate amendment, we have about 650. Six-hundred and forty-four up to 2001. If you count up to 2005, it will be about 650, or so, times the provision of the Constitution that have been re-written or amended from time to time.

Other countries, are their amendments also this numerous?
Well, there is no uniform pattern. If you look at the American Constitution, it's been amended only about 30 times in 230 years. And they jokingly say America is the frozen continent when it comes to amendments because things just don't thaw that easily.

I'm shocked. Is our constitution still relevant then?

Zaid Ibrahim quits (PM did not accept)

Zaid quits as Minister

ISA, no matter for whatever reason, infringes on the basic human rights.

Zaid - you are commendable but when you associate yourself with a group that does evil unto others and your conscience say it is wrong, how can you substantiate your claim that you are trying to change things whilst being within the system.

Meanwhile,
Muhyiddin: I ain’t quitting

Wrong to question cabinet, says Khairy

Wrong to question cabinet? Why?

Look like Oxford Uni did not teach its students what is democracy...

Yesterweek News 7/9 - 13/9

Happy Mid Autumn Festival to everyone :-)

I'm sorry. It cant be everyone. Teresa Kok and her family, RPK and his family as well, are facing an ordeal. Let's pray they can be free soon.

By the way, this week will be the most excited week ever in Malaysia history too. Stay tuned!

Local News

• Malaysian opposition lawmaker, 2 journalists held - One word - UNDEMOCRATIC!

• Ahmad suspended 3 years from party post - One word - UNFAIR!

• 50 Barisan MPs begin eight-day study trip - One word - LIE!

Foreign News

• Pentagon Sept 11 memorial revives painful memories - 7 years has been passed...

• China says 432 babies fall ill from milk powder - Breastfeed your child :-)

• Thai ruling coalition begins search for new PM - When is our turn?

ISA

Wish to know more about the draconian rule? Read this:

Al Jazeera Documentary on ISA

Journalist freed, was held because her life threatened, cops tell Syed Hamid

(The Malaysian Insider) Sin Chew journalist Tan Hoon Cheng was released at 2.30m today.

"I can tell you that the police need not refer to me. Under Section 73(1) it is under their discretion but they will let me know.

Who signs the ISA order? PM - Right?

Come on Syed Hamid, please don't insult my intelligence and the intelligence of the people of Malaysia.

If someone's life is threaten, you place her under police protection idiot, NOT under ISA!!!

By the way, are you trying to tell me that Malaysia is a police state?

Malaysian opposition lawmaker, 2 journalists held

Malaysian opposition lawmaker, 2 journalists held
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Police arrested a Malaysian opposition lawmaker and two journalists on Friday under a law that can keep them detained indefinitely without trial, sparking fears of a major government crackdown on dissent at a time the opposition is trying to seize power.

Why Raja Petra, Tan and Kok were detained

People were detained because of telling/reporting the truth?

If you intend to detain those those who stoke racial tension, yes, be fair, put Ahmand Ismail in your list as well!

The Zimbabwean/Myanmar style of government is being put in place.

For those who have been questioning the morality of jumping to the opposition to form a new democratic and caring government, do you still have doubt?

RPK has been detained under ISA!

To MT readers and commenters:
Remember May 13. The government is trying to use the same methods to make people angry so that if we all take to the streets to protest, it will basically give them a free ticket to arrest more people. So we must be clear on what NOT to do. Let's not fall into their trap.

When all things fail, there is THE ISA, says Zorro Unmasked.

ISA for RPK and show-cause letters to three newspapers while 3-year Umno suspension for Ahmad Ismail

Malaysia arrests blogger, probes 3 newspapers

Sin Chew Asked To Explain
Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said, his ministry on Thursday issued letters to some of the newspapers which had violated the publishing guidelines. These newspapers have been asked to explain within one week why their publishing permits should not be revoked, or should be renewed.

Press Statement on Arrest of Raja Petra by the Leader of Opposition, Anwar Ibrahim

Syed Hamid: RPK a threat to security

How RPK is a threat to national security? Tell me!

Because he has revealed the truth?
The REAL story of May 13 (part 1)

Let the human in us not be coloured

MUSINGS
By MARINA MAHATHIR

When we talk about race, we talk about groups of people, but on a day-to-day basis, it is not race that matters but the human being that we are dealing with.

WHEN I was a student in the UK, one of the most hated politicians then was Enoch Powell who was constantly railing against immigration in Britain, claiming that it would alter the British “character”.

Powell was so strident with his views – expressing them in his now infamous “Rivers of Blood” speech – that his own Conservative Party, despite years of service that had enabled the party to win elections, eventually sacked him.

This was in a country that values freedom of speech. Yet the party felt that someone as extreme as Powell could not be a member any more, not if it wanted to move forward in an inevitably changing nation. He could say what he wanted, but outside the party.

We, too, have been known to sack people whose views did not comply with what the heads of the party regarded as theirs. This is not the same as censoring them, only that they had to do it outside. Thus the dignity of the party remains intact, not tainted by what they regarded as aberrations.

No doubt, sometimes regarding people as aberrations may be unjust because in fact they represent views that simply differ from the norm.

But dealing with such issues clearly gives everyone else an idea of what the norms and aberration are. Not dealing with it creates confusion and raises the possibility that maybe the aberration is not one at all, but in fact just the public expression of the norm.

We fought so long not to stereotype our people according to race by increasing educational and economic opportunities. Yet we still see it happening.

In local schools, children are pushed into certain sports not by ability but purely by race. Thus, Punjabis must play hockey and not chess, Malays must play football and not tennis, while Chinese must only play badminton.

Is it any wonder that they don’t excel in any sport? You have to wonder where the powers-that-be in that school got their ideas from, Mein Kampf?

When we talk about race, we make the mistake of lumping together a whole bunch of human beings, with all their individual quirks, whims and fancies, into what we think is a cohesive body. But it is not. If anything, sometimes race is the most tenuous thing that holds us together.

I may have told this story before. A long time ago, as I rushed through a crowded London Underground, an old Jewish man stopped me. Taking his handkerchief out, he insisted that there was something on my jacket.

It took me a while to understand that the man had seen someone spit on me and was now offering his handkerchief to clean the spittle off.

It was then that I became aware of the awful silent insidiousness of racism, that someone could have displayed such hatred on a total stranger, based entirely on colour of skin. In a way, I should be thankful it was only spit and not something worse.

On the other hand, the same incident made me realise that while there is evil, there can also be much good. I was also a stranger to the old man but he saw me as a human being entitled to respect and dignity.

Thus he empathised with the injustice that was done to me and sought to restore my dignity by offering his handkerchief for me to clean up.

He asked for nothing in return and indeed disappeared into the crowds soon after with not a word more.

When we talk about race, we talk about groups of people, a homogenous faceless group defined by general characteristics that we think of as applicable to all of them. But on a day-to-day basis, it is not the race that matters but the human being that we are dealing with.

I had one of those telemarketing calls offering free medical check-ups the other day. Disturbed by it, I started to question the caller for details.

The woman was undoubtedly of the same race as me. But the sheer rudeness and unprofessionalism of her responses showed that she had no respect whatsoever, neither for the person she was calling nor for her own company or job.

Did it matter what race she was? No, what mattered was that she was unable to make a connection with another human being, even when she claimed to be offering something ostensibly good for me.

Given a choice between these two people, I would sooner take the old man to tea than this woman. He and I have a common respect for human beings that she did not, despite our common ethnicity. Was he the aberration or she?

Since I believe that it is human to be kind, I prefer to believe she is.

Disappointed. This is not a real punishment!

Ahmad suspended 3 years from party post

Ahmad still defiant

What is 3 years suspension(holidays) compared to detention of Hindraf members under the ISA without valid reason?

Hindraf organised a peaceful demo and then some of them detained under the ISA, while Ahmad was publicly, not once but few times uttered racist remarks and got only 3 years of suspension(holidays).

Was it fair?

Is this the way you run the country?

The last seven days of a dying regime

RPK's latest articles:

The last seven days of a dying regime

High-stakes poker game or gunfight at the OK Corral?

Some of you might against the idea.
But how many options do we have? Election?

Some of you might say the risk is too high.
But how long do we have to wait some more? Another 50 years?

I don't know. I have no idea whether it's ethical to do this or not. What i want is CHANGE!


Between.






Who should be detained under Sedition Act?
Who is instigating racial tension?
Who are being racist?
Was this Malaysia culture then?
Why you want to support them still?

A Second-Rate Secondary Education

High schools need to start treating their students with the same respect colleges do.

Leon Botstein

NEWSWEEK

The weakest and most vulnerable element in education, particularly in the developed world, is the education of adolescents in our secondary-school systems. Relative economic prosperity and the extension of leisure time have spawned an inconsistent but prevalent postponement of adulthood. On the one hand, as consumers and future citizens, young people between the ages of 13 and 18 are afforded considerable status and independence. Yet they remain infantilized in terms of their education, despite the earlier onset of maturation. Standards and expectations are too low. Modern democracies are increasingly inclined to ensure rates of close to 100 percent completion of a secondary school that can lead to university education. This has intensified an unresolved struggle between the demands of equity and the requirements of excellence. If we do not address these problems, the quality of university education will be at risk.

To make secondary education meaningful, more intellectual demands of an adult nature should be placed on adolescents. They should be required to use primary materials of learning, not standardized textbooks; original work should be emphasized, not imitative, uniform assignments; and above all, students should undergo inspired teaching by experts. Curricula should be based on current problems and issues, not disciplines defined a century ago. Statistics and probability need to be brought to the forefront, given our need to assess risk and handle data, replacing calculus as the entry-level college requirement. Secondary schools and their programs of study are not only intellectually out of date, but socially obsolete. They were designed decades ago for large children, not today's young adults.

In much of the developed world, including the United States, England, Israel and Russia, math and science instruction remains dangerously inadequate. Some nations score well on tests that demand rote preparation, but as all research scientists understand, science isn't about facts and memorization alone. It's about innovation, which requires nurturing the scientific imagination at the onset of adulthood, well before higher education begins. And literacy in science is indispensable to an individual's preparation for citizenship. The analysis of our most pressing political issues, from the environment to health care, depends on it.

The situation is not much better when it comes to reading and writing. The skills of interpretation and close analysis of complex texts are not sufficiently cultivated in high school. Most adolescent students do far too little analytical writing, which results in passive learning: the ability to recognize and recall, but not generate ideas. Such skills of interpretation are equally crucial in the study of history and society. The need to understand world history in the broadest sense is far greater for the rising generation of the 21st century than for any previous cohort.

Education is linked in the mind of the public with economic competitiveness. Quality and standards have become political issues. In the United States, the response has led politicians to turn to old forms of standardized testing as a nearly punitive, fear-inducing instrument of "objective measurement" to inspire public trust. But these tests are foolish. They are designed to drive an oversimplified and standardized curriculum. They do not diagnose what and why the student doesn't know something. The transformation of testing into a useful tool for understanding success and failure in teaching so that classroom strategies and curricula can be improved is an important step in raising the standard of adolescent education.

Yet the prospects for improving education in the United States are particularly bleak, even on the eve of the presidential election. Neither candidate has a persuasive platform on the subject because the tradition is for presidential hopefuls to use education as a rhetorical issue while hiding behind the time-honored notion that its funding and administration is ultimately a local matter. In the United States most local school boards are as interested in high-school sports teams as in what is learned in the classroom. Education becomes a nostalgic relic of direct local democracy that leads to a rapid turnover in local school boards and therefore the tenure of superintendents. There is not enough stability in public-school leadership for effective reform to take place.

In this sense, Europe and the rest of the world are ahead of America. Most advanced nations have a constructive national presence in educational policy in the setting of national standards for teachers and schools. For the United States to improve the education performance of its adolescents, it must make education a national priority in terms of funding and expectations, just like health care.

The overriding concern in the United States is how to recruit better-trained teachers and reward them more adequately. A first step is to return a measure of autonomy to the classroom teacher. High-school teachers should be held to high standards in the same way as university professors, whose professional autonomy and responsibility for quality are managed together. School for the adolescent should be engaging and inspiring in a way that shows that securing power, success, and wealth are wholly contingent on knowledge and the use of the intellect. The most successful strategy is to put an end to our ambivalence about adolescence. This means ending compulsory standardized secondary schooling at least two years earlier than is now commonly done. University-style education that treats students as adults should begin at 15 or 16, not 18.

What universities offer, particularly for 18- to 20-year-olds, is instruction by individuals who are more than teachers but practitioners and experts in their fields. Just as adolescents in the eighteenth century apprenticed with master artisans, we need to offer adolescents a comparable opportunity in the classroom. Through education, our democracies need to find ways to cultivate among the young the admiration of elites in learning just as we do in sports and entertainment. Teachers of adolescents should be professionals in science, the arts, social sciences and humanities.

The university is characterized by a combination of more freedom and higher expectations than exist in secondary schools. Ironically, in secondary schools there is a demand for uniformity and regulation of behavior that results in less autonomy and the dumbing down of academic expectations. The young adult needs to experience the desire to know, and to recognize the intimate connection between knowledge and the conduct of life. Motivating a child is far easier than motivating an adolescent. Learning can inspire new goals. After all, in the future we will need fewer lawyers and managers, and more engineers, scientists and inventors.

The most successful strategy for solving the problem of inadequate education for adolescents is the burgeoning early college movement in the United States. The quickest way to introduce university-type education at an earlier age is to provide incentives to universities to take over public secondary schools and assume responsibility for their curricula, staff, and management—in other words, to step in where direct state and local control has failed.

Educational reform is akin to planting a fruit tree where the first harvest is many years off, well beyond the normal cycle of elections and political careers. Therefore, let us put politicians at bay. Education may not be a science, but we ought to give its practice proper respect: we don't determine medical treatments by free elections, and we don't permit patients to manage hospitals. The reason the university is essential to solving the problem of secondary schooling is because the public accepts that true scholarship and learning are legitimate areas of expertise for the university. The same assignment of control and responsibility needs to be ceded to teachers in the arena of secondary schooling.

Education for citizenship and the development of civic virtue are best realized by placing the joy and obligation of a serious education onto individuals during the early years of adolescence. The overwhelming and deadening uniformity of mass culture, the thoughtless appropriation of language and opinions through instruments of mass communication, and the increasing inability to distinguish truth from fiction need to be counteracted. The most powerful and egalitarian instrument for counteracting these great dangers to freedom and its voluntary abandonment through elections in mass democracies is a rigorous college-level education that instills pride, ambition and confidence in young adults that can lead them to love, protect and exercise the freedom to dissent and think independently.

Our current approach to the education of adolescents now does the exact opposite. It cultivates passivity, uniformity, imitation and the lowering of aspirations, even among those whom we deem gifted. At minimum, the economic well being of the United States is at risk if we fail to reform how we educate our young adults. What is really at stake, however, are freedom and individuality in a world defined by complexity and interdependency on a global scale—factors that dwarf the importance of liberty and each human life.

Comment: It's written based on US situation. However, I think Malaysia do face this problem too. For me our education system have too much problems! Those words highlighted in green are reflecting the problems in Malaysia as well.

Happy thinking :-)

Yesterweek News 31/8 - 6/9

A quite special week for me. Two cakes, two new shirts. Sigh... You are 19, Kai!

Local News
I would only highlight an issue this time. I know some might say it's enough! Look at the economics, welfare of the people and so on. I agree these issues are important as well. But I will rate this higher.

The controversy started when, during a Barisan Nasional by-election rally in Kampung Belah Dua on Aug 25, Mr Ahmad allegedly uttered seditious remarks describing the Chinese as 'immigrants squatting in the country, thus were not entitled to equal rights in Malaysia'.

Follow by:

Ahmad refuses to apologise

I didn't do anything wrong

Penang Umno backs Ahmad who says Malays have a right to question the citizenship of the Chinese

Pak Lah: Ahmad is not a racist

In fact, Reporters: He Said It

Sigh... Tired... 'Listen closely and you will listen frustrated love...'

Foreign News
Another grey man bites the dust - Look East Policy... Why our leaders never learn this?

Worse than a coup - Hope it won't happen in...

To all victims of Gustav, Hurricane Ike, floods in India and other disasters: Buck up! Everything's gonna be alright!

Making of our own Malaysia

CERITALAH
By KARIM RASLAN

Change can't always be smooth and seamless. The more openly the people discuss the nation's progress, the stronger our national consensus will be, going forward. There is a need for more, not less debate, especially over “sensitive” issues.

MALAYSIA, my Malaysia... I know this is going to sound faintly ludicrous, but the Malaysia that has emerged after the March 8 elections is still better than the one that existed before.

It’s more open, more diverse and infinitely more lively; in short it’s less “Barisan” and more Malaysian – because (surprise, surprise) the two are not one and the same.

The coalition and its leading party Umno are no longer the dominant voices they once were. Instead, they have been reduced and sidelined by other infinitely more energetic, impassioned and exciting voices.

Of course the liveliness also has its costs. Businessmen and women are concerned at the disruption caused by the incessant political chatter and melodrama, most notably the storm surrounding Anwar Ibrahim.

The allegations against him have cast an extremely dark shadow over the nation as people try to figure out the difference between prosecution and persecution.

Perhaps we despair too quickly, however. We can’t, after all expect change to be smooth and seamless. This is not the time to roll back on the openness of the days after the last general election.

The more we as a people discuss – and openly – the “what”, “where” and “how” of the nation’s progress the stronger our national consensus will be, going forward. We need more, not less debate, especially over “sensitive” issues.

Malaysians are definitely ready for this – it’s just a shame that the politicians are not.

We now have the makings of a Malaysia that is of our own making – however imperfect, and not the one carved out for us by our masters.

However, all these changes are merely the beginnings of a process to really open up the system. And as the post-Merdeka social contract slowly unravels we will have to create a new, deeper and more dynamic understanding both across the racial chasm and also increasingly across the “class” divide.

We cannot afford to let our political masters control this process. We must not be passive on-lookers. We can’t fall back on our old cynicism.

A Malaysia that refuses to vote, think and speak out simply because politics is “dirty” or because “no one can really make a difference” is the sort of country that the reactionaries want. Apathy will roll back the changes that have been taking place in our country.

Malaysians must be committed, bold and determined. The age of strongman leaders has to give way to that of an engaged and virtuous citizenry holding up the nation. But this doesn’t mean a rejection of politics.

We need it more than ever, in fact. Why? Well, both sides of the political spectrum have their own agendas and we need the different contending voices to balance one another out.

On the one hand, the Barisan will try to curb the reform agenda whilst on the other hand; PAS from the Pakatan side will wish to impose their at times harsh and narrow view of the world on the rest of us.

Barisan will certainly resist reform in certain critical areas – most notably the ISA, the judiciary (look at how the Judicial Appointments Committee has been stalled), press freedoms and other civil liberties.

They’ll be wrong to do so and those who advocate the old-ways – I’ve termed them the “conservatives” – will be punished by the voters in the next election.

Some would have us believe that the people in the kampungs and your average Malaysian salaried man don’t care about such things. It is they who are mistaken. Time and our evolving demographics are on the side of change.

Another word of warning, this time to the members of our esteemed Cabinet. Remember, just as you’re watching us, the nervous “scribblers” in the newspapers and Internet – rest assured that we’re watching you and more importantly, judging you.

You have been weighed, measured and found wanting, as a matter of fact. You can silence individual bloggers or columnists, for example but the media is like a multi-headed hydra – chop off one head and 10 new ones will sprout.

The desire to write and comment on our own world is now firmly lodged within the public experience. Freedom of expression is something we demand. It cannot be extinguished and people no longer fear the long arm of the law as they once did.

But as we move forward one of the most important challenges will be for the Malays, in particular to learn to accept and live with the diversity within the community. There’s going to be enormous pressure from PAS for example to assert a particular spectrum of morality and behaviour.

In this respect, the ulama-led PAS possesses the same will to dominate that Umno currently exhibits.

Whilst many PAS leaders are genuinely incorruptible and deserve credit for this, their self-righteous moralising is unacceptable and we need to defend our public space from them. We will regret the day that one set of tyranny has been exchanged for another.

Part of the subtext of what’s been happening over the past few months has been the way Malaysians has asserting their individual identities – declaring their independence from the widely disseminated “truths” of nation building.

I’d like to end by recounting a personal anecdote. Back in 2002, I published my third book. It was a second collection of articles and essays called Ceritalah Two: Journeys Through Southeast Asia. Rereading the preface now, is a slightly disturbing experience.

Back then I was just coming to terms with what I called “the ugliness and injustice of Anwar Ibrahim’s case”. Despite being a confirmed Anwar sceptic, the events of 1998 – the selectiveness of it all has haunted me. I never quite got over the idea that Malaysia – my Malaysia – could be such an unjust and evil place.

We can’t avoid viewing political events through the prism of our own personal experiences and the last Anwar debacle was to shake me very soundly.

I resolved not to be dependent on Malaysia for my livelihood. As it happened, Indonesia was to become my second home and workplace. Indeed, Indonesia has been very good to me and I am forever indebted to this magnificent country for its welcome.

However, home is still Malaysia for me. I cannot deny my childhood years. I cannot reject my emotional, familial DNA. For all its infuriating flaws and foibles, it is home.

We often hear how Malaysians denigrate their country compared to other places like Australia and (God knows why) Singapore. Listen closely and you will hear frustrated love rather than disdain.

We only hurt the things we love. We complain because we care.

The “turmoil” that our country is undergoing is a sign of how deeply invested all sides are in its future, which makes the anxiety we feel perfectly natural. If it feels like we need to battle, then it is because this country is definitely worth fighting for.

Still as the dark cloud extends further and further across the nation and as the “conservatives” secure their power many of us may well chose to move away once again. We cannot let that happen, as it would mean letting them win.

I hear too many stories and I see too many things. Gross abuses of justice, leaders who are little better than street thugs, men and women who delight in devising ways of ripping off the exchequer.

We are surrounded by those who feel no shame in abusing the system to their own ends.

We have to take back Malaysia for the people. We have to set the agenda. We must speak for ourselves, as one nation. The Bar Council demonstrations. The teacher who racially abused her students. Those are not the faces of the real Malaysia. We are.

Malaysia will not become a “failed state” despite the prophets of doom. But only if we stand up and say, enough is enough; it is time we move forward.

The people of Malaysia will get the country they deserve. Many people groan at this, but I think of the long way we have come, the opportunities that lie ahead – and think otherwise. I believe in the rakyat. I believe in Malaysia.

What the **** is this?

Penang Umno backs Ahmad who says Malays have a right to question the citizenship of the Chinese
Ahmad also threw down a challenge: "If the Chinese can question the special rights of the Malays, the Malays can also question the citizenship of the Chinese."

Damn! What the heck are MCA and Gerakan waiting for?

Don't you want to tell me that he didn't mean it again, Pak Lah?

Forgive him again, Mr Ong Ka Ting?

You have embarrassed all the Malaysian with chinese ethnicity!

This guy is getting crazier! Wanna to start 513 again?

Do you think we are as stupid as you?

Where the hell is sedition act?

What's now, UMNO?

Sodomy allegation: Pusrawi doctor confirms SD
Pusrawi Hospital’s Dr Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid, reaffirmed statements he had made in a statutory declaration he had filed on June 28, saying that he had found no evidence of sodomy in his examination.

What's now, UMNO?

Dr Osman you do your profession, race and country proud.... we need more people like you. Thank you for courage to stand up for truth and do the right thing!

Ahmad refuses to apologise
“Why should I apologise? I didn’t do anything wrong. Those who do wrong should apologise but I haven’t done anything,” Ahmad said, when met outside his Bayan Baru office Thursday.

What's now, UMNO?

Ahmad Ismail you have embarrassed all of us, the Malaysian. We don't need people like you to serve us!

Malaysia DNA Bill draws unease

But what frightens people most is a section saying that “notwithstanding any written law to the contrary, any information from the DNA databank shall be admissible as conclusive proof of the DNA identification in any proceedings in any court”. Read this.

It's an important bill which has huge impact on you and me. Yet I don't know why media did not highlight this event at all! Therefore I guess most of you would not know what is this all about.

Why You Should Oppose the DNA Bill - Pleas read this. It's worth your time!

Got the story now? What say you?

Flight of human capital worrying

Putik Lada
By NOOR ARIANTI OSMAN

The shackles of generally accepted standards or privileges afforded to some at the price of creating discontent amongst others must be removed.

More and more young Malaysians are leaving the country as a result of some policies, which in my view are now outdated. Can we continue down this road?

Less than a month after last year’s Merdeka celebration, we saw the Walk for Justice, followed very closely by the Bersih and Hindraf rallies and the People’s Freedom Walk in celebration of the World Human Rights Day.

The first quarter of this year saw the general election and the shocking wave of change brought by it.

Soon after that the people struck again with various rallies and assemblies, big and small, in protest of the fuel price hikes. There were also other less sensational rallies and assemblies and hype over Namewee, Fitna and the arrest of Raja Petra.

Then came the furore over the Bar Council’s forums on the “Social Contract” and “Conversion to Islam”. In the latter’s case, the abbreviation of the title, which resulted in much misunderstanding, is still very much in our minds.

The latest was the UiTM students’ assembly. And not to mention the cancellation of Ella’s performance and Beyonce’s concert. I am pretty sure I have missed a lot more!

And yes – all these happened in just one year. The reason for these can be summed up in three words – race, religion and politics. Perhaps not in that particular order.

In the closed network of young legal practitioners, we have been busy attending farewell parties. Our friends, mostly non-Malays, have been leaving in droves to work in Singapore. Most of those leaving are up and coming lawyers who I think are amongst the best brains of the new generation in the legal profession.

Our friends from the engineering and architecture departments back in college are suddenly quitting their jobs and moving their families to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and even Syria.

Our friends who are now medics, high achievers in their respective overseas universities, only exist to us as online identities in Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk, Skype and Facebook.

They simply refuse to come back and serve in the country and they have convincingly good reasons for doing so.

We also often hear “good news” from some other friends that their applications for permanent resident status have been approved by a foreign government – generally Australia.

This “brain drain” or flight of human capital has been an increasingly worrying trend for quite some time now.

Having gone past the golden anniversary of Merdeka, we Malaysians have become an unhappy lot. We have a lot to shout about. We are running away!

What are the causes for this state of unhappiness?

In the eyes of a Malay Muslim young lawyer keeping tabs with of all these calamities of late, I would say, it is the curtailment on our freedom of thought which has been instilled in each of us since a tender age.

Didn't our parents tell us that we should become engineers, doctors, architects or lawyers when we grow up and that becoming musicians, painters, professional hockey players or go-kart drivers would not take us anywhere in life?

So some grew up believing this and later realising that it was not entirely true after all.

How many of us grew up listening to the pearls of wisdom from our elders that the only way to get ahead must be to seek the help of a certain Yang Berhormat or business tycoon who is close to a certain Datuk if we want to enter boarding school, college or university; or to get scholarships, government jobs or business opportunities? And that these are our privileges.

There are also some of us who grew up being told that these privileges do not apply to us. We watched our friends enjoy the privileges in silent envy and we secretly harboured contempt for them.

And we were reprimanded by our elders not to say anything about it as it is a “sensitive” issue.

Some of us grew up realising that we could have made it, and did make it, on our own without such privileges after all. There are still some of us who have not grown out of it.

We need to halt this fiction. The only way for us to grow is to believe that we are the ones in control of our destiny.

We must remove the shackles of generally accepted standards or privileges afforded to some of us at the price of creating discontent amongst others.

Malaysians born post-Merdeka, Malays and non-Malays alike, whether they realise it or not, are screaming for a complete makeover of this orthodox paternalistic approach.

Continued interference with their liberty of action and their freedom of choice, and outright discriminatory means which is used to preserve the rights of one section of Malaysians over the other irrespective of their actual needs should no longer be seen as a necessary form of protection, but a weapon of mass self-destruction.

The makeovers the young ones want, to a large extent, entail real changes in our laws and policies.

Feel good community service messages such as “I am not Chinese, I am not Indian, I am not Malay, (altogether) we are Malaysians!” just won’t cut it anymore.

Our Proclamation of Independence says that we “shall be forever a sovereign democratic and independent State founded upon the principles of liberty and justice and ever seeking the welfare and happiness of its people and the maintenance of a just peace among all nations.”

After 51 years, it seems to many that this has not been fully achieved.

> The writer is a member of the Bar Council’s National Young Lawyers Committee (NYLC). Putik Lada, or pepper buds in Malay, captures the spirit and intention of this column – a platform for young lawyers to articulate their views and aspirations about the law, justice and a civil society. For more information about the young lawyers, please visit www.malaysianbar.org.my/nylc

'Listen closely and you will hear frustrated love rather than disdain'.
Well said. I like this!

The untold story of Budget 2009 (2)

Budget of no significance to many
“We only buy these items(consumer durables) once. What is more important is to look into ways to reduce the cost of daily essentials such as petrol, gas, and cooking oil,” he said.

“We work in a shop for up to 10 hours a day for a salary of RM700 a month. What can we do with that sort of money,” Rauf lamented.

This is reality. Budget 2009 is useless to most of the people despite it's the biggest spending - a record M$208bn.

Where the money goes? Let me show you.

A-G’s report: Costly delay on Bakun dam project
The initial cost of the dam was RM4.5bil, but SHSB had already borrowed RM5.2bil from 2002 to 2007 for the project.

NS deals led to RM110m loss
National Service shirkers and a very “rigid” contract have caused the Government losses of up to RM110.1mil from 2004 to last year, the 2007 Auditor-General’s report said.

RM2mil spent to buy isotope from Singapore despite local availability

Auditor-General's Report: How was the X-ray contract awarded?
The auditor-general found that despite the fact that Glotel was not registered with the Contractor Service Centre, it still got the contract.

Auditor-General's Report: RM3.19 million for only nine studs
OVER RM3 million was spent, but the Veterinary Services Department only got nine fit animals for its cattle stud farm project or the "Pengeluaran Bibit dan Baka Ternakan Lembu".

Malaysia's Maybank may abandon BII deal
Maybank would lose a deposit of 480 million ringgit ($141.5 million) if the issue could not be resolved by Sept. 26, the deadline set by the sellers.

High deficit because of economy stimulus? Bullshit! It's not because of economy but wastage and corruption! We are not stupid!