The Walk of Life

Results of the By Election held over the week-end said that Barisan won by 1725 votes out of a total of slightly over 60,000 voters! Yes a very narrow margin indeed. The breakdown of the voters racial figures showed a 85% Chinese votes for the Opposition while the Malay votes remain very much the same as before and there was a slight increase of Indian votes for Barisan.

Taking into consideration the mobilization of huge amount of resources by Barisan to win this By Election do not augur well for them. As much as RM $100 million was spent of which about RM $60 million was given out in cash! Malay and Indian voters were somewhat swayed by these cash gifts whereas the Chinese remain unmoved. I am proud of these Malaysian Chinese. Money cannot buy their hearts, they are more concerned with long lasting national issues such as corruption, injustice, equal opportunities more than immediate monetary gratification.

Due to this, the notorious Ibrahim Ali is calling on the Government not to give out the monetary offers promised during the campaigning! What a shallow person he is. By virtue of what he said, he is all for bribery! No wonder in the past there were so little development in areas that was won by the Opposition! This is not the right way to treat your own citizens. It implies that there is no freedom of choice, an abuse of human rights. Such ethnocentric practices only creates aparthied in our Malaysian society.

There were many autopsies done on the results and many critics were calling the Government to re-think and ponder on why the Malaysian Chinese are not supporting the Government! As for me entertaining the likes of Ibrahim Ali is one sure way of loosing the Chinese support. Personally I believe that it was such racists like Ibrahim Ali and a few others in the Barisan that are contributing to this flight of the Chinese votes. In addition I think the Chinese are resilient enough to fend for themselves without dole outs from the Government. The fact is nothing much has been given out free to the Chinese as compared to the Malays. As a Chinese I will say Its OK keep the money to yourself I rather earn mine the hard way then, maybe not much but I rather keep my integrity and fight for what is right and fair! The Lord will be my strength!

The Political scenario in Malaysia is maturing. Since our Independence, Malaysia is governed by the Barisan Coalition comprising of race-based political parties namely UMNO (Malay), MCA (Chinese), MIC (Indians) and Gerakan (mixed but predominantly Chinese).

Of late, especially in our last General Election in March 8th 2008, the political scenario took a major change. I guess brought about by the younger generation of Malaysians. It was a milestone in the sense that for the first time in more than 50 years, the Barisan lost its two-third majority although they are still the ruling Coalition.

As for me, belonging to the older generation of Malaysians, I find this change really exciting and I am all for change. I would not go into the reasons behind this call for change for I had grumbled about these issues in my earlier posts on Malaysia. However I just want to share on one particular aspect that is unique to our Malaysian situation and very much tied to our Independence and that is what many call the "Social Contract".

One popular local Blogger Art Harun has done an excellent post 'The Bastardisation of the Social Contract' and you can read more about this Here. Ever since the Barisan loosing it's two-third majority plus a few States to the Opposition Coalition, the Barisan, out of desperation, tried to use Fear Tactics and Threats to coerce the people to vote for them or else all sorts of bad things could happen in the country!

Ex-Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir and the notorious Ibrahim Ali of PERKASA shouting and reminding the non-Malays that Malays sacrificed very very much to accommodate them, granting them citizen status in Malaysia. They waved the "Social Contract", the Keris too and demanded submission and no questioning of the Special Bumiputra Rights in Malaysia.

In the first place, there was never any challenge to the Special Rights of the Malays! Most non-Malay citizens was asking for justice, fairness in the various allocations such as business, education, land etc. etc. The NEP (New Economic Policy now renamed to NEM) was something of a necessity back in the days of the early 70's but after more than 30 years, I think it is due for a review and should not be a blanket type of policy that goes on perpetually. Moreover, due to being the government for 50 over years, Barisan has grown Arrogant! They make decisions as and when they like, implement policies how they like plus much of the wealth of the country was shared by UMNO members and their cronies. In fact, very little trickle down to the ordinary Malay folks who are still struggling to earn a living which the NEP is suppose to do! The non-Malays are also sidelined in the process except some cronies who are closed to the ex-PM or UMNO! Corruption, abuse of power are symptoms of so many governments who remain in power for a long long time! It is true that absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Of late there were some views given on this Social Contract by non other than our ex-PM who ruled for 22 years and of course the clown Ibrahim Ali. In my personal opinion, these views are more of their own selfish interpretation more than an open minded discourse! Art Harun's post on this helps to clarify the issues! I strongly recommend all Malaysians to read that!

We Malaysians are ever so thankful to the Internet which is instrumental in giving alternative views (often the real picture) of what is happening in our own country! Well, our local News and Media are government controlled and we read only their views and what they want us to believe! Today's young people are very tech savvy and internet savvy so UMNO has a lot to worry about less more citizens of Malaysia wake-up from their slumber and demand for a country where we are all truly Malaysian first and our ethnicity and religious beliefs second or third! Thank God!

Hi folks! just recovered from a severe bout of flu! I was sleeping through the weekend and only yesterday evening well enough to go out for dinner! Wow! the first thing I did when I got out of bed was Food!!!!! Hahaha! I was really famished!

The Days are Evil! Yeap! not only did the Good Book mentioned this but judging from the increase of sensless crimes, murder, rapes etc I guess nobody wants to argue with this statement.

However when something terrible happened here in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, then it could be worst in some more socially complex societies around the world! Here is an excerpt that I received and do take necessary precautions. Better still, tell your friends! My good fren Marzie who loves Perfumes beware!

News from Ampang Gleneagles Hospital. Important news to pass it on. Please spend 1 minute and read on... News from Gleneagles Hospital (Ampang) URGENT !!!!! from Gleneagles Hospital Limited.

Seven women have died after inhaling a free perfume sample that was mailed to them.

The product was poisonous. If you receive free samples in the mail such as lotions, perfumes, diapers etc. Throw them away.

The government is afraid that this might be another terrorist act.

They will not announce it on the news because they do not want to create panic or give the terrorists new ideas.

Send this to all your friends and family members.

Gleneagles Hospital Limited. Human Resource Department. Tel: 03-4270 3474 03-4270 3474

Now that we live in a Condominium, we discover the pros and cons of living in one. Here are some of my thoughts.

Feel Safer

With strict control by the Security Guards, I feel safer living in a Condo as compared to a landed property.Although nowadays people live in gated communities but yet robberies and break-ins still happen.

After saying that, I must say that there are ways and means of these robbers getting into your unit! Recently a couple, yes a husband and wife team rented a unit on the 9th Floor and they scout out the place and break-in during the day when the people are out working! The need to have secure locks and latches from within.

Noise

Well, living so close to each other, you can literally hear what your neighbors are talking about and especially when they have loud strong voices. I have this neighbor who lives two floors down but every time she talks I can hear what she says clearly! At times I can even overheard couples heated arguments or an angry mom yelling at her kids.

Then the next unit couple loves to watch lots of movies on their home theater system and I can hear the annoying low thud of the base or the many explosions and rumblings! Guess they love action movies more than drama!

Catering

The Canteen also caters for daily meals and it is so convenient for us to have food prepared and sent up to us! Well they only cater for 4 days only so the rest of the days in a week I still do marketing and cooking but catering for meals help lighten my work load. :)

Swimming Pool

No need to go to your country club now for there is a huge swimming pool within the Condo! It only takes about 5 minutes to get there! My daughter is making full use of the pool. Wish that there is a Gym too.

The only complaint I have is that the pool is located on the 5th level whereas from my unit I make the connection at level 1! I have to walk 4 flights of steps to get there since there is no lift to the pool! It is totally out of bounds for rock to make it to the pool and canteen! a really bad design.

Laundry

Our unit is only 900 feet square plus so we do away with the washing machine. Moreover drying your washings is another major issue. Why Condos do not provide drying areas like on the roof tops? Well now I use the Laundry within the condo but I have to do the ironing though since ironing is rather expensive.

Rubbish

Living in Bukit Jelutong requires me to take out the rubbish every alternate days plus the need to have a big rubbish bin. Here, everyday the common rubbish bins are cleared and its so near to the unit. There is a rubbish disposal room so the smell does not come out at all.

TV Reception

In a Condo, we share a common Satellite Dish or what is commonly known as Centrex Operation. The Phone lines are on Centrex too. No need for me to install an ugly Dish just outside the unit which you can see in many apartments locally!

Pets

It is fortunate that our Condo allows pets which some don't! Of course the challenge is having your pet properly house trained or else it can quite annoying! Our pet Pekinese was stressed due to the change and for a few days his toilet training went off and he annoyed me with his random sloppy work! Now he is more settled and back to his old routine once again. What a relief.

Car Park

Well, ours is not one that provides extra car park even if you want to purchase one. Since dawn works late at night, I let her use the car park while I parked my car outside the Condo. It is fine except that I have to walk up an up-slope road and up a small hill every night! Guess this is what I considered forced exercise for me being the lazy type. After a month of walking, I find the 500 metres walk quite easy now. Of course if I come back late, I have to walk further!

The only inconvenience is that I have to take rock back to the unit, then re-park my car each and every time we go out!

That's about all I can say about living in a Condo and perhaps will discover more as time goes by! Perhaps some of you may want to share yours?

Today local News reported that about 50 Groups launched the NGO Consultative Council (MPM) to defend Malay Rights and Islam. Among the prime movers are Perkasa, ex-Umno lawmakers council Mubarak, Peninsula Malay Students Confederation (GPMS), Malay Professional Thinkers Association and Cuepacs.

When Perkasa was launched, ex-PM Dr. Mahathir officiated the launching and remarked that the rise of Perkasa was because of UMNO's failure to protect Malay Rights!

With today's launching of MPM it looks like there will be a direct challenge to UMNO's Malay support and many believe that UMNO is in her death throes.

I do not understand what MPM's objectives are for I cannot see any threats to Malay Rights, Islam and even the Royalties. The implications in their speeches indicated threats from non-Malay and non-Islamic groups! Claims but nothing to substantiate these claims.

I just wonder what happened when over 50 years of affirmative actions, priviledges, Malay control of all Government Organizations and Corporations like Petronas (Petrol); Tenaga (Power); Telekoms (Telecommunications); most local Banks, yet they still feel threatened? Is it a case of low self-esteem, lack of self-confidence etc.? I do not really know how else and what else these Malays want to control then they feel secured? Perhaps they want to control people's right to free speech and expressions!

I see this as a form of Neo-Nazis Regime and they being the majority in numbers, the minorities should feel threatened! All they are interested is to promote the interest of one particular race whereas Malaysia is Multi-racial! What is more alarming is the current BN (UMNO) Government being so quite and let them do as they want! Well, the other component parties in BN are also quite which is expected by many and is just a reflection of their impotence.

Is our current PM dare not challenge the ex-PM? Or is this a big conspiracy of these two? Food for thought. Whatever it is, the days ahead spell trouble with such a formation! I wonder whether sincere questions raised on Malay, Islamic or Royalty issues be stemmed out by this MPM labeling such as a challenge to their RIGHTS and if so, then their RIGHTS include doing anything anyhow they like!

It seems that as long as the person or politician or Government of the day that robs them, betrays them is NOT a Non-Malay, it is acceptable. I guess in the days ahead more young non-Malay professionals will be migrating to other Countries to escape these Neo-Nazis. Even Tengku Razaleigh, our respected Malay Politician said that the Malay professionals are migrating too! another slap in the face to our PM on his 1Malaysia slogan.