Foreigners and their Stories About Us

This morning I had a bit of a giggle over Annie's response to Reuters' attempt to give credence to the pronouncements of a certain irrelevant political personality.

I am now seriously doubting the credibility of these foreign news agencies based on the kind of opposition-slanted stories they choose to write about Malaysia, which make me think that those other reports they carry about other countries are also just that, biased and judgmental stories.

Obviously they have no idea of the realities on the ground, (or purposely have no wish to impart the realities as they can't possibly be that ignorant) about what is relevant to Malaysians, not just the opinions of the self-proclaimed "educated classy urbanites" of certain parts of Klang Valley and Pulau Pinang.

More obvious is that they probably think "uneducated low-class ruralites" like me do not understand English, or they probably don't care that we think they are silly or that our opinions are not important compared to that of the "educated", "classy" and loud "urbanites".

I wonder what will they write after witnessing the obvious pledges of loyalty to the King by our security forces on this years National Day Parade with every "Daulat Tuanku" and "Menjunjung Kasih Tuanku", including the sight of our drummer boys in full battle gear?

Do they even understand the meaning of those pledges by our warriors to our King at this point in time?

You think those pledges were only directed against Suluk lunatics and external aggressors?

Are they truly ignorant of the subtleties of the Malay culture and language that loud voices, coarse language and insulting acts directed at our leaders and national symbols of sovereignty currently in fashion among the "educated classy urbanites" translate to the single word "biadap"?

Do they understand the depth of contempt that can be expressed in that single word?

For that matter, do they even bother to understand the cultural differences between Malaysia's loud "educated urbanites" and the majority "low-class ruralites", their differing aspirations, priorities and lifestyles, and that the few English-speaking "educated urbanites" they talk to do not represent the majority rural dwellers who choose to retain their cultural identities and values?

Do they really understand the meaning of "balik kampung" and why it is "balik kampung" instead of "balik bandar" even if your  family base is in KL or JB?

Do they think that everyone would readily abandon the values that define our cultural identity for ages and replace them with the hybrid urban culture and lingo that has been promoted endlessly on television, social networks and various other forums as the in-trend characteristics of "educated classy urbanite" lifestyle?

Or will the values and customs of our forefathers be relegated into the realms of cultural shows and museums and only practiced by antiquated individuals largely considered as loonies?

Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!

To all Malaysians, Happy Merdeka Day!

I watched the Malayan Emergency on History Channel again while waiting for the countdown to midnight.

It reminded me what my elders had to go through for us to arrive to where we are now and make me value the security forces more than ever to ensure that the majority were protected from the vagaries of the few who were determined to have their way regardless.

May we continue to be free from those who wish to forcefully impose their will and ways on others through whatever means and may Malaysia continue to be a safe and peaceful place for all of us.

Mental Deficiency of the Political Kind

I guess the recent events surrounding politicians' reactions to the killing of 5 organised crime careerists by police is further evidence of the kind of  lawmakers we have managed to elect as our representatives and the kind of people deemed suitable by our Prime Minister to be appointed as Deputy Ministers.

I have concluded from their statements that they are of the opinion that it is perfectly reasonable for these lowlifes to carry guns and shoot dead people on the streets as they are criminals, but heaven forbids should they be shot at by the police.

It is also a reflection of their complete disregard of their responsibility to safeguard public safety in their political pursuit for what they deem as the rights of the minority (in this case the criminals) regardless of how their actions infringe on the rights of the majority (the public).

And when the actions of these individuals harm the public, the law enforcers are conveniently blamed as not doing their job.

We have managed to put our police force in a Catch 22 situation, where criminals and their families are encouraged to take the government and authorities to task when their very own actions or inaction precipitated a series of events that led to deaths in the family.

How can we, as part of the public, even consider electing people who blame police of atrocities when dealing with armed criminals who terrorise the public as our representatives and lawmakers?

When our policemen died in Lahad Datu, some called it a drama.

When people are gunned down on the streets, the police are accused of sitting on their collective butts.

But when criminals died, they call it police atrocities.

Would these people rather see dead cops than dead criminals?

Apparently the motto "Live by the gun; Die by the gun" no longer applies to criminals.

Nowadays it seems to be "Live by the gun; anything happens xxxxx the police".

It is easy to be a bleeding heart when you have never been subjected to the intimidation and violence of armed criminals, but I expected YBs to at least have a balanced perspective when addressing matters related to public safety and crime reduction.

I certainly am not expecting such shallow opinions from politicians whose responsibilities are to serve the public, but not only are they not rebuking those who glorified their "fallen heroes", they are instead encouraging and assisting the families of these "fallen heroes" to seek "justice" in the courts against what some of them have termed as our police being "overzealous".

Apparently the police have nothing better to do than wait out meekly for criminals to come out of their hiding places of their own accord and that our police should never ever consider using their guns when faced with armed criminals.

Seems that to these politicos, the lives of these criminals are far more valuable than that of our policemen.

Clearly some of our politicos have lost their sense of balance and perspective.

YBs, this is not about BN vs. Pakatan or Government vs. NGOs, not even about your own ethnic groups.  It is about  reducing crimes.  It is not about politics.  It is about safeguarding public safety.

Stories Around the Blogs : Discipline Post Ramadhan 2013

My Ramadhan break is now over, so I must really now start looking for new job opportunities near where I am based.

The hunt will have to start soon as I am getting almost too lethargic to even prowl around the blogs to keep myself updated with the latest happenings, let alone write about it.

Maybe when I am fully employed again will I be inspired to write more frequently here.  Until then, I am going to discipline myself with just one posting a week.

The stories that stick to mind are:

1.   Pak Lah's awakening 4 years too late

2.   The spate of underworld-related killings that coincide with the abolishment of preventive laws that has been used to contain organised crimes activities

3.    Continued abusive tones directed towards the police who are just doing their job in responding to police reports and their routine operations to uphold public order

The way I see it, Pak Lah's book is being published now because some people see this is the right time to undermine Najib as he is being seen at his most vulnerable now.

I reckon this is an opportune time for someone ambitious to take up the vacuum left by Najib should Umno decide to get rid of him.

To my thinking, publishing that book now is not really a good idea, and whoever thought that up can't be very clever, no matter what university/college he/she graduated from.

If that book gets distributed widely, it will be disastrous to people associated with Pak Lah's previous indiscretions, as it will simply remind people of those excesses that led to the whipping that BN got in 2008.

It will backfire big time to people associated with Pak Lah within Najib's administration and will be fodder for campaigning at the Umno General Assembly.

But who am I to say this, since I am a nobody and have repeatedly been called stupid here in my own blog, so just ignore me and do go on and publish that book.

As for the underworld-related killings, I think it is time that the police and the Home Ministry stop pandering to all these liberal leftists who are so gung-ho about demonising the police, slagging off the government and wanting to UBAH everything, including our constitution, our government system and even our flag.

They are just so self-absorbed in their own little "tempurungs", taking for granted all the preventive action taken by the police using those "outdated/outmoded" laws to keep the streets as safe as they possibly could without restricting public freedom, and make such hue and cry to abolish those very laws.

They are all out to protect the rights of criminals against "police brutality" as part of their "demonise the authorities  propaganda" that makes people so absorbed in their petty little grievances against the authorities that they don't realise or care that these preventive laws were what had been keeping in check the menace of these gangsters and crime-lords on the streets.

Now that these lowlifes are loose on the streets, they are shouting that the police are not doing their jobs.

Some of them  slagging off the police may look beautiful and seem articulate on the outside, but they are truly ugly, intellectually-deficient hypocrites on the inside.

Selamat Hari Raya

My congratulations and best wishes to all Muslims celebrating the Eid ul Fitr tomorrow after a month of blessed Ramadhan.

Of Pride and Prejudices

I am seeing worrisome development of what has been an ever deteriorating race relations in this country, no thanks to agitators who have been at it non-stop to batter at the already fragile social fabric of the nation.

I am not going to start the blame game, although it always start with the politicos, but I believe that our own selfish prejudices and inability to see things from different perspectives are responsible for the ever increasing racial and religious tensions in Malaysia.

Sensitivities are being provoked merely to prove a point, with some hammering away at something that should have been better left alone with a mild rebuke and reminder, but their pride pushed them to create unnecessary ever increasing suspicions and escalation of collective anger.

What some of these agitators may not realise, just as they have their pride and prejudices, so do others.

When you keep on hammering at someone's pride, you are provoking an angry reaction from him.

More so when you are dealing with a large group with varying degrees of tolerance to provocation and perceived denigration, with what they consider as disproportionate pandering to the provocateur. 

Maznah Mohd Yusof had been tolerated for 3 years, but that tolerance disappeared for some when they are continuously being battered by the non-Malays, non-Muslims until there is nothing is left of their pride.

It is one thing to be insulted by a stranger, but to be insulted by one claiming to be sharing your faith is unacceptable.

For those non-Malays who think that they are winning the battle of perception, continue battering the Malay Muslim psyche, and you will find a much stronger reaction than the defensive stance you have seen in the Sri Pristana case.

You are dealing with human beings, and despite what you might think, Newton's Law of "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction" applies to humans too.

To the non-Malays please do not invite that opposite reaction as it may not be an equal reaction to your reckoning but would be deemed to be less than equal to the Malays.

We are already seeing Malay Muslims becoming highly sensitive to non-Malays's words and actions which we would normally dismiss out of hand prior to May 5th.

If things continue in this manner, it is just a matter of time before we find ourselves revisiting 1969.

I beseech everyone to take a step back from the current hostilities, reign in our pride and prejudices, for the good of our society.