Day: February 6, 2008

This is my 42nd year in politics and the tenth and probably last general election which I will be contesting when Parliament is dissolved some time this month.

I have only one wish for the Year of the Rat – let Malaysian Chinese and all Malaysians give the biggest ang pow of all – the “mother” of all ang pows – to the nation and future generations by voting for change in the 12th general election so that Malaysians can stand united and tall to face the challenges of globalization.

Let us make the 2008 Chinese New Year the most significant of all Chinese New Years in the country particularly as it coincides with the nation’s 50th Merdeka anniversary to mark a political coming-of-age with a political will and commitment by Malaysian Chinese together with all Malaysians to usher in real change after 50 years of failure to fulfill the great potentials of Malaysian nationhood.

Let all Malaysian Chinese and Malaysians ponder long and hard what were the factors which had held back Malaysia in the past five decades from being a world-class nation whether in terms of parliamentary democracy, rule of law, educational excellence, international competitiveness, efficient and incorruptible public service, low crime, quality of life – allowing other countries like Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea to overtake us and presently in peril of being left behind by others like Thailand, Vietnam and even Indonesia. Continue reading “CNY message – “Mother” of all ang pows to nation and future generations”

Source: The People’s Parliament

Quite a summary of what went wrong in this country.

The report of the expected six-month extension of Datuk Abdul Hamid Mohamad’s tenure as Chief Justice from April 18 to Oct 17 this year is the only bright spark in a desolate wasteland of the judiciary highlighted by three weeks of public hearing of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Tape.

After the three-week public hearing of the RCI into the Lingam Tape, the integrity, honour and reputation of the previous four highest judicial officers of the land – the occupant of the office of Chief Justice previously known as Lord President – spanning two decades had been dragged through the mud.

Nobody would dared imagine just one month ago that national and international confidence in the judiciary, which has reached unprecedented lows in the past two decades, could plumb new depths – but this is what happened since the RCI public hearing on 14th January 2008.

Last Thursday, a glowing tribute was rightly given to the former Court of Appeal President, Tan Sri Abdul Malek Ahmad by retired Court of Appeal judge K. C. Vohrah who said: “He was the chief justice that the country should have, but never had”.

Unfortunately, there are more than two persons whom Malaysians could rightly point to and say: “He was the chief justice that the country should not have, but had.”

It is most fortunate that Abdul Hamid is now the Chief Justice as he could hold his head high as the highest judicial officer of the land despite the judicial mud exposed to public light in the past three weeks. Continue reading ““He was the chief justice that the country should not have, but had””

“Fu: seized Bible copies returned to owner” was the headline in yesterday’s Star – on copies of the Bible taken from a woman at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal recently which were promptly returned to her within 24 hours of the matter being highlighted in electronic media like Malaysiakini and foreign agencies and press like the International Herald Tribune and the protest of the Council of Churches Malaysia (CCM).

The question every Malaysian is asking is – why is the government so super-efficient and super-responsive only when the general election is around the corner but such traits are totally forgotten after polling day?

It is just no good enough for Fu to say that the confiscation of 32 Bibles from a woman who had just returned from a visit to Manila was done by a Customs officer and did not involve his Ministry. Continue reading “Bible confiscation – rise of LMNs in Abdullah’s Islam Hadhari”

Letters
by A Parent

I hope you can publish this in your blog. The publication can be an effective deterrent for future. Your blog has helped lots of cases in this way.

I am parent of Form 1 student of Sek Men Taman Hi-Tech in Kulim.

I attended the school Sports Day yesterday (Feb. 4) and I am just shocked at what I saw.

The Malaysian government started the National Service Program, with the objective of racial integration, my foot. That 3-month stint is just a show to make money when the situation in schools are totally different.

This is what I saw yesterday. Continue reading “Kedah School- Sports selection on Thaipusam Day”