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Attacked and immoblised by acute low-back pain

I succumbed to acute low-back pain this morning. After about an hour of reading, I felt an acute ache at the small of my back. Feeling that something was amiss, I gave a few minutes for the ache to go away. When it didn’t. I tried to stand up but I could not.

I knew I was in trouble. Imagine – to be immobilized just before the “mother” of all general elections! In my mind, I was wondering whether two DAP leaders will have to go to the hustings in wheel-chairs!

I was bedridden and had to miss the annual family lunch on New Year’s Day at the Penang Swimming Club where Dr. Lim Guan Choon and Dr. Khoo Siew Swan are members.

The whole Lim family was there except me – my wife Neo Yok Tee, children Guan Eng and wife Betty Chew, Hui Ming, Hui Ying and Guan Choon with wife Siew Swan.

The third Lim generation are Guan Eng’s four children, Rachel Lim Shay Wan 17, Clint Lim Whay Chau 16 , Marcus Lim Whay Khai 13 and Ethan Lim Whay Zen 14 months; and Guan Choon’s three kids, Charlotte Lim Shay Ryu 11, Matthew Lim Wei Shen 9 and Serena Lim Shay Ann 8. Continue reading “Attacked and immoblised by acute low-back pain”

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CNY messages by BN leaders – evidence that 50 yr nation-building gone very wrong or even lost its way

If more evidence are needed to illustrate that after 50 years, Malaysian nation-building has gone very wrong and even lost its way, the latest proofs are provided by the Chinese New Year messages by the Prime Minister and UMNO President, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting, the Energy, Water and Communications Minister and Gerakan adviser, Datuk Seri Dr. Lim Keng Yaik and even the Works Minister and MIC President, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu.

Abdullah said that as the Prime Minister, he was committed towards creating a Malaysian community that was dynamic, progressive and lived in peace and harmony and strongly upheld the Malaysian cultural traditions.

“I will continue to redouble efforts so that we can continue to move forward and gain the respect of the international community in all aspects,” he added.

If a national opinion poll is conducted, can Abdullah get a majority from the (i) Malaysian Chinese and (ii) the Malaysian populace as a whole to believe in the Prime Minister’s Chinese New Year pledge, especially when there is unprecedented widespread skepticism and cynicism of his commitment to create a Malaysian community that is “dynamic, progressive and lived in peace and harmony and strongly upheld the Malaysian cultural traditions”.

In fact, I have no doubt that if Malaysians are asked whether the Malaysia community has become more “dynamic, progressive and lived in peace and harmony and strongly upheld the Malaysian cultural traditions” in the past four years, the overwhelming majority will give a loud and negative “No” – what with the coming of somnabulant premiership, the rise of Little Napoleons and Little Mullah Napoleons (LMNs), declining international competitiveness, endemic crime and increasing frequency of incidents like bible-banning, body-snatching and insensitive Islamist manifestations like the half-way halt in the construction of the world’s tallest Mazu statue in Kudat, Sabah. Continue reading “CNY messages by BN leaders – evidence that 50 yr nation-building gone very wrong or even lost its way”