Day: February 23, 2009

Note from sys admin :

Most of streamyx users will be facing difficulties loading this blog.

This is because TMNet is having problem with their network. We do not know what is the problem they are facing, but the symptom is that data packets gets corrupted or lost along the way. This has been happening for sometime, but it got worse recently.

We thank many who have highlighted problems accessing this blog. We are constantly monitoring the situation and are trying to get TMNet to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

p.s. Server going down for maintenance reboot at 19:30 Feb 23 UTC. That is 3.30am 24 Feb in Malaysia

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad is right when he ridiculed the public statement by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi asking Datuk Zambry Abdul Kadir to lodge a police report against the Perak State Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar.

As Mahathir asked in his blog, “If the decision of the Speaker can be considered a crime, then what will happen when the Parliamentary Speaker suspends opposition members for whatever reasons?”

Abdullah has not only made a ridiculous proposal, he had set a bad example as Prime Minister in publicly calling for an open breach of the law, as the Speaker’s decision or action, whether one agrees or disagrees with it, is protected by law and conferred immunity from civil or criminal proceedings.

This is why the Police should stop harassing Sivakumar as the police should be the first to uphold the law rather than to break it. Continue reading “Abdullah – retract statement that police report be lodged against Perak Speaker Sivakumar”

by M. Bakri Musa

The per-capita income of Malaysia’s Klang Valley is a mere fraction that of America’s Silicon Valley, but one would not know that from visiting their respective shopping malls.

At any time there are more (in absolute as well as relative numbers) Mercedes Benzes and other late model luxury cars in the parking lot of the Mega Mall in Klang Valley than at Stanford Shopping Center. And judging from the crowd, the purveyors of luxury goods at Mega Mall do a roaring business compared to their counterparts at the Stanford Mall.

I also see more gold Rolexes on brown wrists than on white ones. I must admit that the gold color looks good against a brown background!

Despite the residuum of the dotcom bust, as well as the current economic crisis, Silicon Valley still has one of the highest per capita incomes in America, which in turn is one of the highest per-capita income countries. Yet for the most part Americans lack the compulsion to show off their wealth.

This is not unique to Americans. The Norwegians also have a high per-capita income, and their sovereign fund is one of the largest in the world. Norway is also the Saudi Arabia of the North Sea. Unlike in Riyadh however, the most popular cars on the streets of Oslo are those fuel-stingy hybrid models instead of the gas guzzling Cadillacs that are the favorites with the Arabs. Continue reading “Needing To Show Off”