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Streamyx: What is going on?

This is from Goh my blog sysadmin:

to < [deleted]@occ.vads.com>,
help
cc limkitsiang
date Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 8:53 AM

subject what is going on?
mailed-by dapmalaysia.org

Follow up message

ping to limkitsiang.com whopping 56% packet loss. if that is not
enough ping to www.adobe.com is 69% packet loss.

If you think packet loss have nothing to do with Internet, you may as
well go and DELETE the wikipedia entry here :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packet_loss

ping -c 100 limkitsiang.com
PING limkitsiang.com (67.207.142.122) 56(84) bytes of data.
[deleted]

— limkitsiang.com ping statistics —
100 packets transmitted, 44 received, 56% packet loss, time 100301ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 292.039/304.333/361.149/15.790 ms

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Gobbledegook and regurgitation galore in the two written judgments of the Court of Appeal in Zambry v Nizar Jamaluddin

By NHChan

Prologue

I shall start with an aside on the dictionary definition of the two words which feature in the title of this article.

Gobbledegook means unintelligible language.

Regurgitate means repeat information without understanding it. Regurgitation is the noun.

After you have read the article you should have an inkling of what I am trying to suggest with the words. You can then judge for yourself.

There are only two points that really matter in this appeal: Clauses (2)(a) and (6) of Article 16

Let us see if ordinary people like us can understand Clauses (2)(a) and (6) of Article 16 of the Constitution of Perak better than the judges of this Court of Appeal.

There are only two points that really matter in the appeal. They are Clauses (2)(a) and (6) of Article 16 and they read:

(2) (a) His Royal Highness shall first appoint as Menteri Besar to preside over the Executive Council a member of the Legislative Assembly who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the Assembly;

Continue reading “Gobbledegook and regurgitation galore in the two written judgments of the Court of Appeal in Zambry v Nizar Jamaluddin”

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PTPTN and MARA updates

Just spoken to Chairman of Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional (PTPTN), Dr. Mohamad Shahrum bin Oshman, who is also MP for Lipis, on the complaint in this blog on PTPTN loan interest by Tee from Klang who just graduated from Multimedia University and wanted to begin payment for his RM66,000 PTPTN loan.

However, he was told that the old interest rate of 3% still applies although Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had announced that the new rate of 1% would take effect from June 2008.

Mohamad Shahrum confirmed that the PTPTN interest is 1% and those who had paid 3% from June last year would have the excess credited to their account.

Thanks Mohamad Shahrum for the instant clarification which should put the issue to rest. Continue reading “PTPTN and MARA updates”

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Kong Choy should answer in the PAC the five questions I asked him in Parliament in November 2007 on the PKFZ scandal but which he had been evading for two years

An online MCA website, malaysianmirror.com, has reported on the willingness of former Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy to appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal.

Like his predecessor Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik, Chan should give clear-cut assurance that he will not emulate their former boss, former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir in succumbing to a sudden attack of selective amnesia when appearing before the PAC in the way Mahathir succumbed to selective amnesia when appearing before the Lingam Videotape Royal Commission of Inquiry in January 2008, where he had to say “I cannot remember” or its equivalent 14 times during his 90-minute testimony.

In his appearance before the PAC, Kong Choy should answer the five questions I posed to him in Parliament in November 2007, but which he had been evading for two years, viz: Continue reading “Kong Choy should answer in the PAC the five questions I asked him in Parliament in November 2007 on the PKFZ scandal but which he had been evading for two years”

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PPSMI – Are the shoes of an Education Minister in Malaysia too big for Muhyiddin?

Umno Youth Leader, Khairy Jamaluddin admitted in an interview with Sin Chew Jit Poh yesterday that Malaysia should be a A+ country but it could only manage a C!

This is because of decades of Barisan Nasional bad governance and misguided policies which fail to fully exploit the human and natural resources of the country for the national good so as to be able to continuously upgrade our international competitiveness to better position the country to face the challenges of globalization, liberalization and information and communications technology.

A good illustration is the disastrous PPSMI (Teaching Science and Mathematics in English) decision making guinea pigs of some four million Malaysian pupils whether in the national, Chinese or Tamil primary schools in the past six years for “a cure which is worse than the disease”!

Have we got in Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin a new Education Minister who has the political will and professional competence to undo the six-year damage from these unprofessional educational experiments to lead the Malaysian education system to a new era of professionalism, excellence and global status?
Continue reading “PPSMI – Are the shoes of an Education Minister in Malaysia too big for Muhyiddin?”

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PTPTN issues – 1% interest rate?

Letters
SS

Let me first introduce myself, I am Tee from Klang, Selangor. I just graduate recently from Multimedia University with B.Eng(HONS) Electronics.

The PTPTN loan i had received is RM66,000. I wish to start my payment as soon as possible but i still very confuse about the current interest rate apply to all IPTA and IPTS students. From the statement i got from PTPTN, they said the old rate still applied, and when i phone them, they said that the conversion from old rate to 1% is still on progress, until then, we still have to follow the old rate.

Now the problem is, our PM announce that new rate which is 1% will start to take effect on June 2008. Why PTPTN still using the old rate? and it take so long to convert.

When i ask them when the conversion will finish, they say they cant give me exact date means we still have to wait and paying to old rate. i think that is not fair to all students in malaysia. At my opinion, PM should’nt make such announcement if it is not possible or take such long time to complete the conversion. Continue reading “PTPTN issues – 1% interest rate?”

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Test Scores, Meritocracy, and a Dysfunctional Education System

by M. Bakri Musa

Three recent and apparently unrelated news items reflect our distorted view of merit and our dysfunctional education system. We believe that merit is measured only by test scores. As for our flawed education system, its current minister is seeking UNESCO’s help while his immediate predecessor commissioned the World Bank. As in the past, there will be an expensive and voluminous report, and that will be the end of it.

The first news item was the law lecturer who flunked over 97 percent of her students; second, the tragic death of a college dropout at UTM’s campus dormitory in Johor Baru; and third, Prime Minister Najib’s announcement of special ‘merit’ scholarships. Continue reading “Test Scores, Meritocracy, and a Dysfunctional Education System”

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Police Escort for Wedding Car?

Letters
by Ganesh

It would be good for you to investigate an incident I saw. I was in Suabng Jaya, next to Taylor’s college roundabout this weekend, when I saw a wedding car pass by. What was ironic is that it had police escorts. They stopped traffic to let the wedding car pass by. In another car, there was a cameraman who was filming the wedding car.

I am quite shocked at this. The police got time to escort and give VIP treatment to a wedding car?

I do not know whose wedding it was but I am very sure it was not a Royal wedding, which is the only wedding that deserves a Police escort.

Here I am worried about my personal safety and my house getting robbed and suddenly I see several police outriders escorting a wedding car instead of patrolling my neighbourhood. Continue reading “Police Escort for Wedding Car?”

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Integrity: What option for Malaysia?

By Tunku Abdul Aziz

THE UPSURGE of interest in integrity and ethics is not without a good reason. People all over the world have realized that human progress is unlikely to be sustainable without all of us adopting and embracing universal human values – values that transcend cultural, religious and political barriers.

In Malaysia we have the best legal framework, rules, regulations and procedures, but corrupt practices continue unchecked because those entrusted to serve the community are themselves morally and ethically deficient and devoid of ethical values and high standards of personal and public behaviour.

If we lose our competitive position because we are corrupt and lack integrity, we are putting our future as a nation at risk. Corruption kills competition, breeds inefficiency, distorts our decision making processes and promotes social and political instability in the long run. I believe that in societies where integrity is firmly entrenched, corruption can be kept firmly under control.

We have to refocus our vision and reshape our views and ideas on what can be done to fight unethical public behaviour, not only on our own turf, but equally important, on the international front because cross-border corruption represents a major source of social, economic and political instability and distortion, if not dealt with decisively.
Continue reading “Integrity: What option for Malaysia?”

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Reforms must be liberal, must promote a competitive and meritocratic society

By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP Life Advisor

REFORMS BY PRIME MINISTER NAJIB RAZAK ARE NOT LIBERAL OR MODERN ENOUGH TO PROPEL MALAYSIA TO BE COMPETITIVE TO MEET THE CHALLENGES OF A GLOBAL WORLD

PM NAJIB RAZAK have introduced a series of reforms in an attempt to transform Malaysia to a high income country. He has slimmed down the NEP by reducing the 30% bumiputra equity quota to 12.5%. He has also curbed the powers of the Foreign Investment Committee and substituted it with a smaller committee.

To reassure the bumiputras, he has retained the 30% bumiputra equity target, but will use different modes to achieve the objective.

It is a pity that the PM has not understood why the 40 year old NEP has failed to help poor Malaysians, whether Malays, Chinese or Indians. The average poor Malay household only earn about RM3,000 per household or only RM500 per person (in a family of 5). Admittedly, the NEP enriched Umno cronies who became obscenely rich, while the Malays in rural areas are still mired in poverty.

PM NAJIB SHOULD LEARN FROM THE NEP EXPERIENCE

The 40 year old NEP slowed down economic growth since it was implemented in 1971. In 1957 at independence, Malaysia had the second highest per capita income (PCI) in Asia, after Japan. The World Bank has statistics that showed the per capita income slowed down since 1971, and has fallen behind S Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. In 2008, Malaysia has a PCI of US$6,000, while S Korea has US$19,000, Taiwan US$17,000, Hong Kong US$30,000 and Singapore US$34,000.
Continue reading “Reforms must be liberal, must promote a competitive and meritocratic society”

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3-point formula to resolve the Kedah Pakatan Rakyat crisis – resolution of outstanding complaints by Kedahans, a committee headed by Dr. Goh Cheng Teik to resolve abbatoir problem and a PR trouble-shooting state mechanism

Yesterday, I had a 90-minute meeting with the Kedah DAP State Committee followed by a two-hour dialogue with the people of Kedah in the Kedah Chinese Assembly Hall, with overflowing capacity crowd, over the Kedah DAP State Committee’s decision on Wednesday to pull out of the Pakatan Rakyat Kedah state government.

I had my hands full in Parliament on Wednesday, with a host of burning issues such as the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone scandal; the urgent need to have a new Inspector-General of Police to provide new police leadership and vision to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police service which is regarded as friend and protector of the people and capable of performing the three core functions to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and uphold human rights; and Parliament becoming a kangaroo court to punish eight Pakatan Rakyat MPs when the subject is the punishment of Umno Youth leaders who had obstructed and threatened wheelchair-bound DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor Karpal Singh from discharging his parliamentary duties in the precincts of Parliament on February 26, 2009.

I was shocked when I heard the news about the Kedah DAP State Committee decision to pull out of the Pakatan Rakyat Kedah state government, subject to the final decision of the DAP Central Executive Committee. Continue reading “3-point formula to resolve the Kedah Pakatan Rakyat crisis – resolution of outstanding complaints by Kedahans, a committee headed by Dr. Goh Cheng Teik to resolve abbatoir problem and a PR trouble-shooting state mechanism”

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“3 Tuns in Selective Amnesia” – Will Liong Sik undertake that he will not copy Mahathir’s example of selective amnesia when he appears before the PAC on the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?

Former MCA President and Transport Minister Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik has said he has nothing to hide and is ready to appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to explain his role in the controversial RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

Can Liong Sik undertake that he will not copy his former boss, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s example of selective amnesia at the Lingam Videotape Royal Commission of inquiry when he appears before the PAC on the PKFZ scandal, so that Malaysia will not have “Three Tuns in Selective Amnesia”?

In January last year, Malaysians were treated to the sorry spectacle of the former Prime Minister and former Chief Justice Tun Eusuff Chin competing with each other in selective amnesia when they were summoned to give testimony by the Lingam Videotape Royal Commission of Inquiry.

Mahathir said “I cannot remember” or its equivalent 14 times during his 90-minute testimony before the Royal Commission while Eusuff Chin said “I cannot remember” or its equivalent 18 times in his testimony. Continue reading ““3 Tuns in Selective Amnesia” – Will Liong Sik undertake that he will not copy Mahathir’s example of selective amnesia when he appears before the PAC on the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?”

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Is MCA so short of talents it cannot find different persons to hold the posts of MCA Secretary-General and Senate President?

Tomorrow DAP National Vice Chairman Tunku Abdul Aziz will be sworn in as a Senator, the first DAP Senator in the party’s 43-year history.

Tomorrow is also the last day for Tan Sri Dr. Hamid Pawanteh as two terms for six years as Senate President.

He was Deputy Speaker from 1983-1986 and I found him a level-headed, fair and just political leader who could distinguish between right and wrong, what are national interests as distinct from party and personal interests – a rare quality among those who walk the corridors of power in Putrajaya.

Hamid, 65, will be a loss to Malaysian politics as he is retiring from Malaysian politics after 31 years, which have included two terms as Perlis Mentri Besar from 1985 to 1995.

Replacing Hamid as Senate President will be the Deputy Senate President, Datuk Wong Foon Meng, which is a surprise for three reasons: Continue reading “Is MCA so short of talents it cannot find different persons to hold the posts of MCA Secretary-General and Senate President?”

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A Pig in a Poke

by G. Krishnan

High Chaparral, the pig abattoir, the race card, double standards…. What you see is not what you get. It seems as if many politicians – and I use that term to also include some activists – have gotten all hot under the collar about the DAP’s failings in the Kampung Buah Pala and for locking horns with PAS on the pig abattoir matter in Kedah.

Get a grip people. First, Hindraf and Uthayakumar needs to cool-off; perhaps have some refreshing chendol and think through the High Chaparral matter a bit more constructively. Does he really think Lim Guan Eng is in bed with the developers? For a lawyer, he must know better the potential implications of a breach of contract – in this case, a contract the former state government – had undertaken – under the former chief minister’s watch. Yes, perhaps a stroke of the pen by the current chief minister may save the homes of the residents of Kampung Buah Pala. But at what cost to the rest of the residents of the state? Now that the current DAP state government finds itself in a dilemma like this, does it not matter what it might cost the rest of the residents of Penang to go back on their word? Continue reading “A Pig in a Poke”

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OTK fails in 108 PKFZ questions – like Shaolin disciples who cannot pass the gauntlet of the 108 movements of Shaolin Wooden-men Lane and 18 Lohans

My three questions (No.106 to No. 108) on the 36th day in the current series to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal today are

Question No. 1: Four days ago, Port Klang Authority (PKA) Chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng announced deferment of payment of RM660 million due to PKFZ turnkey developer Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd (KDSB) from the government’s soft loan of RM4.6 billion, comprising:

(i) RM130 million payable on or before 30th June 2009 under the Sale and Purchase Agreement dated Nov. 12, 2002 between KDSB and PKA;

(ii) RM230 million payable on or before 30th June 2009 under the Development Agreement dated March 27, 2004 between KDSB and PKA;

(iii) RM150 million payable this month under the supplemental agreement for additional development works dated Nov. 30 between KDSB and PKA; and

(iv) RM150 million payable this month under the supplement agreement for new additional development works dated April 26, 2006 between KDSB and PKA.

The PKA is to pay the RM660 million to four companies which are special purpose vehicles created by KDSB and to which it had assigned the debts. The four companies created by KDSB are Special Port Vehicle Bhd, Transhipment Megahub Bhd, Valid Ventures Bhd and Free Zone Capital Bhd.
Continue reading “OTK fails in 108 PKFZ questions – like Shaolin disciples who cannot pass the gauntlet of the 108 movements of Shaolin Wooden-men Lane and 18 Lohans”

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When will Utusan Malaysia stop being a racist newspaper of untruths and falsehoods and honour the journalistic maxim “Comment is free but facts are sacred”?

When will Utusan Malaysia, which had such a illustrious place in the history of Malaysian journalism, end its descent into the gutter and stop being a racist newspaper of untruths and falsehoods, and honour the journalistic maxim “Comment is free but facts are sacred”?

Utusan Malaysia today carried in its “Sorotan Parlimen” an article entitled “Kit Siang terus ‘panaskan’ Dewan Rakyat”, which among other slants and prejudices, wrote:

Pada minggu terakhir pula iaitu Selasa lalu, sekali lagi Kit Siang menunjukkan kehebatannya dengan menyerang peribadi Menteri Dalam Negeri, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein semasa sesi penggulungan Rang Undang-Undang Suruhanjaya Integriti Agensi Penguatkuasaan (SIAP) 2009 yang disampaikan oleh Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz.

Sesi itu menjadi kecoh apabila Kit Siang bangun mencelah sambil menyifatkan Hishammuddin sebagai ‘menteri pondan’ kerana tidak hadir ketika sesi penggulungan rang undang-undang itu yang banyak menyentuh mengenai polis.
Continue reading “When will Utusan Malaysia stop being a racist newspaper of untruths and falsehoods and honour the journalistic maxim “Comment is free but facts are sacred”?”

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Call for public inquiry on how the half-a-trillion ringgit contributed by Petronas to government past 33 years and the RM15.2 billion ringgit royalty to Terengganu from 2000-2009 have been properly spent and accounted for

Former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir has raised a very pertinent question – where have the close to half-a-trillion ringgit, to be exact RM426.6 billion, of petro-ringgit from Petronas to the government in the past 33 years since 1976 gone?

Since 1976, payments by Petronas to the Federal Government are as follows:

Continue reading “Call for public inquiry on how the half-a-trillion ringgit contributed by Petronas to government past 33 years and the RM15.2 billion ringgit royalty to Terengganu from 2000-2009 have been properly spent and accounted for”

FY Payment (in billion)
1976 0.3
1977 0.7
1978 0.7
1979 0.7
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Pakatan Rakyat’s second “crisis of confidence”

(The headline for the Malaysian Insider “No let-up as Kit Siang continues attacks against PAS ahead of Kedah trip” is not correct, as it is not reflected in the contents of its report.

It implied that I was continuing to “attack” the Pakatan Rakyat government in Kedah. This is not the case.

It further implied that I had attacked the PR Kedah state government yesterday. This was also not the case.

Pakatan Rakyat is facing a second crisis of confidence and efforts must be made to resolve it.

This is why I am not only meeting the Kedah State DAP tomorrow but also have a dialogue with the people of Kedah in Alor Star tomorrow night. (New Straits Times today had wrongly reported that I would be meeting residents in the abbatoir area when I said I would be having a people’s dialogue in Alor Star).

Both the Malaysian Insider and New Straits Times report are reproduced below.)
Continue reading “Pakatan Rakyat’s second “crisis of confidence””

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Federal intervention is only way out in Kampung Buah Pala, says Kit Siang

The Malaysian Insider
By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani

KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 — The DAP wants former Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon to solve the Kampung Buah Pala fiasco by lobbying for federal intervention.

Lim claimed that Koh, now a federal minister, was responsible for the controversy as it was during the Barisan Nasional (BN) government’s rule of Penang that the decision was made to alienate the land concerned to a private developer.

“I think the only solution is for Koh Tsu Koon as the former chief minister, who is responsible for this problem in Kampung Buah Pala, to take it up with the federal government and ask the federal government for an allocation or a grant to the Penang state for an amount necessary to have a win-win solution,” he said.

A small number of families in Kampung Buah Pala, in the Glugor area of Penang, are facing eviction after a private developer won outright ownership of the land recently.
Continue reading “Federal intervention is only way out in Kampung Buah Pala, says Kit Siang”