PM – deliver Mission 2004 before trotting out Mission 2057!

PM - Mission 2004

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced yesterday that the Barisan Nasional (BN) Supreme Council has decided on “Mission 2057” to ensure continued development in all aspects since independence and after Vision 2020 had been achieved. “Mission 2057” would become the development guideline for another 50 years.

It sounded a rather tall tale that the BN Supreme Council met yesterday to take the policy decision to formulate Mission 2057, when it is not only dubious that Vision 2020 could be achieved but very clear that Abdullah’s Mission 2004 is heading towards a big flop.

Before Abdullah trots out Mission 2057 about Malaysia in another half-a-century, he should deliver Mission 2004 which he had promised in the 2004 general election to lead an efficient, clean, incorruptible, accountable, transparent, just, democratic and progressive administration which is prepared to hear the truth from the people — and for which he had won the unprecedented victory of 91 per cent of parliamentary seats which had never been achieved by the previous four Prime Ministers.

When he became the fifth Prime Minister in November 2003, Abdullah pledged to make anti-corruption the top agenda and proclaimed “zero tolerance for corruption”.

To mark the first three months of his premiership, Abdullah reiterated in an interview with senior editors of major newspapers his priority commitment to change the mindset of Malaysians to match the country’s first-class infrastructure with a first-class mentality, including the eradication of public and private sector corruption.

On his first 100 days as Prime Minister, Abdullah declared in his address to the Cambridge Foundation on 10th February 2004: “My first 100 days was my statement of intent. Now we get to work and walk the talk.”

However, after the unprecedented 91% parliamentary majority victory in the March 2004 general election, Abdullah had forgotten his declaration of “zero tolerance for corruption” or his pledge to make the fight against corruption as the top priority of his administration, as his “statement of intent” of his first 100 days remained mere “statement of intent” for the next 1,115 days till today without any “walk the talk” whatsoever.

Some 40 months after Abdullah’s pledge to “walk the talk” to eradicate corruption, Malaysia is faced with the worst crisis of national integrity in the 40-year history of the Anti-Corruption Agency and 50-year history of the nation, with a spate of corruption scandals in the past two weeks, viz:

  • Serious corruption allegations against the Anti-Corruption Agency director-general Datuk Zulkipli Mat Noor;
  • Serious corruption allegations against the Deputy Internal Security Minister, Datuk Mohd Johari Baharun; in the “freedom for sale” scandal; and
  • Serious allegation by the Chief Justice, Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim of judges who accept bribes.

The Prime Minister should personally attend Parliament next Tuesday (March 20) to explain during Question Time the reasons for the failures of his administration to live up to the high hopes of Malaysians to “walk the talk” to honour the pledges of reform agenda he had made when coming into office.

Abdullah will have the chance to do so as I have an oral question on the first working day of Parliament next Tuesday, listed as No. 3, asking him “to give a progress report on his reform pledges in the past 40 months, highlighting the reasons for the failures/shortfalls and how he could assure Malaysians disappointed that he had failed to ‘walk the talk’ on his reform agenda”.

What is really significant about Abdullah’s remarks after the BN Supreme Council meeting yesterday is his first public admission of not ruling out the possibility of general election this year — as previously, he had taken the stance that he had not given any thought to general election before March next year.

The Prime Minister appears to have lost touch with reality when he said: “People feel good now, better than before, but when the election comes, they will feel even better.”
It is no exaggeration to say that in the history of the past 11 general election, voters never had a better “feel good” environment and euphoria than during the March 2004 general election. It is most astounding that Abdullah is suggesting that there is now such “feel good” factor which is even better than before the March 2004 general election which would be even better when the next general election is held.

Abdullah is only fooling himself if he believes that the country is suffused with a “feel good” factor. What Malaysians have today is not “feel good” but “feel not good” after all the disappointments and disillusionments at the failures of the Abdullah administration to “walk the talk” to deliver the reform pledges and agenda in the past 40 months.

65 Replies to “PM – deliver Mission 2004 before trotting out Mission 2057!”

  1. When is the right time to plan for the next goal?

    If you don’t have a goal, you set one now. After you achieve this, you set the next goal. Is this the correct way to do thing? This way you can focus all your energy to make your current goal successful, may be earlier than the deadline.

    We haven’t even achieved Vision 2020. What to talk about Mission 2057? It only divert the energy and hurt all Malaysian feeling… It gave the impression that Vision 2020 no longer important.

    Even set the Mission 2057, it is 50 years later. Does anyone ever imagine what happen today in year 1957? First you can’t even imagine there is Internet! Second, 50 years is a VERY LONG time. Probably I can talk to my 5 years old boy today and I tell him, 50 years later, our country will see the Mission 2057 to be realized. He will be 55 years old. He shall fought a lifetime for the country. Will he understand what I said?

    Take 20 years man, tell him Mission 2057, he will say, oh my, I will be 70 years old… so all his energy to fight for the country will not be enjoyed by him. What he should do? He will not look at his country. He will look at his own generation to make sure his generation continue to survive. It become personal! It does not help the country!

    I think our leader has made the worst mistake for him, and for his millions Malaysian today.

  2. On issues of all national importance, there is almost a non-existent response from the leaders of the Gerakan and MCA. How true. They are actually the puppets whose strings are firmly attached to the malay Umno.

    It is true what the ex-PM Dr Mahathir has been proclaiming – newspapers in Malaysia are under the control of government – so where can anyone find true news in Malaysia?

    And what about the non-malay party of MIC? This party is being monopolised by Samy Vellu who is another puppet of Umno.

    I am ex-citizen of Malaysia. I came to Singapore in 1998, become a citizen of Singapore in 2006. Unfortunately, my education was did in Malaysia where unfair education regulations and rules are faced by Chinese, Indians and other non-malays.

    The malays are allowed to enter their A Levels even if they get a Grade 3 for SPM. As for the non-malays, they can only enter A Levels with a Grade 1. The malays are automatically given scholarships, while the others are required to apply and play the waiting game.

    To enter into local universities, non-malays need nothing less than excellent results. If one is taking history as a subject for A Levels, Islamic history is a compulsory topic. But English, a global tool, is a non-compulsory passing subject.

    That is why I left. I left a country where there is no system, an unfair government which only cares only for malays interest with no equal opportunity or equal treatment for the others.

    What have Gerakan, MCA or MIC done for us? Nothing. Only the opposition DAP says the things which are truly happening in Malaysia. Who is Khairy to talk about Penang? What does he know about being marginalized?

    The Indians in Malaysia, especially in the rural areas, are in pitiful state. Who is supposed to care for them? The MIC just leaves them to rot away.

    Senior minister mentor Lee Kuan Yew has done a favour for the Chinese in Malaysia by voicing his views recently. Who is going to voice out the plight of the Indians in Malaysia? We non-malays have tolerated the government for far too long.

    Come the next elections, I hope many will awaken from their dream and vote for the right people to bring Malaysia to greater heights. They so far have been failed by the money politics of Barisan Nasional.

  3. PLan for your retirement la! Dont m,ake us Msians t be a laughing sotck of the world after we had claimed the All-England title a few days ago.

    When we are trying so hard to put our name on the world map for the right reasons, you just have to come up with another of your senseless visions! Go tell that Azalina that we dont need London Sports Centre to churn out “PERFORMING ATHLETES”. We can even send our entire football team to travel the globe but ehy will still come back empty handed. DIG IT?

    Looks like our PM has gotten the FAM bug. Winning World Cup in 2018?

  4. No one is as incompetent as the person who has no idea what he is talking about.

    But watching him on TV recently he seems to have lost some wrinkles. The magic of Botox?

    It is a bargaining ploy. Ask for 40 years and perhaps the voters may grant him 10.
    God help Malaysia if we allow one man’s ideas to dominate our future until 2057!

    For me he has failed the test of good leadership and I wonder what N Hill is doing in his grave right now.

    Let us bury BN’s ideas come the next GE.

  5. well, 2 things came to my mind when i read his statement:

    1) Having Mission 2057 means that the current Vision 2020 which was thought up by the previous big leech will be a big flop. That is why he is coming up with his own “feel good” slogan of Mission 2057 so that when e failure of Vision 2020 is imminent, he has something of his own to cover his ass with and make statements like Vision 2020 was thought up by his predecessor and it was not feasible. His version Mision 2057 is better or some other crap of the same sort.

    2) His “feel good” statement is seriously like a slap in e face on all bodoh-land residents. It is just like openly saying that he does not want to have elections yet so that he can make bigger fools out of e citizens n lead them to a false sense to vote for e current batch of leeches again. But then looking back to e not so far history, there r quite a number of ppl who “feel good” about being stupid. Products of local uni.

    Also lately, I have been reading more n more write-ins to e mainstream newspaper of how people defend gov flops like people writing to say how good NS is or what a great move EPF buying RHB is. I find this utterly disgusting.
    Also in today’s news, I read tt tt pile of Najis is suggesting tt NS becomes a 2-year stint. Anyone fr tt 3-star camp better start praying for e next batch of victims cuz they will b bathing in mosquito larvae infested waters for 2 yrs.
    I would also like to ask if it is possible for reporters to go into those training compounds to make checks for themselves. Since it is not really a military compound, there should not be any security problems right? I would really like to c them finding faulty facilities n tt famed bathing spot. Bring some justice to those who suffered needlessly. They may not suffer now but they might hav contracted some disease which is laying dormant now. Better go for a health check

  6. I will be dead by then and so will many of those reading these postings. So the promise is probably aimed at those who are under 18 – minors.

    What happened to our TARGET 2008 under the National Integrity Plan launched in April, 2004?

    For the first five years (2004-2008), the five priority targets known as Target 2008 were:

    Target I: Effectively reduce corruption, malpractices and abuse of power;

    Target 2: Increase efficiency in the public service delivery system and overcome bureaucratic red tape;

    Target 3: Enhance corporaie governance and business ethics;

    Target 4: Strengthen the family institution; and

    Target 5: Improve the quality of life and people’s well-being.

    How do we fare for all these targets? The promise then for Target 1 was:

    The score of 5.2 for Malaysia in the year 2003 will be improved to at least 6.5 by 2008 (10 being the best and 1.0 the worst), as well as the ranking of Malaysia improved from 37th to at least 30th position;

    Reality check: Our CPI score for 2006 was 5.0 and our ranking for 2006 was 44, a drop of 7 notches since 2003.

  7. I learnt this from Larry King Live – his interview with Bill Maher today. Bill Maher said America has had 6 years of experiment with the presidency. If the president is stupid, this is what you get: the country suffers. And we get political hacks running the government. The guy running the Walter Reed hospital for soldiers injured in Iraq and Afghanistan is an ex-real estate agent! He is there because he is Republican. And what a mess!

    I thought Malaysia has had 3 years of experiment with the Prime Minister. When the Prime Minister is stupid (sorry, this is calling a spade a spade & holding the bull by its horns), then we all pay the price for his stupidity. The guys running our government agencies are all political hacks too. The guy running the ACA was an alleged rapist! The guys who manage our investments in EPF are retirees who would have been out of a job! They couldn’t manage the government agencies before but somehow they were appointed to run EPF and just proved again that they can’t run anything!

    Then, if you know those guys in UMNO who become MPs and Assemblymen, you know they just have no faith that the government machinery can be corrupt-free; then they are elected and prove that corruption is endemic.

    That’s Bill MAher’s wit and insight! How true.

    BTW, I wont’ live till 2057 to see Lah-lah’s UTOPIA. Did he alssooo talk about going to planet Mars? Teruskan tidur dan mimpi-lah.

  8. In 2057, UMNO Youth leaders will continue to brandish the keris. In 2057, the NEP is still in full force and effect, as the government says that the 30 pct bumi quota hasn’t been met. In 2057, there will be a bridge between Malacca and the Riau archipelago so that the Indonesians no longer need to come over in boats. In 2057, Malay women represent the largest composition of foreign maids in Singapore and Vietnam.

  9. Blowing hot and cold is not going to help very much but hands on on what has been promised during the 2004 GE as described by our YB Kit “an efficient, clean, incorruptible, accountable, transparent, just, democratic and progressive administration” will definitely help the people and the country.

    I hope what I had written do not sounds disrespectful but if I am, my sincere apology. Many will agree that we are really sick to the bones for all the happenings in the country and the way things are being handled, the country is facing a credibility crisis. This is not good for the country or for that matter for anybody.

    It is good to have long term plans but the present scenario do not allow us to have such opulence. Please solve the many current critical issues so that Malaysia can be a more comfortable country for us for many years to come and many of us cannot wait until 2057, for we will not be around.

    The critical or serious crisis we are facing now are lack of credibility and transparency, uncontrolled corruption and inefficiency. All this will weigh down the country and crumbled her. The country will be thrown back to what is like in 1957 instead of 2057. The Philippines is a good example for us to see. 50 years ago they were very much better off than us, but today thanks to Marcos many of their young and intelligent girls are maids in a far away land.

    My urgent plea to you is do things one at a time. Clean up this mess before we take another step.

  10. Go to East Malaysia and you will find the people there very cool to the 50 years of independendence thing. To many of them, it is not 50 years and they don’t really care for or relate to the independence hoo-ha. They just want the orang semenanjung to get lost for raping their resources and leaving them out of development. They also want the illegals out of their land.

    This yet another new slogan only confirms that we are all good at sloganeering and dreams, nothing more. When our natural resources run out and we are hard pressed for cash, can we live on hot air?

    Sabah, especially, is at boiling point and with the BN ineffective there and in disarray, the Opposition should take the initiative and win the State. Its there for the taking.

  11. why need 2057 when 2020 may not even be achievable?

    why 2020 when the 2004 manifesto is still a flop and is still in warm-up session?

    Hahaha, need not read the comics section. Just read the headline of lies fed to us daily -we’ll have a good laugh of the day. :)

  12. //When he became the fifth Prime Minister in November 2003, Abdullah pledged to make anti-corruption the top agenda and proclaimed “zero tolerance for corruption”.//

    This guy is the biggest liar in the world!
    He cheated all Malaysians!
    He should be jailed!
    Go to hell, liar!

  13. This man is hungry for glory. The signs are all there. All the globetrotting when there are so much to do at home such as keeping to his election promise to eradicate corruption, complete the IPCMC etc. All these are directly under his ministry. If you cannot even do the job of your own ministry properly, why talk big about the country?

    2020 is TDM’s vision. AAB wants to better it, hence 2057. He wants to dilute TDM’s legacy and replace it with his own. Forget the BN Supreme council. They will agree to anything. And this 2057 thing is laying the groundwork for SIL. Soon either him or SIL will claim that the best thing to achieve that 2057 vision is to have continuity and who better than SIL to make this happen?

  14. I don’t feel good at all, and I am quite sure many people I know do not feel good too, we are damn sure we are very unhappy with the progress here in JB, Legaran Segget still stinks. Abdullah is sleep walking, as he walk he is dreaming, he talks in his dreams about his dreams, and that’s ll he did since the Rakyat gave him 91% mandate in the parliment. Enough Abdullah, we are no fools, you used to be a joke but not anymore. I puked at anything you said.

  15. Malaysians are really gullible. To think that we actually believed his manifesto and delivered to him such a huge majority just proves it. I had many friends who were so glad he won by such a huge margin that they forget what the consequences are. They can bulldoze anything they want through parliament as long as they have the 2/3rd’s majority and that’s exactly what’s happening right now.

    And now, we’re feeling it. To actually believe that after so many years of corruption, things would be headed for a change just goes to show how politically immauture we as a nation are.

    YB, you must make it your goal to get back the 1/3rd representation in parliament. Otherwise, it’s gonna get from bad to worse.

  16. Honestly, reading this can be so depressing. I think we also have to change our mindset. Give the man a break. Perhaps if we see it in a positive perceptive….we would not get so depressed. No one is perfect. Can we guarantee a perfect government? Can we guarantee a perfect leader? As long as the good intentions are carried out …let it be. Anyway…we need to be thankful that there is a considerable amount of peace in the country. Our streets are not that safe but compared to many other countries…it is not that bad. Of course…it is good that uncle kit is a voice that make a difference. In making a difference I also think we could come up with constructive criticism not just lashing so negatively. When we say something, would our voice carry weight? Is it worth it? Would it stir anger and hatred? What do we intent to achieve at the end of the day?

  17. His meaning is actually that he targets 2057 to achieve what we should be achieving (not much by any measure, anyway), or should have already achieved, TODAY.

    Procrastinator extraordinaire, this joke of a PM. This insane call of Misi 2057 justifies an emergency admission to Hospital Bahagia. Tie him to his bed, lock his padded ward/cell, and bulldoze the Hospital ….. with him still in it.!

    The mother of all stupid statements from the top leader of a country. I’m ashamed and severely embarrased.

    ITS TIME IS UP.

  18. Like in S’pore, the BN govt is so confident of their grip on power that they can talk candidly about being in control EVEN AFTER 50 years from today. Given a united, moderate, viable Opposition, I’m sure most M’sians who are tired of corruption and incompetence will vote for a change-of-govt.

    Come on Opposition! Kick your opponent when they are bogged down by so much muck in the past few months….

  19. He is trying to overwrite Mahathir’s 2020 vision with 2057. By doing so Mahathir name will be all forgotten by 2020.
    This government does not even know that we will run out of oil within the next decade. So what vision is he talking about. This country is damned without oil. Vision 2057 will be damned in few years.
    Better to form a Vision of Heaven or Hell.

  20. Call whatever you like..mission 2004…wawasan 2020 …or Vision 2057.

    50 yrs is enough to rot the nation with little progress in eradicating racial polarisation, religious divide and moving as one nation..one dream…one force…one people…

    Another 50 yrs, I suppose we shall fall behind Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Tonga, Nigeria..etc..

    If nothing changes in the next 50 yrs, politics based on racial lines will continue, corruption in its highest degree will become more blatant and become a way of life (part of the culture), the nation will become the least developed state in the region, the country will beg for money from China and India.

    We will send our daughters to China,India, Thailand and Cambodia as maids and our sons will be sent to India and China to work as construction workers….

    The best brains from Malaysia will be found in neighbouring countries and provide research breakthroughs in biotech/biomedical engineering fields etc

    There will be water problems, shortage of energy (people have to turn to oil lamps), dirty drainage causing floods, trees chopped off etc

    50 yrs is enough….SAY NO to another 50 yrs….for the sake of our next generation.

  21. THE REAL REASONS:
    Realizing that the current five-year 9MP is going to flop and cannot achieve its objectives, Pak Undurlah has decided to hoodwink the rakyat into a new 50-year plan. Wawasan 2020 has also failed and now it is Wawasan 2057. The only people “feeling good” under the current regime are those buried 6 feet underground.

  22. Mission 2057??? My God..!

    By that year the population of the United States would be predominantly Latino – according to the national population census! Meaning that whites would be a minority in their ‘own’ country. That’s how far it is.

  23. do wht you suppose to do, do it now. dun simply announce this.. annouce that. settle all the current issue. simply announce to make us impress with his leecheship??

    try to look back, which program or activity that launced by G is successful? still remember share car? all bull shit.

    mission 2057, 100 yrs from merdeka. think too far lah, brother…

  24. There are very serious problems facing by our nation now. Although in 2004 AAB promised a policy to eradicate corruption, I did not believe him. I did not think, and still do, he has the political resolve to undo a 22-year socio-politico-economico “destruction” by a man professed to know “many things”. Yea I am talking about the famous Malaysian octogenarian, TDM. He had his time, alot of it, and he wasted his time at helm, and flung in his premiership. Irrespective of what others say about his efforts in industrilising our motherland, built the once-tallest buildings (yes its a plural cause there were TWO buildings) and whatever… the poor/bad outweighed the good.

    You think AAB, who is from a system which is created by his previous boss, can change all this in a span of 4 years? If you do, you probably is not working in a company. Try suggest a change in certain company policy without causing a brouhaha.

    While I agree that changing a 22-year old system does take quite some time, and AAB should be given lots of it; 4 years of virtual inaction on just one issue, one perjuangan, which essentially gave him the huge mandate, was fighting corruption. He, has failed badly.

    Now, it is apparent from his action and that of his son in law, AAB is trying to write a legacy for his own family, for the sake of a legacy. At least, that is what I see.

    If there is one whiff of chance that we can change and improve the system, is that BN, MUST not be handed a 2/3 majority in the Parliament, irrespectively of what the whole of oppositions can offer policy-wise. It is so simple it sounds stupid, and cliche. That was why I have never voted for the ruling party.

    The fear of an Islamic State if Pas wins is unfounded, at least not from what I see in KB and KT during my visits there in past couple of years.

    First of all, Pas can not possibly win in anywhere they contest, not in the next 20 years at least. And secondly, the present political situation will not allow them to do so.

    We however, have seen what a BN-led government can do: like pushing through a bill which undermines Muslim women; asking fellow Parlimentarians to “Keluar” if you do not endorse the view that Malaysia is an Islamic State. Oh yeah, that is how extreme our “secular” BN YB will go.

    No need to start bashing them on contemporary issues like allege corruption, corruption and corruption. The list is so long tt will just leave you “breathless”.

    Now just for a laugh.
    Hornbill posted something about Larry King and the current US prez. Raally, that are quite some similarities between AAB and Dubya Bush:

    (1)
    – Bush has lousy, foot in mouth cabinet secretaries;
    – AAB has lousy, foot in mouth cabinet ministers;
    Example-
    US: The then Secrerary of Defence Rumsfeld said that if you fly over Iraq you do not see any sectarian violence from the place..hahaha, classic.
    Here: the Malaysia Tourism minister was quoted…sigh.

    (2)
    – Bush administration awards many gov contracts to Halliburton;
    – AAB administration awards many gov contract to Scomi.

    (3)
    – Bush administration is losing grip on the war on terror, especially the Iraq War;
    – AAB administration is losing grip on the war on corruption, especially the money politic war;

    (4)
    – Bush likes to play dumb then twist and turn when posed with tough question;
    – AAB likes to play dumb then twist and turn when posed with tough question.

    (5)
    – Bush takes a lot of holidays;
    – AAB is on holiday.

  25. “The guy running the ACA was an alleged rapist!” HORNBILL

    No, no! The victim did not say he had sex with her without consent. She only withdrew her consent during the sex act. But the Judge I consulted with said it would not be rape unless he withdrew completely, followed by fresh penetration which then occurred without her consent. That’s why there is no mention of the word ‘rogol’ in the Police Report.

    As a senior police officer with some training in criminal law, Zulkipli knew that if he were to remain inside her despite her protests, it was technically not rape – perhaps sexual assault and battery.

    It is all about timing. Hornbill, should you find yourself in the same predicament you’d do well to take heed – it is all about timing.

  26. To “feel good” is vastly different from being good! Feel good is when things look good on the outside, which is illusory because that does not necessarily translate to things being really good inside. When voters give the votes because they feel good or better and not because things are really good, it simply implies voters have been deceived, their feelings manipulated.

    Take another example, Mission 2057. First of all, a mission, by definition, is a special task given to a person or group to carry out with a time frame in mind. It means one works towards a goal. It is not necessarily a promise that the goal will certainly be achieved by that time. It is simply a promise to work towards it on best endeavour basis, whether or not it will be achieved at the end.

    The good thing about making a promise of something to be achieved in 50 years time, is that neither promisor nor promisee will live or be around long enough to see the end result.

    Whilst the benefit of such a promise is immediate in the sense that it generates “feel good” sentiments, there is basically no accountability attached to such a promise when the persons motivated by the promise do not live long enough to enquire into conditions in 50 years time whether the promise has indeed been fulfilled, and even if the children or grand children were to remember and hold on to that promise – which itself is unklikely – the persons who make the promise are anyway not around to answer for the failure to honour it by that time.

    50 years ago the birth of this nation was based on a promise that all who patriotically work for the betterment of her will have an equal place under the Malaysian Sun.

    That promise has not yet been delivered after 50 years. Are we going to wait another 50 years?

    Yes, as DarkHorse said, “It is all about timing”!

  27. Uncle Kit,
    You have spent years persuading this ‘self-delusional emperor’ about walking the talk. It’s too late now. Time to shove this ’emperor’ from high-horse and make him ‘feel good’, on the ground. Another case of corruption made headlines involving historical Malacca tainted by MDB(Makan Duit Board) with 600k as kickbacks. The year is long and we already have so many corruption cases pilling up. Soon these rot will drown us as warlords and ‘napoleons’ realised their time is running out and determined to go all out to reap as much as possible while there’s still time for them before the rakyat realised what’s going on.

  28. Do realise, all these cases crops up NOT because of the new found ‘Openess’ as touted by the ‘Emperor’. If he has his ways, chances are we would never encounter such rot. Major scandals and corruption cases revealed for the last 4 years are due to advent of technology, internet and ‘whistle-blowers'(eventhough there’s no protection provided for them). The real champions of a just Malaysia are YOU, ME and WE, ordinary citizens who finds ways to expose these ‘inconvenient truths’ and making real amends to make this country a nation a be proud of. To saudara Kit and all the readers/commentators here, you are contributing to our beloved nation just by participating here, for that I salute you as true Malaysians.

  29. The Ostrich Syndrome
    First published in the 1994 Australian Shepherd Annual
    by C.A. Sharp

    In the decade and a half I have spent informing and educating breeders about genetics and hereditary disease in Australian Shepherds, the most common ailment that has come to my attention is also the most serious. Ironically it is not hereditary. Dogs never get it. You won’t find it in any text or resource manual. But it’s out there, and its presence can make controlling hereditary disorders difficult to impossible. I call it the “Ostrich Syndrome.”

    According to legend, an ostrich will shove its head down in the sand when confronted with something unpleasant. I have encountered more than a few dog breeders who take a similar stance when faced with even a possibility that their dogs might have or carry hereditary disease. What you don’t know won’t hurt you, they seem to think. It may not hurt you, but it can hurt your dogs.

    The Ostrich Syndrome can damage dogs in a number of ways. The ignorance, denial and fear it fosters in breeders can prevent genetic diseases from being identified and studied early enough to keep them from becoming widespread. Breeds which develop a reputation for being disease-ridden risk rejection by the public-including that part of it engaged in agriculture. No farmer or rancher wants a sickly or crippled working animal.

    The Ostrich Syndrome has its effect on individual dogs, too. In some cases dogs which are ill will not get the care they need or will be euthanized and forgotten as quickly as possible. Even healthy dogs can die from the Ostrich Syndrome. More than one high-quality animal has died an unexpected and tragic death–always of something distinctly non-hereditary–when too many of its descendants have been diagnosed with genetic disease.

    A few Ostrich Syndrome afflicted breeders avoid testing their dogs for one problem or another because “it’s never happened in this line.” Well, there’s a first time for everything and if no one is checking there may be a lot of it before you realize what has happened.

    Others will excuse an animal which suffers from something very like a hereditary problem with any number of flimsy excuses, most of which boil down to “it’s a fluke so I can ignore it.” But a rose by any other name can have nasty thorns. Convincing yourself they were caused by too much or too little ozone will not make their prick less painful.
    An interesting and dangerous symptom exhibited by some Ostrich Syndrome sufferers is the tendency to shun those free of the disorder. I once heard of a case where one breeder refused to sell a dog to another because the second breeder tested for a particular disease. In other cases breeders who have stepped forward and said “this dog of mine has/carries such-and-such disease” have been vilified by their peers. I cannot fathom why someone would heap scorn upon the breeder who makes an honest admission that he has had a problem.

    This latter reaction is a form of shooting the messenger. Should some poor soul discover that his dog has a problem and try to share this information with its Ostrich Syndrome infected breeder, he may find that the breeder holds him responsible. Responses can range from unreturned phone calls to abusive language and even threats. As a person who is something of a full-time messenger, I’ve experienced this more than once.

    Humans have an unfortunate compulsion for assigning blame. If something is wrong, somebody (other than me) must be at fault and that somebody should pay. When the Ostrich Syndrome breeder shoves his head deep in the sand and still finds a problem glaring in his face, he is apt to explode in a flurry of pointing fingers.

    Breeders with Ostrich Syndrome are not bad people intent on destroying our breed. They are frightened people faced with something they don’t fully understand, something which threatens the considerable emotional and financial investment they have in their dogs. Denial in the face of the unthinkable is a normal reaction. It gives us a little breathing space in which we can marshall our inner resources to face an unpleasant reality. The Ostrich Syndrome is the refusal to step beyond that initial state of denial.

    Hereditary disease is no one’s fault. The genes which cause it have been there since before there were dogs one could call Australian Shepherds. Even in the very rare case of a genetic mutation, the owner and breeder of the animal are not responsible for its occurrence. Accepting this fact would go a long way toward “curing” the Ostrich Syndrome. Such a cure would free breeders to discuss hereditary problems openly and rationally, leading ultimately to better control of genetic disease.

    If we fail to cure the Ostrich Syndrome we are putting at risk the breed we all claim to love. We must pull our heads out of the sand, stifle our tendency to deny and blame, and face facts. Genetic diseases occur in Australian Shepherds, as they do in all other breeds. Overall we are not in bad shape, but we could get there. Every one of you reading this can think of at least one other breed so riddled with a hereditary disease that it has become irredeemably associated with that disease. We don’t want this to happen to our Aussies. Facing facts can be painful, but the alternative is far worse.

  30. I think the key point is that it does not matter what mission 2057 if the promise of GE 2004 is not achieved first. Corruption, entitlement makes long term goal moot.

    The evidence is clearer than ever. Economically we are not going to do much better than now but growth is much slower, fewer opportunities and only a select few are benefitting. Unless we fundamentally change radically, things can only get worst in the future – growth slower, fewer new opportunities and poor get poorer.

  31. We all like a leader who can think far ahead into the future. In order to make that vision a reality, that leader must have high credibility, meaning that you have a high success rate in your current track record. The trouble with the current PM is that he has no credibility due to his failure to deliver his election promises. He can plan for the next 500 years for all we care, it doesn’t mean anything. Just empty rhetoric to fish for votes. Another brilliant idea from the 4th floor boys?

  32. I AGREED WITH OVERSEA. MCA,MIC,GERAKAN ARE PUPPET TO BARISAN UMNO.THS PEOPLE ARE ASHAME TO THEIR PEOPLE.MIC MY MY .I FEEL SO SAD AND PITY FOR THE INDIAN PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THE RURAL AREAS.ITS SAD THAT NO ONE DARE TO FIGHT FOR THEM EVENDORE WE HAVE FEW RICH INDIAN IN MSIA.WHO DID NOTHING TO HELP THEM.WAKE UP ALL INDIAN U NEED TO DO SOMETHING TO CHANGE.VOTE BN MIC OUT THIS TIME.VOTE DAP,PKR FOR UR FUTURE.

  33. DarkHorse Says:

    March 14th, 2007 at 1:05 am
    “The guy running the ACA was an alleged rapist!” HORNBILL

    No, no! The victim did not say he had sex with her without consent. She only withdrew her consent during the sex act. But the Judge I consulted with said it would not be rape unless he withdrew completely, followed by fresh penetration which then occurred without her consent. That’s why there is no mention of the word ‘rogol’ in the Police Report….

    It is all about timing. Hornbill, should you find yourself in the same predicament you’d do well to take heed – it is all about timing.”

    Darkhorse – Ha, Ha. I’d better set the record straight in case some great guy tries the same trick. Check with your judge friend again on the judgment given in this case, Kaitamaki v R [1985] AC 147. This Jap was charged with rape and his defence was that at the time when he penetrated the woman, he had thought she was consenting. However, he did not withdraw when he realised that she was not consenting. The court held that the actus reus of rape was a continuing act, and so when Kaitamaki realised that his victim did not consent (and therefore formed the necessary mens rea) the actus reus was still in progress! What constitutes ‘rape’ is not the first penetration alone, it’s also the continuing thrusts!

    Same principle of an actus reus as a continuing act was applied in Fagan v Metropolitan Police Commissioner [1969] 1 QB 439.

    Just setting the record straight, Darkhorse, just in case some bloke who read your posting decides it’s safe to go ‘horsing’ around.

  34. But Shahrizat told me otherwise. How did she pass her criminal law?? She told me of the coincidence of ‘mens rea’ and the ‘actus reus’ – both must be present at the same time for there to be a crime.

  35. this guy is stupid or what. he showed his 2004 manifesto but never did he said it was to be delivered in 20 years time. what the hell is wrong with this guy? Now he talking about 2057. Friend first fix the current issues, we are not keen on 50 years from now cos if the foundation today is bad, 50 years from now will be screwed too.

    He should just say he can’t deliver what he promised instead of moving the goalpost or changing the subject!!!

  36. DarkHorse Says:

    March 14th, 2007 at 10:50 am
    “She told me of the coincidence of ‘mens rea’ and the ‘actus reus’ – both must be present at the same time for there to be a crime.”

    That was the law when she was studying for her degree. What have you done? You’ve just exposed her! That coincidence principle is not a catch-all principle.

  37. Thank you Liu for “the Ostrich Syndrome”. How philosophical and I couldn’t agree more,

    “Facing facts can be painful, but the alternative is far worse.”

    It hurts, but if there’s a will, there’s a way.

  38. Endangered Hornbill/DarkHorse,

    What new law is this that a woman in the midst of continuous sex is entitled to treat it as if it were composed of several segments and moments each requiring her review and consent, and depending on her whims and fancies, whether to permit the next thrust or order a permanent withdrawal? This is the first I hear of such a nonsensical thing.

  39. OK, Jeffrey, I think it ain’t fair for us & Darkhorse to hog LKS’ space with this little juicy legal tango.

    If only PAk LAh were a little like Mahatma Gandhi who embraced simplicity as a way of life and whose talk squared with his talk. For instance, Gandhi said:

    “There is enough on this planet for everyone’s needs, but not for everyone’s greed.”

    This is Lesson 101 on Corruption for Pak Lah & his corrupt administration.

    I hope when PKR and DAP takes over the reins, they will continue to ‘fight the greedy and help the needy’ .

    How power has changed Pak Lah’s stripes! He used to be simple, religious and honest! Now see how he often struts around like a peacock, extending the tip of his hand to fawning and servile supporters….and quickly drawing it back even as those hands meet, as if touching plain hands will soil the silky softness of his hands now reserved for the shoulders of celebrities like Michelle Yeoh et.al.

    How power has caused Pak Lah to metamorphose so completely! Once he would gaze at you with kind eyes and hold your attention. Now he floats by…with airs as if supported by balloons, his eyes pricked at the corner but like wisps he disappears and didn’t even notice the old friend who was standing there waiting to say ‘hi’.

    How power has transformed Pak LAh so! I have no envy for him or his position but pity…just pity that a person as nice as him is the latest statistic ravaged by the gleam of power and the glitter of gold; that someone like him could be brought so low and fallen so deep in the morass of moral corruption and degradation.

    A human tragedy. But we love our nation more, so Pak Lah must go. So too his cohorts and the BN train!

  40. 20/20 vision is a term used to express normal visual acuity (the clarity or sharpness of vision) measured at a distance of 20 feet. If you have 20/20 vision, you can see clearly at 20 feet what should normally be seen at that distance.
    If you have 20/57 vision, it means that you must be as close as 20 feet to see what a person with normal vision can see at 57 feet.
    Hence Vision 2057 means that Malaysia has a vision which is severly impaired compared to normal countries.

  41. Is that mean wawasan 2020 being abandoned?

    or he is just simply give an hints of empat ekor to compensate those rakyat who lost a huge money in the last week stok market down fall?

    why 2057? may be our uncle Kit should ask this question in the parlimen? why? what will happen between 2007 to 2057, what is the plan in his mind between this period? or it just simply a number game to fool us around again?

  42. “Endangered Hornbill/DarkHorse,

    What new law is this that a woman in the midst of continuous sex is entitled to treat it as if it were composed of several segments and moments each requiring her review and consent, and depending on her whims and fancies, whether to permit the next thrust or order a permanent withdrawal? This is the first I hear of such a nonsensical thing.”

    I must disagree with HORNBILL. This is not about sex per se. It’s about moral corruption, about unparliamentarily (mis)conduct, morally reprehensible behavior unbecoming of an officer of the law – there you go!!

    The corruption of society’s moral fiber, unlike (money) corruption does not go away when the money is finished! It lingers on and is cancerous and leaves the body only when it is lifeless.

    As for ‘ permanent withdrawal’, it is inappropriate to talk about ‘premature withdrawal’, when institutions like the EPF are not allowing us. I used to go around in my T-shirt with the words “No interest for premature withdrawals” to remind people of our constitutional rights.

  43. I like the way our blogger friends above relates “2057” to vision impaired and empat ekor!

    Yes, I am sure “2057” will strike top prize this weekend! To win, pls make sure you “pau” all the 4 figures, it means 24 combinations!

    Also, pls buy from all 3 Gaming companies too!

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