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An Open Letter to a Muslim Journalist “Spy”

Saudara,

I just read that recently you and a friend visited one of the churches that I belong to. I was surprised that you had to do it in disguise. You should have told the Catholic community there that you were coming and we would have given you a grand welcome.

Such was the experience of the MP for Shah Alam, Khalid Abdul Samad from Pas, who was even given a standing ovation when he visited and had a dialogue with the parishioners of the Church of the Divine Mercy in Shah Alam last year.

Some time back I was attending a Mass (Catholic worship) in a Catholic church in Petaling Jaya and was very moved by the presence of a group of Muslim students together with their Muslim professor who had taken them there as part of their “exposure programme”. None of them were converted.

You see we are not an underground church nor do we function in a clandestine manner. Our hearts are on the holy and not on the hideous. We even pray for Najib the PM, though I feel we do not pray enough for the Opposition. We also pray for people like you who do more harm than good to the name of your religion of peace, tolerance and compassion.

Continue reading “An Open Letter to a Muslim Journalist “Spy””

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The Talent, the Tragedy & the Triumph

By Martin Jalleh

You brought back magic into music, leaving an indelible imprint. You gave dance an indescribable grace and showed impeccable mastery of movement.

You merged music and video and brought about a MTV generation. You magnificently and incredibly blended and bridged arena rock, soul and pop.

You moved the world’s conscience with your humanitarian spirit and inspired us with your clarion call to care for the hungry, homeless, HIV/AIDS victims and those without hope.

You mesmerized peoples of all races, languages and cultures, in every country, instilling in them the message that what mattered most was love and mutual respect.

You were matchless – you were an original, creative, unique and magnetizing musician and artist. Continue reading “The Talent, the Tragedy & the Triumph”

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One Perak!

by Martin Jalleh

One man’s catchphrase of reform – “the culture of change” is in reality one potent chicanery and concoction of 4Cs – Corruption, Coercion, Crossovers and Coups. The self-proclaimed “people’s Prime Minister” with his recycled One Malaysia slogan, robs in broad daylight the people of Perak of their right to determine their State Government.

One haughty political party humiliated in the last general election and by a series of by-election losses, hangs on to power desperately. It hijacks a state government by high-handed, hideous and heinous means such as money politics, mysterious disappearances, mobs and manipulative manoeuvrings of the nation’s democratic institutions.

One fraudulent State Government is formed by the crossovers of two assemblymen charged with corruption, one assembly woman who compromised and reduced the price of democracy to cash and Camry – a threesome who made themselves “independent” of the will of the people – and the double-crossing over of one Umno assemblyman. Continue reading “One Perak!”

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Zambry is not a very smart man

by Martin Jalleh

BN-appointed menteri besar Zambry Abd Kadir thinks he is very slick and smart. Sadly, he has shown himself to be very shallow and slow.

He had very gleefully posed what M’kini called a “pertinent question” to the Menteri Besar of Perak Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin. He had thought he had delightfully delivered a body blow, damned his rival, and driven him to the ground.

Zambry claimed that Nizar had stated his position as ‘Pasir Panjang assemblyman’ and not as ‘menteri besar’ in his nomination papers filed last Saturday, to contest the Bukit Gantang by-election on April 7.

“All this while, he has been telling the whole world he is the lawful menteri besar. So why didn’t he address himself as the menteri besar in the nomination papers?” exclaimed Zambry, much to the delight of the crowd comprising mainly women and the elderly. (M’kini)

The answer is very simple and it reflects how astute a politician Nizar really is. He has taken into account the politicial realities that he has to contend with — realities that appear more and more grotesque with each passing day in Bukit Gantang. Continue reading “Zambry is not a very smart man”

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Political Roguery Runs Riot In Perak

by Martin Jalleh
(MJ tries to capture the initial events leading to Umno’s power grabbing, pariah politics and pyrrhic victory in Perak)

The rakyat of Perak are robbed in broad daylight of their political right to determine the State Government they want. Their will is ridden roughshod over by a few renegades and running dogs ready to reap their reward. A day of reckoning will come.

A fraudulent state government rules Perak. It is a farcical government of a fallacious “majority”. The people are frustrated and furious. They believe that a fake legislature forced upon them will eventually face its fatal consequences.

C4 and 4Cs

The Election Commission (EC) plays politics and panders to the political (pay)master. It even portrays itself as a court of law and makes a palpably wrong decision that prevents the people from being the paramount arbitrator to overcome Perak’s political deadlock.

The new EC chairman refuses to recognise the Perak Speaker’s request to call for two by-elections after two assemblymen “prostituted” themselves. It is a duty which he is constitutionally bound to do so – a fact promptly and plainly confirmed by his predecessor.

The EC chairman sets a precedent that will perpetuate party hopping and paves the way for Umno’s power grabbing, pariah politics and pyrrhic victory. He reinforces growing public suspicion that the EC is hand-in-glove with the powers-that-be. Continue reading “Political Roguery Runs Riot In Perak”

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Nazri, who is the “small boy” in the PM’s Department?

by Martin Jalleh

Who is small the boy in the Prime Minister’s Department who treats and turns parliament into his personal playground where he proudly leaves a trail of his political pooh behind?

Who is the small boy who tries to act tough, talks big and throws his weight around and wants everybody to think that he is the PM and that he knows everything?

Who is the small boy who childishly threatens and taunts those who stand up to him, and refuse to tolerate his temper, tantrums and theatrics?

Who is the small boy who cannot take criticisms and goes into a fit or a foul frolic or flaunts his foolishness according to his whim and fancy?

Who is the small boy who said he would advise the Cabinet to replace the then ACA Investigations Director with whom he had a war of words with!

Who is the small boy who told Parliament that former Lord President Salleh Abas and other senior judges involved in the judicial crisis 20 years ago were not “sacked”?

Who is the small boy who shouted in parliament like some street bully “racist and “bloody racist” at DAP MP M Kula Segaran – 41 times in a space of five to 10 minutes? Continue reading “Nazri, who is the “small boy” in the PM’s Department?”

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Reformasi reigns under a raintree

(MJ reporting from the site where history was created)

I have never felt so proud of being a son of Perak than today. It was a historic and unforgettable moment. It was a moment made up of heroic courage accompanied by an unending chorus of “Hidup Perak”. It was a moment which Perakians could hold their heads high and know that there is hope.

For once “Malaysia Boleh” meant something very significant to me. What took place happened in Bolehland! In the midst of the crowd there was a placard which read: “The Whole World is Watching”. Yes, the whole world saw how the people of Perak and their leaders refused to bow, bend and buckle under Najib’s nefarious tricks and Umno’s manipulative maneuverings.

The whole world saw how a brave bunch of State Assemblypersons refused to be bribed, bought over, bullied or budge and how they are ready to face the possible consequences of their bravery in standing up to the powers-that-be who brazenly and shamelessly robbed the people of their State Government.

Today, Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin was voted and confirmed unanimously in a motion of confidence the true and legitimate Menteri Besar of Perak by the Perak State Assembly. This took place in an “emergency sitting” held under a raintree and an open sky – in the approving and affirming presence of the people. Continue reading “Reformasi reigns under a raintree”

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Nazri play-plays and pooh-poohs in parliament!

by Martin Jalleh

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz, has a very long tradition of treating parliament as his personal playground where he proudly leaves a trail of his political pooh behind.

When he fails in an intelligent debate in parliament or when an answer deserts him, leaving him dumb, he dishes out a diatribe, creates a dramatic diversion or distraction, and/or goes into a delirium.

Nazri acts tough, talks and thinks as though he is the PM, or he knows everything, threatens and taunts those who stand up to him, throws a tantrum together with some theatrics when things don’t go his way.

Past and present Speakers or their deputies have always given the Minister full and free access to the House to go into a fit or a frolic or to flaunt his foolishness according to his whim and fancy.

Nazri’s rewriting of history on 6 Nov. 2008 adds to the list of growing examples of the Minister treating the House as a place where he “play-plays” by being provocative and pokes fun at serious issues.

He told Parliament that former Lord President Salleh Abas and other senior judges involved in the judicial crisis 20 years ago were not “sacked” but had their “services terminated early”. Yet, in Sept. 2006 he had himself taken part in a ‘1988 Judicial Crisis – To review or not?’ forum attended by 1,000 people who had heard him defend the sacking of the judges!
Continue reading “Nazri play-plays and pooh-poohs in parliament!”

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Change has come to Malaysia!

by Martin Jalleh
(MJ from the Shah Alam Court )

It was a very moving moment in time – one which your memory will forever hold and behold. I had thought that we only get to see this in a Disney movie. But it was happening right in a courtroom in Bolehland today (7 Nov. 2008).

The packed courtroom of Raja Petra (RPK) supporters could not contain their joy. They clapped and burst out into cries of excitement and elation even before Justice Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad could finish delivering his judgment.

They were gently reprimanded by the judge that they were in a Court of Law. But for some it was impossible to be silent. You can’t be restrained when it is such a great and glorious victory! And so they whispered: “We have won! We have won! RPK is free!”

The judge ruled that the detention of RPK under the ISA was illegal (unconstitutional) and ordered his immediate release. The court found the (Home) minister had not followed proper procedure under Section 8 of the ISA.

As the judge left for his chambers, everyone sprung up…some with their clenched fists raised high in the air – speechless. Others grabbed the nearest person available to express their elation whether it be a stranger, supporter or Special Branch. Continue reading “Change has come to Malaysia!”

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Of Pretentious Promises, Parachuting Promotions & Pressured Praise

by Martin Jalleh

The Palace of Justice has a new “prince” – Zaki Tun Azmi. He was promptly sworn in as Chief Justice (CJ) soon after the Conference of Rulers went through the procedural motions and provided consent to his extraordinary elevation.

His Lordship had leap-frogged from the legal profession into the Federal Court last September. Two months later he was proclaimed Court of Appeal (CoA) president. Now (almost a year later) he is proudly perched on the highest post in the judiciary.

Zaki’s political “parachuting” has no precedent. But be not perturbed. Did not the PM promise (especially after his party had quickened his passage into the sunset) that he would produce profound changes in the judiciary?

Indeed, before he packs his bags and participates fully in Umno’s early retirement plan for him, Pak Lak would prove to the whole of Bolehland that he still has the penchant to produce the very opposite of what he initially promises. Continue reading “Of Pretentious Promises, Parachuting Promotions & Pressured Praise”

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Game’s Up, Gani, Time To Go!

By Martin Jalleh

Lady Justice haunts and hounds Bolehland’s Attorney-General (AG) Abdul Gani Patail over his hidden hand in Anwar Ibrahim’s trials 10 years ago. The skeletons in his cupboard hang out. He can no longer hide behind the skirt of the Executive. The naked truth has caught up with him.

The latest expose on the AG having abused his power to fabricate evidence in Anwar’s trials was made by Lim Kit Siang in Parliament yesterday (Malaysiakini, 15.10.08). The veteran politician likened Gani to a “criminal” and demanded that he “resign immediately”.

Quoting unnamed sources, Kit Siang said that he understands that solicitor-general Idrus Harun had carried out an investigation into the claims (in a police report filed by Anwar) in July and “has concluded that the AG had indeed abused his power to fabricate evidence” against Anwar.

Several days before Kit Siang’s revelation, the public got to hear the startling claims by Mat Zain Ibrahim, a retired senior police officer who probed the infamous “black eye” incident involving Anwar in 1998, on Gani having allegedly tampered with evidence in the case (Malaysiakini, 10.10.08). Continue reading “Game’s Up, Gani, Time To Go!”

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Peerless Patriot & Prince

By Martin Jalleh

Umno’s “internal security” is being severely threatened. The Umno elite are scared stiff as their political survival is seriously at stake. Split into camps, they scramble to save themselves.

The PM and DPM put on a see-through smile together as they sit side-by-side – and struggle with the hidden question – who is going to sink or swim by the end of the “show”?

The sad and solitary-looking president of Umno is stunned and left speechless after the Umno supreme council made a decision to “smoothen” his early exit.

The bosses of the servile mainstream press continue to suck up to their political masters, giving stories a spin and a slant that suits, soothes and serves the Umno-dominated government.

As it slowly self-destructs, a desperate Umno begins yet another senseless season of intimidation with a slew of repressive laws to contain, cripple and crush legitimate dissent. Continue reading “Peerless Patriot & Prince”

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Of Pakatan, People, Principles, Patience and Prudence

by Martin Jalleh

With each passing day, Umno, which had very arrogantly declared that it would bury Anwar Ibrahim politically, continues to dig its own grave.

The results of the by-election in Permatang Pauh sounded the death knell to the supremacist party. It was the last nail that the party drove into its own coffin.

After the General Elections in March it became evident that Umno is not short of leaders like Ahmad Ismail who desperately seek to write Umno’s obituary.

Sharing this privilege is Dr M, whose self-deceiving sarcasm puts him in a state of denial especially over the fact that Umno started to decay and decompose during his days!

Umno’s colleagues in the BN whose parties are also disintegrating have made it clear that they can no longer swallow nor stomach Umno’s political vomit and venom.

The PM increasingly looks like a lame duck, kept afloat by a pool of lame-brained ministers like Najib, Nazri and Syed Hamid – experts at offering lame excuses.

It is against this dark despairing scenario that Anwar and the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) offer much-needed hope. There is great urgency to bring about real and radical change. Continue reading “Of Pakatan, People, Principles, Patience and Prudence”

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Home Minister very at home with his ignorance

by Martin Jalleh

Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar believes it is his prerogative and position to preach to the Catholic community in Bolehland on what they should and should not believe in.

“Religion and politics should not mix”– he pontificates. This is ludicrous especially coming from a Minister whose political party’s interpretation of its own religion has politicised almost everything in Bolehland.

The Home Minister hops on the bandwagon of the horde of “little mullah napoleons” (LMNs) in the country to dominate, dictate, decide and even define what non-Muslims can and cannot discuss, deliberate on, and display in print.

He joins the LMNs in his ministry in hounding The Herald. He says he was not aware of the instructions by his Ministry to decide whether to suspend or revoke The Herald’s publication permit, yet he decides to threaten the publication. Continue reading “Home Minister very at home with his ignorance”

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A Truly Defining & Defying Moment!

by Martin Jalleh

The Umno-BN hegemony has come to a sudden halt. The 50-year old political juggernaut has been severely jolted. Its formidable force fragmented. A mean machine has been reduced to a mouse.

The coalition that had used its brute majority to bully and bulldoze its way and will in Parliament, blinked when the Opposition breached its two-thirds majority. It was something that they had not bargained for.

The regime of humbug, hype, hypocrisy, hysterics and histrionics, displayed especially in Parliament, has been humbled, even humiliated. People in high places came hurtling down without knowing what really hit them.

The government of unbridled arrogance of power and brazen high-handedness has been brought low. A haunting silence hovers over the once haughty as their political future hangs heavily against hope. The high and mighty are hushed.

The powers that have dominated, dictated and decided for “the good of the people” have been dented. The BN is left in a daze as to why and how they have been ditched and damned so decidedly. Continue reading “A Truly Defining & Defying Moment!”

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Of Bull, Broken promises, Blockheads, Buffoons, Bigots, and Bravehearts

Martin Jalleh
14 Feb. 2008
It is the Year of the Rat. The Prime Minister (PM) has just let the cat out of the bag – the “General Elections (GE)” will be real soon, for there is a feeling amongst many that the country is going to the dogs.

The PM, who has never lost any sleep since he became the PM – has been trying to awaken the nation to an imminent GE. He had declared in June last year, in what could have been the most important statement of his political career: “I am no sleeping PM”!

Four years have passed swiftly by since Pak Lah became PM. He has made it very clear he is no “one-term” PM. Why, in between his many 40 photogenic winks he has even come up with Vision 2057! Who says the PM has failed to walk the talk — when he has even managed Bolehland sleepwalking!

But the boys on the fourth floor of Putrajaya who have been spinning the broken record which critics have entitled “I started a joke” have a tough job ahead. Experts of make-believe and myths, they have to create a mega-mirage of a PM and a government with a proven track record this coming GE.

Often, and as was evident in 2007, their script and sandiwara have spun out of control by the silly statements of small-minded and self-serving sycophants surrounding the PM, causing Pak Lah and his government to stumble from one comic caper to another.

As the government’s delivery system fell apart, very symbolically and significantly so did structures give way in buildings such as parliament, the world’s second largest court complex in Jalan Duta and even Putrajaya.

Back to the PM’s “proven track record”, surely the year 2007 was a very “revealing” year and there was so much that the ordinary citizen of Bolehland could fall back on to help them decide who they should vote for this coming GE. Continue reading “Of Bull, Broken promises, Blockheads, Buffoons, Bigots, and Bravehearts”

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Of Public Protests, Pondans and a Pea-Brained Minister

by Martin Jalleh

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz has trouble in understanding why 40,000 people took to the streets recently to submit a memorandum calling for electoral reforms, to the King.

The Minister is actually quite consistent in his lack of understanding especially when it comes to the right of assembly. Well, he had found it difficult to comprehend why 2,000 lawyers walked to Putrajaya to submit a memorandum on judicial reform to the PM.

Nazri displayed his sterling ignorance when he asked in parliament recently: “The opposition has won seats in the previous elections, especially in Kelantan, why are they calling for the Election Commission (EC) to be freer and fairer?”

The answer is rather simple — if they do not press for an electoral reform, they may even lose all their seats in the next coming general elections due to the farce, flaws and fraud that has been and still is increasingly evident in the electoral system.

Nazri told parliament: “… it would be pointless to try and understand the reason behind the rally as the brains of opposition members do not function well… the wires in their heads are severed. I don’t understand why they claim that the EC is unfair.”

Nazri was over-confident of the “wiring” in his own brains, for it was only recently that he had in fact quite loudly told opposition MPs “not to get over-excited about the ‘independence’ of the EC, when it does not exist” (Malaysiakini, 23.10.07)!

Nazri had added: “We all know that we have the EC Act. If you take that into account, the EC is bound to the legislature and it is also tied to what we would approve… So, don’t get too excited when discussing the EC’s independence because it cannot act freely — it is tied to the legislature.”

Contrary to what Nazri had claimed, the EC is established and given a specific mandate by the Constitution. It is not answerable to the Executive nor to the Legislature. In other words, Nazri’s brains are not functioning as well as he would like us to believe.

Nazri should not confine himself in the comfort of his air-conditioned office in Putrajaya. He should join the rakyat in the next walk for justice or electoral reform — get a feel of reality. It would enhance his short memory and prevent his thinking faculties from short-circuiting. Continue reading “Of Public Protests, Pondans and a Pea-Brained Minister”

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An Open Letter to Sultan Azlan Shah

Your Royal Highness,

Thank you very much for portraying the truth about the state of the country’s judiciary and your accompanying clarion call for major reforms in the judiciary during your opening address at the 14th Malaysian Law Conference recently.

You acknowledged with sadness that “there has been some disquiet about our judiciary over the past few years and in the more recent past… there have been even more disturbing events relating to the judiciary reported in the press”.

“We have also witnessed the unprecedented act of a former Court of Appeal judge writing in his post-retirement book of erroneous and questionable judgments delivered by our higher courts in a chapter under the heading ‘When Justice is Not Administered According to Law’.”

You highlighted “serious criticisms” against the judiciary such as delayed judgments and backlog in cases as a result of incompetence. You gave the example of a case of medical negligence involving a death of a lawyer which took 23 years to reach the Court of Appeal.

“Similarly there have been reports that some judges have taken years to write their grounds of judgments involving accused persons who have been convicted and languishing in death row.” (Like the judge who failed to deliver 35 judgments including four in which the convicted are languishing in jail despite being sentenced to death seven years ago?)

“Surely, such a situation cannot be tolerated in any progressive nation,” Your Royal Highness so very aptly concluded. The powers that be should therefore understand why the lawyers walked, the people talked and the rest blogged.

You have rightly pointed out that this is not the first time that you have expressed grave concern over the judiciary: “In 2004, I had stated that it grieved me, having been a member of the judiciary, whenever I heard allegations against the judiciary and the erosion of public confidence in the judiciary.” Continue reading “An Open Letter to Sultan Azlan Shah”

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The ‘Stupid, stupid, stupid!’ Minister

by Martin Jalleh
(3 Aug 2007)

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s (PM’s) Department, Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, is living proof that it does not require much intelligence to be a Minister in Bolehland. Before one can be a Cabinet Minister one has to be a Member of Parliament (MP) of a component party of the Barisan Nasional (BN) — and this too is peanuts (nothing to do with monkeys, surely). One only needs to be spineless, silly, sexist and of course ‘stupid’.

Nazri has also very successfully shown by his trademark threats and theatrics, why he deserves the role of the Minister overseeing parliamentary affairs. When intelligent debate and delivery is demanded of him, he would choose to dish out a diatribe of great distinction.

Bark & Bull

Following the detention of blogger and PKR webmaster Nathaniel Tan on July 13 for an investigation under the Official Secrets Act, and a high-level police report lodged by UMNO against the web portal Malaysia Today, Nazri warned (Bernama, 24.07.07):

‘The government will not hesitate to use the Internal Security Act (ISA), the Sedition Act 1948 and Section 121b of the Penal Code against bloggers (who make ‘disparaging statements’). The government has exercised restraint in the matter for a long time and the time has come for it to act according to those laws.’

The government (read as ‘UMNO’) is desperate. For so long it has succeeded in dominating and dictating the thinking of the citizens of Bolehland. The age of information technology has changed this, but the nation’s political dinosaurs still living in an ice age refuse to budge but prefer to bark and bull with the same old tone, tune and threats.

Nazri accuses bloggers of making ‘disparaging statements’ — yet he comes from a party tainted with a culture of political assassinations, poison pen letters and provocative religious statements and racial slurs and stunts. He threatens bloggers with a slew of repressive laws — whilst inferring there is greater freedom now in comparison to the previous regime of the ‘lack of freedom and some dictatorial tendencies’ (NST, 20.09.06).

Nazri should give ear to the wisdom of woman activist Zainah Anwar (NST, 27.07.07): ‘I wish our political leaders and government servants would wake up to living in the information age. There has been a seismic transformation in how people receive information and form opinions. Those with formal authority are no longer the authorities in the age of information technology. The government can no longer maintain control over what people read, hear, watch, let alone think.

‘Mainstream journalists are no longer the gatekeepers over what the public knows. The ability of technology to cause change is much faster than the ability of government to control change… The big losers in this age are those who hold traditional power.’ Continue reading “The ‘Stupid, stupid, stupid!’ Minister”

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Samy’s Cheap Wedding Greetings

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by Martin Jalleh

Samy had proudly sent to Jeanne and Badawi,
A congratulatory statement in perfect poetry,
So spellbound was Bolehland by his originality.

But damn, a sharp reader of Malaysiakini
Spotted Samy’s true and hidden capability
For from two poems, the Minister did copy.

As shame no longer exists in our country
Slowly but surely, silently, subtly and slyly
Samy sends in his handy press secretary.

“Blame not my master,” said he slavishly
“But blame rather on my lapse of memory.
“The authors I have left out inadvertently!”

Our sympathies, dear Jeanne and Badawi
For being treated to Samy’s cheap publicity
and pathetic excuses of his press secretary. Continue reading “Samy’s Cheap Wedding Greetings”