Category Archives: Uncategorized

KESELAMATAN NEGARA

1. Semasa saya menjadi Perdana Menteri, masalah keselamatan Negara dipikul bersama oleh saya dan Timbalan Perdana Menteri.

2. Adakalanya saya memegang jawatan Menteri Pertahanan dan Timbalan Perdana Menteri memegang jawatan Menteri Dalam Negeri yang bertanggunjawab ke atas Polis. Adakalanya apabila saya tentukan saya sebagai Perdana Menteri akan mengambil tugas Menteri Dalam Negeri, maka Timbalan Perdana Menteri akan dilantik sebagai Menteri Pertahanan. Hanya beberapa kali apabila keadaan mendesak maka jawatan Menteri Pertahanan diberi kepada Menteri biasa. Amalan ini disebabkan soal keselamatan Negara begitu penting.

3. Pada 20 November 1985, saya mengepalai satu rombongan swasta yang amat besar kerana saya anggap terdapat banyak peluang dagangan dengan Negara Cina yang baru sahaja dibuka untuk penyertaan peniaga luar.

4. Saya tidak ingat yang Tun Musa datang berjumpa saya untuk saya tidak pergi ke Beijing tetapi beliau berada di lapangan terbang bersama dengan ramai orang yang ingin ucap selamat pemergian saya ke Cina. Di waktu itu pun saya tidak ingat yang Tun Musa menasihat supaya saya tidak pergi luar negeri.

5. Kejadian peristiwa Memali berlaku pada 19 November 1985, sehari sebelum saya terbang. Memanglah dalam operasi polis seperti ini kemalangan boleh berlaku. 4 anggota polis terbunuh dan 16 penjenayah. Ramai juga yang cedera.

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SPRINGTIME IN PUTRAJAYA

bongor1. Putrajaya is blooming. The trees along Persiaran Utara and Leboh Sentosa are like sakura trees, sometimes covered with pink and white flowers completely or with some leaves and more flowers.

2. It has never been like this. Perhaps it is because of the dry weather.

3. Unfortunately when it rains the flowers drop. But then the grounds under the trees are covered with pink and white petals, like snow.

4. It will not last long. But hurry to see Putrajaya in springtime.

CENSORSHIP

1. During the time when I was leading the Government, I was accused by Western nations, in particular by the Western media of controlling the press. Since retirement I read a lot about the administration of Western countries. The censorship they practise on their press and publication is more stringent than anything we have seen here.

2. The American and Western media and publishers are totally forbidden to say anything unseemly about the Jews and in particular Israel. They may also not report about the unAmerican activities of the Jews in their own country.

3. I read a book on banking, on the setting up of the central banking system, on how the banks finance both sides in the wars of Europe, how they actually manipulate the politicians into going into meaningless wars so they can earn profits from lending the money they created out of thin air. They abuse the financial systems to such an extent that financial crises would plague the countries and even the world every now and again. And when they go bankrupt they force Government’s to borrow money from them to bail out their companies and banks. Continue reading CENSORSHIP

THE RAW HATRED FOR PROTON

proton1. The raw hatred for Proton by some members of the media is quite unprecedented. Nothing is right about Proton. It should really be bankrupted and closed down. That will reduce the price of cars so everyone in Malaysia can own a foreign made car.

2. Firstly car prices are high because taxes are high. But the detractors will say the taxes are high to protect Proton.

3. The protection for Proton is minimal. Most of the exemption from tax that Proton gets can also be obtained by foreign cars if they are prepared to have 90% local contents and are made locally which Proton has achieved.

4. But who cares whether the local contents are high or low. I think we should care because the local contents and local car production have created almost 250,000 high-income jobs directly and indirectly. Imported fully-built-up cars create jobs in their own countries. Do we want 250,000 people to lose their jobs so foreign workers will benefit!

5. Then there is the acquisition of technology and engineering knowhow. We were just assembling foreign cars at inflated cost due to very low deletion allowances in 1983 when Proton was launched. Today we have the capacity to design, build prototypes, test and produce our own cars. Acquiring this capacity carries some cost. But because of Proton’s needs we have produced highly qualified engineers and technicians. And we are not penalised by low deletion allowance for high cost parts.

6. Do we need this capacity? We have ambitions to become a developed country. Can a country of consumers of foreign products ever become a developed country? We see some very rich countries with no industrial capacity at all. They buy everything from foreign countries. Can we say they are developed? We need industrial capacities and sophistication if we aim to become a truly developed country. We need scientists, engineers, inventors, innovators, highly skilled workers etc. etc. We will not have them if we cannot create jobs for them. Proton create those jobs.

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The MCA

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1. The MCA has decided practically unanimously to rejoin the Government as members of the cabinet. This should be welcomed by Malaysians; not all of course, but a majority.

2. Many have criticized the role played by the MCA in the Malaysian Government. It is obvious that UMNO dominated the Government. But then UMNO has always been and even now is by far the biggest party in the BN coalition. Malay dominance in the political field is due to their numerical strength as voters and as elected members. It is an accepted fact, as much as Chinese dominance in the economic field is a reality we must accept.

3. In Malaysia up till now there cannot be one race dominating both the economic field as well as the political field. The best that can happen is a sharing of political and economic power with one race dominant in one field and another in the other.

4. But what cannot be denied is that the partnership between particularly UMNO and MCA, the second biggest party, kept this country stable and able to develop for over half a century. Even the blind and the deaf must admit the good performance of the country lead by UMNO representing the Malays, MCA representing the Chinese and MIC representing the Indians and later together with the indigenous peoples of Sabah and Sarawak.

5. Of course no one is fully satisfied. But in a partnership you cannot get 100% of what you think you are entitled to. UMNO, MCA and MIC and the other ethnic parties must accept the need to sacrifice some in order to gain some. If no one wants to sacrifice anything, there cannot be a partnership. In the end no one gets anything. The bickering and animosity will cause the country to be unstable and unable to develop. It is the inability to make some concessions and sacrifices that has led to what is happening in the countries of the Middle East.

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BRIM

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1. I am amused by the remarks of a Minister that the refusal by 17,000 people in Ipoh to accept the BRIM handout is a mark of their maturity.

2. Actually quite a few people said to me that BRIM is bribe especially when given just before elections. It is the same as giving people placards to raise when you pass. It does not really reflect their feelings or sentiments. Those feelings are better expressed through the votes they cast. Their voting is what reflects their maturity. Of course their feelings may be expressed more crudely.

3. Failure to understand public sentiments would be disastrous for politicians. Self-delusion is even worse.

4. BRIM is costly for a Government facing deficits and shouldering huge debts. At RM500/- per person for 7 million people it would cost the Government 3.5 billion Ringgit. Increase that to RM1,200/- the cost would be 8.4 billion Ringgit. That is a lot of money. Yet there is still a lot of very poor people in the country. Do we really need BRIM. Even without BRIM there was good support by the people. If they do not support it must be because they are not happy with something, maybe even with BRIM. Find out what they are not happy with and you will know what you should do.

5. I am a supporter of the Government. I worked hard to help the party in the last election. But I must admit that I disagree with quite a few things the government is doing.

6. I will not say more.

BOYCOTT ISRAELI PRODUCTS

madeInIsrael1. Europeans have supported Israel since its formation 60 years ago. After all Israel was created by the Europeans. As a result they close their eyes to all the undemocratic and inhuman deeds of the Israelis.

2. Now a group of Europeans have formed a Non-Government Organisation to fight injustice. And they consider the Israeli settlements built on Palestinian land as against international law.

3. Al Jazeera in its Inside Story series hosted a debate between two Jews and one Palestinian. But one of the Jews, a former head of the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, was not blindly supportive of Israeli settlements.

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MULTIRACIAL MALAYSIA

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1. Malaysia is a truly multiracial country. It is truly so because Malaysians retain their identification with their countries of origin.

2. Multiracial countries are almost never peaceful. More so if the races follow different religions, speak different languages and adhere to different cultures as in Malaysia.

3. But contrary to general expectations, Malaysia is relatively peaceful and stable. It is accordingly more prosperous than can be expected of countries which gained independence recently.

4. The reason for Malaysia’s peace and prosperity is because the people believe in sharing, sharing political power and economic wealth.

5. Unfortunately there are in this country people who wish to end this sharing concept. They see a possibility of dominating not just economic wealth but political power as well.

6. They dangle this bait before the Chinese in the 2013 elections. And this resulted in wholesale desertion of Chinese voters from the BN coalition to basically the DAP.

7. Fortunately the majority of Malays adhered to the sharing concept espoused by the BN. And so, despite this desertion the BN won, but won with a much thinner majority. The fact that the contribution to this victory is largely by Malays and other indigenous people reflects a rejection of the concept of inter-racial sharing by non-Malays.

8. I think the parties in the BN should be reminded that this is a multiracial country and it can only remain peaceful and prosperous if they uphold this ideal of sharing between the races.

9. The Malays must remember that they cannot rule and prosper this country on their own.

10. They need the dynamism and business skills of the Chinese. They need also the professional skills of the Indians.

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FLOODS

flood1. Every year the east coast states would suffer from floods, with loss of property and lives. In Kuala Lumpur and other cities and towns flash floods following heavy downpours occur regularly several times a year.

2. We accept these floods as a climatic feature of Malaysia, as something which must happen. It is God’s will. There is no way we can stop them. And so we make preparation for the victims – food and evacuation centers. We commiserate with those who lost their loved ones.

3. The architects of Malaysia are not satisfied with just repairing the damage by the floods. In particular they want to prevent motor vehicles parked in underground car parks from being “drowned” as water pours down and fills up the multi-storied underground parking lots.

4. So now they build six-storeyed car parks above the ground. The residences and hotels have their first floor seven storey above the ground.

5. The cars are saved from the flood waters. But the buildings look ugly especially when no attempt is made to decorate architecturally the bare openings around the car parks to the outside.

6. A better and more attractive design would be to maintain the underground car parks but with the first floor of the building, (lobby or entrance hall) raised to about 12 feet or more above the level of the street or the road.

7. The building’s first floor must be about 12 feet plus from the road level with concrete walls surrounding the space below the first floor extending down to surround the car park bellow the building. The space between the wall and the road can be filled with earth and grown with grass and flowering plants.

8. A ramp must be built from the road to the entrance of the building at the first floor. Another ramp must be built for the cars to drive down into the multi-storeyed car park below. The car park must be enclosed by solid walls and floor. There must be good lighting and security.

9. The road or street will become virtual drains during floods due to rain or tide. This will help the flood waters to drain quickly into the canals or rivers as soon as tide goes down or rain stops.

10. On the east coast where floods regularly occur during the monsoon rain, the simplest solution is to go back to building houses on stilts like the old Malay houses. The first floor of the houses must be above the highest flood water mark.

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