Category Archives: Uncategorized

THE EAST ASIA ECONOMIC COMMUNITY

1. I am glad to read the report that the new Prime Minister of Japan, Yukio Hatoyama intends to pursue the proposal for an East Asian Economic Community.

2. I had always felt that the countries of East Asia should speak with one voice when negotiating with the European Union and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). If we don’t then the Europeans and the Americans would dominate such negotiations. Obviously they would want to favour themselves to our detriment.

3. This is not about hating the West as someone suggested when I drew attention to a UN Agency proposal to have a special currency to replace the US Dollar for the purpose of trade settlements and reserves. It is simply because unlike other countries the US Dollar is not backed by anything.

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CALON PILIHANRAYA

1. Saya akui calon yang bersih pun boleh kalah dan calon yang kotor pun boleh menang. Di Bagan Pinang, saya percaya siapa juga yang dilantik sebagai calon, besar kemungkinan dia akan menang.

2. Sudah lupakah kita akan pilihanraya kecil di Permatang Pasir di mana calon Barisan Nasional terdiri daripada seorang peguam yang dikatakan terlibat dengan melesapkan duit pelanggannya dan berbohong berkenaan dengan jumlah isterinya? Kempen BN mudah dipatah oleh parti lawan. Apabila ia kalah ramai yang berkata BN harus selidik dahulu latarbelakang calon. BN tidak harus letak calon yang mempunyai latar belakang yang mudah dijadikan isu oleh parti lawan.

3. Imej UMNO sekarang sudah banyak tercemar dengan politik wang semasa pemilihan Majlis Tertinggi. Boleh dikatakan hampir semua yang dipilih terlibat dengan rasuah.

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SELAMAT HARI RAYA


Saya dan isteri saya mengucapkan Selamat Menyambut Hari Raya Aidil Fitri kepada semua pembaca blog ini khasnya dan kepada semua umat Islam di Malaysia.

Saya harap kita dapat menyambutnya dengan meriah tetapi sederhana dan dengan penuh kesyukuran disamping menyedari bahawa ramai dikalangan kita yang tidak berkemampuan.

Kepada yang pulang beraya di kampung, berhati-hatilah di jalanraya dan pandu dengan cermat.

Selamat Hari Raya.

Maaf Zahir dan Batin

Mahathir dan Hasmah

THE GARLAND OF SLIPPERS


1. I have been asked again and again by the Press about what I felt regarding the garland of slippers suggested by an MIC member.

2. My reply is that it really is nothing new. As a politician one has to accept this kind of insult.

3. For example after I stepped down Umno leaders vilified me because I criticised Abdullah’s decision on the bridge and other things. I did not complain then and no one openly condemned the Umno leaders for insulting me. They feared that it might displease the Prime Minister. In other words condemning me was acceptable; it was not a sign of disrespect for a so-called elder statesman. Why should it be any different now.

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KUOTA HAPUS


1. Tidaklah penting kita tahu asal-usul kuota dalam pemilihan pemimpin UMNO. Namun demikian izinkan saya cerita sedikit berkenaan latar belakangnya.

2. Pada tahun 1986 Dato (Tun) Musa Hitam, musuh ketat Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah telah berjaya pujuk Tengku bertanding jawatan Presiden UMNO. Beliau sendiri sanggup jadi timbalannya.

3. Seperti biasa bahagian-bahagian (UMNO), dalam mesyuarat telah namakan calon mereka. Hanya 20 peratus menamakan Tengku Razaleigh.

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MAKAN SUAP

1. Ada orang politik yang berpendapat jika dapat jadi Presiden parti maka kemenangan mereka dalam pilihanraya terjamin.

2. Justeru itu mereka ini berusaha untuk menentukan kemenangan mereka melalui penyingkiran ahli yang tidak menyokong mereka, mengguna wang untuk membeli sokongan atau mengguna apa-apa kuasa yang ada pada mereka untuk menyogok, menjanji sesuatu kepada yang akan menyokong atau mengugut.

3. Hasilnya mereka menang dalam parti. Tetapi rakyat memerhati segala tindak-tanduk pemimpin dan ahli seperti ini. Apabila rakyat lihat perjuangan parti bukan lagi untuk rakyat; apabila mereka lihat rasuah dan ugutan yang menentukan kepimpinan, maka kepercayaan kepada parti dan pemimpinnya akan terhakis dan mungkin hilang lenyap.

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THE LESSON FROM JAPAN

1. The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan which had ruled the country since World War II has been trounced by the Democratic Party of Japan in the recent election.

2. This follows the trend which many political parties which had struggled and achieved independence had undergone. The Mashumi Party of Indonesia, the Muslim League of Pakistan, the parties which wrested independence for numerous African countries have all but disappeared.

3. It seems as if the people no longer cared for the struggles and the sacrifices that had been made by those parties and their leaders. It seems as if the beneficiaries of these struggles do not know how to be grateful.

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NEW CURRENCY NEEDED, SAYS UN – BLOOMBERG

1. For a long time now Malaysians have been questioning why we must use the United States’ Dollar for international trade, why we cannot use a dinar or any other currency. But Malaysians are not supposed to know anything about money, about finance. So nobody listens.

2. Now it is the United Nations which is saying that its member countries should agree on the creation of a global reserve bank to issue a new currency and to monitor the national exchange rates of its members, according to Bloomberg reporting on the Geneva-based UN Conference on Trade and Development.

3. The report said that China, Brazil and Russia this year called for a replacement of the Dollar as the main reserve currency after the financial crisis sparked by the collapse of the mortgage market led to the worst global recession since World War II.

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SOUND BITES

For the Lawyers – The Constitution and Parliament

1. When I asked whether the Constitution or Parliament came first, I just wanted to make certain. But I am sorry that most who answered were not lawyers.

2. According to Tun Suffian in his book “An Introduction to the Constitution of Malaysia”, the Constitution was promulgated on Merdeka Day, 31st August 1957, i.e. before there was a Parliament. In fact the Constitution created the Parliament.

3. The question which arises is whether it is governed by the Interpretation Acts of 1948 and 1967 (Act 388) which in Part 1 section 2 under Application reads;

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DASAR EKONOMI BARU

1. Saya berasa amat sedih kerana terdapat ramai daripada Melayu yang terpelajar menolak Dasar Ekonomi Baru kononnya DEB menguntungkan hanya segelintir daripada kroni pemimpin Kerajaan terutama semasa saya menjadi Perdana Menteri.

2. Mereka ini cuma nampak beberapa kerat peniaga dan pengusaha Melayu yang berjaya. Pendapat mereka ialah semua yang berjaya tentulah kerana mereka kroni, terutama kroni Perdana Menteri. Kata mereka kejayaan Melayu bergantung bukan kerana apa mereka tahu tetapi siapa mereka tahu. Ayat ini datang daripada kecaman orang tertentu yang asalnya dalam bahasa Inggeris iaitu, “It is not what you know but who you know”, yang memberi kejayaan. Penggunaan ayat ini oleh orang Melayu sendiri membuktikan betapa mudah minda mereka dipengaruhi oleh orang lain supaya mereka sendiri akan memburukkan diri mereka.

3. Sebelum saya bincang samada benar atau tidak benar tuduhan ini, izinkan saya jelas sedikit akan Dasar Ekonomi Baru.

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