Category Archives: Uncategorized

A CENTURY OLD SCHOOL


1. I came back from a holiday in Croatia to attend the centenary celebration of my alma mater, Kolej Sultan Abdul Hamid or Sultan Abdul Hamid College recently.

2. It was a sentimental occasion. Seeing the old school, quite unchanged since I was admitted into Primary I way back in 1932 brought back many sweet/sad memories.

3. The centenary was more meaningful to me because the school was founded by my father who was also its first headmaster. He used to tell me of his experiences when he was headmaster there.

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STRANGE POLITICS

Something strange is happening in Malaysian politics. Suddenly there is a lot of talk about cooperation and even merger between UMNO and PAS. Friendly and unfamiliar sounds are being heard from all sides.

I wonder whether it is a sudden concern about the need for Malay unity or it is the realisation that both PAS and UMNO have become very weak. True PAS has won more seats in Parliament than it had ever done before. It has even won control over the State of Kedah. But PAS is the weakest party in the opposition coalition or Pakatan Rakyat. This cannot be what PAS aimed for when it decided to soft pedal its Islamic State ambition in order to work with DAP and PKR.

PAS must want to replace UMNO as the dominant party in Malaysia. But despite its success in the 2008 General Election it is not even dominant in the opposition coalition.

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BLAIR AND THE CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE

Malaysia-politics-Tun-Dr-Mahathir-Perdana-Global-Peace.jpg

I feel sad that after a very well attended Press Conference (see picture) chaired by me as Chairman of the Kuala Lumpur Perdana Global Peace Organisation to condemn the visit of the war criminal Tony Blair, almost nothing has appeared in the print and electronic media in this country.

It looks as if Malaysia supports the criminal action of this former British Prime Minister who lied to his Parliament, to the British people and the world that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) which could hit Britain in a matter of minutes.

On the basis of this lie he joined George Bush of the United States to launch a massive war against Iraq, killing hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis and destroying their cities, the electricity and water supply.

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PULAU BATU PUTIH AND TERRITORIAL WATERS

(Versi Bahasa Malaysia di akhir artikel ini)

1. We had expected the International Court of Justice to declare that Pulau Batu Putih is ours, together with South Ledge and Middle Rocks.

2. But the decision of the Court left me flabbergasted. On the one hand Pulau Batu Putih which is nearer Malaysia and very much farther from Singapore is awarded to Singapore while the two rocks which are part of the same shoal and further away from Malaysia than Pulau Batu Putih are awarded to Malaysia.

3. No decision was made as to the marine boundary. It must be assumed that the shoals are in Malaysian territorial waters, since the decision to give Pulau Batu Putih to Singapore is based on some obscure letter written by a minor Johor official while under British rule to a British official in Singapore. Rightly it should have been sanctioned and written under the authority of the Sultan in Council.

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ANTI-CORRUPTION

1. ACA, or Anti-Corruption Agency is now willing to investigate possible corruption based on newspaper reports.

2. It is now doing just that with regard to the huge bill for maintenance of Proton Perdana official cars used by the Terengganu Government.

3. This has prompted the Terengganu Menteri Besar to question why the very costly Monsoon Cup and the Islamic Theme Park have not been investigated.

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THE COUNTRY WE LOVE

1. When we became independent in 1957 nobody gave us much of a chance to make any progress beyond what had been achieved under the British.

2. I myself at that time thought that the only difference independence would make would be Malaysians would take over the administration of the country from the British. Nothing much more than that.

3. The other day I was given a copy of a news sheet called “Opinion” of November 1968, which I remember was edited and produced by Sulaiman Alias, one of the young political activist in UMNO.

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MONEY – MORE WASTE AND LOSSES

The Government of Dato Seri Abdullah Badawi has lost billions of Ringgit by cancelling the bridge project to replace the causeway, postponing the double-tracking and electrification of the North-South railway and the sale of M.V. Agusta by Proton.

The Government had also wasted money – RM2 billion in Terengganu.

Thinking that he had the right to use Wang Ehsan, the royalty from Petronas to the State of Terengganu totalling more than five billion Ringgit over several years Dato Seri Abdullah together with Dato Seri Idris Jusoh, the former Menteri Besar of Terengganu went on a spending spree.

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Snippets – Reducing the burden


Recently the Star reported “Budget to help reduce burden”.

The burden is of course the high cost (40 per cent increase) of oil which has triggered off an inflationary process with increases in the cost of everything.

Since the withdrawal of Government subsidy for oil and the resultant “burden” on the people the Government has been announcing numerous measures to lighten the burden. Mostly they take the form of rebates, reduced taxes and cutbacks.

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SALE OF AGUSTA BY PROTON

(versi Bahasa Malaysia di akhir artikel ini)

1. I must admit I have only a minute knowledge of company accounting. But I do know that creative accounting can make losses appear in the books as profit.

2. Whether the cost is sunk or not it still involves a cost in terms of real money (not figures in accounting books).

3. When the previous management of Proton bought 57 per cent of M.V.Agusta, they were fully aware of the financial problems of the company. Who would sell a company making tons of profit? If they would, the price would be beyond our reach.

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