2. I did not agree with this simplistic view and I had put my thoughts on this blog. I believed that it was rather protest against the failures of the Abdullah Government that caused many Barisan Nasional members and supporters to vote for the opposition. But many still insist that race based politics is no longer relevant in Malaysia. Is it?

3. If it is because the Malaysian electorate had rejected racial politics, why did they vote for such parties as PAS, a very Malay Muslim party, and DAP, a Chinese dominated party. Even the Keadilan is made up of violently racist Hindraf Indians, Chinese dissatisfied with the MCA’s representation of the Chinese in BN and self-serving Malays who could not find a place in the other Malay parties.

2. Tiga bulan bukanlah satu jangka masa yang panjang tetapi dalam politik UMNO dan negara sekarang banyaklah kerja-kerja pemulihan parti yang akan terganggu kerana penangguhan yang tidak berasas ini.

3. Sebabnya ialah kerosakan yang dilakukan oleh Abdullah kepada UMNO begitu teruk sehingga tiap saat usaha pemulihan dilewatkan mungkin boleh membawa kesan yang buruk kepada UMNO dan Barisan Nasional. Selagi Abdullah berada sebagai Presiden Parti dan Perdana Menteri maka Dato Seri Najib akan terganggu dalam usaha memulih semula segala-gala yang perlu dipulih sebelum Pilihanraya Umum ke 13.

2. Bahawa peguam terkemuka di Malaysia mendapat RM2 juta setahun amat memberangsangkan saya. Jelas sekali saya telah pilih karier yang salah kerana Perdana Menteri mendapat hanya RM240,000 setahun. Ini tentulah kerana tanggungjawab Perdana Menteri tidak seberat peguam, wallahua’lam.

3. Dakwaan Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, bekas Menteri Undang-undang tentang pendapatan peguam terkemuka tentulah diasaskan kepada pengetahuan dan pengalaman beliau sebagai pemilik firma guaman yang mempunyai 100 peguam. Saya tidak pernah baca berkenaan Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, bekas Menteri Undang-undang mempertahankan mana-mana penjenayah atau anak guam dalam mahkamah. Jadi saya tertanya-tanya daripada manakah datangnya pendapatan yang lumayan bagi firma guamannya dan sudah tentu dirinya sendiri.

It is too long a speech to be reproduced in full. I will therefore cite only the parts that seem to be relevant to the current debates in Malaysia. I would be happy to provide the full text if needed.

Siew Sin remarked that the British identified the Chinese as a whole unjustly with the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army which was controlled by the Communists. The Emergency of 1948-1960 generated even greater suspicion against the Chinese community because the movement was directed by the Communists who were largely Chinese.

“This fear,” Siew Sin said, “led the British to a policy of restricting citizenship rights for the Chinese as they felt that it would be dangerous for too many of them to become citizens….The result was that only about 200,000 Chinese had managed to become citizens out of a total of more than two million then resident in the former Federation of Malaya”.

1. Now we know how much has been paid out to the judges.

2. It is not bad at all. The Government must have plenty of money to give away for something that the Government says is not an admission of guilt and does not merit an apology. This generous act is unprecedented but must now be taken as a precedence. We should see more money being doled out every time a Minister feels a need to be popular with the Opposition. I wonder whether the amount of ex-gratia is based on how much the ex-de facto Minister of Justice considers would please the Bar Council.

3. The Minister informs us that the judges had been drawing full pension for the last 20 years. The highest pension is RM6,548.59 per month. Roughly this adds up to RM1,600,000 for 20 years.

1. Can I say how glad I am that Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz Muhammad has been acquitted of the charge of abetment in committing criminal breach of trust (CBT) and of cheating involving RM9 million.

2. I remember how shocked I was that this senior civil servant whom I know very well should have been found guilty of CBT etc. I knew him as a good officer who was conscientous when doing his work. I also remember the Minister involved telling me how profitable was the “koi” breeding and orchid ventures. But suddenly there was this accusation against Aziz. Apparently the ventures were not profitable at all. I wonder why!

3. I am sorry for the sufferings Aziz went through. Miscarriages of justice do happen and we must not blame anyone. I hope and pray that there will not be too many miscarriages. The talks of unseen political hands are not to be taken seriously.

2. Only a few years ago I thought it was impossible for a black man to become President of white United States, the country where the blacks used to be the slaves of the whites.

3. But attitudes have certainly changed radically among the white people. Their support for Obama is overwhelming.

1. I would like to share with all the visitors to my blog my open house experience this raya.

2. All are heart warming and belies the popular belief that the races in Malaysia are antagonistic towards each other. From the large number of Chinese and Indians attending the raya open houses, I think most people are wrong aout how they dislike or even hated the Malays.

3. My sister-in-law Saleha number many Chinese and Indians among her family friends. On Saturday October 4th she held her open house just as she had done every year since…I don’t know when.

2. Apa yang sudah jadi kenyataan yang tidak lagi dapat dinafi oleh negara-negara di dunia ialah sistem kewangan yang ada sekarang sudah gagal untuk diguna dalam ekonomi dan dagangan baik dalam negeri atau antarabangsa.

3. Keputusan Bretton-Woods selepas Perang Dunia Kedua ialah semua matawang negara di dunia ditentukan nilainya mengikut nilai tukaran dengan matawang Amerika Syarikat.

1. I was interviewed by the BBC on the current financial turmoil and over management of the currency crisis in 1997 – 98.

2. I was amused when he attributed the pegging and the elimination of CLOB (Central Limit Order Book) to Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim. I asked him whether he was given this information by Anwar. He did not answer.

3. Of course I did not do everything by myself. I had a lot of help from others. But Anwar was not one of them. He, many will remember, was the Minister of Finance who implemented the IMF strategy without the IMF with disastrous results.