CORAT-CORET/SNIPPETS

Terengganu

Saya telah dijemput oleh badan bukan Kerajaan (NGO) Melayu yang saya tidak kenal dan tidak pernah dengar untuk berceramah di Kuala Terengganu. Umumnya tajuk ceramah ialah berkenaan masa depan orang Melayu.

Dahulu tidak ada keperluan untuk menubuhkan NGO untuk bincang tajuk seperti ini. Parti UMNO akan mengadakannya. Daripada forum anjuran UMNO-lah datang cadangan untuk mengadakan MARA, Bank Bumiputra, Tabung Haji dan lain-lain. Tetapi sekarang orang Melayu tidak lagi lihat UMNO sebagai pembela dan pejuang nasib orang Melayu. Demikian forum para intelek Melayu yang diadakan di Johor membuat keputusan menghantar memorandum mereka bukan kepada UMNO, bukan kepada Kerajaan pimpinan UMNO tetapi kepada Raja Melayu.

Saya menyahut jemputan ini bukan sahaja kerana tajuknya menarik bagi saya tetapi juga kerana sudah 10 tahun saya tidak ke Kuala Terengganu.

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RASUAH POLITIK

1) Di waktu kita pinda perlembagaan Umno supaya sesiapa yang ingin bertanding jawatan Presiden perlu mendapat pencalonan 30% daripada bahagian atau 60 bahagian, tujuan kita ialah untuk jawatan itu tidak ditandingi oleh orang yang tidak serius dan juga supaya wang tidak dapat disogok kepada jumlah bahagian yang begitu banyak.

2) Syarat ini dipercayai tidak akan menghalang mereka yang betul-betul berbakat untuk melayakkan mereka bertanding.

3) Sebelum ini dalam pertandingan jawatan Presiden dan Timbalan Presiden walaupun saya sendiri dapat pencalonan daripada bahagian amat banyak tetapi undi yang saya dapat di Perhimpunan Agong amat kecil. Hanya 43 sahaja lebih daripada lawan saya. Dipercayai ada sesuatu yang berlaku kepada wakil-wakil setelah sampai ke Perhimpunan Agong. Pindaan telah dibuat kepada Perlembagaan supaya sesiapa yang dicalonkan oleh bahagian akan dapat 10 undi bonus. Peruntukan ini tidak berkesan. Justeru itu diperkenal sistem kuota seperti yang terdapat sekarang.

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MENGAJAR SAINS DAN MATEMATIK DALAM BAHASA INGGERIS


1. Saya mengaku bertanggungjawab berkenaan mengajar Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris. Kerana itu ramai yang menuduh saya tidak bersemangat kebangsaan Melayu, tidak utamakan bahasa saya.

2. Izinkan saya membuat sedikit penjelasan sebelum saya dihukum.

3. Pendapat saya ialah mereka yang bersemangat kebangsaan Melayu tidak harus utamakan hanya penguasaan bahasa ibunda sahaja tetapi juga melihat bangsanya bediri sama tinggi, duduk sama rendah dengan bangsa-bangsa yang maju di dunia. Hanya dengan fasih bertutur kata dalam bahasa sendiri dengan ilmu pengetahuan yang cetek tidak akan menjadi bangsa kita mulia dan mampu bersaing dengan jayanya dengan bangsa-bangsa maju dan dianggap setaraf dengan mereka.

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WHITHER MALAYSIA

1. I am very touched by the response to my article “The Country We Love” (July 27, 2008). We may have our differences, we may be of different races but it seems that we all love this country.

2. I have been abroad hundreds of times but I never fail to look forward to returning home. And as I step off the plane I would feel that sense of belonging that almost move me to tears. I am quite sure that every Malaysian feels this way upon returning to this, our very own homeland.

3. As Malaysia we are not an old country for we came into being only slightly more than 50 years ago. But it had been a very eventful half a century.

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CRONYISM AND THE NEP

1. When the New Economic Policy began to show some results in the early eighties, the Western Press and local opponents of the Government began to talk about cronyism. Whoever succeeded in a developing country like Malaysia, did so because they were the chosen favourites of the Government, particularly the head of the Government.

2. I came in for virulent attacks because some Malays actually did well in business. They were all labelled my cronies whether they were indeed my cronies or not. Anyone who succeeded was immediately defined as my crony.

3. Many close friends, relatives and members of my family who failed in business would not be called cronies.

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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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