Sorry....

Is that all you can say??? All the roads leading to the city are jammed up and you say sorry? I mean what the *tuuuuttttt*?

The road closure is due to national security? Who is shooting who? What? Minister should have decided better I think. Why is everybody so scared? If somebody is voting that they have no confident in the Prime Minister and the cabinet, so…? Life goes on. They should get that earlier. Leaders come and go. I read somewhere but I can’t remember from somebody’s blog or some place saying “Leaders are like diapers… you should change them often. If not, they get stinky.”

A notice of motion was submitted by the opposition leader Datin Seri (as she was then) Dr. Wan Azizah Ismail to debate a motion for a vote of no confidence against the Prime Minister and his cabinet.

There are reports that say some people may organise a rally in front of the Parliament and road blocks were set up at major entry of the city. It is Monday and people are going to work for goodness sake. I thought people have senses but looking at the way they handle things this morning, I’d say no sense at all. Stupid or what?

Police even went to get an order from the court to prevent some people to get to the Parliament House. Was that legal? I have no time to discuss that but what about freedom of movement as provided in the Constitution? What is happening to the country now? Can somebody answer me…

Is this the 8.00 o'clock news???

"Right is Mount Mat Cinchang"

It was a very rare occasion last night when I actually watch news on the main stream media. Usually, I just let my daughter watch cartoon network or Disney channel as the news resembles the cartoon in the networks. All concocted and embroidered to follow the wishes from some quarters. You know when different hue is painted on a canvas of lies.

However, this post is not about lies or what is told or not. I do not want to waste time typing things which people already know. I just want to highlight things which to me, should be dissipated to the people or the so-called rakyat.

Before the news came yesterday, I spent almost the whole afternoon following the debate at the Dewan Rakyat. As usual, a little hu-ha there in the Dewan Rakyat and being debates, the members are allowed to voiced out their concern on some issues and the ministers gave answers to the issues. Some of the answers are acceptable and some are debatable.

Some of the highlights during the closing debate were the speeches by the Minister of Higher Education (“MOHE”) and the Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry (“MOA”). Some of the issues highlighted by the members of the Dewan to the MOHE were the issue of appointment of the Vice Chancellor for Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and also Universiti Malaya.

Some say that the appointment of women as VC is the factor of the two universities being a little slow and has dropped in their ranking in some list (can’t remember which list though). But the minister says that it was not a factor and further question arises on the appointment of the VC for UKM.

As for the MOA, he gave quite a good presentation as he was very calm, precise and straight to the point. All round of clap to To’ Pa (reference to YB Dato’ Mustapa Mohammad). Some of the highlight is efforts by the Federal Government to handle the food shortage issue especially paddy and rice. Some extra budget was allocated under the 9th Malaysia Plan to solve this problem. Then the answer on subsidies from the Federal Government allocated to the farmers and also the “new” farming method to increase yield of paddy production from 4 metric tonne to 10 metric tonne per hectare. All of that are relevant if you are a farmer and you core business is cultivating paddy.

However, our media didn’t highlight that part where answers are given by the ministers on issues brought by the members of the Dewan. What did they highlight last night during the prime time news on national television? It was a reporting on a minister who uses the word “mampus” during his closing speech and a deputy minister who does not know between Gunung Mat Chinchang (pronounce Mat with the correct pronunciation and emphasise on the letter “a”) and Gunung Mat Chinchang (pronounce Mett with the pronunciation of the letter “a” as “e” as if in Matthews) or some members of the Dewan called some other members monkeys or beruk or barua (I don’t get what the fuss here because some of the members of the Dewan do behave like monkeys or beruk and sometimes even worse).

My point here is the highlight given and the airtime showing the rakyat what is relevant. The media do not have to tell or show these trivial reports as it is not relevant. What is the result of the mid-term review of the 9th Malaysia Plan? That is the fact that we rakyat want to know. Not use of some word which may be interpreted to mean something else in some other part of the world. For those whose didn’t have the privilege to know what is the word uttered by the minister, I repeat the word here. The word in “mampus” (which means “die”, “dead” or in malay “mati”). First of all, these words signify only to one meaning in general but to some part of Malaysia, the terms are used differently. Some say “mati” and some say “mampus”.

As to the deputy minister, I think he should go to school again to learn his geography and how to pronounce the malay words in malay language. I mean we don’t say Gua Niah as Gua “Nayah” right? But it is just a small thing. What is the real information that should be given to the rakyat? To me, it is how the government run the country or where the PM spend the taxpayers money. By the way, where do you spend the money to, dear PM? Not for your overseas trip only I supposed and I hope not.

Are we living in some third world country here? Do the media think we are stupid? What? I don’t get what the media is trying to do here. If these reporting were supposed to be like last night news, then I think I’d better join my daughter watching Ben 10 on cartoon network. At least I know that cartoons are supposed to tell you nothing like the news on Malaysian television.

Remembering my father

I said I will write once in a while and I will from now on. Just to pen my views on things.

I went to Langkawi for a holiday recently with my family. There I took a picture with my daughter and not only after I saw the picture again when I was downloading it to the laptop, I realised that the pose in the picture is the same as the picture of me and my late father. At that moment I realised how much I miss my father and how much I miss talking to him and how much I miss his advice (even though most of the time I don’t listen and do things on my own).

I never really talk about my father before on this forum and may be this is the only time I will put this in writing. I first learn about his demise from my wife when I was in a meeting on December 14, 2007. He passed in the land of the Prophet Musa (Moses) near the Mount Sinai at the age of 59. Frankly I didn’t mind him being buried there and even if I can’t really “visit” him, I always know that he is at a happy place and I always pray that his soul will be blessed always.

I am not going to talk about his demise till the end here. It has been more than six months ago but I just want to share some of the memories I have with him. My father has always been the assertive type and he always tells me this and that. Don’t do this and don’t do that. You know the Will Smith song? Ever since I was small and that didn’t stop with me getting a piece of paper I called a degree. At first (of course any teenager will say so) I was all against the idea but when I look back now and after having children of my own I know why and I appreciate that a lot actually and I know that all he was trying to do is to protect me.

When I started secondary school, he sent me to a “sekolah pondok” and I didn’t like it. I tried to find excuses to make him change his mind I even purposely failed several subjects to show protest. I just want him to transfer me to a different school. He was adamant to let me continue in the school and I had to. But despite all that, he was always there to encourage me and he visited me almost every fortnight to give support. I didn’t see it then but now, I appreciate the fact that I went there and what I learned there and I wish I’ve done something more to please him.

He told me once that he didn’t prefer me going out with this girl and I was not agreeable to that. I didn’t see much at that time. Love blinded me I supposed and I was all against him. I tried my very best to defy his wish and I did. But after a while, I saw through the girl and I admit, my father was right and I wish I’ve listened to his wish. It turned out that this girl was a pain in the back.

When I was studying, my expenses were quite high and our family is not a rich family. We are not like those who’ll get what they wish for. We are not even close to a well to do family level. With me and my brothers studying, it was just enough for us to survive college and school. We didn’t have brand new cars like some other families around our place. What we have was each other. My father did his best to make us feel comfortable all the times when we were in school.

My father never told me he was in a tight budget when I needed money. He’s always there. I know once in a while, he was out of money but whenever I asked for money for whatever reasons, the money will always deposited into my account. I knew that he has borrowed money from somewhere but he never told us that and neither has he ever said no nor he complained about it. I know all father would do that for their children but I also know that some father will just let it be and leave the children without basic necessities even. To him, he’d do everything just to let his children feel comfortable with their studies and their lives.

Even when I started my career as a lawyer, he was there to assist me adjusting and getting started in the city. I borrowed his money to pay rent for my apartment and I even borrowed his money to go to work at one time. But like I say, he’s always there for me.

He’s not only there for the fiscal assistance but most of the times he’s there for spiritual and moral guidance. When we are down and we have nowhere to go, he’ll tell us to take it easy and not to think too much about what had happened. When work has gotten on my nerves, he’ll tell me to let go and take one thing at a time. He’ll always say relax and work is not all that. That soothes me along the way. Don’t get me wrong here, he wants me to work hard but not to the extent that it’ll harm myself.

He also tells me to spend some time to go and get spiritual enlightenment and listen to “ceramah” whenever I am free and this is the thing which is a little hard to achieve at this moment. May be a little perseverance will actually help me to achieve this. After all it is for my own benefits and that’s not all. I always call him for advice. I don’t know why and even if I know I will be able to decide on my own, I’d call him just to know what he’ll say on that matter in hand. It is like an automatic device that’ll prompt me to call him when I’m deciding on something.

Not only that, most of the people in know told me things which I don’t remember. All the things which he has done when I was small and I can tell you that I don’t remember anything. In short, he was the one who took care of me all these while.

Now, I can no longer do that and I no longer receive his calls just to ask me how I am doing and how his granddaughters are doing. He doesn’t call anymore to tell me what to do and I am on my own now. I know I have grown up since and have my own family now but I miss his calls, I miss his advice, I miss him telling me what to do and most of all I miss him and I will miss him always.

I know that during his lifetime, he walked thousand of miles, he has touched so many souls and have helped to shape so many lives but for what I am today, it is because of him and I am thankful for that. If you asked me who should be given award for that, I’d say my father. As the one who is still ploughing the earth today, I will continue to carry his legacy and pass that to my children.