Saman: Polis Perlu Lebih Efisyen Uruskan Saman

TAHNIAH kepada kerajaan, Polis Diraja Malaysia, terutama rakyat Malaysia yang sentiasa setia dan taat dalam bekerjasama menjayakan mana-mana tindakan yang dilakukan kerajaan.

Saya ucapkan tahniah kerana rakyat yang setia telah mengeluarkan wang yang banyak membayar denda kesalahan trafik sehingga berjuta ringgit banyaknya walaupun sesetengah dari denda yang dibayar kesalahannya tidak mereka sedari telah dilakukan mereka.

Menurut akhbar sebanyak 24 juta saman telah dikeluarkan polis di masa lalu yang tergolong sebagai saman tidak berbayar itu.

Harapan saya ialah polis mencari jalan bagaimana menguruskan perihal saman ini dengan lebih baik lagi, agar di masa hadapan soal saman bertimbun yang berjuta-juta itu tidak menjadi semacam beban kepada masyarakat, dan beban politik kepada kerajaan. Kalau polis dapat 'menguruskan' soal bayaran saman sepertimana efisyennya saman-saman itu dikeluarkan tentulah ia menjadi pasukan yang terus dipandang tinggi oleh mesyarakat.

Pada hemat saya bidang tugas kepolisan moden perlalulah menitikberatkan soal pengurusan dan efesyensi pasukan.

Mana Alternatifnya

SAYA pernah menyatakan dalam blog ini, apakah tawaran "Pakatan Rakyat" kepada Malaysia untuk ia boleh menjadi alternatif pilihan pada pilihanraya akan datang. Dengan mencemuh, memperlekah atau memusingkan semua yang berkaitan dengan Barisan Nasional  serta mempalitkan pemimpin-pemimpinnya dengan imej  negatif "berulang-ulang" dan secara berlebihan seperti penyelewengan, rasuah, kronisme, menghabiskan duit rakyat tidak boleh menampakkan pakatan itu lebih baik. Sebabnya pada masa sama pihak yang sebelah lagi juga akan menggunakan formula sama untuk mempalitkan malah memporakperandakan imej anda.

Tawarkan kepada rakyat Malaysia pilihan yang lebih baik daripada apa yang ditawarkan kepimpinan DS Najib + TS Muhyidin sekarang. Organisasi politik? program untuk rakyat?, untuk negara?, kemajuan masa hadapan, termasuk pendidikan, perpaduan, agama dan lain-lain.

Paling penting kini apakah bandingan dan tawaran alternatif lebih baik anda kepada konsep "1Malaysia" DS Najib, dan "program tranformasi Najib" yang kelihatan begitu tersusun atur acara kerjanya. Omong-omong buruk orang saja tak jadi.  Kecerdikan politik amat penting disini sekiranya anda mahu dipandang serious oleh pengundi.

Dari 2008 hingga sekarang penghujung 2010 saya peribadi tidak melihat sesuatu yang boleh dirujuk sebagai tawaran perbandingan untuk saya teliti. Organisasi Pakatan Rakyat begitu tidak berhaluan. Branding pakatan tidak ada, dan sangat kabur. Apa yang boleh dingat tentang pakatan ini, selain pada suatu waktu dahulu berjaya mengurangkan majoriti dua pertiga kerajaan BN pusat, dan pada suatu waktu dahulu berjaya menawan empat kerajaan negeri. Dan selain mobilisasi jalanan yang mengeruhkan suasana.

Pakatan ini sudah tidak ada imejnya sekarang. Tidak boleh diingat, tidak boleh dilihat dan jauh sekali dari boleh dipegang.Apa lagi komponannya begitu berbelah-belah

Mengundur, mengalah.
Atau lupakan sahaja ?

New Labour leader..

The Ed Miliband story

By Brian Wheeler Political reporter, BBC News

Ed Miliband beat older brother David, right, to the Labour leadership

To some extent, Ed Miliband has spent much of the first 40 years of his life in the shadow of his older, better-known brother David, the former foreign secretary.

He did the same course - Philosophy, Politics and Economics - at Oxford University, at the same college, and followed David into a similar backroom role in the Labour Party, albeit on different sides of the Tony Blair/Gordon Brown divide. The two even lived in a flat in the same building for a while.
They both sat in Gordon Brown's cabinet, with Ed filling the less high profile role of climate change and energy secretary.
Ed used to introduce himself at meetings as "the other Miliband".
His stunning victory in the Labour leadership contest may mean David will soon have to start using that line.
We can only speculate about what effect this sudden upheaval in the fraternal pecking order will have on their relationship, which they never tired of telling us during the leadership election is "close".
By the end of the contest, when it became clear that it would be too close to call between the two brothers, tensions began to surface, although they avoided public rows.
Former Labour leader Lord Kinnock, an Ed supporter who knows both brothers well, told a Channel 4 documentary: "David's response to Ed running has been deeply resentful."
Oona King, who was at school with the Miliband brothers and remains a friend, argues that politics can tear families apart.
"They can not be the same after this. I have seen it happen and I can see it happening between them."
But as he prepares to take on one of the biggest, most high profile, and difficult roles in British politics, how much do we actually know about Edward Samuel Miliband?
His supporters insisted during the leadership campaign that he was more "human", less aloof than David.
He is a self-confessed maths "geek" who was a secret Dallas fan as a boy - they are hardly Bobby and JR, but Ed had enough of a ruthless streak to challenge his brother for the job long thought to be his.
Marxist father During the leadership contest, both Miliband brothers made much of the fact they went to an ordinary North London comprehensive school.
And while this is true, their childhood will probably have been a little more colourful, and certainly more intellectually stimulating, than that of the average North London schoolboy.
Their father, Ralph, a Polish Jew who fled the Nazi invasion of Belgium in 1940, was one of the leading Marxist theorists of his generation - and a fierce critic of the Labour Party. Their mother, Marion Kozak, is also a well-known figures on the British left.

Continue reading the main story

ED MILIBAND

• AGE: 40
• FAMILY: Lives with partner and young son
• BACKGROUND: North London Comprehensive school, Oxford university, Treasury
• POLICIES: Tax the rich, tackle inequality, rebuild British industry
• STYLE: Geeky but more laidback than brother David
• KEY SOUNDBITE: "I am not the candidate for the easy life"
• RANDOM FACT: He says he was not "cool" enough to hang out with ex Labour MP Oona King, who was in the year above him at school

• Labour leader: Runners and riders

Growing up, their Primrose Hill home played host to the leading intellectuals and Labour politicians of the age, with dinner guests including Ken Livingstone and Tariq Ali.

The family's basement dining room was the scene of high-minded and often heated debates between major figures on the Left.
The young Milibands were always encouraged to chip into the debate with their own opinions and, apparently, Tony Benn was even known to have given the brothers a few pointers with their homework.
"[They were] very, very fresh lively, intelligent… and I must admit Ed amazed me by being able to do the Rubik's Cube... in one minute 20 seconds and, as I recall, just with one hand too," remembers socialist academic Robin Blackburn, a close friend of Ralph's.
Ed recently told The Daily Mirror how he bonded with his father when he accompanied him on trips to the United States where Ralph worked as a lecturer.
Campaigning mother But although he is sometimes said to be politically closer to Ralph than his brother, in truth the two Miliband brothers are worlds away from his brand of socialism.
Although no lover of Soviet-style one-party rule or violent revolution, he had abandoned the Labour Party long before his sons were born, believing socialism could never be achieved through Parliamentary means.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

I wasn't particularly bookish; what really got me going was student activism, and mobilising people”

End Quote Ed Miliband on his university days

He died in 1994, a few weeks before Tony Blair became Labour leader, but had viewed with unease his sons' part in creating what would become known as New Labour.

Their mother Marion, an early CND activists and human rights campaigner, who is a leading member of the Jews for Justice for Palestinians group, and who, unlike Ralph, remained in the Labour Party, is thought to have been a greater influence on their political development.
"There's no doubt that Ed got a lot of his drive from Marion and a lot of his feel for nitty-gritty grassroots politics from Marion too," says Dr Marc Stears, politics fellow at the University of Oxford.
Friends say the contest between the boys this summer has been a huge "strain" for Marion. She has even told people it would have been much easier had they simply become academics rather than politicians.
David and Ed's background helped speed their way into Labour politics - Ed spent the summer after his O-levels doing work experience for Tony Benn, then a senior Labour left-winger. Mr Benn would reward him years later by backing his leadership campaign.
By their teenage years, both brothers were fully fledged campaigners for Labour. Ed was never part of the "cool" set at school, although he has joked that he did not get beaten up too often.
Student activism Both brothers have said the experience of seeing equally bright pupils, from less privileged backgrounds, failing to reach their potential had a profound impact on their politics and outlook.
The more academically gifted of the two, Ed did better than David in his A-levels, following his brother to Corpus Christi College in Oxford, where he became involved in student activism.
"My best four weeks at university were when we had a rent dispute with the college," he told The Guardian in an interview recently.
"I wasn't particularly bookish; what really got me going was student activism, and mobilising people. It was quite a hard thing to recognise if you come from an academic family, but, if I'm honest, it's true. Politics always motivated me more than academia."
At the time, he was described as being less opinionated than his brother, who had a reputation as fiercely bright but rather socially inept.
After briefly working as a television journalist, Ed was taken on by current deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman, then a shadow minister, as a speech writer and researcher.
His number-crunching skills soon brought him to the attention of the then shadow chancellor.
Gordon Brown "burgled him off Harriet", said Charlie Whelan, Mr Brown's former spin doctor has said.
'Not tribal' When Labour came to power, Ed was pitched into the never-ending turf wars between the Treasury and Downing Street, coming to be seen as one of Mr Brown's key backroom allies.

The Miliband family remains close

He gained a reputation as something of a diplomat, whose skill at defusing rows was reportedly much in demand in the escalating battle between Brownites and Blairites.
It is said that Ed would often be despatched from the Brown camp to make peace with Downing Street, where David worked as head of Blair's policy unit.
"I was the one who tried to bridge some of the nonsense that there was," is how he now describes his role.
But he baulks at the usual description of himself as a "Brownite", claiming to be one of the least "tribal" of MPs.
In 2003, he spent a year's sabbatical at Harvard University, to study and lecture at Harvard's Centre for European Studies, before becoming an MP for the safe seat of Doncaster North in 2005. Like his brother, he belongs to the generation of Labour politicians who, until recently, had known nothing but power
He lives in Primrose Hill, the same fashionable North London district where he grew up, with partner Justine and their young son. Another son is on the way in November.
Although essentially cast from the same centrist, New Labour mould, he positioned himself firmly to the left of his brother during the leadership race, campaigning for a "living wage" higher than the minimum wage and a High Pay Commission to control top salaries.
Iraq war He has won support from the left by calling for the retention of the 50p tax rate and opposing a third runway at Heathrow Airport and he was widely praised by green activists during his time as climate change secretary.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

He understands the Labour Party needs to change and he is the best candidate to reconnect Labour with the concerns of ordinary working people”

End Quote Unite trade union leaflet

Also, despite being credited with writing it, he was far more critical than David of Labour's 2010 election manifesto, telling his brother at one hustings: "How can you possibly say you're going to stand on every aspect of our manifesto? We lost the election."

The brothers have also disagreed on Iraq - with Ed calling the 2003 invasion a "tragic error" and saying he would have voted to give weapons inspectors more time had he been an MP at the time.
Responding to accusations that he was simply saying what Labour activists wanted to hear with his appeals to the left wing, Ed told a Westminster press lunch "we cannot define ourselves in opposition to our party" and argued that the "centre ground should be shaped from the left".
There were no public rows with David during the seemingly never-ending series of leadership hustings around the country, but as the contest reached its climax and it became increasingly clear that it was a straight fight between the two Milibands, tensions began to surface.
In one particularly telling exchange, David warned Labour against retreating into its left wing "comfort zone". Within minutes, Ed had responded by warning the party not to retreat into its New Labour "comfort zone".
Despite being endlessly talked up by his supporters as the more affable and approachable of the two, who is more adept at working the Commons tea room as well as dealing with ordinary voters, his relaxed demeanour is said by some commentators to mask a true killer instinct.
Some worry that he was schooled in the dark arts of negative briefing during his years in the Treasury. He insists the main attribute he learned from Gordon Brown was "toughness".
Union backing Apart from having sharp enough elbows to challenge his better-known brother for Labour's top job, he has also shown chutzpah on the campaign trail.
He raised eyebrows at early hustings meetings by arriving with his own band of placard-waving supporters.
But while David received the backing of the New Labour establishment, including Peter Mandelson, who warned against an Ed victory, Ed successfully managed to portray himself as the "change" candidate without alienating the party's mainstream.
Major figures from the party's past, such as former leader Lord Kinnock and his former deputy Lord Hattersley, were sufficiently impressed to lend him their backing.
But his real coup was to secure the backing of three of the four Britain's biggest trade unions - GMB, Unison and Unite.
The latter was a bitter blow to his former Treasury colleague and leadership rival Ed Balls, who had been banking on Unite's support.
Unite was even accused of breaking the rules of the contest by including a leaflet pledging its support for Ed Miliband along with the ballot papers for the contest it sent to its 950,000 members eligible to vote.
"He understands the Labour Party needs to change and he is the best candidate to reconnect Labour with the concerns of ordinary working people," Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley, Unite's joint general secretaries, say in the leaflet.
GMB leader Paul Kenny threatened to withdraw funding from the Labour Party if Ed Miliband did not win, amid talk of a union plot to prevent David Miliband, seen as the more Blairite of the two, and therefore committed to public service reform, from taking the leadership.
Ed he was installed as favourite at the bookmakers for the first time, as counting in the ballot got under way, speaking of the need "to unite as a party and move forward and be a credible opposition".
He also has spoken of the need to move beyond the Blair/Brown era, calling for an end to the "factionalism and psychodramas" of Labour's past.
Some have already begun to speculate on what new psychodramas might emerge now that Ed has usurped what was assumed to be the natural order of things by beating David to the top job.

Artis dhaif..

SAYA bersembang dengan seorang pelakon (yang juga multi-level businessman), seorang penerbit, seorang pengarah drama swasta dan seorang documentarian  di restoran Deen Taman Melawati lewat petang semalam Jumaat 17 Sept 10. Perbincangan menyentuh banyak perkara sehingga akhirnya menyentuh tentang kalangan artis yang apabila menjadi veteran mengharapkan bantuan kerana hidup susah dan kerana dikatakan semasa muda tidak beringat.

Saya hanya mengatakan dalam dunia hiburan dan kegiatan bidang kesenian di Malaysia semua orang boleh masuk dan keluar tanpa sebarang keperluan terhadap ilmu pengetahuan dan persediaan. Setelah aktif dalam bidang yang diceburi pun tidak kisahkan dengan ilmu pengetahuan. Belayar sahaja dengan modal asal iaitu bakat yang antara ada dengan tidak. Tidak ada ilmu pengetahuan yang menjadi teman membantu, terutama dalam bidang pengurusan kewangan.Hidup macam kapal layar, hanya mengikut angin. Di mana angin bertiup di situlah.

Dalam keadaan yang begitu terfikir saya tentang apa peranannya persatuan-persatuan, sedangkan pemimpin-pemimpin persatuan selalu bercakap tentang kebajikan. Apakah skim kebajikan yang benar-benar telah diperkenalkan oleh persatuan-persatuan selama ini. Sukar sekali saya mencarinya. Bila orang bercakap fasasl EPF awak cakap fasasl EPF. Bila orang bercakap fasal insuran awak bercakap fasal insuran. Tapa mana dia?

Di benak saya terfikir pula persatuan setidak-tidaknya menyediakan garispanduan atau  "manual menjadi artis" yang boleh dirujuk oleh penggiat-penggiat baru. Manual ini termasuklah bagaimana menguruskan perihal kewangan sekali. Itupun kalau pemimpin-pemimpin  persatuan cukup cerdik untuk mengaturnya.

Tak taulah saya, sampai bila kita nak bergelap dalam terang bersama-sama persatuan-persatuan dan pemimpin-pemimpinnya ni..

Perayaan Hari Kebangsaan..

Tahniah kepada Perdana Menteri dan kerajaan hari ini kerana menjadikan sambutan Hari Malaysia sebagai suatu acara penting negara. 

Selaluinya perayaan hari kemerdekaan dijalankan sebulan bermula dari 15 Ogos dan berakhir pada 15 September dengan puncak perayaan pada 31 Ogos.

Dengan sambutan hari Malaysia, dicadangkan tarikh 15 Ogos hingga 16 September menjadi tarikh bagi  "Bulan Perayaan Hari Kebangsaan" dengan  31 Ogos menjurus kepada aspek perjuangan (dan sejarah negara) dan 16 September menjurus kepada perpaduan nasional. 

Tarikh dari 15 Ogos hingga 16 September itu juga adalah tarikh bagi memperkasakan program 1Malaysia.

Sepanjang perayaan sebulan Hari Kebangsaan itu program yang berkaitan dengan "perpaduan masyarakat dan pembudayaan bahasa" boleh dijalankan dengan pelbagai aktiviti berbentuk seminar, bengkel, pertandingan antara entiti, institusi, organisasi dan jabatan.

Ini bererti dalam setahun disediakan 30 hari bagi  rakyat Malaysia memperbaharui permaufakatan dan mengukuhkan usaha pembinaan negara bangsa bagi masyarakat negara ini. .

 

Selamat Hari Malaysia   

Malaysia 47 tahun di mana kita...

Bersempena Hari Malaysia hari ini saya menyeru kerajaan untuk mengambil langkah tegas, bijak, dan tersusun memperkasakan Bahasa Malaysia di semua sektor kehidupan masyarakat dan negara.

Pemerkasaannya di sekolah hendaklah dilipatgandakan melalui program pembudayaan bahasa seperti melalui aktiviti seni persembahan, perfileman, drama dan persuratan.

Pembelajaran bahasa Inggeris hendaklah mengikut keperluan kehidupan dan bidang kerjaya seseorang individu. Penguasaan bahasa Mandarin, Arab dan , Tamil patut lebih diberi penekanan.

Selamat Hari Malaysia.  

LEE KUAN YEW. SIAPA DIA?

LEE Kuan Yew  mencemuh Malaysia sebagai negara yang gagal mengikut acuan Singapura yang dilahir dibentuk dan dibina mengikut corak fikiran dan kehendak politiknya. Acuan Singapura Lee Kuan Yew hanyalah acuan yang dimaunya - yang mementingkan suku sakat dan keturunannya sahaja.

Malaysia tidak sama dengan Singapura kerana perbezaan yang ketara dalam semua perkara. Dari keluasan tanah, air, laut, udara, gunung ganang, hasil mahsul, budaya, bahasa, agama, kepercayaan, pakaian, kemudahan tempat tinggal dan prasarana semuanya tidak sama di antara satu tempat dengan yang lain dan ini tidak menyerupai Singapura yang punya hanya satu alam kehidupan sahaja (city state).

Politik di Malaysia juga berbeza dengan Singapura yang hanya ada PAP. Parti lain dicantas, ditekan dan dibengkrapkan. Di Malaysia parti-parti politik menjadi wakil kepada kaum dan kumpulan masing-masing. Melalui parti yang mewakili kaum masing-masing semua pihak mempunyai suara dalam pentadbiran dan politik negara. Sama ada parti itu BN atau PR ia tetap membawa suara kaum-kaum yang ada di negara ini melalui parti komponan di dalamnya .

Ini lebih baik dari sistem satu parti yang tidak memperdulikan kaum minoriti dalam parti mereka kerana kaum-kaum di dalamnya tidak diwakili secara berpasukan.

Lupakan Lee Kuan Yew, ahli politik semalam yang tidak penting lagi..

SALAM EID ul FItr

WALAU PUN agak tertunda saya ingin mencugapkan  "Salam Eid ul-Fitr Al Mubarak kepada semua rakan dan handai taulan. Maafkan zahir dan batin segala kesilapan dan kekurangan saya"  - mahadijmurat

HAPUSKAN UPSR DAN PMR BAGUS..

Saya dijemput menghadiri sidang meja bulat mengenai cadangan memansuhkan peperiksaan UPSR dan PMR oleh kementerian pelajaran.

Walaupun saya tidak pernah memikirkan soal kedua-dua peperiksaan ini di masa lalu, namun ianya amat selari dengan cadangan-cadangan saya di masa lalu bahawa usaha untuk memperkasakan dan menjadikan sekolah kebangsaan sebagai tempat belajar paling menarik bagi semua kaum. Saya pernah menyebut dalam blog ini betapa apa yang terbaik di sekolah cina, dan sekolah-sekolah lain diadakan juga di sekolah kebangsaan akan membantu menjadikan sekolah kebangsaan sebagai sekolahyang dituju oleh semua orang.

Saya amat menyokong cadangan menghapuskan peperiksaan UPSR dan PMR itu kerana ini juga akan dapat menambahkan lagi daya tarik dan nilai sekolah kebangsaan, sebagai sekolah utama negara.

Dengan tiadanya lagi peperiksaan UPSR dan PMR tiap-tiap sekolah sebenarnya boleh menumpukan perhatian kepada menjadikan sekolah masing-masing sekolah yang berjaya. Saya menyebutkan ini kerana diketika sijil UPSR dan PMR tidak ada orang akan memberi tumpuan kepada "report card sekolah" sebagai sumber menilai pencapaian pelajar. Pencapaian pelajar ini adalah pencapai yang datangnya dari aktiviti dan penilaian yang dijalankan sendiri oleh pihak sekolah. Report card adalah statement yang lebih berkeridabiliti dari peperiksaan yang selama ini hanya menjadikan pelajar sejenis makhluk yang hanya menelaah mata pelajaran yang sebahagian besarnya tidak menjadikan mereka mahir tentang sesuatu perkara.

Cumanya suatu keadaan yang uniform bentuk penilaiannya patut dicari agar nilai yang diberi dari report card dapat diterjemahkan sebagai pointer untuk gred  pembelajaran. Barang kali wajar juga di peringkat SPM apabila seseorang pelajar menamatkan pengajian mereka akan memilikki sijil penilaian akademik (peperiksaan SPM) dan satu lagi sijil yang diterjemahkan dari report card sekolah sebagai pointer grde pembelajaran bukan akademik mereka.

Suatu aspek lagi yang saya rasa perlu dipertimbangkan ialah mewujudkan semula lembaga pengurus sekolah seperti di masa-masa lalu. Lembaga pengurus sekolah ini yang terdiri dari wakil masyarakat setempat akan menjadi pihak yang membuat polisi mengenai imej sekolah dan budaya pembelajaran bukan akademik yang mengukuhkan komuniti masing-masing. Ini juga dapat membantu menjadikan sekolah kebangsaan sekolah yang membawa imej masyarakat yang dimaui oleh masyarakat setempat.

Lanagkah-langkah ini sebenarnya dapat membantu membina konsep satu sekolah untuk semua yang patut diusahakan bersungguh-sungguh oleh semua pihak

Wallah hu alam

MCA: Between Largesse And Being Intellectual

THE MEDIA on May 18 quoted the MCA president, Dr Chua Soi Lek, as saying that the Chinese community is no longer concerned with bread and butter issues, but with “intellectual” issues such as fair implementation of policies.

The Malaysian Insider news portal headlined it “Soi Lek says Chinese drawn to fair policies, not largesse.” Largesse is defined as (1) generous giving, as from a patron, (2) a gift or gifts given in a generous, or sometimes showy or patronizing, way and (3) nobility of spirit.

From the outset, I agree with him on the part about fair implementation of policies. Had government policies been implemented fairly and effectively, there would not have been the gaping income gaps among the races, states and regions.

The Bumiputeras would have achieved their modest 30-per cent wealth ownership target and our society would have been more equal and egalitarian. The top 20 per cent would not continue to suck up the wealth.

Unfortunately, the opposite might be the case. Poverty is creeping back and the income gaps among the races have widened. Official statistics that accompanied the launching of the New Economic Model, show that 60 per cent of households earn below RM3,000 a month, and 80 per cent of them are Bumiputera households.

Thanks to their stronger economic position at the outset of the NEP and their monopoly of the economic supply chain, the Chinese were able to beat all the targets set for them but the Bumiputeras and the Indians lag behind.

While the Bumiputeras and the poor Chinese and Indians benefited modestly from official largesse, the Chinese mercantile and professional classes benefited more substantially.

With one stroke of a pen by the Finance Minister allowing football betting, tycoon Vincent Tan is richer by RM525 million richer. His Ascot Sports sold 70 per cent of the business to his corporate vehicle, Berjaya Group. If that’s not gargantuan largesse, I don’t know what.

The Chinese enjoyed official largesse by way of large monopolies, concessions, contracts and subsidies – anything from sugar monopoly to large timber concessions, gaming franchises, IPP licences, massive contracts and billion ringgit worth of direct and indirect subsidies.

In fact, official largesse not only helped to prosper the well-connected Malay-, Chinese- and Indian-controlled conglomerates, but also in some instances saved them from bankruptcies.

The YLT official website tells of the company nearly going bankrupt in the 1970s, forcing family members to chip in to rescue it. By the 1980s, the YTL Group took off on a grand scale on account of large government contracts to build schools and modular hospitals and later on privatisation of railway land and the award of the first Independent Power Producer (IPP) licence.

Vincent Tan’s Berjaya Group took off when it was awarded the privatisation of Sports Toto in the 1980s while Ananda Krishnan became an overnight sensation when he was awarded the super-lucrative privatisation of the Jalan Ampang Race Course and a series of gaming and telecommunications franchises plus considerable seed capital from state-owned funds.

He is survivor, always enjoying the patronage of powerful Malay political figures. Today he is a master market maker known for taking his prized assets private only to re-quote them at handsome premiums.

It’s fine with me if the new MCA under Dr Chua no longer wants the bread and butter type largesse for the Chinese, but is instead more concerned with intellectual matters such as good governance, accessibility to education, scholarships, promotions, the judiciary and crime.

If I can speak for the Malays, the Orang Asli and other Bumiputeras, I think we too are concerned about good governance. Without good governance, the poor are more likely to be marginalised because they cannot afford to give fat ang pau, duit kopi, sponsorships and cuti-cuti to the ruling elite.

The Malays, the Orang Asli and other Bumiputeras too want accessibility to education and scholarships, not only to attend public universities, but also to enroll in private universities and colleges.

The Malays, the Orang Asli and other Bumiputeras too want better promotion opportunities in the Chinese- and Indian-controlled conglomerates, especially those that enjoy massive government largesse apart from the GLCs.

The Malays, the Orang Asli and other Bumiputeras too want an independent judiciary and a reduction in crime because they too want justice and they too are victims of rising crime rates.

The MCA cannot pull the wool over people’s eyes by blaming its declining support among the Chinese to the implementation of government policies. The MCA is part and parcel of the policies and their implementation. The MCA should instead thank the government and claim the credit that the NEP had given the Chinese a much larger slice of the expanded cake than the Bumiputeras and the Indians.

Also, it is not as if whenever or wherever the MIC is in the driving seats, things are better. The Port Klang Free Zone fiasco is a case in point.

And in Sarawak, where the BN had just been ousted from the Sibu parliamentary seat by the DAP on account of Chinese support, who benefited from the massive timber concessions and infrastructure contracts if not a handful of Chinese tycoons?

The Star newspaper in a report on last March 27 listed them as Tiong Hiew King, Ting Pek Khiing, the Lau brothers (Henry Lau Lee Kong, Stephen Lau Lee Kiong and Vincent Lau Lee Ming), Hii Yii Chiong, Ding Jack Sung, Ling Chiong Ho, Wong Kie Nai, and Yaw Teck Seng. It labeled them the “Sarawak Shakers”.

The MCA, especially its new President, cannot continue to pin the blame for the party’s poor rating among the Chinese on others. More so when the few seats it won in the 2008 general elections were mostly on account of Malay votes.

I am all for the MCA being concerned with intellectual issues so that the party will be better able to relate to the everyday things like morality, infidelity, the evil of gambling and alcoholism, the along menace, prostitution, human trafficking, illegal wildlife trade, drug trade, profiteering and many more issues plaguing our multi-religious and multi-racial society.

(Oleh Datuk A Kadir Jasin, petikan - kadirjasin.blogspot.com)

Kempen BN membawa persepsi salah, dan kalah

SEPOTONG ayat penting yang pernah terhambur dari molot Dato' Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, presiden MCA sekarang  mengenai politik, ialah "Politics is about making perception" atau "politik ialah tentang membina persepsi".

Saya sangat percaya itu, kerana politik itu sebenar benarnya benar tidak benar, sebaik-baiknya baik tidak baik. Yang utama bagi politik ialah apa yang orang fikir. Jadi kebolehan membina persepsi ialah kebolehan membina tanggapan  atau sudut fikir pengundi (dan orang ramai) adalah faktornya.

Lihatlah bagaimana Soi Lek membina dan menterbalikkan persepsi dirinya dari seorang yang telah tercalar oleh kelakuan sumbang di masa lalu, kini diberi kepercayaan memimpin partinya. Orang-orang yang "bersih" yang bersaing dengannya tetapi gagal membina persepsi yang baik telah ditewaskannya. Beliau telah berjaya merubah persepsi ahli MCA terhadap dirinya; dari negatif kepada positif.

Persoalan Inilah rasanya sebab kekalahan BN kepada DAP dalam pilihanraya kecil Sibu, kelmarin, dimana persepsi negatif terhadap BN begitu ketara di mata pengundi. Mungkin.

Persepsi orang ramai khususnya pengundi majoriti  - masyarakat cina di Sibu terhadap BN umumnya adalah negatif bila dilihat rekod perkhidmatan ahli parlimen BN di Sibu di masa lalu (setelah lima penggal tidak dapat menyelesaikan banyak masalah utama masyarakat), ditambah dengan persepsi negatif kepimpinan kerajaan negeri dengan wajah-wajah lama yang luntur dan tidak dapat dipercayai lagi.

Kedatangan pemimpin-pemimpin kanan BN dengan pelbagai habuan, peruntukan dan janji kebaikan bernilai berjuta-juta ringgit dalam tempuh masa lapan hari walaupun baik tetapi ini juga turut membina persepsi tentang budaya negatif amalan BN yang digunakan sebagai senjata oleh DAP. 


Kenyataan Lim Kit Siang selepas penamaan calon tempuh hari yang menyebut "kemenangan bagi DAP adalah mustahil" sebenarnya mengukuhkan persepsi negatif bagi BN dan positif bagi DAP. Komen Kit Siang selepas kemenangan "a historic victory" secara tidak langsung juga memberi kredit kepada penyokong dan pengundinya, dan ini sangat positif kesannya kepada mereka.

Masyarakat dan pengundi hari ini adalah gulungan baru yang berpengetahuan dan bermaklumat, mempunyai idealisme diri dan keinginan baru yang berbeza. Mereka tidak boleh dilayan dan diber perhatian cara lama khususnya dengan memberi habuan dengan tiba-tiba, berlebihan dan di luar jangka, sedangkan dalam tempuh yang panjang mereka tidak dipedulikan. Nampak sangatlah kerja memujuk oleh orang bersalah yang amat lawak tingkahnya. Gulongan pengundi zaman kini tidak mudah termakan pujukan cara ini.

Berubahlah seluruhnya cara kita mendekati dan memahami masyarakat.  Cara, kaedah , strategi dan budaya yang boleh membina persepsi baru perlu dicari dan digunakan sementara masih ada waktu, walaupun sebahagian besar rakyat merasakan apa pun yang berlaku mereka masih mahu mencuba sebuah kerajaan alternatif sebagai permulaan wujudnya pilihan di masa akan datang

Bior Le..

BEBERAPA orang rakan mengadu tentang keputusan mahkamah semalam yang mengekalkan Dato Seri Zambri Kadir sebagai menteri besar Perak. Rakan saya ini merungut katanya keputusan mahkamah tidak adil.

Saya katakan, sebagai orang biasa; sebagai rakyat yang mementingkan kelancaran perjalanan hidup sehari-hari, dan boleh melakukan apa yang saya minat dengan baik tanpa halangan tanpa gangguan, siapa pun yang diangkat sebagai pemimpin/pentadbira saya tak kisah. Si A atau si B sama saja bagi saya. Kerana yang A itu boleh saja menjadi B atau sebaliknya pada ketika lain nanti. Begitulah.

Keputusan mahkamah semalam saya anggap baik kerana kelancaran hidup saya tidak digugat oleh keputusan itu. Bayangkanlah kalau saya ini seorang yang bergiat atau mencari makan di Ipoh, mahkamah memberi kerusi menteri besar kepada Dato' Seri Nizar misalnya. Apa akan jadi. Dalam dewan DS Nizar ada 18 penyokong sedangkan DS Zambri ada 21 orang kerana orang DS Nizar yang dulu telah berpindah menyokong DS Zambri. Kecuhlah hidup saya sebagai orang Ipoh....

Sudah-sudahlah bermain politik sempit. Huh hah ke sana sini, perkara di Perak ini sudah setahun lebih, duduknya masih sama. Orang yang menjerit, melalak masih tidak berhenti menjerit dan melalak. Jawabnya sampai bila. Kalau kita sayangkan bangsa, sayangkan agama, kita bekerjalah dengan kuat pertingkatkan apa yang kita sedia ada dan menjadi lebih mantap dan kuat lagi...

Mat Brahim and fdam

FILM DIRECTORS' ASSOCIATION OF MALAYSIA or FDAM had its annual general  meeting on December 30th 2009. Everyone was upset with Mat Brahim re"election" as president.

A good friend of mine asked, why I didn't offer myself and contest the presidency. I told him I had been president three terms, 7 years in all; including one and a half year as protem chairman in 1989. Becoming a president is a thing in the past for me. I don't plan to get back to where I used to be before. I just want to play elders, supporting new blood in the association that I help established. But sadly this cannot be done, because Mat Brahim was again chosen as leader. To me a person like Mat Brahim is not suitable to be the association's leader in the "new era" where roles, responsibility, commitments, idealism and the mind of film directors has changed.

A lot of complaints hurled at Mat Brahim from members and peoples in the industry due to past mishap and bad performance as director and activist. And most of them are true. I personally had my own share of bad experience with this "joker" and talk too much bloke.

Many directors after the AGM talked about leaving the association and plan another association for film directors. I have no comment with this.

Since than after more than a month  I don't hear anything serious from these directors wanting to have a better association for film directors in Malaysia. They too seem to be having interest in the association only when opportunity to be leaders arise.

So what can we hope. Dua kali lima sahaja semuanya.

Antara "graduan" dan pekerja filem tak sekolah...!?

BEBERAPA waktu kebelakangan ini kerap sangat orang mempertikaikan, malah merendah-rendahkan tentang kelulusan universiti  tak dapat kerja terutama dalam bidang kesenian. Malah, dalam rancangan RTM Fenomena Seni sabtu lepas perkara sama juga dibangkitkan, seolah-oleh isu ini isu besar dan seolah-olah universiti adalah pihak yang bersalah bila graduan tak dapat kerja..

Memang cerita orang tak ke universiti tetapi mendapat tempat dalam industri, mendakwa diri telah berjaya ada sejak dahulu lagi.

Kejayaan bagi kebanyakan orang ialah apabila mendapat kerja, dan ilmu menjadi tidak perlu apabila kerja boleh diperolehi tanpa "keilmuan".

"Aku tak belajar universitipun buat filem boleh berjaya!!.." apa perlunya belajar di universiti. Orang yang belajar di universitipun tak nampak ada yang berjaya.

Begitulah simple minded atau "dangkal"nya fikiran kalangan kita. Ilmu pengetahuan dikatakan tidak penting untuk mencapai kejayaan. Kejayaan sedikit dijadikan alasan untuk menolak kepentingan ilmu sebagai sumber kejayaan dan kecemerlangan.

Untuk orang-orang seperti ini saya hanya hendak katakan, orang yang belajar secara rasmi boleh mendapat ilmu secara teratur dan lengkap. Orang yang hanya belajar mengikut pendedahan (dan pengalaman) kerja dengan cara ikut-ikut tidak mungkin memperolehi ilmu dengan sempurna dan teratur.


Fikirkanlah..

1Malaysia, ethnicity and the economy

by Chandra Muzaffar

HOW ethnic interests are addressed in the nation's economic and social development will be one of the major determinants of the success or failure of 1Malaysia.
It was with the advent of British colonial rule and the mass influx of Chinese and Indian migrant labour that the question of ethnicity in its present form emerged as a formidable challenge. It was because colonial capitalism had become so dominant, and had, in the process, enhanced the power of both the British and their Chinese compradors that the former, at the urging of the Malay elite, introduced Malay reserves, and set aside business licences and scholarships for the community as a sort of sop to a people who had been marginalised in the land which carried their name and embodied their identity. (Read NST Report here)

This was the beginning of the Special Position of the Malays and the other indigenous communities, which is now entrenched in the Constitution. For the Malays, Special Position at the time of Merdeka in 1957 was the armour that protected an abysmally poor people after their rulers had conferred citizenship, on extraordinarily generous terms, upon more than a million recently domiciled Chinese and Indians. A market economy in which the Chinese were ubiquitous added significance to that armour just as democratic competition for votes made it inevitable that popular perceptions of who is economically strong and who is economically vulnerable would shape politics and power.

Considering all these factors it is not surprising that ethnicity has become the DNA of the economy and society. What has been the impact of this DNA? What are the positive and negative consequences of the emphasis upon ethnicity in the economy for Malaysian society as a whole which may provide pointers for the 1Malaysia mission?

The determined drive to uplift the Malays especially after the formulation and implementation of the New Economic Policy (NEP) has resulted in the massive economic and social transformation of the community within the short span of a single generation -- a transformation which has few parallels in contemporary history. Not only has Malay poverty been reduced to 5.1 per cent (those living below the poverty line) today compared with 70 per cent in 1957, but Malays have also become a significant component (40 per cent) of the middle class. They are represented substantially in all the leading professions and are a visible presence in the upper echelons of commerce and industry.

This transformation has benefited the nation in at least three inter-related ways. One, it has made the middle class multi-ethnic and, consequently, has provided a secure anchor for the nation. A preponderantly non-Malay middle class, as was the case in the 1960s and early 70s, would not have ensured that stability.
Two, it has reduced ethnic disparities and accompanying perceptions of wealth and deprivation, which explains to an extent the relative inter-ethnic peace that we have enjoyed in the last four decades. It is one of the reasons why the 1998 financial crisis did not give rise to a communal conflagration.

Three, if there was no transformation, it is quite conceivable that the practice of democracy would have been under tremendous strain for the simple reason that when an indigenous majority feels severely disadvantaged under a one person one vote system, it would have no compunctions about jettisoning the system.

Nonetheless, the ethnic approach to the economy has its downside as well. One, it has constricted educational and economic opportunities for important sections of the non-Malay communities and, in many instances, constrained their social mobility.

Two, in the last two decades, a segment of the urban Malay community has begun to realise that politically well-connected elements especially in the middle and upper strata have benefited much more from contracts, licences, shares and directorships disbursed in the name of helping the community than ordinary Malays who continue to struggle to eke out a living. Affirmative action programmes in a number of other countries also suffer from this malady.

Got a great travel photo? Can it win this photo contest?

Three, in spite of the ethnic peace it has brought about, the ethnic approach has undoubtedly increased ethnic polarisation at various levels of society.

This is why in our quest for 1Malaysia there is a critical need to ameliorate the adverse impact of the ethnic approach. Among the measures that could be considered are the following:

One, the equilibrium established in the Constitution between Special Position and "the legitimate interests of other communities" should be faithfully observed in the promulgation of policy and its implementation. What this means is that justice should be done to each and every ethnic group.

Two, the concept behind the first prong of the NEP, "the eradication of poverty irrespective of ethnicity" should be expanded to embrace the needy and the disadvantaged, whatever their cultural or religious background. In other words, need -- not ethnicity -- should be the guiding principle in providing assistance in areas such as education and housing.

Three, the second prong of the NEP, "reduction in the identification of economic function with ethnicity" should apply to both the private and public sectors, and should be implemented with due regard to ability and excellence.


Four, there should be a concerted effort to curb corruption, abuse of power and greed at all levels of society.


Five, media practitioners, politicians, bureaucrats, business people and indeed the influential stratum of society should be encouraged to view issues of ethnicity in relation to the economy from a more holistic perspective that takes into consideration the interests and feelings of the other. An all-encompassing understanding of justice that goes beyond ethnic boundaries is imperative if one is to achieve the goal of 1Malaysia.

Elements from all five proposals are already part of the agenda of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. The challenge before us is to make de-ethnicising the economy and enhancing justice for all the agenda of each and every Malaysian.

Dr Chandra Muzaffar is chairman of the Board of Trustees of 1Malaysia and professor of global studies at Universiti Sains Malaysia

Butcher of Malaya return: DAP Chauvinism true coluurs shown

 (from bigdogdotcom)

In the midst of public outcry of vehemently denying the approval for the return of Chin “Butcher of Malaya” Peng to his hometown Sitiawan and be buried there, DAP’s Chinese chauvinism true colours is shown. As they are known to be anti-Malay authority and establishment, the Chinese chauvinist party is making a  call for Chin “Butcher of Malaya” Peng’s insincere apology be accepted and him being allowed to return back to the country he once waged a war and committed atrocities.

The Star has the story:

Monday November 23, 2009

Disagreement on Chin Peng’s apology

PETALING JAYA: The Government should accept Chin Peng’s apology and allow him to return to Malaysia, said national DAP chairman Karpal Singh.

However, former International Movement for a Just World (JUST) president Dr Chandra Muzaffar disagreed, and brushed off the apology as insencere.
PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub, meanwhile, suggested a referendum to let the public decide if the apology was acceptable.
“The 20th anniversary of the peace accord between the Malaysian government and the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) on Dec 2, 1989, and now, an official apology by Chin Peng, should prompt the Government to allow him to return to Malaysia,” Karpal said in a statement yesterday.
Karpal was responding to Chin Peng’s apology for the deaths of innocents published in The Star yesterday.
He claimed the former secretary-general of the CPM had always been a citizen of Malaysia although there were suggestions that Chin Peng did not apply for citizenship after the country achieved independence.
Karpal also said Chin Peng was already 85 years old and had expressed his desire to return to Malaysia. Chin Peng has made arrangements for him to be buried near his father’s grave in his hometown of Sitiawan.
“This should strike a chord in the hearts of those in power.”
He said Chin Peng’s plan to take his case to the International Court of Justice after having lost out in Malaysian courts would give Malaysia unnecessary negative publicity and should be avoided at all cost.
Dr Chandra considered Chin Peng’s apology insincere because of his stand in defending the killing of innocents by his group.
“If we examine his statement, he does not admit he did something wrong.
“He said there would be civilian casualties in war, and said that communists, too, were killed by security forces.
“This shows that his apology is insincere,” he told mStar Online.
“Saying that civilians get killed in war shows he is trying to legitimise what has happened,” added Dr Chandra.
“We also have to consider the feelings of the relatives of those in the security force,” he added.
Salahuddin said a referendum would decide the issue.

****************

For DAP to make such call clearly demosntrated that they have very little regard for the authorities and security personnel, who have risk and lost their lives, if not permanently maimed to make Malaya/Malaysia a peace and stable place to live defening the rakyat and tanahair from the “Butchers of Malaya atrocities and terrorism througout 54 years of insurgency. Of course, particularly the ‘Heroes of the Hadyaii Accord’. The fact  that majority of the security and essential services personnel are Malays, it also illustrated their anti-Malay true self.

Otherwise, we at BigDogDotCom once challenged DAP who calls themselves “multiracial party” and advocated “Malaysian, Malaysia” to do their bit for the defense of the realm in getting an influx of Non Malay applicants into the Police, Army and other essential services each time there is a recruitment drive.

On the excuse of Chin “Butcher of Malaya” Peng’s justification to come back and spend the remaining of his natural live in Malaysia so that he could be burried next to his father, should not arise. He is a Moist-Leninist commnunist and denounced religion and traditions and heritage values. As such, the issue of going back to his roots should never arise. Afterall, he left home to fight his own fellow Chinese ethnic and fled to China for sanctuary. Chin “Butcher of Malaya” Peng no longer belong here, in this tanahair.

Never the less, let us remind Malaysians of the sufferings of almost 5,000 families who lost love ones in the 12 year Emergency (1948-60), where 60% of them are non combattant civilians, which include innocent women, children and old folks.

This was published in Starmag, The Star on 28 September 2003:

My father’s murderer

ON the night of Dec 19, 1948, my father, the headmaster of the Chinese school in Simpang Dua, Sitiawan, Perak, was resting with his pregnant wife, also a Chinese school teacher, and his seven children at home after dinner. Some people came and called my father, so he wore his shirt and stepped out of the house into the dark. According to my mother, a conversation took place followed by the sound of two gunshots.

The shock was too great for a pregnant woman to bear. Four days later, I was born, prematurely and fatherless.
I used to go for Cheng Beng (All Souls Day) to take flowers to my father’s grave every year. Next to his grave is that of my classmate’s father. He was the headman of Simpang Dua at that time and was also gunned down by Chin Peng’s men on the same fateful night.
When I was studying in ACS, Sitiawan, I used to look at Chin Peng’s son, who was my senior in the same school. He could walk out of the class when Mr Moses Tay taught Malayan history about Chin Peng, but I could only sit there and wish that my father was alive. Perhaps if he had not been a headmaster but just an ordinary teacher, he would not have been murdered and my mother wouldn’t have had to suffer so much, bringing up eight young children single-handedly.

In my birth certificate, in the column for “Father”, is written: “Ditembak mati” (shot dead). It should be “Ditembak mati oleh Chin Peng, the villain”!

Impossible to Forgive & Forget,

Klang, Selangor

******************

At all cost, Chin “Butcher of Malaya” Peng should not be allowed to step foot and breathe the air of the independent and peaceful Malaysia (Malaya) he once terrorized and tried to destroy. If the DAP is insistant that the “Butcher of Malaya” be allowed back in, then they must also insist that the man be made to stand trial as a war ciminal and crimes against HM Seri Paduka Baginda Yang DiPertuan Agong, Federal Constitution and rakyat.

If the argument of not making Chin “Butcher of Malaya” Peng to stand trial for war crimes is about of his 85 year old age and the Hadyaii Accord was signed 20 years ago, then consider than there is a 90 year old Nazi war criminal now being prosecuted 64 years after the Nuremberg trial ended. He is the “Butcher of Malaya” and tens of thousand families deserve to see justice prevail.

---

Film Training

SEPANJANG tahun ada sahaja program latihan yang berkaitan dengan filem dianjurkan oleh pelbagai pihak yang ber"kepentingan".

Finas sahaja hampir setiap bulan ada program latihan yang telah diadakan semenjak 1982. Tentunya bagus sekali. Kebelakangan ini pula semakin rancak pihak-pihak lain muncul tiba-tiba menawarkan bengkel itu dan ini, semuanya menggambarkan diri sebagai pandai filem. Macam-macam bengkel yang dipanggil "masterclass" dianjurkan, seolah-olah perkataan masterclass itu baru dijumpai. Bengkel yang tak ada rupa masterclass pun dipanggil masterclass kerana yang jadi "masternya" orang puteh, dan bukan orang Malaysia. Kalau orang Malaysia tak dipanggil master, cukup dengan pembimbing" atau "kelas bimbingan" sahaja.

Tapi benarkah kita memerlukan master-master yang tak kita kenal itu, semata-mata kerana alamat pos mereka di  Hollywood? Akan jadi Hollywood kah industri filem kita nanti, atau Hollywood kah acuan atau wajah filem yang mesti kita lakarkan untuk filem kita. .
Sebenarnya banyak sudah bengkel, seminar, masterclass, kerja-kerja lain yang telah kita berikan kepada "orang-orang" ini dengan bayaran yang sangat tinggi hingga sampai puluhan ribu. Tapi, mana satukah filem yang sudah terangkat dek bengkel dan masterclass oleh master-master Hollywood itu. Mana satu orang yang telah dilonjakkan oleh masterclass-masterclass yang sudah dekat sepuluh tahun diadakan itu? Siapa keluaran masterclass-masterclass ini dimasa lalu tolong angkat tangan. Ada ke ?

Jawabnya tak ada. Kita sebenarnya tidak memerlukan semua itu,

Yang kita perlukan ialah mengadakan ruang dan peluang kepada anak-anak kita yang dilahirkan sendiri oleh sistem latihan kita seperti yang terdapat di Aswara,  UiTM dan bengkel-bengkel Finas sendiri. Selagi peluang ini tidak diadakan, tidak akan adalah sesiapa anak bumi ini yang kenal diri, kenal bangsa; yang setia dan yang komited dengan perjuangan mendaulatkan seni perfileman negara dapat diketengahkan sebagai tanda keberhasilan kita menjalankan program latihan dan pendidikan filem di masa lalu. Para graduan dan lepasan pendidikan dalam negara patutlah kita bangunkan sendiri untuk menjadi tunjang kehebatan kita di masa hadapan..
Bengkel, seminar dan masterclass kelolaan orang luar walaupun dari Hollywood mahupun Bollywood, atau Indowood sekalipun, hanya akan menguntungkan orang yang dijemput itu sahaja, sedangkan hasilnya tidak dapat dilihat. Tanyalah siapa yang telah lahir dari bengkel, seminar atau master class ini.

Saya teringat kata seorang bekas pelajar saya, "selagi orang yang berkuasa memandang orang luar lebih baik dari bangsa sendiri, selagi itulah kita tidak akan dapat membina kekuatan sendiri. Mentaliti kelas rendah orang-orang yang menyangka orang puteh atau Jepun lebih hebat daripada anak tempatan perlu dibuang jauh-jauh sebelum segalanya menjadi lebih rosak dan akhirnya membinasa...

 (Gambar hiasan titipan dari kelas "Pengarahan Aktor" pelajar-pelajar Ijazah Sarjana Muda Filem dan Video Aswara)

UMNO untuk semua. Bukan Melayu dalam UMNO..

KIRA-KIRA pukul 7.30mlm semalam Jumaat 16 Okt 2009 saya diminta seorang pegawai kanan Radio 24 Bernama untuk mengulas secara langsung tentang perhimpunan agong UMNO yang baru selesai jam 6.00petang itu. Perhimpunan agong UMNO yang dikatakan bersejarah itu telah meminda secara drastik beberapa peruntukan dalam perlembagaannya, bagi menjadikan UMNO sebuah parti yang lebih demokratik, yang memberi khidmat kepada seluruh rakyat Malaysia tanpa mengira kaum dan sebuah parti politik yang penting dan boleh dipercayai oleh semua.

Saya katakan apa yang dilakukan UMNO itu sangat baik dan boleh terus diperbaikki lagi dari semasa ke semasa. Mengenai pentingnya UMNO mendampingi NGO-NGO saya katakan saya sendiri pernah menulis di blog ini pada 25 Julai 2009 lalu tentang pentingnya NGO-NGO didekati oleh UMNO (lihat di sini) kerana UMNO itu sendiri terbentuk dari NGO-NGO Melayu pada mulanya dahulu.

Di Radio 24 semalam saya mencadangkan agar Wanita UMNO, Pemuda UMNO dan Puteri UMNO menjadikan diri mereka sebagai NGO yang berkhidmat kepada masyarakat di tempat masing-masing. Mereka tidak perlu bergerak sebagai entiti politik melainkan berkhidmat kepada masyarakat dengan tidak mengira bangsa dan tanpa muslihat politik. Mengekalkan sebahagian dari UMNO sebagai NGO adalah perkara yang patut dipertimbangkan.

Selain dari itu menjadikan wakil-wakil NGO sebagai rakan dailog yang sentiasa berhubungan dengan UMNO juga sangatlah penting sekiranya UMNO berhasrat untuk benar-benar memberi khidmat yang terbaik kepada masyarakat. Mengadakan "associate membership" kepada wakil-wakil NGO Melayu dan "NGO bukan Melayu" bukan sahaja boleh "mendekatkan" kelompok yang berkenaan dengan falsafah dan perjuangan UMNO (yang dilihat baru) tetapi juga secara tidak langsung merangsang komponan-komponan parti BN yang lain untuk memberi perkhidmatan dengan lebih baik lagi kepada masyarakat.

Bayangkan UMNO itu sendiri mempunyai komponan bukan Melayu bersamanya, walaupun tidak seperti yang dimahukan Allahyaraham Dato' Onn dahulu. Dengan pemimpin-pemimpin penting negara berada di dalamnya, masyarakat bukan Melayu tentu lebih tertarik menjadi "ahli bersekutu" atau "rakan UMNO" daripada menjadi ahli kelab bukan Melayu PAS..

Selepas Ramadhan akan jadi siapa kita...

SELEPAS sebulan berpuasa, yakni sebulan mengawal hawa nafsu dari segala keinginan dan menjalankan amal ibadat keagamaan dengan segala doa dan perbuatan yang membawa "baraqoh", sewajarnya kita menjadi gulungan yang lebih mulia, yang lebih berjaya, yang lebih waras dan yang lebih boleh dipercayai dan dihormati.

Nilai manusia Melayu-Islam selepas Ramadhan tentu sekali boleh dan akan menganjak ke hadapan kemajuan bangsa dan negara, tanpa sebarang kekurangan dan keraguan, sebagai khalifah Allah di muka bumi (negara) ini.

Akan sampaikah darjat kita sebagai manusia beragama berbangsa, bertaraf khalifah kali ini. Lebih-lebih lagi ketika masyarakat dan bangsa sedang menghadapi pelbagai kemelut dan pancaroba kehidupan yang membimbang dan membingungkan.

Eidulfitri Al-Mubarak mendesak kita untuk membuktikan ini. Kegagalan kita beramai-ramai melakukan ini tentu boleh membuat orang memandang serung kepada kita (dan agama kita)

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI, MAAF ZAHIR BATIN

Melayu, Raya tetap Raya..

DUA berita yang menjentik fikiran saya pagi ini: pertama dari tulisan A Kadir Jasin mengenai kenangan berhari raya yang menyentuh mengenai pengemis Melayu / Islam di Bangsar dan pertanyaan beliau masih ada lagikah Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat di Malaysia ini (baca di sini) dan berita mengenai cawangan DAP Melayu yang ditubuhkan di Kinrara, Selangor (di sini)

Dapatkah pemimpin Melayu dalam kerajaan dan UMNO faham sebab dan akibat perkara ini..