2010 - A Continuing Odyssey

Technorati tags: 2010, Personal+Wishes, Malaysia

Before he gets too carried away, Walski would like to wish one and all a very happy New Year to myAsylum readers wherever they may be – even if it’s not quite 2010 yet where you are.

Fellow-blogger Rapera, in his welcome-2010/goodbye-2009 post asks us an important question:

Is the year “new” or will we be “new”?

Pondering on this for a bit, what has changed about your world when you woke up to 2010 this morning?

As far as Walski can tell (from not suffocating and keeling over), the air in his world is still 78.084% Nitrogen, 20.948% Oxygen, 0.934% Argon, 0.031% CO2, and 0.03% dan lain-lain (give or take). By volume, that is. Exactly like it was in the old year.

So just what is so new about the New Year?
(what Walski would & wouldn’t like to have in 2010, and more in the full post)

Well, physically, not a thing. As Rapera aptly hinted, it’s us that changes with every year, and not the year itself. And so, whatever Walski wants in this new year – and for that matter what anyone else does – will depend on human factors that have nothing to do with the movement of time.

But let’s not belabor this point to death – Walski knows, as he knows you know, that the “new year” is but a point of reference that we give, within a system we practice, so as to be able to describe past/present/future events more precisely. So that instead of having to say “four hundred and thirty seven days ago”, we can simply say October 21st 2008. There’s absolutely no significance to this date, by the way, except that it was a Tuesday.

In any case, there are a few things that Walski would like to see happen this year. And some that he’d like a lot less of. And even some he’d like to see gone forever.

Realistically, much of what Walski wants he has no control over, and will require change in other people and institutions. One can still hope, no?

First, here are what Walski would like less of:

Politics – Ever since the run-up to the March 8, 2008 General Elections – almost 2 years ago now – Malaysia has been caught up in this perpetual, never-ending spin-cycle of politics. It’s long past the point of being tiresome – Walski finds it fucking irritating. To the max. And before you go screaming “Opposition sympathizer” on Walski’s ass, he thinks that it’s the fault of all parties, not just BN. EVERY-fucking-BODY. So, here’s some unsolicited advice that Walski would like to impart: stop with the politics, and get down to doing some real productive shit. Both to BN and to PR. To BN, you did badly during GE12 – you know it, and we sure as hell know it – now get on with life and start doing the work you were elected to do. And stop trying to undermine the states you lost with coups and underhanded tactics. You wanna win them back? The next GE is the proper platform. To PR, Walski realizes that the reality of governance is something you are only now coming to grips with, and that the Federal Government is not making life easy. Just don’t forget one thing – we didn’t elect you so that certain segments of your coalition can turn this nation into a theocracy. You did real good in coming up with a Common Policy Framework – just make sure you keep to your word, and walk your talk. And if any of the politicians are closet BN/UMNO wannabes – let them go – you don’t need any politician that’s less than sincere in your fold (okay, a “sincere politician” does sound like an oxymoron, but you get Walski’s drift).

Moral Policing – Bad enough that Malaysia is a police state, let’s all make sure it doesn’t further de-evolve into a Moral Police state. Sometimes, Walski feels that the only gratification Moral Policing gives is in the creation of “criminals” – oh, and making sure that this life is as hellish as possible. That said, in this respect, 2010 got off to a great start.

Walski’s just glad the girl didn’t actually jump down, or fall off, from the building. Assholes. And to think that there are those who actually wish for more of this in Malaysia. Bigger Assholes.

The photo you see on the left is from a similar news report in The Star.

Worried about her precarious position, the officer asked her boyfriend to coax her.
(source: The Star)

Worried about her precarious position, or of your own fucking culpability, should something nasty have happened to the poor girl. And looking at the drop, she would have suffered severe hurt, or maybe even permanent death, should she have jumped, or fallen.

And if that had happened, would the authorities have been charged? The cynic in Walski thinks not – and if that’s the kind of Malaysia that some Malaysians want, and God-forbid manage to one day achieve, then it’s no country worth staying on in. At best, at that too is a real stretch, this sort of crap is best left for the burgeoning reality TV that we’re being bombarded with.

Reality TV Shows – Speaking of which, it seems as though almost every conceivable (and sometimes inconceivable) situation now gets turned into a reality TV show. It was novel for a while, but now it’s gotten to the point of being ridiculous. If some obese fuck needs to lose weight, fine. They should for the sake of their health. But they don’t have to make the rest of the world suffer along. Oh, but it inspires unhealthily fat people to lose weight, you say? Look at it this way – if the mirror in your house, and snickering behind your back, is not inspiration enough, then a reality TV show probably isn’t going to, either. Come to think of it – what of those who get eliminated from the show along the way? Are they Bigger-than-Biggest losers? And if Moral Policing escapades in Malaysia were to be turned into Reality TV (shudder), can we name the program Even Bigger Than the Bigger-than-Biggest Loser?

Racism – Let’s face it – an entire system that was built, over the last half a century, along racial lines is not something that will be easy to dismantle. But that doesn’t mean that it should be further encouraged, either. What kind of superiority can one claim, when in the same breath one says that they’re in perpetual need of preferential treatment, or for thinking anyone owes you a living? And by the way, it’s time we came to grips with the fact that Malaysia (plus Malaya & the Malay Archipelago before that) has always been a melting pot, and that almost EVERYONE’s forefathers was, at one time or another, a pendatang. No insult intended – even Walski’s proud of his pendatang heritage. Why settle for bland ketupat, when it’s so much tastier with a variety of sauces?

Environmental Damage – Regardless of what your opinion is on Global Warming, one thing you’ll have to admit is that we (as in humans) are responsible for a lot  of damage to the environment, in the process of this thing called development. The horrendous landslips at Highland Towers and Bukit Antarabangsa were not “acts of God” per se, but the repercussion of hill-cutting, natural foliage removal, and the subsequent erosion, as a result. Mother Earth is a self-regulating closed system of gigantic proportions – imbalance of something will cause a shift in something else, as the system regulates itself. Take Carbon Dioxide, for example – the fact that it continues to hover around 0.03% (by volume) in the air we breathe is a clue that the excess CO2 that we spew into the atmosphere (and don’t say we don’t) had to have gone somewhere. The fact that we also keep cutting down natural nocturnal CO2 ingestors – tress, to you and Walski – is an added pressure to the environment to regulate itself. Hence, increased acidity in our oceans and groundwater, to maintain the fine balance in the air we breathe, between living, and keeling over gasping for air. It’s the simple principle of what-goes-around-comes-around. So yeah, let’s be more kind to the environment, shall we?

There are quite a few other things, too, like Stupidly Suicidal Drivers, Corruption, and Public Stupidity, which Walski won’t elaborate on. Otherwise, this post will be never-ending.

That said, there are a few things that Walski would like to see more of:

Walking The Talk – It’s important, just like Walking The Dog, which if you don’t do, will simply cause the accumulated poo-poo to one day appear in places you don’t want it to. And if the dog happens to be sitting by a fan when that time comes, the result might just be explosively messy. In any case, many promising things have been promised (for lack of a better word) – liberalization, 1Malaysia (in the true sense), etc. Well, saying is one thing – it’s time to put some action to those words. Otherwise, it’ll be another year of active sloganeering. Of course, the biggest stumbling block to political leaders’ aspirations is sometimes the members of their own political party, who may be a tad intellectually challenged to fully appreciate the true value of what’s proclaimed. It goes back to what Walski said earlier about doing the right things vs. politics being a popularity contest.

Acceptance – And not just tolerance. Tolerance, to Walski, merely means putting up with things you find distasteful. Like tolerating stupidity, for instance. Acceptance, on the other hand, is the wholehearted belief that others have the right to be as they are. No matter who these others are, or what it is they choose to be. We’ve seen some minor progress in 2009, and Walski hopes that he’ll see a lot more in 2010, and beyond. 2010 promised to be a good start when the courts ruled that no one community has the exclusive right to use ‘Allah’ (via The Malaysian Insider). At least, until the Court of Repeal has anything to say about it. But already, some Muslim exclusivst groups are up in arms over the decision. Including one former Selangor Chief Minister who says that he’s in mourning over the decision, and a Member of Parliament from the same political party who says that the decision will “stir racial tension” (both news items via The Malaysian Insider). Not 'religious' tension, mind you, but 'racial’ tension. You really have to wonder how the exclusivist logic works. Or if there’s any logic involved to begin with. It’s almost like the age old playground taunt of “my God is better than your god”, when every Muslim knows that there’s only one god. It’s not like the Big Guy wears a name tag with ‘Allah’ written on it. So yeah, some acceptance of the fact no one religious/race community has exclusivity to God would be very nice for a change. And that’s acceptance, mind you, not tolerance.

Equal Access To Persecution-free Entertainment – And not a 1Apartheid situation where it’s a “crime” for one demographic to have fun (in whatever manner they like, as long as it doesn’t hurt others), and not a crime for everybody else. This really goes back to the No Moral Policing bit Walski already elaborated on earlier. Also, some lightening up on the “will bring about moral decay” rhetoric when it comes to entertainment would be great. Fine if you use that argument on corruption, but it really is a stretch when it comes to things which the young, and young-at-heart, regard as fun. And really, there is no “fun” in fundamentalism, no matter how tangled you try twisting your logic around.

Better Public Transportation – This, in fact, is related to Walking The Talk that was mentioned a few paragraphs back. Because so far, all we hear is talk. Talk, talk, talk. And while the poo-poo has already hit the proverbial fan, as far as KL is concerned on any given workday, it’s still not beyond the point of no return. The fact that Walski has greater hopes in Indonesia being socially more conducive to living (provided the fundies are kept at bay), it doesn’t mean he likes Jakarta traffic. And by Public Transportation, Walski means Public Transportation SYSTEM – not the piecemeal, not-very-connected islands of public transportation that KL boasts. Integrated? Look the damned word up in a dictionary before calling yourself that.

Civil Liberties – The broadening spectrum of civil liberties is what Walski hopes to see more of in 2010. We’ve been getting better in some respects, but much, much worse in others. The stunt pulled by the Government late last year of having stricter news censorship and obfuscation rules, in the guise of “self-regulation”, came under attack by the media bodies themselves. And now we’re hearing about new film censorship guidelines, to be introduced in 2010, of which Walski’s not entirely optimistic about. But he’ll give it the benefit of the doubt until the time it’s released, and (hopefully) open to scrutiny. Included in the spectrum of civil liberties is, of course, free speech, which unfortunately didn’t fare too well in ‘09. Again, Walski hopes for the best in the coming year…

To comprehensively go over every single thing that Walski would like more, and those that he’d like less, in one single post would mean that he’ll have nothing to write about for the rest of the year.

So, on that thought, he’d better stop here for now.

But in truth, this year will only reveal itself to be “new” if we make the effort to change ourselves for the better, and towards making what we want a reality. Many things, of course, are not entirely in our hands. Surprisingly, however, it’s amazing how even one small single action can have far reaching ramifications, whether we realize it, or not, at the onset.

It’s all part of the strange and mysterious continuum we call life, where 2010 is but another unfolding chapter…

Walski’s borrowed inspiration for post title creation acknowledgement footnote: Sci-fi buffs will probably have the suspicion that the post title is somehow related to Arthur C. Clarke’s “2010: Odyssey Two”. And you would be absolutely spot-on, if you suspected as much. Guilty, as charged.

Okay, so space travel hasn’t advanced as far as Clarke had envisioned 28 years ago when he wrote the Hugo Award winning book, and we’ve certainly not found any intelligent monoliths of unknown origin, nor come any closer to explaining the mysteries of life, the universe, and everything unexplainable. Not even why is it that some people find durians utterly disgusting.

But since it’s the only book Walski’s read that has 2010 in it, it became the natural choice of inspiration.

Click here for the full post......

Zero-Nine Rewind

Technorati tags: 2009, Retrospective, Recap, Rewind

Wow… we’re actually on the verge of welcoming another new year.

2009 seems to have whizzed by in a long flash. It seems like only 360-some yesterdays ago that Walski wrote his post to usher in the year. Time flies, as they say – although the passengers on the Air Asia flight to Gold Coast a few days ago might disagree.

And now, it’s almost another new year, in less than 6 hours time.

It’s been a rather slow blogging year for Walski, comparatively, including a few near-miss attempts to quit altogether. No point getting into the specifics of why – rest assured that he will definitely continue with myAsylum for a while yet.

But there were a few blog projects that Walski had kinda planned, but didn’t manage to pull off this year, due to time constraints, the key one being a new blog dedicated to the Hell on Earth News Network (HENN) . Same with the stalled comic series Kaca’s Eyes – of which Walski’s only managed to churn out two strips in ‘09 – the plan was a spin-off blog for Kaca and Dewilicious. It’s something Walski’s been thinking of doing for quite a while. Maybe next year.

So, how did 2009 pan out, all told? Well, to put it mildly, it’s been an interesting year. But a lot of it for all the wrong reasons… 
(a brief 2009 retrospective, and more, in the full post)

Walski won’t be so ambitious as to try to recap the entire last decade. Many others have already done that, and there really is no point reinventing the wheel – unless you’re a die-hard Islamist who wants to reinvent the Islamic this and Islamic that…

But 2009 has been a busy year for the conservative Muslim demographic in our country. In February, an attempt to quell the voices of our more progressive sisters in Musawah (see also here) was in high gear. For the more conservative Malaysian muslims, the established status quo must be upheld, even if its defense is the flimsiest of threads. Particularly when it comes to women’s issues, as evidenced by the many attempts at trying to silence Sisters In Islam this past year, including the call by PAS to ban the NGO.

And then there’s all those activities to ban anything resembling music and fun for the masses. Even something as mundane as Michael Learns To Rock came under attack. And you wonder why so many music acts opt for Singapore, Bangkok, or even Jakarta?

Perhaps all of Malaysia’s conservatives should take a leaf from what’s currently happening in Iran (which started the June elections, and has never really stopped since), or the continued tyranny that ordinary Saudis face – a theocracy, as good as it sounds in theory, does not work. Let’s not even mention the utter chaotic mess that is Somalia.

Will this realization sink into some people’s heads? Walski certainly hopes so – but only time will tell. It’s useful to see how others have failed, if for nothing else, to not make the same blunders.

The growing conservatism aside, one thing that underlined 2009 for Walski was tragedy – both on a personal basis, and also the demise of a number of well-known personalities, both locally and abroad. Like Yasmin Ahmad, for instance – a gigantic loss to the Malaysian film industry. Or Farrah-Fawcett, and more recently Brittany Murphy. The world this year, however, mourned on a global scale when one Michael Joseph Jackson breathed his last.

But the most tragic, needless, shocking, and incomprehensible demise in 2009 will undoubtedly be the death of Teoh Beng Hock, who was found dead under very mysterious circumstances, on the rooftop of the podium block, below the Shah Alam MACC office. A big media circus, and two autopsies later, we are no closer to knowing whether his death was accidental, a suicide or whether he was murdered. Teoh’s death created all kinds of reactions from civil society, the press, and the government, so much so that Malaysiakini named him their Newsmaker of 2009.

Teoh's death has been linked to the attempted coup to overthrow the rightfully elected Pakatan Rakyat in Selangor, alleged in a mystery letter that emerged a couple of months following his death.

Which brings us to something we simply had too damned much of in 2009 – politics. It seems like the politicking running up to the March 8, 2008 elections simply refused to stop running a whole year and 10 months later. So bad did the politics get in 2009, Walski literally became quite fed up. There was, of course, the infamous Perak Power Tussle, in which BN maneuvered a take-over of the state government. This pretty much became the shit icing on an equally crappy political cake, whose foul taste was left in many peoples’ mouths throughout much of 2009.

Whether or not well see a reduction of extreme politicking in 2010 is left to be seen, but Walski certainly hopes so.

And because the Internet was credited as one of the key factors in getting Barrack Obama elected last year, everybody wanted in on the new media bandwagon, including a very unnecessary website for Rosmah Mansor, the PM’s other ¾’s (she’s large and needs more than ‘half’). Well, a quick check at the site moments ago has revealed that it still defaults to the lovely fuchsia, and is no different (or better) than when Walski first blogged about it in August. Oh, and still with the unlinked buttons and the ‘Others Link’ pull down.

But the Internet was perhaps one of the few pluses about 2009, in particular, this application called Twitter, which really became big this year. Walski will admit that he only got on the bandwagon this year, too, but since hopping on board, he hasn’t looked back. And he blames Twitter in part for the dearth of blogging this year.

The nice thing about Twitter is that it’s compact, easy to take along with you anywhere (literally), and you don’t have to think beyond 140 characters whenever you have something on your mind.

In any case, Twitter became the new source of instantaneous information, putting another dent into the viability of traditional media in the new millennium. So much so that today, even the traditional print and online press organizations have their compulsory presence on Twitter. It is through Twitter that the world kept up with the aftermath of the Iran Elections – the insurgency that keeps on giving, until even today. And it’s also through Twitter that the shocking news regarding the collapse, and later, untimely death of Yasmin Ahmad spread through cyberspace like wildfire.

2009 marks the year that Twitter really exploded onto the scene, big time, not just in Malaysia, but across the world. Makes blogging seem so 20th century. But putting one’s thoughts across 140 characters at a time does have its limitations, and so blogging is not about to die off any time soon. Which is more than Walski can say about the traditional media.

But 2009 wasn’t entirely about doom, gloom and politics – we had some really fantabulous films that were released this year. No thanks to the fear that that Walski may blow hard earned cash to watch a butchered film on the big screen (assuming it makes it to our shores in the first place), he didn’t get to watch a number of films release this year. And so, courtesy of YouTube, and the creative genius of one Kees van Dijkhuizen, here’s a mashup of the years films.

This year also marks the 20th anniversary of the debut album, “Pretty Hate Machine” by Nine Inch Nails, one of Walski’s all-time favorite music acts. And finally Walski got to see them live in concert in August. Not here in Malaysia, of course, but in neighboring Singapore, during the Asian leg of Trent Reznor’s (supposedly) last tour. Walski has to thank The Lord Panda for making the encounter possible.

Now, he’d wanted to do a proper post on the concert, but one thing led to another, and so Walski never got to doing anything else but the one that was supposed to only be an interim post.

2009 was also a strange year in many respects. Walski won’t elaborate much, but friend and fellow-blogger Pah Nur, in her year close out, has brilliantly put together some of the strangest news items published this year, from around the globe. And that, inevitably, includes a couple from Malaysia, as well.

Truth, as they say, is sometimes stranger than fiction… and the truth is that this post is starting to get really, really long.

And so, as we anxiously count the hours, and later, the minutes and second, towards a brand new year, there are a few Thank You’s that Walski feels he has to make.

First and foremost, to the blogging community, particularly the Malaysia sector of the bloggerhood, for making 2009 an interesting year. And that means ALL of you bloggers out there, even the unscrupulous hyper-political ones, and the fervent & foaming at the mouth Islamist ones. 2009 wouldn’t have been the same without you. So thanks. Really.

Special mention, and thanks, however, need to go out to a couple of bloggers – Art Harun, in particular, for being the voice of reason in a sometimes unreasonable Malaysia. Marina M., is another blogger Walski wishes to thank, for her support for, and occasional linkage, to myAsylum – especially for her being so kind as to host the current ISA poll on her blog.

But most of all, 2009 would not have been the same if it were not for one very important person in Walski’s life – Mrs. Walski. Thanks, my dear, for being there, and for keeping Walski on an even keel. It would have been the real asylum for him, if it weren’t for the truly unconditional love of this one truly special person. It takes a lot to put up with Walski – he knows that, and for being there, thank you.

And so, as 2009 draws to a close, Walski wishes one and all a very Happy New Year. Don’t forget tonight’s partial eclipse of the Moon, 2010’s first wonderful gift to us all. Walski hopes that it’s not so partial that we don’t get to see squat.

Happy 2010 people…. see ya’ll next year!

Click here for the full post......

Antares vs. The Plasmodium-bots

Technorati tags: Antares, Magick River, Malaria, Update

As most of us would’ve already guessed (and secretly hoped), it’s gonna take a lot more than a bunch of puny parasite bots to overcome the fierce warrior-blogger we all know, and love, as Antares.

Walski thought he should post some updates about Antares’ condition, which was reported on some days back. As he’s made the decision to not visit Antares until the guy recovers a bit more, Walski will relay some news he got via other concerned bloggers’ reports.

Beginning with Zorro Unmasked, which received a comment from Belle, daughter to Antares:

I just saw my dad and he managed to open his eyes and even smile!!!! Words can't describe how happy and relieved we are. He's got most of the tubes out and hopefully when we see him again later he won't need any tubes at all. The parasites have been wiped out and they're expecting him to be out of ICU within the next day or two. I told him that everyone is praying for him and sending him love. Thanks so much for all your healing and support. His 60th birthday on Jan 7th will be a day of celebrating his "re-birth" :)
(received in Zorro's comment box at 3:22pm yesterday)

Plasmodium falciparum is the parasite of protozoan proportions that causes Malaria. Nasty buggers they can be. But fortunately, not nasty enough to get a good man down, in this day and age.
(more updates, bloggers who expressed concern, and more, in the full post)

Another blogger, Hawkeye, posted a similar update yesterday.

Antares on the recovery and looking good!

Got news from our medical sources at about 4 pm today and was informed that Antares is recovering well.

For those medically inclined:
Was informed that he had "metabolic acidosis from kidney involvement of Malaria (Plasmodium Falciparum)". He was put on the ventilator and is currently being weaned off it, but still requires to have dialysis

But in general the information is that he is recovering slow and steady and that is good news to me.

Many folks, both online and off, had expressed concern about Antares’ condition, and it’s heartening to note that the man is on the mend. Quite a few bloggers have written posts of positive good wishes include Art Harun, Hawkeye (the above, and here), MarGeeMar, Mary Maguire, Masterwordsmith (here and here, chronologically), Patrick Teoh via Niamah!!!, and even Ku Li (via Twitter), among others. 

There was, however one sicko pseudonymically called Sister Stella who tried to spread a totally bogus story to say that Antares had passed on (see this Zorro Unmasked post). Not at all a nice thing to do.

It’s been a while since Walski’s personally heard of anyone contracting Malaria, but it just goes to show that some diseases, including an ancient one like Malaria, although not as prevalent as before, can still strike.

Them Plasmodium-bots are sure hard as hell to eliminate for good… bloody parasites.

In any case, thanks to all the positive thoughts, good wishes, and prayers that went towards Antares’ general direction. His family truly appreciates it, and I’m sure so does Antares.

Click here for the full post......

Sunday Tee-off

Technorati tags: Humor, Politics, Utusan, Ridhuan Tee, Santa Claus

If you’re a golfer and found this post thinking that it’s got to do with the game, please prepare to be utterly disappointed.

No, this post has nothing whatsoever to do with golf. Golf, as it turns out, is Walski’s handicap… (that’s a lame golf joke, incidentally).

Original image taken from here

Nay, this post is about an article written by Dr. Ridhuan Tee, published in Mingguan Malaysia this past Sunday (PDF version), which was also posted on his blog. An English version of the same article can be found on Tee’s English blog here. The article, if you haven’t yet read it, scored a hole-in-1Malaysia (sorry, another lame-ish golf joke), promoting a blatantly racial agenda in how Malaysia should be, in Dr. Tee’s eyes.

Ridhuan Tee, is certainly no stranger to controversy, and is definitely not a medical doctor, in case you’re wondering (Politics & Government is his doctoral forte). Walski knows because (through Twitter) a lot of people were feeling sick to their stomach after reading the Dr.’s article.

But before we delve into the article itself, there are two excellent rebuttals to Tee’s article, which Walski urges you to read, if you haven’t yet. One, in Bahasa Malaysia, comes from Dengan Izini…™ entitled “Siapa Yang Jahat, Dr Ridhuan Tee?” by Hidayat Saifudin.

The second comes from none other than Art Harun, who penned “An Open Reply to Dr. Mohd Ridhuan Tee Abdullah”. A brilliantly written retort, Walski might add.

Needless to say, there probably are quite a number more, but Walski feels these two deserve special mention.

So what is it about Ridhuan Tee’s article that really got many people feeling they’d just encountered the wrong end of a 1-Iron to their gut? No birdies for guessing – it had to do with the ludicrous notions of 1Apartheid-ish race & religious relations numerical formulas, grave ornaments, and Santa Claus.
(the social contract, minus the santa claus(e), and more, in the full post)

As a precaution against being accused of not stating facts accurately, Walski will quote from both the Bahasa Malaysia and English versions of Dr. Ridhua Tee’s article. If you’re thinking of visiting the English version blog, though, be forewarned that Tee’s embedded some really cheesy easy listening music that you cannot turn off.

The article starts off with a kinda defense on behalf of Utusan – no big wonder, because that’s the vehicle he rides on for his writing. And as with any champion of the Malay/Islam cause, the Holy Grail of race-based politics, the Social Contract, is invoked early on (all emphasis by myAsylum).

Persoalan saya, apakah akhbar tabloid parti ultra kiasu dan parti-parti politik perkauman lain dan mereka yang bersekongkol tidak jahat? Parti ultra kiasu dan kuncu-kuncunya bukan sahaja jahat, tetapi terang dan nyata lagi berniat jahat dengan menolak kontrak sosial dan perlembagaan persekutuan serta mencabar perkara-perkara sensitif yang telah dipersetujui bersama sekian lama. Rakan sekutu parti ultra kiasu langsung tidak berani bersuara kerana takut hilang sokongan. Inilah strategi licik ultra kiasu dan sekutunya berselindung di bawah gagasan 1Malaysia untuk mencari laba dan keuntungan politik.

My question is whether the ultra kiasu party news tabloid and the other racist political parties and those concocted with them are they also not evil? The ultra kiasu party and its group are not only evil, but it is already clearly a fact that they have an evil intention by not accepting the social contract and rejecting the federal constitution and also challenging sensitive matters that have long been agreed upon. The partners of the ultra kiasu party do not dare to speak directly for fear of loss of support. This is the cunning strategy of the ultra kiasu party and its allies hiding behind the 1Malaysia concept for its benefits and political mileage.

Ironically, while accusing the anti-agenda papers and other ultra-kiasu political parties of cowardice for “not speaking directly”, Ridhuan tee neglects to identify whom he’s referring to exactly. In the same paragraph, no less. His own “cunning strategy”, perhaps.

Now, Walski’s no lawyer, but he’s dealt with enough contracts to know that there are none which are not subject to review, and are to be maintained for perpetuity, regardless of how circumstances change. Much less an unwritten contract. Art Harun, who is a lawyer, explains this in great detail in his open reply (from paragraph 5 onwards).

And then, it starts to get stranger.

Sekurang-kurangnya Utusan Malaysia berterus-terang, bermakna tidaklah terlalu jahat, daripada berselindung melakukan kejahatan, di depan orang pijak semut tak mati, tetapi di belakang bukan main lagi, seolah-olah hidup ini tidak akan mati. Inilah tindak-tanduk mereka untuk mengaburi mata rakyat. Kalau kita intip pergerakan mereka, saya yakin kita akan berjumpa dengan manusia yang sejahat ini, termasuk salah seorang exco yang membawa santa claus berjumpa pemimpin negeri mereka baru-baru ini. Kepada pemimpin tersebut, kalau suka sangat raikan santa claus, jangan sampai terlebih meraikan pulak. Sebagai umat Islam, kita diajar menghormati agama lain, tetapi elok berpada-pada. Mereka ini licik perancangannya. Ramai orang Melayu sudah tersasar kerana terlalu dekat dengan santa claus.

At least Utusan Malaysia is frank, meaning not too bad instead of camouflage doing evil, like being sweet in front of people but when behind actually are not. Those are their actions to obscure the eyes of the public. If we spy their movement, I am confident we will see their true colors, including the one exco that brought the santa claus to meet the leader of their country recently. To this leader, if you enjoy celebrating with Santa Claus, please do not over do it. As Muslims, we are taught to respect other religions, but do not go overboard. They are very cunning at planning. Many Malays have side tracked because of being too close to santa claus.

Bad English aside, the mystery of why the Malays have gotten sidetracked, despite opportunity after opportunity has now been solved – it’s Santa’s fault. Oh, the English version also upgrades Selangor to a country. Cool… Khalid Ibrahim must be pleased that he now has his own country.

Ironic, but while Tee fervently upholds the “social contract”, he totally dismisses the Santa Claus…

In any case, what Ridhuan Tee must have been referring to – in his not so direct, but still gallant way – is this image which surfaced a few hours after the release of his boundary-pushing article.

Yes, it’s Khalid Ibrahim partying with a badly disguised Santa, some bored-looking Santarinas, and a few state Ex-Co members. So, what’s so wrong with this happy celebratory get-together? Well, nothing really, if you asked Walski. But Ridhuan Tee probably has other ideas of how dangerous this could be to the faith.

But seriously, fear of a fictitious character? Wouldn’t that, logically, mean that the fear is kinda fictitious as well? Then again, that’s just Walski – who’s he to say, right? 

So, back to the article, the un-named, but obviously-referring-to-DAP, ultra-kiasu types are accused of bringing up sensitive racial issues to promote their own agenda.

Dalam memahami politik Malaysia, isu-isu perkauman dibangkitkan untuk mendapatkan sokongan politik dan pada masa untuk menyedarkan kaum masing-masing agar mereka sedar siapa mereka yang sebenar dan apa yang sepatutnya diperolehi. Manakala isu-isu sensitif dibangkitkan untuk mendapatkan hak sama rata dan sama rasa bagi kumpulan ultra kiasu. Mereka tahu perkara ini tidak boleh dibangkitkan secara terbuka kerana ia boleh dikenakan tindakan di bawah akta hasutan. Mereka sengaja mahu menguji UMNO yang ketika ini berada dalam keadaan agak tertekan disebabkan tidak mendapat majoriti dua pertiga dalam parlimen dan perpecahan Melayu Islam yang amat menyakitkan.

In understanding the Malaysian politics, racial issues were raised for political supports and to make the respective races to realize who they are and what should be obtained. Meanwhile, the sensitive issues were raised to demand equal rights and opportunities for the ultra kiasu group. They know these things can not be raised openly as they can be held under the sedition act. They deliberately want to test UMNO which currently is at its most crucial situation because of not getting two-thirds majority and also facing the painful disunity of the Malay Muslims.

Ok, so Tee’s a big UMNO sympathizer, a party which never raises any sensitive issues that are hurtful to others, right? Oh, but we have to forgive UMNO because they’re at a very painful ebb. UMNO, after all, is God’s gift to… well, Walski doesn’t know what, exactly.

Incidentally, not too long ago, when someone converted to Islam in Malaysia, that act was sometimes called “masuk Melayu” (loosely translated, converting to being Malay), because of the so-called societal expectation that once you’re Muslim, you must “become” Malay to be accepted. Of course, this is more perception than anything else, because there’s no such thing as racial discrimination in Islam, a point that’s highlighted by Tee himself. Or, does he?

Sebagai rakyat Malaysia, kita mesti tahu bahawa konsep sama rata dan sama rasa tidak menepati kehendak perlembagaan persekutuan, walaupun konsep Malaysian Malaysia yang selalu dilaung dan didesak oleh parti ultra kiasu. Ingat, agama Islam agama majoriti masyarakat negara ini. Kedudukan Islam begitu istimewa dalam perlembagaan. Jika ada ‘kelebihan’ pada agama Islam, ia bukanlah satu diskriminasi kerana selaku majoriti, Melayu Islam berhak, apatah lagi ia telah dipersetujui melalui kontrak sosial. Tidak perlu dipertikaikan atau dituduh tidak adil. Termasuk menggunakan dana-dana kerajaan untuk mengembangkan syiar Islam. Malangnya, perkara-perkara ini tidak pernah diformulakan. Akhirnya, setiap kaum atau parti menginterpretasikan mengikut kepentingan masing-masing mengikut latar belakang bangsa dan agamanya. Tidak ketinggalan perancangan jahat mereka.

As Malaysians, we must know that the concept of equal rights and equal opportunity do not fulfill the requirements of the federal constitution, although the concept of Malaysian Malaysia which is always being shouted and demanded by the ultra kiasu party. Remember, Islam is the religion of the majority community of this country. Islam has a very special position in the constitution. If there is any 'advantage' in Islam, it is not discrimination because as the majority Malay Muslims, they have the rights, let alone it had been agreed upon through the social contract. There should not be anymore questions or being accused of unfairness. These also included using government funds to develop the growth of Islam. Unfortunately, these things were never formulated. Finally, each race or party interpreted according to their interests respectively basing on the race and religious background. Not forgetting also their evil plans.

Now, Walski doesn’t know offhand which governance textbooks Dr. Ridhuan Tee studied to obtain his PhD in Politics & Government, but what he describes here is certainly not democracy – it’s majoritarianism, another favorite doctrine espoused by many in UMNO. The problem, according to Tee, is that there has not been a formalization of unequal rights for Malaysians. And with this in mind, we’re introduced to the Ridhuan Tee Social Formula.

Untuk mengelakkan daripada parti ultra kiasu ini menjadi bertambah jahat, setidak-tidaknya kita mesti menggariskan formula bagi menyelesaikan kejahatan ini. Formula saya adalah berasaskan kepada pecahan statistik agama dan bangsa di negara ini. Mengikut bancian tahun 2000, anutan agama rakyat Malaysia adalah seperti berikut 60.4% Islam, 40% bukan Melayu (22% Buddha-Toaisme-Konfucius, 9% Kristian, 6% Hindu, 3% lain-lain). Formula ini boleh diaplikasikan dalam konteks kehidupan bernegara termasuk hak-hak beragama dan sambutan perayaan setiap kaum, bagi mendapatkan keadilan. Formula ini menepati sebahagian maksud keadilan dalam Islam yang membawa maksud meletakkan sesuatu pada tempatnya walaupun tidak sepenuhnya.

In order to prevent the ultra kiasu party continues to become evil, we must at least outline the formula to solve this. My formula is based on the statistical breakdown of races and religions in this country. According to the year 2000 census, the percentages of Malaysians by religions were as follows: 60% Islam, 40% non-Malay (22% Buddhist-Taoism-Confucius, 9% Christian, 6% Hindu, 3% others). This formula can be applied in the context of the nationalization, including justification on the rights of religious festivals and celebrations of all races. This formula fulfills part of the meaning to justification in Islam which means to put things in its place although not completely.

Okay, this formula is great if you’re making pancakes, but if applied to governance, it will very likely lead to tyranny of the majority. Then, he goes to say that this is Islamic. And you wonder why Islam gets such bad press? This thing about how “justice” is not equality is another favorite among religionists, by the way.

Now because Utusan apparently has really sloppy copywriters, we are also made to believe that there is an additional 0.4% in 100% (go take a re-look a the BM version of the quote above. Walski did a straight copy & paste, by the way. Don’t believe him? Take a look at the PDF from the Utusan website. But let’s not belabor this minor faux pas, shall we?

The thing is that Ridhuan Tee almost laments the fact that the reality in Malaysia doesn’t fit his neat pancake social formula, attributing it to tolerance.

Atas dasar toleransi, formula ini boleh dikatakan langsung tidak diterima pakai, sama ada dalam bidang politik, ekonomi mahupun sosial. Misalnya, bilangan rumah ibadat bukan Islam melimpah ruah, perayaan mereka menenggelamkan perayaan orang Islam walaupun bilangan mereka sedikit. Lihat sahaja gedung-gedung membeli belah, walaupun Kristian hanya 9%, sambutan Krismas dan Tahun Baru 2010 menenggelamkan perayaan utama seperti hari raya dan tahun baru Islam. Kalau tidak percaya, lawatilah negeri-negeri yang diperintah ultra kiasu dan sekutunya serta gedung-gedung membeli belah sekutu mereka di seluruh negara.

Saya fikir, umat Islam di negara ini amat berlembut dan bertoleransi tinggi. Upacara perayaan keagamaan dan kematian begitu beradab serta mudah. Jalan raya tidak sesak. Kuburnya begitu kecil. Berbanding agama lain, sudahlah bilangannya kecil, kadangkala sehari suntuk jalan raya sesak ketika perayaan tertentu. Kubur-kuburnya begitu luas dan besar. Sampai bilakah amalan ini boleh diteruskan, di kala penduduk semakin ramai, tanah semakin terhad? Setakat ini orang Islam tidaklah bising sangat berbanding orang lain, walaupun kubur mereka semakin terhimpit dan protes daripada bukan Islam yang semakin berani apabila ada tambahan tanah perkuburan Islam.

On the basis of tolerance, this formula was not applied completely, either in politic, economic or even social. For example, the number of non-Muslim places of worship exceeded overwhelmingly, their festival celebrations actually drowned the Muslims celebrations even though they are less in numbers. Just look at the shopping malls, although Christians are only 9%, the Christmas and New Year 2010 celebrations are incomparable to the Hari Raya and the Islamic New Year. If you do not believe, visit the states ruled by the ultra kiasu and its allies and the shopping malls of their allies throughout the country.

I think the Muslims in this country are very tolerant and soft. Their religious festivals and funerals are well mannered and simple. Roads are not congested. Their graves are very small. Compared to other religions, which the number is already smaller, at times the roads are congested the whole day on certain festivals. The graves are so wide and large. How long will this practice be continued, whereas the population is growing but land is limited? So far, the Muslims are not that noisy compared to others, although their graves are narrowing and protests from the non-Muslims are increasingly bolder when there is an increase in Islamic cemetery.

One exception Ridhuan Tee conveniently omits is the road congestion caused by double, even triple-parked cars during Friday congregational prayers, which mysteriously go unseen by the traffic police. Yes, it is a Muslim’s obligation to attend Friday prayers, but does that make it an obligation to be a public nuisance – not to mention safety hazard – to others? What happened to being so tolerant and “soft”?

Now, Walski is pretty damned sure that in Johor and Pahang, the shopping malls are decked with Christmas decorations, just as they are in the states where the “ultra-kiasu” rule. If there’s anyone around the Johor Bharu and Kuantan areas is reading this post, Walski would really appreciate some perspective on his assumption.

But, let’s humor Ridhuan Tee for a sec – assume that the Islamic New Year is to be forcibly observed at the shopping malls – how exactly would the malls be appropriately decorated? Walski personally thinks that the last thing the Middle Eastern tourists would want to see is more desert sand and dromoderies. Similarly, on Prophet Muhammad’s birthday... On second thought, let’s not even go there…

The rest of the article goes on (and on) about graves, some more. Interestingly enough, he also lambasts Gerakan for insisting that the Grik parliamentary seat be given to them (from UMNO) to contest, which Walski thinks has something to do with the tussle between UMNO and Gerakan in BN’s Penang leadership arena.

Some people have commented that Dr. Ridhuan Tee’s writing portray him to be “more Malay” than your typical UMNO-phile. Which is really ironic, unless the doctor is actually a member of the party – something that Walski doesn’t think is the case.

Now, Walski hopes that this post is not misconstrued as being an ad hominem against Ridhuan Tee. It’s Tee’s ideas that Walski finds disturbing, and somewhat ironic at times – portraying the ideal of race supremacy, not-so-subtly disguised behind religious primacy, championing for an ethnicity that Tee cannot possibly represent, hard as he may try.

They say that a leopard can’t change its spots. And then you have Adidas that says “Impossible is Nothing”. Between the two, the doctor has gotten pretty confused, Walski thinks.

But at the end of it all, the biggest winners were probably the golfers – because inadvertently, they got a surprise Christmas weekend gift – a Ridhuan Tee.

Walski’s seemingly irrelevant picture-inclusion explanatory (somewhat) footnote: You may be wondering what relevance the first picture above has to this post. You see, Walski’s mind works in mysterious (and strange) ways sometimes. Suffice it to say that picture of the lovely teddy was taken during tea-time. Which is similar to what kind of time Walski had while writing this post...

Click here for the full post......

Approaching Gaza

Technorati tags: Gaza, War, Gaza Freedom March, Viva Palestina

Yesterday, December 27, 2009, marked the one year anniversary of the beginning of the Gaza onslaught by Israel, purportedly in retaliation to Palestinian cross-border rocket attacks. The operation, which lasted for approximately one month, claimed the lives of more than 1,300 Palestinians, many of whom were women and children.

The UN Fact finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict released their report last September, in which they found that in many instances, Israeli forces were in violation of established rules of war conduct, and UN humanitarian guidelines and laws. The continued blockade of Gaza has made the territory one humanitarian nightmare.

All that you probably already know.

The convoy crossing the Syria-Jordan border
(image from The Star)

What you may not know about is the London to Gaza Convoy (via RantingsbyMM), organized by Viva Palestina, an organization that organizes convoys to Gaza to deliver food, medicines and other essential stuff.

But they’re facing a problem – not from the Israelis, but from the Egyptian government, which has not allowed them to use a closer route. 
(what you can do, and more, in the full post)

Walski received this in the mail last night, and it details the difficulties being faced by the convoy.

Dear all,

It has been one year since Israel's attack on Gaza that left 1,400 people dead, 400 of which were children.

Currently 250 vehicles laden with foodstuff and medical aid are on their way to Gaza. They started our their journey in early December from the UK, crossed Europe into Turkey, then Syria and now Jordan. In the convoy are 9 Malaysian vehicles - 4 from Viva Palestina Malaysia (formerly known as COMPLETE) and 5 from the Perdana Global Peace Foundation.

They are 4 hours away but are currently stuck at Aqaba, Jordan, as the Egyptian government wants to travel 500 miles back to Syria so as to approach Egypt from a different route and ask Israel for permission to cross from Egypt into Gaza through the Egyptian controlled Rafah crossing.

Tomorrow Malaysians will be handing over a letter of appeal to the Egyptian Ambassador, asking for safe, easy and quick passage of all vehicles through Egypt into Gaza.

Please show your support by joining us.

When - 12pm
Where - Egyptian Embassy, 12 Jalan Ru, Off Jalan Ampang Hilir, 55000 KL

Please pass this on to as many people as possible. Let not our efforts be in vain.

Regards,

Shazeea Banu

Medicine III, Monash University
Clinical School, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Ph. +60166514543

The convoy in Amman Jordan, awaiting clearance to proceed
(image by @juanajaafar, via RantingsbyMM)

And in case you were wondering, yes, there are Malaysians taking part in this interfaith international convoy, among them, Walski’s Twitter-friend Juana Jaafar, who’s participating as a representative of the Perdana Global Peace Organisation (driving an ambulance, Walski’s told).

There are a few ways you can lend your support – apart from attending the letter hand-over today – blog about it (if you are a blogger), Tweet and re-Tweet anything to do with the convoy (for example, you can follow @juanajaafar who’s been updating her experience since earlier this month. Other Tweeterers you can follow: @ramgk, @pgporg & @GazaFreedom), or simply raise awareness by highlighting this to your friends & family. Or, you can write to the Egyptian government – politely.

While the Egyptian government is not outright disallowing the convoy to pass, what Egypt is asking is for the convoy to take a much longer route, adding another 500 miles to the route, approaching the Egyptian border a different way.

The convoy at the Jordanian border earlier on
(image by @juanajaafar, via RantingsbyMM)

Because of the many other things that have been happening, including Antares’ illness, Walski’s really been neglecting this very important and symbolic international effort for Gaza. This post is his attempt to make amends.

Equally as important is that it’s not about religion, being anti-anyone or pro-anyone-else – the Gaza disaster is simply a humanitarian disaster. Just ask former South African Constitutional Court judge Justice Richard Goldstone – himself not only a Jew, but a Zionist:

We accepted this Mission because we believe deeply in the rule of law, humanitarian law, human rights, and the principle that in armed conflict civilians should to the greatest extent possible be protected from harm.

We accepted with the conviction that pursuing justice is essential and that no state or armed group should be above the law. Failing to pursue justice for serious violations during any conflict will have a deeply corrosive effect on international justice.

We accepted out of a deep concern for the hundreds of civilians who needlessly died and those who suffered injury and dislocation of their lives.

We accepted because we believe that the perpetrators of serious violations must be held to account.

We do not claim to be immune from error. After the release of the report we have received a number of comments from people who are sincerely interested in the truth.

We have considered them and where relevant redressed inaccuracies in the final version of the report which is today before you.

We regret that the response to date of the Government of Israel avoids dealing with the substance of the report.
(source: Richard Goldstone's address to the UN Human Rights Council on September 29, 2009)

Humanitarianism transcends creed, culture and political ideology – remember this simple fact, and everything else will be nothing but useless noise.

Click here for the full post......

On a wing and a prayer

Technorati tags: Antares, Magick River, Malaria, Get Well Soon

Updated @ December 28th 1646 hrs: Got to know via Art Harun's Facebook page that Antares' condition is steadily improving. He quotes a message from one of the daughters: "Just saw my dad and he managed to open his eyes and even smile!....He's got most of the tubes out..... The parasites have been wiped out and they're expecting him to be out of ICU within the next day or two. I told him that everyone is praying for him and sending him love. Thanks ...".

Updated @ December 27th 2024 hrs: Latest news on Antares, taken from a comment posted by Zorro on his own blog, relaying a message from one of Antares’ daughters, Moonlake Lee. His condition is improving, but he’s not out of the woods, yet. See the comment excerpt at the end of this post.

Original Post:
Today, December 27th, makes it exactly one year to the day that Walski met Antares, Earth-spirit mystic, and keeper of Magick River (both the physical and online manifestations), for the first, and only, time.

It was in Penang, where Walski was spending time with the in-laws, and Antares was spiritually officiating an art show, where the image above was captured. Walski was given the task to fetch Antares from the art show, and to physically transport him to dinner, graciously hosted by Masterwordsmith and her lovely family.

Well, as you probably would already have heard, either thru Art Harun’s or Uncle Zorro’s blogposts, Antares is very ill, struggling to fight off an extremely bad case of malaria..

The little angel may be inanimate and made of clay, but it represents the positivity and good wishes that Walski’s trying hard to transmit, for Antares’ speedy recovery. 
(the cartoonist formerly known as Kit Leee, and more, in the full post)

If you’ve ever met Antares, you’ll probably either like, or totally dislike, him. Very few people Walski knows have an in-between feeling for the guy.

As an activist, Antares is very passionate about how he feels, be it for the cause of the peoples of the land and their fast-disappearing culture and habitat, or for our nation, Malaysia.

That, and the fact Antares is a bit of an eccentric person. Which is okay as far as Walski is concerned, because he realizes that creativity takes many forms in real life. But probably not so comfortable for others.

Be that as it may, last Walski heard, Anatares is still at the Sungai Buloh General Hospital, suffering not only a bad case of malaria, but from renal failure as well, a complication that developed while he was hospitalized.

Those of you who know him personally will probably know that Antares is the current persona of a well-known cartoonist of old, named Kit Leee, author/artist of the Adoi! cartoons. Those of you born after 1990 may not have heard of Kit Leee, even though you know of Antares.

Everyone has a history, as they say…

For now, however, Walski hopes that you focus your positivity and good thoughts in the general direction of the Sungei Buloh hospital. So well-known and noticed is the man’s dedication towards a better Malaysia, it’s even gotten the notice of another notable Malaysian.

Get well soon, Antares…

Update
The following is an excerpt of a comment taken from Zorro Unmasked, by one of Antares' daughters (slightly edited for punctuation).

Hi Everyone,

This is Moon, Antares' daughter. My sister, Belle and I, would like to thank everyone who has showed concern and love for our dad. Thanks for all your concern

Our dad's condition has improved but he is still in critical condition and not out of the woods yet. Please keep up the prayers and healing wishes.

Please note that he is under sedation (i.e not conscious) and in a weakened state. The doctors have advised to limit visits to immediate family for the time being - this is to minimize risk of infection to him.

My dad would be happier to see his friends when he is able to interact with them - not at this stage. You are most welcome to visit once he is out of the ICU and in the normal ward.

My sis and I will post updates on his Facebook wall so you can check there regularly to see how he is doing.

Thanks again for all the love and concern. We appreciate it and we know Antares does too.
(source: Zorro Unmasked)

Click here for the full post......

Opinion Poll: Do the majority of Malaysians really want the ISA to remain?

Technorati tags: Opinion Poll, ISA, Internal Security Act, Malaysia

For the first time in a long while, Walski’s on a roll with his blogging duties.

He’s got another poll up to gauge what the feeling in the bloggerhood’s like about a claim made by a senior politician, published in, among other places, Friday’s Berita Harian.

It was also reported by The Star, The Malaysian Mirror, and Malaysiakini, but without the same exuberance and gung-ho feel that the Berita Harian report seemed to have (download a PDF copy of the BH report here), basing on how they headlined the story: Everybody Agrees ISA to Remain (Semua Setuju ISA Kekal).

Essentially, our Home Minister held 6 meetings with focus groups, as reported by all the media bodies publishing the story.

The following is the version as published by The Star, dated yesterday, December 25th (emphasis by myAsylum):

Hishammuddin said that following the public meetings and discussions with the target groups, the ministry’s law review technical committee was in the final stages of studying all the views and suggestions before the amendments are tabled in Parliament.

He said he wanted the review to take into account the five main issues that had been identified as the basis of public dissatisfaction over the Act.

They are: the powers of the minister; duration of detention; the rights of and treatment given to the detainees; public perception that the enforcement of the Act was purely for political purposes; and detention without trial.

Hishammuddin said the Home Ministry had held six meetings with representatives of the various groups to discuss the proposed amendments.

“There is a general agreement on the need to retain the Act as an early prevention measure against acts of terror or other actions that can jeopardise national security,” he said.

He said the six meetings involved enforcement agencies, non-governmental organisations, academicians, law practitioners, politicians, members of Parliament, media practitioners and the general public.
(source: The Star)

The question is this: exactly which “various groups” was the minister referring to? Yes, Walski is a born skeptic, and being less than upfront about exactly whom Hisham met doesn’t sit well with his skepticism one tiny bit.
(a chance to give your two-bits worth, and more, in the full post)

Walski does admit that while he was a little unnerved by the Berita Harian headline, reading the English language version of the report did calm his nerves somewhat.

Let’s put it this way – does Walski think that it’s important to maintain national security? Hell, yeah. That’s a real no-brainer. But we live in a time when the public doesn’t buy any authority’s say-so merely on their say-so. If there’s evidence, formally charge them. It’s as simple as that.

Detention without trial is against the morality of just about any faith. Even against the morality of those without any specific faith, for that matter.

So you know where Walski stands on this issue.

But he still would like to know what all of you people think – and as far as the poll is concerned, he’s been fair.

There are 3 choices for you to pick from, based on what your opinion may be: abolish the ISA altogether, keep it, or keep it with the necessary amendments to prevent abuse of power.

As with earlier polls, if you have a Blogger-based blog, you can easily include it there by clicking the Add To Blogger button at the bottom of the poll. If you don’t have a Blogger-based blog, you can still add it by going to the Polldaddy poll page, and using the embed code provided.

Walski feels that this is a very important opinion poll, if there ever was one – what is the real feel of common everyday Malaysians. So spread the word, as far and wide as you can.

The poll will remain open until Midnight, December 31st, 2009. Walski’s counting on you…

Click here for the full post......

Poll Position: A reality TV show called BTN

Technorati tags: Opinion Poll, Poll Position, BTN

It’s Christmas Day, and Walski’s got time on his hands – a bit more than he normally has. So, he thought that there’d be no better time than to go on an update-binge of myAsylum. To make up for lost time, and since he has time to kill.

Well, the BTN poll has concluded, and the results are in.

It really looks like the pro-BTN & pro-BN/UMNO types didn’t bother to participate – just like many UMNO members aren’t even registered voters (tsk, tsk). Why? Because the fourth choice – “Let it be - it's doing the nation a great service” – was not even selected by a single person. Zero. Big fat nada. Zilch.

Either that, or it is true that NOBODY actually believes that the BTN – as is – is doing this country anything but disservice.
(result analysis, and more, in the full post)

The (simple) majority of 52% thought that the BTN should be shut down altogether. While the remainder 48% were split an equal 50/50 between a comprehensive revamp, and turning the damned thing into a reality TV show.

Walski has no clue whatsoever what a BTN reality show would resemble – maybe, based on some of the public sentiments about the department, a contest to see which BTN facilitator will emerge the Juara Rasis (Racist Champion)? A la American Idol, complete with viewer SMS voting, and with the participants themselves as judges. Not too shabby an idea, eh?

But kidding aside, Walski personally feels that the BTN – the National Civics Bureau – is still needed. Why? Simply because many Malaysian don’t have an ounce of civics consciousness in them whatsoever.

Special Handicap Reserve Parking Lots – who the fuck cares? Apart from Walski, not very many people. It’s more important that able-bodied Malaysians walk as little as possible, rather than even think of allowing those with physical disabilities to park. This totally screwed up personal priority system also accounts for double-parking, in many cases. It’s like Malaysians are totally allergic having to walk more than 10 steps… lazy fucks.

Holding the door for the person walking behind you? Naah – let the fucker fend for her/himself.

Saying “Thank You”, or wishing “Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening” to random strangers? Heck no – that’s reserved for foreigners, so that they can go home with the totally FALSE impression that Malaysians are courteous.

Traffic light junction? The main aim is to see how best one can cut the queue, and God forbid that one should have to line up like everyone else….

All of these are examples of why Walski thinks that the level of civic consciousness in Malaysia is decaying… so yeah, in that sense, the BTN is still needed. Not to develop a sense of blind allegiance to BN/UMNO or whomever the fuck the government of the day happens to be, but to teach Malaysians BASIC MANNERS.

But isn’t that the role of schools, you may ask? Once upon a time in Malaysia, yes, it used to be. Not anymore, though. Nope, these days it’s either Ugama or Moral Studies – and based on the general lack of civic consciousness Walski observes – neither of these cultivate good civics awareness.

Oh well… for the time being, though, the reality is that no one, save the PM, knows what will become of BTN. Many don’t see its relevance other than trying to brainwash young Malaysians. Others see it as a waste of time.

Walski thinks that it should be retained, but with its role totally overhauled, in addition to its curriculum. The question is, though, does ANYONE have the political balls to do anything with BTN?

Or, is it going to be another case of big hoo-haa sloganeering, and no action whatsoever?

Click here for the full post......

The "Bak" Stops Here

Technorati tags: Humor, Religion, Islam, Ignorance, Bak Kut Teh

Walski really wanted to say something about this yesterday, but because of the mad rush at work to get stuff done before the long-ish weekend, he didn’t get an opportunity to do so.

Once again, Malaysian Muslim “authorities” proudly display their SAPI-ness on their sleeves…

Just in case you were wondering, SAPI is a Walski-created acronym, which stands for ‘Stupidly Arrogant & Prejudicially Ignorant’. Sapi is also happens to be a Malay language word (not very frequently used on the Peninsular) which means ‘cow’. And no, it’s no coincidence. And yes, it is meant to be insulting (assuming, of course, the insultees even have a clue what Walski’s on about).

But at myAsylum, there’s no insult without just cause, and the sheer stupidity and ignorance proudly displayed in this case, which in turn paints a picture of all Muslims being so feeble-minded, warrants insult. Because, quite frankly, they brought it upon themselves – reaping what they have so SAPI-ly sown.

And just to set the record straight, The Star did not mistranslate the original Bahasa Malaysia article, which you can read via this posting at The Malaysian Insider. The original article (published by Utusan – no SAPI surprises here) stated:

Penggunaan istilah bak kut teh halal boleh mengelirukan umat Islam di samping bertentangan hukum syarak kerana bercanggah dengan kaedah fiqah yang ditetapkan oleh Islam.

Ketua Penolong Pengarah Jabatan Kemajuan Agama Islam Malaysia (Jakim) Lokman Abdul Rahman berkata, bak kut teh tidak boleh dianggap halal kerana ia masih mengekalkan penggunaan nama yang haram mengikut hukum Islam.
(source: The Malaysian Insider)

Nevermind that JAKIM thinks all Malaysian Muslims are as stupid as they are, What really perplexes Walski is this: how the fuck can “bak kut teh” be an illegal name?
(proudly proclaiming ignorance, a Hokkien lesson, and more, in the full post)

Unless, of course, one is ignorant of what it actually means, and lets one’s prejudice take over. So, here’s a lesson in basic Hokkien:

bak means 'meat'. ANY meat.

kut means (literally) 'bone', and

teh means 'tea'

So what’s so bloody illegal about meat-bone-tea? Even if you took the phrase ‘bak kut’ in isolation – literally, “meat bone”, which is generally used to refer to spare ribs – there’s no direct reference to pork. And in case you didn’t know, cows and sheep/goats have spare ribs, too – basic biology, people.

As far as Walski knows, there's no prohibition on the consumption on meat in general stated in the Quran, except for the meat/flesh of swine/pigs. And you would definitely not be able to find the term bak kut teh anyplace in the holy book.

Part of the article also quotes the secretary-general of the Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia – better know as PPIM – Datuk Dr. Maamor Osman.

Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia secretary-general Datuk Dr Maamor Osman also disagreed with the introduction of bak kut teh halal.

“I am worried that misusing the term will slowly reduce the disinclination of Muslims towards pork. I hope Jakim can take strict measures to ensure that the food does not get halal certification,” he said.
(source: The Star)

To jolt your memory, PPIM are the same forsaken einsteins who took so much offence to cross-like patterns on biscuits.

You know, it's exactly this sort of authoritative dumbing-down stupidity that paints Muslims overall in a less than complementary light. So can you really blame the bad press that Muslims get the world over, when they themselves do and say the most ludicrous of things, and do it proudly, at that?

Walski's not entirely sure if PPIM had anything to do with the JAKIM statement, but it wouldn’t surprise him one bit if that were the case. Likely, what he thinks happened is that PPIM (dumbass ignoramuses that they are) made a complaint to JAKIM, who in turn didn’t think twice to support the consumer organization.

A clear-cut case of the blind leading the stupid…

Well, whatever these ignoramuslamists think they know, and proudly proclaim in all their ignorant glory, the bak definitely has to stop here.

Walski’s terminally made-up concatenative terminology attribution footnote: The term ignoramuslamist is another one of those words Walski made up. It consists of the the English word ignoramus, and muslamist, modified from the made-up word muslamism, penned by writer Ali Eteraz, from an article he wrote for Jewcy.

Just like Malaysian drivers and parking, when there doesn’t exist a word to adequately describe an idea, Walski simply makes one up.

Click here for the full post......

Peas On Earth

Technorati tags: Humor, Christmas, Peas On Earth, Bhangra

When Walski was in college many many years ago, there was a pun greeting that he and his friends used to utter around this time of the year,

Merry Christmas, Peas on Earth…

sometimes accompanied by spilling some boiled peas on the table/floor/ground, or playfully throwing 'em at each other.

Merry Christmas from myAsylum
(image originally from here)

And so, on the last Christmas of the first decade of the 21st century, on behalf of the elf, weaves, weasels and goblins who work the pixels hard at myAsylum, Walski would like to wish all his readers a Merry Christmas and Season’s Greetings.

Peas on Earth, and all that good stuff… 
(a Christmas video of a “different” kind, and more, in the full post)

After almost an entire year of interesting, and sometimes tumultuous events, Walski hopes that everyone gets a bit of respite, in anticipation of an even more interesting year ahead – the beginning of a new decade.

Walski, like many others, doesn’t observe Christmas for its religious significance, but rather for the spirit of the season. It’s the time of year when family and friends – and sometimes even foes – gather for some good times together. The same, he supposes, for many other holidays, but somehow of them all, Christmas has this “fun” connotation to it for some reason.

And in that spirit of fun, Walski leaves you with a fun Christmas that he found yesterday on YouTube. And Walski being Walski, you definitely know that it’ll be a little offbeat. And yes, fun.

Merry Christmas, people!

Click here for the full post......

Is that an F-5E engine in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

Technorati tags: Humor, Missing Jet Engine, RMAF, F-5E

This whole thing with the missing/stolen/sold fighter jet engine definitely has to be filed under the WTF section. When Walski first heard about the missing Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) Nothrop F-5E engine, it got him wondering. Wondering in more kinds of ways than one.

First of all, the aircraft isn’t something you’d consider “small”. In fact, the F-5E is approximately 47 ft 4¾ in (14.45 m) in length, nose-to-tail. That’s roughly twice the width of a typical Malaysian link house (aircraft dimensional data obtained from Wikipedia).

And so just how big is the engine? 
(the engine, the ridiculousness, and more, in the full post)

According to Wikipedia, the F-5E is powered by two General Electric J85-GE-21B turbojet engines. Each one of them measuring between 45.4 to 51.1 inches long – that’s between 1.153 to 1.298 meters for you metrically inclined people – depending on what accessories are installed. It’s diameter is 17.7 inches, by the way, and weighs from anywhere between 396 to 421 pounds (or 179.62 to 190.96 kg), again depending on the accessories (all engine dimension and weight data obtained from Wikipedia).

Not exactly something that would fit into someone’s pocket, now, is it?  Unless you’re one extremely gigantic person, and therefore, not at all inconspicuous.

While Malaysia can take pride in the ability to make billions of ringgit disappear, without much consequence, and make it into an art-form almost, slipping a several-hundred pound jet engine under the noses of many levels of security is something else altogether.

So, more than whodunnit, Walski was wondering more along the lines of HOWdunnit? Which, of course, led to the silly title for this post.

What’s even stranger is that the engine was first found to be missing back in – get this – 2007! That’s two years ago. And the matter is still being investigated, according to a Bernama report, posted by The Malaysian Insider – Walski knows that things move very slowly in the government, but this is ridiculous (emphasis by myAsylum)!

Earlier, Zahid said the loss was detected in 2007, and internal investigations were undertaken by Mindef while police also probed the matter.

“The investigations revealed RMAF’s logistics system was foolproof. However, the shady activity might have been carried out staff in the lower rungs in cahoots with outsiders,” he told reporters after launching the Penang and south Kedah territorial army company, here today.
(source: The Malaysian Insider)

Well, obviously not foolproof enough. And a large item like a General Electric J85-GE-21B is probably not something that could have been misplaced, hiding on a shelf someplace.

And funny, though, how it’s always the lower rung people that are immediately the first to be suspected, huh? Probably easier that way than having to overhaul the entire logistics chain of command, Walski supposes…

But has anyone considered the possibility that David Copperfield might have had something to do with the theft? He has, after all, made much larger objects disappear. And didn’t he perform in Malaysia in 2007? Oh wait, he was scheduled to perform, but had to make himself disappear from his Asian tour, due to an FBI investigation on him following allegations of sexual misconduct. Okay, so maybe not.

In any case, the missing/stolen/sold F-5E jet engine incident makes you wonder what other stuff goes missing from the Malaysian military from time to time, now, doesn’t it? Well, we already know about the C4…

Be that as it may, Walski has no intention to speculate, nor does he want to make any effort whatsoever to try to get to the bottom of the mystery. But it does make him wonder. A whole helluva lot.

And so, if you didn’t before, you now know exactly what to ask, the next time you see an inordinately large person, with a humungous bulge in his/her pocket, walking a tad bit funny…

 

Click here for the full post......

Common Ground for a Common Cause

Technorati tags: Politics, Pakatan Rakyat, Pakatan Rakyat Convention, Common Policy Framework, CPF

If you rely on the MSM (mainstream media – not men who have sex with men) to get your news, it’s a very good chance that you may not have heard about the first Pakatan Rakyat (PR) convention, which was held yesterday, December 19, in Shah Alam.

That said, The Star and New Straits Times did have cursory reports on the unveiling of the Common Policy Framework during the convention.

But not surprisingly, nothing on the convention by either Utusan or Berita Harian. Instead, both Malay language dailies not only ignored the convention, but also published less-than-positive reports about the component parties.

Arriving at a common ground, as simple as it may sound, is no mean feat, particularly between three political parties that have, at times, very disparate views on certain issues.

To Walski, this is a very positive step forward towards having a common Pakatan Rakyat voice. The real test henceforth is to live up to the common ground agreed upon.

Since none of the MSM (as far as he knows) has outlined what the common framework actually is, and since not everyone has a paid subscription to Malaysiakini (which published the contents of the framework document), Walski felt it incumbent upon himself to publish them here. He thinks that it’s important you are adequately informed. 

The chief architect of the framework is none other than former Law Minister, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, who apparently has been working on it for the past few months, ever since he joined Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) back in June this year (via The Malaysian Insider).

The Common Policy Framework (CPF), as reported by Malaysiakini yesterday, has three main thrusts:

1. Democracy
2. Economy, and
3. Social Justice

While there were some shortcomings in terms of expectations (like the issue of local council elections [via The People’s Parliament]), Walski personally feels that it’s a good start – provided that PR can live up to what they’ve put down on paper. 
(the Common Policy Framework, in full, and more, in the full post)

The following, constituting what Walski thinks is the complete gist of the policy, was published yesterday by Malaysiakini. Each of the three thrusts is explained and expounded upon, and gives a clearer picture of where PR stands as a single political entity.

Pakatan Rakyat’s Common Policy Framework

1. Democracy

A. Constitutionalism and the rule of law
The federal constitution is the manifestation of the aspirations and hopes of the independent Malaysian people.

Within it, the fundamental rights of every citizen including rights to religion, language, citizenship and culture are fully guaranteed.

Therefore, Pakatan commits to uphold the spirit and provisions of the federal constitution.

Pakatan will:

1. Defend the federal constitution, Islam as the religion of the federation while other religions can be practiced peacefully anywhere in the country and protecting the special position of the Malays and the indigenous peoples anywhere including Sabah and Sarawak, and the legitimate interests of other races in accordance with Article 153.
2. Defend the role and responsibility of the institution of constitutional monarchy.
3. Uphold the use of Bahasa Melayu in accordance with Article 152 of the Constitution and promote Bahasa Melayu as the regional lingua franca, while protecting and strengthening the use of mother tongue languages for all races.
4. Abolish the Internal Security Act and other laws that allow for detention without trial while simultaneously propose that all existing emergency declarations be rescinded.
5. Abolish or amend all other oppressive laws and regulations that are repressive and contravene fundamental rights.
6. Guarantee the spirit of federalism and a just relationship between the federation and the states, especially Sabah and Sarawak.

B. Separation of powers
The effectiveness of the democratic system is dependent on the proper implementation of separation of powers.

The integrity of a government is dependent on the independence, credibility and legitimacy of its institutions that have been entrusted with the responsibility to ensure checks and balances among the branches of the executive, judicial and legislative.

Pakatan will:

1. Restore the integrity of the judicial system and guarantee transparency and full independence of the Judicial Appointment Commission.
2. Restructure the workings in Parliament to make it more transparent, democratic and able to perform its role to check and balance.
3. Guarantee the direct accountability to Parliament of bodies such as the Election Commission, Anti-Corruption Commission, Human Rights Commission, Petronas, Khazanah and others.
4. Ensure that the appointment of positions such as the inspector-general of police, the attorney-general, the anti-corruption commissioner and the auditor-general require the approval of Parliament.
5. Create a National Ombudsman Department.
6. Strengthen local government democracy and democratically enhance the competency and effectiveness of the delivery system and guarantee transparency at all levels.
7. Free all media, amend the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, enact a Freedom of Information Act and ensure Internet freedom.
8. Enhance the performance of public service sector and ensure the welfare of its members. Ensure that the institution remains independent and able to perform its responsibilities competently.
9. Empower and enhance civil society. Increase the participation of people through dialogues and consultations.

C. A clean, free and fair electoral system
The tarnished electoral system must be restored its integrity.The sovereign power of the people to choose the country's leadership must be defended from any defects that allows for manipulation.

Therefore it is important for us to review all the relevant electoral laws.

Pakatan will:

1. Enable all citizens age 18 and above to vote via automatic registration.
2. Eliminate all weaknesses in the electoral system by cleaning the electoral roll; abolish postal votes for voters within the country, ensure all citizens outside the country can vote; and introduce the use of indelible ink.
3. Ensure the media provides political parties fair and just space, reasonable campaign period and a clean and free election process.
4. Re-delineate constituencies to mirror the principle of one citizen, one vote in order to guarantee a more fair and just representation.
5. Grant political parties campaign expenditures based on the percentages of votes in general elections.
6. Enact more effective laws to punish candidates or political parties that are involved in corruption or vote-buying practices.

2. Economy

Pakatan is determined to create a national economy with high performance and sustainable growth.

To ensure national competitiveness, it is critical that effective distribution of national resources and wealth in key and strategic fields or sectors of the economy is ensured.

Stimulating local investment and generating strong domestic demand as well as attracting continuous foreign direct investments will foster an economy that is progressive and resilient.

Pakatan is committed to creating a 'People's Economy' to ensure that the prosperity and wealth generated will be reaped by people of all classes whilst reducing the gap between rich and poor, as well as overcoming the disparity of development between regions, as a consequence of mismanagement that failed to prioritise the interests of the majority.

A. High-performance economy
The basis of a high-performance economy is a workforce that is knowledge-based, competent and highly-skilled.

Pakatan will provide all necessary investment to produce a high-productivity workforce in order to boost high-added value in national economic activities.

Pakatan will:

1. Guarantee that opportunities of higher education and training based on competency are provided in all service, manufacturing and agricultural sectors.
2. Ensure that every worker who wants to improve his or her skills is given an opportunity to obtain continuous training to enhance productivity.
3. Encourage citizens who are professionals and skilled living overseas to return home by creating a professional and attractive working environment.

B. Democratic and transparent economy Pakatan is committed to implement policies to ensure that the management of the economy is free from corruption, abuse of power and cronyism in order to enhance accountability, transparency and good governance.

Corrupt practices and abuse of power has dissipated national wealth and prevented sustainable economic growth and weakened national competitiveness.

Pakatan will:

1. Reform the tender system so that it becomes open, fair, transparent, and gives the best value for the people's money.
2. Reject privatisation which burdens the people. Re-negotiate unfair concessions and contracts that profited cronies, including IPPs, highway tolls and water infrastructure.
3. Implement a progressive taxation system and reject any taxes that burden the people. This includes putting a stop to the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) until the people and the country are ready for it.

C. Decentralisation and the empowerment of state economic management
In keeping with the spirit of federalism to improve the government's delivery system, effectiveness and efficient expenditure, the implementation of extensive development and economic policies will be needed to be devolved to the state governments according to respective priorities.

Decentralisation can motivate structural change in the economic framework to boost efficiency and productivity due to greater effectiveness in expenditure, besides higher multiplier effects for government expenditure in the national economy.

Pakatan will:

1. Implement grants for development and equalisation based on a formula of total population, poverty rate, development area, cost, human development and gross revenue per capita indices that will ensure that the poorer states are not left behind.
2. Redistribute economic and administrative power and the implementation of infrastructure works to the state governments, for example an equitable negotiation rights in ascertaining public transportation design and network.
3. Generate a more balanced geographical development, thereby creating productive secondary cities nationwide in order to reduce development centralisation in the Klang Valley.
4. Prioritising policies that generate high and long-term growth, based on an economic understanding where the state governments are in a better position to determine and implement socio-economic strategies.

D. Affirmative action policies based on need
Pakatan recognises that all Malaysians are entitled to assistance based on need regardless of background.

Pakatan is determined to make the national economy people-centred, so that the national wealth can be enjoyed equitably by all.

Pakatan will:

1. Ensure equitable economic assistance and distribution to all based on need.
2. Assist marginalised groups from all races.
3. Provide cash assistance directly to target groups to end hardcore poverty.
4. Provide education scholarships based on need and merit.
5. Ensure social mobility by guaranteeing more equitable and equal economic opportunity for all.
6. Use the savings from leakages and wastage and the fight against corruption as additional resources for programmes to eradicate poverty.

E. Labour
Labour is the foundation to the continuous prosperity of the nation. Pakatan will guarantee that all Malaysian workers will be treated justly and further ensure their welfare and prosperity be preserved.

Pakatan will:

1. Introduce minimum wage for all Malaysian workers.
2. Defend workers' rights to form trade unions according to their needs and choice; and ensure that they are given the same rights and protection in accordance with international standards.
3. Introduce an Equal Opportunity Act to ensure that work opportunities are open to all.
4. Support entrepreneurs and businessmen of Small and Medium Enterprises by providing access to loans, adequate infrastructure and further reduce bureaucracy.
5. Facilitate assistance to fishermen and farmers to drive increased productivity.
6. Re-structure an integrated foreign workers policy and reduce national dependence on foreign labour.
7. Provide support system to groups involved in the informal economic sector such as small businesses, hawkers, farmers and those who are self employed.

F. Social safety net
All Malaysians are entitled to enjoy life with dignity at all times. Those who have lost their income, the elderly, the disabled and low-income groups must be protected and also given the opportunity to enjoy the economic benefits of development.

Pakatan will:

1. Strengthen the Employees' Provident Fund system and introduce a pension scheme for private sector employees.
2. Set up a National Retrenchment Fund to provide temporary financial support to those who have lost their jobs, subsidy for on-the-job training and retraining of workers
3. Extend the retirement age to 60 years in order to provide opportunities to those who wish to continue contributing to society.

G. Housing
Housing is a basic human need. In reality, a large number of Malaysians could not, without assistance, afford their own housing especially those from the lower and middle income.

Therefore Pakatan will:

1. Set up a Perbadanan Perumahan with the mandate to increase the number of affordable housing and achieving the goal of One Family, One House.
2. Overcome the problems concerning 'squatters/urban settlers' as far as possible through in situ housing development and/or land sharing and through low interest loans to assist the squatters/urban settlers to purchase their own houses.
3. Coordinate a negotiation system for' squatters/urban settlers', developers and the authorities to achieve a win-win solution for matters concerning housing and land;
4. Provide assistance to upgrade low-cost houses and Projek Perumahan Rakyat in order to meet the increased number of household occupants;
5. Invest in public amenities in the apartment surroundings to ensure a balanced and healthy environment.
6. Encourage transparency and competition in the financial sector in order to make housing loans more accessible and affordable.
7. Cooperate with state governments to safeguard housing policy and ensure that affordable housing is provided for those in need.

H. Infrastructure and public facilities
Providing and maintaining good public infrastructure is the government's responsibility.

The implementation should not burden the people or merely profit certain cronies.

Good public infrastructure and facilities can increase the people's disposable income and their productivity.

Pakatan will:

1. Guarantee clean water and electricity at reasonable rates to every family in Malaysia.
2. Review and re-negotiate all highway toll agreements and study the possibility of purchasing back the Plus highway with the objective to eliminate tolls in seven years.
3. Improve the efficiency of the public transport system through the establishment of the Commission of Public Transport comprising government and community representatives.
4. Introduce a half-fare scheme for elderly citizens, the disabled, students and retirees for all types of public transport.
5. Re-assess the granting of taxi permits to large companies and prioritise individual entrepreneurs and their associations.
6. Provide efficient broadband Internet service for free in order to reduce the digital divide.

I. Environment
Our environment is a national treasure that must be preserved for the sustainability of the future generations. Facing crisis of climate change, Pakatan resolves to:

1. Entrench the practice of recycling as part of our culture by providing the necessary infrastructure and a comprehensive system.
2. Ensure all logging activities and deforestation are carried out in a controlled and sustainable manner.
3. Build the foundation and technological expertise to enable a smooth transition to the use of alternative energy resources.
4. Restrict the development at hill slopes and hazardous areas.
5. Reduce carbon emission rate to conform with international standards and increase the ability of the ecological system to absorb carbon.

J. Sustainable growth and green development
Pakatan is determined to make the green economy as the core of a new era of equitable and sustainable prosperity for Malaysia.

The provision of infrastructure and development of new industries in line with the transition to a green economy will become an engine for dynamic economic growth.

Pakatan will:

1. Introduce modern, comprehensive and appropriate infrastructure for a low carbon economy, including a world-class, integrated public transport system and a comprehensive recycling programme.
2. Develop industries based on green technology such as manufacturing solar panels and hydrogen cell fuels.
3. Lead the development of alternative energy systems and renewable energy in the Asian region.
4. Strengthen the agriculture sector with the latest methods and technology to ensure that the national food supply is secured.

3. SOCIAL JUSTICE

A. Unity and social justice
Pakatan resolves to foster understanding and unity among the people based on the principle of preserving our common interests.

National unity must reflect a genuine solidarity, understanding and togetherness among the races, cultures and religions.

Pakatan promises to rebuild a united multiracial society, where the different races can live in peace and harmony.

Pakatan will:

1. Focus on efforts to mend the deteriorated relationships among the races and religions.
2. Consolidate the efforts of all stakeholders in order to restore the good will, mutual respect and trust which have long been practiced by the multi-racial and multi-religious people of Malaysia.
3. Enact a Race Relations Act to safeguard unity and harmony of the people and to eliminate discrimination among the races.
4. Generate support from every level of the society so that it can hold fast to all the principles and norms that should be upheld by an open society.
5. Strive to eliminate the practice of racial politics through various means including education, mass media, dialogues and consultations.
6. Cultivate a Malaysian culture based on moral values and excellence that is accepted by all races.
   This will require an open attitude towards cultural diversity that is practiced by the various races and ethnic groups in Malaysia.
   Pakatan will do this whilst taking consideration the country's history and evolution.
7. Improve the welfare of Orang Asli, Orang Asal and other minority groups in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak besides defending their fundamental, economic and social rights.

B. Religion
Religion and other beliefs practiced by Malaysians should form the basis of unity that is founded on good universal values.

Malaysians have almost fallen into the boiling pot of discord and tension that was caused by manipulation of religious differences.

This should not happen in a genuinely democratic Malaysia, with Islam occupying a special position whilst the rights of other religions are guaranteed.

Pakatan vows to:

1. Defend the position of Islam as the religion of the Federation and guarantee freedom of religion for every Malaysian.
2. Organise dialogues and consultations between cultures and religions in order to strengthen the understanding among them.
3. Set up a comprehensive mechanism to provide just resolutions to cases which involve the overlap of civil and syariah laws, including a royal commission to deeply study all the relevant issues.
4. Strengthen the management of Islamic institutions such as Baitul Mal and Tabung Haji to ensure that they are administered effectively and efficiently to achieve their objectives.
5. Ensure suitable areas for places of worship and burial grounds for all religions.

C. Education
Education should be aimed at creating a person who is balanced spiritually, physically and intellectually.

Through the national education system, Pakatan resolves to provide a system of education that is competent, of high quality and guarantees equal opportunity to the people.

Pakatan will:

1. Make the national school system the foundation of the nation's education system.
   Ensure the equitable support and funding to religious schools, Chinese and Tamil national schools, mission schools and vocational schools in a concerted effort to increase the standard of national education.
2. Balance the emphasis from an examination-oriented system to a learning system based on critical and analytical thinking in search for the truth.
3. Ensure that every eligible student will have an opportunity to be placed in public institutions of higher learning regardless of their backgrounds.
4. Amend the University and University Colleges Act 1974 in order to create a conducive climate that guarantees academic freedom and university autonomy which increases the quality of education comparable with developed countries.
5. Ensure the appointment of vice chancellors, rectors, and other high ranking academic officials are based on qualification and approval of the Senate Council.
6. Improve the quality and facilities of disadvantaged schools in the interior parts of Sabah and Sarawak;
7. Increase the quality of teachers' education at every school level and increase the number of trained teachers based on demand.
8. Provide a high level of training opportunities for teachers and lecturers so that their knowledge and professional expertise are up to date.
9. Re-examine the teachers' service scheme and increase incentives for those who teach in the rural areas.
10. Provide scholarships based on merit and other financial aid based on need with priority given to poor students from the rural and interior areas.
11. Emphasise the importance of students mastering various languages including English, Arabic and Mandarin as leading languages in the world and also other mother tongues.
12. Provide places and training for those who drop out of school.
13. Widen the scope of the National Accreditation Board to monitor and propose the recognition of certificates, diplomas and degrees both local and international which fulfill the acceptable academic standards including the UEC certificate and Diploma Muadalah (twinning).

~ o 0 O O O 0 o ~

Needless to say, these are a very lofty set of principles. No, it’s not everything that Walski had hoped it would be, but he will reserve his comments for a follow-up post. Again, he would like to reiterate that Pakatan’s credibility going forward will depend on how well they live up to the policy framework that they, and they alone, have agreed upon.

In a sense, the launch of the CPF is somewhat historic and significant, being that the Pakatan Rakyat, as a single political entity, is infantile compared to Barisan Nasional, in terms of the number of years of being around. And yet, they (or at the very least their leadership) seem to be more committed towards coming to a common ground, from which they can proceed to fight for a common cause.

Walski takes it that now, you have been duly informed… and therefore in a position to decide for yourself – is this the foundational beginning for a better Malaysia?

Click here for the full post......

Bite Walski's Poll: A long-overdue update

Technorati tags: Opinion Poll, BTN, Bite Walski's Poll

Yes, it’s been ages since the last myAsylum poll, which had to do with The Cowhead Incident in Shah Alam. To be exact, the last poll on this blog was from last September 9th. An eternity in blogging terms.

In any case, Walski’s just put up a new poll, located at the usual location, on the sidebar. Not to flog a dead horse, but it does have to do with the Biro Tata Negara, which he blogged about in myAsylum’s previous entry.

And as with all of the recent polls done here at myAsylum you can add it to your own Blogger blog by clicking on the Add to Blogger icon directly below the poll. You know, just in case you’re interested in helping propagate the word about the poll to your own readers.

The truth is that any poll requires a large cross-section of participants to make it any good. So, the more persons vote, the more representative of real general opinions the poll becomes.

And that’s as scientific as Walski can guarantee the poll to be – so spread the word, people. 
(about the poll choices, and more, in the full post)

Walski’s pretty darned sure that he doesn’t need to explain in detail what the choices represent – he’s tried as far as possible to make it as plain and clear as possible.

Essentially, the poll consists of four choices – keep the BTN (and their courses) as is, totally scrap the whole damn thing, keep it but make sure the courses are sufficiently revamped, and finally, turn the whole thing into a reality TV series.

Simple, no? So yeah, tell your friends, alert your neighbors, bug your kid… and tell them all to give their two-bits worth of opinion about BTN. And if you have anything else to add, feel free to leave a comment on this post.

You have till midnight, on Christmas Eve to cast your vote… which is roughly slightly less than a week from now, before the poll closes.

So, what are you waiting for?

Click here for the full post......

Burgeoning Tartar Nationalism

Technorati tags: Racism, Politics, BTN, BN, Tartar

Biro Tata Negara, BTN, or the National Civics Bureau (so-called), has been hogging the news limelight of late. Although the BTN has been a sore thorn in the side of civil society for a long time, the story really flared up big time sometime in November this year, as a result of the Selangor state government wanting to bar its civil servants from attending “nation-building” courses organized by the bureau.

Like many others, Walski has his own BTN story to tell. He won’t relate it here in its entirety, but suffice it to say, the phrase “mata sepet” (slant-eyes) was used to refer to a certain community in Malaysia that’s not Malay. Needless to say, not in a very nice way.

As in, “Ada tak nampak sapa-sapa yang mata sepet dalam bilik ini?” (‘Do you see any slant-eyed people in this room?’). Back then, there wasn’t much politicking against ‘opposition’ parties, or Malay Supremacy tendencies, only the constant reminder of how Malays must be thankful to the government for scholarships, preferential treatment and other sorts of assistance given.

But racist tendencies? As Sarah Palin would say, “You betcha!”

Search around the Internet, though, and you’re bound to find numerous anecdotal accounts of similar (if not worse) overtures. Similarly aplenty are those in support of the BTN programs, particularly pro-BN types. Ministers, even.

The debate on- and offline got so heated that the PM himself stepped in to attempt to put a stop to the brouhaha, saying that he alone will decide the fate of BTN. As a follow up, though, he’s asked that more 1Malaysia content be put into the BTN syllabus (both links via The Malaysian Insider).

Well, it better have – somehow, 1Malaysia and institutionalized racism are two concepts that shouldn’t even appear in the same sentence. Okay, they both just did – which is a good indication that the BTN programs in their current form probably need some tweaking.

Make that a general top-down overhaul.
(BTN sycophantasies, racism, and more, in the full post)

But apparently not everyone agrees that BTN is problematic. Take, for example, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Ahmad Maslan. He, hands down, gave the most sycophantic defense for the bureau – according to him, BTN is the reason why Malaysia has survived for the past 35 years.

The Biro Tatanegara (BTN) course has helped to maintain peace among people of various races and religions for 35 years, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Ahmad Maslan (left) said today.

He said Malaysia would have been destroyed long ago if the BTN course was racist as claimed by the opposition.

“Millions of people had attended the BTN course since 1974. Malaysia would have been destroyed if not for the BTN course. It made the nation good and successful.

“The BTN course modules apply to all groups and aimed at nurturing pure values and the spirit of unity,” he said after presenting a paper titled “Gagasan 1 Malaysia” at the 1 Malaysia Seminar for the Prime Minister’s Department (JPM) staff here.

He said BTN not only organise courses but also other programmes to nurture the spirit of patriotism.

“Those who say that BTN course is racist are afraid of their own shadows,” he added.
(source: The Malaysian Insider)

Now, the BN-led government’s idea of patriotism is probably a tad bit different from how the rest of the normal world understands the meaning of the word to be. BN views patriotism as love not just for the country, but also for the government of the day (BN-led, of course), and the required un-love of any party opposed to it.

Perhaps the best come-back was made by blogger Aisehman, who had this to say, with regards to the bit about the “being afraid of their shadows” in the by Datuk Ahmad Maslan news report.

Well, people who espouse ethnic superiority cast none, the bleeding vampires that they are.

Get it? Or is that too sophisticated for you to wrap your Ketuanan Melayu head around?
(source: Aisehman's blog)

All this while, Walski thought that vampires cast no reflection. Like in mirrors. Oh well, it still was a barrel of laughs and a classic Aisehman kind of comeback.

But perhaps it is time that we looked beyond merely pointing fingers at BTN’s faults, granted there are many. It’s probably better to focus on how we can put the “Civics” back into the bureau’s moniker. And not the Honda kind, either – those are more than abundant on Malaysan roads as it is.

And forward-looking is exactly what blogger/lawyer/all-around-wonderful-human-being Art Harun focused on in relating his very own BTN Experience.

I think many parties have missed the point. This is not about assigning guilt. It really does not matter what DSAI, DrM or anyone had said or done. It is about our future. It is about our kids. Because the BTN targets our kids.

It is about finding out whether something wrong has been done. If so what are they and what are the solutions? Are we going to continue with the wrongs, if indeed there are wrongs. Or are we going to revamp it?

It is about correcting the wrongs, if any, and improving the things which are right.
(source: Art Harun's ARTiculations)

No one doubts – or at least, Walski doesn’t – that BTN was set up with the best of civic intentions. But like many Malaysian government agencies, politics get in the way, and over time, BTN has evolved into somewhat of a brainwashing organization. Which is not to say that it’s totally bereft of any redeeming qualities. It’s just that there’s probably more bad than good.

As the target of the BTN programs is our impressionable young ‘uns, it’s important that partisan politics doesn’t come into the picture. And neither should racism. Playing one race against another somehow doesn’t quite contribute to nation-building in Walski’s book.

Because racism, in a way, is like tartar that can accumulate on your teeth. Once the stuff sets in, the only way to get rid of tartar is by means of professionally executed scaling, by a qualified dentist. And if you’ve ever had your teeth (and the area below the gum line)scaled, you’ll realize that it’s akin to a minor surgical procedure.

But unlike tartar, no surgery in the world can remove racism once it sets in.

Click here for the full post......

So what DID happen on May 16, 1969?

Technorati tags: Humor, May 16, 1969, Freudian Slip, Jimi Hendrix, Morgan Freeman, Ahmad Mahyuddin Abdul Manaf, The CowHead Collective

While Marina M. quite rightly doesn’t want to give these folks anymore airtime than they already have gotten, Walski would respectfully like to differ. Sometimes it’s important to see just how some human specimens like the Badan Bertindak Perpaduan Ummah carry themselves, in order to ascertain whether or not they are indeed the ‘First Class’ kind of people they proudly claim to be.

First Class feudalistic idiots probably… So much so, even high-level UMNO personalities like Nazri Aziz came out and condemned their grandstanding (via Malaysiakini). Walski doesn’t have a particularly high opinion of Nazri, but let’s give the guy credit when credit is due.

The tongue-slip you hear at time-marker 5:03 about the “historical event of May 16th” is what Walski would classify as a Freudian Slip – saying something else other than intended, but something that is embedded deeply in the subconscious.

May 16th 1969 – or any year – must have some deep significance, so much so that it contributed to the Freudian Slip.

So, exactly what DID happen on May 16th, 1969? 
(tracing the historically insignificant, and more, in the full post)

According to various news reports, including this one from The Malay Mail, Ahmad Mahyuddin Abdul Manaf, one of The CowHead Collective, and the one who slipped Freudian in the video, is 36 years of age. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out, therefore, that he was born well after May 16th, 1969 – more like in 1973, in fact.

Excluding the possibility of some genetic memory transfer phenomenon, why is that date so important then? Walski, for one, had to find out.

Scouring through the Internet revealed some interesting results. Apparently a number of historical events did occur on that day.

One of the events, which Walski personally found very interesting, was that it was on that day that the Russian space probe Venera 5 landed on Venus. This, of course, has nothing whatsoever to do with the concept of Ketuanan Melayu, or why non-Malays should be classified as 2nd class citizens. Apart, of course, from the fact that Venus is the 2nd rock from the Sun (Earth being the 3rd – hence the title of the popular sitcom). But that’s too big of a mental stretch to have any relevance. Even for Walski.

May 16th, 1969 was also the day, half-way across the globe, that The Jimi Hendirx Experience performed at the Baltimore Civic Center, in Baltimore, Maryland. Ketuanan Rock is very different from Malay Supremacy – not to mention significantly more existentially rewarding – so that couldn’t have been it, either. Incidentally, is it just Walski, or if Jimi Hendrix had not died in 1970, he’d be a spitting image of Academy Award winning actor Morgan Freeman?

Original images from here and here, respectively

Or is Morgan Freeman really Jimi Hendrix? Now that possibility is very intriguing – but unfortunately, of no relevance whatsoever. Besides, Ahmad Mahyuddin looks nothing like either one of ‘em.

So, is there anything at all remotely relevant about May 16th? And no, Tracy Gold’s birthday being on the exact day in 1969 has no relevance. Unless Ahmad Mahyuddin was a fan of Growing Pains, which Walski doesn’t know whether he was or not. Nor does he really care.

If there is anything remotely relevant, it’s that May 16th, 1969 is the day that the National Operations Council (NOC) was appointed by the Yang Di Pertuan Agung to govern the nation for the next 20+ months until Parliament was reconvened on February 21, 1971 (via The Malaysian Bar website).

But is this the “dreaded” historical date of May 16th that Ahmad Mahyuddin blurted out? Can’t be, because it is indeed this very NOC that formulated the New Economic Policy, which many people now claim to be part of the Constitutionally-enshrined Special Malay Rights. Which is really debatable, because nowhere is the NEP explicitly mentioned in the Federal Constitution.

Apart from the formation of the NOC, what relevance does May 16th, 1969 have?

As disappointing as it may be, no relevance whatsoever, it would seem. And no relevance is also what Walski considers the action of the Badan Bertindak Perpaduan Ummah – aka The Cowhead Collective – to have. Yes, they did file a police report, which is within their rights. But no, what they did will in no way further the credence of what they’re fighting for.

Quite the opposite, in fact. What more with a brainiac spokesperson like Ahmad Mahyuddin, their credibility, too, will probably suffer the same fate as their relevance – lost someplace in the insignificant historical footnotes of our nation’s history,  just like May 16, 1969. 

Click here for the full post......

Offbeat Travelogue: Back from Hell... err, Dull... err, Hull

Technorati tags: Humor, Offbeat Travelogue, Hull, Dull, Hell

As chance would have it, just when Walski finally found some time to post something 3 weeks ago, the call to travel came up once more.

The trip was a 2-week tour of duty to the UK… second time this year. This time around, it was to Hull, on an intra-company work assignment. The corporation Walski works for acquired this UK engineering company, and he’s been sent to carry out some work there.

The only problem – it was a surprise trip. Was only informed about this assignment 3 days before he was supposed to depart. Yeah, such is the fun and adventure that Walski encounters in his hectic life.

This post got started at the Dubai Airport Terminal 3, while he waited for his connecting flight – about a 9-hour layover, all told. As with his previous trip to the UK earlier this year, Walski decided to fly Emirates, since the airline flies into most major airports in the UK, apart from those around London. The destination airport this time being Manchester International.

The nice thing about Emirates is that you can almost be guaranteed to board an aircraft with an in-seat entertainment console in all classes. The not so nice thing is that, the damned thing may not work as expected all the time.  
(Hull and the no-show green man, in the full post)

And this is true of any airline, not just Emirates. Walski has this knack about being assigned a seat with a less-than-optimally working entertainment console on these long-haul flights. One time, the audio just didn’t work. Many other times, only one channel decides to work (and it wasn’t the headset that was faulty either).

This time, what happened was that the audio for Walski’s console was mapped to the seat adjacent to his, and vice versa. So he had to plug into his neighbor’s jack, and his neighbor had to plug into Walski’s. You can imagine the criss-crossing of audio cables across the two seats.

Fortunately, the guy in the adjacent seat was a nice Arab gentleman and he took all of this in stride. We even had a good chuckle over the sound jack mix-up.

Then on the second leg of the journey, the headset had the right channel busted – but at least this time around, Walski managed to get a replacement. No problems.

In any case, this part of the post was written in his hotel room in Hull, UK. For those of you who don’t exactly know where Hull is, Walski’s provided a map illustration below (courtesy of Google Maps).

Those who follow the Barclay’s Premier League undoubtedly have heard about Hull, but probably don’t know where it’s located in the UK. Well, it’s about 150 kilometers away from Manchester Airport, via the M60 and M62, and finally the A62.

About the title… Hull is definitely not the most interesting nor exciting place in the UK. In fact, Walski’s been told that it’s consistently been rated as one of the Top 10 worst places to live in the UK. It’s not the crime, nor the lack of shopping – in fact, shopping is about the most exciting thing you could do.

Despite being a university town, Walski could find fuck all to do. The weather – which was rainy and tepid (hovering around 5 to 8 deg C) – didn’t help him get into the mood either. One would have thought that with all that time on his hands, Walski would’ve been able to get some blogging done, right?

Wrong…

When it wasn’t work, it was catching up on work from KL, and when it wasn’t that, it was getting some sleep. As Walski’s Twitter friends will attest to, he didn’t even have time to Tweet very much. But there is one thing that Walski thought was rather amusing and kinda cool (apart from the weather).

Well, he did press the button and he did wait… but no green extraterrestrial man appeared. Not even green Earthmen. False advertising? Yes, folks – that’s just how boring Hull is. Even the green man didn’t bother showing up…

Kidding aside, Walski’s quite sure that this sign isn’t peculiar to Hull, and can probably be found all over the UK. But it was new to Walski, who thought it was kind of novel.

Fortunately, work kept Walski occupied most of the time, so the 2-week stay in dull Hull didn’t seem all too bad a drag. Oh, and the wonderful English-version Kit Kat bars helped, too.

If you’re wondering why there isn’t much more Walski has to mention about Hull, it’s probably because there isn’t really that much more to mention.

As one of the guys at the office there said, Hull’s dull because it is literally at the end of the motorway. After Hull, it’s pretty much some country side, then the English Channel. So anyone coming to Hull does so because he or she IS coming to Hull. It’s not one of those places you pass by and say, “Hey – cool place. Let’s stop here”.

In all likelihood, though, Walski will probably return to the end-of-the-road city called Hull. At some point in the near future, he’s quite certain.

So, sorry once again for the long absence… Walski knows that a lot has been going on in Malaysia, and he' has managed to keep up with most of the goings on. The good, bad, ugly and even stupid.

Think of this post as the start of ending this decade with a bang… on the blogging front, at the very least…

Click here for the full post......

The Square Root of Evil

Technorati tags: Religion, Conservatism, Islam, Malaysia

Walski’s very delayed post apology forenote: This post was started almost 2 weeks ago, when the topic was still piping hot. Although no longer boiling, the brew still has some simmer in it, and still worth a look see… and a gulp or three.

Pick up a dictionary, and you’ll find several meanings for the word evil – depending, of course, on which dictionary. One of the meanings you’ll find is: "causing harm"

At least according to Mirriam-Webster, among other dictionaries. The Oxford Dictionary lists the above as one of the possible meaning, as well. It is this pernicious context of evil that Walski has in mind, and not the supernatural context of the word.

Now, unless you’ve been living under a rock, lodged in a cave buried underneath a landslide, you’ll know that the news last week has all but been dominated by the harassment that former Perlis Mufti Dr. Mohamad Asri Zainal Abidin (better known as Dr. Maza) has been getting from the religious authorities and some NGOs. And for the purpose of this post, the evil that Walski refers to is in this context – the harmful way that these so-called Malaysian authorities of Islam have behaved. 

But before we go further, a quick recap of what’s transpired. For a more complete catchment of related articles, Minda Tajdid, Dr. Maza’s blog, has compiled links to related articles (in Bahasa Malaysia and English).

It all started with a memorandum from PGSM – the Syariah Lawyers Association of Malaysia (Persatuan PeGuam Syarie Malaysia) – to the Yang Di Pertuan Agong (Malaysia’s ceremonial King).

PGSM’s English acronym, quite coincidentally, spells SLAM. Coincidental, because slam Asri is exactly what PGSM did in that memorandum. 
(conservatism and the square root of evil, in the full post)

The PGSM memorandum was dated October 12, 2009, and for a short while was published on PGSM’s website, but taken down for reasons only known to the association. National language web news portal mStar Online picked up the memorandum and published it on their news site, and if you read BM, you can take a gander at it here.

PGSM, it seems wasn’t the least bit thrilled that Dr. Asri had been offered to head YADIM, a Malaysian federal government Islamic propagation agency. And in the process of voicing their protestations to the Agong, they made some pretty serious accusations, which, of course, were refuted by Dr. Asri in a press conference held on October 31st, 2009 – you can view it (via YouTube) in three parts, here, here, and here.

And not surprisingly, PGSM weren’t pleased with Dr. Asri coming out into the open refuting the claims and accusations made in the memorandum. They issued a press release the very next day.

Not long after the press conference, Dr. Asri was arrested by the Selangor State Religious Department (JAIS), assisted by the police no less (over 30 persons in total, just to arrest one ex-Mufti). But when he showed up at the courts the next day, as he’d been instructed to, confusion reigned as no one seemed to know what to charge the fella with.

In the end, though, it appears that Dr. Asri will now be charged with proselytizing without the necessary JAIS permits and credentials. An ex-Mufti, mind you. Walski wonders if all those wandering tabligh fellers you see wandering from mosque to mosque (even in Selagor) have the necessary credentials from the state religious agency.

Well, Walski could delve much deeper into the divide between SLAM PGSM, JAIS and Dr. Maza, but that would be pointless, since many have already done so by now. Instead, let’s look a little bit deeper, as to why such a thing could happen.

Now would probably be a good time to clue you in on what Walski means by Square Root of Evil in the post title. It has little to do wit mathematics, by the way, but has much to do with the word “Square”. No, not the 4-sided polygon meaning of the word, but the slang meaning of it: “regarded as dull, rigidly conventional, and out of touch with current trends” (via Urban Dictionary).

In other words, conservative.

Earlier, in this post, Walski had theorized about what he calls The Third Power Column – the collusion between various individuals within the political parties, government agencies, and NGOs. Their common currency? “Mainstream” Islamic Conservatism.

Their goal, ultimately, is to steer this country to becoming an Islamic state. Or, at least that’s what Walski thinks.

Not long after the Asri hoo-ha, a well-known conservative state Mufti came out in support of the action taken by JAIS (from Berita Harian, via Tok Wan). Which Mufti? Harussani Zakaria, that’s who. Arguably, he’s perhaps the most influential cleric in Malaysia, and quite conservative in outlook. Even better, this guy can say just about anything and get away with it (remember the Silibin incident?). Other Islamic bureaucracy related persons and organizations also came out in support of the action by JAIS.

The conservatism that Walski speaks about has certain key characteristics that he’s surmised through observation. Among them:

• That there is one, and only one TRUE interpretation vis-á-vis Islam – the mainstream conservative viewpoint. There’s also this prevalent view that “mainstream equals right/correct”, and any alternative minority opinions seen as bordering on heresy. This is partly exhibited by which books relating to Islam have been banned in Malaysia (apparently Harussani sits on the KDN’s Quranic Texts Department book review/censorship board).
• Support of strict regulation on who can or cannot speak about Islam. And there are numerous inconsistencies relating to this – it appears as though conservative groups are “tolerated” (Hizb ut-Tahrir, for example).
• The tendency to not want discussion done openly – this was exhibited quite clearly in how PGSM rebutted Dr. Maza’s rebuttal press conference. This aversion towards transparency gives the whole Third Power Column a sinister feel to it, rightly or wrongly perceived. Last Friday’s congregational prayer sermon (khutbah) at the Putrajaya mosque, authorized by Jakim, was clearly targeted at curtailing speech when it comes to discourse about Islam (see here for a transcription in Jawi)
• Islam is constantly under threat – this scare tagline is used to put blame on everything else except the failure of the Islamic bureaucracy itself. And it’s always other sinister elements out to do Islam in. Introspection is superficial, and it’s always someone else’s fault (this is a common trait of conservatives the world over).
• Obsessive protection of the predominantly conservative ulama (cleric) institution. No matter how skewed their opinions may be, these ulama are never in error. The more conservative the opinion the better, it seems.

This list is by no means exhaustive, by the way, but represent some of the characteristics that Walski has observed. The evil (read: harm) here is not only pervasive within the various government and non-government agencies, but also within the political parties themselves. So, on the one hand you have official government policy wanting to be more progressive and open, and on the other, almost in the same breath, forces within the government itself ensure that openness and progressivity grinds to a halt.

Remember the Executive Cabinet’s move to try to put a stop to child conversions some months back, how the council of Rulers had an unscheduled meeting soon after, and essentially put a stop to the Government’s idea?

Who called for the meeting? Hint: it wasn’t the Prime Minister, the one usually calling for unscheduled meetings by convention (or so Walski’s been told).

And that’s exactly how powerful the Third Power Column is – without mandate from the electorate, they can, have, and in the future, will, influence public policy.

Still think that the religious conservatives are a benign lot, who albeit loud, don’t have any real influence? Think again.

Sadly, Malaysian society today is ripe for the picking – Malay/Muslims grow up conditioned to NOT ever question authority, especially religious authority, coupled with a steadily declining education standard, and the ability to think critically. No matter what discipline one practices professionally, logic simply goes out the window when it comes to religious matters. Logic and reason are, in fact, shunned, claiming that religious matters transcend logic.

Another popular argument against opining about religion in the open: the doctor/mechanic analogy – the one where you wouldn’t go to just any Tom, Dick, or Harun to consult about medical matters. What this argument ignores is the fact that in the current situation, one is not allowed to seek a second opinion either. And the truth is that there are many opinions and viewpoints within the fold of Islam.

Well, today will see an acid test, of sorts, as to how pervasive the influence of the Third Power Column is – because later this morning, Dr. Asri will (finally) be charged in the Gombak Syariah Court. And for what? Enactments aside, the real reason is that Dr. Maza presents a problem to the conservatives.

The real purpose of charging him is to attempt to silence him, and the learned criticisms he makes about the conservative ulama class, and those who blindly support them.

Today will see whether rationality can overcome the influence of the real SQUARE root of evil…

Click here for the full post......

Jom Skate!

Technorati tags: Wheel Love, Store Opening, Skateboards, Inline Skates, All Skate No Hate

Fortunately, the past couple of weeks hasn’t entirely been doom and gloom. Naah… that would just cave in to the morons who want to ruin this great nation of ours.

Being an eclectic person means that Walski has several diverse circle of friends. And one of those circles – skater kids. In particular, a couple of young Malaysian skaters who’ve taken it a notch further, and have opened up their own skate shop in Subang Jaya.

The shop’s called Wheel Love, and it’s located at 28 Jalan SS15/4 in Subang Jaya (entrance is via the alleyway).

The store had it’s soft-opening on Saturday, October 24th, which Walski and the Mrs attended, lending our moral support to what we felt was a great thing for our friend Wei Yeng, one of the owners. The co-owner of this venture, incidentally is Su Keats, whom we met through Yeng.

Walski’s been told that apparently there is this rivalry between various types of wheel-based sports, even between in-line and board skaters. Dunno… Walski’s no skater, so he’ll take that at face value. So in that sense, Wheel Love, as a concept, means that as long as you’re on wheels, you’ll be loved – in-lines, boards, or even bikes. Or something along those lines.

Hence the phrase “All Skate, No Hate” that the Wheel Love boys love to use…

Rumor has it that this thingy lights up when it's dark...

But back to the shop opening… Walski, and his better half, got there at about noon, not long after the “auspicious” opening time of 11am that morning. Yeng, SuKeats and the crew were busy with final touches on the store interior.

Walski can say this much – he’s impressed and sees great things afoot with this store! 
(more about the skate shop, and more soft-opening pictures, in the full post)

Wheel Love, incidentally, has been in business online for quite a while now. But it’s only now that Yeng & SuKeats have managed to take their business to the realm of the physical. Check out the Wheel Love online store and blog if you get a chance. And if you’re on Facebook, you can also be part of the Wheel Love Skateshop fan club.

A wide range of nifty and cool board designs await you...

In addition to skateboards, inlines, and their respective accessories, Wheel Love also carries a nice collection of fashion accessories and apparel – neat tees and shoes, including their own range of Wheel Love tee-shirt products.

A wide range of über-cool tees...

... plus Wheel Love's very own tee-shirt range

In addition to skate-related merchandise and cool apparel, Wheel Love is also a sales outlet for the Kendama gizmo, a deceivingly simple-looking ball and cup toy, which to play requires a lot more skill than meets the eye.

Consisting of a ball and hammer-like cup, with a strand of string attaching the two, you play the thingy by trying to land the ball onto the cup’s surface. Sounds simple enough, but it’s pretty darned difficult to do.

Essentially, the Wheel Love boys offer the gizmo in collaboration with Kendama MY, Malaysia’s very own Kendama community.

Admittedly, Walski didn’t try it for himself, but having had a look at SuKeats semi-struggling with it, Walski thought… hmmm, maybe next time. But intriguing the thing looks, for sure.

What really impressed Walski about Wheel Love is the cozy environment the guys have created, making it not just a great place to get your skate gear, but a neat spot to escape the hustle ‘n bustle of busy Section 15 to chill for a bit.

A cosy cool interior to chill for a bit...

The soft-opening was also reported at Wheel Love’s own blog posting, and has been covered by Juice (Online). Hopefully this posting will keep up the promo momentum for the guys – they really do deserve it, what with the effort they’ve put in to carve their own little niche in the ever-shrinking space of cool we have here in Malaysia.

Walski’s not sure when the official opening of Wheel Love will be, but rest assured that if he’s around town, he’ll be there for sure. And that you’ll hear about it, too. In the meantime, if you’re ever in the Section 15 area of Subang Jaya, and got some time to kill, pay Wheel Love a visit, won’t ya?

And don’t forget to tell ‘em Walski said Hi…

Walski’s promo disclaimer footnote: Just in case you’re wondering, Walski’s not getting an iota of anything by doing this post. It’s so that he gets to spread the All Skate, No Hate love... nothing more, but certainly nothing less than that!

Click here for the full post......

Mental housekeeping in a brewing Perfect Storm

Technorati tags: Islamism, Malaysia, Politics, Oppression, Depression

Yes, Walki’s bad... he’s been away from this blog for way too long. Worse, without a word of why. So as to not sound like a broken record, he won’t say why, only “Sorry”. But if you must know, it’s pretty much the same reason that he’s mentioned more than once or thrice before.

On top of that is a creeping feeling of depression about the immediate future of this country, and the feeling of helplessness in not being able to do more to make it a better place for everyone. This post, hopefully, will bring Walski back into the mood of blogging and to get the posts out with more regularity. The source of this feeling that’s overcome Walski, therefore, becomes the central theme of this long-overdue post.

But first things first – a very terribly inexcusably belated Happy Diwali (or Deepavali) to one and all, in particular Walski’s Hindu friends and myAsylum readers. Light pwns Dark, good over evil, and all that jazz…

Gee, that was what… two weekends ago? And it’s been around that long since the last post. So yeah, a very belated greeting to the bloggerhood.

You see, apart from work (yup, same excuse reason) and the associated travelling, the mood to blog has somewhat diminished – not because there’s nothing to blog about, per se, but because of the crap that’s been happening in the past half a year. Be it politics, socio-pathalogic nutcase shenanigans of the religious right, the economy, etc. There’s just too much crap that’s been happening, and it’s mostly pretty depressing stuff.

And then there’s Twitter – this blogger’s new writer’s block escape hatch. Hence, the Twitter window on the sidebar. Just so that you know Walski’s still alive somewhere. 140 characters at a time.

So, exactly what else has been happening over the last few weeks, while Walski’s mind was wandering the four-to-the-power-of-n corners of space-time?

In this dimension alone, lots. Even in the small section of our space-time continuum called Malaysia. For starters, the continued cramping of our lifestyle by the religious fruitcake mix that for some reason today inundates Malaysia. 
(khalwat by committee, bouncing Beyoncé off the menu, and more, in the full post)

Walsk doesn’t intend to list out every single thing that’s happened in the last couple of weeks. That would be so… well, last couple of weeks. Instead, he’ll merely rant about some of the highlights, or low-lights as the case may be.

One real big low-light was this snippet of news, reported by The Malay Mail, on Monday, October 19th – about the home invasion by the resident’s association at one of the condos at Prima Damansara’s, just outside KL.

More than two, but it's still khalwat
Vice raid by 'officers' from residents' association allegedly leaves man with black eye

IF you think that you can’t be nabbed for khalwat (close proximity) just because you are found together with more than one other member of the opposite sex, think again.

Aqmal (not his real name) and four of his friends found this out the hard way when their durian-eating session at their condominium unit in Block F of Indah Condominium at Prima Damansara came to a halt when several men from the local residents’ association came knocking on their door.

He claimed that the men were not only aggressive and thuggish, but also hurled insults at him and his friends.

To compound his misery, two of the men also punched him three times, leaving him with a black eye.

But the worse part for Aqmal is not about whether he was beaten or not; it was that the men who knocked on his friends’ home did not even identify themselves.

“I had just sat down to watch a DVD while my friends (three female and a male) were preparing food, others were in their rooms and one was on the computer when there were loud knocks and rattling of the grilles,” said Aqmal.

When his female friend opened the door, the shouting men, numbering about eight to 10, barged in and demanded their identification.

“They were without tags or any identification and they wrote on exercise books; one even called my friend a prostitute for inviting over male friends,” said Aqmal, who said he followed their directions without complaint.

But when they were bringing him and his three friends (two males and a female, as the other female was apparently a Christian), out the door, one of them told Aqmal he acted like an American — to which he replied: Lebih kurang lah (maybe).
(source: The Malay Mail)

But think about it though – it’s very fortunate that the occupants of the condominium unit didn’t panic and start jumping out of windows, as sometimes happens in these types of moral police raids. Funny, but Walski doesn’t recall any instance when there have been serious injuries, or death, as a result of these raids, that the people conducting the raids have ever been charged with anything. Much less for causing bodily hurt, or culpable homicide.

What a wonderful climate for attracting more direct foreign investment, eh? Ok, from Saudi Arabia, maybe.

What’s also interesting is that the Selangor State religious department (JAIS) came out with a statement (also in the Malay Mail), that the raid was not authorized. Which is not at all what the resident’s association claimed. Who’s right? Who’s wrong?

Who cares?

Speaking of religious departments… isn’t it strange that Muslim NGOs have been sprouting up like mushrooms on dew-wet dung of late? And it seems like whenever there’s a new controversy or something contentious to do with Islam, you hear of a new NGO that appeared out of nowhere. Is the Malaysian Islamic bureaucracy actually encouraging their emergence?

And what about when you have a local NGO, belonging to a larger global movement that promotes things contrary to nationhood? The one Walski is talking about is, of course, Hizb ut-Tahrir. They have a local chapter, Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia, whose aim is to champion Malaysia becoming a theocratic Islamic state. Support from the Islamic bureaucracy Walski can understand. But support from the Malaysian government itself?

Anyone that’s tried applying for a KDN number will know that it’s not exactly a trivial matter. Similarly with setting up an NGO and getting it registered with ROS (Registrar Of Societies). So, what gives?

Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia somewhat came into the spotlight a couple of weeks ago when they organized a seminar entitled “Sisters In Islam – Pembela atau Perosak Wanita?" (Sisters In Islam - Protectors or Corrupters of Women?"), held one week ago on Sunday, October 25th in Petaling Jaya. As it turns out the seminar was a rather tame affair. The HT Malaysia official report concluded, however, that SIS is a “grave danger to the Muslims” (last paragraph: ‘amat berbahaya kepada umat Islam’).

They see SIS, and any other organization or individual that dares raise criticisms as a danger to their dogmatic views, so their conclusion comes as no surprise whatsoever.

The same goes with many other Islam-centric NGOs that have sprouted – the champions of a rigid world view and dogma that they believe to be ‘true Islam’.

Now, Walski is in no way suggesting that voices such as these voices be banned. Far from it – they have every right to voice their opinions. What bothers Walski however is the double-standards surrounding who is given leeway (by the Islamic bureaucracy) and who isn’t. And what he asks for is a level playing field of discourse and debate.

And there lies the conundrum – on the one hand, the UMNO/BN led government is pursuing a more progressive, modern and competitive Malaysia. On the other hand, parts of the same government want to ensure that no healthy debate or alternative viewpoints are allowed when it comes to Islam, a faith that’s professed by a majority of the country’s citizenry.

Walski’s observation is that what we’re witnessing today is the beginning of a “perfect storm” – a nexus of seemingly unrelated events that will one day culminate in calamity. An education system that does next to nothing when it comes to creating a generation that can think critically for themselves, encroachment after encroachment of state-sponsored religious authorities into our personal lives and space, prohibition on any materials deemed contrary to populist and majoritaristic Islamic thought, a religious bureaucracy that is allowed to operate on the periphery or even outside the bounds civil law, insistence on the prohibition of debate when it comes to any religious matter regardless of how far-reaching its effects on the entire populace, attempts to change (again) the Federal Constitution that will take this nation one step closer to becoming an Islamic totalitarian state (via The People's Parliament)… the list goes on and on. 

Last week, Egyptian freelance journalist Mona Eltahawy wrote in her Washington Post column, highlighting that Malaysia is at a point in its history where the confused state of the nation, as seen from external eyeglasses, makes it necessary for the country to decide what kind of nation it wants to be. The same article was re-published by The Malaysian Insider last Thursday.

"The Malaysian government must acknowledge that interfering in people's private lives and sentences such as caning are the antithesis of a "moderate" Muslim state. Malaysia must make clear what kind of country it wants to be. Is it the nation of the splendid Kuala Lumpur skyline, blending the traditions of its mosques and temples with the modernity of the dazzling Petronas Towers? Or is it a judgmental, moralistic nation that obsesses over the private lives of its citizens?"
(source: The Washington Post)

Unfortunately, it would be a lot simpler if it were merely up to the government. There are also numerous extra-governmental forces at work – a 3rd quasi-political column operating in the shadowy periphery. While Mona Eltahawy asks the right questions, she mat not be asking them to the right people. Not entirely, anyway.

Quo vadis, Malaysia?

In Walski’s eyes the next few years do not look at all promising. The momentum of those wanting to make Malaysia into something else gets stronger with each passing day. All he can do is to point out the danger, in hopes that the warning doesn’t fall onto deaf ears. It’s quite depressing actually. Worse still when he knows that there are those who actually look forward to Malaysia sliding deeper and deeper into religion-fueled decay, seeing it as an almost demented fruition of God’s promise of greatness.

Just remember that the Iranian Revolution brought great promise of an era free from oppression, only to be replaced by another kind of oppression.

Be careful what you ask for – it may just come true. In spades.

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Princesses Irrelevant of the Talibunnies

Technorati tags: Humor, Politics, Puteri UMNO, UMNO General Assembly

Once again, the circus we fondly call the UMNO General Assembly is in town. In one of the rings, we have Puteri UMNO – the junior women’s wing of the party, created (at the same time as their equally irrelevant male counterparts, the Putera wing) so that the younger members can be tricked into feeling some sort of faux relevance in that party.

Okay, you might be thinking that Walski’s being unduly harsh. But if that’s the case, how do you account for this madness?

With so many more serious problems plaguing the nation, this is the nonsense that they come up with?

It’s bad enough that PAS Youth wants to ban everything – these Talibunnies seem to wanna do as much damage. Or more, if possible. 
(vicious bunnies, and more, in the full post)

Now, a Facebook acquaintance, commenting on PU’s statement said: “Next they will be banning fantasy, horror and Sci Fi books, then all films, TV show and all books - hello Taliban”.

To which, Walski said that under the circumstances the term Talibunnies would probably be more appropriate. Said acquaintance then retorted: “Talibunnies I think is too tame a term, too nice and furry, cuddly. These are viscous mutilators of culture and the arts, hence my term talibanistic”.

Walski then reminded his acquaintnace of this viciously furry, cuddle-deadly classic film scene:

So yeah, Walski will stick to Talibunnies, thank you very much. Their deadly venomous true demeanor is elegantly masked by their demure and irrelevant facade. PU indeed…

But demand by Princesses Irrelevant, if taken seriously, does have far-reaching and damaging ramifications, as pointed out by Mariam Mokhtar, via The Malaysian Insider.

Movies today, books tomorrow… sooner or later, even intelligence might be made a crime against the state, if these wannabe Taliban and Talibunnies have their way.

Truth be told, Walski does see behind the political charade, that what PU is trying to do is play one-up-womenship with PAS Youth – the “if they can insist on banning stuff, so can we” juvenile mindset at play.

Which is exactly why these princesses will remain in the Irrelevant bin of UMNO. But don’t tell Puteri UMNO that… otherwise another tear-fest will probably erupt (via NST).

Speaking of being irrelevant – both Khairy Jamaluddin’s (UMNO Youth Chief) and Najib’s speeches spoke of the need for UMNO to be more inclusive of “others”. Oh, and that the benefits of the NEP shouldn’t only be enjoyed by the Malays. Oh, oh… and that UMNO is not racist (snicker) [links via The Edge and The Star, respectively].

If that’s the case, then what the hell is the point of race-based politics anymore, Walski wonders… other than being a playground for irrelevant Talibunny princesses, that is.

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