Shedding a Blood-Red Tear...

Technorati tags: Malaysia, Rule of Law, Politics, Vendetta, Nathaniel Tan, OSA

How we'll cry, how we'll cry, for the thirteenth of July...

see end of post for photo credits

Granted, it's somewhat trite, and not as elegant or catchy as "Remember, remember, the fifth of November...", that famous line from V for Vendetta. But playing connect the dots with the various news reports surrounding the remand of Nathaniel Tan, however, Walski cannot help but feel exasperated over what has become this nation, just weeks before celebrating our 50th anniversary of Merdeka.

It's now becoming clear that perhaps Nat is the victim of another vendetta.

Malaysiakini reported yesterday that it was Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharum that ordered the investigation, resulting in Nat's apprehension.

Fresh from being cleared of corruption allegations found on an anonymous website, Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharum now wants the police to clampdown on Internet-based “lies”.

Johori said that he had instructed the Police Commercial Crimes Investigation Department (CCID) to trace authors that spread “lies” through websites.
(source: Malaysiakini - subscription required)

A bit vindictive, if you ask Walski. And once again, for all the wrong reasons, Malaysia becomes the focus of the world's attention.
(global and kneejerk reactions, and more, in the full post)

Jeff Ooi's Screenshots reports that Nat's case has been picked up by the World Organization Against Torture. Jeff also cautioned Malaysians to not lose focus on the real issue at hand, in a separate post.

Nat's arrest has been condemned by de facto PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim, and Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang, as reported by Malaysiakini. Closer to the ground, blogger ShanghaiStephen has dubbed Friday, July 13, 2007, as "the day the music died". Scanning through the bloggerhood, condemnation has been unanimous. Even a certain someone who champions moral policing has spoken out saying that Malaysia "is becoming a police state" (ironically hypocritical, but we'll leave that as it is for now).

But what irks Walski to no end is the attempt by the police to carry out the investigation and remand, without following due process. Malaysiakini yesterday reported on the attempt by the police to quickly get the remand hearing done, without Nat being given access to counsel.

One of Tan’s lawyers, R Sivarasa, alleged that there was an attempt by the investigating police officers not to inform them of the remand proceedings.

“He was lucky because (human rights lawyer) P Uthayakumar was in court to attend to another proceeding. Uthayakumar spotted him and later informed me,” said Sivarasa.

He said that the court police also played a role by informing the police investigating team that Tan’s lawyers were on the way.

“Those interventions help frustrate the police team to do the remand proceedings behind our backs,” he added.
(source: Malaysiakini - subscription required)

Walski will not comment on what he thinks about Johari being absolved from any connection to the accusations levelled against him previously. But what is perplexing is that if the police had solid grounds to detain Nat, why the cat and mouse escapades, to the extent of trying to deny Nat his legal right to counsel?

Why the lack of transparency, and hints of underhanded manipulation of the legal system, if all this is just an investigation of slanderous lies? The Star has indicated/speculated that it is in relation to the possession of police case files. The NST? Elegant silence.

Coming just seven weeks before this nation of ours celebrates 50 years of independence, Walski cannot help but feel a certain sadness.

Just as the bitch-slapping the Knights Templar got from a church-state conspiracy purportedly made Friday the Thirteenth legend, our own Black Friday a couple of days ago is a bitter reminder that Malaysia and its citizens are still not free from the threat of draconian whims. Like Jason Voorhees, the feudalistic warlord mentality of our politicians in power keeps resurfacing, bolder and more ludicrous with every incarnation.

Perhaps this year, Walski will skip any celebrations related to August 31st (which coincidentally also falls on a Friday). He can't find much to celebrate, truth be told. The events that have unfolded this year alone are indications that instead of progressing, we are doing quite the opposite.

Friday, July 13th 2007 is but another layer of icing, topping the nutty fruitcake that Malaysia is fast becoming. And for that, Walski sheds a blood-red tear...

Walski's Image Credits & Related posts footnote: The montage image above was composited using Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher's work, entitled Eye, and using the 50th Merdeka Logo (created by Nor Azian A. Hasan), courtesy of blogger Kean-Jin Lim. The rest is Walski's handiwork...

Other posts related to Nat Tan's predicament (in chronological order):
► Arrested Development
► Arrested Development: Detention Confirmed
► Arrested Development: What YOU Can Do

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

Arrested Development: What YOU Can Do

Technorati tags: Police, Intimidation, PDRM, Harassment, Politics, PKR, Nathaniel Tan

Related posts:
► Arrested Development
► Arrested Development: Detention Confirmed

Update @ 1721 hrs: This is probably about a couple of hours old by now, but worth mentioning. Nat has been remanded for four days, beginning today, until Tuesday, to "assist" in the investigations of an alledged violation of an Official Secret that was supposedly posted, via a comment, on Nat's blog, jelas.info (via Cheryl's blog). Jeff Ooi's Screenshots posted the news at 1551 hrs today. At least we know that Nat's okay... as for the real why... Walski smells rodents - rodents brandishing ancient wavy-bladed weapons... More updates to come.

Update @ 1624 hrs: Thanks to Xpyre for the head's up. Things are not looking too good. From Cheryl's blog (Cheryl is Nat's sister), there seems to still be uncertainty as to exactly what Nat is being held for. OSA or not OSA... that is the question. The courtroom was cleared of everyone except for the lawyers and the accused, so we won't know anything until the proceedings are completed. It's looking more and more like police harassment for political reasons... in Walski's view anyway. Any aspiration for Malaysia to progress away from draconian intimidation, as of this very point in time, seems just wishful thinking...

Original Post:
The story so far, as updated on the Malaysiakini report (Walski gives you the condensed version, and they also have a video of the vigil from last night):

Nat gets arrested at 1630 hrs yesterday, Friday July 13, 2007, without being told why he's being taken in, by 3 plainclothes policemen. A frantic goose chase ensues for the next 6 hours, and finally at 2230 hrs, confirmation is given that he'd been hauled in to assist with investigations by the Cyber Crime Unit. It is not clear, however, for what investigations, although there is speculation that it is linked either to the photo-montage pertaining to the ongoing Altantunya case, or to the spat between the IGP and deputy minister Datuk Johari Baharum. What is known, though, is that Nat's detainment was the result of a police report that was filed against him.

According to Eli Wong, Nat can be held only until 1630 hrs today (24-hour remand), at which time he must be released, or brought to a Magistrate for a further remand of up to 10 days. Furthermore, she has listed a few things that you (yes, YOU reading this) can do - check out Eli's post on the details.
(positive citizen action, and more, in the full post)

Among them, is to make it known to the police about how you, as a citizen, feel. Eli's provided a list of numbers on her post that you can sms, or call, or fax. Walski's advice: be civil, and show the police that we're not a bunch of angry hooligans. We are simply enraged citizens, angry at the heavy handed approach to what can be seen as selective law enforcement.

That said, according to the reports Walski's read, there are members of PDRM (Royal Malaysian Police Force) that have cooperated and provided pertinent information, within the bounds of their responsibility to the public. These (few) officers of the law are the ones that help maintain the public's respect for the police. What little of it that's left.

This latest incident, in Walski's view, is all the more reason why the citizens of Malaysia should renew the call for the setting up of the IPCMC. Remember the IPCMC? You know, the elusive watchdog body recommended by a royal commission and committed to by what's-his-name. How long ago was that? Walski forgets.

Every civil society needs check and balances to ensure that no one's rights get trampled upon. While the police's job is to maintain law and order, their job cannot be achieved by resorting to lawlessness and disorderly conduct. That's what the IPCMC is for - to ensure that the police do thei job within the bounds of the law. No one - and Walski repeats - no one, is above the law.

In any case, enough of the Walskitorializing - let's hope and pray for Nat's immediate release.

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

Arrested Development: Detention Confirmed

Technorati tags: Police, Intimidation, PDRM, Harassment, Politics, PKR, Nathaniel Tan

Related post: Arrested Development

Update @ 0309hrs: Freelunch2020 has just broken her silence and gives a detailed account of the events surrounding the arrest and detention of Nathaniel Tan. After a day's wild goose chase, with Nat's lawyer being told that he was being held under the Penal Code, then told that it was the OSA, confirmation was gotten at 10:30pm last night that it was under Section 420 of the Penal Code for "cyber crimes". It appears that a police report had been filed against Nat, for a comment left on his blog jelas.info. Freelunch2020's last paragraph is rather chilling:

After witnessing tonite's events, this writer feels whether Penal Code, OSA or ISA, at any time if the Order is given, anyone can be arrested and even disappear.
(source: Freelunch2020)

Original post:

Poster courtesy of Mob's Crib

Last night, Malaysiakini carried an updated report confirming that Nathaniel Tan had indeed been taken into custody (updated at 2230 hrs July 13).

Based on the report, he is being held to assist in the investigation of an undisclosed case under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

"According to the police, Tan will be held for 24 hours by the Cyber Crime Unit in Jalan Dato Onn to facilite investigation under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

Tan was later transferred to Kuala Lumpur's Dang Wangi police station and is expected to be brought before a magistrate for further remand at 4.30pm tomorrow."
(source: Malaysiakini [subscription required])

Moments ago, Walski has just read from the blog of Cheryl Tan (Nat's sister), that the "arrest is over some matter which has already been cleared up". All this is confusing to say the least. Having said that, via Cheryl's latest update, Walski is relieved to know that Nathaniel is okay - although he didn't get the sandwiches he wanted.
(relief, and more, in the full post)

What will be interesting to see is if any of this gets reported in the mainstream media, and if it does, whether any spin would be added to it. Call Walski cynical... well, okay, Walski's cynical.

Needless to say, Walski's prayers and well-wishes go to Nat, his family and of course, his dear significant other...

Stay tuned to myAsylum for further updates, as and when they occur.

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

Arrested Development

Technorati tags: Police, Intimidation, PDRM, Harassment, Politics, PKR, Nathaniel Tan

Walski's Hat-tip notice: to Rocky for alerting Walski to this (but unfortuNATely Walski was about to leave from the office from home, hence this late posting).

UPDATE @ 2231 hrs: The police have FINALLY 'fessed up that they actually have Nat in custody (hat-tip: Mob1900). Walski is somewhat relieved that at least it's not a kidnapping...

Nathaniel Tan, PKR webmaster, and a blogger brethren, was reportedly picked up by 3 plainclothes policemen this afternoon to "talk about the Internet" (source: Polytikus).

However, according to a Malaysiakini news report from 5:40pm today quoted Nat's lawyer as saying that Bukit Aman has denied picking Nat up.

His lawyer Latheefa Koya told malaysiakini that according to a special branch officer known only as inspector William, there were no records of Tan being brought to Bukit Aman.

“We have also checked with Malaysian Control Centre (MCC) which is under the Bukit Aman to no avail. Instead, they advised us to make a police report,” she said.

Latheefa added that they were attempting to lodge a police report over Tan’s "kidnapping."
(source: Malaysiakini [subscription required])

Nathaniel, who is a PKR information bureau staff, also helps maintain the party's website. Is this a case of intimidation against members of the opposition?
(more in the full post)

Other blogs that have reported on this, and are keeping close tabs on the development of this alledged arrest include, among others:
- Bobjots
- Elizabeth Wong
- Infernal Ramblings
- Ktemoc Konsiders
- Mahaguru58
- Malaysia-Today
- Mob1900
- Politics 101
- Polytikus
- Rocky's Bru
- The Sensintrovert
- Susan Loone's "may the truth save us all"
- Tian Chua
- Whatever

Is this the kind of tolerance that Kofi Annan thinks exists in Malaysia, making us a model country? Model country for successful intimidation tactics on the opposition, perhaps. And just who were the 3 persons who took Nat into custody?

Walski's prayers go out to Nat, and hopes that he's safe and sound. Elizabeth has filed (or is in the process of) a police report, as advised by Bukit Aman, who don't seem to "know".

myAsylum will keep close watch on this incident, and post any updates, as and when they occur.

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

Degrees of Separation

Technorati tags: Religion, Liberalism, Solution, Separation, Malaysia

This post is, in essence, an elaboration of a comment Walski made on one of Marina M's posts not too long ago. It's a proposed solution to a problem (or perceived problem) that exists in Malaysia today - a clash of ideals about which direction Malaysia should head towards.

But first, a quick recap: Malaysia, it seems, is at a crossroads. On the one hand, we have part of the population whose ideal is to have Islamic statehood as the solution to all things gone awry, which for the other part of the population is the last thing they think should happen.

Admittedly, Walski falls into the category of the latter. However, we won't speculate which group of people represents the majority - that's not the point of this post.

Recent incidences such as the whole Lina Joy saga, the Revathi case, the numerous intrusive forrays by the Islamic Department enforcers (aka the Morality Police), etc., but more importantly the vehement disagreement of opinions surrounding the incidences - almost like water and oil sometimes - has led Walski to think up a simple solution.

While the solution is simple (in principle), it's not an easy decision to make, and quite frankly pretty painful. But it has historical precedence... and if done right, can possibly lead to a "happily ever after" ending...
(Walski's "final" solution, and more, in the full post)

Generally, a person with liberal leanings means that he or she is against imposition of personal beliefs upon others. In contrast, the vocal, and presumably mainstream, Muslims in this country are for exactly the opposite - they are for a strict implementation of what they see as divine law, including policing morality, and intrusion into other people's privacy. In fact, in Walski's viewpoint, the concept of personal privacy is next to non-existent.

Any liberal view is generally seen as being Islamophobic, anti-Islam, etc. We will not debate the validity of this view here, however. Again, that is not the point of this post.

What is clear, however, is that the way things stand, there is a clear divide. And the chasm, it would appear, is not closing. On the contrary, the divergent views appear to be growing further and further apart. And because of this, Malaysia is at a crossroads. To complicate matters, Islam has been used as a tool for political gain. In the quest for mindshare between UMNO/BN and PAS, each trying to out-Islam the other, the real losers are Malaysians at large, whether we want to admit it or not.

And so, we come to Walski's solution, which is separation, once and for all.

What this means is that those who feel the solution to all the wrongs in this country is Islamification, should form their own autonomous regional government. Since there already is a state that claims itself to be run per Islamic tenets, i.e. Kelantan, not taking logistics into consideration, this would be the logical place to move to.

Initially, Walski had secession in mind. Having thought about it a bit more, perhaps creating an autonomous administrative region, similar to how Hong Kong is in relation to China, the Caliphate of Kelantan, as we'll call it (for lack of a better name), shall be autonomously run. Everyone who feels that he or she has had enough of us liberal heathens can move there, and live happily ever after in an exclusively Islamically run region.

Those UMNO-philes whom are sincere with their current "we are not Islamic enough" rhetoric can move there, and those who do this purely for the sake of appearance can drop the pretense, and be themselves. Why fight with PAS, trying to outdo each other, while making the rest of us live our lives miserably? Go join them, if that's what your true calling is.

We'll be humane and give the Caliphate of Kelantan some amount of start-up capital - say, RM 2 - 3 billion or so. And the actual Caliphate may be bigger than the current Kelantan, all depending on the number of Malaysians that want to go live there. We'll keep the borders open, of course, to facilitate inter-region movement, particularly during school holidays and the festive seasons, for balik kahwin, balik kampung, and what not.

So, with the formation of the Kelantan Caliphate, the rest of us who choose to remain can get on with our lives, have our relationship with GOD on our own terms, and happily go about with our existence, striving for the following ideals:

► achieving a greater unity of all people who choose to remain in the new greater Malaysia;
► creating and nurturing a true democratic way of life;
► creating a just society in which the wealth of the nation shall be equitably shared;
► ensuring a liberal approach to our rich and diverse cultural traditions; and finally,
► building a progressive society which shall be oriented to modern science and technology (i.e. no more air and kismis jampi or other nonsense like that)

These are not new concepts, by the way, and were not born from Walski's liberal mind. If you don't know where it comes from... well, how easily Malaysians forget. Okay, except for the air and kismis jampi part - Walski added that.

Superstition will no longer be tolerated

Now, Walski is not about to suggest how the new Caliphate of Kelantan shall be run. They can run it however they see fit. Details (somewhat) of the new liberalized and liberated Malaysia, and what one can expect, has been outlined in an earlier post.

No, Walski has no aspirations to be a political leader - anyone who thinks they are up to the task are welcome to Walski's ideas, with his compliments. Walski will, however, accept a position as consultant/advisor.

So, why separation? With relations between religious thought (apparently) being the way they are, do you honestly see any other way? From being a model country looked up to by Islamic nations the world over as a bastion of tolerance, mention Malaysia, and the first thing that comes to mind will probably be the seemingly growing religious intolerance of the Muslims towards anybody and everybody else. Just peruse the blogs, and you'll see just how rife this has become.

It really is a simple solution, and it has been done before, in India, for example, where the greater India was separated into Pakistan, India and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). That split, however, wasn't done right, and we can learn from the mistakes made there.

The last thing, Walski is sure, that anyone wants to see is bloodshed. Separation is one way to avoid bloodshed, should the ill feelings continue to escalate. And separation is also a way to not have more brain-drain from Malaysia. Since liberalization of the entire country is something unpalatable to the mainstream Muslims, separation is a good compromise, in Walski's view.

But until there is separation, Walski will continue to speak out against the intrusive and lawless behavior of the so-called Islamic Morality Squads, dan mereka yang sewaktu dengannya, who are, after all, partly funded from Walski hard-earned tax dollars ringgit.

Thoughts? Opinions? Criticisms? Walski's waiting...

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

Everything you wanted to know about inheritance, but were too Faraid to ask...

Technorati tags: Inheritance, Islam, Faraid, Wills, Baitul Mal

Big hat-tip to Aisehman, for getting Walski to think about this a little bit more.

Today's The Star had an article about a shitload of inheritance money, left behind by deceased Muslims, remain unclaimed. A treasure trove worth RM 38 billion (approx. USD 10.85 b), to be exact.

RM 38b of unclaimed inheritance...

Aisehman's concerns revolve around the possibility that any "solution" offered may involve those without a rightful claim (the long hands of Government, in particular) to get some. Valid point. Walski has similar concerns, truth be told.

Reading the article, AmanahRaya Bhd (public trustee company) group managing director, Datuk Ahmad Rodzi Pawanteh, indicated that part of the problem was that Muslims weren't aware of "inheritance under syariah law". Otherwise known as Faraid.

Among the problems quoted by the group GM include the unwillingness of Muslims to write a will or to disclose whether a will had been written.

Okay... fair enough.

But read further - the 3rd last paragraph, to be exact - and one of the possible reasons for the unwillingness becomes known immediately. Put simply, will or no will... it's better for a Muslim to give away his/her worldly property to the deserving ones in their lives before they go on to the next place... in Malaysia, at least.
(why many are possiby Faraid to leave a will, and more, in the full post)

Specifically, the article has this to say (emphasis by myAsylum):

For Muslims, the will only counts for a maximum of one-third of the value of the entire estate under Faraid law.

Say what? So what of the rest of the estate? What happens to that?

That's where the rules of Faraid come in. And what of these rules, you ask? Walski, faraid that you were gonna ask exactly that question, did a little research on this.

The basis of the prevalent faraid rules are loosely founded upon a number of verses in the Quran. Loosely, because the most important aspect of these verses have actually been de-emphasized. The most popular source quoted are three verses of a chapter in the Quran, namely Al-Nisa, verses 11, 12 and 176, which state (using the Yusuf Ali translation, emphasis by myAsylum):

11. Allah (thus) directs you as regards your Children's (Inheritance): to the male, a portion equal to that of two females: if only daughters, two or more, their share is two-thirds of the inheritance; if only one, her share is a half. For parents, a sixth share of the inheritance to each, if the deceased left children; if no children, and the parents are the (only) heirs, the mother has a third; if the deceased Left brothers (or sisters) the mother has a sixth. (The distribution in all cases ('s) after the payment of legacies and debts. Ye know not whether your parents or your children are nearest to you in benefit. These are settled portions ordained by Allah. and Allah is All-knowing, All-wise.

12. In what your wives leave, your share is a half, if they leave no child; but if they leave a child, ye get a fourth; after payment of legacies and debts. In what ye leave, their share is a fourth, if ye leave no child; but if ye leave a child, they get an eighth; after payment of legacies and debts. If the man or woman whose inheritance is in question, has left neither ascendants nor descendants, but has left a brother or a sister, each one of the two gets a sixth; but if more than two, they share in a third; after payment of legacies and debts; so that no loss is caused (to any one). Thus is it ordained by Allah. and Allah is All-knowing, Most Forbearing.

176. They ask thee for a legal decision. Say: Allah directs (thus) about those who leave no descendants or ascendants as heirs. If it is a man that dies, leaving a sister but no child, she shall have half the inheritance: If (such a deceased was) a woman, who left no child, Her brother takes her inheritance: If there are two sisters, they shall have two-thirds of the inheritance (between them): if there are brothers and sisters, (they share), the male having twice the share of the female. Thus doth Allah make clear to you (His law), lest ye err. And Allah hath knowledge of all things.

What usually doesn't get quoted are the following verses, from Al-Baqarah, verses 180 and 181:

180. It is prescribed, when death approaches any of you, if he leave any goods that he make a bequest to parents and next of kin, according to reasonable usage; this is due from the Allah.fearing.

181. If anyone changes the bequest after hearing it, the guilt shall be on those who make the change. For Allah hears and knows (All things).

It takes no stretch of the imagination to realize that "bequest" and "legacies" referred to in the verses above refer to wills written by the soon-to-be deceased. The latter two versesNow, the next question you'll probably ask: where in these verses does it mention the one-third limitation of the validity of the will?

And Walski, unfortunately, is faraid he cannot answer that question. Ask your learned ulama. Then come back and tell Walski, 'cause he sure as hell wants to know.

Incidentally, the folks at the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Math department have created an inheritance calculator - go to this site, and select the "Pengiraan" button on the left. Put in a name and IC number (any name and IC number - doesn't need to be real information), and the sex of the person, followed by choosing how many people the hypothetical person would leave behind and what category they fall in. Once you've done all that, click on the "Kira Pembahagian" button towards the bottom of the page.

For the heck of it, Walski tried a couple of test case (the screenshots have been edited for clarity). Using a fictitious Mohd So-and-so as the test subject, let's assume that all he leaves behind is a wife.

The hypothetical Mohd So-and-so leaves a wife behind...

Assuming the calculator is accurate, the wife, by the glorious Malaysian faraid laws, gets a whopping one-quarter of the estate. The rest, goes to Baitul Mal, which is the Malaysian Islamic Charity Fund.

... but the wife is only entitled one quarter of the estate

Let's try another test case, this time with Siti Whatever as the deceased, and having no kids, leaves behind a husband.

But if the hypothetical Siti Whatever passes on...

... the hypothetical hubby gets half!

Gee... hubby gets half. Again, the other half going to Baitul Mal.

So really, looking at it, the biggest loser in the unclaimed booty business is probably Baitul Mal, and not the rightful receipients. Aisehman, what seh you? Fair, or something terribly wrong with this picture?

Walski's not implying that a portion of the estate shouldn't go to charity, and he's all for the soon-to-be dearly departed to will whatever they see fit to Baitul Mal or other deserving charities of their liking. The question here is what's the use of leaving a will in the first place, if you only get to decide where one-third of it goes? And let's not even get started on the issue of gender equality in this regard.

So, boys and girls, Walski's advice, again: if you know you're going to kick it soon, dispose of what you have to those whom you feel deserve your booty. But don't forget to leave some to charity, too.

If all this offends any of you Muslims out there, please do get offended. It's your right. While you get pissed off and all, though, do also ask your resident expert ulama why the Malaysian faraid laws are the way they are, and what justifications have been used to have them that way. Take note of their answer, and see just what percentage actually comes from the Quran. Then come back and report to Walski.

Where there's a will, there's always Baitul Mal waiting for a portion of the two-thirds...

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

No Self-Incrimination?

Technorati tags: Religion, Islam, Syariah Court, Lina Joy, Revathi

Walski's Intro Note: From time to time, reader's of myAsylum leave comments that are worthy of full posts. The following, from Juslo, is one of them, and was left in relation to two previous posts, here and here. The comment posted here has been edited slightly for style, flow and language, but with the contents essentially intact.

The fears of some of us about self-incrimination were right (unfortunately).

Wan Zafran has tried to assure us that the criminal provisions criminalizing apostasy would NOT apply to someone who is applying for an apostasy order at the syariah court, in his post, entitled Lina Joy, The Decision (Counsel’s Explanation).

But he was WRONG, it seems.

The syariah court system itself HAS ANSWERED the qeustions/fears we had - in the recent Revathi case.

It seems that it's NOT TRUE that the syariah criminal provisions punishing acts apostasy would not be applied to punish somebody for applying to the syariah court for an apostasy order. they DO apply.

In other words, Justice Richard Malanjum was CORRECT to say that to send Lina Joy to Syariah Court would be SELF-INCRIMINATION, and the majority of the Federal Court was telling us is a BIG FAT LIE.

So, the Lina Joy majority decision could be summed up as: go bang your head on the syariah court wall, don't come to civil court. If u bleed, KEEP banging. Any other person who still wishes to defend the majority's decision in Lina Joy, please show that I am WRONG... please. Because I WANT TO BE WRONG.
(Juslo's wrong proven right, and left wanting, in the full post)

Walski's in-post note: The following are excerpts quoted by Juslo to justify his statement above. Sources and links are provided for each of the articles mentioned.

From Harakah: Kes Siti Fatimah: PAS, Umno perlu bincang bersama
by Roslan SMS

"Pada 23 Jun 2006 Siti Fatimah telah mengemukakan permohonan di Mahkamah Tinggi Syariah Melaka untuk keluar dari Islam dan menukar namanya dari nama Islam ke nama Hindunya atas alasan beliau tidak lagi menganut Islam, telah berkahwin dengan V. Suresh menurut agama Hindu dan kini mempunyai seorang anak Diviya Dharhini hasil dari perkahwinan itu.

Mahkamah walau bagaimanapun telah mengeluarkan perintah menahan Siti Fatimah untuk 100 hari mulai 8 Januari tahun ini (dan kemudiannya dilanjutkan ke 80 hari lagi) di Pusat berkenaan dan perintah tersebut disahkan oleh Mahkamah Tinggi Syariah Selangor yang diberi kuasa ke atas responden memandangkan pusat tersebut berada di Selangor."

From The Malaysian Bar Council:
‘Revathi, that’s my name - forever’
Friday, 06 July 2007, 04:45pm
©Malaysiakini (Used by permission)
by Andrew Ong and Ng Lin Fong

Woman released from Islamic rehab camp

M Revathi, 29, still steadfastly wants to remain a Hindu, despite her six month detention by religious authorities and ongoing efforts to make her a Muslim.

“My name is Revathi. I want to hold on to that name - forever. I want to drop the name Siti Fatimah,” Revathi, sporting pottu (Hindu symbol) on her forehead, told reporters outside the Shah Alam High Court today.

Born Siti Fatimah Abdul Karim to Muslim convert parents, she was called Revathi Masoosai by the grandmother who raised her.

She married to V Suresh in 2004 according to Hindu rites and has a 18-month old daughter.

In January this year, Revathi was detained at the Malacca Syariah High Court when she attended a hearing over her application to have her official religious status be recognised as a Hindu.

She was detained at the court and subsequently held at the Ulu Yam religious rehabilitation camp in Selangor for six months until she was freed yesterday.

Speaking about her experience inside the camp, Revathi today described that she was subjected to ‘mental torture’ and claimed that she defied attempts to coerce her to follow religious classes.

“Their programmes are solely on religion. (There were also) prayer classes. I never attended (any of them). I only attended counselling. During counselling, they said I had to do this and that. They said I had to follow (religious) laws. I just buat tidak tahu (ignore).

“I argued that I had a right to choose my religion, but they replied that I should not talk about (my) rights,” said Revathi who is presently living with her Muslim parents as ordered by the religious authorities.

‘Many ran away’
She claimed that many had run away from the ‘jail-like’ conditions of the camp but she had not.

“A lot of people ran away, even though (the camp was for Muslims). Though I’m a Hindu, I could bertahan (bear with the conditions), because I’m upholding the good name of Hinduism,” she added.

During her detention, she was not allowed visits. Recalling the only time she got to see her husband during her detention, Revathi said:

“Even though I was not allowed to meet my husband, I got to see him (standing) outside the camp, without their permission. I saw his car and I ran towards the fence. It was only once (I got to see him during the detention). After that, they (from the centre) dragged me away.

“Before, it was not enclosed. Now, they used zinc (sheets) to surround the area. You can’t see inside and we won’t know who is outside,” she said.

The emotional moment where Revathi and Suresh were momentarily reunited was captured on film by Al-Jazeera and aired on April 23 in current affairs programme Everywoman.

Revathi was initially detained for 80 days at the camp but her detention was extended for 100 days twice. Her stint ended yesterday when she was presented before the Malacca Syariah Court.

‘Waste of my time’
She was ordered to live with her parents and undergo counselling. She lamented that she was “unsatisfied” with the decisions made by the court.

“They held me for six months, only to say that I cannot leave Islam. If that is the case, they should have told me earlier, so I don’t have to go into the centre.

“Who’s going to compensate for the six months I was there? (It is a) waste of my time! I was separated from my child and husband. How are they going to compensate?” she asked.

“I have a right to choose my religion. In six months, they cannot make me change my mind, how can they do it now?”

She also said that religious officials tried to force her to pray, eat beef and wear a headscarf.

"Because of their behaviour, I hate (benci) Islam even more now," she added.

--------- o ---------

Woman released from Islamic rehab camp
by Andrew Ong

A woman who had been forcibly separated from her Hindu husband and 18-month-old baby girl on the grounds of her religion has been released from custody in an Islamic rehabilitation camp yesterday.

However, the woman - Revathi Masoosai, according to her husband V Suresh, or Siti Fatimah, according to her parents and religious authorities - is prohibited from staying with her husband.

Yesterday, the woman was brought to the Malacca Syariah High Court where she was told that she was freed from the Ulu Yam rehabilitation camp in Selangor.

She had been held there for six months.

The court also ruled that she must stay with her Muslim parents, along with her child. The baby has been looked after by Revathi's parents since she was sent to the rehabilitation camp in January.

Revathi was also told that she could not convert out of Islam.

Suresh had previously claimed that she was not a practising Muslim, but a Hindu born to Muslim parents. The couple is from Malacca.

Revathi told reporters that the rehabilitation camp was like a prison and that religious officials tried to force her to pray and wear headscarf.

"Because of their behaviour, I hate (benci) Islam even more now," she added.

Case in court
The habeas corpus application today to seek her release was to have been heard this morning at the Shah Alam High Court.

However at the court proceedings, lawyers for the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Jais) Mohamad Haniff Khatri Abdulla said the matter has been rendered academic and redundant following her release from the rehabilitation camp yesterday.

Suresh’s lawyer Karpal Singh on the other hand told the court that the matter must be heard as it was a matter of public interest as it would set a precedence for similar cases.

In the end the court agreed with Haniff and dismissed the application.

Justice Su Geok Yiam said she allowed preliminary objections from Haniff that the Shah Alam High Court had no jurisdiction on grounds that Revathi was no longer in detention.

“The law is clear on this. If the subject of a habeas corpus application is released, then the courts have no jurisdiction to hear the application,” said Justice Su after a one-hour recess to make the ruling.

In an immediate response, Karpal said he would file an appeal at the Federal Court on Monday.

Representatives from the Bar Council, Malaysian Consultative Council for Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism and the Melaka Islamic Religious Council (Maim) were also present to observe proceedings.

From The Malaysian Bar Council:
Syariah Court dismisses Revathi's application to renounce Islam
Contributed by Desmond Ho Chee Cheong
Friday, 06 July 2007, 08:01pm

MALACCA, Fri: Revathi’s (aka Siti Fatimah) application to seek the Malacca Syariah High Court’s order to renounce her religion came up for hearing at 4.00pm on Thursday 5 July 2007.

We were informed earlier on that the judge would hold his court in session at 3.00pm but we were kept waiting with Revathi who was dressed in a green coloured saree.

Tuah bin Atan was the syariah lawyer acting for Majlis Agama Islam Melaka, and the Bar Council held a watching brief through Nizam Bashir.

The Malacca Bar Committee showed its concern for the case and had in attendance a sizeable number of lawyers, including its Chair, Ng Kong Peng.

The learned judge was informed by Tuah that the maximum 6 months rehabilitation period has lapsed and would have expired at 12am that night and upon reading the progress report of the officer in charge of the rehabilitation centre in Ulu Yam, Tuah went on to state that there was a possibility of repentance on Revathi’s part and thus a recommendation was made for continual counseling sessions with the hope that she would return to embrace Islam.

The judge then asked Revathi whether she still insisted on proceeding with the application to renounce Islam and she answered in the affirmative. Nizam Bashir then requested the court’s indulgence to take into consideration that Revathi is an adult before delivering his judgment.

Revathi was then allowed to speak once again and she courageously told the court that she has two families and despite her filial duties to her parents, she also has a duty to her own family with husband. However, Tuah brought to the court's attention that, subject to proof, Revathi has only one recognised family, i.e. her parents.

The learned judge then informed the court that he would allow Revathi’s parents to speak in court . When both of them appeared, they informed the court that they wished for their daughter to be placed in their custody.

The learned judge then delivered his judgment and stated that in Islam there is no compulsion and there is a recognition of the concept of freedom of religion provided in Article 11 of the Federal Constitution. However, this freedom of religion, according to him, meant that no one can be compelled to be a Muslim. The learned judge went on to state that once a person has embraced Islam, that person cannot leave Islam. He went on and remarked that in Islam, in the instance of a man, the punishment of death is permissible in 3 instances, namely, murder, adultery and apostasy. For a woman, in the event she renounces her religion, the sentence would be indefinite imprisonment until she repents. The learned judge explained that in Islam, religion is not merely between Man and God but between Man, God and community and a person renouncing Islam would affect the community. The learned judge apparently equated apostasy to treason in western civilization and stated that in many countries around the world, treason is a serious offence as it is of national security concern and punishable by the harshest penal sentence.

Despite Nizam’s earlier plea to take into consideration Revathi’s adult status, the learned judge dismissed the application seeking an order to renounce Islam and ordered Revathi to be placed in the custody of her parents and that she would undergo continual counseling sessions.

Walski's end-note: And so, the assertion that an application to apostasize made in the Syariah court CAN be self-incriminating, probably depending on which state court the application is made. The assurances made by Wan Zafran in his blog, as have been proven, are either empty assurances, or worse, the counsel who wrote the contents of that post did so knowing full well that it was untrue. Walski thanks Juslo for his effort in bringing this matter to the attention of Walski, and the bloggerhood. Again, Walski asks: Justice, or "Just Us"?

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

HENN: Pinheads and Fatwamen

Technorati tags: Humor, Satire, Pinhead, Fatwaman, Mutant Mullahs, Religion, Hell on Earth

Pinhead Demands Explantion from Fatwaman & JAIP
myAsylum reports on this new controversy, in this exclusive expose, straight from Hell, and soon-to-be Hell-on-Earth, Malaysia. First in a new series from the Hell-on-Earth News Network (HENN)

While the bloggerhood reeled with ire over the incident in Perak this week, when hormone-overladen Perak State Islamic Department (or JAIP) nabbed a lounge singer over her dressing, another controversy has secretly been brewing in the underworld. Not the underworld of the ah longs, hoodlums and gangsters, but the underworld of the Cenobites, the soul-capturing agents of Hell.

Early this morning, through a smoky vision swirling over the deathly pall of downtown Ipoh, spokesperson for the Cenobite community, Pinhead, lashed out at JAIP, by stating that the department had overstepped its authority.

"We are truly upset over this move. The role of creating hell on Earth belongs to the Cenobites, and the Cenobites alone", Pinhead said, when asked to comment on the actions of JAIP.

"What happened was nothing short of harassment - and that's another reason why we are upset. Harassment is our area of expertise. Who does JAIP think they are to usurp our duties?"

Obviously, Pinhead seemed upset. In the past few years, the Malaysian Islamists have been taking the role of creating hell on Earth away from the rightful executors of terror and nightmare, the Cenobites. While all this has been observed in silence by the Cenobites, Pinhead explained why the need to break the silence now. In short, it is over a breach of contract.

"Another thing we're pissed about - where the fuck are the 15,000 souls promised to us by brother Fatwaman? Where? Where?" a screaming Pinhead exclaimed, unable to hide his ire any longer. Pins were close to flying all over the room.

But a shocking question every concerned human needs to ask: what exactly did Pinhead mean by "brother Fatwaman"?
(separated at birth, and other shlocking revelations, in the full post)

An exclusive investigation carried out by the intrepid myAsylum CRAP (Cybernetic Remote Autonomous Para-roaches) squad has revealed a possible nexus between Fatwaman and Pinhead, possibly two nexuses.

Could the two actually be the same person?

The resemblance is uncanny... could it be?
(see end of post for picture sources)

Using the state of the art technology called VCA (Visual Comedic Analysis), CRAP has identified key facial and head-structure resemblances. Noticing that the ears and eyes have an uncanny similarity, could it be that Fatwaman is actually Pinhead in this dimension?

This, however, has been denied by Pinhead. "Hell no! We wouldn't touch him with a 10-foot pitchfork", he said. Fatwaman, however, couldn't be reached for comment; his press secretary indicated that Fatwaman was busy instructing JAIP on future harassment actions to cleanse the state of Perak of any remaining adult recreational activities.

Another possibility is that Fatwaman, and the other Mutant Mullahs, are actually in the employ of the Cenobites. And Pinhead's response to this was, shall we say, ambiguous.

"Yeah, sure, whatever... Believe what you want, if it makes sense... when you connect the dots, the eventual destination is the key to unravelling the truth. Like finding the cheese in a rat maze."

Huh?

Could it be that hell on earth is the secret agenda that the Mutant Mullahs, under instruction from the Cenobites, are working towards? Already, other non-affiliated Mutant Mullahs have been calling on the country's leadership to not question the ulama (in Bahasa Malaysia, from Harakah), in response to the Perak Regent's call to the ulama to not take political sides. So now, the mission is to piss off everybody, without prejudice and across the board, it would seem.

That, coupled with isolated cases of where hell on earth, on a personal basis, has already been achieved, indicate that there could very well be a Cenobite-Mutant Mullah nexus.

Hell-on-Earth News Network (HENN) will be keeping a close eye on these developments.
(© 2007 - Hell-on-Earth News Network)

Walski's note of pictorial/verbal acknowledgements and disclaimer: The pictures of Fatwaman and Pinhead were taken from here and here, respectively. The phrase "wouldn't touch him with a 10-foot pitchfork" was originally used by Panda Head Curry, in a comment to a recent post. No muftis, Pinheads or Pandas were harmed in the making of this post. Any similarities to individuals alive, dead or undead is purely intentional for satirical purposes. Any offense taken is to be seriously laughed at.

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

A New Poll, and the Walski Manifesto

Technorati tags: Humor, Satire, Government, Manifesto, It's MY Party, SIPM

As you can see on the left sidebar, Walski's started another straw poll. It's about whom you think you would vote for should elections be called out of the blue, based, presumably, on how you think the various political parties best present themselves as being representative of your views. As of the time of posting this, 18.2% said they'd vote for George Bush... which is really bizarre.

We will, of course, analyze the results of this poll later on, once it's closed and all the votes have been tabulated.

But this particular post is actually about something only slightly related to elections. Credit for the idea goes to eminent blogger The Malaysian, who planted the thought of doing this post thru a comment he left on a previous post. In essence, he said, "Walski for PM!"

Okay... so what if Walski were Prime Minister of Malaysia?

First off, which party would he be affiliated with? Try none of the above. Truth be told, Walski thinks that despite what the powers-that-be have successfully brainwashed us into believing (to preserve the powers that they currently be having), politics and government along racial lines is really so last century. And politics along religious lines is one of those roads straight to hell paved with good intentions - a definite no-no.

So, if they would have Walski, he would very much like to join SIPM - the SIber Party of Malaysia. And if they don't, well, Walski wouldn't have any other choice, but to form a new party - let's call it It's MY Party (IMP for short, and Walski will rant if he wants to, rant if he wants to...).

The "MY" in IMP, of course, refers to Malaysia, and not some petty, selfish, possessional symbolism - Walski thinks that we've had more than our fair share of petty, selfish self-interest in politics lately, haven't we?
(the Walski/IMP Manifesto, and more, in the full post)

Mind you, this hasn't really been thought out thoroughly, and therefore, you'll find that there may be a few gaps here and there. So, in a big nutshell, here is the Walski Manifesto, or sometimes known as the It's MY Party Manifesto. It's still a little scatter-brained, but hey - what do you expect from a manifesto that took 3 manhours to write?

The Walski / It's MY Party Manifesto

Undilah IMP!

Preamble
In the last 50 years of nationhood, Malaysia has come a long way en route to becoming what we have become today - which, by and large, we can proudly say is a successful country. But somewhere along the way, minor detours have been taken, perhaps out of necessity of the times. And although these detours still bring us close to the main path, if left uncorrected may lead us back into the wilderness, without us realizing it, until we are totally lost - up shit creek without a paddle, sitting snugly in a leaky boat.

Restoration of Fundemental Freedoms and Liberties
The first, foremost and most critical must-do is to restore the fundemental freedoms guaranteed to us in the Malaysian Federal Constitution. These include freedom of belief (or unbelief), freedom of speech and a free, unincumbered press, freedom of association, freedom of peaceful assembly, and more importantly, freedom of thought. All materials, previously deemed to be unsuitable for public consumption - books, in particular - shall have the ban on them lifted with immediate effect. You cannot have freedom of thought without freedom to develop thought. The age of adulthood shall be deemed to be 18 years of age, and with that age shall come the privileges and liabilities of being an adult. All citizens, upon reaching the age of 18 shall automatically be eligible to vote. There are, of course, other fundemental freedoms, but Walski can't remember them all. Oh, and the fundemental freedom to listen to the music of ones liking. If a particular form of music is deemed by some to be unsavory, the simple rule of thumb shall be - don't listen to it. Unless empirically proven to be detrimental to public order, no music of any form shall be banned. Same applies to books and other reading/viewing materials, be they paper or electronically based.

Rules of Citizenship
Any person born of one or more Malaysian parent, shall be deemed to be a Malaysian citizen. Any person born where both parents are legally-resident non-Malaysians at the time of birth, shall be deemed to be Malaysian citizens-in-waiting - such persons, upon reaching the age of 18 may choose to remain a Malaysian citizen, or relinquish that privilege and choose the citizenship of their parent(s). In the eyes of Walski, all citizens shall be equal and be equally treated under the rule of law. One key element towards the success of a nation is a vibrant and dynamic gene pool - these new rules of citizenship shall ensure this. Walski is all for diversity... racial purity and all that associated crap is so last century.

Basis of Government
The basis of Walski's government shall almost be the same as the incumbent government - a Parliamentary Democracy. There shall be distinct and definite separation of powers between the three (3) arms of government - the Executive (that's Walski and his crew), the Judiciary, and the Legislative (i.e. Parliament). No arm of government shall have undue influence or power over any other arm. Any watchdog agency, should they be instituted, shall report directly to Parliament. The Judiciary may be nominated from qualified individuals, by any one of the following: the Executive, the Bar Council, the Judiciary itself or through public referendum - HOWEVER, the nomination shall be vetted by Parliament, in case of federal judges, or the respective State Assemblies, in the case of state level judges. Once appointed to the Judiciary, individuals may serve indefinitely, barring any breach of conduct or upon such a time the individual is deemed no longer fit to serve (for health or other reasons). The Head of the Executive (which currently would be Walski), and his/her Deputy, shall serve for no more than two (2) consecutive terms. The election of the Executive Head shall be through independent elections, although they may run concurrently with the Legislative elections (State and/or National). The successful Head/Deputy team must secure a minimum of 60% of the popular vote to be deemed to have been "elected". The number of Ministries shall be determined on a need basis, but shall not exceed 20 in number. The nomination of ministers shall come from elected Parliament representatives, at the discretion of the Head/Deputy of the Executive - HOWEVER, there shall be a 3-month probationary period, after which, their performance shall be reviewed by Parliament. As long as a minister performs, there shall be no specific time limit to their tenure. Parliament shall consist of two houses, as it does today. The Upper House composition, however, shall reflect the political affiliation composition of the Lower House as far as is practicable. Individuals in the Upper House may serve on the same basis as the judiciary, i.e. indefinitely barring death, debilitating sickness or misconduct. Elected representatives in the Lower House may stay there as long as they remain legally elected.

Civil Service
Civil Service is the constant machinery that actually moves the wheels of Government, as it does today. However, efficiency, sincerity and performance shall be the criteria upon which the Civil Service shall be governed. The head of the Civil Service shall report directly to Parliament, dotted line to Walski (as long as he's the Head Honcho). Guaranteed employment for life in Civil Service shall no longer be practiced, although members of the Civil Service shall be entitled to a pension, the quantum of which shall be pro-rated to the number of years served, up to a maximum of 60% of the last drawn salary. A minimum of 20 years service shall be mandated to qualify for a pension. The minimum retirement age shall be set at 65 years of age, beyond which an individual may be retained, based on their usefulness to the Civil Service - as long as an individual can remain a productive and effective member of the Civil Service, there shall be no cap to the age one may serve.

Separation of Religion and State
No one single religion shall have undue influence over the policies of Government, although universal moral values (such as integrity, honesty and forthrightness) shall be instilled and promoted. Corruption and Nepotism shall not be tolerated at any level of Government. The primary function of Government is to regulate and advance Malaysia, for the good of ALL MALAYSIANS and not to benefit a select few based on religious or political affiliation. All religious activities shall be entitled to Government funding, derived from taxation and other Government revenues. Each religious entity, however, may supplement this funding through other legal means (such as through tithes). An Interfaith Commission shall be elected by Parliament, and shall be the channel of redress. All forced conversion from one religion to another shall be deemed illegal, and any conversion shall be evidenced by a statutory declaration by an individual aged 18 years or older. Any individual below 18 years of age shall follow the religion of his/her parent or legal guardian. In cases of dispute of guardianship, the Judiciary shall have the final say. A parallel legal system for specific religions shall be allowed following the existing ground rules - HOWEVER, no individual may be forced to abide to a given religious court based on their professed faith - Judicial supremacy shall remain as stipulated in the Federal Constitution. Religion has proven to be more a source of divisiveness, rather than unity - religion catering only to one segment of the population even more divisive. The relationship between an individual and God is a personal one, and has no place in formulating policies and actions pertaining to how a nation should be run, especially if it is based on one religion, and one religion alone. Not in Malaysia, at least. We are as non-homogeneous as you can probably find - let's capitalize on the potential strength that our diversity offers, and not use it to the detriment of our nation, using religion as an excuse.

Taxation and Government Services
Tax rates on individuals shall be reviewed and announced at a later date. Similarly, corporate taxation shall be reviewed, with the aim of providing better funding for social services. One of the most important, basic health care, shall be provided for all Malaysian citizens. The mechanism for funding this shall be through a mandatory salary deduction going towards a national health care insurance policy, which shall be serviced by a consortium of assurance companies. Private health care facilities, however, shall be allowed to operate, on a basis similar to how they operate today. Basic education shall be made mandatory for all Malaysians, up to the age of 17, covering K5 (one year of Kindergarten, at age 5), Primary 1 - 6, Secondary 1 - 5. Medium of instruction shall be in English, with it being mandatory for all students to study Bahasa Malaysia and one other non-Mother Tongue language (Chinese, Tamil, Japanese, French, German, Arabic, Russian, or other UN-recognized major language). Civic education shall be vigorously re-introduced, but not as an exam subject (which is utterly silly), and shall be based on universal concepts of civil behavior and respect for one another. The entire school curriculum (including tertiary education) shall be revamped to suit the changing needs of today's world - it's no longer enough to suit the needs of a Malaysia-based economy alone. IT literacy shall play a prominent role in the New Malaysia Education System, and Walski promises that in 10 years time, textbooks as we know them today shall be history. No more lugging entire libraries of paper-based textbooks and workbooks back and forth to school.

Policy of Equal Opportunity
The current structure of the NEP shall be revamped to meet the real needs of the needy, irrespective of race, religion or music taste. The hardcore poor and needy come in many shades of skintone, and no one ethnic group will any longer be allowed to lay claim to be exclusively in need of assistance based on their imagined "birthright". The only birthright under Walski's rule is the one of being a MALAYSIAN - see Rules of Citizenship above if you're not clear on this concept. And the aim is to make every Malaysian prosper. Politicking along racial lines, in due course, shall also be something we'll only read about in books, in time to come.

Environmental Policy
The environment and it's sustainability will be of prime importance. Existing anti-pollution laws shall be made more stringent, and for a change, REAL action shall be taken against those who conduct their business in ways that are of detriment to the environment. While it will still be necessary to build houses, roads and highways, these shall be built in such a way that causes as little impact to the surrounding environment as possible, and new building codes shall be introduced to be in harmony with nature, and not to build at nature's expense. Viable and attractive public transportation policies shall also be instituted, with environmental protection and sustainability in mind. Yes, private vehicle ownership shall still be allowed, but if all things go as planned, vehicle ownership will no longer be a necessity, as it is today. All major towns in Malaysia shall be linked via electric, dual-tracked rail, with train services running at first-world frequencies and service levels. City and suburban public transportation shall be developed to meet the real needs of population centers, and priorities shall be reviewed every five years. Clean fuel statutory requirements shall also be instituted, including an environment tax instituted, replacing the current road tax system. Recycling shall be made mandatory, and in the initial stages, income tax rebates may be considered to promote the practice of conservation and recycling what you can recycle. As Malaysia is blessed with rain, practical measures will be taken to enable better catchment of rain water - one of these measures will NOT be SMART Tunnel like initiatives. Indiscriminate tree felling shall be made an offense - 20 hours community service for every tree felled, multiplied by how old the tree is, AND replanting, at the offender's own cost, said tree(s). Two-stroke engine vehicles shall be phased out gradually, in tandem with the improvement of public transport, with the aim of eradicating them altogether within 10 years.

Security, Law and Order
All Malaysians, bar none, want to feel safe - to be able to walk freely, anywhere, without the threat of harm looming over their soft, squishy heads. Towards this end, the law must apply equally to all and sundry. The aim here is harm reduction, and not punitive punishment. Every wisp of smoke emanates from a fire somewhere, and the real aim of law and order is to find out the cause of the fire, and ensure that another blaze of a similar cause doesn't occur in the future. Why is there crime? What drives someone to pummel someone else over the head to steal their Happy Meal - or wallet? It is very obvious that the punitive approach to crime prevention is no longer effective - it's time to adopt a more root-cause approach. Jailing and caning someone who commits petty theft because he/she didn't have enough food to eat is totally missing the point, in Walski's view. To itemize every single possible solution in this manifesto is not necessary at this juncture - but the approach here is to build an environment to live in that makes everybody happy and well-fed. And if that requires decriminalization of certain things, replaced with strict regulation, so be it. And, of course, eliminating the root cause.

Restoration of the 1957 Federal Constitution
Sometimes, to fix something that's gotten totally out of hand, you need to start from scratch. Malaysia, on the other hand, is fortunate that we do have a good starting point - the original Constitution. This shall be restored, for a minimum of 10 years, during which time careful studies may be made on which sections to tweak. The aim of tweaking, is of course, to make Malaysia a progressive and liberal nation. The last thing that any citizen of Malaysia wants is for the country to regress, ultimately becoming a failed state - this Walski is quite sure of.

~ ~ ~ o o o ~ ~ ~

So there, the first draft of Walski's manifesto, thought up in just over 3 hours. So, don't expect all the answers. What's important is that Walski thinks he has given the nation a starting point and basis to set all the wrongs right again. In 3 hours. Given more time, Walski could probably think up more details and implementation plans.

What the fuck have our leadership, politicians and politician wannabes done their entiry sorry careers? Oh, wait... yeah... politicking. What else....

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

Goofy French Threesome Scandal

Technorati tags: Political Suicide, Humor, Politics, Stupidity, Tian Chua, Altantuya

Update @ 0804 hrs: More bloggers lament Tian Chua's faux pas (at the end of the post)

Walski truly doesn't understand what the fuck Tian Chua had in mind when he posted this picture. And if the intention was to get publicity from the press, it sure didn't amount to squat (even Malaysiakini didn't make a mention).

Only an idiotic imbecile would actually think this picture is real
(click on image to view source)

Even if you didn't have Kickdefella's exposé, one glance at the picture and you'd know immediately that it is fake. And Tian Chua should've had the decency to at least mention somewhere in the post that the picture was a simulation.

It's about as real as the Siti Nurhaliza nude pictures that used to float around the Internet a while back.

Walski would've done it totally different. What he would have done would've been to make into satire instead.

And then implicate Goofy. Everyone knows, once you get Goofy involved, the most tense of situations immediately become comedic. Without any effort, almost.
(the Goofy scandal pix, and more, in the full post)

The real thing... Disney 3some scandal of the century!!
(image sources at the end of the post)

And of course, you leave it to the imagination of the reader/viewer why Goofy was chosen to be the character in the middle. Roll-on-the-floor laughter usually follows. Especially if the three had really gotten it on. Heh... now try to get that mental image out of your mind in a hurry.

But noooo... Tian Chua, Malaysia's Numero Uno Political Martyr (according to Walski's buddy KTemoc), decided to make it a serious post. And in the process, chip away at whatever little credibility he has left as a politician. Sad, sad, sad...

You know, as much as Walski does think, by and large, that BN has evolved into a bunch of blithering idiots, this unfunny stunt by Tian Chua goes to prove that the available alternative isn't any better. It's like Malaysia is totally, unanimously and thoroughly FUCKED when it comes to what Walski can expect for the future, at least from a political standpoint.

Makes Siber Party of Malaysia (SIPM) actually almost look like a more viable alternative.

At least they're intelligent. And more importantly, funny.

Other blogs that have posted on this:
- Kickdefella
- Magpie
- Malaysia Today
- O.B.E.
- Rocky's Bru
Update @ 0804 hrs:
- Bobjots
- Jebat
- Keadilan Gombak
- KTemoc Konsiders
- Universally Positive, Radical Scope
- Where's My Noose?
... and probably many more...

Photo credit phoote note: Apart from the base picture, whose source is already given above, the Mickey and Minnie heads were taken from Magical Day, and the Goofy head from Julian Hsu's blog.

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

Offbeat Travelogue: Which part of AISLE SEAT don't you understand?

Technorati tags: Offbeat Travelogue, English, Manglish, KLIA

This post comes to you from Miri, East Malaysia's premier Oil Town. Yeah, Walski's travelling again. Miri, sometime last year, was accorded city status, and is called The Resort City. Walski's renamed it The Last Resort City... naah... Miri's okay in Walski's book. Pretty quiet compared to the bustle of KL. It's just that coming here so often for work and all, it's probably second last on Walski's list of to-go vacationing spots... last place being Kerteh, Terengganu.

In any case, at KLIA earlier today, when Walski checked in, he specifically told the person behind the counter that he wanted an aisle seat. In most normal people's English vocabulary, this typically means the seat that's adjacent to the aisle. In the case of the MAS Boeing 737-400, it's usually seats C or D.

Boeing 737 Series 400 seat plan on MAS

Well, Walski didn't bother to check the boarding pass (until much later), 'cause usually they'll either give the seat you want to you, or in the case of a very full flight and bad luck (or late check in) they'll apologize and say that the aisle seat isn't available.

Walski prefers the aisle seat 'cause it's easier to get up and go to the bathroom, without having to climb over the neighboring passengers. It's just one of those Walski idiosyncracies...

So, having gotten his boarding pass, Walski happily walks away, making trails to the departure area while stopping along the way to buy a couple of books. Incidentally, if you're ever at KLIA, flying domestic, just after the escalators down from the security checkpoint is a small bookshop, and currently they're offering 15% off on purchases of two books or more.

Walski gets to his designated gate, and finally looks at his boarding pass... and guess what?
(the check-in guy's idea of "aisle", and more, in the full post)

Boarding pass for the "aisle" seat Walski did not actually want...

The guy who checked Walski in put him in seat 17B instead! By any stretch of the imagination, a seat that's snuggled between two other seats DOES NOT QUALIFY as an aisle seat. On this planet at least...

Now fortunately, Miri is only about a two-hour flight. Exactly which part of AISLE SEAT did the guy not understand?? Pffft! What probably disappointed Walski most was that the guy didn't even bother to mention that there weren't any aisle seats available (assuming that was the case). Walski's not that fussy, but he at least expects some courtesy to be told that the seat he wants isn't available...

So, anyways, while waiting at the departure lounge, about 5 minutes before boarding, this announcement comes over the PA:

Ladies and gensmen [which is how 'gentlemen' is usually pronounced], we regret to inform you that the flight has been rescheduled to 1:45pm, due to technical

End of announcement...

Eh? Technical WHAT? Technical foul, technical idiocy, technical language error, technical crawled up my ass and strangled my vocal chords.... WHAT? What the fuck is "due to technical" supposed to mean?

Side note to MAS: you probably want to make sure your ground staff attend Basic Remedial English classes... Being visit Malaysia Year 2007 and all that, it would probably save the country from more embarassment it probably doesn't need...

Yes, kiddies, Manglish is very much alive and well in Malaysia... and KLIA is a great place to witness it in action!

So all was not lost... a small comedic moment to compensate for the 30 minute delay... which really isn't all that bad, considering some of the other horror-story flight delays Walski's experienced, including one that caused Walski to have to take the ferry (bumpity bumpity bump) from Kota Kinabalu to Labuan...

But that, boys and girls, is another story for another day...

Walski's totally unrelated book purchase footnote: Just in case you were wondering, the two books Walski bought were "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins, and "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian" by Marina Lewycka. Both good reads, Walski's been told...

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