Why can't they count?

It's been almost 6 long months since I last blogged ... i.e. about the length of time since the historical political tsunami that befell Malaysian politics. Yet, what have been done since then? Nothing much really to improve our lot in life except to create further disillusionment.

Truly, it's been a political circus (or perhaps I should say disaster) with every trick in the book thrown in for good measure. We've been deluged with plenty of sandiwara; witless, thoughtless, vindictive remarks/comments; irrational decisions; irresponsible actions; the list goes on. Does one think the rakyat believes anymore? Oh puhlease ... do not insult our intelligence. Like the fabled 'shepherd that cried wolf', there has just been one too many of these.

And while the politicians bicker and struggle for power, the economy is slowly but surely heading southwards. FDIs are pulling (or have pulled) out of the country, the US banking & finance industry looks like it's heading for disaster (which of course would eventually affect our economy if not sooner), the quantum hike in fuel prices has bitten into the pockets of the every day man, the Ringgit is weakening against major currencies, the stock market is spiraling downwards and we're moving many steps towards the precipice of an economic downturn.

Who is really paying attention to the country's economy and the rakyat's future?

The funny thing is while the politicians 'fight' for how many % rights belong to the different races, they have forgotten the fundamental rule of mathematics. 100% of zero is still zero; whilst even 10% of RM1 mil would yield RM100k. The focus should be in making the pie bigger so that everyone can share the pie; not in arguing about whose slice of the pie is bigger ~ and to do that, they have to clean up their act and keep their eyeballs on the economy. Bring in the "smarts" who knows what is what about economics and economic policies ~ not those who act first (implement fuel increases) and think later (only to realise they have forgotten the repercussions and scramble to come up with alternative policies for businesses).

There is no better time than NOW for the government to act and vindicate themselves. To do that, it would mean that they would have to work with the opposition states to bring up the country's economy so that all could share the wealth.

But wait, perhaps they have miscalculated ... or perhaps I am giving them more credit than is deserved.

After all, if you can't count and you refuse to learn to count, the only way to go is to continue being the fabled shepherd.

Britain's Got Talent

Something smart or something frivolous?

Looking at the hour, I'll blog about something frivolous.

If you have had too much of American reality shows lately, check out "Britain's Got Talent". Unfortunately I don't think this has reached our shores yet. I found it on youtube and it's fabulous. :)

"Britain's Got Talent" is the creation of .... (drum rolls) ... yup! no other than American Idol's Simon Cowell. He is one of the judges in this show and is equally nasty. It's a British reality show in search of the next best amateur talent act ... which is NOT limited to singing only.

The winner will receive 100k British pounds and get to perform for the Queen and the Royal Family at the Royal Variety Performance.

Now on to the interesting bits. I managed to "dig" out 3 interesting videos from youtube. Watch Simon's expression in all 3 videos!



I have been watching this video a few times and it has not failed to make me laugh every single time. Hope you enjoy it. Did you catch the judges' facial expressions? At first Simon looked real bored ... but then he perked up ... and laughed! That's incredible. I don't think I've seen him caught by surprise like that! Check out the other judge's reaction and the audiences as well.




This is another good one. Even I was taken by surprise. Without divulging much, check this video out! Again check out Simon's expression. Total disinterest at first and then ... Russel Watson's gonna get a run for his money!




This is a winner. Imagine a 6 year old singing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" acapella. Listen to Simon's remarks.

Yup! Britain's sure got talent!

Dr. Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

Here's the latest update.

Below is the 10 minute version.




And here's the long 76 minute version.



----------------------------------------

Let's take a moment away from the Malaysian political scene and watch this video. It will only take 10 minutes of your time but I assure you it's worth it.

It speaks of realising your childhood dreams and quote, "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want."

A Three-Ring Circus in Perak

I started naming this blog "'Dallas' in the Silver State", especially with the amount of drama in the last few days worthy of a popular soap opera. Then thought better of it. Perhaps "Too many cooks spoil the broth" is more apt. Then again, "The clowns are in Town" has a nice ring to it. Though this is no clowning matter, the whole fiasco is fast turning into a huge joke. After all, I'd rather laugh than cry in frustration.

But I finally settled for "A Three-Ring Circus in Perak". For the uninitiated, a three-ring circus is an idiom that means "a lot of noisy or confused activity".

Really! That's what this is all about.

Frankly, after reading through several blogs today, I can only conclude that the Perak fiasco should not be solely laid upon DAP/Uncle Lim's shoulders. PAS and PKR too should share some responsibility.

Consider the summary of events below - parts of which are taken from RPK's blog "Yellow card for the opposition" and the remainder from the Malaysiakini article, "PKR threatens to pull out of Perak state admin":-

1. As the DAP-PKR-PAS coalition could not come to an agreement as to who should be the new MB of Perak, three names (representing each party) were submitted to the Sultan of Perak. The three parties agreed to abide by the decision of the Sultan of Perak.

2. But before the Sultan could decide, PAS jumped the gun and announced that the MB will be from PAS in the hope that the 'early announcement' would leave DAP and PKR no more room for negotiations.

3. Then DAP decided to oppose the new Perak MB by boycotting the swearing-in of the new MB.

4. After much censure from both the public and the bloggers alike (although my cousin, Chris, believed the entire boycott was a political ploy - more on this in another blog), DAP decided to lift the boycott.

5. However, before the rakyat could heave a sigh of relief, PKR threatened to pull out from the Perak state administration on hearing that eight of the 10 executive council posts will go to DAP while the remaining two will go to other parties. PKR claimed that this agreement was made between PAS and DAP.

Now if this is not a three-ring circus, what would you call it?

Getting their act together

No wonder the Regent of Perak refused to swear-in the new MB today and had asked the three parties to go back to the drawing board to find a workable solution. Meanwhile, you can bet your bottom dollar (or Ringgit in this case) that BN is happily sitting back and giving enough rope to the coalition to hang themselves. And that's what will happen if DAP, PKR and PAS do not get their act together.

However, before things go any further, I believe DAP have to decide internally to what extent the individual state branch/representative is at liberty to make decisions on behalf of the party during negotiations. Case in point is the agreement made by DAP State Chairman, Ngeh, with his counterparts in PAS and PKR to present the three names to the Sultan and to accept the Sultan's decision; whilst DAP CEC claimed that they were only in agreement to hand in the two names from DAP and PKR.

I have no idea what transpired in these close door meetings between DAP, PKR and PAS, but could only speculate based on my experience in negotiations in the corporate world. It is necessary for the person involved in these high powered negotiations to be empowered to make final decisions in the event that the original proposal hit a snag/ stalemate. This is especially crucial when time is of the essence. Perhaps Ngeh faced such a situation and had to renegotiate. If the DAP CEC could not decentralised the decision making, then they should send someone from the CEC who is empowered to negotiate.

At PAS end, due to its party structure of decentralised decision making, some ground rules need to be set by PAS central leadership. Too much leeway given to the state branch leadership could cause PAS its credibility in the eyes of the rakyat and its coalition partners. Case in point the above "early announcement" made by the Perak rep and the statement made by the PAS central leadership to give a Kedah exco seat to DAP but none was given by PAS Kedah branch when it came to the crunch.

A little faith goes a long way but obviously DAP, PKR and PAS have not reached that stage in their alliance. Case in point of PKR's threat to pull out of the Perak state administration upon hearing the decision on the division of seats of the state exco. Instead of talking to the press, engagement and talks should have been made between the three parties to clear the air. Airing dirty laundry in public is not going to endear the coalition to the rakyat. In fact, it provides BN with new ammunition to attack the coalition!

Preventing BN its two thirds majority is the easy part and is only the beginning. The drama in the last few days are minor skirmishes at best. The war has yet to be fought. Does the coalition possess enough faith, passion and staying power to last the entire war? Or do they want to be relegated back to the position of backbenchers?

I confess my hopes have started to wan. Please prove me wrong!

Uncle Lim's Myopia

my·o·pi·a (n.) (source: American Heritage Dictionary)
- Lack of discernment or long-range perspective in thinking or planning

Originally I was going to blog about the Perak Dilemma, but since I heard about DAP's intention to boycott the new Perak MB's (Perak PAS secretary Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin) swearing-in, my anger and frustration know no bounds.

Is this the decision of the DAP CEC or is this the decision of Uncle Lim himself? And if it was indeed the DAP CEC that mooted this ridiculous boycott, I would have expected Lim Kit Siang, in his capacity of advisor, to talk the DAP CEC out of such a move.

What in the world was Uncle Lim thinking?

Firstly, it was agreed by all three parties of the DAP-PKR-PAS coalition to abide by the decision of the Regent of Perak.

“All parties within the coalition have jointly agreed on the submission of the three names for his decision. We would like to impress upon the people that all three parties have unanimously agreed to fully endorse whichever candidate is chosen,” state DAP chief Ngeh Koo Ham said at the Perak DAP headquarters. Read here for more.

To boycott the swearing-in now would call into question DAP's sincerity and credibility in the coalition. It would also reflect upon the rakyat that DAP's words are as fickle as BN's.

Secondly, does it matter who is the MB of Perak? After all, as Ngeh pointed out in the same article:

"The post of Mentri Besar is just to lead the state government and state executive council. Whatever decisions to be made will be done in full consultation with all three parties."

And since DAP will have more people sitting on the state exco, what is there to fear?

Thirdly, all eyes are on Perak now for if the coalition prove to be a success in Perak, then there is hope for the other Malay states. The uniquesness of Perak, unlike Selangor or Penang or Kedah/Kelantan for that matter, is that there is a huge population of both rural Malays and rural-semi urban non-Malays.

Whilst both groups live in harmony and tolerance, their thoughts and ideologies are polls apart. It is for the coalition to prove to the non-Malays that they have nothing to fear over PAS and to prove to the Malay population that they too have nothing to fear over DAP. There is a larger objective at stake here than the rights/needs of individual parties.

Instead of boycotting the swearing-in, I would have expected DAP (together with PKR and PAS) to hold ceramahs for the non-Malay population to explain and ease their fears over the choice of the MB.

Finally, the non-Malays have so long fought for meritocracy, this is the time to put our money where our mouth is. In all the articles that I read, Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin has been singled out as the most qualified person to take over the Perak MB's seat. And if meritocracy is to rule the day, why should he be denied the Perak MB's seat just because he is a PAS member and not a DAP or PKR member?

I have utmost respect for the Sultan and the Regent of Perak. I believe that they would have taken the rakyat's best interest at heart when making this decision.

So please Uncle Lim and fellow DAP assemblymen, do not disappoint the rakyat. Do not destroy our hopes just when it has just taken flight.

Do you really want to pass the state government back to BN?
Do you really want to provide BN with ammunition to shoot down the coalition?
Do you really want to destroy your chance at fulfilling the rakyat's mandate?

Think before you act for the repercussions could be dire. It would not only impact the governance of the state of Perak, it would also impact the governance of the other coalition states. But beyond that, it would also impact the rakyat's confidence and trust in you. The RAKYAT ... that is made up of Chinese, Indians, Malays and others ... who voted against the BN and brought to power the coalition.

Uncle Lim and fellow DAP assemblymen, please see the bigger picture!

Malaysia has voted ...

What do you live for?

What do you die for?

What do you fight for?

What do you stand for?

These were difficult questions asked in the movie, Lions for Lambs. These were the same difficult questions Malaysians asked themselves at the dawn of Malaysia's 12th General Elections.

To quote a statement from the same movie:
If you don't stand for something, you might fall for anything!


Truer words have never been spoken.

And on 8th of March 2008,
Malaysia voted for
CHANGE!

Malaysia voted
to STAND
for SOMETHING!

I never thought I would live to see this day! And I have never been prouder nor happier to be a Malaysian.

Was it only days before that I sat with a group of friends at a mamak stall; lamenting at the state of affairs in the country. We argued and debated over the importance to exercise our right to vote. Many felt the futility in doing so. After all, what can stop BN from achieving two thirds majority? And even if it was only a message the rakyat wish to send by denying BN two thirds majority, what would really change? What could the opposition really do?

Many believe things would remain the same or even take a turn for the worse after the elections. After all, did the rakyat not give BN over 90% majority vote just 4 years ago and pin our hopes on a new leadership to initiate change? But where did that get us? More obvious corruption, higher crime rate, rising prices, and the overuse of the racial card to make the errant rakyat tow the line. So much for "a government of the people, by the people, for the people, ..." And through it all, the rakyat felt frustrated, impotent and angry.

Despite the negative sentiments among the rakyat, despite the overwhelming need to send a strong message of our dissatisfaction with the government through the election, not many believe that BN could be denied the two thirds majority. After all, when it comes to the crunch, "better the devil you know than the devil you don't."

But on that fateful 8th March night, the results trickled in. One by one, the parliamentary and state seats started falling to the opposition.

It was unbelievable!
It was unprecedented!
It was bloody scary!
Yet it was exhilarating!

Here we were watching and living through the moments that will go down the annals of Malaysian politics. And it was because of the RAKYAT ~ the RAKYAT that had voted with ONE voice; irrespective of race, colour and creed.

In the final analysis, it was not so much of the rakyat voting for the Opposition. Rather it was the rakyat voting against the ruling party.

Whilst BN scrambles to understand what went wrong, they need not look far for the answers (if indeed they really want to know at all instead of living in a state of denial). All they need do is check out views and sentiments from bloggers and/or armchair political analysts. A few of the interesting analysis/write-ups can be found at the following links:
* Making sense of the political tsunami
* MCA drowns in ocean of disgust
* Election 2008 - the morning after (2)
* The Rakyat has spoken

For BN: A MATTER OF TRUST

I have only one thing more to add to these. TRUST! It was all a matter of trust.

Contradictory statements were made to different language newspapers to address different ethnic groups. But the ruling party forgot that we are a multiracial society who speaks, understands and reads multi languages.

Say one thing but do another. "Cakap tak serupa bikin."

Threats on one day. Promises on another.

Read this: Vote for a voice in the Government, says Abdullah

"Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi reminded the Chinese community that if they gave the DAP their votes, they will end up not having any representation in the Government."

"He said if the Chinese did not have representation in the Cabinet, their requests would not be heard."

And read this: Malaysia PM: Lessons to be learned

"And despite having fewer ethnic Indian and Chinese representatives in government, Abdullah reiterated his 2004 election promise to be the 'PM for all Malaysians'."

Yeah. Singing the same old song from 2004. A PM for all Malaysians but yet could threaten one ethnic group that their requests would not be heard if there is no representation of that ethnic group in the Cabinet.

Can the rakyat be blamed then for our lack of trust? Like in any marriage, once trust is broken, it takes ages and a lot of effort to mend. That is a huge and daunting task that the ruling party need to undertake. Regain the rakyat's trust.

For the Opposition: A matter of delivering on their promises

The dust are beginning to settle and reality is sinking in. For the Opposition who has been voted into office, beyond the euphoria, the work has only just begun.

It is time to make good on their promises. It is a delicate balance to manage between the voices of three parties and the needs of the various ethnic groups. The learning curve will be high and fast.

I don't envy their position.

The ruling party will be watching. And they will be brutal. Probably as brutal as the Opposition were about them.

The rakyat is watching. And we will be critical because with the Opposition lies the hope of a nation looking for change. With the Oppostion lies the hope of a nation looking for a stronger alternative party/ voice to provide checks and balances.

And with this election lies my fervent hope that the rakyat will stay strong and will not be drawn into racial debates. It is my hope that the rakyat will continue to act as one voice.

Power to the People.

"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."

Good morning Malaysia! You fill me with hope.