Malaysiaku, Negaraku

 

  Former Selangor MB, Azmin Ali chided his progeny, Amirudin Shari, whom he had appointed to be Menteri Besar of Selangor.          And Amirudin fired back a salvo claiming that Selangor had, in fact, deteriorated since Azmin's era.           To me, both characters did a lousy job as Menteri Besar of Selangor which has left the state the way it is today, "Negeri Selangor, Darul Sampah."  Lip Service          Even when the problems on the ground were highlighted to Amirudin, he paid no attention to the complaints on the ground, but in Selangorkini, he claimed that PH has done a great job in Selangor.            The contribution that Selangor made to the country's Gross Domestic Product, Amirudin said, has increased from 23.2 percent in 2017 to 24.8 percent in 2021. This is hardly anything to shout about, considering that the percentage contribution takes into acco...

          There is so much we can learn from the history of ancient civilisations. This is because the human heart is deceitful above all things, and nothing has changed in the way we do things, even though we are now living in post-modern times.          After reading a few posts, a friend wrote to me, " Wow… history repeating itself in our own country" when he read what was said about the Qing Dynasty by Qizhi Chang: An Introduction to to Chinese History and Culture . New York, NY: Springer Heidelberg, 2015.           " The eventual collapse of the Qing Dynasty is, however, not because it did not have a good system of government. Other factors contributed to its decline. While Renzong (emperor) was against corruption, he was surrounded by the elitist group who had made up of both central and local officials. They helped to safeguard the emperor’s power base, but at the same time, these elites were bot...

            Many of us will still vote for Pakatan Harapan (PH) because there are no better choices around.            Even though I treat Siti Kassim as a friend, the fact that she is an Independent means, I would not vote for her.           This is because we need every single vote for an alternative coalition to form the next government. We have had enough of leaders like Najib Abdul Razak (and his wife, Rosmah Mansor) and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. It will be a very long list if I were to go on.  Strong Message          Therefore, let me send a strong message to leaders in PH. They ought to learn to be humble and serve the rakyat the moment they form the next government.           Snubbing some of them does not mean that I would not cast my votes for PH. I vote because of PH, not because of these individual politicians themselves....

            While I agree that fresh faces have to be injected into the political landscape in Malaysia, instead of the tainted politicians, it is not always the best decision.           Allow me to elaborate. As I was doing my assignment in partial fulfilment of the requirement for my doctoral degree, I had to read up about the Ancient Chinese history. There are many lessons one can learn from 2,500 of Chinese history.  Bad Advisors           The collapse of the Sui Dynasty was attributed to the “deceit practiced on each other by both high and low officials, the emperor’s own arrogance and complacency, the fawning attitude of his advisers and their failure, in terms of loyalty, to criticize the emperor’s mistakes.” (p50)          Subsequently, the Tang Dynasty attempted to keep the balance between the  scholars (Ru) and the non-scholars (Li).  The ...

  DAP Penang was supposed to have its state election alongside with the general election, although the initial decision made by Pakatan Harapan was to hold its state election at the end of the full term.          This, by right, should be the case which is why everyone was telling Ismail Sabri Yaakob not to hold the general election during the monsoon season.           But then, Penang state government was right that if the state election is not held simultaneously, it may not be able to attract big voters' turnout.          It is good for DAP to allow voices of dissent, instead of chastising the state DAP for proposing something contrary to the earlier decision. After all, there is no right or wrong answer. Either way, you cannot predict voters' sentiment six or eight months from now.           Whatever it is, I agree with the Harapan's decision to maintain its earlier no ...

  Mariam Mokhar's articles I have been following for a long time now.           Here is a very good article by Mariam, who writes as the general of the Green Bean army, whatever that means to anyone! Anyway, Mariam, I can't even recall what you call your army because that's not important to me.          But, the country needs to see a change that we all have yearned for. We continue to be plagued by all sorts of politicians - from frogs to toads, buaya and the sharks, the hypocrites and the Judases.          The question is not how the Chinese or the Indians vote. BN knows well that the Chinese and Indians are not important. We have our fair share of bad MPs and State Assemblymen,   yet we all know which coalition to vote although we will snub the underperforming or snobbish politicians.           The important question is how the Malays and the East Malaysians ...

  Nampaknya Perdana Menteri Ismail Sabri Yaakob langsung tidak mendengar kesengsaraan rakyat Marhaen walaupun Yang DiPertuan Agong tidak setuju dengan Pilihanraya Umum ke15 dalam musim tengkujuh.          Keadaan ekonomi sudahpun semakin merosot dengan matawang ringgit Malaysia jatuh ke tahap paling rendah walaupun dalam keadaan politik yang stabil sewaktu Ismail Sabri menjadi perdana menteri. Ismail Sabri pun mendapat sokongan daripada mereka yang dari Pakatan Harapan, tetapi, kenapa tiba-tiba Ismail Sabry berpadah dan memberi tekanan kepada YDP Agong untuk membubarkan parlimen?          Siapa sebenarnya Perdana Menteri Malaysia? Adakah pembubaran parlimen ini hanya semata-mata untuk menyelamatkan mereka yang dalam golongan mahkamah (atau dipanggil 'Court Cluster.')           Mungkin Umno belum sedar lagi betapa kuat laungan orang Marhaen.           Entahlah! 

I repeat her statement:  "Not all who enter politics hv altruistic values. The earlier ones  sacrificed a lot but the newer ones be they old or young have sights on the perks. Not to help rakyat or to change or better the system . Most ahli majlis act as if they are employees of local councils. Some collude with the staff to gain for themselves. Sad."            I received this Whatsapp post from a state assemblyman whom, in my opinion, became a politician because she wanted to serve the nation.           Coming from an older generation, he understands the meaning of ALTRUISM, but it is unfortunate that a number of young people appointed by Damansara MP, Tony Pua, for example, are pretty looking lasses and slightly good looking guys, but when it comes to serving the people, they fail miserably.          The older ones think of the perks that come along with the positions. Service is ...

           General Election soon?           I get a lot of phone calls and messages from people who want to know whether the general election will be on soon following an article, "PM will make an important announcement."           I choose not to answer a lot of these questions which to me, is just a waste of time. If the general election is on, it is on. If it is next year, let it be.          Now, I am no prophet or fortune teller to predict when the general election is on. Let me show you how to read in between the lines.          (1) PM will make an important announcement? What does this mean, but something very important. Well it can be both ways: (a) Agong has not consented to a general election. The decision is final (b) Agong has consented to a general election which will be held on (DATE).           (2) A...

  The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is concerned by what he learned during this morning’s briefing on the year-end floods, according to a source who was in the room. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the government insider said Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah was briefed about the Northeast Monsoon season, which is expected to start next month and last until next March. --- Malaysiakini  Comment: I may be wrong, but it is obvious to me that the Yang DiPertuan Agong would not agree to have the general election before February 2023.         A common thing that even politicians would do is to send out signals to see how the public respond.            These small signals are meant to pre-empt the people that there would not be a general election this year, as "announced" by Umno's secretary-general, Ahmad Mazlan earlier.          In a news report in Malay Mail today, a disgraced Ahmad Mazlan is ...