a view from blogosphere
The legendary Beatles singing ‘Hello Goodbye’.
It’s that time of the year when we bid farewell to the current year and welcome the impending one, in a manner that is akin to closing an old chapter and opening a new one.
May the New Year bring happiness, peace and sanity to all of us.
Certain politicians of the Pakatan Rakyat may want to take heed of the advice given by PKR deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali, i.e. ‘to stop airing their differences in the media’.
For washing dirty linen in public can predictably serve as a useful ideological ‘ammunition’ for certain quarters particularly in light of the impending Kuala Terengganu by-election.
In this regard, Dr Syed Husin might also have been mindful of the BN-controlled MSM and their reportorial inclination especially in times like this.
Additionally, Pakatan leaders may want to get their act together lest they’d be perceived, rightly or wrongly, as facing ’serious rift’, if not irreconcilable difference, in the political alliance.
(Photo credit: akob73.blogspot.com/2008/12/maal-hijrah-1430-…)
Wishing fellow Muslims Salam Ma’al Hijrah 1430 H.
That is, if you’re PKR parliamentarian N. Gobalakrishnan who’d been denied an entry into Sarawak, a state that is very much part of the Malaysian Federation.
To be sure, MP Gobalakrishnan is a legitimate Malaysian opposition politician elected by the voters concerned, and has the democratic right to freely travel to any part of the country.
The late Frank Zappa, who played ’Persona Non Grata’, would’ve been confounded by this political incident.
Yes, there are still people who wonder why demonstrations are staged by Malaysians.
To be sure, street demonstrations are very much part and parcel of democracy because these activities provide the platform for people to exercise their right to express their sentiments peacefully for public consumption.
This democratic space is especially vital in a social context where access to the mainstream media is difficult for certain groups of people to put forward their arguments to the powers-that-be and to share these sentiments with the general public. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean that demonstrations are not kosher if and when the mainstream media are easily accessible.
In a democracy, you get demonstrations not only staged by groups who are opposed to the government because of certain policies or actions of the latter, but also groups who are supportive of the government.
That’s why, for instance, you had the Bersih or Hindraf demonstration as well as the recent MCA Youth street protest.
As to whether such demonstrations would give a negative image of the country, one should critically ask the question whether it is the image of the country that is affected, or indeed that of the government of the day? Here it is crucial that the distinction between country and government should not be wittingly or unwittingly blurred.
Continue reading ‘Why are there Malaysians still asking why people stage demonstrations?’
(Photo credit: www.mehtanirav.com/…/12/merry_christmas-1.jpg)
Wishing visitors to this blog and friends of the Christian faith: Merry Christmas.
The Perak state government is back in the limelight again, but perhaps for yet another wrong reason.
It’s about its widely publicised desire to buy a fleet of new imported cars to replace the old Proton Perdanas. Perak senior executive councillor Ngeh Koo Ham declared that the state leadership preferred Toyota Camry 2.4V to the relatively cheaper Camry 2.0E because the state leaders would need to do a lot of travels, and travel fast!
For one thing, it would be quite insensitive of the state Exco to buy the more expensive version of the Camry especially at a time when the economy is slowing down, money is tight and some workers are getting retrenched. Not that it makes good sense to buy the expensive Camry at a time when the economy does well.
Secondly, how often do the state leaders have to rush and drive fast? Besides, surely the Camry 2.0E, if at all there is a need to buy this expensive make, would be good and strong enough to transport them from point A to point B without much difficulty?
The state Exco may want to go slow on this car purchase plan given its ramifications.
Here’s an extract of that Bernama story:
IPOH, Dec 23 (Bernama) — After much questioning by many parties, Perak senior executive councillor Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham finally explained why the state government chose the Toyota Camry 2.4V and not the cheaper entry-level Toyota Camry 2.0E as the new official car to replace their fleet of Perdana V6 Executive.
He said the Toyota Camry 2.4V was chosen because state executive councillors (excos) and senior officers needed a powerful car to use for their official business.
“Some feel that the 2.0 litre model is underpowered and some think that it is good enough, but for us who have do all the travelling and sometimes need to rush, the 2.4 litre model is more reasonable,” he told reporters here today.
The Toyota Camry 2.0E is priced at RM141,109 while the Toyota Camry 2.4V which is RM167,000.
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) deputy director general Kamarul Zaman Shaharuddin laments the tendency of many Malaysians to read romantic and entertaining reading materials as opposed to academic and other ’serious’ writings.
Perhaps this is not too sad a situation for those who prefer to see the reading public being ‘protected’ from many of the ‘critical’ materials, especially those that had been banned by the authorities for reasons of ’security’, ‘interethnic harmony’ etc. Or at the very least, these banned stuff are said to have the potential to ‘confuse’ the somewhat impressionable public.
Here’s an extract of the Bernama report:
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 (Bernama) — Love stories and entertainment magazines remain a favourite read among the public compared with academic books, says Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) deputy director general Kamarul Zaman Shaharuddin.
He added that entertainment magazines and books featuring love stories are always prominently displayed on the shelves of book shops and enjoy very good sales.
“It is really sad to see our community showing a great deal of interest in such books compared with books that can provide vital information and knowledge in building a learned society,” said Kamarul after attending the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) and DBP here today.
Kamarul added that books published in Malay had a very high commercial value as 300 million people speak Bahasa Melayu throughout the world.
It appears that Reformis leader Ramlan Abu Bakar, who has the penchant for naked truth, was caught off guard when his Exco sacked him from the group.
The Star reports that Ramlan was sacked for alleged misdeeds.
This means that his plan to show it all to Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim had to be dropped.
Continue reading ‘Reformis head’s plan to expose becomes unbare-able’
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