Crazy Old Sea Captain

I am off to Langkawi tomorrow with my fellow committee members of Friends of Kelana Jaya Park for a bit of R&R and back to nature hikes. We are going by bus, having bought one-way tickets (single fare KL-Kuala Perlis: RM32.90) before the fuel price hike and we now wonder how much it will cost us for the return journey. Be back Friday.

Meanwhile, my friend Capt. Leibbrandt sent me this delightful piece:

There was this old sea captain who retired from the sea. He bought a little white house on top of a hill overlooking a small seaside village and lived there all alone. He converted the windows to portholes and the stairways to ladders, scraped the rust off everything and had it ship-shape in every way. Out in the yard he mounted a small cannon, which he fired off to sea every day at precisely noon. He associated with nobody except the lad who brought him groceries and other things from the village, and even then he mostly hauled the basket up to his window with a rope and pulley. He had a peg leg, of course, but didn't make much of it, since he wore good long canvas pants at all times.

He spent much of his time with his glass, looking out towards the horizon for passing ships, and sometimes studying the village, too. He got to know all the streets and shops, and even many of the people as they passed in and out: those who bought pork chops and those who bought lamb and what kind of hats and gloves they bought and where. One shop in particular was important to him, the shop of the watchmaker, who sold clocks and repaired them, and had a large clock hanging outside (a real one, showing the time, and hanging from two heavy chains) as his sign. It was by this clock that the sea-captain set his own watch, for in the days of which I tell, radio and television had not yet been invented.

So that while the villagers did not know the sea captain, he knew them, and one day he decided to go down and have a closer look. He went to the butcher, the shoemaker, the baker and the dry-goods store. Nobody knew him and he didn't tell. When he went to the watchmaker's he spent some time looking at the displays and asking some technical questions about the tools and such. Then he asked how the watchmaker set the time on his clocks, and the man said, "Well, there's this crazy old sea captain who lives up on that hill there, and every day exactly at noon he fires off this cannon. . . ! “

P.S.: My blogger friend Dalilah Tamrin a.k.a. Raden Galoh, a breast cancer survivor (and still fighting) who tells all in her popular blog "One Breast Bouncing", here, is one spunky lady. She will be featured next and will share her personal experiences in tomorrow's (Sunday) live interview on the RTM1 program "Blog" at 8.40 p.m. Don't miss it.

Bombshell

Beh Lih Yi reports in Malaysiakini late today, here, that well-known blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin has alleged via a statutory declaration signed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Wednesday that Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's wife Rosmah (photo) was at the scene with two other individuals when Mongolian beauty Altantuya Shaariibuu was murdered. (Read the statutory declaration, here. Read also fellow blogger Big Dog's take on this, here)

RPK was called in for police questioning early last month over an article titled ‘Let’s send the Altantuya murderers to hell’ in which he implicated Najib and Rosmah in the high-profile murder case. A close aide to Najib, political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda and two police special operations force personnel have been charged with the murder of the Mongolian national who was blown to bits with military explosives. All three have pleaded not guilty in an ongoing albeit slow moving trial and face the death sentence if found guilty.

This shocker, if indeed true, will certainly put a monkey wrench in the works to Najib's and Rosmah's ambitions. In his statutory declaration, RPK has also named the two other individuals as one acting colonel Aziz Buyong, who is described as ‘a C4 bomb expert’ and the latter’s wife, known only as Norhayati, who is also said to be Rosmah’s ADC. He further alleged that he has also been ‘reliably informed’ that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and "one of the (Malay) Rulers" know of Najib's wife alleged involvement.

Najib is now believed to be mulling action over this explosive allegation.

(Photo source: Malaysiakini)

The Ancient Mariner on RTM1

This is for those who missed the RTM1 program "Blog" on Sunday night - courtesy of Hisham, my youngest boy who had to painstakingly decode the video format. I was interviewed "live" by host Hasshim Abu Hanifah in the 20 minute program which I thought was a tad short for me.

I was the eighth blogger to be interviewed in the series. Complete video recordings of earlier programs featuring fellow bloggers Raja Petra Kamarudin, Datuk Kadir Jasin, Ahirudin Attan (Rocky), Nuraina Samad et al can be found in the Ministry of Information website, here.

Belt Tightening

How does one tighten a belt with no notches left?

Suddenly waking up to the economic reality facing millions of poor and working-class Malaysians, the main stream media are now full of “helpful” suggestions for those feeling the squeeze of rising costs of living and food prices. While we can make sacrifices and cut back on many "non-essentials', like roti telor minus the telor and char kuay tiau minus the extra see ham, how will this affect the very people in dire need of help: the farmer and the fisherman?

There are news reports that some poor parents have begun to substitute expensive infant formula with diluted condensed milk, rock sugar, coffee and tea to feed their growing toddlers and infants. Granted that there are many people worse off in poorer countries, but here in Malaysia?

Bloody depressing, if you ask me.

I believe the government has a lot more to do than just resort to dishing out rebates on road taxes etc. For the austerity drive to work, enforcement agencies must also be beefed up to prevent profiteering so that the rakyat do not have to suffer more. The recent announcement, here, that the the government will slash its expenditure to save RM2 billion is a good start but there must be absolute transparency and accountability on where the money will be spent.

Slashing ministers' holiday and entertainment allowances by a mere 10% is not enough. Najib's plea for the rakyat not to begrudge them this is rather lame considering the circumstances. Much more must be done since street protests fueled by hungry stomaches are what people power revolutions are made of.

Petrol is Cheap ... in India

Last week, India also saw steep hikes in fuel prices. Petrol in Mumbai now cost Rs 52 a litre, while diesel prices are up to Rs 36 a litre. (Rs 10 = MR 0.76)

My old friend Capt. Gian Singh Sehmi emailed me this:

I filled up my car's fuel tank, and I thought fuel has become really expensive after the recent price hike. But then I compared it with other common liquids and did some quick calculations, and I felt a little better. To know why, see the results below – you'll be surprised at how outrageous some other prices are ! !

Diesel (regular) in Mumbai : Rs.36.08 per litre

Petrol (speed) in Mumbai : Rs.52 per litre

Coca Cola 330 ml can : Rs.20 = Rs.61 per litre

Dettol antiseptic 100 ml Rs.20 = Rs.200 per litre

Radiator coolant 500 ml Rs.160 = Rs.320 per litre

Pantene conditioner 400 ml Rs.165 = Rs.413 per litre

Listerine 100 ml Rs.45 = Rs. 450 per litre

Red Bull 150 ml can : Rs.75 = Rs.500 per litre

Corex cough syrup 100 ml Rs.57 = Rs. 570 per litre

Evian water 500 ml Rs. 330 = Rs. 660 per litre
(Rs. 660 for a litre of WATER !! And the buyers don't even know the source. Also Evian spelled backwards is Naive!)

Cup of coffee at any decent business hotel = Rs. 500 per litre

Old Spice after shave lotion 100 ml Rs. 175 = Rs. 1750 per litre

Pure almond oil 25 ml Rs. 68 = Rs. 2720 per litre

And this is the REAL KICKER...

HP DeskJet colour ink cartridge 21 ml Rs.1900 = Rs. 90476 per litre!!!
(Now you know why computer printers are so cheap ? So they have you hooked for the ink !)

So, the next time you're at the pump, don't curse anyone – just be glad your car doesn't run on cough syrup, after shave, coffee, or God forbid, printer ink!

Back to Basics

The Star online yesterday reported, here, that deputy prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, who is now in London, has said that Malaysians must change their mindset and seek alternative sources of energy and not just rely on petrol. "They could consider electric cars," he said.

Electric cars? He must think that these would be cheap now and can almost run on love and fresh air. Typical of a blue-blood, I think, born with a silver spoon in his mouth unlike us peasants born with plastic spoons up our bloody arses.

Shades of Marie Antoinette here, old bean.

Najib has also said that the "government is willing to share the burden in facing price hikes along with the people". And all this while we thought that this has always been a "people's government". Sheeesh.

Perhaps a poor old retiree like me will have to resort to the above (photo) now, although there is a dearth of real donkeys in this country.

But we certainly have no shortage of them in the government.

Abolish toll and road tax?

The Star online today reports, here, that Selangor MCA is proposing to the Government to slash or abolish road tax and do away with tolls on roads in the state altogether, especially with Selangor having the most number of tolled roads in the country. State party chairman Datuk Ong Tee Keat said this would help ease the burden of the public as a result of the petrol and diesel price hikes.

This is good start. The first sensible thing I hear from the mouth of a BN leader thus far. We can then go on to abolish toll on all roads in the country and get the toll operators to bare all. Next we can get Petronas to account for the MR600 billion it has made through the years. The 10% cut in entertainment and holiday expenses for government ministers does really mean zilch to the rakyat who have to kiss goodbye to holidays and entertainment for his family now.

BTW, a little bird told me that Minister of Transport Ong, who was on a visit to the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) recently was aghast when told that his predecessor, who was rewarded with a Tan Sri-ship by the King a few days ago, had never even set foot in the place! Sheeesh.

Meanwhile, there is this SMS joke making the rounds:

My wife complains that I never take her to expensive places ... so last night I took her to a petrol station!

Double Whammy

Like everyone else, I am still reeling from the double whammy of the massive hike in fuel prices and yesterday's increase in electricity tariffs. I suppose all hell will now break loose with other major increases: price of food, transport fares, crime rates, etc.

And they want us to "change our lifestyles". Sheeesh. Have they ever stopped to think what will happen if many people leave their vehicles at home and go to work in buses and trains today? Or even bring home-cooked food for lunch?

This old sea dog who served many years for God, king and country and trying to survive on a pittance is now sufficiently pissed off to want to go shoot somebody.

Finally, to those of you who voted in this government: Go Eat Shit and Die.

(Poster courtesy Kyuzo Uehara. Domo arigato, m'dear)

Tony Yew on RTM1

My blogger friend Tony Yew was featured in a live interview by Datuk Chamil Wariya on the RTM1 program "Blog" on Sunday night. He gave a jolly good account of himself in particular and about bloggers in general and I must say I am rather proud of him.

Also check out Tony's blogs Can You see It, here and his Myblog-TV which we have jokingly dubbed as "Yew Tube", here.

Walk and Talk for Media Freedom

(Click to enlarge)

Make yourself free this Sunday. A Walk for Media Freedom is being organised by media activists, including Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), Writers Alliance for Media Indepdence (Wami), National Alliance of Bloggers (All Blogs), and BENAR, a cyber group for "free and fair media".

A Talk on Media Freedom will be hosted by the National Press Club (NPC) and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) where Senator Zaid Ibrahim, the de facto Law Minister, is scheduled to give a talk on Media Freedom at the National Press Club in Jalan Tangsi. Breakfast will be served.

Date: Sunday June 1, 2008
Walk: 9.30 to 10.15 a.m. at Dataran Merdeka.
Talk: 10.30 at National Press Club, Jalan Tangsi.

For details check out Rocky's take on this, here and the BENAR website, here.

UPDATE at 3.45 p.m. 30 May 2008: After discussions with the police, organisers have advised that the gathering at Dataran Merdeka to walk to the NPC is OFF. Members of the public are advised to proceed straight to the NPC instead.

A Win-Win Decision

(Horsburgh Lighthouse: Click to enlarge)

I have always believed that it was more of a dispute over "territorial waters" than just over a few rocks and hard places in the middle of the ocean.

Malaysia has always been suspicious of Singapore's motives and intentions. Yesterday's International Courts of Justice decision to award sovereignty of Pulau Batu Puteh a.k.a. Pedra Blanca to Singapore by default and the adjacent Middle Rocks to Malaysia must have put paid to Singapore's "territorial ambitions", if she had any. For Singapore, this simply means that their navy gun-boats cannot now prevent Malaysian fishermen from fishing in an indeed fertile fishing grounds where they have done for centuries, or commence reclamation works in the area without consulting Malaysian authorities.

Singapore can now rightfully claim ownership of the island, conveniently referred to as "Horsburgh" by us mariners and maintain and operate the Horsburgh lighthouse until doomsday, in the interest of navigational safety. Coincidently, Singapore is also currently operating and maintaining by treaty at their own costs, the lighthouse on Pulau Pisang, off the west coast of Johor. This is perfectly acceptable for Malaysia, since Singapore collects a major portion of "light dues" from merchant ships passing through both the Malacca and Singapore Straits.

A truly win-win situation indeed.

Samy O Samy

My friend Alex Thiagarasan (photo) is an angry man. A Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) party stalwart and the current Klang Division head, he blames the poor showing in the recent elections by Barisan Nasional in general and MIC in particular to only one man - party president Samy Velu. "BN lost many important ethnic Indian votes because of Samy," he said.

Malaysiakini has also recently reported, here, that the MIC central working committee (CWC) was contemplating sacking their Klang division chief Alex Thiagarasan over scathing comments made against Samy that was carried by the New Straits Times. Alex had called Samy a “dictator" and “judge, jury and executioner” and faulted the latter over the party’s troubles of late.

At a press conference in Klang this afternoon, Alex said he had lodged a police report yesterday against Samy Velu for abuse of power and corruption involving millions of ringgit in Maika Holdings and TAFE College, among others. He also distributed a 15-page report on "The Cover-up in the Telekom Shares Scandal" alleging cheating and misuse of huge amounts of public funds and shares for the benefit of Samy's immediate family and cronies. He hopes that the police will act on his report and bring the culprits to justice.

Alex is also resigned to his fate that the party will now probably take action against him. Although he has been approached by the Opposition, he says he will stick with MIC but will try to get rid of the "liabilities" at the top, even if it means going on a nationwide crusade for this purpose.

"I am already finished, so what have I got to lose?" he said.

Pulau Batu Puteh

Last night I was invited to dinner by the minister of information Dato Ahmad Shabery Cheek at his posh office suite in Angkasapuri. Also in attendance was minister Tan Sri Muhammad M. Taib who was there for a live interview on RTM1. Other guests include fellow bloggers Datuks A. Kadir Jasin of the Scribe and Ibrahim Yahaya of Dunia Tiger, Rosli Ismail of Agenda Daily and Steven Gan of Malaysiakini. Rocky of Rocky's Bru couldn't make it for some reason.

(I must admit that I felt rather a bit out of place since I was the only non 'ex-journo' blogger invited).

The dinner was to brief us members of the 'alternative media' on the latest developments in the 28-year old dispute between Malaysia and Singapore over the sovereignty of Pulau Batu Puteh a.k.a. Pedra Blanca or simply known as Horsburgh to us mariners. We were informed that RTM will broadcast live tomorrow from the International Courts of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands where the final decision by the panel of judges will be announced.

Datuk Shabery believes that whatever the outcome, Singaporeans in general will not be overly concerned because they consider this more of a "government to government" issue. For Malaysians on the other hand, it is more of an emotive "people to people" issue. Win or lose, it may lead to some negative repercussions. He seeks our assistance to help diffuse the situation if the need arise.

I have strong feelings and have blogged on the subject before. Read it, here.

I now get the feeling that we are going to lose Pulau Batu Puteh to the kiasus down south, but sincerely hope that I am wrong here.

The Son Also Rises

Young Mukhriz Mahathir would appear to have hammered in the last nail in his father's "coffin" yesterday when he declared , here, that he will not join his father in quitting UMNO, especially in light of all other UMNO MPs appearing to be solidly behind the beleaguered PM. "I understand and agree with the action that my father had taken because the action he has taken is due to his love for the party," he said.

Bollocks.

If filial piety is not one of his strong points, then being delusional and to keep missing the woods for the trees will not help his fledgling political career either.

Swan Song

(Source: Malaysiakini)

The silver Swan, who living had no Note,
when Death approached, unlocked her silent throat.
Leaning her breast against the reedy shore,
thus sang her first and last, and sang no more:
"Farewell, all joys! O Death, come close mine eyes!
More Geese than Swans now live, more Fools than Wise"
- Orlando Gibbons, The Silver Swan

In a breaking news, Malaysiakini reports, here, that former UMNO president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today announced that he was quitting UMNO with immediate effect and urged other members to emulate him. "I will only come back to the party when there is a change in leadership," the ex-premier said. However, he has asked these members not to join other political parties.

Well, he has jumped ship, which is clearly sinking into deep and murky waters and hoping that his other misguided and delusional ship mates will join him. Lets hope the sharks don't get him first.

He also probably must have thought that this was going to be his last hurrah, but it may just turn out to be his swan song instead.

Where the buck stopped

(Source: Malaysiakini)

On board a ship there is usually only one captain. He is "God", empowered to marry you and bury you, should you happen to die at sea, that is. In other words, the buck stops with him and no amount of excuses shall exonerate him from bearing the ultimate responsibility for the safety of his ship and crew.

Now that the Royal Commission of Inquiry report, here, on the VK Lingam tapes affair is out and the rogues galleries of so called "conspirators" are on the front pages of the news media, I do not particularly care for a witch hunt. But to all the apologists out there, remember that everyone should be held accountable for their actions in the past and present. While we point fingers here, there and everywhere, lets not forget to call to account the one man who, if its all true, should bear the final responsibility, i.e., where the buck stopped.

Any guiding force for future better governance has to be built on the foundation of what is just and right, not on what is convenient or politically expedient. Those who are found guilty should of course be made to pay the price.

And now, a word about jumping ship ...

(Source: Wikipedia)

RMS Titanic: They all said she was unsinkable. But when she sank, it was unthinkable*.

Anyway, what do you do when your ship is sinking? You jump ship. No two ways about it and we seamen have absolutely no qualms about this since it is for the common good. So if any particular 'unsinkable' SOS (Ship of Shame) is set to founder, then why not indeed. A sea captain would encourage his men to abandon ship, even to clamber aboard the enemy's if it is simply a matter of personal survival and after taking everyone's interests at heart. This is also the most practical thing to do and a captain doesn't really need to go down with his ship ... thats simply passé these days.

Morality? Integrity?

Dammit sirs, don't patronise me.

(Read Once the defections start, there's no stopping in today's theSun, here)

*This reminds me of the joke about the doctor who had his stethoscope on a young girl's chest when he said,"Big breaths, now".

"Yeth," she said, "and I am only thixteen!"

That was the week that was

Quite frankly, I was getting pretty cheesed off with the current political developments in the country.

First there was the arrest on sedition charges and subsequent release on bail of Malaysia Today's Raja Petra Kamarudin. Then there was DAP's Karpal Singh who have just found out that only Malays are privileged to 'insult' the royals in this country. This was followed by a PM who is yet to decide whether to make public the findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam tapes affair. And finally, to really take the cake was his predecessor who insists that the tape was used by Anwar Ibrahim for the purpose of blackmail, quite forgetting that the latter was in prison when the recording was made. Sheesh.



Anyway, early this morning, on the anniversary of absolute mayhem in the country exactly 39 years ago today, my fellow committee members of Friends of Kelana Jaya Park (FoKJP) and I, together with the staff of the Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya (MBPJ) planted some 300 trees around the 3 lakes in the park, known as the Taman Tasik Bandaran Kelana Jaya. The "1 staff, 5 trees" tree planting campaign was organised by MBPJ and officially launched by the new Selangor ADUN for Seri Setia, YB Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.

(Above photo with FoKJP exco. From left: Yap Pak Sum, Tuan Syed Khalid, YB Nik Nazmi, Haji Harun, Musa Mohd., yours truly)

Raja Petra Arrested

Malaysiakini reports, here, that Malaysia Today news portal webmaster Raja Petra Kamaruddin was today charged under Section 4(1) (c) of the the Sedition Act, a rather repressive law introduced by the British in 1948, at the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court over an article, "Let's send the Altantuya murderers to hell" which he wrote recently. He is the first Malaysian blogger to be charged under this Act and has thus become a legend of sorts.

The article allegedly implied that deputy prime minister Najib and his wife Rosmah were involved in the killing of a young Mongolian woman named Altantuya who was blown to pieces with military C4 explosives by police personnel. The murder trial is currently ongoing at the Shah Alam High Court.

Earlier, Raja Petra was given the runaround when he reported as instructed at 08.30 a.m. at the KL Magistrate's Court when he received a phone call from the police at about 10.20 a.m. asking him to go to the PJ court instead. He has claimed trial, set for October 6 2008, but refused to pay bail of RM5000 as a matter of principle on a claim that he is a victim of "political persecution". Plans are already afoot to initiate a public fund-raising “Save RPK Campaign” at RM1 per person to raise enough money for posting bail.

A draconian law like the Sedition Act clearly has no place in a democratic society. Unlike defamation law, one cannot defend oneself from a charge of sedition on the ground of truthfulness. That the State has chosen to charge RPK for sedition rather than simple criminal defamation points to the need for a thorough revision of our media laws as demanded by a civil society.

I find it ludicrous that although 'Pete' has written many allegations against the IGP, the police, the AG, and also about the Khairy Chronicles, SCOMI and the PM's son Kamaluddin etc., he has never been charged with sedition or even libel. But when he writes an article about Najib and Rosmah, in which he has raised several pertinent questions on facts of the case already within public domain and backed by sworn court testimonies, he gets the book thrown at him.

These are without doubt tactics of intimidation and fear, but we Bugis are a hardy lot. May Allah give RPK courage. Truth and Justice may yet prevail.

(Poster courtesy Mob's Crib)

PKA - House-cleaning

TheSun daily today front paged a report by R. Nadeswaran and Terence Fernandez that Port Klang Authority (PKA) will undertake a house-cleaning exercise and go back to basics to what it is supposed to be – a regulatory body and safeguarding its revenue. Read it here.

Newly-appointed chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng, a former three-term Selangor state assemblyman for Subang Jaya, said a revamp of both the PKA and the Port Klang Free Trade Zone (PKFZ) boards is in the pipeline, and it is learnt that Westport’s Gnanalingam has also tendered his resignation from the latter. For starters, a firm of auditors will be appointed to go through the entire accounts and activities of the PKFZ. Lee said the selection of an international firm* (which he will announce at PKA’s first board meeting today), is to ensure that it is independent and free from interference while conducting its audit. “People have no confidence in the ACA (Anti-Corruption Agency) or PAC (Public Accounts Committee), so this is the best option,” he said. Asked if wrong-doers will be named and shamed, Lee said: “I will recommend that the findings of the audit be made public and in case of impropriety, that the law takes its course".

Since port operations had been privatised, Lee said, the PKA should focus on its original objectives. He said that he had been informed of other activities of PKA, including property development and other projects. The authority had entered into a JV agreement to develop a huge parcel of land where bungalows for senior managers was situated. The buildings were demolished but it has since joined a long list of abandoned projects. Plans are also afoot to utilise its large land bank in Port Klang for development in a bid to raise money for the PKFZ.

“But more importantly, the focus will be on getting to the bottom of how costs escalated to RM4.6 billion – far above the original RM2 billion,” Lee told theSun yesterday. “However, we have to move forward because so much has been invested and priority will be making PKFZ a viable venture by ensuring that its occupancy is at acceptable levels and providing professional services to clients,” said Lee, adding that one way to go was by making PKFZ more high-tech and capitalising on its proximity to Westport. He also revealed that PKA is looking for a suitable candidate to lead the management team and that the person will not be a political appointee. “On the contrary, meritocracy will rule,” said Lee, adding that the candidate will not be limited to locals.

“I am certain that with Datuk Ong Tee Keat at the helm, I will have a free hand in running the port as he is a no-nonsense person and is as adamant as I am to get to the bottom of the PKFZ issue,” said Lee, a qualified accountant whose appointment was announced by the transport minister on Friday. “I am well aware of the challenges and pitfalls but I am prepared to fulfil my duties transparently and effectively.” Lee, however, opined that PKFZ was a bad idea to start with. “Tariffs worldwide are going down, so how is PKFZ going to be attractive to investors? With the worldwide economic downturn, manufacturing sectors are also being relocated to China, India and Vietnam,” said Lee.

In the meantime, a 'little bird' told me that Nadeswaran may be getting a visit by some denizens of Bukit Aman this morning ... and we are all still talking about press freedom. Sheesh.

*Update at 1800hrs: It is learnt that Pricewaterhouse Coopers Malaysia has been appointed to go through the entire accounts and activities of the PKFZ.