Kes Pembelaan dah start...si Tertuduh dengan tiba2 pilih untuk beri keterangan dahulu...sejarah dalam Tribunal kami...
he started on 16 Nov and finished on 2 Dec...tolak Jumaat yang takde sesi dan weekends...ade la dalam 10 hari dia beri keterangan, janji 4-6 hari...tapi biasak la tu...
anyway, sebab kena dgr dgn khusyuk keterangan dia sampe sakit bahu dan salah bantal dibuatnya...dah dua minggu lebih sakit belakang bahu ni...bantal den da pukul2kan...
jadi kami sepasukan bz bz dgn mentelaah transccripts trials...dan meetings...
ni pun tgh amik break...
sambil tu pikiran ni tgh melayan apa yang nak dibuat coti krismas ni...
kat sini kena ikut coti omputih...cuti summer dan coti krismas dan tahun baru...sebab tu la da 6 kali raya di Afrika timur ni...
cadangnya nak gi pantai lagi...ntah ler...
trial akan di adjourned pada 17 Dec...dan akan sambung 17 Jan....
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Basikal2 Malaysia di Tanzania
Kami ni walaupun nampak tembang (tembam+kembang), kami hebat berbasikal. Dont play play!!
Siap ade ngan helmet nya, knee pads, elbox pads...seluar ketat/tight yang ade pad kat celah kangkang tu, ala supaya bontot kita tak jadi leper tu...and kurang sakit lepas mengayuh...
Dulu jenuh nak ajar Haris berbasikal...satu kali dia pegi rempuh pokok tepi jalan...basikal tu hempap dia, nasib baik ade helmet tu...lepas tu ade skali tu...cabutkan tayar2 kecik yang tolon dia balance so tinggal la dua tayar besar tu....suruh la dia mengayuh di tgh2 jalan...after few seconds ok...tetiba, takde angin takde ribut terus dia ke tepi jalan n junam ke longkang!! melalak kesakitan...tanya dia camna bole jadi..."i dont know...it is like this bicycle has its own mind!!"
Anyway, now Irfan has one...he made me changed the seat and the helmet just becoz the one he likes got spiderman pics..
This bicycle is for Ayah...
This one is Ibu's...
This is for my princess...Iman
This is for Haris...
And this one for Irfan!
Morale of the story : Dont just think that you have to wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle, you have to do the same when you are on a bicycle...
Siap ade ngan helmet nya, knee pads, elbox pads...seluar ketat/tight yang ade pad kat celah kangkang tu, ala supaya bontot kita tak jadi leper tu...and kurang sakit lepas mengayuh...
Dulu jenuh nak ajar Haris berbasikal...satu kali dia pegi rempuh pokok tepi jalan...basikal tu hempap dia, nasib baik ade helmet tu...lepas tu ade skali tu...cabutkan tayar2 kecik yang tolon dia balance so tinggal la dua tayar besar tu....suruh la dia mengayuh di tgh2 jalan...after few seconds ok...tetiba, takde angin takde ribut terus dia ke tepi jalan n junam ke longkang!! melalak kesakitan...tanya dia camna bole jadi..."i dont know...it is like this bicycle has its own mind!!"
Anyway, now Irfan has one...he made me changed the seat and the helmet just becoz the one he likes got spiderman pics..
This bicycle is for Ayah...
This one is Ibu's...
This is for my princess...Iman
This is for Haris...
And this one for Irfan!
Morale of the story : Dont just think that you have to wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle, you have to do the same when you are on a bicycle...
I just love my chickens!!
Early this month, I hired a carpenter (we call them "fundi'') to build a bigger house for my chickens. I got around 20 chickens, they gave free-range eggs everyday...
So, I sat down and drew the plan for the fundi...hoping that he will follow exactly the blue print that I prepared...but I was wrong...it took him almost 5 days to complete it becoz he tried to build it using his own design...of course, as usual, I had to steer him back to the original plan...this is the always the case with the fundi here in Tanzania...you want a castle like house, they will give you a maasai like house, you want a chair, they will give you a classic sofa...
Anyway, now, Im happy and I am sure my chickens are happy now...look at the pictures here -
The morale of the story here - if you make your animals/pets happy, they will make you happy too!!
So, I sat down and drew the plan for the fundi...hoping that he will follow exactly the blue print that I prepared...but I was wrong...it took him almost 5 days to complete it becoz he tried to build it using his own design...of course, as usual, I had to steer him back to the original plan...this is the always the case with the fundi here in Tanzania...you want a castle like house, they will give you a maasai like house, you want a chair, they will give you a classic sofa...
Anyway, now, Im happy and I am sure my chickens are happy now...look at the pictures here -
The morale of the story here - if you make your animals/pets happy, they will make you happy too!!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
What I learned from this interview and my view
1) Carry on exercising (jogging, swimming, walking, cycling, etc). If you stop, you make it worse. When you have these aches and pains, get some physiotherapy sessions
2) Heat pads relieve pain
3) Meditation is highly recommended (but for mUslims what kind of mediation is good besides solat and zikir?)
4) Tea is diuretic
5) If you drink cold water, you reduce the temperature of your nasal passages and throat and reduce your resistance to coughs and colds
6) So, warm water is good for your health!
7) You’re fearful of a libel suit? Then don’t issue these defamatory statements or make them where you have no basis. If you say you are right, prove it and and we dont deserve the reputation that we have now!
8) I think he is half correct when he said - "Malaysians saw it as a Malay country, all others are lodgers, “orang tumpangan”, and they the Bumiputras, sons of the soil, run the show. So the Sultans, the Chief Justice and judges, generals, police commissioner, the whole hierarchy is Malay. All the big contracts for Malays. Malay is the language of the schools although it does not get them into modern knowledge. So the Chinese build and find their own independent schools to teach Chinese, the Tamils create their own Tamil schools, which do not get them jobs. It’s a most unhappy situation" - time will tell!
9) The best way to keep your health is to keep on working. "I know if I rest I’ll slide downhill fast. No, my whole being has been stimulated by the daily challenge. If I suddenly drop it all, play golf, stroll around, watch the sunset, read novels, that’s downhill. It is the daily challenge, social contacts, meeting people, people like you, you press me, I answer, when I don’t…. what have I got tomorrow?" - so keep challenging yourself until your last breath
10) Do not judge a man until you’ve closed his coffin. So close the coffin, then decide and assess him becuase man may still do something foolish before the lid is closed
11) We are not perfect in everything, so even what we have done is wrong or nasty, make sure you do it for an honourable purpose of for the greater good! But dont use this as an excuse for your foolishness!
12) Whatever it is, my take is that English should our working language whether you like it or not it does give us progress because we’re connected to the world and it gets us to the modern knowledge
13) Somehow I agree that when he said "we have a very polarized Malaysia, Malays, Chinese and Indians in separate schools, living separate lives and not really getting on with one another".
13) Last but not least - Love your wife! (or wives for certain people) - tell her - To love, to hold and to cherish, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, till death do us part.” and tell her "I would try and keep you company for as long as I can."
_______________________________________________________________________
Transcripts – New York Times/IHT interview Lee Kuan Yew
Posted by theonlinecitizen on September 13, 2010 71 Comments
The following is the transcript of the interview Seth Mydans had with Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, for the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune. The interview was held on 1 September 2010.
Mr Lee: “Thank you. When you are coming to 87, you are not very happy..”
Q: “Not. Well you should be glad that you’ve gotten way past where most of us will get.”
Mr Lee: “That is my trouble. So, when is the last leaf falling?”
Q: “Do you feel like that, do you feel like the leaves are coming off?”
Mr Lee: “Well, yes. I mean I can feel the gradual decline of energy and vitality and I mean generally every year when you know you are not on the same level as last year. But that is life.”
Q: “My mother used to say never get old.”
Mr Lee: “Well, there you will try never to think yourself old. I mean I keep fit, I swim, I cycle.”
Q: “And yoga, is that right? Meditation?”
Mr Lee: “Yes.”
Q: “Tell me about meditation?”
Mr Lee: “Well, I started it about two, three years ago when Ng Kok Song, the Chief Investment Officer of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, I knew he was doing meditation. His wife had died but he was completely serene. So, I said, how do you achieve this? He said I meditate everyday and so did my wife and when she was dying of cancer, she was totally serene because she meditated everyday and he gave me a video of her in her last few weeks completely composed completely relaxed and she and him had been meditating for years. Well, I said to him, you teach me. He is a devout Christian. He was taught by a man called Laurence Freeman, a Catholic. His guru was John Main a devout Catholic. When I was in London, Ng Kok Song introduced me to Laurence Freeman. In fact, he is coming on Saturday to visit Singapore, and we will do a meditation session. The problem is to keep the monkey mind from running off into all kinds of thoughts. It is most difficult to stay focused on the mantra. The discipline is to have a mantra which you keep repeating in your innermost heart, no need to voice it over and over again throughout the whole period of meditation. The mantra they recommended was a religious one. Ma Ra Na Ta, four syllables. Come To Me Oh Lord Jesus. So I said Okay, I am not a Catholic but I will try. He said you can take any other mantra, Buddhist Om Mi Tuo Fo, and keep repeating it. To me Ma Ran Na Ta is more soothing. So I used Ma Ra Na Ta. You must be disciplined. I find it helps me go to sleep after that. A certain tranquility settles over you. The day’s pressures and worries are pushed out. Then there’s less problem sleeping. I miss it sometimes when I am tired, or have gone out to a dinner and had wine. Then I cannot concentrate. Otherwise I stick to it.”
Q: “So…”
Mr Lee: “.. for a good meditator will do it for half-an-hour. I do it for 20 minutes.”
Q: “So, would you say like your friend who taught you, would you say you are serene?”
Mr Lee: “Well, not as serene as he is. He has done it for many years and he is a devout Catholic. That makes a difference. He believes in Jesus. He believes in the teachings of the Bible. He has lost his wife, a great calamity. But the wife was serene. He gave me this video to show how meditation helped her in her last few months. I do not think I can achieve his level of serenity. But I do achieve some composure.”
Q: “And do you find that at this time in your life you do find yourself getting closer to religion of one sort or another?”
Mr Lee: “I am an agnostic. I was brought up in a traditional Chinese family with ancestor worship. I would go to my grandfather’s grave on All Soul’s Day which is called “Qingming”. My father would bring me along, lay out food and candles and burn some paper money and kowtow three times over his tombstone. At home on specific days outside the kitchen he would put up two candles with my grandfather’s picture. But as I grew up, I questioned this because I think this is superstition. You are gone, you burn paper money, how can he collect the paper money where he is? After my father died, I dropped the practice. My youngest brother baptised my father as a Christian. He did not have the right to. He was a doctor and for the last weeks before my father’s life, he took my father to his house because he was a doctor and was able to keep my father comforted. I do not know if my father was fully aware when he was converted into Christianity.”
Q: “Converted your father?”
Mr Lee: “Yes.”
Q: “Well this happens when you get close to the end.”
Mr Lee: “Well, but I do not know whether my father agreed. At that time he may have been beyond making a rational decision. My brother assumed that he agreed and converted him.”
Q: “But…”
Mr Lee: “I am not converted.”
Q: “But when you reach that stage, you may wonder more than ever what is next?”
Mr Lee: “Well, what is next, I do not know. Nobody has ever come back. The Muslims say that there are seventy houris, beautiful women up there. But nobody has come back to confirm this.”
Q: “And you haven’t converted to Islam, knowing that?”
Mr Lee: “Most unlikely. The Buddhist believes in transmigration of the soul. If you live a good life, the reward is in your next migration, you will be a good being, not an ugly animal. It is a comforting thought, but my wife and I do not believe in it. She has been for two years bed-ridden, unable to speak after a series of strokes. I am not going to convert her. I am not going to allow anybody to convert her because I know it will be against what she believed in all her life. How do I comfort myself? Well, I say life is just like that. You can’t choose how you go unless you are going to take an overdose of sleeping pills, like sodium amytal. For just over two years, she has been inert in bed, but still cognitive. She understands when I talk to her, which I do every night. She keeps awake for me; I tell her about my day’s work, read her favourite poems.”
Q: ‘And what kind of books do you read to her?”
Mr Lee: “So much of my time is reading things online. The latest book which I want to read or re-read is Kim. It is a beautiful of description of India as it was in Kipling’s time. And he had an insight into the Indian mind and it is still basically that same society that I find when I visit India. “
Q: “When you spoke to Time Magazine a couple of years ago, you said Don Quixote was your favourite?”
Mr Lee: “Yes, I was just given the book, Don Quixote, a new translation.”
Q: “But people might find that ironic because he was fantasist who did not realistically choose his projects and you are sort of the opposite?”
Mr Lee: “No, no, you must have something fanciful and a flight of fancy. I had a colleague Rajaratnam who read Sci-Fi for his leisure.”’
Q: “And you?”:
Mr Lee: “No, I do not believe in Sci-Fi.”
Q: “But you must have something to fantasise.”
Mr Lee: “Well, at the moment, as I said, I would like to read Kim again. Why I thought of Kim was because I have just been through a list of audio books to choose for my wife. Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, books she has on her book shelf. So, I ticked off the ones I think she would find interesting. The one that caught my eye was Kim. She was into literature, from Alice in Wonderland, to Adventures with a Looking Glass, to Jane Austen’s Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility. Jane Austen was her favourite writer because she wrote elegant and leisurely English prose of the 19th century. The prose flowed beautifully, described the human condition in a graceful way, and rolls off the tongue and in the mind. She enjoyed it. Also Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. She was an English Literature major.”
Q: “You are naming books on the list, not necessarily books you have already read, yes?”
Mr Lee: “I would have read some of them.”
Q: “Like a Jane Austen book, or Canterbury Tales?”
Mr Lee: “No, Canterbury Tales, I had to do it for my second year English Literature course in Raffles College. For a person in the 15th Century, he wrote very modern stuff. I didn’t find his English all that archaic. I find those Scottish poets difficult to read. Sometimes I don’t make sense of their Scottish brogue. My wife makes sense of them. Then Shakespeare’s sonnets.”
Q: “You read those?”
Mr Lee: “I read those sonnets when I did English literature in my freshman’s year. She read them.”
Q: “When you say she reads them now, you’re the one who reads them, yes?”
Mr Lee: “Yes, I read them to her.”
Q: “But you go to her.”
Mr Lee: “Yes, I read from an Anthology of Poems which she has, and several other anthologies. So I know her favourite poems. She had flagged them. I read them to her.”
Q: “She’s in the hospital? You go to the hospital?”
Mr Lee: “No, no, she’s at home. We’ve got a hospital bed and nurses attending to her. We used to share the same room. Now I’m staying in the next room. I have to get used to her groans and grunts when she’s uncomfortable from a dry throat and they pump in a spray moisture called “Biothene” which soothes her throat, and they suck out phlegm. Because she can’t get up, she can’t breathe fully. The phlegm accumulates in the chest but you can’t suck it out from the chest, you’ve got to wait until she coughs and it goes out to her throat. They suck it out, and she’s relieved. They sit her up and tap her back. It’s very distressing, but that’s life.”
Q: “Yes, your daughter on Sunday wrote a moving column, movingly about the situation referring to you.”
Mr Lee: “How did you come to read it?”
Q: “Somebody said you’ve got to read that column, so I read it.”
Mr Lee: “You don’t get the Straits Times.”
Q: “I get it online actually. I certainly do, I follow Singapore online and she wrote that the whole family suffers of course from this and she wrote the one who’s been hurting the most and is yet carrying on stoically is my father.”
Mr Lee: “What to do? What else can I do? I can’t break down. Life has got to go on. I try to busy myself, but from time to time in idle moments, my mind goes back to the happy days we were up and about together.”
Q: “When you go to visit her, is that the time when your mind goes back?”
Mr Lee: “No, not then. My daughter’s fished out many old photographs for this piece she wrote and picked out a dozen or two dozen photographs from the digital copies which somebody had kept at the Singapore Press Holdings. When I look at them, I thought how lucky I was. I had 61 years of happiness. We’ve got to go sometime, so I’m not sure who’s going first, whether she or me. So I told her, I’ve been looking at the marriage vows of the Christians. The best I read was,” To love, to hold and to cherish, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, till death do us part.” I told her I would try and keep you company for as long as I can. She understood.”
Q: “Yes, it’s been really.”
Mr Lee: “What to do? What can you do in this situation? I can say get rid of the nurses. Then the maids won’t know how to turn her over and then she gets pneumonia. That ends the suffering. But human beings being what we are, I do the best for her and the best is to give her a competent nurse who moves her, massages her, turns her over, so no bed sores. I’ve got a hospital bed with air cushions so no bed sores. Well, that’s life. Make her comfortable.”
Q: “And for yourself, you feel the weight of age more than you have in the past?”
Mr Lee: “I’m not sure. I marginally must have. It’s stress. However, I look at it, I mean, it’s stress. That’s life. But it’s a different kind of stress from the kind of stress I faced, political stresses. Dire situations for Singapore, dire situations for myself when we broke off from Malaysia, the Malays in Singapore could have rioted and gone for me and they suddenly found themselves back as a minority because the Tunku kicked us out. That’s different, that’s intense stress and it’s over but this is stress which goes on. One doctor told me, you may think that when she’s gone you’re relieved but you’ll be sad when she’s gone because there’s still the human being here, there’s still somebody you talk to and she knows what you’re saying and you’ll miss that. Well, I don’t know, I haven’t come to that but I think I’ll probably will because it’s now two years, May, June, July, August, September, two years and four months. It’s become a part of my life.”
Q: “She’s how old now?”
Mr Lee: “She’s two-and-a-half years older than me, so she’s coming on to 90.”
Q: “But you did make a reference in an interview with Time magazine to something that goes beyond reason as you put it. You referred to the real enemy by Pierre D’Harcourt who talked about people surviving the Nazi, it’s better that they have something to believe in.”
Mr Lee: “Yes, of course.”
Q: “And you said that the Communists and the deeply religious fought on and survived. There are some things in the human spirit that are beyond reason.”
Mr Lee: “I believe that to be true. Look, I saw my friend and cabinet colleague who’s a deeply religious Catholic. He was Finance Minister, a fine man. In 1983, he had a heart attack. He was in hospital, in ICU, he improved and was taken out of ICU. Then he had a second heart attack and I knew it was bad. I went to see him and the priest was giving him the last rites as a Catholic. Absolutely fearless, he showed no distress, no fear, the family was around him, his wife and daughters, he had four daughters. With priest delivering the last rites, he knew he was reaching the end. But his mind was clear but absolutely calm.”
Q: “Well, I am more like you. We don’t have something to cling to.”
Mr Lee: “That’s our problem.”
Q: “But also the way people see you is supremely reasonable person, reason is the ultimate.”
Mr Lee: “Well, that’s the way I’ve been working.”
Q: “Well, you did mention to Tom Plate, they think they know me but they only know the public me?”
Mr Lee: “Yeah, the private view is you have emotions for your close members of your family. We are a close family, not just my sons and my wife and my parents but my brothers and my sister. So my youngest brother, a doctor as I told you, he just sent me an email that my second brother was dying of a bleeding colon, diverticulitis. And later the third brother now has got prostate cancer and has spread into his lymph nodes. So I asked what’re the chances of survival. It’s not gotten to the bones yet, so they’re doing chemotherapy and if you can prevent it from going into the bones, he’ll be okay for a few more years. If it does get to the bones, then that’s the end. I don’t think my brother knows. But I’ll probably go and see him.”
Q: “But you yourself have been fit. You have a stent, you had heart problem late last year but besides that do you have ailments?”
Mr Lee: “Well, aches and pains of a geriatric person, joints, muscles but all non-terminal. I go in for a physiotherapy, maintenance once a week, they give me a rub over because when I cycle, my thighs get sore, knees get a little painful, and so the hips.”
Q: “These are the signs of age.”
Mr Lee: “Yeah, of course.”
Q: “I’m 64. I’m beginning to feel that and I don’t like it and I don’t want to admit to myself.”
Mr Lee: “But if you stop exercising, you make it worse. That’s what my doctors tell me, just carry on. When you have these aches and pains, we’ll give you physiotherapy. I’ve learnt to use heat pads at home. So after the physiotherapy, once a week, if I feel my thighs are sore, I just have a heat pad there. You put in the microwave oven and you tie it around your thighs or your ankles or your calves. It relieves the pain.”
Q: “So you continue to cycle.”
Mr Lee: “Oh yeah.”
Q: “Treadmill?
Mr Lee: “No, I don’t do the treadmill. I walk but not always. When I’ve cycled enough I don’t walk.”
Q: “That’s your primary exercise, swimming?”
Mr Lee: “Yeah, I swim everyday, it’s relaxing.”
Q: “What other secrets, I see you drink hot water?”
Mr Lee: “Yes.”
Q: “Tell me about it.”
Mr Lee: “Well, I used to drink tea but tea is a diuretic, but I didn’t know that. I used to drink litres of it. In the 1980s, I was having a conference with Zhou Ziyang who was then Secretary-General of the Communist Party in the Great Hall of the People. The Chinese came in and poured more tea and hot water. I was scoffing it down because it kept my throat moistened, my BP was up because more liquid was in me. Halfway through, I said please stop. I’m dashing off. I had to relief myself. Then my doctors said don’t you know that tea is a diuretic? I don’t like coffee, it gives me a sour stomach, so okay, let’s switch to water.”
Q: “You know you had the hot water when I met you a couple of years ago and after I told my wife about that, she switched to hot water. She’s not sure why except that you drink hot water, so she’s decided to.”
Mr Lee: “Well, cold water, this was from my ENT man. If you drink cold water, you reduce the temperature of your nasal passages and throat and reduce your resistance to coughs and colds. So I take warm water, body temperature. I don’t scald myself with boiling hot water. I avoid that. But my daughter puts blocks of ice into her coffee and drinks it up. She’s all right, she’s only 50-plus.
Q: “Let me ask a question about the outside world a little bit. Singapore is a great success story even though people criticize this and that. When you look back, you can be proud of what you’ve done and I assume you are. Are there things that you regret, things that you wished you could achieve that you couldn’t?”
Mr Lee: “Well, first I regret having been turfed out of Malaysia. I think if the Tunku had kept us together, what we did in Singapore, had Malaysia accepted a multiracial base for their society, much of what we’ve achieved in Singapore would be achieved in Malaysia. But not as much because it’s a much broader base. We would have improved inter-racial relations and an improved holistic situation. Now we have a very polarized Malaysia, Malays, Chinese and Indians in separate schools, living separate lives and not really getting on with one another. You read them. That’s bad for us as close neighbours.”
Q: “So at that time, you found yourself with Singapore and you have transformed it. And my question would be how do you assess your own satisfaction with what you’ve achieved? What didn’t work?”
Mr Lee: “Well, the greatest satisfaction I had was my colleagues and I, were of that generation who were turfed out of Malaysia suffered two years under a racial policy decided that we will go the other way. We will not as a majority squeeze the minority because once we’re by ourselves, the Chinese become the majority. We made quite sure whatever your race, language or religion, you are an equal citizen and we’ll drum that into the people and I think our Chinese understand and today we have an integrated society. Our Malays are English-educated, they’re no longer like the Malays in Malaysia and you can see there are some still wearing headscarves but very modern looking.”
Q: “That doesn’t sound like a regret to me.”
Mr Lee: “No, no, but the regret is there’s such a narrow base to build this enormous edifice, so I’ve got to tell the next generation, please do not take for granted what’s been built. If you forget that this is a small island which we are built upon and reach a 100 storeys high tower block and may go up to 150 if you are wise. But if you believe that it’s permanent, it will come tumbling down and you will never get a second chance.”
Q: “I wonder if that is a concern of yours about the next generation. I saw your discussion with a group of young people before the last election and they were saying what they want is a lot of these values from the West, an open political marketplace and even playing field in all of these things and you said well, if that’s the way you feel, I’m very sad.”
Mr Lee: “Because you play it that way, if you have dissension, if you chose the easy way to Muslim votes and switch to racial politics, this society is finished. The easiest way to get majority vote is vote for me, we’re Chinese, they’re Indians, they’re Malays. Our society will be ripped apart. If you do not have a cohesive society, you cannot make progress.”
Q: “But is that a concern that the younger generation doesn’t realize as much as it should?”
Mr Lee: “I believe they have come to believe that this is a natural state of affairs, and they can take liberties with it. They think you can put it on auto-pilot. I know that is never so. We have crafted a set of very intricate rules, no housing blocks shall have more than a percentage of so many Chinese, so many percent Malays, Indians. All are thoroughly mixed. Willy-nilly, your neighbours are Indians, Malays, you go to the same shopping malls, you go to the same schools, the same playing fields, you go up and down the same lifts. We cannot allow segregation.”
Q: “There are people who think that Singapore may lighten up a little bit when you go, that the rules will become a little looser and if that happens, that might be something that’s a concern to you.”
Mr Lee: “No, you can go looser where it’s not race, language and religion because those are deeply gut issues and it will surface the moment you start playing on them. It’s inevitable, but on other areas, policies, right or wrong, disparity of opportunities, rich and poor, well go ahead. But don’t play race, language, religion. We’ve got here, we’ve become cohesive, keep it that way. We’ve not used Chinese as a majority language because it will split the population. We have English as our working language, it’s equal for everybody, and it’s given us the progress because we’re connected to the world. If you want to keep your Malay, or your Chinese, or your Tamil, Urdu or whatever, do that as a second language, not equal to your first language. It’s up to you, how high a standard you want to achieve.”
Q: “The public view of you is as a very strict, cerebral, unsentimental. Catherine Lim, “an authoritarian, no-nonsense manner that has little use for sentiment”.”
Mr Lee: “She’s a novelist, therefore, she simplifies a person’s character, make graphic caricature of me. But is anybody that simple or simplistic?”
Q: “Sentiment though, you don’t show that very much in public.”
Mr Lee: “Well, that’s a Chinese ideal. A gentleman in Chinese ideal, the junzi (君子) is someone who is always composed and possessed of himself and doesn’t lose his temper and doesn’t lose his tongue. That’s what I try to do, except when I got turfed out from Malaysia. Then, I just couldn’t help it.”
Q: “One aspect of the way you’ve constructed Singapore is a certain level of fear perhaps in the population. You described yourself as a street fighter, knuckle duster and so forth.”
Mr Lee: “Yes.”
Q: “And that produces among some people a level of fear and I want to tell you what a taxi driver said when I said I was going to interview you. He said, safer not to ask him anything. If you ask him, somebody will follow you. We’re not in politics so just let him do the politics.”
Mr Lee: “How old is he?’
Q: “I’m sorry, middle aged, I don’t know.”
Mr Lee: “I go out. I’m no longer the Prime Minister. I don’t have to do the difficult things. Everybody wants to shake my hands, everybody wants me to autograph something. Everybody wants to get around me to take a photo. So it’s a problem.
Q: “Yes but…”
Mr Lee: “Because I’m no longer in charge, I don’t have to do the hard things. I’ve laid the foundation and they know that because of that foundation, they’re enjoying this life.’
Q: “So when you were the one directly in-charge, you had to be tough, you had to be a fighter.”
Mr Lee: “Yes, of course. I had to fight left-wingers, Communists, pro-Communist groups who had killer squads. If I didn’t have the guts and the gumption to take them on, there wouldn’t be the Singapore. They would have taken over and it would have collapsed. I also had to fight the Malay Ultras when we were in Malaysia for two years.”
Q: “Well, you don’t have a lot of dissidents in prison but you’re known for your libel suits which keeps a lot of people at bay.”
Mr Lee: “We are non-corrupt. We lead modest lives, so it’s difficult to malign us. What’s the easy way to get a leader down? He’s a hypocrite, he is corrupt, he pretends to be this when in fact he’s that. That’s what they’re trying to do to me. Well, prove it, if what you say is right, then I don’t deserve this reputation. Why must you say these things without foundation? I’m taking you to court, you’ve made these allegations, I’m open to your cross-examination.”
Q: “But that may produce what I was talking about, about a level of fear.”
Mr Lee: “No, you’re fearful of a libel suit? Then don’t issue these defamatory statements or make them where you have no basis. The Western correspondent, especially those who hop in and hop out got to find something to show that they are impartial, that they’re not just taken in by the Singapore growth story. They say we keep down the opposition, how? Libel suits. Absolute rubbish. We have opponents in Parliament who have attacked us on policy, no libel suits against them and even in Parliament they are privileged to make defamatory allegation and cannot be sued. But they don’t. They know it is not true.”
Q: “Let me ask a last question. Again back to Tom Plate, “I’m not serious all the time. Everyone needs to have a good laugh now and then to see the funny side of things and to laugh at himself”.”
Mr Lee: “Yes, of course.”
Q: “How about that?”
Mr Lee: “You have to be that.”
Q: “So what makes you laugh?”
Mr Lee: “Many things, the absurdity of it, many things in life. Sometimes, I meet witty people, have conversations, they make sharp remarks, I laugh.
Q: “And when you laugh at yourself as you said?”
Mr Lee: “That’s very frequent. Yeah, I’m reaching 87, trying to keep fit, presenting a vigorous figure and it’s an effort and is it worth the effort? I laugh at myself trying to keep a bold front. It’s become my habit. I just carry on.”
Q: “So it’s the whole broad picture of things that you find funny?”
Mr Lee: “Yes, life as a whole has many abnormalities, of course.”
Q: “Your public life together with your private life, what you’ve done over things people write about you and Singapore, that overall is something that you can find funny?”
Mr Lee: “Yes, of course.
Q: “You made one of the few people who laugh at Singapore.”
Mr Lee: “Let me give you a Chinese proverb “do not judge a man until you’ve closed his coffin. Do not judge a man.” Close the coffin, then decide. Then you assess him. I may still do something foolish before the lid is closed on me.”
Q: “So you’re waiting for the final verdict?”
Mr Lee: “No, the final verdict will not be in the obituaries. The final verdict will be when the PhD students dig out the archives, read my old papers, assess what my enemies have said, sift the evidence and seek the truth? I’m not saying that everything I did was right, but everything I did was for an honourable purpose. I had to do some nasty things, locking fellows up without trial.”
Q: “For the greater good?
Mr Lee: “Well, yes, because otherwise they are running around and causing havoc playing on Chinese language and culture, and accusing me of destroying Chinese education. You’ve not been here when the Communists were running around. They do not believe in the democratic process. They don’t believe in one man, one vote. They believe in one bullet, one vote. They had killer squads. But they at the same time had a united front exploiting the democratic game. It gave them cover. But my business, my job was to make sure that they did not succeed. Sometimes you just got to lock the leaders up. They are confusing the people. The reality is that if you allow these people to work up animosity against the government because it’s keeping down the Chinese language, because we’ve promoted English, keeping down Chinese culture because you have allowed English literature, and we suppress our Chinese values and the Chinese language, the Chinese press, well, you will break up the society. They harp on these things when they know they are not true. They know that if you actually do in Chinese language and culture, the Chinese will riot and the society must break up.”
Q: “So leadership is a constant battle?”
Mr Lee: “In a multiracial situation like this, it is. Malaysia took the different line; Malaysians saw it as a Malay country, all others are lodgers, “orang tumpangan”, and they the Bumiputras, sons of the soil, run the show. So the Sultans, the Chief Justice and judges, generals, police commissioner, the whole hierarchy is Malay. All the big contracts for Malays. Malay is the language of the schools although it does not get them into modern knowledge. So the Chinese build and find their own independent schools to teach Chinese, the Tamils create their own Tamil schools, which do not get them jobs. It’s a most unhappy situation.”
Mdm Yeong: “I thought that was the last question.”
Q: “This is the last part of the last question. So your career has been a struggle to keep things going in the right way and you’ve also said that the best way to keep your health is to keep on working. Are you tired of it by this point? Do you feel like you want to rest?”
Mr Lee: “No, I don’t. I know if I rest I’ll slide downhill fast. No, my whole being has been stimulated by the daily challenge. If I suddenly drop it all, play golf, stroll around, watch the sunset, read novels, that’s downhill. It is the daily challenge, social contacts, meeting people, people like you, you press me, I answer, when I don’t…. what have I got tomorrow?”
Mdm Yeong: “You have two more events coming up. One is the Radin Mas Community.”
Mr Lee: “Oh yeah. I got it.”
Mdm Yeong: “And then you have other call, courtesy call on the 3rd.”
Mr Lee: “We are social animals. Without that interaction with people, you are isolated. The worst punishment you can give a person is the isolation ward. You get hallucinations. Four walls, no books, no nothing. By way of example, Henry Kissinger wants to speak to me. So I said okay, we’ll speak on Sunday. What about? We are meeting in Sao Paolo at a J P Morgan International Advisory Board. He wants to talk to me to check certain facts on China. My mind is kept alive, I go to China once a year at least. I meet Chinese leaders. So it’s a constant stimulus as I keep up to date. Supposing I sit back, I don’t think about China, just watch videos. I am off to Moscow, Kiev and Paris on the 15th of September. Three days Moscow, three days Kiev, four days Paris. Moscow I am involved in the Skolkovo Business School which President Medvedev, when he wasn’t President started. I promised to go if he did not fix it in the winter. So they fix it for September. I look at the fires, I said wow this is no good.”
Q: “It’s not going to be freezing if there are fires.”
Mr Lee: “No but our embassy says the skies have cleared. Kiev because the President has invited me specially and will fly me from Moscow to Kiev and then fly me on to Paris. Paris I am on the TOTAL Advisory Board together with Joe Nye and a few others. They want a presentation on what are China’s strengths and weaknesses. That keeps me alive. It’s just not my impressionistic views of China but one that has to be backed by facts and figures. So my team works out the facts and figures, and I check to see if they tally with my impressions. But it’s a constant stimulus to keep alive, and up-to-date. If I stop it, it’s downhill.”
Q: “Well, I hope you continue. Thank you very much, I really enjoyed this interview.”
2) Heat pads relieve pain
3) Meditation is highly recommended (but for mUslims what kind of mediation is good besides solat and zikir?)
4) Tea is diuretic
5) If you drink cold water, you reduce the temperature of your nasal passages and throat and reduce your resistance to coughs and colds
6) So, warm water is good for your health!
7) You’re fearful of a libel suit? Then don’t issue these defamatory statements or make them where you have no basis. If you say you are right, prove it and and we dont deserve the reputation that we have now!
8) I think he is half correct when he said - "Malaysians saw it as a Malay country, all others are lodgers, “orang tumpangan”, and they the Bumiputras, sons of the soil, run the show. So the Sultans, the Chief Justice and judges, generals, police commissioner, the whole hierarchy is Malay. All the big contracts for Malays. Malay is the language of the schools although it does not get them into modern knowledge. So the Chinese build and find their own independent schools to teach Chinese, the Tamils create their own Tamil schools, which do not get them jobs. It’s a most unhappy situation" - time will tell!
9) The best way to keep your health is to keep on working. "I know if I rest I’ll slide downhill fast. No, my whole being has been stimulated by the daily challenge. If I suddenly drop it all, play golf, stroll around, watch the sunset, read novels, that’s downhill. It is the daily challenge, social contacts, meeting people, people like you, you press me, I answer, when I don’t…. what have I got tomorrow?" - so keep challenging yourself until your last breath
10) Do not judge a man until you’ve closed his coffin. So close the coffin, then decide and assess him becuase man may still do something foolish before the lid is closed
11) We are not perfect in everything, so even what we have done is wrong or nasty, make sure you do it for an honourable purpose of for the greater good! But dont use this as an excuse for your foolishness!
12) Whatever it is, my take is that English should our working language whether you like it or not it does give us progress because we’re connected to the world and it gets us to the modern knowledge
13) Somehow I agree that when he said "we have a very polarized Malaysia, Malays, Chinese and Indians in separate schools, living separate lives and not really getting on with one another".
13) Last but not least - Love your wife! (or wives for certain people) - tell her - To love, to hold and to cherish, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, till death do us part.” and tell her "I would try and keep you company for as long as I can."
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Transcripts – New York Times/IHT interview Lee Kuan Yew
Posted by theonlinecitizen on September 13, 2010 71 Comments
The following is the transcript of the interview Seth Mydans had with Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, for the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune. The interview was held on 1 September 2010.
Mr Lee: “Thank you. When you are coming to 87, you are not very happy..”
Q: “Not. Well you should be glad that you’ve gotten way past where most of us will get.”
Mr Lee: “That is my trouble. So, when is the last leaf falling?”
Q: “Do you feel like that, do you feel like the leaves are coming off?”
Mr Lee: “Well, yes. I mean I can feel the gradual decline of energy and vitality and I mean generally every year when you know you are not on the same level as last year. But that is life.”
Q: “My mother used to say never get old.”
Mr Lee: “Well, there you will try never to think yourself old. I mean I keep fit, I swim, I cycle.”
Q: “And yoga, is that right? Meditation?”
Mr Lee: “Yes.”
Q: “Tell me about meditation?”
Mr Lee: “Well, I started it about two, three years ago when Ng Kok Song, the Chief Investment Officer of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, I knew he was doing meditation. His wife had died but he was completely serene. So, I said, how do you achieve this? He said I meditate everyday and so did my wife and when she was dying of cancer, she was totally serene because she meditated everyday and he gave me a video of her in her last few weeks completely composed completely relaxed and she and him had been meditating for years. Well, I said to him, you teach me. He is a devout Christian. He was taught by a man called Laurence Freeman, a Catholic. His guru was John Main a devout Catholic. When I was in London, Ng Kok Song introduced me to Laurence Freeman. In fact, he is coming on Saturday to visit Singapore, and we will do a meditation session. The problem is to keep the monkey mind from running off into all kinds of thoughts. It is most difficult to stay focused on the mantra. The discipline is to have a mantra which you keep repeating in your innermost heart, no need to voice it over and over again throughout the whole period of meditation. The mantra they recommended was a religious one. Ma Ra Na Ta, four syllables. Come To Me Oh Lord Jesus. So I said Okay, I am not a Catholic but I will try. He said you can take any other mantra, Buddhist Om Mi Tuo Fo, and keep repeating it. To me Ma Ran Na Ta is more soothing. So I used Ma Ra Na Ta. You must be disciplined. I find it helps me go to sleep after that. A certain tranquility settles over you. The day’s pressures and worries are pushed out. Then there’s less problem sleeping. I miss it sometimes when I am tired, or have gone out to a dinner and had wine. Then I cannot concentrate. Otherwise I stick to it.”
Q: “So…”
Mr Lee: “.. for a good meditator will do it for half-an-hour. I do it for 20 minutes.”
Q: “So, would you say like your friend who taught you, would you say you are serene?”
Mr Lee: “Well, not as serene as he is. He has done it for many years and he is a devout Catholic. That makes a difference. He believes in Jesus. He believes in the teachings of the Bible. He has lost his wife, a great calamity. But the wife was serene. He gave me this video to show how meditation helped her in her last few months. I do not think I can achieve his level of serenity. But I do achieve some composure.”
Q: “And do you find that at this time in your life you do find yourself getting closer to religion of one sort or another?”
Mr Lee: “I am an agnostic. I was brought up in a traditional Chinese family with ancestor worship. I would go to my grandfather’s grave on All Soul’s Day which is called “Qingming”. My father would bring me along, lay out food and candles and burn some paper money and kowtow three times over his tombstone. At home on specific days outside the kitchen he would put up two candles with my grandfather’s picture. But as I grew up, I questioned this because I think this is superstition. You are gone, you burn paper money, how can he collect the paper money where he is? After my father died, I dropped the practice. My youngest brother baptised my father as a Christian. He did not have the right to. He was a doctor and for the last weeks before my father’s life, he took my father to his house because he was a doctor and was able to keep my father comforted. I do not know if my father was fully aware when he was converted into Christianity.”
Q: “Converted your father?”
Mr Lee: “Yes.”
Q: “Well this happens when you get close to the end.”
Mr Lee: “Well, but I do not know whether my father agreed. At that time he may have been beyond making a rational decision. My brother assumed that he agreed and converted him.”
Q: “But…”
Mr Lee: “I am not converted.”
Q: “But when you reach that stage, you may wonder more than ever what is next?”
Mr Lee: “Well, what is next, I do not know. Nobody has ever come back. The Muslims say that there are seventy houris, beautiful women up there. But nobody has come back to confirm this.”
Q: “And you haven’t converted to Islam, knowing that?”
Mr Lee: “Most unlikely. The Buddhist believes in transmigration of the soul. If you live a good life, the reward is in your next migration, you will be a good being, not an ugly animal. It is a comforting thought, but my wife and I do not believe in it. She has been for two years bed-ridden, unable to speak after a series of strokes. I am not going to convert her. I am not going to allow anybody to convert her because I know it will be against what she believed in all her life. How do I comfort myself? Well, I say life is just like that. You can’t choose how you go unless you are going to take an overdose of sleeping pills, like sodium amytal. For just over two years, she has been inert in bed, but still cognitive. She understands when I talk to her, which I do every night. She keeps awake for me; I tell her about my day’s work, read her favourite poems.”
Q: ‘And what kind of books do you read to her?”
Mr Lee: “So much of my time is reading things online. The latest book which I want to read or re-read is Kim. It is a beautiful of description of India as it was in Kipling’s time. And he had an insight into the Indian mind and it is still basically that same society that I find when I visit India. “
Q: “When you spoke to Time Magazine a couple of years ago, you said Don Quixote was your favourite?”
Mr Lee: “Yes, I was just given the book, Don Quixote, a new translation.”
Q: “But people might find that ironic because he was fantasist who did not realistically choose his projects and you are sort of the opposite?”
Mr Lee: “No, no, you must have something fanciful and a flight of fancy. I had a colleague Rajaratnam who read Sci-Fi for his leisure.”’
Q: “And you?”:
Mr Lee: “No, I do not believe in Sci-Fi.”
Q: “But you must have something to fantasise.”
Mr Lee: “Well, at the moment, as I said, I would like to read Kim again. Why I thought of Kim was because I have just been through a list of audio books to choose for my wife. Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, books she has on her book shelf. So, I ticked off the ones I think she would find interesting. The one that caught my eye was Kim. She was into literature, from Alice in Wonderland, to Adventures with a Looking Glass, to Jane Austen’s Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility. Jane Austen was her favourite writer because she wrote elegant and leisurely English prose of the 19th century. The prose flowed beautifully, described the human condition in a graceful way, and rolls off the tongue and in the mind. She enjoyed it. Also Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. She was an English Literature major.”
Q: “You are naming books on the list, not necessarily books you have already read, yes?”
Mr Lee: “I would have read some of them.”
Q: “Like a Jane Austen book, or Canterbury Tales?”
Mr Lee: “No, Canterbury Tales, I had to do it for my second year English Literature course in Raffles College. For a person in the 15th Century, he wrote very modern stuff. I didn’t find his English all that archaic. I find those Scottish poets difficult to read. Sometimes I don’t make sense of their Scottish brogue. My wife makes sense of them. Then Shakespeare’s sonnets.”
Q: “You read those?”
Mr Lee: “I read those sonnets when I did English literature in my freshman’s year. She read them.”
Q: “When you say she reads them now, you’re the one who reads them, yes?”
Mr Lee: “Yes, I read them to her.”
Q: “But you go to her.”
Mr Lee: “Yes, I read from an Anthology of Poems which she has, and several other anthologies. So I know her favourite poems. She had flagged them. I read them to her.”
Q: “She’s in the hospital? You go to the hospital?”
Mr Lee: “No, no, she’s at home. We’ve got a hospital bed and nurses attending to her. We used to share the same room. Now I’m staying in the next room. I have to get used to her groans and grunts when she’s uncomfortable from a dry throat and they pump in a spray moisture called “Biothene” which soothes her throat, and they suck out phlegm. Because she can’t get up, she can’t breathe fully. The phlegm accumulates in the chest but you can’t suck it out from the chest, you’ve got to wait until she coughs and it goes out to her throat. They suck it out, and she’s relieved. They sit her up and tap her back. It’s very distressing, but that’s life.”
Q: “Yes, your daughter on Sunday wrote a moving column, movingly about the situation referring to you.”
Mr Lee: “How did you come to read it?”
Q: “Somebody said you’ve got to read that column, so I read it.”
Mr Lee: “You don’t get the Straits Times.”
Q: “I get it online actually. I certainly do, I follow Singapore online and she wrote that the whole family suffers of course from this and she wrote the one who’s been hurting the most and is yet carrying on stoically is my father.”
Mr Lee: “What to do? What else can I do? I can’t break down. Life has got to go on. I try to busy myself, but from time to time in idle moments, my mind goes back to the happy days we were up and about together.”
Q: “When you go to visit her, is that the time when your mind goes back?”
Mr Lee: “No, not then. My daughter’s fished out many old photographs for this piece she wrote and picked out a dozen or two dozen photographs from the digital copies which somebody had kept at the Singapore Press Holdings. When I look at them, I thought how lucky I was. I had 61 years of happiness. We’ve got to go sometime, so I’m not sure who’s going first, whether she or me. So I told her, I’ve been looking at the marriage vows of the Christians. The best I read was,” To love, to hold and to cherish, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, till death do us part.” I told her I would try and keep you company for as long as I can. She understood.”
Q: “Yes, it’s been really.”
Mr Lee: “What to do? What can you do in this situation? I can say get rid of the nurses. Then the maids won’t know how to turn her over and then she gets pneumonia. That ends the suffering. But human beings being what we are, I do the best for her and the best is to give her a competent nurse who moves her, massages her, turns her over, so no bed sores. I’ve got a hospital bed with air cushions so no bed sores. Well, that’s life. Make her comfortable.”
Q: “And for yourself, you feel the weight of age more than you have in the past?”
Mr Lee: “I’m not sure. I marginally must have. It’s stress. However, I look at it, I mean, it’s stress. That’s life. But it’s a different kind of stress from the kind of stress I faced, political stresses. Dire situations for Singapore, dire situations for myself when we broke off from Malaysia, the Malays in Singapore could have rioted and gone for me and they suddenly found themselves back as a minority because the Tunku kicked us out. That’s different, that’s intense stress and it’s over but this is stress which goes on. One doctor told me, you may think that when she’s gone you’re relieved but you’ll be sad when she’s gone because there’s still the human being here, there’s still somebody you talk to and she knows what you’re saying and you’ll miss that. Well, I don’t know, I haven’t come to that but I think I’ll probably will because it’s now two years, May, June, July, August, September, two years and four months. It’s become a part of my life.”
Q: “She’s how old now?”
Mr Lee: “She’s two-and-a-half years older than me, so she’s coming on to 90.”
Q: “But you did make a reference in an interview with Time magazine to something that goes beyond reason as you put it. You referred to the real enemy by Pierre D’Harcourt who talked about people surviving the Nazi, it’s better that they have something to believe in.”
Mr Lee: “Yes, of course.”
Q: “And you said that the Communists and the deeply religious fought on and survived. There are some things in the human spirit that are beyond reason.”
Mr Lee: “I believe that to be true. Look, I saw my friend and cabinet colleague who’s a deeply religious Catholic. He was Finance Minister, a fine man. In 1983, he had a heart attack. He was in hospital, in ICU, he improved and was taken out of ICU. Then he had a second heart attack and I knew it was bad. I went to see him and the priest was giving him the last rites as a Catholic. Absolutely fearless, he showed no distress, no fear, the family was around him, his wife and daughters, he had four daughters. With priest delivering the last rites, he knew he was reaching the end. But his mind was clear but absolutely calm.”
Q: “Well, I am more like you. We don’t have something to cling to.”
Mr Lee: “That’s our problem.”
Q: “But also the way people see you is supremely reasonable person, reason is the ultimate.”
Mr Lee: “Well, that’s the way I’ve been working.”
Q: “Well, you did mention to Tom Plate, they think they know me but they only know the public me?”
Mr Lee: “Yeah, the private view is you have emotions for your close members of your family. We are a close family, not just my sons and my wife and my parents but my brothers and my sister. So my youngest brother, a doctor as I told you, he just sent me an email that my second brother was dying of a bleeding colon, diverticulitis. And later the third brother now has got prostate cancer and has spread into his lymph nodes. So I asked what’re the chances of survival. It’s not gotten to the bones yet, so they’re doing chemotherapy and if you can prevent it from going into the bones, he’ll be okay for a few more years. If it does get to the bones, then that’s the end. I don’t think my brother knows. But I’ll probably go and see him.”
Q: “But you yourself have been fit. You have a stent, you had heart problem late last year but besides that do you have ailments?”
Mr Lee: “Well, aches and pains of a geriatric person, joints, muscles but all non-terminal. I go in for a physiotherapy, maintenance once a week, they give me a rub over because when I cycle, my thighs get sore, knees get a little painful, and so the hips.”
Q: “These are the signs of age.”
Mr Lee: “Yeah, of course.”
Q: “I’m 64. I’m beginning to feel that and I don’t like it and I don’t want to admit to myself.”
Mr Lee: “But if you stop exercising, you make it worse. That’s what my doctors tell me, just carry on. When you have these aches and pains, we’ll give you physiotherapy. I’ve learnt to use heat pads at home. So after the physiotherapy, once a week, if I feel my thighs are sore, I just have a heat pad there. You put in the microwave oven and you tie it around your thighs or your ankles or your calves. It relieves the pain.”
Q: “So you continue to cycle.”
Mr Lee: “Oh yeah.”
Q: “Treadmill?
Mr Lee: “No, I don’t do the treadmill. I walk but not always. When I’ve cycled enough I don’t walk.”
Q: “That’s your primary exercise, swimming?”
Mr Lee: “Yeah, I swim everyday, it’s relaxing.”
Q: “What other secrets, I see you drink hot water?”
Mr Lee: “Yes.”
Q: “Tell me about it.”
Mr Lee: “Well, I used to drink tea but tea is a diuretic, but I didn’t know that. I used to drink litres of it. In the 1980s, I was having a conference with Zhou Ziyang who was then Secretary-General of the Communist Party in the Great Hall of the People. The Chinese came in and poured more tea and hot water. I was scoffing it down because it kept my throat moistened, my BP was up because more liquid was in me. Halfway through, I said please stop. I’m dashing off. I had to relief myself. Then my doctors said don’t you know that tea is a diuretic? I don’t like coffee, it gives me a sour stomach, so okay, let’s switch to water.”
Q: “You know you had the hot water when I met you a couple of years ago and after I told my wife about that, she switched to hot water. She’s not sure why except that you drink hot water, so she’s decided to.”
Mr Lee: “Well, cold water, this was from my ENT man. If you drink cold water, you reduce the temperature of your nasal passages and throat and reduce your resistance to coughs and colds. So I take warm water, body temperature. I don’t scald myself with boiling hot water. I avoid that. But my daughter puts blocks of ice into her coffee and drinks it up. She’s all right, she’s only 50-plus.
Q: “Let me ask a question about the outside world a little bit. Singapore is a great success story even though people criticize this and that. When you look back, you can be proud of what you’ve done and I assume you are. Are there things that you regret, things that you wished you could achieve that you couldn’t?”
Mr Lee: “Well, first I regret having been turfed out of Malaysia. I think if the Tunku had kept us together, what we did in Singapore, had Malaysia accepted a multiracial base for their society, much of what we’ve achieved in Singapore would be achieved in Malaysia. But not as much because it’s a much broader base. We would have improved inter-racial relations and an improved holistic situation. Now we have a very polarized Malaysia, Malays, Chinese and Indians in separate schools, living separate lives and not really getting on with one another. You read them. That’s bad for us as close neighbours.”
Q: “So at that time, you found yourself with Singapore and you have transformed it. And my question would be how do you assess your own satisfaction with what you’ve achieved? What didn’t work?”
Mr Lee: “Well, the greatest satisfaction I had was my colleagues and I, were of that generation who were turfed out of Malaysia suffered two years under a racial policy decided that we will go the other way. We will not as a majority squeeze the minority because once we’re by ourselves, the Chinese become the majority. We made quite sure whatever your race, language or religion, you are an equal citizen and we’ll drum that into the people and I think our Chinese understand and today we have an integrated society. Our Malays are English-educated, they’re no longer like the Malays in Malaysia and you can see there are some still wearing headscarves but very modern looking.”
Q: “That doesn’t sound like a regret to me.”
Mr Lee: “No, no, but the regret is there’s such a narrow base to build this enormous edifice, so I’ve got to tell the next generation, please do not take for granted what’s been built. If you forget that this is a small island which we are built upon and reach a 100 storeys high tower block and may go up to 150 if you are wise. But if you believe that it’s permanent, it will come tumbling down and you will never get a second chance.”
Q: “I wonder if that is a concern of yours about the next generation. I saw your discussion with a group of young people before the last election and they were saying what they want is a lot of these values from the West, an open political marketplace and even playing field in all of these things and you said well, if that’s the way you feel, I’m very sad.”
Mr Lee: “Because you play it that way, if you have dissension, if you chose the easy way to Muslim votes and switch to racial politics, this society is finished. The easiest way to get majority vote is vote for me, we’re Chinese, they’re Indians, they’re Malays. Our society will be ripped apart. If you do not have a cohesive society, you cannot make progress.”
Q: “But is that a concern that the younger generation doesn’t realize as much as it should?”
Mr Lee: “I believe they have come to believe that this is a natural state of affairs, and they can take liberties with it. They think you can put it on auto-pilot. I know that is never so. We have crafted a set of very intricate rules, no housing blocks shall have more than a percentage of so many Chinese, so many percent Malays, Indians. All are thoroughly mixed. Willy-nilly, your neighbours are Indians, Malays, you go to the same shopping malls, you go to the same schools, the same playing fields, you go up and down the same lifts. We cannot allow segregation.”
Q: “There are people who think that Singapore may lighten up a little bit when you go, that the rules will become a little looser and if that happens, that might be something that’s a concern to you.”
Mr Lee: “No, you can go looser where it’s not race, language and religion because those are deeply gut issues and it will surface the moment you start playing on them. It’s inevitable, but on other areas, policies, right or wrong, disparity of opportunities, rich and poor, well go ahead. But don’t play race, language, religion. We’ve got here, we’ve become cohesive, keep it that way. We’ve not used Chinese as a majority language because it will split the population. We have English as our working language, it’s equal for everybody, and it’s given us the progress because we’re connected to the world. If you want to keep your Malay, or your Chinese, or your Tamil, Urdu or whatever, do that as a second language, not equal to your first language. It’s up to you, how high a standard you want to achieve.”
Q: “The public view of you is as a very strict, cerebral, unsentimental. Catherine Lim, “an authoritarian, no-nonsense manner that has little use for sentiment”.”
Mr Lee: “She’s a novelist, therefore, she simplifies a person’s character, make graphic caricature of me. But is anybody that simple or simplistic?”
Q: “Sentiment though, you don’t show that very much in public.”
Mr Lee: “Well, that’s a Chinese ideal. A gentleman in Chinese ideal, the junzi (君子) is someone who is always composed and possessed of himself and doesn’t lose his temper and doesn’t lose his tongue. That’s what I try to do, except when I got turfed out from Malaysia. Then, I just couldn’t help it.”
Q: “One aspect of the way you’ve constructed Singapore is a certain level of fear perhaps in the population. You described yourself as a street fighter, knuckle duster and so forth.”
Mr Lee: “Yes.”
Q: “And that produces among some people a level of fear and I want to tell you what a taxi driver said when I said I was going to interview you. He said, safer not to ask him anything. If you ask him, somebody will follow you. We’re not in politics so just let him do the politics.”
Mr Lee: “How old is he?’
Q: “I’m sorry, middle aged, I don’t know.”
Mr Lee: “I go out. I’m no longer the Prime Minister. I don’t have to do the difficult things. Everybody wants to shake my hands, everybody wants me to autograph something. Everybody wants to get around me to take a photo. So it’s a problem.
Q: “Yes but…”
Mr Lee: “Because I’m no longer in charge, I don’t have to do the hard things. I’ve laid the foundation and they know that because of that foundation, they’re enjoying this life.’
Q: “So when you were the one directly in-charge, you had to be tough, you had to be a fighter.”
Mr Lee: “Yes, of course. I had to fight left-wingers, Communists, pro-Communist groups who had killer squads. If I didn’t have the guts and the gumption to take them on, there wouldn’t be the Singapore. They would have taken over and it would have collapsed. I also had to fight the Malay Ultras when we were in Malaysia for two years.”
Q: “Well, you don’t have a lot of dissidents in prison but you’re known for your libel suits which keeps a lot of people at bay.”
Mr Lee: “We are non-corrupt. We lead modest lives, so it’s difficult to malign us. What’s the easy way to get a leader down? He’s a hypocrite, he is corrupt, he pretends to be this when in fact he’s that. That’s what they’re trying to do to me. Well, prove it, if what you say is right, then I don’t deserve this reputation. Why must you say these things without foundation? I’m taking you to court, you’ve made these allegations, I’m open to your cross-examination.”
Q: “But that may produce what I was talking about, about a level of fear.”
Mr Lee: “No, you’re fearful of a libel suit? Then don’t issue these defamatory statements or make them where you have no basis. The Western correspondent, especially those who hop in and hop out got to find something to show that they are impartial, that they’re not just taken in by the Singapore growth story. They say we keep down the opposition, how? Libel suits. Absolute rubbish. We have opponents in Parliament who have attacked us on policy, no libel suits against them and even in Parliament they are privileged to make defamatory allegation and cannot be sued. But they don’t. They know it is not true.”
Q: “Let me ask a last question. Again back to Tom Plate, “I’m not serious all the time. Everyone needs to have a good laugh now and then to see the funny side of things and to laugh at himself”.”
Mr Lee: “Yes, of course.”
Q: “How about that?”
Mr Lee: “You have to be that.”
Q: “So what makes you laugh?”
Mr Lee: “Many things, the absurdity of it, many things in life. Sometimes, I meet witty people, have conversations, they make sharp remarks, I laugh.
Q: “And when you laugh at yourself as you said?”
Mr Lee: “That’s very frequent. Yeah, I’m reaching 87, trying to keep fit, presenting a vigorous figure and it’s an effort and is it worth the effort? I laugh at myself trying to keep a bold front. It’s become my habit. I just carry on.”
Q: “So it’s the whole broad picture of things that you find funny?”
Mr Lee: “Yes, life as a whole has many abnormalities, of course.”
Q: “Your public life together with your private life, what you’ve done over things people write about you and Singapore, that overall is something that you can find funny?”
Mr Lee: “Yes, of course.
Q: “You made one of the few people who laugh at Singapore.”
Mr Lee: “Let me give you a Chinese proverb “do not judge a man until you’ve closed his coffin. Do not judge a man.” Close the coffin, then decide. Then you assess him. I may still do something foolish before the lid is closed on me.”
Q: “So you’re waiting for the final verdict?”
Mr Lee: “No, the final verdict will not be in the obituaries. The final verdict will be when the PhD students dig out the archives, read my old papers, assess what my enemies have said, sift the evidence and seek the truth? I’m not saying that everything I did was right, but everything I did was for an honourable purpose. I had to do some nasty things, locking fellows up without trial.”
Q: “For the greater good?
Mr Lee: “Well, yes, because otherwise they are running around and causing havoc playing on Chinese language and culture, and accusing me of destroying Chinese education. You’ve not been here when the Communists were running around. They do not believe in the democratic process. They don’t believe in one man, one vote. They believe in one bullet, one vote. They had killer squads. But they at the same time had a united front exploiting the democratic game. It gave them cover. But my business, my job was to make sure that they did not succeed. Sometimes you just got to lock the leaders up. They are confusing the people. The reality is that if you allow these people to work up animosity against the government because it’s keeping down the Chinese language, because we’ve promoted English, keeping down Chinese culture because you have allowed English literature, and we suppress our Chinese values and the Chinese language, the Chinese press, well, you will break up the society. They harp on these things when they know they are not true. They know that if you actually do in Chinese language and culture, the Chinese will riot and the society must break up.”
Q: “So leadership is a constant battle?”
Mr Lee: “In a multiracial situation like this, it is. Malaysia took the different line; Malaysians saw it as a Malay country, all others are lodgers, “orang tumpangan”, and they the Bumiputras, sons of the soil, run the show. So the Sultans, the Chief Justice and judges, generals, police commissioner, the whole hierarchy is Malay. All the big contracts for Malays. Malay is the language of the schools although it does not get them into modern knowledge. So the Chinese build and find their own independent schools to teach Chinese, the Tamils create their own Tamil schools, which do not get them jobs. It’s a most unhappy situation.”
Mdm Yeong: “I thought that was the last question.”
Q: “This is the last part of the last question. So your career has been a struggle to keep things going in the right way and you’ve also said that the best way to keep your health is to keep on working. Are you tired of it by this point? Do you feel like you want to rest?”
Mr Lee: “No, I don’t. I know if I rest I’ll slide downhill fast. No, my whole being has been stimulated by the daily challenge. If I suddenly drop it all, play golf, stroll around, watch the sunset, read novels, that’s downhill. It is the daily challenge, social contacts, meeting people, people like you, you press me, I answer, when I don’t…. what have I got tomorrow?”
Mdm Yeong: “You have two more events coming up. One is the Radin Mas Community.”
Mr Lee: “Oh yeah. I got it.”
Mdm Yeong: “And then you have other call, courtesy call on the 3rd.”
Mr Lee: “We are social animals. Without that interaction with people, you are isolated. The worst punishment you can give a person is the isolation ward. You get hallucinations. Four walls, no books, no nothing. By way of example, Henry Kissinger wants to speak to me. So I said okay, we’ll speak on Sunday. What about? We are meeting in Sao Paolo at a J P Morgan International Advisory Board. He wants to talk to me to check certain facts on China. My mind is kept alive, I go to China once a year at least. I meet Chinese leaders. So it’s a constant stimulus as I keep up to date. Supposing I sit back, I don’t think about China, just watch videos. I am off to Moscow, Kiev and Paris on the 15th of September. Three days Moscow, three days Kiev, four days Paris. Moscow I am involved in the Skolkovo Business School which President Medvedev, when he wasn’t President started. I promised to go if he did not fix it in the winter. So they fix it for September. I look at the fires, I said wow this is no good.”
Q: “It’s not going to be freezing if there are fires.”
Mr Lee: “No but our embassy says the skies have cleared. Kiev because the President has invited me specially and will fly me from Moscow to Kiev and then fly me on to Paris. Paris I am on the TOTAL Advisory Board together with Joe Nye and a few others. They want a presentation on what are China’s strengths and weaknesses. That keeps me alive. It’s just not my impressionistic views of China but one that has to be backed by facts and figures. So my team works out the facts and figures, and I check to see if they tally with my impressions. But it’s a constant stimulus to keep alive, and up-to-date. If I stop it, it’s downhill.”
Q: “Well, I hope you continue. Thank you very much, I really enjoyed this interview.”
Monday, September 6, 2010
What is the purpose?
Have you ever read this article in BBC News...titled Reading Arabic "Hard for Brain"?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11181457
And you know who made this research...Israelis scientists from University of Haifa!!
And why BBC put this article under health section?
And why you chose Arabic and announced to the whole world?
Why you chose such title? Cant you give a better and not so confusing title?
Is there any sinister objective behind the publication of this article?
Are you saying Hebrew, Russian, Mongolian, Chinese, etc are not hard for anyone's brain?
When I read this article for the first time, I said to myself...oh ok but after second reading, I said...wait a minute...
______________________________________
The article-
Israeli scientists believe they have identified why Arabic is particularly hard to learn to read.
The University of Haifa team say people use both sides of their brain when they begin reading a language - but when learning Arabic this is wasting effort.
The detail of Arabic characters means students should use only the left side of their brain because that side is better at distinguishing detail.
The findings from the study of 40 people are reported in Neuropsychology.
When someone learns to read Arabic they have to work out which letters are which, and which ones go with which sounds.
It is the ability to tell letters apart that seems to work differently in Arabic - because telling the characters apart involves looking at very small details such as the placement of dots.
Professor Zohar Eviatar, who led the research team, said: "The particular characteristics of Arabic make it hard for the right hemisphere to be involved. When you are starting something new, there is a lot of [right hemisphere] involvement."
Clearer differences
The researchers looked at 40 university students. Some of the students only spoke Hebrew, while some also spoke and read Arabic well.
In order to work out which side of the brain reads letters, the researchers flashed letters for a 10th of a second to one side of a screen or the other.
When the eyes see something for just a short time, and it is at one side of a screen, only one brain hemisphere is quick enough to process the image.
The team measured how fast and how accurate the students were when they tried to tell letters apart, first in Hebrew and then in Arabic.
All the students could read Hebrew well, and they all used both left and right hemispheres to tell Hebrew letters apart.
The same thing has previously been found with letters used in English.
Characters in English and Hebrew are easier to tell apart because there are clearer differences between them than there are in Arabic.
Sensitivity
When they looked at the students' reading of Arabic letters it gave the team a clue about why children find the language difficult to learn to read.
The Hebrew-only speakers behaved like children just starting to read most languages - they tried to tell Arabic letters apart, managed to do it slowly but made a lot of mistakes, and used both hemispheres of their brains.
The good Arabic readers, however, only used their left hemispheres to tell Arabic letters apart.
The researchers were intrigued by this and investigated further. They wanted to know why the right hemisphere was not working when reading Arabic letters, so they set a right hemisphere challenge.
They showed the students pairs of extremely similar Arabic letters - with just "local" differences - and letters that are more different - with "global" differences.
When the Arabic readers saw similar letters with their right hemispheres, they answered randomly - they could not tell them apart at all.
"The right hemisphere is more sensitive to the global aspects of what it's looking at, while the left hemisphere is more sensitive to the local features," says Professor Eviatar.
The team think this may give them some clues about what readers may be doing wrong when they begin to try to read Arabic.
Reading hope
Both young children and adults call on both hemispheres to help them learn a new task.
And using both hemispheres is the right thing to do when reading English or Hebrew - so children's learning strategies would be fine if they were reading another language.
But previous research has found that the right hemisphere is not that good at distinguishing small details, so readers starting to learn Arabic have to learn to focus on small details, which is not natural to them, but could help them shift to their left hemispheres.
Now the researchers want to compare new and highly expert Arabic readers in the hope of finding out what their brains are doing when they look at letters.
Ultimately, they would like to work out how to teach Arabic reading better to children, including helping them to tell letters apart and how to remember which sound goes with which letter.
Please share your thoughts on this article...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11181457
And you know who made this research...Israelis scientists from University of Haifa!!
And why BBC put this article under health section?
And why you chose Arabic and announced to the whole world?
Why you chose such title? Cant you give a better and not so confusing title?
Is there any sinister objective behind the publication of this article?
Are you saying Hebrew, Russian, Mongolian, Chinese, etc are not hard for anyone's brain?
When I read this article for the first time, I said to myself...oh ok but after second reading, I said...wait a minute...
______________________________________
The article-
Israeli scientists believe they have identified why Arabic is particularly hard to learn to read.
The University of Haifa team say people use both sides of their brain when they begin reading a language - but when learning Arabic this is wasting effort.
The detail of Arabic characters means students should use only the left side of their brain because that side is better at distinguishing detail.
The findings from the study of 40 people are reported in Neuropsychology.
When someone learns to read Arabic they have to work out which letters are which, and which ones go with which sounds.
It is the ability to tell letters apart that seems to work differently in Arabic - because telling the characters apart involves looking at very small details such as the placement of dots.
Professor Zohar Eviatar, who led the research team, said: "The particular characteristics of Arabic make it hard for the right hemisphere to be involved. When you are starting something new, there is a lot of [right hemisphere] involvement."
Clearer differences
The researchers looked at 40 university students. Some of the students only spoke Hebrew, while some also spoke and read Arabic well.
In order to work out which side of the brain reads letters, the researchers flashed letters for a 10th of a second to one side of a screen or the other.
When the eyes see something for just a short time, and it is at one side of a screen, only one brain hemisphere is quick enough to process the image.
The team measured how fast and how accurate the students were when they tried to tell letters apart, first in Hebrew and then in Arabic.
All the students could read Hebrew well, and they all used both left and right hemispheres to tell Hebrew letters apart.
The same thing has previously been found with letters used in English.
Characters in English and Hebrew are easier to tell apart because there are clearer differences between them than there are in Arabic.
Sensitivity
When they looked at the students' reading of Arabic letters it gave the team a clue about why children find the language difficult to learn to read.
The Hebrew-only speakers behaved like children just starting to read most languages - they tried to tell Arabic letters apart, managed to do it slowly but made a lot of mistakes, and used both hemispheres of their brains.
The good Arabic readers, however, only used their left hemispheres to tell Arabic letters apart.
The researchers were intrigued by this and investigated further. They wanted to know why the right hemisphere was not working when reading Arabic letters, so they set a right hemisphere challenge.
They showed the students pairs of extremely similar Arabic letters - with just "local" differences - and letters that are more different - with "global" differences.
When the Arabic readers saw similar letters with their right hemispheres, they answered randomly - they could not tell them apart at all.
"The right hemisphere is more sensitive to the global aspects of what it's looking at, while the left hemisphere is more sensitive to the local features," says Professor Eviatar.
The team think this may give them some clues about what readers may be doing wrong when they begin to try to read Arabic.
Reading hope
Both young children and adults call on both hemispheres to help them learn a new task.
And using both hemispheres is the right thing to do when reading English or Hebrew - so children's learning strategies would be fine if they were reading another language.
But previous research has found that the right hemisphere is not that good at distinguishing small details, so readers starting to learn Arabic have to learn to focus on small details, which is not natural to them, but could help them shift to their left hemispheres.
Now the researchers want to compare new and highly expert Arabic readers in the hope of finding out what their brains are doing when they look at letters.
Ultimately, they would like to work out how to teach Arabic reading better to children, including helping them to tell letters apart and how to remember which sound goes with which letter.
Please share your thoughts on this article...
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Finally...
...my team has closed our case (Prosecution stage)...Defence will start their case earliest in November.
And I just got back from Kigali (Rwanda). I was there to represent my team for the video-link testimony.
Last two weeks, I was in Kampala. I went there to interview Defence Alibi Witness.
It has been hectic since I got back in Arusha late July.
So forgive me for not posting anything for more than a month. I do miss my blog...
But time was not on my side.
Eid Fitr (Aidilfitri) is just around the corner. My family and I are planning to celebrate it in Nairobi this time. The reason - there will be Commonwealth Parliament Association meeting...and many Malaysians will be there to attend such meeting.
I have been to four East African countries - Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda. I must say Kampala is the best city (amongst the capital cities of East African countries) I have ever been.
And I have a tooth ache...I must stop here.
And I just got back from Kigali (Rwanda). I was there to represent my team for the video-link testimony.
Last two weeks, I was in Kampala. I went there to interview Defence Alibi Witness.
It has been hectic since I got back in Arusha late July.
So forgive me for not posting anything for more than a month. I do miss my blog...
But time was not on my side.
Eid Fitr (Aidilfitri) is just around the corner. My family and I are planning to celebrate it in Nairobi this time. The reason - there will be Commonwealth Parliament Association meeting...and many Malaysians will be there to attend such meeting.
I have been to four East African countries - Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda. I must say Kampala is the best city (amongst the capital cities of East African countries) I have ever been.
And I have a tooth ache...I must stop here.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
We are back in Arusha!!
After almost 15 hours of flight and 5 hours of drive, "home sweet home"!
Jetlag is still there...will take a couple of days to get over it.
The next thing - unpack! which we hate...
Then we have to make sure the utilities, chickens, cable tv, internet r ok...so far the internet, water, electricity and chickens r ok, and thank God our chickens have multiplied!! now the number is 19...soon it is going to be 29, God willing.
I am still at my house..Im supposed to go to the office an hour ago but since my body and mind are yet to synchronize to Arusha tunes...will let the office wait.
A couple of weeks from now will be Ramadhan! So selamat berpuasa semua!!
Jetlag is still there...will take a couple of days to get over it.
The next thing - unpack! which we hate...
Then we have to make sure the utilities, chickens, cable tv, internet r ok...so far the internet, water, electricity and chickens r ok, and thank God our chickens have multiplied!! now the number is 19...soon it is going to be 29, God willing.
I am still at my house..Im supposed to go to the office an hour ago but since my body and mind are yet to synchronize to Arusha tunes...will let the office wait.
A couple of weeks from now will be Ramadhan! So selamat berpuasa semua!!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Snippets
1) Ownernya cuti-cuti Malaysia so blognya cuti la!
2) Sedapnya durian kucing tidur dan musang king!!
3) Wa sokong, besides Chelsea, Real Madrid sekarang...Mourinho factor!!
4) Sudah puas i makan petai dan tempoyak!!
5) Dalam masa 9 hari, kami akan balik ke Arusha!
2) Sedapnya durian kucing tidur dan musang king!!
3) Wa sokong, besides Chelsea, Real Madrid sekarang...Mourinho factor!!
4) Sudah puas i makan petai dan tempoyak!!
5) Dalam masa 9 hari, kami akan balik ke Arusha!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Lesen Judi Vincent Tan
Sedar tak sekarang sejak mulanya World Cup 2010, banyak berita di newspaper, tv, etc bookie haram or tauke judi haram kena serbu dan tangkap dan ada yang tengah on the run?
So apa maksudnya disini?
Saya tak tahulah orang ramai paham ke sejarah lesen judi Vincent Tan ni...tapi apa yang saya baca dan faham adalah -
1) Lesen judi itu sudah diisukan pada tahun 80an kepada dia tapi dia pulangkan balik ke kerajaan dengan syarat dia boleh mintak balik lesen tu pada bila-bila masa...
2) Tak jelas pulak kenapa dia pulangkan. Mungkin masa lesen judi tu diisukan masa tu ekonomi teruk, ingat tak tahun 87 ke 88 masa ekonomi negara jatuh...so tak berbaloi dia jalankan judi masa tu...
3) Jadi, sekarang VT rasa masakini cocok bagi dia mintak balik lesen tu...mungkin dia rasa org Malaysia da ramai orang kaya serta canggih...
4) Sebab tu our PM Najib said 'the government did not issue any licence to VT or his company'...in other words, our government is just returning the VT's licence that was issued years ago!!
Correct me if Im wrong.
Thus, I feel that all these news about illegal bookies arrested had to be sensationalized in order to justify the move!
Ok ke ko?
So apa maksudnya disini?
Saya tak tahulah orang ramai paham ke sejarah lesen judi Vincent Tan ni...tapi apa yang saya baca dan faham adalah -
1) Lesen judi itu sudah diisukan pada tahun 80an kepada dia tapi dia pulangkan balik ke kerajaan dengan syarat dia boleh mintak balik lesen tu pada bila-bila masa...
2) Tak jelas pulak kenapa dia pulangkan. Mungkin masa lesen judi tu diisukan masa tu ekonomi teruk, ingat tak tahun 87 ke 88 masa ekonomi negara jatuh...so tak berbaloi dia jalankan judi masa tu...
3) Jadi, sekarang VT rasa masakini cocok bagi dia mintak balik lesen tu...mungkin dia rasa org Malaysia da ramai orang kaya serta canggih...
4) Sebab tu our PM Najib said 'the government did not issue any licence to VT or his company'...in other words, our government is just returning the VT's licence that was issued years ago!!
Correct me if Im wrong.
Thus, I feel that all these news about illegal bookies arrested had to be sensationalized in order to justify the move!
Ok ke ko?
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Balik Kampung, hohohoho balik kampung...
hati girang!! perjalanan jauh...la la la (ikut melodi lagu Sudirman)...
bestnya, bestnya...26 Jun kami bertolak ke tanahair!!
Kami sudah order redang kerang, kacang botol, tempoyak, etc etc...gomuk la den balik....eh eh betul la, org sekrg kurus la...cuba pipi je tembam, heheheh
anyway, tahun ni cuti 30 hari tapi da penuh ngan agenda2 tertentu...
kali ni nak gi Sabah or Pangkor or Pantai Timur lagi...
Tapi Kuala Kangsar serta Lenggong mesti kami lawat....
anak2 dah bagi shopping list da...pandai sungguh depa ni...
ok lah nanti ketemu lagi yek di Malaysia!!!
Tak sabar rasanya!!!
bestnya, bestnya...26 Jun kami bertolak ke tanahair!!
Kami sudah order redang kerang, kacang botol, tempoyak, etc etc...gomuk la den balik....eh eh betul la, org sekrg kurus la...cuba pipi je tembam, heheheh
anyway, tahun ni cuti 30 hari tapi da penuh ngan agenda2 tertentu...
kali ni nak gi Sabah or Pangkor or Pantai Timur lagi...
Tapi Kuala Kangsar serta Lenggong mesti kami lawat....
anak2 dah bagi shopping list da...pandai sungguh depa ni...
ok lah nanti ketemu lagi yek di Malaysia!!!
Tak sabar rasanya!!!
Sedapnya mulut!
Menteri kita cakap dengan RM3000 cukup untuk duduk di kota raya provided kita tidak ade Astro dan Kereta...oiii, sedapnya mulut dia bercakap!
Apa jenis menteri ni, dia ingat kita mentedarah Astro ngan Kereta ke?!!
Dia ingat kita perlu 'puashati' dengan RM3000 tu sahaja?
Mentang2 lah awak ade driver, kereta free, ade escort and tauke Astro kawan baik kerajaan...tol awak ntah2 bole claim...
Hello, tak tahu ke sekrg kereta sudah jadi keperluan bukan lagi salah satu kemewahan...jangan salahkan rakyat (walaupun anak ramai) kalu rakyat nak beli kereta kancil kerana nak lawat makbapak kota kat kampung...atau kerana tidak mampu hantar anak pakai bas sekolah kerana tambang bas sekolah sudah mahal...
Sepatutnya...berilah suggestion yang lebih munasabah, lebih bijak...
Inilah kalau first time jadi menteri, tak sudah2 pikir cakap dia sahaja yang penuh ngan wisdom dan bagus...
sebelum tu pulak beri gambaran yang salah, kata semua org Kampung Baru beri persetujuan utk bangunkan kawasan Kampung baru...eh eh eh, sedapnya mulut dia bercakap...inilah bahana kalu takde org nak tegur menteri2 kita ni...
Jawatankuasa Kg Baru atau MAS cakap bila masa depa kasi persetujuan, depa kata depa bukan anti pembangunan tapi caranya kena betul!
Betul jugak MAS ckp...Kenapa nak bagi org luar yang handlekan? Itulah satu2 kawasan Melayu jati atau totok yang masih wujud kat Kuala Lumpur, apa salahnya kita bangunkan ikut cara depa...kalu saya, saya suruh depa cantikkan rumah depa...walaupun rumah kayu...biar ade ciri2 melayu original di dalam Kuala Lumpur...tak yah bangunan tinggi tinggi diperbuat ngan simen, besi dan kaca...cantikkan Kg Baru dengan watak2 tradisional melayu dari Selangor, NS, Perak, Kelantan, etc...jadikan ia tempat tourism yang unggul...eh kalau kita ade Petaling Street dan Brickfields untuk menampakkan ciri2 kaum2 lain, apa salah jadikan Kg Baru ciri Melayu di tengah Kuala Lumpur?!
lagi satu tolonglah pikir brp sgt org melayu yang ade tanah atau hartanah kat Kuala Lumpur sekrg...cubalah pikir baik2, cubalah tanganinya dengan hati2 dan penuh sensitiviti...jangan pikir pembangunan itu bole dipaksa...
menteri tu agaknya kalu kasi kat melayu (org dia sendiri) utk bangunkan Kg Baru...nanti kawasan akan tetap dull...tapi pikirlah kalu org melayu sudah bahagia dengan cara dia buat niaga...cara dia persembahkan perniagaan yang mungkin dibuat ala kadar bukan seperti kedai kaum lain, apa salahnya kita terima...kita bole terima org asli kita bercawat sampai sekrg takkan kita tak bole terima cara kita org kita berniaga atau memajukan diri...
adakah tempat niaga atau pembangunan itu perlu pertukaran secara fizikal sahaja seperti kena buat bahagian pameran yang canggih, yang lip lap lip lap...sebenarnya bagi sesetengah org pemikiran kita yang perlukan pembangunan dahulu...dan masih ade org Melayu suka berniaga mengikut kemampuan dan tidak mahu sgt mengikut cara masakini, tapi kalu dia dpt untung byk dgn cara itu, kenapa hendak dipaksa dia berubah...
siapa yang taknak tgk kaum sendiri maju, berjaya...tapi kenalah tanganinya dengan penuh bijaksana...
eh nak tgk bola la, Holland dan Jepun!!
Apa jenis menteri ni, dia ingat kita mentedarah Astro ngan Kereta ke?!!
Dia ingat kita perlu 'puashati' dengan RM3000 tu sahaja?
Mentang2 lah awak ade driver, kereta free, ade escort and tauke Astro kawan baik kerajaan...tol awak ntah2 bole claim...
Hello, tak tahu ke sekrg kereta sudah jadi keperluan bukan lagi salah satu kemewahan...jangan salahkan rakyat (walaupun anak ramai) kalu rakyat nak beli kereta kancil kerana nak lawat makbapak kota kat kampung...atau kerana tidak mampu hantar anak pakai bas sekolah kerana tambang bas sekolah sudah mahal...
Sepatutnya...berilah suggestion yang lebih munasabah, lebih bijak...
Inilah kalau first time jadi menteri, tak sudah2 pikir cakap dia sahaja yang penuh ngan wisdom dan bagus...
sebelum tu pulak beri gambaran yang salah, kata semua org Kampung Baru beri persetujuan utk bangunkan kawasan Kampung baru...eh eh eh, sedapnya mulut dia bercakap...inilah bahana kalu takde org nak tegur menteri2 kita ni...
Jawatankuasa Kg Baru atau MAS cakap bila masa depa kasi persetujuan, depa kata depa bukan anti pembangunan tapi caranya kena betul!
Betul jugak MAS ckp...Kenapa nak bagi org luar yang handlekan? Itulah satu2 kawasan Melayu jati atau totok yang masih wujud kat Kuala Lumpur, apa salahnya kita bangunkan ikut cara depa...kalu saya, saya suruh depa cantikkan rumah depa...walaupun rumah kayu...biar ade ciri2 melayu original di dalam Kuala Lumpur...tak yah bangunan tinggi tinggi diperbuat ngan simen, besi dan kaca...cantikkan Kg Baru dengan watak2 tradisional melayu dari Selangor, NS, Perak, Kelantan, etc...jadikan ia tempat tourism yang unggul...eh kalau kita ade Petaling Street dan Brickfields untuk menampakkan ciri2 kaum2 lain, apa salah jadikan Kg Baru ciri Melayu di tengah Kuala Lumpur?!
lagi satu tolonglah pikir brp sgt org melayu yang ade tanah atau hartanah kat Kuala Lumpur sekrg...cubalah pikir baik2, cubalah tanganinya dengan hati2 dan penuh sensitiviti...jangan pikir pembangunan itu bole dipaksa...
menteri tu agaknya kalu kasi kat melayu (org dia sendiri) utk bangunkan Kg Baru...nanti kawasan akan tetap dull...tapi pikirlah kalu org melayu sudah bahagia dengan cara dia buat niaga...cara dia persembahkan perniagaan yang mungkin dibuat ala kadar bukan seperti kedai kaum lain, apa salahnya kita terima...kita bole terima org asli kita bercawat sampai sekrg takkan kita tak bole terima cara kita org kita berniaga atau memajukan diri...
adakah tempat niaga atau pembangunan itu perlu pertukaran secara fizikal sahaja seperti kena buat bahagian pameran yang canggih, yang lip lap lip lap...sebenarnya bagi sesetengah org pemikiran kita yang perlukan pembangunan dahulu...dan masih ade org Melayu suka berniaga mengikut kemampuan dan tidak mahu sgt mengikut cara masakini, tapi kalu dia dpt untung byk dgn cara itu, kenapa hendak dipaksa dia berubah...
siapa yang taknak tgk kaum sendiri maju, berjaya...tapi kenalah tanganinya dengan penuh bijaksana...
eh nak tgk bola la, Holland dan Jepun!!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Koleksi
Ni dari Iraq...gambar masjid syiah di Iraq...tak ingat la namanya...tapi famous gak, asyik2 kena letup je...
ni datang dari Tanzania...gambar2 separuh/suku binatang2 kat sini...
ni lak dilukis oleh org Kenya tapi dibeli di Tanzania...lukisan pokok2 jacaranda...cantik pokok2 ni...rasa nak bawak la anak pokok dia ke Malaysia...
yang ni terbeli kat longkang besar serta busuk Bangkok...gambar pun sama gak...floating market...
hah yang ni best, dibuat dari taik lembu...diuli2, dibentuk dan dikeraskan lepas tu diwarnakan...karya org Rwanda...ntah mana dpt idea camni...
yang ni dua terakhir yang mcm bentuk bulan sabit ni...dibeli di Kota Kinabalu bah...bekas apa ntah tapi diperbuat dari gangsa tak silap den...den suka sgt...yang berdot-dot empat segi tu...tikar yang dibeli di Pantai Cherating and then di frame...tenang je beli melihatnya...
ni datang dari Tanzania...gambar2 separuh/suku binatang2 kat sini...
ni lak dilukis oleh org Kenya tapi dibeli di Tanzania...lukisan pokok2 jacaranda...cantik pokok2 ni...rasa nak bawak la anak pokok dia ke Malaysia...
yang ni terbeli kat longkang besar serta busuk Bangkok...gambar pun sama gak...floating market...
hah yang ni best, dibuat dari taik lembu...diuli2, dibentuk dan dikeraskan lepas tu diwarnakan...karya org Rwanda...ntah mana dpt idea camni...
yang ni dua terakhir yang mcm bentuk bulan sabit ni...dibeli di Kota Kinabalu bah...bekas apa ntah tapi diperbuat dari gangsa tak silap den...den suka sgt...yang berdot-dot empat segi tu...tikar yang dibeli di Pantai Cherating and then di frame...tenang je beli melihatnya...
Telur mana yang tak suka bermadu?!!
hehehehe...jangan fikir bukan-bukan...tapi terpulanglah kepada interpretasi anda...dah besar da...
pesan atuk, kalu mahu cargas senantiasa...hendaklah makan telur ayam kampung mentah atau separuh masak dan dicampur dengan sesudu madu asli...buatlah tiap2 hari...nescaya, terang mata2 kamu sehinga dalam gelap pun nampak, jeng jeng jeng!!
tapi ingredien kami memang unik sikit...telur ayam kampung kami dapat blkg umah je, bure org tanzania kata...eh ayam2 aku kalu x de nak bertelur memang aku sembelih je...ayam jantan aku letak 3 ekor...senang, produktiviti tinggi...
anyway, madunya dari datang dari pulau Zanzibar!! fuh...memang madu terhebat yang pernah aku jumpa...mau ka? jemput lah ke umah...
nah, ini dia!
nota : bure maksudnya free!
pesan atuk, kalu mahu cargas senantiasa...hendaklah makan telur ayam kampung mentah atau separuh masak dan dicampur dengan sesudu madu asli...buatlah tiap2 hari...nescaya, terang mata2 kamu sehinga dalam gelap pun nampak, jeng jeng jeng!!
tapi ingredien kami memang unik sikit...telur ayam kampung kami dapat blkg umah je, bure org tanzania kata...eh ayam2 aku kalu x de nak bertelur memang aku sembelih je...ayam jantan aku letak 3 ekor...senang, produktiviti tinggi...
anyway, madunya dari datang dari pulau Zanzibar!! fuh...memang madu terhebat yang pernah aku jumpa...mau ka? jemput lah ke umah...
nah, ini dia!
nota : bure maksudnya free!
Kisah Karipap dan Kuih Lapis
Berpeluh-peluh bini aku membuat dua kuih ni...kesian dia tapi dia nak buat jugak...
Aku lak sibuk mendokumentasikan sedikit proses tu...mula2 dia buat intinya...dia campur kentang, ubi, carrot and rempahnya...
lps tu dia sibuk pulak buat kulit karipap tu lak!! air liur da meleleh...da 1 bulan lebih dia tak buat dah...tak tahan den!
bila dia hidang punye lah aku terkejut dog! eh kata karipap je...ni kuih lapis ni dtg dari mana? dia jawab ngan selamba je - saya ni bukan beranak 3 je tapi saya bole buat karipap ni beranak pulak kuih lapis lagi...ish ish ish...apa saja la labu!
Aku lak sibuk mendokumentasikan sedikit proses tu...mula2 dia buat intinya...dia campur kentang, ubi, carrot and rempahnya...
lps tu dia sibuk pulak buat kulit karipap tu lak!! air liur da meleleh...da 1 bulan lebih dia tak buat dah...tak tahan den!
bila dia hidang punye lah aku terkejut dog! eh kata karipap je...ni kuih lapis ni dtg dari mana? dia jawab ngan selamba je - saya ni bukan beranak 3 je tapi saya bole buat karipap ni beranak pulak kuih lapis lagi...ish ish ish...apa saja la labu!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Snippets
Syarat untuk jadi Peguam Syarie
1. Sekarang kecoh pula pasal isu seorang peguam berbangsa India dan beragama Hindu yang hendak jadi peguam Syarie tetapi ditolak kerna dia bukan beragama Islam. Dia buat rayuan. Bagi saya memang tidak cukup hanya dengan Diploma dari UIA tu. Tapi apa salahnya kita kasi dia dengan syarat...syaratnya, beliau kena pergi kelas agama dan then dijadikan co-counsel dulu...dan mesti di'supervise' oleh seorang mentor (contohnya peguam syarie yang berpengalaman)...then bila da 1-2 tahun, test la dia...apa salahnya, mana la tahu dia masuk Islam pulak nanti...TAPI bagaimana pula orang bukan Islam yang terlibat secara langsung dengan perbankan Islam dan Takaful? Banyak isu salah satu - Banyak orang mempersoalkan tentang kadar BFR yang mirip dengan konsep BLR...adakah ini kerna kurang pengetahuan dalam hal ini di kalangan orang ramai atau kerna anasir-anasir yang tidak berlandaskan syariat agama Islam yang dipengaruhi oleh orang bukan Islam?
Tidak Basuh Dubur
2. Kes Sodomy yang hebat diperkatakan sekarang ini ada banyak isu menarik...antaranya, kalau tak dibasuh dubur dalam masa dua hari, macamana si pemilik dubur tu basuh lepas buang najis? Adakah semasa sampel air mani di duburnya diambil sudah dicemari najis dan boleh digunakan lagi? Si pemilik dubur tu kata juga dia tak basuh duburnya tapi dia mcm basuh atau lap gitu-gitu je untuk preserve bukti air mani yang terlekat kat duburnya...Jika tidak ada buang najis dalam masa dua hari itu, adakah air mani itu masih boleh diambil dan dikaji DNA nya? Tapi si tertuduh yang dikatakan orang yang 'menyerang' dubur berkenaan pun satu...ambikla coffee girl lain kali...
Limbang
3. Kerajaan memang hebat, depa jawab semua isu kecuali isu Limbang...orang nak tahu adakah Limbang sudah jadi milik Malaysia atau masih menjadi 'rebutan' Brunei juga? Jawablah, apa salahnya...
1. Sekarang kecoh pula pasal isu seorang peguam berbangsa India dan beragama Hindu yang hendak jadi peguam Syarie tetapi ditolak kerna dia bukan beragama Islam. Dia buat rayuan. Bagi saya memang tidak cukup hanya dengan Diploma dari UIA tu. Tapi apa salahnya kita kasi dia dengan syarat...syaratnya, beliau kena pergi kelas agama dan then dijadikan co-counsel dulu...dan mesti di'supervise' oleh seorang mentor (contohnya peguam syarie yang berpengalaman)...then bila da 1-2 tahun, test la dia...apa salahnya, mana la tahu dia masuk Islam pulak nanti...TAPI bagaimana pula orang bukan Islam yang terlibat secara langsung dengan perbankan Islam dan Takaful? Banyak isu salah satu - Banyak orang mempersoalkan tentang kadar BFR yang mirip dengan konsep BLR...adakah ini kerna kurang pengetahuan dalam hal ini di kalangan orang ramai atau kerna anasir-anasir yang tidak berlandaskan syariat agama Islam yang dipengaruhi oleh orang bukan Islam?
Tidak Basuh Dubur
2. Kes Sodomy yang hebat diperkatakan sekarang ini ada banyak isu menarik...antaranya, kalau tak dibasuh dubur dalam masa dua hari, macamana si pemilik dubur tu basuh lepas buang najis? Adakah semasa sampel air mani di duburnya diambil sudah dicemari najis dan boleh digunakan lagi? Si pemilik dubur tu kata juga dia tak basuh duburnya tapi dia mcm basuh atau lap gitu-gitu je untuk preserve bukti air mani yang terlekat kat duburnya...Jika tidak ada buang najis dalam masa dua hari itu, adakah air mani itu masih boleh diambil dan dikaji DNA nya? Tapi si tertuduh yang dikatakan orang yang 'menyerang' dubur berkenaan pun satu...ambikla coffee girl lain kali...
Limbang
3. Kerajaan memang hebat, depa jawab semua isu kecuali isu Limbang...orang nak tahu adakah Limbang sudah jadi milik Malaysia atau masih menjadi 'rebutan' Brunei juga? Jawablah, apa salahnya...
Kenapa?
Oh sudah lama tak ber'blog' ni...manyak sibuk.
Anyway, I nak tanya Home Minister kita ni kenapa boleh 'menghadap' jumpa Raja Perempuan Kelantan yang mendakwa dikasari oleh Polis? Laporan akhbar mengatakan tangan Raja Perempuan 'lebam' kerana kekasaran itu.
Kenapa pulak tak pergi jumpa keluarga Aminulrasyid berkaitan anak mereka, Aminurasyid yang telah ditembak di kepala dan mati?
Bukankah darah si arwah itu merah juga?
Adakah kerna Shah Alam dipegang oleh MP yang tidak sekutu dengan kerajaan dan kerna itu Chief Of Police Negeri Sembilan (yang dikuasai oleh kerajaan) terus memintak maaf bila orang dia menembak seorang mat rempit di negeri sembilan?
Memang saya setuju bila kerajaan melalui Peguam Negara bawa kes Aminulrasyid ke Mahkamah.
Tapi lebih banyak baiknya jika Home Minister kita pergi jumpa keluarga Aminulrasyid...kalu tak nak disensasikan atau disalahertikan, jumpa la senyap-senyap.
bukan begitu Labu?
Anyway, I nak tanya Home Minister kita ni kenapa boleh 'menghadap' jumpa Raja Perempuan Kelantan yang mendakwa dikasari oleh Polis? Laporan akhbar mengatakan tangan Raja Perempuan 'lebam' kerana kekasaran itu.
Kenapa pulak tak pergi jumpa keluarga Aminulrasyid berkaitan anak mereka, Aminurasyid yang telah ditembak di kepala dan mati?
Bukankah darah si arwah itu merah juga?
Adakah kerna Shah Alam dipegang oleh MP yang tidak sekutu dengan kerajaan dan kerna itu Chief Of Police Negeri Sembilan (yang dikuasai oleh kerajaan) terus memintak maaf bila orang dia menembak seorang mat rempit di negeri sembilan?
Memang saya setuju bila kerajaan melalui Peguam Negara bawa kes Aminulrasyid ke Mahkamah.
Tapi lebih banyak baiknya jika Home Minister kita pergi jumpa keluarga Aminulrasyid...kalu tak nak disensasikan atau disalahertikan, jumpa la senyap-senyap.
bukan begitu Labu?
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
The ash cloud is really scary
...and it is coming to your doorstep!!
latest news - it has reached part of Canada!! By looking at the pattern, its next stops - Middle East and/or Africa!
it is good that Europe stopped all the flights. Some people thought they were over-reacting...hey, i thought it is better to be safe than sorry. Just look what happened to the Finnish fighter jets.
but i do agree it is affecting the world economy tremendously!! All airlines stocks is going down and still going down!! South Africa is worried they wont have enough balls (for sale) for World Cup 2010 as Pakistan, the main soccer/football maker in the world could not send them! South Korea is having problem to send their millions of newly made handphones (I assume Samsung's as they are popular in Europe) to Europe; Tanzania and Kenya could not send their roses in Europe! Bangladesh is having problem to send their textile goods to their European clients! Even KLIA is having headache with 450 tonnes of cargo they have now in their warehouse!! Some couples could not get married because the groom/bride is stuck somewhere in Europe!!!
These are just some example of economic crisis we are facing now. And I thought economic crisis, this size, only caused by greedy capitalists!! (But I thought it is still their fault - you know why. Let me give you one example. They opened a textile factory in Bangladesh because of the cheap labour there...usually when they are ready, they will send them to Europe for sale at 10 fold prices. So now when this disaster happened...they will start to lose money. When they are losing money, they will close the Bangladesh factories and open some new ones in Eastern Europe where you still can find cheap labour...now, Bangladesh is suffering because of that move..when Bangladesh is suffering, its government called their friends and offer their citizens to be 'exported' to some countries to get some jobs...when this happened, cases of human trafficking will rise and keep rising!! Then it created not just economic problem but also social problem in Bangladesh and other countries who are not initially affected by the volcanic ash cloud!!! Do you see what I mean!!)
Our life is just intertwined with all what had and has happened around us. You will feel the effect either directly or indirectly. It does not matter where you are now and how you are prepared for it.
Bird flu, H1N1, earthquakes, tsunami, global warming and wars are just few examples that have far reaching effects and brought us calamity one after another. Blow after blow. BUT what are these things trying to tell us?!
latest news - it has reached part of Canada!! By looking at the pattern, its next stops - Middle East and/or Africa!
it is good that Europe stopped all the flights. Some people thought they were over-reacting...hey, i thought it is better to be safe than sorry. Just look what happened to the Finnish fighter jets.
but i do agree it is affecting the world economy tremendously!! All airlines stocks is going down and still going down!! South Africa is worried they wont have enough balls (for sale) for World Cup 2010 as Pakistan, the main soccer/football maker in the world could not send them! South Korea is having problem to send their millions of newly made handphones (I assume Samsung's as they are popular in Europe) to Europe; Tanzania and Kenya could not send their roses in Europe! Bangladesh is having problem to send their textile goods to their European clients! Even KLIA is having headache with 450 tonnes of cargo they have now in their warehouse!! Some couples could not get married because the groom/bride is stuck somewhere in Europe!!!
These are just some example of economic crisis we are facing now. And I thought economic crisis, this size, only caused by greedy capitalists!! (But I thought it is still their fault - you know why. Let me give you one example. They opened a textile factory in Bangladesh because of the cheap labour there...usually when they are ready, they will send them to Europe for sale at 10 fold prices. So now when this disaster happened...they will start to lose money. When they are losing money, they will close the Bangladesh factories and open some new ones in Eastern Europe where you still can find cheap labour...now, Bangladesh is suffering because of that move..when Bangladesh is suffering, its government called their friends and offer their citizens to be 'exported' to some countries to get some jobs...when this happened, cases of human trafficking will rise and keep rising!! Then it created not just economic problem but also social problem in Bangladesh and other countries who are not initially affected by the volcanic ash cloud!!! Do you see what I mean!!)
Our life is just intertwined with all what had and has happened around us. You will feel the effect either directly or indirectly. It does not matter where you are now and how you are prepared for it.
Bird flu, H1N1, earthquakes, tsunami, global warming and wars are just few examples that have far reaching effects and brought us calamity one after another. Blow after blow. BUT what are these things trying to tell us?!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Snippets
Redang
1. I know this is subject that is quite basi (old) already but I think I need to say something. Someone is foolish enough to think that Pulau Redang should be turned into a luxury destination. In the first place, what is the purpose? Is it because Trengganu so 'poor' that you felt that Redang needed to be 'upgraded' to overcome the problem? and why Redang? why not Lang Tengah? First of all I must say Trengganu is my favorite state in West Malaysia...due to many reasons - its people, its orginality, etc. We even had our honeymoon in Redang!! Is it because Michelle Yeoh has bought a land and built her mansion with Jean (Ke)Todt in Marang? Is it because Vincent Tan wanted to upgrade its hotels in Redang but he put the plan aside because felt that there are too many local tourists there making the island look cheap? Is it because of the so called prestigious Monsoon cup and since Trengganu and Redang's standards are too low thus making it unattractive to the foreigners?
Apartheid and Genocide
2. Some Malaysians have wild imaginations. They seem to think that apartheid is actually being practised in Malaysia and another group thought that genocide did happened in Malaysia!! First of all, do they know the meaning of apartheid and genocide. I bet they did not even bother to look up at Wikipedia...let alone the available jurisprudence from the international criminal tribunals. The only unfortunate and worst thing that happened in Malaysia is 13 May - the racial riot in Selangor/KL. So look forward. We should encourage each other to use the right channels (dont give up!) and be more diplomatic (if you listen to people, the people listen to you back).
Basic knowledge of personal finances
3. Do we know that we should have savings of at least equivalent to our 6 months of our monthly salary at all times? Do you know that our EPF is not sufficient to support our retirement? Facts : Survey shows that many Malaysians spent all their EPF money within 3-5 years after they retired; the current life expectancy of a Malaysian Male is 70 and female is 75. Do you know that only 20% of Malaysians have life insurance/takaful? Many of us think that our employer's insurance(s) is more than enough. Do we know what inflation (I do not know who created this 'inflation') means? Do we know how to handle it? Just imagine, in 1980s, you could buy 10 hacks sweets at the price of 10 cent. Now you need at least 60 sen to buy 10 hacks sweets.
Islamic Laws
4. I am sad to see that even some Muslims in Malaysia are embarassed that Islamic Laws are being practised in some small areas and enforced by our Syariah Courts. I sense that they are being pressured by certain influential groups that uphold their so-called human rights to the extreme. These groups put religion at the same level of freedon of speech but yet they practised double standards. They allowed Muslim prophet to be depicted as terrorist but they put people in jail if someone denied the existence of holocoust!! Influenced by such propagandas, Muslims in Malaysia and other parts of the world decided to reject Islamic laws and/or Islam itself through their actions or inaction. They somehow contributed into the thinkings that Islam and/or Islamic Laws are oppressive, violent and orthodox (they want to be looked as modern and forward thinkers)!!
Success
5. I always believe that if you have the desire/hunger, belief and knowledge/skills you will be successful in whatever field you chose to be in! And money is just another by-product created by your success. But dont just think about money. Some people chose their fields and had success in the name of 'change' or just to get recognition. Thus, when you are successful, money, recognition, etc will follow you! and because of your success, you may have the time to devote yourself to your God, family, etc. and think big always!! the bigger your dream, the more successful you are!!
1. I know this is subject that is quite basi (old) already but I think I need to say something. Someone is foolish enough to think that Pulau Redang should be turned into a luxury destination. In the first place, what is the purpose? Is it because Trengganu so 'poor' that you felt that Redang needed to be 'upgraded' to overcome the problem? and why Redang? why not Lang Tengah? First of all I must say Trengganu is my favorite state in West Malaysia...due to many reasons - its people, its orginality, etc. We even had our honeymoon in Redang!! Is it because Michelle Yeoh has bought a land and built her mansion with Jean (Ke)Todt in Marang? Is it because Vincent Tan wanted to upgrade its hotels in Redang but he put the plan aside because felt that there are too many local tourists there making the island look cheap? Is it because of the so called prestigious Monsoon cup and since Trengganu and Redang's standards are too low thus making it unattractive to the foreigners?
Apartheid and Genocide
2. Some Malaysians have wild imaginations. They seem to think that apartheid is actually being practised in Malaysia and another group thought that genocide did happened in Malaysia!! First of all, do they know the meaning of apartheid and genocide. I bet they did not even bother to look up at Wikipedia...let alone the available jurisprudence from the international criminal tribunals. The only unfortunate and worst thing that happened in Malaysia is 13 May - the racial riot in Selangor/KL. So look forward. We should encourage each other to use the right channels (dont give up!) and be more diplomatic (if you listen to people, the people listen to you back).
Basic knowledge of personal finances
3. Do we know that we should have savings of at least equivalent to our 6 months of our monthly salary at all times? Do you know that our EPF is not sufficient to support our retirement? Facts : Survey shows that many Malaysians spent all their EPF money within 3-5 years after they retired; the current life expectancy of a Malaysian Male is 70 and female is 75. Do you know that only 20% of Malaysians have life insurance/takaful? Many of us think that our employer's insurance(s) is more than enough. Do we know what inflation (I do not know who created this 'inflation') means? Do we know how to handle it? Just imagine, in 1980s, you could buy 10 hacks sweets at the price of 10 cent. Now you need at least 60 sen to buy 10 hacks sweets.
Islamic Laws
4. I am sad to see that even some Muslims in Malaysia are embarassed that Islamic Laws are being practised in some small areas and enforced by our Syariah Courts. I sense that they are being pressured by certain influential groups that uphold their so-called human rights to the extreme. These groups put religion at the same level of freedon of speech but yet they practised double standards. They allowed Muslim prophet to be depicted as terrorist but they put people in jail if someone denied the existence of holocoust!! Influenced by such propagandas, Muslims in Malaysia and other parts of the world decided to reject Islamic laws and/or Islam itself through their actions or inaction. They somehow contributed into the thinkings that Islam and/or Islamic Laws are oppressive, violent and orthodox (they want to be looked as modern and forward thinkers)!!
Success
5. I always believe that if you have the desire/hunger, belief and knowledge/skills you will be successful in whatever field you chose to be in! And money is just another by-product created by your success. But dont just think about money. Some people chose their fields and had success in the name of 'change' or just to get recognition. Thus, when you are successful, money, recognition, etc will follow you! and because of your success, you may have the time to devote yourself to your God, family, etc. and think big always!! the bigger your dream, the more successful you are!!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
From Arusha to Watamu
2 April was Good Friday and 5 April was Easter. So we had a long weekend but we did not know where to go.
On 31 March, our dear friend called us and invited us to follow them to go to Mombasa, Kenya. Mombasa is the main port of Kenya and at the same time is a tourist destination because of its beautiful beach (especially Nyali Beach).
We never been to Mombasa before. So why not.
The route that we took is Arusha - Moshi - Holili (Border town - Tanzania side) - Taveta (Border Town - Kenya side) - Voi - Mombasa. We departed at around 6am. When I started the car, my friend had already left Arusha. He said he wanted to pray Jumaat in Mombasa.
So we had to chase them as we did not want to get lost. My friend is a fast driver. If I drive 150km per hour he will do 170km per hour!! So they had to stop few times just to wait for us.
We arrived at Holili before 10am. To get into Kenya, you have to pass through 6 checkpoints. First, I have to register myself at the Tanzania police station stating that we are going to Kenya. Then to the Tanzanian immigration. Thereafter to Tanzanian Revenue Authority to get the permit to 'export' my car temporarily to Kenya. All that took us around 30 minutes. When we reached Taveta, we had to pass the last 3 checkpoints - Police, Immigration and Kenya Revenue Authority. That took us another 30 good minutes.
The area from Holili to Taveta was a no man's land. The road was really bad. But to go to Voi was even worst. It took us about 2 hours to reach there. Thank God for 4wd.
Then from Voi all the way to Mombasa was a breeze until we reached the hotel. Somehow we thought the hotel was a 'luxury' hotel but it turned out to be a rundown hotel. It was really nice if you look from outside. But once you are inside the rooms, it was like a YMCA hostel!! So we had to change hotel. We found a really nice hotel in Mombasa.
I told my friend that we wanted to go Watamu, a small beach town about 1-2 hour drive from Mombasa the next day. They said no but boy, we did not regret our decision! Watamu is great! The white sand beach is clean and the resort we chose was really good especially for families with small kids. My kids really had fun. Me and my wife had fun too. We also made some new friends there. We stayed there until Monday. We went back to Mombasa and stayed there for another night. We departed to Arusha on Tuesday.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
An Article by IKIM - I fully agree with him
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/3/30/focus/5937508&sec=focus
Let religion be the business of the experts
IKIM VIEWS By Dr WAN AZHAR WAB AHMAD
SENIOR FELLOW/DIRECTOR
Human rights advocates have been fighting for gender equality before the law and yet when Islamic law stands in support of their claim, they accuse syariah of being uncompromising, inhumane and discriminatory.
I am flabbergasted by the prejudices and misgivings of certain quarters against religious teachings. I am almost speechless when reflecting on the degree of denial and obstinacy shown by them.
A recent incident which seemingly took the nation by surprise is the purported outcry over the whipping carried out on Muslim (women) syariah offenders.
While the offenders themselves had no qualms about the punishment, many others became involved in an unnecessary controversy. Human rights advocates have been fighting for gender equality and yet when Islamic law stands in support of their claim, they accused syariah as uncompromising, inhumane and discriminatory.
It is understandable if the criticism came from non-Muslims. But when the rejection came from Muslims themselves, it is incomprehensible. They seem to glorify human rights doctrines more than honouring their own religious pronouncements, or the principles of true ethics and morality.
This is secularism. It represents a process of secularisation as certain quarters are influencing others to shy away from religion and good value system.
Islam does not lay rigid emphasis on punitive actions. The religion is about knowledge, education and the inculcation of good values. Islam asks Muslims to refer to a legal avenue to solve disputes only as a last resort. Even this is always preceded with words for forgiveness and mediation.
Islamic law does not differentiate between male and female offenders. In fact, in achieving salvation, Islam is giving equal opportunity to both sexes.
In the recent execution of the punishment, four male criminals were flogged. But the human rights vanguards chose to close one eye on this.
For the Muslims in this grouping, their secular inclination manifests their inadequate Islamic upbringing, resulting in confusion and ignorance. Even after being told the truth, they stubbornly hold firm to their misunderstanding.
For the non-Muslims, they appear to have lost a sense of adab, the sense of respect of other religions. Camouflaged under the pretext of human-rightism, they claim the right to interfere in a domain they have minimal or no knowledge about.
The Muslim and non-Muslim detractors simply defy authoritative religious precepts, authentic knowledge, reliable authorities, irrefutable historical facts, the rules of reason and logic, and the rules of ethics and morality. In the process, they have consciously or unconsciously become atheists, agnostics, sophists, and secularists.
It is amazing to learn the paradox that people conveniently acknowledge the authority of certain professionals in certain fields but hardly do the same in some other areas.
For example, many will not risk their health or life visiting unqualified physicians for their medical problems and later question the prescription given.
They do not dare challenge any registered lawyer, accountant, engineer, or architect for any matter within their respective fields of expertise and professionalism. Ironically, when it comes to religion, many believe that it is “free” for everyone to interfere with. I fail to understand this logic.
Our nation is blessed with many educated people but it appears that some do not have the wisdom that is supposed to come with education. A considerable number simply do not know their limit.
One of the signs of wisdom is to know one’s limit of knowledge. This implies that one is not supposed to comment on things that one is not well informed of. If one lacks knowledge on anything, one must first gather sufficient information and data before making any remark. Hearsay evidence or mere observation will not help solve any problem.
One must also do it with a clear conscience as one may need to alter or retract one’s opinion if someone else who is more knowledgeable points out the mistake in certain respects or in the entire subject matter.
Failure to fulfil the prerequisites means one is not wise. Not knowing the limit in a way signifies stupidity. If and when one does that and declines to take the right advice, one only exposes one’s ignorance and, worse, arrogance.
Knowledge is not something neutral. It is laden with values that one must not ignore: good and evil, right and wrong, beneficial and harmful.
In the context of a multi-religious society, everyone must be alert to each other’s sensitivities. If a non-Muslim is making unfair comment on Islam and its institutions, no sound Muslim will just keep quiet.
Similarly, if Muslims for example are questioning the rationality of the Christian concept of trinity, or the Hindu’s multiplicity of gods, or the practice of the caste system, the leaders and followers of these religions will not just shut up and do nothing.
Therefore, it is extremely important for all groups in our pluralistic society not to touch on each other’s sensitivities, especially those that pertain to theology and matters that have been granted by our Constitution.
Let us affirm the general position that matters of religion do not fall under the purview of any layman on the street, even an educated one, as there are conditions to be met. Let us maintain the status quo that religion is the business of those qualified experts and professionals.
Yes, religion is open to human interpretation, but not just by anybody. If one has fulfilled certain requirements, there will be no objection to engage in any religious discussion. In the case of Islam, this applies to everybody having the desire, determination and efforts for a better understanding.
Let religion be the business of the experts
IKIM VIEWS By Dr WAN AZHAR WAB AHMAD
SENIOR FELLOW/DIRECTOR
Human rights advocates have been fighting for gender equality before the law and yet when Islamic law stands in support of their claim, they accuse syariah of being uncompromising, inhumane and discriminatory.
I am flabbergasted by the prejudices and misgivings of certain quarters against religious teachings. I am almost speechless when reflecting on the degree of denial and obstinacy shown by them.
A recent incident which seemingly took the nation by surprise is the purported outcry over the whipping carried out on Muslim (women) syariah offenders.
While the offenders themselves had no qualms about the punishment, many others became involved in an unnecessary controversy. Human rights advocates have been fighting for gender equality and yet when Islamic law stands in support of their claim, they accused syariah as uncompromising, inhumane and discriminatory.
It is understandable if the criticism came from non-Muslims. But when the rejection came from Muslims themselves, it is incomprehensible. They seem to glorify human rights doctrines more than honouring their own religious pronouncements, or the principles of true ethics and morality.
This is secularism. It represents a process of secularisation as certain quarters are influencing others to shy away from religion and good value system.
Islam does not lay rigid emphasis on punitive actions. The religion is about knowledge, education and the inculcation of good values. Islam asks Muslims to refer to a legal avenue to solve disputes only as a last resort. Even this is always preceded with words for forgiveness and mediation.
Islamic law does not differentiate between male and female offenders. In fact, in achieving salvation, Islam is giving equal opportunity to both sexes.
In the recent execution of the punishment, four male criminals were flogged. But the human rights vanguards chose to close one eye on this.
For the Muslims in this grouping, their secular inclination manifests their inadequate Islamic upbringing, resulting in confusion and ignorance. Even after being told the truth, they stubbornly hold firm to their misunderstanding.
For the non-Muslims, they appear to have lost a sense of adab, the sense of respect of other religions. Camouflaged under the pretext of human-rightism, they claim the right to interfere in a domain they have minimal or no knowledge about.
The Muslim and non-Muslim detractors simply defy authoritative religious precepts, authentic knowledge, reliable authorities, irrefutable historical facts, the rules of reason and logic, and the rules of ethics and morality. In the process, they have consciously or unconsciously become atheists, agnostics, sophists, and secularists.
It is amazing to learn the paradox that people conveniently acknowledge the authority of certain professionals in certain fields but hardly do the same in some other areas.
For example, many will not risk their health or life visiting unqualified physicians for their medical problems and later question the prescription given.
They do not dare challenge any registered lawyer, accountant, engineer, or architect for any matter within their respective fields of expertise and professionalism. Ironically, when it comes to religion, many believe that it is “free” for everyone to interfere with. I fail to understand this logic.
Our nation is blessed with many educated people but it appears that some do not have the wisdom that is supposed to come with education. A considerable number simply do not know their limit.
One of the signs of wisdom is to know one’s limit of knowledge. This implies that one is not supposed to comment on things that one is not well informed of. If one lacks knowledge on anything, one must first gather sufficient information and data before making any remark. Hearsay evidence or mere observation will not help solve any problem.
One must also do it with a clear conscience as one may need to alter or retract one’s opinion if someone else who is more knowledgeable points out the mistake in certain respects or in the entire subject matter.
Failure to fulfil the prerequisites means one is not wise. Not knowing the limit in a way signifies stupidity. If and when one does that and declines to take the right advice, one only exposes one’s ignorance and, worse, arrogance.
Knowledge is not something neutral. It is laden with values that one must not ignore: good and evil, right and wrong, beneficial and harmful.
In the context of a multi-religious society, everyone must be alert to each other’s sensitivities. If a non-Muslim is making unfair comment on Islam and its institutions, no sound Muslim will just keep quiet.
Similarly, if Muslims for example are questioning the rationality of the Christian concept of trinity, or the Hindu’s multiplicity of gods, or the practice of the caste system, the leaders and followers of these religions will not just shut up and do nothing.
Therefore, it is extremely important for all groups in our pluralistic society not to touch on each other’s sensitivities, especially those that pertain to theology and matters that have been granted by our Constitution.
Let us affirm the general position that matters of religion do not fall under the purview of any layman on the street, even an educated one, as there are conditions to be met. Let us maintain the status quo that religion is the business of those qualified experts and professionals.
Yes, religion is open to human interpretation, but not just by anybody. If one has fulfilled certain requirements, there will be no objection to engage in any religious discussion. In the case of Islam, this applies to everybody having the desire, determination and efforts for a better understanding.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Top 10 Things in my mind
1) My wish is that one day that Malaysia will qualify for World Cup (football/soccer)...at the same time I am saying to myself "yeah dream on bro!!"
2) I want my kids to be professional sportmen/women...like my daughter - professional golfer (and they wear decent clothes, not like tennis, soccer, hockey players). As for my two sons, they can choose from this list - F1, European football, tennis, golf, etc, the ones that are lucrative and we can follow them when they are on world tour!! If they do not favour any of them, the next best thing to do is to be doctors, all of them and they must master one extra language other than Malay and English like Chinese, Arabic and French
3) FDI into Malaysia has gone down and keep going down.
4) Malaysia's ranking in hockey has gone down too. In 2003, we are 10th in the world, now we are 15th!! Come on!!!
5) Why investing in real estate in Malaysia (especially in KL, Selangor, JB and Penang) is not so hot like in Singapore, HK, India (Mumbai!), etc...is it because too much cheap lands, too many 'corridors', not too many people being crammed in the cities, not many can afford more than 500k properties, rigid and strict land regulations?
6) Che Det said that other cars except Proton and Perodua are expensive due to the government's policy to stop petrol-guzzling cars from coming into Malaysia and cheap cars will clog the roads in no time...I almost 'tertelan' ayam kampung!! Yeah right...as if Malaysia is so enviromentally friendly and Perdana does not guzzle so much petrol or Toyota Vios or Honda City 'eat' so much petrol...just admit it...they are just reasons, sedikit sebanyak all these policy dicipta ini menolong (mengikut pintu belakang or indirectly cakap orang putih) sangat Proton and Perodua!
7) I miss Malaysia so much it hurts
8) I have not finished preping my next witness...aarrgghhhh!!
9) I have to strategize on my next move on Malaysian share market especially when RM is going up (vs. US$)
10)You really can make money in Africa. Just look at China on how they 'dump' their goods (be it quality or not) in Africa!!
2) I want my kids to be professional sportmen/women...like my daughter - professional golfer (and they wear decent clothes, not like tennis, soccer, hockey players). As for my two sons, they can choose from this list - F1, European football, tennis, golf, etc, the ones that are lucrative and we can follow them when they are on world tour!! If they do not favour any of them, the next best thing to do is to be doctors, all of them and they must master one extra language other than Malay and English like Chinese, Arabic and French
3) FDI into Malaysia has gone down and keep going down.
4) Malaysia's ranking in hockey has gone down too. In 2003, we are 10th in the world, now we are 15th!! Come on!!!
5) Why investing in real estate in Malaysia (especially in KL, Selangor, JB and Penang) is not so hot like in Singapore, HK, India (Mumbai!), etc...is it because too much cheap lands, too many 'corridors', not too many people being crammed in the cities, not many can afford more than 500k properties, rigid and strict land regulations?
6) Che Det said that other cars except Proton and Perodua are expensive due to the government's policy to stop petrol-guzzling cars from coming into Malaysia and cheap cars will clog the roads in no time...I almost 'tertelan' ayam kampung!! Yeah right...as if Malaysia is so enviromentally friendly and Perdana does not guzzle so much petrol or Toyota Vios or Honda City 'eat' so much petrol...just admit it...they are just reasons, sedikit sebanyak all these policy dicipta ini menolong (mengikut pintu belakang or indirectly cakap orang putih) sangat Proton and Perodua!
7) I miss Malaysia so much it hurts
8) I have not finished preping my next witness...aarrgghhhh!!
9) I have to strategize on my next move on Malaysian share market especially when RM is going up (vs. US$)
10)You really can make money in Africa. Just look at China on how they 'dump' their goods (be it quality or not) in Africa!!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Malays are Chinese?!!
I have been living in Arusha@Kilimanjaro for almost 5 years!!
Never once I have been called "hey Malay boy or man or Malaysian!".
The locals here are of the opinion that there are four types of people only in the world. The first - the Africans, the second - Muzungu (White people), the third - Indians and the last one - Chinese.
So either you are from Malaysia, Japan, Korea (N or S), Myanmar, Fiji, Kazaksthan, etc...you are Chinese or Mchina!!
I have been telling them, more than million times - No I am not chinese. They just laughed at me!! They said "look at this chinese...he is trying to be someone else".
So guys if you come here...dont be surprise.
Never once I have been called "hey Malay boy or man or Malaysian!".
The locals here are of the opinion that there are four types of people only in the world. The first - the Africans, the second - Muzungu (White people), the third - Indians and the last one - Chinese.
So either you are from Malaysia, Japan, Korea (N or S), Myanmar, Fiji, Kazaksthan, etc...you are Chinese or Mchina!!
I have been telling them, more than million times - No I am not chinese. They just laughed at me!! They said "look at this chinese...he is trying to be someone else".
So guys if you come here...dont be surprise.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Toyota
I think the issues with Toyota had been blown out of propotion.
Many people (especially the rivals) are jealous of Toyota's success. This is all about jelousy and/or greed and/or domination!
If you have read the books on Toyota you will be amazed how 'perfect' they are in every ways.
As Toyota said, it was initially a 'quality' problem rather than 'safety' problem. I believe them. Many many countries have somehow made Toyota as their national car.
There were no proof that there were accidents caused by this so called 'safety' problem.
I have used Hyundai, Proton, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mercedes and Range Rover..I must tell you that the best car I ever had is Toyota.
Toyota just made a profit of almost US2 billion. Because of this, they have to spend hundred of millions just to recall and 'fix' the problem.
BUT one thing for sure, when they explained the so called problem, they did not ever hide a single thing.
Anyhow, I will keep my fingers crossed and hope that Toyota will 'survive'. I just cant imagine a world without Toyota!!
Many people (especially the rivals) are jealous of Toyota's success. This is all about jelousy and/or greed and/or domination!
If you have read the books on Toyota you will be amazed how 'perfect' they are in every ways.
As Toyota said, it was initially a 'quality' problem rather than 'safety' problem. I believe them. Many many countries have somehow made Toyota as their national car.
There were no proof that there were accidents caused by this so called 'safety' problem.
I have used Hyundai, Proton, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mercedes and Range Rover..I must tell you that the best car I ever had is Toyota.
Toyota just made a profit of almost US2 billion. Because of this, they have to spend hundred of millions just to recall and 'fix' the problem.
BUT one thing for sure, when they explained the so called problem, they did not ever hide a single thing.
Anyhow, I will keep my fingers crossed and hope that Toyota will 'survive'. I just cant imagine a world without Toyota!!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Oh...Penatnya!
Perbicaraan sudah mula sejak 25 Januari. Kami senaraikan 13 saksi untuk sesi kali ni.
Kami jangkakan kami sudah masuk ke tahap saksi ke-4. Tapi saksi ke-2 masih disoal balas.
Oh tidak...
Peguambela tertuduh pulak asyik menjawab je ngan Hakim2...sampai kena warning. Lepas tu dengan selambanya dia cakap ada unsur2 judicial bias pulak...
Esok nak jumpa saksi...proses 'preping'. Kena prepare saksi2. kalu tidak, ada yang mencarut dalam mahkamah...ya la, mana idaknya...kebanyakan saksi2 adalah survivors genocide.
Dan yang paling seram, ada jugak saksi2 kami adalah pembunuh2...this is what we called 'shaking hands with the devils'!!
Kena lah dengar kedua-dua pihak...yang kena dan yang buat...baru la nampak cantik kes...
kadang2 ngeri jugak cerita depa...'oh saya bunuh 9 orang je...1 makcik ni dan yang lain tu budak2 je'...'lepas kami bunuh depa...kami makan jantung depa mentah2 supaya hantunya tak dtg ganggu!' atau 'kami guna parang je'
naik bulu roma dibuatnya.
Kami jangkakan kami sudah masuk ke tahap saksi ke-4. Tapi saksi ke-2 masih disoal balas.
Oh tidak...
Peguambela tertuduh pulak asyik menjawab je ngan Hakim2...sampai kena warning. Lepas tu dengan selambanya dia cakap ada unsur2 judicial bias pulak...
Esok nak jumpa saksi...proses 'preping'. Kena prepare saksi2. kalu tidak, ada yang mencarut dalam mahkamah...ya la, mana idaknya...kebanyakan saksi2 adalah survivors genocide.
Dan yang paling seram, ada jugak saksi2 kami adalah pembunuh2...this is what we called 'shaking hands with the devils'!!
Kena lah dengar kedua-dua pihak...yang kena dan yang buat...baru la nampak cantik kes...
kadang2 ngeri jugak cerita depa...'oh saya bunuh 9 orang je...1 makcik ni dan yang lain tu budak2 je'...'lepas kami bunuh depa...kami makan jantung depa mentah2 supaya hantunya tak dtg ganggu!' atau 'kami guna parang je'
naik bulu roma dibuatnya.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Why can't 4.39 million register to vote?
Recent Malaysian news reported that around 4.39 million eligible Malaysians are yet to register as voters with Election Commission (EC)!! 65% of them are Malays and East Malaysians!! I really dont understand why people just ignored totally their most fundamental rights.In every 4-5 years, you...yeah you have the right to determine who is going to 'rule' yourself, your family, your friends, etc etc for the next 4-5 years.
BUT I must say that EC should be more 'active'...I know they set up booth all over Malaysia, make press statements one after another urging people to register, working closely with party politics to get eligible persons to register...
The best thing is I think for now is to educate people through the mass media (tv, print media, e-advertisement, etc)...not just during the election season BUT every day, every week, every month, every year starting from today...tell the people why you should register and tell them the consequence if they fail to do that. They should be more creative in enticing people to come to them...they should even think of letting people to register through their laptops...hey if you can let people pay their fines through the website or handle their bankings through maybank2u/cimb clicks/etc, why not? Do you notice that the people themselves found ways that makes life easier like smart tunnel, plus highway, proton cars (!!), lrt, klinik bergerak, etc...so I am very sure that you (EC) can find a simpler way that can let the people, without much fuss, to register to vote...MALAYSIA BOLEH, remember?
Talking about promoting or advertisement, it reminds me about McD...their products are being eaten by people all over the world every second yet they spent billions of dollars year after year to advertise themselves and their products over and over again...do you know why...that is their way to 'educate' people...they want to put in your head that if you are thinking of food, McD products should be the first one you should think of!!...you must be saying that you cannot compare Malaysia with a giant like McD...well you are entitled to your opinion BUT at least consider.
Talking about voting...my issue now is WHY Malaysian Government did not ever set up election booths in every Malaysian embassies that we have all over the world when there was an election? Why deny my right and the others to vote? What are you afraid of? Cost? Are you afraid that the Malaysians that have migrated to Australia, NZ, Canada, US, UK, Europe will vote the opposition? Or you are afraid to be accused of rigging the vote (like the accusations you are facing in the case of postal vote)?
I can assure you (EC or BN or even the opposition)...there are more than 300,000 Malaysians (including the Malaysian government servant working in embassies) that are living outisde Malaysia who would love to be given the opportunity to exercise their most fundamental right...and if your strategy is right, you will gain the most out of it...trust me. But make sure your strategy is fair and legal.
Hey, there were many candidates who lost by 10 votes, 100 votes or just less than 1000 votes...so just think about it.
I think I have said enough. In other words, nak seribu daya, tak nak seribu dalih.
BUT I must say that EC should be more 'active'...I know they set up booth all over Malaysia, make press statements one after another urging people to register, working closely with party politics to get eligible persons to register...
The best thing is I think for now is to educate people through the mass media (tv, print media, e-advertisement, etc)...not just during the election season BUT every day, every week, every month, every year starting from today...tell the people why you should register and tell them the consequence if they fail to do that. They should be more creative in enticing people to come to them...they should even think of letting people to register through their laptops...hey if you can let people pay their fines through the website or handle their bankings through maybank2u/cimb clicks/etc, why not? Do you notice that the people themselves found ways that makes life easier like smart tunnel, plus highway, proton cars (!!), lrt, klinik bergerak, etc...so I am very sure that you (EC) can find a simpler way that can let the people, without much fuss, to register to vote...MALAYSIA BOLEH, remember?
Talking about promoting or advertisement, it reminds me about McD...their products are being eaten by people all over the world every second yet they spent billions of dollars year after year to advertise themselves and their products over and over again...do you know why...that is their way to 'educate' people...they want to put in your head that if you are thinking of food, McD products should be the first one you should think of!!...you must be saying that you cannot compare Malaysia with a giant like McD...well you are entitled to your opinion BUT at least consider.
Talking about voting...my issue now is WHY Malaysian Government did not ever set up election booths in every Malaysian embassies that we have all over the world when there was an election? Why deny my right and the others to vote? What are you afraid of? Cost? Are you afraid that the Malaysians that have migrated to Australia, NZ, Canada, US, UK, Europe will vote the opposition? Or you are afraid to be accused of rigging the vote (like the accusations you are facing in the case of postal vote)?
I can assure you (EC or BN or even the opposition)...there are more than 300,000 Malaysians (including the Malaysian government servant working in embassies) that are living outisde Malaysia who would love to be given the opportunity to exercise their most fundamental right...and if your strategy is right, you will gain the most out of it...trust me. But make sure your strategy is fair and legal.
Hey, there were many candidates who lost by 10 votes, 100 votes or just less than 1000 votes...so just think about it.
I think I have said enough. In other words, nak seribu daya, tak nak seribu dalih.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Anak2 sudah besar...
dan bapaknya sudah banyak uban!! dan rambut2nya sudah gugur hingga kalau disandarkan kepalanya ke dinding, terasa amat sejuk dibahagian atas tengah kepala!! Oh tidak!
Kata satu Ustaz, bila sudah ada uban, maknanya maut sudah hampir!! Dan kami berserah kepada-Nya.Dan seorang lagi ustaz kata...kalau kita umur 40, sebenarnya ikut kalendar islam, kita sebenarnya umur 42/43. Ini adalah kerana tahun Islam lebih pendek dari tahun sekular ni...
Berbalik kepada tajuk sebenar...cepat sungguh masa berlalu. tadi anak ke-2 kami...Haris sambut harilahir ke-7! macam semalam rasanya baru kami tukar lampin nya...macam kelmarin rasanya kami menyuapkan dia makan nasi telur kegemaran dia...jadi bapak2 dan mak2...mari kita mengingatkan diri kita semua...nikmatilah dengan sebenar-benarnya masa bersama dengan anak2 kita...kerna mereka cepat membesar dan bila mereka sudah besar, susah kita hendak peluk cium mereka, susah kita hendak geletek mereka lagi, susah kita dukung dia. Ringkasnya dan mungkin kita susah nak menunjukkan mereka itu jantung hati kita lagi!
ye la...bebudak sekarang (bukan semua)...tak suka kita temankan depa pergi beli-belah atau hantar mereka ke sekolah...malu katanya...sebab nampak depa anak manja!! Alah, kalau depa sakit, sapa yang depa sebut, mak, ayah dan Allah! gerenti...
Untuk menyambut harijadi anak kami yang ke-7, isteri ku seperti biasa telah berlelah buat kek sendiri dan inilah hasilnya -
,
Kata satu Ustaz, bila sudah ada uban, maknanya maut sudah hampir!! Dan kami berserah kepada-Nya.Dan seorang lagi ustaz kata...kalau kita umur 40, sebenarnya ikut kalendar islam, kita sebenarnya umur 42/43. Ini adalah kerana tahun Islam lebih pendek dari tahun sekular ni...
Berbalik kepada tajuk sebenar...cepat sungguh masa berlalu. tadi anak ke-2 kami...Haris sambut harilahir ke-7! macam semalam rasanya baru kami tukar lampin nya...macam kelmarin rasanya kami menyuapkan dia makan nasi telur kegemaran dia...jadi bapak2 dan mak2...mari kita mengingatkan diri kita semua...nikmatilah dengan sebenar-benarnya masa bersama dengan anak2 kita...kerna mereka cepat membesar dan bila mereka sudah besar, susah kita hendak peluk cium mereka, susah kita hendak geletek mereka lagi, susah kita dukung dia. Ringkasnya dan mungkin kita susah nak menunjukkan mereka itu jantung hati kita lagi!
ye la...bebudak sekarang (bukan semua)...tak suka kita temankan depa pergi beli-belah atau hantar mereka ke sekolah...malu katanya...sebab nampak depa anak manja!! Alah, kalau depa sakit, sapa yang depa sebut, mak, ayah dan Allah! gerenti...
Untuk menyambut harijadi anak kami yang ke-7, isteri ku seperti biasa telah berlelah buat kek sendiri dan inilah hasilnya -
,
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