Thursday, February 28, 2008

Nak Tak

I'm not sure if this is entirely appropriate, but seeing that the news are focusing on the pros of BN, here's a site that does just the opposite:

Nak Tak

[EDIT]: Another link worth a browse-through: From a Frightened Malaysian Abroad

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

They were not sorry

On a usual morning, JacQ had an unusual experience. Whilst munching away her burger in the car, she heard an ear ringing bang which was later followed by the shaking of her car. Snapping her head towards the direction of the bang, she heard the driver of the car parked next to her gasping. JacQ saw the embarrassed passenger at the back seat looking at her for a second before getting down the car. She closed the door quickly and did not take another look at JacQ, which JacQ was anticipating. To JacQ’s surprise and shock, both the girls started giggling (as if the most hilarious thing just happened) and walked away.

It was a loud bang, not a gentle touch of doors. Perhaps she had no spatial intelligence that enabled her to estimate the space between her car and mine. Who on earth would open the car door with such a big swing when the space was obviously so narrow.

It seems that either common courtesies such as apologies did not occur as a necessity to the girls, or they found that giggling and walking off was the appropriate way to be sorry over someone else’s pain. Then again, it wasn’t the first time I had to endure people not apologizing. It seems to be the trend set these days like the afro and the bell-bottom pants back in the 70’s; only now being rude does not give you sexual appeal like the afro did back in the day.

So it comes down to a question, is it that hard to apologize for damaging someone’s property, especially when the owner is there? It is understandable if they were shy and therefore they scurried away. I would still have been mad, but not as bothered in comparison to them giggling off. Maybe cute giggles could get them away with guys, and probably some girls, but it was shocking how they could just shrug the issue off. I had already refrained from getting down the car to save the situation from getting uglier, but as their senior, I cannot shrug off the attitude they carried as easily as they did with their actions.

As much as there is no point in being angry over the girls anymore, it just struck me about the modern mindset and society - people are less friendly (or more like the society has made it dangerous to be too friendly with others), less caring and definitely a lot less sharing. Do we all think that such degree of rudeness is a trait born of modern civilization? Or it is just that that the girls have a lack of “face” and need someone to swollen it up a bit with a punch or two. Or those who keep their cool are always taken for granted?

You tell me.

Campaigns

Well, since BN is doing such a good job with their campaign (practically everywhere on airwaves, TV space and on the streets), giving DAP a wee bit of attention and their time under the sun seems fair.



I know, I know. The first 20 times I heard it, I laughed too.

But it's a fruit for thought.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Malaysian students overseas - you can vote

Original post from www.polytikus.com:

All Malaysian students who are registered to vote can participate in the coming general elections! The process is rather obscure because many don’t know it is possible. I found a website that gives you a step by step guide on how to get registered as a postal voter in United Kingdom. Watch and learn. And do it! :)

Thanks to Lay Chin for the info (which is taken directly from her website. Please contact her for more details!)

Elections (Registration of Electors) Regulation 2002 states the following is qualified to perform postal voting:

1. in the public service of the Government of Malaysia or of any State or in the service of any local authority or statutory authority exercising powers vested in it by Federal or State law, who is on duty outside the boundaries of Peninsular Malaysia or Sabah or Sarawak;
2. the spouse of a person in the public service of the Government of Malaysia or of any State or in the service of any local authority or statutory authority exercising powers vested in it by Federal or State law who is living with her or his husband or wife outside the boundaries of Peninsular Malaysia or Sabah or Sarawak at the date of application for registration as a Parliamentary or State elector,
3. engaged in full-time studies at any university, training college or any higher educational institution outside the boundaries of Peninsular Malaysia or Sabah or Sarawak; or
4. the spouse of a person engaged in full-time studies at any university, training college or any higher educational institution outside the boundaries of Peninsular Malaysia or Sabah or Sarawak who is living with her or his husband or wife at the date of application for registration asa Parliamentary or State elector.

If you fall under any of this categories you may apply through the Malaysia embassy located nearby. Upon completion of the form (Borang A),you can submit it back to the embassy or can mail it to EC HQ in Putrajaya. Thank you.

ANYWAY. Students.Okay, so now this is what you should do ASAP.

1) You should contact the Malaysian Students Department at 020-79851252 or go to http://www.masduke.com/.

2) Ask for them to send you Borang A.These are what they look like.
There is this lovely, polite woman named Suzana who should help you just fine with this, and she’ll answer any questions you might have.

2. Also, if you have any questions for the embassy itself, go to http://www.kln.gov.my/perwakilan/london or call 02072358033. The one to talk to is Mr Ravi Pillay (at least I think that’s the spelling)

3. For those who want to check your name on the electoral roll, go HERE. (My recent check left me in horror when I couldn’t find my name, then I realised I had been typing my student number quickly instead of my IC. Yesh, I am losing some brain cells)

Now. What am I doing about all this?

I am going to haul ass to the embassy at Belgrave Square on Friday to fill this all in, with my passport, right in front of them and all.

If there is anybody out there who knows how to register with the relevant authorities and get that Borang A in your respective countries, PLEASE EMAIL ME THE DETAILS and I will update the blog accordingly.

This is a link to ALL Malaysian embassies, high consulates and high commissions. Please contact them and get the details on how to be a postal voter.

This blogpost is continually updated here.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

can malaysians vote from abroad?


i can't go back for elections and i'm just wondering if we can vote from the embassies or do postal voting...called and wrote to the SPR but they never gave me a good clear straight forward answer...instead, they took me on a 'tour'...anyway, lets just skip that part shall we?

a friend of mine who's from the media told me, "only military personnel, students, staff of embassies and high commissions and their spouses can vote from abroad...anyone else outside those groups who are overseas must come back...they also said that emergency service personnel could apply through their organisations to do postal voting"

i've searched all around for more information on postal voting...but there's none...not even on the SPR website...so i'm just trying my luck here...whether anyone of you have done postal voting before or has any idea how to go about doing it?

thanks. and happy voting! (for those of you who can vote)

Friday, February 8, 2008

All Malaysians

I was abit upset when most of the Barisan Nasional leaders and supporters were repeating the same quote.

PM
"Tahun ini menunjukan bahawa tahun ini lebih banyak rakyat pelbagai kaum telah datang untuk menjayakan perayaan tahun baru cina."

DPM
" The participation ot the citizens in this festive celebration shows that we do not have any problem among our citizen"

MCA President
"The people who have come here to attend this open house shows that all the treats among the citizen is not true"

Works Minister
"Sambutan ini merupakan satu permulaan baru untuk parti Barisan Nasional"

Besides all these, even some of the citizen who are so called the strong supporters of Barisan Nasional quoted these-

"Tak ada. Tak ada. Kita tak ada masalah satu sama lain. Kita peace. "

"Saya tak tau tentang orang lain, saya datang dengan keluarga. Saya tengok semua orang sama saja"

Hello everybody!
We do not have any racial or crisis among us the citizens. If there are, its only the minorities. Why are some of them thinking that we are fighting for our self and race. I just can't stand it. I want to know why are some of us are not thinking correctly and are abit racist. I know its quite hard to just to think openly and critically and some of us can't handle our emotions when its comes to race issues but till all of us understand what is the real problem and what are we Malaysians fighting for, I think we will still be in these situation forever.

Sorry too much of red herring, back to the story.
The leaders up there are making the citizens to think that all the rally the opposition parties stand are all about race. They are trying to make point where BN is the best and they have no connection with the protest in KL. All these is for the election right! I just don't know why some citizens out there do not sense that something is wrong. Lets see, everytime just before the elections the goverment will do wonders for the nation. This has been happening for the 12th time. I think everyone should have realised that something.

Personally I think the reason citizen tent to forget once they get a little wealth. They tend to think getting everything by using the easy way which is voting BN. The happiness they get is only for a short time. Its like be happy for 1 year and suffer for 3 years. I think it would be better if suffer first and then enjoy the freedon in the nation.

I seriously do not know weather you all tend to understand about what am i trying to tell. If anyone would like to give their opinion about this post please do so.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Truth and justice no longer Malaysian way


Without any intentions whatsoever to steal Miss Carmen's limelight, here's something interesting for a read. Just in case you may have missed this eloquent write-up by Michael Backman, that famous, controversial Aussie columnist with The Age, here's an excerpt. This was written a week plus after the Bersih rally last year.

THE Government of Australia will probably change hands this weekend. There will be no arrests, no tear gas and no water cannons. The Government of John Howard will leave office, the Opposition will form a government and everyone will accept the verdict.

For this, every Australian can feel justifiably proud. This playing by the rules is what has made Australia rich and a good place in which to invest. It is a country to which people want to migrate; not leave.

Now consider Malaysia. The weekend before last, up to 40,000 Malaysians took to the streets in Kuala Lumpur to protest peacefully against the judiciary's lack of independence, electoral fraud, corruption and a controlled media.

In response, they were threatened by the Prime Minister, called monkeys by his powerful son-in-law, and blasted with water cannons and tear gas. And yet the vast majority of Malaysians do not want a change of government. All they want is for their government to govern better.

Both Malaysia and Australia have a rule of law that's based on the English system. Both started out as colonies of Britain. So why is Malaysia getting it so wrong now?


Read the full article here.

p/s: Happy Chinese New Year (and being loaded with assignments)!

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Hello my dear critters...

Just a quick Happy Chinese New Year greeting to all who celebrate the event and for those who don't... hope you get LOADS of angpows anyway! :-) Not that I am encouraging you to be materialistic or anything but hey... this is the ONLY time we are actually rewarded for being single... hahahahah

Also, a HUGE BIG THANK YOU to all of you who have contributed to this site in some way. We have already surpassed 5000 hits and for a website that started out as a class discussion in August 2007, I think we are doing pretty darn good and should give ourselves a pat on the back. But not to rest on our laurels and be lazy... of course... critters always have to ensure their critter brains are fully oiled and ready to run for any occasion.

To the newcomers and new people who recently were invited to this space, a hearty big welcome to you. Please do feel free to post your comments as well as upload new entries. As you can tell, there are those among you who are good at posting pictures so, this adds a nice visual dimension to our blogging world. Thank you Kenny and Cheryl specifically!

And finally, here are some links that were posted by some of you in another space which I think would be handy to archive here. So, for those of you who want to read the articles you didn't get to read the last time... here they are:

From Yee Von

http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=863&Itemid=31Bersih 1

http://thecicak.com/?p=335Bersih 2


From Sharwin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bersih_rally

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_HINDRAF_rally

http://keadilantv.wordpress.com/category/latheefa-koya/


And last but certainly not least, from Amy

http://thedaneshproject.com/posts/hindraf-proud-day-for-malaysian-indians/

http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/1431/46/



Our next critical thinking discussion meeting will be happening soon, after CNY. Watch out for more info your emails. From now on, news about CT meetings will be sent to your directly via email just in case you don't check back here often enough. We will be having a very special guest to our next meeting and a great movie to boot.

Until then... take care, stay healthy and thank you for making my critter life all that more interesting for my having met all of you :-)

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Paying for rain - Only in Malaysia *updated*

For all of you who don't know, we here in Selangor actually have to pay for the usage of rainwater. The local water authorities (LUAS) have issued a circular demanding that all water from the land (air permukaan) which includes rivers, lakes and ponds which originates from rain to be charged a tariff for its usage. The usage rates is RM0.01 per cubic metre.

So say if I were to install a rainwater collection tank on my roof, I'll be charged RM0.01 per cubic metre to use it. What nonsense!

Why on earth do we have to pay for something from nature? It is different from where the local water authorities set up a reservoir and provide a steady supply of water to our homes. In that case, we are paying for the convenience. However, here, we are being asked to pay for nothing in return.

But wouldn't that be nice for them? Just sitting there and waiting for the money to come in. Daylight robbery in it's truest sense.

So what next? Will they charge us for the air we breathe next? Say... RM0.01 per cubic metre as well?

The moment you think that you've seen all the atrocities in the world, they come up with something new and surprise you. What ingenuity!

We really live in Bolehland don't we.

"Semuanya OK!"




The authorities have responded to this issue, citing that the reason for the charges are to "protect water sources".

Source

They are afraid that if we use TOO MUCH of water from natural sources, we'll interupt the hydrology cycle. What nonsense!

If they wanted to ensure that the cycle isn't interupted, they could have just monitored the usage and issue warnings IF the cycle is affected. This reason hardly justifies why we need to be charged at ALL for using these natural sources of water.

And besides, when we use these water, it goes down the drain... back into the river... so what's the problem? The only problem I see is the water authorities trying to 'songlap' our money

Saturday, February 2, 2008

In times of desperation

According to our prime minister, in terms of overall competitiveness, our country is ranked 8th out of the 53 countries included in the research done by IMD, one of the world's reknown business schools.

Source

However, if you prowl around the internet, you'll notice that Malaysia is actually ranked 23 out of the 53 countries. In fact, the only reason why we're ranked 8th is because of the clause "of countries with a population of more than 20 million".

Now why don't we just say that in the category of countries WITH a population of 27 million people, we're NO.1!

Source

This reminds me of last year's THES university ratings when none of our universities were included in the top 200, we casually decided that the criteria used for evaluation does not suit us and so we pit ourselves against the system used in Turkey instead where we conveniently ranked 11th if I'm not mistaken.

What a way to boost one's self image!

Friday, February 1, 2008

Here's to a better Malaysia

For a BetterMalaysia:


Please click here for full high resolution version.

'Bus-crash-no-more' online petition


Remember the Bukit Gantang bus crash August last year which claimed the lives of 22 people? Remember what a fuss it made? Authorities pointed their fingers at the bus companies and the bus companies pointed THEIR fingers at the dead bus driver who had two arrest warrants and 13 unpaid summons let alone a license.

The result? Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy announced the grounding of entire fleets of buses, Ops Bersih; where buses are flagged down and their drivers screened and the reminding of the bus companies to comply with the Safety, Health and Evironment code. Nothing more than short-term knee-jerk reactions to the issue.



Obviously somewhere along the line, someone has been issuing and renewing the licenses of unfit bus drivers and approving the road-worthiness of unsafe buses. In fact, this MUST be SO rampant that bus companies are not even bothered to comply with these rules resulting in them allowing unfit drivers to drive the buses which are not road-worthy. In fact, during the ops Bersih, many drivers were found to be on drugs as this will help them stay awake as some of them are even asked to drive for prolonged periods of time.

Barely half a year from the Bukit Gantang incident, another high profile bus crash occured near Slim River; in which a Lee Nian Ning, a bright student with her entire future ahead of her; along with another two students lost their lives. According to the news, the driver lost control of the bus and slammed into the divider. The driver of the bus had 13 unpaid summonses against him. As usual, fingers were pointed and nothing was solved.




So what happened to the initiative sparked by the Bukit Gantang incident? As the saying goes, Malaysia mudah lupa.

This petition is to request that the relevant authorities set up a committee consisting of road safety experts and representatives from relevant public bodies to conduct a thorough study to find effective solutions to ensure that mistakes like this do not occur again as many of our students take long bus rides back to their hometowns.

Although accidents are inevitable, eliminating the faulty buses and unfit drivers factor will drastically reduce them. Let's hope that something good will come out of this and that it STICKS this time.

Sign the petition