quaintly - Latest Comments in We Know What We Want

Re: We Know What We Want

Azlan — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:58:06 -0000

now.. the people has spoken...!
this rally was really an indication tht political tsunami will come...
and indeed it came last sat 8 mar!

Re: We Know What We Want

Colin Charles — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 21:59:40 -0000

Congratulations on going to the rally. I'm so happy that more and more Malaysians are going, waking up, feeling alive

Re: We Know What We Want

habri — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 11:14:55 -0000

anyone want a Bersih t-shirt? if you are interested please do not hesitate to contact me, available in S, M, L, XL & XXL sizes....only RM15

Re: We Know What We Want

jimmy — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:57:25 -0000

sigh, tun dr. mahathir has already given us a warning sign about our current pm. He wasn't worried about his project's or wealth goin being pocketed by AAB and gang, he was concerned as an ex-prime minister of this country.

guess most of us are just blinded and brainwashed by the local media sometimes.

Re: We Know What We Want

jimmy — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:28:02 -0000

http://www.michaelbackman.com/

Re: We Know What We Want

rj — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 07:21:18 -0000

Malaysiakini's letters section today. It's...
>
> An Open Letter to Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
> by Beth Yahp
>
> Dear Prime Minister,
>
> Sept 26 saw 2,000 lawyers at the 'Walk for Justice' to defend the good name
> and protest the sliding standards of their profession. "When lawyers march,"
> said Ambiga Sreenevasan, president of the Bar Council, "something must be
> wrong."
>
> Last Saturday (Nov 10), 40,000 people from all walks of life and ages walked
> through rain-drenched Kuala Lumpur, skirting roadblocks, locked LRT
> stations, FRU batons, tear gas and water cannons, as well as weeks of
> misinformation and propaganda spread through the mainstream media and hacked
> alternative media. They marched to show their disappointment in the current
> electoral system and their hopes for reform.
>
> Malaysian citizens travelled for hours through the night from all over the
> country to play cat-and-mouse in Kuala Lumpur with an intimidating array of
> security forces whose role was clearly not to secure our safety.
>
> I saw men, armed only with shouted slogans, beaten with batons and shields
> and thrown to the ground. I saw an old woman in a wheelchair halted by a
> barricade of troops, wielding a deafening siren at her ears. I saw a child
> clinging to his mother's shoulders being crushed back and back. He looked
> terrified and rightly so.
>
> This was at Jalan Pasar, not Masjid Jamek where in spite of what IGP Musa
> Hassan described as police "restraint" (Sunday Star, Nov 11), unarmed
> marchers including journalists were beaten, tear-gassed and bombarded by
> chemical-laced water cannons. At Jalan Pasar, we faced two rows of riot
> police smashing batons against their shields. I saw and photographed people
> dropping to the ground around me.
> ...
>
> This should be the journalist's privilege; to be allowed to witness and
> report the uncensored fruits of that act of witnessing. But in this country,
> journalists and their editors are not even afforded this or any other kind
> of professional privileges and protection in order to carry out their jobs
> according to the journalists' Code of Ethics. That is, among other things,
> to pursue factual accuracy and report objectively, without fear or favour.
>
> Instead, journalism in Malaysia seems to be ruled by a Code of Fear and
> Favour. Here, our mainstream journalists and editors are directly or
> indirectly on the state's payroll and are therefore accountable to the
> state. Those who aren't are kept on a tight leash of precarious licences and
> legislation designed to pit self-censorship against financial ruin. Which
> the bosses will prioritise is a no-brainer.
>
> It seems to me that our media professionals do their best to navigate these
> treacherous waters, getting by in terms of professional pride through little
> acts of bravery, defiance and subterfuge. The travesty of it is that, in a
> true democracy, they shouldn't have to.
>
> Our journalists and editors should not have to find themselves in the
> pitiful position of being cowed mouthpieces of the state, obediently failing
> to report once a news blackout is ordered or "reporting" factual
> inaccuracies of an astounding magnitude.
>
> Like most of your state controlled media, Prime Minister Abdullah, Sunday
> Star reported only the IGP's version of Saturday's events. Journalism 101
> requires a range of eyewitnesses to describe an event objectively. And yet
> only your ministers were allowed air-time; only aggrieved shopkeepers were
> interviewed and photos of traffic jams published to support our deputy PM's
> lament that the march only served to disrupt traffic, create loss of
> business and "mar the general perception others have of our society."
>
> The police were depicted as being "forced" to use their batons, boots,
> shields, helmets, trucks, water cannons and helicopters against unarmed men,
> women and children (New Sunday Times, Nov 11).
>
> This reconstruction of reality is one that I and 40,000 other marchers do
> not recognise. In spite of what we saw and experienced, we are told that we
> were only 4,000 in number and that 245 of us were detained as opposed to the
> 24 I later saw released at IPK (police contingent headquarters) in Kuala
> Lumpur. It was later reported in the NST (Nov 12) that the majority of
> detentions were pre-emptive, taking place outside Kuala Lumpur the day
> before. The reasons for arrest included being in possession of yellow
> T-shirts and bandanas.
>
> Yes, there were massive traffic jams in KL that day and yes, I saw
> shopkeepers hurriedly pull down their shutters but only when the FRU and
> police amassed in battle formations at Central Market. However, logic tells
> us that the traffic jams were caused by numerous police roadblocks and other
> hindrances to public transport as much as by our march which was marshalled
> and orderly.
>
> We were constantly told to keep to the pavements, not to throw rubbish, not
> to disrupt public property and even not to trample on plants along our way.
> Many people stuck in jams wound down their windows as we passed, smiling and
> shaking our hands. Others looked annoyed, of course.
>
> I am sitting at my local late night kopitiam as I write this. It is filled
> with college students chatting and watching football with their teh tarik
> and cigarettes. I can see how successful your media machinery is, Prime
> Minister, from what they say. They use the word "riots" to talk about the
> march, when even a police spokesman described the event as, for the most
> part, peaceful (RTM2 news, Nov 10).
>
> This is no surprise given the propaganda clips that have been running as a
> part of news bulletins on RTM1 and RTM2 for the past few months,
> intercutting flag-burning with demonstrators getting their heads bashed.
> These, as any advertising professional will confirm, effectively equates
> demonstrations of any sort with escalating acts of violence on both sides.
> "Ini bukan budaya kita" are the stern words of warning.
>
> On TraxxFM, I have heard an oddly outstanding song about democracy being
> played frequently, a lullaby, sung in a soothing paternal voice, about how
> taking democracy to the streets leads to a loss of self-respect and violence
> which is not our way. This song is in stark contrast to the ones TraxxFM's
> hip and humourous DJs usually play.
>
> This psychological embedding seems odd, Prime Minister, in the year that we
> celebrate our 50 years of independence which was won by our forefathers who
> took their struggle for freedom, equality and justice to the streets, media
> and the discussion tables. They did so peacefully then, as we did so last
> Saturday.
>
> Prime Minister Abdullah, one of the reasons we marchers; men, women,
> children, and even incapacitated old folks, braved confrontation in the
> streets of Kuala Lumpur last Saturday was to call for "equal access to the
> media" as part of Bersih's push for electoral reforms. Other proposed
> changes include the use of indelible ink, clean electoral rolls and the
> abolition of untraceable postal votes.
>
> I did not wear yellow on the march because even though I'm a sympathiser
> with the struggle for electoral reform, I am also a witness to both sides of
> the story. I wore my yellow ribbon of "press freedom" proudly, even though I
> am not a journalist. I am still wearing it now with the poignant realisation
> that I can only write this letter, without fear or favour, precisely because
> I am not a mainstream Malaysian journalist. Of course, whether any of your
> editors will publish it or not is entirely a different matter.
>
> That little scrap of ribbon, like the seemingly frail ribbon of marchers
> patiently weaving their way from all over the city to the Yang di-Pertuan
> Agong's palace last Saturday, is symbolic of something far larger and far
> more important than our aching legs, bruises or shivers caused by sitting
> uncomplainingly in the rain while the Bersih leaders delivered our
> memorandum to the King.
>
> It symbolises what you have repeatedly encouraged us to celebrate and
> embrace: our "Merdeka Spirit" that causes the rakyat to come out in spite of
> fear and intimidation, to show their grave concern when the state of things
> seems very wrong indeed.
>
> Despite ongoing attempts at historical revisionism, this is decidedly a part
> of our Malaysian culture. (Please refer to this website for reproductions of
> reportage from our own newspapers, The Straits Times, 1947: 'Mass Meeting
> Votes Against Elections'; and The Malaya Tribune, 1946: 'Malays and Rulers
> Demonstrate Against Union Plans'.)
>
> With all due respect, Prime Minister, your admonition on the eve of the
> march, "Saya pantang dicabar", is a rather odd thing for the leader of a
> democratic nation to say, given that the basic rule of democracy is the
> right of all citizens to challenge and to defend. Everyone is entitled to
> this right, whether in their living rooms or in Parliament.
>
> Challenges and debates also constantly take place in the media whose
> fundamental role is to provide factual information and objective viewpoints
> by journalists and editors, as well as to allow equal access to publication
> and broadcast by proponents from either side of any argument. Only in this
> way can we, ordinary citizens, partake in democracy. Only then can we weigh
> up differing statements and opinions against accountable facts. We may be
> allowed to vote, yes, but how can we choose effectively without freedom of
> media access and information?
>
> When this integral pillar of any democratic system is obstructed and
> belittled as it is in Malaysia, we cannot claim to live in a democracy. Our
> mainstream media then becomes merely a tool of the state used to hoodwink,
> brainwash and intimidate the people it should rightly be serving. Instead,
> we, the people, are spoon-fed, led and expected to go quietly like sheep to
> any foregone conclusion.
>
> If we beg to differ, offer alternative information and viewpoints or even
> protest, we are called beruk (monkey). I rather think it preferable to be a
> monkey - curious, inventive and mischievous - than a sheep trotting meekly
> to my pen or to the slaughterhouse, nose pointed to the ground.
>
> Prime Minister, we are indeed not Pakistan or Myanmar, as your Information
> Minister Zainuddin Maidin blustered on Al Jazeera (Nov 10), accusing them of
> presenting a contrary view to what has appeared on our Malaysian news and of
> only talking to the opposition, not government representatives - even as
> they were interviewing him.
>
> This is a case of the pot calling the kettle black since almost no
> opposition figures are allowed to speak in our mainstream media although
> their images are used in conjunction with images of street violence, for
> example, to influence viewers' opinions about them.
>
> "Malaysia… is a democratic country," Zainuddin fumed. But based on your
> state's handling of the rakyat's peaceful march last Saturday, Prime
> Minister, and your own media coverage prior to and about the actual event,
> it is hard to entirely agree.
>
> Unfortunately for Malaysia, this is the perception that will be further
> broadcast internationally by journalists and editors who are, fortunately,
> less muzzled than their mainstream Malaysian colleagues.
>
> Therefore, Prime Minister Abdullah, I sincerely urge you and your
> government, as our democratically elected leaders, to 'Walk the talk' and
> unmuzzle our journalists, editors and broadcasters. I entreat you to fully
> and fairly endorse and practice democracy in our country. That is, democracy
> for everyone, not just a powerful few.
>
> The writer is author of prize-winning novel, 'The Crocodile Fury', which has
> been translated and published in several languages.
>
> ********************************************
>
> In the meantime, the people at BERSIH have urged all of us to
> wear any YELLOW item of apparel, every Saturday.
> That's do-able, don't you think?

Re: We Know What We Want

nazeef — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:55:43 -0000

dear su ann,

trying to keep it short here...hehe~...u must got a lot of mails n comments to read...btw,a friend of mine link me to ure page n i was seriously amazed...during the perhimpunan,i was taking my final paper at uitm perak and my mom told me bout the congregation by sms...on the next day,ive learnt bout the incident...and sumhow i knew the media was lying....and thanks a lot to u, and other vids (and blogs), ive realised the real truth...nice to know that our generation also values the true meaning of life,peace, and togetherness between diff culture,races and backgrounds....keep up the good works and words~...

Re: We Know What We Want

habri — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 10:57:59 -0000

songjun,

i like some of your argument, maybe we can 'mamaking' together to discuss more on the issues that surrounding us.

Mahathir,

i agree, talk is easy,what we need is the action plan or maybe road map to achieve it

Re: We Know What We Want

mahathir — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 10:51:38 -0000

a democracy means a person is able to make an informed decision about what to choose, who to vote for. that person has all the information he needs to be able to choose properly who he wants to vote for.

bn controls all the media outlets in malaysia. opposition views are only thru internet which is minimal.

we brainwash you ever since you start primary school till the day you die. of course you're gonna vote for me.

why do you think the country has even descended into such a state, such a culture where corruption and laziness is rife.
which racist wealth plundering govt allowed this to happen?
why is singapore albeit so 'clean' and yet worse than bn a much better place to live?

after 50 years of bn rule you still stay it's the better choice?

you keep talking about comparing us to others and whats not. instead of talking about others, make your own country a better place. then talk about others. you say give solutions. yes we're better off than others. but that doesn't mean we should stop there. live in mediocrity if you want. we've already tried doing things the proper ways. thru official channels. nothing works. the govt controls everything too tightly. and refuses to budge.

we had 50 years of independence? independence from the white master only to change hands into the brown master. we're still not independent if you ask me.

how did malaysia get it's independence? we marched against the british. how did india get it's independence? they marched against the colonialists. how did the african americans get their rights? they marched. how did the allies win ww2? they marched and fought.

we marched. and we will again.

Re: We Know What We Want

mahathir — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 10:35:54 -0000

and we are. we are protesting. we are walking. we are voicing our concerns. rather than just giving in.

Re: We Know What We Want

songjun — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 07:19:08 -0000

lol

sheon ill get back to u later. got kurang ajar ppl here first to deal with.

James y : let me ask you, without the first step to industrialisation, would we even have the resources to address our 'core' problems.. ie as u said.. education and poverty? If we were still an agricultural based country, with our small land mass and poor distribution networks, and subject to weather conditions and natural phenomena, where would our income come from when countries like indonesia mobilise their agricultural power?

Fine you speak about BN's iron fist. Why not speak about the junta in Vietnam, the Autocratic Democracy in Singapore and the Communist Capitalist China. They have iron fists too, but their economies are doing so well. Point in case, look at Singapore. Do u think they're a very democratic country? Have you seen how WORSE off are opposition controlled territories in Singapore? Yes, i know our development is very centric and not spread out. But mention Malaysia and ppl overseas go.. OH! U guys have the twin towers right? or Oh yeaa one of the F1 tracks! With BN, at least we have the perceived notion of democracy. Did i ever say that BN did was right or that our country is the best country in the world? No. In fact, i have always believed that true democracy is not going to work anywhere in the world (except maybe in switzerland) because the majority of the population is stupid and vote on semantics. you may be intelligent enough to argue about economics and etc and go to someone's blog, but the regular joe on the street who worries about paying the bills wont know, and would probably just vote on what is said to him, or what is generally felt. Regular joe still thinks that Petrol Prices is the fault of the government. Not understanding that if left to market conditions, our petrol prices will shoot up without the heavy subsidies. Heck he probably thinks all petrol around the world is subsidised, or probably didnt even know it was subsidised.

You want to know why we've not performed economically? Its because of our culture. Culture that we've bred within ourselves. Chinese not wanting to integrate, malays not wanting to give up their 'rights', and indians basically always being left out of the political debate.

Democracies have been proven to be slow, beauracratic and impeding. Fine, freedom is the right of everyone. And i do not doubt that. And i also appreciate that we HAVE democracy (or in your opinion some sense of it) Yet, in Malaysia, I live in relatively no fear of being forced to vote for the BN. If they want to bribe me, they could, but at the end of the day, whose integrity is being tested? If u GET bribed, then we're back to square one. Cheating in the elections is however a big problem in our By Elections. General elections we get re-drawn constituencies and have our protests not heard and quelled. So shouldnt we instead demand for accountability? I didnt say demand it from BN, although it should be, but we should have a strong ACA and independant objective observers first. This would fix the problem in the long run. And yes, if our leaders do not do a good job, we should have the right to protest or act through unions or bodies. But what happens if ppl realise that they can rally at every single semantic? How wonderful France is right now with them always striking or rioting for some reason or other, and how useful it is when ur mail or train personnel go on strike all the time.

Running to the king whose powers are.. what? Tell me what can the king do. Probably the reason why Bersih was giving it to the king was because apparently the EC challenged them to raise it to the king. So thought process = "Hey yea.. ill go up on that". Fine, you showed them who's boss. But whats it going to achieve? You do realise that the king has no absolute power in this country, because whatever that goes to the king is roundtabled again back in parliament and will by pass the king's orders anyway. 'Mahathir' says that he has the power due to us being a constituional monarch. See the irony in that? Here we are harping about the freedom of being a citizen and the power we have as the rakyat, and then oh look! Someone else has the highest power of all and can control the government. Bravo on intelligence.

And yes, the rich gets richer and the poor gets poorer. That is the fact of life and the result of NATURAL selection. At least still in Malaysia, IF i worked hard enough and had some street sense, i can still achieve a level of comfort that a lot of countries in the world can not achieve. Yes, you might say that we're highly evolved and can think whats right and whats wrong. You might say im a bastard for thinking that natural selection is right. At the end of the day, its eat or be eaten. Life is not just about oh lets make everyone happy. Its about surviving. So whats ur idea on how we should help the poor? Implement inefficient socialist policies? National Health care and free education? Give solutions, not just rant.

As a survival of a species, let me ask you this. Should we continue to allow people to live out their lives up to 80 - 110 years, keeping them jacked up on medicine and such when our human immunity system has suffered a decline. Why do you think we have so many SUPER strains of viruses and bacteria now. What should we have done to the dodo if it continued to still be stupid enough to nest on the ground and not be wary of predators? Protect it, build parks around their nesting grounds and post armed bodyguards to dodo's and shoot to kill any predators preying on them? Its what we are doing to our weak. Yes, its fucking bastardic. BUt it makes sense in a whole right.

Regarding minimum wages, try drawing out a supply and demand curve with the effect of minimum wages as legislation, and u will find that the economic and social outcome will re-balance it self anyway regardless of legislation, as market forces (undistorted) usually balance them out. However, due to our high rates of corruption, there is a lot of 'leakages' to where money is being used.

'Mahathir' : childish of you. Anyway, show me any political leader around the world that did not reap from their status. In my view, probably most western ones seemed to not to, but many of them were already rich when entering politics, or had very tight corruption control. I spoke to an Indian (India Indian) MBA student the other day who worked in malaysia. He actually said that he would rather work in Malaysia because it had less red tape, less corruption and more oppurtunities. Fucking shocking isnt it. I was shocked too. Maybe you have some ideas that will fix things. Instead of just harping on whats been done (like most people), come up with a solution. (other then u running to the king.)

Re: We Know What We Want

mahathir — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 06:05:04 -0000

and that stupid king. who else do you think has made the rakyat despise the king?

he theoratically has the power to control the govt due to our constitutional monarchy.

of course we're gonna try and put him down in your eyes.

Re: We Know What We Want

mahathir — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 06:00:35 -0000

oh. and of course democracy has to do with politics.

aren't you voting for a POLITICAL PARTY AND CAUSE?

and i think malaysians suck at economics.

market forces = supply and demand. the best stay, the weak go out.

barisan = incompetant and oppressive. yet we still stay. and get rich.

ha ha.

Re: We Know What We Want

mahathir — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 05:58:15 -0000

Did I really do well?
Well i managed to control all the media in malaysia. to let them only know what i want them to think. especially you song jun.

i managed to become ridiculously rich. i think my wealth was estimated by Forbes to be around 20Billion ringgit.

my sons are rich as heck as well.

all my former friends in umno and mca and samy are also so rich you'll cry when you really realise what the extent of our bank balances are.

you all think i did well because i built a few big buidlings and so called golden triangles. well foreign investors still stay away from malaysia. why?
incompetence, red tape, bribery, racism. malays just haven't grown under bn at all. we're still the same after 50 years of spoon feeding and brainwashing.

who do you think uses the race card everytime to put down the chinese and indians? Us of course!

even though our govt has become mroe racist and corrupted, you still believe we'll do a better job than anyone else.

my plan has worked, and will still work for many more years.

I learn from the best. ask my pal Lee Kuan Yew.

Re: We Know What We Want

james y — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 05:45:43 -0000

respect mahathir?
where is malaysia on the map anyway. what are we known for other than looking stupid on the world map?
corruption ranking?
space flight participant?
spending ridiculous amounts of money on white elephants like putrajaya, the MSC, Proton, KLCC, while so many simple things that need addressing like poverty and education go ignored. why? to draw your attention. to fool you into thinking we're actually great. what is malaysia good for really?
other than kuala lumpur, which isn't much to talk about, where else in malaysia can you consider it really developed? even then i wouldn't want to live in most of klang valley. would you?

if you really did understand democracy, then give me a single example how barisan national's policies are at all democratic?
for someone who admitted he knows not much about malaysian politics, he then goes goes on to harp on we should do things when he doesn't realise, barisan's iron fist over everything doesn't allow things to change even if done by the book if it risks them losing power.

why is it that the opposition voted states remain in poverty? or most of the rest of malaysia for that matter.

isn't a govt supposed to take care of all it's subject regardless of voting preference?

Bersih is an example of the rakyat doing things the right way.
It is enshrined in our laws that we first go thru judicial review.(which was ignored)
and then the agong has the power ACCORDING to our constitution to dissolve parliament, etcetc, the election commission, powers to intervene. And so we go thru the proper next step.

How can you say the opposition is not able to run the country? you haven't given them a chance. Iit's like saying you should never go to england to study because you're used to being spoon fed and brainwashed by the malaysian education system.

you have no idea how much richer the rich are becoming under this govt and their cronies. you talk about market forces, prices going up etc, if prices go up, so should wages, proportionately, but this govt constantly gives into the corporate pressure (or should i say bribes)to stop min wage laws, to keep wages low, a fresh grad's pay is still as low as 15 years ago.while prices go up. where is all the money going to?

you talk about fixing accountability. there is no such thing as accountability under barisan national. thats why they enacted the Official Secrets Act and the ISA to throw anyone who lets out any information they don't want people to know in jail. just like singapore. the way you talk, i think you love absolute power.
hmmmm..........

it's a classic example of being slouched in your comfort zone. things are fine for you. so why bother.

Re: We Know What We Want

Shazeea Banu — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 02:03:07 -0000

Lovely post, especially the part about your favourite moments. I was at Masjid Jamek and wrote my favourite moments too.

http://shazeea3bt.blogspot.com/2007/11/bersih-r...

Re: We Know What We Want

shiver — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 00:20:53 -0000

you the woman. you go girl!
next round, ill be there!
strong allegiance. malaysian in singapore

Re: We Know What We Want

sheon — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 21:23:07 -0000

got space for 1 more? hehe...ok....

one day, IF the coalition of DAP, PAS, KeADILan formed a government by monopolising the parliament, i would also be on the opposition side!

you see, the thing is not to have ONE party ruling the country. i've said this again and again..(maybe not here)...what a truly democratic government need is CHECK AND BALANCE. no matter who controls the parliament, there MUST be an (almost) equally strong opposition questioning the government!

if the PM makes a proposal to allocate a particular sum on a certain project, there must be an opposing side which queries onwhy/how/when. and thus effectively scrutinises how taxpayers' money are spent.

if the ruling party tables a draft policy in the parliament, democracy NEEDS an opposing voice to debate on the policy. now look, BN controls 92% (i wont even argue on how they are over-represented) of the MP seats, fair debate?

for a bill to be passed as law, you need 2/3 of the MPs voting for it. go figure. in other words, what BN say is law. if one day, IF...BN tables a draft, that every citizen MUST pay 90% income tax, there is absolutely nobody in the parliament who can prevent that from being LAW!! isnt that just beautiful.

Re: We Know What We Want

sheon — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:51:11 -0000

songjun: thanks for your views on my comment. however, i respectfully disagree with most of your points. except for the johor sultan part (there's no doubt on that..hahahahaa)

our king(s) have always been seen as a mere puppet to the system, no thanks to their reluctance (or so i think) to exercise one very very powerful eerr...'option', that is..the power to sack a prime minister and elect one. just like why all the superpowers NEED to have nuclear weapons, but not for a first strike option, but as a deterrent for others contemplating on a strike.

police are corrupt. hey..didnt we see a senior cop being arrested for being rm27million too rich? tip of the iceberg i'd say. i know for a fact how night joints operate, brothels, clubs, etc. who are on their payroll....explain a hip&happening brothel operating just beside a police beat base. AND, not to mention that police are suppose to be politically independent!

elections are rigged...rigged...RIGGED!!! postal votes, cash-for-vote, dead voters, phantom voters, questionable distribution of electoral name list (do you call it that?)...... my frens were offered rm200 each as a token for voting them, on top of their return flight tix being paid for. and i dun have to waste time relaying stories on how voters were being questionably distributed.

'ISA' in other countries are being used as a national security. our ISA is being used as a political weapon instead.

by saying 'all MPs are swindlers'.....my sincere apologies, i meant 'most BN MPs'..... i know for a FACT, which MPs are corrupt, as my fren HAD to put them on his payroll to get certain things done (yes....the givers are almost as guilty as the takers, i agree). and we have the infamous 'close one eye' MP, we have our clowns Jerai, Jasin, you-dun-like-malaysia-you-leave-malaysia MP, etc....... to name a few.

Our PM not a village fool? well, take couple of hours off your schedule, and visit www.m2day.org

Tun...gosh, is he a classic. i am in the construction line, some things i know if i disclose, will get me sacked. some not-so-open secrets about most mega projects in our country. some you-scratch-my-back-i-scratch-yours thingy..... and we have the judiciary-crisis with the sacking of tun abbas, and we have the anwar case, ops lalang, ...the list goes on and on. yes, he put us on the world map, he brought massive prgress to the country, but, are these excuses to being incredibly corrupt?

Re: We Know What We Want

george — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:21:35 -0000

photographs have quaintly.net labels now! :O

Re: We Know What We Want

sboon — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 10:51:45 -0000

you are truly an inspiration =) keep up the spirit and keep spreading them! And oh. Will you be doing legal studies by any chance in the States? You have potentials ;) Cheers...

Re: We Know What We Want

fabm — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 06:23:11 -0000

Thanks for your interesting account and photos of the Bersih rally.

I am compiling a list of detail commentaries so that people who are searching for them can easily find them. I hope you don't mind if I use a couple of quotes from your blog for this list.
The compilation of the BERSIH blogs can be found here: http://mfabm.blogspot.com

Re: We Know What We Want

Jun — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 04:49:47 -0000

ah i was referring to the fact that the gov was trying to blame the whole rally for being "disruptive to racial harmony". like, since when did it even have a racial agenda? *d'oh!* and if anything, i think it has brought the diff races closer, judging by the zest of the crowd and their common goal, dun u think so? :)

Re: We Know What We Want

songjun — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 03:24:18 -0000

lol id say the king is THE most toothless lol. We're giving him face.

I still say its a political move, and that our opposition themslf are weak and i have no confidence in them leading the country.

The police is corrupt but not corrupt till mafia style gangs literally RUN the country. They still get the job done albeit only when it comes to certain things, which are usually politically motivated. I still doubt that the elections are rigged, there is no voter intimidation, and only by elections are usually tampered with. ISA is now mostly available in most countries in the world, and my DAP MP is not a swindler. She is one of the best MPs i have ever seen.

And our PM is not a village fool, he;s doing the best he can with whats been thrust onto him. Yes our judiciary is a puppet show and our ACA basically toothless. and that is problem. Fix accountability, and the rot is turned.

Mahathir may have enjoyed some kickbacks, but please RESPECT him for what he has done for our country. WIth out him and with BUNGLING idiots with backward thinking minds who STILL think mega projects were and are a waste of money should appreciate without him and his mega projects, Malaysia would still be an unknown piece of land.

Thats the thing, we have our thought process so bungled up that we ask help from the monarch, who is probably THE most next to useless person in the country and have children or cousins further corrupting the country by flaunting their status around. Talk to business ppl in the know and u will see how arrogant some of these ROYALTIES are, especially the Johor king.

Want to exercise the right to protest? protest as the Rakyat. We ARE democracy. We do not acquiese to other powers other then the power of the people.

IMO tho, i think im quite a believer in autocracy LOL. The singaporean kind. Maybe we should come up with a new political system. The private sector kind. If we had put Lim Goh Tong as the PM, i wonder how things would have been haha

Re: We Know What We Want

sheon — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 02:43:15 -0000

malaysian parliament is a farce. say if the rally headed there, i am sure there will be a circus load of ministers demanding the participants' heads!!!

Our Cabinet is basically a court of jesters. Our MPs are fools. Our Police are corrupt. Our Opposition MPs are totally outnumbered in the parliament. The election is rigged. ISA is a constant threat. The judiciary is a puppet show. The Election Commission is biased. The ACA is toothless. Local councils are swindlers.

And most importantly...our Dear PM is a village fool.

Who else to turn to? who else to go to?

Despite having His Majesties powers curtailed by our Dear Ex-PM Mahathir (*cough CORRUPT), He still remains as our ONLY hope.