Interesting question on Twitter today.

“Would you give up your right to think and speak just for the sake of not offending people who seem to get offended at everything?”

No. I will not give up my right to think, speak and do for anything. For those are what define me as a person. What I think, what I speak and what I do. We cannot convince everyone or make everyone accept anything that we say especially when it comes to opinions. Facts? Well facts don’t change. Opinion can change. You can have your opinion one day and another the next day, depending on the subject and the timing. Opinions cannot be rely on, it must be tested with truth. Don’t confuse facts with opinions.

“In scientific reasoning, something can only be called a fact when it can be observed as it occurs or as a state of being, or when it can be proven through experimentation. Experiments must be repeatable, and return the same result no matter who the observer is.”

I have always been interested with the issues of current affairs and voicing my opinions about anything that catches my attention. No, it’s not because I am considering a career change in the future to be a Yang Berhormat. Anyway, I find it funny (or annoying depending on my mood when the question is posed) that people seems to equate being politically aware and paying attention to what is happening in the country as harbouring political aspirations.  That seems to be the most sensible explanation for your political activism or ‘kepohness‘.

Perhaps they pose similar questions to their friends every time their friends talk about  mobile phones, (“You want to sell mobile phones ah one day?), food (You want to be a chef ah? ), songs (You want to be the next Justin Bieber eh?), or pets (You are into animals????)

Not because of I think that I can directly change everything by making noise. But I’d also like to believe that people  will somehow listen to you if you make it loud and clear to them that you want them to listen. They cannot ignore you forever, eh?

In the context of a citizen and nation, it is important to take up the responsibility as a good and proud citizen of this country to make your concerns about the happenings of this country known, regardless of who is running it, because this is your home. So, yes that making your voice heard loud and clear, matters.

We should always make our voice heard, loud and clear. Do it now, while they still allow us to have a voice, that is. Think about it.

ps:  Some of the lines in this post, I have used it in an article I wrote for R.A.G.E before. Just felt like writing, and I need something as a basis to write. Recycle-lah!

pss: “My mind is made up. Don’t confuse me with the facts.” Don’t laugh.

Tags: Rant

Bruno Manser Fund previously in September 2012 has compiled a report of based on the investigations of Sarawak Report. It is a 45 pages report of excruciating details into the Taib Mahmud clan and how the clan has extended their corrupt tentacles into every aspect of Sarawak’s strategic economy.

“The Taib family runs a well-diversified financial empire with interests in Sarawak’s largest timber and logging companies (Ta Ann, Samling, WTK, Sanyan), monopolistic control of  log exports (Achi Jaya Transportation), plantations (Sarawak Plantation), construction (Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad, Naim Holdings, Titanium Management), electricity supply (Sarawak Cable, Sarawak Energy), property development (Custodev, Kumpulan Paranbena) and state media (Cats FM, New Sarawak Tribune) to name a few.”

Download the report here and read it for yourself.

Tags: BN, Corruption, Cronyism, Malaysia, Monopolies, Sarawak, Taib Mahmud

I iz bek!

Let’s get down to what matters.

This morning at 10am, Al Jazeera news network carried a report on a secret film exposing corruption by Sarawak Chief Minister, Taib Mahmud’s inner circle selling off Sarawak’s land for personal gain. It was an undercover sting carried out by Global Witness revealing the systemic corruption and illegality at the heart of government in Sarawak, Malaysia’s largest state.

Yes, many said that the issue of corruption involving Taib’s family is an open secret  “Tell us something we DON’T know’, remarked a friend on Twitter. But how often you get an expose this big, at this scale carried all over the world and a video evidence, in TECHNICOLOUR  AND CLEAR SOUND not some grainy low quality pinhole black and white footage with no facial recognition. And of course we to love see the villain say it to our face and laugh maniacally in High Definition, an effect you can’t get from print media.

Global Witnes has a dedicated page for this expose you can access it here – Inside Malaysia’s Shadow State.

Watch the videos for yourself!

Inside Malaysia’s Shadow State (English Version)

Di Sebalik Tabir Sebuah Negeri Di Malaysia (Malay version, and the translation sucks! :P)

After you have watched any of the video, you should have learned few things. In the event you want to grab a nice piece of land in Sarawak, please know make sure you are aware of these things:

1) The ‘People of Subtance” you should go to help you carry out this kind of deal.

2) Amount of kickbacks normally given to/received by Taib for this kind of deal.

3) Evasion of Malaysian Tax. How to evade Malaysian tax, with the help of crooked lawyers and our nice neighbour up north (or down south depending on your location), Singapore. It is not a secret that Singapore is the new Switzerland, a global money laundry, “jurisdiction by choice for.. PEOPLE LIKE US”. Not you and me, of course.

4) Sarawak indigenous people or the natives are “naughty” people and “squatters” in the eyes of Taib’s family who in the words of Alvin Chong, the crooked lawyer for Taib’s family,

“They wouldn’t know how to find a lawyer, would they?”

Naughty Sarawakians need some spanking…

5) Leaders are generally corrupted. Who isn’t? In the words of Taib’s first cousin,

“I know people are talking about him (Taib Mahmud) being corrupted and all, BUT who ISN’T when they are LEADERS.”

6) Some other notable quotes from the video:

He’s my cousin, so…. *maniacal laughs huahahhahahahahahuhahaha

So… he’s my cousin so it’s quite easy.

Sarawakians have been shafted by greedy politicians like Taib all this while and it is long time to put a STOP to this. Enough is enough!

“If the video of Taib’s corruption in Sarawak does not lead to a revolution in Malaysia, I don’t know what will.”

Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) and Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri Malaysia, apa tunggu lagi! Buat kerja lah! And self proclaimed Cyber Activists on Twitter (and social media) *cough cough cough where is your activism spirit??!!

Hello there! Anyone is still reading this blog? Wait, can I still call this a blog?

Well, time flies. Half a year is gone. So when is the apocalypse again? Heh! I have moved back to Kuching last February. I was in Bintulu for the past 2 years, in and out of the jungle somewhere near Bakun. Now I am back to doing 8-5 modern slave routine.

What I don’t like the most about it is the need to wake up early and get caught in the traffic going to and back from work. Although I had to drive for more than 200km almost daily when I was in Bintulu, I was not complaining. I prefer a long drive than getting stuck in the traffic. But I have something else to complain when I was there. Give and take, life is what you make or want it to be, don’t you think?

It is still Hari Gawai today. We have 2 days of public holiday in Sarawak. I took 4 days leave since starting last Wednesday. Going back to work next Tuesday, but will be in KL for business trip and back the next day. Just lazying at home, eating, watching movies, sleeping.. talking to my dogs..

Slow roast, old skool style Woof! Woof!
Kuih ros.. (Rosmah????) Roasted chicken, old skool style
Like how they do roti nan.. So this is how they burn the kompia
Rattan mat, photo taken at longhouse Sarang semut
Ruai kitai… Old skool
Sarikei’s pineapple statue Nasi pulut..
Looks like roti canai dough, kan?

So, how are you people? I have not been reading any blog lately. Only clicking on some posts when it appears on my Twitter of Facebook timeline. Some of you have been neglecting your blog as well, eh? Anyway, keep doing what you are doing, please drop me a message or say hi every now and then so I know you are still… around?

To all my Dayak friends,

Slamat Ngitu Ari Gawai! Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai, Lantang Senang Nguan Menua!

More important is… Anang Ngelaban Perintah…. (ha! ha! ha!)

Tags: Gawai, Sarawak

Some people are just so damn good at pulling things from their ass they should make a living out of the act, literally. They can come up with all kinda shit you would not imagine it is possible to begin with.

I have issues with old farts. Not so much the age but the way of thinking, the way of doing things. Old farts tend to be a little too sensitive, perceiving anyone and anything as a threat to their pathetic, shriveled and wrinkled physical life. Heck they’re the perfect poster boy for anything sensitive. Think of…. Datuk Seri Utama Rais Yatim. Ha! Ha! Ha! You would think that maybe for some people, when they are getting older some strange things happened to them, not in a very good way. They are so sensitive they are literally walking clitoris and you really do not want to get yourself wet walking in their path. Either that or their brain just turned into that elusive G-spot, because they do not use it that often anyway, pulling things from their ass all the time.

Old farts love to talk about respect. Being a fairly young guy (still), I get that shit a lot. “Hey you young punk, you are not showing me enough respect.” Or they would bitch to people that they cannot work with people that don’t show them respect. Respect my ass. Why? To them, everything you do or not doing is taken a sign of respect or disrespect.

Let me give you a scenario, it may or may not have anything to do with the living and dead people. Just a story.

Pretentious Old Fart told you that before you do anything in his ‘territory’, you have to inform, ask for his permission bla bla.. (as a sign of respect lah). Fair enough. So you would inform him, get his permission on all kind of shits you are going to do. Then somehow Pretentious Old Fart found it annoying that you have to go through him on all kind of shits before doings anything. So he told you in a very oldie-fartsy way, “Hey everything also you have to ask me ah? You think my managers are useless? This kind of small thing, unimportant crap you can get them to make decisions. I don’t want to know.” Fair enough. So you would make your own judgment from then, for small, unimportant shit you would go directly to his dogs managers/staffs, for big and sensitive thing you would go to him. Then one fine day, while you were doing ‘small, unimportant shit’ that should not be bothered by him, Pretentious Old Fart screamed over the phone, “Why you do things without telling me? Are you trying to be funny? You are not giving me enough respect. Bla bla bla.”

Either ways you are screwed. Follow his instruction to get him involved and he thinks that you are trying to be funny by getting him ‘too involved’ with your shits, he would go ape shit. Do not follow his instruction, you will definitely in deep shit. Try to follow his ad hoc instruction, weave to accommodate him, he is still going bat-shit crazy because he is sonofabitchmuthafuckacrazyasshole. Geddit?

For me, first and most important thing as a modern slave paid to do shit, I make sure I get the shit done. Respect, well that comes later, as I size you up whether you are to be treated with respect or not. The thing about respect, it is earned. Of course as young people, we are expected and taught to respect the elders which I refer as old farts in this post. I am not sure for what basis but I think we should respect people. Not some discriminating ageism crap from some old farts.

And I respect people looking at how they do things. How they carry themselves. I am pretty sure that generally, I have good social skills, meaning I know my shit around people. I do not go around with this weird new age thinking or mantra that I will do my things and while in the process I hope to offend as many pathetic, easily offended sensitive souls.

I think most of the disagreements and conflicts I had with some old farts were due to the same stupid reason humans are still fighting and killing each other to this day – power. Not that physic power lah, the power associated with authority, the measured ability to control one’s environment, and behaviour of other entities. And the study of power in a society is referred to as…. politics, my friends. Politics. Not a new conflict, always we have new ideas (often associated with young punks) vs old ideas (perpetuated by old farts). Just look at this country, especially in Sarawak. Both sides of the divide have this problem.

Put it this way, I would not have problem with any old fart if they are accommodating and bestow the same respect and trust for little shit like me, which they are dying for. It works both ways. And so far, I think old farts around me are the ones who always find faults, trying to make my life difficult just because they feel that I have not accorded them enough respect. Yeah, let’s teach that little shit some lessons. And just to make it clear, so far I only consistently have issues with certain people and they tend to belong to that old farts club. So I made my reference from there.You old fart reading this, please do not get offended. Not everything is about you, old fuck.

Ah, I better stop here before I sound like an old fart.

p/s I hope I would not be the kind of old fart I hate when I am officially an old fart, physically. You readers have the divine duty to whack me into sense should that happen, then.

Tags: Modern Slavery, old farts, Rant

This is an attempt to write a post after I have not been writing any for the past 6 months.

I have no idea what I should write. I have written enough on Twitter on Lynas and Erykah Badu I don’t feel like repeating it here.

Something senseless. I should write something that doesn’t make sense. Like the direction of this post is going.

Okay. Few lines. That is a start. At least it is longer than 140 characters. Yamateh Bong! Yamateh!

p/s: Bear me with folks. Just warming up.

1. What is Bersih?

Bersih is ‘tak kotor‘, which means clean in Malay. I thought we all naturally support anything that is clean? You suka kotor?

On November 10, 2007, Malaysians from all walks of life whose had NBTD took a boring walk (well, not so for those who had to dodge tear gasses &  chemical water cannons at some points, no offence) while looking silly in yellow shirt, yellow headband, yellow handbags, yellow pants, yellow skin or any hint of yellow colour on them from several locations towards Istana Negara to send a memorandum to the King demanding electoral reform. The demands were:

1. Usage of indelible ink (which has already been agreed to by the Electoral Commission, which then canceled it off at the last hour before 2008 General Election)

2. Clean-up of registered voters roll (what took them so long so hard to do it, really?)

3. Abolition of  postal votes, and (not done)

4. All candidates and political parties have equal access to print and broadcast media. (not done)

Close to 20 people were arrested and no policemen were injured during the rally. Some went back with wet t-shirt and teary-looking eyes, thanks to some trigger happy dudes who swore to protect and serve the citizens.

2. What is Bersih 2.o?

Bersih 2.0 is a repeat of  the first rally, as a follow up (it is good to follow up don’t you think?), scheduled July 9th, 2011  to again demand for electoral reform, since the Election Commisson (EC) slept through the demands for the past three and a half years. Well, you have to try again right? Why we need another rally? Why can’t we sit down and discuss? Well, we have done discussing and it is time to make a point. The EC has been postponing discussions, giving excuses and more lame excuses all this while and suddenly now come Bersih 2.0 they want to discuss again? (while giving ultimatum to Bersih to call off the rally. Seriously? You care about the rally or the demands for electoral reform?)

3. Is Bersih 2.0 a political ploy to topple the government, CIA’s agent, trying to revive communism, a tool by Muslim haters and ?

Look at the 8 demands  by Bersih 2.0 :

1. Clean up the electoral roll. Again. (what fucking took the EC so long to do it? Bunch of incompetent goons.)

2. Reform postal voting. Again. (still not done and the EC actually makes it harder now for postal votes counting process to be impartial with some stupid new rules, I cannot remember it so you google it up)

3. Use of indelible ink. Again. (nothing done over this promise by EC and now they are suggesting for the use of biometric system. You cannot even implement this cheap indelible ink idea you want to use biometric system? Are you dumb?)

4. Introduce a minimum 21-day campaign period. (this is a new demand, because the EC is blardy inconsistent with the given campaign period. 21 day is just right, not too long, not too short and should be enough time for all parties to prepare for D-day. 1st election this country had, campaign period was 42 days. Now? 2 weeks. Some voters don’t even know who are the candidates in some elections.)

5. Allow all parties free and equal access the media. Again. (well, you need a fair, equal footing or fighting ground for a fair fight and to win the fight respectably.)

6. Strengthen public institution. (I am not quite sure how asking EC to fulfill this demand)

7. Stop corruption. (during the election time, some parties often resorted to pork-barrel corruption, going blatantly without regards to the laws)

8. Stop dirty politics. (Well, yeah. It’s only dirty when you want it to be dirty. We should aim for election where candidates talk about policies they offer to voters. Not about sex. Slander.)

Any of the demands above is political? Bias to any political party? And if any of the demands above is achieved, does it has anything to do with communism, religion, foreign espionage bla bla bla? Opposition parties are seen openly supporting Bersih 2.0 because they always have been at disadvantage in any election and they just want an equal chances to win the people’s votes. Isn’t that a fair request? All political parties should demand for this, an equal chance. Unless you’re a quack.

And just because many opposition parties are supporting Bersih 2.o it is an opposition agenda?  How you know for sure by having a reformed electoral system, the opposition will win for sure if there is any election? If they put donkey candidate, they may not win the election. Is it because of donkey, monkey, frog also can win in any election now that we need an electoral reform.

4. I still think the best way is to vote wisely during the election.

How you are going to make sure your vote is worth what it is if the system is not fair? Your vote can be canceled out anytime by deceased voters ‘coming back’ to vote, sudden influx of postal votes because the system is not clean enough. Why Malaysians overseas are having a tough time trying to fulfill their responsibility because the EC is not taking enough steps to help or let them vote? Why allow postal votes for some groups and not others when they are all cannot be present physically at their constituency during polling day? Fair?

5. I cannot join Bersih 2.0 rally because…

Afraid? The government wants you to be afraid. That is why the intimidation and over the top reactions by the government to stop anything about Bersih 2.0. Well, you can be isolated, be ignored, be attacked, be in doubt, be frightened but DO NOT be silenced. Our life begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. There is strength in numbers, for that we shall fear and be silenced. The weak can become strong when they are united.

If you cannot be physically there, you can choose to show your support in many ways. Like looking stupid wearing yellow on that day.

If you don’t support Bersih 2.0 rally, well it’s your choice. This is a democratic country. As long as your conscience permits.

Any more questions on Bersih 2.0? I am lazy to ask question on my own and then answer them. Why don’t you write any question, comment, curse, profanity  in the comment box and this self appointed Bersih 2.0 know-it-all shall respond. *smug*