Racism in Malaysia

This is an excerpt from the finding of telephone survey by New Straits Times on 1200 respondents which confirm that racism runs deep in Malaysia.

Negative stereotyping is well entrenched:

• 58 percent of Malays, 63 percent of Chinese and 43 percent of Indians polled agreed that Malays are generally lazy.
• 78 percent of Malays, 60 percent of Chinese and 40 percent of Indians think the Chinese are greedy.

• 60 percent of Malays, 58 percent of Chinese and 20 percent of Indians believe that Indians cannot be trusted

The findings confirm my own gut feel about the state of ethnic relations in Malaysia.

Saddam's accomplices

Now that the show trial of Saddam Hussein has ended with the death sentence handed to the former dictator, some people are wondering why his accomplices are not tried. One of them was George Bush Snr who had secretly shipped arms to Saddam via third countries such as South Africa and Chile. In 1992 the Congressional Banking Committee headed by Henry Gonzalez said "...We found that Bush and his advisers financed, equipped and succored the monster....".


Douglas Hurd, the British Foreign Minister in 1981, also sold missile technologies to Saddam. So was Donald Rumsfeld who offered all sort of assistance to Saddam immediately after the gassing of the Kurd.

The biggest crime of all committed by America and Britain is to attack a defenseless country based on concocted threat.

Yellow Box Junction

I wonder if yellow box junctions built around cities and towns in Malaysia are properly regulated. There are so many of such junctions within a short distance of each other, a good example is along Jalan Ampang, that it has become a gridlock. You see the box not only at major junctions with traffic lights but also at almost every exit points from office buildings, private apartments and private schools into the main roads. Ironically you also get this boxes drawn five metres before a traffic light. All this certainly defeat the purpose of setting up a yellow box junction, which is to remove the traffic gridlock.

I learn that yellow box junctions was first introduced in UK to help clear traffic flow at major intersections. Vehicles may not enter the area unless their exit from the junction is clear except when one is prevented from doing so by oncoming vehicles.

Given the continuous flow of oncoming traffic along Jalan Ampang if you are turning right at any of this yellow boxes which is not part of a major junctions, you will get stuck in the box. This is why I believe you see traffic congestion on this road most of the time. The yellow boxes has become a traffic obstructions.

I trust that there is already a provision under our traffic law to require motorist to observe whatever is required when crossing the yellow box. I also hope that this law has been incorporated into a highway code and sufficient publicity is given on the correct way to use it.
The only question to be answered is how did the local authorities decide where to place this boxes. As it is now the yellow box junction creates more problems with the traffic flow and the motorist using it because the boxes are placed arbitrarily.
Removing this obstacles do not require huge investment and will go a long way towards improving traffic flow in KL and the services of Rapid KL too.

Another proof of American hegemony

Daniel Ortega is on the verge of winning the Presidential election for Nicaragua. International observers that include Jimmy Carter announced that the election was conducted fairly.

The American embassy on the other hand said it has received report of anomalies. They also announced that American aid to Nicaragua would be reduced substantially if Ortega eventually win the election.

Sandinistas, the party of Ortega, was the leading force that topple the dictatorial Somoza dynasty in 1979. However US under Reagan was fearful of the rise of leftist Sandinastas, and armed the Contras to fight them. The resulting war and conflict that ousted the Ortega government had caused great sufferings to the people of Nicaragua. It was all done by the American in the name of regime change and spreading democracy.

Khir Toyo and the rule of law

On Nov 4 2006 MB Selangor said if Zakaria Deros house is torn down, what bout the others? reported the Star

He also said "If I go strictly by the book instead of taking into account public interest and racial harmony, imagine the outcry if I were to execute the demolition orders which would include temples and illegal factories.”

The arguments made by Menteri Besar Selangor against the demolition of illegally built mansions of municipal councillors was not only unconvincing but also full of contradictions. I would have expected him to make a politically correct statement and avoid using racially loaded justification for not taking action against them.

One major implication of the statement is that people in Selangor do not have to get approval from the local authorities for new building or its alteration. Their illegal structure is unlikely to be demolished because of our people friendly government. Another consequence of this statement is the dilemma it creates for the administrator of the local authorities in carrying out their duties.

There are more law abiding citizens in this country compared to offenders, irrespective of race or religion, and it is their respect and trust of your correct judgement that is worth fighting for. The government must take measures to correct mistakes made in the past and let offenders know that the law will catch up on them. Any action to be taken must begin with offenders already caught in the act. The next step is to announce to the public to make good any breaches of the local council by-laws within a reasonable period of time before action is taken on them.

It is no wonder that the corruption index of Malaysia by Transparency International, which is based on perception of corruption, has dipped, and we must take every opportunity available to reverse the trend.

Proton dilemma

Mahathir criticised his successor for failing to protect Proton. He argued that without protection the company will fail. The government responded by reducing tariff on cars made or assembled in Asean countries. This is a first step prior the complete removal of protective tariff by the government as part of the regional trade arrangement. As a result Proton is more exposed to foreign competition. Proton has no choice but to penetrate the export market if it were to survive.

Exposing Proton to competition is long overdue. It has cost the public too much to protect them. We pay dearly to buy our car, the only way Proton could cover its cost and accumulate huge surplus which was squandered on buying a heavily indebted motorcycle company from Italy.

Malaysia could learn from the experience of Estonia on how not to be paranoid about free trade. If Proton is not ready for competition after more than twenty years in business than they should close shop. The following is an article extracted from NYT:

[Estonia] transformed itself from an isolated, impoverished part of the Soviet Union thanks to a former prime minister, Mart Laar, a history teacher who took office not long after Estonia was liberated. He was 32 years old and had read just one book on economics: “Free to Choose,” by Milton Friedman, which he liked especially because he knew Friedman was despised by the Soviets.

Laar was politically naïve enough to put the theories into practice. Instead of worrying about winning trade wars, he unilaterally disarmed by abolishing almost all tariffs. He welcomed foreign investors and privatized most government functions (with the help of a privatization czar who had formerly been the manager of the Swedish pop group Abba). He drastically cut taxes on businesses and individuals, instituting a simple flat income tax of 26 percent.

These reforms were barely approved by the legislature amid warnings of disaster: huge budget deficits, legions of factory workers and farmers who would lose out to foreign competition. But today the chief concerns are what to do with the budget surplus and how to deal with a labor shortage.

Wages have soared thanks to jobs created by foreign companies like Elcoteq of Finland, which bought a failing electronics factory and now employs more than 3,000 people making phones for Nokia and Ericsson. Foreign investors worked with local software engineers to create Skype, the Internet telephone service, and the country has become so Web-savvy that it’s known as E-stonia.

“The spirit is so different here,” Benoit du Rey says. “If you come to the government here and want to start a company, they’ll tell you, ‘Good, do it right now.’ Then you can work free without being bothered by stupid things. Here I talk to my accountant once a month. In France, for every seven or eight workers, you need one full-time worker just to fill out the forms for taxes and other rules.”

The economics of parking space

Car park is a scarce commodity. The last time I went to Gombak Land Office in Selayang to pay my quit rent I have to go few rounds before I could get a space on the soggy, water logged road shoulder.
Few years back there was ample parking inside the office complex itself and when I asked why parking was not provided for the taxpayers, I was told that now they do not even have enough space for the staff.

The pressure for parking space is a universal problem in cities and towns in Malaysia. Even housing estates and apartment dwellers are not spared. I arrived at a relative apartment block in Sentul just before 8 p.m for hari raya gathering recently, and was able to get a decent parking but could not get out by the time we finish dinner. By late evening most apartment dwellers have returned home and it was just customary for them to park cars at any available space in rows and adopt the last in first out principle.

As a result of these experiences I am becoming conscious of the problem facing car owners everytime I drive around a housing estate at night or during weekend, and the solutions are nowhere near. Land available for parking is limited and expensive and there will never be enough. Suddenly I am beginning to notice a lot of cars parked by the road side at most residential areas at night. Now you see multiple car ownerships by resident in housing estates including apartment dwellers. It is common to see one family that have five cars while the house they live in provide only for one car park.

How do we solve this problem? Obviously the government, especially local government, must take the lead. In some cities in UK, residents are issued with parking permits. Firstly it is to protect residents rights and secondly it is a form of rationing and thus those with commercial vehicles or too many vehicles are deny the right to the limited space. There is now a proposal to link parking space availability to global warming by making it expensive to have the right to a parking space on the road curb.

The time has come for Malaysia to discourage car ownerships, accelerate investment in public transportation and make it user friendly too, and invest in bicycle lanes instead of motorcyle lanes. These measures will not only improve the quality of life for Malaysian as a group but in the long run will also save the government money. The benefits to the community as a whole shall be far greater than the potential loss to a few individuals.

The Last Mughal

William Darymple the author of The Last Mughal: the fall of a dynasty(Delhi 1857) wrote in New Statesman that the westerners, especially the Christian extremists, in 19th century India radicalised the moderate Muslim into extremism. He said the venom of one provide the lifebloods of other. He argued that those who fail to learn from history are destined to forever repeat it.

It was, according to him, the same type of madrasah in India (Pakistan was part of India then) that produce Alqaeda and Taliban of today. The rise of wahabbism during that period in India was the result of British aggressive policy of regime change, removing the moderate Muslim Mughal emperor on the excuse that they were morally weak.

Today the evangelical Christians politician regards Muslim as an "incarnate fiends" or evils that needs to be crushed. It is history repeated itself by radicalising moderate Muslims to become extremists believing that an offence, like suicide bombing, is a form of defence against the aggressive Christians.

Little Napoleon of Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya

Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya or MPAJ is well known for the wrong reasons: abusive, inept, corrupt, ignorant or just dishonest. They are quick to pounce on alleged offenders. However when you ask them to exercise their authority to solve common problems facing residents they are not available or incapacitated. It is inevitable that the public sense of trust on MPAJ is very low, and consequently the public is likely to ignore them or their bylaws.

As ordinary law abiding citizen I employed an architect to design and submit building plan for the renovation of my house to MPAJ.The plan was approved and the work was completed almost a year ago. The certificate of fitness was also issued which signified my compliance with the building bylaw. My architect paid on my behalf a processing fee of RM 120 and a returnable deposit of RM550 when submitting the plan for approval.

I made the request for the return of my deposit on 25 July 2006. The next day an employee of MPAJ by the name of Fazillah phone to ask if I have used their bin for the disposal of the building debris. My spontaneous reply was I did not use their bin because the disposal of the debris was all handled by my building contractor who in turn contract it out to a company specialising in debris disposal called Jiwa Arif. She said that since I did not use MPAJ's bin I have committed an offence and therefore shall be subjected to a penalty. I told her that I am not aware of this rule since there was nothing in writing and she said it is my duty to ask!

MPAJ phone on 18 September 2006 informing me that the check for the deposit was ready for collection. A surprised was waiting for me when I discovered that the amount return to me was only RM 39, i.e. I was fined for RM 511. I consulted my architect who told me that she was not aware of the requirements and later she followed it up with the town planning department of MPAJ. The latter gave the architect the impression that the rule is made by another department and they do not see eye to eye with each other. It was also told to me that MPAJ do not have the bin but make use of the bin from a company registered with MPAJ. It seems there is only one company registered with MPAJ for this purpose.

It is quite obvious that MPAJ operates their business at the whim and fancy of their employees.They do not even understand their own objective and the laws under which they operate. The lack of transparency such as this could only lead to corrupt practices. I feel that they were established not to help residents but to help themselves conduct illicit business. They should be concerned about the disposal of the debris itself instead of which bin I made use of. Imagine if I have my own lorry or a relative has a lorry help to clear and transport the debris, and will this not be sufficient? It could help me reduced my cost of the renovation.

At the rate MPAJ introduced hidden rules to the public I will not be surprised that they may in future ask residents to employ only professionals like architect, engineer, contractor etc. that are registered with them.

Dick Cheney's hunting accident

Can't help laughing out at jokes by US comedians and satirist about Cheney's quail hunting accident in which he fired shotgun pellets at a lawyer friend Harry Whittington.

David Letterman:

Good news, ladies and gentlemen, we have finally located weapon's of mass destruction: it's Dick Cheney.

Jay Leno:

When people heard he shot a lawyer, his popularity is now 92%.

And here is something I just found out today about the incident. You didn't know this. Turns out Cheney tortured the guy for half an hour before he shot him.

Andy Borowitz:

Mr Cheney acknowledge that the man he sprayed the pellets on Sat was not Ayman al-Zawihiri but rather Harry Whittington...........blaming the mixup on faulty intelligence.

Driving crazy 3

Almost two years since I wrote about the high cost of owning automobile in Malaysia. Since then so many related issues have cropped up, most prominently was the squabbles between Proton and MITI about the Approved Permits for imported cars. It has gone to Parliament where issues of abuse of power by MITI for granting APs only to a few individuals was raised, and the lack of patriotism for letting Proton market share decline against the onslaught of this imports was also pointed out. The debate was so convoluted that the way the government cool it off was to issue an outline of National Automotive Policy(NAP) with details to be announced later.

In the meantime the Minister of Transport revealed in his Press conference recently that there are now 15 million vehicles registered compared to 7.6million in 1976. It is projected to grow at 20 percent per annum and at this rate the number of cars will reach 25 million in four years time. I wonder where will the trend lead us: more road fatility, less mobility due to congestion, worsening pollution, car junk yards everywhere etc.

Poor Malaysian have been hoping for better public transportation for years so that they don't have to own a car. But no one will help them, since the politician who lead them cannot make any money from running public transportation. Corrupt politician continue to govern Malaysia with no end in sight.

Opinion of W. Scott Thompson on US and Israel

Article by Thompson on NYT was reprinted in the New Straits Times today entitled "Like Sharon, the cabal is gone". How interesting to note that under Bush administration the neoconservative cabal, mostly in the Pentagon, prepared strategies to demolish Israel enemies using American resources. The cabal argued that whatever is good for Israel is good for America. Secret intelligent documents in the Pentagon being passed to Israel. Political figures are always at the mercy of Aipac, the Jewish lobby group. For example when in 1980 the presidential candidate John Connoly called for a just peace in the Middle East was regarded as anti-Semitic and they went all out to demolish him. Thompson argued that there should be a real debate about what constitute American interest as opposed to Jewish interest. It could start by stopping the US 5billion annual subsidy to Israel.