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.”