How should we judge a government?

In Malaysia, if you don't watch television or read newspapers, you are uninformed; but if you do, you are misinformed!

"If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing." - Malcolm X

Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience - Mark Twain

Why we should be against censorship in a court of law: Publicity is the very soul of justice … it keeps the judge himself, while trying, under trial. - Jeremy Bentham

"Our government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no
responsibility at the other. " - Ronald Reagan

Government fed by the people

Government fed by the people

Career options

Career options
I suggest government... because nobody has ever been caught.

Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?

Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?
Corruption is so prevalent it affects English language?

When there's too much dirt...

When there's too much dirt...
We need better tools... to cover up mega corruptions.

Prevent bullying now!

Prevent bullying now!
If you're not going to speak up, how is the world supposed to know you exist? “Orang boleh pandai setinggi langit, tapi selama ia tidak menulis, ia akan hilang di dalam masyarakat dan dari sejarah.” - Ananta Prameodya Toer (Your intellect may soar to the sky but if you do not write, you will be lost from society and to history.)

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Some of Khairy's admirers...

I mean, those who bother to read what he writes or says...but the comments are something else:

Malaysia-Today: Letter - Response to Khairy Jamaluddin (excerpts):
By Sudheesh Bhasi

Why would three assembly men/woman cross over and support BN at the risk of intense ridicule from their constituencies and the media and possibly the death of their political careers apart from some kind of personal gain (whether monetary or assurance of safety from the corruption charges hanging over their head)?

And one also wonders does the receiving party ever question what kind of people would you want to be associated with your party. When a Prime Minister of a nation proudly stands and welcomes the support of two assemblymen who are facing corruption charges, it just hits you how badly stuck we are in the quagmire of corruption that it is deemed 'ok' or even an occasion to celebrate when you form an association with two possibly corrupt indivituals.

I think it will be tough for any one of us to put our hand to the chest and other hand on our own holy book and say that we believe fully and without any doubt that there was no money offered or personal deals struck in these crossovers which brought the Perak government down and this important state to its knees. And if that is the case, the issue is a much larger one. Of corruption and criminal behaviour, something which has become so endemic to our nation that it cannot and should not be endorsed any longer, whatever guise it might take.

This one seems more personal if you read the whole piece in Malaysia-Today: - Response to Khairy Jamaluddin (excerpts):

KJ should know that Malaysians have never protested against one defecting per se; they are protesting against abducting elected legislators and entrapping them and later forcing them to switch sides.
By Ibrahim Ahmad

I refer to KJ's piece (http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/22037/84/) which was published in The Malaysian Insider and also in Malaysia-Today concerning the editorial of The Malaysian Insider on the on-going Perak crisis. (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/opinion/breaking-views/26657-najib-and-khairys-unconvincing-perak-script--the-malaysian-insider)

KJ then went to say that though defection is immoral, both BN and PR don't want “the rules of the game changed with anti-hopping legislation” adding that “once you play with those rules you can't suddenly turn around and say that they are not fair simply because things have not gone your way.”

Sir, PR leaders are on record saying that they want an anti-hopping legislation. Karpal Singh opposed defection in its entirety with PAS, PKR and Lim Guan Eng arguing that a clause that gives the defector the right to seek a new mandate should be inserted in such a legislation. That was morally right and I personally support this position.

One may be elected on any platform but if the party fails the nation, changes its electoral platform or suffocates its elected leaders for petty partisan ends, then one can't stick with that party in the guise of democracy. That's neither democracy not patriotism, it is betrayal of the nation at its height.

On the other hand, BN opposed both and never proposed anything. When Anwar was asked about this after Mohd Nizar was ousted, he repeated his stand that an anti-hopping legislation that denies someone the right to seek a new mandate in the case of the party failing the nation or deserting from its ideals is itself undemocratic.

Nasaruddin wasn't a vulnerable person unlike the three. PR didn't need Nasa to survive but BN needed the three vulnerables to survive. PR didn't abduct Nasa unlike its own ADUNs who were abducted and hidden even from their own families for days. Nasaruddin was open about what he wanted and called for a press conference, went back to his people and after the ceremah admitted that it was his “biggest ceremah” since he entered politics and that “Botans have accepted his position.” He has detailed why he has left his party and promptly informed the Bota people.

On the other hand, BN abducted PKR legislators and hid them from their leaders for days plunging Perak into crisis. They issued contradictory statements (like they were sick, ROTFL) and later refused to face the press people.

No comments: