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26 June 2010 | Socio-Political | Si Pin

 PM Hatoyama of DPJ

Politics is a drug. Once you have tasted a piece of it, the addiction stays on forever. And for those who have enjoyed the perks that come with it, it is even more difficult to ‘wean’ them away. Just like mother’s milk, its always tasty. But parents have to do what they have to do, yank the ‘little devil’ away before they become ‘dependent’ derelicts.

I take my hat off for Yukio Hatoyama (Japan) and Kevin Rudd (Australia) for bowing down before they do any more harm to the bigger cause. For Hatoyama, whom have fought 40 years to restore his family’s honour as ‘good politicians’ but still willing to give it up less than a year later (after being elected) speaks volume of his upbringing and personal character. And for Rudd to do the same is a sacrifice of his part to assure his Party’s hold on to the seat of Government is highly commendable.

On our own front, for Dr Chua Soi Lek to owe it up to his mistakes is a character trait that all of us who are involved in politics should learn to do. I do not want to dwelve on the appropriateness or morality of what Dr Chua has done, but purely zooming in on his personal action of taking responsibility is what we are interested in, in this article.

But we cannot say that of some of the current leaders in BN as well as PR. How many of you have seen the familar old faces whom have refused to give up because the ‘opium’ still taste good for them.

Could Thailand have had a different fate if Thaksin is willing to give it all up and devote more of his time to rebuilding the country rather than clinging onto political power.

Likewise if Gordon Brown had owed it up much more earlier when the signs were apparent, could Labour have had slide that much off the scale.

If we are that ‘bledy’ useless, its time to go gracefully, and that includes me!

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13 June 2010 | Socio-Political | Si Pin

 It’s easy to spot me, I’m the one without the raised arm! (Pic by TheStar Online)

Interesting gathering, it was called the “1 Malaysia Rally”. But why do I think it was more of a ’syok sendiri’ gathering than anything else.

To fully experience the occassion, I decided to take the LRT from Kelana Jaya (the extreme end of ‘KJ’ Route) to Bukit Jalil (the 2nd last station of the Sri Petaling Route).

I’ve not taken the LRT for at least 6-7 months and it was a good way to see for myself whether the infrastructure service has improved since Ong Tee Keat took over as Transport Minister.

To my dismal, it hasnt improve but decline in service standards. For one, I couldnt get a ticket to go straight from Kelana Jaya to Bukit Jalil. I had to buy a one way ticket to Masjid Jamek and then buy another ticket from Masjid Jamek to Bukit Jalil. And in between suffer the rain transitting from the ‘putra’ station to the ’star’ station. (How would I know whether to take an umbrella or not?) Continue

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13 June 2010 | Socio-Political | Si Pin

It’s easy to give and its also easy to take back.

That was what His Majesty the DYMM Sultan of Johor did when he took back the 2 honorifics of DPMJ (title of Dato) and SPMJ (title of Dato Seri) from Chua Jui Meng (ex Vice President of MCA).

I’m not going to write about the political affiliations of Chua in this article but I just wanted to speculate on what the Sultan was going through in his head that warrant such a drastic move of stripping a person of his honours.

The Palace in a seperate statement did mention the fact that His Majesty is now reviewing all prior conferments and will adhere all future awards to a set of strict rules of conduct.

Among the rules include: good standing as a citizen, exceptional performance as a subject, great contribution to society and nation.

I salute Sultan Ibrahim for setting the record straight and that His Majesty is putting the rules to work himself after his ascension to the Johor Throne. This will in no small way return the former glory, prestige and meaning of being a Dato from a Royal State.

 Among the plenty, there’s now honour to being a Dato’ from the State of Johor. I can’t say that of other states (or at least some of them).

There’s also concern that athletes whom have contributed to the nation be awarded honorifics after their retirement. So I’m all for Soh Chin Aun and Misbun Sidek being confered the Dato’ship. But why in the like of Lee Chong Wei and Nicol Davids. Both are still in their twenties, why the hurry?

And what about Chef Wan, why is he a Dato’ also? Any connection to any other things?

My humble opinion as a subject of the Malay Rulers … the other Royal Highnesses may want to emulate the bold action of Sultan of Johor in restoring the “glory of the title”.

Then it means something to be a Dato’. Otherwise the street is full of them, by then it would be more prestigious to be called “Encik”. At least that was the feeling during the administration of Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Razak’s time.

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05 May 2010 | Socio-Political | Si Pin

 MIC Deputy President – G. Palanivel

Deputy President of Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), G. Palanivel was sworned in as a Senator in the Dewan Rakyat on 3 May 2010. That’s good for the Indian community. Regardless of his performance for the last 4 terms in Hulu Selangor, I have heard (from my own sources) that he too has contributed his fair share of his duties in that area for the last 20 years.

Because voters appetide are always insatiable, they will always keep asking for more, and if you did not attend a function that they have organised (and there are many more excuses the electorates can give you), they will say you have not contributed/performed and therefore not fit to be fielded as a candidate. What is the criteria to judge whether an MP is performing or not performing?

What is a good MP and what is not a good MP? Continue

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05 May 2010 | Socio-Political | Si Pin

I was asked by blogger Jed Yoong of “LurveWonderland” (her new blog after a long lapse from the cyberworld) to comment on what I had been upto in the last two years since the 12GE. Knowing well that an email response would not do justice to what I had to say, an interview was arranged so that we could explore further the topic at hand.

In an open-fashion manner, Jed fired off her questions in successive rounds of probes as to what I think about various issues but most of them centred around the constituency of Batu and what I think about the ongoing court case involving Tian Chua and his police-biting incident.

I gave a no-holds-barred response to all her questions and although the interview was a rather long one, but I think due to length-constraint, only a very small section of the interview appeared in her blog (which does not do justice nor was it able to capture the true spirit and essence of the question and answers for the day).

The interview is found here.

First of all, I would like to state that there is no “crew of 10″ in my service centre as she alluded to. Some of the people she met there, were genuine voters who had come in to chat and share what were happening in the places where they reside.

I only have a staff of 4 in my office. 3 Malay and one Indian. This is not by default but by design. I want my staff to be sensitive to the needs of the electorates of Batu especially the plight of the Indians (since most of them are from the lowest income groups) there. This team have been with me since the day I lost the Batu Election.

But Jed was right in that my service centre is definitely opened from 12pm to 7pm daily and upon request on weekends too.

And Thank You Jed for interviewing me and giving me a chance to explain what we have been upto in the last 2 years …

(Incidentally, the link to my blog which she provided at the end of the interview is an error. Instead of limpsipin.com (I hope the error was not intentional to make me a ‘limp’) it should read limsipin.com)

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