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!

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?)

So when is RapidKL going to integrate the two systems together? When are we Malaysians going to learn how to be a “first class nation”?

After alighting from the LRT station (at 2pm), I mingled around outside the Stadium to see who were the participants for the 1 Malaysia Rally.

Most of them were underaged school pupils and college students. How did I know? Easy, just ask! Some of them were shouting and making huge noises while others were carrying placards shouting Anti-Israel slogans. (After the recent storming of the MV aid ship to the Gaza strip by Isreali soldiers)

I should have ask myself then, is this truly a 1 Malaysia Rally or is it an Anti-Israel Rally? Why has the organisers allowed students to carry banners and placards to show support of Gaza when the occassion was to gather support for PM’s 1 Malaysia Campaign?

Without giving much further thought, I went straight to the upper podium of Putra Stadium to wait for the PM to come and grace the occassion. He arrived at 3pm.

There wasnt much in between (except for the usual greetings among Component Party Heads and usual pleasantries) so I’ll just skip the rest and go straight to the meat.

When the PM arrived, almost all rushed forward to kiss his hand (an act which PM Mahathir disliked intensely when he was PM). A fellow Sabahan Party Component Head and I just stood on the side to let those who liked kissing hands so much get their fair share of the grabbing and sembah-ing.

Moments later we were all ushered into the upper podium to a loud thunderous claps of applause welcoming the PM’s arrival. (DPM Muhyddin and Tun ‘Pak Lah’ were also part of the VVIP guests at the Rally. I suspect Pak Lah was there because his son-in-law was there. Incidentally, I also saw Nori (KJ’s wife) in the next section beside the podium)

After a half hour performance of local Martial Arts (I like Silambam the best), Khairy went to the platform on the opposite site of the VVIP podium to give his speech. It was sweet and simple but right to the point of why BN has not learned that the Young of today does not like to be treated as ‘ignoramus’. The BN Govt has done a lot but we shouldnt self-praise and claim all the credit. We simply cannot pull wool over the rakyat’s eyes anymore!

The reason I’m writing this article is to admit to the fact that some of my friends have called me up and ask me why I did not raise my hand while they were shouting the 1 Malaysia Slogan (as you can see in the above photo. I’m the one standing on the extreme left on the same row as the PM).

My answer to them was that, eventhough I fully support the PM’s effort in bringing the 1 Malaysia Concept to fruition, I still cannot convince myself that everybody ‘below him’ (in the administration) have gotten or embrace the idea fully into their very ‘being’.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. The day that the Civil Service is fair, that PTPTN & JPA loans are merit based, that the Public Universities entry are transparent, that there will be equal treatment between SK and SJK(C) and SJK(T) and that the Govt Agencies are for ALL … that’ll be the day I’ll raise my hand with all the enthusiasm that I’ve got!

But until then, I cannot see through the ‘wayang kulit’ that is going on nor the lack of political will in doing away with what decades of racial seperation policies have done.

Until then, I reserve the right to protest in quiet …

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.

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?

At least now that he is a Senator (despite talk that this was a way to keep him silent and not make noise for not being chosen as the candidate for the Hulu Selangor By-Election), he should be able to use his new position to fight for the plight of the Indians in MIC and also his ’ex’-constituents in Hulu Selangor for the last 20 years.

But this article is not about G. Palanivel, it’s about Ezam, the ex-PKR Youth Chief who was also sworn in at the same time as Palanivel as a Senator. My question is, what has he done to deserve a seat in the Senate? By apologizing to the people of Hulu Selangor during the week-long campaign that he was wrong in criticising the Govt while he was in PKR? Is that it?

Is that how UMNO rewards its ‘rejects’?

If that is the case, then we have a serious problem here. The Senate becomes a national dumping ground for ‘political rejects’ and ‘political-frogs’.

What is a criteria to becoming a Senator? Is this a favour-granting post that is used to keep people happy or entice people to hop over and become a political-frog?

When has the ‘honourable’ institution of the Senate degraded to become like that? Instead of housing people who have contributed to the nation or are contributing to the nation, it has been used for other reasons (we call that patronage).

Previously known as the Upper House, carrying a higher stature than the Dewan Rakyat, Senators are now not being given the respect that they should, much like the grand-title of Dato and/or Tan Sri, the streets are full of it, its becoming like a commodity!

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)

There must be some obvious person out there (or among us) who despite the explanation of the ‘leadership of the party’, still could not accept the fact that what has been a strong hold of Parti Gerakan (the constituency of Batu) for the past twenty odd years from 1986 to the present is now the ‘priced jewel’ in the hands of the “dictator of the pact”.

I’m glad somebody trumpeted the frustration that I’m feeling and it is clearly spelt out in the follwiong article:

http://www.klik4malaysia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=638%3Agerakan-grassroots-in-quandary-over-batu&catid=25%3Alatest-news&Itemid=189&lang=en

Good luck to the ‘new’ BN Batu Division Chairman, you have just signed your own ‘Be.End’ warrant!

Among the topic that were raised and debated were: “What’s the future direction that Gerakan is going to take in the next 3 to 5 years?”

Some of the journalist also did interviews with us and below is an article piece we did on 3 March 2010 on what Gerakan should seriously consider or at least think about, less we be sweeped aside without knowing what hit us!

http://www.sinchew.com.my/node/151637?tid=1

A group of online-media journalist came to my Batu Service Centre Office sometime last week and did an extensive interview with me on the problems faced by the voters of Batu and other related issues, including a possible By-Election in Batu. I gave them a very open and honest answer and also included some of my thoughts on the development of the Youth Movement within Gerakan and other plans for the future.

I was told this will be the first installment of their recording and that the other clips will be uploaded soon when they are available. If you find this first part of the interview interesting, hope you will check in soon for the rest of the instalment.

Hope you dont find my ‘hair’ (in the interview) disturbing (my apologies) as in the midst of trying to give my full attention to the interview, I forgot to comb my hair … not that there’s much to comb actually!

This clip and the subsequent ones are also available at www.klik4malaysia.com

Thanks for viewing.

It takes years to build up goodwill, trust and a harmonious relationship. And all it takes is another ‘Special Officer’ to break all of that … in a couple of seconds!

Nasir Safar must be one of the ’least’ educated special officers from the PM’s Office. Never one to make any sense and now that he had opened his ‘golden’ mouth, the gems just came spilling out. And its not very nice to hear though!

When PM took pains to visit the Thaipusam event in Batu Caves, we thought it was such a good gesture that we followed him to also see for ourselves the great turnout and atmosphere at the age-old Hindu Temple. It was also touted as the second time in the history of Malaysia that a PM took the trouble to come visit for himself the great majority of Indian people in this country and how they celebrated one of the grandest festival in South East Asia. His father was the first to do it.

Even Al-Jazeera covered the event for a full 10 minutes in their Night News Report, giving full coverage to the Indian Descendents in Malaysia and how the festival has come to be regarded as a annual crowd puller for tourism in Malaysia.

Then came a week later, a Special Officer took a great big hammer and shattered all of that. Calling Indian Malaysians ‘pendatang’ and Chinese Malaysian Ladies ‘whores’.

What is becoming of this country, all of us have eyes to see. After 52 years of Independence, we still have this kind of derogatory remarks being hurled at each other. What was Nasir Safar trying to prove? That he was the almighty officer from the PMO and that nobody could touch him, even if he had said it in good faith. This was the excuse (partial statement below) the PMO could cock-up, and that we are suppose to accept it and feel that everything is OK.

In a prompt reaction to what had happened, the PM’s Office quickly sent out a statement yesterday evening – “Nasir Safar, the special officer to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who stirred a hornet’s nest with his stinging ‘racist’ remarks will resign. The remarks allegedly made by Nasir in Malacca today do not in any way reflect the views of the prime minister. Nasir never intended to make any derogatory remarks. He spoke at length on the contributions made by all races in developing the country. Nevertheless, Nasir apologises for any offence caused and in light of this, will tender his resignation.”

Resign for what? He should be kept longer in the PMO so that the Pakatan Rakyat coalition has got a better chance to pave the “Path to Putrajaya”, faster. I think we should start a petition campaign to reinstate this ‘illustrious’ officer from the PMO. Better still, give him a TanSri next year (because he’s already a Dato) for making it clear that the real Ketuanan Melayu concept needs a damn good Ambassador, and he’s the man for the job!

Some say during the period from 2002-2008, this country was ruled by an institution called the “4th Floor Boys”. This were a smart group of young professionals who could outdo and out-argue anybody of this country and they veil a considerable amount of power in the weak hands of the 5th PM. Now comes another breed of animals who are standing-skin-close, advising and breathing the same air as the PM … people like Nasir Safar. I just wish that the PM knows what he is doing, including the minutest family background, and psychological profiles of each and every one of his Political Secretaries and Special Officers. We cannot afford to get the equation wrong again and usher in another group of ‘new’ 4th floor boys.

As a point of reflection, we (especially Indian and Chinese of this country) shouldnt be perturb by what has been said. If some lowly-officer can create such a stir in our sentiments just by saying something like that, how easily are we ’manipulatable’ by others whom have got deeper and more sinister intentions than this.

We should learn to sieve through the substantial and unsubstantial remarks that comes our way. Are we so weak that we also have the siege-mentality of one other race (of this country) that will continue to haunt us? Mention the word ‘pendatang’, all the Chinese and Indians of this country will just go berserck! When are we able to hear that ‘loaded word’ and not be disturb nor affected by it?

Nay … we should remian strong and steadfast in trying to build a truly Bangsa Malaysia, 1Malaysia, Middle Malaysia, Malaysian Malaysia … brother any more slogans?

InsyaTuhan (I believe not gazetted, but if it is, please tell me), we shall live to see our children enjoy a harmonious country for the future.

As a result of that, his neighbour got very upset and sternly ticked him off, “Can you please tell your children not to call you ‘Ayah’ anymore?”

The man asked, “Why?” The neighbor retorted, “Because my children call me ’Ayah’ too, and they might get confused and mistaken you to be their father.”

Burial rites, religious ceremonies, name callings are meant for humans. Our Creator (All Praise to Him) couldn’t care less if you mispelt his name or couldn’t remember his name after a beer or two. Even if you were to keep repeating His name and walk out of a 32 storey building, you would still meet your fate, ala Teoh Beng Hock style.

So in the end, who has the last laugh, the Creator. He must be thinking, I gave all these two-legged creatures a brain and a heart and all they could use it for was to compete on who has the right to call my name … hello, anybody home!