The picture which says it all.....

...about the pathetic state of our Nation

Divide and Rule

We have all been thought in our history lessons that the British practised "divide and rule" tactic during the colonialisation era. Although, it is true to some extent, it is not true completely. In fact, in the years prior to the independence, they were actually working towards uniting the Malayans.

In 1945, The Malayan Union was formed and gave equal rights to people who wished to apply for citizenship. It was automatically granted to people who were born in any state in British Malaya or Singapore and were living there before 15 February 1942. It faced opposition due to the methods Sir Harold MacMichael used to acquire the Sultans’ approval, the reduction of the Sultans’ powers, and the granting of citizenship to non-Malay immigrants and their descendants.

Then in 1949 Communities Liaison Committee was established, comprising the top Malayan politicians from different communities, to address sensitive issues, especially those related to ethnicity. However, CLC compromised on a number of issues, including citizenship, education, democracy, and Malay supremacy and set the stage for Malayan independence.

Later, the 1951 Barnes report recommended the setting up of one type of school and that vernacular schools be demolished. These schools would use the Malay language and English as their medium of instruction. But this was not accepted by the chinese community. The British gave in and revived Chinese schools.

It was not the British that created the basis of our racial divide but the people themselves who wanted to stay divided. The politicians had further divided the people for their own agenda to stay in power.

One such example is the expellation of Dato’ Onn bin Ja'afar from United Malays National Organization or UMNO. He was disgusted with what he considered to be UMNO's communalist policies, and called for party membership to be opened to all Malayans, and for UMNO to be renamed as the United Malayans National Organisation. However, he too faced opposition internally from fellow politicians which led to his resignation from the party.

Politicians too are to be blamed for the infamous race riots in May,13 1969.

Luckily, today, the people have become a little more sensible. When will the politicians change?

Introduction to "spinning"

Hi friends,

Please don't mistake this article for lesson on spinning top (gasing), or spinning wool or anything.

Of late, I've came across few popular blogs which have highlighted this topic. So, I thought it might be interesting to share the knowledge with you all.

According to Che Det:
"Spinning is the art of making all reports, especially the bad ones, look good for the subject concerned and vice versa. Even the picture can be spun by choosing the ones that will make the subject appear masterly and talking down to his companion. ."

"Spinning may include misreporting, or excluding certain parts or twisting the sentences to convey another meaning."

Based on my own experience, i would also add another point to the above list, which is:

"Spinning may also include lying and tokok tambah (adding up / spicing up) reports in order to make it look good"

Okay, enough with introductions. Now lets look at some examples of spinning.

Picture below is a news clipping from The Star Online today, regarding the release of Sheih Kickdefella.

Click on picture for enlarged view

In the last paragraph of their report, they have "reproduced" what Sheih Kickdefella have posted on his blog immediately after his release. Now let's look at the original post on Kickdefella's blog:

Click on picture for enlarged view

Did you spot the difference? Seems like they missed out the last paragraph.

Of course, it would be very embarrassing for our PM if The Star published the exact message from the blog, which also contains the words..."Till then, rest assured, I have kick Dollah again as soon as I was released. You can ask the press."

Okay, time for another example..(borrowed from RockyBru)

The news clippings below are essentially the same news article published by Bernama &NST.

Bernama new clipping:

Click on picture for enlarged view

And now the NST Online news clipping:

Click on picture for enlarged view

Did you notice it? In the Bernama news, when Najib was asked about nomination for president's post, he only said that he's already agreed to the succession plan and will leave it the party; and he hopes that the party will accept it. (...didn't talk about nomination matter)

But, according to NST, Najib was also reported saying that he will not accept any nomination for the president's post. Something that was missing from Bernama news.

How is that possible that two leading, pro-government news papers report things diferently? Probably, one of them wanted to create an image that Najib was totally committed to the PM's succession plan and will not challenge him in the party polls at the end of the year.
Who knows?

It only shows that the spin-doctors of both newspapers are not working in synch.

There are other numerous examples you can find, if you look closely.

Let's see if you can spot more...

Pak Lah's economic reckoning

Our beloved Pak Lah had contributed more than enough for our economy...in terms of damages since he took office.
Now that he had swapped portfolio with Najib, how will the Ministry of Defense fare?

18 Sept, 2008
WALL STREET JOURNAL ASIA
Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced this week that he has enough parliamentary support to unseat the current government, led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. If he does, Abdullah's lacklustre economic management will be largely to blame.
The prime minister has not introduced any substantive reforms during his nearly five years in office, preferring to rely instead on opening up the government purse. Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan announced in 2005, he expanded public-sector spending to RM200 billion annually from RM160 billion. In his Midterm Plan Review this year, he increased this outlay to RM240 billion. The national debt now stands at RM285 billion, up from RM192 billion in 2004. The official fiscal deficit has risen to 4.8% of GDP this year, from 3.2% last year. Revenue is being spent faster than it is coming in.
It's hard to argue that these outlays have served the broad public interest. Much of the funding has been channelled to elites in the majority Malay community, under the country's pro-Malay affirmation action programme. That has created discontent with many Malay who don't see the full benefits of the programme, and among the minority Chinese and Indians, who are excluded from it altogether.
Abdullah's stewardship has had a real impact on the economy. Capital flight has risen sharply; Malaysian investment abroad now exceeds inward foreign investment. The Kuala Lumpur stock exchange has lost almost one-fifth of its value this year to date. Malaysia's currency, the ringgit, saw its biggest one-month loss last month since the end of the dollar peg in 2005. Although GDP growth has averaged a robust 5% annual growth under Abdullah, that record is now under threat. Inflation reached a record 8.5% this summer. Job creation has reached record lows, as unemployment, particularly among young majority Malays, remains high. Ironically, only the opposition-led state governments are attracting new foreign investment — and without the federal government's help, no less.
Abdullah's 2004 attempts to promote growth and investment — such as through the promotion of the biotechnology and agricultural industries — have failed. He also fumbled discussions with the United States on a free trade agreement, which have now stalled. What Malaysia really needs is education reform and the liberalisation of its labour markets to improve its economic competitiveness.
The political opposition, in the form of Anwar and his Pakatan Rakyat coalition, have seized on these issues. They have promised to root out corruption and to implement a new economic policy to address the concerns of all ethnic communities in Malaysia. Their platform aims to move beyond populist spending to introduce structural reforms in government procurement programmes and in the management of government-linked companies.
When Abdullah assumed office in 2004, he inherited an economy in need of structural reform. Malaysians have had to pay for his poor stewardship through higher prices, stagnating wages and growing private sector debt. Soon, Abdullah may have to pay the political price for that record.

What If yoU n I did This???

Pictures courtesy Kwong Wah Yit Poh

Why are our leaders like this?..

Was it our mistake for electing them?...

History tells us at;

There were hundreds of followers for Prophet Muhammad, that was because they believed in His teachings as He was said to be the messenger of GOD...

And when thousands of Indians gathered and marched behind Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , they were influenced by his demand for immediate independance from the British.

But wat this guys have in them for us?... Is their action beneficiary in any way to any Malaysian?

When they behave so uncivilized n barbaric, what should the public do?..

Or lets narrow down to, wat could we do?...

Lets not just ignore it....

I've chose to share and listen to your comments..

Arigatou Gozaimashita

lgt84