We Should Treat New Doctors with Basic Decency

Becoming a doctor is a tough career path – the course is long and arduous and rather expensive and after graduation comes the dreaded housemanship where the new doctor is required to work long hours that can only result in exhaustion.

Being on call with no proper rest period for up to 34 hours can only result in flawed judgement calls and possibly cause deaths in hospitals.

Older doctors may claim that they all went through the regime and survived but does that mean that the system cannot be improved?

We have laws on public transport drivers where there must be a relief driver on long distance trips and maximum overtime for drivers as it is considered dangerous to the public when the driver operates a vehicle in a state of exhaustion but can we not also look at our young doctors miserable working conditions?

I suggest an exhausted doctor can cause more deaths than a driver as the authorities may not be willing to disclose deaths caused by a flawed system.

Looking at the long hours worked, let us make some estimate of the potential victims that may lose their lives.

Assume a doctor operates in the exhaustion stage once every 2 days, that will give us 365 days divided by 2 or 182 times in a year.

Suppose he makes a fatal judgement call 10% of the time in those 182 exhaustion periods, that would give us 18 deaths per doctor per annum.

If we have 1000 new doctors each year, that will result in 18000 deaths per annum caused by a flawed system.

No doubt having in work to the point of exhaustion can provide a steep learning curve but the public should be asked if they want to be the test material.

photo: Daughter's convocation 2006 Dalhousie medical graduates.

Give Us More Time? I Don’t Think So

I think Malaysians are fed up with the PM’s continuing request for more time. After 3 years at the helm with a so-called overwhelming victory at the polls he appears to be unable to get out of the “give me more time” rut.

Time is a precious commodity we cannot squander for it is priceless. Malaysia cannot afford to dither with ineffective leaders who want to achieve grand goals but cannot share their plans and invigorate their followers with their passion.
(And I don’t mean passion of the bedroom kind)

I believe the nation spent about nine months deliberating on the Royal Commission on the police and even today after about 18 months after the report was published; we still are waiting for the IPCMC to be set up. If the periods are not exact it is a long time ago.

So give me more time? I don’t think so.

We have just witnessed the UMNO Assembly where speakers were allowed to deliver speeches that would have been quite appropriate 30 years ago at an apartheid rally in South Africa or the Ku Klux Klan in the deep south.

After 49 years of nationhood give us more time to inculcate the proper racial values? I don’t think so.

Already other countries in Asean are fast developing and I estimate even Indonesia has become a more progressive nation during the past decade than Malaysia has in the past 50 years.
Give us more time to restore local elections? I don’t think so.

The NEP was for a fixed schedule and now some people want to perpetuate this crony capitalism tool to enjoy the benefits of easy money in the equity pipeline. Give us more time to enjoy the leakages? I don’t think so.

We now have this great economic thingamajig called the 9MP that is a step towards achieving Vision2020.

Has anyone seen how all this is going to be achieved?
The saying “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” applies to our vision of a progressive nation.

In order to achieve great goals there must be definite signposts to mark progress so that we can make alterations in the direction or even discard practices that are not helping towards that goal.

Just take education for starters.
Do we have targets like:

25% of all Malaysians in national schools by 2010

50% of all Malaysians in national schools by 2015

75% of all Malaysians in national schools by 2020

This should be applied to all ministries and then it will make any request for time to be justified. I hope the PM will not come out with a request for a second term if the present “give us more time” mantra continues with no discernible results.

What Do You Think is a Viable Plan to Deny BN its Two-thirds Majority?

That was the question posed for MALAYSIAWATCH POLL 18 and 73 votes were received.

The breakdown is as follows:

92% or 69 readers felt that some form of cooperation was important for the opposition parties to do better.

This was in the form of

Opposition Parties Ensuring No 3-corner contests 48% or 36 respondents

DAP cooperating with PKR only 28% or 21 readers

DAP cooperating with PKR and PAS 16% or 12 readers


Some think BN will still win with a big majority
No Way. BN is going to win a massive landslide 8% or 6 readers

No one selected the following options.
DAP cooperating with PAS only
PKR cooperating with PAS only

What Do You Think of the Recent UMNO General Assembly?

That is your question for MALAYSIAWATCH POLL 19.

Does UMNO behave like the Ku Klax Klan or the mainstream party that can fulfil all the goals to make Malaysia a developed nation?

Milton Friedman and the NEP

What has the great economist got to do with the NEP?

Nothing really but if Friedman had studied how we implemented the NEP he would probably be turning in his grave. But perhaps not as he be having a smug smile at how the Malaysian authorities have proved his theories correct.

Friedman’s basic philosophy was that government is bad and inefficient in most business ventures.

His documentary “Free to Choose” was an interesting film on how government involvement in business is wasteful and should be strictly avoided unless there were compelling reasons for government to be involved such as foreign affairs or defence matters.

So after more than 35 years of NEP policies we are still short of the 30% equity target that was set to be some defining yardstick. Now we have the great debate on whether the target has been achieved with conflicting reports from the EPU, ASLI and MU.

The debate is really irrelevant as the more pertinent question should be,
“Why has the 30% target not been achieved when the government has been in control all these years and why no corrective actions have been taken?”

Milton Friedman could provide the answer via the following example:

Suppose the government granted a favourite crony say a million shares in some IPO and that boosted the Bumi equity by 0.5% and within a month the shares rose by RM3 and that crony decided he wanted cash instead of paper he could sell the shares, make RM3 million and buy a BMW 5 Series to impress his next wife.

The government will then say they are just implementing the NEP policy and the Bumi will say he is just exercising his basic rights.

The end result is that someone gets a RM3 million windfall and the 30% equity target is back to square one. All this has been going on for many years and some people have become accustomed to such generous gifts and these can be in the form of thousands of APs that generate millions of ringgit but do nothing to raise the 30% stake.

It is time for the government to discard this NEP target that will never be realised as the leakage is simply too uncontrolled and those receiving the gifts are not really developing long term capabilities.

Our PM mentioned that no Malaysian will be left behind. What better way than to ensure that all our young citizens be provided with appropriate training and skills so that they can be employed in the many jobs that are available.

We have already wasted so much time and talents on a flawed NEP policy and leaders should be brave enough to change direction before our country ends up at the bottom of the waterfall amidst global competition.

Those who control the country are also in a quandary as it appears the policies have enabled them to remain in power and some believe that without the crony policies those in power will lose the next elections.

Already the signs are ominous and I can hear the roar of the falls.

photo: Niagara Falls, Canadian side

Not All Mergers are Made in Heaven

In the spirit of Malaysia Boleh there is now a plan to merge three large plantation GLCs i.e. Golden Hope, Sime Darby and Guthrie into a mega company.

These three companies are steeped in history and played a major role in the development of Malaysia. I worked in one of them for about 11 years; seven of which were in an associate company in Batu Caves.

Even today plantation crops make an important contribution to the economy.

It seems that PNB is forcing all the companies together as it is the major shareholder and it would be interesting to see how the minority stockowners will be treated or will they simply be brushed aside with all kinds of exemptions provided by the SC?

Before you break out the champagne bottle, such a mega company may be less profitable than 3 separate companies as there will be no more competition among the senior managers and perhaps the end result will be yields moving towards the lower end of the 3 groups.

There will also be loss of perhaps 25% of senior Malaysian managers posts and these people will find it tough to adjust to life outside the plantations.

It would be interesting to see all the relevant documents to justify this plan and what is going to be offered to minority shareholders.

I imagine that the merged company will be a convenient way to provide cheap shares to some special crony under the NEP equity giveaway.

One thing is sure. The bank handling this exercise will make a nice bundle.

graphics: http://www.ma-strasbourg.justice.fr/images/balance.gif

Another Grand-daughter!

My eldest daughter Jean gave birth to her second daughter Zoe on Monday 18th November.
Both parents and baby are doing well.

It so happens that my computer was in the repair shop since Friday and so no updates.


However I received an email from a Muslim lawyer who is involved with human rights. I have not met him but I believe he is a true Malaysian who is willing to stand up for the human rights of all Malaysians.

Please visit his site called “The Truth of the Matter” and you can also pass it on to other Malaysians. No protests, no demos – just do something basic that may help to preserve our freedom as a secular nation.

After watching all the extremist speeches at the UMNO Assembly don't you think you NEED to take some action as a responsible citizen NOW?

If you have not registered as a voter, please resolve to do so within the next week. It will take no more than 15 minutes of your time.

Beware the Straits Pirates! They Have Come Ashore.

In recent years the Straits of Malacca was known for its frequent pirate attacks on the thousands of ships that use it every year.

However with the cooperation of the littoral states and even foreign nations like Australia, the pirates have been kept at bay and attacks have decreased.

However Malaysians have to be more careful these days as there are many pirates living in our midst.

They prey on the weak and some victims have even died after being attacked.
Snatch thieves appear to be lying low in most town areas as the police have clamped down on their activities.

Hold on. The moment the situation gets under control another problem crops up.
What’s this they are demanding at the UMNO General Assembly?

I hear the chant .
“NEP forever and beyond 30%”

Some people now claim that the NEP is part of the social contract.
Others even proclaim that “UMNO is willing to bathe in blood”.

If UMNO leaders allow their members to utter such threatening remarks against rivals, is UMNO becoming the largest pirate group in Malaysia?

The NEP was never part of the social contract to achieve independence for Malaya. It was a specific program that was to last for a fixed number of years so that the government could execute policies to bring the perceived weaker members of societies to a higher level.

However many of the policies were “piratised” so that some cronies now travel on a different level than us in their private jets and helicopters.

Of course many tens thousands were left behind and are still struggling to survive.
My question is,
“If after 35 years of affirmative action policies by the same government and they admit that the 30% target has not been achieved, should not the government be held responsible and accountable for the massive failure that has been paid for by the blood, sweat and tears of the millions of marginalized Malaysians?”

As for that person wanting to bathe in blood, some one should lodge a police report for such remarks that can promote racial conflicts.

Or are the antics of UMNO members during their assembly beyond the scope of the police? Freedom of expression is good but one would have expected a more civilized approach than making definite threats.

But then again what can you expect from UMNO members when their leaders use the same racist approach?

graphics: courtesy of http://www.umanitoba.ca/cm/vol5/no3/pirates.jpg

Time to Say Goodbye

I've added one of my favourite songs by Sarah Brightman.

Isn't it time to say goodbye to all the racist posturing we are seeing everyday now on national TV?

Say Goodbye to money politics, religious bullying and let all Malaysians live in peace and harmony.

If the government can just provide good security and a just system for all Malaysians we will all go further and faster in our development as a Bangsa Malaysia where a person is valued not by the colour of his skin or the brand of his religion but by his earnest efforts to fulfill his dreams.

God help us all.

Look into the Mirror First

It is that time of the year again when we hear silly politicians expounding the same message we have all heard for the past 50 odd years.

Strangely enough the record appears to have good stuck in the groove of “race supremacy”, “religious fervour” and “keep us in power and we will safeguard your interests”.

I am of course referring to the UMNO Annual General Assembly where most ministers stop work to attend the long meetings. I wonder if they apply for annual leave or is the rallying and rousing function part of their official duties?

Never mind that the EPU equity results have been put into another black box and come out with a different sets of results that will garner more support for the ruling party as that would surely translate into more crony contracts.

This was taken in an extract from a speech by the DPM.
“Whatever is required for Malay development, we will push for it so that it will be immediately implemented, immediately constructed. What is important is that this great trust that we hold is never manipulated, never leaked and never abandoned.”

The first sentence sounds like a preparation for Maggi mee with the idea that changing mind-sets can be done like instant noodles – just open a packet and you immediately can have your satisfaction.

The second sentence is like Maggi mee that has been cooked for 50 years. It is tasteless and unpalatable and no one will buy it anymore as the government has lost all credibility with the following recent events:

• Failure to implement the IPCMC
• Soft pedaling on corruption issues in local councils
• EPU Flip/flops.
• Law Minister’s stand that UMNO corruption is outside ACA’s scope.

There is one thing strange about change. Everyone always wants someone else to change.
If UMNO wants the Malays to change their mindset they should first look into the mirror. Better still if they have a serious private discussion with the other BN parties.

Graphics: courtesy of http://welcometotheplanet.blogs.com/welcometotheplanet/mirror.jpg

Time to Introduce Safety Speak….

Reading some of the comments made by people in high places we should make it compulsory for all senior officials to attend a special course on Safety Speak.

What is Safety Speak?
It is a special course tailored for incompetent leaders when they have to meet the press. Too often they make some stupid remarks and then later claim they were misquoted or quoted out of context.

Over the past few weeks, the newspapers had various reports where senior people made remarks that could have been avoided they had they attended a basic course in Safety Speak.

Examples:

• The MB of Johor wanted the Malays to be the “pivotal” race in Malaysia and also started a campaign to get rid of meritocracy as it hampered progress.

• The Municipal President of Penang city explains that all the city officials would not be able to resist looking up a reporter’s skirt as she was dressed “sexily”.

What would the basic course in Safety Speak contain?
Seeing that incompetents are largely in charge of town councils a one-hour course should be enough to that they can memorise the following safe sentences.

“That incident was unfortunate and unforeseen. Let me check the full details and get back to you.”

One month later.

“We have now concluded our investigations. The person responsible has (been transferred)/(resigned) and we will ensure this does not happen again.”

Two months later after a repeat of similar incident.

“We apologise to the public for this incident. The person responsible has (been transferred)/(resigned) and we will take more stringent measures to ensure this does not happen again”.

And so it goes on.
The story will never end until we are given back our rights to elect local city officials.

Can you think of any sentence that could be included in the basic course for Safety Speak?

photo:courtesy of http://www.southport.gb.com/clowns2002/Clowns_21Sept2002_0014_small.jpg

The Most Popular Choice...

This was selected in response to the question
"What Do You Think of Nazri’s Remark that He Drafted the ACA Laws to Exclude Political Parties for Corrupt Practices?"

The Results for MALAYSIAWATCH POLL 17:

31 readers or 45% picked "This is What Happens When We Put Monkeys in Charge of Bananas"

27 or 39% felt that "I Think Nazri Should Be Sacked for Drafting Such a Useless Act"

8 or 12% wanted "The Law on ACA Must Be Amended to Include Money Politics"

2 or 3% chose "The Bar Association Should Dissociate Itself from Such a Lawyer"

1 or 1% believed "Our MPs Must Have Been Sleeping When the Bill Was Passed"

No one picked "I Agree With the Minister’s Views 100%"

A total of 69 readers took the poll.

What is Your Advice for the Opposition Parties?

Many people feel we will have a General Election in 2007.

The question in MALAYSIAWATCH POLL 18 is

"What Do You Think is a Viable Plan to Deny BN its Two-thirds Majority?"

Have You Heard of the Enrichment of Privileged Undertakers?

EPU could be the brand name of another magical snake oil that can cure all ailments.

This could be marketed in two formulae:

• Standard EPU18.9% at RM30 per 100ml bottle or

• Premium EPU36.8% at RM45 per 150ml bottle.

Consumer: What’s that? The unit ml price is exactly the same. We pay 50% more and get 50% more product.

Marketing company (MC): But that’s our marketing strategy. Most people will not bother to question us and will just buy whichever product they prefer. In both cases we still sell our products.

Consumer: What exactly does EPU stand for?

MC: Not exactly sure. Let me get back to you.

One month later.

MC: We are pleased to inform our clients that EPU stands for Enrichment of Privileged Undertakers.

Consumer body investigator (CB): That is a strange name. How did the word “undertaker” get included?

MC: We cannot reveal all our company secrets but many people believed our products so much they decided to use it for every ailment despite our warning.

CB: What is that?

MC: We warned people that is product has a lifespan of 25 years but some people want to use it much longer and now we are making a formula that will last 50 years.

CB: Were there any fatalities?

MC: No one has actually died from any EPU ingestion but according to the latest WHO report, many Malaysians are addicted to our EPU products.

CB: What does WHO stand for? Is it the World Health Organisation?

MC: No, that’s not right. It is the Wealthy Humans Oligarchy.

CB: We did a survey on the population and 98.9% of the survey thought WHO stood for the prestigious world body.

MC: That’s what we know too.

CB: Don’t you think EPU shares will plunge if we publish all our findings?

MC: Most people are gullible and still believe us after all these years. But be warned that if you reveal too much about our methods we know how to fix the problem.

CB: What do you mean?

MC: Well we had someone disappear when she came from a remote country and started to pry into how we were able to fool so many people all these years.
That is why we are known as EPU. We are privileged to send you to the undertaker if you become a threat to our operations.

CB: Holy cow – no shit!

MC: I have to end our interview. These two gentlemen will escort you out.

CB: What are you doing? Put that away!!. NO, NO. ARRGHH!

Slavery without the Chains

This is a modern day non-fiction.

Suppose you had a field to plant and you toiled hard and long to produce a good harvest and the government taxes you a portion like 15% of the harvest to provide essential services like roads, water and electricity.

Suddenly there is a plague and part of the land in the country is blighted and cannot be used for 25 years - the time it will take to rejuvenate the soil.

The government asks your assistance and you agree to help by providing extra 30% of your harvest above the usual rate of 15% for the next 25 years.

Instead of using the 30% extracted to improve the condition of the blighted lands, the government uses the resources to build huge monuments, meaningless structures and other useless projects.

Some people became lazy and even forget their basic survival skills like fishing and hunting as the government has lulled them into a sense of complacency with the easy money.

On the 24th year, the government reveals that the 30% extra tax has not achieved the desired results and they want to extend the program by another 20 years.

Meanwhile as the people who have been busy enjoying themselves have been procreating on an unprecedented scale. People from afar were also attracted by the generous handouts and their numbers increased.

Some members in the government now propose that a more suitable target would be 60% extra taxes on the productive farmer.

If you are that productive farmer, what would you do?


http://sunderlandco-op.on.ca/media/crops_field_02.jpg

Death in High Places

The Squatgate episode showed how prisoners could be subject to police abuse but the latest incident where a foreign woman was allegedly shot and blown to bits to prevent her from blackmailing an important person shows how vital it is for all our MPs to demand that the Attorney-General get off his back-side and submit his proposals for the IPCMC NOW.

If the police officers who are supposed to protect us and uphold the law can be induced to commit murder we should all be afraid of the police as some of them can really do evil.

If indeed the poor woman was trying to extract money for her baby it is an even more dastardly act for the police officers to help the man get rid of the problem.

This is the first big test for the IPG to prove that he is really serious about improving the police force.

I have noted police on the beat and it does give a better sense of security until this explosive murder.

A few days ago, I passed by two FRU men at a bus-stop. When I returned about 20 minutes later they were still there. Looks as though walking is a no-no for the two guys.

On a similar note it looks as if our prison wardens are all going to get obesity problems.


Photo: the Star

99% of Voters Are Not Happy with the EPU’s Study

The Poll Question for MALAYSIAWATCH POLL 16 was “How Do You Feel About the ASLI Debacle?”
There were 123 voters as follows:

59 voters or 48% chose “I Do Not Trust the Government’s Analysis”

28 voters or 23% felt “The Government Should Disclose Fully their Research Methodologies”

19 voters or 15% picked “The Government Acts Like a Big Bully”

10 voters or 8% wanted “Will the EPU Sell Me Shares at Par Value?”

6 voters or 5% chose “The EPU and ASLI Should Have Trashed Out Their Differences”

1 voter or 1% picked “I Trust the Government’s Findings 100%”

In general it seems that most people do not have much faith in the EPU Report.

Sure You Don’t Have Foreign Blood?

There is some loose talk about Bangsa Malaysia and foreigners tainting the Malaysian bloodlines.

As a Eurasian with a few drops of Scottish blood, I feel a little qualified to write about the subject.

If one makes even a cursory look at the history of Malaya, one cannot help notice that the country has experienced an influx of migrants from many places. Some moved on but many remained and established roots here.

The main groups were from Java, Sumatra, India, China, English, Dutch and Portuguese in the past as Malaya lies at the crossroads of vital trade routes and were colonized by the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English.

I remember the State Education Head of Perak in the sixties, a Mr Campbell. He was a first generation Eurasian, the offspring of an Englishman and a Malay woman and he was also a Roman Catholic. I guess in those days people were freer to choose their religion.

Today the pace of mixed marriages is even more pronounced with thousands of our children studying overseas.

There is really nothing wrong with foreigners and many have contributed much to make Malaysia a more vibrant place with a colorful culture that is the envy of many. Our gastronomical delights also provide a feast for the taste-buds.

There is a fear that Bangsa Melayu may become diluted with the concept of Bangsa Malaysia. This misguided thinking should be examined on a scientific basis and not political rhetoric.

Consider the following:

A Malay marries an English woman and has a son who is brought up as a Muslim but hardly practises his faith.

The son marries an English girl and also produces a son who is also a Muslim but does not practice the religion.

This last generation is classified a Malay in Malaysia and able to enjoy all the NEP benefits even though racially he is 75% English.

Most probably he will be able to take advantage of the NEP policies more effectively than some Bumis in the remote areas of Sabah and Sarawak.

Will all the pure Malays in Malaysia please stand up to be counted?

Photo: http://www.oakhursttearoom.com/assets/images/Weddings.jpg

Goodbye Meritocracy Hello Mediocrity

Perhaps the hullabaloo in the Klang Council has wakened some sleeping leaders that if the whole country adopts the concept of “no meritocracy”, there will be more chances of half-past six leaders rising to national levels.

Thus the start for the “no meritocracy” policy is at the university level as that will immediately solve the annual hand wringing exercise as to why our prestigious universities are 200 places below the universities of Singapore. It will definitely fall out of the world’s top 5000 universities and we will all be in a class of our own.

There will be no contests and ranking and we will all sleep peaceably until the golden era of Vision2020. Why should Malaysia be bothered with such trite rankings as after all it could be a “Jewish conspiracy?”

We will pass new laws so that at birth, citizens will be designated as doctors, lawyers and engineers once they reach the age of 21 years and after completing their National Service training.

Of course more people will want to join the civil service as the extra perks in the Registration Department could be substantial as parents will want to avoid the classification of “Cleaner” for their son or daughter.

Don’t you think life will simply be more exciting if we just got rid of the meritocracy burden? Why students in universities will have more free time to indulge in life’s pleasures of watching blue movies and experimenting with casual sex. Yeah we need to provide free condoms to them to avoid unnecessary pregnancies.

And when these kids start operating their clinics or practices, the clients will need to become savvier. When your new doctor prescribes some treatment like a lobotomy you will need to double check the treatment or you could end up spewing nonsensical comments.

Here’s a simple guideline to evaluate this proposal.

When you visit your doctor, do you check to see from where the doctor got his or her degree and do you also consider when the doctor graduated?

If you are a university student, don’t you feel threatened by such a comment to end meritocracy?

Let’s Start at the Very Beginning….

You all know the Doremi song from the Sound of Music and it seems the Gerakan leader is beginning to see the light on how Malaysia can find a way out of the boondocks.

Recently there has really been a plethora of problems with government matters such as the following:


• The public spat between the PM and TDM over how the country is governed

• The EPU/ASLI share equity debate that is still unresolved

• Ministers refusing to settle outstanding traffic fines for years

• The Klang Municipality fiasco

• IPCMC still pending after 18 months

• The manner AP privileges are abused with cloned certificates

It all shows a lack of integrity of many people in government that is compounded by a lack of credibility and most problems are countered with a “don’t play with fire” answer by some political leaders.

That always seems to be the fall-back position even after 49 years of independence.

The statement that Gerakan elected reps will no longer be appointed as council members is a step in the right direction as it will reduce conflict of interest problems though that does not seem to raise issues with some politicians as it is all considered “within the family”.

However it is unfortunate that Gerakan did not start at the very basic tenet of a democratic society. The majority of fair-minded Malaysians would have saluted them if they had supported the return of local elections.

That would be a definite building block of a vibrant democratic society and local councilmen who perform well can be recruited by the various parties to contest as state assemblymen and on to higher office at national level.

Even Gerakan admits that local councils are a good place to test party members before a higher office so why not let taxpayers elect local officials?

PS. It’s my 59th birthday today so I decided to do this extra article.

photo: Sunset over the Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia, USA. Tomorrow the sun will rise on a new chapter for Malaysia.

No Need to Go to Kelantan for Wayang Kulit

Question: When is an Appointment Not an Appointment?

Answer: When You Have Not Signed and Returned the Offer Letter.

Anyone who has had a job offer knows that just receiving a letter offering you a job knows that the letter is only valid when you have signed and returned that letter within a certain date.

Now we have the case of two Klang councilors who supposedly resigned as they breached the very rules they were sworn to uphold in the Klang Municipality Council.

Building plans may be considered a minor function but the trust in public officials has been long compromised as city halls seem to operate on a family affair basis.

Now according to our esteemed Law Minister corruption cannot occur within a family and the politicians, one big happy family, also fall in that incorruptible category.

So why do we have such a grand show about people resigning when they were not sworn in?

It seems to be a case of public appeasement and also trying to fool the general population.
If they resign from an office they did not hold, they lose nothing but the common folks think they have been punished enough and will not clamor for a more meaningful punishment like having to resign as an elected assemblyman.

Welcome to Selangor, the new wayang kulit centre of Malaysia.
Or as some prefer it’s all “smoke and mirrors” my friend “smoke and mirrors.”

I hope the people in Klang will know how to dispense justice come the next general elections especially since the ruling party behaves as if it is above and beyond the law.

Don't you feel as if you've been taken for a ride?

http://arliquido.blogs.sapo.pt/arquivo/wayang%20kulit.jpg

What Do You Think of Nazri’s Remark that He Drafted the ACA Laws to Exclude Political Parties for Corrupt Practices?

This is your question to ponder on the latest statement by the Law Minister.

Please let us know your views.

We Approved an Anti-Corruption Act Without Meaning..

This seems to be an excuse for the ACA not to take action against money politics and corruption within political parties on the weak excuse that it does not concern the public.

Either the Minister is a bad lawyer or has no morals as he tabled the Anti-Corruption Act in Parliament or everyone decided that corruption is so widespread in political parties that they needed an exclusion clause.

If the ACA cannot probe political parties as “It does not affect the public in the sense that it does not involve public projects or public funds” then I suggest members of the public must not be allowed to join political parties and these should be restricted to only members of a family and relatives as according to the minister, corruption cannot be committed within a family.

It looks as if we have a bad anti-corruption law that has excluded probably 70% of all corruption cases and allowed the monster of corruption to breed without any effective control.

The actions of political parties can impinge more on society than any other body as they can form the government and the ACA must be empowered to take action.

photo: courtesy of the Star.All honest men of integrity?