My Country + The Future

I am worried about my country ...

I see
.. dumb politicians who do not know what they are saying, aka The Law Minister
.. the lower class people ( poor ) beginning to be angry about their current situation ( fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to Dark Side )
.. overwhelming force used against peaceful people while the crooks ( rapist, thieves, murderers ) walk around

and there are others ....
 
When the GE comes around, please vote responsibly !! It has been 50 years la since Merdeka. Surely we can ask the elected reps to be more ACCOUNTABLE.

The Wise Samy Vellu

Following Hindraf's rally that happened today in KL, Samy Vellu had these wise words to say.

"The MIC chief said that his Indian-based party is “the mainstream party in voicing the rights of the Indians and it will remain so”. "

I tell ya .. this situation is turning into a Tamil movie action movie. All we need is a hero from the lower masses and walla ... justice is served.

I have read that this rally is mostly an Indian affair. True, most participants are probably lower caste Indians who have been oppressed etc. But, ponder this, when their supposed to be protector, MIC, has been a disservice to them, what can they do ? Who do they turn to ? It is an open secret that MIC = Samy Vellu and vice versa. That is why Subramaniam and the late Pathmanabhan got kicked out as they were a threat to Samy.

Where do HINDRAF go after this ? Maybe they will pursue their lawsuit against the British Govt. Or they could go this way perhaps ? Whichever way they go, they are here to stay. Uncle Samy, you have been warned.

Death Of A Frog + BERSIH

The MOP is back !!

Here is a tale I have heard and read a few times

How Do U Kill A Frog ?

" If you put a live frog in a pot of boiling water, of course the frog will do its darndest to escape. The solution is to put the frog in a pot of cold water. Heat the pot slowly so that the frog gets used to the temperature of the pot.. as time goes by.. by the time the frog realizes it, it is already dead "

I think some Malaysians no longer wish to follow the frog, as evident by the BERSIH event, organized by BERSIH.

Hmm... reminds me of the Reformasi days .... I wonder what the FRUs that were involved during the Reformasi times think now ... in the end, they probably say .. Saya Menurut Perintah ...

The good news is that the people are slowly awakening .. :-)

Hiatus

To my dear readers, I am now on a blogging hiatus .... why ? Some issues running around my head ....

Later

Ome

ps/ subscribe to the blog feed as shown ... it might help when an update occurs

PDRM Big Day

Today the PDRM had their 200th celebrations at Dataran Merdeka. I saw it on the news earlier ... it was okay la .. with all the pomp and pageantry.

The Star had a few good stories about them today. Among them ...
1) IGP request raise
2) Tales of Survival
3) Old Cop Tales

No 1) I am all for it. Their job is thankless
No 2 ) A note indeed, but the picture that was used was not convincing. Drinking while sitting on the floor, but did you notice the tv and furniture ?
No 3 ) I salute you sirs....

There are bad cops and good cops, admittedly. And I had a fair share of both of em, let us give them benefit of the doubt. I am sure there are more good than bad ones. I like what this writer said in his letter about PDRM.

To the ones who do really serve, Terima Kasih tuan :-)

ps / Gerak Khas cops actually exist .. on the tv that is :D

Takut Katalah Takut

Sometimes, the powers that be forget that perception, as I mentioned before, is important in this country ...

Like this piece of the news, an average Joe will 'angguk - angguk, geleng - geleng' ... however, nowadays, people ain't that dumb anymore ...

Kadir Jasin's piece on the matter was interesting. Aptly titled, Bukan Penembak Curi Yg Ditakuti, he claims that the order works both ways, that is, blogs are becoming a strong media tool, but the current traditional media has to becareful and check their facts when quoting blogs.

This lady wrote a blunt piece , which my radical side agreed. Some times I wonder if it's in their ambition to be in the news at least once a week. Naikkan profile la katakan.

Rocky has a piece, too.

Here is a simple thought : Has the current official news media so untrustworthy that people believe in blogs nowadays ? Think about it ..

MisEducation of Ministers

After the latest incident that involved a top politician, our Tourism Minister, in honour of the VMY 2007, I would like to introduce a set of lessons for our Ministers and Deputies. Parlimentary Secretaries can also join, if they wish.

1. Repeat this word when you wake up in the morning and before going to bed.

T A C T

2. Please2 be mindful, before you open that big mouth. Information spreads far and wide, faster nowadays.

3. When talking about government policy, policies are supposed to be relevant to Malaysians at least, not to boost your egos

4. Keep in mind that all Malaysians are patriotic to the country, not blind loyalty to the government.

5. Remember that YOU ARE SERVING THE PEOPLE, not vice versa.

I don't know if they are teaching this to the politicians, but I think they should ;-)

Professional Behavior With Linda Onn

What is professional behavior ?

According to Wiki, among else it means

" ...One thing these sources hold in common, implicit or explicit, is the idea of accountability—those who are members of these organizations or professions are held accountable for what they do. "

The Linda Onn Saga demontstrated this matter ...

Two schools of thought here ....
- one is that she is not the star, therefore she was not acting professionally, but not wearing the dress she was told to wear at the last minute, by her employers.
- she was acting on her principles, that she was forced against her will

Both schools have the professional behavior angle towards them...

Only three party knew what really happened - Linda, Star TV, ERA ... and except for Linda, they ain't talking ... Linda has been divulging cryptic details about the matter, but that's it. And I suspect that Nini from Star TV is taking the fall for someone else.

I have read about the various theories on her case. Again, it is always a matter of perception. Were the higher ups involved ? Was it a designer's eagerness to get his dress on the Oscar walk ? Or was it a diva wannabe ? Only time will tell ...

When we are on the job, always be on your professional behavior ... like my ustaz once said, " Kerja itu adalah amanah "

Test Email Post

This is a test email post to my blog ;-) Updates coming up soon, later tonight, Malaysian time.
--
- author of My Pet Life ( http://ome20.blogspot.com ), The Mind Of Pet ( http://omecool20.blogspot.com )& American Football Malaysian Style ( http://nfl-malaysia.blogspot.com )

Problems at Dell

Reading about this stuff at one of my favorite blogs makes me remember the time when I was employed in Dell about early 2005. Admittedly, I left after only three months.

Why ?

1. I didn't like the job.
2. I was not performing and I felt like I was letting my team down.
3. I wasn't happy. ( Refer to 1 and 2 )

When I had the oportunity to join Dell, I jumped at the chance. Their success and stories like this influenced my decision. When I was at Dell, I have to admit, the stories were true ... Dell was going places and everyone there was going places ...

However, I saw a few things that I feared could lead to Dell's problems. As noted in my comments, Dell's customer service was deteriorating. I can tell you during my own experience, we were constantly told to spend only about 7 minutes with a customer over the phone. I found this rule a bit vexing as you tend to rush the customer and that doesn't work with most customers. The main reason given, was due to a lot of incoming calls that was waiting, etc. In my mind, this was a self fulfilling prophecy .. you answered more calls and get more dissatisfied customers. Customer satisfaction could be affected in the long run.

My recommendation is this ...

1. Ensure that support staff are really committed people who are a people's person.
2. Get only people who are committed to work and succeed with Dell.
3. Innovate Dell's products, focus on Dell's products that are selling well. Buying Alienware was an interesting choice ( Dell should learn a thing or two from Alienware about PC design )
4. What about Dell kiosks ? Or Central Dell Support Centres ?

If anyone from Dell is reading this, email me and I can further explain no. 4 :-)

The Lesson Today Is Perception

Attention, class.

The lesson today is perception.

What does perception mean ? According to Oxford, it means ....

perception

• noun 1 the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses. 2 the process of perceiving. 3 a way of understanding or interpreting something. 4 intuitive understanding and insight.
- ORIGIN Latin, from percipere ‘seize, understand’.

The definition of perception can be found here.

For Malaysians, perception is very important. You may be a snatch thief, but if you are driving a Mercedes Benz, people don't suspect you are one. You may say the economy is doing well, but if the average Joe can barely support him and his family on RM 2K a month, for him, the economy is just okay.

Which brings us to the current scenario of Deputy Internal Security Minister, Dato' Johari, being suspected of receiving 5 million, for freeing suspected triad bosses, from reports listed here and here.

The Deputy Ministers response, as shown here and here, is,of course, denying the accusations.

When I first read about it, my thoughts were simply that he has the right of due process ( of course, he is a deputy minister, not an opposition fellow ) and let the police complete their investigations, with ACA involvement.

But when I read about this piece today, my perception, and I am not sure I am not alone, changed.

Datuk Johari, if you are not guilty, don't worry .... tapi, our perception of you has changed a bit.

Google News links on this issue.

Power To The People

Is it me or Samy Vellu is getting a bit touchy lately ?

These past few weeks, our dear minister has been ranting so much about tolls and people's misconceptions about him, the latest being the SMART tunnel issue. Maybe he has stayed too long ?

Anyway, found his bio English Wiki here, BM here and his friendster profile :-) ..

Power To The People perhaps ? and does this translate to the next General Election ?

TNB + MAS Good News

The last week has shed some good news for two prominent GLCs, MAS n TNB.

TNB

Tenaga Nasional excellent performance for the past few years has lead to its current CEO, Datuk Che Khalib Mohamad Noh, contract extended, by Khazanah Nasional, beginning July 1. He is on the cover of the latest The Edge newspaper, under the byline " Powering Tenaga ". It is no doubt that he has done a good job so far in reviving Tenaga. Even, our own Jeff Ooi has given him a good writeup on his work with TNB.

Especially in the case of the recent tariff hike, TNB has been smart in explaining in why they have to do it, citing increasing energy costs, by making public of all of the details. The Government did help by announcing a possible revision in the IPP agreements between TNB and the IPPs.

MAS

MAS also reported good results for the fourth quarter of 2006. As reported here, the current CEO has managed to bring some good news to MAS by executing his turnaround. Although it is a bit too early to celebrate, but this is good news to Malaysian business environment.


--------------------------------


It is my hope that both of these GLCs keep up their good work and continue their success story. :-)

In my opinion, given the right opportunity and support, any talented Malaysian can manage our Malaysian GLCs and bring it to further success. I do not think we lack the talent, what we lacked was the political will to put the right people, instead the more well connected people, in top GLC posts.

I like what this post says about Idris Jala. It is an example that we can be proud of.

The right talent given the right opportunity and support, Malaysia BOLEH !

No political interference from higher ups and cronies, Malaysia LAGI BOLEH ! :-)

This cerita is sudah pasti TIDAK BOLEH !! I think this council got nothing better to do ;-)


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The Beginnings of Mat Skodeng

A follow up to this post ...

Since this event is happening soon, I would like to propose some choice words for the chief of this department when he wants to begin the Mat Skodeng ops.

1) " Gentleman, start your engines !! "

2) " Jangan tgk je, videokan, upload ke YouTube, senyum sokmo "

3) " Tell them to senyum sokmo, when they are doing it "

4) " If they don't senyum sokmo, make them senyum sokmo "

5) " Make sure while filming, there is keropok lekor around ..Keropok lekor the food, not the other one, mung ni .... "

6) " The background music of all videos should be Blues Terengganu Kita by Iklim. Mung jangan lupa ! "


* The above words are satire. If you ain't laughing, please do take it in good spirit ;-)

Mat Skodeng

If this proposal came from Kelantan, the current media would be jumping all over it. Yet, it is reported as fact A, B, C and etc.

I have a theory. It is a way to generate employment among the state's youths. I pity the foreigners who go there. Better that they bring their marriage certs. :-) and there goes the Moonsoon Cup. On the other hand, the Mat Skodengs would be quite useful in these events ;-)

Rightly, the State Government will be saying that it is their rights to implement this matter. but remembering the grief that PAS received when the Kota Bharu Municipal Council implemented this, suggest that this argument is hogwash.

Folks, what we have here is the game of upmanship and holier than thou by the people in charge. Dang ! Where is common sense and decency ?

I tell ya .. you get who you vote for .. jadi ...err.. vote Dacing again :P

Tun M - Part Deux

A follow up this post.

Three letters published recently in Malaysiakini, further helped explained my ambivalence about Tun M.

This letter by an ex UN rapporteur, exposes some of the old shenanigans of Tun M's that are contra to his current stand ... a few excerpts

"It was the same Mahathir when he was prime minister in 1990 who hounded the then formed Election Watch headed by Tun Mohamad Suffian. He wanted Bukit Aman to investigate as to whether the six-man group of the Election Watch contravened the Societies Act 1966. The six members, particularly Suffian, were vilified in the media by Mahathir to the extent Suffian resigned from his chairmanship of Standard Chartered Bank to avoid any embarrassment to the bank. "

" Again in 1990 it was he, Mahathir, who publicly criticised the six men of the Election Watch as ‘critics of the government and therefore they would be biased and will not be neutral’. That the six were an ‘extension of the opposition’. That the six wanted to ensure that ‘no investments came into the country’. "

"Since retiring from office as prime minister, Mahathir has been attempting to portray himself as a paragon of virtue. But Malaysians cannot be hoodwinked so easily to forget his past. Similarly the international community.

It is amazing how Mahathir could resort to such virulent verbal attacks particularly against Bush when he, Mahathir, during his premiership wanted so much for an audience with Bush at the White House to boost his image.

Eventually, he secured such an audience in May 2002. It was reported that a sum between US$900,000 and US$1.2 million was paid to secure that meeting. Mahathir did not deny that money was paid to secure that meeting. He was reported to have said ‘it is a practice that if you want to meet their leader (Bush) you have to go through a lobbyist and the lobbyist has to be paid’. "

This letter by a retired fellow, was more hard hitting .. some of the excerpts below ..

" Remember the brutalisation of Anwar Ibrahim? Just a quick recap; this was the excuse given: Dr Mahathir told reporters that Mr Anwar might have hurt himself to gain public sympathy. ‘It's not impossible because he will get plenty of mileage if he showed he was abused by police,’ Dr Mahathir was quoted as saying by the national news agency Bernama.

And there was a genocide taking place in Malaysia's backyard which Mr Global Peace choose to ignore. This, of course, was done by his good buddy Suharto. Many tens of thousands of Timorese died as a result of this 'generalised warfare’ constituting the bulk of the estimated 200,000 victims of Indonesia's genocidal occupation policies between 1975 and 1999.
Mahathir actually supported the Indonesians. Mahathir, who often lectures Western countries for their ‘hypocrisy and double standards’ has been a staunch defender of Indonesian behaviour in East Timor. Asked in Singapore to explain his opposition to East Timor's independence in light of his outspoken support for the right of Kosovo, which has a Muslim majority, to break away from Serbia, Mahathir said Indonesia was entitled to integrate the territory.
'The difference between East Timor and Kosovo is that East Timor has been with Indonesia for 25 years, and during that time there were no massacres,’ Mahathir said. ‘'The Indonesians were not behaving like Serbs,’ he added, conveniently forgetting Indonesia eventually killed over 200,000 Timorese - one-third of the population - in one of the worst genocides since World War II.
Oh yes, it affected one of our own too. Any one with a bit of conscience would remember the poor lad Kamal Bamadhaj a 20-year-old student, who was shot and killed by Indonesian soldiers on Tuesday, Nov 12, 1991. "

and the third letter, which hits the nail in the head, in my opinion, about why Tun M is doing all this ....

" Just how can anyone 'admire' him is a joke and it just pains me to hear people agreeing to his shallow, one-sided and often outright inflammatory comments. He just seeks attention without which he is just so insecure. "

If there was one virtue that I wished he had, now, is the sense of humility. The mark of a great man is not how high and mighty he is, but how he behaves when the chips are down. Tunku was not a perfect person, but people who knew him still remembers him as a gentleman and have fond memories of him.

Tun M ? ... the man is an enigma ... but, if and that's a very2 big if, he could just be a little humble and make peace with his wrongdoings, I think he would serve the country better and be remembered fondly.

Tun M And The Global Peace Forum

These two letters below, summed up my thoughts about Tun M and the Peace Forum. Still, if he ever writes his memoirs, I am going to get it :-) .. the man is an enigma.

http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/63181

http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/63179

In fact, what bothers me whenever I read about his statements nowadays, is that his 22 years administration was plain bed of roses. What ever mistakes he made, he attributed it to others... that man is an enigma.

Rocky N Ooi + Malaysia Baru

As most people who follow the local blogging and Malaysian political scene know about the Jeff Ooi - Rocky suit by the NSTP and et al. Well, this has proved a milestone, in my opinion, about blogs in Malaysia. Blogs have been recognized as a medium of information, by the powers that be.. hence the suit.

What is the content of the suit ? Detailed news about it can be found here ... in summary, NSTP wants certain posts in Jeff Ooi's blog and Rocky's blog, removed to due their contents that relate to NSTP.

Now, why is the main reason of the suit ? Various blogs have put out their opinion, available here ... in my opinion, both have exposed a few can of worms that cannot be closed. The inner workings and dealings of The Man ;-) so to speak ... hehe.. I admit that I read both blogs and have found some of their posts quite disturbing, in revealing the inner workings of how things work in the higher echelons of the country. Previously, without a media to disseminate this info, Malaysians depended on the print and electronic media, and no BS, we know how that works !

Malaysia is now at a critical junction ... where do we go from here ? We want to go forward yet are still shackled by the old ways and methods. We want to develop this country and its people, yet still want to rigidly control the minds of the people ...

But, I am happy with how things are developing in the court of the public opinion, .. more and more people are now realizing what is going on .. opening up their minds and questioning the status quo such as here, here and here ... maybe not directly to blogs ...but influenced by blogs ;-)

The ruling powers are now at a quandary in a way .. they want to retain control, keep their shenanigans secret, but due to the relative availability of alternative information, their grip is not as strong as it used to. In the end, they have to resort to actions such as the suit and this.

What I fear is that in the long run, what will happen is that Malaysia will be controlled by the ricj elites and the rest of Malaysians are just slaves / worker bees to feed the elite. It may be an exaggeration by yours truly and I hope that it does not come true.

To Jeff n Rocky, you are not alone and I will walk with you, like the others who have.

To right thinking Malaysians, patriotism does not mean agreeing with the government of the day on everything .. it is loyalty to the country !

Pet

Hidup Kembali + 1st Post

Blog ini hidup kembali ... adik kepada My Pet Life :-) ..

This blog will primarily deal with non-personal stuff .. in general matters .. anyway, let this blog evolve over time ...

Why citizens of Batu Talam disappointed with Opposition not contesting in Batu Talam

Read the news here ( need subscription ) ....

Disappointing isn't it to see that Malaysian politics is still at this level, even after years of independence ? The same ploy over and over again. I remembered it being done when I was in primary school, and that was back in 1980s !

As for the independent candidate, no matter what his intentions are ( known or hidden ), it just shows that democracy is alive, in a way. Hopefully, he still keeps his deposit, when the result are announced. It is a foregone conclusion that BN will win ;-) ... the profile of the candidates in this link.

And, dearest KJ, when you are in a real election, tell us about it, but please do not resort to this action.

ps/ to access the links in this post, you need to subscribe to Malaysiakini. Please do so, and support a legimitate Malaysian news organization.