Archive for September 22nd, 2014

Three reasons why Najib must unambiguously and unconditionally denounce ISIS in his United Nations speech on Friday

There are at least three reasons why the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should unambiguously and unconditionally denounce ISIS in his United Nations General Assembly speech on Friday.

Firstly, because his first reference to ISIL/ISIS was quite laudatory, exhorting UMNO to emulate what he described as the “brave exploits” of ISIL/ISIS if the party wishes to survive.

Speaking to more than 1,000 Umno members at the Cheras UMNO Branch’s 20th anniversary dinner on June 24, Najib outlined six virtues that UMNO needed to survive and flourish in the country, among which bravery as displayed by ISIL/ISIS terrorists was a requisite trait.

Singing praises of ISIL/ISIS’ exploits in defeating an Iraqi force outnumbering it, Najib said: “For example, when someone dares to fight to his death, he can even defeat a much bigger team”.

Najib said: “Whether we agree or not is another matter, the group ISIL with the strength of just 1,300 people, can defeat an Iraqi army of 30,000 soldiers, until four, five generals with three, four stars run for their lives, jump out of window at night.”

Although the Prime Minister’s Office later clarified that Najib’s remarks glorifying the ISIL/ISIS terrorists had been taken out of context, as the Prime Minister’s brief mention and “in passing” of ISIL “in no way indicated any support” for ISIL, Najib himself failed to clarify his own statement until more than two months later – raising the question whether his condemnation of ISIL/ISIS was half-hearted because of his secret admiration for the ISIL/ISIS terrorists. Read the rest of this entry »

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The many colours of Malaysia

by Dyana Sofya
The Malay Mail Online
September 22, 2014

Dyana Sofya suffers from dysania and is using her superpowers to pen down her thoughts late into the night. Political Secretary to Lim Kit Siang by day and she tweets from @dyanasmd.

SEPTEMBER 22 ― One tip for anyone intending to make the trip to the Sabah interior: have a bottle of minyak cap kapak handy!

Last week, I visited a few kampungs in Tenom and Keningau, two towns in the interior of Sabah about two hours’ drive from Kota Kinabalu. The journey required traversing the Crocker Range via the notorious Kimanis-Keningau highway.

This highway is reputed to be the steepest and most dangerous in Malaysia, with a gradient ranging from 10 to 25 degrees. And as if that isn’t challenging enough, add low visibility from severe fog conditions.

Hence, you can see why minyak angin became a necessity! Read the rest of this entry »

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A Modest Proposal for the Champions of Ketuanan Melayu

M. Bakri Musa

First of Three Parts: Have High Expectations Of Our Young

Hardly a day goes by without those self-proclaimed champions of Malay race and defenders of Malay rights frothing at the mouth demanding that they (non-Malays) do this or that so we Malays could be the unquestioned Tuans (masters) of Tanah Melayu. When these Hang Tuah wannabes are not consumed with their theatrics of brandishing their ketchup-soaked kerises, they are obsessed with denigrating our culture and national character. To them we are lazy, dishonest, and know no shame.

Strip the rhetoric and those expressions of frus (“Manglish” for frustration) and fury are understandable if not predictable. We are frustrated because with the billions spent on us and the ever-generous special privileges heaped upon us, we still lag behind the others. We are furious because despite not being mollycoddled by the government, they thrive.

We are so angry that we cannot even pause to ponder perhaps they prosper precisely because the government leaves them alone and does not direct their lives, or that the massive “help” we get is anything but that. There is an art in helping. Done right and you open the door to the world for those you help; done wrong and you have a dependent invalid.

Our futile and unenlightened reactions do not solve our dilemma; they hinder by hiding the glaring reality and fundamental issue: Malays are not competitive or productive. Read the rest of this entry »

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