Who is Running this Country?

I can't help but to express this. I see our whole country in a bloody mess! UMNO Divisional Leaders over-riding the President, DPM not in line with people's sentiment, MCA and other BN component parties seems lost. Racial cards are being played, inciting fear. Looks like our current and past generation will suffer if our leaders cannot get their act together.

By the way things are going, it seems our future generation will also be screwed! It took them years to settle simple things such as heavy school bags. Figuing out maths and science in English is another sad case. It seems as though it is more important to staisfy political alliances than to do something really important for students. Found these letters on Education Malaysia. Interesting how political leaders send their children to privellaged schools abroad or to private schools locally.

We need change, and need it fast! Can Sept 16 happen? Will it be strong enough to make a difference?

Will these people run the country like they are suppose to? I certainty hope so!

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Save Our Judiciary Petition

Dear Friends,

If you have not sign this petition, please do so, spread the word.


Read more from People's Parliament


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Position vacant: Statesman

Position vacant: Statesman

Spotted this on Malaysianinsider.com this morning. I blogged about seeking a statesman/stateswomen but without fail. The sad this is that while this position remains open, our economic situation remains on a possible downward trend, our education systems continues to mess-up our education system. All our leaders seems to be interested to do is to protect their plot. Can we move forward?

My Merdeka Weekend

I had a busy Merdeka weekend as my kids were involved in the last leg of the ASUM/MILO/SportsExcel Junior Swimming competition. Yes, life is very much different since my two girls got into competitive swimming. Getting out of the house at 6.30am on Saturday and Sunday, and driving all the way to Cheras is not an easy task. The closest I got to the celebration and parade was when the planes and helicopters flew overhead with the state flags. Yes, that was it! That was (the official) Merdeka celebrations for me.

With political uncertainty and frustration from being called a "squatter" in the country I am born, grew up and have a valid citizenship, has slightly definitely dampen the spirit of the celebrations. I kept wondering what's happening to our country and our leaders? Merdeka celebrations is slowly becoming a bore - same parades over the past 50 years to demonstrate and display patriotism is becoming a jaded affair, the celebrations is moving into purely, an event - devoid of spirit.

While the celebrations has become somewhat stagnant, it is heartening to know that Merdeka spirit itself is still strong - at least at the swimming stadium. In the same swim meet, people of all races came together for the purpose of winning, or at least better their times. There was no distinction as to their race or religion. We were all swimmers, Malaysian swimmers, with their officials, parents and supporters. We did not need to be conscious about the differences, we were colour blind. In another children activity held recent, parents all gathered to watch the stage performances of their children. Again, they were not bothered about race, religion or whatever our political leaders ask us to. We were just there. We were there for our children, through our children we could see through the differences and concentrated on similiarities. One thing, I have learnt is that as long as we think of the future of our children, there is much hope.

Perhaps the most important lesson on Merdeka comes from vour children, they naturally learn to appreciate anyone. We the adults are the ones, who teach them to divide and to tolerate one another. It'stime we stop this charade. Learn to appreciate one another as our kids have done.

HAPPY MERDEKA! Everyone.

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Makan-makan in KK (4) Sri Maju Steamboat

Check this restaurant out.

Sri Maju Steamboat (福华)
Lot G34, Ground Floor
Asia City Phase 2A
Jalan Asia City
88000 Kota Kinabalu
Sabah







We had an yam rice with excellent of fish-head soup cooked with chinese herbs. Very unique and special.













The steamboat was good, but the soup was much, much better! I am not much of a food critique - you have to try it for yourself!











With the boss himself, Philip Goh. If you are in KK and looking for good steamboat, check this place out!

Call 088-447161 pr 016 844 9939 for reservation.

Makan-makan in KK (3) Beaufort Restaurant

This is another place introduced to us. Thanks to Celine and Michael. It's located on Jalan Penampang and near Lido Market.

This restaurant is well loved by the local, especially KK Lites who live in and around the Penampang area. The more sort after dishes here are the clay pot and the fried vegetables. The fried noodle at Beaufort Restaurant is single out as a must try item, the home made noodle is especially tasty and crunchy compares to the factory made type.

We tried the "famous" fried noodles. Served with a nice thick clear sauce sprinkled with vegetables and meat. It was good!

For more information, I found this site. Click HERE.

Have fun and enjoy when you get to KK next.

Makan-makan in KK (2) Best Chili sauce!

Now this is something unique.

Found the best chili sauce in the world. I don't know what's called. The lady at the shop kept saying "Lada". It's a blend of Sabah's chili padi (tiny chili, super hot), pepper (if I heard it correctly) and vinegar. It's home-made and available only at Hinompuka.


I was perspiring after first drop - and I loved it. Went perfectly with the fried noodles. Was go good and something out of the ordinary, I 'forced' the owner to sell me a can. Yummy! You should try it.

Makan-makan in KK (1) Hinompuka

After days in Kota Kinabalu, we finally got a taste of KK. I had enough of hotel and "globalized food" (food packaged the same all over the world).

Our first break came today through the introduction of Jeanne- thanks! It a little cafe located in Donggongon called "Hinompuka". Hinompuka is a delicious-gooey Kadazan cake made of glutinous rice wrapped in banana leave. For more about delicious dish, check out here.

DIRECTIONS: Bus 13 from KK to Penampang will end at Donggongon. The mall is in between the tamu (market), near the KFC.

hinompuka

Located in the same location is Sandai which sells traditional handcraft of the Kadazan and Dusuns. Its fair trade organization, which means much of the profits are channeled back to the villagers. Check them our when you are there next! Great shop, excellent food!

Malaysia Lost the GOLD Medal

I must congratulate Chong Wei for reaching the finals of the Olympics Badminton Men's Singles. The did a commendable job getting there - conceding only one set. We really deserve the silver medal, Malaysia's first Olympic medal in 12 years!

However, after watching the finals and played out, I felt frustration and disbelieved. It took Lin Dan just 30 minutes to capture the gold medal. Chong Wei could not match Lin Dan who was backed by home ground advantage. I was disappointed not because we did not get the gold, but in the manner we lost it.

Chong Wei did not display any commitment to win. He did not display the hunger he had shown en route to the finals. I felt the did not even play creatively. I got a sense that winning the silver was good enough. There was no fire in his Chong Wei's eyes. This match would have been the match any player would die to be in, and to show his best skills and talents. Although we did not win the gold but I had expected a tough fight. Instead, he went down without a fight - this was most disappointing!

where was this face of hunger and determination on Aug 18?

I just wished there was better fight and some glory in defeat.

Alas, it was not the case, we just gave away the gold.


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Many Faiths, TWO Nation? (revised)

Is this the vision of a united Malaysia?

I am still trying to make sense of the whole conversion thing. Is a divided nation where we are headed? Perhaps the hint was given last Wednesday when the PM attended the 25th Anniversary of the MCCBCHST. In his speech, the PM offered NO concrete steps to the issues we have been facing, including the conversion issues. In all the words spoken by the PM, he used the word "tolerance". Perhaps herein lies the message - we need to tolerate and continue to do so, so forget understanding! This is really disappointing,

What is more disappointing are the actions of PAS and PKR in joining the protest against the Bar Council over the weekend. I cannot fully agree with the Bar Council either and I cannot agrre or appreciate the role of the police. However, I would expect at least PAS and PKR to initiate proactive engagement, offering a new perspectives in bridging the religious divide, not taking to the streets as we are so familiar with the UMNO-style confrontational approach.

It seems as if we are stuck in between the devil and the deep blue sea. I really hope we are not jumping from the frying pan into the fire!

I sincerely pray that the wisdom and leadership of PAS and Pakatan Rakyat will pervail and bring true unity to our country and take Malaysia forward. We have limited time and options.

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NEVER FORGET August 6 & 9,1945

source: peace.mennolink.org

The world witnessed the first nuclear attacks on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States at the order of U.S. President Harry S. Truman on August 6 and 9, 1945.

"Little Boy" was dropped on the city of Hiroshima on Monday, August 6, 1945, followed on August 9 by the detonation of the "Fat Man" nuclear bomb over Nagasaki.

The bombs killed as many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki by the end of 1945, roughly half on the days of the bombings. Since then, thousands more have died from injuries or illness attributed to exposure to radiation released by the bombs. In both cities, the overwhelming majority of the dead were civilians.

We must never let this happen again, let's PRAY FOR PEACE, ACT FOR PEACE

Never forget: Read on here, pictures and accounts here and many more here.

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Many Faiths, One Nation - WHEN? (Updated)

cover from the souvenir program book

I attended the MCCBCHST's 25th Anniversary Dinner in KL this evening. (Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Sikhism and Taoism). The theme was "Many Faiths, One Nation - Our Vision for Malaysia". Its President, Datuk Vaitilingam, articulated the need for the different races to bridge the gaps by appreciating similarities and strive to build our nation together. He also expressed clearly the issues of "body snatching", of conversions, of minor rights and all the religious issues troubling us as a nation. Datuk Vaitilingam was proactive in suggesting approaches and ares of improvements. I felt he was clearly reaching out and truthfully trying to find solutions to achieve the goal of "many faiths, one nation - one vision for Malaysia". His speech was precise and well articulated and received a good round of applause.

Among the audience, taking notes and nodding his head in acknowledgment every now and then, was our Guest of Honour, Prime Minister, Pak Lah. When Pak Lah's turn to speak came we were all geared up and eager to hear the response from our PM. We were looking forward to some commitment moving forward.

Alas, this was not the case. the PM did not even have a prepared speech. It seems that he was not briefed of the issues or he was not aware, hence not prepared for them of he just did not seem to care enough. Also, it could be that he has too much on his mind and inter-faith matters were not high on his priority. Although these issues were not new and even international media has highlighted them, he did not seem to have any clear and definite responses. He did speak for about half-an-hour (pretty long, in my opinion) on the things like what the government did, the vegetarian food he was eating and how he was interrupted to have to make his speech. He went on and on about the need to work together but did not articulate how to do that or what his government was willing to do. He did mention the word tolerance and stressed the need for it. It was interesting as Datuk Vaitilingam (as I recalled) did not mention that T word. It is really sad that after 50 years of nationhood, we still need to tolerate one another while we should be understanding each other more! Overall there were no clear strategies, no commitment.

After about 20 minutes I had to leave the hall. On my way to the gentlemen's room I met another religious leader and he asked, "What's Pak Lah saying?". My answer was a simple, "I don't know". This was the general sentiment of our table.

I recalled Ronan Keating's last line of one of his songs which goes, "Now You say it best when you say nothing at all". Only problem is our PM is not Keating, PM did not "speak right to my heart". Pak Lah should have just sat an enjoyed his vegetarian dinner, cut the cake, beat the gong and enjoy the photo opportunity.

For me, the rest of the dinner was quite ruined. I did not finish and left promptly after that. It was about 10.40pm (4 more dished the go, that's how long the speeches took), our son was already asleep and our daughters were at home alone.

On the way back home, I thought about the theme, "Many faiths, One nation - One vision for Malaysia", and one of the sad thing about the dinner was that the presence of our Muslim bothers and sister were not there, they were not felt. It would have been great if ALL faith congregate for an evening to celebrate our diversity on this occasion. I guess the MCCBCHST and all of us have much work to do.

When will the Malaysia's vision of "many faiths, one nation" happen? I certainly hope it will be soon and not after the next 50 years.

Updated: The STAR reported the event here. Malaysian Insider published the President's speech here.

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Petition to the King

If you have NOT YET sign the petition, click here NOW! Support this petition to start reforming our judiciary.

Read on and sign the petition. From The People's Parliament

In October, 2007 5,036 anak-anak Bangsa Malaysia petitioned His Majesty, appealing that Fairuz’s term as Chief Justice not be extended, as was then sought by the Prime Minister. My sources tell me that His Majesty did take note of the concerns voiced by those 5,036 individuals.

That petition was launched before the BERSIH and HINDRAF rally took place; before Makkal Sakhti took hold of the imagination of the rakyat.

Given the heightened spirit of “people power” amongst the rakyat, it would be good if this petition could garner a significant increase in the number in support compared to the previous.

According to news reports, the position of Chief Justice falls vacant on 18th October, 2008.

I would like to get the petition to His Majesty by the 15th of September.

That gives us over a month to get a decent number of signatures.

As was done with the earlier petition, what you will see here is not the final document which will be forwarded to His Majesty, in that the requisite court language has not as yet been weaved into the document. That will be done later, without any change to the substance of the petition.

Also, those signing the petition will also have to avail their identity card numbers. Please note that pseudonyms and names without ic numbers will be deleted.

People, this petition is yours. Its success or otherwise, is in your hands.

You can access the petition HERE.

Students Speaking Up!

It's encouraging to know that our students are speaking up and learning to question. They did it at the right time to the right person - our Prime Minister. Some of the questions,which Pak Lah could not answer were as follows. Of course, Pak Lah had to rush off to attend some wedding immediately after that (so much to listening to our students).

• In achieving 2020, are we on schedule?

• I wish to join the civil service, but the civil service doesn’t seem to be colour blind. What will be done to redeem the image of the civil service?

• Will there be more public debates between the cabinet members and the opposition on government policies?

• What is the role of the government in holistic development?

• You have called yourself colour blind, but what is your view on our quota system? It is still more racial rather than community- based. Secondly, what is your views on protecting minorities rather than majorities?

• I want to know how do you feel about promises that you have not kept. I don’t want to know what you’re going to do, but I want to know how you feel, towards us, the people you are responsible for.

Many of the questions were met with loud applause from the floor and often drew smiles from Abdullah along with Education Minister Hishammuddin Hussein who was seated next to him.

Read more here, here and here. Anyway, the UUCA is just given cosmetic changes.More here and here.

When will undergraduates be given the respect they deserve?