Sarawakians are not excluded from Corruption and Sarawakians are not stupid people to blindly follow bad governance. You will find many ordinary members in the BN skeptical of all the sweet talks thrown at them lately by their leaders.
It is often said that many simple minded folks in Sarawak would passively follow the government of the day because their "periuk Nasi" comes first. There is a lot of truth in this, a good portion of them don't belong to any political organization. They are the ordinary citizens, the majority are in the low income bracket.
Yet with others who are fence sitters but not fence sitters, "fear" engulfs them that they keep their mouths shut. It's simple as that, the fear of retribution if they go against the powerful system controlled by the BN government has forced them to "artificially" place allegiance to BN. This is dangerous and very much a probable "cause" of swing votes during elections.
Those in the opposition camp who have pressed for political change want "real changes", many know that merely to say change but with corruption still going on will not transform or change anything.The chanting of "Reformasi" from PKR means changes must be made to the system with a change in government so that justice and fairness will be enjoyed by all the people and NOT ONLY by a collective few or groups of the already rich lot.
The membership of the opposition in Sarawak comprising the Malays in PKR and PAS, the Chinese in DAP and Dayaks is growing by the day. They have quietly increased their numbers of late because Sarawakians are attracted to join them for a myriad of reasons. The main reasons are justice, equality and of course corruption in the BN administration. They are in effect unhappy over bad governance, of how the system is flouted by direct tendering, etc. They are fed-up with leaders who are corrupted and make bad decisions.
We can all be quite sure that Najib’s government is aware of the poor people’s plight especially in Sarawak and they have talked about changes too which shall be brought about under 1Malaysia. That sounds pretty convincing but on the ground, people in Sarawak know that CORRUPTION will be interestingly veiled by the system of his government.
The biggest known “scandal” completely veiled in front of our eyes was the 500 million Ringgit so called COMMISSION paid for the submarine deal. This file is closed, as we understand it.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
Gambling in the Semua Boleh Land
People in Sarawak do gamble and they don’t care two hoots about the Malays gambling. You see Sarawak Malay punters freely in the 4-D and Toto joints, people just don’t care. Well, it’s bad habit to gamble, everyone knows that, even a seasoned gambler would agree to it. No Sarawakian will say it's good.
The fact that gambling is made legal in Sarawak or for that matter in Malaysia is somewhat a blessing for those who seek some excitement and thrill playing with their money. Losing their bets is secondary because one must have money in the first place to be able to bet. If the lure to money is what that spurs people to enjoy the game, it is greed of it that will destroy the beauty of a clean gamble.
The apple pie of gambling will soon be manifested in Malaysia when the World Cup starts to kick up dust and make the civil servants lag behind in their work. Interestingly, some have predicted that Najib’s KPI will drop these couple of months, starting with the Thomas Cup debut.
In Sarawak, the Ibans are accustomed to their "cock fight" bets. That is embedded in their culture, there is nothing you can do about it, except to rope them in when things go out of hand. The Sibu By Election will definitely see a lot of gambling especially amongst the Chinese groups, it's unstoppable. The police will be too busy anyway to snoop around on the bookies' backyard.
Malaysia is land of many contradictions, you can when you can’t and you can't but you can. Rightly too, we have 1Malaysia to support us with Gambling in the Semua Boleh land, a land where you can go breaking rules and get away with.
The fact that gambling is made legal in Sarawak or for that matter in Malaysia is somewhat a blessing for those who seek some excitement and thrill playing with their money. Losing their bets is secondary because one must have money in the first place to be able to bet. If the lure to money is what that spurs people to enjoy the game, it is greed of it that will destroy the beauty of a clean gamble.
The apple pie of gambling will soon be manifested in Malaysia when the World Cup starts to kick up dust and make the civil servants lag behind in their work. Interestingly, some have predicted that Najib’s KPI will drop these couple of months, starting with the Thomas Cup debut.
In Sarawak, the Ibans are accustomed to their "cock fight" bets. That is embedded in their culture, there is nothing you can do about it, except to rope them in when things go out of hand. The Sibu By Election will definitely see a lot of gambling especially amongst the Chinese groups, it's unstoppable. The police will be too busy anyway to snoop around on the bookies' backyard.
Malaysia is land of many contradictions, you can when you can’t and you can't but you can. Rightly too, we have 1Malaysia to support us with Gambling in the Semua Boleh land, a land where you can go breaking rules and get away with.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Najib's Sifu - Idris Jala
When you see things beyond the average intellect, it may get dangerously irrelevant to the common men in the street. I watched Idris Jala on tv3 last night. The guy has tremendous memory and possesses extraordinary skills in management. First, he’s a natural talker, second he smiles a lot, and third he has experience. Those are his qualities besides being a top scholar of his time.
He was asked about solving the Pudu Raya Bus terminal congestion in KL and he brilliantly gave some solid answers that would put Samy Vellu to shame. And I told myself that here was a humble Kelabit guy from Sarawak who had his days spent learning the skills from SHELL and using that same instrument to oversee a government machinery now. Ironically, where have all the Malay professors gone?
Idris spoke about Sarawak’s rural infrastructure which he agreed should be given due attention, only that he never uttered the word “neglected” which if he did, would see him sidelined by the cabinet. But surely, a brilliant guy like him knows deep down in his heart that our rural sector has indeed been neglected by the BN state government of Taib.
Idris praised the police force for a job well done basing his argument on crime statistics from the data collected over the last few months. His comparison on the rate of crime to that in the UK was not realistic and weak. We can't compare apples to rambutans. I thought he would at least talked about immigration and the “imported” crimes committed by foreigners in the country, which he didn’t.
I particularly liked his asking the civil service to run and run fast to catch up with time and the word "efficiency". That's good so as to wake up all the lazy bums in the service in Sarawak.
Let's not push it too hard Idris, lest you become a social outcast in Sarawak.
He was asked about solving the Pudu Raya Bus terminal congestion in KL and he brilliantly gave some solid answers that would put Samy Vellu to shame. And I told myself that here was a humble Kelabit guy from Sarawak who had his days spent learning the skills from SHELL and using that same instrument to oversee a government machinery now. Ironically, where have all the Malay professors gone?
Idris spoke about Sarawak’s rural infrastructure which he agreed should be given due attention, only that he never uttered the word “neglected” which if he did, would see him sidelined by the cabinet. But surely, a brilliant guy like him knows deep down in his heart that our rural sector has indeed been neglected by the BN state government of Taib.
Idris praised the police force for a job well done basing his argument on crime statistics from the data collected over the last few months. His comparison on the rate of crime to that in the UK was not realistic and weak. We can't compare apples to rambutans. I thought he would at least talked about immigration and the “imported” crimes committed by foreigners in the country, which he didn’t.
I particularly liked his asking the civil service to run and run fast to catch up with time and the word "efficiency". That's good so as to wake up all the lazy bums in the service in Sarawak.
Let's not push it too hard Idris, lest you become a social outcast in Sarawak.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Becoming CM - He'd rather Self Destruct
Politics hit its lowest level yesterday in Sarawak when it was suggested that Alfred Jabu is the able man to become the next Ketua Menteri. His nemesis Dundang of SNAP supported the idea together with a few prominent Dayaks who gave their approval too.
The Iban Jabu isn’t happy at all. He has asked that such nonsense be stopped immediately. And according to Jabu himself, he just wanted to keep his role as team player. That was no excuse but to please his Boss. Surely we all know that Jabu will self destruct because he dare not lift any fingers at his boss, Taib. How could he offend the man he loved so much.
I thought for once that BN has run out of ideas to suggest old man Jabu to lead Sarawakians. It gives me the giggle.
The Iban Jabu isn’t happy at all. He has asked that such nonsense be stopped immediately. And according to Jabu himself, he just wanted to keep his role as team player. That was no excuse but to please his Boss. Surely we all know that Jabu will self destruct because he dare not lift any fingers at his boss, Taib. How could he offend the man he loved so much.
I thought for once that BN has run out of ideas to suggest old man Jabu to lead Sarawakians. It gives me the giggle.
Monday, May 3, 2010
SCORE = Patronage Politics
Will SCORE be underscored and bring more fortune to those who already display extreme wealth in Sarawak?
For some cynical reasons, people have labeled it Project Ketua Menteri. This statement cannot be wrong when a dictator is not a dictator. After all, the Ketua Menteri controls the State Government and almost all the major businesses in Sarawak or at least his family does.
What we know as the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy has been set to bring all the goodies to the people of Sarawak. That’s what the website says. While you may accept it positively as a step in the right direction which it must be otherwise it will make the government looks stupid, I take it with a pinch of salt.
Let’s focus on what we understand as “patronage politics”. It is when tenders will only be awarded to a selected few within one’s group. With SCORE, it has to be those who have already displayed extreme wealth in the BN group. This is to allow the flow of funds into the bureau to seal BN’s power in the state. Millions and millions of ringgit will then be embezzled legally. To achieve this, the whole system will be in “reverse gear”, that is to say, money will be the instrument to get things done. Everything will then have an “artificial” fee capped to it. Mismanagement sets in, the circle becomes vicious and corruption persists.
When the propagation of a capitalistic environment becomes wider, we shall get a situation where the selected few who controlled the market becoming extremely wealthier.
Some questions that need to be asked are: Will matters get worst in Sarawak? Will it only benefit the privileged few? Will it end up like the "AP" case that benefit only Bumi entrepreneurs? Will workers once again be grossly exploited, underpaid?
For some cynical reasons, people have labeled it Project Ketua Menteri. This statement cannot be wrong when a dictator is not a dictator. After all, the Ketua Menteri controls the State Government and almost all the major businesses in Sarawak or at least his family does.
What we know as the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy has been set to bring all the goodies to the people of Sarawak. That’s what the website says. While you may accept it positively as a step in the right direction which it must be otherwise it will make the government looks stupid, I take it with a pinch of salt.
Let’s focus on what we understand as “patronage politics”. It is when tenders will only be awarded to a selected few within one’s group. With SCORE, it has to be those who have already displayed extreme wealth in the BN group. This is to allow the flow of funds into the bureau to seal BN’s power in the state. Millions and millions of ringgit will then be embezzled legally. To achieve this, the whole system will be in “reverse gear”, that is to say, money will be the instrument to get things done. Everything will then have an “artificial” fee capped to it. Mismanagement sets in, the circle becomes vicious and corruption persists.
When the propagation of a capitalistic environment becomes wider, we shall get a situation where the selected few who controlled the market becoming extremely wealthier.
Some questions that need to be asked are: Will matters get worst in Sarawak? Will it only benefit the privileged few? Will it end up like the "AP" case that benefit only Bumi entrepreneurs? Will workers once again be grossly exploited, underpaid?
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Sarawak smelled like Kasam Ikan - Sibu By Elections
This is politics. BN is a veteran and so are Taib Mahmud and his gang of elders comprising George Chan, Alfred Jabu , James Masing and William Mawan. They will do whatever it takes to win the Sibu by election. By hook or by crook, they must win this so called “challenge” by DAP and ironically Najib. Najib meant business and “no main main” attitude could be tolerated. Even by elections has a KPI.
Taib and his gang know that losing Sibu will be like an iron ball hitting their head. They would go all out to make sure the iron ball stuff would never materialized. They want to show Najib that they are still very much in control in Sarawak although Najib knows that many things in the land of the hornbills smelled like “kasam ikan”.
Voters are just as smart today, the Sibu ones comprising mainly of Foochows can get what they want if they play their cards right. And of course the Foochows are known for their smart ways. I am sure they have by now, planned to ask for the “sky” if they could have their wish. This is the time BN will whitewash everything and “turut saja”. Just give the Sibu people what they asked for. Losing to DAP in Sibu will be like a pancake thrown on George Chan’s face. He cannot afford to see his party lose.
Taib and his gang know that losing Sibu will be like an iron ball hitting their head. They would go all out to make sure the iron ball stuff would never materialized. They want to show Najib that they are still very much in control in Sarawak although Najib knows that many things in the land of the hornbills smelled like “kasam ikan”.
Voters are just as smart today, the Sibu ones comprising mainly of Foochows can get what they want if they play their cards right. And of course the Foochows are known for their smart ways. I am sure they have by now, planned to ask for the “sky” if they could have their wish. This is the time BN will whitewash everything and “turut saja”. Just give the Sibu people what they asked for. Losing to DAP in Sibu will be like a pancake thrown on George Chan’s face. He cannot afford to see his party lose.
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