What is it with the Minister of Education? He reveals an obviously closed mind when the press reported a statement he made (Star, 18 March 2011) – “We had previously made the decision to use the book. Thus the question of withdrawing it does not arise.” Why the arrogance? Since when is such a decision sacrosanct? Why can’t it be withdrawn? Afraid of “padan muka?” Show some respect towards the people who are affected by it.

Yes, it’s a novel and open for the public to read, but forcing it into an environment of young minds that can be influenced to shape the same prejudices the book spews, is quite another thing. Why talk of young minds – even heads of schools have shown such disrespect, prejudice and name-calling! What is there to prevent teachers from using the text to humiliate certain students? The decision CAN be revoked. Nothing wrong in removing what hurts the feelings of a community and affects the unity of the nation. In fact, you will be respected for it!

REMOVE Interlok as a school text!!

Don’t get me wrong. I am all for improving the lot of the Bumiputera population – the deserving, under-privileged Bumiputera, that is. I am all for improving their entrepreneurial abilities. But why this continual exclusiveness when it is the responsibility of a government to ensure that the same effort should be made to improve the lot of ANY ethnic group.

Let me be direct – I am especially asking that attention be given to the neglected Indian poor. In exactly the same areas identified for the Bumiputera. I am talking about those who have been economically sidelined, those who need help with scholarships and places in public universities, those who need skills training, those who would benefit from training in entrepreneurial skills. Is the plan to give vocational training to school leavers under NEM inclusive of all races, or is it exclusively for the Bumiputera? This kind of inclusiveness is what will maintain sustained growth in the nation – not grandeur speeches about it. This is what a good government does – look after ALL people in the nation.

The formation of TERAJU – right in the Prime Minister’s Office, highlights once again that there will be pockets of the population that will be ignored, while special attention and preferential treatment (aka “institutional initiatives”) is given to some. The PM needs to walk his talk of EOQ (Equality of Opportunities), which we hear is now NOT part of NEM as originally planned, and of inclusiveness. Just tired of rhetorics!

“If a person is required to testify in court, he must do it. He cannot say ‘I don’t want’,” he told reporters.
However, he stressed that  “a prime minister could not be (held) responsible to the thing that he does not know”.

AHA!!! Therein lies the crux of the matter. The last time he was put on the stand on the Lingam case, the crafty old fox just said “I don’t remember.”  Repeatedly. This time it’s going to be “I don’t know.”  Yeah right.  The whole PKFZ episode smells of an UMNO-MCA deal to “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” So why do we want to waste time, give the guy media attention, and make everyone else look like a fool, when at the end all he’s going to say in court is “I don’t know.” Repeatedly.  Hey, the report already says that he “stressed that a prime minister could not be held responsible to the things that he does not know.” Case closed.

But my goodness, the “public apology” as reported in the media was no apology at all!! Let me quote you some excerpts (from the Star):

“…Nasir had taken cognisance of the various reactions that have risen among the people...” Obviously he had to “take cognisance” of the numerous police reports that were made,  accusing him of sedition.

“…. I had no intention to make statements that were racist in nature or insulting to any community.” Really? you mean calling Malaysian citizens “pendatang” and calling Indians “beggars” and Chinese women “prostitutes” is not insulting? Puhleeez!!

“…some quarters think otherwise and I am apologising over any mistake...” Some quarters? Not you Nasir? You don’t think there really is any reason to apologise, do you?

“…I wish to make an open apology to all Malaysians over the remarks which are DEEMED to be racist, although I never intended it as such.” (emphasis mine). Good grief! He actually thinks he could have got away with racist insults simply because he was the PM’s “special aide?”

And so we have it – the apology that is not really an apology. Given in full-blown self-righteousness and pride. Not an iota of regret or remorse. Just political garbage!

That the life of a young,  innocent man was so coldly blotted out for no good reason at the hands of the very people who are SUPPOSED to uphold justice, is totally unacceptable. Too many questions are surfacing and give credibility to the rampant perception that foul play is involved. Come on! Interrogation from 5pm till 4am the next morning? And he is not even the one being investigated – he is  only a “witness.” If the postmortem results come out with some vague, weak, lame-brained excuse that there was no physical assault – I will not believe it and I think I speak for those crying out for justice. Sorry, but after numerous deaths in the hands of authorities that have been lamely explained, I am not in the mood for cover-ups. This time they have gone too far and enough is enough!!

My heart goes out the his family and his fiancee. I feel with them the terrible loss and sense of injustice. And I know the citizens of Malaysia stand with them in insisting that justice is done and seen to be done!

I laughed when I read about it thinking this kind of stupidity can only happen in US. But guess what – it’s happened right here in Malaysia; unfortunately, to a person I greatly admire. I don’t personally know Irene Fernandez (though I bumped into her a few months ago and wished her well) but this woman’s heart for the helpless and her strength and courage have amazed me.

In 1995, Irene Fernandez had exposed the poor conditions at immigration detention centres in a memorandum entitled ‘Abuse, Torture and Dehumanised Conditions of Migrant Workers in Detention Centres’. She was arrested and charged a year later under Section 8A(1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act, 1984. This was a time when migrant workers were especially pouring into the country and many of them, illegally. Those caught were sent to detention centres which were probably ill-equipped to cater for the increasing numbers. The testimonies of these detainees on the atrocious treatment they received were pitiful. So when one woman had the audacity to reveal these conditions, she became the offender. She was sentenced to 12-month imprisonment in 2003 (after a 7-year trial) and was allowed bail pending appeal.

You see, in “those days,” we were not supposed to find fault with the almighty public servant, and we are all aware of how the judiciary was being manipulated at that time. After all – why make such a fuss over foreigners? That’s what troubles me. Instead of making a thorough investigation and checking out the statements recorded, the denials of the offenders was simply accepted as truth. A woman demanding that we treat humans as humans was found guilty “of maliciously publishing false news.” Yeah, I’m biased, because I am very aware of the kind of work this woman does. I mean why should she bother, especially to go to jail. It’s not her fight! It’s exactly that, that makes this woman admirable. We need more Irene Fernandez’s in this world.

There has been a whole lot of bungling that has lead to a delay in hearing her appeal. What with missing documents – statements of prosecution witnesses, computer viruses wiping out volumes of notes (haven’t they heard of back-ups?) It has been a 13-year court battle and she deserves a fair trial. Justice must be seen to done and the integrity of the courts is at stake here. More importantly – the accountability of those responsible for Detention Centres is the issue here and the trial has become a smoke screen to detract from the real issues of governance, responsibility and integrity of public servants.

Let’s get back on focus. Irene Fernandez needs to be commended for highlighting wrongs that need to be set right in our society. Go after the real rogues!

(Post script: Irene Fernandez has since been cleared of all charges and set free!! Finally!!)

Oh … I’ve GOT to quote this. The paper quoted him as saying ” The people will continue to support and have confidence in Barisan Nasional if the Government addresses the legitimate needs and grievances of each community” (emphasis mine) …. “we realize that each race has its own unique problems. …. regardless of the policy introduced ….. what was important was not the name but the ensuring that the policy is fair and just to all races.”

I rolled my eyes. Wasn’t the obvious being stated? But I’m glad it IS being stated – that some are beginning to see the light. I am hopeful and trying hard not to be cynical. Of course it is a long road from a public speech to implementation. But perhaps now we can hold him to his word come March 2009.

By George, he’s got it!! I think he’s finally got it! (For the blur-blur – this quote is by Prof Higgins in “My Fair Lady.”)

Let me tell you my story. My intention was to hard-boil six eggs and I decided to do it rather late at night, so that I would have it handy the next morning. To avoid the eggs from cracking with the initial heat on the stove, I kept a really low flame to heat the water before letting it boil. The plan was all well and good – except that I forgot about the eggs and went off to sleep.

When I woke the next morning and went to the kitchen, there was this really strange odour and I kept thinking, “Something smells like it is burning.” Well, what do you think I discovered when I went to the stove and wanted to boil water for my morning coffee? You guessed it – exploded eggs! The low stove flame was still burning, the pot was crisp black inside and I had exploded six eggs on to the floor, on the stove top and plastered on the walls next to the stove!! My first reaction was to switch off the flame and profusely thank the Lord that the whole thing had not broken out in flames during the night. (Talk about God’s protection – how we take it for granted!)

What a sight – dark brown egg-white and yolk spewed all over the place together with egg shells splintered into a million pieces. What a start to my day. The cleaning took quite a while and I couldn’t get rid of the “eggy” smell. I rang my sister to tell her the story and she recommended “Febreze” which I thankfully had at home (great for removing odours; it’s supposed to be for clothes, but it did a wonderful job on my stove, floor and walls).

I was thinking later – there HAS to be an object lesson in this experience, other than the obvious one, not to forget what you leave cooking on your stove. Well, thankfully the flame was really low, so it took all night for the water to disappear and for the eggs to start burning. But that is precisely where the object lesson was, I thought. It’s never wise to have anger or resentment quietly seething within us. The “heat” may seem harmless, but it eventually eats into us and there comes a point when everything burns up and, yes, explodes. You know what I mean. Hmmmm… must remember my exploded eggs the next time I have issues to settle …. Great story for counselors and communication gurus to use, don’t you think?

No, it is not acceptable at all. Every man and woman is created in the image of God and there is a brotherhood of man that needs to be embraced. It’s a mindset and value that needs to be learned and taught to our children. Life on planet Earth requires a respect for one another that accepts the differences and celebrates the sameness. It’s our duty as fellow humans to see each other as God sees us. Sure, we may fail every now and then, but it’s a goal we need to work at. Together.

I may be reminded that our (Malaysian) Constitution provides for “special privileges,” but lets get this straight – that special privileges is just that, it is NOT supremacy. My feeling is that generally, the average man in the street has no great demands for supremacy and wants to just carry on his life in harmony with and respect for others. To be God-fearing would be to recognize that fact. Unfortunately, self-serving, ambitious politicians use any means to gain ground. The cry for supremacy creates a great divide and is that what we want? Let us be careful with the words we use. God’s call to us is to “love one another” as He has loved us. Who is supreme but He!

If this isn’t God’s Almighty hand then I don’t know what is! Even the opposition parties are themselves staggered at the results. I guess even they did not realize the extent of the electorate’s frustrations. BN component parties speak of doing postmortems and I wonder if they would first take a good look at themselves instead of finger pointing. Let me say my piece to the parties concerned.

To MCA – I actually was quite impressed with the way the leadership and the party was evolving and moving on to new things – like lifelong learning, UTAR, commitment to Chinese schools and generally your efforts to reach the Chinese people to serve them. Your leadership was strong (despite the Chua Soi Lek saga). The only trouble was, you saw yourself as being subservient to UMNO, not as a partner in BN. You wanted to keep the peace I guess and felt that the best way to serve the Chinese was by not rocking the boat. But because the people were tired of putting up with of the arrogance of UMNO, the corruption and high handedness, you were identified with them at the elections. The electorate did not see the BN logo – they only saw UMNO.

To Gerakan, I guess the same applies to you. You had your share of problems trying to please the electorate in Penang, but you generally did a good job. But you too saw yourself as being subservient to UMNO. Appeasing them was an ongoing agenda it seemed. Again in the electorate’s mind, voting BN was tantamount to voting into government the same UMNO arrogance and corruption. I actually feel sorry for Gerakan.

To MIC – what is there to say to you? The BN logo only represented that clown Samy Velu, who saw himself as God’s gift to the Indians. Its common knowledge that he rules MIC with gangsters. Added to that was the government’s shameful treatment of HINDRAF. MIC candidates did not stand a chance. When Sothinathan tried to speak on behalf of the Indians in parliament, (concerning entrance into Medical Colleges overseas) he was punished for it and branded as a traitor to BN. Wasn’t it only because it did not suit UMNO? What is parliament about then? Is an MP’s loyalty to party above his loyalty to raise the people’s issues? When Sothinathan was “demoted” for 3 months, MIC just accepted it. You too see yourself as subservient to UMNO.

The PM’s handling of the Indians in HINDRAF, I really think lead to his downfall. It was with arrogance rather than genuine advice that you told the Indians to show their discontent at the polls. Well sir – they did!! Now you want a postmortem? The Indians had taken enough from Mahatir. From places deprived in public universities, to job opportunities for migrant estate workers, or even jobs in the civil service, or nursing or teaching. Not forgetting of course Mahatir’s treatment of the first two Malaysians (Indians) to reach the summit of Mt Everest. But things did not get any better under Abdullah Badawi. I am proud of the brave HINDRAF leaders and demonstrators. They were peaceful mind you. They had no other way to be heard. But BN’s strong arm tactics were used – their offices were searched and the leaders thrown in under ISA. To think that Samy Velu actually believed he would be elected!

I wish Palanivel had won, so that at least some semblance of leadership would have remained in MIC. Having lost by 198 votes is agonizing, especially when there were about 1,400 spoilt votes. But then again, if he had just continued as a Samy Velu puppet, it would have served no purpose.

To PKR, congratulations. But you are yet to be tested. Anwar Ibrahim, many of the things you did as DPM, will follow you, so your credibility will be closely watched. You can’t deny your high-handedness and arrogance as DPM. The question in the people’s minds is – has he really changed? But I like the racial composition of the party. Your work has just begun, and you have to prove yourself.

To DAP, you have fought hard and long. Now you have the chance to prove yourself. Please do it, for the people’s sake. And I mean ALL people.

To UMNO, you have an uphill task to even gain the confidence of the Malays. The Sungei Petani BN candidate Zainuddin Maidin was quoted as saying “It’s not that they love PKR or PAS that they voted against me.” No, they just wanted you out. PKR, DAP and PAS will have to prove themselves, but the people are willing to take that chance. You had your chance. That people actually stood guard at State Secretariat buildings to prevent BN officials (UMNO actually) from removing or destroying files shows the extent of the people’s distrust of you. Yes, you need to do a postmortem. Look within and look honestly. Take stock of the likes of keris wielding Hishamuddin, Khairy (btw did he win through postal votes?), Ali Rustam (the man who told PPP “UMNO doesn’t need you”), Khir Toyo and other leaders whose arrogance and greed is becoming a byword. Do a postmortem.

Winds of change can be frightening, but sometimes they are necessary. This change was needed, and we need to pray for those now in leadership – that they would be wiser and men and women of integrity. Malaysia will come through. The dust is slowly settling.

Remember there is a God who is Sovereign and He still rules.