A slap on her face

It is slightly more than 2 years since TBH was found death on 16 July, 2009 at MACC office in Shah Alam, after giving his statements pertaining to an investigation on his boss, Ean Yong Hian Wah alleged misappropriation of public fund. Teoh was merely standing in as a witness and he was not even investigated and henceforth, many people were not believing in suicide was the real cause of his death. Many people thought that there could be some cover-ups. How could an innocent young man who was just about to get married and expecting a baby out of the sudden committed suicide?

The Coroner delivered an open verdict, ruling out a homicide or suicide and the PM then set up a royal commission Inquiry (RCI) seemingly wanted to contain the resentment of the people on the government, especially on MACC. Despite the setting up of the RCI, many people were still skeptical at that point in time that it would result in any drastic change on the outcome of TBH death. If the coroner could not ascertain the actual cause of Beng Hock’ death, how could the RCI, setting up one year after the death could possibly overturn the coroner’s open verdict? Did the government expect new evident would just drop from the sky or MACC out of the sudden could come forth with new evident such as a cctv footage in showing that TBH was jumping form the 14th floor by himself without any third party involvement?

So, that is what it is; 19,200 pages of notes of evidence, 256 exhibits, 750 pages of submissions, 1,000 pages of authorities, 70 witnesses, 60 days of proceedings and a 124-page report by RCI cost RM 45 a copy with an expected answer; TBH was driven to suicide by oppressive grilling but this time around, 3 MACC officers were singled out for misappropriation leading to Beng Hock’s death. That is, nothing more nothing less except for some recommendations suggested to reform MACC but then again, it is entirely up to the government whether or not to look into those recommendations made by MACC.

In an sms reply to a press, TBH’s fiancé thanked the RCI for allowing her to dream for several months but, she knew that it was time to wake up as the RCI report was none other than a slap on her face.

It is time for all of us to wake up indeed.

Getting older.............

A friend recently complained of his poor memory. It seemed that his memory is deteriorating fast with age. That’s quite common, I told him, as I supposed I’m also facing the same problem despite my younger age as compared to him. I seem to be more forgetful nowadays and always misplaced stuffs and failed to find them. The worst incident was a couple of months ago after attending our company function at One World Hotel; I failed to locate my car and had to search for almost 45 minutes before finding it.

My wife recently told me a joke of an elderly man lost his car in the market at Sitiawan and quickly lodged a police report soon after he found that his car was missing. The kind policemen then drove him to the place where he lost his car to help him searching for it, partly suspecting that the old man could have forgotten where he parked his car instead of the car being stolen. As there was no sign of the car, they came to a conclusion that the car was stolen. The elderly man was so upset and disappointingly he rang up his wife to inform her of their car being stolen. To his surprise, he was told by his wife that their car was nicely parked in their garage.

Then the elderly man started recalling that he had in fact ridden his bike to the market in the morning and forgotten about it after shopping and thought that he had driven his car to the market instead. The policemen could only shake their heads in disbelief as after spending hours to help up this forgetful man searching for his car and assisting him in lodging a report, the car was in fact not stolen but mistakenly thought so by the forgetful old man.

Then I recalled my great-grand mother, a tough lady that despite her age of more than 80 years old and her stooped back, could still walk faster than some of the obese youngsters. One fine morning, I heard my late mother yelling that our great-grand mother was missing. The old lady had been talking for days that she wanted to go back to Kodiang to be with his son but due to her poor health, my grand mother insisted that she stayed with us so that she could take care of her.

Our stubborn great-grand mother then decided to go her own way by walking home since her plead was not granted. After noticing her missing, my mom and I then cycled around our house and finally found her walking with her tongkat, carrying a plastic bag with her clothing inside, at a few kilometers away from our house. When we found her we asked what was she trying to do. She told us that she wanted to go back to Kodiang but forgotten where her house was, with a broad smile on her face.

A few days later when her health was improving, we sent her back to Kodiang and not too long after that, the old lady passed away peacefully in her own house at Kodiang. Somehow she could have sensed out that she would be leaving this world and chose to be in her own house when she breathed the last breath.

Our memory tends to get faded with age and there are incurable diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease that will damage our brains and take away all our memories. Even the former President of America, Ronald Reagan in his late life couldn't even remember that he was once the President of America. In November, 1984, in his hand-written letter, he told the world that he was inflicted with Alzheimer’s disease, and beginning his journey into the sunset of his life.

Aging is a normal process that everyone has to go through.

Lady of defiant or liberty?

There are two sides to a coin. Those who were taking part in 9-7 rally were regarded by the government as defiant group of people. I surfed through the Internets and discovered many reports on both foreign and local media on Annie Ooi, an auntie who worn a yellow T-shirt, took a bus ride alone from Setapak heading to KL, stopped 4 times by the police before reaching the destination, being questioned by police why was she wearing yellow on that day and she replied every times “Why can’t I wear yellow”.

She didn't have any single details of the rally on that day, no information on time and place but her nerve drove her there despite all the barricades put up by the police along the way. KL, on 9-7, with the presence of so many police and FRU, was like a war-zone, making people paranoia. Many people were avoiding the city on that day knowing that there would be massive traffic congestion; it was such intended so that the rally would not take shape but the so-called defiance groups were finding all ways and means to be there.

The government was telling that all the protesters were being used by the opposition parties to go against them, and the Bersih was politically motivated but ignoring the reasons why were these people supporting the opposition in the first place. This auntie at the age of 65, a retired government school teacher has nothing to fear no more. She can ignore the warning given by the government as she has retired but unlike so many silence majorities that because of their rice bowls, were refraining themselves from getting into trouble.

There are two sides to a coin, as the government are labeling those involved in the Bersih rally as defiant group, there are people hailing them as the brave hearts fighting for a good cause, a noble one which may transform our lives. Annie Ooi, 65 year old retired teacher, was hailed as the Malaysian Lady of Liberty but on the other hand, the Police are still busy denying the allegations that they were firing water cannon and throwing tear gases into Tung Shin Hospital.

TF-3

Waited for a few weeks, finally I got my wife and myself a couple-seat, albeit at P1 and P2, at the left most corner but still worthwhile for a 30-minutes queue, a day earlier. We went to the cinema a few times but failed to get a nice seat. If you have read into the reviews by the movie-commentators you may not want to watch this third sequence of TF. Michael Bay is going to give you what you could have been expected after seeing the first Transformer and the Revenge of the fallen, albeit, a much exaggerated one. More robots, more spaceships, more destruction of high-rise building in Chicago but an empty plot for this 154 minutes movie.

But I didn't feel a bit of boring when I was watching it as the fast-moving sequences were coming one after another, and no doubt the plot is a bit empty, it requires your utmost attention or else you would not know what was the secret mission of the Appolo 11, what was the evil plan of Megatron in leading the Autobots to find Sentinel Prime, how did Sentinel Prime back-stabbing the Autobots, what the heck was the pillar, how did Prime and his counterparts survive the clash of the spaceship which intended to exile the Autobots. And if you think that this movie is suitable for children then you’re wrong, sorry to say this but young kids were just disturbance in the Cinema as a few sitting in front of me seemed unable to comprehend most of the time, thus making lots of noise apart from sitting quietly watching their beloved Bumberbee in actions.

After seeing the sequence of so many movies such James Bond, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, X-men and so on, you know that the sequence may not be as good as the first one simply because the lack of new excitements anymore, everything seems to be within expectations. But it doesn't stop the movies goers to rush for viewing, that’s why TF3 has raked in a worldwide earning of $645 million as of 10 July, 2011 and it seems quite certain that it is going to be another record breaking box office for Michael Bay.

Transformer is a childhood hero for many and whether TF-3 is a good sequence or not, you just need to be there to see how the almighty Optimus Prime defeats the Sentinel Prime who double-crossed the Autobots and the notorious Cybertrons. It makes you happy despite all the shortcomings.

Success or failure, does it really important?

KL is back to normal again, but many people are still talking about it, 2 days after the 7-9 rally. It was a masterpiece to those who had participated in the rally. A friend who attended it had said that it was his one in a life time experience that he had long been dreaming for, a chance to eradicate fear from within himself, an opportunity to shout out aloud that a reform is needed to the electoral system. And he knew that the government, through the mainstream media is hiding the fact that the actual number of supporters was much larger than 5,000 reported by the mainstream newspaper. A naked truth was that the government was panicky, as they didn't expect such a high turnout as people were rushing in to the destined areas despite all the roadblocks putting up to barricade KL and also stern warning given by the authority.

It was even reported in a press from China, a place infamous for its intolerance towards the public dissents on the government, that more than 20 thousands protesters were involved in the rally which was interrupted by heavy rains. I guess if not because of worrying of the public outcry, the police could have arrested all the leaders involved in Bersih, the leaders from opposition parties especially, before its rally, just like what the Chinese government did in avoiding Jasmine unrest.

Whether or not it is a success or failure doesn't seem matter any more. The government can claim whatever they like and the leadership of Bersih can also say whatever they want to. At the end of the day, the memorandum didn't reach Yang di-Pertuan Agong but the message sent across was clear and its intensity was impactful. It is a success if this rally can shake up millions of the silent majority, that it is the power of the people that will destine our future, good or bad. Malaysian love peace, but should also be wise enough to voice out their concerns, in an effective way that will effect a possible transformation to their life, and their future generations too.

Malaysian love peace

Nobody knows what is going to happen tomorrow.The Police have slapped restriction orders on 91 key individuals preventing them from entering Kuala Lumpur tomorrow. As the Stadium Merdeka had rejected the request by Bersih to hold its rally there and with the restriction orders, it looks like Bersih have no choice but to opt for a stadium outside KL to hold its rally.

The clock is clicking fast and the Police are putting up roadblocks everywhere including in front of my house at Jalan Labu, Seremban where I can see them checking all vehicles going towards Seremban from Labu since last night. Come to think of it, whether or not the government or the Police being too paranoia on the rally I don’t know but for sure, KL will endure the most critical tension for years since the infamous May-13 should the organizers of Bersih and the counter-rally of Perkasa/Ummo Youth decide to disobey the restriction order and proceed with their rally at Stadium Merdeka.

A few months ago, China was facing the possibility of unrest following the purported rally by some human right activists such as Ai wei-wei but no big issue cropped up as the authority had arrested the key personnel since the eruption of Jasmine revolution in the Northern Africa and Middle East. Although the intensity of Bersih rally may not be as frightening as that of Jasmine revolution, it actual sow a seed of uncertainty and the government is not taking it lightly. Perhaps that’s the reason why even the King has to issue a rare statement hoping to cool down the situation.

As the King has spoken, it is for best interest of the people that both Bersih and the government should avoid silly and unnecessary loggerheads which may lead to untoward bloodshed should emotions running high during the clashes. Let Bersih hold it rally and let them come peacefully, go peacefully and come Sunday 10 July, the city will be in good order again.

Malaysians love peace, only the trouble makers with their ulterior motives want to create chaos for the reasons only known to them.

Beautiful sunrise at Cherating

I never know that mosquito can be so notorious as most of the time this irritating insect is keen on my wife than me. In the night when my wife was complaining on mosquito’s bites, I wasn’t normally disturbed by any. Perhaps her blood is sweeter or rather mine sour. During the course of work when I was visiting the estates and staying in the less than ideal estate rest house or staying in the manager’s bungalow, I seldom facing the disturbance of mosquito.

I only came to know the notoriety of these blood suckers when I was attentively waiting for sunrise at 6.45 a.m at Cherating beach last Wednesday.Having missed so many opportunities to watch a sunrise from the East Coast beach, I rang up the receptionist at the hotel and a nice lady told me that I could expect to see a beautiful sunrise at around 6.45 a.m, and I went to bed early that night to wake up early the following morning. Standing in solitary at the beach exactly at 6.45 a.m, I found that there was no body else as it was a low peak period, no visitors would come at this time. It was still dark then and I was standing there alone, enjoying the serenity of the nice melody churned out by the waves.

15 minutes passed and the sun refused to rise and I can’t remember for that period how many mosquitoes exactly were biting me. And it seemed that those mosquitoes at the beach were even more menacing than those in our living areas. The bites were more painful and the itchiness terrible, simply unbearable. As I was busy chasing away the bloody blood suckers, the first ray of light appeared at about 7.10 a.m and instantly it painted the sky on the East pinkish red, just like the beautiful cheek of a shy little girl, and it was such a scenic view that it soothed the irritation caused by the mosquitoes.

I left the beach at about 7.30 a.m only to find out when I was taking bath that there were 30 over mosquito bites on my legs.

The King has spoken

Most of us are more familiar with the ceremonial speeches given by the King during festival days such as New Year, Hari Raya, Hari Merdeka and so on. But this time around, the Istana Negera had issued a rather unusual statement two days ago and the King made known his view that street demonstration will bring more bad than good and urged those involved in Bersih to resort for more peaceful modes to address theirs grouses.

Bystanders like us are pleased with the intervention of the King as the speech was not siding any party but firm enough to be an intermediary for Bersih and government to meet and discuss and more importantly preventing a street demonstration that could potentially lead to riots. I believe Bersih has a noble motive, as those people behind it like Datuk Ambiga and the national laureate Datuk A Samad Said are well respected people fighting for noble cause but they can’t avoid some politicians with ulterior motives from becoming the batu api.

The King has spoken and his majesty’s wishes were well respected by all, the government especially, and that’s what the commoners want to see.

Yingluck, the new hero

People need hero, no matter when it is, in the past or future, or I should say poor people or less privileged people especially need hero. Because without a help from a hero, their lives will continue to be as miserable as their parents or grand parents and they know only with a drastic change can possibly bring a meaningful transformations to their lives. That’s what happen in Thailand I guess, despite of being a novice in politics and despite being a young lady, the youngest sister of former Prime Minister Thaksin leading her Phuea Thai party to a landslide victory in the just concluded Thai general election.

Out of the sudden, Yingluck becomes the most special one in Thailand and the heroine that can bring hopes to millions and millions of poor Thai people who are suffering all this while. Just like her populist elder brother, Thaksin who won big in election due to strong support from the marginalized poor Thais but was ousted during a military coup in 2006 as he was allegedly involved in many counts of corruption.

It is clear that poor people are supporting Yingluck, simply because of her elder brother Thaksin, even though he can’t even come back to Thailand as a free man since the military coup but despite all the corruption allegations, Thaksin is not lack of support and why is it so? Simple, people like him and hoping that he will lead the people for a better life not only for themselves but for their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. That’s how it works, when people are suffering from poverty or when there are a lot of poor people are suffering even to meet the day-to-day needs, than you have to throw all the political science into the dustbin as it doesn’t work anymore.

It is just like when an ex-mentri besar can afford to purchase a big mansion for a few million ringgit below the market price and at the same time, there are countless people can’t even afford to buy a decent house for their families due to escalating house prices, they will resort to some people which can make up promises to them that they lives will be different if they can topple the present government. Despite of this person was imprisoned before and presently being prosecuted for sodomy and linked to a sex video scandal, he can still win supports of a large pool of people and you will be seriously wrong if you think that all these people are blind as they are not. Why, because the political science doesn’t work when the people are in dire situation for a change.

That’s the reason why despite of the stern warning by the government, the police especially urging people not to participate in the illegal 9-7 Bersih rally and even the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has issued a rare statement to make known his view that street demonstrations will bring more bad than good, there are still people wearing yellow T-shirt in support of Bersih. Let’s not talk about whether or not the rally is politically motivated and let’s not talk about who are the mastermind behind this rally.

The government should indeed find out why are these people supporting Bersih? Are they merely putting up a rally just to create chaos? Or are they supporting this illegal rally simply because they are harboring hopes for a better future?