Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Old Alliance parties share same tactics

OK folks, move on, there is nothing to see here.

Just some bloodletting by the UMNO guys. They culled Ali Rustam to ensure purity of the bloodstocks in the rarefied atmosphere at the 39th floor of Menara Dato' Onn.

It all happened days after they found a charm underneath outgoing president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's desk. That was the thing that kept corruption and all the dirt under the carpet. The cleaning dudes couldn't get at it.

Heck, even the cops can't read it as its sooooo tiny its virtually indecipherable. So, they are leaving it to the Chemistry Department to figure out the Arabic doodles. Mind you, since Malaysia began teaching Science and Mathematics in English, its only the scientific-types who can read any language or symbols.

Or destroy it trying.

But not destroying is the order of the day over in UMNO. They just stopped good ol' Ali from the number two post but think he is good enough to remain Malacca Chief Minister. What you say, double standards of justice?

What do you expect from an incoming prime minister-cum-finance-minister-dash-UMNO chief who has doubled levies on foreign workers so that we can use local workers in our factories, restaurants and toilets and therefore double the rates too.

More money made, more tax gained. That's a stimulus package for you right there. Thank you, Mr Prime Minister for following the prosper-thy-neighbour policy of the former Number One - Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

But it just seems that our neighbours are prospering while we perspire.

OK, out of point here, apologies Mr Speaker. We don't want to be out of Parliament for a year, no sirree no! Move along now, no one got killed here!

Except Ali's career. Here's where UMNO took a leaf from MIC whose el presidente is fighting off the Obama-like-figure of a 68-year-old man seeking to restore his political career and revive the party.

Years ago, MIC took it upon itself to create a glass ceiling that only allowed Tamils to move up the party ladder, subject to approval from he-who-must-be-obeyed-at-all-costs-from-sungei-siput.

So a Malayalee called K. Pathmanaban didn't make it up past the vice-presidency in 1991. Cut to UMNO of 2009 and we see the same thing, a Malay Ali cannot make it past the vice-presidency too.

See the eerie similarity. Not only that, UMNO, like MIC, has followed the MCA in only having a select list to make it to the top, a certain cai tan, so to speak, of leaders qualified and verified for greater success.

If you are not part of the blueblood, forget it.

Don't even try as they will trip you and cut you down to size. Some like Ali, get to keep what they gained but others, like Anwar Ibrahim, lost everything political and spent some time as a government guest.

See, didn't we tell you the old Alliance parties share the same tactics? How utterly predictable they are.

Next week, they will kiss and make up and pledge a brighter future for all. Just like they do every year and every election. Its the same tactic that we all fall for.

That's a good reason to join the Siber Party of Malaysia (M). We don't have any tactics and we have not been in power for 50 years.  

And we don't promise anything except a good time, even if it kills us. Or our careers.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

What in God's name...

The way the law sees it, this post cannot be read in every Malaysian state save Penang, Sabah, Sarawak and the Federal Territories as there is no fatwa or edict there yet on banning the use of the word Allah (tm) in non-Muslim publications.

But this is the Internet and available at all territories bar fixes in a proxy server. Therein lies our dilemma as lawmakers who do not want to break the law, be it a religious law or edict however irrational it is.

So how? How can any government legislate how and what we call our supreme maker, for those who believe that life is not an accident but a design from a much more intelligent sentient being or a collective pantheon of beings or gods who is/are amused by our shennanigans.

Let's not even go there and debate the very nature of the supreme maker, the creator, the destroyer and what-have-you.

What we want to get to is the name of the Heavenly Father, the Lord, the One, the Supreme Being in the national language Bahasa Malaysia. Is it just Tuhan, which can actually be re-arranged to spell Hantu, or can everyone use Allah (tm).

DAP's Tunku Aziz said the government should not legislate pending a court case in the matter. Can any follower of any religion say you cannot call the name of their lord in vain? Is it a matter of your god against my god no matter how irrational that is for monotheistic religions?

Can any race control the words of another race? Can they stop others from saying or printing anything they want in the name of their faith? Is it lawful? Does God care? Do we?

Is God laughing at us? You think?