Discrimination in Government Service

Penang Deputy Chief Minister II, P Ramasamy, made a Ministerial reply in the Penang Assembly that UMNO policies have adversely affected the participation of many Malaysians in government.

P Ramasamy said that “UMNO marginalisation is so severe that non-Malays have become insignificant in public administration”.

Blaming UMNO for engineering the marginalization, he said the UMNO’s monopolisation of power through a divide-and-rule policy, has divided the people and marginalised minorities, especially in the public sector.

He had figures to support him. According to P Ramasamy, 82 percent of the public sector in multicultural Penang is dominated by Malays. The state’s public administration and statutory bodies are 92 percent and 72 percent Malay respectively.
 

Unless the figures are wrong, what is the fuss about a police report against P Ramasamy? The police report by the UMNO leader must be interpreted as an intimidation tactic to stifle his voice.

In any event, P Ramasamy was not questioning the special privileges of the Malays.

There can be no doubt that there is ethnic and gender imbalance in the civil service in this country. That is the reason why the Government has indicated that it will take measures to reduce the imbalance. Whether it will or not is a different matter. For now, at least there is an acknowledgment that something must be done to rectify the ethnic and racial imbalance.

If the Government is fair, it should take measures to rectify racial and gender discrimination in both public and private sectors.

Penang must take the lead, now that the multiracial Penangites have mandated the Pakatan Rakyat with change in governance.

All policies implemented by the Government of the day ought to be fair, bearing in mind that it had been proven by the March 2008 general elections that the people hold the power to change the Government.

The New Economic Policy (NEP), for instance, has been criticized for decades. No one in his right mind would question more equitable distribution of wealth or reduce the disparity between the rich and the poor. However, it is ridiculous that the NEP only spins out the super rich and the super poor, resulting in widening the gap between the rich and the poor. The results of the NEP is that the rich are getting richer; the poor poorer.

Najib made a good point last month, saying that the NEP may have to be reviewed. But in the political system called Malaysia, even the “wisdom” of Najib, despite being the Deputy Prime Minister, means little. He was immediately put under pressure. He did not go very far due to the immediate opposition from within UMNO and the Malays. Hence, he had to tone down.

Today, an SMS from The Star reported Najib as saying that the Government is open to liberalizing its policies but it has to be done at a pace that Malaysia is comfortable with.

This statement is self-serving, redundant and superfluous. What is meant by “at a pace that Malaysia is comfortable with”? If there are dissentients like Mahathir, or voices of dissent from UMNO, would the NEP or any other policy, be reviewed or liberalized?

Maybe the no-nonsense approach is to let the people be the boss of their own destiny. If the Government continues to implement policies which are discriminatory, the people must change the Government. The yearning for change shown in the 308 election cannot be ignored.

Statistics for the Sarawak public service sector are hard to come by though the DAP wakil rakyat had asked for answers. I am sure all will be keen to make comparison with Penang.

I believe that employment at the public service sector must reflect the racial composition of the state.

18/11/2008

Cancer

Cancer is a dreaded disease. It is the No. 1 killer.

A former comrade was diagnosed with cancer. He sought treatment. He was lucky. 5 years had passed, and he did not suffer a relapse. He is now a healthy man. Once, he was addressing a ceramah in Kuching. It was raining heavily outside, so he deemed that people would not have to rush home. Not that he had run out of political issues (we politicians should be able to talk non-stop for 2 or 3 hours). He asked the audience whether he could share his life experience as a cancer survivor. The answer was a resounding “yes”. He spoke for about an hour on how he was diagnosed with the disease, and how he took on the challenge for his dear life, and how he won. These hundreds of diners turned themselves silent listener.

What is cancer? How to fight and win? This is a disease that we must know. Please spare 5 minutes to read about this disease and then forward:
AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY (TRY THE KEY WORD) AND ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHN HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY.
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The World that we live in

I received these photos in my mail, and I cannot resist saying a few words. Count your blessing that you can see these photos. But spare just a second to think for them.
Hungry, starved, tortured, …. But lucky that his hands can still grab and eyes can see the crumbs. So many children are dying every minute:

Together, we can make it. Poverty will be their constant companion:

Great Mums, Do their children see? Or do they still feed the children?

Sigh, that is your problem. I see not! These scenes are not uncommon in our public transport!

Hell of Difference under the sky. One Baby seated for a rub. Another Baby struggles to live another day through the rough hands of his mum:

Blinding Headlights

The NST (2008/11/16) carries a news report that there will be a statewide crackdown on vehicles with blinding headlights.

I welcome that.

So many cars had been fitted with high intensity discharge (HID) headlamps. These headlamps do not have filaments. They use Xenon gas, which emit blindingly blue light.

In the past, I had received a few calls for help. They told me that they were the originals. I don’t know whether to believe.

But I told them to get the garage or the Vendor change the headlight because the HID headlights can cause temporary blindness to those driving from the opposite direction, and that could be a menu for accidents and fatalities.

The State Road Transport Department (RTD) has been magnanimous in having decided to give a warning of 10 days to revert to the original factory-fitted headlamps, failing which the cars will be blacklisted unless they pay an on-the-spot RM300 compound fine.

In the name sake of road safety, I welcome the actions. Of course, there are people who would tell me that there will be corruption. I believe, and I urge all and sundry to abide by the laws.

16/11/2008

BAR not to dabble politics?

The NST (2008/11/16) carries the following report from Bernama:

The Bar Council should opt to dissolve itself if it wanted to dabble in politics, said Malaysian Muslim lawyers Association president Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang. He said now the Council was acting like an opposition party and was even questioning Bumiputera privileges.

He said this at a law forum on bumiputera rights held at Tun Hussein Onn’s Memorial.

What is wrong with Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang?

The Bar Council is a statutory body governing the legal profession. If this body cannot “dabble” politics, Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang means that the Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association can? It is the case of a kettle calling the pot black, isn’t it?

What is wrong with lawyers, gathered in a group like the Bar Council, talking, discussing, comment, exchanging views on the laws or their being abused, or dabbling with politics?

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DUN Diary: Day 7

This is the penultimate day of this session. We boycotted Soon Koh’s winding up speech. We had a big quarrel with Jabu. His politicking in the Dewan has become so obnoxious that it was meaningless to stay and play with him. True to my guess, he was playing to the gallery by accusing the DAP and PKR all sorts of lies. When I realized that we had fallen into his trap as his audience and actors, I led my colleagues to leave the Dewan. Almost instantaneously, the Speaker called for a tea break.
(1)  Rage on House Decision

The newspapers splashed big news about my suspension (for yesterday) and the decision of the House to refer me to the Committee of Privileges.

SMSes and phone calls came in since early morning. All but one condemned the decision. I appreciated that this shows the decision to refer me to the Committee of Privileges did not go down well with the people.

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Amidst the DUN drama today that led to my and Dominique’s suspension for one day, Ting Tze Fui and Violet Yong presented Datuk Sri Wong Soon Koh with a couplet which Ting wrote (for meaning, please refer to Diary Day 6):

But then, like a child angry over something, Soon Koh tore the placard into pieces:

Then, feeling that the couplet by Ting Tze Fui ought to be treasured, Soon Koh had the placard “celotaped” back, and wrote a couplet which he said was for me (for meaning, see DUN Diary Day 6). The 2 girls declined to accept:

DUN Diary: Day 6

Sad Day, but what a shock! Or may be not. I was suspended from the DUN!

Dominique, while attempting to say what ought to be said, was suspended too. We were almost named by the Speaker, meaning, it could be worse than suspension.

(1) Motion to refer me to Committee of Privileges
 
We were at the Dewan early. It was past 9a.m., when we saw the Dewan staff distributing a motion to be moved by Soon Koh. The Ministerial Motion reads:

“Whereas on the 3rd day of November 2008, being the first day of the Second Meeting of the Third Session of this Dewan, the Honourable Member for Bukit Assek, during proceedings of the Committee of the Whole House to consider, inter alia, Command Paper No.5 of 2008 read together with Supplementary Supply (2008) Bill 2008, uttered the following words on three (3) occasions, viz.:-

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DUN Diary: Day 5
A Motion will be moved by Soon Koh to refer me to the Committee of Privileges coming Monday. I was elected to represent my constituents. I was sworn in to serve not only my constituency, Bukit Assek, but also the whole of Sarawak. RM900 million had been proposed in the Supplementary Supply Bill tabled by Soon Koh. I questioned it, and action will be taken against me. God Bless Sarawak.
(1) Question time

Did they say that the Dewan will be less boisterous with Chong suspended until the end of the session? Well, it was a wrong assumption. It looked like the BN folks were so afraid about the Opposition raising supplementary questions that they, the BN members, would exhaust the 2 Supplementary Questions. 12 questions were answered orally due to the number of Supplementary Questions from the members. All other 50 questions lapsed under the Standing Orders.
(2) Rude Shock

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Barack Obama’s speech

Remarks of President-Elect Barack Obama - as prepared for delivery

Election Night

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.

It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of red states and blue states: We are, and always will be, the United States of America.

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