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Monday, June 29, 2009
Rocky's Bru's 'Is It Constitutional, Sir?':Groping In The Dark
Rocky Bru posted an article 'Is It Constitutional, Sir?' regarding scholarship mooted by the Prime Minister to be given based on meritocracy to anyone irrespective of race. Rocky also highlighted a pro-UMNO blogger's concern that what the Prime Minister is trying to do could be unconstitutional and he should have sought the Malay rulers views and consent before making public the issue.
The blogger calling his blog 'The Thirteen Million Plus Ringgit' did not quote the relevant article in the Constitution that spelled that government scholarships can only be given to Malays.
Can't make everybody happy, isn't it ? If he tries to please the non-Malays, the Malays complained and if he tries to keep everything for the Malays, the Chinese and Indians complained.Tough job to be prime minister.
The some extent the blogger is quite right in his assumption but no right enough to make it unconstitutional.
This particular aspect of the Federal Constitution gave the Yang Dipertuan Agong, not all the Malay rulers, the responsibility and power to safeguard the special position of, not only the Malays, but also the natives of Sabah and Sarawak.The said article also covers quotas for public services, permits and licences for bumiputras.
There is no fixed quota or exclusivity expressed in the article. The proportion of scholarship is left at the discretion of the Yang Dipertuan Agong.
The relevant article is Article 153 of the Federal Constitution.The article under 153(8) and (9) also gave protection to others from being unfairly treated by virtue of its provision.
Najib needs only to seek the Agong's consent to proceed with his proposal. The Malays should not worry of losing out as I suspect this could be a parallel scheme which would benefit the Malays too as there would be more scholarships available for smart Malays.
Big Dog, the blogger, if I assumed his name correctly, did not bother to read the relevant article to its full extent or didn't read it at all. His article is here.
Maybe, it's time the Malays give the PM a helping hand instead of crying for help all the times.
Racist-Mania:Who The Fairest Of Them All?
The racial spats continues.They have become even more innovative with salvos of nonce and phrasal words like 'borderline racist' and 'rabid racist' being shot from both sides of the political fence.Maybe, I should also start using another new one, what about 'down-to-earth racist'?
Borderline Racist 1960's Jell-O Ad - The best bloopers are here
It is interesting to know that Mahathir is only a 'borderline racist' and Khairy Jamaluddin is a venomous 'rabid racist', according to Lim Kit Siang.Where does Lim Kit Siang stands in this circle of racist.Some have called him 'Chinese chauvinist', Khairy has given him the soft tag of 'borderline racist', maybe he should be considered for 'down-to-earth racist'.
The proposed unity talk between PAS and UMNO has rattled Pakatan. PAS departure would mean collapse of the coalition. PAS knew the Malays would be departing in droves to UMNO in the next general elections hence their broaching of the unity government. The stumbling block to the unity talk was only Nik Aziz and all for personal reason. The proposal is shelved for the moment but would definitely come back to haunt Pakatan. Hadi and Nasharuddin are like latent volcanoes, withdraw just to give respect to the Tok Guru, but would erupt, sooner or later.
Mirrior mirrior on the wall who the fairest of them all? On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give Lim 8, Khairy 7 and Mahathir a low 3.
Mahathir is not a racist, he is just misunderstood.
Story here and here.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Herd Instinct And Mass Delusion Endangering Malaysia's Political Stability
The opposition Pakatan does not want One Malaysia, they want a fragmented Malaysia.A nation clearly divided between Malays, Chinese and Indians.They don't even consider Sabah and Sarawak as part of the Federation because all the times they are harping only on the interests of these three communities. Sabah and Sarawak, as far as they are concerned, is on the back burners, not a priority. They don't even trust the Sabahans and Sarawakians.The liaison chief of Sabah PKR which used to be Anwar himself is now given to Azmin Ali, his trusted lieutenant. Jeffery Kitingan is just making an ass of himself, Anwar Ibrahim doesn't trust him at all.
They ridicule Najib's I Malaysia concept because they knew if the various races are united under one umbrella like the BN their support would be in trouble. The results of the March 2008 Elections is the anomaly of playing the racial card.Pakatan won the five states and denied the BN of two-thirds majority because majority of Chinese and Indians voted for them.
PKR, the pseudo-Malay party got more votes from non-Malays. Malay votes were divided between PAS and UMNO with majority voted for UMNO.Chinese and Indians voted for PAS not because they love or trust PAS, it just happened to be a vehicle of convenience to add numbers to the convenient union.
When Charles Mackay first wrote his book 'Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds' in 1841 about the danger of herd instinct people did not take him seriously then.Today, over 150 years later crowd behaviour has not changed.In fact it has not changed for almost 300 years since the days of active trades and commerce.
The recent global financial meltdown was the results of herd instinct and hysteria.We make the same mistakes over and over again.Mackay's book also demonstrates what scientists now know: when we act in groups we are often not smart. This is proven in how billionaires are made.These are people who do not follow the crowd, have their own mind, use and believe in their own formula.
Herd instinct can also lead to irrational and dangerous behaviour. The recent massive demonstrations in Iran stemmed from herd instinct might have been the result of falsely fed information for which the crowd has no resources to check the correctness of such information, that fraud was committed to cheat Mousave of his right to the presidency. The crowd instinctively reacted on hearsay because they are supporters of Mousave.
Herd instinct and mass delusions were the same perpetrators that brought the financial collapse of Lehman Brothers, AIG and allowed crooks like Madoff and Stanford to fleece the greed of the unwary crowd.
We live in an economic bubble that can burst with over inflation.The global economic meltdown we are experiencing now was the result of our madness to increase price out of all reason.What rhyme and reason has the price of crude to peak at almost US$150 per barrel when there were no serious shortages of supply.It is just an exercise to make a few countries and businessmen richer and make the rest of the world poorer.The price of other people's greed that the rest of the world have to pay heavily for because they used their herd instinct.
Your investment bankers, your stockbrokers including your friendly local banker who introduces you to all the investment funds that promised the sky and the moon as return, are they any different from the charlatans, fortune tellers and con men who convince you they can reveal the future and make big fortune for you.They are the same.They are like herd of cattle reacting instinctively to the crack of the whip.
Going back to politics.It is the same herd instinct that makes or breaks a government, more often than not, out of mass delusion.
Pakatan leaders are good at selling their drugs of mass delusion and drive the cattle to the manger.
Moon Walk:A Tribute to Michael Jackson
Although, I am not a big fan of Michael Jackson, there is no doubt he was a very talented young man and has contributed immensely to popular music.He has been the aspiration of many of today's successful pop singers.He has bridged the divide of the colour segment of the music industry. He would stay just as popular in life as well as in death.
The good die young they say and Michael Jackson went to meet his creator earlier than expected.His sudden death came as a shock and reverberated throughout the world.
The video below is a tribute to his immense contribution to the world of pop music.
May Allah bless his soul.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Shameless Malaysians,Disgrace To The Nation
Tales from the heart of darkness.These are horror stories of abusive employers mostly in West Malaysia that physically abused their maids bringing shame to the nation.
Treating maids like slaves,using physical force and not paying salaries have become commonplace causing big embarrassment to the country and reflecting the uncivilised and appalling manner of some Malaysian employer.There are just too many cases to make it exception to the rules, it has become the rule. Another new case was reported here. More shameless act here.
Physical abuse from Chinese employers and payment problems from Malay employers. Bad publicity for the country.Things have gone so bad that the Indonesian government have to ban Indonesian maids from going to Malaysia to work.
Singapore government have dealt with the problem more effectively than Malaysia.Severe punishment including long prison sentence for those who physically abused their maids had put a stop to this disgraceful act.
I was shocked when I read about Indonesian maids in West Malaysia were not given weekly day offs and our government not putting its foot down on the matter instead preferring to listen to crap excuses from employers that maids if given day-off would cause social problems.The biggest shock came from an interview some years ago with former Home Minister Radzi Sheikh Ahmad who said Indonesia maids should not be given day-off. Excuse, just too many of them around.Social problem? Idiot!
Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan where life is a bigger rat race and people working much harder than their West Malaysians counterparts, Sundays are compulsory day-off for maids.The practice in West Malaysia is shocking and shameful act of a civilised nation.In Sabah our maids can take off every Sundays.
For that matter Sabahans and Sarawakians appears more humane and civilised, maid abuse is unheard of in the two states.As far back as I can stretch my memory there have not been any case of maid abuse in Sabah or Sarawak reported in the media.
The Malaysian government should stop dragging its feet and address the problems before majority of Malaysians become abominable slave masters.Laws should be passed to protect these poor souls and severely punish the perpetrator.
Read what one moron has to say about giving maid a day-off here.
"It would only lead to more problems as the maids would have more time to cavort with their boyfriends," said former Customs Officers Association (Perbekas) president Datuk Abdul Rahman Manan.
"As it is, employers constantly have to worry if their maids are going to run off with their belongings while they are at work or worse," he said after handing over a memorandum protesting the proposal to the deputy prime minister's special officer Feris Omar.
We just think they should not be left to roam around on their own," he said.
Any right-minded person wouldn't dare make such stupid and outrageous statement.Wonder where this 'orang utan' came from.Utter disgrace.If your maid is not good, sack her, moron! If it is not within your means, you have no right to employ a maid and you have no right to keep her in bondage just because you have paid some rotten employment agency a fee to get her.If the maid steals from you there are laws in this country to take care of that.
Thank goodness this swine fever does not exist where I came from. We treat our maids as human.We even treat our animals as humans.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Watching The Lord of the Rings in Tehran
Watching The Lord of the Rings in Tehran
In normal times, Iranian television usually treats its viewers to one or two Hollywood or European movie nights a week. But these are not normal times, so it's been two or three such movies a day. It's part of the push to keep people at home and off the streets, to keep us busy, to get us out of the regime's hair. The message is "Don't worry, be happy." Channel Two is putting on a Lord of the Rings marathon as part of the government's efforts to restore peace.
Lots of people, adults and kids, are watching in the room with me. On the screen, Gandalf the Grey returns to the Fellowship as Gandalf the White. He casts a blinding white light, his face hidden behind a halo. Someone blurts out, "Imam zaman e?!" (Is it the Imam?!) It is a reference, of course, to the white-bearded Ayatullah Khomeini, who is respectfully called Imam Khomeini. But "Imam" is at the same time a title of the Mahdi, a messianic figure that Muslims believe will come to save true believers from powerful evildoers at the time of the apocalypse. Isn't that our predicament?
I wonder which official picked this film, starting to suspect, even hope, that there is a subversive soul manning the controls at seda va sima, central broadcasting. It is way too easy to find political meaning in the film, to draw comparisons to what is happening in real life. There are themes that seem to allude to Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the candidate President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims to have defeated: the unwanted quest and the risking of life in pursuit of an unanticipated destiny. Could he be Boromir, the imperfect warrior who is heroic at the end, dying to defend humanity? Didn't Mousavi talk about being ready for martyrdom? (See pictures of Neda Agha-Soltan, the Iranian opposition's martyr of choice.)
And listen: there is the sly reference to Ahmadinejad. Iranian films are dubbed very expertly. So listen to the Farsi word they use for hobbit and dwarf: kootoole, little person. Kootoole, of course, was and is the term used in many of the chants out on the street against the diminutive President.
In the eye of the beholder in Tehran, the movie is transformed into an Iranian epic. When Gandalf's white steed strides into the frame, local viewers see Rakhsh, the mythical horse of the Rostam, the great champion of the Shahnameh, the thousand-year-old national epic. "Bah, bah ... Rakhsh! Rakhsham amad!" someone says in awe.
At the moment, the ancient Treebeard bears Pippin through the forest, and the hobbit asks, "And whose side are you on?" Those of us watching already know the answer: Mousavi! Treebeard is decked in green, after all.
That's as much as we can see of an opposition viewpoint on TV. The news has a droning sameness, the official message being "politics is a nasty business, but now it's over." At least nothing is really being hidden anymore. Except for that first night, Saturday the 20th of June, the broadcasts have not shied away from the violence. But they've found a way to turn it inside out, make it about the protesters and not what has happened. When they want to make a point, they lay it on, 10 minutes, sometimes close to 15. As a friend says, "This is not news. It's interpretation." (Read about the opposition's options in Iran.)
TV reporters interview regular folk on the streets and in the parks for very much the same sound bites. Khastekonande, says one person, describing the protests as "getting old." Says another: "I'm a businessman. For my business to succeed, I need for there to be calm." "We just wanna make some bread, take care of our lives and our business." "The ones who are rioting aren't of the people. I don't think that they're part of the people." "It's been several days that I haven't been able to bring my son and daughter to the park because of the violence." And so on. (See pictures of the turbulent aftermath of Iran's presidential election.)
And so we're glued to the trilogy. We are riveted. A child in the room loudly predicts that Lord of the Rings will put an end to the nightly shouts, that people will not take to the rooftops and windows because this film will keep them occupied. Besides, there is a worrisome rumor going around that the Basij are marking the doorways of those households that continue to call out "Allah Akbar!" at night, a reverse Passover.
The child goes on to report that the kids on his school "service" (the long Toyota vans that act as school buses for Tehran's students) have been chanting, "Pas rai e ma koojast?! Pas rai e ma koojast?!" (Then where is our vote?! Then where is our vote?!) I ask what the driver is doing while all this goes on and the kid tells me that the driver honks along. Honk honk-honk-honk! Pas rai e ma koojast?! Honk honk-honk-honk!
But the child is wrong about the evening shouts. Suddenly they begin, as a low roll from the park. Then they quickly build upward. "Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!" No way. We rush to the window. They have continued night after night, beginning at 10 and continuing for 30 minutes. Each time I've lost faith, I've been wrong. Iranians are proving to be a sturdier lot than I have given them credit for, much mightier even than the formidable kootoole who stand in their way.Read more..
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Unity Talk, Not Over Yet:Cracks in Malaysia's Opposition Coalition
The unity talk between PAS and UMNO will be kept in abeyance for now.It is not over yet.It will come back.UMNO still have a comfortable four years to try break up the makeshift coalition.
Among the three, PAS is the most uncomfortable partner and had sudden realization that if Pakatan should win the next general election, PAS would be a junior partner and the diminution of Malay political power.The splitting of the Malay votes between PAS and UMNO would assure that.
UMNO with greater Malay support would be out in the cold and PAS playing second or third fiddle in the coalition. A grim picture that Hadi and Nasharuddin visualised hence the proposal for a unity government.
The most severe test will come, if they do last that long, in the distribution of seats among the three for the next general elections.Anwar Ibrahim will insist on majority of seats to be given to PKR to make it the most senior partner and assure him the prime minister position.PAS would want the same majority of seats that would fulfill their dream of a path to eventually making the nation more Islamic in outlook.DAP would become the biggest winner taking almost all non-Malay seats in Peninsula Malaysia wiping out MCA and Gerakan.
There is no Bangsa Malaysia, a Pakatan sale gimmick.The people would still vote on racial line and a new government that will be an exact replica of the current one but led by a non-Malay dominant party.
The air of distrust among members of the coalition will re-surface and fulfill UMNO's dream.
Cracks in Malaysia's Opposition Coalition
Despite continuing to win by-elections, organizational difficulties abound.
|Written by Our Correspondent
|Monday, 22 June 2009
Asia Sentinel
The forces that have held Malaysia's unwieldy Pakatan Rakyat coalition together for the last 15 months appear to be fraying, with the opposition coalition foundering on the ethnic and philosophical differences between the constituent parties.
The coalition is made up of the urban largely ethnic Malay Parti Keadilan Rakyat, the rural fundamentalist Islamic Parti Islam se-Malaysia and the mostly Chinese Democratic Action Party. About all that has held the three together was a desire to oust the ruling Barisan Nasional from its 50-year hold on power.
"There are inherent differences not only within the coalition itself but most of all within Parti Keadilan," says one source. "Keadilan itself is made up of three disparate groups — ex-UMNO types, ex-Abim (Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement, from which Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim sprang before he joined the United Malays National Organisation in the 1980s) and various non-government organizations.
"This underscores a major failing," the source says. "Anwar is a great orator, a guy capable of inspiring people, but a poor organizer. He hasn't been doing a good job in holding together Keadilan, let alone Pakatan Rakyat. Not surprisingly, because Anwar isn't working on minimizing the inherent differences, there is a palpable sense of drift in both Keadilan and Pakatan Rakyat."
Given these problems new Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has moved aggressively to try to woo back enough opposition members to reclaim some of the five states lost to the Pakatan Rakyat in the March 2008 national elections. The same election cost the ruling coalition its two-thirds majority in the parliament.
There have been continuing indications that the coalition was troubled. But the biggest one appeared two weeks ago when Hadi Awang and Nasharuddin Mat Isa, the president and deputy president of PAS, respectively, after the party's annual general meeting openly mused about a unity coalition with UMNO. Then, last week, PAS's spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, agreed in principle with the idea of unity talks, as long as they centered on Islamic issues. Ultimately, after a meeting on Monday, the Pakatan coalition agreed to stay together and for PAS to reject any contacts with UMNO. PAS leaders called UMNO un-Islamic. But that doesn't mean the strains won't continue.
Ever since the 2008 elections, the country's politics have been fracturing. The once almost monolithic Malay vote, which UMNO could count on without any concerns, has eroded badly, with UMNO now taking hardly more than half, as ethnic Malays, disillusioned with corruption, have fled to the urban PKR as well as in large numbers to PAS despite its fundamentalist Islamic roots and traditionally rural northeastern base.
That has created tensions within PAS itself, as the so-called Terengganu faction of rural fundamentalists have seen their power eroded by the more moderate urban Malay rank and file. It appears to be those tensions that have driven Hadi and Nashruddin into thinking of a coalition with UMNO to preserve Malay power.
For Pakatan, the defection of PAS could be an enormous problem, although leaders are trying to put a good spin on a bad situation.
"I think a split is possible though it would be quite a dramatic solution," says a top Pakatan source. "Personally I think this isn't a bad idea because I think those who split will be deeply punished in an election. I think if there was a constituency that was being contested by PAS linked to UMNO vs. Pakatan, the people would vote for Pakatan. I think if there was a constituency within PAS aligned to Pakatan versus UMNO and the Barisan, people would stick with the Pakatan faction. A small group of Pakatan and PAS leaders discussed this last week, and we felt that in the current climate, if PAS did do a deal with UMNO they would not come out of that unscathed."
The fissures, thoguh, are real. Ethnic Malays in opposition find themselves growing irritated with the Democratic Action Party, which has been moving aggressively to assert Chinese prerogatives. In addition, Anwar has from the start called for the abolition of Malay privilege under the New Economic Policy, an affirmative action program guaranteeing ethnic Malays a wide range of educational and other benefits.
There is also an element in PAS, a source says, which is extremely concerned about the issue of Malay rights. Others, particularly the Terengganu faction, believe they could be bigger players in a PAS-UMNO government than in one led by Anwar, especially given Anwar's advocacy of greater rights for non-Muslims and more personal, political and religious freedom.Read more....
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
The PM Must Cast His Net Wider
Although, I think the Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has the prerogative to appoint whom he is comfortable with to the Petronas Board, his choice of candidate may not be suitable this time.
Omar Mustapha may be smart in his own right but for someone who had reneged on his contractual obligations with the company before it is quite right that Petronas Board resisted his appointment.The PM should have checked this fact before he even contemplates this move.It is also a good sign that independence and good governance prevail in the company and the PM should not push his agenda to upset the management of Petronas which until today were free of any scandal.Even Abdullah during his time did not upset the status quo in Petronas probably due to the presence of Tun Mahathir there.
The job is better off given to reputable retired top civil servant, technocrats and top-notch executive from the private sector.
Najib should cast his net wider to fish for the right person based more on qualifications,trust and confidence rather than personal relation.
Who Has Brain Tumor, Musa Or Ronnie Klessen? Check It Out.
On Saturday 20 June 2009 a new blogger by the name of Ronnie Klessen wrote an article titled 'Musa inflicted with brain tumor?' Malaysia Today carried the story here. He claimed that Musa was on his way to the US seeking medical treatment and wrote:
"Coincidentally, Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre (pic) has both neurosurgery facilities and expertise. We reliably learnt that Musa is expected to leave for the United States of America (USA) for neurosurgery, at the Cleveland Clinic Brain Tumour and Neuro-Oncology Centre in Cleveland, Ohio. He's currently awaiting air space clearance from the Department of Civil Aviation of Japan and USA to fly over their air space, as well as for the landing rights. This is an international pre-requisite condition when passengers travel by their very own private jet".
The following day Sunday 21 June Musa was seen in Membakut, Sabah launching a new padi scheme on 200 hectares of idle land. The story here.
So! who has brain tumor, Musa or Ronnie Klessen?
I was told Ronnie is a PKR member.
Regurgitation without checking the fact and truth of the matter can only bring embarrassment to oneself.
Or was it dirty business as usual for those in the opposition?
Monday, June 22, 2009
Petronas: If It Ain't Broken, Don't Fix It
Rumours abound that there will be changes at the top management of Petronas.Tun Dr Mahathir, adviser to Petronas when asked said he has heard so but have no idea who the person is that supposedly will replace Hassan Merican as chairman of Petronas.
News from the grapevine says Syed Hamid Albar is one such possible candidate.Is there a need to make changes when the present man had proven his capabilities and Petronas is probably the best run GLC in the whole country, free of scandal, and for a company coming from a third world is highly respected internationally.
In 2007 Financial Times identified Petronas as one of the 'new seven sisters'.These are accreditation given to the most influential and mainly state-owned national oil and gas companies from countries outside the OECD.Petronas is also on the Fortune 500 list of companies.
There is nothing wrong with Petronas.Nothing is broken.Putting a full-time politician at the top would be inviting disaster.There would be many creepy crawlies waiting at his door to enchant him and tempt him.
Before you do anything silly just think of Pertamina.
How politicians and businessmen run the company into the ground with mounting debts they were unable to pay. At each stage of the transaction chain somebody was getting a cut.The Indonesian government have to bail out the company. The bail-out doubled Indonesia's foreign debt overnight.The culprit Ibnu Sutowo, probably the most corrupted man on the face of this earth at that time was never punished and his family is now one of the richest in Indonesia.
If it ain't broken, don't fix it.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Will PAS Snuggles Up To UMNO's duvet ?
Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad is opposed to the third bridge linking Johor and Singapore and unity talk between UMNO and PAS.
He has, in no uncertain term, made his feeling known that a unity government comprising only Malays is not good for the nation and he should be lauded for it.
However, looking at the position that UMNO is in now, and the lame and ineffectual MCA, MIC and Gerakan, do they have a choice?
Majority of Chinese and Indians voted for Pakatan's candidates in the 12th General Elections and needless to say the support from these two communities have faltered even further and the outcome of the 13th General Elections would be a forgone conclusion that Gerakan, MCA and MIC would be as dead as the dodo.These three parties are goners if they don't shape up now.
Instead of going out to the field to woo back their supporters the three beleaguered components of the BN are mired with infighting and leadership tussles.The excessive desire for their over-staying leaders to hang on to power, no matter what the consequence, is most appalling.
People like MIC President Samy Velu has been there longest, longer than the longest serving prime minister but still refuses to let go despite having been rejected by the people.His continued presence as President of MIC actually kills the party chance of recovering from its massive loss of support and shocking defeat.
The Indian community have rejected him and deserted the party in droves. What left of the party are losers and political stragglers hoping for miracles. In fact, the BN should have pronounced MIC and Gerakan dead.What's the point of flogging two dead horses when you know you can't depend on them to win the race.Between the two there are only 5 parliamentary seats at stake, MIC 3 and Gerakan 2.
MCA is also mired in leadership crisis and some of its leaders were implicated in the PKFZ(Port Klang Free Zone) scandal.The leaders in MCA should consider merging with Gerakan to form a bigger Chinese party if they want to take on DAP at the next general elections.It will be tough going for MCA to lure back the Chinese but miracles can and do happen sometimes.At the moment MCA has 15 parliamentary seats against DAP 28.
I agree with Mahathir that a Malay unity government is not good for the nation but politics has no hard and fast rules, it's about survival.The end justify the means.Its a case of Hobson's choice, you have many options but there is only one that can guarantee your survival.
Najib is in a dillema, his first priority is how to win the next elections.To stick to the present formula where the other partners are on their death throes or take a gamble on a new formula?
Can the Malays achieve political homogeneity ? It's a scary idea but not beyond comprehension. If you go by population and demarcation of the electoral boundaries, it is not impossible for Malays to have homogeneous political power.There are about 136-140 predominantly Malay seats throughout the nation and with some marginal seats the number could increase even more.
The non-Malay seats in the March 2008 Election are shown below:
Peninsula Malaysia
Gerakan 3
PKR(non-Malay) 11
Total 59
(non-Malays) 11
(non-Malays) 16
Total 86
UMNO biggest problem is in Peninsula Malaysia where the Malays are divided between PAS and UMNO with majority still in favour of UMNO.
If Sabah and Sarawak delivered the same performance as they did in March 2008 and the Malays are re-united in Peninsula than the Malays can even have two-third majority.
Although, I personally do not subscribe to such an idea and believe political power should be shared among the races, I wouldn't remotely rule out the possibility of it happening if PAS decide to abandon Pakatan Rakyat.
If PAS stays with Pakatan until the next general elections and insisted on contesting majority of Malay seats there is a likelihood it would become the dominant partner in Pakatan easing out PKR and Anwar Ibrahim chance at the premiership.
Being the leading partner PAS will take the prime spot and play the same role as UMNO now.PKR only has 20 Malays MP seats at present and 11 non-Malay seats and due to it multi-racial nature the Malays are not likely to give it more seats than PAS.
Will PAS snuggles up to UMNO's duvet?
Much depend on PAS.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Singapore's Mr Sandman
For a small dot on the world map it has become a tough nut to crack, a pain in the arse and invariably suffering from serious overdose of the kiasu syndrome.
As they say success breeds arrogance and Singapore is not short of it, the sense of feeling being above everyone else and the lore of the animal kingdom, survival of the fittest.
It's small, vulnerable and surrounded by neighbours made not so friendly by its own schemes and devices.Its survival depended on one thing and one thing only, money and plenty of it.Without money it would have been dead meat long time ago and Lee Kuan Yew knew and had the foresight the day Singapore was kicked out of Malaysia that the road ahead is bumpy and full of potholes and pitfalls and the only way for Singapore to survive, it must have a lot of money, richer and better than its neighbours.It must ruthlessly guard its survival even at the expense of offending its neighbours.It has also built the best air-force in the region, just in case.
Lee Kuan Yew or should I say Mr Sandman must have on hindsight regretted his tiff with Mahathir which eventually made life a wee bit difficult for Singapore.
In 1997 Malaysia banned the supply of sand from Malaysia's seabed, the nearest and cheapest source of supply for land hungry Singapore. The other big sore point in the relationship with Singapore is water.Malaysian leaders especially ex- premier Mahathir is angry how Singapore bamboozled Malaysia into accepting dirt cheap price for its water for the next half a century.
Sand had become a precious commodity for the rich and land-hungry nation and costing an arm and a leg to bring to Singapore from places as far away as Vietnam and else where in the region.
In 2007, Indonesia unhappy with Singapore refusal to extradite corrupt businessmen who stole hundred of million of dollars from several banks in Indonesia took refuge in Singapore, decided to retaliate by banning the export of sand to Singapore.Most of the stolen money are parked in Singapore banks.
Indonesia also unofficially banned the supply of granite, another essential item in the construction industry.The Indonesian navy patrolled the waters bordering Singapore and detained all barges that carry granite and sand. Immediately after the Indonesian ban the price of sand and granite rose three folds for supply released from government stockpile.Price of sand per ton rose to S$60 from its pre-ban price of S$20 and granite to S$70 from previous price of S$25.
Many questions were left unanswered in his recent trip to Malaysia.It is becoming much clearer now that he has no love lost with Malaysia and has other motives.For Lee Kuan Yew it's business as usual.His trip was under the pretext of trying to patch up old wound with the new leadership. His old foe is out of the picture.A new and younger leadership is at the helm and it would be worthwhile to test the water with what he possibly perceived a new generation of young and inexperience leaders.
Prime Minister Najib would have to tread water carefully on this issue if he wants to avoid the wrath of Mahathir and the possibility of him ending up like Abdullah.Ex-premier Mahathir is watching his every step whether he would fall into Mr Sandman's faint praises of him and his wife and agree on a trade-off. Mahathir's razor sharp tongue could cut him down to pieces if he makes concessions with Singapore.
The Sultan of Johor has expressed objection to the proposed bridge and the people of Johor have said 'no' to the selling of sand to Singapore. For fear of a backlash Najib would probably not accede to Singapore's demands.
Sand and granite are key ingredients in concrete.Without these two items the construction industry in Singapore could come to a grinding halt and its economy in tatters.
Singapore has grown from only 581.5 sq km in 1960 to at least 650 sq km today.According to the government it is expected to grow by another 100 sq. km by 2030.Therefore, Singapore needs a lot of sand not only for construction but also to increase its land area.
Lee Kuan Yew has become Mr Sandman and trying to be Mr Nice, a little too late.
Maybe, he should try China, lease some of the Spartlays islands and turn it into Singapore's annex for sand mining or built another Singapore in the South China Sea and repatriate some of its population to the island.
Read also:
No Country for Old Men.
Mister Sandman, Bring Me Some Sand.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
The Unforgiven
What do Nik Aziz, Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh have in common?
Karpal and Lim have been incarcerated under the ISA during Mahathir's time.The same goes with Nik Aziz's son, who was also detained under the ISA for his involvement in militant movement to overthrow the government. They only have one thing in common that is to see and ensure UMNO is dead and buried.
They hated UMNO with a vengeance and perceived they have neared the time to finally sink the nail to seal the coffin and bury UMNO once and for all. Can't really blame them.They are not Ghandi or Nelson Mandela.It's personal not politics. All three of them have not forgiven UMNO.
Nik Aziz is still sore with UMNO and are prepared to allow the breakup of PAS, if it had to. Asking Nasharuddin who was recently elected by a landslide victory to get out of PAS and join UMNO is certainly not a reasonable and forgiving attitude expected of an ulamak.
If anything to go by, Nik Aziz is behaving like a tyrant, a dictator, undemocratic and unconcerned with the wishes of the majority of his party. The right thing for Nik Aziz to do is if majority of PAS members insisted on a unity government with UMNO, which is against his principle, is for him to resign from PAS and, maybe, join PKR or DAP. So far he has been the only leader in PAS with the loudest condemnation.
Karpal Singh asking for confirmation of Najib racist outburst and utterance of "soak the keris in Chinese blood" in 1987 was a cheap shot, most unnecessary and serve no purpose other than trying to drive a bigger wedge between Najib and the Chinese community.
"I wanted to know if he said it, and he gave his answer, let's just leave it as it is, the matter should not go on further," said Karpal, the shit stirrer.
Talk about racism, it takes a racist to identify another racist, it more like the pot calling the kettle black.Racism exists in every community and in everyone of us to a certain degree, but as long as it doesn't bother us emotionally it should stay harmless.
I will not waste time talking much of Lim Kit Siang. Most people would already know what kind of racist he is.He is the typical chips on the shoulder chauvinistic 'kui', that most Chinese in term of endearment call all other races. malaikui, kelingkui, and if your are a white man in Hong Kong you would be a 'gwai loh'.
There are actually very little racism among the common people, at least not in Sabah, we are comfortable with each other and name calling or being called a 'kui' among close friends are not taken as an insult.Unfortunately, it is always the politicians that keep reminding us and are the real troublemakers, bringing up racial issues every now and then to suit their political agenda.
When I first started blogging I ponder for quite a while what name should I give my blog.Since I love the sea very much and found that 'kui' if used in the right context is not at all that bad, I decided to call my blog 'Hoi Gwai' or Hantu Laut in Malay but in English I would prefer it as 'Spirit Of The Sea' as in St Elmo's Fire which I have seen twice at sea at night, a phenomenon those not in the know would think as some kind of UFO or a supernatural force, a hantu of some kind.
The real hantus in this country are the politicians not the people.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Did Mousavi Win? Ahmadinejad is who Iranians want.Get Over It.
The massive demonstration in Iran looks like a revolution in the making.The loser Mir Hossein Mousavi and his supporters alleged massive cheating and rigging of the ballot by Ahmedinejad's government, reminiscing of the March 2008 Malaysian General Elections where Pakatan Rakyat accused the BN (Barisan National) of using phantom voters to cheat in the electoral vote.
The results of the Malaysian elections showed that the allegations were untrue and fabricated, BN lost control of 5 states and lost its two-thirds majority in the federal parliament.It's a case of bad losers not accepting the verdict of the people.The Perak crisis is another example of the short-circuitry of the Pakatan's brain.
What's happening in Iran now is a bad and dangerous example of false sense of victory that can lead to serious civil violence.I would have much preferred Mousavi to win because of his education and his more liberal background but, unfortunately, that is not what the Irianian people want.
Mousavi was over-exalted by the massive crowd of mostly students and youths every where he and his wife goes.They even called him and his wife the Obamas of Iran and had high expectations that he would win.
Polls conducted by a Western organisation between May 11 to 20 shows that Ahmedinejad has a 20 point lead. Ahmedinejad was also perceived to have won the televised debate where Mousavi's performance was rated poorly.
This time the Western media has been fair to Ahmedinejad.
Ahmadinejad is who Iranians want
- Ken Ballen and Patrick Doherty
- guardian.co.uk, Monday 15 June 2009 20.00 BST
Ahmadinejad Won. Get Over It
with Hillary Mann Leverett
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Among Equals: Mahathir Versus Lee Kuan Yew
I have always admired Lee Kuan Yew for what he did for Singapore and his zero tolerance against corruptions making Singapore one of the least corrupted nations in the world.Much of what Singapore is today have been the results of the foundation set by him.
His recent seemingly friendly tour of this country is much more than meets the eye.His visit is not walking down memory lane as the press made it out to be.As I have mentioned earlier in my article 'The Puzzling Visit of The Malaysian Malaysia Man', Lee has a mission, a fact finding tour of Malaysia's neo-political gambit, the resurrection of democracy and too much of it what he fears could be the beginning of the making of a true Islamic nation right on his doorstep.
Lee is a man who do not fully subscribe to Western-type democracy, which he has seen and experienced during his time fighting the communist menace, the harm it can do to a nation and its people, unprepared for absolute freedom. That's why Singapore has the same type of draconian laws as Malaysia but has not used it indiscriminately.Lee prefers to use the court to end his opponents political career.The end justify the means.The end results the same.It kills any opposition.
Why did Lee meet all those dignitaries and even more puzzling why did the Malaysian government allowed him such convenience when he is actually on an official visit to this country? One must not forget that Lee is still a member of the Singapore cabinet.
The only man who could read Lee's intention, is his match.... Mahathir Mohammad.He minced no word when he called Lee Kuan Yew 'little Emperor of a tiny Middle Kingdom'. Yes, this little emperor has come to reclaim Malaysia as its hinterland, which ex-Premier Abdullah has conveniently made available on the platter to Singapore.
Mahathir has a patchy relation with Lee during his twenty two years as prime minister.Both men don't see eye to eye.Both are authoritarian and want the best for their country.Lee was aghast with Malaysia's accelerated development under Mahathir, which do not augers well with Singapore status as the top service and financial centre in the region. The thought of losing Malaysia and Indonesia as its hinterland is frightening to Lee Kuan Yew at that time.
Mahathir believes in and prefers prosper thy neighbour policy. Lee, on the other hand, prefers underdeveloped and inefficient neighbours. Good for Singapore's business.
I remember when I was doing timber export in the seventies and eighties when Malaysian ports were still small, inefficient and not cost effective, we have to truck our timber from as far as Pahang and Kelantan to Singapore for shipments.Even with the trucking costs it worked out to be cheaper than sending to Pork Klang where frequency of ships calling the port was erratic and unreliable.Through Singapore port you can ship small volume at any time.For bulk cargo we usually charter the ship to the nearest port, Kuantan, Pasir Gudang or Port Klang.
With Mahathir things begin to change, he spared no effort to build better and world class infrastructures for the country.New ports,new airport,world class highways and other development that elevate Malaysia status to a developing nation.Now, Malaysia has many ports with good infrastructure.
Singapore, was in a way lucky because it already has the basic infrastructures of an entrepot left by the British and was the only well-managed and well equipped port east of the Suez, after the collapse of the port of Aden, which used to be the biggest bunkering port in the world when it was under British rule.
Take a look at some of the personalities whom Lee paid courtesy calls.Sultan of Perak, Lim Guan Eng of Pinang, Nik Aziz of Kelantan and the most perplexing of all Rosmah, the Prime Minister's wife.
The Sultan of Perak is embroiled in the Perak crisis, Lim is chief minister of opposition controlled state and Nik Aziz is spiritual leader of PAS whom I think he has no liking for.He came to pick their brains.
Lee is making a personal appraisal of the political situation in the country and trying to gauge whether Najib and the BN can hold the fort in the next general elections.I believe Lee has no personal liking for Anwar Ibrahim either, not if going by Anwar's culture of defiance and his reformasi movement of protests, demonstrations and civil disobedience.Lee Kuan Yew has no stomach for this kind of politics.
As I have said the most incredible was the meeting with Rosmah whom he said is working as a team with the husband.Where in heaven's name he gets the idea that Rosmah is working as a team with Najib? Who is the prime minister? She can provide moral support to her husband but has no business getting involve in matters of government. Lee has some kind words for her. Sincere or not, only he knows.Was the meeting to check out as to what kind of a woman Rosmah is? Lee is impressed with her charm and says both her and Najib are warm, positive and forthcoming.
Lee must be a grudging old man and is still sore. The least he could do is to pay a courtesy call on his old foe and let bygones be bygones.Mahathir, rightfully, must have been slighted by Lee's lack of statesmanship.
Monday, June 15, 2009
The Economy, Mat Rempit And Boot Camp
The government stimulus package announced earlier seems not to have kicked in making it appears that it has not been implemented as vigorously as promised.In my article here I predicted export would decline by 20 to 30 percent in the first quarter of this year.
That' what I wrote in one of my posts in May 2009.Now, read this where Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak admitted only RM2.6 billion out of the RM17 billion has been spent.
If the price of crude oil continue to rise beyond USD80 a barrel than the global economy may be in serious danger of not recovering as quickly as we wanted it to. If it doesn't recover within this year than Malaysia may be in for a longer and rougher ride.Exports will plummet to an alarming level.
The government need to liberalize more sectors of the economy for private and foreign participation. It also needs to encourage the growth of more high-tech industry and less labour intensive ones.
By now we should have done away with our image as 'sweatshop' for foreign investments and should seriously consider introducing minimum wage and better working conditions for those in the lower income bracket without which Malaysians would continue to shy away from these jobs and total reliance on foreign labour would continue to prevail.
I believe almost all Mat Rempits are Malay boys. Maybe, the government should seriously consider a special correctional boot camp for these troublemakers.They can't go home until the course is completed and must not have any contacts with parents, family or friends.The boot camp must be based on shock incarceration grounded on military techniques.
Sometimes, you have to be cruel to be kind.Unless, the government takes action now the menace and lawlessness of these youths would go beyond control.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Is Malaysia A Failed State? Stupid!
To divert attention away from the internal problems of Pakatan, the leaders in Pakatan, whether it makes sense or not, must constantly and persistently attack Najib.Even if they sound stupid, it doesn't matter, because most of their supporters are easily misguided and would believe even if it is a load of crap.
Lim Kit Siang may be a veteran politician but either he is stupid, ignorant or think majority of Malaysians are stupid when he lambasted Najib and branded him as utter failure as PM and says the evidence of Malaysia becoming a failed state is everywhere.
This decrepit old bugger just simply shoot his mouth not knowing what construes a failed state or signs of a nation going that way.Malaysia is no where near to becoming a failed state, nor are there any signs that we are moving in that direction.Even some of Noam Chomsky's theory of failed states in his book 'Failed States' is not all acceptable definition of a failed state.It's merely his opinion.
What is a failed state?
A failed state is perceived as having failed at some of the basic conditions and responsibilities of a sovereign government. To be more precise it must have the following attributes.
- loss of physical control of its territory, or of the monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force within its borders.
- erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions,
- an inability to provide reasonable public services,
- an inability to interact with other states as a full member of the international community, and
- weak central government, ineffective control over its territories, widespread corruption, widespread lawlessness and sharp economic decline.
Top of the list of failed states are Somalia, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Chad and Iraq.Even Pakistan is not yet considered a failed state but is showing strong sign of becoming one if the central government continue to be weak and could not handle the Taliban offensive.
The strongest sign that Malaysia could possibly become a failed state is if the leaders in Pakatan continue with their disinformation, raising of racial and religious issues and spreading of incendiary lies making the general public restive and creating potential development for civil disorder and violence.
Najib has only been in office for less than 100 days, it sounds terribly stupid of Lim to expect a wonder cure in such a short span of time.
Friday, June 12, 2009
A Federal Disease ?
It's unbelievable, it's so prevalent, it's almost like a disease, an epidemic of sort.
Over the past few years there had been a spate of defective buildings, sub-standard construction works and exorbitant costs overrun of many federal-funded projects.
Less than two weeks ago the roof of a stadium in Trengganu collapsed which fortunately didn't happen at a time when the stadium is hosting an event or there would have been many fatalities.
Today, it was reported that the three-year old Federal Administration Complex in KotaKinabalu sprung a leak from burst water pipe that damage computers, files and other equipment on the seven floor of the MACC (Malaysia Anti Corruption Commission) office.Less than a year ago cracks were found in most of the walls in all three blocks with big chunk of tiles falling to the ground.
The biggest bungle and probably a huge rip-off is the PKFZ (Port Klang Free Zone) project with cost overrun running to a mind-boggling amount of over RM12 billion.Even if you made the most stupid mistake it's not likely to be that stupendously expensive.Looking at the rogues gallery it appears to be one big MCA family involved in the project.
These are taxpayers money which rightly should be spent to benefit the people.
Najib needs to put his house in order if he wants to win the next general elections.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Hitler's Worst Mistake,He Didn't Gas The Jews - A Jew Hater and Holocaust Denier
Racism of the worst kind rears its ugly head again and it's in the great nation of America where the worst kind of racists can be found.The unadulterated blood of the Aryan still flows in the veins of the crusaders of the 'ketuanan orang puteh' (white supremacy) that make them the most dangerous and lethal.
There is so much hate in him at age 88 his toxic hatred for the Jews and coloured people finally snapped.A Holocaust denier and so much consumed by hatred he fills his Web site with vile tirades.
Below is one of his handiworks.
HITLER'S WORST MISTAKE: By JAMES VON BRUNN
jew-gas.jpg" src="http://www.arsenalofhypocrisy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/jew-gas.jpg">
Photo by isurvived.org
Because there is no real photographic evidence of "Nazi Gas Chambers" I had to use a painting of the imagination of some paranoid Schizoid.
Remember, the Federal Reserve Act (1913) gave JEWS control of America's MONEY. Followed by control of America's main sources of information .
Early on, during the war-torn 20th Century, the only broadcast networks : ABC, CBS, and NBC — were JEW owned. Today, JEWS control ALL important sources of information (The major networks, Newspapers, Magazines, Book-publishing, Tin-Pan Alley, Music & Recording Industry, Hollywood, Encyclopedia Britannica, Public schools and Universities, the Catholic Church, etc.).
Bit by bit Liberalism ascended. Bit by bit the Constitution was re-interpreted. Bit by bit government institutions and Congressmen fell into JEW hands — then U.S. diplomacy, businesses, resources and manpower came under JEW control.
Whitemen sat on their collective asses and did NOTHING - NOTHING BUT TALK. Never before in World history has a Nation so completely been conquered with absolutely NO physical resistance.
Whites LOVE their Enemies.
Today, on the World stage, Whitemen are LAUGHED AT, their women bred by stronger men.
And America ?
America is a Third-World racial garbage-dump — stupid, ignorant, dead-broke, and terminal.
Prepare to die, Whitey.
James Von Brunn, 88 years old is a white supremacist and a Jew hater.He stormed the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C shot and killed a security guard before being brought down by other securityt guards.
Von Brunn has a long history of racism against Jews and coloured people and question Obama credentials complaining that Obama's birth certificate and other documents have not been made public.
He is also an accomplished artist.Below is one of his paintings.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Mindless Supporters:The Zombies
They have gone completely gaga, not knowing between what's right and what's wrong. Victims of their own skewed intelligence. Stupid herd instinct and mindless creatures so easily driven into doing what mindful and sensible people wouldn't do.
There is certainly nothing wrong with wearing black, sitting in a coffee shop and sipping black coffee with a few of your mates.It happens everywhere all over the world all the times.These are ordinary people doing ordinary things.
It's entirely different if 50 or 100 of you all dressed in black and took over a coffee shop and have a sit in for hours without considering the owner's loss of business and the possibility of the owner being charge with harbouring illegal assembly.
"Police were coming down hard on us and so we used this unique way to protest and tell people to demand an election in Perak," says the moronic and self-proclaimed academic and protest leader."We managed to send the message across." he said with tongue in cheek.
You want to do, go ahead, do it on your own premises or on any of your friends who got their head just as screwed up as yours.You have no right to come to other people's place and conduct your illegal activities on their premises.
It's right that the manager of the cafe kicked you bunch of idiots out before he gets into trouble with the law.
You need school of hard knocks not that third rate university.
Academic! my foot!
From Third World to First - Tribute To Lee Kuan Yew
From Third World to First
The Singapore Story: 1965-2000Highly recommended for those who wanted to learn the history of Singapore, the trails and tribulations, the success story and the man who passionately turned this tiny island nation from a third world hovel into first world metropolis that can rival the best of the developed world. Not only it is squeaky clean, it is also one of few very functional cities in the world.
This is the second volume of his memoirs.
I bought both books when it was first published and have ever since used it as a kind of reference book on anything about Lee Kuan Yew and Singapore. The indexes are useful guide if you need to go to specific reference.
Few gave tiny Singapore much chance of survival when it was granted independence in 1965. How is it, then, that today the former British colonial trading post is a thriving Asian metropolis with not only the world's number one airline, best airport, and busiest port of trade, but also the world's fourth–highest per capita real income?
The story of that transformation is told here by Singapore's charismatic, controversial founding father, Lee Kuan Yew. Rising from a legacy of divisive colonialism, the devastation of the Second World War, and general poverty and disorder following the withdrawal of foreign forces, Singapore now is hailed as a city of the future. This miraculous history is dramatically recounted by the man who not only lived through it all but who fearlessly forged ahead and brought about most of these changes.
Delving deep into his own meticulous notes, as well as previously unpublished government papers and official records, Lee details the extraordinary efforts it took for an island city–state in Southeast Asia to survive at that time.
Lee explains how he and his cabinet colleagues finished off the communist threat to the fledgling state's security and began the arduous process of nation building: forging basic infrastructural roads through a land that still consisted primarily of swamps, creating an army from a hitherto racially and ideologically divided population, stamping out the last vestiges of colonial–era corruption, providing mass public housing, and establishing a national airline and airport.
In this illuminating account, Lee writes frankly about his trenchant approach to political opponents and his often unorthodox views on human rights, democracy, and inherited intelligence, aiming always "to be correct, not politically correct." Nothing in Singapore escaped his watchful eye: whether choosing shrubs for the greening of the country, restoring the romance of the historic Raffles Hotel, or openly, unabashedly persuading young men to marry women as well educated as themselves. Today's safe, tidy Singapore bears Lee's unmistakable stamp, for which he is unapologetic: "If this is a nanny state, I am proud to have fostered one."
Though Lee's domestic canvas in Singapore was small, his vigor and talent assured him a larger place in world affairs. With inimitable style, he brings history to life with cogent analyses of some of the greatest strategic issues of recent times and reveals how, over the years, he navigated the shifting tides of relations among America, China, and Taiwan, acting as confidant, sounding board, and messenger for them. He also includes candid, sometimes acerbic pen portraits of his political peers, including the indomitable Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, the poetry–spouting Jiang Zemin, and ideologues George Bush and Deng Xiaoping.
Lee also lifts the veil on his family life and writes tenderly of his wife and stalwart partner, Kwa Geok Choo, and of their pride in their three children –– particularly the eldest son, Hsien Loong, who is now Singapore's prime minister.
For more than three decades, Lee Kuan Yew has been praised and vilified in equal measure, and he has established himself as a force impossible to ignore in Asian and international politics. From Third World to First offers readers a compelling glimpse into this visionary's heart, soul, and mind."More than forty years ago. Lee Kuan Yew transformed what was a poor, decrepit colony into shining, rich and modern metropolis---all the time surrounded by hostile powers.With his brilliant, incisive intellect, he is one of the world's most outspoken and respected statesman.This book is a 'must read' for any student of modern Asia." Rupert Murdoch.
Available online at Harper Collins, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
The Singapore Story And More
A letter from Eddy:
Bro, since you are talking about Singapore you might remember an economist from Morgan Stanley who in 2006 wrote a stinging email about Singapore.
Andy Xie, a Shanghai-born
economist who worked at Morgan Stanley for nine years, sent the e-mail
in 2006 to his colleagues after attending the International Monetary
Fund and World Bank annual meetings in the city state. The economist
questioned why Singapore was chosen to host the conference, and said
delegates "were competing with each other to praise Singapore as the
success story of globalization.''
``Actually, Singapore's success came mostly from being the money
laundering center for corrupt Indonesian businessmen and government
officials,'' Xie wrote in the e-mail. ``Indonesia has no money. So
Singapore isn't doing well. It goes on to say that Singapore is now
building casinos to attract(launder) corruption money from China."
OK bro enough of Singapore...the truth is something that Lee Kuan Yew
propaganda cannot suppress. His idea of a Malaysian Malaysia based on
his Chinese chauvinistic values would have destroyed Malaysia
multiracial harmony and balance if he had been given the chance, I
think Tunku made the right decision by throwing Singapore and Lee out
of the federation. He still have his ex political secretary Kit Siang
to do his bidding thru DAP though. It remains to be seen how DAP will
fare when Lim Kit Siang is no more in politics or public life as kit
Siang still rules DAP with an iron fist (any DAP leaders more popular
will be thrown out remember Lee Lam Thye). Look at Perak when he
refuses at first to attend the former MB Nizar appointment ceremony
when he said that rightly a DAP ADUN should be MB knowing full well
that Perak's constitution says that only a Malay can be MB. Look at
Guan Eng how Kit Siang maneuvered to have his son as Secretary General
and a Malacca based politician become a Penang MB.
Enough of my ramblings, hope you find it not so boring,
There is some truth in what Andy Xie said.The biggest chunk of money parked in Singapore came from Indonesia.These are mostly black money and under pricing done by Indonesian businessmen of their export proceeds and overpricing for imports into Indonesia.Most of the transactions were financed by Indonesian banks and that's why you hear of many bank failures in Indonesia.Some got ripped-off by greedy and unscrupulous bankers and businessmen.
Some Malaysian businessmen exporting to the island nation, though not as bad as Indonesians, also has a fair share of keeping some of their money in Singapore. Sabah and Sarawak businessmen prefer Hong Kong, another financial centre that don't ask many questions as long as you keep a legitimate business presence on the island.Big timber exporters used Hong Kong as their base for documentations.
The biggest timber company in the world now belong to Sarawakian.The recent trouble and rioting in Papua New Guinea against Malaysian and Chinese nationals flared up because of political corruptions and shoddy treatment the Papuans get from these foreigners.
As far as Singapore and Hong Kong are concerned these are legitimate businesses and do not consider it as money laundering but the losers are Indonesia and Malaysia, rightfully all the money should come back to the country.
To attract this kind of money the Singapore government introduced tax free interest on deposits kept in Singapore by non-residents.You can deposit in any major currency in the ACU (Asian Currency Unit) account and will not be taxed as long as you don't reside permanently in Singapore.
Singapore survives better with the inefficiency of its neighbours.An efficient and well-developed Indonesia and Malaysia is not good for Singapore's business, the two countries could be considered as the hinterland for Singapore.
I would still give a lot of credits to Lee Kuan Yew for the amazing transformation of Singapore and its economic growth, unrivalled any where for such a tiny nation.Our leaders can learn a lot from this man.
In the case of Lim Kit Siang I must add that his kind of chauvinism is worse than Lee Kuan Yew and unlike Lee, he is also a hypocrite when he said "It is a great irony that Najib is not aware or conscious that he is most guilty of the malady among the Barisan Nasional leaders he diagnosed yesterday,"
"If Najib had followed his own edict to constantly 'feel the pulse of the people', he would have realised that the biggest Achilles heel in the credibility, integrity and legitimacy of his premiership is the unethical, undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak,"
Najib was already in power and was only ascending to a higher level.When Anwar Ibrahim constantly denigrate the BN government and was trying to use even worse method to topple the government there was not even a whimper from Lim to object to what Anwar was trying to do.It was Karpal Singh who in no uncertain term told Anwar off.Only when they knew the plot was doomed to fail they meekly pretended to object.
I bet you, if Anwar had succeeded, Lim, all those in Pakatan including the 'holier than thou' PAS would be singing different tune ----- rejoicing to their hearts' content that they have done the right thing.
Lim should ask himself who is more power crazy in this case.A man who seeks power by unconventional means to topple a legitimate government and proudly announce it to the world or a man who used his discretion to accept lawmakers dissatisfied with the treatment they get from their political party.
There was no power grab. There was no gun put to the head of the assemblymen to force them to cross over.It was the assemblymen who walk over to the BN side and it would be stupid of Najib not to accept them.
Never underestimate the versatility of chameleons.
As a metaphor when a person is described as chameleon, the reference to the animal is generally a commentary on the person's ability to blend into various social situations, often to mean the person has no true values, or that he quickly abandons them in company if it's convenient to do so."Chameleons" are also people who can change their personality and appearance with ease, morphing into a seemingly different person, such as an accomplished actor or model.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Justice Indonesian Style
This is justice Indonesian style.This could be a classic example of travesty of justice.A woman who complained about poor treatment she received at a hospital was sent to prison by a court in Indonesia. This is pale in comparison to Raja Petra's Statutory Declaration and Susan Loone's smuts. Read the story below.
Ex-patient to stand trial, wins support from Net users
Multa Fidrus , The Jakarta Post , Tangerang | Wed, 06/03/2009 9:17 AM | Headlines
Prita Mulyasari, a housewife who has been detained for defamation allegations after complaining over the Internet about receiving allegedly substandard hospital treatment, will stand a criminal case trial at the Tangerang District Court on Thursday.
In a September 2008 civil lawsuit, the court ordered her to pay Rp 50 million (US$4,761) of the Rp 400 million compensation demanded by the hospital, as well as make a public apology in two printed media.
Prita has spent three weeks at Tangerang Women Penitentiary after being accused of defamation by Omni International Hospital in Serpong, Tangerang. She was separated from her two children, Khairan Ananta, 3, and Ranariya, 15 months old, and therefore unable to breast feed the latter.
Her story has created a buzz over the Internet with support pouring in through blogs and a Facebook cause titled Dukungan Bagi Ibu Prita Mulyasari, Penulis Surat Keluhan Melalui Internet yang Dipenjara (Support for Ibu Prita Mulyasari, Arrested Internet Complaint Author). About 14,000 people have joined the cause.
She also received support from the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).
"I miss my children. I just want to see them. All I did was spill the beans to my friends in an email. I did not mean to defame the hospital at all," said Prita, who lost five kilograms in detention.
Prita said her Aug. 27, 2008 email — titled Penipuan (Fraud by) Omni International Hospital Alam Sutera Tangerang — revealed her disappointment over the hospital's poor service, its management's arrogance and its doctors' inability to diagnose her illness during her treatment at the hospital from Aug. 7 to 12.
"I sent an email to 10 friends, hoping they would not suffer the same mistreatment at the hospital," she said. But her email was then forwarded to mailing lists and blogs.
Prita's husband, Andre Nugroho, said he had filed a request for Prita's release but to no avail.
Tangerang Prosecutor's Office's head of general crimes, Irfan Jaya, said prosecutors charged Prita for violating Articles 27 of the Electronic Information Transaction Law and Article 310 and 311 of the Criminal Code. The articles carry a maximum sentence of six years in jail.
The case began when Prita came to the hospital for a health check on Aug. 7. The doctors who examined her — Hengky Gosal and Grace Herza Yarlen Nela — diagnosed her with dengue fever and ordered her to be treated at the hospital.
Laboratory tests and medical records showed her thrombocyte count dropped to 27,000, far from the minimum thrombocyte count of 100,000 platelets per cubic millimeter of blood. Prita was advised to be hospitalized for treatment. The next day, medical records showed her thrombocyte count reached 181,000.
Baffled, Prita then asked for a copy of her initial medical records but the hospital management refused to give it to her. As her condition worsened during the treatment, she decided to move to another hospital where she was later diagnosed with mumps.Read more.........
Sunday, June 7, 2009
The 'Malaysian Malaysia' Man Puzzling Visit
The 'Malaysian Malaysia' man will be in Malaysia starting tomorrow on an eight-day visit which the press dubbed as going down memory lane. Lee is not a man who dabbles in the past, he may look back at history as a lesson for the future, what the future holds is what he is interested in.Politically unstable Malaysia is not good for Singapore.
Lee Kuan Yew's visit to Malaysia is, without any doubt, not reminiscing the past, but a fact-finding mission to assess the political situation here.The array of dignitaries he is going to meet is a tell tale sign of his mission. The results of the last general elections and subsequent by-elections could have sounded alarm bells in Singapore that led Lee to make this visit. He is here to make an assessment whether Pakatan Rakyat has a chance to take over the central government in the next general elections.Lee is not comfortable with unknown factor hence his presence here to feel and gauge for himself where the country is heading for.
A completely new political regime may not augurs well for Singapore. A change in the status quo would have a daunting effect on Singapore.New government would mean new policies and new policies usually attract new problems.
Singapore biggest worry is, in the event Pakatan wins the next GE, is the uncertainty, which among the two, PKR or PAS would become the dominant party.If PAS gained the majority support of the Malays and came out the strongest than the likelihood of Malaysia leaning toward Islamic administration and principles is very possible.Not that there is anything wrong with Islamic laws if they are pragmatically used but the tendency for some regime to sway to the left is not a rarity in many Islamic countries.
If PAS came out as strong as UMNO, which is very likely, if there was a popular shift of the Malay votes from UMNO to PAS, than PAS would be the dominant party and would be calling the shots and there is nothing much PKR and DAP could do but accept their fate and play second fiddle, the same as MCA,MIC, Gerakan and other component parties in the BN or they could stay out of the coalition if such occasion arises and join UMNO if there is anything left of UMNO by then.
The recently concluded PAS elections, transposition of head of a municipal council in Penang that was boycotted by PKR and statements made by some of PAS and PKR leaders shows an uneasy and shaky alliance. Anwar's hold over the alliance is on the wane.While Anwar is busy promoting himself and discrediting the government overseas the volley of discontent in Pakatan is growing. Husam Musa wasn't far off the mark when he said the premiership should be given to PAS if Pakatan wins.
Given time, the marriage of convenience of these political misfits would eventually land on the rock.
Lee Kuan Yew is here to gather first hand information and make his own analysis of the political situation now and in the near future to enable Singapore to prepare for any eventualities.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Valentine Willie Fine Art Gallery
What the heck ! It's only an art piece. I see nothing, I hear nothing, I say nothing.
Valentine Willie's art gallery has seriously breached the norms!
When a friend showed me a picture of a huge piece of "art" work by Fahmi Reza depicting "Prime Minister Dato' Sri Najib Razak at a scene of a crime", complete with a yellow police lines, I said to myself I better go and check it out. I thought it was crude for the owner to allow it!
True enough when I went over to Valentine Willie art gallery in Bangsar and I was agape and stunned. There in front of me in a room against the wall was a picture of Najib with his body drawn or fixed to the floor where you stepped on and was told the piece had nothing to do with the PM but rather the piece is about vandalism, so the sketchy explanation went on by one of the gallery's staff. Read more.....
Remembering D-Day
ON 6TH JUNE 1944 the Allied Forces landed on the Normandy coast and that day was known as D-Day.Over 5000 ships and 160,000 troops took part in the invasion which turn the tide of the Second World War and the eventual defeat of Hitler's Nazi Germany.
German footage:
Allied footage:
Husam Musa For PM: What Say You Anwar?
What say you Anwar Ibrahim now that PAS wants the PM (prime minister) post if Pakatan wins the next general elections.Husam Musa said the post should be given to PAS.
That's Husam Musa master's stroke to win the deputy president post of the party and he certainly has the right quality to be prime minister.
You promised to abolish the NEP and PAS knew you are just playing to the gallery of the non-Malays to get their support.Now, PAS wants the NEP to be retained because they hope to be the leading party( in the same mould as UMNO) in the next GE and the premiership for Husam Musa.
PAS, next to UMNO, is the party that will truly safeguard Malays interests.
Friday, June 5, 2009
We Need Benevolent Dictator Not Democracy
It is a prosperous, clean and functional city, with imposing skyscrapers and state of the art shopping complexes. You can buy any brand name you've ever heard of. The roads are crowded with Mercs, BMWs and whatever brand you fancy. The highways are lined with tropical flowers and a public transportation system unmatched elsewhere.
This tiny red dot at the southern tip of Peninsula Malaysia is one of the most prosperous nations in the world with per capita income higher than the United States and many other Western nations.The IMF lists Singapore at No. 4 with PPP of US$51,142 in 2008.
Once upon a time at the head of this thriving free-market city state is a clever, benevolent, fatherly and no nonsense socialist dictator.
This is Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore.A tiny island nation without any natural resources that have not stopped to amaze the world.Singapore had come a long way to what it is today by the way of, not pure democracy, but 'enlightened absolutism'.The sheer determination and perseverance of one man, the founding father of modern Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew or Harry Lee as he is popularly known among his close friends.
From a tiny mosquito infested tropical island to a sprawling metropolis, the economic and developmental vibrancy have not slowed down.This is a government with a bit of everything, a mixture of democracy, socialism and feudalism and an enviable success story.
In his memoirs 'The Singapore Story" Lee admitted he look upon Switzerland as his model.To defy logic, if such is illogical, today, Singapore had overtaken Switzerland in its PPP (Purchasing Power Parity).
Lee Kuan Yew has interfered with every aspect of Singaporean life, from not allowing long hair for male person during the flower power era, to limit only 2 babies per family, to banning chewing gum and mandatory canning for vandals. These are just a few of Lee's decree of what best for Singapore which some defender of democracy would call infringement of human rights.
Lee is an advocate of corporal punishment.In his memoirs he mentioned that during his time at Raffles Institution in the 1930s that he was caned there for chronic lateness by the then headmaster, D.W. McLeod. He wrote: "I bent over a chair and was given three of the best with my trousers on. I did not think he lightened his strokes. I have never understood why Western educationists are so much against corporal punishment. It did my fellow students and me no harm".
The world have seen good and bad dictators.Bad dictators are mostly self-serving,cruel and more often than not would run down the nation to the ground through massive corruptions and unconscionable abuses of power.Good and benevolent dictator is passionate about his country and the people but believe democracy is a hindrance to progress.
Some examples of good dictators are Napolean Bonaparte of France, Antonio Salazar of Portugal,Mustapha Kemal Ataturk of Turkey, Fidel Castro of Cuba, Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan and of course not forgetting Mahathir Mohammad of Malaysia.
What is the yardstick for determining a benevolent dictator? It's a very simple equation. A continuous economic growth and economic development for the benefits of the people and not just for the dictator, his families or cronies.These are the characteristic of a benevolent dictator.A deep passion not to do for himself but to do for the nation.
Some may argue that Musharraf or even Mahathir should not be in this category.
Let start with Musharraf first.
In 1999 under Nawaz Sharif Pakistan was a bankrupt country, almost 65% of its revenue had to be utilized for debt servicing leaving very little for development expenditure.Public and external debt exceeded 300% of foreign exchange earnings.The country was in deep financial trouble.During Musharraf time from 1999 to 2007 Pakistan went through unprecedented economic growth as shown below:
Pakistan's economy grew by 100%
Per Capita Income grew by 100%
Foreign Reserves grew by 500%
Exports grew by 100%
The list is not exhaustive.Under Musharraf's watch Transparency International's corruption index improved tremendously, falling from 11th to 41st position.
If anything that can go wrong will go wrong, an adage known as Murphy's Law.When Mushraff suspended Chief Justice Mohammad Ali Chaudhry for corruptions and abuses of judicial power the law fraternity took to the streets in massive numbers in protest of the suspension.In less than two months political parties joined in the fray and took to the streets demanding Musharraf to step down. In August 2008 the Pakistan People Party and Pakistan Muslim League led by Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif agreed to force Musharraf to step down and begin impeachment proceeding against him.It is speculated that Pervez Musharraf would have had to face corruption and even murder charges if he had kept refusing a graceful exit from the president house.
On Monday, 18 August 2008, in a speech defending his record, Musharraf announced that he had resigned.While announcing his resignation Musharraf said "After viewing the situation and consulting legal advisers and political allies, with their advice I have decided to resign. I leave my future in the hands of the people. Not a single charge in the impeachment can stand against me. No charge can be proved against me because I never did anything for myself, it was all for Pakistan. On the map of the world, Pakistan is now an important country, by the grace of Allah. Whether I win or lose the impeachment, the nation will lose. They don't realize they can succeed against me but the country will undergo irreparable damage."
"Nonetheless, despite those mistakes, he has been that rare phenomenon in Pakistani politics — an honest man with good intentions who tried to serve his country to the best of his abilities. In a country that has suffered so much over the years from corrupt and self-serving politicians, there have been too few figures like him" ____an extract from Arab News, a leading Middle East English language daily.
As I have said in my earlier posts the Pakistani people have thrown out a good man and brought back not one but two known crooks to rule their country.These are crooks voted in by the masses under a Western-styled democratic system.What Pakistan need is 'enlightened absolutism' not pure unadulterated democracy.Musharraf was right when he said it is Pakistan that will suffer.The country is now in the early stage of anarchy and on the road to being a failed state.
Mahathir Mohammad ! Do I need to refresh everything he has done for Malaysia.No, I don't need to.He has left his footprints everywhere in the country.The physical presence of his untiring efforts to make this nation a great nation and the legacy he left behind is visible for all of us to see.He has a passion for the country and the people to excel. Anwar Ibrahim has a passion to be prime minister whatever it takes.
Will Malaysians make the same mistake the Pakistani people have made.Vote for those who are good at organising protests, demonstrations and candlelight vigil to bring down a legitimate government.Those who are good at sweet talking, fabricating wall of lies and inculcate materials of discontent to create political instability to show the rest of the world how rotten this government is.
Give me enlightened absolutism or benevolent dictator anytime rather than a rotten democratic system and rotten politicians than cause instability and political upheavel.
Don't throw the baby out with the bath water just because you heard the thunder.


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Tomorrow is the 80th birthday of the Supermarine Spitfire, which flew for the first time on March 5 1936.
The Spitfire captured the public imagination like few aircraft before or since in the 113-year history of powered aviation, and is still a widely recognised aircraft today, more than 70 years after its World War II heyday.
Its significance was that it was one of the first military aircraft to combine all-metal construction and high-power supercharged engines. The Spitfire used the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine that had been introduced three years earlier. A broadly similar aircraft developed about the same time proved to be its most formidable adversary—the Messerschmitt Me-109.
With its elegant fuselage and distinctive elliptical wing, the Spitfire became famous for its service in the Battle of Britain in 1940, although the less advanced Hawker Hurricane (which used the same engine but partly retained cloth-skin construction) formed the majority of the British Royal Air Force's fighter strength. In Australia, Spitfires were used to defend Darwin from Japanese air raids in 1943. It was successful in this role despite difficulties with range and engine performance in the hot tropical environment.
More than 20,000 Spitfires were built between 1936 and 1948, a remarkably long production run by the standards of the era. The later aircraft used the Rolls-Royce Griffon engine that had more than twice the 1000 hp of early versions.
The type's last military user was the Irish Air Corps, which retired its two-seat trainer versions in 1961. Worldwide, more than 50 Spitfires still fly, including two in Australia, although there are eight Spitfires on the CASA aircraft register (as well as numerous replicas, mostly powered by modified automotive engines.)
The Temora Aviation museum flies two Spitfires, a MK VIII and a MK XVI, and anticipates it will be able to operate them for the foreseeable future by using a combination of flight date monitoring and a meticulous maintenance program.

subset: commoncrawl


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A Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) is a graduate degree that prepares individuals with a bachelor's degree in the liberal arts or sciences for a teaching career in grades K through 12. In addition to including education courses that meet state certification requirements, MAT programs focus on providing teaching candidates with an academic foundation in education, as well as practical classroom skills. An MAT usually includes a full semester of student teaching under the guidance of a certified teacher. MAT programs offer subject areas of concentration that correspond with different grade levels. Candidates who want to teach in elementary schools concentrate on multiple subjects, while middle school and secondary school teaching candidates concentrate on a single subject area.
The Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT), Master of Education (M.Ed.), and Master of Science in Teaching (sponsored) are advanced degrees for teachers. The main difference between these degrees is that the MAT typically prepares teachers for initial certification, while the M.Ed. is primarily earned by professional teachers who want to gain more knowledge in a specific education subject area, such as curriculum instruction or administration.
Master of Arts in Teaching Online
Many schools of education now offer online MAT programs that provide increased flexibility by allowing aspiring teachers to attend class and complete coursework from any location that has an Internet connection. Online MAT programs are a practical option for students who have professional and personal commitments that make it difficult to obtain teaching certification through a full-time program.
The best online programs offer the same curriculum as the school's on-campus program and apply the same admission requirements. Providing students with the ability to communicate with instructors and classmates in a face-to-face online environment is another hallmark of a good online program. In addition, candidates in online MAT programs should be provided with the opportunity to complete student teaching fieldwork in the local community.
Master of Arts in Teaching Admissions
Applicants for MAT programs must have a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university. The applicant's major does not need to have been education, and prior coursework in education is not required. In addition to completing an application form, many MAT programs require prospective students to submit one or more personal essays that demonstrate the applicant's communication skills, personal commitment and professional goals.
Master of Arts in Teaching Cost
The cost of an MAT degree varies by school. For students who are concerned about the cost of earning a graduate teaching degree, there are a wide range of sources for financial aid. Many schools provide financial aid directly to students. There are also federal scholarships for teachers, grants and work study program available for students who qualify. Some students may also be eligible for scholarships and grants from private organizations. Student loans from the Federal Direct Loan program are another option for financing an MAT.
Master of Arts in Teaching with Certification
A Master of Arts in Teaching with certification program addresses the education requirements for state certification. Although teaching certification requirements vary from state to state, an MAT with certification program will provide prospective teachers with the basic teaching coursework that all states require. After earning an MAT, graduates will be prepared to take the next step and apply for a state teaching certificate that will allow them to teach in public schools in a specific state. This certificate identifies a teacher as credentialed to teach a single subject or multiple subjects at the elementary, middle or secondary school level.
Prospective teachers who are interested in pursuing an MAT should become familiar with the certification requirements in their state before choosing a program in order to ensure that their degree will provide the necessary coursework.


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English I – 10 Units
English I is a course studying several of the foundational elements of the English language. Our study of literature takes a thematic approach to reading selections from several genre, including short stories, drama, poetry, and the novel. Other areas of study include grammar, vocabulary development, mastery of spelling and punctuation, and writing paragraphs and essays.
English II (World Literature) – 10 Units
Primarily for sophomores, this is a course which emphasizes the five basic literary genre – the short story, poetry, drama, the novel, and the essay – with selections from various cultures, ethnicities, and nationalities from around the world. Essay writing is response to literature is featured, as is vocabulary development. A semester-long research project will introduce Modern Language Association's (MLA) format for research.
English III (American Literature) – 10 Units
Primarily for juniors, this course continues the study of the various literary genre with selections taken exclusively from American writers. Selections emphasize a historical timeline and major contributors to the literary heritage of the United States, particularly as viewed through the characteristics of the progressive literary periods. Again, a semester-long research project will be completed. Students will refine their MLA skills and learn American Psychiatric Association (APA) formatting as well. As always, vocabulary development will be an important focus.
English IV (British Literature) – 10 Units
Primarily for seniors, this is also presented in the contest of a historical and literary timeline with a focus on major contributors to English literature worldwide. In writing, the focus is preparation for college, including testing and writing for the college boards. There is a semester-long research project that employs the format outlined by the APA.
English Comp 101 & 102 – 10 Units
Prerequisite: Cumulative G.P.A. of 3.0 or better, no English grades lower than B, and an ACT English score of at least 21, and Reading score of at least 19 or curriculum committee approval.
This class takes the place of academy senior English but also earns college credit. Comp 101 (1st Semester) consists of an analysis of essays and literary works with an emphasis on synthesis of ideas, rhetorical modes, documentation skills, and revision. Comp 102 (2nd Semester) consists of writing argumentative compositions based on issues raised in essays and literary works with an emphasis on research skills, support, and revision. The main goal of both courses is to ensure that students develop effective written communication skills. Students making lower than B for the 1st semester in English Comp will not be allowed to take the second semester for dual credit and will be moved to English IV for the second semester.
We have worked with various colleges and universities to offer this class. In years when we do not have sufficient enrollment to offer this class on campus, we will seek to offer it online with one of our partner schools. Tuition for dual enrollment courses is in addition to regular Highland tuition.
Honors English III or IV
This is not actually a separate class. Rather, there are additional requirements to English III or English IV that offer an honors component. To receive honors credit for either class, a student must complete additional assignments, fulfill additional time requirements, and create two semester long projects (one for each semester of the parent class) that are approved and directed by the English teacher. Upon completion of the additional honors requirements, the student's transcript will state that the student received credit for Honors English III or IV and will receive an additional GPA point for the Honors English class. This point will only be added to the GPA if the student receives a grade of B or above for the Honors English class. A grade of B- or below will not receive the additional GPA point. Honors research and writing will use both APA and Chicago/Turabian formatting. There will be an Honors Symposium where students present their projects.


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Custom website builders have a few reasons to hate WordPress:
They have to work harder to sell clients on custom websites.
A custom site costs significantly more to build so they have to work to justify those costs. I should point out I don't disagree that they should charge for the value of the work involved; we all should. However, it depends on the client's needs and budget as to whether a custom site is viable for their business.
They will argue that WP is hackable and your website will crash and burn and your hair will start on fire.
While this is true that WP is hackable, so is every other site despite what custom builders may claim. Nothing on the Internet is 100% safe, just ask NASA, Equifax, or Capital One. It all banks on whether you are working with an experienced professional who has the skills and knowledge to choose the right server to host your site, and that the plugins you use in your site are trustworthy and built by other experienced professionals. And most importantly, work with a website designer that understands how to keep your website as safe and secure as humanly possible.
I could go on; they have dozens of arguments. All of which can be addressed by someone who is as invested in WP as they are in their own programming language.
Here is why I use it for my clients' websites:
I don't believe in locking my clients into a tool that will constantly cost them money moving forward.
WP is easy to use, and anyone in a business can be trained to use it. This means you don't need to hire a website designer to make every little change to your site. Need to change your hours? You can do that yourself.
You won't be locked into having only one company that can work on your website.
Because WP is the most-used Content Management System on the Internet, there are millions of developers that can work with this system. If you are unhappy with my work*, you can easily hire another company to handle your website.
*I fully believe in the relationships I build with my clients. The last thing I want to do is trap you into working with me because your website can't be transfered to anyone else.
I would rather spend my time helping you grow your business over custom coding every website.
I am not interested in spending day after day coding custom websites for my clients. Your website is only one tool in a collection of other tools your business needs to succeed. I have other services I provide that help your website—and your business—succeed.
I started my business as a website developer, so I understand the code.
One of the biggest complaints custom website developers have is that freelancers building sites on WordPress are just "copy-and-pasters". They don't know how to actually build a website, and therefore cannot understand how to ensure your site is optimized for load speeds, Search Engine Optimization, etc.
I am a coder at heart. I've coded websites from scratch since 1995 so I've been in the trenches. I've used WordPress since its inception in 2003, and I've seen its endless iterations and evolution. I understand this product and how it benefits many businesses that don't have $40,000 for a custom website.
Using WP, you can have a website crafted for your business within a budget you can afford.
This one is the most important piece for me. I, too, am a small business, and although I fully comprehend the benefits of a custom website, I wouldn't be able to afford it. So rather than operating my business without a website, or worse using Facebook as my website, I choose to use a robust tool such as WordPress.
I relate to most of my clientele in this aspect, and that's why I have built so many websites over the years using this platform.