Beijing 2008 Olympic Games-MALAYSIA BOLEH!

With less than 50 days remaining to the start of Beijing Olympics on Aug 8, Malaysian athlete must mentally and physically prepare to face the challenges. So far 33 athletes from nine sports have confirmed their tickets to Beijing and the National Sports Council's (NSC) main concern in the remaining days to the opening ceremony is that all the athletes stay fit and healthy. They must also look after what they eat and ensure they get proper rest. Every skills and techniques that has learned during training sessions fully applied in the game.

There are possibilities athletes in Malaysia’s contingent increase before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games start off, athletics duo Noraseela Khalid and Zaiful Zainal Abidin, women archers S. Anabarasi, Irza Hani Abu Samah and Nur Amirah Mohamad and triathlon's Kimbeley Yap as those still in with a chance to qualify. This is more or less our contingent to the Olympics although there is a possibility one or two more may qualify later. The end of qualification for athletics is in July, with Noraseela and Zaiful and the women archers are keep trying their best to enable them confirm their ticket to Beijing. All the coaches have their own plans to prepare their athletes and they are already in the final phase of preparations. The main focus now is on preparing them mentally for the challenge ahead.

In Beijing, the 33 athletes will represent Malaysia in archery (3), athletics (3), aquatics (9), badminton (9), cycling (4), sailing (1), shooting (1), taekwondo (2) and weightlifting (1).

Malaysia's medal hopes are being placed heavily on badminton players Lee Chong Wei in the men singles and the two doubles pairs of Kien Keat-Boon Heong and Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah while the men's archers are an outside bet for bronze in the team event.Cycling too could surprise given the rise of Azizul Hasni Awang with ample back up from seasoned Olympic campaigner Josiah Ng while the divers, led by Bryan Nickson Lomas , could just as well make a big splash.

Medal drought since 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games force athletes to work harder. Our athletes have their responsibility to bring home medals to satisfy 27 million Malaysian people. May God bless them.

‘MALAYSIA BOLEH’

Is it their fate?

rubber tapper

Is there never a full stop for them? Poor people have been struggling to make ends meet with the rising of food costs. The drastic increase in fuel prices can derail the government’s target to wipe out abject poverty or reduce the number of the poor to 2.8 per cent by 2010. I believe the 41 per cent hike in petrol and 63.3 per cent in diesel prices in the wake of skyrocketing global oil price has made it as a big task. People's purchasing power had shrunk significantly following the revised fuel subsidy which saw petrol price rising by 78 cents and diesel RM1. Now they are hit once more with more expensive fuel while there is zero growth in their income.

In April, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Amirsham A. Aziz had expressed confidence that the government would realize its goal to rid abject poverty despite the spiraling oil price in the world market. I really doubtful on the prospect, based on today's purchasing power, more Malaysian could slip into the poverty bracket, if not below. As in previous occasions, higher fuel price means increase in prices for everything, from food to other necessities including services. The price increase of 78 cents per liter for petrol and RM1 for diesel affected the masses from all walks of life, but the poor suffered the most.Look at it this way...one has RM1 and the other has RM100. Forking out 20 cent more for the one with RM100 is nothing much compared with the one with RM1.

Even though we may not see a drastic jump in statistics, based on that simple calculation we can see more will fall figuratively into the poor category. What more with those earning below the poverty line of RM691.I don't think the current poverty line income is relevant anymore as today's cost of living is getting higher by the day. To me, it should be much higher, maybe around RM1 500. Based on the 2005 calculation, poverty line for the whole nation is RM691, while for the peninsula is RM661, Sabah (RM888) and Sarawak (RM765). The figures are based on a family of five. To ease the burden of this segment of the population, the government must allocate some amount to save the poor.

The people too should be paid dividends based on the companies' profits. Owned either whole or partly by the government such as PETRONAS and Tenaga (Tenaga Nasional Bhd) should give out cash bonuses to the people. In this case, we can follow the foot step of our neighbour country, Singapore. Singapore’s government pays bonuses to the people. Last year, every Singaporean received around S$700 or RM1 800. Cash given out of fuel subsidy would not benefit all the deserving people. It only those who owned vehicles were eligible. What about those who do not own a vehicle and rely solely on public transport. They are not eligible for the rebate whereas the hike in fuel prices has multiple effects and this group of people will also feel the crunch because prices of everything will increase as well. The government should consider a better way to help this target group. Any assistance provided should centre on three aspects, namely food, transportation and services such as health. These three aspects are vital for the poor as they need them for survival. Therefore, the government should come up with ways to ensure the target groups receive direct benefit.

These three aspects are vital for the poor as they need them for survival. Therefore, the government should come up with ways to ensure the target groups received direct benefit. I believe the government could still provide a "comfortable" subsidised fuel for the people if the quantum of Petronas' profits allocated for subsidy was based on the global market price. At the moment, the government has not explained the formula in calculating the percentage given by Petronas from its profits. They just give us the total amount.

“Kadar kemiskinan di Malaysia sebenarnya lebih 30 peratus dan bukannya 5.7 peratus seperti yang diumumkan oleh kerajaan” Dr Denison Jayasooria, President of Yayasan Strategik Sosial.

If Dr.Denison’s statement is correct, I am wondering is the Vision 2020 still available for Malaysia? More than 5o years of independence, this it what we have achieved? Poor remain poor and the rich remain rich. What’s the point we have blessed with much natural resource like rubber, tin, petroleum, fishes,palm oil and others?

Towards Two-Party System

The formation of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) helps to transform our nation’s political arena. Malaysia’s politics has been dominated by a single coalition for more than 50 years, the formation of PR coalition make it as the alternative to Barisan Nasional (BN). Vote for BN or PR enable one of them to rule for 5 years. In the duration, people will make decision on whom to vote, this guarantee the nations progress. I am not talking in favor of supporting any party, but it reflects the real democracy in our nation. Let people decide which coalition qualified to lead and rule. I believe that every citizen expect the changes from the new ruling government. Of course, the commitment surely to the coalition that fulfill people’s expectations and who kept their promises.

PM and DPM trying to fulfill their promises

Such two-coalition party system, which allows voters to choose two viable parties. Developed nations who practice this system such as the United States, Britain, and Canada, has proven system's effectiveness. This situation also happens in developing countries like Jamaica, and India. There are very clear move by most of the developing nations towards the form of two-party system; hence I optimist that the PR coalition will stay on track to compete with BN. Not like the circumstances in 1999, which the Barisan Alternatif (BA) coalition shattered because of their ideology dissimilarity. DAP, PAS, KeADILan and PRM made their debut in the 10^th general election. After the election, DAP decided to leave the coalition and remain as a coalition-free party after the lost of the DAP hardcore-Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh and the conflict of ideologies. PAS and KeADILan as Barisan Alternatif (BA) continued their struggle in 2004 general election.

Anwar Ibrahim:We are government in waiting.

Now in 2008, after 50 years of independent, the coalition becomes stronger with a different story. They emerged at the end, right after few months of general election. This time with a new identity as Pakatan Rakyat. The joint of three parties- DAP,PAS and PKR has agreed to give emphasis on the national issue rather than struggling their party's ideology. The win in 5 states and the denial of the 2/3 majority in parliament will create a new dimension of Malaysia. Both coalitions must work all out to fulfill election's manifesto.

I hope the coalition never destroyed like happened after 10^th general election, ruling party must makes it clear that peoples interest comes first before party ideology.

Another Member in Pakatan Rakyat (PR)...???

Just few months after12^th general election, Parti sosialis Malaysia (Socialist Party of Malaysia, PSM) has given approval from the government. The green light has obtained by PSM after battle of a decade. Home Minister made decision to register the organization as a legal political party. Before this PSM’s candidate contested in elections in the ticket of other party politics such as PKR and DAP. Some even made their debut as independent candidate. So far, they haven’t make any decision to join Pakatan Rakyat(PR).

PSM was an organization in Malaysia that denied registration as a political party by the Federal Government of Malaysia. The reason given by the government is that PSM is a threat to national security. Although the Court of Appeal dismissed the national security argument on 16 August 2006, which the court felt was a bad reason; it upheld another reason to deny PSM the right to be registered. This was that the party did not comply with a seven state regulation. PSM has filed an appeal against the Court of Appeal decision to the Federal Court.

I hope it come forward to join Pakatan Rakyat (PR) towards two party systems (BN-PR). The system that I mean is two-coalition system, which allows voters to choose between two viable parties. The system will allow for shaping a new democracy in Malaysia follow the foot step of few countries namely India, Britain, the United States and Canada.

Lastly, I would like to congrats them on their success to be a legal political party in Malaysia.

INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE VS MOTHER TONGUE

We can’t deny the fact that English is the language of the Internet and the global communication language for practically every important aspect of interaction in this era of globalization. Just go to any established and well-known company in Malaysia and you can see for yourselves the importance of English and it being the top qualification for employment.

I am particularly concerned that the government is considering changing the teaching of Mathematics and Science from English to the mother tongue. I always believed that the government made the right decision to change the teaching of these two subjects to English back in 2003 and we should not make a U-turn now.



Furthermore, with English, you can do research on the Internet to supplement and enhance our knowledge, much more than what you can get from books. More often than not, you will also find up-to-date information on the Internet compared to what the books contain. However, to use this important tool, you need to be well versed in English, not Bahasa Malaysia or Mandarin or Tamil.

Considering the critical shortage of textbooks, journals, and other literature in other languages, teaching the two subjects in English would facilitate the acquisition of new knowledge by our students.
Some parties also fear the threat of the erosion of their ethnic roots, culture and customs in this country and they believe that the way to prevent this erosion is by ensuring that schools teach important subjects in their respective mother tongues. But is this a threat real? Let me be the first to tell you that I am an Indian that received primary education in Chinese school. My English is not excellent when further my study to secondary school. Because of that, I had difficulties in my class. All the subjects in primary school were in Mandarin. The subject that only in English is English, there were no any action or effort to allocate extra hours to the subject. This crisis does not happen to me alone. I believe most of the students in Malaysia experienced that. Besides learning Mandarin, of course I did not fail to remember Tamil, my mother tongue.
Emphasis must be given on English, it does not mean that i am not respecting mother tongue as English is realy assiting a lot in the future of Malaysians. Therefore, I call upon all parents who love their children to all rises up and oppose the move to revert to teaching mathematics and science in mother's tongue. If you don't fight for this now, I dread to think what will happen to our future generations while the government and these ethnic based groups gamble with our student’s future.

Happy Father's Day

I wish happy father's day to my father Mr.Appalasamy and all fathers in this world..

Press Freedom

Malaysia fell to its worst ranking ever last year when dropping by 32 spots to 124th. It immediately drew criticism from Malaysian groups, which called on the government to free the press. Last year, its ranking puts it almost in the bottom quarter of all the countries surveyed.

The reasons for giving a low rating to Malaysia are:
-The violations included arrests of bloggers and difficulty in accessing the news websites.
-Worried about the increase in cases of online censorship. Governments have realized that the Internet can play a key role in the fight for democracy and they are establishing new methods of censoring.
-The harassment of web activists and cyber-dissidents - from Raja Petra Kamarudin, Nathaniel Tan to Namewee indicates the growing intolerance of the government.
-Month-long suspension of Tamil daily Makkal Osai over a cartoon that allegedly Offended the Christian community even though the churches had accepted the apology.

Barisan Nasional pledge in the 2004 general election for frre the press, but its not too late I guess to reform. The Malaysian public must send a clear message to the government and politicians that we want freedom of information and of expression. Transparency International-Malaysia president Ramon Navaratnam, expressed surprise at Malaysia significant drop.He said this could be due to contradictions between the government pledge towards greater openness and its actions against the mass media and bloggers.
Ramon called on the government to ensure more transparency in its administration and enact a freedom of information (FOI) law - a call that has been persistently made by civil society and journalism groups, as well as political parties. The FOI law is important and the press should be encouraged to publish more freely.

On the 2007 World Press Freedom Day , a political party in Malaysia solemnly expressed their five demands:
1. Abolishment of the licensing provisions in the PPPA
(a) All media outlets only need to register with the Ministry without annual printing or publishing permit.
(b) Deregistration of any media outlet by the Ministry upon violation of laws.
2. A Parliamentary Select Committee/ Caucus on Media Freedom
Establishment of a Parliamentary Select Committee, or at least a multiparty parliamentary caucus, to monitor the state of freedom of information.
3. No blackouts
The Internal Security Ministry to publicly announce that the Government does not and will not issue directives, express or implied, to censor or filter news on important issues.
4. No black-list of writers
Internal Security Ministry to publicly announce that the Government do not and will not issue a blacklist of any writers, and that newspapers are free to publish writings by Mustafa K Anuar, Lee Ban Chen, Chang Teck Peng, Yong Kai Ping, Tan Bee Piang, Ng Chong Soon and Wong Chin Huat.
5. No delays in the renewal of printing permits
Until printing permits are abolished, the Internal Security Ministry to process all renewal applications professionally and in accordance with the notion of justified expectation, avoiding delays.

''More freedom of information will lead to a stronger, transparent press, a more vibrant democracy and a more competitive economy!''-TAN SRI RAMON NAVARATNAM

YOU SATISFIED..???

RUBBER

Malaysia is a blessed country with much natural resource like rubber, tin, petroleum, fishes and others. Why we are not utilizing them and make benefits of them for the good of society? Sometimes, I would think that why so many youngsters leave Malaysia and go abroad to work. Of course, the most attractive factor is money, living environment and safety. I know that at past our money currency was almost equivalent with Singapore. But looking at our current currency, we are much lower than Singapore, Euro, Australian and others major countries currency.

RINGGIT MALAYSIA

I'm not a financial expert who has the right comment and analyze on our Malaysia Ringgit performance. But I notice that our Ringgit is much decrease in value. But I don't think we need to be a financial expert to realise that our ringgit's value is decreasing.
Nowadays, by just reading the newspaper and watching TV news, mostly it was related to political news. Well, I admit that most of the Malaysian are shocked to the past election news. The most important thing is how to improve the quality of life of Malaysians despite the sharp increase of fuel price. I really don’t see how these issues were handled carefully in the past. I believe that some people would agree with me. We always know how to compare with others countries, but correct me if I am wrong that the comparison made was always with poorer performance countries. I don’t really understand this. Why we don’t want to improve our nation by comparing to the developing countries? We had already achieved independence more than 50 years. Please do not always feel satisfied with what we have achieved nowadays because there is still much room to improve.

Lost 2/3 majority in Parliament-The Next Challenges to Our PM

THE NOBLE HOUSE

I was only able to watch live telecast from RTM on 1999 general election results. That time I was 11. Parti Keadilan Nasional won 5 Parliament and 4 state seats in the 29 November general election. Exactly one year later, it won another state seat in the Lunas by-election. The following general election the party was practically wiped out when its president, who won the only seat, almost did not make it. Now after almost a decade, 2008 general election means a lot in my 20. Although still not qualified to vote, but I was in high spirit to know the results through via Internet. The time has changed; I want myself to be a responsible citizen that cares about nation's progressions by updating the political happenings around me. In the recent general election, the opposition political parties bounced back with the total highest votes compare to Umno and a record number of seats opposition parties has ever won in Malaysian election history. This certainly says a lot about Malaysian elections when especially PKR that had been classified as ‘dead’ not only bounced back but ended up leading the opposition coalition. Results in the general election have changed everything, more than I expected.

RESULTS OF THE 8 MARCH 2008 PARLIAMENTARY GENERAL ELECTION

Total: 222 Parliament seats

Barisan Nasional: 4,082,411 popular votes, 50.27%, 140 seats, 63.1%

Pakatan Rakyat: 3,796,464 popular votes, 46.75%, 82 seats, 36.9%

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, fighting for his political survival since an election in March.
Following are major challenges to our PM:

ANTI-FUEL RALLIES

-PM’s administration faces test to control mounting anger and, possibly, more organized street protests over the fuel price hikes. The opposition, emboldened after a good showing in March elections, has proposed bringing 100,000 people to the city centre on July 5 to protest against the fuel hike. This could be the country's biggest anti-government protest ever, but whether it is allowed to take place remains to be seen. Malaysia bans gatherings of five or more people without a police permit.

ECONOMIC TEST

-PM, who is also the Finance Minister, will present the 2009 national budget in parliament on Aug. 29. His faces a delicate task of trying to calm down voters with generous tax cuts.

PERCEPTION PROBLEM

-Even before the March election debacle, Abdullah was perceived to be suffering from credibility problem after flip-flops over policy decisions. These included the scrapping of a plan to replace Malaysia's side of the causeway to Singapore. Pulau Batu Puteh is the another issue.

THE ANWAR FACTOR

-Anwar has said he has enough lawmakers to topple the government following the March election and was waiting for the right moment. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's claim that the opposition coalition would be competent of forming the next government by mid-September.

LEADERSHIP TEST

-Former prime minister Mahathir Mohammad’s shock resignation from UMNO and his call for Abdullah to resign late last month has prompted speculation that festering rifts in the party could widen and speed up the premier's exit.Abdullah has said he would defend his post as leader of UMNO at party elections in December. A win will mean that he remains prime minister. Most of the political analyst stated that PM possibly will quietly arrange to hand power over to his stated successor, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Rallies in Malaysia-Cries and Tears of ''RAKYAT''

Within a year, Malaysians took to the streets for few times. Few major rallies shocked government with huge turnouts. BERSIH and HINDRAF rally still fresh in my mind. I took part in the HINDRAF rally and I believe that there is no illegal assembly as stated in federal constitution. Federal constitution itself stated that Malaysian citizen can assemble as long as they are in peace. It’s a way that I can demonstrate and show my dissatisfaction against government.

BERSIH RALLY

2007 BERSIH Rally
The 2007 Bersih Rally was a rally held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on November 10, 2007. Event organizers intended to have a peaceful, non-violent rally, advising participants in the days and weeks beforehand how to keep the rally peaceful. However the rally was marred by government sanctioned police violence. The aim of this walk was to campaign for electoral reform. It was precipitated by allegations of corruption and discrepancies in the Malaysian election system that heavily favor the ruling political party, Barisan Nasional, which has been in power since Malaysia achieved its independence in 1957.
They demands of BERSIH rally relate to reform of the current electoral system.
They are:

-Usage of Indelible Ink

-Clean up Registered Voters Roll
-Abolition of Postal Votes
-Access to the Government controlled print and broadcast media for Opposition Parties.

HINDRAF RALLY

2007 HINDRAF Rally
The 2007 HINDRAF rally was a rally held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on November 25, 2007. The rally organizer, the Hindu Rights Action Force, had called the protest over alleged discriminatory policies which favour ethnic Malays. HINDRAF lawyer filed a class action suit against the United Kingdom in the Court of Britain for "withdrawing after granting independence and leaving us (Indians) unprotected and at the mercy of a majority Malay-Muslim government that has violated our rights as minority Indians". The purpose of the rally was to hand over a 100,000 signature memorandum to the British Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
HINDRAF organized the rally on Sunday, November 25, 2007 to submit the petition at the British High Commission. Malaysian police refused to grant a permit for the rally , and set up roadblocks in Klang Valley along roads leading up to the rally to screen motorists entering the city center and identify "troublemakers". They also advised the public not to participate in the rally, and arrested three leaders of HINDRAF. Many shops around Kuala Lumpur including Suria KLCC were closed on that day in fear of trouble from the rally.
On the morning of the rally, more than 30 000 people gathered near the Petronas Twin Towers, a symbol of modern Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, carrying life-size portraits of Queen Elizabeth II and Mahatma Gandhi, to indicate the nonviolent nature of their protest.

Another Mass Rally..???
Pakatan Rakyat planned 100,000 people rally to challenge to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s against the fuel hike. The opposition party leaders have also strongly reacted to the sudden 41 per cent hike in petrol and 63 per cent hike in diesel prices.
PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said it would only benefit the rich and their cronies.
DAP’s Lim Kit Siang said the steep rise is shameful and totally unacceptable.
Pas reactions can best be gauged from the fact that it is the main force behind the organisation of the July 12 protest outside the Twin Towers where the Petronas headquarters is located.
I shocked reaction is rooted in the fact that between 1990 and 2000, the petrol price rise was only 10 cents a liter for a whole decade. When new PM took over in October 2003, the price was RM1.37 and within five years has risen to RM2.70 a liter.
I expect, it will be another cry of the poor Malaysians, sure those affected victims, and mostly lowest income citizen will be taking part in the rally despite the police warning. BERSIH rally demanded for democratic elections and HINDRAF rally protested over alleged discriminatory policies which favour ethnic Malays. July 5 is a fresh protest against the drastic fuel hike by government.