Sunday, December 31, 2017

2018

Sunday, January 1, 2018.

2018 is here!

We should all look forward to a "better" new year, and for that I'd received, and sent, several best wishes yesterday, the last day of 2017. I'd also won from Ismail Yassin 5 out of the 9 holes we played yesterday, also the last day of my 2017 golfing calendar. And that was with giving him 5 strokes! But I must add here, he's 6 years older. Not a whole lot older, but older, he he.

But "the future's looking dim" Cliff Richard says in his song.

We're all enclosed in an economic situation, like it or not. And that, in turn, is affected by the political situation, also like it or not. If the politics are well-managed, the economy would be, too. That seems like a truism. 

Which is why we all should pray hard that the walls crumbling around us are somehow stopped by a strong and wise government intent on saving our souls. But right now, that is not, to borrow from golf, a "given".

From the day the present government came to political power, things have been going from bad to worse. The price of goods and services, the two things closest to all of us, have gone out of control. We all know this, we are experiencing it, and I need no further illustration. The values we are taught from school - respect for elders, respect for race and religion, respect for integrity and respect for truth and all good values - are all thrown out of the window by the political leaders we had willingly or by default put into office in 2013. Scandals after huge scandals, mind-boggling in their sheer size and incredible wantoness, are exposed almost on a monthly regularity since  2013. The latest one thrown into our faces is the loss of ownership by Felda of not one, but three pieces of prime land with a commercial value of 1 billion. Having worked there for 21 years, I feel an extra pain. Older statesmen who chide the incompetence of leaders are not just shoved aside. They are not just blasted, blamed and belittled. Why, they even get their very ancestry, truthfully or made-up,  dug up, dirtied and denigrated. Never mind if one had served long and well. Never mind if you are no. 2 now. Which is a warning to current minor sycophants. If a past leader gets shit treatment now for differing opinion, what future do you have ? 

And forget about democratic values ( yes, they talk about these, and holy Islamic teachings, too, but talk, as they say, is cheap, and talking is not doing, or to use the popular parlance, "cakap tak serupa bikin"!). Criticism,  constructive or otherwise, is rejected. Parliament cannot parley. Reports are locked up. The police and the AG are servants of the leader, not the Constitution. In fact, the Constitution itself can be discarded. 

Not a very rosy 2018 outlook.

But things can be different. We all can make the difference. If we choose to.


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Monday, December 11, 2017

Melang vs Merak Kayangan & Tg, Malim revisited.

Monday December 11, 2017.


The school holidays mean lots and lots of weddings to attend. But when family members are involved, the choice is limited.

Ati's daughter, Husna, got married on Saturday 2nd December, at Melang Inn Hotel, KP.  Bok's daughter was married that night in KL at Merak Kayangan. Ati's must be attended, of course, but Bok is also family, and he'd pleaded that I  come.  He even got the plane ticket for Idah to go to Kota Bharu on 8th. for the"menyalang" there. Just a couple of days before that, Idah felt she should, instead of Kota Bharu, join me to Kuala Kangsar for Husna's "menyalang" there. 

It appeared at first Melang Inn won't be in the same class as Merak Kayangan. How can it be, "Paradise" against Melang, the former rubbish dump  of Kuala Pilah town ?  In the end, Melang Inn turned out  nicer than Merak Kayangan.

A lot of money must have gone for Bok's reception. Why, even his RSVP invitation card outweighed Ati's by about 100 times. But Melang Inn turned out quite tasteful and so much more family. Merak Kayangan's sit down dinner had its trappings of selected dignitaries, "silat" and live music, with numbered tables and domed dishes. Melang Inn was "buffet style" and Minus-1 karaoke music. Bok's was stiff and too long, and Ati's cosy, noisy and long enough. And surely Ati's table was tastier and the desserts so much more varied and enjoyable. And after all the pleas to come, Bok didn't even come to my table. He was too concerned with his VIP guests, and I know they are of very recent origins.  He may be a millionaire many times over to-day, but he shouldn't forget that he was put on his first million by me, when he was struggling for work in 1985. Now I shouldn't forget about Soo Pin's 20K for my 1995 campaign that never reached me going through him. 

On the 9th. about 5 car-loads of us, Ati's siblings, trooped to Kuala Kangsar for the return ceremony. Hadi had booked for us a home-stay close to his house in Kampong Jamuan. The double-storey bungalow easily housed all of us, with room to spare. I had also alternatively booked a hotel room in Kuala Kangsar town, just in case,  but decided to stay at the relatively comfortable home-stay.

But before Kuala Kangsar, we had decided to make a detour to Tanjong Malim. The incredibly bad traffic made that decision easier, and it was a good decision. 

From 1951 to 1956 we stayed in Tanjong Malim. That's 61 long years ago !

Dad was a lecturer at the then Sultan Idris Training College. I attended Std. 1 to Std. 4 at Sekolah Latihan Tanjung Malim, and SMC 1 & 2 at the nearby Methodist English School until 1956. Yan was born here, a breach-birth that caused her learning difficulties later because of oxygen deprivation. I showed her the location of the old hospital. They have  moved. 

Much earlier, when talking about this Kuala Kangsar trip when Husna got engaged, I had mentioned of the daun pisang Indian shop in Tanjung Malim. Calit remembered and mentioned it just before we left on Saturday. But we couldn't find the stall, and Calit inquired at a couple of eating shops, and was told "no daun pisang shop, only Indian eating shops".  So we ended up at the famous  Yik Mun pau shop on the Slim River road at the end of what was the old town main road. It's now a large junction pointing north-south to the highway.  We  had  yong tau foo and mee curry. And some paus, after that.

Sunday, before the "jamuan" at Kampong Jamuan, the three of us, Calit, Din Pendek & I went for a ride to Kati town and around KK. Actually, we got a bit lost in the process, but because of that I ended up at the KK Golf Club that I didn't know existed. If I knew, I would have brought my clubs, because definitely there was time for a quick round in that 9-hole flat course. While driving, Conen called, and we waited for him in front of the mosque opposite MCKK, and led him to our home stay, but not before losing our way one more time. 

We had a "baca Yasin" at Hadi's house the night before. The Sunday reception was standard and ok, and we all left for home around half-past two. Just like the coming trip, the return journey also had its traffic jam, only worse, and with intermittent rain for flavour. All the rest areas we tried to stop at were choked  with cars trying to do the same thing. We finally stopped at Tapah, and even then waited forever for a van to vacate a spot. The driver and his passengers had got into the vehicle for 10 minutes. He probably fiddled with his phone or purposely wanted to irritate us.  Then another stop for satay at Dengkil.  It was 10.30 when we reached the house. Whew!


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Tuesday, December 5, 2017

73

Tuesday December 5, 2017.



73 !

This morning Ahmeng  arranged for a foursome, celebrating my birthday. The fourth guy was Richard, but he refused  the 3-per- hole wager.  So I only managed to make money from Ahmeng  and Ahman. Considering Ahmeng carries a 12 handicap and Ahman a former Club Medalist, that was no mean feat.

Other well-wishes also came on whatsapp and fb, from both family and some very old friends. Thank you, all.

This 73 carries many thoughts.

It marks 50 years since I earned my first salary.

That was October 1968, in Alor Gajah, Melaka. I had graduated that year from MU, and this was my first job. I only stayed 5-and-a half months,and bought my first brand-new car there, bought in Melaka town, but registered in Seremban town - NC 8157. It cost me 5,300. 5,000 from the Government loan, which I had to pay back, and 300 from my late mother, which I didn't. It was from my first  month's pay. Today a Proton would cost  at least 3 years pay !

Then off to KL I moved.Then to back to Seremban. Then back to KL again.  Then back to Seremban. Then KL. Then Port Kelang. Then PJ. And finally back to Seremban for the last time, and drew my last pay here end of 1999. That's 31 years, and about a dozen different positions in five different organizations. I averaged about 3 years per job. That, and the repeated house moves, made me almost a rolling stone.

Then the retirement years and all kinds of personal forays into little businesses, for the next 18 years. 

That's a  50-year saga of sorts.

Then there is the family. 

My marriage at 27, and the four children coming over the next 17 years. The first 3 were planned 5 years apart. The last one came after 2 years, after the haj.  That's understandable. The haji couldn't wait 3 more years. It was fortunate. After 4  Idah said "enough !"

The kids had to be sent to kindergarten,  to primary and secondry schools, to  different universities, both local and abroad. The first went to Hawaii, the second Sydney, and  the remaining two to Melaka first, then No. 4 to Shah Alam and No. 3 KL. All made it. There's great satisfaction in their scholastic successes, in their stable marriages. Their  careers seem ok, so far. They now have  their own offsprings ( 10 of them, to be exact ).  

There was the distance travelling. Alone, with friends, and with the whole family. Several long flights. For studies; for holidays; for work, but a lot  just for golf, discovered late at 43, but completely hooked  till now, 73. 

The first plane and helicopter flights was much earlier, whilst in second year at the university in 1966. That was to Brunei for 3 months in a Geography Department's survey assignment. Kota Kinabalu was still Jesselton, and the connecting flight from there to Brunei was in a Dakota aircraft, with the small rear wheels and you walk uphill through the aisle when boarding. And would you believe it, the co-pilot was an ex college mate from RMC. Wonder where he landed after retirement. The helicopter hop was to a rumah panjang.

Flying to attend the 6-month management course at Birmingham University in 1974 was the longest flight ever at that point of time, with stop-over in an undeveloped Dubai airport. Wales was part of the study area. Another 6-month study was at the AIM, Manila, in early 1980. Only 6 months, but a Filipino girl wanted to follow me home. Longer, the mother might have.

Work took me to London, Rotterdam, and Wurth in Germany, and Gottenberg in Sweden. In 1997 an NS State study visit took me to Mauritius ( played some golf),  Johannesberg, South Africa, Sun City(watched some golf) and India (no golf, they play cricket).  I  visited the Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. We stayed in both Bombay and New Delhi. 

A business trip  took me by air to Melbourne, and a long  trip by road to Canberra, then up the end of the Great Dividing Range where we even had snow, down east to Sydney where we rested, saw some buskers at the harbour side, went to the night-club district before taking the 8-hour flight home. 

There were family holidays -  in Malaga, Spain, visiting "al Hambra" in Granada, in London, England, with trips to the Harrods, the West End area and Soho, Tower of London etc. We took the fast hovercraft from Dover to Calais and stayed in Paris and went up the Eiffel Tower, and I scratched Kak Mah's name on the steel girder. We went to Disney World in Orlando, and that was one long flight, about 30 hours of it. Cik Ani and Tajri tagged along. We visited No.1 Son in Hawaii in his second year at HPU. On the flight back in the half-empty MAS flight, we were upgraded to business class. Wow ! Both ways we stopped in Tokyo and saw that bit of Japan with  overnight stays. But the first US trip, alone, was to attend Calit's commencement in Madison, Wisconsin in the dead of winter. We visited the late Karim Md. Nor from Bukit Temensu, doing his Education PhD, who had his whole family with him, and if you didn't see the children, you'd think they were American kids, with their "awesome" and so forth. Calit and I stopped over in L.A. and went to Disneyland.  We also attended No. 2 Son's graduation in Sydney, together with Bang Piei and Cik Ani. And there were road trips to Singpore, and flights to Sabah and Sarawak, also.

There was also my "Lone Ranger" ferry trip from Melaka to Dumai, Sumatra. I travelled overland to Pekan Baru and Bukit Tinggi, visited the Pagar Ruyong Palace, and ended up in coastal Padang, but couldn't find any "nasi Padang"!

Of course a big chunk of the flying was for golf.

We flew to Bangkok several times, to play there, and in Pattaya, and up north in Chiengmai. We flew to Phuket many times, when there were only two  courses there. We flew to Perth more than once, and to Melbourne. We went to Jakarta and Bali and Bandung for golf. But the ultimate golf experience was to play at the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland. En route we stopped over in Istanbul and visited several tourist spots like the Blue Mosque and Topkapi, and saw live belly-dancing. Over one dinner our Arab friends from Bahrin ordered beer. "It's not allowed back home" they casually said.


Not to forget the Pilgrimage to Mekah. I did mine at 39, back in 1983. Alone. It was a "haji Akbar" (for those who know), the stay or "wukuf" in Arafah being  Friday 16.9.1983, plus it was "haji Ifrad"(again for those who know). 1983 was the last "mua'sasah" year (for those who follow). I stayed in an apartment just across the road from the Holy Mosque, and I could see Baitullah down below from my window. Idah performed her haj 27 years later. Alone.

And the houses we stayed.

In Ampang Jaya, KL(twice, 2 different houses) Murugesu Garden, Seremban(twice, 2 different houses) Damansara Utama, and Taman Shahbandar, Seremban (twice, 2 different houses).  The Damansara house was the first house I bought in 1977. In 1995 I bought the present Taman Shahbandar house.

And of course all this time the family  expanded, and the circle of friends grew.

Not a remarkable 73 years, but pleasant enough.


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Friday, November 17, 2017

Small miracles happen.

Friday 17 November 2017.


Small miracles happen.

No earth-shattering moments,  but miraculous all the same.

Thursday, I had to sacrifice my golf and my fiddling with the internet to send my only daughter to Ipoh for her High Court appearance Friday. Hanif was engaged elsewhere, and I couldn't let my daughter drive alone for the longish distance.

Friday noon I had to make a bigger compromise by converting the compulsory Friday prayers into the solat musaffir jamak-kathar, may Allah Forgive me. Maybe what happened later was some sort of message for me, but I offered a sujud in thanks later that day.

We arrived home, the three of us minus Dekna we dropped off at the AG's in Putrajaya around 1.30. It was now about a quarter-past two, and a slight drizzle fell. As usual, the wife scooted into the house with 3-year-old Wafa, and there was just poor me to unload, stack and store the stuff we managed to collect the last two days on the road. Because of the hands-full situation, I just put the 2 bunches of house keys and car keys on the boot of the old Volvo that was left parked in the porch all the while. I must have placed the 2 sets of keys right up to the edge of the Volvo's back glass screen, where there is a slight indention between the glass screen and the top of the boot. That, in hindsight, must have made the keys less slippery on that boot top. That the house keys were in a leather-like key-holder, and the car keys were in a ring with a designer key-strap may have also helped.

Anyway, while I went to clear the stuff into my den and the kitchen, the wife hurried to change to go for her precious Pekerti meeting at the Pekerti Hall about 2 K away. I got Wafa some chocolate and a drink she wanted, conscious that I needed to perform my already delayed prayers. As I went back to my den and started to sort out the debris, I remembered to look for the keys as is my habit when returning home. By then the wife had, I vaguely remembered hearing, driven out. As usual, she didn't check for anything before putting the key in the starter switch and starting the car. Now I realized, suddenly, the keys were not where I expected to find them, either on my writing table or on the cupboard ledge, their usual spot. I went outside the den and couldn't find them on the centre dining table or the decorative side-table, the only two likely places in the sitting room. With sudden panic I rushed outside into the car porch, to see maybe the keys were on the two tables there, while suddenly remembering maybe I had put them on the boot-top of the Volvo, which was by now no longer there ! My heart sank when I now realized they had been left on the Volvo and I had forgotten about them. And now they were already probably lost.

In TDS, with several new additions, there are probably 100 road bumps, installed to cut down the speeding vehicles moving about the housing estate. To go to the Pekerti Hall, you have to also go through narrow, congested roads that lead to the heavy Ampang main road, through about 3-4 traffic lights, and a U-turn to the Klana Resort and the Hall some 300 m from there. What I'm saying is, if the wife, because she was late, sped through the bumps and the swerves and sharp turns, there was no reason for anything on the flat top of the car boot not to slip off, fall on the road and get lost forever!

Once I accepted that I had left the keys on the top of the boot cover, I did the only thing left to do - call the wife on her mobile phone.

Now, this wonderful contraption is not attended to by my wife like normal people. 50% of the time, calls are unanswered. The rest of the time the device is left somewhere else. In other words, if getting her on the phone is that important, don't hold your breath!

But this time, one ring, or maybe 2, and she answered! I said to check on the boot-top straight away for the keys. I had time to scold her why she doesn't check the car before driving off, as if that was her fault!

I called Wafa, grabbed an umbrella, took the spare house key (her spare key she's supposed to always take with her, and this time didn't), and was about to lock the house door and somehow try to trace the car track from the house to the road junction at the "Angsana" and look for 2 tiny bunches of keys on the road or on the side of the road - a scheme that looked hopeless even before it started, when Idah called back. "The keys are here" she said.

I called Dekna and related the whole thing, more out of relief than anything else.


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Friday, October 13, 2017

MUBARAK NS 3/2017 "enemy in the bedsheet".

Fri 13 Oct 2017.



Just 5 days after "the fight at OK Corral" in Kota Bharu, Yazid called for to-day's "sudden" meeting. Sudden because the AGM was just 5 days ago, and the NS meeting exactly 1 month ago, and this is only the 3rd. meeting for the year. Remarkably Yazid admitted he had a one-hour meeting with the MB this morning. I think he must have let his heart out about being double-crossed in Kota Bharu.

The truth is, Yazid took his loss in Kota Bharu very badly. In these elections, losing 48-84 is huge. He had wanted to resign in a hurried and impromptu meeting in Kota Bharu itself. But, among others, Sainy the former secretary, and Ismail his old friend talked him out of it. Anyway the meeting never happened because there were not enough members around.

So today Yazid really let fly. The only thing he left out was naming the  target of his fury, but everyone knew who it was. The funny thing was, I'm not sure that guy knew who Yazid was talking about. I know him.  He was one of my clerks, and I can't vouch for his intelligence.

Yazid went as far as threatening a sacking for his "enemy in the bedsheet." He mentioned his sacking of the secretary of one of the other organizations he chairs.

For today, he completed the shut-out by naming the secretary as the second member of the Central Committee, and Yusof Misai as his stand-in. The poor guy, who is the Deputy and Negeri's alternate in the Central Committee, now is left high-and-dry.

I'd told a few other members of the Negeri committee that I won't come for this sudden meeting, knowing that a fight might take place. I came anyway, because after talking among a few of us, we agreed that we should solidify and not allow Yazid to resign. If this Deputy takes over, MUBARAK NS would be dead. Thus this "emergency" meeting had an almost  full-quorum. And in spite of the livid language from Yazid, his target remained wordless and looked lost. As I said, maybe he was too dumb to realise that Yazid was targeting him! On the way back from Kota Bharu, a couple of the Chinese members also said this guy should resign, not Yazid. Seeing as to how he's friendless now (even his omnipresent wife didn't come to-day, a first in my memory), maybe he'll resign now.  That's too good to be true. But not impossible.


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Wednesday, October 11, 2017

MUBARAK's 14th. AGM.

Wed 11th Oct 2017.



8th. October was the 14th. "Persidangan Agung Tahunan MUBARAK  Malaysia",  the ex-wakil rakyats association's annual general meeting, held at the Perdana Hotel, Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Saturday 7th. was the dinner and opening ceremony, 8th. the AGM proper, and 9th. departure. The importance of MUBARAK to the powers-that-be was underlined by the no-show of the Federal Minister from Kelantan who was supposed to officiate.   The bias of MUBARAK was shown by the non-invitation of the MB of the state, from PAS.  PAS this time around is touted to have reconciled with UMNO, though. 

There are 13 states in Malaysia, but Sarawak has yet to join MUBARAK.  With 10 delegates from each of the other 12 states, there should be 120 of us. The actual count was 136. That came from the Central Committee making up the absence of several state delegates.

The main event was supposed to be the voting for the Speaker and Deputy Speaker, the President, the Deputy President, and 3 of the 4 Vice Presidents, with the Sabah one pre-nominated. The rest of the Central Committee members are made up of the 12 state Chairmen, selected by each state. The Hon. Secretary, Treasurer and Information Chief are appointed by the President, as are the auditors. All seemed staid. What transpired was the old UMNO dirty tricks, again.

The voting for the present line-up 2 years ago in Kuantan was more robust. The delegates campaigned for their respective candidates for the contested posts, other than that of the President, who won uncontested.  In fact, it was agreed that I print the name card for the nominee from NS, our chairman, Yazid, but in Kuantan Chong from Bahau also came with his own cards printed. That Yazid won the Deputy Presidency  was because of the apparent extra effort by our delegates from NS.  You can say  it was Yazid's own vote that won him the Deputy Presidency, because he beat the other  opponent by 1 vote ! 

At our NS preparatory meeting there were misgivings about the Kota Bharu elections.  The earlier announcement by Yazid of his intention of contesting for the Presidency had been retracked because of his so-called compromise of going only for the continuition of his Deputy incumbency. Zaharudin, our secretary, said there was talk that the President should  let the Deputy's  contest be put aside in favour of the incumbent. No such action came.

To be fair, Yazid had worked hard since  his election to the Deputy's post in Kuantan.  For NS, he managed to get the MB to approve the land in Bahau, and to revise the pension by 100% ! He was also in the midst of the review for the overall pension structure for all 12 states.

But as the two Ismails said, Yazid's style was an issue. There's a certain snobbishness, even when conducting the state meetings. Imagine at the Central Committee, where we have  former Federal Ministers and  MB's. And Yazid was only a State Exco. 

The last-minute withdrawl of Abu Hassan Omar from Selangor also suggested some power play. 

In the end Yazid lost soundly - 48 to 84, in fact. That's huge by these types of elections. I heard Yazid wanted to convene a Negeri meeting that same night, but Sainy managed to get him to postpone it to some later date, back in Negeri.

By contrast, the clearly inept Chairman got reelected, in spite of the bungles he made in front of everybody.

I took exception also, to this bungling Chairman. I had personally handed him my written request to speak after the lunch break. While some states had already had multiple speakers, Negeri, although scheduled for the morning session, had not been called. And here was the Chairman calling for the next agenda. It took Yusof Misai to grab the floor microphone and loudly demanded Negeri speaks. And that was how I got the mike from the Chair.

All the previous speakers had spoken off the cuff, including the President. Yazid, too, spoke without notes towards the end of the afternoon session, as the outgoing Deputy, and he spoke well enough.

I didn't want to grope around when speaking, and the subject matter entrusted by Negeri was "pension", something everyone was interested in right from the inception of MUBARAK. When I was serving back in 1995 - 1999, I always spoke from my notes. The rumbling speeches before me carried their points, but I wanted to make myself crystal clear and emphatic. I had spent several days writing and rewriting my 3-page notes, and had read them over several times, loudly, in practice. There's this Malaysian style of speaking when the address at the beginning sometimes takes a big chunk of the time. And there's always the repetitions and the loose direction, all time badly spent and all distracting. Speaking from notes is less glamourous, but there's no missing of points.

The notes distributed to the delegates included one on the issue of the pension, from Selangor. I thought the writer was verbose, and trying hard to be legalese , the grammar lethargic. I wanted mine to be street-sharp and curt. I wanted to emphasise justice and fairness, reason and deserved reward. And there was no need for long, vague sentences, with  repetetive and bombastic words.

I took all of 7 minutes.

As I walked  past the Central Committee's dias, the President said "great..... !" something, and I turned, and both he and the  Secretary stood up and reached for my notes as I handed them towards the President. The Sabahan Vice President later said to me "very clear speech." One of the Melaka delegates said "you did your homework." There were also a couple of congratulations from the other delegates. So I guess I had achieved what I wanted my speech to convey.


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Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Kota Bharu trip & KLIA2

Tuesday, 10 Oct 2017.



I can't remember when my last trip to Kota Bharu/Kota Bahru (those are the different spellings being used) was. I think it was Shima's wedding. We stayed at Sutera Inn; the groom was from Kg. Sireh, right in town. I remember renting a van from Seremban, driving through Kuala Lipis , Gua Musang, Kuala Krai, and Machang to Kota Bharu. I think it took us one full day, with many stops.

This time I took the one-hour flight from KLIA 2. In fact it  took half the day. 11 hours to be exact.

This was my first time with the low-cost Air Asia, and the first time through KLIA 2. The travel agent said to be 3 hours before the 1 o'clock flight. I had to believe him. I urged my daughter to drive me at 8 a.m. We arrived at KLIA2 at 9. I checked in at 10, as insructed by the girl guarding the q-line. I went into Gate K 4 when they called at 12. Then they announced the plane had technical problems. At first they couldn't say when the flight would be rescheduled, and gave us food coupons and bottled water. I drank the bottled water, but didn't redeem the food coupons because I had to go out to the main foyer just to cash in RM 20. Finally, the flight was set for 5 p.m., 4 hours late. We landed at Kota Bharu at 6. We collected our baggage from the carousel, caught a taxi to Perdana Hotel, and arrived at close to 7. That's 11 hours !

I found out at Kota Bharu airport these delays and cancellations were common for Air Asia.

Returning 3 days later wasn't as bad. There was no delay, and after 30 minutes in the air, we were already making the landing descent. My next-seat fellow passenger, a Hoe from Kota Bharu, said Air Asia sometimes speed up the flight, because the plane would continue to another longer  destination. Hmm. I think I know the trick.Better turnaround, better load factor, cheaper variable cost.

But Air Asia is cheaper than MAS. The return ticket, including RM 50 for 15 kg checked-in luggage, was RM 305. They say if you do your own midnight internet booking at home, you can get even cheaper ticket. In fact it's all digital and on-line now, something very different from my old flying days. I feel out of date.

I stayed at the old but newly refurbished Perdana Hotel for 3 days and 2 nights, for Mubarak Malaysia's 14 AGM, on which I'll write separately. Because of the AGM and the dinners arranged, there was no time to go to town. But the hotel stay was ok. The room was ok. The food was ok.  The staff was ok. It was all paid for. So everything was, well, ok ! 

I wonder how much it actually cost MUBARAK. Let's see. The room RM 200/night, food RM 180/day, times 3 days and 2 nights, that's 800 x 136 participants = RM 108,800.

Kota Bharu airport is as small as I remember it. Maybe there're more shops now, but nobody seemed to be buying anything. With bottled water at RM 3, and a sandwich at RM 7.50, I wasn't surprised.

KLIA 2 was a pleasant surprise. I remember the hue-and-cry in the news when it was opened, about all the glitches. But now I find it well laid out, well-stocked and well patronised. I think it's about the size of KLIA, but there are more shops. Certainly there's a much bigger crowd. This must be because of the bigger number of destinations and busier schedules. If you're not into walking, KLIA 2 isn't for you. They should put in more of those "walkerlators" like in Singapore's Changi Airport. I saw several golf buggies, but nobody was driving them and they were  parked here and there. What a waste.



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Saturday, September 9, 2017

Qurban 2017

10 September 2017.



Hari Raya Qurban was more than a week ago. The surau, run by the Islamic Welfare Association where I'm chairman had our own qurban of 4 cattle and 1 sheep, which was about the usual number we've had for the last few years. The difference was, this was the first time we'd done it with the new secretary of the association. To cut the story short, the old secretary had been holding the post since I became chairman, and I let him run the show undisturbed all this time. But late last year he lost his temper several times  at several of our functions ( and I kept quiet ) and finally said publicly (but not in front of me) he wanted to quit the post. Finally, after a reminder from R.o.S. about our overdue AGM, and the old secretary refused to arrange for it after a few reminders from me, I and the other committee members organized for it, and we appointed the new secretary together with the other office bearers. The old secretary made it easier by just not turning up. This qurban  without him turned out ok. 

We had to do it on the day after the Raya itself, because Raya was on a Friday. It would have been too rushed for time, with the Raya prayers and Friday prayers within a few hours, and it was within the 3-day tashreek anyway. Even then we started later than usual - 10.30 - because the imam who did the actual slaughter had to marry-off someone first. After refreshments after the qurban the imam himself suggested that we should start training someone else to take over the job, plus (showing his trembling hands) he's getting old for it (he's coming to 80, in fact). Nan, the bilal, who was there said he's willing to try next time, but he's not much younger himself.

Idah and three of our children had their own qurban that same Saturday, back in Lonek. The children had arranged it with their cousins months ago. No.1 Son chose to celebrate Raya in Keluang this year, for the first time.  So by the time everybody was back in the house, we had about 5 kg. of beef, parts and bones in the freezer. We  made some "sup tulang" and "rendang hati".

This Monday the oldest of the grandchildren, Arsyad and Iman, both 12, will sit for their school examinations. I hope they have prepared themselves well. These are so competitive today. Everybody sends his child for extra tuition now, as with these two. I hear they cost a bundle, and I believe them, because one of my golfing "kaki", a retired teacher, also does tuition, and he's not exactly complaining about the money. In fact last year he went for a trip to Europe and England with his family!

I've been following some of my friends' banter on the fb. In the past I'd occasionally chipped in, but lately have not. They're just making conversational comments, and what might pass for innocuos remarks could turn into gory thrust & parry with unthinking replies. As one of them said, we're entitled to our opinion but must also respect other's. In person we're usually more restrained because the other party is right there to give it back. But restrain is something I've to still learn, because even while playing golf I can still shoot my mouth. But if you study the details you'd find there are always reasons for that. 

Sadly, I also lost a friend this week. 

Lt. Col (R) Arham Nordin succumbed to illness suffered for a few years but gotten worse only since last Ramadan. About three weeks ago I saw him from a distance at the mosque, being helped by his sons as they left the mosque after Friday prayers. I heard about his hospitalisation and grave condition but regretfully kept postponing a visit because of my three grandchildren attending nursery and having to pick them up at 5.15, which is about the hospital visiting hours. 

Arham was 65, and was very active (and vocal) with the surau's activities. In fact except for this last Ramadan, he would be the regular alternate bilal for our tarawih prayers. Sadly, his children decided to hold the funeral prayers at home. Many, including me, couldn't take part in the crammed space. We regretted not being able to join the prayers just because of space. The surau is only 200 m. away. It would have been a great honour to have the big crowd that came to pay respect to, and pray in  Arham's final farewell. I suppose family wishes take precedent. May he rest in peace.



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Saturday, August 12, 2017

Hj.Latiff.

Sunday August 13, 2017.



At 11 a.m. yesterday I left for Hj. Latiff's house at Bukit Rasah. The "tahlil" was supposed to be at 11, but I had to finish 9 holes first at S.I.G.C. As expected there was plenty of time, because after arriving there I had a full 15 minutes before we were invited into the house for the "tahlil" proper. It was for the departure of some members of the family for the haj, which season ends at the end of this month, the 9th. of Zulhijjah 1348 H.

On Friday morning Wahid called, conveying Hj. Latiff's invitation. I'd said why are you calling, not Hj. Latiff himself, and Wahid laughed. I repeated this to Hj. Latiff when I shook hands with him. When I saw Wahid there later, I said I'm only angry because he didn't call me about Baharin Taib's passing that I found out only a week later, but Wahid said in fact he was in Johor at that time.

Hj. Latiff bin Othman was the personnel officer, Felda, Jalan Maktab, KL, who I reported to on March 15, 1969 upon accepting the offer from "Lembaga Kemajuan Tanah Persekutuan" for the post of "Pegawai Pentadbir" in a letter signed by Kamaruzzaman Abd. Halim b.p. Pengerusi, Lembaga Kemajuan Tanah Persekutuan, dated February 8, 1969.  The letter said I was to reply before February 15 whether accepting or not.  I came personally. At that time I was employed as "Penolong Pegawai Daerah, Alor Gajah" on a 3 - year probation. L.K.T.P.'s offer was more. I couldn't refuse. 

Today, of course, this is peanuts - a general clerk starts at  1,000 now. But for perspective, in 1969 a brand new Volkswagen (beetle) cost $5,300.  A bunglow in Ampang Jaya, KL, cost $15,000.  I was 24. I had just graduated from U.M. in the middle of 1968, and although I went for an interview at the PSD, Jalan Young, KL, I failed to get the scholarship to read Law in England. So the Alor Gajah position, when it came, had to be grabbed. The late Mokhtar Selat, our former ambassador to Chile or Peru ( I can't remember which one - you remember the embassy kidnapping case) also attended the same interview, but he succeeded where I failed.

When Noraya Khalidun came to our table yesterday, I told her that Hj. Latiff's father was related to hers, from Tanjung Ipoh. In fact Hj. Latiff  had just told me that, when I said I saw Noraya with the women, but she didn't seem to recognize me. Even Noraya didn't know that, saying she thought his father  was from Juasseh. Hj. Latiff's mother was from Rembang Panas, which was where I thought both his parents were from. I know exactly where his old house  is, because from 1995 to 1999 I was the State Assemblyman for Senaling, and I pass that location more times than I can remember. Noraya was with me in Seremban for a brief period, during one of my two postings there.

Hj. Latiff started as an ASP in the Police, but for whatever reason, decided it was not for him, and resigned and joined Felda. Yesterday, recalling this, Hj. Latiff remarked if he didn't leave he could have been sacked!

Like me, he also went through a few transfers between KL and Seremban, but stayed with Felda to the end. His last post was Director of Peronnel, I think. He's 81 now, is mostly wheelchair-bound because of his knees. I remember meeting him a few times in the last couple of years with a walking stick.  But unlike me, Hj. Latiff always stayed in Seremban, in this very Bukit Rasah house. In fact he also bought the  house next door, during the real estate downturn in the 70's. He rented it to a Korean who paid one year's rent in advance ! 

When he was first posted to Felda hq, he would rent a room on top of Hameed's restaurant at Jalan Gurney, close to office.  I would see his old 122 Volvo parked there. Then he bought a diesel-powered Toyota, when diesel cost 50 sen, and travelled every day from Seremban. In fact many Felda officers drove diesel cars because of the amount of travelling involved. The diesel price was very cheap in those days.

When I reported for duty at Felda, Old RMC mates Halim (Rock foundation) and Akbar (A.K. Bear ) were already there, but both left for the MCS after about one year. But surprisingly, neither made it to the Chief Secretary of a Ministry, though they became top government officers. Halim even has a Masters from USA. I met Halim recently at the OPA, and A.K.Bear called  about   2 weeks ago.

I remember Hj. Latiff's father and younger brother. In 1958 I entered the finals of the oratory competition for Religious Schools, N.S., held in Rembau. His brother entered the Quran reading competition - his father was a Quran teacher, I think. I won my competition, but I can't remember what happened to his brother. Hj. Latiff also remembers about that competition.

Several people at Hj. Latiff's place, I remembered well enough. All seemed different, with  white hair and the aged faces. Sometimes I feel lucky to still have decent health and able to  still play golf almost daily at the club.  I told him I met Dollah Yusof at Datuk Sulaiman's reception. He's 77 and has glaucoma in the right eye, but is still walking on his own, except he can't drive.  I also met Raja Alias at Fadzil's place, and he's still sprightly at 83, although he's also all white now.

One of the reasons why Hj. Latiff arranged for yesterday's khenduri, Wahid said, was to gather old friends. I think it's a nice thing to do. I wouldn't want to miss these if I can.  If invited.



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Sunday, August 6, 2017

Back to Jalan Maktab.

7.8.2017.

Almost forgot. On Tuesday, August 1, visited Jalan Maktab. After 27 years. No. 2 Son just moved office to UTM here. I left Jalan Maktab the last day of December 1990.

Had him pick me up at Damai LRT, and went for early (12 p.m.) lunch at "Bismillah" Jalan Gurney. ("Bismillah" was there from 1969 also). Then visited his new work-place at UTM, Jalan Maktab branch. In fact today was his first day, and the assigned office was still bare. There were a few people about, but they just ignored us. So No. 2 Son  showed me around the empty rooms, with unarranged brand new furniture and boxes of equipment strewn about, unopened. This is his sixth or seventh job, I've lost count, but at least he's holding a more senior post (and the suitable incremental stipend, hopefully).

I just suggested that he gets a bigger room and an assigned parking space, appropriate with his position. Once that happens, he's to call me and we'll have lunch at "Impiana Hotel". "Just don't tell your brother" (No. 1 Son).   He'll find an excuse to disappear.


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Wafa, Muaz & Miqdad.

Monday August 7, 2017.


Today is the first day of "play-school" for my daughter's 3-year-old daughter and her 2-year-old twin boys. It's at the neighbourhood's "Mindaku" nursery & kindergarten. For 5 days each week they'll be there from 7.30 to 5.30. It'll cost 1,240 monthly, not cheap, but seems to be the standard fee, and this includes food and drinks and full day-care.

The 3 have been a handful, for parents, grandparents and 1 full-time servant. The house has been a mess since they could walk, as you can imagine. All, and I mean all the walls inside the house have become canvas for the budding artists. Right now they're at the modern art stage.  We've lost count of the broken cups and table decorations. 

This play-school seems to be a practical arrangement, but only time will tell. The older girl seems to take it all calmly just now,  but the twins are screaming their heads off. The old house will get a respite, the tots at school most of the day, and peace should reign. The twelve hundred seems reasonable.


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Saturday, August 5, 2017

Abdullah Yusof

Saturday Aug 5, 2017.



Datuk Sulaiman, erstwhile Appeals Court judge, and current golfing opponent, had been talking about his in-law, Dollah Yusof, in a few of our earlier golf rounds, maybe a year ago, adding that Dollah's wife was "Miss Terengganu". Well, today he put me at the same table with Dollah & ex Miss Terengganu, at the reception for his son's wedding at Pusat Dakwah, Seremban. This was a special seating and the sign "reserved" was still intact on the table. Dollah, of course remembers me, but the wife obviously was lost. I said "I went to your house once, when I was still with Felda". That didn't help but was all I could offer her.

Dollah looked older and much more frail. I remember him as tall and thin. Today he stooped and was not so tall, and much thinner. And unlike before, with thick glasses. He's 77, he said. He has glaucoma in the right eye and says he can't drive anymore. He served 41 long years in Felda. That's twice my own time there, and maybe slightly longer than Raja Alias, our Chairman, the last non-political one. Dollah said he started in 1966. That's 3 years ahead of me. But I left at the end of 1990.  That's 17 years ahead of  him.

I first met Dollah in Felda at one of the regular Regional Secretary's meetings at our hq in Jalan Maktab. The "RS" was the chief administrator for all the Felda schemes in each state. He was then the R.S. Terengganu, his home-state, and the most senior among the R.S's. At the end of the meetings he would say  "let's give a hand for the closure of this meeting". We had the meetings in the only meeting room we had at our humble hq, on the ground floor of the L-shaped 4-storey building that right now awaits destruction making way for more modern development in this highly-priced area of the city.

All the years that we were together in Felda,  we never spoke much when we met. Dollah wasn't much of a talker anyway. Maybe that was why he got on fine with Raja Alias. A few times he was a direct boss. Dollah had a funny way of smiling at you. The ends of his upper lips would jerk up very quickly and come back to square almost immediately. That was supposed to be a smile, I think. Padir my younger brother noticed it, too, and used to comment to me about it, and we would chuckle. Later on Padir took over from Dollah.

Today, over the sumptious lunch, we probably spoke more than the 21 years that we spent together in Felda.  Those were different times. I learned that he has 12 grandchildren, to my 10. His son sitting with us drove them today. He's with Shell, and I said my No. 3 Son was with Shell too, but left to join another O & G company. 

I told him I met Raja Alias at Padir's house recently, and when I commented "what's happening to Felda, Ungku?" he responded simply "our time has gone". Dollah said he meets Raja Alias once in a while. Raja Alias is 83. His father, Raja Ali, died at 101. I knew Raja Ali. His second son, now around 40+, is still not married, but is supposed to be doing well, career-wise.

Many of our old friends in Felda have passed away, he lamented. Taufik, Ghani and Hj. Nasir among them. I said Padir told me about Hj. Nasir when I was in Kelang, and I drove to his house at UK Heights and found the remains already at the mosque. I saw Aziz Zakaria, Husein Menggong, Muhammad Jamil and Ismail Atan there.

Dollah knew that  I joined MISC January 1991 where I stayed for almost 5 years.  I resigned and stood for elections in 1995. I was a politician trying to work like an administrator, and that wasn't it. And I introduced Dato' Maulud, an Orang Besar Istana, sitting with us, to him.

And on and on we went, but I had to leave because Maulud wanted to go to Shah Alam.

48 years is a long time. But the first 21 years of those still bring memories, both good and not-so-good. This is one such note.


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Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Ishak Ismail, Al Fatihah

Wed 19 July 2017 (25 Syawal 1438)



At 12.20 noon today, I stood on the first line of the funeral congregation at the Paroi Jaya mosque, right behind the covered shroud containing the remains of my old friend, Ishak Ismail, Dato', Yang Berhormat, the late Assemblyman for Lenggeng. At around past midnight last night, Bok called, saying that Ishak had  collapsed at YB Samad of Seri Menanti's Raya function, and died. He asked that I visit the next morning, in Kuala Pilah. I calculated that services would be at around zohor prayers, and there would be sufficient time for my regular 9-holes before driving back to KP. But as I was unloading my golf bag from my boot at the club's car park, I heard over the p.a. system of the nearby  Paroi Jaya mosque the bilal announcing  the funeral bathing and prayer  arrangements there, not in KP.  So here I was, in good time, saying my silent goodbye to a fellow "wakil rakyat". 

We started in the state together in 1995.  

Ishak was 66.

Ishak would have been proud of the thousand-plus crowd that came. The car park was full, with vehicles overflowing on to the roadside outside. It was mostly men, with a smaller group of women, as is customary. Many familiar faces were there. But many expected to be there were absent. They took up all the space in the mosque, as well as  taking up space  outside. The ablution took longer than expected, but by 12.15 the freshly washed and shrouded remains were brought into the prayer hall. The prayers were led by the incumbent UMNO Ketua Bahagian of Seremban, YB Dato Abu.  Abu  surprisingly beat Ishak for Ketua Bahagian in the last party elections. 

As a long-time party man, Ishak had both supporters and detractors. He was loud and very opinionated, and took sides bravely. You may not agree with him, and many don't, but he was never shy. I thought that he was unnecessarily strident when a quiet, firm stand would have sufficed, and at other times strangely mute, when the public issue demanded criticism from someone in his  position. His own private problems had become more public in recent times, sadly. But we're in no position to judge him. He most certainly attracted admirers in robustly carrying out his responsibilities as an Assemblyman and the long-time chief of UMNO Seremban. It seemed ironic that the quiet man who toppled him led the final prayers for him today.

May Allah Accept all our supplications, and Forgives all your weaknesses, Ishak.   Al Fatihah !


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Sunday, July 16, 2017

Port Dickson's Federation Military College alumni Raya.

Sunday 16 July 2017 - 22 Syawal 1438.



About 150 of us gathered at the OPA Penthouse, Saujana, at noon today, for a Raya gathering of the Port Dickson batch of the 1952 - 1961 intakes. These were those who entered the College at the Port Dickson camp, because in the middle of 1961 the College moved to Sungai Besi. Of those surviving who could make it, anyway. When Salim Rahim and Halim Shah Murad finished marking in red all the names pinned on the wall of these intakes now deceased, there was a generous swath of red ink across the list. When Radzi Shiekh Ahmad, the gathering chairman, offered prayers for the dear departed, I felt a touch of sadness doubtless many present shared with me. For the 1952 intakes, they're now 65 years past their third-form ages of around 15, making them about 80 years old. The youngest intake of 1961 like me are all above 70 years ! Certainly the hairlines and hair tones were indicative, and there were a few walking sticks, too. Many showed the ravages of time, but there were those that seemed to age well, like Yusuf Ali Zain and Raja Aman.

I recognized, greeted and exchanged banter with many of my 1961 intake. There was Hank, Salim, Shahruddin, Nor Shaari, Mooi Yoke Loong, Gurdial Singh, Yusuf Ali Zain, Amin, Abd. Rahman, Megat, Hamid Arshad, Farid Wardi, Mansor Salleh, Raja Aman, Liew Yeow Kheong, Li Heng Tiong and Khairuddin amongst them. I recognized many of the older intakes, too. It was nostalgic.

In spite of being a life member of OPA and a former member of the Saujana Golf Club from 1980 to 2000, this was the first time I set foot into the OPA penthouse, would you believe it.  I had the vague idea that it was closer to the golf club than it actually is. I think it's quite a nice place and seems well-run. I see that the whole area has been fully developed and looks well-to-do, as it should be, I suppose. It's a Paremba project, I think. In fact it's OPA Razali of Paremba who got the site for the Penthouse, if I'm not mistaken.

After the customary photo sessions, the food served was good. I had a bit of everything, as it was exactly lunchtime. But I slipped out early through the kitchen while the din grew louder with the live music in the dining room, and everyone was engaged with everyone else. I had to get back to Seremban because the missus had to attend some function of her own.

Well done, Nawi & co.

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Thursday, July 6, 2017

Najib girds up for 14th GE.

Friday July 7th. 2017.



The good news is there could be a 14th GE after all.  Najib could very well avoid having one if he fears losing. He can't do it constitutionally, but that hasn't stopped him before. The only salvaging possibility is that there are enough strong-willed and right-minded officers in the Police and the Armed Forces to stop him from flouting the Constitution. The Police doesn't look a likely source of help right now, but the Army appears steady. Their respective veteran's associations seem a possible recourse.

So what choice do we have for the next  government?

72-year-old UMNO  could tout it's longevity. It has been dominant in all the 13 GE's.  It  has been in power for the last 58 years.  UMNO has been the ruling party since independence, and the good and bad have been brought  only by them, intentionally or otherwise.

In real terms, though, half a century isn't that long. It's only half of a life time. All worldly political parties have suffered changes, and mostly for the worse. The hardy Communist party, born only a few years before  UMNO, would today be unrecognizable to Marx, Lenin and Mao Tze Tung if they were still around. England's weak Conservative no longer hogs centre stage with Labour. US's White House is supposed to be Republican, but the occupant neither sounds nor looks Republican, much less Democratic. India's Modi, having removed the erstwhile Congress, is espousing Hinduism and embracing Zionism, probably turning the Ghandis' (not related, of course) in their graves. And the list goes on. 

Looking at Islamic history,  the 4 Rightly Guided Caliphs ruled for 29 short years. Three of the Caliphs were murdered. The succeeding Ummayiad dynasty lasted 89 years. The Abbassids wrested power and lasted longer - 580 years. Seljuk Turks ended Abbassid power but retained their titular rule until 1258 when the Mongols sacked Bagdad, their capital, and ended the Abbassid caliphate. Mongol Khannate converted to Islam within the next 100 years. Delhi became the most important Islamic capital in the East. The Delhi Sultanate, and later the Mughal ( an adaptation of the word "Mongol") Empire (1526-1857) helped spread Islam to South East Asia. Meanwhile the Seljuk Turks who conquered Abbassid lands converted to Islam and became de facto Caliphs. The 13th. century saw the rise of the Uthmaniyah Empire. In 1453 Uthmaniyah Muhammad II captured Constantinople, and that caliphate lasted until 1924. The "Ottomans" (the Westerners are forever bastardizing original names) lasted 600 years. Now, that's long. The Islamic faith is as strong as ever.  But so-called "Islamic" governments all over the world  have not fared as well.

Age is not sacrosanct. Presumably the less of it, the less sacrosanct. Certainly Najib's people consider Mahathir's age not sacrosanct at all. The same could be said of  UMNO.

The discerning mind should look for guidance when facing  choice.

The next GE is about choosing who, and which political party leads the country. The ballot box has to assess pertinent points. Let's look at them.

It's about race. 

A 2010 census says that out of a population of 29.63 million, Malays & Bumiputras make up 60.3%, Chinese 24.6% and Indians 7.1%, spread unevenly over 13 states and 3 Federal Territories, with a distinct rural-urban distribution, and with pronounced income-distribution differences strongly connected to racial and geographical factors. Religion, a life-value strongly held, closely corresponds to the race type.  This is a field ripe for all kinds of political "dirty tricks". 61.1% of the population are of voting age. Race & religion could play a heavy hand.

 It's about political parties.

The last GE probably cast the die on the Chinese and Indian votes. The 38 Parliamentry seats that went to DAP could become 44 for the Peninsula alone. An unchanged 6 from Sabah/Sarawak would give the party a total of 50 seats, or 22.5% of Parliament.

PAS's 21 could be reduced because of the PAN split, and the negative reaction to its UMNO tie-up. A generous guess is it keeps 17 seats. That's just  7.7% of Parliament.

Sabah's habit of changing governments is endemic. The 14 UMNO seats could see at least a 50-50 split between UMNO and BERSATU. That's if  "zinc and water tanks" politics continue to be played this time around. The 8 remaining Parliamentry seats could  be very local-orientated and stay with de facto BN. So BN keeps 15 seats, which is  60% of Sabah's total Parliamentry contribution.

Sarawak has lately been loudly sounding "separatist", helped by acrimony and a childish cabinet quarrel about tourism.  Having zero UMNO presence means none of the UMNO spin there.  But their quarrel is inter-federation. Their 25 Parliamentry seats could be up for grabs to whoever wins Parliament next time. That's a nice 11% of Parliament.

It's about  the" gran' ol' party" - UMNO.

Once upon a time, it was the gentleman UMNO, of Malay school teachers, urban Malay government servants, and Malay rural folks who were happy with their modest lot, because they knew no better. The omnipresent UMNO displays and repetitive UMNO sounds meant that they went to sleep at night, and got up in the morning, with UMNO's sight & sound. Little personal difficulties and daily personal hardship were never related to what the government was, or wasn't doing. UMNO had won Independence. The Malays are rulers in the "Malay Land".  The head-of-Islam rulers are Malays. We should be ever so grateful. And this rosy-painted sentiment  had culminated with the resounding 90.5% Parliamentry win in 2004, UMNO's best performance. 

But that was then.

Since 2013 a few things happened. 

The print and tv-radio newsmedia  has been completely overwhelmed by electronic social media.  Everybody has instant access to  news, true or fake. The younger, better educated population is able to spread  the word to their older, less educated kith &  kin, novel ideas clashing with old  beliefs.

Rumour-mongering is fun. Tedious letter-writing and laborious 'phone calls give way to total control at the fingertips. 

Then the 1MDB fiasco exploded.

And Najib & co. went into war mode.

1MDB requires a whole protocol  to expound. Suffice it here is to say  the zillions going around only flabbergast everyone and contaminate everything -  UMNO,  the government, and  the very concept of decency itself. 

In a relatively short 12 years UMNO has managed to convert its most handsome Parliamentry victory  into a stinking mess. The no. 2 man in the country and the the no.1 man in Kedah were discarded like garbage, all for asking questions on 1MDB. The deafening silence of the UMNO rank-and-file has never been seen before. The party is now not even a pale shadow of its historic past. The keris in its sheath is useless. It's obvious the party is now full of spineless sychophants and strangely subdued lackeys. Well fed, obviously.

In the government,  good people are summarily removed, and strange appointees replaced familiar faces. All semblence of good governance is nonchalantly  discarded.  Audit & other Parliamentry reports are covered up. Hard questions are ignored. Whistle-blowers are arrested.  Wrong-doings are denied. And most of  all,  our intelligence  is absolutely  insulted by the sheer stupidity of the yarn  offered as they try to deflect, deviate from, and deny the public outcry. 

GST was supposed to replace sales tax, and "3.8" Mat Maslan on live tv said "GST will reduce prices" with a straight face. 

The weak ringgit means imports cost more. The mounting national debt means all costs would be eventually more. And the government's guarantee of 1MDB's  loans would end up on top of all these   costs.

So out of the 74 Parliamentry seats UMNO secured from the Peninsula states, how many would remain ? Remember, 51 seats are in Felda areas where Isa made such a mess in 4 "shorty"  years that Najib had to remove him abruptly. Let's say 50% is lost. That leaves 37 seats. With 7 from Sabah, UMNO would have 44. That's less than 20% of Parliament.

The rakyat deserves a better government. A new one looks highly likely.



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Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Malay trump card for UMNO lovers?

Wed 5/7/17.


Scaring the rural Malays into voting for UMNO because otherwise the Chinese (meaning DAP) would rule Malaysia seems to be the trump card for UMNO lovers. 

This has been going on for sometime now, uttered publicly by no less than Najib himself on more than one occassion. Having said so many unclever things lately, trying to save his skin, I just laughed this off, until this morning. Molod called and said the government pensioners' group in Seremban is going around repeating after Najib.  I gave an expletive. C'mon, man !   These were very senior government servants who should have good heads on their shoulders !

Parliament has 222 seats. To gain power, a party must win at least 112 seats. DAP won 39 seats in the last GE, the most they have ever won.  The COMBINED opposition won between 15 to 53 seats for each of the previous 11 GE's. How the hell can DAP become the ruling party?

NS has 8 Parliamentry seats. The 2 Chinese dominated seats went to DAP in 2013.  They should carry these 2 for the forseeable future, but that's it.

Playing to the Chinese in front of MCA & Gerakan  saying one thing, and playing to the rural Malays and saying the opposite, UMNO leaders are really stretching it. Seems like they're scared stiff of one very old man!

Malay ex-civil servants are not running for office, they're too old. But they should still have their marbles. Unless their brains are scrambled. Look at the facts lah, don't just repeat the stupid spin !



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Wednesday, June 28, 2017

PAS's role in the "save UMNO/BN" strategy.

29.6.2017.

PAS is probably thinking it can throw its weight around, with GE14 around the corner, and with the poor UMNO/BN pact cornered.

The numbers, however,  are less than impressive.

PAS has 21 seats in the 222-seat parliament. That's less than 10%.

It has 82 seats in the 576-seat State Assemblies. That's slightly over 14%. And 56% of these seats are in 2 states - Kelantan & Terengganu, which two states together make up about 15% of all the 13 states in the Federation. That's not exactly having a killer punch.

And this is before the split into PAS & PAN. 

If UMNO in the Peninsula retains the 74 seats in Parliament, and takes a handsome 50% chunk of the 14 seats in Sabah, it will have 81 seats in Parliament come GE 14. Give PAS 80% of the 21 seats because of the PAN break-up, i.e. 17 seats, and UMNO and its new-found ally would have a grand total of 98 seats. That's still 14 short of a simple majority in Parliament.

Sarawak's 25 Parliamentry seats in BN can be counted on to give the required majority, of course. But after foul-mouth Nazri and other constitutional issues being recently dug out in that state, can the 25 seats be considered safe?

But can BERSATU be discounted in view of the Mahathir onslought and the Isa Samad Felda debacale in the 51 Felda-dominated seats in Parliament ? How many of the 74 Peninsula seats and 14 Sabah seats counted above would actually remain in UMNO's hands? If only 50% is lost to BERSATU in the Peninsula, 50% in Sabah (where party hopping happens all the time) all the figures assumed above would give UMNO/BN 89 seats, or only 40% of Parliament.

What about MCA-MIC-Gerakan ? you say. I say the 12 seats accounted in GE13 for can be discounted. DAP would mop up the Chinese and Indian votes.  

The arrogance is misplaced.

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