student march or student riot?

There has been a series of student marches in London recently to protest the increase of the capping of university tuition fees from £3290 to £9000. This is a maximum amount to charge local students. If you’re wondering what this is all about, here’s a good page for some Q&A info. For international students, there are no caps, so it’s hugely expensive to get a degree here in the UK for non-European students.

Anyway, back to the topic. Protests are okay if they are peaceful ones. There was a march at around noon that passed by the office and it was quite peaceful. Some police officers were flanking the march and there were several police vans at the end of it. It caused a little bit of a traffic jam later on but it was quite peaceful.

However, it became worse as the sun went down. Many students were protesting near parliament. When it got a bit out of hand, police started ‘kettling’ to one place in order to control them easier.

Even Prince Charles and Camilla didn’t escape the violence. They were on their way to the Royal Variety Show when protestors chased their car and threw paint on it. They even attempted to smash one of the windows.

This has gone a bit too far. If they want to protest, then please do so, but peacefully, not with violence. It seems that there were some of them who intended to cause problems.

Videos of the march/riot showed that it was a real mess. Protestors vandalised public property and were violent to police, while the police were hitting some protestors with their batons. Click here for a page with many photos of the day.

I’ve always thought protests in the UK were exemplary as they were always peaceful ones. People would march on the streets with their protest banners, and the police will watch over, making sure there were no funny business.

But these student protests are getting out of hand. Too any damages to public property and injuries to people. It’s worse than other countries where the police will just spray water to protestors.

Protests and marches usually will only have a small probability of changing things, but the violence will certainly not help them to achieve their cause.

ed's first prime minister's questions

Ed Miliband recently won Labour's leadership contest and has since selected his shadow cabinet. In the UK, the Prime Minister will spend half an hour every Wednesday morning to answer questions from Members of Parliaments (MPs). This is called the Prime Minister's Questions (PMQ).

And today was Ed Miliband's first PMQ and it was entertaining to watch. Although they did criticise each other, it was done in a respectful way. Plus, the speaker is fair to both sides. Note that non-UK viewers may not be able to watch the two videos, but for those who can, enjoy!

If you can't watch the videos and are desperate to know what happened, you can read a long and boring commentary at this link.

first election debate in the uk

It was a very interesting debate between the 3 main party leaders: Nick Clegg, David Cameron and Gordon Brown. I'm too lazy to elaborate here so I'll just jot down some quotes.

Nick Clegg on the duel between David Cameron and Gordon Brown:

The more they attack each other, the more they sound like one another.

I must say that there were quite a few jabs from Gordon Brown towards David Cameron:

You can airbrush your posters but you cannot airbrush your promises.

This is not Question Time – this is answer time, David.

And one very good one regarding posters like the above that the Tories put up everywhere.

I'm grateful, by the way, to David for putting up all these posters about crime and me. You know there's no newspaper editor who has done as much for me in the last two years – because my face is smiling on these posters. I'm very grateful to you and Lord Ashcroft for funding these.

new logo, new pm, new/old tax haven (?)

The foundation for the open source mobile software platform now has a new logo:

It’s supposed to be a software company/foundation, but the logo doesn’t represent that at all. It looks like some toys company or something. Well maybe mobile phones are toys to some people, *shrug*. Anyway, it doesn’t look professional to me. Good thing I’m not working there (anymore?). Go to their website to find out more, or just go straight to the foundation’s blog for informal-ish kind of updates. There should be an explanation somewhere in there explaining the beautifully-challenged logo.

*******

So we now have a new prime minister in Malaysia, and it seems that lots of people hate him. I guess I should also say a lot of people like him as well. I should, but maybe I don't want to, but I just did, but hmm... too many but's already. Maybe he’s not the best choice, but maybe he’ll be better than that previous one. Ish... too many maybe's la pulak. Oh well. I just hope that they concentrate on reviving the economy instead of playing stupid, childish politics. Good luck on your new job because you’ll sure be needing it, my dear sir!

*******

I read in the news today that Malaysia is one of four countries blacklisted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for not agreeing with tax standards. One in four. Wow. And it’s not everyday that Malaysia goes in the news here. My beloved country is apparently a tax haven. Hmm better stash away money there ASAP. Oh yeah, now I remember, I don’t have that much money to stash anyway, *blaargghhh*.

*******

earth hour

Yes, it's as simple as what the poster says. It doesn't matter which country you're in, it's the planet you're in which matters. On Saturday 28th March, switch off your lights for 1 hour from 8.30 to 9.30 (local time) to vote for Earth. Leaving your lights switched on means a vote for global warming.

Yeh, maybe it won't make a major difference, but every little helps!

Visit earthhour.org for more info.

Come people, let's switch our lights off!

hypocrisy

When PKR wanted to form the government via 'ship-jumping', it's okay for them, but BN said it was wrong to do so.

However, when BN is the one who formed the new state executive council for Perak, it's suddenly the other way round. BN is oh-so-happy with the situation and PKR is saying it's an abuse of the people's votes.

Such hypocrisy from both sides. Why aren't you guys concentrating on the economy and the people's welfare?! There's a credit crunch for goodness sake!

Note that when I say BN and PKR, I am referring to the politicians and supporters in general. Though I don't usually like generalising, I just cannot help it this time!

you's all can, yes?

With all the 'yes we can' and 'change we can believe in', let us hope that the 44th President of the United States live up to expectations. Of course we can't expect everything to happen overnight, but how Obama organised his team throughout the elections and also after he had become the President-elect shows a man who has a plan and knows what he is going to do.

I guess the most important agenda for him right now is the economy, but I think the Gaza issue must be given similar importance as well. Obama didn't comment much on that matter using the excuse that there is only one president at a time, but now that he is president, he should send a clear message on what America's stand is. Are they supporters of the Israel terrorists or against them? Are they as merciless as these terrible zionists or is their message of peace truly sincere?

Hopefully we'll see the changes that people had believed in.

Great speech by the way.

The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

Oh and watch this till the end. Lol.

will obama bring change?

Of course he will. But let's just hope that these changes are for the benefit of all. To be honest, I feel glad that Obama was chosen, and I'm sure many people feel the same way. Everyone's tired of the needless wars and attacks by the arrogant Bush administration.

However, 8 years ago, with my young mind being influenced by the local Malaysian media saying that Al Gore is ntahpape because he supported Anwar's reformasi, I was hoping Bush would win. Well, not exactly Bush, but the guy who was running against Al Gore, whoever he was. Look at how that turned out. And during those 8 years, Al Gore has made a reputation of being someone who truly cares about the environment while Bush, well, you know what he's done.

I'm just saying that in reality, after a candidate is elected, he/she doesn't always do what they say in the campaigns. Maybe it's because they are blatant liars, but usually it's due to the constraints of the real world, like bureaucracy etc. They can't just do whatever they like. Well, maybe that Texan cowboy was a special case, selamba badak je attack Iraq without the UN's approval. Heh.

In America, they have proved that race is not the issue. I wonder, when will that kind of mentality be the norm in Malaysia? There was a comic that I read showing some Malaysians cheering when the news on TV showed Obama the black candidate winning the US election, but the same people were then angry when a Chinese was elected a head of a certain body instead of a Malay. The sad thing is, many people behave the same way. When will Malaysia be mature enough to accept all Malaysians no matter what religion or race they are? When will all of us accept that jobs should be based on merit, not on race? I truly hope that there will come a day when these types of questions are no longer equired to be asked.

Anyway, I hope Obama really does bring great changes not only to the US, but also to the world. Yes he can!

oil boil coil foil

So the price of petrol in Malaysia has just gone up by RM0.78 per litre. That's an increase of nearly 40%! I've been monitoring the price of crude oil this past few weeks and it wasn't much of a surprise that the government will reduce the subsidy. Just a couple of weeks ago, the price of crude oil reached an all-time high of $137 per barrel. Currently it's decreased a bit to about $120. This is very high if you consider that just 3-4 years ago, it was just $20-$30 per barrel. All sorts of factors contribute to the price of oil, and I don't really understand much about it. Heck I don't understand much about my course either sometimes but that's another story.

Everywhere in the world people are affected by the increase in oil, so it was inevitable that the price in Malaysia would also increase. However, I believe that the manner that the government handled it was very poor. Very very poor. They keep saying contradicting things. One moment they say that the foreigners will be charged extra for petrol and only in August will there be any changes to the structure of the subsidies, and then *poof* out of nowhere came the news that the price will be increased that very night. But then again, they've done this before. One minute the parliament won't be dissolved tomorrow, and the next minute *drumroll* it will be dissolved tomorrow. Such lies are what we don't need especially now, when there are many economic problems throughout the world. Even the UK and US are feeling a slight pinch.

Somehow these people haven't learned from their past mistakes. How do you expect people to trust you if you keep lying to them? Do we need an indecisive leader or a determined one? Yes, of course humans make mistakes, but if you make too many mistakes in your job, maybe it means you're really not capable of handling it.

Like I said before, the price increase is unavoidable, but 78 sen is just too much and too sudden. No steps have been taken to let the rakyat prepare for what was going to hit them. Is this a ‘padan muka sapa suruh x undi kitorg majoriti time pilihanraya dulu’ gesture? If they do want to increase it by that much, they should've done so gradually, little by little. This abrupt news caused massive traffic jams at the petrol stations. And people even got angry with the petrol pumps that were closed due to them being out of oil, accusing them of hiding petrol so that they could sell them at a higher price. How chaotic.

The government should also ensure that our public transport system is quite efficient and covers the routes conveniently. If people complain about the Underground trains in London, then I couldn't imagine how they'd react to the KTM Komuter in Malaysia. Now don't even mention the buses.

It's very frustrating when the government tell us not to waste our money, to spend wisely etc, but at the same time, they're not doing what they preach. Having private jets to take them anywhere they want, spending a lot of money and sending a lot of people to unnecessary ‘study’ trips abroad and other absurd expenditures. I'm not saying we shouldn't learn from others, but do it wisely and remember that you're using the people's money.

In saying all this, I do not agree with people who think that Petronas has a right to subsidise petrol, that most of their profit should be spent on the people. Yes, Petronas is drilling oil in Malaysia, and yes, Petronas is a Malaysian company. However, they do need to pay those who work their socks off for them as well. Even Petronas's employees are affected by the price hike, well not the very high-ranked ones of course. Now let's not talk about the money getting into some politicians' pockets because that would just drag this entry. It's Petronas's profit and they have the right to use them as they please. To put it in a rude way, ingat Petronas ni syarikat bapak kau ke? Well, maybe there's an act somewhere that says Petronas is the company of everyone's fathers or something along that line. If that's the case, then I humbly apologize.

There's no doubt that this price increase will have a domino effect on all the price of goods since everyone is dependant on the fuel to power their means of transportation. I just hope that those in power know what they're doing and help those that will really be affected by all this. On the positive side, at least there'll be a little bit less pollution if many people don't use their vehicles if it's really not necessary to do so. But hey, I'm just hoping.

malaysia lost, but malaysia won

Malaysia lost...

Kiko, Halim, Hairy, Colin, Hanafi and I went to Birmingham to watch the All England Open Badminton Championships semi-finals on Saturday. Only two events involved Malaysians. The other Malaysians, including last year's men's doubles champions, Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong had already lost in the earlier rounds.

The first match was between Malaysia's doubles pair, Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah and South Korea's Jung Jae Sung-Lee Yong Dae. The Koreans won the first set. The Malaysians fought back and won the second set. Most of the crowd were cheering for Malaysia. Shouts of ‘Malaysia Boleh!’ frequently filled in the silence.

During the game, one of the Korean players disagreed with the ref's decision. He kept protesting and then he hit the referee's seat with his racquet. What happened next caught me by surprise. The ref actually showed him a yellow card. I never knew that could happen. So what happens if he does it again? Will he be given a red card? Will the team be disqualified?

Anyway, the final set was tight. Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah were leading 20-16. Only one more point to win the match. Alas, the Koreans had a stronger mentallity and eventually won 23-21. Sigh. Why couldn't they finish the game off? It was very disappointing.

The next match was between Lee Chong Wei and China's Chen Jin. I had high expectations because Chong Wei had beaten Taufiq Hidayat of Indonesia in the quarter finals. Unfortunately, it wasn't a very good game. Chen Jin won and rightly deserved it. So that was the end of Malaysia's journey in the All England Open.

Malaysia won...

Halim kept receiving text messages on updates on the General Election 2008 in Malaysia. So we were informed of all the latest results even though we were in Birmingham, without any internet-connected laptops within our reach. I knew that BN would lose a lot of seats, but I didn't anticipate Selangor and Perak falling into the opposition's hands.

Nevertheless, congratulations to the rakyat for making BN open their eyes. Talks of BN being confident of retaining their two thirds majority, retaining certain states and winning a large majority in other states were just that. Talks. Words that come out from arrogant people who have lost touch with the people that they are supposed to be representing, the rakyat.

If one was only reading and watching the local media, one would be very surprised by the results. However, those who have been surfing the net on the goings on in Malaysia wouldn't be much surprised, since they have been exposed to the country's less flattering realities.

I seriously think that BN has underestimated the power of the internet. They have been criticizing bloggers and saying they were detrimental to the nation. They didn't realise that their action would just make people retaliate and despise them.

The opposition however have used the internet to their advantage. News that will never be published in the mainstream media is available on their party's websites. It's not just the opposition that write blogs, neutrals also have their own blogs, giving their critical views on both the government and the oppositions.

I think the fall of certain states and also the Wilayah Persekutuan seats was mainly influenced by the internet. People are more aware. They don't depend on the mainstream media only. Come on BN, the rakyat aren't dumb folks who need to be guided in everything that they do. They have brains you know, and they can think. Berfikir secara kritis dan kreatif.

Of course, there are many other reasons that caused BN to fall. Ethnic tensions, crime, and inflation are some of the major concerns of the rakyat.

Now it is up to everyone elected by the rakyat, whichever party they are from, to pull themselves together, and work for the people. It's time for you to fulfil the promises that you have made. Now that Plan A has been successfully implemented, I hope that your Plan B, Plan C and so on are good, if not better.

Work not for yourselves, but for the people that you represent, since you are the wakil rakyat. Our voices. Our concerns. Please don't let us down.

check and balance

So it's now the end of February. Those aspiring to be their respective wakil rakyat have just one more week to campaign in Malaysia. A lot of money has been spent by BN to ensure they regain their majority in parliament.

During the last election, they had a landslide victory. I guess people saw Pak Lah as this good and religious guy who would stamp out corruption in the government, especially after the Mahathir era. Look how that turned out.

I don't deny that BN has brought a lot of progress to the country. Hey, after decades in charge, they should have achieved that, or else they would be a very big failure.

What I'm concerned about is the amount of corruption and scandals that seems to be swept under the carpet. They seem to think that just because the majority voted for them in the elections, they can do whatever they want. Their arrogance let them pijak kepala those who are weak, those who cannot defend themselves. They close one eye to friends who are in wrong and people's complains just fall on deaf ears.

what we need is check and balance, not cheque and balance
(disclaimer: reference in this picture to any specific commercial product, process, service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise is/are purely coincidental)

So that's why I'm hoping that BN will be denied a two thirds majority. We need check and balance in the government. We are all human, so we make mistakes sometimes. Hence it's the duty of the other people in power to correct these mistakes. Since in Malaysia it is forbidden for members of BN to disagree with the party, the opposition should be acting as something like the conscience of the government.

In the UK, the official parliamentary opposition party have their own shadow cabinet. They have shadow ministers who provide counterpoints to the ministers of the government. It is their responsibility to pass criticism on the current government as well as offering alternative policies.

This is a great concept since the government will always ensure that they are doing the best thing for the country and the people, because if they don't, the opposition is there to correct and criticise them. By criticise, I don't mean the kind that usually happens in our parliament, where grown adults fight like small children who just lost their favourite toy. What I mean is respectable, positive criticism.

Now I don't think this could be applied in Malaysia. Not currently anyway, and maybe not for the next 10 years as well (or probably never if we can't change our close-minded and 'I'm right you're wrong' attitude) . This is mainly because the opposition isn't strong enough. It's true, they have finally decided not to contest in the same area, but they are still not as strong as BN. Nevertheless, they are getting stronger.

It pains me to have to watch all this from afar. I really would like to join in the 'action' in Malaysia. For those of you who think that my reason not to register/vote is unacceptable, I would not hold it against you. I just hope that you could respect my decision. Unfortunately, respect for people is very much lacking nowadays.

So people, if you ask me, I'll tell you to vote for anyone other than BN candidates. But then we don't know if the opposition is good enough or capable to run an effective government. It's a catch-22 situation. If they want to be elected, they need to show that they have experience and are very much capable, but to have experience, they must first be elected by the people.

So what should you, those who will be voting, do? Will you choose BN because you like what they've been doing so far (progress, economy, corruption)? Or will you choose another party, whose candidate you see as untried and untested? Well, that's up to you to decide.

Use the greatest gift Allah has given you (Allah means God for those of you who don't know, and I also don't mind non-muslims refering Allah as God). Or if you don't believe in God, then use the greatest asset that you have. No, not your heart. That just pumps blood you know. And it's not the hati either. It's your brain. Your very smart and intelligent brain. Use it. Wisely.

“Change we can believe in.”

eligible but ineligible

So the Malaysian parliament was dissolved on 13 February 2008, 15 months earlier than the end of the 5-year term which will end on 16 May 2009. Some speculate that BN was scared of Anwar and didn't want him to contest. He'll only be eligible to contest in April whereas election day is on March 2008. But of course, people can speculate whatever they want. Pak Lah and co will of course deny it, what with the mainstream media in their control, they can say whatever they want.

For the next 2-3 weeks, you'll see a lot of news in the Malaysian mainstream media telling people the 'great' things BN has done for them, the 'excellent' things they're doing now, the 'superb' plans they have for the people in the future etc. This is good if it were all true. And if the opposition side can do the same as well. But no. They have to be one-sided. They don't want a fair fight. Everything they say is the truth and everything the opposition say is a lie.

Just read this news story about poor students who'll receive financial help. Yes, it is very noble of you to do this, but why now? Why not do it last year or the year before?

the symbols below does not necessarily show
which party i'm politically inclined to hehe

What saddens me is that they also resort to negative tactics. Tahun merawat Kelantan? Come on la, why do you need to potray them as a sick state? Is that the only method you could think of to try win over Kelantan voters? Why stoop so low? I'm sure many of those living in Kelantan don't have the same view.

Personally, I think you should change it to Tahun merawat Malaysia. I feel disappointed when reading and watching news on the sad state of affairs in Malaysia. Something needs to be done to improve and elevate the current status of my home country.

I also do not think it was appropriate to compare people with animals. I don't know the full context of the speech, but it's just not right. Especially if you're in the opposition, considering that the mainstream media is controlled by you-know-who. They'll be delighted with this since they can use it to gain political leverage.

Let's move to another sub-topic. I'm sure everyone knows that Pak Lah is the Imam of Islam Hadhari. It was his idea to 'implement' Islam Hadhari in everyday life in Malaysia and anywhere else in the world. But if you're learnt in Islam, you'll know that Islam is a COMPLETE religion. It's supposed to be implemented in our everyday life. We have guidelines for everything; praying, communicating, politics, even sleeping.

You DO NOT need to add a certain word after Islam, for example 'Hadhari', to rebrand Islam, or to show that you're now implementing it. So what were you practicing before this? Just Islam? Too boring for you ey? Islam is supposed to be a religion that suits every period of time. You don't need to change it.

Recently, the World Conference of Al-Azhar Alumni was held in KL. Its objective was 'to assemble personalities and Islamic scholars, as well as those who have succeeded and have influence within the society from the Al-Azhar University Alumni to bring about unity amongst them and the society'. (I got this from their website plus corrected some grammar here and there).

And I seriously doubt the Al-Azhar scholars who met there understood what Islam Hadhari was about when they agreed that Islam Hadhari is suitable as a foundation of a new Islamic civilisation.

I think I should start stepping on the brake pedal now. This post is getting a bit too long. And I can't even vote. So I don't think I have much right to say this and that when I'm not even going to vote.

But in my defence, I'd like to say that I was working when I was in Malaysia last summer and didn't have much time to register. And I didn't even know where and how to do it. But even if I did register, the only way I could vote is through the mail since I'm currently not in Malaysia.

And I am not confident that my vote will go in the ballot box the same as how I wrote/crossed it. Know what I mean? I'm sure you do. Since I'm an EEE student, let me give an analogy. Let's say my vote is an input signal to a filter. The filter will screen out any noisy aspect of the input signal cough opposition cough cough. So the output signal, which is the signal that arrives at the ballot box, is the desired signal that BN wants.

Don't understand? No worries. It's not important.

I have a friend who didn't register as well, but somehow his name is on the SPR list. And apparently his gender is female according to their records. Hmm.. very mysterious.

And don't get me wrong. I'm not anti-government. I really appreciate all the good things that they've done. I'm just anti-corruption, anti-liars and anti-hypocrites. It shows that one is a great liar when on one day, one says the parliament isn't going to be dissolved on a certain date and on the next day, one says otherwise. So do you want your country to be run by liars? I certainly don't.

To those who are voting, I do hope you really think about it long and hard. Make sure you are really informed before making your decision. I personally hope that this certain party will not get a 2/3 majority, for the good of the country.

But that's just me, the guy who's eligible to vote because of his age, but ineligible because he hasn't registered yet. Good luck voting!